Dueling Foodies

ROUND EIGHT REBUTTAL: Island Rice

2008-10-01T09:06:00.003-04:00

We just happened to be making this dish the evening that Kristin posted her risotto. I've checked with Beth and she assured me that this rice dish could be posted as a rebuttal to risotto. So...here it is!Island Rice
1 pound of rice, cooked (we used brown rice)
2 T soy sauce
1 T butter
2 T red onion, diced
1/2 T garlic, minced
2 T green onion, chopped
1/4 c carrots, diced
1 package of chopped cabbage (found by the bagged lettuce)

Seasoning Mix
1 T granulated onion
1 T salt
1 tsp ground garlic
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar

Saute the veggies in the butter until softened. Add the cooked rice, soy sauce and the seasoning mix to taste. Simple, simple! And it's even better the next day!

We found this recipe on allearsnet.com under recipes.

ROUND EIGHT: Green and White Risotto

2008-09-25T21:38:00.005-04:00

I enjoy naming my recipes by the colors in them. :) Anyway, since Jamie is still in India and I actually had time to cook and wanted an excuse to use my new fancy camera, I decided to start a new round. As usual, I took a general idea and went with it, almost entirely without measuring. :)

Ingredients (or some approximation thereof):
3 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
2 small or 1 large clove(s) garlic, minced
1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup rice (I did measure this!)
2 glasses of water with about 1 tablespoon (or less) of soy sauce mixed in each
white wine (I used Savignon Blanc, no idea how much though - I just poured it in until I stopped)
4-5 white bella mushrooms, sliced
handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 sheet nori seaweed, roasted and chopped (just to add something healthy)
sage to taste
coriander to taste
nutmeg to taste
pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat oils and salt in wok or heavy-bottomed pan, add garlic and onions and saute until onions soften. Add peppers and celery. Sample the wine.
As peppers begin to soften, add rice and toss to coat the rice with the oil. Saute and allow the rice to begin to absorb the oil, stirring frequently. Better double-check that wine; sample again just to be sure it's good.
Add 1/2 glass water/soy sauce mixture and stir. Add the rest of the glass after about a minute or so and continue simmering, stirring frequently. Add wine, mushrooms, half of the chopped parsley, and seasonings.
The rice will need to cook another 15-20 min, so add water/soy sauce as needed throughout this cooking time and stir every couple of minutes. Go ahead, have another glass, you've got time.
Shortly before serving, stir in the nori and remaining parsley.

Serve with remaining white wine (if any).

Round Seven Rebuttal - Black Bean Soup and Red Rice

2008-09-05T07:18:00.007-04:00

First, let me say thanks for allowing me to be a guest foodie while Jamie's away. Second, let me say that I didn't really measure anything when I created these recipes, so you'll have to bear with me if it's not 100% accurate. :)

For a little while i wasn't sure what I was going to contribute, but then I remembered that I love black bean soup. And I made a fantastic mess in the process. Yum. So here goes:

Black Bean Soup:
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 habanero pepper, finely chopped
juice from 1.5 square inches of fresh ginger
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dill
1 tsp cumin
1 can beans
water as needed
1/2 large green bell pepper
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro to garnish

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil, add habanero and sautee until softened. Add juice from ginger (I press it in my garlic press to extract the juice), carrots, spices, salt/pepper, and water. Allow this to simmer for a moment before adding the beans and continue simmering 20-30 minutes. At the last moment add the bell pepper and lime juice. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt and cilantro.

Red Rice:
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cayenne
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/4 C tomato paste
1/2 green bell pepper
2 tomatoes, chopped
1.5 C long-grain white rice (I used basmati)
juice of 1/2 lime
salt/pepper to taste
cilantro to garnish

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil then add spices. Heat the spices through and then add in the rice, tomato paste, and just a little water to thin out the paste. Sautee the rice for 10-15 min, then add the bell pepper and the equivalent of one tomato chopped. Add salt and water to cook rice (the water should be one kuckle-length above the surface of the rice), cover and allow it to boil. As soon as the mixture is boiling, turn off the heat and keep covered until rice is finished. add the remaining tomato, lime juice, and cilantro when ready to serve.

Round Seven Rebuttal - Black Beans, Corn and Quinoa

2008-09-01T19:10:00.005-04:00

I have picked up some decidedly hippie-ish characteristics since moving to Gainesville, including, but not limited to: yoga, keeping my AC set on a balmy 80 degrees, and buying bulk grains from the local hippie-mart. It is this last habit that inspired this variation on Susan's black beans and rice.

For those of you who have never cooked quinoa, I'll tell ya - it's weird stuff. It's like the secret love-child of rice and couscous. It's a variety of Chenopodium, which, if I recall correctly from grad school, was one of the first grains domesticated in Central and South America, a staple before maize (or taosinte, to be a complete nerd about it). In any case, it's crazy nutritious and you should try it.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 c water
3/4 c quinoa
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 tomato
juice of half a lime
Sour cream

Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a teaspoon of olive oil until veggies are tender. Add spices and cook with vegetables for a couple minutes. Add water and quinoa and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

The quinoa will have absorbed the liquid and poofed up a bit - a little curlie-cue will have sprouted from each grain. Add the black beans, corn, tomato, and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I hesitated before garnishing with sour cream, it seemed like it might be a weird combination. Then I remembered that sour cream is AWESOME and flung a dollop on top of the quinoa and veggies. Turned out to be a good move.

Let me know if you try this!

ROUND SEVEN: Black Beans and Rice

2008-08-08T14:31:00.003-04:00

Our fellow foodie, Jamie, is out of the country at this time but I didn't think she would want our blog to just sit here ...abandoned! With that being said, I decided to post this new recipe that I tried this week. Beth will have time to tweak it and post her rebuttal. By that time, Jamie should be back! Here goes...

Super Simple Cuban Black Beans and Rice

1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) whole chopped tomatoes, undrained
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt

The original recipe (from Betty Crocker's Healthy New Choices cookbook) called to heat the first nine ingredients on the stove top for 45 minutes. I didn't want to be handcuffed to the stove that long so I decided to let my crock pot do the work for me. I put all the ingredients except the rice and yogurt into the crock pot on high and let that go for about 4 hours. You could probably do the same thing at 7am and let it go until dinner time too. About 10 minutes before I wanted to put supper on the table, I cooked the rice per package instructions. Spoon some rice into a bowl and top with the black bean mixture. A dollop of yogurt and an additional sprinkle of paprika finished off the presentation.

This recipe serves 6 and makes great leftovers. The orange juice gives it a sublet orange flavor and the yogurt adds a nice tang. It is also low calorie, low fat, and high in fiber. What more could you want!

ROUND SIX REBUTTAL: Rummy Strawberry Daiquiri

2008-07-24T17:35:00.004-04:00

My brother just recently visited and we did some experimenting with the Rum. So much so that I "forgot to" "was not able to" "was physically incapable of" taking a picture of the final product(s). However, I think I remember the recipe!

Rummy Strawberry Daiquiri

4 large frozen strawberries
1/2 c. Sprite Zero
1/4 c. Cruzan Coconut Rum
2 T. lime juice
1 slice of pineapple

Blend well. Drink, then repeat.

Picture will be coming soon!

ROUND SIX REBUTTAL: Polynesian Sunrise

2008-07-14T08:18:00.006-04:00

Here is my offering in the adult beverage category: Polynesian Sunrise (aka The Baby Maker or Parent-Aid...just joking! Wish I could see the sickened look on Beth's face! Ha ha!). It's simple to prepare and refreshing to drink.

4 oz orange juice

2 oz cranberry juice

1 1/2 oz coconut rum

splash of lime

Pour over ice in your favorite Tiki god glass or plastic cup. Paper umbrella and plastic palm tree stick are optional!

ROUND SIX: My Mai Tai

2008-07-06T17:59:00.004-04:00

Jamie suggested the next round involve an adult beverage, so here we are. I've had exactly one mai tai in my life, this spring at the Polynesian Resort in Disney World. It was bright fuchsia and chunks of fruit at the bottom of the glass and really hit the spot after a day of schlepping around the theme parks. My version came out a little different. I started with a recipe from "Cocktails" by James Butler and Vicky Liley, but their recipe went off the rails pretty quickly. So here's my version of a Mai Tai:

1 1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz triple sec
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
juice of half a lime
1/2 oz almond simple syrup (B&L's recipe called for "orgeat syrup" and I had no idea what that was - I looked it up and it's an almond-flavored syrup, so I made some: recipe below)
dash of Angostura bitters (found some at Publix near cocktail mixers in the wine section)

Add everything to a shaker of ice and shake (but not like a jerk, Susan). Strain into a glass of ice and enjoy!

Almond simple syrup:

1/2 C water
3/4 C sugar
1/2 t almond extract

Microwave water until boiling and add sugar. Stir until no longer cloudy and the sugar has dissolved. Add almond extract and stir. This stuff smells incredible as is. I would wear almond extract as perfume, but I digress...

I suppose you could add a dash of grenadine/pomegranate syrup for that pretty fuchsia color, but the pineapple juice color was fine with me.

Okay, girls, go make lovely drinks with rum and fruit juice. Meanwhile, I will be hunting for some little paper umbrellas...

ROUND FIVE REBUTTAL: Mini Cakes

2008-06-28T17:42:00.003-04:00

OK, to finish a rather decadent round of Foodie Wars, I give you my Mini Cakes. Yes, they are the smaller, more albino cousin of the yummy cakes Susan and Beth baked up. The reason for the petite-ness is that my husband and I are trying very hard to watch what we eat and I wanted to make something small so I didn’t feel bad about eating it.

Mini Cakes
Yields ½ Dozen

1 ¼ c. flour
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
½ c. butter melted (1 stick)
½ c. brown sugar firmly packed
¼ c. white sugar
1 egg
1 T. vanilla extract
jumbo chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a mixer, mix butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and mix some more. Slowly add the flour mixture until you have a nice batter. In a lightly greased muffin pan, fill the muffin ‘holes’ or whatever they are called about ¼ the way up. Do one at a time. Place 6 or 7 jumbo chocolate chips in the center of the batter. Don’t press them down. Then cover the chocolate chips with a spoonful of batter and move onto the next ‘hole’. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

ROUND FIVE REBUTTAL: Gainesville Chocolate Lava Souffle

2008-06-22T21:07:00.007-04:00

I know that playing fast and loose with baking recipes does not generally yield good results. Whereas cooking is pretty abstract and substituting X for Y and goofing around with proportions and measurements will usually not result in total disaster, baking is chemistry. You get the formula wrong and it is likely that your product will literally blow up in your face. The Baking Fates were smiling upon me today, my friends.

I started with a recipe similar to Susan's except it yielded four cakes instead of six (because single girl + house full of chocolate cake = bad idea). This recipe also called for super fancy dark chocolate, which I did not have. So I decided to make do with my store-brand semisweet chocolate chips and intensify the chocolatey-ness with cocoa powder, instant coffee, and bourbon. Behold, Gainesville Chocolate Lava Souffle:1/2 C butter

4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 T cocoa powder
1 T bourbon
1 t instant coffee
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 C sugar
2 T flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter and chocolate chips together in microwave (1 minute, stir, then another 30 seconds - I'm way too lazy for a double boiler). Add cocoa powder, bourbon, and instant coffee and mix completely into chocolate.

In a stand mixer, beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar on high speed until light-colored and thick (this took about 5 minutes on highest setting on Kitchenaid mixer). Turn mixer down a couple notches and stream in chocolate mixture (the eggs will deflate a bit when the warm chocolate is added, but that's okay). Put mixer on lowest setting, add flour and mix just until combined. Divide batter among four four-ounce ramekins and bake 7-8 minutes. The souffles will rise an inch or so out of the ramekins but the middles will still look shiny and jiggly.

Remove from oven, let sit a minute or two and then tip onto serving plates, setting them upright again as quickly as you can. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve immediately (with LARGE glasses of cold milk)!

ROUND FIVE: Sinfully Decadent Desserts

2008-06-17T21:38:00.011-04:00

Valrhona Chocolate Cake

I've had the pleasure of having Valrhona Chocolate Cake three times at the California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Each time that I've had it, it has been paired with a different sorbet or ice cream. The first time it was along side cherry sorbet (pictured above), the next was strawberry ice cream and the last time was blood orange sorbet (my personal favorite). I wasn't able to procure a blood orange here in Panama City so I decided to be a purist and serve vanilla ice cream with my Valrhona Chocolate Cake. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have...and will continue to for the rest of the week! Yum!

Here is my "beauty plate" as they say on The Next Food Network Star.

The name of this cake comes from the chocolate that was originally used in the dessert. I haven't been in France lately to buy any Valrhona chocolate so I used 60% Cacao Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate instead.

5 1/2 oz of chocolate

11 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1/4 c plus 2 T sugar

5 T all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour six 6-oz ceramic ramekins. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Using an electric mixer (stand would be easier than trying to balance everything while using a handheld mixer like I did), beat eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl until lighter in color and thicker (5 minutes or so). Gradually add flour. Add chocolate and continue to beat until glossy. Divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins. Bake until set around the edges but center moves slightly when ramekin is moved. Cool slightly and run a sharp knife around the edge of the ramekin. Turn out onto plate and serve with ice cream.

This recipe was developed by Chef JoJo Vongerichten and appeared in the June 1992 issue of Bon Appetit (pg. 102). I changed a few things here and there but wanted to give credit to whom it was due.

ROUND FOUR REBUTTAL: Lasagna Alfredo

2008-06-05T21:48:00.007-04:00

Here is my offering in the lasagna category. I give you...Lasagna Alfredo!

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 c ricotta cheese
2 eggs
lasagna noodles (I used the no-boil variety for the sake of time.)
16 oz Alfredo sauce (I used a bottle of Ragu Classic Alfredo. I've never claimed to be Martha Steward but I don't want anyone to compare me to Sandra Lee either! What can I say...it was easier!)
1 cup of tomatoes, diced
1 roasted red pepper, diced
2 cups of Italian Three Cheese blend

Brown the beef in a skillet. When the meat is just about finished, add the garlic and diced onion. Drain off any fat. Set aside.

Mix the 2 cups of ricotta with the two eggs and add a dash of salt and pepper.

Combine the cup of diced tomatoes and the jar of Alfredo (or your own homemade Alfredo sauce, if you must).

Build the lasagna in a 9X13 in baking dish in the following order:

thin layer of Alfredo sauce/tomato mix in the bottom of the dish if you are using no-boil noodles
a layer of noodles
half of the Alfredo sauce/tomato mixture
half of the meat and onion
spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the meat
1 cup of cheese
scatter half of the roasted red pepper

Complete this order once more to finish the lasagna.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I hope this dish will redeem me from my fall in the Strawberry Battle. And now, I guess I'm off to the challenge that Beth has put in front of me. I hope you enjoy the lasagna but leave room for the Valrhona Chocolate Cake!

TIMEOUT: We got an Award!

2008-06-03T09:15:00.011-04:00

Before Round Four is finished, we wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Sireesha of Mom's Recipes for giving Dueling Foodies the Yummy Blog Award! "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos" Sireesha, we are very very flattered that you thought of our humble little blog for this award! As per the rules laid down by the award creator, Roopa of Kitchen Treats, we must now pass this award onto 5 other bloggers and list our favorite desserts. Here goes nothing!!

Jamie's favorite dessert: Key Lime Pie & Jalebi
Beth's favorite dessert: homemade cookies 'n cream ice cream & creme brulee
Susan's favorite dessert: Valrhona Chocolate cake

Because it is so hard to pick just 5 bloggers who's blog recipes and photos make our mouthes water, we would like to pass it along to everyone who visits Dueling Foodies and all those bloggers out there that work so hard to keep their sites perfect in every way. Keep up the great work on the food blogs ladies and gentleman!!

ROUND FOUR REBUTTAL: Spinach Lasagna Rolls

2008-05-28T19:45:00.005-04:00

I had every intention of rebutting Jamie's lasagna with a fabulous Niffer's-style veggie lasagna. But then some friends left a package of ground sirloin in my fridge after a Memorial Day cook-out and my lasagna-fate was sealed. Meat sauce it would be!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

1 package lasagna noodles (not the no-boil type)
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground sirloin (optional)
1 small can tomato paste
1 large can strained tomatoes
1 pint mushrooms
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried oregano
1 t salt
1/4 t ground pepper (adjust all herbs/seasonings to taste)
2 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 tub (12 oz?) ricotta cheese
1/2 C shredded Parmesan
1 C shredded mozzarella

Boil lasagna noodle according to package, reserve 1 C of pasta cooking liquid, and drain off the rest. Go ahead and separate the noodles or they'll all be one big lump by the time you get around to rolling them.

Saute diced onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add beef, if using, and saute until cooked through. Add tomato paste and stir until distributed throughout veggies/beef. Add strained tomatoes, mushrooms, spices, and reserved pasta water and simmer with the lid on for half an hour, testing for seasonings.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay out several noodles on a chopping board or cookie sheet. Spread a spoonful of ricotta on each, then layer spinach, tomato sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Once the dish is full of lasagna rolls, spoon the remaining sauce over the top and cover with mozzarella cheese and any remaining ricotta. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until the cheese is melty and golden.

That's it! It was darn tasty even if they did tend to explode and come unfurled when I dug in with a fork. I undercooked my noodles, so I'm sure that was part of the problem. Just cook them according to the package and you'll be fine.

ROUND FOUR: Lasagna

2008-05-21T13:22:00.007-04:00

OK, to start off the next round, lets do something with tons and tons of variations. I need to add a disclaimer though, I originally posted this recipe on my other blog, but it will definitely be a good Round starter here. As Ben Stiller in Starsky and Hutch says, "Do It."

Lasagna

8 lasagna noodles
1.5 lb of ground meat
3 c. tomato sauce
1 large white onion diced
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 t. garlic minced
2 t. garlic powder
16 oz. ricotta cheese
2 eggs
½ c. parmesan/ramano sprinkle cheese
1 t. oregano
1 t. parsley
2 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. black pepper
8 slices of mozzarella cheese
1 c. mozzarella cheese
salt to taste

Cook noodles as per the instructions on the box in salted water. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pot and add onions and minced garlic. After cooking for about 3 minutes, add the ground meat and cook until done. Add the tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese, eggs, parmesan/ramano cheese, oregano, parsley, black pepper and salt.

Put a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of a 9”x13” baking dish. Then add a layer of noodles (4 noodles). Next add half the tomato sauce mixture. Next add the slices of mozzarella cheese. Next add half the ricotta cheese mixture. Next layer is back to noodles, then comes the rest of the tomato sauce mixture, followed by the rest of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top the ricotta cheese with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Note: You may notice that the top of my lasagna looks a little orange. Well, I thought I had picked up some shredded mozzarella cheese at the grocery store but I hadn’t. I had to use cheddar and provolone instead. I would definitely recommend mozzarella though.

ROUND THREE REBUTTAL: Berry Parfait

2008-05-15T11:19:00.011-04:00

On the novel theme of "healthy" (huh? what's that?) treats, I bring you my berry parfait!

Ingredients
Vanilla yogurt
Fresh/frozen strawberries and blueberries
Granola (I bought granola bars and pounded them with a saucepan)

This would be really pretty layered in a champagne flute, so let's pretend that's how I served them. What I actually did was bring all the components to a friend's house and assembled in juice glasses when I got there. I didn't take photos, so have this drawing instead:

Yeah, who's slinking away in shame now? Yes...that would be me.

ROUND THREE REBUTTAL: Strawberry Muffins

2008-05-12T08:31:00.006-04:00

These muffins would be a great addition to Jamie's healthy smoothie. I can just imagine sitting out on a patio, reading the Sunday paper, while enjoying a nice warm muffin and a chilly smoothie!
I made these muffins last week after our first trip to the strawberry patch. I halved the original recipe because I didn't want to use up all of our strawberries and I didn't have 4 eggs at the time. I don't have a picture though but they were a hit!

1c strawberries, sliced
1 1/2 c + 1T all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2c + 1/8c applesauce (instead of oil)
2 eggs

1 Preheat oven to 350.

2 Slice strawberries and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with sugar (not the cup of sugar called for in the recipe, but just a tablespoon or so) and set aside.

3 Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Mix well. Blend applesauce and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until combined. I followed Alton Brown's muffin instructions and tried not to over-mix but I ended up under-mixing and had a few clumps of dry ingredients in my cooked muffins. As he would say, not good eats...so watch out for that!

4 I used my large scoop to put the perfect amount of batter in each cup. Bake in muffin tin with paper liners for 20 minutes. Yield 12 muffins.

ROUND THREE: Strawberry Blueberry Smoothie

2008-05-11T11:44:00.011-04:00

Since it was my turn to get the next round started, and since the last two rounds have been filled with decadent desserts, I decided that a nice healthy entry might be a good idea. So, it is Sunday morning, my husband is hours away from waking up, that means actual food is hours away...so I decided to make myself a smoothie! Now, I do have the ultimate smoothie machine ever built and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone - The Magic Bullet. I use it everyday for something. Like last night I used it to make a paste out of chilies and ginger...this morning I used it to make a healthy smoothie!

Strawberry Blueberry Smoothie
(single serving)

1 c. nonfat vanilla yogurt
¼ c. blueberries
½ c. frozen strawberries
1 t. lime juice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (optional)

Combine everything in a blender and let ‘er rip. I use frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries because that way, it makes the smoothie cold and I don’t need to add ice cubes. In my opinion, the fruit sweetens the smoothie enough that sugar is not necessary. Now how healthy does that sound!?

ROUND TWO REBUTTAL: Chocolate Mousse & Caramel Trifle

2008-05-10T17:12:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I didn't get too crazy with this one. I have a dinner party tonight for which I'm supposed to provide dessert, so I didn't want to chance making a huge gamble, tossing the result in the azalea bush and bringing a Publix pie to the party.

I know first-hand that Susan's Brownie Trifle is a home run, so I only changed it slightly. Here goes:

Chocolate Mousse & Caramel Trifle

1 recipe brownies (homemade or from mix, whatever)
1 recipe chocolate pudding (the large box)
1 container whipped topping
1/2 bag of Heath Bits o' Brickle (b/c I'm too lazy to crush Heath bars)
1 recipe caramel sauce (recipe below or just use a jar of caramel topping)

Fold whipped topping into chocolate pudding to create chocolate mousse. Crumble brownies into a bowl and alternate layers of brownie, caramel, brickle, and mousse.

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 C sugar
1/2 packed brown sugar
3/4 C water
1/4 C yogurt, heavy cream, or sour cream (I used sour cream)
1 t vanilla extract

Place in heavy saucepan, bring to boil over medium heat. Boil, WITHOUT STIRRING, for about 10-12 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool and stir in yogurt/heavy cream/sour cream and vanilla.

I even took a bunch of pictures for this one, but I'm an idiot and can't figure out how to upload them so that they're not the size of a postage stamp and aligned to the right. Oh well.

ROUND TWO REBUTTAL: Toffee Blondies

2008-05-10T11:33:00.006-04:00

Once I saw Susan's Heath Bar Trifle, I knew that I was going to have to put together something good. I immediately thought of brownies, but then I thought, why not make blondies with toffee and chocolate chips! So that is what I did. Trouble was that the toffee bits seemed to have melted while baking so there are no crunchy toffee pieces in the blondie, yet the whole blondie has a toffee flavor. Another problem I ran into was that chocolate chips seemed to have gone straight to the bottom while baking. But overall, it was a good experiment, and the blondies tasted good.

Toffee Blondies

1 c. flour
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1/8 t. baking soda
1 c. brown sugar
1 stick butter melted
1 egg
½ t. vanilla extract
½ c. toffee bits
½ c. chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar. Once mixed, add egg and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Once a nice batter is formed, add toffee bits and chocolate chips. Pour batter into a greased 8”x 8” baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. These would be darn good with some vanilla ice cream.

ROUND TWO: Chocolate Heath Bar Trifle

2008-05-09T08:36:00.009-04:00

I took this creation to my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting yesterday and I won best dish! There was some pretty stiff completion up on that buffet table too. I must admit that I took it two years ago and walked away with the same award. Let's see what my fellow Bloggin' Beauties can do to this one! It's a crowd pleaser...or at least it's a women who-are-sleep-and -chocolate-deprived pleaser!

Chocolate Trifle
Brownies- I use a box mix and follow the instructions and bake it in a 9x9 pan. After they cool, I cut the brownies into about 1 inch cubes.

Chocolate pudding- I use the big box of Jello Chocolate pudding and follow the directions for a pie filling. It's just less milk so the pudding is thicker.

1 tub of Cool Whip

Heath Candy Bar pieces- I haven't been able to find the large size Heath bars lately so I've been using the mini bars. I bought mine at Target and I've seen them at Publix too. I used about half of the bars in the bag. You can either put them in the food processor to crunch them up or put them in a heavy duty Ziploc and hit them with a rolling pin...good to get out frustration too!

Layer 1/2 of the brownies in a clear bowl (it looks neat when it's finished that way), followed by 1/2 the pudding mixture, 1/2 the Heath bar bits, and half of the Cool Whip. Then repeat the layers.

I didn't think to take a picture of it before I left yesterday morning but here is what I came back home with!

Get it...everyone liked it so much they licked the bowl clean!

ROUND ONE REBUTTAL: Rimocha

2008-05-08T22:24:00.008-04:00

You are wondering what in the world I am talking about right...rimocha? I will tell you right now it is something I just made up. I am going out on a limb on this one, but I think it's pretty good. I felt pressured to post my recipe this evening because Susan and Beth were totally on the ball with theirs. So, I thought to myself, its 10:30 pm ET, all I have is regular coffee to tinker around with and with that being the case, I would be up to at least 3:00 am from the caffeine. I looked in my refrigerator and low and behold, I had half a container of ricotta cheese left from making Susan's Chicken Capri. So I had a thought.

Rimocha
(single serving)

½ c. part skim ricotta cheese
2 t. cocoa powder
½ t. instant coffee grounds
3 packets of splenda
mini chocolate chips for a topping

Mix all ingredients together. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. That's it!

ROUND ONE REBUTTAL: Peppermint Mocha Coffee

2008-05-08T21:38:00.004-04:00

This is my take on Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Latte, which I was introduced to last Christmas. I don't have the time, money or gumption to go to Starbucks every time the mood strikes me for for one of these. Can you imagine me throwing two children into a mini-van, driving to Starbucks while they sing "it's a small world," putting said children in a double stroller and hauling that into the tiny Panama City Starbucks! I think not! For those without money or time...I give you Susan's Peppermint Mocha Coffee!

1 cup brewed coffee (8 oz)
2 oz milk (or coffee creamer)
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 T peppermint simple syrup (recipe follows)

Peppermint Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
Bring the mixture to a simmer until all the sugar is dissolved. Let cool and put in a container in the refrigerator.

I don't have a picture either because Susan doesn't do caffeine after...um...3pm. Must be genetic, right Beth? This just in...I took a picture of my coffee this morning so all could view it's chocolate, caffeine wonderness!

ROUND ONE: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED RIGHT!

2008-05-08T21:08:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I brought it up in the rules, so I'm probably asking for it. Stand back, Bobby Flay, because Beth is about to...THROW DOWN!

Iced Mocha Cofferino

2 t instant coffee
1 T granulated sugar
1/2 t cocoa powder
3 T hot water

Dump all in a small jar with lid (or without lid, if you happen to hate your kitchen walls). Shake it like a Polaroid (R) picture.

Dump over glassful of ice. Fill to top with milk and stir. Drink. Then ask yourself...why do people pay $4 for this at a drive-thru? Darn tasty, though - am I right? RIGHT???

Yeah, I don't have a picture. Because it's 9:15 pm and Beth does not deal well with caffeine after 6pm. Sad but true.