Peanuts and chocolate are a gorgeous pair.  They play well with each other.  they are comforting. They hang out well together.  to top all of these compatibility perfections, they are simple to combine.

Both are wonderful on their own.  Aside from those with allergies to nuts, most people enjoy these lovely legumes.  Most people also enjoy chocolate.  Bringing the two together is a match made in culinary and confectionary heaven.  It’s also mind numbingly simple to pull off, which is a plus for someone like me who enjoys instant gratification where food is concerned.

I’m not sure if this is so much a recipe as it is a method, but for the sake of semantics, we’ll say that it’s something worth learning, especially if you would like to get in to playing with chocolate.  I’m sure there are better methods and more advanced recipes for this, and if David Lebovitz can tell me how to keep 60% cacau chocolate from melting the second I touch it, I would be very greatful, as these candies are messy, but so very worth it!

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: candy, chocolate, dark chocolate, david lebovitz, dessert, Methods, peanuts, Recipes

Summer is here and as much as I love chocolate in all its many incarnations, warm weather calls for treats that are a bit lighter and brighter than my favorite winter fare.  The higher temperatures also mean we’re less likely to gravitate towards large treats, preferring instead to savor smaller bites and brighter flavors.  This dessert fits that bill in all ways and more.

These may be mix based, but I guarantee that you’ll overlook that once you’ve gotten a taste of these little explosions of flavor. There is simply nothing here not to love. Every bite is an immersion in all that is wonderful about lemon.  Tart, sweet and tangy with just a hint of saltiness in the glaze. Eating one of these bars is sort of like drinking lemonade mixed with rocket fuel.  It’s an unforgettable experience.

Simple, wonderful and light.  Perfect for the summer no matter where you are.  Please give this recipe a try.  And if you make something like it, feel free to leave a link in the comments.

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cookies, dessert, Desserts, lemon, summer, sweets, treats

Cheesecake may just be the perfect food.  It is certainly one of the oldest on record.  It is believed that cheesecake was served to the Olympic athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 B.C.  Any food with that kind of staying power just has to have something to … [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cakes, cheesecake, chocolate, dessert, Desserts, Holiday-Recipes, liqueur, sweet, sweets

This mousse was originally made to be a part of a different article, nothing more than a part of a larger recipe, but once it was made I had to put the mousse itself in the place it deserves to be.  Firmly in the spotlight.

Let me start by saying this:  I am not a huge white chocolate fan.  Generally speaking I’d rather be going for dark chocolate, or better, chocolate toffee. This recipe may have changed my mind.

This mousse is light, delicate, fluffy, airy, silky, velvety and other adjectives I just can’t come up with at the moment.  Basically it’s like eating a slightly whipped-cream flavored cloud, but with the flavor intensified by a factor of 100.  I could sit and just spoon down a cup of this mousse without ever trying hard, though a full cup might be a little much for anyone.

The mousse is simplicity in itself to make and could be used for any number of absolutely decadent desserts.  Drop a dollop on a pie the next time you were craving whipped cream, use it as a substitute for butter cream in a cake recipe, the filling for a pie or tart, or as a classic mousse.  My personal favorite way to eat it is drizzled with a bit of fruit compote and a spoon ;-)

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, dessert, Holiday-Recipes, mousse, sweets, white chocolate

Is there really an more perfectly simple topping or dipping sauce than caramel?  In its purest incarnation caramel is nothing more than sugar that has been heated until deeply browned, but the transformation is enough to bring out deep flavors and subtle overtones that simply can’t be found in any other form of sugar. With the addition of a few simple flavorings this humble mix of melted sugar and water can take on sweet, savory or succulent flavors and it plays with each very well.

In this instance we were looking for a sweet caramel sauce for a few desserts.  My wife found this recipe at Martha Stewart’s website and we both thought it would be a perfect fit to some of the other flavors we were going into the mix, so we gave it a shot.

It’s fabulous.  Really.  I can’t say how fabulous. I’ll admit that I upped the butter content over the version at Martha’s site, but I prefer a very rich caramel. (I may have added a bit more bourbon than listed as well.  OK, A tablespoon more… But this has a tendancy to cause the sauce to thicken a bit overmuch, so I don’t reccomend it.)

If you’re going to take the leap and try just once in your life and attempt to make your own caramel sauce, this is the one you should try!  No really, go make this right now.  I’ll wait….

Good, isn’t it?

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, sauces and glazes, sweet, sweets

This Month’s Daring Baker’s challenge, hosted by the lovely Morven, of Food Art and Random Thoughts, was one that made me giddy from the get go. Why? Because this time the rules basically said “do what you want”. The challenge was to make our own version of Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake. The only guidelines were that we must use the basic recipe and that it hadda be a layer cake. That’s just fine by me!

The original recipe called for buttercream icing. I’m not strictly a fan of buttercream, so I went with an orange-infused ganache instead. The original said you could use whipped cream if so desired, but that sounded too sweet for me, so I just whipped the ganache to something of a whipped cream consistency. Again, works for me.

The other change… Well, the original recipe was for a lemon based cake… I don’t have anything against lemons, but I have a TON of oranges lying about right now, so I changed out one citrus for another and skipped any type of fruit filling on this round. The cake will probably end up at my wife’s office, and I wanted it to keep well.

How did all these changes turn out, you ask?

Fantastically! The cake is light, spongy, dreamy and jam-packed with orange flavor. I may never look at any other white cake again for the rest of my life. Seriously, those relationships have grown stale in an instant. We’re just not on the same page any longer.

The ganache is almost like a chocolate-orange cloud, and has just passed up any other icing choice I’ve ever had. I’ll just use a white chocolate for it if I need a white frosting in the future. I think I may have over whipped it a bit, which made it difficult to spread, but the flavor… Oh, the flavor…

Pardon me.. I gotta grab another slice, why don’t you just print up the recipes below this and go make some for yerself…

!note: I just read that I wasn’t the only one that substituted orange for my cake. Check out the rest of this recipes’ variations at the daring bakers blogroll!

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cake, Daring Bakers Challenge, dessert, Orange, sweets

Peanut butter cookies may not be a part of every family’s holiday assortment, but they always have been in mine. For as long as I can remember, Christmas time meant the prerequisite sugar cookies, my Aunt Thelma’s tea cookies, chocolate chip cookies, my mother’s famous wrecked fudge and my mother’s famous peanut butter cookies.

This is not my mother’s recipe. It was passed down to my wife by her grandmother, and while they are not exactly the same as the cookies my mother used to make, they are delicious nonetheless. (I’ll post my Mom’s version as soon as I can wrestle it out of my sister.)

These little gems are definitely one of the best recipes for a peanut butter cookie that I’ve ever had, and I haven’t been shying away from the plat of them, either. As a matter of fact, I’m a bit worried that my current trend of losing pounds is about to end, at least for a while. I don’t really think I mind though. These cookies are well worth an extra pound or two. I hope you’ll agree.

Are peanut butter cookies on your holiday must have list? If not, what cookies or confections are always on your Holiday table? I really would love to know.

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2007. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas, cookie, dessert, Holiday-Recipes, peanut butter, sweets, Thanksgiving

I think I’ve died and gone to heaven this time folks. I can’t even begin to do justice to the flavors and textures in this sweet dish. The first thing you are greeted with the crisp phyllo shell, then there is an explosion of espresso and chocolate so strong and rich that it nearly assaults the senses. This is followed by the chewy caramel, which finishes on the tongue with flavors reminiscent of a caramel cappuccino. And all in a bite-sized treat.

The fabulous thing about it is that I came up with the recipe all by my little self! I’ve been wanting to revisit chocolate since I made these little fillo cups in January of this year. Even then I had already decided to go for a bit of mocha flavor, and I’m so very glad I did! Decadent just isn’t a strong enough word for this, and I’m in chocolate-coffee heaven, and will be until all of these little morsels have been eaten. (Which I’m sure won’t take very long.)

These tartelettes are a perfect holiday confection. They travel well (the filo cups come in a convenient plastic carton that can be used to carry them), hold their texture for several days, and are actually better the second day. As a matter of fact, I recommend making them a day before you plan to eat them.

Enough of my blathering, on to the good stuff!

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2007. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: baking, chocolate, dessert, tartelettes, tarts

The Holidays are the time for indulgences, meaning pastries, cookies, cakes, pies and what have you. In that spirit we’ve dusted off our baking gear for the season to bring you a slew of great recipes for you and yours.

So as the dulcet tones of Twisted Sister’s “Twisted Christmas” waft through the house along with the smells of fresh-baked cookies, I bring you the first of twelve cookie recipes for your Holiday gatherings, or just for noshing with family around the TV for the Rudolph marathon.

(I know. I know. I’ve dated myself horribly but in my defense I also listen to the classics, like Bing Crosby with David Bowie doing “Little Drummer Boy”, The Andrews sisters, and one or two Elvis Christmas Albums. Then there’s Manheim Steamroller, TSO and Amy Grant. I just love Christmas!)

This recipe is inspired by Alton Brown’s Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookie recipe, but done the quick and dirty way, minus the peppermint, which I am not a fan of in anything with dough. (In hot cocoa fine, but not in a cookie, please!)

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2007. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas, Cookies, dessert, Holiday-Recipes, sweets, Thanksgiving

There’s nothing that takes me back to my childhood faster than a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Just the smell is enough to bring back the sounds of my mother’s laughter, wrapping paper tearing and my sister squealing in happiness at the latest treasure to find its way out from under the tree. There are also memories of frigid January afternoons when the mist in the air carried ice. I’d get to the door from the bus, shivering and sniffling and walk through into the heat of the gas heater and the smell of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.

Good memories all.

My mother made her hot chocolate with unsweetened powdered chocolate, sugar and milk, at least until we were older and our grandmother introduced us to packaged coca with marshmallows. At the time it didn’t really matter to me, and the marshmallow kind was sweeter. for my mother it was faster, but I think she missed making it from scratch. There just isn’t as much love in a packet.

Today my tastes are more refined. I prefer dark chocolate to the silkier milk chocolates, and any thought of using a packet has long ago been left at the wayside. It really isn’t any more trouble to make your own hot chocolate, and the taste is like nothing you will ever get from a store shelf. It is truly the perfect beverage for a cold winter’s day.

… [visit site to read more]

© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2007. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, christmas, cold weather, comfort foods, dessert, Holiday-Recipes, sweets, Thanksgiving