Author: chanie

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pecan Pie

It’s amazing how I’m becoming less and less into sweets. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love a good dessert. But sometimes I find the sugar so overly cloying. Like in pecan pie.

But with pecan pie being so traditional and all, I didn’t want to just cut it out of my life without at least trying. So try I did. And succeed, oh yes, I did!

Enter Mexican Hot Chocolate – the sweet and spicy rich chocolate drink with just the right amount of kick. I love how the bittersweet chocolate and chili balances out the sweetness in this pie. It totally works.

I’ve done this before with brownies, and it has become one of my most favorite recipes. My guests always ooh and ahh over my Duncan Hines fix, thinking I spent hours perfecting the best brownie recipe.

With pecan pie, it’s just the same. The filling is really fairly simple, and if you use a frozen pie crust like I did (insert-surprised-emoji-face-here), it’s as easy as 1-2-3.

This beauty is being gifted to Melinda of kitchen-tested for her pie bar tomorrow, which I will be lucky enough to be sampling from, after her crazy Thanksgiving feast! Sorry that I had to slice it open Mel!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for a play by play of Melinda’s incredible meal! Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and happy pie eating too :)

Related Recipes:

Mexican hot chocolate brownies
pecan pie lace cookies

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The Silver Platter Review & Giveaway

My first impression of The Silver Platter cookbook was how big and beautiful it is, almost a coffee table book. Having formerly trained in graphic design, I always look at the layout first. And the pictures. Both are stellar. Beautiful, bright and colorful photos accompany each meticulously-written recipe. And the food doesn’t just look good, it looks inviting, and not intimidating in the least. I love the partnership of Daniella and Norene in this book. Daniella is a young mom looking to feed her kids easy and healthy dinners, while Norene brings her culinary expertise, offering sage advice for each recipe.

I think my favorite part about The Silver Platter is that all of the recipes can be made with basic pantry ingredients. Daniella managed to bring a variety of dishes that are packed with flavor using basic ingredients and no added junk. Her recipes are healthy, wholesome and family-friendly without being boring. Many are gluten free and allergy-friendly too. A nutritional index for each recipe is even included in the appendix.

The Silver Platter features recipes that are both basic enough for every day and innovative enough for the holidays. From appetizers, soups and salads, to fish, poultry, meat and dairy, as well as grain side dishes, vegetable side dishes, cookies, treats and cakes, they’ve got everything covered! I can’t wait to try the baby eggplant fans (genius!), crunchy corned beef strips, berry plum soup, snap pea salad with basil-mint dressing, broiled lemon fish, three-seeded schnitzel, basil chicken with sundried tomatoes, raspberry london broil, cheesy quinoa bites, panko-topped bok choy and edamame, fudgy pretzel brownies, white chocolate popcorn clusters, blueberry flan and heavenly halva cheesecake!

In honor of Thanksgiving, I’m sharing some festive recipes for apple cranberry couscous and sweet potato squash soup below, AND, I’m also giving away a copy of The Silver Platter! To enter, simply leave a comment below about your favorite Thanksgiving dish. For an extra entry, follow Busy In Brooklyn via any of the channels below. Just be sure to leave a note in the comment letting me know where you follow.

Facebook
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Giveaway is open to U.S. residents (for international entries, prize can only be shipped in the U.S.). Winner will be chosen at random at 10:00 AM EST on Tuesday, November 24th, 2015.

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Unstuffed Mushrooms

Thanksgiving is coming up and all I can think about is stuffing. Particularly cornbread stuffing. It’s my absolute favorite! Make that chorizo cornbread stuffing and Ill take two portions please :)

Believe it or not, I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving. My mom used to make us turkey sandwiches, just for kicks. And sometimes she’d make some Thanksgiving dishes for Shabbat the week of Thanksgiving. I always wanted to experience the whole turkey-gravy-stuffing-pumpkin pie-cranberry sauce-green bean casserole smorgasbord, but I’m kind of too lazy to make it all! Lucky for me, my friend Melinda from kitchen-tested is doing the whole shebang, and I kind of invited myself over! Melinda is an amazing cook and I cannot wait to see what she has up her chef”s sleeve. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, because I will definitely be posting pics from that sure-to-be-epic meal!

Speaking of lazy, this unstuffed mushroom recipe can also be called lazy stuffed mushrooms, because that is, in fact, what it is. I was digging through my fridge for a side dish the other week, and I found all the ingredients I would need to make stuffed mushrooms. Except I was too lazy to make stuffed mushrooms, so I made unstuffed ones! I added some roasted chestnuts and Chardonnay for a truly festive dish, perfect for your Thanksgiving meal!

This post is sponsored by kosherwine.com. All opinions are my own. 

Related Recipes:

teriyaki mushrooms
spinach stuffed mushrooms
spaghetti squash with spinach, mushrooms and white wine
Tuscan white beans with spinach and white wine

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Za’atar Roasted Kabocha Squash with Silan

{Funny Story} So, when I was growing up, my mom always used to make roasted kabocha squash for Shabbat, except she always called it kaboochie squash. She would send me to the store with a list, and whenever I would ask the guy in the produce department for kaboochie squash, he had no idea what I was talking about! And neither did anyone else in the store. Go figure.

Well this right here ^^^ is what “kaboochie” squash looks like. And once I made my mom show it to me the knobby weird shaped pumpkin, I never had to ask it for again. {Phew.}

Fast forward a number of years (I don’t want to date myself or anything), I was newly married and cooking for Shabbat. I wanted to make the delicious squash my mom had always made growing up, so I googled it, and found that it was actually called kabocha squash. Sorry mom.

It turns out that kabocha squash is actually a Japanese pumpkin, and the stuff is goooood. It’s literally my most favorite squash of all the knobby little things out there. Lucky for me, it’s also the hardest to cut.

Its’ so hard to cut, in fact, that Levana Kirschenbaum, Wholefoods chef par excellence, actually has a picture of herself cutting one open with a hammer in her cookbook! I don’t use a hammer in my kitchen, but here is what I do: First I remove the stem at the top and then I cut it in half vertically. I scoop out the seeds and place it flesh-side-down on my cutting board. Then, following the curve of the squash, I cut it into wedges. Voila!

Now my mom used to cook the kabocha up with a drizzle of oil and lots of brown sugar, and it was deeelish. But I wanted to bring out the savoriness of this squash, so I roasted it up with my favorite spice – za’atar. I coated it all with some sweet sticky silan, for a hint of sweetness, and finished it with an extra sprinkling of sesame seeds. You can garnish it as I did with pomegranate seeds and parsley, or just serve it up as-is for a sweet and savory bite!

Once you familiarize yourself with this awesome squash, feel free to use it in roasted pumpkin soup, my kale and kabocha salad with pears and pecans, or in recipes that call for boring old butternut squash. The flavor and texture of kabocha is by far superior, you’ll never turn back!

Related Recipes:

wilted kale & kabocha squash salad
savory butternut squash fries
za’atar roasted chickpeas
silan roasted figs

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Cowboy Cookie Dough Bites

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging here at BUSYINBROOKLYN for the last five years. Yes, for almost five years (my blogoversary is in January) I have been consistently posting recipes and sharing my love and passion for food. It truly blows my mind.

If you’ve been following me since the early days (and I know some of you loyal readers have), you might remember a popular cookie that was one of my very first posts, these cowboy cookies. Why these kitchen-sink-style cookies are called cowboy cookies is anyones guess, but they are popularly made with oats, pecans, coconut and chocolate chips. The chunky cookies are so fantastic, I decided to create a healthy, vegan version using medjool dates, one of my favorite things. The result? They look like cookie dough, the taste like cookie dough, and they’re all natural. You gotta love that!

Now when you’re making a raw truffle, you have to go for good quality ingredients because nothing is getting cooked. That’s why I use my favorite brand of chocolate chips, California Gourmet. There’s a reason their popular blue and red bags are now available in over 300 stores, most recently available in Illinois. The rich and chocolaty pieces really take these truffles up a notch!

Ever since my family has been introduced to a slew of food allergies, I’ve been trying to find ways for all my kids to be able to enjoy treats like cookies, without using any eggs. My eldest daughter loves cookie dough (she always picks out that flavor in the Ice Cream store) and my youngest is positively obsessed with chocolate chips. A cookie dough truffle was definitely the way to go, but I never imagined that something so wholesome would taste SO GOOD, and so much like cookie dough. My next challenge? Making an egg-free birthday cake. Anyone have any suggestions?

With the big FIVE YEAR blogoversary coming up, I’m also taking suggestions on what improvements you’d like to see on the BIB blog, and new recipes and ideas that you’d like me to post in the coming months. Share your ideas, comments and suggestions with me below!

I want to offer a huge congratulations to California Gourmet for winning the NEW PRODUCT award (in the baking category) from Kosherfest this year! You truly deserve the honor!

This post is sponsored by California Gourmet Chocolate Chips. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   View the list of over 300 stores that carry the brand here).

Related Recipes:

cowboy cookies
grape nut coconut crunch cookies
oatmeal breakfast cookies (oil-based!)
gingerbread date truffles

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