Coquito ~ Puerto Rican Eggnog

Yet another holiday treat, finally being posted in April! 

Many years ago we attended a Christmas party where the most popular drink being poured was coquito.  The coquito was smooth, creamy, delicious and honestly you’d swear it didn’t have much, if any, alcohol…until you tried to stand up and walk and then it hit you!   Since that party, this delicious drink has replaced traditional eggnog in our home, making an appearance most holiday seasons.  Coquito is simple to make, but be sure to prepare it at least 24 hours ahead so that the flavors have time to meld perfectly together.  If you’d like to make an alcohol-free version just replace the rum with coconut water.

Coquito ~ Puerto Rican Eggnog

• 1 15-oz. can cream of coconut 
• 1 13.5-oz. can coconut milk 
• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
• 8-16 oz. rum, amount based on preference, can use white, gold, dark or spiced rum (or 8 oz. coconut water for an alcohol free version)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground allspice
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• roasted cinnamon for garnish

Add all the ingredients except the roasted cinnamon, to the jar of a blender and process until smooth and blended.  Pour the contents into bottles and refrigerate for at least a few hours, preferably over night, allowing the flavors to blend.  Shake bottles well before serving.  Serve the coquito cold, as small portions, dusted with some roasted cinnamon. 

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cheese Cake Fudge

At one of the local farmer’s markets, there is a vendor who sells fudge, and one of the flavors she sometimes carries is Carrot Cake Cheesecake.  Well, Eammon just adored her fudge so we worked to replicate the recipe at home as a treat over the holidays.  Yes, another holiday recipe which only took us 4 months to finally post!  We dissected the farmer’s market fudge layer-by-layer and noted that the fudge was the cheesecake flavor and the bottom crust, even without any carrots, tasted like carrot cake.  So, we researched all sorts of recipes to finally come up with this one which is indistinguishable from the farmer’s market one he loved.  Though there are a few steps to the recipe, it is simple to execute and the results are worth the time.

Carrot Cake Cheese Cake Fudge

For the carrot cake base:

• 1 sleeve  Ritz Original crackers
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar , packed
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk 
• 1 tsp. vanilla  
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp.  ground nutmeg
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

For the Cheesecake Fudge:

• 3 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter  
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 7 oz. Marshmallow Fluff (1-1/2 cups)
• 1 - 3.4 ounce instant cheesecake pudding mix, DRY

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil and grease with butter or coconut oil.  Arrange the Ritz Crackers in a even layer on the bottom of the baking dish, breaking some to fill in all the gaps and overlapping as needed.  In a medium saucepan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once the mixture is at a FULL boil, cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, cocoa,  nutmeg & walnuts.  Pour the mixture over the crackers and bake for 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool while making the fudge.

In a medium saucepan combine the white chocolate chips, butter, salt and condensed milk and heat until melted and smooth. Add the dry pudding mix and stir until the mix dissolves and is smooth.  Add the Marshmallow Fluff and stir until melted and smooth. Pour the melted fudge over the crust and use an offset spatula to smooth. 

Refrigerate until set.  Carefully remove the fudge from the pan and peel back the foil.  Using a sharp knife which has been heated in a bowl of hot water and then wiped dry, cut the fudge into small squares.  Clean the knife between each cut with a dish towel and reheat it as necessary.   Store the fudge at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Peppermint Bark

For some reason we have numerous recipes with pictures, which we never got posted to the blog.  Amazing how life, with all its ups and downs, makes time on the computer less and less available.  Need to try harder to get more recipes up so, we’re going to try and get all these older recipes posted and of course all the new and delicious ones too. 

This peppermint bark is super simple and a must-have around the holidays.  Yes, we had it back in December and here it is April and we’re just getting it onto the blog!  What’s really nice is that there’s no real cooking involved, it’s all chocolate, so fun to do as a family activity or with the kids.  Messy fingers all around to be cleaned up by hungry mouths. 

Peppermint Bark

• 12 ounces high quality white chocolate, discs, morsels or bars broken into pieces, divided
• 6 ounces high quality dark chocolate, discs, morsels or bars broken into pieces
• 1 1/2 tsp. coconut oil, or oil of your choice, divided
• 4 oz. Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

Line a baking sheet with a Silpat, aluminum foil, or parchment paper.  Place half of the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl along with 1/2 a teaspoon of the coconut oil.  Melt in 15 second increments, stirring well after each heating.  Heat and stir until smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so no scorching occurs.  Pour the smooth chocolate onto the prepared pan and using an offset spatula, spread to a thin layer.  Place the pan into the refrigerator until the chocolate is ALMOST set, about 15 minutes.  While the first layer is in the refrigerator, heat the dark chocolate along with 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil in the same manner as the white chocolate.  Spread the dark chocolate over the almost set white chocolate and smooth with the offset spatula.  Again place in refrigerator to allow the dark chocolate to ALMOST set.  Repeat the process with the remaining white chocolate and 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil.  Once you spread the final layer of white chocolate and smooth, sprinkle on the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips and press them gently into the melted white chocolate. 

Refrigerate the bark until completely hardened. Once hardened, remove from the pan and peel off the Silpat, aluminum foil or parchment. Break the bark into pieces as large or as small as you want. If you choose to cut into squares, allow the bark to warm to room temperature.  Take a very long, sharp knife and allow it to warm up in a bowl of hot water.  Wipe the water off the knife and then use it to cut the bark.  Between each cut, wipe the knife and reheat it in the water as necessary.

Enjoy!!

Grilled Pizza Sandwich

It’s crazy that it’s already April, I swear that time is passing at breakneck speed.  Flowers in the garden are popping up and blooming, Maisie’s level 7 gymnastics season is over and as crazy as it sounds, she has only twenty days left in fifth grade and in her current school.  It feels like we just celebrated Christmas yet here we are planning for summer and some time off!!  And here it is again, Secret Recipe Club time.  This month our assignment was Nicole’s blog, Daily Dish Recipes.  We all had fun perusing Nicole’s blog and drooled over many of her recipes, including her garlic herb spiralizer fries, chicken scampi appetizer bites and her asparagus dip, but when Maisie saw Nicole’s grilled pizza sandwich she was all over it and the decision was done and made. 

The sandwich was super simple to make and as it uses everyday ingredients, we had everything in the house.  We of course adapted Nicole’s recipe to fit Maisie’s allergies and her tastes.  The wonderful thing about this sandwich is that it can be adapted any way you’d like.

The sandwich was a huge hit with Maisie, who ate the entire thing in record time, because in her words, “it’s delicious and I’m starving after practice.”

Grilled Pizza Sandwich (adapted from here)

• for each sandwich, 2 slices of A-Maisie-ingly Wonderful Gluten Free Bread or bread of your choice
• butter, softened
• Whole milk mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
• mini pepperoni slices
• garlic powder
• pizza or spaghetti sauce of your choice

Lightly butter one side of each slice of bread.  Lay one buttered side down in a cold pan and turn the pan on to medium low.  Immediately start building the sandwich with a layer of mozzarella, then add the pepperoni, a dash of garlic powder and top with the remaining slice of buttered bead, buttered side facing the ceiling.  Cover the pan and allow the sandwich to cook until the bottom is golden brown then flip the sandwich over, cover again and cook until the bottom is again golden.  Remove from pan, slice and serve with pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup 
Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata 
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

We recently purchased a few Schiltz young American free-range geese and we went on a cooking spree!  We began by breaking down two of the geese, taking off the leg & thigh sections which we would confit.  We boned the breasts and those were set aside to make in different preparations.  The bones, wings and miscellaneous parts were roasted and then put in a stockpot for soup.  All the excess fat and skin was put into a pot so that the fat could be rendered and the skin made into delicious crackling.  Seriously, if you’re a fan of bacon fat and pork rinds, you ain't seen nothin’ till you’ve had goose fat and crackling…off the charts crazy delicious!

Making crackling and rendering the “liquid gold” fat is such a simple process.  It’s going to be wonderful having the fat in the freezer to use in making so many dishes.  Seriously, potatoes & vegetables roasted or sautéed in goose fat are the bomb!!  The cracking we enjoy snacking on and also using as a crunchy topping on salads and soup.  Any way that you’d enjoy pork rinds you can enjoy crackling.  This post shows us using goose, but the same process is used for chicken, duck and turkey fat.  All are wonderful and worth making.

Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

• Fat and skin, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces, we used the excess skin & fat from 2 geese but you can use as much or as little as desired
• 1 cup water
• Himalayan sea salt 

Add the fat, skin & water to a heavy pot that is twice the depth of the amount of skin & fat.  The addition of the water will help the fat begin to render and more is not needed with the addition of more birds, but if using the skin and fat from 1 bird or less, reduce the amount to 1/4-1/2 cup.   Turn the heat to high, cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a full boil, remove the lid and reduce the temperature to bring the pot to a light boil.  As the fat renders and the water evaporates, the mixture may hiss or spatter.  Let the fat render out on the stove for about 2-3 hours depending on how low you have your flame. Be sure to give the fat a good stir with some tongs about every 1/2 hour  The fat will start out yellow and milky butt will turn clear and the skin and fat pieces with be golden brown. Now you’re ready.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the cracklings from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate, salt immediately.  Allow the liquid fat to cool slightly, then strain into clean, sealable containers using a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Store the duck fat covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 months or in the freezer for a year or more.

Enjoy!!

Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup

We truly can’t believe that it’s March already but on the other hand, we’re happy that spring is right around the corner as it’s been a cold winter for us southerners.  And on these cold winter nights there’s nothing more wonderful than a bowl of hot, creamy and comforting soup.  It was just one of those cold days when we perused Leigh’s blog, Chit Chat… Chomp, this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment.  Leigh’s food choices are very similar to ours in that she leans towards fresh, gluten free, organic, fructose-free, healthy foods so when reading through her blog, we found so many offerings that fit in with our diets which we were tempted to make.  Her gorgeous photography skills had us wanting to jump right into the screen and devour every item she displayed.  In the end though, because it was a freezing cold day, we were tempted by the comfort of soup.  We actually debated between two soups, her Mushroom & Cashew Soup and her Roasted Tomato Mascarpone Soup and the tomato soup won out only because we had all the ingredients in the house.  I mean seriously, who wants to trek out to the store when it’s freezing outside!  We thought about also making her Zucchini Quiche to enjoy with the soup but that would have entailed a trip to the grocery, so that was going to be left for another day!  Can you tell that we don’t particularly care for freezing cold weather?  Thinking about it, while we’re here freezing, Leigh is on the other side of the world in Melbourne enjoying summer…maybe we should go visit her!  Hey Leigh, want some visitors????

Anyhow, back to the soup.  The soup was oh-so simple to make and the flavors were divine.  The soup wasn’t overly creamy, just enough to balance out the acidity of the tomato.  We changed the recipe only slightly, adding an extra red bell pepper and we chose to leave out the brown sugar.  When the soup was served, some of us chose to add an extra dollop of mascarpone and a sprinkle of chives which topped off the soup perfectly.  It’s still cold out there so make some delicious soup, our version or Leigh’s and while you’re enjoying your soup, check out Leigh’s blog, all her recipes, gorgeous photography and all of her travels to France, oh-so interesting to read.

  Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup  (adapted from here)

• 2 1/4 lbs. plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled & quartered
• 2 large red bell peppers, deseeded & quartered
• 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled 
• Himalayan salt 
• fresh ground pepper
• olive oil
• 1 TBS. mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and add a drizzle of olive oil.  Place the tomatoes, onion, bell peppers & garlic onto the pan and stir to coat everything with with oil.  Season with a little salt & pepper.  Roast for 45-60 minutes, until the the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize slightly.  Remove from the oven and carefully add all the contents of the pan, juices too, to a blender.  Secure the lid and hold it down with a towel as you process the ingredients until smooth.  Once smooth, add the tablespoon of mascarpone and blend until incorporated.  Serve immediately, adding an extra little drizzle of olive oil to each portion and if desired, a nice dollop of mascarpone.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata 
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup

We could eat this soup every.single.day and sometimes we go for weeks at a time doing just that!  Such a simple, healthy soup and it’s beyond delicious!  We found the recipe originally on Melissa Joulwan’s blog, The Clothes Make the Girl and in her cookbook, Well Fed 2.  Melissa labels this soup as “a healthy hug in a bowl” which is such a fitting description for this soup.  We make this soup when we gather up enough leftover pieces of zucchini after spiralizing it when making another of Melissa’s recipes, Zucchini Noodles Aglio et Olio (freeze the extra pieces until you have enough.)  We also make this soup when we have an abundance of fresh zucchini.  When we have an abundance of zucchini, we make a huge pot and freeze the soup in 4-6 cup containers.  If you do freeze the soup, you’ll need to puree it again once thawed, either by placing it in the blender or using an immersion blender.  So, if you have an abundance of zucchini or need a warm hug, make this soup!!

Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup (adapted from here)

• 2 TBS. coconut oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 10 large fresh garlic cloves
• 2 TBS. ground ginger
• 2 TBS. ground coriander
• 1 TBS. Himalayan salt
• 1 TBS. fresh ground pepper
• 6 lbs. zucchini, cut in 1/2 moons or leftover pieces
• 12 cups chicken bone broth or Cheaters Chicken Soup (can also use beef,vegetable or any mix of broth you choose)

Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot.  Add the onions and sauté low and slow, until caramelized.  Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, salt & pepper.  Cook stirring continuously until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and zucchini.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Allow the soup to cook for 45-60 minutes, until the zucchini is very soft.  Once the zucchini is soft, use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or use a blender to carefully puree (use a towel to hold the lid on the blender on whilst pureeing.)  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata

It’s difficult to believe that our previous time participating in The Secret Recipe Club was way back in November!!  In some ways it feels like a long time ago, but with the holidays and all that they entail, the time passed quickly.  It’s really good to be back and participating again.  This month we were assigned Mellissa’s blog, A Fit & Spicy Life.  Mellissa is a healthy, wine-loving, dog-loving, recipe-loving gal and reading her blog allows a glimpse into her fun-loving life.

It was a cold, gray, rainy night the evening we perused Mellissa’s blog and the idea of something warm, comforting & easy was what made us stop and drool when we spotted her Bacon & Vegetable Frittata.  Seriously, there’s nothing easier, more comforting or delicious than a hearty breakfast for dinner so that’s exactly when and what we enjoyed, using Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata as the inspiration and guide for our meal.  Mellissa mentioned in her post, that a frittata “can be the best dish to use up all those veggies that are about to go bad” so we raided our veggie drawer and used what we had.  Also, to make it a bit heartier and because we had it already defrosted and it needed to be used, we added ground turkey to the mix.  In the end, with the inspiration of Mellissa’s recipe as our guide, we enjoyed a perfectly hearty breakfast for dinner frittata…and it reheated beautifully for meals later in the week.  Check out Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata and all her other recipes on A Fit & Spicy Life.

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata (adapted from here)

• 8 Eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper 
• 6 slices bacon, divided
• 2 cups fresh chopped (chunky) broccoli
• 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup oven roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

Heat oven to 325F.  In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy whipping cream, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. pepper, and set aside.  In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.  Pour off all but 2 TBS. of the bacon fat and return the pan to the heat.  Add the broccoli and cook until tender and golden in spots.  Remove the broccoli from the pan and set aside.  Add the ground turkey & minced garlic to the pan and season with salt & pepper.  Cook the turkey until no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the roasted tomatoes just as the turkey finishes cooking.  Remove the pan from the heat and add back in the cooked broccoli.  Dice three of the bacon strips and add those to the pan along with the grated cheese, stir to combine.  Pour the contents of the pan into a 10-inch silicon cake pan which has been placed on a baking sheet, or if your pan is oven-proof, just keep the ingredients in the pan and continue.  Pour the egg mixture over the turkey/broccoli mix and top with the remaining three strips of bacon (each cut in half.)  Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly delicious.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg Drop Soup

Okay a little whinge here, we live in Georgia and waking to temperatures in the single digits and feeling like negative numbers should not happen!!  Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened this morning and we’ll be lucky to get up to 30F.  Not our favorite kind of weather!  So, with it being crazy cold outside we needed to warm our insides and for that, nothing is better than a steaming bowl of soup.  Today we decided it would be Egg Drop Soup, not only because it’s simple & quick to make and we had all the ingredients in the house, but also because Maisie has been cleared to have eggs as we test her tolerance and vasomotor rhinitis response.  This soup took minutes to make and got big thumbs up and smiles from Maisie and all of us.

Egg Drop Soup

• 4 cups Cheaters Chicken Soup or broth
• 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 TBS. sesame oil
• 1 TBS. fish sauce
• 2 TBS. coconut aminos 
• 1 TBS. arrowroot powder (can use corn starch, tapioca/cassava/yucca starch)
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBS. water
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• salt to taste

In a heavy pot, bring the soup, ginger, pepper, garlic, sesame oil & fish sauce to a boil.  While that is coming to a boil, in a small bowl, mix the coconut aminos and arrowroot powder to form a smooth slurry.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and 2 TBS. water together.  Once the soup begins to boil, stir briskly while slowly adding the arrowroot slurry.  Allow to boil for 30-60 seconds and then lower the temperature.  Still stirring the soup continuously, drizzle in the eggs allowing the strands of egg to cook.  Add the green onions and then season to taste with salt.

Enjoy!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Fudge

Another ~off our usual eating plan~ treat which we made for this Christmas season.  Chocolate fudge is wonderful but the addition of some spiciness just makes it all that much better.  The fudge isn’t too hot or spicy but rather just has a nice little kick.  Make and enjoy!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Fudge

• 18 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 tsp. instant espresso 
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 tsp. dark chili powder 
• 1/8 tsp.ground cayenne pepper 
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Line a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, or use a square silicone pan, unlined.  Melt the chocolate, condensed milk and marshmallows in a heavy pot.  Remove from the heat and stir in the espresso powder, cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne, salt & vanilla. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.  Chill for 2 hours or until firm.  Remove the fudge from the pan.  Remove foil if used.  Cut the fudge into squares. 

Enjoy!!

Fried Fudge

Totally off our regular eating plan, but we decided that some Christmas treats were in order this year.  The first of these sugary treats was some super smooth, chocolaty Fried Fudge.  The fudge isn’t actually fried, it’s just made in a fry pan, thus the name.  Simple to make and delicious to eat.  Make it with or without nuts, it’s up to you!

Fried Fudge

• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 oz. condensed milk
• 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup walnuts, quartered
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 

In a heavy fry pan, mix the sugar, butter &  milk together and then bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook for six more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat & add the chocolate chips and nuts. Stir until fudge begins to form and then quickly add the vanilla, stirring to incorporate. Using a tablespoon, drop the fudge onto a Silpat or wax paper. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!