Vanilla Blood Orange Cupcakes
I love to make cupcakes; it’s an obsession! With that being said, I used to just play with the “bang your head on the wall” icing out of a plastic container also known as store bought. This last Christmas I received a KitchenAid and the icing I make comes out so wonderful now, I would never let go of my KitchenAid. Any who, I decided I need to work on technique and such before my daughter’s birthday and who could resist using the new Nikon D5100 for some food shots. The camera, kitchen, and myself have become one. It’s scary!
Oh! And did I mention that Blood Oranges are in season and we finally got them here. I bought two huge bags and this week and went back for more. Blood oranges are perfect for a garnish. Ha! Ha! Be my Bloody Valentine!
Peel the blood orange and roll your orange slices in sugar and set aside.
Don’t brown the cupcakes or they become crunchy on top. The lightly brown/golden color is perfect!
Before the orange slices (above) and with orange slices (below).
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard cupcake tin with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, yogurt, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth for about a minute.
Divide batter evenly among cups with an ice cream scoop. Bake until cupcakes are lightly golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 2 minutes till butter is soft and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla and blood orange juice, mix well. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
To swirl the icing, simply put white icing on one side of the icing bag and pink on the other. I used a 1M tip from Wilton.
http://mooshujenne.com/vanilla-blood-orange-cupcakes/Irish Cream Cupcakes
After New Year’s, I had a quarter bottle of Irish cream left over and I just wasn’t sure what to do with it. Now that I received a new KitchenAid as a gift for Christmas, I thought it should be a bit simpler to make icing and why not try it out. My V does not care much for alcohol mixed with food. On the other hand my 16 year old loves it. You know how teenagers are! I have to consistently explain it really is just for flavor and it’s not going to get you drunk. Oh well, as long as they eat it I’m happy!
These cupcakes would be fantastic for St. Patrick’s Day and you can always spruce them up with some clover sprinkles.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line your cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside.
Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla. Mix in stand mixer or with handheld mixer until smooth. Fill each cup with batter half full. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool before frosting.
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar and Irish cream. Begin at low speed increasing to high. Beat until fluffy and thick. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with 1M and decorate cupcakes. Dust top of cupcakes with a little cocoa for decoration.
For a extra wow when it comes to the cupcakes take a chopstick and make a small whole in top of cupcake and squeeze Hershey’s chocolate syrup into the hole until you see it pop out of the top then top cupcake with icing.
http://mooshujenne.com/irish-cream-cupcakes/Roasted Jalapeno Soup
A few college semesters ago, a friend of mine took me out to lunch. I had never been to Rockfish but I love seafood and thought it was worth a shot. We decided to just have a couple of appetizers. After a glance through, I saw Jalapeno soup on the menu and just knew I had to try it. It is one of my obsessions to eat everything spicy since when I was a kid I despised spicy food. When the bowl came out to my dismay it was white and creamy! Creamy Jalapeno soup? Yes, it was strange but after a few bites I was completely hooked.
I would like to share with you my copycat recipe for RockFish’s Roasted Jalapeno Soup. This is a simple and healthy lunch that can be served with crackers, croutons, or bread. The soup can be made in less then thirty minutes and pairs well with a BLT sandwich. Don’t go out and eat that greasy burger, stay in and enjoy a delicious bowl of Jalapeno soup.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F and place de-seeded and de-ribbed jalapenos faced down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast jalapenos for 10 to 15 minutes till the skin is lifting from the jalapeno. Pull from oven and peel skin from jalapeno. Removing the skins is optional. I like the flavor of the roasted skin so I leave the skin on.
In a medium sauce pot, add in the carrots, onions, and olive oil. Saute for about 3 minutes until the carrots are tender.
On a small plate, smash the butter and flour together until lightly incorporated. This is going to make your roux easier and with less lumps. Add flour and butter mixture to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes while coating vegetables. Add in the roasted jalapenos; stir well. Add in chicken broth and bring to a boil. The soup should have a creamy texture and be yellow in color. Add in heavy cream and wondra flour; stir well and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to low and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes until the soup is thick and creamy. If not thick enough you can add more Wondra. Don't worry about lumps as you will be blending the soup anyway. Salt and pepper to taste.
Using a immersion blender or regular blender, cream the soup until all large pieces of jalapeno or carrots have diminished. ( I didn't blend mine in the picture cause I was in a rush and can't find a piece to my immersion blender). Serve with croutons, crackers, or by itself.
http://mooshujenne.com/roasted-jalapeno-soup/
Review: Ching’s Everyday Easy Chinese
Title: Ching’s Everyday Easy Chinese
Publisher: Harpercollins
Pages: 240
Goodreads: With her trademark passion and deep appreciation for Chinese cooking, Cooking Channel star Ching-He Huang brings her charm and expertise to an eager audience with this outstanding cookbook. Ching fuses Chinese and Western cultures to create one hundred quick dishes full of natural ingredients and bursting with flavor. More…
My Review: This book is one of my absolute favorites. The recipes are full of flavor and super healthy. No need to buy Chinese take out if you have this book in your arsenal. Majority of the ingredients are easy to find locally. Ching really gives you the authentic flavor with recipes that you can cook in just thirty minutes; great for weeknights!
Review: The French Slow Cooker
Title: The French Slow Cooker
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 240
Goodreads: With a slow cooker, even novices can turn out dishes that taste as though they came straight out of the kitchen of a French grandmère. Provençal vegetable soup. Red-wine braised beef with mushrooms. Chicken with forty cloves of garlic. Even bouillabaisse. The French Slow Cooker makes all of these as simple as setting the timer and walking away. More…
My Review: Scicolone takes the art of French cuisine and implements simplicity. The Garlic Soup, Dijon Style Cornish Hens, Red Wine Braised Pot Roast, and Normandy Pork with Apples are a few dishes that are elegant yet simple to cook in your slow cooker. The history of dishes and regions they reign from are fascinating tidbits through out the book.
Review: Cook Like A Rock Star
Title: Cook Like A Rock Star
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Pages: 256
Goodreads:
For Anne Burrell, a classically trained chef and host of Food Network’s Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (where she shares impressive recipes and smart techniques that anyone can master), and Worst Cooks in America (the show that transforms hopeless home cooks), being a rock star in the kitchen means having the confidence and ability to get a great meal on the table without a sweat. In her debut cookbook, she presents 125 rustic yet elegant recipes, all based on accessible ingredients, along with encouraging notes and handy professional tricks that will help you cook more efficiently at home. More…
My Review: What I love most about this book is how the recipes are set up for the reader to follow. Anne’s literary voice is just as strong and witty as it is on her shows. The recipes simply shine with dishes such as Killer Mac & Cheese with Bacon, Maple Pumpkin Bread Pudding and Lemon Curd Tart. Definitely add “Cook Like A Rock Star” to your cookbook library.
Grass Bread – Zucchini Bread
I have heard of Zucchini bread many times but never tried it until a friend of mine from college mentioned it as “Grass” bread. With a quick spin and What? She was laughing. I said do you really put grass in it? She said no of course not and said it is just something her and the kids call it. The next day she brought me a piece. Of course I was hooked. Now, I love any way that I can possibly take an ingredient like zucchini that people generally go “Eww” and turn that into a “Oh wow”! With that being said, I hope you do a “Oh wow” when you try this recipe.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
Grate the zucchini in to a medium bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons of sugar and transfer the mixture to a fine-mesh strainer set at least 2 inches over a bowl, press firmly, and allow to drain. In a large bowl; add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and whisk until combined. Set aside.
Whisk together the 2 ½ cups sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter until combined. Set aside. Stir in the zucchini and the liquid mixture into the flour mixture. Pour batter, which will be thick, into the loaf pans and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.
Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 5 to 7 minutes and remove to cooling rack. Serve with honey butter.
http://mooshujenne.com/grass-bread-zucchini-bread/Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Cap’n Crunch Cookies
Everyone in my household simply loves Cap’n Crunch. For a few years now, I have been baking some simple cereal cookies out of cake mix and cereal. The cookies are good but the texture was soft and just not like a traditional cookie. The creativity bug hit me smack dab in the face. Ooh! What if I took a butter cookie (basic) recipe and just tossed in Cap’n Crunch! To my surprise, I manage to have them come out perfect the first time. Pure luck!
I sent these bad boys to a few guy friends of a friend for taste testing. Hopefully, they will comment here and let us all know their opinion on these super dunking cookies.
After completing these cookies and being oh so proud of myself, watching everyone devour them, I headed over to Cap’n Crunch’s website to see that they actually have a different recipe. Yes, folks this is not their recipe. I am in the future planning on trying the Cap’n Crunch French Toast!
The perfect dunking cookie 
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until fully combined; to aerate.
Melt butter completely in a microwave safe bowl. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar, and melted butter. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Continue beating until batter is light and creamy. In increments, add in flour mixture, mixing after each addition.
In a small bowl, crush 1 cup of the Cap'n Crunch with a potato masher. If you do not have a potato masher, put the Cap'n Crunch into a small zip lock bag and smash. Add crushed Cap'n Crunch to the dough mix, stirring by hand. Then add in the other cup of non-crushed Cap'n Crunch and mix well by hand.
Roll the cookies into 1/2 balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies spread a lot. You want to make sure to make the cookie balls small. Place a dozen to a sheet.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are a light golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
http://mooshujenne.com/capn-crunch-cookies/Biscotti
Please join Mooshu Jenne and the FN Dish – Fall Fest at Food Network for a Virtual Cookie Swap. You can join us on Twitter with the hashtag #pullupachair.
For the Virtual Cookie Swap, I would love to share with you a simple Biscotti recipe. I love this recipe because it makes fantastic gifts. Just drizzle a little chocolate over the Biscotti, throw them in a bag, and put them in a basket or mug with a hot chocolate packet. For a little more oomph just add some chocolate covered spoons.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375F.
In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add the eggs and extract. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add it gradually to the large bowl with sugar mixture and beat well until a dough forms. If you would like to add in cranberries or chocolate chips you can before the next step.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and rub your hands with a little flour. Divide the dough in two and form each half into a log. Take the log and lay it on your baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Press the log to be about 4 inches wide and the length of the baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned and small cracks form on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and slice on the diagonal in 1/2 inch slices; careful as they will still be hot. Place them flat on the backs and cook for another 5 minutes. After five minutes flip them over and cook for another five minutes. Cool and cover with melted chocolate or serve as is.
http://mooshujenne.com/biscotti/
For more Fall Fest Recipes please visit the FN Dish – Fall Fest on Food Network or check out the list below for more recipes from the Virtual Cookie Swap.
What’s Gaby Cooking: Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies
CIA Dropout: Walnut Wimpy Balls
And Love It Too: Snowball Cookies (Grain-Free, Dairy-Free and Vegan)
Taste With The Eyes: Olive Oil Oatmeal Cookies
Jones Is Hungry: A Cookie for Chocolate Lovers
From My Corner of Saratoga: Gooey Butter Cookies
The Sensitive Epicure: Speculaas Dutch Windmill Cookies
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Salted Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Fudge
Virtually Homemade: Chocolate Mint Snowballs
Sweet Life Bake: Polvorones de Chocolate
Daily*Dishin: Cherry Topped Cream-Drop Cookies
FN Dish: Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Bacon Cookies
Thursday Night Dinner: Peppermint Bark Cookies
Dishin and Dishes: Pecan Sandie Thumbprints With Cherry Frosting
Cooking With Elise: Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies
Cracked Pepper Andouille Pasta and Book Giveaway
One day Robert and I were tweeting, yes I said tweeting, back and forth and he truly grabbed my attention when he mentioned gouda and pancetta in mac and cheese. I love experiencing different mac and cheese recipes; especially if they have pancetta. We also would discuss how to make blackened chicken with out burning it. Many don’t know that there is a difference. Though, I am a bit strange and like both blackened and burnt!
So, I had this brilliant idea, why not share his cookbook with one lucky winner. I quickly tweeted Mr. Medina and asked if he would be interested in a giveaway and to my enjoyment he said of course! He sent the book to me in a snap but due to finals this week I have been procrastinating. Finally, I had a few quick moments to try a recipe out of his book. Let me tell you it wasn’t easy to pick one. Roasted garlic butter! Boom! That was it, Medina gave me inspiration in the kitchen. So without further ado here is the Cracked Pepper Andouille Pasta and a chance to win Mr. Medina’s lovely book “If You Can’t Stand The Heat”. Oh and did I mention he is ex-firefighter from NOLA!
(Not the best picture. No natural light eek!)
Ingredients Instructions In small pan start to fry the andouille. While the sausage is cooking, put on a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once the water is ready add in your pasta; salt the water. After the andouille is cooked well, pull off the sausage to a cutting board and slice in rounds. Save the grease and leftovers in the pan; do not dispose. Add garlic and butter to pan and remove from heat. This will melt the butter and lightly roast the garlic.
Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Add in salt to taste, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Pepper (cracked black pepper) well till pasta is coated. Add in sausage, butter sauce, and stir well.
The giveaway!
Winner is Phil Terry! Congratulations!
How you win:
{Required Entry}
Leave a comment below. Tell me what your favorite holiday dish is and a memory behind it. If you have your favorite dish on your blog please post a link.
Do you want bonus entries? Come on you know you do 
For each item below that you do, you will get one extra chance to win. You must leave one comment per task that you do as each counts for one entry. If you already have us added on Twitter or Facebook it still counts as an entry.
- Follow @MedinaLite on Twitter
- Follow @MooshuJenne on Twitter
- Tweet “I want to win the “If You Can’t Stand The Heat” from @MedinaLite and @MooshuJenne ! http://mooshujenne.com/?p=725“
- Like Mooshu Jenne on Facebook
Important Details:
-This giveaway is open to USA and Canadian residents only and will run until Friday, December 16th at 11:59 pm CST.
-Winner(s) will be generated via a random number generator software program. Winner will be notified via the contact email provided on the comment contact form.
-Winner(s) will have until 12/12/11 to claim their cookbook or we will choose another winner.
-Winner will receive one autographed copy of If You Can’t Stand The Heat {$29.99 MSRP}. Product will be shipped by Mooshu Jenne.
Disclosure:
This giveaway is provided to you by Mooshu Jenne. I was given the product free of charge to test and review it; however, I was not monetarily compensated for the review or giveaway.
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