Black Bean Brownies (Gluten free, Sugar free)

Lifestyle change.  Sounds better than saying I'm on a diet right?  Many will argue, it's not a diet!  So, that is what I'm doing.  A lifestyle change.  WHY? It's well overdue.  But I still needed a push... okay a big shove.  I got it.  My bongga cousin S is finally engaged and I'm thrilled and honoured she asked me to be co-MoH (along with the other bongga cousin Ice) at her bongga wedding. THE PROBLEM?  The total dress size for the other four in the bridal party will still be less than my own ( 0+1+2+3 < Me ).  Unless I do something about it, I will literally (figuratively and physically) be the elephant in the room.  I have one year.  Help me.

A cousin (I have 53 first cousins #truth) from T dot gave me this recipe about a year ago but I never tried to make it.  One of my main problems was I don't have a food processor.  Super Momma J kindly let me borrow her Cuisinart during spring break and I fell in love with the machine!  I made many things: brownies, muffins, dressings, even quinoa chocolate cake.  One success was these shockingly delicious and fudgy brownies.  It's not shocking for brownies to be delicious or fudgy but when they are made with black beans and are sugar free, yes, it's shocking.  The key was to make sure you process them until very smooth.  Scrape the sides down as needed.  Also, make sure you let them cool completely in the pan.  I love fresh outta the oven baking.  I made the mistake of trying these then and they were um... pastey, beany, gummy...not good. So, just wait.  Cool them completely before trying.  I promise they will have a soft, fudgy texture like you would expect from brownies.

Black Bean Brownies

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 15 min

Yields: 24-30 mini brownies

Created by: Sonja Secker

INGREDIENTS

1 can (14 fl oz) black beans, rinsed, drained

⅓ cup coconut oil, melted (I used Canola oil)
⅓  cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
15 pitted dates (if too hard, soak in water first to soften)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
⅓ cup walnuts (chopped – these are optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (get real chocolate chips – again choose organic)
⅛ tsp sea salt (I used Trader Joe's pink Himalayan salt crystals because it's pink)

METHOD OF PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place all ingredients in a food processor except for the choc chips and walnuts and blend until smooth
Fold in chocolate chips (and nuts)
Drop by the spoonful into a mini muffin tray (greased) and sprinkle sparingly with sea salt

Bake for 15 minutes
Allow to cool completely before removing form pan

Papa's Beef Kaldereta (Beef Stew)

Kaldereta and a glass of red wine

I'm blessed with amazing cooks in my family.  I've been surround by delicious food all my life.  The best of the best...My dad's cooking.  I can't think of one single thing he makes that I don't love.  Of course he specializes in Filipino food although he makes a legendary roast beef with gravy.  For so long I've tried to make my Filipino dishes taste like his and I couldn't!  Even though he gave me the recipe.  The problem is...he (and all my aunties who are all great cooks) don't measure anything.  They do everything to taste and trying to get an actual recipe with specific measurements is like having soup with a slotted spoon.  Well, in last couple of years, I've started to become successful in replicating some of my favourite dishes...carefully taking note of my measurements for future reference.  Hubby loves Kaldereta.  It's probably his favourite Filipino dish.  This and mechado (a future blog post I'm sure).  And my Little Miss L loves rice.  She asks for it everyday.  So what is Kaldereta? (pronounced CUL - da - reh - tah)  Beef stew!  Beef and a variety of veggies in a savoury tomato sauce.  It's a hearty meal served with hot steamed rice.  This recipe is great when you're having company over because it serves 6-8 adults.  If not, leftovers are great the following day or two or can even be frozen.  Or you could half the recipe.

Papa's Beef Kaldereta

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 kilos chuck roast, cubed into 1 x 2 inches chunks (don't buy too lean)

2 onions, chopped

½ head of garlic, chopped

1 can 28 oz or 796 ml tomato sauce

2 bay leaves

½ cup soy sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

12-15  baby potatoes

2 cups water

1 cup baby carrots

1 small jar of stuffed green olives

2 bell peppers (I like red), cut into large pieces

2 cups green peas

 

Instructions

Brown beef in batches in a large pot and set aside.  Saute garlic and onions in the same pan and add oil if necessary.  Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, bay leaf, black pepper and diced red peppers.  And beef back into the pot.  Saute for about 10 minutes then add  2 cups of water.  Simmer until meat is tender about 45 minutes.  Add  potatoes, carrots and olives.  When the potatoes and carrots are cooked add red and green pepper and green peas, simmer for about 5 mins.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve over steamed rice.

oops!  I forgot the olives this time.

A lot of chocolate cake

Chocolate cake...I've been on a mission to find chocolate cake that's like what I remember from growing up in the Philippines.  Chocolate so dark, it's black.  Not brown, not dark brown, not even black/brown.  It's black.  Well, last summer my mission accomplished!  My parents came home from their visit to the motherland with this:

Caro & Marie Black Cocoa Powder

I promptly whipped up a pure black chocolate cake using my favourite chocolate cake recipe from Sweetapolita.  It was so black, I had a terrible time taking it's picture.

It was good and not super sweet and very, very black.  But, I found that it lost "chocolatey-ness".  

I made another attempt when my friend, Ms. Physio specifically requested a dark chocolate cake for her birthday.  This one was perfection. Probably the best cake I've ever made so far.  It was SO good.  The cake was rich, very dark, moist, chocolatey and not overly sweet.  The frosting was light, mousse-like and the perfect sweetness to compliment such a rich cake.  I used the exact same recipe but instead used half Dutch processed cocoa and half black cocoa for the cake.  For the frosting, I used Dutch processed because I wanted to see contrast between the cake and frosting.  My favourite part about this recipe is you get to throw all the ingredients in one bowl and mix.  Even if you don't have black cocoa, make this cake and you'll love it too.

Rich Dark Chocolate Cake with Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting

Yields: 8" 3 layer cake

Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita

For Chocolate Cake:
2-1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon (330 g) all-purpose flour
3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (135 g) dark cocoa powder (I used 1/2 cup black cocoa)

1 tablespoon (15 g) baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 g) baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups (360 mL) buttermilk, room temperature
1-1/2 cups (360 mL) strong black coffee, hot
3/4 cup (180 mL) vegetable oil
1-1/2 tablespoons (22.5 mL) pure vanilla extract

For the Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting:
1 lb butter (4 sticks)(2 cups)(454 g), at room temperature
4 cups (500 g) icing sugar (confectioners' or powdered), sifted
3/4 cup (75 g) Ovaltine Classic (brown in colour)
1 tablespoon (15 mL) pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
8 oz (250 g) quality Belgian chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (120 mL) whipping (35% fat) cream

Instructions:

For the Chocolate Layer Cake:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare three 8" round cake pans (line bottom with parchment paper and spray sides with non-stick spray).

In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients. Combine eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer). Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. (Batter will be thin.) Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Continue to bake until toothpick or skewer comes almost clean (a few crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes then gently invert onto racks until completely cool.

Black vs Dutch Processed Cocoa

For the Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed for about 1 minute.
Add malt powder, vanilla and salt, and beat on low until well combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes).
Add whipping cream and beat on med-high speed for another minute.

Assembly:

Once the cakes have cooled completely, I wrap it up in plastic wrap and pop it in the freezer for about 30 mins.  Alternate layers of frosting and cake and make sure you have a good amount between the layers.  Cover the top of the cake and sides with more frosting.  Chill for at least a hour to let the cake set then allow to come to room temperature before serving.

A Soup and A Cookie (Chicken Kale and Quinoa Soup / Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies)

Here's a double recipe post for you.  One savoury and one sweet.  A healthy, hearty, delicious Chicken Kale and Quinoa soup and a chewy, nutty, sweet Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookie.  Yup, I made both today and ate both today, just so I blog this for you.  You're welcome.

Part 1: Chicken Kale and Quinoa Soup

It snowed this weekend.  Like a lot.  I was happy because I really wanted one last blast of the white stuff before spring.  When the snow started I doubted that it would last but the flakes kept coming.  I love snow covered trees and watching snow fall.  The girls were happy...I already fed them, bathe them, coloured, played games and watched some Disney Jr.  I was even willing to play outside again (we played Sunday afternoon) but Little Miss C said no thanks.  So, on a very snowy Monday, I let them entertain each other and while I spent the afternoon sitting on the couch reading (Insurgent, book 2 of the Divergent series) and watching the winter wonderland outside my window.

Front

Back

I felt guilty about my lazy Monday so I told myself to be more productive today (Tuesday)...I digress. My point is: it's snowy, it's super cold and I wanted to make soup for dinner.  I found this recipe because I liked the ingredients in it but I didn't really follow it.  I made my own version.

Chicken Kale and Quinoa Soup

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: About 45 mins
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of bacon, chopped
• Ground chicken (or use boneless, skinless chicken thighs)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 cups of chicken stock (low sodium)
• 1 Knorr homestyle chicken stock concentrate (no water needed)
• 1 cup of baby carrots
• 2/3 cup of quinoa, rinsed
• A bunch of kale
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In large soup pot, pan fry the bacon until crisp. Drain on a plate covered with paper towel, set aside. Remove all but about one tablespoon of bacon fat in pot. Cook the chicken until no longer pink. Remove from pot. Add onion, garlic and bay leaves and sauté until fragrant. Deglaze the pot with some chicken stock. Be sure to scrape all the brown bits from the pot. Add the rest of the chicken stock and Knorr concentrate. Return the chicken to the pot. Add carrots, quinoa and kale. Stir and simmer for about 15 mins until quinoa is cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in bowls and garnish with bacon bits.

Classic: soup and a sandwich

Part 2: Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Really, these should be called Toffee Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal cookies but that's just ridiculous.  They also taste ridiculous.  In a great way.  I don't have much else to say.  The name says it all.  This is my adaptation of monster cookies found from this recipe and this recipe.  My house smelled scrumptious while these were baking.  They're great warm and still chewy when completely cooled.  So good.  So, so good!

Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen large cookies

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 cups oats

1 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 tbsp maple extract (I used maple syrup)
1 package of Heath toffee bits

1 package of chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Mix together oats, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside.

Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.  Add peanut butter and maple and beat for about 2 minutes.  Scrape down the bowl then add dry ingredients.  

Mix on low until all ingredients are combined.  

Add toffee and chocolate chips and mix until distributed.  

Use a large cookie scoop or form about ¼ cup balls.  

Bake for 8-9, until edges are starting to brown.  

Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet for about 5 mins then transfer to cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hubby is anti-Valentines so I didn't have any big plans for V-day.  This is exactly his opinion of it.

Lucky for me, I have 2 little girls so no matter how he feels, I still get to make a semi-big deal about it.  First, I decided I wanted to do a mini photo shoot with the girls.  Thanks a lot Pinterest.  I buy a couple of Valentine banners, blow up some balloons and make some tissue puffs.  Luckily it was a gorgeously sunny-but-freezing-cold-super-windy day. I bundled up my girls and thankfully, they were happy and cooperative.  Here are a few favourite shots.  

Then I decide I wanted to make a sweet treat for the girls and to give away with Valentines. When my long-time friend Nancy from gottagetbaked posted this recipe, the cream cheese caught my attention.  I thought V-day would be great to time to try because who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? The only thing I modified is I added the Valentine m&ms.  These damn m&ms!  While Little Miss C was at preschool, I dragged Little Miss L to Walmart, Target, Superstore and Save On with no luck finding them.  Yes, pink and red Smarties were available but I'm an m&m girl.  Thankfully, CJB was heading to America and imported the goods for me.  Yup, that's right folks.  Had to leave the country for ingredients just to make these perfect little cookies.  I don't think you can taste the cream cheese, but it gave it a different texture.  The cookies were cakey, soft and chewy.  I don't like crisp, hard chocolate chip cookies so I loved the texture of these.  But I did feel that it needed more salt (it calls for a pinch) so next time I make them I will modify it to 1 teaspoon of salt.  

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day or Galentine's Day or regular Feb. 14th day!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Flourless and Sugar-free)

I'll be honest.  I'm not ever interested in making any gluten/dairy/sugar/blah-blah-blah free recipes.  I love using flour, real butter, real chocolate and actual eggs in my baking.  I'm always doubtful when I see a recipe for "Gluten-sugar-dairy free Cookies and it tastes great."  Really?  Really, it tastes..."great"?  I think it tastes bad or okay, maybe even almost good.  But I have yet to try one that I can say tastes "Grrrreat!".   I say pick one evil and leave the rest of the good stuff.  For example, French macarons.  (And that's macarOns, not macarOOns...for goodness sake get it right, this drives me CRAZY!)  They're gluten free. And if you know me, I definitely think they taste great.  Even if you make a failed batch, it may look like crap, but they still taste great.  If you've ever attempted to make French macarons, you know exactly what I mean by failed batches.  Once, I forgot to add 1 cup of sugar to Lemon Blueberry Muffins.  They still tasted great!  Like a scone.  My friend, Super Momma J baked flourless chocolate cookies with pink sea salt.  They were amazing!  So, the lesson is...leave one bad thing out and you can still indulge on something great.  Ha, that's my logic.

Oh my, I got distracted.  So, I found this recipe for Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins that said no flour, no white sugar and tastes great.  Hmmm.  Well, I had all the ingredients on hand so I thought, why not give it a go.  I love muffins, I like the oatmeal + banana combo and I don't need them to be sweet so I was optimistic I would like these.  As usual, I made a few tweaks to the original recipe.  I did not use a food processor, just my KitchenAid mixer.  Why take the extra step of grinding the oats?  I did not add nuts.  I reduced the honey because I knew I was adding an entire package of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips.  These muffins are great!  Tender, moist and good chew from the oatmeal.  The girls and I taste tested when they finished baking, then I shared some with AKRams, then the girls and I ate them for breakfast.  I need more.  Looks like I'm making my second batch in 1 week.

I love this cannister I got for my birthday!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Prep time: 5 mins Bake Time: 20-25 min
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2.5 cups old fashioned oats (buy gluten free oats if you want)
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey (reduce to 1/4 if adding chocolate)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 pk chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (optional) use the good stuff!
chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 dregrees.  Grease or line muffin tray with parchment.  Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl except nuts and/or chocolate.  Mix for 2-3 mins.  Fold in the nuts/chocolate.  Scoop into muffin tray.  Bake for 20-25 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Look at the beautiful texture of this muffin.

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Years ago while hubby and I were still at college, one of our favourite restaurants was Boston Pizza.  We lived in our tiny little basement suite, both worked full time and went to college almost full time.  Our classes were in the evening from 7-10 pm so on the nights we didn't manage to eat before class, we would head to BP after since it was (and still is) one of the only places open late.  Hubby loved the Boston Cheesesteak sandwich from BP.  Beef, peppers, onions and mushrooms smothered with cheese with a side of beef au jus for dipping.  Like us, BP has changed over the years and the Cheesesteak is no longer on the menu.  Lucky for hubby, I make this all the time at home.  Here is the recipe I've come up with.  You'll be amazed how easy it is.  Dinner in 30 minutes?  No problem!

Cheesesteak Dip
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: about 20 min
Makes 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb (500g) rouladen* beef, cut into strips
1 small green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping tsp Montreal steak seasoning
4 Kaiser** rolls
Butter or margarine (optional)
Slices of Pepper Jack cheese***
4 cups of beef broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Slice and butter the buns and arrange on a cookie sheet.
Heat oil in a frying pan and stir fry the beef over medium-high heat until brown.  Sprinkle seasoning all over and toss well.  Keep cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the veggies and cook for another 2 minutes.  Divide the cheese steak into the four prepared buns and top with cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Heat the beef broth while the sandwiches are baking.  Serve 1 cup of broth with each sandwich.

Notes:

*Rouladen is round steak cut in large, thin slices.  I usually roll the beef and then slice it like pinwheels. You can choose any cut that works well for stir fry.

** Make sure your choice of bun is heavy enough to hold the filling while you're dipping.  I normally use long sub buns, they're easier to dip.

*** Choose your favourite cheese.  Marble is always in available in our household.