Coconut & Vanilla Rice Pudding

For the past week or so, I have had a craving for rice pudding. Since a little girl, I've always loved rice pudding. I don't know what it is, but it is so different from most desserts I usually have my eye on. Additionally, it can be easy to customize with your own favorite flavors. After this batch, I am curious to try swapping out the coconut milk for almond milk and seeing how that goes. Don't worry, I will make sure to keep you posted.

To get started you will need the following for about 6 servings.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cold cooked white rice
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp salt

Scrape out the insides of the vanilla bean into a large sauce pot and toss in the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium-low heat at a simmer. Cook for 40-45 minutes until liquid is soaked up and mixture is creamy.

Remove into a serving dish and let rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before cooling in the refrigerator. Serve cold. I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon on top too! Enjoy!

The Patty Melt

Who doesn't love a patty melt? The gooey, melted cheese on butter toasted bread that comes from a delicious grilled cheese, stuffed with a juicy burger and sweet, caramelized onions. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. These are extra delicious and so quick to whip up on short notice. I would give it 20 minutes tops!

To make 4 delicious patty melts, you will need:

4 sirloin burgers or about 1 lb of chopped meat
Salt and pepper, for seasoning
1 tsp Worcester sauce, optional
1 large or 2 medium onions
4-5 tbsp butter
8 slices of bread, I used whole wheat
8 slice of cheese, I went for good ol' American

Let's get started by slicing our onions and tossing them in a skillet with 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter. Keep the heat on medium-low and allow these to slowly caramelize for the best flavor. Keep these going while you start to prep your burgers.

Season your burgers with a dash of salt and a pinch of pepper on each side. Feel free to also add a drop of Worcester sauce to add some extra flavoring. Again, melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in your skillet and throw in the burgers. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side for medium well, making sure to only flip the burgers once so they get a nice char.

As your burgers are finishing up, we can start to get our bread ready for toasting. In a third skillet (I never said clean up would be easy), melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Place two pieces of bread on the melted butter and top each with a slice of cheese.

Next up, add a burger and top with a generous helping of your caramelized onions. Just look how delicious those onions look, so soft and sweet.

Another piece of cheese? Yes, please!

Top with the other slice of bread and flip to toast the other side. Why don't you toss in some more butter before the flip. It really wouldn't be fair if only one side got the special treatment. Cook on medium heat until the bread is toasty, the cheesy is gooey, and the smell is unbearable.

Remove from the skillet, slice and eat right away. Mmm, delicious!

As these can be quite heavy, best to serve with a side salad and some fresh veggies to lighten things up. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken & Broccoli with Gravy

I'm backk! It has been a long (slightly painful) three months, of which I have neglected you. But now I am back and I am here with an easy weeknight dinner option that you are going to love.

As much as it pains me to admit, I have been practically living off junk food and take-out these past few months due to, lets call it, "job restrictions." This means, no cooking, no baking, no nothing! However, there was one little bright light in all of this - I found some very interesting inspiration for the blog in the never ending sea of take-out menus.

This dish here is great because it requires a lot of ingredients you would normally keep on hand (well at least we do in my house - as broccoli is just as much as a staple as salt and pepper!)

To get started you will need the following items to make 4 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs thinly sliced chicken breast (no skin and no bones)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt & fresh black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp butter
2 large heads of broccoli, keep those stems on nice and long
1/4 lb mozzarella (fresh will work, but Polly-O just melts so nicely and is extra delicious)
4 cloves garlic
2 cups chicken stock
1 hearty pour of your favorite red wine

Start off by 'flouring' the chicken breast. On a plate, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drop each piece of chicken into the mix being sure to coat both sides with the flour mixture. Repeat on all pieces.

In a large skillet (oven-proof is best, as this will make your job easier later on), gently melt your first tablespoon butter, being sure not to brown or burn it. Add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides and white through the middle, roughly 5 minutes each side (depending on how thick the chicken is). Remove the chicken to a dish and set aside.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Toss in your broccoli (cut long and thin). Cook for 8-10 minutes until broccoli is tender, but not too soft. You want to make sure it still has some bite to it! Once the broccoli is finished, set it to the side in a bowl or dish.

Now lets get back to our skillet because its time to make our gravy. Without cleaning out any of the bits left behind from the chicken, melt the second tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Throw in the minced garlic and let it lightly brown for about a minute, just until fragrant. It is very important here not to let the garlic burn or you could ruin the flavor of your gravy. Once browned, pour in your chicken stock and red wine and bring to a boil. Make sure to stir and scrape all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let boil for 5 minutes or so, until the gravy starts to thicken.

If you can't get the gravy to thicken up, toss in about a teaspoon of flour and quickly stir it into the mixture so that it doesn't 'clump up.'

Once your gravy is in a good place, time to add the chicken back in the skillet. Make a small pile of broccoli on top of each chicken breast and then cover with a slice of cheese. Toss the skillet under the broiler for a minute or two to get the cheese to melt. Make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

There you have it, a delicious dish that covers off a bunch of your daily food group requirements in one. Plus, not sure if you were keeping track, but we only have to clean 1 pan and 1 pot. Not too bad if you ask me!

Also, as sneak peak, there are going to be some make-overs going on with the blog in the upcoming weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out for that! Enjoy!

The Best Ever Brownies alla Julia Child

These brownies are super gooey and extra fudgy. If a rich and decadent chocolate brownie sounds like something you might enjoy, this may be the recipe for you. They are just the treat to bake for your honey this Valentine's Day. These are, after all, the best ever brownies according to one of the worlds most well known chefs. Try them out and see if you agree with Julia's great insight.

Recipe yields 16 brownies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8 oz unsalted butter
6 oz semisweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Start out by preheating the oven to 350F degrees. Sift together the flour and the salt in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk together the eggs and 1 cup of sugar until smooth but thick.

In a double broiler, melt together the butter and chocolate. Once you get a smooth consistency, add the second cup of sugar and whisk for 30 seconds over the heat. Once the sugar is mixed in, remove the chocolate from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Slowly pour half of the egg/sugar mixture into the chocolate, stirring constantly. It is important to keep stirring so that the eggs don't set from the heat of the chocolate. (No one wants scrambled eggs in their melted chocolate!)

Using a hand mixer, whip the other half of the egg/sugar mixture until pale and airy (such that they double in size).

Fold the airy eggs into the chocolate and then mix in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into a greased baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Once ready, remove from the oven and allow brownies to cool before cutting. (You can see below I got a little excited and the top layer of brownie started to crumble since I began cutting them too early!) Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Pudding

If you are looking to conquer your chocolate craving, this should do the trick. This thick pudding is packed with rich, chocolaty flavor that is sure to please any chocolate lover. This pudding would also make a great filling to a layered cake or for the inside of a cupcake, as a nice surprise!

Recipe yields 8 servings

Ingredients
1 package cook-and-serve chocolate pudding
1 large egg yolk
4 cups chocolate milk (homemade with chocolate syrup is even better!)
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream

Combine chocolate pudding mix, chocolate milk and egg yolk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 2 minutes until pudding starts to thicken.

Chop chocolate and add to pudding once removed from the heat. Add in the vanilla extract. Whisk until all chocolate has melted.

Let pudding cool in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Enjoy!