Chocolate Canneles - Chocolate With Francois

I haven't been a very good Chocolate With Francois blogger. I've missed the past two months. My fellow bloggers have baked some beautiful dishes. I am sure this month will be no exception. Sarah at Teapots and Cakestands chose this month's recipe. When she first made her pick, she was quick to note if we didn't have cannele molds, this could be made in a muffin tin.

Canneles are a specialty of southwest France. I can't say that I've ever eaten one, so I was anxious to try these. I decided to make this in my mini bundt pan. We've had plenty of sweets at our house lately, so I chose to cut this recipe in half and in half again. My idea was to get two cannales. This batter looks devine, almost like creamy hot chocolate.

This recipe is quick and easy to put together. However, it does require a little planning because it has to chill overnight. The recipe calls for baking these 60 - 75 minutes. I checked them after about 50 minutes. They appeared to be done and as I looked closer, I was afraid they were overdone. As I removed them from the pan, my fear was confirmed, they're overdone!

Not sure if it was because these were overdone but they were terrible. They were very dry, which I know was because they were overdone. The flavor wasn't what I would have expected from the wonderful chocolate batter. I am anxious to see how my fellow CWF bloggers fared with this recipe.

Potato Leek Chowder Robusto

During a visit to Whole Foods, we tasted Robusto cheese. Robusto is a cousin to Parmesean with a deeper, smoky flavor. It was fairly expensive, so I wanted to make sure used every bit. My favorite source to find a recipe using a specific ingredient is google. I am not sure what I did before google! Potato Leek Soup is one of my favorites and adding this yummy cheese made it even better!

Potato Leek Chowder
Recipe courtesy of RecipeZaar
SERVES 6

Ingredients
4 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium leek, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup robusto cheese, grated

For Garnish
chives
sour cream
cheese
bacon bits

Directions
1 Heat butter and oil in large pot over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted. Whisk in flour.
2 Add potatoes, leeks, and onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are clear and potatoes are slightly softened.
3 Add broth and cover tightly. Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
4 At this point you can do one of two things. You can remove half of the soup to a blender and puree, or you can use a potato masher and just mash the potatoes in the pot to the consistency that you desire.
5 Stir in milk, bacon and cheese. Cover and simmer for 2-3 mintues or until cheese is melted. If you would like your chowder to be a little thicker, you can add a few teaspoons of corn starch or flour to thicken.
6 Garnish as desired and serve with a crusty bread

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

One Year Ago Snicker Salad.

No SMS - Waffles with Lemon Curd and Berries

Pavlova Peach Melba is this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe. Patty of Birding Blossoms and Baking is the host. Patty and I joined Sweet Melissa Sunday's at the same time and became blogging friends. Check out her blog, she takes amazing photographs. Patty, so sorry to not be participating today, we have out of town company this weekend. Instead I chose to share a favorite breakfast restaurant and my own version of one of their recipes.

Hands down my favorite place to eat breakfast in Omaha is a locally owned restaurant, Wheatfields. Whenever we have company in town we'll take them there. The next time they're in town, they always ask to go back. One of the special breakfast treats on the Wheatfield's menu is their Creme Brulee waffle. It's a waffle with a layer of custard, berries and whipped cream. It's just decadent and I am sure about a zillion calories. No wonder, I love it so much.

I wanted to create a similar dish at home. I used a layer of leftover lemon curd, berries and powdered sugar. Yummy and maybe not quite as many calories as Wheatfields.

Pink Saturday - Berry Sorbet & Flowers

Pink is my favorite color! Interesting how our taste in colors changes, as a kid yellow was my favorite color. Pink is fun, happy color and makes me smile.

I am linking this post to the group Pink Saturday's. Check it out, there's some fun posts there!!!

Recently, I found some great bargains on berries. How can you pass up a bargain on berries in winter. There's so many delicious things you can make with berries not to mention how wonderful they are delicious by themselves. I decided to make Berry Sorbet. What a fantastic late Winter treat.

Berry Sorbet
1 quart

4 cups strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries, or a combination
(I used strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
3/4 cup cranberry/raspberry juice
3/4 cup agave syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons vodka

Blend the berries with the juice in a blender or food processor. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl, to remove the seeds. Stir in the agave syrup, lemon juice, salt, lemon zest, and vodka. Chill several hours or overnight. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Let the sorbet sit in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

My husband surprised me with these beautiful flowers. Just because!

Foodie Friday - Chicken Enchiladas Suiza

Do you sometimes feel like you're in a rut when it comes to dinner? I know I do. I have those old stand by recipes that we have a lot. We love Mexican food but don't make it very often at home. When I saw this recipe for Chicken Enchilada Suiza at Always Eat On The Good China, I decided to give it a try.

An easy way to have chicken ready to use when you get home is to cook the chicken in the crock pot while you are at work. I used chicken thighs and they worked great.

Chicken Enchilda Suiza

•2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (or bone in if your prefer)
•1 teaspoon garlic salt
•1 teaspoon white pepper
•1/2 cup sour cream +
•1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
•1 bunch green onions, chopped
•1 can Rotel mild original tomatoes with green chiles, drained
•1 14 oz. can mild enchilada sauce, green
•2 cups finely shredded jack and cheddar cheese
•tortillas

Place chicken in stock pot with enough water to cover, salt and pepper. Bring to a low rolling boil until chicken is cooked through. Cool, de-bone if necessary and cut into bite sized pieces, preferably shredded.

In a large bowl mix together the chicken pieces, Rotel tomatoes, green chiles, 1 cup of the cheese and 1/4 cup of the sour cream. Mix well.

I like to slice off the major portion of the arc of the tortilla so I have a large rectangle to work with. Lightly spread a thin layer of sour cream on each tortilla. Divide the chicken mixture amongst all the tortillas and roll them securely. Place each one seam side down, side by side in a lightly sprayed rectangular baking dish. Pour the sauce evenly over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

Bake foil covered for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and crisp.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday. If you haven't been to Michael's blog, Designs by Gollum, take time to visit. Her blog is amazing.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Do you like broccoli? It's one of those veggies that sometimes gets a bad wrap. Which president was it that went public about his dislike of broccoli? I think it was Bush. I love roasted vegetables! When I saw this recipe at Savoring Time in the Kitchen, I knew I had to make it. This recipe uses bread crumbs, a key ingredient in my favorite brussels sprouts recipe. Even my husband, who's not a big broccoli fan liked this recipe.

Oven-Roasted Broccoli
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown, 2007, Food Network
4 servings

1 pound broccoli, cleaned and trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Trim the dark green from the stalk and cut into 1/8-inch thick, round slices. Place the broccoli into a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.

Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal sheet pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.

Grilled Pineapple

Finally the snow is gone and we can grill!! We love to grill veggies and fruits. Grilled pineapple is so pretty and tasty. It's simple to make and yummy to eat.

Grilled Pineapple

Slice the top and sides off of a whole pineapple. Slice the pineapple into 1 1/2 inch slices. You dont' want to slice it too thin or it will be hard to turn on the grill. Remove the core from the slices. If you have a small biscuit cutter, it works great for this.

Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup honey. Combine to make a paste. Oil the grill. Grill pineapple, over medium heat, 2 minutes on both sides. Using a BBQ brush, spread the brown sugar mixture on the pineapple. Grill 2 additional minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam! If you haven't been to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, it's worth your time to check it out!