Chocolate Popovers

You know the saying, "I left my heart in San Francisco"? Well, one day I dined at the Rotunda in Neiman Marcus in San Francisco and I think I did [leave my heart there]. They served me the most incredible thing I had ever eaten - a popover! What's a popover? Well, it is an incredibly light roll which rises to form a hollow shell when baked. And these popovers were light-as-air, oh-so-fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. This recipe will have to tie me over until I make it back up there again.

Chocolate Popovers

Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks
1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and diced

Directions 
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 6-cup popover pan or muffin pan.

Sift flour, granulated sugar, cocoa and salt into medium bowl; set aside. Beat eggs in large bowl with electric mixer at low speed 1 minute. Beat in milk, butter and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan, equally dividing between the cups; about 2/3 full.

Bake for 35 minutes, without opening the oven, at which point, prick each popover a few times with a toothpick, to allow the steam to escape. This helps prevent exploding popovers. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees and continuing baking for another 10-15 minutes, or just until the popovers are brown (a little hard to tell as they are chocolate, of course).

Immediately remove popovers to wire rack. Serve immediately, while still warm, with whipped cream and strawberries.

Pork Chops with Wine and Garlic

Wine. Garlic. What's not to love? This pan sauce will have your mouth watering. You could probably pour this over steak or chicken. Heck, you could probably drink it out of a jar and it would taste heavenly! 


Pork Chops with Wine and Garlic
Serves 6


Ingredients
6 whole Pork Chops (medium-to-thin)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
Salt And Pepper
1-1/2 cup Red Wine
1/2 cup Beef Broth (more If Needed)
1 whole Bay Leaf
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
18 whole Peeled Garlic Cloves
1 Tablespoon Butter (additional)

Directions
Heat oil and butter in a heavy skillet over high heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops and sear them on both sides until they're nice and golden, about 2 minutes per side. (No need to completely cook the chops at this point.) Remove the chops from the skillet and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, then throw in the whole garlic cloves. Stir them around and cook them for several minutes, or until they get nice and golden brown.

Pour in the red wine, then add the bay leaf. Stir around and let it reduce, raising the heat if necessary. Cook the sauce for several minutes, or until it's nice and reduced and thick.

Stir in the beef broth (you can add more if it needs the liquid) and add the chops back into the cooking liquid, arranging them so that they're swimming in the sauce. Allow the chops to cook in the liquid for a few minutes, then pour in the balsamic. Shake the pan to get it to distribute, then cook for a couple more minutes, or until the pork chops are done.

Remove the chops from the pan once more, then let the sauce reduce a little more if needed until it's very thick and rich and the garlic is soft. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle in a little salt and pepper.

Arrange pork chops on a platter, then pour the whole skillet of sauce (including garlic) over the top.

Serve with a green salad.

*You may substitute white wine for a slightly lighter sauce.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake is one of my favorite desserts. Perfectly moist shortbread or biscuits, freshly whipped cream and juicy, flavorful strawberries. I mean, what’s not to love? When I saw this recipe, I knew had to make it. And let me tell you, I’m so glad I did, because it was amazing. The only mistake was that I didn’t make enough for the next day as my family finished the entire thing!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake
Serves 6

Ingredients
For the shortcakes:
1-½ cup flour
½ cups cocoa powder
½ teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ cups sugar
8 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
¼ cups whole milk
¼ cups carbonated water
¼ cups cold brewed coffee

For the strawberries:
2-½ cups chopped strawberries
½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the Chantilly Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
½ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoons real vanilla extract

Directions
In a food processor combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar and pulse until combined. Add the butter and process until it is all incorporated and it resembles coarse meal. Add the milk, water and coffee and process until combined.

These are more like drop biscuits than roll ‘em out and cut ‘em variety. Take about 1/4 a cup of the dough and form a disk, about one inch high, with your hand and place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Put your shortcakes in the fridge and allow to chill for 20 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350F. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool.
In a bowl, combine your strawberries, powdered sugar and lemon juice. Mix until combined and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Chantilly Cream sounds super fancy, but in reality it’s just whipped cream that you make with powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. It has a slightly different taste and texture that goes well with this recipe. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream, powdered sugar (between ¼ cup and ½ cup depending on how sweet you like it) and vanilla extract. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Once your shortcakes have cooled, top with berries and cream and serve immediately.

Steak, Asparagus & Chimichurri Pasta

Ever dress your skirt steaks with a dollop of Chimichurri? If you’ve never had it, you’re definitely missing out. Chimichurri is a steak condiment originally from Argentina and made from parsley, olive oil, garlic, salt, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. It’s rich and herbal, tangy and a little spicy. It’s the perfect accompaniment for grilled beef.

Since Chimichurri also resembles pesto, I figured it would make a great pasta sauce. And I was right. I grilled a skirt steak and some asparagus and tossed them with Rigatoni and a fresh batch of Chimichurri. I loved the grilled flavors with the pasta and garlicky sauce.

This is the perfect meal to eat outdoors when the weather is nice and you have a big frosty beer or chilly glass of wine. Is it the weekend yet?

Steak, Asparagus & Chimichurri Pasta
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
For the chimichurri:
3 cloves garlic
2 cups Italian parsley, loosely packed
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. Rigatoni
1 lb. skirt steak
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. thick asparagus, tough ends removed

Directions
For the Chimichurri: Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until all large pieces of parsley and garlic are gone. If you don’t have a blender, chop the garlic and parsley finely, then whisk with the remaining ingredients. Set aside.

Heat your grill to medium-high and sprinkle the steak with 1 tsp. salt. Once the grill is hot, place the steak and asparagus on it. Turn the asparagus often, ensuring it doesn’t burn. Remove it when it’s tender, but still crisp (time depends on how thick your asparagus is, about 5 – 8 minutes). Cook the steak to your desired done-ness, then remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Slice the steak into bite-sized pieces and cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces.

While you’re grilling, set a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, salt it thoroughly and add the rigatoni. Cook until al dente, then drain and return to pot.

Toss the pasta with half the amount of Chimichurri until well coated. Toss in the steak and asparagus and serve.

Chocolate Fondue

There’s no dessert that screams Valentine’s Day more than a pot of bubbling chocolate fondue. To make your fondue experience super memorable, serve the melted chocolate with an exciting array of dippers. Think outside of the box and offer slices of bananas, salted pretzels or even dried apricots.

Chocolate Fondue
Yields ½ cup

Ingredients
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, dried and hulled
1 pint fresh raspberries
2 bananas, peeled, cut into 2 to 2 ½ inch slices
12 ounces thick, salted pretzels
4 ounces dried apricots
6 ounces roasted, salted almonds
4 to 6 recipes Enriched Chocolate Sauce, recipe follows

Directions
Arrange all of the fondue elements on a platter.

Serve Enriched Chocolate Sauce warm with the fondue elements.

Enriched Chocolate Sauce
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 teaspoons dark rum
1/8 teaspoon grated orange zest

In a medium saucepan over low heat, bring the cream, sugar, cinnamon and butter to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts. Add the rum and stir in the orange zest before serving.

Steak with Blue Cheese Butter and Celery Salad

Make it a DIY Date Night. Cue up the latest romantic flick and create a romantic feast featuring Steak with Blue Cheese Butter. This dish is sure to impress. Richly flavored, charred steak with blue cheese butter contrasts beautifully with cool and crunchy celery salad.

Steak with Blue Cheese Butter and Celery Salad
Yields 4

Ingredients
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
4 6-to-7-ounce rib-eye steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon

Directions
Soak the onion slices in a bowl of cold water, about 10 minutes. Pierce the steaks with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Mix the Worcestershire and hot sauce in a baking dish, add the steaks and turn to coat; set aside while you prepare the butter and salad.

Mash the butter, blue cheese and 1 tablespoon parsley in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Drain the onion and pat dry, then toss with the celery, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley in another bowl. Grate the zest from half of the lemon into the celery mixture and squeeze in all of the juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, then add the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and cook the steaks until browned on the bottom, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip and continue to cook 3 to 5 more minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate and let rest 5 minutes. Top with the blue-cheese butter and serve with the celery salad.