Chocolate Profiteroles

This may have just topped the list of my favorite desserts.  I found it, ironically, as I was workin' it on the elliptical at the gym, watching TLC.  I went home and made it.  I figured I earned it. ;)  This is seriously delicious.  They were actually very easy to make, and I've never even attempted cream puffs before.  This would be a great thing to make ahead and then assemble for a fancy treat.  Enjoy!!

**The recipe below is the original, but I halved the chocolate sauce recipe and still had tons leftover**

Profiteroles With Chocolate Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce

MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN PROFITEROLES
Prep time: 5 minute
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• Chocolate Whipped Cream, recipe follows, for serving
• Chocolate Sauce, recipe follows, for serving

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
3. In a small heavy saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, add flour, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and let cool slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. With a hand mixer, add eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition. Transfer warm batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4 inch plain tip. Pipe mounds (about 1 inch high and 1 to 2 inches in diameter) about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and pierce the bottom of each profiterole once with a skewer. This will prevent them from becoming soggy. Return to oven to dry, propping oven door slightly open, for about 3 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet on a rack.
6. Using a serrated knife, halve profiteroles horizontally and fill with chocolate whipped cream. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve.

CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM

MAKES 2 CUPS
Prep/cook time: 35 minutes

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1. In a large bowl, place the cream, vanilla, sugar, and cocoa powder. Stir to combine. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator along with the whisk attachment to a mixer for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat until mixture forms stiff peaks.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Yield: 2 cups
Cook time: 10 minutes

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the cream and chocolate. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted. Add honey and vanilla and stir until smooth. Keep warm, covered.

Quinoa Spinach Pilaf

This delicious quinoa recipe was adapted from one I found somewhere and can't remember. It was a flavorful, simple, unusual dish.  Quinoa is a complete protein, so I served it with Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Butter for dinner and it was a smash hit.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 c low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• as much fresh baby spinach as you care to pack in there (I did about 1/3 of a costco box...it shrinks down quite a bit, so I am not sure what to tel you.  I just kept packing it in there...)
• Salt and pepper

Put the broth and quinoa in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and grain is tender.

Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove nuts from pan and set aside. Heat the oil in the same skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and begin to brown, about 6 minutes.  Add spinach to pan, wilting down the leaves and adding more until you're satified. :)
When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large serving bowl. Stir in the pine nuts, onions, and spinach. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Pumpkin Patch Muffins

Tasty, moist, easy and quick!

25 minutes

Makes 24 mini-muffins

(I doubled the recipe and it made 14 normal sized muffins...odd number I know)

Preheat oven to 325. Place paper liners in muffin tins.

In a medium bowl, stir together until smooth:

1 c. homemade or canned pumpkin puree

3/4 c. agave nectar (I didn't have any so I just used sugar, but used half this amount)

1/4 . c. canola oil

1 t. molasses

1 large egg

In a separate bowl, let him or her help whisk together:

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. whole-wheat flour

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice

Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the two are just combined. Divide the batter among muffin cups, filling each nearly to the rim. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out with a crumb or two clinging to it, about 20 muffins. Cool.

Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Butter

This was sooo quick and tasty.  The lemon made it so crisp and fresh!

1/2 pound fresh asparagus

Salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Wash asparagus and trim off bottom of stems by about 2 inches. In a large skillet, bring about 1/2 inch of water to a rapid boil. Season the water with salt and add the asparagus. Cook the asparagus for 2-3 minutes or until bright green and just tender. Drain the asparagus and add butter to the skillet. Stir in the zest and juice. Return the drained asparagus to the skillet and toss to coat. Serve immediately

• Variation: After the asparagus is drained, refresh immediately in a bowl of ice water. This will help the asparagus to retain the bright green color. Serve the asparagus cold with vinaigrette.

Onion Rolls

This is my go-to recipe for bread.  It is from Our Best Bites.  But, it was lacking a little something...not enough flavor or something, so I tweaked it a little and, wowza, some delicious onion herb rolls.  Here's the altered recipe.  I also doubled it (below is the doubled version) and I make a pan of 12-16 rolls and 2 loaves.  You can find the original one here:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/09/french-bread-hoagies-and-buns/

2 Tbsp. yeast

3 c. warm water

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. salt

1 t garlic powder
1 T rosemary
1/2 T Italian seasoning

1 onion, finely chopped and sauteed in a little heated olive oil until translucent, even a little browned

8-11 c. flour

6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 egg, separated

4 Tbsp. cold water

Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, garlic powder, rosemary, Italian seasoning,  sauteed onion, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 45 minutes.

Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you’re done, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.

It’s okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.

Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.

Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.