Posts Tagged ‘naVan’

Goldies (vanilla brownies) & Rubies (cherry brownies)

Posted: June 1, 2011 in Desserts, Family, Food
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Nariah saw some brownies in Cici’s pizza the other day and told mommy, “Daddy doesn’t like chocolate… I know, how bout we make daddy some vanilla brownies!!!!??!?!?!”

Well, since she came up with the banana cobbler and that was good, why not make some vanilla brownies? Keep in mind these are not to be confused with blondies which are made with white chocolate chips, I actually found vanilla chips. (I’ll have to get that banana cobbler recipe up here too one day)

Goldies:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 bag (10 oz) white vanilla baking chips (1 2/3 cups)
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (i used pecans)
1-2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla (or about a shot of NaVaN if this is for adults)
2 tablespoons warm water or milk

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 13×9-inch pan. In 2-quart saucepan, heat butter and baking chips over low heat, stirring frequently, just until melted. (Mixture may appear curdled.) Remove from heat; cool.

2. Stir in remaining brownie ingredients until well blended. Spread evenly in pan.

3. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

4. In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Spread glaze over brownies. For brownies, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

****I have since found cinnamon, caramel and cherry baking chips at walmart and so far have made “Rubies” with the cherry chips and I must say…. OMG! The particular ones I found were of the Log House Brand (<— go ahead click it… looks so good) and we baked them the same way just used the cherry chips instead. The other chips will definitely get their trials soon! Pics have been added to the slideshow below.****

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Cedar Plank Wraps Grilling (Shrimp, and Peaches/Pears dessert)

Posted: May 31, 2011 in Desserts, Food, Main course, On the grill
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

I saw some cedar wraps from woot.com on sale and thought “Man, I gotta try these”.  For those that don’t know what they are here’s a link from amazon:
Click me for cedar wraps…

Another key ingredient, agave nectar, to be used in place of syrup or honey, all natural too.
Click me for agave nectar…

Shrimps:

Lime juice
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Agave nectar
Old bay seasoning to taste
Baby carrots sliced lengthwise
Chopped chives.

Soak cedar wrap planks in liquid for at least 20 mins, I used apple juice.  If you’re using 6X6 wraps, you’ll get about 4 shrimps per wrap.

Shell and devein a pound or more of jumbo shrimp.

Mix in bowl the cilantro, baby carrots, chopped chives, soy sauce, olive oil, a few shakes of old bay, a few squirts of lime juice, and a few squirts of agave nectar.

Add shrimp and toss, let sit for 20 mins in fridge.

Line up shrimp in the middle of wrap (make sure to include some of the marinated chives and carrots, or add any other veggies you may like), wrap and tie lightly with green onion or butcher string.

Grill indirect for 6-10 mins until shrimp looks pink.  If you want to try with fish, like tilapia or grouper, just cook about 5 mins longer.

Serve hot right on the plate and eat food out of wraps.

Peaches and pears, (wrapped): 

Two to 3 cups of peaches and pears, cut into bite sized pieces

1/4-1/2 cup of your favorite baking  liquor, i used naVan and amoretto

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla bean sugar

Flaked coconut.

Mix all ingredients except coconut in bowl and let sit for 20 mins.  Take four peaches (depending on the size) and lightly roll in coconut until covered.  Line up fruit in the cedar wrap (pre-soaked in apple juice), wrap and then tie with butcher string or clip with metal paper clip.

Repeat with pear and remaining fruit.  Grill indirect for 10-15 mins until coconut looks nice and toasted on the edges.  Serve hot on plate in wrap along with ice cream or whipped cream.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Vanilla lobster and 5way bacon wrapped scallops

Posted: May 23, 2011 in Food, Main course
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

2 part dish

PART 1:

Vanilla Lobster

2 fresh lobster tails, shelled, and cut into lil chunks
one sprig, or twig or whatever you call it of vanilla bean cut into 1 inch pieces (not extract, the real bean)
olive oil
fresh diced chives (or green onions, or spring onions, depending on where you’re from)
old bay seasoning

Coat medium sized pan in olive oil, on med/hi heat, add chives and vanilla and after a minute, add lobster meat and stir continuously. As you’re tossing the lobster meat you’ll see the specks of black over the lobster, these are the vanilla bean “seeds”. Once the lobster gets a lil opaque (maybe 5 minutes), add a light dusting of old bay, just to give some kick. You don’t want to over power the vanilla.

PART 2:

10 Large Fresh Scallops cut in half
5 pieces of peppercorn bacon cut in half
20 toothpicks

5 Way Bacon Wrapped Scallops
Simple recipe, 5 different flavors. I’ll show the main setup and then the different flavors afterwards. This can also be grilled (I know you’re shocked its not grilled this time)

Pre-Heat broiler. After flavoring the large scallops (see below) roll in bacon and then hold in place with toothpick. place in middle rack under broiler for 6 mins, turn and broil for six minutes on a broiler tray.
If bacon isn’t done, cook for a lil bit longer.

a. marinate/toss scallops in olive oil, vanilla extract, chives, pepper

b. marinate/toss scallops olive oil, honey, old bay seasoning

c. soak scallops in naVan, then roll with cane sugar (i used sugar in the raw)

d. soak scallops in Malibu coconut rum, then roll with lime-pepper seasoning

e. soak scallops butterscotch schnapps, then roll with seasalt


From left to right:
olive oil / vanilla / chives
olive oil / honey / old bay
naVan / cane sugar
Malibu / lime-pepper
Butterscotch Schnapps/ sea salt