Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe

Ingredients You will need for your Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
* 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
* 1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well

Directions for Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted. If doing in the microwave, you need to run it for 10 seconds at a time or you risk burning the chocolate.)

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Special Notes About Chocolate:

Make sure you use good quality chocolate. Get chocolate brands like Ghiradelli, Valrhona, Noel. Nestle won’t work in this application because, while it is good for baking cookies, the chocolate has lots of other things in it, and is not couveture…Couverture Chocolate is a very high quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter (32-39%). The higher percentage of cocoa butter, combined with the processing, gives the chocolate more sheen, firmer “snap” when broken, and a creamy mellow flavor.

When you get ready to dip your strawberries, make sure the chocolate is melted, but not hot! It will hurt the berries. Take some chocolate and dab it to your bottom lip. If it feels just cool, under body temperature ( under 98 degrees farenheight ) then you are good to go.

My favorite berries to use are Driscoll brand strawberries. If you look you will find them. Usually Whole Foods Market always has them.

Happy Valentines Day and have fun…maybe you and your lover should do the choclate dipped strawberries together…Sound sexy and sensual?

You getting hungry yet? I am Anyway, there are tons of best glazed ham recipes, and how to glaze hams..but I’ll give you a super easy way to make a great glaze and, I’ll post a bunch of great ones here as well.

Take about one cup of honey, and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Moisten it with orange juice so it looks like wet sand or cement. Then add in about 2-3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, and 1 cup of orange marmalade. Stir this up into a nice sauce.

Place your ham into the oven, and then while you are baking it, say at 350 degrees, generously brush this on the ham every 15-20 minutes. You should see a nice glaze starting…Now, if the ham is heated through, and it doesn’t quite have the rich caramized color, turn on your broiler and let it brown from the top. BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS! THERE IS SO MUCH SUGAR, THAT YOU NEED TO STAY THERE..OR YOU WILL BURN IT! Watch it as it browns, and then pull it when you get the color you want.

That’s it!

Here are some other recipes you may want to consider for making a glazed ham.

Thyme Honey Glazed Ham Gourmet | April 2009

by Maggie Ruggiero

Hams with a thick honey glaze can sometimes be too cloying. This recipe takes a more balanced approach that results in a light sweetness and a beautiful shine.
Yield: Makes 12 to 16 servings
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 4 hr (includes cooling)
ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1 (12-to 14-pounds) boneless or semiboneless fully cooked ham at room temperature 1 hour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup mild honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
preparation

Melt butter with thyme and let stand until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in lower third.

Peel off and discard any rind or skin from ham, leaving 1/4 inch of fat on ham. Score fat on top of ham in a crosshatch pattern without cutting into meat. Put ham on a rack in a large roasting pan. Cover ham with parchment paper, then cover roasting pan with foil. Bake 1 3/4 hours.

Meanwhile, boil vinegar in a small saucepan until reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Remove from heat and whisk in honey, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme butter. Let honey glaze stand until ham has baked 1 3/4 hours.

Discard foil and parchment from ham. If there is no liquid in roasting pan, add 1 cup water (liquid will prevent glaze from burning in pan). Brush ham with half of honey glaze, then bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Brush with remaining glaze and bake until glaze is deep golden-brown and ham is heated through, about 30 minutes more.

Orange Glazed Ham with Baby Carrots

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
–
Cook Time:
4 hr 0 min

Level:
Intermediate

Serves:
10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

* 1 (8 to 10-pound) smoked ham, bone-in, skin on
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 bunch fresh sage leaves
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
* 2 medium navel oranges, sliced thin, seeds removed
* 2 cups orange juice
* 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 1 1/2 pounds peeled baby carrots

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the ham in a large roasting pan, fat side up. Using a sharp knife, score the ham with cuts across the skin, about 2-inches apart and 1/2-inch deep. Cut diagonally down the slashes to form a diamond pattern; season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Chop about 8 of the sage leaves and put in a bowl; mix with the oil to make a paste. Rub the sage-oil all over the ham, being sure to get the flavor into all the slits. Bake the ham for 2 hours. Now there is plenty of time to bang-out the orange glaze.

For the glaze: Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chunks of butter, oranges, orange juice, brown sugar, water, and spices. Slowly cook the liquid down to a syrupy glaze; this should take about 30 to 40 minutes.

After the ham has been going for a couple of hours, pour the orange glaze all over it, with the pieces of fruit and all. Scatter the remaining sage leaves on top and stick the ham back in the oven. Continue to cook for 1 1/2 hours, basting with the juices every 30 minutes.

Scatter the carrots around the ham and coat in the orange glaze. Stick the ham once again back in the oven and cook for a final 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender, the ham is dark and crispy, and the whole thing is glistening with a sugary glaze.

Set the ham on a cutting board to rest before carving. Serve the carrots and orange glaze on the side.

There you go, the easy way to glaze a ham, and a few great recipes that I think will also get you going to having a wonderful baked glazed ham.

Yes, they are cheap, but you get what you pay for , and that is crap.  So, what kind of ham should you get if you really want to have a good experience?

The kind of ham I recommend, if you don’t want to pay for the expensive honey glazed types of hams, or those ones that are dry curd or smoked, is at least gett a whole muscle ham and preferrably one with the bone in.

You can actually get a similar ham to a Farmer Johns Ham, the kind in the gold foil.

Here is a great guide I found at about.com

The trouble most people have when selecting a ham is not knowing what a ham really is. Technically, a ham is the entire back leg of a hog. Each pig has two. Of course, when most of us think of a ham, we think of a piece of meat that has a pinkish color and a sweet, smoky flavor. So, if the most basic definition of ham is a large pork roast the next definition is a type of preserved meat not necessarily precooked but usually preserved with salt or other preservatives. This is what leads to those kosher turkey hams.

The old fashioned way of preserving ham is in salt and cold smoking it. It is never cooked. The preservation process kills off the bacteria and changes the flavor and texture of the meat into what we think of as ham. These days however, many hams are pumped full of phosphates (preservatives) and salt water, and then cooked in a chamber filled with liquid smoke mist. The phosphates preserve the meat, and the salt water gives it a more traditional flavor and texture as well as increase the weight to hold down the cost per pound. This makes them appear more reasonably priced.

So what kind of ham do you buy? The first thing you have to decide on is the price. The more time spend making the ham the more it is going to cost. A country ham, which can be aged as much as, a year can set your pocket book way back. These traditional hams are hard to find at stores and generally have to be mail ordered. They are also heavy on salt and will need to be soaked and cooked before they can be eaten. The modern produced hams, on the other hand, can be picked up, sliced and served. Of course the best way to serve ham is warm. Grilling ham gives it the added smoky flavor and makes and excellent way to prepare ham no matter the type. Remember to grill large hams indirectly.

Next you should consider the size. Whole hams can come up to 20 pounds, which could leave you dealing with leftovers for weeks. Not a problem if you don’t mind a nearly endless supply of ham sandwiches, omelets, salads, etc. The general rule is to plan on 6 to 8 ounces of boneless ham per serving, or 8 to 12 ounces of bone in ham per serving. Hams can be frequently bought in sections. This is usually either the rounded, butt end or the lower shank end. The butt end is more difficult to carve because of the shape and position of the bone but is meatier. The shank end gives smaller pieces but is easier to carve. Of course you can always buy pre-sliced hams to make it easier on yourself, but plan on not storing it as long.

As always, if you have any questions, ask a butcher. That’s what they are there for. And, if you buy a packaged ham, read the label. Some hams, including some canned hams must be refrigerated. A good country ham that is well packaged doesn’t need to be refrigerated (the process for making these predates refrigeration) or cooked (it is eaten raw). So make sure you know what you have and how to treat it. Country hams in particular require a good deal of preparation. They are also, something of an acquired taste, so you might want to try a sampling before you spend a lot of money on one.

When you get a ham, they are actually cooked, and the really good ones are smoked. When you are ready to serve it, if you want a really awesome ham, you should glaze it. Basically, you put the ham int he oven, and while you reheat it, you glaze it and the glaze bakes on and makes a super yummy ham.

That’s it…how to make a ham or get the best baked ham is all about picking  a great product. In the next post, we’ll take a look at a really great ham glaze.

How Do I Make Corned Beef With Cabbage? So you looking to make the traditional boiled dinner for St Patricks day? BTW this is also known as the New England Boiled Dinner. Well I’ll tell you what, this is actually one of my favorite meals of all time. I really like the flavor of the corned beef, and I love the braised cabbage and potatoes. When you make this dish, you need to serve with mustard, and horseradish cream sauce. Use the same one in the recipe I listed on how to make horseradish sauce.

Okay, so what goes into making corned beef and cabbage?

Here is what you need…

Ingredients for Corned Beef And Cabbage

4 lb corned brisket of beef
3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
6 to 8 small onions, peeled and quartered or halved
6 to 8 red bliss cut in half, soaked in cold water
1 cabbage
salt and freshly ground pepper

For service, colemans mustard that has been hydrated with water, and horseradish sauce.

Method:

Put the brisket into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring gently to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 3-3 1/2 hours. Once the beef is fork tender, remove it from the broth. Place in the carrots, onion, potatoes and cabbage that has been cleaned and quartered into the broth and cook until the vegetables are tender. About 15 minutes.

Serve the corned beef in slices, surrounded by the vegetables and cooking liquid. Serve with lots of sauce.

1- 12oz bag fresh cranberries

1- granny smith apple, cored and cut into the size of the cranberries

1-orange, peeled, and diced into 1 inch chunks

1/2 cup honey or sugar

1/2 orange marmalade

Take all the ingredients and rough chop with a food processor. If you like if fine, then just puree longer.

Refrigerate and eat when ready.

That’s it! Really easy. You can make this simple cranberry sauce recipe a day before. and adjust the sweetness with more or less sugar or honey!

Bon Apetit!

Once I get a chance, I’ll also get going to create some easy salmon recipes as well.

There is alot of information out there about how to cook a turkey, and tons of people looking for turkey cooking tips and it can be confusing and hard to figure out what to do and who to trust.

The following is meant to be simple, easy and full proof. Im going to write it in bullet points so that it can be easy to follow.

1. Defrost the turkey in the refrigerator. Makes sure you start out 3-5 days in advance as it will take that long.

2. Do not stuff the turkey with stuffing. Bake the stuffing separately. It is safer and the turkey will cook faster.

3. 24 hours before baking, remove the turkey from the package, discard the innards, (save the neck and gizzards for gravy) towel off the turkey and dry it. Then leave it in the refreigerator so that the skin can get even dryer. Removing the moisture will allow the turkey to get a very even crust and golden color.

4. BUY A MEAT THERMOMETER! The little thing in the turkey that pops out is a piece of crap. It is so inaccurate, that you, if anything are ensured to have a nice dry turkey. When using the thermometer that you buy, make sure it is calibrated, and insert it in to the fleshy part of the turkey leg or breast, away from bone. You want a reading of 165 degrees.

5. When Roasting, Start with a very high temp, I like 450. I will roast it for 30 minutes at that temperature, then drop it to 350 for the duration of roasting. The high temp helps get the turkey nice and golden.

6. Throw a few carrot pieces, celery, onions, bayleaf, and parsley stems into the cavity when roasting, it will help add flavor.

7. When you are about to roast the turkey, slide pieces of butter underneath the breast skin, and rub butter or your favorite oil all over the skin, This will make things nice and brown when roasted.

8. Seasoning is so important. liberally season the cavity and skin with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Basically, thats all there is to how to cook a turkey. These Turkey cooking tips will make your Thanksgiving Turkey the best this year. When you want to get adventurous, you can start to experiment with different spice rubs, aromatics in the thanksgiving turkey, then progress to frying the turkey or even smoking it. But if you are a new turkey beginner, this is a good place to start.

Afterall, when you are looking for how to cook a turkey, what you want is something that is nice and moist, with crisp skin. All you thanksgiving turkey beginners, give it a whirl.

Someone the other day asked if they needed or could do it in a crock pot trio and I told them all you need is an oven…And better yet, you don’t need rival crock pot replacement parts either!

Any questions on how to cook a turkey, leave a comment and I will get back to you asap!