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?

Seven Layed Dip Recipe

Another one of those all time party recipes that everyone needs to have is a 7 layer dip recipe. At the end of the day, we all love to get our fix of dips, and well, this is one you can make easy or complicated.

Let’s talk about the easy way, and then we can talk a little bit more about the harder way to make seven layered dip.

Things You’ll Need for your seven layer dip:

* Plastic Wrap
* Tortilla Chips
* Serving Platters
* Plastic Wrap
* 1/4 c. sliced green onions
* 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 6-oz. container guacamole dip (there is a difference between guacamole dip and guacamole.)
* 2/3 c. chopped, seeded tomatoes ( you can leave the seeds in if you like, they add flavor too)
* 1 8-oz. carton sour cream (low fat or fat free if you care)
* 1 9-oz. can bean dip ( or pureed pinto beans, or what ever you like from the mexican section)
* 2 tbsp. sliced, pitted olives
* 1/4 c. taco sauce or picante sauce ( basically salsa)

You can use your imagination, when creating this, but basically, all you need to do is start from the bottom and work your way up.

First, I place in the beans on the bottom. Here is a tip. sometimes the bean puree is too hard, so you can add some vegetable oil to thin it and make it spreadable so you don’t break chips.

next, layer on the guacamole, and then the sour cream.

Once that is done, you can evenly pour on the salsa, and then sprinkle with tomatoes, Cheese and then olives.

Finally garnish with the green onions.

There are just tons of ways you can take this and make it even better…

Start of by mixing different salsas when you do your seven layer dip. You can literally make hundreds of different varieties.

There are also lots of guacamole recipes to try. What you really should think about is using better ingredients. Instead of cheap cheddar, use something nice from Vermont. Use fresh avocados for your guacaomole. Try using vine ripe tomatoes in the salsa….

See where Im going from here?

Oh and the last thing…For me, three of the most important ingredients for great Southwestern cooking are lime juice, cumin and cilantro. Try sprucing up your seven layer dip with those items and you will see the difference.

Have fun at your next superbowl party, or tailgate event!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

At the end of the day, when we did our research, I find that I like to make regular buffalo wing sauce using Franks Red hot, so I decided to check out their website. They have a great recipe, and we are going to post it here for you.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe from Franks Red Hot:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup any flavor FRANK’S® REDHOT® Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (12.5 oz. each) SWANSON® White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

MIX in salad dressing, Frank’s RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken.

BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

TIPS:
Microwave Directions: Prepare as above. Place in microwave-safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 5 min. until hot, stirring halfway through cooking.

Tips: You may substitute 2 cups shredded cooked chicken.

Slow Cooker Method: Combine ingredients as directed above. Place mixture into small slow cooker. Cover pot. Heat on HIGH setting for 1 1/2 hours until hot and bubbly or on LOW setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir.

Tailgating Tip: Prepare dip ahead and place in heavy disposable foil pan. Place pan on grill and heat dip until hot and bubbly.

Franks Red Hot

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.

It takes advantage of all the best things of summer… That thing is Tomatoes!

This is a really refreshing soup, and it can be served with hot grilled cheese sandwiches, or even poached shrimp.

I enjoy it with lots of basil, and crostini.

Ingredients:

2 vine ripe or heirloom tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 dash extra virgin olive oil

1/2 garlic clove

salt/pepper

pinch of cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until very smooth.

The oil will thicken the soup and make it creamy.

The friction from the blending will lightly warm it, but not cook it.

Once done, put in fridge and let get really cold.

Service garnished with fresh basil!

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.

Well, I have an answer for you. What I suggest you serve with your prime rib, is a nice simple horseradish sauce.

You may be looking for an easy horseradish sauce, or a simple horseradish sauce recipe, so here goes. I think you will like this recipe, especially cause this horse radish sauce recipe is fast, quick and easy.

Make this recipe and serve it on the side with your roast, and watch people go crazy! We make this all the time in the restaurant, and it is a must for any nice roasted beef dishes.  It is also good with smoked salmon.

Horse Radish Sauce Recipe:
Horseradish Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish
• 8 ounces sour cream drained
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt
• Dash hot sauce

All you need to do is mix the ingredients together. Simple as can be. Now, go get some soft buns, and slice up your roast beef rib nice and thin, and you have every thing you need.

Enjoy….

If you liked this recipe, please help by referring this site to others, and leave a comment for more ideas.

Im looking to write for you!

Cheers

The Food Wiz

And guess what, a easy mashed potato recipe is no problem. You will find out once you read this, you will be so amazed. And, the thing is, there are really only a few ingredients.

Simple Easy Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Russet (Idaho Potatoes) peeled and cut into quarters 2 pounds

Hot scalded half and half milk 1 1/2 cups

Butter unsalted 1/2 stick

salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Season the water with salt until the water tastes salty. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce immediately to a light simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Once the potatoes are done, drain them and let stand for a minute to get the water completely drained.

At this point, you can mash the potatoes with a masher, or use a potato ricer for a smoother potato. Season with salt and pepper, break up the butter and drop it in the potatoes.

Gradually add in the hot half and half until you get the consistency you want. Add more butter if you want, and adjust seasoning.

Chefs notes: I like unsalted butter because it is fresher (salt is a preservative). and half and half makes the potaotes creamy. For richer potatoes, use cream, for less rich, use whole milk.

If you want, you can add in scallions, bacon bits, blue cheese…really what ever you mind can think up!

Hope you enjoy!

And…if you have a question, leave us a comment…I’ll know what people are looking for!

There really are tons of right answers. So you can slow roast prime rib, or quick roast prime rib. You can also rotisserie prime rib. But for those of you who are getting started and want to really get something simple going, and look like a hero, there are some simple things you can do when learning to cook prime rib.

First of all, you should plan to have about 8 ounces of raw weight per person you are having over. The second thing you want to make sure you do is have the butcher or supermarket do most of the work.

Now, you can get a bone in rib, or a boneless rib. If you are new to this, get a boneless rib. Make sure you pick a rib that has a small eye of fat in the middle of the rib. Take a look at the side cut and look for the white areas in the cut. You want a rib that has nice white “marbeling” but not a big spot of white. When roasted, that will just be fat.

I recommend choosing USDA choice grade for your prime rib. Most supermarkets will offer this grade now. It is usually a bit more expensive, but much more worth it.

Ask the butcher to make the fat cap 1/4 in thick.

When you get home, all you need to do is prep and roast.

Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees.

Take your rib, and rub it liberally with salt and fresh cracked pepper. If you are feeling adventureous, you can rub it with cajun seasoning, or chopped rosemary and garlic. But salt and pepper will work just as well.

Place it with the fat side facing up onto a roasting pan. When the oven is at 450, place the rib in the oven.

Let it roast for 40 minutes, and then drop the temperature to 300 degrees. (Farenheight).

Let the roast cook in the oven until you reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees. Yes!!!!Buy a good meat thermometer. If you want good results. Make the purchase.

Once you reach 120, remove and let it rest for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

My estimation is that a 10 lbs rib will be done in somewhere around 1 hour. Once you check the temp at 40 minutes, you will be able to guage time. Keep in mind, that once the rib hits 100 degrees, it will take only 5-10 minutes to get close to being done. The cooking speeds up from there.

One thing I do often is rub the rib with dijon mustard. Yummy!

So that’s it. Easy simple roast prime rib of beef. What else you want to see on the Christmas menu?

Leave me a comment. Prime Rib Roast coming up!

Lastly make sure that what ever kitchen knife sets you use, they are sharp and ready to slice.