Valentine’s Day at Tico

Call me cliché but I will always like going out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. This year Sean and I decided to try a restaurant we hadn’t been to before, Tico. It’s the sister restaurant of Radius, which we’ve been to a few times and really like.

Tico is tapas restaurant with food that is a delicious mixture of America, Spanish and Mexican. Overall the food was really good. I ordered the BBQ shrimp with mango salad and grilled brussel sprouts with bacon, grilled cumquats and pickled onion. Normally I’m not a bacon fan, but with the rest of the dish it was perfect and not overpowering. Sean ordered calamari and chorizo risotto with pasilla chiles, scallion and parmigiano. Delicious all around. I think the most flavorful calamari I’ve ever had. We also shared mini lobster avocado tacos. Also delicious.

Lobster Avocado Tacos

The service overall was good and the waitstaff attentive. I also appreciated that they didn’t jam too many tables into the dining room considering the holiday, like some places do (I don’t name names…).

After dinner we went to my favorite dessert spot: Max Brenner’s, where I promptly ordered a DELICIOUS chocolate martini. So. Good. We also ordered a dessert, which took a really long time to get to the table, but the bartenders were really proactive and apologized and even comped one of our drinks. That’s always helpful, right? For the record, this was our third or fourth trip to Max Brenner’s and this was the first time there was any sort of issue (which wasn’t even a big deal – I was busy enjoying my drink).

Chocolate Martini at Max Brenner's

Overall it was a fun evening – I would recommend both Tico and Max Brenner’s to anyone. Enjoy. : )

Popcorn S’Mores Bars

A while back Sean bought me a Popcorn cookbook.  For whatever reason we haven’t been able to try many of the recipes yet, but I just got around to trying the S’Mores bars – yum!  Definitely for those with a strong sweet tooth and sense of nostalgia for camping as a kid.

Popcorn S'Mores bars

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts popped popcorn – 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
• One package (16 oz) marshmallows note: recipe called for 5 cups, but there was only slightly more in the 16 oz package
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/3 cup Golden Grahams cereal note – the recipe only called for 1 cup, but I added a little more
• 6 TBS butter

1. Butter a 9×13 inch glass pan
2. Pop the popcorn and place in large bowl – use an air popper if possible – set popcorn aside
   

   Popcorn

3. Melt butter over low heat in medium-large saucepan.  Add marshmallows once butter is mostly melted, stirring until butter and marshmallows are mixed and completely melted together
4. Add melted marshmallow mixture to the popcorn, stirring quickly (faster = easier)
5. Quickly add 1 cup chocolate chips and the cereal to the popcorn/marshmallow mixture until combined
6. Place mixture into the greased pan
7. Melt the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips
   

   Right before adding the chocolate on top...

8. Drizzle (or spread – your call) the chocolate onto the top of the bars
9. Let set for 20-25 minutes
10. Cut bars into squares to serve

Tip: try to make sure all the popcorn you use is actually popped!  I tried to make sure kernels didn’t get into the bowl while it was popping.

Also – when I make these again (and I know I will be making them again) – I don’t know if I would add the extra chocolate on top.  I don’t think it really needs it and there’s enough chocolate throughout.  I think the addition of the chocolate topping would depend on whether I’m making them for “big kids” like myself, or little kids, who just may be their intended consumer.

Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

Here are the cupcakes I mentioned (in A Bad Day for Dieting).  I made them for a POM Wonderful cupcake contest to support heart disease research.  Check out my recipe below for Heart of POM Devil’s Food Cupcakes with POM frosting – and don’t forget to vote!

INGREDIENTS:

POM Cupcake Batter

DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE

1-1/2 cups cake flour
1/3 cup POM Wonderful juice

1/2 cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter

POM Frosting

1-1/3 cups (10 ounces) superfine sugar
1 cup 2% milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs2 eggs

FROSTING:

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk
1.5 teaspoon POM Wonderful juice

Chocolate Hearts

CHOCOLATE HEARTS:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

CAKE:

Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking soda, and salt twice into a mixing bowl. Add butter. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 1-2 minutes, or until the ingredients are combined completely. Add the sugar and blend with a spoon.

Slowly mix in 1/2 the milk into the flour and beat on low speed for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Unfrosted Cupcakes

Combine the remaining milk with the POM Wonderful juice, eggs and vanilla with the beaters running on low speed, slowly add this to the batter. Continue to beat until the mixture is very smooth.

Pour the mixture into cupcake tine. Bake for 20 to 35 minutes, or until the cake rises and a tester inserted in the center comes out dry.

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

ICING:
Combine all ingredients with a blender on low speed. Add 1-2 drops of red food coloring for extra pink coloring if desired.

Almost done!

CHOCOLATE HEART TOPPERS
Melt 4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler or heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

Let cool slightly. Transfer to resealable plastic bag. Snip a tip to make a small hole.

Trace hearts with chocolate and fill in the center as desired.

Freeze hearts until set, about 15 minutes. Remove hearts using an offset spatula.

The final cupcakes

Please vote for my cupcakes in the POM Cupcake Contest!  Voting runs through February 28th.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

The holidays mean many things: family, friends, shopping, decorating and – of course – baking.  Today I decided to try to make something I’ve always loved – chocolate covered pretzels.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I found a few slightly different recipes online and decided to go with one that looked really, really simple: melt chocolate chips and milk together in a bowl, dip pretzels, then you’re done.  This sounded foolproof.

While it was really easy, it ended up being really time-consuming.  I kept needing to reheat the chocolate slightly because it wasn’t keeping its syrupy consistency as I went along.  I also made too much chocolate.  I’m bringing them to a Christmas Eve at my parents’ house and there will be a lot of people, so I don’t think they’ll go to waste, but I spent about an hour and 1/2 dipping pretzels.  Good times.

In case you’re interested, here’s the recipe.  This made 3 cookie sheets full of pretzels – so know that ahead of time and adjust accordingly.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound pretzels
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

• Melt the chocolate chips and half the milk in the microwave, stirring every 40 seconds
• Once the chocolate is melted, dip pretzels into the bowl to coat. Note: I found it easier to hold one of the sections of the pretzel instead of trying to coat the entire pretzel in chocolate.
• Place coated pretzels on wax paper.  Add sprinkles if desired.
• As you work with the chocolate, it will start to re-harden.  Add small amounts of milk to the chocolate, stir, and reheat for about 20 seconds to keep the chocolate smooth
• Place covered pretzels in the refrigerator for at least two hours to completely cool and harden

My Take on Layered Peanut Butter Bars

I found what looked like a great recipe for peanut butter bars on BettyCrocker.com & decided to give them a try. I switched out a few ingredients for a few “healthier” ingredients & started baking.  I was pleased with the results and the bars seemed to be a hit!  These are REALLY easy to make.  Really, really easy.  The only daunting part is waiting for them to cool.  Below is my altered recipe.  I encourage you to give them a try!

Cookie Base

1    pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix

3    tablespoons apple sauce

1    tablespoon water

1    egg

Filling

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup low-fat creamy peanut butter

1 3/4  cups powdered sugar

1/4    flour

2      teaspoons milk

Frosting

1      cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, stir all Cookie Base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. In small bowl, beat all Filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cookie base.

4. In microwavable bowl, microwave all Frosting ingredients on High 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate at LEAST an hour.  They’re technically “done” after roughly 30 minutes, but we found the bars became better & better the longer you waited. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 6 rows.

The original recipe called for vegetable oil instead of apple sauce in the cookie base, regular peanut butter instead of low-fat peanut butter in the filling & more powdered sugar instead of flour in the filling.

From reading the comments, people who tried the original version thought the bars were too sweet – which is what prompted my switching some of the powdered sugar for flour.

I wanted to make the bars but didn’t want as many calories as the original recipe (180 calories per 1oz – which is about 2 pieces).  This prompted the decision to use apple sauce instead of vegetable oil & low-fat peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter.  Based on the nutrition labels from the brands I used, this saved about 50 CALORIES PER SERVING (roughly 2 pieces).  130 is still high, but not as bad.  The switch of course also lowered the fat contents.

Tip: these are rich – I originally made them thinking they would be more like “bars,” as the original recipe states, but they were too rich (in the opinion of those who ate them) to eat as a bar; hense the small portions.  When making & eating these, expect them to have more of the affect of fugde than a dessert bar: rich & delicious, but satisfy you in a small portion. 🙂

Enjoy!