Skillet Roast Chicken with Vegetables

Jun 24, 2015

Skillet Roast Chicken & Vegetables – Candy Coated Culinista

I am finally starting to love my skillet, don’t get me wrong I still find cooking certain proteins on it a little challenging; but every day it get better and today I am trying to bake a whole bird using the skillet.

Yield/Serving: 4
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level is: Easy

Ingredients
• 1 small whole chicken
• Season salt
• Paprika
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 3 tbsp, extra virgin olive oil
• 4 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
• 4 stalks celery, rough chop
• 4 carrots, rough chop
• 1 small onion, sliced
• Handful, green beans
• 2 fresh sprigs, rosemary
• 8 chives
• 6 cloves garlic, rough chop

Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Season whole chicken rubbing seasoning onto chicken.
3. Pour olive oil into skillet and place potatoes on the bottom of the pan.
4. Place celery, carrots, onion, and green beans around the side, leaving space for the whole chicken in the middle.
5. Stuff the rosemary, chives and garlic into the cavity of the chicken.
6. Place chicken into the middle of the skillet and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Then reduce temperature to 375°F and bake for about 45 minutes.
8. The internal temperature should be between 150°F – 165°F, or cut into the thigh meat at the joint and if the juices run clear it is ready.
9. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve with vegetables.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
This is my best roast chicken to date. It was so fragrant, juicy and succulent and I could smell the rosemary, chives and garlic throughout the chicken. Cooking the whole recipe in one pan made me so happy as I really dislike using multiple pot and pans, but most times it is needed. The only thing I would change is putting the potatoes in first let cook and then the whole chicken followed by the carrots, celery and green beans.

Skillet Roast Chicken & Vegetables – Candy Coated Culinista

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chunk and Chip Cookies

Jun 17, 2015

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chip & Chunk Cookies – Candy Coated Culinista

I pretty much have my own chocolate cookie recipe squared away, but it doesn’t mean I don’t mind trying others recipes. Sometimes other chefs and home chefs alike put in different ingredients that I wouldn’t think of and as I am always striving to learn and grow I gave this recipe a try.

From Bouchon bakery – Sebastien Rouxel & Thomas Keller

Yield/Serving: 12 cookies
Prep Time: 20 min.
Cook Time: 16 min.
Difficulty level is: Easy

Ingredients
• 238 grams all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 134 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 3/4 tsp unsulfured blackstrap molasses
• 104 g sugar
• 167 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup bittersweet (70-72%) chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Assembly
1. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together the brown sugar, molasses and granulated sugar breaking up any lumps.
3. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter until it holds a peak when the paddle is lifted, and add in the sugar mixture and mix for 3 to 4 minutes on medium speed until fluffy. Don’t forget to scrape the sides of the bowl.
4. On low-speed add in the eggs and mix for 15-30 seconds. Don’t overmix or the cookies will spread out too much and scrape the sides of the bowl.
5. Add in half the dry ingredients and mix for 15-30 seconds and then add the remaining dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Cover with saran wrap and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and place of the cookie sheets leaving space for spreading.
9. Bake for 16 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Let cool for five minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
11. Serve

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
This was one of the few recipes I have done where a scale was required, but I learned Bouchon Bakery is all about exact measurement with certain ingredients. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with this recipe, as it was a Thomas Keller recipe and people rave about him I was expecting something out of this world. I personally like my cookies better as these weren’t anything special. This was a comment I heard from my testers. I will say though that these were the roundest cookies I’ve ever made. I was worried that the molasses was creating too much of a puddle in the oven, but they turned out perfectly round and cooked. I would use this as a base recipe just for the roundness of the cookie factor and put my spin on it to ramp up the flavour.

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chip & Chunk Cookies – Candy Coated Culinista

D is for … Dulce de Leche Espresso Brownies

Jun 10, 2015

D is for … Dulce de Leche Espresso Brownies – Candy Coated Culinista

I had a tin of Dulce de Leche around, begging me to be used and I had a thought to make a batch of from scratch brownies and use this; then I saw my instant espresso and it just all came together nicely.

Yield/Serving: 12
Prep Time: 25 min.
Cook Time: 30-35 min.
Difficulty level is: Easy

Ingredients
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) of unsalted butter
• 170g (6oz) bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, optional
• 1 cup Dulce de Leche
• 3 tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder

Assembly
1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray an 8” x 8” baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Line the dish with parchment paper and let excess overhang the sides.
4. Using a medium size saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and then add the chocolate stirring constantly until the chocolate has melted.
5. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and then add in the eggs one at a time.
6. Stir in the sugar, vanilla and then flour and finally walnuts if desired.
7. Pour half this mixture into the pan.
8. Drop one third of the Dulce de Leche evenly spaced throughout the pan and swirl it using a butter knife then add more Dulce de Leche. Use a knife and swirl slightly.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Let cool completely.

Tips
• The brownie taste better on the second day if they last that long.
• Serve with a nice glass of milk or a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
Recently I have not been in the mood to pull out my electric mixer to use on every recipe as it just adds so much extra time and things to clean. I thought about making this in a saucepan and it turned out great, just make sure there is no raw flour when the mixture is poured into the prepared pan and it will turn out amazing. For a non-chocolate lover these tasted great, with the Dulce de Leche incorporated into the brownie and I enjoyed it. It was dense, ooey & gooey and lasted 4-5 days and still tasted great. Reviews from my taste-testers was it tasted great and they could taste something extra, but really couldn’t place what it was, it was the hint of espresso. I may add more next try to perfect this recipe.

Mosaics Workshop

Jun 3, 2015

Mosiac Workshop – Candy Coated Culinista

Place: Glass Mosaics Canada
Location: 709 The Queensway, Etobicoke , Ontario, 647-977-3030
Hours: Mon: Closed, Tues & Wed: 12 – 7pm, Thurs & Fri: 12-8pm Sat: 11-6pm, Sun: 11-4pm

I always want to learn new forms of art and I have never tried mosaics, so when I found a workshop in the G.T.A. I had to go and try it.

At the beginning of our workshop our instructors told us a little about Mosaic tiling and that it dates back to before Christ. Mosaics uses small pieces of glass, stone and even other materials to create art or decorations. For the workshop we had three choices, we could make a picture frame from a pre-cut/assembled frame, coasters or custom. I didn’t have the intention of going custom on my first attempt at mosaics; but the option a blank piece of wood had me intrigued. We learned the direct method for application of the tiles which is exactly as it sounds; we apply the glass tile directly to surface. I will say all of us students had the hardest time coming up with a design concept and as I was the only one to go custom I had an even harder time. A blank canvas leaves too much to the imagination, as I had no idea what I wanted to make as the usual things I like would be hard to portray in a 2 hours’ workshop. From that moment I just started grabbing tiles and colours and soon enough I was making a sailboat on the ocean. The instructor said I’d probably not have time to finish this as I was getting to complex, but with 5 minutes to spare I finished it. Sure I had to rush the colour scheme at the end for the sky, but I was still very proud of what I had accomplished in two short hours.

As usual I have found another form of art I love and I want to take a course there sometime and practice mosaics at home. I found it relaxing even though I was rushing to finish and a person could spend hours just grabbing the right colours and shapes of the glass even before applying them onto a surface. Once completed we had to let the mosiacs dry for 24 hours before we grouted if we so desired. I wanted to grout my picture as I had put non linear shapes of glass into my piece, and needed to fill in some space where possible. I am no stranger to grouting so when I was told the steps I mentioned I have grouted tile before so I’m good, and then once that is finished it needs to dry for another 24 hours or longer. The instructions and supplies were excellent and the instructors also gave tips and hints for us if needed. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours on the weekend.

Mosiac Workshop – Candy Coated Culinista

Mosiac Workshop – Candy Coated Culinista

Mosiac Workshop – Grouting – Candy Coated Culinista