recipe archives

Bonbon Jovi Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup evaporated low-fat (2 percent) milk
1/2 cup margarine (be sure it's
non-hydrogenated)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar,
cocoa, evaporated milk, and margarine.
Cook and stir over medium heat until
mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute,
stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Add
rolled oats and coconut and mix well. Drop
by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined
with waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm,
about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Store in an
airtight container in the refrigerator or at
room temperature.

Yield: 35 bonbons

this is a kid-friendly recipe!!!

Chocolate Quesadillas
Ingredients:
4 (7 to 8 in. each) flour tortillas
Non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (please, y'all get a
natural brand)
1/4 cup marshmallow creme
2 small bananas, sliced
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips, dark Chocolate
Chips OR Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (your
preference on milk or dark..I am a dark girl myself)
Directions:
1. Lightly coat one side of each tortilla with cooking
spray. Place tortillas on clean work surface, coated
sides down.

2. Spread 1 tablespoon each peanut butter and
marshmallow crème on half of each tortilla. Arrange
1/4 of the banana slices and 2 tablespoons
chocolate chips over marshmallow crème; fold
each tortilla over to cover filling.

3. Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat 1
minute. Add two quesadillas; cook 1 to 2 minutes or
until tortillas are golden brown and crisp, turning
once. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve
warm. 4 servings.

The Practically Perfect Chocolate
Chip Cookie

2-1/4 cups flour

1 level teaspoon baking soda

1 level teaspoon salt

3/4 cup each white and packed
dark brown sugar

2 sticks (1/2 pound) sweet butter,
room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

12-ounce package semisweet
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix the
flour, baking soda and salt in a
bowl and set aside. Use a
stand-type electric mixer to mix the
two sugars briefly at low speed.
Add the butter in small gobbets,
mixing first at low speed and then
at high. Beat the mixture until it's
pale, light, and very fluffy. Add the
vanilla at the mixer's lowest speed,
then beat at high speed for a few
seconds. Add the eggs, again at
the lowest speed, switching to high
speed for the final second or so.
The eggs should be well beaten in,
and the mix should look creamed,
not curdled. Add the flour mixture, a
half cup at a time, mixing at low
speed for about one minute, then at
high speed for a few seconds.
Scrape down the bowl's sides with
a spatula, add the chocolate chips,
and mix at low speed for about 10
seconds. If need be, scrape the
bowl's sides again and mix for a
few more seconds. Put tablespoons
of the mix on an ungreased cookie
sheet. Bake until the cookies are
pale golden brown (nine minutes in
an electric oven, 10 to 11 minutes
in a gas one). Remove and let cool
on a rack. Makes about 40 medium
cookies.

Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Ice Cream
About 1 quart (1 liter)

Since the custard is made without sugar,
keep an eye on things as it will cook rather
quickly. You can either use a flame-tamer or
cook the custard in bain-marie, a bowl set
over a pan of simmering water, to avoid
overcooking if you've never made a custard
before. And because I don't like washing
dishes, I use the same saucepan for cooking
the custard that I used for dissolving and
blooming the cocoa powder, I simply scrape
it as clean as possible and use it again for
making the custard.

If you're concerned about the quantity of
agave nectar here, you can reduce the
amount to ½ cup (120 ml) if you wish,
although it's texture and taste is exactly right
for me.

10 tablespoons (155 ml) agave nectar
2 ounces (55 g) unsweetened chocolate, very
finely chopped
1/3 cup (35 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (I
used Valrhona)
3 cups (750 ml) half-and-half*, divided
5 large egg yolks
pinch of salt

1. In a small saucepan, warm the agave
syrup with the unsweetened chocolate over
the lowest heat possible, stirring constantly,
until the chocolate is melted. Remove from
heat and transfer mixtures to a large bowl.
Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, add 1½ cups (375
ml) of the half-and-half and whisk in the
cocoa powder. Cook over moderate heat until
the mixture begins to bubble, then simmer
for 30 seconds, whisking frequently, making
sure to break up any clumps of cocoa
powder.

3. Remove from heat and scrape the mixture
into the bowl with the chocolate-agave
mixture. Stir them together, then set a mesh
strainer over the top.

4. Add the remaining half-and-half to the
saucepan with a pinch of salt, turn on the
heat, and when warm, slowly pour the warm
half-and-half into the yolks whisking
constantly, then pour the warmed yolks back
into the saucepan.

5. Cook, stirring constantly over moderate
heat, until the mixture becomes steamy and
thickens. If using an instant-read
thermometer, it should read about 170-175F
degrees. (76-79C).

6. Pour the mixture through the strainer into
the chocolate mixture.

7. Stir, then let cool a few minutes until tepid.
Once it's not super hot, whiz the mixture in a
blender for ten seconds until it's smooth and
velvety. (Never blend very hot liquids in a
blender, since it creates a hot vortex and can
cause the liquid to blast out of the top.)

8. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then
freeze in your ice cream maker according to
the manufacturer's instructions.

Or follow my step-by-step instructions for
freezing ice cream without a machine.

*If half-and-half isn't available where you live,
just substitute equal parts of heavy or
whipping cream and whole milk mixed
together to equal 3 cups (750 ml).

I got this recipe from David
Lebovitz. It is super good. And
we here in the southwest love
agave.