Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Mousse - Wine Flight Pt. 4

On the morning of Christmas Eve I woke up feeling a little risque. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I said, "Laura, you're going to be a bad ass today. You're going to put sugar and water in a saucepan, and watch it turn into a beautiful brown bubbly caramel. But you know what else, you crazy rebel? You're going to do it without a candy thermometer." 
And I did.
And it turned out SO PERFECT.
And it was my first caramel, ever!
And then I put dark chocolate into it, and I ate a spoonful and died and went to heaven.
But then I didn't stop there! I added eggs and turned it into a mousse, and topped it with salt.
Are you still breathing?
I barely am.

You know those desserts you taste and they are so mind-blowingly good you fall to the floor after the first bite? If you don't know those desserts, make this mousse so you can understand what passing out over caramel and chocolate is all about. Even if you don't want to make a mousse, just make the chocolate caramel and drink it, or drizzle it over ice cream or brownies. Whatever you prefer.
It's worth it, promise!

Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds - Wine Flight Pt. 4

Dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds.

A dessert that gives you double the antioxidants?!

Say whaaaaa?

I know.  You're welcome!

And the best part? 

The juices from the poms go pop in your mouth.

It's a juicy chocolate little morsel!

Perfect for the holidays, and perfect for everyday.

Herb Roasted Lamb Chops with Red Wine Reduction - Wine Flight Pt. 3

Hey! Want a recipe for the most tender, most flavorful, most WOW WOW WOW WOW lamb chops in all the lands?
I'm giving it to you right now.
Happy New Year!


Herb Roasted Lamb Chops

(recipe from Epicurious)

4 large garlic cloves, pressed

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, lightly crushed

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, lightly crushed

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

6 1 1/4-inch-thick lamb loin chops

Mix first 4 ingredients and 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl. Add lamb; turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add lamb; cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and roast lamb chops to desired doneness, about 10 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to platter, cover, and let rest 5 minutes.

Red Wine Reduction Sauce

(adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

1 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup dry red wine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Place a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic to the pan and saute for 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and add the chopped rosemary. Cook the red wine until it is nearly evaporated, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the stock to the pan and season with 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, and reduce to a gentle boil. Reduce the stock until its volume is 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Set the sauce aside and keep warm while you prepare the lamb.

Crab Cakes & Spicy Aioli - Wine Flight Pt. 2

Strawberry Goat Cheese Bruschetta - Wine Flight Pt. 1

also known as:
"This Will Leave You Speechless Bruschetta"
No jokes! Strawbs, goat cheese, basil, and balsamic? It's genius, really.
And aren't they such little beauts?
They were so pretty for Christmas, but would be even better in the summertime, when strawberries are in peak season here.
I understand if you can't wait.
I couldn't either. 

Christmas Eve Wine Flight

My family had the BEST Christmas Eve this year.
Together my mom and I planned an amazing four course food and wine flight.
It was fun, beautiful, delicious and so enjoyable.

The details:
4 rooms/tablescapes
4 wine pairings (2 white, 2 red)
4 mini courses

1. Strawberry & Goat Cheese Bruschetta
2. Crab Cakes with Spicy aioli
3. Herb Roasted Lamb Chops with Red Wine Reduction
4. Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Mousse & Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds

I did all of the cooking and HAD A BLAST. It was a lot of work, but so worth it. Everything turned out perfectly!! Mom picked the wines and did all of the decorating for the four tables/rooms. She even found wine-themed napkins that had trivia questions on each one for a fun, interactive twist and printed out details describing each wine we were tasting! We spent all evening eating, tasting and having fun.
I will be posting more pictures and recipes for each course this week.
Major deliciousness. Major.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Round two of our epic battle of the berries, is...
..the rustic,
..the sweet,
..the tart,
..the beautiful and divine...

the CRANBERRY APPLE CRISP!

So remember how I told you to give yourself a gift this holiday season, and let it be the pear cranberry and gingersnap crumble?
I changed my mind.
Let it be the pear cranberry and gingersnap crumble AND this cranberry apple crisp.
You need both.
It's no big deal.
Just make them and sit in the kitchen and eat them both straight out of the oven. With ice cream. By yourself.
Or you can share, I guess.
I mean it is Christmas, after all.

Pear Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble

I'm excited to announce there is about to be a show-down in this here apartment.
And maaan, this is a good match-up if there ever was one!

Pears and cranberries and crumble heaven  

VS 

Apples and cranberries and crisp magic

Are you as excited as I am?
You should be, dang it!

First up...
Pear, cranberry and gingersnap crumble. Oozes holidays, right? It's beautiful and perfect in every way.
I mean that. It's perfectly balanced, down to the sweetness from the pears, the tartness from the cranberries, the spices from the gingersnaps, and the textures from the crumble.
Are you looking to give yourself a gift this Christmas?
Let it be this crumble.
Trust me.

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Double Chocolate.
Peanut Butter.
Course Salt.

Enough said?
Enough said. (Make them and see for yourself!)

Dark Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons

My mom told me back in the day, coconut macaroons were all the rage. I'm not sure when back in the day was, but I'm guessing it was when big hair and big glasses were all the rage, too. Mom pulled those off amazingly well. I have pictures to prove it.
Coconut macaroons used to be my dad's all time favorite cookie, so my mom would make them for him every so often. Being the huge coconut fan that I am, too, when mom pulled up this new recipe, we knew we were going to incorporate these into our holiday baking.
These cookies are several things. 1. so stinkin' easy to make. 2. insanely scrumptious. 3. dangerously addicting.  
No, seriously. Try to eat just one. Doesn't work.

Confession: Mom and I gave most of these away as gifts, keeping less than one dozen for her and my dad and me and Eric. Since I knew they were dad's favs, I told her I'd just take two home. I left their house and ate both in my car before I even got on the freeway. Oopsies...
sorry, Eric.

Halloween Weekend and What I'm Reading

Eric and I left Seattle late Friday night and drove down to Portland for an extended weekend trip to visit my brother and friends.
We had known since August that we would be making the trip South over Halloween weekend and thought we had pretty set plans. But last minute, our itinerary changed. We never planned on driving down Friday night. But it's a good thing we did.
You always hear stories about people being in the wrong place at the wrong time; but not as many the other way around. Last Friday night, and the weekend in general, Eric and I were in the right place, at the right time. It wasn't the weekend we had expected, but I left feeling like we made an important impact in someone's life who means the world to me, and that's all that matters.

A Portland trip would be incomplete if I didn't make it to Powell's Bookstore. In anticipation for my upcoming trip, I got a few travel books that I'm so excited about:
Travelers' Tales: Food : True Stories of Life on the Road.
"Many people will tell you that they travel, in large part, to eat, to break bread with strangers and leave the table with friends, and to discover the world through the medium of cuisine. This special edition in the Travelers' Tales series collects stories that further the proposition that humanity is revealed through cuisine just as surely as it is through any other art or social activity."
Is this book not absolutely perfect for me? I love it so far! The stories are so heartwarming and uplifting and the book is littered with amazing quotes, which I adore.
"As the belly fills, so fills the heart." One of my favs.

The other book I picked up is called The Kindness of Strangers. I always get a bit anxious about crime and danger before I travel, so I thought it would help me if I read a book like this. "A timely collection of 26 inspiring tales, The Kindness of Strangers explores the unexpected human connections that so often transfigure and transform the experience of travel, and celebrates the gift of kindess around the world."

I can only hope that throughout our travels, Eric and I make amazing connections with the people of Ecuador and Peru, and others we meet from around the world. I so hope we recieve numerous opportunities to eat and break bread with others and leave the table with friends.


P.S. Eric won the Pumpkin Carving Contest at Kiss Cafe!! The Thursday night before we left for Portland, Eric and I took pumpkins down to Kiss for their annual carving contest, dinner and beers. The place was filled to the brim with people carving - it was so festive and so much fun! Everyone kept commenting on Eric's unique pumpkin and he said he had a good feeling he might win it. Sure enough, upon returning on Monday, we found out he took it home! They spoiled him too - he won a tshirt, a sweatshirt, any beer of his choice (he picked a $16 beer...) and they are sending his personal beer glass in to get a pumpkin engraved in it. I'm so jealous.