Prosciutto Salad

I found these ingredients in the fridge. The only thing I can manage to put together given the energy I have at the moment.

Yes, I was quite famished. Got that in my tummy in less than 5 minutes.

Valentine Flourless Chocolate Cake

When I think of Valentine's Day chocolates, strawberries, and champagne immediately comes to my mind. We love dark chocolate and strawberries and this is one of the best cake we have ever eaten.  Belleau Kitchen is hosting a Random Recipe challenge for the month of February. I'm going to submit this recipe and participate for the first time. This is from Miss Sophie Dahl's book. I was so glad that this is the random page that I got. It's perfect just in time for Valentine's Day. I'm going to submit this to What Kate Baked  and  Lavender and Lovage. They are hosting a challenge as well for the month of February and the theme is Romance.

Butter for greasing
2 cups of broken semisweet chocolate (or 1 cup each of dark and milk chocolate, plus extra to decorate (optional) (I use my favourite Ghirardelli chocolate)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup boiling water
2 sticks of salted butter, cut into cubes
6 eggs seperated
1 teaspoon of instant coffee (I left this out since my kiddies can't have them)
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

To top the cake

1 package of fresh strawberries
7oz tub creme fraiche (I've used heavy whipping cream)

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

For the cake, grease and line the base of a 23cm/9in springform tin with baking parchment.

Blend the chocolate and sugar in a food processor until a fine powder forms. Add the boiling water, butter, egg yolks, coffee powder and vanilla extract and blend until well combined.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed, then, using a metal spoon, gently fold into the chocolate mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, then transfer to the fridge for 2-3 hours.

To serve, remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate or cake stand, spread the crème fraîche or heavy whipping cream on top, then decorate over with the strawberries. To decorate, grate some chocolate over the top, or dust with icing sugar (optional)

{Sophie Dahl} I love this cookery book.

Chicken Herb with Olives

I found this recipe from fellow blogger My Little Italian Kitchen. I made it for dinner last night and it was delicious. I thought I had all of the ingredients instead I had to substitute. I did have the white wine but not one that  I want to cook with. By mistake I bought tomato sauce instead of tomato paste, basil instead of sage and I served it with white rice instead of pollenta. I shall try this recipe again with the correct ingredients.

I love the aroma of rosemary cooking in the house. I try to incorporate Feng Shui around our home and I remember reading from one of my books that rosemary is a healing herb. It is used to aid with memory (hmmm maybe that's why I can recall this information lol) and to help a person feel young again. It gets rid of negative energy in the home. It adds loads of energy, family cooking and eating enjoyment

 For the original recipe check the blog site. Meanwhile this is how my version turned out.

Ingredients

7 chicken thighs
1 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves
5 basil leaves
2 sticks rosemary
8 green pitted olives
4 tablespoon tomato sauce
5 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Method


Set your saute pan on stove top and set to medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the chopped onion and garlic, saute until tender and translucent. Salt and pepper all around the chicken and place  in the pan until snug. Cook all sides until golden. Add the tomato sauce, rest of olive oil, basil and the two sprigs of rosemary. Cover the pan and cook on low for an hour.

Beef Polska Kielbasa Omelette

Daughter's bff L spent the night here last night. The pair of them having such a fun time. My baby boy and Dudley joined in and hung out with them as well. It was nice, my hubs and I got to hang out and watch tv shows peacefully.

I was the first one awake this morning. Well,  I'm always the first one awake around here. Opened my fridge and I found some chopped red onions, beef polska kielbasa, a block of sharp cheddar cheese, eggs, and milk. I came up with an omelette.

This is hubs plate with hot sauce on the side.

Ingredients

8 large eggs

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 lb beef polska kielbasa  (which is half of the entire sausage) diced

Method

Crack the eggs open in a bowl, add the milk and whisk together. Set aside.

Set stove top to medium high heat. Bung in the kielbasa and when it starts to sizzle turn the heat down to medium. When it starts to brown add in the onions and stir. Once the onion is translucent add the eggs then add the cheese. Let it fry and when the bottom of the egg is cooked  start turning it over in sections because I had them cooking in a large pan. It's not your traditional perfect crescent shaped omelette but it'll do for us. When it turns golden and all of the runny egg have been cooked it's ready to serve.

Serves 5

Absolutely Fabulous And A Side of Buffalo Chicken Dip

Last night I watched Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary 2012 Job episode. I enjoy this comedy series because the show makes me laugh so much.  Although amiss in many levels. They are funnier than ever. This new episode was so funny that I laughed and laughed so hard to the point where I was out of breath. I can't recall a time when I laughed that much. Wait.......I do recall one. It felt great to laugh that way again!

Courtesy of BBC.com

While I was laughing hysterically, It was a good thing it happened before I took a bite of Tortilla Chip with Buffalo Chicken Dip. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup cream cheese

1 12.5oz. chicken breast in tin

3 tablespoon ranch dressing

4 tablespoon mild buffalo wing sauce add more for desired heat or use hot buffalo wing hot sauce

1 1/2 cup shredded colby cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 350F

Drain the water out from the tin and remove chicken breast from and place it in a medium bowl. Add the ranch dressing, mix together well. Spread the cheese on the bottom of an 8 x 8 glass baking pan. Layer the chicken on top of the cream cheese. Add the buffalo sauce on top of the chicken and spread with spatula until chicken is covered. Sprinkle with colbey cheese all over the top. Bake for 20 minutes in hot oven until colby cheese is melted on top.