Extra Chocolate, Please!

Who can go wrong with three kinds of chocolate in a crisp, dunkable form? No one, that's who.

Triple Chocolate Biscotti
from The Ultimate Cookie Book by Better Homes and Gardens

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white baking pieces
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour, the white baking pieces, and semisweet chocolate pieces.
2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 9-inch-long loaf. Place loaves on the prepared cookie sheet; flatten each loaf until about 2 inches wide.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool completely on cookie sheet on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
4. Transfer loaves to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut loaves diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 7 to 9 minutes more. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 25-30 cookies (although the original recipe touts 36).Sadly enough, this is the only picture I have of this recipe. I could make all sorts of excuses about how I was so busy while making these...blah, blah, blah. The funny thing is I had two chances to take pictures because after making Tyler one batch, I made him another not two days later. On a positive note, I made two batches of these because they were that good and that well received by all who tried them. Just to warn you: they can be a bit difficult to slice. I lost quite a bit of cookie in the slicing process. I think I may have only had 1 or 2 completely perfect slices from each batch. But you can use the extra crumbles as an incredible, chocolaty, crunchy ice cream topper, so I think that redeems them. Basically, as long as you aren't trying to sell these, they'll be super yummy and well worth the effort.

MTAL #7

We found another winner! It came more from desperation at having nothing to eat than from real inspiration. I was putting off my monthly shopping trip one more day and started scrounging in the pantry for just one more meal.

Fried Polenta

1. Make some polenta according to package directions. Pour into a greased loaf pan or narrow container. Let cool completely in refrigerator.
2. Remove polenta from container and slice into 1/2-inch slices. Fry up some bacon in a skillet. Fry polenta slices in the bacon grease (supplemented with canola oil as needed) until crispy and golden brown.
3. Serve with maple syrup, jelly, or honey (or whatever else might float your boat).

The final product: really good. It reminded me of something my grandmother used to make me when I was growing up: fried mush. I have since found out that it is essentially the same thing (fried mush uses ground corn meal with a bit of sugar added and cooked in much the same fashion). I thought her's was different because it was white but I have since seen white corn meal at Target so that explains that. Asher adored this even without the syrup and the rest of us really liked it too. It's simple and delicious and a very good Asher-friendly substitute for pancakes.

Meals that I Like

I am slowly finding plenty of meals that Asher likes. This is a meal that he tolerated but that I ADORED. Tyler wasn't so much on board (although when I suggested making it for company, he didn't object so he doesn't hate it) but I truly loved it.

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken
originally from tasty kitchen

2.2 lbs chicken, cubed
1 onion, peeled & halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 green bell pepper, seeded & quartered
1 can tomato paste
1 can coconut milk (400 mL)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp garam masala
2 Tbsp water
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1. Put chicken in crockpot.
2. Put everything else (except for water and cornstarch) in food processor and blend until smooth. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 6 hours.
3. One hour before serving, mix water and cornstarch and add to chicken curry. Mix well.
4. Serve over steaming white rice (Jasmine or Basmati are awesome with this!).

Serves 4-5.
The final product: seriously delicious! It is super easy and comfort food at it's finest. I will make this as often as Tyler lets me because it is awesome. Awesome, I tell you, awesome!!