H is also for Hazelnuts

Help yourself, and you are going to want seconds.


Here it is folks, the heavenly dessert that is sure to hit the spot!
I promise you that this recipe was worth the wait. Just try it.

Heavenly Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Pie
Crust:
-20 graham crackers
-2 Tbs. unsalted butter (melted)
-2 Tbs. dark brown sugar

Filling:
-1/2 cup milk
-3 cups of marshmallows
-1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
-1/4 cup hazelnut liqueur (Frangellico)
-1 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream
-1/4 cup sugar

What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Crush the graham crackers in the food processor or by placing them in a plastic bag and rolling them with a rolling pin. Pour crumbs in a bowl, and mix in the brown sugar and then the butter. Press the graham cracker in a pie pan with your fingers. Be sure that you push the crust up on the sides of the pie dish. Bake the crust for ten minutes. Set the crust aside to cool.

In a medium sauce pan on medium high just heat the milk, do not boil. Take the pan off the heat and add marshmallows. Lower the heat to low and stir in the marshmallows (5-6 minutes). Take off the heat and stir in chocolate until completely melted. Move the mixture to a bowl, and add in the hazelnut liqueur. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, add heavy cream and sugar. Whip until you have fluffy cream. Fold the whipped cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture. Take it slowly because you do not want to deflate the whipped cream.



Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and place into the refrigerator to set for 1-2 hours.








On to "I".

Any thoughts on what I should do for "I"?

H is also for Hens and Honey

Hello again.

While I get dinner ready, how about I share what I have been doing besides cooking for the blog.
The Mrs and I worked a wedding. I did the food for lunch, and the Mrs coordinated. Pictured here is me getting one of the canopies ready. It is a feta stuffed black olive on top of a sun dried tomato and a whole wheat crostini. A big thank you to Bob, my pops who's birthday is this week, for stuffing all of the olives

It was such a beautiful ceremony and really fun reception. I thought that my food went over well, and the bride and her mother loved the Mrs. They wanted to adopt her.

The next week, we went to the beach.

Sorry I'm not sorry.

Best grilled cheeses (grilled cheesi?) that I have had in a long time. It was too short of a vacation!

Now that you are jealous and Hate me, dinner is ready.

Have some with me?

Herb Roasted Cornish Hens

• 2 Cornish Hens
• 2 bundles of thyme
  
• 3 lemons, sliced in wedges
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, halved
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 6 red potatoes, halved
• 6T melted butter
• 2T olive oil
• 1 1/2T dried basil
• 1T salt
• 2T black pepper

Wash and pat hens dry. Stuff the birds with garlic cloves, lemon wedges, thyme bundles, and onions.

Depending on the flavors that you like, you can add more or less of one of these ingredients, for example the Mrs likes the flavor of onions more where as I like lemons. Hence her hen had more onions and mine more lemons.

Next melt the butter and combine with olive oil and basil. Massage the hen with the butter mixture. Your hands will get dirty, but remember you can wash your hands after.

Wash. Your. Hands.In a large roasting pan, place the remaining lemons, onions and all of the potatoes. Sprinkle over 1t of salt and 1T of black pepper. Place the hens on top of the veggies breast side down, and sprinkle the remaining salt and pepper (1t salt and 1 1/2t black pepper per bird)
Place in the oven at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, basting the hens every 25 minutes.


To accompany my birds, and for a hint of green, I roasted hasparagus spears. The h is silent.

Also to accompany the meal I made these.

Honey Buttermilk Biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups of self rising flour
• 1/4 cup of shortening
  
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 1/3 cup of honey

Cut the shortening into the flour. Stir in the buttermilk, and then stir in the honey. On a floured surface roll out the dough 1/2" thick and cut out biscuits. Bake until golden brown in a 350 degree oven (~12-15 minutes)



Honestly, after this meal we were too full for dessert. The Honey Buttermilk biscuits had just the hint of sweetness that was able to finish as a final course to dinner.

Therefore dessert was postponed, thus you must come back to see what the alphaBITE came up with for dessert.

I will give you a hint: It is Heavenly!

-J

H is for Honeydew

Hungry? I know, I am too but before I get to the food, how about a drink?

To be honest with you, I have been putting off and putting off "H". I had a hard time figuring out what I could do, and then with all the different thoughts and ideas I had, narrowing them down gave me a headache. But then came the hundreds of phone calls, the host of emails, the heaping pile of real mail, and the hordes of people that stood on my front lawn stating that they would not leave until "H" was complete.

They just left.
To celebrate summer HERE is something to sip on sitting by the pool. Honeydew Melon Agua Fresca, via Smitten Kitchen. I added my own twist to it though. Instead of plain water I mixed in cucumber water. I thought that it gave it an even fresher taste, and if it is after 5:00 pm, a little rum wouldn't hurt.

As a way to make it up to you readers, and to avoid having to open an RV campground in my front yard, I am stretching out "H" for three posts. That's right, you heard me. Keep checking for what else happened with "H".

Three cheers for three posts!

"Hip hip-Hooray!"
"Hip hip - Hoo...."

That's enough.

You finish that cheer and you will not be allowed to see the others.
I'm serious.

-J

Hey

I just want you to know I haven't forgotten about the alphaBITE or you.

The Mrs and I are headed to the beach for a little vacation and then it is back to the kitchen for me and you will be invited. Until then I will have a Gin and Tonic for you on the beach. Cheers!

-J