I had my nephew and his buddy over our house the other day to do yard work for us.  You gotta love boys that’ll do hard physical work for free food, right!  LOL  They are great kids and in college and hey… what college kid do you know that would pass up killer food and extra cash?!

Knowing they would be needing protein and something with sustenance, I decided to make chicken chimichangas.  I was going to make them like my Lime Chicken Chimi’s but since I was out of limes and some other ingredients I went a different route. See I LOVE white chicken chili.  Honestly I think I love it more than my regular chili.  I knew I had the stuff on hand to make that but with it being 80 degrees and those boys sweating their butts off, I knew hot chili was the last thing they would want.  I know I certainly wouldn’t.  So I took a few minutes and  reworked my chimichanga recipe and my white chicken chili to make this chimichanga.  OMG you want to talk about knockin’ it out of the ballpark?!  Holy crap was it good!

I served this with a side of Mexican Taco Rice. See our Facebook page for this recipe.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 small can diced green chile peppers
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2-4 ounces hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 packet of White Chicken Chili mix (me)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp  ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 Tbl cilantro, minced
3 cups enchilada sauce
Enough water to cover 1/3 of the meat
8 large size tortillas
1-2 cups cheddar cheese
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Slice Jalapenos

1. Add the chicken to the crockpot.
2. Top with chopped onions, both peppers and garlic.
3. Sprinkle the dry spices on top trying to best evenly distribute.
4. Add the hot sauce and chopped cilantro.
5. Add enough water to go to 1/3 the way up the meat.
6. Cover and turn on high for 6-7 hours.
7. During the cooking time refrain from removing the lid.  ONLY remove the lid briefly to add more water if it dissipates.
8. After 5-6 hours, remove the meat to shred replacing the lid while you are shredding it.
9. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken.
10. Add the shredded chicken and 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce back to the pot and mix.
11. Replace the lid and turn the crock pot to low.
12. Cook for 1-2 hours to allow the meat to soak up all the juices and flavor.
13. Turn on your broiler and place the rack in the top 1/3rd of the oven.
14. Warm the tortillas.
15. Add a few Tbl of cheddar cheese down the center.
16. Top  with a cup or more of the meat mixture.
17. Fold Sides of tortilla in half until sides are even and covering all ingredients.
18. Pull back top of one side of the tortilla slightly to compact all ingredients, but they are still fully covered. One side of the tortilla will overlap with the other.
19. Fold in each end until tight an there are no openings in the tortilla.
20. Roll over all sided together to the top to complete.
21. Set on a baking pan and finish all tortilla shells.
22. Put in the oven and broil for about 5 minutes or until the tops of the tortillas get slightly “toasted” .
23. Remove from oven and spread the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas.
24. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
25. Return to the oven and broil just until the cheese is melted; ~3 minutes.
26. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and a few jalapenos.

 

Ganache – that silky smooth, molten chocolate river of bliss.  To me, it’s just perfection. I mean look at it… doesn’t it make you just want to stick your face under it???

No?  Oh um… yeah, me neither *wink*

 

The cool thing about ganache is that 2 very simple ingredients can make something so amazing and so decadent.  But what’s even MORE cooler is that those 2 simple ingredients can be used 4 different ways – as a shiny coating, as a whipped frosting, as a piped fudgy frosting or as a truffle.

Basic Ganache:

1 1/2 cups really good chocolate cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream

1. Put the chocolate pieces in a bowl.
2. Heat the cream over medium heat just until it starts to get bubbles around the edges.
3. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it over the  chocolate pieces.
4. Let it sit for 30 seconds and then stir slowly.  As you stir, gradually add the rest of the chocolate pieces until they are all melted and the mixture is emulsified.  This takes about 2 minutes.  You want it super smooth and shiny.

Now at this point, if you allow it to cool slightly to where it’s thicker (not as thick as say molasses), where it’s still pourable – that’s how you get those super decadent shiny coated cakes like this:

 

Next is Whipped Ganache – think like if you frost a cake or cup cake. There are a few key points to remember when whipping ganache:

1. Chill the ganache uncovered in the fridge for two hours, stirring every twenty minutes.
2. Once the ganache feels cold but is still liquid, think pudding-like, remove it from the fridge and attach the bowl to the mixer.
3. Whip using the whisk attachment, slowly at first, gradually increasing speed to high. This will thicken rather quickly so watch it.  It will begin to hold soft peaks. Watch for it to get just slightly firmer, and don’t allow it to go any further. Over-whipped ganache will look grainy then. If you find that your ganache has gone grainy, you can try to salvage it by placing it over a double boiler or hot water bath for about 10 seconds at a time, whisking, and then returning it to the heat to attempt to re-melt the chocolate. You may need to rewhip the ganache briefly once it returns to room temperature.
4. Work fast to ice your cake or cupcakes as this will seize up if left to sit.
5. *** Do not pre-whip your ganache!  You only whip it when you’re ready to frost!

Now we have Piped ganache. For a thick frosting or decorative piping, allow the ganache to cool for a truffle like texture.  You don’t whip or do anything to it.

And last we have truffles.  Just cool til it’s fudgy-scoopable, roll in assorted toppings and eat!

With summer upon us, most of us will be spending as much time outside as possible. Backyard BBQ’s, working in the garden, or just sitting on the deck with family and friends. To me nothing says summer like making S’mores. Those quintessential simplistic campfire treats that we loved as a child and admittedly as an adult. That first bite of ooey gooey melted toasted marshmallow with gobs of thick chocolate followed by the sweetness of the graham cracker… it was love.♥

Well a few years back we had a major snowstorm that dumped feet of snow, stuck at home my husband and I started talking about warm weather, the sun on our cheeks, sitting around the fire pit and just enjoying being outside… as we stared at the feet of snow and ice.

 

Living in the country we were stranded at home for 3 days as our roads were impassable.  Eventually they brought the plows out to take care of our roads.  However being told you can’t go somewhere or knowing that you can’t drive and that you have no control over it drives me crazy.  So with the internet being down (thank you monstrous icicles on our lines) I had but one thing to do… cook!

Thinking about our discussion on summer, I decided to make something ‘summery’. If we couldn’t go outside and sit around the campfire, I’d bring it indoors to us. If memory serves me correctly, I had all type of campfire food for dinner – I grilled hotdogs over the burners on the stoves, heated baked beans in the can, and fried potatoes in my cast iron skillet.  Obviously if you are camping you have a S’mores. I mean it’s like a law or something.  However I really didn’t want the typical ones where you toast your marshmallow on a stick and then put it a piece of Hershey’s chocolate and 2 graham crackers.  Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of marshmallows.  I mean they are soooooooooooooo sickening sweet and if I want dessert I want to be able to eat more than one bite of it without going into like sugar shock.  I’m that person that if we roast marshmallows I will toast mine super dark, peel off the ‘skin’, eat that and then toast it again.  Almost eating it in layers.  Like that way, I can eat maybe 2.. but that’s pushing it.  My teeth hurt and I feel blah.

So planning dinner that day was a breeze but I was perplexed on how I could make something “s’morish” but not an actual S’more.  LOL  “S’morish”  HAHA that makes me giggle   ANYYYYYYYYYWAY…

Since I’ve made graham crackers before I tweaked the recipe to make them more cookie-ish (they are insanely delicious!).  At the time I used simple Fluff, chocolate chunks and a fudge ganache.  Now I’ve evolved this recipe to make them a TKW speciality item by using homemade Fluff filling (for me this took the cookie to the bajillionth level of awesomeness) and while I’m not giving out that recipe, the original is still incredible.

These cookies capture that campfire and summer feeling. With the graham cracker cookie to the ganache filling with the melted chocolate and ooey gooey marshmallow fluff. Then to top it off, toasting the marshmallow filling.

And FYI…. these cookies you can make in a muffin tin, whoopie pie pan or in a tart pan with a removable bottom.

3/4 cup butter, grated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups chocolate chunk chips
2 cups marshmallow fluff + 1 cup extra
Melted chocolate for dipping *optional
1 cup ganache (see below for recipe)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the vanilla and egg; mix just until incorporated.
4. Combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and salt and mix together with a whisk
5. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well
6. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop a 1 ½” ball (about ¼ cup) and place it into an ungreased whoopee pie pan cavity.
7. Gently press down to spread it out to where the dough almost touches the side of the pan.
8. In the center, make a well (do not go all the way through the dough) leaving a ¼  rim.
9. Place 1 ½” tsp of ganache on the bottom of the well.
10. Add 4-5 chocolate chunk chips on top.
11. Next add 1-1 ½ Tbl of fluff.
12. Bake for 11-13 minutes checking every 3-5 minutes as these puff up!  If they puff up and over the pan, use an offset spatula to “fold” the cookie part overtop of itself towards the middle.
13. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. The easiest way I found to remove these is to use a thin offset spatula.

Ganache:

1 1/2 cups really good chocolate cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream

1. Put the chocolate pieces in a bowl.
2. Heat the cream over medium heat just until it starts to get bubbles around the edges.
3. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it over the  chocolate pieces.
4. Let it sit for 30 seconds and then stir slowly.  As you stir, gradually add the rest of the chocolate pieces until they are all melted and the mixture is emulsified.  This takes about 2 minutes.  You want it super smooth and shiny.
5. Allow to cool to where it’s thick like molasses when you pour it.

Additions: At this point you can dip the bottoms into chocolate (turn upside down to cool).

To give it that ‘campfire’ effect, add another Tbl of fluff on top of the cooled cookie, spread it out and using your kitchen torch, roast the marshmallow.

 

Ginger is one of those “fairly” new things to American cooking.  I mean we used powdered ginger in cooking and baking but it wasn’t really well known in traditional daily cooking. Now with the evolution of Asian, Thai, Indian and other ethnic-type restaurants and celebrity chefs fresh ginger is almost as common as garlic.

Fresh ginger is the funkiest looking thing ever. It’s bumpy, has ‘legs’ everywhere and just well.. is funky looking.

See… it’s all deformed.  And the texture of the ‘skin’. It’s just weird.

But the taste.. that wonderful sweet spicy taste!  Fresh ginger’s tangy freshness, light spiciness, warmth, and mellow sweetness complement a range of dishes, from sweet to savory.  Though fresh ginger packs the most punch, it comes in a variety of forms: pickled, dried and ground, and crystallized; the latter two forms are used primarily in baking.

Choosing Fresh Ginger

Look for ginger with skin (the thinner the better) that’s smooth, unblemished, and almost translucent. When you break off the piece you want, the interior should be firm, crisp, and not overly fibrous (making it easier to slice). It should have a fresh, spicy fragrance.

How to get the skin off:

You want to peel the ginger.   Because of the twist, knobs and turn, a vegetable peeler may be way too difficult to use. Try using the edge of a metal spoon to scrape off the skin. It takes a bit more effort than a paring knife or a peeler, but it’s less wasteful—and it lets you maneuver around the knobs and gnarls. Ginger can be sliced into planks or matchsticks, chopped, grated, puréed, and minced. Keep in mind that, like many spices, ginger’s flavor fades as it cooks. So for more gingery oomph, add some or all of the ginger at the end of cooking.

Storing Fresh Ginger:

Probably the most important thing here is how to store it once you’ve peeled it.  For me, the best way is to clean 1 whole fresh piece, cut into sections, peel and then store in a freezer bag in the freezer.  Everytime I need a piece or some, I’ll pull it out, grate it/slice it/ chop it and then put the remaining piece back into the bag.

So by now you all know that I am HUGE fan of All-Clad Metalcrafters♥.  I’ve been using their pots and pans for about the past 7 years.  Growing up in Pittsburgh we are the Steel City – from the Pittsburgh Steelers, to U.S. Steel, our steel workers and steel curtain.  We also have All-Clad. Located in Southwestern, PA – Canonsburg to be exact, All-Clad makes Pittsburgh look good!  Their craftsmanship is one that sets the bar that all other companies strive to meet yet never do.  Their product is superior in every single way.

Prior to using these pots and pans I tried most others on the market in a vast price range.  Thing is, I kept tossing them as they just didn’t perform to my expectations.  Foods would burn or cook unevenly. Pans would have thinner spots, pans would rust after one use, handles would fall off, or coats would melt or better yet, flake off.  It didn’t matter what I paid for the pan, they all were horrible.

So one Christmas Mr. Fantabulous bought me the 10 piece Copper-Core set.  Okay first off, I was floored because All-Clad is pricey.  However when I pulled those shiny, mirror-like pans out of the box my heart skipped a beat.  But I didn’t want to get my hopes up because I had “other” shiny pretty pans before that were horrible.

After I made my first meal in one (I can still remember it – Beef Bourguignon with whipped mashed potatoes, green bean almondine and cinnamon apple sauce) I was hooked.  Being an engineer it made perfect sense why those “others” never worked right.  The pans were engineered and designed incorrectly.  See with All-Clad and specifically the Copper-Core, it uses a five-ply bonded design utilizes a copper center core to maximize heat even conductivity and responsiveness. The copper ply is bonded to aluminum to enhance heat distribution while making the pans not so heavy and cumbersome. The bonded exterior and interior layers provide the ideal cooking surface, allow for ease of cleaning, extreme durability and honestly look FABULOUS in any kitchen.

Now the Copper-Core may not be within your budget that’s what awesome about the Second’s Sale – give me a few and I’ll get to that.  Thing is, All-Clad has several series of pots/pans for you to choose from.  All equally are amazing and worth every penny!  I have their fry skillets with the Teflon coating and they are awesome!  And their electrics… oh dear heavens I am honestly in love with their induction burner and slow cooker with cast-aluminum insert.

So now the good stuff…  DISCOUNTS!!!  We’re talking MAJOR deep discounts!

Twice a year All-Clad has what’s called their ‘Seconds Sale’.  This is all their stuff that they either have too much of, has been discontinued or deemed irregular. They come fully back with All-Clad’s warranty.  Now the whole ‘irregular’ may cause concern but trust me, there is NO CONCERN!  Their may be a blemish – small scratch, logo off center, something that causes it for the big department stores to not want to sell it.  In no way shape or form does it lack in quality or performance.

♥When:  Friday, June 1st and Saturday June 2nd, 2012
♥Time: Friday is from 9am-7pm | Saturday is from 9am – 4pm
♥Where: Washington County Fair and Expo Center | 2151 North Main Street | Washington, PA 15301 | Phone: 724-225-7718 | Website: WashingtonFair.org
♥Directions: http://www.washingtonfair.org/html/directions.html if you’re close to Pittsburgh
♥Things to know:

ο They accept cash, check and credit card (at least they did the last 14 times I’ve gone).
ο There is no better day to go though if really want something, it’s best to go on Friday morning.
ο The past few times people started lining up pretty early (like 6am) but I go later in the afternoon and there is always a boat load of product left.
ο The All-Clad employees that work at this event are SUPER nice and extremely helpful!
ο There are no shopping carts but they have provided heavy boxes that you can either pull around or carry.
ο If this is your first time going, be prepared to be amazed!
ο If you’re going and they have their tea kettle and a 20 qrt stock pot.. leave it, it’s mine!   I NEED these *wink*
♥♥♥And if they ask how you heard about it, tell them The Kitchen Whisperer told you about it. ♥♥♥

 

 

Now I mentioned something about discounts didn’t I??? See all this stuff below? I got it at the last Second’s sale.

Just look how much I saved!