Cream & Sugar Kitchen

Dericious: Low Cal / Low Fat Double Chocolate Muffins

If you're like any average American, you need all the help you can get come holiday time to ensure that your pants still fit on January 1st.  Ah, my friends...no need to worry!  Aunt Jaime is here to help.

Okay, "Aunt Jaime" is a little creepy because I'm not an aunt in any way.  In fact, I'm the oldest child in my family by about nine years, which means I better not become an aunt any time soon or my 21 year old little bro will have some esplainin' to do.  I think I like the term "Aunt [insert name]" because of the "Aunt Emily" joke from When Harry Met Sally.  WHMS is an American treasure ya'all, so I will assume everyone has seen it, ergo leaving the reference unexplained.  And if you haven't seen the film in its entirety (ahem, Earle), shame on you.

Wow, I really got off topic here.

What I wanted to say was, very simply, I love chocolate.  Yeah, no transitions, just gonna put that out there.  I'm purely, utterly, devoted to the stuff.  And it just seems like November to January everyone else is as devoted - even Ann Taylor Loft had chocolates next to their registers last week when I ran in quickly with a friend.  It's just enough to drive me choco-bonkers.  So if you're trying to curb your intake and watch your girlish figure over the holidays, I highly suggest these oh-so-easy, oh-so-chocolatey low calorie, low fat muffins.  I'm tellin' ya, they're good and even Earle gave them two enthusiastic thumbs up.  Recipe under the cut.

Dericious: Drunken Apple Tarts

If you're like me and enjoy a drink or two (or three or four) with dinner or just because, then you'll appreciate these dericious tarts.  Some friends and I made dinner last Friday and at the start of preparation my oh-so-gracious (and wise) hostess declared, "First things first:  drinks." 

You can imagine that by the time we sat down to eat, about two hours later, we were all pretty toasted. 

Once sufficiently stuffed, I really didn't think we should be messing around with the dessert we had planned to make, even though they were just simple individual apple tarts made with puff pastry.  The hostess poo-pooed me, charging ahead to begin the preparations. 

These flaky, just-sweet-enough and gooey tarts were indeed simple and fool proof, even for a couple of drunk ladies (who continued to drink while baking).  They're a great topper for a similar long and languid dinner, or, and this might sound crazy, but as a quick before-bed hangover cure after a night of heavy drinking.  Maybe it's just me (currently sober), but I would totally choose fresh, piping hot apple tarts over pizza or pretzels or cheesesteaks at 2am any day (night).  They may not turn out the prettiest, but really, who cares?  Everyone looks better after a couple drinks.  Just be careful navigating the oven!

Drunken Apple Tarts

• any alcoholic beverage(s) of your choice (we drank whiskey & ginger ale w/lime)
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
• 2 seven or eight-ounce Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, cored, each half very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 4 teaspoons honey

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roll out pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to very thin 18x14-inch rectangle.  Using small plate as guide (Just wing it), cut out four seven-inch (whatever) rounds.  Transfer two rounds to each prepared sheet; cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.  Screw that.  Make yourself another drink and move on to the next step.

Position one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F.  Overlap slices from 1/2 apple on each pastry round, leaving 1/4-inch plain border (Or whatever.  It's all about guesstimation.)  Sprinkle each tart with cinnamon and sugar, then drizzle with melted butter.

Bake tarts until pastry is golden and apples are tender, about 25 minutes.  At this point it's probably time for another drink - and then you might want a fresh one when they're ready.  Drizzle each tart with one teaspoon of honey.  Transfer tarts to racks; cool 10 minutes.  Eh, who needs to wait?  Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream if you feel so inclined.

Dericious: Black Bean Burritos

I finally had the chance to go down the shore this weekend, if only for a day and a half.  Some friends and I journeyed to Ventnor City, NJ, just a few miles away from the glamour and wonder that is Atlantic City.  I've never really spent much time in these parts, but the area was pretty quiet, clean, and many other things that aren't Philly.  Sometimes all we need is just a little time away from home to refresh.

Good friends Chris and Tracey (the latter I've mentioned a bit on this blog) are a dynamo couple in the kitchen.  A few years back when we first became close, they invited us over for dinner and made these really simple but tasty black bean burritos:  vegan, fresh, healthy, and as spicy as you want 'em.  For our first night in Ventnor, they graciously chose to make dinner for the house - black bean burritos again, woot!    I don't know why I haven't yet added this recipe to my regular rotation, but after last night I think I'm gonna have to.  It was quite the show observing C&T's kitchen antics (maybe because I didn't have to actually do any work, or it could have been all of the whiskey & ginger ale we were drinking).  Mostly the two just work really well together, like beans and rice, bread and butter, or peas and carrots.  Maybe I'm going a bit too far with this?  Either way, their black bean burritos are amazingly dericious.  Recipe follows after the cut - try them out and tell me what you think!