chocolate – Page 6 – morestomach

birthday | peppermint chocolate chip ice cream

Published on December 12, 2013February 14, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach24 Comments

today
yes,
today
of all days
i will indulge
in all manner of the word

i’m such a liar
i’ve been indulging all week
every year around this time
i reflect on all that has happened
in the last 365 days
and
in the last 36 29 36 years

exactly one year ago today
i was so incredibly humbled
when i thought about the grace
i’d been given
i am still awed by it
there is no adequate way for me to express how
grateful i am
so i won’t
to expand on that particular post,
35 random things i’ve done this year,
in no particular order

|| got engaged
|| looked for scarlett and avery, but to no avail
|| had the best bo kho, in Nashville of all places. dined there everyday we were there
|| went to my first honky tonk
|| saw the pacific ocean with my beloved
|| read this book
|| picked 22lbs of blueberries
|| catered my very first, and technically only, party
|| planted an illegal rooftop garden. well, dw did. i helped. by watching.
|| finally watched the entire West Wing series, josh lyman is kinda beast
|| witnessed Thunder from Down Under
|| i ran just 2 races. (will rectify in the coming new year)
|| saw Jim Gaffigan, yes, he did talk about hot pockets
|| attended dw’s high school reunion. what.a.trip.
|| we climbed a wall
|| visited a local organic animal farm, i may have informed dw that i wanted to own a pet pig AND chicken
|| compared atl’s aquarium to baltimore’s; we win
|| for 5 whole days i had long lashes
|| practiced twerking, failed
|| painted a picture
|| after 8 years of it, apparently illegally, ~~lost~~ gave up cable
|| saw matt nathanson twice, in one week. hashtag groupie
|| chopped my hair off, like, most of it
|| approved for lasik eye surgery. eek!
|| attended a football game, whereby i went through a whole spectrum of emotions in a span of 2 minutes
|| walked to indiana
|| swam in the bay
|| purchased THREE wedding dresses
|| started using the public library in earnest, using dw’s library card. it’s a long story
|| broke up with Parenthood
|| began a torrid affair with candy crush and ruzzle
|| decided on a new celebrity crush
|| went to a book signing by Tyrese Gibson and Rev. Run. Tyrese is hot in person, Rev. Run not so much
|| received my new social security card with my new name on it. boom.

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, lactose free
mashup/inspired by Sprouted Kitchen and David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert

*note: i discovered Organic Valley’s LACTOSE FREE half&half and omg. my coffee has never tasted so good. dairy ice cream can now be re-introduced into my life. i’ve made this particular dessert a few times using coconut milk (from the can) and so delicious’s coconut creamer, using various different techniques and always with great results.

oatmeal creme pie cookies

Published on October 4, 2013October 31, 2013 by Lan | MoreStomach19 Comments

{i’m interrupting the wedding related posts to talk about these cookies.}

i have the annoying ability of remembering
the most random things
the other day, while driving somewhere,
i recounted a childhood story to dw
(for the record, i do this often
as a result, at the wedding, he would
point at someone & say, “is that the one
who taught you …”)

anyway, the story goes:
i was at a fair with my cousin
we were playing musical chairs with
the other rugrats at the fair
in the first round
i sat in the chair the exact same time
as another girl
she nudged me and since i wasn’t the
most competitive person i conceded to her
as a result, i received an earful
about standing my ground
staking my claim
being a Victor
(seriously, The Hunger Games has nothing on my family)

i listened intently,
i was an intensely good listener back then,
and during the next round
i played for keeps
when i ended up in a chair
with someone else
before that kid could nudge me
i shoved her on the ground
~~and made her eat dirt~~
and won that game
like a Gladiator

i’m fairly certain i received
another earful about
good sportsmanship
but i don’t remember that part
i just recall feeling kinda
like Loser Winner
it wasn’t fun
it didn’t feel good
i’m certain i never played Musical Chairs again

these cookies are like
that childhood story
minus the dirt
and shitty taste in your mouth
instead, it was remembered
at the most random time,
thanks to this image
and dw’s massive enthusiasm

through an email exchange with
carey, who shared with me her
thought process
i came up with a plan
i have a favorite oatmeal cookie recipe already
and while i am not the biggest fan
of frosting/icing/filling
i think i can make do with something
in between these sweet things

and so, the week prior to
the wedding
when the heat was still lingering
and i had a business trip looming
and an abode to clean
and a wedding dress to fit into
i turned on the oven
and got to cranking

surviving all that:
that tasted good
but these oatmeal creme pie cookies?
man
this is what true victory tastes like

Oatmeal Creme Pie Cookies
cookie recipe adapted from food loves writing’s gma
marshmallow/meringue filling recipe – i’m sure some french person came up with it

**note: i doubled the cookie recipe and came up with about 24 cookies, making for 12 sandwiches. the filling amount was just enough for all the cookies.

cookies:
2 sticks of margarine, room temp (i use earth balance non-hydrogenated vegan butter sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 TBLS water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups spelt flower
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup raisins

pre-heat the oven to 325F

in a bowl, mix the sugars with the margarine. add in the eggs, one by one. mix. add in the vanilla. next add in the dry ingredients, incorporating everything, but don’t overmix. last, fold in the chocolate chops and raisins.

using an ice cream scooper, place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (i did not do this, and as a result, spent some extra time 5 minutes after taking the cookies out of the oven make sure the cookies didn’t cool onto the sheets) press down a smidge, to help them be roughly the same size. these will spread but not too much.

bake for 12-15 minutes.
allow to cool completely before making sandwiches.
store in fridge.

eating them at room temp is fine, but when eaten right out of the fridge, the cold crispness really adds a lovely texture to whole thing.

marshmallow/meringue filling recipe
2 egg whites
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

in a clean metal bowl add in the the egg whites. over a pot of simmering water, whisk, with a hand mixer, the egg whites until soft peaks form. add in the sugar and vanilla. whisk some more until it’s firmer/stiffer.

wipe the bottom of the bowl and stash in fridge until ready to use.

PS. don’t look at the nutrition facts. for real.

other oatmeal related baked goods:
morestomach – chocolate wonderfuls
movita beaucoup – oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
reclaiming provincial – pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
tutti dolci – oatmeal toffee cookies

2 ingredient chocolate mousse

Published on August 8, 2013January 31, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach24 Comments

last week we had a breakdown,
and then we had chocolate mousse.
this was a treat that dw whipped up
so quickly that he literally got a blister on his finger.
the mousse made sense,
we like our dessert after supper,
and we had the ingredients already
(all two of them)
the breakdown, though,
well,
that didn’t make sense.
we can attribute it to
wedding dementia
and other introverted stuff
that i suffer from
and the thought of
more than a handful of people at the wedding
that SET ME OFF

i’m not proud of my behavior
i can be such a petulant asshole sometimes
brusque
dismissive
unreasonable
you know, all that stuff

like a trooper dw not only
gave me space for 24 hours
but he gave me this,
a reminder of sorts
that with just two ingredients
something wonderful can be created,
just like when two people love each other
as much as dw & i love each other
everything else is just
chump change

2 ingredient Chocolate Mousse
from Cafe Fernando who got the recipe from Herve This & Heston Blumenthal
*note: for the love of gawd, don’t go skimpy on the chocolate, buy the good quality kind, with a minimum of 70% cacao. regular chocolate chips won’t work, we learned that the hard way. also, use a hand mixer, you don’t want a blister on your finger. last, if you want, play with some flavorings. the latest play was 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper added and topped with grey sea salt. divine.

265g good quality bittersweet chocolate (like scharffen berger) (minimum 70% cacao solids), hand chopped
1 cup water

important step:
fill a large mixing bowl with ice & cold water. think like you’re gonna shock-stop veggies from cooking to retain its pretty color. have a smaller mixing bowl, one that fits in this bowl, on hand as well.

in a small sauce pan, mix the chocolate + water over medium heat until well incorporated.

pour chocolate mixture into the smaller mixing bowl, place it in the bigger ice water bowl and start mixing with hand mixer, or risking blisters, by hand. the mixture will start to thicken. don’t get overzealous, apparently it will get grainy, which would then require you to re-heat the mixture and start again.

divide into 4 ramekins. best served immediately but if not, keep in fridge, well covered. take out 20 minutes prior to consumption to take the cold edge off.

chocolate + coconut macaroons

Published on August 5, 2013August 3, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach26 Comments

you guys.
it’s August.
which means Summer is drawing to a close
school starts in a few weeks,
and the traffic jams will return
it means that before you know it
it’s September,
it’s Autumn,
it’s mustard yellows
and tweed
and cowls
and of course, for me + dw,
it means our Union

i confess that this post will not be
the funnest
it might even come off as whiny
but i’m tired
that’s it,
i’m just feeling fatigued
what should be so simple,
so incredibly easy,
is kinda turning out to be a downer
there is always 2yen dispensed
advice doled out
and the worst —
oh the worst
everyone else’s expectations & requests
(i could never make it as a customer service representative)

so, for now i am wallowing
it’s an immature indulgence, i know
but it’s all i am capable of right now
but when i get back, people:
Zero. Fucks. Given.

chocolate + coconut macaroons
adapted from the Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper & Sally Swift
yields 13 heaping TBL-sized cookies, or 39 small tsp-sized cookies

*note: dw & i like to have dessert after dinner and well i needed a really quick, one dirty bowl sweet recipe. this was it. i previously made coconut macaroons that used only egg whites. this recipe, thankfully, let me use the whole dang thing and it came out just lovely.

2 large, organic eggs
1/4 cup organic sugar
generous pinch of salt
1 estimated tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes
chocolate melt, amount per your discretion

preheat oven to 350F

prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper

in mixing bowl mix everything, except for the chocolate. you’re not aiming for a batter, it’s more like clumps of moistened coconut.

form macaroons as you want, into balls, or drop them via tablespoon on sheet. bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.

transfer to rack to cool.

when cool, dip in melted dairy free chocolate, and drizzle over top. allow to cool.

who else has made coconut macaroons?
felicia of dish by dish, pyramid shaped!
wendi of bon appetit hon, with egg whites only
shanna of food loves writing, lemon almond coconut macaroons

chocolate wonderfuls

Published on July 15, 2013October 3, 2013 by Lan | MoreStomach16 Comments

the thing about planning a wedding
is that there are a bajillion little pieces,
that on their own are manageable,
but the total sum of them all
makes me want to take a nap

and i’m not a napper.

when in the midst of
planning a major blueberry picking expedition
organizing a jam & can session
brainstorming wedding invite layouts
discussing wedding cake options
eyerolling at my bridesmaids’ still not being attired
i had a hankering for chocolate.
these chocolate treats first appeared
in my previous space.
but due to a heavy crack down on dairy treats
we shelved it

it was quickly decided that chocolate wonderfuls
had to make a re-appearance in our lives.
i luckily found a good NON-DAIRY
sub for CONDENSED MILK
(which the consumption of would have me in a moaning fetal position)
(let’s not think about that)

there is no lie in my heart
when i tell you that this is an ass growing treat
i’ve been working out like a mad woman
and counting my calories ~~like kate moss counts cocaine lines~~
to fit into my gown
but these …
all else ceases to matter
the entire pan was meant to be shared
but the most we could bear
was to share with each other

sometimes
just sometimes
when things are chaotic
and the things that need to be done
don’t get done
instead, baked goods get made
(& consumed)
and it’s not just ok,
it’s wonderful

chocolate wonderfuls
adapted from dw’s mama (who’s his gma)

Chocolate Layer

6 oz dairy free organic semi sweet chocolate chips (i used taste the dream)
1 egg + ½ cup brown sugar + ½ tsp vanilla + 1 TBL flour + ¼ tsp baking powder + pinch of salt (from Cooks.com)
1 TBL barely melted coconut oil (you could probably nix it, i will next time)
Pinch of salt
½ cup chopped pecans

Shortbread layer & crumb topping

1 ¼ cups spelt flour, sifted
1 ½ cups quick cooking rolled oats
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup softened coconut oil (i usually measure out a cup and put in fridge to firm up for 20-30 min)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

preheat oven 350F.

double boiler style, melt chocolate. in a bowl mix together 1 egg + ½ cup brown sugar + ½ tsp vanilla + 1 TBL flour + ¼ tsp baking powder + pinch of salt. very carefully add to the heated chocolate, whisking like mad, you don’t want scrambled chocolate eggs. add in the coconut oil (or nix it) and the salt. finally add in the pecans and vanilla. remove from heat, set aside.

in a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, cream the coconut oil and brown sugar. add in the egg and vanilla. stir in the dry ingredients.

in a 9X9 pan, (you can first add in parchment paper if you want). press about 2/3 of mixture in as evenly as possible. spread the chocolate filling. crumble remaining oat mixture over the filling.

bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown.

cut into bars when cool.

to store: well covered in fridge. take out for about 15 minutes prior to eating, though eaten fresh out of fridge is fine, albeit they’ll be hard. due to the use of coconut oil if left out at room temp the treats are on the softer side, since coconut oil melts at such a low temp. we ~~like~~ love these chocolate wonderfuls cold & hard or super soft & warm.