Dessert Adventure: Famous Cupcakes! in Beverly Hills

Famous Cupcakes have to be THE best so far.

Kind of a bold statement, since I haven't tried EVERY single place..BUT, out of the most of the popular places for this famous dessert craze, this is the best.  Red Velvet is a must have, the chocolate flavor in it is much more pungent then others!  They also offer coffee and other desserts, but what I found interesting was the "take home" in the tube cupcake mixes.  These cupcake are fairly large, when you compare to the others. Amazing ratios when you eat the the cream cheese frosting, not too sweet. If your around that area, it's definitely worth a try!! Also, the taste reminds me of Georgetown Cupcake in DC, except they're larger :)

168 South Beverly Drive

Beverly Hills, CA 90212-3003

(310) 248-2727

Dessert Adventure: Mini Caramel Apples! (..but chocolate covered..)

My auntie decided to have a ‘Birthday Bash Costume Party’ for her two little boys, and I made these super amazing mini caramel apples for their party.The original recipe called for butterscotch and peanut butter, but the butterscotch didn’t melt nicely, so we went with chocolate.

Ingredients:

Apples (red or green)

Melon baller

Lollipop sticks

Chocolate (bittersweet or milk, no white chocolate, ours failed dramatically)

LOTS of sprinkles!

1. MELON BALL the apples and insert lollipop stick.

2.  Pat the apples dry to insure maximum stickery. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a double boiler (a metal boil over a small pot filled with water)  you can also melt it in the microwave.

3. Dip the balled apple in the chocolate and cover in SPRINKLE’S!!

MY FAVORITE, stars!

We also covered it with crushed peanuts (one of the best ones)!

mmm nom nom nom

yay!

4. Do forget to serve them!  Or you can keep them all for yourself  :)

Breakfast Time: Eggplant Torta!!

This dish has to be one of my favorite dishes, I'm always pushing my dad to cook this for me!  Then he FINALLY taught me how to make it!  It's a traditional healthy eggplant dish for breakfast, it's very much like an omelette using scrambled eggs.  

Ingredients:

4 Medium Eggplants
8 Eggs
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Pan of choice: Wok
Serves: 4

Directions:

1.  Wash the eggplant and roast the eggplant over a stove or put the eggplant in the broiler, till it looks like this photo!   I just used the stove technique.

It might look funny but after this is done hold the stem of the eggplant and use tongs to peel away the top layer

2.  After, scramble two eggs and add it to the bowl and the eggplant, salt and pepper to taste. Using a fork, smash the eggplant into the egg.

I like to use a semi-shallow bowl, because when you put the eggplant in the pan you can just slide it in and it keeps its shape.

3.  Add a large bit of oil to the pan and slide the egg and eggplant in the pan.

4.  Flip the torta around and brown the otherside.

And there you have it!! Repeat the steps for more.. believe me it's addicting.  I definitely recommend adding a bit of ketchup!

mmm..

Quick Grilled Chicken Seasoned with Soy Sauce!

Here is a easy grilled chicken recipe that has turned into a staple in the household.  With this, there is no need to marinate, just season and enjoy!

When using soy sauce, it tends to give a very distinct flavor to any protein.  So using it as one of the main components to this grilled chicken, you will soon find yourself adding it to everything!

• 2 garlic, sliced (depending on your taste, you can add more or remove the garlic)
• 9 Chicken legs and thighs
• Pepper or Everyday seasoning
• 1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
• 1/2 of a large onion
• A sliver of Ginger (optional)

Serves: 5

1. Slice the garlic and chop the onion and ginger.  Grab your grill pan and sauté the vegetables until the onion gets transparent and the garlic gets brown.
2. Meanwhile, place the chicken in a large bowl and add the pepper to taste.  Pour the soy sauce on the chicken and it should make the chicken slightly darker.
3. Move the vegetables to one side of the grill pan and raise the heat between ‘medium/high.’  Raising the heat will make a brown crust on the chicken. Place the chicken on the grill pan and once the chicken gets brown and crusty on both sides it’s finished!!
4. Tips: With large thighs, cutting the chicken in half ensures that it will cook all the way through.  Also, heating up the onion, garlic, and ginger, leaves flavor in the pan, and once you add the chicken it will pick up the flavor and infuse into the chicken making it extra tasty!  Soy sauce has the tendency to be salty if you add a lot, so you don’t really need to add regular salt to season the chicken.
5. Serve over a bed of rice or vegetables and nom nom (eat & enjoy)!! 

EASY Garlic Herb Shrimp!!

Seafood can be so pricey!  But a really great alternative is to get frozen seafood. However, the only thing that bothers me about frozen shrimp is the 'fishy' taste gives off. :/  So when I was experimenting with my Garlic & Herb Seasoning it totally got rid of that 'fishy' taste!! It was amazing because it made it taste like it was never frozen!!

2 Pounds of Frozen Peeled Cooked Jumbo Shrimp
1/4 cup of Garlic Herb Seasoning
1/2 Medium Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of oil

Pan of choice - Wok
Serves - 5



In a large pan add the oil, and sauté the garlic and onion on medium heat until the onions are transparent.

After the onions are done place the shrimp in pan. Season the defrosted Shrimp evenly with Salt and Pepper.  Add the Garlic Herb seasoning and stir well until it evenly coats the shrimp.  The shrimp should be only heated through since it is already cooked; try not to over cook it.

yummery goodness!

Ranch Chicken!

I was looking for a way to use up the bulk size ranch dressing and figured I should make some ranch chicken!

Recipe:
8 pieces of skinless/boneless chicken
1/4 cup of Ranch dressing
1 egg 
2 tablespoons of Garlic Herb Seasoning 
 Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 Medium Onion
1 Garlic, Minced
1 tablespoon of flour 
2 tablespoons of Oil

For the Fries:
Medium sized Red Skin Potatoes
Sprinkle of Garlic Herb Seasoning
Salt (optional)
Pan of choice:  Large 2 inch deep pan
Serves:  5 

Place raw chicken in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, flour and garlic herb seasoning.  Add 1/4 cup of the ranch dressing and the egg making sure the egg is scrambled.  Put the bowl in the refrigerator and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.  Adding the egg will help the chicken develop a crust when you cook it.


Marinated Chicken: 

In a large pan add the oil, and sauté the garlic and onion on medium heat until the onions are transparent.  
Place the marinated chicken on the pan until it gets a golden brown crust.


Like this!

Add some Fries buy slicing the red potatoes thinly and fry or bake them.  Sprinkle a bit of garlic herb seasoning to make them garlic fries!!

Toast: Texas toast grilled on a grill pan

Simple Garlic Herb Chicken with Olives and Mushrooms

This Garlic Herb Seasoning has become my ‘go to’ secret ingredient! Yum!

I’ve been experimenting with different amounts of the seasoning and discovered that its also great on shrimp!  So I thought, why not put a lot of the seasoning on the chicken and see how it goes.  It turned out to be really amazing and simple as well!!

Ingredients:

9 Pieces of Legs and Thighs (I used half skinless and the other half with skin)

1/8 cup of Garlic Herb Seasoning

Salt & Pepper

1/2 Medium Onion, thinly sliced

8 oz of Mushrooms, sliced

Black Pitted Olives, 1/2 a can, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Pan of choice – large 2 inch deep pan.

Serves: 5

First, sauté the onion in the oil on medium heat until slightly transparent. Move the onions to the side of the pan.  Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Grab 1/8 of a cup (half of 1/4 cup) of the Garlic herb seasoning and evenly coat  the chicken. Like this!

Cook the chicken all the way through until it gets golden brown on both sides. The chicken should be firm when you press it.  (You can also cut it a little at the middle to see if it’s cooked.)

Stack the cooked chicken on the side of the pan (opposite side of the onions).  Place the mushrooms in the pan and stir it together with the onions until it gets slightly darker.  Finally, add the roughly cut olives at the end.  Plate with a side of Grilled Texas Toast!!  The garlic herb seasoning does wonders to the chicken!! It really gives it a different depth of flavor.  1/8 cup of the seasoning might seem too much, however, it gives it flavor much like if you were to marinate the chicken for hours.