Stop. Before we go any further, I have to say these are irresistibly delicious and I’m actually a little mad that my husband took them with him on his 3 day trail running race this weekend.

It’s spring break. I have taken on a few extra clients this month and doubled my work load just in time to have Mia at home all day every day for a week. Makes complete sense, right? No one ever said I was smart. Monday, I thought I was going to get through. With deadlines looming I just took my computer wherever Mia and I went. I worked – she played. I worked – she tried to erase my phone while I wasn’t looking. I worked – she did erase my phone. I worked – and she was kidnapped by her loving grandmother. Tuesday went about the same. So by Wednesday, I brought Mia into the kitchen and  she became my sous chef. Keeping her busy is easy as long as she can do something with her hands. This is her recipe as she came up with the idea all on her own.

The kid’s got talent. They are fabulous (and outstanding with brie)! Chocolaty with the surprise bite of sweet cherries and salty sunflower seeds these slightly chewy crackers are terrific snacks on their own or an elegant addition to a cheese tray. Cheers!

Chocolate Cherry Sunflower Crackers makes 30 crackers

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour*
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick cold butter, cubed
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1/3 cup dry roasted salted sunflower seeds

* I use 1/2 cup white flour and 1/2 cup wheat flour just because I want to cut down on my white flour intake. This recipe will work with 1 cup of white all-purpose flour if omitting the wheat flour.

In a food processor, add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Pulse to combine.

**Note: This can be done in a large mixing bowl by hand. When it comes time to add the butter, cut it in with a fork (as you would do when making a pie crust).

Place the cubed butter in the food processor and give it a few pulses until the mixture resembles wet sand. The colder your butter is the flakier your cracker will be. I freeze mine 10 minutes prior to making this recipe. Add milk and pulse until the mixture just starts to come together. You don’t want an overly wet dough but you want it to be sticky.

Next, add the cherries and sunflower seeds. Pulse just a few times until everything is incorporated.

Pour the dough out onto a work surface. Gather and squeeze it into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F while the dough is firming up in the freezer.

On a well floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with a cookie cutter (or cut into squares with a knife). Place crackers onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Gather the leftover dough and repeat. Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until firm.

Once baked, place the crackers on a cooling rack. Cool and watch them disappear fast!

I’m sharing this photo with you because my grandfather, my Papa, would want me too. It sits in my bookcase and mysteriously would make it’s way to the center of the mantel when he would visit. It was his favorite photo with his favorite plane, Krazy Daisy, and he let you know it. A distinguished WWII hero, accomplished businessman, golfer, fisherman,  chocolate pie connoisseur, loved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather, Paul J. Babb Jr. took flight this week to heaven. He will be missed.

I have many memories of my grandfather but my favorite is how every holiday, birthday or Sunday dinner he would steal the chocolate meringue pie. First of all, if you did not have grandmother’s chocolate meringue pie for desert he would sulk and mention the absolute failure of this travesty every ten minutes or so. I would laugh when my grandmother would say, “Oh Paul hush.” But when there was pie I kept a good eye on my grandfather as he would sneak into the kitchen when no one was looking and steal the pie. I would then try to follow him without him noticing as he hid the prized pie. He usually just put it in a cabinet but on one Christmas I found it in his underwear drawer. From then on we just made two.

I could go on for hours with stories of my grandfather and how he always tried to make everyone in his life laugh but I would be here in front of the computer for days. I cook to nourish, to love, to create and today to remember. I hope Jesus knows how to make chocolate meringue pie or he’s in for an earful.

Individual Chocolate Merigne Pies makes 4 pies
my grandma’s recipe

• 1 c sugar
• 4 Tbs flour
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 3 Tbs coco powder
• 1 c evaporated milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 store bought pie crust (noted my grandmother makes her own but I’m in a hurry today)
• orange zest, optional

Sorry, I wasn’t able to take step-by-step photos today as I usually do.

1. Combine sugar, flour, salt and coco powder in a medium bowl.
2. Add evaporated milk and egg yolks and stir until combined.
3. In a small saucepan bring about 2 cups of water to boil and reduce heat to medium. Place the bowl on top of the sauce pot, creating a double broiler.
4. Add butter and vanilla to the coco mixture in the bowl and stir.
5. Stirring constantly, cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and pour the chocolate pie filling into four 3″ in diameter ramekins, leaving an inch of space from the top of the ramekin.
7. Once cooled, cover with plastic wrap and refriderate fpr 2 hours or overnight.
8. To make the meringue, place egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar in a stand mixer  (you can use a hand mixer as well) and beat on high until the egg whites are white and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. To test, remove a beater and hold right side up. If the egg whites stay on the mixer you are done.
9. Once the pie filling is set and cold, spoon on a heaping pile of meringue on top of the filling completely covering the edge of the ramekins.
10. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in a 425 degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes until the meringue is golden. Remove and set aside to cool.
11. Reduce the heat in the oven to 375 degrees.
12. On a floured surface, roll out the dough. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out shapes in the dough and place on an ungreesed cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and Oh My Goodness, orange zest! You must try this it is Divine! I did not use the pie crust “cookies” with orange zest in the photos because my mind was somewhere else and forgot to use a timer which lead to burnt zest. Not too pretty but if I didn’t smile with joy when I dipped an orange zested pie crust into the chocolate and took a joyful bite! YUM!
    
13. Place in oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly golden.
14. Remove and slide one our two pie crust “cookies” in the meringue.
15. Serve and just to try it out, dash a little salt on your pie just like Papa used to do.

I wasn’t surprised when I asked my husband what he wanted for Valentine’s dinner and he said filet mignon. We don’t do flowers or cards here. No, it’s always been a good meal, break out an old bottle of wine, and talk until the sun comes up or these days pass out on the couch. Filet mignon is very simple to cook, actually. And when paired with some simple rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes and steamed green beans, you have an elegant and delicious meal in 30 minutes with little fuss.

Seared Filet Mignon serves 2

• 2 filet mignons
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 Tbs salted butter cut into 2 pieces

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Bring both fillets close to room temperature.
3. Generously sprinkle each side of the fillets with salt and pepper. And nothing else! I saw someone once (I won’t mention any names You know who you are) put mustard on a filet mignon and I almost fainted. You don’t need one thing on this cut of meat it is perfect as it is.
4. Heat oil on medium high in a good, oven-safe, saute pan.
5. Place both fillets in the saute pan and sear the fillets for 3 minutes a side or until browned. Sear on the end sides as well for 1 minute each.
6. Once all of the sides are seared, place the pan in the oven.
7. Roast for 3 minutes for rare, 5 minutes for medium-rare, 6 minutes for medium and 7 minutes for medium well.
8. Place 1/2 tablespoon on each fillet and let rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

* If you wish, saute sliced cremini mushrooms with a teaspoon of olive oil in the same pan that the filet mignons were cooked in. Once caramelized, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of red wine and cook until the mushrooms absorb the wine. A quick and wonderful compliment to a good steak!

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Potatoes

• 1 pound small new potatoes and blue potatoes
• 1 Tbs freshly chopped rosemary
• 1 Tbs (3 cloves) chopped garlic
• 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise.
3. Place in a large bowl along with the remaining ingredients.
4. Toss until the potatoes are completely covered with oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.
5. Pour onto a large baking sheet, making sure potatoes don’t overcrowd.
6. Place in oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked through.
7. serve

Steamed green beans

Ok I cheated, I just placed 1/2 pound of washed green beans in a bowl, filled the bowl halfway with water, covered with plastic wrap and placed in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Drained and tossed with a pinch of salt and a drizzle with olive oil. It’s Valentine’s Day. Who wants to clean a lot of pots and pans?

For desert… Grand Marnier Molten Chocolate Cake

So the chocolate Lava Cake has worn out it’s welcome on the foodie trend scale, I know. But it is still an easy go to desert for a special occasion when you need a quick and decedent last bite. I have used this recipe for years and it is now burned into my head. I encourage you to keep this one in your recipe stash for a long time as I have. It is from a 2004 Food & Wine issue. For tonight I have cut the recipe in half and added 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier orange liquor and 1 Tablespoon of orange zest.

Molten Chocolate Cake Food and Wine 2004

Sorry no photos of this one, it was gone just too fast.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies… say that five times fast. Of course you could just sum them up by saying sinful. Simply sinful.

These amazing chocolate cookies have a chewy brownie texture with dried cherries and pecans giving an extra tart crunch. Then, then my friends the halo is thrown aside and the horns come out and give you a nice bite of heat. If you wanted to give them a cutesy name call them “angel devil” cookies or “halo horn” cookies. I just shake my head like my RoRo (my nanny) used to and say “sinful.”

Apparently, I’m on a cookie roll because I think these are just as good as the Limoncino Cookies from early February and those were seriously good. Now don’t get me wrong, these took time and lots of chocolate to perfect but I’ve finally got it down. Thanks to both of my neighbors for always being my guinea pigs! Here they are to make you smile and then kick you in the rear. Enjoy!

chewy chocolate cherry cayenne cookies

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 8 oz (1 1/3 cups) bittersweet chocolate chips or squares, 63 % to 70% cacao
• 4 Tbs butter, unsalted
• 2 Tbs brewed espresso, it can be instant
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (if you’re looking for a good one check out the store)
• 1 tsp cayenne powder
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven 375°.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a double broiler or pot of simmering (not boiling) water with a heat-safe bowl set on top as shown, melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter. When melted, turn off heat and add espresso,vanilla and cayenne. Stir. Remove from double broiler and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl or standing electric mixer (if you have one use it, I don’t and this saddens me but at least I get a workout) beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high just until frothy about 2 minutes. Slowly add sugar and beat on high until egg and sugar mixture is thick, about 13 more minutes.

Gently fold using a spoon or spatula cooled chocolate mixture into egg and sugar mixture. Fold until partially combined. Add flour and carefully fold again until partially combined. Next add the dried cherries, semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans. Fold until everything is just mixed. Be careful not to over mix and deflate the eggs.

If the mixture is a little runny, set in refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to set.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place small spoonfuls of cookie batter onto baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.

Set in oven and bake for 9 minutes. Oven times do vary. What you are looking for is a shiny brownie like crust.

When finished, remove and place on a cooling rack.

Cool. Now eat. Pairs well with a tall glass of milk.