Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road

This no-bake Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road is made of dried fruit, crunchy cookies and pecans covered in rich dark chocolate with butter and miso. It works wonderfully with any dried fruit, nut or cookie. Feel free to make substitutions! 

A couple of months ago, I was visiting a dear friend and she gave me a brand-new cookbook, Dominique’s Kitchen. The author had won the honor of being published after competing on Jamie Oliver’s 2022 show, The Great Cookbook Challenge. As the show’s blurb says, “Jamie Oliver and Penguin Books team up to find the next big cookbook author, as cooks compete to impress the judges for a one-of-a-kind publishing deal.”

Imagine being offered the potential opportunity to have your cookbook published by such a large and prestigious publishing company! So much more pressure than The Great British Bake-off where all they get for sure is a cake stand. (Many do end up publishing cookbooks but it’s not guaranteed.)

I had watched a few episodes but somehow missed the final. The cook who won, Dominique Woolf, trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine. According to Amazon, she’s a food writer, entrepreneur and home cook to her young family.

All I can say it that we have thoroughly enjoyed cooking several recipes from Dominique’s Kitchen and this recipe is adapted from one of hers. 

Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road

This recipe is a great use of any stale cookies you might have in the cupboard. In fact, that’s why I made this the first time. While cleaning out the snack bin, I came across some milk chocolate Hobnobs that were past their best. They were perfect for rocky road though! I’ll never throw stale cookies away again and you shouldn’t either.

Ingredients

7 oz or 200g 70% cocoa dark chocolate

1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter

3 tablespoons golden syrup (or honey)

1 tablespoon miso paste

10 Hobnobs (or your favorite crunchy cookie)

3 1/2 oz or 100g dried fruit, chopped if large (I used a mix of strawberries and cherries I had dehydrated myself)

3 1/2 oz or 100g pecans

Method

Line a 9x9 in or 23x23cm baking pan with baking parchment.

In a large skillet, toast the pecans over a medium heat, shaking the pan frequently so that they don’t burn. 

Roughly chop the pecans with a sharp knife. 

In a large bowl break up the Hobnobs or your chosen cookie, and stir in the chopped pecans and dried fruit. 

Put the chocolate, butter, golden syrup and miso paste in a microwavable bowl. 

Heat in the microwave on medium for one minute. Stir well and heat again for 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until everything is melted and well combined.

Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Tip the whole lot into your prepared baking pan and spread it out to the edges.  

Cover with cling film and press the mixture down. Put the pan in the refrigerator to set. 

Once set, slide the baking parchment on to a cutting board and cut the rocky road into squares. Store chilled if you live someplace warm.

Enjoy!   

It's Sunday FunDay so today my blogger friends and I are sharing candy recipes. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below. 

• Chocolate Brigadeiros by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Medallions by Mayuri's Jakoni
• Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road by Food Lust People Love
• Honeycomb Toffee by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Honeycomb Candy by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Milk Cream by Sneha's Recipe
• Snowberry Torrone by Culinary Cam

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole

This cheesy sausage and egg casserole is the perfect make-ahead breakfast or brunch dish that your whole family will love! It rests in the fridge overnight, then baked when ready to serve. 

I was first introduced to a recipe like this a long, long time ago when a Canadian friend gave me a cookbook from home that she loved called The Best of Bridge. It was put together by a group of bridge playing ladies who so enjoyed the food they brought to share on games days that they decided to write a cookbook. 

Their warm and wonderful cookbooks are staples of Canadian culture and are still available today, almost 50 years after the first one was published! In that first book, which I still have and treasure, the breakfast casserole was called Christmas Morning Wife Saver. It called for Canadian bacon, naturally, or you could substitute ham. 

I made some version of it often years ago, sometimes substituting breakfast sausage or cooked crispy bacon instead but somehow it got dropped from the weekend/holiday rotation. Time to bring my rendition back! 

Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole

I like to spice things up with the addition of jalapeños but if your family can’t take the heat, feel free to add some chopped green peppers aka bell peppers instead for inside the casserole and to sprinkle on for garnish. I also use the Jimmy Dean “hot” sausage for extra spiciness. Use your favorite. 

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g bulk pork sausage

2 fresh jalapeños

6 large eggs

2 cups or 480ml milk

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 oz or 170g sliced sandwich bread – about 4-5 slices 

4 oz or 113g extra sharp cheddar, grated

For baking:

2 oz or 56g extra sharp cheddar, grated

Method

In a skillet, brown and crumble sausage; drain and set aside to cool.

Cut the bread into 1/2-inch  or 1cm cubes. I leave the crusts on.  

Cut several round slices of jalapeño to decorate the top before baking, then mince the rest and discard the stems. I leave the seeds and ribs in because we like things spicy but you can discard these if you don’t.  

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the salt and mustard powder. Then add the milk and whisk again. 

Stir in the bread cubes, cheese, cooled sausage and minced jalapeños.

Spoon into a greased 9x13-in or 23x33cm baking dish. Cover snugly with cling film and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. 

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Top the casserole with the extra grated cheddar and decorate with the reserved jalapeño slices.

Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the casserole rest for five minutes, before cutting in squares to serve. I like to put out our favorite hot sauce in case anyone wants to add a sprinkle or two. 

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 19th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter S. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the S recipes below:

• Blogghetti: Air Fryer Sausage Balls
• Food Lust People Love: Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Cold Sesame Noodles
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Schezwan Sauce
• Sneha’s Recipe: Shami Kebabs
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Southern Style BBQ Shrimp
• Magical Ingredients: Spanakoparatha
• A Messy Kitchen: Strawberry Mint Spritzers
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Summer Squash Salad
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Sweet Whiskey Skillet Teriyaki Chicken

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far:
A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs
B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly
C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw
D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing
E: Everything Pizza Tartin
F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs
G: Grape Juice Jigglers
H: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts
I: Raspberry Rhubarb Ice Cream
J: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops 

K. Korean Barbecue-style Meatballs 

L. Easy Lamb and Fresh Tomato Curry 

M. Fresh Mint Sauce 

N. Miso Butter Noodles 

O. Spicy Orange Braised Short Ribs 

P. Homemade Piri Piri Sauce 

Q, Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread 

R. Leek and Lobster Mushroom Risotto 

S. Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole - this post!

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Rosemary Onion Socca - Chickpea Flatbread #BreadBakers

This rosemary onion socca aka chickpea flatbread is super easy to make and even easier to devour. The crispy edges and golden bottom are superb. This had us standing around, picking up just one more piece. And maybe just one more. All right, this really is the last one! And it's gone.

Despite living in France for three years, I had never come across socca until a couple of years ago when I was researching gluten free recipes for another edition of Bread Bakers. It sounded delightful but I didn’t have any chickpea flour (and was too lazy to go shopping) so I chose to make something else. 

It popped back into my mind when our host for this month’s Bread Baker event chose flatbreads as our theme. As you can see from the photos, bread really doesn’t get any flatter than socca! There are no leavening agents so it doesn’t rise at all. 

I checked out several recipes for this French regional bread and while all of them had varying amounts of chickpea flour, water and oil, none had baking powder so I had to conclude that this is correct. 

Rosemary Onion Socca - Chickpea Flatbread

It’s best to start ahead by several hours or even the day before you want to make this as the batter needs time to be its best. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. If your local grocery store doesn't carry chickpea flour, try an Asian or Indian shop where it might be labeled besan or gram flour.

Ingredients

1 cup or 118g chickpea flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup or 240ml lukewarm water

4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil

½ medium onion

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, small tender leaves or chopped bigger leaves

Method

Put the chickpea flour in a bowl; add the salt and pepper. Slowly add the lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil. 

Cover or pour into a jar and let sit for 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. The batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream. I like using a clean pint jar which fits better in the refrigerator. It also makes mixing easier, as you’ll see later. 

When you are about ready to bake the socca, finely slice your onions. 

Heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a large iron skillet and pan fry the onions until crispy, about 8-9 minutes. 

Add in most of the rosemary, reserving just a little for sprinkling on the socca before baking, and give it a quick stir. Fry for one minute. 

Remove the onions and rosemary from the pan and leave them to cool. 

Meanwhile, heat your oven to 450°f or 232°C. Once hot, add two more tablespoons of olive oil to the iron skillet and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes. 

Mix the onions and rosemary into your socca batter. (If you’ve also put your batter in a jar, this is super easy. Add them in, screw the lid on tight and give the jar a good shake.) 

Immediately pour the batter into the hot pan. Sprinkle on the reserved rosemary leaves. 

Bake for 10 -12 minutes, or until the socca is firm and the edges set.

Heat the broiler/grill and brush the top of the socca with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil. 

Set the pan a few inches away from the heat source, and cook just long enough to brown it in spots. 

Cut the socca into wedges, and serve hot or warm.

Enjoy! 

Since it’s the second Tuesday of the month, it’s BreadBakers day! Many thanks to our host Kelly of Passion Kneaded who chose flatbreads as our theme. Check out all the links below. 

• Eggless Keto Naan from Sneha's Recipes
• Focaccia Bread Art from Passion Kneaded
• Magical Oreo Paratha from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nan-e-Barbari from Ambrosia
• Rosemary Onion Socca - Chickpea Flatbread from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Pizza Bianca from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Rosemary Onion Socca

– Chickpea Flatbread!

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Personal Mini Ravioli Lasagnas

Made with cheese and asparagus filled ravioli, Bolognese sauce and cheese sauce, these personal mini ravioli lasagnas are delicious and fun to feed a small party. 

If you’ve been reading along here for a while, you know that I love baking muffins. For several years I created and published a Muffin Monday post every single week. Nowadays, we celebrate Muffin Monday on the last day of the month so that’s still a minimum of 12 new muffin recipes each year. 

That said, I don’t often use the muffin pans for much of anything else. Which is a pity. Enter our Sunday FunDay host for today, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures with a fun theme which will change that: Main dish in a muffin tin! 

I put my thinking cap on and initially decided to make my mother’s goulash, basically Bolognese sauce with macaroni and perhaps some added cheese that I could bake in the muffin tin. But would that REALLY be making a main course in a muffin tin or just rewarming it? 

I figured I needed something just a little more complicated to rise to Amy’s challenge. And sure, I could have cooked lasagna noodles and made actual little lasagnas with more layers just like a big one but the filled ravioli add extra flavor. 

My muffin pan has nine holes so I used 18 fresh ravioli. Fortunately the bag I bought had 18 good ones and one broken one which I discarded. As I mention below, you’ll have plenty of meat sauce. If your muffin tin has more holes, by all means make a little more cheese sauce and buy more ravioli. It’s all good. 

Personal Mini Ravioli Lasagnas

This recipe starts with my traditional Bolognese recipe which make about 4 1/2 cups or 1130g of sauce. You will have about 1 1/2 cups or 365g leftover but trust me when I say that you won’t regret it. It’s rich, delicious sauce that is great with any type of pasta. It also freezes well. 

Ingredients

For the meat sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the pan

1 lb or 450g ground beef or pork (or half and half)

3 cloves garlic

1 medium yellow onion

1 can (14 oz or 400g) crushed tomatoes

1 can (6 oz or 170g) tomato paste

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon baking soda

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the cheese sauce:

3/4 cup or 127g ricotta cheese

4 1/2  oz or 126g mozzarella

1 egg

For topping before baking:

1 oz or 28g Parmesan, freshly grated

1 oz or 28g mozzarella, grated

2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Several pinches Italian seasonings, if desired

18 fresh ravioli, preferably round ones for a better fit, filling of your choice

The ravioli I used: 

Method

In a large Dutch oven over a medium high heat, brown the ground meat in the olive oil, crumbling it into the smallest bits possible with a wooden spoon as you do. 

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and chop the onion. 

When the beef is nicely browned, even crunchy in places, turn the heat down and add in the garlic and onions. Cook until they are soft and translucent. 

Add in the canned tomatoes with any juice and another whole can of water. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the Italian seasoning and tuck the bay leaf into the sauce. 

Bring to the boil, then lower the heat. Simmer the sauce, covered, for about 1 hour. 

Discard the bay leaf. Stir in the baking soda. 

This helps neutralize some of the acid in the tomatoes, making the sauce a bit sweeter. Season to your liking with the salt and pepper. Set the sauce aside to cool.

Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce by mixing together the ricotta, mozzarella and egg. Season with a few generous grinds of black pepper. 

Cut squares of nonstick baking parchment to tuck into your muffin pan and crumple them up. This will make them easier to shape into the pan. 

Trim some of the excess off but leave enough overhang so you can remove the mini lasagnas easily once cooked. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Spoon 2 tablespoons of meat sauce into each lined muffin cup. Top with 1 ravioli.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of meat sauce on top. Add 1 tablespoon of cheese sauce.

Top with the second ravioli. 

Add 2 tablespoons of meat sauce. 

Divide the remaining cheese sauce between the mini lasagnas. 

In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients together and divide them between the mini lasagnas. Finish with a few pinches of Italian seasonings, if desired. 

Pop the muffin tin in your preheated oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through if, like mine, your oven doesn’t heat evenly.

Remove from the oven and put the muffin pan on a wire rack. Leave to cool for about five minutes and then carefully lift each mini lasagna out by its parchment liner. 

Use a small spatula to return any sauce on the parchment to the sides of the lasagna.

 

Serve warm or hot. 

We ate two each as a main course, befitting the theme, but these would also be great as a starter with a small side salad, as pictured.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing main course recipes that can be make in a muffin tin. Many thanks to Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures for the challenge. Check out the links below. 

• Bacon Cheeseburger Cups by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Personal Mini Ravioli Lasagnas by Food Lust People Love
• Pizza Cups by Our Good Life
• Poke Cups by Culinary Cam
• Savory Chicken Muffins For Two by Sneha's Recipe
• Sloppy Joe Cups by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Teriyaki Chicken Cups by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tuna Noodle Casserole Cups by Palatable Pastime

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

These tasty stuffed portabella mushrooms are filled with well-seasoned pork, fresh spinach and tomato, roasted until golden brown. They make a rather hearty appetizer or serve as part of the main course with sides.

I have to start off today with an apology. Somehow most of the process photos for this recipe have gone missing so I have none to show you the steps of wilting the spinach, sautéing the vegetables or assembling the stuffing. 

It’s not complicated though so I hope my directions will suffice. We loved these stuffed mushrooms so much that I still wanted to share them. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

Once I had mixed the stuffing together, I weighed it so I could divide by four and know how big to make the patties. The whole weight was 650g so each mushroom is filled with 162g of stuffing.  For those of you who do ounces, that's 23 1/4 oz and 5.8 oz, respectively. 

Ingredients

2 good handsful or 50g baby leaf spinach

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot

1 small tomato, cored

1 small red chili pepper

4 large Portobello mushrooms

1.1 lb or 500g lean ground pork

several sprigs fresh cilantro, hard stems removed, plus more for garnish

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and/or Cajun seasonings, to taste

Method

Cook the spinach with a drizzle of water in a covered pan until wilted. Scoop it into a strainer over a bowl and leave to drain.

Trim the stems from the mushrooms and discard any hard bits. Chop the tender parts. 

Mince the garlic, shallot, tomato, chili pepper and cilantro stems. 

Add the olive oil to the pan along with the minced vegetables and mushroom stems. Cook till softened, occasionally stirring and adding in any water that has dripped from the spinach. 

Remove from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl that will fit the pork as well. Leave to cool. 

Use the back of a spoon to squeeze as much of the spinach water as you can into the pan, then tip the spinach on a cutting board and chop finely with a sharp knife. 

Add the spinach to the bowl with the sautéed vegetables. 

Once everything is cool, add in the pork, seasoning it with about a 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or, if you prefer, Cajun seasonings. Mix well.

If cooking to serve immediately, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Remove a small teaspoon of the stuffing mixture and cook it in a small frying pan. Taste when cooked through and add more salt or seasonings to the stuffing, if needed. 

Form your stuffing into four large patties (see note just above ingredient list) and place one on top of each mushroom. Press down gently. Drizzle the tops with olive oil. 

N.B. The prepared mushrooms may be covered with cling film and refrigerated for several hours, until you are ready to cook them. They will take a little longer to cook through when chilled. 

Roast the stuffed mushrooms in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the stuffing is browned and cooked through. 

Garnish with a little more cilantro, if desired.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today, this first day of September, we are celebrating National Mushroom Month by sharing mushroom recipes. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.  Check out the recipe links below. 

• Sue of PalatablePastime served up Chicken and Mushrooms in Wine Sauce
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made Mushroom Paprikash with Homemade Spaetzle
• Mayuri of Mayuri's Jikoni created Mushroom Spinach Hand Pies
• Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures shares Sauteed Mushrooms, Onions, & Peppers
• Stacy of Food Lust People Love made Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
• Renu of Cook with Renu served up an Easy Vegan Mushroom Pulau (Instant Pot Lunchbox Recipe)
• Sneha of Sneha's Recipe shares Red Pepper Mushroom

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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