Red Velvet Chocolate Swirled Bars

INGREDIENTS:

 PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: about 28 minutes

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup light brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
•  1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 2 vials red food coloring or as needed 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• pinch salt, optional 
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
3. Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don't scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
4. Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth.
5. Add the red food coloring and whisk to incorporate. I used 2 vials of red food coloring. Use any type of food coloring you like; you'll need a lot of it because it takes a lot to turn a chocolaty batter red. Keep adding until desired shade is obtained. 
6. Add the flour, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don't overmix.
7. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula; set aside.
8. In a small, microwave-safe bowl melt the chocolate chips, about 1 minute on high power. Stop to check and stir. Heat in 10-second bursts until chocolate can be stirred smooth.
9. Drizzle the chocolate over the pan and swirl lightly with the tip of a table knife or a toothpick. To create the pattern shown, drizzle chocolate over batter in 5 wide, evenly spaced, parallel lines, each spanning the length of the pan. Like 5 rows of long train tracks. Rotate pan 90-degrees. With a toothpick, starting at the top of the pan, "draw" 5 evenly spaced lines through the chocolate. You're dragging the toothpick perpendicularly through the first set of lines to create the swirling.
10. Bake for about 28 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving; however, for optimal results, cool overnight so the chocolate has a chance to fully set up fully. 
    

Panko Crusted Honey Salmon

Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook time:15 minutes
Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

• 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets
• 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together honey and garlic. In a shallow dish toss together Panko bread crumbs, parsley and lemon zest. Drizzle olive oil over mixture then toss to evenly coat.
3. Working with one piece of salmon at a time, brush top with honey mustard mixture season with salt and pepper (don't overdo it, you'll be seasoning both sides), then rotate and transfer to bread crumb mixture (the honey mustard should be facing down to get the bread crumb mixture to stick to salmon), then brush top of salmon with honey mustard mixture and season lightly with salt and pepper and rotate to coat with crumb mixture. Transfer to baking dish and repeat with remaining salmon fillets.
4. Bake in preheated oven 13 - 15 minutes until salmon is cooked through. Serve warm with lemon wedges (from zested lemon) if desired.
   

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 oz package cream cheese, room temp
• 8 Tbsp (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or a bowl with an whisk) beat together 8 oz cream cheese with 8 Tbsp butter on medium/high speed until creamy (3 min), scraping down the bowl as needed.
2. Sift in 3 cups powdered sugar with 1/2 cup cocoa powder to ensure there are no lumps then add 1/4 tsp salt. Mix on low speed until well combined, scrape down the bowl well then increase to medium/high speed and beat until smooth and whipped (1 min).
3. Add 1 tsp vanilla and beat on medium/high until smooth (1 min). Now it’s ready to be piped onto cooled cupcakes.

Russian Crepes with Cheese and Raisins

Ingredients for Crepes:

• ½ cup lukewarm water
• 1 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted. Plus more to saute.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (you can use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose)

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of Salt

Cheese Filling:

8 oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
16 oz small curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup raisins
Powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Put all of the ingredients for the crepes (in the order that they are listed) in a blender and blend until well combined.

2. Melt a dot of butter in non-stick skillet over medium heat. 
3. Pour about 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the skillet.  

4. As you are pouring into the skillet, swirl the batter to evenly coat the bottom. If you get any small gaps, you can fill them with more batter.
5. Once the bottom is golden, flip the crepe using a spatula. Let the other side get golden and place the crepe out onto a cutting board.

Repeat with all of the batter, using a dot of butter each time. 

***Don't stack hot crepes on top of each other. Once they are just warm or room temp, they can be stacked.***

Directions for the Filling:

1. In a colander, rinse the cottage cheese with cold water and DRAIN WELL. A cheesecloth also works well.

2. Mash the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar with a potato masher until well combined and creamy. Cottage cheese will still be a little lumpy.

3.  Using a spatula, spread 2 generous tablespoons of cheese filling on each crepe.

4. Sprinkle with about 15 raisins.

5. Roll the crepe into a log and cut in half.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Ready in: about an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup softened butter

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 sups semi-sweet chocolate chips or you may use White chocolate chips as well, depending on preference 

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.

2. Beat the butter and white sugar with an electric mixer (or use a whisk) in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in one egg until completely incorporated. Beat in the last egg along with the vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Drop by heaped teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are 
golden, 9 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Crab Salad Recipe

Ingredients: 

1 ½  pounds imitation crab meat (chopped – using a knife or food processor)

6 or 7 hard boiled eggs (diced)
1 small onion (finely diced)
1 cup  mayonnaise
1 tsp cream-style horseradish sauce
1 (15 oz) can corn (well-drained)
1 (15 oz) can peas (well-drained)

Directions:

1. Prepare all of the ingredients by chopping 1 1/2 lb of crab meat, dicing 6 hard boiled eggs,  dicing 1 small onion and adding 1 can of drained and rinsed corn. Add them to a large bowl.
2. Add 1 cup of mayo and 1 tsp of horseradish sauce, then mix everything together.
3. Finally fold in the peas. Adding peas last, keeps them from breaking.