Chocolate chip, Orange and Rosemary Corn Muffin

 "Feast of Saint Valentine"

Can you believe the first month of 2015 is over? Chocolate month flew by so fast. For the last recipe I decided to make a very flavorful  muffin, full of herb and citrus flavors. I find this muffin has something for everyone, a little grown up but kids would still enjoy it with the orange flavor and the chocolate chips.

Cocoa & hazelnut compound butter

 "Feast of Saint Valentine"

 This has got to be one of the best butters I have ever made. Last year I went on a compound butter spree.  The smell alone is just beyond awesome. I purchased that hazelnut flavoring a while back to use in home-made hot chocolates and totally forgot about it. While rummaging the cupboards to come up with this recipe I spotted it in the back and a light bulb went off.

Pink Mint Hot Chocolate

 "Feast of Saint Valentine"

No, this is not a cup of Pepto-Bismol, this is the third of my hot chocolate creations. Today we welcome Pink Mint hot chocolate into the fold along with pumpkin hot chocolate and orange hot chocolate. Lord knows what I will come up with next. Chocolate is so versatile and works well with a variety of flavor combinations. Mint chocolate is a classic pairing. However I wanted a white hot mint chocolate or pink as the case may be. 

Brownie cookies

"Feast of Saint Valentine"

I have made quite a few cookies, but this one right here?....arguably the best cookies I have ever made in my life. It’s no secret that I love my cookies chewy. Not thin, not crispy, not big, but thick and chewy.  Last year I tweaked Alton browns cookie recipe and came up with a superb chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. This years cookie just might have beaten the superstar of last year’s chocolate month. It is divine, if you love chocolate, or cookies you must attempt to make these!

Chocolate fig & bacon grilled cheese

"Feast of Saint Valentine"

Dark chocolate, fig, bacon, parmesan and jalapeno cheddar grilled cheese…Where do I start with this sandwich?  After the s’mores sandwich I felt like I wanted to test the waters with a salty/sweet chocolate sandwich. And for some reason my mind went to bacon. I have seen on the internet bacon dipped chocolate all over the place, so I knew right away that bacon and chocolate could potentially be heavenly. But adding cheese to the mix was a whole new frontier, and it is perfect bliss in your mouth.

Nutty chocolate chip crunch bars

"Feast of Saint Valentine"

So I called this a nutty chocolate chip crunch bar, in all fairness. it’s really a rice krispies treat with extras. But the extras make it so yummy. Extras like, dried cranberries, milk chocolate chips, oatmeal and salted pistachios, YUM! The marshmallow glue holds it all together and when it cools its instant gratification.

Breakfast Bread Pudding…a.k.a Chocolate bread pudding with pears and sea salt

"Feast of Saint Valentine"

Bread, Chocolate, coffee, pears and eggs, sounds like breakfast right? I thought so too, hence the name of this dish. Bread pudding has got to be one of the top 5 recipes utilizing stale bread.  Not to say bread has to be stale for one to make the dish. However in our household bread pudding gets made when there are 4 or 5 different bags of almost finished breads waiting to be tossed out. A few slices of wheat bread, some hamburger buns, dinner rolls, one or two raisin rolls, maybe some hard dough bread back (what we call the end pieces of bread in Jamaica); we gather all these sandwich rejects and make them into something special.

Cocoa maple grilled wings

"Feast of Saint Valentine"
 

Every chocolate month I attempt to combine chocolate with a protein. Last year I did a chocolate raspberry ribs which were quite nice.  However this year, these wings were an even bigger hit. They are sweet and salty and Smokey and lovely. All the ingredients go so well together. I will definitely be making these again.

S'mores Sandwich

"Feast of Saint Valentine"

Happy new year guys. Back for another year of  recipes and just as we did last year, we start off with chocolate. The month of January is and always will be dedicated to chocolate (for now). For the first recipe I wanted something very simple, quick, easy and delicious. This recipe will be a hit with anyone who loved the chocolate french toast or anything sweet for that matter.