Tag Archives: holiday_party

Heart Mocha Brownies with Bourbon White Chocolate Ganache

Mocha brownies. Chocolate. Bourbon. White Chocolate. Ganache.

Heart brownies with Jesse James Bourbon white chocolate ganache

It’s the stuff dreams and Valentine’s Day are made of. Since I’m on an anti-Valentine’s kick, I thought I’d make an effort to embrace it for the sake of others. This is my good deed for the day.

I mean, how hard can it be? Brownies. You just can’t be grumpy with brownies. Make them a little mocha-ie to change them up a bit. Cut them into hearts (I promise, I resisted the urge to make them broken hearts!). Bourbon. My mood is rapidly improving! White chocolate. I often say I’d eat a paper plate that has cheese melted on it. I feel the same way about white chocolate. Bourbon white chocolate ganache!!!!! Yes, coat the dreaded hearts in bourbon white chocolate ganache!!! If I wasn’t already me, I’d marry me for this idea. Hell, I think I’m going to task my personal mixologist, David Gano, with creating a drink that tastes like these. The man worked magic with my Almond Lemon Lavender Cookies; I think he can swing this one!

Mocha Brownies

4 oz unsweetened bar chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbs espresso powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or whatever flavor you prefer)

Prepare 9 x 9 baking pan (I use spray for baking). Sprinkle a little

Sprinkle espresso and cocoa powder in bottom of prepared pan.

extra espresso powder and cocoa powder in bottom of pan. Preheat over to 350. In large bowl, combine sugars. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate (broken into pieces) into medium, microwavable bowl. Heat 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, for a minute total. Continue to stir until chocolate completely melts. Stir in vanilla. Pour into sugar mixture. Stir until combined.

Stir espresso powder into mixture

****Note: DO NOT use an electric mixer for brownies. ***** Add beaten eggs, and stir until well combined. Stir in espresso powder and flour (add flour a little at a time for ease of stirring). Fold in white chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (until center is no longer liquid. It can be fudgy, but not liquid). Use heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts.

Cut brownies into heart shapes

Drizzle with slightly cooled ganache.

Bourbon White Chocolate Ganache

8 oz bar white chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs Jesse James Bourbon

In heavy medium saucepan, combine white chocolate, cream and butter and heat over low heat, stirring constantly and just until mixture is smooth. Stir in bourbon. Cool slightly and drizzle over brownies. In my continued effort to embrace Valentine’s Day, I added some red coloring to the ganache, although I considered black!

Henriettibles Guinness Stew

You’ve had Guinness Stew. You’ve had beef stew. You haven’t had Henriettibles Guinness Stew! Lot’s of flavor, a suprise ingredient…. And plenty of heartiness for St. Patrick’s Day festivities!

I’m a HUGE fan of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations (that’s no blarney!). I really wanted to do a little more than the usual corned beef and cabbage. I love bevvies and red meat. Viola, a little of the black stuff magic happened. It’s bleedin’ deadly.

It’s not just me, friends loved the taste test. To quote one of my best birds, Tracy Collins, “Not only is it delicious, it will keep you regular, too!” Howver, the most common words from the taste testers was, “Oh. My. God. This is soooo good!” They were gobsmacked. One tester from another continent thought the flavors tasted like there were some exotic spices in the stew; you’ll be stunned at how the simple flavors combine to create some savage taste.

Enjoy and Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!

Ingredients

2 lbs lean beef (I used a sirloin roast)
3 Tbs flour
1/2 tsp salt, plus salt to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus pepper to taste
3 Tbs grapeseed oil
1 1/2 cups chpped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 bottle Guinness Draught
1 cup beef stock
1 cup prune juice (THE surprise ingredient!)
3 Tbs tomato pate
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cups diced potato (I keep the skins on)
1 1/2 cups carrots
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

Trim fat from the steak. Cut into cubes of about 3/4 inch - try to keep them near the same size. Place in large bowl. Combne flour, salt and pepper in small bowl. Sprinkle into bowl of beef, and toss coat the beef.

In a large dutch over, add the grapeseed oil. When hot, add steak and cook until browned on all sides (about 4 to 5 minutes). Add onion and cook another 3 minutes until onions soften. Add Guinness and deglaze the pan. Add garlic, stock, prune juice, tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer another 90 minutes.

ENJOY!

Henriettibles Mini Derby Down Hot Browns

I love the Kentucky and all the pageantry. I love roses. I love turkey. I love Hot Browns. Heck, I love brie (or any cheese!). Taking all this into account, this is the Henriettibles take on the Kentucky Derby tradition of Hot Browns. Rather than the traditional toasted white bread, opened faced sandwich with a cheddar cheese sauce, I’ve made it with toasted sourdough rounds with a brie sauce. Fabulous appetizer for any Derby party, or any party! Horseshoes and roses not included.

Ingredients
One 2 lb boneless turkey breast
3 Tbs grapeseed oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
4 Tbs unsalted butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk
½ cup Brie
½ cup grated parmesan
Loaf sourdough bread
Roma or plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
¼ cup grated parmesan
10 slices bacon, crumble half
White pepper
2 Tbs finely chopped parsley

Drizzle turkey breast with oil. Liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven proof baking dish and roast uncovered at 325 until skin browns, about 60 to 70 minutes. Cool and cut into thin slices.

While turkey is cooling, melt butter in sauce pan on medium heat. Add flour. Heat for 5 minutes, whisking continuously. Add milk. Continue to heat and whisk until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the brie (either shredded or chopped into small pieces) and the ½ cup of parmesan.

Toast slices of bread. Using a small round cookie cutter, cut bread into circles. Place onto cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Cover each with a slice of tomato. Add pieces of bacon, then slice of turkey. Pour three tablespoons of cheese sauce over each round. Sprinkle the white pepper, salt and the ¼ cup of parmesan cheese evenly over rounds. Heat for about 5 minutes under broiler, until sauce begins to brown a little. Remove from oven and sprinkle each with the crumbled bacon and parsley. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bun Coffee Cake

Try as I might, I just can’t seem to enjoy eating broccoli or fresh spinach (although they are my favorite vegetables!) as much as I enjoy eating a fresh, hot cinnamon bun. And they sure as hell don’t smell as good as a cinnamon bun!

I also love to entertain. Brunch is one of my favorite events to host. HOWEVER, that does limit your available time to prepare the day of the event; pre-prep is essential! This is a wonderful recipe to have the delicious taste and smell of cinnamon buns without the hassle of making buns from scratch.You can prep the coffee cake the night before, refrigerate overnight and, Voilà, you have amazing in the morning. Yes, this will probably add a little junk in your trunk (or buns) if you eat it every day, but it’s a fabalicious treat.

Ingredients

Cake

²⁄₃ cup softened butter
³⁄₄ cup sugar
³⁄₄ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 cups flour
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¹⁄₂ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
³⁄₄ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Topping

4 Tbs melted butter
³⁄₄ cup light brown sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp cinnamon
¹⁄₂ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp Jesse James Bourbon

Glaze 1 (Cream Cheese)

1 cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₄ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp J esse James Bourbon (use almond or vanilla extract if serving children!)
4 oz cream cheese, softened

Glaze 2

1 ¹⁄₃ cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp Jesse James Bourbon (use almond or vanilla extract if serving children!)
2 Tbs milk
¹⁄₄ tsp salt

Directions for the Cake:

Prepare 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined. Sift dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk to egg/butter mixture, alternating. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Combine the topping ingredients very well. Sprinkle all around top of cake. Cover and refrigerate over night. When your ready to bake, remove cover and bake in preheated over for 35 minutes.

Directions for the Glazes:

Combine all ingredients with mixer. Drizzle (or pour if you really like it!) over warm coffee cake. I serve the glaze on the side and drizzle glaze on each piece as I serve it.

How easy was that???? Enjoy!

Henriettibles Peppermint Eggnog Martini

For a special drink for the holidays, but refreshing and yummy any time, enjoy the kiss of minty Peppermint and the holiday spirit of Eggnog in an easy to make and enjoy martini. For this I used store bought eggnog, because I haven’t taught you how to make eggnog yet! But I WILL!

Mild and refreshing. Mmmm!