Category Archives: Boozy

Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Boozy, Dessert, Fruit, Holiday

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Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes

I created these champagne cupcakes in honor of my brother-in-law’s proposal to his girlfriend last weekend.  She’s the most perfect girl for him and we’re so lucky that she’s going to soon become part of our family–seriously, this chick rocks!  Their engagement inspired this romantic recipe, made with bubbly and fresh strawberries.  These cupcakes would be a great compliment to an engagement party, rehearsal dinner, anniversary, or Valentine’s Day dessert!  The bubbles in the champagne keep the cake very light, and the best part of this recipe is that since you’ll only need a little over half a cup of champagne for the recipe, there will be plenty left over to toast with!  Cheers!

Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Time:  40 minutes active;  1 hour 10 minutes total

Cupcakes:
¾ cup flour
½ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
5 tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
3 eggs (you’ll use one yolk and all three egg whites)
3/8 cup champagne

Filling:
½ cup strawberry jam
10 fresh strawberries

Frosting:
3 tbsp. champagne
1½ tsp. milk
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
6 tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature

decorative sprinkles and/or sanding sugar
fresh strawberries for garnish, optional

1.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together.

2.  In another medium mixing bowl, cream together 5 tablespoons of butter and the sugar using a pastry blender. Stir in the vanilla.

3.  In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the three egg whites and one egg yolk until pale yellow. Gently fold into the butter/sugar mixture.

4.  Add the champagne and the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture a bit little at a time, alternating between the two.

5.  Bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently pressed upon (or when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). Set aside to cool completely before filling.

6.  Meanwhile, dice up the strawberries into small pieces. Mix together with the jam.

7.  Once the cupcakes are cool, remove a portion of cake from the center of each cupcake. (I do this using a cupcake corer—a utensil that’s easily found in the housewares section of stores like Bed Bath and Beyond or Macy’s for about $5-10. If you do not have a cupcake corer, you can gently carve out the cupcake’s “core” with a knife.) Remove the “core”, and set aside, or gobble up immediately and enjoy the light, fluffy, moist champagne cake! Fill the hole with the strawberry/jam mixture.

Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.  To make the frosting, beat the 6 tablespoons of softened butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioner’s sugar, champagne, and milk. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip of your liking. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with decorative sprinkles or sanding sugar. Top with fresh strawberries for garnish, if desired. And pour yourself a glass of champagne to celebrate your gorgeous cupcakes!

Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Best Ever Chicken Marsala

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by in Boozy, Dinner

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Chicken Marsala

This is by far the best Chicken Marsala I’ve ever tasted.  I’d say it’s restaurant-quality, but honestly, it’s even better than what I’ve had at most restaurants!  The chicken is so moist and flavorful, and you’ll want to eat the sauce by the spoonful!  You may even want to get a nice loaf of crusty bread to sop up all the deliciousness of the sauce.  It truly is glorious.

Best Ever Chicken Marsala
Yield:  4 servings
Time:  60 minutes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups flour
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
16 oz. (about 4 cups) mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sweet Marsala wine*
3 tbsp. lemon juice
3 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
½ cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
1 lemon, sliced

* Note:  I’ve tried making this recipe with real Marsala wine, and also with the non-alcoholic marsala wine mixes such as Holland House available at the grocery store.  Both come out delicious.  If you opt to use the Holland House, use one entire 16 ounce bottle.  Whatever kind you choose to use, just be sure you actually have it on hand.  Don’t assume it’s in your pantry because you always have an extra bottle of Marsala in your pantry for when you’re craving this recipe.  Because if you assume you have it without checking, there’s a good chance you’ll end up urgently sending your husband out to the nearest (and quite sketchy) liquor store while you’re in the middle of cooking chicken.  I still owe him one for that!

Chicken Marsala

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  After trimming away any fat, cut each chicken breast in half.  Pound with a meat mallet until thin.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour.

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2.  Heat EVOO in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until warm.  Add the dredged chicken and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.  Once fully cooked, set the chicken aside.

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3.  Place the lemon slices in the skillet and cook on medium-high heat until seared.  Set aside.

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4.  Place the mushrooms in the skillet.  Cook over medium heat until all of the liquid released by the mushrooms evaporates and they are brown (about 8 minutes).  Add the garlic.  Off the heat, pour in the Marsala wine.  Return the skillet to the flame and raise the heat to high.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the lemon juice and butter.  Return the chicken to the pan and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until chicken is heated through and soaks up the delicious sauce.  Stir in ¼ cup of the chopped parsley.

5.  To serve, garnish with lemon slices and sprinkled parsley.  YUM!

Chicken Marsala

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hearty Winter Stew

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Boozy, Dinner, Soup

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Hearty Winter Stew

This stew will definitely warm you up on a cold winter night!  You’ll need to crack open a bottle of red wine to make the base, so sipping on the rest of the bottle ought to keep you toasty too 🙂

I absolutely love my Le Creuset dutch oven because it allows me to start cooking this recipe on the stove, and finish it in the oven.  Most quality cookware can be used both on the stove and in the oven, but before trying it, be sure yours is suitable for such use.


Hearty Winter Stew
Yield:  4 dinner servings
Time:  45 minutes active;  2 hours 15 minutes total

1 lb. bacon
1 lb (16 oz) cooked Andouille sausage
3 breasts of chicken, cut into 1-inch chunks
28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1¼ cups red wine (whatever you like to drink)
4 cups chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 onions, coarsely chopped
5 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 – 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
6 tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1.  Preheat your oven to 350°F.

2.  Cook bacon in dutch oven over medium-high heat until cooked through.  Set aside to cool.  Once cooled, chop into 1-inch pieces.  Wipe out all bacon fat (unless of course, you prefer to cook the onions and garlic in the bacon fat, then just omit the EVOO in step 2).

3.  Sauté onions and garlic in 2 tbsp. EVOO in the dutch oven over medium-high heat until browned (about 5-8 minutes).  Set aside.

4.  Place chicken and 2 tbsp. EVOO in the dutch oven.  Cook over medium heat until the outer surfaces of the chicken is lightly browned (about 10 minutes).  Add the Andouille sausage and meat over medium-low heat for 3 minutes.

5.  Stir in the carrots;  add in the sautéed onions and garlic.  Pour in the red wine, chicken stock, cannellini beans, bacon, salt, and pepper.

6.  Coarsely purée the tomatoes.  (A time-saving trick I just learned is to insert an immersion blender directly into the can of whole tomatoes!)  Add the puréed tomatoes to the dutch oven.  Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour at 350ºF with the lid on (or covered in foil).

7.  Combine melted butter,  breadcrumbs, basil, and ¾ cup parsley.  Sprinkle over the top of the stew.  Cook, uncovered, for another 60 minutes.  (The first time I made this stew, I was hoping the breadcrumb/herb mixture would brown on the top, forming a nice crust.  It didn’t.  The breadcrumbs sunk into the stew, and instead helped to develop a rich, hearty flavor.  It turned into a pleasant surprise and I now always add the breadcrumbs to the top, expecting that they’ll drop into the stew.)

8.  Garnish with the remaining ¼ cup parsley when serving.

Hearty Winter Stew

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Port Cherry Brownies

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Boozy, Chocolate, Dessert, Vegetarian

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Port Cherry Brownies

Recently my birthday was approaching and I wanted to make myself a special birthday dessert, but didn’t feel like making an entire cake for just my husband and I (since we would inevitably eat the whole darn thing).  I decided that brownies are also fully capable of holding candles upright and would therefore make a suitable birthday dessert.  Since I love red wine and port, and try to sneak booze into my recipes every opportunity I get, I decided why not try to make port-soaked dried-cherry brownies?  Big time winner!  Make this recipe immediately.  Seriously, you’re wasting precious time that could be better spent baking these incredible brownies!

Port Cherry Brownies
Yield:  16 brownies
Time:  25 minutes active;  60 minutes total

4 tbsp. port
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup butter, diced into pieces
1¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ tsp. salt
5 tbsp. flour
fresh berries for garnish (optional)
whipped cream for garnish (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Prepare an 8×8 inch pan by spraying it with cooking spray, lining it with parchment paper, then spraying the parchment paper with cooking spray.  Set aside.

2.  Put the port in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down to low and stir in the dried cherries.  Continue to cook over low heat, stirring periodically, until the cherries absorb all of the liquid.  Set aside and allow to cool.

3.  Place the butter and 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Heat until the chocolate melts.  Stir to combine the chocolate and butter.  Remove from heat.

4.  Whisk in the sugar and eggs.  Add the salt and flour.  Mix until fully incorporated.

5.  Gently mix in the port-cherries and the remaining ¾ cup of chocolate chips.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes at 325°F, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.

6.  Cool until the brownies come to room temperature.  Invert the pan, peel the parchment paper off the brownies, then invert the brownies again so the tops are facing up.  Cut into squares.  Serve garnished with fresh berries and whipped cream (and fresh mint leaves if that floats your boat).  Enjoy with a glass of port or your favorite red wine!

Pretty enough to eat!

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