Chocolate Angel Pie

Jeni recently bought me the "Lion House Pies" recipe book, filled with great recipes served at the Lion House in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was my first attempt at a recipe from the book and it has now become our favorite chocolate dessert. It is almost like a chocolate cream pie but it is thicker and more dense. I also loved the meringue nut crust which gave the entire pie a wonderful textural contrast. This one is a keeper for sure. The recipe below yields one 9 inch pie,  serving 6-8.

HELPFUL HINTS
1. If you find that the pie was not dark enough, add a mixture of additional melted chocolate and / or Hershey's syrup to give it a richer look.
2. Be very careful not to burn the meringue. I found that I needed to cut off 5-10 minutes of the cooking time, possibly due to the Utah high altitude?

INGREDIENTS
Meringue Shell
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz milk chocolate bar with almonds

DIRECTIONS
Meringue Shell
1. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar until frothy.

















2. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.





















3. Fold in nuts and vanilla.

















4. Spread into a greased 9-inch pie pan, building up on sides of pan.
































5. Bake at 300 degrees F. for 50 minutes then cool completely.

















Filling
1. Whip cream with vanilla, then set aside.

















2. Break up three-fourths of the chocolate bar into pieces and met in top of a double broiler or microwave in a glass bowl.

















3. When chocolate is just lukewarm, fold into whipped cream and vanilla.
































4. Pile chocolate filling into cooled meringue shell.

















5. Grate remaining chocolate to garnish pie.

















6. Chill in refrigerator for two hours before serving.

Mango and Avocado Salsa

This delicious salsa is made with ripe mangoes, avocados, red onion, lime and cilantro. I have a very hard time eating just one bite! If you're serving this for a party you may want to make a double batch; one for the party and one for a midnight snack. I think this is my only one step recipe on this blog but I decided to include pictures of each ingredient being added. This recipe serves about 4. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced medium
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced medium
1/2 red onion, diced small
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Lightly mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Cinnamon Spice Chili

This recipe is a combination of several that I found, putting them together to form a wonderfully unique chili. The first flavor notes are the warmth of cinnamon and then unexpectedly that warmth turns into just the right amount of spice. This chili is perfect for the fall season and will leave you craving more. Super easy to make with the use of a crockpot, this recipe yields about a dozen servings. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground beef
15 oz canned kidney beans
15 oz canned black beans
15 oz canned diced tomatoes
16 oz canned tomato sauce
1 package taco seasoning
1 tsp tabasco
2 tsp garlic salt
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp chili powder
½ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Brown ground beef, then discard grease.
2. In crockpot, combine all ingredients.




















































3. Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream if desired.

Chocolate Semifreddo

Italian for "half cold," a semifreddo is any chilled or partially frozen dessert including cake, ice cream, fruit and custard or whipped cream. I had never heard of this before so I was excited to try this simple recipe. It was well worth the effort as the result was somewhat of a mix between ice cream, gelato, whipped cream and cake. It's hard to describe so you'll just have to try it! This would be great for a dessert party as it can be made a few days before and is quick to put together. The recipe below yields 8-10 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. There are several ways this can be presented. You could use chocolate curls, fresh raspberries or blackberries or any kind of an ice cream sauce. You pretty much can't go wrong if it pairs well with chocolate.
2. Once taken out of the freezer, it begins melting so move quickly to get it cut and on the plates.

INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
6 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
Chocolate Syrup, for garnish
Raspberries, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt chocolate in a small saucepan then set aside.
2. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing the excess to hang over the edges.

3. Using a stand mixer, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.

4. In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar and simmer over medium heat until the syrup is clear.

5. With the mixer on medium-high speed, slowly add the hot sugar syrup to the eggs, pouring it down the side of the bowl.

6. Bring additional water to a simmer in another saucepan and over it (not in it) place the bowl with the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling until it reaches 160 F. This will take 2-4 minutes.

7. Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until light and fluffy and cooled to room temperature, about 5-10 minutes.

8. Gently fold in melted chocolate and vanilla.

9. In a medium bowl whip cream until soft peaks form.
10. Gently fold the cream into the chocolate mixture.

11. Pour into the prepared pan and place plastic wrap directly on the surface.

12. Freeze until firm, about 8 hours.
13. Remove the plastic covering and unmold the semifreddo onto a serving platter.
14. Peel away plastic wrap, slice, and serve immediately.

Banana Nut Muffins

The weather has begun getting very cold here in Utah so what better way to welcome in the Fall than with freshly baked muffins with cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts and banana? There's really only 3 main steps in this recipe and from start to finish these can be done in less than just over 30 minutes. The aroma in your kitchen will be well worth the effort too. The recipe below yields 12 muffins. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS

1. Don't overmix after adding the flour. The batter should not be smooth.

2. These muffins are best served the day they are baked.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 large egg

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/3 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 2-3)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Grease a standard 12-muffin pan or line with paper liners.

3. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Stir in walnuts.

5. In separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.

6. Add the dry mixture and fold just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

7. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

8. Bake 14-16 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9. Let cool 2-3 minutes before removing from the pan.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie is one of our favorite comfort foods and this recipe, originally found on allrecipes.com, hit the spot. I made a few modifications to the ingredients and I also made fresh pie crust instead of pre-packaged as it doesn't take that long and the quality is much better. The recipe below yields one large pie that feeds about 6. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. The edges of the crust have a tendency to cook faster than the top of the pie. As soon as you see the crusts browning, cover them with tin foil so they don't burn while the rest of the pie bakes.

INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust

1 cup butter cubed and chilled
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8 to 10 Tbs ice water

Pot Pie

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup green peas, frozen

1/2 cup celery, slized

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup onion, shopped

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

Pie Crust
1. Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand.
































2. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps.

















3. Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

















4. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round.

















5. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the pie filling.


















Pot Pie
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery.
3. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

4. In a separate saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent.

















5. Stir in flour, salt and pepper.

















6. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk.

















7. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

8. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust.

















9. Pour hot liquid mixture over the chicken mixture.
































10. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.















































11. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.