Vegan Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries and Mousse

Hey guess what? Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday. Oh you didn’t know? Well then you’ll need something special to make.

Whether you are looking for something special for you and your significant other, for a girls' night in, or a dinner party, they will all be impressed. But it's another thing if you have allergies, are gluten-free, or vegan. No matter your diet, you deserve some decadence too.

So when Enjoy Life Foods sent me a bag of their Dark Chocolate morsels for baking, I knew it was time to make a treat everyone could enjoy. Pun.

The morsels not only contribute to my chocolate coconut cream mousse but also to my chocolate covered cherries. They can be made separately or be put together. Either way you have enough decadence to last you the whole season.

You know I love Enjoy Life's products and since their 69% cocoa chips are gluten-free, vegan, and free of the eight most common allergens, you don’t have to be afraid to have your mousse and eat it too. Oh, and they melt perfectly. 

Likewise, cordial chocolate covered cherries were one of my favorites growing up. But if you don't buy carefully, they can taste quite artificial. So instead, I used fresh Bing cherries that are only in season for a couple weeks in Chile. I know, but forgive me it’s Valentine’s Day. Here, Enjoy Life’s dark chocolate morsels were essential.

I wanted to combine fresh, sweet cherries with decadent dark chocolate so you have a nice crunch with the soft flesh of the cherries. And hey, this is America so might as well stuff the cherry with vegan chocolate coconut cream mousse. This step while totally worth it can be skipped for time’s sake. I do hope you make the chocolate mousse. It is so rich and creamy you won’t believe it is actually vegan…but I promise it is!

Coconut cream is an extra thick version of coconut milk, basically without the water and really cannot be substituted. You can find it at Trader Joe’s (of course,) Whole Food’s, and probably any Asian markets or well stocked grocery will carry it. Just make sure you refrigerate the can overnight so it remains thick and won’t melt as much while you are working with it.

FYI: this mousse is very decadent, so small amounts go a long way. This recipe should be enough for 4 small portions. If you aren’t used to coconut cream, you don’t want to over eat or you might get a tummy ache!

This is perfect for a the modern Valentine’s Day dinner party as you won’t get any complaints from your vegan or gluten-free guests. Get ready to impress some people with this! And you will have a lot of cherries left over….but not for long.

Vegan Chocolate Covered Cherries with Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Makes 4 small cups of mouse and 40 cherries

Ingredients:

For the Mousse

1 cup coconut cream or about ½ of a can, (refrigerate can overnight before use so it hardens)

3 tbsp. vegan sugar

3 tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut or other vegan milk in case you need to adjust the consistency

For the Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries

40 fresh bing cherries, carefully pitted

1 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut chips or flaked coconut for garnish

About 1/2 cup chocolate mousse

1 plastic bag

40 toothpicks

Directions:

Use a double broiler or sauce pan and glass bowl for melting.

Fill a saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Place glass bowl over top trapping the steam and take off heat immediately.

Add 1/4 cup chocolate morsels into the bowl and continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

Meanwhile add all ingredients including the melted chocolate, for the mousse into a stand mixer or bowl with beaters until completely mixed and air enters mixture making light and creamy. Spoon into individual glasses for serving, reserving about 1/2 cup mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours up to one day.

Separately arrange pitted cherries on a plate and carefully spoon reserved mousse into the plastic bag. Cut the edge of the bag to make a very small slit.

Using the opening of each cherry made by pitting, pipe a very small amount of mousse into each cherry and a little on the opposite side. (This may be a bit messy, so keep a paper towel handy.)

Refrigerate stuffed cherries for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before dipping in chocolate. Before dipping them into the chocolate, carefully place 1 toothpick into the side of each cherry without squeezing mousse out of the cherry.

Meanwhile bring your saucepan with water back to a boil and remove from heat once boiled. Melt the remaining cup of chocolate morsels over your double broiler or bowl and saucepan. Continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

(If you are a slower worker like me, it might be easier only to work with a 1/2 cup of morsels at a time as the chocolate will re-harden very quickly.)

Working very quickly dip each skewered cherry into the melted cherry to cover completely and scrape any drip off the side with a spoon. Place each dipped cherry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Refrigerate the dipped cherries for at least 30 minutes and don’t remove until ready to serve.

Before serving, carefully remove the toothpicks from each cherry. Once ready to serve, place several cherries on top of the mousse and top with coconut flakes. Serve immediately.

Variation: Use a little bit of the melted chocolate to attach coconut flakes to cover the hole made by the toothpick in the chocolate shell.

Enjoy!

Mexican Tortilla Soup

Today in West Texas it is cold. I mean almost snowing cold. I can’t complain since back home in PA they’ve been dealing with record breaking snow amounts for weeks. So I thought making soup would be the perfect solution. Since we are in Texas now until June, I’ve tried to embrace the types of food you can get here. Mexican and Latin American are about the only options if you don’t count the British Hob Nobs and the Asian section at the Commissary on base. Here I can get handmade tortillas fresh from the ladies that make them, masa, queso fresco, corn husks, tamales, epazote, and homemade tortilla chips like nobodies business. If you love homemade gulf Mexican, this is your place. 

So making this soup felt like the best of both worlds-chilly weather, and a nod to the flavors of our new area.

It just so happened that making a roast chicken earlier in the week allowed me to have homemade stock, and an abundance of meat perfect for this recipe. The rich homemade stock made the soup and the meat contributed both to soup and sweet potato chicken empanadas on the side.

This is the first time I've made this recipe and I must say I plan to make it a part of my regular recipe repertoire. Say that five times fast! 

I love how this so flavorful and hearty without being heavy. I wanted this to be a meal soup with the beans and carrots. It’s also incredibly easy.

I consulted the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen for the best method. Their recipe was aiming for simplicity so I chose to simmer my soup much longer than their 15 minutes. We like ours a bit on the spicy-medium salsa side. If you like it mild, reduce the amount of green chilies and use regular diced tomatoes.

 

I made this soup my own with an array of toppings and so can you. Just know that the tortillas, cheese, and cilantro are really not optional as they make the dish “tortilla soup.”

                                     Mexican Tortilla Soup 

(Partially adapted from Cook's Illustrated Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen)

                                                         makes 6-8 servings

 

Ingredients:
6 cups homemade chicken stock
1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic
1 can tomatoes with green chilies (14.5 oz.)
1 can green chilies (4 oz.)
1 can cannellini, black, or pinto beans (14.5 oz.), rinsed
2 cups leftover shredded breast meat chicken
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds about 1/2 inch thick
5 oz. beer (I used Corona)
5 oz. white wine
3 stems cilantro, separate stems and leaves
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder

1-2 tsp. soy sauce, to taste (use Tamari for gluten-free)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
Salt and black pepper
Red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. Olive oil

Garnish:
3 cups homemade or high quality Corn tortilla chips broken into pieces
Lime wedges
Cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
Cilantro, plus 1 tsp. chopped
Sliced avocado
Optional:
Fresh tomatoes
Sour cream

Variations:
Cut 6 corn tortillas into 1/2 inch wide strips, drizzle with vegetable oil over pieces on a lines baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 14 minutes. Shake halfway through and season lightly with salt.

If you aren't using homemade stock, use quality store-bought chicken stock and simmer with 1 half yellow onion, 1 cilantro stem, 1 oregano stock, and 1 garlic clove cut in half, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Simmer for 20 minutes.


If you don't have leftover chicken meat, simply add a uncooked chicken breast during the first broth step and remove once cooked through. Allow to cool slightly and shred. Add at the last 10 minutes of cooking time.

Directions:

In a large stock pot, bring stock, 1 onion quarter, 1 garlic clove cut in half, cilantro stems and 1/2 tsp. sea salt to a light simmer on medium high heat for 20-30 minutes. Once finished, strain and set broth aside in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, add tomatoes, chilies, 2 remaining garlic cloves, cilantro leaves and 1 tsp. fresh oregano and the rest of the onion into a food processor and pulse only until just smooth. The consistency should be still be think but with no noticeable chunks.

Reheat pot with 1 tbsp. oil over high heat. Transfer mixture to the pot, add wine, chili powder, cumin, and cook for 10 minutes until the mixture darkens in color. Add a pinch of salt and stir minute frequently to avoid burning or bubbling.

Once tomato mixture darkens, carefully stir in strained broth, carrots, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low heat and simmer. Add beer, tomato paste, and soy sauce. You can simmer soup from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how much time you have. The longer the soup simmers, the more blended the flavors will be. Add pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

In the last 10 minutes, add rinsed beans and stir. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add shredded chicken. Make sure beans and chicken are heated through.

Note: If broth is watery, add a chicken bouillon cube to the soup.

Add 1/4 cup chips to the bottom of each bowl. Ladle soup into bowls and top with more tortilla chips, cheese, cilantro, and any other toppings. Dig in!

Enjoy!

Enjoy Life Baked Chewy Bars Review

I'm a snacker. It's a condition I've lived with it for a long time. Most notably in high school, I would get so hungry between my 6:45 breakfast and 12:20pm lunch period that I would have to keep granola bars stashed in my bag and sneak them between classes. Of course, we were not "supposed" to have food outside lunch, but then again, I often broke those rules.

So regardless to say when Enjoy Life sent me their new and improved baked chewy bars, I was very excited. I'm a big fan of Enjoy Life and I have been happy to see their products pop up in stores more and more since I first tried them. They sent me these bars last month, but I waited to post my review as I wanted to give these bars photos worth their goodness. 

It is important to note what makes Enjoy Life’s products so special. Not only are all of their products gluten-free and vegan, they are also free of the 8 most common allergens such as nuts, soy, dairy, fish, and even casein (an allergen found in dairy products and most “vegan” dairy alternatives that also cause issues.) They are also all natural, nothing artificial, GMO-free, Pareve, etc. everything good. Basically these babies are good for anyone on your list from your gluten-free sister to your kid’s school birthday parties.

I've tried several of Enjoy Life's many products before including their Plentils Lentil Chips, chocolate chips, and granola. So far, these backed chewy bars are my favorite.

They sent me four flavors:

Caramel Apple

Cocoa Loco

Mixed Berry

SunButter Crunch

Sporting the line, "now featuring ancient grains," it was hard to pick a favorite. Surprisingly I think I'd have to go with Mixed Berry. I actually thought this would be my least favorite due to past experiences with the flavor and overly sweet strawberry bars. I mean, the other ones were up there. But the Mixed Berry bar itself was my favorite. It tasted like fresh sugar cookies, and the bites of chewy red fruit was just icing on the proverbial cake.

The taste of the Caramel Apple bars reminded me so much of the classic Nutri-Grain variety, but I like that the apple flavor went throughout the “cake” of the bar instead of just jelly shoved inside. It was also the moistest of the varieties and you could really taste those "ancient grains," meaning quinoa, amaranth, and millet which are all in there. The only thing I would say is I didn't get the "caramel" they were boasting, but rather a flavor reminiscent of apple cinnamon than caramel apple.

Cocoa Loco with a bite taken out of it...

The SunButter Crunch was really good. Made from sunflower seeds it is supposed to be a nod to the classic peanut butter that so many allergy suffers cannot enjoy. While the flavor is definitely not as nutty as peanut butter, it was such a satisfying, and lightly sweet bar.

Surprisingly, the Cocoa Loco bar was my least favorite. And not due to lack of flavor. The chocolate flavor is as decadent as a store bought brownie, especially with their “melty” vegan chocolate chunks tucked inside. What turned me off from this bar was the texture. With a lot of gluten-free products, the after taste can lend towards the grainy side, like after drinking a smoothie with whey powder in it. With that said, I didn't dislike the bar. It was quite tasty. But compared to the other bars, the texture was so different. It did include the "ancient grains" tag-line of the other bars, but I am always impressed with richness of Enjoy Life's chocolate products without the dairy.

I loved the "oaty" texture of the other bars, the visible quinoa flakes, and the subtle crunch. It made me feel healthy while still enjoying a treat.

Another thing is, these bars are small. Weighing in at about an ounce they are much small than the more commercial brands. But, again this isn't necessarily a bad quality. The bars ranger from 110-120 calories each with the Cocoa Loco and Sunbutter Crunch on the high end. This is more for portion control than skimpiness. So these are definitely a filling snack or addition to your packed lunch. You definitely won't feel jipped once you finish a bar. You just have to get used to the weight and not try hard not to eat it all in one bite…

I’ve seen Enjoy Life’s baked chewy bars at a few stores now and as always, you can purchase them online.

Overall, I would definitely buy these bars for myself, gluten-free or not. And that’s what I like most about their products—they are for everyone, not just the allergy sufferers. They fit easily in even a small bag, and are perfect for snaking between meals or a chocolate indulgence at night. And hey, I’m serious about those birthday parties, but I don’t think these are quite the thing to pass as homemade at the next bake-sale.

Disclaimer: Enjoy Life did not pay nor endorse me for a positive review. I did receive samples of their product for purpose of review.

Happy New Year to all!

Enjoy!

#Thanksgivukkah Ideas and Wrap-Up

As I had neither enough time or money to make all of these great Thanksgivukkah recipes, I thought I share them with you in case you still need some Thanksgivukkah or simply Thanksgiving ideas.


Many people have talked about how Thanksgiving is a much more appropriate holiday to associate with Hanukkah than Christmas. I've learned how true that is as I went through this series. In the Jewish calendar, Hanukkah is minor holiday compared to the biggies of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover. 

It's also quite fun: Fried foods, small gifts, song, and yes, the dreidel.

As Thanksgiving is only a few days away, I thought I would wrap up the Eight Days of Thanksgivukkah with a list of my recipes along with some other ones I know you'll love.

My #Thanksgivukkah Recipes:

Israeli Turkey and Zucchini Meatballs

Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold Latkes 

Matzo Chicken Stuffing

Cherries Jubilee Cocktail with Dr. Brown's

Parve Apple Cupcakes

Pumpkin Pie Muhallabieh (Israeli Milk Pudding)

Israeli Couscous Salad

Everything Encrusted Salmon Lox Salad

Eight days of Thanksgivukkah, kicking Chrismakkuh's butt one recipe at a time


Recipes from Others:

A great Thanksgivukkah Wrap up from Princess Pinky Girl

This looks amazing: Celery Root Latkes with Pastrami

An updated version of the Hanukkah classic, Sufganiyot: Salted caramel filled doughnuts

The best thing my sister makes at Thanksgiving:  Quince and Cranberry Sauce

A great looking recipe for mulling spices and Mulled apple cider  

from the Mountain Rose

Celery Root and Potato Latkes from NPR

Challah bread pudding with cranberries

Ideas I didn't get to make:

Mashed potato lakes with garlic and celery root

Turkey dreidel

Roasted turkey with Naples pears or apples

Black and white cookies with turkeys on them 

or this Black and White Cookie...yum

Smoked salmon on challah (or my Everything encrusted salmon on top!)

Cocktail with Dr. Browns Cel-Ray soda, gin, cucumber, and mint

Grilled turkey Brest kebabs in tahini parsley sauce


Rolled turkey Breast with chestnuts, cranberries, and parsley

Just because I thought this was neat: a list of Thanksgiving/Hanukkah prayers from Rabbis across the country. 

I looked far and wide for a Thanksgivukkah video. and let me tell you, there are so weird ones out there. This was the funniest, yet not-so weird one I could find.

Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Thanksgivukkah with all your family and friends. Thanks for indulging me these last couple weeks. It was fun.

Enjoy,

The Cuisiner

Photos by other sources are credited by links below them.