Some Culinary Adventures This Weekend

Delicious Chocolate Muffins

Chicken with a Dijon Mustard Sauce and Asparagus on the side. 

Garlic Cheese Bread 

Garlic Cheese Bread with Marinara for Dipping

This weekend we tried different recipes, all delicious. Firstly, we made 'Chocolate Muffins', a recipe by JoyofBaking.com, the recipe is here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/muffins/ChocolateMuffins.html

They are incredibly rich and moist, perfect with a good cup of coffee. The adjustments I made were small, I firstly added a bit more buttermilk, as I found the first time I made them to be slightly dry and too dense for my liking. I also used kosher salt, which really accentuated the chocolate flavor. I also used milk chocolate chips from Ghirardelli and garnished them with a few on top as well. They are overall a wonderful breakfast/brunch item and my whole family liked them.


The 'Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce' was a recipe my mom found on Martha Stewart's website, and it is a new family favorite. You can find the recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/318298/sauteed-chicken-in-mustard-cream-sauce

This dish is not only extremely simple to make, but the flavors are exquisite. The sauce brings the whole meal together and the asparagus complement the dish. The only adjustment we made was substituting dill for the tarragon. The dill worked nicely with the subtle dijon flavor. I recommend this dish for a quick, simple dish with a big flavor payoff.


The 'Cheesy Garlic Bread' is a recipe for Laura Vitale. Here is the recipe from her site: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/all/episode.php?episodenumber=288, you can also watch her video on Youtube.

I liked the texture, the crisp bread with a tender middle and melted cheese was incredible. It was simple to make, we blended the spread in our Blendtec and it pureed it to perfection. The taste was good, however slightly bold for my family's liking. The garlic was quite strong, and maybe too much for my taste, and the parsley was a little rich. I'm not a big fan of parsley anyway, though. So if you don't like parsley, I'd skip the parsley or this recipe altogether. Overall, I love the concept and simplicity of this recipe, and I will make this again, but perhaps not as pungent as before and adapt this to my tastes.