Customer Recipe: Chocolate Balsamic Muffins

A big thank you to Jen for this muffin recipe! It's for a small family competition, so I hope it beats you sister's muffins into the ground!


Chocolate Balsamic Muffins

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup Chocolate Balsamic From OLIVE -N- GRAPE
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix together all the ingredients and divide equally into 6 greased muffin cups.

Bake for 16 minutes.

Chestnut Street Spare Ribs

I have been trying to post 2 to 3 times a week, but as you may have noticed, it hasn't gone very well. Looks like it's going to be a once a week thing until we stop being busy again. If I get extra up, I'm happy for it.

This is my first entry in a line of food inspired by music. We all know that 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' isn't about baking cakes, but there was a time when some songs about food, really were about food. Many of the songs I'm featuring were written during the Depression and the Second World War. People were hungry and homesick during those times. We sing about what we want. And these songs are about wanting food, and home.

A lot of this recipe will have to do with how you prepare your ribs. I like to slow cook them. The slow cooker also makes the sauce really thick. Feel free to use your favorite cooking method.

Chestnut Street Spare Ribs

4 lbs Spare Ribs
2 tbsp White Truffle Garlic Olive Oil
4 tbsp Prime Rub Seasoning
1/2 cup honey
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup Chocolate Balsamic

Rub down the ribs with the seasonings and olive oil. Broil for 5-6 minutes.

Whisk the honey garlic and balsamic together. Nest the ribs at the bottom of your slow cooker and pour the sauce over top. Close the lid tightly and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 8 hours.

Between 18th &19th and Chestnut Street: Bing Crosby

Walnut Basil Pesto Chicken

We recently got a little bit of this neat balsamic called Chocolate Walnut. We don't have very much of it, and when we run out, we are out. It's like our Black Walnut, but with a chocolate hint. That being said, you could make this recipe with the limited Chocolate Walnut, just the Chocolate, or just the Black Walnut.

It's just tasty any way you serve it.

Walnut Basil Pesto Chicken

6-8 boned chicken thighs
1/2 cup Basil pesto with walnuts (recipe at the end)
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup Chocolate Walnut Balsamic

Preheat your oven to 375°. Place the chicken in an oven proof casserole with high sides. Arrange in a single layer. Combine the pesto and the wine and pour over the chicken, making sure to cover every bit.

Place in the oven uncovered and bake for about 20 minutes flipping the chicken halfway through. Remove from oven and brush the balsamic all over the chicken. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes. Serve with a nice scoop of sauce. (You don't have to flip the chicken, I just think it lets the sauce really get all over everything better)

Basil Pesto with Walnuts

3 cups fresh basil*
1/2 cup Basil Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 clove garlic
Sea Salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, optional

Roughly chop the garlic and walnuts. Mash them together with a sprinkle of the sea salt and add to a food processor with the basil and 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Pulse until everything is finely chopped, then turn it on and gently stream in the olive oil until everything is nice and smooth. Add Parmesan now if using and pulse to combine.

Instead of all basil, you could use half spinach or arugula. We also have a jarred pesto available in the store made with arugula and walnuts that is good as well.

Vanilla Yogurt with Nectarines and Balsamic

I was pretty hungry today. So about an hour ago I tossed this together. It's healthy, it's sweet, it's full of good things that will keep me full until dinner or longer. And it's tasty!

Vanilla Yogurt Balsamic Snack

1 container Vanilla Yogurt

1 chopped nectarine

1 tsp (a drizzle) Chocolate Balsamic

Stir together.

If you have any nuts on hand, or granola.... go for it!

Spicy Sweet Candied Pecans

Wow.

I thought that this would be good. But I didn't think that they would be super good!

Time to make another batch, because this one is all gone.

Spicy Sweet Candied Pecans

1/2 cup Pecans
1 tbsp Chocolate Balsamic
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp sugar
red pepper flakes

Put the pecans in a saute pan over medium high heat. Toast for about a minute. Sprinkle on the sugar and spices, except the red pepper. Keep toasting, stirring constantly.

Everything should be very fragrant. Stir in the balsamic and the red pepper and stir around for another half minute or so.

Serve warm or chilled. If they last that long.

Cranberry Chutney

Fresh Cranberry Chutney

1 12oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Chocolate Balsamic
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer Lemon or Blood Orange Olive Oil
3 shallots, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp lemon zest

Cook shallots with the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Stir once or twice, until softened. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the berries pop. About ten minutes. Taste, if it's still too tart, add in 1/4 cup more brown sugar.

Allow to cool and sprinkle with the lemon zest.

Chocpotle Chicken

I have been waiting to make this recipe for a long time. Someone came up with a Chocolate Balsamic and Chipotle Olive Oil combination a long time ago and I immediately thought: mole sauce.

Of course, when you look up a few recipes and realize how many ingredients and how long it takes to make a really authentic mole sauce.....

Torturous. 

So how did I get that list of ingredients down to something manageable for the home cook? Easy. I cheated. I found a jar of Dona Maria mole sauce in my market's international food aisle and it turned out to be the best base I could have gotten. I still ended up adding quite a bit of stuff and blending it all together, but it was certainly less intensive than an authentic recipe! I decided to make a red mole, mostly because I love tomatoes.

Chocpotle Chicken

Sauce:
1/2 jar Dona Maria mole sauce
1 onion, diced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 can coconut cream
3 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil
3 tbsp Chocolate Balsamic
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Chicken:
1 large package boneless chicken, diced or shredded
3-4 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt
Pepper

Make the sauce first!

In a medium saucepan, heat the Olive Oil to medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the chilies and coconut cream(shake before using). Simmer 5 minutes. Add the mole sauce and the Chocolate Balsamic. Simmer until the mole sauce is liquid and mixed through. Remove from heat and cool.

Add the tomatoes and the cooled sauce to the blender and process until smooth. There will be a lot of sauce. If there is too much for your dish, it will keep up to a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for later use. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, oven safe pan. Add the spices and garlic. Let simmer 3-5 minutes or until very fragrant, stirring occasionally.

Add the chicken and cook until done. If using diced, cook 7-9 minutes. If shredding after, cook 7minutes per side. Cool slightly until manageable and shred using two forks. Return to pan.

Heat oven to 350degrees.

Top chicken with the sauce and stir until well mixed. Place in the oven and bake 15 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling.

Serve with rice and warm tortillas and butter.

Makes great leftover tacos!

Oatmeal with Chocolate Balsamic and Apples

This is an easy and tasty one.

Cook your oatmeal, I use regular, one of our sales associates uses instant.

Toss some Balsamic on top. I used Chocolate, she uses Cinnamon Pear. 

Garnish with whatever you like(like apples), and eat!

Chocolate Pasta with "Nutella" Sauce

This is the easiest of the Chocolate Pasta recipes. The sauce can be thrown together in less time than it takes the pasta to cook.

Chocolate Pasta with 'Nutella' Sauce

Chocolate Pasta

1/3 cup nutella

2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp Chocolate Balsamic

Chopped hazelnuts

Heat nutella, balsamic and milk together until they combine well and are heated through. Pour over pasta and garnish with chopped hazelnuts.

This is a 'Nutella' sauce because my husband is not keen on hazelnuts(the chopped hazelnuts were on my plate). So I made it with chocolate almond butter. But I am guessing that more people have Nutella than chocolate almond butter at home. But by all means, make it with almond butter, or peanut butter. If you can't find chocolate versions, mix in a tablespoon of cocoa powder when you are heating it up.

Mark takes Manhattan

I got home from work a little while ago and decided to make a recipe sent in to me from Mark, a friend of the store. He was in last week buying the Chocolate Balsamic. Then he told me what he does with it.

So good!

Mark Takes Manhattan
Makes 1

1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 cup water
Splash Chocolate Balsamic
Splash pomegranate juice
A few ice cubes

Put all ingredients into a shaker and shake. Pour into a glass and garnish with a frozen strawberry

The things I have to do for the store...

Sweet Desserts

Tonight is a simple night. My husband and I are having a couple fruit cups. I just grab some pre-made fruit salads from the grocery store, add some frozen blueberries and drizzle with Chocolate Mandarin Balsamic.

So refreshing!

**12/2014 Sorry, Chocolate Mandarin is gone now. Use the regular Chocolate for the same taste!