Gourmet – T.W.O.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Published on October 1, 2013September 29, 2013 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

Tired of making the same old cookie recipe? Need a new one in your life? Well, T.W.O. has the perfect recipe for you! Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons! These cookies are so easy to make, only requires 6 ingredients and are so delicious you will find yourself going back for more!

Ingredients

-2/3 cup flour
-5 ½ cups flaked coconut
-1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-2 teaspoons of butter-flavored Crisco
-2 ½ cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together flour and coconut. Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and mix until all ingredients are blended. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.

Place dough (about a golf ball size) onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are slightly toasted.

Let cookies cool for about 45 minutes. Once cool, begin melting the chocolate by placing chocolate chips and Crisco into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30-45 seconds and mix until chocolate becomes smooth.

Dip each cookie into the chocolate and place on wax paper.

Slide the wax paper onto a tray and place dipped cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes so that chocolate hardens. Now it is time to indulge!!!

Harvest Salad

Published on September 30, 2013September 29, 2013 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

Fall is one of T.W.O.’s favorite seasons because of the weather and the harvest foods! To kick off the season, T.W.O. decided to make a dish with butternut squash. The weather has been quite warm, so a fresh salad with all the Fall ingredients was put on the T.W.O. menu.

Ingredients

Roasted Butternut Squash:

-Butternut Squash
-Olive Oil
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Salt and Pepper

For the Salad:

-Roasted butternut squash
-Spinach
-Apple (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith)
– Cucumber
-Crimini mushrooms
-Dried Cranberries
-Pepitas
-Goat Cheese

For the Dressing:

-1/4 cup olive oil
-3/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
-2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
-1 ½ Tablespoons Greek yogurt
-I tablespoon honey
-Cinnamon
-Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 415°. Cut butternut squash in half and remove seeds. Place butternut squash on a foil-lined cookie sheet and brush the squash with olive oil. Next, season the squash with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Put the squash into oven and roast for 45 minutes to one hour.

For the dressing, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, yogurt, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill. Ten minutes before the butternut squash is ready, prepare salad. Dice apple, mushrooms, and cucumber and place on platted spinach. Next, add your cranberries, pepitas and crumbled goat cheese.

When the squash is done, take out of oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes to cool. Cut the squash into cubes (removing the skin) and put on salad. Drizzle the dressing over salad and mix. Now it’s time to enjoy this gastronomical, fall inspired salad!

Chicken with Garbanzo Bean Salad and Burrata

Published on September 23, 2013September 22, 2013 by twinswithoriginality1 Comment

One of T.W.O. ‘s favorite proteins to experiment with is chicken because it is eaten more often than any other protein and can get very old if you don’t switch it up! So T.W.O. decided to create a spin on chicken Parmesan and bruschetta by creating a dish using chicken, a garbanzo bean salad, and burrata! Whether it is for a dinner party, family gathering or weeknight meal, you will find this dish to be easy but most of all- gastronomical!

Ingredients

– 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1 can of garbanzo beans
-Favorite pasta sauce
-Fresh Basil
-Garlic cloves
-Fresh pepper
–Crazy salt
-Burrata cheese

First, chop garlic and basil and place in a mixing bowl. Next, add garbanzo beans, pasta sauce and fresh ground pepper. You want to add enough sauce just to cover the garbanzo beans and create a little liquid. Let this mixture marinade for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

While the garbanzo bean salad is marinating, start the grill. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken onto grill and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until done. Meanwhile, turn on your oven to 425° and take the garbanzo bean salad out of the refrigerator. When the chicken is done, place the chicken breasts into a Pyrex and top with the garbanzo bean salad. (You will have left over salad if you only use 2 chicken breasts, but it makes for a great side dish or snack while cooking!)

Put the Pyrex into the oven for 3-5 minutes. Next, place the burrata cheese over the garbanzo bean salad and put in the oven.

Allow the cheese to melt for about 2 minutes and then turn the oven on broil. Let the dish broil for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese gets a little brown. Once this is done, take the chicken out of the oven and get ready to serve!