Watership Down Kitchen

I just bought myself a centrifugal juicer by Breville. Super easy to use, easy to clean and juries fast. As a gadget queen, I also own an Omega masticating juicer and a Cuisinart citrus juicer. The Cuisinart is, as the name implies, fabulous only for making various citrus juicers.  What is the different between a masticating and centrifugal juicer? A masticating juicer grinds (or “chews”) the produce with a series of hard hears and extrudes the juice, yielding very dry pulp and getting the best results for juicing greens. The cons are that it takes prep work to cut the veggies small, operates slowly and is expensive. The pros is that the unit can also be used to make pasta and sorbet, so it’s not a unitasker. A centrifugal juicer works with a spinning blade that cuts the produce and spins it really fast against a mesh sieve, which strains out the juice. It’s pulp is wetter and yields less juice, especially with regard to greens. It is very easy to use, clean and ine...

This recipe is based off of my Cocoa Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. It’s a snow day and I felt like experimenting.  I added walnuts, butterscotch chips and brown sugar to my original recipe. The brown sugar and butterscotch combine together to yield a toffee flavor to the cookie, while the milk chocolate and cocoa butter permeate the cookies with luscious chocolate flavor and aroma. The walnuts add a much needed textural crunch. In this recipe, the fat component of the cookie is split evenly between butter and cocoa butter. The result? A pale cookie, completely permeated with a chocolate aroma, and a lovely, meltingly ooey-gooey texture. Grab a big glass of whole milk, and dig in to a cookie unlike any you’ve had before. Ingredients: 4 ounces raw cocoa butter 1 cup vanilla sugar 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 4 ounces softened butter 1 egg 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste 2 1/...

The most wonderful part of going out to eat is to bring the menu ideas home. Last night, I feasted on pesto, wilted spinach cousous, panko crusted flounder with lobster cream sauce, and fried brussel sprouts.  I knew I had to recreate the brussel sprouts at home; they were addictive! I also saw a beautiful butternut squash soup listed that I did not order and new I wanted to try my hand at a decadent and creamy homemade version. It does not disappoint. Roasting the veggies adds a brilliant depth of flavor to the soup, and adding the insanely delicious brussel sprouts with classic fried sage and delicate shards of parmesan makes for the ultimate wintertime soup. Enjoy! Ingredients: 4 carrots, diced 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced 2 sweet onions, diced 4 garlic cloves 1 bunch sage 1 pound brussel sprouts, cut in half 1/4 cup heavy cream 2 cups chicken stock Olive oil Vegetable oil salt and pepper Method: Preheat the oven to 400 de...