I heard about Reese’s Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups from Supermarket Guru’s New Products page. As you might expect, they’re peanut butter cups, except that the peanut butter bit is on the outside and the chocolate is in the center. But, the review on Supermarket Guru wasn’t so positive:

Here’s what Julie Messerer from Hoquiam, Washington had to say about this product. “The peanut butter is on the outside with a chocolate filling inside. Reese’s is my favorite candy bar (my husband’s, too), and we both agree that it’s too much peanut butter flavoring. We couldn’t taste any chocolate! We’ll stick with the original Reese’s. […] ”

So, on account of the peanut-butteryness, they consider it a “Miss”. But, come on, how could any product have too much peanut butter? Of course, with as much sugar as they probably have, I don’t think I’ll be buying any except perhaps for Halloween festivities (if they last that long). I, for one, welcome our new peanut butter overlords.

I made some chocolate-covered Twizzlers for Saturday’s Luau-party and I promised a few people that I’d post the recipe here:

Chocolate Covered Twizzlers

Ingredients:

• At least one bag of Twizzlers (I used the bags around 12oz)

• Twice as many bags of chocolate chips as bags of Twizzlers (assuming a bag of around 12oz). For instance, if you have 2 bags of Twizzlers, then you’d need 4 bags of chocolate chips.

Preparation:

The tricky part to this recipe is that the chocolate is melted over a double-boiler — except that a double boiler isn’t that tricky at all :). If you already know how to make a double-boiler, then you can skip the next section.

Setting up a Double Boiler:

A double boiler is simply a metal mixing-bowl set on top of a pot which has barely-boiling water (picture) such that the steam heats the contents of the mixing bowl. First, select a pot that has a diameter no larger than the burner. Then, you’ll need a metal mixing bowl since it has to be heat safe (though heat-safe glass may work as well).

The idea is to have boiling water in the pot — the bowl sitting on top of the pot — and only the steam heating the bowl. So, fill your pot with about an inch of water. Then, while the stove is still off, place the mixing bowl on top of the pot. Then lift the bowl off the put and check if the bottom of bowl is wet — if it is, you’ve put too much water in the pot and you’ll need to empty some out and try again.

Now that you have the right amount of water in your pot, leave the mixing bowl off the pot (for now) and turn the stove to about medium. Once the water is just-boiling, turn it down to about one-quarter heat. You want the water to remain steaming or just-boiling and not reach a rolling boil. Then, put the mixing bowl back on the pot.

After the Double Boiler Setup:

Before we get to melting the chocolate, be sure to set aside some cookie-sheets covered in wax paper. Twizzlers tend to be rather bulky when laid flat, so you may need three or four cookie sheets. The wax paper prevents the Twizzlers from sticking to the sheet after they’ve cooled, so don’t skip the wax paper.

So, your double boiler is setup. Now, pour all the chocolate chips into the bowl. I made my last batch with two bags of chips, and it went fine. In many ways, the dipping-process is even easier with more chips since you can submerge the Twizzlers.

As the chocolate chips heat, stir them with a metal spoon (an everyday flatware-spoon is fine). The melting-process may seem to go slowly at first, but it goes more quickly at the end. Once the chips are melted, you'll need to “whip” the chips: hold on to the metal bowl with an oven mit and whip the chips using the spoon in your other hand (as if you’re beating an egg in a bowl). The idea is to get the chips free of all clumps and evenly melted. (Be sure to leave the stove on during the entire Twizzler-dipping process so that the chocolate remains fully melted.)

With the chocolate ready, set the spoon aside on a saucer (you’ll need it again in a moment). Take a Twizzler and hold it by one end in your non-dominant hand. Then, dunk it about two-thirds to three-fourths the way into the chocolate. With your dominant hand, use the spoon to push the Twizzler into the chocolate and spoon-over the chocolate to ensure that the three-fourths (or two-thirds) of the Twizzler is properly coated.

Pull the Twizzler out and, while holding the Twizzler above the double-boiler, use the back of the spoon to smooth out the chocolate and brush off any excess chocolate back into the bowl.

Then, carefully place the Twizzler on the cookie sheet to cool. And, repeat the process (whip the chocolate, dip the Twizzler, set Twizzler to cool) for the remaining Twizzlers. If your mixing bowl is at a perfect heat, the chocolate may stay smooth enough and you may not have to whip the chocolate between each Twizzler-dipping; that’s up to you.

Once you're done, you’ll need to allow the chocolate to cool and harden: I would give this at least an hour, or preferably two or three hours. You may find that, towards the end, there’s not enough chocolate to fully cover a Twizzler but nonetheless some chocolate still left in the bowl — this goes quite nicely when spooned onto some graham crackers and allowed to cool (the chef’s treat — wink wink, nudge nudge).

A quick note on white chocolate vs dark/milk chocolate. Technically speaking, “white chocolate” isn’t chocolate at all (since it has cocoa butter but no actual cocoa). So, it doesn’t behave like chocolate, cooking-wise. I’ve tried both white and dark chocolate and both can work out fine. However, white chocolate tends to not melt as evenly and, if you’re undecided about whether to use white chocolate, I would recommend dark or milk chocolate instead.

Variations:

The classic combination is, of course, dark chocolate on strawberry Twizzlers. However, there’re also chocolate Twizzlers and white chocolate, leading to these possibilities: white chocolate on strawberry Twizzlers, white chocolate on chocolate Twizzlers, dark chocolate on chocolate Twizzlers and dark chocolate on strawberry Twizzlers (the original).

I found this recipe for Chocolate Peanut Treats on the chocolate-recipes mailing list (yes, a list just for chocolate recipes, heh). It sounds simple enough, and I’m tempted to try it sometime. I’m curious about what kind of texture it might have — whether it’d be chewey or more flakey (I suppose that depends on the ratio of graham crackers to peanut butter).

Chocolate Peanut Treats

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12 squares)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter [I’d probably go with creamy]
• 1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

In a bowl, combine cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Stir in sugar and peanut butter. Press into a greased 8 inch square pan. In a microwave or double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Spread over peanut butter layer. Chill for 30 minutes; cut into squares. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes longer. Store in the refrigerator.

I’m sorry about the lack of updates recently but work has been keeping me really busy lately (I was at the office until 11pm last night). But, they’re paying me by the hour, so… whatever.

Anyhow, I recently ran across this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies on AllRecipes. The reviews were positive, so I decided to try the recipe.

It worked out great (soft and rich, but with a delicious chocolate and walnut accent), and these may be my second-favorite among cookies (the chocolate chip cookies that my mom makes are probably first). I’ve added just a few comments as well:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats [quick cooking = the 1-min cook “instant” oats]
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips [this is about 6oz, or about half a standard bag]

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. [I found that it worked better to let them cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, as they were still a bit soft after 5 minutes.]

I enjoyed many of the restaurants in Austin while I was in town for SXSW, but I particularly enjoyed Katz’s. I went there a couple times and, as an all-night deli, it fit in well with our schedules.

I had a cheeseburger one evening, but only after ensuing that I could get it with blue cheese ;). The burger arrived quickly and they weren’t stingy with the blue cheese — there was about a cue-ball sized mound of crumbled blue cheese on the side.

I had trouble piling on all the blue cheese, but I was only too pleased to have such a problem. The patty was moderately thick and warm (though it could have been a touch hotter). Upon taking a bite, I was delivered a massive blue-cheese-and-beef sensation. It was incredibly delicious and among the top three burgers I’ve ever had.

On another occasion, I was in more of a sandwich mood and I went with a turkey club (with avocado, natch). The turkey was succulent and piled high, and the bacon — an often overlooked component — was well cooked with a satisfying crunch.

It was a tasty sandwich, decidedly above-average as club sandwiches go, but the bread didn’t seem to live up to its potential. It was wheat, I believe (a good thing), but it tended to slightly dry out my mouth. Usually, mayo or other condiments in the sandwich would counteract this effect, but not so much this time.

And, just last night, I went after the DFWBlogs / H-Town Blogs Cocktail Event. I wasn’t counting on fitting in a proper dinner that evening, so I had a few protein bars earlier in the evening (Zone bars, specifically).

Nonetheless, I was a tad peckish by the time we arrived (which was close to midnight, if I recall). On previous visits to Katz’s, I had eyed their dessert menu but I hadn’t had room — but now was my chance.

At first, their ice cream / brownie caught my eye, but it had both vanilla and chocoalte ice cream. Not being a fan of chocolate ice cream, I crossed that off my list. Though I don’t like chocolate ice cream, I’m still a raging choco-fiend in general — so, I went in search of other chocolatey items.

Quickly, I narrowed it down to two chocolate cakes: “Chocolate Eruption” & “Death by Chocolate”. A food’s texture lends to its enjoyment for me, but that’s where both of those fell a bit short…

The Chocolate Eruption was described as chocolate-cream cake with nuts and chocolate shavings, while the Death by Chocolate was made up of white & dark chocolate mousses. Chocolate can be delicious in many forms, but I never had much of a hankering for squishy chocolate (well, except for ganache, I suppose). Really, a chocolate cake would have been perfect.

Of the two, I settled on the Chocolate Eruption; I figured that the crunch of the nuts would play well off the soft chocolate cream. The slice arrived and, though it was tasty — I had no trouble finishing it — the creaminess was almost overwhelming. Of course it was probably no creamier than most other chocolate-cream cakes, but that evening I had a yearning for a Real Cake cake which this slice didn’t entirely fulfill.

With so many good dishes, Katz’s is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Austin. I look forward to eating there again next year.

I was watching the awards show for Emeril’s Chocolate Contest which featured four finalists: Chocolate Turtle Martini, Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate Mousse Cake, and Triple Chocolate S’more Pie. Of those, Sarah Benner’s Triple Chocolate S’more Pie was voted best and I tend to agree — it not only seems choco-licious, but easy to make as well:

Triple Chocolate S’more Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk [Really, 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, three times —Alex]
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract [Like the condensed milk, this is really 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, three times. — Alex]
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Preparation:

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray the inside of a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into sprayed pie pan, covering bottom and sides. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For filling: In a microwave safe bowl, combine milk chocolate chips, 1/2 cup condensed milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Microwave for 2 minutes on medium (50 percent) power. Alternately, combine all ingredients and melt in a double boiler. Stir until all chips are melted and pour into bottom of cooled crust. Set in refrigerator while preparing second layer.

For second layer, repeat above process using the vanilla chips. Pour over milk chocolate layer. Set in refrigerator while preparing third layer. For third layer repeat above process using the dark chocolate chips. Pour over white chocolate layer.

Preheat the broiler. Evenly cover top with miniature marshmallows. Place under broiler for a few minutes just until marshmallows are lightly browned. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

• Yield: 16 slices as small pieces are sufficient for even the most devoted chocoholics
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy

I might be inclined to substitute a premade graham cracker crust but, other than that, I’d be tempted to try this sometime.

PS: I generally enjoy most of the shows on Food Networks, but I have a small gripe about Emeril’s show in particular. The recipes often look tasty and, Emeril’s over-caffeinated personality aside, it’s also inconvenient that Emeril never mentions the ingredient-amounts (neither out loud nor on-screen).

So, you’ll have Emeril saying something like “And now, I’m going to add some butter to the mixer … and then some sugar…”. So, an archive of the show is no longer suitable as a “visual recipe” — I would have to refer to both the recording and the website every time I wanted to make one of the recipes from his show :-/.

This evening, I’ll be going to the Slashdot Meetup for Dallas. Like last month, it’s at Cafe Brazil this evening (the venues are chosen through voting, and it so happened that Cafe Brazil won both times).

I often order a make-your-own omelette, and I’m tempted to do so again. My favorite combination is sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and chorizo sausage. The problem I run into — every time — is that I’m never sure how to pronounce “chorizo” ;). Is it SHOR-zio? CHORE-zio? SHOR-see-oh? shor-SEE-oh?

I’m also looking forward to the dessert options available. With a dessert menu like theirs, I don’t think I could resist ;). I’m a big fan of chocolate-enhanced baked goods (chocolate cake, brownies, and so on) so I decided last time that I would have chocolate cake.

Of course, Cafe Brazil has about half a dozen varieties of chocolate cake, so I asked our waitress, “Which of your cakes is the most chocolaty?“ I could almost visualize the gears slowly turning in her head as she attempted to deduce the correct answer. After a moment, she replied “Well, I think triple-chocolate layer cake would be.“ (apparently using the line of reasoning that, if “one-chocolate” is a baseline, then “triple-chocolate” must be super-chocolaty indeed).

The cake was delicious — don’t get me wrong — but it was a bit of a chocolate disappointment. The icing was chocolate-flavored, but not intensely so. And, the cake-portion of the slice was almost sponge-like instead of a more preferable soft-and-moist texture.

So, this time around, I may still venture for a slice of chocolaty goodness. But, I’ll either decide on my own or decide after consulting with my dining companions (though not with the wait staff, natch).

I quite enjoyed the Korean Barbeque on Sunday. Min Jung was in visiting from San Fransisco, and she was nice enough to cook this great meal for us.

The core element of the barbeque was the barbequed beef — sliced similarly as to cheesesteak-beef. She made both spiced and unspiced varieties, for the adventurous and non-adventurous, respectively. I tried both, and actually quite enjoyed the spiced version.

There were also these rice-circle bits. It was a disc about the size of half-dollar made up of rice, chopped carrots, and scrambled egg (I think). I wasn’t sure how I’d like it, but it was surprisingly good (I think I had two or three). Still, I had to wonder what they might be like with avocado — the universal condiment, as far as I’m concerned ;).

Ed k brought along some “Mexican Chocolate Pate”. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it was like a half-molten chopped-pecan filled brownie, but with more sugar ;). I think I could almost feel the sugar granules with my tongue as I savored each bite.

It was hella-chocolatey (just how I like it) and I’m having trouble deciding whether Mexican Chocolate Pate or Chocolate Decadence is my favorite chocolate-based dessert.

A couple weeks ago, Julie and I came up with the idea of a “Super Breakfast“ — like a potluck dinner, but with breakfast instead. Someone would bring pancakes, someone would bring sausages, and so on.

Since Julie and Leia were having a slumber party Friday night, they figured that the following morning could be a good opportunity for a Super Breakfast. Though the slumber party was girls-only, the Super Breakfast would be co-ed. In her invitation for Saturday morning, Julie phrased it that the scummy-boys would be making breakfast for the girls — I realize that she only meant it in jest, but I thought that was a bit odd. I would have preferred if the plan was for everyone to help with breakfast (and in practice, it worked out that way anyhow).

Since he’s car-less, I gave Bryan a ride to the house. He brought along his waffle iron and I brought along pancake-mix and a ladle (so that we could make waffles and pancakes, respectively).

Once at the house, everyone began making the breakfast. I combined the ingredients for the pancake mix, and began preparing those. Meanwhile, croissants and biscuits (the “with gravy” kind) warmed in the oven, someone made scrambled eggs, and someone else made bacon and sausage links. It was a very busy kitchen ;).

It worked out to be a very thorough breakfast. I had a couple pancakes, a waffle, some sausage links, and a croissant. I enjoyed the pancakes and the croissant with some butter-spread and sugar free blackberry jam. I also tried some blackberry (?) sauce with the waffle. It was very convenient in sauce-form (as opposed to a jam) as it nicely filled the square crevices of the waffle.

After breakfast (brunch?), I discovered some double-chocolate bundt cake in the fridge, which I quickly put to use. The chocolate icing was thin in texture and melted easily, so it was full of flavor. And, the cake itself was moist and chocolately. It was very tasty, and I always enjoy a good chocolate cake.

Earlier in the morning, I had placed the package of Ding-Dongs in the freezer, as I had read somewhere that they become even more tasty once frozen. And, post-bundt, I was ready to try one. At that point, it had been several hours since I had put them in the freezer, so they were mostly chilled.

Sure enough, they were pretty good. The cake-portion of the Ding Dong changed little from the freezing process. However, the chocolate coating gathered a pleasantly crispy texture. Best of all, the creme center of the Ding Dong took on a semi-solid state such that it almost resembled a fluffy version of the ice cream found in an ice cream sandwich. Hopefully, someone will bring Twinkies to the next Super Breakfast, as I imagine that those too may improve with the freezing process.

In all, I had a great time, and I really look forward to the next one.

The Slashdot Meetup for Dallas is this evening. And, since I hadn’t had a chance to write about last month’s Slashdot Meetup, this may be a good time to do so.

Last month’s Meetup was scheduled for Jupiter Lanes. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that location, as bowling isn’t very conducive to conversation (especially since this was the first Slashdot Meetup, and none of us had met before). But, I went anyhow. I figured — if nothing else — the Meetup may offer some opportunities to mention my portfolio to some of the local geeks.

I arrived there right on time, and found the other Meetup people. And, even though there are apparently 92 Slashdot Meetup people in Dallas, there were just five people there (including myself).

Some people enjoy large crowds… I am not one of those people. So, I was actually pleased that a small number of people made it. And, after a short discussion, we all agreed that bowling wasn’t the best idea for conversation. So, we drove in caravan to a Chili’s down the street. Many of the guys (yeah, it was all guys) hadn’t eaten dinner yet, anyway, so Chili’s was a welcome suggestion.

At the Chili’s, we looked over the drinks menu before deciding on our entrees. I remarked that, according to the menu, they only had Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light on top. One guy was talking to another and didn’t hear my remark about the beer selection, so another fellow clarified:

“They don't have any beer on tap.”

[ puzzled look ]

“They only have Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light on tap. Ergo, they have no beer on tap.”

We had a good chuckle about that ;). When the server came around, we asked him about what was on tap, just to be sure. He rattled off a few names, resulting in a beer-on-tap list much longer than the menu implied. In particular, Sam Adams caught my eye (“caught my ear”?), so I quickly decided on that. Most of us ordered a 22oz Sam Adams (or around that size, I can’t remember the exact volume), except for one poor guy that was under 21.

One guy ordered one of those fried-onion sea urchin things. Another had chicken tenders, and I can’t remember what the other two had. Of course, I had already eaten dinner before coming, so I just went straight for dessert. I decided on their “Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie”. Basically, it’s a warm walnut-based bar topped with ice cream and chocolate & caramel sauces. It was very delicious, and went strangely well with my Sam Adams; I wouldn’t hesitate in ordering one again.

There may be some stereotypes about the “Slashdot crowd”, but the people at the Slashdot Meetup didn’t fit into the typical nerd stereotype. Sure, one guy had a salt-n-pepper beard with long hair tied into a ponytail, but he managed to do so fashionably. Another guy had stylishly-short hair (with gel, even). And none of them were introverted, though one or two guys may have been on the borderline between introverted and extroverted.

The conversation was good, the food was good, and I had a great time. I look forward to the next one which, of course, happens to be tonight.