Fooooooooood

I never thought I would be able to identify with a twelve year old boy who just found internet porn. But I have. And it is no less shameless.
www.tastespotting.com is my version of porn. Filled to the brim with delicious dishes enticing me to to click on their succulent pictures, I dream about baking/frying/stirring these bad boys till the sun comes up! Hello, my name is Snake Charmer, and I am a food whore. I love to cook- I love everything that has anything to DO with cooking! I went to Macy's the other day to sniff some cologne with a friend, and found my way to the third floor- kitchen appliances. I stood there salivating at the site of the KitchenAid Artisan Stainless Steel 5Qt Stand Mixer... i'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. God I love preparing my kitchen for the concoction of food!- scrubbing down the counter, setting up bowls and mixing spoons. I heart sifting and whisking and- and melting! Wow. I want to bake something right now. But instead, I think i'll share a few recipes that I am going to attempt- most likely tommorow.

For the main course I think i'll go with the Asparagus Lemon Pasta, because I love the light combination of lemon and parsley on pasta. The ingredients call for:
2 pounds asparagus
1/3 cup fresh plain bread crumbs
½ cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 pound spaghetti pasta 1 cup pasta water

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Set aside 1 cup of pasta water near the end of cooking before straining.

Meanwhile snap the ends off the asparagus and discard. Cut asparagus into three pieces each on the bias. Steam until tender crisp, about 2 minutes or so. Set aside in a large serving bowl.

In a skillet on medium heat toast the bread crumbs until golden brown. Stir often being careful not to burn. Add to the asparagus. Next heat the oil in the skillet and add the garlic. Fry until light golden brown for about a minute and add to serving bowl.

Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, and parsley to the bowl and stir. Next add the pasta and pasta water and toss to coat. Serve immediately.
-Thank you The Cooking Photographer via tastespotting :)

And now for Dessert! I'm super excited to make these brownies!
They are brownie cheesecakes sprinkled with powdered sugar and then drizzled with melted chocolate..mmm...
Ok so you would need to split it into two parts the brownie part calls for:
1 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
3 oz. milk chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup nutella
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

For the cheescake bit:
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, room temp.
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Ok preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with liners or use a mini cheescake pan, set aside. Heat the butter and chocolates over medium high heat in a saucepan, whisking constantly util completely melted. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, combine Nutella, sugar, eggs, salt and baking powder until well combined. Slowly add the hot chocolate mixture in small batches until well incorporated. Next whisk in the baking powder, flour and chopped hazelnuts until well combined. Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 full with the brownie mixture and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients needed for the cheescake and whisk until smooth. Layer on top of the brownie batteruntil the cups are 2/3 full. Tap against the counter to make sure it is well settled in the pan. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and the center is set, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely.

mmm I cannot wait to get started on these! Ok thats all of my crazy for now :). I'm going to surf on over to nbc.com and watch Chuck now so, adios my friends!