Chocolate Covered Love

I had always seen the coconut oil on the shelf at my grocery store and so I actually went looking for recipes in which to use it. My next coconut oil recipe will be Coconut-Almond Granola. 

I will say that my kitchen smelled absolutely fabulous while these muffins were baking. It nearly made my whole house smell of coconut. Delicious.

We had some friends over the same day I made these and they disappeared in a flash. Be careful who you make these for. They may not want to leave... :]

The original recipe for this is actually "Honey Baked Chicken", which is equally delicious and I grew up eating that, cooked by my mom. I got the recipe from her a couple years ago and my fiance and I put our own spin on it. My fiance likes to have lots of extra sauce which is what happens when you make it this way. 

The crayon artwork is courtesy of Aria, who had gotten a hold of the notebook when I wasn't looking.

I have fallen in love with this orange blossom honey. I found it at our grocery store and thought I'd try it, as opposed to the regular clover honey. I'm never going back to clover honey. This orange blossom honey has a much lighter, fruitier, floral flavor. Delicious. If any of you get the chance to try some, I highly recommend it.

Honey-Mustard Pork

- two to three pounds pork chops, boneless

- salt and pepper

- 1/3 cup butter, melted

- 1/3 cup honey

- two tablespoons mustard

- one teaspoon salt

- one teaspoon curry powder

Season pork chops with salt and pepper and brown in a hot pan on both sides. Brown in batches, setting browned pork chops on a plate as they are finished.

While the pork chops are browning combine butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder in a bowl and whisk together.

Once all the chops are browned, put them all back in the pan and pour the honey-mustard sauce over the top. Continue to cook until the pork chops are cooked through.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy.

I've been on this goat cheese fix for the past couple months. I hadn't ever had goat cheese until I went out to dinner with my mom, cousin and her boyfriend. We went to a tapas restaurant and one of the dishes we ordered was this delicious goat cheese and eggplant tapas. So good. So ever since then I've been trying all these different recipes that use goat cheese because I just think it's so magically delicious. 

I made this tart for dinner a couple nights ago and it is so delicious. I'm looking forward to making it again really soon.

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa

- one sheet puff pastry, defrosted

- olive oil

- one thinly sliced onion

- two garlic cloves, thinly sliced

- salt and pepper

- red wine

- two teaspoons minced fresh thyme

- grated Romano cheese

- goat cheese

- eight grape tomatoes

- dried or fresh basil

Unfold the sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll lightly. Cut in half to make two rectangles, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add the onions, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 15 - 20 minutes or until the onions are limp and almost no moisture remains in the skillet.

Add the thyme and a splash of the wine. Continue to cook for another ten minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Take the puff pastry out of the fridge and score around the edges of each rectangle a border that is a 1/4 inch from the edge. Prick inside the border with the tines of a fork. And sprinkle about a tablespoon of the Romano cheese on each sheet, staying inside the border lines.

Place half of the onion mixture on each half, staying within the scored edge. Crumble goat cheese on top of the onions. Place slices of the tomato on top of the goat cheese and top the tomatoes with salt, pepper, a sprinkling of the dried or fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. Top with a sprinkling of some more Romano cheese.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Enjoy.