Amaretto Chocolate Fondue

This is a super-simple chocolate fondue recipe is great for a nice, quiet at home date (and did I mention how inexpensive it is?).

If you don’t have a fondue pot, don’t fret, you can serve this straight outta the pan. If you don’t get down with the amaretto feel free to replace it with any liqueur you like (try: Grand Marnier or Kahlua, mmmmm).

Ingredients:
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or morsels
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup of amaretto liqueur
Handful of sliced almonds

Dippers: Bananas, Strawberries, Pound Cake (feel free to use whatever other dippers you prefer. Apples, brownies, pineapple or marshmallows also work well).

Directions:
In a small sauce pan, bring whipping cream to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in amaretto and serve in fondue pot on low (if applicable). Top with sliced almonds and serve with chopped bananas, strawberries & pound cake on the side.

Adele’s Chicken Sandwich

It’s been a while since I’ve been back to the University of Maryland and it’s been even longer since I’ve known anyone with extra dining hall points that I could mooch off of. In order to appease my yearning for an old college favorite, I decided to re-create the infamous Adele’s chicken sandwich at home.

(Makes 4 sandwiches)

Ingredients:
4 Kaiser Rolls (sandwich buns)
2 chicken breast- boneless, skinless
6 slices of bacon
1 apple
4 oz Brie cheese
3 Tb Poultry or Grill seasoning
Salt-n-Pepa

Directions:
Carefully butterfly each chicken breast into 2 pieces. Flatten each piece by pounding it out *pause.* Season both sides with poultry (or grill) seasoning and Salt-n-Pepa.

Cut the bacon strips in half, cook in a hot skillet (or however you prefer) and set aside.

Cook the chicken breast in a hot skillet (or grill pan if you have one) over medium heat until cooked and brown on both sides.

While the chicken is cooking, thinly slice the apple (½”- ¼” pieces) and slice the brie cheese into thin pieces small enough to stack on your sandwich.

Assemble your sandwich by placing the chicken breast (and whatever condiments you like) on the roll. Stack the sliced apples, brie cheese and bacon on top and heat in a toaster/oven until the cheese is melted (be careful not to burn your bread though).

If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right

I love food. I mean I really love food. Like really really. From heart attack having-fried goodness to raw greens and “rabbit” food, I don’t discriminate- I love it all. I’ll eat any cuisine, prepared any way, from any kitchen, any time of the day (well almost).

I think my appreciation for good food came from my lack of quality food as a child. Now don’t get me wrong, my mother can really throw down in the kitchen (or parking lot, or beer store, or wherever she can get a fire going and a pot) but having to work so much, she didn’t have much time to cook for us and the few meals she did cook were traditional Cambodian dishes (MMMmmm MMMmmm and MMMmmm!!!), leaving my siblings and I to fend for ourselves on a next to nothing budget.


Growing up, my meals primarily consisted of either:
· Soy sauce with rice and a fried egg (occasionally we would change it up with a hard-boiled egg and if we were lucky, we had some Chinese Sausage *pause*);
· Raman noodles (or the Thai/ Cambodian equivalent… Mii Mama... ahhh);
· Bread dipped in sugar; or
· Whatever my parents brought home from their jobs at 7-11

When I moved away to college, my life changed:
1) I had access to a card allowing me eat anything of my choosing from a cafeteria style eatery (shout outs to the South Campus Dining Hall)
2) I discovered cable TV (and subsequently The Food Network), and
3) I met my nick (who happens to be a darn good cook!).

From that moment on, I never looked back. I started experimenting in the kitchen more, whenever I ate out at restaurants I would try to decipher the different flavors and recreate the meals at home and I cooked for friends and family often.

Fast-forward a few years later, and here I am- 24 years-old, living in a cramped DC apartment, daydreaming about my next meal.