Good news! I’ve been working on an online store that would allow some of you to purchase delicious baked treats and have them shipped all over the country. Yay! Unfortunately, not every item I plan to feature will be available for delivery, but for those that are, you’re in for a treat. Just for Valentine’s Day, I’m offering a select number of white chocolate dipped red velvet cake pops (sold by the dozen). Once they’re gone, they’re gone — at least for now.

I don’t even have to tell you how delicious these are, you know how I roll…so you know these are amazing. Moist, rich, decadent…oohhh my goodness! They are so perfect for Valentine’s Day. Take advantage!

Use code VDAY13 for 10% off at checkout. You have until Tuesday Feb. 5th to place your order, as they will be shipped out 48 hours after they’re made on Thursday, Feb. 7th. via FedEx. Choose your shipping option wisely.

http://carnaldish.myshopify.com/

Like I said before, this recipe went thru a whole lot of trial and error over the years. I’ve never made a bad batch of meatballs, actually…but I kept wanting them to be better each time. This took a lot of research, reading, scouring — you name it. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the science of meatballs, and how to make them more moist, juicy, flavorful, and memorable. I went back to a trick my grandmother used to do with her meatloaf and kinda modernized it, and used another trick from a cooking class that taught me how to get great, plump meatballs every time.

You see, most people make their meatballs with the typical beef/pork/veal mixture you can find in most grocery stores. I have always hated that stuff…just something about it was never right to me. So here we break it down by using one pound of 80/20 beef, mixed with one pound of pork — I prefer 1/2 pound each of sweet Italian and hot Italian sausage. And instead of using veal, we’re just going to use the good part of the veal — the gelatinous part. But we have to mimic it with plain unflavored gelatin (found in the Jello aisle). Trust me on this, it works. I remember the first time I heard of this tip and I was like “Um, what?”, but it really does make a difference and I get consistent results every single time I make these. Once the meatballs are in the sauce, the gelatin and the panade help soak up the flavorful liquid and they just get all plump and juicy and incredibly tender. I’ve literally had meatballs made by “all-knowing” Italian restaurants that were so tough and compacted, they had to be sliced open with a knife and fork. Who wants that? I sure as hell do not. I want fork-tender. So, with that said, trust me with the gelatin. I know it may sound weird but it truly does work here. Grating the onion helps open the cell walls and extract more onion flavor, it’s a method I use for many recipes. You’ll get a lot of onion juice, but keep that! Pour it into the sauce later, it’s great flavor. Just be warned, your eyes are gonna water like nobody’s business.

Let me back up a bit and explain what a panade is. It’s basically a mixture of bread soaked in dairy, which also help tenderize and moisten the meatballs. I use buttermilk here because it has acidic properties in it that further help break down the meat to tenderize it and moisten the proteins. My grandmother taught me that trick, but she didn’t use breadcrumbs — she used fresh white bread. That’s just something I never have on hand because we’re wheat-bread eaters around here, and you can’t exactly buy just 5 slices of white bread. But I always have dried breadcrumbs on hand, so I used panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and it works just fine. Panko gives you a better texture than regular breadcrumbs, and help the meatballs become more substantial. You just have to let the panko soak in the buttermilk for a good 10 minutes to reconstitute it. Aside from those key tips, the meatballs themselves are pretty darn simple. Easy to do, they don’t cost an arm and a leg, but they require a gentle hand and patience.

As far as the sauce goes, it’s also very simple. Takes a good 2 hours to complete from start to finish, and compliments the meatballs amazingly well. Flavored with fresh and dried herbs, grated vidalia onions, white wine, and a bit of this and that, it’s a very simple recipe I promise you’ll love and learn how to tweak to make your own. By adding tomato juice to the sauce, we give the meatballs extra liquid to soak up which only helps them in the end. Without it, the sauce will evaporate faster and the meatballs won’t be as juicy. My advice to you is to spend the extra money on parmigiano-reggiano cheese. It’s amazing and you can’t really substitute it. Don’t buy any pre-shredded parmesan cheese. If you can’t find parmigiano-reggiano cheese, get a block of the next best thing and finely grate it yourself. It’s truly worth the extra effort.

This is a great meal to make on a lazy, rainy Sunday while you watch a good football game and cozy up on the couch. Your home will be bombarded with amazing aromas that linger for hours on end, and your tummy will thank you again and again. This recipe only gets better the longer it sits, so be prepared for amazing next-day leftovers!

So, these are your ingredients for the meatballs. Beef, Italian sausage, proscuitto, cheese, parsley, garlic, eggs, gelatin, panade, spices.

A closer look at the panade. Which is basically a milk/bread mixture to moisten the meatballs. We’re using buttermilk for even more acidity, which help tenderize the meatballs even further.

Mix everything together by hand — GENTLY!! Overworking the meatball mixture can lead to tough meatballs. If you’re still mixing everything to combine after 15 seconds, you’re over-doing it.

All mixed up!

Using a 1/3 cup scoop, gather the meatball mixture and gently roll it between the palms of your hands to form a big juicy meatball. You should get about 15 meatballs the size of lemons. Bake them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes to get them started, they will finish cooking in the sauce.

Grate your onions using the large holes of a cheese grater, and keep as much of the onion juice as you can (separate). It’s great flavor that can be added to the sauce. If you don’t have a cheese grater, try to mince the onion as finely as you can with a knife.

Strain the onion juice and set to the side. Meanwhile, soften the onions in a large dutch-oven with a few tablespoons of olive oil for a good 6 to 8 minutes, or until the onions are kinda straw colored.

The meatballs have been in the oven for 20 minutes and will continue to get happy in the sauce. Just let them hang out until it’s their turn.

Once the onions have broken down a bit, add the dried oregano, crushed red pepper, herbs de provence, dried basil, and garlic. Cook for just 30 more seconds, you don’t want the garlic to burn.

Pour in the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 3 cups of tomato juice, half cup of Chardonnay (or white wine of your choice), reserved onion juice (if any), and tablespoon of tomato paste. Gently mix with a wooden spoon and bring the heat up to medium-high.

Allow the sauce to simmer over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring often. After 10 minutes, gently add one meatball at a time, careful not to tear or break them. Make sure they are covered in the sauce. Cover and let simmer for about an hour over LOW heat, gently stirring every 15 minutes.

After an hour, remove from heat and take this time to season the sauce. Add salt and pepper, and a little sugar if your tomatoes are super acidic. Keep the flavors simple. Gently mix the sauce with the meatballs together, careful not to break them, until it tastes perfect. Ladle about 2 cups of your sauce with the hot spaghetti to keep the pasta moist, then top with meatballs, grated cheese and fresh basil.

Mmmmm!!

ERMAHGERD!!!

Listen…do you see that?

Unreal. This is my signature, go-to spaghetti and meatball method, and I hope you find it as easy to make as I do. Enjoy!

I swear, it seems as though the most simple ingredients in life always produce the most amazing flavor. In a world where we tend to over-do things, sometimes simple is better. Case in point, these buttermilk pancakes flavored with Vietnamese cinnamon and vanilla, and topped with a delicious bounty of juicy, tender apples, smothered in an insanely delicious caramel syrup.

Girl…

Please come get your life.

I pretty much get proposed to after every meal I cook for #theboo, but these may be his favorite pancakes ever. We literally demolished these a few hours ago and he’s still saying “Damn, babe…those pancakes!” Haha! Glad he’s happy. The pancakes are fluffy and moist  — absolutely delicious on their own. The caramel syrup sweetness is cut by the juicy tartness of the apples, it’s awesome. Everything comes together beautifully. We both appreciate that this dish isn’t too sweet, despite how it looks. Nobody really wants something cloyingly sweet first thing in the morning, so this is perfect. This recipe is awesome for 2 to 3 people, as it makes 6 standard-sized pancakes. It’s also great for eating in bed together

I’m resting and blogging now because I have to make a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs in about an hour or so. Don’t worry, you’ll get that recipe too. But for now, here’s my take on a classic…apple cinnamon pancakes that will get you proposed to every time you make them.

These come together in under 20 minutes, prep time included, and taste so good you’ll wanna hug yourself like Ray Charles. I might add some candied pecans next time.

Yes, we’re going to be making this loveliness right here…

But first, lemme bring you up to speed.

My Summer and pre-Fall has been absolutely insane. A lot has happened. First off, I moved. After 30 years of breathing Virginia air, I no longer live in Virginia. My boyfriend and I are now residing in Atlanta, and loving life even more. We are so close to everything and most importantly, I am right across the street from one of the best Kroger’s in Atlanta. It’s HUGE and they have everything I’ll ever need to cook with. I am also surrounded by specialty shops, farmer’s markets, and so much more. Oh, and check out my new kitchen!!

Hell yes for lots of counter space! I love it. I am so glad to be back into the swing of things after having all of my kitchen equipment in storage for months!!

Anyway, the ONLY thing I miss about Virginia is my family — my parents, especially. They are my backbone, my best friends, and my core. Thankfully I can FaceTime them anytime I want, just to see their face. It really takes the ease off the home-sickness. I just wish I could FaceTime with my nieces and nephews, too. Other than that, nothing can drag me back to VA…I am super happy here in Atlanta and see myself taking over the city, one plate at a time.

The main reason I came to Atlanta was to start a food business. I want to one day open up a food truck and be able to feed the people of Atlanta food from my website (and other recipes I haven’t posted), and then once that’s successful and flourishing, maybe get a bigger restaurant. The way I see it is, a food truck will allow you to start small and allow you take your food to the people instead of relying on them to come to you. It will also help me get the word out and hopefully become a culinary cornerstone of this great city. These are my short-term goals, so I pray I am able to make myself proud over the next 1 to 2 years. I just have to figure out a way to save up to get this truck, hopefully I can get a loan or a miracle…

…but let me not babble on…

You came here to learn how to make this super sexy sausage and vegetable pasta.

What makes this pasta sexy? Well it’s simple, the flavors are everything. They awaken your senses, and rile up your desires. Hell, at least that’s what happened to my boyfriend and I. This dish had us feeling some kinda way lol…we also prepared it together, so it’s great for couples to do. My advice is to just get in the kitchen, take on tasks and just have fun cooking together. He’s been my sous-chef before, but this time, I literally wanted to rip his clothes off after we ate this — errrr..I won’t go into further detail, but yeah…this dish is bangin. It was literally thrown together on a whim, completely free-styled, and it turned out to be insanely good. It’s one of those weeknight dishes you can make in about 30 to 35 minutes or less, but will remember for months and months to come. Everything in this dish compliments each other so perfectly, and the flavor explosion is out of this world. Bold spices, fresh vegetables, and it’s very filling — I promise you’ll love it.

Don’t be tempted to add a cream-based sauce to this dish, it will mask all of the amazing flavors going on here and to be quite honest, it doesn’t need it. Take my word for it, please. I am a creamy pasta lover to the core, but this is NOT one of those dishes. Truuuuust me…

If you have some sort of angst against one or more of the vegetable choices in this recipe, swap them out for your own favorites. Don’t wanna use sausage? Use chicken, or don’t use meat at all! It’s totally up to you. Throw in some shrimp for an extra boost, hell, make this your own. That is one of the beautiful things about this recipe, you can fully customize it.

So are you ready? Grab your hunny, and get your butt in the kitchen!

Wash and prep your veggies.

Roughly chop 2 large shallots.

Rip the florets off a fresh head of broccoli.

Begin cooking your sausage over medium heat with a little oil.

Toss in some crushed red pepper and fennel while it continues to brown and caramelize around the edges.

Nice and caramelized sausage, toss in your shallots.

Toss in your mushrooms.

De-glaze your pan with white wine, and stir up the delicious brown bits — that’s nothing but flavor.

The wine will evaporate pretty quickly, and the mushrooms and sausage will soak up its wonderful flavor.

Now, toss in your veggies – except the spinach (we’ll save that for last).

At this point the veggies are wilted and technically cooked thru, and you can stop at this point, but if you like them to be just a little more tender, continue cooking for just a few minutes.

Add in your garlic, butter, and spinach and allow this to wilt over low heat.

Toss in your cherry tomatoes, they don’t need to cook long, just warm thru.

Toss in your pasta, don’t be afraid to get a little of that pasta water in there, it will help moisten the entire dish.

We’re just about done…

Off heat, toss in your parmesan cheese.

Serve it up and fall in love.

So. Damn. Good!!

I got this recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker. I’ve tried many of her cupcake recipes and have loved them all. I usually alter up her recipes to better suit my personal needs, but I basically did this one by the book and it’s perfect. That first bite, you’re immediately hit with the back-of-the-throat warmth from the tequila, then you taste the sweet citrus tang of the lime, topped off with cool creamy boozy frosting. Oh, and in typical margarita fashion, there’s a nice tiny sprinkling of sea salt on top. You also brush some tequila on the cupcake so it soaks in quite nicely. Man, oh man…these cupcakes are like having a drink and dessert at the same damn time. So good!

Beat the butter for 5 minutes until it’s fluffy like so.

Toss in the zest, tequila, extract, etc.

Scoop’em into cupcake holders.

This is how mine looked prior to being baked. They’ll even themselves out, don’t worry…

See?

Hell yeah!

Super fluffy, moist, DELICIOUS!

Make these little morsels of boozy heaven, kick back and cool off in the a/c

This quiche is a spin on the classic Quiche Lorraine. I added a few more things to it, so it’s no longer a typical Quiche Lorraine, but still damn good. It turned out to be beautifully tender, with the perfect texture and richness. The milk and heavy cream combination truly makes it great. You could use just milk, or milk + half & half, but I cannot promise you’d get the same texture or outcome as the milk + heavy cream duo. The crust was flaky, buttery and extremely easy to make. When I made this quiche, I had to use a Pyrex pie dish without the lip/edge, so my dough sank a little Dah well, it still turned out great. I made my pie dough a day ahead, but you can make it the day of — just give it some time to chill in the fridge and tighten up a bit before you roll it out.

As far as the bacon goes, depending on how thick, wide or long your bacon slices are, you may wanna use your best judgement as far as quantity goes. Too much bacon and it will turn out very salty. I used six slices of bacon that was pretty wide and hefty, but not exactly “thick-cut”. It gave me the perfect amount of saltiness, but had I used just two more slices, it would have been too salty. I will give you a bit of leeway with the bacon measurement in the recipe below. At the same time, too much cheese can make it too salty too — so tread carefully guys. You can always add salt but you can’t take it away.

Pie dough flour mixture should be crumbly like coarse cornmeal, like this.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the water.

Gently fold and press the flour with a rubber spatula until it comes together like this.

Form and shape into a disc and refrigerate for at least a half hour.

Roll your dough out…

Snip it, shape it, tuck it, flute it.

All ready for the freezer and refrigerator.

chopped shallots…about 6 tablespoons

sautee the shallots until they’re this color

I don’t have fancy pie weights, so I used cheap beans in a foil sling like so. Worked fine, but because my pie dish doesn’t have a lip, it will always sink a little

Here’s the custard. Yum.

Layer the bottom w/ the cheese

Then the bacon, shallot + garlic, parsley and then finally pour the custard over all of it — gently.

Time to bake!

She’s pretty…

She’s creamy…

She’s everything…

Sweet Jesus, this was so good. So so soooo good. I’m looking for the nearest excuse to make this again…and again and again.

Dude, it’s like a million degrees in Virginia. It’s too damn hot, and this humidity just makes my soul oh so weary. However, nothing beats the heat like a super cold bowl of creamy, sweet, frozen goodness. This ice cream I made here is hands down the most delicious vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had. It’s extremely rich, creamy, and perfectly sweetened, laced with the fragrant potency of warm, earthy vanilla bean — and lots of it. I used two vanilla beans for this recipe, plus a tablespoon of vanilla extract. Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors of all time, so I went heavy with this. If you’re not a vanilla fan like me, use a different flavoring — but I’m not gonna promise delicious results

You need an ice cream maker for this recipe. I use this one by Cuisinart, and it’s great. You also need to freeze the canister at least 24 hours in advance — I froze mine for a few days. You need a thermometer to take the proper temperature of the custard, or plenty of experience w/ custards so that you know when they’re ready to move on to the next step. I use this thermometer by Thermapen ($89), but you can use this one ($19) if you’re on a budget — also by Thermapen, but doesn’t go above 302 degrees. I own both, and they’re awesome. Lastly, you need patience. This is a super easy recipe, but with all of the freezing time, you just have to realize it’s worth the wait. I spent a whole day making the ice cream, then the next day enjoying it lol. It’s a labor of love, truly. The steps in this recipe may seem tedious, but they are important to ensure the proper texture and avoid the formation of ice crystals. Ice crystals can ruin your ice cream experience, so don’t skip the steps in the recipe and most importantly, do NOT skip the corn syrup step. The corn syrup is actually what helps prevent the ice crystals from even forming in the first place.

I can’t really begin to tell you how amazing this ice cream tastes. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s insane, and I am so proud of myself for pulling it off. If I can do this, anyone can do this. You’ll be so amazed at how incredible the flavor is, that you’ll probably minimize your supermarket ice cream purchases and create your own flavors at home. I have a whole list of ice cream concoctions I wanna try now that I know I can do this. Bottom line, make this ice cream now and thank me later.

If you love guacamole, you’ll love this deliciously spicy and smoky blend of salty pork meets cool, creamy avocado. The chipotle pepper in adobo sauce really sets this stuff off, and offers a different kind of heat than your typical jalapeno. It’s delicious, seriously. If you want this recipe, head on over to the Carnal Dish tumblr page and get your life together…

Click here for recipe

• Follow Carnal Dish on Tumblr
• Follow Carnal Dish on Twitter

I love chicken 99 ways from Sunday, but the stickywing is one of my top 10 favorite wing variations. I get a slight crisp from the rendered skin, mixed with a sweet and spicy, sticky glaze that causes you to eat these like you lack serious home-training. You’ll be sucking and licking your fingers a lot as you eat these, so have the napkins handy.

Each wing is flavored to perfection — juicy, sweet, spicy, smoky and warm, bright and delicious. They’re not too spicy, but feel free to adjust the heat/sweet levels to your personal liking — I just gave you a decent starting point.

I loved these, so very much. I wanted to hug them with my mouth — which I eventually did. The scallion gives the entire dish a mild hint of roasted onion flavor without being overpowering. The chicken itself cooks in about a half hour, and you have to be patient and allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before you dive into it. Even if you allow the chicken to cool to room temperature, it will be even stickier I like to sprinkle just a bit of kosher salt all over the glazed chicken right at the end just to give it contrast and enhance the flavors of the honey/maple syrup based glaze.

Have fun with this recipe and switch it up to your own personal tastes

I sprinkled the seasonings over each wing to my personal liking. Use as much or as little as you like, but go easier on the cayenne pepper because it’s hot and you can easily over-do it.

Then flip the chicken over so the flatter side is facing up, like this. Sprinkle the lime zest over each wing then cook these babies.

By the way, these are the seasonings I used…granulated garlic, smoked paprika, black pepper, chili powder, kosher salt (in the dish), and lime zest from half a lime. Oh, and I obviously arranged three scallions between the wings to give it a nice mild onion flavor…this is optional.

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce — I used one pepper and it gave me great heat and smokiness. Add one pepper and taste, but if you prefer more heat, add another. You can find these peppers in the Mexican food aisle of your grocery store.

This is the simmer I had going. Be careful not to let this boil over — and it can, so keep an eye on it. Let it reduce slightly, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Cover loosely and set aside. It will thicken as it sits.

After 20 minutes of roasting, remove the chicken wings out of the oven and brush 2 layers of the glaze over the wings. Place the wings back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Allow them to rest for 10 minutes, then add one more coat of glaze. Sprinkle a little kosher salt over each wing to enhance the other flavors if need be. Serve with lemon wedges and chopped cilantro as a garnish.

Serve’em up!

Juicy, super flavorful, and fun to eat. Enjoy these wings, you guys!

This recipe is very similar to the previous Double Chocolate Pancakes, but slightly remixed to suit the needs of a waffle. This recipe makes 4 belgian-sized waffles, and if you don’t have 4 mouths to feed, simply freeze the cooked waffles and reheat later. I used Dutch-processed cocoa with this particular recipe, but if you don’t have dutch-processed, you could use regular unsweetened cocoa powder and add 1/8 tsp baking soda to the recipe.

Top with whatever your jolly heart desires — it’d be great with whipped cream, or strawberries and blueberries, and your favorite toasted nut Go crazy.

Decadence!