Category: Almonds

No. 621Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Bittersweet Chocolate Granola

ittersweet Chocolate Granola | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Some mornings you just really need chocolate, Bittersweet Chocolate Granola is here to fulfill your breakfast cravings-No. 621 from the Membership Collection.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE

The combination of raw cacao nibs and dark cocoa powder create this rich and deeply chocolate breakfast bowl. Add  a splash of milk and chocolate milk appears, a reminder of your favorite cocoa cereal only this is healthy.  Just sweetened with a touch of honey and the sweet-tart surprise of dried cherries this not-to-sweet cereal is bound to become a morning favorite.

GRAIN FREE GANOLA

Nuts and seeds create the base of the granola, no grain fillers are required. Crunchy, sweet-tart and loaded  with chocolate into Bittersweet Chocolate Granola.

Bittersweet Chocolate Granola | Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen

Bittersweet Chocolate Granola | Bijouxs Little Jewels

THE COLLECTION MEMBERSHIP

Joining the Collection Membership is a simple way to support Bijouxs Little Jewels with recipe full access to over 600+ recipes, all beautiful  and simple designed for the home cook, like me. By joining the Collection Membership, very inexpensive, less than $3.00 a month, you also can be sure, no pop-up ads and no tracking. My goal is to share my recipes with you and also publish my cookbooks, another way to share the Little Jewels. My cookbooks are diminutive in size, perfect Holiday gifts, hostess gifts or to keep and collect.

I have created 5 cookbooks, see them here: https://bijouxs.com/cookbook-2/family-and-friends/

Thank you for your support and please enjoy my Little Jewels from the Kitchen.

 

No. 607Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Vietnamese Coffee Granola

Vietnamese Coffee Granola | Bijouxs Little Jewels

VIETNAMESE COFFEE GRANOLA

Good Morning! The creamy flavor of Vietnamese coffee is part of this breakfast bowl-Vietnamese Coffee Granola, the newest Little Jewel #607 from the Collection Membership.

 

VIETNAMESE COFFEE GRANOLA |Bijouxs Litle Jewels

VIETNAMESE COFFEE GRANOLA | Bijouxs Little Jewels

 

VIETNAMESE COFFEE

One of my favorite parts of dining on Vietnamese cuisine is the rich, sweet flavor of a Vietnamese coffee. At one point in time, I had a real Vietnamese coffee drip maker (update I just got a new one) and tried my hand at making these sweet and potent cups of coffee. Mine were never ever as good as the restaurant version. There also is a preferred coffee Cafe Du Monde to use for classic results.

VIETNAMESE COFFEE GRANOLA | Bijouxs Little Jewels

COFFEE GRANOLA

Loving Vietnamese coffee lead me to a way to flavor granola with the same creamy, coffee sweetness. How? You begin with basic coffee ingredients of sweetned condensed milk and coffee. Next the basic granola components of rolled oats, cashews, pecans and pumpkin seeds. Flavor with cinnamon and cardomom. Melted coocnut oil is also mixed in with the granola mixture, completed.

Bake the granola on a standard half sheet pan lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Bake the granola, watching over it during the 40 minute or so bake, giving it a mix a few times during baking for even browning. That’s it. You favorite coffee is now in your breakfast bowl. Top with sliced fresh fruit and Vanilla Almond Malk. Coffee is served. Store the granola in a glass sealed jar. Good Morning!

VIETNAMESE COFFEE GRANOLA | Bijouxs Little Jewels

 

 

 

No. 596Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

THE classic Chinese chicken salad from the Chin Chin restaurant-always a Little Jewel.

CHIN CHIN RESTAURANT

Very hard to believe that Chin Chin began as a counter and to-go eatery in Sunset Plaza years ago about 1983.  In those days as a young girl  I was driving over the hill from the valley to Sunset Plaza to get regular facials at famed spa Ole Henrickson and always stopped in for lunch. Sitting at the tiny counter (wish there were photos) I would order of course the Chicken Salad along with an orders of Chicken Fried Rice and Dumplings to take home for dinner.  All my family members were crazy about the food.

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

Along with sitting at the counter to eat, the-then tiny eatery had shelves with some products, most important were the jar of preserved red ginger, which is key to the salad.  I make the dressing ahead, enough for a few of salads. Fresh ginger and green onion are also elements in the dressing so the dressing must be used with a few days. Shredded poached chicken, iceberg lettuce and fried wonton strips and deep fried rice stix are added for crunch. All the ingredients are tossed in a large bowl with the dressing.

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Alas, I no longer live near any of the Chin Chin locations and it took a but of searching, but I was happy to find a reasonable duplicate of the salad recipe online. I have been enjoying the salad at home. Here served with some chopsticks I kept from a to-go order a LA friend picked up for me not long ago.

Enjoy Chin Chin’s Little Jewel Salad.

 

No. 593Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Santa Fe Salad

Santa Fe Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Today I am recreating a favorite restaurant salad–Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe Salad another Little Jewel from the Kitchen.

CHEESECAKE FACTORY

Beginning in Beverly Hills in 1978 (wow) starting with just cheesecake then expanding to a full menu, the restaurant chain has thrived over the years. Of course the cheesecake is great, however one of their salads has remained a favorite-the Santa Fe Salad. Although the menu is a throw back to the 80’s, the food is still great.

SANTA FE SALAD MEMORIES

It may seem a bit dated, but this salad has a taste combination that remains flavor relevant. Fond memories of getting lunch with my bestie at my home in Pasadena. Sadly she has passed, but enjoying the salad reminds me of her. The core ingredients of the salad are simple, roasted chicken if desired, grilled fresh corn, black beans, tortilla strips and Romaine lettuce, but the dressing(s) are the KEY. Tossed with a Spicy Peanut-Cilantro Vinaigrette which is so yummy I like spike it flavor up with the addition of a side of their Peanut Sauce which I always order.

Santa Fe Salad | Bijouxs Litle Jewels

 

SANTA FE SALAD AT HOME

Now that the Cheesecake Factory is just not down the street, I took a try at making the salad myself, knowing the salad dressings would be the key. Yes there are a few components to the salad, however you can make the dressings ahead and store in the refrigerator. Of course, I searched around the internet and found a few versions of the salad recipe. Guess I’m not the only one who craves this salad. I came pretty close with my sleuthing and tinkering to try to get the flavors correct. The peanut sauce is not exact yet, but close. I serve the salad without the chicken, which is how I order it.

Santa Fe Salad

Food memories are always a Little Jewel.

 

No. 577Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Baked Fish with Almonds

Baked Fish with Almonds | Bijouxs Little Jewels

An exotic sounding recipe but actually this a simple bake for fresh white fish, baked with a sweet & spiced almond crust and resting on a bed of thinly sliced onions. The flavors are similar to classic Bastilla, via a take on a recipe by Paula Wolfert. Baked Fish with Almonds, the latest Little Jewel recipe in the Membership Collection.

PAULA WOLFERT

Here’s my food story. To begin, the origin of the recipe is from Paula Wolfert in ‘Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco’. As I mentioned, I was soooo lucky as a young girl to attend a cooking class taught by Paula Wolfert, there I came to love Moroccan cuisine. Cooking from her books is a travel lesson on food.

FIRST WE SURF

Now the next part of my story. After recently moving to the beach town of Ventura, I met Steve Walden the iconic long-board surfer here in town. He connected me to Jim Kempton, a fellow surfer and author of the cookbook First We Surf Then We Eat. I purchased the book and came across the recipe for Baked Fish with Almond Sauce, attributed to Paula Wolfert. Familiar…back my mind went to my long ago cooking class, funny how so many things in life connect.

BAKED FISH WITH ALMONDS

This version of the recipe comes from the fishing village of Safi, the best waves in Morocco. It was adapted and inluded in the First We Surf Cookbook. The recipes, both the orginal and adapted are winners. The almond sauce bakes into a rich crust atop the mild white fish. The fish is baked on a bed of onions along with some water to keep the fish from drying out. The onions and pan sauce are additions to serve with the fish, along with couscous and a simple cabbage salad.

Moroccan cuisine, a Little Jewel from the Kitchen.

 

Still Hungry?