Crispy rounds of deliciousness – Nutella thins

Posted on July 22, 2013 by petitedecadence

crispy nutella thin cookies

So I know it hasn’t been that long since I rambled about nutella. And I know that the last time I didn’t just use nutella once in the same recipe, nor twice. It was three times (Yes, because how else would you get nutella cupcakes stuffed with ferreros and nutella frosting?). And yet here I am with another recipe. Our love for each other isn’t special, I know a lot of people out there share the same passion for chocolate-y spread. Our love isn’t secret, I’ve been known to eat spoonfuls of the stuff in front of small crowds. It isn’t fleeting either, I have always loved it and always will. It isn’t moderate…and I don’t need to explain that bit. The one thing our love is, is delicious. Because yes. That’s what nutella is and there’s no amount of elaborate words I or anyone else could say to explain it better. So why not channel that delicious love into a thin, crispy cookie? The kind you put on a scoop of vanilla (or chocolate) ice cream. The kind you store in a tin and when you open it you say “only one” but they’re so thin and crispy that you end up having three (or four). Yes, that kind of cookie. Because apart from being delicious, nutella is so incredibly versatile. From creamy to crispy and all the colors in the rainbow in between. So here’s another recipe for all you nutella nuts (no pun intended) out there. Read more to find it. Continue reading →

Fancy schmancy – Grilled manchego and snow pea sandwich

Posted on August 22, 2012 by petitedecadence

There really isn’t much I can say to sell you on this recipe…it contains the words grilled and cheese in the title, so I don’t really need to make an effort, do I? Everyone knows that those two words are heaven in a sandwich, guaranteed. Even if it’s just two slices of buttery grilled bread with gooey cheese in between and nothing more. But I took it upon myself to make a melt-in-your-mouth grilled cheese using wheat thins. (Not the crackers, the flat bread) I know, wheat thins don’t even count as bread, at least not in my book. But they make excellent shells for grilled cheese, because they’re so thin they become crispy and deliciously buttery. And if you pair them with semi cured Manchego de oveja*, snow peas and wilted arugula with a generous dab of dijon mustard….well…need I say more? I know, imported spanish cured cheese seems a bit fancy for wheat thins…but it’s seriously an amazing combo! Or maybe it was the peas. Or the arugula. Or the butter. Or the fact that I served them with sweet corn cobs grilled in parsley butter. Take my word for it, whatever it was, you’ll want to try one! Read more for the recipe.

*For those who don’t have it around, Manchego de oveja is a DO spanish cheese made from the milk of sheep originally from the La Mancha region, hence the name manchego. It varies in hardness according to the time it’s been cured. You can read more about it right here.

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Work for it – Key lime pie

Posted on March 30, 2012 by petitedecadence

I’ve always been exceedingly good at procrastination. Really, nothing gets done better than when you leave it for 20 minutes before it’s deadline. Particularly if its something you don’t actually want to do, like balance your account or cleaning out your closet. But I don’t stop at that…oh no. It can take me quite a while to start even on the things that I love doing, and that, I can tell you, is a terrible habit, because if one of those things happens to involve oven and chilling times and quite possibly an exact time to be served….well, really…you shouldn’t postpone getting started. Because you might just end up running around the kitchen with sticky meringue hands looking for the torch and leaving sugary fingerprints all over your house, encouraging your creamy tart filling to set with only 5 minutes time of fridge rest, and ruining your pajamas with flour and syrup because you also put off taking a shower before starting.
Which is so not what happened to me as I made these pies. So not. Really. Ok, it totally was. But in my defense, I did make two of them, and in spite of all the rushing, they turned out absolutely delicious (can key lime pie ever not be?) and gorgeous looking. I used Deb’s at Smitten Kitchen version of the filling, with my own shell recipe and a regular italian meringue topping. You can find both links after the jump.