Madeleine Cookie Recipe (Halloween Dessert)

My husband Lulu loves madeleines. It always reminds him of our trips to Paris. I haven't made any in so long, I thought it was time to surprise him with a fresh batch. I made the madeleines Halloween-friendly by giving them a green color and decorating them with Halloween-themed designs. Pandan is my green food color of choice, and I've flavored and colored a lot of French desserts with it in the past.

Most of the madeleines I've had in America are flat, dry and not very tasty, so I wouldn't be surprised if you're not a fan. The authentic French version must have "the bump" (follow the recipe and you'll find out the secret for fool-proof madeleines) to be truly fluffy and tasty. It creates a light and delicate gourmet cookie that is so pleasant with a hot cup of tea. Not to forget the kid-friendly part, I decorated the madeleines with sprinkles and chocolate chips and wrote spooky messages that for sure will satisfy both big and little kids! And Lulu is most definitely a big kid. He still loves taking his kid sisters trick-or-treating so that he can raid their bags of candy later on. Maybe with these madeleines in the house, he'll stop stealing their sweet treats!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Cheese Chicken Rolls with Fig Chutney

It's already the end of the fig season in our garden. We lucked out this year and gathered so many baskets of delicious figs. One of the best ways to extend the life of quality fruits is to preserve them, so with the last batch, I decided to make fig chutney.

The chutney is very versatile, and I’ve used it in quite a few dishes. Today I paired it with stuffed chicken rolls. I marinated chicken breasts with Bourbon Barrel Kentuckyaki sauce and stuffed them with goat cheese. All you need is to bake the stuffed chicken for about 30 minutes, then cut it into rolls. I served the white meat with fig chutney that I flavored with Kentuckyaki sauce as well. Here's to a flavorful meal!

Lemon Rosemary Chicken Recipe

My cousin Tri recently got married and his wife Tran just started a new job at a nail salon. Now he's the one who comes home first, so his new chore is cooking. He's been calling me regularly for advice on cooking healthy, easy meals for dinner. Last night, he came to visit and I showed him how properly marinating chicken the day before makes for a quick dish the following day.

The day before, I marinated skinless, boneless chicken breast with meat tenderizers (lemon, green papaya and yogurt), spices and flavorings (fennel seeds, star anise, cayenne pepper, whole grain mustard, Bourbon Barrel Foods pure cane sorghum, soy sauce and rosemary). The following day, I stuffed the chicken with finely diced Granny Smith apples for crunch and a hint of acidity. I baked the chicken in the oven, resting over chicken broth on a bed of sliced red onions. Tri will attempt to recreate the results at his home, and I hope you give it a try as well!

Savory Apple Side Dish Recipe (Baked Stuffed Apples)

Apples are the quintessential fall fruit. They're a great substitute for boring vegetable side dishes or potatoes. Granny Smith apples work wonders in savory dishes because they have a crunchy, crip texture with a hint of acidity.

This particular side dish is ultra-easy to prepare. I stuffed the apples with a combination of freshly cracked walnuts and hazelnuts, red onions, pure cane sorghum (you could also use maple syrup) and a few spices. To add a little tenderness and sweetness to the dish without overwhelming it, I alternated a few slices of McIntosh red apples and stuffed the apples with Kentucky pure cane sorghum from Bourbon Barrel (check out the tip section), which has a texture similar to corn syrup but is so much more flavorful. I placed a little apple cider at the bottom of  an oven-safe baking dish, added the savory stuffed apples and baked them for about 30 minutes. Et voilà!

Pistachio Dessert: Pistachio Creme Brulee Recipe (+Giveaway)

If you've been following my culinary adventures, you've probably noticed how much I love pistachios! Daddy (my father-in-law) went to visit one of his friends in Sacramento who grows orchards of pistachios. Daddy brought bags filled with fresh pistachios back for me to have fun with. I had never seen or tasted the raw product and it was amazing. The color is richer and greener. Daddy said raw pistachios are very common in India and picking the pistachios brought him back in time. There were so many pistachios that I had to come up with creative ways to make use of them. I immediately thought of making pistachio paste by grinding and blending them raw with a little Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Sugar. I also added pistachio oil to make the paste smooth and creamy because pistachios contain very little natural oil compared to other nuts. I also added a touch of almond extract to give the pistachio paste a nice aroma.

I didn't stop there. I used the paste to flavor a typical French dessert: crème brûlée. I've made crèmes brûlées so many times (lavender, banana, cherry, masala chai, matcha green tea, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, even a savory garlic flavored-one!) that after checking back on PhamFatale.com, I was surprised to see that I never posted this particular version! The pistachios were so fresh that it was almost guaranteed that the crèmes brûlées would be divine. To accentuate the dessert, I used vanilla sugar from Bourbon Barrel in the pistachio paste, the custard mixture and the brûlé part itself. It’s just more evidence that a few exquisite ingredients can transform the simplest foods (eggs, milk, cream and sugar) into something extraordinary.

In addition to tasting incredible, this naturally green-colored dessert can be part of your Halloween table. The kids can have their Snickers and Twix; I’d rather have one (or three) of these pistachio crèmes brûlées!