Chocolate Balls (כדורי שוקולד)

I read this article in the The Jew and the Carrot and immediately, I knew that I wanted to make it. It's a simple no-bake recipe for chocolate balls, kadorei shokolad, that use biscuits. The name is a literal translation of "chocolate balls," from Hebrew. The draw of this dessert is that they're apparently only made at home. Bakeries don't sell them. If you want them, you need to make them yourself.

When I showed Meredith the recipe, she also got excited. I wasn't expecting her to be enthusiastic about it since it didn't exactly involve baking or working from scratch. However, she saw great potential - a new idea (at least for her) for her holiday cookie exchange.

The trial run went really well. We unfortunately didn't have any candy-covered balls, and we ran out of sprinkles really quickly, but we didn't run out of coconut - so most of them are coconut-coated.

Chocolate Balls (כדורי שוקולד)


200g biscuits (1 small package)
3/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
7 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
7 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Shredded coconut, small coloured candies or sprinkles in a bowl
2. Put the biscuits in a large zipper bag. Crush the biscuits using a rolling pin until they're the consistency of rice.
3. Transfer the biscuits into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, cocoa and the cinnamon and mix well. 
4. Add the vanilla, butter and milk, and continue mixing until the batter is thick and thoroughly combined.
5. Take the batter by the tablespoon and roll it into a ball in your hands.
6. Coat the balls in the coconut, coloured candies or sprinkles by rolling them in the bowl and place them on a serving tray or in mini paper muffin cups. 

Makes 42 one-tablespoon balls.

Mostly from The Jew and the Carrot.

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Hong Kong Barbecue

On the first weekend in November, we finally had a long-delayed barbecue with our neighbours. Mostly organized by our neighbours, I was in charge of the grilling, with limited additional instructions for items that I've either never tried, or require special treatment.

When I was told that we were having a Hong Kong barbecue, I had to know how it differed from a North American barbecue. In general terms, it means a wide variety of foods to be grilled, and in this particular case, coated in a diluted honey mixture when each item was nearly done.

Olivia applying the honey wash for our grilling.

With the amount of food we were grilling, it was more of a marathon than a meal. We really enjoyed it.

I was responsible for the salads - some of which were barely touched. We had some hummus as an appetizer, and I had made a gigantic pasta salad. I had bought a couple bags of Caesar salad, however, we didn't even bother opening them because there was just so much food!

We started the grilling with some sweet potato and Chinese eggplant (not pictured - we were too busy eating). Both were wrapped in foil and roasted. The eggplant was served with a bit of soy sauce.

Next was the squid - just the tentacles.

I oiled the grill, but the squid still stuck a little. When I took them off the grill, it was like they were holding on, trying to get away.

The final bit of seafood was an unidentified fish (unidentified because I forgot what it was called). It was bigger than herring, but smaller than a trout.

The fish was actually the most dramatic dish. It was a little oily and caused a flare up on the grill when I was inside eating some squid:

I had never had flames that big on this grill. But the flames were not nearly as impressive as the job Meredith did separating the fish from the bones:

We also grilled some zucchini and peppers...

chicken wings...

pork, and pineapple.

And like the first items we grilled, we finished off with another item we forgot to photograph - steak.

Yes, there was that much food, and both the food and the company was excellent.

Recipes by the Haggis and the Herring: tasty world recipes tested in our kitchen
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Chocolate Mocha Mug Brownie

On some nights, our neighbour Pia drops by to visit the kids, the dog (and us) when her brothers go to Air Cadets League of Canada. Just before Remembrance day, Pia dropped by and was looking for some instant coffee, and she was carrying a mug filled with some batter and a recipe on a piece of paper.

It was time to make a brownie.

I'd seen several cake, and brownie in a mug recipes here and there, but never got around to actually trying one. And this one is a mocha brownie, so even better!

Chocolate Mocha Mug Brownie

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp water
3-4 drops vanilla extract
dash salt
pinch instant coffee
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp flour

1. In an 8 oz mug, stir together oil, water, vanilla, salt and coffee.
2. Add sugar, cocoa powder and flour, stir, and microwave on high for one minute.
3. Let cool for at least one minute before eating.

Recipes by the Haggis and the Herring: tasty world recipes tested in our kitchen
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