There are TWO desserts on the August Sweet as Pie list – Bananas Foster and Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites.  We’re saving the Bananas Foster until the end, so this week we (and by “we” I mean “I”) whipped up the Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites.  Here’s how they came together:

First, I melted some unsweetened chocolate and a few Andes mints together.

Phillip is pretty sure I’m the only person that ever lived that doesn’t like Andes mints.  I just don’t care for them.  Never have.  It usually works out fine for everyone else though because whenever I end up with an Andes mint (like at a restaurant), some lucky friend or family member gets an extra.  So I knew from the outset that these brownies would be mostly for Phillip.  Anyway, back to the brownies.

Next, I creamed some butter and sugar together, added some eggs, and then drizzled in the chocolate/mint mixture.

Pre-drizzle.

During drizzle.

At this point, I added some additional mint extract.  Well, peppermint extract.  I don’t know if they make regular mint extract, but if they do, my Publix didn’t have it and I figured I could actually use peppermint extract this winter for a variety of treats.Then, I added some flour to the batter and mixed well.  I portioned out the mixture into a greased mini-muffin pan.  I had some leftover batter so I also made two regular sized cupcake brownies.After a quick trip to the oven:While the brownies cooled on the counter, I melted a bunch of Andes, some semi-sweet chocolate, and some butter together to make the coating.

After dipping each brownie:

Not the prettiest, but they probably could have been if I’d tried a little harder. : )

As I said, I’m not a fan of chocolate mints, but nonetheless these were pretty good – I think I liked them better without the topping.  Phillip, however, loves chocolate mints and so of course loved these.  I think I ate 2 or 3 during the week, so he polished off the rest.  They kept pretty well in a covered container all week.  If you’re a fan of chocolate and mint, these will probably be a hit!

This was the bonus recipe for August and I was really looking forward to it since there is so much fresh corn to be had this time of year.  This was extremely easy to make and was extremely delicious too.  Here’s how it came together:

I started by cutting the kernels from 8 cobs of corn.  Make sure you have a sharp knife for this part – it makes it a lot easier.  While you have your knife out, dice a red bell pepper and a couple of jalapenos.  Leave the jalapeno seeds and ribs in if you want some spice in this.  I left one of the peppers’ seeds in and it was plenty hot for me (Phillip didn’t even notice).  Then I added salt, pepper, butter, heavy cream, and some milk.  The only thing left was to bake it.  See, I told you it was really easy.

Before baking.

While the corn was baking and smelling yummy, I grilled some pork chops.  These are our favorite pork chops – 1-1.5 inch thick boneless pork loin chops sprinkled with Conecuh seasoning.  Grill them for 8 minutes on each side for perfectly juicy chops.  And then the corn was done!

The sauce was pretty thin, but I think that was my fault for being impatient to take it out of the oven.

Easy weeknight meal.

I probably should have let this cook a little longer, but it smelled amazing and I was hungry.  Despite the heavy cream, this dish was really light.  The flavor of the fresh corn came through and the peppers were a nice accent.  I ate it all week long since it reheated nicely.  I’ll definitely be making this again and even trying it during the winter months with frozen corn.  Make this one soon!

For our first selection from this month’s Sweet as Pie list, we made Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas (chosen by Ellen at Sweet and Savory Snacks who got married last weekend – congrats Ellen!).  We both love mushrooms, we both love goat cheese, and Phillip has recently decided that he prefers spinach to lettuce, so we were pretty sure this was going to be a success for us.  It’s not often we go vegetarian around here, but it was a nice change to our chicken, beef, pork, fish weekly rotation.  Here’s how it came together:

Start out by melting some butter in your skillet.

Sauteing the mushrooms with salt, pepper, and either some sherry or some white wine. We went with wine this time around.  I used plain white mushrooms, but next time I think I’ll sub in baby bellas – so much more flavorful.

My mushrooms were very liquidy – it took them a while to reduce and I still ended up removing them with a slotted spoon and pouring off the excess liquid.

After the mushrooms were finished, I wilted the spinach and lightly seasoned it with salt and pepper.

Before.

After.

Then came assembly.  The recipe called for fontina cheese, but we substituted monterey jack and layered it with the mushrooms and spinach before dotting the top with goat cheese.  The whole thing is of course sandwiched between two tortillas.

I used the grill pan to heat these because it was already sitting out. Next time I’ll use a regular skillet for more even browning.

The finished product:

Served with a side of chips and salsa.

These were very easy and we both enjoyed them.  I think I should have seasoned the spinach a little better, but Phillip probably didn’t notice.  Since there were only the two of us, we had leftover ingredients which I mixed and matched with later in the week for lunch quesadillas.  Worked out great!  Super easy weeknight meal.