Mac & Cheese & More

Somebody stepped in the Unicorn Poop

2012-01-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

My friend Robin challenged me to make Unicorn Poop for her birthday. I at first thought it was a ridiculous wish and I would not be doing it. But then I decided that it actually didn't seem that hard...and I could do it.

The recipe for unicorn poop is on Instructables. Haven't you read the book Everybody Poops and asked, but what about unicorns?

Well it turns out unicorns do poop after all! And their poop is unlike any other animal! It is rainbow colored, sparkly, shiny and filled with stars and bears and dinosaurs. It's true, I've seen it with my own eyes!

The problem with my unicorn poop is that sometime between putting the pointed swirls in the oven and taking them out someone snuck in and stepped in the poop! The resulting piles were flattened and only resembled piles--not piles fresh from the animal. Flattened! The nerve of some people or elves or whomever stepped on these piles!

Making these cookies was actually rather easy--just lots and lots of hands on time and a lot of time in general. So leave time!

I used the sugar cookie recipe on the instructables page but I think any roll-out sugar cookie dough should work for you. Also the recipe only makes 30 tiny and 5 gigantic cookies which isn't too many if you're going to go to all the trouble to make them in the first place. I recommend making a bigger cookie recipe.

After mixing the dough, you must put in the food coloring. I used the gel food coloring which I have used before but I bet it would be easier with the liquid variety although I don't know if you would have such vibrant colors! To use the gel kind break your dough into 6 balls and dip a toothpick into the color and then rub the toothpick onto one dough ball. Next, massage the color in with your hands. Beware! The color will get all over your hands and under your nails so you may want to consider wearing gloves at this point. Although, if you have nothing important going on the week following you can embrace the rainbowy hands. Honestly it goes away if you wash your hands a thousand times like you have to do with this recipe.

Once each color is mixed into the ball of dough, break those balls up into several small balls--the size of the shooter marble in marbles and then put each group of marbles into ziploc bags.

In order to not have the snakes dry out or get too soft it was best to roll one snake in it's entirety and get it into spiral poo pile at once and then throw it on a baking sheet in the fridge.

Directions
1. Make sugar cookie dough according to directions
2. Split dough into six balls and rub with rainbow food coloring (I used red, lemon yellow, kelly green, teal, royal blue and purple. On afterthought I wish I used pink or another yellow instead of teal & blue but maybe they are perfect anyway).
3. Split your new color balls into 12 or so marble shooters and chill in ziplocs by rainbow if possible but one color at a time is fine. I actually stored mine in bowls since I already had them out but if your fridge isn't totally empty that could prove impossible. Chill dough for at least an hour
4. Lay a large silicon baking mat on your counter and dust very lightly with flour. Dust your hands a bit too but try to get all excess off
5. Take out 6 rainbow balls and roll them out into snakes carefully. Lie each snake next to another color and press together lightly. Once all snakes are rolled roll the snake pile into one large snake of spiral colors by twisting a little. Note - Cookie dough is not as strong as playdough
6. Twist your spiral into a pile and pinch the ends. They will flatten in the oven so try all the methods you can think of to get them to stay in piles. At the very least make exaggerated spirals so you can see something when flattened. I put a few bears and dinosaurs (the sprinkled candy kind) on some of the cookies just for fun.
7. Place each pile on a cookie tray in the fridge until you have a full tray to bake. Preheat the oven according to the directions.
8. Bake and let cool on wire racks
9. Once cooled, spread the sparkly gel on top of the cookies with a silicon brush or spatula
10. Then sprinkle with sugar stars and make sure they stick
11. Next take the edible glitter and sprinkle across the cookie. If you get a clump of glitter, just knock it onto another cookie with a good shake. If you want to omit the glitter you totally can because the gel stuff is glittery by itself.

These cookies taste good too and if you just want to make rainbow sugar cookies you can follow the same steps but definitely add the stars!

Parker House Rolls - What Happened?

2012-01-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

When we first got an iPad the most interesting app we downloaded was my subscription for Everyday Food iPad version. This magazine is seriously fantastic on the iPad. It does everything it does well in magazine form plus interactive features and videos! My only complaint is that you can't dog-ear or bookmark the pages to remember it for later.

All the way back in the Thanksgiving issue, Joey and I watched a video for Parker House Rolls. The video and the pictures pretty much put them on a pedestal of best looking dinner rolls you have ever had. We were immediately disappointed we had offered to bring dessert instead of dinner rolls. We put the recipe on the back burner to remember for later.

Later came, and at a weird too late hour to really be ready by dinner, we decided to make the Parker House rolls. Only issue? We didn't have any milk and weren't confident in the active-ness of our yeast. I rushed to the store and we started the process realizing that with this sidestep we may be having dinner after 8:30pm.

We followed the directions and got to the part of "using a dough hook mix bread for 10 minutes until in a ball." It took us maybe 2 minutes and that's a stretch to reach the ball stage and already by then the dough hook was determined to launch the dough across the kitchen.

We set the wet-towel covered bowl upstairs in the guest room to be in the warmest place and draft free (lucky guests!) to rise for the first hour. After the first hour it seemed to have risen and we moved on to the roll stage and second rise. After the second rise the rolls seemed slightly bigger so we baked 8 of them and threw the rest of the dough into the freezer for another day.

We baked our rolls starving as we waited for the pork tenderloin to finish cooking and dinner to be ready. The result was a very dense roll much like a biscuit but more bready. It was not a horrible thing. All the rolls we baked were eaten but they weren't the fluffy examples we'd poured over from the video we'd been watching since November. We decided that we could fix the bread with what we had left in the freezer on another occasion.

That other occasion came on the weekend. We took the bread from the freezer and let it "rise" in the bag overnight while we let it defrost. We then threw it in a bowl with a wet towel and gave it all day to do it's thing. It didn't.

Then we turned to Google and I discussed our problem with my baking friends and we decided that what most likely happened was that the "room temperature milk" needed to activate the yeast was too cold. The internet said that we could indeed fix our mistake by mixing 1t yeast + 1/4t sugar + 1/4 C warm water. We let the yeast mixture sit ten minutes until it foamed and bubbled (the yeast is fine!) and then kneaded as much of it as we could into the slightly drier dough. Then we set the dough in a bowl with a damp cloth over it and left it overnight.

The next morning we were both absolutely thrilled to see that the bread dough had risen! Our problem was fixed! Unfortunately, it was early morning and we had no time to bake bread. We stuck the bowl covered in plastic wrap in the fridge and hoped for the best.

This evening I finally was able to make it. I pulled the dough out and did a little bit of kneading and then cut it into large chunks trying to make the equivelent of hamburger bun sized rolls. We plan to have them with pulled pork when they come out of the oven...they smell fantastic although they didn't so much stick together in roll-shaped circles. And the verdict?

The rolls were good but still not right. They weren't fluffy inside and out, they had a bit of a crust on the outside and were still a little dense but rather fluffy inside too just not as light as a dinner roll. The rolls were actually perfect for pulled pork sandwiches! They are not perfect for Thanksgiving dinner though.

Next step - Make a new bread recipe because it sure does make the house smell delicious at the very least!

Chili-Rubbed Steak Tacos

2012-01-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

Ellie Krieger is a Food Network Star who seems to be relatively unknown, which is too bad because she makes a lot of great healthy dishes! Recently, I was browsing Food Network's Healthy Weekday meals slideshow and I came across a recipe for Ellie's Chili-Rubbed Steak Tacos. They sounded perfect and fast for a weekday!

I ended up making the tacos tonight after to a visit to the museum with my sister's family. They really were quick. The entire meal was ready in 30 minutes! I grilled the top sirloin steaks for about 7 minutes or so flipping only once. I ended up buying 4 individual sirloin steaks although in the video it looks like one single. This actually was a good idea because I didn't put the spicy spices on one of the steaks for my nephew.

I did not make anything but the steak from her recipe but it had a nice flavor in our tacos with all of my favorite toppings! I will make this again!

Chili Rubbed Spiced Tacos Recipe

I served this steak with:
Corn tortillas
Cilantro
Raw white onion
mixed shredded cheese
queso fresca
salsa

Delicious!

Vegetable Barley Soup with Beef

2012-01-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I decided to slow-cook a roast beef. I used a recipe from All Recipes that called for only 1/2 C of water. I thought that seemed to be not much liquid at all but decided that 40 people and 5 stars knew what they were talking about.

12 hours later, I arrived home to a dish hanging out in the slow cooker on warm that smelled amazing and was dryer than a pumice stone. We went out for pizza. Joey offered to douse the meat with A1 sauce and eat it for lunch but I was disappointed I couldn't think of what to do with it but slice it and throw it in the fridge.

The carrots, which were immersed in the liquid were fantastic and I ate those for lunch. After Joey had some meat for lunch he decided that the meat tasted a lot like soup meat. He suggested we make some soup and add the meat. I'm not much into making soup but I was game for trying to resurrect my dreadful roast.

I searched the web and spoke to my soup-making sister and came up with a game plan. I followed two recipes tweaking them as the soup simmered. I think the result is rather delicious but time will tell when we eat it for real tomorrow.

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's Chunky Turkey Vegetable Soup and MyRecipes Beef & Barley.

Ingredients
1 C pearl barley
4 carrots, diced
3 celery spears, diced in crescents
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes in juice
1 box beef broth
1 C water
2 bay leaves
2 T tomato paste
1 tsp olive oil
2 C cooked beef, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped

Directions
1. Chop all the vegetables before you start cooking because once you start things go faster than expected.
2. In a large pot with a lid, heat olive oil over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
3. When onion is soft, add tomato paste and stir
4. Add tomatoes and their juice, celery, broth, water, carrots, bay leaves, rosemary and salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil.
5. Once the soup has started to boil, add the zucchini and barley and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until barley is cooked
6. Remove bay leaves and add beef. Leave on the burner until the beef is warmed through and serve
7. If you eat the soup right away ignore this step. If you don't eat the soup immediately, the liquid may absorb completely into the barley. Keep extra beef broth on hand to revitalize the liquid for your next bowl. Just scoop out the soup you want and add enough broth for your tastes. You could probably add broth & water if you are so inclined.

Recipe Makeover: Blood Orange Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2012-01-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Last year, I became completely obsessed with this blood orange chocolate chunk muffin recipe after reading about a new blog in town White on Rice Couple in the Sunset magazine. Throughout citrus season, I made their recipe and loved it. The flavors were just so fresh, the texture so fluffy and spot on for my morning and because it had fruit in it, I felt it was a pretty good breakfast.

Well, I think it's pretty common knowledge now that I've lost over 20 lbs since July 2011. I'm using Weight Watchers--a program I always admitted was not for me because I couldn't drink my milk or have any fruit. But recently, they changed the program to allow many fruits and vegetables to have no point values at all so that people would still get the nutrients they needed on good foods instead of skipping them altogether. On a trip to Las Vegas in July, I weighed myself and learned I was 10lbs greater than I had thought. This had to change I decided and I followed in the footsteps of my friends Kate & Jon and stepped on over to WW and joined up.

Following the program has not been nearly as difficult as I expected. I really found that I learned how to moderate my eating and limit my consumption of terrible foods that taste wonderful (pizza) to one time per week at the most and increase my consumption of free foods (blackberries/blueberries/raspberries) so that when everyone at the office was snacking, I could too--on little bursts of delicious sweetness to hold me over until dinner.

I also learned that some of my favorite recipes really aren't that healthy. For instance, my favorite muffin of 2011 turned out to be 7 points! That's a lot of points for one muffin when it's not that filling in the first place (for your comparison, I get 28 points a day, although there are also flex points I can use each week). The problem is, citrus season is upon us and I WANTED my favorite muffin. So I decided that I would have my muffin but I would revise the recipe to make it a more reasonable breakfast points value (I aim for 3-5 points for breakfast because breakfast is NOT my favorite meal of the day).

This is the first time I've ever done a recipe makeover. I think the results taste just like the real thing except maybe I cooked them a dash too long. I will revise the cooking time here so that when you make them you can bake them just right!

1 Muffin = 4 Points+

Blood Orange Chocolate Chunk Muffins
*These muffins can be made with any citrus fruit of your choice. This time I used regular oranges because blood oranges are apparently not yet in season. The flavors are still excellent, although a little more orangy than when using the scarlet beauties.

Yield 12 muffins
Ingredients
1 C whole wheat whole grain flour
3/4 C all purpose white flour
1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4t sea salt
grated zest of 3 blood oranges (I used 3 small oranges for the zest)
3oz dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce (measure in a liquid measuring cup)
2/3 C fresh blood orange juice (I used the same 3 small oranges AFTER zesting and also juiced 1 large orange as I was short)
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 and line a 12-cup regular muffin pan with muffin liners or if necessary grease with cooking spray
2. In a large bowl, mix together the first 7 ingredients. Stir in chocolate chunks and combine.
3. In a smaller bowl combine applesauce, orange juice, extract and eggs. Make sure to beat the eggs to fully combine.
4. Pour liquid mixture into dry and mix with a spoon until just combined being sure to scrape the flour from the bottom and edges of the bowl.
5. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tins into rounded scoops--these muffin cups will be very full and that will make them into rounded muffins in the oven.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean
7. Cool slightly before serving. When the muffins are completely cooled, store them in a ziploc bag or airtight container. These also freeze well. If you freeze them you can defrost one the night before on the counter or in the microwave. I think they taste best when warmed because the chocolate gets all melty

What did I change?
1/2 C butter became 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce. The butter added 24 points to the recipe, the applesauce is worth 0 points
1 C all purpose flour became 1 C whole grain whole wheat flour. This actually only shaved off 1 point from the recipe but I had this whole wheat flour I wanted to use so I did it
6 oz Chocolate became 3 oz chocolate. I don't remember how this changed the points value but I do know that it was significant. While dark chocolate is high in antioxidants it is still dessert.

Citrus Marinated Chicken

2012-01-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

On Saturdays, I make a stop at Sprouts Farmer's Market part of my morning errands. Sprouts is kind of like Whole Foods with their organic brands and bulk bins, but cheaper and not as fancy. I love the produce there--it is so reasonably priced and on sales you sometimes get deals as wonderful as the Mexican markets.

Last Saturday, I went to Sprouts for oranges (well actually I wanted to see if blood oranges were available and the actual farmer's market hardly had any farmers hopefully due to the holiday) but I went by the meat section too. The meat sales at Sprouts are always fantastic. The best part is you don't have to buy enough to feed an army to get the sale. I left the store with loads of fruits and vegetables, and two different cuts of meat plus a variety of other items for around $20. I bought 4 chicken drumsticks for $2 and two miniature steaks for less.

Unfortunately, this new year my cooking skills seem to have plummeted to an all time low. My first meal of the year was an incredibly overcooked and ridiculously dry roast beef in the slow cooker. There are many reasons that beef could have failed and I won't go into them, let's just end with we had pizza that night and we might try to put it in soup.

The second day of the new year I cooked the miniature steaks and crispy roasted potatoes. The potatoes were almost perfect but the steaks were a tad over cooked and had to be doused in A1 sauce for moisture. To be fair, I was distracted by trivia questions being thrown at me while I was cooking.

So this third day, I decided to fall back on an actual recipe because that way at least I would have more people to blame if it failed. The good news is that this day, this third day, the recipe worked and was delicious.

And I didn't even follow directions. Why not you say? Well that's because I decided to make the recipe at 11pm and thought "of course I have those ingredients" when in fact I had 3/5/. But the good news is that it still worked out and was rather delicious--with a dash of salt on top. AND I grilled these little drumsticks to perfection too with very little help.

Adapted from this completely different recipe by The Pioneer Woman

Serves 2
Ingredients
4 Chicken Drumsticks
1 small grapefruit
1 orange
1 1/2 t olive oil
salt - I never add enough so I trust you will make a good decision
pepper - I don't really like pepper, I added 2 turns of the mill
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Directions
1. In the morning or at least a few hours before serving, prepare the marinade.
2. Juice the orange & grapefruit over a liquid measuring cup, reserve rinds. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and garlic.
3. Place drumsticks in a large ziploc bag and arrange fruit rinds inside. Pour marinade over chicken and refrigerate until ready to grill
4. Heat the grill to 400. Turn off the middle burner and brown chicken on each side (there are 4) 3-4 minutes.
5. Once chicken is browned cook 10 minutes covered. Check the chicken and turn it over and cook another 10 minutes OR possibly less. The chicken should be about 160 degrees in the meatiest part.
6. Serve warm with vegetables

Mini Baked Brie and Jam

2011-12-31T17:13:00.000-08:00

I really like to browse Tastespotting. I just love seeing all the beautiful pictures of food and sparking my mind for recipe ideas. I put aside the fact that the people who run the site are super snooty about what pictures they accept and understand that I will never be a food photographer at that caliber. The thing is, if you're really cooking to eat, do you have time to take posed photos of all your food? The answer is no, no I do not have time to take pristine pictures of all my food. But no matter, I still read the blogs of the people who do.

Last week I was perusing Tastespotting and saw a delicious looking recipe for Bite-sized Baked Brie appetizers. I happened to have a block of light brie cheese that loses something when eaten plain but was totally the same when melted. I asked my family if I could bring the appetizer and they said yes!

On her blog, Joy the Baker puts sticks into her baked brie bites but I omitted the sticks. I also did something everyone was asking about--I made them early and froze them. This worked just fine, I froze them first on trays and then threw them into a gallon sized ziploc once frozen so that they didn't freeze in a block. Then we brought them on an hour and 20 minute car ride in a sub par cooler (standard defrosting). The bites weren't completely defrosted but they cooked up fine in about 15 minutes in the oven at 375. I forgot to put the salt on top but it wasn't necessary. These appetizers were an absolute hit. At times I felt I came across a pastry that didn't have enough filling so make sure to fill yours well. Otherwise, make these.

Baked Bite-Sized Brie Bites Recipe

Christma Breakfast 2011 - Overnight Baked French Toast

2011-12-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

As is our custom on Christmas morning since we got married, Joey & I hosted Christmas Breakfast for his immediate family and a few relations. This year, I aimed for ease in preparation, aiming to please all the different palates but not spend every minute of the morning making individual portions of dishes.

So I checked online in late November and searched for recipes that might fit the bill. I was hoping for some kind of overnight sweet breakfast dish that could serve 7. I stumbled upon overnight baked french toast--a recipe by Paula Dean with over 9,000 reviews and 5 stars.

I decided to make the "baked french toast" as a test weeks before Christmas and then ended up failing at that plan because I didn't realize it required overnight time. So we went cold turkey on Christmas Eve/Morning with a new recipe.

I also made an error in my bread buying on the 23rd. Paula called for French bread and I thought she meant those long thin loaves but it turned out after closer inspection that she meant the wider and flatter Italian French bread. We decided to mix the bread choice from Giada's baked French toast recipe with the recipe for Paula's by using Challah bread that we cut into thick slices from two loaves. We also used the Mario Batali Lasagna pan which is 9x13 but taller--3.25 instead of a traditional 9x13x(2inches?) which caused us to increase the ingredients a bit to make sure we had plenty of liquid.

The process was incredibly simple, the French Toast took about 15 minutes to assemble and slept in the refrigerator all night long. In the morning we took it out about a half hour before baking and then baked it for about 40 minutes with a topping making the FT soft in places and crispy in others--almost as perfect as the fried variety.

Paula Dean & Giada's Overnight Baked French Toast
adapted from The Food Network Recipe 1 & Recipe 2
Serves 10-12 (we served 7 and almost everyone had a second helping but there was enough for maybe 3 more)

1 1/2 loaves Challah bread, let the bread sit out for a few hours or longer so it dries out a bit in advance
9 Large Eggs
1 1/2 C Whole Milk
2 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
2 T sugar
2 t Cinnamon (or to taste, we liberally added cinnamon)
1/2 t nutmeg (or to taste, I wasn't watching the person adding this)
1 t vanilla extract
dash of salt
butter for greasing the pan

Topping:
2 T sugar
1 T cinnamon

Directions
1. Grease a 9x13 pan, preferably with higher than 2" sides, but that will work fine in a pinch (I totally missed this step and it made a difference in the clean up)
2. Slice the Challah bread into 1 inch slices and line the pan with the bread close together slices on end (like a file cabinet). If you have holes, slice smaller pieces to fit into the holes. The bread should be tight enough not to fall over but not too tight so you can't get in between the slices with your fingers
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until all the yolks have broken.
4. Add all other ingredients and whisk to combine
5. Pour liquid evenly over the pan of bread and use a spoon to distribute in between the layers. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight
*The next Morning*
1. Remove the dish from the refrigerator when you get up
2. Preheat the oven to 350
3. Make the topping by combining 2 T sugar and 1 T cinnamon in a small bowl. Remove the cover on the dish and sprinkle the topping all over--this will make the top crisp
4. Bake 40 minutes or until toast is lightly golden brown and puffed and liquid is mostly set
5. Cut into squares and serve warm with syrup

Chocolate Bread Pudding

2011-12-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago we bought some Italian bread to take to an appetizer party along with our sourdough bread snowman and chimahurri sauce. But then just before we were about to leave we found out that there would only be 20 people in attendance and we did not need to bring too much food. So the bread was left to waste away on the counter.

A day or so later I decided the bread needed to be made. So I searched recipes for bread pudding which is what one typically does with day-old bread. I wanted to make our recipe for pumpkin bread pudding that we did for Thanksgiving Testing 2011 but I didn't have pumpkin on hand and it wasn't time for shopping.

I ended up making a variety of Chocolate Bread Pudding from a recipe on Real Simple. I had all the ingredients but I had to cheat a little on the types of chocolate I used--I didn't have enough squares of semi sweet available. I actually skimped on the chocolate and it was still enough. I wish that this recipe had a dash of cinnamon or something to round out the flavor.

I also skimped on the soaking time and the weighing down the bread. I did this because I decided to make the dish at 8pm and didn't really want it around the next day. I brought the dish to work. It was completely gone by 5pm. I think that's a sign of either a good dish or a compelling idea that people though sounded good, tasted, and threw away. But I'll never know!

You should make this but follow the directions for soaking. Since I didn't I found that the middle of the bread was still white (it should be brown and covered in chocolate). I also found chocolate crusts on the top of the bread--as though I melted chocolate, let it harden, and spread it on top. On the other hand, the dish was still good so do whatever you want if you make it. I think I prefer bread pudding that isn't chocolate--believe it or not.

The Recipe.

New Product: Saffron Road Frozen Indian Food

2011-12-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I want Indian food but the thing is, my husband doesn't eat Indian food so we don't go out to eat it ever. I of course could go at lunch--but the problem there is that there is no good Indian restaurant in walking distance. And you know nobody drives at lunch.

Anyway, I was at Whole Foods the other day looking for hazelnuts and decided to buy two different frozen Indian dinners. I bought Amy's Paneer Saag which I have had before along with Saffron's Road Lamb Saag. Nutrition wies the Paneer & Lamb Saag are pretty close and not incredibly terrible--but they aren't that filling either so fill up with lots of additional fruits and vegetables!

I was really impressed by the Lamb Saag. The flavors were there, the lamb was incredibly tender and there was a good amount of lamb. I think that this is a keeper. Try it for yourself!

Pizza Dough Breadsticks

2011-12-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

As you know, Trader Joe's is not my favorite ever store. However, I was moved to go there last week to pick up some cookie butter. I was hungry and picked up a whole slew of other ingredients including their world-famous pre-made pizza dough.

Little known fact: Joey and I have not once been successful at pizza making. It's true, I know it's tough to even fathom being such cooks and bakers. We can't believe it either. Every time we try to roll out the dough it springs back into a small round. When we finally have it so we think something else goes wrong and our pizzas aren't anything close to the likes of our favorite neighborhood shop.

So when I bought the pizza dough I was a little bit hesitant. But I got it all the same. Then later in the week I picked up some toppings with every intention of making pizza. By Monday night we still had no pizza and we decided to just order some because we'd been craving it for days!

With pizza already out for dinner (since we just had it), I knew I had to come up with something to use this pizza dough. Tonight Joey had to work late so I didn't want to make anything to crazy-complicated for dinner. Plus, we really didn't have any food except the ingredients for pizza and canned goods.

As a result I decided on a light dinner of soup and breadsticks. I would make breadsticks with the pizza dough. Has anyone ever done this before I wondered? I went to my old friend google and searched for "pizza dough breadsticks" nearly the first post was a favorite blog of mine "Playing House" with a recipe for pizza dough breadsticks using TJs dough!

After following the directions and letting the dough rest it was too sticky to roll so I added some flour. Then I tried again. I had the same terrible rolling results as usual. Luckily breadsticks are forgiving! I rolled it to whatever I thought might be big enough, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled on some oregeno, garlic powder and a dash of salt. I also added a quick shred of Parmesan. I baked my whole-wheat sticks for 14 minutes and came up with a glorious warm side dish for my soup. So delicious! I highly recommend you skip the pizza next time and make these.

Salsa Marinated Chicken

2011-12-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to marinate some chicken in salsa the other day in order to hopefully come out with a perfectly moist chicken with lots of flavor. That..didn't happen. The problem with the salsa lay in the inability for the marinade to soak into the meat. It really just sat on top and flavored the top. This marinade WOULD work if you added a little lime juice maybe a dash of oil--or you could just baste your chicken with salsa and serve it with salsa on the side. But now you know if you're looking for a fast salsa-soaked dinner this is not the one.

The chicken was cooked perfectly though and had a nice light flavor--just not as much as I was imagining in my dreams.

New Product: Cookie Butter

2011-12-07T20:20:00.001-08:00

One of my friends pointed me to one of our daily reads today and an article describing the delectable products Trader Joe's brought out this year for the holiday season.

Sure there are lots of products in the article that call out to me but the most significant is Cookie Butter. Cookie Butter?! My friend and I couldn't imagine how it couldn't be wonderful combining two things we love most--butter and cookies into one delicious spread.
I knew I had to have it. I don't like Trader Joe's. I go there and have to deal with tight parking lots, tight aisles and can never find anything I want with their crazy store organization. But I was resigned to give it a try anyway because I couldn't pass up a chance to try the famed Cookie Butter. I went there after work and actually discovered a store with more than one open space in the parking lot and rather roomy aisles. Hurrah!

As I was driving home after buying what one can only refer to as a grocery bag of the before-dinner munchies, my aforementioned friend texted me with a message that the cookie butter is amazing. She encouraged me to crack the jar in the car. Sadly it was stuffed in the back seat amongst boxes of un-needed snacks near the bottom of the bag. I counted down the minutes to the garage and rushed upstairs to prepare dinner and sample the butter.

Glorious! The texture of peanut butter the flavor of gingersnaps with a tiny bit of crunch from the smashed up cookies. This butter is terrible for you with 9g of fat per every 1 T but it would be delicious in a myriad of holiday sweets. For instance just today I saw a recipe for chocolate cookies stuffed with peanut butter--but they would be great with Cookie Butter instead. Or spread on toast with maybe a tiny dash of sea salt. Or spread onto cupcakes as a frosting.

Will I eat the whole jar without making a recipe? Doubtful. Could I? Very possibly. But I'll share instead!

Individual Shepherd's Pies

2011-11-29T22:07:00.001-08:00

After Thanksgiving, we got to share in the wealth of the leftovers and they were delicious as is for a few days, but today I thought I'd love to use the potatoes in a new way. Suddenly it came to me--Shepherd's Pie! I knew that we didn't have that many potatoes, so I wanted to make just enough food to fit into our small individual serving sizes--which actually turned out to be plenty of food and quite satisfying!

I chose a recipe from the Epicurious Iphone App while at the store and then found I pretty much had all the ingredients already. On a whole, the only things I had to pay for at this time for this meal was the ground beef and the peas. I bought Organic beef that was vegetarian fed because it came in a smaller package, I didn't think there was much of a taste difference if that's something you have always been wondering but were too afraid to try (I have). This took about an hour to prepare from the chopping to the baking but I don't know why, I felt like I got home and dinner would be on the table in minutes but I guess I dilly-dallied more than I thought.

Ingredients (I changed the recipe to have less meat because I knew I had less potatoes but I kept the spices and liquid the same)
1 T canola oil (or similar)
1/2 one small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced (I don't peel carrots anymore, I can't taste the difference)
0.6lbs of lean ground beef (this would be good with lamb which the original recipe called for or even turkey)
6 T frozen peas
1 C+ leftover mashed potatoes, or make your own, or buy some already made
1 T tomato paste (I recently bought a tube of paste because recipes are always calling for too little of the can to keep around, it's really handy even though it initially seems like a bad value)
1 Cup broth (I used vegetable)
1 t Rosemary, crushed a little (I used dry)
1 clove garlic smashed
1/2 t Oregano (I used dry)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large skillet brown beef, onion and carrot over medium high heat--about ten minutes
3. When the meat has browned, drain and return to pan.
4. Add all other ingredients EXCEPT the peas
5. Bring to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes until mixture has thickened slightly (honestly my mixture didn't really thicken but I still removed it after 10 minutes
6. Divide mixture between two individual oven-proof dishes. Add 3 T peas (straight from the freezer is fine) to each dish
7. Top the dishes with leftover potatoes and try to cover as much surface as possible, as you can see I was a little short on potatoes but it still tasted good
8. Bake dishes at 375 for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown on top
9. Dishes will be very hot right out of the oven. If you can wait, hold off 5 minutes before eating.

A little bit of Giving

2011-11-29T17:15:00.001-08:00

As the Holidays are upon us I like to do as much as I can to help the less fortunate. My favorite thing to do is to buy a few canned goods and things at the grocery store and then donate them right there--it's rather convenient and most likely I'm going to each of those aisles they point to for something of my own. This year, Toyota is promoting the huge cargo space in their new Prius V with a Toys for Tots campaign. Each day you can click on their widget on Facebook or the one I post right here and give a toy to a child who needs one. This is even easier than the grocery store--which I will still do, but this one I can do all month long or until the fill all these prius Vs. And with this cargo space, it could literally be all month long and then some, so start giving!

Apple Pear and Dried Cherry Pie

2011-11-21T01:58:00.000-08:00

Apple Pie does not scream Thanksgiving to me. It screams 4th of July. But after years of celebrating with the Smith family I have come to understand that Apple Pie is as much a part of Thanksgiving as is the turkey.

But unlike most people, Joey and I like to make pies that have a little twist on the traditional. Joey is an expert and enthusiastic pie maker and we scrounge the web and recipe books for something new every year--even when we have found a winner.

This year was no different--even though we're attending the Peterson Family Thanksgiving instead of the Smith Family Thanksgiving. We searched high and low for an apple pie that met our fancy and then we decided to turn an apple crumble into a pie recipe--with our fail proof almond tart crust from last year's pear tart.

We taste tested this pie ourselves and then shared it with Joey's office and it was completely gone by 10am. This pie is paired with a maple syrup whipped cream which really adds a nice flavor, so don't skip this step even if you aren't accustomed to having whipped cream on apple pie (apple pie goes with ice cream).

We also tasted the juices inside the pie since we cut into it a little early before it really firmed up. Best cider ever! Now we know how to make cider...

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

Crust

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 t almond extract

Filling

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 4 cups)
2 large pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 3 cups)
1 cup dried cherries (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 T maple syrup (b quality if you can find it)

Directions:

Crust

1. Blend powdered sugar, almonds, and salt in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Mix in egg yolk. Add flour. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

2. Roll out chilled dough and place in a buttered pie plate. Poke holes all over with a fork. Freeze for 5 minutes. Cover crust in buttered foil and weigh down with dried beans. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake 10 minutes longer until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Filling

1. Mix 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl. Add apples, pears, and dried cherries to bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice and toss to coat. Pour filling into slightly cooled pie crust

2. Using fingertips, mix butter, brown sugar, lemon peel, remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl until moist clumps form. (this is the best playdoh!)

3. Crumble the topping over the fruit and try to cover it completely but don't pack it down.

4. Heat the oven to 350. Bake about 1 hour until fruit bubbles and topping starts to brown. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving to help thicken the juices. If you don't want to wait taste the juices after you cut your first slice..best cider in the world

Whipped Cream

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer whip 1 C cream until peaks form. Add syrup gradually to sweeten.

2. Whipped cream can be made ahead but doesn't hold it's shape well into the second day and begins to separate.

Construction & Building Birthday Party

2011-11-20T18:14:00.001-08:00

You know those blogs that show you these perfect birthday parties for kids? They rent furniture, they get a baker to bake something fancy and covered in fondant that shoots fireworks, they get a photographer and they go hog wild. And then the kids look like they're having fun but they're not really paying attention to the decor? Well this is not one of those birthday parties.

This is one of those birthday parties where kids & imagination reign. It was a cardboard box city on a whole new level. The idea was a construction/building party--it came together to be one of the most cost effective parties of all time and the kids loved it.

From the people who bring you Ignite Creative Learning Studio, a studio that embraces creativity and imagination in extracurricular academic classes, learn how to build the perfect construction party for your child's next party!

Materials (it looks like a lot but it's not so bad):
1 for every 2 kids large appliance boxes (we had 5)
Lots of assorted smaller boxes of all sizes
Your recycling; egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, soap boxes, shoe boxes, paper towel rolls, plastic tubs from cookies and things
Sidewalk Chalk for little hands
Washable paint in several colors
Paint roller pans
Paint rollers and brushes (smaller rollers for kids)
Safety Scissors
An exacto knife for an adult
Washable markers
Wood working center with wood pieces and an adult handyman and some special tools
Ride-ons that don't require helmets (have kids bring their own!)
Gold coins or pennies
Favors (1 per kid): - Label them with their names so everyone is sure to get one of each thing
Toolbelts (cheaper at Home Depot than Loews and you may be able to get them for free)
cut pieces of wood
sand paper squares
plastic hard hats
screwdrivers
miniature tape measures
electrical tape
Food:
2 kinds of savory snacks like popcorn and veggie sticks
water, milk and or juice
cake

The Setup:
1. Cut doors and windows in the boxes with an exacto knife. If you want, you can label some of them like General Store, Snack Shack, and Bank. The Bank played a part in our story so we needed to make sure it was there.
2. Get all your supplies together and set them aside for easy access
3. Start collecting interesting pieces of recycling and store in a safe place
4. On the day of the party, draw lines on your driveway or sidewalk for the ride on drivers. Put in crosswalks, two lanes and different signs like "dead end" for the end of the driveway and "one way." Kids can help with this!
5. Setup the large boxes around the yard or driveway, remember, kids will be painting on these boxes so if you are worried about paint on the driveway you may want to put old sheets under them or something or extra cardboard
6. Put the assorted boxes, recycling and markers in an accessible area and label it as Building Supplies
7. Put the screwdrivers, tape measures and electrical tape in one of the large boxes and call it the general store. If you have a cash register set it up nearby--adults can run the store but only kids can fit inside--if you have some kind of side opening it works well for adults to crawl in and find the tools with their name
8. Setup paint trays and rollers next to the large boxes and fill with paint colors right before the kids arrive or as they do
9. In the back yard or a neighbors (get permission first!) setup a coin hunt. Hide coins at kid height in both harder and easier places. Concoct a story for later about a bank robbery (Our story was that there was a bank robbery in town but when he ran away through the back yard there was a hole in his bags and he dropped coins all over--who could find them?)

The Arrival & The Party:
1. As kids arrive, have a grownup at the front welcoming them (as workers) and giving them their supplies along with five coins with which to buy their tools at the general store and snacks at the snack shack (tell them how to use their coins). Tell them about the town and the rules (really there are no rules but you can give suggestions about driving around or painting the buildings. If they seem nervous and there's not a big crowd give them a tour.
2. Have another adult stationed at the General Store to help with the purchasing of their tools
3. Let the kids do their thing, if they seem like they don't know what to do offer suggestions. Try to get the braver kids to the woodshop area if possible
3a. The adults should carry safety scissors and a few other special materials (in their toolbelts!) in case the kids need something extra
3b. Have paper and pens available in case kids have another idea of what they need to make their town perfect
4. Midway through the party open up the snack shack and put an adult there to "sell the snacks" 1 coin for each bowl--some savvy kids may buy more than two snacks by dipping into the cash register...
5. Later in the party, when you are seeing a lull or just before you want to break for cake & presents, announce the robbery (at our party, some kids were building a police station so we got them involved in the robbery and had them announce it). While the kids run around looking for coins setup the cake and move on to that.
6. At the end kids can use coins they found in the hunt to buy other favors if you have any others that you'd like to.
7. Let the kids play in the town a bit more until they have to leave

Notes

The Coin hunt was fun for us to work the story into the party but it was not necessary. These kids did not bore of the cardboard box town and riding on the roads
The paint was a huge hit, if we had more rollers and colors it might have been nice. People also wanted to paint their creations at the woodshop
If you don't have a handyman in the family you could buy a few pre-made kits for woodworking and have those on hand to build or put together or you could skip this part altogether--although it was a big hit
The trick is to be hands off but filled with ideas. If someone asks for help or looks bored you can point them in the right direction
If someone wants new materials and you don't have them try to suggest something similar--or run in the house to find them

Dirt Cake

2011-11-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

This year for Christopher's birthday party we decided on a construction/building theme. We first thought that it would be more construction based and I begged Katie to let me make a dirt cake. She wouldn't have it.

Finally after weeks of begging she decided that we could indeed have a dirt cake as long as there was also some regular cupcakes for people who might be scared to eat dirt, worms and ooey gooey pudding mixture. Those people are missing out.

I basically followed the recipe over on Baked Bree. Aunt Kathy's traditional recipe calls for vanilla pudding but when I saw Bree incorporating chocolate pudding instead (indecently those pudding boxes from trader joe's are awesome looking) I knew that that was for me. Bree also used real homemade whipped cream which, I think is probably a great idea! However, I took the escape route and went for good old Cool Whip. 12 oz of Cool Whip is the replacement. I also chose to just fill up a regular 9x13 (actually this pan is bigger for lasagna) dish instead of flowerpots cause this is a party for boys. I got two types of gummy worms--the regular and the neon. Personally, I think the neon ones are delicious but the regular ones look rather cool slithering through the dirt and you can hide them more like real worms. I hope these kids aren't too grossed out to try it!

I'll be serving the cake in these small, clear "crystal" style plastic cups. I bought forks to eat with although spoons probably would've been the better option...oh well forks it is.

Let's Eat Dirt!

Chocolate Pumpkin Tart

2011-11-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

I love chocolate chip pumpkin muffins or bread. I think that chocolate adds a bit fun and everything is better with chocolate.

Well unfortunately, in the case of chocolate crusted pumpkin pie, I was one of the only people that thought it would be and then thought it was fantastic. Joey's work gave it only 1/2 a thumb up unfortunately. This means it is not a contender for Thanksgiving even though I thought it was delicious.

I was unable to find chocolate wafers at the store which was really annoying. I could've gone with oreos because I was buying them anyway but I ended up choosing chocolate animal crackers. These worked fine. I also may have used a little too much chocolate in the layer between the crust and pumpkin but I followed the directions. I liked the crunch the crust added and the texture of the chocolate layer. I really liked this tart no matter what you say!

The one thing I did differently from the recipe was that I used 2 eggs instead of 1 egg after reading the reviews that the pie didn't set up for others. With the two eggs I did have to bake for a bit longer but in the end it was still firm.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart.

Center Cut Pork Loin Roast and Vegetables

2011-11-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

We have a store called Sprouts Farmer's Market near our house, previously called Henry's. It's kind of like Whole Foods in that it has a great produce section, lots of bulk pantry items, a glorious coffee section and really expensive packaged goods--but it's cheaper than Whole Foods.

I love Henry's except shopping there goes against one of my strongest arguments for not going to Trader Joe's--you can't always get everything you need for a recipe there or do all your shopping. But Henry's aka Sprouts is a good place to go sometimes and especially when you didn't go to the actual Farmer's Market.

So anyway, I was shopping at Sprouts this weekend and I noticed there was a sale on Center Cut Pork Loin Roasts. The other great thing was that the roasts were small--2 1/2 to 3 pounds at most. So I picked up a roast for $4. Then I added a couple of vegetables to my cart--a turnip, some carrots, an onion, some white sweet potatoes, some apples.

Tonight after work I thought it was high time to make the roast. The thing is I knew it would take about 25 minutes a pound to cook--so I was looking at dinner in an hour and a half. No big deal right? People eat latish dinners all the time...well it was ready at 9:30 and it was totally worth the wait! I made up this recipe almost entirely by myself--I only based the cooking time off another recipe and stuffing the middle with apples from something I read on Epicurious. Make this recipe! But maybe start earlier than 8pm.

Serves 4 with this size roast but you may want to increase the vegetables

Ingredients

Center Cut Pork Loin Roast, 2 1/2 lbs

1/2 C Apple Cider

1 Apples, chopped small

1/4 C craisins (or dried cherries!)

1 T fresh lemon juice

1/2 t cinnamon

salt

English Prime Rib Rub, to taste

1 large white sweet potato, cut into medium chunks

1 large onion, cut into thick rings

1 turnip, cut into medium chunks

3 carrots, cut into rounds

1 apple, cut into medium chunks

1 t olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2. In a small bowl mix the cinnamon, finely chopped apple, craisins, lemon juice and cider.

3. Cut a bit of an incision all the way through the pork and try to stuff in as much of the apple mixture inside

4. On a jelly roll pan toss vegetables with the olive oil and lay onions down flat as a sort of rack for the pork roast.

5. Salt the vegetables and pork and sprinkle with some English Prime Rib Rub or seasoning of your choice

6. Place the roast on the onions and move the vegetables to surround the onions. Pour the rest of the filling on top of the roast and vegetables

7. Roast for 25 minutes per pound--about 1 hour and 35 minutes in this case turning the pan midway through and tossing the vegetables at least once so they don't stick to the pan

8. When the pork reaches 150 degrees remove from oven and slice on a carving board with a mote as the juices will start to flow

9. Sneak a little of the crispy pork fat that has caramelized from the top of the roast. Don't tell anyone about it and eat it all yourself

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

2011-11-12T22:58:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin bread pudding was on the testing list for Thanksgiving this year. This is pretty much the easiest dessert you could make. It doesn't make the cut for the big event because I think it tastes best warm and it is really rich--richer than pie and therefore not the right thing after a big meal.

But if you're having a small autumn dinner party or you just want to make a weeknight dessert this is for you--assuming you like both pumpkin and bread pudding.

The biggest snag in this recipe is that you have to plan ahead a little bit and buy the bread a day before--or if your bread at your local grocery is as fresh as ours you might want to try two days. Or maybe you can toast your bread a little in the oven or in a dry pot on the stove before using it in the dessert. For us, our bread wasn't as crisp as we would have liked.

You only need 1 french baguette for this recipe. We didn't have allspice so we just substituted a bit of nutmeg.

This recipe is from Epicurious.

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
5 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old baguette or crusty bread
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Whisk together cream, pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, and spices in a bowl.
Toss bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Roasted Tomatoes

2011-11-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

I read a recipe while perusing my regular blogs about roasted tomato soup. I thought maybe I'd make it since I had tons of tomatoes around and garlic and all the things in the soup. So one night while we were already doing a bunch of cooking I decided to roast up my tomatoes.

But I didn't re-read the recipe.

So I didn't make any soup.

Cause I didn't follow it at all. But I'm still interested in trying it sometime.

So I just roasted some tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. But in the end they were really tart. Really really tart. I didn't like them that much actually which is really sad because I do love me some tomatoes.

So after they were cooked I added some sugar, and then they were okay, but not the best. But don't they look pretty?

Individual Apple Crisps

2011-11-06T14:08:00.001-08:00

I really like warm desserts on cool fall and winter nights--but I don't want to make a huge thing that forces Joey & I to eat more than our fair share. So last night, I created individual apple crisps for the both of us. I was hoping that because these were smaller they'd cook faster but that was not the case actually. However, they were delicious and because they are already individually sized and they're made with oats and therefore less sugar they are not that bad for you either!

I loosely followed this recipe for a crumble and then just made it into two individual things and at about 1/4 of the recipe. Of course now that I'm writing about it I can't find the recipe, but I can give it a guess.

Ingredients:

1/4 C oats

1/4 brown sugar, + a few sprinkles

1 T flour

2 apples

2 T cold butter

cinnamon

nutmeg

baking spice (optional)

pinch of ginger

dash of lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350

1. Chop the apples into bite sized pieces--not slices, slices are weird in this dish

2. Toss the apples in each container with a few sprinkles of brown sugar (maybe 1 T each thing), lemon juice and all the spices to taste

3. In a small bowl mix the sugar, flour, butter and oats

4. Top the apple mixture with the oats mixture and bake at 350 for 45 or more minutes until it's bubbly and crispy and brown. Cool slightly before digging in

Carrots

2011-11-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Carrots are one of my favorite versatile vegetables. They are good raw, they are good with a dash of salt, they are good with a bit of lime, they are good with their peel on or off, they are good roasted, they taste nice in butter sauce, they're great. The other great thing about carrots is that they're really cheap and they offer lots of nutritional benefits.

The other great thing about carrots is that they are sometimes found in desserts! How crazy is that am I right? Carrot Cake is so sweet you can't imagine that it has anything that could be good for you (although just to clarify, carrot cake is NOT good for you, just the carrots are)

Hungry for a little crunch? Carrots. Hungry for a little roasted flavor? Carrots.

Add Carrots to your next meal--weather roasted, steamed, pureed or plain they will add some color to your meat and potatoes.

Autumn Salad with Pears (Apples)

2011-10-31T21:52:00.001-07:00

For Halloween this year, we all decided to head over to my father in law's house since we get now trick or treaters in our neighborhood. Dinner was decided on and I offered to make salad. Around the same time, I was browsing some food blogs and found a salad I thought looked interesting. Of course, I had none of the ingredients. So we made an emergency trip to the store after dinner on Sunday night.

This is the original recipe. I kinda changed it a bit because, even though I went to the store particularly to get ingredients for this salad, I didn't get them all.

1. I didn't think the pears would ripen in time so I just used some apples I got at the farmer's market on Saturday

2. I thought I had red wine vinegar, I was wrong. Instead I used apple cider vinegar which I feel was a good replacement since I was using apples anyway

3. Craisins. I added some cause I thought that might be good. It was.

This salad was filled with autumn flavors and really had a nice sweet/salty flavor, I recommend it--with or without my changes.

Apple Pancakes

2011-10-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

In the October Foodzie Tasting Box I got two small jars of Maple Syrup from Ben's Sugar Shack. We were supposed to get one jar of Grade A & a second of Grade B but we actually got two Grade B's. Either way, I decided to get up early and make breakfast this Saturday morning before Joey went to work so that we could try out the new syrup!

I'm not really a superb breakfast maker, but I can do it in a pinch. The problem for me is that I don't really like the thick heavy bisquick pancakes. I like buttermilk ones that are light and fluffy. But, keeping buttermilk around the house is annoying and I'm still weirded out by the lemon juice & milk method--so I am always looking for new recipes.

Apple Cinnamon pancakes sounded really good to me since I am currently obsessed with this Baking Spice from Penzey's spices that my friend Jenny gave me a few years ago for a gift. So I started to search the web and then I just decided to search Smitten Kitchen and I found just what I was looking for--pancakes with bits of apple in them!

Per her instructions, I added a little extra flavoring to the mix--a little vanilla, a teaspoon of baking spice, a half teaspoon of cinnamon. I think the result was really delicious. I recommend this recipe from Smitten Kitchen!

When I was grinding up the apples in my food processor, I didn't manage to eliminate all the big chunks so as I was making pancakes, I found a few slices of apple doused in batter. I threw those in the griddle too and the result was nothing short of amazing. These apple slices had just a bit of custardy batter on them that browned up--with the cinnamon and still a little crunch and juice from the apple--I think pancake battered apples could be the next new thing.

Grilled Baked Apples and Pork

2011-10-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

It's October. We had one week that really felt like fall at the end of September. But then summer came back and today it was like 108 in the valley. I love summer, but sometimes I really want a little taste of fall; especially when all the food magazines and websites are selling me on apples and pumpkins and pork.

So today I decided to be totally California and use the grill to make a fall favorite--baked apples. I also made some pork loin steaks which some might refer to as deconstructed pork roast. This fall dinner was delicious, fast and did not heat up the house like the oven it was already outside.

Baked apples on the grill! So fun! Also doesn't that pork in the picture kind of look like a fish? Hehe. it's pork actually.

Ingredients

2 4oz each boneless pork loin steaks (I've never seen these before, but they were only $5 for like 1 1/2 lbs.)

salt

English Prime Rib Rub (okay so this is from Penzey's spices but I'm sure you could use your favorite choice of spices but this one was really fall)

2 apples, cored (I'm not good with coring apples, so I just dug out a hole with a melon baller and we cut around the core when we ate)

2 T brown sugar, packed

Baking spice (another Penzey's but it's like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, good stuff)

1 t butter

foil

Directions

1. Heat gas grill to medium high (around 4oo)

2. Meanwhile, dig out a hole in the apples and stuff with brown sugar, butter and spices

3. Wrap each apple in a square of tin foil and scrunch tight

4. Put the apples on the grill (top side up so the sugar stuff doesn't leak out), close the lid and set a timer for 10 minutes

5. Salt & English Prime Rib Rub the pork. After the apples cook 10 minutes put the pork on the grill.

6. Grill 5 minutes per side and continue to cook the apples (10 more minutes total)

7. Use care while unfolding the foil as steam will escape quickly. Eat!

CrockPot Spaghetti Sauce

2011-10-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Let's be honest, there are tons of way to make a quick red pasta sauce for dinner. It might take an hour at most and with the real cheater methods it can take as little as 5 minutes. But recently, I had some leftover chuck roast that needed to be cooked and I was tired of the braised meats like pot roast and short ribs and wanted something Italian. Chuck roast has to be cooked long to be tender and delicious. So I decided to use the crockpot to make a chuck roast spaghetti sauce.

If you like your spaghetti sauce with ground meat in it you'll find this is a little strange. If you're one of those people who has your own meat grinder though; you could potentially grind your chuck. Or you could just use ground beef or sausage if you're trying to use up your beef. The sauce turned out pretty good for simmering away in the crock pot all day--passable for leftovers.

The dish is more like an Italian strogonoff except without mushrooms. The fresh beet fettuccine I used also played off the strogonoff feel by tasting a lot more like egg noodles than bold pasta flavor.

So the age old question - Can you make spaghetti sauce in the crockpot? has been answered. Yes.

Oh and did I mention that I cheated even in the actual making? This a true set it and forget it meal.

Ingredients
1 jar (20oz) favorite marinara pasta sauce
1 lb chuck roast, cubed
1 Can whole tomatoes in juice, torn into pieces
2 cloves garlic, smashed and separated into pieces
salt
1t crushed red pepper
1 1/2 t Italian seasoning
1 t tomato paste
pasta, for serving

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except pasta in the slow cooker.
2. Set cooker for 8-9 hours on low (I did 9 and it warmed for 3 and then shut off).
3. Around the end of the cook time, boil water and cook pasta
4. Serve with pasta

Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes

2011-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

My husband works with a lot of Taiwanese people and whenever they return from trips home they bring a variety of sweets to share with the office. One of everyone's favorites are these shortbread-like cookies stuffed with a pineapple paste. These treats are popular for the Chinese New Year but are available all year round.

After bringing them several times to the office, some of Joey's coworkers challenged him to try and make them. One coworker offered to translate a recipe for us to try. It turns out nobody ever makes these cookies. They buy these cookies. But now we were making these cookies. When the translation was done we compared it with a similar recipe online (there were seriously like 3 recipes online) and set off to the Asian market for some unusual ingredients.

At the store we found some winter melon. Later we learned that winter melon is just a stabilizer to help the cookie's filling last longer and could be left out of the filling. Winter melon is a bland melon that tastes like a cucumber but has a the texture of a watermelon. Either way, it wasn't obvious in the filling at all.

Pineapple cakes are kinda like fig newtons except there's really no flavoring in the butter crust and the pineapple filling is more sticky.

We had a ton of trouble with the recipe. There was the hunt for the maltose & winter melon (we used malt syrup actually which is kind of like corn syrup although we did see maltose we just decided against it). Our filling never got thick like they said it would, this probably due to the different maltose. But whatever the problem, we got some use out of the turkey baster and extracted all the liquid from the pan to artificially thicken our pineapple paste.

We had no issue with the dough part but we think that if you were going to make these and go a little nontraditional a little bit of almond extract would go a long way.

After a taste test of the ones we made vs. a packaged pineapple cake we purchased at the Asian market the difference is night and day. The packaged kind have a sticky filling and a dry outside. Our kind is sort of like a really delicious butter/shortbread cookie filled with a wet pineapple jam. I don't like the real version, but ours were delish!

We used this recipe. But in case it disappears for them web, reprinted here:

Pineapple Cakes

Makes 24 pineapple cakes.

Ingredients

2½ cups cake flour
⅛ teaspoon. baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons nonfat milk powder, passed through a fine mesh sieve
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup shortening
½ cup confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks
1 recipe Pineapple Paste (recipe follows)

Directions

Adjust oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and milk powder together in a medium bowl; set aside.
Place the butter, shortening and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolks and beat on medium-low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and beat until all of the flour has been absorbed, 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat 1 minute. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces and roll each piece into a 10-inch log. Wrap each log tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.
Cut each log into 12 even pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Use a tablespoon measure to divide the pineapple paste into 24 evenly sized 1-tablespoon balls.
Place a dough ball in the palm of your hand and flatten into a disk. Place a pineapple paste ball in the center of the disk, bring the edges up together and pinch shut. Roll between the palms of your hands until the seams are no longer visible. Press into 1¾-inch-wide square pineapple cake molds or gently shape into squares by hand.
Place the pineapple cakes 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, turning the cakes over once and rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking. Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool 10 minutes before transferring the cakes to the racks to cool completely.

Pineapple Paste

Makes 1½ cups pineapple paste

This pineapple paste is more intensely pineapple-y than the filling in commercial pineapple cakes. If a milder flavor is desired, reduce the amount of pineapple and increase the amount of diced winter melon by the same amount. Winter melon and maltose syrup can be found in most large Asian markets.

Ingredients

12 oz. (weight) peeled, cored, diced pineapple (from 1 pineapple)

1 pound, 4 ounces of peeled, seeded, diced winter melon (from about 2½ pounds winter melon wedges)
¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup maltose syrup

Directions

Place the pineapple in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until pureed, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, 18 to 20 pulses. Pour into a Dutch oven.
Place the winter melon in the food processor and pulse until very finely shredded, 20 to 22 pulses. Transfer to the Dutch oven.
Cook the combined mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the winter melon begins turning translucent, about 20 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the sugar, and cook until the mixture has thickened, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the maltose syrup and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is very thick, sticky, and uniformly light amber in color, 10 to 12 minutes.

Chili Baked Potatoes

2011-10-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

One of my friends told me about a canned chili called Dennison's 99% fat free Turkey Chili. When I went to the store I learned that Dennison also makes 99% fat free beef chili. I've never really compared chili nutrition labels before--but I did this time between beef chili with beans and 99% fat free beef chili with beans I was totally surprised by how much fat the former had! 2 grams of fat vs 16 grams of fat? I bought the 99% fat free.

Why did I even buy canned chili you ask? Well as you recall, earlier this week we attempted to make Everyday Food's Texas Red Chili planning to serve the leftovers on baked potatoes. Unfortunately, the resulting meat soup was not made for topping potatoes so in order to follow through with my dinner plans, I decided to buy the chili.

Dennison's 99% Fat Free Beef Chili get's both Joey's and my stamp of approval--a good topping chili but not good enough to just eat in a bowl for dinner.

Again being short on time I baked our potatoes in the microwave. Our microwave has a handy baked potato setting! I used it and it took about 11 minutes to bake our two giant potatoes. Meanwhile, I heated the chili in a pot on the stove and shredded a little sharp cheddar. Dinner was ready in 12 minutes and we were on our way to a relaxing Friday night at home.

Slow-Cooker Braised Shortribs

2011-10-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

When we got the ingredients to make the chili we had to buy more meat than we really needed. We had a little over a pound of short ribs left and the same with the chuck roast. Unfortunately, both chuck & short ribs are the kind of meat that you have to cook for lots of hours to make it delicious to eat and quite frankly, during the work week I don't have a bunch of hours for anything besides working and driving.

Luckily, this is where my old friend the slow cooker comes in handy. Recently I had a sad meal with the slow cooker that involved a power outage. Planned or not I did not think of it when I plugged the cooker in the morning and only realized something was wrong when I got home and it didn't smell like dinner; only to find a note on the door from the Gas Company that they turned the power off--at 10am.

I was a little hesitant to do a slow cooker recipe again because I was pretty sure there would be some freak situation in which a power outage would happen. It didn't happen! I got home and dinner was warm and still smelled delicious.

As it turned out these were good but not amazing--it needed something and I cannot place it. I only sort of followed an epicurious recipe from my phone because the original recipe called for mushrooms and I felt it didn't have enough flavor, plus I had 1/4 of the meat.

1.5 lbs bone-in short ribs

salt

1 picnic-sized bottle of merlot (or whatever red wine)

1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1/4 chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 bay leaves

3 carrots

1 T oregano

1. Salt ribs

2. Add all ingredients to the crock pot

3. Cook on low 9 hours

4. Be contented with a warm meal when you arrive home. This would be good on mashed potatoes or with dipping bread

Texas Red Chili

2011-10-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

This month's Everyday Food had a chili cook off in it between the editors. They all made vastly different chilis but only two of them really peaked my interest. So this week Joey and I decided to make one of these chili dishes and then use the leftovers for a second meal later in the week.

We chose Texas Red Chili. <--see picture? I think we can all agree that our Texas Red Chili was anything but red. In fact it was brown, and it wasn't thick like chili and it really had no texture at all. What some call Texas Red Chili, I might call beef & beef soup. I mean it was good beef soup--but it was like just meat. Meat Beef Soup. And it's not even spicy.

I don't know what we did wrong. We couldn't find the right dried peppers but we used a replacement that the internet said would work. Our blending wasn't perfect cause we don't have a real blender--just an immersion one. But even if those things worked for us I'm not sure this chili would've turned out any better.

So Martha, what'd we do wrong? If you need some really moist beef for say, meat soup, you should make this recipe and add a bunch of vegetables and maybe some barley and it will be delicious. (beef & barley soup!)

1 1/2 ounces dried guajillo chilis or California Anaheim chilis

1 chipotle in adobo sauce + 1 T sauce

1 lb boneless beef short ribs cut into 1 inch pieces (we stripped ours from the bone cause we couldn't find them boneless)

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

salt & pepper

1 T vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1 t cumin

1 t oregano

2 T cornmeal

3 3/4 C low-sodium beef broth

1 - 2 T white vinegar

Cheese, onions and yellow mustard for serving (yellow mustard seems weird but it actually tasted kinda good)

1. Place whole peppers in a pot and cover with boiling water. Weight down with a plate and let steam about 15 minutes until pliable. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Remove stems and seeds and set aside.

2. In a blender, blend reserved soaking liquid, chipotle & sauce, and dried peppers until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside

3. In a large dutch oven heat pot over medium high. Salt & Pepper short ribs and cook until browned about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Add oil to the bot and season beef chuck. Cook until browned about 5 minutes. Transfer to the meat bowl.

5. Reduce heat to medium, add onion, garlic and 1/2 C water and cook until translucent and fragrant scraping off bits from the bottom of the pan

6. Add spices and cornmeal and cook 1 minute.

7. Add meat, broth, chili puree and water to cover meat if necessary.

8. Cook 1 hour partially covered. Then remove lid and cook 45 minutes longer until slightly thickened. Add vinegar to taste and serve.

Frosted Red Velvet Brownies

2011-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

For his birthday, my brother-in-law requested cupcakes. I learned from my sister-in-law that red velvet would be a good choice. But my time was limited--so making anything from scratch was kind of impossible.

One of my friends told me about a recipe that makes cake mix really moist--you add a pint of ice cream to the mix and bake! So I looked it up online to see exactly what the recipe was. I found it on ABC.com but at that moment abc was having a little trouble with their advertisements and they were strobe-lighting across the side of the screen. I'm kinda into online advertising and distractedly left the site after trying to guess the problem with the ads.

So it is no surprise that when I went to the store and then later made the cupcakes that I didn't follow the directions at all and just mixed the ice cream and cake together--with nothing else. It was a really thick batter but it seemed fine. I baked them and they looked fine. I pulled them out of the oven and they deflated...a lot. So the end result was something kind of like brownies or really dense cupcakes. They were good--just not cupcakes.

Do you make ice cream? We do. So the thing is this recipe premium ice cream + cake mix totally made sense to me with no additional ingredients because premium ice cream has eggs, sugar, cream in it.

The REAL recipe calls for eggs in addition to the ice cream and cake mix. Apparently eggs are what make cakes rise. Who knew right? Well I want to make it another try at this cake because I think it really could be good--but probably I should've stuck with regular box mix this time since I was in such a rush.

The Real Recipe

1 box cake mix, any flavor

1 pint premium ice cream, any complimentary flavor, at room temperature

3 eggs

1. In an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients

2. Fill cupcake cups

3. Bake

4. Cool completely

5. Frost

*Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet ice cream is so delicious. I don't usually like ben & jerry's cause it's a little grainy and it always has so many strange combinations with so much stuff in them. But I was seriously regretting my decision to put that ice cream in the cake when I tasted it. If only I really had regretted it then I would've just made regular box mix cupcakes and this whole dense brownie red velvet cake mix wouldn't have happened. You live you learn. Try that ice cream!

Stir Fry

2011-09-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I used to make stir fry all the time when I was single. But Joey's not a huge fan of the stuff and it's dropped off my rotation mostly. However, I recently came into some chicken (buy one get one free*) and had a bunch of vegetables and dinner alone and decided stir fry was quick and easy and perfect for the weather.

My stir fry recipe is sort of throw together and make it up dish that I don't really revise much at all in the sauce but totally change in the ingredients. I started making stir fry in Austria when I was not yet a real cook and didn't have all the choices of ingredients that I do here--this version is a lot better but I can't necessary advertise my sauce as mainstream. But I love it!

*You can swap in any meat or vegetables that you have on hand but be sure to mix textures so that it is more interesting to eat.

Stir Fry for 2

1 t vegetable oil or the like

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 thinly sliced chicken breasts

1 handful rice noodles

1 bunch baby bok choy

1 tomato

1 skinny eggplant

1 bell pepper

1 squeeze siracha

1 1/2 T rice vinegar

1 squeeze deli mustard

1 t soy sauce (or to taste)

1. Chop all the vegetables and the chicken

2. Heat oil in a wok or medium frying pan over medium heat. Set a pot of water on a different burner and bring to a boil.

3. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant. Add and brown the chicken

4. Just before the chicken is brown add the eggplant and peppers and let them cook down

5. Cook the noodles according to directions about 5 minutes and drain

6. Mix the vinegar, mustard, siracha and soy sauce and set aside

6. Add the tomatoes and bok choy just as the chicken becomes cooked through

7. Once the bok choy is cooked to your favorite texture, add the noodles to the stir fry and mix together. Add the sauce and cook briefly until everything is well mixed and serve immediately.

Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

2011-09-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

I like the occasional enchilada but I find the meat filled ones to be rather dry when eating htem at restaurants, as a result I always order cheese. However, when it comes to making them at home I have already tried cheese and they weren't a family favorite even with the thick red sauce from the jar. These enchiladas looked to be worth a try, and they're relatively good for you two as long as you stick to the careful measuring.
This recipe is from Martha Stewart's blog. I completely followed the recipe although I didn't do the rue quite right and didn't get as thick of a sauce as I wanted. You should serve these with beans and salsa. I didn't serve them with beans but I thought it would've been a good idea, I served them with bok choy, wrong ethnicity? Yes. Good vegetable choice? Passable.

I really liked the chicken enchiladas. I mean they certainly aren't traditional in any sense, but they have a nice taste, moist chicken and a satisfying belly-feel after only two enchiladas. They are also a possible make-after-work dinner. I revised the recipe only slightly with spices, recipe reposted below so you don't have to navigate through M.S. yourself.

Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (3-4 oz each)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 minced canned chipotles in adobo
1 Tablespoon adobo sauce
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium fat free chicken broth
8 corn tortillas (6-inch)
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

Directions

In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. Add chicken. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes; remove skillet from heat. Let chicken steam, covered, until opaque throughout, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer chicken to a medium bowl; shred with two forks. Set aside.
While chicken is cooking, make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add flour, cumin, chili powder, adobo sauce, and chipotles in adobo; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 cup sauce to bowl with chicken; toss to combine.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in a double layer of damp paper towels; microwave until hot, about 1 minute. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture; roll up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, in baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce, and top with cheese. Bake until hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

The Broiler: A Love Hate Relationship

2011-09-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I made a quick marinade of one of those picnic-sized bottles of red wine, some chopped basil and a dash of salt and herbs de Provence. I threw in a slab of top round steak and called it a day--a day in the refrigerator that is. The plan was to come home, spend all my time making applesauce while the grill did the work on the steak.

But once again the grill failed to do it's part in the plan. It didn't heat up and seemed to run out of gas. I feel like we just bought said gas, but I suppose that could totally have been at the beginning of the summer...Anyway, because I was already making the applesauce and the meat was soaked in wine, I decided it was imperative to make the meat at home. So I called on the poor-man's grill, the broiler.

The broiler pretty much annoys me. I don't like how you are supposed to use a special pan. I don't like how hot it is and how close your oven mitt-clad hand has to get to the heat. I find the special pan a bit awkward to handle. Plus the texture of the food that comes from the broiler to me isn't perfect. On the other hand, it cooks really really fast.

10 minutes after discovering the faults of the grill, the meat was cooked and sliced. The applesauce was still cooking away on the stove. I thought the beef was not as firm as it would be when cooked on the grill but it is possibly the cut of meat.

You win again broiler.

P.S. The marinade needed some kind of acid like lemon or maybe a little oil. If you are a wine connoisseur you would love this marinade because it tastes like wine (surprise!)

S'mores Cupcakes

2011-09-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

S'mores are just the thing I look forward to every summer and then hardly ever eat. This summer was no exception. Just as September hit that s'mores craving was back with a vengeance. The problem is that September was already filled with desserts--caramel cake, strawberry shortcake, where was the room for s'mores? Finally it came. My sister & her family were invited for a birthday lunch. At first I was going to make some of the many recipes for s'mores bars but then I decided since this is a celebration it had to be cupcakes.

I browsed the web and thought about how to make a s'mores cupcake my way. I thought that maybe I could do a graham cracker crust like the oreo bottoms for cookie & cream cupcakes. A lot of the recipes for s'mores cupcakes though insisted on a graham cake but I just wasn't feeling it. I mean you can't use a mix for graham cracker cake. Finally I found a recipe that uses a graham cracker crust and loosely followed the directions--very loosely.

We wanted a marshmallow filling for our cupcakes and we thought we had it taken care of that but our method didn't work. We cut large marshmallows in fourths and placed them on top of the baked graham cracker and then poured the cake over it. In the oven, the marshmallows totally expanded and moved to the top and were basically undetectable when eating. So next time, I would do one of two things. 1. Spread marshmallow creme (preferably fluff) on top of the graham cracker crust. 2. Use a piping bag to fill cupcakes after they are baked (you take the tip and just stick it into the top and pipe and then frost the top. Next time. We thought that because we were missing the filling there wasn't as much of a delicious marshmallow flavor. So filling should be added!

S'mores Cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate cake mix and ingredients according to directions on the box

5 1/3 T butter, melted

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs, about 1 sleeve crackers

1/4 C sugar

Marshmallow cream, preferably fluff if you can get that brand

2 regular sized Hershey's bars, optional

6 regular sized marshmallows, cut in fourths (See note about how this doesn't work)

24 paper cupcake liners

1/2 C melted chocolate or extra marshmallow cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Prepare graham cracker crust by mixing sugar, graham cracker crumbs and butter in a bowl until combined. Press 1 T crust into the bottom of each paper liner.

3. Bake Crusts for 5 minutes. Cool

4. Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box

5. Spread a little marshmallow or some melted chocolate on the graham cracker crust and then place a marshmallow piece on it (but you may want to skip the marshmallow see note)

6. Pour cake batter 2/3 full in the paper liners

7. Bake according to directions and cool completely

8. When cupcakes are cool, spread a small blob of marshmallow creme on top, don't worry it won't spread easily but it will melt easily!

9. Wait a few minutes and you find the creme melted across the top of the cupcakes, place a square of chocolate on top for garnish

*These cupcakes only last for about 2 days once "frosted" with marshmallow creme. As they sit, the creme melts into the cake and drips off the side. You can, of course, re-frost them if you let them sit out, but that's a lot of work when you might as well just eat them.

Foodzie Tasting Box - August

2011-09-14T01:01:00.000-07:00

I promise I will post something in between the August & September tasting box. And from now on I will try to spread these out so you don't get cravings to buy expensive foodstuffs online all at once.

August

Gourmet Scooping Ketchup - This ketchup came in the size bottle you get at fancy hotels when you get breakfast in bed and they bring you jams for your toast. I had it on a hamburger and discovered it tasted a lot more like chili sauce than ketchup. The sauce had a real zing but it wasn't as good as the standard Heinz Chili sauce so I won't be buying it special. 4

Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate - As luck would have it, we just tasted this frozen concoction recently at the Serendipity cafe on the grounds of the Caesar's Palace hotel in Vegas. At the cafe, I thought the drink was just okay and a little overly sweet and grainy for my taste--kind of like some of the iced drinks at the Coffee Bean. We will probably try out this mix, but right now we're still aware of how it tasted in the wild and not interested in trying it again, even if it is famous.

Sweet Potato Chips, North Fork Potato Chips - I have not tried these yet but I plan to this week

Justin's Nut Butter Sampler - I have noticed Justin's peanut butter packets before at REI. I have noticed their jars of butter on grocery shelves too, wondering who would pay over $10 for a jar of peanut butter. The sampler pack included regular peanut butter, honey peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut butter and almond maple butter.

O. M. G. Two of these butters were the best I've ever tasted. The honey peanut butter was a nice mix of sweet and salty with a slightly crunchy texture even though it was a creamy variety. It's the kind of peanut butter you can tell is actually made from peanuts. However, compared to the maple almond butter the honey pb was nothing special. I've never had almond butter before but this one was so delicious I actually bought the jar within a week of tasting it. The texture was again a familiar nut crunch but the creaminess of creamy butter. The flavor was out of this world. This is pretty much the best nut spread I have ever tasted and I have joined the ranks of people who pay too much for peanut butter. The regular PB was not very sweet which I suppose is the point but I didn't really like it. The chocolate hazelnut butter was also not that sweet and had a bit of a bitter aftertaste. I am weary to even finish the remaining package of the hazelnut butter.

CHB: 3

MA: 10

HP: 9

P: 3

Marshmallow Crunch Bar - This was a huge rice crispy treat. Is there really much that can be done to improve a rice crispy treat? Is there really a reason to try and recreate this poor-man's delicacy? No, I don't think so. These are such a cheap dessert to whip up that it should be made that way every time---melt some butter and marshmallows, mix, shape eat. A great cooking project for home and a warm treat beats a plastic-wrapped one any day. 5

Nut and Herb Bar - These "healthy" bars are made nut/dairy/so free for all the allergy prone. I have not tried these yet but of the two bars we have already passed off one to our gluten free friend in hopes that he can find a new indulgence. I haven't tried one for myself yet.

Foodzie Tasting Box - July

2011-09-13T01:01:00.000-07:00

July

Fleur de sel Peanut Brittle - We have not tried this yet but it is on our list. This peanut brittle has a touch of sea salt and vanilla

Organic Olive Oil - This miniature bottle of olive oil has a future in ice cream, that dream has not yet been met.

Black Truffle & White Cheddar Popcorn - It took me a long time to eat this popcorn from the brand 479 degrees, but when I did I was totally hooked. The airy puffed corn is light in both calories and taste. The flavors were delicious and I was really satisfied with one bag and happy it was surprisingly low in calories. This product comes in lots of different flavors and is another one of those products that I would definitely buy again. It is on my list if I ever do indeed order from Foodzie. 9

Dried Cherries - I have not yet eaten these

Fennel Pollen Shortbread - Shortbread isn't my go-to dessert (it's chocolate chip cookies or ice cream for the wondering minds) so I haven't really been focused on this small box of cookies but apparently it is all Joey can do to keep his hands off it. These could be delicious and we will let you know when we try them

Organic Heirloom Emmer Farro - Farro is one of those fancy grains that is all the rage these days like quinoa. I haven't tried it yet. I'm worried that it will be tasteless to me like quinoa which everyone seems to adore. I'll try it next time I make some kind of grain salad. Joey won't touch the stuff so it will be all on me. It does say you can substitute with barley though so maybe I can make a vegetable soup

Foodzie Tasting Box - June

2011-09-12T01:01:00.000-07:00

June

Falafel Chips - I thought these were really good and a nice addition to hummus, they were crispy but not too flavorful without a dip. I also like eating them in the car not feeling like I was having a terrible snack. 7

Green Tomato Relish - This relish looks gross and tastes about the same. I tried to eat it with some pork we were having and found the flavor to be off-putting. I still have the condiment in my fridge wondering what to do with the rather generous jar. I am not generally a fan of sweet relish but I just thought this was too sweet and not as acidic as I hoped. 3

Blueberry Acai Gummies - The strong blueberry smell really turned me off of these gummy candies. Every time the bag was opened I was overcome by the scent. Needless to say, Joey ate all these. He liked them and continued to eat the bag even though the smell drove me crazy. 7

Spiced Almonds - I had a few of these almonds covered in a sweet and spicy spice rub but Joey really loved the, This is one of the few products we've gotten in a tasting box and immediately been interested in purchasing. They are from Glenview, IL where we happen to be traveling next month. Maybe we'll try to pick them up locally before buying online. 9

Coconut Oat Bar - this granola bar meats sweet treat was another traveler with us to Vegas--and back. We still haven't eaten it but I've been told that it's super sweet and can't be eaten in one sitting.

Miso Chocolate Brownie - This product unfortunately didn't travel well and came slightly melted, I'm really weird about packaging and so the melty-mess in the thick plastic sort of grossed me out. I won't be trying this brownie. We plan to send it to someone at Joey's work. While I think Joey would like it, he's not a fan of Asian foods in most circumstances

Foodzie Tasting Box - May

2011-09-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

For a few months now, I have subscribed to the gourmet tasting box from Foodzie. At first I got the free box on a guest pass, but then I continued to fork over the money for a new surprise box every month. I think the novelty in the box is both the idea of a care package every month and a taste of products I otherwise would not buy because I'd deem them too expensive just for a trial. However, with this box it's different. I really feel like I'm getting something neat, new and possibly delicious. Until I decide to cancel my subscription, I will be reviewing each box on this blog. I will list all the items but may not review them all until I have actually tasted the item. Sometimes I am not the only eater, in that case I will provide the other person's review as well.

Foodzie is a gourmet food site that provides people with a way to buy artisan and gourmet local products from around the US. The word artisan may mean to you expensive and yes, it is the same here, but the samples are nice because then you know before you buy.

May

The rating scale is out of 10, 10 being the best

Dried Pineapple - We took this with us to Las Vegas and brought it back again and still have yet to open the package, luckily it lasts forever

Traditional Alfajores - These are these little sandwich cookies with fillings. Joey ate these as I was turned off by the foil packaging. 7

Lemon poppyseed and almond biscotti - I actually gave this to my sister because I don't like biscotti and she is always eating individually wrapped foods when I see her, verdict unknown

Assorted Fresh Herb Sea Salts - I tried the rosemary sea salt on potatoes, I thought it was okay but didn't impart as much rosemary flavor as I would have liked. I am interested in trying the truffle flavored one but Joey is weary of this mushroom sounding delicacy. 4

Pure Southern Iced tea - I just made the basic iced tea and didn't add sugar as I'm not a big fan of sweet tea. I thought this was going to make too much tea so I saved it for a special event, then it only made 2 qts--smaller than the pitcher we have. I thought it tasted like regular iced tea and nothing more. 5

Classic Seaweed Snack - I also gave this to my sister and didn't hear anything. Then, I was at whole foods the other day and saw someone buying the same product so it can't be terrible, right?

Easiest Strawberry Shortcake

2011-09-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

For her birthday, Jenny requested strawberry shortcake for dessert. Before I got started, I quizzed her on what strawberry shortcake means to her. The answer was the biscuit like bottom with strawberries and a bit of whipped cream. I asked because it seems like people like a variety of desserts that they label strawberry shortcake--like angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream, or those little yellow cups they sell in the produce section at the grocery store, or even a full cake layered with strawberries in the middle and whipped cream spread around the top and sides like frosting.

Jenny luckily chose the easiest recipe of them all (except for the pre-made ones I guess) and since I was on the rebound from caramel cake & dinner for 9, I was happy to make something easy.

I ended up using this recipe from the food network. I also shortcutted with store-bought whipped cream. I was planning to add a little almond extract to the shortcake but completely forgot in the heat of the moment. I didin't exactly follow the directions but the shortcake came out fluffy but dense and really delicious with the sweet strawberries. And did I mention this recipe is a real cinch? If you were hanging out at home having just mowed the lawn and learned that your neighbors were dropping in for dessert in 40 minutes, you could make this dish and take a shower! It's that easy.

Strawberry Shortcake

1 1/2 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 C flour

2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

5 T sugar, divided (3 & 2)

1 1/2 C heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients and 2 T of the sugar stirring with a spoon. Add cream and stir until well combined.

3. Pour the batter into an 8x8 glass dish and spread the batter evenly with wet fingertips

4. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown or at least crispy on the top and browning on the edges and pulling away from the sides

5, Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries and place them in a bowl with the remaining 3T sugar (you may need less if your strawberries are really delicious. Cove the bowl and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 min but longer is better.

Once the shortcake is cool enough to handle slice into squares and serve sliced in half and stuffed with the strawberries and whipped cream.

Minnie's Caramel Cake - The Help

2011-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

I was browsing Tastespotting a few months ago and came across this delicious looking rendition of Minnie's Caramel Cake - a recipe discussed in the very popular novel The Help. I showed it to my friends and we decided to have a Help party - see the movie and then eat cake together and discuss it. All of us have read the book so it should be a fun conversation.

After comparing our schedules we were dismayed to have to wait almost an entire month to see the movie together. But today the day has finally come and this is the cake that is in our future.

I was nominated to make the cake since I am the only one among us that has a dedicated to food blog and I also have cake pans. I was pretty confident with the recipe and was sure it would be easy to bake.

It turned out that it was easy to bake but the hard parts were things that always present difficulty to me when it comes to cake - getting the cakes out of the pan, stacking them, and getting the frosting consistency correct.

I followed the recipe exactly although I nearly omitted the 1/2 C of oil when I felt like the cake batter was already wet enough (I ended up putting a little less in) and since I haven't tasted the cake yet I'm not sure if it mattered.

My one tip for when you make the recipe, is that when you make the caramel frosting you must use it immediately. So have everything ready to move. You may want to have a helper at this time. If the caramel glaze starts to thicken it will be hard to pour and you will be moved to re-heat it on the stove. Don't do this! It will become slightly grainy. Just work quickly and you will not come across the issue. If you fear your ability to work quickly you may want to split the caramel recipe and make half of it first and half of it second so that it doesn't get thick.

Fresh Tomato Soup

2011-08-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

My mom and her friend Moira have been making this fresh tomato soup at the height of the season for as long as I can remember. We've always had a surplus of tomatoes from my Grandpa's farm and this is one way to use lots. My mom never makes just one recipe, she doubles or triples the recipe and freezes the soup for a touch of summer in the cold winter months that follow.

The soup is very fresh tasting and really tastes like a bowl of tomatoes at the best time. I love the freshness and delicious flavors with a little Parmesan melted on top. If you have too many tomatoes, make this, you won't regret it.

Ingredients:

Blend these together in the food processor:
4 large carrots, peeled
4 stalks celery
3 medium onions

----------------------

1 green pepper, diced by hand
14 large ripe tomatoes, peeled
1/4 C. olive oil and 1/4 C. butter...or 1/2 C. olive oil
1/2 C. finely chopped fresh parsley (use food processor)
1 bay leaf
18 leaves fresh basil (more or less according to taste)
salt (according to taste), approximately 1 T.
freshly ground pepper to taste
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese - for serving

Directions
Heat oil (and butter) in heavy pan. Cook carrots, celery, onion, and green pepper in oil 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, and continue cooking over moderate heat 25-30 minutes. Stir in parsley, bay leaf, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes. Blend slightly with immersion blender. Serve hot, sprinkled liberally with Parmesan cheese. This recipe freezes well.

Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa

2011-08-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Last week the grocery store was having an amazing sale on pork. I was able to procure 3 center cut pork chops for the low low price of $2.50! Total! Even though I had just purchased pork, I got those chops anyway. The best part was that they were not even close to their date or anything, just a great sale!

After a few days of not really doing much cooking do to a ridiculous amount of leftover roast beef, I finally looked up recipes for my chops. A recipe from epicurious sparked an idea in my mind for a pineapple salsa match to my chops. In the end, I kind of made up the recipe and it was pretty delicious. I recommend this recipe to all you pork chop and pineapple lovers out there. And I suppose you might be able to use something like mango instead.

Ingredients

3 Center cut pork chops

salt

English prime rib rub or other favorite seasoning

2 limes

1 serrano pepper

1 pineapple

2 t olive oil

1. Chop your pineapple into bite sized pieces. Zest some lime into a bowl and add pineapple pieces. Chop the serrano pepper removing seeds and pith and add to the bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the pineapple. Stir and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.

2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

3. Salt and season the pork chops on both sides

4. Cook chops in the heated pan about 3 minutes per side until cooked through. After the first side is brown, add the zest and juice of your remaining lime.

5. In the last two minutes, add some of the juice from your salsa and some of the pineapple.

6. Serve warm with the pineapple salsa spooned over pork.

Pork Chops with Peaches & Whipped Potatoes

2011-08-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, I have made mashed potatoes that actually taste like mashed potatoes! I can not tell you how awesome this is. These potatoes are both easy to make and quick to make and also delicious. However, they do use olive oil instead of butter and the flavor of my particular olive oil is really distinct, but I still found these potatoes delicious.

The pork chops I bought were much thicker I guess than I was supposed to use because it took them far longer than six minutes to cook through. I also thought that that the peach topping was just okay and probably would've been better if it was a peach syrupy thing (like cinnamon apples) instead of just peaches and onions. However, those particular peaches were perfectly ripe and delicious regardless.

This recipe is from the Everyday Food Magazine, September 2011

Ingredients:

2lbs russet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1 inch pieces

salt & pepper

2 T + 1 t olive oil

1 C whole milk

4 bone-in pork chops (I only made two)

1/2 onion, diced small

2-3 firm but ripe peaches cut into wedges (nectarines or plums can be substituted)

Directions

1. In a large pot bring potatoes to a boil in salted water. Boil until fork tender about 8-10 minutes. Drain, return potatoes to pot. Mash with a potato masher until there are no big chunks. The method for mashing with a potato masher is to press and turn so that not only do you mash but you don't collect too much potato through the slits. When mashed to desired fluffiness, add milk and 2 T olive oil and whisk together. Add salt to taste and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in a large fry pan heat remaining 1 t olive oil. Add pork chops and cook until brown and cooked through about 6 minutes turning once (mine took at least 10 minutes). Remove from pan and keep warm on a plate.

3. In the same fry pan add onion and cook stirring occasionally until translucent. Add peaches and cook about 3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Serve peaches atop the pork and potatoes on the side.

Tamales

2011-08-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I attended an early morning tamale making class. The class wasn't in a kitchen, it was held in the dining room of a family Mexican restaurant in the Silverlake neighborhood. I was surprised when we arrived to find over 30 people attending the class.

Everyone sat around the restaurant with their bowls of pre-soaked masa and added ingredients and assembled tamales as instructed by the teacher. Tamale making is a 2+ day process normally because first you have to soak the masa in water, then you have to soak the corn husks in water and you have to prepare your fillings before you can even think about adding spices and starting the assembly and then it takes time to cook them afterwards. In order to fit the class into two hours, the restaurant staff did all the prep work ahead of time.

We sat down and massaged oil and spices into our masa making sure it was evenly distributed. Then we took one soaked corn husk and ripped it into strips (the ties) and we took the others and spread a very thin layer of masa all over. After that we placed a small bit--like 1 T of filling in the center and tried our hand at folding, rolling and tying the tamales. Then my friends and I had breakfast while we waited the additional hour and a half for the tamales to steam.

I had one of my tamales the next day and the other two later and while they were delicious, the workmanship was less than stellar (I have a picture but it is so gross looking I will spare you)--I would make them again but only if I had a whole bunch of friends with me and it was the fun of the making rather than the precision of the final product that mattered.

You have to try this

2011-08-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

It is tomato season. I love tomatoes from tomato season. They are sweet and juicy and totally different from your average store-bought tomato. The best ones come from my Grandpa's farm or from your average home-grower. Unfortunately, I can't get tomatoes from Indiana in CA, so I have to deal with the farmer's market instead--which is still delicious.

This time though I couldn't wait for the Farmer's market so I went to whole foods and paid the premium for mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes. Then I also bought some fresh mozzarella balls--I wanted burrata but was unable to shell out the $12 for it, so I stuck with this brand that was only about $4. I also purchased some lite rye wasa for the structure.

This is so delicious! The textures, the flavors the deliciousness. IF for some crazy reason you aren't a total tomato fan, don't try this. But for everyone else, make it now.

3 small balls fresh mozzarella (burrata preferred, buffalo approved)
2 sheets Lite Rye Wasa
1 small packet salt
1/2 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes or 6 slices fresh farm grown in season tomatoes

1. Slice cheese and place on wasa. Add sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Serve immediately. Repeat.

Pasta with Proscuitto and Orange

2011-08-16T01:57:00.000-07:00

Joey was playing around with this Epicurious ap the other day and decided to choose the ingredients next to each other alphabetically--orange and pasta. There were only a mere 6 recipes in the results, but one struck his fancy and we decided to give it a try.

The pasta recipe was quick and easy and really quite delicious. You could easily use a substitute for prosciutto and then this recipe would be cheap as well!

The orange added a nice fresh flavor and was not overpowering. I would make this again!

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange
12 ounces egg tagliatelle or fettuccine (preferably fresh)
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1" pieces
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until 1 minute before al dente, about 2 minutes for fresh pasta, longer for dried. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; sauté until browned, about 3 minutes.
Add reserved pasta water, orange juice, half of zest, and cream; bring to a boil. Add pasta; cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese and divide among warm bowls.

Marinated Flank Steak Tacos

2011-08-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

I bought some flank steak planning to make these kebabs with a spicy pepper sauce. But then I used the jalapeno and pasillo pepper in that chili I made earlier this week. I still had a serrano but I just wasn't into it anymore. The seasoning on that flank steak was nothing and so it was all riding on the sauce.

So instead I decided to make the Pioneer Woman's marinated flank steak for nachos--but then instead of nachos make tacos. I made this decision at the store days after reading the Pioneer Woman's recipe. I decided to change it a little and get a little Mexican beer for the marinade. In all honesty, I read somewhere about the beer in the marinade--reading that if you did a dark beer it would make the taste bitter. I wasn't positive this was in the pioneer woman's recipe but I hoped it was. It wasn't. I used it anyway.

Original Recipe

Revised recipe:

Ingredients

1 can chipotle peppers in adobe sauce

2 limes

1 Cup or so Mexican beer like dos equis but I definitely used an off brand

2 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed (Just smash them with a heavy pot and the peels will come off)

handful cilantro, stems & leaves

1 flank steak (about 2 lbs)

For Serving:

corn tortillas

salsa

onions

cilantro

cabbage

queso fresca

1. In a mini chopper or blender combine can of chipotles and sauce, garlic, cilantro and lime juice. Blend. Add beer (i didn't measure) and olive oil (i bet you could skip it cause you used the beer). Blend

2. In a large ziploc bag place the flank steak, place in 2 bags if you can get it to be all flat. Cover steak with the marinade and turn to coat. Close the bag. Place in the refrigerator all day or overnight (I made mine in the morning and cooked it about 12 hours later).

3. Preheat the grill to very high heat. Grill meat about 4 minutes per side for medium rare (unless your steak is thicker in the middle, if so a little longer). Chop into small pieces and serve as tacos with desired toppings.

Baked Italian Sausage

2011-08-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when we go to our favorite pizza parlor and we don't want pizza, Joey orders their Italian Sausage dinner. It's basically Italian sausage covered in sauce and cheese and baked in a hot oven. I've tried to replicate this recipe more than once but this time I think I could've been close--but I strayed and Joey noticed right away. On the other hand, I thought this was delicious if you weren't comparing it to Dino's.

If you want this to be more like Dino's do the following:

Use regular Italian sausage, use regular mozzarella, and add a little parmesan

Ingredients:

1 Package Italian Chicken Sausage (I got that new Open Nature brand from Vons that comes in a pack of 4)

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 T olive oil

8oz fresh mozzarella, sliced

2 t dried oregano

salt to taste

Pasta for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In an oven proof skillet heat, rub smashed garlic all over the pan, then throw the pieces in there. Add the olive oil and heat over med-high heat.

2. Add the sausages and brown all sides. Turn off the heat.

3. Pour in the entire can of crushed tomatoes, salt and oregano. Top with the cheese.

4. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

5. Serve with pasta

Flavorful Crock Pot Chili

2011-08-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't used the crock pot much recently. I might guess it's been almost a year! I went through a period where everything I made in it was bland and massive. Quantities for a crowd.

However, after a few disappointing days this week of having dinner plans and then long drives dashing those dreams, I decided the crock pot was the right thing for tonight.

So last night I did some searching around for a recipe I could make with the crock pot for tonight without going back to the store. I decided that I had everything to make a pot of chili--down to the cheese and the cilantro.

I searched the web and combined a couple of recipes to make my own. While the chili was a smidge salty it was really flavorful and I highly recommend it. I also think that it is extremely adaptable to your meat & bean preferences.

Flavorful Crock Pot Chili

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 14.5 oz can tomato sauce

2 t tomato paste

1/3 C chicken broth

1 1/2 T chili powder

1 t cumin

2 cloves garlic, papery skins removed, smashed

salt, to taste (salt more than you think for the crock pot but not too much. I can tell you that 1 1/4 T is too much, but only just)

1 pasilla pepper, chopped

1 white onion, chopped

1 jalepeno, chopped, half the seeds & pith removed

1 lb cubed beef, any variety (you could put 2lbs of beef in if you want more)

1 14.5 oz can beans, any variety (I used great northern)

2 carrots, shaved

shredded mozzarella, for serving

cilantro, for serving

1. Add all ingredients to a crock pot. Cook on low 9 hours (I did 9 but I bet 6-8 would work just fine, mine sat on warm for about 3 more hours due to timing and commute)

2. Serve with cheese and cilantro topping

Vanilla

2011-08-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

We made a complicated ice cream pie on the 4th of July. We made chocolate chip ice cream for that pie and it was good--but it wasn't amazing. It wasn't Fosselman's. So we set out to find out why. I started off by doing a little web research on the Fosselman's website and learned that they use Tahitian Vanilla to make that flavor. We couldn't imagine that that would make a difference but we wanted to try it anyway. After doing a few web searches and finding that Tahitian Vanilla is even more expensive than regular extract I put the project out of my mind.

Surprisingly, Joey did not. And on my birthday, I opened a damp amazon box with a few gifts soaked in Tahitian Vanilla. A little rough handling managed to shatter a bottle of the delectable ingredient soaking everything in its path. I smelled like vanilla for days.

Luckily the good people at Amazon understood their folly and sent us 3 new bottles of vanilla and we didn't even have to return the two that survived! Now just 5 jars of vanilla richer, we decided to set out on our quest and try to make the chocolate ice cream.

We followed the same directions as our first batch with the only difference being the Tahitian vanilla vs. Pure Vanilla Extract standard, usually Madagascar. Luckily, since ice cream lasts forever (unless you eat it all) we had some of the original batch left to compare.

The results floored us. The two ice creams taste completely different. The original chocolate chip ice cream tastes like your average one. The one with the Tahitian vanilla is almost a bit sweeter with a strong vanilla flavor but not the kind of vanilla you've been having all your life--a new kind of taste that's really hard to place. That Tahitian vanilla is definitely the Fosselman's missing flavor. We think that they use a tad more of the stuff though, and next time we'll add a bit more. We kind of want to make a bunch of plain vanillas now. We never want to make vanilla.

The Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2 C half & half

1 C cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 C sugar

3 t Tahitian Vanilla (this makes the difference in it, but if you want plain jane vanilla then use it)

3 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate finely chopped

3 T vodka, optional (for softening)

Ice Bath

1. In the top of a double boiler heat half & half over simmering water until steaming.

2. Meanwhile, separate eggs and whisk the yolks. Whisk the sugar in with the eggs.

3. When the half & half begins to steam pour half of it into the egg mixture slowly and whisk vigorously so that the eggs don't cook.

4. Pour the egg mixture into the remaining half & half and cook stirring about 10 minutes or until custard coats the back of a silicone spatula and when you run a finger through the spatula the line stays.

5. When the custard is done place the pan in an ice bath and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

6. Pour the custard into a container and add vanilla and cream. Stir and refrigerate until cold, 6 hours or overnight.

7. When your custard is cool, add vodka if using and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufactures instructions, about 20 minutes. In the last minute of churning add the chocolate chips trying not to poor them directly on the dasher. Either eat as soft serve or store in a container in the freezer to harden.

Makes 1 quart

Citrus Marinated Blade Steak

2011-08-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

I was planning on making marinated steak for dinner last night, but I forgot/didn't have any time in the morning to get the marinade prepared. So, I settled for a 20-minute marinade while the potatoes did most of their cooking knowing the thin blade steaks would take hardly any time at all on the grill.

I prepared a marinade loosely based on one I found on my Epicurious app while I was walking to the car from the office. The marinade calls for soy sauce which my husband insists he doesn't like and can taste a mile away, so I omitted it and instead used Worcestershire sauce and some actual salt. I think the marinade really did take and the thin steaks were pretty delicious--although possibly slightly overcooked. (Timers, I need to remember to set them)

Citrus Marinade

scant 1/4 C olive oil

zest of 1 orange

juice of 1 orange (it can be the same orange but be sure to zest before juicing)

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon (same as above)
1 T balsamic vinegar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

dash salt

1/2 t dried cilantro

dash pepper

thin steaks

1. Add all ingredients to a gallon sized ziptop bag. I found the best way to do this was to stand up the bag in a strainer type bowl (it was on the drying rack) with high sides, that way you don't mess up a dish!

2. zip the bag and shake around to combine.

3. Reopen the bag and drop in the steaks in the same size pieces you want to cook them in, zip the bag and move the meat around to coat.

4. Let sit 20 minutes or more, as long as overnight, turning occasionally so that all sides get coated.

5. Heat the grill, remove steaks from bag directly to the grill and grill until done, turning once. Serve with crispy roasted potatoes.

Citrus Roasted Chicken

2011-08-07T01:04:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night I was going to make a complicated roast chicken recipe--but I never got around to it. Instead we went out and had Mexican due to some crazy indecision. But I would not let the chicken go to waste!

So Monday after work, I decided I'd make the chicken. Chicken only takes about an hour and a half to bake which sounds long but is really quite comparable to the time it takes to choose, drive to and order at restaurant. The problem was that this recipe wasn't a simple salt & pepper throw it in the oven chicken. This recipe had some chopping, a brushed on handmade marinade, the inside cavity stuffed. It was for all intents and purposes complicated to prepare the bird.

I adapted this recipe from what my sister in law calls the "best turkey she's ever had in her life." recipe. I might have taken a lot of shortcuts or I may have followed the recipe, but it was hard. In the end the chicken tasted like it had a bit of a citrus glaze, it was moist even in the white meat and it looked kind of pretty.

Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken

2 T butter, melted

2 lemons, zested and thinly sliced

1 whole chicken, about 4 lbs

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

1/4 C honey

1/8 C lemon juice

salt & pepper

1 onion, cut into cubes

4 celery stalks, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2-3 bay leaves

1 small bunch thyme, tied

4 tiny apples or 1 large, cut into wedges

1 orange, cut into wedges

1/8 C orange marmalade

1. Stir together butter and zest. Attempt to separate the skin from the breast and legs area. Spread the butter-zest mixture under the skin, arrange lemon slices and then pull the skin back into place.

2. Mix together vinegar, honey and lemon juice, set aside

3. Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Brush the honey mixture all over the turkey and inside.

4. Preheat the oven to 425.

5. Spread the vegetables and spices on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the chicken, breast side up on top and tie the legs.

6. Stuff the cavity with apples, oranges and leftover lemon. Arrange the rest in the pan. Drizzle the rest of the honey mixture all over the pan

7. spread the orange marmalade on the top and sides of the chicken.

8. Bake at 425 for an hour & a half or until the juices run clean and the proper temperature is reached.

9. Serve with the vegetables from the pan now covered in chicken grease.

We had dinner at 8:30, not so bad actually.

Fresh-ish Tomato Sauce

2011-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to try my hand at a saucy fresh tomato sauce using tomatoes from the farmer's market for tonight's dinner. The problem is that most fresh sauces take at least 45 minutes and I figured that would make for another too-late dinner. So I searched the internet and discovered a recipe for 15-minute tomato sauce. I was sold!

This did not take me 15 minutes.

I think it took about 8 minutes to get the tomato skins and seeds off. Beware, when you squeeze the tomatoes out to rid them of their seeds it sounds like you're kissing someone. So make it clear your method before the madness starts.

Then I did the rest of the steps and I couldn't get the sauce part to thicken. Meanwhile I defrosted some meat in the microwave and browned it to add it to the sauce. Once I decided I'd tried thickening for long enough, I added the tomato pulp back in, some spices, half a can of canned tomato sauce, some tomato paste and some spices. The pasta was ready then and I decided to serve instead of waiting in hope it would thicken. The flavors were all there but the sauce was a little runny...we had to eat some of the pasta with our spoons.

Fresh-ish Tomato Sauce

~1lb fresh tomatoes of any variety, I used roma but then I realized I should've purchased those damaged tomatoes they sell, whatever.

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt to taste

1/2 cup fresh basil

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t tomato paste

1/2 14.5 oz can tomato sauce

1/2lb lean ground beef or turkey

Pasta for serving

1. Heat water in a large pot until hot. Meanwhile, cut x's in the bottom of your tomatoes. When you're done drop the tomatoes into the hot water. Let sit about 30-40 seconds. Remove the tomatoes without draining the water and rinse under cold water. Peel the skins off from the crosses and cut the green crow out with a sharp knife. Squeeze the tomatoes into the sink to extract some of the juice and the seeds. Repeat.

2. Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and smash with a potato masher to break up big chunks. Add a good dose of salt. Let cook 2 minutes or so over medium heat until the pulp separates from the juices.

3. In another pan, begin to brown the meat over medium heat, breaking up into small chunks.

4. Remove the pulpy tomatoes from the sauce with a slotted spoon to a bowl, set aside. Cook the sauce until it thickens about 2-3 minutes. If it doesn't thicken, just go to step 6 anyway.

5. Bring your same large pot of water to a rolling boil and add a large dose of salt. Add pasta and cook according to package directions

6. Add the pulpy tomatoes, browned meat, oregano and salt back to the sauce pan. Add tomato sauce and paste as well. Give it a nice stir and let it cook until the pasta is done. If you're lucky, it will thicken. In the last minute before serving add the basil to the top of the sauce and let wilt in the heat.

7. Serve sauce over pasta

Bratwurst & Apples

2011-08-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Don't you just hate how hot dogs & buns don't come in the same size packages? Even ballpark buns made by the same brand that packages the dogs refuses to put the same number of dogs as buns in a package. Someone needs to get on that and change the world.

So last week we had hotdogs, we bought buns. Then we had leftover buns when the hotdogs were gone. So, I brought some bratwurst. Bratwurst, to be totally annoying, comes in packs of 5. So now all of a sudden we happened to have the perfect amount of buns for the bratwurst. Then, I was grilling up 2 bratwurst and I looked at the buns to put them on the grill and discovered they were moldy. So we ate bratwurst sans buns that night, but we still had two brats left! There was no point in buying more buns.

So tonight I decided to make a little apple/bratwurst saute. I accidentally cooked the apples too long so it was more like bratwurst and apple mash, but I thought the flavors were good and perfect with the steamed aka roasted potatoes.

There's not much to the recipe but I'll lay it out here in case you find yourself in a similar situation on buns.

2 bratwurst (or whatever sausage you have on hand), sliced into coins

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t chili powder

3-4 small apples, cut into equal chunks

1/4 C chicken broth

1. Heat the broth over medium heat. Add apples and cook for 3 minutes or until starting to soften and brown. Add spices to taste and stir with apples. If the apples are cooked try to push them to the side a bit.

2. Add sausage and cook until browned on all sides and cooked through. Add more spice to taste. Serve warm.

Dragonfruit

2011-08-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

California has year-round farmer's markets filled with fresh produce. We're already lucky to be able to get stuff that the Midwest sees only some months throughout the year; but I always leave wanting more.

I yearn for a farmer's market like they must have in Hawaii, with oodles of tropical fruits--50 different kinds of mangos, 10 varieties of bananas, tropical fruits I've never tasted.

At this week's farmer's market just that happened. I was browsing the market at tortoise speed (nobody ever seems to be in a hurry in Santa Monica) and I spotted something new. Dragonfruit. It was sort of expensive at first glance, but then the guy game a 3 for $5 deal. I think it's pretty obvious that he didn't grow these himself, but I guess there's the possibility that he did...

I looked up some dragonfruit information on the interwebs and learned that lots of people think it tastes a little like kiwi. I also learned how to cut it and that the flesh can be either purple or white!

I thought that this dragonfruit tasted like peppery kiwi, in a good way. It is definitely my favorite fruit but I think it tops the charts for different and fun!

"Roasted" Potatoes

2011-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

I spied a recipe online recently for roasted fingerling potatoes that used chicken broth in lieu of any oil. I thought I'd give it a try tonight. Before making them, I discussed the possible outcomes with a friend. We decided that the potatoes would likely be flavorful and moist but not crispy.

That's exactly what happened. I hate to even call these roasted. They are more steamed but in the oven. I thought the flavor was great though--a little garlic, some rosemary--some of the best steamed potatoes I've ever had. They're also pretty healthy for you as far as potatoes go.

Ingredients:

12 oz new potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces or so (this was 3 potatoes for me and we ended up with about three half cup servings)

1/2 C fat free reduced sodium chicken broth (the real recipe calls for 1 C broth separated because they claim the broth will steam off, this didn't happen for me so I used half)

1/2 t salt (I actually used a rosemary salt instead of using rosemary & salt)

1 T rosemary, dried

1/2 t pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 400. In a small oven-safe dish with higher sides mix potatoes, and all other ingredients (but only 1/2 cup of broth). Arrange potatoes in one layer on the bottom of the dish. Bake 15 minutes, check to see if the broth steamed off and if so add another 1/2 cup. Stir to flip the potatoes. Bake an additional 15 minutes until fork tender.

Carmela Ice Cream

2011-08-03T01:33:00.000-07:00

At last week and this past week's farmer's markets in Burbank a cute little ice cream truck has parked itself across from the berry seller. The blue truck has a chalkboard sign set out in front and a cherry ice cream man calling out about free samples from the window.

Sure, the farmer's market is before noon on Saturday morning, but what kind of morning is complete without a little bit of ice cream? Previously I have always been able to resist the frozen yogurt samples at the market, but Carmela caught me, and reeled me in.

Carmela Ice Cream is a shop in Pasadena. I've never seen it nor heard of it but that's mostly because when we are in Pasadena and thinking of ice cream we're headed to our favorite Fosselman's. However, now might we think twice?

I sampled the salted caramel ice cream and the brown sugar vanilla. Both were great, a distinct but light flavor, huge creaminess although a little icy on the vanilla--but remember, it's just an ice cream truck in less-than-ideal conditions. The store probably has totally different results. There are all sorts of flavors offered from the truck and all of them original. They also serve ice cream sandwiches, which, lets be honest is what i really wanted to try. But as I said, it was still Saturday morning. If only Carmela attended the Santa Monica market which takes place from 8-2pm, now that would be perfect for dessert!

The other problem with me and samples is that if I have one I inevitably buy a product. Especially if an actual human bean is handing them out looking at me expectantly. The first Saturday I saw the truck I was able to get out of purchase by telling them I'd come back after I finished my shopping. The second time though I was an immediate lost cause. I bought the brown sugar vanilla in the tiny little container for $3. It was kind of expensive, but I'm hoping it will be worth it as a nice treat with some blackberries and raspberries throughout the week.

Next time you're at the market or in Pasadena, give the place a try.

Graeter's Ice Cream

2011-08-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

As many of you surely know, my brother in law and his family are major ice cream connoisseurs. They traveled far and wide to find the best ice cream made and they finally settled on a favorite, outsourced from Ohio, Graeter's.

Until recently, you could only obtain ice cream from this legendary ice cream purveyor if you lived in Ohio or via mail in an ice packed cooler delivered straight to your door.

While ice cream delivery does sound pretty awesome, it is really quite a treat and you can't have it when you want it, you have to wait. Now Kroger & Ralph's stores have started to carry the ice cream! Through a chain of family and friends, my sister learned this news and rushed to the store to buy every flavor they had. She then surprised her husband with an ice cream extravaganza. Later that weekend, I stopped by to give the ice cream my taste test.

Graeter's is known for it's special way of adding chocolate to it's ice cream. Instead of mixing in chips, they add melted chocolate to the end of the churning process giving the ice cream a bit of a chocolate layer that you hit with every deep scoop of the scooper. The method is similar to the Italian Stracciatella method except that it doesn't break down as much as the stracciatella does.

Because they are well known for their chocolate method their flavors all seem to have chocolate in them--even flavors you wouldn't expect working together with chocolate. But somehow they make it work. Graeter's delivers a creamy ice cream with the interesting chocolate crunchy layer and a huge variety in flavors (unless you don't like chocolate of any kind and then there is no variety), I particularly enjoyed the coffee chip and the black raspberry ice creams. I also really liked the packaging and had I seen it in the store without background probably would've purchased it on that alone.

Snoqualmie Ice Cream

2011-08-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

It was hot this weekend. I decided to go shopping in the middle of the hot day. Bad idea. I ended up with some new yogurt drinks, some cold milk, some stuff I actually needed and cherry limeade. And then, while I was spending some time browsing the frozen section for something reasonably healthy that we could keep around the house for emergency dinners (aka nobody feels like cooking or leaving the house), I spied some ice cream I've never heard of...on sale.

Remember, it was hot, and ice cream sounded like a swell idea! So I went over to the freezer to check it out. Snoqualmie Ice cream. That name, snoqualmie came back to me from my days spent in WA during college. That name reminded me of mountains and lush landscapes and snow. Oooh so cold! What a delight.

The flavors were varied but the actual containers few. Honey Cinnamon Custard, Mukilteo Mudd Ice Cream, Caramel Gingersnap Gelato--all three a different type of frozen dessert. How to choose, how to choose? Somehow I ended up with Honey Cinnamon Custard. I'm 99% sure it was due to the Custard ending. Frozen custard is up there on the list with stuffed spinach pizza of foods I miss the very most from life in the Midwest.

Against my better judgement, I left the store with ice cream in hand. I had a spoonful to give it a taste late in the evening. It was soft and very cinnamony. The rich and creamy layers of milky goodness stay with me even hours after my first spoonful. It was seriously delicious. If you see the cute little cabin in the snowy woods on your next trip to the store. Buy it. And let me know which flavor is best!

Master Chef

2011-07-31T20:21:00.001-07:00

Recently I have been watching the episodes of Master Chef piecemeal on Hulu. I'm kind of into the show, I have to admit. I am not sure if it is the drama of it all or more the amazement to me that these home cooks--most of whom look like just average people, have such a range of cooking skill without cooking schooling (for the most part).

I could not be a master chef. I just don't have that skill set. Even if my somehow amazing made-up signature dish had gotten me in on the first round, I'd have been out during the apple slicing challenge--my cutting skills--knife or scissors have never really progressed to adult master cutting level. I really can't get even cuts throughout an entire apple. If you think, sure you can, what about all those fancy looking pies with even sliced fruits that you put here on your blog, I guarantee you that you can thank my husband for that. He cuts and cooks with precision. If the recipe calls for 1 inch chunks Joel does that even so far as to pull out a ruler. Me though? I guess what 1 inch might look like and then cut up the item every which way in sometimes one inch chunks.

But after that initial challenge things really got crazy. The usual thinks from cooking shows happen, where the contestants are given a bunch of crazy ingredients and have to make something of it. Or they're given a normal ingredient like pork butt but then they have to cook it in a measly 60 minutes. But that is not my main issue with being a contestant. My problem is that I don't know how to make anything without a recipe. Sure I can whip up a stir fry, and I might be able to recall a crepe recipe or even a batch of chocolate chip cookies--and I'm pretty sure I could make some ice cream...but that's about where I draw the line on cooking without a recipe.

In one challenge, the contestants had to make a cake. A cake? From scratch? So I understand that the cake mixes just house all the dry ingredients like baking soda, powder, flour, sugar and cocoa, but I don't know the measurements. I do not know how to make a cake from scratch, I've never really tried it to be honest. Raise your hand if you have? Could you do it again without a recipe? Do you have a signature cake? And also, in that episode not one person made a chocolate cake! Chocolate cake is the best kind of cake.

So anyway, even though I am in no way shape or form master chef material, I still like to cook for my friends and family and will keep on going. I might even try to make a cake from scratch. But next time you had me a box of live lobsters...well, I think I might give it right back.

Honey Glazed Carrots

2011-07-14T23:20:00.001-07:00

Some people have the right vinegar for every recipe. They stock cabinets and cabinets full of every imaginable kind for just each situation. I am not one of those people. I always scoff at the price of vinegar and decide I'll just use the one I have, generally it works out for me and this was no exception.

On Wednesday I got the season's last carrots at the Farmer's market. These adorable baby carrots looked weathered and tired but were still crisp and orange. I threw them in my bag and brought them home for dinner. It was a nice variety to have carrots instead of the other vegetables I've been eating.

Since I was going to be making some thin boneless pork chops, I didn't want to oven-roast my carrots. While searching for another cooking method, I came across Martha's recipe for Honey-glazed carrots. These have my husband's stamp of approval even though I may have strayed from the recipe, especially with the vinegar part...

Original Recipe

Ingredients:

1 bunch baby carrots, tops removed, cut the big ones in half lengthwise

scant 1/4 C honey

1/2 C water

2 T cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1 pat butter

1 T vegetable oil

Directions: (oh yeah, and I totally didn't follow these either, go figure).

1. Heat oil in a medium fry pan with lid over med-high heat. Add carrots and toss once cook until starting to brown, about 2 minutes.

2. Add honey, water, vinegar and salt & pepper. Cover and cook 10 minutes until crisp tender.

3. Remove lid and cook until there is barely any liquid left and it looks kind of like a syrup. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter and more S&P to taste. Cover until ready to eat!

Asparagus Grill Packets

2011-07-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided to whip up some tri-tip on the grill. To round out the meal I found some sub-par asparagus in the fridge that we had last week. I decided on a whim to make it into a grill packet and grill it in foil along with the beef. I think the result was fantastic. The asparagus was smokey and crispy in parts where the foil burned off (we had a few fires in the grill) and had a nice flavor and was cooked perfectly. I highly recommend this method. Joey says turn back now.

Asparagus Packets

Ingredients

1 large sheet foil, folded into a boat of sorts

1/2 bunch asparagus, broken in half, hard stems removed

olive oil

Lemon pepper

salt

1. Fold the foil like a boat so there are sides. Toss in asparagus, olive oil, lemon pepper and salt to taste.

2. Wrap up the asparagus so there are no holes in a packet.

3. Throw it on the grill for about 15 minutes (or less) until you think it is thoroughly cooked

4. Serve immediately

New Product: Siggi's Icelandic Yogurt

2011-07-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

I recently read about Icelandic yogurt somewhere and how it is really thick. It sounded interesting so when I happened to notice it over at Henry's I thought it was a must buy!

The awesome packaging was really the reason though, I mean white cup sort of IKEA ish, looks all natural--has a little tab to remove the paper wrapper so you can recycle the cup and wrapper separately...

Unfortunately, the taste, texture and flavor of this yogurt did not match the aforementioned awesome packaging. Honestly, one bite was enough for me. The texture was grainy and way too thick for yogurt--more like something between dense ricotta and whipped cream cheese. The other problem was that the flavor just wasn't there. The yogurt was pinkish and screamed "I'm mixed berry" but it only had the slightest hint of flavor of any kind, not sweet at all, very similar to plain yogurt except less sweet. This yogurt was not my cup of tea at all, and while Joey was able to finish it I don't think he really liked it either. The other flavor we bought may have a permanent place in our fridge now. But if you like super thick, grainy and sour yogurt, this is for you!

I wonder what an Icelander thinks of yoplait?

Double-Layer Ice Cream Pie

2011-07-05T01:41:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July this year we made double-layer ice cream pie. Some said it was the best ice cream pie they've ever had--even with Fosselman's! This is quite an achievement for us! Our pie had an oreo cookie crust, a hot fudge layer, a layer of chocolate chip ice cream, and finally a layer of English toffee ice cream. We were planning to serve it with hot fudge on the side but we forgot when it came to serving. But it would be a nice decadent touch!

This time we used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for hot fudge but as many of the comments suggested had a lot of trouble with separation after the fudge cooled so we followed a commenter's suggestion and added a bit more sugar and water and folded the mixture and when it cooled it was actually a great consistency for spreading on pie--don't know about pouring on ice cream but we have enough to try! The fudge was not that sweet even with the additional sugar which was a nice contrast to the ice cream.

The oreo cookie layer was a little thicker than we normally make it but it came out of the pan well so it was fine. The English toffee ice cream was a bit of a stronger flavor but the chocolate chip added a nice contrast. This pie was pretty delicious.

To assemble:

1. Press oreo crust into a buttered glass pie plate. Freeze until set.

2. Spread the hot fudge over the oreo crust and freeze until set.

3. When crust and fudge is set, scoop and spread just less than 1 qt ice cream into the shell. Work quickly so it doesn't melt and freeze immediately when it is finished.

4. When the first layer of ice cream is firm so that ice cream can be spread on top of it, usually 2 hours, spread about 3/4 quart of ice cream over the top, trying to mound in the summer to look like a full pie.

5. Freeze and serve.

English Toffee Ice Cream

2011-07-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Joey loves the English Toffee Ice Cream he gets from our favorite ice cream shop Fosselman's. This weekend we decided to embark on a hands on project of an Ice Cream Pie for 4th of July dessert. As we have done twice before, we make all the ingredients homemade for our ice cream pies which makes them pretty time consuming. This time was no exception and we decided to go all out and make a double layer pie with two different ice creams. We chose English Toffee Ice Cream--which proved to be a really hard flavor to find a recipe for; and chocolate chip which tastes a little too vanilla-y but we aren't sure why. Fosselman's, we want to recreate your chocolate chip too! We'll just have to get a job there...

Anyway, after much searching we found a recipe for Butter Toffee Ice Cream. I guess technically this would be more of a butterscotch but it was the closest we could come. Thinking about it anyway, I looked up toffee recipes and they called for basically cooking brown sugar, so adding brown sugar to our custard I surmised would help make that toffee like background to the ice cream.

After lots of waiting and the churning I found this ice cream to be absolutely delightful. I love the caramely toffee background and the hint of cookie dough (aka brown sugar). The toffee bits mixed in add a nice texture and more flavor. This may be my new favorite! The original recipe that we borrowed this from calls for a dulce de leche swirl and if you are so inclined I bet that would make a lovely addition!

English Toffee Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 pinch sea salt

4 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we used 1 t double strength vanilla)

3 Skor or Heath candy bars, finely chopped (we used Skor)

3 T vodka, optional

1. In the top of a double boiler heat 1 C heavy cream, 1 C milk, sugars and salt until sugars have dissolved and mixture is steaming.

2. In a small bowl whisk eggs together until combined.

3. Poor a small bit of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk vigorously to avoid scrambling the eggs. This is a good job for two people! When you are sure the eggs have been tempered, poor the mixture back into the top of the double boiler. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Cook custard until thick and coats back of a spoon, about 10 minutes stirring constantly. You will feel the thickness change as you stir.

5. While the custard is cooking prepare an ice bath (ice and water in a bowl large enough to hold the pan, and that won't crack with the heat/cold).

6. When custard is cooked, remove immediately to the ice bath (watch out! there's water on the bottom of the pan! Don't drip it on your toes)

7. Let cool, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is room temperature, poor it into a container and add the remaining 1 C cream. Refrigerate for a few hours until completely cold.

8. Churn mixture in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. In the last minute of churning add Skor or Heath pieces.

9. After churning is completed, scoop ice cream into a container and add vodka if you so desire. The vodka is supposed to keep the ice cream from becoming too hard--but if you are serving it to children or pregnant women just omit this step and take the ice cream out of the freezer 5-10 minutes before you serve it.

Buttermilk Pie

2011-06-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night I found myself with a little extra time on my hands. I think it's because we made dinner at home and that dinner was quick and easy requiring the use of only a few dishes. So, I pulled a roll of pie crust from the freezer before I started on dinner and set it out to thaw.

Buttermilk pie. I read about this southern treat on the Homesick Texan blog back around Easter time. At the time, we were baking up a storm and I couldn't really think how to fit in buttermilk pie so I didn't do it.

However, once again I was left with some extra buttermilk after using it in a recipe. I know there are substitutes for buttermilk but I am partial to the real thing. I had already made biscuits, the zucchini bread and now I still had more remaining. So buttermilk pie it was.

I must say I was a little nervous about this pie. I didn't want it to just taste like buttermilk. I read that it was a super sweet custard pie--not to be confused with a cream pie, custard is thicker.

This pie was a cinch to whip up taking only a few minutes to come together but then an hour to cook. I thought the flavor was delicious and the smell of it baking was outstanding. My husband brought the rest of the pie to work and everyone loved it. I would make this again if the right situation presented itself...as it is I still have some buttermilk I could use...

I followed this recipe from NPR, I used the regular version and didn't think it was that sweet. I also added a dash of nutmeg.

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour, plus a little for dusting

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 1/2 cups buttermilk for less sweet version)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

3 eggs (or 4 eggs for less sweet version)

Beat eggs slightly with a fork and add sugar and flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Then add melted butter and mix well. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix. Add a dash of nutmeg if you are so inclined.

Dust the unbaked pie shell with a little bit of flour. Pour batter into shell, and then sprinkle a little more flour on top. (oops I did not do that and it turned out fine)

Bake at 325 degrees until the custard is set, approximately 1 hour. The custard will shake a little but if you push a butter knife in the middle it will come out clean. Also, there will be a nice bit of browning on top. I let the pie cool slightly and then had a slice. Then I covered and chilled it for the coworkers the next day.

Pan Seared Pork with Potatoes

2011-06-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

Everyday I receive an email from Martha Stewart with a recipe for dinner and most of the time they are something that I wouldn't be making at home like Thai rice bowls or some no cook salad or soup. However, this last week I received a recipe for Pan Seared Pork with Potatoes and that sounded easy and quick, so I put it on my list.

After reading the recipe later I discovered that it called for pork tenderloin. Now don't get me wrong, I like pork tenderloin, it's just that it is really expensive. So I decided to use the thin boneless pork chops for this recipe instead. When I went to the store to get them, I forgot to consult my list and did not come home with the scallions the recipe called for. No bother, I added a bit of regular onion and it worked out fine. There are lemons included in this recipe and after cooking I ate the whole lemon slice--peel and all and it was delicious.

I couldn't believe how fast and easy this recipe was. I am always under the impression that potatoes aren't really very easy to make for a week night meal--but this hardly took 30 minutes in total. And, the best part was that my husband gave his stamp of approval on the meal!

So maybe I didn't follow Martha's directions, but let me tell you what I did:

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

4 thin boneless pork chops

3/4 pound of thin-skinned red or white potatoes (I used these cool ones from the market that were purple & white skinned but just white inside), cut into 1 inch cubes

2 T yellow onion diced small

salt & pepper

1 lemon

2 T olive oil

1/2 C water

Directions

1. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large skillet (you will need a lid later) over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, salt & pepper to taste and cook until lightly browned.

2. Add water and cover, cooking for five minutes or so until the potatoes are fork-tender and liquid has evaporated.

3, Add the onion and cook quickly until slightly soft

4. Remove potatoes and onion from pan and keep warm (I placed them in a bowl in the microwave)

5. Heat the remaining 1 T olive oil in the same skillet. Add pork and cook until browned and cooked through--about 2 minutes a side.

6. Meanwhile, slice the lemon into thin slices--about 2 per pork piece. Squeeze the remaining lemon juice in the pan with the pork. Add lemon slices into the pan in the last 2 minutes of cooking.

7. Serve pork, potatoes and lemon

Grilled Steak & Tomato Sandwiches

2011-06-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

My mom and I needed a quick idea for a nice lunch after a concert in Ojai for a large group. A couple of weeks before the event, I saw an idea on Martha Stewart for steak sandwiches. To change them up a bit, Martha added grilled tomatoes and basil along with the steak.

The grilled tomatoes with a little salt and oil really make this sandwich. If you aren't a tomato fan but want to serve this to a crowd who is, set out a sauce option for the non-tomato eaters as the sandwich would be a bit dry otherwise.

This was the perfect sandwich for a kick off to summer. We served it on thick fresh olive bread. Make these sandwiches and you won't be sorry!

The Recipe

New Product - Rinaldi To Be Healthy Pasta Sauce

2011-06-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

I decided on Wednesday night because I planned to do all these cooking (zucchini bread, coconut soup), that we needed to have a quick dinner. So I purchased a package of Italian sausage tortellini and a jar of pasta sauce. As usual, I was stumped when I got to the sauce aisle. There are so many choices!

The thing about pasta sauce is that they all taste basically the same unless you make your own or get something fresh and they all come in jars enough for at least 3 lbs of pasta smothered in sauce. The other thing is that once gargantuan jar of sauce is opened it sits in the fridge for weeks until you want to have regular pasta with red sauce again and then you either forget you have the stuff and buy an additional jar, or it has gone bad, or you didn't love it in the first place and are reluctant to finish it off.

This is the dilemma I have about pasta sauce every time I'm in that aisle. So I always aim for a smallish jar that is on sale so it doesn't become a huge deal*. This week, Rinaldi To Be Healthy sauce was on sale. I was intrigued by the addition of omega 3 and then when I checked out the ingredients I saw it contained carrots--extra much needed vegetables in our diet, it was a sign.

This sauce is pretty good. It passed the husband test, it had a nice flavor and I hardly noticed the shreds of carrots, and the sauce seemed like it was healthier than others. It also didn't come in a massive jar--but we still have half left. I would buy this sauce again when I'm in a bind.

*When I feel like doing a smidge more cooking than just boiling water, I make this pasta sauce from Smitten Kitchen and avoid the sauce aisle dilemma altogether and only have to make a decision on which can of tomatoes to buy.

Coconut Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Collard Greens

2011-06-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last week my sister in law got her second box of produce. In it was a bunch of collard greens that she went to great lengths to get rid of. I ended up taking those greens and then had to figure out what to do with them.

There are two typical ways to make collard greens. 1. Braise them with hamhocks for hours until they are cooked down and flavorful, 2. saute them with bacon and onions. While the latter sounded like my kind of thing, I was really hoping to find something different to do with them. Eventually, I came across a recipe for soup with the greens. I thought it sounded interesting--something like a thai curry soup.

I got all the ingredients with grand plans to make it Wednesday night and then I hit a roadblock of laziness and put them aside. Finally I got to it on Saturday. This soup is ridiculously quick to make (as long as you don't have to run to the store to replace a moldy onion). After some light chopping the soup comes together in 40 minutes. One could have this as a quick weeknight meal.

My husband likely wouldn't eat this soup--although he said it smelled good and I almost got him to try some...I had my taste of the soup with dinner and poured it over rice. I don't think it needs the rice though as it wasn't nearly as spicy as I expected. I put in the lime juice and the cilantro and I think that was a nice edition.

You can find the recipe over on Dandy Sugar, Here.

Zucchini Bread

2011-06-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

I had a real hankering for some zucchini bread last week as I peanut-buttered up a slice of whole wheat bread for my typical breakfast. Boy, was I tired of peanut butter bread. So I scoured the web for a good recipe and then headed to the farmer's market for some fresh zucchini.

I ended up choosing this recipe from Simple Bites. The results were mixed. My bread wasn't as solid as I expected and I also feel like it wasn't as sweet as I am used to...or something. Honestly I can't place it but it was different. That being said, the bread is still delicious just not the one I was thinking of (and if you know the one I was thinking of please let me know!). The one thing about this recipe though is that it is relatively healthy with hardly any oil.

The only change that I made which I didn't see on the recipe page was to cook the 6 muffins for only 35 minutes (and it should've been less, maybe 30) because they take less time than the loaf.

Grilled Tri Tip

2011-06-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

Tri Tip roasts are a go-to dinner at our household. They cook up well, they make enough for either a crowd or for a future dinner, and they're ridiculously easy. Untrimmed tritip roasts are often on sale too. This week, I opted for the hand trimmed roast that also happened to be on sale. Joey usually does the grilling for this bad boy but today I took over and I'm here to share the method.

We grill on a Weber Genesis Gas Grill and this is the method for gas-grilling this beef.

Ingredients

1 tri tip roast (usually around 2 1/2 lbs)

kosher salt

1. Turn on all three burners on the grill and heat to around 500 degrees but hotter is fine.

2. Meanwhile, rub kosher salt into the meat all over--use more than you need because it will fall off a little on the grill.

3. Once the grill is hot, place the meat over the center burner area in the center of the grill. Sear the meat--this should take around 5 minutes.

4. Once the meat has a nice crust, flip it over--watch out for flareups especially if you are using the un-trimmed variety.

5. Sear the other side of the meat for an additional 5 minutes. Now turn off the center burner but don't move the meat. This is called cooking on indirect heat.

6. Check the meat every 5-7 minutes for doneness. Ours took about 20 or so minutes to get up to 140 degrees in the thickest part. Actually, it wasn't as rare as I like it but it was a perfect medium for Joey.

7. Let rest a few minutes before cutting and then slice it from the thin edge into thin slices.

Peas & Mint

2011-06-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

This spring, Jenny & I have been seeing articles about the combination of peas and mint absolutely everywhere. Every blog, book and newspaper we read is filled with recipes for this odd-sounding combination. So last week I made a decision, I would try it just to see.

Originally I was considering making peas, mint and cream as I read that was one variation but that sounded even weirder and more likely to fail, so I just stuck to the basics.

Let me tell you, shelling peas is so not rewarding! I bought probably a half pound of peas and after shelling had enough for a very small vegetable portion for one person.

I really did keep it simple - I steamed the peas for 3 minutes in a steamer basket and added some chopped mint during the last minute of steaming.

The Result? Actually pretty good. Fresh peas are nothing like the soggy smooshy frozen peas you probably ate as a child. Fresh peas when steamed shortly have a little bit of a bite too them and a bit more of a sweeter flavor. And the mint? It takes on a whole different level of flavor--kind of like the bite of freshness one can impart from parsley. The mintyness of mint that I despise was not there, it was just fresh and springy and I would make it again.

Fruit Salad

2011-05-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Joey & I made fruit salad today for a Sunday Dinner. It's really nothing special and not worth posting here. We tossed together watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, oranges and blueberries. Summer is here! The reason I'm telling you about it though is that yesterday I came across this fantastic tutorial for cubing watermelon. I didn't personally try this method but Joey did and it worked like a charm! I am so bad at cutting watermelon normally so this was awesome, way less wasteful and not as messy! Give it a try for your next summer party!

How To Cube Watermelon.

Fresh Cavatelli with Eggs & Bacon

2011-05-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, Joey sent me this recipe for pasta with eggs and bacon. We seemingly had all the ingredients at home so it was a great recipe to try.

On a whim, I decided to see if the local market had any fresh cavatelli. I was in luck and picked up a half pound of ricotta cavatelli (which means the pasta dough had ricotta in it) for the recipe. However, when I was getting ready to make it I decided that the 1/2 lb of pasta wasn't enough and added the remainder of some dried rotini I had in the pantry. The resulting different textures from the fresh pasta and dried added a new layer of deliciousness to the dish. But this would be cheaper if you just go with dried pasta...

I didn't exactly follow the recipe in terms of exact ingredients but I did follow the cooking instructions and the result was a very satisfying stick-to-the-bone macaroni and cheese esque pasta dish. Joey thought it needed something like maybe a few sprigs of basil to freshen it up. I can see that. I will add that next time. And oh yes there will be a next time.

Ingredients (the real recipe here)
1 T + 1/4 t salt, divided
2 T Olive oil
2 T Butter
8 oz bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 large eggs
1/2 lb fresh cavatelli pasta
1/2 lb dried small noodle pasta such as penne or rotelli
1 C mozzerella cheese, shredded
1/4 C fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 C chopped fresh basil (opt.)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
2. Meanwhile, shred cheese and slice bacon. Set aside.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl and add 1/4 t salt. Beat with a fork until the yolks are broken,
4. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add butter and melt.
5. Add the cut bacon to the skillet and cook until browned and crispy, stirring occasionally to get all sides browned (this took me like 10 minutes)
6. As the bacon starts to brown, add the dried pasta to the boiling water along with 1 T salt and cook 2 minutes.
7. Add the fresh pasta to the boiling water and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.
8. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add the noodles to the bacon mixture
9. Toss the pasta with bacon and coat in oil. Add the egg mixture and cook stirring 2 minutes or less until eggs are just scrambled and custardy. Turn off the heat.
10. Add the cheese to the pasta and stir until melted
11. Toss in the basil if using and serve immediately

*This is a picture of Rigatoni with Eggs & Bacon. We've made this now with rigatoni, cavatelli and linguine. The smaller or longer pastas work best--the rigatoni didn't stick well to it.

Cornish Hens with Bruschetta Panzanela & Broccollini

2011-05-22T19:45:00.001-07:00

Cornish Hens are a delectable memory from my childhood. On very special occasions my dad would roast a couple of hens and we would feast! So, when I saw that Cornish hens were on sale I had to buy them. The package came with two which is enough hen to serve 4--or possible 5 if one of your meat eaters is selective.

I chose to make Bobby Flay's recipe for Cornish hens which makes an entire meal so you really don't have to think much about it later. The only change I made was that I used fresh spring garlic (which looks like a spring onion) in the dressing part and as a result I felt that the garlic wasn't really there and didn't stand out much. Also, I was unable to get the roasted garlic to form much of a paste and so the hens didn't taste anything like garlic despite a full head being used. I blanched the broccolini but it didn't really get cooked through so it was pretty crunchy and only the trees were really cooked well.

I liked this recipe but I feel like a lot of things didn't go right for me. It was still delicious, it was just not what I expected based on the recipe reviews. And I mean, what happened to all that garlic?!

Recipe

New Product: Near East Wheat Salad

2011-05-18T13:55:00.001-07:00

I can't really claim this is a new product, but it is new to me. I am not often frequenting the couscous and rice aisle but yesterday I thought it would be a nice change of pace. After learning that couscous is calorie laden, I turned to the Near East brand Wheat salad. This starch has less calories than couscous but a very small portion. The thing is, I could eat twice as much for the same calories! I was sold.

Near East Wheat salad is a combination of bulgur wheat and spices. To prepare it, I added a chopped tomato, 1 T olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. This salad is satisfying and delicious. I'm disappointed I only packed myself one serving! One could obviously make this themselves, but being unfamiliar with my likeness for bulgur I just bought the prepared package. In the future, I may make the entire salad myself.

Pork Chops with Tangy Rhubarb Chutney

2011-05-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb has always haunted me. I assume it is delicious because it is red (like strawberries!) but then raw it is harder than the hardest celery and extremely bitter. I've had it before at Grandma's house because she grew it in her back yard but I don't recall how I felt about it. So this spring, when I saw a recipe in Real Simple for Pork Chops with a Rhubarb chutney I was intreged and had to try it.

Then tradgey struck. Even though it is the height of spring, rhubarb was nowhere to be found. It avoided me at two different farmer's markets, it wasn't at the grocery store I went to, and it certainly wasn't growing in my yard. And yet, I set the recipe aside and knew I would make it. Fast forward to today, a little bird told me that rhubarb was available at Albertson's. So I checked the recipe online and rushed over to Albertson's after work to get some rhubarb before it all disappeared.

This dish was Carrie tested and husband approved. The tangy rhubarb chutney is a nice addition to the pork. I used thin pork chops which have the advantage of cooking really quickly (about 6 minutes!) and you get more of the rhubarb flavor. I served this dish with strawberries and sauteed spinach and garlic. It was a really satisfying meal without any starch necessary!

Pork Chops with Rhubarb Chutney

2 T olive oil

1 small red onion, chopped (I used only 2/3 of my really small red onion)

salt & pepper

1/2 lb rhubarb, sliced 1/2 inch thick

3 T sugar

1 t red wine vinegar (I used balsamic because I forgot to buy RWV)

1 1/2 t ground coriander or other seasoning

1/4 cup water

4 pork chops (I used thin, the recipe calls for thick)

1. Heat 1 T olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper. Cook, stirring until tender - 5-7 minutes.

2. Add the rhubarb, sugar and water to the onions and cook until rhubarb is just tender 4-6 minutes. Add 1 t vinegar at the end and remove from heat.

3. Meanwhile, heat the other 1 T of oil in a large skillet. Season the pork with the coriander, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through. Serve pork with chutney on top.

Mascarpone Frosting

2011-05-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

As you may recall, we had quite a crisis the day before Easter rushing around town looking for marscapone for our Easter tart. In a moment of extreme annoyance after stopping by several stores, I grabbed the only flavor I saw, Tirimisu Marscapone. Why Ralph's thought they should carry that version instead of the plain one is beyond me. Eventually we found the plain kind and this coffee-flavored kind was shelved in the deep dark of the refrigerator. I waited until the holiday dessert feast died down and then I decided to use it.

I thought the coffee flavor would go really well with chocolate cake. Sure I could make actual tirimisu but I don't really know how much I love that stuff, so I decided on something different.

I searched the internet for a way to lighten up the mascrpone, although I figured I could use the same method we used on our tart and just whip it with heavy whipping cream. Luckily, I found a recipe that insisted I add a little sugar (i'm not one to complain!). The mascarpone frosting that resulted was something between cream cheese and buttercream. It was light and airy but rich and delectable. I spread it between layers of chocolate cake and served. Delightful! Unfortunately the coffee flavor was pretty much masked after mixing. If you want the coffee flavor to stand out I recommend that you either steep some coffee in that cream and then strain and chill or add a little espresso to the mixture.

Also, you may notice I'm hiding a lot of the cake from you. That is because it really was not a pretty presentation. The thing is I wanted to make one of those awesome cakes I've been seeing around where they only frost the top and between the layers. I also wanted my cake to be square. What I forgot with this method was that the edges that I cut would not be pretty in the least. So the cake looked kind of haphazard cat and the hat style. It still tasted great but next time I want an unfrosted edge cake I'll use loaf pans for better presentation. This frosting though did have the advantage of being really easy to spread!

I cannot find the recipe I followed. Sorry fellow blogger...

Mascarpone Frosting (with cake)

8 oz mascarpone cheese (coffee flavored okay, you probably won't notice it)

1/2 t vanilla extract (optional)

coffee beans for steeping cream (optional as well, I didn't try this but that's what we do for coffee ice cream so I think the same method would work).

1 C heavy whipping cream

1 C powdered sugar

1. In a stand mixer, mix all ingredients until combined and fluffy. DO NOT OVERMIX or your mixture will turn to butter (I know from experience). Spread on cake of your choice.

A Tale of Two Salads

2011-04-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not a salad gal myself, I generally don't order them at restaurants, and I rarely make them at home. However, on Wednesday, lulled by the Farmer's market I decided to buy fresh ingredients and have salads for the remainder of the week. The thing is, even though it is spring, I am often stumped at the market about what to buy. I didn't want asparagus, I didn't know what to do with fava beans, I could buy peas...and then there are a bunch of greens like swiss chard that I don't really know how to use either.

So I left the market with a basket of strawberries, a bunch of spinach, a bunch of arugula, sugar snap peas and a couple of oranges. Not really salad material...I went to the store after work and picked up a couple of fillers--a cucumber, goat cheese, marinated artichokes, kalamata olives and a balsamic vinegrette.

My first salad was sub-par. I threw all the ingredients I purchased together with far too many greens. I added some sprigs of cilantro, a few sliced boiled multi-colored potatoes and some slices of steak. Parts of the salad tasted like fresh mowed grass, other parts tasted fart too acidic. The salad was edible but it just wasn't delicious.

Learning from my mistakes and building on my heaviest ingredient, my second salad was warmed and a delicious blend of surprising flavors. This, my friends is a salad I will make again, and I encourage you to do the same and to serve it as a main course with a side of fruit.

Wilted Arugula Steak & Potato Salad (for 2 as a main dish)
1/4 lb grilled steak, thinly sliced

1/2 lb mixed thin-skinned potatoes (I used red, purple and yellow), boiled until just soft, about 10 minutes

1 small bunch arugula, washed and stems removed, ripped into bite sized pieces

pitted kalamata olives to taste

1-3 T olive oil, to desired moistness

salt, to taste

4 T mixed fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary & thyme

2 T goat cheese, crumbled

1. Finely chop herbs and set aside.

2. Toss all ingredients except cheese and olives in a microwave safe bowl

3. Microwave on high 45 seconds or until steak and potatoes are warm and arugula is wilted

4. Toss salad with cheese and olives and serve with fruit

Lemon Yogurt Muffins

2011-04-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

Recently I have come to love the flavor of lemon. I always liked the lemon jelly beans and lemon lime soda but if I had to choose between a lemon bar and a brownie, I would always go with the brownie. Now, however, the choice would be difficult. I also love the complexity of lemon and chocolate together--although not all the time, just in certain situations. I won't pass up a scoop of lemon custard and a drizzle of hot fudge but a lemon bar with chocolate topping might be a little strange.

When I came across these Lemon Yogurt Muffins on a blot I was reading, I thought this was perfect. We currently have at least ten lemons and a bunch of leftover yogurt so I didn't even have to shop for this recipe.

I'm a dough taster, and if the batter is good I'm confident the final product will be. I don't want to hear it about the raw eggs, I know, I know but so be it. I tasted this batter after it came together and didn't notice the lemon at all. It was very faint and so it tasted kinda like plain batter. So, I added a dash of almond extract...still nothing. So I added a bit more sugar and zest of one more lemon. Still nothing...but I decided to go with it.

The final product is as bland as the batter. The texture is also a little strange with these muffins--somewhere between angel food cake and crumpets...complete with lots of nooks and crannys, especially on the bottom. I don't think I'll make these again--they were ok with the added honey on them and they'd probably be good with jam and butter but they are not the spurt of lemony freshness I envisioned for a quick grab and go breakfast.

The recipe at Macheesmo.

New Product - Dark Chocolate Goji

2011-04-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for new interesting products with nice packaging. Seriously, I notice the packaging sometimes before the product itself. I was browsing the produce section at Ralphs the other day and came across this stand of Brookside chocolate covered fruit. Intrigued! Look at this beautiful packaging!!

I had never before heard of Goji fruit. Interesting...but it's $3. Brookside also makes chocolate covered pomegranate seeds and chocolate covered acai berries. The thing is, looking at this packaging, you totally expect a piece of juicy goji fruit to squirt out at you, or if not at least the dried variety. Unfortunately, these chocolate covered berries are not so much chocolate covered as chocolate flavored. Don't get me wrong, the flavor is good, it's just not as good for you as it seems it should be parading around the produce section in grandmother's pajamas.

These candies have the texture of chocolate covered raisins with a nice dark chocolate bitterness and then the tang of goji fruit. I find these totally addicting and only wish they were healthier--should've just gone with the strawberries.

Baked French "Fries"

2011-04-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was browsing some blogs and I came across this recipe for baked French Fries. I knew I had to try it--just needed to have the right potatoes and the time. Today was just the day for it.

The prep for this recipe is easy and fast--it takes less than the time to heat the oven. The hard part of this recipe is making sure not to overcook your potatoes--I had a few pieces that weren't as uniform as the others that burned--and mine were probably mostly ready after exactly 45 minutes.

I also recommend reducing the salt. I used the 2t the recipe called for and we all agreed less salt would've been better, you can always add more later.

Recipe and better pictures here.

Lemon Tart

2011-04-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

If Joey & I are assigned to bring dessert somewhere, we often try it out ahead of time and then Joey's work gets a treat.

This time, we tested out some lemon tart early as a test for Easter. This tart took a long time to make and created too many dishes. We don't think it's a winner for Easter but it is delicious and I would eat it if served to me.

Joey was disappointed by the hard to use crust that was too wet to really roll out. I thought that the candied lemon peel--while a fancy touch took entirely too long and didn't look as beautiful as we wished it had. Our panel of tasters thought that the tart was a little too tart and could use a little more sugar. Also, several people removed the candied peels assuming they weren't edible. So much for garnish! If you make this, serve it with whipped cream and maybe candy whole slices of lemons for better effect.

Recipe and more pictures here.

Grilled Marinated Steak with Parmesan Asparagus

2011-03-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

I receive the weekly newsletter from Beef It's What's for Dinner. Usually I don't find anything that really stands out to me but this time, while doing my menu planning, I thought this recipe for Grilled marinated steak and asparagus would hit the spot. Plus, I knew that asparagus has been in season at the Farmer's market.

The recipe calls for Top Round Steak which of course I couldn't find at the store so I got 2 half-pound steaks that had something about round in the title, were "for braising" according to the sticker and were about 3/4 inches thick.

The marinade was easy to whip up as I cleaned up the dishes from last night's epic fail chicken parmesan. I ended up using balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar and I marinaded the meat overnight and all the way until dinner. The flavors were nice and not too overpowering and really spiced up the steaks.

The grilled parmesan asparagus was fantastic. We had the same asparagus steamed the night before without seasoning and it was totally bland. How refreshing to have it taste much better and different with just a dash of olive oil and cheese. I didn't serve this dish with orzo as it calls for but instead some sliced oranges. A perfect spring meal for this 90 degree day!

Recipe and photo here!

Chicken Parmesan - Mind the Broiler

2011-03-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Chicken parmesan is not and never will be my signature dish. I've made it twice and both times failed. Tonight the result was edible but...

So the broiler is a dangerous tool. If you set it on HI for 8 minutes but don't watch it because you're still making the rest of the dinner so that everything is ready together you're in trouble. The broiler can strike its firey arms at any moment.

I thought it was going to work this time...

The chicken was not actually that bad despite the crispy charred crust. But it wasn't chicken parmesan...it was just chicken with pasta and sauce and a little breading on the bottom. It had little to no flavor but luckily the sauce was delicious and there was plenty of extra. There was no cheese to speak of--this is probably the healthiest "chicken parmesan" ever due to the lack of cheese and breading.

But until the broiler mistake, the recipe was actually turning out well. The panko, parmesan and spices stuck to the chicken. The crust browned golden in the hot pan with a little bit of olive oil. The recipe was perfect and then...the cheese caught on fire during the broiling process. Sure I'll try it again...but sadly not soon.

New Product - DiGiorno Pizza & Cookies

2011-03-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm really interested in new product news--particularly food products, but anything will do. I love to hear what marketers come up with next to make more money. So I had already heard of DiGiorno's new idea to partner up with Nestle and offer a frozen box with pizza & cookies and I went to the frozen pizza aisle particularly to look for the product.

Don't you think pizza & cookies is a brilliant idea? Perfect for any sleepover. They also offer pizza & breadsticks combo and a pizza & wyngz combo (apparently they don't qualify as wings).

I had a most embarrassing experience buying this product. I was walking through the grocery store filling my cart and considering whether or not I should get the pizza/cookie combo. Suddenly I looked up and recognized someone in the store, we said our hellos--it was Alex, an employee at our favorite pizza parlor. Since that is the only Pizza Parlor we now frequent, a lot of the employees know us--but Alex especially. I was immediately embarrassed that I was thinking of getting a frozen pizza but I tried to act cool. Then I went over and got the pizza.

I saw Alex again as I was getting into line...I purposely chose a different line so she wouldn't know I was buying the frozen pizza. I was behind her in another line--I was safe. And then it was my turn and they scanned the pizza and then the bagger announced to the checker at the next stand (the manager, the one working with Alex), "Pizza & Cookies? In the same box?! This is great!" I know our pizza employee heard, I know she knew it was me and I expect to hear about it next time we go in.

But back to the Pizza. The pizza took 20 minutes to cook, it was actually pretty good. The crust was bready which is how I like it, the sauce was flavorful, the textures were great, honestly this was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. The cookies are just the same as the Nestle dough you get in the refrigerated section and those cookies always turn out well.

I highly recommend this *healthy* and innovative new product for your next sleepover.

(but don't tell your local pizza parlor)

Poached Chicken

2011-03-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone is always saying that poached chicken is the quickest and easiest way to make up a bunch of chicken to use in recipes later in the week. I've never really tried it. I buy chicken pieces and then find that I can't think of anything creative to make with them. Since Joey isn't a huge fan of chicken this is even more complicated.

But last week, I had some of that leftover roasted chicken on sandwiches with mustard for lunch and it was fantastic. The chicken was so much more filling than sandwich meat and overall a much better value. So this week, I defrosted some chicken thighs from the freezer deciding whether to make braised chicken or poached chicken. I ultimately decided to go with poached and then we wouldn't have it for dinner--I would just have it for lunch. And now I agree with "everyone" in saying that poaching chicken is quick, easy and cheap and yields pretty flavorful chicken if you know how to do it right.

Poached Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs, thighs take slightly longer to cook)

2 tsp dried mixed herbs, I used herbs de Provence which is my favorite mix

1 bay leaf

2 cans broth, I used vegetable because I have a surplus of it

1. In a heavy bottomed pan place chicken in one layer on the bottom. Add herbs and bay leaf and cover with broth (chicken should be just covered so depending on your pot size you may get away with less broth).

2. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to very low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is firm to touch and no longer pink inside. Let cool in the broth and then slice or shred for use in your favorite chicken recipes.

Crisp-Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes

2011-03-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my parents came over to do a little work around the house and I promised to provide dinner. At first I was thinking of grilling, but the weather has been unusually cold here (yes 40's and 50's is cold, don't even mention it) and going outside to do any grilling seemed just silly. I just made a roast beef for Christmas and although it was well received I didn't want to make the same thing twice. Lasagna was too hands on--I might be needed to help out with the work around the house. Finally I decided on roast chicken. I recalled an article in one of my recent magazines about how to make roast chicken several ways. I browsed through my magazines and found just the ticket-- Crisp Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes. In order to make it a full meal, I also roasted carrots along side the chicken.

I basically followed Martha's recipe except that I added a cut lemon to the cavity of the chicken to help add a little flavor other than rosemary. The result was a succulent, moist and flavorful chicken with a very crispy skin on the top of the bird (that's the important part right?). Also the potatoes weren't as crispy as I expected. This could be because I used a 10x12 ceramic lasagna pan instead of a roasting pan because that is what I have. I could have I think used a regular sheet pan with edges and that may have worked better. The only problem with roasting carrots is timing it with the doneness of the chicken. For me, the chicken took slightly longer than Martha guessed and the carrots finished cooking early...but it all worked out in the end.

Edamame Dip

2011-02-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Every time I walk through the frozen vegetable aisle I look for something delicious and I can never picture a bag of anything on our dinner table or in my hand for a snack. At Japanese restaurants I love the edamame, sucking the beans out of the salty shells. At the store I noticed I could buy soybeans already shelled. So I did...twice and I thought it was new every time! One day, in an attempt to be really healthy I made myself a snack of soybeans. They were so gross! I could barely eat the small bowl I made! They had no flavor no matter how much salt I poured in. So I started browsing the internet for things to do with these disgusting by themselves beans.

On one blog I found an Edamame Ginger Dip. It sounded great--but I wasn't about to make a whole dip just for me! The other thing is that the people we see most--Joey's family, by in large would not eat this dip. Today I finally have a reason! My parents are coming down tomorrow to do some work around the house so I thought I'd make this dip for them to snack on! I'm serving it with pita chips (hardest thing to find in the store btw, all chips should be together!) but I think it would be just as good with peppers--if only those weren't so expensive right now!

I made the dip already and tasted it and it is seriously delicious. Serve it with vegetables and you've got yourself one healthy snack!

Breakfast for Dinner

2011-02-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it, I'm not the biggest breakfast fan. I don't really like cereal, I'm not a fan of eggs in the morning, and I prefer my bread un-toasted. The other problem is that I'm not usually hungry for breakfast until 10am and by then I might as well just wait for lunch where I can get something delicious. If I had to list my top 5 favorite breakfast foods thought they would be:

1. Lox & Bagels with all the trimmings

2. Bacon

3. Pancakes

4. Waffles

5. Huevos Rancheros

Yesterday, when I was browsing through my 45 favorite food blogs, I saw this recipe for pancakes. The recipe was from the Winnie the Pooh cookbook. Honestly, they are just regular old pancakes. The thing is though that the blogger or Pooh or someone decided to add berries on top--kind of like a syrup or lingonberry replacement--and probably better for you too. I thought that the fruit added the best element ever to the pancakes. Normally I can only eat one and maybe two at the most of pancakes. Today I powered through 5! All thanks to the berries and breakfast at 7pm.

Dinner consisted of:

3 slices bacon per person

Mostly egg whites, scrambled (we made a few recipes that called for yolks only, so we had a lot of whites and one yolk leftover)

Pancakes with berry 'syrup' (this was made by defrosting frozen mixed berries with a dash of water and a tiny bit of sugar)

Recipe makes about 8-10 1/4 C sized pancakes.

Spicy Beef Chili

2011-02-22T00:27:00.000-08:00

I decided to make chili while at the store. I wasn't prepared with a recipe but I had a rough idea of what ingredients might be required. I pulled out my handy new iphone and started to look for recipes but I found the internet connection and no app yet downloaded to be cumbersome, so I just ran with it. I knew I had all the main spices at home--I just needed the other stuff. This turned out to be a 3-texture chili--meat, beans and sauce. I didn't add bell peppers and I cut the onions so finely you couldn't detect them. If you like textures, add bell peppers or cut your onions bigger.

The habeneros were pretty and on sale...the serranos have such a great flavor...

This chili was very spicy....oops ;) We ate it anyway with cheese and cilantro and corn muffins and glasses of milk.

Spicy Beef Chili

Ingredients
1.5 lb stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces if not already (that is chunks of beef--I like this for the chew factor, some people want this AND ground beef...)
1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 habenero peppers, stems removed
2 serrano peppers, stems removed
3 T chili powder
scant 1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped (jf you can find one, otherwise just use about 3/4 of the giant one from the store)
3 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
Cheese (for serving)
Cilantro (for serving)

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add meat and onion and brown until onion is soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a mini chopper, chop all 4 peppers and 3 cloves garlic. Combine spices in a small bowl, and open cans of tomatoes.
3. Once the meat mixture has browned, add garlic mixture and cook 30 seconds. Then add tomatoes and spices. Stir.
4. Bring chili to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or more. 10 minutes to end of simmering, add beans and serve when heated through.

Blood Orange Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2011-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

In this month's Sunset magazine I read about a couple that bought a house somewhere in So. Cal a few years ago and immediately planted acres and acres of citrus trees of several varieties. Their blog was also featured in the magazine pointing to the recipes they make with their seasonal citrus and other fresh from the farm ingredients (not necessarily their farm). I checked out the blog and loved the pictures, the recipes--this is something I will continue to follow!

After reading through pretty much ever page of the blog (so I had a little free time, sue me), I came across this recipe for Blood Orange Chocolate Chunk Muffins. I love the combination of orange and chocolate and I figured blood orange and chocolate would be just as delicious. I knew that blood oranges are currently in season in CA, so I whisked myself over to the farmer's market and got some specifically for these muffins. I bought 6 oranges and they were relatively small, I needed 5 to make this recipe.

These muffins were delicious. It took a little bit of time to make it all because you have to zest and squeeze the oranges, but it is worth it! If you notice in their pictures the muffins look totally normal...however my muffins are blue. Any thoughts about why?

New Product: Hubert's Lemonade

2011-02-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

I was so thirsty when I got to the store to stock up on a few things I needed. I had already finished my two water bottles in the car (that were only a quarter full to begin with) and then talked on the phone for a while and the sun was beating down through the windows.

I really wanted to go to Porto's and get an iced mocha. They have the best iced mocha in town. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out my route with a grocery store and time to stop there, so I held back the urge and just went to Ralph's.

As I walked in, I noticed the cold beverage section near the deli. I glanced over and saw the familiar blue "New Product" sticker under this bottle of Hubert's Lemonade and Hubert's Raspberry Lemonade. Perfect! A drink AND a product review.

As I strolled around the store picking out my other items and my arms got loaded down with more things, I glanced at the calories on this bottle of lemonade. 70 calories a serving, bottle for 2. Reasonable actually, far more reasonable than other lemonades on the market.

And then I got in my car (after avoiding the creepy homeless guy following me) and tasted it and I can tell why it doesn't have that many calories. Because that lemonade doesn't have enough sugar. It may have been made with the best California lemons but it was a little tart for my taste. I thought, though, that if it was served in a chilled glass with that crystallized sugar around the top--like they serve lemonade at the Cheesecake Factory, it would have tasted a lot better.

Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs

2011-02-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

At the store this week I noticed some beef-back ribs hanging out in the meat section and on sale. I couldn't recall ever seeing these guys in the meat section before so I decided to snatch them up. 6 ribs for $5 seems like a good deal since when you go out for ribs 2-3 runs you about $12 with sides.

I had no idea how to cook them when I got home but thought I might use the crock pot. I searched for recipes high and low on the food network, martha stewart and google and came up with nothing. I don't know why it wasn't working.

So then I went on over to Crockpot365. This woman made a crockpot recipe each day for a whole year! I figured she probably knows what she's doing and followed her recipe omitting the green onions and using a little less than full bottle of bbq sauce.

My omitions did nothing to the final product, I thought the ribs were good although not that flavorful. My husband ate them but had nothing good to say about them. I recommend rubbing the ribs with some spices first to gjve the dish a little more flavor. I didn't really notice the onion or garlic at all. The presentation also looked a little gross. I recommend cutting the meat off the bone and then serving it. Cutting the meat off will be no problem, the meat was tender, moist and had a great texture. I would make these again with a few more spices...although since my husband didn't like them much I don't really see a future of making them again.

Cattlemen's BBQ Sauce - Logo Discussion

2011-02-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

It is true this is the lowest light poorest picture I could've taken for a comparison shot, but you know, sometimes picture taking is not a high priority. Sometimes eating dinner is a higher priority.

Today I made beef ribs (read about them next!) and I used up our bottle of Cattlemen's Classic BBQ sauce (left). I decided to buy more sauce for serving tonight so I went to the fancy Ralph's on Alameda and perused the sauce section. I wanted to get the same kind that I used for cooking so there was no weird flavor meld.

There are lots of kinds of sauce and when I finally found Cattlemen's I was disappointed to see a total label change. I see what they were going for, but I think the change makes the sauce look less authentic and more generic like the Select or Ralph's brand products. I like how the edges are a little rough but I do not like the new conservative font. I like the sauce, so it probably won't hurt my buying it but if I had never tried it and it was standing there on the shelf with all the others I might just pass it up, cause I'd assume it was the store brand and then wonder why it wasn't at store-brand prices.

Cattlemen's I am no brand designer, but I do a little online marketing and advertising and I think this new branding is boring--go back to your fun "right off the ranch" look, please?

Challah French Toast

2011-02-01T02:16:00.000-08:00

I discovered last week that I have access in this great state of California to a childhood memory. Great Harvest Bread Company is that memory. Every week after my trombone lesson in Naperville, my mom would pick me up and we'd stop by the Great Harvest Bread Company for our weekly loaf of bread and free sample. The free samples were a full slice of the fresh made bread of your choice slathered with sweet, soft butter. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we also got a quarter of an oatmeal chocolate cookie--warm from the oven.

When I learned that there is a Great Harvest Bread Company right around the corner in South Pasadena, I knew I had to make it my priority to visit!

I went with my sister in law to the bread company on pretty much the cutest street in South Pas. I didn't even know such an adorable street existed! Despite all the other restaurants on the street, GHBC was packed. The line was almost out the door at noon when we arrived. This GHBC offers sandwiches and salads in addition to selling fresh bread and cookies. You can read my review of the restaurant here.

The bread. The bread is dense and fresh and delicious. GHBC makes a few breads every day and then some variety breads that are different each day. Every customer is offered a sample of bread and either butter or jam. They also have samples of the cookies sometimes. I tasted the Challah. I was thrilled to see that they have challah on Fridays because that and brioche is the bread that is always called for in French Toast recipes--and I can never find it. GHBC was offering both plain challah loaves and cinnamon chip raisin loaves. The challah was delicious, the loaf was a little expensive for the size--$5, but it was worth it!

I used Betty Crocker's recipe for French Toast. We only made 6 slices of toast and had about half of the loaf leftover. The French Toast was good but I didn't think it was that much better than using French Toast bread that you can get for $2 at the regular grocery store. I would rather just eat the bread, warmed in the microwave with a little butter.