Goode Taste

Great Pie Tips

2011-12-20T11:12:00.000-05:00

To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever tried to bake a pie from scratch by myself (I'd rather put in the time for "easier" desserts like cookies, brownies, and cake), but America's Test Kitchen's Feed posted some great tips for pies! You can view the tips at http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/curious-shortcuts/2011/12/your-pie-deserves-these-5-things/.

My Favorite Tomato Soup Recipe

2011-12-08T10:57:00.001-05:00

So far this fall weather has been pretty good to us. We've only had snow a few times, and this morning there were flurries floating through the air. This recipe takes me back to snow days when I was a little kid in Georgia. We lived on a steep hill, so whenever an ice/snow storm hit, we couldn't get out of the driveway and lots of time we lost power. Fortunately, we had a wood-burning stove so my mom could cook on it when we lost power, and one my favorite things she made was creamy tomato soup. Even though she was taking a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup and fixing it up by adding milk, it was a great way to warm up after playing outside all morning in the snow.

Now, Campbell's Tomato Soup just doesn't taste the same as it did when I was little, so I was really excited to see a recipe for "Classic Tomato Soup" in the February/March 2010 issue of Cook's Country. This soup was creamy and tomato-y. It took a little time to make, but the results were well worth it. I even made this with store-brand ingredients and the soup was yummy.

Classic Tomato Soup (serves about 6) from Cook's Country
2-28 oz. cans diced tomatoes
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda*
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup evaporated milk (or heavy cream)

Drain the tomatoes in a large colander set over the bowl so you can save the tomato juice. You will have to press on the tomatoes to get all the juice out. Transfer the juice and chicken broth a large measuring cup (there is suppose to be 4 cups of liquid-- I had to add a little more chicken broth). Set juice/broth mixture aside.

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, which takes about 5 minutes. Add two-thirds of the drained diced tomatoes, the bay leaf, and brown sugar. Cook until the tomatoes start to brown, stirring occasionally, which will take 15-20 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and flour to the pot and stirring frequently, cook until the paste begins to darken. (This will only take a minute or two).

Slowly add in the reserved tomato juice/broth mixture, the baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir the soup together and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, about five minutes. Remove from the heat.

I goofed up in the previous step and removed the bay leaf before adding the paste and broth/tomato juice. The soup still came out fine, but probably would have been better had I led the bay leaf in.

Now you can puree the soup. Make sure to remove the bay leaf. I used an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot. Stir in the evaporated milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Note: According to Cook's Country, the baking soda "neutralized some of the acid in the tomatoes for a perfect sweet-tart balance. And its sodium ions weakened the pectin in the cells of the tomatoes, allowing them to puree into a silken soup."

Basic Hearth Bread

2011-11-30T19:33:00.003-05:00

Ever since I've sworn off of eating sandwiches for lunch during the week, I look for any excuse to eat bread with dinner. Last Sunday, I planned to make poached eggs with braised peppers and onions, and figured the Basic Hearth Bread from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum would be a good one to try.

This bread has a great crust and is hearty enough for dipping into something saucy. In fact, tonight for dinner I sauteed some mushrooms, threw in a container of leftover spaghetti sauce, and ate that with just the bread for dipping. It was yummy!

I used a stand mixer to knead the dough, so the following instructions reflect that. You could knead with your hands if you're so inclined.

I also left out a step in her original recipe (she calls for allowing the dough to rest for 20 minutes after the initially mixing it), but I thought it turned out wonderfully despite this oversight.

Rose's book is fantastic because she gives very specific instructions (including what speed to use on your stand mixer).

INGREDIENTS

Dough Starter

5.5 oz. bread flour

1.25 oz. whole wheat flour

3/8 tsp. instant yeast

1 1/4 tsp. honey

1 1/3 cups of room temperature water

Flour Mixture

10.3 oz bread flour

1/2 tsp. instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

To make the starter (aka sponge) whisk the bread flour, yeast, honey and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk for 2 minutes to incorporate air and to get the mixture very smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap while you combine the flour mixture.

For the flour mixture, combine the ingredients and gently pour the mixture onto the dough starter to cover it completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment at room temperature from 1-4 hours.

After fermenting, mix the dough using a dough hook in a stand mixer until the the dough is rough. Knead the dough on medium speed for about 7 minutes, until its elastic smooth, and slightly sticky. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise until it has doubled, about 1 hour.

Next, shape the dough into a boule and place on a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan (or prepare a loaf pan and shape it into a loaf.) Allow it to rise 45 minutes to an hour (mine took an hour). Place a sheet pan on the bottom rack of the oven, and have a rack in the middle of the oven. Pre-heat your oven to 475 degrees. Right before you bake the bread, slash the dough. Place the dough on the middle oven rack, and pour 1/4 cup of water into the sheet pan on the bottom rack to create steam. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the bread for even browning, and lower the temperature to 425 degrees, and bake for another 20 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and (try to) wait until it's cool before slicing.

Peanut Chews

2011-02-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday there was a rare occurence in Michigan: we had a snow day! Well, everyday is a snow day here, but on we actually had the day off from work. Since I was feeling bored, I decided to bake something. We only had chocolate no-bake cookies in the freezer, so it was time to replenish the cookie supply. I decided not to go for chocolate chip cookies and tried a recipe from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking. The challenge was to find a recipe that called for ingredients in the cupboard, and fortunately there was a recipe for Peanut Chews. The only change I made was to substitute molasses for the honey (or dark corn syrup).

These cookes are soft and chewy, and not overly sweet. But, they're not very pretty (and thus the reason why there aren't pictures with the post). They are also very easy to put together.

Peanut Chews from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking (about 28 cookies)
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
3.75 ounces dark brown sugar
3.25 ounces granulate sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. molasses (or honey or dark corn syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 ounces whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts, finely ground (a mini food processor is great for this).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the peanut butter, sugars, egg, water, molasses, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a small bowl, combine the ground peanuts and whole wheat flour. Once the peanut butter mixture is smooth, slowly add the flour and ground nuts. Mix everything together until its well combined.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper (I ended up using 3 baking sheets). Drop tablespoon-sized pieces of dough on the cookie sheet. You can use a fork to flatten each cookie and make a pretty pattern on the top (or you can use the bottom of the glass).

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Move the cookies to a cooling rack to allow them to cool.

Peanut Chews aren't like you're traditional peanut butter cookies. They are really chewy, not chewy and crumbly, so don't expect the same texture. However, expect them to be delicious!

Potato and Canadian Bacon Slow Cooker Chowder

2011-01-14T19:22:00.015-05:00

I had such high hopes for this recipe (partly from my mother's comment of "This is so good I'd make it for company") I started writing this blog before I even tasted the soup.

This is easy to make and very satisfying on a 25 degree day with snow blowing everywhere. It's really thick and comforting. And of course you must eat this with bread.

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Crusty Hard Dinner Rolls

2011-01-13T19:13:00.012-05:00

Crusty Hard Dinner Rolls. This title could be construed two ways: crusty and hard like break your teeth off crusty and hard, or crusty and hard as in it's is useful for mopping soup out of bowl. Fortunately for us, the latter definition describes these rolls, which have a great crust (although it actually isn't that hard). I've made this recipe two times, and its becoming one of my favorites for a few reasons:

It's easy. Water, flour, yeast, salt. Mix 'em together and let 'em do their thing.
You can bake the rolls on your schedule. It takes me three days to make them, but there's minimal effort required and you aren't constantly timing them.
They're forgiving and still come out looking beautiful. Sure, you can take the time to measure each piece of dough when you divide it to make the rolls so all or uniform, but if you're a little rushed you can always eyeball the amount. Also, the slash and egg glaze you add right before baking result in a nicely browned crust that makes for a wow factor at the table. These rolls really look like they came from a bakery.
They taste good. Since the recipe calls for a starter and an extended stay in the fridge, the rolls develop a nice flavor. It's not as complex as a sourdough, but not flavorless, either.

Lessons in Baking and Flaxseed Sandwich Loaf

2011-01-04T20:00:00.039-05:00

Holiday time = baking time. Not necessarily cookies and cakes—I consider my time off during the holidays a great time to stock pile the freezer with homemade bread. I baked four loaves in three days, and a I gleamed a bit of knowledge I would like to share:

No-knead oatmeal bread: Be sure to set the time when you put the bread in the oven. Or else you’ll have to guess and you’ll have a very golden brown, crusty loaf of bread. (I’m sure at least it will be good for toast, but it went in the freezer right away).

White sandwich bread recipe that makes 2 loaves: Do be careful to NOT let the second loaf pan slip, and crash sideways into the first loaf pan which is already in the oven. The mishandled loaf was actually fine, but in my haste I placed it too close to the other loaf, and the two baked together. After they baked, I had to pull them apart to get them out of the pan, which results in two far from perfect loaves. However ,they will be delicious despite their cosmetic flaws.

Flaxseed loaf: Easy and simple recipe that makes great toast. I avoided the problems faced with the two previous loaves by a) setting the timer and b) being very careful when I put said loaf in the oven.

This recipe comes from The Bread Bible. The only thing I wasn’t completely satisfied with was the shape of the finished loaf. The error is all mine since I need to practice shaping bread (I’m getting a lot better) and I think I let it rise too high. At the end of the day, it is a pretty sturdy bread that you can slice thin for sandwiches and toast.

Again, I used my kitchen scale to measure the ingredients rather than measuring them with cups.

Flaxseed Loaf from The Bread Bible
13 oz. all-purpose flour
5 oz. whole wheat flour
2.5 oz. pumpernickel flour
2 oz. flaxseed, coarsley ground
1 ¼ tsp. instant yeast
2 Tbsp. honey
14.6 oz. water
2 tsp. salt

Finally a reason to try out that pumpernickel flour!

In a bowl, whisk together the flours, flaxseed, and yeast. Form a well and pour in the honey. Mix on low speed with a dough hook while gradually adding the water. Mix until all the dry ingredients are moist and have come together to form a rough dough (takes about 1 minute). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

The autolyse.

Sprinkle the salt on the dough and then knead it for 7 minutes on medium speed.

Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for about one hour, or until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a loaf.

I need to work on getting the dough as long as the pan-this loaf is just a bit too short.

Place the loaf into a greased loaf pan and allow it to rise until it is 1 inch above the rim of the pan (about one hour).

Bake the loaf until golden brown, about 40-50 minutes. Once baked, turn the bread out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.

Happy Belated New Year!

Cinnamon-Sugar Muffins

2010-12-28T17:02:00.002-05:00

One of the great things about my parents' house (in terms of blogging) is that their kitchen has great light for photos. Take, for instance, this fantastic photo of this Cinnamon-Sugar muffin. I made these for brunch on the day after Christmas. They are easy to make and really good.

The recipe is actually called "Doughnut Muffins." And of course, it's a King Arthur Flour recipe. I renamed them "Cinnamon-Sugar Muffins" because they didn't taste like doughnuts to me (of course it's been awhile since I've eaten a doughnut). At any rate, they are tasty. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, but I did make a slight change to the spices. The original recipe can be found here.

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Tender Turkey with Gravy

2010-12-26T16:51:00.000-05:00

We had a small family gathering for Christmas "dinner" this year (we actually ate around 1 p.m.-- that way we could have leftovers for dinner and not be super stuffed before bed.) A whole turkey would have been too much for eight people, so my mom roasted a turkey breast. The meat was juicy and the skin was golden brown. The secret for the brown skin? Mayo. Yep, mayonnaise.

She used this recipe posted at Food.com. I used the turkey "juice" (I'm sure there's a better word than juice, but I can't think of it right now) to make gravy.

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Chicken Tamale Pie

2010-12-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

It snowed last weekend. I mean, it SNOWED last weekend. Inches and inches and inches, not to mention there were ferocious gusts of wind that whipped across the lake. Comfort food was definitely on the menu Sunday to top off our frigid weekend. I chose a recipe I’ve wanted to try for months:“Granny’s Tamale Pie” from the October/November 2009 issue of Cook’s Country magazine.

The recipe came from a recipe contest for “America’s Best Lost Suppers.” According to the article, “Some 70 years ago, the elderly wife of a sheep rancher bestowed this unusual recipe on Betty’s family. Now Betty is sharing it.”

Well, Betty, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing.
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Rosemary Cheddar Bread

2010-12-16T20:03:00.027-05:00

Since soup season is here, it’s extremely important to have some great bread to op up all those empty soup bowls. A recipe for Rosemary, Asiago, and Olive bread caught my eye a few months ago in King Arthur’s Baker’s Catalogue and I have been dying to try it.

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

2010-12-13T14:44:00.023-05:00

Nothing beats butternut squash-- delicious and good for you. I’ve been on a butternut squash kick lately. Having just made soup with this super veggie only a few weeks ago, I went hunting for another recipe and found this one on the AllRecipes.com website: Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta.

It’s sweet and smoky and cheesy—the perfect comfort food. I pretty much followed the recipe word for word, so I’ve included a link to it. However, I made a couple of adjustments:
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Mushroom-Barley Soup

2010-12-11T13:51:00.002-05:00

When the weather outside is like this:

It’s time for a big bowl of this:

"This" is a big bowl of Mushroom-Barley soup.
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Baking Bonanza Part 3: Pitiful Pitas

2010-12-04T18:23:00.001-05:00

So, Baking Bonanza Part 3: Pita Bread, should have been posted last Sunday. However, I decided to experiment and cook the pitas on the stove top in a skillet instead of in the oven on the baking stone. While the bread did get cooked, it didn't turn out as it should have. Pita isn't suppose to have much color on it, and many of my little "loaves" got a bit charred, and only 3 out of the 12 even puffed. Therefore, Baking Bonanza will be completed tomorrow (probably a recipe for oatmeal bread).

Keep reading for pictures of the Non-Perfect Pitas.

Read more »

Baking Bonanza: Flax Pancakes

2010-11-26T16:06:00.002-05:00

Time for Baking Bonanza Part 2: Flax Pancakes. (And for those of you thinking that you have to have an oven to bake, please note that Dictionary.com defines baking as “to cook by dry heat in an oven or on heated metal or stone.”) I made these for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. We needed a special treat for the holiday since we ate in the living room and watched the Macy’s Parade, but I wanted something kind of healthy since we were going to indulge later in the day. These are pretty good—I was afraid they would be kind of chalky, but they’re tender and have great flavor. They’re not really sweet, which was nice, too.

Baking Bonanza: No-knead Oatmeal Bread

2010-11-25T12:44:00.001-05:00

This is the first installment of “Baking Bonanza”! It’s Thanksgiving week, which gives me 4 days off with nothing to do, so it’s a great time to get ahead on the baking. The first thing I baked was No-Knead Oatmeal bread from King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue. I’ve made this bread three times because it is sooooo good and so easy to make.

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Chicken Adobo

2010-11-14T19:18:00.002-05:00

This week was a great week- mostly because I wrapped up work travel for awhile. That leaves me with free time to start my weekly tradition of trying at least one new recipe. This week’s pick is Chicken Adobo from the January 2011 issue of Cook’s Country. It really is a great magazine filled with great tips and fantastic recipes.

Chicken Adobo is simple, inexpensive, and spicy! The flavor has a lot of layers as a result of the molasses and instant coffee, and the use of chicken thighs instead of white-meat chicken.

Thanksgiving-style Skillet Chicken

2010-11-08T11:14:00.001-05:00

Fall is here and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And that also means I start craving stuffing. Nothing fancy, I’m happy with the stuff right out of the cardboard box, so that’s why I was excited to find a recipe for Thanksgiving skillet chicken in the latest issue of Cook’s Country. This recipe had a TON of stuffing—in all honesty you could probably feed 6-8 people with it if you increased the number of chicken pieces. It’s also really quick and easy—it took about 35 minutes from start to finish.

This is really yummy-what makes it so good is you mix cranberry sauce into the stuffing, and the stuffing is put on top of the chicken, so it gets crispy and brown on top. Mmm, mmm, mmm!!! (And you can justify eating all that stuffing becuase it's made with lean meat and has antioxidant rich cranberry sauce).
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Easy Beef Stroganoff

2010-10-28T19:00:00.001-04:00

Hello dear readers! I have returned from my travels in the great state of Michigan and couldn't be happier to be back in the kitchen. For the last 3+ weeks I have survived on a diet consisting of Subway, Panera, Wendy's, Lean Cuisine, and free hotel breakfasts. Since arriving home on Friday, I have cooked Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans (very yummy recipe from Cooking Light), veggie stir-fry and two loaves of bread.
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Bow ties with sweet potatoes and turkey sausage

2010-09-22T19:32:00.000-04:00

New pasta recipes have been my choice of late since they're usually pretty quick to throw together. This recipe for bow ties with sweet potatoes and smoked turkey sausage only takes about 30 minutes to put together. The original recipe from Food and Wine's Quick From Scratch Pasta originally called for Canadian bacon, but I couldn't find Canadian bacon at Meijer. But, I did have about half a pound of smoked turkey sausage in the freezer, so I pulled that out and substituted. I also used fresh thyme instead of dried sage.

This recipe is really good, and I'd definitely make it again. The sweet potatoes are really unusual, but yummy.

Bow ties with sweet potatoes and smoked turkey sausage (4 servings)
2 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 sweet potato (1/2 lbs.), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup of water
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/8 tsp. of ground cayenne
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (16-oz)
1/2 lbs. smoked turkey sausage, diced
1/2 lbs. bow tie pasta

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sweet potato and cook 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Then, add the tomatoes, water, cayenne pepper, and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the sausage and thyme and cook for 5 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, cook the bow ties according to pasta directions.

Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve and ENJOY :-)!

Summer Sandwich Classic: BLT

2010-08-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

To tell you the truth, I was never a fan of the standard BLT sandwich, but that was mostly because I didn't appreciate the ingredient. However (as with most simple things), quality is the key. In the past, this was my impression of the classic BLT components:

Bacon--this is one ingredient that I have always LOVED
Lettuce (yuck-I never ate green veggies until I went to college)
Tomato (flavorless!)
Bread (those pieces of flavorless air from the bagged bread aisle in the grocery store aren't sturdy enough to hold up to the lettuce and tomato)

My view on BLTs began to change about a month ago when....

My patio tomatoes began to ripen.... And I really wanted a sandwich and wasn't in the mood for peanut butter and jelly.... I *knew* that I should eat some lettuce because it's "good for you"... I had just baked bread.... And I just happened to get a hankering for bacon...

The base of this sandwich is this wonderful Sharing Bread from King Arthur Flour.

The nice thing about homemade bread is you get to slice it as thick as you want. I sliced a tomato from my container garden (and took out the seeds), cooked 3 slices of center cut bacon (only 2 slices made it to the sandwich ;-)), and layered on some crisp romaine. Instead of mayonnaise (I'm just not a fan), I substituted spicy mustard.

And voila! My original presumptions about the simple BLT sandwich were found to be unfounded!

In other news- I finally got a job! Look for more regular posting in the next few weeks. I have been trying out some new recipes, so be sure check back soon!

Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

2010-08-02T18:47:00.001-04:00

It's been weeks since the last post here on Goode Taste due to the lack of internet access at our house. But, my hubby was nice enough to bring his laptop home so I could get online.

Since we were getting tired of regular pasta with tomato sauce, I tried the Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes from the Food & Wine Pasta cookbook. I really wasn't expecting this recipe to be good, I thought it would be okay, but it turned out to be very tasty and easy. It also got a thumbs up from a very picky eater :-).

This sauce differs from others since its seasoned with cumin and cayenne pepper. These spices aren't overpowering in the dish, you hardly notice that they're in the sauce. Also, the original recipe only calls for 1 cup of chickpeas, but I added in a whole can.

Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes
Ingredients (4 servings)
3 1/2 cups (28 oz.) canned whole tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 lbs. bow ties
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

I prepped all the ingredients before beginning the sauce-- that way I could get the onion, garlic, and parsley chopped before getting the cutting bored all soggy with the tomatoes.

So, go ahead and chop the onion, garlic, and parsley and set aside. Next, drain the whole tomatoes and save 3/4 cup of the juice from the can for the sauce. Chop the tomatoes.

Heat a saucepan over medium low heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic and seasonings. Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato juice and simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce reduces. Then, add the chickpeas and cook for 10 more minutes.

In the meantime, boil the pasta for about 15 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce for a couple of minutes so the bow ties soak in the flavor. Serve garnished with fresh flat leaf parsley.

This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 servings-- I cooked enough pasta for 2 people and then saved the rest of the sauce to eat later in the week.

Bison Cincinnati Chili

2010-05-26T20:03:00.002-04:00

I never had heard of Cincinnati Chili until I rented the first season of Cook's Country from Netflix. Honestly, I probably never would have tried it unless my mother had begged me to make it for dinner. Of course I made some modifications to the recipe, but it was very spicy (not hot spicy, just lots of spices) and really filling.

The ingredient list is long, but the recipe is really easy to put together. The recipe makes 6 generous servings. What distinguishes this chili from others is that

the meat isn't browned, it's cooked in liquid
you serve it over spaghetti (awe-some!)

Ingredients
1 lb. ground bison (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs. of 80% lean ground chuck*)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 medium onions, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I went a little shy on this)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (original recipe calls for cider vinegar, but I couldn't find any in the house)
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
1-15 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Hot sauce-optional (I didn't put any in)

Accompaniments
Spaghetti (you can add butter to it)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped white onion

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the canola oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are soft and brown on the edges (this takes about 10 minutes). Add the garlic to the onions and cook for about one minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.

Then, add the chili powder, oregano, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir stir stir :-) until the spices are fragrant, only about 30 seconds. Add the tomato sauce, broth, water, vinegar and sugar to the pot and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the bison meat (*see the note at the bottom of this page if using beef. This is where I deviated from the recipe-- I thought bison meat would be lean enough not to make the chili greasy. It was pretty lean, but I still had to skim some fat off the top. Next time I'll blanch it). Increase the heat to high, and once the mixture starts to boil, kick the heat back down to a simmer. Stir the mixture occasionally until the chili has thickened (it took about 1 1/2 hours).

Here is another deviation from the Cook's Country instructions: the kidney beans are traditionally a topping, but I just added them into the chili for about 30 minutes before serving. (Everybody at our house wanted beans, so why not throw them in the mix?)

Season with the salt (and hot sauce) to suit your taste.

Serve over spaghetti and top with the cheese and onion (and beans if you don't want them in the chili).

*If using ground beef, you need to get rid of some of the fat so the chili isn't greasy. Boil 2 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pot. Then add the meat, and stir stir stir until the meat separates into strands. When the foam from the meat rises to the top of the water, drain the meat in a strainer and set it aside*

5-Fruit Salad

2010-05-24T18:46:00.000-04:00

Here is a really easy recipe for fruit salad and it's called (drum roll, please): 5-Fruit Salad. You'll never guess why-- oh oh, yes, yes that's right, there are 5 fruits in it.

This is simple to make, but it takes about 20 minutes of prep work.

Ingredients
1 pint of blueberries
2 pints of strawberries, quartered or sliced
3 kiwis, quartered then sliced
1 cup of grapes (red or green)
2 apples (I used Pink Lady), cut into 8 wedges, cored and thinly sliced *You can also use nectarines instead of the apples*
1 1/2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup of sugar or Splenda

Start with a large bowl- pour in the OJ and mix in the sugar or Splenda until dissolved. Then get to slicing those apples, kiwi, and strawberries. Add each fruit into the juice as you get it sliced (I start with the apples since they turn brown quickly-- plus, the apples really soak up the juice).

This salad is great as a healthy dessert and it's good to make for a crowd.

Warm Spinach Salad

2010-05-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

Tonight this Warm Spinach Salad served as a side dish. It's really simple to throw together, and doesn't take too many ingredients.

This recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
10 ounces baby spinach
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup feta cheese

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until golden brown.

Once the onions are browned, add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown, and then season with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat off and add the parsley, spinach, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to combine (the spinach will wilt down slowly). Top with the crumbled feta cheese.

This would also be fabulous with some bacon :-).

Two-Tomato Arrabbiata Pesto Pasta

2010-05-20T19:13:00.000-04:00

This is a pretty easy recipe and yields delicious results. I think this recipe came out of the Food Network Magazine, but can't be sure since my mom photocopied the page and then cut out the recipe. This is a good summer dish since the only thing you have to cook on the stove top is the pasta.

This recipe makes 8 servings (although the original recipe reads it serves 4). When I make this again, I would cut this recipe in half to get 4 servings.

Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used a 3 cheese blend of Romano, Asiago, and Parm)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped chives

Now, go ahead and get a big pot of water boiling on the stove and cooke the spaghetti. That way you can get the sauce finished as the pasta is cooking. Make sure to heavily salt the pasta water, and you'll need to reserve at least a cup of the cooking liquid to add t;o the sauce and pasta at the end.

(NOTE: Make sure your food processor is in working order before you being the sauce. Unfortunately, the food processor I was using had a crack in it and one of the parts fell off, so I had to use a mini food processor, which worked well enough.)

Put the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 2 tablespoons of hot water in the food processor, and turn on the machine. Drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil as the mixture is processing. Next, add in the halved tomatoes, salt, and pepper and process until the sauce is smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a big bowl and mix in the cheese, parsley, and chives.

Stir in about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water into the sauce (you can always add more if you need it).

Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl. Toss it with the sauce to coat it well. Garnish with parsley.

Citrus-Marinated Mushrooms

2010-05-19T08:36:00.001-04:00

I'm usually not a fan of uncooked mushrooms-- they're dry. I much prefer them sauteed when they turn brown and soft and taste meaty. This recipe for Citrus Marinated Mushrooms changed my mind-- the 'shrooms soak up all the marinade and aren't dry at all. These don't have a strong citrus flavor either-the orange and lime zest give them a fresh flavor.

You'll need to make these a day in advance so they can marinate overnight. This dish would be great to serve at a potluck or barbecue since it can sit out at room temperature. (I suggest doubling the recipe).

You will need:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp. grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. grated lime zest
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 lbs. mushrooms, cleaned and halved

To make the marinade:
Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, red pepper, salt, and garlic cloves in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute to dissolve the sugar. Take the pot off the heat and add the orange zest, lime zest, extra-virgin olive oil, and sesame oil.

Combine the marinade and mushrooms in a large bowl and toss well. Cover and refrigerate overnight. This recipe makes about 6 servings (2/3 cup per serving).

Rosemary Potato and Caramelized Onion Frittata with Blue Cheese

2010-05-16T20:37:00.002-04:00

Great recipes come from many places: a cookbook, a magazine, a website, a blog, a plant. Yes, you are reading it correctly: a plant. For dinner tonight I made a wonderful Rosemary Potato and Caramelized Onion Frittata with Blue Cheese. My mother found the recipe, and as soon as I took a bite I asked her where she found it. Expecting her to say the Atlanta-Journal Constitution or Cook's Country magazine, I was very surprised when her response was "It came with the rosemary plant."

This has great flavor and is really filling.

The first step of the recipe is to caramelize the onions (I love onions so much I used 3 instead of the 2 the recipe calls for). While those are cooking, get the potatoes going. By the time the potatoes are done and sliced, you can transfer the onions to another dish and keep them warm. You can clean out the skillet you used for the onions and cook the frittata in there (and saves you from dirtying another skillet).

The recipe is suppose to make 6 servings, and if you were serving this as a side dish, 6 servings would work. We ate this as our entree, and will end up getting 5 meals out of it.

First of all, gather up the ingredients:

Caramelized Onions

2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter

2 (or 3) large yellow onions, sliced into 1/8 inch slices

1/4 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon of granulated sugar

Frittata

5 medium red potatoes, unpeeled

2 Tbsp.olive oil

1 tsp. salt, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. freshly minced rosemary

2 ounces of crumbled blue cheese

For the onions, begin by heating your 9-10 inch non-stick (oven-safe) skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and then add the onions, salt, and pepper. Cook the onions until they are soft and golden brown (it took me about 20-25 minutes). Stir in the vinegar and sugar. Cook the onions until the vinegar glazes the onions, about 1-2 minutes. (At this point, transfer the onions to another dish and wipe out the skillet and prepare to add your chopped potatoes).

For the frittata's potatoes, you'll need to place the whole potatoes in water, and then bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a good amount of salt, and boil the potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and rinse them under cool water until you can handle them. Cut them into 1/2-inch pieces.

Heat the oil over medium heat in the skillet, and add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes uncovered, and turning them occasionally for 15 minutes-- they should be golden brown. Next, spread the potatoes in an even layer in the skillet. Go ahead and get the oven ready: move a rack 6 inches below the broiler and preheat the broiler.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 10 eggs, the rosemary, and salt and pepper until combined.

Pour the eggs over the potatoes and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Use a spatula to lift the cooked portion of the eggs up from the pan and let the uncooked egg flow to the bottom of the pan. You will need to do this for about 5 minutes, occasionally lifting up the cooked eggs to allow the raw egg to cook. When the top is almost set, top with the blue cheese and put it under the broiler, Broil the frittata for about 1-2 minutes until the top is puffed and set.

When the frittata comes out of the oven, top it with the caramelized onions and serve. It went great with a simple salad.

Okay, so the onions don't look that great, but they taste AMAZING!

Super Veggie Salad

2010-05-15T18:53:00.003-04:00

Super Veggie Salad with a side of citrus-marinated mushrooms and roasted rosemary potatoes with ketchup.

This is my favorite salad-- hands down! It's loaded with peppers, olives, cheese, and pine nuts and has a balsamic vinegar dressing. Salty and sweet!

It's really easy to put together-- the most labor intensive parts are slicing the peppers and toasting the pine nuts.

Dressing
1/4 to 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Salad
1/2 lbs. mixed baby lettuce
1 cup broccoli slaw
1 cup shredded carrots
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (I use feta because I like its salty flavor)
1 cup of kalamata olives
1/2 cup of pinenuts, lightly toasted

First, mix up the dressing. I like to do this a few hours before I'm going to serve the salad so the sugar has time to dissolve.

In a very large bowl, combine the ingredients for the salad. Add the dressing and then toss to coat. Serve!

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

2010-05-13T19:38:00.008-04:00

Despite being at my parents house to enjoy their company before I move 800 miles away to Michigan, my mother appointed me cook for the duration of my stay. She wanted to have French onion soup for dinner one night, and wanted a particular recipe for the soup, a slow cooker version from Cook's Country. Since I haven't written a post in awhile, I leapt at the opportunity.

This soup is pretty good, but you probably want to be alone when you're doing the initial preparation-- slicing five pounds of onions and microwaving beef bones can leave a rather pungent smell wafting through the house, but once the onions get in the slow cooker, you'll be in heaven.

You start the recipe by microwaving the beef bones on HIGH until they turn brown (it took 8 minutes).

While those are cooking, put the butter in the slow cooker and set it to high, and then start slicing those onions!

Once the onions are all sliced, add them to the slow cooker along with 2 teaspoons of salt, the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and the thyme.

Then it's time to add some unusual ingredients (unusual for French onion soup).

Mix together the flour, apple butter, sherry, and soy sauce until smooth (be patient and use a whisk). Then add the mixture to the onions and toss it all together.

Don't be scared-- you won't taste the apple butter at all.

Now, get those beef bones from the microwave and nestle them under the onions toward the outside edges of the slow cooker.

Check out that marrow!

Put the cover on the slow cooker and cook the onions on high for 5-7 hours (the original recipe instructs you to cook the onions for 10-12 hours, but the onions turned soft and golden brown after about 5 1/2 hours in my mom's cooker).

To finish the soup, remove the bones. In a pot on the stove top (or in the microwave) bring the beef broth to a boil, and then add it to the slow cooker. Continue cooking the soup until you're ready to eat. We served this with some good chewy, crusty bread and salad. If you're a traditionalist, feel free to ladle the soup into bowls, top with a slice of bread and some Gruyere cheese, and melt the cheese under the broiler (just make sure your dishes are broiler safe.

I was so excited to eat the soup, I forgot to snap a picture of it in the pretty serving bowls. At least I got a shot of the leftovers in the Gladware container before it went in the freezer!

Slow Cook French Onion Soup adapted from from Cook's Country (serves 6-8)

2 lbs. of beef bones (the bones I used weighed about 1 1/4 pounds)

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

5 lbs. of yellow onions, sliced into 1/4 pieces

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3/4 cup apple butter

3/4 cup sherry

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 cups of beef stock

Salt & pepper

Turtle Bars

2010-04-04T13:55:00.003-04:00

Some friends invited me over for Easter dinner today, and I volunteered to bring dessert. There were a couple of boxes of cake mix in the cupboard, so I pulled out The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, and started leafing through. The recipe for Turtle Bars caught my eye--I already had a lot of the ingredients, so it was a chance to use up some stuff in my cupboard.

These are really good-- the center is chewy and creamy with the crunch of the walnuts. This recipe makes a TON of bars, so I'll take half to dinner and the rest I put in the freezer.

Ingredients:
Non-stick cooking spray
1 (14-oz) package of caramels
4 Tbsp. (1/2) stick of butter, plus
8 Tbsp (1) stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 package plain German Chocolate Cake mix
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Start by spraying a 9X13 inch pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Now, time to tackle the caramel filling. You can buy the caramels wrapped in plastic, or you can buy a bag of caramels that are ready to go:

Since this bag was 11-ounces, I added a few caramel pieces from another bag.

Put the caramels, 1/2 stick of butter, and 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a saucepan over low heat.

This is where patience pays off-- it will take a while for everything to melt down and come together in a smooth sauce-- just keep stirring!

Once the caramel sauce is smooth, take it off the heat.

Then, in a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter, cocoa powder, and eggs. Spread half of this mixture in the bottom of the pan, and smooth out the batter so the entire bottom of the pan is covered. Bake this for 10 minutes-- the batter should rise a good bit.

Next, mix the chocolate chips...

and the walnuts...

How convenient-- you can buy exactly 1 cup of chopped nuts!

....into the caramel sauce.

Boy, this pan is going to be fun to wash! (It wasn't that bad, I just soaked the pan with soap and warm water for a couple of minutes).

Next, pour the caramel mixture over the baked cake mixture, trying to keep a small border of cake around the caramel (if not, the caramel gets really tough and hard on the edges-though it will still be tasty!).

Then, top the caramel layer with dollops of the remaining cake batter.

The pan goes into the oven for 30 minutes-the caramel will be bubbly.

After the bars come out of the oven, the hardest part of the process: WAITING. You must let these cool so the gooey center doesn't run out everywhere.

I let them cool for a couple of hours on a wire rack, and then cut them up using a sharp knife.

Oh oh oh-- check out that ooey gooey center!!!

Home Fries

2010-03-27T15:58:00.003-04:00

Salty, crunchy, golden brown, garlic-ky, and slightly sweet= HOME FRIES. I cooked up a batch this morning for breakfast after seeing the recipe on the Cook's Country DVD I rented from Netflix. As soon as I saw the recipe I knew that these would be perfect to make for my hubby. While they take awhile to cook (about 35 minutes), the time is well worth it.

This recipe makes four "normal" sized servings. Between the two of us (who had worked up an appetite on a run in the morning) we got about three servings out of it.

The recipe also calls for 1/2 stick of butter. Now, I'm the total opposite of Paula Deen when it comes to butter-- I try and use as little as possible, but today I figured I'd better follow the recipe to a "t", just since it was the first time making it. (And yes, the 1/2 stick of butter is totally worth it!)

You begin by cutting up the potatoes and nuking them and 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave for about 7 minutes.

In the meantime, you saute an onion (in this case, half of a very LARGE onion) in 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick skillet until it turns golden brown.

Then, remove the onion to a bowl and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet and then put the potatoes in the skillet, and pack them down. Leave them alone for 7 minutes, then flip and pack 'em down again. Don't touch 'em for another 7 minutes.

In the meantime, mince up 3 cloves of garlic and some herbs to add to the potatoes (I used thyme, parsley, and sage). And if I were you, I'd start getting some eggs together so you can scramble them.

After the potatoes have browned on side 2 for 7 minutes, then you can stir them around, and let them cook for another 10 minutes, just to get all the sides browned and crisp. With 5 minutes left in the cooking time, I added the garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs.

These were fantastic on their own, but I added a squirt of ketchup. I served these with herb scrambled eggs.

MMM mmm mmm!

Here's the ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
4 Tbsp. of unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. of chopped fresh thyme, sage, and parsley

Here's the process:
Microwave the potatoes with a tablespoon of butter in a microwave safe dish covered in plastic wrap for 3 minutes. Give the potatoes a shake (don't remove the wrap), and nuke for another 3 1/3 minutes.
While the potatoes are in the microwave, saute an onion in 1 Tbsp. of butter over medium heat. Once that's golden brown, transfer it to a bowl.

Put the potatoes in the same skillet you used to saute the onion-- pack them down and don't move them for 7 minutes (it's tough, but you can do it). Flip the potatoes, pack them down, and cook for another 7 minutes. Then, cook the potatoes for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. With 5 minutes left on the cooking time, add the minced garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs.

Baked Brown Rice

2010-03-07T20:26:00.000-05:00

Since this week is going to be REALLY busy, I cooked a big batch of brown rice to eat this week. It's great with stir-fry, or mixed into soup.

I am rice-challenged (if I cook it on the stove top it's either too mush or burned). Fortunately, Good Eats came to my rescue with a recipe for baked brown rice. It couldn't be any easier.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Then bring 2 1/2 cups of stock to a boil (don't use water-stock is so much tastier).

In the meantime, measure 1 1/2 cups of rice and pour it into the baking dish.

Wait for the stock to boil (don't watch it or it won't boil ;-)).

Once it's boiling, kill the heat, and pour the stock into the baking dish. Stir the stock and rice together.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

See, perfectly cooked rice!

Be sure to fluff it with a fork before serving (or storing).

This recipe makes 4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are).

Baked Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups of brown rice
2 1/2 cups of stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 oven-proof baking dish with non-stick spray. Bring the stock to a boil. Once stock in boiling, pour into baking dish and stir in brown rice. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and fluff with a fork before serving.

Baked Potato Soup

2010-02-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

My department at work had a get together a couple of nights ago, catered by Fatz Cafe, which featured salad, rolls, chicken fingers, baked potatoes, and ice cream. Since I helped organize it, I got to take home some of the leftovers. I decided to take home 4 potatoes with the intention of making baked potato soup. My poor dutch oven has been getting lonely in the cabinet, gathering dust, so I pulled it out in its blazing red glory to whip up a batch of soup.

Since the potatoes were already baked, all I had to do was peel and mash them. Obviously if you were making this from the start, you'd have to bake potatoes (I bake mine at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes-you get a perfect potato every time).

Once you've peeled and mashed the potatoes, set them aside.

Then, put some flour in a dutch oven and whisk in the milk. Once those are combined, turn the heat onto medium for about 10 minutes and wait until it gets thick and starts to bubble.

In the meantime, crisp up some bacon!

Next, add in the mashed potatoes, cheese, salt, and pepper. Keep stirring it until the cheese melts.

Once the cheese is melted, take the pot off of the heat and stir in the sour cream and green onions. Then return the pot to a low burner, and let everything warm through for about 10 minutes.

Since I didn't do a really great job of mashing the potatoes, I used an immersion blender to smooth out the consistency a bit before serving.

Garnish the soup with some green onion, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Yum!

I really like this soup-- it is very filling. The only thing I would change is the kind of cheese I used-- I picked up reduced fat mild cheddar, instead of the extra sharp as the recipe called for. Next time, I'll definitely go for the stronger flavored cheese.

I was actually surprised how few ingredients there were, really, only 5 main ingredients (plus salt and pepper), and bacon for a garnish.

This recipe was from Cooking Light-- click here to view how to make Baked Potato Soup.

Quick Mediterranean Soup

2010-02-23T21:38:00.001-05:00

Since I've stopped eating sandwiches at lunch, soup has been my food of choice. I didn't have time to cook any over the weekend, so I decided to try a recipe from the Easy Beans cookbook, Quick Mediterranean Soup. Since I don't have time during my lunch break to cook a whole pot of soup, I put all the ingredients in a crock pot this morning.

A chopped onion:

Two chopped potatoes:

A can of chick peas:

Tomato paste:

Chicken stock & spices:

Then, I set the Crock Pot to high and let it cook for 4 hours.

Before serving, I added some freeze-dried parsley (not nearly as good as fresh), several drops of hot sauce, salt, and the juice of one lemon.

I let that simmer for a few minutes before helping myself to a big bowl for lunch.

While this soup seemed a little bland at first, it started to grow on me by the time I was finished. Maybe the leftovers will have a little more cook. On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 2.5.

Quick Mediterranean Soup
1 can chickpeas
2 tablespoons of dried parsley
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp. cumin
1 onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
6 cups of chicken broth
8 drops of Tabasco sauce
Juice of one lemon
Salt to taste

Combine the first 10 ingredients (chick peas-stock) in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove lid, and add the lemon juice and Tabasco sauce, and season with salt to taste. Simmer a few minutes more and serve.

Rocky Road Whoppers

2010-02-08T20:15:00.001-05:00

My mom emailed me this recipe for Rocky Road Whopper cookies a few weeks ago. These are rich with lots of chocolate, walnuts, and marshmallows. I put off trying to bake these since I'm cooking for one, and I didn't think they would freeze well with the marshmallows. Luckily, Valentine's Day is right around the corner and Will (probably) needs some snacks.

This recipe takes a bit of time to put together, but the result is very chocolate and very chewy cookie. The recipe is suppose to make 12 cookies, but I only got 11 1/2 out of the batch.

First, you melt butter and chocolate chips in a bowl set over simmering water.

While that melts, you mix up the sugar, egg, vanilla, and coffee powder. And then combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.

After the chocolate and butter melts, you stir in the egg mixture, and add the flour, walnuts, and even more chocolate chips.

Next, place 1 tablespoon sized scoops of the batter on two parchment lined baking sheets (you should have 12 cookies.)

Then, flatten out each mound and top with 5 mini marshmallows.

Then (and this is the kind of tricky part), you top the marshmallows with another 1 tablespoon mound of cookie dough.

Sorry, the photo is sideways!

Then, bake for 14 minutes at 350 degrees, rotating the pans halfway through.

While a couple of my cookies faintly resembled the photo, a few of them turned out a bit... deformed...

The top of this cookie slid off.

And these two cookies decided to become Siamese twins.

And one cookie ended up topless since I didn't have enough batter (it was still tasty-- I ate this one just to be sure the batch was good).

Here's the link to the recipe for Rocky Road Whoppers.

Fruit Crisp for 1 (or 3)

2010-01-22T20:11:00.001-05:00

It is hard to find dessert recipes for 1 or 2 people, so I was thrilled when I found a recipe for a fruit crisp for one. While it's meant to make one dessert, I divided it up since the entire recipe has about 600 calories, and I've been trying to slim down. I baked it in three small ramekins, and the result was three perfectly sized desserts.

This recipe was a great reason to use some of this fancy cinnamon from King Arthur flour, and I love ginger!

Start by mixing the coating for the fruit.

Then add a pear and an apple that have been peeled and thinly sliced.

Mix up the topping: butter, sugar, flour, baking powder.

Spoon the fruit into the ramekins, and top with the butter mixture.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Let it cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

This was a pretty good recipe, not as good as some other fruit crisps I've had. But, if you want a dessert that's easy to make and that you can eat in one (or two or three) sittings, this is a great one to try.

Here's a link to the recipe (it's the last recipe on the page).

Baked Chocolate Pudding

2010-01-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Over the holidays, I took to trip to Costco with my parents. I was excited to see an assortment of Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I'm a big fan of Ina Garten's show on the Food Network, and figured I ought to buy one of her books. The anticipation of looking for new recipes was getting to me, so I began leafing through the pages as soon as we got in the car. The recipes are easy to follow and all of them have a photo of the finished dish. Page 218, with it's full-page photo of a baking dish filled with a baked chocolate pudding caught my eye.

"Ooo, Mama, look at this!" I exclaimed as I passed the book up to her in the front seat.

"You should make that," was her responding statement.

And so I found myself mixing up the ingredients for Mrs. Garten's Baked Chocolate Pudding on New Year's Eve. There were two ingredients in the original recipe that I didn't have: a vanilla bean and framboise. I left out the liquor and substituted 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for the bean. This dish came together in about 15 minutes, and then baked in the oven for one hour.

This dessert is very good, but very rich--it definitely needs a scoop of ice cream to cut all the chocolateness. Despite its richness, it has a wonderfully light texture.

One more note: the book's instructions call for baking the pudding in a water bath. I failed to note this when I made this dessert, but it came out just fine without a "bath."

Barefoot Contessa's Baked Chocolate Pudding (with my tweaks)
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter (you will need extra to butter the baking dish)
4 eggs at room temperature
2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 2 quart shallow oval baking dish. Melt the 2 sticks of butter in the microwave (the butter will need to cool before you add it to the batter).

Beat the eggs and sugar on medium high speed with a mixer for at least 5 minutes. The mixture will be very thick and light yellow.

Sift together the cocoa and flour, and slowly add to the egg/sugar mixture. Then add the vanilla and very slowly add the melted butter, beating until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish, and tap the dish on the counter a couple of times. Bake for one hour. The center will look very under-baked. The consistency of the dish is between a pudding and a brownie.

Wait at least 20 minutes for the pudding to settle before serving with ice cream.

Goode Bean Soup

2009-12-08T09:45:00.003-05:00

It’s been awhile since I posted. Partly because I haven’t been inspired, and partly because I really haven’t been cooking up anything new. But, I did cook a batch of soup last night that was pretty good that I wanted to share. I adapted it from other recipes, so I’m going to call my version “Goode Bean Soup.”

This recipe came about out of my new obsession of using a slow cooker, and the need to use up a pound of Great Northern Beans in the cupboard. It also happened that I have onions, carrots, and celery in the fridge that need to be used, along with several cans of tomatoes. I did venture into unknown territory with this recipe—I used a ham hock! Now, being from the South, I have been eating foods cooked with ham hocks for years, but I have never cooked with them at home. I must say that the flavor is excellent, although I did end up with some piggy ankle bones floating around in the soup ! Fortunately, dear hubby and are were very careful not to swallow them.

This recipe couldn’t be simpler. First, soak the beans overnight. Then drain, rinse, and add them to the slow cooker. Second, add the rest of the ingredients except for the fresh herbs. Cover, cook on low for 8 hours. Third, remove the bay leaf and ham hock. Next, add your chopped, fresh herbs. Then, season with salt and pepper. And finally, serve.

Goode Bean Soup Ingredients
1 lb. of dry Great Northern Beans
6 cups of chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of dry parsley
1 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 ham hock
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley)*
Salt & Pepper to taste
^ use chopped ham or bacon in place of the ham hock
* substitute dry herbs (just cut the amount by 1/3, but add them to the soup at the beginning or halfway through the cooking process

Pretzels, Please!

2009-10-27T15:56:00.000-04:00

Words cannot describe my delight of eating a big soft pretzel. My tongue rejoices as the salt granules melt in my mouth, spreading salty NaCL goodness on my tongue as the soft, buttery dough makes my tastebuds sing.

Okay, that's a little hokey, but pretzels (hard or soft) are one of my all-time favorite foods. Our house is never without a bag of pretzel twists in the cabinet, and my favorite mall or stadium snack food is a soft pretzel with mustard (preferable honey mustard). I could not be more excited when I saw an entire episode of Good Eats devoted to pretzels. Unfortunately, after making a batch of these, the appeal of your standard food court pretzel will significantly drop.

These are have a slightly leathery crust, but they soft and chewy on the inside. And they make the whole house smell good as they bake.

You begin by mixing up the dough. First, you proof the yeast in water with sugar for a few minutes. Then, add the flour, salt, and butter. Use a stand mixer to mix everything together and then knead it for 4-5 minutes. Then, transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let it rise for about an hour (or until its size doubles).

Look at that beautiful, smooth dough!

While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and get out 2 sheet pans (or cookie sheets in my case), and line them with parchment paper. Then, brush the paper with vegetable oil.

Then bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot (a dutch oven works well), and once the water is rolling add baking soda.

While the water is coming up to a boil, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Then roll each piece into a 2-foot long log. Then, you twist. My twisting skills aren't up to par as is evident from the photo (I think I did one too many twists), but whatever shape you manuever your pretzels into, they will still be tasty.

Eight pieces of dough.

A slightly skewed pretzel.

As you shape each pretzel, put it on the parchment paper. Once all the pretzels are shaped, you can put them in the boiling water. I only put in 2 at a time, and you only need to boil them for 30 seconds. Remove the pretzels with a large slotted spoon (or something simalar) and return them to the baking sheet.

A pretzel after its spa treatment.

Brush each pretzel with the egg wash, and bake them for 12-16 minutes (or until dark golden brown).

Applying the egg wash.

Once the pretzels have acheived the correct level of goldiness, transfer them to a cooling rack. And then wait 5 loooong minutes before eating. These are best eaten on the day you bake them, but you can enjoy them the next day or freeze them.

Note: You don't have to use a stand mixer for this recipe. The first time I made it by "hand." It was more work but the results were the same-yummy!

Here's the full recipe for Alton Brown's Homemade Soft Pretzels.

Pear, Apple, and Cranberry Crisp

2009-10-19T16:41:00.001-04:00

The crisp chill in the air is a sure sign that fall is here. Our first day of cold weather hit last week, putting me in the mood for something warm and fruity. I wanted something that included pears, and happened upon Ina Garten's Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp recipe. This was a terrific follow-up to our chicken & gravy & biscuit dinner last Friday night.

This recipe was very good-- since I was cooking for two I cut the recipe in half, and we had enough for five desserts.

You begin by peeling, coring, and chopping the apples and pears, and then you add the dried cranberries, cinnamon, sugar, flour, orange juice and zest, and lemon juice and zest. The tart cranberries really help balance out the sweetness, and the orange juice gives the dish a hint of something different. I didn't have any nutmeg so I couldn't put any in my filling.

Gently mix everything up and transfer it to a baking dish.

Up next is my favorite part of the dish-- the crisp topping! It's easy enough, combine your diced, cold butter with brown sugar, oats, granulated sugar, and flour.

I used a fork to mix everything together (but Ina recommends using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer. Personally, I didn't feel like get a huge mixing bowl dirty when I could mix the topping up in a smaller bowl. Maybe KitchenAid needs to develop smaller mixing bowls for its stand mixers...)

Once you're topping is all mixed together, pour it over fruit.

The recipe calls for baking the dish in a preheated 350-degree oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour. This is also a good dish to make ahead-- I put it together about 3 hours before I baked it (and kept it in the oven for 50 minutes). The fruit was soft but had enough texture so you knew it came from fresh fruit and not out of a can.

We ate this with fresh whipped cream, but of course you couldn't go wrong with ice cream.

Golden brown and bubbly!

This recipe is going into my recipe box. It was easy to prepare, fool proof, and can be made ahead of time. Click here to view the entire recipe for Pear, Apple, and Cranberry Crisp.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Herbs & Roasted Garlic Gravy

2009-10-18T16:02:00.005-04:00

Friday was fun day since we had the day off from work. It was one of those dreary, cloudy days that just begged for some comfort food. I decided to roast a chicken for dinner. I wasn’t sure what to do to add some flavor, but then I remembered my little herb pot out back, so I headed out to see what I could find.

There was a little bit of parsley, and a whole bunch of sage and thyme, which met their end at the blade of a knife.

‘This is a good start’, I thought to myself. ‘But what else can I add?’

Then I recalled the large jar of minced garlic in the fridge. Yum- fresh herbs, garlic, with a little bit of salt and pepper added in, would make a great rub for the chicken.

After I rinsed the chicken and patted it dry, I rubbed the herb/garlic/salt/pepper mixture under the skin. Then I trussed the chicken (not sure if it’s the proper way to truss, but it looked almost identical to the illustration in the Joy of Cooking), put it in a casserole dish, coated the outside with olive oil, seasoned the skin with salt and pepper, and put it in a 350 degree oven.

Two hours later, I had a beautiful chicken.

While the chicken roasted, I cooked green beans. After I took the chickens out to rest, I also baked some made-from-scratch biscuits and made roasted garlic gravy. I was so excited to eat I forgot to take a photo of the whole bird before it was carved. Oh well, at least I got a photo before we ate it all.

And of course we had to have dessert after such a great meal—look for what I baked in the next post.

Cousin D's Slow Cooker Beefy Cheese Dip

2009-10-12T16:03:00.003-04:00

This is a recipe I learned from my Cousin D (the guy in the tie-dye)during our family reunion in Montana. My husband (he's the one in the blue shirt) and I took a bite and said this would be great to have while watching football games in the fall. During the reunion in August, we were hanging out at “The Ranch,” and D had cooked up this fantastic dip.

While sitting out on the deck, enjoying views of wheat and barley fields with mountains in the distant, he recited the ingredients for the dip: ground beef, cream cheese, queso dip, and sour cream. And don’t forget to throw in some taco seasoning.

Pretty simple, pretty good, and pretty bad for waistlines and hearts. But hey, you can’t always walk the straight and narrow path by eating rabbit food all the time.

That being said, I’m not going to be held liable for any medical bills related to heart disease. In the words of my couz, “It ain’t diet food.”

So, if you’re ready to blow your diet, get the ingredients together and pull out your slow cooker. I made this the other night so we’d have something to munch on while watching football (we had a couple of people over to help us eat it). My guess is that it would safely feed 6-8 people.

Brown the ground beef in a skillet and season with taco seasoning. Put the ground beef in the crock pot, then add a block of cream cheese, a cup of sour cream, and two jars of queso dip (I used Tostito’s Monterrey Jack Queso dip. Don’t worry, according to the website you don’t have to feel guilty about eating it because it’s gluten, pork, soy and onion free and has NO trans fat. Of course, they fail to advertise there’s still 35 grams of fat in each jar…)

But, we’re not here to think about fat grams-we’re here to make some good game-watching food. Turn your slow cooker to low, cover, and cook for a couple of hours and stir it occasionally. When all the cheese/cream products have achieved a smooth, almost soupy consistency, you’re ready to serve. Use a ladle to transfer the dip to a bowl. Then, put some Fritos corn chip scoops on the top and use those to eat the dip. It’s a complete meal unto itself: dairy, meat, carbs, and veggies (yes, veggies, there’s some pieces of pepper in the queso dip--I'm trying to help you rationalize eating it so work with me here). It’s all you need to sustain yourself through a day and/or evening of football watching.

This dish was a huge hit. The guys all went back for seconds, and as I sat in the bedroom typing this post, I kept hearing their satisfied belches from the living room. Unfortunately, I don't have any good photos of the dip-- while tasty, it's kind of a big soupy cheesy mess.

Cousin D's Beefy Cheese Dip
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese
1 cup of sour cream
2 jars of Tostitos Queso Dip
1 lb. of ground beef
1 package of taco seasoning
Fritos corn chips for dipping

Brown the meat in a skillet over medium heat, add the taco seasoning. Transfer the beef to a slow cooker and add the cream cheese, sour cream, and queso dip. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until everything has melted together. Serve the dip in bowls with the Fritos on top.

Chocolate Peanut Bites

2009-10-11T13:42:00.005-04:00

Hubby and I had some friends over on Saturday to watch football games. We needed a dessert, so I had to find something that would go well with the beefy cheese dip, chicken tenders, and soft pretzels we were having for dinner. So I turned to my folder of saved recipes, and came across this one for Chocolate Peanut Bites from the Rachael Ray Magazine.I figured these would be good for a small sweet treat (and who doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate?)

These turned out to be perfect-- not too sweet, and it's a pick-your-own-size dessert. Just in the mood for a sweet treat? Take one. In the mood for a heartier dessert? Take five.

It starts out easily enough, just melt three tablespoons of butter, 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, and a 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips in a pot on the stove top. (Heat over low heat). Then you transfer the mixture to a 9X9 inch pan and let it rest in the fridge.

The butter...

The peanut butter...

And the chocolate!

Mix all that up with a spoon...

Keep stirring...

And then switch to a whisk to get everything nice and smooth!

Then transfer the mixture to the pan.

The recipe reads to only leave the mixture in the fridge for 45 minutes before shaping. However, I made it Friday night, so I let it chill overnight in the ice box.

Before I started shaping the bites in the morning, I got the "crust" ready. All you do is finely chop 1 1/2 cups of unsalted, roasted peanuts and put them on the plate. Then it was time to get rolling!

Hooray for the mini food processor!

Since I let the mixture chill overnight, it was a little hard to shape it the next morning. But, after a few minutes, the chocolate was more malleable. Through trial and error (not all of the bites were round) I found the best way to get the chocolate into a somewhat pretty shape was to scrape a spoon across the top of the mixture so you ended up with a "curl" of chocolate. Then, you can gently press the curl onto itself to form a cylinder-like shape. Once the chocolate is shaped, then you lightly press it into the peanut mixture to coat. This is a kind of messy process, so I wasn't able to take any photos.

Place them in an airtight container and chill until you are ready to serve them.

It is a little time consuming to form the bites-- it took me about 30 minutes to get them all coated. All in all, it's a pretty simple dish to make. Here's a link to the recipe for Rachael Ray's Chocolate Peanut Bites.

Slow cooker black bean soup

2009-10-03T22:49:00.001-04:00

The past week was fairly easy when it came to cooking-- basically I made a big batch of chili and spaghetti sauce early in the week, and we had a lot of leftovers. This wasn't by accident, dear hubby and I had a crazy week at work. That being said, I didn't have time to try out any new recipes this week, so I'm writing about a soup a made a few weeks ago: Slow Cooker Black Bean Chipotle Soup. I know, I know, we eat a lot of beans, but they're cheap and taste good (not to mention they are good for you). This recipe has a lot of ingredients, and basically all you do is through them in a slow cooker, turn it on and leave it alone. This was another recipe recommended by my mother-- I think she found it in a Rival Slow Cooker cook book. I've made a couple modifications to my version.

You do have to precook the dry black beans or you could soak the beans overnight to soften them up, too.

The veggies: carrot, celery, and onion.

The veggies with salsa, canned green chiles, black beans, cumin, and chipotles in adobe.

Make it a soup by adding stock.

The finished product (I used an immersion blender to smooth out the soup a bit).

It's great served with some cheese on top, and sour cream would be good, too. Also excellent served with tortilla chips (I like to tear up flour tortillas and bake them in the oven-- they're great for dipping into the soup).

Here's the list of ingredients and instructions for Slow Cooker Black Bean Chipotle Soup.

1 lb. dry black beans

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

1-2 tsp. of pureed chipotle in adobe OR 1-2 canned chipotle in adobe peppers

1 cup of salsa (I like to use medium)

1-4 oz. can of mild green chilies, drained

2 tsp cumin

Salt & pepper to taste (Don;t add the salt until AFTER the beans have cooked in the soup. If you add the salt at the beginning, the beans will end up gritty. Take my word for it.)

3-4 cups of chicken broth or stock (depends on how thick/thin you like your soup)

Rinse and sort black beans. Cover beans with cool water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Add the beans to the slow coooker and add the resto of the ingredients except for the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4 1/2-5 hours, or until beans are tender.

Add salt and pepper.

You may leave the soup chunky or puree to desired consistency with an immersion blender.

Three in one: Nutty for Oats Cookies

2009-09-26T20:03:00.004-04:00

In our house, the end of one batch of cookies brings about a great culinary conundrum: What kind of cookies to bake next? My favorite cookies are chocolate chip. My husband's favorite: peanut butter. Oatmeal are always a good choice because they're kind of healthy since they're made with oatmeal and fruit. What to do? What to do?

We finished off the chocolate chip cookies a couple of weeks ago, the double fudge brownies have been eaten or given away, so I began looking through cook books trying to find a new cookie recipe to try. Then I happened upon Nutty for Oats Cookies in King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking. These cookies promised the best of three worlds: peanut butter, chocolate chip, and oatmeal. Not to mention they're fairly easy to throw together.

I began by getting the baking sheets ready, simply lining them with parchment paper. With the oven preheating to 350 degrees, I started mixing the ingredients.

Like almost every other cookie, you have to cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. This recipe also requires creaming the peanut butter, salt, and baking soda. Then I added two eggs.

I had just enough peanut butter for the recipe...

Not sure how I'll handle a week without peanut butter (at least there's cashew butter in the fridge!)...

The batter before you add the oat flour.

Next, I ground up 1 cup of old-fashioned oats in the food processor, and mixed the ground up oats and whole oats with the butter/sugar mixture.

A mini food processor is great for grinding up the oats.

The batter before the addition of chocolate/raisins.

At this point I had to alter the recipe. I didn't have the two cups of chocolate chips called for by the recipe, so I divided the batter in half. In one half, I added a cup of bittersweet chocolate chips, and then added a cup of raisins to the other half. Two kinds of cookies from one basic batter!

Chocolate cookie before baking.

Raisin cookie before baking.

First, I baked the chocolate chip cookies for 11 minutes. The cookies just started to brown when I pulled them from the oven. Usually, I let cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the pans, and then transfer them to a rack to cool. This recipe calls for letting the cookies cool completely on the pan. I think this is because the cookies aren't quite cooked all the way through when you pull them from the oven, and they need the heat of the pan to finish baking. Not one to mess up a batch of cookies, I followed the recipe's instructions.

I transferred the first cookies to a rack after they cooled so I could finish the next batch.

Then I finished up by baking the raisin batch.

These cookies are really really really good, especially the chocolate chip version. Since I used bittersweet chocolate, they weren't super sweet, but you could really appreciate the peanut butter and chocolate flavor. They are thick, soft and chewy-- everything a cookie should be. (Not sure what the appeal of eating a crunchy cookie is, they're basically just a cracker at that point).

Here's the measurements for the ingredients. I really hope you try these out!

King Arthur Flour's Nutty for Oats Cookies
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips (may substitute dry fruit)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Then add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Mix in the oats, and then add the chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon (or small ice cream scoop) drop the cookies onto the baking pan.

Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan.

Thinking outside the box: Double Fudge Brownies

2009-09-17T18:51:00.005-04:00

Stuck in a rut? Sick of the same ol' same 'ol? Think outside the box! The brownie mix box, that is.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that until last Sunday I had never made brownies from scratch (blondies, yes, chocolate brownies, no). Why did I opt for the convenience of a Duncan Hines mix instead of the made-from-scratch version for the first couple of decades of my existence? Well, brownies from a box were easy, and they were pretty darn tasty and chewy and soft. However, after making a batch of made from scratch double-fudge brownies, I don't think I'll be reaching for a box of mix anytime soon.

The surprising thing about these brownies is that they are made with whole wheat flour. But you can't taste the difference at all. These brownies are moist with a deep dense chocolate flavor, and they don't taste like health food. (In fact, they are just as fattening as other brownies, but knowing they're whole wheat can make you feel better about eating one). I followed the recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

Start by greasing a 9X13 inch pan. (The recipe claims you can get two dozen servings, but I like BIG brownies so I only got 12 brownies out of the batch). Set it aside and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Next, melt two sticks of butter in a pot.

Once those are melted, you stir in two cups of brown sugar.

After the brown sugar has dissolved into the butter, return the sauce pan to the burner until it is heated through and bubbling. Then, remove the mixture from the heat and add in your cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, and salt mixture, and then add the vanilla.

Stir that until it's well combined. Let that mixture cool until it feels like warm bath water (I waited at least five minutes), then whisk in your eggs...

... and then stir in the flour...

... and then add two cups of semisweet chocolate chips.

Once everything is well combined (and before you eat all of this yummy gooey batter)...

Pour the mixture into your prepared 9X13 dish, and bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

When it comes out, it will look like this:

Once they're cooked, set them on a rack to cool completely and (then came the really really hard part)...

LET THEM SIT OVERNIGHT.

DO NOT EAT THEM RIGHT AWAY.

"And why do I have to leave them be overnight?" you ask. "Why? Now that I've spent the last hour of my life pouring my heart and soul into homemade brownies and now you're telling me I have to wait?"

Because, according to folks of King Arthur, the whole wheat flour will benefit significantly from allowing to rest and the bran soften. Did the overnight rest help? Well, let's just say I wasn't going to put all this time into the brownies, not follow directions, and then be disappointed.

So the next night after dinner, it was time to taste the brownies. Unfortunately, I was getting over a head cold so my nose was a bit stuffy and my taste buds were blunted, so I couldn't give an accurate taste test.I cut myself a small piece, and even with hampered taste and smell senses, these were really really good. My husband also really enjoyed them.

So, this time thinking outside of the box was a pretty good idea. Bye bye Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, and Betty Crocker mixes. It's time for me to move on to "made from scratch."

Here are the ingredients and measurements for King Arthur Flour's Double Fudge Brownies.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups of packed brown sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (I used unsweetened because that's all I had in the pantry)
1 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp espresso powder-optional (I used instant coffee granules)
1 Tbsp. of vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of traditional whole wheat flour
2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips

Cola Chicken

2009-09-12T17:03:00.008-04:00

I'm about to share with you one of the easiest and tastiest ways to make chicken. This dish is sweet with a little bit of southern twang, and is so so simple. It's called Cola Chicken.

Cola Chicken is kind of like BBQ chicken- I like to serve it on sandwich buns with fries. It's also great served over a baked sweet potato.

My mom turned me onto this recipe about a year ago (she may have gotten it from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). You need four ingredients: chicken, an onion, ketchup, and a can of Coca-Cola. I've heard Diet Coke and Coke Zero work as well, but I try to avoid artificial sweeteners when I can, opting for the calorie-laden, sugar laced, pure and classic Coke.

There are two ways to cook it: the skillet or the slow cooker. I chose the slow cooker method today since I spent all day at work (we're hosting a volleyball tournament) and my dear husband had to put the ingredients together. These were my instructions to him:

Cola Chicken (Slow cooker)
Put four frozen chicken breasts (you could use fresh) in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Place the sliced onion on top of the chicken.
Pour in one cup of ketchup.
Add the can of Coca-Cola.
Turn the slow cooker on low and cover.

By the time I get home the chicken will have cooked on low for about six hours. Now, all I have to do when I get to the house is take the lid off the slow cooker, shred the chicken with a couple of forks, and let it cook with the lid off until the liquid reduces and forms a sauce. In the meantime, I'll bake up some fries. A perfect meal to sit down with in front of the TV and watch Georgia beat South Carolina!

Cola Chicken (Skillet)
The skillet method of cooking goes a little faster, and takes a little over an hour. Basically, you add all of the ingredients to a skillet you've set on medium heat. Put the lid on the skillet and cook for about 45 minutes. Remove the lid, shred the chicken, and cook until the liquid reduces and you get the consistency you like for a sauce (15-30 more minutes).

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies

2009-09-07T14:12:00.020-04:00

Yesterday I had the morning free, so I decided to bake some treats. Not in the mood for cookies, I hunted for something soft and chewy. I pulled out my file of magazine recipes and decided to try Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies from Bon Appetit magazine. One of my favorite treats growing up were the blondies my parents would bake once in a while. We usually had regular brownies on hand (easy to bake since they came from a box), but blondies were always a nice change of pace.

What attracted me to this recipe was that it included peanuts (yum) and bittersweet chocolate. I tend to be more of a semi-sweet girl, but thought it would be good to try something different.

First things first: prepare the baking pan. Butter and flour an 8x8 by 2-inch deep metal pan and set aside. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Then melt a stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Once the butter is completely melted, whisk in the brown sugar.

*My brown sugar wasn't "golden" as the recipe called for, so my blondies turned out to be a "dirty" blond instead of "golden" blond. They were still good :-).*

Take that mixture off the heat and let it cool for two minutes (so they eggs won't scramble when you add them to the batter).

Then, add your eggs and vanilla to the brown sugar and butter, and mix those together. Now you're ready to add the dry ingredients.

Once the dry ingredients are completely mixed into the butter mixture, add half of the peanuts and half of the chocolate chips.

Mix those in...
Pour the batter into the baking pan, and top with the remaining peanuts and chocolate (don't worry, I won't tell if you add more chocolate than the recipe calls for).

Then pop the pan in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies should come out clean).

Let them cool and then serve.

Recipe for Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies from Bon Appetit

My Thoughts: These blondies are good, but mine didn't turn out quite as tall as the one in the photo (maybe my baking powder is losing its lift). These would be great to serve to someone who doesn't have a huge sweet tooth. The bittersweet chocolate and the peanuts make the blondies rich without making them super sweet. As suggested by Bon Appetit, they would make a really good base for a sundae with the addition of ice cream and sauce. Personally, I would have liked to have eaten my treat with a latte or some kind of sweet hot beverage-- something to balance the not-so-sweet dessert.

The Busy-ness Begins (slow-cooker BBQ beans & sausage)

2009-09-03T16:23:00.010-04:00

Well, it finally happened. After the lazy months of summer, having every night and weekend free (and every Friday afternoon), the chaos hit. The quiet campus became a beehive of activity, with the bees (I mean students) bringing on busy-ness for me. In addition to working more nights and weekends, this means several things on the Goode kitchen front:

Limited time for experimental baking (sorry, Rose! The Bread Bible won't be getting its weekly use for a few months)
Late dinners (which equals me being grouchy and wanting dinner the minute I walk in the door)
Dear hubby still expecting dinner every night (not that he won't cook, I just prefer to eat my cooking :-))

Thus, my recipe hunting has taken a new turn to slow cooker recipes. Not only is the slow cooker super easy to use, it's also a chance for me to put the only stainless steel appliance I own on the counter for display.

I have to say that I'm still a bit leery of using the slow cooker- I guess it's because I never cooked with one until about a year ago, so I'm not quite sure how the meal will turn out. My limited experience has resulted in weirdly-textured meat, and an unfortunate, gritty fiasco with black bean soup (lesson learned: if you cook dry beans, don't add the salt until AFTER the beans are cooked). However, I'm am ready to overcome my past mistakes and search for new and delicious recipes for the Rival.

One very good recipe I found was slow cooker BBQ beans and sausage from Food Network Magazine. I put this together one day before we had a soccer doubleheader and didn't get home until almost 7. It only took 10 minutes to put together during my lunch break. This dish was ready 15 minutes after we walked in the door.

Slow Cooker BBQ Beans & Sausage (I made some tweaks, but you can find the original recipe here.)

3 cups of chicken broth/stock
3 cups of water
1/3 cup of tomato paste
1/3 cup of brown sugar
3 TBSP of molasses
3 TBSP of honey mustard
2 TBSP of barbecue seasoning blend
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb. dry navy beans, rinsed and picked over
1 small onion (or half of a large onion), cut in half
1 package of chicken-apple sausages, sliced thickly
2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce

In a slow cooker, whisk together the broth, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, molasses, honey mustard, bbq seasoning, and garlic. Then add the beans, onion, and the sliced sausage. Give it a stir. Put the cover on the slow cooker and cook the beans on HIGH for at least 6 hours (or until the beans are tender). My beans cooked for 6.5 hours and turned out just fine.

Once the beans are tender, take the lid off the pot and remove and discard the onion. Add the apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Let the beans cook for at least another 15 minutes, uncovered, before dishing them out & enjoying.

If you want smokier beans, you could certainly substitute another kind of sausage, or add some bacon. To cut the sweetness, you could use regular mustard instead of the honey mustard.

The beans are complemented by a slice of bread or a roll. You need something to mop up the extra sauce that forms. Dear hubby added some rice to his bowl and thought the mixture was excellent.

Three-Berry Clafouti

2009-08-30T16:09:00.005-04:00

It's strange that of the dozen cookbooks I own, I really only regularly use about three of them (two books about baking and a pasta cookbook which contains one of my favorite tomato sauces). Occasionally, I'll pull out one of the four Rachael Ray books I own to look for a new recipe, but most of my favorites from those books I've committed to memory.

A couple of weekends ago, I got the hankering to bake a dessert. We already had cookies in the freezer, and I really wanted something fruity. I immediately thought of the raspberry clafouti we had been served at the bed and breakfast in Montana. "A clafouti is healthy," I rationalized. "If I use blueberries, blackberries, and some raspberries, I'll get my daily dose of antioxidants." So I began my quest for a recipe...

I began searching the internet for recipes. I remembered that clafouti is a French dish, and then I remembered that Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking had been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year. I looked through it for fun every now and then but I had yet to try out any of her recipes. Surely Julia would have a recipe for this pastry in her book. I was in luck, she had several variations on the classic dish.

I decided to use three berries because a) I needed an excuse to use blackberries (my favorite), b) blueberries are in season and somewhat inexpensive and c) I'm not a huge fan of raspberries but like the color.

The recipe couldn't be simpler to make. The ingredients for the "dough" are all combined and blended. Flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, and eggs are processed until smooth.

As you can see, it's kind of frothy.

Next, you pour a thin layer of the batter into the bottom of the pie plate, just enough to coat the bottom. The pie plate goes into the 350-degree oven for a few minutes, just enough time for a film to set on the bottom of the pie plate. Then you remove the plate from the oven, add the fruit and more sugar, and pour on the rest of the batter.

It kind of looks like a giant pancake...

Then you bake the clafouti for about 45 minutes, until it's set. Let it rest for a few minutes before slicing into it.

I really like this dish. It would be great served warm with some ice cream, or with whipped cream. We didn't have either of those in the kitchen, so we ate it plain. It was a light dish that didn't leave a heavy feeling in your stomach. In fact, it reminded me of a thick, giant berry pancake. And with all those great berries, you don't have to feel guilty about eating a big piece!

For the batter...
1 1 /4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup of flour

For the filling...
3 cups of berries
1/3 cup sugar

Black Bean Chimichangas

2009-08-18T12:50:00.009-04:00

Do you have a word that you just love to say? A word that just brings a smile to your face? A word that just wants makes you want to celebrate? If not, don't fear-- I bring to you the word "Chimichanga!" C'mon, say it out loud. You're smiling now, right? Chi-MEE-chang-ah. Chi-me-CHANG-ah. (I know, I'm having a little too much fun with it).

According to Wikipedia, a chimichanga is traditionally a fried burrito that got its name when a cook dropped some dough into a vat of oil, and (instead of saying a very bad word in Spanish), exclaimed "Chimichanga," which is loosely translated from Spanish as "thingamajig" in English.

I had never eaten a thingamajig (that's kind of a fun word, too) until a few weeks ago when my cousin Maria converted leftover chili verde into baked chimichangas. Boy, were they good-- a crispy tortilla crust enclosing pork, onions, tomatoes, and cheese, and topped with a spicy sauce.

Her idea to use leftover chili got me thinking-- what other kinds of foods could one put in a chimichanga? It didn't take long for an idea to come-- black bean and bacon smash! It's one of my favorite go-to meals, but we usually just eat it with rice, or I occasionally will use the beans as a "sauce" for pizza.

The beans are perfect for a chimichanga because they already have a Tex-Mex flavor from the cumin and chipotle in adobo sauce. And turning them into chimis couldn't be easier-- all you have to do is assemble.

So, obviously the first thing to do was cook the black bean & bacon smash in the slow cooker during the afternoon while I was at work (I know, it's pretty ugly, but looks can be deceiving!). Then I reserved half of the black bean mixture for dinner the next night. With the remaining mixture, I mixed in some roasted corn kernels (this is enough filling for 4 chimis). I baked frozen corn kernels in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to thaw them out and give them a little bit of color. The corn added crunchy texture to the bean filling.

Then I set about getting the rest of the ingredients together: tortillas, a bag of Mexican blend shredded cheese and cooking spray.

I wrapped the tortillas up in a damp kitchen towel and nuked them for about 30 seconds in the microwave, just to get them very pliable. I also sprayed a small baking sheet with the cooking spray.

Next, I spooned about a 1/4 cup of the bean filling onto the tortilla...

... and then sprinkled on the cheese...
... and then rolled them up, just like a burrito, and placed them on the baking sheet.
(obviously I need a little more practice rolling them up! Fortunately the taste wasn't affected.)

Before putting these in a 350 degree oven, I sprayed the chimichangas with cooking spray.. I baked them for about 15 minutes. They were crisp (not quite as crispy as a fried one would be), but I think you could achieve mucho crispiness if you baked them in a hotter oven (around 425-450 degrees).

I didn't have a recipe for sauce, so I set out two jars of salsa from Frontera Foods instead: the salsa verde and the Guajillo salsa. The side dish is sauteed peppers and onions seasoned with chili powder and cumin! Yummy!

2009-08-13T14:33:00.043-04:00

I have to come clean. From July 28-August 7 I didn’t cook AT ALL. I ate ice cream almost every day. I ate foods with no regard to their nutritional content. And I loved every minute of it. Of course, my waistline would beg to differ now that it is holding up an extra 5 pounds (5 is just a guess—it could be more but I’m scared to step on the scale!)

During those 12 days, I was on vacation in Montana with my hubby, Will, and my parents. We had a fantastic time, and enjoyed great restaurant and home-cooked food along the way. I’m not sure if we hit the “best of the best” restaurants during our visit, but I would highly recommend all of the restaurants where we ate.

At any rate, here is a recap of our travels!

South Carolina/Georgia

My husband, Will, and I began our trip with a breakfast stop at Chick-fil-A, the home of the best chicken biscuits in the world, on our way to my parent’s house in Georgia. From there, the four of us departed for Atlanta and the airport. But, before we headed to the airport, we ate a late lunch at the OK Café. This place is great if you want to quelch a craving for classic southern food. I usually get the broiled salmon, but on Tuesday I got the veggie plate with squash soufflé, macaroni & cheese, a baked sweet potato, green beans, and a corn muffin. They have fabulous desserts, but since we were so full from our meal, we decided to forgo the brownie sundaes, chocolate ice box pies, and carrot cake. I did pick up a super-sized Rice Krispie treat from the OK Take Away for a snack on the plane.

Red Lodge, MT

After arriving in Billings on Tuesday, we went straight to the hotel for a good night’s rest. The next morning, my Aunt B picked us up and took us to Red Lodge, which is at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains. We ate at a cute little café in Red Lodge (I can’t remember the name, but will post it once I do). I had a bison burger with sweet potato fries, which were surprisingly crispy.

Will is enjoying a Moose Drool ale from Montana's Big Sky Brewing Company. We decided that we would only drink MT beer during our trip (but that ended for Will when he met Cousin D and got free Busch Light).

Before we roamed the streets of Red Lodge and took a drive up the Cook City Highway, dear hubby and I split a rich piece of chocolate cake. By the way, if you ever are in Montana and want a scenic drive, take this road. The views of the mountains are spectacular, and you may see a bear like we did!

View from an overlook on the Cook City Highway.

The bear!

Lewistown, MT

After a day of sightseeing outside of Billings, the four of us headed to Lewistown, MT, for our three-day family reunion! It was very exciting to see all of our relatives, many of whom we hadn’t seen in several years!

We stayed at the Pheasant Tales Bed & Bistro, where our rooms were very spacious, and breakfast was included. Among the offerings were scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, raspberry clafouti, pancakes, and breakfast casserole.

Pheasant Tales Bed & Bistro

Needless to say, we got off to a great start each morning (and so did the turkeys).

Since Pheasant Tales is located a bit off the beaten path, so we got to see lots of deer, a porcupine, turkey, and a garter snake (well, I didn’t see the snake but I heard all about it).

The ownersof the B&B also breeds English Setters, so we always received a warm, rousing welcome from the four-legged residents.

When we weren’t at the B&B, we were at my Aunt M and Uncle L’s house, which was a relatively short drive from Lewistown. We had some of the best food of the trip there because most of it was homemade by my aunt and cousins, who were kind enough to share their recipes with us. (Look for those on upcoming blog entries!)

Of course, no summer vacation would be complete without ice cream! We soon found that the best place to swing by and pick up an ice cream cone or an Artic Freeze (similar to a DQ Blizzard) was the Dash Inn, located on the main street of Lewistown. Not only was the ice cream good, it was lots of fun to sit in the parking lot and watch the local teens and Harley Davidson enthusiasts cruise the strip.

On our final night in Lewistown, we were treated to dinner at Pheasant Tales by my parents. Aunt B, Aunt M, Uncle L, and Cousin M joined us for a fabulous meal that began with pheasant and duck ravioli in a sun-dried tomato, basil, and garlic sauce (this may be my favorite dish of the trip).

Pheasant and duck ravioli

Next, we enjoyed freshly sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with a poppy seed dressing. The main course was a beef tenderloin with a sauce (sorry, I can't remember what kind), but it was made with Madeira and plum syrup. On the plate it looked like a plain brown gravy, but when it hit your mouth you got a subtle sweet flavor that was wonderful surprise! On the side was a zucchini cake that was comprised of pine nuts and bread crumbs, and topped with a remoulade sauce.

Dessert proved the point that simple is sometimes best-- it was a raspberry crepe with a brandy cream sauce.

Chris, the chef, said it best: "Everything is better with brandy cream sauce." I couldn't agree more and am definitely hitting the internet to find a recipe for it!

Great Falls

On Tuesday morning, we bid a fond farewell to our family and Pheasant Tales and headed to Great Falls to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center on the banks of the Missourri River.

After a jaunt through the museum, we headed to Dante's Creative Cuisine for lunch. Everyone was very pleased with their dishes. My hubby had shrimp pasta with a four-cheese whiskey sauce, my dad had broccoli and pasta with a Gouda cheese sauce, my Mom got a great bowl of hot & sour soup, and I had a veggie burrito with salsa verde.

Helena

We drove from Great Falls to Helena, and made another stop at an educational site in Ulm, MT, at the First People Buffalo Jump.

That's me standing in front of the buffalo jump!

We stayed at the Best Western Great Northern in Helena--it is a very nice hotel and I would highly recommend it. My husband and I headed out on our own for dinner that night, and ended up at the Brewhouse Pub and Grille on Lyndale Avenue, a very short walk from our hotel. The beer was okay and the food was good by bar standards.

We stopped at the Great Northern Carousel to get ice cream for dessert. I had a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough and "hot" chocolate (chocolate ice cream with cayenne pepper-- it was interesting but left a burn in my mouth). While the ice cream was good, the price was a little outrageous. Each of us got two scoops in a waffle cone, and the total was over $10! We failed to see that the ice cream shop charged by the ounce, not the scoop! The next night we had ice cream at Dairy Queen.

Can you find the Sleeping Giant in the distance? I took this photo while hiking up Mount Helena.

On Wednesday morning in Helena, the four of us got a brief tour of the city from a Helena-native, and then headed out to the Gates of the Mountain boat tour. But, before driving to the dock, we picked up sandwiches for lunch from the Staggering Ox. I wish I had thought to take a photo of these specialities (there is one on the website). The sandwich loaves are baked in a cylinder, and then hollowed out. The bread is filled with any kind of filling you want. I got the the vegi sandwich which included veggies (duh) and cheese. The Staggering Ox has several sauces (really, they are more like salad dressings) you can drizzle on your sandwich as you eat it. Our clerk gave us lots of different sauces to try, and my favorites ended up being the sesame dressing and the wasabi.

Will and I split off from my parents that afternoon to go hiking on Mount Helena. Following our hike, we were ready for a good meal so we went to On Broadway for dinner. We had a great meal-- we split a crab and potato cake appetizer. Will got seafood alfredo for dinner and I had pasta puttanesca. While the $16.95 price tag for pasta seemed steep, the portions where HUGE, and a roll and big green salad were included in the meal. After dinner we walked around Helena for a bit before retiring to the hotel to prepare for our last day on the road in Big Sky Country.

Bozeman/Billings

The day before we flew home, we left Helena for Billings. However, we had to make a stop at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. The Museum of the Rockies has a terrific exhibit on dinosaurs and has great displays about the region's geological history.

One of my favorite parts of the museum is Mike the T-Rex, who greets visitors at the museum's entrance.

My mother got a suggestion from a museum employee for lunch, and we hit The Nova Cafe in downtown Bozeman for a late lunch. We all really enjoyed our food (Nova serves breakfast all day as well as lunch items) even though the service was slow. I had a California sandwich that was comprised of roast beef, avocado, lettuce, and tomato on ciabatta bread. It came with baked fries that were actually crisp (my baked fries at home always come out kind of soft), so I ate up! We walked off our lunch downtown and got ice cream cones before getting on the road to Billings.

Aunt B was kind enough to take us out to eat at the Windmill Restaurant in Billings on Thursday night. We all had fantastic steaks for dinner, along with salads and rolls. I had chocolate lava cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Even though our trip lasted almost two weeks, it still wasn't long enough. it was great to see our grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers & sister, but parting ways again just reminds us how spread out across the country we are.

We've been back from vacation for almost one week now, and my mind still drifts to the wide open spaces and mountains. I think it's time to start planning a return trip...

Three-Bean Chili

2009-07-27T10:00:00.014-04:00

The heat of summer is sweltering, the humidity is suffocating, and the best place to be is inside with the AC cranked up and the ceiling fans whirring away. So what better time of year to make a huge pot of spicy chili?

Yeah, I know, it's a little too hot for a bowl of spicy peppers, onions, and beans, but boy is it good!

Despite cooking soup/chili/stew at least 3-4 times a month during the winter, I rarely make the stuff during the summer since it is so hot outside and you don't really want to eat anything too heavy because of the heat. But, it was time for a vegetarian meal (especially after eating potato chips, burgers, and sour cream & ranch dip for dinner the night before at our first pool party of the year). I didn't feel like making black bean and bacon smash, which graces our table at least every other week, so I turned to my favorite vegetarian chili recipe.

This is yet another adaptation of a Rachel Ray recipe (the original can be found here). I was forced to make some changes after some of the ingredients were not to be found in the cupboard. This chili is spicy, but you can always adjust the spices to suit your taste.

Start out by heating a couple tablespoons of oil a big pot over medium heat, and then add the chopped onion (if you love onions like me you can use 1 1/2 to 2), bell peppers, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, then saute for a few minutes until the veggies soften. Then, deglaze the pan with beer or stock. Fortunately for my dinner, some poor person had left behind a bottle of Corona Extra after our pool party on Saturday. His loss was my gain-- the beer gives the chili a little kick.

After deglazing the pan, add the tomatoes (please use the fire-roasted! They taste so much better. But, if you can't find them, use regular tomatoes-the dish is still great.). You could use crushed tomatoes, but I like a chunky chili so I use the diced.

Fire roasted tomatoes-- good in chili, tomato sauces, soups, and any other recipe that requires canned tomatoes.

Follow that up with the two cans of whole beans (we'll add the refried beans later), the can of Rotel (or can of green chiles), the cumin, the chili powder, chipotle in adobe sauce, salt and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes. In the meantime, mix up a batch of Jiffy corn muffins to serve on the side.

About 10 minutes before you serve, mix in the can of refried beans. It helps if you add the refried beans in spoonfuls, that way they beans "dissolve" into the stew faster. The refried beans help thicken the chili.

Last night I ate my bowl plain, with a Jiffy corn muffin on the side, in front of the TV. In spite of the fact I was overheating by the end of the bowl due to the spiciness, the chili hit the spot and providing a filling (and guilt-free) meal.

This is also good topped with cheese (Monterrey Jack, please), and I'd imagine sour cream and guacamole would be good, too.

Three-Bean Chili (serves at least 6)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste
1 onion
2 or 3 bell peppers (any color)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 16-oz. cans of beans (any kind you like- I usually use black, pinto, or kidney)
1 cup of beer or chicken stock
1 small can of minced green chilies OR 1 can of Rotel
2 16-oz cans of fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can of vegetarian refried beans
1 tablespoon of cumin
2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
1-2 teaspoons of chipotle in adobe sauce (you could dice up a chipotle and toss it in)

Pizza

2009-07-18T18:27:00.017-04:00

Pizza! Pizza Hut? Papa John's Pizza? Papa's Pizza to Go? Domino's Pizza? Mellow Mushroom Pizza? Homemade pizza?

Yeah, that last one sounds just right. No need to worry that the customer service rep answering the phone will mess up the toppings, no need to go pick it up, or hope that the delivery guy will find his way to your house before the pizza gets cold. Nope, homemade equals all the toppings you want and piping hot from the oven and a crisp crust.

Hubby and I haven't had pizza in forever, and I had just enough tomato sauce left over from last week's spaghetti and meatballs to top a couple of pizza crusts. Due to my new-found love of baking, I just had to make a homemade crust. I turned to one of my favorite Food Network Chefs for a recipe. A very time-consuming recipe. After mixing the dough, I kneaded it in the stand mixer for 20 minutes, keeping an every watchful eye on the KitchenAid to make sure it didn't walk off the counter.

After all that time, measuring ingredients, babysitting the mixer, the darn dough didn't rise. The recipe advised to put the dough in the fridge overnight, but the darn stuff didn't puff up one bit. Terrified the pizza wouldn't be the best it could be, I discarded the dough and turned to The Bread Bible, hoping Mrs. Beranbaum wouldn't steer me wrong. It was the third recipe I have made from this book, and the third time was the charm.

This dough was so simple to put together. All I had to do was mix water, flour, yeast, and salt until it just came together to form a dough, put it in a measuring cup, coat it with olive oil, and LEAVE IT ALONE! No kneading involved!

The dough right after mixing. It's not very pretty.

Since my dough wasn't rising fast enough for me (remember, I was making up for lost time after the first dough debacle), I put it on a heating pad to warm it up. It worked rather well.

You don't leave it alone forever. Since I made mine the same day, I let it rise on the counter for an hour before putting it in the fridge for the afternoon. About an hour before you want to eat, you take it out of the fridge, and divide it into two pieces (well, you could leave it intact for one 10-inch pizza, but personal pizzas are more fun).

Tuck the edges of the dough under to form two balls and place them on an oiled baking sheet, and leave it be for 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes is up, shape the dough into two discs, and let those rest for at least 30 minutes.

The shaped dough. I was going for rustic.

Next, put the baking sheet in a 475 degree oven (one that preferably has a pizza stone on the bottom rack), and bake for 5 minutes. Remove, and top the dough with your desired toppings.

I topped our pies with leftover tomato sauce, fresh parsley, thyme and basil, and mozzarella, Parmesan, and provolone cheeses. The fresh herbs made a huge difference in the flavor.

If you have a baking stone, place the pizzas (which are on the baking sheet) on the stone for two minutes. Then, using a large spatula, transfer the pizzas to a higher rack in the oven for three minutes. Then, remove, slice, and enjoy!

B-A-G-E-L=Comfort

2009-07-16T09:33:00.021-04:00

Chicken pot pie, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes-- that's what a lot of people think of when "comfort food" comes to mind. Not me- one of my favorite comfort food would have to be a bagel. I'm not sure where this comes from-- my family lived in a small town when I was growing up where it was nearly impossible to get a real, chewy bagel. You know, the kind with the thick crust where you have to really sink your teeth into it and tear off a taste of the chewiness inside. We did get them occasionally, though, usually after a trip to Atlanta.

I remember my dad eating a bagel ripped in half with a big dollop of cream cheese on his plate. I remember my parents eating bagels with lox. And I remember that while my parents topped their bagels with cream cheese and salmon at dinner, I usually ate a bagel slathered with deli mustard or peanut butter. (Yes, deli mustard-Hebrew National please!)

Fast forward a couple of decades-- those big hunks of dense bread that try to pass themselves off as bagels in the bread section of the grocery store are the only thing resembling a bagel within 30 miles of my town. So that led me to take an extreme action-- bake my own bagels! The main reason I bought a copy of The Bread Bible was that Rose Levy Beranbaum included a recipe for bagels. So, last weekend I set out on a mission to try out her recipe.

The key to a chewy bagel is the gluten in the flour, and Mrs. Beranbaum suggests using King Arthur bread flour if you don't have a high-gluten flour on hand (which of course I didn't).

The recipe begins by making a sponge, which is so cool because you get to see it grown and get all bubbly (IT'S ALIVE!!!). Basically, it's just yeast, flour, and water, and then you whisk it together (I used a stand mixer). Then you top it with the rest of the ingredients. I let that sit at room temperature for about an hour, and then put it in the fridge overnight.

Mixing up the sponge ingredients...

The sponge/flour mixture after a night of resting in the fridge...

After a good night's sleep, you bring the sponge/flour mixture up to room temperature, then mix all the ingredients together and knead them for several minutes. Then you let the yeast go to work and raise up the dough.

The dough after the first rise (look at those bubbles!).

I will say that this is a time consuming process. After the first rise, you punch the bread down and let it rest in the fridge before shaping the dough. Shaping the dough is rather easy, just divide it into balls, poke a hole in the center of the ball and stretch the dough until you have a 2 1/2 inch hole (it will shrink up once you let go).

A shaped bagel...

While the dough was taking a break, I set a big pot of water to boil, and added molasses and baking soda once the water was bubbling (the water resembled a boiling pot of Guinness after the molasses and soda were combined.) Then, the bagels went into the pot in batches, and cooked for 1 minutes on each side.

Boiling a bagel...

After the bread boiled in the water, it drained on a kitchen towel, and then was brushed with an egg wash. Next, the bagels went into a 500 degree oven (which you knock back down to 450 degrees) for about 20 minutes.

Baked bagel

My bagels came out really brown. I think the oven may have been too hot. They were also rock hard right after baking, which scared me. However, the crust softened up after it cooled.

Fortunately, my taste for bagel condiments has grown more sophisticated than deli mustard. I love to eat them with cream cheese spread with fruit preserves, or simply with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Lately, I'm on a cashew butter and apricot preserves kick. Yumm....

These bagels were good, but not quite what I craved. They were not chewy enough since I could only find bread flour at the local stores (the texture was more of a donut with a crust), and they didn't have that bagel-y taste because I left out the malt powder. Still, they did remind my of my deli mustard-covered bagel from my childhood.

I will definitely be making these again, as soon as I order some high-gluten flour and malt powder online!

Slower Cooker BBQ Beans

2009-07-06T19:24:00.005-04:00

We had to barbeque on the 4th of July. To do anything else would just be, well, not patriotic. Come rain or shine I was determined to lounge by the pool and cook dinner. We had grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and beans. Since I try to avoid foods out of a can that I can cook at home, I went hunting for a recipe for baked/BBQ beans. In the past, I used a recipe from the Joy of Cooking, but I found that the beans baked in the oven weren't cooked enough or were way too mushy.

I stumbled across a recipe at Cooking Light's website for stovetop "baked beans." And of course I had to tweak it a bit. I like really tender beans (just shy of mush), so I decided to use the slow cooker. The results were tender and sweet.

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup of maple syrup

2 tablespoons of Worchesshire sauce

2 teaspoons of Liquid Smoke

2 teaspoons of prepared yellow mustard

1 (16 oz.) can of red beans, drained

1 (16 oz.) can of Great Northern Beans, drained

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for about 5 hours.

Unfortunately there isn't a photo of the finished product (maybe it was the heat... or the adult beverages), but I forgot to take a final picture.

It’s a winner!

2009-06-25T09:32:00.016-04:00

The lazy days of summer are bringing on boredom, and there’s no better way to break up the boredom than trying a new recipe, which is exactly what I did last night. Let me tell you, this was yummy! I made some modifications to the Chicken Rigatoni with Bell Peppers, Kalamata Olives, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes from the Top Chef cookbook.

Top Chef is one of my favorite shows, but the recipes always look so gourmet and exotic. Just for kicks I was browsing the show's website and happened on the recipe search function, and up came Chicken Rigatoni.

Since I’d never cooked this before, I prepped all of my ingredients before I heated up the pots and pans. This took some extra time, but at least I wasn’t running around trying to find the ingredients once the cooking started.

Once everything was chopped and set aside, I put the pasta water on to boil, and added the bacon to a cold stainless steel pan. Once the bacon was in, I turned the heat up to medium. Meanwhile, some pine nuts were toasting in my non-stick skillet. Once the nuts were slightly brown, I moved them to a bowl, and added a tablespoon of olive oil to the non-stick skillet. Next, I seasoned up the chicken chunks with salt and pepper, and browned them in the non-stick skillet. Once those were cooked, I moved them to a separate plate to hang out. After the bacon was crisp, it was removed with a slotted spoon to a plate with paper towels. The pasta was dropped into the now boiling water, and it was time for the vegetables to get sizzling in the bacon renderings!

To the bacon fat, I added one tablespoon of olive oil, the peppers, onions, scallions, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Once those veggies hit the pan, you know you are in for something good—it will smell like a fancy Italian restaurant in your kitchen. The veggies sweated for about 5 minutes until the softened up, and then I added the garlic, and let that cook for one minute more before adding in the chicken and dried rosemary.

Next, the pan was deglazed with the chicken broth, and I let that reduce until the pasta was ready. Once the pasta is cooked to al dente it was drained and added to the veggies along with the kalamata olives and pine nuts to heat through (which only takes a few moments). Next, the cheese and parsley were stirred in and the dish was served.

I really enjoyed this, and my picky hubby also liked it. I was thrilled he went back for seconds since it had olives in it (and he thinks he hates olives). The key to getting him to eat them was chopping them up very finely and not telling him they were in there!

Chicken Rigatoni from Top Chef (with my modifications. Click here for the original recipe).(3 BIG servings)

6 ounces of Rigatoni pasta

2 tablespoons of Extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices of center cut bacon, chopped

½ onion, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

¼ cup of chicken stock

2 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

½ cup pitted & chopped kalamata olives

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

½ teaspoon of dried rosemary

I had to make some modifications because of lack of ingredients, and I wanted to get three meals out of the dish (the original recipe makes two servings.) Bacon was substituted for pancetta, chicken broth for the wine, and dried rosemary instead of fresh. To make it a little healthier, I did not sauté the chicken in butter as the recipe calls for.

Check the Cupboard

2009-06-22T15:48:00.006-04:00

I had every intention to follow Mr. Lieberman's recipe for apricot-glazed chicken with dried plums to the letter (except for the chicken parts-- I already had a Sam's Club-sized bag of frozen boneless skinless breasts in the freezer).

"They" say that the first time you cook a recipe, you should follow it to the letter. On subsequent attempts it's okay to experiment. (I don't know exactly who "they" are, but I think I heard Paula Deen say this once on her show). Frankly, I frequently find myself tweaking most recipes (except for baked goods), even the first time I cook them. But, on Sunday, I was dead set on following "their" advice.

Confident that I had every ingredient my kitchen cupboard/refrigerator/freezer, I set about making this dish for a welcome back meal for hubby, who had been out of town for four days. I set about gathering the rest of my ingredients from my well-stocked kitchen.

Chicken- Check!
Apricot preserves-Check!
Olive Oil-Check!
Fresh Garlic Cloves-Check!
Salt/pepper-Check!
Sage leaves-Check!
Dried plums-Che--- oh, wait. I swore I had a half a box of prunes left... Guess I used them up the last time I made banana bread. Hmm, what to do, what to do-- ah yes! Raisins!
White vinegar-- Nope, but I was going to substitute apple cider vinegar. Oh, where is it! I thought for sure it would be here in the door of the fridge. Hmmm, red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar... oooo, balsamic vinegar. I'll use that, it's sweet...

Now, the original recipe calls for 2 whole chickens to serve 8 people. I decided to par down the recipe for 5 portions, and used 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts. That being said, I guestimated on the amount of the glaze. In a glass measuring cup, I mixed up about 3/4 cup of the apricot preserves, 1/4 cup of raisins, about 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, four crushed cloves of garlic, leaves from a couple of sprigs of sage (from the herb garden), a dash of balsamic vinegar, and the salt and pepper.

I put the chicken in a 9X13 pan coated with cooking spray, added the chicken, and poured on the glaze, and turned the chicken to coat in in the sauce. I baked it for 40 minutes at 385 degrees. Since I was using skinless chicken, I covered the dish in aluminum foil.

This adaptation turned out really well-- the fresh sage made all the difference. The chicken was moist, but some crispy skin would have been nice. The flavors are best suited for a fall or winter meal. Next time I get a hankering for a fruity chicken dish, I'll use bone-in, skin-on chicken, and make sure to buy some prunes (I mean dried plums-- that sounds much more sophisticated).

Chicken Surprise!

2009-06-18T09:12:00.006-04:00

Somestimes some of the best food is discovered by accident.

Since our kitchen table is covered in clutter while the house is being painted, we've had to eat in front of the TV for the last couple of days. This means cooking foods that don't require anything besides a fork to eat (I find it difficult to cut a piece of meat with a knife while it's sitting on lap, and then it's hard to balance the knife on the plate when you're not using it, etc.). On Tuesday the menu called for green beans, chicken, and rolls. After I sliced 1/2 of a small vidalia onion for the green beans, I decided to cook the other half of the onion with the chicken.

I sliced the remaining onion and put-it in my large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Next, I chopped two boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Then it was time to contemplate the chicken.

Usually, the only seasoning a piece of chicken gets during the week is grill seasoning, but Tuesday I was in the mood for something else. I stood in front of the spice cabinet contemplating what flavors to use. Cumin and chili powder for Tex-Mex Chicken? No, I'll save that for fajita night. Thyme and lemon? No, not in the mood for that. I was actually craving french fries, so I decided to use my usual fry seasoning on the chicken. After sprinkling the meat with grill seasoning, I used a little bit of garlic powder and a generous amount of paprika. I gave the two skinless & boneless chicken breasts (which were cut into 1-inch pieces) a toss to coat them in the spices, and then cooked them in the same pan as the onions. The meat browned nicely.

I was expecting it to be just okay, but the onions and the seasoning on the chicken worked really together. The sweet onion brought out the flavor of the spices, and added some moisture to the chicken. Dear hubby even went out of his way (without any prompting from me) to say how good it was. This will probably become a go-to dish in our house from now on.

My spur of the moment idea and simple seasoning resulted in a surprisingly delicious dish.

Onion Paprika Chicken ingredients (serves 2)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 vidalia onion
Grill Seasoning
Garlic powder
Paprika

Kitchen Chaos

2009-06-16T15:17:00.002-04:00

Our house is in a state of chaos. We are having the living room, hallway, and bathrooms painted this week. We have an open floor plan so everything is affected. The stuff in the rooms being painted had to be moved to other places. At least the kitchen is operational since we're not having it painted, so at least I'll be able to cook. Unfortunately, we really don't have anywhere inside to eat! The dining room table is covered in cluttered, and the living room furniture is out of whack so no eating dinner in front of the TV tonight. My only hope is that we don't get an afternoon thunderstorm and can eat outside by the pool.

Hopefully life will return to normal tomorrow night or Thursday.

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

2009-06-15T11:24:00.008-04:00

Yesterday dear hubby and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary. This is a cliche, but time really does fly. Only to think last summer we ate leftover wedding cake every week for three months. We did save one piece, which was retrieved from the deep freeze Sunday morning. A year in the freezer left it a bit stale and grainy in texture, so after eating a bite each, the rest of the slice met its bitter end in the kitchen trash.

Fortunately, we were not without dessert to our anniversary dinner since I had the foresight to realize year-old cake wouldn't be up to snuff.

It is peach season in South Carolina, with farm stands all over the place, which led me to bake the Peach Blueberry Cobbler from King Arthur's Flour Whole Grain Baking. Also, if I was going to have a lot of leftovers that wouldn't freeze well, I wanted something that I could eat without feeling too guilty.

It was pretty easy to put together, but the finished product tasted.... well... healthy. It isn't an overwhelming sweet cobbler (when I think of cobbler I think of syrupy-sweet goodness), and the whole wheat flavor comes through in the topping. I thought there was a lack of buttery flavor. This would be a good dessert for those who don't have a big sweet tooth. I liked it, but it wasn't the treat I was hoping for.

For those of you who would like to try this, here is the recipe.

Peach Blueberry Cobbler (from Whole Grain Baking)
For the topping
2 cups of white whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, chilled
2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup of milk

For the filling
3 cups (1 1/4 lbs.) of sliced peaches
2 cups (10 oz.) of blueberries
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

I started out by preheating the oven to 450 degrees.Then I peeled and chopped up the peaches. Then I put the blueberries and peaches in a large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, I combined the cornstarch, nutmeg, salt, and sugar, and then added that mixture to the fruit. Then, the cornstarch mixture and fruit was tossed together and put in a 9X9 baking dish, and then drizzled with the lemon juice.

I let that sit while I made the topping. Simple enough, just mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl, and put in the butter (in pats). I started out using a knife to cut the butter in, but that was taking too long so I used my fingers in integrate everything until the butter pieces were the size of peas. Next, I mixed in the brown sugar. In a measuring cup, I beat the milk and egg together, and then mixed that with the flour batter.

At this point a took a break to let the batter rest and do a quick clean-up. I finished up the topping by turning the dough onto a floured cutting board, and I patted it out into a 3/4-1 inch thick round. My biscuit cutters are MIA, so I used a knife to cut it into squares, and put the squares on top of the fruit. Into the oven it went for 45 minutes. The hardest part of the entire process was waiting another 10 minutes after it came out of the office so it would be cool enough to eat.

I served it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I had a problem with with the filling--the fruit juices didn't thicken up, despite mixing it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Maybe it thickens the longer it sits? I will have another piece tonight and report back...

Summer Garden Lentil and Pasta Salad

2009-06-08T10:25:00.008-04:00

To switch things up a bit this week, I made a pasta salad on Sunday for dinner with plans to eat the leftovers for lunch this week (I'm growing very tired of turkey sandwiches).

This is salad is very good, but if I make it again I would increase the amount on the vinaigrette to give it more flavor. Plus, the flavor of the dish seems to mellow after being refrigerated.

I started out making the vinaigrette in my handy-dandy mini-food processor. It's simple enough, just combine balsamic vinegar, shallot, garlic, dijon mustard, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. I did this first and let it sit for all the flavors to meld together.

Next, I tackled the lentils. I had never cooked lentils before on their own, and suffice to say I managed to cook them without burning them. Simmering them in chicken stock gives them a lovely flavor.

While the lentils cooked, I set about cutting up the veggies and cooking the pasta shells. I used a whole red bell pepper (the recipe calls for red and yellow peppers, but the yellow peppers didn't look so great at the store), half of a red onion, a small zucchini, and a little over half of a container of grape tomatoes. All of the herbs came from my herb pot, with the exception of oregano. I had to leave that out since I was also out of the dried.

The Parmesan cheese was also (inadvertently) omitted, but the salad was still very tasty. I have been adding cheese to the leftover pasta salad and it does bump up the flavor.

This is suppose to make 4 servings, but I should get at least 5 or 6 meals out of the batch. It would be great for a cookout since there is no mayo.

Recipe

Vinaigrette:
* 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon minced shallots
* 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
* 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
* 1/2 cup dried petite green lentils
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 cups uncooked orecchiette pasta ("little ears" pasta)- These are also labeled as "small sea shells
* 1 cup diced zucchini
* 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
* 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
* 1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
* 1/2 cup diced red onion
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Double Duty: Flank Steak

2009-06-02T15:29:00.012-04:00

Last Saturday we had a classic steak and baked potato supper. Since we made the trip to the "big city" 30 minutes down the road, we made sure to pick up a flank steak. (We can't find this in any grocery stores in our town-my husband went to the butcher shop and the butcher said it's not a very popular cut of meat.)

At any rate, armed with our steak and a beautiful day to grill outside, I used a marinade from Rachael Ray. The meat only needs to hang out for about 20-30 minutes before it's ready to grill. I usually grill a flank steak for 6 minutes on each side over medium heat-- comes out perfectly medium every time.

Flank Steak Marinade (from Rachael Ray)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of grill seasoning
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of hot sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of red win vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Combine the ingredients in a plastic bag and add your steak.
Seal the bag and make sure the steak gets coated in the marinade.

Since the two of us only finished half of the meat, I had leftovers to contemplate. Since we hadn't eaten Asian food in a while, I decided to use the beef in a steak and broccoli stir-fry. This was super simple and tasty, but in no way authentic Asian cuisine.

Steak & Broccoli Stir-Fry (this made about 3 servings)
1/2 lb. cooked flanked steak, sliced thin
1 onion
1 head of broccoli with the florets cut up
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon of minced or grated ginger

Stir-fry Sauce
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
Couple of teaspoons of hot sauce OR garlic chili paste OR spicy sweet Thai chili sauce

I sauteed a sliced onion in canola oil over medium-high heat until the onions became tender. Then added a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic, a tablespoon of grated ginger, and the broccoli. Seas on with a little bit of salt and pepper. After the broccoli is tender but still has a bite to it, add in the slices of steak.

In the meantime, make the sauce. For the sauce, combine the hoisin, soy sauce, and hot sauce in a separate bowl. When the meat has heated through, pour the sauce over the stir-fry and toss to combine.

This dish was another Rachael Ray adaptation (see the recipe for the Hoisin noodle bowls).

I usually serve stir-fry with brown rice or noodles. Usually I use whole wheat spaghetti, but this time I had some linguine in the pantry. If you choose to use noodles, put the cooked noodles into the stir-fry pan, then add the sauce to the veggies/meat/pasta and toss to combine so the noodles soak up the sauce.

This stir-fry sauce works with any combination of meats and veggies. One of my favorite variations of this stir-fry is onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and scrambled egg. Yummy!

Double Duty: Chicken

2009-06-01T15:12:00.002-04:00

You may remember the Chile-Garlic Spiced chicken from a couple of posts ago. There were a few cups of chicken leftover, so I had an idea to turn it into a BBQ chicken sandwich with a Tex-Mex twist. The final product resembled more of a sloppy joe sandwich, hence the post title. Instead of barbecue sauce, I added 1 cup of enchilada sauce (made from scratch, though the spices/seasoning were a little off) to 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken, and heated the mixture on the stove top. I used toasted whole wheat hamburger buns I bought from the Wal-Mart bakery (they were really crusty and held up well to all of the sauce.)

In hindsight, I could have added some minced jalapeno and cheese to the sandwich, but the meal still got an A+ from my #1 tester. You could also use a store-bought can of enchilada sauce if you don't want to make your own. I served this with a side of roasted broccoli.

Chick-fil-A Premier Night!

2009-05-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time coming, but our town is finally getting it's own Chick-fil-A! And CFA happens to be my MOST FAVORITE fast food restaurant ever! Usually I shun fast food (excluding sandwich shops), but I will leap at the chance to visit CFA.

Even though the restaurant doesn't officially open until Thursday, my husband and I got to attend the invitation-only premier night on Tuesday. How did we get a sneak peek at the new CFA? Well, I was selected as one of the "Raving Fans" after I submitted this brief, masterful essay:

"My husband hates eating at Chick-fil-A with me. Could be because it takes me so long to eat! I savor every bite of chicken, drink every drop of the lemonade, and debate whether to get ice cream. I became addicted to Chick-fil-A in college when I ate there three times a week. It’s been hard living in Gaffney—my husband and I make sure to schedule a Chick-fil-A stop on all our road trips. I like supporting Chick-fil-A because the company sticks to its values, helps out in the community, and takes care of its employees. No other fast food restaurant has better food or customer service."

Of course, my essay didn't cover all the reasons why I'm a fan since it was limited to 100 words. I had to leave out that simply thinking of a chicken sandwich with pickles and a diet lemonade brings a smile to my face... The cow mascots are super cute... How I respect the fact that the company sticks to its values (not being open on Sundays is one example.)

Okay, back to the premier recap! We arrived just after 6 p.m., and had to park at the back of the very crowded parking lot since we weren't the only "raving fans." The two of us huddled under a mini-umbrella as we dashed from the Rav4 to the red carpet leading into the restaurant (after arriving soaking wet wearing white pants didn't seem like such a good idea). We grabbed a booth in the corner since most of the tables were taken (and I didn't want anyone to see my now see-through white capris). We had our drink orders taken at the table, and then we got our picture taken with the cow mascot. To keep the ravaging masses from storming the kitchen, workers passed out samples of chicken nuggets. Did you know the chicken arrives fresh at the store, and once cooked it only has a shelf life of one hour? See, you learned something from reading this.

To keep the crowd occupied, we heard speeches from the owner and a couple of people from the Chick-fil-A corporate office. They also handed each guest 10 coupons for free sandwiches and biscuits and asked us to GIVE THEM AWAY! Alright Chicken People, since I took the Chick-fil-A Ambassador Pledge and you gave me a free meal, I'll pass most of them out. Okay, okay, I'll give them all away since I love CFA!

Following Gaffney trivia, everyone lined up to place their orders, which took awhile. Hubby got a chicken sandwich with fries, and I got a chicken strips salad. Both were excellent. For dessert, servers made the rounds with milkshakes, cakes, and brownies. We picked out a brownie covered in chocolate icing and nuts and a cheesecake with strawberry syrup. Alright, maybe there is one thing I don't love about the place--I've never been a fan of the brownies. They are really dense, and I don't like icing on them. It's a brownie, not a piece of cake. The cheesecake was really good, but my favorite dessert is still a simple ice cream cone. After the meal the Chicken People held a raffle. I'm sad to say neither of us won anything, including the free food for a year. Oh well...

After the raffle we decided to forgo the kitchen tour and head home to our puppy. Upon our leaving we were each given a mini stuffed mascot cow and a travel coffee mug. Although we were disappointed that we didn't win the free meals for a year we are extremely excited our favorite fast food is now only a 5 minute ride away!

Chile-Garlic Spiced Chicken

2009-05-26T16:55:00.001-04:00

With the threat of rain on Memorial Day, I switched the menu from BBQ chicken on the grill to Chile-Garlic Spiced Chicken that could be baked in the oven. I had seen the recipe in the Joy of Cooking and couldn't wait to try it. It's pretty spicy, and could be cooked on the grill. However, since it is a rub you wouldn't have any leftover sauce to dip it in to, but since the chicken is so juicy and flavorful you really don't need any condiments.

WORDS OF CAUTION: You probably want to wear a pair of surgical gloves when dealing with the jalapenos and when you are rubbing the paste on the chicken. First, it's hard to get all of the spiciness off of your fingers even if you wash them with soap and you don't want to scratch your eye and have all the pepper hotness get into it. Second, it's just less germ-ier to wear gloves when handling raw chicken. (Now that you've been warned...)

First thing to do is make the paste. I used a mini food processor, but you could also use a blender. Here is my version of the recipe:

3 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 cup of garlic (I use minced garlic straight out of jar)

1/2 cup olive oil

Zest of 2 limes

2 tablespoons of cracked black peppercorns (make sure to crack them-- I didn't and not all of them were ground up in the food processor. I got a nice burst of peppery fire on one bite of chicken!)

1 tablespoon of salt

2 tablespoons of chili powder

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme (the herbs are growing in their pot out on the patio, so I figured why not use some. I thought the lemony thyme would complement the lime zest, and thyme and chicken are classic together).

So, blend all of that together in a food processor until it becomes smooth and red.

Then slather it over and massage it into the chicken. I used a whole, cut up chicken from the grocery store. Try and get some of the rub under the skin so the flavor really sinks into the meat.

The recipe recommends marinating the meat for 2-24 hours. I let the chicken marinate for about 8 hours and thought it had a lot of flavor.

To bake the chicken, put it a preheated 350-degree oven for 40-50 minutes. Before serving, a squirted the juice of one lime over the chicken. This spicy bird goes great with a beer and grilled corn on the cob. And yes, thanks to the invention of grill pans you can grill corn on your stovetop!

There were only two of us eating a whole chicken, so we still have two big pieces left over. Those will be transferred into Tex-Mex BBQ sandwiches on Thursday (I'll let you know how that goes!)

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2009-05-24T13:10:00.004-04:00

On Friday, I baked Ina Garten's Blueberry Crumb Cake. I would have much rather baked a chocolate layer cake, but I need to expand my culinary arsenal for if/when I ever have to entertain someone important at home! This is just the second made-from-scratch cake I have ever baked. My first cake that was made from scratch was a caramel apple cake, which was very good, but fell. So my biggest fear heading into baking this cake was the fear of falling.

This recipe calls for a 9-inch round baking pan, which I do not own. However, I do have a 9-inch spring form pan in my dresser (there's no room in my kitchen for all our pots and pans, so they are stowed in odd places all over the house) The spring form pan worked quite well.

I started out by making the streusel, and then I buttered and floured the pan.

The streusel

Using a stand mixer, I creamed the butter and the sugar for a full 5 minutes, per recipe directions. The mixture did become very light. After the 5 minutes I mixed in the rest of the cake ingredients (except for the blueberries.) The batter is light and slightly lemony.

Once the cake mixture came together, I tossed the blueberries in a little bit for flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom.

Then I transfered the batter to the pan and topped with the streusel.

Raw batter with the streusel

The cake was baked in a 350 degree oven, and it took 50 minutes for it to completely set up in my oven (and it didn't fall!). I let it cool in the pan for several minutes, but that's because I didn't know the the edges of the pan would loosen up considerably once the buckle was released (hahaha, I had never used a spring form pan before so I wasn't familiar with the mechanism). The cake needs to cool completely before you serve it.

The cake after I figured out how to remove the spring-form part of the pan. You can see that some of the blueberries stayed in the middle of the cake and didn't sink to the bottom.

But of course I couldn't wait for it to cool completely before digging into it after the scent of cinnamon and cake wafting through the house, so it was still a little warm.

The reason it took the cake so long to cool is I couldn't figure out how to get it off the pan bottom. Next time I will line the bottom with parchment paper so I can slide the paper off the bottom of the pan. In order to get the cake onto the cake saver, I had to put a dinner plate on the top of the cake, flip it, and then put the cake saver plate on top, and flip again. This is an act not for the faint of heart--it takes courage and requires fearless execution.

As you can see from this photo, most of the blueberries sank to the bottom. It could be I didn't coat the blueberries in enough flour to keep them in the middle of the batter. Guess that means I'll have to make this again... Oh, bother...

This was a good dessert, and got good reviews from the taste tester (my dear hubby). Not an outstanding cake, but a solid go-to recipe.

More Bread!

2009-05-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

You may remember the bricks that I baked several weeks ago as I attempted a recipe for whole wheat bread. On the second attempt, the bread rose much higher on the second rise, and is nearly twice as high as the original loaf (yes, I saved it for comparison! That bread will now be used to feed some ducks).

I did encounter one other problem during the second attempt. While the loaf rose much higher, it fell in the center.

See the crack and indentation? That's where the bubble was.

The problem was a huge air bubble that developed in the center. When I punched the bread down after the first rise, I didn't get all of the big air bubbles.

Fortunately for the internet, I found Rose Levy Beranbaum's blog. She is a master baker and has several videos posted on her website, and one was about creating loaves of bread.

Last night when I baked bread, I made sure to dimple it before rolling it into a loaf-- the bread was fine and did not fall this time!

Cake Mix Doctor Peanut Butter Bars

2009-05-18T13:54:00.003-04:00

In preparation for the trip to Virginia for the women’s lacrosse NCAA Division II Final Four, I baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars from The Cake Mix Doctor. Actually, I baked them to give to my father- and brother-in-law who live in Virginia (and of course there are still a few left at my house). You can view a modified version of the recipe here.

These are really good and really rich. You can get them completed in under an hour, and it makes about 24 bars.

Here’s what you need:

1 package of yellow cake mix

1 cup of peanut butter (I used smooth, but you could use crunchy)

1 stick of butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 package (2 cups) of semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup of chopped walnuts (or any kind of nut-the original recipe called for pecans, but all I had were walnuts)

1-14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut

2 tsp. vanilla extract

The bars will be baked in a 13x9 inch baking dish. You don’t need to grease the dish since there is so much butter in the recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the cake mix, peanut butter, the 1 stick of melted butter, and eggs in a mixing bowl.

The batter will be thick so you will need to scrape down the bowl.

Reserve 1 ½ cups of the cake mixture for the topping (this is super easy if you have a 1 ½ cup measuring cup—thanks, Dad! Mine are from Williams-Sonoma).

Put the remaining crust mixture in the pan, and use your fingertips to press the crust evenly over the bottom of the pan so it reaches all sides.

It won’t look like you will have enough dough, but you will, just keep working it out. Set the pan aside.

To make the chocolate filling, put the chocolate chips, condensed milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over low heat (be patient, it will take several minutes--you don’t want it to burn).

Be careful and don't make a mess like me!

Stir and cook until the chocolate is melted and mixture well combined. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut, nuts, and vanilla.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust, and spread it evenly using a spatula (I found an offset spatula works really well) to the sides of the pan. Use your fingers to crumble the reserved 1 ½ cups of crust mixture over the chocolate and put the pan in the oven.

Before baking

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cake mixture is a light brown. Remove the pan and put it on a wire rack to cook for 30 minutes.

After baking

Once the mixture is cool, then cut up into squares. It may take it awhile to cool, especially if it’s warm in your kitchen. In fact, I cut the bars, then put them into the fridge to harden up so the chocolate wouldn’t ooze out (not that it is a bad thing when chocolate oozes, it’s just very messy).

Anne Byrn suggests for long term storage, wrapping the bars in aluminum foil and freezing. I had to do this rather quickly after making them so my husband and I wouldn’t be tempted eat the whole batch!

Notes: When using a hand-held mixture, I use these bowls that have a piece of rubber on the bottom (special thanks to Mama for ordering these for me). After all, as cool as those stand mixers are, they can be kind of a pain to clean.