Cook Au Vin

Jambalaya

2012-02-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

Laissez les bon temps rouler! Happy Mardi Gras! One of my bucket list items is to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. The last two years, I have threatened my husband that I am just going to drive there at the last minute. I am a huge Better Than Ezra fan and they play at the House of Blues during the Mardi Gras celebrations every year. At the last minute, I had to let go of the fantasy and decided just to be there in spirit.

This jambalaya was one way to achieve that. Now, I am aware of how I bastardized the dish. But it was good to have the taste of jambalaya. Since it was a last minute decision to make it, I just used what I had on hand. The biggest thing was that I had chicken breast, so I didn't buy a whole chicken. I also didn't have a red bell pepper, so I skipped it. I'm not sure if that's sacrilege, but you can add those in when you make it.

I also don't know if purists would turn their nose up, but I marinated my chicken breasts in paprika, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I wanted to impart a little smoky flavor. I really loved this. This time of year, I try to make dinner earlier in the afternoon, so I can photograph before I lose the sun. When I was done photographing this, I inhaled it. When Nico got home, I inhaled another bowl. It's fat Tuesday. I'll make up for it in the next 40 days.

Jambalaya
adapted from The Galley Gourmet

2 T canola oil
3 chicken breasts, marinated in olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper
1 package sausage (I used kielbasa, but andouille would work best), sliced in 1/4" rounds
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 stalks celery, diced fine
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1/5 cups brown rice
2 bay leaves
3 cups chicken stock

chopped green onions, chopped parsley and Tabasco for serving.

In a large dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the chicken and sear on both sides until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the sausage and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Work in batches if you can't fit all the sausage at once. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside with the chicken.

Drain most of the oil off, reserving 3 tablespoons. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir in the rice and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Return the chicken and sausage to the pan, cover and cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. (This took my closer to 30 minutes, probably because I used brown rice, not white like the original recipe called for.) Fluff with a fork, and top with garnishes before serving.

Sweet Potato, Kale and Caramelized Onion Pizza

2012-02-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

Pizza, pizza, pizza! It's all I've posted since I came home from Mexico! Well, truth be told I am still working my way back to reality after my break. Right now, I'm cooking up a batch of Sopa di Lima, which I am very excited to share here soon.

The other day I posted about the Valentine's day heart shaped pizzas I made for Evie's preschool class. There is one girl in her class who has some food sensitivities and I didn't want her to miss out on a special lunch, so I talked to her mom about what foods were off limits and what she could eat. I decided I would make this sweet potato pizza for her. Since I didn't think I'd need a whole sweet potato for one person, I decided we'd have that for dinner the same night.

While Evie was not a big fan of it, she did eat about half of one piece. The little girl in her class loved it, though and that was what was most important to me. My son and I also loved it. I don't think Nico was a big fan, but he ate it without complaint.

Personally, I thought it was way better than I anticipated. I added a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese to one slice, just to give it a punch of flavor, but it really did not need it. The sweetness of the potato and onions with the earthy, crunchiness of the kale... I sprinkled a little kosher salt over it and it was a simple and delicious dinner.

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Caramelized Onion Pizza
slightly adapted from The Type A Housewife

1 large sweet potato
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 cup kale, torn into pieces
3 tbsp milk
1 prepared pizza crust
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the sweet potato and bake about 45 to an hour, until soft.

While the potato is baking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Turn down to low and stir occasionally until the onions are caramelized, about 30-40 minutes. (The original recipe had the kale cooked with the onions. But I liked the kale raw, so it got crispy like kale chips.)

Allow the potato to cool until you can handle it, then remove the skin. Place the flesh in a food processor with the milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until smooth. Spread the puree over the pizza crust, top with onions and torn kale. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

If adding a sprinkle of cheese, do so after you remove it from the oven.

Heart Shaped Pizza

2012-02-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

A simple treat for the kids tomorrow: Take a store bought pizza shell, such as Boboli and cut it into quarters. Take the rounded side and shape it into a heart. Top with sauce, cheese and heart shaped pepperoni for a sweet valentine's day lunch. I made these for Evie's preschool class today. (The one on the bottom right is sweet potato, kale and onion for a student with food sensitivities.)

I also added a fruit salad cut into heart shapes.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your sweeties!

Chicken Pizza

2012-02-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

Mexico has never been high on my list of dream vacations. As a matter of fact, it was not on my list at all. When it came about a few weeks ago that we were going to go on this trip, however, I was immediately excited. Because for one thing, who doesn't want to go to the Carribean in the winter. And another thing, who doesn't want to go on a free vacation at a five star resort? We stayed at the Rosewood Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen and I cannot say enough good things about this property.

I didn't want to stay in the resort only, though. It's Mexico! Home of the Mayan Indians! It's 2012 and everyone is talking about the Mayans and their calendar. I thought what better time to go see some Mayan ruins than this year! On the plane ride to Cancun, I was reading a little bit about some of the ruins close to Cancun. There was one about an hour from Playa called Tulum. It seemed like it would be easy to get to. But there is a huge site about 4 hours from Cancun called Chichen Itza. According to the article I read, there is a movement to make Chichen Itza one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The way the temple of Kukuclan was built, it captures the sunlight in a unique way on the spring equinox of every year. Chichen Itza is anticipated to be the center of a huge celebration as millions will visit to see the Feathered Serpent descend the temple on the Vernal Equinox.

I didn't make it to either site however. After three days of scheduled activities, on my last day there, the draw of staying at the resort and taking full advantage of the amenities there was too big. A few people from our group did go, though and it cracked me up when they came back to Playa talking about Chicken Pizza.

Chicken Pizza was the first thing I made when I got home from Mexico. Nico declared himself to be "over" Mexican food and (shudder to think) tequila. So I thought I'd be clever and hide my enormous craving for all things Mexican in this pizza. He was not fooled, but he like it.

I fell madly and deeply in love with pickled red onions while there. I had pickled red onions, salsa verde and guacamole with just about every meal. I decided to do a salsa verde base topped with pickled red onions, cotija, and grilled chicken (that I marinated in salsa verde). This pizza would have been awesome with some guacamole or even just sliced avocado on it. We did just about eat our weight in guacamole while there. When I was at the farmers market yesterday, I didn't even buy any avocados because I thought Nico might throw them at me. (Not really.) But he really is sick of them. I am not. I'll give him a week to get back on board with me.

Chicken Pizza

Salsa Verde, adapted from All Recipes
1 pound tomatillos, husked
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 serrano chile pepper, minced
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (I did 1, because I am not a cilantro fan)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white vinegar

Place the tomatillos, onion, garlic, chile pepper, cilantro, cumin and salt into a food processor. Process until smooth, about 4 minutes.

Place the puree in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the vinegar and adjust the salt if needed. Continue to boil for another 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Pickled Red Onions, only slightly adapted from David Lebovitz
3/4 cup white vinegar
1.5 tablespoons sugar (this was the only adjustment I made. DL called for 3 tablespoons)
pinch of salt
1 bay leaf
5 allspice berries
5 whole cloves
a small dried chile pepper
1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced into half moons

In a small non-reactive saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, seasonings and chile until boiling. Add the onion slices and lower the heat. Simmer for about 30 seconds.

Transfer the onions and liquid to a jar. When cool, refrigerate until ready to use. (I poured off the pickling liquid the next day. However David Lebovitz suggests storing the onions in the liquid.)

For the pizza
2 chicken breasts, marinated overnight in salsa verde (I used less than 1/4 cup of salsa verde that was not as smooth as the finished salsa) and grilled, then diced or shredded
Pizza crust of your choice (I chose pre-baked shells. This one was whole wheat Boboli)
1/4 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup pickled onions
1/4 cup cotija cheese
sour cream, optional
cilantro leaves for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a pizza stone in the oven. If you are using fresh pizza dough, grill or bake the dough now, so you are not topping raw dough. Top your prepared pizza crust with salsa verde, pickled onions, chicken and cotija cheese. Place on the pizza stone and bake for 10 minutes.

Top with sour cream and cilantro and serve.

Viva Mexico!

2012-02-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

My husband and I were gifted with a fabulous gift - a trip to Mexico. We are rounding out our five days here and I cannot wait to get back to my kitchen. I am filled with authentic Mexican food, tequila and inspiration.

Pictured on the left is a tamarind daiquiri and on the right is a chaya mojito. I'll be home soon with lots to share.

Baked Chocolate and Vanilla Donuts

2012-02-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

This week, I caved and bought one of those donut pans. This is how it happened.

My daughter's birthday is Sunday. At her preschool, when the kids have their birthday, the mom's get to come in and read a few books to the class and bring a treat. I am going in tomorrow to do this for Evelyn, but because they have a busy day in class the only time for me to come was at 9:15 am. So cupcakes were out. Evie's teachers suggested I pick up a box of Munchkins and come in.

Sounds good, except my identifier at her school is "the mom who cooks". How can I phone it in with Dunkin Donuts? As much as I know the kids would love it, I just couldn't do it. So I decided I'd make my own donuts. I've made donuts before. Martha Stewarts sufganiyot. But I didn't want to be frying donuts Friday morning.

I thought of all the donut pan blog posts I've seen around the blogs I read. And the donuts all look soooo good! So why not give it a try, right? I justified it by telling myself that Munchkins would be full of additives and preservatives. If I made them myself, they'd be "better".

I got to work Monday morning making a test batch. The first recipe I tried was a simple vanilla cake recipe. They were alright, but I thought they were a little dense. Later in the afternoon, I wanted to try a chocolate donut. I went straight to How Sweet Eats and adapted her Red Velvet Donut recipe. They were perfect. Delicious, moist, chocolatey little cakes topped with a drizzle of glaze. Oh and EASY! From set up to clean up, I got two batches baked in a half hour. Not bad, huh?

So I went ahead and remade a second batch of vanilla donuts. I used the same red velvet recipe and adapted it again. They were also light and fluffy, delicious. On Monday when I made the test batches, I topped the chocolate donuts with a simple powdered sugar glaze and the vanilla donuts with an even more simple chocolate glaze. Tonight, I made birthday donuts but I decided to top the chocolate donuts with a cream cheese glaze that I tinted pink. I tinted the vanilla donuts pink and topped them with a chocolate cream cheese glaze. I topped them both with red, pink and white sprinkles.

I don't know if they are so light because I used White Lily Flour... All the recipes I found (including the that came with the pan) called for cake flour. But I didn't have any so I used my White Lily, which is lighter than all purpose. I'm not sure. It's on my list of to dos this year to gain a stronger understanding of the different flour types. But whatever the reason, they are really light. I am writing cake flour or White Lily in the recipe below. I also think a contributor to their being so light and not dense like the first batch was the vinegar/baking soda mixture that gets added at the end of the batter.

While these are definitely more cake than cake donut, I am still very excited to try more varieties. Blueberry cake, pumpkin cake, coffee cake, cinnamon. The list goes on and on. Of course, my kids love them. My son seems man enough to eat a pink donut.

Chocolate Donuts
adapted from How Sweet Eats

1 cup White Lily flour (or cake flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk + 1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preaheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray donut pan with cooking spray.

Into a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the buttermilk and egg and combine. Stir in the butter. In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar, then add vanilla. Add this mixture to the donut batter and combine.

Put the batter into a zip top bag and snip a small hole on the end. Squeeze the dough into the donut pans, only filling each about half way. They will rise considerably while baking and the hole will close up if you fill them too much. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Wipe the pan out, spray with cooking spray again, and bake the remainder of the dough.

For the vanilla cupcakes, I used the exact same recipe, only omitting the cocoa powder. I worried abou how the loss of 1/4 cup of dry ingredients would affect the donuts, but it did not. I also added a tiny drop of red food color to them to tint them pink.

Whipped Cream Cheese Glaze
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4-5 tablespoons heavy cream, or more to bring to the texture you prefer

In a bowl wide enough to fit the donut, whisk the cream cheese vigorously until it smooths out. I added the heavy cream at this point to help with this step. Add vanilla and sugar and whisk until smooth and thin. Dip the donuts (or spoon it over the top of your donuts) then top with sprinkles, if you like.

*Notes: I wish I had gotten my glaze a little thinner. It is more like frosting, like Jessica of How Sweet Eats said. On my trial run on Monday, I did a simple heavy cream and powdered sugar glaze, but it was practically see through. I wanted something you could see on the donut. I'll be tweaking this as I make more. For the chocolate glaze this time, I simply added 2 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate to the glaze. On my test run, I did 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted with heavy cream and a few tablespoons of powdered sugar. That was by far, my favorite glaze.

Zucchini Fritters

2012-01-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

My husband is out of town this week, which means I didn't really plan a menu. Which is terrible because it's not like I only cook for him. But I figured I'd take a break and give the kids a week of all the stuff they really love. Like breakfast for dinner one night. And make our own pizza another night. And we went out to dinner one night.

I had planned to make Italian Sausage Soup one night since that is always a big hit in my house. But I never did make it because we were too busy winging it. So, I had some extra zucchini lying around and decided to make myself a little snack one afternoon. These zucchini fritters came together so quick that I only wish I'd had more zucchini. Seems like you could make a large batch of these and freeze them for a snack any time.

I kind of wish I'd had this recipe on hand last week. With a smaller scoop, these would have made an awesome appetizer. These would have been a big hit at my husband's birthday dinner.

But speaking of a big hit, my son ate three of these! My daughter is in a bit of a phase about "green things" right now and wouldn't try it. But William gobbled them up.

I found the recipe on smitten kitchen. She called for scallions in her, which I didn't have so I just skipped. I did think scallions would be a nice addition, or even some diced and softened white onion. She also made a lemon sour cream to put on top. I love lemon, so I did not hesitate to follow that detail. It really made a huge impact. I think next time I'm going to throw some lemon zest into the fritter batter, too.

Of course, these can be made with any squash. I'd been meaning to make spaghetti squash fritters all summer, but never got around to roasting a spaghetti squash. (Shame on me, I bought one and it went bad on my counter!) What I loved about this recipe was that the zucchini didn't require any pre-cooking.

The recipe below made about seven fritters in a 2" diameter. Next time I will be doubling the recipe for sure! These will be a lovely accompaniment to a salad and a glass of wine in the summer months.

Zucchini Fritters with Lemon Sour Cream
ever so slightly adapted from smitten kitchen

For the fritters
2 medium zucchini
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
oil (I used canola)

Trim the ends off the zucchini and grate them on the holes of a large box grater. You could use the shredding blade of a food processor. But I was in the mood for a quick snack, not a huge mess to clean. So I used my flat grater set over a bowl.

I shredded the zucchini into a large bowl, then tossed it with 1 teaspoon of salt. The salt extracts any excess moisture in the zucchini. You can leave it to sit for 10-15 minutes. Or you can do what I did, and leave it to sit while you head out to preschool pick up. Once I got back home, I transferred the zucchini to a colander and used my hands to squeeze out the moisture and returned it to the bowl.

You can add more salt at this point, if you'd like, which I did. Stir in the eggs and black pepper (and lemon zest at this point if you're using it). Add the flour and baking powder and stir to combine.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Use a spring loaded ice cream scoop and add mixture to the oil. Use a small fork to spread the fritter out and flatten them a bit. Cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes. Flip them over and cook on the other side, 2-3 minutes. When cooked, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to absorb and excess oil. You can hold the fritters in your oven (or toaster oven, if you're looking to not make a big production out of these) while you prepare the remaining fritters.

For the Lemon Sour Cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
zest of half a lemon
pinch of kosher salt

Combine the sour cream and lemon juice in a small bowl. Just before serving, top the fritters with the sour cream, lemon zest and a small sprinkle of kosher salt.

Shrimp Lo Mein

2012-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

There are many things I miss about living in the northeast. One of those things is Chinese food. It's something I used to order quite often. I had my favorite places to go to. When I worked at the country club, there was a chef dedicated to making the most ah.may.zing Chinese food. Honestly, Chef Ho ruined all other Chinese food for me. But part of that was because he used the best ingredients known to man. The freshest produce, the finest cuts of meat, shrimp the size of kittens... Not your average all you can eat buffet fare. You can imagine, we did a phenomenal amount of take out.

When we moved to Vienna, one night we went out for Chinese food. You know they say Chinese food here is Americanized? Well it's not Americanized in Austria. Why did I not anticipate that? It was totally different than what I was used to, so after that I rarely ordered it. Then we came back to the US and one of the first things I wanted to do was order Chinese take out. Turns out, its a regional thing, too. It's not the same down in the South. I can't explain it, but it's different. I think it's the sauce. There are items not on the menu that I want. Lo mein is one of my favorite dishes and I rarely find a lo mein I like down here.

Well, why not make my own? I saw this recipe in Real Simple this month and thought I'd give it a try. It seemed easy enough. And it was. A few ingredients that were not already in my pantry, but after a trip to the farmers market, I am now armed to make all kinds of Chinese specialties.

I do think I did one thing wrong, which I'll correct next time I make this (or any other Chinese dish). When I was making the Thai Basil Chicken , Cook's Illustrated had said something about Chinese oyster sauce being too thick, dark, and overwhelming for the Thai Basil dish. Since I needed oyster sauce for two things I was making that week and it seemed I would need two different oyster sauces, I opted to just buy the lighter Thai oyster sauce for both dishes. I did think that the sauce on the lo mein was a little thin and light. So next time I'll pick up a bottle of Chinese oyster sauce and see how I do with that.

But otherwise, this was great. Quick, simple and delicious. The Real Simple recipe called for snow peas only, but you could toss in whatever you wanted here. Carrots, celery, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, you name it. You could also use thin sliced chicken, beef or pork in place of the shrimp. Or go crazy and toss them all in and make a House Lo Mein! This is a great stir fry, so throw in whatever you like!

Shrimp Lo Mein
recipe courtesy of Real Simple, January 2012

8 ounces lo mein noodles (found in the Asian aisle at the supermarket or substitute linguini)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
kosher salt
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
crushed red pepper, for serving

Cook the noodles according to package directions.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp, snow peas, scallions, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring until shrimp are cooked through, 2-3 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water. Pour into stir fry and cook, stirring until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Toss with the lo mein noodles to combine. Serve, sprinkled with red pepper flakes.

Sacher Torte

2012-01-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling very celebratory. Today is my husband's 40th birthday! And this is my 100th post. The first being the more important occasion, obviously!

Over the weekend, Nico's parents came to visit and we had a little dinner in honor of his birthday. I made all of his favorites. There were 6 adults for dinner. We started the night with cocktails and a few hors d'oeuvres. Then we moved onto dinner - Wiener Schnitzel, potato salad, sauerkraut, and shaved Brussels sprouts. He asks for the same thing ever year for his birthday. I usually make him a cheesecake for his birthday cake, even though I know what he really wants is a Sacher Torte.

Sacher Torte is a legendary cake in Vienna. It was created in 1832 by Franz Sacher. Dense chocolate cake is covered in an apricot marmalade glaze then sealed with glossy chocolate ganache. The original recipe is guarded and the methods used by other bakeries and restaurants just come close to the original. The recipe I have originally came from Nico's Tante Edith (who also taught me how to make her Linzer cookies). But I was just not able to adapt it to US measurements and ingredients.

I did make this one day with Edith, in our tiny kitchen in Vienna. After a day of baking, we had dinner together. Nico and I announced to Edith that not only were we expecting a baby, but we were also moving back to the US. It was the only time I'd made a successful Sacher Torte.

Last year, I tried to make one for Nico's birthday. I attempted to convert Edith's recipe and do it. It was disastrous! It was way too pale, not dense enough and it crumbled when I spread the apricot glaze over it. I nearly cried. My lovely, lying husband said it was delicious and very close to the original. I almost didn't want to do it over again this year.

But I did. I decided it to give it a try, this time I researched a few adaptations and took keys from a few recipes I have. Including a simplified version from the Hotel Sacher. The result? Well even I was amazed! As it was coming together, I prepared myself for dissapointment. It would be too pale again. It would be too sweet. The chocolate glaze would not cover the apricot. But it all worked out. Not only was Nico more than pleased, but my father in law has pre-requested one for his birthday in May.

It is a little unnerving to make classic Viennese dishes for a table of Austrians. But there is also nothing like having a table of Austrians tell you, "you nailed it!"

Happy 40th birthday to my husband, Nico. I know that together, the next 40 years will be filled with happiness, love and laughter. And your cakes will be filled with apricot.

Sacher Torte
adapted from The New Sacher Cookbook

For the Cake
9 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
pulp from half a vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
6 eggs separated, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the oven rack in the center position. Prepare a 9" spring form pan by buttering the sides and laying a circle of parchment paper on the bottom.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high until light. Scrape the sides and add confectioners' sugar. Combine on low, then return to medium high. Add the vanilla and egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is thick and creamy. Add the cooled chocolate.

In a separate, clean bowl beat the egg whites and granulated sugar until still and glossy. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and fold in carefully to lighten the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. Sift over the flour and carefully fold with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan and spread evenly. Bake for up to 40 minutes but begin to check it at 30 minutes. (I checked mine at 30 minutes and 35 minutes. At around 37 minutes, the top began to burn. It's ok if this happens since your carve off the top to level it out.)

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then remove it form the pan and allow to finish cooling completely.

For the apricot glaze:
1 jar apricot marmalade
1 tablespoon rum

Over medium high heat, bring the marmalade and rum to a boil. Send through a sieve to remove any large bits. Allow to cool slightly before adding to the cake.

For the chocolate glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Allow to bubble for 5-6 minutes. Add the chocolate and stir until it's all melted. Let it cool slightly. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

When the cake has cooled, it's time to assemble. Place the cake on a cake stand and put strips of parchment underneath to catch any drippings. Begin by leveling the top of the cake. Then slice across the middle of the cake. Fill the middle with apricot glaze, allowing any extra to spill over the sides. Put the top of the cake back on and pour the last of the filling over the top, spreading it evenly over the top and down the sides. Use an offset spatula to ensure the glaze completely covers the entire cake. Allow to set before adding the chocolate.

When the apricot glaze is firm, pour the warm chocolate glaze over the top and allow to spill over the sides. Use an offset spatula to complete coat the cake. Cool until the glaze is set.

Serve the cake with plenty of whipped cream.

Thai Basil Chicken

2012-01-15T04:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just need to try things outside my comfort zone. While I love spicy food, and I love chicken, trying a Thai dish was a little intimidating to me. Because I don't eat Thai very often, I was nervous to make something that I wasn't sure how it should taste. But I saw this recipe in Cooks Illustrated and new I had to try it.

The spicy, herb-y flavors of this were a definite hit. I am not even 100% certain I made it correctly. Cook Illustrated had said to use "hot basil". They were specific to not use Italian basil, or Thai basil. But I could not find hot basil, so I bought Thai basil. Also, they said to stem the Thai chiles. It didn't say anything about seeding the chiles. It also said it was a mild spicy, not too spicy. So I figured maybe Thai chiles just aren't very spicy. And I only took the stems off and didn't seed them. HOLY HOT! It was more than mild spicy. Next time, I will seed the chiles.

I made a few other mistakes along the way. The recipe said to reserve one cup of the basil to stir into the finished dish at the end. I forgot to do that and ended up chopping both cups of basil into the base of the sauce. It may not have made that much a difference in flavor. It was definitely full of sweet basil flavor that finished with the spicy chile. Finished with the armomatic Jasmine rice, this is sure to become a new family favorite. (Well, a hit among the adults, anyhow. I made the kids a safety dish, since this was so spicy. But Liam took a try of it and seemed to not mind the heat.)

I thought it was a lot of prep work to get it together, but it came together quickly in the skillet. And while it was hot the first night (I ate mine with a glass of milk to cool the capsaicin), I thought the leftovers were much more mild. When Nico finally took the last bit of it one day for lunch, I was jealous. Guess I'll just have to make more!

Thai Basil Chicken
recipe adapted in procedure only, courtesy of Cooks Illustrated January/February 2010

2 cups fresh Thai basil leaves, tightly packed
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
6 green or red Thai chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (can be found in international markets or online)
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce (can be found in international markets or online)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
red pepper flakes for serving (optional, I did not use it because it was hot enough!)

Process basil leaves, garlic and chiles in a food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 one second pulses. Scrape down the bowl and pulse some more if needed. Transfer 1 tablespoon of basil mixture to a small bowl and stir in 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12 inch heavy bottomed skillet. Do not wash the food processor.

Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into approximately 1/4 inch pieces. Transfer to a medium bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up the chicken with a wooden spoon until only traces of pink remain. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute. Serve immediately with jasmine rice and pass extra fish sauce and red pepper flakes to sprinkle on top.

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

2012-01-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sure Mexicans and South Americans just love how Americans take a flour tortilla, fill it up with our leftover chicken, top it with sauce and cheese, bake it and call it an enchilada. Really, enchiladas are about the chile sauce that I'm sure is lovingly made over the course of hours. And, naturally those tortillas are hand made with precision. Which of course, makes them so fantastically delicious.

But whatever is the case, I do love all types of enchiladas. The authentic variety, the kind that you throw together because it's been a crazy day, and this one that Josie at Pink Parsley posted a few years ago, that I have since made so many times I can make them in my sleep.

I've only ever made chicken enchiladas, which is a shame because there are so many things to fill an enchilada with. But one day, it was sort of a clean out the fridge day, or what I like to call "Use it up", I decided to make buffalo chicken enchiladas. I am a firm believer that anything can be buffalo'd. And you know Nico wasn't going to complain about this dish.

We had some leftover rotisserie chicken, so I used that. You could start by cooking boneless, skinless chicken and shredding that, if you wanted more work for yourself. You can't beat the convenience of a rotisserie chicken.

I tossed the shredded chicken with Franks Red Hot and prepared enchilada sauce. I really like Frontera enchilada sauce. I threw in some cheddar, blue cheese and a little bit of monterrey cheese that I had. Although you could use just cheddar or just monterrey. But I always have too many varieties of cheese on hand and was trying to use it all up! I also threw in some scallions. Some would say that cilantro would go well in here, but I don't do cilantro.

Roll the mixture up in flour tortillas, top with more Franks/Frontera sauce, sprinkle with more cheese and bake. It was delicious. I will never tire of the spicy kick of buffalo sauce calmed by the cool bite of blue cheese.

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

8 flour tortillas
shredded rotisserie chicken (I used a little more than a half, but 1 full chicken would be best)
16 ounces prepared enchilada sauce - separated
1 cup Franks Red Hot (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 ounces gorgonzola cheese crumbles
3 green onions, sliced, white and green parts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour about 4 ounces (half the Frontera bag) in the bottom of the pan to coat it.

In a small bowl combine the Franks Red Hot and remaining enchilada sauce and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the shredded chicken, half the sauce mixture, 1/2 cup cheddar, 2 ounces blue cheese, all the Monterey Jack cheese, and scallions. Fill the tortillas generously without overstuffing them. Place them in the prepared baking dish seam side down. Be sure the tortillas fit snuggly in the dish.

Top with remaining sauce mixture and remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven and top with remaining blue cheese crumbles.

Lazy Tomato Sauce

2012-01-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

You know those days where you don't want to cook, but you have to put something on the table for the other people who live in your house because cereal is not really dinner? Pasta is my go to on those nights. But sometimes I don't have any spaghetti sauce in the house and I don't normally keep jarred sauce in the house. But canned tomatoes? I always have those!

This recipe found me about 8 years ago on new years day. I hosted a huge dinner at my house the night before, but I didn't have a dishwasher. The next morning, we woke up and took all my dishes to my best friends house, about three streets away. There we spent new years day watching football and X-men movies and generally being lazy. At some point, we needed to eat and Lisa whipped this up. It is so simple and delicious it should be illegal. After that day, this became my single-girl-go-to dinner. When I met my husband, I made this one night when I didn't feel like cooking and he declared it his favorite pasta sauce.

You know the expression "the sum is greater than its parts"? That's definitely the case here.

Lazy Tomato Sauce

2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans diced tomatoes (I prefer petite diced)
salt and pepper to taste
cooked, drained pasta of choice

Add the garlic and oil to a small saute pan set over medium heat. Move the garlic around to allow it to brown on all sides, not too long, less than one minute. Add the canned tomatoes and heat until warm.

Serve over pasta with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, if you like. If you really feel like being fancy, throw some fresh basil in there. Side salad is optional, depending on your motivation in the kitchen that day.

Coq au vin, revisited

2012-01-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, I launched this blog with Alton Brown's take on Coq Au Vin. It was time consuming, it was laborious, it was delicious. That night, my husband and I talked about what I would do when and if I found myself celebrating a year of food blogging. While a lot of bloggers will bake a cake in honor of their "blogiversary", I had already gotten it into my head that I would want to do another take on Coq Au Vin. There are so many ways to do coq au vin, traditional and non-traditional. And being a sucker for customs and traditions, I thought it would be fun to make having coq au vin a new years eve tradition for us.

Well, that's not exactly what happened. We ended up having this on the 30th because we decided at the last minute to spend the 31st at our friends' house. It worked out perfectly. This dish was delicious and on New Years Eve, we enjoyed a few hors d'oeuvres and champagne. (I'm planning to share a few of the things I made this week.)

As for the coq au vin, I really liked this method. It was the infamous coq au vin that Casey Thompson made on Top Chef. The coq au vin that started the discussion about "is it really coq au vin if you use a hen and not a rooster". Well, the truth is you'd be hard to find a recipe that calls for rooster and even harder pressed to find rooster in a store. So onward we go with regular super market chicken.

Back to the method. This one took about a quarter of the time than the Alton Brown version did. It's true that this method is not classic. But it yields the same delicious smokey flavor from the bacon in the red wine sauce. Pan roasting the vegetables separately gives them more texture and allows their flavors to shine more. I made some changes from Casey's, mostly in the vegetables. She used asparagus and ramps in her recipe. But I stuck with classic coq au vin vegetables, mushrooms and peas. I took her lead and subbed the pearl onions for cipollini onions, because I like cipollinis better than pearl onions.

I served my coq au vin over egg noodles last year. This recipe called for mashed potatoes. At the time I loved the idea, but I think I'm going to stick with egg noodles. It felt lighter. Otherwise, I think I've found my go to coq au vin recipe.

The chicken was so tender and delicious. My 1 year old son was eating his with his fingers before I could finish cutting it up. This was a meal that was enjoyed and devoured. A meal that is delicious and loved by everyone? I can't think of a better way to end the year.

Coq Au Vin
slightly adapted from Top Chef Season 3, episode 12 by Casey Thompson
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and fresh ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divide
8 ounces of bacon, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tomato, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cups red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon of butter
12 cipollini onions
8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large oven safe pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Pour off most of the fat and add the bacon. Cook over medium high heat while stirring for about 5 minutes. Pour off most of the bacon fat and add the onion. Cook for 1 minute then add the tomato paste, tomato and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium low, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.

Add the wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Cook for 10 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot and add the chicken stock. Place the pot in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Turn the chicken over and cook uncovered for 15 more minutes.

In a sautee pan, melt 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium high heat. Add the cipollini onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and peas. Cook until the mushrooms give off all their liquid and are browned.

Serve 1 thigh each over mashed potatoes with vegetables and some of the red wine sauce. (You could remove the chicken from the pot and reduce the sauce by half, if desired.)

One year later: Top Underdog Posts and a Giveaway

2011-12-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

The giveaway has ended. Congrats to Jamie! Thank you to everyone who participated. Now I think next year I have to try some black eyed peas!

This has been a very crazy year. I have not blogged nearly as much as I would have liked. When I started out on January 1, I had hoped that this would be a year of growth not only in the kitchen, but also behind the camera. I had no real growth in either area. Instead I had two moves and a massive hard drive failure, which nearly caused me to lose 4 years of photos, music and files. But through it all, I still did the best I could for Cook Au Vin and I am proud of what I have here. And grateful for everyone who reads.

As 2011 winds down, and my first year of food blogging, I took a few minutes today to breeze through my old posts. On the sidebar to the right, I have the top 10 most visited posts of all time. Without a doubt, the favorite post of this year was the Peach Lemonade Coolers. Y'all are a bunch of lushes!

Of course I love everything I posted - why would I post it if I didn't love it, right? But I thought I'd chose my favorite 10 posts that were sort of underdogs. They are not the most viewed of the year, but should not be overlooked.

1. Italian Sausage Soup reminds me of my mom. Not only is it easy to make, but its one of my favorite dishes to warm up to on a chilly winter night.

2. Chicken and Pasta Salad is a great dish to make when having a group of girlfriends over for lunch.

3. Lobster rolls are a New England classic. Now that I've found split top rolls at Trader Joe's, I just might make these all summer!

4. I was so impressed with myself when I made English muffins. They are so easy, why not make them for breakfast this weekend. No Eggs Benedict required.

5. My go to for several years now, Gram's Spaghetti Sauce is far better than any grocery store jar and reminds me of good people.

6. A Radler is a refreshing drink on a hot day that even a non-beer drinker can appreciate.

7. Chicken Caprese Kebabs were a delicious and simple weeknight meal. It would pair well with (#9) Lemon Bulgur with Shallots or this mushroom and goat cheese quinoa.

8. I made some great burgers in 2011. The Triple Smoke Burgers were awesome as were Pink Parsley's Steak House Burgers. But I think my favorite was this Jalapeno Popper Burger. Pub night in. You know we love our pub food.

9. Lemon Bulgur with Shallots and Almonds has become my favorite all around dish. It's a side, it's lunch, it's a light dinner. I make it often and it's proven to be very adaptable to what's in my pantry.

10. At this point, I can make this Apple Pie in my sleep. I've made it so many time, and even made 6 of them in November for my daughter's preschool bake sale. It never fails.

I am getting ready for New Years. On New Years Eve we'll do cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with neighbors and on New Years Day, Nico and I will host brunch at our house. I love New Year's traditions and am hoping to make Coq Au Vin a New Year's Eve tradition. I'll be trying a new twist on this classic early on the 31st and can't wait to blog it.

Another tradition I love is to have jelly doughnuts every year on New Year's Day. I've been doing this for years, when I heard it was a symbol of good luck. I will use any excuse I can get to eat a jelly doughnut! Turns out, it's an Austrian tradition, as they kick of Carnival. So we'll keep this one around.

In honor of my upcoming blogiversary, as a thank you for finding my blog and sticking around, I'm giving away a subscription to Cook's Illustrated. Online or in print, it's winner's choice. It's one of my favorite sources for recipes, how to's and tips. The winner will be chosen at random on January 2. To enter*, just leave a comment with your favorite New Year's tradition, food related or not.

*One entry per person, please remember to leave a valid email address so I can contact you. U.S. residents only are eligible for the print subscription. All entries must be received by January 2 at 10:00 am.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs - two ways

2011-12-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

Since our children have come into our lives, we have spent every Christmas Eve and Christmas day at our home, just us. I am sure if we lived closer to family, we would do the drive from house to house like I always did as a kid. But since its just us in Atlanta, we stay at home. As much as we'd like to see family on Christmas day, as I'm not ready to give up my kids waking up in their own home on Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought.

For Christmas Eve the last five years, I've made the same dinner for us. We try to celebrate Christmas with an air of Vienna, as an homage to my husband's traditions growing up. I make Wiener Schnnitzel and spätzle for dinner. As a special gift to my husband and my father in law, I also make leberknödelsuppe, which is a liver dumpling soup. (I am more than happy to blog my recipe for this if I get an overwhelming request for it.)

Some years, on Christmas day, once the presents are open, we have gotten on the road to West Palm Beach and see my in-laws. Those years, we enjoy a Christmas dinner at Waffle House. But when we are home, I always make a nice dinner to enjoy once all the craziness of the day settles down. Over the years, I've made everything from a traditional turkey dinner, to roast duck, to tenderloin. This year it was not so easy to decide what to make.

Part of me wanted to make duck again. We talked about having Beef Wellington. We even discussed Salmon Wellington. But at the last second, I asked Nico if I should make braised short ribs and he answered with a resounding yes!
I made braised short ribs for the first time February and was not thrilled with how they turned out. It's a dish I love to order in restaurants, and thought it would be fairly simple. But the recipe I used fell short. I was underwhelmed. Worst part was, we served it to guests at our home. There is nothing I hate more than making dinner for someone and it comes out terrible. Needless to say, I was nervous to make it again.

I did a little research and found a recipe online that I liked. I also found a recipe for easy braised short ribs in my latest cook book acquisition from Food & Wine magazine. I sort of combined the two methods (which were very similar, actually) and made this. It was excellent! All four of us loved it, even if the four year old of the house took a little convincing to even try it. I served it over goat cheese & chive mashed potatoes with a side of haricot vert bundles wrapped in bacon.

I wanted to make extra so we'd have left overs, so I think I bought something like 5 pounds of short ribs. I could only fit two and a half pounds in the Dutch oven, so I made a second batch of short ribs in my crock pot. I sort of winged that recipe and changed it up a bit from the oven method. When they were done, I gave them a try and they are also delicious in their own way. Instead of just tomato paste in the base, I used some barbecue sauce as well, to give a hint of barbecue. I also layered in shallots and celery since I'd used all my mirepoix in the oven ribs. My plan is to make BBQ short rib empanadas out of these "left overs" for New Years Eve cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

Traditional Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
recipe adapted from Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2001 & 20 Something Cupcakes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely diced
3 celery ribs, finely diced
3 carrots, finely diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons flour
One 750 ml bottle of red wine (I used a Beaujolais nouveau)
1 cup veal or chicken stock
2.5 pounds bone in beef short ribs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper

In a large enameled Dutch oven, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the onions, celery and carrot. Cover and cook over moderate heat until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until the vegetables are browned, 3 more minutes. Store in the tomato paste and flour. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Add the wine and stock and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Add the to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, turning onto all sides until they are browned, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to the Dutch oven. Partially cover and cook on 350 degrees for 2.5 hours

Transfer the ribs to plate and remove the bones. Strain the sauce into a heatproof measuring cup and skim off the fat. Return the sauce to the Dutch oven and boil until reduced to 2 cups, about 10 minutes. return the meat to the sauce and simmer over low heat until heated through. Serve with mashed potatoes, polenta or buttered noodles.

Crock Pot Braised Short Ribs
a Cook Au Vin original

2.5 pounds short ribs, seared on all sides (see above)

3 large shallots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced large

2 cloves garlic, minced fine

2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
One 750 ml bottle of red wine

Place all the ingredients into a large crock pot. Stir gently to combine the tomato paste and barbecue sauce with red wine. Cook on low for 4 hours.

Transfer short ribs to a plate and remove bones. You can strain the sauce and reduce it at this point. I threw mine away because I am only intending to use the meat for a few dishes the next few days and I had extra sauce from the oven ribs.

Sugar Cookie Ornaments

2011-12-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

In Austria, Santa does not deliver presents. They are delivered on Christmas Eve by Christkind (Baby Jesus). He flies in through the window and delivers presents - AND, get this! - your decorated Christmas tree too. My in-laws tell me of their trees decorated with nuts, apples, oranges and real candles! (Oh my fire hazard!) When we visited them last Christmas, my mother in law had Evie help us make candies wrapped in shiny foil paper to use as ornaments on the tree. It was fun to do and nice to be a part of a tradition from my husbands past. As you know, things are done a little differently here in the US.

Last year for Christmas, my brother, Jim, sent Evelyn a book called Nonna Tell Me A Story. It was written by acclaimed chef and author, Lidia Bastianich. In it, Nonna Lidia gathers with her 5 grandkids and tells them about her Christmases as a child. How they would decorate a small juniper bush with items they would save throughout the year for holiday decorating. Apples and oranges tied onto the tree. Wreaths made of figs and bay leaves. Candies wrapped in shiny paper, glimmering in place of modern lights. The book is really very special and we've been reading it since Halloween.

Well after making chocolate ornaments with Omi, then reading that Nonni Lidia did the same, we decided we'd try to make similar decorations, too. In addition to wrapping chocolates in paper, we thought we'd make the sugar cookie ornaments featured in the recipe section of the book. I also bought lady apples and clementines to hang with ribbons. Tomorrow night we'll make a garland of popcorn and cranberries, just like I would do with my mom as a kid. A tree decorated with food is right up my alley!

The first project we did was making the cookie ornaments. We've held off on other items so they don't spoil on the tree. My tree has been up since the weekend after Thanksgiving. Can you imagine having fresh fruit sitting out that long? Needless to say, we've waited on the fruit decorations!

These cookies are super quick and easy to make. As with all our cookies this month, Evie enjoyed measuring the flour and cutting the cookies. I loved how the cookies kept their shape. Maybe in the new year, I'll try my hand at a decorate sugar cookie and use this recipe. It seems to hold up well.

And they are delicious, too. Liam was very quick to run to the tree and grab and ornament off to eat it. Part of the fun with a tree decorated with treats is eating it, right? Even Lidia talks about sneaking chocolates off the tree and putting small pebbles inside the shiny papers, so as not to be caught!

I've longed for a way to incorporate my husbands traditions with my own. But not wanting to wait until Christmas Eve to put up our tree, I haven't known how to do that. I really love going as a family to get our tree and decorating it together. This might be a great new tradition that allows all of us to get a little taste of Christmases past. (Without having to hide a 6 foot tree from two kids before they see it on Christmas Eve! I give a lot of credit to my husband's family and friends who pull this trick off every year!)

Simple Sugar Cookie Ornaments
recipe courtesy of Nonna Tell Me A Story, by Lidia Bastianich
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well, scraping the sides. Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. It may be crumbly, but it will come together once chilled. Divide into 4 parts, shape into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll one disk of dough out at a time on a well floured work surface to 1/8"thick. Cut out circles with a 2" round cutter and place them on baking sheets. Use a 1" round cutter to cut the centers out, so that they can be tied with ribbon to hang on the tree. Decorate with colored sanding sugar. I had bought multi-colored non-pariels to use, but they didn't stick to the cookies that well. The sanding sugar worked best. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes until they are golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and cook on a wire rack.

Linzer Cookies

2011-12-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

Within the first few weeks we lived in Vienna, I hosted a birthday party for Nico. His father's cousin, Edith, came to the party and brought linzer cookies with her. I fell in love with them.

I've had linzer cookies before, but these were the best ones I'd ever had. They were thin, crisp and light. The jam on the inside was not too cloyingly sweet. I wanted to eat my weight in them, and all I could do was rave a bout them all night.

The next time I saw Edith, she had a present for me. A linzer cookie cutter. Edith invited me over for a linzer cookie lesson. We bonded over food and baking and home made gifts. We got together in February, in time for Valentine's day. She told me how she makes thousands of Linzer cookies every Christmas and gives them to everyone she knows. That night we easily made 100 cookies.

A few of the things Edith taught me was to use half butter and half margarine. Well, she uses Rama, which I guess it margarine. It's an oil spread - butter substitute. I think margarine is useless and can't bring myself to buy it. But not being one who wants to mess with perfection, I buy Rama for these cookies. You can buy Rama online or if you have an international grocer near you, they might carry it. I buy mine at the farmer's market. They have a large German foods section.

The other trick was to use red currant jelly. I had made them once in the past with raspberry jelly and thought they were too sweet. The red currant jelly is far less sugar-y. I also love how she uses her counter top instead of a bowl to do all her mixing.

Without a doubt, this is my favorite Christmas cookie. There is nothing inherently Christmas-y about it. There's no reason I can't make them in July. But the tradition of making them at the holidays makes them special. I do want to expand my linzer cookie cutter arsenal though. Then maybe I would make them for more events through out the year.

Linzer Cookies
recipe courtesy of Edith Laminger

450 g flour (glatt) ~ 2 cups

300 g butter (Edith mixes ½ veg oil spread with half butter)~ 1 1/3 c

180 g powdered sugar ~ ¾ c

3 egg yolks

a little lemon juice

Using a clean work surface, place the flour onto thecountertop.

Fold butter into flour to make crumbs. (Edith uses a technique of scraping thebutter with a butter knife into the flour) Next add the sugar and mix well.

Make a well and add the mixed egg yolks and a few drops oflemon juice.

Gently fold in the yolks. If too crumbly add a touch of milk.

Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Let the dough sit for one hour in the refrigerator.

Flour the work surface and cut the dough intoquadrants. Refrigerate whatis not being worked with at the moment.

Roll the dough into ¼ inch squares on a well floured worksurface. Dip the linzer cut out inflour, and make an equal number tops and bottoms. Use a floured spatula to remove the cutouts from the counterand place on a parchment lined tray a ¼ inch apart.

Bake at 180° C (350 F) for about 8 minutes. Remove the browned cookies and allow the others to go back in the ovenuntil they are browned enough. (Undercooked cookies will not withstand the filling)

When the cookies have cooled, place a small amount of jam(Edith uses red currant, seedless) in the center of the cookie and spreadout. Cover with the cookie piecewith the eye cut out.

Dust with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2011-12-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

For the last three days, I've been struggling to write a post. It was for Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies that I'd made on day 8 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cookies. In theory, I was going to love them. But I guess I didn't, which lead to me not being able to find the words to blog them.

baking with Ariel.

I'm not going to lie and say that baking every single day for 25 days with a three year old is fun. Or easy. There have been days that I have literally phoned it in. With a pre-made gingerbread house that she got to put on her apron and decorate. But with the brownies, I copped out. I'd pinned and bookmarked and read countless mint brownie recipes over the course of the year. When it came time to make them, I didn't reference one of them. I was too tired to get into all of it, so I made my old stand by. Ina Garten's brownies and instead of nuts or regular chocolate chips, I threw in Andes mint candy pieces. And instead of vanilla I used peppermint extract.

I really love Ina's brownies, but I was totally underwhelmed. So here I sat staring at my computer trying to find something to say about my Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies with no luck.

Tonight, I decided to scrap it and move on. So let's talk about these Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.

One thing I have not made enough of this month is peanut butter treats. Nico hates peanut butter (have I mentioned that before? I always remind him how un-American he is when he says he hates peanut butter.) So maybe that's why I haven't made too much. I was going to make several peanut butter treats, but they would get bumped in favor of something else.

I am so glad I made these peanut butter bars, though! I think Nico even tried one and said he liked them. They are super rich so we didn't eat too many. I probably had more than I should have, in all truth. They are an easy bar to make, except on the cleanup scale. I had to use my stand mixer AND my food processor. You know I hate the clean up. But it was so worth it. There is not much that is better than chocolate and peanut butter, is there? (Unless you're my husband and he will quickly answer that with, "Nutella".)

I made several changes from the original recipe. For one thing, I could not find the Nabisco Famous wafers at any store I went to. All year I see them and dream of holiday baking. No one had them. After much consideration, I decided to use the top half of the oreo. It was a little drier than the Famous wafers would have been, but it made a suitable substitute.

Also, I used crunchy honey roasted peanut butter. I had accidentally bought crunchy peanut butter last month, which Evelyn wanted nothing to do with. So I put it aside knowing I could use it for baking. It worked out just fine and added some nice texture to the bars.

Last change I made was to use light brown sugar instead of dark brown, simply because I was out of dark brown. These bars are heavenly. The perfect combination of sweet and salty. What's not to love about chocolate and peanut butter?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
adapted from Once Upon A Chef
For the crust:
22 Oreo cookies tops, or Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, crushed fine (about 1 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

For the filling
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 cups Confectioner's sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups of your favorite peanut butter
pinch of salt

For the Milk Chocolate Topping
1 12 ounce bag milk chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Combine the chocolate wafers, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until cookies are finely crushed. Press mixture firmly into baking pan. This is a great job for small hands. Bake for 8 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the peanut butter filling in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until just combined, careful not to whip. Set aside while you prepare the chocolate topping.

Combine the milk chocolate chips and heavy cream in a metal bowl and set over a sauce pan of simmering water. Stir until all the chips have melted and remove from heat.

Using an offset spatula, spread 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust. Place the pan in the freezer until the chocolate is set, about 5 minutes. (I debated skipping this step. But I realized that spreading peanut butter on a crumb crust would probably be the death of my sanity and opted to not cut out this very important step!) Spread peanut butter mixture in an even layer over the chocolate. Spread the remaining chocolate ganache over the peanut butter layer. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to set. When firm, use a sharp knife to cut square. Keep refrigerated.

Egg Nog French Toast Casserole

2011-12-14T17:36:00.001-08:00

The other day I posted about individual French toast covered in Rice Krispies. Which is delicious and simple enough for one or two people. But when cooking for a crowd, it might be a little time consuming. Dipping, dredging, grilling... you'll be at the stove all morning! Enter French toast casserole!

I make French toast casserole once a year, and usually with egg nog. I love this recipe. You can use any soft bread you have on hand. I've used baguette or unsliced whole wheat bread from the bakery. But my favorite is Challah or brioche. I used Challah this time around.

Prepare this the night before so it the bread has plenty of time to absorb all the egg-y custard and flavors. It'll take a good hour or so in the oven, so planning ahead is crucial. This is a favorite of mine to serve on New Years Day, along with other dishes. But I'm debating making this on Christmas morning this year, with croissants. And as delicious as this is with egg nog in it, it's a perfectly good addition to any brunch buffet year round with regular milk.

You want to know the best part of a French toast casserole? There is so much crispy, crusty real estate! Love this part!

Egg Nog French Toast Casserole
1 loaf Challah bread (minus a slice or two is ok!)
6 eggs
2 cups egg nog
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar, plus extra for top
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 cup of rum or bourbon, optional

Dice the Challah into cubes and set into a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine the eggs, egg nog, milk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and spices. Whisk until completely combined. Pour over the bread cubes and toss until the bread is completely soaked.

Pour into a greased casserole dish, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the casserole, covered for 1 hour. After an hour, remove the foil and sprinkle with extra brown sugar. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes and remove from the oven. Serve with warm maple syrup.

Krispie Egg Nog French Toast

2011-12-11T06:35:00.001-08:00

On Friday, I got hit with the craving for egg nog french toast. Every year, I make egg nog french toast casserole at some point, and I had planned to make it this weekend (which I did). But I had all the stuff on hand for the casserole, and it was only Friday. So I took two slices off my challah bread and made myself this Rice Krispie French toast, egg nog style.

This french toast comes from my days working at a country club in Connecticut. It was one of the most popular menu items. It was a standard French toast without the egg nog, but some members of the club made their own variations on it when they ordered it. One girl would ask the chefs to make a peanut butter sandwich with the challah, then dip the sandwich in egg custard and Rice Krispies. Genius!

I love this fun take on French toast. Challah bread dipped in egg nog custard, then in Rice Krispies and grilled until golden. Not exactly the most healthy lunch, but a very welcome treat! This would make a great Christmas morning breakfast.

Krispie Egg Nog French Toast

2 eggs
1/2 cup egg nog
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
splash of rum (optional)
1/2 cup Rice Krispies
2 thick slices challah bread

1 tablespoon butter
maple syrup

In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg nog, cinnamon, nutmeg and rum if using it. In another wide, shallow bowl, pour the Rice Krispies. Dip the challah in the egg mixture, flip it over and let it sit until soaked through. Remove the challah from the egg mixture and dip both sides in the Rice Krispies.

Heat a 9" skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the prepared challah and grill until golden, about 4-5 minutes per side.

Serve with warm maple syrup.

Hot Cocoa On A Stick

2011-12-10T05:51:00.001-08:00

Day four of my daughters and my "25 Days of Christmas Cookies" brought us these hot cocoa on a stick. What genius thought this up! It's so inviting to warm up a mug of milk and melt this chocolate-y goodness into it and enjoy hot cocoa with marshmallows.

Evelyn enjoyed eating the cubes as is. No milk required. Honestly, they taste like fudge. You could eat them like this. But I love a mug of cocoa on a cold night, sitting in front of my Christmas tree and watching the lights twinkle.

The recipe is super simple, too. Normally, I would like to make my own marshmallows (and we will at some point this month). But for this project, I used giant marshmallows that I cut - not very uniformly - to size.

Since our plan is to give away most of our treats this month, I asked Evelyn whom we should give these to. She wanted to give them to the firemen. That's what we did. We went to the fire department one afternoon after school and delivered them. They were so appreciative that they gave Evelyn and William each a fire hat.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
adapted from Makes and Takes, originally from King Arthur Flour

.5 cups heavy cream
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 1-oz bars unsweetened chocolate, chopped into small pieces
wooden lolly pop sticks (can be purchased at craft stores)

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Heat the cream and condensed milk over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add both chocolates. Let sit for 10 minutes, then out back on medium-low heat and whisk until the mixture is smooth and chocolate is completely melted.

Pour chocolate into prepared pan and let sit overnight to set.

Remove from pan and cut into squares. Top with a marshmallow and insert a stick. At this point you can package them up however you like. I put three per cello bag and tied with a ribbon. I wish I'd gotten a photo. But I have a few more and I may just put the individually into these cute glass mugs I found at the dollar store. I have stored extras in an airtight container in the meantime.

To enjoy them, melt each square into 6 ounces of warm milk.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

2011-12-06T17:17:00.001-08:00

My 3 year old daughter, Evelyn, and I have embarked on a very ambitious project. The 25 Days of Christmas Cookies. Last December, after Christmas, I found this cute apron at Williams Sonoma. I started to craft this idea then. Each day has a pocket, plus one big pocket. I put a whisk in the big pocket and put little papers with our baking project for the day in each small pocket.

We are not really making cookies each day. Some days are cookies, some days are cupcakes. Some days we are not even turning on the oven. One day we will make salt dough ornaments. But every day, she will need to put on her apron to do our project.

Day one we made these chocolate caramel shortbread bars. While they are good - very good, don't get me wrong! - I have not exhausted my search for a go to recipe for this. I didn't love the shortbread on this. It was crumblier than I wanted it to be and made it hard to remove it from the pan in one piece. Also, I didn't think the caramel was a true caramel. It was sweetened condensed milk that was heated until browned. I want to make a real caramel next time. My quest will have to wait until the new year, though. There is too much to bake between now and Christmas to worry about it.

We can't keep all of this in the house. Nico and I are each 10 pounds down since the beginning of November. I sent these off to Nico's co-workers and the box came back empty. I'd say Evelyn and I are off to a very good start.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars
recipe adapted from My Baking Addiction, originally from Nigella Lawson

1.5 cups all purpose flour
.25 cup sugar
3 sticks butter, divided
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put the flour and sugar in a bowl and cut in 12 tablespoons of butter. Form the dough into a ball. Press the shortbread mixture into a 9 inch square pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Pierce it with a fork and cook for 5 minutes, then lower the oven to 300 degrees and cook for another 30-40 minutes until it is browned. Let it cool in the pan.

Set a small sauce pan over medium heat and bring water to a simmer. Set a clean metal bowl over the water, be sure it is not touching the water. Melt the remaining butter. Add the condensed milk and corn syrup. Whisk until completely combined. Heat until boiling, stirring frequently until it turns a light golden brown. Pour the mixture over the cooled shortbread and set it aside until it cools and sets.

Clean the metal bowl and be sure it's completely dry. Set it back over the pan of simmering water and add the chocolate. I used chocolate chips. If you are using blocks, break it into smaller pieces. Melt the chocolate, then pour it over the caramel mixture.

Once set, cut into bars.

Crispy Fish Tacos

2011-12-03T14:03:00.001-08:00

This summer, I posted a fish taco recipe that was pretty popular. That was a grilled fish, which is great just because it's so healthy. But for indulgence sake, this is probably my favorite taco ever.

Down here in Atlanta, there is this little taco shack called Taqueria Del Sol. I had never been before this summer and now... I'm hooked. Except TDS is not exactly close. It's a good 20 miles from my house. I can't always just go when the craving strikes. So I had no choice but to figure out how to make my own.

The TDS fish tacos are a breaded, fried white fish on a flour tortilla with poblano mayonnaise and pickled jalapenos. Sounds simple enough right? It really is. Honestly, it's a little more steps than a typical fish taco, but it's so worth it. It's probably much easier to get in the car and drive the 20 miles (because TDS has great margaritas, too), but I loved the challenge.

I began by roasting a poblano pepper. I roast mine under the broiler, but you could also put it on the grill. I made the poblano mayonnaise and set it aside while I make the fish. I only used one piece of tilapia because my husband is not a huge fan of these tacos (at TDS he likes the brisket taco), but 1 piece of tilapia still made 8 or 9 tacos, which was more than enough.

The first time I made these, I rolled the fish once in the egg and cornmeal. But a second coating the second time I made them definitely made a much crunchier fish. Served on a tortilla (corn or flour, I prefer flour) with the poblano mayo and topped with two pickled jalapeno slices. Perfection.

Crispy Fish Tacos
inspired by Taqueria Del Sol

For the poblano mayonnaise
1 poblano pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
squeeze of lemon juice

For the fish
2 pieces of tilapia (~3/4 lb)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper

canola oil
jarred pickled jalapenos
tortillas

Roast the poblano pepper in the oven on broil until all sides of the skin turn black. You'll need to rotate it every few minutes. When its all black, remove it from the oven, put it immediately into a ziplock bag and seal it. Let it steam for about 5 minutes. When you remove it from the bag, the blackened skin should slip right off and you'll have a nice roasted poblano pepper. Cut off the top, open up the pepper and run your knife down the insides to remove the seeds. Toss the seeded pepper into a blender with the mayo, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. (You can add some capers to this too, if you like the salty briny-ness of capers.)

In a flat, wide, shallow dish, whisk the two eggs and set aside. In another flat wide, shallow dish, combine the flour, cornmeal and salt and pepper. Cut the tilapia into strips. Dredge in the egg, then coat with the cornmeal mixture. Toss it back into the egg mixture, then another cornmeal bath. After the second coat of cornmeal, set them aside. I prepped out a sheet pan, lined with tin foil, covered it with paper towels, then set a cooling rack on top. I put the coated fish sticks on the cooling rack while they waited to take their hot oil bath. When they came out of the hot oil bath, they went back onto the cooling rack and the paper towels underneath absorbed excess oil but the tin foil helped me with clean up.

I do not have a fry daddy or anything like that, so I just used a regular pot (like you would boil pasta in) and filled it about 1/4 of the way with oil. I put it over medium heat on the stove and let it heat up. (I did this while I made my fish sticks). Be very careful to not use any utensils that are even kind of wet. Water and hot oil is dangerous. If you've washed your hands, dry them well. Even a drop of water will be a problem. When your oil is hot, use tongs or a mesh strainer to gently ease the fish into the oil. Let it fry without moving it around until its golden brown. (For me, this was about 4-5 minutes) Using your strainer, remove the fish to the paper lined sheet pan. Cook in batches to not overcrowd your pan. It took me three batches.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds until they are soft and pliable. Spread some roasted poblano tartar sauce down the center of your tortilla. Add a few fish sticks and top with pickled jalapenos.

I served this with saffron rice and a margarita to round out my TDS at home experience.

Quiet

2011-11-30T05:22:00.001-08:00

If it's been quiet around here, it's because I am up to my eyeballs in apple pies for my daughter's preschool bake sale. I'll be back Thursday or Friday with something new.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T09:53:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful for the people who read my blog. I'm still learning and growing, and I appreciate every one of you who check in on me while I figure out exactly what I want to make of my corner of the internet.

I wish you all a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Burger

2011-11-23T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's a food holiday that brings family and friends together to celebrate our relationships and be grateful for all the good things the good people we know bring into our lives. Without the pressure of finding the right gift to show those people how much we love them. It's everything Christmas should be. I do love Christmas, don't get me wrong. But Thanksgiving is what I look forward to most.

That said, I don't want to eat a Thanksgiving dinner every day, or even once a month. It's a lot of work and a lot of food. I do love the flavors of fall, though. The smell of sage and thyme give me warm, fuzzy feelings inside - a reminder that the holiday season is upon us. All of the Thanksgiving side dishes I've been making the last few weeks got me a little excited about the upcoming dinner and I decided to make a mini version.

A Thanksgiving burger is nothing new and innovative. What I wanted was a leftovers sandwich. Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing... But I didn't want to roast a turkey or use deli turkey, so I decided to do this burger. I looked online for a little inspiration, but decided to just do what I'd been thinking of in my head.

I mixed ground turkey with stuffing and dijon mustard. (Ok, I decided also to not make my usual stuffing. I wanted this dish to be a quick and simple way to enjoy the taste of Thanksgiving, so I used a boxed stuffing mix. If I made this with leftovers, I would love it even more with my stuffing.) I grilled the burgers (which I made smaller like a slider). I topped the burgers with sliced gruyere (because it's what I had), cranberry sauce, and a sage mayonnaise. It was delicious.

I would definitely have this again. Maybe one day in May when I'm missing the holidays. Maybe as soon as this coming weekend when I don't know what to do with my leftovers. Whenever it is, they will be gobbled up. (Oh yeah, I went there.)

Thanksgiving Burgers
1 package ground turkey (not turkey breast)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup stuffing (whatever you have on hand)
cheese slices
1/2 cup cranberry sauce
6 slider rolls or 3 standard burger rolls (I used Martin's potato rolls to add to the Thanksgiving dinner feel of it.)

Sage Mayo
2 sage leaves, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

In a small bowl, combine the sage, mayo and mustard. Stir to combine.

In a bowl, combine turkey, mustard and stuffing. Form mixture into 6 sliders or 3 burgers. Grill over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes per side. Top with cheese slices.

Spread the tops of each roll with cranberry sauce. Spread the bottom of each roll with sage mayo. Add a grilled burger and enjoy.

Cranberry Sauce

2011-11-22T17:39:00.001-08:00

When I was growing up, cranberry sauce was shaped like a can. It had little ridges on it from the can, and I liked to slice it evenly with those grooves. I remember one year my mom bought a can of whole berry cranberry sauce. Whether it was mistakenly or to try something new, I don't know. I just remember everyone revolted. I clearly remember I was not pleased. I liked that smooth, wobbly, can shaped gelatin.

Back then, it never occurred to me that people made cranberry sauce. That it didn't just come in cans, naturally. My brother had moved to Cape Cod when I was around 9 years old and I remember someone pointing out cranberry bogs to me. It was the first time I realized that cranberries were not just a canned phenomena, exclusive to Thanksgiving Day.

I started to make my own cranberry sauce about 15 years ago. Now, I can't imagine buying pre-made cranberry sauce. It's so simple to make it yourself. The taste is so much brighter and fresh. You can play with the flavors and make it your own. I pretty much always go with this recipe, but I love the idea of adding other fruits like apples, apricots, figs, plums or pomegranates. Adding spices like sriracha, chipotle or ginger. By changing the liquid and adding wine, cointreau or apple cider. The possibilities are endless.

I do love a classic cranberry sauce, however and it doesn't get any more classic than this. It can be made a day or two in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Make more than you need, because leftover cranberry sauce is as versatile as the sauce itself!

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag whole cranberries, rinsed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of one orange

Add cranberries, sugars, and juice to a saute or sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugars melt. The berries will begin to pop, releasing their natural pectin, which will set the sauce once cooled. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the juice is reduced. Remove from heat, add cinnamon and half the orange zest, stir to combine. Top with the rest of the zest before serving.

Mashed Turnips with Crispy Shallots

2011-11-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hands down, this is my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. But I suspect I might be the only one who will enjoy them, so I opted to not bring them to the table this Thursday. I made them as a side dish for dinner on Tuesday night. My sweet little boy, who at 15 months still eats whatever I give him, had quite a bit of them with me. And my husband liked them just enough. But since we have a small group on Thursday we all agreed to only make things that everyone wanted.

As I made these, I realized that this idea I had to make Thanksgiving side dishes has worked out very well for Nico and I. I mentioned before that we are trying to lose weight by eating smaller portions and being more thoughtful about what we eat, before we eat it. By having a Thanksgiving side dish or two per week, I feel like we've been able to indulge in holiday gluttony without it being a calorie bomb hurled at us in one meal. And I've been able to enjoy the dishes more since they've been the highlight of my meal instead of one component in many.

And I was very glad to single out this dish. The earthiness of turnip is one I love. As a kid, I turned my nose up at mashed turnips. As an adult, I've come to love the bitterness of the turnips brightened by the creaminess of the butter and milk, and highlighted by a sprinkle of salt. The contrast of the crispy shallots are a treat. There is a scene in the movie Ratatouille where the main character talks about closing your eyes when you eat certain flavors together. How they come together like a symphony of music. This is exactly how I feel about this dish.

The original recipe serves 6 people, but I halved it for our family. I still think I could have served 6 people, but we had small portions. But I'm perfectly ok with having leftovers.

Mashed Turnips with Crispy Shallot

recipe adapted of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family Style

1.5 cups vegetable oil

5-6 shallots, peeled and sliced into rings

2 large yellow turnips, about 4 pounds total

kosher salt

1 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons salted butter

.5 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low, add the shallots and cook until they are golden brown, 30-40 minutes. (In a pinch, when I've forgotten this step, I've done this in 10 minutes over medium-high heat. Watch them carefully, moving them constantly. When they look like they are just about done, get them out of the oil because they will burn in only a few seconds.) Stir the shallots occasionally to ensure even browning. Remove from the oil to a paper towel lined plate and allow them to cool.

Peel the waxy skin from the turnips and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Place in a sauce pan and cover them with water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until tender, about 35 minutes. Drain.

Add the turnips to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter, salt and pepper. With the motor running, add the milk in a steady stream and puree until the turnips are smooth. Transfer to a bowl and top with crispy shallots. Serve immediately.

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs

2011-11-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

This meal is a family favorite. I cannot remember when I first started making it, all I remember is it came out of a Real Simple magazine. I really love everything about this dish. The flavors are light and delicious. I love Asian foods, but soy and brown sugar is one of my favorite combinations. It is the perfect blend of sweet and salty. I love edamame and in here, it adds the right crunch. The original recipe also calls for sugar snap peas, but I never have those on hand, so 9 times out of 10, I omit them. I also really love what a simple dish it is and inexpensive, too. I almost always have everything I need for it on hand. With the exception of ground chicken. But I've substituted ground turkey. And I've also used my food processor to grind up chicken breast in a pinch.

Feel free to play around with the flavors as you like, as well. I sometimes add rice wine vinegar or sesame oil to this dish to heighten the Asian flavors. I might throw in shredded carrots and celery or sprinkle some extra scallions on top. Serve it with herbed basmati rice or go crazy and make some fried rice. It'll be a "better than take out" kind of night. Going into holiday season, I think these would make a great glazed meatball hors d'oeuvre for a cocktail party.

No matter what small changes I make, it's always a huge change from the same old same old chicken routine.

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs
slightly adapted from Real Simple
1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
2 scallions, white and green parts chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 cloves minced garlic, separated
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
2 cups snow peas
2 cups frozen, shelled edamame
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine the chicken, ginger, 1 glove of garlic, and scallions in a medium bowl. Shape into meatballs. I use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to get even sized meatballs.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cook the meatballs, turning until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate.

Wipe out the skillet. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan over medium-high heat. Add the peas, edamame and 1 clove of garlic. Cook until heated through, tossing to keep the vegetables moving for 2 minutes. Return the meatballs to the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce and brown sugar. Add to the pan and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Chicken with Black Bean Salsa

2011-11-14T17:27:00.001-08:00

I've been making this dish for nearly 15 years. It has at times been my all time favorite. My roommate from long ago used to love when I made this. There was always left over black bean salsa and she'd eat it up with Tostito's for dinner. Once upon a time, this dish was my go-to first-thing-I'd-cook-for-a-guy. And trust me, not many guys were deemed worthy of my cooking them a meal. For some reason, I did not make this for my husband the first time I made dinner for him. Maybe it was because I knew he was different.

I don't make it very often any more. Mostly, because as I became aware of Nico's likes and dislikes, I realized most components are not his favorites. Chicken, beans, rice... he could take them or leave them. For what it's worth, I could have made this for him. The first time I made him dinner, I made Salmon Wellington with spinach rice. Turns out, he hates puff pastry, spinach and rice. Either way, he would have been his polite self and told me how much he loved it. That's how smitten he was. Thankfully, I had the good sense to turn it around the next time and make him Wiener Schnitzel.

I miss this dish though. It is seriously delicious and bright with fresh flavors. Plus, given my kids' love of black beans, its a great way to sneak other things past them while they are busy enjoying their beans. It is a very simple dish, yet packed with flavor. But don't underestimate it's simplicity. Once, I decided to jazz up the salsa with some spices (cumin, cayenne) and I regretted it. It doesn't need it. Served with some steamed brown rice, eating well never tasted so good.

Chicken with Black Bean Salsa
a cook au vin original

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste
1 small red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced small
1 yellow bell pepper, diced

scallions or chives, green parts chopped

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

6 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, 1 clove of garlic and lime juice. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Pour lime juice mixture over the chicken, cover and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

In a large sauté pan, sprayed with cooking spray, brown the chicken over medium heat on both sides until cooked through, about 4-6 minutes per side. I use thin cuts of chicken, so I do 4 minutes per side, but I also like to keep the chicken in a preheated oven while I prepare the salsa. I try to keep my chicken just shy of done so it doesn't toughen up while it's in the oven. When cooked, transfer to a plate and tent with foil, or move to the oven.

Without cleaning out the pan, cook the onions until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the jalapeno and 1 clove of garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the yellow bell pepper, chives or scallions and black beans. Cook until the beans are heated through then removed from the heat. Gently stir in the diced tomatoes and serve immediately over the chicken. Serve with a squeeze of lime juice, if desired.

Baked Pumpkin Gruyere Soup

2011-11-12T13:47:00.001-08:00

My husband and I are trying to lose weight. Can you tell? Honestly, this soup is a testament to the fact that you can eat anything. Anything. In moderation.

I would not call this soup "diet friendly". By no stretch of the imagination. You start by filling out a hallowed out pumpkin with sliced gruyere cheese. Then pouring heavy cream over the top. Heavy cream. There is nothing low fat about this soup. Well, except the pumpkin, I suppose.

I've had this soup on my radar for several years. I was waiting for a holiday when I could serve it to people in their own individual pumpkins. How cute, right? Start off with a bang. But then, just post Halloween, pumpkins were on sale, so I grabbed a couple and the other simple (but not low-fat) ingredients I needed. I was going to make it the next day. That night, we decided it was time to start watching what we eat.

Which is exactly what we did. We watched what we ate. Instead of eating an entire portion, we ate half. Actually, I ate 1/4 of mine because I really couldn't eat any more. As you can imagine, it's very rich. I made a few adjustments. I did substitute half of the cream for whole milk. For 1/4 of my soup, a slice of sourdough and a glass of red wine, I clocked in at 329 calories. How do I know that? I used a recipe calculator to figure out how many calories were in one pumpkin and quartered it.

I've waited a very long time to have this soup. It met my expectations. Rich and creamy with the earthiness of the pumpkin. It would probably have been better if I'd used nothing but heavy cream, but that is a fat and calorie content I don't even want to think about!

I made one other change to the recipe. Originally it said just to stir it when it was finished baking and pull in the pumpkin from the sides of the walls. That wasn't enough for me. I really like the pumpkin to have a smooth texture. So I tossed mine into the blender and evened it out. An immersion blender would have come in handy.

If you are looking to wow your guest at your Thanksgiving table, this is a soup worth considering. Just save room for turkey!

Baked Pumpkin Gruyere Soup
adapted from Apple Pie, Patis, & Pate

one small pie pumpkin (about 2 pounds)
1 pound Gruyere cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
fresh grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the top of the pumpkin off at the stem, much like you would if carving a jack o'lantern. Scoop out the seeds and pump. Fill the cleaned pumpkin with cheese, milk, cream, butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper. It should be about 2/3 full.

replace the pumpkin top and bake for about 45 minutes to 1.5 hour - mine took 1.5 hours - until soft, tender and the pumpkin flesh is spoonable. Check by poking the lid to avoid your lovely soup escaping your nature-made soup tureen.

Remove from oven and scoop the pumpkin flesh with the cream and cheese and combine. Run through a blender, if desired. Serve hot.

Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash with Bacon Vinaigrette

2011-11-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

When my family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner, there are roughly 20 of us there. It's very easy to get away with having 10 different side dishes because there is truly something for everyone. My brother and I are the only ones who love turnips, so we always make a small bit of that for ourselves.

The Brussels sprout camp is also very small. I don't mind. I love them and don't really want to share them with 20 people. My husband, brother and brother-in-law love them. Last Thanksgiving, we went to Boston to be with everyone and I said I'd make the sprouts. I was just going to do a standard roasted sprout recipe. But when I saw this recipe on my friend's Facebook page, I knew this was it. I'm pretty sure the words "bacon vinaigrette" were the selling point. Plus I love butternut squash so it was a great way to get those on the table too.

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, we are having a small dinner this year. It's no longer just my family of four. My best friends and their daughters will be joining us, and I am truly thankful to be spending the holiday with them. That's really just us four adults though. And I'm pretty sure they are not fans. With their 4 year old and three month old daughters, I don't expect the girls to want them either.

If you've never had Brussels sprouts, I implore you to give them a try. I think they get a bad rap. If you grew up eating frozen Brussels sprouts, you have ever right to hate them. Frozen ones are mushy and flavorless. Fresh Brussels sprouts, cooked properly, are crisp and delicious and versatile to different cooking methods. Roasting them is my favorite. Steamed and pan-sauteed yield delicious results. It is important to not cook them too long or they do get mushy and grey, and they begin to let off a cabbage-y odor that is probably why most people think they don't like them or won't try them. It's worth noting that they are nutritious and full of anti-cancer compounds (which are diminished by overcooking).

This recipe is delicious and a great vehicle for my love of bacon. Easily adaptable, feel free to substitute your favorite fall flavors. The original recipe included chestnuts, but my grocery store didn't have any in stock this early in the month.

Brussels Sprouts & Buttersquash with Bacon Vinaigrette
slightly adapted from Williams Sonoma
6 strips bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled, bacon fat reserved
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
6 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4 inch dice
1 tsp chopped fresh sage

I have mentioned previously that I cook my bacon in the oven, then pour off the bacon fat into a container I keep in the fridge to use for cooking. You can use your reserve or pour off the fat from the sheet pan to use in the first step. If you wish, you can cook your bacon on the stovetop, then begin step one with the pan used to cook your bacon.

In a sauté pan over medium heat, cook the shallot in 1 tablespoon of bacon fat until tender. Allow to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, thyme and shallot. Slowly whisk in 5 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set the vinaigrette aside.

Fill a large pot with about a half inch of water and fit with a steamer basket. Be sure the water does not come higher than the bottom of the steamer basket. Bring the water to a simmer and steam the sprouts until tender, about 6-8 minutes. (You can boil the sprouts, but I prefer to steam so as not to reduce the anticancer compounds.) Remove sprouts from the pot and transfer to an ice bath. Drain well, then cut them in half lengthwise and place them on a towel lined sheet pan.

Return the pot to the stovetop, filled half way with salted water and bring to a boil. Add the butternut squash and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from boiling water into an ice bath. Drain and place on the towel lined baking sheet.

In your sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of reserved bacon fat. Place the Brussels sprouts cut side down in the pan. Cook without moving them for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the sage and squash and cook for two more minutes. Add enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the vegetables, then stir in half the bacon. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with remaining bacon. Serve immediately.

If you intend to make this for Thanksgiving day dinner, and worry about this being too labor intensive, you can do the first four steps a day or two before and pack the vinaigrette, sprouts and squash in separate airtight containers until you are ready to serve. In the last few minutes before dinner is served, finish the dish with the last step.

Creamed Spinach with Bacon and Onions

2011-11-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's November? Halloween is behind us and we had a crazy few weeks leading up to All Hallow's Eve. Now, I feel like the holiday season is upon us. In a few short weeks, it will be Thanksgiving and the true madness of the season will begin.

This is the first year that we are not going to see my family for Thanksgiving in several years. It's also the very first year that we are not going to a big gathering. It'll just be the four of us. Which, face it. With two small kids, means I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for two of us. The kids can eat a lot, but combined, they don't even eat as much as one adult.

I'm not sure I know how to make Thanksgiving dinner for just the four of us. There are so many Thanksgiving day side dishes that I absolutely love. I could really eat just the sides. But I will be cooking a full size turkey for Thanksgiving because the left overs are really why I make turkey.

I decided though, so that I don't feel like I missed anything by not having a big Thanksgiving dinner that I am going to make one or two Thanksgiving favorites each week leading up to the holiday. When there are only 2-4 people having dinner, there is just no need to make 10 side dishes. This week, I made this creamed spinach. I've never had this for Thanksgiving, but had thought of adding it to the menu. I will definitely have it again, but I'm glad I didn't save it for Thanksgiving. My old favorites remain my favorites.

I really do love creamed spinach and with the addition of lardon, how could that be bad, right? I am not the biggest fan of pearl onions, however. That may be what I didn't dig about this. I even halved them, as I usually do when something calls for pearl onions. The whole thing was very rich and more time consuming than I had hoped it would be, which is why I won't add it to my Thanksgiving day menu. With so many other things to juggle, I don't love this enough to carve out the time for it.

We ended up having this and I made a "steakhouse at home" night. A little date at home after the kids went to bed. I grilled some petite filets and made some baked stuffed potatoes, too. A little red wine, and who needs a babysitter? This was definitely an indulgent meal, but every once in a while that's not such a bad thing!

Creamed Spinach with Bacon and Onions

adapted from Martha Stewart Holiday Season's Eatings

1 bag baby spinach, picked over and stems removed and chopped

1 cup frozen pearl onions, halved

5 tablespoons unsalted butter,

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups milk

3 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1/4 inch dice (sliced bacon would work fine as well)

1/2 cup heavy cream

pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste

Melt four tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, whisk until smooth. Whisking constantly, add the milk in a slow, steady stream. Bring to a boil, while whisking for about 1 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt remaining one tablespoon of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bacon, cook stirring constantly until browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in onions and spinach and toss until spinach is wilted. Add the reserved milk mixture and heavy cream. (I did not use all of the milk mixture. I only ended up using 3/4 of it.) Add nutmeg and cook, stirring until heated through and thickened, about 10 minutes. Do not boil. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Quiche Lorraine

2011-10-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit me this past week and when I asked her if she had any special requests for dinner while she was here, all she asked was that she be allowed to make me dinner one night. OK! We decided on this quiche Lorraine. It's an old recipe from my Aunt Valerie. My mom has been making it for as long as I can remember and I have never made it. I still have never made it!

I did do some of the prep for my mom, but she did most of the work with my 3 year old. As for the crust, I went my usual route. (Oh, Pillsbury, you are such enablers!) You can use any pate brisee that you like. I baked off the bacon in the oven and minced the onions. Mom and Evie did the rest.

The original recipe called for swiss cheese, but I decided to go with Gruyere. Why not, right? The original French quiche Lorraine does not have cheese at all. But we're not in France. Evie worked hard at shredding the cheese and she got to crumble the bacon with her hands. What fun for a three year old!

My aunt's recipe is kind of vague on some details. Such as calling for between 2 and 4 eggs. Which is it? I'll post the recipe below as my mom made it.

It was delicious. I am a big fan of quiche. But this is really my favorite. With bacon, eggs and cheese, how can it be bad? The egg custard was perfectly tender. And now that my daughter knows how to make it, I think we'll have to make it again soon.

Quiche Lorraine
recipe courtesy of my mom, via my Aunt Valerie
12 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (or Swiss or Emmentaler)
1/3 cup minced white onion (about 1/4 of a medium onion)
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1.5 cups light cream or half and half
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare one pie crust for a 9 inch pie. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in pastry lined pan.

With a hand mixer, blend remaining ingredients and pour into pan.

Bake 15 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and continue baking for about 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream

2011-10-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

I made miniature pumpkin pies this week. I don't know what's gotten into me this year. Every pie I've made, I've also made miniature. It didn't just start with the mini peach pies, either. I made miniature versions of my cherry pie before that. Two weeks ago I made miniature apple pies, for my daughter's pre-school class. They were studying apples and I volunteered to bring in the pies for Friday's apple pie tasting. Then this week, they were studying pumpkins. Her teachers seemed pleased when I asked if they'd like me to bring the pies for the pumpkin pie tasting.

When I made the school pies, I ended up making two batches of pie filling. One with fresh roasted pumpkin and one with canned pumpkin. For one thing, I was curious to see how different the end result would be. Canned pumpkin is much darker and thicker than fresh. It almost has a pudding consistency. I was also curious how different the taste would be.

small bowl, left: fresh pumpkin - large bowl, right: canned

For the mini pies, I used my old stand by, Pillsbury ready to use pie crust. But because this idea was an afterthought for me, I didn't have enough of those to make the mini pies and a standard pie. I decided I would face my fear of flour and butter and make my own. In another post, I am going to post the recipe and tutorial I used that made it not so scary this time. But for posterity, I took a photo, because I never make my own dough. I guess I felt I needed proof that I did it!

The pies came out pretty much identical. I wish I'd taken a picture of the mini pies. In the rush for pre-school drop off, I totally forgot. But the color and consistency were pretty much identical. I did do one other thing differently, though. In the fresh pumpkin, I used condensed milk. And in the canned pumpkin, I used heavy cream. Again, because of a lack of forethought on this project, I didn't have enough condensed milk to make two pies. Since the canned pumpkin was thicker, I used the thinner milk in it.

The three year old set enjoyed the mini pumpkin pies. And my family enjoyed our pie with a dollop of maple whipped cream on top.

Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream

2 cups (or 1 can) pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream (or condensed milk)

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 recipe pie crust

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon maple syrup

In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, eggs, cream, honey, spices and brown sugar until well blended. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The pie may still wiggle a bit in the center when it comes out of the oven, but as it comes to room temperature will set. Allow to come to room temperature.

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream and maple syrup until stiff peaks form.

Steak and Onion Tacos

2011-10-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

The weather has been a tease here in Atlanta. Some days its cold and all I want to do is warm up to a big bowl of comfort food. And other days, its perfect grilling weather. The last few days have been grilling days.

I've been on a huge taco kick since the beginning of this summer. I've made so many different variations, along with standard ground beef tacos and countless trips to my favorite taco joint in town. While I don't know which exactly has been my favorite tacos, these steak tacos would be very high on the list.

They are very simple tacos. Chili spiced flank steak, with a beautifully caramelized outside. Soft grilled onions. And fresh lime juice. The original recipe called for tomatillo salsa, but this was a last minute decision to make and I didn't have tomatillos on hand. I subbed with jarred salsa and added at the last second added some avocado slices. I'm really hoping this great weather sticks around, because I think I may need to have these again soon.

Steak and Onion Tacos
adapted from Every Day Food, June 2011

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice, plus wedges for serving
1.5 pounds flank steak
salt and pepper
1 large red onion, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
12 corn tortillas, warmed
salsa for serving
1 avocado, sliced

In a small bowl, combine the 5 ingredients. Place the flank steak in a flat dish and cover with marinade. Turn to coat and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Heat a grill to medium high. Lightly oil the grill. Remove the steak from the marinade and let excess drip off. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Grill the onions and steak on the grill until the onions are charred and softened and the steak is medium rare, about 10 minutes. Brush steak and onions with reserved marinade and grill 1 minute longer, flipping once.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips. Serve steak and onions with tortillas, salsa, avocado and limes.

Overnight Cherry Almond Oatmeal

2011-10-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

When my son was first born a year ago, my sweet, sweet friend, Amy sent me a pile of crock pot recipes to try. She knew I was not a big fan of my crock pot, but wanted to share some ideas with me to help make dinner easier with a newborn at home.

I've only made two of the recipes she sent. One was for a crock pot mac and cheese. Which I've made a few times, and is VERY kid friendly. But its not my favorite recipe. Amy uses it for play dates, which is perfect.

The one recipe we've adopted into our family is this Cherry Almond Oatmeal. The first time I made it, I used water like the recipe stated. It was ok. Then Amy told me that when she makes it, she uses half milk & half apple cider for the liquids. Since then, we can't get enough of it. Now that the chilly temps are back, I've made this for breakfast a few times. I set up a few bowls of toppings and Evie can make it her own. She is surprisingly restrained with the chocolate chips, but really loves the cherries and wheat germ.

This is a great and filling breakfast. It's best for you if your crock pot has a timer on it. Mine does not. I set up the first part of the recipe and leave on the counter before I go to bed. Then I just set my alarm clock for midnight and go downstairs to turn it on. I think I might start setting it for 2 am and see how it turns out with just 6 hours. But my husband really likes the crispy part on the bottom, though!

Also, I have a 6.5 quart crock pot, a long oval. I really think this would be best in a tall round crock pot. Less surface area. As a matter of fact, next time I make this, I'll borrow my friends and update this post to let you know what I think.

Overnight Cherry Almond Oatmeal
recipe adapted from Today's Diet and Nutrition Magazine
1.5 cups steel cut oats
3 cups whole milk
3 cups apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Add the first six ingredients to the crock pot. Mix well, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (overnight).

When you are ready to serve it, add the cherries, almonds, wheat germ and chocolate chos. If desired, top with a little splash of milk.

You can refrigerate the left overs for up to 5 days.

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

2011-10-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's fall! I am so excited about fall flavors, fall produce and fall holidays, I cannot contain myself. This week we've had a lot of pumpkin. This recipe in particular, I could not wait to share.

I absolutely love pumpkin, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I was making it soon. The shells are stuffed with ground beef and spinach, then topped with a pumpkin cheese sauce. My kids gobbled them up, unaware of the fact that they were eating TWO vegetables! I made two pans. One for us and one to bring to a friend who just had a baby. I am going to try to make this again without the ground beef stuffing and just do a baked macaroni and cheese with a smaller pasta.

The only major change I made this time around to the original recipe was using fresh pumpkin. Whenever a recipe calls for canned pumpkin, I roast and puree a fresh pumpkin instead. Why? Because it's not difficult. Also, most canned pumpkin is actually hubbard squash. And I want pumpkin.

If you're planning to roast your own, you want a small pumpkin. In the grocery store, they are usually called either "sugar pumpkins" or "pie pumpkins". Save the big pumpkins for your jack o'lantern. Roasting it is as easy as washing the outside, slicing it in half and roasting it cut side down on a sheet pan for about 40-60 minutes at 350 degrees. When it comes out of the oven, you can easily scoop away the seeds and the stringy parts. Then the flesh will easily scoop out of the shell. At this point, I toss the flesh into my food processor and even out the texture. Roasted pumpkin can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. I usually use what's left in pumpkin pancakes the next morning.

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells
slightly adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray

20 jumbo pasta shells
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic
1 bag baby spinach, washed, rinsed, long stems removed and chopped
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar (It's possible that I used closer to 2 cups)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup roasted, pureed pumpkin
parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot, cook the pasta shells in boiling water according to package instructions. Drain and rinse, then spread out on a sheet pan so they don't stick together while the rest of the dish comes together. Set the pot aside and do not wash.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter until butter melts. Add the diced onion, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. Add the ground beef. Cook until no longer pink, breaking up any large pieces with your spoon. Add the spinach to the pan and toss to combine until wilted. Stir in 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar. Set aside.

In the pasta pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in 1/2 cup milk until it is smooth, then add the rest of the milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Let boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the pumpkin puree and remaining shredded cheddar.

Cover the bottom of a greased baking dish with 1/2 cup of the pumpkin sauce. Stuff the cooked shells with beef mixture, and place them in the prepared pan with the openings facing down. Spoon the remaining cheese sauce over the shells. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking. Sprinkle with chopped parsley just before serving.

Apple Pie

2011-10-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

All day, I've been planning to post this recipe. Then tonight, I found out the Steve Jobs passed away. So I am dedicating this post to Mr. Jobs as my way of saying "thanks" to him for changing the way I use the computer, listen to music and talk on the phone. Without my Mac Book Pro or wireless Airport router, I would not be blogging in style. From our iPhones to iMacs to iPods, we are an Apple family. I lift my fork to you, sir. Well done.

This apple pie is a recipe I've been using for two years now. For years, I used a Cooks Illustrated recipe that said to cook the apples first. The argument was that if you didn't want a space between your apples and the top crust, you had to remove the moisture from the apples before you put them in the pie. Also, too much moisture in your apples will result in a soggy bottom crust. So cook them. Makes total sense, right? Well, that's how I did it for years. Except, I'd make one apple pie a year because I just didn't love it. The apples seemed mealy and mushy. They had no texture.

Two years ago, I happened upon this recipe on the Joy of Cooking and had a "duh" moment. Instead of cooking the apples, you macerate them in sugar and lemon juice first. They retain their crunch but all of the benefits of cooking them first are achieved. But really the genius of this recipe comes in when you drain the juices from the apples. You use the sugar-y apple juice and caramelize it and pour it over the apples before adding the top crust.

The result is a delicious caramel apple pie with just the right amount of crunch. Serve it fresh out of the oven with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. You can store the rest on the counter for 2-3 days at room temperature.

Apple Pie
recipe courtesy of Joy of Baking

*Use your favorite pie crust recipe. ;)

8 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples (about 6 apples)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional. I didn't use it, because it turns out, I was all out)
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (about half a lemon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to three hours. Then, place the apples and their juices in a strainer set over a large bowl to catch the juices. Let the apples drain for 15-30 minutes or until you collect 1/2 cup of juice.

In a small sauce pan, combine the juice with the butter and reduce until a light syrup forms.

Line your 9" pie plate with the bottom pie crust. Transfer the drained apples to a large bowl and toss to combine with the cornstarch. Pour the caramel syrup over the apples and toss to combine. Pour the apples into the chilled pie crust. Place the top pie crust on top and cut off any excess dough. Fold the edges of the shell under and crimp the edges. Make 5 large slits in the center of the pie to allow steam to vent.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you preheat the oven to 425 degrees, with the oven rack at the lowest setting and a baking stone on the rack. Bake the pie for 30 minutes, then line the edges of the pie with foil so they do not become too brown. Bake for another 15-25 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack for about 3 hours before serving.

Porcini Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

2011-10-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, my mom would brown up some ground beef, put it in a casserole dish and top it with a can of creamed corn and some mashed potatoes and call it Shepherd's Pie. I grew up hating Shepherd's Pie. It was bland. Even my step mother made it exactly the same way. I have tried over the years to figure out where this variation on a classic Shepherd's Pie comes from with no luck. I suppose its a New England/northeastern thing.

It was years later when I realized you can actually layer flavors into a Shepherd's Pie and not used the dreaded creamed corn can, and since then I've grown to like it. Typically, I've done mine with peas. Probably because I loved when my Grandmother would make me mashed potatoes and I'd put my buttered peas on top. My husband is not a fan of peas, so when I started cooking for him, I switched back to corn (regular though) and started adding mushrooms and a gravy to give it a little wetness. I also like to layer some flavors into the beef by browning the beef with sauteed onions and garlic.

Last night, I didn't have anything planned for dinner, but happened to have all the components for my usual Shepherd's Pie on hand. Also, I was worried my potatoes were going to turn soon, so it was a good time to make this. The only thing I didn't have was button mushrooms. It's been so long since I've had it without, I wondered if I'd even like it without them.

I remembered that I still had some Porcini mushrooms in my pantry. So I got them soaking and when I browned the beef, I diced the mushrooms and added them into the base. But then I also decided to use the mushroom water as the base for my gravy. I use a product called Bistro. I first discovered it at the British foods storewhen we lived in Vienna . I believe I've seen it a few times at the local grocery store here in the US. If your grocery store has an international aisle just check the British foods section.

For the mashed potatoes, really just use whatever recipe you love best. Personally, I love red skinned potatoes with the skins left on. I boil them, then mash them with butter, salt and pepper, some sour cream and a touch of whole milk. I don't know any measurements for anything, I do it all to taste. If you have a recipe you love for mashed potatoes, use that. Or if you're feeling particularly rushed that night and want to whip up some instant mashed potatoes, I won't judge you. They won't be very tasty (IMO), but if that's what you like, then rock on! When I did weight watchers, I loved those things. Mashed potatoes for only about 2 WW points? Sign me up!

The result was really the best ever. The earthiness of the mushroom gravy brought it to another level. Even Nico, who really isn't the biggest fan of Shepherd's Pie, went back for seconds. And brought the left overs to work for lunch today. He said if I make it like this from now on, we can have it more often. Considering both of my kids ate it up like it was an actual pie, I think we just may! When my three year old heard we were having "pie" for dinner, she could not contain her excitement. Then it came out of the oven and her face just fell. But all through dinner she kept saying, "mmm, this is a really yummy dinner, mom!" Sounds like a winner to me.

Porcini Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup water until soft
1 cup frozen vegetables of your choice (I used corn and peas, because that's what I had)
1 tablespoon Bistro powder
2-3 cups mashed potatoes

In a large skillet, saute onions over medium heat in the olive oil until they are soft. Add the garlic and cook about one minute until fragrant. Add the ground beef to the pan and gently use your spoon to break it up. Cook until all the pink is gone.

Remove the porcini mushrooms from the water and reserve the water. Ring out the excess water then transfer to a cutting board to chop into a small dice. Add to the beef mixture. Add in the frozen vegetables and stir to combine.

Add the bistro powder to the reserved mushroom water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the beef mixture and stir until the sauce thickens.

Transfer beef mixture to a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes. I like to top my mashed potatoes with some melted butter so they get nice and crispy on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

* While I am not a fan of canned creamed corn, I would use fresh creamed corn in this dish in a heartbeat.

Sauteed Pork with Kale and White Beans

2011-10-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

This week a new show premiered in daytime called "The Chew". I am not a watcher of daytime television, but I set my DVR to record it because I love Carla Hall, one of the hosts. And I was excited about Mario Batali and Clinton Kelly being involved.

The first episode was fun and interesting. The first dish made was this grown up "pork and beans" by Michael Symon. Because I love kale, white beans, prosciutto and lemon, I knew I had to make it immediately. I made it the very next night for dinner.

I really love white beans and kale together. I had most of the ingredients on hand because I was planning to make a white bean, kale and sausage soup during the week. My husband seemed like he wasn't too excited about this dinner. At the last minute, I topped our plates with some shaved pecorino cheese. But it didn't need it. The kale and white beans are so full of flavor. The wine that I used to deglaze the pan gave it a deeper flavor beyond the earthiness of the kale. But the lemon zest brightened it up so much. All of it was just perfect with the proscuitto stuffed pork loin chops. And even my husband loved it. I will admit, that my daughter was not enthused. Evelyn may or may not have had something else. But William still eats everything I give him and he loved the beans and the kale.

Sauteed Pork with Kale and White Beans
adapted from The Chew

4 pork tenderloin cutlets (about 1 pound), pounded thin
4 slices prosciutto
salt and pepper
flour for dusting
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, sliced in rings
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
juice and zest of one lemon
1 12 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
half bag of pre-washed kale

Take the pounded pork cutlet and salt and pepper one side. Place a slice of prosciutto on that side and fold the pork in half, to make a sandwich.

Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Lightly flour the pork cutlets and saute until golden brown in the butter and olive oil, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.

Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and saute for two minutes, until soft. Add wine to the pan and stir well, scraping up all the browned bits. Allow to reduce by half. Add the kale, beans, lemon juice and zest. Transfer to a serving platter and top with the pork and resting juices.

New York Cheesecake

2011-09-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

*sigh* Bad blogger. My last post was on September 11. I had every intention of making a New York Cheesecake that day. While I was at the store buying my ingredients I got a call that we were going to move again. We had an amazing opportunity for a house that we could not pass up. While it seems crazy because we just moved in February of this year, we knew it was the right move.

Long story short: We own a house that is nearly an hour outside Atlanta. Someone approached us to rent our home mid-January and they want to buy it when their house sells. (Thank you crummy housing market...) Since we had a short amount of time to complete that move, we chose to rent a townhouse near my husbands office since it was new and didn't need any work to move in.

Seven short months in a townhouse proved one thing: townhouse living is not for us. So when this house found us, we knew it was the best decision for our family. Moving again was not ideal, but its worth it. I had 5 days to get things in boxes and make this move happen so our landlord at the townhouse could turn it over to the next tenants, so once again my blog took a back seat. But we are back and I did not forget my cheesecake.

The morning after we moved, I got up and found my stand mixer and spring form pan and made another trip to Publix.

How could I pass this up?

We were invited to our neighbors for football and dinner on Sunday. Did I mention that my neighbors just happen to be my best friend from grade school? I decided that I HAD to bring this with me. My husband could not understand why I needed to bake the morning after a move. I just rolled my eyes in insinuation that he "didn't get it".

The recipe I had chosen last week was from The Joy of Baking. I have a cheesecake recipe I've been using for years, but decided to do a little bit of research to be sure it was authentic. My cheesecake is good, but I always felt it was ever so slightly on the dry side and it always cracked. I love the Joy of Baking because they give you a lot of insight into the recipes. So I decided to try this. Also, it had a sour cream topping, and my husbands love of sour cream is unmatched. Given that his favorite "cake" is cheesecake, and this had a sour cream topping, I thought this would be his ultimate favorite dessert ever. Guess what? I forgot to do the sour cream topping. It's ok, though. It was fantastic. I macerated some strawberries to put on the top and it was light and delicious. I loved the slight hint of lemon (and seeing those pretty lemon zest flecks in the cheesecake). This was far and away my favorite cheesecake that I've ever made.

I'm posting the recipe as I made it, which except for the topping, was as it was on Joy of Baking. Perfection. I WILL make it with the sour cream topping, but it is perfectly delicious without.

New York Cheesecake
courtesy of Joy of Baking
For the Crust:
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
32 ounces or 4 packages of full fate cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Spray a 9" springform pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack in the center of the oven.

For the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the graham crackers crumbs, sugar and butter. Press the mixture over the bottom and sides of the spring form pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the cream cheese, sugar and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. Add the cream, zest and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. Do not over-beat. Too much air in the batter will contribute to cracks in your cheesecake. Pour the batter into the the prepared graham cracker crust and place on a sheet pan.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350, then lower the temperature to 250 degrees F and continue to bake for another 60-90 minutes, until the center is a little wet and wobbly. I baked mine for 75 minutes. I started it at 60 minutes, then checked it. I gave it another 10, then checked it. Then I gave it another 5 minutes. Be careful, over-baking can also crack the top. When you feel it is ready, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Then refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight. Carefully remove the outer ring from the spring form pan to serve.

I have not tried this, but Joy of Baking suggests you can freeze this cheesecake by freezing it until firm. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag and seal. Can be frozen for several months. Thaw uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.

New York City

2011-09-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

It seems only fitting that I should talk about my favorite places in New York City today. It was 1 month and 10 years ago that I arrived in New York City to work at NBC Studios. That's right. I had been living and working there for exactly one month before the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Because the news division went into 24 hour coverage mode, my catering staff also went into 24 hour mode. We fed over 800 people on 15 different floors 24 hours a day for over 2 weeks. Although I was working around the clock, I was not immune to what was going on. There was not an elevator bank in the building that did not have a television. I was catering to the control rooms, news offices, chyron and graphics departments, security, and operations. Anyone who had even the smallest impact on the news cycle was fed. I was inundated with images everywhere I turned.

Source: flickr.com via Michelle on Pinterest

In the first few weeks, I would walk the streets of the city before work, instead of taking the subway, and look at the missing posters. It was haunting and sad, but also hopeful. I guess that's how I still feel about the events of 9/11. Haunted and sad, but hopeful.

When I visited New York City late last month, two things happened. First, I forgot to charge my camera battery. I was beside myself. I was going to buy a new battery charger the next day but then... I decided to leave New York and head back home to Atlanta due to the impending Hurricane Irene. I arrived on Thursday morning and spent all day visiting some of my favorite people and places. I opted to leave Friday afternoon. In the end I was very glad I did because Saturday at noon they began canceling flights. Normally, I would stayed and weathered the storm (no pun intended). But I did not want to be stuck at the airport on my son's birthday which was the following Tuesday. So we came home.

Therefore, I didn't get to visit as many of my favorite places. And apart from my iPhone, I got very few photos that I wanted to get. Thanks to the wonderful Pinterest, through the lenses of others' cameras, I can share some of my favorite New York City establishments with you.

Restaurant Hearth is one of my top favorite restaurants in New York. Owned by Chef Marco Canora and Sommolier Paul Grieco, both started their careers under Tom Collicio and Danny Meyer (two chefs I adore). Marco started out at Craft and Paul at Grammercy Tavern.

Source: restauranthearth.com via Michelle on Pinterest

When you are in the mood for something upscale, The Four Seasons is a classic. And if you can't get a table, treat yourself to a drink at the bar. The 81,408 metal chains strung across sixty windows give a shimmering affect created by the gentle rumble of the streets outside. The building was designed by Mies van der Rohe and it is simply stunning.

Source: nytimes.com via Michelle on Pinterest

The Blue Water Grill will always be one of my favorites. I think Danny Meyer can do no wrong. Also, situated at Madison Square Park, it almost feels like escaping the city.

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

When in Madison Square Park on a budget, check out the ever popular Shake Shack. The line looks long and daunting, but it moves quickly and it is so worth it! Be careful when eating in the park. The squirrels and birds are fearless and tried to steal my fries!

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Forget Magnolia Bakery. Cupcake Cafe is where it's at!

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Sometimes I want to eat a little healthier. I love, love, love the Pita Grill. Their grilled chicken cannot be beat. Do try the grilled chicken caesar pita. It sounds elementary, but sometimes I dream about it.

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Another place I like to go just for drinks and a view is the Lobby Lounge bar at the Mandarin Oriental. It overlooks Central Park and at night it is spectacular.

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Brasserie 8 1/2 will always be one of my favorite restaurants for a special occasion. In the famed Solo Building, it is on the mezzanine floor.

Source: patinagroup.com via Michelle on Pinterest

When I lived there, I didn't just eat out. On my way to the Metro North, I would run into the Grand Central Market to grab a few things to make when I got home. I loved the fish market there. Also, Murray's Cheeses and several produce vendors. It is a narrow corridor filled with specialty Italian foods, butchers, florists, pastries and gifts.

Source: thekitchn.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Michelle on Pinterest

A weekend trip would find me at the 14th Street Green Market. Usually if I went there, I would also find myself at Dean and Deluca or Citarella, not just for the specialty foods, but the gadgets.

Source: flickr.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I hope you enjoyed my virtual tour of New York. The city has changed so much since I lived there over 4 years ago. I was overwhelmed to see the Freedom Tower when I visited lower Manhattan. It is going to be triumphant and I cannot wait to visit it when it opens.

Yellow Cake

2011-09-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

I do not like boxed cake mixes. I can literally taste all the artificial "ingredients". I end up making a lot of chocolate cakes from scratch because I have never found a yellow cake recipe that I love. Or even like, really. A lot of them are very dense and not very moist. So I started to get a little antsy as my son's birthday approached because I didn't want him to have chocolate just yet.

I should have been down this road already. My daughter is three. But all of her cakes have been ordered from professionals so far. Due, in large part, to the fact that I cannot frost a cake to save my life. (Have I mentioned that before?) So here I was, about to celebrate another birthday and with no go to non-chocolate cake recipe.

I've had a white velvet cake that I liked ok, but it very dense. As is the coconut cake from Ina. But those are white cakes and I wanted a yellow cake for whatever reason. I was looking for something light and airy. So I started searching for a classic yellow cake. I thought maybe Cook's Illustrated must have one. I never got that far, because I came across smitten kitchens yellow cake recipe and stopped looking. She said everything in her post that I was thinking. It was even a recipe she desired to have for her son's first birthday.

The pictures looked great. If she would have said it was a boxed mix, I would have believed her. The only thing I was going to do different was the icing. I did a standard buttercream instead of the chocolate sour cream icing in smitten kitchen's version. I did like her perimeter of sprinkles, too. Very festive.

The cake was a success. I was amazed how disinterested in eating the cake my son was. He thoroughly enjoyed smashing it, but really didn't eat much. The rest of us enjoyed it. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. Light, sponge-y and delicious without the cloying sweetness of a boxed cake. Thankfully I made a 6" cake, because the three of us attacked it. Because I made this a smaller cake, I halved her recipe and it was the perfect amount. I know there will be times I will need 24 cupcakes, or to make a standard size cake, and its nice to know that this recipe can accommodate.

So I have found a new yellow cake recipe, a keeper. While most of us are chocoholics in my house, this one will be very well suited to a summer celebration, when I want to fill the cake with lemon or raspberry fillings. I'm looking forward to making this for many birthdays and occasions. I'll be making this again in a few weeks for William's birthday party, in the form of mini-cupcakes.

Classic Yellow Cake
courtesy of smitten kitchen
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, shaken

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two six inch cake pans (or spray with Baker's Joy), or prepare a muffin tin with liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar a medium speed until pale and fluffy, then add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. On low speed, add the buttermilk. It will look curdled when combined. Add the flour mixture in three batches until just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly between the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes for 6" cake pans. Cool on racks about 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Classic Buttercream
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, via Pink Parsley
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed, for about 3-4 minutes. When pale and fluffy, gradually add the confectioner's sugar in batches mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extra, salt and heavy cream, and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add food coloring at this time, if using and stir well to combine.

Macaroni and Cheese

2011-09-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since my daughter's first birthday, I've made her macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, fruit and steamed vegetables for her birthday lunch. My son turned one on Tuesday and as I planned his day, I wondered what I would make for him. I decided to keep the tradition and make him the same meal I make for his sister.

I've lately started to think that I don't like macaroni and cheese. But, oh gosh, that doesn't even seem possible, does it? Cheese and pasta? I'm talking crazy. For many years, I had one recipe I loved. And recently, it has seemed grainy. I started making another recipe that a friend swore by. It was from her mother's Betty Crocker cookbook. I made it and found it to be like glue. I've tried countless other mac and cheese recipes from various blogs that I read. Upscale and gourmet to classic and simple. It seems like all the recipes I've made in the last year have been either grainy or glue-y.

Last year, I had made this Cooks Illustrated recipe for macaroni and cheese several times and loved it. Then forgot about it. It's from their Best Make Ahead Recipes book. I don't know why I stopped making it and trying other recipes, because this one is pretty much perfect. Typically, I make this by the book, but this time, due to making it last minute, I made a few variations.

The original recipe calls for Colby and cheddar cheeses. I only had Colby and Monterrey Jack cheeses on hand, so that's what I used. Which worked out fine. It still had a good consistency too it, and it wasn't grainy at all. Had I only had cheddar on hand, it may have been grainy since cheddar doesn't melt as well. It also calls for chicken broth and milk for the liquids. The chicken broth really deepens the flavor. This time around, I didn't have quite enough chicken broth, so I subbed with water. I'm sharing the recipe below as I normally make it, but just know that some improvisations are acceptable. This recipe makes a lot, so I bake half for my family the day of and freeze the other half for another day.

The birthday lunch was a total success. Even more so than the birthday cake. I can't believe my son is a year old already. I look forward to serving him this every year on his birthday. And sometimes it's nice to celebrate regular days, too!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
courtesy of Cook's Illustrated "The Best Make Ahead Recipe"
1 lb macaroni (elbow, shells, whatever your preference)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 1/2 cups milk
4 cups colby cheese, shredded
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste
toasted bread crumb topping*

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and macaroni and cook until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

Wipe the pot dry, add the butter and set over medium heat until melted. Stir in the garlic, mustard and cayenne and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often until bubbling and thick, about 15 minutes. Off heat, add the cheeses and stir until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the pasta, breaking up any clumps. Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle with crumb topping.

*For the crumb topping, I do any variation of breadcrumbs and melted butter tossed together. Sometimes I add some shredded cheese to this, sometimes from fresh chopped parsley or chives. But the ratio is typically about 1/4 cup breadcrumbs to 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Usually I bake half in one baking dish (on 400 degrees for 30 minutes) and freeze the other half for another day. I defrost it the night before I'm ready to bake it and then bake it covered with foil for 20 minutes on 400, then remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes.
If I bake a full recipe, I bake it for closer to 40 minutes.

Flying solo

2011-08-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am flying solo, which means there are three of us in tow, but I'm the only rational adult on our journey to New York.

My husband is flying solo at home. Since he is not one for cooking, I have made a few meals for him in advance. In the past, I've made him a lasagna to eat while I was away. But I found that he'd get bored after a day or two and then just order pizza.

So for this trip, I made him a little bit of warm lentil salad with kielbasa, one of his favorite meals. As an alternate, I've made pulled pork for him. He can alternate what he wants to eat, or have one for lunch and one for dinner... whatever he wants. The nice thing is, he can put the pulled pork in the freezer when he tires of it.

I know he'll probably go out with the guys a few times, so he won't have to eat only two meals for 5 days. But at least I know when he's home, he'll eat.

White Summer Sangria

2011-08-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, my most popular post (in my modest 9 months of blogging), has been the Peach Lemonade Coolers. So I figured you wouldn't mind another summery, peachy cocktail. I've had this several times this summer. Every time, I love it more. The recipe is courtesy of my friend, Tamara, who has made it for a few outdoor events we've gone to. This weekend I finally got around to making a pitcher at home.

Ra uses white wine in hers. Typically I would, too. But you know how sometimes someone will bring you a bottle of wine and you put it aside thinking, "gee, thanks. I'm sure I'll never drink this..."? Well that is exactly how I acquired a bottle of white merlot. A 1.5L no less. While it wouldn't be my first choice on its own, it was lovely in this sangria.

The chopped fruit absorbs the alcohol, making it far more dangerous than the sangria itself. You can use pretty much any fruit you have hanging around. I used peaches, nectarines and cherries. My friend buys the pre-diced fruit at the grocery store and uses that in addition to peaches. Brilliant time saving move, Ra. Because of the Southern Comfort, diced peaches would really be missed if you skipped them.

I'm off to New York City in the morning. I hope to have a post this weekend about my favorite food spots in the city. In the meantime, cheers!

White Summer Sangria
recipe courtesy of mommara

diced peaches, nectarines and pitted cherries
1 750 ml bottle of your favorite white wine
1 cup vodka
1/4 cup southern comfort

Place diced fruits in a pitcher. Top with liquids and allow to sit, refrigerated, for at least one hour.

When I am ready to serve this, I spoon out the fruit and pack it in on the side.

Zucchini Bread

2011-08-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

We have had a surplus of zucchini in our house this week. It's been all zucchini bread, zucchini burgers, zucchini gratin in here. I've put zucchini in just about everything but my coffee. The great part has been that Evelyn has eaten a lot of zucchini, unknowingly.

I really wanted to have her help me make this zucchini bread. The moisture in it in apple juice. Apple juice is a rare treat in my house. I don't keep it on hand and the only reason she is aware of its existence is because her friend only drinks apple juice. Every time she asks me for it I say, "We don't keep apple juice in our house." So I bought apple juice for this bread and I thought she would like helping me put it all together and seeing that the apple juice is in the bread. Just like with the Chocolate Beet Cake, I thought seeing things she loves go in with the vegetables might make her more willing to eat it.

Unfortunately, we had a long day and she went to bed early and I made the bread at 9pm. The next morning she had zucchini bread for breakfast and I told her it had apple juice in it. She called it Apple Juice cake and never questioned the green bits in it. Whatever the reason for her willingness to eat it, I was not about to argue with her.

I grew up eating zucchini bread and always loved it. My mom made hers with nuts, which I am not a fan of. This recipe did not call for nuts, but I am sure you could add them. I had debated adding chocolate chips too, just to up the chances of Evelyn eating it, but turns out I didn't need to.

The bread is super moist, even after three days. I wrapped it well in plastic wrap and it stayed tender and fresh tasting. It was not terribly sweet, just perfect. The recipe makes two loaf pans, but I opted to do 1 loaf pan and 12 muffins. Next time I will probably just do two loaves since the muffins came out a little tough from too long of a bake. I baked them for about 10 minutes. I really don't know what to say about baking times. The recipe said to bake two loaves for 1 hour, but in my matchbox oven my loaf came out perfect in a half hour. Yet 10 minutes was too long for the muffins. So next time, two loaves. I'm planning to make a few more of these and freeze before the summer is over.

Zucchini Bread
courtesy of Woodfired Kitchen

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

2.25 teaspoons baking soda

1.5 teaspoons salt

.25 teaspoons baking powder

3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple juice
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups grated zucchini (this was about three large zucchini)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with the racks set at the center.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.

Using the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until frothy in a stand mixer. Beat in the sugar. Add oil, apple juice and vanilla and beat until thick and lemon colored.

Add the flour and grated zucchini to the egg mixture and mix until just blended.

Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans (or muffin tins with liners). Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-60 minutes. The loaves will have dark, cracked tops and a toothpick inserted in a crack will come out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes on a rack before removing from the pans.

Wrapped in airtight plastic wrap, they can be stored for up to one year in the freezer.

Mini Peach Pies for Josie

2011-08-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be part of a virtual baby shower for Josie of Pink Parsley. I first met Josie when her daughter Caroline was about 6 weeks old. She and I (along with Karin, of thiswifebakes) would get together with other local moms at a coffee shop and hang out. Aaah, the days when our babies sat still in their infant seats and napped. Josie and I hit it off pretty early on over our shared love of food, cooking and entertaining. We both lived in the same town outside Atlanta and our daughters were about 5 month apart.

Our daughters grew to be good friends, too. They had countless weekly play dates up until they started pre-school. Then we moved a few towns away and the girls didn't get to play as often, but Evelyn still counts Caroline as one of her three "best friends".

Josie is the kind of girl who will go above and beyond for a friend. Last August 29th, I sat at home all morning in labor with my son. When being housebound got the better of me, Josie very kindly came and picked me up to bring me to Target to walk around. In retrospect, I don't know how she didn't freak out over my breathing through contractions. She was very calm, cool and collected as she strolled around with me to pick up the things I simply had to have before my son came home. My baby is almost a year old, so I cannot wait to live vicariously through Josie's baby boy. I am sure he is going to be every bit as wonderful as Caroline is.

Josie is a true Georgia peach. Or, at least as far as this northerner can tell. I've never met anyone more authentically Southern. Her love of Southern cuisine is unmatched by anyone I know. I have to thank for introducing me to pimento cheese. And anyone who reads her blog knows her love of barbecue, biscuits, and of course, peaches.

So when Annie of Annie's Eats asked me to be a part of Josie's virtual shower, I immediately knew I wanted to make these mini peach pies. Josie and I also share a mutual love for miniature foods. And what's a baby shower without a baby version of something.

I've never made peach pie before, so I did a little research before I began. I liked that this one did not require me to blanche and peel the peaches. The recipe said it would impart a "peachier" flavor to leave them on. Being the queen of shortcuts that I am, I loved the loss of one step. But I was also happy to have a peachier pie. And I used store bought pie crust. (I know! I can't help myself! I know I can make my own, but I still sweat bullets when it comes to pie crust.) I made very few alterations to the recipe. Really I just changed up my method a little bit. And of course, instead of baking them in a standard pie plate, I made them in mini muffin tins.

My pies are not very pretty. I didn't even attempt to properly lattice something so little. But they tasted heavenly. The recipe yielded 24 mini peach pies and small sized standard pie.

Mini Peach Pies for Josie
recipe adapted from Kitchen Parade

8 cups ripe peaches, skins on
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter

Pit the peaches and dice into a small dice. (This is going into a mini pie, the pieces have to fit!) In a large bowl, gently stir together the peaches, sugar, flour and nutmeg. Let rest for 20-30 minutes until the juices release and syrup begins to form. Place a strainer over a large soup pot and place the peach mixture into the strainer. Allow the syrup to fall into the pan, reserving the peaches. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat, reduce to low and cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid begins to thicken. Stir in the peaches. By adding the peaches in last, you avoid overcooking them and turning them to mush.

Off heat, add the vanilla and butter, gently stirring until the butter melts. Let cool to room temperature. The filling can be made in advance and refrigerated.

To assemble the pies, roll out your favorite pie crust, to standard size. Cut circles big enough to fill a mini-muffin well. You could use a water glass, I used a biscuit cutter because I liked the nice fluted edge it gave. Gently place the circles into the muffin tin as if you were filling a pie plate. Fill with pie filling, almost to the top. With remaining dough pieces, gently cut out whatever shape you want to top it with. I cut strips for these, but on another batch, I used small heart and star cookie cutters which perfectly covered the tops of the mini pies.

For the large pie, I just filled a standard size pie plate as usual.

Bake the mini pies at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. I started mine at 10 minutes and kept checking them because of my oven being so small and cooking times being slightly off. 13 minutes seemed to be the magic number for me.

For the standard size pie, bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 25-35 minutes, until the top is golden.

Allow to cool and serve.

Triple Smoke Burgers

2011-08-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

I made these burgers a few weeks ago, and this picture has been sitting in my folder of food photos because I don't really love it. But I loved the burgers! I've debated making them again because they are so delicious and full of flavors, but I really am trying to make lighter dinners. But, grilled avocado! Why haven't I ever thought of that?

Recently, I've fallen out of love with chipotle, just because I think its waaaay over-done. They are every where and a lot of recipes that use it, I find that the chipotle overwhelms the dish. But not the case with these burgers. The smoky flavors are layered in perfectly so you get the suggestion of chipotle. I didn't even cut back on the amount of chipotle called for in the recipe, as I sometimes do.

We still love to have a good burger now and then, but there are lighter variations to be had. (I'm making one such variation tonight and hope to post it next week.) However, summer is not over yet and I can see us having this again.

Triple Smoke Burgers
recipe courtesy of epicurious

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1.5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced chipotle in adobo, including some sauce, divided
8 slices cooked, crisp bacon
1.5 pounds ground beef chuck, not lean
2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
1 large red onion, cut into 4 thick rounds, threaded onto a skewer
1 firm, ripe avocado, quartered lengthwise, peeled, and cut into 1/3 inch slices
olive oil for brushing
4 hamburger buns, toasted

In a food processor or blender, puree the mayonnaise, mustard and 1 tablespoon chipotle. Set aside.

Gently mix the beef with 1 tablespoon chipotle, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt until well combined. Form into 4 patties.

Turn grill on to medium heat and oil the grill rack. Brush the onions with oil and grill onions until charred, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from skewer and set aside.

Grill avocado slices, turning once, about 30 seconds per side (just enough to make grill marks appear).

Grill burgers for about 5-6 minutes per side, or until they reach an internal temp of 160 degrees. Serve on toasted buns with chipotle mayo, avocado, bacon and onion.

Shrimp and Cheese Grits

2011-08-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Before I moved to the South, just saying the word "grits" would make me scrunch up my nose. The first time I ever tried them was at Waffle House, which was a big mistake. I'm pretty sure they just cook them in water and serve them. Boring.

Yet, every time I watch Top Chef and some Southern chef rolls in with their shrimp and grits, all the guest judges go wild. Shrimp, cheese and bacon? Sounds good to me. If only I liked grits. Then, I found the grits at The Flying Biscuit. They aren't cheesy, but they are buttery. I liked them - a lot!

So one day I decided I was going to make a meal of grits and order Shrimp and Grits. We were out to lunch with my in-laws. My mother in law loves for everyone to order different things, then half way through, she wants to start trying everyone elses dishes so she can sample a little of everything on the menu. Typically, she ends up trading her entire dish with my father in law. I joke with my husband that my father in law should just order for her, he seems to know what she'll like better than she does. I'll admit, I do not enjoy this food sampling. But we only eat with them a few times a year, so I can adapt.

But this time, when I tasted the shrimp and grits, I said, "no one is touching this. It's all mine and if no one will be embarrassed, I'm going to lick the bowl clean." I did end up sharing a bite or two, and was delighted that no one loved it as much as I did. More for me! I loved how the creamy grits had a tangy bite from the cheese. Paired with the crunchy bacon and the tender crispness of the shrimp, it all came together perfectly.

And so began my hunt for a recipe to replicate the dish I had. The restaurant served theirs with a cheesy white sauce over the top, which I did not do. I found this recipe though and everything about it seemed right to me. It had the grits cooked in milk and water, which I am told is not authentically Southern. ("Grits are cooked in water, oatmeal is cooked in milk.") But I did it with milk and it was delicious without the bacon, shrimp and cheese.

I used a really sharp white cheddar for this. This is not the time or place for a bag of Sargento. I also think I will add some red and yellow bell pepper next time, for more color and texture.

Shrimp and Cheese Grits
adapted from Serious Eats

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2.5 cups milk
2.5 cups water
1 cup grits
1 1/2 cups really good cheddar cheese, finely grated
8 ounces bacon, chopped
20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup scallion, chopped
salt and pepper

Add the butter and olive oil to a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Turn the heat to high and pour in the milk and water. Bring to a boil and slowly whisk in the grits. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. When done, add the cheese and stir until its melted. Season with salt and pepper tot taste and set aside.

Add the bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat. Cook until browned and crisp*. Remove and drain on paper towels. Pour out all but 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.

Set the skillet back over medium-high heat and when smoking, add the shrimp. Cook until pink, about 1 1/2 minutes per side.

Add some of the cheese grits to a bowl and top with the shrimp, chopped bacon, scallions and a little additional cheese.

*A note about bacon. A lot of recipes will have you cook bacon on the stove top, then use some of the reserved fat to cook the rest of the ingredients in. Since I hate messes; especially bacon grease spattered on my stove top, hood, and cabinets; here is a shortcut I take:
When I buy bacon, I cook it on a baking sheet. I lay all the slices out and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. When it's done, I remove it to a paper towel lined plate to cool, and I drain all of the bacon fat from the baking sheet into an airtight container and refrigerate it when its cooled.
When a recipe calls for me to cook bacon then use the bacon fat in the pan for cooking, I pull out my ziplock of cooked bacon, chop it up (or do whatever I need to do with it). Then take my reserved bacon fat out of the fridge and add however many tablespoons of fat I need to the pan I'm using to cook the rest of the ingredients. I get bacon flavor layered into my dish and I don't have a huge mess to clean up. If I don't use all the bacon that week, my husband gets to have a BLT sandwich at some point, or I'll toss a piece into an egg sandwich during the week.

Candy Bar Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2011-08-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last month, when Nico's family was in town, we celebrated his niece's birthday. It's hard to believe she's only 11, because she's very mature. But at the same time, when she walked down the aisle as our flower girl, she was 6. And in my head, she's still a sweet little 6 year old.

It was whispered in my ear that Lina has a sweet tooth, so I decided it would be a great time to make this candy bar cake, which was one of the very first things I'd ever pinned on pinterest. A simple way to hide the fact that I cannot frost a cake. (This seems to be a recurring sentence in my blog.) A cake of any flavor is iced with any color icing you like, then wrapped in 6-8 packages of Kit-Kat bars, and topped with M&M's. Any kid would love this. For the record, I used chocolate cake and white buttercream.

Since I've already shared with you three chocolate cake recipes, I'm only going to post the Swiss meringue buttercream that I used. Swiss meringue is a tricky icing to make. Every single time I make it, I stare in horror at my stand mixer and lament the loss of ingredients, certain that I will have to throw it away and start again. And every time, at the last minute, it comes together into a beautiful, silky, shiny buttercream. I love the fact that it uses granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar. It seems less cloyingly sweet than traditional buttercream. And when you are topping the cake with so much candy, less sweet is better!

This cake was a hit and it was gone before my in-laws left two days later.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
courtesy of Sweetapolita

8 large egg white
2 cups granulated sugar
2.5 cups unsalted butter, softened, cut in cubes
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and sugar. Place over a simmering pot of water, whisking constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

Remove from the heat and place the bowl into your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Begin to whisk until the mixture is thick, glossy and has begun to cool. Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer back on to low. Slowly add the butter one cube at a time until it is all incorporated and is a smooth texture. (This is where I panic and think I've ruined it. Invariably, it will look like curdled milk. And all of a sudden, it comes together.) Add vanilla and salt, mix well.

This can be stored in the fridge for one week or can be frozen for 6-8 weeks. Thaw overnight then rewhip for 5 minutes.

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quinoa

2011-08-06T05:46:00.000-07:00

Quinoa is one of those side-dishes that I passed over for far too long. I never really liked small-grain cous-cous and I think that because the quinoa grains were so small, I assumed I wouldn't like them either. But I knew it is so very good for you, so I decided to give it a try and was so glad I did. This dish, so far, is my absolute favorite. Much like the Lemon Bulgur, it's a dish I am perfectly happy to eat alone. Since quinoa has such a high protein content, it really does not need to be served with any meats. However, I'm never certain how my husband will respond if I don't make some kind of meat. So the last few times I've made this, I've grilled a small amount of chicken to go with it.

The health benefits of quinoa are numerous, but it's preparation can be so varied you won't get bored of it. It can be prepared similar to oatmeal or risotto, for sweet or savory dishes.

But like I said, this is my favorite. I love mushrooms, asparagus and goat cheese so this recipe jumped out at me. I've made it a few times and even my daughter gobbles it up! There's not usually a lot left over, but I always look forward to having the last bit of it the next day for lunch.

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quinoa
adapted from The Healthy Foodie

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well*
1.25 cups water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz mushrooms, sliced (I use white mushrooms or baby bellas)
1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends removed, and cut into 1" pieces
2 geren onions, sliced
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper, to taste

Add rinsed quinoa and liquid of choice to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest. Fluff with a fork.

In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil. Cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown on both sides. Add the asparagus and cook for 2-4 more minutes, depending on the size of the asparagus and how tender you prefer it.

Toss the quinoa, mushrooms and asparagus together in a bowl, add salt and pepper. Last, gently toss in the crumbled goat cheese.

*You can opt to first give your quinoa a 5 minute soak in warm water. Although most pre-packaged quinoa comes pre-rinsed, a quick rinse at home will just ensure any bitter saponin is gone.

Bacon Gruyere Meatloaf

2011-08-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to blog this meatloaf for a few months. Every time I made it it just didn't photograph very pretty and I would get discouraged and not blog it. I know I shouldn't let my photography hold me back from blogging, but it really looked unappealing. But lemme tell you - it's so good. I mean, its bacon and gruyere, which, come on... is there anything better than bacon and gruyere?

The recipe is out of Real Simple and they suggested that you serve this with extra ketchup on the side. Don't do that! This is not your mom's meatloaf. It is moist and delicious and does not need to be hidden by thick condiments. Serve it with a simple salad, or as Real Simple suggests, some roasted root vegetables.

I've used this recipe to make burgers, too and it works. I grilled them on my George Forman, so they held together. I think on the grill they might want to fall apart a little bit. If I tried it, I might put them on a square of foil on the grill.

Bacon Gruyere Meatloaf
adapted from Real Simple, April 2011

1.5 pounds ground sirloin
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large egg
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, ketchup, onion, bacon, garlic, egg, 1/2 cup of the cheese, salt and pepper. Transfer to an 8x4 inch loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of Grueyere.

Roast until cooked through, about 40-45 minutes. Pour off excess fat and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Peach Lemonade Coolers

2011-08-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Set the table-scape and call me Sandra Lee, because its cocktail time and it's semi-home made.

Last week, my husbands sister and her family visited from Vienna. I knew for a short trip, we would not eat at home much, but I had bought plenty of snacks to have on hand for when we were home. Including a ton of Georgia peaches.

I may have overbought just a little, because I still had a handful of peaches left when the house emptied out. I saw a post on The Naptime Chef for Roasted Peach Lemonade. But I was exhausted from cleaning for three days, entertaining and then returning the house to normal. And its hotter than Hades in Atlanta, and I didn't want to turn on the oven.

So I just improvised. I peeled the more-than-ripe peaches and threw them into the blender with some store bought lemonade. My daughter was the first to taste test it and declared it to be a "very good smoothie". It was a hit with a three year old. I whipped up more for myself and my husband and added a bit of Kettle One. Delicious.

The next night, I used the last peach and forgot to peel it first. Don't do that. It tasted fine, but the brown-ish color was less than appealing. Also the second time around, I used Champagne instead of vodka. Those bubbles weren't going to last much longer! I hate to see good Champagne go to waste!

Peach Lemonade Coolers
inspired by The Naptime Chef

2 medium sized, ripe peaches, peeled, halved and pitted
1/2 cup lemonade
1 ounce vodka of choice

Puree the peaches and lemonade in a blender until smooth.

Pour vodka over ice in a rocks glass. Top off with peach-lemonade puree.

Cherry Slab Pie

2011-07-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that I hate pie crust? Really, pie crust is easy to make. Its the rolling that scares the daylights out of me. I've read countless tutorials, but every time I roll out anything, it tears or its uneven. Too cold and it breaks. Too warm and it sticks to your counters. You really have to time it perfectly. And being a novice, I never seem to get the timing right.

But, OH! I wanted to make this pie from the first time I saw it. It must have been just about a year ago. I saw it on one of the food blog compilation sites. And I bookmarked it and swore I'd tackle it one day when I was feeling ambitious in the kitchen.

I got the itch this weekend and we were having lunch with friends on Sunday, so I decided to commit to it by not only buying 8 cups of cherries but also telling my friends I was bringing it. My daughter and I got busy pitting the cherries and making the filling one day. And over night I debated running to Publix to get my trusty old stand-by, the Pillsbury Pie Crust. Why Pillsbury can't make a quarter sheet pan sized pie crust, I will never know.

Maybe it was a need for conquering this pie, but I got up early on Saturday and busted out a pate brisee. I used the recipe from The Italian Dish, because she had already figured out how much extra dough I'd need to make a slab, and really I suck at math. The dough came together quickly, so a few hours later, I decided it was just time to get rolling before I lost my nerve. I literally live across the street from a grocery store. I could hear that Pillsbury Doughboy laughing at me from his refrigerator case.

It wasn't so bad. I did a few things to set myself up. First, I took my quarter sheet pan -- wait, if you don't have a quarter sheet pan, go get one. They are so versatile. And while you are there, get a half sheet, too. Ok? Ok, so I took my sheet pan and filled it with ice and let it sit on my granite counter top and make it really cold. Then I dumped the ice and dried the pan and the counter very well. Then, I floured the surface. I don't know if this was helpful or not, but I felt better that it wasn't going to stick right away.

After I floured my work surface, I put my quarter sheet back down and traced around with my finger in the flour, so I'd know how big to roll my crust.

Then I started to roll. And roll. And roll. It's a lot of dough. And a lot of rolling. I've always said that home made pie crust is a lot of work and doesn't yield anything so much better than a Pillsbury ready made*. But maybe its just because I make pie crust once a year and maybe my pie crust is not very awesome. I mean, it's pie crust. And cherries. So it is awesome. I'm just saying someone who does not tremble at the thought of butter and flour being rolled out might make something a little flakier and tastier.

The end result was well worth it. It was pretty. And delicious. And I had to leave half of it at my friends house when left because I did not trust myself with this pie alone in the house on Monday. Oh yea, and if I can do this, I am absolutely certain that you can too.

*I do not work for good people of Pillsbury. I'm pretty sure they don't know who I am. But they make a good pie crust.

Cherry Slab Pie

filling adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

crust courtesy of The Italian Dish

For the filling:

6 cups pitted cherries

1 1/2 cups sugar

dash ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Put cherries, sugar, cinnamon and zest in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering for about 5-10 minutes until liquids release.

Whisk cornstarch and water together. Add to sauce pan and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Let cool.

For the crust:

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

3 sticks, unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1/2 cup ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs, about 10 seconds.

With machine running, slowly pour the ice water through the feed tube until the dough just comes together in a ball.

Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten a little, dust with flour and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

To assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surgace, roll out the larger piece of dough into a rectangle, slightly larger than your baking sheet. Fit it into your baking sheet, pressing into the corners. Pour pie filling into pie shell.

Re-flour your surface and roll out the remaining piece of dough to the size of the pan. Fold the edge of the bottom dough over the top dough. Pinch edges to seal and prick with a fork or cut vent holes in top dough.

Bake until crust is golden brown, about 40-50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Lemon Bulgur with Almonds and Shallots

2011-07-19T07:52:00.001-07:00

I do not like diets. I really hate the idea of eliminating things I love from my diet. Also, I love to eat, so eating less is not really much of an option for me. In my head, you can eat anything you want, as long as its in moderation. Moderation being a very key word that I tend to forget. Because I make a lot of cakes.

All that said, in six weeks my baby is going to a year old. (WHAT?) And I suppose its time for me to stop looking like I just gave birth.

I can hear all of my friends reading this and collectively groaning and saying, "You do NOT look like you just gave birth". Fine, but I'm definitely not back at pre-pregnancy weight. So its time for this family to eat a little bit healthier. And Jillian Michaels is prepared to kick my butt for the next 30 days while I shred.

One of the changes we've made is to move away from rice and potatoes and we've been doing a lot more veggies as side dishes. But I've also been experimenting with sides we've never had before. And this bulgur is one of them.

I'm honestly surprised I've never had bulgur before. I brought a recipe for bulgur risotto with shrimp and mint with me to Vienna and made the recipe a few times. But I couldn't find bulgur (or even the German word for bulgur) anywhere so I just made a regular risotto. I really loved this version of bulgur and ate it for lunch the next day as well. I served it with grilled chicken breasts and my all time favorite summer vegetable, zucchini. But this dish is worthy of being a stand alone. I had it again the next day by itself.

Bulgur is a whole grain and is high in fiber so its very filling and satisfying. While my husband didn't care for it, I suspect it was due to the toasted almonds. Some people just don't care for nuts in their food, and he is one of them. I'll be giving other bulgur recipes a try in the next few weeks and I'm confident we'll settle on one he loves as much as I loved this.

Lemon Bulgur with Toasted Almonds and Shallots

adapted from Every Day Food Special Issue, summer 2011

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large shallots, sliced in rings

1 cup bulgur

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until browned, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the bulgur to the pan and toast for a few minutes before adding the chicken broth (or water is fine, too if you wanted it to be vegetarian). Bring to a boil over high heat and let boil for 1 minute.

Stir the bulgur then cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork then transfer to the bowl with the shallots. Add the almond, lemon juice, lemon zest, chives, parsley, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Fish Tacos

2011-07-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

Typically, with fish, I buy it the day I need it. I'm very picky about fish and will only buy from certain places. I think it comes from living on Long Island Sound for so long. I had access to fresh fish all the time. You know that expression, "You don't know what you have until its gone"? (Later, you'll wonder why you have the awesome 80's power ballad of a similar name by Cinderella stuck in your head. You're welcome!)

When I moved to Austria, we were completely land locked and suddenly I realized how I'd taken fish for granted while living in Connecticut. Fish from the sea is not the same as fish from the ocean. We went from having fish 2-3 times per week to almost never. When I was pregnant with my daughter I would force myself to have fish at least once per week. I did the same thing every time. Salmon wrapped in a foil/parchment packet with lots of lemon.

Now in Atlanta, I find myself land locked again. Fish has to be shipped to the stores here and most of it is flash frozen. It's just not the same. So I only use a few sources for fish, and we still don't eat fish as often as we once did.

Anyhow, this is such a great meal to have on hand for one of those nights when you just don't feel like cooking. I throw all the ingredients (sans fish) onto my menu for the week. Then when the inevitable day comes that I've had too much on my plate and the idea of making dinner is a ridiculous impossibility, all I have to do is run into Whole Foods and grab some tilapia or cod or other white fleshed fish. It comes together very quickly but is so full of flavor. Always a big hit in our house. And you don't even need to buy a super expensive fish (such as sea bass).

Fish Tacos

For the fish:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper

1 1/4 pounds skinless, firm, white fleshed fish

In a zip top bag, combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the fish to the bag and coat with marinade. Let sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the toppings.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill over medium heat, until the fish is opaque throughout. Flake it with a fork and serve in warmed corn tortillas with toppings.

For toppings:
Corn Salsa, from Everyday Food June 2011
1 cup fresh corn, off the cob
1 medium tomato, diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Can be stored for a day in the fridge.

We also use greek yogurt, salsa verde and queso fresco.

Shrimp Boil Kebabs

2011-07-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

I made these kebabs for the Fourth of July. While I do love a hamburger (probably more than I should), often for the Fourth I find us having seafood. Last year I did a huge clambake for a group of about 10 of us. This year I thought it would be fun to do a clambake on a skewer since it was just our family of four at home.

I hadn't conceptualized what a clambake kebab would entail just yet when I saw these Shrimp Boil Kebabs in Martha Stewarts Every Day Food. It incorporated all of my favorite aspects of a clambake (I could really take or leave the clams), so I decided to go with this recipe. We loved it. This could very well be my new favorite summer meal. It was simple, quick to assemble, required minimal dishes and minimal clean up. But beyond all that, it was so tasty.

I dropped the Old Bay Seasoning down by half and probably upped the Tabasco a little bit. I didn't really measure the butter ingredients, I just eyeballed it. The only real cooking I did was the boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes.

But I thought, if we had potatoes another night during the week, I could very easily cook a few extra and have a meal on hand that just needed to be prepped and grilled. With only 8 quick minutes on the grill, you can be enjoying a summer boil in no time.

Shrimp Boil Kebabs

from Everyday Food, June 2011

1/2 pound small new potatoes

2 small ears corn, cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds

1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1 inch rounds

1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 stick butter, melted

4 teaspoons Tabasco

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

Boil the potatoes in salted water over medium-high heat for about 12-15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Thread potatoes, corn, andouille and shrimp onto skewers. (This makes about 4 skewers.)

Heat grill to medium-high. Clean and lightly oil the grill. In a small bowl, combine the butter, Tabasco and Old Bay. Grill kebabs turning and brushing with butter mixture occasionally until the shrimp are cooked through and corn in starting to char, about 8 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Blueberry Cobbler

2011-07-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

I love summer fruits. Going shopping and filling my cart with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries... what could be better? Blueberry season is in full swing and this blueberry cobbler is calling for me to make it for the Fourth of July.

This recipe is not what I've made for the last few years. But I think it may become the new standard in our house. For years, I've made mine with an oat topping. Back at the beginning of the summer, on a whim, I decided to google cobbler while I was at the store and see what I'd need to bring home to make one. I found this recipe from America's Test Kitchen, which has a biscuit topping and I settled on it.

What appealed to me is the cornmeal in the biscuits. I really love blueberry cornmeal pancakes, and this was reminiscent of that. The recipe calls for you to time the completion of the batter for just before it goes into the oven. I was making this for a potluck we went to, so I just packaged up the wet and dry ingredients separately. When it was time to top the blueberries, I finished the biscuit dough and popped the whole thing back in the oven.

It smells heavenly. And the soft biscuits with the slight crunch from the cornmeal and the sweetness of the blueberries was all perfect together. Of course, a scoop of ice cream on the side was the perfect compliment.

Blueberry Cobbler
courtesy of Cooks Illustrated

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch salt
6 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over
1 1/2 teaspoons grated zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Biscuit Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons stone-ground cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the filling, stir the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the berries and mix gently with a rubber spatula until evenly coated; add the lemon zest and juice. Mix to combine. Transfer the berry mixture to a 9-inch glass pie plate, place the plate on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the filling is hot and bubbling around the edges; about 25 minutes.

For the biscuit topping, whisk the flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl to combine. Whisk the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla together in a small bowl. Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl and set aside. One minute before the berries come out of the oven, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined and no dry pockets remain.

Remove the berries from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Pinch off 8 equal pieces of biscuit dough and place them on the hot berry filling, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart so they do not touch. Sprinkle each mound of dough with the cinnamon sugar. Bake until filling is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown on top and cooked through, about 15-18 minutes. Cool the cobbler on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-06-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

I have the biggest sweet tooth. I love a little snack, usually after the kids are in bed at night. But when the kids nap during the day, that's when I like to get into the kitchen and bake. Typically, I'll make cakes (or cupcakes - because I can't frost a cake to save my life). But my husband is a cookie person, so I thought I'd indulge him for a change.

I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe I've been using for many years. It has bananas in the batter, which I love because its keeps the cookies moist and soft. I don't like crunchy cookies. Somehow, with two kids under the age of 4, I managed to have no bananas in the house the other day. I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe on Annie's Eats that promised thick and chewy cookies.

Well, my new oven is roughly the size of a matchbox and I have yet to get used to the difference that gives to baking times. So I didn't end up with chewy cookies, they were very crispy. But still super good. Come on, its chocolate chip! And with a glass of milk, is there such thing as a bad cookie?

Chocolate Chip Cookies
courtesy of Annie's Eats
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus one egg yolk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (ok, I may have used 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl, set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and and mix on low speed until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a scoop, drop dough onto cookie sheets onto prepared cookie sheets, about three inches apart.

Depending on your scoop size, bake for 15-17 minutes for larger cookies or 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies. Until the edges are lightly toasted. Cook on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chicken Caprese Kebabs

2011-06-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've been in the process of menu planning for the few times I am going to cook on our vacation next week. Most of the things I wanted to do, I wanted the option to cook them and bring them to the beach. I thought of doing a shrimp kebab that would really just incorporate all my favorite parts of a clambake- with shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage on the kebabs. Then in this months issue of Every Day Food, guess what they had? Shrimp boil kebabs. I'm not a very inventive person, so I was kind of bummed that they had my inventive idea in there. C'est la vie.

In the same article was a kebab that featured turkey cutlets, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and shallots. Yum! I thought that would go over great with everyone in my family so I threw them on last week's menu.

Except that week at the grocery store the turkey cutlets looks just so-so. That's ok, chicken made a GREAT stand in! We love Caprese salad in this family so this was a fun and delicious take on that. I bought some fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, grape tomatoes and shallots. The basil wraps around cubes of fresh mozzarella, which is then wrapped inside thinly sliced chicken (or turkey!) breast.

ready to go on the grill

I loved this lighter meal, served with a side salad and a glass of wine.

Chicken Caprese Kebabs
adapted from Every Day Food, June 2011
1 pound thin sliced chicken cutlets, cut into twelve 3-inch pieces
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into 12 small strips
12 pieces fresh basil
3 shallots, peeled and quartered
1 pint small tomatoes, such as cherry or grape
olive oil
salt and pepper

*will need wooden or metal kebab skewers. If using wood, soak them in water for 15 minutes first.

Wrap a piece of basil around a piece of mozzarella and then roll a piece of chicken around both. Use a skewer to hold the chicken roll up closed.

Follow each chicken/basil/mozzarella roll up with a shallot and a tomato. I allowed my daughter to do the vegetable threading. I find that helping me cook invests her trying new foods. Add two more roll ups to the skewer, alternating with tomato and shallot. Repeat to make three more kebabs.

Heat a grill to medium-high. Lightly brush the kebabs with some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. (This is a great chance for my daughter to help again. She loves to "paint the food".) Grill for 10-12 minutes, turning half way through, until cheese is melted.

Jalapeno Popper Burgers

2011-06-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned my husband's love of pub food. When I saw this recipe this month in Everyday with Rachel Ray, I knew he would love it. I added it to my menu for the following week.

Jalapeno and fresno chilies are sliced into rounds and toasted on the stove top. The cream cheese mixture - reminiscent of the popper filling - called for cumin and cilantro. I omitted them because I am one of those people who can't eat cilantro. And we had an unfortunate incident with a jar of cumin last year, where the top came off and a half a jar dumped all over my shrimp marinade. I've been using cumin in small doses ever since.

I was skeptical about the burger itself. I like condiments on my burger. I wasn't sure how I'd like a glorified cheeseburger with no other toppings. But somehow ketchup, mayo or barbecue sauce didn't seem right. I debated adding some red onion jam and next time, I just might. Overall though, these were a hit. Smoky heat from the jalapenos, with just enough cream cheese to cool it down, and the hint of cheddar cheese on top - it really was the perfect mirror of a jalapeno popper at a bar. We served it with the twice baked potato skins and beer, to round out the pub feel of the meal. At the last minute, we invited some friends over for dinner. All that was missing was football.

This is a keeper, and I can't wait to make them again and play with the flavors some more.

Jalapeno Popper Burgers
slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachel Ray, June/July 2011

3 fat jalapeno chili peppers, cored, seeded and sliced into rings
1 red fresno pepper, sliced into thin strips
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used the whipped variety)
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 large clove of garlic, finely minced
4 chives, minced
salt and pepper
2 pounds ground beef sirloin
4 ounces of cheddar cheese, cut into thin slices

Preheat your grill to medium high. In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, over medium-high, cook the jalapeno and fresno chili peppers and toss for a few minutes until they are charred a bit at the edges, but still crisp.

Combine the cream cheese, onion, garlic, chives, salt and pepper. Form the beef into four patties and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 4-6 minutes per side. Top with cream cheese mixture and sliced cheese. Cover the grill and allow the cheese to melt. Top with chili peppers and transfer to your favorite hamburger bun.

Veggie Pancakes

2011-06-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned previously that I make my own baby food for my babies. With both of them, I've spent all this time making purees and freezing little cubes of veggies and fruits, only to realize that the puree stage of baby food is a flash in the pan. My son, William, is now 9 months old and has no interest in food on spoons. He wants to pick up his food and do it himself. He's exerting his independence fairly early, I suppose.

Creating a well rounded palate for my kids is important to me and I still want to pack as many healthy veggies per serving as I can. I found this recipe for these veggie pancakes and though they'd be great for him. He certainly does love them. I make them about once a week and keep them in the freezer.

But you know what? They're delicious for adults, too! They make a fantastic little appetizer. Or if I make them larger, they're a great side dish. Or by themselves with a salad on the side.

I bought the cookbook these came out of before my daughter was born. The emphasis is on nutrient rich foods that create healthy eating habits from an early stage. Once you move past the section on beginner foods and into the recipes for toddlers, the recipes are very family friendly. From veggie packed meatloaf to macaroni and cheese to whole wheat bread, there's something to please everyone.

Out of the Garden Pancakes
adapted from The Petit Appetit Cookbook
1 cup broccoli florets
12 asparagus spears
1 cup sliced brown or white mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon fresh dill
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional*

Place the broccoli and asparagus in a steamer basket set into a pot filled with 1 to 2 inches of lightly boiling water, making sure not to let the water touch the vegetables. Cover and steam for 4-5 minute, or until tender.

Put broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, onion and garlic in to a food processor and pulse on and off to chop (or chop by hand). Be careful not to puree. Transfer chopped ingredients to a large boil and stir in oil, flour, dill and salt. Add the egg and milk and mix thoroughly.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Drop batter by 1/4 cups into skillet and cook until firm on bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the pancakes with a spatula and sprinkle with cheddar cheese, if desired*. Cook remaining sides until golden, about 1 minute.

*I do not add the cheddar cheese.

Coconut Blender Pie

2011-06-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

You know the expression "easy as pie"? I never got that, because pie is not easy to make. Pie crust, anyhow. Unless you buy a pre-made pie crust, which I guess then makes pie easy. But this pie, really is easy as pie. The crust makes itself!

I have very fond memories of this pie. My mom would make this pie when I was very young because my dad did not like coconut. She'd make a pan of brownies for him and this pie for everyone else, knowing my dad wouldn't eat it all on us. I was maybe 4 years old, but I vividly remember her making this and her telling us how easy it was. (She had a lot of baking shortcuts I remember. Such as using jarred baby food carrots in her carrot cake. I haven't tried that one yet.) I had long since forgotten about it, though.

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on foodgawker and was drawn in by the coconut, which I love. As I read the post I remembered my mom's pie. I ran to my pantry to see if I had everything I needed to make it. Normally, I wouldn't have biscuit mix on hand, but just happened to have it. I made it immediately.

It was as easy and delicious as I remembered. Coconut cream pie with a subtle, gentle, flaky crust. I only wish I'd added more coconut to the top. I am excited to try different flavors this summer, such as a lemon pie or something.

Coconut Blender Pie
from Grateful Prayer, Thankful Heart - originally from Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Recipes of All Time

1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup biscuit baking mix (such as Bisquick)
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In blender container, combine all ingredients except coconut. Blend on low speed for 3 minutes. Pour into a greased 10-inch pie plate, let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with coconut. Carefully place in oven, bake 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted near the edge comes out clean. Cool slightly; serve warm or cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

Baked Mini Ravioli in Creamy Lemon Sauce

2011-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

I've recently succumbed to the addiction known as Pinterest. I'm enjoying using it as a virtual corkboard for recipes I want to try (among other things I pin, such as fashions I'll never be thin enough to wear, home decor I'll never have enough money to buy, and sayings I wish I'd said first). I do like looking at the popular boards and see the same thing getting pinned by many people.

That's where I first saw this dish. It hails from the blog "Our Best Bites" and when Sara posted it she used Barilla dried mini tortellini. Well, for some reason, my daughter loves Trader Joe's mini raviolis but does not care for tortellini. I personally feel like they are the same thing - small pasta, filled with cheese. But sometimes there is no reasoning with a three year old, so I decided just to go with her favorite pasta of all time and use the ravioli. I guess what I am saying is you can use whatever cheese filled pasta you want here. Quite frankly, you could use any pasta.

It's been pretty hot around here the last few days and a baked pasta didn't seem like a great idea by dinner time when the temps had been nearing 100 that day. But I figured, "What the heck, the air conditioning is on, and I've got everything I need on hand to make this (and nothing defrosted)." To say this wasn't one of my I-can't-wait-to-make-it dishes of the week, would be an understatement. I really hadn't planned to blog about it. Color me surprised, it was really much better than I anticipated. I really chose it to be a quick, simple meal for one night when I wasn't in the mood to cook. And it was probably my favorite meal of the week. The lemon gave it an unexpected brightness and really lightened up what could have felt like a heavy meal.

Other than the pasta type, I made a few other variations to the original. Instead of using just milk, I used half milk and half chicken broth. I typically always substitute dried herbs for fresh. And I also halved the recipe for our small family. The original says it feeds 4-6, but I fed three with a half recipe and had leftovers for lunch the next day.

This is definitely a make-again dish. Really anytime I can get my daughter to eat spinach, the dish is a win.

Baked Mini Ravioli with Creamy Lemon Sauce
adapted from Our Best Bites
8 oz mini cheese filled ravioli
2 slices bacon or pancetta
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated parmesan, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add ravioli and cook for three minutes less than package instructions, so they are slightly underdone.

Place bacon in a medium sized skillet and cook over medium-high heat. Cook until crisp, remove from pan, and set aside to drain on paper towels. Reserve two tablespoons of bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest. Add garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and broth and continue to stir with whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, basil and red pepper flakes. Bring sauce to a boil. When the sauce has thickened, remove the sauce from the heat and add the lemon zest and lemon juice.

Drain the pasta and place it back in the stock pot. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture. Add spinach, 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup of parmesan, and the sauce to the pasta. Stir to combine. Place pasta mixture into a baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan and bacon.

Cover dish with foil* and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and pasta is bubbly. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

*If you want your foil to come off of the hot, melty cheese later, spray it with some cooking spray first.

Baked Artichoke Dip

2011-05-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last week we went on vacation. Before we go away, I like to run down our perishable groceries to the bare minimum. On one of the last days in town, I didn't have much for lunch in house, so we had appetizers for lunch. Which we love to do!

I had some artichokes on hand, but no spinach, so I made baked artichoke dip. I could only work with what I had so I did a search of recipes that required closest to what I had on hand. I found a recipe for artichoke bread on Closet Cooking, which I have had bookmarked for a while. I made very few changes, I guess the biggest one being that I didn't bake the dip on the bread. To be honest, at first I didn't have a baguette. I was going to serve it with some crackers. But as it was coming together, I decided to send my husband out for fresh bread.

Also, in my little game of "use it up", I didn't have any fresh mozzarella. So I substituted three of my daughters mozzarella cheese sticks and ended up mixing the entire concoction up in my food processor. It worked out very well. And I was very happy with the dip. I am not going to recommend you make yours with mozzarella sticks, I'm just saying in a pinch it can work. I had a little more than I needed for two people, so I packaged the other half and put it in the freezer. I'm not sure yet if that is going to work out for me, but I'll update this post and let you know when I find out.

Baked Artichoke Dip
inspired by Closet Cooking Artichoke Bread

1 12 ounce jar artichoke hearts, drained
2 green onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced or grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 loaf French or Italian bread, sliced for serving

Preheat oven to 350 F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the artichoke hearts, green onions, garlic, cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, mozzarella and half the parmesan cheese until well combined. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Serve with bread slices (and a glass of wine!).