Just Get Floury

I've Moved....

2008-09-14T15:47:00.001-07:00

...on over to wordpress...so please run, walk, click on over to the new Just Get Floury!!! Make sure to change your reader to www.justgetfloury.com...you do not want miss out on one more delicious mouthwatering recipe...

Peach-Blackberry Pie and the Omnivore's Hundred...

2008-08-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

If you a loyal and obsessed foodie blogger like I am, you have seen Very Good Taste's Omnivore Hundred popping up all over the place. Well, I must admit I became quite curious so I decided to take the "test." I have tried 48 out 100...and would try them all except two did not quite suit me... check it out...

Here’s what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or Head Cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Soudough Bowl
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac ~~with a Fat Cigar~~
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. ~~Fugu~~: the whole lethally poisionious thing makes this a little iffy…
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (Is there anything better?)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (Dogfish 120 IPA is amazing!)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (What is this? Google is failing me…)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~ (um…don’t think I could do it!)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose Harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole Poblano
96. Bagel and Lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Before I left for Chicago, J and I went blackberry picking. Before we knew it, we had over five pounds of berries...not including those we tested along the way. One night with his sister, E, we made a simple peach and blackberry pie. It was a store bought crust. I really like using the Pillsbury crust when I do not have time to make a real one. We decided to start making this pretty late at night...E and I figured out how to make the lattice...it was yummy...

Peach and Blackberry Pie
(based upon this recipe)
2 pie crusts
3 cups blackberries (1 3/4 lb)
2 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour

1. Place a baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat to 400°F.
2. Toss together berries, granulated sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Let stand, tossing occasionally, 15 minutes.
3. Roll out 1 piece of dough into a 14-inch round and fit into a 9-inch pie plate (4-cup capacity). Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Chill shell while rolling out top.
4. Roll out remaining piece of dough into a roughly 16- by 11-inch rectangle. Cut crosswise into 11 (1 1/4-inch-wide) strips with a fluted pastry wheel or a knife.
5. Stir berry mixture, then spoon evenly into shell.
6. Dot with the butter.
7. Arrange strips in a tight lattice pattern on top of filling and trim strips close to edge of pan. Roll up and crimp edge. Sprinkle all over with sugar.
8. Bake on hot baking sheet for 10 minutes.
9. Reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for 30-35 minutes.
10. Allow to cool (or like us, dive right in!)

Nectarine Quinoa for a Healthy Breakfast...

2008-08-27T06:33:00.001-07:00

I should be doing my reading for Contracts but my breakfast was just too yummy to not post right away...

I love Quinoa...ever since I discovered it last year, I've made it a staple of my diet.

Normally, I use this high protein grain in savory dishes for dinner. Well, when Melissa of Baking a Sweet Life announced the event, Let it Grain, I started thinking something sweet may be a nice change. I had some nectarines that were getting dangerously ripe, so I sauteed them with some butter, sprinkled with brown sugar and some nutmeg, and served over the quinoa. It is delicious!

Ginny's Nectarine Quinoa

1 cup cooked quinoa (follow directions on the package, I added a tablespoon of butter to give it some more flavor as it cooked)

2 Nectarines, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup almond slices (optional)

1. In a pan, heat the butter over medium to low heat until melted.

2. Add the nectarines and sautee until warmed through.

3. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and the nutmeg, stir and allow the nectarines to bubble and carmelize for a few minutes.

4. Serve over the quinoa

P.S. An extra idea: To add a bit more protein and a little crunch, mix in almonds! I thought about this while at the store but opted to buy a chocolate bar instead of almonds...I can't always be healthy!

My New Home!

2008-08-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

And that is the view from my new apartment! I've officially moved to Chicago!

The past couple days, I've been trying to organize and unpack. It is still a disaster. My kitchen was not quite ready for me so all my kitchen stuff is strewn all over the dining room table. This of course makes it very hard to cook. Last night I made a simple Tomato Caprese Salad and then played with my new camera...
This is the view from my bed. Yep! I'm not kidding...I look out onto Lake Michigan. This will make law school better, right?
This is Elmer my roommate. He shares the dining room with his wife, Bernadette. She was not feeling very photogenic this evening. I also have a neighboring spider, named Charlotte. She refused to sit still for a picture!

I took this shot of one of the buildings next door in the late afternoon light. It reminded me of the Dancing House in Prague, a favorite building of mine. I love the way the lines are refracted by the windows.

P.S. I promise, as soon as my kitchen is ready, I will make some absolutely delicious! So stay tuned!

IRELAND: PART II and a recipe

2008-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

The thing I miss most about traveling and moving happens to be the lack of time and often space to cook. When I returned from Ireland, I couldn't wait to get all floury again and I made Challah. With the some leftovers and the "starting to go stale" challah, I made a really good brie and balsamic onion sandwich that I chowed down as I packed. Now for the rest of Ireland...
Off I went to Galway, a fun, university town on the Western Coast. I spent my days roaming around the town, falling asleep by the river and doing a bit of shopping. I had two fabulous meals...One day for lunch, I stumbled into Anton's Cafe, a cute and artsy cafe. Craving avocado, I decided on the Smoked Bacon, Avocado & Beef Tomato with Red Onion Marmalade sandwich. It was very good. A few days later, I had a lovely dinner at Ard Bia. This cute restaurant sits on the river near the Spanish Arch. It is like walking into the dinning room of your favorite artsy, bohemian and eclectic friend. Nothing traditionally matched but all the tables and decoration created a welcoming and comforting atmosphere. I had to wait for a moment as the servers finished writing down the menu on the blackboard, which was then placed in a chair next to me so I could decide what to order. I chose a seared white fish fillet with lentils and a fresh summer salad. It was a wonderful meal. They even had fennel and pomegranate seeds in the salad...yummy!
During one of my days in Galway, I took a day trip around the Connemera...a beautiful part of Ireland with mountains, hills and ponies. We went to this Franciscan Abbey and the Kylemore Abbey (below). The countryside was gorgeous!
After Galway, I went back to Dublin for a few days. I went shopping, got my haircut and saw a great art exhibit at Chester Beatty Library and Gallery of Oriental Art. I saw this cake in the window of the cafe, Leon, and like every good foodie...I stopped in for a slice. Although the picture is quite blurry, I think it speaks for itself. Yum!
That kind of sums up the highlights of my trip...The best part of my trip though, which I can not show you in pictures, was the many different people I met. I stayed in hostels and every night I would meet a new crew of people from Germany, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland...and the list goes on. Often, we would go sit at the pub together, meet the locals and listen to the music. These people made my trip very fun and interesting. I have many memories and new friends that I will not forget.

Brie and Balsamic Onion Challah Sandwich

2 slices of Challah
Balsamic Caramelized Onions (Jennifer's recipe)
1/2 Vidalia Onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of brie
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1. Peel the Onion and cut in half. Slice the onions into strips.
2. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sautéed the onions moving the onions around with a spatula until they soften and brown.
3. Drizzle the onions with the balsamic vinegar and mix with a spatula.
4. Cover the pan and stir occasionally until the onions have caramelized. Season with salt and pepper. Move to a dish.
5. In the same pan, toast the bread and melt the brie on both sides. Sprinkle with the Italian Seasonings.
6. Top with the onions and eat.

P.S. For more photos from Ireland, check out my flickr.

IRELAND: PART I

2008-08-06T10:45:00.001-07:00

Ah, Doolin! How I miss you...your beautiful rolling green hills, sparkling blue sea and occasional sunshine... I have been back in the states for over a week now and have been running around none stop. I moved out of my current apartment and temporarily into my aunt's house. Next week, I'll be driving my things out to Chicago and into my new apartment. Until then, there is no rest for the weary but rather a long list of odds and ends that need to be taken care of...so in between the craziness, I am going to try to post some...I've even cooked a bit and took some pictures...hopefully, I'll have a few free moments to get them up here...but first a bit about my trip...

When I graduated from college two years ago, I had three non-career related goals...

1. Learn to make a souffle.
2. Learn how to blow glass.
3. Travel to Ireland.

I am happy to announce that I completed all three...one and two will make it into a post one of these days... My trip to Ireland was alot of fun. It was the first time that I had ever traveled alone for that long. Overall, I loved it. I spent my time roaming, reading and relaxing.

After arriving in Dublin, I took a bus over to Doolin, a small town on the Western Coast known for its fabulous music. From there, I took a beautiful but strenuous hike to the Cliffs of Mohr. These photos are from that trek. That night, slightly exhausted, I settled down in the pub with a wonderful Guinness Beef stew served over mashed potatoes with a pint of Guinness. It was an excellent meal and the local music did not disappoint!

After a few days in Doolin, I took the ferry to the Aran Islands. I spent one day biking around Inishmore. There were many old ruins to explore and I saw seals. I did not take too many pictures because the weather was very misty that I did not want to get my camera too wet. I did break it out to capture these roosters...

That about sums up the highlights of the first part of my trip...I don't want to leave you without a recipe. When I returned, J and I made a green chutney inspired by Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children as we had previously done with our Lotus Root Curry disaster. The chutney was a success and did not last long. We ate it with some samosas and a chicken curry. The pictures looked awful but it looks like any green pesto or dip. It was fabuous!!!

Green Chutney
(adapted from One Hot Stove)

2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup roughly chopped onion
2 green chillies
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend with a little water to get a thick chutney.

P.S. For more photos from Ireland, check out my flickr. Warning: I am just learning how to use flickr.

Challah, I'm Back

2008-07-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone! I am back from Ireland. I had an amazing trip but I'm very glad to be back. This morning, I made some Challah. This recipe came from my roommate last year and it is very good.

Ok, quick post...I'm still unpacking...I'll have my Ireland pictures on flickr soon for anyone's enjoyment.

Challah

1/2 c oil

4t salt

1/3 c sugar

1 c boiling water

1/2 c cold water

2 pkg dry yeast

1/3 (scant) c warm water

3 eggs

7 c bread flour

poppy or sesame seeds

pour oil, salt and sugar into large mixing bowl. add one c boiling water and stir. add 1/2 c cold water. in a separate cup, dissolve the yeast in the 1/3 c warm water (with a pinch of sugar added). beat eggs and add to oil and water mixture, reserving two T to brush on loaves. add dissolved yeast and stir. add flour gradually and mix well.

turn out onto floured board and knead until dough doesn't stick. add more flour if necessary. return to bowl and cover with a clean town. let rise one hour.

knead one minute. cut into six pieces. knead each piece with a little flour. roll into strands and braid into two loaves. place loaves on greased pan or baking sheets.

let rise forty-five minutes. brush tops with reserved egg. sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. bake at 375 for 30 min.

Crab Cakes!!!

2008-07-12T04:13:00.000-07:00

This is Mortimer...He is a Blue Crab from the Chesapeake Bay. A couple weeks ago, J and I went crabbing with my uncle, catching Mortimer and many of his friends. We did a fairly good job. The first time I went crabbing with my uncle, I fell asleep on the boat and was not too good at catching the crabs. In my defense, I did have to get up at 4am so it was understandable that I fell asleep. After that though, I normal chose to sleep in and just eat the crabs with my brother and sister caught. Lazy, I know!

This year, however, when J expressed interest in going crabbing and my uncle mentioned it, I thought, "Why not? It would be fun!" This time, I had to get up at 6am, which was not as bad. We spent a beautiful morning on the boat and caught a good amount of crabs. I have definitely improved in catching crabs and found that I really enjoy it. When we got back to the house, my uncle smothered them in Old Bay and steamed them. We picked some for lunch and took some home with us.

A few hours later, J turned to me and said the magic words "Crab Cakes?" We picked the rest of the crab meat and I called my mother for her recipe. My mother's secret is more crab and less filling. They turned out great! J is responsible for the photography. Mortimer was quite photogenic and quite tasty!

Maryland Crab Cakes
(from Ginny's Mom)

1 lb crab meat
2-3 tablespoons of flour, pancake mix or bisquick
4 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Pick over the crab meat carefully to remove any shell or cartilage.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.
3. Heat vegetable oil in the frying pan to about one-half inch depth.
4. Form the cakes and fry for 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

P.S. I am off to Ireland this week! I will see you in two weeks!

My Love Affair with Squash Continues...

2008-07-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned many, many, many times before, I love butternut squash...I also failed to mention that I LOVE SQUASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every variety is absolutely delicious. When I was younger, I would love it when my father would make us spaghetti squash with some olive oil and paremesan. It is amazing!

When I saw Cookthink's Root Source Challenge #21 was to make a dish with Yellow Squash, I felt I was up to the challenge and I knew exactly which recipe I wanted to use. Every month or so, I get together with a good high school friend of mine to cook. We sit around talking, eating lots of Brie and making some good vegetarian dishes. She is one of those really good friends, who I can go months without talking to and yet, when we do talk, we pick up exactly where we left off. She and her husband moved up here last fall and I will definitely miss our cooking adventures when I move next month.

The last time we were together, she showed me a cute little cookbook, Gail Greco's Gardens of Plenty. It had a number of interesting recipes that used herbs in new and interesting ways. The Lemon Yellow Squash Soup with Orzo caught my eye and I scribbled it down. Overall, I liked it but I think next time I would reduce the butter. I used frozen yellow squash because we are moving soon and trying to clean out all the food. I think fresh would have made it much better. Also, I would recommend increasing the lemon juice. There was a hint but not enough. I loved the addition of the mint and now I have plenty leftover to make some good ole' Southern Sweet Tea!

Lemon Yellow Squash Soup with Orzo
(adapted from Gail Greco's Gardens of Plenty)

16 oz frozen yellow squash (1 1/2 lb. yellow squash, sliced)
4 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely minced
salt and fresh cracked white pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup orzo
1/2 cup light cream
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon mint, chopped

1. Melt butter in larger soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until tender but not browned.
3. Add squash. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 min.
4. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender and liquid reduces.
6. Blend in food processor.
7. Return to soup pot and bring to a boil.
8. Add orzo and cook until pasta is tender, about 7-8 min.
9. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine cream, egg and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth.
10. Add the mixture to the soup and whisk over low heat until blended. Do not let the soup come to a boil or the egg yolk will curdle.
11. Stir in the mint.
12. If the soup is too thick, add some more chicken stock.

P.S. Happy July 4th!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful and fun holiday weekend!!!

Mango- Avocado Salsa...

2008-06-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

As much as I do not really want to admit this, my friends and I have been known to compare ourselves to the women from Sex and the City. Although, we really are nothing like them...after a couple glasses of wine, this topic of conversation sometimes comes up. With the recent movie, my roommates and I found ourselves again comparing. They agreed that I am most like Carrie...slightly crazy and outspoken. Well, considering she uses her oven to store shoes, I beg to differ but as I was apartment shopping in Chicago this weekend...I think I may have slightly channeled my inner-Carrie.

In the movie (and yes, if you continue reading, I am going to ruin a scene), Carrie and her boyfriend, Mr. Big, are looking for a place to live...they walk into a beautiful penthouse with the light streaming in and hardwood floors...Carrie is instantly hooked until she sees the really tiny little closet. Mr. Big, of course, says he will build her a better closet...aw! so cute!

Well, in Chicago this weekend, the realtor showed me a number of places that were small, dark and depressing. Then we walked into this absolutely gorgeous studio... my mouth dropped as I looked at the view of Lake Michigan, jumped for joy at the amount of sunlight and then cringed when I saw the tiny little kitchen...I looked around for Mr. Big but, alas, I didn't have one...

I went for it anyway. It is a beautiful apartment and the kitchen will just challenge me to be more creative with cooking. Plus, although I do not need the space, the closet is huge so I may just have to store some of my kitchen ware in there! I think the best part is that the apartment is all mine! For the first time, I will not have roommates!

I know this should be a Daring Baker's post but...the challenge this month was just not in the cards. I barely had time to cook, let alone make the delicious Danish Braid that is popping up all over the place. Instead, I have been keeping things simple with this yummy mango-avocado salsa. This time I paired it with this chicken and some rice. Some simple seared salmon or tilapia also tastes great with it. I also want to enter this in Meeta's Monthy Mingle of Mango Mania over at What's for Lunch Honey.

Ginny's Mango-Avocado Salsa

3 Mangos, diced
1 Red Onion, diced
2 Avocados, diced
3 Tomatoes, diced
2 cups cilantro, chopped
5 limes, juiced

1. Mix it all together and serve. Makes a really large bowl.

P.S. Many thanks to Canary Girl for passing along the I Love You This Much Award! Made my day!
I would like to pass it along to some excellent bloggers...

LyB of And then I do the dishes
Mark of No Special Effects
Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
Deborah of Taste and Tell
Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

An Attempt at Lotus Root Curry...

2008-06-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend, J, and I are major dorks. Yes, I admitted it! When he suggested the idea of reading a book together this summer...I was quite excited! When was the last time you read a book and discussed it with someone? After much deliberation, we finally decided upon Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

Yesterday, J emailed me this passage....

"his wife grew lotus-roots and other curious vegetables on one of the
many 'floating gardens' lilting on the surface of the spring and summer
water" (9)

followed by a few links to recipes...

As a cook, you can imagine my reaction...yep, he's a keeper...so we decided upon a lotus root curry...

The recipe we used was from Chachi's Kitchen for Coconutty Lotus Root Curry. Unfortunately, the store was out of lotus root so we had to resort to frozen lotus root. There were also no kaffir lime leaves or Thai basil. We added some fresh basil that we had in the fridge. I know it really doesn't work but we were trying.

For our first attempt at curry, it wasn't exactly a disaster. J dubbed it "Ginny's Neon Beige Curry" because it glowed hot while still being bland. I would love to have some advice on how to best make curry because I am very interested in learning to cook out of my comfort zone.

Coconutty Lotus Root Curry
(original recipe from Chachi's Kitchen)

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion; sliced into rings
2 tbsp green curry paste (according to taste; available in Asian stores)
400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
400gm lotus root, frozen
3 potatoes; washed and sliced into ½ inch rounds
½ cup basil leaves chopped
1 teaspoon of coriander, ground
1 lime; juiced

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onions until golden brown, add the green curry paste over a fairly high heat for about a minute,
Reduce the heat slightly and add the thick part of the coconut milk from the tin, stir for a few minutes, add the rest of the coconut milk.

2. Add the lotus root and the coconut milk, bring to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes, add the potatoes, cook a further 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce is thickened. Stir in the basil, coriander and lime juice.

Let it stand for 15 minutes, serve with rice.

P.S. Thank you MK for the beautiful platter! I love it!

California dreamin...

2008-06-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

On such a summer day? It is finally summer and I find myself craving avocados alot. Last night as I was roaming the aisles of the grocery store, pondering what to make and searching for inspiration...I kept coming back to this comfort food sandwich that my mother makes quite frequently. The combination of the creamy avocado with the juicy grilled chicken breast is delicious. So I made it last night for dinner and again for lunch today. Problem is...I still want more avocado...

A couple weeks ago, Lore of Culinarty tagged me to write a 6 word memoir. Even as I sit here poised to write it, I am uncertain of what to say....

Exuberant
Critical (mostly of myself)
Thoughtful
Happy
Curious
Lucky

I am not going to tag anyone but if you are interested...consider yourself tagged!

Mom's California Sandwich

1 chicken breast
2 tablespoons of white worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 of an avocado, sliced
1 poppy seed bun
mayo to taste and preference

1. Marinate chicken breast for at least an hour with the worcestershire sauce and rosemary.
2. Grill chicken breast.
3. Toast bun.
4. Spread bun with mayo and place slices of avocado.
5.Top with Chicken Breast and top of bun.
6. Slice and eat!

P.S. As the summer takes off, so does my life. I am finishing my job, going to Ireland on vacation, moving to Chicago and starting law school...all the while trying to find as much time to spend with my friends and family as possible. This will limit my blogging but I will post when I have a chance...just a warning, if I go quiet, it is not for lack of thinking of you all...but life is getting busy. Of course, I will continue to read your posts because really nothing goes better with my morning coffee than a slew of tempting and mouthwatering dishes...

Coconut Macaroons and a Cause!

2008-06-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

More and more lately, I have been struggling to find the time to blog, as my life has gotten quite hectic with graduations, moving plans and vacation ideas. I try not to feel guilty about it but as I watch my google reader fill up with many posts of delicious, scrumptious food, I become sad. I feel neglectful of my duty as a fellow food blogger and friend. I miss reading and commenting on blogs. And this is often only after a few days...

One of the major benefits of starting a food blog has been the people I have "met." In only a few short months, I have developed relationships with my fellow bloggers. I look forward to reading their blogs and am concerned if they have not posted in a while. I want to know what is going on with their lives, both the good and the bad. I feel like I have become part of a community and I really value this experience.

I have been following Bri's Figs with Bri for quite some time now. When I heard that her cancer had returned, I felt this rush of sympathy for a woman, who I have never met and yet have gotten to "know" through her food and posts. As she fights for her life, she is also struggling to pay for the treatments. I remember when my aunt had cancer and as a family, we had fundraisers in order to help her pay for the necessary expenses. The food blogging community has rallied behind Bri and decided to help.

The Click team, together with Jugalbandi have organized a special fundraiser with June's edition of CLICK. With the help of many generous bloggers, a spectacular variety of prizes are being offered as part of the fundraiser.

CLICK is a monthly photography workshop hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri. Yellow is the color of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

If you are at all interested in supporting this campaign to help Bri, please visit here for more details.

Ah, the Macaroons. My family was in town this weekend for a huge family party in honor of my sister, brother and cousin. My sister and cousin have graduated college and next weekend my brother will be graduating from high school. Congratulations to you all!!!! I am very proud of you!!!!

My mother asked me to make something for the party, so I decided to use up all the coconut in the apartment by making a triple batch of macaroons. They turned out great but I do not think I would attempt to triple the recipe again. I managed to make a huge sticky sugary coconut mess. And thank you to my boyfriend for the beautiful flowers!

Coconut Macaroons
(adapted from here)

4 large eggs whites
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. In a heavy saucepan stir together the egg whites, the sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the coconut, and the flour.
2. Stir the mixture until it is combined well.
3. Cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, increase the heat to moderately high, and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes more, or until it is thickened and begins to pull away from the bottom and side of the pan.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, let it cool slightly, and chill it, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until it is just cold.
5. Roll about a tablespoon of the dough into a ball and place 2 inches apart onto buttered baking sheets.
6. Bake the macaroons in batches in the middle of a preheated 300°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are pale golden.
7. Transfer the macaroons to a rack and let them cool.
8. The macaroons keep, chilled and separated by layers of wax paper, in an airtight container for 3 days. (If the macaroons are made in advance, let them stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving).

P.S. I did not followed step 8 as it was written. I placed them on a plate, covered with plastic wrap and left them overnight on the counter. The macaroons still tasted excellent the next day. I wanted to cover them in chocolate but unfortunately did not have the time. Check out the original recipe, if you are interested in chocolate covered macaroons!

Daring Bakers May Challenge: White Chocolate Lavender "Opera" Cake!!!

2008-05-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

When I saw this month's Daring Bakers Challenge, I was very excited! An opera cake! How thrilling! How delicious! How hard!

Chosen by the lovely ladies, Fran, Shea, Lis, and Ivonne, and dedicated to Barbara, these opera cakes had to be light in color and flavor instead of the typical chocolate and coffee. They decided this in order to support Barbara's Taste of Yellow event which advocates the LiveSTRONG foundation. I enjoyed the extra challenge, choosing a white chocolate and lavender opera cake. I did not have a jellyroll pan so I used regular pans. The challenge was fun! Definitely, one of my more labor and time intensive cakes. I was a little frustrated and impatient by the end. I did not let my glaze cool enough before pouring it on top, causing some of the mousse to go sliding off the top of the cake. But I covered my mistake with more glaze once it had cooled some more. The cake tasted great and even better the next day. The lavender was not too overpowering. I was very afraid it would taste like soap!

White Chocolate Lavender "Opera" Cake

Check out the recipe here.

White Chocolate Lavender Mousse

7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup heavy cream infused with 2 tablespoon lavender (adapted from here)
3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)

1. Bring a cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoon lavender to a slight boil over low heat.
2. Remove from heat and allow to seep for 30 minutes.
3. Strain out the lavender and place in the fridge to cool
4. Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.
5.Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.
6.In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
7.Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.
8.If it’s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it’s spreadable.
9.If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

P.S. Check out the rest of the Daring Bakers creations.

The Spoils of Packing...

2008-05-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, as part of my sister's graduation weekend of celebration and fun, we also had the unfortunate but necessary duty to move her out of her apartment. So, all of last Monday, we sorted, boxed, threw out and packed the last four years of her life.

At one point, my sister asked me to go through the pantry and throw out her leftover food. I cringed at the thought but unfortunately, it didn't make sense to ship it all back home. Well, when I opened it up to see boxes and boxes of unopened rice pilaf, couscous and pasta, there was no way that I was going to let it all go to waste. I grabbed an old Victoria Secret shopping bag and went shopping.

She even had a couple cans of Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip icing! I am definitely a baking purist but a Funfetti cupcake with Rainbow Chip icing is my favorite half-birthday treat. This past February, I discovered that you can not find Rainbow Chip icing anywhere around here. But up in Boston, my sister was squandering two whole cans! My roommates were very excited to see me come home with this loot. I somehow miraculously managed to squeeze it all into my suitcase. I also nabbed a pair of her "old" jeans and they look absolutely awesome on me!

This dish, I came up with last night when I was looking over my spoils and what was about to spoil in the fridge. I do not normally buy anything that has a flavor packet because I enjoy making my own. This couscous had real pine nuts in the flavor packet so I thought I would try it. Turned out really well for a quick dinner!

Couscous with Mushroom, Spinach, and Goat Cheese

1 box of Pine Nut of Couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups sliced Mushrooms
2 cups Spinach
1 cup Goat Cheese

1. Prepare the Couscous as directed.
2. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil.
3. Saute the Mushrooms and Spinach. Cover with a lid for about 5 minutes to wilt the spinach.
4. Stir the cooked mushrooms and spinach into the couscous. Crumble the goat cheese into the mixture.

P.S. Next time, I think I would add some sundried tomatoes and more pine nuts to jazz up the couscous a little more.

Taste and Create Part 2: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

2008-05-24T00:40:00.000-07:00

For my second recipe for Taste and Create IV from Veronica's La Recette du Jour, I made Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Although, I never thought I would get caught up in the no-knead bread fad...I have! I love having fresh bread! This makes it possible more frequently. There is also the extra benefit of not angering my roommates by covering the kitchen with flour. No matter how hard I try to clean up...we still find flour in the oddest places!

When I saw this recipe, I was excited because Veronica said it was possible to mix it up, throw it in the fridge and pull out a bit when you want some fresh bread! So, I tried it and I am very happy with the results. I am thinking about throwing in another loaf right now. Veronica gives her readers some excellent advice and tips, especially if you are not cooking in America. I was lucky on this one as the recipe was written in cups and based on the flour I can get here. She recommended using a pizza stone and not worrying about using an oven thermometer. I took both tips and it work well! Delicious!

And now for a tag and award...

Elle of Elle's New England Kitchen tagged me with"Look What I Made." Started by Farida at Farida's Azerbaijani Cookbook, I was asked to make a list of recipes I have made from other blogs. I love this tag because it is great to see what other recipes people have tried.

1. Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Layer Cake from Tartelette
2. Pasta & corn salad with red bell pepper sauce from Kitchen Unplugged
3. Chicken Pot Pie with Cilantro Biscuits from Wandering Chopsticks
4. Chocolate Tribute Cake from Veronica's Test Kitchen
5. Chubble* Bread from To be Mrs. Marv…

My tags....
1. Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
2. Lore of Culinarty
3. Veggie Girl
4. Kristin of The Pearl Onion
5. Nemmie of Cast Sugar

Sylvie of A Pot of Tea and Biscuit bestowed this wonderful award upon me. Thank you so much Sylvie! It made my day!

I struggled to figure out who to award this to, as I read so many worthy blogs, but finally decided upon...

1. Kevin of Closet Cooking
2. Jen of Use Real Butter
3. Marija of Palachinka

You all have excellent blogs and I look forward to reading them everyday!!!

Simple Crusty Bread

Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pan sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

P.S. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Taste and Create Part 1: Rocket Mousselines!

2008-05-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Don't you just hate it when real life gets in way of your blogging? This past week has been very hectic and busy...I have barely had a chance to read a few blogs here and there let alone do something for my own.

Last weekend, my sister graduated from college. I met my family in Boston for a long weekend of eating, drinking, and some more eating. It was a really fun weekend but when I got back late Monday evening, I was exhausted and sick of eating so many large meals. I decided to take a couple more days off. Tonight, I finally found my desire to cook again and just in time for the event Taste and Create IV. This month I was paired with Veronica of La Recette du Jour. My job was to look over this beautiful blog, pick some recipes to try and report back. After much reading and deliberating, I decided upon two...the Rocket Mousselines and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

When I was living in Rome, my friends and I would see Rocket on the menu but, showing our American ignorance, had no idea what it was. Eventually, we ordered some pizza with Rocket and discovered that Rocket is Arugula!

I really liked this recipe because it seemed like a perfect light dinner. I struggled a little bit with converting the gram measurements (I really do need to invest in a scale) but I think it turned out great. Also, I halved the recipe and it made two ramekins. I took Veronica's suggestion pairing it with a salad and drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette. Delicious! Exactly what I was craving!

Check out La Racette du Jour's recipe for Rocket Mousselines

Arugula Mousselines

1 cup arugula leaves
1/2 cup soft cheese such as ricotta or goat's cheese
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 egg
1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
fresh basil (about 6 large leaves)
salt, pepper, nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 320 F.
2. Bring a pan of water to the boil and have ready a bowl of iced water.
3. Throw the rocket into the boiling water, blanch for 30 seconds, drain, and immediately tip into the bowl of iced water.
4. Food process the eggs, cream, and cheese with the seasonings.
5. Squeeze out the rocket, add to the liquidizer with the basil and parmesan, and mix again.
6. Pour the mixture into buttered muffin tins or ramekins and bake for 25-30 minutes until set.
7. Turn out onto plates and serve warm.

P.S. Check out my post on Saturday for Veronica's Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Confessions of a Food Blogger...

2008-05-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend jokingly commented that I've been eating like a five year old lately. So what if I have been making Kraft mac and cheese, ordering pizza and having peanut butter sandwiches? I am an adult and I can do what I want...Ginny whines, stomping her foot.

Yes, I know, I just wrote a post about trying to be more healthy but then I hit a few stressful days and found myself reaching for some quick comfort food. I had no inspiration to cook so I relied on some old favorites.

Before this short diet derailment, I had challenged myself by trying to make dinner without the use of olive oil or butter...yes, maybe, I should get a life but culinary games are so much fun. Recently, I made Allen of Eating Out Loud's Citrus Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables served with seared scallops and some roasted salmon. It was absolutely fabulous! I highly recommend making it! This left me with some leftover red onion and asparagus. I decided to caramelize them with some balsamic and put it over my latest favorite find, Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend with Israeli Style Couscous, Orzo, Baby Garbanzo Beans, and Red Quinoa. I am sending this over to Ruth's Presto Pasta Night. Check it out for more great pasta ideas!

And please do not stop reading my blog because I eat Kraft mac and cheese occasionally. With the Spiderman shapes, how can you resist? We all have our secret anti-foodie pleasure. Actually, what is yours?

Balsamic Asparagus and Red Onion Pasta

1/2 bunch Asparagus (chopped into small 1 in pieces)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 pound of pasta

1. Spray frying pan with Pam and throw in the crushed red pepper.
2. Saute asparagus and red onion in the frying pan.
3. Mix in balsamic vinegar and cover with a lid to steam the vegetables. When they are tender and carmalized, remove from heat and mix with pasta.

P.S. I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella over it because I wanted something a little gooey. I wish I had some goat cheese instead as it would have added a good flavor to it. Michelle over at Tarheel Table just made a Pasta with grilled chicken and vegetables with a goat cheese sauce that would be great with something like this.

Free and "Healthy" Chocolate? I'll take it!

2008-05-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

When I stumbled across Blake's of Blake Makes group of taste testing food bloggers, the Sooper Heroes, I couldn't wait to join. If a food company wanted to send me some free food to taste and test, I would gladly give it a shot. I love trying anything new and different. Last week as I was walking out of my apartment, I stumbled across the cutest little box of CHOCOLATE!!!! My first give-a-way had come!!! Amano Artisan Chocolate had sent me three bars of high quality delicious chocolate. For this chocolate lover, I was hooked...

But then, I stared at the bars, Ocumare, Madagascar, and Cuyagua. They just stared back at me, threatening me to destroy my healthy pledge and devour them in all one sitting. I could not decide how to go about this...should I research how to preform an official taste test and get my roommates involved? But wait one does not like dark chocolate and the other went home for the weekend... Ok, should I bake something with them? I had been looking at an amazing brioche recipe that besides the three sticks of butter would not be that bad...oh, yes, healthy! But then, as I find happens often in blogging world, I stumbled across the perfect post...the fabulous Mandy from Fresh from the Oven wrote and beautifully photographed about her Almond and Dark Chocolate Granola...I knew what I would make!

Lately, I have been making a huge effort to become healthier. I started working out more regularly and modified my diet a little bit. I've managed to lose some weight, feeling overall healthier and happier. My diet, however, could still use some work. Although, I tend to eat with moderation, I have my days of gluttony. Thankfully, dark chocolate is supposed to be very healthy and thus a perfect addition to a granola. Honestly, I just googled "dark chocolate"...try it! The first four website are links to article proclaiming the health benefits of dark chocolate. I mean, if the internet says it, it must be true!

Of course, my final problem was which of the bars to use or maybe a mixture of the three. So, I took a piece of each and determined which I liked the best. I found Cayagua to be very mild and smooth dark chocolate. The Madagscar was the strongest and fruitiest. The Ocumare was strong but not too powerful and definitely my favorite. The chocolate really is delicious! I chopped up the Cayagua for the granola since I did not want something too overpowering for my next couple breakfasts. I really like it! Thank you Mandy for the idea, Amano for the chocolate and Blake for the creating the Sooper Heroes!

Almond and Dark Chocolate Granola
(adapted from Mandy of Fresh from the Oven and inspired by this recipe)

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tbsp mild honey
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 block of 3.5oz 70% chocolate or more, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a food processor, coffee grinder or blender, grind half the oats to a fine powder.

In a large bowl, combine the grinded oats, oats, almonds, brown sugar, and salt. Stir well to blend.

Zap the honey, maple syrup and oil over in the microwave for 15 seconds –until the honey is loose, this should not take long, about 15 seconds. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine well.

Spread the mixture evenly on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Stirring the granola half way through for even baking. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.

When cool, transfer the granola to a large bowl, storage jar, or zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chocolate, and stir (or shake, if using a jar or bag) to mix.

Makes about 5 cups.

P.S. Check out Mandy's blog Fresh from the Oven. She is a wonderful baker and a fantastic photographer!

Yodeling for Swiss Chard by My Mom

2008-05-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

My introduction to Swiss chard was during a Sunday dinner at my future in-laws' home when I was about 16. There was the homemade sauce and pasta, meatballs, a roast, and a bowl of cooked, green, leafy vegetables that looked sort of like spinach. I asked what it was and my future father-in-law said, "It's Swiss chard. Eat some and it will clear up your face". I don't even remember if I tasted it at that time. But years later when I was married, my husband and I bought our first house and we planted a vegetable garden that included Swiss chard.

What is Swiss about Swiss chard? We lived in Switzerland for several years and I don't recall seeing any there. I've done some research to find that Swiss chard is so named because the Swiss botanist, Koch, determined the scientific name of the plant in the 19th century and the name honors his homeland. Swiss chard originates in the Mediterranean area specifically Sicily. If you check out Italian cookbooks, there are always recipes that use Swiss chard. My copy of the first Marcella Hazan has three different recipes, one for a tortellini filling, one for the stalks with parmesan, and the other for a cold salad of the cooked leaves.

According to the World's Healthiest Foods website, Swiss chard is the "valedictorian" of vegetables because it is so low in calories and rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc, although there was no mention that it cleared up acne! It's been around for a long time and was used medicinally by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Botanically, Swiss chard is a member of the beet and spinach family and is very easy to grow. It is hardy to about 20 degrees F so you can sow the seed in the fall for an early spring crop. To harvest, pick the outer leaves of the plant and it will keep on producing throughout the growing season. I like the small leaves because they are tender. When the leaves get bigger then the stalk gets tougher much like celery. In that case, you can boil the stalks for about 10 minutes and then add the leaves. The Swiss chard available in the stores is often organically grown in California and has red, orange, or yellow stalks and veins and is called "Rainbow Chard".

All this brings me to my entry for the "Dollar Dish Duel". Some years ago on a cold, February Lenten Friday, I was trying to think of a meatless dinner. Before going to the grocery store, I took a walk around the yard and there in the vegetable garden was some beautiful Swiss chard, the first of the year. I picked a bowlful and cleaned it and then the following recipe was born.

-Ginny's Mom

CECI 'N CHARD

3 tablespoonfuls olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 can ceci (pronounced "chaychee", AKA chickpeas, garbanzo beans)
1 bunch of Swiss chard
1 cup vegetable broth (use a bouillon cube dissolved in a cup of boiling water)
1 lb of spaghetti
grated cheese either romano or parmesan

Warm the oil in a large skillet. Mince the garlic and cook in the oil. Drain the ceci well and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes stirring often. Wash the Swiss chard thoroughly . Discard the stalks if overly large and tough. Chop into large pieces and add to the pan. Saute for a few minutes. Pour the vegetable broth into the pan, bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cover.

Cook the spaghetti and drain. Arrange the pasta on a platter. Pour the ceci and chard mixture over the pasta. Serve with grated cheese.

Cost of the dish:
The spaghetti was 0.88, the Swiss chard was 2.99, the can of ceci was 0.60 for a total of $4.47. The pantry staples were the bouillon cube, the olive oil and the garlic. That leaves only 0.53 for grated cheese. However, this dish will serve 4 to 6 persons and if you grow the chard in the garden then it's really cheap!!

BUON APPETITO!

P.S. Ginny here...time for The Dollar Dish Duel WINNER!!!!! My judges had a very difficult decision, as all the dollar dishes were excellent, but I think they were all up to the challenge. Just to let everyone know, I did not tell them anything about the entries until the round-up went up on Tuesday, in hopes of keeping them impartial. They read every blog entry and made their decision. The winner of the first Dollar Dish Duel is Kristin of the Pearl Onion for her Soft Boiled Egg Prosciutto with Rustic Toast. She will receive The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. Thank you again for participating!!! Also, thank you to my mother for the wonderful post!!! and my father for the delicious photo! Happy early Mother's Day!!!!

The Dollar Dish Duel Round-Up!!!

2008-05-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

The day you have all been waiting for has come...THE DOLLAR DISH DUEL ROUND UP!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I have mentioned, the inspiration for this duel originally came from an article in the New York Times entitled "5 Cooks, $40, 5 Dishes, 3 Desserts." However, as gas and food prices continue to rise, this event seemed to be nicely timed. It forced me to start thinking about how to cut costs but still make an excellent meal. An important skill to have! I found myself roaming around the grocery store and trying to figure out more ways to cut costs. I don't know about the rest of you but I loved this challenge! Due to the positive response and relevance to everyday life, I plan to do it again, especially once I go back to being a starving student this fall...

Without further ado...I am very proud to introduce eight delicious dishes for our duel!!! Thank you all for participating and for everyone's support through my first event. The contestants had to make a dish to feed at least two people for under $5. They could also use three staples from their pantry. My judges, roommates and boyfriend, shall deliberate shortly and decide upon who wins the The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. Then, on Friday, I will announce the winner along with a guest post from my mother. You hear that mom? Are you writing?

So, let the games begin!

Serving us Soft Boiled Egg Prosciutto with Rustic Toast for $3.66, Kristin of the Pearl Onion from New York, NY gives us some great tips for Soft Boiling Eggs. A technique I really need to try!

LyB of And then I do the dishes from Lévis, Québec, Canada makes a delicious Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
for lunch. A sun-dried tomatoes meal for under $5? A fabulous idea!

All the way from Manila, Philippines, Heart of Heart and Hearth brings us Stuffed Tilapia for the low price of $1.12! Stuffed with onions, tomatoes and garlic, this is a great quick and nutritious meal!

Rachel of Wheat-Free, Meat Free from upstate New York entered Spanish Rice in Crockpot. A delicious, easy and cheap meal! What could be better?

Brandi of Rantings of a Dixie Pixie in Yankee Land from a small town western in NY bring us Mama's Texas Goulash for $4.97. A very comforting meal that also comforts your wallet!

Creating a Pasta Frittata for the low price of $2.27, Terry of Blue Kitchen in Chicago, IL proves you can make an under $5 meal worthy of company. When can I come to dinner?

Ivy of Kopiaste, to Greek Hospitality from Greece gives us Patates Antinahtes a delicious and simple Cypriot recipe that means "Tossed Potatoes." Pair it with a salad and you have a great and inexpensive dinner!

Smita from Smita Serves You Right in Rochester, NY made Chocolate Orange Raisin Cakes in the Microwave! Make an inexpensive version with some orange juice or want to splurge? Use some Grand Mariner or rum!

P.S. If anyone accidentally fell through the cracks and I did not include you please email me. I'll add you to the round-up post-haste! Thank you all again for participating! It was so much fun and I loved hosting it!

My Second Dollar Dish: Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

2008-05-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

My dad always makes the Fettucini Alfredo in our family. Once, I walked into the kitchen to discover my mother making Fettucini Alfredo for dinner. It puzzled me. How did she know what to do? It was Dad's recipe. I asked her about it and she looked at me like I was crazy. But in my young mind, only Dad could make Fettucini Alfredo.

In my family, we can all cook. Even my sister, who has now made her fame through Ramen, bakes amazing orgasmic Pots du Chocolate. Due to work, my father rarely has time to cook but he has invented some delicious dishes such as his famous ham-cucumber stuffed pork chops. Today, as I was craving his creamy alfredo sauce, I began to think about how my father has influenced my culinary development. He has always encouraged me to do what I love, be creative and push myself to do well. These values have spilled into my kitchen and impacted my own cooking. In my dad's honor, I decided to tweak his original alfredo recipe by making a Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo.

I, also, really wanted to post another Dollar Dish since tomorrow is the deadline. I had bought ingredients to make stuffed red peppers for under $5 but I could not get excited for the dish. Instead, I found myself craving this alfredo sauce. So, I hope you will forgive me but this sauce was not exactly under $5 but it is possible. When I first created my Dollar Dish Duel, I went to the dollar store to check out what kind of food one could find for a dollar. I stumbled across a huge jar of roasted red peppers but I did not have any cash on me and paying a dollar with a credit card seemed silly. So when I had this idea for the alfredo today, my options were to either waste gas to go back to the dollar store or use the red pepper that I bought last week. I opted for roasting my own pepper. If you factor in the dollar jar of roasted red peppers with the whipping cream ($1.25), 1 cup of Parmesan (about $1), and pasta ($1), the dish comes to about $4.25. The dinner was great and there are leftovers for me to take for lunch tomorrow! There is still time to enter the duel...email me your submissions by tomorrow (May 5th). For details, click on the logo...

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

1 roasted Red Pepper, chopped
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 box of pasta

Staples:
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Prepare pasta according to directions.
2. Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted.
3. Saute garlic and red pepper in butter.
4. Add pasta to the saucepan.
5. Stir in whip cream and paremsan.
6. Cook until thickened and season with nutmeg.

P.S. How to roast a pepper? Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Please the pepper on a baking sheet and roast until the top begins to blacken. Rotate the pepper until all the sides are blackened. Remove from oven and place in a brown paper bag to cool. This helps the skin come off easily.

My First Dollar Dish and a Guest Blogger

2008-05-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my sister took her last exam! In a few short weeks, she will graduating from college. In the fall, she will begin law school at Carolina! I am very proud of her and all her accomplishments! GO RESA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of her finishing her collegiate career, I wanted to share with you her entry into my Dollar Dish Duel...

Like my sister, when I first came up with the Dollar Dish Duel, I immediately thought of Ramen. The go to of college students all around because it is very inexpensive and filling...So, I decided to jazz up Ramen. But how?

Ginger came to mind as a flavorful and inexpensive spice. I bought a piece of fresh ginger root that was about two inches long for three cents!!! For a protein, I decided upon tofu ($1.79) and grabbed a cheap bunch of green onions ($.69) for some added flavor. I ended up going with Rice Noodles ($1.98) in lieu of Ramen just because they looked interesting. This all came to $4.40. From my pantry, I took leftover soy sauce packets, honey and some vegetable oil. Overall, I was satisfied with my creation. The flavors worked really well. The ginger was strong enough to flavor the tofu but not too overpowering. Next time I would use extra firm tofu because my tofu crumbled easily. I would also make the oil hotter and fry the tofu. So there is my first dollar dish! Stay tuned...more to come!

It is not to late to enter my Dollar Dish Duel. Deadline is May 5th! Round-up on May 7th! Click on the Logo for more details!

Ginger-Green Onion Tofu Noodles

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Ginger, minced
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
2 packets Thai Rice Noodles
1 12 oz. package Firm Tofu

3 staples:
1 tablespoon Honey
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce from packets leftover from takeout
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1. Slice the tofu into one inch cubes.
2. Mix tofu with soy sauce, ginger and honey. Let sit for 30 minutes.
3. In a fry pan, heat oil over medium heat and sautee the green onions.
4. Add tofu mixture and cook until browned.
5. Make Rice Noodles, discarding seasoning packets, according to instructions.
6. Drain water from noodles.
7. Mix with tofu mixture and enjoy!

P.S. How to easily remove the skin from the ginger? Take a spoon and scrape off the skin. Comes off very easily so you can grate or chop the ginger.

PROBLEM: No creative title

2008-04-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I wonder where I left my brain...how can I forget all I know about cooking and blogging all in one evening? Come on, Ginny, you are so much better than this...but I am still going to share...

Yesterday was a crazy hectic day at work and during my lunch 15 minutes, I tried to decide what to make for dinner. You know, the normal...devouring my black bean salad while browsing through tastespotting and searching for some inspiration. Given the rainy weather, all I could think of was soup...yummy butternut squash soup! A couple months ago I tried Jen of Use Real Butter's Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. It was simple, easy, and delicious. I ate it for days and never got tired of it. So after work, I went to the store to get the ingredients.

PROBLEM #1: Butternut Squash is out of season.

Oh, maybe that is why I cannot find any butternut squash anywhere. Well, my mom always talks about frozen butternut squash and that would work, right?

PROBLEM #2: I forgot the shallots.

No problem, I'll add more onion.

PROBLEM #3: The soup tasted very bland.

Well, I have a ton of leftover thyme that may make it more interesting.

PROBLEM #4: Butternut squash does not photograph well!

Who cares, I'm hungry!

Verdict: My roommates liked it but, always very critical of my own work, I think I can do better. The good part is it was very fast to make since butternut squash takes so long to roast and this cuts out that step. Jen's recipe is excellent so please check it out and her wonderful blog!

Thyme Butternut Squash Soup
(adapted from Jen of Use Real Butter)

2 12 oz frozen butternut squash purée
1 green apples, peeled, cored, diced
1 red onion, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 qts chicken broth
salt
pepper
2 oz. butter

1. Defrost butternut squash purée in a saucepan over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
2. Boil onions and apples in broth and simmer for 30 minutes or until soft.
3. Strain the apples and onions from the broth and reserve the liquid.
4. Purée the solids.
5. Add both purées to the broth and mix well.
6. Mix in thyme.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add the butter and heat the soup until it just begins to simmer. Serve hot.

P.S. Other butternut squash soup recipes I want to try:

Butternut Squash with Chestnuts and Chillies from Kevin of Closet Cooking
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger and Spices from Warda of 64th sq ft kitchen
Ginger-Orange Butternut Squash Soup from Karen of Family Style Food
Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk from Myriam of Once Upon a Tart

My First Daring Baker's Challenge

2008-04-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever played Candy Land? The wonderful board game where you navigate through the land of candy...running from Lord Licorice, hanging out with Princess Lolly in the Lollipop forest and ultimately saving the King in the castle! As you can imagine, I loved this game as a child. It is a simple straightforward game made so much more interesting by a Candy Cane Forest and Gum Drop Mountain. I could never decide who I wanted to be, eitherPrincess Lolly or Queen Frostine. They were both so beautiful and lived in such delicious places.

Ok, I know that you are wondering why I am reminiscing about some board game I played last night...er...um...15 years ago...Well, my first Daring Bakers challenge, Cheesecake Pops, as chosen by Deborah and Elle, would fit in perfectly in Candy Land. They could live right next to the Lollipop Forest with their bright colorful sprinkles, chocolate coating and yummy cheesecake center.

I am very excited to be joining the Daring Bakers. Every month the members are secretly given a recipe to follow to the letter and then blog about it on the designated day. This was a fun challenge and I brought my pops into work for a baby shower. Everyone loved them! I followed the recipe as it was written and used the microwave method to coat them in chocolate.

Cheesecake Pops
(adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor)

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

P.S. Check out the other Daring Bakers' Creations...

Dollar Dish Duel Update and some Olive-Thyme Bread!!

2008-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

First, an update regarding my Dollar Dish Duel. We have a logo thanks to my boyfriend. I was always joking that I needed to date a man who could help me with my blog. Well, the blogging gods answered my prayers with this one. We spent a very romantic evening designing a little logo for my event. So, if you would like, please put the logo on your entry to help publicize the event. Thank you!

You are entering, right? Why wouldn't you? You have a chance winning this awesome cookbook...

Ok, enough about the Duel. Let's talk about this delicious bread that I have already dangled in front of you. Lately, I have been in what I like to call my European mood. I start craving warm fresh breads, rich soft cheeses, large crisp salads and some really good red wine. Maybe it is the beautiful spring weather that puts me into this mood. I just want to sit on my balcony basking in the sunshine with my meal or maybe not...

Monday it rained a lot! As I was trudging home from the metro, the water seeping into my ballerina flats and splashing up my legs, I fixated on the thought of warm fresh bread smothered in brie. In fact, I knew exactly which recipe I wanted to use. Vegeyum from A Life (time) of Cooking recently made a no-knead bread that would be ready in a little over an hour. Walking into my apartment, feeling like a drowned rat, I went quickly to the kitchen and put it all together. I had some olives and thyme left over from the Fig and Walnut Tapanede I made last week so that also went in. While the bread was rising, I ran to the store to grab the brie and salad fixin's. I forewent the glass of wine this time knowing that I would be driving over to my boyfriend's later for our Logo Designing Date. When I got back from the store, the bread was all ready to go. I threw it in the oven and fifteen minutes later, I had to use a great deal of self control not to burn my mouth. Thankfully, I have found that by the time you take some photos, your food is normal cool enough to eat. My roommates and I devoured it with the brie. A fabulous dinner! And yes, I even has some salad to feel semi-healthy, I swear!

Olive and Thyme Focaccia
(adapted from vegeyum's My Deliciously Fast No Knead Focaccia)

3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups approx of tepid water
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoon) rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
salt

1. Mix the sugar, 1/2 cup lukewarm water and the yeast with 1 Tablespoon of the flour, making a sponge, and let sit in a warm place for 15 minutes.
2. Mix the flour, yeast sponge, olives, thyme and enough of the remaining water to make a sticky dough.
3. Add additional water if you need it. The dough should be a little wetter than you would normally make dough.
4. Leave the dough to rise for 1 - 1.5 hours.
5. Place the risen dough on a bench and divide into two. Shape each on a tray with well oiled fingertips.
6. Bake in the oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit around 10 - 15 minutes, or until cooked and lightly browned.
7. Eat while still warm.

P.S. Go to vegeyum's post for more variations and tips. Her blog combines delicious food, exceptional photographs and cultural insights that I enjoy reading everyday. I would highly recommend checking it out.

An Ode to Joy! Part II

2008-04-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

I have become the unofficial birthday cake baker at work. When everyone started finding out that I was going to law school, I believe they were more concerned about missing my cakes than me. I enjoy baking the cakes. I love being able to try new recipes and coming up with something to wow the birthday recipient.

This past weekend we threw my co-worker a party and I volunteered to bring the cake. He really likes chocolate cake so that was my only guideline. Now, I will admit that when I know there is going to be a keg at the party, I will go buy a cake mix, make some homemade icing, come up with a fun decoration and call it a night. Why should I slave over a cake when everyones' taste buds will be dull from beer? On Saturday, I woke up itching to bake but too lazy to go to the store. So I took inventory of what we had and did some research on chocolate cake recipes. I stumbled across this recipe Nana Edie's Devil's Food Cake that looked amazing. I had everything needed except for the semi-sweet chocolate. I just had unsweetened. Well, I broke out my trusty friend the Joy of Cooking and figured out a conversion. Unsweetened chocolate + sugar = semi-sweet chocolate! It turned out great!!! In talking with a friend, he recommend filling it with strawberries so I filled it with strawberry jam and iced it with my mom's chocolate frosting. It was quite delicious!

Devil's Food Cake with Strawberry Filling
(adapted from Nana Edie's Devil's Food Cake)

1/2 cup milk (not nonfat)
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups + 7 teaspoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter 2 (8- by 2-inch) round cake pans and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
3. Stir together milk and vinegar and set aside to “sour” (mixture will curdle).
4. Melt chocolate and butter with water in a saucepan over low heat, whisking until smooth. Cool slightly.
5. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. Beat sugar into chocolate mixture with an electric mixer.
7. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla.
8. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined.
9. Add soured milk and beat on high speed 2 minutes.
10. Divide batter evenly between cake pans.
11. Bake in middle of oven until tops of layers spring back when touched lightly and edges have just started to pull away from sides of pans, about 35 minutes.
12. Cool layers in pans on racks 5 minutes.
13. Run a thin knife around edges of pans, then invert layers onto racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting
6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 box confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

1. Cream the butter and cocoa together.
2. Mix in vanilla.
3. Slowly add confectioner sugar and milk until it creates a frosting. Add the milk slowly because sometimes you do not need the whole amount.

Assemble cake:

1. Warm the jam in the microwave for about 30 seconds to make it spreadable.
2. Pour over the first layer and spread.
3. Place second layer on top of the first layer.
4. Spread the chocolate frosting on the top and down the sides.
5. Decorate as you please.

P.S. Do not forget to enter my Dollar Dish Duel!!!! More details here.

An Ode to Joy!

2008-04-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Growing up, our kitchen held two main reference cookbooks: the Betty Crocker Cookbook and the Joy of Cooking. My mother's Betty Crocker is falling apart. The cover is completely ripped off but it still precariously rests on top of the tattered and food stained pages struggling to keep the book together. My mother has inserted many other recipes through the years among the pages. I love this book because it represents the history of my mother's cooking. One year for Christmas, my mother gave me a copy in order to begin my own cookbook collection. It is an excellent cookbook for a budding chef. It has good recipes, great tips and beautiful pictures!!!

On the other hand, I never liked the Joy of Cooking when I was younger. It was long, boring and had no pictures! Often, I would ask my mother a cooking question and she would point me in the direction of the Joy of Cooking. I would scowl looking at the distasteful book. I just never understood the point of having a cookbook without pictures. But the Joy of Cooking almost always had the answer to my cooking questions. Slowly, this book grew on me until it has become my favorite cookbook. If you have never picked it up, I highly recommend it. It is written in a way that really helps you learn how to cook. The recipes show you how the ingredients fit together to create the dish and thus, at least for me, help me go off the recipe fairly easily. My quiches are often like this. I make up a new one every time depending on what we have in the fridge. With the Joy of Cooking by my side, I often pull off a very inventive and delicious dish. Tonight, I created a Goat Cheese-Balsamic Caramelized Onions- Artichoke Hearts Quiche. It turned out really well and both of my roommates gave their stamp of approval.

Goat Cheese-Balsamic Caramelized Onions-Artichoke Hearts Quiche
(adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

1 prepared crust (I often cheat on weekdays and buy a store bought crust...saves me time!)
1 6 oz. log of goat cheese
1 7 oz. (or close to it) marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
Balsamic Caramelized Onions (see my previous post)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Crumble the goat cheese on the bottom of the crust.
3. Whisk the eggs, milk and whipped cream together until well mixed.
4. Stir in onions and artichoke hearts.
5. Mix in salt and pepper.
6. Pour in prepared crust.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

P.S. Do not forget to enter my Dollar Dish Duel!!!! More details here.

A Dollar Dish Duel!!!

2008-04-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my motto of this blog, I decided to just go for it and start an event...So, I am announcing my DOLLAR DISH DUEL!!!!

As previously mentioned, inspired by an article in the New York Times entitled "5 Cooks, $40, 5 Dishes, 3 Desserts," I want to challenge everyone to make a dish for $5 that must feed at least 2 people. So hit up a dollar store or be creative with what you can find at your local grocery store. Don't live in the US? Convert to your currency here. In your post, please let us know the prices of your ingredients.

One exception: You may use 3 staples from your pantry (salt/pepper/oil or something like that).

Please email the entry to ginnygetsfloury AT gmail DOT com with "Dollar Dish Duel" in the subject line. Include the following information:

* Your name and location
* The name of your blog
* Your blog URL
* The URL for your post
* If you are not a blogger, please partcipate! Just email me the recipe, a description of how you came up with the dish and a picture if possible. (Mom, I think you should join in the fun!)

Deadline: May 5, 2008 (round-up soon afterwards)

UPDATE: The winner will receive The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider after my judges make their decision.

Ok, I refuse to never have a post without some food. I made this Fig and Walnut Tapenade with Goat Cheese last night for a dinner party. It was easy to make and a huge hit with my friends!

Fig and Walnut Tapenade with Goat Cheese
(adapted from epicurious.com)

1 cup chopped stemmed dried Calimyrna figs
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

2 5.5-ounce logs soft fresh goat cheese, each cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
Assorted breads and/or crackers

1. Combine chopped figs and 1/3 cup water in heavy medium saucepan.
2. Cook over medium-high heat until liquid evaporates and figs are soft, about 7 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl.
3. In a food processor, chop figs olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, capers, walnuts and chopped thyme.
4. Season tapenade to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
5. Arrange overlapping cheese rounds in circle in center of medium platter. Serve with breads and/or crackers.

P.S. Please spread the word on my event. A cute logo will hopefully follow soon!

That's a spicy..

2008-04-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

No, there are no meatballs in this post just a spicy pasta sauce. I used to hate spicy food...I would avoid it as much as possible. But as I've gotten older, I have begun to let go of my childhood food prejudices...I make lemon cake, eat cheesecake, love peanut butter and explore spicy recipes. One of my favorite new things is to add some crushed red pepper to the olive oil when sautéing pretty much everything (unless I am cooking for my roommates because they are still not into the spicy). It adds such a great kick to a dish.

This pasta sauce was created tonight by throwing things from the pantry together, as I am trying my best to stay within my food budget. Recently, there was an article in the New York Times entitled "5 Cooks, $40, 5 Dishes, 3 Desserts" in which the famous Chef Eric Ripert and his crew of chefs were asked to make a meal with a limited budget and items from a dollar store. I would be very interested to see what yall think about what they made. I was not blown away with their ideas although the nougat intrigued me. Many of us often find ourselves limited by a budget and I think we could come up with some great ideas to rival Chef Ripet. I have been playing with the idea of turning this into a blogging event, even though I am such an infant blogger, because I think it would be fun to challenge oneself in this way. I have been trying to think of the parameters so any advice would be welcome.

I'm sending this Spicy Quick Pasta Sauce over to Ruth's Presto Pasta Night. Check it out for some great new ideas!.

Ginny's Spicy Quick Pasta Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a frying pan.
2. Cooking red pepper until sizzling.
3. Sauté onion and garlic until onions are translucent. If garlic starts to burn, turn down the heat.
4. Add the tomatoes and Italian seasoning.
5. Cook for about 10 minutes until liquid has evaporated.

P.S. Want to jazz up the sauce? You may notice many of my meals have no meat. When you cook for yourself, it is often easier to go the vegetarian route. Some chicken or shrimp would go very well with this recipe so feel free to add to it. Also, add other vegetables if you would like...mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant...just sauté them with the onions. Yummy quick sauce!

Mom, what do I need to make...

2008-04-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

My mother hears this phrase and other similar ones fairly frequently. Often, I find myself at the grocery store, trying to figure out what to make and unable to remember something essential...so, I call my mom.

My mother taught me to cook. Ever since I was a young girl, I have been at my mother's elbow watching her cook and helping her. As I became more confident in my cooking, I would pore over her cookbooks, give her a grocery list and make dinner for my family with her guidance. I owe the majority of my knowledge and skills to her teaching and example. I find myself still turning to her for advice and help.

The most recent question I had for my mother was regarding our family's hot fudge sauce. I had a huge craving for it but I could not remember for the life of me as to whether it was condensed milk or evaporated milk...so, I called my mom! It is a very simple recipe and delicious over ice cream. We used to make it on Friday nights for a quick chocolate fix! I took the photos a few weeks ago and my mother keeps asking why I have not blogged about it yet, so here it is Mom. Thanks for the advice!

Hot Fudge
(adapted from Marvelous Mocha Pie)

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Bring chocolate, sugar and butter to a boil over medium high heat.
2. Gradually add evaporated milk and cook until thickened.
3. Cool and add vanilla.

P.S. Nothing this time. Short post, tired Ginny!

You know you are obsessed with blogging when...

2008-04-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

...your roommate's boyfriend brings her flowers and your initial thought is "Yes! Something to take pictures with!"

In my last post, I raved about the Hazelnut Strawberry Cake. Well, you may have not noticed the amount of egg whites...by the time you have that cake and are dying with pleasure, you also have 15 eggs yolks! I hate to waste anything so I've been trying my best to figure out how to make something, anything with the yolks so I:

a. do not feel bad about throwing them out; and
b. do not feel guilty about eating them.

The other night I made a delicious spinach-caramelized onions-goat cheese quiche (sorry, no pictures- long day and too hungry!), which thankfully used a few yolks but I still had a little jar with 12 more...what to do...I also had some sage, ricotta, parmesean...so I decided to make ricotta gnocchi. I love making gnocchi with leftover mashed potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato or pumpkin. So I gave it a shot with a simple sage brown butter (my simple and delicious go to sauce). They were really light and quite good. I incorporated the lilies with my pictures, as they are very beautiful and beckon in spring.

I am going to enter this into Project Foodie's Leftover Tuesday #13. I know, I am a bit early but I was always one of those kids who liked to turn in her homework early! :)

Ricotta Gnocchi with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce
(adapted from epicurious)

1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (and some more for sprinkling over the pasta)
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup flour
extra flour for dusting

1. Mix the first six ingredients together.
2. Slowly incorporate the flour
3. Shape dough on a well-floured surface with lightly floured hands into 2 (1-inch-thick) ropes.
4. Cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces with a lightly floured knife.
5. Using a fork, roll the pieces against the fork to create groves. See P.S.
6. Cook gnocchi in 2 batches in a pasta pot of boiling salted water, adding a few at a time to pot and stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. They will begin to float when they are cooked and you can take them out. I will run one under cold water and taste it to make sure it is cooked through.
7. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain in colander.
8. Meanwhile, melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes, and drop in the sage until crispy.
9. Toss gnocchi with brown butter in skillet and sprinkle with cheese.

P.S. How do you properly roll out gnocchi? Check out this for pictures and more instructions.

I have a crush...

2008-03-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

P “Did you see…”

G “…Tartelette’s Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie!”

P “What’d ya think?”

G “Well, you know me, I don’t like fruit desserts that much. I’d rather make the chocolate coffee tartelettes.”

P “mmm…I think I’m going to have to try them.”

P and G (in unison) “I love Tartelette!”

It may be slightly apparent from this small snippet of a probable but fictional (and slightly overdramatized) conversation with my co-worker that we have a bit of a crush on Tartelette. It was the first blog, I started reading regularly and began my path into the foodie blog world. I love the way she presents her delicious and inventive desserts through interesting witty prose and beautiful photography. I soon became hooked on the Daring Bakers, branched out into many other blogs and then ultimately started my own. Thank you Tartelette for your inspiration! and for my new cookbook!

A few weeks ago, I had the luck and honor to win The Sweet Melissa Baking Book from Tartelette’s random drawing. This book is excellent. I have flipped through it a number of times. In fact, it was on my night stand for a little while so I could read it before bed and hope for some sweet dreams... Each time, I discover something new that I am dying to make. Recently, work has been a little rough and everyone is very stressed. So, I decided that a cake would cure everything or at least give everyone a wonderful sugar rush. After some debate, I settled on the Hazelnut Raspberry Layer Cake because I was intrigued by the Hazelnut cake layers. It is true, I always gravitate towards chocolate desserts. If I order a dessert at a restaurant, which is rare because I normally walk away feeling like I could do better, it tends to be chocolate. Lately I have been trying to grow as a cook and a person by branching out of my chocolate comfort zone. I've even made a few lemon cakes and loved them...trust me I did not like lemon before at all. I thought a hazelnut cake with fruit would be a wonderful new thing to try. When I saw the gorgeous, fresh, and less expensive strawberries, I decided to substitute them for the raspberries.

The cake is phenomenal. The layers were light and fluffy. The buttercream to die for. Cake decoration is not my strong point...I tend to cover all mistakes with more icing. This cake is very forgiving as the buttercream covers all problems and looks great in the process. I am going to enter this into Mike's Strawberry Seduction event because doesn't it just tempt you..mmm...maybe its time to break into the extra buttercream!

Hazelnut Strawberry Layer Cake
(adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book)

Cake
1 2/3 cups hazelnuts, toasted and cooled (See P.S.)
2 cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 large egg whites, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Butter and flour to 9in cake pans. Line each pan with a 9in round of parchment paper.
3. In a food processor, combine the hazelnuts with 2/3 cup sugar and pulse grind until it is a coarse flour.
4. Transfer hazelnut flour into a large bowl. Add the all-purpose flour, an additional 2/3 cup of the sugar and the baking powder, and whisk to combine.
5. Have ready a fine-meshed strainer (I used a sifter). In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat. When the milk solids have reached a nutty brown color, immediately remove from heat. Using the strainer, strain the butter into the flour mixture. Stir to combine. Discard butter solids. Stir in vanilla.
6. In a clean bowl of an electric mixer with a clean whip attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks (I used my hand mixer and it worked but took a while). In a slow steady stream, with the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 2/3 cup of the sugar. Increase the speed to high. Beat until they are firm, not dry, glossy peaks of meringue.
7. Using a rubber spatula, briskly fold on-third of the meringue into the batter to lighten it. Add the remaining meringue and gently fold until just combined.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before turning the layers out onto the rack. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

Strawberry Buttercream

2 cups chopped strawberries
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 water
3 egg whites, at room temperature
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cup strawberries sliced for decoration and filling

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the 2/3 cup of sugar and the water and cook to 240˚F on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until there are medium stiff-but not dry-peaks of meringue.
3. When the sugar syrup reaches 240˚F, decrease the speed of the mixer to medium, and immediately but slowly pour the hot liquid sugar in a steady stream down the side of the and into the meringue. Beat together until stiff glossy peaks form.
4. With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter in pieces to meringue. The mixture will break, but just keep beating and it will come together beautifully.
5. Pour the strawberries into buttercream and beat until combined.

Put it together:
1. Spread buttercream over one layer of cake. Cover with chopped strawberries.
2. Place the second layer onto the first layer. Ice the sides and top. Check out this for tips.

P.S. Toasting Hazelnuts: Preheat oven to 350. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 7 minutes. Halfway through stir the hazelnuts.

GO HEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

I am a huge Tar Heel fan!!! I was born under the Carolina blue sky in Chapel Hill. By the way, did you know that God is a Tar Heel? Of course he is because the sky is Carolina blue! Yes, I grew up spouting such lines in constant support of my Heels. In kindergarten, I fell in love with a Duke fan! Shock! It was tragic! I felt like I was betraying my team as I chased him around the playground (but I'm also always a sucker for beautiful eyes, even then). For those of you who are not as into college basketball, the UNC-Duke rivalry is one of the largest ones in sporting history. Many a day, I have defended my Heels against an evil Duke fan! The past two weeks have been fun as I have watched my boys crush their competition. Even though their opponents will be getting tougher, I always believe they can win the tournament! GO HEELS!!!!!

Of course, when watching basketball games you need to have some good food. My sister and I made her Salsa, when I was home last week. We ate it while watching DUKE lose!!! It is really good and very typical of my sister's style of cooking. She just throws it all in and it turns out great! Pretty spicy! She did the photos, too. I am currently housesitting and went on memory for the recipe. I'll double check it when I am home tomorrow and update the post.

Resa's Salsa

2 jalapeno peppers
1 serrano pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 lime, squeezed (other half cut perfectly for coronas)
3 roma tomatoes (roughly diced)
1/2 cartoon chopped Pome tomatoes (liquid reserved)

1. Cut the peppers carefully because of the strong oils (we often do this outside) and remove the seeds.
2. Pulse the peppers in the food processor until roughly chopped.
3. Add the reserved liquid from the chopped tomatoes, the roma tomatoes, cumin, lime juice and garlic.
4. Continue to pulse until chopped to your desired chunkiness.
5. Add in chopped tomatoes and pulse until chopped to how you like it.
6. Put out some chips, grab a beer and enjoy the game!

P.S. My favorite part of going to a Carolina game in Chapel Hill is when the band plays the Alma Mater, "Hark The Sound" at the end of the game, as the fans are leaving. Everyone joins in shouting "N-C-U." Hopefully, I can get the music up here but until then...GO HEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true.
Singing Carolina's praises.
Shouting N-C-U.
Hail to the brightest star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina priceless gem.
Receive all praises thine.

Buona Festa di San Giuseppe e Buona Pasqua!

2008-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

St. Joseph's Day or La Festa di San Giuseppe is an important day to my family. We come from a small town near Messina in Sicily. I love this day because it is one of the strongest traditions we have in my family. Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso both had beautiful posts recently about their family traditions and the treat Zeppole. I wanted to share my family's tradition. We make Giusppetti, which are fried pieces of dough, stuffed with raisins and rolled in sugar.

Growing up in NC, away from our family, we continued the tradition. St. Joseph's Day turned into a huge party, where friends and neighbors would join us in eating Giusppetti and welcoming Spring. My mother would man the deep fryer, often frying up five batches of dough. It was my job to roll them in sugar and then put them in baskets for my brother and sister to pass out among our guests. We always had a large spread of fruit, cheeses and meats. I loved these days and maybe it is where I first began to cultivate my love of feeding all my friends.

This weekend, my family and I made Giusppetti together on the back porch. Our recipe is something my mother adapted because the original recipe has disappeared or possibly never existed. Many poorer Italians would use leftover scraps of dough when making these, so the exact dough recipe is unknown. Regardless, we try to maintain the intent of the tradition, turning it into a day of celebrating and friendship. This may have been the hardest photo shoot as my family members are not as polite as my roommates and just ate my models. I was trying to pile them on a plate to look nice but everyone kept grabbing them and eating them. They were also quite opinionated about how we should be photographing the few left. Check out my sister's flickr account to see the full series of pictures and our "artist" stylings. Also, my brother decided to eat them over my head so I ended up covered in sugar. It was fun! They are very delicious!

St. Joseph's Day Giuspetti
(adapted by my mother from the Fleishman's yeast book)

3-3 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons margarine
2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar (for rolling)

1. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.
2. Combine milk, 1/4 cup water and margarine in a saucepan.
3. Heat over low heat until liquids are very warm (120-130 degrees F). Margarine does not have to melt.
4. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. Add egg and 1/2 cup flour.
6. Beat at high speed, 2 minutes, scraping bowl.
7. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff batter and stir the raisins about 1 cup or to taste.
8. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about hour.

9. Stir batter down.
10. Drop by rounded soup spoon into hot oil (I use Canola oil and solid Crico in the fryer about half and half).

11. Drain on paper towels.

12. Roll in sugar.

P.S. Happy Easter!!!!

I'm going to Carolina...

2008-03-20T18:28:00.001-07:00

In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine
Can't you just feel the moonshine
Ain't it just like a friend of mine
It hit me from behind
Yes I'm gone to Carolina in my mind

-James Taylor

Tomorrow morning, I'm heading down to the good ole' Carolina to spend Easter with my family. After college, I never moved back. Regardless, I am still a Carolina girl. I love my Heels (and they will be winning the tournament)! I crave real southern sweet tea, biscuits and Carolina BBQ! I sometimes slip into a southern accent! My roommate gets a kick out of the way I say, "I am going to be a laaaw-yer", drawling out those last few syllables. I'm looking forward to going home tomorrow, watching the Heels' game with my family and basking in the sunshine!

This recipe has nothing to do with Carolina but I'll get one up here soon. Instead this one hearkens back to my Italian roots. This week I did not do much cooking, as I knew I was going out of town for the weekend and had some dinner plans. I threw these bruschetta together with leftovers from the fridge. My roommate loved them and she even took a bite to show you.

Ginny's Leftover Bruschetta

4 slices French bread
1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

4 teaspoons grated Parmesan
4 tablespoon Mozzarella

1. Toast the slices of bread in the toaster oven (or under the broiler) until slightly brown.
2. Rub the toast with the garlic clove.
3. In a frying pan over medium, heat the olive oil.
4. Add the mushrooms, red pepper and green onions. Cook until softened.
5. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning and add the tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cook for a minute or two longer until the vinegar evaporates off.
7. Spread the vegetable mix among the toast and sprinkle with the cheeses.
8. Put back into the toaster oven (or under the broiler) until the cheese is melted.

P.S. The key to making good bruschetta (and I learned this from an Italian friend) is to rub the bread with a garlic clove when it is first toasted. This makes the bruschetta all evenly garlicky and you do not have to worry about chopping the garlic super fine.

I saw the sign...

2008-03-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

...and I decided where to go to LAW SCHOOL. Ever since I started the law school process of LSATs, personal statements, acceptances (and rejections), I have been very stressed! The decision has been looming, always in the back of my mind, coming out when I would finally start relaxing...frequently, as I was trying to sleep. I have spent a number of nights, restless as my mind raced through all the reasons to go to this school or that...Until last week, I realized that I knew where I should go...

I am moving to CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very very very excited!!!!!!!!!!! I love Chicago! Last February, I went to Chicago for the first time and fell in love with the city, even though I had the flu and it was freezing. Of course, I did not base my decision just on my love of Chicago but it is a plus. Last week, I filled out the deposit form, giving them the first installment of what will be a lot of money, and then dropped it into the mail box on the way to the gym. After that I had three signs that reaffirmed my decision:

First, I am one of those crazy multi-taskers when I am at the gym. I must have a book or magazine to flip through (and block the time) while I work out plus I always try to find something to watch. Well, that night the travel channel was doing a segment on Super Dawg in CHICAGO. Second, I was reading an article in Vogue, which mentioned Alinea in CHICAGO. Finally, that night was the season premiere of Top Chef Season 4 in CHICAGO!

If these are not enough, I do not know what is? Isn't it so fitting that my "signs" were all food related?

In honor of my decision and with some inspiration from the season premiere of Top Chef, I made deep dish pizza this past Friday. It is another butternut squash recipe (shock!). Unfortunately, I do not cook for a Bravo TV show and thus my budget is a bit more limited. It turned out really well. Next time, I would make the bottom crust a bit thicker because as soon as we cut into it, it was like opening the flood gates of cheese and butternut squash yumminess. I guess I will just have to make it a goal to first test all the deep dish in the city and then perfect my own recipe. Of course, that is if I have time to cook while working hard at school...

Butternut Squash-Grape Tomatoes-Ricotta Deep Dish Pizza

Pizza Crust
(adapted from Deep-dish Sausage and Tomato Pizza)

1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water (110° - 115°F.)
a 1/4-ounce package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a large bowl dissolve sugar in water. Sprinkle yeast over water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in 2 1/4 cups flour, cornmeal, salt, and butter and blend until mixture forms a dough. Knead dough on a floured surface, incorporating as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as necessary to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
3. Put dough, in a deep oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Filling/Topping
(adapted from Ryan Scott's Pizza with Escarole, Butternut Squash & Ricotta Salata)

1Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large yellow onions, julienned
1 large butternut squash, peeled, diced (half-inch)
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 ½ cups chicken stock
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 package grape tomatoes
1/4 lb ricotta
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/4 lb fresh mozzarella, shredded

1. In sauté pan add butter and 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat.
2. Sauté the garlic and crushed red pepper for a minute.
3. Add yellow onions and sweat down until tender.
4. Add butternut squash.
5. Sprinkle with thyme.
6. Cover with chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook until tender (about 20-25 minutes). Once tender remove herbs and season with salt and white pepper.
7. Puree in a food processor, set aside.
8. Add grape tomatoes to sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees for 10 minutes; pull and set aside.
9. Mix ricotta and Italian parsley together.

Putting it together:
1. In a 10’ spring form pan, press the dough into the pan and up the side of the pan for at least 1 ½ inches up the side.
2. Spread the mozzarella on the bottom of the crust.
3. Layer with grape tomatoes, butternut squash puree and ricotta mix.
4. Bake in 500 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

P.S. Do you have left over topping? I had a good amount of butternut squash puree left. I am planning on mixing it with pasta and sprinkle it with Parmesan for dinner tonight!

Happy Early St. Patty's Day!!!

2008-03-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

I keep starting to write this post but I can't seem to figure out what to say...Should I relate my comical trek to the liquor store during my lunch hour? Complain that these are the most expensive cupcakes I've ever made? Admit, albeit embarrassingly, that I have fallen for the cupcake trend? Tell some of my St. Patrick's Day stories, much to my parents' displeasure? Or maybe I should let the cupcakes speak for themselves...

When I saw Charcuterista's post on Guinness Cakelettes, I thought that they would be perfect to turn into car bomb cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day. For a Car Bomb, you layer a shot with Irish Cream and Irish Whiskey, drop it into a pint of Guinness and chug it. You have to do it quickly or the cream will curdle. Along with green beer, Car Bombs are a common drink in many bars across the US on St. Patty's Day. Often it is turned into a contest, as everyone competes to be the first one to finish chugging. Although it sounds very intense (and a bit stupid), the three flavors mix very well together (not that I've ever tried it or anything). So, I made these cupcakes, as a fun take on this American St. Patty's Day tradition. I would take the cupcakes over the drink any day. They were delicious! My roommates liked my creations so much that I think they may have forgiven me for getting chocolate everywhere!

I am entering these into Emiline's St. Paddy's Day Pub Crawl Event in which your dish must use booze in some way. I also wanted to dedicate these in honor of my friend, Ridgie, who would love them.

St. Patty's Day Car Bomb Cupcakes

Guinness Cupcakes
(adapted from Dave Lieberman's recipe)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch fine salt
1 bottle Guinness (minus a few sips!)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, 1 at time.
4. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
5. Lightly grease 24 muffin tins (or 12 muffin tins and one 8 inch cake pan). Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans. Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender (the cake took about 35 minutes). Cool before turning out.

Irish Cream Whipped Cream
(adapted from Joy of Cooking)

1 cup whip cream
4 tablespoon confectioner sugar
2 tablespoon Irish Cream Liquor

1. Put bowl and beaters in the freezer for about an hour before making the whip cream.
2. Pour all the ingredients into a bowl and on low speed, mix the ingredients together.
3. Once the confectioner sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to high until the cream becomes whipped into soft peaks.

Chocolate Whiskey Glaze
(adapted from Joy of Cooking)

1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup milk
6 tablespoon butter, cut into chunks
2 tablespoon Irish Whiskey
1/2 cup confectioner sugar

1. On low in a saucepan, melt the chocolate and milk together.
2. Remove from heat, stir in butter.
3. Stir in Irish Whiskey.
4. Whisk in confectioner sugar (add more if you need to thicken the glaze a little bit more).

To put together the cupcakes:

1. Using a knife, cut out a small bit of cupcake out of the center.
2. Fill the hole with a little bit of whipped cream.
3. Cover with the chocolate glaze.
4. Sprinkle with green crystals or decorate as you wish! Enjoy!

P.S. What did I do with that cake? I made a small shamrock! I dyed the leftover Irish Cream Whipped Cream with green food coloring and using a heart cookie cutter made the leaves. I also made a third "dish" with the rest of the leftover pieces of cake, whipped cream and glaze. I layered them in a glass dish to make a tortish kind of thing. Does not look pretty, hence no pictures, but tastes really good! Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!

Crepes for a Crappy Day...

2008-03-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was miserable. The time change did not affect me at first. My problem yesterday was I had no inspiration of what to cook. Nothing? Nada? It was downright depressing. How does one make a grocery list when one has no cravings? ideas? inklings? So I went to Trader Joe's, roamed the aisles- looking, searching and hoping to stumble across something. Later that night, I found myself at home staring at my purchases waiting for the lightbulb moment. I had some bread, goat cheese, cheddar, spinach and pretty red tulips (yes, the stand next to the check out counter got me, but they were just so pretty). So I had a peanut butter-honey sandwich for dinner...boring!

Today, like many others, I spent in a tired haze. I struggled to sleep last night and woke up exhausted. Why does losing one hour always mess me up this badly? I started to think of what I could make for dinner but same problem...no ideas? Came home, grouchy and hungry, walked through the apartment building door and...ahhhh!!!! the clouds parted, the sunlight shown through, the angels started singing, the cherubs sounded the trumpets...ok, you get the point...I HAD AN IDEA!!!!

My neighbors were making something that smelled like pancakes and I was hit by a sudden craving for crepes. I made Savory Crepes with a Goat Cheese-Spinach-Ham filling. Then, in another fit of inspiration, I threw together a Cheddar-Broccoli filling. My roommate and I agree that the goat cheese filling was better. When can you ever go wrong with goat cheese? It was a delicious!

Crepes
(adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 tablespoon butter, melted
2 large eggs

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Beat with hand beater until smooth.
3. Lightly butter a 6 to 8 inch frying pan. Heat over medium heat until bubbly.
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into frying pan. Immediately rotate frying pan until thin film covers bottom.
5. Cook until light brown. Run wide spatula around edge to loosen; turn and cook other side until light brown.
6. Stack crepes, keep covered until ready to fill.

Goat Cheese-Spinach-Ham Filling

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 cups chopped spinach
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon whip cream
1 cup chopped ham

1. Heat a tablespoon of butter into another frying pan over medium heat.
2. Sauté garlic in the butter briefly and then add the spinach. Sauté until wilted.
3. Add the goat cheese and whip cream, stir until melted.
4. Add ham and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Fill crepes.

Cheddar-Broccoli Filling

1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar, shredded
1 tablespoon whip cream

1. Heat whip cream and cheddar over medium heat, until melted.
2. Stir in brocolli and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Fill crepes.

P.S. Have leftover crepes? Fill them with Nutella, jam, fresh fruit, whip cream or anything else yummy for a dessert crepes. If you want to make dessert crepes from the beginning, add 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla to the recipe.

And then I found five Euro...

2008-03-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Happy International Women's Day!

Have you ever been half way through retelling a story and realized that your audience is bored? What do you do to redeem yourself? Well, my friends and I went through a phase where we would add "and then I found five dollars" to the end of every dull story we would tell. Whether it was true or not, finding five dollars is quite exciting. Finding five Euro is even better, given it is worth more than five dollars.

I first learned about International Women's Day, when I was living in Rome. Beautiful yellow mimosas were sold on the street to be given to one's wives, daughters, sisters and friends. My friends and I went out to dinner in celebration and then had a few drinks at our local bar. And then I found five Euro...

Wasn't that a dull story? The cool part is I really did find five Euro and I still have it as a little momento in my wallet.

International Women's Day is a day to celebrate the political, economic and social achievements of women throughout the world. Regardless of your political leanings, Zorra and Fiordisale made this day fun for all cooks by sponsoring an event to celebrate. My first dish, the Saffron Buns, as I have already lamented, did not turn out as well as I would have liked. Thankfully, my cousin and I made Fried Cornmeal Shrimp with Butternut Squash Risotto, which helped me satisfy the requirement of this event. This dish is very yellow and very delicious. The slight garlicky crunchy shrimp complement the creamy butternut squash risotto very well. My cousin and I think that next time we will add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper when sautéing the shallots to add a little kick. We did not change much of the recipe just a little bit here and there to fit what I already had in the pantry and make it easier to understand. Enjoy!

Fried Cornmeal Shrimp with Butternut Squash Ravioli
(from Bon Appetit through epicurious.com)

1 1 3/4- to 2-pound butternut squash (or one 20 ounce pre-cut butternut squash package)

3/4 cup uncooked large shrimp , peeled, deveined
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled, smashed

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cups chicken broth
2 chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine

Vegetable oil (for frying)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce squash several times. Place on baking sheet; roast until tender, about 1 hour (if using the precut, roast for about 30 minutes until tender). Cool. Cut squash in half; discard seeds. Scoop flesh into processor. Puree until smooth. I prefer it a mix of smooth and still kind of chunky.

Place shrimp, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2 smashed garlic cloves in large resealable plastic bag; turn to coat. Chill 2 to 3 hours.

Stir cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl. Add shrimp; toss. Arrange in single layer on large plate.

Bring broth to simmer in heavy small saucepan; reduce heat to low and keep hot. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook until beginning to brown, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and 2 teaspoons thyme; stir 1 minute. Add rice and stir 1 minute. Add wine; stir until almost absorbed, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 cup hot broth and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring often. Continue adding hot broth 1 cup at a time and stirring frequently until rice is almost tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, add enough vegetable oil to heavy large skillet to reach depth of 1/4 inch. Heat oil over high heat. Working in 2 batches, fry shrimp until golden brown and cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side.

Add butternut squash puree to risotto and stir until rice is tender but still firm, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and remaining 2 teaspoons thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

P.S. Check out the other great yellow dishes here in honor of International Women's Day!

Disaster...well...Mishap...Delicious?

2008-03-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

This is my first official documented disaster. Well, disaster is a strong word, let's use mishap, shall we? In celebration of International Women's Day on Saturday, Zorra and Fiordisale organized an event where one must make a dish with yellow. I immediately thought of saffron.

Saffron is a spice used to flavor and color food with a golden-yellow shade. Also, saffron to me has always had a strong link to women. I remember in my old Latin class writing a paper about Roman weddings where the woman would wear saffron colored clothing. The first time I ate a dish with saffron, I met an interesting Iranian woman, whose experiences give reason for International Women's Day. Saffron even comes from the female part of a certain crocuses plant, the stigmas. Somehow saffron always has an association with women and so seemed like an appropriate spice to use for this event.

After deciding upon saffron as my main spice, I looked for a recipe that I could make from the ingredients in my pantry, ever the thrifty cook. I only have some saffron because my mother gave me a little of hers. Anyway, I stumbled across Saffron Buns at Muffin Top and those seemed like they would work. I mixed and kneaded, watching the saffron bleed into the dough going from red to golden yellow. It was beautiful. Then I waited and waited and waited and waited. The dough would not rise enough! Finally, frustrated, I formed the dough into small buns and set them aside for the second rising. Again, I waited and waited and waited and waited. But, they would not rise enough! I ended up baking them and they turned out fairly well, a little dense. Also, they are not a true yellow- I think I was too stingy with my saffron. Given these mishaps, I decided not to enter these into the International Women's Day event, but stay tuned...on Saturday, I do have something tasty!

Saffron Buns
(From the King Arthur Four Website through the Muffin Top)

1/4 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 to 3 1/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Topping
1 egg white beaten lightly with a teaspoon of water
sugar

1. Combine the hot water and saffron, and let sit for 10 minutes to soften the saffron.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the saffron water, milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, yeast, and 2 cups of the flour.
3. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough (for about 15 minutes by hand, 12 minutes in an electric mixer, 90 seconds in a food processor, or in your bread machine using the dough cycle), then set it aside to rise till puffy (but not necessarily doubled in bulk), about 2 hours (Mine took about 3 hours- see P.S.)
5. Punch the dough down, and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and shape each piece into a ball. Place the balls fairly close together (but not touching) in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan, cover them, and let them rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until they’re puffy (again, it took about 2 ½ hours).
7. Glaze the buns with the beaten egg white, and sprinkle them heavily with sugar (recipe calls for pearl sugar but normal superfine worked well).
8. Bake them in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. (Watch them closely at the end; because of their high sugar content, they tend to brown quickly.)

P.S. Why did it take so long to rise? I misread the recipe and used Active Yeast instead of instant yeast. Instant yeast does not need to be proofed and still rises well. Recently, Allen of Cooking Out Loud explored how one could make the substitution but just increasing the temperature of the liquids. Next time I would either dissolve the saffron in 1/8 cup of hot water and the yeast in 1/8 cup warm water or warm the milk slightly before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. I would probably stick to the first method because by proofing, I would make sure I did not kill the yeast (my greatest fear!). I believe that it will not change the outcome significantly but I have not had a chance to test it yet. Regardless, if you are patient or use the correct kind of yeast, the recipe makes some delicious sweet buns.

Two Hot Women and a Quickish Dinner

2008-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, this post is about two hot women with a delicious dinner thrown in to keep your interest. The first hot woman is me, as LyB of And then I do the dishes tagged me with a meme and so I must tell you 7 things about myself. I say hot because after cooking I am normally sweltering. Coming up with seven things is alot harder than I would have thought, so here goes (they are very random):

1. I love art! I tend to crave art exhibits almost as badly as I do chocolate. Thankfully, I live in DC and can see many wonderful exhibits downtown. After my JD, I hope to get my Masters in Art History.
2. I hate Ketchup, which makes me feel very un-American. But I love peanut butter on hot dog buns, so that slightly redeems me.
3. I bite my nails. It is a horrible habit that is only stopped if I get regular manicures, which you know my wallet and time allow frequently. haha!
4. I am not very big into reality tv (although, I will watch it occasionally) but I will not miss Project Runway or Top Chef. They are both fabulous. I love the creativity and ideas to come out of them
5. I cartwheel and do handstands often! Cartwheels express my excitement and happiness, while handstands calm me.
6. I am desperately afraid of serving undercooked chicken and so I am very anal when cooking it. Regardless of the meat temperature, I must always slice it open to check it and cover the cut with lots of sauce.
7. I love making souffles, as in, it is quite the obsession. I prefer chocolate ones, which I eat with a glass of champagne...there is something about the bubbles of the champagne and the fluff of the souffle that I just love. (My roommate added this one when I was struggling to come up with more).

“7 Things” Meme How To:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their Blogs
5. Have fun!

Laura of Lazy Susin
Kevin of Closet Cooking
Mandy of Fresh from the Oven
Ilva of Lucullian Delights
Deborah of Taste and Tell

And now for that good dinner and the other hot woman. Santa brought me Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day. In honor of Top Chef starting next week, as she is the host of the show, I decided it was time to tackle a recipe from her. I tried Chicken A La Nueces De La India. It was delicious! I substituted peanuts for cashews and made it for two people. It only took about 45 minutes to make and served with rice and wilted spinach made an excellent meal. The cookbook is beautifully written, the recipes are easy to follow and her cooking philosophy is very similar to my own. She also gives tips, which are helpful (for example, see step 1). I cannot wait to try something else from her cookbook like, Curried Butternut Squash Soup.

Chicken A La Nueces De La India
(adapted from Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet: A World of Recipe for Every Day)

5 tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup flour for dusting on a dinner plate
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, pureed into powder
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme (I used dry not fresh)
1 cup chicken stock (we ran out and a chicken bouillon dissolved in water worked well)
1 1/2 tablespoon honey

1. Pound chicken breast flat and thin into cutlets, to about 1 inch thickness. Do this by using plastic wrap to cover the chicken and pound with a mallet or meat tenderizer, even the back of a heavy metal ladle or large serving spoon will work.
2. Lightly sprinkle each side of the cutlets with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium heat in a skillet.
4. Lightly dredge each side of all chicken pieces in flour to coat with just a light dusting. Shake off any excess.
5. When oil is hot, sauté chicken single file, don't crowd the pan until lightly browned on both sides and cook through. When chicken is done, transfer to a large platter, and keep warm and covered.
6. Puree peanuts in a blender or processor to form a powder and set aside.
7. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil on medium heat in another skillet. When oil is hot, sauté garlic and shallots for 2 minutes. Add crushed red pepper and thyme and cook for 1-2 more minutes, just until shallots are glassy.
8. Pour in chicken stock. Add honey and stir until this comes to a gentle bubbling boil.
9. Turn heat to a medium low and carefully stir in powdered peanuts, stirring vigorously so no clumps are formed. Now turn heat to low, and let the sauce become a gravy-like consistency. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper if needed. Keep the sauce warm on low heat, adding a bit more stock if needed so it doesn't become too thick.
10. Return chicken to skillet on medium low just until meat is heated through. Now pour sauce over the chicken and serve hot. The chicken can also be plated and the sauce can be poured over that just before serving.

P.S. This is such a long post, I have nothing more to say. Enjoy!

Another Quick Dinner and Some Sage Advice...

2008-02-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

I have another confession. I love butternut squash. I can't get enough of it. I am always looking for new, interesting and delicious ways to prepare butternut squash. One of my greatest successes but also failures was my butternut squash ravioli. Please, ask my family about that story and they will crack up!

A couple years ago, I decided I was going to make dinner for my family. I had this recipe in mind for butternut squash ravioli that filled wonton wrappers with a goat cheese butternut squash mixture. It sounded divine! I figured it would be fairly easy to make but I was very very wrong. I am a naturally messy cook but this was a disaster. Filling and wonton wrappers were everywhere. But I finally made a small bowl of butternut squash ravioli, which I put on my nicely set table and called my family to dinner. My sister, brother and parents each served themselves a couple (about 3) ravioli. They loved them but then asked "What is for dinner?" Yes, I kind of misjudged the quantity needed to feed a family of five. I will never live down that kitchen adventure but at least the ravioli tasted good!

I keep noticing Ruth's Presto Pasta Night but have never gotten my act together to add one to the roundup. For its first birthday, I decided to enter this dish. The original recipe came from a New York Times article encouraging the reader to eat more vegetables with less pasta. I cannot promise that we always do that but the pasta sauce is delicious. I added sage because butternut squash and sage are the perfect pair. Check out the round-up for other pasta dishes at Once Upon A Feast.

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Tomatoes
(adapted from NY Times)

Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed
1 shallot, sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 tablespoon sage, chopped
1 can (14.5 ounces) chopped tomatoes
1 pound peeled, pre-cut butternut squash (I love the already cut up squash you can buy at the store, it is worth the extra expense for me not to have to risk a digit cutting up the squash)

1/2 pound cut pasta, like ziti or penne

Freshly chopped parsley or Parmesan for garnish.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it.

2. Put olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, sage and pepper flakes and cook for about a minute.

3. Add tomatoes and squash, and cook with some salt and pepper.

4. When squash is tender -- about 15 minutes -- cook pasta until it is tender. Combine sauce and pasta, and serve, garnished with parsley or Parmesan.

P.S. Some more sage advice...One of my favorite dishes to make is a simple brown butter sauce with sage over ravioli or tortellini. Take about 3 tablespoons of butter and heat over medium heat until it begins to melt and bubble. Take about 5 leaves of sage (I like to dice them) and put in the melting butter. Cook until the butter begin to brown. Pour over some ravioli, sprinkle with Parmesan and eat! yummy!

A Quick Dinner and a Guest Blogger

2008-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

This week has already been really stressful and exhausting (I know, it is only Tuesday). When I came home today, I wanted to have a decent meal but I was starving so it had to be quick. I knew what I was going to make (we will get to that soon) but I was impatient. Also, I, dedicated blogger that I am, wanted to get some photos of my meal. As I was cooking, I grabbed my camera, set up the background, rummaged around for something to accompany the main dish (broccoli, in this case) and discovered that my camera's batteries were dead! But this crazy blogging lady would not be stopped. I grabbed the remote out of my roommates hands (I really wish that wasn't true), borrowed those batteries, took a few quick shots and finally sat down to eat. It was delicious and really was quick! I made Rosemary Sage Chops that I had found on Blue Kitchenby Terry when I was searching for some way to use an abundance of fresh sage and satisfy my pork craving. I used a mixture of fresh sage and dried rosemary because that is what I had. I also decided to add a new flavor by adding Parmesan.

Now, I had mentioned something about a guest blogger. My desire to make pork chops came from an email that my sister sent me regarding her most recent cooking adventure. She is also a excellent cook, although not as crazy as I am. I found it amusing so I thought I would share it, as an example of the trials and tribulations one sometimes faces cooking with roommates in an apartment building:

My apartment lacks air circulation, so when I was cooking a pork chop it got a bit smoky. I wasn't even burning the thing. I opened the windows and it started to clear out, but not fast enough for my roommate. She opened the front door which set off the fire alarm. I called the fire department to ask them to turn it off, but they said it wasn't there job and to just call my landlord. It took some time to get him on the phone, but eventually he called back and gave instructions on how to turn the thing off. Meanwhile, someone upstairs called 911. The fire department showed up and gave us shit for turning the alarm off because they are supposed to investigate. I'm mortified! I just wanted a damn pork chop.

Rosemary Sage Parmesan Chops

(adapted from Blue Kitchen)

Serves 1 to 2

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons of parmesan per chop, shredded
1 to 2 bone-in pork chops
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil.

2. When it starts to shimmer, stir in sage, rosemary and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. In the meantime, pat chops dry with a paper towel and season on both sides with salt and pepper.

4. Increase heat on skillet to medium-high and add chops to pan, directly on top of herb/garlic mixture.

5. Cover pan and cook chops undisturbed for 3 minutes (make sure to cover the pan because the grease will spit everywhere).

6. Turn chops, cover pan, reduce heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes.

7. Sprinkle the side of the pork chop with 1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan and flip to create a parmesan crust on the pork chop. Cook for 2 minutes.

8. Sprinkle the other side of the pork chop with 1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan and flip to create a parmesan crust on the pork chop. Cook for 2 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.

P.S. How to cook the pork, a vegetable and starch in 30 minutes?
1. Put water on high to boil for pasta or 5 min rice. If you are cooking for one or two, you will only need a medium saucepan.
2. Prepare the pork-chops through step 5.
3. Prepare frozen vegetables according to the package in the microwave (for quick dinners, frozen works the best).
4. Flip the pork (step 6).
5. When the water boils, prepare the rice or pasta according to the instructions on the box.
6. Finish pork.
7. Drain starch.
8. Put everything on a plate and season as you desire.
9. Does this make sense? I just wanted to give you an idea of how to multi-task in order to eat quickly.

Sunlight, Sunday Morning, Scones

2008-02-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sunshine peeking through the blinds woke me up this morning. Well, to be honest, the text from my roommate did but...sunlight woke me up the second time. Something about it made me crave my family's big weekend brunches. My mother will make scones, coffee cake, Züpfe (a Swiss braided bread similar to Challah), or some other sort of breakfast bread. We will get out a variety of different cheeses and fruit. Then, the whole family sits down to a leisurely breakfast. If it is warm, which in North Carolina is almost year round, we will move everything onto the back porch, basking in the sunshine and enjoying the fresh air. I love these brunches. It is always nice to be with my family and it brings back wonderful memories of our years spent in Switzerland.

This morning, I decided that I could at least replicate the food of these brunches. I made some Scones, got out the Brie, brewed some strong coffee and climbed onto the couch to watch TV with my roommates. So, not exactly the same as breakfast at my parent's house but...at least I had scones! The scones were good but like all things never as good as my mother's. I adapted the original recipe from The Best of Priscilla's English Tea Room. This tea room was in Hillsborough, North Carolina but, unfortunately, closed and I can find no reference online. I have adapted it for only two to three people. I sometimes add cinnamon to add some extra flavor.

The English Scone
(adapted from The Best of Priscilla's English Tea Room)

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup currants
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Mix dry ingredients together.
3. Blend dry ingredients with butter using a pastry cutter until the butter is in very small pieces and fully incorporated.
4. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk. Mix until just incorporated. Dough will be sticky and moist.
5. Place on a floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Mine ended up being about 8" x 4" x 1/2". Cut down the middle and cut each half into triangles (about 8 per side).
6. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until browned.
7. Serve with honey, jam, butter, lemon curd... I prefer honey!

P.S. Do you not have a pastry cutter? My sister gave me one for Christmas this past year. I always ask for new kitchen gadgets for presents. Before this wonderful tool entered my life, I would use two kitchen knifes to cut the butter when making scones, biscuits and other such bake goods. In order to do this, hold a knife in each hand with the blades pointed down and out. Cross the blades over the butter and then pull out cutting the butter. Continue this crossing method, mixing the butter with the flour mixture until the butter is in small enough pieces and throughly mixed in with the flour.

I think I've gone Bananas...for Bloggin'

2008-02-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, my blog will turn one month (and my grandfather 80...Happy Birthday Nonno!). How crazy is that? I must admit...I am hooked. It challenges me to be creative, learn new skills (such as html code), and try new recipes plus I love the community of the foodie blog world that I have joined. My friends and family have been very supportive by listening to me blab on and on about what I am learning, patiently refraining from eating my models while I take pictures and emailing me constructive comments. Thank you all.

I do not want to lose sight of my purpose to impart some easy recipes and tips for the 20-somethings who just want to make some good food. I grew up making this banana bread recipe. It is very easy and it is a huge hit. I have friends from college who still ask for my banana bread. It is the best way to use up over ripe bananas, because who really can eat all those bananas before they go bad? Not this single woman. I like to wait until they have turned black but before they go bad (a.k.a. moldy). We tend to freeze the bananas, as they become too ripe, so that I can use them when that craving for banana bread hits. Unfortunately, there is only one decent photo, because, as Peabody warned, beige food does not photograph well. But it tastes better than my picture looks and is really easy to make...

Banana Bread
(adapted from Betty Crocker recipe for Nut Bread)

1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 super ripe bananas)
2 ½ cup all-purpose four
1 cup sugar
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
3. Mash up the bananas using a potato masher or fork.
4. Mix in the remaining ingredients, until everything has been incorporated.
5. Pour into pans and bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until a knife/ tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean. To prevent it from burning, towards the end of the baking time, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the bread.
6. Remove from pan; cool thoroughly before slicing.

P.S. Do you like chocolate or nuts in your banana bread? Mix 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of chopped pecans/walnuts or both with the other ingredients before pouring it in the pan.

I Figgin' Love Chocolate

2008-02-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed, I LOVE CHOCOLATE. It is a small addiction and a very necessary part of my life. I used to give up chocolate for Lent every year. Although I would drop about five pounds, a small cloud would appear over my normal sunny demeanor, as I missed the taste and smell of chocolate. I just need a little bit everyday to satisfy my craving. Although sometimes, I stumble across a dessert that must be taken away from me before I eat it all, like these brownies.

This month, Foodie Pam sponsored Leftover Tuesdays #12: the Sweetheart Challenge. The theme of this challenge was to make a creation with the leftover chocolate that you have in your pantry from previous recipes. In my house, we have a ton of leftover chocolate. From both leftovers and the fact that my roommates and I often forget to check what we have before buying more. You know how it is...you are at the store, have a specific recipe in mind and are almost positive you have this one ingredient. So you hover over the ingredient, debating on whether to buy it because you don't want to run back to the store once you get home. Maybe you call home to see if anyone is around but alas no one is there. So you buy it and come home to find out that you now have...two containers of cocoa.

This happens fairly often in my house, so when I looked at our chocolate selection I found out that we have a ton of chocolate...semi-sweet baking chocolate, milk chocolate chips, the cocoa, white chocolate chips, bars of milk chocolate...I could go on. I also have a bunch of dried figs that I have been trying to use with something. Then I remember this recipe, I saw on Pittsburg Needs Eated. for a Double Chocolate Fig Brownie. I changed it around a little bit to incorporate what I had on hand. The result was a delicious, scrumptious, rich, fudgey, and gooey brownie. It is best enjoyed with a huge glass of milk. The pictures are not my best because I was too impatient to let them cool before I took the photos and woofed them down.

Double Chocolate Fig Brownie
(adapted and converted from taste.com)

• 7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1 stick of butter, cubed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 cup dried figs, finely chopped
• ½ cup brandy
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

1. Soak the chopped figs in the brandy for 30 minutes until softened.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8’ x 8’ pan.
3. Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan on the stove at medium heat.
4. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
5. Stir egg and fig into chocolate mixture.
6. Mix in flour and cocoa until well combined.
7. Spread chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out slightly sticky. Brownies should be set and have a crust, but still be a little soft inside.

P.S. Do you like whip cream?

I actually do not, which is why I did not include it with this recipe but this is a quick and easy topping to accompany the brownies.

Brown sugar cream:
1 1/4 cup whip cream
2 tablespoon brown sugar

1. Important step: Place bowl and beaters into the freezer before making the whip cream. This makes it easier to whip.
2. Beat cream and brown sugar in bowl until thickened. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In lieu of flowers...I'll take flour

2008-02-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

In the wake of Valentine's Day, after I gorged myself on way too much chocolate and enjoyed my co-workers beautiful flowers, I got to thinking about how romantic practical gifts can be. So many of the standard Valentine's Day gifts are cute and romantic but not very lasting or useful. Flowers die, chocolate consumed, teddy bears neglected. My roommate, for instance, bought her boyfriend things he needed for his car. Not the standard "romantic" present but it was by the sheer fact that it was thoughtful and useful...so maybe the thought does count. Thinking back, I've been given practical gifts that have been very meaningful and memorable to me. I've had a pack of cards for about six years from an ex that I still breakout and has somehow survived all my moves. One guy I was dating brought over 25lbs of bread flour (although, now that I think about it, we weren't dating yet...but...it did not take long). Given my bread obsession, I'll happily take flour over flowers. Although, I would never turn down flowers!

I love bread! I love making bread! I love the smell! I love the taste! I love everything about bread! If I have a rough day at work, I break out the flour and yeast and get rid of my aggression by kneading the dough. A productive way to destress. In keeping with one of my blog goals, to teach people how to cook, I decided that I really need to learn how to make No-Knead Bread. I was never too interested because the kneading is my favorite part but...when I saw LyB's of And then I do the dishes beautiful post, I thought I should give it another chance. No-Knead is easy to make for anyone who is intimidated by the bread making process. The important part is that it needs to be cooked in a pot in order to create the really good crust and maintain a nice shape. Previously, I had tried it without a pot because I do not have one big enough but it did not turn out well. I have two pyrex bowls, 1 quart and 2 quart, so I adapted the recipe to make two smaller loaves. Start this the day before you want to make it because it will need to rise at least a total of 14 hours. My little loaves turned out quite well. A nice crunchy crust and an airy moist inside, absolutely delicious.

No Knead Bread
(Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, as found in the NY Times)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
1 5/8 cups water

Cornmeal, flour or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. (I left mine for about 15 hours.)

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Split the dough into two equal portions. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape each portion of dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a two 1- to 2-quart Pyrex bowls pot in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 25 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 10 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

P.S. If you want to make one large loaf check out LyB's recipe. In fact, check out her blog anyway. Her pictures are beautiful and she has a lot of ideas for variations.

I Heart Valentine's Day

2008-02-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

Oh Valentine's Day! A day of joy, happiness, jealousy, depression, anger and disappointment... There is so much meaning associated with this day... If you are in a relationship, whatever your significant other does somehow represents how he/she feels about you. If you are single, it is the day you want to hide, as your co-worker is sent a dozen beautiful red roses. It is down right silly. A while ago I decided to just embrace Valentine's Day and enjoy it regardless of my current relationship status! Besides, it is a perfect excuse to indulge in delicious chocolate creations, wear too much pink, decorate everything with hearts and remind your loved ones that you love them. Of course, I am also human and my positive attitude does not always shine though...my co-worker will receive flowers and I'll feel a pang of jealousy or my boyfriend will buy me only one rose and I'll begin questioning our relationship...but I am trying and chocolate always helps.

When I saw the event, A HEART FOR YOUR VALENTINE, I could not wait to come up with something. Although in lieu of a sweetheart this year, my roommates happily filled in. I thought of this recipe for a Double-Chocolate Ginger Dessert from La Cucina Italiana, designed specifically for a couple. I had put this on my list of something to make in the future but had never gotten around to it. Chocolate and ginger is one of my favorite combinations so I thought I should give it a try. This recipe defies my mother's mantra "that if you can read, you can cook." It is very sparse and assumes you have a certain degree of skill. It also calls for baking in small 3' by 4' pans which are very hard to find so I decided to play with the recipe, incorporating hearts and this is what I came up with...

Double-Chocolate Ginger Dessert
(adapted from La Cucina Italiana January-February 2006)

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup candied ginger, chopped
5 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate, divided into 2 ounces and 3 ounces
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon butter, chopped into pieces
pinch of salt
2 egg whites

1. In a saucepan, combine the heavy cream and candied ginger, set in the fridge for an hour to infuse.
2. Preheat oven to 350º.
3. Melt 2 ounces of the chocolate in a small sauce pan slowly on low heat.
4. Remove from heat and add the butter, stir until melted.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into a cool bowl and add sugar, flour, and salt.
6. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed with a mixer until they form stiff peaks.
7. Fold the white eggs into the chocolate mixture.
8. Butter and flour 2 ramekins. Pour the batter into the ramekins.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove and set aside to cool.
10. Place the remaining 3 ounces of chocolate into a large bowl.
11. Heat the cream/ginger mixture over medium-high heat until it just begins to simmer.
12. Remove from heat and strain the chopped ginger out of the cream.
13. Mix the cream into the chocolate, until the chocolate melts.
14. Allow to cool and then using a mixer beat into a mousse (I tried to do this but mine refused to become a mousse so I created more of a chocolate-ginger ganache).
15. Spread the chocolate-ginger mousse/ganache over the cakes in the ramekins (Both of my cakes had fallen in the middle, creating a small pocket for the ganache).

For the chocolate hearts...
1/2 cup white chocolate
1/4 cup milk chocolate

1. Grease the bottom of a pan and the inside of the heart cookie cutters.
2. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Heat it for 20 seconds and mix it to help melt it. Continue to heat it for 10 second intervals, stirring in between until it has melted. Be careful not to burn it.
3. Melt the milk chocolate in the same manner.
4. Pour the white chocolate into the pan.
5. Dab the milk chocolate and swirl into the white chocolate with the back of the spoon.
6. Place the heart cookie cutters into the chocolate and put into the fridge to harden.
7. When it is harden, break apart the chocolate and pop out the chocolate hearts.

P.S. Check out the round-up for other yummy heart ideas here.

Ginny makes…toast

2008-02-06T17:48:00.001-08:00

I have trouble with toast. Toast is very difficult. You have to watch it all the time or it burns up.

-Julia Child

When I was in kindergarten, after school one day, I really wanted toast. My mother, busy with my 3 year old sister and newborn brother, told me to put the bread in the toaster and push down the button. When it popped up, it would be ready. I listened to her instructions but when the bread came up it was not toasted enough for me (I like my bread toasted to the point of almost being burnt). I asked my mom about what to do and she said to change the dial to a higher setting. So I tried again. The next thing I knew, black smoke was billowing out of our house, our neighbor was running across the street wanting to know if he needed to call the fire department, and my poor toast had turned into ashes. I had committed one of my first culinary mistakes by toasting the same bread twice.

Although, I still like my bread toasted to the verge of burnt. I haven't burnt bread quite that bad since. One of my favorite new sandwiches, Chicken-Thyme-Pear-Brie, I made up one day on a whim because I had some pears about to go bad and some chicken. My roommate keeps asking when I am going to make it again and when it will appear on the blog. So here we go... Although, to be truthful, this one is made with swiss because it is what I have at home. I like it with Brie more but Swiss is a decent substitute.

Chicken-Thyme-Pear-Brie Sandwich

Makes two sandwiches.

4 slices of bread
1 chicken breast
3 tablespoon white worcestershire sauce
1 pear
1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoon butter
brie (or swiss), sliced

1. Marinate the chicken in the worcestershire sauce for a least 2 hours and up to a day beforehand.
2. Grill the chicken until cooked through.
3. Slice the pear into strips around the core.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan over medium heat until melted.
5. Cook the pear in the butter until softened and beginning to brown.
6. Sprinkle with thyme and mix to cover. Season with salt and pepper.

In a toaster oven:
7. Place the slices of bread in the toaster oven. Put slices of cheese on two of the slices of bread. Toast the bread to your desired toastedness and the cheese melts.

On the stove:
7. Heat the other tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and tilt the pan to move the butter over the frying pan. Place the bread on the frying pan. Put slices of cheese on two of the slices of bread. Toast the bread to your desired toastedness and the cheese melts.

8. Remove from the toaster oven/frying pan. Place slices of chicken on the bread with the cheese, top with the pears and then cover with the other piece of bread.
9. Slice and eat! yummy!

P.S. Don't have/like Brie or Swiss? Add any cheese that you like or have around. Play with new combinations and see what you come up with

Patriots + Giants = A Yummy Superbowl Cheesecake

2008-02-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

I love football but this year I am not excited about the Superbowl. It stems from my complete dislike of either team and apathy towards the outcome of the game. In order to make it more exciting, I decided to challenge myself by creating a dessert for my friend's Super Bowl Party that was representative of both teams. I started thinking about what was a very typical Boston dessert in honor of the Patriots and a very typical New York dessert in honor of the Giants. I came up with a Boston Cream Pie and a New York Cheesecake. Trying to fit these two desserts together seemed quite difficult. The textures and flavors of both are very different and not conducive to being put together...Kind of like getting the Pats and Giants to play nice together. Instead, I focused on the essence of each dessert. The vanilla custard and chocolate ganache of the Boston Cream Pie and then the texture and smoothness of the cheesecake. This led me to create a Vanilla Cheesecake with a Chocolate Ganache.

Ginny's Super Bowl Cheesecake

Adapted from Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Cranberry Jewel Topping found on Epicurious

Crust
12 vanilla sandwich cookies (such as Vienna Fingers; 6 1/2 ounces), broken into pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup sugar

Filling
6 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
4 large eggs

Chocolate Ganache (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
1 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 whipping cream

1. About an hour before you start to bake, take the cream cheese out to come to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F.
3. Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with foil and grease the inside of the pan. Place it in a deep pan with at least inch high sides. Test to make sure you have sufficiently wrapped the springform pan by pour water in the pan and seeing if any leaks through.
4. Blend the cookies and sugar in a food processor (or blender) making crumbs.
5. Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds.
6. Mix into the cookie mixture and press into the bottom of the springform pan.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, make sure not to burn it. Remove from oven and set aside.
8. While the crust bakes, mix the cream cheese, sugar and salt. A mixer will make it easier.
9. Mix in the cream and vanilla.
10. Add the eggs and mix until all ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape the sides to make sure everything is incorporated. Do not over mix.
11. Pour over crust and place in the deep pan.
12. Boil a cup of water and pour in the pan, making sure not to spill it into your cheesecake.
13. Bake at 350° F for 50 minutes until the sides have puffed up slightly and the middle is slightly jiggly.
14. Turn off the oven and crack the oven to slowly cool the cheesecake.
15. Once it has cooled, refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight in the springform pan.
16. To prepare the ganache, in a saucepan over medium low heat bring the whip cream to a slow boil.
17. Stir in the chocolate until melted and incorporated.
18. Pour over the cheesecake and place back in the fridge to set.
19. Once set, using a knife, slowly loosen the edges of the cheesecake from the springform pan and undo the spring to take off the sides of pan. Slowly slide the cake off the bottom of the pan onto a serving platter.
20. Slice and serve! Yummy!

P.S. Cracking Eggs Tip: Always crack eggs in a separate bowl. That way in case you get some shell in it, you can fish it out before it goes into the dessert.

Flamingos? Cilantro? Dinner?

2008-01-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started this blog, I have been wondering how I would figure out what to post. Would I allow my ideas for my blog to determine what I cook? Would my cravings control what I post? Would I just have inspiration? Would I post only the meals that photograph well? Then I realized that I know what will heavily influence my posts...my budget. Like many others, I am very conscious about how much I can spend monthly on food. Although I am definitely more liberal in this area, I have been trying to cut back and be smarter with leftovers. While I can't wait to share with you my chicken-thyme-pear-brie sandwich or my shrimp feta pasta sauce, I also must work within the confines, or put more optimistically, the possibilities of my fridge.

A few weeks ago, I made a mango-avocado salsa to go with some halibut for some friends. I had a large amount of cilantro left and no idea what to make so I came up with a cilantro pesto. When I saw the event, Leftover Tuesdays, hosted by Project Foodie, I decided to enter this recipe. The pesto will last for about two weeks if you keep it in the fridge and the lemon juice helps prevent discoloring. I have eaten about 4 dinners already from this one recipe. In keeping with the Leftover theme, I used some flamingo shaped pasta that I have had lying around.

Cilantro Pesto

1 ½ cups packed Cilantro leaves
1 garlic clove, peeled
¼ cup walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and blend until smooth. If it is not smooth, you may need to add more olive oil.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Toss with pasta and sprinkle with some extra grated Parmesan.

P.S. Do you need/have some meat? Poach a chicken breast in a deep frying pan or sauce pan. Place the chicken in the pan, cover with water so that the chicken breast is half-way submerged, bring to simmer, cook on one side for about 5 minutes and then flip over the chicken breast for another 5 minutes. Continue to do this until the chicken is completely cooked (the meat will be white with no pink visible). Cut it into small pieces and mix with your pesto and pasta.

When the moon hits your eye...

2008-01-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

So the other day, when two of my good vegetarian friends, Jennifer and Sarah, came over for dinner...I was puzzled by what to make. How do you have a dinner party without meat? Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the well loved pizza stone peeking out of the cabinet and it hit me...PIZZA!!!!!!

It is easy and yummy and fun to make with friends. So, I threw together a pizza dough recipe and left it to rise, as I ran to the store. Where I bought half the produce department thinking we would need plenty of options. When Jennifer and Sarah arrived, we blared some music to dance and sing to while we cooked. Before we knew it, we had created Pizza with Garlicky Eggplant and Balsamic Caramelized Onions. It was delicious!!! Not too overpowering with garlic and onion but just the right combination of flavors. I was very happy to have leftovers the next day.

(picture by Jennifer)

Pizza with Garlicky Eggplant and Balsamic Caramelized Onions

(recipe makes one 12 in pizza)

Pizza Dough

I use Tyler Florence’s recipe because the dough for a pizza is ready in about an hour. I only use ½ tablespoon of salt or I think it is sometimes way too salty. In addition, if you don’t have a mixer (I don’t), mix in the flour by hand and then knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elasticity.

If using yeast scares you or making bread is not quite at your skill level, Whole Foods, Trader Joes or other grocery stores make good ready made pizza dough.

Toppings

½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 ½ cup Mozzarella

¼ cup Parmesan

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tomato sliced

Sautéed Garlicky Eggplant (see below)

Balsamic Caramelized Onions (see below)

Preheat oven to 475º with the pizza stone in the oven for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pizza dough on a flour surface so that it is about ⅛ inch thick and in your desired shape.
Drizzle with olive oil and using your clean hands or a spoon spread the olive oil around the dough.
Once the pizza stone has been heated, open the oven and put the dough on the pizza stone (be careful not to burn yourself- I burnt one finger this time!).
Very quickly without burning yourself or making a huge mess, spread the basil and ½ cup of mozzarella over the pizza (place the basil under the cheese or it will burn)
Then put on the vegetables (depending on the size of your pizza and personal preference you may have too many toppings so put on as much as you desire).
Top the vegetables with the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust browned.

Take out and enjoy! Yummy!!!!

Sautéed Garlicky Eggplant

1 small eggplant

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil

Peel the eggplant and chop into ½ inch cubes.
Place the eggplant pieces in a colander and sprinkle heavily with salt. Place a bowl or other heavier object on the eggplant to weigh it down.
Let sit for 30 minutes and then rinse all the salt off the eggplant.
Using your hands squeeze the excess water out of the eggplant.
Peel the garlic clove. Either chop it into very small pieces or crush it with a garlic press.
In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic until browned.
Add the chopped eggplant and continue to sauté moving around the eggplant with the spatula.

Once the eggplant has softened and browned, remove it from the heat.

Why salt the eggplant?
My great-grandmother used to say that you have to "sweat the bitterness out." According to the Joy of Cooking, one must salt the eggplant in order to prevent the highly absorbent vegetable from soaking up a large amount of oil as it cooks. It also gives it a creamier texture, which most people prefer. Jennifer, Sarah, and I were too hungry to salt the eggplant and our pizza was still yummy. However, in the future, I would salt it because it would improve the texture of the toppings.

Balsamic Caramelized Onions (Jennifer's recipe)

1 Vidalia Onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste.

Peel the Onion and cut in half. Slice the onions into strips.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sautéed the onions moving the onions around with a spatula until they soften and brown.
Drizzle the onions with the balsamic vinegar and mix with a spatula.
Cover the pan and stir occasionally until the onions have caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.

P.S. Have some leftover garlicky eggplant and balsamic caramelized onions? Make some pasta, toss with the eggplant and onions, top with some Parmesan or goat cheese, serve as dinner the next night.

And so I begin...

2008-01-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

Lately, a common refrain in my life (besides the “why do you want to go to law school?”) has been, “Could you teach me how to cook?” Most of my friends can feed themselves. Rarely, however, do they feel that they make something that is truly yummy and satisfying. The goal of this blog is to share some recipes, techniques and tips that I have slowly developed (and am still working on) over the years. It will not be perfect but I hope that it will help give you some ideas that you can use to develop your own style of cooking.

I have been cooking since I was very young. My mother raised us on the principal that “If you can read, you can cook!” (although I was cooking before that). I was always welcome in the kitchen. Learning to cook is about following the directions and then, as you become comfortable, learning to make substitutions and experiment. I tend to stray often and make up my own things so I am going to try to make my creations into actual readable recipes. I currently live with two scientists so they will make sure I follow the directions. It is important to remember that sometimes you will mess up but you need to have fun!

Ok, enough talking, you will never learn “if you don’t jump in and get floury” (Wow! That was corny! First and last time I will say that…).

I want to share with you, as my first post, the very first recipe I remember making and mastering: my brownie recipe. This has been adapted from the Betty Crocker Alpha-Bakery
Cookbook, my very first cookbook.

Fudgy Brownies (as adapted from the Betty Crocker Alpha-Bakery Cookbook)

This recipe makes a 8x 8 pan of brownies. If you don’t have that (and I don’t), a round cake pan also works fairly well or double the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan.

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ stick of butter

½ cup white sugar

¼ cup of dark brown sugar

2 eggs

⅔ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350˚ and grease the pan with butter.
Melt butter and chocolate together, over the stove in a saucepan on medium low heat.
Once melted, remove from heat and mix in the rest of the ingredients. In the absence of a trivet, you can place a towel or pot holder on the counter to protect it from the heat. Add the vanilla last. Mix well to make sure there are no chunks of flour or sugar.

Pour into pan and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes (if you use a cake pan, reduce the baking time to 25 minutes).
After 30 minutes, insert a toothpick or knife in the center of the pan, if it comes out clean, the brownies are ready. If it is still gooey in the middle, put it in for 5 more minutes. Watch the edges of the brownies, they will be the first to burn.

Ginny’s Butter Rules:

RULE #1: USE REAL BUTTER (unsalted is normally better) IN BAKING!!! It will taste 100% better. If you are worried about being healthy, the trick is to have a small piece and bring the rest of it into work…your co-workers will love you and you will not eat the whole thing yourself.

RULE #2: NEVER CUT THROUGH THE PAPER WRAPPER TO MEASURE BUTTER—for example, you only need ½ stick of butter (4 tablespoons). Count on the outside of the wrapper until you reach the appropriate line, take a knife and gently press on that line, making an indention, but do not pierce through the wrapper just make it so when you take off the wrapper you will see the line. Unwrap the butter and cut the butter on the small indention. If you cut through the wrapper you often get pieces of the wrapper stuck to the butter, which you need to pick off (A pain!) or it will end up in your food (Gross!).

P.S. This blog is a work in progress as I figure out how to write about the food I make, how to take nice photographs of the food and how to use all this blog technology. I welcome all suggestions, comments and questions. Please email me.