Easy, cheap, and healthy too

Still not updating... but one day, really!

2011-08-03T15:20:00.001-05:00

I am looking for recipes to use at my building and am going through a site that I will not name, in order to try to be nice. Its 'Easy Dinner Recipes" should sometimes be named "How to kill your family slowly." Like the recipe that says to wrap kielbasa in bacon, then sprinkle brown sugar all over it. And serve with mashed potatoes. Wow, for seriously people???

So, one day, somewhere in the who-knows-how-distant-future, I will return. Because good food can be good for you, too. My own preferences can help others. And that would be cool.

PLEASE make these for me. And tell me how they are.

2011-06-03T17:46:00.002-05:00

Seriously. I'm gone for 10 weeks, but this sounds like such a wonderfully fantastic idea. I swear this woman has my exact taste in foods, I want to make everything from her blog. But especially this. But where can I find TVP in Morocco??? That's right, I can't.

http://www.carascravings.com/2011/05/no-bake-cookies-vegan-high-protein.html

April Daring Bakers Challenge: Maple Mousse in an edible container

2011-05-02T09:33:00.002-05:00

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

(Mine won't be there because I finished it late. And then I posted it to the wrong blog yesterday. Nice job, me!)

I made the vegan tofu mousse. Except that I couldn't find agar agar (the gelatin replacement) so it's just non-dairy, not really vegan. I'm not sure how it's supposed to work, but I found that the tofu flavor really overpowered the maple, unfortunately.

I decided that my edible container would be this really cool baked mochi that I found at Wheatsville. It looked tasty, and it is! I think I like it best plain.

Vegan Maple Mousse (I recommend taking this only as a starting point):

Ingredients:
• 1 package (12 oz.) soft silken tofu
• ¾ cup (14 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp agar-agar

Directions:
1. Let tofu come to room temperature. Using a food processor, blender, or hand mixer, blend tofu until just smooth.
2. Sprinkle agar-agar on the maple syrup and let it rest for 10 minutes. Heat maple syrup on the stove to a boil and then let it simmer 5 minutes until the agar-agar has dissolved.
3. In a food processor, blender, or a large bowl, blend the tofu with the maple syrup until creamy.
4. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Remove from the fridge and divide among your edible containers.

Lazy Granola

2011-03-01T22:10:00.002-06:00

I'm copying this directly from my friend Safire's blog.

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Lazy Granola

1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
7 c oats
Mix the honey, oil and vanilla in a small saucepan until they are all melted. (I always forget this step and it turns out fine.) In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir until combined. Spread out on a greased 9×12 pan and cook for 10 min at 375 degrees. Take it out of the oven and stir it. Return it to the oven and then turn the oven off and it let sit overnight. Wake up to a yummy breakfast and a house that smells amazing!

You can add a whole bunch of stuff to this to make it even better. I always use coconut oil and it gives it a very sweet flavor, but canola oil works fine too. You can add almonds, cashews, or any kind of nut that you wish. Shredded coconut, raisins, chopped dates, flax seed, and sunflower seeds.

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

I made this a week ago and have been loving it ever since. I sprang for coconut oil, which my child somehow manged to make fall out of the cupboard, a couple days later, wasting $8.09 but I had everything else in the house. I could have used canola oil, I had that at home. I added wheat germ to mine, it's so yummy, the kids can't tell it's healthy.

Daring Bakers February: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

2011-02-27T12:27:00.005-06:00

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Well, it has finally happened. Something I never expected. Something I didn't even think possible. Something I would have never imagined as a possibility.

I found a dessert I don't like.

Not just, "oh, this could use X" or "Next time I'll do Y." No, it was a, "what did I just put into my mouth??" moment. I actually warned my first taster that I thought it went horribly wrong.... and was told it was perfect, exactly what it should taste like. Apparently, Panna Cotta is not my thing. Luckily, plenty of other people around thought it was wonderful and amazing, if rather rich, and it was all eaten. Just thinking about it again kinda makes my stomach turn.

HOWEVER, it is apparently a great recipe... if you go for that kind of thing! I've got an experimental non-dairy chocolate version in the fridge... it tastes delicious, so we'll see if it solidifies nicely! At the least it would be good frozen.

Traditional Panna Cotta - Recipe from Giada de Laurentis

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).
3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.
The second recipe from this month was a cookie that reminds me of a Lacey - lots of butter, not many 'solid' ingredients. They were super quick and easy!

Nestle Florentine Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5.3 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups (480 ml) (160 gm) (5 2/3 oz) quick oats
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) dark or milk chocolate

Directions:
- Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.
- To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.
- Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.
I skipped the extra chocolate part [- While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).]
- Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean).
I skipped the extra chocolate part [- Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.]

My big return... I hope!

2011-01-22T16:12:00.004-06:00

Well, I realized something. Or re-realized it, more accurately. One of my housemates, who moved out this semester to work in another city, emailed me asking for menus from our building so that he can make himself some good food. All of the house recipes are meant for 60-90 people (depending on whether it was lunch or dinner.) Clearly, that's not quite what you would make at home. So what should I be doing? Typing up the family-sized versions and putting it here! Obviously not of everything. That would take WAAAY too much time. But still, it double-dips with what I'm already doing and adds new stuff to share. And that makes me happy.

My first part of this is to point out some great resources you can use as-is. Or as-are. Whatever. Here we have King Ranch Casserole and Mexican Rice. A nice Tex-Mex dinner, when I added a side. And where did these fabulous recipes we use come from? One source, actually: Homesick Texan. I've also gotten a Kolache recipe and a great Flour Tortilla recipe from her.

Not being from Texas, or anywhere south, a lot of 'favorite' foods here are completely new to me. Collards? What, people actually eat those?? Turns out they're good! King Ranch Casserole was one that people enjoy that I had never heard of at all. So I went searching for a good recipe, preferring blogs as always. I came across a good recipe for King Ranch Casserole by Lisa. Warning: *not* the healthiest thing you'll eat. Another day, I wanted our great cooks to make tortillas because they're SOOO much better fresh. And she had it again: fresh flour tortillas. I found a few Mexican Rice recipes, but they all seemed... off. Where did I find the right one? Yep, from the Homesick Texan, good Mexican Rice.

Now, whenever I'm looking for a Texas favorite, I go to her first and it tends to work pretty well! It's true that I usually need to adjust a few things when multiplying a recipe by 10 or 12, but having a good place to start is great.

December Daring Bakers: Christmas Stollen

2010-12-28T23:32:00.004-06:00

ok, sorry, I'm a day late here. I am visiting family and enjoying being done with my master's! Maybe I'm not sorry at all. Ok, nope, not sorry.

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

I had never heard of this before, but plenty of other daring bakers were excited about it. Apparently, it's traditionally made in the shape of a baby jesus in swaddling clothes. Anyone else a little grossed out by that one? K, just checking! I am in the middle of a card game, so just the pictures for now:

Enjoy!

Daring Baker's Challenge November: Crostata

2010-11-27T08:51:00.001-06:00

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

When I saw this month's challenge, I was excited. A crostata is an Italian tart. I like tarts. I do tarts a lot. Well, when I can. And a new kind of tart sounded fun. It also sounded not-too-difficult which is great as I am desperately trying to finish everything I need for my degree by the deadline next Friday!

One of the directions of the challenge was to get creative with the tart filling. I love chocolate tarts, but that seemed just too easy. I automatically thought of the amazing black forest cake that someone made for my birthday and immediately decided that cherries would be the best way to liven up the chocolate tart.

So, tart cherries and chocolate were picked. But then what? Pastry cream or ganache? I got a little bit realistic here and realized a simple ganache would be much quicker. To make the chocolate flavor more intense, I called in my favorite secret ingredient: coffee. It would work great without the coffee, I'm sure, it just makes the chocolate more intense. Just a little in the cream really made a difference. I think it turned out great and my 3 taste-testers seem to agree.

It's not perfect, though, and the one glitch was completely avoidable. The crust recipe said to bake it for 20 minutes (with weights), then 5 without. Well, after that 25 minutes it looked a little soft and not very browned. And I left it in for about 10 more. Next time I'll take it out at 25; it tastes great, but it is just much too hard. I guess I should have realized that the different kind of crust is *similar* to what I usually make, but the person who wrote the recipe knew what she was doing.

The recipe for the crust is first, followed by my recipe for the filling. One thing to note is that I made this in a 10-inch springform pan and had a tiny bit of ganache left over - little enough that I could have added it on (instead of saving it to eat plain!) In a 9-inch tart pan, or in a pie pan, you may have more than you need.

Pasta Frolla (Crostata dough) recipe, straight from Simone:

Ingredients:

1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
grated zest of half a lemon
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Making pasta frolla by hand:

Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.
[Added by Beki, based on Simone's directions] To blind-bake the shell (bake it empty), preheat oven to 350.
Roll out 1/8th-1/4th inch thick on a piece of plastic wrap. Carefully move to the pan, plastic wrap side up, press into edges, and remove plastic wrap.
Poke with a fork in several places and place a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper over the bottom of the crust. If you have dry beans or pie weights, put them on top (I didn't use any, it was fine. Just poke it with a fork a lot so it doesn't bubble up.)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil/parchment. Bake 5 more minutes and remove. Let cool completely.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:

Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface
See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

Cherry Chocolate filling

Ingredients:
1 can tart cherries in water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 oz chopped chocolate (I used good-quality chocolate chips that are 63% cacao)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsps ground coffee (if you don't want to strain it (see step 4) you can use instant, but it may not be as good)

1. Drain cherries in a colander (I recommend over a dish, the juices are very tasty!)
2. Put chocolate into a small mixing bowl. Line a mesh sieve with 4 layers of cheesecloth and place over bowl of chocolate.
3. Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, until it boils.
4. When cream boils, add ground coffee. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Pour through sieve into chocolate to remove all the grounds.
5. Stir chocolate and cream until chocolate melts and is completely incorporated.
6. Toss cherries with the sugar (in the colander works fine.) Spread cherries out in cooled tart shell.
7. Spread ganache over sugared cherries, encouraging it down between them. Allow to set at room temperature or refrigerate for 20-30 minutes and remove from fridge. You can store it at room temperature. If you refrigerate it, let it come to room temperature for (preferably) 2 hours before serving.

Daring Baker's Challenge - Pumpkin donuts!

2010-10-27T00:23:00.000-05:00

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

We had a choice of donut kinds: pumpkin, bamboloni (which is what they call them in Tunisia, I guess it's from Italy), or raised. Apparently the raised ones bake pretty well, so I was gonna do them if I had time. Then I realized that I don't have time.

I did force myself to take a break, though, to make one kind. And pumpkin it was! I thought it sounded delicious. I prefer cake donuts for the most part, and of course these were. I was surprised at how easy they were to make. The prep didn't take too long, but frying them up definitely did. I was happy to have a reason to use the candy thermometer that my mom sent me :) Mine didn't hang around long enough to get glazed, but there is glaze in the recipe below.

And now for the beautiful pictures. Of the whole process for once. Rolled out dough, half-cut out, in the oil. Draining on paper towels. Broken open on a pile of whole ones to see the gorgeous inside and out. And then stacked up on a plate before everyone came by and gobbled them down. So lovely and wonderful. Taken on my friend's good camera, because mine is quite crappy and I still haven't replaced it. My friend who, for once, decided to delete a bunch of his pictures.... and accidentally got rid of mine at the same time. Heart broken. You have no idea.

There is one minor redeeming fact. A girl here is taking a picture of every thing she eats for a year. And happened to get one of the pumpkin donut holes. Here it is. The sole lonely surviving picture.

Pumpkin Doughnuts:

Preparation time:
Hands on pre-chill prep time - 15 minutes
Chilling time - 3 hours
After-chilling prep time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 30+ minutes (Depends on the size of your pan)

Yield: About 24 doughnuts & 24 doughnut holes

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour 3.5 cup / 840 ml / 490 gm / 17 ¼ oz
Baking Powder 4 teaspoon / 20 ml / 24 gm / .85 oz
Table Salt 1 teaspoon / 5 ml / 6 gm / .2 oz
Cinnamon, ground 1 teaspoon / 5 ml / 6 gm / .2 oz
Ginger, ground ½ teaspoon / 2.5 ml / 3 gm / .1 oz
Baking Soda ½ teaspoon / 2.5 ml / 3 gm / .1 oz
Nutmeg, ground ¼ teaspoon / 1.25 ml / 1.5 gm / .05 oz
Cloves, ground 1/8 teaspoon / .6 ml / ¾ gm / .025 oz
White Granulated Sugar 1 cup / 240 ml / 225 gm / 8 oz
Butter, Unsalted 3 Tablespoon / 45 ml / 42 gm / 1.5 oz
Egg, Large 1
Egg Yolk, Large 2
Pure Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon / 5 ml
Buttermilk ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon / 135 ml /
Pumpkin 1 cup / 240 ml / 285 gm / 10 oz (Canned pure pumpkin or fresh cooked and pureed pumpkin – DON’T use pumpkin pie mix!)
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

Powdered Sugar Glaze:
Powdered (Icing) Sugar 2 cup / 480 ml / 250 gm / 9 oz
Whipping Cream (About 32% butter fat) 4 Tablespoon + more if needed / 60 ml

Directions:

Whisk together the first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (the mixture will be grainy and not smooth). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin. Using rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours.
Sprinkle 2 rimmed baking sheets lightly with flour. Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch (12 mm to 15 mm) thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) -diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.
Using 1-inch (25 mm) diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes.
Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches (40 mm). Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F (185°C to 188°C). Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely.

Glaze Directions:

Whisk powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons whipping cream to blend. Whisk in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form medium thick glaze.
Can be made up to 3 hours ahead.
Add doughnut holes to bowl of spiced sugar and toss to coat.
Spread doughnuts on 1 side with powdered sugar glaze.
Arrange doughnuts, glazed side up, on racks. Let stand until glaze sets, at least 30 minutes.

Daring Bakers September: Decorated Sugar Cookies

2010-09-28T21:30:00.005-05:00

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

While most people will think of sugar cookies as no kind of challenge, my sisters will laugh and tell you what disasters I've done with them in the past. I don't know why they were so difficult! The worst attempt is when I was going for purple and green (forget why - maybe spring?) and ended up with this grayish purple and green substance the consistency of toothpaste. Yuck. Luckily, this recipe was quite straight-forward and a few self-proclaimed sugar cookie haters enjoyed it.

The cookies were to be decorated with royal icing in ways that remind you of fall. I had never made it before, but the recipe is really simple. I mixed it up, went to get the food coloring, and -- the food coloring, where did it go??? I still don't know. So it became an EXTRA challenge: decorate cookies creatively all in white. I enlisted a few friends. Working at the table in the dining room, I found out that many people wanted to help! After I finish my finals, I think it would be a fun finals-break activity (yes, that's 10 weeks away.) You can find the full directions here.

Below is my favorite that I decorated, but there are plenty more! I thought I had taken pictures of every single one, but they're not all here!!!!!! :( I'm heart broken. I've been doodling this star on the sides of my class notes since high school. Fall = more classes = more notes = more stars.

This one is cookie monster. Someone said "we should do one that's cookie monster" T, from Vietnam, says, "Ok, I'll do it!" So I ask him, "T, do you know what cookie monster looks like?" And his response was something like "oh, it's a thing?" so he got someone with a laptop in the room to look it up for him. This was the result. I added the cookie crumbs on his face.

This is a running dog (tilt your head right). Courtesy of B, in picture below.

K, from Korea, made this one. I like it!

Made by K who ended up decorating more than anyone else! It's the name of where we live.

The portrait of B (on the cookie, B is on the left), made by R (holding the cookie.)

K's family, labeled and all.

And S's city. Even boys got in on the fun :)

Saturday Splurge idea

2010-09-23T22:55:00.003-05:00

Tonight at the house we made Take 5 candy bars. If you've never tried them, you probably shouldn't. They are horribly addictive, I'm sure. People were excited at the thought of making a good candy bar. We talked about other things, too, and one of the topics was marshmallows. If I ever sell baked goods, one of the things will be homemade s'mores. Homemade graham crackers, high quality chocolate (fair trade would be a nice touch!) and marshmallows. I love Cooking for Engineers, and he has good info on marshmallows with a nice recipe, too. Before I open a bakery, I'll have to find a good corn syrup source that doesn't add the high-fructose variety. A vegetarian (ie no gelatin) version could be worth a search, too.

Recipe suggestion: Soy-Sesame Zucchini

2010-09-13T10:54:00.003-05:00

I may not have tons of time to tell you all about what I've been making myself, but here is something I found that will appear on my building's menu next week. The whole blog looks pretty cool, and includes nice pictures, but I really should get back to writing... ick.

Soy-Sesame Marinated Zucchini (original found here)
4-6 servings

4 medium zucchinis (about 1 1/2 lbs), halved lengthwise and chopped to 1/2-inch thick half-moons
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Combine all ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Cover and chill for 3 hours or up to overnight, turning once or twice to evenly distribute the marinade.

Nutrition information (based on 4 servings): Cal - 58 Fat - 1.5g Protein - 3.2g Carbs - 7.4g

Daring Bakers' August Challenge - Ice Cream Petit Fours

2010-08-27T08:00:00.005-05:00

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

(Written while cake is baking:) First, I would like to rave about beurre noisette. Browned butter. Whatever you want to call it. I wasn't sure how this would work, and was a little cautious making it. But ohhhhh my. Noisette means hazelnut in French, and it's called that because the butter turns brown and gets a delicious nutty flavor. Like a kind of unbelievable one. And oh-so-awesome. Just the batter for the cake is wonderful, I can't wait to see how it is cooked! And with the ice cream I picked... excited!

Which ice cream, then? The amazing delicious lemon ginger one that I used last month! It was so tasty, but I only got one spoonful of it and I didn't find the time to make it again. I was so excited when I realized I could do it for this month's challenge. I *do* have the recipe for you this time, unlike last month when I totally lied and never posted it. (Sorry.) I decided to try to be a little healthier and used half and half instead of heavy cream. I'll let you know if that turns out to be an ok thing.
Ok, it has all been made (and eaten!) now. The icecream was still really good, but I think that if you decrease the fat like that you *really* need to make it in an icecream maker. It was more icey than creamy. Which made it hard to bite with the cake. The cake itself was really good, as expected. I will definitely make it again! I decided for the ganache to use a cooking light recipe that I have made before to go on a (peanut butter chocolate) cake, which was delicious. Unfortunately, it was a little thick, so while it's still pretty, it's not quite as pretty as I wanted. I'll quit talking now and let you see the prettiness:

The Ginger Lemon Ice Cream recipe is one I tinkered with, while the others are straight from their original sources. Enjoy!

Ginger Lemon Ice Cream
Yields about 1 quart

2/3 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger
2 cups heavy cream (or half & half, if you like)
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
Zest of 2 Lemons
5 large egg yolks

INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the ginger into thin slices. In a saucepan, place the ginger slices and add just enough water to cover. Bring the water to boil and blanch the ginger for two minutes. Drain. Save the ginger and discard the liquid. (This is important! Ginger has the lemon-like ability to curdle milk if not blanched.)

In a separate bowl, combine the finely grated lemon zest, sugar and milk. If you have a clean processor, throw the sugar and lemon zest into it. Mix with milk thoroughly until the sugar dissolves.

Place the reserved ginger back into the saucepan. Add the milk mixture, half a cup of cream and salt. Warm the mixture. Once warm, remove from the heat. Cover and steep for at least an hour or up to a whole day. I did overnight.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

Rewarm the ginger mixture. Remove the ginger slices with a slotted spoon. Dispose of the ginger. Slowly pour the warmed mixture in the egg yolks and continue to whisk.

Once combined, return the egg-ginger mixture to the saucepan. Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until it thickens and coats the spoon. Strain the mixture into a bowl and combine with the remaining cream.

Immediately chill the mixture in the freezer. Once thoroughly cooled, freeze it in your ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Get the other recipes by clicking below.

Brown Butter Pound Cake
19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Ganache
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup evaporated fat-free milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 2/3 cup granulated sugar and next 4 ingredients (through 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate) in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
Cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves and chocolate melts, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla; cool completely.
Use immediately if wanting to coat something, otherwise chill 30 minutes.

Assembly Instructions – Ice Cream Petit Fours

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

Making it official

2010-08-01T12:52:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone. I have been telling myself this was unnecessary, but seeing how things are going and knowing it's still summer, I must admit it aloud. I am pausing my blog for the most part until I have more time. My thesis is due December 3, so I'm hoping to get back to normal after that. We'll see. I may post from time to time, but it won't be the 2-3 times a week that I was aiming for.

I will definitely continue with the Daring Bakers' challenge, do not worry! That means you'll at least get a splurge every month on the 27th. And if I carry a camera around more often, I should get more pictures of food that I have made for the house. We'll just have to see how it goes.

'See' you later!

Daring Bakers' July Challenge - Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

2010-07-28T20:56:00.003-05:00

Yikes, I went through all the trouble of making this, and then forgot to post it on time! NOOO! Well, I'm only a day late, I'll have to hope that will do.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

My freezer was having issues getting cold enough, so my cake was pretty soft. I decided to keep the chocolate cake with whipped cream inside, but added just a touch of cilantro to the cream. For my two kinds of ice cream, I went with ginger-lemon and coconut (I'll post the recipes soon for you.) The Ginger-Lemon is now officially my favorite and was AMAZING. The coconut was coconut. So, good, but not anything to drool about. I may pretend I have time to make the ginger-lemon one again this weekend. So tasty.

First, a picture of the separate parts, to get you started:

And then, the beautiful cake:

I served it outside, so while I had hoped to get a pretty pick of the layers, it was hot out and started melting really quickly (in addition to the freezer problem) so by the time I had cut a few pieces, it was no longer pretty. At all. Oh, plus it was 11pm, so the lighting was bad. See, I tried to take a pic outside before we got smart and moved it to the hallway:

Tous mes excuses...

2010-06-29T17:24:00.002-05:00

All my apologies! So, where the heck have I been??

I happen to be in charge of feeding 60 college students at the moment. I live in a co-op, and right now I have to feed people breakfast, lunch and dinner, all while keeping them happy and staying within budget. A budget that equals about $130 per person, per month. Not too bad, but not fantastic, either.

Here's how it works:

I get a cool meal idea into my head.
I write down said cool idea and make sure it has a meat entrée, a vegetarian entrée, a carb side and a vegetable side (plus all dinners have salads.)
I go dig up recipes for said cool meal.
I print out recipes and put in kitchen for cooks.
I look in pantry, fridge and freezer to see what ingredients we still need.
I order ingredients from various outlets and, on occasion, go to the store to pick some up myself.

Not too bad. It's the finding recipes that is the hardest part. Loads of things don't scale up well. Have you tried to cook for 60 people lately? Yeah, I didn't think so. Actually, I don't do the cooking. But I have done it before, so I know what works or not, to an extent. I have some resources for large-scale recipes, but they often aren't that cool. Try finding beef korma for 50. Or bibimbop for 60. (If you do find them, let me know, they are two of the ones I'll need to print by Sunday night!)

Luckily, once the cool recipes are found, I can scale them up with a nice program I have and then pull it out again in 3-4 weeks so people can have more of it.

I really should be taking pictures. I really should be putting my recipes, on a smaller scale, here for you. Even if I am not cooking, I can still take credit as the evil overlord, trying to trick people into eating more healthy foods.

I think I'm winning.

Daring Bakers' June Challenge - Chocolate Pavlovas

2010-06-27T22:29:00.003-05:00

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I will add more, including the recipes, tomorrow, but I have to have this posted today! So here it is for now. (And oh, yeah, I finally had time to make sthg!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!)

S--er, Tuesday Splurge: Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger

2010-05-18T10:17:00.001-05:00

These go together because one is the result of the other. Unless you set out to make them both intentionally, which is even better! This 'recipe' takes a decent bit of time, but not a lot of attention. I think it's a cool use for left-over ginger, though you could also peel it, wrap it up and keep it in the freezer (thanks, Karen!)

I can't remember where I got the idea, so I apologize to whichever foodblogger put this into my head :) It's less of a recipe and more of guidelines. I'm actually not quite sure what I'm going to do with it. I may try to throw the ginger in the processor and sprinkle it over gingerbread the next time I make it. The ginger syrup has only been used in a rhubarb compote I made today. (Which I ate with plain yogurt and granola - YUMM!) I'm gonna try to make ginger ale with club soda. I think it would be good with any fruit, drink, icecream, or yogurt. I used the photo from this person because it looks a decent bit like mine. Will take a photo when I remember, but I wanted to get this up.

Candied Ginger and Ginger Syrup
Serves: Depends on what you use it for! Time: An hour or so

Ginger
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water

1. Peel your ginger and then slice very thinly. This will make it take less time for the pieces to give their juice to the syrup and suck up sugar themselves.

2. Put about sugar and water into a small sauce pan with the sliced ginger. Turn on to low. Stir gently until sugar dissolves and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add more sugar and water if your ginger is not covered. You will want to add more water if the bubbles while it boils look really big. That's a sign that it's a lot of sugar and will be solid when you pour it out, not syrup.

3. When you're tired of waiting for them to boil, take them out and put them on a wire rack to drain and dry.

4. After it cools for a bit, pour the syrup into a container to keep in the fridge.

I am still alive

2010-05-15T23:44:00.003-05:00

First - FINALS ARE OVER!!!!!!!! I have officially turned in everything. I had one test. Wrote one 22 page paper. One 26 page paper. And gave a 4th semester French final and graded it. The last thing I have to do this semester is hold office hours on Monday in case anyone wants to see their grades. Why am I telling you? Because I know I've gotten woefully behind in my updates. I promise it will change. Probably tomorrow. But right now, I'm gonna tell you my favorite cereal.

Lightly Frosted Shredded Wheat. Post brand. What's the brand matter? Well, there are three ingredients: wheat, white sugar, and brown sugar. I like that. The other main brand puts in corn syrup and gelatin and some other stuff. I'd rather pass, thanks. I keep two cereals on my shelf - shredded wheat and granola. I eat them almost every morning, and always with soy milk (regular milk isn't my friend.) And a banana. Or apple. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day to prepare a more filling and "real" meal, but I don't want my easy food to be crap. That would be no good at all.

Ok, I do believe it's bed time :)

World's Healthiest Brownie!

2010-05-04T22:22:00.001-05:00

Ok, I can't say for sure that they are. But they are by far the healthiest brownie I've had the pleasure to devour. Yet so moist and fudgy Let me show you a picture, to get your mouth watering.

These are another delightful product of Cara's kitchen. I made them last night and then fed bites to basically everyone who walked by. Everyone thought they were good. Many people did comment that they are not as sweet as standard brownies, and that's just fine in my book. I ruined one guy's world after telling them how wonderfully healthy they are after he had his bite. One of my friends has been experimenting with gluten-free recipes and was happy to learn that this one is, too.

In some ways, I wasn't sure if these should be considered dessert or main course. Yep, you read that right. So, why then? The main ingredient is black beans. Yep, plain ol' beans. With avocado as another key ingredient. No, I didn't lose my mind, it really is that brownie picture. And they really are good. Cara mentioned that they are better if you let them sit overnight, but I could never let them ALL sit. Actually, I was glad because I think I prefer them the first day. This way I know, though, and that is useful.

Below is the amazing recipe. I really like that it only uses one 'bowl' - the food processor (or blender.) She used egg replacer, I used real eggs. Sometime I'd like to try them with flax. She used agave nectar, I used honey. Both work, but maybe this is part of the reason I preferred them on day 1! I upped the servings to 16 (she had 12) just because I am picky and like my brownies to all be nice squares. Feel free to make 12. Or 9. Nine would be nice squares, too...

Black Bean Avocado Brownie
Servings: 16 Time: 15ish to prep, 30 to cook

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 of a ripe avocado (I measured, mine was 6 Tbs)
6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso

- Preheat oven to 350º F. Line an 8x8" pan with parchment paper.

- Combine black beans, eggs, honey and avocado in food processor. Blend for a few minutes, until completely smooth. Add remaining ingredients and continue blending until fully combined, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Batter will be thick.

- Spread into parchment-lined baking dish. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the brownies comes out clean.

- Yay, so easy!

Nutrition info (for 1/16th of recipe): Calories - 150 Fat - 2.0g Carbs - 27.7g Protein - 7.4g

Saturday (non) Splurge: Healthy No-bake Cheesecake

2010-05-01T16:41:00.012-05:00

You know, I just realized after typing this all up that it's not actually a splurge at all! It's delicious. It's pretty darn healthy. You could easily replace the sugar with your favorite other sweetener if you'd like to decrease the carbs and calories (listed at the end) even further. This is just good food. Let me give you a little background on this wonderful treat. I don't like NY style cheesecake. I do like ricotta cheesecake, but it takes a lot of time. This one takes a little time, but not your effort. What effort, then? Let me tell you, friendly reader.

Blender. Or Food Processor. It does its thing over a little time. As long as you don't do it by hand (I used an immersion blender on the test batch last night - took too long) you will can do something else while your machine whirs away. "Umm, ok, what are we blading to death?" Cottage cheese! Yep, you read that right. Cottage cheese cheesecake, my dear friends, is at the heart of this delicious dish. I got the inspiration for this from Cara's Cravings. I think she's my new best friend, even if she doesn't know it.

She mentioned that she blends up cottage cheese with sugar and some kind of flavoring to make a cheesecake-flavored treat. Well, I figured, if it tastes like it, why not throw in a stabilizer and make it into one? Amazingly, I could find NO recipe for such a thing. Not that they don't exist, they might well could. They just did not appear in my search. Which meant I had a mission: to figure out how much gelatin to add to make it stay solid.

I think I more or less got it. I put in too much gelatin in the big batches (we have large bags of plain stuff here) but I corrected for it below. I made two kinds: peanut butter and chocolate. Mmmmmm. And are they that gross, heavy, fat-laden crap you get from the store? (see, i told you i don't like NY cheesecake) Not a chance! Even though my people agree that the texture is a little off (only b/c of the gelatin, one I did alone was right), the flavor is on for a no-bake. Hooray! I put mine into a pre-made graham cracker crust, because I found a box of them in the pantry, but do what you think works. The recipe *is* the size of one of those, though. If anyone tries this out in a regular dish, let me know how much or if you increased it and I will include that info as well.

The cottage cheese blends nicely to a thick, creamy consistency. It may look a little grainy in the end, you can sort of see it in the chocolate picture (on the right) but you can't feel it in your mouth and it tastes good.

No-bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Serves: 12 (could be 8) Time: 5 minutes of yours, 15-20 minutes total, plus 2+ hours to chill

2 cups 2% cottage cheese (one 16 oz container)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs peanut butter
1 packet gelatin (about 2 1/2 teaspoons or 7 grams)

- Put 1/4 cup cold water in a microwave-safe bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let set while you continue.
- Put first four ingredients in your blender/processor. Let blend until you see no recognizable cottage cheese lumps. You will still see little grainy bits, though.
- Microwave gelatin 30-60 seconds (microwaves are so different!), until completely liquid
- Turn on blender/processor and slowly pour gelatin into it if you have an opening through which to do so. If not, add small amounts at a time and mix after each addition.
- Pour into pre-made shell, or to do crustless, just pour into 8" pie tin (or 6-8" spring form pan)
- Place in fridge, allow to chill for at least two hours or until set

Chocolate variation: Increase sugar to 1/2 cup, replace peanut butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Nutrition info (1/12th of peanut butter cake, no crust): Calories - 80 Fat - 2.8g Carbs - 7.8g Protein - 6.2g

Nutrition info (1/12th of chocolate cake, no crust): Calories - 60 Fat - 1.0g Carbs - 7.9g Protein - 5.5g

Nutrition info (1/12th of store bought crust): Calories - 98 Fat - 5.0g Carbs - 20.7g Protein - 0.8g

Broccoli Kale Salad with Ginger Sesame Vinaigrette

2010-04-29T15:27:00.008-05:00

Well, the other day I realized that there was a giant box of Kale that was delivered last week and not used in its destined recipe. Sad, because a good bit of it had gone bad. Cool because it gave me an excuse to use it. There was also ginger from last week. Again, a pity that it wasn't used. But what luck for me! Today's menu for enchiladas got over-ruled because it would have been the 3rd tex-mex meal in a row. And the last two were good, so it's not like I could have pretended I was showing them how it's done. Instead, I decided fried rice was the way to go. Then what Kale thing on the side? Something cool and fresh, not all cooked up.

I searched a bit and found that if you massage lemon or lime juice into raw kale, it sort of cooks it in a way and makes it easier to chew. I approve. This meant lemon or lime was a must. Lime, ginger.... with sesame and rice vinegar! Hooray!

I woke up pathetically late (I have no idea why my alarm clock crapped out on me) but the three of us still managed to finish in time. Thanks to my helpers! The recipe here is a bit of a guess, as mine was a much bigger portion and not measured. When I make it again, I'll pay more attention to that. I'm labeling this as a make-ahead, because you really need to let the kale sit in order for the citrus to work its magic. Oh, and all the haters of my kale chips? Loved this. Gobbled it all up. I was happy that I got a big bunch on the first pass because there was none left for seconds. I did make sure to just say "Broccoli Salad" on the menu board, in order to not scare them off.

Broccoli Kale Salad
Serves: 4-8 Time: 30 minutes (then it sits for at least an hour)

1 bunch kale
1/4 cup lime (or lemon) juice
1 small head of broccoli (about 2 cups-ish chopped)
1 clove garlic
1 piece ginger, about the size of your garlic clove
3 Tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup pecans (optional)

- Wash kale and broccoli
- Cut or rip up bits of kale (whichever you prefer - cutting won't bruise it like lettuce) to 1-2 inch pieces
- Put kale into bowl, sprinkle with lime juice and then 'massage' the juice into the leaves. Basically, mash the leaves around in the juice for a couple of minutes.
- Cut broccoli into small pieces, like 1/8 the size of a regular dipping broccoli and toss into bowl
- Mince the garlic and ginger together and sprinkle over bowl
- Add your sesame oil (if you're lucky enough to have it, it does give a nice flavor), sesame seeds and olive oil, toss to coat kale and broccoli
- Add craisins now, or just before serving
- Add pecans (toast them, if you want) just before serving (or else they'll be soggy gross)

Nutrition info (for 1/6th of recipe, no pecans): Cal - 102 Fat - 4.2g Carbs - 15.4g Protein - 2g (And LOADS of nutrients, like vitamins A&C)
Pecans add (per 1/6th of recipe): Cal - 62 Fat - 6.5g Carbs - 1.2g Protein - 0.8g

Baked Kale Chips

2010-04-28T21:20:00.005-05:00

Ok, not a lot other than the recipe tonight. 7 Class days left! 17 days til my last final (25 pg paper) due! But, I cannot forget my public. Especially when my little sister (who tasted these over Easter) asked where the recipe is. Here you go.

It's from everyone and no-one, basically every food blogger has done them. They're pretty good, but the flavor is concentrated. If you don't like cooked dark leafy greens, you may not like this. One suggestion: Use less salt than you think. Mine came out too salty. Kale is supposed to be all kinds of healthy, and I tried it in something else that I really enjoyed. This was good, I just don't think I could eat more than a handful or two before feeling like I had the flavor stuck in my mouth. Does that make sense? Probably not. Sorry. Moving on, then....

The drying is important here, since you want them crispy in the end. And you can salt before or after cooking. I think it sticks better if before b/c of the olive oil. But maybe that's why mine were a bit too salty for my taste.

Oh, and why make them in the first place?? It's good for you. I'll let her explain.

Baked Kale Chips
Serves: 6-8 Prep time: 10-15 minutes Bake time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

One bunch of kale, green or purple washed and dried well
1 T Olive oil
Salt

- Preheat oven to 375ºF
- Fold each kale leaf in half along the stem and use a knife to trim the stem off.
- Tear into pieces a little bigger than what you'd want to find in your hand (they'll shrink in the oven) maybe 3-4 inches.
- Put into a bowl, toss with olive oil to coat. I had a really big looking bunch, but 1 T was actually just fine.
- Spread on a baking sheet (Whole Foods says it's ok to be more than one layer, my sheet was big enough that I can't say for sure) and bake at 375ºF for 15 min.
- Test the pieces for doneness at 10 minutes by waving one in the air a bit until it's room temperature and biting. It should crisp. If it's chewy at all, put them back in the oven. You can stir if you want to, but I didn't and it was fine.

Nutrition info (I'm using info for 1/2 cup boiled with 1/8 Tbs oil, I can't find facts for baked kale): Calories: 32 Fat: 1.8g Carbs: 3.4g Protein: 1.1g

Saturday Splurge: Lemon Ricotta Muffins

2010-04-24T20:05:00.005-05:00

First, a big apology. My only post this whole week. I had a big presentation on Wednesday for my statistics class (ugh) and I have a 20-25 page paper due on Monday at 3:30. Not. fun. But, that's what they pay me to be here for and all, so I'll do it. You just can't make me smile about it. At least not during the last 3 weeks of the semester.

ON TO THE TASTINESS! Well, then. Today I went to an HP quiz (if you have to ask what HP stands for, I'm not telling you) and then came back and had a huge allergy attack, probably from sitting outside for 3 hours at said quiz, and barely advanced on above-mentioned paper. Then I figured out what to make for dinner and realized I hadn't done my Saturday labor: making treats. Having spotted Ricotta in the fridge the other day, I already had one in mind.

I made these before, about six months ago, actually, and the original recipe is from Rosa's Yummy Yums. I've posted it below with my changes. We don't have real lemons (or limes), which means I went with juice. Lime juice, instead of the original lemon. Still SUPER good. And they didn't take too long. Probably stuck to my one hour that I'm supposed to do for once. These should be even faster for a smaller batch. Quadrupling recipes really does make a difference. That much more flour to measure. And sugar. And baking powder. That much more butter to melt. And then mixing it all together has to be more careful. Then, no cooking spray. So have to grease 48 muffin holes by hand. Don't worry, I'm giving you the single batch recipe :)

I'm fairly certain that these could be made more health-fully without sacrificing much (if any!) of the flavor and texture, but the house gets whole milk ricotta so I'd need to go buy the other stuff to find out. A summer project, I suppose. I hope that didn't scare you, they're really not bad as-is (203 calories), which is why I think it'd be no problem to make them even better!

Lime Ricotta Muffins
Serves: 12 Time: about 30-40 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (+2 Tablespoons if you want to make them pretty)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Grease twelve 2 ½” by 1 ¼” muffin-pan cups or line with paper baking liners.
3. In large bowl, stir together flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. In medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix together ricotta, milk, melted butter, eggs and lime juice.

5. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in ricotta mixture; stir until just moistened.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups.
7. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over muffins.
8. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until muffins are golden brown, tops spring back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.
9. Immediately remove from pan; serve warm. Or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Saturday Splurge: Birthday Cupcakes with Boiled Icing

2010-04-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

Ok, this one is on the healthy side for a good scratch cake, especially one that's iced, but the boiled icing can be a MAJOR pain, which means it's going into the Saturday section for that reason alone. One of my friend here turned 22, and she often makes things for other peoples' special events, so I thought it was fitting to make *her* something cool. I wanted to do a cake, but then realized that we really don't have proper pans, but we DO have cupcake tins. I figured that if I was going to do that, I may as well make it look purposeful. Check the pictures to decide if I succeeded on that front.

If you make cupcakes out of this, the recipe should give you 20. After drawing out what I wanted to write with little circles, I decided I needed 4 dozen, multiplied the recipe by 2.5, and ended up with 52. Some were a little small, so 20 is a better estimate. Your time will be different than my convection oven, but I think it was 15-20 minutes. Not bad at all! That's about how long it took me to do the silly icing. The first batch, anyway. As luck would have it, I was just short and got to have the pleasure of making it a second time.

This icing, though is like a dream. A marshmallow-ish, light, fluffy, can't-stop-eating-it dream. I may get a candy thermometer for this icing alone. Because, let me tell you, boiling sugar and water to the soft ball stage, checking for ball-ness in a container of ice water, is not actually my idea of fun. The cake is pretty good, but I would probably go for a strawberry box cake and just put this icing on top the next time.

Yes, I know, I left the bowl of extra icing in the 22. I moved it and took another pic, but you couldn't see the details as well!

Birthday Cake with Boiled Icing (AKA Italian Meringue Icing)
Serves: 16-20 Prep time: 20-40 minutes, depending on your icing luck

Cake directions:
Cooking spray
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour (or 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (or skim milk + 1Tbs lemon juice)

- Preheat oven to 350°F
- To prepare cake, coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray; set aside.(Or line cupcake pan with papers, or grease & flour)
- Place 2 cups sugar and unsalted butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.
- Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mix after each addition.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove cake from pans. Carefully peel off wax paper, and cool completely on wire rack.

Icing directions:
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

To prepare icing
- Place cream of tartar and egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form.
- Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring mixture frequently, and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 238°F.
- Pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Be careful to AVOID beaters!
- Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Spread icing over tops of cupcakes.

Nutrition info (for 1 cupcake, or 1/20th of recipe): Calories - 264 Fat - 8g Carbs - 45g Protein - 3.8g

Spaghetti Carbonara

2010-04-15T19:40:00.001-05:00

Well, I have made this twice now, and still no picture. I think that it does not want to be photographed. The first time I just forgot. The second time, I almost forgot. Then I ran upstairs for the camera, brought it down, switched to macro, clicked the button and.... the battery died. Fine. Good news is that it worked well twice. I did a bit of searching, and found one that looks a good bit like mine to post for you, but it's originally from here. It should because he used the same recipe! I didn't find mine from him, though the only real difference is that I didn't sprinkle mind with pepper at the end. Oh, and I always use whole grain pasta because I prefer the taste.

I actually made this last Saturday, before I ran my first 10K. I seriously under did my training, so I will give this pasta, as well as the tasty bread and salad I had, credit for being able to run the full 6.2 miles; I didn't stop to walk once! (Well, the water areas don't count, I wanted to get the water IN me, not just ON me.)

I wouldn't have thought of this as easy or fast, but it totally is. It will take about 3 minutes longer than it takes to cook pasta. It does take some attention to the timing, but that's it. Think you can handle that? I hope so! The recipe calls for bacon, but the first time I just used olive oil because there was no bacon to be had. You will want to use real parmesan. The first time I made it was with dried fake stuff and it was way salty. Not recommended.

Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves: 2-3 Cook time: 20 minutes, if your water is slow to boil

1/3 lb spaghetti
1 1/2 tsp olive oil (or 2-3 strips bacon)
1 clove garlic
2 eggs
1/3-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

- Put pot of water on to boil as you get out your ingredients. If your frying pan is slow to heat, start heating it up, too. You could also mince the garlic now if you want to, or just crush it with the flat side of your knife.
- When water is boiling, add pasta. Beat eggs in a small bowl with parmesan.
- Wait about 5 minutes for the next step. Go set the table. Pour yourself some water. Make a salad. Something like that.
- In hot frying pan, add oil (or bacon - if using bacon, cook til crisp, then remove from pan) and garlic. If it is minced, leave the garlic in the pan, if not, remove from pan.
- AS SOON AS pasta is barely al dente, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water (I just set a mug in the sink for that) and put into frying pan, tossing to coat with oil/bacon grease and garlic goodness
- When coated, REMOVE FROM HEAT and pour egg mixture onto noodles (still in the pan!) Your pan is hot, your noodles are hot, so the egg will cook just fine and the parmesan will melt just fine. Add some of the pasta water if you want a thinner sauce.
- Serve, you're done!

Nutrition info (for 1/3 of recipe, made with oil): Calories: 280 Fat - 11.1g Carbs - 29g Protein - 16g

Beer Bread

2010-04-13T08:25:00.003-05:00

WAIT!! Before I lose some of you with the name, you can make it with any carbonated beverage. And it really is easy! Takes no kneading! No rising! 5 ingredients! Actually, you might need to wait longer just so your oven will preheat. *sigh of relief* Ok, now that I've got you staying here...

I made this last night. I wanted to make something savory but quick and really good. One of my wonderful kitchen helpers suggested beer bread. I've seen the mixes in the stores, but thought it sounded.... well, white trashy. I have learned that, in fact, it is not. At all. It is very good. The recipe I used is originally from here. You can find her whole wheat bread recipe here.
I actually made four kinds: plain white, garlic & herb white, plain wheat, cheddar & dill wheat. My favorite by far was the cheddar & dill wheat (pictured.) The bread has a really nice texture and a crisp crust that really surprised me. All in all, I highly recommend that you go buy a 12 oz carbonated beverage and make this today. You know, next time I'm at the store, I should get some sparkling cider. Add a little extra sugar, some cinnamon and nutmeg... mmm.....

**Update: I did end up making this with a bottle of cider and it did indeed taste apple-y and work! I threw in about 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 cup plumped raisins. Another time I forgot the baking powder, and it was still good, just a lot denser. Hooray!**

Beer (or soda) Bread
Serves: 8-12 Prep time: 5 minutes (yes, seriously) Cook time: 45 minutes

3 cups all-purpose flour (or 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose)
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder (to make it rise)
1 (12 oz) bottle beer (or other carbonated beverage - club soda if you don't want it sweet.)
[add 2 oz (1/4 cup) water if using whole wheat]

- Preheat oven to 375º and grease an 8-inch loaf pan
- Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl, stir
- Slowly stir in beer and mix JUST until combined. Batter will be quite thick.
- Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 375º for 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack as long as you can stand. If you cut into it before 10 minutes, it will be really soft, a bit crumbly and not keep its shape (trust me!)

Storing: You should be able to keep this in an air-tight container for 3-5 days, depending on your climate (if you don't just eat it all.)

Nutrition info (for 1/8th of recipe): Calories - 197 Fat - o.5g Carbs - 39.7g Protein - 5g

Saturday Splurge: Almond Poppyseed Cookies

2010-04-10T19:25:00.007-05:00

This is another great slice & bake recipe. I have been busier with classes (like running around crazy, not getting enough sleep and HOPING that I am keeping my work straight) and so treats that take less time have definitely been needed. Last week I made these. I was worried that they might be a little bit too unusual and not sweet enough for some, but they got a great response!

If you are looking for the original recipe, and her suggested additions, go here. I will certainly be trying more of them later, but here is the version I made, and my picture to go with. I was really excited to make these because there is a large container of poppy seeds in the kitchen that had just been begging me to find a use for it. I had to oblige, of course!

Almond Poppy seed Cookies
Makes: 50-60 cookies

2 sticks (8 ounces; 230 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup poppyseeds

1. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in the egg yolks, followed by the salt and any dried fruits, zest, nuts or seeds. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than overbeat at this point; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, that’s okay just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula.

2. Tear off a piece of plastic wrap about 18 inches long. Turn half the dough out onto the plastic wrap and (with clean hands!) shape it carefully into a log. Once shaped, roll up in wrap, repeat with other half, and refrigerate for 2 hours to 3 days. If you want to make sure they're perfectly round, re-roll after 30 minutes.

3. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper [or not - I didn't and only one out of 150 broke!]

4. While the oven is preheating, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/4 inch (10 mm) thick. (You can make the cookies thicker if you’d like; just bake them longer.) Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) space between them.

5. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

Do ahead: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature, or in the freezer for a month. Unbaked logs can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Oven-steamed veggies

2010-04-06T22:59:00.003-05:00

Life is over-running me this week, which means that this post is (gulp!) untested by me! I think that it looks really good, though, and should work just fine.

Clearly for most people this will be an idea when you already have something going in the oven. No reason to turn the oven on *just* for vegetables. But if there's already chicken, a casserole, or something else in there, why not?

I actually got the idea here when I was looking for a better way to steam veggies. You see, in my building we do not have a giant steamer. Instead, we boil veggies. This almost always leads to mush on the bottom and half-cooked on the top. Not ideal at all. Instead, we can flip on the oven, stick 3-4 baking sheets in, and let it do its thing.

Small-scale steamed veggies
Serves: as many as you like! Time: 20 minutes

- Cut vegetables into large bites and put on large piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with salt or spices if you want, fold the foil over, and seal the edges.
- Bake at whatever temperature you already need for about 10 minutes. 10-15 should do it at 375º, but I would check them at 8 minutes for any temperature. You'll lose steam and heat this way, but I think better safe than soggy.

Large-scale steamed veggies
Serves: as many as you like! Time: 30 minutes (because cutting more takes more time)

- Cut vegetables into large bites and put on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt or spices if you want, cover with foil and seal the edges.
- Bake at whatever temperature you already need for about 10 minutes if the over is already on.
- If this is the only thing you're baking, bake at 375º for 10-15 minutes. Check one tray at 8 minutes. You'll lose steam and heat this way, but I think better safe than soggy.

Saturday (time) splurge: Apple chips!

2010-04-03T08:15:00.003-05:00

When I made kale chips a couple of weeks ago, there were some fans and some... disgusted faces. Dark, leafy greens aren't for everybody. One girl asked, "I wonder if you could do that with apples?" I didn't think it would work in a regular oven, and told her so. Then I went upstairs to my room to find out. Turns out that you can!

A quick search tells me I've only used the word here once, but I should confess: I am terribly impatient when it comes to food. That was a good bit of my motivation starting this blog - find food that doesn't take so long and then write it down somewhere so I wouldn't forget. For this reason, many of the apple chip recipes looked like they took WAY too long for me. When I say many, I mean all that looked viable. It was sad.

So I said, too bad, I'll try it my way anyway! Please note that a key element in this is that my building has a convection oven, which is great at drying things out. Terrible when you're baking chicken or salmon, but great for the chip adventure. I set the oven to 300, thinly sliced my apple, tossed it in cinnamon and sugar, put it in the oven and set it for 20 minutes, expecting to turn the pan then. I went back to my reading.

Was I ever surprised when, at 20 minutes, they all looked close to done. I took one out, shook it like a polaroid til it cooled, and bit into a nice, crispy chip! I was thrilled and pulled the whole sheet out! So, the convection oven gets a major thumbs-up from me on that point. I think they were too dark, though none of my testers thought they tasted burnt, so next time I'll try 275. I *really* wish I had a mandoline or disk for a food processor that slices super thin, because then these would take 5 minutes before the oven, and that would be amazing in my book. For a regular oven recipe, I am copying one (originally from here) for your convenience.

Baked Apple Chips
Serves: 2-3 Time: 1:45 to 2:15

2 apples
approx. 2 tbsp cinnamon
optional: 1 Tbs brown or white sugar
parchment paper (or silpat)
baking/cookie sheet

- Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees F. (LOW SETTING!)
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To prepare the apples:
- Holding the apple steady skin side on the cutting board, with a steady hand and a sharp knife, slice the apples into thin uniform slices. This will be easier if you cut the apple in half first. You want them to be thin, but not TOO thin. You also want them to be as even as possible so that they dry out evenly. Baking the core makes it edible, so remove only if you want to.
- Place the slices in one layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with a layer of cinnamon, and if using sugar this is when you sprinkle it on too.
- Place on the middle rack in the oven, and keep the door slightly open by placing a wooden spoon in the top corner of the door. This needs to be done so that a vent is provided for the moisture from the apples, otherwise the apples won’t dry out properly and you will be left with a mushy and somewhat mouldy mess of apple slices.
- The total baking time will be between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours, depending on the thickness of the apple slices. Check the apple slices at 1 hour to ensure they are not burnt. Check the apple slices again at 1 1/2 hours. (To do this, remove one slice from the oven, and place on a plate. Allow to sit for about 3 minutes, then eat it. If it is crispy, then you’re good to remove them! If it’s still a bit soft, keep the apples in for another ten minutes.) With the slices I baked, at 1 hour and 20 minutes they were almost done. I checked again every 5 minutes, and at 1 hour and 40 minutes they were completely finished.

Note: even when they are finished baking, when immediately removed from the oven, they will still be slightly soft. This is why to test them, you need to allow one slice to cool at room temperature for 3 minutes before testing it.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for about 3 minutes on the parchment paper. Then, remove them from the paper and place on a plate to serve.

For storage, simply place them in an airtight container and store at room temperature until ready to eat.

White Chicken Chili

2010-04-01T16:50:00.000-05:00

Yet another "must take camera to making lunch" event for which said camera was forgotten. The one below was borrowed from here. And not much of a lead-up either, because I have tons of homework hanging over my head right now. The short version: one of the girls I cook with had this over spring break and then got the recipe. It's super good. I didn't know what to expect, but I was loving it. We couldn't get white beans (apparently the place we get our food from doesn't have them???) so we used regular kidney beans. Still good!

You can let it simmer for as long as you like, but the time listed should be fine, that's all ours simmered for the 100ish servings we made. I think the toppings really are nice, too, because then it can be personalized. The nutrition info looks crazy, so I double-checked it, and from what I can tell it seems ok... though I don't have cans of beans to compare it to.

White Chicken Chili
Serves: 6 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes

1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbs fresh chopped cilantro
2 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp red pepper sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans, drained (1 1/2 cups)
1 (15 oz) can white kidney beans, drained (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
Toppings: tortilla chips, green onions, diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese and sliced avocado

1. At the same time as #2, heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
2. **At the same time**, cook chicken with a little oil.
2. Add all ingredients into large pan (where the garlic & onion were cooked.) Heat to boiling, then reduce to medium-low. Simmer uncovered until heated through.

Nutrition info (1/6th of recipe, no toppings): Cal - 755 Fat - 9g Carbs - 98.9 Protein - 71.6g

Hot cocoa taste test (& recipe)

2010-03-30T16:00:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I made a 'decadent' purchase - $0.55 worth (2 1/2 Tbs?) of Valrhona cocoa powder. If you don't know what the brand is, google it. Basically, it's supposed to be one of the best you can get and super-crazy good. For a couple of months I've been wanting to try to make some good hot cocoa mix. I am ok with the instant stuff for the most part, but all of the fake things in it started to make me wonder what real stuff tastes like. I know I already shared one, but that takes real chocolate and fat-free evaporated milk: two things I don't always have on hand.

Not that I am a complete stranger to homemade cocoa. My mom used to make it on the stove top for us fairly often. Probably because it was cheaper than mix. Actually, maybe it was because me and my little sister used to steal the canisters and keep them in our room and eat the mix dry. That and fruity drink mix. I wonder if my parents ever knew it was us... Plain cocoa cannot be stolen and eaten in the same way, though it does make a tasty hot chocolate.

Back to the point! A few years ago, my mom also told me about something she and my little brother called "cocoa tea" - plain cocoa in hot water. She said it satisfied her chocolate craving. Her chocolate tooth must be different than mine, though, because that stuff never really mixed and didn't taste like much to me. I wanted something fast, easy and that could give control over the sugar added. After some searching of food blogs (in vain), I found it on the Hershey's site, of all places. Their directions and proportions are a little funny, so I've redone them below.

Now, the taste-test bit. With my recipe in hand, I compared 3 kinds: Swiss Miss (instant!), recipe with Hershey's, recipe with Valrhona. Both recipes were made with whole milk, the instant with skim (since it already contains milk.) We had some interesting results. Hershey's definitely tasted most "classic" which I suppose isn't surprising coming from Americans! We thought that the instant just tasted off. The Valrhona had a darker color and flavor, which I really liked. A Korean girl that tasted the three preferred the instant - she said because of the vanilla and other flavors.

I tried this recipe with soymilk, and it mostly worked. Just watch it carefully or else it will boil over and get everywhere. Trust me. I also tried it with one of my favorite uses for instant: thrifty girl's mocha (pictured.) Recipe variation included below.

Hot cocoa
Serves: 1 Prep time: A beautiful 3-5 minutes

1 Tbs cocoa
2 Tbs granulated sugar (or less! or substitute!)
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

- Put the cocoa and sugar in an empty cup
- Add about 2 tablespoons of the milk, and mix until the cocoa and sugar are incorporated. Add a tiny bit more at a time if yours does not turn into a smooth, thick liquid.
- Add remaining milk, give a quick stir, pop in microwave for 90 seconds (stir every 30 seconds if you want, but do watch it to make sure you don't make a mess.)
- Stir, add vanilla if you like or other flavor and drink!

Nutrition facts (using whole milk): Calories - 256 Fat - 8.6g Carbs - 39.2g Protein - 8.8g

Nutrition facts (using 1% milk): Calories - 212 Fat - 3.1g Carbs - 40.3g Protein - 9.2g

Thrifty girl's mocha
Serves: 1 Prep time: A beautiful 3-5 minutes

1 Tbs cocoa
2 Tbs granulated sugar (or less! - I made mine with just 1 Tbs)
3 Tbs half & half (or cream or whole milk)
1 cup freshly brewed coffee
1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

- Put the cocoa and sugar in an empty cup
- Add the half & half, and mix until the cocoa and sugar are incorporated. Add a tiny bit more if yours does not turn into a smooth, thick liquid.
- Pour in your coffee and stir - mine got that gorgeous foam you see on top.
- Stir, add vanilla or other flavor if you like and drink!

Nutrition facts (using half & half, 1 Tbs sugar): Calories - 122 Fat - 5.9g Carbs - 17.5g Protein - 2.6g

Nutrition facts (using whole milk, 1 Tbs sugar): Calories - 90 Fat - 2.2g Carbs - 17.6g Protein - 2.7g

Saturday Splurge: Daring Bakers' Challenge: Orange Tian

2010-03-27T08:00:00.004-05:00

For a while I have been thinking about joining an online cooking or baking group. However, many of them have weekly things to make, and I just can't commit to that right now. And then I found the Daring Kitchen. Their challenges are just one per month. And it's not just any old thing, it's a challenge. After the first one, I'll agree that it is at least making me do new things! Here it is:

The 2010 March Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse's Cooking School in Paris.

None of the recipe is *tooo* complicated. It just has a lot of steps. Did you know you can caramelize sugar without adding any liquid? I didn't! Or that you marmalade contains the whole orange? Not me, clearly. Or what segmenting an orange means? All new, fun things. Lucky you - I figured out how to do a jump in my blog! So the full recipe, the four pages of it!, is posted if you'd like. Just click the link after the picture.

Keep reading if you want the full recipe

Orange Tian

Preparation time:
- Pate Sablee: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake
- Marmalade: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch
- Orange segments: 20 minutes, overnight to sit
- Caramel: 15 minutes, overnight to sit
- Whipped Cream: 15 minutes
- Assembling: 20 minutes
- Freezer to Set: 10 minutes

Equipment required:
• Cookie cutters . Ideally, you should have about 6 cookie cutters to build the desserts in and cut the circles of dough (see photo). The cookie cutters will be the size of your final dessert, so they should be the size of an individually-sized tart mold. If you don’t have round cookie cutters you could use an individually-sized cheesecake mold without its base.
• A food processor (although the dough could be made by hand too)
• A stand-up or hand mixer
• Parchment paper or a silicone sheet
• A baking sheet
• A rolling pin

For the Pate Sablee:
Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
baking powder 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Directions:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.
Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade:
Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked
Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.
Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges.
Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.
[See YouTube video on how to segment them)

For the Caramel:
Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams
Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.
Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.
Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.
[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:
Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon
In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:
Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.
Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.
Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.
Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

DRAT it all! (But a new look!)

2010-03-26T22:21:00.003-05:00

Last week I made some Kale chips. I was apparently ahead of some other food bloggers for once! Even though people have been posting about them for years! But, I kept forgetting to take a picture and being too busy to write the post. So what happens? Somebody else I read often (with a large following) posted hers today. Darn it! And yesterday I even failed to post. *sigh* I could have been before her. I guess that's what I get. I'll post them later. Or next week if I don't have anything else. I might not. Moving on, then...

I found a fantastic thing! How to make Blogger look...... DIFFERENT! I know people can do it. I know normal people do it. So it couldn't be that hard, right? Right?? Well, today I found a blog with tutorials on how to do some of the stuff and started playing with it. Yay! More fun changes to come, do not worry :)

Grilled figs

2010-03-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

Back when figs were in season (September??) I made these from a recipe in CL, although it isn't available through their site (I wonder if they're changing their policies?) Anyway, it was nicely simple for something that, for me at least, is out of the ordinary. When they're in season, figs can be affordable for a special treat. Otherwise... well, they can be pretty expensive. Instead of tossing them on the grill, I did mine under the broiler. It was quicker because I didn't have a grill heated up, but these would be a fun and 'fancy' barbecue dessert for those of us in climates where fig season is still barbecue season.

The recipe uses plain yogurt. I prefer low fat or full-fat because the texture of non-fat is so... weird. It's runny and almost grainy when compared to the others. No good. Greek yogurt would be really nice, too. Or crème fraiche, mmmmm... if we ignore what it's made of. You could add a sprinkling of seeds or toasted wheat germ or cereal if you want a crunch on top.

Grilled figs
Serves: 2-4 people (1-2 figs per person) Time: 15 minutes

4 fresh figs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon honey (or double it if you want)

- Mix yogurt and honey, place in fridge if you are doing ahead of time, freezer if directly before cooking the figs
- Wash figs and cut in half, then put cut-side up in a baking dish
- Turn on broiler (or if you have the grill going, brush it off and oil it)
- Place figs under broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until they get a bit more plump and it looks like the juices are trying to run away (on the grill, this may be harder to tell, so be careful not to burn them!)
- Place a dollop of the honey yogurt on top of each half and serve while warm

Nutrition info (for two figs with low fat yogurt mixture): Cal - 146 Fat - 0.8g Protein - 2.9g Carbs - 35g

Spring Break slacking

2010-03-22T23:39:00.002-05:00

Well, as you might have noticed, I did not post a single thing last week. I meant to, I really did. But it was spring break and for part of it, I went camping. Then when I got back, I meant to post, but then I realized how much homework and grading I needed to get done before today. And it still didn't happen. And I had to make something for the Daring Bakers' Challenge (more on the 27th!)

I'll be back on track in the morning, don't you worry. I may even post some camping foods, though I wasn't prescient enough to take pictures. Ah well, can't win at everything.

(Almost) failed experiment and brownie cutting tip

2010-03-11T12:57:00.003-06:00

I guess the first part of this is what NOT to do. There was a ton of fresh mint left over from last Saturday, so I thought, why not try to use it? And what does mint go with? Chocolate, of course! I thought I would be clever and chop up some fresh mint and put it in those amazing cocoa brownies.

I rinsed a large bunch, pulled off each leaf, carefully chopped them into little bits and stirred it in. No flavor. Rinsed, pulled, and chopped a slightly large bunch. Fingers starting to get annoyed at the action. Stirred it in. Not really a flavor. Gave to two others to test. Nope, really just no flavor. Hmmm.... getting discouraged, but will not be beaten to easily! Extra large bunch, rinsed, pulled, chopped! Stirred! Refused to taste in case there was no change. Flavors should blend more in oven, yes? Put in oven, set timer.

As I pulled it out, I could finally smell some mint. Thank goodness. Not nearly done, so put back in for 15 more minutes. When I pulled it out, I was much too impatient to wait for them to cool, so I used an old trick: Cut hot brownies with plastic. A plastic knife would be perfect, but any piece of straight plastic works. In the kitchen there is a (slightly melted) cheap plastic spatula that is really thin, and I used that. Put brownie in mouth: mmmmmm, a nice touch of mint.

Moral of the story: Use mint extract to make mint brownies. And then cut them with a plastic knife while hot. Fingers hurt from chopping, so I'm done now.

Pumpkin Raisin Bites

2010-03-09T14:33:00.002-06:00

The recipe I used called these cookies, but nobody who tasted them agrees. The words "fluffs" and "puffs" were suggested, but one person pointed out that fluffs sounds like lint and I think puffs is too much like cream puffs or puff pastry - both things with a lot of air and these certainly leave no room for that. They are light and fluffy, but solid.

Don't tell the house, but I snuck something healthy into their diets for my Saturday treat-making duties. The other day I saw that there was a giant thing of pumpkin. And raisins. And many cans of evaporated milk. And whole wheat flour. I thought about pumpkin pie, but it's so much nicer to be able to grab something as you walk past instead of getting a plate. (And I ended up making crustless pumpkin pie a few days later so the pumpkin wouldn't go bad.) As I started looking for pumpkin raisin cookies, I came across one low-fat vegan recipe on many different sites. It looked good, but I doubted its ability to fly in a rather non-vegan environment. After the addition of fat and animal products, and replacing some of the wheat flour with white since I didn't have pastry flour, I thought I had a great recipe.

I mixed everything up and when it came out, they were super tasty. Not at all cookie-like. And not that sweet. Being a person who doesn't need super sweet, I was ok with that. I think they'd be a great treat just the way they are. I also know my audience, though, so I mixed up some glaze that I used on about 3/4 of them. Perfection! I think that the recipe should be really easy to play with - if you want to omit the butter, just use 1/2 cup skim milk. If you want to use soy milk, like the original, go for it. Prefer splenda? That's ok, too. Like any low-fat recipe, these are best eaten the same day or frozen.

Pumpkin Raisin Bites
Makes: 24 3-inch cookies Time: 35 minutes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup butter (unsalted preferred)
1 cup raisins (or use 1/2 and replace other 1/2 with nuts)
Spray oil

- Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a baking sheet
- Place raisins in a small bowl and cover with HOT water to plump
- Mix dry ingredients (first 8) in a large bowl
- Add remaining ingredients, including raisins, and mix completely
- Drop by tablespoons onto greased baking sheet. They can be close together since the low butter content means they will hardly spread, if at all.
- Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned
- Remove from sheet and let cool on a rack
- Eat like that, or add the glaze

For the glaze (optional):
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (whole milk gives the thickest glaze, skim the thinnest)

- Mix powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl
- Dip each bite, upside down, into the glaze. Dip only the top as the glaze will run down the sides on its own. The glaze will harden if you don't eat them all first.
- NOW you can eat it! :)

Nutrition info (1 bite, no glaze): Fat - 2.1g Calories - 94 Carbs - 18g Protein - 1.5g

Saturday Splurge: Slice & Bake Shortbread Cookies

2010-03-06T08:46:00.001-06:00

We finally got powdered sugar again and I wanted to celebrate by making shortbread cookies. Ok, actually, I had been wanting to do shortbread for two weeks, but we had been out. My only concern was the time. I get one hour of labor credit for making stuff on Saturdays. I usually take longer, and don't mind, but rolling, cutting, re-chilling and baking shortbread for 100 people sounded a bit too tedious all the same. I knew there HAD to be a better way.

For years my family has made our own slice & bake cookies. As in, you make a triple batch, roll part of it up in plastic wrap, throw it in the freezer, and - POOF! - excellent cookies whenever you want. Since shortbread cookies have to chill anyway (which is part of what makes rolling them a pain - it needs to be all cold for them to keep their shape, but then you need serious muscle to get the dough flat, and by the time you get them cut out, they're warm again and need to chill again) I thought why not put them in logs and just cut them in circles? Less fun? Maybe. But way faster. I made a quick search of the interwebs, just to make sure it wouldn't kill anything, and what I found indicated to me that they should work out just fine.

I would be aware of a couple things here. First, if you want them to be nice circles, you will have to pay some attention to the dough as it chills. It's super soft when warm, so even after I put them in nice rolls, it got flat on one side while in the fridge. re-rolling every 30 minutes would probably work and not increase the chill time too much. The second thing is that you do need to pay attention to thickness to get them to cook properly. And don't try to dip them in cocoa before baking. I did it to some - that's the brown traces in the picture above, but they didn't taste ANY different. Not worth the time. When chilling, be sure there's no fish or other strong smell in the fridge, because the butter will pick it up like it's its baby. This is a standard recipe, so I give credit to anyone and everyone.

Slice & Bake Shortbread Cookies
Makes: about 30 cookies from a 2-inch round log Time: A whole lot less than rolling & cutting them!

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup corn starch (for sturdier cookies, use 2 cups flour, omit cornstarch)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) UNSALTED butter, room temperature (as the butter flavor really comes through, this is more important. I had to use salted and it was ok, but be sure to leave out the salt above.)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

- Cream the butter until smooth
- Add the sugar, cream until smooth
- Beat in the vanilla extract
- Mix flour and cornstarch in a small bowl, then mix into butter mixture until just incorporated
- Scoop dough onto a long piece of plastic wrap, (or several, if you want to have it on hand for small batches) making a line of dough near one edge. Be sure to leave room at the ends.
- Fold near edge of wrap over dough, and roll up dough, closing ends
- Chill in fridge at least 2 hours, up to 1 day (or freeze, well-wrapped, for maybe a month)
- When chilled, preheat oven to 350º
- When oven almost hot, remove dough from fridge/freezer, slice into 1/4 inch cookies and place on ungreased cookie sheet
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

... and Grapefruit Curd

2010-03-04T08:56:00.001-06:00

This is sort of the second half of Tuesday's post. I made them together, but I think that they are each worth their own post. This was amazing. I read recently that you can make curd (like lemon curd) with any citrus, and really wanted to try it. Then I found a butter-free curd recipe. The grapefruit were purchased. A day later, I found a great looking healthy pancake recipe. On top of that, the pancake recipe gave the option to use just whites. Leaving me some yolks for the curd. Too perfect of a coincidence to pass up.

I decided to make just a half batch (ok, I didn't have enough eggs for a whole one) and, to be honest, I'm not sure if this ever sets up the way I know lemon curd does. It didn't make it to the fridge, I stirred it up while the pancakes were cooking and it was all devoured. Well, not all on the pancakes. Some on yogurt. I became a serious fan of grapefruit yogurt in France. It's such a good combination! Why isn't it in the US? (With rhubarb and fig and pineapple yogurt, too!) I realized that this would make great grapefruit yogurt. The sugar gives it enough sweetness, yet the grapefruit and the plain yogurt keep it tart. A winner in my book.

Grapefruit Curd (Can be made with any citrus!)
Serves: 6-8 Time: 15-20 minutes, more if you want to wait for it to cool

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
2 tsps finely grated zest of grapefruit
3/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

- Place a mesh strainer over a bowl and set aside. [If you want to strain it, I didn't, but I did have a couple of cooked bits of egg in the end result.]
- In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the grapefruit juice, zest, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks to break them up. Beat some of the grapefruit mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and just begins to become jelly-like, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the curd from the heat and press the curd through the strainer. Press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd (this prevents a "skin" from forming) and let it cool completely before using. [I didn't do this either, obviously :) I just used it directly.]

Nutrition info (1/8th of recipe): Cal - 113 Fat - 2.4g Protein - 2.4g Carbs - 21.4g

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

2010-03-02T10:07:00.001-06:00

I love me my pancakes. I've probably said that before. It's sad, though, that they have so little nutritional value. Makes it harder to just make them and eat them. But then I came across this recipe that I just HAD to try. Oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes? Yes, please! It's really cool. It's oatmeal. Cottage cheese. And eggs (or egg whites). Simple enough? I think so. I was a little skeptical of how they might taste, but I really should not have been. I shared a few bites with my taste-testers, who were shocked at how simple and healthy it was. And I put a delicious topping on it to give it extra flavor. That definitely helped. But the topping deserves its own post. Let's focus on the pancakes for now.

The recipe tells you to blend it all up in a blender or processor, but if you have quick oats (what was on hand in the building) you can just mix it with a spoon. It gave it a really nice texture that everyone appreciated. If you have old-fashioned oats, you REALLY need to at least blend (or food chopper) those a bit in a blender or processor so that they make a more cohesive batter. The batter is already thick and I spread it out with the measuring cup I was using for a scoop. I used 2% cottage cheese this time, but I would try it with small curd whole milk cottage cheese, too. The original recipe used all egg whites, but I used a mix (some of the yolks went into the topping). The dark spots in the picture are where the cottage cheese was at the surface, it didn't taste burnt at all.

I had these around lunch time, and they all disappeared or I would have saved some for a snack. They are hearty enough for that. And are good with peanut butter, too. The cottage cheese and egg combination puts them through the roof in protein, and oatmeal is (obviously) a whole grain. To make it any more nutritious, it.... I can't think of anything.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Serves: 2-3 Time: Depends on your pan/griddle size - 20-30 minutes

1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)
4 eggs or 8 egg whites
Butter or spray oil for pan

- Turn on pan or griddle to medium or medium high
- With quick oats: Mix all ingredients in a bowl or in a processor/blender
- With old-fashioned oats: Process/blend oats and add to bowl with other ingredients, mix (or blend/process all of it for a smoother batter)
- When pan is hot, butter or spray with oil
- Pour into pan using 1/4 to 1/3 cup per pancake. Flatten with scoop.
- Cook on first side until edges look done and a few air bubbles stay at the surface
- Flip, cook until the color you like is reached

Nutrition info (1/3 of recipe, with 4 eggs): Cal - 255 Fat - 9.1g Protein - 21.3g Carbs - 21.6g

Nutrition info (1/3 of recipe, with 8 egg whites): Cal - 213 Fat - 3.4g Protein - 23.5g Carbs - 21.8g

Saturday Splurge: Graham Crackers

2010-02-27T10:24:00.000-06:00

If you couldn't tell, I have gotten into reading other food blogs. I think it takes the place of food network. Now that I don't have tv, my recipe and cooking and baking tips are from other 'real' people. I like that. And my time isn't getting spent on tv, so it's like this totally takes the place. One food blog that I am particularly impressed by I've mentioned a bunch of times, but this recipe was found on hers again.

I love chocolate covered graham crackers. When I was an undergrad, the campus convenience store carried a brand of them, round bite-size ones, that I would get allll the time. We got to use our meal cards there, so it was like any other food. It was fantastic. Well, the brand either quit making them, or they are just hard to find. I have looked many, many places. Other people make them, too, but the ones in the grocery store aren't that great. I love the Brown & Haley ones, but I am not a walk away from the little pink house anymore. And even the real brand graham crackers with melted chocolate on top just aren't the same.

So, I decided I would find a graham cracker recipe and put chocolate on it. I figured it might take a bit of a search. I knew Alton had one, but wanted to see if others did, too. And then I ran across SK's graham cracker recipe, entirely by accident. Wonderful with chocolate, thank you! I had some of my testers taste them without telling them what they were. Two people said "graham crackers!" right off, but several others couldn't place it. When I told one, she said "I was thinking that, but this is much too delicious to be a graham cracker." I'll take that.

I should point out to my non-US readers that these are not really crackers. They are a thin, crispy cookies. And soooo good. If you try them while still warm, they are not at all crispy. I did this at first and was very disappointed. Until my second cracker, 5 minutes later, crunched perfectly in my mouth.

Graham Crackers
The topping amount will make a heavy coating, like the store-bought ones. Make only half if you just want a light-to-moderate sprinkling.

Makes 10 4 x 4.5-inch graham crackers or 48 2-inch squares

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (375 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour (a swap of 1/2 cup with whole wheat flour or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour works well here, too)
1 cup (176 grams) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon (6 grams) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (4 grams)
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup (114 grams) mild-flavored honey, such as clover
5 tablespoons (77 grams) milk, full-fat is best
2 tablespoons (27 grams) pure vanilla extract

Topping (optional)
3 tablespoons (43 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) ground cinnamon

Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

[Alternately, if you don't have a food processor or electric mixer, you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender. Just make sure they're very well incorporated.]

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Roll out the crackers: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. [This makes a traditional graham cracker shape. Any shape will work.]

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Decorate the crackers: Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (again, this is for the traditional cracker shape). Using a toothpick or skewer (SK uses the blunt end of a wooden skewer for more dramatic dots), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. [The baking time range is long because the original recipe calls for 25 minutes SK's oven took 15, the convection oven here took about 10.]

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (and oven-grilled cheese sandwiches)

2010-02-23T08:00:00.002-06:00

I don't like tomato soup from a can. I do like one brand's roasted red pepper tomato soup, but it's a box. And I always add tobasco to that anyway. I'll eat canned tomato soup now and then, particularly with grilled cheese, but only after adding garlic powder and basil. Makes it much better. Once in Tunisia I tried to make tomato soup because you can't get it there. I based it on my own ideas of how soup my come about, using tomato paste. Disaster; not recommended. However, I knew with a recipe I could do better than the can. Last week for lunch, I decided I'd try it out for my building. Definitely worth it. It was honestly very easy and fun to make (the immersion blender is my new best friend) and everybody seemed to like it. Somebody asked if it was from scratch, and when I said yes it really surprised a few.

I forgot to take a picture (note to self: take camera to making lunch) but I found one that is the same color as mine was. She actually used a recipe from Cooking Light, but I don't think their changes are worth it (unless you have cream cheese instead of heavy cream on hand.) They save 1.8g of fat per serving, but it's not high to start with and if you have cream cheese, you're going to get sodium and other things that you won't have in the plain cream. It's up to you. For the tomatoes, do try to find low-sodium or no-salt-added if you can or else you'll have half your daily sodium intake in one bowl. I'm also adding the directions for grilled cheese in the oven, because when you're making lots, a pan is just too slow.

Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup (apparently like at La Madeleine)
Serves: 8 Cook time: About 40 min

4 cups canned crushed (or diced) tomatoes (or fresh chopped tomatoes) with juice
4 cups tomato juice OR 2 c tomato juice and 2 c vegetable/chicken stock
14 washed fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

- In a saucepan, heat the tomatoes, tomato juice, and stock (if using) on medium until hot all the way through (fresh tomatoes will need a while here, maybe 20 minutes)
- Blend in the basil leaves (in a blender, processor, or with an immersion blender) so that the tomatoes are all blended up.
- Add the cream and pepper, as well as salt to taste
- Stir 5-10 minutes or until hot enough for you.

(If you want to make this ahead, just leave out the cream until you re-heat it.)

Nutrition Info (1/8 of recipe, using tomato juice): Calories - 123 Fat - 5.6g Protein - 4.3g Carbs - 15.6g

Grilled Cheese, oven style

- Preheat oven to 425
- Put the bread and cheese however you'd like. Throw on ham or turkey or tomato or even a fried egg. The sandwich should be completely assembled (bread, cheese, bread all together) on a baking sheet
- Place in oven for 4 minutes
- Flip sandwich, let cook 3 more minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted

Yep, that easy! Mine came out nicely golden brown without any butter, but of course you can do butter or spray oil if you like.

Saturday Splurge: Beyond Cocoa Brownies

2010-02-20T08:00:00.001-06:00

Brownies. Growing up, like so many people, brownies were a common thing in my house. The Betty Crocker page was smudged with cocoa and butter and who-knows-what-else that missed the bowl (or got thrown out when lifting the stand mixer top - oops!) One thing that always seemed sad about brownies was that we basically never had baking chocolate. I'm not exactly sure why. My mom kept loads of baking supplies around. For a while, I made chocolate chip cookies every Sunday (and would take some to friends). Valinda made potato donuts once a week for maybe 6 months. (mmmm.... homemade donuts!) Our brownies, however, were constantly cocoa brownies. And it was sad. Because every time I made them, I put in the butter flavored shortening (in the days before we knew about evil trans fats) and the cocoa and wondered how they'd be with chocolate.

Since then, I have indeed made brownies with chocolate. They can be insanely good and rich. I also have realized the joys of the quick box of brownie mix. Plus it's so versatile. In my building, we do get cocoa now and then. But baking chocolate? Nope, not gonna happen. I had decided I wasn't going to make brownies. Other people were welcome to, but I didn't want to give in and have the lame attempt that just was never quite right. Until I read this post. With this recipe.

Wait..... cocoa can be an INTENTIONAL brownie ingredient?? How did I never know?? Why did I go so many years without this knowledge?? And so, Hershey's in hand, I went for it. And am I (and the 40 other people who had some) ever happy that I did. I actually had trouble convincing people they didn't have any melted chocolate, just cocoa. I call that true success. Again, the recipe is exactly as I found it, with extra comments in [brackets]. I made a quadruple batch and it even worked just fine. Impressive. And so pretty! I am sure they'd be perfect with crème anglaise, but remembered that I am, in fact, a student and studying won out over testing the theory. Another day. For sure.

Best Cocoa Brownies

Adapted from Alice Mendrich’s Bittersweet

Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies [I cut it into the smaller ones, and everyone I heard from said that it was the perfect size.]

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 5 ounces or 141 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added. (Note, many people who have tried this recipe have found that this step works just fine in the microwave.) [I couldn't get mine to look liquid at all, but once I could tell it wasn't going to, I continued on and it turned out just fine.]

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. [I did this step in a mixer with a paddle attachment.] Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes is Medrich’s suggestion but it took me at least 10 minutes longer to get them set. Let cool completely on a rack. (I go further and throw mine in the fridge or freezer for a while; it’s the only way I can get them to cut with clean lines.)

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Spicy Peanut Chicken

2010-02-19T12:51:00.002-06:00

This is a favorite of my in-laws. It's quick, easy, doubles (or quadruples) well and is yummy.

Serves 4 - 6 (4 adults or 2 adults, 3 semi picky kids and enough for 1 leftover lunch)

1/4 c chicken broth (I usually cheat and use bouillon and water)
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. brown sugar or honey
2 T. soy sauce
1 T white vinegar
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 T. vegetable oil
2 - 3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves cut into bite size pieces
1 clove garlic ( I always add more)
1 t. ginger (I keep fresh ginger in the freezer so it's easier to grate)
1 red bell pepper cut into small pieces
1/3 c peanuts
2 green onions

Mix broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and red pepper. Heat wok (or skillet) over high. Add oil, chicken, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Add bell pepper; stir fry 1 minute. Add cornstarch mixture to pan. Cook and stir 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in peanuts. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot rice.

To adjust spiciness use more or less cayenne pepper.

Peanut Butter & Jelly bars

2010-02-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

After the first try with food bars was such a great success, we decided that a variation was in order: peanut butter and jelly bars. So, I went about deciding what to replace here and there, baked them up, put chocolate over half, and........... it was gross. Well, gross compared to what I had hoped, not plain gross. Just not good. It tasted like a power bar. Ok, filling, definitely food-like, but not right. There wasn't much fruit flavor (I had used plums) or peanut butter flavor, and the peanuts had turned soft. Once we made it through most of those (I think one or two got too old first, that should tell you how bad they were) we decided to try again.

I had been thinking since the first bite of the bad batch that there had to be a better way.
The first trick seemed to be keeping the peanut halves crunchy.
Solution: Don't bake it.
The second was to make the fruit flavor hold its own.
Solution: More fruit with a stronger flavor.
The third was to find a recipe that I could adapt instead of starting from scratch.
Solution: here. The first time I made just a half-batch, since I was reeling from the terrible first attempt, but they went before I even snapped a picture!

Just like the food bars, the nutrition info on these is surprisingly similar to the pre-made bars you can buy. These are a tiny bit higher in fat, but as they cost less and have no chemically taste (especially if you use wheat germ) I am perfectly ok with that.

The second batch was easier to mix, but doesn't hold together quite as well, so I have adjusted the proportions a bit. Both of those were with craisins. For the third batch, I decided to go with dried apricots (what I had on hand) and it was really good, too, but certainly has less of a fruity taste. The apricot flavor got stronger over a few days, but who wants to wait? The craisins were great and tasted good and properly fruity, not too tart at all. Either way, I kept them in the fridge to encourage them to stick together and to make them last longer. I know I took pictures of the ones with cranberries, but here is the unpressed mound of apricot bars until I find it.

Peanut butter and Jelly bars
Serves: 6-8 Time to make: about 20 minutes, then let cool

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup good peanut butter (like just peanuts, or peanuts & salt)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup whey protein powder or toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup roughly chopped peanuts (or halves)
1 cup dried apricots (roughly chopped) or dried cranberries

- Coat a square 8x8 pan with cooking spray
- (You can wait to do this until the liquids are heating if you're quick) Combine last four ingredients (oats through dried fruit) in a medium bowl and stir
- In a small saucepan, heat honey, peanut butter, maple syrup and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they start to boil
- Remove from heat, add vanilla, stir until blended, and pour over dry mixture
- Mix until all of the ingredients are wet, pour into 8x8 pan and press down FIRMLY until it is all flat (you may want to use plastic wrap, tinfoil, or parchment paper so your hands don't get sticky)
- Chill in the fridge at least 2 hours. Once chilled, cut into 16 bars (I make mine long skinny ones)

Nutrition info (for 1/16th recipe with toasted wheat germ and apricots): Cal - 194 Fat - 7.5g Carbs - 27.3g Protein - 6.4g

I can't find a good set of nutrition facts for the protein powder, but it's lower in fat than wheat germ and (duh) much higher in protein, so you will have a slightly different balance there.

Chipotle corn chowder

2010-02-16T08:36:00.002-06:00

I wanted to make chipotle corn chowder for lunch in my building, but couldn't find the recipe I had before (ha, if I had one! I may have made it up to begin with.) In my search, I found this fantastic one from Kait's Plate. What makes it so fantastic? Sweet potatoes! They are so good and full of nutrients and just a lot more fun than regular potatoes. What's not to like?? It is filling because of the heartiness of the potatoes, a little bit creamy because of the cream and butter, and has a good flavor. I almost always adjust spices in recipes, but all I did here was add a bit of cumin, though it honestly didn't need it. Next time I may use an immersion blender on it for a few seconds, just to give it a little more thick stuff holding it together.

I admit that this was not AT ALL quick when making about 70 servings. Yep, we used 32 pounds of sweet potatoes. Do you realize how long those take to peel? And chop?? To be perfectly honest, I may not have felt so ambitious if I had known. But now that it's done, I am happy. Because it was quite tasty. Spicy enough to deserve the name, but mild enough that nobody got a runny nose or thought it was too hot. A couple of "not soup people" even went back for seconds. And it was extra wonderful because dinner turned out to be so.... sparse. I was one of the last ones in line, so several things were out by the time I got there and I ended up with asparagus and zucchini in tomato juice. Hmmm... Luckily I know how to find other food :)

I made two versions: one veggie, one chicken. For the veggie one, I used vegetable stock to make it truly vegetarian. If I were to make it just for myself, I'd use chicken stock and then just not put in chicken. That's why they call me a 'fake vegetarian' around here. For the chicken one, we had 10 lbs of chicken, so for a single recipe that would be... 2.5 lbs. It was a lot, though, far too much I think, so I'd actually suggest 1.5 lbs, max.

Chipotle corn chowder
Serves: 8 Cook time: 40 minutes (that's quite a guess!)

3 tbsp. butter
3-4 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large onion, diced
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock
½ lb. frozen corn kernels
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
5 thyme sprigs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Cilantro

- Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add sweet potatoes and onion and cook 5 minutes.
- Add flour and stir into the onion and sweet potato.
- Gradually add chicken stock while stirring.
- Add corn, chipotle peppers, cream, and thyme and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer about 10-15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender but not falling apart.
- Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with cilantro (or avocado or tortilla chips, if you like).

Nutrition info (1/8 of veg recipe, no toppings): Fat - 7.9g Cal - 269 Carbs - 46 Protein - 5.5g

Cream Puffs

2010-02-14T01:00:00.000-06:00

Hopefully we all have fond memories of our moms making, buying, or providing some sort of snack for after school. You know cookies, chips, crackers, sandwiches, pizza rolls if you believe those commercials. At our house our mom made cream puffs. I never even knew people thought they were hard to make and a cool food until I was in high school and my friends were amazed that we had them all the time. I now make them for my girls and for their teachers on special occasions like Valentines day, and yes people were amazed I made them and thought they were a very cool food.

Cream Puffs
1 stick 1/2 c. BUTTER do NOT use margarine you will be sad.
1 c. water
1 c. flour
4 eggs

Filling
pudding, cool whip, chicken salad, tuna salad, strawberries and whip cream - have fun!

Topping
frosting, powdered sugar, cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 400*. Bring water and butter to a boil in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the flour. It should hold together in a loose ball. Mix in one egg at a time. Is it really important to do just one at a time? I don't know, I've never mixed in all 4 at once so I can't tell you, I've always respected the one egg at a time rule. Once the eggs are mixed in you should have a firm batter. Scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I usually line mine with parchment paper but it's not a disaster if you don't. How big of a scoop? It's up to you, I make mine in a range of 1/8 c. to 2 tsp. depending on the size of cream puff I want at the end. I made the teacher treats in the 2 tsp size and they came out 2 bite size. Put cream puff in the oven. If you made them 1/8 of a cup scoops you're going to cook them for about 40 minutes, if you went with the 2 tsp size it will be more like 20 minutes. When they are done they will be golden brown on top and all pretty and puffy.

While they bake decide what you are going to fill and if desired frost them with. The ones I made most recently were filled with a pudding cool whip mixture. I made the pudding (the 4 serving size package) and before it set I mixed in about 1/2 a regular size tub of cool whip. Chicken or tuna salad in larger size cream puffs are great for parties. I've made all kinds of fillings and it's fun to experiment.

Once the cream puffs are done let them cool. The easiest way to fill them is to slice off the very top. Remove the insides and plop a dollop of your filling inside. Replace the top and sprinkle on powdered sugar, cocoa powder, or drizzle on some icing. For my treat puffs I fit a piping bag with a long tip and poke it into the side and squeeze it into the puff. I also melted some canned icing and dipped the top of the uncut puff into it.

One batch will make 12 larger cream puffs or 45 2 bite cream puffs.

Once all your puffs are filled and topped enjoy! Impress your friends! Feel fancy on a Tuesday afternoon!

Saturday Splurge: Brown Sugar Meringue Tart

2010-02-13T11:10:00.005-06:00

The book called this one "Caramel Meringue Tart" but it really doesn't taste that much like caramel to me. Absolutely amazingly delicious, yes, but not caramel. It reminded me a little of the brown sugar pie my mom used to make. You know, one of those things that is so rich that you can only eat a 16th of the pie at most (but I could eat a whole regular piece anyway.) This is a French recipe, and supposed to be in a tart pan, which means that it's much more shallow than an American pie. Which means that it's a more reasonable amount of delicious richness than a brown sugar pie. The fluffy cloud of meringue that sits on top also helps balance the filling.

I made this in my building, which is very much tart pan and pie pan-less. Instead, I took two large pieces of the industrial aluminum foil, measured 8.5 inches across the bottom (it asked for a 22cm tart pan) and turned up the edges. Worked pretty well! Of course everyone loved it and it was amazing and delicious. I had to whip the egg whites by hand, so the meringue isn't as shiny as it would have been with a mixer. It was good enough for me, though! You can start making the filling after the shell goes into the oven, and then the meringue shortly before the crust comes out (you don't want the meringue to sit or it will be harder to spread.) And so, without further ado, I present you...

Brown Sugar Meringue Tart
Serves: 10 Prep time: 2 hours ish (that includes chilling time)

For the crust:
2 cups flour
9 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 Tbs white sugar
1 egg yolk (reserve the white for meringue)
1 Tbs ice water

For the filling:
1 cup plus 1 Tbs brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
8.5 oz milk (1 cup plus 1 Tbs)
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (reserve the white for meringue)

For the meringue:
2 egg whites
2 Tbs white sugar

To make the crust:
- Sift flour and then work in butter with fingers
- Add the egg yolk and water, knead in until a soft dough forms
- Roll into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes
- When chilled, roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap into a circle about 12 inches in diameter
- Place in pie pan (or tart pan, if you have one!) and cut off any excess
- Prick in several places with a fork, cover in plastic wrap, and chill 20 minutes again. At this point, you should also start preheating the oven to 375.
- Line pie crust with tinfoil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights, rice, or dry beans.
- Bake 35 minutes, then remove from oven, remove weights and liner
- Leave on counter until filling is ready

For the filling:
- Put flour and brown sugar in a small sauce pan, making a well in the middle
- Add the milk a little at a time, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Over medium low heat, add butter, stirring constantly for 8-10 minutes, or just until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens some
- Put egg yolk in a small bowl. Add about a cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolk, stirring constantly, then pour egg mixture into saucepan, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, add vanilla extract and mix until smooth (may not take long at all)
- Pour into baked shell and smooth out the surface.

For the meringue:
- Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, adding the sugar a little at a time. The yolks should be shiny when finished
- Spread the meringue over the filling
- Bake 5-10 minutes or just until the meringue is golden brown on top
- Serve warm or cold

Apple Pie Scones

2010-02-11T17:33:00.002-06:00

In my building, every body does 4 hours of work a week. This semester, I cook lunch on Thursdays (3 hours) and make a sweet treat on Saturdays (1 hour - in theory.) Today I wasn't sure what to make. At first I thought apple scones, but then REALLY wanted shortbread. Well... no powdered sugar in the place. After looking for a recipe that looked decent using other sugar, I gave up. There's one with browned butter and brown sugar that I fully intend to make, but many reviewers found it somewhat temperamental. Not what you want to try when baking for a large group.

So back to scones it was! I love my yogurt scones recipe and started with that. We have a decent supply of granny smiths, so I took 3 and diced them up to throw in. I made a triple batch, so three made sense. The added moisture from the fresh fruit made the dough even more sticky than usual, so instead of trying to shape them all nicely, I just took an ice cream scoop to plop them all out onto the cookie sheets. Someone came by to help me test them as they were finishing and said "mmm, these taste just like apple pie!" Thus were they named.

Apple Pie Scones
Serves: 8 (makes about 25 little scones) Time: 30 minutes

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 medium green apple, diced (about 1 1/2 cups, depending on the size)
3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt (or one six oz. container)
1 large egg, separated

1 tsp vanilla

1 - Preheat oven to 425
2 - Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl
3 - Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal
4 - Stir in fruit
5 - In a small bowl, combine yogurt, egg white and vanilla
6 - Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients stirring just until moist (will be VERY sticky)
7- Use two large spoons to drop pieces of dough onto a greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Dough balls should be a bit larger than a golf ball.
8 - (Optional) Beat egg yolk and brush over tops of scones to smooth them out (I didn't this time.)
9 - Bake at 425 for 7-10 minutes or until golden (mine took about 8 minutes)

Nutrition per drop scone: Fat - 2.3 g (2.1 without egg yolk); Cal - 76; Protein - 1.8 g; Carbs - 12

Smashed chickpea sandwiches

2010-02-10T08:31:00.001-06:00

This is based on a recipe from smitten kitchen, I found it one night when searching for more things to do with chick peas. I made it with what I had on hand, so it is different from hers. You can eat it on bread, in a pita, or as a side salad. It's good because it's filling and a nice change from tuna salad or lunch meat, but it doesn't take too long.

I made it forever ago, and actually remembered to take a picture, but never posted it. I definitely have a lot to learn about food photography from people like SK. Here you go!

Smashed chickpea sandwiches
Serves: 3 Time: I think 20 minutes

1 15oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 cup diced cucumber
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
pinch cayenne pepper
garlic salt to taste
1-2 small tomatoes

- Place all ingredients except tomato in a medium bowl and mash a few times with a large spoon or potato masher.
- Eat with tomato on bread (If you are doing it as a side salad, I would dice the tomatoes and add them in after mashing the rest of it.)

Nutrition info for 1/3 recipe (without bread): Calories: 536 Fat: 8.5g Carbs: 90g Protein: 28.5g

Saturday Splurge: Gingerbread

2010-02-06T08:44:00.005-06:00

I'm not talking about cookies, here. I don't like gingerbread cookies. There is just something seriously wrong with them. Of course, I have nothing against ginger. Ginger ale. Ginger tea. Ginger in chutney or peanut sauce is a must. But those cookies... yuck. Ginger snaps, too. Sometimes I started disliking stuff when I was little (like mushrooms) and then I've tried it again later and loved it (like mushrooms.) I tried ginger snaps again this week. I'm sorry, no. I even tried chocolate-covered crystalized ginger because it sounded cool. It was too strong for me, but way better than those crap cookie things.

However, I tried a friend's gingerbread once, and it was good. So I decided a couple of weeks ago that I need to make some of my own. After a bit of searching on my favorite recipe bloggers, I found it. Smitten kitchen finds them for me again! One of the things that told me I had to try it is that she said she didn't know she liked gingerbread before this one. And it has Guinness in it. Ok, it can use any stout. Next time I'll go for Young's Double Chocolate stout. (mmmmm) It gets brought to a boil for a few minutes, so I'm fairly certain any actual alcohol content evaporates, making it 100% safe to serve to all ages. For those of you non-alcoholers, others suggested coke. Please try it (please, seriously!!) and tell me how it turns out.

This is a splurge more for the time than the nutrition - it has a relatively low amount of oil, but the sugar likely makes up for it. And don't think you can only make this at Christmas, as everyone here loved it. I think we went through about 40 pieces in 30 minutes. I reserved 3 pieces just to get to try it the next day (when I had the time to snap a pic, too), since she said it ages well. Mmm. The pic is mine, but I am cutting and pasting the recipe exactly because it was perfect.

Grammercy Tavern's Gingerbread
Serves: about 20 if the pieces are real-sized Time: about 30 minutes, plus 50 minutes to bake and 10 minutes to cool

1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Accompaniment: Unsweetened whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. (She is not kidding about this. I used a nonstick pan with a butter/flour spray and still lost a chunk of cake. I will be more generous next time.) [Beki's note - that's from SK, I heavily buttered & floured a super long loaf pan and only lost a little in the center, but it could have been due to my impatience with the cooling.]

Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.

Do ahead: This gingerbread is better if made a day ahead. It will keep 3 days, covered, at room temperature. I am sure it will keep well-wrapped in the freezer even longer.

Cinnamon Rolls

2010-02-04T08:53:00.004-06:00

This one is a special request all the way from France, how could I say no?? :) I made this for a girl I stayed with and her flatmate. Cinnamon, though so commonly used here, really isn't popular everywhere. Amazing, isn't it?? They were a bit skeptical, I think, but no one can complain about a Cinnabon-style cinnamon roll. And I mean cinnabon-style because it can be so sticky and delicious, if you put in all the butter and sugar. They bake up very large and pretty, too, and who doesn't like that? Nobody, that's who!

This recipe is actually from one of those random sharing sites, back in the day before recipe blogs were everywhere. I have made a few changes, though. As a nice benefit, it works perfectly well if you use (unsweetened) applesauce and cinnamon. It's a more healthy, less gooey version. No pics this time, I guess that just means I'll have to make them again soon, how sad! I prefer my own icing because it's all cream cheese and no butter. I find butter in icing offensive. Yes, that's the traditional thing to have in icing. So sue me. I'd rather take the long, difficult route of boiled icing (without a candy thermometer even) than eat buttercream.

This dough is very good on its own, too. I once made it as sweet rolls and enjoyed them. Another time, I tried to make them as sweet rolls.... and forgot to add the yeast. HA! That was pretty funny, but they still had a good flavor so they all were eaten before getting anywhere near stale or moldy. If you don't have a bread machine, you can find the directions here. As a note to those I made it for before, who are baking in a small oven: I halved the recipe and only made six rolls.

Cinnabon-style Cinnamon Rolls [1/2 recipe in brackets]
Serves: 12 [6] Time: Hmmm.... with rising and all, long. Maybe 2 hours? That's why we like bread machines

For the dough:
1 cup warm milk [1/2 cup]
2 eggs, room temperature [1 egg]
1/3 cup butter, melted [2 1/2 tablespoons]
4 1/2 cups flour [2 1/4 cups]
1 teaspoon salt [1 tsp]
1/2 cup white sugar [1/4 cup sucre en poudre]

For the filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened [4 tablespoons] *
1 cup brown sugar [1/2 cup cassonade] *
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon [1 1/2 tablespoons]
*For a lower-fat version, use about 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce instead.

For the icing*:
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese [100g kiri - not really sure how much I used, though!]
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar [3/4 cup sucre glacé]
[for French bakers: Add about one tablespoon of lemon juice, because American cream cheese has a bit of a tang that kiri doesn't have. This means you'll need more powdered sugar, too.]
*Lower-fat version should really skip this.

For the rolls:
- Place ingredients into bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer and press start.
- When dough cycle is finished, the dough will be VERY sticky. Knead dough on a floured surface, adding flour until the dough does not stay stuck to your hands.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out into a 16"x21" [25x40cm] rectangle. Spread softened butter onto dough, then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, leaving about 1/2 inch of space on one long side [leave 1 cm space on the shorter side for a half recipe]. (Or spread applesauce and sprinkle with cinnamon.)
- Starting with edge OPPOSITE empty edge (the edge across from the one you didn't put filling on), roll dough evenly, and pinch closed when completely rolled.
- Place in/on baking sheet, cover and let rise 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size. When almost finished, preheat oven to 400 F [200 C.]
- Bake rolls in oven about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

For icing:
- When rolls are done, mix all icing ingredients in a bowl. If the mixture is too thin for your taste, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, add more cream cheese or a TINY bit of water at a time.
- Cover your cinnamon rolls with a thick layer of frosting and enjoy!

Nutrition info for 1/12th full [1/6 half] recipe, using applesauce filling, no frosting: Calories: 281 Fat: 6.7g Carbs: 48.5g Protein: 6.6g

Make your own ...

2010-02-03T18:43:00.007-06:00

As Beki has mentioned before when we were growing up we frequently had Baked Potatoes with Tempting Toppings. My own people don't really think that is a meal which is sad for me but I've taken the basic idea and run with it.

My kids have varying tastes and sometimes it's hard to make a meal that will appeal to all 3 of them so I came up with "make your own _____ ". Sometimes it's tacos or burritos but tonight it will be Chicken pasta salad.

Chicken Pasta Salad - serves 6 -8

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 lb pasta (I'm using Cavatappi)
1 bottle lite or fat free Italian dressing
additional toppings - avocado, tomatoes, olives, green pepper, green onion, carrots, cucumbers, Parmesan cheese, etc.

Place chicken breast in 13X9 baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Or cook during the day in crock pot with desired seasonings. I used an Italian seasoning blend. While this is baking boil pasta according to package directions and rinse in cool water. Toss with 1/2 bottle Italian dressing and let chill. Chop or grate your chosen toppings and put into small individual bowls. Remove chicken from oven and chop into bite size pieces and toss with pasta and dressing or also put it into a separate bowl. Place all bowls on the table and encourage your picky eaters to try something new or just let them eat the same old thing as always!

Saturday Splurge: Halwa Truffles

2010-01-30T13:21:00.004-06:00

These were... amazing. Yes, I mean it. They fall into the "left-overs" category for me b/c there was a one-pound thing of halwa with just about a cup left, although I realize that some people may have trouble even finding halwa. First, what is it? It's a Mediterranean sweet (I used the Arab version) that's made from a base of sesame tahini. Wikipedia's take on it is here. It's something I was introduced to in Tunisia, and it's very sweet, but very good. If you like that kind of thing. If there is a Turkish/Middle Eastern/Arab grocery near you, I bet you could find it there.

While looking for North African dessert recipes, I stumbled across this recipe, posted by an Algerian woman now living in Malaysia(?) and knew I had to try it. That's her picture of them above. She calls it a truffle, and I like that so I'll stick with it, though it is a bit unusual. Instead of being chocolate coated with chocolate, it's a bunch of other tasty things coated with chocolate. She used orange flower water in the original, but I didn't feel like searching for it, so I used just plain water. She says you can replace the honey with jam if you want, which could add some interesting flavors as well. She used butter cookies but, not being able to find a good option, I went with graham crackers and upped the butter a little. It worked well. She also used almonds, and I went with that, but there is a store near me that also sells pecan and hazelnut meal, so I may have to try those sometime, too...

Halwa truffles
Makes: About 30 truffles Time: about 40 minutes, plus chill time.

1 cup of almond meal (or almonds -blanched or not- processed to a sand-like powder)
1 cup of coconut, processed into little bits (unsweetened would be good here, some stores sell it as "macaroon" coconut and it's already in small bits)
1 cup of halwa
3 graham crackers, crushed (doesn't have to be as fine as for a crust, but can be)
1/4 cup butter
3 Tablespoons honey (or jam)
water, to make dough stick
About 8 oz of good chocolate, to coat

- In a large bowl, blend the almond meal, coconut, halwa and graham cracker crumbs with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse sand. (Or mix them all in a large processor.)
- Add the melted butter and honey, mix thoroughly. Taste at this stage - if you think it's too sweet, add more graham cracker crumbs.
- Add water, one tablespoon at a time, just until you get a dough that will hold together in a ball. The texture will change quickly, so really do it just a bit at a time.
- Form into bite-sized balls. Freeze for about 20 minutes to solidify balls.
- Before removing from freezer, melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler. When melted, remove balls from freezer, coat, and place on wax paper to cool.
- Can be served more or less immediately, or kept in an air-tight container for up to two weeks, layers separated by wax paper.

Coupes Moka

2010-01-28T15:41:00.008-06:00

Well, I'm going with the French title on this one, because it's pretty and doesn't sound quite as... unusual as the logical American translation. It's a gelatin dessert made with coffee. As long as the texture doesn't bother you, it's REALLY good. For my non-coffee readers, I have this suggestion: try it with hot chocolate. I kid you not; I think it would be worth trying. Whatever you choose to make this with, make certain that it's a drink you honestly enjoy, since the flavor will be center stage.

I served this one at my crepe party, too, and I think that 6 out of the 8 people liked it. I can't be sure, of course, because maybe some people were trying to be nice. I told them I wouldn't be at all offended b/c it was an experiment and I just wanted to try it because I had never seen such an idea. One person didn't finish it, another finished but kept making faces and couldn't get past the texture. I think that part of the success with the rest of us, me included, was the whipped cream on top. Since I was serving it with coffee, I flavored some with irish cream and some with amaretto, but plain would work, too.

If you would rather have a low-fat version, add some flavor to non-dairy whipped topping or decrease the amount of whipped cream each gets. I made my gelatin in a silicone muffin pan. If yours is metal, you should probably spray it with cooking spray to avoid headaches later. It was about 1/4 cup each, the right amount for a 2nd dessert, like mine was. You could easily make this 4 or 6 as well. If you have enough matching mugs or martini glasses, either would be a fun way to serve it. My gelatin was a little thick because I skimped on the coffee, but I am going to play with an even thinner version to get rid of the "hmm, a little odd" factor.

Coupes Moka
Serves: 8 Prep time: 10 minutes, then chill for 2 hours, then 10 more minutes

For the cups:
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups GOOD fresh brewed coffee

For the whipped cream:
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon liquor OR 1 tsp vanilla

To make the cups:
- Place water in a medium bowl. Sprinkle both gelatin packets over water and allow to set for at least 5 minutes.
- While gelatin is sitting, brew coffee. Yes, you want it super fresh for best flavor.
- As soon as coffee brews, pour in a steady stream over gelatin, mixing constantly until all gelatin is dissolved.
- Pour into super cute little cups, or a muffin tin. Chill at least two hours.

To make the whipped cream:
- Place cream in a large bowl (this is to avoid spattering, I know it's a small amount). With an electric mixer, preferably with whisk attachment(s), whip until cream starts to thicken (took mine about 30 seconds).
- Add sugar and flavoring, whipping until the cream forms soft peaks (you can see the tracks of the beaters a little) but not too much past that or else it will get too stiff and start to separate (=yuck).

To serve:
Place each individual gelatin, upside-down, onto a small plate and top with whipped topping.

Nutrition info (for 1/8th recipe including cream): Calories: 105 Fat: 3.5g Carbs: 17g Protein: 1.5g

Bell Pepper Tapenade

2010-01-25T22:19:00.000-06:00

Well, you asked for an appetizer, so here it is! This one is from my new French recipe book. I served it at my crepe party on Saturday, and I think people liked it. I liked it. If you use two colors of bell peppers it's pretty, too. The part that sounds difficult is roasting the bell peppers, so let me get rid of any concern: you put it in the oven and leave it alone. More details are below, but don't let it scare you off. The recipe does tell you to use a processor, and for this one if you don't have it, use one of those cool Pampered Chef-style food choppers. Or do it the old-fashioned way and chop it all, but then that quickly negates the "fast" part of this. I would also let it sit for an hour if you can. When I first tasted it, I was sort of disappointed by the strong salad dressing taste, but I covered it and continued cooking other things. When I came back an hour later, the flavors had all blended, the dressing taste was completely gone, and it was just good.

You could probably eat this on about anything. I put it on whole wheat baguette for the party, but had some left-overs with pita chips, and someone else had some on a sandwich and said it was really good. It is somewhat filling because of the almonds, which is also the main source of fat. (We still agree that nuts are 'good' fats, yes?) I'll have to see if there's still more, because this picture is REALLY sad.

I made a few other new recipes for the crepe party, so I will be sure to post those for you the rest of this week, and maybe next.

Bell Pepper Tapenade
Serves: 12-16? Hard to say! Time: 25 minutes, tops

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 cup almonds (preferably blanched, but mine were not)
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette dressing (mine was a lite version)

- Rinse bell peppers, cut in half length wise and put on an aluminum-lined baking sheet. Place on the highest rack in the oven and broil about 10 minutes (or until they have black spots on top) while you continue with the recipe.
- If you have a toaster oven: Toast almonds for about 3 minutes.
- If you don't have a toaster oven: Turn on a medium frying pan to medium (you don't have to wait for it to get hot.) Pour in almonds (JUST almonds) and stir occasionally for 4-5 minutes.
- After toasting almonds, chop roughly
- When bell peppers are done, cut into wide strips.
- Dump all ingredients into a food processor and process until it looks pretty to you (maybe 30 seconds? Will depend on the capacity of your processor, I did mine in two batches.)

Nutrition info (for 1/12th of recipe): Calories: 58 Fat: 4.5g Carbs: 3g Protein: 2g

Saturday Splurge: Easy Molten Lava Cakes

2010-01-23T08:04:00.003-06:00

Well, I have decide that as part of posting more, I'll allow myself one really non-healthy recipe per week. Because we all want something just amazing and non-healthy now and then, and in small quantities, why not? I won't put the nutrition info for you in the spirit of needing to give in now and then.

Some of you may not believe me for the "easy" on this recipe, but I swear it is. One of my kitchen helpers saw me make it and was just stunned at how fast it went together. In France, I got a recipe book called "Moelleux et coeurs coulants" - which means little super moist cakes and cakes with a runny center. Like many French desserts, these are made serving-size, so it's easy to portion them. I had half of one and was content. (And if anyone tells you I ate part of the batter while waiting for them to cook, they're lying!) I tried one recipe on Tuesday, but it was not very impressive. My friends still ate it, and thought it tasted good, but it just wasn't what I was hoping for. So I insisted on trying again on Thursday (with a different recipe from the same book) and had real success! The result, instead of being called "good" was instead named a "mouthgasm." That's as much of a compliment as I need.

This recipe is really two things: milk chocolate ganache and the dark chocolate individual cake. Yes, I repeat, both are easy. I'll list the ganache recipe second because it is way more than you need for the four cakes the cake recipe makes. If you want to go an easier route, buy some truffles that are rolled in cocoa (not with a hard shell) and drop those in the middle instead. It does take a little bit of thinking ahead, but this is something decadent enough that you'll want to plan a reason for it anyway. I may play around with this more to see if I can decrease the butter a little because it left a greasy spot on the plate and that's not attractive. But the taste is worth it, even as-is.

Easy Dark Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes
Serves: 4 Time to make: less than 30 minutes, plus chill time for the ganache

To make the cakes:
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used 5 squares of Baker's semi-sweet)
7 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

- Preheat oven to 400 (Yes, really preheat it, this is important!)
- Butter and flour (or sugar, I think it's prettier) 4 ramekins (mine are 3 3/4 inch, or 7cm)
- In a medium bowl, beat the heck out of the eggs and sugar. Sift the flour and cornstarch over the egg mixture and beat until fully blended.
- Melt the chocolate with the butter and cream in a double-boiler, stir til all smooth.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir until the batter is smooth
- Fill the ramekins 2/3 of the way, add a tablespoon of ganache, and fill the ramekins the rest of the way.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes, until they look done on top. They will be VERY soft. Run a butter knife around the edge of the ramekin to be sure it won't stick, flip over, and serve immediately.

To make the Milk chocolate ganache:
2 1/2 oz GOOD milk chocolate or GOOD milk chocolate chips (for a 12 oz bag, this is just over a quarter of the bag. For Guittard milk chocolate chips, it was 1/2 cup, but they are pretty large.)
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons butter

- Put the cream in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 20 seconds.
- When the cream dings, immediately add chocolate and butter. Stir until both melt and the mixture is completely smooth.
- Cover and chill (in fridge) at least 2 hours, or until you are ready to make the cakes.

Since this is a microwave recipe, you may need to adjust the time. If you mix in the chips and butter and after a minute or two they won't melt any further, microwave for 5 seconds and stir again, continuing (just 5 seconds each time, you don't want to burn it!) until the chocolate and butter are fully incorporated.

Pistachio Cherry Teacakes

2010-01-19T13:00:00.001-06:00

Hello again! I got busy toward the end of last semester, and then went out of the country, but now that I have told more people about this blog, I have great motivation to update :)

So to start, I am going to cheat a tiny bit in order to get back in the habit - a very good one from CL that you can find here. The picture is theirs, too. They call them 'wedding cookies' but I always learned them as teacakes, so take your pick. I admit that, for me, the dried cherries are a bit of a splurge, so if you can find them in a bulk foods section, that would make it easier. I upped the pistachio, used only regular flour and didn't coat them in powdered sugar, because it always makes me cough when I go to eat them. Maybe I could slow down instead, but that would be boring. Be careful when measuring the flour here, to really spoon it lightly into the cup and then level it because if you have too much the cookies will fall apart.

Pistachio Cherry Teacakes
Makes: about 32 cookies Total time: around 40 minutes, but the last 10 is just waiting for them to cool.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsps cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 Tbs ice water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped dry-roasted pistachios

- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine.
- Add butter, a few pieces at a time, to processor. Process about one minute or until mixture looks like coarse sand.
- Combine ice water and vanilla in a small bowl/cup, sprinkle over processor mixture (or add through chute, if you have one). Process one minute, or until well combined - but it will still be very crumbly.
- Add cherries and pistachios, pulse until just combined. Put mixture into a bowl.
- Gently press into a level tablespoon, packing with the heel of your hand. (If you don't pack these, they WILL fall apart.) Turn onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Continue until all dough is used.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Remove from oven, cool 10 minutes on baking sheet.

Nutrition info for one cookie (if 32 are made): Calories: 82 Fat: 3.9g Carbs: 9.5g Protein: 1.2g

Almond Boulettes - Take 2 and a poll

2009-09-30T21:50:00.001-05:00

I found out where to get rose water in Austin! Actually, I found out over a month ago. I just didn't get there. Well, this weekend we went. We also got some halva (sesame paste mixed with sugar pretty much.) So, having rose water in hand, I had to make the Tunisian Almond Pastries again. I mixed up the pulverized almond with the powdered sugar, and added a splash of rose water. It was crazy! Just like I had spilled rose perfume in the room. I stirred it in, but it needed more liquid. I ended up added plain water to make the 'dough' hold together. Dan and I tasted it, but it was just so much like biting into a chewy rose petal that it was distracting. Not bad, but that's not something I normally eat. Enter chocolate:

Yes, the picture's a little sad, I know. But the addition of a chocolate coating really helped! It's still definitely rose flavored, but the chocolate balances it to make it an interesting combination instead of taste bud confusion. If I ever make these for money, I will certainly take a class in making the chocolate more even, but for now my own taste buds really don't care. I think that next time I will use about a 1/2 teaspoon of rose water diluted in 1/4 cup of plain water to see how that goes. I need to figure out how they really do it...

The poll that I promised:
What should I call these? "Almond balls" seems very dull, and I don't think they're dull. Give me your answers as comments. Here's what I came up with:
A - Almond Boulettes (adding in some of the French name)
B - Almond Kaaber (adding in some Arabic)
C - Almond Pastries
D - You think I'm boring and would like to propose a name I didn't give.

Thanks for your help!

I beg to differ! Somewhat.

2009-09-28T11:58:00.004-05:00

I happen to like this site that comments on celebrity clothing, but today they may have crossed a line:

"It's like one of those Food Network shows that's trying to teach you to cook an entire meal lickety-split for $10: At the end of the day, it's just going to taste rushed, probably a little bland, and almost certainly like it only cost $10."

Now, I don't love all of the food network chefs, and the ones who use pre-chopped/pre-washed/pre-shredded EVERYTHING make me a little ill when they claim it's the same as doing it yourself, just quicker. (Semi-Homemade is fine by me. Even the title says it's not the same!) And garlic from a jar is often kinda bland. However, I have had some darn good meals for 4 that cost under $10. They can stick with fashion, I'll stick with food.

Steel cut oats

2009-09-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

I grew up with a variety of hot grains for breakfast. They are cheap, keep in the fridge for at least a few days, and are healthy, too. If you don't like oatmeal, that's ok; these don't taste like regular oatmeal, and they're nothing like the packaged instant crap. If you know anything about this kind of cereal, you're probably wondering how it fits into the "fast" idea, but I shall make a believer out of you here in a second. Steel cut oats do normally take a good bit of cook time, but with a little pre-planning, you'll be fine. I did try them in the crockpot and have one word: EWWWWWWWWW. Mushy, mushy, mush, surrounded by (tasty) hard stuff. Someone suggested putting them in a bowl inside the crockpot, and that worked better, but still too much fuss. The picture below is from another site because I didn't take one. It looks like they put syrup or brown sugar on top. I approve. Any kind of nuts or dried fruit would be great, too. Oh, and the cheap - don't go buying McCann's real Irish oats or, of course, you'll be paying a ton. I have personally only noticed these in bulk food sections, it looks a little like cracked wheat to me, but you may be able to find a cheap off-brand, too. These supposedly keep in the fridge for a week, but I've never tried it. I just eat them.

Quick steel cut oats
Serves: 4 Cook time: about 10 minutes of your effort (soaks overnight)

1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water
any fruit or nuts you like
syrup or brown sugar

- Place the oats and water in a medium saucepan (one that has a lid!)
- Bring to a rolling boil, then turn off heat and cover (ok to leave it on the burner if you have an electric stove)
- Let the thing wait while you sleep
- In the morning, turn it on to med-high, bring back to a boil. Cook until it looks creamy, but is still chewable. After all, you're not making instant here!
- Top with your favorite combination of fruits, nuts, and/or sugar

Food bars

2009-09-22T15:49:00.009-05:00

You could call these energy bars or protein-ish bars, but I like the term "food bars" best. It's good, easy, healthy food in bar form. How much better than that can you get? The original recipe is from foodnetwork but, as usual, you will find my own changes below. My main complaint with theirs is that they asked for EVERYTHING to be blended up in a processor. I don't really like the bars that are all one consistency, so I kept some of my stuff bigger. If you want to make it quicker, don't process anything, or process everything. I also replaced the wheat germ with garbanzo flour. Seemed like a cool idea. If you make only 10 bars, they are a pretty good size, though the original recipe suggests 20 (size pictured.)

Update: I have since tried them with wheat germ, and it worked really well, too. It changes the flavor, and I'm not sure yet which I prefer. Wheat germ is certainly easier to find, though. :)

Food Bars
Serves: 10 Total time: 30-40 min, depending on whether you chop stuff

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (raw or roasted, but unsalted are better for you)
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup craisins (or raisins would work)
1/2 cup garbanzo flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup pitted dried dates
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey - I used lower-sugar syrup that doesn't have fake sugar)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a small bowl, mix oats, sunflower seeds, almonds and craisins. Pour half of mixture into food processor
- Add to food processor both flours, spices and milk, spice til there are no big chunks left
- In large bowl, mix eggs and syrup, stir in mixture from processor
- Process dates (alone) until all in small bits, add to large bowl
- Process the conserved oat mix 4-5 times, leaving some large chunks (whole almonds are ok)
- Mix everything except chocolate chips in the large bowl until basically combined
- Press into a greased pan (13x9, 9x9, whatever you have) and bake at 350 for 20 minutes
- Once cooked, remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Let set to melt a few minutes, then spread.

Nutrition info (1/10th with chocolate chips): Calories - 277 Fat - 7.1g Carbs - 47.2 g Protein - 9g
Nutrition info (1/10th, NO chocolate chips): Calories - 254 Fat - 5.9g Carbs - 44.7 g Protein - 8.7g

Tasty Peanut Sauce

2009-09-14T06:49:00.003-05:00

I think that the key to this is natural peanut butter. I can't be sure, though, because I never have the other stuff anymore. My mom's jaw is likely hitting the floor. When we were little, natural pb was the cheapest. Adam's, I haven't seen it in years. We didn't like it though. The oil separating looked gross, and we had some other complaints. Who knows. Well, after realizing how much fake crap is in food, I have been trying to do little things to put less fake crap in me. Like the natural peanut butter. Just peanuts and salt. I got it for a good price at a warehouse store. More than their "normal" pb, but about the same as a regular grocery store's pb. Well, the recipe, then! We had this with udon noodles, chicken and green beans. If you want to mix this in with the stir fry over heat, you'll want to increase the water to 1/4 cup. The pepper gets hotter when cooked, but if used cold, this is a mild heat recipe. The ground ginger gives it a more uniform flavor, and the fresh adds to it. I happened to have both, but one or the other would work, too.

Peanut Sauce
Serves: 3-4 Prep time: about 5 min

1 1/2 tsp fresh minced ginger (if you just have fresh, use 1 Tbs)
1/4 tsp ground ginger (if you just have ground, used 1/2 tsp)
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
3 Tbs teriyaki sauce (or 2 Tbs soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar)
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but chunky would work)
2 Tbs water

- Mince the garlic and ginger.
- Mix spices, garlic, fresh ginger and teriyaki sauce in a bowl.
- Stir in peanut butter until mostly mixed.
- Add water, stir until well mixed.
- Eat over meat, in chicken salad (with celery and onions, maybe a little cilantro), on rice over stir fry, on grilled veggies, a burger, whatever you might put teriyaki sauce on. mmmm, I want more now....

Sweet Potato Burgers

2009-09-10T08:58:00.004-05:00

Well, this picture is from CL again (along with the recipe.) I wasn't taking pictures when I made these, you'll have to forgive me! I made them when we had people over, one of them a vegetarian, and everyone agreed that it was really good. The only thing to be careful of is that they are much softer than a regular burger would be, so I found that they sort of try to squish away when you bite if they are too thick. I used bbq sauce on them, and it was realllly good.

Sweet Potato Burgers

6 servings (serving size: 1 burger)

Onions:
1 teaspoon canola oil
3 cups sliced onion (I used one large sweet onion)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Burgers:
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (I used one large sweet potato)
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves
1 cup regular oats
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 tablespoon oil, divided
6 lettuce leaves
6 (1 1/2-ounce) 100% whole wheat or whole-grain buns

Preparation

1. To prepare onions, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion to pan; sauté 12 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook 30 seconds or until vinegar is absorbed. Remove onion mixture from pan; keep warm. Wipe pan dry with a paper towel.

2. To prepare burgers, place potato in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until tender; drain.

3. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chopped onion and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.

4. Place potato, chopped onion mixture, oats, cumin, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a food processor; process until smooth. Place potato mixture in a large bowl; stir in nuts. Divide potato mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

5. Wipe pan dry with a paper towel. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add 3 patties to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned. Carefully turn patties over; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and 3 patties. Place lettuce leaves and patties on bottom halves of buns; top each patty with about 3 tablespoons onion, and top halves of buns.

Nutrition for 1/6 of recipe: Cal: 376 Fat: 12.3g Protein: 11.3g Carbs: 59

What to post?

2009-09-08T12:16:00.002-05:00

First, do not worry, I have loads more things to post. I feel bad that I do not have more up. But I am working on it, I swear!

Anyway, I've made a few things lately that Dan has told me I should post, but it's a bit difficult to be sure. If I'm going for the "easy, cheap, and healthy" aspect, then the chai sugar cookies I made don't exactly qualify. I may end up making a new label, something like "indulgent" just as a warning that not everything is so healthy. And some of my recipes, like those that have lots of nuts, certainly have higher fat and calorie content, but it's still a healthier fat.

Another food blog made me think about that a bit. I do like to use lots of fresh ingredients, stay away from really processed things, and not drown everything in butter. But I do use butter. I tried to go light in a buckwheat crepe recipe by using cooking spray and it was a minor disaster til I gave in and used real butter. I know that fat is important in cooking, and in your daily diet. I just also know that a lot of people use way too much, or use it when it's not really necessary. The reason I don't post those things as often is because those sorts of recipes are super easy to find, each with a thousand variations. If I were blogging every day, sure, I'd add them, but I don't really have the time for that, so I'm gonna stick (at least mostly) with posting the healthier stuff. Just don't think that it's the only thing I eat!

Rich and light french toast

2009-09-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

I love Alton Brown's french toast recipe. It has eggs and half and half and vanilla and spices. And probably something else. The half and half makes it more of a special occasion recipe, though, so I wanted something that was thicker than regular egg-and-milk, but not by adding flour because then I just feel like you may as well have a pancake. Enter evaporated milk. I thought of it after using it in my hot chocolate. It soaks into the bread well without being so thin that it makes it fall apart. For extra fun, I used banana bread for part of the recipe (pictured). Of course, that makes it take a rather long time to make, but it was SOOOO good. We got the idea from a cafe near campus that served zucchini bread french toast. Either way, I approve.

French toast
Serves: 4 Cook time: about 20 minutes (depends on your pan and bread size!)

3 eggs
1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

- Heat a skillet on medium while you prepare the rest
- In a flat dish (square baking dish, plastic leftover container), beat the eggs
- Stir in evaporated milk and spices
- Put bread, 1 layer at a time, into egg mixture. Let soak on each side for about 10 seconds, then flip. (Shorter for thin bread, or lighter bread or else it will fall apart)
- Spray the skillet with cooking spray, then put in as many piece of bread as will fit, leaving enough room to flip them
- When bread looks brown around the edges, up to one minute, flip it over
- Keep finished french toast on a plate in the microwave (don't turn it on, but it's insulated in there to keep them warm and won't have a draft) until you are ready to serve, or serve as you finish them.

Amazing banana bread

2009-08-27T08:31:00.004-05:00

I know, I know, I am totally biased, but this stuff is good. Really, really good. It does take more time than most things I make, but you know you want some. When I have bananas that are too soft to eat, I wait for them to turn all brown and throw them in the freezer. Then, when I have 3 or 4, I make this. I know some of you will leave out the coffee, but if you are willing to try a fake flavoring, I would recommend that because it gives the bread a much richer flavor. You can decrease the butter to 3 tablespoons, or you could up it to 6 tablespoons if you're feeling wild and too skinny. The original had 1/3 cup. This isn't quite as low-fat as most of my stuff, but I think it's worth it. If you want more nutritious, last time I used half wheat flour (with brewed coffee) and it worked really well.

Banana bread!!
Serves: 1 if you can keep it away from others! Ok, should be about 8 real-people servings, and 16 if you go by what most recipes say it should be.

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules*

3/4 cup sugar (reduce to 2/3 cup if using sweetened coconut)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

* instead of instant granules, you can use 3 ounces of STRONG brewed coffee - add 2 tablespoons of flour if you do this.

- Preheat the oven to 350°F

- Mash bananas in a large bowl, then mix in butter and coffee.

- Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

- Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

- If you have a food processor, process the coconut until it is completely chopped up.

- Add the flour and coconut to the bowl and mix until fully incorporated.

- Pour mixture into a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

- Cool on a rack if you are patient, but I always cut into it while hot to enjoy it immediately.

Nutrition info for 1/8 of recipe (using 1/4 cup of butter): Fat - 8.4g Cal - 275 Carbs - 48 Protein - 3.8g

I sort of feel bad after putting this nutrition info, but then again Emeril's recipe, here, has 28.7g of fat and 508 calories for 1/8 of it! I think his is going to be an outlier on the heavy side, though.

Corn and bean salad

2009-08-25T08:44:00.002-05:00

I really like making things that can be changed to make it seem new or different. I sometimes call my meals "creations" because there often isn't a good name, I just throw things together. Corn and bean salad is something that you can do a lot of different things with. Here, I added couscous to make it a main dish. I admit that it makes it similar to the southwest couscous I already posted, but I often leave the couscous out. If you want, you could throw in some meat - chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, whatever. One time I had avocado that I chopped up. Hard to go wrong, really, which is nice to use up whatever you have.

Corn and bean salad
Serves: 4-6 Cook time: about 15 minutes

1/2 cup couscous
1/2 cup water

1 bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp tabasco

- In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Once reached, turn off, add couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- While couscous is sitting, chop bell pepper, drain beans, and put them into a large bowl with the corn.
- Once couscous is done, stir it into the bowl.
- Sprinkle spices over the top and stir in. Eat immediately or wait and let the flavors blend.

Satisfying hot chocolate

2009-08-23T17:31:00.011-05:00

I've heard a lot of times that you should give in to your cravings a little, because if you don't, then you will just keep having the craving and eat too much of things you don't want. I have no idea if it's actually true, but I like the idea. A good, rich, satisfying hot chocolate from Starbucks or another coffee shop could set you back $4 and 10 grams of fat (without the whipped topping, of course!) You could always go with a packet from the store, but it just isn't the same at all. My solution? A small, but very tasty, drink. If you use evaporated milk, it's really thick and so you feel like you're drinking something really indulgent, but it's not. I have been using Brown & Haley drinking chocolate to make this, but good chocolate chips (guittard, ghiradelli, or better) should work well. If all you have is hershey's or a cheap store brand, personally I'd save those for cookies and reach for the powdered cocoa instead. I don't think it'll incorporate properly and you'll be left with gritty waxy bits in the bottom of your cup. The other weekend we had it with Apple Oven Pancake, topped with chocolate frozen yogurt and toasted blanched almonds.

Satisfying hot chocolate
Serves: 2 Cook time: 5-8 min

One 6oz can fat-free evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1/4 cup good chocolate

- In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until warm, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the chocolate, stirring constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and the liquid is hot. It should steam a little, but you don't want it to boil because it can change the taste and texture of the milk.
- I serve this in 3-oz espresso cups. They will be filled to the brim, which always feels better than a big cup with hardly anything in it.

Nutrition info: I'll update this if I figure out how many chocolate chips are in 1/4 cup, but I think it should be about 3-4 grams of fat and maybe 130 calories with 5 grams of protein (yay, milk!) for half of this recipe.

Grilled pizza on a whole wheat crust

2009-07-26T18:44:00.006-05:00

The way that we did this, it was really quick. We had some friends over and grilled a lot of food. After everything else was done, but while the coals were still hot, we threw on two chicken breasts that we had no intention of eating that day. If somebody had decided they were still hungry, they could have eaten them, but everyone was stuffed before the chicken was cooked. So, now we have grilled chicken and left-over grilled veggies. Stir up some quick pizza crust and - voila! - tasty, healthy pizza. The crust recipe is originally from here, I didn't change it at all. It's that good. Add spices if you like.

You can let it rise, or use it immediately; I've done it both ways, and it's always good. If you want to make it go even faster, put the crust into a pan, cook it for about 5 minutes while you finish getting the toppings ready, top with veggies/meat, cook 5-10 minutes, top with cheese, cook about 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Whole Wheat pizza crust
Serves: 8 Prep & cook time: 20-25 min. (just the crust)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast/instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot tap water (120 - 125°F)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar

- Preheat oven to 425°F
- To prepare pizza dough, stir whole wheat flour; lightly spoon into a measuring cup and level flour.
- In large mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, yeast and salt. Blend in water, oil and honey or sugar. Stir by hand vigorously until all ingredients are well mixed; about 3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise to desired size.
- Place dough in greased 15 x 10 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan or 12 to 14-inch pizza pan. Press dough to cover bottom of pan and up sides to form a rim.
- Add pizza sauce of your choice and your favorite pizza toppings; bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and toppings are done.

Nutrition: One slice of crust only provides approximately: 146 calories, 5 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 2 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 37 mcg folate, 2 mg iron and 219 mg sodium.

Potato Salad

2009-07-19T10:12:00.002-05:00

I really like potato salad. I usually put lots of mustard in mine. I really like mustard. It's pretty amazing that this one didn't have any. But the mayonnaise definitely isn't so great. Dan saw a recipe video that he thought looked good on CL (Cooking Light, I'm tired of typing it out!) . They used reduced-fat mayo and fat-free sour cream, but I don't like any mayo and fat-free tends to get weird. We went for miracle whip & plain yogurt. I am actually not going to link to it, because after looking at it again, the only things in common are potato, pepper and celery. You can see that we used red potatoes with the skin on, they hold together really well after cooking, but any kind works. I bet adding some egg would be nice if you like that. Interestingly, our version came out with lower fat & cal than the CL one, but the same amount of potato and servings.

Tater Salad
Serves: 4-5 Time: 30 min

Salad:
4 cups cubed potato (about 1 1/3 lbs)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped dill pickle
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery

Dressing:
2 Tbs salad dressing
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp parsley

- Start with the potatoes! Put a pot of water on to boil before you begin to cube them. When it comes to a boil, add potatoes. Reduce heat, simmer about 9 minutes or until fork goes in easily. After done, throw them in ice water if you want to cool them faster. If not, just drain.
- While the potatoes are cooking, chop up your vegetables.
- While potatoes cooking/cooling, mix up dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Taste it! Add more spices if you like.
- When potatoes are cool, add them and the vegetables to the bowl, toss well to coat them.

Nutrition info (1/5 of recipe): Cal: 95 Fat: 2.5g Carbs: 15.9 Protein: 2.9g

New links

2009-07-05T10:59:00.003-05:00

I've been collecting links to other blogs for a while. You will see the result in the sidebar now. I am not trying to be exhaustive, of course, because that would be thousands. I am planning on linking to bloggers whose recipes I have actually used myself, even if they weren't featured here. Also, they have to be related to part of our goals here, preferably at least two - easy, cheap, and healthy. I know that "healthy" can sort of vary, depending on their own goal, but usually the focus of the blogs are pretty obvious. Enjoy!

Cocoa Almonds

2009-07-04T10:00:00.003-05:00

We went to a waterpark last weekend, so we were in the grocery store looking for treats and something caught my eye: cocoa roast almonds. They looked delicious. But, they were about $8 for 11 oz, and I still had over 2 lbs of plain almonds at home. So, like any self-respecting baker girl, I left them on the shelf and went straight to the computer when I got home to figure out how to make them myself! I found a promising-looking recipe on a low-carb site here, but the portions are quite off to me. (The basic idea is what I went with.) I ended up doing it in two batches to make them not touch as much, but it would work in one batch, you'd just have to break it apart more after.

*Update 7/12*: I bought some of these today because they were like $4 at Target, and we vote that mine are better. Theirs have a thinner coating and, according to Dan, are "more crunchable" but you can taste the splenda, which isn't my favorite.

*Update 8/17*: We finally finished eating the store-bought ones. Mine were gone in a week. Theirs in over a month. Mine are definitely better.

Cocoa Almonds
Serves: 8 Time: about 25 min.

2 cups whole almonds
1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa

- Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, fluff the egg white with a fork until it is nice and frothy (like soap suds - takes 1-2 minutes)
- Mix in sugar and cocoa
- Pour in almonds, coat with egg white mixture
- Spread out on a tinfoil-covered pan (or a silicone mat, I bet that would work even better). I ended up doing it in two batches because my pan was a bit small. Bake 15 minutes, until coating is dry.
- Remove from oven, let cool until touchable and break apart any clumps. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Nutrition info per serving: Cal: 175 Fat: 12.4g Carbs: 14.4g Protein: 6.5g

Nan's Pumpkin Cookies

2009-07-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

Yep, another from my sister. She went to a college where one main major was naturopathic medicine and lots of people were very health-conscious and she said that everyone at school as well as the regular people at home liked these! I had never heard of the ground flax seed for egg, but I might try it some time. Since eggs are so cheap, though, I admit that it may take me a while to go look for it.

Nan's Pumpkin Cookies
Serves: How much do you like to eat? Time: Haven't tried them yet, but cookies tend to be slow.

1 3/4 cup pumpkin
1 Tblsp oil
1 egg or (1 Tblsp ground flax mixed with 3 tblsp water)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp total spices you would put in pumpkin pie they recommend 1/4 nutmeg & 3/4 cinnamon I use pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups oats
1/4 - 1 cup chocolate chips (depends on you)

- Mix it all together and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. =) [That's how she told me - cookies should be first four, then second four, then oats, then chips.] They will not brown and have a more cake-like quality than normal cookies do. They do look different when they are done and you test them by breaking one in half and seeing if it is cooked all the way through.

Smoky Broccoli Casserole

2009-06-29T10:57:00.001-05:00

This is one of the recipes that I used my left-over chipotle chiles in. It was definitely a good call. The original title from CookingLight was "Zesty Broccoli Casserole", but I don't know where they think they found "zesty" in their version unless their cheese was SUPER sharp. They used frozen broccoli, but I used fresh. It was still a bit crisp, but I don't like mushy food. We decided that this would be really good as a main dish with (1 1/2 lbs) chicken added in. We used the chipotle pepper in adobo left over from the sloppy joes, and it added a nice flavor.

Smoky Broccoli Casserole
Serves: 4-6 Time: 40 min

Ingredients

2 medium heads broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded pepperjack cheese
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened (or neufchatel)
3/4 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium)
1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, rinsed, drained, and sliced
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
3/4 cup breadcrumbs

Preparation

- Preheat oven to 375°.

- Chop broccoli and arrange in an even layer in an 11x7 or 8x8-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; set aside.

- Combine milk, flour, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheddar and cream cheese; stir until smooth. Stir in onion, chipotle pepper and water chestnuts. Spoon cheese mixture evenly over broccoli.

- Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over cheese mixture. Lightly spray breadcrumb layer with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until mixture begins to bubble and breadcrumbs brown.

Flavored oatmeal

2009-06-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here's another one from my family. As my sister said, "With quick oats they don't take that long and have real fruit compared to the packaged stuff." I think it's a good point. She tops hers with white or brown sugar or honey with cinnamon if she uses apple.

Nan's flavored oatmeal
Serves: 1 Time: 10 minutes

1/2 cup oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick)
water (according to oatmeal package, or your taste)
1/2 apple or banana (eat the other half with your breakfast!)

Apple version:
- So for the first one you chop up half an apple (if you use a food chopper it's quick) and you add it just after you have the oatmeal stirred into the water.
- Then you add some brown sugar/honey/sugar and cinnamon when it it done cooking.
- And you eat the rest of the apple.

Banana version:
- For the other one once it is done cooking you add a sliced banana (or half depending on how big it is/# of serving) and some maple syrup/honey/sugar/brown sugar and maybe seeds or nuts.

Yogurt Pancakes

2009-06-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

This one is from my mom and sister (yay, for other peoples' recipes!) Well, we all know that pancakes from mix don't generally have a lot of nutritional value. But my mom found a way to add some calcium and protein, along with flavor. My sister reports that they are really good and don't need any additional toppings.

Mom's Yogurt Pancakes
Serves: 2-4 Time: Depends on how big your pan/griddle is!

1 cup pancake mix
6 oz flavored yogurt (most containers now)
6 oz (one yogurt container) water (If you use Bisquick, reduce water to 1/3 cup)

- Preheat frying pan or griddle to medium high.

- Combine all ingredients in a bowl until mix is damp, don't overmix!

- When pan is hot enough, (water drops fizzle and evaporate right away) spray pan with cooking spray and ladle 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mix onto pan

- When bubbles form, flip and cook til pancake is the color you like.

*Update* I tried these out on Sunday and liked them a lot! I even used pina colada yogurt and threw in a handful of coconut for fun, and it was really tasty. I used Bisquick. I think that they are harder to flip than regular pancakes, so I made them smaller and it worked great.

Father's Day Favorite - Cheese Steak Sandwich

2009-06-21T20:04:00.004-05:00

My husband loves cheese steak sandwiches so for special occasions like his birthday and Father's Day I make his favorite despite the kids complaints.

This meal can be as inexpensive as the meat you choose to buy. I made enough for 7 people (5 of which chose to have slice cheese and lunch meat instead) for about $9.

Cheese Steak Sandwiches
What I used to feed 7.

3 lbs. semi frozen roast/chuck roast/tri-tip /what ever you found in the quick sale bin at the store. Slice this while it is still semi frozen and it comes off in smaller pieces, a plus for this recipe.
1 bell pepper thinly sliced
1 onion thinly sliced
about 7 medium mushrooms thinly sliced.
(any or all of the ingredients besides the meat are optional)

I have a Pampered Chef Ultimate Slice and Grate that I slice my veggies on and I use an egg slicer for the mushrooms. (You can also slice olives and strawberries super quick with an egg slicer too)

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. I let mine set and get yummy for a day or two but it can also be cooked right away.

Heat 3 Tblsp oil in a wok or large frying pan. Cook until meat is no longer pink.

Serve on various hard rolls, hoagie buns, hot dog or hamburger buns. My husband loves his with cream cheese which I was really doubtful about at first but it's good. Any kind of cheese can be substituted. The original cheese steak was served with provolone but I understand you can get one with cheese whiz in Philly.

Chipotle Sloppy Joes

2009-06-20T13:50:00.003-05:00

This recipe is from Cooking Light again, but I changed it. This is their picture, though - I would never make nasty coleslaw! The main flavor-giver here is the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. DO NOT skip it. They are awesome, and have a lot of heat. They also store for a long time in the fridge, and are a great addition to a lot of things. Soup, quesadillas, soft tacos... I know I've put them on other things, because they're hot enough that a little is enough. If you'd like to see the original recipe, it's here. The main thing I did was up the pepper and use turkey instead of beef (it's what we had.)

Chipotle Sloppy Joes
Serves: 2 Time: 20 min (I think, it was a while ago!)

Cooking spray
1 medium/small sweet onion, sliced into rings.
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/3 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 small (3 oz?) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 whole-wheat Kaiser rolls, toasted

1. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; cover and cook 8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; set aside.

2. Remove 2 chipotle chiles from can; chop really well and set aside.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook turkey 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in everything else other than the buns, cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon 1/2 of meat mixture over bottom half of each bun, and top evenly with onions and top half of bun.

Nutrition Info: The Cooking Light link above has nutritional info for the original recipe, but mine is pretty close to the same.

After-workout Peach Treat

2009-06-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Dan made this - it's really good. He would like to point out that I came up with the name. I didn't think it was a bad name. Anyway, after working out it is nice to get something in your system so you don't just feel all worn-out, and this is one option for doing that. I'm sure it would be good for breakfast or a fresh snack any time of day. Works well with strawberries, nectarines, berries or most any soft fruit that has a lot of flavor. Probably not grapes, watermelon, or citrus (the acid might curdle the cottage cheese even more.)

After-workout Peach Treat
Serves: 2 Prep time: 10 min

2 small peaches (may need less if peaches are large or in better condition)
3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup granola
2 tbs sunflower kernels
Honey

- Chop up the peaches into bite-size pieces. Put in a bowl
- Add cottage cheese
- Top with granola and sunflower kernels, drizzle top with honey
- Mix if you want and eat!

Cheater Salad with Chicken

2009-06-07T22:50:00.004-05:00

One of the dinners we like to have when we feel lazy is salad topped with chicken strips. They're usually fried, so not super healthy, but when there are only 2 or 3 on top of a salad shared by two people, it's not so bad. If you want to be *really* lazy, just grab a bag of Fresh Express (I recommend Caesar Lite or Fiesta) and just open up all the pretty packets.

Cheater Salad with Chicken
Serves: 2 Total time: 15 min (not including trip to store)

- Go to the store and grab a few chicken strips. If you live near a healthy place, you might even be able to get grilled chicken. Chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Rinse and rip up lettuce. Spin or shake to remove excess water, and place in a large bowl.
- Add red onions, carrots, bell pepper, pepperoncinis, soy nuts, sunflower kernels, radishes, or whatever else you have that would be tasty.
- Pour on a little light dressing and top with chicken.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

2009-05-31T09:09:00.002-05:00

Mmmmmmmmmmmm..... I am a big fan of pumpkin pie for breakfast. I love it! But I clearly can't have it for breakfast all the time. Solution? This oatmeal! Unbelievably good. I was a little skeptical when I saw one recipe (can't remember where, sorry!) but decided it was worth a shot. I've made it on the stovetop and in the microwave - I actually prefer plain oatmeal from the microwave, but this was better on the stove. I like my oatmeal a little chewy, too, so if you like yours reallllly cooked, just add a few minutes and a little more liquid.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
As written, serves 2 Total cook time: about 4 min using microwave, 8-10 on stovetop

1 1/2 cups uncooked old fashioned oats
1 cup water or milk (or a blend of the two)
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
brown sugar to taste

Microwave:
- Put oats and milk or water in a large micro-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
- Add pumpkin puree and spice. Microwave for an additional 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached. Top with sugar and eat!

Stove top:
- Boil water/milk. Once boiling, add oats and reduce heat to medium low, stirring constantly. Once most of the liquid is absorbed (about 2 minutes), add pumpkin and spice. Stir at least 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached.

Aragorn Cookies

2009-05-29T09:05:00.001-05:00

Dan named these - they are improved Ranger Cookies. "Improved" because I used part whole wheat flour and cut out some sugar and half the butter. I really like this kind of cookie because you can put pretty much anything in it. Just be careful because if you add too many things, there won't be enough dough to keep it all together. Because of the corn flakes, I would recommend making a smaller batch (like I have here) unless you will be sharing with a lot of people. They're just not as nice if they lose all of their crunch. Also, if you have two cookie sheets or one big one, I think it's worth baking them all at once so that the cereal stays crisp.

Aragorn Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter, softened
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups corn flakes
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut (toast it, if you have the time)*
1/3 cup craisins (or raisins)
1/4 cup butterscotch chips (if using raisins, consider chocolate chips) (and yes, that's enough for a healthier version to still get them in all the cookies)

-Preheat oven to 350.
-In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until it lightens in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg, yogurt and vanilla; blend well.
- Stir in oats flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add corn flakes, coconut, craisins, and chips, mix gently until blended.
- Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet in your favorite size.
- Bake at 350 about 10 minutes for heaping-tablespoon cookies, longer for bigger.
- Cool on wire rack, store completely covered. Enjoy at least one while hot!

*To toast coconut in oven: Sprinkle in an even layer on a cookie sheet, place under broiler, turn on. Watch carefully! Stir if needed, toast until browned. To toast on stove top: Heat dry frying pan over medium-high. Sprinkle in coconut, stir gently until browned.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

2009-05-28T08:52:00.004-05:00

Another one from Cooking Light, with the original recipe here, this was so much easier than I would have expected, and fun. It calls for oil-packed sun-dried tomato, but instead we used a dry kind of "sun ripened" that our store had in the dried fruit section. I think they were a bit softer than usual sun-dried tomatoes, so if you use dry sun-dried, I would soak them in warm water for 2-3 minutes. We also added a little olive oil since the tomatoes would normally have some.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Feta Cheese
Serves 4

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh linguine (This is the exact size of the Buitoni package)
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves
2 tablespoons almonds
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 small clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

- Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain through a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan.

- While pasta cooks, place tomatoes and next 7 ingredients (through black pepper) in a food processor; process until finely chopped.

- Combine tomato mixture and the reserved 1 cup cooking liquid, stirring with a whisk. Add to pasta; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with feta.

Best ever coffee for one

2009-05-27T08:24:00.001-05:00

Not a single person from my known audience drinks coffee. Some may even doubt it has any healthy qualities. So this is mostly because I think it's cool.

Key 1: Freshly ground coffee is best. I don't have a grinder - I don't feel like buying a pricey one, the reviews for cheap ones aren't that great, they sound sort of messy and I don't need another gadget in the kitchen. Instead, I buy mine from the supermarket and use their grinder. Be sure to run the grinder first and lift the flap because there are loads of inconsiderate people that leave beans in there - and you want the kind you picked, not some weirdo mix from what the last guy wanted! Grind as much as will last you til your next trip on a setting around auto drip to use my favorite method (try it and see how it goes - I find espresso grind doesn't taste as good for this.)

Key 2: Melitta one-cup cone filter holder. I love it. If you don't know what it is, I put a pic below. You can easily make a nice 6-16 ounce cup from this. It's $3 for the cone, and filters are cheap, too. You put the filter into the cone, your coffee (2 Tbs/8 oz cup) into the filter, and pour in water that was brought to a boil and then allowed to cool for 15-30 seconds (I use an electric kettle). Fill it up all the way once for a small cup, or refill with water for a larger cup. Super quick, super good, and SOOO much better than instant! If I want a cheap mocha, I just put hot cocoa mix into the cup and let the coffee mix in as it drips from the filter.

Strawberry Raisin Bran Muffins

2009-05-26T09:14:00.002-05:00

In elementary school, if we didn't eat all of our cereal for breakfast, my mom would put it all in one big bowl and while we were gone she'd make muffins for our after-school snack. (Yep, we had after-school snacks - pretty often, even. One benefit of having a stay-at-home mom.) I've found out that some people are grossed out by this, but it worked well. I'm not saying here to use the exact method, but it did give me an idea when the box of raisin bran got stale. I didn't want to revive it, using yesterday's method, because I didn't want the raisins to get hard. Instead I made muffins. This will work with any kind of cereal, but using raisin bran has the benefit of at least seeming healthy. I also had some strawberries that were in danger of getting moldy, so I threw them in, but the recipe would work with apples, craisins, or no additional fruit. This recipe does take longer, but the use of stale cereal is worth the time in my book.

Strawberry Raisin Bran Muffins
Makes: 18 muffins

3 1/2 cups Raisin Bran cereal (any brand, really)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I used 2 T of white vinegar and enough 1% milk to make 2 cups)
1 1/2 cups strawberries, diced

- Mix the dry ingredients (including cereal) in a large bowl
- Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and add to dry mixture. Mix in fruit.
- Let sit at least 45 minutes
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease muffin tin or use liners and fill cups completely (does not rise very much).
- Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Tops will be light brown.

Nutrition info per muffin: Cal: 183 Fat: 4.3 g Carbs: 33g Protein: 6g
(As a comparison, Starbucks bran muffins, which are bigger, have 420 cal, 19 grams of fat, and 58 carbs)

Revive stale cereal and chips

2009-05-25T08:58:00.002-05:00

My mom used to do this when I was little, and I've had loads of people think I'm nuts, but it seriously works! I hadn't had stale stuff in a while - until one day we left the windows open when it was like 100% humidity outside. And then a lot of the cereal got a little funky. Yes, things get stale because of moisture. In their bags, they are nice and safe, but then air and its moisture get to them and take the crunch right out. Do not despair, there is hope! Just do not walk away! CornPops, for example, can make some big flames for quite a long time.

Revive stale cereal, chips, or crackers
Serves as many as you like

- Take your stale food and put it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet or the tray of your toaster oven.
- In the toaster oven: set to toast. Watch carefully, and stir every 30 - 90 seconds. At the first sign of browning, remove from oven, let cool, and eat as usual.
- In the conventional oven: Put rack on second highest shelf. Turn on broiler. Watch carefully, and stir every 30-90 seconds. At the first sign of browning, remove from oven, let cool, and eat as usual.

I've never tried this with potato chips, but it definitely works for tortilla chips. If you serve chips or crackers warm, it gives them a bit of a restaurant feel. If you serve cereal warm, do it as a snack without milk. With milk it's just sort of funky, warms the milk, and gets soggy fast. Don't try it. Seriously.

Southwest Couscous Salad

2009-05-24T13:40:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I've put up so few couscous recipes! Well, time to fix that. This one has a southwestern kick to it with the kidney beans and salsa. It works as a main dish or a side. If you feel the need for meat, I would chop it up and pan fry it with minimal oil (or cooking spray) and season with cumin, chili powder, and garlic salt (or any blend to your liking.) It's served cold, which makes it perfect for parties or making ahead. If you use frozen corn, the corn cools the couscous and the warm couscous thaws it, so you can also make it right when you want to eat. Leftovers are good for lunch, too.

Southwest Kidney Bean Couscous Salad
Serves: 4 as main dish, 2-3 as a one-dish meal, or 4-8 as side.

3/4 cup uncooked couscous (I use whole grain)
3/4 cup water
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup salsa
3/4 cup frozen corn
1 medium bell pepper, diced (I used green because I had it)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp cumin

- Boil water in a small saucepan. When water boils rapidly, remove from heat, add couscous, and cover. Let sit 5 minutes while preparing vegetables.
- Chop up the pepper and onion. Place in a large bowl. Add beans, salsa and corn to bowl.
- Once couscous has sat for 5 minutes, add to bowl and fluff with a fork (even if everything else isn't in the bowl yet.)
- Mix with a fork and serve immediately or cover and chill in fridge until serving.
- Topping options: Top with cheese (jack, cheddar,pepper jack, feta) or sour cream.

Nutrition info (for 1/4 of recipe using regular couscous): Cal: 528 Fat: 1.9g Carbs: 100 (but 20g of fiber) Protein: 30g

I AM BACK!

2009-05-24T12:15:00.003-05:00

Ok, I really doubt that I had any readers *to* lose, but that's probably for the best, considering my major lapse in posting. The semester caught up with me and I have finally finished everything, recovered from the craziness, and started looking for and trying out new recipes. And........ I am trying to take pictures! Yay, food pictures so that my tasty things will have lovely visuals. More to come, starting today...

Tunisian Almond Pastries

2009-03-08T12:29:00.003-05:00

One thing I miss from Tunisia is the pastries. They were so rich and so good! They often use nuts in their pastries, and that is the main ingredient here. I'm not sure of the name in Arabic, I think it's kaaber louz, and in French they are Boulettes aux amandes. I like the flavor - it reminds me a lot of sugar cookie dough. We have a 3 pound bag of almonds, so I decided to make some and was pleased by how quick and easy they are! Ideally, you should use blanched almonds for a lighter flavor and color, but regular ones worked fine, too. A common practice is to either cover the outside in nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, or pistachios) or to color 1/3 of the dough red, 1/3 green, and to roll bits of all 3 together to make multi-color balls. If you blanch the almonds yourself, it will definitely take you longer to make these!

Tunisian Almond Pastries
Serves: 6-8

Dough:
1 1/2 cups almonds
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water (for more authentic taste, use rose water or orange flower water)

Syrup:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

- Combine syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the dough.
- For the dough: Powder almonds in a food processor (blender might work, but do just part at a time.) In a bowl, combine almonds and powdered sugar. Add water a tiny bit at a time, stirring to blend. You want the dough to barely cling together, and you may not need the whole 2 tablespoons. Form the dough into balls about the size of a tablespoon.
- When syrup has thickened remove from heat (about 10-15 minutes - when boiling, the bubbles stay on the surface for a second and look almost soapy).
- Coat each ball in syrup. You can stop there, or then roll in chopped nuts to coat. You can eat right away, or let sit for an hour to firm up more. Should last for 1-2 weeks in an air-tight container.

Here's the first batch I made, too. They weren't quite as pretty.

Homemade Pita chips

2009-03-06T12:19:00.003-06:00

I like pita bread. I like pita chips. I don't get why 6 oz of pita chips should cost me more than 5 whole pitas (12 oz.) These are really good chips, and go well with any dip, though I like them with my yogurt hummus or, like I'll do today, with guacamole. I use whole wheat pitas because I like the flavor, but any kind will work.

Pita Chips
Serves: 4

4 whole pitas
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 425. Cut each pita in half. Split the halves of the pita (like where the pocket would usually be) and spray each side lightly with oil. Cut each piece into 3-4 chip-size triangles.* You will have 12-16 triangular chips from each pita. Spread out onto a baking sheet in one layer. Bake in 425 degree oven on top rack for about 3 minutes. Stir chips around, and bake an additional 2-3 minutes, until brown in spots. VERY important to watch these as they can quickly go from almost-done to burnt.

*If your time is more important to you than uniform chips, bake the large sections and break them up by hand afterwards.

Tuna melts

2009-03-03T09:50:00.001-06:00

Simple? Maybe. But they seem sooo much fancier than just a tuna sandwich with cheese. I don't mix the tuna with anything before putting it on the bread to give it a more delicate flavor. It also means that it doesn't stick together the same way as a traditional tuna melt, so to make it more kid-friendly, mix in a couple tablespoons of mayo, dijon mustard, or salad dressing. We eat ours with tomato & red pepper soup.

Tuna melts
Serves: 2-3 people per can Prep time: about 20 minutes (depends on size of pan and number of sandwiches)

1 can tuna
1 medium tomato
2 slices cheese per sandwich (I like pepperjack)
2 slices bread per sandwich
Cooking Spray

- Turn a large frying pan, skillet or flat stove-top grill to medium-low heat.
- Open and drain can of tuna. Stir in mayo, etc. if you wish.
- Slice tomato into thin slices.
- Spray pan with cooking spray, place bread in single layer in pan. Spray top sides with cooking spray. Let cook 2-3 minutes, until bottom side is light brown.
- Turn over one slice of bread per sandwich. Place 2 slices of cheese on bread and top with 1/2 or 1/3 of can of tuna and tomato slices.
- Put the other slice of bread on top, making sure that the side browned in the pan is facing the tomato & tuna. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until bottom side golden brown.
- Flip and cook and additional 2-3 minutes, until final side is golden brown.

Thick Chicken Chili

2009-03-01T18:33:00.004-06:00

I made this in my little crockpot, so it ended up being much more chicken-y than I expected. A smaller chicken breast could be good, or just plan to put it on top of rice, noodles, or tortillas. This was quicker than I expected, and when I put in the info, the protein in this is insane!

Thick Chicken Chili
Hands-on time: 15 min Cook time: 7+ hours
Serves: 3-4

1 chicken breast, thawed and trimmed
1 (14-16 oz) can diced tomato, with juice
1 (14-16 oz) can kidney beans, drained (but not rinsed)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Toppings (optional - cheese, chopped onion, plain yogurt/sour cream)

- Put all ingredients into crock pot. Stir. Plug in and cook on low at least 7 hours. I left mine for 9.
- Before serving, stir to break up chicken into small pieces.

Nutrition info (for 1/4 recipe): Cal: 466 Fat: 3.1g Carbs: 73g Protein: 39g

Bread Pizza

2009-02-23T08:56:00.000-06:00

We used to have this all the time when I was little. French bread is probably the most common thing to use, but we used any kind of regular bread. And then topped with whatever was in the fridge - most often chopped up hot dogs or maybe bologna. Pepperoni when lucky.

Bread Pizza

Bread (1-2 slices of regular bread per person)
Meat (if you want)
Veggies (bell pepper, onion, tomato)
Pasta sauce, pizza sauce, or tomato paste (with a little water and pizza seasoning sprinkled in.)
Cheese

- Preheat oven to 375.
- Place bread on a cookie sheet. Spread on tomato paste, and top with meat and veggies, then cheese.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes (until cheese is melted and bread is toasted)

Chicken Quesadilla Pasta Roni

2009-02-21T14:40:00.000-06:00

My best friend (also a grad student) pointed out that I don't have any Rice-A-Roni or Pasta Roni recipes on here. Honestly, I feel like Rice-A-Roni takes too much effort with the pre-cook and then add water, plus the flavors aren't as tasty to me. I do try to avoid foods with pre-mixed seasonings because they're so high in sodium, but I admit that I *love* Chicken Quesadilla Pasta Roni. Not plain, but with tasty stuff added. If you want to make this quicker, cheaper, easier, or just vegetarian, use 1 can of drained, rinsed black beans.

Fancied-up Chicken Quesadilla Pasta Roni
Serves 3-4

1 box Chicken Quesadilla Pasta Roni
1 1/4 c water
1 T margarine/butter
1/4 cup milk
1 cup corn (frozen or from a can)
1 chicken breast, trimmed and cut into small pieces
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (optional)

- If using chicken, brown in a small frying pan. Add salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin if you want.
- In a medium saucepan, bring water, milk and margarine to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Slowly stir in pasta and Speical Seasonings. Separate pasta with a fork, if needed. Boil uncovered.
- After about 5 minutes, add in chicken (or beans), corn and bell pepper.
- Boil a total of 7-9 minutes, or until pasta is tender, stirring frequently.
- Sauce will be thin. Do not overcook. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes for sauce to thicken.

Breakfast couscous

2009-02-20T13:56:00.003-06:00

Similar to rice, couscous can be eaten sweet. I usually have this for breakfast, but really any time would be fine. The basic process is just as quick and easy - it's the additions that take longer. I've just listed "fruit" below because you can use whatever's on hand. I've used dates, raisins, cherries (really good, but pitting them was an awful pain), strawberries, and dried apricots. I bet apples and pears would be good, too.

Breakfast couscous
Serves: 4

1 cup couscous
1 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar (If you use dates, omit completely - can be left out with any fruit if you like)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 -1 1/2 cup fruit
3/4 cup nuts (Almonds, walnuts, pecans, or cashews)

- Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add couscous, and cover.
- Chop fruit and nuts if necessary.
- After couscous has fully cooked (5 minutes) stir in milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fruit. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally until heated through.
- Add nuts right before serving.

Asparagus and Poached Eggs

2009-02-18T21:30:00.005-06:00

This might be a breakfast recipe, but I made it for dinner last night. I always figured poached eggs were difficult and something that only old people eat, but it was actually really easy and tasted good! Asparagus is already in season here, which landed it in the "cheap" category. I suppose you're getting two for one here, because these are really separate things. The nutrition facts for the asparagus are going to depend on how you season it - I used Newman's Own light balsamic this time, but I've done black pepper, salt, and chili powder in the past.

Roasted Asparagus
Serves: 2-4 Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 5-8 minutes

1 lb Asparagus
Cooking spray and spices OR 2 Tbs Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

- Preheat oven to 425.
- Rinse asparagus and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut off the ends so that they don't look woody (like little holes).
- Place in dish (I use a 9x9 dish, but anything would work) and drizzle with dressing or spray with cooking spray and sprinkle on spices. Toss to coat.
- Bake in 425 oven for 5-8 minutes (should still be green and crisp, but easily stabbed with fork.)

Poached Eggs
Total ready time: 10-15 minutes

1 egg per person
Water

- In a medium to large pot (depending on number of eggs) boil at least 3 inches of water.
- Once water is boiling, turn to low. Crack an egg into a cup with a handle and then gently lower the cup into the water so that it fills up and then tilt so the egg slides out. Repeat with all your eggs. Don't worry if they touch each other - mine ended up right on each other and were fine.
- Cover and let cook for 3-5 minutes (3 for runny yolk, at 5 my yolks were totally hard - the way I like it.)
- Scoop out eggs with a slotted spoon and serve.

Yogurt Hummus

2009-02-15T09:48:00.001-06:00

I like hummus, which made this a great find for me. The yogurt replaces the oil and adds just a little tangy-ness. I do throw in a little olive oil because it adds flavor. You can put in some lemon juice if you like, too. Serve with pita bread or flour tortillas. The tortillas may not be authentic, but they are certainly cheaper.

Yogurt Hummus
Serves 4-8 Prep time: 5 min

1 (15.5 oz) can garbanzo beans
1 clove garlic, peeled
2/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Oatmeal Apricot Cookies

2009-02-14T08:43:00.000-06:00

I made it! 14 days of desserts! Now that I have it out of my system, I will go back to regular food tomorrow. I was reluctant to post these cookies because they're not much healthier than a regular recipe, but Dan has called them the best I've made in a long time, so here they are! This one is from Cooking Light again (yes, I love their stuff) and you can find the original here, but I am copying and pasting it as well. I didn't much like the idea of toffee in my cookies, because I know it always melts and spreads. Instead, I used a cup of chopped, dried apricots. I got them cheap at a warehouse store. Whatever you use, be sure to really let the butter and sugar mix for a long time - this will keep the cookies from spreading too much and being super flat.

Oatmeal Apricot Cookies

Prep time: about 15 min. Makes: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients

3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup almond toffee bits (or 1 cup apricots)
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Stir in toffee bits (*or apricot).

3. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Nutrition info for one cookie: Cal: 90 Fat: 3.4 g (less if using dried fruit) Carbs: 14.6g Protein: 1.2g