Drink Well, Eat Better

Going Vegetarian?

2011-02-25T23:41:00.003-05:00

Black bean burger and baby spinach on a bun with sweet potato fries.

Lately I've been toying with the idea of going vegetarian. Not forever, but maybe try it for a month or so... but in the end, I usually decide I enjoy meat too much. So instead, I've made the decision to limit my meat intake and try out new vegetarian dishes to add some variety. Why not, right?

Taking meat out of dishes like pastas and pizza is not hard, but I wanted to go further than that. I decided to start out trying to make black bean burgers. I wasn't sure how they would taste or how the texture would be because I had never had them before. I'm happy to report that they were great! Well, the second time I made them they were great... the first time I accidentally went overboard on the spices and the burger was so spicy I couldn't enjoy it. The second time, I toned down the spice a lot and also tried using a food processor during the burger making process. Both of these changes made the burgers much better. Doug had found a great black bean burger recipe here, so we used that recipe to go off of. We edited it a bit, so the recipe at the bottom of this post is the actual version we used.

And what goes better with a burger than fries? In order to keep this meal on the healthy side, we opted to make baked sweet potato fries. Our grocery store only had sweet potatoes labeled "yams," which after some research we learned in most supermarkets in America, what is labeled yams, is in fact a sweet potato. Usually to actually get a yam, you have to go to a market with a large international market and they will clearly be labeled as imported. So after we finished our sweet potato/yam research, I sliced them all up into steak fries. In a bowl we tossed them with a drizzle of EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic. Then we covered a baking sheet with tin foil (easy clean-up) and sprayed with a non-stick spray. We laid them out in a single layer and cooked them at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, turning them after the 15 minute mark.

Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) Black beans (or 2 cups of cooked black beans)
3/4 of a medium Onion (cut the onion in half, and then each of those in quarters, add 6 quarters)
1/2 c. Rolled oats
1 egg
1 tbsp. Chili powder
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. Black pepper
Salt to taste
1/4 c. Bread crumbs (plain)

Instructions
1. Combine the beans, onion, oats, egg, chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt to a food processor. Pulse until chunky. Do NOT puree.
2. The mixture may be very liquidity, if it is, remove to a mixing bowl, and gradually mix in bread crumbs (you may not need the whole 1/4 cup) with your hands. Mix until you are able to form a patty.
3. Form 4 patties with the mixture (you can make more if you want them smaller).
4. In a pre-heated non-stick skillet, at medium heat, place the patties in. Flip once the bottom of the burgers have a crust formed on them, approx. 5 minutes. Continue to cook until both sides have formed a crust. Remove and serve as you wish!

The ease and deliciousness of this meal makes it a go-to meal for after work or a weekend lunch. Plus, this is a super cheap meal to make, which is always nice. It has definitely helped inspire me to find more vegetarian dishes!

Bel Canto

2011-02-24T16:13:00.001-05:00

In this novel by Ann Patchett, we are at first drawn into an elaborate birthday party in an unnamed South American country for a high-profile Japanese business man, Mr. Hosokawa. The party was thrown as an attempt to woo Mr. Hosokawa into opening a factory in their country, but Mr. Hosokawa's only interest in attending was because they hired the talented opera singer Roxanne Cross to sing for him. The party was going well, they had American Bourbon and were served great foods like "shite asparagus in hollandaise, a fish course of turbot with crispy sweet onions, tiny chops, only three or four bites apiece, in a cranberry demiglaze." That is until terrorist snuck in a took everyone hostage.

The terrorists sought the nation's president, who was not in attendance. So instead, they decided they must hold everyone else until they figured out what to do. After a while and some meetings with a negotiater, the terrorists release the women, with the exception of Roxanne Cross, and a few men. The rest that were deemed important enough to stay, were kept in the house. While the timeline is unclear, we know they are held hostage for several months. During these months, it is Roxanne's singing that soothes them. Friendships and in some cases, love develop within the house. However, they all know that eventually it will end.

I will not spoil the ending for you because I think the story is a good one and you should read it. But if you pick this book for a book club, please make sure everyone finishes it before you meet. I do not think the story can really be broken down and discussed until it is all revealed. And if you do choose this book for a book club choice, I think it would be fun to serve food as if you were also confined to the house they are all in. After a while in the house, the terrorists/hostages have to learn to cook for themselves. The prepared food stops coming and instead they receive boxes of raw meat. While you could form your menu around that idea (they also talk about cooking rabbit, which I have never done) or choose the path from the beginning of the story of an elaborate dinner party, I think it would easiest to stick with the prepared hostage food.

Part of the reason I like the idea of sticking with the prepared hostage food menu is because I think the first time the hostages receive the food is an important part of the story. The interpreter for Mr. Hosokawa learns that it will soon be his role to interpreter for everyone and no longer just his employer. And considering his story arc, I believe this is an important realization. Also, sticking with hostage food would allow you to prepare the food in advance and would mainly be assembling prior to the meeting.

In the novel they talk about sandwiches and wrapped slices of cake. This is a very easy task for a book club. You can make full sandwiches and then cut them into triangles for bite sized sandwiches. Some suggestions are:
Grilled Cheese - Shake it up by swapping out American cheese for your favorite. You can then add a veggie, fruit, or meat to this. Our lovely host Madeline made us Gruyere and green apple grilled cheeses and they were absolutely delicious, and it was the first time I had it.
Hummus & Veggies - I think this works best as a wrap. Spread the hummus over the wrap and then add vegetable spears, think carrots, peppers, cucumbers, etc. This also would be great with cream cheese instead of hummus, however, that would also be less healthy. Simply wrap it up, slice and serve.
Tuna Salad - Not just the boring tuna and mayo combo. Add something to it! Depending on what I have in my fridge, I've added carrots, onion, celery, pickles and olives (all chopped up) to my tuna salad. I would put it on wheat bread with some baby spinach.
Cold cuts - This one simply choose your favorite at your local deli counter. My favorite is Boars Head buffalo chicken with pepperjack cheese, topped with honey mustard.

For the wrapped cake, it may be more time consuming to bake a full cake, slice it and then wrap each piece individually. But if you're up for, you can do that. Simply choose your favorite cake and go to town. My other suggestions would be:
Cupcakes - Don't fill the wrappers as much as normally would, so the frosting doesn't build up too high. You can wrap them up if you'd like, but technically, they are in wrappers ;-)
Cookies - Bake (or buy) your favorite cookies. Then portion out little goodie bags for all the members.
Fruit Salad - Make a fruit salad and divide it into small servings. You can wrap each of those servings and serve with a plastic fork.

For drinks, I would keep it simple. For non-alcoholic beverages, canned sodas and bottled waters would fit the theme perfectly. For the adult drinks, you can serve cans of beer and boxed wine, with paper cups. If you don't want to go with the boxed wine, I would choose a Chilean or Argentinean wine since the novel takes place in South America, although after a few glasses, your guests may not care as much...

This book is a quick, good read and makes for a great book club pick. To make even better, pair it up with a themed menu and good drinks. Enjoy!

Whoopie!

2011-02-23T16:36:00.003-05:00

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies. The dessert that is somehow a cake, a cookie and a pie all in one. While their origin is debated between Pennsylvania and Maine, there is no debate in their deliciousness. In fact, some believe whoopie pies got their name from when Amish wives would pack the treats in their husband's lunchbox he would exclaim "whoopie!" That, however, did not stop Maine's State Legislature from trying to make the Whoopie Pie the official state dessert, since they believe Maine is the true birthplace of the treat. Perhaps it's this food feud that has re-sparked America's interest in the whoopie pie and why some say whoopie pies are on their way to becoming the next cupcake.
For a few months now, I feel like whoopie pies are everywhere. Baking blogs, food magazines, cooking channels, and bakeries have all embraced the dessert. After a reading a recent Taste of Home magazine, specifically the section on whoopie pies, I figured it was time for me to embrace it. So this year for Valentine's Day, I treated my co-workers to some red velvet whoopie pies. And they must've liked them since by lunch time they were all gone, with only a few crumbs remaining.

The whoopie pies were very easy to make, and since they do not have to be as moist as a cake/cupcake, mixing the ingredients was a breeze. No alternating between wet and dry ingredients! To make the cookies all the same size, I used a tablespoon of batter. This created a nice size cookie, that is big enough to share, but still small enough to eat a whole one. For the filling, I put the cream cheese frosting in a piping bag with no tip, and piped the frosting right on to the cookie. For some of the pies, I don't think I used enough frosting, since I was nervous I would run out before I finished all 24 sandwiches. I ended up with left overs, so do not be afraid of filling them! Also, the original recipe calls for melted baking chips, chocolate and chopped nuts for toppings, but I did not do this and it didn't taste like I was missing something. The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients
Cake/Cookie

3/4 c. Butter, softened

1 c. Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 c. Sour cream

1 tbsp. Red food coloring

1-1/2 tsp. White vinegar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2-1/4 c. All-purpose flour

1/4 c. Baking cocoa

2 tsp. Baking powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Baking soda

2 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Filling

8 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. Butter, softened

2-1/2 c. Confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla extract (clear)

Instructions

Recipe makes approx. 24 whoopie pies

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Continue to beat.

4. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

5. Melt the chocolate (I use the microwave and check & stir it every 15 seconds). Stir the melted chocolate into the mixture.

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter about 2 inches are apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges set (the top of the domes may not be firm, that is OK).

7. Cool for 2 minutes on the sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

8. While they are baking and cooling, make the filling. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla.

9. Using a piping bag, pipe about 1 tbsp. of filling on the bottom of 1/2 of the cooled cookies. Top with the remaining cookies. (Decorate with melted baking chips/chocolate and nuts if desired.) Enjoy!

The batter before the melted chocolate was added

Finished batter, right before baking

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza!

2011-02-14T17:38:00.004-05:00

Caution, pizza contains sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, onions & cheese.

NY pizza v. Chicago pizza, the ultimate pizza rivalary. Thin crust or deep dish, which do you prefer?

Personally, I prefer NY pizza, after all, I am a born and raised New Yorker. However, that's not to say I don't enjoy deep dish pizza, I do. But to me, it's not pizza. I can't just grab a slice of it when I feel like it, I have to sit down with a knife and fork and a lot of napkins. Deep dish is great when you're out with friends, it's perfect to share as you all sit around and talk. When Doug and I were in Chicago visiting our friends Maggie & Tim awhile back, they took us and our other friends out for some Chicago pizza (and hot dogs that were delish!). We ordered a veggie stuffed pie and a meat stuffed pie. Both were amazing. And since then, both Doug and I have reminsced both about our trip and the great food we ate. And it wasn't until our friend Matt (who was in Chicago with us) saw our cast iron pan that a stroke of genius struck. He saw it and immediately asked if we can make deep dish pizza in it. Of course I said yes, and then couldn't believe neither Doug nor myself thought about it before. And with that, we were on a mission!

In my last post, I wrote about how we don't like to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day and prefer staying in and cooking (well, I cook, Doug eats). This year, since Valentine's Day was on a Monday, as we sat in our usual lazy Sunday positions on the couch, Doug suggested that we attempt our pizza (he knows the way to my heart). I was sold! We looked up a few recipes and finally decided to start with one posted on cooks.com. Oh, also, we live-streamed us making the pizza, which was weird, but fun. It took us about 3 hours to make, but it was worth the wait. It came out delicious. It was SO good. And it made so much! We still have more than half of the pizza left and we both ate until we were stuffed. This pizza was not low-fat or diet or healthy in anyway, so I would not suggest eating it too often, but you can definitely treat yourself to a slice. Below is the recipe we used, based off of one we found on cooks.com.

I suggest you take a look at the note about the tomatoes because at our pizza did actually come out a bit runny (for lack of a better word). Not really eating it, but after we took a slice out of the pan, you could see all the juices that cooked out. To remedy this though, we simply tilted the pan and carefully poured the juices out. Having the juices there didn't really impact the pizza too much though, bc the cheese on the bottom was melted and gooey anyway, it just made it a little more difficult to dish out.

Ingredients
Pizza Crust
3 1/2 c. All-purpose flour
1 Packet Active-dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. warm water (120-130 degrees)
3 tbsp. oil

Pizza Filling
1 lb. Sweet Italtian sausage
1 Package pepperoni, sliced (pre-sliced or you can slice yourself)
1 (28 oz.) Can crushed tomatoes, drained **
2 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Dried oregano
1 tsp. Dried parsley
1 tsp. Basil leaves
1/2 tsp. Garlic salt
1/2 tsp. Crushed red pepper
1 (10 oz.) Package fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 lg. Green pepper, quartered, seeded, and thinly sliced
2 Medium onions, thinly sliced
1 (8 oz.) pkg. Sliced mozzarella cheese
1 c. Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese (as desired)

Instructions
Use 14 inch deep-dish pizza pan, 2 inches deep. Oven, 450 degrees. Yield: 6 to 8 generous servings.

Pizza Dough
1. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, the dry yeast, and salt. Mix well.
2. Add the very warm water and oil to the flour mixture. Blend at low speed; scrape the bowl and beat at medium speed 3 minutes, continuing to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.
3. Switch to the kneading attachment for the mixer and put the setting on low, gradually stir in enough remaining flour (2 cups) to make a firm dough. Continue to knead until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. (You can knead by hand of course if you prefer!)
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap, then a towel and let rest 20 minutes.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead the dough to loosen the elasticity of it. Then roll the dough out to a circle slightly larger than your pan. We used a 13 inch pan, so we made sure our dough was as least 15 inches (in diameter).
6. Grease your pan and then pull the dough up and lay it in the pan. Push it down so the dough reaches halfway up the sides. Our dough was actually a bit big, so it came up a bit higher, that's fine.
7. Cover with a towel again and let rise for another 30 minutes (it should be puffy).

Filling
1. Remove the sausage from the casing and brown, stirring to break up the lumps. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms, green pepper, and sliced onion to the sausage drippings and saute briefly. The vegetables should crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix the crushed tomatoes with the sugar, spices and herbs.**
4. Now to assemble the pizza! First place the sliced mozzarella in a single layer on top of the pizza dough. Try to cover as much of the dough as possible (you can tear the peices to fit.)
5. Distribute the browned sausage over the cheese, then the pepperoni, followed by the sauteed vegetables mixture (draining off any moisture that has accumulated).
6. Add half of the tomato mixture, distributing it evenly over the vegetables. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella and then distribute the remaining tomato mixture. Sprinkle the top generously with grated Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven about 25 minutes (until the edge of the dough is browned and the cheese is melted).
8. Slice into thick wedges to serve.

Cheese layer on the bottom

With all the meats added, next add vegetables

Just before placing in the oven!

We had some left over dough, so using a ramekin, we made a mini pizza!

Mini pizza, fresh out of the oven.

Slice & serve! (here you can see the extra juices I was referring)

A perfect slice!

I paused mid-slice to snap a picture it was so good :)

**Original recipes calls for a can of plum tomatoes. The directions are then to drain the plum tomatoes, chop the tomatoes, and drain again. Stir in the sugar, herbs, garlic salt, and crushed red pepper. The rest of the instructions are the same.

Bringing the Steakhouse Home

2011-02-08T13:49:00.001-05:00

Steak au Poivre, perfect for a date night

It's already a week into February, which means Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. Whether you're single or in a relationship, you can't escape the red & pink decorations, hearts, flowers and chocolate everywhere you look. Personally, I'm not a huge a fan of Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy any reason to eat chocolate and get presents, and I love girly things like pink hearts everywhere, but there's something about Valentine's Day that always feels forced. Which is why I will not go out to dinner on Feb. 14th. I have no desire to sit in an over-crowded restaurant with couples holding hands across the table, all while eating food that is ridiculously marked up in price for the day. I much prefer to stay at home with a bottle (or 2) of a good wine and make dinner for Doug and myself.

Usually, Doug and I make dinner for ourselves almost every night, so for Valentine's Day, I like to surprise him with something new and/or something that we would order out to eat. While I have yet to decide what I'll be making next week, I wanted to share a recipe I would recommend for a great Valentine's Day in. Doug had sent me this recipe a while back, but at the time I didn't own a cast iron skillet. Well, once my parents bought me an awesome Lodge one for Christmas, I was pumped to be able to make Mr. Bourdain's Steak au Poivre.

With the steak recipe, Anthony Bourdain recommends serving with french fries or sauteed potatoes. I choose the healthier option of sauteed potates. I simply cubed the potatoes, since dicing them takes a little bit of time, as you cut them, hold them in a bowl of cold water to keep them from turning brown, and then seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and some parsley. But you can add whatever seasonings you like! Then I added them to a warmed saute pan and added a little EVOO. I don't add to much (like I said, I was aiming to keep it healthier), just enough to coat the potatoes. Toss them a bit and let them cook until desired doneness. I personally like mine on the crispier side, so I had them on the stove for a while. Also, I had halved Tony's recipe because I was only making 2 steaks, but below is the full recipe. I hope you and who ever you're cooking for enjoy!

Servings: 4

Ingredients4 8-ounce steaks
2 ounces olive oil
2 ounces freshly cracked peppercorns (crushed but not ground to powder!)
4 ounces sweet butter
1 ounce good Cognac
4 ounces strong, dark veal stock (something to keep in your freezer)
Salt and pepper

Equipment
Heavy skillet
Kitchen tongs
Wooden spoon
Serving platter

Instructions for Steak
1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Moisten the meat very slightly with oil, then dredge each of the steaks in the crushed peppercorns to thoroughly coat. Don't be shy with the pepper.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add 2 ounces, which is half of the butter. Place the steaks in the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per side.

3. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook until desired doneness, about 5 to 7 minutes for rare, 10 minutes for medium rare, and so on. Remove from the oven and remove the steaks from the pan to rest. Have I told you yet to always rest your meat after cooking? I've told you now.

Instructions for Sauce
1. Return the skillet to the stovetop and carefully stir in the Cognac. As much fun as it is to create a column of flame as you add flammable material to an incredibly hot pan, it's not really desirable or necessary — especially in a home kitchen. Unless you're a pyromaniac, I recommend carefully adding the Cognac to the still-hot pan off the flame, stirring and scraping with the wooden spoon to get every scrap, every peppercorn, every rumor of flavor clinging to the bottom of the pan.

2. Now place the pan on the flame again and cook it down a bit, by about half. Stir in the veal stock and reduce over medium heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Whisk in the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with French fries or sautéed potatoes.

Note on searing: With any recipe that calls for searing meat and then using the pan to make a sauce, be careful to avoid blackening the pan; your sauce will taste burnt. Avoid by adjusting the heat to, say, medium high, so it will still sear the meat but not scorch the pan juices. But stoves and pans vary, so pay attention.

Recipe and reviews can also be found here. FYI - sweet butter is just unsalted butter, I had to look that up to be sure after not finding "sweet butter" in the grocery store.

Steak & potatoes cooking away on the stove

Embarrassingly Easy

2011-02-07T17:23:00.004-05:00

Baked Brie Bites

As much as I love to cook and bake, I am a huge fan of serving food that does not require me to be stuck in the kitchen when I have guests over. And while frozen foods are great for things like that (TGI Friday's apps anyone?), 99% of the time, I still prefer to make my easy appetizers myself. I think it allows for more creativity and it LOOKS like you spent all day in the kitchen prepping for your guests. The only downside of super easy appetizers is when someone asks me for the recipe. I begin to awkwardly blush and suddenly feel guilty for accepting all their compliments on my cooking skills. I mean, yes, I did make them, but it was so easy is it really fair for me to accept all this praise? Also, do I want to admit just how easy it was and let them know I wasn't cooking all day with them in mind? I usually end up caving in and letting them in on how simple the food was and hope that they use my simple recipes in the future. Which is why I'm posting some of my favorites here, because who doesn't love easy entertaining? ...And I hope to try some of your appetizers next time I come over :)

Baked Brie Bites (pictured above)

Ingredients
24 Frozen Phyllo Cups (my supermarket sells them in packs of 15, so I buy two)
1 Wheel of Brie
1/4 c. Sliced Almonds (you will not use it all)
Brown Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the wheel of brie into small pieces, so that one piece will fit inside a phyllo cup (I find 1 wheel of brie makes about 24 bite size squares).
3. Arrange the phyllo cups on a baking sheet and place a square of cheese in each one.
4. Bake for 5 minutes.
5. Remove them from the oven and sprinkle the sliced almonds and brown sugar on top of them.
6. Return to the oven and bake for another 2 minutes.
7. Remove, serve & enjoy!

*Note: I've made these also using Craisins instead of (and along side of) the sliced almonds. Both are equally delicious. I also think adding some green apple in there would be tasty - try it out!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients
1 can of Chick Peas (15 oz)
1/3 c. Tahini (found in the Middle Eastern section of the grocery store)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. EVOO
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 c. Roasted Red Peppers
Pinch of kosher salt

Instructions
1. Combine the chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, and EVOO in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Add the garlic and roasted red peppers and continue to process.
3. Add salt to taste.

I like to serve the hummus with a tray of veggies, some pretzels and pita chips. A fun serving idea is to use a pepper as a bowl, just cut off the top and scoop out the insides.

Mango Salsa Scoops (from Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients
1 c. Mango, diced
1 c. Black beans
1/4 c. Red onion, diced
2 Tbsp. Pickled jalapenos, chopped
2 Tbsp. Pickled jalapeno liquid (from the jar)
Chopped cilantro
Lime juice
Kosher salt
Bag of Tortilla Scoops

Instrucitons
1. Combine the mango, black beans, red onion, chopped pickled jalapeno and the liquid. Add the cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste.
2. Spoon the salsa into the tortilla scoops and serve!

Marinated Garlic-Lime Shrimp

Ingredients
Frozen raw shrimp - peeled & de-veined to make your life easier
Garlic-Lime Marinade (I used Lawry's and it came out delicious, you could also make your own if you'd like or choose another brand)

Instructions
1. Place the raw shrimp in a ziploc bag and pour marinade in, enough to coat.
2. Let sit in fridge for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat a saute pan on medium-low heat (I don't use any oil, just a non-stick pan) and add the shrimp, but not the excess marinade.
4. Cook until done, when the shrimp are all pink and shaped like a "C" - not a very long time
5. Plate and serve!

Shrimp in a martini glass, keeping it classy ;-)

Cold Outside, Chili Inside

2011-01-13T17:56:00.005-05:00

On a day where snow is falling and piling up outside, there is little I find as comforting as good bowl of chili. I had never really ate chili before, but tried it when I first went skiing about 4 years ago. After a very long day of a lot of falling down, all I wanted to do was sit in the lodge and have a beer. It seemed as if everyone was eating chili out of a bread bowl and it looked so good, so I ordered it. It was delicious, and as I swore I would never ski again, I also decided I need to start eating more chili. The following year my friends were planning another ski trip, so I went and opted to try snowboarding. I fared better on a board than on skis, but it was still a long day of falling down and again, I found comfort in the ski lodge's chili (and beer). Since then, I've actually gotten pretty good at snowboarding, now very little falling down, but I still look forward to that warm, comforting bowl of chili when I'm done.

This year, since it seemed to get so cold so early into winter, I tried and succeeded in making my own turkey chili. It was perfect for when we were snowed in after Christmas and lasted a few days. I had looked up a bunch of recipes and decided to start with one that was posted on the Food Network website and then add in a few things that I saw in other recipes. At the time when I made my first batch, I did not own a crock-pot, so I had to make it in a regular pot on the stove. Since then, I now have a crock-pot and have made the same recipe in it, and it comes out just as good. The crock-pot is a bit easier because I didn't stir it or constantly walk over there to make sure it didn't get too hot or boil. And also in the crock-pot, once it was done, I was able to keep it on the warm setting for quite some time, which was nice. I'd like to also add that while this recipe calls for ground turkey, I one time substituted it with ground chicken and it came out just as good, so if your grocery store, like mine, is lacking in meat department, feel free to switch it up.

Everytime I have made this chili it comes out delicious and is also very cheap to make. Once you have the all spices/seasonings, your biggest expense is buying the meat. What I like to do is see when ground turkey or chicken is on sale and buy a few packages of it. I then keep them in my freezer so I have them on hand and feel great knowing I saved money on them. If you have the meat, spices/seasonings, you can make a whole batch of chili for about $5 (depending on your grocery store). Again, especially with canned goods like tomatoes and kidney beans, if you buy them on sale and have them in your pantry, it's a great way to save money and make quick, cheap meals. Here's the recipe I ended up using (adopted from the Food Network recipe):

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 c. Yellow Onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Garlic - minced
1/4 c. Green bell pepper - chopped
1 lb. Ground turkey
1 (28 oz.) Can of crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz.) Can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 c. Low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1 tsp. Dried basil*
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Hot sauce (optional)

Directions
1. In a large skillet (or I use the large pot I plan to cook the chili in), saute the onions, minced garlic and bell peppers in the olive oil on medium heat, until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned.
3. If using a crock-pot, transfer the contents of the skillet to the crock-pot and add all remaining ingredients. Set the crock-pot on low and stir well to combine. If you are not using a crock-pot, reduce heat to low add all remaining ingredients to the skillet/pot and stir well to combine.
4. Let simmer on low for 1 hour.
5. This is optional but you can top each bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream if you like. Enjoy!

Here's a picture of mine in the pot (once with flash, once without flash):

*Instead of using dried basil, I keep some frozen "fresh" basil leaves that my mom grows in her garden. She, very kindly, picks them for me and puts them in a ziploc bag that I keep in my freezer. It's great to have on hand!

Eat Your Greens!

2011-01-10T18:17:00.004-05:00

My new favorite lunch salad

Two of my 2011 new year's resolutions were: (1) be able to run the Warrior race wearing shorts & a sports bra (so really: eating healthy and working out) and (2) save more money/become better at managing my money. One way I hope to accomplish both of those goals is by bringing a healthy lunch to work everyday. I'm actually one of the few people I know my age that brings my lunch to work. Working in Times Square, buying lunch can cost anywhere from $5 (Subway footlong) to $15, and it's crazy to think of what you can spend if you buy it everyday. So usually, I brown bag it - either leftovers from dinner, a salad, a sandwich, and sometimes, when I overspend on the weekends, a good ol' pb&j. And usually, I'm satisfied with that. But sometimes I get bored with that and just feel like having something different, which is how I felt last Monday - the very first day I was putting my resolution into effect. Also, I hadn't gone food shopping, I was too busy celebrating 2011! So I had to go buy my lunch.

I went to Pret A Manger near my office and got my favorite wrap, the spicy shrimp and cilantro wrap. It's delicious and is only 290 calories! I kept thinking that the wrap is so good and does not have a lot of calories, so it's worth buying. But it's about $8, which is more than what I would like to spend daily on my lunch. So I decided, I will take this wrap and make a salad inspired from it. Then I can have it for lunch or even with my dinner if I desire. So that's what I did. And I've eaten about 3 times for lunch so far (not bad for 6 days!).

Making the shrimp for this salad is what took me the longest time to do. I, in a rush, bought the frozen shrimp that was on sale, with out really realizing that it was still shelled and raw. Usually, I prefer the one where they're all ready to go and just have to be defrosted (which is what I would recommend). So I removed the shells from my shrimp, and then seasoned them with some salt and pepper and tossed them into a frying pan. I simply used a non-stick frying pan, so I didn't add any oil/butter/spray to it. I let them cook on the stove on a med-low to heat until they looked done (all pink, shaped like a "C"), not too long. I then let them cool. In the mean time, I gathered my other items: baby spinach, cilantro, a red pepper and a cucumber. The baby spinach I simply opened and took out the amount I needed (I trust that it was washed, but give it a rinse if it looks suspect). I then rinsed and chopped my cilantro. I didn't chop it too well, because I wanted some bigger pieces in my salad, but you can use your discretion. Then I cut the cucumber and red pepper into bite size pieces. What I like to do, to save time during the week, is cut up everything and put them in separate tupperware. Then when you're making your salad, you simply have to just reach into different containers and throw them in your bowl - super easy! For dressing, I was able to find sweet chili sauce in the Asian section of my supermarket. I found that even though it's not a dressing, you can use a tablespoon or less (depending on the size of your salad) and it will lightly coat everything. I pack my dressing separately from my salad, so I just brought a lot the first time and I brought my salad to work and leave it in the refrigerator here. It makes it much easier and then I can put some on right before I eat.

This salad is my new favorite lunch to eat. It's delicious, refreshing and healthy - perfect for keeping up with resolutions!

Santa Delivers

2011-01-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

I'm lucky/spoiled enough to still receive great Christmas presents from my parents. I'm not quite sure how my mom and dad do it, but they always manage to not only get me things I love, but they do the same for my 4 siblings, and even our boyfriends and girlfriend! Anyway, this year they did it again and I'd like to share (brag about) some of my food related gifts because they're awesome.

One gift I knew was coming (I just happen to send my mother the Amazon link) was a Lodge 13" cast iron skillet. She even got me the brush to clean it and a pot holder for it - she thinks of everything. I can't wait to make some Steak au Poirve in it - and you can bet I'll post pictures after. My parents also knew enough to get me this great Crock-pot, which was perfect, especially since I was snowed in a day later! I was able to make a double batch of turkey chili (recipe to come soon) for Doug, myself and our friends who were also snowed in at our place. Also, the red color looks great in our kitchen, even though my new pot set has orange it. Oh, did I not mention my new pot set? Well, that was my gift from Doug and I love it! We had talked about getting this set almost 2 years ago and then decided we didn't need it, so it's something we can hold off on buying. I had no clue what to expect when it arrived in the mail, but I was pleasantly surprised! I've been cooking up a storm with it and the non-stick, hard anodized surface is fabulous. I would definitely recommend these pots, they clean so easy too!

As if all that stuff wasn't enough, my parents also got me some great new cookbooks and my brother got me a set of ramekins that I had been going crazy trying to find! And some new fun pans, like this one, also from my brother and this one, compliments of my cousin Danielle. My cousins Nicole & Rocky even got my Bakerella's book, Cake Pops and The Pasta Bible (I'm still reading it, there's a TON of info in there). My Aunt Connie got me this great cookie press, which I am anxiously awaiting an opporunity to use! I am so thankful for all of my wonderful gifts and for the people who gave them to me. Like I said, I'm lucky/spoiled :)

Here's one final gift that wasn't quite food related, but I love it and think it's so cute, the Pandora bracelet with a pocketbook & cupcake charm! I've been wearing it everyday since Christmas and I still think the bag & cupcake are the cutest!

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

2011-01-06T14:13:00.012-05:00

"The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School" is a great memoir written by Kathleen Finn. I read this book and then immediately chose it for my book club selection, so all my girlfriends would read it too. I chose this book even though I knew not all of the book club ladies are as passionate about food as I am - to 'get' this book, you don't have to be. On top of the excellent writing, this book is inspiritional, funny and has a great love story to boot.

Kathleen Finn was a journalist, who then fell into a job in as a software executive working in London. Despite being very good at what she did, her position was eliminated and she was let go by the company. Faced with the task of finding another job, she decided instead, she would pursue her passion. She cashed in her savings and moved to Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu. Without speaking French (outside of basic terms) or having any culinary training, Ms. Finn made her dream come true. Deciding to enroll in the degree program, she embarked on her food journey, that would take her about three years to complete. During these years, you learn a bit about her childhood, for example, why living in Paris had been her dream, a lot about food & French cooking, and about her love life. Also examined in the book is the role of friends in your life, especially when sometimes you are "competing" against them. There is one scene in the book where they are cooking duck (if I recall correctly), one class member burns their duck badly and needs another one. However, there are none left, except one of their friends has an extra. Instead of giving her friend in need the extra duck, she quietly ignores her, since she wants to be the top student in the class. When I read this book, I, sadly, could relate to having friends that are competitive, even when there is no need to be. It's stories like those that make this book so relatable, although I am still stuck at my job that I happen to be good at and not living my dream.

Aside from the great story, part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much is (obviously) the food. I read this book shortly after taking Techiniques in Fine Cooking 1, at the Institute of Culinary Education. The course I took taught me all the basics of French Cooking, so reading this re-inforced all of those lessons, and since I had known them, it made me feel pretty good about my cooking techniques. On top of the great techinique tips thrown in there, Ms. Finn goes above and beyond and includes recipes as well. In fact, she's so great, she included a whole section for book clubs, which can also be found here. Her inclusion of this section made this blog very easy to write and hosting book club a joy. The hardest part was deciding which of her recipes to make! After much debating, I ended up making the Golden Onion and Roasted Tomato Quiche and the Provencal Spread*. My good friend Madeline brought us some apples, a baguette, and cheese so we mastered Ms. Finn's cheese tray. And all of my other friends were kind enough to bring along some delicious French wines, to play with the theme in the book. All in all, it was a great book and made for a deliciously great book club.

All my onions in my saute pan:

My finished quiche:

A slice of the quiche (not as pretty as I would have liked, but oh well):

*Both of her recipes linked are from her old website since I could not find them on her new website, which is here.

No Soup For You!

2010-10-12T17:46:00.010-04:00

Just kidding! Fall is my favorite season, I love the cool weather, the colors and all the warm, comforting food. One of my favorites is soup... on a Sunday... watching football in my sweats... curled up on the couch... with a good book for half-time. Luckily for me, that's pretty much how I spent this past Sunday. Now, don't get me wrong, I love football Sundays filled with beer, wings, fried anything, and more beer. But sometimes, I just want to relax. And after a busy 2 months of completely booked weekends, that's exactly what I did. However, later on in the day, after Doug and I broke in our deep fryer with fish & chips (we'll save that for another day), I decided I want to make my own butternut squash soup.

So I searched around for recipes, found one I liked, and headed out to the store. My ingredients were all pretty cheap (luckily I had the spices on hand) and this soup made enough to last me all week! I was able to fill 5 tupperware containers, each with about 2 cups of soup in them - which for me, is great for lunch. The soup itself was also very easy to make, although my "mise en place" of all my veggies took some time - and left me with a blister on my finger (thank you butternut squash!). The soup came out delicious AND, it weighs in at only 159 calories per 1-1/4 cup serving. Not bad at all!

After I made this, I saw a post (I wish I remembered to save it), where someone served soup out of pumpkin bowls. I immediately loved the idea and thought this soup would be perfect for that! Just pick up the amount of small baking pumpkins (or acorn squash), cut the tops open for the bowl. Scoop out the seeds and all the fibers and sprinkle with a bit of sugar and salt. On a baking sheet, roast them for about 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees (longer for larger pumpkins). Viola! Not only will you have a great soup in a cool bowl, but no dishes to be washed when you're done! Also, for a larger group, you can use a larger pumpkin, pour in all the soup, put a ladle in and let your guests serve themselves. A great idea for Thanksgiving :)

Ok, now time for the recipe. I got this recipe from a Taste of Home Cookbook my mom bought me last year (it's my go-to cookbook and I would recommend it for all, buy it here). I actually changed a few small things, so below is the version I actually used.

Ingredients
1 c. Onion - chopped
2 Celery ribs (stalks) - chopped
2 tbsp. Butter
2 cans (14.5 oz each) + 2 tbsp. Reduced sodium Chicken Broth
1 tsp. Sugar
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Ground turmeric
1/4 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1 Butternut squash (approx. 3 lbs) - peeled, seeded & cubed (this is how I got my blister)
3 Potatoes (medium sized) - peeled & cubed
1 1/2 c. 1% Milk

Instructions
1. Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and cook the onion, celery and butter until the onions and the celery are tender.
2. Stir in the 2 cans of broth, sugar, bay leaf, salt, nutmeg, turmeric and cinnamon.
3. After about 1-2 minutes, add the squash and potatoes and bring to a boil.
4. Once it has come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for approx. 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
5. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf.
6. In a blender, puree the mixture in batches. (I held my pureed mixture in a bowl while I pureed in batches.) Return all of pureed vegetables to the saucepan.
7. Stir in the 2 tbsp. of broth and the milk. Heat through, but do NOT bring it to a boil.

This recipe yields approx. 10 cups of soup, and thanks to Taste of Home, there is nutritional information for each 1 1/4 cup serving:
Nutritional Analysis: 1-1/4 cups equals 159 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 487 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 5 g protein.

Enjoy! Here's a picture of my finished soup (not plated though since it went straight into tupperware):

Fruit Bar

2010-08-18T16:51:00.004-04:00

Remember in college when you would soak oranges and watermelons in vodka so you could enjoy some nice fruit while pre-gaming? Well, this is the more mature version of that. Macerated fruit served over pound cake, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Macerating, or soaking the fruit in liquid infuses the flavor of the liquid into the fruit. With fresh fruit, the most common way to macerate is to sprinkle some sugar on top, pour the liquid in and let it sit for an hour or so - that's it! This is a great dessert, especially in the summer, and is so simple to make. It's also perfect for group gatherings. You can simply make the pound cake, slice it or use a biscuit cutter to make individual sized cakes, set up bowls with different fruits, whipped cream and chocolate shavings to allow everyone to make their own a dessert. And because it's so easy, you can make a few different options in no time. For the pound cake, you can either make your own or buy one already made. I included a recipe below, but you can always substitute it with your favorite. Also, you'll see below that the technique for all of these fruits is pretty much the same, so go ahead and make up your own! Enjoy!

Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 pound/2 cups (4 sticks) butter, plus 1 tbsp.

1 pound/2 cups cake flour*, plus 2 tbsp.

1 pound/2 cups sugar

9 eggs (at room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Using the extra tablespoon of butter, butter two 9x5 loaf pans. Use the extra 2 tablespoons of flour to dust them.

3. Cream the butter and the sugar together (about 6 minutes on a medium speed). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully mixed in before adding the next.

5. While continuing to mix, add the vanilla and salt.

6. Slowly add the flour into the bowl, while still mixing.

7. When fully mixed, mix for about 30 seconds more. Then divide the batter evenly amongst the 2 pans.

8. Bake for approx. 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown but the crack in the middle will appear moist. The cake should spring back if you press it.

9. Allow to cool, then slice. If you want to make individual round cakes, you can slice it, then use the biscuit cutter in the middle of each slice.

Sliced Oranges with Grand Marnier

4 naval oranges

1 tbsp. sugar

1/4 c. Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

1. Cut oranges in half and peel using a sharp knife. Be sure to remove all the orange rind and the white pith.

2. Cut the orange into segmants. Do this by slicing along its divided membranes. Place in a bowl.

3. Sprinkle the sugar over the oranges and pour the Grand Marnier over the pieces.

4. Allow the oranges to sit for at least 1 hour before serving.

Raspberries in Red Wine

2 cups raspberries (rinsed)

Sugar

1/2 cup red wine (pick your favorite!)

1. Put the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar (to taste).

2. Pour the wine in and let macerate for at least 1 hour.

Strawberries Romanoff

2 cups strawberries (washed, hulled and halved)

1/2 c. fresh orange juice

1/4 c. Curaçao or other orange liqueur

1. Place strawberries in a bowl and add the orange juice and Curaçao.

2. Let sit for 2-3 hours.

Peaches with Marsala

4 ripe peaches (chilled)

Sugar

1/2 c. marsala wine

1. Peel and slice the peaches.

2. Sprinkle sugar over peaches (to taste) and pour the wine over the peaches.

3. Serve immediately*

*Yes I realize this isn't macerated, but it still tastes good!

A recipe for homemade whipped cream can be found here.

For chocolate shavings, just grab a chunk of chocolate and take it to a cheese grater. It's very simple but adds a nice touch.

Your guests can make something that looks like this:

Crunch!

2010-08-15T15:39:00.007-04:00

While bikini season is almost over, I still have a few more weekends that require me in a bathing suit. Only problem is, my desire to look good in a bikini directly conflicts with my love of chips, popcorn, crackers, pretzels and crunchy snack foods in general. For some reason, when I crave junk foods, I don't crave a specific flavor, instead, I know I want something that will crunch. So when I heard about kale chips, I was intrigued. Do they really get that crunchy in the oven? And even if they do, will they even taste good? Kale is extremely nutritious and filling, so if this will work as a yummy, crunchy snack, I can munch on them guilt-free! So, on my way home from work before the weekend, I stopped by the store and picked up some fresh kale, and was ready to go. Making the chips was pretty quick and very easy. They did crisp up and prove to be very tasty! Doug said they "weren't his thing," but what does he know anyway? I enjoyed them. After making them, I read some other recipes/reviews online, and found that if you leave them in the oven for too long, they will become so crispy that they crumble and fall apart. While my chips didn't fully crumble, after biting into them, some of them made a bit of a mess with all the crumbs. So now, I'm thinking perhaps I should've removed them from the oven a minute or two earlier. However, they were still very enjoyable. I also read that some people like to add more flavoring, such as cheese or garlic, which sounds like it would be delicious. While I don't think you need the extra flavors, I do agree that it would probably taste very good.

All in all, I was happy with the result. One head of kale made a lot of chips, so come Sunday, I was still snacking away on them (fyi - I didn't keep them in the fridge, just in a bowl with seran wrap, a ziploc bag would work fine too). See below for recipe & photos. Crunch away!

Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 Head of kale

1 Tbsp. olive oil (I didn't measure this, I just used enough to be able to toss all the leaves in it)

Sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2. Cut the Kale off of the stems and tougher rib areas. Cut into manageable, chips size pieces. Wash with cold water and run through a salad spinner. Make sure leaves are dry.

3. In a large bowl, toss the kale in with the olive oil.

4. Spread the coated kale on to a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle sea salt over the pieces (as much or as little as you like).

5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until crisp and the edges start to brown. Enjoy!

Right out of the oven...

And into the bowl!

The Help

2010-08-12T14:05:00.006-04:00

The novel written by Kathryn Stockett, The Help is set in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi and explores the very common practice of black women being maids in white households. The story is narrated by three different characters, as described below:

Aibleen - a middle-aged black maid who recently lost her only son. She has raised 17 white children in her life, and becomes very devoted to her most recent white child. She raises these children as if they are her own, even though they eventually reach a certain age where they realize she is "the help" and break her heart.

Minny - Aibleen's best friend, she is a short, fat and sassy black woman. She is known to be the best cook in Jackson, but has yet to learn the ability to bite her tongue. After losing her job and her reputation is ruined, she eventually finds a new one when a new woman in town has not heard of her.

Skeeter - a young white woman who recently graduated from Ole Miss, but instead of a ring on her finger, she has an English degree. She doesn't quite fit in with anyone who should be in her friend group and has dreams of becoming a writer. Urged on by a female editor in NY, she begins to document the stories of maids that are working in Jackson.

These three intertwining stories come together and the reader sees how much "the help" play an important role in the 1960's Jackson. Through Skeeter's research and interviewing the maids, we learn that some are appreciated and loved, while others are made to use a separate bathroom in the garage. We also get a good sense of the racial tension, when we read about the fear the maids have of being found out, and even the risks Skeeter goes to maintain the confidentiality of the interviews and the maids. And all while exploring a dark section of our nation's racial history, Kathryn Stockett manages to keep the book laugh out loud funny.

Now for the fun part... what to serve for a themed book club meeting! This book was chosen by Moira and she hosted the meeting for it. It was her great idea to make all the food served at the meeting themed with the book. She served us some fried chicken tenders, mac & cheese, and even enlisted my help to make a chocolate pie (once you read the book, you will understand the importance)! Here are the recipes, as well as some other menu ideas you may want to look into:

Fried Chicken Tenders - these were quite possibly the best homemade chicken tenders I have had. Instead of using a whole chicken and butchering it, Moira opted to use boneless, skinless chicken breast that she cut in strips. This recipe calls for self-rising flour, which if you can't find or don't have can be substituted with all-purpose flour by adding baking powder and salt to it (1 c. self-rising flour = 1 c. all-purpose flour + 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder + 1/2 tsp. salt). The recipe can be found here.

Mac & Cheese - this dish is made in a slow cooker and sits for 3 hours to become absolutely creamy and cheesy. Great for bigger groups, as the recipe yields 12 servings! Also, because it's in the slow cooker, it's a nice set & forget it dish, allowing you to concentrate on other menu or drink items. Recipe can be found here.

Fried Pork Chops - Minny gives lessons to her newest "white lady," in hopes of teaching her how to cook. One of the things she teaches her is fried pork chops, and it's crazy to me that someone wouldn't be able to learn this! Another Paula Deen recipe, here's a simple way to do fried pork chops.

Biscuits - what southern meal would be complete without a nice, warm biscuit? You can take the easy route and just buy the ones you pop out of a can and toss in the oven. If you don't have time to make them, it is a great shortcut, that tastes delicious. If you prefer to make your own, here's a classic biscuit recipe.

Caramel Cake - in the book, Minny is known for her caramel cake and has gotten jobs off of her skill. Here's a recipe to try to see if you can compete with the cake that was the best in The Help's Jackson, Mississippi.

Chocolate Pie - the chocolate pie Minny bakes, comes to play an important role in the story. This is the recipe I used and it came out delicious. I think Minny would be proud!

Some other ideas are: fried okra, deviled eggs, butter beans, and a peach cobbler. Have fun with it!

Now, as far as drinks go, most of the drinks mentioned in the book are non-alcoholic. They are Tang, Tab and iced tea. If you're meeting is alcohol-free, go with those. Personally, our meetings are never alcohol free. So here's some fun ways to play up the theme.

Wine - When I think about the bridge club woman in the book, I think they would be drinking white wine spritzers. I also seem them enjoying a fruity, sweet Riesling. Either way, I would choose white wine, as I can't see red wine (normally served at room temperature) being a drink of choice in the hot weather of Jackson.

Sweet tea vodka - Firefly is a popular one, but there are others out there. This is vodka that has been infused with sweet tea. You can drink it on the rocks if you like, but I usually mix it with some lemonade and then water to dilute it a bit.

Tab - Tab is a diet cola drink made by Coca-Cola. If you can find some, and want to make it alcoholic, mix it as you would Diet Coke.

Scotch - The woman in Jackson were not drinking scotch, but the men were. In fact, on one of Skeeter's dates she is turned off by the amount of Scotch her date drinks. If you can handle it, pick up some of your favorite brand and dive in. Personally, my favorite is Macallan 15, but I wouldn't drink that for book club.

These are just a few suggestions and I would love to hear any other ideas you have. Hope you enjoy the book, food & drink!

New Idea!

2010-08-12T13:37:00.002-04:00

I along with baking and cooking, I also love to read. You may have noticed, I have had a link for "what I'm reading" up for a while, which usually had a 1-2 sentence summary and a link to purchase the book. For the past year I have been a member of a book club, that consists of about 8 of my good girl friends. Our meetings are held once a month, and at them we talk about the book, eat, & drink wine.

It wasn't until I was planning last month's meeting at my apartment, that the idea to combine my food, drink and reading love hit me. Perhaps it was because I chose a book about a woman attending culinary school and she is awesome and happened to insert a "menu guide for book club" at the end, but I felt like there should be something, somewhere that brings books to life through food & drink. And that is what I hope to do. I will start off by first reviewing some of our previous books, giving a quick summary/review of the book and then offer menu ideas. Our book club has done book-themed meetings before, so I will start off with those. I will label/tag all of these posts "book club" so they are easy to access. Also, now on the side instead of the "what I'm reading" link, you will find clicking on the book will take you to my post about it. Enjoy!

Healthy, Summer Turkey Burgers

2010-07-20T13:47:00.013-04:00

Summer in NYC this year has been HOT, I mean, way hotter than any other summer I can remember. Living in an apartment, it makes turning on the oven painful. Even having the stove on seems to make our living room feel 20 degrees hotter. While dreams of a backyard growing fresh herbs and vegetables, a giant grill and outdoor kitchen set up dance in my head, I have still been cooking and baking in the apartment, just not as often as I would like too. To make it better, I have been choosing meals (and the occasional treats) that are faster to make. One of those things, is turkey burgers.

Normally, when Doug and I make burgers, he handles it. He is a man, he cooks red meat while his Gears of War video game is paused, that's what men do. Or so he tells me. I usually have no objection to this, as I lay on the couch, read and then just eat what is presented to me. He does make an awesome burger. But this time, I wanted to do it. I had caught part of a Rachael Ray episode over the weekend where she made turkey burgers with fresh herbs and I was inspired.

So on the way home from the gym (I find that the best time to go food shopping, I only want healthy things!), I stopped at the grocery store to pick up my ingredients. I picked up great whole wheat buns, as well as 93% lean ground turkey, which I would have liked to go leaner, but the selection at the store was not the best. For my fresh herbs, I decided to go with parsley, cilantro and dill. I felt the citrus-y flavor of cilantro will also bring out the subtle citrus & sweet flavor in the dill, and the savory parsley will be a nice addition to it. For your herbs, feel free to choose what you like best!

Because ground turkey is lean, it is easy to let it dry out when cooking. That is why you want to add a lot of fresh herbs, they will help keep it moist. For the 1.3 lbs of ground turkey, I added a little less than a 1/4 cup of each chopped herb. Also, to maintain moisture, I added a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and mix it up - mix enough so everything is incorporated, but then do not keep mixing. Form the patties (I was able to form 6 decent sized patties) and throw them on your grill - or in my case, grill pan*! I served them with a slice of vegan cheese (mozzarella flavor), on the whole wheat buns I bought, with a nice slice of tomato. The whole burger had a fresh, crisp feeling to it, perfect for a hot summer day! Also, since it was only Doug and I eating, I saved the extra patties by wrapping them in plastic wrap and putting them in the fridge. If you want to reserve them longer than 3 days (that's my limit), put them in the freezer instead.

*Before putting on the grill pan, make sure it's hot! Also, I pour some vegetable or canola oil on a paper towel and use to spread over my grill pan so it is very lightly greased.

Some patties before they hit the grill:

After a bite or two:

DIY: Granola Bars

2010-06-10T14:32:00.002-04:00

I found this recipe a while ago, when looking up treats that featured peanut butter for a LOST party. Before that, I had never realized how easy it was to make your own granola bars. These are great for snacks or a on-the-run breakfast. They will also stay for at least a week if in sealed package. This recipe was a Giada recipe that I slightly altered after reading some reviews:

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Ingredients

-Vegetable cooking spray

-1 Egg white

-1/2 cup Chunky peanut butter

-1/3 cup Brown sugar

-1/4 cup Honey

-5 Tbsp. unsalted butter*, melted

-2 cups Old fashioned oats

-1/4 cup Slivered almonds

-1/3 cup Miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position oven rack in the middle.

2. Spray a 7 x 11 baking pan with the vegetable cooking spray. Lay parchment paper in the pan, allowing excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray the paper lightly with the vegetable cooking spray.

3. In a medium bowl, beat the egg white until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar and honey. Add the melted butter, oats and almonds. Stir to combine, and then add the chocolate chips.

4. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan with a rubber spatula. Press lightly to form an even layer. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, when the edges begin to brown.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. When thoroughly cool, cut and serve.

*If not stated, use unsalted butter in baking recipes. This way, you are controlling the salt in the recipe, not the company that processed your butter.

East Meets West Coleslaw

2010-05-29T13:31:00.004-04:00

In my previous post, I posted the recipe that my friend Moira and I created for braised pork to celebrate LOST. Well here is another recipe that I served at the Lost party. This coleslaw was the easiest dish to make and was absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend it for a summer barbecue.

Ingredients

-1/2 Head of purple cabbage, shredded

-1 c. Slice almonds

-2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, broken up

-1 bunch Scallions, chopped (add to your discretion)

-1/2 c. Vegetable oil

-2 tsp. Toasted sesame oil

-1 Tbsp. Soy sauce

-1/3 c. Sugar

-1/4 c. Rice vinegar

-2 Season packets from Ramen noodles (chicken flavor)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, almonds, Ramen noodles and scallions.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and Ramen seasoning packets.

3. Pour the dressing over the dry ingredients and toss. Let sit for a few hours.

I didn't take picture of it that night in the bowl, so here's a picture of the leftovers:

Braised Pork for LOST

2010-05-26T10:55:00.008-04:00

As huge fans of the show LOST, Doug and I have hosted a few viewing parties for episodes. Well, this past Sunday was the season finale, so we invited our fellow Lost fanatics over and sent the show off in style. My friend Moira and I planned out a whole menu which included items such as: Jin's Steamed Mussels, Mr. Cluck's Popcorn Chicken, Locke's Braised Pork, East Meets West Coleslaw, and Generic Character Rice Pilaf. All week long I food shopped and prepped ingredients, because we would only have about 3 hours to prepare everything. Unfortunately, Moira got called into work and was unable to attend, but luckily enough, we had discussed our menu so thoroughly that I knew exactly what needed to be done. I was stressed out making all of this food on my own, especially in a 3 hour window, but in the end, I pulled it off. It goes to show you that planning and preparation really do pay off. Here's one of the recipes that Moira and I collaborated on to create, based on a braised lamb shank recipe we had. In honor of Lost, we changed it to pork (close to a boar, right?) and used pineapple juice instead of wine as our acid. We also threw in some cinnamon and a splash of rum. Some of the portions of ingredients are estimates and with the all the rushing around, I forgot to take pictures. Try it out and feel free to play with the spices you put in!

Locke's Braised Pork

Ingredients

-Package of sliced bacon

-Pork Shoulder/Butt (I used approx. 5 lb pork butt roast)\

-Salt and Pepper for seasoning the pork

-1/2 cup Carrots (chopped, about 1/4 inch)

-1/2 cup Celery (chopped, about 1/4 inch)

-1/2 cup Onions (chopped, about 1/4 inch)

-1-2 Garlic cloves, chopped

-6 oz. Pineapple juice

-2 Cinnamon sticks

-2 Star Anise

-3-4 Sprigs of Thyme

-4 cups Chicken stock

-1 oz. Rum (I used Bacardi Silver)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large, oven proof pan (not too big, but large enough to fit the meat and be covered), add the bacon and turn on high heat. When the bacon has produced enough grease to coat the bottom of the pan, remove the strips. Feel free to fully cook the bacon if you are going to use it in something else later one, personally, I discarded mine.

3. While the bacon is cooking, season the pork with salt and pepper. After removing the bacon from pan, put the pork in. Brown all sides of the pork. It is important to get the color that you want during this step because once the acid is introduced, the meat will no longer brown. The browning is also carmalization of natural sugars, so it will add to the flavor of your meat.

4. When the meat is sufficiently browned on all sides, remove from pan and reserve on a dish.

5. Reduce the heat to medium. (If the fat/grease has burned, discard and add 3 tbsp of vegetable oil.) Add in the carrots, celery, onions (which is also known as "mirepoix") and garlic. Sauté for 5 - 7 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Do not allow to burn (add more oil if necessary).

6. Add the pineapple juice and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil.

7. Remove from heat and add the cinnamon sticks, star anise and thyme. Place the pork back in the pan. Add the shot of rum and pour in chicken stock until the pork is 1/2 way covered.

8. Cover and place in the oven for 1.5 hours. If your cover does not seal completely with your pan, place a sheet of aluminum foil under the cover to create a better seal. Remove the pan from the oven, flip the pork and place it back in oven for another 1.5 hours.

9. After the 3 hour cook time, the pork should be done. Use a meat thermometer to be sure, the thickest part should reach 160 degrees. Place on a heated plate and cover with with foil.

10. Pour the juices through a fine mesh strainer and press down with a wooden spoon to extract all juices from the vegetables. Return the juices to pan and place on high heat. Reduce the juices by half, skimming the surface with a ladle or straining spoon to remove any excess fat.

11. Cut up the pork and pour the sauce over it. Enjoy!

Margaritaville

2010-05-24T20:35:00.006-04:00

As summer comes closer, I find myself unable to resist the urge to sit outdoors and drink margaritas. Personally, I prefer the original lime margarita on the rocks, although the frozen ones just scream summer. I used to think those were my two options to enjoy a margarita, that is until my book club decided to have a meeting on Cinco de Mayo. Being the baker of the group (by force), I had my heart set on making margarita cupcakes. I wasn't quite sure how I would make them or what they would taste like, but I was determined. After spending a week looking up recipes for the cake and frosting, I could not find a cake made from scratch that sounded good. Almost all of the cupcake recipes I found were based on a box of white cake mix. So finally, I decided to take the lazy way and use the boxed mix. The cupcakes, which I did in mini-muffin pans and add food coloring to, ended up tasting great. They were very light and the lime flavor went nicely with the sweetness. I was originally determined to create my own recipe from scratch, but after eating these and getting numerous compliments, I will probably not change it. As for the frosting, I used a simple vanilla buttercream that I had already made earlier in the week. The next time I make them though, I will use a whipped cream for frosting to keep the cupcake very light. I recommend you try different frostings and see what you like best, mine will probably be one spiked with tequila! Below I provided the cupcake recipe, as well as a whipped cream recipe and pictures. Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes

Ingredients

-1 Box of white cake mix (I used Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic White)

-1 cup Margarita mix (room temp.)

-1/4 cup Tequila (room temp.)

-3 Egg* whites (room temp.)

-2 tbsp Vegetable oil

-Lime zest from 2 limes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare muffin/cupcake tins either with paper cups or by greasing them.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the margarita mix and the tequila.

4. Whisk in the 3 egg whites and vegetable oil.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix with the lime zest.

6. Slowly beat the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Once combined, continue to beat for 2 - 3 minutes (this is where you can add food coloring if you desire).

7. Distribute the mixture evenly amongst the cupcakes.

8. Bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes have puffed up and are a light, golden brown on top. You should be able to poke the surface and have the top bounce back.

9. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Homemade Whipped Cream

Ingredients

-8 oz. Heavy cream

-1/4 cup Sugar

-1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a chilled bowl, using a chilled whisk, whisk the cream until it begins to stiffen.

2. Add in sugar, to taste (you may not use the full 1/4 cup) and any flavorings, like the vanilla extract.

3. Whip only until soft peaks start to form. Take care not to over whip.

Half-eaten cupcake at work:

Bad lighting, but yummy cupcakes:
Fun colors for summer celebrations:

*When not specific, eggs in a recipe call for large eggs. Extra large eggs are 25% larger, jumbo eggs are 50% larger and therefore throw of the balance of fat and protein. This doesn't make much of a difference in your omelets, but could impact your baked goods.

Want some 'za?

2010-05-10T19:16:00.009-04:00

When it comes to a lazy, quick dinner, pizza is one of the first things I think of. It's so easy to run across the street and grab a slice, but it's also just as easy to make your own - and that's exactly what Doug and I like to do. Normally, if I think far enough in advance, I like to make my own pizza dough on my picture-perfect KitchenAid (a year into my relationship with it and I'm still in love!). However, sometimes I can't wait the hour plus it will take. And that's the mood I was in when we decided to make pizza the other night. So instead, we went to our grocery store and purchased Boboli's large, thin crust whole wheat pizza. Next we had to decide on what we were going to put on our pizza. This is always a pretty long debate since Doug will eat anything and I can't make a decision. Eventually, we decided to make a "sausage and peppers" pizza. So we also picked up some Boboli pizza sauce, an Italian six cheese blend, hot Italian sausage, green peppers and an onion.

Upon returning home, we took out our frying pan, heated it up, dropped some oil in and got ready to brown the sausage. Instead of just slicing the sausage, I decided I wanted it "crumbled" on top, so using a paring knife I sliced open the sausage casing and dropped the meat into the hot frying pan. Then we just used a wooden spoon to mash it up. We turned on the oven and while Doug oversaw the sausage (he thinks meat is the man's job), I chopped up the pepper and onion. Before we knew it, the oven was hot, sausage brown, vegetables chopped. All we had left to do was assemble, put it in the oven and eat!

So on a large, flat cookie sheet, we put our crust down. On top went the sauce, the sausage, the peppers and the onions. Then we added cheese until we were satisfied. We put it in the oven, opened a beer and 10 minutes later...

*When chopping up vegetables for the pizza, you can make them as big or as little as you want them. I prefer short strips of peppers and onions, so after slicing them vertically, I then just cut them horizontally in the middle, making each piece about 1 inch long.

**Upon reflection, I also blogged about pizza back in May of 2009, almost exactly a year ago. If you go to that post, I have a recipe for homemade pizza dough, try it!

Self-Promoting!

2010-05-06T14:15:00.005-04:00

Back in high school, my Great Aunt Marie gave me her recipe to make Italian tri-color cookies or as I like to call them, rainbow cookies. These cookies were going to be my first baking experiment on my own. In fact, the first time I made them, it took about 2 and half hours just to get them into the oven! They were challenging and made a mess of my mom's kitchen, but I loved them. As it turns out, I actually made 2 mistakes and botched the recipe. However, those cookies did not taste like a mistake. In fact, I made the recipe my own by changing it so now every time I make those "mistakes." I have been making these cookies for close to ten years now and have perfected them. These cookies have been requested at birthdays, bridal/baby showers, anniversaries, and holidays (I'm still waiting for a wedding!). Up until recently, I have only made them for family and close friends as a gift to them, but now, I have decided to sell them. So, if you would like to try my almond, raspberry, tri-color cookie, feel free to contact me at angelamarino22@gmail.com

The color looks off in this picture, but here's a batch before it's frosted and cut up:

One pound, approx. 24 cookies:

*Also, I have experimented with colors and customized them for specific events, ie pink & white cookies for a baby shower. I also plan on experimenting with the filling for the layers in between the cake, so if you're interested or have any ideas, leave a comment or send an email!

Rolling with the Homies

2010-05-05T13:09:00.009-04:00

Doug and I both love sushi. Awhile ago, I suggested we take a class and learn how to roll our own sushi rolls. We talked about it a few times, but never seriously looked into it. Well, luckily for us, ESPN decided to offer "Sushi 101" to their employees for only $35 a person. We signed up and bought some wine that we paired well with sushi (the class was BYOB). Finally, the day of our class came and it couldn't have been better. In a sectioned off area of the cafeteria, there was a U-shaped table set up for us to sit at. Each person had a rolling mat, cutting board, chopsticks and glossary of common Japanese words associated with sushi. The class of about 20 was lead by sushi chef for the building, and two sous chefs. I really wish I could remember their names to say how amazing they were, but it was a few weeks ago and I really can't remember. After uncorking all of our wine and introducing themselves (maybe that's why I can't remember their names, I was distracted by wine!) the head chef opened up the class by teaching us what to look for when picking out a fresh fish. He pulled out a salmon he purchased earlier that day at Wild Ediblies, in Grand Central Market. Here are his pointers on making sure you get a good quality fish:

1. Make sure the eyes are bulging. If the fish's eyes are sunken into it's head, it means it has been sitting out of water for a long time.

2. Look at the gills, they should be a bright, vibrant color. The duller and browner they are, the longer it has been out of water.

3. The fish should be firm to the touch. If you touch it and your fingers do not meet resistance, you don't want it.

4. If it smells bad, it is bad.

After teaching us how to pick out a fish, our head chef showed us how to fillet the fish. I will not attempt to explain how to fillet fish here, as I think I would butcher (hehe) the explanation. However, I did learn that the best part of the fillet is the meat closest to the head. Also, if you fillet the fish yourself, be sure to pull out all pin or rib bones - in a salmon there are 32, if I recall correctly. It was great seeing this chef fillet the salmon so easily, but I think for now I will have a fish monger do it for me until I'm confident enough in my filleting skills.

After the fish demonstration, our chef taught us about sushi rice. Sushi rice is a higher quality grain of rice and is prepared in a special way to make it sticky. Our chef provided all the students with rice, but also demonstrated how to make it. Here is the recipe we were provided with:

Vinegar Mixture:

5 parts rice vinegar

4 parts sugar

1 part mirin

1 part salt

Dast of kobu

Rice:

16 oz. sushi rice, rinsed twice with water

16 oz. water

-Place the rice into a rice maker with the 16 oz. of water and cook until done.-

-Mix the cooked rice with the vinegar mixture (5 parts rice, 1 part vinegar). Stir until liquid is absorbed.

What's important to remember when working with the sushi rice, is to keep your hands wet. We used a bowl of water to dip our fingers/hands in before we picked up our rice. We then shaped our rice into a ball. The ball of rice should fit into your palm. We then took our ball and touched a stack of nori with it. The rice stuck to it so it lifted up the first sheet. We placed it on our rolling mats and then began to spread the rice out. Once the rice was covering the nori, we sprinkled some sesame seeds and flipped the whole thing over so the rice side was down. Now it came time to create our rolls.

The class provided all of us with a plethora of ingredients. It's important not to stuff the rolls with too much, they won't roll and close nicely. When rolling, it's important to tuck the end in and keep it tight. Once it's "sealed" we placed the roll so then end lined up with the edge of the rolling mat and rolled it up tightly and pushed any extra stuffing into the roll. We did the same for the other side. When it was all done and rolled tightly it was time to cut them up. A slice down the middle, then line them up one on top of the other, and two more cuts. Flip them sideways and you have your rolls. The only thing left for us to do was to eat them! Overall, the class itself was great and we enjoyed ourselves. We learned a lot and ate a lot. We finished the night off with a glass of sake and took our tools, experience and rolls with us! See below for pictures.

Ingredients: Seared tuna, crab, shrimp, salmon, tuna, yellowtail and on the other side: wasabi, ginger, seaweed salad, cucumber, avocado, crab salad and spicy tuna

The rice spread over the nori:

With seared tuna and avocado, pre-rolling:

Just rolled it up

All cut up and ready to eat!

Tuna and seaweed salad, ready to be rolled:

Rolled up, cut & ready to eat!

A salmon roll we made:

Quick and easy sushi ice cream cones!

That's only about half of the rolls I made, the other half had already been eaten!

Ebony & Ivory

2010-05-04T15:28:00.007-04:00

This post is dedicated to the famous New York City Black & White cookie. The cookie, pictured below, is a wonderful creation in which, as Jerry Seinfeld puts it, "two races of flavor living side by side."

In the famous Seinfeld episode, "The Dinner Party," Jerry encourages Elaine to "look to the cookie" as a metaphor for race relations. So the way I see, the cookie is like my relationship, how can I not love it?! Although, I must admit, I find I usually eat the white side first, saving the chocolaty, black side for last. The cookie itself was created as a way for bakeries to get rid of leftover cake batter without throwing it out. By tweaking the cake batter a little bit, bakers created a delicious cookie, that is still soft and cake-like. Most bakeries frost it with fondant, you'll see below I used confectioners sugar and water, but the idea is that the frosting will dry hard. This is so when you bite into the cookie, you get the firm frosting mixed with the soft cookie.

I have always loved these cookies, but have never really thought of baking them. That is until I had the idea of making them for St. Patrick's Day and frosting them green and white. In the green frosting, I added white chocolate and food coloring, so the darker side of the cookie still had a chocolate taste. To the white side of frosting, I added a few drops of vanilla extract, to give it some more flavor other than confectioners sugar and water. I also must add, it was very hard to get these cookies into perfect circles. I assumed they would spread into nice circles as they baked, but that was not the case. I will attempt to make them again in the future (with the original black & white coloring), and will try to make better circles when placing them on the baking sheet. Below is the recipe I used, as well as pictures of my final product:

COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F.

-Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

-Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well.

-Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth. (See my post below on Red Velvet cupcakes for why this is important!)

-Spoon the batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet.

-Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes.

-Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and chill (to cool quickly), about 5 minutes.

(Cookie recipe is from Epicure: Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-and-White-Cookies-106171#ixzz0mzV2yYXU)

FROSTING

1/3 Cup boiling water

4 Cups confectioner's sugar

1 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

-In a large mixing bowl, stir the boiling water into confectioner's sugar. Stir until the mixture is spreadable.

-Separate the mixture into 2 bowls. One bowl will remain the "white" side. **This is the bowl where I added a few drops of vanilla extract for some flavor**

-In the second bowl, stir in the chocolate. **Since I was dying mine green, this is where I added white chocolate and food coloring instead of bittersweet chocolate**

When the the cookies are cool, frost them with flat side up. I frosted first the white side and then the chocolate side (the chocolate would cover up any extra white on the other side). Let the cookies harden. You can stack the cookies with wax paper in between and put them in an airtight container. ENJOY!

Red, Red Velvet

2009-12-19T14:41:00.009-05:00

I rarely pass up an opportunity to bake something, so when our friend Russ told me about his upcoming bake sale*, I immediately offered to donate some baked goods. He accepted my offer and then I began to think about what I should make. I finally decided upon red velvet cupcakes since I was going to be making them for Christmas and have never made them before.

I made mini cupcakes for the bake sale, however I had a slight issue with the wrappers. I bought mini cupcake wax paper wrappers at my grocery store, but they were slightly too big for my Wilton mini cupcake pan. So the first batch came out with the wrapper folding in on itself and some had uneven bottoms. You can see these in the picture, although I tried to take the best ones. The second batch I decided to not use the wrappers and they looked great, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of these.

Anyway, other than the wrapper issue, the cupcakes were pretty straight forward. The most important part is the alternating between adding the dry and wet ingredients. This well help you get a smoother batter and prevents gluten from forming. When gluten forms it inhibits baked goods from rising and will make it a denser. The gluten will make the cake more like a bread consistency, instead of a moist cake. So to prevent this, you coat your flour and dry ingredients with a fat first (the butter, sugar, eggs) before adding the other liquids. Also note, you shouldn't add the wet ingredients first because it will break the emulsion formed by the butter and eggs. And be careful not to over beat the batter, that could also lead to gluten forming! If you follow the steps correctly, you should have a wonderful, moist cake.

Here's the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 cups of cake flour
2 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk*
1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.
5. Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.
7. Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
3. Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Here was my final result, I hope yours come out just as tasty!

*The bake sale was a fundraiser for Manhattan College's Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E.). The group will be heading down to New Orleans to help build houses for those to need. Russ is supervising the trip of students and if you're interested in donating to this great program, leave a comment and we'll be in touch!

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

2009-12-06T23:00:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was great. Doug and I went to his Aunt's house and ate a ton of delicious food. The next day I was lucky enough to go to my parents' house and hang out with them, my brother and sisters and eat tons of leftovers. I think I ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc for a good 2 weeks straight! You may be asking yourself, how I had leftovers for 2 weeks, well, it's because our friend group has a lovely tradition of having a pre-Thanksgiving, dubbed Fakesgiving. Our annual Fakesgiving is held the Saturday before actual Thanksgiving and involves great friends, the normal Thanksgiving feast, and lots of wine & beer.

This year, Doug and I hosted and were honored to make the turkey for everyone. We bought a fresh 20 pound turkey the night before and woke up early to fix that bird. I assumed that if the giblets are provided in a package stuffed in the turkey, the neck would be too. This was NOT the case. I had to rip that poor bird's neck out with my bare hands. Now I know that you want the package to say that both the giblets AND the neck are removed, unless you're into ripping the neck out. After that, it came time to prep it. We picked up the skin from the meat and rubbed butter all over the turkey. That was actually my favorite part, weird, I know. After the butter was well spread between the meat and the skin, we rubbed EVOO all over the outside of the bird. Then, we just sprinkled some salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme all over it. We baked it at 325 degrees for 5 hours. We tented it with tin foil for the first hour. Then after removing the tin foil, we let the oven do its thing. We basted it about 3 times, although this is really only need to add to the color of the turkey. After removing it from the oven, we let it rest for 30 minutes, then carved right in. It came out great! I was nervous and being a perfectionist was convinced I messed it up somehow, but everyone loved it!

To make the day even better, all of our friends brought along delicious apps and side dishes. We had garlic mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, stuffing, and homemade cranberry sauce just to name a few! It was an amazing day with close friends and good food. The best way to kick off the holiday season! Here's some pictures:

A funny "family" picture:

A nice one:

Moira trying to eat the turkey! In the background check out Russ's homemade cranberry sauce and my KitchenAid:

Doug and I with our turkey!

Macaron, Not Macaroni!

2009-11-23T19:40:00.005-05:00

Recently I have had an obsession with macarons, which is very odd since I don't believe I've actually ever had one. I am not French pro, but according to research I have done, there are macarons and macaroons. Macaroons could be the same thing with the English translation, or they can be a hard coconut or coarse almond paste cookie. Macaron is the sandwich cookie made with egg whites. Here is a picture of each:

I have had an odd obsession with the colorful ones. I just think they're so pretty. Every picture of them I see only makes me want it more! It started a while back when I saw something on TV about Ludaree in Paris. From what I hear, these are the Chanel of macarons. In fact, they even teamed up with Christian Louboutin for designer cookies. They have multiple flavors, which are represented by the different colors. They're a work of art. Being a home baker, I have decided to give these a whirl. I found this website which gave great detailed instructions on how to go about it: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/10/how-to-make-macarons-recipe.html . (This recipe took a long time.)

I had some mishaps in my baking. First, I decided Saturday morning that I wanted to make these, and being impatient, I did not let my egg whites sit overnight. I would definitely NOT do the again. Second, I was unable to find ground almonds, so I had to improvise. I bought diced almonds, measured the grams and placed them in a Ziploc bag. I then took all my aggression out and hammered them until they were as close to ground as I could get them. I would recommend this ONLY if you can't find the ground almonds. There were still small chunks I didn't get, and it gave my cookies a speckled look. Also, I think I made the mistake of mixing the batter too much. After pouring in the sugar/almond dry mixture, I think I folded the batter a few times too many. This was probably because I wanted pretty colors, so then divided the batter into 4 bowls and then mixed some gel food coloring in. Next time I will have to remember to take that into account while mixing the entire batch. And lastly, when I was removing the cookies from the parchment paper a lot of them stuck. The bottoms of most of them were not very hard. It made removing them very difficult and caused me to throw out a bunch of cookies.

All in all, my cookies tasted great, but I feel they could have looked better. Have a look for yourself.
Finished product:

Right after they came out of the oven:

Before the oven:

Fondant Fun!

2009-11-14T14:37:00.005-05:00

Last winter I took a basic cake decorating class and LOVED it. Since then, I've used every opportunity I can to show off my skills. Also, the more I do it, the better I get. Last month, I felt the need to step my game up. So I moved into the big leagues and started playing with fondant. I did not venture into making my own yet, but I did add some vanilla extract into the Wilton rolled white fondant to add some flavor. I then used gel food coloring to dye it the colors I wanted. Getting a true red was very hard. I used A LOT of food coloring and still wasn't truly happy with the results. Plus, my hands were red for the rest of the day. I needed black fondant for a Groom's cake I was asked to create, so I also bought a large tub of black, vanilla fondant. I seriously doubt if I would've been able to dye the white fondant black using food coloring.

I had worked with fondant one other time (the open book cake I made for a bridal shower), so I had a little experience. I did the rest from watching so many baking shows and reading up on tips people posted online. I had a hard time at the end polishing the cake to give that WOW factor, but I think I did a pretty good job. Here are the two cakes I made. The Windows logo cake was for a Windows 7 Launch Party that Doug and I hosted and the other was the Groom's cake I mentioned earlier. The heart and skull is the symbol of the band Alkaline Trio and I filled the cake with homemade cannoli filling*. He was very surprised and loved it, which made me and his beautiful bride very happy.

*The homemade cannoli filling, was so easy and delicious I would recommend giving it a whirl. Here's the recipe I used:

3 c. very dry ricotta
1 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate chips

Drain ricotta in a colander until very dry, overnight or longer if necessary. Mix with sugar and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer at high speed for 8-10 minutes. Fold in some chocolate chips and use to fill cannoli or between cake layers. Fills about 15-18 cannoli.

Also, make sure to let the filling sit in the fridge to settle. It will be firmer and the flavors will really blend. I also saw this idea online that sounds like a great idea: http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2009/10/cannoli-bites.html. I didn't get a chance to try that, but I am thinking I may try it for Thanksgiving.

Mmm Mmm Marinade

2009-11-03T22:33:00.002-05:00

The past few times Doug and I made some steaks at home, we used the easy-breezy Jack Daniels Honey Teriayki marinade bags. And they came out delicious. However, I was bored the other night and decided we should try our hand at our own marinade. I've created my own for chicken before (mixing EVOO, white wine, garlic, rosemary, thyme, S&P) and it worked well, so how hard could steak be? I'm a big fan of trying new things and changing recipes when I get them, but Doug likes to follow the book. He looks up recipes and the best ways to cook things, which does pay off, but I'd rather experiment! Why am I telling you this? Because Doug brought home the ESPN Game Day Gourmet cookbook (we <3 football) and that is where I got the idea for my steak marinade. And in true 24 year old fashion, I didn't quite have my pantry stocked, so I got to substitute some ingredients. So here's my version of the marinade (apologies if some things aren't exact):

Few tablespoons of EVOO
Juice of freshly squeezed limes (about 1 and 1/2 limes - what we had in our fridge)
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup red wine (ESPN notes you can sub in JD, brandy, or dark beer)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped (we technically only used 3/4 of an onion - again, what we had left)
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Simply combine all the ingredients. Place the steak in a Ziploc bag with the marinade and let sit for a day before cooking. Also, we slice the top of the steak a little bit so it's absorbed more. This marinade is enough for 2 lbs. of steak. And feel free to experiment on your own - one example is using lemons instead of limes, that's what ESPN's version calls for!

I should also mention, we live in NYC and do not have a grill to throw this bad boy on. We simply put our oven on broil and cook each side for 6 minutes and then let it rest out of the oven. Also, wrap your pan in tin foil to make clean up A LOT easier.

Throw some veggies and mashed potatoes on the side and you got yourself a great meal!

*Apologies for not taking pictures.

Take it back now y'all

2009-10-18T21:00:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend, Doug and I (along with Meg & Eden, our awesome friends) made a trip to Medieval Times. It was my first time ever going there, but at the age of 24, I'm pretty sure I had just as much fun as the 5 year old sitting next to me. Actually, I may have had more fun since I could sip on a cold beer as I watch the joust. But what does this have to do food? Here, have a look:Our bill of fare was: garlic bread, tomato bisque, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-roasted potato and a "pastry of the castle." The soup, which was served first, wasn't too hot and was thin enough for us to drink out of our metal bowls - for at the castle, there are no utensils (although I'm sure the king used a fork and spoon, but whatever). I personally used my garlic bread to dip into the bisque and thought it made it even better. We were then served half of a baby chicken, as you can see in the picture. I must say, this chicken was delicious. Even the meatiest part of the chicken managed to stay juicy. I do wish that I had access to a fork because it did get a little messy, but it did not take away from the goodness. After being served the chicken, they then came around and added a spare rib (yes, a single rib) and half of a potato that had been herb-roasted. The spare rib was smothered in a BBQ sauce, which was very good but I thought it was a little bit of an odd thing to throw in. I wish I could say that I had the stamina to finish all the food, but I had to give up. And just when I thought my fullness wouldn't let me eat for the rest of the night or the next day, they brought out the pastry of the castle. It turned out to be an apple turnover, and I don't think I have ever been able to say no to that. I only had a few bites, but was surprised at how light it was. There was no sugar frosting on top of it and it was not over stuffed with apple filling. I wish I could've taken it with me but I didn't want to throw it in my bag without wrapping it up.

In conclusion, GO TO MEDIEVAL TIMES. I think it would be best to go in a larger group and have a couple of beers. It's entertaining and wholesome fun. And while I can't speak to what peasants and serfs ate back in ye olde days, the guests of the kings ate hearty and were merry!

Guess who's back

2009-10-15T19:37:00.005-04:00

Hey y'all. The summer plus the loss of my laptop hasn't really enabled me to post. But I'm back and ready to get serious. Just to catch you up, here's some recent treats I made. More posts to come, so check back:

Philly in New York?

2009-06-30T20:55:00.010-04:00

So I don't know about you guys, but I often find myself stopping on the Food Network in awe of half of the stuff professionals and amateurs are making. One of my favorite chefs happen to be Bobby Flay whose expertise happen to be in grilling which also happens to be some of the best food you can make in my opinion.

However, living in NYC without a backyard or rooftop access makes it very difficult (read: impossible) to grill. So instead, I often look to my stove and a pan to do my "grilling."

Today I decided I wanted to try my "chops" at a Philly Cheese steak and I can report, it really isn't difficult or time consuming at all. Let's break it down:

I hit the supermarket and purchased USDA round ribeye steak sliced thin. I highly recommend doing this instead of cutting it yourself. I personally like my cheese steak pretty straight forward so the only other things I picked up were an onion, green peppers, American cheese and of course, French bread. (Make sure you pick a good break for this as too soft the hero will get soggy, too hard, and you simply won't enjoy the sandwich as much).

So I got home and got my equipment: A 12" stainless steel pan, cutting board, bowl and a knife.
First step was to cut up the onion and peppers. I used half of a bell pepper and a whole small onion. I then put a bit of olive oil in the pan and set the heat to high. First, I threw the onions in:

(click to enlarge)

A word of warning, you are going to get some sizzle and pop from the oil, just be careful as you saute your onions. You want them cooked enough where they are limp and lose their normal "crispness."

I then added the bell peppers and sprinkled a bit of black pepper on to it:

(click to enlarge)

Next I took out the steak and laid them on my cutting board. I decided to not marinade these as I thought the flavor from the caramelized onions and peppers along with the cheese would be plenty. I did sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on both sides however.
I then moved the peppers and onions into a side bowl. I threw a bit more olive oil in the pan and placed the pieces of steak on the pan. Don't go to far from the pan as the steak will cook very quickly. I'm talking about maybe about 30 seconds on each side.

Once I flipped the steak I tossed the onions/peppers back in the pan and then proceeded to cut the steak (which is why I went with a stainless steel pan vs. non-stick). I then placed two slices of American cheese over the mound of meat and veggies.

(click to enlarge)

(side note. Feel free to use any kind of cheese you want. Provolone is another popular choice, or the classic Philly Cheesesteak style of using Cheese Whiz. In that case, just put the cheese directly on the bread).

I then placed the bread over the food and used that and a spatula to scoop the steak mixture onto my bread. And here is the finished product:

(click to enlarge)

This literally took me 15 minutes to complete and I can confirm it was delicious. I bought enough for 2 sandwiches and the cost came out to about $10.
If you decide to give this a go, comment back with how you made it and how it came out.

Until next time....

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce...

2009-05-18T21:15:00.002-04:00

For lunch the other day, a friend and I decided to test out the newly opened HB Burger on 43rd St, between Broadway and 6th ave. Surprisingly bigger than it seems, this is a great lunch spot. Owned by Heartland Brewery, they not only serve those delicious lagers, they serve their own homemade sodas as well. And the best part, nothing on the menu is over $9!

Now, I've only eaten burgers for a little over a year, so as a late-comer in the burger game, I do not believe I know what the BEST burger is. But I know I've had some DAMN GOOD ones. I also know I've had some OK ones. I've had dry turkey burgers before and I did not like it. I prefer a nice, juicy burger. So when I ordered the Taco Turkey Burger from HB, I was a bit nervous that I might be let down. Well, I was not! It was absolutely delicious. The turkey burger was cooked wonderfully, still juicy! Topped with jalapeno jack cheese and homemade salsa, it wasn't too much in between the bun. Now, I'm used to a burger and fries, but to keep their plate prices down, HB sides have to be ordered separately. My friend and I ordered fries and tater tots. Once again, we were not disappointed. It was easy to see the fries were from freshly cut potatoes and fried. Meanwhile, the tater tots had bits of bacon and jalapeno jack cheese blended in, but the flavors did not take over. Ordering both sides was a bit much for lunch, we didn't come close to finishing them, but who knows how hungry you are!

Overall, HB Burger was a great lunch, and we were in & out within 45 minutes. Their menu is mainly burgers (obvi), but they do have a few other items. One other item is the World's Smallest Sundae. We didn't try this (we were busy with the tater tots) but saw it being served at another table. It looks as if it is your basic hot fudge sundae, served in a shot glass. Just the right amount of sweetness after a meal!

I recommend this spot for a good burger (turkey burger too). Also, I'd like to add that I love Five Guys for a burger too. Doug should be blogging about that soon, and he'll have a pic from when we went last week.

A bit of bragging, but at least you get a recipe.

2009-05-05T14:52:00.006-04:00

In honor of the 24th year of my life, my parents lovingly bought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer in apple green. This beauty automatically makes my kitchen look better and puts a smile on my face when I look it. After dreaming of it for so long, I just had to make something immediately. But what? Something that would be a pain in the butt to make without it, something that's delicious. Pizza? PIZZA!

Substituting a cookie sheet for a pizza pan, we (Doug helped) made a great Sicilian pizza. We kept it just sauce and cheese for our first run and it came out delicious. I'd like to experiment with different toppings in the future, but for now, original works. If you'd like to try it on your own, here's the recipe for the dough we used:

Ingredients
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (we added a couple of drops as it mixed, as necessary)
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 1/2-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Some corn meal for sprinkling on the pan

Directions
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl.
2. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cup flour.
3. Attach bowl and dough hook, turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute.
4. Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to dough hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes.
5. Place in greased bowl, grease the cover as well.
6. Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
7. Punch dough down.
8. Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil and sprinkle with corn meal.
9. Press dough across bottom of pan forming collar around edge to hold filling.

10. Top with fillings and bake at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes 1 14 inch pizza

An evening with Spitzer... not Elliot.

2009-05-04T18:18:00.003-04:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of dinning at a place that is fast becoming one of my favorites: Spitzer's Corner, fittingly located at the corner of Ludlow and Rivington. This "American Gastropub" serves up some delicious food and drink and is a great destination for showing friends a good time. If you haven't had a chance to investigate, a gastropub serves up high quality food a level above the typical "pub grub". As an example, Spitzer's menu includes items such as hand-cut French Fries, Truffle Mac and Cheese, Braised Pork Belly, and a Kobe Beef Burger. The beer list at Spitzer's features an extensive variety of foreign and domestic beers (including my arch nemesis: Delirium Tremens), complete with great descriptions of how each should taste - Eric would like to give a special shout out to the Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale, which smelled amazing. If beer isn't really your thing, the wine list certainly hasn't been neglected and there is also a full bar. The atmosphere is another reason why I love to bring visitors here. Long communal tables give the place a beer hall feel, while the wood panels almost make you feel like you’re in a spa. But on nice days they open all the windows, giving the dinning room an open and airy feel. It can get a bit loud, and my parents complained about having to yell, but it’s normally a younger crowd, so they tend not to mind. On Saturday I met my cousin Rory and his wife Elizabeth who were visiting from Ireland at Spitzer's. I picked it because I know the food will be delicious, but also not intimidating (the Irish are not what most would consider culinary adventurers). I had the PBLT, braised pork belly with lettuce and roasted tomatoes. The pork was so tender, it barely required a knife, and very tasty. Rory had the Hickory Short Rib Burger, a favorite of my boyfriend Eric's, and Elizabeth had the Black Angus Steak Salad - I’m pleased to report everyone enjoyed their meals. As one might imagine with Irish cousins, the drink was flowing copiously, and we probably cleaned them out of Pinot Grigio. They do serve brunch, which I haven't tried yet, but seeing as that is my absolute favorite meal, better believe I will be tasting that soon! Cozy up next to your fellow New Yorkers and the conversation will flow with the help of some great beers and fine food. Spitzer's Corner

Sangria is for Me-a

2009-04-27T22:49:00.004-04:00

Last week Doug (my fellow blog contributor and boyfriend) and I went out to dinner at Mojave, located on 31st Street in Astoria, NY. Located right at the last stop of the N/W train, the relaxing decor and dim lighting quickly make you forget the outside noise. The place was not too crowded (it was a Wednesday) and they had a man with a guitar singing Frank Sinatra songs in Spanish. While he was playing, I thought the music was a bit loud (Doug disagreed), but it was still bearable. They started us off with some blue corn tortilla chips and 2 different salsas. I'm sad to report that a few of the chips (very few, but still worth noting) tasted a bit stale. We then started ourselves off with a pitcher of their red wine sangria. Mmm, mmm. The sangria is loaded with apples and is the reason I chose the place, I would recommend it to all.

For starters we ordered the guacamole. Now, neither Doug nor I are crazy guac people. We both can either take or leave it. However, since having some at Rosa Mexicano (http://www.rosamexicano.com), I've been willing to try at other restuarants. I have to say, Mojave is the second best guac that I've had, the first being Rosa Mexicano. We just about cleaned the plate and our food arrived. Doug ordered the Blue Corn Enchilladas with Chipotle Chicken Breast (which I have gotten before and like, but I will let him write about it if he desires), and I ordered the Salmon Tacos. The Salmon Tacos were delicious with a hint of sweetness coming from chopped up pineapples mixed into the taco. It came served with rice, sour cream (can you ever have enough?) and more guac. The rice, to me at least, tasted the same as most Mexican restuarants, which is good. I usually prefer to see what's in the taco, but they came "face down," so as I cut them and bit into them, I did not know what to expect. There was quite a bit of salmon wrapped in those bad boys (you get two) and they were cooked medium-rare to medium. I was full after one and brought the second one home, it was just as good the next day!

I'm sorry to report that we did not venture into their dessert world. A pitcher of sangria, guac, and an entree did not leave much room for that. However, they have a chocolate fondue on the menu that sounds delicious. Next time I'm there, you know what I'm saving room for!

I took a picture of the tacos (taken from my BB, so pardon the quality).