Peanut Brittle

I apologize in advance for not taking a picture of the incredibly delicious peanut brittle that my mom made this year for Christmas.  I had very good intentions of taking a picture, but ate it all before I got around to it.  However, take my word for it, it is foolproof peanut brittle that comes out perfectly every time and you will not be able to resist it!

This recipe actually comes from my mother in law and she finally gave me the recipe a few years ago.  My mom also loves peanut brittle, so she's in charge of making it every holiday season.  You NEED a candy thermometer for the brittle to come out right- you want it crunchy, but not so that it sticks in your teeth.  Overdone or underdone peanut brittle is awful, so rely on your candy thermometer and will be perfect every time.

Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 cups peanuts (you can add 2 cups if you like it really peanuty)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup (karo)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300
Place peanuts on a baking sheet and roast for a few minutes until browned and roasted and the smell of peanuts fills your kitchen
Meanwhile, in a medium size saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and butter
Cook until the candy thermometer reads 300 degrees
Add peanuts and bring to a boil
Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda
Stir until combined
Pour mixture onto a buttered baking sheet
Cool and crack into pieces

Gingerbread

Christmas always equals gingerbread in my opinion.  I love it.  The spices, the sharpness, the chewiness, and, of course, the frosting from decorating them.  I've been in charge of making the gingerbread for my family's Christmas for many years and I think I finally created a recipe that I love.  I combined a bunch of various recipes and added my own ingredients to create it. 

Just a couple of pointers:  Do not over flour the board when you're rolling them out.  Too much flour will create a tougher, drier cookie, which is not good to eat.  Also, do not overbake.  The best gingerbreads are the ones that are soft on the inside.  Third, do not roll too thin.  Thin cookies burn very easily and thicker cookies have a better texture.  Last, do not be afraid.  I know that rolling out cookies can seem daunting, but trust me, they're not hard to make and they are very rewarding. 

Roll into a variety of shapes, ice, and decorate. 

Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 (heaping) teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup brown sugar

2/3 cup unsulfured molasses

1 egg at room temperature

Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt into a bowl and set aside

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy

Beat in molasses and egg

Gradually mix in dry ingredients to make a stiff batter

Divide the dough into 2 disks and wrap each in plastic wrap

Refrigerate until chilled, about 2-3 hours or up to 2 days (You can also freeze the dough)

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm slightly so the dough doesn’t crack

Place dough on floured work surface and sprinkle the top with flour (do not over flour- this will make a tough cookie.  Only use enough flour so your rolling pin doesn’t stick and the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.  Your cookies should not look white with flour when you go to bake them)

Roll out dough with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick (if you like thicker, softer cookies, roll to ¼ inch thick)

Using cookie cutters, cut the cookies into desired shapes and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets

Knead the scraps of dough together to form another disk and roll out again- keep doing this until you have used all of the scraps (if dough become too warm, place back into the refrigerator)

Bake for about 8-10 min. until cookies are done, but still slightly soft

Keep cookies on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, and then transfer them to cooling racks to cool completely

Frost with your frosting of choice (optional)

Caramels = Thank you

My brother learned 3 songs for my babies' memorial service, played them on his guitar, and sang.  Furthermore, he spoke at the memorial and did more than I could have asked for.  Just a simple thank you wasn't going to cut how grateful I was.  I think that making yummy homemade food is a great way to say thank you to anyone for doing anything.  However, my brother is picky and the only "fun" food he likes is white cake with white icing.  I then remembered that he steals caramels from my house whenever he's there.  So, I decided making homemade sea salt caramels would be a great way to thank him.

Ina Garten has a wonderful recipe for homemade fleur de sel caramels in her book, "How Easy Is That".  However, I learned that there are a few rules for making homemade caramel.  First, a candy thermometer is essential.  No one, not even experienced pastry chefs, can tell when caramel is the correct temperature.  So, a simple inexpensive candy thermometer is the only way to tell when your caramel is done.  Second, you need the correct sized pot.  Ina recommends a saucepan 6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep.  I tried to make caramel in a bigger pot and it burned horribly.  That's because there was too much surface for the caramel to expand and it didn't cook correctly.  Third, you need parchment paper.  Use parchment paper to spread and store the caramel and it won't stick.  Lastly, you need a sharp knife.  The caramel is really sticky and can get hard when it sets, so a sharp knife is important so you don't cut yourself.

Everyone loves these caramels and I promise they will be a major hit.  And, trust me, store bought fleur de sel caramels do not hold a candle to the homemade ones- promise.

Fleur de sel Caramels (Ina Garten, “How Easy Is That” p. 232)

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fine sea salt (fleur de sel) plus extra for sprinkling

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Line 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing to drape over 2 sides and lightly spray with nonstick spray

In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 ½ inches deep), combine ¼ cup water, sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium high heat

Boil until mixture is a warm golden brown

Don’t stir- just swirl the pan

Watch very carefully as it can burn quickly

In the meantime, in a small pot, bring cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon sea salt to a simmer over medium heat

Turn off and set aside

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture into the sugar mixture

Be careful- it will bubble up violently

Stir in vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium low heat for about 10 min. until it reaches 248 (firm ball) degrees on a candy thermometer

Pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until set and firm

Take the caramels out of the pan and place on a cutting board

Cut the caramels into small squares and sprinkle the tops with sea salt

These are also wonderful dipped in chocolate then sprinkle the top with sea salt

You can keep these in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before eating

Salmon Chowder

I love soups, stews, and chowders.  I always make them in the winter because they just warm me up.  I saw a recipe for salmon chowder that looked interesting, but it had cream and butter and unnecessary fats.  My Crohn's disease does not handle a lot of fat well, so I decided to lighten it up and make it healthier.  I left the cream out and put lemon juice in it instead, which made the flavor really pop.  I also added a lot of veggies and herbs to give it more texture and flavor.  It was a huge hit with my husband and hopefully you'll like it too!

Salmon Chowder

1 medium onion, diced
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed, skin on, diced
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
6 cups chicken stock
10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
10 oz. Brussels sprouts, quartered
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley and/or dill (I used a combo of both)
Juice of 1 large lemon
3/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1 inch cubes (you can use fresh or frozen salmon)
salt and pepper

Cook onion in a large saucepan over medium high heat until softened
Add potatoes and carrots and cook until slightly softened
Add chicken stock and bring to a soft boil
Cook until vegetables until tender, about 5-7 min.
Add Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and parsley and/or dill, and salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon of each)
Cook until they are tender, about 4-5 min.
Reduce heat to medium low and add the lemon juice and salmon
Cook until salmon is opaque
Taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if needed

Enjoy!

Popover goodness

Ina never fails.  I finally made her popovers last night to go with my seafood stew and they were wonderful and no fail.  They are light and airy and super flavorful without a lot of ingredients.  However, they aren't the easiest things in the world to make.  You can make a lot of mistakes if you don't follow the recipe exactly.  For great popovers that turn out right every time first you need an actual popover pan (it's shown in the above picture).  My mom tried to make them in a muffin pan and they didn't work at all.  Popover pans are easy to find- any kitchen store will have them.  Second, you need to grease the pan really well with softened butter.  Third, you need to preheat the pan (without the batter).  Lastly, don't open the oven while they're baking.  This will cause them to deflate.  Just turn on the oven light to check on them. 
This recipe comes from Ina Garten's "Parties" cookbook on page 189.  The only tweak I made was that I used 2% milk instead of whole milk and they still tasted great. 

Popovers (makes 12)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs at room temperature (to get eggs to room temp. quickly, put them in a bowl with warm water and let them sit for a few min.)
1 1/2 cups whole milk (or 2%) at room temp. (microwave for about 20 sec. to bring to room temp)

Preheat the oven to 425
Grease the popover pan with softened butter
Place pan in oven for exactly 2 min. to preheat
Whisk butter, flour, salt, eggs, and milk until smooth (batter will be thin)
Transfer batter to a liquid measuring cup (makes it easier to fill the pan)
Fill popover pan a little less than half full (do not overfill- you will have a mess in your oven)
Bake for exactly 30 min. and do not open the oven door while cooking!!

Popovers are best served warm, but my husband said that they were just fine the next morning with a little bit of jam.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin, Banana, Orange, Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am forever on the hunt for good pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin pie, bread, cookies, and bars have zero flavor to me.  Some add spices, but not enough.  After some research, I found that pumpkin is friends with many other ingredients like banana, orange, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolate.  So, I looked at all of my and my mom’s pumpkin recipes to find a combination that would use all of these and have great flavor.  I finally created these pumpkin, banana, orange, chocolate chip muffins (or 4 friends).  I wanted them to have loads of flavor, but not a lot of fat.  I omitted butter and used a little bit of vegetable oil instead and used bananas and sour cream to keep them moist (I had to add chocolate though).  These are really easy and are good for breakfast, dessert, or a snack.

Pumpkin, Banana, Orange, Chocolate Chip Muffins (4 Friends)

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 small bananas, mashed

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of one medium orange

1 can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup dried cranberries (you can add more if you like)

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (you can add more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350

Line a muffin pan with liners- about 20-22

In a small bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside

In a large bowl, mix both sugars, sour cream, vegetable oil, and mashed bananas with a hand held mixer or a spoon until combined

Add 1 egg in a time, beating well between additions

Add vanilla and orange zest

Add pumpkin and mix well

Add the dry ingredients and mix only until combined

Fold in dried cranberries and chocolate chips

Divide batter among muffin liners, filling about ¾ of the way full

Bake between 20-25 min. or until a toothpick comes out clean

Cool muffins in the pan for 5 min. then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely

If you only like chocolate chips, then add only chocolate chips.  If you only like dried cranberries, then add only cranberries.  I like a mixture of both since the tartness of the cranberries mixes well with the sweet pumpkin and the chocolate makes it more decadent.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving dessert

Thanksgiving is a great foodie holiday.  A day to give thanks with an abundance of food in front of you.  While my family is very traditional and really none of the food choices have changed since I was a kid (turkey, stuffing, bread, a vegetable, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie), I was given the opportunity to make a different chocolate dessert every year.  Last year it was Ina's chocolate chip cookie ice box cake and this year it was death by chocolate.  Literally, this dessert is called "death by chocolate" and it was a recipe by a wonderful pastry chef, Anne Thornton.  It is a trifle layered with homemade dark chocolate chip brownies, homemade chocolate pudding, toffee pieces (not homemade- Heath bars are just fine), and homemade vanilla whipped cream.  In a word, mmmmmm. 

The picture may be a little dark, but you get the idea of what it looks like. 

This is view of the top- I think I had more toffee pieces on there, but my brother in law ate them.

Of course I have to get a picture of myself with the dessert before it was gone.  I think I could have eaten half of it by myself.  However, when I make it again, I think I'll use chocolate chip cookies in place of the brownies.  I think it was almost too chocolaty (yes, there's such a thing). 
If you want the recipe (it's too long for me to type out), go to www.foodnetwork.com and type in "death by chocolate".  A recipe by Anne Thornton will pop up and print it out.  Oh yeah, homemade chocolate pudding is so much better than the packaged kind and really easy to make! 
Also, this recipe has 3 parts- brownies, pudding, and whipped cream.  You can make the brownies and pudding ahead of time and keep them sealed in the frig and just whip the cream the day you want to serve and layer the dessert.  For example, I made the brownies Tuesday, the pudding Wednesday, and the whipped cream Thursday.  I layered it a few hours before serving and it was perfect.

Quick meals

I really don't cook very fancy all of the time.  I usually cook quick, easy, and healthy meals during the week, then venture out on the weekends and cook things that require more time.  I have also found that most people struggle with finding good recipes to cook from, so they usually go out or order takeout.  The truth is, cooking doesn't have to be fancy or hard.  People make cooking more difficult than what it should be and that's why they don't cook more often.  I have a list of quick meals that I can prepare and are usually done within a half hour and use everyday ingredients.  Below is a sample of my quick meals, but I consider these to be the tastiest and easiest.

Parmesan chicken:  dethaw chicken breasts, season with salt and pepper, coat them in a little flour, roll them in egg wash (a beaten egg mixed with a few drops of water), and coat in a mixture of equal parts freshly grated Parmesan cheese and seasoned dried bread crumbs.  Then, bake at 400 for about 20 min.

Chicken salad:  this is not a mayo salad.  Instead, season chicken breasts and bake at 400 for 20 min. Allow the chicken to cool so you can handle it, then shred it.  Top shredded chicken with your favorite lettuce, tomato, cheese, dried cherries, cucumber, roasted radishes, cauliflower, and whatever else you like on your salad and add dressing.  Serve with bread.

Tacos:  I think everyone knows how to make tacos- I top mine with fat free sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, lettuce, onion, and green pepper.  I also vary my meat choice- shredded chicken, ground beef, sliced steak, or a mixture of sliced portobello mushrooms and steak. 

Pork loins with leeks:  season pork loins and bake at 400 for 20 min. Meanwhile, slice and clean leeks, mince a couple cloves of garlic, and a few tablespoons of mixed herbs.  Saute them over medium heat until leeks are tender.  Add salt and pepper and a splash of brandy and reduce until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.  Then, add about 1/3 cup chicken stock and about 1/4 cup sour cream.  Heat through and serve sauce over pork loins.

Spaghetti:  this one is a staple in most homes.  However, to make it a little more healthy, I add cooked broccoli, chopped fresh tomatoes, and fresh herbs into the sauce.  I also add shrimp for protein.

Mustard chicken:  mix 3 tablespoons mustard, 3 tablespoons dijon mustard, a splash of worcestershire, and 2 tablespoons of honey.  Coat chicken breasts with the mustard mixture and bake at 400 for 20 min.

Asian salmon:  this is an Ina Garten recipe that is no fail and extremely flavorful.  Mix 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dijon mustard, 2 teaspoon minced garlic, and a tablespoon of olive oil.  Coat salmon with mixture and bake at 425 for about 10 min.

Fish:  Take your favorite fish (I usually use tilapia), season, coat with dried breadcrumbs, and your favorite vegetables.  Bake at 425 for 10 min. until veggies are tender and fish is done

Fritatta:  Dice a small onion and cook over medium heat.  Add your favorite vegetables (I like broccoli and mushrooms) and cook until softened.  Add your favorite breakfast meat (ham, sausage, bacon) and season with salt and pepper.  Crack 4 eggs into a separate bowl, add salt and pepper, and a splash of milk.  Add eggs into the veggies and meat.  Transfer skillet to the oven and cook at 350 until eggs are set.

Meatloaf:  Everyone has their own recipe for meatloaf, but I use half beef and half turkey.  Use quick cooking oats in place of breadcrumbs and use dijion in place of ketchup.

Hopefully this will give you more ideas on what to make for a quick meal.  Trust me, they are much better than any takeout or fast food.

Ingredient swaps

Swapping ingredients in a recipe is one of the easiest things you can do to turn an old boring recipe into a new and exciting one.  I've been ingredient swapping for years and it can take a dish to a whole new level.  Some classic swaps that I've done are using applesauce or peanut butter for butter, sour cream or half and half for cream, seafood for red meat, cauliflower or celery root for potatoes, hummus for a thickening agent in soups, and meatloaf for round steak in beef stroganoff. 

Here are 2 recipes that I've made recently with ingredient swaps.  The first is a simple vegetable soup that uses hummus and the second are muffins that uses peanut butter in place of the butter.

Broccoli Hummus Soup

2 full head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups chicken or veggie stock
small container of garlic hummus (8 oz)
1/3 cup sour cream
crushed red pepper (as much as you like)
5 teaspoons fresh minced herbs (thyme, parsley, basil- you can use 1 or a mix)
salt/pepper for taste
Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 425
Spread the broccoli florets and diced onion on a sheet pan
Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper
Roast for 15-20 min. until broccoli is softened

Place broccoli and onion in a dutch oven or a large pot
Add chicken or veggie stock, hummus, sour cream, crushed red pepper, herbs, salt, and pepper
Blend with a stand blender, hand blender, or food processor
Heat soup and simmer for a few minutes until it's heated through
Taste for salt and pepper
Serve hot with grated Parmesan on top

Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
heaping 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use natural)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3 bananas mashed with fork
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (you can add more if you like)

Heat oven to 350 and line muffin pans with 15 liners
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside
In another bowl, mix peanut butter and sugar
Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly
Add bananas and vanilla and mix
Add dry ingredients and mix only until combined
Fold in the chocolate chips 
Divide batter into 15 muffin liners
Bake 15-25 min. depending on your oven, until a toothpick comes out clean
Place muffins on a cooling rack to cool all of the way

It's ok to eat crappy foods...once and awhile

I'll admit it- I like some crappy foods.  I enjoy the occasional fast food sandwich, store bought dinners, and easy boxed meals and desserts.  I'm also not alone.  I have seen many interviews with famous chefs where they purposely ask them what their favorite guilty pleasure is and most say a fast food joint or canned cranberries.  So, even though I love to cook and bake from scratch and pride myself on loving some of the finest foods, I also love foods that are embarrassing.  Here are some of favorites:

Boxed foods: 
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  Come on, name someone who doesn't enjoy this food?  It's a childhood staple and still beloved by many adults.  However, the generic brands aren't the same- you need to have the name brand stuff.
Boxed Stuffing.  This one is pretty embarrassing because homemade stuffing is so easy to do, but on a busy weeknight or a night when you don't feel like slicing bread, boxed stuffing is the way to go.  It's also very easy to eat the whole box yourself.
Hamburger Helper.  I made this a lot in college for my husband.  He finally banned me from making it because it's the definition of crappy food.  The problem is, it's so easy to make and includes your meat, starch, and vegetable (you have to add that in though) all in one skillet!  I think my husband finally drew the line when I made Hamburger Helper Fettuccine Alfredo and it turned into a paste after 5 minutes.  I guess I don't blame him- it was pretty gross.

Canned foods:
Canned peas.  For some reason, I only love canned or fresh peas.  Frozen peas are gross.  My husband thinks they smell like dirty socks, but I'll eat them every now and then.  I think I ate them so much growing up that I developed a strange love for them that hasn't died. 
Canned cranberries.  This one is a Thanksgiving staple.  I read a poll in a foodie magazine that asked people if they preferred canned or fresh cranberries and the majority said canned.  I'll never forget the Thanksgiving when my sister and I had a cranberry eating contest.  I don't remember who won, but I remember feeling sick.
Canned fruit cocktail.  Again, another childhood favorite.  I craved this when I was pregnant and I remembered how good it was.  The real treat was the cherry halves.  It sucks that they only include like 1 or 2 of them though.

Boxed desserts:
I love love love a homemade dessert made from scratch, but sometimes I don't have time, patience, or ingredients to make fresh brownies or cakes.  I do enjoy a good boxed brownie- Ghiradelli is the best one by the way- and they are easy.  Cake mixes are just ok.  I only use a cake mix if I'm desperate for cake and don't have flour or if it's masked by other ingredients. I do draw the line at cookies in a box- gross.

Frozen foods:
Frozen pizza.  As much as I love making my own pizza dough, frozen pizza is simple and good.  I've had all brands and I love them all- even generic.  Most of the time, I buy a plain cheese frozen pizza and top it with fresh veggies and turkey pepperoni.  It makes me feel less guilty.
Frozen meals.  While I usually don't eat frozen meals (mostly because of sodium and the fact that they don't fill me up), I will eat a Healthy Choice meal every once and awhile.  In a pinch, they're easy and if you add a salad, it's not bad.
Lean Pockets.  I know that this is a crappy sandwich, but they are good!  I especially like the pizza pockets and the turkey and cheese.  I won't even justify this. 

Refrigerated cookie dough.  This is in a category all on its own.  I love cookie dough and for a quick fix, just open package and eat.  Very simple and tasty.  However, I hate the cookies once they're baked- not good at all.  The uncooked cookie dough is all I need.

Fast Food:
Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich.  This is really good and not bad for you.  Grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, soft bun, and mustard.  One of my favs.
Taco Bell tacos.  I love the beef and chicken.  I think I ate Taco Bell a couple times a week in high school, so I still get a craving.  It always happens late at night though....
Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae.  For some reason, this is my favorite sundae.  Simple ice "milk" and hot fudge- not from scratch, but I still love it.

Ok, there are some of my favorites.  I won't apologize. 

Cooking as healing

My husband and I have suffered the worst tragedy of all time:  we lost our twins at 19 weeks on October 17, 2011.  Caroline and Ryan were beautiful and perfect babies, we just have no idea what happened.  After days of either not getting out of bed or off the couch, I decided to revisit my favorite past time of cooking.  I'm starting slowly though.  Easy dinners for us and then I'll venture out and try new recipes and hopefully develop new ones in my head (once my creativity returns that is).  When I was pregnant, I hated cooking- the smells and various tastes did nothing for me.  Now, however, my taste buds and sense of smell has come back and I might as well use them.
I craved chocolate chip cookie dough when I was pregnant, but you can't eat it raw due to the raw eggs in the batter.  So, I decided to make chocolate chip cookie bars twice within 3 days (and I ate plenty of the batter too).  We got bored with the cookies though, so I put them in the freezer.  I was trying to decide what to do with them since they can't be in the freezer forever and frozen cookies aren't good.  Finally, I created a new recipe:  chocolate chip cookie balls.
I have made cake balls in the past which consist of crumbling cake into frosting, making balls, and covering them in chocolate.  However, I prefer cookies over cake, so why not try it this way?  I crumbled up the cookies into homemade white icing, rolled them into balls, froze them, and dipped them into melted semi sweet chocolate.  The results were wonderful.  While it is a very sweet treat, they are perfect little mouthfuls that leave you satisfied with only 1 or 2. 
I also noticed something as I've been cooking and baking.  I feel a little bit better.  I daydream while I'm cooking and pretend that I'm making these recipes for my twins.  I imagine what it would be like to have my children around me while stirring, sifting, or dipping.  For a moment, I feel happy and my dreams are a reality with me being a mother and teaching my children how to cook.  Reality always come back though and I'm back in the real world again.  However, even if I only feel these joyful moments for a short time, cooking has a healing power that I never knew existed.  I guess it's my own private therapy. 
So, from here on out, my recipes and love of cooking and baking is dedicated to my beautiful twins, Caroline and Ryan, who I know are watching me and maybe even tasting what I'm creating.  I love and miss you both.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

For the cookies- (you can use your favorite cookie recipe or follow this one)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature (to make this lighter, you can use 1 stick of butter with 1/2 cup unsweetened plain applesauce.  The cookies are a little cakey, but still good)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 bags semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 and grease 9x13 glass pan
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and set aside
Beat the butter and both sugars at medium high speed until light and fluffy
Add the eggs one at a time until incorporated
Add the vanilla
Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix only until incorporated- do not overmix!
Stir in chocolate chips
Spread the batter evenly into the pan and cook until cookies have set- about 25-35 min.- check often
Let cookies cool completely

Frosting- (you can use homemade or canned- homemade is always better.  This one is my grandma's recipe that my mom also uses.  It's easy, light, and flavorful)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 tablespoons of milk (add more if needed)
2-3 cups powdered sugar (add more if needed)
pinch of salt

Mix above ingredients and add more milk and/or powdered sugar until a good spreading consistency is reached (taste for vanilla flavor too)

Once the cookies have cooled, crumble cookies into the bowl with the frosting and mix until everything has frosting on it
Using a tablespoon (or I use an ice cream scoop) scoop out balls of cookie and frosting and place on parchment lined baking sheets
Freeze balls until hardened (about an hour or more)

Once frozen, melt semi sweet chocolate- I'm not sure how much exactly, but it takes a lot of chocolate to cover all of the balls
Dip cookie balls into the chocolate, making sure every surface is covered by chocolate
Place them back on the parchment paper- you can also add sprinkles or colored sugar on them if you want
Once all of them dipped in the chocolate, place in refrigerator until hardened

Enjoy and as my old boss says, "Food and cooking make everything better."  I couldn't agree more.

Baby cake

I work a couple days a week at a doctor's office that happens to have an ultrasound machine and a wonderful tech willing to peek at my twins when I'm there.  She said that she can usually tell the sex by 16 weeks.  Last week I was 16 weeks, so I dashed right to her office.  However, since my husband wasn't with me, I didn't think it was fair to find out the sexes without him.  We remembered an article in Food Network magazine titled "Baby Cakes" that explained some couples find out the sex in a cake.  If the baby is a boy, the cake is dyed blue and if the baby is a girl, the cake is dyed pink.  It is covered in thick icing and when the couple cuts into the cake, the sex is revealed.  I loved this idea and knew I wanted to find the sexes out this way.
Instead of a bakery though, I asked my mom to make the cake since she's a better baker and I knew the cakes would be tasty.  Here's how the day unfolded:  I went to work, got my ultrasound, the tech wrote the sexes down on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope.  My mom took it and went home to make the cake.  Since we're having twins, she made a 2 layer cake and each layer would be dyed a different color (or the same color, depending on what we have).  I, meanwhile, continued to work and imagined what the sexes would be.  Finally, work ended and my husband drove to my parent's house for the big revealing.  We cut into the cake and the first layer was blue (boy!!) and the second layer was pink (girl!!).  I think I screamed, my husband shouted "I knew it!", my dad laughed, and my mom said "That was the hardest secret I have ever kept!" 
I thought this was an amazing way to find the sexes of our twins out.  Instead of being in a doctor's office where the atmosphere is very formal, we were relaxed at home and celebrated right away with cake.  Granted, the wait was terrible, but once we cut into the cake the joy and excitement was something I'll never forget. 
Following are pictures of the cake and the recipe.  I gave my mom my recipe for easy white cake and it's one of favorites.  The crumb is dense, but light.  It has loads of flavor (most white cakes taste like nothing) and if you dye your cake, add the coloring after you have separated the batter into the pans. 

My recipe for white cake:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
6 XL egg whites
4 tablespoon sour cream
2-3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 350
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside
In another bowl (or measuring cup) combine milk, egg whites, sour cream, and vanilla
Whisk together until sour cream is incorporated and there's no lumps
Using an electric or hand held mixture, cream butter and sugar at least 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated
Add 1/2 of the wet mixture
Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture
Add last 1/2 of the wet mixture
Add last 1/3 of the flour and mix until just combined (do not overmix!)

Divide the batter into 2 9 inch greased and floured pans (line the bottoms with parchment paper too)
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean 40-50 min. (depending on your oven- check often so they don't burn)
Set pans on a cooling rack and cook cake in pans for 10 min.
Run a knife around the edges and carefully take cake out of the pans
Cool on cooling rack until completely cooled and ice with your favorite frosting

Healthier apple crisp

I love fall and all of the foods that come with it.  I also love apples.  Since being pregnant, I crave apples, but I have a problem.  Raw apples make my Crohn's disease worse.  I get very sharp pains where my ileum is and I'll be ill for awhile.  However, I noticed that when apples are cooked or are in the form of applesauce, I don't have a problem.  I've been eating applesauce like crazy and I'm getting a little sick of it, so I decided to make a twist on apple crisp. 

I was at work and craving apple crisp all day.  However, when I got home, I was exhausted and wanted to sit.  So, I thought of an easier version (if you can imagine) of apple crisp that combines everything in one bowl and you just bake it.  It has sweetness from apples, tartness from dried cranberries, and texture from old fashioned oats.  In other words, it has it all and it's a guilt free way to enjoy dessert. 

I made this twice over the weekend since my husband and I couldn't get enough, but I never measured accurately.  You can hardly mess this recipe up though, so add as much or as little as you like and taste it before it goes into the oven.

Shortcut apple crisp

3 large apples, cored, and cut into bite size pieces (my favorite apple is honey crisp.  They work really well in this recipe since they're so sweet, large, and crisp.  Any apple will do though)
About 1 cup old fashioned oats
About 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar (more if you like- especially if you choose a tart apple like granny smith)
About 1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (more if you like)
pinch of salt
About 1/4 cup water (add more if it looks overly dry.  Don't add too much though- apples will release their natural juices when cooked)

Mix all of the ingredients in an 8x10 glass dish (or any similar size- you can also distribute mixture among individual oven safe bowls)
Bake at 400 for 40-50 minutes until the apples are softened.
Stir mixture at least once while baking

This is really good with whipped cream, ice cream, or my personal favorite, caramel sauce. 
Reheat in microwave if you have leftovers.

Everything I used to love, I hate now

Pregnancy is a great thing- it's a time of change, growing, anticipation, and endless thoughts about how wonderful your children are going to be.  However, it's also a time when you feel so sick you can't peel yourself off of the couch, eat like crazy, throw up, deal with heart burn, take naps multiple times a day, are crabby, and sore.  You also have to buy new clothes every couple of weeks because you grow so fast that nothing fits.  Well, I'm expecting twins, so I have experienced double these wonderful pregnancy symptoms.  However, I've never been happier, so it's worth it.

Now, the reason I haven't blogged in a long time (other than not being able to get off the couch in the past 14 weeks).  Food tastes strange to me.  Fresh vegetables that I used to crave taste strong and rotten, chocolate tastes metallic, the smell of basil makes me queasy, baked goods are too rich, ice cream is beyond nasty, and roast chicken smells horrible and tastes worse.  There are many more foods I can't stand now, but I won't type it all out. In short, all foods that I was crazy about before pregnancy I hate now. 

My taste buds are childish now.  I love honey nut cheerios, bagels (white only please!) with cream cheese, string cheese, baked potatoes, pizza (double the turkey pepperoni!), triscuits, granola bars, applesauce, twinkies, oreos, steak, and hamburgers.  I never ate these foods before pregnancy- especially red meat.  I could eat steak and burgers 3 times a day now.  I never dreamed of buying twinkies and oreos (gross!), but they taste fabulous now.  Go figure....

So, my cooking is limited to barbecuing steak and hamburgers, with a baked potato (sour cream and broccoli on top), followed by oreos dipped in milk.  In a way, it's kind of nice to take a break from cooking, but I miss it.  I'll be on a mission to find recipes that match my childish and bland taste buds, but for now, it's snack time!

Yes you can (make homemade marshmallows)

It never fails.  Every time I bring homemade marshmallows to a party people have the same reaction, "You can MAKE marshmallows???"  Yes, you can.  They are actually quite easy and all you need are a few ingredients and a stand mixer. 
Marshmallows are probably my number 1 most requested recipe.  They taste totally different from those rubbery store bought marshmallows.  They are light, soft, pillowy, and sweet.  They melt beautifully, go great in hot chocolate, or are perfect on their own. 
I got the idea to make marshmallows after an episode of "Barefoot Contessa" of course.  She made toasted coconut marshmallows and I couldn't believe how easy she made it seem.  I found the recipe in her book and found all of the ingredients in my pantry.  20 minutes later, I had homemade marshmallows.  My husband (or I) couldn't believe the difference.  What appeared to be a mystery food and one that seemed impossible to duplicate was uncoded and everyone has the ability to make them for themselves. 

This recipe comes from Ina Garten's cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa Family Style" (copyright 2002) on page 211.  The recipe is simply titled "homemade marshmallows"

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
powdered sugar, for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. 
Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degree on a candy thermometer (soft ball)
With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin.
Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 min.
Add the vanilla and mix
With a sieve, generously dust an 8x12 in. nonmetal baking dish with powdered sugar
Pour the marshmallows in the pan and smooth the top (wetting your knife or fingers will make it not stick)
Dust the top with powdered sugar
Let them stand uncovered overnight until they dry out
Cut marshmallows into squares and dust edges with powdered sugar

Pretty simple, don't ya think?  A few words to the wise that I've learned: 

• Water on your fingers or knife will make the marshmallows not stick- however, don't soak your fingers because you don't want your marshmallows wet.
• Powdered sugar makes the marshmallows not stick together, so don't be afraid to use it, but tap the excess off.
• Don't be afraid of the mess!  I was terrified at first seeing all of this white goop on my counter, but it's pure sugar- hot water will clean it up with ease.
• Substitute vanilla for peppermint extract or any other flavoring of extract- however just add 1/4 teaspoon of other extracts because the flavor will overpower the marshmallows.
• Use cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar for a chocolate flavor.
• Wrap the marshmallows tightly in tupperware or a plastic bag and store in the frig to make them last a long time (I've kept mine for a few weeks).
• Put on skewers to roast over an open fire (or hot grill) or use a kitchen blowtorch to toast the marshmallows and eat plain or as S'mores.  Trust me, nothing is better than that.

Sometimes store bought is ok

I've recently been burnt out on cooking.  That happens every once and awhile for me.  I cook day in and day out, but there comes a time when I don't want to step foot in the kitchen.  However, I wasn't going to resort to fast food.  I needed to look elsewhere for a decent and healthy meal.

Ina Garten was the owner of a speciality food store called "Barefoot Contessa" for over 20 years.  They specialized in ready made food that was tasty and easily carried out.  Since I live in St. Louis (a pretty decent size city), I thought why not try take out food from speciality grocery stores or even chain stores?  My first stop is a local grocery store on Kingshighway called Straub's.  I love Straub's for a variety of reasons- they're local, they offer fresh produce, meats, and cheeses, their bakery is awesome, and they carry local products from pizza to cheese to cookies to cake.  They have a "famous chicken salad" and one bite in, you'll realize why it's famous.  It's incredibly simple:  shredded white meat chicken, celery, and a mayo based sauce.  I'm not sure what else is in the sauce because no flavor particularly stands out, but it doesn't have a gloppy mayo taste.  It's so well seasoned that it's just perfect. 

Then, I wanted to sample their cake.  Granted whole cakes and slices are on the expensive side ($4 for a slice and between $10-20 for a small whole cake), they are worth it if you're in the mood for cake, but not in the mood to bake it yourself.  I could pronounce the ingredients and nothing alarmed me (flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, etc) and the cake was moist with lots of flavor.  My favorite is their strawberry shortcake.  I bought one slice one day and went back the next day to buy them out of it.  It is that good.

My other stops included Whole Foods (the chain) and Dierbergs (a grocery store in St. Louis).  While the take out food was good at both of these, they didn't quite compare to Staub's.  I really like the salad bar at Whole Foods because the possibilities are endless.  They offer every kind of veggie you would want on a salad with plenty of main course dishes as well.  They also didn't offer iceberg lettuce- just really good and flavorful types of lettuces.  Dierbergs also has a great salad bar with fewer options.  However, they're cheaper, so that's a plus.  Whole Food's deli is much better than Dierbergs because they offer a range of vegetarian dishes and really healthy foods (lots of veggies) while Dierbergs mainly sticks with fried chicken and mayo based pasta salads.  Again though, Dierbergs is cheaper, but it depends what you value (price over taste and quality).

I think both have great dessert choices.  I'm a fan of Dierberg's cake and they offer probably at least 5-10 different kinds a cake a day.  Whole Food's desserts are also quite good with my favorite being the vegan chocolate chip cookie (remember that just because it's vegan doesn't mean lower fat/calories- it has the exact same amount of calories as a regular cookie).

Anyway, I'm still new at this take out food concept so I'm still exploring my choices.  Next I think I will sample the smaller local joints across various neighborhoods in the city.  That sounds like fun.

The new kitchen

So, the new kitchen isn't a whole lot bigger than the old one, but it's a lot better!  We recently moved from an apartment to a home and I was hoping to find a place with a huge modern kitchen.  Needless to say, that's not realistic for a home in the city with our budget, so I had to make some compromises.  It's still a gallery kitchen, but there's a ton more room.  I couldn't get the whole kitchen in this picture, so it is bigger than it appears.  I welcomed back a full size refrigerator, stove, and bigger sink.  I'm also thankful that I have a working dishwasher that doesn't leak.  I was able to take my fancy cooking equipment out of storage and actually include it in my cabinets and I have plenty of work space to roll out dough.  What's best is that more than 1 person can cook in this kitchen and not bump into each other! 

However, it needs major updating (as you can tell, the cabinets are back from the 80s) but it works and I'm very happy with it.  What's better is that we have a separate dining room and I can entertain large parties again!  In short, this kitchen is a thousand times better than the old and I'm loving it!

Ina inspired

This dish is a take on one of Ina's awesome recipes.  She has a recipe called "Summer Garden Pasta" in the Barefoot Contessa book "At Home" on page 121.  It's a non-cook tomato sauce with tons of basil and parmesan cheese over thin pasta.  She featured it on a recent episode of her show and I thought it looked fantastic and had to make it.  It's definitely a summer dish though because that's when the tomatoes and basil are at their peaks.  However, the day I wanted to make it, I wanted more flavor and more veggies included.  So, I changed the recipe by adding more ingredients and baked it so the tomatoes were roasted and caramelized.  In short, it was excellent.  I'm sure that hers is wonderful too, but I just changed it to make it my own. 

The trick with this dish is that the pasta should marinate in the sauce for at least 4-6 hours.  It totally changes the flavor of the pasta and infuses it with so much flavor that my husband was amazed that pasta could taste like this.  Prepare it early in the day and bake it off just before serving.  You won't be disappointed.
(serves 2-4)
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cups portabello mushrooms, sliced
4-6 large cloves of garlic, minced (I like things really garlicky, so I added 6, but you can less if you want)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (more if your pasta is dry)
2 pints cherry tomatoes, cut in half
16 large leaves of basil, julienned
crushed red pepper
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
parmesan cheese

Heat a medium skillet to medium high, add onion cook until softened and slightly browned
Add mushrooms and cook until just softened
Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds until the garlic is not raw
Turn heat off and stir in olive oil, tomatoes, basil, crushed red pepper (as much as you like), salt, and pepper to taste
Stir together and set aside
Cook pasta until al dente (do not overcook)
Add pasta to sauce and toss
Allow mixture to marinate for 4-6 hours (however, if you don't have time, either marinate it as long as you can or not at all)
Add mixture to over proof glass dish and sprinkle the top generously with parmesan cheese
Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and the pasta is browned
Serve with extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!

What's better to follow up this pretty elegant meal than with a rice crispy treat?  For some reason, I'm making tons of variations of rice crispy treats using various cereals, mix ins, marshmallows, and candies.  This time I used Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal, chocolate marshmallows, Reese's Pieces, and M&Ms.  They were quite tasty and a good end to a great meal. 

Greek meets Italian

In an effort to combine 2 of my favorites, Greek salad and anti pasti, I made a Greek meets Italian dinner last night that was quite tasty.  I just took some of the classic ingredients found in both and combined them and made a simple lemon dressing that completed the meal.  However, I didn't measure anything (except for the dressing) so I don't have exact measurements to share.  This is a recipe though that one can't screw up and you just put as much or as little of each ingredient that you like.  For example, I love tomatoes, so I used a lot of them.  If you don't like them as much, use less.  Anyway, here's the recipe (or general idea):

red onion (about 1/2 of a large one), sliced into thin half rings
mushrooms (any variety), sliced
cucumber, chopped
tomatoes, chopped
turkey pepperoni
artichoke hearts (I cheated and used a can of them), coarsely chopped
fresh green beans, blanched
olives
capers
basil
mint
crushed red pepper
arugula
feta

For the lemon dressing:
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
olive oil (1/4 cup)
generous splash of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

You can do this salad 2 ways:  warm or cold.  I prepared it warm last night and I heated up a skillet to medium high heat and added the onion
Cook onion until just softened
Add mushrooms and cook until just softened
Add the next 9 ingredients (from the cucumber through the mint)
Cook on low heat just until everything is heated through
Add dressing and toss together (it shouldn't be hot and the veggies shouldn't be cooked through- it should just be warm)

Put generous amount of arugula on each plate and top with mixture
Top with crushed red pepper and feta (be generous)

For the cold version:  Just combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss with dressing, serve, and enjoy!

This is an excellent meal for a vegetarian (minus the pepperoni) and is quite filling. 

The best part- the cake

Part 2 of dad's bbq meal:  the cake.  For the last couple of years, I've been in charge of the cake.  I've always made a big "tada!" cake because there's a lot of people to feed and I like the challenge of making something extravagant.  Last year I made a tiered chocolate/raspberry cake with layers of homemade raspberry sauce and ganche in between each layer, topped with raspberry ganache.  This year, I made a cake that I've wanting to make for years.  I found the recipe from BonAppetit magazine in May 2009.  I've looked at it many times, read it over and over, and tried to find an occasion to make it.  I figured that dad's birthday was perfect since the cake is huge and it would challenge me. 

The cake is called "Mile High Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream" and the they're not lying.  It was a 6 layer cake, filled with vanilla buttercream in between each layer, and topped with ganache.  The cake is impressive looking because you see each layer- the ganache just drips down the sides of the cake- it doesn't cover it.  Here are the pics:

Even though the cake might look impressive, it really wasn't hard to make.  The cake was an incredibly moist and very chocolaty cake.  I made 3 8-inch layer cakes, cooled them, and cut them in half.  However, the buttercream was a little trickier, but not much.  I made a sugar syrup that I boiled to the soft ball stage, whipped egg whites, vanilla, and sugar, and very slowly poured the sugar syrup into the meringue.  After that cooled, I added softened butter one tablespoon at a time and whipped until smooth.  Then, I applied the buttercream to the layers of cake and stacked (no buttercream on the top though).  Finally, I poured ganache (a mix of milk and bittersweet chocolate and cream) over the top, and I ended up with a very tall and delicious cake. 

Is it embarrassing to admit that practically the whole cake was gone by the time we were done?? (there were 12 people!).  The only thing that made it better was my parent's homemade cherry crisp ice cream that complimented it very well (or vice versa). 

So, pressure is on- what cake do I make next year??? (Yes, I'm already thinking about it)

Dad's annual bbq

My dad's birthday is July 3, so we always have a big bbq to celebrate.  The theme is always the same, but the food varies year to year.  This year, we prepare salmon, brats, and pork steak on the grill, corn on the cob, caprese salad, and I made a middle eastern vegetable pasta salad. 

This was the caprese salad that I assembled for the party.  Ina taught me that the most important thing in assembling this sort of salad is to make sure that everything is about the same size- the tomato, mozzarella, and basil leaf should all fit together so the person always has a bite with a little bit of everything.  Overall, it's always a hit.

This was the middle eastern vegetable pasta salad that I also prepared.  The recipe is from Ina's cookbook, "How Easy is That?" on page 101.  This was an incredibly healthy, satisfying, and tasty salad made with tomatoes, scallions, cucumbers, parsley, mint, basil, feta cheese, and chickpeas with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette.  Ina doesn't put pasta in hers, but I added cous cous and the pasta just soaked in all of that flavor from the veggies and dressing. Very good and I'll be making it again. 

Who could have asked for a better day or setting- we swam all afternoon, cooked, ate, talked, enjoyed each other's company, and ended the night with sparklers.  Another successful birthday for dad.

Another dinner

Since we're hopefully moving soon, I had to use ingredients that I already had in my pantry.  I created another pretty good meal that can be whipped up in no time, is healthy, and really tasty.  I love shrimp and vegetables, so this one includes a lot of both.  Enjoy!

Fire Roasted Shrimp (serves 2 with leftovers)

1 small onion, diced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 can fire roasted tomatoes (Hunt’s brand is really good)

1 cup seafood stock

2-3 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary (depending on how much you like)

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Salt/pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes (as much as you like)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular paprika if you don’t have smoked)

1/2 – 1 pound shrimp, deveined and peeled

Juice of ½ of a lemon

Heat medium sauté pan to medium high heat- add olive oil

Add onion and cook until softened

Add mushrooms and cook until just starting to soften

Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds

Add can of fire roasted tomatoes, seafood stock, rosemary, parsley, salt/pepper, red pepper flakes, and paprika

Increase heat to high and bring to boil

Reduce sauce until thick- about 10-15 minutes (stir often to check the thickness)

Add the shrimp, stir, and cook through

Add the juice of ½ of a lemon and stir

Taste for seasoning and serve

Note:  This recipe is also good if you use ½ cup white wine and ½ cup of seafood stock.

You can also use chicken stock if you can’t find seafood stock.

Feta cheese on top for garnish goes beautifully with this dish as well

I blame my parents (for making me love veggies)

I blame my parents.  They made me eat my vegetables everyday growing up, but I really don't remember ever complaining about it.  I ate corn, green beans, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, squashes, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, spinach, asparagus, onions, bok choy, etc. and I loved them all.  Besides the ones that my dad grew in the garden, most of them were either frozen or canned, but nonetheless, I still ate them.  The only ones that I hated were lima beans that were mixed in with the frozen mixed veggie medley.  Yuck.  I still hate them. 

However, as I grew and started cooking, I grew tired of canned and frozen vegetables.  Also, my husband wasn't as big of a fan of veggies as I am and he would only eat canned green beans.  He claimed that he didn't like any other veggie (besides mashed potatoes) and wouldn't try them.  He said brussel sprouts tasted funny, mushrooms had no flavor, asparagus smelled weird, and broccoli was boring.  So, I had a mission:  make him like a variety of vegetables.  Being a beginner cook at the time, I had no idea how to make veggies in a delicious and easy way.  However, as I watched Ina on the "Barefoot Contessa" I noticed that she roasted all of her vegetables.  I figured I would try it because it looked easy and really tasty.  I roasted a safe veggie first:  potatoes.  They were, of course, a huge hit between my husband and I.  Potatoes were too easy though.  Of course he liked roasted potatoes- they taste like french fries without the grease.  I tried another safe veggie:  fresh green beans.  He also liked these.  Then, I tried broccoli and cauliflower.  Again, he liked it.  I tried zucchini.  He loved it.  I roasted butternut squash.  He went crazy for it (still one of his favorite roasted vegetables).  I started to get more daring and roasted brussel sprouts.  After convincing him to try it and giving permission to put Parmesan cheese on it, he agreed and ate more than me!  I then started roasting everything:  asparagus, onions, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, mushrooms (which are my favorites), bok choy, celery root, and any other veggie I could get my hands on.  Needless to say, I converted my husband into a vegetable lover like me and I roasted veggies at least 4-5 times a week to go with our meals.  Now when I have an off day or no veggie looks good at the store and I serve him canned green beans, he complains!  I take that as a good sign though.

Roasted Vegetables
You can roast just about any veggie out there (except lettuce)- I haven't found one that doesn't taste better after it's been roasted.  Here are a few of my favorites: 
tomatoes (de-seeded and cut in half), radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, zucchini, butternut squash, mushrooms (any kind but button- they really don't have any flavor), carrots, brussel sprouts, asparagus, bok choy, celery root, potatoes, and sweet potatoes

I cut up the vegetable into bite sized pieces (not too small) and make sure that they're all about the same size for even roasting
place on sheet pan
drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (season them really well)
toss around to make sure the oil and seasoning are evenly distributed
roast at 425 until tender
serve with Parmesan cheese (optional)

Roasted Vegetable Soup
(This recipe was adapted from one of Ina's recipes)
Any variety of leftover roasted veggies can be made into an incredible soup.  I've used leftover butternut squash and onion, broccoli, and potatoes, among many other variations.  I also add fresh spinach or arugula to give it extra texture. 
Just put roasted vegetables in a blender or food processor, add chicken (or veggie) stock (just enough to thin it), salt/pepper to taste, and any other spices you like- I like cumin, curry, and even hot sauce. 
Blend until pureed
If it's too thick, add more stock
Place in pot on stove and heat through (taste to make sure the seasoning is right)

So, thank you parents for making me eat my veggies.  It paid off in the end.  However, I still hate lima beans.

Note:  baking times may vary, but I've found that 425 will evenly roast any vegetable.  Usually temperatures range from 400, 425, to 450, but veggies really aren't that sensitive- just keep your eye on them so they don't burn.

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

I created a recipe for strawberry champagne cupcakes out of my love for champagne, berries, white cake, and white buttercream frosting (I think the perfect cupcake is white cake with white icing).  However, I wanted to infuse flavor into plain white cake and since I had an abundance of strawberries, I started to experiment with them.  Also, what's better with strawberries than champagne?  Combing the 2 was a no brainer.  I've made them several times with rave reviews so far and I think I've just about perfected the recipe.  The champagne flavor is more of a fruity flavor (you won't taste the bubbles) and it's incredibly good.
The cupcakes have 3 parts to them, but they're all easy and you can make the strawberry sauce in advance.  You'll also have plenty leftover sauce and it's great over ice cream, berries, and it freezes beautifully. 
Here's my recipe:

For the cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup champagne/prosecco/sparkling wine (make sure it's a good one and something you would want to drink- the better the quality, the better the cupcakes will be)
3 XL egg whites
2 tablespoon sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside
In another bowl (or measuring cup) combine champagne, egg whites, sour cream, and vanilla
Whisk together until sour cream is incorporated and there's no lumps
Using an electric or hand held mixture, cream butter and sugar at least 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated
Add 1/2 of the wet mixture
Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture
Add last 1/2 of the wet mixture
Add last 1/3 of the flour and mix until just combined (do not overmix!)

Divide the batter among 12 cupcake paper liners
Bake 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes
Remove from the pan and place cupcakes on a cooling rack until completely cooled (you can also refrigerate them- the colder they are the easier they are to cut)

Strawberry Sauce:
1 1/2 pounds fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
2-3 tablespoons water
1 jar (12 oz.) strawberry jam

Cook berries, sugar, and water (start with 2 tablespoons and add more if the sauce is too thick) in a medium saucepan over medium high heat
Bring to a boil and stir so it doesn't burn
Cook until berries are softened and sugar is dissolved
Off the heat, add strawberry jam and puree (with blender, food processor, or immersion blender)
Taste and add more sugar if needed
Cool sauce

When cupcakes and sauce are cooled, use a small knife to cut a fairly large hole from the center of cupcake (reserve the top)
Fill the hole with strawberry sauce (about 1-2 tablespoons)
Place the top of the hole back in cupcake

Champagne frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp.
4-5 tablespoons champagne/prosecco/sparkling wine 
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Beat powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of champagne with an electric or hand held mixer
Add more champagne as needed until frosting is smooth and spreadable, but not thin (if it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.  If it's too thick, add more champagne)
Generously frost each cupcake with the icing and garnish with a strawberry

Variation:  This recipe can be made by using a 1/2 stick of butter and a 1/2 cup applesauce in place of the whole stick of butter in the cupcake recipe.  Also, fat free sour cream is perfectly fine.

Note:  You can refrigerate these cupcakes (so the frosting doesn't melt), but bring them to room temp. before serving. 
Also, the longer the cupcakes sit, the more you'll taste the champagne- I make them the day ahead and they're even better on the 2nd day.  Enjoy!

Anniversary Dinner

Yesterday (June 18) was my husband and I's 6 year wedding anniversary.  We usually celebrate by going out to a wonderful meal and making a wonderful meal at home.  We went out to Farm Haus in St. Louis which is an incredible place.  The chef was just named one the top 10 chefs in the country by Food and Wine magazine and the food is based on what's in season and local ingredients.  Thomas had the asparagus salad with grilled asparagus, radish, and a garlic vinaigrette, "breakfast" for his main course (pork belly with a sunny side egg on top, homemade sausage, and corn blinis), and strawberry panna cotta with angel food cake, fresh strawberries and basil ice cream for dessert (basil ice cream is on my list to make- soooo good!).  I had the wild mushroom salad with bacon vinaigrette, blackened red snapper with collard greens and spoon bread, and a "rocky road" dessert with flourless chocolate cake, caramel ice cream, marshmallow, almond brittle, and caramel sauce.  The meal was one of the best we've ever had.

Now onto the meal that I made at home.  I don't have a name for the dish because it was born from my mom's seafood with linguine that I grew up on.  I changed it and added more ingredients.  It's a wonderful, fast, easy, elegant, and delicious recipe that anyone can do.  You can change the seafood to any seafood you like, add herbs, and add veggies.  It's a thin, almost broth like sauce that incredibly flavorful (and also healthy).  Here's my recipe:

8 oz. pappardelle pasta (or any wide noodle would work, like linguine)
3 tablespoons olive oil
About 2 cups of sliced portabello mushrooms
About 6 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic so I go heavy, but add as much or as little as you like)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
A couple of splashes of chicken stock or seafood stock (if you like a thicker sauce, add less.  If you like a thinner sauce add more.  I probably added 1/4 - 1/3 cups)
A splash of white wine (probably a couple tablespoons)
2-3 tablespoons minced parsley
Salt/pepper to taste
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Red pepper flakes (as much or as little as you like)
1/2 - 1 pound shrimp, cooked/peeled/deveined (depending on how much shrimp you would like)
1/2 - 1 pound fresh crab meat, cooked (again, depending on how much crab you like)
1/2 pound clams, cooked
Parmesan cheese to top

Bring a large pot of water to a boil
Salt the water and add the pasta
Cook according to the directions (I always cook pasta 2 min. short on what the package says- you want nice and al dente pasta)

While water is coming to a boil, heat the olive oil over medium high heat
Add the mushrooms and cook until just starting to soften
Add the garlic and cook another minute
Add scallions, chicken or seafood stock, wine, parsley, salt, pepper, zest and juice of the lemon, and red pepper flakes
Bring to boil to reduce (the sauce will thicken slightly) and stir
Reduce heat to low
Add shrimp, crab, and clams
Heat through
Add the pasta to the sauce and toss gently to combine (the pasta will absorb the sauce)
Serve with Parmesan cheese

Be sure to taste the sauce as you go along to make sure you have seasoned it correctly.  Also, instead of straining the pasta, I take it out of the water with tongs and put it directly in the sauce.  Some of the starchy cooking liquid will still be on the pasta and it adds flavor.  They do this with pasta in Italy and it's perfect every time.  Also, if your sauce is too thin, add some pasta liquid to it- it thickens up beautifully. 

Husband Pleasers Part 2

Ok, I jumped the gun a little bit on my husband pleasers (Scotcharoos) post.  I remade the recipe again this morning and used mini marshmallows in the Special K mixure.  Another winning result! Here's what I did:

Make the Scotcharoos exactly as stated before, but after you add the peanut butter to the sugar mixture, stir in about 3 cups of mini marshmallows off the heat (or you can take big ones and break them up). 
Stir the marshmallows until incorporated- they shouldn't melt completely, but they'll get really soft
Spread mixture in pan
Omit the caramel (unless you like extremely sweet things, but I didn't add it because I was afraid it would be too overpowering)
Put chocolate/butterscotch chips on as usual and sprinkle with sea salt

The Special K mixture becomes like a Special K marshmallowy-crispy treat and they are wonderful!  Try the famous Scotcharoos all 3 ways (traditional, caramel with sea salt, and marshmallow with sea salt) and decide which one you like best!

Jazz up boring meat

Plain chicken, pork loin, fish, or even steak is boring!  Here's a sauce that's healthy and full of flavor.  I've adapted this recipe from a combination of many recipes and I tend to change it every time I make it, but here's the basic recipe:

Leek sauce

2 medium leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms, any variety (I love mushrooms, so I include a lot, but you can add as many as you like or leave them out. Portabella mushrooms are really good, but plain old button mushrooms would be just fine)
a splash of Brandy
a splash of chicken stock
1-2 teaspoons fresh minced rosemary
1-2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
Crushed red pepper (as much or as little as you like)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream

Put olive oil (or spray) in large pan and turn on heat to medium high
Add leeks and cook until just softened
Add mushrooms and cook until just softened
Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds until garlic is cooked
Add a splash of Brandy and scrape up the browned bits on the pan
Turn heat to high and reduce Brandy
Add a splash of chicken stock and stir until slightly thickened
Turn heat down to medium low
Add rosemary, parsley, crushed red pepper, Dijon, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste
Heat all of the ingredients through and serve (serves 2)

This is excellent over roasted chicken, pork loin, or fish.  I usually sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top. Simply delicious!

Note:  You can add any herbs you like- thyme and basil are great additions.  Leeks are part of the onion family and look like giant scallions.  They are milder in taste and really good.  If you can't find them, I'm sure that regular onions would be fine- just a little stronger tasting (I've never tried this with regular onions)

Husband Pleasers

A husband pleaser comes in the form of a scotcharoo.  What's a scotcharoo?  It's a cookie/bar/candy that my mother in law, Susan, has made since my husband was a child.  Everyone loves them.  They are addictive.  They are crunchy, peanut buttery, chocolaty, and everything else that is good in life.  They are also the easiest recipe I've ever made.  The basic recipe is Special K cereal mixed with sugar, karo syrup, and peanut butter.  That's pressed into a pan and topped with melted semi sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.  This is the only way that my mother in law makes them and I made them the same way for years.

However, I was bored with them.  I wanted something more- more flavor and something different.  I started by experimenting with the cereal.  I tried Rice Crispies, but they just went stale after a day.  I then tried Corn Flakes, but it gave the Scotcharoo a corn flavor that was not welcome.  So, I stayed with the Special K since it stayed crunchy and didn't add any flavor. 

I decided that instead of messing with the recipe, I would add things to it- I love caramel and think that caramel should be included in all desserts, so I added caramel between the Special K and chocolate layers.  I also love sea salt and noticed that salt combined with chocolate is simply delish.  A sprinkling of sea salt on top of the warm chocolate really set this dessert off and brought out all of the flavors.

So, after experimenting with this humble recipe, I recreated it and made it a bit fancier and more decadent. 
Here's the new recipe:

6 cups Special K cereal
1 cup sugar
1 cup white syrup (karo)
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
caramel sauce (any brand of your choice)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
sea salt

Measure Special K and place in large bowl.  Set aside
In small saucepan, bring sugar and white syrup to a boil (stirring often so it doesn't burn)
Off the heat, add peanut butter and mix until smooth
Pour sugar/peanut butter mixture in the Special K and mix gently until combined
Press evenly into a greased (or sprayed) 9x13 pan
Let cool
Pour and spread caramel sauce over Special K mixture (as much as you like- I like a lot, so I went heavy)
Let cool and set
Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips (don't burn!) and stir together
Pour chocolate over caramel/Special K mixture and smooth over the top
Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the top of the warm chocolate
Let set at room temp or in the frig until firm and cut into bars

While this is a good start to a new and improved Scotcharoo, I may try mini marshmallows mixed in with the Special K/peanut butter mixture next.  If that goes well, I'll change the recipe again.  As for now, the humble and incredible Scotcharoo got a makeover and they are even better than the originals- Thank you Susan for this recipe!