iheartfood

Tangerine Lemon Curd

2011-02-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

So . . . it's been a long time! How have all 4 of you been?:) I've been feeling a lot of blog guilt lately. I still LOVE to eat and still LOVE to cook, I just can't seem to sit down long enough to transfer all my profound thoughts (what? you know it's true) and pictures to the computer. But I've decided to just put the guilt aside and do it when I can make the time for it. So, here I am on a Sunday night, watching The Holiday and blogging about some seriously delicious curd. Ew curd is a gross word. But it tastes anything but gross! I had a big bowl of meyer lemons on my counter and wanted to make something with them. I thought it would be fun to make scones and lemon curd and have a little Saturday afternoon tea party with Ashley. I did a quick foodgawker search and didn't find anything I loved. I somehow ended up on Joy the Baker's site and saw a recipe for tangerine lemon curd. That just sounded too awesome to pass up. I also happened to have a bag of "cutie" oranges so I just used those. Serve this with scones and lightly whipped cream, stir into greek yogurt topped with granola (soooo good!), or use as a filling for a cake. OR eat straight from the jar. Don't laugh - you'll do it and you'll like it.

Tangerine Lemon Curd

slightly adapted from Joy the Baker

makes about 3/4 cup

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon tangerine zest and 1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup tangerine juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons butter

pinch of salt

Combine sugar and tangerine and lemon zest on a clean cutting board. With the back of a spoon or knife, rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is very fragrant and slightly orange in color.

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, whisk together egg yolks, egg, tangerine/lemon sugar, juices, butter and salt. Whisk over the heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This takes about 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to smell just like citrus curd.

Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh strainer (this removes any little bits of egg that may have cooked) into a medium bowl. Transfer to a small jar or airtight container and refrigerate until cool and thicker in texture. Curd will last, refrigerated, for about a week.

An Inheritatnce

2010-12-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hello there. Long time no blog:) So awhile ago I inherited some friends' back issues of Cooks Illustrated. I knew that they were supposedly awesome but honestly I'd never really looked at them because they didn't have big, beautiful colored pictures which is the most important quality to me in a cook book/magazine. But, the other day I actually found myself with nothing pressing to do so I sat down with a cup of tea and the magazines. What seemed like a few minutes later was actually about an hour that I had been pouring over these magazines. It was like reading a novel. Each recipe has a "story" and explanation about how the recipe had been tested to make sure that they were giving out the best version. I found myself wanting to make the recipe even without seeing the big, beautiful colored picture (until I turned the magazine over and saw that it had pictures on the back:). Anyway all that to say it made me want to cook. So, I chose a recipe that I had all the ingredients for. Say hello to the best beef stew ever. Don't be scared of the anchovy paste. Or the unflavored gelatin. Just push through! It's worth it!

Best Beef Stew
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated Feb 2010

2 garlic cloves, minced
4 anchovy fillets or 2t anchovy paste (I use the paste. You can get it in a tube and it lasts for a long time. It's also great to use in caesar salad!)
1 T tomato paste (also sold in a tube!)
1 boneless chuck roast (about 4 lbs) trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 in pieces. You could also use beef stew meat.
2T vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1in pieces
1/4 C flour
2 cups red wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 1/2 C frozen pearl onions, thawed
2 t unflavored powdered gelatin
1/2 C water

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine garlic and anchovy paste in small bowl; press with back of fork to form paste. Stir in tomato paste and set mixture aside.
Pat meat dry with paper towels. Do not season. Heat 1 T veg oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add only enough beef as not to crowd the pan and brown on all sides. Transfer beef to a plate and repeat until all meat is browned.
Place all meat back into pan and reduce heat to medium. Add onion and carrots to Dutch oven and stir to combine with beef. Cook, scraping botton of pan to loosen any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1-2 minutes. Add garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds.
Slowly add wine, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits. Increase to high heat and allow wine to simmer until thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to simmer, cover and transfer to oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove pot from oven; remove and discard bay leaves. Stir in potatoes and mushrooms, cover, return to oven, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and stir in pearl onions. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender and onions are cooked through and meat has little resistance when poked with a fork, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over water in small bowl and allow to soften for 5 minutes.
Increase heat to high, stir in softened gelatin mixture; simmer until gelatin is fully dissolved and stew is thickened about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.

Ok, so maybe you're overwhelmed. It does seem like a lot of steps but it's totally worth it. The meat comes out so tender and flavorful and the broth/sauce is thick and rich. Make it!

Homeade Granola

2010-11-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick and easy recipe for homemade granola. This was the first attempt I made at granola and it turned out really good! Granola is so expensive in the store and this is definitely less expensive. It also uses applesauce as a binder so it is healthier also. But don't worry, it doesn't taste healthy:) I don't like a lot of fruit and extra stuff in my granola so I adapted the recipe which you can do too. Add cranberries or raisins at the end or switch up the type of nut. Enjoy getting crunchy with your granola.

Applesauce Granola
adapted from Fake Ginger

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce with the honey and oil over low heat.

Mix the applesauce mixture into the oat mixture and stir to coat everything. Spread the mixture onto a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the granola is a deep brown. Remove from oven and stir in fruit if using. Cool completely before enjoying.

With this delicious granola I made a parfait with greek yogurt, honey and raspberries. mmmm good!

Everything Pumpkin

2010-10-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Finally! My pictures are uploaded and I can talk about some of this food I've been making.

October= pumpkin everything. I've been going a little crazy with the pumpkin over the last few weeks. In all honesty pumpkin isn't my very favorite flavor in the world but I do enjoy it when it's cloudy outside, the leaves are falling and the heater's on. It just seems right. Here are a few of the pumpkiny things I've been making. (yes, I know pumpkiny isn't a word but I like it)

First is a really delicious moist pumpkin bread with a surprise layer in the middle that makes it pretty darn ridiculous.

Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Cheesecake Layer
www.dishingupdelights.blogspot.com

Cheesecake Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
Scant 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon (approximately) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon flour
1 large egg

Pumpkin Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan or you can use 3 smaller loaf pans (great for gifts!)

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the cheesecake ingredients; beat until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Set aside.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

Place pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl of an electric stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat for about 1 minute, until fully combined. Add flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix just until combined.

Pour half of the pumpkin bread batter into the loaf pan. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of pumpkin batter layer and then pour on the remaining pumpkin batter.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes for large loaf pan and 35-45 minutes for small loaf pans, or until a wooden skewer inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature or cool.

Okay, this next recipe is definitely a keeper. You know that certain fall drink from that certain coffee chain that starts with an S and rhymes with schmarbucks. Well, I've come pretty close (thanks to the recipe I discovered) to making a replica.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup for Pumpkin Spice Lattes
adapted from www.cooklikeachampion.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin purée

Directions:
-In a small pot over medium heat, dissolve sugar in water.
-Once sugar is dissolved, add remaining ingredients. Allow to cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not boil.
-Strain mixture using cheesecloth or a tea towel.
-Pour into a small (8-10 ounce) bottle and store in the refrigerator.
-To make a pumpkin spice latte, simply add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of syrup for each shot of espresso.
-For an iced latte, stir together syrup and espresso before adding desired amount of cold milk.
-For a hot latte, add frothed milk and stir to combine. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

This is so good. I tried it hot and iced and both were great. You're welcome for the money you're gonna save not going to schmarbucks.

Ok, ok one more and then I promise I'm done with the pumpkin overload. These pancakes are pretty much amazing. Really moist and creamy and the syrup, oh the brown butter syrup! It is so good you will drink it. No seriously, you'll drink it.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Brown Butter
taste of home magazine, october 2010
brown butter
1/2 C butter, cubed
1/4 C maple syrup
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg

pancakes
1-1/2 C flour
2 T packed brown sugar
2t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
1-1/3 C 2% milk
3/4 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C ricotta cheese

For brown butter
In a small heavy saucepan, cook butter over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat.

For pancakes
In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, pumpkin and cheese. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown. Serve with brown butter.
Enjoy the pumpkiny goodness while you can! Happy Fall!

Things I'm Loving . . .

2010-10-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking and baking a lot in the last few weeks and have some great recipes to share, but my camera and/or computer is freaking out and won't let me upload my pictures. So, while I wait for the repair man (Ryan, hopefully tonight!) to fix this problem here are some things I'm loving right now . . .

I don't know where I've been cause apparently every one knows about this delicious tea, but in case you've been on a different planet like me this is Good Earth original tea. It really is like fall in a cup. It's really spicy (like herb spicy not hot sauce spicy) and really sweet. Not sure how they do it cause I don't think it has sugar in it and it says it has zero calories. In my book that's a miracle!

And I've been drinking it out of this non-paper travel mug from Cost Plus. It's so cute and that's the reason I got it cause in truth it doesn't keep liquid hot for very long.

The other thing I'm loving is the San Francisco Giants! It's kinda funny cause I've never been a huge baseball follower and definitely wouldn't sit down and watch a whole game. But over the last few weeks something's come over me (it's called the play offs). Since I haven't played soccer in many moons I guess I'm finally needing an outlet for my competitiveness. I also think Ryan's prayers for me to become I Giants are finally coming true.

One more thing I'm loving is 2 Corinthians. I'm studying it in Sisters in Scripture this semester and it's totally rocking my world. It's amazing to see Paul's example of someone willing to walk through anything in order to preach the Gospel and see people's lives changed.

Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2010-10-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

Yep you read that right. This recipe caught my eye on foodgawker and I had to make it. Anything salted chocolate or salted caramel makes my heart sing these days. So, you must try this recipe immediately. You can thank me later via gifts, money, compliments, etc.:)

Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
www.annies-eats.com

Yield: about 24 cookies
Ingredients:
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. fleur de sel (sea salt), or Maldon sea salt plus more for sprinkling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Combine the 8 ounces chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, and heat until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. (Alternatively, heat in the microwave in 25-second intervals, stirring in between.) In another mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 4-5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the melted chocolate mixture, blending until incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate with a spatula. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2-3 inches apart.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the cookies are just slightly soft in the center and crackly on top, about 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with additional salt and let cool on the baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container

Peanut Butter + Chocolate = Love

2010-08-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe while browsing on www.foodgawker.com and it pretty much screamed at me "make me! make me! you have all my ingredients!" So I happily obliged.

Let's back up a second. I guess I'm assuming that you know what the miracle of foodgawker is, but in case your life isn't consumed by food blogs let me fill you in. Foodgawker is a site that is a collection of posts from various foodbloggers who submit a recent post and picture of a delicious looking food. It's basically a place where you can go, scan pictures and recipes, and then realize that you've been scanning for hours. It's basically a miracle.

Anyway, back to the recipe that caught my eye the other day. They're called Reese's Bars and the have totally rocked my world. They're a combination of a Reese's peanut butter cup, a brownie, and kind of remind me of muddy buddies. Best of all, it's like 5 ingredients and you don't have to bake them. Definitely one of my new fave's!

Reese's Bars
www.mommahenskitchen.blogspot.com

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup butter, melted
1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a 9" x 12" baking dish with foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. Mix well. Blend in melted butter until well combined.

Press mixture evenly into pan. In a microwave proof bowl, heat chocolate chips at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Spread evenly over top of peanut butter mixture.

Refrigerate just until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

You might need to ask someone to keep you accountable when you make these. It's not safe to be left alone with them.

NOGs

2010-08-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

What’s a NOG you ask. Well, I’m a proud member as well as a group of some of my closest friends. We’ve been doing an amazing Bible study this summer entitled No Other God’s (hence the NOG). It’s all about recognizing the idols in our lives, those things/people/activities that we put in the place of God. Well I’ve definitely recently recognized an idol that’s taking over my life . . .

It’s my new ice cream maker.

Since getting it about a month ago (35$ at Costco!!), all I can think about is ice cream. I’ve never been one to just sit down to a big bowl of ice cream, or choose it as a dessert . . . until now. It’s definitely affecting my waistline and is breaking my food budget which is all going to half and half and heavy cream. Despite these factors, I just can’t seem to stop. And really, I’m not that sad about it.

So far I’ve made vanilla, cookies and cream, chocolate peanut butter, double chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chip. Obsessed, right?

Ok, so here’s the classic vanilla recipe which is delicious by itself and a great starting point.

Either

1 C whole milk

2 C heavy cream

¾ C sugar

1-2 t vanilla

3 C half and half

¾ C sugar

1-2 t vanilla

Mix and pour into your ice cream maker according to it’s directions. I actually prefer the half and half version, no cause it’s less fattening cause that’s just silly, but I think it has a better consistency. But that’s just me. Try it both ways and see what you like better.

Mint Chip

Follow the recipe for vanilla only omit the vanilla and replace with 1-1 ½ t pure peppermint extract. Chop up your favorite chocolate bar into tiny pieces and add during the last 5 minutes of mixing

So, just pretend it’s warm outside and make some ice cream! In most cases I would ask for accountability with an idol in my life, but in this case I think I’ll keep it:)

Can't figure it out

2010-07-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

So I can't figure this blog thing out. I love having a place to share recipes that I make and love and having pictures to go with it, but the problem is that I'm lazy (shocker!:) I always forget to take pictures of what I make cause I'm rushing to get food on the table/shove it in my kids' face so they stop whining. And then I can't seem to find time to sit down and blog about it. AND I feel like since most of you I see every other day I can just tell you about what I made. Well, except for Erin all the way in Simi Valley who comments on my posts even when I haven't posted:) So this one's for you Erin while I figure out what to do about this little blogspot.

I roasted beets.

Is that weird?

Ryan and I went to a date night cooking class for valentine's day and made an amazing salad with roasted beets, goat cheese (the love of my life), and the best caramelized walnuts I've ever had. So I decided to make it for our annual Lake Pillsbury trip with the crew and the came out pretty darn good for beets.

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts
makes 6 servings

4 trimmed medium red beets, scrubbed
1 T cider vinegar
1t lemon zest
2 1/2 t fresh lemon juice
1t fresh thyme leaves
1/4 t dry mustard
1/2 t kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 T walnut oil ( i left this out cause it costs like a million dollars)
2 T olive oil (I doubled this to make up for the walnut oil that costs a million dollars)
2 4-ounce logs fresh goat cheese, very cold
2 Cups mixed baby greens
1 Cup candied walnuts

preheat oven to 450 with rack in middle. Wrap beets in foil and roast until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Measure all the ingredients except oils into a small bowl. While whisking, drizzle in the oils until an emulsion forms. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, remove skins and slice crosswise into rounds and then into strips.

Toss vinaigrette with baby greens. Crumble in goat cheese and toss with beets and candied walnuts.

Candied Walnuts
yield 3 cups

1/3 C granulated sugar
2 1/2 T brown sugar
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
pinch cayenne
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1/2 pound walnut pieces

Heat the oven to 300. In a small bowl, mix both sugars with the salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy; whisk in 1 T water until combined. Add the walnuts and stir to coat. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture and stir to evenly distribute.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment. Spread the sugared nuts in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the nuts, and continue baking until the nuts smell toasted and the sugar coating is caramelized, about another 10 minutes.

Let the nuts cool on the pan, separating them as they cool. When completely cool, transfer them to an airtight container.

You'll thank me later!

Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Crumble Topping

2010-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I have a sort of food blog. I kinda forgot after these long weeks of sickness after sickness. So glad to be back. I made these a couple weeks ago and they were literally gone in a day. (I also live in a house with 7 other people, so maybe they weren't that good) But seriously, everyone raved about them and they were really simple. Got the recipe from Molly's blog so I knew they pretty much had to be good. Only change I made is that I did mini muffins instead of loaves.

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping
Adapted from Bakesale Betty and Bon Appétit, September 2008

For bread:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)2 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil¼ cup honey
¼ cup water

For topping:
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 ½ Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 9- x 5-inch metal loaf pan. (Alternatively, you can spray the pan lightly with cooking spray and then line it with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the sides. That’s what I did, and it made it very easy to remove the finished bread from the pan; I just grabbed the parchment and lifted. Also, because I don’t have a 9- x 5-inch pan - and because an 8 ½- x 4 ½-inch is a little too small - I used a 10- x 3-inch pan that I found once at a flea market.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, eggs, oil, honey, and water. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir well. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle them evenly over the batter.

Bake the bread until a tester inserted into its center comes out clean, about 1 hour, give or take a little. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then carefully remove the bread from the pan, taking care not to dislodge the topping. Cool completely before slicing.

Italian Meatball Soup

2010-03-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

Blue skies this morning = didn't bring any type of rain gear with me when I took the kids out for a play date. Driving home = hail + rain = crap how do I get my kids in the house? Cold + wet = soup!

My dad is a math teacher, can you tell?

So I didn't actually make this soup today but I was wishing I had all the ingredients cause it's just a soup kind of day.

This soup is really hearty and delicious with the perfect amount of tiny meatballs and veggies. Only tip I would give is that it takes awhile to make since you have to form the meatballs and brown them before you can get the soup started.

Italian Meatball Soup
www.thepioneerwoman.com

Ingredients

Meatballs:
¾ pounds Ground Beef
½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
1 whole Egg
2 cloves Garlic
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Black Pepper
¼ teaspoons Ground Oregano
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
SOUP
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
7 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock
2 cups Water
½ teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
¾ cups Onion, Chopped
¾ cups Carrots, Chopped
¾ cups Celery, Chopped
1 cup Russet Potato, Chopped (do Not Peel)
½ pounds Cabbage Chopped
Grated Parmesan Cheese To Serve
TIED IN A CHEESECLOTH BUNDLE
4 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
2 whole Bay Leaves
1 teaspoon Peppercorns

Preparation Instructions

To make meatballs, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Shape into small balls and chill for 30 minutes.

Gather 4 tablespoons parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle. Tie to secure.

After chilling, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a heavy pot. Briefly brown meatballs, then remove to a plate. To pot, add beef stock, water, salt, tomato paste, and herb bag. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes.

Add onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Simmer 15 more minutes. Remove herb bag.

Add cabbage and meatballs. Bring to a boil, then simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Fresh Baked Bread

2010-02-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not kidding! I've always been scared and intimidated at the thought of making bread. All the yeast and rising and kneading and waiting. But when I saw this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, honey & jam, I was curiously interested because the title said "No Knead Bread", it looked absolutely amazing, and it only had 4 ingredients. I took the challenge and it came out so good. It was crusty, chewy, and had a really great flavor for only using flour, yeast, salt and water. And we ate it straight out of the oven which pretty much is the best thing ever. Try this bread! It's awesome! Did I sell you on it yet?:)

No Knead French Bread

From Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

via: www.honeyandjam.comRecipe notes: It might seem difficult to incorporate all of the flour into the yeast mixture, but just keep mixing. You can add just a little bit of water at a time to help, if needed. The recipe calls for a pizza stone, but I don’t have one, so I just used a cast iron skillet instead. Also, my second rise took a bit longer than the 40 minutes suggested, probably about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the size I wanted.

 3 cups of lukewarm water
 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt 
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

 Grab a very large mixing bowl, or a large container that you can cover. In it, mix the water, yeast, and salt. You don’t have to heat up the water to a precise optimal temperature for the yeast. I’ve even used just regular tap water, and it’s worked well for me. Just let that sit together for a while (you don’t have to wait for the yeast to dissolve completely), then dump the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. You don’t need to knead this, and you’re not looking to make it come together into a dough ball. You just want everything mixed well, with no streaks of flour left, and you’re done.

 Leave it in your container, covered (but not airtight, or it’ll pop), for a few hours. When it has risen and then deflated a bit, your dough is done. It’s ready to be used or stored in the refrigerator.

To bake the bread, just grab a chunk of dough, about the size of a grapefruit. Dust your hands with flour to help prevent sticking, and gently pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom, rotating the dough, until you get a roundish shape with a smooth surface. It should only take you about a minute or less to do this. The dough won’t be entirely in the bottom, where it may look bunched up, but don’t worry about it.

 Put it on a cutting board that’s been dusted with cornmeal to prevent sticking, and let it rest for at least 40 minutes. No need to cover it. If the dough has been refrigerated, it helps to let it rest a little more, until it’s no longer chilled.

 Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake, put a cast iron skillet (or a pizza stone) in the middle rack of your oven, and put a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet) in the bottom rack. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Dust some flour on the top of your loaf, and slash the top, about 1/4-inch deep.

After twenty minutes of preheating, it’s time to bake. (You can put the bread in after 20 minutes, even if your oven hasn’t reached 450 degrees yet.) Slide the loaf onto the baking stone, and then quickly pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan. Then quickly shut the oven door to keep the steam inside.
 Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until you get a nice brown crust. Remove and let cool completely, if you can wait that long.See, that doesn't sound so hard, does it? Even if it does, try it anyway! The only suggestion I would make is that if you wanted to you could probably just make one big loaf out of the dough just watch the time in the oven. Oh yeah, don't use a glass pyrex pan in the bottom of the oven for the hot water. It might explode. I may or may not have a friend who gave me that info;)

Buffalo Chicken Pizza . . . WHAT!?

2010-01-31T21:04:00.001-08:00

Yeah that's right. Everything you love about buffalo wings only on a pizza crust. There's not much more to say about that.
Warning: Not really a recipe
Warning: It's really easy
Warning: You may eat the entire thing by yourself

I used Trader Joes whole wheat pizza crust and just followed the instructions on the bag. I poached a boneless skinless chicken breast and shredded the meat but you could use leftover bbq chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken. Whatever tickles your fancy. Once your meat is shredded you must bathe it in this . . .
This my friends is Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing sauce. Not the actual hot sauce but specifically to use on wings. So pour enough of this on your chicken to coat it. Trust me on this.

For the sauce I used bottled blue cheese dressing but you could use ranch if you're not into blue cheese. But if you're not into blue cheese you probably should stop reading my blog because I really heart blue cheese. Well, really any cheese. But that's another subject.

Back to the pizza, I topped the blue cheese dressing with shredded mozarella and topped that with red onions and the chicken. If I would've had crumbled blue cheese on hand I would've put that on too.

I pre-bake the pizza crust for about 3-5 minutes before I top it just to make sure the crust gets cooked all the way through. And to give it a crispier crust on the bottom I put it straight onto the oven rack for the last 5 minutes or so.

I'm pretty sure Adria liked it and you will too.

If you like pizza, and buffalo wings, and blue cheese.

Is January over yet?

2010-01-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

So I'm on day 20 of a month long commitment not to eat sugar or white flour. No, I haven't gone crazy, any more than normal, I just wanted to see if I could stick to it with the hopes that it would make me feel better and help jump start my goal to loose a few pounds. I've done pretty good and haven't had too many cravings, but I definitely haven't been baking as much which I do miss. So I'm gonna post a recipe I made a few months ago and just pretend like I made it this morning and am currently eating it (I'm pretending my carrot sticks are a muffin. Maybe I am going crazy) with a nice cup of hot coffee. Dream with me.

I really, really loved these muffins. They were very moist and doughnut-like with a great flavor. Not to mention they're rolled in butter and powdered sugar. Again I ask, Is January over yet?

Nutmeg Doughnut Muffins
www.orangette.blogspot.com

For muffins:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
Scant 1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
¾ cup plus 1 Tbs whole milk
2 Tbs buttermilk
1 ½ sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For topping:
4 - 6 Tbs unsalted butter
1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and set a rack to the middle position. Spray a standard-size muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and whisk to mix them thoroughly. Set aside.

Combine the milk and the buttermilk in a measuring cup, and set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or, alternatively, in a large mixing bowl with electric beaters nearby), and beat on medium speed for a few seconds, until the butter is soft and creamy. With the motor running, add the sugar in a steady stream. Continue beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until the mixture increases in volume and lightens to pale yellow. It should look light, fluffy, and wonderfully creamy, like frosting. This could take a couple of minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until they are just combined.

With a wooden spoon, mix ¼ of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add 1/3 of the milk mixture. Continue to add the dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dries. Mix until the dough is smooth and well combined, but do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the cups of the muffin tin. Bake until the muffins are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-32 minutes.

When the muffins are cool enough to handle, prepare the topping: melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop, and pour the powdered sugar into a deep bowl. Using a pastry brush and working one muffin at a time, lightly brush the entire outside of the muffin with butter, and then roll it in the powdered sugar. Shake off any excess, and place the finished muffins on a rack or serving platter. Serve.

Note: These muffins are best on the day that they’re made, but they’re still awfully good on the second day—much better than the usual day-old muffin or stale doughnut. And for those who like advance planning, also note that this batter keeps, covered and chilled, for up to three days.

Yield: 12 muffins

My Favorite Day of the Year

2010-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

No, it's not my birthday, Valentine's day, my anniversary (don't tell Ryan), or even President's Day (hard to believe, I know). My favorite day of the year is a day when I wait all day long, anticipating and fasting for what is now known as The Winter Solstice dinner. It used to be The Christmas Dinner for the last few years, but with Christmas and babies being born all over the place it's been pushed towards the beginning of January, hence Winter Solstice. But really, why get tripped up on the name. It's really all about the food and fellowship! But mostly the food.

Hillary and Kevin do an amazing job of putting on this dinner, prepping for it for months ahead of time and giving a lot of time and energy to make it, well, my favorite night of the year. The decor this year was beautiful with hanging tea lights and an amazing planter box the length of the table filled with Gerber daises.

I anticipate all year long what the menu will consist of (I know, get a life) and this year definitely didn't dissapoint!

The night started with a Bleeding Orange Martini, rimmed with winter spiced sugar.

4 Types of Salt

the menu in order of the courses
Salmon Tartare

Hominy tortillas with avacado butter

Farmers market greens with smoked trout and apple

Lobster risotto with dungeness crab
Definitely my favorite!!

The three little pigs
pork/prosciutto three ways

Butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage

Lilmoncello granitas
to cleanse the pallet and to rock my world

Pork confit with braised leeks and crispy potatoes
So tender and delicious! The only one my flash worked on?
Trio of panna cotta: pomegranate, 50/50 and
Bailey's

some of the crazy people who were there:)

Already counting down the days till next year!

New Years Resolution

2010-01-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

So, I made a few new years resolutions for 2010. Something I halfheartedly do every year knowing full well they probably won't last but praying for the best. But this year I'm hoping to stick to the few I made. One of which is to plan and plant my own garden which I've never done before. Usually I just reap the harvests of Farmer Thomas:) The other resolution is to try and blog once a week. I currently have 4 blogs worth of pictures ranging from November to last Saturday night which is just unacceptable. Mostly cause they clog up the memory on my camera.

Go back with me a month or two to the end of fall, beginning of winter and the need for a good, hearty stew. My girl, The Pioneer Woman showcased one on her blog that I couldn't not make. Mainly because of it's use of crimini mushrooms which I have a slight obs ession with, and beef, and red wine. Need I say more?

Beef Stew With Mushrooms
www.thepioneerwoman.com

Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 pounds Beef Stew Meat (sirloin Cut Into Cubes)
2 Tablespoons Flour
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Shallots, Minced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
8 ounces, weight Cremini Or White Button Mushrooms
½ cups Red Wine
½ cans Beef Consomme
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Pasta - Cooked And Drained
2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 Tablespoons Flour

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle flour over meat. Toss to coat.

Melt butter with olive oil in heavy pot. Sear meat over high heat in batches; rem

ove to a plate when brown.

Add shallots and garlic to pan (without cleaning); saute for 2 minutes over medium-low heat.
Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and consomme. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir.
Bring to a boil, then add browned meat. Reduce heat to low. Add thyme sprigs to pot.
Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. After that time, mix 2 tablespoons flour with a little water and pour into the stew. Allow to cook and thicken for ten more minutes.
Turn off heat and allow stew to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

So I few adjustments that I'm going to make next time. The flavor was A-MAZING but the meat was a little tough. I actually put the pan with the leftovers back on the stove for another 45 minutes or so after we ate and the meat was way more tender. So I would increase the cooking time to 1 hour 45 minutes for that first cooking time where it says 30-45 minutes. But the mushrooms and the sauce were so divine that I may or may not have bathed in it later that night:) TMI?

Thanksgiving Part 2

2009-12-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

Finally. I'm so slow at this. The two crazy kids I am with every moment of the day are really kicking my booty! Anyway, back to Thanksgiving, which seems like a million years ago since we only have 2 weeks till Christmas. We had a great time with my husbands side of the family playing games, laughing, being lazy and of course . . . EATING!
I made the stuffing this year which I have never made before, ever. So I was a little nervous but found a great recipe on-line which sounded awesome so I went for it.

Sourdough Bread Stuffing
Dave Lieberman
www.foodnetwork.com
Serves:
6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

* 1-pound loaf sourdough bread
* 8 tablespoons butter
* 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/2-inch thick in both directions
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 2 to 4 stalks celery with leaves, halved lengthwise and sliced
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* About 10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
* 10 to 12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
* 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread it evenly on 2 baking sheets. Toast the bread in the oven until completely dry and beginning to crisp and brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and a few pinches of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add celery, onion, 2 tablespoons butter, and thyme. Once the butter has melted, cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add sage and remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add chicken broth to skillet and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl. Pour the chicken broth mixture over the bread cubes and toss to combine until the bread cubes absorb the liquid. Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish, and sprinkle with parsley. Bake in the center of the oven until heated through and the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove the stuffing from the oven and allow to cool about 15 minutes before serving.

I really liked the flavor of the stuffing (self-proclaimed sourdough bread fanatic) and everyone seemed to gobble it up (get it, gobble it up. like a turkey) but had a little issue with the texture. It was nice and crusty on the top but the bottom was a little too mushy for my taste. I think next time I will stir the stuffing half way through cooking which I think will solve the problem.

I also made Pioneer Woman's acorn squash recipe. I'd never had acorn squash (it was a night of first's for me) but I really liked how this turned out.

Delicious Baked Acorn Squash

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour15 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 6
Ingredients

* 2 whole Acorn Squash
* Kosher Salt To Taste
* 2 Tablespoons Butter
* 2 Tablespoons (to 3 Tablespoons) Brown Sugar
* Pure Maple Syrup

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Halve each squash, then scrape out the seeds and stringy membranes. Place the halves, flesh side up, on a baking sheet and sprinkle each half with salt. Next add a generous tablespoon of butter to the center of each squash followed by 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar. Next drizzle squash with maple syrup. Pour 2 cups water in the bottom of the baking pan.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 30-45 minutes, or until squash is golden brown. In the last 5 minutes of baking, turn on the broiler and allow tops to get a little more brown and the butter/sugar mixture to bubble.

Thanksgiving Part 1 - Makin Whoopie

2009-12-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't posted anything in a long time! Hopefully in the next few days I'll make up for it.

A few weeks ago our small group had a "pre-thanksgiving" get-together, and I was in charge of dessert. I knew I didn't want to go too traditional, so I looked through some of my recipes and cookbooks and settled on a delicious looking little cookie sandwich called a whoopie pie. I guess there's many different variations but this one was of course pumpkin. It was dense and perfectly pumpkiny with a rich, creamy center. Try it, even though thanksgiving has passed us by. They sell canned pumpkin all year round. It's a fact.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
From Rachel Ray Magazine
Makes 12 individual cookies, so 6 sandwiches

1 1/2 stickes unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 C packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp, lightly beaten
1 C canned pure pumpkin puree
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 C flour
4 oz cream cheese, chilled
1 C powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 t vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 t salt. ( if using salted butter just omit the salt)Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using an ice cream scoop drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Stuff It

2009-11-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

. . . or a mushroom. That's what I did, I stuffed mushrooms. I love mushrooms in general, but especially stuffed. They get so creamy and soft and delectable. I sort of put a few recipes together for this one so I'll give myself the credit:)

Four Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

3 strips of bacon, chopped
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
24 oz button or crimini mushrooms
Splash white wine
1/2 c ricotta cheese
1/4 C feta cheese
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/4 C mozzarella
salt and pepper

Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Meanwhile, clean mushrooms and pop out their stems. Chop stems, onion and garlic and saute those in the remaining bacon grease (cause it's so darn good and bacony) Saute that mixture until soft and then pour in a splash of white wine and let it cook out for a few minutes. Let that mixture cool down and then add all remaining ingredients together and mix until combined. Stuff the mushrooms and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

New camera = better pictures . . . hopefully

2009-10-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right folks, I no longer live in the stone-age. I actually own my own digital camera courtesy of my husband (who bought it for me while purchasing "his" big fat plasma digital hidef bla bla tv:) So, I can actually take pictures of food and have them look sort of what I made.

I had bought some plain yogurt on another of my "whims" at Trader Joes the other day and it was close to getting to that looming date located on all food products that scares us silly, so I knew I had to do something with it. I had remembered seeing a yogurt cake on orangette so that's what I made in the beautiful, silent 30 min on Wednsday when Riley is at AWANA and Daniel is asleep. Oh how I love and long and yearn for that half hour. Anyway, back to the cake.

French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon

This type of cake is an old classic in France, the sort of humble treat that a grandmother would make. Traditionally, the ingredients are measured in a yogurt jar, a small glass cylinder that holds about 125 ml. Because most American yogurts don't come in such smart packaging, you'll want to know that 1 jar equals about 1/2 cup.

For the cake:
1 jar plain yogurt
2 jars granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 jars unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 jar canola oil

For the glaze:
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 jar powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour and scrape the batter into a buttered 9-inch round cake pan (after buttering, I sometimes line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and then I butter that too).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.

When the cake is thoroughly cooled, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.
Serve.

Super easy and super fast (hence the 30 min time slot) and super delicious and super . . . super. That's a weird looking word, super.

What's better than a brownie?

2009-09-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

How about a brownie with cheesecake swirl on top?! That's right I said it and I know you (that's all 3 of you who read this) are going to heart it:)

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies (www.smittenkitcen.com)
Adapted from Gourmet, June 2007

Makes 16 2-inch square, thick brownies

Brownie batter
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Plus
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan — though I did mine double-boiler style, placing the mixing bowl I was using over simmering water, thereby creating one less dirty dish and melting the chocolate more gently — over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Make cheesecake batter: Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.

[I actually like using a butter knife because the tip of it is round enough that you can use it to fold bits of the brownie batter over the cheesecake batter for a more visibly marbled effect. Try it!]

Sprinkle chocolate chips over cheesecake/brownie batter swirl. Although it might be more logical to just mix them into the cheesecake batter (and feel free to do this, it will have no ill-effect) I thought it might interrupt the swirl-ability of it.

Bake brownies: Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Slicing tip: I like to chill my brownies until they’re almost frozen before cutting them. It makes it much easier to get a clean slice. I also like to eat my brownies super-cold, but that’s just personal taste.

Courtney's note: I doubled the recipe cause let's just say it, an 8in pan of brownies aren't gonna last long. I also have to say that the brownies were like 10x better eaten cold!

Got Rotten Bananas?

2009-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Cause I did. So I made these. . .

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
www.tastykitchen.com

CUPCAKES
1-¾ cup All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
¾ cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs Room Temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 whole Large Ripe Banana (or Almost 1 Cup)
½ cups Whole Milk, Room Temperature
Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cups Butter, Room Temperature
8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 box(es) Or 1 Lb. Confectioners Sugar
Yellow Icing Color To Tint
Preparation Instructions
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tray with 12 baking cups.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a wire whisk.
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer for about four minutes.
Add banana and mix until combined.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add half the flour in three additions alternating with milk in two additions. Scrape down the sides with each addition.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until done.
Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream butter and cream cheese in mixer until thoroughly combined
Add vanilla. Then Add sugar in small batches until combined and creamy.
Add a small amount of buttercup yellow icing color to frosting and mix.
Refrigerate leftover cupcakes.

I obviously added chocolate chips to the batter right at the end, and then to the frosting I added 1/2 a mashed banana to give it a little more banana flavor. They were good. Tasted like a banana cream pie in the form of a cupcake. Can't really go wrong with anything in the form of a cupcake if you ask me.

Inspired By Trader Joes

2009-09-07T09:06:00.001-07:00

Ahi Tuna. Gorgonzola. This happens to me at other grocery stores too, but Trader Joes just has a power over me. I usually have a list, but it never matters here. There's just too many delicious things that as soon as I step foot through the door, Dave Ramsey and my budget go out the window. Most of the time I leave with about a bag full of extra items that have nothing to do with each other but are all wonderful in and of themselves. That's what happened on one fateful day last week, so I decided to cook. I asked Ashley over for her lunch break and we ate in a rushed frenzy while throwing cheerios at Daniel and replenishing Riley's mac&cheese.
Again, these aren't recipes, just methods.

For the tuna, I marinated it for a half hour in "Yoshida's Sauce" (you can get it at Costco and it's good on anything), some soy sauce, and sesame oil. Just sear it in a pan till it's done to your liking. It's best pink in the middle! Oh Yeah! Yum! I can practically taste it!

With the Gorgonzola cheese I made a salad with baby spinach, toasted walnuts, pears, and the cheese. I used the "goddess" dressing from TJ's but it would probably be good with any kind of mild vinaigrette.

This goes out to you, Trader Joe, whoever you are.

Lemony Goodness Part Deux

2009-08-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Meyer Lemon Cake. That was next on my list of lemony things to make. I had made it one other time months ago and got pretty good review so I thought I would revisit it. It's sweet, (but not too sweet) tart, creamy, and cakey. I love it when cake is cakey.

Meyer Lemon Cake
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated Meyer lemon zest, divided
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs together with sugar until combined. Beat in 1 cup of oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon zest, and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended.

3. Gradually beat in flour mixture then beat in sour cream. Pour batter into tube pan and bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cake rest 15 minutes before inverting and frosting.

4. To make frosting, beat butter, cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until well blended. Frost cake when fully cooled and store in refrigerator.

Lemony Goodness

2009-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we got a huge bag of Meyer lemons so I've been frantically searching for lemon recipes to make sure they didn't go to waste. I had seen a recipe on The Pioneer Woman for a baked lemon pasta so I decided to give it a go. It turned out so yummy that I made it again 2 days later cause I had all the ingredients. Really fast, really simple, and really good! The only tweaking I did was to add shredded cooked chicken.

Baked Lemon Pasta

1 pound thin spaghetti
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
Plenty of grated Parmesan cheese
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT.
When butter is melted, add minced garlic.
Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.
Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary.
Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top.
Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley.
Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-07-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

No, don't worry, you didn't forget my birthday. But I do accept gifts at any time of the year:)
When I was younger and my parents would ask me what I wanted for dessert for my birthday, my answer was pretty much always berry pie, or berry crisp, basically anything with berries and a crust. And specifically blackberries. I love it and heart it and want to hug it and squeeze it. I love the tart berries with the salty/sweet crust/crumble. I also love back slashes as you can see ////:)
There are some thornless blackberries growing in our backyard so I've been taking full advantage of this little gift since usually the regular blackberries that grow around here don't start popping up till late August. As a result I've made a couple crisps. And crisps only cause it's faster and easier than a pie dough and these days that's just what works for me. This recipe is for a triple berry crisp which is what I did origionally but works just as well for a single berry, or any kind of fruit you have.

Triple Berry Crisp
www.allrecipies.com

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups raspberries
4 T white sugar
2 C flour
2 C rolled oats
1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 1/2 C butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl toss together berries and sugar. Set aside.
In another bowl mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, cover with berries and then cover with the rest of the crumble mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until bubbly.

One thing that makes it easier is melting the butter and pouring it over the crisp mixture instead of cutting it in. The double layer of "crisp" is why I like this recipe. Can't have too much crisp. I like to say crisp and use /////:)

Pillsbury No. 4

2009-07-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

I just got back from our commune's (that's what we call our group of friends') fourth annual trip to Lake Pillsbury. We have an awesome time every year spending time together, watching the kids play, relaxing, and of course eating. But more on that later.

Just for a little visual on how fast kids grow and how tomorrow they'll probably be teenagers, here is Ty, Caelen and Riley on our 2nd trip to the Lake.And here they are now . . . WHAT?!

And there are 3 more . . . DOUBLE WHAT?!
And Max will be here next year which will make seven kids . . . TRIPLE WHAT?!

Okay, now to what's really important . . . the FOOD! If you're like me, you pretty much go on vacation to eat good food. What, no, you go to spend time with family and friends. . . well then you shouldn't be reading this blog!:) Our breakfasts are amazing and are made by Thomas: Eggs any way you want them, country potatoes, bacon and deer sausage. YUM!
So for dinner, which is pretty much why we're all there, Kevin goes above and beyond. It's gourmet and it's amazing! The two highlights this year: Chicken Tacos and Baby Back Ribs (I'm Capitalizing cause it deserves Capitalization!)
The chicken tacos were made with whole chicken that was brined for an hour or so and then grilled to perfection, shredded, and served with corn and flour tortillas, green and red homeade salsa, an awesome guac from Hillary and all the fixings.

But the ribs. . . oh the ribs. They deserve their own paragraph. Let me just preface this with the fact that I'm not really a "ribs person". I never order them and they just don't really do it for me. But these ribs were definitely the exception. Sorry Kevin if I get this wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're smoked for a few hours. cooked in the oven low and slow for like 6 hours, and then finished on the bbq so they get that crunchy, crispy outside. They were so tender and ridiculous that after dinner when everyone was outside and I was filled to the brim, I cut another rib off and ate it before anyone could see me:) Our meal that night:

Can't wait till next year for the food and the friends!

Thanks Adria for the pics:)

Fro Yo

2009-07-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have to talk about it. I just can't go another day without expressing how I feel about it. It has changed me and has sent me on a quest that seems never ending. It's Fro Yo (that's frozen yogurt to the uneducated:) I know what you're thinking. . . "what's so great about frozen yogurt? Isn't it just the healthier, less fulfilling cousin of ice cream?" Well when it comes to any old flavor of fro yo I would have to agree with you. But, there is an exception and it goes by the name of TART!

About a year and a half ago I first experienced this phenomenon in the form of Pinkberry, a weird, futuristic looking yogurt shop. I was visiting Ashley's family in Simi Valley and we had gone to The Grove to shop and visit the Farmers Market. This is where I was introduced to Pinkberry. (I know, it sounds like it's my boyfriend and it pretty much is:) I was kinda weirded out when I first tried it. I mean, I think there were only 3 flavors, and when I tried the origional tart it wasn't very appealing. BUT I was advised how to properly go about it which has everything to do with the toppings. There were like 8 different kinds of fresh fruit, other normal toppings you would find anywhere, and some different ones like cap'n crunch, and fruity pebbles. This is really dragging on, but let me just sum it up. When I tasted the tart frozen yogurt with my now topping trinity It was like a party in my mouth = mini chocolate chips, granola, and strawberries.

Here's the dilema: There isn't a Pinkberry within 200 miles of Sonoma County. Hence the quest. For the past year I've been searching for anything that comes close and in the process I've tasted a few different versions and combos.
The results are in:
1. Snowbunny in Healdsburg - Wasn't very impressed:( It was pretty pricy, I didn't love the yogurt, and the girl who was working practically counted how many mini chocolate chips she was putting on like she was rationing for the Great Depression.
2. HoneyMoon in Sebastopol - I love the actual tart yogurt here (I think it's called Simply Sebastopol or something) but their toppings aren't impressive. Frozen fruit doesn't do it for me. In the past I just buy the yogurt here and put my own toppings on at home
3. Brain Freeze in Rohnert Park - This one has pretty good tart yogurt and all the toppings I like. It's self serve and they price it by weight.
4. Golden Spoon - They just got the tart flavor not too long ago and I really like it and they just started serving fresh fruit so I'm a happy girl when it comes to filling all my requirements.

Ashley's bday part 2

2009-07-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

I guess it should've said "to be continued..." at the end of my last blog. Oh well, I told you I'm not very good at this:)

Anyway to continue from my last post, for lunch on Ashley's birthday I made sliders. You know those little hamburgers that are so cute but sort of pointless cause you eat them in like one bite. My reason for making them was because it's always hard for me to decide what to put on my hamburger. Do I do all-american with the classic katchup (I know you're gagging Brooke:), mustard (never plain old yellow mustard! Must be at least spicy brown, right Adria:) and mayo? Or do I get a little crazy and put some pesto on there or bacon and blue cheese. Anyway, as you can see this is quite the dillema. Sliders seemed to solve the problem.

There's no recipe here. Just a few ideas. Basically you just make mini hamburger patties, find some mini hamburger buns (we used hawaiian rolls) and get creative. We had all the regular stuff but I also had a few extra things. I made a chipotle mayo, which was basically a few canned chipotle peppers in adobo with 1T of the sauce, 1C mayo, and a squeeze of lime juice all blended together. I put that on a slider with avacado, and grilled onions . . . awesome! I also topped some of the burgers with fresh mozzarella and put pesto and a slice of tomato and that was a great combo too!

Ashley's Bday Part 1

2009-07-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Ashley's 27th birthday (she's growing up so fast:)! And it was a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy lunch with family here at our house. On Saturday night I baked a cake for her birthday that I had found on another food blog, smitten kitchen. It's a raspberry buttermilk cake and the picture alone was reason enough to make it right that second. It's really easy, has just a few simple ingredients, and comes out light and airy with that perfect tartness from the raspberries. A perfect summer cake!

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake (from smittenkitchen.com)

Makes one thin 9-inch cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Quiet Time = Bbq'd Pizza

2009-07-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

This has been a week sent straight from the Lord. Riley is at VBS all week long from 9-12:15. Don't get me wrong, I love her more than anything but a 2 1/2 year old is a 2 1/2 year old. Enough said.

So on Wednsday I had all my mommy and soon to be mommy friends over for a morning of quiet with only babies (who napped most of the time) and no toddlers. It was so nice to just be able to sit and talk without being interrupted or wiping bottoms or getting snacks . . . you get the idea.

So for lunch I made one of my new favorite things which is pizza made on the barbeque. You just take pre-made pizza dough (I get mine from Trader Joes. You can't beat it for like 1.29$ or something crazy cheap like that) and lay it straight on the hot bbq. I know I was scared to try it too. So many things could go wrong so the first time I tried it I bought a few extra doughs for back up but it ended up working really well.

First let the dough sit out for about 20 minutes to rest. Flour it and either roll it (doesn't really work) or use your hands to push it out (works better). Tip #1 is to have all your toppings ready before hand because once you put the pizza on the bbq it goes really fast. So kind of stretch out the dough and lay it on the bbq. Don't worry if its in some crazy shape cause it's basically impossible to make a circle. Once it's on there let the bottom side cook until its crispy and comes off easily from the bbq. Then flip it and top it with all the good stuff. Close the lid and let the cheese melt. Tip #2 is to have all your toppings pre-cooked if they need to be cooked because by the time you flip the dough it's probably only gonna be on there for 5ish minutes before it'll be ready to come off. So if you're doing mushrooms, onions, sausage, etc. you might want to saute them beforehand.

When I made this a few weeks ago I made 2 different types of pizza. Pizza #1 had traditional pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, and pre-sauteed mushrooms and sausage. Pizza #2 had pesto, shredded mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozarella, and basil. (Okay, blogging lesson #1: don't talk in detail about food when you're starving in the middle of the day)

When I made this on Wed for the girls I did pesto as the base with half the pizza topped with the fresh mozz, tomato & basil, and the other half with avacado, red onion, and feta. . . mmm feta. Cheese is good. Oh sorry, did I mention I love cheese. Anyway I didn't get a chance to take a picture of that pizza cause we literally inhaled it once it hit the table.

Make it! Love it!

I'm Back (again)

2009-07-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

The last time I even attempted to write a blog was June of 2008, and before that I think it was June of 2007. So, all that to say I'm not terribly skilled at blogging and consistency isn't exactly my spiritual gift. Although to make it clear, during that time I was also using dial-up internet! I know, I know, that's so 2005 but that's just the cold hard truth.

So the point of this blog. . . well I love to eat. Anyone who knows me knows that. And I also love to cook. I'm not so sure if everyone knows that. I've always been obsessed with the food network and love to read cookbooks and recently (in the last few weeks) I've been reading a lot of food blogs and they're sucking me in. And I thought to myself, you could never do that. You can't write and you don't even have a digital camera (I know, I know, that's so 2005).

Well, I decided to do it anyway (I have high-speed internet now)! Who knows what will come of this but hopefully at the least anyone who reads this will get a few recipes and tips from a non-professionally trained home cook.