NOGs

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

Or

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

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

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

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

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!?

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?

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