Blissfully Delicious

New Address!!!

2009-07-31T23:40:00.002-05:00

After residing for about a year in Blogger, I decided to move our residence to Word Press. I really wanted to expand my blog's functionality and make it easier for my readers to navigate through all of the different recipes on my blog.

If you are a reader on this blog, please update your link to reflect my new blog. Thank you for reading my blog!!

Blueberry Pie

2009-07-30T16:49:00.011-05:00

Last weekend, I picked up a big container of blueberries at Sam's Club. Not only that they were round and big, they looked so juicy that I had to buy it! So what do I do with 5+ cups of blueberries? Red suggested that we make a blueberry pie to go along our homemade fresh peach ice-cream (will post the recipe later) for our anniversary celebration this weekend! What a great idea! In the spirit of trying to save myself some time, I actually used frozen pie crust this time.

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.
Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Ice Cream

2009-07-25T12:00:00.004-05:00

This post is way overdue! Summer has gone by way too quickly for my liking. Between our big trip in June, weddings, and activities with friends (most of them includes food of course!), I have realized how much behind I have been in my blogging activity.

We went strawberry picking during the 4th of July weekend and I came home with a tummy full of fresh strawberries and about 11 lbs of these homegrown goodness. Since Red gave me an early birthday present of ice-cream attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer, I knew right away that we were going to make some sort of strawberry frozen treats. I can eat ice-cream every day, and this was the one thing that I had to give up so I could fit into my wedding dress last year (yea, that's right, I grew 1/2 inch four weeks after I bought my dress!).

At first, we thought about gelato (couldn't find a recipe that we thought was original enough?), and then we wanted to try frozen yogurt (and this did not go well! Who would have though that we could not, I repeat, could not, find a whole-milk yogurt in any of the grocery stores around where I live!). Thankfully, we found this Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Book.

We decided to use our strawberries to make Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Ice Cream. We did not have a whole milk in the house, so used skim milk instead, and we could not taste a difference! The other thing that we noticed was that this treat was a little bit sweeter than my liking, although Red liked it the way it was. I think the challenge here would be to balance the natural sweetness of the fruits and how much sugar to add into the mix! I loved having chunks of strawberries in my ice cream.

Either way, we absolutely loved this recipe, and would probably use this base recipe for our future ice-cream adventures!

Sweet Cream Base
Adapted from Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream & Dessert Book

2 large eggs
¾ cups sugar
1 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, and then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more.
Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend.
Makes 1 quart.

Strawberry

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/3 cups sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
Sweet Cream base

Combine the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a mixing bowl.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Prepare the Sweet Cream Base. Mash the strawberries to a puree and stir into the cream base.
Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Make generous 1 quart.

Oatmeal (C)raisin Cookies

2009-07-24T07:45:00.006-05:00

My husband loves all cookies and he thinks that I don't bake enough cookies for him. So when I saw this recipe that promises big crispy raisin oatmeal cookies that are soft-goey inside, I was sold! They were, in fact, as delicious as they looked!

Warning: this recipes makes EIGHT dozens, that's right... EIGHT dozens! If you have extra room in your freezer, this is a great recipe to keep handy for those days when you need a last minute dessert that will be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

Adapted from: Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Yield: 8 dozens

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raisins -- I used craisins, since I was too lazy to go out and buy raisins

Preheat the oven to 325 deg F, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; stir in the coconut. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy; 3-4 minutes. Add the maple syrup and mix to combine. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until well-combined, about 1 minute, escaping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches; mix until just combined. Add oats and raisins; mix until combined.

Shape 3-level tablespoon of dough at a time into 1½-inch balls (or use 2-inch ice cream scoop) and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 2 min, then transfer parchment and cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at a room temperature for up to 4 days.

BB: Peach & Blueberry Crumbles

2009-07-23T00:00:00.010-05:00

I was so excited when I saw that Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen selected the Peach and Blueberry Crumbles for our 2nd recipe in June especially since we're in the smack of summer where sweet peaches are plentiful! I made a similar variation of this recipe a while ago, Plum & Raspberry Crumble from Barefoot in Paris and loved it.

We took this dessert to our friends who invited us over for an intimate cook-out on their backyard, while watching fireworks celebrating the Hudson Hometown Days. We all absolutely adored the flavors. It was very light without being too heavy. Although, I was a little bit disappointed that I had brought it over to their house baked (covered with a foil), it was a lot "soggier" than I had expected once we opened it a couple of hours later.

Fortunately, this recipe made a lot more than what I had expected! was able to split it up into a Le Creuset oval dish and 4 Le Creuset ramekins. The one in Le Creuset looked soggy so I didn't take picture of it, and instead took the pretty pictures of the ones in ramekin for the blog!! I used 8 fat peaches and doubled the blueberries (used frozen ones!)--and the sweetness was just right.

For the fruit
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the Crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water.
Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries.
Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.
For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas.
Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit.

Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner.

Serves 5 to 6.

Florence Trip Report - Part 1

2009-07-19T12:14:00.001-05:00

Hotel

We stayed at Bed & Bed Peterson for six nights, at 59E/night. We found this great little hotel through recommendation on Fodors.com travel talk. They don't normally offer breakfast, but I believe due to the length of time that we stayed at their hotel, they gave us a small continental breakfast during our stay, which we gladly welcomed! There is an espresso machine and a small refrigerator in the common area which all of the guests can use (there are four other rooms in addition to ours), so we only had to purchase some fruits and yogurt for additional breakfast. There's a small grocery store that sells fruits and basic breakfast food within 5 minutes walking distance from this hotel.

The room was roomy, bright with big windows, and clean. The location though is a little bit out of the way. It's about 5-10 minutes walk from the main Santa Maria train station. We decided to take a bus sometimes from in front of our hotel to our destination, and walk back to the hotel because the weather was warmer than what we had expected for June (in the high 90's).

The owners were kind and very accommodating. I had requested to borrow a hair dryer upon booking, and while I was there, they realized that they had to purchase a brand new one because all of the supplies they had were checked out. I thought that was unnecessary, and was grateful that they went out of their way to do this!

Activities

1) Chianti Wine Tour with Tuscan Trail

I found this tour through internet search and was extremely happy that we booked with them. At 75 Euro/person, this was the most economical tour that I was able to find.

Todd Bolton, a California native who has called Florence his home for the past 7-yrs, took us through 2 wineries, about 30 minutes outside of Florence, where we tasted probably 8-10 wines and a couple of olive oil.

We also stopped for a lunch at a nice restaurant between the first and second winery .

This was a very nice and convenient all-inclusive package, which also includes the cost of transportation from Florence and back. I took the Robert Mondavi Tour while Red and I visited Napa last year and I can say that we got a lot more out of Todd's session! I highly recommend his service and would book him again in a heart beat if we return.

2) Bologna Cooking Class with Illaria De Fidio

I also found Illaria through many web searches. I was originally booked with Cook in Italy, but then she accidentally booked her vacation days on the day that I was going to be in Florence. Lucky for us, we found Illaria. Illaria runs a charming Bed and Breakfast in the heart of Bologna, and teaches cooking classes to some of her guests who are interested.

She started our day by taking us through the market. We arrived sharply around 10AM, and we walked to the nearby markets.

She walked us through all of the different shops that she usually frequents and gave us overview of the all variety of pastas, meat, cheese, and vegetables.

We even got to sample some of the cheeses and the fancier cousin of (American) cold cut meats!

Then we started making our homemade pasta, ragu sauce, and veal ala Bolognese. It really started with a very simple ingredient: flour, eggs, and water.

Depending on the weather (humidity and temperature), Illaria can sense how much flour and water ratio! Now, that's quiete a skill!

While it sounded very simple, this was the most difficult part! You make the dough first.

Then... ROLL it with the palms of your hand... for what felt like an eternity!

The pasta must be thin enough that you can see through it, of course, ours was uneven, and not thin enough!

We ran late because we couldn't get the pasta to be thin enough as Illaria would like it to be! So we went ahead and started cutting it.

The key here is that you should put just enough flour while handling the pasta that once you cut it, it will nicely seperate itself when being gathered into a bundle like this picture.

After this was done, boil the noodle in a big pot of boiling water with salt. No oil, just salt.

On the same time, we also made the ragu sauce and the veal cutlet with prosciutto & parmesan cheese.

The ragu and the veal parts were pretty simple!

Needless to say, the technique is very similar to what I would do here.

Get very thin slices of meat, dip them in eggs and roll them onto bread crumbs-- and pan fry them! Now, the parmiggiano and the prosciutto made them a little fancier!

After slaving away in the kitchen for about 4 hours, we finally got to enjoy our fruit of labor with Illaria!

Next installment: Restaurant in Florence...

BB: Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

2009-07-09T00:00:00.007-05:00

While I was soaking up the Tuscan sun last month, I secretly missed my blogging activity, especially since I had to miss the June recipes. Our first recipe for July was Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes, selected by Cat from Delta Whiskey. Even though we just spent 16-consecutive days eating pastas, pizza, gelato, and everything Italian, I decided to go ahead and make this since not only all of the ingredients are simple... Ina's recipe rarely fails me!

I did not plan to make any substitutions in this recipe, but I ended up doing some, because I was too lazy to go out and pick out the remaining ingredients. I used cherub tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes and I actually welcomed the sweet addition to the salad (and it wasn't a whole pound as the recipe called for, it was almost a half pound). I also used regular canned black olives, my fave, and I think this was why my pasta salad turned out to be very colorful (not a bad thing!)

I did use a very good olive oil, which I picked up during my trip to Italy, so it was perfect use for this salad. Overall, I was very surprised how light but satisfying this recipe was. This was a perfect summer dish. I want to thank Cat for such a great selection! We paired this salad with our pizza, using up the leftover grilled meat that we had!! Another great Ina's recipe, which I know that I will make again before the summer ends!

Rome Trip Report

2009-07-03T15:21:00.000-05:00

Hotel

I was lucked out to find this charming 4-room Bed and Breakfast on a 2nd floor of an apartment building, B&B Baldassini in the heart of Rome. Not only that it's only 5 minutes walk from the Pantheon, this hotel was within walking distance of good restaurants, grocery stores, ATMs, a travel agent (where we purchased all of our train tickets for the rest of our trip in Italy), and gelatarias!

The owner, Francesco Carta, was very accommodating. He served us our breakfast in our room, which I loved, so I could take the time to just savor all of the great selection and discuss the day's plan with my husband! Breakfast was abundant: coffee, tea, yogurt, fruits, cereal, cheese, ham, bacon and eggs. One thing that we wish that we would have known sooner was that he was a sommelier! Had we known that he had wealth of knowledge on wine, we would have grilled him more to give us more recommendations on wine!

We stayed 2 nights in their small room, for a rate of 100 Euro/night (a private bathroom right outside the bedroom) and another 2 nights in their larger room for a rate of 150E/night (with in-suite bathroom & small refrigerator). Upon departure, Francesco gave us a small parting gift of Italian coffee maker and a package of coffee so we could make our own Italian coffee at home. How thoughtful!

He also gave me a discount code for other future guests who may be interested in staying with him (For 10Euro off your final bill, use this code: BBB791).

Restaurant & Gelataria Reviews

Maccharoni, Piazza delle Coppelle 44, (around the corner from our hotel)

We saw this place recommended on Frommer's, Francesco recommended it, and it's very close to our hotel, so we decided to eat here one night. It's a large friendly restaurant with friendly service. Neither one of us wanted anything too heavy, so we each ordered a pasta dish (mine was a spaghetti carbonara, and DH ordered tortellini with walnut and blue-cheese sauce), and a 1/2 liter of the house red. We were too full for dinner, so we ordered a small refreshing dessert of lemon sorbet in vodka, served in a champagne glass. No esperesso for us, we needed our sleep! Bill came to 30 Euro. Food was good, but not memorable. An American couple over at the next tables left two bills of 50 Euro upon departure. As you can see here, you can really spend as little as 30E like we did, or go up to 100 Euro like they did. Also, if you're looking for something romantic and quiet, this isn't a good place. Our rating: 3.5/5

Pizzeria Baffetto, Via del Governo Vecchio 114
We landed at this place when DH and I decided that we wanted to have a light supper. It was around 9:45PM when we started standing in the line in front of this small pizzeria along with other tourists and locals, wanting a table. About 45 minutes later, they called us to settle into a table of two sandwiched between another two tables of fast talking Italians downing local beers and thin-crust pizzas. I ordered the house special, which was a Baffetto, pizza topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, sausages, roasted peppers and eggs. DH ordered a pizza with sausages, onion, and cheese. The pizzas were cooked to perfection, and oh... so satisfying. The best pizza we had in Italy. Our rating: 5/5.

Osteria del Gallo, Vicolo di Montevecchio 27

We came here during our last night in Rome, wanting to have something a little bit more special, and saw the recommendation from the Frommer's guide book. We sat outside and ordered two pasta dishes to split, a salad (fresh buffalo mozzarella salad with hard boiled eggs) and 1/2 liter of house red. The portions were smaller than what I had seen at other restaurants, and the red wine was one of the worst I've ever had. Bill came to 34 Euro, they overcharged us, thinking we had the bread while we didn't. Our rating: 2/5.

Gelateria Giolitti, 3-5 Via Uffici del Vicario 40
This place, popular among the tourists and local alike, is supposedly the oldest ice cream shop in the city. Rating: 4/5

Blue Ice Gelateria, near the Trevi Fountain
We stumbled upon this place while walking around, and decided to stop. They had more of the non-traditional flavors with bright colors gelatos. They had probably the most generous servings of gelatos we've seen in Italy, and trust me, we visited A LOT! Rating: 3.5/5

Others
-We made reservation for a taxi to pick us up at the airport, and we thought that it was worth it. Cost was 35 Euro. We used the Limousine Service (Alessandro Guastella +39-380-508-3981).

-After researching about whether to use the Roma Pass, we decided to go ahead and purchase it during our 3-day stay in Rome. At 23Euro/person, you'd really have to visit at least two museums and use the public transportation for it to break-even. We used this Roma pass to get into the Borghese (you will have to call the reservation line, and tell them that you will be using the pass to get in, they will then give you a reservation #) & the Roman Forum with the Colosseum. I found this pass very convenient because it cuts down the amount of wait time. For example, at the Borghese, I just needed to show them the pass and give them my reservation # then they gave me our tickets. For the Colosseum, I was able to use this as a ticket. We used the public transportation while going to the Vatican and also to Termini.

-The two places we made reservations for were the 1) Borghese Gallery and 2) the Vatican (the Roma pass excludes admission to the Vatican). We had to call for the Borghese, but made the Vatican reservation online.

-We also made our train ticket reservation at a travel agent directly across from our hotel instead of going to Termini. They did not charge us a booking fee. I had already researched the schedules for trains for the remaining legs of our trip, so I just showed the travel agent all of our desired departure times (to Florence, then from Florence to Venice, and finally to Milan).

Italy 2009 Trip Report

2009-06-28T10:40:00.020-05:00

Destinations
Rome (3.5 days), Florence (6 days, including two day trips: Chianti Wine Tour & a cooking class in Bologna), Venice (3 days), and Milan (1 day). We flew open jaw, arrival into Rome, and flying out from Milan.

Background
My husband and I have always wanted to go to Italy (since neither of us have been there, except my husband who was there very briefly for work). We thought about going there for our honeymoon last August. However, I didn't have enough time to plan for the trip last year, while juggling a wedding planning, a new job, relocation, selling a house, buying a house, etc. So we decided on a "mini-moon" to Napa for 4 days instead so we could go right after the wedding. Luckily, a few months later we found great deals on tickets using our frequent flier miles to Italy, so we booked those tickets for June -- and my planning began.

Travel Style
I'm definitely in between the "fast & furious" and "slow travel" modes. My husband loves museums, arts and you can find him taking pictures of everything with his Nikon, while I prefer to just sit in cafe and people-watch, while taking in the view. Overtime, I have also grown to really enjoy the smaller towns more, with less crowds & it tends to offer a more authentic experience. I think that when I leave the "manicured tourist world", I get to really enjoy the locals and culture.

Planning
I get asked about this quiet frequently by my friends who are interested to plan their own trip, so I am going to talk a little bit how I usually plan my trips. I have never used a travel agent to plan any of my trips. I don't mind researching for the destinations reading guide books and the internet.

Tour groups are convenient for travellers who don't mind to be on a structured schedule during their vacation. I took a Contiki tour once, because I decided, a month before the scheduled departure date, that I wanted to go to Europe. So I booked one of their Superior tours, which at that time, they only took care of the hotels, transportation, some of the meals, offered some optional day tours and provided guides at destinations. They didn't really take us through all of the major attractions, so it was partially flexible to your own discretion.

For this trip, we did not purchase any new guidebooks. We got literally a pile of old books from friends who had been there before and we just estimated their prices printed to be about ~10% higher since they were from 2006.

Fodors.com
I rely heavily on Fodors.com travel board for recommendations, tips, and answers to my questions. I have found the folks on Fodors to be kind, informative, and helpful during my six-years patronage on the board.

Rick Steve's
I use Rick Steve's guidebooks for tips & tricks on getting into major attractions, making reservations with them, hotels and some of the "budget-minded" ideas (i.e.: Where can I find a grocery store? Where can I find a laundromat?). I don't personally care with his restaurants' recommendations.

Frommer's
All of the guidebooks that I have purchased have been Frommer's. I like their writing style, with a little bit of history in each destination & some commentary on the attractions. I also found their restaurant recommendations to be more to my liking, although they tend to cost more than Rick Steve's.

Here's a list of some of the things that I try to plan for:
-Accommodation (as soon as I have the dates and a general idea of where I'd like to go, I book the hotels. The better-valued hotels tend to sell out months in advance, especially in Europe, during the high-season).
-Major attractions (that can be reserved ahead of time, so that I don't spend my vacation time standing in the line for hours at a time. Some places even must be reserved, or you will not be able to get in at all, like the Last Supper in Milan)
-Other special activities (for this trip, our Chianti Wine Tour with Tuscan Trails & cooking class with Casa Illara)
-Transportation to one destination to the next (train stations location, timetable, where to buy tickets, seat reservation, etc)
-Transportation within the city (I research to understand what my options are: walking vs. bus vs. metro, etc)
-Transportation to and from the airports at arrival & departure. This is one of the areas that I splurge by reserving taxis ahead of time.
-I also try to have an idea of the areas surrounding the hotel, and where everything is in respect to my hotel.

Packing
For this trip, my husband and I each took a 21-inch roller bag: mine was a Delsey Helium (light at 7-lbs when empty) & his was a Swiss Victorinox-brand. I also carried a leather cross body-purse which I can throw around my shoulder, while my husband had a small backpack which carried his camera, our guide book, and bottled water. We did a load of laundry halfway through our trip.

Others
-I used my ATM card the entire trip. Not only that it has a better conversion rate, most places in Europe prefer cash (if not, they only accept cash), and they tend to have penalty for credit card purchases.
-I called my bank before I left and gave them the schedule of where I would be during my trip. I ask them to flag me when there is a suspicious purchase made outside the destinations that I had scheduled. You can also ask your bank to decline any transactions above a certain amount, just in case the card is stolen/lost.
-My husband and I felt safe the entire time during our trip. We were alert, just like we would when traveling to new places, but we did not cling to our belongings like a paranoid tourist. We did not have a money belt, or fanny pack.

Next: Individual Cities' Trip report, starting with Rome.

Sarah's Pecan Pie

2009-06-04T22:03:00.005-05:00

My friend Sarah showed me a picture of her pecan pie on her cell phone when she came to visit me and Red for lunch one afternoon. I was very impressed by the way her picture looked. So I asked her to make this pecan pie when we went to visit her for lunch, and ... I was right! This pie tasted as good as it looked on the picture.

I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that she even made the crust from scratch!! Wohooo!!! The crust was light and buttery, and the filling was hearty, sweet, without being too overwhelming! It was actually a perfect summer dessert. Thanks Sarah for sharing your recipe!

Crust
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
5 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender (I use a long fork), cut in shortening till pieces are pea-sized.
Sprikle 1 tbsp of the water over part of the mixture and toss with a fork. Repeat moistening the dough using 1 tbsp of the cold water at a time. Form the dough into a ball.
Roll dough from the center to the edges on a floured surface. (She used wax paper on both the top and bottom of the dough).

Roll the dough to about 12 inches in diameter and transfer dough to pie pan. Crimp the edges or just trim them to the size of the pan.

Pie Filling
3 slightly beaten eggs
1 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cups pecan halves

Combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in pecan halves.
Pour filling into pastry shell.
To prevent overbrowning, cover edges with foil while not covering the top of the pie.
Bake at 350˚ for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

P.S.: This will probably the only posting I have for June. Red and I are heading to Italy next week, for three weeks. I will not be participating in the Barefoot Blogger recipes! (Bummer!) I will be posting some pictures and info on our trip for anyone who's interested! The plan includes Rome, Florence (Bologna), Venice and Milan.

BU: BB Outrageous Brownies

2009-05-28T00:00:00.010-05:00

FINALLY! An excuse to make these gorgeous Outrageous brownies (and no, just to have these delish treats laying around the house for just the two of us isn't a good enough reason to make these!!). I have been drooling on this recipe and the picture since I got the cookbook earlier this year. So Red and I sincerely thank Eva of I'm Boring for such a great recipe selection. We loved this, and so did our friends who got to taste another winning recipe of Ina!

I did not modify this recipe...for once! And I loved how it turned out the way it is. It's very chocolatey, rich, almost fudge-like, and would wow any of your chocohalic-friends. I also made the entire batch using the exact measurement pan that Ina used (because we had two dinners to go to with friends); and this recipe made 20 LARGE brownies. It can easily be cut into 40-standard size brownies. The only "complaint" that I have, if at all, is that I must have used 5 different bowls when making this. A bowl for the chocolate to melt, a bowl for the walnuts and chocolate chips, a bowl for this.... but it was a very minor complaint in comparison to the reward of having this hunk of scrumptious brownies with coffee.

Another reason to love this recipe was that it retained its moisture if you wrap it tightly with a plastic wrap!!! We enjoyed this recipe for the whole week, and we loved it even better 2-3 days later. That's something that I don't normally find in baked goods!

Here's a nod especially to Mollie, my dearest friend, who's currently living in Brazil-- and has recently discovered her hidden passion in baking and cooking. She requested a recipe with easy to find ingredients that she can make from scratch, especially sweets --I hope this one will do it for you, Mol!! Miss you!

Lemon Glazed Blueberry Scones

2009-05-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

I had my very first scone almost 12 years ago, when I was visiting the Eastman Kodak's House in Rochester, New York. When you tour the Eastman home, you can then have a little tea break at their small cafe and choose your teas and sandwiches. I couldn't remember what type of scone it was exactly, but this was my first introduction to scone, and it was a positive one, indeed.

Then in one of my recent business travels, I enjoyed a delicious reduced-fat cranberry orange scone from a Caribou Coffee kiosk at the airport, which was out of the world. Since that point on, I have been browsing at tons of recipes trying to decide on which one to try.

I finally landed on this recipe from Tyler Florence in Food Network. This was my first Tyler's recipe, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. He has two blueberry scone recipes, and I chose the one using buttermilk (because it was lower in fat, and we had some that we needed to use up!)

I also decided (at first), not to use the glaze. But then realized, that the buttery little pillows were missing a little "oomph", so we went ahead with the glaze, but used the lemon version. The other step that I think we should have added was using egg-wash to make the top brown a little prettier and sprinkle some sugar. So the glaze was a MUST!

Red was licking his fingers when he was devouring his first scone, "This is probably the moistest and lightest, fluffiest scone I have ever had!" So it sounds like we have a keeper here!!

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for rolling berries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
1 egg
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.

Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise. Drop large tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown. Cool before applying glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Technically you should make this simple lemon glaze in a double boiler (i.e. over a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl set on top) but it's even simpler to zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

Homemade Frosty Paws

2009-05-19T00:00:00.004-05:00

Our puppy Charlotte Mae, is turning 2 this Friday. She was born on May 29, 2007. Since her birthday falls during the Memorial Day weekend, I knew that I'd have time to bake her some homemade treats! She has a really hard job all week, sleeping 10-12 hrs every day when we're at work on her over-sized pillow and mini body pillow.

Here's a picture of her back in the early fall of 2007, where she only weighed about 65 lbs, and can fit nicely to her kiddie pool.

One big challenge that I have with her is that she has sensitive stomach, and the only food that she's been able to eat without having reactions to it has been Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Allergy Formula Food. The three types that we know for sure that she's not allergic to is the Sweet Potato with Venison formula; Potato with Duck, and Sweet Potato with Salmon.

All of these restrictions made it a little bit tough for me to find just the right recipe where she is not allergic to. I saw two recipes online that I thought was simple and can be modified to fit Charlotte's dietary needs, and this was one of them.

Charlotte was so excited to get a little early birthday treat that she can enjoy during the hot days. We used to love getting her the frosty paws from the store, and this was a better option. Not only that it was inexpensive & easy to make, I know for sure that I have quality ingredients.

If you have a furry friend that would love this, make sure to give this a try!!

Homemade Frosty Paws

Ingredients

1 Quart plain or vanilla yogurt
1 banana (1 large jar banana baby food)
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp honey

Directions

If using regular banana mash well....mix all ingredients until well blended ( you could use a food processor or blender) Place into ice cube trays or small bathroom sized cups and freeze. Once frozen you can store in freezer in plastic bag.

The great thing is you can play with recipe and add stuff that your dog likes.

BU: BB's Backtracking--Goat Cheese & Tomato Tart

2009-05-14T00:00:00.005-05:00

I still have the glow of being a relatively new member of the Barefoot Bloggers. I get very giddy and love the fact that I have found a group of people who will be making the same recipe as I do, and blog about it! (So now Red doesn't have to "suffer" my interrogation as he is enjoying the fruit of my labor..., well not as much!) My friends, who are not *yet* in the blogging world asked: "Wow, so that's neat that you get to chat with other people on their experiences making the same recipe." I nodded excitedly.

The BB has just celebrated its first year anniversary, and we got to vote on our fave recipe. It was very difficult, but I picked the Banana Sour Cream pancakes! Of course, it was so yummy that I wasn't patient enough to take good pictures of the food. I was ready to eat, so there you go. Please check out some of the other member's favorites.

One other new feature that the group has added this month was a "Barefoot Backtracking" where we get to swap one recipe from a previous one already tested, due to whatever reasons. And since May's first recipe is the Tuna Salad, selected by Kate from Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails & we don't have access to fresh tuna, I decided to use my one pass to backtrack for the Goat Cheese & Tomato Tart, selected by Anne from Anne Strawberry.

And... I'm so glad we did! This tart turned out to be a lot heartier than I had anticipated. And being the onion lover that I am, the strong onion flavor in this tart really didn't bother me. So maybe if you don't like onion soup, this isn't quiet the dish for you! But all in all, we really liked this dish!

Espresso Brownies

2009-05-10T14:13:00.002-05:00

Red first introduced me to this yummy adult treats when we first met 2.5 yrs ago. All of his friends always requested him to whip up this treat for parties and get together. One even asked if Red could shipped them through Fed-Ex when he moved to Iowa. We made these a couple of days ago to the delight of our friends, Jill and Sarah who drove 2.5 hrs to see us.

This isn't a kid-friendly recipe since kids don't usually like the coffee flavor in the frosting, but adults love since it adds depth to the chocolate flavor.

Espresso Brownies
Courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis (Food Network)

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 (19.8-ounce) box brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

Brownie Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
Whisk 1/3 cup of water, oil, eggs, and 2 tablespoons espresso powder in a large bowl to blend. Add the brownie mix.
Stir until well blended.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes.
Cool completely.

Frosting Directions

Meanwhile, dissolve the remaining 2 teaspoons of espresso powder in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl.
Whisk in the vanilla.
Add the powdered sugar and butter and whisk until smooth.
Pour the glaze over the brownies. Refrigerate until the glaze is set.
Cut into bite-size pieces.
Arrange the brownies on a platter and serve.

Potato Gratin with Cheese and Smoked Ham

2009-05-04T07:00:00.004-05:00

Red has been asking for a potato gratin all winter long, since we usually always have fresh potatoes in the house. I thought that we should try this, since we have just bought some gruyere cheese and have leftover potatoes that need to be used up! Wow! Don't skimp on the gruyere, it adds such an extraordinary flavor to simple potato gratin.

Adapted from Patricia Well's Bistro Cooking.
Yield: 6 servings

5 medium thick slices smoked ham (about 4 ounces)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp baking potatoes, such as russets, peeled and very thinly sliced
3 cups freshly grated imported French or Swiss Gruyere Cheese
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree F.
2. Trim all of the fat from the ham, cut each slice into 1-inch wide strips.
3. Use 1 tbsp fo the butter to coat the inside of an oval porcelain bakin dish about 14x9x2 inches. Arrange half of the potatoes in an even layer in the dish.
4. Arrange half of the ham stripes evenly over the potatoes. Distribute half of the cheese over the ham. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Arrange the remaining potatoes, ham and cheese in even layers in the dish. Sprinkle on more nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cut the remaining 3 tbsp of butter into bits; dot the top evenly with butter.
5. Bake, uncovered, until the gratin is golden, about 50 min; do not overcook or the gratin will be dry and the ham rubbery. Serve immediately.

Mini Blue Cheese Popovers

2009-05-03T16:49:00.004-05:00

I have been reading Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook for a few weeks now, and overwhelmed by the number of incredible looking food that she has on this cookbook. She has gorgeous pictures and just incredible creative ideas! Unfortunately, some of the recipes are also very time-consuming. I don't mind those for special occasions, but prefer simpler recipes that I can make relatively quick!

These are simple, but a nice alternative to the usual popovers or parmesan popovers that I am used to, and are made in small muffin tins with 1 1/2-inch diameter. The rise and fall of these popovers may be less dramatic, but I think they are just perfect for tapas party, or appetizer.

As an added bonus, they can be made ahead, and just bake before serving.

Yield: 4 dozens

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus more for tins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh thyme

1. In a large bown, whish together the eggs, milk, melted butter, flour, salt, and pepper. Whisk until all of the lumps have dissapeared. Whisk in the cheese and the thyme. Transfer the batter to an air-tight container. The batter, must be chilled, refrigerate for at least 2 hours aor up to 1 day.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Generously butter the mini muffin tins. Fill each cup to the top with the chilled batter. Bake the popovers until golden and puffed, 15-18 min. Repeat until the batter is used. Serve warm.

Snickerdoodles

2009-05-01T13:22:00.004-05:00

I have been craving cookies for a couple of weeks now, and decided that I'd like to make these treats so I can enjoy them with coffee. They're perfect and light, and tasted even better the second day. I used Emeril's recipe but made some tweaks.

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tsp of cream tartar
1 tsp of vanilla
a pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cream of tartar and salt into a bowl.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, combine well. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and line them up about 2-inch apart on a unlined cookie sheets. Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes.

Cool on a rack.

Yield: Approx. 3-4 dozens.

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arabbiata Sauce

2009-04-28T12:58:00.007-05:00

With the temperature dropping in the past few days, the mood at our house has gone from "grilling" to "baking". Since we love pasta, we thought that we should try this new variation of the regular ol' stuffed shells from Giada DeLaurentiis: it uses ground turkey and artichoke instead of just regular cheese stuffing! And spicy sauce? Yum, I was sold! It sounded like a winner, and it was a winner! We loved the heartiness of the dish, and the artichoke stuffing added a nice combination to it.

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells (recommended: Barilla)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 (8 to 10-ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

5 cups Arrabbiata Sauce, recipe follows

1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (about 5 ounces)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is slightly golden and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

To stuff the shells, cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of Arrabbiata sauce. Take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full, about 24 shells. Drizzle the remaining Arrabbiata Sauce over the shells, top with the grated mozzarella. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 day and up to 1 month.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes (20 minutes if shells are unfrozen.)

Arrabbiata Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 ounces sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups jarred or fresh marinara sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until tender, about 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

Yield: approximately 6 cups

Chocolate Butterscotch-Chip Cookies

2009-04-25T16:27:00.004-05:00

Regardless of how consistently gorgeous the weather was all throughout last week, we started getting warning for "storm & hail" on Friday night. We ended up getting a cloudy Saturday and I even had to put on my little spring coat when we went for our grocery run. In the up side, however, we thought that this was a perfect baking weather.

Red has been asking for some kind of cookies, plus we're heading to a friend's house for dinner. So we decided that we would try making these chocolate butterscotch chip cookies that I saw from an old Martha Stewart magazine.

We really enjoyed this recipe, but they turned out a little bit thinner than what I would normally like my chocolate chip cookies be. And the amount of butter can also be cut down. But the cookies in overall have great flavor from the combination of chocolate chip and butterscotch chips.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture all at once, and beat until just combined. Stir in chips.
Drop tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheets, two inches apart. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool on baking sheet, one minute, then transfer cookies to rack to cool slightly. Repeat until all batter has been used.

Outback's Alice Spring Chicken

2009-04-23T15:53:00.007-05:00

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while. While I absolutely love Outback Steakhouse's ribs, somehow, this is the dish that I end up ordering every time I go out to Outback! It has all of my favorite ingredients: chicken breast, mushrooms, BACON (oh my goodness!! Have you noticed how many recipes I have had that has bacon in it?), and tons of cheese (my other weakness!).

Red licked his fingers & plate, clean and shiny, as he wolfed his dinner down. So I think this was a keeper, meaning that yes, we'll try this again in the future... maybe with a couple of modifications below.

I sauteed the mushrooms with sliced onions, because I thought it would make them softer, and sweeter... and I was right! Horaay! I also didn't have enough shredded Mexican cheese (gulp!), so more cheese would have been better next time (my waist wouldn't think so, but my taste buds usually win). And because I used really thick chicken breasts, I ended up leaving them in the oven additional 10-15 mins to ensure they are cooked thoroughly. Next time, I'd probably butterfly the thick slices for faster cooking. Enjoy!!

Source: www.recipezaar.com

Ingredients

1 cup Dijon Mustard
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
12 slices bacon, cooked
3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

With an electric mixer combine the mustard, honey, and 1 Tbsp oil, and lemon juice for 1 minute.
Pour 1/2 mixture over chicken in a gallon ziplock to marinate in fridge 2-24 hours.
Chill remaining marinade to serve with chicken.
After marinating chicken, preheat oven to 375°F Put remaining oil in frying pan. Heat and sear chicken on both sides.
Transfer chicken to oven safe pan and brush with marinade.
Meanwhile in frying pan add butter and saute mushrooms.
Season chicken breasts with salt and peppers.
Stack bacon across each breast, spoon mushrooms on each breast and then approx 1/3- 1/2 cup cheese on each.
Cover pan with foil and bake 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with honey mustard marinade.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Barefoot Blogger: Croque Monsieur

2009-04-23T06:52:00.008-05:00

This was my first recipe with the Barefoot Blogger group. For those of you who love Ina Garten as much as I do, please consider joining this awesome group. Click on the link on the right side of my web page to check out the details.

We made this the other night and invited a friend and her adorable young son over for dinner. She said that her husband was traveling to Germany for work. So I said, "We're happened to be making Croque Monsieur for dinner tonight, wanna come over?" She said, in caps lock (because I was on IM with her)," YES. I LOVE CROQUE MONSIEUR. What time?"

We only used half of the recipe, but it was perfect for 4 people (we had a side dish and dessert as well though). The sauce took longer than I had anticipated to thicken, but it turned out great after I added more flour. My friend, by the way, is a French-American woman who have made this hundred times, and she thought that the recipe was “excellent”. Used the thick-sliced honey ham, and the white Pepperidge farm as Ina recommended.

YUM!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.
To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.
Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Banana Cream Pie

2009-04-20T08:07:00.005-05:00

I have been wanting to make a banana cream pie forever. All of the recipes that I have seen used 6+ eggs, some even call for 8-10 eggs! I wanted a simple recipe that produces delicious result, so I thought this Paula Deen's recipe was a good one to use a starting point.

So what was the verdict? This pie has a wonderful flavor, but I thought that the filling could be a little less runny. "But it's not supposed to be firm," Red pointed out. I was wondering if he was right... Here are a few more observations.

We ended up using a 1% milk instead of whole-milk like she called for (and this could have been the reason the pie was runnier than I had expected). I also used 3 large bananas so I could make 2 layers of fruit. My bananas also were very ripe, so next time, I would probably take 2 T of sugar out of the measurement because I want my desserts to be a little less sweet than standard dessert.

Adapted from: The Lady and Sons, Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen
Serves 6-8 pieces

Ingredients
1/3 cup plus 1/4 sugar, separated
3 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 T butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites
2 bananas, sliced (or more)
One 9-inch pre-baked pie shell

In a saucepan over a medium heat, combine 1/3 cup of sugar with the corn-starch and salt. Blend in the milk, then egg yolks. Cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in egg yolk mixture. In pie shell, alternate layers of banana slices and cream filling. Cover and chill. Top with whipped cream and additional sliced bananas, if desired.

Ricotta Pancakes with Banana Pecan Syrup

2009-04-19T13:07:00.006-05:00

I stumbled upon this while searching for a recipe to use up my big bucket of ricotta cheese. While I absolutely love Ina Garten's Banana Sour Cream Pancake, I was still very intrigued by this recipe and didn't mind another pancake recipe in my repertoire.

This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you can find in any pantry and ricotta (I guess you can argue this as a pantry staple in an Italian home). At the same time, it skips the vanilla extract or lemon zest that are the standard in most homemade pancakes. And... the verdict?

Wow, I was absolutely blown away! This is probably even lighter & fluffier than Ina's recipe, and the syrup was just absolutely divine. It makes the regular maple syrup even appropriate for a company. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

For the Banana-Pecan syrup:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 small bananas, thinly sliced (3/4 cup)
1 cup cane or maple syrup

For the Ricotta pancakes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 ounces ricotta, well drained (1/2 cup)
Butter or vegetable oil

Directions

For the Banana-Pecan Syrup:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and saute for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the bananas and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the syrup and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the syrup is hot and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place.

For the Ricotta Pancakes:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together onto waxed paper or a plate. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or whisk until stiff but not dry. Beat the egg yolks, milk, and ricotta together in a large bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently with a large spoon. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula.
Warm a serving platter in a 200 degree F oven.

Heat a nonstick flat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Grease with butter or vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until bubbles form on the surface, then flip the pancakes over using a large wide spatula. Cook on the other side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to the warm platter.

Serve immediately or hold in the oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes. Serve the pancakes on heated plates topped with the syrup.

Bacon-wrapped Jalapeno

2009-04-18T13:15:00.006-05:00

I first saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman's website and literally sprint to the grocery store as soon a I found out how easy this was to make! This has been a regular at our house when we can find fresh jalapeno at the grocery store!

Check out how easy this was to make:
Split the the jalapeno length-wise into two different pieces, seed both halves of the jalapeno (wear gloves!), and fill them with teaspoon of cream cheese. Next, wrap about 2-inch piece of bacon, secure them with tooth pick, and broil them for about 6-8 minutes until the bacon is slightly browned, and the cream cheese is bubbly!

Enjoy!

Migas (Mexican-style Scrambled Eggs with Migas)

2009-04-18T13:04:00.005-05:00

I first tried chorizo, the Mexican-version, when I visited my dearest, old college friend Jessica. At that time, Jess was living in Hoboken, NY. Jess and I love to eat, cook, and bake! During one of my visits to her, she told me one morning that she'd whip up a "migas", a Mexican-style eggs. I was in a foodie's heaven. I even volunteered to finish up the portion that our other friend, Candace, couldn't finish! I have been hooked on this ever since!

Fast-forward 5-6 years later, I found myself serving this style egg to Red, who literally licked the plate clean! We've been making this ever since (especially if we can find good choriz0).

I found that the key ingredients to making a very authentic & delicious migas is good chorizo (the homemade kind is the best!), fresh cilantro, and good white Mexican cheese which you can find at any Mexican grocery store!

Ingredients
Yield: 4-6 servings

Olive oil or cooking spray
1/2 lb of fresh chorizo
1/4 cup small diced onion
2 green onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small tomato, seeded, diced
1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced
8 large eggs or 4 regular eggs & use egg substitutes for remaining 4
2 stale corn tortillas broken into pieces (or equivalent in baked tortilla chips)
1-ounce Mexican white cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce, broken tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream (optional for serving)

Directions

In a heavy nonstick skillet, cook the chorizo with the olive oil or cooking spray over medium heat for about 5 min, until they are thoroughly browned. Then add the onion for 1 minute. Add the green onion, garlic, tomato and serrano pepper and cook until the tomato has rendered most of its moisture. Beat all of the eggs together and add to the sauteed onion mixture, stirring gently. When the eggs are half set, add the tortilla pieces and continue to cook until almost set. Fold in the cheese and cilantro and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

It's official...!!!

2009-04-16T06:55:00.010-05:00

Before I started a food blog, I had almost zero knowledge of how much fellowship there was out there for cooks, foodies, and all who had passion for anything food-related on the web. I began immersing myself in the vast of ideas, suggestions, creativity of women and men from all over the US, and the world, who shared the same passion as I do. And it's pretty cool!

Then, I stumbled upon this amazing group called Barefoot Bloggers who loved anything about Ina Garten! And I jumped at the opportunity to join in the group. Not only that this is very fitting me... they are still accepting new members!

This is a bi-weekly event, so every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, I will be making the chosen recipe for that week! So on Thursday the 23rd, I will be making the Croque Monsier from Barefoot in Paris book (like I need a new motivation to cook!!). Just wait until I tell Red what we will be making for dinner that night...!!

Now if I can figure out how to add the Barefoot Bloggers Logo on the side bar then I am all set. Happy Cooking!!

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries

2009-04-14T20:22:00.006-05:00

I have been eyeing this recipe from Giada since I first saw her making it on Food Network. I have made a couple of Ina Garten's pound cake recipes, all of which are yummy. But I really wanted to test how ricotta can play into this recipe.

I did make three modifications to this recipe... not in purpose, really. But for convenience purpose. I didn't have cake flour on hand, so I decided to just use regular all-purpose flour. I measured 1.5 cups, and took out 2 TBSP out. I also substituted Amaretto for Grand Marnier, which I thought worked out well considering this recipe uses grated orange zest. And it did. Finally, I didn't have the exact pan that she used, so I used my bundt cake pan.

Overall, we really enjoyed this cake. Go ahead and try it, and let me know!!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 orange, zested
2 tablespoons Amaretto
Powdered sugar, for dusting
1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered or 3 oranges, cut into supremes

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and Amaretto until combined.

Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar.

Meanwhile, place the strawberries (or orange supremes) in a small bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit until the juices have pooled around the strawberries.

To serve, slice the cake and serve with a spoonful of strawberries and their juices over the top of the cake.

Flamiche Aux Poireaux (Leek Tart)

2009-04-11T17:34:00.012-05:00

As many of you probably saw from my post last week, I have been reading Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking. Her cookbook is full with so many bistro dishes that are simple, yet delicious!

As fancy as the title sounds, this dish is truly what we already know and love: quiche lorraine. With a little extra. And the little extra here comes from the use of chopped leeks & Gruyere Cheese instead of bacon and regular shredded mozzarella! Trust me, this is truly a simple dish that you can easily make for a brunch, lunch, or supper at home, or when hosting a company! We served this along with a mesclun mix drizzled with lemon vinaigrette, and a big hefty crusty loaf of French bread for lunch, when my old friend Lindsay came to visit us. Go ahead and try this, and let me know what you think! I think we just found another new favorite at the Red's.

1 pie crust

12 small leeks (~ 3 lbs)

4 tbsp (~ 2 oz) unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1/4 cups of creme fraiche, or heavy cream

4 slices (~ 3 oz) ham, such as Parma ham, coarsely chopped

1 cup (~ 3 oz) freshly grated imported Gruyere Cheese

1. Roll out the dough to line a 10/5-inch (27-cm) tart pan. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Chill for 30 mins, or until firm. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Chill for 30 mins, or until firm.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.

3. Prepare the filling. Trim the leeks at the root. Cut off and discard the fibrous dark green portion. Split the leeks lengthwise for easier cleaning, and rinse well in cold water until no grit appears. Coarsely chop the leeks.

4. Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan over low-heat. Add the leeks, salt, and pepper to taste until the leeks are very soft but not browned, about 20 mins. If the leeks have given up an excessive amount of liquid, drain them in a colander.

5. Combine the eggs & heavy cream in a medium-sized bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the leeks and mix again. Reserve 1/4 cup each of the ham and cheese to sprinkle on top of the tart. Mix the rest into the leek mixture.

6. Pour the leek mixture into the prepared pastry shell. Sprinkle with the reserved ham, and then the cheese. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.

7. Bake until nicely browned, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 6-8 servings. Adapted from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking.

Help me decide on a cooking class!

2009-04-10T14:37:00.006-05:00

Red & I are heading to Italy in June, and we're excited about our 3-weeks trip, touring Rome, Venice, Bologna, Florence, and Milan! One of the activities that we wanted to book prior to getting there is a cooking class in Bologna. We wanted to do all of them, of course, but can not fit all three into our trips! So, tell me, which one would you do from these classes below and why? Thank you!!

Traditional Bolognese Pasta Dishes
We make the pasta dough, make the sauces, the fillings, stuff the pastas and eat everything with wine, water, coffee and dessert included.

1. Tortellini in broth

2. Tortelli Bolognese (ricotta, parmesan, garlic and parsley) with tomato or butter and sage sauce

3. Tagliatelle with Bolognese ragu’

A Traditional Bolognese Lunch
We prepare the pasta dough, regular and green, make the Bolognese ragu, a good besciamella sauce (bechamel) and compose the lasagna. We will eat everything with wine, water, coffee and dessert included.

1. Bolognese green lasagne

2. Tagliatelle with Bolognese ragu’

3. Cotoletta Bolognese with salad or vegetable side dish

Romagna Style Pasta
We make the pasta dough, make the sauces, the fillings, stuff the pastas and eat everything with wine, water, coffee and dessert included.

1. Capelletti Brisighella style (with chicken, veal and pork meats) served in broth

2. Capelleti di magro Marradi style (with several cheeses) served in broth

3. Tortelli Romagna style (with ricotta, parmesan and spinach)

Fresh Pasta Dishes
We prepare the pasta dough, make the sauces, the fillings, stuff the pastas and eat everything with wine, water, coffee and dessert included.

We prepare the pasta dough, cut different shapes (tagliolini, strichetti, garganelli, etc) to serve with the following easy and quick sauces that we will prepare (Please choose 3-4)

1. Fava, peas and ricotta salata sauce (spring)

2. Speck and lemon sauce

3. White ragu (no tomato sauce)

4. Fresh Basil Pesto

5. Salmon and cream sauce

6. asparagus from Altedo and speck (spring)

7. Porcini mushroom sauce
can also make with chestnut lasagne

8. Pumpkin and luganega sausage sauce (autumn)

Roast Chicken Dinner

2009-04-07T20:39:00.005-05:00

Red picked up two "baby" chickens, not hens, from the grocery store over the weekend. While the bag stated these chickens as "baby" size, they weren't exactly "baby". They were about 4-5 lbs each. Originally, we were going to use my baby Foreman Rotisserie, but guess what... it did not fit!!! If anyone has any Foreman Rotisserie, I can use some tips on sizing!!

So we had to switch to plan B, and use a regular roasting rack instead. I didn't follow any recipe, and decided to just mix this and that to come up with an oil-based marinade. I marinated the chicken for about 3 hrs, and let it cook in the 450 degree oven for 1 hr. I must say it was pretty successful!

We enjoyed this dinner with a glass of 2005 Pinot Noir from our favorite winery in Yountville, CA.

Ingredients
1 piece of 4-5 lb chicken
2 large baking potatoes, cubed
2 pieces of carrots, cut into 1-inch
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1-inch
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch

Marinade
1 1/2 cups of olive oil
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1 tsp of freshly ground black peppercorn
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T of minced garlic
1/2 cup of diced onion
1/2 tsp of thyme

Directions
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together, and drizzle on top of the chicken. Marinate for 2-3 hrs.
Warm up the oven to 450 degree.
Toss all of the vegetables together, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Place chicken on top of the vegetables.
Cook for 1 hr.
Remove from heat, cover with an aluminum foil for 20 mins.
Serve hot.

Yield: 5-6 servings

Plum Raspberry Crumble

2009-04-07T16:31:00.007-05:00

As soon as I saw this recipe on Barefoot in Paris, I knew that I had to try it! While the spring is almost here, I can still see snow on the ground-- so I thought something fruity, with light crumble topping would be delicious. What's a better way to get your daily fruit requirement than a big fat piece of this crumble?? But get this--we couldn't find any good looking raspberry in our grocery store! So I had to scramble around to find some "replacement" fruits-- and decided to use up my leftover blueberries and strawberries. Delicious!

Ingredients

2 pounds red plums, cut in 1/2, pitted, and cut in 1-inch wedges
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the sliced plums, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Add the raspberries and toss lightly. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well.

Spread the topping evenly over the plums, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 servings

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

2009-04-07T09:45:00.004-05:00

I have been craving goat cheese ever since I saw the Barefoot Contessa episode where she made this recipe. I was so excited when my friend Lindsay is coming over to spend an afternoon with us. Red and I decided that this was going to be recipe that we will use! Boy, wasn't this a hit! She loved it, and we loved it too!!

Ingredients

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (2 large onions)
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler
4 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet)
1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Directions

Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11 by 11-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.

Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

2009-04-07T09:20:00.005-05:00

This is another fave recipe at the Red household. We love red potatoes, and always in the look for a new delicious way to prepare them. Here's a recipe from Ina Garten which we go back to over and over again! Please don't skimp on the salt, they really bring out the potatoes flavor.

I hope you enjoy this!

2 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
2 yellow onions
3 TBS good olive oil
2 TBS whole-grain mustard
Kosher Salt
1 TSP freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degree.

Cut the potatoes in halves, or quarters, depending on their size, and place them on a sheet pan. Remove the ends of the onions, peel them, and cut them in half. Slice them crosswide in 1/4-thick slices to make half rounds. Toss the onions and potatoes together on the sheet pan.

Add the olive oil, mustard, 2 tsp salt, and pepper and toss them together.
Bake for 50 mins to an hour, until the potatoes are lightly browned on the outside, but tender on the inside. Toss the potatoes from time to time with metal spatula so they brow evenly.

Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped parsley and a little extra salt.

Crepes Fines Sucrees (Light Batter)

2009-04-04T08:20:00.007-05:00

For our breakfast this weekend, both Red and I were wondering what haven't we made in a while? I have made so many muffins in the past few weeks, or banana breads, that I think we can easily say that I won't miss it for a while. Even I started to groan. We were toying with the idea of making pancakes with new addition, like maybe ricotta? But oh wait, we didn't have any ricotta at home. But we have the basic ingredients like flour (yes, the 25-lb bag!), eggs, milk, sugar. What about CREPES! So here you go. The batter tasted fantastic: light, not too sweet, buttery. We could also improve on our technique. Still has a LONG way to go!

Adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

3/4 cup cold milk

3/4 cup cold water

3 egg yolks

1 TB granulated sugar

3 TB orange liqueur, rum, or brandy

1 Cup flour

5 TB melted butter
2-3 TB cooking oil, to cook the crepes

Tools

An electric blender, a rubber scraper

Directions

Place the ingredients in the blender jar in the order in which they were listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute. If bits of flour adhere to sides of jar, dislodge with a rubber scrapper and blend 3 secons more. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Methods

Rub the skillet with the rind or brush it lightly with oil. Set over moderate high heat until the pan is just beginning to smoke.

Immediately remove from the heat, and holding handle of pan in your right hand, pour with your left hand, a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan. Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to run the batter all over the bottom of the pan in a thin film. (Pour any batter that does not adhere to the pan back into your bowl,; judge the amount for your next crepe accordingly). This whole operation takes about 2-03 seconds.

Return the pan to heat for 60-80 seconds. Then jerk and toss pan sharply back and forth and up and down to loosen the crepe. Lift its edges with a spatula and if the under side is a nice light brown, the crepe is ready for turning.

Turn the crepe by using 2 spatulas, or grasp the edge nearest you in your fingers and sweet it up toward you and over again into the pan in a reverse circle, or toss it over by a flip of the pan.

Brown lightly for about 1/2 minute on the other side. This second side is rarely more than a spotty brown, and is always kept as the underneath or non-public aspects of the crepe. As they are done, slide the crepes onto a rack and let cool several minutes before stacking on a plate.

Grease skillet, heat to just smoking, and proceed with the rest of the crepes.

Yield: 10-12 for 6" crepes, and more for smaller crepes

Reading. Cookbooks. And more.

2009-04-03T13:33:00.006-05:00

With my "rest" order from the doctor, I have decided to pick up some books to read. I have a very energetic nature, so reading is not something that I can do very well at. I do love cookbooks, so those are obvious choices:

1) Patricia Wells' cookbooks collection, my fave so far is her Bistro Cooking. This book is a proof that the best dishes can be made from the simplest recipes, using the most common ingredients. And yes, there are several variations of "potato gratins"or "apple tart" that deserve "the #1" praises!

2) Ina Garten's collection. Of course! I am contemplating whether I should purchase her Barefoot in Paris. I need to be able to purchase all of the ingredients on her recipes. Everything she has is unpretentious, thus irresistible. I have, so far, successfully convinced myself that I don't need a creme brulee torch. God forbids!

3) How to Cook Everything. This book actually belongs to Red. He has had this book for many years, and I decided to go through it for inspirations.

4) The Olive Harvest. This is a sequel of the Olive Farm book, another delicious memoir from Carol Drinkwater. Warning: Red believes that I should not read this book before bed, as it awakens my full tummy and convinces me that I need a plateful of juicy sliced tomatoes with young goat cheese, lathered in olive oil and ground black pepper for a 2nd supper.

5) Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Red got this for me for Christmas. This woman is genius. She goes through different baking and cooking technique in such great details, I am a better cook because of her.

Parmesan Chicken

2009-04-03T12:33:00.007-05:00

The Red household (which consists of Mr & Mrs. Red and Charlotte Mae) was rather shaken up last week with my accident. As the result of my accident, I have been ordered to skip driving while the smart folks at the hospital are running a bunch of tests on me. I have also been asked to limit my activity and stay safe in my activity, so I guess I have to cancel my appointment for the sky diving lessons and trek to the Great Wall of China.

With all of these restrictions, Red has been in charge of the cooking this week. We wanted to use up the chicken breast we have on hand, so thought that we should try this. This is a comfort food, that has been beaten up to death by so many different variations of the recipe.

The key here is have thin, juicy chicken breast with crispy skin -- and we think this recipe did it.

Red took Ina Garten's recipe and modified the technique slightly using the one suggested on Cook's Illustrated magazine, which is an amazing publication for all of us who are trying to improve our home cooking skills! We had this with spinach salad & Lemon Vinaigrette dressing.

Ingredients

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry
1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick, or if the breast is to thick, slice the pieces into two thin pieces. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan.

Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Leave the breaded chicken breast pieces on top of rack placed on a baking sheet. Let stand for approximately 20 mins.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Serve immediately with extra grated Parmesan.

Yield: 6 servings

Braised Cod with Plum Tomatoes

2009-03-29T11:33:00.005-05:00

This was the first recipe that I used when I cooked my first cod. I found this recipe on a Martha Stewart magazine, and loved at how simple the recipe was. The flavor though, I thought was sophisticated. I haven't been able to find any cod steaks since I moved to Iowa almost three years ago, but for those of you who have access to fresh cod steaks, or even frozen-- this recipe is worth a try! Simple enough for a regular weeknight meal, but impressive enough for company. I love to serve mine with garlic mashed potatoes, in a shallow bowl. Enjoy!

(I will post pictures as soon as I can get my hands on cod steaks!)

Ingredients

Four 7-ounce cod steaks, skin and bones removed
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Sprinkle both sides of cod steaks with oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the tomato slices with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. When hot, add cod and tomato slices. Cook until cod steaks are golden on bottoms, about 41/2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, turn cod steaks and tomatoes. Add 1 cup water and the garlic; bring liquid to a simmer.

Simmer until cod begins to feel firm when you press it with your finger and it starts to flake, about 4 minutes. Divide cod, tomatoes, and broth among four soup plates. Garnish with parsley, and serve.

Easy Cheese Danish

2009-03-28T17:35:00.005-05:00

Of all the danishes in the world, my fave has got to be Cheese Danish. I was very excited when I saw this recipe on my Ina's cookbooks because they look so easy! Oh my goodness --they tasted like I slaved all night making these delicious treats! The only warning is that this recipe makes A LOT of filling -- I want to say that it can easily make 16 pastries. I also love that the batter can be made the night before, so in the morning-- all you need to do is assemble and pop them in the oven! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.

Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash.

Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings (or more)

Shortbread Cookies

2009-03-28T16:48:00.008-05:00

Red has been wanting to bake cookies for a while now. He loves cookies. He tells me that he prefers cookies over cakes. Or cakes. Yes, honey, I hear you! We thought about doing chocolate chip cookies, but chose this instead since I prefer non-chocolatey cookies. Yes, there you go, I admit it. I am probably one of the few women who don't have chocolate as weakness.

But I told Red that I'd eat shortbread cookies, or snickerdoodles--which I am sure that we will make in the future. So here we go! This Barefoot Contessa recipe hit our tummy in so many satisfying ways!

Ingredients

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted.

Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

Tom Cruise's Spaghetti Carbonara

2009-03-22T16:42:00.009-05:00

I used to adore Tom Cruise, until his couch jumping stint on Oprah. Then I thought that he was too creepy for me. So creepy that I refused to watch the MI-3 until it went to DVD. However, I kept on hearing raves on his spaghetti carbonara --so I knew that I just had to try it. Plus, I thought that this was a simple enough recipe that if I ended up liking it, we can make this a staple at our house.

The recipe looked simple enough, we basically had everything it called for, except the thick pancetta, so used thick-sliced bacon, and it was wonderful!! This was the BEST spaghetti carbonara that I have ever had (I have never been to Italy before, so it may change this summer! But for now, this was IT). I was licking the plate like there was no tomorrow. Enjoy!

1/2 inch olive oil (for frying pan)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 chopped onion
8 to 12 thick slices Italian bacon
4 eggs
2 packages spaghetti
2 cups grated parmesan cheese

In a frying pan, combine 1/2 inch of olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, one chopped onion and the Italian bacon cut into small squares. Let simmer for about a half-hour, being careful not to let the oil get to a boiling point.

In a bowl, beat 4 eggs with lots of salt and fresh ground pepper.

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Cook both packages of spaghetti until al dente, drain and immediately add egg mixture to pasta. The eggs are actually cooked by the pasta. (Make sure the eggs are thoroughly cooked before proceeding.) Stir the egg mixture until it is well mixed. Pour in the mixture from the frying pan and stir. Finish with the parmesan cheese and serve!

Yield: generous 6-8 servings

Good Vanilla

2009-03-22T09:52:00.004-05:00

Many of you might have noticed by now how much I am obsessed with Ina Garten. I am an adventurous cook, but like to stick to the chefs whose recipes I already have had great success with in the past. One of the points that Ina made in her cook-books was quality ingredients. Pure vanilla extract was one of them. I looked these up online and was very torn whether I should pay that much for a little bottle of vanilla extract, plus the shipping and handling. We've looked around in some of the specialty food and kitchen stores and couldn't find it.

Well I'm proud to say that after about four months of looking, I finally got my hands on these little extract, "moderately" priced as well (I had found other stores that sell them for over $20/bottle!). So I quickly grabbed two bottles of the extract and one container of the vanilla beans. Mission accomplished!

Baby Bok Choy

2009-03-21T17:49:00.004-05:00

Believe it or not, I had never cooked anything with bok-choy before! Red and I were walking in the vegetable area of our grocery store, when I voiced disappointment with the quality of the napa cabbage available, which is one of my fave vegetables.

Then, out of nowhere, Red pointed at these gorgeous baby bok choys on the rack. "What about those? Can you make something with those?" I was like, Eeek... ehm, I never made them before. But of course, I said, "Yes, you're right, I am sure I can whip something with these." And I quickly grabbed two big bundles of bok choy. Later on that evening, I wondered why it took me so long before I tried these delicate vegetables. Hmm... yum!

Ingredients

2 bundles of baby bok choy, sliced lengthwise
2 cups of chicken broth
1 firm tofu, chopped into 1-inch cube
1/2 cup of coarsely deveined shrimp
1 tbsp of canola oil
1 generous tbsp of chopped garlic
3 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of salt
1 tsp of ground white pepper
Chopped green onions
Fried shallot for garnish

Directions

Saute the chopped garlic in canola oil until soft and slightly browned in medium heat.
Add the sliced bok choy, and add 2 cups of chicken broth. Turn up the heat to HIGH. Leave covered for about 2 mins.
Flip vegetables to the other side. Keep covered for another 2 mins.
Turn heat to medium.
Add shrimp, tofu, fish sauce, salt, and white pepper. Let it sit for about 10 mins, covered. Turn down the heat.
Fold in the green onions.
Sprinkle fried shallots before serving.

Welcoming Summer. Turkey Burger!

2009-03-21T17:40:00.004-05:00

With the weather warming up, we wanted to give our oven a little break from ... cooking dinners. Of course, I would still be using it to bake my fave baked goods, like... banana bread for example. But we really miss our grill from a long winter of rest! I used Rachael's Ray recipe for making the patties, but used regular buns instead of Portobello mushrooms. I think the the baby mushrooms really gave the normally bland ground turkey a lot of moisture and character. I couldn't find smoked mozzarella, so used regular type. Yum!!

Ingredients
1 1/3 pounds ground turkey breast, the average weight of 1 package
Salt and pepper
6 crimini mushrooms (baby portobellos) stems removed and finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, smashed away from skin and finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Combine meat with salt and pepper, chopped crimini mushrooms, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire, crushed red pepper flakes, cheese and parsley.
Score and form meat into 4 large patties, 1 inch thick.
Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil on top the patties, grill each side for about 3-4 min.
Place sliced mozzarella on top of the burger just before you remove from the heat.

Flour Bakery Famous Banana Bread

2009-03-21T17:23:00.004-05:00

After my rather unsuccessful attempt of making a new and better version of banana bread, I convinced myself to try another recipe. This time, I landed on the Flour Bakery's famous Banana bread's recipe. The interesting part of the recipe was that it calls for oil and the use of sour cream --which I had never tried before in my quest to find a perfect banana bread recipe. I only had 3 very ripe bananas, so that's all I used. I also used sour cream instead of cream fraiche.

I was actually pretty satisfied with the recipe. It was very moist, full of flavor, and had just enough sweetness from the banana. It took a little bit longer than an hour to bake (to make sure the center baked completely and wasn't goey), probably about an hour and 20 min. I wonder that maybe Chef Joanne uses her industrial convection oven, which would bake slightly differently than my modest oven at home. And this recipe didn't call out for the size of the pan, so I used the regular 8x4 loaf pan.

Overall though, this was a winner in my book -- and will try again. Red was pretty happy with the flavor and we thought that next time, maybe we'll follow this slightly different version of the same recipe on Runner's World, where it calls for applesauce in replacement of oil, and uses 9x4 pan. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

2009-03-06T18:50:00.007-06:00

I've have been obsessed with banana bread forever. While I have had some success in the past, I am always in the lookout for a new recipe to try. I ran into this one on from Kona Inn in Hawai-- and I thought this may be a good one to try . One thing that I noticed was that they're using six bananas instead of three or four that most recipes call for. It also uses shortening, instead of regular butter. So I figured that I would try this.

The recipe makes (2) loaves of breads, and I ended up making 1 loaf and using up the rest for mini muffins (it made 20). The bread had an excellent banana flavor, sweet and very moist. I put it in the oven for 1.5 hrs and it was still soft in the middle -- it was actually rather frustrating!

I put the mini muffins in the oven for 20 mins, and they were perfect! I think next time, I would definitely use (2) larger loaf pans and turn down the heat, and leave them in the oven longer.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 6 bananas)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grease and flour (2) 8x4x3-inch loaf pans.

Stir together the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. In another larger bowl, mix together the shortening, sugar, mashed bananas, eggs and walnuts. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir only until the batter is thoroughly blended.

Pour into the prepared pans and bake 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer or straw inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on a rack and let cool completely.

Carpet Picnic. Part 2.

2009-03-02T17:30:00.005-06:00

If you have never tried a homemade caramel sauce.... RUN to the kitchen now, and try them! It was amazing how much better a freshly made sauce tasted! We used this on just regular plain vanilla ice-cream, OMG! Out of the world!

Caramel Sauce
Courtesy of Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

Carpet Picnic. Part 1.

2009-02-28T10:27:00.009-06:00

Red and I missed our Valentine's Day Dinner. He was just getting home from his business trip in France, and I had a little house's mishap back at the ranch when he was away. So we thought that we would do our own version of Valentine's Day dinner by having a carpet picnic, with these fun summer dishes: oven fried chickens, broccoli salad, and ice-cream sundaes with homemade caramel sauce.

Oven Fried Chickens
Courtesy of Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in 8 serving pieces
1 quart buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

Directions

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces. Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.

Broccoli Salad
Courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients

1 head broccoli
6 to 8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins, optional
8 ounces sharp Cheddar, cut into very small chunks
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoesSalt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Trim off the large leaves from the broccoli stem.
Remove the tough stalk at the end and wash broccoli head thoroughly.
Cut the head into flowerets and the stem into bite-size pieces.
Place in a large bowl.
Add the crumbled bacon, onion, raisins if using, and cheese.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stirring well.
Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently.

Cranberry Harvest Muffins

2009-02-28T10:19:00.005-06:00

I still have leftover frozen cranberries in the freezer, and was looking to make something special for our breakfast this past weekend. Hmm.. yum! This was very hearty, and light at the same time. I had to restrain myself from adding grated orange zest into the batter, because cranberry just goes wonderfully with orange flavoring. And I'm glad that I did, this recipe didn't have to be modified too much.

I did however make a few substitutions because I didn't want to have to go out and get some more stuff to bake this. I ended up using a low-fat milk (since this was the only thing we had at home), raisins (instead of figs), and chopped pecans (instead of hazelnut).

Another thing that I liked about this recipe is that you can prepare the batter a day ahead and bake them in the morning. Anything that I can do in the evening to make my morning less hectic is a big do in my dictionary.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup medium-diced Calimyrna figs
3/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add the cranberries, figs, hazelnuts, and both sugars and stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts, and sugar evenly throughout the batter.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Yield: 18 LARGE muffins

Sausage, Kale, and Cranberry Pasta

2009-02-28T10:11:00.004-06:00

I first found this recipe from Racheal Ray's when I was trying to find a use for my leftover kale. I thought the cranberry sauce would add an interesting twist to it but was a tad worried how the would all blend together.

When we finally tried it the other night... wow! Red and I really welcomed the different flavor that this pasta dish brought. The cranberry add a very subtle flavoring in the background while the savory sausages, onion, and cheeses really blended nicely with the rigatoni's tender texture and kale's hearty presence. This was definitely a winner and a "must-make-again" category!

Ingredients

1 pound rigatoni
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1/2 pound hot bulk Italian sausage
1/2 pound sweet bulk Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
3/4 cup dry red wine, eyeball it
1 1/4 pounds kale, stems removed and chopped
Black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, to your taste
3/4 cup Romano cheese, 3 generous handfuls, plus some to pass at the table

Directions

Boil a large pot of water for the pasta. Add rigatoni and salt and cook to al dente or with a bite to it. Drain and reserve 2 ladles of pasta water.

While pasta cooks, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, brown and crumble it, then add garlic and onions and cook until tender 5 to 6 minutes. Add cranberry sauce and wine and stir to combine then reduce a minute. Add kale in bunches and stir to wilt down. Add the reserved pasta water. Season the dish with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

Add pasta to the pan with sausage and kale. Top pasta with cheese and toss with kale mixture to combine. Serve immediately with extra cheese for topping.

Indonesian Marble Cake (Kue Marmer)

2009-02-21T11:44:00.006-06:00

Growing up in Indonesia, I always had a reservation with baking cake. First of all - everything was made from scratch. No boxes, no shortcuts. And I remember vividly, there were tons of egss involved! Forget cholesterol! Mom or grandma would lovingly whisk the eggs, sift the flour, everything! This particular cake is something that I grew up eating and I never had the recipe for. I searched and searched in the Internet and landed on this recipe.

Of course, as you can see, all of the measurements are in metrics --like most measurements in the world, except the US. Red and I tried to translate it the best way we can, but we think that this would have been more accurate if we had a scale. So here's another gadget that we put on the list to pick up next time!

The verdict: I absolutely adored the subtle and subdued flavoring of this cake. And ... oh the delicate texture was just heavenly. But this was not quiet how I remembered how this cake should taste like. I was thinking that it needed to be a little bit more moist. I told my mom over the phone, and she suggested that I reduce the amount flour. Hell-o! I also thought that batter should have been less dense. This was still a good win for something that I have never baked before. My friends absolutely loved this cake. Her husband's fave cake is... marble cake!! Red also liked this. But I guess the hardest critic was myself - I wanted a journey back to my childhood, and I didn't quiet get there with this one. So here I was, back in my apron, in my kitchen, back to another adventure.

Ingredients/ Bahan:

250 gr or 2 cups of powdered sugar (Gula halus)
300 gr or, 2 and 2/3 sticks of Butter or Margarine (Mentega)
225 gr or 1.5 cups + 2 tsp Self-raising flour
5 gr/ Baking powder
6 Egg yolks
5 Egg whites
5 gr Salt (Garam)
1/4 cup of Cocoa powder (coklat bubuk)
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Instructions

1. Mix the sugar and margarine until turn white and expanded.
2. Put in the eggs one by one and keep mixing it all the time. Add the flour also still keep mixing it. 3. Divide the mixture into 2, and give cocoa powder on one portion and vanilla essence/powder to the other portion.
4. Spoon alternately into baking pan so it will form a marble effect, and bake in 180°C or 320°F for 40 minutes.

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

2009-02-21T11:28:00.002-06:00

I have been dreaming about baked french toast for a while now. Breakfast is almost non-existent during the week, so we both love to take our time in on weekends' mornings to put something together that's a little bit more special. I saw this recipe on Food Network, and really wanted to try it.

I have modified the recipe quiet a bit. First of all, I halved the recipe and it came out absolutely perfect! With only myself and Red eating this dish, I thought half would be sufficient for two weekends' mornings. I also didn't leave the bread soak overnight. I read the reviews that said that the casserole turn out soggy, so I thought if I just soak them for 30 min, it may prevent that issue -and I think it did.

We also ran out of brown sugar (gasp!), so I used whatever was left to make the praline. Definitely a little less than what the recipe would have called for, and modified the measurement for the rest the ingredients. The praline was a nice addition on the top. Finally, I still baked half of the recipe for 40 min.

Seriously- run to the kitchen now, and try this! Not only that your whole house would smell like cinnamon, the flavor is so out of the world!

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple syrup

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Easy Sticky Buns

2009-02-01T19:23:00.002-06:00

Red loves sticky buns, but I am not particularly crazy for it. So we usually end up getting the refrigerated Pillsbury rolls which are fail-proof! Then I saw this recipe in my Ina Garten's Back to Basic Cookbook and knew that we had to try them! It looked very simple, but oh my godness, the result was a double WOW. Who could have thought that sticky buns could be this easy?? Red did request (several times, I must say) if we could omit the raisins next time. I told him that I'd think about it - because I thought it was perfect just the way it is!

Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/ 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

FOR THE FILLING:
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1½ teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1½ inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.

Spicy & Chunky Chili

2009-02-01T19:05:00.007-06:00

In the spirit of the Superbowl Sunday, Red and I thought that it would be fun to make chili for supper tonight. Then we realized that we didn't really have a winning chili recipe on our own. So we spent some time this afternoon browsing through recipes and saw a few that we thought would be good. Of course, we ended up modifying probably the entire recipe. I did not want to use beef, so we substituted the ground beef with ground turkey. I also insisted that we use up the leftover veggies in the frig. The result below was excellent though- although this is a seriously SPICY dish! I had to quickly jot everything down that we used so we can use this again in the future. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 red/yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 cup of chopped celery (~ 3 stalks)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1 jalapeno pepper chopped
1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes, diced, with juices
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (8 ounce) chipotle in adobo sauce
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp hot sauce
1 generous tbsp of garlic
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 can (14.5 ounces) chili beans, small red beans, or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp each of chopped green onions, and cilantro
Shredded cheese for garnish

Preparation:

Cook onion, turkey and garlic in a large saucepan until meat is browned, stirring until it crumbles.
Add chili powder and the remaining ingredients (except the green onions and cilantro), stirring well; bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 min.
Add chopped green onions & cilantro, stirring well, and cook until thoroughly heated.
Serve with shredded cheese.

Italian Wedding Soup

2009-01-22T23:05:00.007-06:00

I'm secretly grateful that Red and I agree that a big cup of hearty soup with maybe a few pieces of warm crusty French bread with a few slices of good stinky cheese is an ideal winter meal. I am always in the lookout for a new soup recipe that we both can enjoy on a regular basis. I prefer soups that are not too heavy (so any cream-based soups would be out for me) & this recipe fits perfectly to what I envision as an ideal soup.

It uses ground chicken and Italian sausage, pastas, and veggies... Aaah... did I mention those meatballs are heaven-sent? We don't normally eat meatballs, but we do now. We have made this several times now since we first found it a few months ago. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Note: we couldn't find any ground chicken in our grocery store, so we used turkey sausages instead.

Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
3/4 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. Italian sausage
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and black pepper

For the soup:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup 1/4-inch diced carrots
3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
10 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 oz. baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, Italian sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a bowl. Mix gently with a fork until well combined. Form the mixture into 1- to 1 1/4-inch meatballs and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6-8 minutes or until al dente. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 additional minute. Taste for seasoning, and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Source: adapted from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics by Ina Garten

Banana Foster

2009-01-21T21:11:00.003-06:00

I first discovered this delicious way of cooking banana as dessert probably over 12 years ago in one of the cooking magazines. I don't really remember anymore the actual recipe, because I have since then memorized the recipe, tweaked it here and there and adapted it to suite my taste. I usually skip the liqueur, but use it when I want to be a little bit more fancy. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tbsp light brown sugar, packed
1 ripe banana, peeled, sliced lengthwise and halved
1 tbsp banana liqueur, or and 1 tbsp dark rum - optional
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 scoop vanilla ice cream

Directions

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar completely dissolves, about 2 minutes. Lay the bananas in the pan and cook on both sides until they become slightly soft and begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the banana liqueur and then the rum and cinnamon. Tip the pan slightly and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long kitchen match or kitchen lighter to flambe. Put the pan back on the heat and shake it back and forth basting the bananas, until the flame dies out.

Divide the ice cream among dessert bowls. Gently lift the bananas from the pan and place pieces on the ice cream. Spoon the sauce over the ice cream and serve immediately.

Serve 1

Lemon Yogurt Cake

2009-01-21T21:07:00.003-06:00

Barefoot Contessa's

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Coconut Macaroons

2009-01-16T17:52:00.009-06:00

I tend to crave crunchy and salty snacks instead of sweets. I do, however, have weakness for some certain types of desserts, like ice-cream, which I am now convinced that I inherited it from my mom. If I could have only one dessert in the world for the rest of my life, it would be Haagen Dasz's Light Caramel Cone.

My mom, on the other hand, really loves macaroons, so when I saw this recipe, another Barefoot's Contessa collection, I thought that I should give them a try sometimes, especially since I had some leftover shredded coconuts. She lives about 10 hrs away from me, so unfortunately she didn't get to try these. But definitely, I am keeping this as a keeper in my file.

This past weekend, Red and I were invited to a casual dinner at a friend's house, so I decided to surprise them with a platter of desserts. And this was one of the three desserts that we included a surprise. They absolutely raved about these little delights. So I guess the vote is two thumbs up!

Ingredients

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings

2009-01-12T17:38:00.008-06:00

We made these delightful rings to go with our Filet Mignon steakhouses. After this fantastic dinner -our house will never be the same. P.S. And my dad will be so proud of me... Yum! Yum! Yum!

Ingredients

2 large Spanish onions (or 3 yellow onions)
2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal
1 quart vegetable oil

Directions

Peel the onions, slice them 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for a few hours.) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt, and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes.

Serve hot.

Steakhouse Steaks

2009-01-12T17:04:00.005-06:00

Nobody, I mean nobody, has ever convinced me to cook steak at home. I can count with one hand how many times I have ordered, cooked, or eaten steaks. (Now it looks like it would be up to two hands!) My dad is a meat and potato kind of guy, but I have always relied on chicken, fish, and maybe pork to provide me with my protein requirement. And maybe tofu, because I love tofu. And if I have access to tempeh, I would have them every day as well, with tofu (they are like Jack 'n Jill, always together, in my opinion)....

BUT after I watched Barefoot Contessa's show where she made this gorgeous meat, I actually stopped at the meat counter during our grocery run, and asked for two filet mignon. Red's eyes were wide open, jaws dropped, but quickly recovered - maybe because he didn't want me to change my mind.

The reviews on Food Network basically said that this dish was pretty salty, and we agreed. But take a look at what she used instead of the regular Kosher Salt, Ina used Fleur del Sel, which I believe has slightly more subtle flavor. So in the future, if we ever make this again, we'll lighten up on the salt. (I apologize for the quality of the pic, I was in hurry to dig my fork into this handsome steak!).

Ingredients

2 (10-ounce) filet mignon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fleur de sel
1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional
Roquefort Chive Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the fleur de sel and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.

When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.

Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.)

Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Chicken Stir Fry

2009-01-11T18:51:00.006-06:00

My sister is a wonderful cook. She cuts up a couple of pieces of meats, throws in this and that, with a little pinch of seasoning or what not, and voila! She'd have some of the most satisfying dinners served on the table. One of my fondest memories with her was sharing a meal in her kitchen, when the dishes are simple, not pretentious, but never fails to hit just the right spots in my tummy!

This one is a recipe which I have adapted from her during our college years. It's a basic stir-fry recipe using Indonesian's Soy Sauce. This recipe is truly forgiving, you can modify the meat based on whatever you have on hand, it can either be pork, shrimp, beef or scallops. I personally prefer chicken. And whichever meat you choose, just make sure that you slice them uniformly to allow them to cook evenly. And the veggies are the same way. I usually have frozen stir fry in hand, and throws in whatever leftover veggies that I try to use up from the fridge.

I hope you can take this recipe and modify it to fit your family!

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breast
5 Cups of Mixed Vegetables (Carrots, broccoli, baby carrots, sweet peas, mushroom)
1 tbsp of peanut oil
1 Small onion, sliced thinly
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
3 Tbsp of your fave Soy Sauce (in this one, I used Indonesian Soy Sauce)
2 Cups of Water
1 Tbsp of Chili Sauce (you can find this in Oriental Market, I used Sambal Oelek)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions
Saute the garlic and onion in peanut oil, until slightly browned.
Add chili sauce. Mix together.
Add sliced chicken. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, turn occasionally to make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Cover pan if required to expedite cooking.
Add vegetables, 2 cups of water, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Cover.
Cook for about 10 minutes.
Serve with hot rice.
Enjoy.

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

2009-01-11T18:27:00.003-06:00

Red and I love banana pancakes. Well, actually this was a tradition that I had carried over from my single days. I had always loved banana pancakes. Not just *any* pancakes. Not buttermilk. Not blueberry.

I loved banana pancakes. As long as I had known pancakes, I always wanted to put sliced bananas in them. When Red and I had just started dating, I decided to make Red a pancake breakfast. I wasn't sure how he felt about banana pancakes, so I went with the more "mainstream breakfast" and grabbed some frozen blueberries from the freezer. This was back in March 2006, so blueberries were not exactly in season.

Little did Red know, I had never made blueberry pancakes before. Or, I have never made pancakes using frozen blueberries. We later found out that I just served my "heart delight" with half-frozen blueberries inside the pancakes.

"I love them, " he said, nodding, and continued licking his fingers. Needless to say, I realized that I didn't have to try to be someone else, even in the kitchen. We have since then shared hundreds of Saturdays or Sundays of banana pancake breakfast. He loves them, and he hasn't really asked for the "mainstream" breakfasts. He lets me "surprise" him with whatever my inspiration may be for the meal(s) that day.

This recipe from Ina was fabulous, because the sour cream and lemon zest really gave it a depth in flavor and took my little old pancake recipe to a completely different height. A little warning: this is very creamy, but fluffy, and definitely rich! Once you take this leap - you will never go back to the regular boxed pancake mix. Trust me. I know Red was licking his fingers, and said, "I really love this recipe!"

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Unsalted butter
2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Tequilla Lime Chicken

2009-01-11T18:23:00.003-06:00

When it's really cold outside, like right now, like it has been for the past three months in the middle of nowhere Iowa - nothing warms my heart like the thought of grilling outside with Charlotte drooling and licking her lips non-stop by the grill. This recipe won me over because it screams "summer", and it uses chicken breast, which is not the most flavorful piece of meat - but yet it's very healthy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup gold tequila
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno pepper (1 pepper seeded)
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 whole (6 split) boneless chicken breasts, skin on

Directions

Combine the tequila, lime juice, orange juice, chili powder, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill with coals and brush the rack with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, and grill them skin-side down for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove from the grill to a plate. Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Mexican Chicken Soup

2009-01-11T18:05:00.006-06:00

We had some leftover of veggies in the frig, so when we saw this soup recipe on one of Ina Garten's cookbooks and thought we should give it a try! This is very similar to what everyone probably recognizes as "Chicken Tortilla Soup". I personally prefer soups that are not cream-based, like chowder, or chunky soup with some sort of thickening agents. I like the lighter type like this one. I'm okay with a little bit of heavy cream or half and half, but I don't want anything too heavy.

We really enjoyed the flavoring, but Red and I thought that it needed more veggies, so we added a can of sweet corn to give it a little bit more chunks. We also skipped the sour cream & tortilla topping to make it a little bit lighter. I highly recommend the fresh cilantro though, since it really gave the "wow" flavor and aroma. This was filed as keeper. Enjoy!

Ingredients

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped onions (2 onions)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional
6 (6-inch) fresh white corn tortillas

Directions

For serving: sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and broken tortilla chips.

Note: This dish also freezes wonderfully! This makes approximately 6-8 servings, so I froze half of the soup for quick lunches in the future.

General Tso's Chicken

2009-01-11T13:11:00.004-06:00

This was adapted from this awesome website called BlogChef. We thought that this was a winner, although just a little warning - it took a little time to put together. I am also wondering about what we can do to make it a little bit more spicy, again to balance the sweetness of the dish. Overall, this was excellent recipe.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)

Sauce: (I doubled the amount to coat the chicken nicely).
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions
In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.
Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.
Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve.

(Makes about 2 servings, if served without additional dish)

Korean Spicy Chicken

2009-01-11T13:00:00.003-06:00

This is a recipe courtesy of my sister, who found ways to cook simple homemade Korean dishes with a few basic ingredients.

Ingredients
2 Boneless chicken breast, sliced thinly
3 Tbsp of Korean red bean paste
1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
1 Tsp of Sugar
3 Tbsp of Sliced green onions
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 cup of thinly sliced Onions
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together the paste, sesame oil, sugar, and sliced green onions.
Combine sliced chicken breast with the marinate. Leave for a minimum of four hours or more. (Overnight is best since the flavor then would really sink in).
Heat a large work for frying.
Mix the marinated chicken, carrots, and onions. Add salt and pepper.
Cover for about 10 minutes.
Turn and mix, make sure that the chicken are thoroughly cooked.
Cover for another 5 min.
Serve with steamed white rice.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

2009-01-11T12:54:00.004-06:00

From Barefoot Contessa

This was probably the only recipe that I have tried so far from Ina Garten's collections that neither Red or I are very crazy about. We love all of the ingredients and the flavor - but thought that it was too sweet! We thought that next time, we'd have to find a way to find a hot pepper or other ingredient to make it more spicy and cut down on the sweetness.

Ingredients

1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
1/2 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed

Directions

Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.

Banana Crunch Muffins

2009-01-11T12:48:00.004-06:00

From Barefoot Contessa

I've been obsessed with trying out all of the recipes from Ina Garten in the past few months. Maybe because with all of the wonderful recipes out there, sometimes you wonder which one would turn out - and which ones would be successful. This was a big winner for me, since I love bananas and always find ways to incorporate them to our menu everyday.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

My fave trip!!!

2008-12-30T13:50:00.009-06:00

One of my favorite things to do when we leave town is to stock up on my Asian spices. It is one of those things that you take for granted until you permanently relocate to an area where they don't even sell rice in larger than the 5-lbs bag.

Here are some pictures of my pantry must-have that I got during my trip to Michigan.

Picture 1: I found these cool tofu earlier this year. You know why they're cool? They don't have to be refrigerated, which lets me put them in the trunk and forget about it until I have to unload them. So in my mind, I am thinking that they must have added enough additives to make them stay "fresh" without refrigeration. But around where I live, they cost me an arm and leg of $3.99 or $4.99, while these are about $1.19. What about that!!! So anyways, aside from the weird concept of having non-refrigerated tofu, both Red and I had eaten them plenty of time before, and we both are still well, alive, and eating!

Picture 1: I don't know why I dedicated an entire paragraph on these tofu, but a small paragraph should rightfully goes to ready to eat Peanut Sauce. They sell two variety: one for Satay (Skewered Meat) and another one for Gado Gado (which is an Indonesian-style salad). Gado gado is very time consuming to make, but the satay one is a fave at our house. Red made sure that we bought enough of these paste so we can grill up some chicken in style!

Picture 2: Fried Chips - If you have ever been to Southeast Asia, you would notice that we absolutely love chips (and condiments!). Everywhere you go, you will see so many variety of them that it makes my heart sing! Here are some of the flavors that I was able to find here: shrimp, onion, and paddy oats. They come uncooked, and then you will have to spend an afternoon frying them. And then I will beg Red to bag them up and lock it down in the basement, or I would finish them in one sitting.

Picture 3: Sesame oil (great for a lot of things, like Chinese or Korean style dishes), Pandan Essence (I don't know yet what to do with it, but I will find something to use it in!), Fish Sauce (2009 may be the year that I finally try my hands on those gorgeous Vietnamese Style Pork Chops!) and tons of hot sauces!

With these items in my pantry, I feel like I am ready to tackle another year, well a few months of cooking, until my next trip to one of my fave places in the world.

Molten Chocolate Cake

2008-12-30T10:21:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

Serves 6

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Cream or Ice Cream for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin.
Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined.
Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Tips:
When they say "generously butter" the muffin tins, you seriously need to do this, or the cakes will not come out from the pans, like mine did.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Classic Lapis Legit

2008-12-29T18:18:00.002-06:00

Classic Lapis Legit

20 egg yolks
150 g confectioners sugar
350 g butter, at room temperature
2 Tbs. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. bumbu Spekoek (All Spice powder)
1/2 tsp vanila powder
35 g all purpose flour
10 g powdered milk

Beat the butter and the sweetened condensed milk until white and fluffy using paddle attachment, set aside.
Meanwhile, sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, bumbu Spekoek, vanili powder, and powdered milk) and set aside.
Beat the egg yolks and the sugar using the balloon whisk attachment until very thick.
Add the sifted dry ingredients and continue whisking until well incorporated.
Add the beaten butter to the egg mixture and mix well using the paddle attachment or fold gently using spatula. Make sure that there's no streak of butter left, or else you will have a rubber like layer in the bottom of your cake. The batter would be very thick with spreadable consistency.
Preheat the oven to 350 F
Grease and lined a standard loaf pan with a parchment paper.
Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of batter into the prepared pan and spread the batter evenly using the back of a spoon. Bake for about 10 minutes until the top is golden brown. The time will vary depending on different oven and how much batter you put in the pan.
Remove the pan from the oven and change the oven setting to low broil (if you're in the US). Press the top of the cake using anything that's flat (I even use the back of a spoon). Then, add another couple of tablespoons of batter and spread it evenly. the heat from the pan will help soften the butter to make it easier to even out.
Put the pan back in the oven and cook for about 6-10 minutes until the top is brown (not burnt!).
Repeat this step until all of the batter is used up.
Remove from the oven, let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then unmold.
Cut the four sides of the cake to make it neat and so that all of the layers are shown.

Sauteed Tofu

2008-12-26T20:20:00.009-06:00

My grandmother used to make this dish when I was growing up in Indonesia. It is so simple to make, uses one of my fave ingredients, tofu, and a great pairing to a meat dish with strong flavoring. Sometimes I throw in some shitake mushrooms, and use chicken instead of shrimp as variation. If I decide to use chicken, you can still follow the same steps below, except that you need to cook the chicken first before adding in the tofu.

As many other grandmothers out there, she really didn't give me exact measurements to everything, she's used to a pinch of this and a little bit of that. This recipe is my best shot of her recipe.

Sauteed Tofus

Ingredients

1 firm tofu, chopped into 1-inch cube
1/2 cup of coarsely deveined shrimp
1 tbsp of canola oil
1 generous tbsp of chopped garlic
3 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of salt
1 tsp of ground white pepper
Chopped green onions
Fried shallot for garnish

Directions

Sautee the chopped garlic in canola oil until soft and slightly browned in medium heat.
Add shrimp, tofu, fish sauce, salt, and white pepper. Let it sit for about 10 mins, covered. Turn down the heat.
Fold in the green onions.
Sprinkle fried shallots before serving.

Merry Christmas from Charlotte

2008-12-26T20:13:00.003-06:00

This is Charlotte Mae, my 19-month old St. Bernard puppy. Charlotte was born on May 29, 2007 in Michigan. "C.H.", as I dearly call her by, is a very well-behaved puppy. We first adopted her brother, which we named Noodle. A couple of months after we brought him home, Noodle died from heart-attack in the middle of the day. Charlotte came later, healed our broken heart with her big loving heart, wet sloppy kisses, and has been with us for about 15 months.

She loves snow and this is how she looks like after playing and digging out in the snow. Merry Christmas!!!

Orangettes

2008-12-21T16:18:00.005-06:00

I was thrilled to run into this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's website. I am not a chocoholic like my husband is, but I do like good quality chocolate treats. Since I first tried this heavenly treat many years ago, I have been searching to find something similar to this everywhere (at the malls, chocolate shops, upscale bakeries, none!) but haven't run into one yet. The ones that I have found on chocolate shops are usually orange gummy bears dipped in chocolate instead of actual orange peels. This also gets my husband motivated to eat two oranges in one sitting!

Thank God for this recipe.

Orangettes

Ingredients

3 large oranges
1 1/2 cups water
4oz semi-sweet chocolate

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil (not using the above 1 1/2 cups water) and blanche orange peels for a couple of minutes.

Remove the peels, rinse with cold water, and repeat. Drain well.
Meanwhile, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Carefully add the peels to the saucepan. Allow to return to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour.

Be sure to periodically check on the syrup level - you don’t want the peels to burn.
After an hour, remove the peels from the syrup and let them cool on a rack.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a double boiler and when peels are cool, dip them in the chocolate. Let them dry on a piece of parchment paper set on a cookie sheet.

When all have been dipped, move them to the fridge for 20 min or so to allow the chocolate to set up.

Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bar

2008-12-20T20:45:00.009-06:00

My sister is a Starbucks' addict. I seriously think that she needs to go talk to one of my college classmates who work at Starbucks, to see if she can get a job there. I believe it would cut down on her daily commute to Starbucks for her coffee and treat fix. When I saw several recipes on line, I knew that I had to make it for her. I decided to use the one from Mr. Breakfast's website as a starter and made several modifications to the recipe since there are several versions out there.

This version below turned out pretty good, with a good mixture of sweet and tanginess (from the frosting). I did, unfortunately, feel that this was baked a little bit too long because the edges were browned pretty good. The recipe requested 20-25 minutes, but I think mine would have been sufficient with just 20 mins or even less ~ although the flavor was still excellent.

Some of the reviewers on line said that it was too sweet, so when I added cream cheese to the frosting, I only added a little bit of the powdered sugar. I also omitted the melted white chocolate garnish.

For Cake Base
2 sticks margarine (or butter if you want to indulge), softened
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup minced dried cranberries (I used 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup Lindt or Perugina or other quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup minced candied ginger

For Frosting:
4 ounce cream cheese, softened (I used 6 ounce)
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar (I used 1 -3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Gran Marnier (since I didn’t have any orange extract or real orange for some zest, and I really thought that cranberry would go great with orange)
2 tbsp butter, softened (I omitted the butter)

For Garnish:
(I decided to skip the melted white chocolate, so I just sprinkled the cranberries )
2 Tablespoons minced dried cranberries
1/3 cup white chocolate chips (e.g. Ghiradelli or Guittard) -- melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Beat butter and sugar together for the cake base, and add eggs/vanilla beating until fluffy.
Sift together flour, ginger, and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture beating well.
Fold in the cranberries, chocolate and ginger.

Spread thick batter in pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden.
When cake is cooled, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cake. Immediately sprinkle with the minced cranberries.
Then use a cake decorating bag of melted white chocolate with a tiny decorating tip (like the size used for writing on cakes) and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.
Cut this into bars immediately because the white chocolate hardens pretty fast and makes cake cutting messy

Red Velvet Cake Balls

2008-12-20T19:01:00.004-06:00

My dad is a very picky eater. He doesn't eat chicken, hates cheese unless it's mixed into a lasagna or sprinkled on top of spaghetti or salad. He likes iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing. He's a meat and potato kind of guy. His fave dessert is yellow cake with chocolate frosting and ... you guess it, Red Velvet Cake with seven-minute frosting. When I saw this recipe on Bakerella website, I knew that I had to try it. They were absolutely divine, and lighter in comparison to the other truffle recipes that I tried. We'll see if he likes them or not.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

1 Box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 Can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) --I used regular white frosting
1 Package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) --I used regular baking chocolate, since it is easier to work with than the chocolate bark
wax paper

Directions
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Tip: Melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It's easier to work with when it's hot.

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

2008-12-14T16:27:00.005-06:00

I have been craving these yummy appetizers for about a month now. I used to live within five minutes driving to a PF Chang restaurant and really enjoyed the convenience of having easy access to their great menu selection. The closest PF Chang location now is about two and a half hours from where we live now. So I decided to try making these appetizers myself. I found this recipe on line, and couldn't think of anything that I would change to make it differently next time. The key here is the ability to tailor the flavoring from the amount of sauce that you'd use. If you like a more spicy version, just mix in the spicy sauce into the original sauce.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut
2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
Top with"Special Sauce".

Hopscotch Candy

2008-12-14T11:44:00.006-06:00

I first tried this sinfully delicious cold treat at work many years ago in one of the goodies tins that I received for Christmas. I quickly asked for a recipe, which I don't do very often. I have been making them every year since then.

I used to make two batches of this recipe and brought them to work frequently for birthdays as well, as this was often requested. I made two big batches last weekend for the holiday party and Red, my loyal taster and part-time dishwasher.

Hopscotch Candy
Servings: 24-30 pieces

Combine in a double boiler or a pan:
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 6-oz package butterscotch morsels
Place over low heat, stir until melted.

Add:
1 3-oz can chow-mein noodles
1 1/2 cups of miniature marshmallows
Stir until coated, remove from heat.
Quickly drop by teaspoon-full onto waxed line cookie sheet. You want to make sure the marshmallows retain its shape.

Chill until set.
Store in an airtight container inside the frig for up to two weeks. At our house, it doesn't last that long.

Perfect Roasted Turkey

2008-12-14T10:26:00.007-06:00

I really haven't had the time to post all of the delectable recipes we tried for Thanksgiving this year. But we finally survived making our very first turkey! The turkey breast was tender, moist, and flavorful. We decided to brine it using Martha Stewart Perfect Roast Turkey.

Roasted Brine Turkey

Ingredients
1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), brined
Turkey Brine - see recipe below
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Remove turkey from brine. Discard brine.
Pat turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Place, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan.
Let stand at room temperature for up to 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with rack in lowest position.
Fold a piece of cheesecloth (about 3 feet long) into thirds, place inside turkey cavity, and open up to create a pouch.
Loosely fill cheesecloth pouch with stuffing (do not pack tightly), and tuck in ends of cheesecloth to close.
Tuck wings underneath the turkey, and tie legs together with kitchen twine.
Brush turkey all over with butter, and season generously with salt and pepper.
Roast turkey, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes and rotating the pan after 2 hours, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Remove stuffing pouch, and then empty it into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
Cover if desired, and return stuffing to oven; bake until it registers 165 degrees, about 30 minutes more.
Transfer turkey to a platter, reserving pan juices for gravy.
Let turkey stand for 30 minutes before carving.

Turkey Brine

7 quarts (28 cups) water
1 1/2 cups coarse salt
6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing
1 bottle dry Riesling
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch fresh thyme

Turkey Brine Direction

Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Let cool for 5 minutes.
Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag. Place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients. Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate. Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once.

Spirited Southern Sweet Potato Bars

2008-12-14T10:09:00.003-06:00

I wanted to find a dessert recipe to use up my apple and sweet potato casserole from Thanksgiving, so I made these last weekend for our Holiday Party.

After searching endlessly in the Internet, I saw this recipe on Quaker Oatmeal website. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious they turned out. It had a perfect combination of sweetness and smoothness that you'd normally find in a pie, yet with a little bit of earthiness (from the sweet potatoes), along with the oatmeal and sugar topping that gave it a really nice crunchy texture. Definitely a winner for the use of leftover sweet potatoes.

Ingredients
2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potato or canned pumpkin (I used my sweet potato and apple casserole, mashed in a food processor)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon or 1/2 teaspoon rum extract (optional)
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
In large bowl, combine oats and flour; mix well. Remove 2/3 cup and add salt and red pepper; set aside for filling. To remaining oat-flour mixture, add butter, granulated sugar and vanilla; blend with electric mixer on low to medium speed until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup for topping. Press remaining mixture evenly onto bottom of prepared pan.
Bake 15 minutes; remove pan from oven. In separate bowl, combine sweet potato, eggs, brown sugar, bourbon and reserved 2/3 cup oat-flour mixture; mix well. Spread filling over warm crust. Add nuts to reserved topping mixture; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over sweet potato filling.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until topping is light golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. Serve at room temperature. Store in refrigerator tightly covered.

Chocolate Truffles

2008-12-14T09:55:00.004-06:00

I have been obsessed about trying to make these heavenly treats for the past two weeks. I made Oreo Truffles last week and again this week. But I also have been thinking about these little truffles that I first tried many years ago that were rolled in cocoa powder. The unique part of these truffles is that you can roll them in cocoa powder. So you will then experience the intense cocoa flavor in your first bite, but yet as you dig in deeper, there's this nice welcoming depth of chocolate that melts in your mouth.

I found a recipe that looked delicious on Williams and Sonoma website, and here's my proud result. The only thing that I would probably try to change in the future is trying to add in some liquor flavoring in the truffle.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar or unsweetened
cocoa powder

Directions:

Chop the ingredients
Put the butter on a cutting board. Using a table knife, cut the butter into small chunks. Set aside.
Put the chocolate on the cutting board. Using a serrated knife, chop the chocolate into small, even bits. Set aside.

Warm the cream
Pour the cream into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and warm until tiny bubbles appear in the cream around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat.

Melt the chocolate
Add the butter and chocolate to the saucepan and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is melted and the mixture is very smooth. If the chocolate does not seem to be melting, turn on the heat to medium and warm for about 20 seconds. Turn off the heat and stir again. Repeat the heating and stirring process, if necessary, until the mixture is smooth. Do not let the mixture get too hot.

Chill the mixture
Let the mixture cool to the touch, about 15 minutes. Using the rubber spatula, stir in the vanilla. Scrape the mixture into a shallow bowl. Cover the chocolate mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is solid, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Scoop the truffles
Using a melon baller, scoop the chocolate mixture to make rough balls the size of a gumball. Place each scoop of truffle mixture onto a cool work surface.

Shape the truffles
Put the confectioners' sugar or the cocoa in another shallow bowl. (The confectioners' sugar will give the truffles an extra layer of sweetness. The cocoa will make the truffles intensely chocolaty.)

Working with 1 truffle scoop at a time, use the palms of your hands to roll it into a smooth, round ball. After rolling, put the balls in the bowl with the coating of your choice.

Coat the truffles
Roll each truffle in the confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder until it is completely coated, then put in a serving dish. Cover and store the truffles in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat them. (You can even freeze the truffles for up to 3 months.)

Makes 25 truffles. Note: mine made about 45 truffles because I really wanted them to be bite-size!

Oreo Truffles

2008-12-07T09:07:00.005-06:00

I first saw this recipe on Kraft website while I was browsing for ideas. I was floored at how simple the recipe was, and was doubly pleased when I found out how wonderful they tasted! This is a must for any holiday get together. Who doesn't like Oreo and chocolate mixed together?

Ingredients

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Directions

Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls

Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

From Kraft

Overnight Fruit Salad

2008-11-16T13:54:00.003-06:00

I first saw a recipe in my mom's Taste of Home magazine when I was in High School, and it soon became my mom's favorite. I would go home during college breaks and made this just for my mom.
Overnight Fruit Salad

Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups green grapes
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
2 medium firm bananas. sliced
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
In a double boiler over medium heat, cook and stir eggs, sugar and vinegar until mixture is thickened and reaches 160 degrees F.
Remove from the heat; stir in butter. Cool.
In a large serving bowl, combine grapes, marshmallows, pineapple, oranges and bananas; add cooled dressing and stir to coat.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, fold in whipped cream and pecans.

Classic French Toast

2008-11-16T10:48:00.004-06:00

This is a traditional breakfast recipe using a very simple custard mixture for one of our best-loved breakfast food.

Recipe courtesy of my all time fave woman, Martha Stewart.

Ingredients

Serves 6

6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
6 slices (1-inch-thick) bread, preferably day old
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pure maple syrup, for serving (optional)

Directions

Whisk together eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
Place bread in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold bread slices in a single layer. Pour egg mixture over bread; soak 10 minutes. Turn slices over; soak until soaked through, about 10 minutes more.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet, and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry half the bread slices until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to wire rack; place in oven while cooking remaining bread. Wipe skillet, and repeat with remaining butter, oil, and bread. Keep in oven until ready to serve. Serve warm with pure maple syrup, if desired.

Lime Meltaways

2008-11-16T07:58:00.003-06:00

As the weather is turning seriously cold, nothing warms up our home more than baking!

Ingredients

Makes about 4-6 dozen ~ depending on the thickness

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks

Chocolate Chip Cookie Tart

2008-11-15T14:53:00.005-06:00

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch tart or pie plus about 1 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips, (about 12 ounces)
Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch pie tin with vegetable-oil cooking spray; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Press 3 cups of this dough into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden and center is almost set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes, and remove from pan. Bake remaining dough as cookies at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Spinach-Cheese Swirls

2008-11-09T15:27:00.000-06:00

Ingredients
1/2 of a 17.3 ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese OR Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 green onion, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 pkg. (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork. Stir the Muenster cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powder in a medium bowl.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture. Top with the cheese mixture and spinach. Starting at the short side closest to you, roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into 20 (1/2-inch) slices. Place the slices cut-side down on the baking sheets. Brush with the egg mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the swirls are golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip: Make sure to remove as much liquid as you can from the spinach before adding it to the pastry. If it's too wet, it may make the pastry soggy.

Southern Comfort Punch

2008-11-09T15:17:00.000-06:00

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart Living.

Ingredients

Serves 12 to 20

6 lemons
4 navel oranges
2 six-ounce frozen lemonade, concentrate
1 six-ounce frozen orange juice, concentrate
2 liters lemon-lime soda
1 liter Southern Comfort

Directions

Line two baking sheets with plastic wrap, and set aside. Slice lemons into rounds as thin as possible. Arrange lemon slices in layers on one prepared baking sheet. Repeat with oranges; layer on second baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until fruit slices are frozen.
Just before serving, open the cans of frozen lemonade and orange juice, and place the frozen concentrates, whole, in a large punch bowl. Add the soda, Southern Comfort, and several handfuls of ice. Remove frozen fruit slices from freezer, and arrange over the top of punch. Serve immediately.

Chicken Pot Pie

2008-11-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of Ina Garten from "Barefoot Contessa"

Ingredients

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

For the pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Moroccan Chicken with Squash and Dried Plums

2008-11-09T15:12:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of Amy Finley from "The Gourmet Next Door" (Food Network)

Ingredients

7 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, zest grated and juiced (about 2 to 3 tablespoons juice) plus 2 lemons, quartered, for garnish
1 teaspoon harissa
4 skinless chicken thighs, (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup chicken broth
Pinch saffron strands
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half moons or chunks
3 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch half moons or chunks
3 medium plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup dried pitted prunes (about 10)
1/4 cup black olives, pitted
Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup almonds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Special Equipment: coffee grinder, Dutch oven

Serving Suggestion: flatbread

In a medium glass bowl, combine the spice mixture, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and harissa. Add the chicken thighs and stir to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Warm the chicken broth and add the saffron strands, then allow to steep at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade. In a Dutch oven over high heat, brown the chicken thighs on both sides in 2 tablespoons olive oil, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Set chicken aside on a plate. Reduce the heat to medium, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan, and saute the onion until golden, about 5 minutes. Place the chicken thighs on top of the onions and add any accumulated juices from the plate. Arrange the zucchini and yellow squash and tomato quarters on top of the chicken and tuck in the prunes and olives. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken broth and saffron. Cover and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Let cook undisturbed 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is falling off the bone. Remove from the oven and transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to a large serving dish.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the almonds and fry until the skins begin to crackle, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the almonds and hot oil over the vegetables and chicken on the serving dish. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve, spooning over the sauce in the dish and garnishing each plate with the lemon quarters.

Cook's Note: If you're using a tagine: An unseasoned ceramic tagine may crack in the oven. Before using the tagine for the first time, submerge and soak it overnight in cool water. Pat dry and rub the inside with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then place in 350 degree F oven for 1 hour. Allow to cool, then proceed with the recipe.

Spice Mixture:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Combine the spices in a coffee grinder and grind to a medium-fine powder. Add the kosher salt and pepper. Store in an air-tight container, if not using immediately.

Yield: 2 to 3 tablespoons

Autumn Sweet Potato-Apple Bake

2008-11-09T15:08:00.002-06:00

8 large sweet potaotes
2lbs McIntosh apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1tsp cinnamon
6+ tablespoons unsalted butter
5T honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the sweet potatoes until cooked but still firm. When they have cooled enough to handle, peel them and cut them into 1/4 inch slices.

Peel the apples, core them and cut them into 1/4 inch slices.

Mix the sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon together.

Grease a 2-quart casserole. Put in a layer of sweet potatoes, and dot them with butter. Sprinkle some of the nutmeg/cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Arrange a layer of apple slices on the potatoes, and drizzle on about 2tsp of the honey.

Continue alternating layers of sweet potatoes with nutmeg/cinnamon/sugar and apples with honey. Finish with apples and dot with butter to taste.

Bake for one hour until the top is brown.

Pasta with Sausage and Escarole

2008-10-02T18:57:00.004-05:00

We saw this dish featured on one of the old Martha Stewart magazines that I collected, and thought that we should try it. And it was definitely worth it! It was simple enough to make on a weeknight, but has fancy enough flavors to impress company with.

Pasta with Sausage and Escarole
Yield: 4 servings, prep time: 15 mins, total: 45 mins

Coarse Salt
1 lb rigatoni or other tubular pasta
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (~ 1 tbsp)
1 lb hot Italian sausage, remove from casting and crumbled
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large head escarole, cut horizontally into thirds and stemmed
(Spinach can be substituted for this)
Parmesan cheese, for shaving

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt and paste, cook 2-3 minutes less than package instruction. Drain pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add sausage , cook, stirring, until cooked through, about 6 minutes.
4. Pour in wine; stir to deglaze pan. Add cream, parsley, rosemary, and red-pepper flakes. Season with salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer.
5. Add escarole, cook, stirring occasionally, until just wilted 8-10 mins.
6. Stir pasta into skillet, cook until cream has just started to thicken and pasta is al dante, about 3 minutes. Garnish with cheese, and serve.

Banana Pudding

2008-09-20T09:27:00.003-05:00

We finally had the opportunity to make this Banana Pudding a couple of weeks ago when we had company over for dinner. The recipe makes a generous 13x9x2 inch dish, and you really want to finish them in a couple of days or the bananas or the cookies would get too soggy and gross.

Banana Pudding

2 Bags of Pepperidge Farm Cheeseman Cookies
(or 1 box of Nila Wafers)
6-8 Bananas, sliced
2 cups whole milk
1 box (5-oz) instant French Vanilla Pudding
1 pkg (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 container (12-oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed.
(You can also substitute an equal amount of sweetened whipped cream)

In a bowl, combine milk & pudding mix. Blend well using a hand-held electric mixer.
Using another bowl, combine cream cheese and condensed milk together, mix until smooth.
Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mix and stir until well-blended.
Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with a bag of cookies and layer sliced bananas on top.
Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas.
Cover with remaining cookies.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mini-moon for Foodies!!

2008-08-30T22:12:00.007-05:00

One of the biggest challenges for us while planning the wedding was a honeymoon destination. Since we got married on Mackinac Island, Michigan, we wanted the event to be in the peak of the summer, this was why we chose August 2. But then we were left wondering as to where to go for honeymoon in August.

Europe is pretty much dead in August and hot! The Carribean? Mexico? Nah - we didn't think that they would be appropriate in the summer. Therefore, Red and I decided on Napa for our mini-moon and boy, were we glad!