mad tasty

Farewell

2011-05-08T17:03:00.000-04:00

The collective cooking think tank is dissolved, but may reassemble in another form someday. Thanks for coming by and keep an eye on the future, we'll be up in it.

anatomy of a cupcake

2011-03-31T19:28:00.001-04:00

courtesy of flowing data .... mad tasty is thinking about getting its ish back together, so stay tuned folks.

What Would You Do for an Ice Cream Cone?

2011-02-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

I would run coat-less through snow...

but not for vanilla ice cream.

via The Washington Post

Rice Krispy Treats

2011-02-09T06:03:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Allison, and I've never made Rice Krispy Treats.

That statement was true until yesterday. I've been baking since I got an Easy Bake Oven but I haven't gotten around to Rice Krispy Treats until now. It turns out, they are ridiculously easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies®

Directions:
1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

hazelnut mocha cappuccino mix

2011-01-26T09:00:00.002-05:00

check out "jem journals" for a great take on DIY cappuccino mix, perfect for this brrrrrr snowy northeast january we're having .... jessica shows you how to make the mix even gives a quick tip on making the mix into a gift!

and because i can't help myself:

Vegetarian Orzo

2011-01-26T05:58:00.000-05:00

My friend Laura of Pansy Maiden brought this dish to a recent gathering. I was floored by how tasty it was - it was a huge hit! She got it from vegweb.com and altered it. Here are her instructions:

Ingredients (you may also use vegan versions):

2 cups of Orzo
4 cups water
3 "chicken" bullion cubes- generic brands tend to be vegan, be sure to check the ingredients and/or call the company to make sure
3 or 4 handfuls of sliced mushrooms of your choice
3 or 4 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
1/2 white onion, minced (or a bunch of dried onion)
olive oil and vinegar... I used fancy herbed vinegar and roasted pepper olive oil, but regular would do fine, too
4 tablespoons vegan margarine
vegan parmesan cheese
nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste

Laura's alterations:
* used a whole onion instead of 1/2 an onion.
* added a tablespoon of minced garlic to the broth.
* used zucchini instead of mushroom just because that's what she had laying around.
* did not use vegan parm
* added a teaspoon of fresh thyme because I had some left over from a Veggie Pot Pie I made last week. Oh, i should share that recipe too...
* used umeboshi plum vinegar because, again, that's what she had laying around.

Directions:

Get out a big saucepan and put in the water, bullion cubes, and a short swoosh of vinegar and olive oil (tilt the bottle and pour quickly along one half of the pan and then stop. Rachel Ray style.) Bring to a boil.

In another pan, melt butter and sauté orzo, browning slightly. I also added some of the roasted pepper olive oil.

While the orzo's browning, you can add the mushrooms and any other veggies you wish to the fake chicken broth.

When the orzo looks good (you can't really over or undercook it, so use your judgment), stir it into the broth. Cover and reduce heat to simmering. After about 5 minutes, check and if you see the liquid is starting to really boil off, add the fresh spinach and onion. If it's still really watery, you can wait a few minutes for this step, as these veggies don't take long to cook.

Once the broth has been absorbed, add vegan parmesan, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to taste. Garlic salt gives this a really yummy flavor, too!

I just made this tonight and it's so wonderful I plan to make it again at least once this week! I bet it would be delicious cold, too. Enjoy!

Serves: A meal for two, with leftovers

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Blueberry Tart

2011-01-18T16:13:00.003-05:00

Three weeks after receiving a new tart pan from a practically perfect baker aka my mother, I finally got up the courage to give it a go.

I used Martha Stewart's Recipe for a Blueberry Tart and while I don't like to admit it, there is a reason this lady can make a comeback from even a jail sentence.

I used only about 1/3 cup of total sugar and served it with some lemon whip cream (cool whip mixed with the juice and zest of 1 lemon).

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, combine 1 1/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 stick of butter cut into pieces; process until large moist crumbs form (dough should hold together when squeezed).
2.Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom; with floured fingers, press evenly into bottom and up sides. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes; prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes; cool completely.
3.Meanwhile, reserve 1 cup of the prettiest berries for topping. In a medium saucepan, bring 1/4 cup water and 1 1/2 cups berries to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to break down, 3 to 4 minutes.
4.In a small bowl, mix 2 tbl cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water; stir into berries in pan. Add 1 large lemon's zest and juice, 1/3 cup sugar, and a pinch salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, stirring, just until mixture begins to thicken, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups fresh berries. Immediately pour hot berry mixture into cooled tart shell, and smooth with a spatula.
5.Scatter reserved berries on top, pressing down lightly to help them adhere. Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes and up to overnight

Snow Ice Cream

2010-12-29T06:53:00.000-05:00

Here in New England, we got a Boxing Day Blizzard that lasted from Sunday to Monday. It would have been the perfect opportunity for some Snow Ice Cream...

Ingredients

* 1 gallon snow
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups milk

Directions

1. When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.

Here is a video using pretty much the same process from LivingOnADime.com:

Sweet & Savory Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

2010-12-15T06:38:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe via cooks.com. It is a great dish for a chilly fall or winter day. Oddly, it tastes a bit like savory apple pie.... if you can imagine savory apple pie. I added some cranberries and sage to the mix because I had some leftover from Nicole's awesome roasted squash recipe from a while back... a tried and true dish in my opinion.

BEEF WITH APPLES & SWEET POTATOES

2 lb boneless beef chuck shoulder roast
1 (40 oz can) sweet potatoes, drained
2 small onions, sliced
2 apples, cored, sliced
1/2 cup beef broth
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. black pepper, divided
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. cold water

Trim fat from beef and cut into 2-inch pieces. Place beef, sweet potatoes, onions, apples, beef broth, garlic, salt, 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. pepper in slow cooker. Cover, cook on low for 8-9 hrs.

Transfer beef, sweet potatoes, and apples to platter, keep warm. Let liquid stand 5 minutes. Skim off fat.

In small bowl, combine cornstarch, remaining 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/4 tsp. pepper, cinnamon, and water, stir into liquid in slow cooker.

Cook 15 minutes or until thickened. Serve sauce with beef, potatoes, and apples.

I don't have pictures because it was not beautiful, but I assure you, it is a very warming, fulfilling dish.

pink salad

2010-12-03T17:31:00.001-05:00

so my latest variation from the signature is what i'm calling the pink salad. the main addition is a small to medium sized beet, peeled and grated just like it was a carrot. the more you toss it, the more pink ends up sneaking into the other ingredients, particularly the feta. shake (of shake & bake fame), was sort of shocked that the beat could be used raw, so maybe this is something other folks would be interested in knowing as well?

i made a fresh one today, but can't seem to find my camera cable and the photos i took on my photo are awful, so you'll have to settle for the photo above, taken at pre-thanks this year. the longer you keep the leftovers, the pinker everything else gets. on the third day, it looked more like japanese pickles than salad really.

same dressing as usual too, although maybe a little more mustard than usual just to combat the extra earthiness of the beat.

Cashew Chicken in the Crock Pot

2010-12-01T06:41:00.001-05:00

The crock pot is my savior sometimes, especially in the cold months. Often, on Sunday night, I'll prepare something to cook for Monday. I just turn it on before I go to work, then when I get home, a hot meal is ready for me, plus enough for a few leftovers. Here is a new recipe I have tried, via Better Homes and Gardens:

* 1 10.75-oz. can condensed golden mushroom soup
* 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
* 1 tsp. ground ginger
* 1-1/2 pounds chicken tenders
* 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetable blend
* 1 4-oz. can (drained weight) sliced mushrooms, drained
* 1/2 cup cashews
* Hot cooked brown rice* (optional)

Directions

1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine mushroom soup, soy sauce, and ginger. Stir in chicken, stir-fry vegetables, and mushrooms.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

3. Stir cashews into chicken mixture. If desired, serve over hot cooked rice. Makes 6 servings.

I ended up using double the mushrooms and fresh ginger. Yum!

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

2010-11-24T08:35:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving is a truly madtasty holiday! This year, we were lucky to celebrate a little early with a Pre-Thanks celebration at Dave and Bobby's new pad. I brought my mother-in-law's famous mac & cheese and pumpkin whoopee pies with cream cheese filling. Everything was delicious...

...Especially Bobby's turkey!

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies (from Rachel Ray)

3 sticks unsalted butter, 2 sticks melted, 1 stick softened
2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon plus 4 pinches salt
3 1/3 cups flour
8 ounces cream cheese, chilled
2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth.

Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet.

Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

And enjoy...

Marilyn Monroe's Stuffing and Other Celebrity Holiday Recipes

2010-11-17T06:24:00.002-05:00

Lemondrop.com corralled Marilyn Monroe's stuffing recipe, plus some other celeb's favorite recipes such as Michelle Obama's Apple Cobbler, Christina Hendricks' Spiced Pumpkin Cocktail, and Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa Cake.
I'm excited just to see Marilyn's handwritten recipe, but maybe I'll try some of these out, too!

click to zoom

Pear Tarte Tatin

2010-11-11T12:22:00.004-05:00

After some serious apple picking, where we luckily also got some great bartlett pears, I updated an old recipe of my grandmothers for a tarte tatin (an upside down cake). The result was beautiful and delicious!

Bake at 350 for 30 - 35 min. Cool for 10 min before inverting. Below is the original recipe – I used ½ the brown sugar and about 2/3 the butter in the topping and it was much better. I made a double recipe and did one with pears, and one with apples. Yum!

- Brown sugar layer (ends up being the topping):
o 1/3 c melted butter
o 1 cup packed brown sugar
o 3 medium apples, peeled and sliced
o Directions: Pour butter into ungreased 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle in ½ of the brown sugar, arrange apples in single layers, add remaining brown sugar

- Cake:
o 3 Tbsp butter, softened
o 2 eggs
o ¾ cup sugar
o 1 cup all purpose flour
o ½ tsp baking soda
o ¾ tsp salt
o ¼ tsp cinnamon
o ½ cup buttermilk
o 3 tbsp sour cream

o Directions: Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time; Combine flour, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon; Add dry to wet ingredients and stir; Spoon batter over brown sugar layer

Root Vegetable Au Gratin

2010-11-10T06:05:00.001-05:00

In my family, Potato Au Gratin is a holiday tradition. I peel the potatoes and my mom throws together this cheesy, creamy, delicious side. Everyone loves it so much, that she usually makes two, one for dinner and one for leftovers.

In the last few weeks, I'd seen a couple of recipes for Root Vegetable Au Gratin and thought, I wonder how my mom's recipe would fair with turnips and rutabagas instead of potatoes. Let me tell you, nothing compares to the original, but this is a close second. If you try this at home, make sure you layer a few sweet potatoes near the top. With the cheese and the bread crumbs, they are simply heaven. This side dish also doubles as a super great vegetarian meal.

Root Vegetable Au Gratin (inspired by Joy of Cooking Creamed Potato Casserole)

Serves 4-6

1 large potato
1 large sweet potato
1 large carrot
1 large parsnip
1 medium turnip
1 medium rutabaga
1 1/2 cups milk
4 1/2 Tablespoons butter
4 1/2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons panko bread crumbs

Directions

Peel vegetables and trim the ends off of the carrot and parsnip.

Place vegetables in the boiling water and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove vegetables from heat and drain. Place vegetables in the fridge for 5 minutes to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While the vegetables are cooling, melt butter in a small pot over low heat. Add flour and stir until thick and creamy. Add milk and continue stirring until the roux starts to thicken.

Remove vegetables from fridge and slice into small pieces. Layer half of the vegetables alternatively in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Pour half of the sauce over the vegetables and top with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Repeat layering until dish is full. Top with bread crumbs.

Cover and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 20 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender and cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and serve!

Friendly Zombie Cupcakes

2010-11-03T22:28:00.000-04:00

Have you ever met a vegan zombie? Now you have with these Friendly Vegan Zombie Cupcakes via Laura of Pansy Maiden, vegan superstar member of Boston Handmade! Laura found this recipe on VegWeb, and even though it is a few days after Halloween, Zombies never go out of style:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup vegan granulated sugar
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 cup cherry pie filling or "red" jam
Vanilla Glaze (recipe below)
powdered sugar

Directions:

When you eat these friendly zombies you will find a surprise inside--their fruity brains! Finally, a sweet revenge.

1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar. Combine wet and dry.
3. Prepare 12 cupcake liners in a pan. Fill each just under half full with the batter. Spoon into the middle about 2 teaspoons (a small spoonful or so) of the pie filling/jam. Cover with more cake batter until the liner is full, but not overflowing.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes; start checking after 15 to 20 minutes (my oven is a bit special and my cook times are always a little off). Once the tops are just brown and a toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven and let cool all the way.

5. Once cooled, make the "Vanilla Glaze" or use your own frosting recipe. Dust with powdered sugar if you want to give them a nice "dusty" face. Then decorate with chocolate chips, dried fruits, nuts, more coconut, or anything else that looks tasty.
Then you have a friendly zombie cupcake that you can eat the brains of!

Vanilla Glaze:

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon nondairy milk
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a pan over low heat, warm nondairy milk, oil, and vanilla. Remove from heat.
2. Add powdered sugar. If you need it thicker, add a bit more powdered sugar.
3. Pour glaze over cake or other dessert immediately.
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Champagne is Mad Tasty

2010-10-28T11:22:00.000-04:00

Some people believe that Champagne is just for special occasions, I am not one of those people. But, if you are, here is a reason to celebrate.

Today is Global Champagne Day!

So pop a bottle, pour yourself a glass, and have a little fun. I'm sure you deserve it.

To find out more about Champagne, click here. For more information on Global Champagne Day, click here.

Grilled Fruit Bruschetta with Sweet Mascarpone

2010-10-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

No matter how you serve them, fruit and cheese make the most wonderful combination. While leafing through the latest issue of Food and Wine magazine, I spotted this "knife and fork dessert" and knew instantly that I had to try it. The simple combination of caramelized fruit, savory peasant bread, and sweet mascarpone cheese made this a delicious fall dish. We don't have space for a grill in our tiny apartment, but my Calphalon Grill Pan did the trick.

Also posted at A Nesting Experience!

Grilled Fruit Bruschetta with Sweet Mascarpone (inspired by Michael Glissman in Food and Wine)

Serves 8

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
4 large plums, halved and pitted
4 nectarines, halved and pitted
2 pears, halved and seeds removed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup mascarpone
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons honey
Eight 1-inch-thick slices of peasant bread (make it yourself! recipe to follow)
8 rosemary skewers, most of the leaves stripped off

Directions

Put the sugar and lavender in a spice grinder and grind to a powder.
In a large bowl, combine the lavender sugar with the plums, nectarines, pears, lemon juice, orange zest and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
Toss well and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Let stand for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mascarpone cheese and confectioners sugar.
Brush the bread slices on both sides with olive oil.
Thread the fruit onto the rosemary skewers; reserve any juices in the bowl.
Grill the bread over high heat until lightly charred and crisp, about 30 seconds per side.
Grill the fruit skewers over moderate heat, basting a few times with the reserved juices, until lightly charred and just tender, about 4 minutes per side.
Spread the honey mascarpone on the grilled bread.
Slide the fruit off the skewers onto the bread, drizzle some of the juices over the fruit and serve.

Peasant Bread (by Taste of Home)

Serves 8

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar.
Add the yeast mixture and remaining water; stir until combined.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Stir dough down.
Place in a greased 1 quart. round casserole dish.
Brush top with butter.
Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
Remove from pan and slice into 1 inch thick slices.

Something Sweet in MA

2010-10-20T06:16:00.000-04:00

Did you know that Massachusetts is home to many a confection such as NECCO, Fluff, and Junior Mints? YES! Junior Mints! Boston.com posted a great slideshow highlighting some of the sweeter things to come out of Massachusetts - view the story here.

Tomatokeftedes

2010-10-13T10:10:00.000-04:00

Just a few weeks ago, I got married. My husband and I took our honeymoon in Greece. The food was absolutely incredible there, but the best thing that we ate (in my opinion) was tomatokeftedes (tomato balls). I knew as soon as I got home, I was going to have to learn how to make them!

Tomatokeftedes (recipe from Santorini Recipes)

1 ½ cups tomatoes, finely chopped (dehydrated Cycladic tomatoes, if available)
½ cup spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoon fresh spearmint, finely chopped
a pinch of dried crumbled oregano
1 cup plain flour or a little bit more (depending on how juicy the tomatoes are)
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt, pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

Directions

Combine tomatoes, onion and herbs in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour and baking powder.
Add flour mixture to tomato mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly until everything is combined into a mixture firm enough to form little balls.
In a medium frying pan, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
Heat oil on medium heat.
Place the tomatokeftedes in the frying pan and cook on each side, until golden.
Remove tomatokeftedes from the pan and place them on paper towel to absorb the extra olive oil.
Serve with lots of tzatziki

Food Fight.

2010-10-06T06:30:00.001-04:00

Food Fight, a short film by Stefan Nadelman, is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

(I reccomend watching it without reading the synopsis and/or checking the cheat sheet before hand... it is fun to try to figure out who is who and check after!)

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

2010-09-29T09:50:00.003-04:00

Even though it's only September 29, New England has had it's share of brisk fall days. Brisk fall days, always mean comfort food on the menu.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
adapted from (Pasta Lazio by John Barricelli from Martha Stewart)

4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Boneless, skinless chicken fillets
1 pound pasta
8 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained, and thinly sliced lengthwise
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 cups of steamed brocolli
Salt
Black pepper

Directions

Preheat a medium size skillet and brush with 2 Tbsp of olive oil.
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper; place and place in the skillet.
Cook, turning once, until cooked through.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
Add pasta and cook according to package directions.
Heat remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add garlic and cook until softened.
Add tomatoes and cook until heated through.
Add wine and bring to a boil.
Add butter and swirl until melted and well combined.
Remove chicken from grill, cut into strips and add to skillet.
Drain pasta and transfer to a large serving bowl.
Pour chicken mixture and broccoli to pasta and toss to combine.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Happy 60th Birthday, Bill Murray!

2010-09-21T04:17:00.019-04:00

Bill Murray turns 60 today. You should celebrate by making him a themed cake and eating it with your friends (and maybe even dressing up as your favorite character from a Bill Murray movie).

This is an example of a Kingpin themed cake. Bill Murray's bowling ball in the movie is amber-ish and has a rose inside. Available themes are limitless. Try doing an illustration of the inside of a body to represent Osmosis Jones, draw the Bee Keeper's Society logo from Rushmore, or perhaps just make a green confection to represent Slimer from Ghostbusters. Don't forget to mix up some ecto cooler cocktails to wash it down!

Microwave Cooking: A Memoir

2010-09-17T12:43:00.004-04:00

(click to embiggen)

From Lifehacker:

2010-09-16T13:10:00.000-04:00

Budweiser, Balsamic Vinegar, and How Expectations Affect Our Views [Psychology]: "

Would you willingly mix balsamic vinegar with your Budweiser? Actually, yes, you would, in certain conditions, explains Professor of Behavioral Economics Dan Ariely in his book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.

Photo by seeks2dream.

The Muddy Charles is one of MIT's two pubs and the place of Ariely's experiment. Students that dropped by were offered two small free samples of beer, one labeled A and the other labeled B. Beer A was regular Budweiser whereas Beer B was a special mix called 'MIT Brew', two drops of balsamic vinegar for each once of beer. After tasting the samples, participants were offered a free large glass of the beer of their choice.

Most of the participants that knew nothing about the vinegar before tasting the beers chose Beer B, the vinegary beer. But those that were offered more information before the tasting (Beer A was a commercial brew, Beer B had a few drops of balsamic vinegar in it) would wrinkle their nose at the vinegary brew and request Beer A instead. They believed beforehand that Beer B was going to be bad and after tasting it, they actually found it bad.

Now what happens if the presence of vinegar is revealed after tasting the samples instead of before? Can initial sensory perceptions be reshaped with new knowledge or is it too late to change the perceptions once they are established? Photo by jules:stonesoup.

It turned out that the participants to this new version of the experiment liked Beer B as much as those that knew nothing about the vinegar. Moveover, when asked whether they would like to make the 'MIT Brew' themselves, they were willing to add the right amount of vinegar to their beer. Like the first group, they tasted the vinegary brew blind without any pre-conceived expectations and they actually liked the taste of it so they didn't mind giving it another try.

What happens is that our brain is always refining and distorting sensory information in order to construct a simpler picture of the world. If our brain has tried to represent everything as accurately as possible, we would be completely paralysed by information. Moreover, it cannot start from scratch at every new situation. Instead, it must build on what it has seen before so we can interact with our environment more decisively and make better sense of our complicated surroundings.

So next time you make a decision, be realistic—it's 100 percent biased.

Catherine Granger is a software engineer living in northern California. She created the Manage Your Cellar online wine inventory tool for collectors, edits the Purple Liquid blog, and notes that she very rarely writes about beer.

Neopolitan Cupcakes

2010-09-15T09:00:00.001-04:00

If you know me, you know I love cupcakes. They are my favorite baked good to make. They are my favorite baked good to eat. Delicious.

Of all the cupcakes in the world, these are my favorite. The concept comes from my favorite cupcake blog, How to Eat a Cupcake. The cupcake recipe is a modified version of Magnolia's cupcakes. The frosting is all Martha Stewart. With their powers combined, this cupcake is out of this world!

Neapolitan Cupcakes

Vanilla Batter

3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup and 2 Tbsps all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Batter

3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup and 2 Tbsps cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
Start with the vanilla batter.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.
Repeat steps 4 - 7 with the chocolate batter substituting the all-purpose flour for cocoa powder.
With a batter scoop, spoon one scoop of each vanilla and chocolate batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes.
Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Strawberry Frosting

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined.
Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree; mix until just blended.

Porch Crawler Cocktail

2010-09-08T05:28:00.002-04:00

Labor Day may have passed, but summer is not over until September 21, people!!!! When you are a working stiff (teachers not included), you get the luxury of working through the calendar year, so you are not affected by summer vacations.
Celebrate the last days of summer with a Porch Crawler, via The Bitten Word:

First, why are they called Porch Crawlers?

When you head home after the night is over, you have to crawl up your porch steps to get back in the house.

And what's in them?

Vodka, beer and lemonade concentrate. That's it.

Porch Crawlers for a crowd

Ingredients:

* 1 handle of very cold Skyy Vodka
* 18-pack of light beer (Keystone Ice is recommended)
* 4 to 8 cans of lemonade concentrate

Into a large cooler, pour the vodka and beer. Add 4 cans of lemonade concentrate. Stir and taste. Continue adding lemonade concentrade until you're pleased with the taste. Serve over ice.

If you'd rather serve the drink straight, you can also pre-freeze water in freezer bags, and then drop those bags into the cooler to keep the drink cold.

Cheers to summer!

Glazed Double-Cut Pork Chops

2010-09-01T08:45:00.002-04:00

I found this recipe a few months ago. I was sitting in my mother-in-law's kitchen, randomly leafing through a Food Network Magazine, listening to family updates, when all of a sudden, wham! The recipe jumped out at me and said, "look at me, I'm awesome."

Turns out, it was right. The recipe is easy to follow, the pork chops were cooked perfectly, and the Bourbon BBQ sauce was sweet, tangy, and delicious.

Glazed Double-Cut Pork Chops

Pork

Kosher salt
2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
2 double-cut bone-in pork chops
2 Tbsp olive oil

Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cups ketchup
3/4 cups apple juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup prunes
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsps black pepper

Directions

Mix 2 tablespoons salt, the black pepper, brown sugar and paprika in a bowl, then rub all over the chops. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the vinegar and brown sugar until dissolved. Add the ketchup, apple juice, syrup, bourbon, prunes, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 30 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender or in a regular blender.
Heat olive oil in a fry pan on medium heat. Place chops in the pan and cook until halfway through, about 15 minutes. Turn the chops and turn heat to low. Cover and cook, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and brush the chops on all sides with the prepared sauce, then cover and cook until glazed, about 5 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and brush with more sauce. Tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Serve with more sauce.

I heart tomatoes.

2010-08-25T21:10:00.000-04:00

I love tomatoes. I think they go well with pretty much everything. Here are some fun tomato recipes for you to try from allrecipes.com:

Double Tomato Bruschetta
"A delicious and easy appetizer. The balsamic vinegar gives it a little bite. Dried basil can be substituted but it is best with fresh."

Avocado Feta Salsa
"A chunky, savory summer salsa that tastes great with pita or tortilla chips."

Insalata Caprese
"It's perfect with fresh loaf of crusty bread. For the best flavor be sure to use fresh whole-milk mozzarella - it puts the packaged varieties to shame. You can find fresh mozzarella in Italian delis, gourmet markets, cheese shops and some grocery stores."

Poor Man's Caviar
"A colorful, light, and delicious concoction to serve with tortilla chips or pita bread. Avocados, tomatoes, green onions, black beans, and Mexicorn are combined with red wine vinegar, canola oil, and hot pepper sauce. Always a crowd pleaser! Serve with tortilla chips or pita bread."

Lemon Sangria

2010-08-18T12:05:00.000-04:00

Nothing says summer like Lemonade. Nothing says summer like Sangria. Bam. With their powers combined, I give you Lemon Sangria and a cute picture of Allie enjoying a glass!

Lemon Sangria

1 bottle dry white wine
2 cups lemonade
1/2 cup limoncello liqueur
2 lemons, cut into wheels
2 oranges cut into wheels
1 bottle semisweet sparkling wine

Directions

Combine the wine, lemonade, limoncello, lemons, and oranges in a large glass container and stir well.
Cover and refrigerate for four hours.
Serve over ice; fill glasses half way with the sangria mixture, then top with sparkling wine.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

2010-08-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

I have been craving Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler. I have never made it so I think I might have to try out this recipe via simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients

Fruit mixture
4 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1-inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
1 1/2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Cobbler crust
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

1 In a bowl, mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, and orange zest. Let sit to macerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

2 In a medium bowl, combine 2 Tablespoons of sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened.

3 Pour fruit into a 2-quart casserole dish. Drop the batter on the fruit. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 minutes until cobbler crust is golden brown.

Serves 6. Serve with whipped cream (optional).

Plum, Nectarine, Blackberry Crisp

2010-08-04T08:25:00.010-04:00

So, last week I stopped by Wholefoods to pick up a few things. I'm not sure if I was feeling adventurous or just hungry, but I spotted some golden plums and decided what the hell. Even after a week on the counter, they were still way to tart to eat.

My solution - bake them into a crisp!

Plum, Nectarine, Blackberry Crisp

Filling

2 nectarines
4 plums
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Crisp

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
2/3 cup butter, softened

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
Slice and pit the plums and nectarines. Toss with the blackberries, granulated sugar, and flour in a bowl.
Transfer the filling to the prepared dish and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
Stir together flour, brown sugar, cooking oats, and butter.
Spoon handfuls of the crumble mixture on top of the fruit.
Bake until golden and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes.
Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Top with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Suprisingly delicious, waaaay healthy, no mayo TUNA SALAD!

2010-08-03T16:11:00.006-04:00

OMFG, so good. You ever go to the cafeteria at work and have a hard time finding something that is both delicious and healthy? Well, try this! This amazing tuna salad was made with ingredients that were all found at the salad bar in the cafeteria at my work. I know it sounds weird, but try it...SO GOOD!

Ingredients:

tuna
chick peas
shredded carrots
diced celery
sunflower seeds
olive oil
red wine vinegar
tabasco
salt
pepper
honey

Mix all ingredients together and stick delicious tuna salad into a pita pocket and enjoy!

.... back in august!

2010-07-25T11:44:00.001-04:00

Happy Bastille Day!

2010-07-14T05:13:00.000-04:00

Bastille Day is the French national holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic. (thanks wikipedia)

If you can't make it to the Champs-Élysées this morning, whip up some crepes instead with this easy recipe from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a blender combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and oil. Process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brush with oil. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

This French delicacy is extremely versatile, as it can be filled with virtually anything -- fruits, pudding, mousse for desserts as well as vegetables and meats for dinner. No need to add more oil each time unless the pan begins to stick. Freeze extra crepes for later use.

If you don't have time for even making crepes... at least grab a croissant at the coffee shop on your way to work!

Bon Fête Nationale!

Pintley: The Best Way To Discover Beer You'll Love!

2010-07-06T19:08:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Thrillist, I learned about Pintley today. The gist: Rate beers you have a tried, and Pintley will recommend others based on your tastes.

"From a former consultant who fell in love with German beer culture while studying abroad, Pintley is a Medford-based online community/super-easy service that "helps you drink better beer" by figuring out your tastes and recommending craft brews based on them, essentially operating like the "Pandora of Suds" but without accidentally taking you from DogFish 90 Min IPA to "Right Said Fred". " - Thrillist

Well I am excited! Maybe I will try a new beer every night to help keep this heat wave in Boston interesting.

get and stay fit!

2010-06-30T18:38:00.001-04:00

check out Bunner's fitness blog here and and latest mad tasty video blog on how to make a quick lean meal here!

an exciting disaster

2010-06-27T14:00:00.001-04:00

Oh readers, let me tell you a tale of two thirds fail. My second Boston Organics delivery was chock full of vegetables I'd never really cooked with before, and I was ready for the challenge. But some challenges remind you that life is full of setbacks, and the important thing is to keep on going.

So everything started okay. I had some potatoes from a shopping trip that needed to get used up, so I threw them on the boil. I mean the basics of mashed potatoes are pretty easy, right? Boil the potatoes until they're soft, with or without skin, then mash into a bowl with milk/cream, cheese maybe and salt & pepper.

From the Boston Organics order, I had a bunch of spinach, which I chopped and simmered in olive oil with an orange pepper and some onions. Then I sort of saw the eggplant of the corner of my eye and decided to throw that in. I skinned it, sort of squared it (cut the sides off some it was moderately rectangular), and then cubed it. I had done this for a nut loaf before, and liked the way it looked. But that wasn't where the fail came in -- because I hate dry/rubbery eggplant, I decided I should add some veggie stock to make it juicy. It did that, I guess. But mostly, it just made it taste like soup. The most boring soup you've ever had.

You may have noticed that I shied away from explaining further about the mashed potato, well, no, that was not the 1/3 win. I also had a beet handy. I've posted my beet salad before -- oh wait! i haven't! i must do that! -- but I wasn't ready for anything quite so sweet. So, yeah, I boiled up a beet and threw it in the mash, which made it this ludicrous pink. It didn't mash as well as the potato, probably need another twenty minutes longer if it would ever get that way. And THEN I ADDED HAZELNUTS. Le sigh. Awful idea. Great with potato salad, but there is nothing great about hard nuts in your mashed potato, because even though you know what's in there, every time you bite down on the nut you just get this idea that the potatoes didn't cook enough. Awful.

However, the meal was saved by the asparagus. It was beautiful, a great mix between thin and thick, and I copied a recipe Nicole told me over drinks -- brush them with olive oil, salt & pepper, then broil in the oven for 15 mins. I also took the liberty of adding some secret seasoning. I'm not gonna lie, they were AMAZING. Anyone baking asparagus instead of broiling or grilling is a fool. There, I said it.

Anyway, I look forward to righting the wrongs I inflicted on these innocent vegetables in the future. Thanks for listening.

The whole duck experience. . .

2010-06-24T13:15:00.005-04:00

Venturing out to a restaurant I have had my eye on for sometime now, we ate dinner a few weeks ago at Salt's in Cambridge . While I'd like to say that my desire to dine here came from rave reviews or knowing any chef training with Jody Adams of Rialto is fantastic, the truth is, I came because they have one item I simply cannot pass up: A whole roasted duck for two.

That's it. A whole roasted duck for two. It comes out on a push cart, nicely browned, stuffed with a calvados, sausage and herb mixture, accompanied by spring onions and roasted heirloom carrots and drizzled in lavendar honey and a rhubarb gastrique. They nicely carve it up and sent the two of us home with enough to make 2 more meals each with duck. and, its only $65. deal.

Before I get too far, let me take you through the full restaurant experience: its small, dimly lit and somewhat formal. They start you out with the most amazing homemade bread whose bottom has been brushed in butter and dipped in coarse sea salt. followed by an amuse bouche, complimentary of course, of a potato cream soup with bacon foam and chives. We of course ordered an appetizer - which was a poached farm egg nestled in bed of green garlic oat risotto, burgundy escargot, morelle mushrooms surrounded by a gruyere and walnut oil gastrique. Then they brought the duck and asked preference for part, carving it right in front. We were far too stuffed for dessert, but they provided a palate cleanser of homemade cocoa marshmallows and rasberry jam bites. Yum.

So, you ask, as we walked away from this dinner overly satisified and were feeling a bit guilty at how pleasurable the experience was, what were we to do with all that extra duck? Well, we managed to do a duck salad, mix it in with sprouts and shredded carrots and make into egg rolls, make duck cakes and lastly, indulge over breakfast in this masterpiece:

Pictured: baby potatoes with left over spring onions, heirloom carrots and wilted spinach, topped with sauteed duck, fried egg and a spritz of hot sauce.

Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios

2010-06-23T17:25:00.001-04:00

Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios (from Bon Appétit, December 2003)

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon whole aniseed
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
¾ cup shelled natural unsalted pistachios
6 ounces imported white chocolate, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend well.
Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
Mix in lemon peel, vanilla, and aniseed.
Beat in flour mixture just until blended.
Stir in cranberries and pistachios (dough will be sticky).
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into 15-inch-long log (about 1 1/4 inches wide).
Carefully transfer logs to 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart.
Bake logs until almost firm to touch but still pale, about 28 minutes.
Cool logs on baking sheet 10 minutes while maintaining oven temperature.
Carefully transfer logs still on parchment to cutting board.
Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, cut logs crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices.
Place slices, 1 cut side down, on remaining 2 prepared sheets.
Bake until firm and pale golden, about 9 minutes per side.
Transfer cookies to racks and cool.
Line another baking sheet with waxed paper.
Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water just until smooth.
Remove from over water.
Dip 1 end of each cookie into melted chocolate, tilting pan if necessary; shake off excess chocolate.
Place cookies on prepared sheet.
Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Easy Tomato Soup Spice Cake

2010-06-16T05:30:00.003-04:00

Recently I was looking online for quick and easy dessert recipes. I found one for a spice cake that uses tomato soup instead of oil. Not a bad idea... I am going to give it a try. Here is how to make it, via allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can Condensed Tomato Soup
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.
2. Mix cake mix, soup, water and eggs according to package directions. Pour into prepared pans.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until done.
4. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
5. Fill and frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

lettuce on pasta

2010-06-05T00:13:00.001-04:00

This meal felt somewhat controversial. To start with, I'd just received my first box from Boston Organics, and was pleased. Thing is, I may be a vegetarian but I hate lettuce. I didn't want to put it on my no list even though I could just in case the lettuce was the kind of green that'd make me change my mind, but when it arrived I still felt cold. So, I decided to put it on pasta.

Now I'm not sure where I read this, but someone out there on the great wide web thought that it would be a great idea to tell folks that if they got too much lettuce in their farmshare that they should saute it with olive oil and salt & pepper. So I did. As you can see, it looks like I was stirfrying a salad.

With the help of time, it began to look more like the sort of pasta topping I'd hoped for. The greens ended up looking like bak choy, and tasting similarly, albeit slightly more bitter. I threw it on gluten-free pasta with baby tomatoes, onions and some pesto and it went down pretty well.

Cold Brewing Iced Coffee

2010-06-02T05:46:00.001-04:00

I love iced coffee. It all started with peer pressure when I was working at Boston Duck Tours in college, but I am thankful that my coworkers brought me to the dark (espresso?) side. I drink iced coffee year round... and often make it myself at home. Here is a great method for cold-brewing which supposedly produces magical iced coffee:

Cold Brewing Iced Coffee, via the Internet Food Association:

"What you need to do is fill a pitcher with a mixture of water and coffee (if you’re grinding your own, aim for a coarse grind) in a ratio of about 1 cup of coffee to about 4.5 cups of water. Stir it up to mix, and stick it in the fridge for, ideally, a 12 hour overnight brew. In the morning, strain the mixture. If your strainer isn’t fine-meshed enough (mine isn’t) you can supplement it with a paper coffee filter. Now you’ve got a delicious pitcher of coffee concentrate. Pour some over an ice cube and enjoy! Most authorities I’ve consulted actually suggest that you dilute the concentrate with some water or milk. I don’t, personally, find that to be necessary since the cold-brewing process leaves you with a coffee that’s all singing flavors and no acid and bitterness, but who am I to contradict the authorities if that’s how you prefer to drink it."

Bacon Lollipops

2010-05-26T15:05:00.000-04:00

This is a recipe for all of you vegans out there. Just kidding. All though you could probably make it with some Smart Bacon.

I saw this recipe for Bacon Lollipops from The Kitchn on Apartment Therapy about a year ago. They looked pretty crazy, but also, pretty delicious. I hadn't really had a reason to make them, but decided to whip up a batch for a party. They were a hit and definitely something I would make again!

Bacon Lollipops
makes 16-20 pops

6 slices bacon
4 ounces goat cheese
4 ounces cream cheese (not whipped)
2 tablespoons chopped thyme or basil, divided
Cracked black pepper
1/4 cup pecans
Apple slices, to serve

Directions

Cut each piece of bacon in half.
Place the bacon in a large skillet without overlapping the slices, and turn the heat on low.
Cook on low for about 15 minutes, turning frequently, until the bacon is quite crispy.
Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and pat the slices to remove excess grease.
While the bacon is cooking, place the goat cheese, cream cheese, 1 Tbsp herbs, and a few turns of cracked black pepper in the food processor.
Whiz until creamy and well-mixed, then form small balls.
Place cheese balls on a lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up a little more.
Clean out the food processor and place bacon, remaining Tbsp of herbs, and the pecans in the food processor.
Whiz until very fine and crumbly; it should be as fine as your food processor will make it.
Take the cheese balls out of the freezer and roll them in the bacon mixture, pressing it in with your fingers if it doesn't immediately stick.
Place the balls in a container and refrigerate until serving.
Just before serving stick lollipop sticks into balls.
Serve with apple slices.

Green Soup, Immersion Blenders, More Boston Organics, and Justin Bieber

2010-05-22T02:50:00.000-04:00

First, Justin Bieber, who makes young girls apparently all Beatles-like riotous.

Really? Seriously? Do you get it? Cause I don't. And I actually LIKE pop music. I dunno, maybe I'm too old to understand. I did really like Joey Mac back in the day, so evs.

OK, matter at hand, GREEN SOUP!

Here is my picture of GREEN SOUP. Yes, I drank half of it before photographing, but I just couldn't help it. Soooo good.

This post is a kind of cousin to my last post, which involved a chowder recipe made from vegetables out of the Boston Organics Box. This weeks box contained asparagus, zucchini, and a basil plant. I still had broccoli(yuck) left from my last box and some onions, so I had all of the ingredients available to make Ellie's mom's famed GREEN SOUP that she served them in Mexico. I have been cautioned not to eat too much of this in one week because there apparently is so much chlorophyll in it that too much can affect your liver negatively. I cannot confirm this. Also, if I have to say - "How much is too much?" It's really good, I needed to be cautioned.

So ok, ingredients:

2 small onions or 1 large onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
a large handful of asparagus, maybe 12-15 spears, with the tough ends broken off (reserve this for veggie stock later), cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cups of roughly chopped broccoli florets (you can keep the florets whole, just make sure they're off the stalk. Reserve the stalks for stock.)
2 small zucchinis, diced or sliced
1 large handful of swiss chard, about 2 cups, no need to chop
salt
pepper
water as needed
garlic powder, optional
half a cup of fresh basil leaves, optional

NOTE: No need to precut veggies. Each step allows for time for you to chop the next vegetable before it goes into the pot.

Warm olive oil on low heat in a large pot. Add onions and salt and pepper, I added about a half a teaspoon of each. Stir and let it work itself out for a while. Crush the garlic cloves to remove skin, reserve skins for stock. Add the garlic to pot, no need to chop, mince, etc. Once onions are translucent, add asparagus to pot and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add water to pot to just cover the vegetables. Turn heat up high and cover. Let boil for 4-5 minutes while preparing broccoli florets. Add to the pot and add more water to just cover the vegetables. Add another pinch of salt and pepper to the pot. Cover and let boil for 4-5 minutes while preparing zucchini. Add zuccini and enough water to just cover vegetables. Pinch of salt and pepper and let boil while you prepare the swiss chard and basil or any fresh herb. You can use a comparable amount of fresh parsley or nothing at all.

This soup should be simple! Once you add the chard and herbs, cover the pot and let boil for about 5 more minutes. You can add more water if it's looking low, but you want to make sure the level of water is always just covering the veggies. Once the 5 minutes are up, uncover and test your veggies. Stick a fork in the asparagus pieces, the asparagus should completely yield to the fork. All the veggies should be completely tender at this point. If not, let it boil for a little while longer. Now for the exciting part. Grab that amazing immersion blender that you gifted yourself prompted by self love...No? Ok, grab the immersion blender you stole from your ex-boyfriend. Evs. Just get yourself an immersion blender. Whatever it takes. Trust me. It will change your life. Like when Boston Organics sends you every root vegetable known to man all autumn and if you eat another fricken turnip mash you will die or kill someone but then you were saved by the immersion blender and now you can make turnip and chive soup, or potato leek soup, or curried sweet potato soup, or anything else wonderful like that because you have an immersion blender and you make your own veggie stock so you always have some on hand and is anyone else's life like this?

Ok, maybe not. So enough of a rant. You can use a regular old blender, but um beware. Wait for the liquid to cool so the blender won't explode and the top of your blender won't pop off and the hot liquid will squirt everywhere and burn you - this has happened to me and to others, please be careful. So when the soup is all blended, taste it. You will need to add salt and pepper and maybe even a few really good shakes of garlic powder like I did. Up to you...I like things with a little kick. Your soup will be creamy without any dairy products at all. It will be delicious and healthy - except for the chlorophyll thing, but I don't know. Internet research suggested that chlorophyll cures everything from cancer to bad breath. Here's a link about this that I cannot confirm the validity of and that Mad Tasty has no affiliation to.

But anyway, back to GREEN SOUP. GREEN! TASTY! SOUP!

You will thank me later.

Until next time,
A

Grow Your Own Avocado Tree

2010-05-19T22:25:00.002-04:00

I <3 avocados so much. I never really ate them until a few years ago, but I wish I had discovered them earlier. They are such a great snack and go well with pretty much everything. Sometimes I wish I could grow my own avocado tree. Well... the internet says I CAN! Check out this link to learn how to grow your very own avocado tree:

Grow Your Own Avocado Tree

I might not be able to pull it off since a) I live in not-always-sunny New England and b) they can grow to be 20 to 40 feet tall, so it could only stay inside for so long... but perhaps I'll give it a shot anyway!

Blondies

2010-05-12T13:56:00.003-04:00

There are many recipes out there for blondies, but this one, from Garrett McCord at Simply Recipes, is without a doubt my favorite. These are super chewy and delicious.

Blondies (by Garrett McCord from Simply Recipes)

1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips (this was not enough for me. I used about 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips instead)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan.
Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together.
Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.
Pour into the pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool.
Cut into squares and serve.

Curried Vegetable Chowder of Epic Proportions

2010-05-07T08:00:00.009-04:00

Live for them. Love them. I have been a customer of theirs on-and-off for years. When I can afford it, I get shipments of organic vegetables DELIVERED to my house and then life is GOOD, people! Now, due to financial constraints, I am on the every-other-week delivery cycle with Boston Organics. Life is still good...BUT sometimes you have to figure out what to do with a bunch of organic vegetables QUICK before they go bad. This is what I did the other night and it was a thing to rejoice!

Curried Vegetable Chowder
(of epic proportions!)

In fridge/freezer/pantry I found:

2 carrots
1/4 head of cabbage
2 red potatoes
1 sweet potato
broccoli (yuck)
collard greens (yum)
2 onions
1 red chili pepper (not sure what kind, but i think it was this)
a few cloves of garlic
spices: curry powder, cinammon, cumin, salt, pepper
olive oil

I also found a large portion of frozen veggie stock I had the foresight to make earlier that week. For a detailed description of how to make your vegetable ends into usable stock, read the play-by-play here.

A quick thing I will add to that epic is leave the skins of your garlic and onions on and also when you take the skins off in your regular cooking, throw em in your stock bag. EVERYTHING goes in except for lemon rind because that will make your stock bitter and inedible. Everything else, fair game. Im talking potato peels here, folks. Also an addendum to Tony's post is - add a shit ton of salt (Can I say shit on the internet? I dunno. I'm sure Dave will bleep me out if need be). (Ed. note: You sure can say shit on the internet. -dave) Like more than you think you need. Just TRUST me on this.

Anyway, now that you have an awesome veggie stock at your disposal, you can move on with your life and make better career choices :). Also, it cures acne.

Things I bought at the store for the curried chowder: Fresh ginger and organic half and half. Amazing! Let's start cooking.

So...take a massive pot and heat up some olive oil. I made a huge pot of soup which I have been eating for days and let me tell you, it gets better every day. So, I probably added about 4 tablespoons of oil to the pot, 2 tablespoons of curry powder, two teaspoons of cinnamon, a teaspoon of cumin, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and a couple of fierce grinds of black pepper and then turn the heat on low. After the oil spice mixture begins to warm (you can tell by the smell), add the onions, sliced and let them sweat on low while other things happen. I grabbed the ginger, broke off about a half inch, peeled it, minced it, threw it in the pot. Sliced the chili pepper, seeds and all, into the pot and give it a stir. Peeled and minced the garlic, about three cloves, into the pot. At this point in time, your house should be smelling so good that you just cant function.

OK, so stir your aromatics that are in the pot and add the 2 red potatoes diced (don't need to peel, just take out any eyes) and the sweet potato, peeled and diced. Turn the heat up to medium, cover and get those potatoes cooking. Peel your carrots and chop them. I sliced them and found the rounds to be a little imposing, you may want to dice them to the same size as your potatoes. Add them to the pot, stir, make sure nothing's burning, move on. Next, grab that quarter of a head of cabbage, take off the outer leaves if the look suspect and cut off any areas that are starting to brown, shreddddd the cabbage by slicing it thin and throw into the pot, stir. Take your broccoli (yuck), about two big stalks, and start slicing at the top of the florets so the little nibs separate individually and make this heinous vegetable palatable. NO bias here. Once all your florets are macerated, chop a little of the soft, upper part of the stem and save the rest to put into the stock bag. Into the pot, stir.

Okay, folks, we're almost ready. Can you feel the excitement building? Grab your collards and slice about a cup's worth (2 inches, how does one measure collards?), into the pot, big stir, life is good, go grab your stock. Add about a quart of the veggie stock into the pot until the vegetables are covered, but just showing underneath the surface. Add another 2 teaspoons of curry powder (yes, really) another dash of cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt a few more fierce grinds of black pepper an cover. Bring up to a boil and let this mixture boil, covered for about 15-20 minutes until potatoes and carrots are tender. Once this happens, turn off heat and add your half-and-half slowly until you achieve the desired creaminess. I didn't use much-maybe about a cup in total. Stir and taste. Mixture should be just creamy, slightly curried, spicy, delicious and totally like whoa. If this is not the case, add more salt and pepper, maybe another shot of the half-and-half and try again. If it's not amazing at this point then I just don't know. Maybe it's karma from a past life...shake your first at the sky, discard and order pizza.

But anyway, our soup was incredible, spicy, organic, delicious, dinner, lunch, lunch, dinner. So good. Also, google the health benefits of turmeric, found in curry powder, and feel pleased with your meal choice and morally superior to others. I kid. Seriously though, this soup is amazing and life is good.

Until next time,
A

Homemade fish sandwiches

2010-05-06T10:25:00.004-04:00

They have frozen fish fillets, unbreaded and inexpensive in the frozen seafood section at your regular grocer now. The standard price is $3 - 5 for four whole fillets, indvidually wrapped, of tilapia, catfish or cod, which is a great deal. I've found a great use for these to feel like you are eating out a cafe at home:

- Take a fillet out of the bag and put it on a plate / bowl in the sink - run cold water over it for ~5 min until defrosted.

- Meanwhile, prep your slaw: shredded cabbage, carrots and onions, mixed with a few tablespoons of vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Add fresh ginger for an asian flare.

- Make your aioli: a tbl of mayo, minced garlic, tsp of lemon juice and some diced parsley (i've used dried and its been just fine)

- Dry off the fillet well with paper towels, then sprinkle both sides with Cajun Spice and flash fry on both sides in a tbl of oil

- Slice a baguette (or any other heary bread) and slather with aioli, then top with the fish fillet and the slaw.

Love that dirty water!

2010-05-05T05:49:00.001-04:00

In case you didn't hear, much of Greater Boston lost clean water for several days this past week. A catastrophic water main leak in Weston Saturday forced a boil-water order for about 2 million residents in 30 Eastern Massachusetts communities. The boil order was lifted early Tuesday morning after a fix to the leak was made and tests showed clean water flowing to the communities.

As horrible as it was to deal with this problem, it could have been a million times worse and last a whole lot longer. I think this crisis truly made some of the locals think long and hard about how precious water is and hope that this problem will at least help people be more conscious about conserving water.

So take a moment today, let's raise our glasses, or water bottles, to good old H2O! Without water, we could probably not keep this blog going. Or much else going.

Roasted Tomato and Rice Soup

2010-04-28T10:46:00.003-04:00

If there was ever a soup to be described as Mmm Mmm Good, it is the New England Soup Factory's Roasted Tomato and Rice Soup. It is absolutely delicious and totally worth the 2 hours it takes to make!

If you enjoy it, get the cookbook! There is lots of goodness in there.

Roasted Tomato and Rice Soup (by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein from the New England Soup Factory)
Makes 10 servings

Roasted Tomatoes

12 medium plum tomatoes
3 Tbsps olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rice

3 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of white rice, uncooked
1 Tbsp of butter

Soup

3 Tbsps butter
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
Roasted plum tomatoes
6 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
3 cups tomato juice
2 Tbsps chopped fresh basil
2 ½ cups cooked white rice
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions for Roasted Tomatoes

Heat the oven to 425 degrees
Hull tomatoes and slice in half
Place the tomatoes in a large mixing bowl
Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper
Place the tomatoes in a small roasting pan and roast in the oven for 50 minutes

Directions for rice

Bring water to a boil
Reduce heat and add rice
Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes
Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes

Directions for soup

In a stockpot melt butter over medium-high heat
Add the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery
Sauté for 10 minutes stirring frequently
Add the roasted tomatoes and continue to sauté for 5 minutes
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, stock, and tomato juice
Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium.
Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes
Add basil
Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender or working in batches with a regular blender until smooth
Place the soup back into the pot if using a regular blender
Add the rice and season with Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper
Stir so that the rice is evenly distributed throughout the soup
Sprinkle each serving with cheese

Lentil Stew - a twist!

2010-04-26T10:06:00.001-04:00

This here recipe was donated to the good folks at Mad Tasty by Shawn Westendorf. Sounds great and healthy...can't wait to try it!

A new take on lentil stew!

Lentil Stew

1 cup pink lentils
1 chopped celery root
4 chopped jeruselem artichokes
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lime
1 chili pepper
2.5 cups broth
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 handfuls fresh cilantro
3 large leaves of swiss chard
yogurt

In a saucepan, slowcooker, dutch oven, cast iron pan...etc... combine celery root, jeruselem artichokes, onion, garlic, ginger, lentils, and chilli pepper with broth. I guestimated the amount of broth, I just used enough to cover the dry ingredients about an inch. Cook on low for 1.5 hours, ( or all day in the slow cooker) or on high if you have less time but just enough till the lentils are soft (probably 25 minutes). My veggies were sitll a little crunchy but I like it that way. When stew is cooling, add fresh cilantro, swiss chard, and lime. stir until swiss chard is soft and cooked. Serve with a dallop of yogurt, fresh cilantro, and a lime wedge, with a sprinkle of cayenne or paprika on top. Enjoy!

Oh, and I soaked the lentils in Kombucha for an hour first, they soaked it right up! This helps the digestive system break down the lentils. Optional!

Can you Quiche Quiche?

2010-04-22T09:57:00.004-04:00

Quiche is definitely one of those easy and versatile dishes, after all most ingredients taste lovely wrapped in a blanket of eggs and cheese! With all this great weather, the first thing I did was load up on fresh veggies to grill and realize a few days later, I had cooked up way too many for any one person to eat and not turn into one themselves.

Using my standard recipe, I made a yummy easy lunch creation:

- Preheat oven to 425 F and grease a pie dish liberally
- Cut the crusts off of 5 pieces of whole wheat sandwich bread and lay down on the bottom of the pie dish
- Pile on the grilled veggies (sliced and seasoned with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, then grilled until cooked through and slightly charred)
- Add a cup of grated cheese - for this is just used the regular old parmesan cheese out of a can and it worked great!
- Beat 4 whole, large eggs really well with 2 tbls of low fat milk. Pour over the veggies and cheese

- Bake for 35-45 min until set and browning on top, allow to cool for 10 min before serving

And Voila!

Chef's notes: for meat lovers, bacon, onion and chedder cheese makes a great alternative; for an asian flavor, use sauteed, shredded carrots, red cabbage, green onions in sesame oil and a bit of rice vinegar, and use chopped cilantro instead of the cheese.

Movie Recipes!

2010-04-21T05:54:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been watching a movie, only to wonder to yourself, "What are they eating and HOW do I make that for myself?"

Well, now you can look through a growing catalog of movie recipes at www.movierecipes.net! Try the Lingonberry Pancakes from The Big Lebowski, Eggs in a basket from V for Vendetta, Cherry Pie from Waitress, and more!

full irish vegan

2010-04-19T18:54:00.001-04:00

We appear to have slowed down a little here at mad tasty, if you've noticed, so apologies for that. I do think Jade's epic post below this does make up for that somewhat, so I won't pity our readers too much.

If you're on the lookout for more tasty eats, do check out Full Irish Vegan for both inspiration and lovely photos. I do love that the blog immediately tackles that dreaded fear that one could never have a full on fry again.

The Butter Apologist

2010-04-16T00:25:00.000-04:00

Hallo friends. Jade Sylvan here. I'm taking a break from my usual bloggy endeavors at The Broken Watch and The Boston Healing Blog to bring you the tale of an epic meal.

I love my family to the point of obsession. However, like many ambitious clans these days, we are spread out all over the country, and don't get to see each other too often.

This spring, we all got together for a joint birthday party for my dad, my brother, and my sister-in-law.

My sis-in-law Val and I decided to show off our gender-normative proclivities by cooking a flashy dinner for everyone.

The menu:

salmon with butter shallot sauce
buttered poppy seed smashed potatoes and parsnips
swiss chard, garlic, and shallot sauteed in butter (are we sensing a theme here?)
tossed salad of butter lettuce (just to keep things in the family), spinach, mung bean sprouts, slivered almonds, olives, and artichoke hearts with balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil

Tangentially, I recently had a debate with some of my friends about which was more essential, butter or cheese. I think I was the only one who said butter, and the cheese-supporters were disturbingly truculent while defending their dairy product of choice.

It's not that I have anything against cheese. I just feel that it's overused in American cuisine, oftentimes to mask the fact that a dish doesn't actually taste very good. Butter, on the other hand, enhances flavor with the smooth subtlety of a jazz accompanist. Allow me to offer this meal as my argument.

First of all, before we could do anything, we obviously needed cute aprons...

... and champagne.

That's Dad's job. Isn't he cute?

Aprons and champ donned, we were ready to do some cooking.

We had all the raw ingredients.

Salmon:

Potatoes and parsnips:

A bunch of veggies and a crap load of butter. [not pictured]

I'm not so great at giving recipes or cooking instructions, since my general cooking motto is "Throw a bunch of stuff together until it tastes awesome." Fortunately, my brother John, optical-physicist-cum-photographer, was there to take photos. Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I hope you can get the general gist of things by browsing through the ensuing FOOD PORN.

Just look at them glisten.

The potatoes are easy. You boil a bunch of potatoes (I used my two favorite, red and yukon gold) with a bunch of parsnips (I peel the parsnips, but not the potatoes), then when they're soft you SMASH them with a crap load of butter, cream, salt, pepper and poppy seeds.

My grandma said they were the best potatoes she's ever had in her life. She's 83. Just sayin, she's had a lot of potatoes.

Jade SMASH!

This look of utter glee only graces my visage when I'm smashing something.

Then I chopped the garlic for the chard. I do this thing where I (you guessed it) SMASH the garlic clove before I peel it, which makes the whole peel come right off.

Jade SMASH!

While I was doing that, Val was starting on the butter shallot sauce, which is exactly what it sounds like.

And just look at the chard.

Totally helps that my mom's cookware is gorgeous.

Oh, and somewhere in there salmon was made...

... and a salad was made...

... with Butter looking nobly on.

There was nothing left to do but dish it up...

... and serve.

No cheese necessary.

Nana Molloy's Blueberry Muffins

2010-04-14T12:06:00.001-04:00

My Nana used to make the best blueberry muffins in the world. They were delicious.

Her recipe originally hails from the Jordan Marsh bakery that was on the first floor of the Jordan Marsh department store in Downtown Crossing. Jordan Marsh was the country's first department store. It opened in 1861 and was truly the picture of one-stop shopping. In 1988, Jordan Marsh was purchased by Macy's and the bakery was closed forever, but the recipe will live on in our family.

Nana's Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (1 pint) blueberries
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. sugar for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Line muffin pans with baking cups
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt
Mix together butter, sugar, and eggs
Add dry ingredients to butter, sugar, and eggs in 3 additions. Alternate additions with milk.
When well mixed, fold in blueberries
Spoon into lined muffin pan
Bake for 20-25 minutes

Blue Cheese Brown Rice "Risotto"

2010-04-09T14:53:00.006-04:00

Blarg. I've been too busy to cook recently which, for those who know, doesn't make me happy. I had a night off this week so I was psyched to give a go at some ho'made cookin. Yeah. But... by the time I actually got around to cooking dinner, I was so tired and scattered that it was mostly scrambling and cursing trying to make something out of whatever bits of food I had around the house. One of the concoctions was actually delicious and amazingly simple.

I took one bag of frozen brown rice, like the kind pictured above, cut a slit in the top of the bag and boiled the bag in about 2 inches of water for 2 minutes. Then I carefully fished the bag out of the water and dumped the rice from the bag into the boiling water. I added a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, about two tablespoons of blue cheese, three tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and a heaping teaspoon of ground sage. Then I stirred this into the boiling water until most of the liquid had evaporated (4-5 minutes). I then added a teaspoon of flour, stirred well (about another 2 minutes) and took the mixture off of the heat.

The end result was unique and delicious and tasted like creamy risotto you would get in a restaurant!!!

Do you bring your lunch to work?

2010-04-07T06:19:00.001-04:00

Since I was in grade school, I have always been a brown-bag lunch kind of person. In school, it was because I didn't like the cafeteria food. In college, I would steal food from the dining hall due to my college student poverty. Now, in the working world, my decision to continue to bring my own lunch is a combination of saving time, saving money, and being comforted knowing what exactly I am eating. I have always been a snacker, too, so I bring a bunch of stuff to keep me going through the day.
I am also a creature of habit, so the above picture pretty much represents what is in my lunch bag each day. I'll have yogurt in the morning, sometimes with granola. Then, for a mid-morning snack, I'll reach for the Odwalla granola bar (Berries GoMega is one of my favorites but their Banana Nut is great too). Lunch is usually a salad of some sort of one of those portable soups you can get from Healthy Choice. Then the rest of the contents (usually consisting of fruit, nuts, some kind of sweets) are spread out over the day... not pictured is my iced coffee which I also usually make at home in the morning. And I try to keep a full candy dish at work since I can't go a day without the stuff! Moderation is key.
Do you bring your lunch or buy your lunch? What do you eat during the work day?

Manhattan Cupcakes

2010-04-06T07:30:00.000-04:00

Last year for a friend's birthday cocktail party, we decided to combine the two best things about birthdays - cake and drinking - by making these gin and tonic cupcakes.

This year we wanted to turn that brilliant idea into a tradition. The only problem is that there's a dearth of cocktail cupcake recipes out there -- only these few from Baking Bites seemed up to our standards, and even they are pretty mainstream. Our bag is classic cocktails, and we really wanted to try something a little different. So we made it up.
The cocktail: Manhattan (2 oz whiskey, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, shaken and strained, garnished with orange peel and a maraschino cherry). The origin recipe: Burnt-Butter Brown Sugar Cupcakes Now, our recipe isn't perfect yet, so we're looking for another excuse to make these and tweak them a bit. They don't have quite as strong a whiskey flavor as we're looking for, but they're delicious nonetheless.

1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup self-rising cake flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons whiskey

1 tbsp milk (in the future, we're thinking of substituting whiskey here too)

Preheat the oven to 400F and start burning your butter. Put it in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring all the time until it turns dark golden color. Take the pan off the heat and let the butter solidify, but stay soft.

When the butter is solid but still soft, put all the cake ingredients except the whiskey and milk in a food processor or blender and blend to a smooth batter. Add the whiskey and milk down the funnel, pulsing sparingly to form a soft, dropping mixture.

Divide among lined cupcake tins, and cook for 15-20 minutes for regular-size cupcakes, 8-10 for mini.

We used a basic cream cheese frosting to top these (buttercream would be too much, well, butter for these cakes) with one little difference: sweet vermouth. That's an integral part of a Manhattan, and we were pretty excited about figuring it into the cupcakes. However, it turns out that the vermouth makes the frosting too sweet, so it's best to leave it out until we do a little more research.

Frost the cupcakes and top with just a little orange zest and a sliver of maraschino cherry.

And if anyone knows of any cocktail baked good recipes, or a way to figure in bitters, please send them our way.

food stuff: boiling egg fun

2010-04-05T04:13:00.001-04:00

in honor of easter (yesterday), i thought i would put up some tips on hard boiling eggs, thanks to the kitchn. it was only a few months ago that i even realized there was a difference between hard boiling and soft boiling eggs - i'd never even thought anyone would want a soft-boiled egg. check out this post about hard boiling egg fun and this post about a tip to date hard boiled eggs for maximum freshness. here is another tip for getting the perfect hard boiled egg. and finally, what to do with leftover hard boiled eggs.

so, this raises the question: did you hard boil eggs to decorate this year? and after you decorated them, did you eat them? or what is your favorite way to eat eggs?

Lemon Bread

2010-03-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

This recipe for Lemon Bread by Randi at I Have to Say is one of my all time favorite bread recipes.

It's one of those amazing foods that actually gets better the longer it sits. The first few days, it's definitely bread. Best eaten for breakfast warmed up with some butter. The the last few days, it's kind of like cake. Best eaten with a fork, after dinner for dessert. It's a strange phenomenon, but one I'm not going to question because it is so yummy!

Lemon Bread

1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. shredded lemon peel
3 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
1 TB. sugar

Directions

Stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl combine the egg, milk, oil, and 1 TB. lemon juice.
Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined.
Add the shredded lemon peel and stir.
Pour batter into greased 8X4X2 inch loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean.
While the bread is baking, stir the 2 TB. lemon juice and 1 TB. sugar together.
Sugar should be dissolved before brushing on the bread.
When the bread is done, brush the lemon juice mixture on the bread
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Wrap the bread in a ziplock plastic bag to store. The flavor gets better as it sits.

technical difficulties

2010-03-29T12:37:00.001-04:00

apologies for the weirdness going on with our images. hopefully blogger will sort it out soon.

food stuff: cooling hot beverages

2010-03-29T07:35:00.000-04:00

today is the first day in about a month that i have had to wear a jacket to work here in northern california. it's sad. and to that extent, i was thinking about how i need to drink some more hot beverages this week - i love me some tea. but, whenever i drink tea, i always have to wait a half hour or an hour for it to cool down enough for me to handle it. that is, until i read this article at the kitchen which details the best ways to cool a hot beverage. it's great! how do you prefer to cool your beverages?

Pizza Party, Part 1

2010-03-24T17:26:00.007-04:00

Ohhhh K...so to be fair, the above image was not taken at my pizza party. It is a picture of A pear and blue cheese pizza, not MY pear and blue cheese pizza. That's because my pear and blue cheese pizza was gone before I could photograph it, almost gone before I got a chance to try it, and also, um, because I was too busy making 5 pizzas to remember to photgraph them for Mad Tasty. Sorry folks. I'll do better next time.

So here goes, at almost 30, after being a foodie, a waitress, a cook...after going to some of the best restaurants in town - expensive or not - I still love to eat like I did when I was 5. That means, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and my favorite, PIZZA! I love pizza of all shapes and sizes, styles, thin crust, thick, toppings, whatever. So to introduce my friends to my new apartment, I invited a few people over for, wait for it, a grown-up pizza party. I decided to mess around with toppings to test our palate and there was no doubt that the pear, blue cheese, and bacon pizza was the biggest success; more on this later. For my first foray into dough making (frighteningly close to baking, eeeek), I used this recipe from the interwebz:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jays-Signature-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx

In my attempt, I actually doubled the brown sugar content because we have really crappy measuring spoons in my new apartment. Though I was worried the crust was going to taste like cake, it was actually delicious. My only observation was that it was that the end crusts were a little too thick (think breadsticks) but that may just have been how it was layed out, I dunno. Anyway, we saved all of the massive ;) crusts and I have since thrown them in the oven for quick breadsticks to eat with grilled shrimp or proscuitto or whatever you have lying around the house for a quick snack. The remainders will soon become breadcrumbs for stuffed mushrooms, yum.

OK, so once you have your dough all mixed and manhandled and risen ;) it's time to spread it out ;))) and start topping them :) (sorry, i am ridiculous today and thinking about pizza puts me in a mood) . You can use pizza pans or a pizza stone, I used both because that's what I had. If you don't have these items, I'm sure you can use a regular baking pan/cookie tray type thing and maybe just make smaller pizzas of different shapes and sizes. As long as it tastes good, it won't matter what it looks like. The toppings we used were, drumroll please:

1) The aforementioned Pear, Blue Cheese, and Bacon Pizza.

Gah. To set this up, I cut maple bacon slices into half an inch pieces and gently sauteed them in a pan with no butter or oil, just to quickly pre-cook them, turning often to make sure they didn't burn or overcook. Once they were mostly opaque, I pulled the bacon off the stove and set them aside to cool. I covered the pizza dough with thin slices of a just ripe pear. Then I added the bacon, crumbles of a mid-level blue cheese (not too expensive, not too cheap), and regular shredded mozzarella to fill it out. Brush the end crusts with olive oil. Pop this in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for about 18-20 minutes and, um, wow.

2) Cannellini Bean and Parsley Pesto Pizza

Hmmm. Ok, good concept, poor execution. I wanted to use a pesto recipe that didn't have any nuts in it, so I tried this one... I used a variation of this recipe from Emeril:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cannellini-bean-salad-with-parsley-pesto-recipe/index.html

I sauteed the beans per the recipe and found that the beans had PLENTY of bright, lemon flavor, so I opted out of using the lemon juice that the recipe suggested for the pesto portion. I let the bean mixture cool and then I spread it out on the naked ;) pizza dough. Here's where I made my mistake. I used all of the bean mixture so that the dough was coumpletely covered. Then I dropped the parsley pesto all over the pizza in blobs and covered it with shredded parmesan cheese. Brush the crust with olive oil and then, in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes and done. So it was delicious, don't get me wrong. So, so tasty. Thanks, Emeril. BUT it was waaaaaay to heavy. It felt more like bean pie then a pizza. Next time, I would either use much less of the bean mixture on the dough orrrr I would just make a pie crust and make a savory bean pizza and be done with it. Basta.

3) Proscuitto and Calimyrna Figs

Pretty self-explanatory. I cut up pieces of proscuitto and cut up the figs and placed them on the dough. Covered the pizza with shredded mozzerella and brushed the crusts in olive oil. In the oven for 18 minutes at 450 and you're done. It was delicious. I felt liked it needed something but I couldn't figure out what. Definitely tasty though.

4) Roasted Red Pepper and Fresh Mozzarella

Really simple sauce. Take a red pepper, put it on your oven range and roast it. Add it to a pan with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of minced garlic, a small can of diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of dried oregano, a dash of cinnamon, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a teaspoon of salt. Saute on med-high heat, breaking up the tomatoes and pepper with a spoon as you go. Let cook for about 15 minutes and then remove from heat. Blend in a blender of food processor until smooth. When cool, spread across pizza and then top pizza with slices of fresh mozzarella. Brush crust with olive oil. Also, you can add any more spices you like to top the pizza before putting it in the oven - crushed red pepper flakes, more oregano - your choice. Then in the oven at 450 degrees for about 18 minutes and yum!

5) Curried Cauliflower and Cashew Pizza

This recipe is a little complicated but so delicious it deserves its own post. Check back for it!

Everything Bagel Spice

2010-03-24T05:59:00.003-04:00

Who doesn't love everything bagels? They are so good... and the combination of the spices really has such a unique flavor.
Well, some genius decided to whip up an everything bagel spice. Now that I think of it, how has it taken so long for someone to realize the brilliance of this idea?
Everything Bagel Spice can be purchased at giftgenius.com.

Mini Meatball Soup

2010-03-17T08:00:00.004-04:00

The end of winter is almost upon us. Before we go completely, here is the recipe for my favorite soup, courtesy of Rachel Ray from The Food Network. Love her (I do) or hate her (lots of people do), the woman can cook.

Mini Meatball Soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried pasta
1 pound triple washed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

Directions

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg in a mixing bowl.
Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil.
When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth.
When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir.
Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches.
When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve.

food stuff: all about salt and spices

2010-03-15T09:13:00.001-04:00

today, we're all about the spices, including salt. i was at trader joe's yesterday and really really wanted to buy some sea salt, but i couldn't justify it (i'm only tempoarily living here and don't want to move a jar of salt for no reason). and i love looking longingly at spices. i have NO IDEA how to use them properly, but i still like to imagine myself someone who just throws in this and that and knows how it's all going to turn out. here are some fabulous links all about salt and spices to help you become that culinary genius:

[h/t: the kitchn]

Orchiette with totally amazing Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

2010-03-13T16:47:00.002-05:00

Ok, I used this recipe from this really adorable site called Pioneer Woman.

Her pictures are gorgeous and the recipes are easy to follow and often funny. This dish was such a hit. My picture is not nearly as beautiful as PW's, but oh well, whatcanudo... OK, some notes...

I took my attention off the pasta as it was cooking and then I let it sit just a little too long after it was done so the orchiette stuck together. To fix this, you can just stir more while cooking and then add a little olive oil when its drained and stir it around so that it does not stick together.
I used half-and half instead of heavy cream, but I can tell you that the sauce was so thick and rich before that step that I doubt adding the dairy is really neccessary because the toasted pine nuts have such a richness on their own.
Make sure you really add plenty of freshly shaved parmesan cheese and chopped parsley at the end and mix to coat the pasta well with these ingredients. It truly brightens the flavor and really rounds out the dish.

This recipe really is groan worthy and easy! Enjoy! I served it with a light, bright salad of chopped escarole, almonds, grilled shrimp and an easy lemon/butter/shallot sauce (combine in a medium hot pan and whisk together - voila!).

Biscuits for sale

2010-03-11T06:44:00.000-05:00

Portland, OR is a city known for hearty breakfasts and over a year ago, I spotted Pine State Biscuits on the Food Network, and knew I had to make it down there. Yes, that's right, a full year I have been pining over biscuits. And southern food, especially biscuits are not typically on my must have list.

I ordered the Regina, but what Scott, my husband, got was much more amazing: The Reggie Deluxe. Quite a hearty breakfast with fried chicken, bacon, cheese and fried egg smothered in gravy on a fabulous biscuit. Add some Texas Pete's hot sauce and this was heaven made just for Scott.

For those of you interested in tackling, just follow these easy instructions.

Mad Hectic Oatmeal

2010-03-10T06:26:00.000-05:00

Mad Hectic Oatmeal was featured in Daily Candy the other day. From what I have read, it sounds mad tasty!

About the product:
MAD HECTIC OATMEAL is an all-natural, high-protein hot oatmeal cereal mix created to be an easy way to get important nutrients into your daily routine. We use only the finest ingredients and there are no artificial colors or sweeteners and no trans fats! Mad Hectic Oatmeal is incredibly tasty oatmeal that cooks in just one minute!

We start with organic oats that are full of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Many healthcare professionals recommend eating oatmeal daily to help reduce cholesterol and help protect your heart. A high-fiber breakfast also helps keep blood sugar levels balanced and helps you feel full longer, reducing the urge to splurge on high-sugar foods between meals.

Olive and Herb Focaccia

2010-03-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Every time we see the bottle of coarse sea salt in the cabinet we think of making this great, easy focaccia from The Weekend Baker. It takes a bit of time, but most of that is just letting the dough rise and having yourself a cocktail in the meantime.

3 1/3 c flour
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) instant yeast
2 tsp table salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 c warm water (115-125 degrees will activate the yeast, but we didn't actually measure the temp)
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing the dough

For the topping:
20 pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp coarse salt (note: this coupled with the olives make the bread pretty salty, so feel free to cut back on this and just sprinkle a bit on top)

Whisk together the flour, thyme, yeast, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Drizzle the water and olive oil over the dry mix. If you have a stand mixer, fit it with a dough hook and mix until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 8 minutes); if you don't, mix with a wooden spoon until a rough, shaggy dough forms and then knead for about 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball. Lightly oil the bowl and put the dough back in it, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Put dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet and press down gently to deflate. Shape the dough into an oval about 3/4 inch thick (about 10 inches long and 7 inches wide). Lightly brush with olive oil and loosely cover the surface with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm spot for another 20 minutes, until it has puffed and almost doubled.

Heat oven to 425 and remove the plastic from the dough. Lightly coat fingers with flour and press down into dough (but not through) until you touch the bottom, until you have about 2 dozen dimples. Scatter the olives all over the surface, pressing them into the dimples. Really make sure they're in the little holes, or they'll fall off when the bread is baked. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with thyme and coarse salt.

Bake until top of focaccia is browned, 20-25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer bread to a rack. Drizzle remaining olive oil. Serve warm.

Vegan Friendly Cooked Breakfast

2010-03-05T06:43:00.008-05:00

I stayed in my vegan friend's house last week, and made a pretty good vegan friendly version of a cooked breakfast! Ok, the mushrooms and tomatoes are there already - but this post will share info about the product available to create vegan sausages that tastes like pork, and how to make a scrambled tofu that looks and tastes very much like egg....

Ingredients:

Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Potato Farls
Asda Meat Free Sausage Mix, Water, Soy Sauce, Garlic Powder, Pepper.
Tofu, Engevita Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, Turmeric.

1) For the sausages, Asda have a fab meat free sausage mix - just add water, mould into shape and pop on the pan. As a pork lover, this didn't really float by boat, but it came close enough.... add some garlic, soy and pepper to bring out a more spicy porky flavour! I probably made it too watery and could do with some practice to get it right....

2) To make the scrabbled tofu, cut out a chunk of tofu, and pop onto a hot pan, using vegetable oil. Use this yeast extract, Engevita, to add a cheesy nutty taste. Add the onion powder, salt and pepper, and some turmeric to give the tofu an eggy colour, and mix about on the pan until scrambled. Now this is delicious!

3) Served with fried mushrooms, fried or grilled tomatoes, and potato farls....and yes, there is soy milk in the tea. A full cooked breakfast, without a trace of animal products!

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

2010-03-03T09:00:00.003-05:00

Every so often, you just have to throw caution to the wind and make something kind of random with ingredients you happen to have on hand.

Last night was one of those nights. Nine times out of ten, this never works out for me and I end up eating something kinda of gross. Last night, was the exception!

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 boneless pork chops
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 salt

Directions

In a frying pan, combine chicken stock, apricot preserves, and worcestershire sauce.
Bring to a simmer on low-medium heat.
Season pork chops with salt and pepper and place in the frying pan
Cook covered for 20 minutes turning the pork chops every five minutes to coat in apricot glaze. If the glaze becomes too thick, add more chicken stock.
Cook uncovered for an additional 5 minutes or until the pork chops are cooked through.

Yeasted Tart Shell

2010-03-02T22:55:00.008-05:00

I found a copy of Fields of Greens at a used bookstore almost a year ago and it wasn't until the other night that I got around to making anything from it. I was in a tart mood, as in, a savory tart mood, so I chose one with leeks, garlic, and olives, all cradled inside a yeasted tart shell. Though I've made many a tart in my life I'd never encountered a yeasted tart shell before—I thought the pie-crust variety (flour, butter/shortening, salt, and cold water) was the only way to go. This is something more like a delicate Sicilian pizza: the crust is pillowey and soft, and the yeast gives it as much heft as flavor. Annie Somerville, author of Field of Greens, has taken famed English cookery pioneer Elizabeth David's recipe verbatim, and rather than type it up and make any claims that I did anything original to it, I'll just give you the link.

But for fillings: you might drive yourself mad considering the options. With all tarts and quiches, it's a good idea to put a layer of cheese on the bottom, which seals up any holes. So keep that in mind if you're going to go rogue and use just tomatoes, basil, salt & pepper, or saute chopped cauliflower or broccoli with shallots and garlic and a bit of nutmeg and then pour a light custard over the top, or simply, say, ratatouille and chopped cooked spinach and goat cheese. If you want to copy what I had, follow this modification of Somerville's recipe.

Leek & Olive Tart: Saute 3 thinly sliced leeks in a bit of oil. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, a big pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper, and cover and steam until softened, then cook uncovered for 1 or 2 minutes until any remaining liquid cooks off. It a crust forms on the bottom of the pan, deglaze it with a bit of wine, stock, or water. Mix this up with a handful of chopped olives and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. After you've dusted the 9-inch tart shell with grated Parmesean (or any other cheese you like), make an even layer of the leek mixture. Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 cup half-and-half (or 1/2 cup cream + 1/2 cup milk), and then pour this over the leeks, and up to the rim of the shell (you may not need to use all the custard). Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-35 minutes, until fully set.

Muhammara - Middle Eastern Red Pepper Walnut Dip

2010-03-01T10:28:00.007-05:00

Ingredients:

a 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
2/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses*
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
toasted pita triangles as an accompanimen

Directions:

In a food processor blend together the peppers, the bread crumbs, the walnuts, the garlic, the lemon juice, the pomegranate molasses, the cumin, the red pepper flakes, and salt to taste until the mixture is smooth and with the motor running add the oil gradually. Transfer the muhammara to a bowl and serve it at room temperature with the pita triangles.

Commentary:

I have to admit I have not tried this recipe from epicurious yet....but if its anything like the dip I had at this Middle Eastern Pasha's restaurant in Miami it should be AMAZING!! I have gone back to this restaurant three times just for this dip! The menu is standard and the food is average but the Muhammara is great! I will be making this when I get home and will comment about how it turns out ASAP!

Middle Eastern Roasted Eggplant

2010-02-26T15:54:00.010-05:00

2 large eggplants, washed and diced
2 teaspoons salt, divided
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Red onion, thinly sliced into rings
2 cups of cherry tomatoes
1 head garlic, unpeeled, cloves separated
1 bunch of fresh marjoram, on stems, washed
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 lemon
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl season the diced eggplant with one tablespoon of salt, mix and let sit as you prepare the rest of the dish. Thinly slice the red onion and place in a large roasting pan. Toss in cherry tomatoes to the pan, add the diced eggplant and fresh majoram and coat in the olive oil. Add more olive oil if need be...you want a generous amount in the pan...about a quarter of an inch high. Add the remaining salt, pepper, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes and stir so that the spices evenly coat the veggies. Last add the individual garlic cloves to the pan - unpeeled, push them down into the mix so that they are coated and covered. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 45 minutes - when you can really smell the mixture roasting. Take pan out of the oven, juice the 1/4 lemon over the mixture, give it a good stir and place back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven-the vegetables should be very, very soft. Carefully (because the pan and mixture will be hot) fish out each of the unpeeled garlic cloves. The inside of the cloves will be very soft. Using your fingers, squeeze the cloves into the roasting pan, discarding the skins (or putting them in your frozen bag of veggie ends to make stock in the future!). You can either let the cloves cool or use gloves to handle them so you don't get burned. Place the pan on top of the stove and turn the heat up to medium high heat. Stir the mixture vigorously with a heavy spoon, breaking up the cherry tomatoes and incorporating the roasted garlic, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sesame seeds and stir into the mixture, let cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring vigorously to make sure nothing burns to the bottom of the pan.

Either serve the mixture hot as a side dish or as a main dish with rice or soft bread. This mixture can also be served well cold as a dip with crackers or as a spread for bread.

NOTE: This is a delicious and healthful dish that is very easy to make, using an interpretation of the Middle Eastern spice mixture known as Za'atar.

Can you say Kung Pao?

2010-02-25T08:03:00.003-05:00

Two weeks in Beijing made me realize that for those of you foodies, this may not be the city or country for you. The answer to that age old question - "is it like the Chinese food we have here" is YES. i was shocked (and disappaointed). The vast majority of the food in Beijing is very similar to our American Chinese food - a little less soy and a little more veggies in cornstarch sauce or pickling juice. The clearest demonstration of this you ask? Kung Pao is indeed exactly like we have it here and on the menu at every restaurant, and no, I didn't even go near the tourist restaurants - I was there for buisness afterall.

That being said, I did manage to venture out and find some unique (and sometimes tasty) bits:

Fish soup: for this, you pick a fish (and by that i mean you point to one in a tank and they take it out and strip it for you at the side of the table) and they put it in with many herbs. What I liked best about this dish is they use Chinese Peppercorns, which look a lot like typical peppercorns, but are within the Opium family, so when you eat them, first your mouth goes numb and then as you digest, your entire body gets a fabulous dose of what i would call superman strength aspririn (or vicadin).

Street food: two main streets are lined with street vendors, who for the most part have skewers of meat and fish that they put dry spice on and grill quickly, although some fruit does exist as well. I tried 4 skewers: Octopus, Lamb, Beetles, and Fruit and 2 dishes: fried egg on sweet potato and pork bun. The Beetles were by far the best.

Peking Duck: I am a self-proclaimed duck lover, but after this trip I have amended this to be a self-proclaimed FRENCH duck lover. Peking Duck was drier than i exepcted and you don't get to relish in the wonders of the fattiness or rarity that makes it so juicy.

Dan Aykroyd Wines

2010-02-24T06:01:00.002-05:00

As I was perusing Kappy's for some cheap wine, I happened upon a $2.99 bin. I will admit - $2.99 for a bottle of wine is a bit questionable, even for someone like me who decides based on prettiness of the label, but this bin of wine was full of Dan Aykroyd Chardonnay! And - if you are wondering - YES, it is THE Dan Aykroyd. Dr. Raymond Stantz. Elwood Blues. Beldar. Harry Sultenfuss. Dan Aykroyd has a wine company. Well, that was reason enough for me to make a purchase. And maybe even to follow his blog.

Drunken Irish Stew

2010-02-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

NYC was lucky enough to be hit with a mini-blizzard the week before last, and we were lucky enough to get out of work early to "get a jump start on the commute". What that really means is "spend these two extra hours making stew," which, along with some red wine, is the only way to spend a snowy evening.

This recipe comes courtesy of Bake's sister, who lives in Florida, so we can't figure out when it would be cold enough for her to make a dish this hearty. But for those of us in locales where the temperature hits freezing, warm up with all the booze in this Drunken Irish Stew (or save it until St. Patrick's Day).

We just couldn't wait to start eating, which is why this bowl is half full. It's surprising we could pause long enough to take this picture.

Drunken Irish Stew
adapted from Davislife Magazine

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
7 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup red wine
1 cup Guinness
6 cups beef stock (or broth)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled, gentleman’s choice)
1 pound baby red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (again, gentleman’s choice)
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large yellow or white onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, large pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef stew meat and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic cloves and sauté another minute, until fragrant.

2. Add the beef stock, red wine, Guinness, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

3. In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat until slightly foaming. Add the potatoes, celery, onion and carrots, sautéing until golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside until the stew has simmered for one hour.

4. Add vegetables to beef stew and simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water until combined. Add slowly to the stew, stirring for 1 minute until thickened. Discard the bay leaves and remove any fat that may have accumulated on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6-8.

*This can be prepared in advance and kept refrigerated for up to three days

Stuffed Squid

2010-02-19T02:56:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine showed me how to do this about three years ago and I came across the photographs the other day! It was a pretty disgusting task, took a long time, and we STANK afterwards (both clothes and skin - book time for a shower afterwards!), but it was a fun afternoon and the results were goooood.

Ingredients:

Whole Baby Squid
Egg
Onion
Garlic
Salt and Pepper (all for stuffing)

Preparing the Stuffing:
1) Chop the onion and garlic, beat the egg, and mix all together in a bowl with some salt and pepper.

Preparing the Squid:
2) First, cut off the squid's tentacles. Make sure that you separate the squid's tooth from the tentacles when doing this. You can feel the tooth in the very middle of the tentacles, either cut it off with them and remove, or cut the tentacles from above the tooth.

3) Chop up the tentacles and place in the bowl with the stuffing ingredients.

4) Take the squid, and place the knife behind its head. Push down to slice through it and then pull away from the body.

5) Use the knife to pull out the spine and gut the squid. With the spine out, all the squid's insides should come out easily, all together in one go.

6) Rinse out, and place the body to one side - repeat 2 - 5 until you have gutted all of them.

7) Stir the egg, onion, and tentacle mixture, then take the body, and holding it upright, use a teaspoon to pour the stuffing into the squid.

8) Using a toothpick, pierce through the skin and seal the opening.

9)Line the stuffed squid on a greased tray and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Workout Queen's Bacon Relleno con Pollo

2010-02-18T00:00:00.002-05:00

Aside from the camera malfunction...we'll just have to use our imaginations. Just place in your head, a beautiful red piece of chicken with bacon....RED!!! Haha...read below to find out why!

This dinner/lunch meal is about 7 minutes away from fast food that is overdone, over-fattening, and just plain disgusting...What that really means is that I made this is about 7 minutes flat and I would dare you to make it faster. Instead of putting all the yummy seasonings that we all oogle and google over in the supermarket, this is a one-packet champ, filled with yummy spices. This is how it's done.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast
2 slices of turkey bacon
1 packet Sazon Goya con culantro y achiote
2 tbs. water
2 tbs. olive oil
assorted veggies

Procedure:

Place your chicken breast in a sandwich ziplock bag. Add the water.
Add the Sazon packet to the water and the chicken. Swirl around till you get a rich red.
Add the olive oil to a pan, where you carefully place the chicken.
Cook about 5 minutes.
Place bacon in the pan. Cook till it isn't floppy anymore.
Strategically wrap the bacon around the chicken.
Add cooked veggies.

Voila!! The easiest healthy, after gym dinner made. It is that easy. And that's how the Queen does it up most of the "on the diet" nights.

Popsicle Treats

2010-02-17T08:25:00.001-05:00

Last week I was under the weather with a super bad sore throat. So, I put my Magic Bullet to work and made up some tasty treats to soothe my symptoms and give me a boost of Vitamin C. I decided to make a bunch of different flavored frozen fruit pops. Here were the best three I whipped up.

Blueberry Lemon Popsicles (makes 6 servings)

1 cup sugar
3 cups frozen blueberries
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Peach Strawberry Popsicles (makes 6 servings)

1 1/2 cup frozen peaches
1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 Tablespoon lemon zest

Chocolate Cherry Yogurt Popsicles (makes 6 servings)

3 cups fat free vanilla yogurt
3 cups frozen cherries
3/4 cup chocolate syrup

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a food processor
Pour into Popsicle mold
Put in the freezer for 3 hours or until frozen solid

Spinach Cheese Soufflé

2010-02-16T08:45:00.004-05:00

Now that we've hit that part of winter when we begin holding our breaths for spring, we might need some help getting through the dreary days ahead. Try this "incentivizing" cheese soufflé—an indulgent dinner that requires some elbow grease and silent conspiring with God.

Spinach Cheese Soufflé: Preheat oven to 400° F. Generously butter six ramekins or coffee mugs. Separate 6 eggs, and keep the whites in the refrigerator in a large, clean bowl until ready to use. Steam or boil 10 ounces of spinach. Transfer to an ice bath to cool, squeeze out as much water as possible, and then chop finely. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons flour over it, stirring constantly for two or three minutes, until it darkens slightly and smells nutty. Slowly whisk in 1-1/2 cups warm milk in increments so as to avoid any clomps forming. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens considerably, about 5 minutes. Now you’ve got béchamel! Whisk in the egg yolks and off the heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, a few gratings of fresh nutmeg, the chopped spinach, and 4 or 5 ounces bleu or goat cheese, and let be. In the cold bowl the eggwhites are in, beat them until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the custard mixture. Scoop into the prepared cups using a ladle, filling each an inch from the top. Wipe the rims clean with your finger (this allows the soufflés to rise evenly). Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown; they’ll be a little bit jiggly in the center. Serve IMMEDIATELY.

food stuff: essential vinegars to have on hand

2010-02-15T11:17:00.001-05:00

it never occurred to me that there were a ton of different types of made specifically for different things. if someone told me to buy vinegar, i would probably just buy balsamic because thats what i'm most familiar with. but the kitchn has set me straight! check it out here. what is your favorite type of vinegar?

tiny bites

2010-02-13T02:34:00.000-05:00

(this is dave, not sure how it ended up posting as jabootay)

If, like me, you are bereft of party tricks, please think of bringing these to your next festive gathering. Courtesy of Lisa, these lovely appetizers arrived at our pre-thanks get together back in November. She arrived with her materials, which were fairly few but all the more delicious for their simplicity. Here's a close up:

And the madtasty scientist herself .... please don't mind the messy kitchen behind her.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

2010-02-12T06:48:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

2 potatoes
1 onion
all the carrots you need to get rid of....!
a chunk of ginger
butter
vegetable stock

1. Peel and chop all the vegetables

2. In a pot, saute the onion and potato in butter for 10 minutes. Cover with some paper towel while the vegetables are soaking in the butter.

3. After 10 minutes, add all the carrots and ginger to the pot, and stir. Heat in the butter for another few minutes.

4. Add in the vegetable stock. Cover the pot, and let the vegetables simmer for between 30 and 45 minutes.

5. Once the vegetables are cooked, use a mixer or blender to blend all the ingredients.

6. Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Delights

2010-02-10T06:15:00.001-05:00

The cookies yielded from this recipe, originally from the SBH Insurance blog (random?) are SO good. They are the perfect blend of mint and chocolate. When I completed this recipe successfully (it is easy, I got it right on my first try), I felt like a gourmet baker. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Delights
Yield: 2 dozen

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
½ cup cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
24 bite size chocolate peppermint patties.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Shape dough into two 6” rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

Unwrap and cut into 1/4” slices. Place one slice on waxed paper; top with a peppermint patty and a second dough slice. Press edges of dough together to completely cover the peppermint patty. Repeat.

Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 for 11-13 minutes or until set, watching carefully. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. When cool drizzle icing over cookies.

Top it with this Icing:
18 bite size peppermint patties, 4 ½ tsp butter.
In microwave melt peppermint patties and butter; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

Spiced Almonds Based on the Gramercy Tavern's Mix

2010-02-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

This Spiced Nut mix was adapted from the Gramercy Tavern recipe for mixed nuts, via the blog Gluten-Free Guide. At the Gramercy, this spicy and sweet mix serve as the perfect bar snack, keeping you consistently thirsty for more Manhattans and fooling you into thinking you've eaten more than a handful of nuts for dinner. At home, once the hangover has cleared, we've made them to hand out as Christmas gifts.

In the real recipe, there are a variety of nuts. We just used almonds, and you shouldn't let the high-price of pecans make you spend a fortune on making some yourself. The spice ratios can be altered however you like, but the key to making this mix work is the cumin and cayenne, which give them an almost Indian flavor. The Gluten-Free Guide has the exact measurements, but below is a more casual approach. The key note is to not overdo any one spice so that they all can stand out.

Cook up some simple syrup (2 cups sugar to every cup water) and combine with corn syrup, enough to coat the nuts. You can also use maple syrup or honey if you want to add another flavor. Once the nuts was sugar-coated and sticky, toss them with salt, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, cayenne, and nutmeg. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes, turning the pan every five minutes.

If you've done it right, every bite of the final mix will taste different. Some are very sweet, some boast that comforting cinnamon-clove flavor, and some will knock you out with spiciness. They are an ideal bar snack, but be sure to give them to people with adventurous tastebuds.

food stuff: eating by candlelight

2010-02-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

i'm a little disappointed that i didn't think of this first, but an excellent survey was posted at the kitchn and i thought we could do our own poll here. in honor of valentine's day, how often do you eat dinner by candlelight?

Quick Decadence

2010-02-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

So... long time not post. Schools started again and I feel like I have NO as in ZERO time...but a girl still needs to eat right? And why not eat well?

Here is my 8 minute pseudo home-made meal.

Ingredients:

2 Trader Joe Crab Cakes
1 Bag washed spinach
1/2 pint baby tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt Pepper

Get out two saute pans. 1 large and 1 medium.

Get out one small baking tray

Turn on toaster/oven 400 degrees.

Place tomatoes on this sheet. Pour some olive oil over them and add salt and pepper.

Roast for 10 minutes (until they start to pop)

Turn on the fire to medium under both pans.

Add olive oil to both.

Add Crab cakes to the medium and spinach to the large.

Wait a minute...pour yourself some wine.

Stir the spinach. After a few minutes flip the crab cakes.

When the spinach is all wilted.

Put on a plate. Add the tomatoes to the plate. Put the crab cakes on top.

EAT... get back to your excel sheets....

Kitchen Basics: Veggie Stock… Wait! Hear me out.

2010-02-05T20:00:00.008-05:00

  When I was 26, I spake as a 26-year-old, I understood as a 26-year-old, I did 26-year-old things… like buy a drafty condo with oil heat. But, when I became a man, I learnt how to cook.

Luckily, said apartment is on the second floor so a lot of the drafting comes in the form of warm air from the neighbor below. (we totally luck out on this trade: we get heat, she gets footsteps - second floor is the way to go) Yet, being the cheap bastards that we are, and because oil is more expensive than the alternatives, my roommates and I rarely turn on the heat. This makes the apartment's ambient temperature a reliable 50-55º F. While this is perfect for brewing lagers, it is sub-optimal for keeping women around (or individuals of whatever gender you prefer to have naked in your room).

Here is a great way to
   1. get some free heat
   2. make your apartment smell nice (if you like warm earthy aromas that were not designed in New Jersey)
   3. save money on vegetable stock
   a. free flavor!
     b. free vitamins!
     c. use it as a base for soup
     d. use it to make rice instead of water.
     e. tc.
   4. use all the parts of “the buffalo” (by which I of course mean vegetables) which makes jesus and gaia both really happy.

Every time you bust out your web browser and open to the Mad Tasty section, save the vegetable ends in a bag in the freezer: Below I present quite possibly the ugliest picture ever posted on a food blog, in spite of my efforts to make it look like a cornucopia. Look closely (if img fidelity permits) and you’ll see
   1. carrot butts and greens
   2. three batches of cilantro we didn’t get through before they wilted beyond appetizing
   3. a large portion of celery with a similar fate
   4. a number of pieces of pepper (go ahead and leave the stem on)
   5. carrot peels
   6. ends of red and yellow onions
   7. stems of chard
   8. stems of kale
   9. something borrowed
   10. something blue

Your stock will taste a little different every time because its not a set recipe. Don't worry, it will be usable in all the same ways. You may want to remember what's in there or taste it and see what you think it will be best with. Lately, I've tended to have a lot of cilantro in the broth, so last time, instead of the chicken soup I usually make, I went with a vietnamese-style pork and beef soup. If you find you've got a lot of carrots and your broth is pretty sweet, you may want to try using it to make rice for a green curry, or maybe use it in a turnip soup. I think most people end up with a lot of aromatics and lean toward basic chicken soup, but you never know what your freezer is gonna throw at you!

I digress, in the above picture is also, a pair of garlic heads that I pulled off the top of the refrigerator. They are getting dry and will not be used. I peel these (crush method!), but you may not need to – oh that reminds me, I also take off the skin of the onion, but save that tough outer layer that you never use in your salad or stir fry.

This is a great time to clean out the fridge. You are about to boil the ƒμ¢ℵ out of this stuff so don’t worry if its wilty or if part of it looks a little slimy (I mean do your best to remove the slime). Look! I found some spinach that I bought like 5 days ago:

As indicated, put it all in a stock pot or the largest pot you have and fill it up with water. (Before I got this stock pot, I would occasionally use two side-by-side pots) Use hot water to save time boiling.

Now, make yourself a martini and start assembling your blog post.

You have a few hours. Some people only boil for 1 hour, I like to generously overshoot an hour (because I love martinis and macs). At least one friend of mine boils her stock for closer to four hours which seems a little extravagant to me.

Once you see good color and can taste that vegetable flavor, add salt and pepper to taste in the last 20 min. Strain the deader-than-dead vegetables out of your stock and put them in the COMPOST HEAP! Whoa, did we just get three uses out of these fruits of the earth? I think so!

Pat yourself on the back, but don’t forget, viri is not the plural of virus, but of man.

So in my estimation, 32 oz veggie stock costs like $3.50 and were making close to 2 gallons, and if it costs (very rough estimate) $1000 to heat an apartment of this size for the winter, that’s 10 bucks a day. So this whole process saves you $15 – $25, which is kinda worth it.

madtasty twenty minute meal

2010-02-05T08:13:00.000-05:00

So, I've been having far too many Rachel Ray evenings lately, where I can barely bring myself to cook. This meal is for me a step up from "my version" of the quick fix that Alana made. The key is relying on exceptionally tasty (probably very high sodium, I'm afraid to look at the back of the box) rice-in-a-box:

For accents and some protein, I'm all about the crisp green goodness of shoots. In this case, pea shoots:

Since everything I make turns into a curry regardless of whatever I'd hoped to make at the start, this time I actually made on on purpose. Have a look at some of our curry recipes to learn how. I focused on cauliflower, carrots, white beans and corn in this one.

The rice takes an exact twenty minutes to simmer, which gives you just enough time to chop vegetables, throw on a medium high heat and get to currying. And I can't get over how great the pea shoots look when you're plating things. They look good even if you just use one or two for garnish. And they last forever in the fridge.

But there you go. Twenty-five minutes from start to finish. Rachel Ray can go climb a tree.

Workin it out with Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2010-02-04T00:00:00.005-05:00

One of the best books I bought on my last trip to America was about 1001 Cupcakes, cookies, and delightful treats. And the best thing about it was that there are pictures for each and every recipe. So, naturally I had to copy one and revise it for me. These cookies are soft, with a little bit of crunch on the outside, and are really just delectable. Oh and let me mention that they are semi-healthy too!

Ingredients: (Makes 30 cookies, give or take)

3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups plain oats
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
(optional) Add 1/2 cup of chopped raisins

Procedure:

Get out your baking sheet and grease it with butter or pam.
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
In a bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat it together until it is light and pretty fluffy.
Add the egg, water, and vanilla. Mix it together until it is smooth.
Mix the oats, flour, salt, and baking soda together in another bowl.
Gradually mix the oat mixture into the creamy mixture. Combining with each new addition.
Once the mixture has all been added together, begin lumping spoonfuls on the baking sheet. (Add your raisins now if you'd like)
Bake the cookies for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.

I definitely have a sweet tooth...but it's no good to make something so yummy, and not share, so I brought these to some friends to enjoy. Of course, eat them in moderation, but definitely eat them!

Apple Pear Crisp

2010-02-03T08:55:00.000-05:00

This year, for Christmas, I got, not one, but two apple peeler/corers. I don't mind peeling my ingredients by hand, but this is quite the invention. It peels, cores, and spiral slices anything you stick in it with just a few turns of a crank.

So I decided to finally try it out and make a apple pear crisp. It came out delicious and took half the time that it normally would have.

Filling

3 Bosch Pears peeled, cored, and sliced
3 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored, and sliced
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsps all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsps lemon juice
2 Tbsps and 2 teaspoons water

Crumble

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
2/3 cup butter, softened

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a medium size bowl, toss apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, and water.
Spread evenly into a 8x8 inch pan.
In another bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, oats, and butter.
Spoon mixture evenly over apples.
Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes.
Let cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Steel-cut Oats

2010-02-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

Oatmeal is one aspect of childhood I seem to have missed out on. It’s a texture thing, because I also hated cereal with milk in it (still do), bananas (still do), yogurt (now I’m kinda “meh”), and any kind of cooked egg (I’m totally over that, thankfully). It's taken me twenty years to work though my fear of “soupy,” gluey foods, foods that might drip down your chin in a sticky panache of different consistencies, and I still haven't made much progress.

Somewhere in my brain I knew that it was possible to make oatmeal—or steel-cut oats, or rolled oats, or quick oats (note to self: learn the differences)—from scratch, but I've mostly believed that the life of oatmeal ended at individual Quaker Oats packets. Aside from backpacking, when one is willfully desperate, I wanted to keep those things away from me.

I recently reread Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking—which is just such an awesome cookbook, everyone should own it—and came to her recipe for Steel-cut Oats. Feeling brave, I decided to gave it a try. I’m happy to report that steel-cut oats have revolutionized breakfast for me. I have reason go get out of bed. This oatmeal is deliciously chewy, will fill your kitchen with the handsome aroma of a slow-cooked grain, and is super-dooper easy.

Homemade Steel-cut Oats

4 servings

The genius of Swanson’s recipe is that you make a large batch at once, and then just reheat it in the morning. Still, I halve the recipe because I’d rather just make it twice in a week than have it sit in the fridge for seven days.

To do this you’ll need 3 cups water, 3/4 cup steel-cut oats, and a big pinch of salt. There are two cooking methods:

1) Boil water, stir in oatmeal and salt, and cook over low heat until it’s reached desired consistency.

2) Pour boiling water over oatmeal and salt, stir, cover the pot, let sit overnight. Reheat in the morning.

I’ve tried both methods, and they both work, though for the latter method I had to finish cooking the oatmeal in the morning—it was still a little too “soupy” for my tastes.

The other genius thing about her recipe is that she offers seven different toppings—one for each day of the week! I’m still stuck on #1: toasted walnuts plus a drizzle of pomogranate molasses (I also add a pinch of brown sugar, which is no-no in Swansonland because it’s highly processed, but: baby steps). If you’re new to pomogranate molasses (reduced pomogranate syrup, a staple of some Middle Eastern cuisines) and you try it on oatmeal, you might find yourself wanting to add it to everything you eat. It's tart jolt is impossible to hide, and a little goes a long way.

Confetti Cornbread

2010-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

This year, we were charged with making Christmas dinner for the family. Since we were responsible for every course (ham, whiskey/apricot marmalade glaze, beans Anglais) and tweaking them for the family's dietary restrictions (no olive oil, no garlic), we decided to make this super easy and colorful cornbread as our requisite carb. This recipe is more dense and moist than many of its crumbly cornbread counterparts, but we're cool with that. It's great for a Super Bowl party or barbecue.

Confetti Cornbread (clipped by Bake's mom from Parade magazine)

1 c flour
1 c cornmeal
3 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 c milk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 c finely diced mixed peppers (red, green, and orange are recommended for color, and feel free to add in some jalepeno for more of a kick)

This tiny specimen was, somehow, the only whisk in Bake's parents kitchen.

Preheat oven to 400 and butter an 8- or 9-inch square pan.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Separately, whisk milk, butter, and egg together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and gently stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Add the peppers and stir to combine.

Bake for 25 min or until a cake tester (cornbread tester?) comes out dry. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

food stuff: cleaning hot pans

2010-02-01T10:40:00.001-05:00

the kitchn has a great post answering a reader's excellent question on how does one clean a hot pan? i have DEFINITELY been burned before so this was helpful for me. what are your burn stories?

pre-thanks: moroccan couscous and chard salad

2010-01-29T02:58:00.002-05:00

So this is another dish that I made for our Pre-Thanks dinner back in November. I made it to contrast with the other salad that I always make, because I wasn't sure if there'd be enough food for the vegetarians to eat. There ended up being way too much of everything, but this was a tasty enough experiment that I'm glad I made it anyway. The portions for this were huge, so feel free to adjust/halve/whatever.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Moroccan couscous
1 bunch of rainbow chard (which had I think maybe 12 stalks)
6 baby cucumbers
1 can of chickpeas
one handful of fresh cilantro
peanut oil
lemon juice
salt/pepper/garlic to taste

This ended up being a "warm" salad because of the prep involved. The Moroccan couscous needs to be cooked a little more like pasta than regular couscous, albeit for a very short time frame. So boil water, drop the couscous in, lower temperature to medium and simmer for maybe ten minutes. Just keep trying it to see when its done.

While the couscous is doing its thing, you should be chopping chopping chopping. The cucumbers don't turn into slices on their own. If you haven't ever cooked with chard, its is quite beautiful:

(lovely chard photo borrowed from my bay area garden)

Okay get ready for a mini-chard tutorial:

You're going to steam the chard. First though, you separate the stalks from the leaves because the stalks take longer to steam and you don't want to leaves to be mushy. So, position your fingers along the stalks just before where the leaves start, and you'll want to use basically a sliding motion to strip the leaves off. It won't be a clear tear every time, but keep at it. The stems obviously at some points are sort of insubstantial and blend into the leave, the main thing is to separate them based on how long they'll need to cook, so if they look skinny and tender, don't worry if they're with the leaves. Put the leaves to one side and the stems to the other. You'll then want to cut the stems into maybe two to three inch pieces and rip leaves into, say, baby spinach leaf-size pieces (trying to cut them after steaming is hilarious but not very effective).

What, you don't know how to steam stuff? Sigh. Get the pot with the couscous. But the couscous into the bowl with the chopped cucumbers, fill the pot back up with an inch or two of water. Put the stove on high. The water should boil up right quick especially if you use the eye that the couscous had been on before. On top of the pot, put a metal strainer, like this or this. Putting stuff in the strainer should mean that they are suspended over the boiling water but are not in it. You can put a pot lid
on top of the strainer to hold the steam in more.

So put the stems in first, maybe 5 minutes before the leaves. All in all, this should take 15 minutes tops, and that's really only if it takes you awhile to get the water boiling. So now you dump in the chickpeas, chop the cilantro and drop that in, season with peanut oil & lemon & salt/pepper.

(... et voila!)

easiest homemade carrot soup

2010-01-28T01:23:00.000-05:00

Carrots: good in so many ways. Good for eyes, even better for your skin. Super low calorie but dense and full of flavors. When columnists list superfoods, I'm always shocked why this isn't one of them. I could likely write all of my posts about the ways I use carrots, but I'll start here with something i think most of you would like. Extra easy, cheap, healthy and filling. All the taste comes from roasting.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 white onion, 1 clove garlic, 4 large carrots, all roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp each curry, nutmeg and dried parsley; pinch of salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup of low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tbl butter
- dollop of low fat sour cream and dried parsley

Directions: preheat oven to 450F.

In baking pan, pour 1/4 c of broth, vegetables, spices and butter. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 30 min. Pour into blender, while hot, with remaining vegetable broth and puree until smooth. Top with sour cream. Makes 2 servings.

Adding parsnips is a great way to add spice.