Hey bees and bears
I just downloaded Paul Deens new cookbook to my kindle and tried to make a popover. The recipe said I wouldget these light airy pillows that were hollow inside. What I got were these very eggy dense muffin looking things.I am not particulary pleased at this moment in time with Ms.Deen or her recipe :/
Oh well...win some and throw some right down the incinerator.
Off for now.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
the southern madness continues
I couldn't let the southern series pass everyone by without sharing a recipe for biscuits. So I picked a recipe that I really like. This is a Paula Deen recipe and you can't get more southern than Ms.Deen.The reason why I like it so much is because its super easy. I need to share though that these biscuits are super flakey and crumbly. So if you try to eat one right out of the oven I guarantee when you pick them up they will fall apart. They definately benefit from a rest. Since there is a lot of butter in this recipe (like an obscene amount) I suggest making them a mini-muffin size.
Ingredients
2 cups self rising flour
1 cup sour cream
2 sticks of melted butter (yea..I know what your thinking..but this type of stuff you don't eat everyday so lighten up)
Make a well in the center of the flour and add your wet ingredients and mix until combined. Don't overmix.
bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Try not to gobble these when they come out of the oven. They are better when they cool down. Hope you enjoy...next up cornbread!
Stay tuned :)
Ingredients
2 cups self rising flour
1 cup sour cream
2 sticks of melted butter (yea..I know what your thinking..but this type of stuff you don't eat everyday so lighten up)
Make a well in the center of the flour and add your wet ingredients and mix until combined. Don't overmix.
bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Try not to gobble these when they come out of the oven. They are better when they cool down. Hope you enjoy...next up cornbread!
Stay tuned :)
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Monday, December 19, 2011
my southern table
Hello bees and bears..thanks for tuning in today. I'm so excited to present to you the second recipe in the southern series. Mac-n-cheese often graces many southern tables. I decided today to do a lighter version. I'm doing a cauliflower mac-n-cheese. By replacing half the pasta with cauliflower we can save some calories for our desert.
Ingredients
2 cups of cauliflower florettes
2 cups or macaroni or baby rigatoni. ( I personally like pasta with ridges..I think it holds the sauce better)
1 cup shredded chedder cheese
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
2 cups whole milk
Ground nutmeg or mace
Salt and black pepper
I personally like to roast my cauliflower under the broiler so it gets some nice charring on it. It adds some really good flavor to an otherwise bland vegetable. But if you want to boil it until tender go right ahead. Your choice. If you want to roast it, cut your florettes into same size bites, drizzle with olive oil and season with a good size pinch of salt and pepper. Roast under the broiler at 400 for 20 minutes..but make sure you keep an eye on it. You don't want it burnt. You just want some nice toasty charred goodness
Make about 2 cups worth. Boil your pasta and undercook by 2 minutes. Set both to the side
melt your butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour. Whisk together. Its going to look pastey. This is normal. Continue to whisk for a few minutes. You want to get rid of that uncooked flour taste but don't overcook. You don't want the flour mixture to be anything darker than a pale blonde. While still whisking add your whole milk slowly. They key to this is to keep whisking. Whisk the living daylights out of it until all the milk is incorporated. It will thicken up and when it does add a teaspoon of salt. 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1/2 tsp of mace or nutmeg. I like using mace which is actually the hard outer covering of the nutmeg. I think the flavor is better. You can swap mace for nutmeg in any recipe,just cut the measurement in half. Add your shredded cheese and whisk until melted. Now make sure you taste and adjust the seasoning as you go. Take a casserole dish and just give it a little spritz of fat free cooling spray. Take a half a cup of your cheese sauce and spread on the bottom of your dish. Put half the cauliflower and half the pasta down over the sace and pour more sauce on top. Layer the rest and pour the remainder of the sauce on top. Top with some extra shredded chedder and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until nice and melty. You can do toasty breadcrumbs on top or those french fried onions in the can as well if you want some added texture. But I think the roasted cauliflower adds enough. If you choose to use boiled cauliflower definately add a crunchy element on top. If your not fond of chedder than by all means use a good shredded pecorino romano cheese in your sauce. I always have a big block of romano in my fridge for shredding. Don't use the pre-grated one. A fresh block lasts longer and just tastes better.
So I hope your inspired to try my new take on a southern classic!
Off for now my lovelies!
Ingredients
2 cups of cauliflower florettes
2 cups or macaroni or baby rigatoni. ( I personally like pasta with ridges..I think it holds the sauce better)
1 cup shredded chedder cheese
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
2 cups whole milk
Ground nutmeg or mace
Salt and black pepper
I personally like to roast my cauliflower under the broiler so it gets some nice charring on it. It adds some really good flavor to an otherwise bland vegetable. But if you want to boil it until tender go right ahead. Your choice. If you want to roast it, cut your florettes into same size bites, drizzle with olive oil and season with a good size pinch of salt and pepper. Roast under the broiler at 400 for 20 minutes..but make sure you keep an eye on it. You don't want it burnt. You just want some nice toasty charred goodness
Make about 2 cups worth. Boil your pasta and undercook by 2 minutes. Set both to the side
melt your butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour. Whisk together. Its going to look pastey. This is normal. Continue to whisk for a few minutes. You want to get rid of that uncooked flour taste but don't overcook. You don't want the flour mixture to be anything darker than a pale blonde. While still whisking add your whole milk slowly. They key to this is to keep whisking. Whisk the living daylights out of it until all the milk is incorporated. It will thicken up and when it does add a teaspoon of salt. 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1/2 tsp of mace or nutmeg. I like using mace which is actually the hard outer covering of the nutmeg. I think the flavor is better. You can swap mace for nutmeg in any recipe,just cut the measurement in half. Add your shredded cheese and whisk until melted. Now make sure you taste and adjust the seasoning as you go. Take a casserole dish and just give it a little spritz of fat free cooling spray. Take a half a cup of your cheese sauce and spread on the bottom of your dish. Put half the cauliflower and half the pasta down over the sace and pour more sauce on top. Layer the rest and pour the remainder of the sauce on top. Top with some extra shredded chedder and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until nice and melty. You can do toasty breadcrumbs on top or those french fried onions in the can as well if you want some added texture. But I think the roasted cauliflower adds enough. If you choose to use boiled cauliflower definately add a crunchy element on top. If your not fond of chedder than by all means use a good shredded pecorino romano cheese in your sauce. I always have a big block of romano in my fridge for shredding. Don't use the pre-grated one. A fresh block lasts longer and just tastes better.
So I hope your inspired to try my new take on a southern classic!
Off for now my lovelies!
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
can a jewish girl from forest hills cook southern food?
..and make it vegetarian? When I
think about southern cooking, visions of ham hocks, man-n-cheese and bacon dance in my head. But 10 years ago I swore off eating all things that had legs, or made a sound. It certainly limits me sometimes. This is probably why I lean more towards ethnic cuisines such as indian or tai. Even chinese caters more towards a plant based diet.
However I love the homey-ness of southern comfort food. So its my mission (at least todays mission) to prepare a menu stellar enough to be served on any southern table. Of course mac-n-cheese always comes to my mind..but I'm trying to eat a little healthier these days. So I'm not sure exactly how much mac-n-cheese Ill be eating lol. Visions of Paula Deen saying "I looove my butter yaul" dance in my head as I read through her recipes. What's a struggling weight watcher member to do. I'm going to try to focus on the vegetables and healthy grains. (But of course splurge on desert)
The first course in my southern series is an appetizer of fried green tomatoes with a chipotle dipping sauce. This is so stereotypically southern I couldn't resist. It even has a movie named after it. And they are easy. I don't have a deep fryer so I do mine in. A regular frying pan. I guess it makes me feel a little better about eating something fried if its done in a shallow pan lol
Fried green tomatoes
4 medium green tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Self rising flour
Buttermilk
Slice your tomatoes about an 1/8th of an inch thick. Salt them and let them sit for about 30 minutes. This will allow for the salt to pull the water out of them. Nothing worse than soggy tomatoes. After you've drained them. Pat them dry and sprinkle with black pepper. At this point you'll want to start getting your oil hot. I like vegetable or canola. Just remember you don't want to put too many in your pan at one time. Too many tomatoes in your pan will bring down the temperature considerably. They will take forever to get GBD (golden brown and deliscious), thus resulting in oily tomatoes. Oily tomatoes do not kick ass. So make a note...NO OVERCROWDING. Tomatoes need room.
Ok...when your oil is nice and hot, take a tomato and dip it in the buttermilk and then dredge it in the self rising flour and into the hot pan. Fry until Golden.
Chipotle dipping sauce
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup fat free plain yogurt (not vanilla..I said plain!)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce chopped. Remove seeds and ribs to tone down the heat
1 tbs of adoba sauce from peppers
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
Mix everything together and put in the fridge. This sauce tastes better when you let the flavors marry.
I hope you like and try this recipe..and please stay tuned for my next southern recipe. Off for now boys and girls!!
think about southern cooking, visions of ham hocks, man-n-cheese and bacon dance in my head. But 10 years ago I swore off eating all things that had legs, or made a sound. It certainly limits me sometimes. This is probably why I lean more towards ethnic cuisines such as indian or tai. Even chinese caters more towards a plant based diet.
However I love the homey-ness of southern comfort food. So its my mission (at least todays mission) to prepare a menu stellar enough to be served on any southern table. Of course mac-n-cheese always comes to my mind..but I'm trying to eat a little healthier these days. So I'm not sure exactly how much mac-n-cheese Ill be eating lol. Visions of Paula Deen saying "I looove my butter yaul" dance in my head as I read through her recipes. What's a struggling weight watcher member to do. I'm going to try to focus on the vegetables and healthy grains. (But of course splurge on desert)
The first course in my southern series is an appetizer of fried green tomatoes with a chipotle dipping sauce. This is so stereotypically southern I couldn't resist. It even has a movie named after it. And they are easy. I don't have a deep fryer so I do mine in. A regular frying pan. I guess it makes me feel a little better about eating something fried if its done in a shallow pan lol
Fried green tomatoes
4 medium green tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Self rising flour
Buttermilk
Slice your tomatoes about an 1/8th of an inch thick. Salt them and let them sit for about 30 minutes. This will allow for the salt to pull the water out of them. Nothing worse than soggy tomatoes. After you've drained them. Pat them dry and sprinkle with black pepper. At this point you'll want to start getting your oil hot. I like vegetable or canola. Just remember you don't want to put too many in your pan at one time. Too many tomatoes in your pan will bring down the temperature considerably. They will take forever to get GBD (golden brown and deliscious), thus resulting in oily tomatoes. Oily tomatoes do not kick ass. So make a note...NO OVERCROWDING. Tomatoes need room.
Ok...when your oil is nice and hot, take a tomato and dip it in the buttermilk and then dredge it in the self rising flour and into the hot pan. Fry until Golden.
Chipotle dipping sauce
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup fat free plain yogurt (not vanilla..I said plain!)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce chopped. Remove seeds and ribs to tone down the heat
1 tbs of adoba sauce from peppers
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
Mix everything together and put in the fridge. This sauce tastes better when you let the flavors marry.
I hope you like and try this recipe..and please stay tuned for my next southern recipe. Off for now boys and girls!!
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Monday, December 5, 2011
tip of the moment #4
You're probably wondering why there's a hard boiled egg in my collards. If you place an egg in your collards and hard boil it their it will draw out the bitterness. It also works when your making scratch tomato sauce as that tends to be a bit bitter too. So when your makin greens or sauce..throw an egg in there..you can eat it the next day or have a snack while your cooking :)
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Friday, December 2, 2011
the best soup ever
...has to be the tomato pesto quinoa soup from Wholefoods. For those of you who don't know, quinoa is the only grain that is also a complete protein. It looks like little tiny round seeds. Comes in red or white and cooks up just like rice. When cooked the seed pops open and exposes a little tiny curlyque thingamajiggy. (That's a technicle term you know). You can add things to it to make it a little interesting and it will take on the flavors that you put with it. I decided to make my own version of this soup. What really makes this soup pop is the pecorino cheese in it. I would probably substitute pecorino because that's what I have on hand. Pecorino is saltier than parmesan so I could probably get away with much less and get maximun flavor.
Ingredients
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes (san marzano if possible)
1 can of tomatoe puree
1/2 vidalia finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped spinich
4 cups of water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup finely grated pecorino
Salt and pepper to taste
This is super easy to do and I recomend you do it in a slow cooker. Sautee your onions and spinich in a bit of olive oil until onions are translucent. Transfet to your slow cooker and add all your ingredients except the pecorino. That I would add at the end. Serve this soup with either garlic bread or a grilled cheese sammy. Or eat it alone...of course I would never eat this alone..lol
I don't have my own pics of this soup but this is the wholefoods soup that inspired me to try to re-create it
Hope your inspired to try this soup!
Off for now!
Ingredients
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes (san marzano if possible)
1 can of tomatoe puree
1/2 vidalia finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped spinich
4 cups of water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup finely grated pecorino
Salt and pepper to taste
This is super easy to do and I recomend you do it in a slow cooker. Sautee your onions and spinich in a bit of olive oil until onions are translucent. Transfet to your slow cooker and add all your ingredients except the pecorino. That I would add at the end. Serve this soup with either garlic bread or a grilled cheese sammy. Or eat it alone...of course I would never eat this alone..lol
I don't have my own pics of this soup but this is the wholefoods soup that inspired me to try to re-create it
Hope your inspired to try this soup!
Off for now!
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
the week after
I can't believe I would actually say this..but I'm tired of cooking. When I feel obligated to cook..it takes any joy out of it for me. I will always love reading recipes. But for this moment I'm tired of the measuring, the pots and pans. The baking, the frying and siffting and rolling.
However..my work here is far from done. This isn't usually the type of recipe that I would share due to the lack of butter and eggs (two staples for any baker) but I being a vegetarian I realize some push it to the vegan limit. I don't have that discipline. However, noone should live without chocolate cake. So here is a chocolate vegan cake recipe with vegan frosting
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose (flour that is)
1 cup sugar,(make sure its vegan sugar depending on how strict the vegan in your life is..cane sugar uses a bleaching process that uses animal bones in the process.)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
Preheat your oven to 350. In a bowl mix your flour, sugar, cocoa powder,bakind soda and salt. Add water,vanilla,oil and vinegar. Mix well. Pour into a 8x8 square pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes until knife comes out clean.
Vegan buttercream frosting
6 tbs soy margerine. Earth balance sticks are pretty good.
3/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup rice milk. (Vanilla is good)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream the margerine. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar alternating with the rice milk.
Add vanilla and. Mix until smooth. Make sure your powdered sugar is sifted thru a strainer first. It just makes life easier. It will be easier to spread later. Makes two cups of frosting.
So I hope your vegan is impressed and appreciates all the trouble you went to in making this cake.
Off for now !
However..my work here is far from done. This isn't usually the type of recipe that I would share due to the lack of butter and eggs (two staples for any baker) but I being a vegetarian I realize some push it to the vegan limit. I don't have that discipline. However, noone should live without chocolate cake. So here is a chocolate vegan cake recipe with vegan frosting
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose (flour that is)
1 cup sugar,(make sure its vegan sugar depending on how strict the vegan in your life is..cane sugar uses a bleaching process that uses animal bones in the process.)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
Preheat your oven to 350. In a bowl mix your flour, sugar, cocoa powder,bakind soda and salt. Add water,vanilla,oil and vinegar. Mix well. Pour into a 8x8 square pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes until knife comes out clean.
Vegan buttercream frosting
6 tbs soy margerine. Earth balance sticks are pretty good.
3/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup rice milk. (Vanilla is good)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream the margerine. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar alternating with the rice milk.
Add vanilla and. Mix until smooth. Make sure your powdered sugar is sifted thru a strainer first. It just makes life easier. It will be easier to spread later. Makes two cups of frosting.
So I hope your vegan is impressed and appreciates all the trouble you went to in making this cake.
Off for now !
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Im in cranberry heaven
Ok bees and bears. I love to bake. I'm a purist. There's certain things that I must have in my kitchen. Eggs, butter, a little All purpose (flour that is). Not exactly sure why I bought self rising flour. Especially since I really don't use it. For many reasons. It already has the leavening agents in it and I'm not really sure what the ratio of leavening to flour actually is. So I would never use it in a recipe that calls for all purpose. But I decided to use it today. I had some cranberries that needed to be used. So I made some cranberry sauce (recipe for sauce in blog entry from November 4th 2011)
I wanted to make an upside down cake. This was an easy fast cake with self rising flour and its not too sweet. Perfect for a brunch or breakfast.
Ingredients for the batter
2 cups self rising (flour that is ;)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
This is so easy...combine your wet ingredients and add to your dry..batter will be lumpy and that's ok. Makes for fluffy texture.
Take a round cake pan and grease it up good. Pour enough cranberry sauce to cover the bottom. Take 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. I used both. Sprinkle over the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle an extra tbs of sugar over this mixture if you want your topping to be extra sweet. Take your batter and pour over cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until edges pull away from sides of the pan and toothpick comes out clean.
When you flip and unmold your cake if some of your cranberry sauce sticks to the bottom just scrape it off and put it ontop of your cake. This has the texture of a coffee cake. My cranberries were a bit tart which I like. Tastes really good with a drizzle or real maple syrup.
This was so easy...its a keeper for the cranberry fans out there. Hope your inspired like I was!
Off for now :)
I wanted to make an upside down cake. This was an easy fast cake with self rising flour and its not too sweet. Perfect for a brunch or breakfast.
Ingredients for the batter
2 cups self rising (flour that is ;)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
This is so easy...combine your wet ingredients and add to your dry..batter will be lumpy and that's ok. Makes for fluffy texture.
Take a round cake pan and grease it up good. Pour enough cranberry sauce to cover the bottom. Take 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. I used both. Sprinkle over the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle an extra tbs of sugar over this mixture if you want your topping to be extra sweet. Take your batter and pour over cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until edges pull away from sides of the pan and toothpick comes out clean.
When you flip and unmold your cake if some of your cranberry sauce sticks to the bottom just scrape it off and put it ontop of your cake. This has the texture of a coffee cake. My cranberries were a bit tart which I like. Tastes really good with a drizzle or real maple syrup.
This was so easy...its a keeper for the cranberry fans out there. Hope your inspired like I was!
Off for now :)
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Monday, November 28, 2011
all is well
Okaaaay boys and girls. All is well in my world. I found the magazine with all of my baking recipes. It "magically" reappeared on a chair in my house. Now I don't know who..or what...or who. I don't care. The baking gods have saw fit to be able to continue my evil baking ways in the kitchen :)
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
a twenty minute cake?
Could this be true? A cake in twenty minutes? Don't get too excited. The cook time is 20 minutes, but the prep time is 20 minutes. That's still good time for a cake. Most cakes take 45 minutes or better to bake. But this is a sheet cake. So it isn't a high cake. Its maybe only and inh tall. I have seen this recipe in a few different books and websites under different names. Call it whatever you want..just don't forget to call me when you serve it
Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 heaping tbs cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
For the frosting:
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 3/4 stick butter
4 heaping tbs cocoa
6 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Use an 18X13 sheet cake pan
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar,and salt. In a sauce pan melt butter, add cocoa and stir together. Add boiling water, allow to bubble for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Pour over flour mixture and stirlightly to cool. Add the bttermilk to the beaten eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Stir buttermilk into chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop the pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine then turn off the heat add the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Stir together and add the pecans. Pour over warm cake. Let the heat of the cake do the work for you.
This cake is so good...like totally impress someone on a first dinner date at my house good!
Hope you're inspired to rock this cake like I was.
Off for now!
Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 heaping tbs cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
For the frosting:
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 3/4 stick butter
4 heaping tbs cocoa
6 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Use an 18X13 sheet cake pan
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar,and salt. In a sauce pan melt butter, add cocoa and stir together. Add boiling water, allow to bubble for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Pour over flour mixture and stirlightly to cool. Add the bttermilk to the beaten eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Stir buttermilk into chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop the pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine then turn off the heat add the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Stir together and add the pecans. Pour over warm cake. Let the heat of the cake do the work for you.
This cake is so good...like totally impress someone on a first dinner date at my house good!
Hope you're inspired to rock this cake like I was.
Off for now!
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Monday, November 21, 2011
thanksgiving menu
Hi everyone..
Wow..just seems like I'm finally starting to recovery from last years holiday madness. How time flies. I have so much baking to do for other people..I hardly have time to plan my own menu. Kinda hard when your a vegetarian and your family enjoys a nice bird every once in a while. I have to make 2 cakes for my co worker and a sheet cake for some friends in astoria. I just hope I don't have any un-expected mishaps in the kitchen. So I went out and bought a whole bunch of ingredients and I'm gonna make her two cakes and probably a few other things that are super yummy. Since my mom is making a turkey for everyone else, I decided to make portobello mushroom caps stuffed with spinich and fetta, roasted baby potatoes and either asparagus or string beans. I will definately post pics when I have them.
Hope your inspired peeps to make a vegetarian side dish..or main course.
More to come...stay tuned
Wow..just seems like I'm finally starting to recovery from last years holiday madness. How time flies. I have so much baking to do for other people..I hardly have time to plan my own menu. Kinda hard when your a vegetarian and your family enjoys a nice bird every once in a while. I have to make 2 cakes for my co worker and a sheet cake for some friends in astoria. I just hope I don't have any un-expected mishaps in the kitchen. So I went out and bought a whole bunch of ingredients and I'm gonna make her two cakes and probably a few other things that are super yummy. Since my mom is making a turkey for everyone else, I decided to make portobello mushroom caps stuffed with spinich and fetta, roasted baby potatoes and either asparagus or string beans. I will definately post pics when I have them.
Hope your inspired peeps to make a vegetarian side dish..or main course.
More to come...stay tuned
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Monday, November 14, 2011
it was truly better than sex ;)
Hello peeps!
The beginning of my day was very hectic. I had laundry, cleaning, errands to run. The trains weren't running. Uch...I can't live!
..and to top it off, I had to take the tram into the city from Roosevelt Island. Talk about nerve wracking. Thank god its just a five minute trip. When my feet hit the ground, I had to get my bearings. I wasn't quite sure where I was. I just walked up to R train and lo and behold. VIOLa! Or is that Voi-la. Dylans candy bar.
THE best place on earth. The ultimate candy store. As soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed as the lady at the door handed me a plastic bag to fill. I resist the urge to plunge into mounds of gummies everywhere. "Have a little dignity" I say to my grown up self. So I carefully peruse the perimeter
Peruse: (transitive verb). To examine or consider with attention to detail
I started at one side and was blinded by a sea of candy. Too much to list here. You name it. It was there. I looked up and saw a sign advertising a lower and upper level. I went down a winding staircase which led me to a fudge counter. There was cheescake fudge and pumpkin fudge...and red velvet fudge..and chocolate and vanilla.. I can go on.. but I wont because fudge really isnt my gigiddy. I go up to the third floor where they have cupcakes and icecream. A bar for cocktails, and a cafe off to the side. There were all kinds of different flavors of icecream. Too many. You give me too many choices, I can't cope.
I go over to the bakery case...and I see it. The last reeses peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Now, normally I won't buy the "orphan" left behind. But this was no lonely orphan cupcake. It came from Crumbs bakery. This was a 4 dollar cupcake. Put into a fancy box and then put in a cute shopping bag. I walked out with my little cake. I felt good that I didn't run wild like the big kid that I feel like most of the time. So I go on about my buisness..met some friends, grabbed a veggie burger for dinner ..then head home to try this 4 dollar cupcake. Now I know what your thinking. "4 dollars for a cupcake..sheesh...that better be soooome cupcake dammit"
Let me just describe it to you so you understand. This was a chocolate cupcake, filled AND frosted with peanut butter frosting. around the whole edge were chocolate chips and chopped peanuts. And 3 tiny reeses peanut butter cups on top.
By far the best cupcake ever. Not overly moist or too dry. I was goldilocks and this was just right. The chips and peanuts gave nice crunch here and there..and the frosting wasn't overly sweet. You don't have to go to Dylans candy bar to get this cupcake just find a Crumbs bake shop. I promise you, once you try one of these cupcakes you will probably never eat another one anywhere else because it won't be the same. And let me just tell you. This cupcake is truly worthy of eating with a knife and fork. However once I took one bite, I threw my fork and knife into the sink.
Who needs to wash extra shit anyway :) Hats off to Crumbs. Worth every penny
Off for now bees and bears!
The beginning of my day was very hectic. I had laundry, cleaning, errands to run. The trains weren't running. Uch...I can't live!
..and to top it off, I had to take the tram into the city from Roosevelt Island. Talk about nerve wracking. Thank god its just a five minute trip. When my feet hit the ground, I had to get my bearings. I wasn't quite sure where I was. I just walked up to R train and lo and behold. VIOLa! Or is that Voi-la. Dylans candy bar.
THE best place on earth. The ultimate candy store. As soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed as the lady at the door handed me a plastic bag to fill. I resist the urge to plunge into mounds of gummies everywhere. "Have a little dignity" I say to my grown up self. So I carefully peruse the perimeter
Peruse: (transitive verb). To examine or consider with attention to detail
I started at one side and was blinded by a sea of candy. Too much to list here. You name it. It was there. I looked up and saw a sign advertising a lower and upper level. I went down a winding staircase which led me to a fudge counter. There was cheescake fudge and pumpkin fudge...and red velvet fudge..and chocolate and vanilla.. I can go on.. but I wont because fudge really isnt my gigiddy. I go up to the third floor where they have cupcakes and icecream. A bar for cocktails, and a cafe off to the side. There were all kinds of different flavors of icecream. Too many. You give me too many choices, I can't cope.
I go over to the bakery case...and I see it. The last reeses peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Now, normally I won't buy the "orphan" left behind. But this was no lonely orphan cupcake. It came from Crumbs bakery. This was a 4 dollar cupcake. Put into a fancy box and then put in a cute shopping bag. I walked out with my little cake. I felt good that I didn't run wild like the big kid that I feel like most of the time. So I go on about my buisness..met some friends, grabbed a veggie burger for dinner ..then head home to try this 4 dollar cupcake. Now I know what your thinking. "4 dollars for a cupcake..sheesh...that better be soooome cupcake dammit"
Let me just describe it to you so you understand. This was a chocolate cupcake, filled AND frosted with peanut butter frosting. around the whole edge were chocolate chips and chopped peanuts. And 3 tiny reeses peanut butter cups on top.
By far the best cupcake ever. Not overly moist or too dry. I was goldilocks and this was just right. The chips and peanuts gave nice crunch here and there..and the frosting wasn't overly sweet. You don't have to go to Dylans candy bar to get this cupcake just find a Crumbs bake shop. I promise you, once you try one of these cupcakes you will probably never eat another one anywhere else because it won't be the same. And let me just tell you. This cupcake is truly worthy of eating with a knife and fork. However once I took one bite, I threw my fork and knife into the sink.
Who needs to wash extra shit anyway :) Hats off to Crumbs. Worth every penny
Off for now bees and bears!
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Friday, November 11, 2011
a sad sad day...
Its a sad sad day in Allisons Edible world. I had a magazine from 2005 that had a lot of my holiday baking recipes in it. And its gone. Lost. Stolen. Borrowed maybe? Oh how I hope it was just borrowed. (Sigh)... No..its gone. I think it got mixed up with the other magazines that were to be thrown out. My famous cinnamon swirl bread. Gone from this earth. Never to be eaten again. And I don't remember the recipe. Ucch! I could just shoot myself for not making copies. Memorizing the ingredients. Putting the original in the vault and laminating my copies. Why oh why! Dear mary mother of all things holy.
I will look again and keep you all posted. I will keep the faith that it will possibly turn up.
-the search continues :(
I will look again and keep you all posted. I will keep the faith that it will possibly turn up.
-the search continues :(
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011
here we go again
2 weeks ago I tried to post this blog about some serious comfort food..tuna casserole! Every time I tried to post I kept accidently deleting it. Ooofaa was I mad. I wrote that post 3 times. Then settled on the fact that It wasn't in the cards to share a tuna casserole with the world.
Well I'm making it again so here is my opportunity to blog about it. My mom used to make tuna casserole all the time. I remember trying to pick out these little brown bits as I was eating it, not knowing what they were. Years later I found out that the brown bits were coming from cream of mushroom soup. (Shaking my head..who knew?)
As I grew older my taste buds have changed drastically and I've come to appreciate the use of campbell's cream of mushroom soup of america's tuna casserole. Although I've never had it, I hear they sometimes substitute with cream of celery soup. Maybe one day, but not today. So here is my tuna casserole.
1 bag of extra wide noodles
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cans of tuna
1 cups of peas
2 ribs of celey, chopped
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 cup of bread crumbs
3 tbs of butter
3 tbs of flour
1 cup milk
Boil the egg noodles. Drain and set off to the side. Melt butter over med heat. Add flour and make a rue. Cook the flour a little bit and add the milk. Stir until smooth. Add cream of mushroom soup. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Add cooked peas,onions and celery to soup mixture. Add to noodles. Add tuna and mix well. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out and sprinkle top with toasted bread crumbs or frenches onions. Bake for another ten minutes until top is GBD (golden brown and delicious).
Hope you're inspired to go back to some childhood comfort food.
Off for now bees and bears!
Well I'm making it again so here is my opportunity to blog about it. My mom used to make tuna casserole all the time. I remember trying to pick out these little brown bits as I was eating it, not knowing what they were. Years later I found out that the brown bits were coming from cream of mushroom soup. (Shaking my head..who knew?)
As I grew older my taste buds have changed drastically and I've come to appreciate the use of campbell's cream of mushroom soup of america's tuna casserole. Although I've never had it, I hear they sometimes substitute with cream of celery soup. Maybe one day, but not today. So here is my tuna casserole.
1 bag of extra wide noodles
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cans of tuna
1 cups of peas
2 ribs of celey, chopped
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 cup of bread crumbs
3 tbs of butter
3 tbs of flour
1 cup milk
Boil the egg noodles. Drain and set off to the side. Melt butter over med heat. Add flour and make a rue. Cook the flour a little bit and add the milk. Stir until smooth. Add cream of mushroom soup. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Add cooked peas,onions and celery to soup mixture. Add to noodles. Add tuna and mix well. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out and sprinkle top with toasted bread crumbs or frenches onions. Bake for another ten minutes until top is GBD (golden brown and delicious).
Hope you're inspired to go back to some childhood comfort food.
Off for now bees and bears!
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Friday, November 4, 2011
what to do? what to do???
Ok... I'm not much of a pie baker. Mainly because I'm not confident in my pie crust skills. So I'm embarrassed to admit that I will use a pre-made pie crust. Not the ones in the pan. I will use the one that comes rolled up. You can do so much more with this product than just make pies. I like to take leftover cranberry sauce and make little tartlets. They are super easy, tasty and kind of impressive. First I will take you through making the cranberry sauce and then the tartlets. This cranberry sauce is for the people who say they hate cranberry sauce. I promise, once you taste this version you will change your mind! You can also prepare this a week in advance before you need it. It stays good in the fridge for a while.
For the cranberry sauce:
1 cup of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 a fuji apple
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients together except the craisins Leave the fuji whole or in big chunks. You're going to pick them out later. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop. Then add the craisins. They will retain some of there firmness and give your sauce a nice texture Then reduce and simmer until thick. I simmer mine for a while because I like it like jelly. This comes out so good. You can eat it along with your turkey, or potroast. You can even eat it with cream cheese on a bagel or toast.
Now for the tartlets, I unroll the pie dough and cut it into little triangles. In the center of each triangle of pie dough I put a teaspoon of cranberry sauce and a sprinle of chopped walnuts and then pinch the three points of the triangle closed to make a purse.then brush with an eggwash and sprinkle with regular or turbinado sugar. Then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Unfortunately I do not have any pictures ready. But as soon as I do I will post them. Hope this gives you some information for the holiday season.
Enjoy!
For the cranberry sauce:
1 cup of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 a fuji apple
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients together except the craisins Leave the fuji whole or in big chunks. You're going to pick them out later. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop. Then add the craisins. They will retain some of there firmness and give your sauce a nice texture Then reduce and simmer until thick. I simmer mine for a while because I like it like jelly. This comes out so good. You can eat it along with your turkey, or potroast. You can even eat it with cream cheese on a bagel or toast.
Now for the tartlets, I unroll the pie dough and cut it into little triangles. In the center of each triangle of pie dough I put a teaspoon of cranberry sauce and a sprinle of chopped walnuts and then pinch the three points of the triangle closed to make a purse.then brush with an eggwash and sprinkle with regular or turbinado sugar. Then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Unfortunately I do not have any pictures ready. But as soon as I do I will post them. Hope this gives you some information for the holiday season.
Enjoy!
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Thursday, November 3, 2011
Time to fill the freezer
Ok..its november and I've been baking my ass off. Unfortunately I've been eating my ass off too. Lol. Life's too short to count calories. I do like to give edible gifts from my heart during the holidays. But unfortunately I don't always have the time to make stuff the day before. So I'm a big fan or things that freeze well. I like this cranberry pistachio bread for thanksgiving and christmas because of the pretty colors...and of course it freezes well. So get into the spirit and try this out..and let me know what you think!
Cranberry pistachio bread
2 cups APF (all purpose flour)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
3/4 cups chopped dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pistachios (you can use walnuts, but half the fun of this bread is the green of the pistachios)
1/2 cup chopped figs or apricots
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of your loaf pan and 1/2 inch up. (* if you grease your pan all the way up your loaf will be flat and you won't get that rounded top).
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar,baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl beat eggs with a fork stir in milk and melted butter.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in your nuts and dried fruit. Spoon batter into prepared pan bake for 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick and if not done,bake in five minute increments until done. For last 20 minutes you may want to cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then transfer to a rack. If you are going to freeze this,make sure its cooled completely and wrapped in plastic first and then foil
Hope your inspired to try this for your holiday!
Cranberry pistachio bread
2 cups APF (all purpose flour)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
3/4 cups chopped dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pistachios (you can use walnuts, but half the fun of this bread is the green of the pistachios)
1/2 cup chopped figs or apricots
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of your loaf pan and 1/2 inch up. (* if you grease your pan all the way up your loaf will be flat and you won't get that rounded top).
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar,baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl beat eggs with a fork stir in milk and melted butter.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in your nuts and dried fruit. Spoon batter into prepared pan bake for 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick and if not done,bake in five minute increments until done. For last 20 minutes you may want to cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then transfer to a rack. If you are going to freeze this,make sure its cooled completely and wrapped in plastic first and then foil
Hope your inspired to try this for your holiday!
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
pumpkins everywhere
Ok..so I'm totally in the holiday spirit. Halloween is over. Soon it will be thanksgiving. I'm over-dosing you guys on all things pumpkin. Todays pumpkin post will be my pumpkin cornbread recipe. This recipe will go quickly so you may want to make 2 batches. Whenever I bake I look for recipes that double easily and that freeze well. You can always make ahead of time and then just defrost when you need it. This recipe is good on the dinner table for thanks giving and for breakfast with butter or jam the next morning.
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup ground cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
(mace is the reddish outer coating of the nutmeg that is dried and used as a spice with a slight pepper undertone. Do not be heavy handed with this one. If a recipe calls for 1tsp of nutmeg, I substite with half the amount of mace. I think it has a great flavor)
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp good quality real maple syrup
4 tbs butter(you can substute with vegetable oil. I like butter for this recipe)
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine and whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and spices.
I'm a seperate bowl combine with a hand mixer the pumpkin puree, eggs, butter and milk in a seperate bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add nuts. (Skip nuts if anyone is allergic)
Grease a 9"X5" pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if its done. If not done cook in addition 5 minute increments until done. Let rest in the pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool on a rack.
Hope your inspired to make this for your holiday table like I am
Off for now bees and bears!
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup ground cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
(mace is the reddish outer coating of the nutmeg that is dried and used as a spice with a slight pepper undertone. Do not be heavy handed with this one. If a recipe calls for 1tsp of nutmeg, I substite with half the amount of mace. I think it has a great flavor)
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp good quality real maple syrup
4 tbs butter(you can substute with vegetable oil. I like butter for this recipe)
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine and whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and spices.
I'm a seperate bowl combine with a hand mixer the pumpkin puree, eggs, butter and milk in a seperate bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add nuts. (Skip nuts if anyone is allergic)
Grease a 9"X5" pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if its done. If not done cook in addition 5 minute increments until done. Let rest in the pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool on a rack.
Hope your inspired to make this for your holiday table like I am
Off for now bees and bears!
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Monday, October 31, 2011
the fruits of my labor
Finally..the pics of my pumpkin bread..oooh la laaaa!
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the skinny on the pumpkin bread
Ok people. Here it is. I make the best pumpkin bread ever...and I have vowed to never give away my recipe except to people with the same last name as me. But after much pressure the time has come to break my silence. I realize that no big baking company is knocking down my door to buy my recipe from me, so its time to share it with the world. Its perfect for the holiday season and to share with others.
Pumpkin bread
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
(3/4 cup choppes walnuts optional. I don't use the nuts)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease two loaf pans. Or 1 bundt pan. Mix oil and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add water and blend. Make a well in your dry ingredients and add wet ingredients in 3 batches. Fill pans and bake for an hour or until done when tested with a toothpick. For the bundt pan add another 10-15 minutes onto the cooking time.
I hope you all try this recipe and let me know how you like it!
Off for now!
Pumpkin bread
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
(3/4 cup choppes walnuts optional. I don't use the nuts)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease two loaf pans. Or 1 bundt pan. Mix oil and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add water and blend. Make a well in your dry ingredients and add wet ingredients in 3 batches. Fill pans and bake for an hour or until done when tested with a toothpick. For the bundt pan add another 10-15 minutes onto the cooking time.
I hope you all try this recipe and let me know how you like it!
Off for now!
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Sunday, October 16, 2011
the cranberry blog
Originally this was going to be a "tip of the moment" blog. But I simply can't write 2 little sentences about this little fruit. Just the color alone is as much a part of autumn as the orange. When you see the leaves change then you know its the perfect time for cranberries. I usually try to stay out of anything political..or controversial in this blog but I feel I need to say this. Feel free to take it for what its worth.
I refuse to buy ocean spray cranberries. The only cranberries I buy are the fresh ones straight from the cranberry bogs that they sell at the farmers market. I am a firm believer that no matter how small the action is, it has a ripple effect into the universe. OceanSpray has put a monopoly on the cranberry industry that has made it so hard for small town cranberry farmers to make a living. This is why I will only buy the fresh cranberries from the farmers market. Ok..so now that we've gotten that out of the way. I digress ;/
I was inspired by the november issue of vegetarian times to blog about cranberries. I saw a beautiful looking recipe for a cranberry bar. The top was a smooth velvety looking cranberry custard sitting on top of a bed of graham crackers. When the recipe said it resembled the texture of a Key lime pie. I was super convinced..and eventually I will deviate from the original recipe and turn this into a pie. I know what your thinking. A key lime pie that's not lime..but cranberries! I was always grossed out by cranberries when I was a kid but my taste buds have changed a bit. I'm beginning to appreciate a lot of new flavors. I'm excited to try this out. It had condensed milk in it, what could be bad about this lol.
So here is the original recipe
Cranberry bars
Filling
1lb fresh or frozen cranberries
7oz fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 egg yolks
Crust
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup graham flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbs butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Bring cranberries and 1/2 cup water to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer for 10 min or until berries have burst. Cool and blend until smooth. Strain mixture thru a sieve so its really smooth. Should make about 1 cup puree.
Tranfer puree to a bowl and whisk in condensed milk, lemon and egg yolks.
To make crust
Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Whisk together flours,sugar and salt. Stir in butter and vanilla. Press into bottom of your pan and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce temp to 300 and pour filling into hot crust. Bake 23 to 28 minutes or until custard is set. Cool and then chill until firm. Use foil to lift bars out of pan. Cut into 25 bars.
I hope your inspired just as I was!
Off for now bees and bears!
:)
I refuse to buy ocean spray cranberries. The only cranberries I buy are the fresh ones straight from the cranberry bogs that they sell at the farmers market. I am a firm believer that no matter how small the action is, it has a ripple effect into the universe. OceanSpray has put a monopoly on the cranberry industry that has made it so hard for small town cranberry farmers to make a living. This is why I will only buy the fresh cranberries from the farmers market. Ok..so now that we've gotten that out of the way. I digress ;/
I was inspired by the november issue of vegetarian times to blog about cranberries. I saw a beautiful looking recipe for a cranberry bar. The top was a smooth velvety looking cranberry custard sitting on top of a bed of graham crackers. When the recipe said it resembled the texture of a Key lime pie. I was super convinced..and eventually I will deviate from the original recipe and turn this into a pie. I know what your thinking. A key lime pie that's not lime..but cranberries! I was always grossed out by cranberries when I was a kid but my taste buds have changed a bit. I'm beginning to appreciate a lot of new flavors. I'm excited to try this out. It had condensed milk in it, what could be bad about this lol.
So here is the original recipe
Cranberry bars
Filling
1lb fresh or frozen cranberries
7oz fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 egg yolks
Crust
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup graham flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbs butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Bring cranberries and 1/2 cup water to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer for 10 min or until berries have burst. Cool and blend until smooth. Strain mixture thru a sieve so its really smooth. Should make about 1 cup puree.
Tranfer puree to a bowl and whisk in condensed milk, lemon and egg yolks.
To make crust
Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Whisk together flours,sugar and salt. Stir in butter and vanilla. Press into bottom of your pan and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce temp to 300 and pour filling into hot crust. Bake 23 to 28 minutes or until custard is set. Cool and then chill until firm. Use foil to lift bars out of pan. Cut into 25 bars.
I hope your inspired just as I was!
Off for now bees and bears!
:)
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Thursday, October 6, 2011
If pumpkin pie and french toast had a baby :)
So here's the sitcheee-a-tion, we had a free lunch at work and rather than order from the healthy salad place they ordered italian. Everything was covered in sauce. Don't get me wrong I love sauce. But sauce and trying to stay on my points doesn't mesh too well. So I tried to do the best I could. A little salmon..some salad..string beans and carrots. Some stuffed shrooms. Then I see the bad of bread that noone touched. The perfect opportunity. To snatch it for a bread pudding. Only its fall..so I decided to use pumpkin in it and make it a pumpkin bread pudding. This is not your typical mushy diner bread pudding. This is the evil love child of french toast and pumpkin pie. Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to make a homemade caramel sauce to drizzle on top. And yes its CARAMEL. Not carmel dammit.
If you have a dinner to go to at a friends house bring this. I gaurantee there won't be any leftovers.
Pumpkin bread pudding
16 ounces crusty bread. Cubed.
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla
In a bowl combine eggs,milk,cream,sugar,vanilla and pumpkin. Make sure its well mixed. I suggest a hand mixer.
Put your bread cubes in a buttered aluminum baking pan or casserole dish. Pour the wet ingredients over the bread cubes and let it soak in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until all the liquid is absorbed
Preheat your oven to 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes or until set.
Easy caramel sauce
1 cup of water
1 1/2cups of sugar
1teaspoon pure vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbs butter
1/8 tsp salt
Combine the water and sugar over low heat until melted. Raise the heat and watch the sugar/water very carefully. When it turns a light caramel brown about 8minutes (this happens fast. Caramel left unattended will burn very quickly) slowly pour in your cream. The mixture will bubble furiously. Add vanilla butter and salt and cook another minute untils smooth and thick. Remove from heat. Will keep good in the fridge for....
Who am I kidding. It doesn't last long enough so I'm not really sure. They say it will last for a few weeks.
I hope you're inspired and try this recipe
Off for now !
If you have a dinner to go to at a friends house bring this. I gaurantee there won't be any leftovers.
Pumpkin bread pudding
16 ounces crusty bread. Cubed.
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla
In a bowl combine eggs,milk,cream,sugar,vanilla and pumpkin. Make sure its well mixed. I suggest a hand mixer.
Put your bread cubes in a buttered aluminum baking pan or casserole dish. Pour the wet ingredients over the bread cubes and let it soak in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until all the liquid is absorbed
Preheat your oven to 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes or until set.
Easy caramel sauce
1 cup of water
1 1/2cups of sugar
1teaspoon pure vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbs butter
1/8 tsp salt
Combine the water and sugar over low heat until melted. Raise the heat and watch the sugar/water very carefully. When it turns a light caramel brown about 8minutes (this happens fast. Caramel left unattended will burn very quickly) slowly pour in your cream. The mixture will bubble furiously. Add vanilla butter and salt and cook another minute untils smooth and thick. Remove from heat. Will keep good in the fridge for....
Who am I kidding. It doesn't last long enough so I'm not really sure. They say it will last for a few weeks.
I hope you're inspired and try this recipe
Off for now !
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Hey bees and bears,
I was feeling so crappy yesterday. I needed some comfort food. I don't know how the subject of polenta came up but it did. I decided instead of rice I would make polenta as a side dish. I used to make that all the tine for me and micheal. I really like it because it tastes good when you first make it, and you can turn it into some crispy goodness the next day. So here is my recipe. You can increase the salt after its done if you like your polenta a little saltier.
Creamy polenta
6 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups polenta (medium or course grind is fine)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tbs of butter
2 tbsp cream cheese or parmesn cheese
Bring your water and salt to a rolling boil. When the water is boiling slowly stream in your polenta while whisking continuously. In order to prevent the polenta from sticking the the bottom of the pot you will have to whick continuously for 20-30 minutes. The polenta is done when it is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pot. When you see it starting to get thick add a tbs of butter and 2 tbs of cream cheese. I know what your thinking, sounds odd to put cream cheese in polenta but trust me it makes it nice and creamy.
I like my with extra salt and pepper.
Ok...time to talk leftovers. I always make a big batch. I take the polenta and pour it in a loaf pan and refridgerate it. The next day its really firm. I cut it into slices 1/4 inch thick. I give them a quick spray of fat free cooking spray and a sprink or either panko bread crumbs or seasoned ones and then fry them in a hot pan until crispy on both sides. They taste good like that but if you want to really bring it over the edge you can melt mozzerella over it and serve with marinara. Uch..super yummy! I forgot to take pictures of the polenta before I ate it. When I make more I promise to post the pictures so stay tuned.
I hope you're inspired to try something different that your usual side dish. Off for now my lovelies!
I was feeling so crappy yesterday. I needed some comfort food. I don't know how the subject of polenta came up but it did. I decided instead of rice I would make polenta as a side dish. I used to make that all the tine for me and micheal. I really like it because it tastes good when you first make it, and you can turn it into some crispy goodness the next day. So here is my recipe. You can increase the salt after its done if you like your polenta a little saltier.
Creamy polenta
6 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups polenta (medium or course grind is fine)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tbs of butter
2 tbsp cream cheese or parmesn cheese
Bring your water and salt to a rolling boil. When the water is boiling slowly stream in your polenta while whisking continuously. In order to prevent the polenta from sticking the the bottom of the pot you will have to whick continuously for 20-30 minutes. The polenta is done when it is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pot. When you see it starting to get thick add a tbs of butter and 2 tbs of cream cheese. I know what your thinking, sounds odd to put cream cheese in polenta but trust me it makes it nice and creamy.
I like my with extra salt and pepper.
Ok...time to talk leftovers. I always make a big batch. I take the polenta and pour it in a loaf pan and refridgerate it. The next day its really firm. I cut it into slices 1/4 inch thick. I give them a quick spray of fat free cooking spray and a sprink or either panko bread crumbs or seasoned ones and then fry them in a hot pan until crispy on both sides. They taste good like that but if you want to really bring it over the edge you can melt mozzerella over it and serve with marinara. Uch..super yummy! I forgot to take pictures of the polenta before I ate it. When I make more I promise to post the pictures so stay tuned.
I hope you're inspired to try something different that your usual side dish. Off for now my lovelies!
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Sunday, October 2, 2011
tip of the moment- #2
When substituting canned chick peas for fresh ones in any recipe don't forget that your chickpeas have an outer skin on then that needs to be removed. You can do this simply by pinching each pea in between your fingers gently :)
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soups on!
Hey boys and girls,
I had a very long long week. From preparing side dishes for the holiday and preparing my food for the week..I'm pooped. What's getting me through to the next blog is the holiday season. I can't wait to see if there will be any pumpkins around. One of my favorite things to make is pumpkin pie. I do frown upon using the canned pumpkin for pies when you can just take a little time to roast your own in the oven. It is so worth the little extra effort to have a fresh pumpkin pie. Not too mention I love to make roasted pumpkin seeds after I carve my scary halloween pumkin. I love all things pumpkin. Pumpkin bread. Pumpkin soup. It would be a bummer if there were no sugar pumpkins because of hurricane irene.
If you cant find pumpkin you can absolutely substitute it with butternut squash. I'm actually doing this blog for my friend Mayra. We were in the car on the way to wo-hop and pumpkins came up. She said she needed a recipe for pumpkin soup. So here it is.
Pumpkin soup
1 pumpkin peeled and seeded(save seeds for later)
2tbs whole coriander seeds
1tsp ground cinnamon
2dried red chilies
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Fresh sage leaves (optional)
1 onion diced
1carrot cut into small chuncks
1 piece of celery cut into chunks
1.5 liters of veggie stock
Sour cream or creme fresh
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Roast your pumpkin in your oven until tender. In a seperate pan on the stove heat 2 tbs of olive oil and sautee your onions until translucent with your celery and carrots.
Add your stock with the roasted pumpkin to the pan. And bring to a boil. After it boils for ten minutes puree it in a blender in batches and be careful not to burn yourself.
I'm a big beleiver in low and slow. If your not in a hurry for soup, you can also transfer everything to your slowcooker and set it to low for a few hours. I make all my soups this way. Low and slow and then puree. I like to make a big batch of soup and freeze half for a rainy day.
When you're ready to serve you can fry your fresh sage leaves until crispy and then sprinkle then on top of your soup with a spoonful of sour cream or creme fresh.
This soup is super figure friendly and very high in vitamin A. So I hope you're inspired and give it a try.
Off for now bees and bears!
I had a very long long week. From preparing side dishes for the holiday and preparing my food for the week..I'm pooped. What's getting me through to the next blog is the holiday season. I can't wait to see if there will be any pumpkins around. One of my favorite things to make is pumpkin pie. I do frown upon using the canned pumpkin for pies when you can just take a little time to roast your own in the oven. It is so worth the little extra effort to have a fresh pumpkin pie. Not too mention I love to make roasted pumpkin seeds after I carve my scary halloween pumkin. I love all things pumpkin. Pumpkin bread. Pumpkin soup. It would be a bummer if there were no sugar pumpkins because of hurricane irene.
If you cant find pumpkin you can absolutely substitute it with butternut squash. I'm actually doing this blog for my friend Mayra. We were in the car on the way to wo-hop and pumpkins came up. She said she needed a recipe for pumpkin soup. So here it is.
Pumpkin soup
1 pumpkin peeled and seeded(save seeds for later)
2tbs whole coriander seeds
1tsp ground cinnamon
2dried red chilies
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Fresh sage leaves (optional)
1 onion diced
1carrot cut into small chuncks
1 piece of celery cut into chunks
1.5 liters of veggie stock
Sour cream or creme fresh
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Roast your pumpkin in your oven until tender. In a seperate pan on the stove heat 2 tbs of olive oil and sautee your onions until translucent with your celery and carrots.
Add your stock with the roasted pumpkin to the pan. And bring to a boil. After it boils for ten minutes puree it in a blender in batches and be careful not to burn yourself.
I'm a big beleiver in low and slow. If your not in a hurry for soup, you can also transfer everything to your slowcooker and set it to low for a few hours. I make all my soups this way. Low and slow and then puree. I like to make a big batch of soup and freeze half for a rainy day.
When you're ready to serve you can fry your fresh sage leaves until crispy and then sprinkle then on top of your soup with a spoonful of sour cream or creme fresh.
This soup is super figure friendly and very high in vitamin A. So I hope you're inspired and give it a try.
Off for now bees and bears!
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Saturday, October 1, 2011
tip of the moment*
New feature from time to time will be the "tip of the moment".
Do not forget about the inside of your celery. I know a lot of people throw this away thinking its inedible. Do not do this. When making soups that call for the holy trinity (carrots, onion, and celery) use th curly inside leaves of the celery. The best celery flavor lives inside these pretty leaves.
Stay tuned for more tips throughout the day!
Xoxo
Do not forget about the inside of your celery. I know a lot of people throw this away thinking its inedible. Do not do this. When making soups that call for the holy trinity (carrots, onion, and celery) use th curly inside leaves of the celery. The best celery flavor lives inside these pretty leaves.
Stay tuned for more tips throughout the day!
Xoxo
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Taste test
Ok bees and bears,
I brought my tagine inspired chickpea "soup" or should I say "stoup" to work for lunch and I gave a few samples to my co-workers to try. One co-worker looked confused by the taste of cloves and cinnamon in it. My other co-worker liked it but said to add more garlic and tomatoes.
Honestly the only thing I would add would be a pinch or chile powder for some heat..and maybe some more garlic. The chickpeas are the star and I think more tomatoes would steel there thunder. The only reason I held off on the spice was because I'm planning on serving it to my mom and she can't take the heat. I would definitely make this again :)
I brought my tagine inspired chickpea "soup" or should I say "stoup" to work for lunch and I gave a few samples to my co-workers to try. One co-worker looked confused by the taste of cloves and cinnamon in it. My other co-worker liked it but said to add more garlic and tomatoes.
Honestly the only thing I would add would be a pinch or chile powder for some heat..and maybe some more garlic. The chickpeas are the star and I think more tomatoes would steel there thunder. The only reason I held off on the spice was because I'm planning on serving it to my mom and she can't take the heat. I would definitely make this again :)
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Sunday, September 25, 2011
bon appetit
Hey bees and bears,
I did some food shopping saturday. I bought some things for my crockpot red lentil and chickpea tagine. I was first introduced to tagine when I worked in a restaurant owned by a pair of morrocan brothers. Tagine is typically north african style of cooking. A tagine is a type of pot. Tagine can include a variety of ingredients.it can be vegetarian but typically I think it includes chicken or lamb. Since I don't have a traditional tagine, I'm using a crockpot. I love the crockpot and highly suggest to anyone who likes to make big batches and freeze for later. I usually make soups in mine. But I've made beef stew for my mom and she like it a whole bunch. I made a whole chicken for micheal once and he really liked it. As far as I'm concerned, I'll stick to veggies.
It was my intention for the ingredients in my crockpot to take the shape of some veggie stew with my inspiration coming from morocco. I'm not exactly sure what happened. But it tasted a bit flat and when I stirred it, it just looked like vegetable soup. It wasn't thick. It was a veggie mish mosh. Very disapponting. I took my cinnamon stick and bay leaf out and pureed half the soup and then returned it back to the slowcooker. I added a bit more salt and pepper, and it actually tasted really good as a soup. Throwing half in the blender gave it a little body. The cloves also gave it a nice perfumey flavor. I've never been into cloves. I've been experimenting with them recently and I'm kinda diggin' them. So here is my recipe for my tagine inspired mish-mosh soup.
1 large onion diced small
5 small mixed peppers(red,yellow, orange
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cans chick peas rinsed well
1 cup red lentils
1 large can diced tomatoes
4 cups water(or veggie stock-your choice)
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
8 cloves
A pinch of whole cardomon seeds
2 bay leaves
saute your onions, peppers and garlin in oil until tender. put int the slowcooker with the rest of the ingredients. Cook it on low overnight. Puree half in the blender. And return to the crockpot and re-season to your taste.
Hope you enjoy this happy little mistake lol
Off for now boys and girls!
I did some food shopping saturday. I bought some things for my crockpot red lentil and chickpea tagine. I was first introduced to tagine when I worked in a restaurant owned by a pair of morrocan brothers. Tagine is typically north african style of cooking. A tagine is a type of pot. Tagine can include a variety of ingredients.it can be vegetarian but typically I think it includes chicken or lamb. Since I don't have a traditional tagine, I'm using a crockpot. I love the crockpot and highly suggest to anyone who likes to make big batches and freeze for later. I usually make soups in mine. But I've made beef stew for my mom and she like it a whole bunch. I made a whole chicken for micheal once and he really liked it. As far as I'm concerned, I'll stick to veggies.
It was my intention for the ingredients in my crockpot to take the shape of some veggie stew with my inspiration coming from morocco. I'm not exactly sure what happened. But it tasted a bit flat and when I stirred it, it just looked like vegetable soup. It wasn't thick. It was a veggie mish mosh. Very disapponting. I took my cinnamon stick and bay leaf out and pureed half the soup and then returned it back to the slowcooker. I added a bit more salt and pepper, and it actually tasted really good as a soup. Throwing half in the blender gave it a little body. The cloves also gave it a nice perfumey flavor. I've never been into cloves. I've been experimenting with them recently and I'm kinda diggin' them. So here is my recipe for my tagine inspired mish-mosh soup.
1 large onion diced small
5 small mixed peppers(red,yellow, orange
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cans chick peas rinsed well
1 cup red lentils
1 large can diced tomatoes
4 cups water(or veggie stock-your choice)
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
8 cloves
A pinch of whole cardomon seeds
2 bay leaves
saute your onions, peppers and garlin in oil until tender. put int the slowcooker with the rest of the ingredients. Cook it on low overnight. Puree half in the blender. And return to the crockpot and re-season to your taste.
Hope you enjoy this happy little mistake lol
Off for now boys and girls!
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pancake time!
Ok bees and bears,
I'm attempting to live a gluten free vegan lifestyle, however I decided to say fuck-it and have an eggs and pancake brunch this morning. Not gluten free pancakes. Real ones. Because I make the best pancakes. Plus, I have never made them gluten free, and I wasn't in the mood for a science experiment today. So I'll suffer with the bellyache in the name of pancakes.
I asked a friend today if he knew how to make pancakes and he said he just mixes water with the powdered stuff. I was on the phone so he couldn't see me clutching my chest and throat in disgust. I think there are a few things everyone should know how to make. Great scrambled eggs, pancakes, frenchtoast, a good peice of salmon. Basic things. You never know when your going to have to cook for someone. It's also very economical. Why pay for a mix when most likely you can make them for 50cents with things you already have on hand. Actually there are a few basic things everyone should have in their kitchen, even the guys. Flour, butter, eggs. The basics.
You never know when you might have to make a spur of the moment brunch..and pancakes are perfect. I make the best ones and will tell you everything you need to know. You see there are thousands of pancake recipes out there. Its not so much the recipe as it is the technique. I'm going to give you my recipe for fluffy pancakes and give you all the tips you need to know to make them perfect. This recipe doubles easily, you may want to do that if you have more than one guest. I promise these go quickly.
Fluffy pancake recipe
3/4 cup milk
2 tbs white vinegar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs white sugar
1 tsp baking pwder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2tbs melted butter (or canola oil)
Cooking spray
Here is everything you need to know in order to make awesome pancakes.
First things first. Let's talk batter. A lot of pancake problems start long before they ever hit the pan. Resist. Resist I say. Resist the urge to overmix your batter. Be gentle. The batter never did anything to you. When you mix your wet ingredients into your dry (never do dry into wet. No reason. Just don't. Its bad form lol), just mix gently until incorporated. If it looks like there are tiny lumps. That's good..leave it. After its gently mixed put your batter into the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. Your batter will thank you. Flour has gluten, and gluten is a protein. When overmixed it will get tough. Hence, tough pancakes. So resist the urge to overmix and let the batter rest for a while. When you take your batter out of the fridge you will see bubbles in your batter. Again...DO NOT stir them out. Bubbles are good. Just take a large spoon, something you would use to stir a large caldron of soup and start spooning your batter(approximately 1/3 cup of batter makes an ideal size pancake that's easy to flip.
One more thing. Don't be a hero. Use a nonstick pan. Dont try to use anything else. You'll have nothing but pancake problems if you do.
Start of by spraying your pan with cooking spray. Add 1 tbs of canola oil and make sure your pan is well oiled. If you tilt your pan and you see the oil swim to the other side of the pan, you have too much in. You want to cook your pancakes. Not fry them. Your pan must be hot. When you spoon your batter into the pan, let bubbles form across the surface. Then and only then is your pancake suitable for flipping. Oh, and don't forget to get your spatula completely under the pancake and turn it over gently and let that side cook until it's GBD (golden brown and delicious). Keep your cooking spray handy, you will definately need to re-spray in between pancakes. I like to cook 2 at a time. 3 tops. I'm not superwoman.
I suggest splurging for real maple syrup. Not that mrs butter-watever crap. I mean how often do you make pancakes. They deserve good syrup. And its something that's good to have in your pantry during this season. Maple = yummy flavor.
So that's all I got on pancakes. Hope you're inspired to nake pancakes next weekend and let me know how they turn out :)
Off for now my lovelies!
I'm attempting to live a gluten free vegan lifestyle, however I decided to say fuck-it and have an eggs and pancake brunch this morning. Not gluten free pancakes. Real ones. Because I make the best pancakes. Plus, I have never made them gluten free, and I wasn't in the mood for a science experiment today. So I'll suffer with the bellyache in the name of pancakes.
I asked a friend today if he knew how to make pancakes and he said he just mixes water with the powdered stuff. I was on the phone so he couldn't see me clutching my chest and throat in disgust. I think there are a few things everyone should know how to make. Great scrambled eggs, pancakes, frenchtoast, a good peice of salmon. Basic things. You never know when your going to have to cook for someone. It's also very economical. Why pay for a mix when most likely you can make them for 50cents with things you already have on hand. Actually there are a few basic things everyone should have in their kitchen, even the guys. Flour, butter, eggs. The basics.
You never know when you might have to make a spur of the moment brunch..and pancakes are perfect. I make the best ones and will tell you everything you need to know. You see there are thousands of pancake recipes out there. Its not so much the recipe as it is the technique. I'm going to give you my recipe for fluffy pancakes and give you all the tips you need to know to make them perfect. This recipe doubles easily, you may want to do that if you have more than one guest. I promise these go quickly.
Fluffy pancake recipe
3/4 cup milk
2 tbs white vinegar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs white sugar
1 tsp baking pwder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2tbs melted butter (or canola oil)
Cooking spray
Here is everything you need to know in order to make awesome pancakes.
First things first. Let's talk batter. A lot of pancake problems start long before they ever hit the pan. Resist. Resist I say. Resist the urge to overmix your batter. Be gentle. The batter never did anything to you. When you mix your wet ingredients into your dry (never do dry into wet. No reason. Just don't. Its bad form lol), just mix gently until incorporated. If it looks like there are tiny lumps. That's good..leave it. After its gently mixed put your batter into the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. Your batter will thank you. Flour has gluten, and gluten is a protein. When overmixed it will get tough. Hence, tough pancakes. So resist the urge to overmix and let the batter rest for a while. When you take your batter out of the fridge you will see bubbles in your batter. Again...DO NOT stir them out. Bubbles are good. Just take a large spoon, something you would use to stir a large caldron of soup and start spooning your batter(approximately 1/3 cup of batter makes an ideal size pancake that's easy to flip.
One more thing. Don't be a hero. Use a nonstick pan. Dont try to use anything else. You'll have nothing but pancake problems if you do.
Start of by spraying your pan with cooking spray. Add 1 tbs of canola oil and make sure your pan is well oiled. If you tilt your pan and you see the oil swim to the other side of the pan, you have too much in. You want to cook your pancakes. Not fry them. Your pan must be hot. When you spoon your batter into the pan, let bubbles form across the surface. Then and only then is your pancake suitable for flipping. Oh, and don't forget to get your spatula completely under the pancake and turn it over gently and let that side cook until it's GBD (golden brown and delicious). Keep your cooking spray handy, you will definately need to re-spray in between pancakes. I like to cook 2 at a time. 3 tops. I'm not superwoman.
I suggest splurging for real maple syrup. Not that mrs butter-watever crap. I mean how often do you make pancakes. They deserve good syrup. And its something that's good to have in your pantry during this season. Maple = yummy flavor.
So that's all I got on pancakes. Hope you're inspired to nake pancakes next weekend and let me know how they turn out :)
Off for now my lovelies!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4
Thursday, September 22, 2011
blintzes and latkes and kugel oh my
Hey boys and girls!
Next week is Rosh Hashana and yet another excuse to cook some good eats. Typically a lot of sweet things are eaten on Rosh Hashonah. I'm using this day as as excuse to have the ever so yummy potato latke make an appearance on my plate this year. I'm going to alter the original recipe and make them gluten free. Typically a side dish, I'm pairing it up with beans and a grilled portobello mushrooms to make it a meal. Of course instead of white potatoes I'm making this batch with sweet potatoes. I'm going to make them early this year and freeze them. Then when I need them I'll just have to pop them in the oven and warm them up.
My mother asked me what I wanted her to make. I really wanted to say nothing. Its not that I don't like her cooking, but I really do like making my own food.
I just saw the Rachel Rae show, and she was making a steakhouse dinner with a swiss chard gratin. It looked really good. Its made with a rouix so I'm going to have to think about this recipe, since I'm trying to stay away from the flour. I'm not sure if you can make a roux with gluten free flour. Hmm..I think I have some investigating to do. I will definately keep you posted on the roux situation. For now I'm just going to share my potatoe latke recipe with you. I decided to make them curried. I think curry goes so well with sweet potatoes, however if your not a curry person you can omit it.
Curried Sweet Potato Latkes
(Makes about 15)
1 pound sweet potatoes
1/2 cup gluten free flour
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
A sprinkle of black pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
Canola oil
Peel and grate the potatoes on the course side of a grater. In another bowl mix together flour, sugars, baking powder, curry, salt and pepper. Add in eggs in and combine. Stir in the milk until well mixed. Add in the grated sweet potatoes and mix until combined.
Heat 1/8 to 1/4 inch oil in a heavy over medium heat.
When the oil is hot place heaping tbsps of the mixture into the pan and then press down slightly to form a patty. Keep in mind if you're oil is not hot it will just take longer to cook and the latkes will be greasy. Fry 2-3 minutes until crispy then flip and fry the other side. Remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
I hope you are inspired to try this dish. They aren't just holidays..anyone can make these. I will admit its a bit of work to grate the potatoes but I think its worth it! Hope you're inspired like I was :)
Next week is Rosh Hashana and yet another excuse to cook some good eats. Typically a lot of sweet things are eaten on Rosh Hashonah. I'm using this day as as excuse to have the ever so yummy potato latke make an appearance on my plate this year. I'm going to alter the original recipe and make them gluten free. Typically a side dish, I'm pairing it up with beans and a grilled portobello mushrooms to make it a meal. Of course instead of white potatoes I'm making this batch with sweet potatoes. I'm going to make them early this year and freeze them. Then when I need them I'll just have to pop them in the oven and warm them up.
My mother asked me what I wanted her to make. I really wanted to say nothing. Its not that I don't like her cooking, but I really do like making my own food.
I just saw the Rachel Rae show, and she was making a steakhouse dinner with a swiss chard gratin. It looked really good. Its made with a rouix so I'm going to have to think about this recipe, since I'm trying to stay away from the flour. I'm not sure if you can make a roux with gluten free flour. Hmm..I think I have some investigating to do. I will definately keep you posted on the roux situation. For now I'm just going to share my potatoe latke recipe with you. I decided to make them curried. I think curry goes so well with sweet potatoes, however if your not a curry person you can omit it.
Curried Sweet Potato Latkes
(Makes about 15)
1 pound sweet potatoes
1/2 cup gluten free flour
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
A sprinkle of black pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
Canola oil
Peel and grate the potatoes on the course side of a grater. In another bowl mix together flour, sugars, baking powder, curry, salt and pepper. Add in eggs in and combine. Stir in the milk until well mixed. Add in the grated sweet potatoes and mix until combined.
Heat 1/8 to 1/4 inch oil in a heavy over medium heat.
When the oil is hot place heaping tbsps of the mixture into the pan and then press down slightly to form a patty. Keep in mind if you're oil is not hot it will just take longer to cook and the latkes will be greasy. Fry 2-3 minutes until crispy then flip and fry the other side. Remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
I hope you are inspired to try this dish. They aren't just holidays..anyone can make these. I will admit its a bit of work to grate the potatoes but I think its worth it! Hope you're inspired like I was :)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
i luuuv eggs from my head down tooo...
Its a boring Wednesday morning, and I'm drinking my coffee from starbucks. (Ohh how I love starbucks..its my biggest vice). This is what I do every morning. Drink my coffee, ponder the days events, take care of any errands that may have to get done and think about the recipe of the day.
For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I've been shopping at the union square market on occasion. I love it when I find a little something I've never had before. Two of the things that I bought recently was tagliatelle pasta,black truffle pecorino and white truffle salt
UCH I can't live!
Oh how I love all things truffle. Black ones..white ones. So for anyone that reads this..if you don't know what to get someone (that would mean me!) For the holidays..anything truffle related. I have yet to actually buy a real black truffle. They are like 500 for one little one. I've bought the less expensive truffle items..which are super yummy. I recommend them. You don't have to buy a 500 dollar mushroom to experience the same flavor.
This is really a struggle for me, as I strive on and o
ff to lead a vegan free lifestyle. You see three things that I love are eggs and cheese and potatoes. Two of which are far from vegan. Oh, and throw in trying to live gluten free. Its not easy
Todays recipe is not vegan. But is gluten free. Today is all about the frittata. The frittata is great because its so versatile. Its pretty much a fancy omelette. So here is my frittata.
6 eggs (or you can use less yolks like I did if you're watching cholesterol. I opted for 1 whole egg and 5 whites)
4 small white potatoes (boiled)
1 whole onion chopped
2 scallions chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes(chopped)
Smoked paprika 1/2 ysp
White truffle salt..a big pinch
The first thing I did was saute my chopped onion. You can use olive oil. I chose to use my tuscan herb olive oil to impart another layer of flavor. I sauteed the onions until the were clear and then added my tomatoes. After a few minutes I added the scallions. While this was all going on I had my potatoes working on the other side of the stove. I boiled then until the were slightly tender. When they were done I drained them and sliced then. (You can cube them if you want).
I added the sliced potatoes to the onions and tomatoes. I took my eggs, added the paprika and two big pinches of the truffle salt. Then beat them until fluffy with a hand mixer. You can mix them with whisk but I was going to take pictures so I wanted the final result to be nice and fluffy. I poured the eggs over the potatoes and onions and covered it on a low flame until set. When it was set I took a large plate, and used it to flip the eggs on to the other side. It was completely done after another two minutes.you can garnish with a little sour cream or creme fresh
Hope you enjoy this dish..eat it for breakfast, brunch, dinner...or whenever you're in the mood.
Hope you're inspired to make this or change it up and add some other things
Off for now bees and bears!
For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I've been shopping at the union square market on occasion. I love it when I find a little something I've never had before. Two of the things that I bought recently was tagliatelle pasta,black truffle pecorino and white truffle salt
UCH I can't live!
Oh how I love all things truffle. Black ones..white ones. So for anyone that reads this..if you don't know what to get someone (that would mean me!) For the holidays..anything truffle related. I have yet to actually buy a real black truffle. They are like 500 for one little one. I've bought the less expensive truffle items..which are super yummy. I recommend them. You don't have to buy a 500 dollar mushroom to experience the same flavor.
This is really a struggle for me, as I strive on and o
ff to lead a vegan free lifestyle. You see three things that I love are eggs and cheese and potatoes. Two of which are far from vegan. Oh, and throw in trying to live gluten free. Its not easy
Todays recipe is not vegan. But is gluten free. Today is all about the frittata. The frittata is great because its so versatile. Its pretty much a fancy omelette. So here is my frittata.
6 eggs (or you can use less yolks like I did if you're watching cholesterol. I opted for 1 whole egg and 5 whites)
4 small white potatoes (boiled)
1 whole onion chopped
2 scallions chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes(chopped)
Smoked paprika 1/2 ysp
White truffle salt..a big pinch
The first thing I did was saute my chopped onion. You can use olive oil. I chose to use my tuscan herb olive oil to impart another layer of flavor. I sauteed the onions until the were clear and then added my tomatoes. After a few minutes I added the scallions. While this was all going on I had my potatoes working on the other side of the stove. I boiled then until the were slightly tender. When they were done I drained them and sliced then. (You can cube them if you want).
I added the sliced potatoes to the onions and tomatoes. I took my eggs, added the paprika and two big pinches of the truffle salt. Then beat them until fluffy with a hand mixer. You can mix them with whisk but I was going to take pictures so I wanted the final result to be nice and fluffy. I poured the eggs over the potatoes and onions and covered it on a low flame until set. When it was set I took a large plate, and used it to flip the eggs on to the other side. It was completely done after another two minutes.you can garnish with a little sour cream or creme fresh
Hope you enjoy this dish..eat it for breakfast, brunch, dinner...or whenever you're in the mood.
Hope you're inspired to make this or change it up and add some other things
Off for now bees and bears!
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Tuesday, September 20, 2011
comfort food for a cold and rainy day :)
Hello bees and bears. J
Thanks for tuning in today. Its a very damp and drizzly day. I wasn't sure what recipe I was going to blog about today. My stomach is a little unsettled and when things are rumblin' in there its hard for me to think about cooking.
I bought a magazine in Target last night and sat down to read it today while drinking my morning starbucks fix. I came across an easy recipe that's perfect for a chilly day. It caught my eye because I love swiss chard, and I love polenta. This recipe screams comfort food. I changed the presentation a little to suit my taste, by adding a few steps to the polenta you can plate it differently and use it for another recipe. The recipe in the magazine calls for the polenta to be poured in a 9x13 casserole dish and wait until it sets and is layered with swiss chard, onions and asiago cheese.
I like to make dishes that can be turned into something else and polenta is perfect for that.
Swiss Chard and white bean casserole
Polenta/ onions
4 cups fat free milk (to veganize this substitute with plain soymilk).
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups instant polent
3/4 cup shaved asiago cheese (feel free to veganize as you wish or substitute pecorino or parmesan for the asiago)
1/2 cup basil, shredded
1tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 onions peeled and sliced
Chard and Beans
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches swiss chard trimmed and cut into 1 inch peices
4 cloves garlic, coursly chopped
1/2 tsp dried italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup shaved asiago (or vegan cheese of your choice).
1. Polenta and onions. Lightly coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish
With nonstick cooking spray. I'm a large sauce pan combine milk, 1 cup water, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat. Gradually whish in polenta. Cook, whisking continuously until thick (about 2 minutes). If it becomes too thick add a lttle more hot water. Stir in basil and shredded cheese. Spread polenta in prepared baking dish and allow to set at room temperature.
2. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over med to high heat. Add onions and cook for 8-10 minutes,.until golden. Remove to a seperate plate.
3. Chard and beans.
Heat olive oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add chard(in batches) and garlic and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Season with italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in beans and heat through.
4. Heat oven to 350. Spoon chard and beans evenly over polenta. Sprinkle half a cup of asiago cheese over chard and beans. Scatter the onions and remaining cheese on top. (This was how the recipe called for it to be assembled)
Polenta is great. You can do so many things with it. You can fry it and make it parmesan or serve it warm and crispy with maple syrup and serve it for breakfast
I hope you're inspired to try this recipe or create your own and share it with me!
Off for now!
:)
Thanks for tuning in today. Its a very damp and drizzly day. I wasn't sure what recipe I was going to blog about today. My stomach is a little unsettled and when things are rumblin' in there its hard for me to think about cooking.
I bought a magazine in Target last night and sat down to read it today while drinking my morning starbucks fix. I came across an easy recipe that's perfect for a chilly day. It caught my eye because I love swiss chard, and I love polenta. This recipe screams comfort food. I changed the presentation a little to suit my taste, by adding a few steps to the polenta you can plate it differently and use it for another recipe. The recipe in the magazine calls for the polenta to be poured in a 9x13 casserole dish and wait until it sets and is layered with swiss chard, onions and asiago cheese.
I like to make dishes that can be turned into something else and polenta is perfect for that.
Swiss Chard and white bean casserole
Polenta/ onions
4 cups fat free milk (to veganize this substitute with plain soymilk).
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups instant polent
3/4 cup shaved asiago cheese (feel free to veganize as you wish or substitute pecorino or parmesan for the asiago)
1/2 cup basil, shredded
1tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 onions peeled and sliced
Chard and Beans
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches swiss chard trimmed and cut into 1 inch peices
4 cloves garlic, coursly chopped
1/2 tsp dried italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup shaved asiago (or vegan cheese of your choice).
1. Polenta and onions. Lightly coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish
With nonstick cooking spray. I'm a large sauce pan combine milk, 1 cup water, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat. Gradually whish in polenta. Cook, whisking continuously until thick (about 2 minutes). If it becomes too thick add a lttle more hot water. Stir in basil and shredded cheese. Spread polenta in prepared baking dish and allow to set at room temperature.
2. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over med to high heat. Add onions and cook for 8-10 minutes,.until golden. Remove to a seperate plate.
3. Chard and beans.
Heat olive oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add chard(in batches) and garlic and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Season with italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in beans and heat through.
4. Heat oven to 350. Spoon chard and beans evenly over polenta. Sprinkle half a cup of asiago cheese over chard and beans. Scatter the onions and remaining cheese on top. (This was how the recipe called for it to be assembled)
Polenta is great. You can do so many things with it. You can fry it and make it parmesan or serve it warm and crispy with maple syrup and serve it for breakfast
I hope you're inspired to try this recipe or create your own and share it with me!
Off for now!
:)
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Monday, September 19, 2011
ok my faithful followers...as you might have noticed I'm havin some problems with the app. some of my labels are out of order and I wasnt able to put pics in the post I wrote. I had to post them in a separate post ...so annoying..hopefully Ill be able to figure this stuff out and whip this blog into shape..keep your fingers crossed for me :)
Its monday peeps!
You know what that means...time to recap the weekends food adventures. This saturday was my 2nd cousin Alana's Batmitzvah. She did so well up there behind the podium.
My cousin threw one hell of a party for her daughter. You could tell that alot of work went into it. They used the club house at my uncles community in connecticut. The room was huge and had a big dance floor. Now on to the the food, after all I dont blog about umbrellas or dollhouses.
When we arrived to the clubhouse there was a small table set up with a variety of appetizers, Artichoke dip with crackers, bruschetta with crostini, and an assortment of antipasto. Mozzerella with tomato,rilled zuchini, olives, marinated mushrooms, pigs in a blanket, swedish meatballs and some kind of quiche. (still trying to figure out what it was. If I cant identify it, it doesnt get eaten)
As I put an assortment of finger foods together for myself, my cousins son Blake poked me in the back. Nearly scared the the living daylights out of me actually. I spun around and looked down at this wide-eyed little boy waving at me with one hand and in the other hand he had a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it.
I said "wow what a great idea, they got pizza for the kids", but secretly in my head I was saying "wow, wish I had a slice" lol. I turned back to the appetizer table and next to me I spied a woman with a green salad on a paper plate. I asked her where she got it and she pointed towards another door. I ventured off to find me some salad. On the way out, my moms cousin kenny says to me "did you see the pizza truck" and points in the same direction that I was going to search for salad.
I thought to myself, "victory is mine...pizza!"
when i walked outside I saw this massive antique green truck. the passengers side turned into a traveling wood burning brick oven. How frickin neat is that.
Big Green Truck is a catering service based in New Haven, Connecticut and they do pizza parties from the back of an antique truck, in essence a mobile pizzeria. What a great idea! They pull up to the party location, turn the wooden side panels of the truck into tables, heat up the wood fired pizza oven, and start bangin out pizzas.
They make pizzas with a wide variety of toppings, both traditional and gourmet, and take special requests also. They serve the pizzas and a traditional green salad with balsamic vinaigrette buffet style on tables. I had a chance to try pizza with fresh mozzerella, basil and tomato, a white pizza with broccoli on it, and one with carmelized onions, mushrooms and artichokes. That was my favorite. I saw many different varieties come out of that oven. One that seemed to be a big hit was a pizza with mashed potatoes and bacon. I'm a vegetarian so I passed on that one, but I thought it was hysterical to be serving a bacon pizza at a Batmitzvah..lol..
After all of the guests ate pizza and danced, a buffet style dinner was served. There were four choices. Chicken picata(um..yea..I passed on the whole bird thing), eggplant parmesan,pasta with chunky red sauce, and grilled haricot vert (thats fancy talk for string beans). Althouth alot of people enjoyed the eggplant, I felt the breading was too thick. I dont even think
they fried it. It seemed like it was baked off in the oven and as a result the breading was mushy and actually slid right off the eggplant. The flavors were there, but the texture was a bit off-putting. The pasta was really good. It had a nice spicy kick to it. The string beans were grilled. They needed salt as far as Im concerned. Anyone who knows me, knows Im a big fan of salt and pepper. dont be afraid of a little S and P people...use it! They are the two most important and easily accessable items in any kitchen. Dont be afraid to seaason your food people!
After the guests had their fill of pizza and dinner the Big green Truck served a variety of gelatos and ice creams for dessert. The truck also has a cappuccino machine, which provided both regular and decaf espressos and cappuccinos towards the end of the party. I had a cappucino and it was really good. All in all in my un-professional professional opinion the pizza truck was the coolest thing at the party. I mean who doesnt love pizza, unfortunately for us New Yorkers they do not do parties outside of connecticut. But feel free to check out the link Ive included because the Big Green Truck is so super cool and just may inspire you to go get some think crust pizza tonight. Ive included some pictures which will post in the entry after this one for you guys...hope you enjoy.
Off for now bees and bears!
You know what that means...time to recap the weekends food adventures. This saturday was my 2nd cousin Alana's Batmitzvah. She did so well up there behind the podium.
My cousin threw one hell of a party for her daughter. You could tell that alot of work went into it. They used the club house at my uncles community in connecticut. The room was huge and had a big dance floor. Now on to the the food, after all I dont blog about umbrellas or dollhouses.
When we arrived to the clubhouse there was a small table set up with a variety of appetizers, Artichoke dip with crackers, bruschetta with crostini, and an assortment of antipasto. Mozzerella with tomato,rilled zuchini, olives, marinated mushrooms, pigs in a blanket, swedish meatballs and some kind of quiche. (still trying to figure out what it was. If I cant identify it, it doesnt get eaten)
As I put an assortment of finger foods together for myself, my cousins son Blake poked me in the back. Nearly scared the the living daylights out of me actually. I spun around and looked down at this wide-eyed little boy waving at me with one hand and in the other hand he had a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it.
I said "wow what a great idea, they got pizza for the kids", but secretly in my head I was saying "wow, wish I had a slice" lol. I turned back to the appetizer table and next to me I spied a woman with a green salad on a paper plate. I asked her where she got it and she pointed towards another door. I ventured off to find me some salad. On the way out, my moms cousin kenny says to me "did you see the pizza truck" and points in the same direction that I was going to search for salad.
I thought to myself, "victory is mine...pizza!"
when i walked outside I saw this massive antique green truck. the passengers side turned into a traveling wood burning brick oven. How frickin neat is that.
Big Green Truck is a catering service based in New Haven, Connecticut and they do pizza parties from the back of an antique truck, in essence a mobile pizzeria. What a great idea! They pull up to the party location, turn the wooden side panels of the truck into tables, heat up the wood fired pizza oven, and start bangin out pizzas.
They make pizzas with a wide variety of toppings, both traditional and gourmet, and take special requests also. They serve the pizzas and a traditional green salad with balsamic vinaigrette buffet style on tables. I had a chance to try pizza with fresh mozzerella, basil and tomato, a white pizza with broccoli on it, and one with carmelized onions, mushrooms and artichokes. That was my favorite. I saw many different varieties come out of that oven. One that seemed to be a big hit was a pizza with mashed potatoes and bacon. I'm a vegetarian so I passed on that one, but I thought it was hysterical to be serving a bacon pizza at a Batmitzvah..lol..
After all of the guests ate pizza and danced, a buffet style dinner was served. There were four choices. Chicken picata(um..yea..I passed on the whole bird thing), eggplant parmesan,pasta with chunky red sauce, and grilled haricot vert (thats fancy talk for string beans). Althouth alot of people enjoyed the eggplant, I felt the breading was too thick. I dont even think
they fried it. It seemed like it was baked off in the oven and as a result the breading was mushy and actually slid right off the eggplant. The flavors were there, but the texture was a bit off-putting. The pasta was really good. It had a nice spicy kick to it. The string beans were grilled. They needed salt as far as Im concerned. Anyone who knows me, knows Im a big fan of salt and pepper. dont be afraid of a little S and P people...use it! They are the two most important and easily accessable items in any kitchen. Dont be afraid to seaason your food people!
After the guests had their fill of pizza and dinner the Big green Truck served a variety of gelatos and ice creams for dessert. The truck also has a cappuccino machine, which provided both regular and decaf espressos and cappuccinos towards the end of the party. I had a cappucino and it was really good. All in all in my un-professional professional opinion the pizza truck was the coolest thing at the party. I mean who doesnt love pizza, unfortunately for us New Yorkers they do not do parties outside of connecticut. But feel free to check out the link Ive included because the Big Green Truck is so super cool and just may inspire you to go get some think crust pizza tonight. Ive included some pictures which will post in the entry after this one for you guys...hope you enjoy.
Off for now bees and bears!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
my 2nd cousins BatMitzvah
Hello boys and girls...
I'm anticipating this weekend to be a very big food weekend for me. Most family events are and its futile to even attempt some semblance of a healthy diet lol. I still haven't grasped the concept of the "healthy lifestyle".
It always feels like a diet even though I have developed some good habits. I still have the cheating mentality. I should think of it as "indulging". Who am I kidding its really over-indulging. Anyway, the bright side is I will definitely have a whole lot of things to blog about, even pictures.
While I love writing about my own recipes, I love it when I get to review other good eats. Anywhoooo...tonight's recipe is something that my coworker has been requesting for 2 weeks now. None other than the most delicious carrot cake to grace your palette. When I think of carrot cake, it brings me back to the diner where visions of thick layers of cream cheese frosting lay in between layers of yummy cake with the classic carrot made out of orange and green frosting on top. Ahh...good times lol. Although I have many fond memories of diner deserts...I have discovered the joy of hunting for those recipes and making them my own. In my search for carrot cake I came across a recipe for a tropical carrot cake. One that includes the addition of pineapple and coconut. It produces one of the moistest cakes you will ever have. That's of course if you like those flavors. I'm a pina colada girl so I knew that I was going to dig this flavor profile.
The moistest carrot cake ever
2cups all purpose flour
2tbs baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 3/4 cups grated carrots
8 oz crushed pineapple
3/4 cups walnuts
1 cup of flaked coconut
Preheat your oven to 325degrees. Sift your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. You must sift. I know it seems tedious but its worth it. In a separate bowl mix your sugar,oil,and eggs. Beat in the flour mixture alternating between we and dry. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut and walnuts. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
For those that feel the need for cream cheese frosting I'm including a recipe for a basic cream cheese frosting. I must emphasize that you can use any cream cheese frosting you like. Keep in mind this is a dense moist cake and good on its own. However, the technique you use is more important than anything else. Your butter must be room temperature and your cream cheese must be cold. If your cream cheese is warm and you over beat it the proteins will breakdown and it won't have the appropriate structure. In other words your going to have a cream cheese mess that will be too thin.
Cream cheese frosting
1 stick of room temp butter
2 bars of cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp good vanilla
Put your room temperature in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add your cream cheese in chunks. Add your vanilla and sugar. Beat until combined. Do not overwork the cream cheese.
Well bees and bears...I hope you try this out. I just know you will love it! I'm off for now.
Ta!
I'm anticipating this weekend to be a very big food weekend for me. Most family events are and its futile to even attempt some semblance of a healthy diet lol. I still haven't grasped the concept of the "healthy lifestyle".
It always feels like a diet even though I have developed some good habits. I still have the cheating mentality. I should think of it as "indulging". Who am I kidding its really over-indulging. Anyway, the bright side is I will definitely have a whole lot of things to blog about, even pictures.
While I love writing about my own recipes, I love it when I get to review other good eats. Anywhoooo...tonight's recipe is something that my coworker has been requesting for 2 weeks now. None other than the most delicious carrot cake to grace your palette. When I think of carrot cake, it brings me back to the diner where visions of thick layers of cream cheese frosting lay in between layers of yummy cake with the classic carrot made out of orange and green frosting on top. Ahh...good times lol. Although I have many fond memories of diner deserts...I have discovered the joy of hunting for those recipes and making them my own. In my search for carrot cake I came across a recipe for a tropical carrot cake. One that includes the addition of pineapple and coconut. It produces one of the moistest cakes you will ever have. That's of course if you like those flavors. I'm a pina colada girl so I knew that I was going to dig this flavor profile.
The moistest carrot cake ever
2cups all purpose flour
2tbs baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 3/4 cups grated carrots
8 oz crushed pineapple
3/4 cups walnuts
1 cup of flaked coconut
Preheat your oven to 325degrees. Sift your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. You must sift. I know it seems tedious but its worth it. In a separate bowl mix your sugar,oil,and eggs. Beat in the flour mixture alternating between we and dry. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut and walnuts. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
For those that feel the need for cream cheese frosting I'm including a recipe for a basic cream cheese frosting. I must emphasize that you can use any cream cheese frosting you like. Keep in mind this is a dense moist cake and good on its own. However, the technique you use is more important than anything else. Your butter must be room temperature and your cream cheese must be cold. If your cream cheese is warm and you over beat it the proteins will breakdown and it won't have the appropriate structure. In other words your going to have a cream cheese mess that will be too thin.
Cream cheese frosting
1 stick of room temp butter
2 bars of cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp good vanilla
Put your room temperature in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add your cream cheese in chunks. Add your vanilla and sugar. Beat until combined. Do not overwork the cream cheese.
Well bees and bears...I hope you try this out. I just know you will love it! I'm off for now.
Ta!
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Friday, September 16, 2011
just practicing posting pics
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Thursday, September 15, 2011
wicked excited!
Ok peeps! I'm wicked excited. I just learned how to upload pics using this app on my phone! So now my blogs will look a little more interesting and you guys can be all impressed by me (polishing nails on my lapel:)
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hey bees and bears
I'm learning to use this android app...hopefully ill be able to start posting pics :)
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4
Hey bees and bears...its slowly approaching my favorite time of year. The fall season. Oh how i love fall. Its the prelude to winter. I just love the brisk weather, the colors of fall, and all of the delicious flavor profiles that come along with it. One thing you will see all over the place during the next few months will be panetone. I used to turn my nose up at these boxes of breads in disgust. (really..how can bread in a box be edible).
one day I was watching Giada on the food network where she featured a recipe for bread pudding made with Panetone. Im an open minded kind of girl. so i decided to give it a whirl, and I've been using this recipe ever since. I hope you're inspired to try it. I guarantee you will love love love it and definately include in in your holiday celebration. I know, seems a bit premature to be thinking about holiday menues already, however as far as im concerned you can never start preparing early enough.
Bread Pudding
1 (1lb panetone) cut into cubes
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk 1
1/4 cups of sugar
Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Put your cut up cubes of panetone in the baking dish.Combine your eggs, cream,milk and sugar together with a whisk. Pour over the cubes of bread and press down so the bread can absorb the custard mixture. Refridgerate for two hours. Press down every so often making sure the bread is soaked through. Preheat your over at 350 degrees and bake this off for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown and puffy.
Cinnamon syrup
1 cup water
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbs heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
combine sugar and water in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to about a cup. Bring syrup off the heat and stir in cream and cinnamon.
This recipe is so easy . I love it when i get a celebrity recipe thats easy to duplicate. Well I hope yyou have fun making this and please feel free to leave your comment and tell me what you think of it.
Off for now boys and girls!
one day I was watching Giada on the food network where she featured a recipe for bread pudding made with Panetone. Im an open minded kind of girl. so i decided to give it a whirl, and I've been using this recipe ever since. I hope you're inspired to try it. I guarantee you will love love love it and definately include in in your holiday celebration. I know, seems a bit premature to be thinking about holiday menues already, however as far as im concerned you can never start preparing early enough.
Bread Pudding
1 (1lb panetone) cut into cubes
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk 1
1/4 cups of sugar
Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Put your cut up cubes of panetone in the baking dish.Combine your eggs, cream,milk and sugar together with a whisk. Pour over the cubes of bread and press down so the bread can absorb the custard mixture. Refridgerate for two hours. Press down every so often making sure the bread is soaked through. Preheat your over at 350 degrees and bake this off for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown and puffy.
Cinnamon syrup
1 cup water
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbs heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
combine sugar and water in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to about a cup. Bring syrup off the heat and stir in cream and cinnamon.
This recipe is so easy . I love it when i get a celebrity recipe thats easy to duplicate. Well I hope yyou have fun making this and please feel free to leave your comment and tell me what you think of it.
Off for now boys and girls!
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Chelsea Market
Hello boys and girls!
Its been a long weekend. A long emotional reflective weekend since its the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Its been 9/11 related documentaries all weekend long. In between flipping to the occasional "Chopped" episode, I didn't really do much but reflect and clean the house. It just seems like it dragged on. My only solace was my venture into Manhattan to visit the Chelsea Market. It definitely is a close second to the Whole foods in Union Square. There's a little store that I have become quite fond of. Buon Italia. I'm almost positive there are other stores that sell cheese and oil/vinegar, however there is something about this store that just screams Italy. Could it be the man behind the deli counter slicing speck and screaming in Italian.
Just sayin..lol
The cans of San Marzano tomatoes did happen to catch my eye. Many chefs regard these tomatoes to be the very best tomatoes for sauce, however I am very much a Red pack girl. So I did not buy any. I originally went there to buy some french lentils (makes for a very tasty lentil soup), but they were sold out. I was very disappointed. Being the good little shopper that I am, I found some other things to spend my money on. I bought a small chunk of black truffle speckled pecorino romano cheese. Always looking for the opportunity to experience truffles, I simply couldn't resist. It was reasonable priced at 9.95 a pound.
I bought some beautiful sun dried tomatoes from Sicily and a half a pound of fresh tagliatelle pasta. I have never experienced fresh pasta before. Only the dried stuff in the box. after putting this in my shopping basket, it all started to fall into place. Pasta, sun dried tomatoes, pecorino. A yummy pasta dinner makes Allison a happy happy girl.
So this was last nights dinner. Fresh pasta, red peppers and sun dried tomatoes sauteed together with a drizzle of black truffle extra virgin olive oil. Topped with 2 tablespoons of pecorino cheese. I charged myself seven points for this dish. Naturally I only cooked up 2 ounces of pasta which came out to about a cup cooked. the sun dried tomatoes were kind of on the salty side so i only salted the water for the pasta. Then I just added some black pepper to the dish after it was put together.
If you have never tried fresh pasta, you really are doing yourself an injustice. This is really how pasta should be eaten. I have officially become a pasta snob and will probably never eat the dried stuff again.
(okay that was just a big fat lie..lol...)
Hope this inspires you to go out and get some fresh pasta and a really good chuck of cheese. If you go to Buon Italia inside the Chelsea Market you can find both there. It is definitely worth the trip.
Off for now Bees and Bears!
Its been a long weekend. A long emotional reflective weekend since its the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Its been 9/11 related documentaries all weekend long. In between flipping to the occasional "Chopped" episode, I didn't really do much but reflect and clean the house. It just seems like it dragged on. My only solace was my venture into Manhattan to visit the Chelsea Market. It definitely is a close second to the Whole foods in Union Square. There's a little store that I have become quite fond of. Buon Italia. I'm almost positive there are other stores that sell cheese and oil/vinegar, however there is something about this store that just screams Italy. Could it be the man behind the deli counter slicing speck and screaming in Italian.
Just sayin..lol
The cans of San Marzano tomatoes did happen to catch my eye. Many chefs regard these tomatoes to be the very best tomatoes for sauce, however I am very much a Red pack girl. So I did not buy any. I originally went there to buy some french lentils (makes for a very tasty lentil soup), but they were sold out. I was very disappointed. Being the good little shopper that I am, I found some other things to spend my money on. I bought a small chunk of black truffle speckled pecorino romano cheese. Always looking for the opportunity to experience truffles, I simply couldn't resist. It was reasonable priced at 9.95 a pound.
I bought some beautiful sun dried tomatoes from Sicily and a half a pound of fresh tagliatelle pasta. I have never experienced fresh pasta before. Only the dried stuff in the box. after putting this in my shopping basket, it all started to fall into place. Pasta, sun dried tomatoes, pecorino. A yummy pasta dinner makes Allison a happy happy girl.
So this was last nights dinner. Fresh pasta, red peppers and sun dried tomatoes sauteed together with a drizzle of black truffle extra virgin olive oil. Topped with 2 tablespoons of pecorino cheese. I charged myself seven points for this dish. Naturally I only cooked up 2 ounces of pasta which came out to about a cup cooked. the sun dried tomatoes were kind of on the salty side so i only salted the water for the pasta. Then I just added some black pepper to the dish after it was put together.
If you have never tried fresh pasta, you really are doing yourself an injustice. This is really how pasta should be eaten. I have officially become a pasta snob and will probably never eat the dried stuff again.
(okay that was just a big fat lie..lol...)
Hope this inspires you to go out and get some fresh pasta and a really good chuck of cheese. If you go to Buon Italia inside the Chelsea Market you can find both there. It is definitely worth the trip.
Off for now Bees and Bears!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A long weekend
Hey everyone,
I'm back after a long labor day weekend. I got a chance to serve my banana cake and my tres leches coconut cake. I was worried about them surviving hurricane Irene. I put them in the freezer and took them out 2 days before i needed to serve them. I was very surprised because I put a layer of butter cream frosting (Ree Drummonds recipe) in between the two layers before I froze it. i waited until i defrosted it before i put the cream cheese frosting on the outside. When we cut into it you couldn't tell there were two layers because the frosting in between disappeared into the cake. everyone seemed to really like the tres leches coconut cake. I felt it was very sweet. I lked the banana cake better. The cake was not too sweet, and I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting big time. I mean, i could just eat it right out of the bowl lol.
Everyone raved about the coconut tres leches cake. I cannot take all of the credit for a cake that starts out with a box mix. I normally don't serve box mix cakes It went over very well. I got a chance to take a piece of both to my mom and she liked them both. I think she definitely liked the banana cake more. I will post the recipe I used. since it's super easy, its perfect for those that are not into baking a scratch cake.
Coconut Tres Leches cake
Any make ahead yellow cake mix
Milk syrup
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
combine all of the ingredients over a medium heat and warm through. Reserve one cup of this syrup and put it on the side.
Go ahead and make your cake following the directions on the box and let it cool completely. Take a skewer or a fork and poke holes all over the cake. Don't be shy. The more holes the more the syrup will get soaked up through out the cake. Take your milk syrup and start spooning it over the cake. Don't worry if it looks like the syrup is not being absorbed, it will as the cake sits in the refrigerator. Ideally you should let the cake soak overnight. when you're done spooning all of the syrup over the cake take the reserved cup of syrup and heat it up on the stove. Put 20 unwrapped caramels in the syrup and melt them together over a low to medium heat. When all of the caramels are melted spoon this new mixture over your cake as well.
You can garnish your cake a few different ways. I just sprinkled sweetened coconut flakes over the cake and served it like that. If you really want to go over the top you can put sliced bananas over the top right before you're about to serve it with a slightly sweetened whipped cream. again this is a very dense sweet cake if dont make your whipped cream too sweet.
I swear, no one will know this starts out with a box mix, and everyone will think you are wonderful :)
Ok honey bees and bears...gotta get my day started here,
Bye for now
I'm back after a long labor day weekend. I got a chance to serve my banana cake and my tres leches coconut cake. I was worried about them surviving hurricane Irene. I put them in the freezer and took them out 2 days before i needed to serve them. I was very surprised because I put a layer of butter cream frosting (Ree Drummonds recipe) in between the two layers before I froze it. i waited until i defrosted it before i put the cream cheese frosting on the outside. When we cut into it you couldn't tell there were two layers because the frosting in between disappeared into the cake. everyone seemed to really like the tres leches coconut cake. I felt it was very sweet. I lked the banana cake better. The cake was not too sweet, and I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting big time. I mean, i could just eat it right out of the bowl lol.
Everyone raved about the coconut tres leches cake. I cannot take all of the credit for a cake that starts out with a box mix. I normally don't serve box mix cakes It went over very well. I got a chance to take a piece of both to my mom and she liked them both. I think she definitely liked the banana cake more. I will post the recipe I used. since it's super easy, its perfect for those that are not into baking a scratch cake.
Coconut Tres Leches cake
Any make ahead yellow cake mix
Milk syrup
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
combine all of the ingredients over a medium heat and warm through. Reserve one cup of this syrup and put it on the side.
Go ahead and make your cake following the directions on the box and let it cool completely. Take a skewer or a fork and poke holes all over the cake. Don't be shy. The more holes the more the syrup will get soaked up through out the cake. Take your milk syrup and start spooning it over the cake. Don't worry if it looks like the syrup is not being absorbed, it will as the cake sits in the refrigerator. Ideally you should let the cake soak overnight. when you're done spooning all of the syrup over the cake take the reserved cup of syrup and heat it up on the stove. Put 20 unwrapped caramels in the syrup and melt them together over a low to medium heat. When all of the caramels are melted spoon this new mixture over your cake as well.
You can garnish your cake a few different ways. I just sprinkled sweetened coconut flakes over the cake and served it like that. If you really want to go over the top you can put sliced bananas over the top right before you're about to serve it with a slightly sweetened whipped cream. again this is a very dense sweet cake if dont make your whipped cream too sweet.
I swear, no one will know this starts out with a box mix, and everyone will think you are wonderful :)
Ok honey bees and bears...gotta get my day started here,
Bye for now
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