Stumpymunchies

The Best Steaks Ever!

2011-01-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

Lately, Dev and I have been making and effort to cut down on the amount of beef we're eating. So once in a while, for a special occasion, we will go for a steak - I will spend a little more and buy the steaks at Whole Foods - go for the DRY AGED! For Dev: New York, For me: tenderloin. :-)

I have cooked our steaks this way a few times now and they've come out great... consistently. Note: this works best with thick-cut steaks, at least 1.5" thick for the NY and 2+ for the tenderloin. **UPDATE. Highly recommend this technique w/ Dry aged steaks only. We tried regular steaks, and for some reason, the end result wasn't as good - tougher/drier texture. MEH.

Preheat oven to 500F
(I usually cook the steaks after baking a potato gratin, so the oven has been on for a good 1.5+ hours!)

Yamadan Steaks
2 steaks, thick cut
(New York 1.5+" thick, Tenderloin, 2+" thick)

Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 pats of unsalted butter

Preheat a heavy cast iron skillet on medium-high - high heat for 20 minutes.
Take steaks out of the fridge and let rest 10 min. Pat steaks with paper towels - you want them to be dry. Salt the steaks a few minutes just before searing.

Sear steaks in the heated pan for 2 min. (no more) then, put the cast iron pan directly in the oven for 3 min. Flip steaks, top with a pat of butter and cook an additional 4 min. (Cooking time depends upon how thick your steaks are and how well you want your steaks. Dev likes medium rare-plus and I like medium rare.)

Take steaks out of the oven and let the rest on a rack and cover with foil for 5 min.
If you like, spoon the pan drippings of butter onto the steaks!

Pair with a good wine and ENJOY!!!

Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots

2011-01-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots

1 large shallot, sliced
2 T unsalted butter
Kosher salt
1 lb green beans

Melt 1T butter in skillet over low heat. Add shallots and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Cook over low heat for about 20 min., stirring occasionally until shallots caramelize.
Set aside skillet.

Wash and trim ends of green beans and blanch in boiling, salted water for 3 min.
Shock the beans in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and drain on paper towels.

Reheat skillet with shallots, add 1T butter and precooked beans. Add salt and pepper to taste - saute until heated through, about 2-3 min.

ENJOY!

Brussel Sprout Gratin with Caramelized Shallots

2010-12-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Preheat oven to 375F
Grease a 9x13 glass dish with 1 T butter

Brussel Sprout Gratin with Caramelized Shallots
Adapted from williams Sonoma

Caramelized Shallots:
5 shallots, sliced to make 1 C
1 T oil
1 T butter
1/2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

Thinly slice shallots. Melt butter in skillet, add shallots, sugar, salt and pepper. Coat and cook over low hear to 20 min, stirring occasionally until caramelized.

Breadcrumb topping:
3 C fresh bread crumbs: I used 1 slice of white bread (end piece preferred) and1 small sandwich baguette
3 T unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pepper
2 T flat-leaf parsley, minced

Stir together all ingredients and set aside.

Gratin:

2 lb brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved

2 T flour

1 1/2 C Gruyere cheese, grated

1/4 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

1 tsp lemon zest

salt and pepper

1 1/4 C heavy cream

Blanch sprouts for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water. Plunge into an ice water bath, drain and dry on paper towels.

Mix together flour, cheeses, zest, salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and add brussel sprouts and shallots. Transfer to buttered pan. Cover with breadcrumb mixture and bake until brown - 35 min.

Yum! I brought this dish for our family Christmas dinner. It was very hearty and rich - what I liked most was the brussel sprouts did not taste bitter at all!

Pizza Sauce

2010-12-24T16:25:00.000-08:00

I used to buy pre-made pizza sauce - Trader Joe's brand, Contadina, Pizza Quick etc. They aren't too bad, but it isn't too difficult to make it yourself. I've made a sauce using fresh diced tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic... I thought it was pretty good, but Dev didn't care for it - he thought it was too bland. So, I came up with this one, attempting to replicate the store bought, which Dev prefers. ;-)

Yamadan Pizza Sauce
1/4 C onion, diced
1 can tomato paste
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried parsley
1/2 t garlic powder
2 squirts of corn syrup (or spoonfuls of brown sugar)
olive oil
water

Saute Onion in a little olive oil until soft and starting to caramelize.

Add tomato paste and saute until paste starts to darken and caramelize as well - stir frequently or it can burn. Add herbs and corn syrup (or sugar) and continue to cook until fragrant. Add water (1 C or so?) and simmer for about 5 min. Add more water if needed.

Done!

Chocolate Thumbprint Shortbread Cookies

2010-05-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Preheat oven to 350
Chocolate Thumbprint Shortbread Cookies
(Martha Stewart)
2 sticks of butter
1 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
Topping
6 T butter, melted
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tsp corn syrup

Cream together butter, sugar, salt and vanilla (about 2 min.) Beat in flour, beginning with low speed and gradually increase to medium until dough is well combined.

Scoop out dough and roll into balls, spacing at least 1 in. apart. Bake for 10 min., take the pan out of the oven and press and indintation in the center of the cookie with your thumb (I use the back of a whisk handle). Return to oven, and bake for another 10 min. Press the center of the cookies one last time and cool completely on a rack.

The recipe calls for melting the choclate over a double boiler, but I melt the butter in a pan, take it off the heat and mix in the chocolate and corn syrup (or dump the metled butter over the chocolate in a bowl.) The residual heat from the butter is enough to melt the chocolate, if it is chopped fine enough. Be careful to stir constantly, as the heat from the pan can scorch the chocolate. Place the melted chocolate into a ziplock back and fill cookies.

I really love these cookies and find myself making them often, as they are so simple to make. I tried placing a Rollo candy on the cookie as soon as they come out of the oven - the heat melts them down nicely! (you can smooth out the tops of the candies with a spoon abit so they're not so ridgid looking. :-) Enjoy!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2010-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Preheat oven to 425

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1 lb brussel sprouts

1 shallot

3 slices bacon

1 T butter

Kosher salt and pepper

Clean and trim brussel sprouts, pat dry (I sliced the bigger ones in half.) Slice shallot thinly into rings. Chop bacon and saute until starting to crisp, add shallots to soften. Add butter and brussel sprouts to the pan to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer and spread mixture onto a parchment lined pan and roast for 15 min.+ until fork tender, turning once.

I've never really been a fan of brussel sprouts, but recently have enjoyed them quite a bit!

BLHT PIZZA!

2009-11-10T22:20:00.001-08:00

I saw an ad for a BLHT Pizza @ Socca restaurant in Chicago and it looked fantastic. Dev and I have been attempting a meat-less diet for almost a month now, but we caved and I had to give this a try.

Preheat oven to 500F (for 1 hour)

BLHT PIZZA
1/2 recipe pizza dough (my usual recipe)
7 slices thickcut Applewood smoked bacon
Heirloom tomatoes
Iceburg lettuce
mayo
Pizza sauce (recipe to come)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded

4-cheese blend, shredded

Cook bacon until it just starts to crisp on the edges - don't fully cook as it will continue in the oven. Roughly chop and set aside.

Brush olive oil over dough and coat with a light layer of pizza sauce. Top with a little bit of mozarella cheese, 4-cheese blend and the chopped bacon.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is golden and bacon is crispy. If the cheese browns too fast, cover with a bit of foil - you want to make sure the crust is browned and cooked through.

Slice tomatoes in half and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Chop lettuce and stir in enough mayo to coat - a couple spoonfuls. Add a little salt and pepper.

Let pizza cool for a few minutes. Top with tomatoes and lettuce.

This was DELICIOUS! The mayo really pulled the BLT flavors together. I would definitely make this again.

* NOTE:

I've made this a second time already! 3 things:

1. let the pizza cool before topping with the lettuce or it will wilt quite a bit.

2. applewood smoked bacon tastes so much better than reg. bacon..

in my opinion!

3. don't add too much pepper to the lettuce mixture.

I did, and it was very overpowering.

Copycat "BIG MAC", meatless-style

2009-11-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Dev and I are at 'WEEK 3' of our 'meatless' experiment. (Although, we caved 2 nights ago and got a hotdog at the Central. Whoops.) Anyways, we had a craving for a BIG MAC, so we decided to attempt making them using veggie burgers. As it turns out, they turned out pretty tasty! The sauce was pretty spot-on and the texture of the veggie patty was surprisingly comparable to a McDonald's patty - yep... questionable ingredients, no? ;-)
COPYCAT Veggie BIG MAC4 Morning Star Grilled Patties
1 T dried onions, rehydrated
shredded lettuce
4 slices Kraft American Cheese slices
4 sesame seed buns
CopyCat McDonald's Special Sauce
1/2 C Mayo
2 T Kraft French Dressing
4 tsp sweet pickles
1 T minced onion
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Combine special sauce ingredients and refrigerate for and hour - or overnight. Re-hydrate dried onions (key ingredient!) with warm water for 15 min. Drain.

Heat patties per instructions. Cut the top half of 2 buns to make the 'middle' bigmac bun. Spread with butter, toast and set aside.

Top bottom bun with 1 T special sauce, rehydrated onion, lettuce, 1 slice of cheese, patty and middle bun.

THERE YOU GO! This was a hefty burger - both Dev and I only could only finish half. Next time, ONE patty will suffice. ;-)

Repeat...

Meatless Lasagna

2009-10-31T17:04:00.000-07:00

Dev and I are still going strong with our 'meatless' experiment! A couple weeks ago we tried Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles for Sloppy Joes and it was incredibly mushy and disappointing. This time we used Boca Ground Crumbles and I have to tell you, the texture held up very well. Another surprise find was Lightlife Gimme Lean! Sausage Style. Holy! This stuff tastes just like breakfast sausage. Dev loved it.

Preheat oven 425FMeatless Lasagna
1/2 package Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage
2/3 package Boca Ground Crumbles
1 carrot
1 celery
1/2 onion
1 14oz can Mur Glen diced tomatoes (w/garlic & basil)
2 T tomato paste
1 C milk
1 C white wineFilling2 C cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
6 slices mozzarella cheese
Italian Cheese blend
Fresh Mozarella
Boca Crumbles and Gimme Lean.
Finely mince carrot, celery and onion.
Saute minced vegetables in olive oil until softned - about 5 min. Add tomato paste and saute until fragrant and nearly caramelized.
Add milk and simmer until evaporated. Add wine and simmer until evaporated.
In a separate pan, saute Ground Crumbles and Veg sasauge in olive oil until browned. Add to tomato mixture and stir in diced tomatoes.
I chose cottage cheese over ricotta because of a 'test kitchen' review I came across in Cooks Illustrated. Sometimes ricotta can have that gritty texture and it seems cottage cheese manages to retain a smooth texture. YEP. Puree cottage cheese and egg until almost smooth. In a small bowl combine cottage cheese mixture, parsley, parmesan cheese and salt. Layer sauce, noodles and top with cottage cheese mixture. Top with 6 slices moz cheese and shredded cheese.
Repeat layers.
Top with fresh mozzarella, shredded cheeseblend, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Increase temp to 450F, remove foil and bake an additional 15 min. or until cheese is browned. Cool for 15 min.
I made some garlic toast using roasted garlic cloves, butter and fresh parsley. YUM!

I can't believe it's not BACON

2009-10-24T20:03:00.002-07:00

Mushrooms that taste like bacon? Seriously? The first time I heard about this insane concept was from our friend Joe. I didn't believe it until we tried it. It really does - similar to the fatty, crispy, burned portions of bacon. I am amazed. And those of you who know Dev, he LOVES his bacon and doesn't like mushrooms at all. He ate these and said he was 'pleasantly surprised'!

Preheat oven to 350F

Shiitake BACON
1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't have 1/2 lb of mushrooms. Also, I found a second recipe online that soaked the mushrooms in 1C soy sauce. I decided to mix half of the mushrooms I had with olive oil/salt and the other with olive oil and a couple spoonfuls of soy sauce.

Place mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30min.- 1 hour, depending upon how big you mushrooms are. Check up on them every 10min. (flipping/turning) and take them out once they become dark and caramelized. They will shrink half in size.

Let them cool completely. ENJOY!

*NOTE: I think the soy adds to the 'bacon' flavor illusion. But don't add BOTH salt and soy. I did this (a second time) and it is WAY too salty.

Spaghetti Bolognese

2009-10-05T17:27:00.001-07:00

Dev and I had this a few nights ago - I'm a little behind in my posts...

Whenever we have spaghetti, our go-to sauce is the store bought, bottled kind. But I keep coming across Spaghetti Bolognese recipes online that look amazing! The bolognese I've made for lasagna was delicious so I figured, why not give this a go! Usually, bolognese is made with beef and sometimes pork, and veal but I made this with ground turkey breast and a bit of Hot Italian sausage. It came out wonderful! I would definitely make this again (that is, when I have the time) ;-)

Spaghetti Bolognese
1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 lb hot italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt  
black pepper

3 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon
1 small walla walal onion 
1 carrot
2 stalks celery

1 C whole milk  
1 C dry white wine 
3 C chicken broth (low salt)
1/3 cup + 1 T tomato paste 
1 bay leaf
1 T sugar

1 lb spaghetti

Mix together the ground turkey, sausage, garlic and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least and hour.

Roughly chop onion, carrots and celery. I like to grind them in my mini-chopper until finely minced.

Roughly chop bacon. Over medium heat, saute the bacon and vegetable until they start to caramelize - about 20 min. Raise the heat and add meat mixture to pan. Cook until browned.
Add the milk and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Using a fork or potato masher, break up meat until fine.

Add tomato paste, wine, bay leaf and stock and bring to a boil. I like having these tiny wine bottles on hand in the pantry for cooking - then I won't waste a big bottle (I love red wine, but white wine isn't my thing)
Reduce heat to a low simmer and partially cover pot with lid. Simmer for until thickened - about 2 hours. If the sauce is still too liquid, raise the heat slightly, remove lid and keep simmering. Add sugar and season if necessary with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta to al dente in salted water and toss with the sauce.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan and garlic toast!

Macaroons

2009-09-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Baking for the troops!

I usually bake Chocolate Chip or Salted Oatmeal cookies, but lately I've been baking S'mores Bars and Rum Cake because I know they'll stay moist during the long journey - I've heard it can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks for the troops to receive their packages. GAH.

This time, I wanted try macaroons into the mix.

Preheat Oven to 350F
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
(make sure you do this, or the cookies WILL STICK to the pan)

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 C milk
1/4 C + 2T flour
1 bag Sweetened Shredded Coconut

Stir together Sweetened Condensed Milk and Milk.
Add flour and coconut. Combine well.

Drop by the tablespoon, 1 inch apart

Bake for 16 minutes, or until it turns golden around the edges.
Cool and then transfer to rack.

Of course I had to 'taste test' one, and they came out very good.

Crispy on the edges and moist and chewy on the inside. Success!

Late Night Snack: Mozzarella Sticks

2009-09-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, Dev and I have a craving for mozzarella sticks, but we've never enjoyed the frozen variety from the supermarket or the ones we've ordered for delivery. They've all been typically dried out, mushy and have an unpleasant rubbery fake cheese texture.

So, we decided to make our own!

YaMadzzarella Stix! (Dev came up with the name. HA!)
1/2 block Mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1/3 C flour
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp Lawry's Season Salt
2 T water
1 Egg
3/4 C Italian Seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan cheese

Peanut Oil

Dish 1: flour, cornstarch and season salt
Dish 2: breadcrumbs, cheese and salt
Dish 3: water and egg, mixed until frothy
Slice up your block of cheese into sticks

Dust cheese sticks with flour mixture.

Dip sticks into egg, then breading...

... then egg then breading one more time. (Double Dip!)
Lay sticks on a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for 1 hour.

Heat oil (350-375).

Fry sticks until gold brown. This will only take a few min.
Cool on paper towels. The freezing and double breading helps keep the cheese in tact.

These came out really tasty. Make sure to add the Season Salt to the flour - otherwise, it will be a little bland. I also suggest serving these with a little marinara or your favorite spaghetti sauce. Enjoy!

Late Night Pizza Snack

2009-09-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Dev and I don't always feel like cooking and eating a big meal when its late, so we decided to make 3 small pizza's with half of the pizza dough I made a couple days before. (These were about 3 in wide, 9 in long?)

BBQ Chicken.

YUM! A new favorite of mine! ...Dev on the other hand, wouldn't touch it.

I used pre-cooked, diced chicken breast mixed with bbq and tomato sauce, diced onion, fresh mozzarella slices and topped with freshly chopped cilantro once I took it out of the oven. This pizza was only half bbq, and the other half was ham. Darn. Next time, it's ALL BBQ.

Dev's favorite, pepperoni!

Topped with a 3-cheese blend and topped with fresh mozzarella slices.

Dev's other favorite, Cheese!

Fresh Mozzarella, Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses.

Mexican Corn and Bean Salad

2009-09-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

I came across this recipe in Fine Cooking Magazine about a month ago. Thankfully, we've managed to squeeze in a few late summer BBQs and I've been able to make this salad a few times. I think this salad looks so beautifully colorful and vibrant on a plate and I love how fresh it tastes. This past time, I decided to add a jalapeno pepper to the dressing for a little kick.

Preheat oven to 425F

Chopped Mexican Salad (Fine Cooking Mag)
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3 ears of corn
4-5 Vine-Ripe tomatoes
2 avocados
1 can black beans
cilantro

Dressing
1 shallot, minced
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
3 T orange juice
3 T lime juice
1 T honey
3/4 t cumin
1 jalapeno (optional)
salt and pepper

Cut peppers in half and place on baking sheet cut side down.
Coat corn ears and peppers with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast for about 20 min., rotating corn after 10 min. The peppers should have dark spots.

When cool enough to handle, peel the skins from the peppers. They should slide right off. Chop peppers into small pieces.

Cut corn from the cobs and seed and dice the tomatoes.
Start layering the corn, peppers and tomatoes on a platter.

Rinse and drain beans. Add to platter.

Dressing

Grate the garlic, mince the shallots and jalapeno and add to the juice. Add honey and whisk together. Slowly add olive oil until combined well.

Peel and chop avocado and roughly chop cilantro. Add avocado to platter and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the platter and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

I wish my photo wasn't so blurry! But, it is delicious. Give it a try!

General Tso's Chicken

2009-09-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

Marinade & Sauce
1/2 C hoisin sauce
1 T tomato paste
1/4 C white vinegar
3 T soy sauce
3 T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 C water
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 in chunks

(I used just 2)

Whisk together marinade. Reserve 3T of marinade for the coating.

Take out 6T of marinade, place in ziplock with chicken and marinate for 30 min.

Sauce
1 T oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T ginger, grated
1 t red pepper flakes
2 C marinade (take out 3 T for coating)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and pepper flakes until fragrant for 1 min.
Add almost 2C marinade, whisking until dark and thickened.
2 min. Cover and keep warm.

Coating
2 large egg whites
3/4 C cornstarch
1/4 C flour
1/4 t baking soda
3 T of remaining marinade
oil
Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.

Whisk egg whites until foamy. Combine coating ingredients and remaining hoisin mixture. Toss chicken in egg whites until coated and dredge in cornstarch mixture.

Heat oil to 350F.

Fry until golden brown - about 3min.
Drain on paper towels.

Warm sauce until simmering and mix with chicken.

This came out very good! I wish it had a little more heat/kick, so I think next time I'll try cooking with chili pods.

I fried half of the chicken with beer batter and the other half with this coating recipe for a taste test. Dev and I enjoyed Both! The beer batter was light and crispy and the General's coating was denser, but crispy as well. Neither tasted oily and both coatings held up well with the sauce. I'd definitely make this again.
ENJOY!

Beer Battered Onion Rings

2009-08-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, these are really good. You should try this.
The batter is light and crisp and any leftovers you have (if any, ha) holds up very well to freezing and re-heating in the oven!

1 large Walla Walla sweet onion, sliced
1 carton of buttermilk
flour

Soak rings in buttermilk for at least 1 hour.
Fill a paper bag with about 2 cups of flour.

Drop in onion rings and shake to coat.

Let rings rest on a rack while you make the batter.

Batter
1 1/2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp seasoned salt (such as Lawry's)
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 bottle of beer

Combine flour, cayenne pepper, seasoned salt and baking powder.

Stir well...

Slowly add 1 bottle of beer - should be thick like pancake batter
Dip rings into batter, shake off excess batter.

Deep fry at 350-375 for about 3 min. or until golden brown.

Make sure to cool on paper towels to absorb the excess oil - otherwise the rings will be 'juicy' with oil - not pleasant at all.

Enjoy!

**NOTE: if you want to keep them warm in the oven before serving, keep the temp at 200F. I tried it at 270F, and they ended up hard and dried out. ;-(

Scallion Pancakes

2009-05-01T23:32:00.001-07:00

I made this a few weeks ago, but I didn't take the time to post...
doing a little catch up tonight. ;-)

Scallion Pancakes
2 C flour
3/4C hot water
1/4 T salt
Sesame oil
Scallions, chopped
Oil

Sift flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the hot water and stir with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 min. until very smooth and elastic (add flour a little at a time so it is not overly sticky, but don't add too much or it will dry out). Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 min.

Remove dough from plastic wrap, form into a log and cut into 6 pieces.

Ball up and flatten out each piece into a disk. Roll out as thin as you can without tearing. Brush the dough with sesame oil (I used the back of a spoon).

Sprinkle a layer of green onions, a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roll up into a log.

Twist up the log (turning in opposite directions) into then roll up into a coil.

Flatten out each coil and rollout to a flattened disc. Heat up oil in a large skillet and FRY 'EM UP until golden brown! (note: if you decide to only use a few tablespoons of oil, the texture will be more like a... tortilla.

Cool and slice into wedges. I made a little dipping sauce of rice vinegar, soy and chili oil. I'd like to try another sauce next time. Maybe a sweet and sour one too?

Stuesel Coffee Cake

2009-04-19T21:16:00.002-07:00

Who doesn't like coffee cake?
This one is came out nicely. I didn't have a tube cake pan, but it worked out fine in a bundt pan. Make sure you watch the baking time carefully or it will easily over bake and come out dry. I think next time I make this, I'll double the streusel.

Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake (Ina Garten)
Preheat oven to 350F

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 C sugar
3 X-large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/4 C sour cream
2 1/2 C cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Cream butter and sugar until creamy and light in color (4 min)
Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Combine well.

Sift dry ingredients and slowly add to batter and mix well.

Streusel
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 T cold unsalted butter

Mix together streusel ingredients and crumble in the butter with your fingers or a pastry blender. Spoon half of the batter in a pan and sprinkle with about 3/4 C streusel. Fill with remaining batter...

Top with the rest of the streusel.
Bake for about 50 min. and cool.

Mix about 1/2C confectioners sugar with 2 T maple syrup.

Drizzle over cake and ENJOY!

Gruyère Cheese Gougères

2009-04-19T21:16:00.001-07:00

Preheat oven to 450F
Line pans with Parchment Paper

Gruyère Cheese Gougères
7 T butter, unsalted
1 T kosher salt
ground white pepper
sugar
1 1/4 C flour
4 eggs + 1 yolk
1 1/4 C grated Gruyère Cheese

Grate cheese and set aside. Heat water, butter, salt and a pinch of sugar in a saucepan and bring to a full boil.

Remove pan from heat and add flour immediately, stirring constantly for 2 min. with a wooden spoon. Return pan to the heat, and stir until all the excess moisture evaporates, and the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 3 min.

Transfer dough to a mixer. Beat for a a minute until cooled slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Batter should be smooth and glossy. Add the additional yolk if batter is too dry. Stir in cheese.

I don't have any pastry bags, so I just scooped out the dough with 2 spoons - they could've looked prettier, but they still tasted good. Oh, and sprinkle the tops with cheese.
Enjoy!

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

2009-03-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

I had a few Pink Lady apples in the fridge, so I decided to try this recipe from Food Network (Paula Deen). I didn't have any regular cream cheese on hand, so I used low-fat Neufchâtel cream cheese.

Preheat oven to 350F

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars
Crust
1 C unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C brown sugar
2 C flour

Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil. Cut butter, flour and brown sugar together with a pastry blender until crumbly. Press into prepared pan and bake for 15 min. until lightly golden.

Filling
2 packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together cream cheese with sugar at

medium speed until smooth. Add eggs one at a time.

Add vanilla and combine.

Pour over warm crust.

Apple topping
3 apples, peeled and chopped

2 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Stir together chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Spoon over cream cheese mixture.

Streusel
1 C brown sugar
1 C flour
1/2 C quick cooking oats
1/2 C butter, softened

I didn't have any quick cooking oats, so I used regular oatmeal. Combine ingredients and sprinkle evenly over apples. Bake 30 min.

They came out very good! I think I'm going to try this with blueberries when they are in season.

Char Siu BBQ Pork Baked Bun

2009-03-09T00:29:00.001-07:00

Preheat oven to 350F

Dough
1 packet active dry yeast
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C warm water
2 C all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
3 T lard
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 T oil

Dissolve yeast in water and sugar.
Let sit for 30 min- 1 hr. until bubbly.

Mix together flour, 1/2 beaten egg, lard, salt, oil and yeast.
Knead by hand for 10-15 min.

Set in a bowl and let rise for 2+ hrs until doubled in size.

Filling
5 T beef stock
1 T Hoisin sauce
2 1/2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp corn starch
2 tsp ketchup
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
dash ground white pepper
1 T oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 C barbecued pork, chopped
2 tsp Sake
1 tsp sesame oil

Mix together stock, hoisin, sugar, cornstarch, ketchup, white pepper and soy sauce.
Heat oil on high heat until smoking. Add onion, lower heat to medium and saute for 2 min. until golden. Chop bbq pork.

Add pork and sake and heat for 1 min.
Add stock mixture and heat for 1-2 min. until reduced.

Take off heat and stir in sesame oil. Set aside and cool.

Turn out dough onto surface, dust 2 tsp baking powder

and knead for 3 min.

Roll into a 12 in log and cut into 12 pieces.

Cup hand, and roll pieces into taught balls against counter.

Roll out dough into discs and fill with a heaping spoonful of filling.
Pinch dough together and place seamed side down.

Set on parchment lined cookie sheet.
Let rise for 1 hour in warm place.

Brush with egg wash (1 egg, 1 tsp sugar, 1 T water)

The dough was pretty dense, but the flavor was good. I think I will continue to be on the lookout for another dough recipe - something soft and fluffier.

Char Siu BBQ Pork

2009-03-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've never made this before... let's give it a go, shall we?

Some recipes call for red food coloring, but I decided to bypass that...

Preheat Oven to 325F
I don't have a roasting pan, so I used a jelly roll pan filled with water with a cooling rack set on top.

Char Siu
1lb Pork Tenderloin

Marinade:
3 T soy sauce
2 T Hoisin Sauce
1 T Sake
2 T ketchup
2 T pineapple juice
1T sugar
1 T honey
2 garlic cloves, chopped
I didn't have five-spice powder, so I used a sprinkling of cinnamon, cloves and ginger

Mix marinade together, pour pork into a ziplock bag and sit for 2-3 hrs.

Set pork on rack and roast for 20 min.
Turn over and baste with some of the remaining marinade.

Raise heat to 350F and cook for 20 min.
Baste with honey and cook another 20 min.

Raise heat to 400F and cook another 15 min. - edges will start to char.
(baste with honey every 5 min.)

Cool and Slice!

I like the flavor but, it would be so much tastier if it were marinated overnight.
I'm going to use some of this pork to make Baked Char Siu Baked Buns!
Stay tuned.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-02-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try and new cookie recipe and this one sounded so good.

Double chocolate with a brownie-esque texure. Had to give it a try.

Preheat oven to 325F

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1 1/4C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 C cocoa powder (Valharona)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter and bittersweet chocolate over low heat. Cool

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

On medium speed, beat eggs and sugar for 3 min. until light and fluffy.

Turn mixer to low speed and slowly add chocolate mixture.

Add flour to combine. Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12 min. Cool.

It is Angel Baking time, so these got packaged up for my Soldier!

(along with Salted Oatmeal cookies and Smores bars.

Banana's Foster Cookie Bars

2009-02-15T23:16:00.000-08:00

When I have overripe bananas, I make banana bread or cake.

B-O-R-I-N-G.

This time, I wanted to try something different.

One of my favorite banana deserts (besides banana cream pie) is Banana's Foster - sauteed bananas in butter, brown sugar and rum! Let's see what happens when I mix that caramelized banana goodness with a cookie bar...

Banana's Foster Cookie Bars
Preheat oven to 325F (racks set to the middle and near top)
Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper

Shortbread (Fine Cooking)
1C + 5 T butter, melted
3/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
3 C + 3T flour

Melt butter, set aside until cool.

Mix butter and sugar together. Whisk in egg yolks.

Stir salt into flour. Mix into butter mixture until combined.

Transfer 2C of dough to the prepared pan & press evenly.
Prick dough with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 min.

For the topping, mix 1/4C sugar with the remaining dough & crumble together.

Banana Filling
3 bananas
1/4C butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2C dark rum

Over low heat, melt butter, sugar and cinnamon stirring until almost dissolved.

Add sliced bananas and saute. Turn slices over once.

Add rum and heat through - boil or flambe until the sugar is fully dissolved.

Chop 3 of the banana slices and mash the other 3.

Take out 1/4C of the rum sauce and mix into banana mixture.
Heat the remaining rum sauce, bring to a boil and reduce down slightly and add.

Take pan out of the refrigerator and bake in the middle of the oven for 18 min. Until slightly brown on the edges.

Increase temp. to 350F.

Spread banana mixture over hot crust.

Scatter remaining dough on top.
Bake on the near top rack 25+ min. until top is browned.
Cool 1 hour.

Cut into bars.

They tasted pretty good! The bananas consistency reminded me a bit of apple sauce, which I guess... is okay. All in all, this one is a keeper.

Maple Shortbread Cookies with Candied Bacon

2009-02-10T00:50:00.000-08:00

Dev and I LOVE bacon. Who doesn't like bacon?!

Last summer, I came across a recipe for Chocolate Chip BACON Cookies. It seemed odd but tempting: crispy bacon added to Chocolate Chip cookie dough. I've been meaning to make these for months now, BUT, the other week I saw a recipe for Candied Bacon Ice Cream by David Lebovitz - the bacon was coated in brown sugar and beautifully caramelized. It was THIS candied bacon, that got me thinking...
Maple Shortbread Cookies with Candied Bacon.

Preheat oven to 400F

Candied Bacon
10 slices of thick-cut Maple bacon
Brown sugar

Lay bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 9 min.

I transferred the bacon to another clean sheet of parchment paper at this point - a lot of grease came out and the sugar will burn if you don't. Flip the bacon over, sprinkle more brown sugar on top and bake another 9 min. Flip again and bake another 5 min., or until it looks mahogany in color.

Cool on a rack.

Chop up bacon and sprinkle on another baking sheet lined with parchment.

Reduce oven to 350.

Bake bacon bits for another 5 min.
You don't have to do this step, but I wanted the bacon xtra crispy.

Shortbread cookies
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 C + 2T maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/4C flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together butter and sugar. Add maple syrup and vanilla.

Add flour one cup at a time. Add diced bacon.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Turn out onto waxed paper.

Roll into logs and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cut into slices 1/4in thick. Bake for 11+ min. until lightly golden brown.

Enjoy! A drizzle of maple glaze or dark chocolate might make these even tastier!

Beef & Vegetable Rollups : a late night snack.

2009-01-31T22:06:00.000-08:00

This recipe came from a book of my mom's called Japanese Cooking for Health & Fitness.

Beef and Vegetable Rollups
.30 lbs of thinly sliced beef (I used Rib Eye for shabu shabu)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
handful of green beans
2 green onions, cut into thin strips
cornstarch

Broth to cook carrots
1/4C water
1 T sugar
1T soy sauce

Blanch green beans in salted, boiling water for about 3 min. Set aside.
Prepare broth for carrots, heat until sugar is melted.

Cook carrots for about 5 min. Set aside.

Lay out the strips of meat and dust one end with cornstarch.
place a few green beans, carrots and strips of green onion.

Roll them up tightly. Then dust the outsides with cornstarch.

Broth for rolls
1/4C water
1 T sugar
1 T sake
1 T mirin
3 T soy sauce

Heat about 1 T of oil in pan, on high heat. Sear beef on all sides. Add broth, bring to a boil, and lower heat to a simmer for 5 min.

Cool. Cut each roll into 3 pieces. The sauce isn't too sweet or salty - next time, I might add Sriracha for a little added heat. The vegetables are crisp, which is a nice contrast in texture with the tender beef.

It's quite nice. ENJOY!

Copycat Girl Scout Samoas Cookies

2009-01-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

Keith was reminiscing about these cookies and it stuck in my head. The recipe I came across called for a bag of store bought caramels, but I didn't have any on hand, so I tried making homemade caramel. I've never tried either recipe - they came out pretty well.

CopyCat Girl Scout Samoas Cookies
Preaheat oven to 300F

Prep coconut.
3 C unsweetend shredded coconut

Toast coconut on a rimmed baking sheet until golden brown.
Stir every 3 min. (about 9 min. total)
Set aside.

Raise heat to 350F

Butter Cookie
1 C unsalted butter
1/2 C sugar
2 C all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 T milk

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar together until light an fluffy - about 2 min.

Slowly add dry ingredients.
Add vanilla and milk.

Mix until combined.

Tear off 2 sheets of waxed paper. Divide dough into 3 balls.
Flour dough and sandwhich between wax paper and roll to 1/4" thick.

I rolled mine way too thin...

Cut with a cookie cutter and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

I cut out holes in the center using a plastic straw (as the recipe suggested), but I don't think it is necessary, because once you put the topping on, you won't even notice the hole.

Bake for 10 min. until lightly golden and brown on the edges.
Cool.

Caramel
1 C sugar
1 C heavy cream
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
1 tsp vanilla

In a nonstick saucepan over medium heat, cook sugar (without stirring) until sugar starts melting and the edges are bubbling.

Stir until liquefied and light caramel in color.

Remove from the heat and stir in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up and harden. It will look like a COMPLETE MISTAKE.
Add the butter, corn syrup, and vanilla bean seeds.

Return to the stovetop and cook over low heat until caramel dissolves.

(about a half an hour.)

Increase heat to med-high and cook until the syrup reaches firm ball stage
(243°F on a candy thermometer). Add the vanilla extract.

Stir together toasted coconut and caramel.

I found it difficult to work with, but using a small melon scooper and pushing down with a spatula worked fairly well.

The chocolate chips were melted in the microwave as the recipe noted (checking every 40 seconds.) But, I would advise melting the chocolate slowly on top of a double boiler instead. The chocolate didn't heat or temper properly, so when it cooled, little white flecks appeared.

Place metled chocolate in a heavy ziplock bag (snipping the tip) and drizzle over cookies. Let cool to set up.

The recipe said to dip the bottoms of the cookies in chocolate as well... but I forgot!!!

Still, they were very tasty.

Homemade Tortillas

2008-12-25T18:42:00.001-08:00

This is from Robert Rodriguez 10 Minute Cooking School!

I love these tortillas!

They are pretty quick and easy to make, and let me tell you, you won't want to eat the store bought rubbery ones again...

Sin City Tortillas
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C lard
3/4 C warm water

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together.
Cut in lard to form a coarse meal.

Slowly add water and mix together gently.

Turn out dough and knead for 2 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add a little flour if necessary. The dough shouldn't be too sticky.

Pinch off 8 golf ball-sized balls. Let dough rest for 20 minutes.

Cover with damp cloth or paper towels.

Flatten ball by hand and then roll out fairly thin.
I like to roll out all the dough and place them between wax paper sheets.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Cook until bubbles start to form and flip, about 1 minute per side.

Don't overcook, or the tortilla won't stay soft and pliable.

Place in a tortilla warmer or plate with towel!

Swedish Meatballs

2008-12-23T18:14:00.001-08:00

Swedish Meatballs

2 slices bread
1/4 C milk
3 T butter
1/2 C onion, diced
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 lb ground beef
3/4 lb ground pork
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 C flour
3 C beef broth
1/4 C heavy cream

Tear bread into chunks in a bowl and cover with milk.

Heat 1T butter over medium heat - saute onion with a pinch salt until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine spices. In a mixer, combine ground beef, ground pork, egg yolks, bread mixture, sauted onions, 1 tsp salt and spices.

On med-high speed, mix for almost 10 min. until fluffy and light in color. Form 1 inch balls on cookie sheet.

Heat 1T butter in a cast iron skillet (or heavy bottom pan).
Brown meatballs in 2 batches. Set meatballs aside.

Stir in 1/4C flour in pan. Heat until lightly browned.

Slowly add beef broth and simmer.

Add cream and a little Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce.

Add meatballs back into pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

PIzza V2.0

2008-12-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough
(I didn't have enough bread flour so I used a bit of all-purpose flour as well)

I wanted to test out another pizza dough recipe - this one takes a bit of patience, as the dough needs to proof and rest overnight. So, if you want pizza right away, make a different recipe. ;-)

3 C bread flour
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp of salt
I package active dry yeast
1/4 C of olive oil
1 3/4 C cold water
1 T sugar

Mix together flour, yeast and salt.

Slowly add the oil, sugar and water. Mix well until a sticky ball.

Turn out and knead for 6 minutes.
Cut into 4 pieces, and form into tight balls.
Place onto pan coated with cooking spray & generously spray dough balls.

Cover with saran wrap and place in fridge to rest overnight or up to 3 days.

Next Day:
Remove dough from fridge.
Place on surface and flour lightly.
Press into disks and mist with oil.
Loosely cover dough with plastic wrap and rest for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 500F.
(heat at least an hour before baking)

Toss dough into the air!!! Dev helped me take these pictures!

Let dough rest for another 15 minutes. Brush with olive oil.

Top with favorite toppings...

Bake for 9 minutes!

(bake at the lowest rack setting.)

Flavor and texture was good!

UPDATE: Letting this dough sit longer make for a crisper crust! Day 2: GOOD, Day 3: GREAT!

Eggnog Pound Cake with Butter Rum Glaze

2008-12-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

Around the holidays I usually have a hankering for my mom's Rum Cake! Its so delicious.

I was about to bake one, but I came across an eggnog pound cake recipe that sounded interesting as well, so I decided to meld the 2 recipes together! In the end, it was tasty, but I prefer my mom's rum cake.

There are a few things I'd change with this recipe:

- more rum in the cake batter

- full box of vanilla pudding mix

- chopped pecans mom puts on top. I think it does help the glaze to soak into the cake more.

Eggnog Pound Cake
Preheat oven to 350 F

2 sticks unsalted butter
3 eggs
2 C sugar
1 C eggnog
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 rum

3 cups flour
3 T instant vanilla pudding mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients together.
Grease Bundt pan and dust with flour.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add flour in 3 additions, alternating with eggnog and ending with flour. Add vanilla and rum.

Bake for about 55 minutes - or until cake is done.

Butter Rum Glaze
1/4C water
1/4C butter
1/2C sugar
2T dark rum

Melt butter, add sugar and water bring to a boil for 5 min.
Take off the heat and add rum.

Let cake cool for 5-10 minutes and remove from pan.

Poke holes on the top of the cake and pour glaze over while cake is still warm.

Parmesan, Gruyere and Thyme Crackers

2008-12-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

Parmesan, Gruyere and Thyme Crackers

adapted from Ina Garten's recipe

Preheat oven to 375F

1 stick unsalted butter

1 1/2C Parmesan cheese, grated fine
1/4C Gruyere cheese, grated fine
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4C flour
1-2 tsp cream

Cream the butter until smooth. Add the cheeses, thyme, salt, and black pepper - combine.

Slowly add the flour and combine - mixutre will be crumbly. Add a little bit of cream if too dry.

Put dough out onto a piece of waxed paper and form into a log.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more...
Cut the log into thin slices and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Rich and very tasty!

Angel Bakers

2008-12-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Juliet is an inspiration and the most thoughtful, giving person you'll know. She's a mother of 2, stepmother of 1, owns a successful children's boutique Bella & Max and is currently starting her own children's shoe line - nothing can stop her! ;-)

Last month, Juliet signed up with Soldier Angels to write letters of encouragement to soldiers who are wounded and in stationed in a hospital in Washington D.C., and her daughter Bella also writes letters to a soldier in Iraq. I was so moved by their cause and what she is doing I wanted to be involved somehow (but felt completely intimidated since I am such a piss-poor writer.)

I checked out their WEBSITE - you can adopt a soldier and join various teams such as sewing, card writing, and there is was...

ANGEL BAKERS!

I applied a few weeks ago and just received my Soldier contact info! I am ready to send off my first care package! I read it could take up to 6 weeks for a soldier to receive their package (WOW) so, I tried to make treats I thought would travel well...

Trix crispy treats and S'mores bars.

Dev donated his favorite popcorn too!

If you are reading this Juliet, thank you.

You are the real deal - much love, Puffy.

We wish all our troops well and our thoughts are with them this holiday season.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2008-12-07T22:01:00.001-08:00

Dev and I never had Chicken Cordon Bleu before. It sounded pretty close to Chicken Parmesan, which we love, but stuffed with ham and cheese...and without Marinara sauce so, we gave it a try...

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2 chicken breasts
4 thin slices of ham
Gruyere cheese
Swiss cheese

1C fresh breadcrumbs (I like Shokupan)
1/4C Italian breadcrumbs
1/4C grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp fresh Thyme leaves
salt and pepper

1 egg
milk and water

Dijon mustard
Honey

Cut the crusts off 1 slice Shokupan, break into pieces and pulse into crumbs. Mix in Italian breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and thyme leaves. Add salt and pepper.

Set aside the ham and cheese for prep. Pound chicken breasts to 1/4in thickness - I put them in a heavy duty ziplock bag and pounded them out with a heavy bottom drinking glass - it worked like a charm!

Mix together a little mustard and honey. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and spread a very thin layer of sauce on top.

Layer the swiss cheese on top of the chicken, ham, Gruyere cheese ending with the second slice of ham.

Roll up chicken and secure with toothpicks. I used saran wrap on one of them, which helped with the rolling process. Dust with flour.

Dip in egg mixture and then coat in breadcrumb mixture.

I drizzled a little melted butter on top and misted with cooking spray to moisten the breadcrumbs. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, then increase the oven temp. to 400F and bake an additional 8 minutes or so until browned. I ended up putting them under the broiler for a few minutes as well.

Wine pairing: Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay.
(note: if you buy it at Safeway w/clubcard, you can save $4.50!)

Shepherd's Pie

2008-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

DAMMIT BEN!

I've never had Shepherd's Pie, but for some reason I've always wanted to make it. I got this recipe from my friend Ben who is a chef. He usually eyeballs the ingredients for his dishes, but he was nice enough to breakdown this recipe for me. Since this is HIS creation, I won't post the recipe. ;-)

Dev and I aren't huge fans of lamb, so I used ground beef only. I suppose that makes it Cottage Pie, then right? Originally, I was going to use Veggie Ground - Ben laughed at me for even considering it - HEH. The browning of the beef is essential and pretty much what makes this dish so tasty.

... I didn't have tomato paste, so I added ketchup (good tip Ben!)

I almost forgot the peas!

Mashed potato Topping

I have this cake decorating gadget so I used it to pipe on the potatoes. Dev helped me take the pictures!

Bake at 375F for 30-45 minutes until golden brown on top!

Wine pairing: Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon.

Spicy Club Fries

2008-12-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

I love Cafe Happy in Kirkland. One of my favorite dishes is Spicy Club Fries. I have no idea why it is called club fries - maybe because everything is cut into matchsticks? - anyways, if you find yourself in Kirkland during lunch or dinner hours, stop by this place. It's Taiwanese Vegetarian, and so delicious.

I decided to try and make this dish the other night - Dev was out with the boys, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go. I know for a fact, Dev wouldn't eat this... even if he was starving to death. NOPE. Heh.

Spicy Stir Fry

Veggie Gold Roast (a quarter or less of the loaf)
(I think that is what it is called. It comes in a rectangle block)
Half of a large zucchini
1 carrot
4 small Shitake mushrooms
Chili Bean Sauce
1 garlic clove, diced
1/4in ginger, diced
Sake
soy sauce
vegetable broth

I bought this Chili Bean Sauce at Cafe Happy, so I knew it was the right ingredient to add. It is so good. You can add it to any dish as a condiment as well!

Slice veggie loaf and veggies into matchsticks

Heat oil and saute garlic until fragrant. Add veggie loaf and saute until it starts turning golden brown.

Toss in carrots and saute a couple minutes before adding the mushrooms, zucchini and ginger. Add a good spoonful of Chili Bean Sauce, a drizzle of Sake, broth and soy sauce. Stir fry until incorporated.

I thought it came out fairly good. Next time, I'll probably add some Sriracha Chili Sauce to make it spicier, but it was still good drizzling it on after the fact.

UPDATE: I just had the real dish today and there is definitely something I am missing, maybe mushroom soy sauce? There was a stronger mushroom taste than I remember, and less chili flavor, but with a lot of heat. So good.

Strata : 1. Mushroom and Pancetta 2. Ham and Cheese

2008-11-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

It's my dad's 70th birthday!
This morning, mom, dad, Kim & Patrick came over for brunch to celebrate! We had such a nice time together - I really want to make the effort and get together more often.

I made strata and opted to use lower fat milk and egg substitute instead of whole milk/cream and whole eggs. I think they turned out pretty good! We also had homemade chocolate chip orange scones, bacon, turkey bacon, sausage, hash browns and fresh fruit. The turkey bacon was a little odd - the texture was a little like fruit leather. Dad said it was pretty good, but we all realized, he was eating a piece of real bacon. HEH.

Mushroom & Pancetta Strata and
Ham & Gruyere cheese Strata.
3/4 loaf Challah bread
5 Hawaiian bread rolls

Cut up bread and rolls into 3/4in cubes, crusts and all. Mix together.

Caremelized Onion
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar

Heat 1 T olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
Saute onions with salt and sugar until caramelized (15min.)
Set aside.

3 C chopped mushrooms

(1 Portobello cap + Cremini, chopped)
I large Shallot bulb, diced (about 1/2C)

Heat 1 T olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for about 7 minutes, until moisture is released. Set aside and cool.

1 small ham steak (about 5in wide), chopped
1 whole package of pancetta, chopped

Over medium-high heat saute ham and pancetta separately.

Set aside to cool.

Egg Mixture
1 3/4C egg substitute
1 3/4C 2% milk
1/2 tsp dry mustard
nutmeg
salt and pepper
(Mix 2 batches for both stratas)

3/4 C Gruyere cheese, grated
3/4 C White Cheddar cheese, grated
Mix cheeses together

Spray 2 pans with nonstick spray. I used an 8x8in and a 9x9in.

Layer the bottom of both pans with 3/4 of the bread cubes.

In one pan layer ham, half of the onions and cheese on top of bread cubes. Top with a handful of bread cubes.

In the other, layer pancetta, mushrooms, half of the onions and cheese on top of bread cubes. Top with reamining bread cubes.

Whisk together egg, milk and spices. Season with salt and pepper. I added some fresh chopped thyme leaves for the mushroom strata. Pour over entire pan.

If the pan looks dry, mix together another cup or so of milk/egg mixture and pour on top.

Hahahhaa. I asked Dev to cover the pans and put them in the fridge. He doesn't like mushrooms, so he immediately labeled the ham and cheese strata the "GOOD ONE" with a power fist. Haaaa! And the mushroom version was labeled... "Hippy", or Hippie.

Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake uncovered for 35+ minutes until edges are bubbly and top starts to brown.
I also put it under the broiler for a couple minutes just before serving.

Enjoy!

Mandarin Chicken : Second attempt

2008-11-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

The last time I made this dish (in Sept.), I wasn't quite satisfied with the batter - it wasn't crispy enough. I decided to alter the recipe a bit, and it turned out exactly as I hoped! YAY!

Marinade
2 T soy sauce
1.5 tsp sugar
1.5 tsp sesame oil
1.5 tsp cornstarch
dash of white pepper

Combine ingredients and marinate the chicken for about 30min.

Batter
6 T flour
6 T cornstarch
3 T rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg white
dash of salt
water

Batter should be the consistency of thick pancake batter

Dip the chicken in batter and deep fry until golden brown.

Sauce
Juice from 1 can Mandarin oranges
2 spoonfuls sugar
2 spoonfuls vinegar
2 spoonfuls ketchup

salt to taste
(a few spoonfuls of cornstarch mixed with water to thicken)

Mix together ingredients and simmer until thickened.

Fry up chicken a second time to crisp up coating.
Lightly drizzle sauce over chicken.

Serve!
*UPDATE: 2010. I've made a few adjustments to this recipe over time. I ditched the rice flour - mostly because I don't always have it on hand. I now us 3/4C flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, salt and 3T cornstarch. Also, and updated sauce: The juice of one small can of mandarin oranges (squeezing all from the segments as well), 2T sugar, 1T vinegar, a couple of big squirts of ketchup, dash of rice wine, dash of white pepper, dash of soy sauce, 1 chopped garlic clove. I heat to a boil and reduce until thick! I hope you like this as well!

Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcakes

2008-11-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

YAY! This month is Loose Cannon Studio's 3rd anniversary!
Can you believe it? Congratulations to Dev and Matt for the inception Nov. 2005 in our living room. "2 Guys and a Fax machine!"

I decided to make these cupcakes for the celebration!
(veering away from my stealth health streak, but hey, it's a special occasion and Dev and I didn't eat them all ourselves.

I have to say, I came across way too many variations of this recipe...
Cream the butter and sugar together OR
Melt the butter, take off the heat and add the Stout OR
Heat the butter and Stout together?
Granulated sugar only OR
Brown sugar only
Add oil, milk or molasses
Add 1 cup of stout OR 2 cups OR 1 bottle... and so on.
Oh well, This is what I ended up doing:

Preheat oven to 350F

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
12 oz CAN Guinness stout
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 T vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 C plain yogurt
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
2C granulated sugar
1/2C golden brown sugar
2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, adding Guinness Stout and bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat and add cocoa powder - whisk until smooth.
Remove from heat to cool.

In another bowl, mix together flour, sugars, baking soda and salt.

Beat eggs until thick until light in color – about 4 minutes on medium to high speed. Add yogurt and beat until combined.

While mixer is running, slowly add the chocolate-stout mixture to the egg mixture until combined.
Add the flour mixture and stir until well mixed.

Bake 12 minutes for minis
18 for full size

For the frosting:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 C heavy cream
confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add cream and continue to beat until well combined. Add confectioner's sugar to taste - about one pound (half a bag)

End result:
Texture: moist!
Taste: Guinness was fairly subtle, but good. Honestly, it tasted a lot like Duncan Hines box cake mix to me. Does that mean Duncan hines tastes homemade, OR does this recipe taste like a box cake mix? Considering all the work, I wonder if I could've just added Stout to a box mix instead. BAH.

Lasagna Bolognese Part Deux!

2008-11-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Kim, I'm keeping up with our health pact!

Tonight, I was pretty excited to try another stealth-health recipe redeux. This time, I let Dev IN on the experiment and he was onboard 100%! I could've taken an extreme route - whole wheat noodles, soy milk, veggie cheese... but come on, I don't think we're quite ready to go the distance... YET. Still... this is a good start...?

Alterations:
doubled the veggies
1lb ground beef ---> Veggie Ground Round
2 slices thick sliced bacon ---> turkey bacon + 1 thin slice bacon
4 cheese blend ---> part-skim mozzarella
whole milk for bolognese ---> 2% milk
whole milk for Béchamel ---> 2% + 1% milk

Preheat oven to 425F.

Lasagna Bolognese
Meat-ish Sauce
2 small carrots
2 celery ribs
1/2 onion
1 thin slice of bacon
2 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1 package Yves Veggie Ground Round, Original
2 Chicken spicy Italian sausage links (crumbled)
1 1/2C 2% milk
1 1/2C sake (I didn't have white wine)
2 spoonful tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes (with basil and garlic)
salt to taste
ground black pepper
dash of paprika
dash of garlic salt

Fresh lasagna noodles
low moisture part-skim mozzarella

fresh mozzarella ball, sliced

a few shreds of parmesan

Roughly chop onions, carrots and celery.
Pulse in a mini-processor until finely chopped.

Saute bacon and turkey bacon together. Add celery, carrot and onion mixture and cook until softened on medium heat. Add Veggie Ground Round and Chicken Sausage. Cook, breaking up into small pieces.

Add milk, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer and cook until liquid has evaporated - about 25 minutes.

I didn't have white wine on hand, so I used Sake as a substitute. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until liquid has evaporated - about 25 minutes.

Puree diced tomatoes. Add tomato paste and tomato puree to pan - bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened. Add salt to taste, a dash of paprika and garlic salt. Take off heat and cool.

Béchamel
3T unsalted butter (instead of 4T)
1/4C all-purpose flour
2C 1% milk + 2C 2% milk (instead of 4C whole milk)
salt

Melt butter over medium heat; add flour and cook, whisking constantly for about 2 mintues. Don't brown. Gradually add milk, bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Add salt, lower heat and simmer for 10 min.

The low-fat milk didn't thicken as well as the whole milk (obviously), so I made an additional roux of a spoonful of cornstarch + water. This helped thicken it up to the right consistency. Let cool.

Add 3/4 C of béchamel to the meat-ish sauce. Combine well.

We found these fresh noodles at Whole foods - never tried them before and wanted to give it a try. Boil noodles for 1 minute. Cool in ice bath and drain.

Spray pan with cooking spray. Place meat sauce into bottom of pan. Layer noodles, meat sauce & béchamel.

Top with a little shaved parmesan and shredded mozzarella. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Cover the top completely with the remaining béchamel sauce, a little more shredded mozzarella and a few thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. (Dev loves his cheese).
Cover with foil (coated with cooking spray) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to 450F, and bake an additional 15 minutes until bubbly and browned on top. Cool for at least 15 minutes - it will be easier to cut.

Dinner is served! Dev said he'd eat this again!

Stealth Health! Chili version 2.0

2008-11-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

Apologies, I DID NOT take a NEW picture tonight, so this is an old pic from September's Chili post. (Tonight's chili was not served with sour cream.)

Last week, I had a nice get-together/lunch with my sister Kim! We talked about getting old and our bad eating habits. (I realized that everything on my foodblog was... bacon, cheese, deep fried fatness...)

... THANK YOU Kim, for giving me the jump-start on Stealth Health! Baby steps, right? Maybe you'll visit StumpyMunchies again someday?

Tonight's chili had a few modifications:

thick cut bacon --> turkey bacon

ground beef --> lean ground turkey

beef broth --> 99% fat free beef broth

All I have to say is, I didn't tell Dev beforehand, and he had second helpings! Being the Beefasaurus that he is, I consider tonight's dinner a SUCCESS! Give it a go. You won't miss the beef, bacon or full fat broth. The chipotle and spices are a good cloaking device. I want to try a vegetarian route next time... I've read about Yves Good Ground? Anyone try this? Stay tuned!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread

2008-11-12T23:07:00.001-08:00

I frequently visit a food blog by Jenny Yu, "Use Butter" - her photos are absolutely lovely and her dishes look so tempting and delicious! She posted this shortbread cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen and I had to give it a try!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Preheat oven to 325F

1 T instant Espresso powder

1 T boiling water

8oz butter, softened

2/3 C confectioners sugar

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 C chocolate chips

I read about this high quality European butter - recommended for baked goods etc., because it has less water content and more butterfat than regular butter. Let's give it a go!

This is new to me also!

Dissolve instant espresso powder in boiling water.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Slowly add espresso and vanilla.

Beat until well combined.

Slowly add flour and chocolate chips.

Transfer dough into a gallon size Ziplock bag.

Flatten and roll dough to 1/4 in. thickness, sealing the bag pressing out air.

Refrigerate for 2 hours - or up to 2 days.

Cut into squares (how convenient!)

Bake for 16 minutes - cookies will be pale, but slightly golden on the edges. Cool on rack.

Delicious!

Smores Bars

2008-11-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

This is from the Hershey's Kitchen recipe files!

I doubled the recipe because I wanted to use a 9x13 pan, instead of the 8x8 it called for. I also added some brown sugar, cutting back on the granulated sugar. These are so good, I've already made them twice for work!

Preheat oven to 350F

Smores Bars
2 sticks butter, softened
1 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
2 2 /3 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

13 oz jar marshmallow creme fluff

9+ Hershey's chocolate bars

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream together butter and sugars for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add one egg at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients.

Mix until combined.

Spread half of the dough into a greased 9x13 pan.

Break up Hershey's bars and arrange over dough.

I didn't have enough Hershey's this time, so I had to add a couple squares of bittersweet chocolate.

Spread one jar of marshmallow Creme Fluff over chocolate.

I used a rubber spatula at first, but the chocolate kept pulling up! I switched to a metal spatula instead, and it worked like a charm.

The marshmallow creme will settle - it looks like a smooth melted sheet of plastic! (A little eerie.)

Scatter the remaining dough over the marshmallow cream - in chunky pieces.

Bake for 30 minutes - keep checking to make sure ti doesn't get too brown.

They are easier to cut once cooled - but it's hard to resist cutting a piece when the marshmallow and chocolate are warm and gooey.

Clean cuts when cooled!

ENJOY!

Dev made French Toast this morning!

2008-11-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

So good!

Milk and eggs...

Slices of thick Japanese Shoku Pan!

YUM~!

Korean Flank Steak

2008-11-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

This is my mom's recipe, and I have to say, it is soooo good. You should give it a go.

Korean Flank Steak (I made half the recipe)

Marinade
Half flank steak (about 1 pound)
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C soy sauce
2 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Put flank and marinade in a ziplock and marinate for 2 hours or overnight.

Coat flank in flour and then 1 beaten egg.

Heat oil on medium heat. Fry until browned, about 4 minutes on each side.

Cool meat on rack (juices will drain). Slice - its difficult to keep the coating on, I wonder if it would've cut cleaner if I had an electric knife.

Chinese Long Green Beans

Chinese long green beans

spoonful Judy Fu's chili oil (thick part)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T sugar

2 T soy sauce

Cut greenbeans into sticks. Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes. Immerse in ice water to stop cooking. Drain.

Heat chili oil and garlic until fragrant. Add sugar and soy sauce and heat until bubbly. Add green beans and stir fry until incorporated.

Gratin Potatoes (Version 2.0)

Preheat oven to 400F (set rack to the middle)

3-4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced

1 3/4 C whole milk

1/4 C cream

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

dash of nutmeg

1 garlic clove, smashed

1/2 Gruyere Cheese, grated

1/2 C White cheddar, grated

1/2 C Parmisiano Reggiano, grated

spoonful of flour (added to cheeses)

3 thick sliced of bacon

2 thick slices of bread, torn and pulsed into breadcrumbs

1 T butter, melted

1 T bacon fat, reserved

Thinly slice potatoes. Combine milk, cream, spices, garlic, potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-12 minutes. Remove garlic.

Cook chopped bacon until crip. Set aside.

Layer potatoes on the bottom of a greased pie plate.

Layer half of the cheese and all of the bacon.

Cover with remaining potatoes and remaining milk sauce.

I like using big slices of japanese bread for this. Cut off crusts and pulse bread into crumbs. Mix in 1 T melted butter and 1 T bacon fat.

Cover gratin with remaining cheese and bread crumbs.

Bake for 27 minutes, until top is golden brown.

DELICIOUS!

Dinner is served!

Test : Braised Pork Short Ribs

2008-11-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Braised "Short Giwa" Ribs

I came across a few recipes, but I didn't have a handful of ingredients on hand, so here's the "Short Giwa" Ribs version.

Marinade
1/4 C soy sauce
1 T black bean paste
2 tsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
knob of ginger
1/4 C sake
a big spoonful of apricot jam

Combine all ingredients.

Add enough water to cover the ribs
Boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours

HOLY! They just fall apart....

Meatloaf!

2008-11-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago (when I was waiting for our refrigerator repair man to show up) I caught an episode of Tyler Florence on the Food Network. He made his dad's Ultimate Meatloaf and it looked fantastic! So, tonight we gave it a try.

Ultimate Meatloaf
This recipe was made for 6-8 servings (I cut the recipe in half)

Preheat oven to 350F

Tomato relish
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tomatoes, seeded and diced
handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 C + 2 T ketchup
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt and black pepper

Meatloaf
2 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks by hand
whole milk
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 egg
handful of fresh thyme leaves

Salt and black pepper
3 bacon slices

Heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onion, garlic and bay until softened.

Add red peppers and cook until softened. Add the tomatoes, stir in parsley, ketchup, Worcesershire, salt and pepper.

Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Tear pieces of white bread and cover with barely enough milk to cover.

Mix ground beef, ground pork, thyme, egg and almost a cup of the tomato relish. Squeeze excess milk out of bread and add to meat mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover baking sheet with parchment paper and form meat mixture into a loaf. Coat the top with almost all the relish (leaving some for garnish).

Lay slices of bacon on top lengthwise.

Bake for 1 hour (or less), until bacon is crisp and meatloaf is firm.

YUM! We enjoyed this with mashed potatoes and green beans with sliced almonds and carmelized onion. This dish was good. Would I make it again?.... maybe.

Apple Stump-pies

2008-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Apple Stump-pies

Crust
2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1/2 C ice water
2 cubes of unsalted butter

Cut butter into cubes and freeze for about a half hour. In food processor, pulse flour, sugar and salt.

Add butter and pulse until it resembles course cornmeal. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time until dough holds together when pinched. Turn out onto a board and lightly knead with a light dusting of flour. Form into 2 discs and refrigerate for an hour.

Filling
4 Granny Smith apples, cut into small cubes
1 T lemon juice
1 T orange juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp orange zest
1 T flour
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Egg wash
1 egg
1 T cream (or milk)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Peel, core and chop apples into small pieces. We are making 'Stump-pies (using a tiny muffin pan) so the apple chunks need to be small.

Combine all ingredients and coat apples.

Let this mixture sit for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Quite a bit of juice will come through, strain apples over bowl for another 30 minutes, reserving juices.

Bring the juices to a boil, adding 1 T butter.

Stir in apples and combine well.

Remove dough from fridge and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll out to 1/8" thick and cut out circles with a cutter.

Place dough discs in mini muffin pans, fill with a heaping spoonful of apple mixture. I didn't want to crimp the top crusts, so used a cookie cutter to cut small shapes and placed them on top instead.
Brush tops with egg wash and spinkle with sugar. Bake 19 minutes.

DELICIOUS! ENJOY!

Next time, I want to try a different kind of apple - maybe Braeburn or Jonagold. The Granny Smith was a tad too tart for me, and, I probably will add a bit more sugar!

Side: 3-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes : UPDATED

2008-10-26T16:16:00.002-07:00

This is one of our favorite side dishes! I like to use individual oblong ramekin dishes, but you can easily adjust the recipe and bake it in a large pan for a group.

3-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

Preheat oven to 450F
Butter pan or ramekins.

4-5 yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C cream
1 garlic clove, cut in half
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 C Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 C Parmisiano Reggiano, grated
1/2 C White cheddar, grated
1 T four (add to cheeses)

Topping
1 slice of white sandwich bread (or large piece of baguette)
1/2 C French's fried onions
1 tsp fresh chopped parsley
2T melted butter
(I forgot to take pictures, but pulverize the bread and fried onions together and bind w/ butter)

Thinly slice potatoes. My mom gave me this Japanese Mandolin slicer and I use it all the time!

Combine milk, cream, garlic and spices. Add a good handful of the prepared cheese as well. Add potatoes and bring to a boil. If necessary, add more milk and cream - it should cover the potatoes.
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Remove garlic.

The sauce will have thickened. Layer half the potatoes.

Layer half of the cheese over the potato, the remaining potatoes and sauce mixture.
Top with remaining cheese and bread crumb topping. Cover with foil (coat with nonstick spray).

Place ramekins on baking sheet (it will bubble over).

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes, until browned.
Let potatoes set for at least 15 minutes (or it will be runny).

Eat 'em up!

Chicken Strips!

2008-10-26T16:16:00.001-07:00

Dev and I were in the mood for a late night snack - not hungry enough for a full-on dinner, so we decided on Chicken Strips! I came across a 'copy cat' recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken Strips, but I didn't have most of the ingredients - potassium cholride, accent salt, bottle of chicken base... so, I made due with what I had on hand:

Marinade
1 Knorr Tomato bouillon with Chicken flavor (Caldo de Tomate)
2 C water
1 T kosher salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Egg wash
1 egg
1 C whole milk

Coating
2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp baking powder

Mix marinade ingredients and simmer on the stove until bouillon cube dissolves. Let cool.

Cut chicken into strips and marinate for 1.5 hours (or longer). Take chicken out of marinade and dry on paper towels and take off excess moisture.

Combine coating ingredients in a shallow pan.

Beat together milk and egg. Dip strips into egg wash.

..then coating, then egg and flour again.

Coat all chicken pieces and let rest on cookie sheet.

Heat oil to 375F and deep fry until golden brown!

Okay, I did NOT take the 'healthy' route here and heated Crisco shortening.

YUM!

These strips were surprisingly tasty! Next time, I might try marinating it for an hour longer. The coating was fairly crisp, but nothing at all like KFC. Still, it was delicious.

ENJOY!

Dinner Last, Last Week : Pizza!

2008-10-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

Dev and I have been living without a working fridge for the past couple of weeks - No food, No cooking, No fun. The repair man finally made it out yesterday morning, and I can't tell you how awesome it is to have a working fridge again. It seems silly, but boy... good times. Apologies for this old-ish post.

Pizza is one of our favorite foods! Dev calls it "the perfect food".

Last year, we tested out a lot of pre-made options - Boboli Pizza Bread, Pilsbury Pizza Dough, Trader Joe's fresh Pizza dough, frozen pizzas with our own toppings, jarred pizza sauce, squeeze bottle pizza sauce, Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza sauce... good, but not great.

I finally gave in and attempted homemade pizza dough and sauce.

Preheat oven to 500F.

Pizza Dough

4 C bread flour

2 C warm water

2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1/4 tsp brown sugar or honey

3/4 T kosher salt

2 T olive oil

I love King Arthur Bread Flour. The end result is a much denser, chewy crust. I've tried all-purpose flour as well - it yields a much crispier, thin crust. If you do use all purpose flour, you'll probably use a little less water (1/4 C) - the dough will be VERY runny. Try not to overwork it - add no more than 1/4C additional flour, even if it looks like it needs more.

I usually measure out 1/2 C water (taken from the 2 C warm water) to proof the yeast. Add the brown sugar to yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes until bubbly.

Stir together flour and salt. Mix yeast, olive oil and warm water together. Slowly add to flour.

I sometimes add a spoonful of honey as well. Mix until combined.

Turn out dough onto board and knead for 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Try not to add more than 1/4C additional flour. NOTE: if you are using all-purpose flour, you will only lightly knead the dough. Again, don't be tempted to add more than 1/4C flour. It will seem unusually sticky, but just put it in the oiled bowl. The texture will look right once it's risen.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with saran wrap and let rest in a warm place to rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Turn out dough onto board and cut in half.

Form into balls - cup with hands while turning edges inward and under into a pouch until ball is taught. Cover with saran wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

This is my favorite pizza pan.

It's made by Chicago Metallic and we picked it up at Cost Plus.

We tried another type of pan from Crate and Barrel, but the crust didn't get very crisp on the bottom. We also tried this pizza mesh from... I don't remember where we bought this, but I didn't care for the end result either. NOT crispy at all. I suppose if you had a real pizza oven, or brick oven, the results would differ.

Pizza sauce

1/2 onion, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can diced tomatoes, pureed

half a can of tomato paste

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil

3/4 tsp onion powder

spoonful of honey

salt and pepper

Saute onion with 1T butter until soft, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add tomato puree.

I LOVE this honey - a gift from my mah.

Add herbs, honey and simmer until thick. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. You can puree this again, if you want a smoother consistency.

ASSEMBLY TIME!

Oil pan. This is the odd part... don't flour the dough and roll out. With oiled hands, gently stretch, push and drape dough onto pan. Prick with fork.

Brush olive oil on top. Some of our favorite toppings: 6 cheese Italian blend, pepperoni and canadian bacon!

Spread half of the sauce on top (reserve the rest for the other half of the dough).

I usually put a light layer of cheese under the toppings - half pepperoni and half ham and pineapple. Top with a heavy dose of the cheese blend and fresh mozzarella slices.

Place pizza on the very LOWEST rack in your oven. Bake for 13 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden. NOTE: if you are making a plain cheese pizza, it will brown very fast - you'll probably take it out sooner, 10 or so minutes. Just keep a watchful eye.

You gotta try it with some Sriracha!

Enjoy!

By the way, another tasty appetizer you should try with this dough: brush with olive oil and top with caramelized onion, chopped dried dates, crumbled blue cheese and Gruyere cheese. Bake until crust is golden and drape prosciutto on top. YUM!

Lasagna Bolognese

2008-10-05T18:58:00.001-07:00

We love lasagna!

I used to make 'speedy lasagna' - browning ground beef and mixin' in jarred spaghetti sauce. It was simple to make and tasted pretty good.

Or, so I thought.

I've only made THIS a couple times now; it's a real time sync, but I prefer this version any day. It takes just over 3hrs from prep to finish, but it's worth it.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Set rack to the middle of the oven.

Lasagna Bolognese (Adapted from Cook's Illustrated)
Meat Sauce
1 carrot
1 celery rib
1/2 onion
1 can diced tomatoes (with basil and garlic)
2 thick cut bacon, chopped
1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground hot Italian sausage

1 1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 C white wine
2 T tomato paste
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper

1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
4-cheese italian blend

Roughly chop onions, carrots and celery.
Pulse in a mini-processor until finely chopped.

Okay, bacon wasn't in the orig. recipe, but it makes everything taste better, don't you think?

Saute bacon. Add celery, carrot and onion mixture and cook until softened; 4 min. on medium heat.

Add meat and sausage (the recipe called for veal and pork, but I really like the flavor that comes from the hot Italian sausage). Cook, breaking up into small pieces.

Add milk, bring to a simmer and cook until liquid has evaporated - about 25 minutes.

I like to have small bottles of wine on hand for cooking.

Add wine, bring to a simmer and cook until liquid has evaporated - about 25 minutes.

Add tomato paste and cook for 1 min. I like these diced tomatoes with Basil and Garlic for added flavor. Add the diced tomatoes, salt & pepper.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 min. Cool.

Béchamel
4 T butter (unsalted)
1/4 C all-purpose flour
4 C whole milk
3/4 tsp salt

Melt butter over medium heat; add flour and cook, whisking constantly for about 2 mintues. Don't brown. Gradually add milk, bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Add salt, lower heat and simmer for 10 min. Cool.

Add 3/4 C of béchamel to the meat sauce. Combine well.

Soak the no-boil noodles in hot tap water for 5 minutes. Drain on towels.

Lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Place 1 C of meat sauce into bottom of pan. Layer 3 noodles, meat sauce, 1/3 C béchamel and top with 1/3 C cheese blend. Repeat layering 3 more times, covering the top completely with the béchamel sauce.

Dev loves the taste of FRESH mozzarella! He cut some up to add that extra ZING! to this dish.

Cover pan and bake at 425F. for 30 min.

Raise heat to 450F., remove foil and bake for and additional 15 min.

Cool for 25+ minutes. Allow to set - it will be pretty running if served too hot.

Garlic Toast

Simmer garlic in butter, brush onto french toast slices and grill.

Dinner is served!

Wine pairing: Chianti Classiso, 2005 Riserva.

I heard Sangiovese wines pair well with tomato based pasta... they do!

Keema + Naan

2008-10-04T22:28:00.001-07:00

This is a very special dish.

Some years ago, Dev's family was in town & we spent one evening cooking together. His family is a riot! They are so much fun - I've never seen Dev laugh so hard, where he is practically in tears! I love them!

Dev's mom Erlinda, cooked Keema and Chipatis. She didn't use any precise measurments : dash here, spoonful there - cooking from the heart and by feel. Dev and I have made this dish many, many times since, but it has never tasted as good as his mom's. I still have the piece of paper with my notes from that evening (pic: above right).

Chopped onion, garlic, ginger, sauteed in butter.

One addition I made was: a little tomato paste.
Add spices: garam masala, curry, turmeric, paprika...etc.

Ground beef & potatoes...

Peas...

Yogurt! And, SERVE!

MadaNAAN

Dev and I usually just pickup store-bought Naan, but I wanted to try and bake some tonight.

There are so many variations on the recipe, I didn't know where to begin. Some called for water over milk, oil vs butter, bread flour vs all-purpose, Baking powder or not, 2T yogurt vs 1 cup, the addition of egg or not, pan frying, baking, grilling, broiling... it was endless.

I followed one recipe and ended up throwing away because the texture was very tough and not elastic at all - I didn't add enough liquid. (Don't you hate that when that happens? It's so wasteful. It kills me) I ended up merging a few different recipes... what 'sounded' good. Butter? Yes! More yogurt? Sure! Baking powder? That sounds like it might help it rise more... sounds good! So, I guess you can say, this is a MadaNaan!

MadaNaan

1/2 tsp yeast

2 T warm water

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 C warm milk

1/4 C melted butter

3/4 C yogurt

3 C all-purpose flour (not bread flour)

Preheat broiler.

Set racks in the middle of the oven.

Proof yeast with the warm water and half of the sugar for 10 minutes.

Make sure the yeast bubbles up. If not, the yeast is dead. Throw it away and start over.

Mix flour, salt, remaining sugar and baking powder.

Add butter, yogurt, warm milk and yeast to dry ingredients. All at once.

Mix by hand until combined.

Knead for about 6 min. until elastic.

Let rest for at least an hour, or until nearly doubled in size.

Pull off 6-8 balls of dough, lightly flour and let rest again under a towel for about 10 min.

Roll out to about 1/4" thickness. Not too thick, but not to thin.

Flip the dough back and forth between you palms to get rid of excess flour.

Lightly grease baking tray.

Broil for 2-3 minutes per side. Keep and eye on them... get ready for super PUFFAGE!

Oooh! Ace and Karl are ready to dig in!

Brush the tops with clarified butter.

I was surprised at how well these turned out. I feel silly now, for feeling so intimidated to make them. It really doesn't take much time or effort. Give it a try! I think you'll enjoy them too.

Salted Oatmeal Cookies

2008-09-29T02:16:00.000-07:00

GAH! ... look at the time.

It is almost TWO in the morning.... I really should go to bed, but hey! Dev's still playing Lego Batman (Heh.) He's awake... I'm awake... what the hell, I'll turn the oven on. I've been wanting to try this recipe for some time.

Salted Oatmeal Cookies (Cook's Illustrated)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

1 C all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

14 T unsalted butter (room temp)

1 C sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

1 egg (room temp)

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 C Quaker old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

coarse sea salt

I recently started using King Arthur flours. It costs a bit more, but I have to say, I noticed a difference in the texture.

Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2-3 min.)

Add the egg and vanilla until combined.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a small bowl.

Slowly add to butter/sugar mixture until well incorporated.

Stir in oatmeal.

I added 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips as well.
(update: semi-sweet chocolate is even better)

Roll dough into balls and place onto parchment paper.

Press lightly to flatten dough. Sprinkle a few flecks of sea salt.

I've never used sea salt before. I ordered some from Penzey's online a couple months ago because I wanted to make Fleur de Sel Caramels. I still haven't gotten around to doing that yet, so I'm happy I can finally use some for these...

Bake for 13+ min., until golden brown.

C.I. suggest baking one sheet at a time for even crispness - I figured that would add another 13 min. I didn't want to spend...awake. So, I just baked 2 sheets at the same time.

I was skeptical, but I have to tell you, I really love these cookies. The texture is crispy & chewy, which reminds me of florentine cookies. The sea salt adds a nice accent - I think I'll add more sea salt next time.

UPDATE!: depending upon how long your oven has been preheating, cooking time will be shorter. I baked these at a max. of 11 min. this past time around. Just keep an eye on them. The middle should look a little glossy (to maintain a chewy texture) and golden brown around the edges.

White Chocolate + Macadamia Nut Cookies

2008-09-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

"Hey! Its midnight. I think I'll bake something!"

From time to time, I have the urge to bake in the middle of the night. I should just go to bed, but, I really can't help myself. When I was a kid, my mom would always bake in the middle of night - usually baking up treats for the church bake sale, for her office or for our school. I have such a fond memory of drifting off to sleep with the aroma of sweet vanilla. So, I guess... I blame YOU mom! Heh.

I didn't have any chocolate chips on hand tonight, so I used white chocolate chips and mac nuts instead. They came out pretty good, but I must say, I prefer semi-sweet chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Mrs. Field's Copycat Recipe)

Preheat oven to 350F.

2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (room temp)
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

1 bag of chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate bars

Cream butter and sugars together (2-3 minutes).

Add vanilla and eggs (one at a time).
Sift dry ingredients and add slowly.

Hey! Bing the Banana joins us!

Stir in chips (and chopped nuts if you like)

Bake for 9 minutes. VERY IMPORTANT. Don't be tempted to leave them in longer. They may not look done, but they are. Trust me. ENJOY!

Dinner Tonight : Chili + Biscuits

2008-09-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

It was raining all day today so, Dev and I decided it was a perfect night to make chili. I've made this a handful of times now, but I keep adjusting the recipe. Tonight's version came out particularly well, so I think it's a keeper!

YaMadan Chili
1 lb ground beef
2 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 red onion, minced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 jalapeno chilies w/ seeds
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
a spoonful adobo sauce
small spoonful of brown sugar
splash of red wine
3 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 spoonfuls tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 can chili beans, drained (or kidney beans)
1 can beef broth (low sodium)
salt to taste

Chop jalapenos (with seeds), garlic and red onion.
Mix together spices in a small bowl.

I recently discovered I prefer a 3 bean mix rather than just kidney beans, but both work fine. The chipotle peppers are a new addition - we really liked the added heat and smokiness!

Saute bacon until crispy. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Saute ground beef in bacon fat and set aside.
Saute onion until soft, add garlic and jalapeno and saute for 1-2 min.

Add tomato paste, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce.
Add beef and bacon into pan along with spices, sugar and wine.

Add beans, diced tomatoes and beef broth.

Look who dropped by! Special dinner guest, Henry lending a helping stumpy hand.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for 1 hour, uncovered.

Cook's Illustrated biscuits!

2 C flour
1 T double acting baking powder
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 T cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 C cold low fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 500F.
Set racks to the middle of the oven.

Stir together dry ingredients.
Add butter and mix/pulse until the texture is like cornmeal.
Stir in buttermilk.

Scoop out dough onto cookie sheet coated w/ flour.
Dust lightly with flour and gently form into small mounds.
Place in pan (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray)
I didn't have a round cake pan as specified, so I used an 8x8 square instead.
Brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake for 5 minutes.
Lower oven temp to 450F.
Bake for an additional 15 minutes until tops are golden.
Cool in pan, then turn out onto a towel. Cool for an additional 5 minutes.

Dinner is served!

Peanut Butter & Jelly bars!

2008-09-16T23:39:00.001-07:00

HA. Some of you know I'm allergic to peanuts and are probably wondering why I made these. This recipe sounded pretty good, and well, Dev loves PB&J sandwhiches, so I wanted to give it a go. I didn't feel like dying today, so I have no idea if they taste good, personally.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars (Barefoot Contessa)

Preheat oven to 350F.

2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 C sugar (I used 1 1/4C granulated sugar and 1/4C brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (room temp)
2 C creamy peanut butter
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
jam

Cream butter and sugars together.
Add vanilla, peanut butter and eggs (one at a time).
Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
Slowly add to the peanut butter mixture - don't over mix.

Line a 9x13 pan with foil, for easy removal.
Press about 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan.
Spread jam on top.
I didn't have a lot of jam, so I used strawberry fruit spread on one side, and Raspberry preserves on the other.

Crumble chunks of the remaining dough onto the top of the jam.
NOTE: protective 'gloves'. ha. This process took so long with these sandwhich BAGS on my hands, I finally got BRAVE and took them off.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Taste Test with Dev!
Dev was my food critic, since again, I didn't want to be DEAD.
He said... "it tastes good! ...a little dry... subtle peanut taste... can't tell the difference between the raspberry and strawberry jams..." I don't think I'll be baking any peanuty foods for a while... the peanut aroma filled the house when it was baking, and frankly, made me feel sick - I don't like the smell of peanut butter either. HEH.

Mallow Treat Taste Test!

2008-09-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

I saw a Rice Crispy Treat Taste Challenge on CakeSpy a few days ago, and thought it would be a fun thing to try! I only made 3 kinds to bring into work - I didn't buy the variety of cereals they sampled, though it was tempting.

Okay, this was a mistake on my part. For some reason, I was thinking of Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Crispies, but wasn't paying attention & I got confused when I bought the cereal.

Cheddar+Bacon Burgers, Oven Fries & Rings

2008-09-14T23:10:00.001-07:00

I found a recipe for Oven Fried Potato Wedges from Cooks Illustrated and had to try it (but with a smaller cut!)

I also took a couple pics of the burgers, but decided not to post them - they were storebought/pre-made patties & I didn't want to look like a cheater. heh.

Oven Fries (adapted)

Preheat oven to 475F.

Place oven rack to the lowest or 2nd lowest position.

2 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut.

4 T oil, plus 1 T to coat (don't use Olive Oil - smoking point is too low)

3/4 tsp salt

ground black pepper

Peel and cut potatoes. Soak for 10 minutes in hot water.

Drain, pat dry and coat with 1 T oil.

Pour oil into heavy, rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle on salt and pepper - turn to coat surface of pan. Place potato slices on top of salted oil. Cover with foil and bake for 5 minutes to steam!

Remove foil and bake for 9-12 minutes, flip potatoes and bake an additional 5-8 minutes. Cool on papertowels or a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Onion Rings

Man, I really liked the batter for the Mandarin chicken so much, I wanted to try and make a few onion rings. I ended up making half the recipe and added a little cayenne pepper and Lawry's Season Salt to the batter this time.

Ah ha! They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. I think if served immediately, they'd be crispier. The texture was about right, but, after sitting a bit (while I was making the burgers), they softened up too much for my liking. They also tasted greasy. (hmmm. I think the oil temp was too low)

...but, let's not forget dessert. Makers Rocks.

Mandarin Chicken : Dinner last night

2008-09-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Success! One of our favorite dishes at Wild Ginger is their Mandarin Chicken! I've been trying to replicate this dish for the past few years, but failed miserably - the coating was either too soggy or tough and the sauce was too tangy or sweet. I came across this batter recipe on Chow Times online and it was near perfect! The recipe called for 2 pounds of pork, but I used chicken and halved the recipe. I also decided not to use the pineapple and green peppers.

Marinate the chicken for about 30min.

2 T soy sauce

1.5 tsp sugar

1.5 tsp sesame oil

1.5 tsp cornstarch

dash of white pepper

Batter (I used the full recipe) Look how golden and puffy!

12 T flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp baking soda

3 T rice flour

dash of salt

water (you will want the consistency of thin pancake batter)

Dip the chicken in batter and deep fry at 375F.

(drain on paper towels and then deep fry a second time for an extra crispy crust)

Sauce it up!

The recipe on Chow Times didn't have and exact recipe for the sauce, so I decided to wing it as well!

I used the juice from a large can of mandarin oranges, a good squirt of ketchup, a splash of rice wine, a spoonful of sugar and rice vinegar. I ended up thickening it up with just a trace amount of slurry made of cornstarch - I didn't want the sauce to be thick.

An Improvement I'll make next time.

*I should've waited to do the second frying of the chicken pieces minutes before serving. It would've been hotter and the coating would've been crispier I think. It was still good though!

Another dish Dev and I love is Sichuan Green Beans!

I am still searching for a good recipe, so in the meantime, I blanched the green beans, stir fried them with some minced garlic and a spoonful of each: chili oil, sugar and soy sauce. Not bad...

Wine Pairing

I usually prefer red over white wines but this one was recommended to go well with Asian dishes, in particular spicy and sweet. I'm not a huge fan of sparkling wines, but this one was quite nice.

STUMPYMUNCHIES!

2008-09-13T19:06:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!
I've been thinking about this for a while and finally decided to start a Stumpytown Foodblog - StumpyMunchies!
I've been making an effort to cook at least once a week, as well as bake something to bring into work every Monday for the past year. I regret not starting this sooner, as I've lost a few recipes along the way... but, I'll try my best to keep this updated so I can keep a good log of all the recipes I try.

Stay tuned!