Paprika Princess

French Onion Soup

2012-01-29T13:20:00.001-06:00

I remember the exact moment that I fell in love with french onion soup. I was 9 years old on vacation with my family to Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was a great trip, in general, we rode bikes along the beach, learned how to dig up conch shells, built racecars in the sand, and ate at some magnificent restaurants.

It was at one of these great restaurants where I discovered the best french onion soup, ever. If you ever get out that direction, Cafe at Wexford is fantastic, and the french onion soup is the one that won over my heart forever. Since then I have been comparing every french onion soup to that one. Most are good, many are great, and a few have come close to matching the perfection, but none just yet.

I have not given up on my quest to find one just as good as that first french onion soup. So recently I figured maybe I can make one that is just as good. I don't know that I'm quite there, yet, but either way this recipe is a keeper.

French Onion Soup
4 Tbl. Butter
1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, thinly sliced
3 Large White Onions, thinly sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
42 oz. Low Sodium Beef Broth
28 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup Red Wine (approximate)
2-3 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce
4 Sprigs Fresh Parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme (+ another 2 Tbl. chopped)
1-2 bay leafs
2 Tbl. Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Thickly sliced French Bread
Sliced Gruyere cheese for melting on top
Shredded Asiago cheese for melting on top

In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the thinly sliced onions and the garlic. Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are soft and caramelized. They almost start falling apart at this point (yum!).

Add in the beef and chicken broth, red wine, and worcestershire into the pot. I usually only add about half of the wine and Worcestershire now, because I like to add in some here and some there as I taste as I go. Allows me to get it just like I like it! Add in the bundle of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme sprigs, whole (you'll fish them out later). Simmer this over medium heat for about 20 min.

Remove the whole sprigs of herbs and add about another 2 Tbl. of fresh chopped thyme and stir in. Reduce the heat and add in the balsamic vinegar (usually only 1 Tbl. at a time, to see how the flavor is doing.) Now you can add salt and pepper to taste, also. A tip I learned the hard way: you never want to add salt until you are almost done cooking the soup. If you add it to your liking, and then continue cooking it down and reducing liquid off, it will end up much more concentrated and will taste a lot saltier than you anticipated.

Cut up your french bread and cheese (and eat a little for an appetizer!) Toast the french bread on both sides under a broiler, or in a toaster oven. Fill your oven safe bowls or crocks with hot soup, top with toasty bread, sliced Gruyere and Asiago cheese. Eeat any cheese that falls onto the counter, and place the bowls under the broiler until the top is melted, golden, bubbly, toasty, and perfect.

Devour immediately... but to avoid burning your tongue, I guess you should wait a minute before putting a huge cheesy chunk in your mouth. I'm not a patient person, though... so I burn my tongue nearly every time...WORTH IT!

Fluffy New York Style Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

2012-01-23T20:20:00.000-06:00

In my medical School we do a PBL (problem based learning) curriculum. This means that we learn by going through real cases in small groups. Every 8 weeks, each student has to be "Quarterback" for one case, meaning that you lead the group. What this really means for me, is that I get a great excuse to make delicious unhealthy food that I can eat, and feed to other people (so I don't eat the entire cheesecake myself)!

Up until now, I had never made a cheesecake before. And considering it is one of my favorite desserts AND that I love to cook... that is pretty much just an atrocity! So I figured this was as good a time as any. I made a cheesecake for my group and it turned out AMAZING!!!!! OH MY GOSH BEST CHEESECAKE EVER!!!

I should preface, that I didn't pick a particularly easy cheesecake recipe, because I wanted it to be a great cheesecake. Go big or go home, right? So I didn't want one where you just mix together cream cheese and sugar and refrigerate it in a pre-made graham cracker crust. Don't get me wrong, those are still tasty, but I wanted to really do it right and make a real cheesecake.

I did run into my fair share of bumps in the road. Most of these were my fault, for not reading the recipe well enough before I started making it, but I also had some bad luck tossed in there. For your amusement I have listed my mishaps in short:

The original recipe was in metric units. Bleh! Yeah, I am a sciency person, so I understand metric and can convert stuff... but that doesn't mean I have any clue how many cups is equal to 273 grams of flour... SO I had to convert all of that a few times to make sure it was correct.
The chocolate shortbread crust made WAY too much, so you were supposed to save half of it and toss out something like an additional fourth... something crazy. So I converted all of that into a normal amount of crust for one cheesecake.
I didn't read the cheesecake recipe well enough, almost put the eggs in whole, before realizing they needed to be separated. Also didn't realize I was supposed to use a giant roasting pan, which I don't own, until it was time to bake the cake. Don't stop here, crisis averted, just made do with what I had (instructions below).
Worst of all: My mixer stopped working in the middle of whipping up the batter. You cannot make a cheesecake without a mixer!!! So I ended up having to go borrow a neighbors mixer at 10 PM, and re-paid them in left-over cheesecake!

However, many mishaps, crazy conversions, and one extremely messy kitchen later, the cheesecake was done. It was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!

Hopefully I have laid out the recipe well enough here with all of my little tips that will help you not make the same mistakes I made. Let me know how it goes for you, and if you come up with any extra tips! One more time, in case you're intimidated by my crazy mistakes and mishaps.. it really is totally worth it, and it isn't a big scary recipe now that it's already converted and laid out step by step for you here, by yours truly!

Chocolate Shortbread Crust

6 and 2/3 Tbl. Butter, cold cubed small
2 Tbl. Sugar
2/3 cup + 4 Tbl. Flour
4 tsp. Cocoa Powder

Preheat the oven to 350. Using a fork and your fingers, mix all the ingredients into a pebbly, sandy type mixture. If you have a good food processor, this makes it even easier, but mine is a huge hassle to put together and clean, so I used a fork and fingers. Less fancy, worked great! Press the dough into the bottom of your 10 inch springform pan. Bake the dough for 35 min. Let it cool completely while you're mixing up your other stuff!

Cheesecake Batter

2 pounds Cream Cheese, softened
1 stick Butter, softened
1/4 cup Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream
1 cup Sugar
5 Eggs
3 Tbl. Flour
Zest of one Lemon

Notes before you start:

I used half regular, and half reduced fat. By all means, feel free to use full fat!
Eggs will need to be separated into yolks and whites for this recipe (just a heads up, I didn't realize until I was ready to put them in... could have been a major SNAFU)
Don't get excited and try to start before the cream cheese and butter are fully softened, if you're tempted just set them both on the stove top while the crust bakes and walk away! It will get all lumpy, and you will have to clean your mixer out a bunch in a row... just wait. They will be soft soon enough.
Another place I was unprepared... this recipe calls to bake the cheesecake in a water bath in a big roasting pan. I don't have a big roasting pan (you know, the whole student thing, limited kitchen space, a roasting pan never seemed like something I really needed... whoops!). BUT I made it work, and it turned out great, so don't fear if you end up in this situation. You don't have to go buy a roasting pan! Just see my notes below for what I actually did.

Once the butter and cream cheese are fully softened, cream these together and add the sugar, lemon zest, and sour cream. Mix these together until just combined. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and mix in until combined. This is my first cheesecake to make, so I'm no expert, but I hear if you over-mix them they get lots of air in them and crack open in the middle when you bake them. So I made sure to just mix it until it was all combined and creamy.

Now you are ready for your separated eggs. Add in the egg yolks one at a time and combine with the creamy mixture. In a separate bowel whip the egg whites until stiff. Once stiff peaks have formed, fold the egg whites into the batter until it all comes together in a big fluffy batter!

Pour the batter in the springform pan, over your baked, cooled, crust.

Wrap the bottom of your springform pan in aluminium foil to keep water out while you bake it in the water bath. If you have a large roasting pan, you will put the cheesecake in it and and add enough hot water to come halfway up the side of the pan.

Here's where if you don't have a large roasting pan you can improvise like I did. I tested all my cake pans, and dishes to see if they were big enough. Of course they weren't. So I used a cookie sheet with edges to set the cheesecake down in and filled water up to the rim of the cookie sheet. This will at least keep the bottom from burning on the metal racks, and made sure it cooked evenly with the water. Then I took a big 9x13 cake pan and filled it with water and put it on the bottom rack, below the cheesecake, and this did a great job of helping to steam up the oven and cook it all evenly.

I'm sure if you have a roasting pan that is slightly superior, but this cheesecake turned out great, so I really don't know how much of a difference it makes.

Bake the cake at 325 for 1 hour 30 min. Then turn the oven off and open the door just a crack and let your cake cool in the oven for 30 more minutes. Once it has cooled, Remove the cake from the oven and refrigerate for at least a few hours, or overnight if possible!

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup + 4 tsp. Sugar
1/3 cup Water
1/2 cup Salted Butter
2/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Let me just begin by saying that this stuff is money! You will probably have left overs after the cheesecake, so it would be awesome on ice cream, or marbled into brownie batter, or by the spoonful, or on asparagus...ok, maybe that is going a little far. But, you get the point!

So in a small-medium sized sauce pan over low heat combine the sugar and water and stir. Heat this over low heat until the sugar fully dissolves in the water. At this point add the butter. Melt it in and stir to mix it all together. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel color. You may have to turn the heat up to about a low-medium for this, but keep it pretty, low temperature still. Once the mixture is a nice caramel color, remove it from the heat and add in the cream. Whisk it to combine and put it back on the stove. Once more, let the mixture come to a boil over low heat and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until it is at a good creamy consistency.

A couple things about the sauce (other than it's delicious-ness). The recipe says to cook until a golden caramel color. This will not happen quickly. It will need to cook off almost all of the water before it starts changing colors, and will get a little clumpy and not look like a sauce (this will fix when you add the cream, though). Take a book with you when you make this, I get nervous when making caramel and want to stir it every 2 seconds, but it will be fine, it won't boil over, and it's kind of hard to burn if you keep it on low heat, so don't hover over it waiting for it to turn colors like I did. It will likely take nearly an hour for the right color to happen (well worth the wait, though).

Once you add the cream, though you only need to cook for a bit longer to get the nice saucy texture. The spoon-test method works great for this. If you're not familiar with the spoon test, you dip a spoon into the sauce and pull it out. Run your finger down the back of the spoon with the sauce. If it runs back together over your finger mark, keep cooking it. If it stays on separate sides of your finger mark, it's done.

Pour it into a jar and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. When you're ready just microwave it or re-warm it on the stove!

Pumpkin Cake with Spiced Apple Glaze

2011-11-06T13:21:00.000-06:00

The easiest cake you will ever make, and it is dense and moist so it is the perfect last minute fall dessert!

Pumpkin Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can of pumpkin

Using a hand mixer mix together the cake mix and the can of pumpkin. It will come together in a thick creamy batter. Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-35 min until toothpick comes out clean.

Apple Spiced Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbl Apple juice (or apple cider)
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix all of the glaze ingredients together pour over the cake while it is still warm. If you want it to be extra gooey and moist poke some toothpick holes all over the top before you cover it with the glaze. I like to pour a little bit over the whole thing and let it soak in before I add another layer of glaze and do the same thing again. Usually 3 times is enough, just making sure it is all covered and soaked in the spiced glaze!

The Best Turkey Burgers Around!

2011-11-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to try to make turkey burgers for a long time. I have just been waiting to find a good recipe... the thing is, though, you never know if the recipe is good until you try it. I've always heard bad things about turkey burgers, like they dry out really easily, and they fall apart when you try to grill them. A couple of years ago all of those things came true when I tried to make chicken burgers. They fell apart, they didn't have enough fat to sear and brown nicely, and they were kinda dry. Safe to say, I only tried that once, and I hadn't been brave enough to try another poultry burger since.

SO, I recently found a friend who has a this turkey burger recipe, from her mom. She and a couple others vouched for the greatness of the recipe and I decided to give it a go.

Response: AWESOME! They are moist, juicy, flavorful (and even a little bit healthy)! Not to mention, easy and quick. They even exceeded my expectations and got a nice, pretty char on them from the grill (without falling apart)!

In sum, if you're looking for a good recipe for turkey burgers, or you've been too scared to try them out, this is the recipe for you.

Burgers:
19 oz ground turkey (I used 97% lean)
1/2 cup finely graded Gruyere cheese
4 thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Provolone cheese for melting on top of the burgers

Mix all the ingredients together and form patties. This recipe makes 5-6 burgers depending on the size.

Heat the grill to high and sear for 1-2 minutes on each side. Move to a cooler part of grill (medium heat) and cook additional 4-5 min on each side. The last couple minutes on the grill melt the provolone over the top for those that want a cheesy turkey burger (highly recommended)!

Serve on a whole wheat bun with your desired toppings. Spicy mustard and BBQ sauce are both good options for condiments! Next time, I think I'll try basting these burgers with a teriyaki glaze as I grill them, for an Asian flair. Let me know how it is, if you try it!

Girls Night Dessert!

2011-10-16T14:58:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to make chocolate cups since I saw this post on bakerella, I just needed an event to make them for! So when we had a girls night dinner for Christmas, last year, I finally had the excuse I needed! I made two types of mousse to fill the cups with: peanut butter mousse and chocolate mousse. With a big group of girls, I think it's needless to say that they were a pretty big hit!

Chocolate Cup
Semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Chocolate Almond Bark
Water balloons filled with air to the size you want your cups

Melt the chocolate mixture for dipping the balloons, blow up the balloons to the size you want, get a cookie sheet with parchment and put a little dollop of chocolate on the parchment paper for a base for the balloons to sit on. Dip the balloons in the chocolate and set it on the chocolate base. Let the chocolate cool.

There will probably be thin spots from dipping where the chocolate layer is not even thickness. Take a basting brush or the back of a spoon and fill in the thin spots so that the bowl will be full thickness. If you try to pop the balloon with thin spots, the chocolate will tear instead of holding its shape.

When the chocolate has all hardened, pop the balloon and pull out the rubber from the shell! Voila, chocolate cups!

I used regular balloons, but since I only blew them up half way, when I popped them, they weren't super stretched out, so I had to pull the rubber out of the cup. I would recommend water balloons, they will be a bit more taught!

One awesome tip about dipping chocolate: whether it is strawberries or chocolate cups, I find that mixing half chocolate pieces and half chocolate almond bark (or even just 1/3 almond bark) keep the same taste while hardening harder and having a nice shiny coat when it cools!

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup cream cheese (softened)

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

4 T sugar

3/4 c. whipping cream

(whip to soft peaks and fold in)

With an electric mixer blend together the cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar. In a separate bowl whip the cream into soft peaks. Once soft peaks have formed, fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture!

Chocolate Mousse
2 packages of instant chocolate pudding mix

4 cups half and half

Follow the directions on the back of the pudding box for the amount of cream and pudding, using the half and half instead of milk. Now stop following the directions and use mine. Using electric mixer, beat together the pudding mix and half and half about 5 minutes until mousse forms. This is the absolute easiest chocolate mousse ever, but it is thick and rich! It's even thicker and creamier if you use cream instead of half and half... but that seemed just a little too indulgent for me with everything else we were eating at this particular girls night.

Once all the components are finished, layer the two mousse types into the chocolate cups and garnish with chocolate shards or curls! Pretty and delicious!

If anyone else tries this let me know how it turns out, for you!

Almost Mama's Chili

2011-10-09T12:09:00.002-05:00

In past posts I may have made my mom seem like the worst cook on the planet... this, in reality, may have been a creative hyperbole. It's just a running joke in my family because my dad does most of the cooking. My mom does the baking.

My dad is a great cook... he taught me everything i know (almost), but he once tried to broil a cake for my mom... obviously NOT the baker of the family!

My mom, on the other hand, is great at baking. She makes a mean chocolate sheet cake, amazing almond poppy-seed bread, and so many others, but she is lacking in the creativity and guess work that my dad has in the cooking area. HOWEVER, there are about 3 or 4 things that my mom cooks extremely well, and she could do it with her eyes closed! One of these few things is her Chili! YUUUUUMMMM, Chili!

I grew up eating this chili at least a couple times a year in the winter, and it was always one of my favorites! So, naturally, when I moved out, I missed it and had to learn to make it on my own. The recipe changed a bit when moving hands from mother to daughter, but either recipe is great, comforting, and filling... a pot of it would feed me in college for about a week!

Enough of this though... here's the recipe:

What you'll need:

15 oz Brooks Chili Hot Beans

3 (8 oz) cans of tomato sauce

1.5-2 lb ground beef

1 medium white onion finely chopped

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

2-4 Tbl. chili powder

1-2 Tbl. Sugar

Paprika (1/2 Tbl.)

Cumin (2 tsp.)

Nutmeg (1 tsp.)

Cracked Black Pepper (to taste)

1-2 tsp. Salt (to taste)

Cayenne pepper for extra spicy-ness! (add slowly, to your specific heat preference)

Brown the ground beef, chopped onion, and garlic together in a pan. Once Onion and garlic are soft add 1 Tbl. of the chili powder to the meat mixture and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until browned.

In a big pot mix together the beans, tomato sauce, and a little water from rinsing each can. Simmer and mix together. When beef mixture is finished, stir it in.

Now comes the fun part: My mom's recipe is simple; it calls for salt, pepper, sugar, and chili powder...that's all! Simple right!

BUT I couldn't leave it that simple, I like to add a few more things! Definitely add in those ingredients (I use less sugar than my mom, though.) In addition to my mom's recipe, I like to add a few more things... paprika, cayenne, nutmeg, and cumin.

How much of each? Well that's the subjective part... you get to decide that for yourself, I don't usually measure. Just sprinkle... taste... smell... repeat. If that scares you to death, I put some suggestions above in parenthesis. Keep in mind these are very rough estimates because I don't actually measure... ever.

Overall this recipe is extremely easy, fairly quick, and absolutely delicious! Everyone has their favorite way to eat chili and here are some of the best ways for this recipe:

My favorite: with Frito's and sharp cheddar cheese mixed in! Mmmm, Frito Pie!
My Dad's: Leftover chili over spaghetti noodles, chili-mac style
My boyfriend Ben: with a dollop of sour cream and LOTS of cheese
My sister's: with lots of Frito's and all the beans picked off to the side :)

Doesn't really matter, just find your favorite way, and enjoy on a cool fall or winter day!

How To: Cook For One (or Two)

2010-05-09T13:20:00.004-05:00

As a student, or single person, it is difficult to cook for just one or two people... I learned to cook mostly from my father and it was always cooking for an entire family so I had to learn "cooking for 1" the hard way... trial and error. For a really long time I made WAY WAY WAY too much food. It has taken me nearly 4 years... but now that I'm graduating college I pretty much have it down! Warning: it takes some getting used to.

This is actually another big reason I don't use recipes very often: recipes always make 4-6 servings... splitting a recipe in sixths is not practical... nor is it practical for me to eat the same dish for 4 days straight until I hate everything about it.. A lot of times I will get ideas from recipes and then estimate at amounts or improvise based on the ingredients I have available. So, in hopes of helping some others catch on more quickly, I have compiled a list of a few things I have found to be very helpful tricks.

Cooking for One 101:

1. Plastic baggies and cling wrap will save your life!

When you buy meat at the grocery store (chicken, sausage, hamburger), while it is still thawed individually wrap it up and freeze it in single portions. Chicken is easy: one breast per bag. You can freeze multiple breasts per bag, just make sure they don't touch each other so you can break out of freezer more easily, instead of them freezing in one big lump. For sausage or hamburger, portion out 1/4 or 1/5 of the meat into balls and freeze. The sausage balls are easier to do with cellophane or press and seal wrap... you can wrap them individually with cling wrap and the press and seal can wrap a bunch of them in one sheet and just seal off individually in between (just press... to seal)! This makes meat for pasta or burgers so much easier to use when you don't have to thaw a giant 2 pound block of meat!

2. When in doubt, BUY LESS

Don't buy too much at once...it will go bad... I promise. You may be thinking, "But I cook every night, I will use 3 peppers, 2 onions, a head of lettuce, and 1 bunch of asparagus.: But let me tell you, NO YOU WONT!!!

Ok, yes, you might have to make a second trip to the grocery store at first, while you are getting used to how much to buy, or for something more specific, but that is better than wasting food by letting all of your produce rot in your refrigerator! Not to mention, since produce is probably the most expensive thing on my grocery list, rotting produce is not good for the student budget!

On the same note... don't be afraid to freeze produce (especially vegetables). If you buy a bundle of asparagus and know you wont eat the whole thing in one week (before it starts getting soggy), freeze half of it (or 2/3) and thaw it out as you need it. Veggies freeze and thaw well! It will still taste fresh!

You can cut peppers and onions into strips for stir fry and throw them straight in the pan, frozen they thaw evenly and quickly! See #1... plastic baggies will save your life; although, I will recommend (for the environment's sake) that you use Tupperware some of the time, or re-use the baggies for more frozen vegetables!

3. Know what you should not freeze

Freezing can be a great thing... some things just don't freeze well, though. They wilt and lose flavor, get soggy, etc. Things with thin leaves, like most lettuce, will wilt easily after freezing because of ice forming in their leaves...same thing goes for Brussels sprouts. Buy them fresh and don't freeze them.

If you're going to freeze fresh herbs layer them in between dry paper towels and then seal them inside a plastic baggie (again... RULE #1) to keep as much moisture out as possible and prevent ice crystals and wilting!

4. The rules of Onion and Garlic

I love onion and garlic... I put them in pretty much everything that I make. Neither of them go bad too quickly, which is nice, but at the same time you don't need 5 onions lying around for one person. Also, you don't use near as much onion in a single dish as you would for multiple servings.

My general rule is one onion can last a whole week (sometimes longer). Garlic, keep it in the refrigerator it will last longer there, but don't buy more than 2 heads of garlic at a time. 1-2 cloves is plenty of garlic for any 1 person dish. See rule #1 for how to store partially used, previously cut onion.

Ginger root: I'll add this here, because I don't know where else to put it. I cook a lot of Asian dishes, and lots of those use fresh ginger. Ginger root, though is a strong flavor, and you can't use a lot of it quickly. The best way I've found to deal with this is to peel the ginger root while it is fresh from the store. Then freeze it (see rule #1 again). you can take it out of the freezer anytime you want and grate off however much you want, then pop it back in the freezer.

5. Keep a well stocked Spice Cabinet/ Pantry

BARE MINIMUM: salt, black pepper, red pepper flake, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, cinnamon, olive oil, vinegar (balsamic, white whine, cider), vegetable oil, flour sugar, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, rice, noodles

HIGHLY SUGGESTED: chili powder, blackening seasoning, poultry seasoning, ground ginger, cumin, chocolate chips, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, 5 spice blend (Asian), paprika, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice whine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, lemons/ lemon juice, Parmesan cheese

6. Don't be afraid to improvise!

This rule is the most important rule (Even more important than #1). Use what you have and get creative! Use the same ingredients in different ways. Even if you only have a fourth of a bell pepper left: bell peppers-Asian stir fry, stuff them, Italian style pasta, soups, sauces, pizza, sandwiches, pita, etc. The list is never ending!

Seared Tuna Steak

2010-05-06T21:06:00.005-05:00

SOOOO simple... one of my favorite easy dishes. The only difficult thing can be finding fresh tuna steak at a grocery sore in the mid-west. When I find it, I always buy some!

What you'll need:

2 cloves garlic, chopped

red pepper flake

soy sauce

sesame oil

shallot (or onion)

ginger (ground or freshly minced)

olive oil

black pepper

All you do: Make just enough of the marinade to cover the tuna steak. Marinate the tuna in this mixture for about an hour (30 min would be fine). Heat up a skillet (or grill) to high heat and sear on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Watch it closely and don't overcook it. You still want it to be rare in the middle... at least I do! I usually blanch some edemame and light salt it for a side dish! Fresh, light, and irresistible in my book!

Brussels Sprouts

2010-04-23T10:33:00.007-05:00

I recently discovered that Brussels sprouts are nothing like the stereotypical disgusting vegetable! I would rather eat these than broccoli any day. That, in itself, doesn't say much because I hate broccoli. However, I should make a better statement about them, because I actually really enjoy Brussels Sprouts, especially when they are cooked well and topped with a little grated Parmesan cheese! They are also super fast, easy to make...and really difficult to screw up.

All you do:

Cut off the hard white ends of the Brussels sprouts
Boil and salt a pot of water
Blanch the Brussels sprouts for 5-6 minutes (until tender)
Saute some sliced shallot and garlic in a little butter and olive oil
Toss in the Brussels sprouts and saute for a few more minutes
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Top w/ freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you want (I am a firm believer that everything is better when topped with a little bit of cheese)

Don't be scared off by June Cleaver's version... even though Beaver makes it seem that Brussels sprouts are the grossest vegetable out there... I promise they are actually really good!

Tilapia in a Pouch

2010-03-28T14:13:00.011-05:00

I have been eating a lot of fish lately. Its tasty, good for you, quick...what else can a college student ask for (other than cheap)! Anyway, I usually just season the fish however I want it and then cook it in a skillet on the stove for a few minutes each side. Last time I wanted to try and bake it! The whole oven seemed like a waste for one tiny piece of fish, so I baked it in my little toaster oven...it turned out great!

What You'll Need:

Tilapia filet
olive oil to drizzle
salt/pepper
garlic
onion
mushrooms
red peppers
lemon slices

Now, this is just the way that I did it... you can use any combination of spices and vegetables you want in this. You could do it Asian style with some water chestnuts, soy sauce, bamboo chutes, and bok choy... Mexican style with tomatoes, peppers, onion, jalapeño, and taco seasoning... Italian style with fresh basil and lemon etc... really, the possibilities are endless.

All you have to do is sliver up the vegetables, chop your garlic, slice your lemon, season your fish, wrap it up in a foil pouch, and bake it at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the fish is flaky. The worst part about baked fish is usually the tendency to dry it out. When it is wrapped up in the pouch though, it holds in the steam and the fish is pretty hard to overcook.

Bleu Macaroni and Cheese

2010-03-20T15:22:00.004-05:00

I first made this dish for Thanksgiving dinner 2 years ago. It was a minor disaster (equivalent to a small California earthquake)! I don't mean the flavors were a disaster, they were great, it was more of the proportions that were "off," to say the least.

Long story short: the recipe I followed said to use 2 cups of macaroni to serve 2 people. I quadrupled the recipe in order to serve it as a side dish at my big family Thanksgiving dinner. Does anyone know how much 8 cups of macaroni is once you cook it? It's probably enough to feed the entire population of Wyoming for about a week...

Needless to say that we had WAY to many noodles, not enough sauce, and nowhere to put it! However, I didn't realize the noodle sauce ratio would be off until after I mixed it all together and filled up 6 casserole dishes with the macaroni.

Conclusion: Flavor= fantastic; Proportions = disagreeable

ANYWAY: we figured that the recipe must have meant 2 cups cooked macaroni, not 2 cups uncooked macaroni... either way I still think that would have been too many noodles... I have fiddled with the proportions and come up with this: a good noodle sauce ratio that makes ONE casserole dish of gourmet macaroni and cheese.

What you'll need:
2 3/4 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

3 cups whole milk

8 oz. Gruyere cheese

6 oz. Sharp White Cheddar

4 oz. Bleu cheese (I love a great Roquefort)

pinch of nutmeg

4 Tbl. butter

4 Tb. flour

salt and pepper to taste

breadcrumbs and dried basil for topping

Warm the milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. In the meantime use the butter and flour to make a roux (melt butter and sprinkle in flour and cook for a few minutes until lump free and doesn't smell like flour any more--should be golden colored). When milk is simmering, add the roux and thicken to a saucy texture. Add in the pepper and nutmeg for flavor (don't add salt until after you've added cheese... you probably won't need any).

When the sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the monstrous pile of cheese that you've convinced your family to grate up. Stir in until incorporated and smooth. Pour the sauce over cooked noodles in a baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and basil over the top before baking.

Bake for 30-45 min at 400 degrees or until the cheeses are bubbling and the top is crispy and browned. It wont need the full 45 minutes unless you refrigerate it overnight before cooking...could be done as soon as 20 min. Just watch for bubbly cheese!

How To: Spruce up Sauce from a Jar

2010-03-15T17:29:00.006-05:00

Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many in the " How To" series! This firs t one is just an easy way to spruce up any pasta sauce from a jar. You don't have to make homemade sauce if you want great flavor, but you also don't have to settle for just the typical jar sauce either.

Here's what I like to do:

Saute a few cloves of garlic and some sliced onions in olive oil
Slice up Italian sausage and throw in with onions (ground sausage fine too... whatever you have)
Pour in jar of sauce (vodka sauce is what I had... anything you like will do)
Add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or a full flavored wine if you like-reduce the sauce to your liking
Add in some chopped fresh basil or parsley. Wilt the herbs as you stir them in and add some freshly graded Parmesan Cheese
Pour over your favorite noodle (whole wheat penne) and enjoy!

Spicy Asparagus Pasta

2010-03-03T15:34:00.002-06:00

"Asparagus made into a pasta sauce...interesting..." That's what I thought too. Honestly, the first go round was "interesting" at best.

The original recipe I found used asparagus, but also called for A LOT of parsley in the sauce. Don't get me wrong, I like a little parsley here and there to lighten up a dish. However, I think my sister said it best when she pointed out that the first attempt tasted quite similar to grass.

I still liked the idea of the asparagus pasta sauce, though so I have fiddled around with this dish a few different times and the current (parsley free) version is by far one of my favorite vegetarian dishes.

What You'll Need:
Asparagus (estimate-depends on how much you're making, I used about a half a bundle)
3 cloves garlic (obviously increase if you make more)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Red Pepper Flake
Parmesan Cheese
Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces and blanch in boiling water for about 5 min. Ice it immediately to stop the cooking, blend up with garlic, olive oil, red pepper flake, and salt pepper. The seasonings are all just to taste. I love spicy food so I like to use about a teaspoon of red pepper flake to give it some heat! Use as much olive oil as you need to get to the consistency you want... probably a couple of tablespoons will do.

The end product is sort of like an asparagus pesto, mix over whole wheat noodles with freshly graded Parmesan. Genius...quite a change from its grassy beginning

Ye Big Ol' Pot of Irish Stew

2010-03-01T20:51:00.001-06:00

So, I must admit that this post is LONG overdue!!! I promise the cooking has continued even though the blogging has not. This has left me with a long list of delicious concoctions that deserve a proper posting, although most likely they will receive a castrated version of their former glory (however, some cultures really value eunuchs).

I digress: this pot of stew was the perfect winter warm-me-up and it fed my 2 roommates and me for about a week and a half! The thing that makes this stew so great is the really rich broth. Don't get me wrong the medley of delicious veggies and perfectly tender meat was scrumptious, but the broth was so flavorful that I could have lived off the liquid alone for a week and a half and still been satiated.

The other great thing was how easy it was: chop, stir, wait, stir, wait, stir, eat, stir, eat...you get the idea.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 lb. Stew Beef
1 lb Red Potatoes

1 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes

1 Large Yellow Onion

3 c. Carrots, Chopped

4 stalks Celery, Chopped

1 Large Head of Garlic (8-10 cloves)

6 c. Beef Stock (I like starting with low sodium so I can control how salty to make it)

1 c. Red Wine (anything will do, I used a Pino Noir)

1 1/4 c. Guinness (almost one whole big can of theirs)

1 Tbl. Dried Thyme

1 Tbl. Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

All you do: Chop your meat into 1 inch cubes and brown in the pot with some olive oil. after a few minutes add in the crushed garlic (don't chop it even if you're tempted, the smashed cloves will break up and then later you get sweet garlic pieces...yum!). After another minute or so add in your stock, wine, Guinness, tomato paste, Worcestershire's, and herbs. Let the mixture boil and then reduce the heat to low and cover.

While the beef and liquids are simmering away, cut up all of your vegetables then brown them in a big pot with the butter (about 15 min or so). They don't have to cook through, they will do this in the stew, but it gives them a little more of a caramelized flavor.

Add the veggies to the beef and broth mixture and simmer for another 30-40 minutes. Stir every once in a while to prevent sticking to the bottom and sides. Thicken if you want to with a little roux of cornstarch or flour and water (I didn't find this necessary. It's stew, not a thick soup, I liked the thinner broth with the chunky veggies). Make sure to remove the bay leaves before you serve it.

Honestly, I don't usually even like stew. But this one will become a yearly tradition... maybe even bi-yearly (and that's saying a lot for me)!

Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

2009-12-06T14:48:00.005-06:00

So, Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is approaching quickly. When I think of the fall holidays, I think Apple Pie! I am not a huge fan of pie in general... but Apple Pie is a different story. This is my favorite apple pie recipe and I hope it will be one of yours too!

When making the filling, I like to use a combination of different kinds of apples. I usually use 3 Gala and 3 Jonathan apples. These apples are firm enough that they don't get mushy when you cook them, but they are tangy enough to stand up to the sweetness of the filling.

When it comes to the crust. If you have a really great crust recipe, by all means use it. I, however, like the Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts. They are so quick and easy and they taste great! Grease your pie plate and lay your crust inside. After mixing the filling, plop it inside the crust, and top it with the

For the filling:
6 apples cored, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinimon

For the topping:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 stick butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake at this temperature for 7 minutes then turn the temperature down to 350 and continue to bake for another 35-45 minutes until golden brown and the juices are bubbling.

PeanutButter-ChocolateChip-BananaBread-Muffins

2009-11-21T15:35:00.020-06:00

I am a person that likes my bananas with a little green on top. As soon as they go all yellow and start getting little brown spots on them... eh.... not so much. I hate it when the strings on the inside of the peels stick to the fruit when you peel it... NO THANK YOU! Since I am a little picky about my bananas, periodically I will throw a banana, which is too far gone for my taste, in the freezer. Once I have accumulated a few I make banana bread!

Key:
3= not quite 4= perfect 5= still pretty good 6= edible--losing interest 6.5 (not shown)= freezer time 7= NO WAY--might as well be moldy in my opinion!

Now... since I don't really like the over-ripe banana flavor that comes with those brown spotted bananas that means that I don't usually like banana bread with TONS of over-ripe banana flavor, either. What to do... what to do... ? Lets mask the flavor with something else: peanut butter and chocolate!

Don't get me wrong. It is still banana bread. You can still taste the banana, but who doesn't love peanut butter on a banana? or bananas dipped in chocolate? or the great combo of chocolate peanut butter cups? Basically I am telling you, if you are anything like me, this is THE BEST banana bread you will ever taste.

What You'll Need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
~1/2 tsp. salt (i use the palm of my hand)
1 tsp. cinnamon
tiny pinch nutmeg
2-3 ripe bananas (2 large or 3 smaller)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbl. applesauce (normally calls for butter, but I like applesauce in this recipe!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips (whatever kind you have, but semi-sweet is my least favorite...stick to either milk chocolate or dark chocolate for best results)

Prepare the "wet ingredients" by mushing your bananas and peanut butter together with fork. Once mashed stir in the applesauce and sugar before adding the eggs, one at a time. Follow with addition of the vanilla extract and the milk. Add your combination of dry ingredients but don't over-mix. Just stir until incorporated! Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into muffin tins or loaf pan for baking. Makes 18 muffins or one large loaf!

One of my roommates is not a huge chocolate lover so I made some of the muffins without chocolate for her. Still yummy. So that is definitely an option if that is your cup of tea... but I never turn down chocolate!

Tips:
1. Use a spatula or spoon to stir and mix the batter... if you use an electric mixer it gets over-mixed and the muffins can turn out spongy and chewy
2. Normally, I am a big fan of rounding up on the chocolate chips but in this case if you round the chocolate over-powers and you just get chocolate chip muffins. Although still tasty, not the intended target here!

For Muffins: cook at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes
For Loaf: cook at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes

Some people might wait for the muffins to cool...using this phenomenon known as delayed gratitude... I am not one of those people.

I would rather burn my fingers and mouth on piping hot muffins fresh out of the oven when the chocolate chips are still warm and melty. I think this is partially why I prefer these as muffins rather than a loaf... loaf you have to wait a while before you can cut it. Not my style!

Indian Summer Sangria

2009-11-15T13:37:00.002-06:00

Here in the mid-west we are having a bit of an indian summer! It's November and we've had weather in the 60s and 70s. On a nice weekend Sangria is a great refreshing drink. This was a really easy recipe and it was unmistakably delicious!

What you'll need:

2 bottles red wine (any kind you like I used a blend an a Malbec)
2 oranges
2 lemons
2 limes
1 cup strawberries and raspberries
1 cup pineapple
large splash of orange juice (up to but no more than 1/4 cup)
4 shots liqueur of your choice (I used elderberry liqueur)
4 Tbl. Sugar
8 cups gingerale (add right before serving)

Cut the fruit up into wedges or slices, sqeueeze the juice and throw in the fruit liqueur, juice and sugar and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to infuse all of the flavor. Add the gingerale just before serving!

Savory Balsamic Glazed Plums

2009-10-23T14:58:00.003-05:00

Fall is officially here and with that comes plums! I thing plums are great but, for me, it has to be the right time of year... and October is the beginning of perfect plum season!

In addition to seasonal ingredients, I am a student with little free time. I love finding ways to spruce up left overs for a quick, yet delicious, dinner. This time the inspiration was left over pork loin and fresh plums.

I cut up the plums and saute them in a couple of tablespoons of some white wine, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. As soon as they get soft and the glaze starts to thicken and coat the plums.

approximate measurements:

white wine 2 Tbl.
balsamic vinegar ~3 Tbl.
2 sliced plums
brown sugar ~1Tbl.
cinnamon, to taste, and a tiny bit of nutmeg

Pork and plums are a great combination. I used a pre-marinated, lemon herb, pork tenderloin and roasted it in the oven. These tenderloins are so easy and great the next day as left overs for sandwiches or something like this warmed up with fruit on top.

Delicious Fresh Green Beans

2009-10-21T20:33:00.005-05:00

Summer is officially over, but I did get some good fresh green beans from the farmers market before the cold weather set in. Fresh green beans are so much better than canned you really cannot compare them to fresh at all. With fresh green beans I like the simple approach. Blanch and Saute.

Snap the ends off of the green beans and rinse them. Boil and salt some water. When the water boils, blanch the green beans for 4-6 minutes (depending on how thick and crispy they are). After taking them out shock them immediately by dropping them into a bowl of ice water for another 4-6 minutes to stop the cooking. You want the beans to be in the ice water about the same length of time as the boiling water.

Melt some butter and olive oil in a saute pan and saute the blanched green beans with the butter and olive oil for a few minutes. Season simply... I like them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Sprinkle some freshly graded Parmesan cheese over the top. There is no better, and simpler way to eat fresh green beans... I promise. Even my sister (who hates green veggies) will scarf these down!

Heaven on a Plate

2009-09-02T22:08:00.006-05:00

This dessert has given me a very hard time while I was trying to come up with a name or any kind of short description for it. This dish is kind of a combination between a coffee cake, gooey butter cake, and a sophisticated, elegant dessert! Although the name I gave does not exactly explain what it is, it most certainly explains the absolute decadence of this invention!

Well since I don't have a better description at this time, I'll just start with how I made it! Originally this recipe was supposed to be some sort of Paula Dean orange flavored brownie, but my version resembles that in no way, shape, or form....don't lose faith yet...Here it goes!

Almond White Chocolate Blondie's with Cream Cheese Icing (best name so far):

For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips

Beat together the butter and sugar. Add the dry ingredients then mix in the eggs 1 at a time. When it comes together stir in the vanilla and almond extract with a spatula. Stir in the white chocolate chips.

I have heard that if you coat the chocolate chips with flour it helps them stay suspended in the cake... DO NOT DO THIS ON THIS RECIPE! The best part about this invention is that when you bake it the white chocolate chips sink to the bottom forming a crispy white chocolate crust! Believe me, you don't want to miss out on that!

Pour the batter in a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake at 325 for approximately 45 min or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean... Don't overcook! You want the toothpick to come clean, but just barely! It will fall when cooling...don't fret, falling leaves it and moist.

While the cake is baking whip up the irresistible almond flavored cream cheese icing.

For the Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
4 tablespoon butter
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 2 1/2 cups)
milk to thin (1-2 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven poke lots of little holes in it using your toothpick and spread a thin layer of the cream cheese icing over the top. The icing will melt down into the cake to help make it even more flavorful and moist! Once it cools, add more icing on top!

This cream cheese icing is great but the recipe makes way more than necessary. You could probably cut it in half if you wanted to.... but who doesn't love a little extra cream cheese icing hanging around in the fridge to dip gram crackers, Nilla wafers, or fingers?!

I was hoping that by the end of writing this I would come up with a better name for this dish, but the perfect description still eludes me. Since I don't have a great explanation of the dessert I would love for you to try it out and let me know what you think I should call it! When I made it for my family, we at it as a dessert, and as breakfast with coffee so it can be a multifaceted recipe!

I also want to say: I promise that I really do eat much more healthily than my blog is so far leading you all to believe with all of these baked goods and desserts! However, I did have a disclaimer that my weaknesses were chocolate and cheese so not completely unwarranted! I promise more healthy recipes to come!

Frozen Key Lime Pie

2009-08-09T15:40:00.013-05:00

As summer winds down to a close I MUST get this recipe out there before it gets to be chilly and fall. This frozen pie is not officially "key lime" as it is way to simple to be such and includes no such ingredient! It is simple, refreshing, tangy, and quite delicious! It always reminds me of summer and is one of my mother's few treats that always wins rave reviews! It's so simple and refreshing it's a must have at least once every year before the leaves start falling!

4 simple ingredients:

1 can frozen limeade concentrate
8 oz frozen whipped topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
pre-made chocolate oreo crust
3 drops of green food coloring (not a true ingredient)

I promised simple and simple I will deliver: thaw the ingredients (if the whipped topping is not fully thawed it will not mix and it will be clumpy), mixing the limeade and sweetened condensed milk together with a spatula, and fold in the whipped cream. Pour into the pre-made crust, and after four short hours (or overnight) in the freezer... voila! Delish!

Easy Creamy Cheesy Pesto Spread

2009-08-04T19:50:00.011-05:00

This is a recipe courtesy of my friend Emily's family friend, Veronica. In college Emily and I roomed together and Veronica was nice enough to send us a half-gallon container of this stuff every couple months. The tub usually only lasted a couple weeks! This stuff is as addictive as I imagine any drug could be (not that I would personally know)

So, after my recent blog about homemade pesto I couldn't resist making this delectable treat! It is SOOOOO easy and fast you wouldn't even believe it! Great on crackers (I prefer wheat thins) or sandwiches or raw veggies! I'm sure it would melt down nicely over hot noodles also to make a creamy cheesy pesto sauce.

I like making this with homemade pesto, but if you don't have any on hand or don't want to go to the trouble, it would be great with store bought pesto as well.

Four Simple Ingredients:

2 oz Cream Cheese
4 oz Goat Cheese
1/4 c. Homemade Pesto
salt and pepper to taste

All you do... mix your pesto, cream cheese, and goat cheese together in a bowl with a spoon or spatula until it is all blended and smooth. Season it with salt and pepper to taste, and devour!!!

Basil Walnut Pesto

2009-07-28T22:50:00.005-05:00

This Pesto is so easy and so quick in the summer time. When you have fresh basil, I cannot think of anything better to do then to make homemade pesto!

I like adding walnuts in addition to the traditional pine nuts because I think it adds an extra layer to the depth of flavor!

1/3 c. walnuts
1/3 c. pine nuts
1 head of garlic (~9 cloves)
1 c. freshly graded Parmesan cheese
3 bunches fresh basil leaves (~5 c.)
olive oil (I used about 1 1/2 c.)
salt and pepper to taste

So basically all you do is put it all in the blender, and chop it up... order probably wouldn't mater, although I would recommend the nuts and garlic first, then adding the basil and cheese, and adding enough olive oil to make it into a thick paste. You can always add more oil later, so don't add too much in the beginning. If its a paste you can use it more as a spread too! If you're using it for pasta sauce you can always add a little starchy pasta water or some more oil to thin it out a bit...but don't make it too runny!

I accidentally added the blender attachment blades to my little "rocket" blender instead of the food processor one... so that is why the pesto looks a little more smooth than normal... but I promise, it tastes delicious!

A Berry Peachy Breakfast (or dessert)

2009-07-24T13:00:00.011-05:00

I am not a huge breakfast eater on most days, I like the grab and go method with granola bars and morning coffee. Don't get me wrong, when my mom makes waffles and my dad fries up bacon and sausage with scrambled eggs I will eat until my heart's content. However, that is not the typical day for me.

I have gotten tired of the boring chewy granola bars every morning ...and in the summer, especially, I love fresh fruit. These raspberry, blackberry, peach breakfast bars were a great combo of fresh summer berries and peaches with the easy "grab and go" method I spoke of before!

These would also make a great dessert! You could serve it warm with some vanilla or cinimon flavored ice cream on top... almost like a makeshift apple crisp or fruit tart. (They also make a great afternoon snack)

Berry-Peach Breakfast Bars

Crust and Crumble Topping

1 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
dash of salt
1 stick of butter (room temp and soft, but not melted)
2 1/2 c. oats
splash of orange juice (~2 Tbl.)
drizzle of honey for the top

Fruit Filling
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbl. white granulated sugar
2 Tbl. flour
4 1/2 cups fresh berries or other fruit
splash of lemon juice (about a tablespoon)

To mix the crust and topping add the flour, brown sugar, and salt to the butter and mash with fork until small crumbs form. Combine with the oats and mix until incorporated. Set aside about 1/4 of the mixture to use as the topping. To the crust portion, add the splash of orange juice (apple juice or other flavors work as well... I used orange mango peach) just to moisten.

Now it's time to get your hands dirty! Combine and press down into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan... I recommend using the fingers. Some people might opt for the bottom of a measuring cup... but the mess makes it more fun, and tasty!

For the filling, mix together all of the ingredients and stir so that fruit is coated with the mixture. You can use whatever kind of fruit combination you would like... I used raspberries, blackberries and peaches! Depending on your preference you can leave the berries whole or cut them into smaller chunks. I cut the peaches into cubes but you could cut and leave them in thin slices if you prefer... all up to you! Pour the fruit filling on top of the crust so the fruit is evenly spread in one layer.

Take the crumb topping you set aside earlier and crumble over the top of the filling! Bake the dish at 375 for 30 minutes. When the time is up take it out and drizzle some honey over the top. Little-bitty thin strings of honey over the topping adds a little extra natural sweetness! Back in the oven for 5 more minutes, or until the top is golden and crispy!

If you intend to eat these for breakfast, allow them to cool for a couple of hours and then cut them into squares and store them in some tupperware in the refrigerator.

If, however, you intend to eat these for dessert, let them cool for only a few minutes, cut them and serve them warm with ice cream over the top... depending on the type of fruit you used, there could be many different flavors of ice cream... but if in doubt, you can't go wrong with plain old, classic vanilla!

Carol Brownies

2009-07-20T19:51:00.016-05:00

These brownies are my all time favorites! My aunt, Carol (whom I'm named after), used to make them all of the time, and when I was young she taught me the recipe and her technique. I don't think I appreciated the simplicity of the recipe until much later down the road, but the fact that you only need one bowl, one measuring cup, and a few ingredients that I always have on hand!

These brownies only take about 5 minutes to put together...easy and fast!

Carol Brownies:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 squares Unsweetened baking chocolate
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla (2 tsp is better!)

Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave (or stove, but microwave is easier) just until all of the butter is melted. With a spatula stir the chocolate butter mixture until the chocolate is completely dissolved in the butter. If you heat the mixture too long to try and melt all of the chocolate, the butter will burn. Just melt the butter and use the residual heat to melt the chocolate completely. When you finish the mixture will be a silky chocolate liquid! A great beginning to any dessert.

After the mixture is completely melted stir in the sugar, followed by the flour so you have a thick chocolate mixture in your bowl. Next follow by the addition of one egg at a time. Stir in completely. Stir in the vanilla until completely incorporated and pour into a 9x9 inch pan.

Bake the brownies at 325 for 20-30 min. On my oven, 22 minutes is perfect!

If you must...you can add pecans to these. I like nut-less brownies because I can focus on the chocolaty deliciousness more that way without interruption... but i completely understand if you feel the desire to add some nuts. However, the first time, I would try at least half the pan nut-free to give them a fair shot!

Once the batter is in the oven, lick the bowl clean using spoon, spatula, fingers, tongue... any means of getting every last drop!

I have been known to eat the entire bowl of batter with a spoon (regretting it later)... If you are going to take the spoon method, I would recommend baking and then, if desired, take the spoon to the warm brownies before they completely set. Most likely you wont eat the entire batch this way, and then once they cool a bit more you still have some great brownies to eat the next few days (if they last that long...)

I usually double the recipe if my family is around because a single batch wont last more than a day... a double batch usually lasts about two.

Note: Do not ruin these brownies by using an electric mixer... my mom tried that once and took away all possible fudgy, moist properties these brownies had...

Chocolate Madness Cashew Cookies

2009-07-06T20:44:00.018-05:00

I LOVE chocolate! Since I don't always have a ton just lying around (because i have eaten it all) I have to get creative as to what form I should make my chocolate. I also like adapting recipes and trying to improve upon them when baking to make things more interesting. This cookie was a combination of boredom, chocolate needing, and recipe searching!

I found a very generic recipe for chocolate cookies using cocoa. Looked at what I had around the apartment... low and behold.... chocolate liqueur! I had previously made an alcoholic chocolate cake for a friends 21st birthday with a raspberry rum glaze, chocolate liqueur icing, and a Bailey's cream cheese filling (it was delicious, but that's for another day).

So I decided to try and adapt to make some rich chocolaty cookies. I also found some cashews and figured those would work in nicely! I think almonds macadamia would work better in the future though. Don't get me wrong, the cashews were great, but I love cashews so much on their own, it didn't to the nut justice in such a fantastic, rich cookie!

As you might remember, I don't measure things often, so I used this basic recipe and made the following additions:

Basic Chocolate Cookie:

1 c. Butter
1 1/2 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
2 c. Flour
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
2/3 c. Cocoa Powder

My additions:

1/2 t. Baking Soda
2 T. Chocolate Liqueur (I used Godiva)
1 T. Irish Cream Liqueur (such as Baileys)
2 c. White Chocolate Chips
1 C. Cashews (roughly chopped)

In case that was confusing....

Overall Chocolate Madness Cashew Cookie:

1 c. Butter
1 1/2 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
2 c. Flour
1 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
2/3 c. Cocoa Powder
3 T. Chocolate Liqueur (I used Godiva)
1 T. Irish Cream Liqueur (such as Baileys)
2 c. White Chocolate Chunks
1 C. Cashews (roughly chopped)

Refrigerate the dough for a couple hours before baking the cookies! Bake these cookies at 350 for 10-14 minutes.

These cookies would definitely be great with Dark Chocolate Chunks, Walnuts, Macadamia Nuts... the possibilities are endless to a delicious chocolate cookie!

If you're a person who (like me) normally rounds up on the salt in recipes because you love the salty-sweet combo... don't do it in this if you're using both salted butter and salted cashews. If they are unsalted nuts, however, you probably will need a little extra salt because the liqueur makes the dough really sweet!

I made these cookies just like I would any other! Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, mix dry ingredients, add slowly to the wet, fold in nuts and chips.... dollop and bake!

My cookies were fudgy because I didn't use a mixer (out of laziness) but they ended up great anyway! If you want fluffier cookies rather than fudgy, sift the flower mixture and then beat in the flour mixture vigorously with the mixer after each addition.

WARNING: WTHESE COOKIES ARE YUMMY AND DELICIOUS AND SHOULD NOT BE MADE IF YOU ARE ON A DIET, BECAUSE YOU WILL EAT THEM ALL.

Basil Lover's Lunch

2009-06-27T11:56:00.022-05:00

Basil, Basil, Basil. Who doesn't love basil? I got some fresh basil and honey wheat bread at the farmers market and put those into one of the best sandwiches that I've ever eaten!

Sandwiches are so easy, and quick, and the options and variety are unlimited! Other than the basil and bread that I got at the market, I just looked through the refrigerator to see what I had (and as a college student, in the summer, sometimes the options are limited)!

The combination of flavors that I was able to scrounge up was pretty great, though! I found a great, nutty pesto sauce that I had made a few weeks prior and had in the refrigerator! I slathered one side of the bread with some of the garlicky, nutty, basily pesto sauce, smells great already!

Munster cheese is one of my favorites for sandwiches, and turkey is my all time favorite sandwich meat, so its no surprise that those were two of the things I scrounged up.

Sliced some apple to add some sweetness and layered some basil leaves on top... smoked turkey gives the last essential ingredient!

...and a sandwich like this gets exponentially better when grilled panini style! The Foreman grill works great if you don't have a panini griller, but the classic skillet will work as well.

When finished, this sandwich was pretty close to perfect. The apple was sweet, and crunchy, the pesto gave a nice, moist garlic and basil flavor, the melted cheese adds a little tang and blends the flavors together. And when you get a bite of the fresh basil with the sweet toasted bread and the savory turkey...perfection.