Can't Stop Cookin'

Kitchen Goodies

2011-12-18T13:48:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, I went to a Challah making class and I learned how to make a Jewish star challah. Pretty cool, huh?

Tofu Scramble – a bit of a combination of recipes, a little turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder…etc.

Veggie Burgers from Vegan Planet Cookbook. I even roasted a red pepper. Danny and I liked these, need to make them again.

It’s Martha Stewart’s apple pie, but I used whole wheat flour for the crust and crumble. It was a delicious Thanksgiving treat.

Veggie Soup and Matzah Balls – I am not sure what my kids would do if it didn’t show up for Shabbat dinner…

Sweet and Spicy Almonds from Martha Stewart. If you want to make them like I did:
* double the almonds
* double the glaze
* keep the same recipe for the sugar mix, but cut the cayenne in half
* hide them from your husband if you ever want to see them again

http://www.marthastewart.com/335042/sweet-and-spicy-almonds

Applesauce granola

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/10/granola-recipe/

I didn’t have brown rice syrup so I looked it up and substituted molasses. Per the advice, I did 1/2 of what was called for. Danny added raisins to his and took it everyday to work.

This is called “dinner rice” (I think) from the Spice and Spirit cookbook. It’s cooked rice, onions, celery, and pecans baked together. I used brown rice and it was our Shabbat dinner.

Pressure cooker split pea soup – amazing.

http://www.ordinaryvegetarian.com/2010/02/split-pea-and-barley-soup.html

After all this cooking and after all of the “I don’t like (fill in the blank) from Leo, I needed to bring pizza back into our house. I am gone for dinner two nights a week and I really need some easy things to throw together. I did not want to get into the vegan cheeses (the kids do each cheese – and restaurant pizza - but I am trying to limit it) so I was determined to make something that everyone would eat. I made a whole wheat crust (5 c. WW, 1 c. white), topped it with pureed whole canned tomatoes and a homemade garlic mix that I use on garlic bread that everyone loves (olive oil, dried garlic, onion powder, basil, oregano, parsley). I added nutritional yeast which has a cheesey flavor and is supposed to be good for you. Macie preferred the plain tomato and Danny had veggie and everyone ate and ate and ate PIZZA!

More Veggie Offerings…

2011-12-06T22:26:00.001-06:00

Tehina/Sesame Seed crusted tofu – adapted from Vegan Planet Cookbook

Butternut Squash dumplings – butternut squash, salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, cinnamon. Boiled and then sautéed.

Udon Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce – (mostly) from Vegan Planet Cookbook

Yay – I got a pressure cooker! On Sunday, I made wheat berries, black beans and brown rice. This is Ellie Kreiger’s Wheat Berry Salad. I followed the recipe and added red pepper. If it weren’t 9pm when I made this, I would have devoured the entire thing. This is lunch for both Danny and I for tomorrow. I might even sneak it into Amelia’s lunch too!

Still Trekking Along…and feeling great!

2011-11-13T19:29:00.001-06:00

Three weeks have gone by since our decision to cut out (most of)the meat and eat more whole grains and fruits and veggies. The kids are eating more and more healthfully and not even asking for the junk anymore. Snacks are apples and not animal crackers, breakfast is Kashi cereal and not fruit loops (ok, I barely ever gave them fruit loops – but you get my point…), school lunches are muffins and hummus/carrots and whole grain waffles and not hamburgers, hotdogs, or plain pasta (that reminds me, have to steam some green beans for Amelia!).

I really haven’t missed meat, we have only had it 3 times in 3 weeks and not much of it. Even for Shabbat dinner, I pack the meal with grains and veggies. I feel amazing, I am losing weight and I never have that feeling of overeating. I am barely ever hungry, everything is so filling. I didn’t get a photo of it, but I made veggie soup and matzah balls this week for Shabbat. It was wonderful seeing everyone drink it up, even when they knew it wasn’t the *real* thing.

So, here is some of what I have been making the past 2 weeks. If you want any of these recipes, just let me know. With all this cooking, I barely have time to blog!
______

Falafel

Quick Note: I bought Chickpea flour for the Roadhouse Burgers recipe and used it for these simple falafel. No need to soak and grind chickpeas, it’s amazing! Danny took the leftovers for lunch. Leo wanted the leftovers, but once I told him that they would be cold, he changed his mind. I didn’t have pita so we just had them with green salad and tehina. So yum!

Black Bean and Rice Muffins (weirdest thing I have made so far…from the Smart Baking cookbook http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Baking-Cookbook-Newmarket-Kinderlehrer/dp/1557042810)

I had them the next day for lunch with fresh guacamole…I couldn’t stop eating them.

Pumpkin Muffins

Quick Note: These are from Red Mill and are Amelia’s lunch staple. She has 2 of these with carrots and hummus. The last batch, I used 1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 cooked sweet potato.

I can’t find the recipe, I will post later…

My own “Barley Split Pea Veggie Soup” – contains barley, split peas and veggies ;)

Sweet Potato and Pinto Bean Stew (From peasandthankyou.com)

Quick note: Yum – and even more Yum the next day.

Meatless Meatloaf Muffins (from peasandthankyou.com)

Quick note: Not my favorite, kind of mushy inside. Wont make these again.

Tofu Dippers (from peasandthankyou.com)

Quick Note: I like these better made the day ahead and refrigerated, they firm up a bit. I was so looking forward to having them on a peanut sauce noodle salad, but it wasn’t so great. I like the bbq tofu better, will keep trying different marinades and techniques until I find one that we all like.

Smoovies (per Macie). Just a blend of soy milk, frozen bananas, strawberries or whatever fruit and a drizzle of honey. These are becoming a daily thing so I want to start adding some flax or wheat germ…or, dare I say…SPINACH?!?

Barley Carrot Kugel (From Lorna Sass’s Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Grains-Every-Day-Way/dp/0307336727)

Quick Note: This was yummy for Danny and me. The great thing about meals like this is the completeness of it all, you just don’t feel hungry after eating it. This was a side for Shabbat dinner and we had it on Saturday night also, with a side of roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Plum Streusel Slices (from The Complete Guide to Traditional Jewish Cooking)

Quick Note: I subbed as much whole wheat flour as I could and added oats to the topping. Danny asked for double fruit next time and I plan to oblige!

Black Bean Burger Chili (from the contents of my freezer…)

Quick Note: I bought a box of spicy black bean burgers some time ago and they were just too darn spicy. I crumbled them up with tomatoes, frozen corn, frozen pinto beans, onions, garlic and just a little chili powder and paprika. Danny is taking it for lunch tomorrow. Spicy, but good!

V.I.T–Vegan in Training

2011-11-01T22:52:00.001-05:00

We have always known about the health benefits of eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and eating less processed foods and refined sugars. This isn’t anything new, but watching Forks Over Knives definitely made an impact on us and I am glad that it did. I have always wanted to try more vegetarian meals, I love tofu and tempeh and beans and all that other fun stuff you can find at Whole Foods. The challenge is getting everyone else to love it as much as I do.

With the exception of Friday night – we are completely “veggie”. It’s been a major challenge finding things to make, making sure I have all of the ingredients and then, actually, making a good meal. The kids have not been fans of all the meals, but they have tried everything and are definitely supportive of getting healthier (and getting bigger muscles). Their lunches have also changed and they are being troopers with that as well. I am hoping that in a few months, this new way of eating will just be our regular way of eating.

This is some of what has come out of my kitchen over the last 9 days. I will post the recipes at some point, right now I am busy with the cooking and cleaning aspect.

Brown Rice and Chickpea Patties (From http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/)

Quick note: these were yummy freshly baked. The kids ate them, but didn’t love them. Probably wont make again.

BBQ Baked Tofu (From Meal-Lean-I-Yumm Cookbook)

Quick Note: I have this a lot of times for lunch, it is easy and filling. Danny enjoyed it with brown rice, I didn’t give it to the kids.

Seitan (From the Red Mill package)

Quick Note: This process was super cool. The seitan was good “as-is”, but when I turned it into stir fry, it was hard to eat. It left a weird coating on our teeth and I am not sure if it was the sauce or the seitan.

Whole Grain Pancakes

Quick Note: I took my regular pancake recipe and subbed almost all the white flour with whole wheat flour, oats and flax seed. They were sweet and the kids ate them up.

Lemon Zucchini Hummus (http://irawvegan.blogspot.com/)

Quick Note: This was good, Danny said it would be good as a topping on falafel rather than a dip.

Spicy Roasted Eggplant (Adapted from Barefoot Contessa)

Quick Note: Still my favorite dip, this on toasted challah is amazing.

Vegetable Stock ((From the Veganopolis Cookbook http://veganopoliscookbook.blogspot.com/)

Vegan Roadhouse Burger (From the Veganopolis Cookbook http://veganopoliscookbook.blogspot.com/)

Quick Note: Also a cool process. I think mine needed to be a bit wetter and I needed more broth to cook in. Danny had seconds (woowee!), I liked them a lot and Leo ate his whole burger, dipped in ketchup. I sent another with him for lunch and he didn’t eat it – probably not great cold. Will definitely make these again.

Mushroom Barley Soup (From Spice and Spirit Cookbook)

Beans and Rice (From Spice and Spirit Cookbook)

Quick Note: Served these with brown rice. Danny and I loved it, the kids ate it. Beans are a tough one for Leo, but he is getting there.

My shipment of bulk flour from Amazon :) Cheaper than Whole Foods and no tax or shipping (Amazon Prime…!). What else can I order?!?

Meat Knish

2011-02-26T21:45:00.001-06:00

This was so good, I can’t wait to pull the leftovers from the freezer for a quick dinner and I will definitely be making this again. It was a great Shabbat meal!

The recipe came from the Spice and Spirit cookbook, but here is the online link:

http://www.jewishrecipes.org/recipes/knish/spice-and-spirit-meat-knishes.html

They forgot to put the oven temp. I baked it at 350F for about 40 minutes. I made it Thursday night and then sliced it (not the whole way down) and reheated it for Shabbat dinner.

I doubled the meat and seasonings and used 2 TBSP tomato paste per recipe and doubled the dough. I had leftover meat once I made two large rolls and a teeny roll. I froze the meat and will toss it with pasta at some point for an easy dinner.

I used Smart Balance Light in place of the margarine and I used water in place of the non-dairy creamer. You couldn’t tell the difference. I love using healthier products so I can eat more ;)

I also used my stick blender on the veggies after I sautéed them, they were a big chunky for my taste.

Pita Bread

2011-02-26T21:29:00.001-06:00

Not much to say about these easy, delicious pita bread that everyone devoured.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread

I used 2 c. white and 1 c. whole wheat flour.

Yum!!!

Great Tofu Burgers

2011-02-26T21:19:00.001-06:00

In the hopes of saving some money(kosher meat is $$$$$!) and teaching my kids healthier eating habits, my goal is to serve 4 vegetarian/grain/bean meals a week and save the meat for Shabbat and holidays. It is going to be difficult, Macie is my best eater, Amelia is so-so and Leo is going to be my toughest sell. Actually, Leo and Danny will both be hard to convince, but I am not giving up.

I spent most of Thursday making and modifying these tofu burgers. I think I know what I did, but because I made some burgers to test, I added the additional ingredients to less of the batter. If you make these, just play with them. Make them taste good to you. If you are comfortable in your kitchen, just play with the recipe until they taste great – that’s what I did and the payoff was great.

Who ate these? Danny and I loved them. Danny told me that he really was expecting to hate them, but ended up loving them. I cant say that Leo didn’t like them because he barely took a bite. Next time…and Amelia ate a couple and then said she didn’t like them. I don’t remember is Macie ate them or not…

The homemade pita (recipe to follow) complimented the burgers in an awesome way. I shallow fried the burgers and was fine doing that since every single ingredient was so good for us.

Try this (if you dare!):

From Savvy Vegetarian:

Tofu Burger Ingredients:

1 lb extra firm tofu
1/4 c each whole wheat flour, corn flour, & quick or rolled oats
1/2 c parsley tops or fresh basil leaves, washed & dried
1 tsp each paprika, coriander, cumin
1/2 tsp dried basil or thyme
1/4 tsp ginger
pinch cayenne
1/2 tsp salt and-or 1 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce
Optional: asefetida (hing) or garlic

Tofu Burger Directions:

Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium with olive oil, or your favorite cooking oil
Add a pinch of asefetida (hing) or a crushed garlic clove to the oil for extra flavor
Cut tofu into 1 inch chunks, and add to food processor
If you don't have one, mash by hand or with a potato masher, and finely chop the parsley or basil first
Throw in everything else and mix well by hand, or on low in the food processor just until it all clumps up
Form into eight 3 - 4 inch patties
Fry in small amount of oil, on medium heat, 5-7 minutes on each side, or until golden brown

I used soft tofu and didn’t have coriander, but the patties came out very blah and I didn’t like the smooshiness inside. So, I added an additional:

1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 c. oats
pinch cayenne
1 TBSP whole wheat flour

Still blah.

I went to one of the tofu burger recipes in my Spice and Spirit cookbook and added:

about 10 baby carrots, 1/2 orange pepper, 1/2 red onion and a spoonful of minced garlic – all pureed in the food processor
1/3 c. whole wheat bread crumb

Final Outcome = Yum ;)

I made a yogurt/mayo sauce with lots of scallions, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper

Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels

2011-02-02T16:18:00.001-06:00

In 20 years, we will still be talking about the storm that hit Chicago last night – the 3rd worst storm in history. You can see pictures of it here.

I love a good snow day. A day where appointments are cancelled and the car doesn’t have to leave the house. Snow days are meant for lots of baking and slow cooked meals. I kept it pretty simple today, even though I had lots on my wish list. This morning I made 2 loaves of water challah and this afternoon we all made these amazing pretzels.

The recipe is here:

http://purplefoodie.com/cinnamon-sugar-pretzels/

I doubled it, divided the dough into 12 pieces and they were so long that I divided it again. The kids made most of the pretzels so they were all different shapes and sizes, it was great!

Don’t tell anyone, but I had thirds!! :)

This is what everyone else did while the dough was rising…

Ooooooh!

Leo – before Danny cleaned off the camera lens…

Leo, after :)

The girls working their magic…

This was a lot of fun…

After their water bath…

Macie found a new use for those pockets that Rachael Ray puts on her towels…(I know they are supposed to be pot holders, I just still think they are weird)

After baking…

After some melted Smart Balance Light and cinnamon sugar…

YUM!!!

No comment ;)

Thanksgiving Treats

2010-11-25T21:46:00.001-06:00

This year, I had a great time making Thanksgiving treats for the kids.

These pumpkins are sugar cookies that are dropped with an ice cream scoop instead of rolled. Because I use Smart Balance Light, they don’t spread at all and worked perfectly for these pumpkins.

I used Wilton’s Royal Icing recipe and doubled it. Not sure why, but it gave me a heck of a time getting it combined and smooth. I had to add a lot more water and was very glad I had gone to the gym yesterday. I didn’t have orange gel paste, so mixed my own with red and yellow. I used orange sugar that I had just bought at Walmart for $0.15 in the Halloween clearance. I couldn’t do fancy vines, so I stuck with a simple stem and they came out pretty cute.

These Turkey cookies came from here:

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/thanksgiving-turkey-cookies/cbe3fa0f-585e-4f8f-af22-d834060252d9/

I didn’t have candy corn, so I used those Sunkist fruit gems that Jews like to throw at people at times of celebration. I came across a bag of them in my pantry that I was saving for some reason. I must have known that they would come in handy one day.

I turned the orange icing into brown and Amelia did all of the brown icing and feathers. She also added the black eyes and would have done the rest if I had let her. I think they are the cutest things ever and wish we had turkey themed holidays more than once a year…

While looking for a turkey cookie, I came across these scarecrow cookies:’

http://test.metromomsblog.org/?p=2405

I didn’t want so many cookies, so I decided to do these as brownies. I used pretzels for the hair and more of the fruit gems for the nose and chocolate sprinkles for the eyes and mouth.

The whole tray…so cute :)

Roasted Eggplant Spread

2010-10-21T14:50:00.001-05:00

Another Montreal favorite is the Mediterranean Eggplant spread that Danny’s mom buys. It is spicy and you can’t stop eating it, especially with a crusty challah on the table. I tried an eggplant recipe a few weeks ago which failed, but I was not giving up. I made a plea on Facebook and got a few ideas, but chose this one from Barefoot Contessa because I like her and her recipes are usually full of really intense flavor.

I made the recipe as it was written and added 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper – the spice is what makes the Montreal eggplant so yummy. This recipe was very easy and turned out great. Thanks Alison!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-eggplant-spread-recipe/index.html

OPA’S BASHIS–Water Challah

2010-10-21T14:40:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is recreate recipes that Danny loves. I think I have written about my search for a challah recipe that was up to par and I have found a few egg challah recipes, but I haven’t been able to make a good water challah…until *now*! This isn’t just any water challah, this is a *bashis*, a German *bashis*. It is unlike anything I have made before, both in size and ingredients and it tastes pretty close to Danny’s favorite thing in the world, Montreal water challah. My KitchenAid got quite the workout, so much so that I had to split the dough in half and knead it in two parts. The recipe doesn’t say how *many* loaves, so I had the make an executive decision and made 4 – they were each about 1 lb, 14 oz. I made 2 on a cookie sheet – those burned a little on the bottom – and two in large foil loaf pans. Even though they burned, the cookie sheet challah was delicious. Tomorrow night, I am serving the loaf pan version and hopes it is just as good.

Here is the recipe:
http://www.ou.org/shabbat_shalom/article/water_challah/

You need to scroll down for the actual recipe, it is a comment on the posted recipe.

Notes:
I use bulk yeast and measures 4 packs out to be 9 tsp = 3Tbsp.
I didn’t have bread flour so I used regular All Purpose.

Follow the directions and put it into a cold oven, then turn the heat to 400F – they were in there for 57 minutes, I just couldn’t take the suspense any longer!

Danny came home from hockey at 12:30am and we had a little midnight snack
----------------------------

Yeast ready to proof…

Watching yeast proof never gets old…

This is what 5 lbs of flour looks like…

Ready to rise for an hour…

Risen!

It took me 30 minutes to braid these…my hands were killing me!

Had to wait till 11:3opm to see the final product, but well worth the wait. It’s actually an hour less than my regular challah and SO much crunchier

Waffle Donuts…or are they Donut Waffles??

2010-08-08T23:42:00.001-05:00

Ok, so, apparently I *can* stop cookin’…especially when the heat index is 105F and I feel like I could faint just from looking at the oven. But don’t worry, we haven’t starved, I just haven’t been trying anything new or anything that requires much effort – it is summer “vacation” after all. School is starting soon enough and our schedules will be quite full this year. I plan to fill the freezer for weeknight meals, at least most of them…I don’t want to spend the little free time I have washing dishes!

Anyways…are these not the cutest darn things you have ever seen?? The one appliance I have turned on this summer is my waffle iron. All the kids love these waffles with syrup and whipped cream and I feel good about giving them a healthy breakfast. I replace almost all the white flour with whole wheat, cut the oil in half and no one really cares. Actually, Leo is very interested in fiber and things that are good for him these days. Yes, I am the weird lady at Target showing her kids that you want a low number for Sugars and a high number for Fiber. It’s never too early!

I had been using the regular waffle iron all this time, but Leo and Macie never seem to finish an entire waffle so I decided to pull out my donut maker that my mom bought me years ago. It worked perfectly and now I wont have to cut up waffles and watch them soaking in the syrup and not getting eaten. Bite size are just cuter, anyway.

This is the recipe I have been using for ages:

http://lonestar.texas.net/~fitch/recipies/waffles.html

Here is my version of ingredients for a double batch:

3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. white flour
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP sugar
6 eggs
6 TBSP oil
1 1/2 c. milk (I use 1 c. dry milk powder and 3 c. water)

Follow the same method. You can mix it at night and cook them in the morning, or cook them at night and toast them up in the morning. They freeze awesome and are perfect for even the busiest mornings.

For the donut maker, I used a small ice cream scoop.
For the waffles, it’s a large waffle maker, I use a full 1/2 c. scoop

I always spray my waffle maker, but played around with the donut maker and ended up not spraying it for the last batch, they came out crisper. They only take about 3 minutes.

I made the squares for Danny and when he got home from hockey, he couldn’t keep his hands off the donuts!

Turkey Breast

2010-07-19T08:01:00.001-05:00

I picked up a bone-in turkey breast from Hungarian a couple of weeks ago with plans to throw it on the grill one of these days. I ended up using the slow cooker and it came out amazing. I think it took me a total of 10 minutes active time and we fought over the leftovers.

I had looked through a few recipes online and followed just the cooking time – for a 3 lb breast, 1 hour on High and 3-4 hours on Low.

At 8:30am, I rubbed the turkey inside and out, under the skin and everywhere I could, with salt/pepper/paprika/garlic powder and brown sugar. I dropped it in the slow cooker without a drop of liquid. 1 hour on high and then on low till 12:30pm. I let it rest and then sliced it up. I drained the fat from the liquid and added flour and salt/pepper till it thickened and then put the sliced turkey in it and poured a little more of the juices on top. When it was time for dinner, I slowly reheated it in the pan and served it with rice, corn and cranberry sauce. We were very *thankful* for an amazingly simple and delicious Shabbat dinner ;)

Father’s Day

2010-06-20T19:48:00.001-05:00

The two biggest fans of my kitchen are Danny and my dad. So, it was only fitting that I spent Father’s Day making their favorites and things I thought they would enjoy. Since there is a huge mess waiting for me in that same kitchen, I am going to make this quick:

For my dad, I made a batch of whole wheat banana waffles for his freezer and this blueberry/blackberry/peach compote to go on top. Here’s the link I used:

http://www.continentalmills.com/brands/krusteaz/recipe_central/PancakeWaffle_Mixes/Buttermilk_Pancake_Mix/?rid=10105

I used 4 ounces each, blueberries, blackberries and canned peaches and only 2 TBSP of the sugar

My dad requested a dip (“like you used to make before you got busy…”), so I decided to make a onion/red pepper relish from Brian Boitano. I halved the recipe, not realizing that it would cook down to almost nothing. The good news is that both my dad and Danny enjoyed it and next time I need to double it instead!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brian-boitano/polenta-with-spicy-sausage-and-red-pepper-relish-recipe/index.html

I didn’t have mustard seeds so I used powder instead. The equivalent is supposed to be 1/2 tsp seeds = 1 tsp powder, but I was a little shy with it so I only used 1 1/2 tsp powder for the 1 tsp seeds.

Danny would have loved the Layered Lebanese Salad that is one of my favorites to make and his favorites to eat, but it is a 24-48 hour make ahead type of dish and I just wasn’t prepared. Instead, I made this Orzo Salad that could have been wonderful, but it needed twice the dressing and some added salt. I am going to fix it up a little for his lunch tomorrow.

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Lemon-Orzo-Salad-With-Zucchini-And-Fresh-Herbs-36113

Instead of zucchini, I used tomato and cucumber.

I had some leftover butter cream frosting in the fridge and really wanted to do something with it for dessert, but was not in the mood to frost an entire cake or fill a million cupcakes and frost them. I decided to do a chocolate chip cookie cake and used a recipe from Emeril. I only had a 12 inch pan so I left some out and made myself a small one to munch on. I left a little wiggle room around the pan because I read to do that in the reviews and I think it worked perfectly. And, as (almost) always, I used Smart Balance Light. Mrs. Fields, eat your heart out!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/giant-chocolate-chip-cookie-cake-recipe/index.html

I only used parve chocolate chips and it was good ;)

I also made chicken wings and cucumber salad…very simple, but always hits the spot :)

Happy Father’s Day!

Cream Cheese Blintzes

2010-05-13T21:32:00.001-05:00

Whenever we go to Montreal, the #1 thing on Danny’s list is to go to his Bubbie’s and chow down on her blintzes. I don’t blame him, they *are* delicious :) I am still planning on calling Anna Bubbie to get the recipe, but I wanted to make blintzes with Leo and Dylan today so I found this recipe in my Mother and Daughter Jewish Cooking cookbook. Lucky for me, it called for cream cheese (which I had plenty of) and not cottage cheese (which I had none of). They were pretty easy, once I got the hang of the crepe making. This is my kind of recipe, I loved making each crepe and folding each blintz, its very relaxing to me. I have extras in the freezer to fry up next week and hope to have a plate of Anna Bubbie’s to serve as well.

I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and PAM to grease the small omelet pan…I also needed to add extra milk/water to make the batter drippy enough.

Light Cheese Blintzes

I am abbreviating the recipe, so if you don’t know to make a crepe, let me know…

Batter:
1 c. all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
2 TBSP butter, melted, or canola oil

For the filling:
2 c. cream cheese or sieved cottage cheese
2 TBSP sour cream, yogurt or 1 egg yolk
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

Blend or process batter ingredients, except oil or butter (ooops, didn’t see that part!) until a smooth batter is formed. Leave for 1/2 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
In another bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and set aside.
Pour the batter into a jug/measuring cup/something to pour. Heat a 6-7inch diameter pan over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Spray with PAM or wipe with oil. Fill bottom of pan with batter and swirl around (I found that 2 TBSP batter worked perfectly). The pancake will be so thin that the ends will start to dry out and you wont need to flip it. When bottom is brown, transfer (brown side down) to plate with wax or parchment paper and keep stacking them the same way. At this stage, you can refrigerate, freeze or fill.

To fill: place a pancake, brown side up, and spread 1 TBSP filling over it. Tuck sides in and roll. Repeat with each pancake. The blintzes can now be put in the fridge (1 day) or frozen (3 weeks) or fried.

To fry: heat melted butter and canola oil in wide skillet. Fry blintzes 3 minutes or so per side. You can also bake them in a 375F oven, brushed with butter, for 20 minutes till crisp and golden brown.

Tomatillo Chicken

2010-05-12T21:30:00.001-05:00

I saw this recipe over the weekend on Everyday Food and just had to make it. It was easy and one of the most flavorful dishes I have ever made – really! Those little green tomatillos really pack a flavorful punch. Yum :)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/tomatillo-chicken

Ever seen tomatillos before? They have a husk and are related to the gooseberry. I have used them before in salsa verde, but never cooked a whole dish with them. I only had 1 1/2 lbs, so I added a little water to the pan to give the chicken some extra liquid to cook in.

I only used 1 large jalapeño and it turned very mild in the dish, there was no real heat which was perfect for me.

What the heck is hominy? Well, I have *a lot* leftover so I will be finding lots of new ways of using it over the next week or so.

Simmering away…

The finished product…and I had to wait to eat it, that’s very difficult for me!

Thank you, kids, for letting me each this amazing meal in peace ;)

Anniversary Treats

2010-05-12T21:11:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is mine and Danny’s 9th wedding anniversary. Because of our busy busy lives, we went out to dinner last night to celebrate. We were planning to go out for dessert after, but I pulled a fast one and spent the day preparing the cutest dessert tray for the two of us. I made mini-pecan pies and mini-banana cream pies and sugar cookies to wash it all down.
-----
Pecan Pies:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=222515

I used whole wheat pastry flour, smart balance and skim milk. I used a biscuit cutter and then added dough to build each one up a little bit. I used 2 TBSP filling in each one, it looks like it is too much, but then they cave in once cooled. These were SO good and the perfect two-biter. I probably could have made 3 more mini-pies and still would have had some extra filling leftover. Yum :)

Mini Banana Cream Pies:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-banana-cream-pie-51072.aspx

I used 6 mini graham cracker crusts, but have tons of left over filling. Next time, I will invite the family over and make 12 of them! I will also fill them a little bit less, this is a *very* rich dessert.

Happy Anniversary :)

Sesame Tahini-Oat Cookies (Oogiyot Tahina)

2010-04-22T20:50:00.001-05:00

Every Thursday, I am very lucky to get to spend a bit of my afternoon baking with my two favorite 4 year olds. Today, we made these Sesame Tahini-Oat cookies and they were really good. I didn’t have all the ingredients – coconut, sunflower seeds, and raisins – so I added 1/2 c. chocolate chips instead. I think, in hopes to make them a bit healthier next time, I would cut the chips by half and add the seeds in. The cinnamon and allspice are just in the background, but their presence makes a big difference. Such a simple cookie, yet so unique. I think I like this cookie :)

This recipe comes from The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook…

1/3 c. tahini
1/2 c. honey
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. old fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 c. finely shredded coconut
1/3 c. unsalted shelled sunflower seeds, raw or toasted
1/4 c. dark raisins

Combine the tahini, honey, egg, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Stir in the oats, coconut, seeds, and raisins. Use wet hands, or a scoop (I use a small ice cream scoop) to form the sticky mixture into 1 1/4 inch balls. Arrange 2 inches apart in prepared baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 12 minutes or until firm and light brown. Cool completely in rack before packing up. (Mine only made 1 and a half cookie sheets…so there aren’t that many to pack up!)

Spicy Black Bean Chili

2010-04-18T22:13:00.001-05:00

This was supposed to meal #2 for the week, but since Danny went for 4ths and I had 2nds and Amelia and Macie went to town…well, there is a small portion in the freezer for another time, but it’s more like a half-meal. I am not complaining…

This comes from Kathleen Daelman’s “Cooking Thin” cookbook. I am really trying my hardest to stick with my cookbooks in hopes of saving a little time and effort.

The beans:
1/2 lb. black beans, soaked overnight or two 19 oz. cans black beans
3 c. water, stock
1 carrot, peeled
1 celery stalk, quartered
1/2 large onion, cut in half
1 bay leaf
1 pinch red pepper flakes

The chili:
1 c. finely diced onion
1 TBSP olive oil
1 15 oz. can tomatoes in juice, whole or chopped
1 tsp. hot chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt

The beans:
Place beans in 3 qt soup pot with water or stock, carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook until beans are tender, but still firm and holding their shape, 25 –35 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool in their liquid. Don’t overcook.

The chili:
While beans are cooking, in a large pot, place onion and oil and cook, covered tightly, until onions are translucent – stir occasionally. Be careful not to burn, add a tsp of water if needed. Drain beans and discard vegetables. Add to cooked onions. Add tomatoes, juice, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Simmer over medium heat for 10 to 20 minutes, until flavors are well combined. Better the next day…

My notes:
Kathleen said that you could add 1/2 lb of meat so last night, I sautéed the onions and meat together and kept them in the fridge overnight while the beans soaked. When I threw everything together this afternoon, after the beans were cooked, I also added two diced carrots and a big handful of corn. I also added a can of tomato sauce, because it needed it. Like I said earlier…4ths!

Argentinian Potato Meat Pie (Pastel de Papa)

2010-04-18T21:56:00.001-05:00

This was dish #1 for the week, which I made Saturday night and stuck in the freezer in portions for later this week. Danny was hungry last night, so he had a taste and thought it was pretty good even though “it looked kind of plain”. It’s meat and potatoes, how do you want it to look?

The recipe comes from a cookbook that I inherited from my Bubbie Molly’s house. It was a gift from her neighbors who were both chefs and I am pretty sure she never used it. It is called “Jewish Cooking in America” by Joan Nathan and it is a compilation of stories and recipes and I remember loving the stories before I knew what to do with the recipes.

6 large potatoes
2 TBSP oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 green pepper, chopped (skipped)
1 large tomato, chopped (used 2 plums, did not peel)
2 lbs ground beef (used turkey)
oregano to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp cumin, or to taste
6 TBSP parve margarine (used Smart Balance Light)
2 hard boiled eggs, optional
1/2 c. pitted olives, optional
1/2 c. raisins, optional
paprika

1. Peel the potatoes and boil them, covered, about 25 minutes or until tender
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil and saute’ the onion, garlic, and pepper in a frying pan until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato, the ground beef, oregano, salt and pepper, and cumin, and cook until the beef is brown. Drain the fat off.
3. Drain the potatoes and mash them with 4 TBSP of the margarine and salt.
4. Stir in the eggs, olives, raisins, if using. Place the meat mixture in a 6 QT dish and cover with the potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with remaining margarine.
5. Bake, uncovered, in a 375F oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden.

Not Pickled Brisket

2010-04-15T21:02:00.001-05:00

While I was getting my kitchen back to it’s original state after Passover, I decided to do a major overhaul and go through every cabinet (I have lots!). I threw stuff out, consolidated serving dishes and just made a lot more room for everything. I also went through my spices. I have a spice “rack” hanging along my wall and then a huge stash of extra bulk and additional spices that I don’t have room for. I filled my spice jars and got rid of a lot of unnecessary containers which felt great and while I was in spice land, I found some picking spices that I had never used. I decided to make Danny a Pickled Brisket for his birthday using a recipe I had seen in Panache. This recipe, I had remembered, said it tasted like real Montreal Smoked Meat, the kind that Danny grew up with and still has dreams about. This is what I wanted to make him for his birthday, I had even bought rye bread to go with it. So, I found the recipe, read it through and (I thought) it called for a brisket, honey and brown sugar. I went to Hungarian the next day – with only 15 minutes to shop and run back to get Leo from Speech – and was able to get some good advice from one of the butchers that this Top Rib Roast would give me the same results at $7.99/lb as the first cut brisket at $12.99/lb. Still, I walked out of there with $38 worth of meat and had never touched a (raw) brisket in my life. I couldn’t wait to get the meat in the oven on Friday, but tried to time it right so it would be done before Shabbat and I would still have the oven free for more important things like cookies, etc. Around 1:30pm on Friday, I took out the meat and found a perfect roasting pan for it. The recipe called for roasting it 3 hours at 325F and then letting it sit overnight and slicing it the next day. Here is where the could be downfall begins…

I sprinkled the brown sugar on the meat and then drizzled it with the honey. What I thought was going to be a nice rub turned out to glob up like a big wad of goop and become totally unmanageable. Lucky for me, I had such trouble with it on the one side, I flipped it over to get to the back. When I flipped it, I saw that the meat was tucked under and was actually a very thin long piece of meat, a size for which I did *not* have a roasting pan. I did have a disposable cookie sheet with a bit of a ridge to it, so I plopped it in there and tried to rub it down some more. I thought it was a little weird that it didn’t call for any salt or pepper so I looked at the recipe again. I guess 10th time is the charm because I *finally* saw that it called for a PICKLED brisket, not a plain jane, straight from the butcher piece of meat. Oh gosh. I had to pick up Amelia at 2:30pm so I started freaking out, but just a little. I mean, it’s a huge piece of meat. It was almost $40 (I could get a massage for that!) and I had promised Danny some smoked meat for his birthday. I did some quick searches, called my mom, and came to the conclusion that picking this meat was not in my future, and that was just going to have to be ok. Knowing that I had to get this thing in the oven if I was ever going to get those birthday cookies in, I started sprinkling, dousing, and rubbing that meat with whatever I thought would impart a some flavor. A week later, I don’t remember exactly what I did, but I am sure I used paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, minced garlic, onions and soy sauce, in addition to the honey and brown sugar it already had on it. I threw it, ever so gently, into the oven and prayed harder than ever before. After 2 1/2 hours, I called my mom and she gave me permission to peek and told me to take off the foil for a while. It looked good, it smelled good and it wasn’t completely ruined. I put it in the fridge and we had it for dinner the next day…and lunch the following day and I have a whole bag of small packets of it in the freezer for many (many!!) other days. Considering pastrami is $12.99/lb and this was just as good as that (with a little more kick next time), I would say I did pretty good. Danny, one day you will get your smoked meat – just find me a pickled brisket!

Classic Cheesecake

2010-04-13T20:54:00.001-05:00

Last Friday was Danny’s birthday. For Shabbat dinner, I made this – very yummy – cookie display. The letters look like Macie did them, but it was *me* with very runny frosting. Noone seemed to care as we scarfed them all down after dinner (and a couple before).

On Sunday night, I invited my family over for dessert and made Danny favorite, cheesecake. Rather than driving myself insane looking online, I decided to look in my actual cookbooks (what a concept!) and found this Classic Cheesecake in Panache. No heavy cream, freaky oven times (Alton, are you serious???), or even longer than manageable cooling times – and best of all – NO water bath. This was a simple cheesecake recipe that one could even make at 7:30am while giving three kids breakfast while someone else slept in…:) It did have a sour cream topping which I have never done before, but will now start doing – YUM!

Classic Cheesecake:
Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (used cinnamon graham crackers)
6 TBSP unsalted butter, melted (used Smart Balance Light)
1/4 c. sugar

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, room temp. (used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, at room temp

Topping:
1 c. sour cream (used reduced fat)
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 10 inch springform pan.
For the crust, combine everything together and spread over bottom of pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly firm. Remove from oven and lower oven temp to 300F.

For the filling, beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer until light and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition. Pour the filling into crust and bake for 40-45 minutes, just until the center barely jiggles when the pan is tapped. Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges. Cool on a rack for at least 1 hour.

For the topping, preheat the oven to 425F. Combine everything together and spread over the cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool completely on a rack. Top with berries if you want and chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Can freeze cheesecake without topping. Defrost cheesecake in the fridge and add topping before serving.

Pizza with Fresh Tomatoes

2010-03-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

If you are like me and have pizza dough in the freezer, tomatoes in the veggie drawer and only asked your husband to get cheese from the store, you *can* and *should* make this pizza!

It’s this easy:
450F oven
Pizza Dough, rolled out thin
A little olive oil
Mozzarella
Thinly sliced tomatoes
Parmesan and dried basil

If you don’t believe me (or want to make it a little fancier), check out Giada’s recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pizza-with-fresh-tomatoes-and-basil-recipe/index.html

Chicken in Coconut Milk

2010-03-16T11:09:00.001-05:00

It’s been a bit of a crazy time, but we haven’t been starving – just no real exciting dishes and no real time to tell you about them. This dish, however, is amazing and everyone should make it this week.

I am trying to clean out the pantry to get ready for Passover and came across a can of coconut cream – it was the second time I bought cream, thinking it was milk – and wanted to use it up. I Googled “Chicken and Coconut Milk” and found a simple recipe, using a cut-up chicken (that I had just bought that day) and other ingredients I had on hand.

Here is the link: http://online-cookbook.com/goto/cook/rpage/000A16

I did:
- not use lemon rind, just the juice…
- 1 plum tomato, chopped
- 6 TBSP coconut cream, with water to make it 2 cups
- served with white rice (and ended up making Danny more rice for lunch because I couldn’t stop eating the rice with the coconut sauce…still thinking about it)

My only issue with this recipe was that there wasn’t any cooking times given and it was hard cooking the different chicken pieces and getting them all cooked at the same time. In the end, they were a bit undercooked, so next time I am going to brown them on the stove, roast them in the oven and then finish them off with the sauce.

Chicken under a brick…kinda

2010-02-22T15:41:00.001-06:00

This is an adaptation of Anne Burrell’s Chicken Under a Brick. I used the same cooking method as I always do and cranked up the oven to 500F for about 40-45 minutes. You can see that the garlic burned a bit on the top, but it didn’t make a difference. I could have swallowed this bird whole. I am trying to clear out my pantry to get ready for Passover so I made some kasha/buckwheat. It’s a bit of a weird process, you have to sauté the grains in egg first and then simmer them in the cooking liquid. I didn’t mind them, but Danny thought they were bland – duh, they are whole grains…

I think I have mentioned these cute little chickens before that come from Costco and I am (a little too) happy that they are Kosher for Passover! I am going to stock up on a few and cook three or four at the beginning and just have them, cut up, in freezer to pull out for lunches, chicken salads, etc. Lucky for me, Danny liked the other way I prepared them even better – salt/pepper/paprika and that’s it! Yum :)

Birthday Cake #2 – Candy Melts Galore

2010-02-07T20:58:00.001-06:00

I got the idea to do candy melt decorations from Bakerella and her WOW MOM cupcakes. They were so much fun to make and the fact that I made them an entire week in advance made the final cake prep so much easier. Here’s how I did them…

They have light pink candy melts, but I wanted hot pink, so I melted white and used rose dye to get the color I wanted. When I was done with the hot pink, I melted more white in the same measuring cup and got a lighter version. The squeeze bottles are a dream, the kids use them to decorate cookies with royal icing and they make candy making so easy that anyone can be creative…

Bakerella turned her flowers over and used the flat side, but I didn’t like how they looked with the dots and squiggles so I melted them again and used the “right” side of everything, they looked better that way.

How cute are these letters?

The final collection…how hard to do you think it was keeping these tucked in the fridge for an entire week??

I baked two 8 inch rounds and two 6 inch (maybe) rounds and kept them in the freezer for a few days. I tried to use up the frosting from Cake #1, but had to make some extra for each layer. One day I will make just enough frosting so I don’t have too much or too little…

I used the icing tip again, but this cake was giving me major issues. It was as crumbly as can be and the frosting just lifted right off everytime I tried to spread it. Grrrr.

I have the fanciest of tools….an upside down salad plate worked great for the little topper.

The topper was a piece of the 6 inch cake, I just wanted a little place for the candle and Amelia’s name…

My candy stash…

The letters go on with a tiny bit of frosting…

The hot pink frosting comes out…

The star tip comes out, loved every minute of making this cake…

The final result…

I even decorated the candle with candy melts, Amelia didn’t like the yellow/green/blue look that it had. Next time, I think I will do small cupcakes with large candy pieces on top since the kids gobbled those up and left most of their cake – doh! :)

Birthday Cake #1 – Cupcake Cake

2010-02-07T20:29:00.001-06:00

Amelia is lucky to share a birthday week with her Bubbie (grandmother) – Amelia’s is on the 5th, Bubbie’s is the 7th. Amelia was actually due on my Bubbie Molly’s birthday, the 4th, but stuck it out (literally) for an extra day. Amelia is named after Bubbie Molly, whose full name was Amelia, so it’s all very special. Anyways, we celebrated Bubbie’s and Amelia’s birthday at my sister, Becca’s house this past Friday night, and I wanted to make a cake for the two of them that reflected them and their unique relationship. After baking and ruining a number of square cakes, I decided to do a cupcake cake and save me any more trouble – grrrr. I did a little research on the “cupcake cake” and didn’t find much, except that anything goes really and you should glue your cupcakes to the board before frosting – quite valuable info, by the way. I went through way too many pastry bags at the beginning, but once I got the hang of things again, it went really smoothly. I loved making this cake, especially trying out my new star tips (big and small). I really had fun decorating this cake and everyone loved eating it ;)
----
Lots of parve “butter”cream frosting – 2 c. shortening, 2 lbs powdered sugar and 1/2 c. or so liquid. I used soy milk and vanilla to taste…

I used yellow cake and red velvet cake and had an assortment so that everyone would be happy…

The glue…

A border…

Using my new icing tip, made this job so easy…

All smooth…

I marked where I wanted the lettering with a toothpick or I would have never been able to make it straight…

The letters were done with the small star tip. I tried a big butterfly in the middle with the small round tip, but it didn’t look good so off it went – buh bye…

I went with smaller butterflies using the small star tip and was much happier with them. I did the border design with the larger star tip…

I made the little antennae using a toothpick and the black dye and it looked cute, but wasn’t thrilled with the size of the butterflies and how much white was on the cake.

I did a larger wing and loved how it came out. Amelia said she was the yellow butterfly and Bubbie was the purple one :)

Daring Bakers – January 2010 - Nanaimo Bars

2010-01-27T21:42:00.001-06:00

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.
----
There is not much to say about this month’s challenge. Besides baking the graham crackers, everything was pretty simple. I did use every bowl in the house, but that is nothing new for this kitchen. I used all the ingredients listed – even the heavy cream! – but replaced the butter with Smart Balance Light. I think that’s why it didn’t firm up quite as much as the one Lauren had a picture of. I also chose to make the regular/wheat flour graham crackers, because I knew that the special ingredients would just go to waste in my kitchen. I only baked half of the dough, so we will have lots more graham crackers to nosh on over the weekend. I made the crackers last night and assembled everything this afternoon.
---
Graham Cracker recipe came from:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000126.html

Dry ingredients for graham crackers…mostly Whole Wheat Pastry and a little AP flour

Wet ingredients for graham crackers…

The dough…

Into the freezer for a quick chill (who has 2 hours to wait??)…

Needed lots of flour, but lovely to roll out…

I kinda sorta measured the crackers, but not exactly…

They were crispy, but survived…

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.
-----
The crackers patiently waited all night for some attention…

I know the kids would have loved to make these crumbs, but noone was home (ahhhhhhhh)…

I stuck the almonds in the food processor…

Over the double boiler…

Melted…

The egg made it a lot smoother…

I left out the coconut because no one here likes it…

The bottom layer…

I assumed I had vanilla pudding mix, but could only find Oreo Cookie pudding mix. It worked out just dandy…

The middle layer…

I also assumed I had semi-sweet chocolate chips…doh! so I had to swap in caramel swirl chips…it could have been worse!

The recipe said to wait until it cooled to spread the chocolate and I did, but when I poured it on, it just collected in the middle and wouldn’t budge…

Even when it seemed like it had chilled enough, it hadn’t, so I put it in to chill even longer…

We all enjoyed it, but it isn’t something that I would rush to make again. I am not a big fan of really rich desserts and the middle layer is basically SUGAR and that’s what it tastes like. At least with butter cream frosting, you have a ton of fat to dilute the richness a bit ;)

Candy Coated Pretzels

2010-01-19T21:06:00.001-06:00

For gifts this year, I made candy coated pretzel rods. I used the candy melts I had in my stash and they came out really cute. I gave them to Leo’s Speech and Occupational therapists and the office staff there and everyone loved them. I tossed the leftover melted candy with mini pretzel sticks and the kids went (too) crazy for them. I brought them to Danny’s office and the big kids there also went crazy for them. Yum :)

Chicken Pot Pie With Whole Wheat Crust

2010-01-19T20:46:00.001-06:00

I have never made Chicken Pot Pie before, but have always wanted to. Not sure why I haven’t, I guess it’s just one of those things…Good thing my friend from college, Whitney, emailed me with a fabulous recipe a few weeks ago! Since Danny was away most of last week, I didn’t do a lot of cooking and was missing the kitchen. When you are missing your kitchen, Chicken Pot Pie is a good way to get back in. Homemade chicken stock, poached chicken, homemade pie crust, sautéed diced veggies, a yummy roux and lots of TLC go into this wonderful dinner. Now that I have delved into this adventure known as pot pie, I can definitely break it up and not spend all day in the kitchen (unless I want to, of course!).

Substitutions, etc.: I used Whole Wheat Pastry flour throughout the recipe, non-fat soy milk, and Smart Balance Light. I didn’t use sherry or peas.

With this recipe, I made a double crust 9 inch pie and a single crust 8 inch pie (in the freezer for next week…).

1 Recipe Savory Pie dough
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium-large onion, chopped fine
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise 1/4 inch thick
2 small celery ribs, cut crosswise 1/4 inch thick
salt & ground pepper
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1.5 cups milk (whole is best)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons dry sherry
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1) Make the pie dough and refrigerate until ready to use. When ready, roll out half and lay in a 9" deep dish pie plate.
2) Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and head the oven to 400 degrees. Put the chicken and broth in a small Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Cover, bring to a simmer and simmer until the chicken is just done, 8-10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl, reserving the broth in a measuring cup
3) Increase the heat to medium high and heat the oil in the now-empty pan. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute until just tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. While the vegetables are sautéing, shred the meat into bite-size pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a bowl with the chicken. Set aside.
4) Heat the butter over medium heat in the again-empty pan. When the foaming subsides, add the flour; cook about 1 minute Whisk in the reserved chicken broth, the milk, and accumulated chicken juices and the thyme. Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer until the sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the sherry.
5) Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the peas and parsley. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Pour the mixture into a deep dish 9" pie plate with half of the pastry dough already laid in. Top with the other half of the rolled out pastry dough. Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Savory Pie Dough (made 1 double crust and 1 single)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
11 tablespoons unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
4 - 5 tablespoons ice water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat
butter with some flour. cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale
yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no larger than small peas, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over mixture. With blade of
rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough will not come together. Shape dough into two balls with your hands, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten into 4-inch-wide disks. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.
----
I made a very simple chicken stock: a couple of carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and some odd chicken parts I had frozen…

Chicken breasts simmering in the strained stock…

Veggies in…

Shredded chicken…

Veggies + chicken…

The roux…

Everything mixed together, plus some fresh parsley…

I made the dough entirely in the food processor…so easy

Gorgeous!

Ready for the oven…

Delicious!

Pretzel Rolls

2010-01-14T20:50:00.001-06:00

Being that I am not originally from Chicago, I had never heard of Pretzel Rolls before…have you?? Someone mentioned them on FaceBook (thanks, Naomi!) and once I saw a picture of them, I knew I had to make them. Danny was out of town and I needed a good after dinner snack and these were *perfect* because they only took 25 minutes or so for each rise. I only used 1/4 tsp of the celery seed and it was just the right amount. You didn’t really know it was there, but it had something in the background that made it different than plain pretzels. The recipe calls for 8, but I made 12 so I could eat some and give some to my dad. They are best straight from the oven, but really good if you reheat them in the toaster.

The recipe is from Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pretzel-Rolls-1107

The dough:

after the first rise:

the 12 little guys, cutting them was hard, but they looked fine in the end:

after the second rise:

after being boiled for 1 minute and brushed with egg white and lots of salt:

after 20 minutes in the oven…yum!

Daring Bakers – December 2009 – Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.
-----
I decided to use the Scandinavian recipe because I had the ingredients on hand. It was mentioned in the forums that the dough was a little dry. Talk about putting it lightly, this was the dough from hell. I doubled the recipe so I could make a house for both of the big kids, but it took me so long to roll out the pieces for one, I couldn’t even think of making anymore. I had to knead in small amounts of water until it would let me roll it, it was horrible. I have tons of dough in the fridge, I am going to try to make some *drop* cookies tomorrow…

Here is the recipe:
Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0816634963

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

2. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard.

3. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place.

4. [I rolled out the dough on a floured bench, roughly 1/8 inch thick (which allows for fact that the dough puffs a little when baked), cut required shapes and transferred these to the baking sheet. Any scraps I saved and rerolled at the end.]

5. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

I don’t remember which site I got this simple template from…

Here is my test run with construction paper…

Cutting out my final piece…(agh!!)

When these pieces came out of the oven, I thought there was no way that my house would work. It was almost laughable, but there was no way I was going to re-do them until I had a major disaster and had to.

This was my first attempt to glue everything together. I made the this recipe for Royal Icing, but omitted the extract: http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

When it was time to attach the roof pieces, I realized just how uneven my pieces were. I ripped it apart, trimmed everything to fit and it worked much better. Amelia had been waiting days to help me decorate! It was fun to work with her at the beginning and finish it off on my own.

The final product ;) I think it’s pretty cute for my first attempt. I didn’t buy much candy, just colored twizzlers, Dots and Juju bees (or something like that). I used chocolate, white, and cherry chips for the roof which is my favorite part of the house. The best was seeing the kids come in at the end. Obviously, they haven’t seen that many gingerbread houses, but they still think their mom’s is the best. We used it as our centerpiece for dinner the next night for our Chinese Dinner Party and it was really cool.

I did end up making cookies from the gingerbread and they have become a family favorite. The dough was so hard, I decided to just slice it with one of my major chef knifes and it worked perfectly. The kids decorated them with the leftover royal icing. I didn’t have cloves so I omitted them and I am glad I did, the cookies have just the right spice with the cinnamon and ginger. Yum :)

Our Chinese Dinner Party

2009-12-24T21:21:00.001-06:00

My parents came over for a really yummy Chinese dinner. The kids and I prepared all day for our “Chinese Dinner Party” and it was a definite success. I thought we would have leftovers for tomorrow night, but it doesn’t look like it. Maybe Chinese appetizers? ;)

I love Chinese food, but most of it gets prepared right before serving and involves a lot of chopping and mincing. I stayed up late last night chopping vegetables and mincing a lot of garlic and ginger. I started cooking right away this morning and had the chicken wings done by 8:30am and had the egg roll filling in the fridge by 10:00am. All my marinades and sauces were ready and waiting for me and then had a busy 30 minutes or so at the end getting everything (stir) fried up and ready for the table. I love to cook, but know my limits with three kids underfoot. I have come up with ways to get around that and, even though I was a little tired today, I was way more relaxed knowing that dinner was going to happen no matter what my kids pulled!
---------------

Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sticky-Sesame-Chicken-Wings-234650

This recipe is pretty self explanatory. I had full sodium soy sauce, so I cut it in half, and didn’t use scallions or sesame seeds. I reheated the wings right before dinner, but they can be served cold, hot or in between.

Orange Beef

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/beef/orange_beef_recipe.html

I have had this recipe in my files for years and have made it only a few times because it does have a lot of ingredients and many steps. With the prep-ahead it was a lot easier and much more economical than getting Kosher Chinese take out.

Duck Sauce

http://www.ehow.com/how_2097780_duck-sauce.html

When I was finished with this recipe and tried it, my eyes almost popped out because of the intense vinegar taste. I had to come up with something because I was looking very forward to the egg rolls I had spent so long on. All the hours I have logged on the Food Network seemed to have paid off because the ketchup and brown sugar I added was just the trick. I didn’t measure, just kept on tasting. It was actually really good!

Egg Rolls

http://steamykitchen.com/65-my-mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls.html

I didn’t make all 50, like the recipe called for. I only made however many skins were in the package – maybe 12? I have the rest of the filling in the fridge to add to some fried rice for tomorrow’s dinner. These fried up really nicely and were the prefect beginning to our party. My dad loved them so much, he insisted on this photo! ;)

These are a secret recipe ;) The decorations were done by Amelia and Leo with the new Wilton squeeze bottles I bought them. So good ;)

Old-Time Beef Stew

2009-12-22T21:42:00.001-06:00

At Hungarian today, I saw this pack of “Cholent Meat” with a big orange sticker on it and just had to see what it was all about. I asked the butcher if it could be cut up to be used for chinese food and was told that it was “only for Cholent.” Ok then. I decided that I was in the mood for stew tonight, not tomorrow morning, so I took my chances with a simple, yet incredible, beef stew.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/old-time-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

This is Paula Deen’s recipe, but I am not giving her much of the credit. In all of the reviews, they replaced the water with beef stock – that’s a no brainer – and added more seasonings. I dipped into my pot-o-gold (a.k.a my freezer) and pulled out the leftover “juices” from a roast I made a week or so ago for Shabbat. I made it in the Crockpot and ended up with a ton of liquid, liquid that had retained most of the flavor. I didn’t know what I was going to use it for, but felt better putting it away rather than throwing it away.

I didn’t have garlic or celery, so I left them out…and I added three medium potatoes with the carrots. My package of meat was 3.42 lbs and I just cut it in half and froze the rest. So, a little under 2 lbs that it called for, but that is ok for my waistline. I also didn’t use any fat to brown the beef and it was fine. I will give Paula credit for the cook time. 1 1/2 hours for the beef, seasonings and onions and another 40 minutes with the veggies made the beef “like butta”.

Could I replicate this if I wanted to (or could you?) ? I am sure a really rich stock would do the trick. The recipe did call for paprika, allspice, salt, sugar, pepper and bay leaves – those are some serious spices. If anyone tries it with plain old beef stock, let me know how it turns out. It wasn’t just the taste, but the texture of the beef that made it such a great dish.

Danny and I each had two servings, but the recipe says there are 6 servings. If I had anymore people for dinner (or fed the kids this yummy dinner instead of giving them hotdogs!), I would have doubled the recipe. Danny is the lucky guy who gets to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow – yummy :)

After browning the meat and adding everything else…

after 1 1/2 hours…

veggies in!

the final goodness ;)

it will probably be even better tomorrow ;)

Breaded Chicken with Apricot Sauce

2009-12-16T16:33:00.001-06:00

I picked up a jar of apricot preserves the other day because it is versatile and it has been missing from my pantry for a few months.

I don’t think I have made this particular recipe before, but I have made things quite similar. This is marinated in half the apricot sauce and topped with the other half. The recipe calls for cut up chicken breasts, but I didn’t cut them at all or even pound them. I think different recipes work best with different forms of chicken and this was the way to go.

From Meal-Lean-I-Yum!
Apricot Sauce:
2/3 c. apricot preserves
3 tbsp. chili sauce or ketchup (I used ketchup)
2 tsp. dijon mustard (yellow mustard)
1/4 tsp. dried basil
5 or 6 drops tabasco (a very teeny pinch of cayenne pepper)

Breading:
3/4 c. cornflake crumbs or bread crumbs (I used Whole Wheat bread crumbs)
salt and pepper to taste

Marinate chicken in half the sauce, reserve the rest to pour over. I baked the chicken at 400F, maybe 10 minutes a side. Watch your chicken breasts!!

Danny bought himself some green beans, so I stir fried them in a touch of sesame oil until they were cooked, yet crunch. He said they were good :)

My First Real Cake

2009-12-16T16:17:00.001-06:00

Every year since becoming a mom, I have wanted to make fabulous birthday cakes for my kids. Almost six years and three kids later, I made my first one this past week for my sons 4th birthday party. I am so thrilled that it came out amazing and can’t wait to make a cake for my daughter’s 6th birthday in February. I was very nervous to take this on so I did a lot of research and enlisted the help of an old friend via FaceBook (see, it’s good for something!) and it worked out pretty well – thanks, Esther!! I know that there will be no excuses for cupcakes with some sprinkles from now on and I am totally OK with that! :)

---
Lots of butter cream frosting…it’s the recipe from Wilton. I made three times the original recipe and had some left over, but not sure if I would have been OK with it just doubled…

This was my very professional layout of how I wanted the cake to end up…

I used Duncan Hines cakes and when I baked them on Thursday night, I thought they looked a little thin. I started with a square and a circle each of yellow and chocolate and ended up baking a 9x13 of chocolate and another square of yellow the next day. In the end, I used the three squares, one for the smaller mountains. The circles and 9x13 are in the freezer for an emergency cake situation…

It wasn’t the most level cake, but it worked for me!

This was a mix of a couple of Wilton Dyes, I thought Copper would work and it didn’t, so I added Brown….

Crumb coats are supposed to make the “real” frosting easier, but they are so freakin’ hard, especially on the pieces that have cut sides. Grrr. I was so happy to be done with them and get them in the fridge to harden a bit.

Frosted and lovely :) I had bought circle cake boards, so I cut a little out of one so it fit snuggly next to the other.

I ended up using some cake scraps to shimmy the small mountain from the back, it was a little tipsy at first.

The cake design I was working from used butter cream for their waterfall, but Esther suggested I used piping gel. Piping gel?? I had never heard of it, but it is inexpensive and gives a pretty cool effect. I tinted it with the Wilton dyes. I read somewhere that it takes alot of gel to make your design. I used two containers, but probably only needed one. The thing is, you never want to be short when you are dying something.

I did have to reapply some gel on the top part of the mountain because it slid down to the second tier, but it was ok. I would put less on to start and build it up next time. This step was so scary, but I just decided to go for it and see what happened. Fingers crossed and it came out awesome!

I used the Wilton grass tip and green butter cream all around the cake. Wilton.com is right, if you stop the pressure on the bag *before* lifting up, your grass will stand up straight. It’s just not always possible when doing the sides of the mountain. I bought jungle animals from Joann and they were the perfect size. Next time, I will cover the cake board…:)

The final product…and it tasted pretty good, too! ;)

Chicken Stir Fry

2009-12-16T15:08:00.002-06:00

I think I have posted this before, but it is good enough to be repeated. Take whatever veggies you have and 3-4 chicken breasts, cut up and do a quick stir fry of each. I used no oil, just PAM and a hot pan. When everything is cooked, put back in the pan to warm through with sauce. The sauce will thicken too much if the pan is too hot. I had hoped to give the leftovers to Danny for lunch, but just munched on it all night. Ooops! :)

Sauce is adapted from the “Chinese Chicken with Cashews” recipe in Spice and Spirit:

1 tbsp each, cornstarch and sugar
1/4 c. each, soy sauce and water
drizzle of sesame oil
dash of dried ginger

Chicken Soup with Dumplings

2009-12-02T19:34:00.002-06:00

When I got home from picking up Amelia, the house was so cold and I was too frozen to want to think about dinner and start preparing. I knew the kids were having the new “chickenless nuggets” from Trader Joes, so I was only thinking about me and Danny. I wanted something really good, something that would warm me up! I decided to make soup and it evolved from there. I had some raw chicken breast left in the fridge from Danny’s shopping and some chicken stock in the freezer from Thanksgiving and *tons* of veggies around. I combined the stock and 4 cups or so of water and poached the chicken in that, with diced carrots and sweet potatoes and chopped parsley. I added salt, pepper and dried thyme until it was yummy and shredded the chicken and added it back. I added pasta wheels, but ended up removing them when I decided to make the dumplings – I didn’t want them in the soup for another 10 minutes, they would be mush. Turns out, pasta simmered in chicken stock is really awesome, just ask Macie and Amelia who finished them off for me. Back to the dumplings, they came from my Soup cookbook and are really easy: 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 c. water and 1 c. flour. You put dollops of the batter into the simmering soup, cover for 10 minutes. They came out a little on the tough side (my dad would have loved them!), and I am not sure if it was because I put the batter in the fridge while Danny was on his way home, or if they didn’t cook long enough. They were really tasty anyways and the soup was everything I had hoped dinner would be and then some. I served it with challah toast, smeared with that herb butter from Thanksgiving. Yum :)

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

2009-12-01T21:57:00.002-06:00

After attempting a tofu meatloaf last night (Macie and I were totally fine with it), I thought Danny deserved a real man’s meal tonight. The fact that Danny did a meat shopping today and came home with chicken breasts made the whole thing alot more tempting. These sandwiches were really good and totally easy to throw together. The recipe comes from my Weber Grilling cookbook, but I made some simple changes.

Take 4 chicken breasts and grill/broil them with whatever you want…the book calls for S&P, I used a BBQ rub that I had saved in a ziploc.

Shred the chicken after it cools off for a few minutes.

Make BBQ sauce:
1 c. ketchup
2 TBSP each, lemon juice and soy sauce
small pinch of cayenne
big pinch of brown sugar

Simmer for a few minutes and then add chicken. Bring lots of napkins to the table.

You know its a good meal when Danny asks if he can bring some to work for lunch :)

Daring Bakers – November 2009 - Cannoli

2009-11-27T15:16:00.001-06:00

I took a few months off when things were really insane at the house and now I am back and am so excited! I didn’t even have to turn the oven on because we made cannoli this month. While we try to eat as healthy as possible during our everyday lives, I really *love* frying and was happy to have an excuse to do so. These were wonderful the day I made them and even better the next day, I didn’t even crisp up the shells. I didn’t care for the chocolate filling and wouldn’t make it again. I did have a problem finding the cannoli forms and ended up paying a ton to have them shipped from Amazon. They will last forever – right? – and I already have plans to make cannoli for Book Club in a couple of weeks. Yum :)

This was such a long recipe…I included alot of it, but if you need more specifics, email me!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.
----
CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar (I used Rice Wine Vinegar)
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand (I used Kedem Dark Grape Juice)
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners' sugar

I made the dough Monday night, this is how it came out of the mixer…

After a few minutes of kneading…and into the fridge for an overnight stay

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note - If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

This is two pounds of ricotta cheese, set to drain on a tea towel, clipped to an 8 cup measuring cup, weighted down with two jars of cranberry sauce…also into the fridge on Monday night for an overnight stay

Tuesday morning, this is the ricotta cheese, weighted down and drained of it’s liquid…

I divided the ricotta into two bowls and split the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla between the two. I didn’t add nuts or zest.

…plus 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa and a little extra cinnamon

Into the fridge until dessert time…

I was grateful that there was a pasta machine method of rolling out the dough. The first few runs at it were difficult, but the longer the dough sat out and warmed up, the easier it was. Zaido Michael would be proud and would have loved my cannoli :)

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

I used a 3 inch biscuit cutter, but it wouldn’t cut through the dough so I used a knife to help out. By the last batch, I just cut squares and it was fine.

The recipe said to fry for 2 minutes, but they were too dark, so I started to drop each one into the oil – 1,2,3,4 – and then start taking them out.

They were two-biters which made them too easy to keep eating. I have 1/2 of the dough hanging out in the freezer and can’t wait to take it out for a yummy dessert…maybe blue sprinkles for Chanukah?

Turkey Week

2009-11-25T09:13:00.003-06:00

This year, we are staying home and (crossed fingers) having a quiet Thanksgiving dinner. Since it is all me, I am determined to have a stress-free day and not a lot of dishes in the sink when I finally get to collapse. Here is what I am doing throughout the week to ensure we all had a wonderful Turkey Day. I will continue to post throughout the holiday as the final products come together :))

Monday night:
I made some chicken stock to be used for my stuffing and turkey gravy…off to the freezer until you are needed

I made the crumb topping and pie crust for my Apple Crumb Pie, both into the freezer

Tuesday Night:
I peeled/diced/chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic and herbs for my stuffing, turkey gravy and turkey stock and soup (for Friday night). I even sautéed the veggies for the stuffing and soup so I wont have to take out any pans!

My diced sweet potatoes and carrots for veggie side dish

Wednesday Night:
Last week, around 6am, I was in the car with a sleeping Macie, on the way to get her tubes put in. I was lucky enough to hear a radio ad for Trader Joes and their fresh *Glatt Kosher* turkeys that are pre-salted/brined. These turkeys are so well preserved, they can sit in your fridge for a few weeks which makes them the most convenient food item I have encountered. This turkey has been waiting for us in our garage fridge for over a week…

I am using Anne Burell’s roasting method which can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/brined-herb-crusted-turkey-with-apple-cider-gravy-recipe/index.html

Obviously, I didn’t brine it and wont be using cinnamon sticks or apple cider and - oops - just realized I didn’t put the apples in.

I only used 1/2 the herb butter. I see lots of herb toast in my future…

All dried and ready to be slathered…

Veggies and herbs ready for the bird…

Slathered and trussed and ready for the fridge. See you tomorrow!!

My bread cubes drying out overnight (hopefully) for this Crockpot Stuffing:

http://busycooks.about.com/od/sidedishrecipes/r/cptraditionstuf.htm

I will be up bright and early to start our new Thanksgiving tradition of doughnuts and waffles!

Thanksgiving Day:

Our new tradition of making doughnuts was a success! I used this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Glazed-Yeast-Doughnuts/Detail.aspx

I used Smart Balance Light, in an attempt to lighten things up before we gorged ourselves for the rest of the day.

I wasn’t sure about the dough for the apple pie because I used Smart Balance Light, but it was perfect.

This is the recipe I used, the crust recipe is linked to it:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/apple-crumb-pie

*Lots* of granny smith apples, 1/8th inch slices, but it does make a big difference.

…after 40 minutes in the oven, the crumble goes on…

It was done after another 40 minutes in the oven, and although it was really juicy, it needed to cool for 6 hours.

Crockpot stuffing:
Having sautéed the veggies the other day made this dish so easy. I ended up turning off the Crockpot after 4 hours and left it in there for about an hour and a half. It was amazing.

http://busycooks.about.com/od/sidedishrecipes/r/cptraditionstuf.htm

I took the turkey out at 2 hours and 45 minutes. I think it could have come out a few minutes earlier, but it was still delicious. I didn’t taste any of the herbs from the butter, but I don’t mind a simple roast turkey, especially with an amazing gravy.

This is my new, nifty, fat separator…so I could put the fat right back into the pot for the roux. The recipe called for the turkey juices and extra stock, but I only used the juices and it was plenty.

I am not sure why it was so pale, but I really don’t care…I could have licked this pot clean.

The finished product, the perfect Thanksgiving plate…

This was our Thanksgiving table…we sat there for an entire 30 minutes :) I bought a roll of butcher paper and *new* markers for the kids. They loved the surprise. We will bring out their masterpieces next Thanksgiving and make new ones each year.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope you enjoyed your week of cooking as much as I have.

Country Captain

2009-11-08T07:03:00.002-06:00

Every time Danny and I watch Throwdown on the Food Network, I get a major craving for whatever it is that they are making. Usually, it isn’t something one can just whip up, so I was really excited on Wednesday night when we turned on the Country Captain Throwdown and saw that I could actually make it with the right planning. Thursday night I went to get my produce and did most of the chopping needed. I prepped my chicken legs/thighs on Friday morning and, like Rachael always says, they waited for me and not the other way around :)

Here is the recipe from the winning Lee Brothers:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/lee-bros-country-captain-recipe/index.html

I followed it pretty closely, except for using bacon and leaving the skin on the chicken. I didn’t use chicken broth, I felt that it had enough flavor going on and didn’t have the time for broth. When it came time to put everything in the oven, I had to split the chicken into two Pyrex dishes and I wouldn’t do that again, the thighs didn’t cook as evenly as they would have in something flatter. Next time, I am going to simmer it on the stove in two large pans. When it was time to eat, I put the chicken back into a skillet and warmed it that way. As Bobby Flay did with his dish, I drizzled honey over it before serving. Danny felt that the flavors could have been stronger, but they were perfect for me. This made a lot of chicken – I used four huge legs and thighs – so I have two packs of Country Captain dinner in the freezer. I had wanted to serve Bobby Flay’s Coconut Rice, but didn’t read the recipe first to see that you use the coconut milk as half the liquid, but the white rice was perfect with such a complex dish. Next week…puffy tacos! :)

Tofu and Pan Fried Noodles

2009-11-02T21:05:00.002-06:00

A few months ago, I went to Whole Foods and picked up some Extra Firm Tofu and couldn’t wait to convert Danny to a tofu lover like myself. I looked up how to prepare it properly, but screwed it up with an inedible marinade. Today, I had a few extra minutes in my insane day, so we ran into Whole Foods and I bought three containers of tofu, which is the cheapest protein out there - $1.29!! – and that’s at Whole Foods!!

Here is the process: http://hubpages.com/hub/How_to_Cook_Tofu_Like_the_Pros

I didn’t marinate the tofu, I heated up a teaspoon of peanut oil and stir fried it with some cut up red pepper and then poured on the sauce at the end. The sauce recipe is from Spice and Spirit, with some adjustments:

1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. water
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of ground ginger
few drops of sesame oil

I pan fried some egg noodles which were not picture-worthy and Danny and I enjoyed an amazing tofu dinner :)

Shabbat Cookies

2009-11-01T06:54:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, Amelia asked for frosted cookies with yellow and blue frosting for Shabbat. After spending almost an hour rolling, baking, and frosting, I started scooping, sprinkling, and baking :) I love my Wilton Dyes!

Now, that’s spicy!

2009-10-07T15:16:00.002-05:00

Good thing my mom didn’t stay for dinner tonight because this chicken came out spicy! I only had half the chicken that it called for so all the flavor concentrated and was *hot*.

This is from Meal-Lean-I-Yumm…

4 chix breasts
1/2 a lemon, juiced – I used 2 TBSP OJ
1/2 tsp: paprika, cayenne, chili powder, salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 TBSP olive oil

I sliced the chix breasts into strips, baked 400F for 15 minutes or so, until done, but still juicy. I threw the pita in at the end and it was warm and perfect.

Mommy’s Chicken Nuggets

2009-10-07T15:11:00.003-05:00

They don’t come from the bag and aren’t in cute heart or moon shapes, so they aren’t the real thing in the kids’ eyes, but everyone ate and was happy…

I breaded them in white cornmeal and paprika and added a little salt and pepper to my egg coating. Olive oil and a few minutes of pan frying and a healthy dinner was on the table.

Rosa Bubbie’s Cabbage Noodles

2009-10-07T15:02:00.003-05:00

The other day, I was telling Danny about the book I was reading for Book Club – Up From Orchard Street – and about it’s main character, Bubbie Manya. The lady cooked for a living and treated everyone in the neighborhood like they were family. Danny always talks about his two Bubbies’ fabulous cooking. Anna Bubbie still makes Danny his favorite blintzes when we come to town and, from what I have heard, he never left Rosa Bubbie’s house hungry. One of Danny’s all time favorites of Rosa Bubbie’s was her cabbage noodles so I decided to make them for Sukkot. I looked up this recipe and they came out just the way Danny remembered them. I didn’t get pictures of the original batch, but here is a shot of my mid-afternoon snack :) Since neither of us love to eat huge pieces of cabbage, I am going to chop it finely next time so it can flavor the dish, but we wont know it is there :)

More Rosh Hashanah Goodness

2009-10-07T14:55:00.002-05:00

Honey Rugalech from Spice and Spirit Cookbook:

2 packs dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. margarine (I used Smart Balance Light)
1/2 c. honey
3 eggs
5 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. OJ or non-dairy creamer (I used OJ)

Filling: 3/4 c. cocoa and 3/4 c. sugar (you will have extra…)

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water and add sugar, let stand until bubbly.

In saucepan, melt margarine. Pour into large bowl and add remaining ingredients, including yeast mixture, and mix until well combined. Form dough into ball and cover with wax paper. Freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.

Remove dough and divide into six parts and shape into the cutest little rugelach you have ever seen. I didn’t do it the “proper” way, I did it the simple way and they were just as delicious! I froze 1/4 of the dough and pulled it out last week and made cinnamon/sugar rugalech for Danny. Yummy :)

Apple Cinnamon Challah Rolls

Smells like Rosh Hashanah

2009-09-17T22:44:00.003-05:00

Recipes to come…I know noone is going to run and make these recipes tomorrow. If you are, email me – I will be home all day *cooking* :)

Potato Kugel- by the time it went into the fridge, the entire length of the 9x13 pan had been taste tested…

Challah stuffing- lots of egg whites makes it really fluffy. I have no plans for this dish, just something to have in the house this weekend cuz it’s soooo good.

Apple challah. These are the cutest little challahs made by Leo and his friends who come to my house each week for a little class.

I used the leftover dough to make my own version. I will make another batch tomorrow. I made my regular challah dough, but added 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon and it made a huge difference. Leo went to sleep asking for more apple challah ;)

Honey Apple muffins. We made these last week with my class and they were a hit. I made these for the kids to nosh on all weekend.

Stay tuned tomorrow for….rugelach :)

No Pots!

2009-09-13T22:06:00.003-05:00

Grilled chicken breast, potato and corn. Still licking my lips :)

Grilled Chuck Steak

2009-09-07T22:28:00.003-05:00

I was at Hungarian on Friday and picked up this Middle Chuck Steak for $4.99/lb with plans to grill it up tonight. I love cheap cuts of meat, but know that they have to be taken care of or they will come out tough and what’s the point of that?

I looked at a few recipes online and most of them said to marinate the meat for 8-24 hours. Um, no. There was one recipe that called for baking it at 325F for 1 1/4 hours. I decided that we would try grilling it, with indirect heat, at about 325-350F and hoped for an amazing result. I did a quick marinade – soy sauce, lots of crushed garlic, fresh thyme, and chopped onion. I let the meat sit and marinate only as long as it took the grill to heat up. When Danny was ready for the steak, I patted it dry, but left the garlic and thyme on top since it wasn’t going to be flipped at all. Danny manned the grill and had it on there for about 1 hour when we checked the temp and everything looked and smelled incredible. The perfect meal to end a very long weekend! :)

Lemon Thyme Brined Chicken

2009-09-06T20:06:00.002-05:00

I usually wait till the end to say how amazingly delicious a meal is, but I just can’t help myself! Danny and I practically licked the carcass dry. We saved 1/2 a breast and one thigh, but polished off the rest of the meat. I had never brined anything before, but will definitely be doing it again. Incredible!

You can look up “brines” online and there is a science to it, but here is what I did. This comes from our Weber Grilling Cookbook…

Into a large pot:
1 c. kosher salt
1 c. brown sugar (called for white…)
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 lemons, cut in half and juiced
1 gallon cold water
3-4lb whole chicken

Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken, pat dry and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp pepper, inside and out. Inside cavity, put 6-8 spring fresh thyme and 4-6 cloves garlic, crushed. Tie up legs and grill until the breast come to 170F. It only took our chicken 45 min to come temperature. On the side, grilled potatoes and coleslaw. It doesn’t get much better ;)

Orange Teriyaki Chicken

2009-09-06T19:52:00.003-05:00

This is adapted from Noreen Giletz’s Meal-Lean-I-Yumm! cookbook:

Marinade:
2 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 to 2 tsp minced ginger (I used 1/8 tsp dried ginger)

I doubled the recipe and marinated 3-4 lbs of chicken thighs at room temp for 30 minutes. I baked the chicken at 375F for about an hour and a half, sometimes covered, sometimes not. About 30 minutes into cooking, I removed the chicken and made a bed of diced sweet potatoes, carrots and onions and put the chicken back. Yum! :)

Crunchy Fish

2009-09-06T08:55:00.002-05:00

Last week, I pan-fried some tilapia chunks and the result was really yummy “crunchy fish” that the big kids and Macie gobbled up. Here’s the easiest recipe that your kids will love:

1. Chunk up 2 tilapia filets (from SAMS – best thing to keep in the fridge for quick meals)
2. Make a breading of whole wheat bread crumbs (from Whole Foods), parmesan cheese, dried basil and salt and pepper
3. Dip in beat egg
4. Pan fry the fish until yummy and crunchy

Passover (or anytime) Matzo Balls

2009-08-17T22:31:00.003-05:00

I made these melt-in-your-mouth delicious matzah balls a few weeks ago when I was deathly ill. The thing about matzah balls is that they are good in soup, on their own, steaming hot or at room temp. The kids love them and so do I. A friend requested the recipe and now I am craving them. Chicken soup and matzah balls just might be on the menu this week. Yum :)

From the back of the Streits Matzah Meal box (which I doubled):

1 c. matzah meal
4 large eggs
1/4 c. oil or melted margarine
1/4 c. water or seltzer
1 tsp salt or to taste
pinch of ground pepper
Beat eggs. Add water, oil, salt and pepper and mix well. Add matzah meal and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate for 1/2 to 1 hour.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Moisten fingers and form mixture into balls about 1” diameter. Drop matzah balls into water and reduce heat to low when they are all in. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes and remove with slotted spoon.

Kefta? Kufta? Kefto?

2009-07-20T21:11:00.003-05:00

When I was cleaning out the fridge today, I noticed the container of (delicious!!) tehina I made last Friday to go with the falafel. I did not want such yumminess to go to waste so I decided to make Kefta. Afterall, I had extra pita in the freezer and parsley in the fridge. I searched around for recipes and found, not only a gatrillion recipes, but a gazillion different names for the same dish. I didn’t have the time nor the hands to write any of the recipes down, so I remembered what I could and played it by ear.

This is what I did:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

I made long rolls and baked them at 350F for about 15 minutes and then turned them over end broiled them for a few minutes. Danny got a work page just before dinner so I brought him his in the office and before I could even make mine, he was in the kitchen giving me kisses and telling me how delicious it was (check FB status for all disbelievers!). I ate mine on Amelia’s bed because it’s her turn to not feel well. When I got back to the kitchen to add a little into my pita tush, I realized I never took a picture of the final product. The pita tush will just have to do :)

Falafel

2009-07-18T22:16:00.002-05:00

This was the second recipe I pulled out for this week and it was *amazing*. I have tried falafel before, I have baked it, semi-fried it, but if you want authentic falafel, you must fry the darn things.
I cut this one out of the Chicago Tribune Good Eating section many month ago and saved it from Macie’s hands last week (I had to piece it back together to read it), but I am glad I kept it and tried it. I am not a major fryer, but this is a great summer meal. I had alot of leftover falafel mix so I froze it in balls. I have no idea how it will thaw, but I figured that hummus freezes well and whole chickpeas freeze well so my chances are pretty good.

Here is the link to the recipe, enjoy!

For the tehina sauce, I looked at a couple of recipes and ended up doing (I think), 3/4 c. tehina, 1/2 c. hot water, 1/2 c. lemon juice, salt and 1 small clove garlic smashed. I could have licked the bowl…:)

It doesn’t have to be colorful to be flavorful

2009-07-18T22:04:00.002-05:00

Tilapia with Danny’s new favorite, sweet potato fries, and leftover rice brought back to life with a little soy sauce and sesame seeds.

Apple, peach crisp…yummy, but not as good as last week’s because I used Fuji instead of Gala and they didn’t cook down enough. I actually kept the extra topping from last week in the freezer which made it a sinch to throw together.

Baked Egg Rolls

2009-07-18T22:00:00.002-05:00

I have a huge manila folder with cut out/printed out recipes that I hold onto, but rarely try out. In an attempt to skim it out a bit, I am going to try to make a couple of those recipes every week. Last Sunday, I pulled two out and I actually made both of them. This was from Cooking Lights website and I will not be making this one again. The filling was amazing. Of course, anything that has onions, garlic and fresh ginger has to be. I also loved working with the large egg roll wrappers. There was just something about the baking process that made the wrapper gummy and not very tasty. The following day, I ripped open the wrappers and mixed the filling with some leftover pasta and some extra soy sauce.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-06T16:15:00.002-05:00

I am on dessert duty tonight for the big Willis BBQ so the decision to make cookies was a no brainer. I don’t love having the oven on, but it isn’t for too long and I really like cookies! I wasn’t sure what kind until someone on FB mentioned a Banana White Chocolate Chip Loaf (I will get that recipe soon…) and I wondered about doing a Banana Choc Chip Cookie. Here is the recipe I kinda sorta used, but not really. I love these cookies because I cut so much sugar and fat that I don’t feel guilty sending these to work in Danny’s lunch or noshing on them at home. I bet I could sneak even more WW flour and noone would notice.

These are the ingredients I used:
2 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (baby steps…)
1 tsp baking powder (ppl said to do that in the reviews so I listened)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. smart balance light
2 eggs
dash of vanilla
3 mashed bananas
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

I ended up lowering the oven to 375F after my bottoms were getting too dark. Just watch your cookies or they will look like my first (test) batch. Don’t worry, I took care of those…:)

Whole Wheat Pasta and Chicken

2009-07-05T23:38:00.002-05:00

On Friday, we had grilled chicken drumsticks for dinner and I had Danny grill the thighs also, either to freeze or have over the weekend. Turns out, there was nothing left to freeze after we had chicken topped salads for lunch and chicken and potatoes for dinner on Saturday and this healthy and delicious meal for dinner tonight. And, no, I am not even chickened-out…and I am thrilled that Danny actually ate whole wheat pasta and enjoyed it :)

BBQ rub on the drumsticks:
1 tsp each, black pepper, thyme, paprika, chili powder, celery seed
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each ground mustard, cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar (or to taste)

Southwest marinade on thighs:
1/2 c. OJ
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I used apple cider)
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each, pepper, cinnamon

Daring Bakers Challenge – June 2009 - Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

2009-06-27T23:44:00.002-05:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
----
After each month’s challenge, we have to wait a few days before the next challenge is revealed. I check the website daily, just in case they post the challenge early; that’s how excited I am. It never fails, however, that every month I wait too long to do the challenge. I didn’t even think I could do this month’s challenge, but I threw it together and have 30 minutes to spare!

As always, I used Smart Balance Light. I was going to use butter, but I didn’t have any in the house. I also didn’t have ground almonds, so I used ground walnuts and vanilla extract. I am about to take it out of the oven, shoot a picture and upload. Smells good!! and it was very tasty :) Danny finished his before I could finish this post and he threatened that if I didn’t hurry, he would eat mine also. Gotta go!!

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimated for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

2009-06-17T14:24:00.002-05:00

After such a rainy day, I couldn’t help but turn the oven on with a craving for some freshly baked cake. I had some strawberries holding their own in the fridge and remembered this recipe that I had seen on Nosh With Me. I also used applesauce and made my own buttermilk concoction. The crunchy sugary topping was my favorite part. Yum :)

Asian Style Tilapia

2009-06-17T14:15:00.002-05:00

Last night, I made this very easy, very yummy, very pantry friendly Asian Style Tilapia. I love the individually wrapped tilapia from SAMS, they defrost quickly in warm water and cook up in minutes. These ended up baking for about 20 minutes at 425-450F because of all the liquid and veggies, but the carrots and peppers came out crunchy and perfect. I followed the recipe exactly and added a few drops of sesame oil – you can’t do Asian food without it.

Pizza Dough

2009-06-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

Pizza is a definite favorite meal in this house. This is the recipe I have been using forever. I make two batches of dough which comes out to two cookie sheet pizza and a small personal pizza (I use the toaster oven pan). There isn’t much left when we are done, and the leftovers are just as good the next day (if they last that long…).

Don’t Tell!

2009-06-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

Did you see the pictures on my other blog? See those yummy cupcake crumbs? Well, I made those cupcakes for our trip to the Planetarium and usually replace all the oil with applesauce. Since I didn’t have any on hand at 10:00pm (oy!), I used Macie’s prune puree that I had made that day. I wasn’t too sure how they would turn out so I only replaced 1/2 the oil – 1/4 c. prune puree and 1/4 c. oil. Danny’s “only complaint is that they were too moist, the crumbs turned into mush and get into everything…” Here’s a hint, get the whole thing in your mouth! Yum :)

Yet Another Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

2009-06-11T20:47:00.001-05:00

I always buy the 5 lb cottage cheese from SAMS Club and am always looking for ways to use it up before it expires. Tonight, I decided to make Mac and Cheese with it. I looked up recipes and they all had cottage cheese, sour cream and cheese and TONS of fat. Here is what went into mine:

1 lb rigatoni - cooked
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
2 rounded soup spoons of reduced fat sour cream
4 soup spoons of skim milk
2 c. reduced fat cheddar cheese
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tobasco sauce
Mix everything together and top with seasoned breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350F until bubbly and then broil until golden brown. Amelia had three helpings and “loved the cottage cheese”. Danny preferred the “regular one” and I could eat either recipe every night for dinner. Leo had plain macaroni noodles with parmesan :)

(Last Week’s Chicken) and Sweet Potato Fries

2009-06-11T20:36:00.003-05:00

It’s been a rough two weeks and not a lot of cooking took place in this kitchen. Sunday and Monday, we ate dinner out and Tuesday, I sent Danny to the butcher to get me a rib eye steak – I was craving meat SO badly. We scarfed those babies down so fast, there were no time for pictures.

Last night, I took out last week’s chicken (the post below!) and made some spicy sweet potato fries with a little salt and cayenne pepper. No oil, just some Pam and 450F and the only thing I did wrong was make too few. I will know better for next time.

Can't Stop Cookin'

Kitchen Goodies

More Veggie Offerings…

Still Trekking Along…and feeling great!

V.I.T–Vegan in Training

Meat Knish

Pita Bread

Great Tofu Burgers

Tofu Burger Ingredients:

Tofu Burger Directions:

Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels

Thanksgiving Treats

Roasted Eggplant Spread

OPA’S BASHIS–Water Challah

Waffle Donuts…or are they Donut Waffles??

Turkey Breast

Father’s Day

Cream Cheese Blintzes

Tomatillo Chicken

Anniversary Treats

Sesame Tahini-Oat Cookies (Oogiyot Tahina)

Spicy Black Bean Chili

Argentinian Potato Meat Pie (Pastel de Papa)

Not Pickled Brisket

Classic Cheesecake

Pizza with Fresh Tomatoes

Chicken in Coconut Milk

Chicken under a brick…kinda

Birthday Cake #2 – Candy Melts Galore

Birthday Cake #1 – Cupcake Cake

Daring Bakers – January 2010 - Nanaimo Bars

Candy Coated Pretzels

Chicken Pot Pie With Whole Wheat Crust

Pretzel Rolls

Daring Bakers – December 2009 – Gingerbread Houses

Our Chinese Dinner Party

Old-Time Beef Stew

Breaded Chicken with Apricot Sauce

My First *Real* Cake

Chicken Stir Fry

Chicken Soup with Dumplings

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Daring Bakers – November 2009 - Cannoli

Turkey Week

Country Captain

Tofu and Pan Fried Noodles

Shabbat Cookies

Now, that’s spicy!

Mommy’s Chicken Nuggets

Rosa Bubbie’s Cabbage Noodles

More Rosh Hashanah Goodness

Smells like Rosh Hashanah

No Pots!

Grilled Chuck Steak

Lemon Thyme Brined Chicken

Orange Teriyaki Chicken

Crunchy Fish

Passover (or anytime) Matzo Balls

Kefta? Kufta? Kefto?

Falafel

It doesn’t have to be colorful to be flavorful

Baked Egg Rolls

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whole Wheat Pasta and Chicken

Daring Bakers Challenge – June 2009 - Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Frangipane

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Asian Style Tilapia

Pizza Dough

Don’t Tell!

Yet Another Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

(Last Week’s Chicken) and Sweet Potato Fries

My First Real Cake