KT's Kitchen

blackeyed peas :-)

2012-01-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can blackeyed peas, drained and rinsed several times
1 large onion, diced
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
2-3 cups water or vegetable broth
1 block frozen chopped spinach
1 tablespoon sugarsalt + pepper
pinch of basil
garlic cloves
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions1. in large nonstick soup pot, heat oil over high and saute onions + sugar until brown
2. add blackeye peas, diced tomatoes, and water. reduce heat to low and cook, seasoning as you go.
3. add spinach, stir over medium/low heat until spinach is thawed and dispersed throughout.
4. serve with cornbread and enjoy!

sweet chicken salad

2011-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

1 cup chicken breast

1/3 cup red onion

1/3 cup green apple

tbsp raisins

tbsp candied walnuts

green onion

salt & pepper

tbsp mayo with olive oil

Ricotta Cheese Hotcakes

2011-07-25T18:14:00.001-07:00

Thai Basil Chicken, done my way

2011-07-01T14:54:00.001-07:00

Ingredients

1 lb chicken tenders

snow peas (couple handfuls)

1 large sweet onion, sliced thin

thai chili peppers (to taste, i use big handful)

sri racha (red chili sauce)

2 tbsp chopped thai basil leaves

soy sauce and/or teriyaki (the sweet soy sauce kind, not the thick stuff)

1-2 tpsb oil (peanut or vegetable)

1-2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

chopped garlic cloves (to taste)

bean sprouts for topping

limes, quartered

Mmmm this is my favorite thing to eat. I had tried a thousand ways to make this but none came close to tasting authentic until central market started selling jars of thai basil leaves (check out the asian isle) and thai chili peppers in produce. I'd made it with regular fresh sweet basil, Jalapeno and lots of sri racha, and it was good, but it wasn't thai. Now it is. You can totally substitute peppers (or omit them altogether) and use normal basil, but its worth the extra effort to get the real stuff if you consider yourself a connoisseur of thai food. Like I do.

Everything else in this dish is pretty much "to taste". Changing the amount of garlic or peppers is not going to mess with the cooking process.

My method for getting this so good is to marinade it for hours and cook it all in one of those "oven bags". It's just a plastic bag you bake in, Reynold's makes it but HEB's generic is cheaper. These things are so worth it-- the meat is super tender and you don't have to clean out the baking dish. After its baked, the chicken easily cuts into pieces and then I stirfry it all together.

Here's the steps, enjoy:

1. throw into an oven bag the chicken tenders, snow peas, and thai peppers with the stems pulled off. Unless you love pain a LOT, you're going to want to leave these whole as to easily avoid them when you're eating. They hurt. They are very, very hot. They're just there for flavor so be careful!

2. add chopped garlic, fish sauce, sri racha and then pour a few cups of soy sauce on top until all the chicken and veggies are submerged in liquid. let this sit for a few hours.

3. while cooking rice (I do brown rice in the oven) chop the sweet onions and sautee them with a splash of peanut oil and the brown sugar. I cook them til they're browned but still snappy.

4. place the oven bag in a baking dish at bake at 375f for 30-35 minutes.

5 cut a hole in the corner of the oven bag and let the liquid drain out

6. put the chicken on a cutting board and cut it into pieces. snow peas too if you want them in smaller chunks.

7. throw chicken and veggies in with the onions with the flame on high. sautee for a few minutes and serve over rice, with lime juice and bean sprouts :-)

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Wedges

2011-03-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Sweet potatoes are soooo delicious. They are very different than their fellows in the potato family, both in flavor and methods of cooking. Oven-roasted potatoes are a nearly foolproof dish-- chop the potatoes, toss them in a bit of oil and spices, and bake at a high temperature, flipping once. Sweet potatoes aren't as simple; if you followed this easy method with them, they would cook in their own juices and be soggy, as opposed to crisp and delicious.
Though a step longer, the recipe for roasting sweet potato wedges is still pretty darn easy. First you need to dry them out, placing them (on a rack) in the oven at a low temperature. Then, toss them in oil and increase the temperature- bake on more time directly on the sheet, flipping once.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar*
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

*note: sugar seems a bit redundant in a recipe for "sweet potatoes", but I find they don't brown as nicely and evenly without. With salt and pepper added, it shouldn't taste extra sweet.

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a cookie sheet with foil (or grease). Place a wire rack on the baking sheet.

2. Peel potatoes and cut them in half. Slice each half into 4-8 wedges, depending on the size of your potatoes and the thickness you prefer.

3. Arrange the wedges on top of the wire rack, not touching the cookie sheet directly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until slightly shriveled and dry looking.

4. Place wedges in a bowl. Remove the wire rack from the cookie sheet, but put the cookie sheet back in the oven to stay hot. Preheat the oven to 475F.

5. Gently toss wedges with oil, salt, sugar, and pepper until all are evenly coated. When the oven is ready, arrange the wedges directly on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

6. Enjoy!

homemade nutella omfg

2011-02-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

This was bound to happen eventually.

Anybody who has spent five minutes talking to me knows how much I love Nutella. Seriously. The Ferrero company should compensate me for being a one-woman PR campaign for them-- & such compensation should of course be in the form of multiple jars of Nutella.
Ferrero definitely needs my help. First I think they should rename their delectable chocolate-hazelnut spread. Only the 'nut' part of Nutella is relevant in any way-- I think they could pick a way more descriptive name to push more product. Like, call it what it is-- Spreadable Heaven? Sex in a Jar? (Tagline should read, "better than Midol!") I mean seriously. This stuff is way too good to be legal.

I first discovered this European "spread" a few years ago. It instantly became my favorite thing to spread on toast (sorry, peanut butter). I quickly went from a simple slather-on-toast to putting Nutella into any and every dessert recipe I could think of (see recipes for my hand-made pop-tarts and a Nutella swirled bunt cake). Last summer on my 23rd birthday, I adamantly demanded that NOBODY make me a birthday cake, that I HAD to make it myself, because it HAS to have Nutella in it. Yeah, it's like that with me. Nothing comes between me and my Nutella.

Lately I've been in a bit of a 'food rut', just making my same old trusty stand-bys, haven't really had time to tackle anything new. I was perusing FoodGawker.com when my friend Dago posted a link on my Facebook wall that read, "DEEP FRIED NUTELLA". It was all downhill from there. I'm not a huge fan of fried things, but reading the recipe did get my mouth watering for some Nutella. I checked my pantry-- my jar of Nutella had been totally scraped clean. I was out. I started to get sweaty and panic.

And then I got a brilliant idea- instead of buying a new jar, I could fulfill my craving for Nutella and my desire to make something new in the kitchen-- I would make my own Nutella. Yes. Its like my two favorite worlds colliding. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?? After all, the American version of Nutella is made differently than it's more respectable European counterpart. Instead of sugar, its high fructose corn syrup. It's loaded with palm oil to keep the texture smooth, and enough preservatives that it needs no refrigeration. (Also, a handful of hazelnuts is pricier than a huge jar of Nutella, which makes you sort of wonder how they get it so cheap...) I hate to knock my favorite thing in the world, but these are hard facts to ignore. So I set out to make a (slightly) healthier, homemade version of Nutella. I found a dozen recipes, no two were alike in any way. It's one of those really flexible recipes, and can be tweaked to your taste.

The biggest "complaint" I found on the food blogosphere about homemade Nutella (yeah some idiots actually had complaints....) was that the smooth texture was difficult to replicate. Well, this is a total non-issue to me. I have strange tastes-- I like my toast burnt, my cereal dry... and apparently, I loooove Nutella with a little bit of grit. This was so good, I'm not sure that I'll ever go back to the packaged stuff.

***Side note: I learned something today. Evaporated milk is just regular milk with a lot of the water taken out, and it's about 60% the amount of the milk it was made from. So if you ever don't have milk, like me, a can of evaporated milk with an equal part of water can substitute just fine.
******Side side note: I learned also that something exists called "powdered milk". Weeeirrrdd... At first I couldn't find it at H-E-B, then I noticed it on the bottom-most shelf of the baking isle. The entire can was printed in spanish, but COINCIDENTALLY (or not...?) the powdered milk was manufactured by Ferrero!

Ingredients

1.5 c whole milk
2/3 c powdered milk
1.5 c raw hazelnuts
1 c dark chocolate chips
1 c milk chocolate chips
1 tbsp honey/agave nectar

This is a surprisingly quick and easy recipe to make. You need a good food processor-- if yours is a small one, cut the recipe in half.

1. Place hazelnuts on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Toast them suckers for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until they are brown and fragrant.

2. This step is optional (Skip it if you like grit). Place the toasted hazelnuts in a tea cloth and rub them around until their dark brown skins come off. This is easier the longer they are toasted.

3. Throw the hazelnuts in the food processor and grind until it makes a peanut butter-like consistency. At first it will just be chopped hazelnuts, then grains of hazelnut... but keep on processing until it is thick and wet looking and all sticking together.

4. Place the milk and powdered milk in a saucepan on the stove and heat until hot (but don't boil it). Gradually toss in the chocolate chips and whisk constantly until smooth.

5. Add the chocolate-milk mixture to the food processor and mix that shit up. It will be a lot runnier than actual Nutella but keep in mind that is because it is VERY hot. It will become spreadable once it cools off.

6. Pour your heaven into a jar and refrigerate. Enjoy!!

The best. pasta. dish. ever.

2011-02-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

Yeah, its creamy and green. Yeah it looks a bit funky. But this is THE tastiest pasta dish I have ever tried. And I made it myself! With just a handful of simple ingredients and a food processor. The entire recipe takes about 20 minutes to whip up. There is no cream in this pasta at all. What makes it so creamy and good then? AVOCADO (omg yummy).

This is definitely the good twin to alfredo's evil twin. When made with whole wheat pasta this is so healthy. Avocado is loaded with monounsaturated fatty acids (that's the "good" kind of fat) and has more potassium than bananas! (Also note: avocado is a berry. Who knew?)

Ingredients
1 medium avocado, peeled & pitted
1/2 lemon
Fresh Basil
2 big garlic cloves
Lemon Zest
Salt & Pepper
6 oz. whole wheat pasta

Throw the avocado in the food processor with fresh basil and garlic. Squeeze juice from lemon half into the mixture. Blend until creamy and add salt and pepper to taste. Lemon zest is optional, but it adds a really nice texture. Boil the pasta and strain it. Immediately throw the avocado sauce in and mix well. Serve immediately!

Sugar Cookies!

2011-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

I'm not sharing the recipe I used because it was FAR from perfect. It was a great attempt though, and my grandmas sure appreciated them. One is christian, the other a Jew, so I was forced to go with the innocuous "snowflake" design which only evokes thoughts of winter. Ain't they pretty?
Definitely keeping sugar cookies on my list of things to perfect. Expect to see another post on this soon...

Spinach Feta Puffs

2010-07-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

MMmm!!!

Ingredients
1 lb or a bag of fresh spinach
4-8 oz of feta cheese
3 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2-4 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 frozen puff pastry sheets

These are easy to make, especially since I buy frozen puff pastry sheets. First, thaw the puff pastry sheets for at least 30 minutes, you can do this while preparing the spinach mixture. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter (or olive oil) into the pan and sautee first the onions, until slightly browned. Then add the garlic for the last few minutes. Add a few handfuls of spinach and sautee a small amount at a time, adding the remaining butter as needed to keep the mixture coated. Once done, throw the mixture into a colander to drain. Add to a bowl with the feta cheese and mix the two together quickly. Then, coat the spinach-feta on the unfolded parchment paper sheets, leaving a margin on all sides. Roll the sheet up, and cut slices as thick as you want them. Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on how thick yours were cut. Yum!!!

Pho!!

2010-07-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

My favorite vietnamese dish is definitely pho soup. If you don't know, pho is vietnamese "beef noodle" soup. That makes it sound so plain- there is so much more to it than that. I can't believe I can get a large order of it, complete with fresh basil, cilantro, and everything else, for just $7. It cost way more than that to make it because of the long ingredient list. It is a simple soup however, so if you're feeding a crowd or have a few ingredients growing in your backyard, it's worth making. The best part is, the broth is given alongside all of the fresh ingredients, so each person can assemble their own bowl to their liking. Can't go wrong there!

Ingredients

Beef broth (I use a low sodium version)
Rice noodles
1/2-1 lb steak pieces, brisket, chicken or even tofu (it needn't be beef)
1 red onion, sliced into thin strips
fresh cilantro
fresh basil
green onion
garlic cloves
jalapeno or thai chili pepper, sliced
bean sprouts
lime slices

Crawfish Boil!

2010-06-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Crawfish, crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs.. whatever your region calls the little fuckers... this was the most unique cooking experience I've had so far. For one, I had never had crawfish, ever. Especially after dissecting one in a biology lab-- I said, "people SUCK the heads out of these things?" with bewildered amazement. But, always in the spirit of trying new things (and being quite hungry for some spicy seafood as well) I decided to give it a go. It was in my friend Jared's backyard; his good friend from Louisiana had all the equipment; the big outdoor pot, the propane tank, and a gigantic wooden spoon. Jared and I went to Fiesta up in on 35N to buy their last bag of the crawfishdaddybugs, a 42 pound sack, to be exact. It's the tail end of crawfish season, so we were in luck. A few pounds of red potatoes, a couple ears of corn, lots of lemons, garlic, and a big bag of Louisiana brand crawfish and crab boil seasoning. (The seasoning weighed over a pound itself).

First, what we do is cut open the bag of crawfish. We didn't have a watercooler or tank, and even though I suggested a cheap kiddie pool to do the trick, Jared had already sliced open the bag... in his bathtub. Crazy huh? I bet its going to smell like crawfish in there for WEEKS.

The first thing you do is "purge" the crawfish. Or, to be more accurate, you let the crawfish purge themselves. Since they're mud-dwellers, and eat things in mud, their digestive tracks are dirty and muddy. We fill the tub with enough water to submerge the little bugs, then we poured a very large amount of Kosher salt over them. Stir, wait a few minutes, then rinse. The water turns dark brown as these little salt-averted creatures puke up their guts. SO appetizing to think about! We rinse them clean, and then go prepare the other foods.

We read a great deal online about crawfish boils, and decided on adding powdered seasoning, lemon halves (squeezed and the rind thrown in), corn on the cob, red potatoes, 10-12 cloves of garlic, and, you know, the crawfish.

add spice, take a whiff

First, we bring the water to a boil. Then, add the seasoning, and wait until the boil is rolling and fast. Then we add in the vegetables in the colander, letting them cook for 5 minutes or so, and then adding the crawfish. (We only used about 20 pounds in the first batch... around half of them). Once the crawfish are in, you return the pot to a rapid boil. Once its bubblin', we turn off the propane and cover those suckers. Letting them steep for 20-30 minutes (We were impatient and went for 15), lets the little bugs soak up all those cajun spices. After that, lift the colander out and pour that delicious feast over a bunch of newspapers. This is definitely an OUTSIDE activity. So messy, and gross. Ten hungry boys, and only I had the female mind to think to bring a roll of towels. And hot oven mitts.

And BOYYY, howdy, was it DELICIOUS! I wish this were something you could cook in smaller batches. (I'm sure you could, in a tall pasta pot on the stove, but since every crawfish only yields a bite or two of good meat, you wouldn't make enough for more than one person.)

So, there it is! My first ever crawfish boil. Now to go bug Jared for some leftovers...

Wheat Berry & Bean Salad

2010-05-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

1/2 cup wheat berries, dry
1 cup frozen edamame
1 can black beans
1/2 finely chopped red onion
2 roma tomatos, chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp spicy mustard
salt and pepper, to taste

Mm Chicken Fried Rice

2010-02-01T10:25:00.001-08:00

Okay- this is one of my favorite things to make but I don't use a recipe! It's super delicious and healthy.
This is very similar to fried rice one would get a Chinese restaurant, however I make a few key substitutions. First, I use brown rice instead of white. Aside from being healthier, I like the texture much better. Brown rice is especially nice when tossed in a frying pan, so it is ideal for this dish. I also substitute edamame (soy beans) for the typical peas. I love peas, but edamame are bigger, tastier, and much more nutritious! One thing I add not ordinarily used at restaurants is red pepper. It adds crunch, color, and a tiny hint of flavor. Nom nom!

So here's an ingredient list, the amounts are not exact!

brown rice (1 cup dry)
shelled edamame (about a cup)
1 small baked chicken breast
2 eggs, scrambled
green onion (one bunch?)
baby carrots (small handful)
bean sprouts (big handful)
soy sauce
splash vegetable oil
SRI RACHA!!!

1. I make the rice in a rice cooker. (Its foolproof...) However, there is ALSO a "foolproof" recipe for brown rice from Cooks Illustrated. This is the one my mom makes all the time, it works perfectly and is MUCH easier than stovetop rice! The recipe can be found here.

2. Prepare! Put the rice on to cook and the chicken breast in the oven. Then, chop the carrots and green onion. Prepare the edamame by the instructions on the bag. Also, scramble your egg slightly undercooked and set it to the side.

3. Sautee them veggies! Get the oil in the pan hot first. I start with the carrots because they need the longest amount of time to soften, and then everything else is up to your preference. I add the bean sprouts last, as I like them to be freshest. Sautee the veggies with a bit of soy sauce and sriracha (if you like your food HOT! Be careful, this stuff is powerful.) Chop the chicken add the egg very last.

4. Add the egg and finally, the rice. Lower heat and stir fry all ingredients together for a few minutes, with soy sauce to taste.

5. Nom, nom, nom nom nom.

Blood Orange Jello Shots

2010-02-01T08:34:00.001-08:00

So I've realised there is an unintentional theme running on this blog. Most the foods I make, are my childhood favorites, with some healthier, grown-up revisions. This one is definitely no exception! We all loved jello as a kid-- I mean, it jiggles & it wiggles and Bill Cosby had a funny voice to go along with it. Here, you'll see I added some, ahem, very grown-up additions, and also a little bit of flair.

It basically goes like this: jello shots in tiny plastic cups= trashy. Jello shots in orange slices= awesome AND eco-friendly.

Use MORE jello than the recipe calls for. Instead of a single-serve box (3oz) gelatin, I used more like 4 oz. You don't want to exactly double it, but if you don't put a bit extra Jello mix, the final product will be a bit gooey and not as firm. The flavor doesn't matter- use whatever color you want.

Follow the recipe on the box, first adding jello to 1 cup boiling water, then stirring in 1 cup freezing vodka. (I used Grey Goose).

Pour the mixture into halved oranges. (The trickiest part is emptying out the orange and keeping the peel in a sphere. Helpful hint= use a grapefruit spoon.)

To keep them from spilling, I set the orange cups in a muffin pan so they would stay upright while chilling in the fridge.

AFTER they are done cooling for 4-6 hours (but preferably overnight), you can take a knife to the excess orange peel, then cut the half into quarters or thirds.

Easy! Delicious! Drunkenness!!

Beef Stew

2010-01-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
1 (14oz) Can Diced tomatoes
1 (10oz) Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Cup Water
1/4 Cup dry White Wine (save the rest for happy hour)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1 1/2 Lbs Beef Stew Meat
6 Carrots
4 ribs Celery
1 Large Potato (I use 2-3 red)
1 Onion Chopped

Mix all ingredients together, cover and bake at 350 for 3 hours.
**or** in a slow cooker on high (5 hours) or low (8 hours)

Lentil Bean Stew

2010-01-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

Yum! Delicous! Double this recipe and freeze some, because you will want lots and lots of this yummy, thick, vegetarian soup.

Ingredients
1 bag lentil beans
8 cups water
handful of chopped carrots
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
splash olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 block (280 grams) frozen chopped spinach

1. First, rinse the lentis good to remove all dirt, make sure there are no rocks in them!
2. Put lentils in water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, meanwhile preparing vegetables.
3. Chop onion and carrots, saute in oil for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and remove from heat.
4. After the lentils and water have cooked for about 20-30 minutes, add the veggies
5. Add block of frozen spinach and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Salt and pepper to taste. Yum! Healthy! Soup! Serve with cornbread :-D

Miniature Blueberry Cheesecake Bites

2009-12-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

YUM.

Okay, I've never made cheesecake before. I don't think I've ever even considered what's in it. There's no flour or anything, so I think its more like a pie than a cake. But I digress. I asked my friend what to make him for his birthday (which was three days ago, oh well) and he said he'd rather have blueberry cheesecake over a traditional birthday cake. So, here I am making cheesecake for the first time.

& It is SUPER easy to make. I decided to make them in cupcake liners because, well, cheesecake (cheesepie?) is very rich, and a bite or two is all you really need. Plus, they cook and cool quicker, so for those of you who are impatient to sample your baked goods- this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients

For The Crust
100 grams of graham crackers (grams of grahams!)
half a stick of butter, melted
tablespoon sugar

For The Cheesecake
16 ounces of cream cheese
4 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

How To Do It
1. Crush the graham crackers until finely crumbled. Add sugar and melted butter and stir. Mixture should be chunky but still pretty crumbly.

2. Spoon tablespoonfuls of crust mixture into cupcake paper-lined muffin tin. Use your thumbs to press the mix down into a solid pat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

3. To make the cheesecake mixture, start with cream cheese at room temperature. Blend well with sour cream and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and the vanilla, mixing well after each addition.

4. Spoon cheese mixture into the cupcake liners, only about 3/4 from the top.

5. Dot the top with blueberries, or another berry if you prefer. I also sprinkled some of the leftover graham cracker mix on the top for a little extra garnish and crunch.

6. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cheesecakes puff up slightly and start to color.

7. Let cool IN BAKING PAN for 15 minutes or so, then remove and let cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

THE Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

2009-12-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

... & I'm VERY picky with chocolate chip cookies!

They were probably the first thing I learned to bake "from scratch"-- following the ingredient list on the back of a bag of TollHouse milk chocolate chips. This is just a variation of those same ingredients (minus any baking powder), yet the ratio makes a much more perfect cookie.

Perfect, to me means they get that good molasses flavor, and turn out slightly crispy on the outside yet still soft in the middle.

These are the perfect cookies.

ingredients:

1 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff)
1 egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl; set aside.

2. cream butter for two minutes. add sugars and cream until well blended. add vanilla and egg.

3. slowly blend whisked flour mixture into the butter mixture.

4. stir in chocolate chips, refrigerate for half an hour.

5. place in rounded balls on parchment paper or a well greased cookie sheet.

6. bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Baked Purple Potato Chips

2009-11-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

Behold! Purple potatoes.

Mmm, mm! Potato chips! Who doesn't love potato chips? And better yet, who doesn't love them when they're PURPLE!

Super easy recipe! Just slice the potatoes (I used "purple fingerling" ones, but any will do) with a mandolin slicer. Then in a bowl, combine with a hefty swig of canola oil and salt and pepper. Place the potato slices on parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes depending on how soft/crispy you want them. Then just try to wait for them to cool off a bit before you eat them all.

Nutella Swirled Bundt Cake

2009-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

Interesting note!
When, at my parents lakehouse, I decided to make a bundt cake, my mom told me her bundt pan was the AUTHENTIC bundt, and she showed me the engraving on the bottom that said "Nordic Ware". Sure enough she was right! Nordic Ware trademarked the bundt in 1950. Read all about the history of this interesting-shaped cake here.

So, I chose to do a nutella swirl cake for two reasons:

1. I LOVE nutella, duhhh.
2. I have never "swirled" a cake before

For the cake recipe, I used the tried-and-true "Basic Yellow Cake" recipe from Martha Stewart (the "other" Martha, as my mom is a Martha, too.) The recipe can be found here. Her recipe calls for one 8-inch cake (about 3 cups of batter). To fit my authentic bundt pan, I doubled her recipe, but if your pan is bigger or smaller, you should adjust accordingly. I will print the recipe doubled as I executed it.

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 2/3 cups cake flour (not self rising)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk

1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Add Vanilla.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt
3. Add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture in small, alternating increments

The Nutella Batter
4. Take 1 cup nutella, blend with one egg
5. Add about 1/3 or slightly less of the cake batter to the nutella mixture and blend

6. Now that you have two batters, marble them together in the bundt pan by layering them and swirling with a knife.
7. Bake at 350 for about an hour
8. Dust with confectioners sugar or, if you really want to go all the way, a thin layer of nutella :-D !!

Chunky Tomato Basil Soup

2009-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

My mom read this blog yesterday for the first time; she made the interesting note that so far I have been remaking all of my childhood favorites. Well, this is certainly no exception. Campbell's tomato soup and grilled cheese was definitely my comfort food. This tomato soup though is way, way better. Its chunky and delicious and perfect for dunking grilled cheese in!

ingredients
3 pounds ripe, hothouse tomatos
2 small yellow onions
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Salt / pepper
Basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup half and half
1 Cup Milk (or stock for a less creamy soup)

1. The first step is to peel the tomatos. You can roast and then peel, but then you loose too much tomato. The best thing to do is blanch the fruits in boiling water for a few minutes, then transfer them immediately to cold water. The skins should just slide off. (Is anyone else a bit grossed out by the fleshiness of raw tomatoes?)

2. Half the peeled tomatoes and throw into a deep roasting pan, with a hearty swig of olive oil and the chopped onion and minced garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper now if you want. Roast at 400 for 25-30 minutes.

3. After roasting, put the tomato mixture into a food processor and puree it.

4. Add the pureed mixture to a soup pot, adding the half and half and the stock/milk as you desire. Then, season and spice! Cook for about 10-15 minutes until hot and well seasoned. Enjoy!

Hand Made Pop-Tarts

2009-11-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Pop tarts were a favorite of mine as a kid. I used to eat them even if I didn't prefer the pastry's specific flavor- I would just eat the crust off of it all around. But have you ever looked at the ingredient list? If not, know this: it includes bleached, processed flour with tons of preservatives and flavor "enhancers". Also, the box says they are "made with real fruit" (which I suppose isn't a lie) and yet a closer examination of the label reveals that the "real fruit" content is really "less than 2%". Not to mention all the added high fructose corn syrup-- yikes!!! Read a nutrition label and ingredient list here, from the Kellog website directly. Now, this isn't to say that my home-made pop tarts are necessarily a health food (as I have always viewed any pastry as a dessert rather than a breakfast) but at least they are void of all of this American, corporate, factory-made bullshit. Plus, they are way, way yummier.

First, know that pie dough is one of the trickiest things to make! It seems so simple; it is, after all, a mixture of simply flour, butter, sugar and water! They are the most basic ingredients of baking-- but don't let that fool you! While the recipe seems easy, it's the technique that makes the difference between a hard, crunchy blanket of butter and a flakey, delicious pie crust! My favorite foodie blog, The Purple Foodie, recently posted a GREAT pie dough 101, complete with tons of very helpful hints! I highly suggest reading it if you aren't already an expert at pie dough! And even if you are- you might learn something.
So here's how I did it...

**note** This is a doubled recipe, as the original only makes one 9'inch pie crust, and I wanted to make a few more pop tarts than that. If you want, go ahead and half the recipe.

Crust (Basic Pie Dough) into Pop-Tarts!

Ingredients
3 cups flour
3 sticks butter
4 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup ice water (more or less)
egg whites, beaten

preheat: 400 F

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour and confectioner's sugar.

2. Dice butter into cubes; If you're using a pastry smashing device (which I don't have at the moment), larger chunks are okay. If you're doing this by hand (like me!) the smaller the cubes, the better! Work butter into mixture with smasher (or hands) until it is crumbly, with the biggest chunks of butter left pea-sized.

3. Mix in the ice water with a fork a spoon at a time, until the dough sticks together but isn't too dry.

4. Refrigerate ball of dough for about an hour.

5. Take a fist-sized ball of dough. Work into a rectangle on a floured board, roll dough out. Scoop either jam, peanut butter, Nutella, chocolate pieces, apple slices, or whatever else you want onto one half of the rolled-out rectangle. Fold the dough over; crimp the sides with a fork or fingers.

6. Place pastries on parchment paper or a VERY well-greased baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg white and dust with a big of sugar if you want.

7. Bake 15-20 minutes, "or until golden brown" (ahhh num!)

Let cool and enjoy!

Minestrone Soup

2009-10-26T19:01:00.001-07:00

Once, I looked up what "minestrone" soup meant, since the recipes are so many and varied. It boils down to this: Menstra is Italian for soup and -one is a suffix meaning "the big one". So Minestrone is "the big soup", literally, but colloquially means a (usually) vegetable soup made up of whatever leftover vegetables are in season, plus some sort of pasta or rice. Thus, everyone's is different and so are the recipes. Its great though, because you can tweak it to be precisely to your taste.

My mom got this excellent recipe from Cooks illustrated; when I recreated it, this is how mine ended up:

3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 sweet onion, peeled and diced
4 small ribs celery, chopped
1 baking potato, chopped
4 cups spinach leaves, sliced into strips
8 cups water
1 cup finely grated parmesean cheese
salt, pepper
28 oz can whole tomatoes, sliced
1 can cannelloni beans (white kidney beans)
whole wheat bowtie pasta

1. Finely chop all the vegetables (except the beans) and add to the soup pot with about 8 cups of water.

2. Cook on medium heat uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour

3. Add bow tie pasta, cook until al dente (8 minutes)

4. Add beans, heat and stir until temperature is even

5. Serve and enjoy

Baked Apple Crisps

2009-10-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Little says "Hey, autumn!" like the smell of baking apples.

So if you don't have the time and wherewithal for an apple pie, try these baked apple crisps instead!

Mmmmm how yum do these look? They're super easy to make and disappear quite fast. The steps are simple... first, select an apple. I've tried this both with red delicious and teeny tiny gala apples.

Then, slice the apple with a mandolin slicer (Bed Bath and Beyond, guys. Not expensive and comes in handy for lots of kitchen tasks!)

Immediately put the slices in a bowl with water and a splash of lemon juice. The acidity keeps the apple from turning brown. Orange juice works as well, and adds a tangy flavor.

Place the apple slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, or anything else you might want.

Then bake them at your ovens lowest setting-- mine was 200 degrees-- for 1.5 to 2 hours, or more or less depending on how gooey/crispy you like 'em.

I know thats a LONG time to wait for apple chips but it has the added effect of making your home smell great!

Faux-reos

2009-10-26T15:14:00.001-07:00

Okay! So yesterday was a lazy Saturday and I decided to indulge my sweet tooth. There's two recipes I've been wanting to try- one for homemade oreos over at the Smitten Kitchen blog, as well as a "cookies from cake" recipe from allrecipes.com. I decided to combine the two- instead of making the chocolate cookies from scratch, I made them from a box of cake mix. The EASIEST cookies EVER, and they turned out perfectly! I used to be a huuuge oreo fan (I ate them not by the cookie but by the "sleeve") but now, I can't bring myself to eat even one. Something about the trans-fat laden animal lard in the center... throws off my appetite. Well, these are still pretty fatty and sugary but nowhere near as disturbing to think about! So indulge!

What You Need

1 box chocolate cake mix (dark chocolate is preferable)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

8 oz cream cheese
1-2 cups confectioners sugar

The cookies! First, preheat your oven! 325 degrees F. Combine the cake mix, eggs, and oil in a bowl and whip it up! Since the full amount of cake batter is used with fewer eggs and less oil than the actual cake would call for, the batter will be SUPER thick and sticky! Place teaspoon-sized balls of chocolate-y gooey goodness on either a VERY greased baking sheet or parchment paper. Now, unlike regular butter cookies, these will not melt into shape in the oven. Gently flatten the balls with either a greased spoon or wet fingers as they will be sticky! Then bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm. They will firm up when they cool off so don't overcook them! Let them cool on a baking rack.

The filling! I was initially going to make a butter icing, but that is so plain and I've done it too much. So I decided to make a cream cheese frosting, it turned out quite nicely! Blend 8 oz of cream cheese with 1-2 cups confectioners sugar, depending on how sweet (or not!) you want them. Then, put a glob in the center of one cookie and press down with another. Voila! Creamy sandwich cookie.

try not to eat them all!

Cornbread

2009-07-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon or more Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Soda
1/4 Cup Oil (not olive)
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
2 Eggs

1. Heat oven to 450
2. Place oil in pan and heat in oven
3. Mix dry ingredients and liquid ingredients in separate bowls
4. Carefully add the oil to mixture and pour back into pan
5. Bake 25-30 minutes

Auntie Ann's Kugel

2009-07-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS

1/2 C Butter melted, reserve 2 Tbls for topping
12 oz Extra Wide Egg Noodles, slightly undercooked
8 oz Sour Cream
1 Lb Cottage Cjeese
2Tbls Sugar (or more!)
3 Eggs Seperated
handful of Crushed Corn Flakes

1. Mix all ingredients except egg whites and corn flakes
2. Beat whites until fluffy, gently fold into mixture
3. Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish
4. Top with cornflakes and drizzle with melted butter
5. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes