Using up the odds 'n ends

We have been doing a lot of cookies lately, so I was trying to figure out what I could make that would be a little different. I was fairly certain I wanted to do a drop cookie and had some dried fruit and nuts on hand to use up.

Pistachio and Carrot Cake Cookies are filled with shredded carrots, plump golden raisins, and toasted pistachios. The cookies have a soft and tender texture to them, but they don't fall apart at all. They are slightly chewy, not overly sweet and the pistachios lend a unique flavor and crunch to them. I could see doing a powdered sugar glaze with some orange juice to thin or to make them decadent, you could do a cream cheese frosting/filling and sandwich a couple of them together. However, to me these are just as good plain!

Dinner tonight was a very filling salad. Chicken, Red Potato, and Asparagus salad with Toasted Almonds has a light, refreshing and lemony dressing. You could use a rotisserie chicken to cube up, but I just simply grilled off some chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper. The red potatoes are cooked until just tender so they are easy to quarter and the asparagus is quickly blanched to intensify the color.

The nutty flavor from the almonds was a great pair to the asparagus. Next time, I might even candy the almonds first to give them a boost in texture and flavor. When I asked Jeff what he thought, I got a "So when can we have this again...?" I agree!

Recipes
Pistachio and Carrot Cake Cookies
Chicken, Red Potato, and Asparagus salad with Toasted Almonds

What's ahead....

Well, we ended up making 11 new recipes again this week. Looking back, the ones that stood out the most for us were "Should be" Gluten Free kinda like a Twix Bars and Potato-Peanut Cakes. I've got the menu ready for this week and it has quite a large selection that I'm really looking forward to.

Here's a quick peek at some items that will be involved in the Wednesday Treat Day that we picked up today while grocery shopping. The recipe is not a new recipe to us, but it was a special request from Jeff's coworkers as sadly, many of them will no longer be there after this week. We have not displayed it on the blog before though!

The movie last night was pretty funny for having so much graphic violence. I wouldn't recommend eating dinner while watching it. I was not ready for a subtitled movie either, but there was enough going on to keep you interested to figure out what they were saying. Tonight Netflix brings us Millon Dollar Baby with Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood. We have really been meaning to watch this as it had such great reviews. I can't wait to see it tonight!

Pizza... dessert style

Normally when I would think of a dessert pizza, it would be made with a sweet bread dough or even a regular crust. This recipe may not be your typical dessert pizza, but I can really see making this again for a fun treat.

Deep Dish Chocolate-Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pizza starts out with a thick chocolate cookie crust. After pre-baking for a few minutes, it is removed from the oven and raspberry jam is spread over the hot crust. If you don't like jam, or don't happen to have it, you could use so many other things. What comes to my mind first would be peanut butter or a caramel/butterscotch sundae sauce. When the crust is spread with whatever you choose, I sprinkled chopped dark chocolate and peanut butter chips over the top. Mini marshmallows are then dropped on top before going back into the oven to finish baking. For something different and fun, use the colored mini marshmallows! As it bakes, the marshmallows slowly expand and adhear to the crust. They also competely fill up any spaces that were between them. As it cooled, I was trying to figure out how best to cut it since it was covered in gooey marshmallows.


I stuck it in the freezer when it cooled down for about 5 minutes and when I cut it, the pieces came out pretty clean and the topping did not really stick to the knife much. While these are excellent cold, if you stick them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds the chips remelt on the bottom and the top gets slightly gooey. While it is fun to watch - be careful as if you heat them too long you will have a big mess from the marshmallows!

Netflix brought us the DVD Kung Fu Hustle with Stephen Chow for tonight's movie flick. I have some ideas in mind for the menu this week, but as always I will be going through the packs of untried recipes tonight after the movie to figure out the full week.

Recipes
Deep Dish Chocolate-Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pizza

Hearty and meat free soup....

It was windy and chilly today (well for Phoenix anyway) so I was looking for a warm and comforting soup for dinner tonight. Most soups we make have some sort of meat involved or are pretty thin, but this one tonight was thick, hearty, and totally veggie!

Potato, Spinach and Tomato Soup is naturally thickened from thinly sliced potatoes that slowly break down while cooking. Since we don't mind the skins I left them on, but if that bothers you, certainly peel them before slicing. I was a little worried after the potatoes started melting into the soup as it was quite thick before I added the spinach and tomatoes. I thought about adding some liquid to loosen it up a touch, but after I added them they gave up just enough liquid to thin it enough and keep a creamy consistency. I had some leftover sourdough bread in the freezer, so I toasted up a couple slices and rubbed them with a cut garlic clove. I added some parmesan to them and set them under the broiler to make some cheese toasts to set on top - kinda like a big crouton. The soup warmed us up and was very filling!

I did make another batch of the Apple-Cinnamon Granola today. I keep meaning to try some new and different recipes, but keep returning to this as we really enjoy it. Great with yogurt or even ice cream!

Recipes

Potato, Spinach and Tomato Soup

Spoiling the pups...

As I was going through the refrigerator this morning, I noticed that we had some extra cream cheese that I needed to get used up. I also noticed we were again very low on the last kind of doggy snacks I made, so I went looking through the piles to find a recipe for them that would use up about 4 ounces of cream cheese.

Whole Wheat Cream Cheese Danish Dog Biscuits had the pups going in circles while they were in the oven baking. If you choose to make these, make sure you have no plans to use the oven for awhile after you are done baking them. After just 20 minutes, the oven is turned off and the biscuits are allowed to slowly cool in the oven which allows them to get quite firm and crisp. With only 5 ingredients, it is quick to make and can be easily done with just a wooden spoon and a bowl. The dough is quite soft, yet I found it not to be sticky at all. It was very easy to roll out and held the shape from the cookie cutters nicely. If you find you are having troubles rolling it out, allow it to rest for about 5 minutes and then continue. The doggies are so spoiled!

Baked pasta dishes are really becoming a favorite of ours. When I think about how many times growing up I would not touch pasta with a 10 foot pole, I wonder what I missed out on. As I have said before, it has only been the last couple of years since I first tried pasta and why I waited I just don't know. Tonight's dinner, Baked Penne with Fire Roasted Tomatoes, also includes a vegetable I never used to eat either - Zucchini. Smokiness from the fire roasted tomatoes adds a depth of flavor that really enhances the sauce. Fresh zucchini slices bring a good texture difference against the tender pasta. After a quick 20 minutes in the oven, a nice helping of mozzarella cheese is sprinkled on and left to melt to finish off the dish. I let this sit for just over 5 minutes and each piece was easy to get out without it falling apart.

Recipes

Baked Penne with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Whole Wheat Cream Cheese Danish Dog Biscuits

Close version of a favorite candy bar...

I mentioned in yesterday's post about another item I was making for Jeffs coworkers to taste test today. I hear they went pretty fast and were given a rating of "totally awesome"... so that has to be good - right?

"Should be" Gluten Free kinda like a Twix Bar is a pretty close version of the original Twix candy bar. I say "should be" because from what I understand there is a question whether some chocolate and some vanilla extracts may or may not have gluten hidden in them, but when I checked mine they were fine. If you have no problem with gluten, feel free to use all-purpose flour instead of using rice flour.

A golden buttery cookie crust is topped with pale sweet caramel that is simply made from reduced sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and butter. If I were to make this again (oh which I will...) I might let this mixture cook a little longer to get a darker color, but the taste was pretty close. After a couple hours in the refrigerator, this caramel adhears to the cookie base and it can be easily and cleanly cut into long finger-like rectangels. I must confess that I knew I should have used tempered chocolate to coat these candy bars, but I did not have the right kind of chocolate on hand and I didn't have the time anyway. Because of this, and since the bars were still chilly as I coated them, the chocolate began to set a little early on me and they are not as smooth as I would have wanted them to be. I would make sure these are at room temperature before coating them in preferrably tempered chocolate next time.

For dinner tonight we had a tasty shrimp dish, Crispy Sesame Shrimp. Jeff really loves shrimp so I knew I had to make this soon when I found the recipe. The twist on this recipe is that the shrimp are coated with a crunchy mixture of crushed dry stuffin-mix and some additional spices to liven the dish up. The shrimp are quickly dipped in egg whites and then dredged through the stuffing and spices. To help the bottoms of the shrimp crisp up, I preheated the baking pan in the oven for 5 minutes before I placed the shrimp on. The bottoms ended up being just as crunchy as the top without having to flip them, so I will use this technique again.

Recipes
Crispy Sesame Shrimp
"Should be" Gluten Free kinda like a Twix Bar

Tiny but oh so good...

Yep, it's Tuesday again... so you know it is time to share what I made today for Jeff to bring into his co-workers on Wednesday's Treat Day. This time I went on the mini treat side with some sandwich cookies.Mini Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies was quite a tedious project as it made around 130 or so tiny cookies. The monotonous part of the recipe was trying to cut all of the small cookies out of the dough logs. The rounds looked quite small before they went into the oven, but as they baked they turned a little larger than quarter sized chocolate disks. As they cool, they firm and crisp up, but are still a little fragile as you move them from the baking pan to a wire rack. These delicate rounds are then sandwiched between two cookies and a silky Milk Chocolate Sour Cream frosting. The assembly of them went by pretty fast as they took just about a 1/2 teaspoon of the filling. I did test out another recipe that Jeff will be bringing in tomorrow, so make sure you stop by for that tomorrow - It is a "should be" gluten-free clone of a favorite candy bar!

Tonight's dinner was a fun way to change up a classic meat and potatoes combo. For the meat portion I made Peppercorn-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Soy-Caramel Sauce. The tenderlions are coated in a mix of peppercorns, thyme and salt, then quickly seared in a hot skillet until all sides have a caramelized crust. They are then baked for about 20 minutes until just slightly pink and still juicy in the center. Meanwhile, a sweet glaze is made by boiling sugar and water until reduced and adding soy sauce with some zesty mustard. A couple dabs of butter are whisked in to add a richness and to smooth out the sauce. This adds such a nice contrast to the peppercorn studded and fork tender pork.

To serve along side I made, Potato-Peanut Cakes. Buttery yukon golds are boiled until tender, then shredded and mixed with corn, onion, and crunchy peanuts. Using a single egg binds this combination of textures quite well to form little cakes. They are cooked on a griddle until they form a golden brown crust. While the outside is crisp, the inside takes on a creamy texture with bits of chunky peanuts scattered throughout. Definitely ranks high on the scale for a new side dish.

Recipes
Potato-Peanut Cakes
Peppercorn-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Soy-Caramel Sauce
Mini Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Sweet breads, two ways...

Sometimes in the morning when I'm ready for breakfast I look for something that is easy to prepare and can be eaten on the go. For these reasons, we are a big fan of quickbreads as they freeze well and they only take a couple minutes to toast for a quick breakfast.

Quickbreads can be whipped up in a matter of minutes since there is no kneading involved and most recipes usually can be turned into muffins if you like. This recipe, Lemon Coconut Bread, had orange yogurt and orange zest as the predominate flavors but I love the fresh taste of lemons and decided to change things up a bit. The recipe called for 8 ounces of yogurt, but since most containers around here are now about 6 ounces, I added some sour cream instead of opening a new one for 2 ounces.

The bread was moist, bursting with lemon flavor, and I love how the bright yellow zest stands out when you slice it. You can taste a subtle coconut flavor and it brings just enough additional texture to make it interesting. Next time I might try adding some frozen blueberries or maybe some dried fruit to bring in another dimension of flavor.

For tonight's dinner, I decided to change around a recipe I've been eyeing. Cubed Caramel French Toast Casserole turned out to be quite the tasty dish. Some reviews of the original recipe said it turned out a little mushy, but with some changes I did not find that at all. Instead of using whole french bread slices, I decided to cube mine (10 of them would not fit in the dish anyway) and I let the bread sit out overnight to stale a bit. Because of the use of High Frutose Corn Syrup in light corn syrup, I tend to stay away, but lately I've been using Brown Rice Syrup for a substitute and it worked quite well here. I also slightly reduced some of the wet mixture to see if that would help the mushy factor.

A bottom layer of sweet sticky caramel is topped with crunchy bread cubes which slowly drinks up an eggy vanilla milk mixture over a few hours. After a trip through the oven, the bread firms up and sets well. The gooey caramel sticks well to the bottom bread layer and wiggled its way up through the cubes. We found the bread to be soft, but not at all mushy, just how we like it!

Recipes
Lemon Coconut Bread
Cubed Caramel French Toast Casserole

Weekly recap...

Looking over this past week we made 11 new recipes. The high points for me were the Chocolate Hawaiian Biscotti and Tomato Goat Cheese Strata. Even though we keep plugging away at the new recipe pile, I swear it just keeps getting bigger! At least there's a big selection each week to choose from. The recipe section on the left hand side has been updated with the past week's recipes.

I did finally accomplish something that didn't have anything to do with the kitchen. I've been working on a puzzle whenever I had spare time (which there seems to be little of these days) and finally finished it the other day. I like how it came out, but it was way more involved than I thought it would be when we bought it in Disney World.

Netflix sent us the DVD of Wedding Date starring Debra Messing for tonight's movie. I've read some interesting reviews on this one, but the previews did look somewhat funny. I have the menu planned for this upcoming week and there seems to be a good variety of recipes. Check back with us and see how it works out!

Chocolate crunchy snacks...

Biscotti has to be one of my favorite crunchy snacks. Perfect to dip in coffee or to enjoy alone, I'm always thinking about new ways to change up the flavor. I've never paired the combo we used today before, but Jeff has declared this to be his favorite combination.

Chocolate Hawaiian Biscotti uses rich and buttery Macadamia nuts. We don't often buy these because they can be exceptionally expensive, but we love the crisp texture and bought some last weekend. I toasted them after chopping for just about 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I used two kinds of chocolate for this Biscotti - Dutch Process cocoa and white chocolate chips. Using this cocoa adds a deep rich flavor enhanced by a touch of espresso. For the white chocolate chunks I used a chunk of Callebaut that I cut up into smallish pieces. The biscotti is just crunchy enough, but they are not rock hard so they can be eaten easily.

The DVD of the night from Netflix will be Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. I think i've seen bits and pieces of this on TNT but I've never seen the whole movie. I've been wanting to for awhile and it finally came up in the queue!

Recipes
Chocolate Hawaiian Biscotti

Keeping with the spicy theme....

Quiche, a savory pie usually filled with eggs, milk, and many different fillings, is usually baked in a pastry type shell. The one I made tonight for dinner has an interesting twist for the crust.

Cajun Quiche in a Rice Crust has a crisp, crunchy crust made from cooked rice. I used a brown and wild rice blend to give a bit more nutty flavor. Cooled rice is held together by mixing it with an egg, some seasonings and then easily pressed onto the bottom and up the sides of a pie dish. A bit of sharp cheese is placed on top of the crust before the filling is added. Veggies and smoky andouille sausage are briefly sautéed and then added on top of the cheese. Eggs, egg whites and sour cream form the base custard-like filling and is poured on to the sausage mixture. This is then baked until puffed and golden brown on top and the eggs firm up into a creamy and spicy pie. The crust holds together well and cuts cleanly.

Recipes
Cajun Quiche in a Rice Crust

Lots of whole grains today...

I'm always looking for new ways to use our supply of whole grains like rolled oats, wheat bran and whole wheat flour for healthy snacks. During our Trader Joe's stop on Sunday, I picked up some Golden raisins that looked very good so we had to get some. I was almost out of the Cran-Apple Muffins so I used the above ingredients to bake more muffins today to replenish the freezer.

Whole Grain Raisin Muffins are packed with healthy, flavorful and filling ingredients. As expected from a bran-type muffin these have a dense texture, but are not heavy or hockey-puck dense. These muffins are moist, tender from the buttermilk, and have just enough sweetness. Using the plump golden raisins adds to the sweetness and lends a soft pleasant texture inside.

Making these today also gave me a reason to test out a new baking item I also received over Christmas. I received 6 of these Sili-Cups, and after using them for the muffins I am so ordering more tonight. Unlike some other silicone baking pans I've used, these had no off smell while baking and they popped right out directly after removal from the oven. No more than a couple crumbs were left behind in the cups. I can see filling up a big sheet pan with these and doing many muffins/cupcakes at one time. Too cool!

Nothing too special tonight for dinner. I was after a quick meal and we had some whole wheat bread to use up, so the dish tonight was Canadian Bacon and Egg Sandwiches. The recipe did have a caramelized onion topping, but alas I had no onions in the house as I used the last one the other night. Even without, these were quick and fantastic as we love Canadian bacon. I gave the canadian bacon a few minutes in the pan to crisp up, but left the egg fairly runny as that's how we prefer it. Great quick weeknight sandwich!

Recipes
Whole Grain Raisin Muffins
Canadian Bacon and Egg Sandwiches

Woah! That was spicy...

As I talked about earlier, I've been meaning to expand on making different types of bread. I was looking for something that was a little different and fun for today.

Twisted Fennel and Coarse Salt Breadsticks has a unique crunchy coating of coarse salt and fennel seeds. In the dough itself, cornmeal is used to add a good contrast in texture to the soft sticks. I used a more coarse cornmeal rather than fine to bump up the crunch some. The dough is soft and is very workable so it keeps the design of the twists well. The fennel seeds add a delicate and subtle licorice-like flavor. These are so good plain, but I could see serving these with a dip or marinara to change it up.

My mouth is still on fire from dinner tonight, but that is a good thing! Tonight we had Tex-Mex Chipotle Pitas and this is where I used the habanero and lime salsa. This came together so fast - from start to finish it was ready to eat in under 15 minutes. If you don't like things too spicy, I would use mild salsa instead. Even though we used a hotter salsa, I did decide to keep the jalapeño in the recipe as we really have started to like the flavor they give (that is something I thought I would never say!) The cumin adds a subtle musty/earthy flavor and if you can, use fresh ground cumin seeds as they have so much more flavor. You could serve this in a roll, but I really love the texture of whole wheat pitas and this filled them up nicely.

Recipes
Tex-Mex Chipotle Pitas
Twisted Fennel and Coarse Salt Breadsticks

More baking for the co-workers...

Busy day in the kitchen today as it is Tuesday, the day before Wednesday Treat Day at Jeff's office. I decided to make two recipes as there would be more people than normal there tomorrow and I needed an excuse to use a new display piece I got for Christmas.

The first recipe, Coconut Cupcakes, uses coconut twice - once inside the cake and then on top of the icing. The cupcake itself crowns nicely and has a light texture, with a hint of almond. They are frosted with a soft cream cheese icing and then a showering of coconut covers the top. I was tempted to toast the coconut a little, but I decided I wanted to keep them clean and white. I love the flavor of toasted coconut though, so I might do that next time.

The second, Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze, has a batter similar to the above, but uses cake flour, no almond extract and of course has mashed bananas. I found that since I filled these a little fuller, the tops spread out and then crowned which allowed some of the sides to touch together. Next time I would reduce the amount in each cup to make 20 cupcakes, instead of 18, to fix that issue. They have a pleasant banana flavor and since the liquid is buttermilk, the cupcakes stay pretty tender. A simple chocolate glaze coats the tops evenly and sticks just enough so it does not drip down and is not heavy. I used bittersweet chocolate, but you could substitute with semisweet if needed.

I loved the combination of flavors going on in tonight's dinner. Jerk Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Pineapple Chutney uses a quick (albeit not too authentic) jerk seasoning that includes spices most people would probably have in their cupboards. It does call for apple-pie spice, but since I did not have that I substituted 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom. I then took the needed measure amount from that and will save the rest in case I need it again! After searing the pork, it is baked until slightly pink in the center, so it stays very juicy. The fresh chutney adds a tropical sweetness and refreshing pair to the pork which is just a touch spicy. It was quick to throw together, and I'll get to have the rest of the fresh pineapple for a snack tomorrow!

Recipes

Coconut Cupcakes
Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze
Jerk Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Pineapple Chutney

Cookies to fill up our packs...

Since living in Arizona, we have been going hiking in the mountains as often as we can. This time of the year is the best time to do this, because during the day it is not 120 degrees outside. I've been looking for a tasty, but sturdy cookie that I could make to take along for some energy during the hikes. Today's cookie is the one!

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Granola Cookies are thick, sturdy and crunchy cookies loaded with granola, dried fruit and peanut butter flavor. For extra crunch, I did use chunky peanut butter, but it would work just as well with smooth, as chopped peanuts are also added in later. For the granola, I used our new favorite Apple-Cinnamon version that I have been making for the last couple months, but feel free to use store bought. If your granola does not already have dried fruit, add in about 1/2 cup of your favorite kind if desired. I got about 34 cookies and I made them just about the right size to easily pack for hiking.

Tonight's Dinner,Tomato Goat Cheese Strata, is more of a cross between a savory bread pudding and a strata. This dish is pretty quick to throw together, and since the bread does not need to sit and soak overnight, it would be good for a last minute meal. The sourdough bread soaks up so much flavor from the tomatoes and the layers meld into a densely textured pie as the eggs firm up. Goat cheese brings an earthy and creamy addition to the top layer.

Recipes
Tomato Goat Cheese Strata
Crunchy Peanut Butter and Granola Cookies

Some new items we picked up today...

And the first week of the new year has gone by quickly! We made 9 new recipes this past week with the highlights being the Mocha Angel Food Cake and Marbled Rye Bread.

During our weekly grocery shopping trip I grabbed a couple new items we will be having/using this week. They are both from Trader Joes, the first being a new kind of snack.

Papadums, Tandoori Masala style, are thin and very crispy chips. These are made using Fava Bean flour with a variety of indian spices. The chips have a spicy bite and have an aromatic curry-like mix of flavors. They are quite addiciting and have a decent protein count per serving.

The next is a salsa we will be using in an upcoming dish for dinner. I'm excited to try this one as I have never really been a big fan of salsa before, but this one looks pretty promising!

The Netflix DVD of the night will be Unleashed with Jet Li and Morgan Freeman. I remember seeing the previews of this and it looked fairly interesting. I got the menu finalized this morning for this week and have quite a few things planned - I can't wait to get started!

Are they finally ripe?

I mentioned a few months ago that we had some palm trees along with a lemon tree planted in the backyard. I was suprised to see we had fruit for the first season, so I have been waiting and waiting for the little green bulbs to blossom into brilliant yellow oval fruits.

Now that they have reached their peak, I guess we need to figure out what to do with them all! I'm not sure what to start with... Mini lemon meringue pies? Lemon Cookies? Lemon Curd sounds awfully good. Fresh Lemonade might have to be the first since it is pretty easy. So much to choose from, but I'm not complaining!

I figured tonight's Netflix selection would take longer in the queue to arrive as I thought this DVD just came out. I hope that Kronk's New Groove with David Spade and John Goodman can live up to the the original movie which we really enjoyed - Emperor's New Groove.

I'm expecting this upcoming week to be pretty busy so I will be spending tonight getting the menu done and the grocery list ready. Stick around and see what's happenin' from our kitchen!

Adding a new grain to our diet...

The highlight of tonight's dinner is a product we have never used or eaten before. Quinoa, a grainlike product, is very rich in protein, iron and fiber. Pronounced “keen-wa”, it is technically a seed from a plant somewhat related to spinach. Quinoa is fast to prepare and has quite an interesting texture. When cooked, the grain explodes out to release a soft and creamy inside, while the coating dispurses into tiny, crunchy, spiral bits. To ensure you get the best flavor, I would recommend toasting the grain, before cooking, to bring out a roasted nutty taste.

Quinoa Salad with Toasted Pistachios and Dried Pineapple has many different flavors and textures involved. Dried pineapple brings a subtle fruity sweetness and remains fairly soft. For some additional crunch in the salad, chopped pistachios are first toasted to bring out the nuttiness, and they have a slight sweetness that compliments the pineapple. Toasted sesame oil lends moisture and ties all of the flavors together. Adding chunked grilled chicken breast makes this a filling main dish, but if you left that out, it would be a great side dish.

Recipes
Quinoa Salad with Toasted Pistachios and Dried Pineapple

Having sweets from Dinner to Dessert...

For Christmas, I was given a new tube pan that I had been wanting. It comes in two pieces and is *not* non-stick. The last pan I had, worked fine and was non-stick, but I just felt I could get better results and height where the cake could climb up the pan better. Since you have to scrap the sides to loosen the cake anyway, the old pan was pretty ugly as the coating had started coming off from knifes and metal spatulas.

There are many varieties of Angel Food Cake recipes out there, some plain, or some with a lot of add-ins. Since it is such a light cake, we enjoy it most when it is served without a sauce or some sort of frosting. Most base recipes are pretty much the same, so I started there and made some changes to punch up the flavor. So today to test out my new pan, I made a Mocha Angel Food Cake.

This airy, tall, and fluffy cake has a slight hint of coffee, but the reason I used it was to heighten the chocolate flavor. I used dutch-proccess cocoa, as I find it adds a deeper, more rich flavor. I would suggest using superfine sugar because I think it mixes with the egg whites a little easier. You can use regular granulated, but if you have a food processor, take a few minutes and grind your own superfine! When you are ready to beat the egg whites, make sure that the bowl and beater are clean of any fat or grease as they will hinder the volume. Also, plan ahead and have your egg whites at room temperature to ensure they will triple in volume.

When cooled, you could dust with cocoa or powdered sugar, if desired, but I just placed a dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate covered espresso bean. To really let the flavor of this cake shine, simple is best when garnishing in my opinion!

The dish for dinner tonight, is something I would probably not usually serve. I couldn't figure out if I should do this as a dessert or just have a bit of fun at dinner. Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwiches are a fun way to make dinner a bit different. This is a pretty sweet tasting sandwich, so if you don't like things pretty sweet - you might not like this. When I was preparing this, I was not sure if this combination would be something we would even like. As we took our first bite, we kind of looked at each other and we both said "huh! this is actually pretty good!" I loved how the banana softened a bit and melded with the chocolate and how the sticky peanut butter melted into a sweet creamy base. It was also super quick to throw together, which is another plus for this!

Recipes
Mocha Angel Food Cake
Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwiches

New look to an old favorite...

We have tried a fair amount of lasagna recipes over the past few months, but tonight's recipe was just a bit different than the rest. Chicken-Ham Lasagna called for no-boil noodles originally, but I have found that we don't like the texture as much as when we use just regular dried pasta. This has several layers of tender diced chicken and thinly sliced salty deli ham. Instead of a red sauce, this uses a sharp white sauce flavored with a fair amount of parmesan and a pinch of cayenne for some heat.

This is definitely not a dry lasagna and I would recommend letting it sit for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting it to help keep its shape. I served some steamed broccoli and toasted rye bread on the side. This lasagna is one recipe where I just can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Very Good!

Recipes

Chicken-Ham Lasagna

Time to break it in...

I have been a big fan of Nick Malgieri for awhile now and when I saw his new book a few months ago I had to have it. I finally had some time to go through it over Christmas and today I picked out a cookie recipe to make. Since Jeff has not been into work for the last couple weeks, we have not been doing the weekly treat day for his co-workers. Since he went back to work and tomorrow is Treat Day Wednesday, this was a perfect chance for me to make the cookies.

This recipe had me interested as it has a whole lot of Corn Starch in it. I've never made a cookie with that in it and could not wait to see how the resulting texture would be. This recipe for Alfajores resulted in a crisp buttery cookie, flavored with lemon, that is sandwiched with homemade dulce de leche. After sandwiching them, you spread the leftover filling over the sides and roll them in shredded coconut. I was a little nervous as I have never made dulce de leche before and the whole baking in the oven kind of threw me off. It looked like a disaster waiting to happen about 20 minutes in, but I stuck with it and I swear it just magically turned into this sweet, smooth, thick layer of a soft caramel colored mixture. I did this part before making the cookies since I was not sure how long the whole process was going to take. If you are going to assemble the cookies shortly after baking, I would do it this way. Otherwise, go ahead and make it after the cookies are done.

I still have some leftover filling that I will need to find something to do with (other than eat it with a spoon that is... which was so good!)

Sandwiches were on tap for dinner tonight. To make the Pressed Cuban Sandwiches with Garlic Dijon Butter, I used one of my favorite appliances in the kitchen. Ever since we bought The Griddler at the beginning of last year, I have found so many uses for it. The sandwiches were a breeze to cook up using this instead of trying to do them in a pan on the stove. Roasting the garlic adds so much more flavor than using it in the raw state. Jarlsberg cheese, thinly sliced ham and turkey are layered inside of a hoagie roll, then pressed ala panini fashion to toast the bread and melt the velvety cheese. Next time I would make more of the spread as it was pretty thin and we loved the flavor it gave.

Recipes
Alfajores
Pressed Cuban Sandwich with Garlic Dijon Butter

Recreating a favorite...

I was looking for a fun recipe to made today as this was the last day of Jeff's vacation... back to work tomorrow!

I can remember as a kid getting Whoppers to munch on when I went to the movies. I have not had them for years and I remembered seeing a recipe for a candy which is pretty close. Chocolated Malted Milk Balls has the right taste, but the inside texture is a little different. It is more light and airy, rather than the dense candy inside of a Whopper. This turned out not to be a bad thing, as it kind of popped in your mouth as you ate it. It starts out as a typical meringue, but powdered sugar, cocoa, and malt powder is folded in to get that familiar flavor. After being pipped into little blobs (not perfect circles, but close enough for me!) and dried out in a low temperature oven, they are dipped into chocolate to get that snappy shell coating.

Tonight's dinner, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps, quickly climbed over other wrap recipes we have tried to become one of our favorites. This is a light and quite healthy dish with grilled chicken, bean sprouts and fresh mint. Sriracha in the marinade and dressing packs a nice heat and has a great contrast to the cool mint. Chopped peanuts and bean sprouts lend a pleasant crunch since these are wrapped in soft, tender, and buttery boston lettuce leaves. They are a little messy to eat so have a napkin handy!

Recipes
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Chocolated Malted Milk Balls
Marbled Rye Bread

Can we call it a success?

One of my goals for this year is to get more involved in bread baking. I enjoy working with the dough and the anticipation of waiting to see if it comes out how you would like it to. One of the breads I have yet to tackle is Jeff's favorite kind- Rye Bread.

I have been looking at a specific recipe, Marbled Rye Bread, for the longest time but it just seemed really daunting and I would just pass over it. So let's start the New Year by diving in head first!

Working with two doughs, one remains light while the other is darker in color. Since I did not have any caramel coloring at home, I had to use coffee and cocoa so the darker rye is not as dark as I would have wanted. After kneading, the dough was supple and a little tacky. After resting, each dough is cut into 4 and then rolled into oblong pieces. 2 pieces of each color were stacked together, alternating colors. They are then rolled in a batard (torpedo) fashion and allowed to proof in loaf pans. After baking for about 20 minutes, I rotated the pans and the smell of fresh bread poured out of the oven. These gave off such a warm molasses aroma. Finally, they were done and now we had to wait a couple hours to take a slice. Here is what we ended up with.

A light egg wash gives a dark golden shell which, when cut into, yields a softer type bread that is great for hearty sandwiches. Caraway seeds are scattered throughout to lend a unique flavor to this rye bread. It is a big recipe to type up, so I'll try to get it posted within the next day or so.

The DVD from Netflix tonight will be Sliding Doors. I actually think I caught the end of this the other day on TNT while on the elliptical, but I'm not sure. I got the menu planning done for the week and I am anxious to get started. Stick around and see what we come up with for the first week of 2006!

Recipes
Marbled Rye Bread