What I woke up to this morning...

Happy Valentine's Day

I had a hard time choosing what dessert to make this evening to celebrate Valentine's Day. It had to be chocolate, but it needed to have just a couple servings or be freezeable. After sifting through cookbooks and recipes I decided on one that just sounded so good I had to make it.

Spicy Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes are a flourless chocolate cake which gets its leavening only from beaten egg whites. While some lava cakes rely on underbaking to create a pool upon opening them this version uses a much better technique I think. For the lava effect, you create milk chocolate truffles which are placed inside the cakes halfway through baking. Additional batter is then placed on top and allowed to finish baking. After a small cooling time, you invert them on to your plate and when the cakes are pierced open, the truffles have almost liquified and allowed to create a rich sauce that streams out.

In the cakes, I added just enough Ancho chili powder to give the intense chocolate a boost in taste. These are small, but very rich and quite satisfying. Since these are made in muffin tins, rather than one large cake, you can easily refrigerate the leftovers and reheat for just a couple minutes in the oven to recreate the lava effect.

There isn't so much a recipe for the dinner tonight, but I wanted to make one of Jeff's favorite dishes. The base starts out with baking a pesto-garlic tortilla into a bowl shape. Layers of crisp romain lettuce, carrots, broccoli, sliced almonds and sharp parmesan cheese are placed inside. I then seasoned some steaks using the Classic Steakhouse Rub recipe and grilled them to medium-rare. When they have cooled a bit, I thinly sliced them and topped off the salad. We don't have this very often, but we love how all of the flavors work off each other.

Recipes
Spicy Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes

A little about this site...

This is probably a little late as we have been writing in this blog for a few months now... but better late than never?

Thinking back when I was younger, I have memories of trying to bake cakes or cookies and trying to help out Mom when I could (taste testing!) When I hit my teenage years, I was side tracked with growing up and dealing with the issues that come with that and lost interest in cooking/baking among other things.

When I hit my 20's, I had grown tired of always eating out for most of our meals and remembered how much I enjoyed spending time in the kitchen. I started slowly and made a lot of mistakes along the way. Many of which we did eat (ugh.... not so good memories!), but I've been getting better over the years I think. I've learned from reading many cookbooks, over the internet and picked up quite a few tips from television shows on PBS and FoodTV. I'm not a professional cook by any means, nor do I try to be. I certainly don't get paid to do this and I am truly just an amatuer trying to be the best I can. Do I someday wish to do this professionaly? Maybe, but right now I'm happy with where I am at.

We send along pictures as we go, and while we don't have expensive equiptment we do strive to make them fun or interesting. They don't always look how I want them to, or they may be pretty plain, but that's just how it is. We enjoy playing with digital cameras, but soley on an amatuer basis - we do it for fun and learn as we go.

I'm here to share the recipes we try (be it a success or failure), new products we might find and our adventures in the kitchen. If you happen to come upon a recipe you haven't tried and love it, great! If we talk about a product we bought that you didn't know was out there, cool! I still have a lot to learn, try some of the many foods we have not eaten, and I'll share some of the tips and tricks we learn as we go. We're always open to input, tips and suggestions!

So if you are still with us, let's get to dinner!

We have made quite a few casseroles or stratas that call for cubed bread, using sourdough or french. Tonight's dish, English Muffin Strata with Ham and Cheese, uses these firm and spongy-on-the-inside muffins. I used a Whole Grain version we've seen in the store before - it added a nutty flavor and a more hearty texture. They are first split, cut into wedges and then half of them are placed in the bottom of a baking dish. Salty Canadian bacon and rich Swiss cheese are layered over and then the remaining wedges are arranged on top. This is left to soak in a slightly spicy mixture of plain soy milk, eggs, mustard and cayenne for a few hours. After the trip in the oven, the mixture puffs up from the eggs and a crisp outside crust forms on top. The inside is firm, but a bit creamy from the amount of liquid. This will make for an excellent lunch tomorrow.

Recipes

English Muffin Strata with Ham and Cheese

Break me off a piece of that....

As another week passes, we made a total of 11 new recipes. I will be interested when we hit our one year anniversary with the blog to try and get a total of how many new recipes we made during our adventures here. Our favorites this week were the Root Beer Float Cookies and Cherry Peanut Butter Oat Cookies.

We don't typically buy candy bars very often, if we have a taste for something we sometimes try to recreate them. When we do buy some, it is usually because it is something new or a different flavor in a favorite candy. The last one we tried was a coffee flavored version of Kit Kat Bars. They were awesome, but limited edition and we only saw them once in the stores. At the store today, we saw they came out with another new flavor so we jumped at the chance to try this one.

Milkshake Kit Kats! The milkshake flavor comes from the outside where a creamy malt flavored chocolate coating coats the classic crisp wafers. If you like chocolate malted flavor (think ovaltine or carnation), these are right up your alley.
Tonight's Netflix movie is The Perfect Man with Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff. The menu is set for the week with quite a fun variety of dishes. Until then...

It tastes just like....

Sometimes ingredients you would not normally use in a recipe can create unique and tasty treats. Today's cookie won me pretty quickly and I was happy how the flavor stood out. I had someone taste one and without telling them what what in it I got a responce of "This tastes just like.... Root Beer?!"

Root beer float cookies use that robust flavor in two ways, inside the cookie and the icing on top. The main jolt of flavor comes from crushed A&W root beer barrels which are blended into the dough - the smaller pieces melt into the cookie and the larger ones create pockets bursting of root beer. This is a firm and chewy cookie with a sweet glaze on top. Confectioners' sugar is thinned out with just enough root beer to make a glaze that can be easily drizzled over each cookie. To add some more texture to these, you could sprinkle more of the crushed root beer barrels over the glaze before it sets.

There has been a lot of news recently about Netflix throttling its customers, we have not had that experience at all and the turn around time has always been quite fast for us. Have you had this happen to you at all? Speaking of, tonight's DVD from them will be Barbershop with Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, and Eve. I hope to get the menu done for the next week tonight while watching the movie.... maybe some day the pile will get shorter instead of growing each week! Stay tuned...

Recipes
Root Beer Float Cookies

Yes yes... I know... more muffins!

Jeff and his co-workers have to work tomorrow starting at 5 am to do some testing and he thought it would be nice to bring something to munch on. They are going to already have normal breakfast fare, so we decided on some muffins to make and bring in.

Raspberry Lemon Muffins are moist with a bit of crunch on the top of the big mushroom crowns coming from raw sugar sprinkled on before baking. These are just your typical muffins, flavored with lemon yogurt and zest, with some raspberries folded in. I used frozen berries, so while I was mixing them in they did defrost a bit and turned bits of the batter a funky purplish color! I probably should have used muffin liners, but didn't think about it at the time. In a couple muffins where raspberries were on the outside they wanted to stick, but they did pop out after sitting for a few minutes. I might try these with all pastry flour next time just to see the difference in texture.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I bought some dried cherries at Trader Joe's for dinner tonight. Dried Cherry-Toasted Almond Turkey Salad Sandwiches have lots of flavors mixing to create quite a tasty meal. Nutty whole wheat pitas take the place of sandwich bread to hold in the turkey salad. The binder is a mixture of sour cream and plain yogurt spiced with ground ginger and crushed red pepper. Crisp celery adds a nice crunch along with the toasted almonds. Dried cherries and golden raisins mix well with the chunks of juicy turkey breast. The meal was quick to make and not as messy to eat as with sandwich bread... I served some baked tortilla chips along side to complete the meal.

Recipes
Raspberry Lemon Muffins
Dried Cherry-Toasted Almond Turkey Salad Sandwiches

Satisfying that chocolate monster...

Sometimes when I'm after a chocolate dessert, I don't want something that is heavy or dripping with icing. While that kind can certainly be fantastic all done up, I also like ones that are light, portable, quick to make and full of deep chocolate flavor.

This Chocolate Snack Cake had everything I was looking for. The cake is pretty quick to prepare, would be great to pack along in a lunch and has a satisfying chocolate flavor. Using dutch cocoa lends a deep rich chocolate taste without the bitterness that sometimes can be found with natural cocoa. This makes nine generous portions which are quite moist. All it needed was a dusting of confectioners' sugar and I was pretty happy.

Lasagna was for dinner tonight, execpt this was not your typical kind. Polenta Lasagna has layers of sliced polenta, cheese, and a vegetable/meat free sausage marinara mixture. You could certainly use ground beef or chicken, but I liked being able to lower the fat some by using gimmie lean sausage. Instead of using the pre-bought polenta in a tube (which is just fine), I had a bunch of cornmeal already on hand so I made some polenta last night and let it firm up in a baking pan in the refrigerator overnight. I used a round biscuit cutter to then cut out the disks. While it does not have the same texture as lasagna, the rounds did keep their shape well and absorbed a lot of the flavor. Next time I might try searing the polenta disks first to give them a bit of a crust before layering them. The dish was so flavorful - I loved this twist on lasagna and will make it again.

Recipes
Polenta Lasagna
Chocolate Snack Cake

Replacing old favorites....

A few years ago before we started eating better and when we were both quite the picky eaters, one of the few things we would have frequently was chicken strips. I have not made any for the longest time because I had grown quite tired of them, but I spotted a recipe that looked like it might be the one to win me over again.

The recipe, Golden Nuggets, had a few things going for it right off the bat. The chicken is first marinated in a flavorful mixture of buttermilk, lemon juice, and spicy seasonings. What sets these apart from plain old chicken nuggets is the coating. Instead of regular breadcrumbs, Whole Wheat English Muffins are placed in a food processor and processed until they turn into smallish bits. Fresh grated parmesan cheese is then mixed in and then this is used to coat the sliced chicken pieces. After being baked, the chicken was juicy and the crust turned into a crisp golden brown coating. Next time I have a hankering for chicken strips, I know what recipe I can turn to!

To go along with these, I cut some potatoes into about 1/8" thick slices and then soaked them in some cold salted water for awhile. I then tossed them with some extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Next, we baked them at a high temperature until the insides were tender and the outside just started to get crispy.

Recipes
Golden Nuggets

Underestimating a recipe...

It's baking for Wednesday Treat day today! I mentioned that I was going to use some fresh and dried fruit in my weekend post for the treats Jeff will bring in to his co-workers. At first look the recipe that used them didn't seem too bad and I figured I should be able to get them done fairly quickly. Boy was I wrong!

Hamantaschen are traditionally shaped like a tricorner hat and would have a classic filling of a poppy seed mixture. While this recipe keeps the shape, what fills them inside is quite different. The fruit filling is a combination of golden raisins, apricots, honey, apples and apple juice. This is cooked down until very thick and it slowly starts to break down into a chunky mixture. My main issues were with the dough- I'm not sure if it was just me or what, but it seemed pretty tough to work with. I tried keeping it at different temperatures to see if that would help, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I had some problems with it cracking and trying to keep it smooth while shaping. It took me a lot longer than I had planned between the filling and shaping of each disk.

Once the filling has cooled, it is placed in the dough circle and the sides are brought together to form a large triangle with the center remaining open. When they are removed from the oven, they are a little soft, but as they cool they crisp up. The cookie has a lemony taste and is quite buttery. The filling sets up and has mildly tart and tangy flavor.

A quite healthy pancake, Maple, Walnut, and Flaxseed Pancakes, was our Breakfast for Dinner meal tonight. Using whole wheat pastry flour and ground flaxseed makes them more nutritious and filling. They are light, airy, slightly sweet and very nutty. The baked-in pure maple syrup is the sweetener and lends enough extra flavor where you wouldn't even need to pour on more. We had these with a bit of Brummel and Brown on top and it was just right. Though I do admit, I bet these would be even better with some Golden Syrup drizzled on top.

Recipes
Hamantaschen
Maple, Walnut, and Flaxseed Pancakes

Salty and sweet...

I picked up some dried tart cherries at Trader Joe's this weekend and only need a few of them for a dish later in the week. Since I knew I would have a bunch leftover, I thought I would use up a good portion of them in a cookie.

Cherry Peanut Butter Oat Cookies have a slightly crisp outside, are quite chewy and have a toothsome texture from the rolled oats. When I was going for the first bite, I was surprised by the intense peanut butter aroma. The first taste was a rush of peanut butter followed by chewy tart cherries. The three flavors meld well into a hearty cookie.

The first part of dinner tonight was an interesting savory custard, Individual Corn Custards with Bacon-Potato Crust. These creamy individual cups pack a bit of heat from diced jalapeños. Some of the corn and milk are pureed together to bring thickness to a mixture of milk, eggs, and flour. The rest of the corn is sauteed until lightly brown to give a roasted taste and some chunky texture. The custard is baked in a water bath until just set in the center. A mixture of crispy bacon and baked chips is sprinkled on top and broiled until a golden brown.

Broccoli Chowder accompanied the above custards to finish out the meal. We both agreed that this soup was an exciting addition to our recipe file. This comforting dish was creamy, rich and quite satisfying. Onion, carrots and celery are cooked with potatoes and garlic to create the flavorful base. The broccoli is added in two stages - first the stems are thrown in so they have a longer time to soften, and then the florets to cook until tender. Finished with sharp white cheddar and sour cream, the soup ranks right up there among our favorites we have tried so far.

Recipes
Broccoli Chowder
Cherry Peanut Butter Oat Cookies
Individual Corn Custards with Bacon-Potato Crust

Too many to choose from...

As I sat down to try and figure out a menu for this week, it felt like it took me forever as nothing seemed to spark my interest. I did finally get some picked out and we got most of the groceries today. I ended up with quite a few recipes selected though and I also had to pick out some extra goodies to make for Jeff to give to his coworkers as they have to work next Saturday for some testing.

We made 10 new recipes this past week with the standouts being the Prosciutto Ravioli and the Maple Sugar White Cornmeal Muffins. Here are some fresh ingredients that I have planned to use in an unusual cookie type recipe... Here's a hint - I don't think I could pronounce the name of it if I tried!

Our DVD for tonight's movie from Netflix will be The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starring Sean Connery. I have quite a busy week ahead planned out so make sure to keep checking back to see what we can bring to you from our kitchen!

Mini gifts

I've been meaning to find a use for some mini loaf pans we received sometime last year. I had to have them for some reason, but they just sat in the cupboard and I was determined to get them used. I needed to make something for a gift and thought it would be a good time to try the pans out.

Dark Chocolate Banana Macadamia Nut Bread can be baked as one large loaf, but I loved the idea of shrinking it down to a mini size for gifts. For the best flavor, you should make sure to use very ripe bananas - I like to let them sit until they are quite dark in color. Toasted macadamia nuts add a creamy richness along side the dark chocolate chips. Walnuts would work well here, but I love what the macadamias add. Using fresh grated orange zest brings a zing of freshness to the moist quickbread.

As always, we'll be having our Saturday chicken salads while watching the DVD that Netflix sent us. Tonight's selection will be Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt - how appropriate with how much news coverage they have been getting lately. Stay tuned for daily updates on what we have been creating in the kitchen!

Reipces
Dark Chocolate Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

Keeping the freezer stocked....

I like to keep a variety of muffins in the freezer so we can grab them and go whenever we need a quick snack. Muffins keep very well frozen and defrost fairly quickly by themselves, but if you warm them for a few seconds in the microwave, it is almost liked they were just baked.

I'm always looking out for or thinking about new or different ingredients for use in muffins and with today's recipe, Maple Sugar White Cornmeal muffins, we use a couple that I've not used in a muffin before. Maple Sugar is made from pure maple syrup, but is granulated like regular sugar. It has quite a unique and intense depth of flavor, but if you don't want to try and find it, you could always substitue brown sugar. I do think it is worth it as you can use it in cereals, teas, coffee or other baked goods. The muffins rose quite high and have a light, but hearty texture with a crunchy crown. The crunch on top comes from white cornmeal and maple sugar sprinkled on top before baking. I made them with no extra addins to see how the basic flavor would be, but I think they would be great with different chips, nuts, fruit or maybe even some crystallized ginger.

Back with another casserole type dish for dinner tonight, Mediterranean Spaghetti. Inside the layers of pasta is a meat sauce that is cooked down until thick with a couple surprise spices - cinnamon and nutmeg! It does not taste like cinnamon, but it brings another dimension of flavor. A creamy thick white sauce flavored with rich and salty feta is layered on top of the meat sauce to add a bit of moisture. On top of the final coat of sauce is a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and parmesan that gives a crisp golden brown crust. The dish is hearty, filling and very satisfying with enough leftovers for a great lunch.

Recipes
Maple Sugar White Cornmeal Muffins
Mediterranean Spaghetti

Comfort snacks...

Since we have been making a lot of comfort food for dinner lately, I was thinking what would be one of our favorite comfort snacks. After going over recipes we've made and looking through cookbooks, I always ended up back at a simple to make snack we both had growing up. It was a little sticky, sweet and crunchy... can you guess what it was?

Don't forget you can click on the pictures to get close up versions!

Yup, it's the classic Rice Krispie Bar! Well, the ones I made today were a little less "classic" because of the cereal we used. When I saw the box of these new Berry Rice Krispies, the first thing I thought was I had to buy it just to try them out in the bars. The cereal is brightly colored and it is very berry flavored! There are many different versions of this recipe, but I think the good old basic is just what these were calling for. Just to up the flavor a bit, I did drizzle some melted chocolate on top. I was a little hesitant at first, but we both really enjoyed the taste of these. Very good and it certainly brings back the memories! Now... would you like a bite?

Tonight's dinner, Prosciutto Ravioli, took sometime to get prepared. Since I've worked with the wontons a few times before, I remembered that it takes me a bit to get them filled neatly. I got a head start by preparing the ricotta filling in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator until I was ready to fill. What fills these tender ravioli is creamy ricotta mixed with spinach and salty prosciutto. The dish is quite light and while I'm sure it would be great made with pasta dough, this is an easy and delicious way to make ravioli using wontons. I served them with a simple tomato sauce, but you could do a butter sauce or whatever you like. Finished with a few grates of parmesan makes this perfect.

The recipe makes quite a few, but you can freeze these wontons after you fill them. Just cook them an extra minute or so and this would be a great quick-to-cook weeknight meal. To go with the ravioli, I made something we have done before - Asiago-Black pepper biscuits. I had forgotten just how good these biscuits are! While being quick to throw together since you can just drop the batter and bake, these are light, tender and have such an intense flavor.

Recipes

Prosciutto Ravioli

Can the lighter side be just as good?

Cheesecake ranks up there as one of our favorite desserts. Although it is usually packed with quite a few calories, there are a few ways to lighten them up - we used a new technique with this one.

Caramel Swirl-and-Apple Cheesecake is not something you can just throw together and expect to be ready quickly. Because of the way it is made it is essential to start a couple days ahead of time. To cut down on the calories, the new technique was to use Yogurt Cheese instead of all cream cheese. When you are picking out the yogurt, it is best to find one that does not have added starches, thickeners or geltain. For this recipe, I ended up using Dannon.

Several layers of cheesecloth are set into a colander and the yogurt is placed on top to let the excess whey drain away. This thickens and firms up the yogurt. It is best to let this sit for at least 8-12 hours. Once this is done, you can proceed on as you would any other cheesecake. Make sure all the ingredients you use are at room temperature. This will help ensure a very smooth mixture. For cheesecakes, I stopped using springform pans awhile ago. I always use a regular round pan with high sides and the bottom lined with parchment since I do my cheesecakes in a water bath to avoid cracks. Even though I would wrap the springforms with foil, half the time water ended up leaking in anyway, so this method prevents that. You may think it would be tough to unmold, but it is quite easy - you only need to warm the bottom of the pan just a little and they have always popped right out for me.

This cheesecake is firm, so creamy and the caramelized apples on the bottom bring so much flavor. The apples are sauteed in orange juice and brown sugar until tender. When the liquid has evaporated, the apples are spread over a crisp cinnamon graham cracker crust. The cheesecake batter is then poured in, and caramel sauce is drizzled over and then swirled to marble the top. You want to bake this until the edges are set, but when you touch the baking pan the center should still have some jiggle to it. This cheesecake is best after letting sit in the refrigerator overnight, allowing the flavors to marry. To answer my question, yes - the lighter side can be just as good, if not better!

After the first time we tried this grain, I could not wait to use it again. After looking around I finally decided on a recipe, so we had Quinoa Tabbouleh for dinner tonight. This recipe came together quickly, but needed to sit for a bit so the flavors could mingle. Lemon juice and parsley add such a fresh taste while cucumbers bring a coolness. Juicy golden raisins add an interesting contrast of texture against the curly quinoa. After eating this, I can't wait to find the next recipe to use this grain. I can see eating this quite a bit during the summer!

Recipes
Caramel Swirl-and-Apple Cheesecake
Quinoa Tabbouleh

It's that time again...

If you have been reading the blog much, you know by now that Tuesdays I make something for Jeff to bring into the office for Wednesday Treat Day. This way we can get feedback on some of the new things we make from his co-workers. Today is no different.. so let's get goin'!

For this treat day, I wanted to go with something a little different so I choose Almond Toffee Bars. This bar cookie starts off with a crumbly almond flavored shortbread-like base. The cookie base is rich and buttery, but does not leave that greasy residue that sometimes happens. After baked until golden brown, a sweet caramel-like topping is made in a saucepan on the stove. The caramel is spread over the base and a sprinkling of raw almonds adorns the sweet concoction. The next part can be kind of tricky, because you really have to keep your eyes on it. To toast the almonds and set the caramel, the pan is set under the broiler for a very short time. The almonds take on a light color and are slowly surrounded by bubbling sugar. When cool, they can be easily cut into clean bars.

On we go to our veggie dinner - Smashed Potato and Broccoli Casserole. This kind of turned into a giant baked potato like dish. Potatoes are cooked until tender and then very coarsley mashed with some of the cooking liquid. Sour cream and Ricotta are blended in with some fresh dill to liven the potatoes up. This is a great way to get in some additional veggies; we used broccoli, but you could change this to cauliflower or the like. Gooey melted cheese tops this creamy dish with a bit of sharpness. To add some additional flavor and make it less vegetarian, I would mash the potatoes with warm chicken stock and add some crumbled crisp bacon. As is though, this is tasty comfort food.

Recipes
Almond Toffee Bars
Smashed Potato and Broccoli Casserole

New to us flavor combinations....

The recipes I made for dinner tonight are a little out of the norm of what we would usually make. Over the years we have slowly been trying to branch out on different combinations of food and spices. Tonight's combination is why we try these things out, because if we didn't, we would have had no idea we've been missing out on some great food!

The first recipe, Banana Corn Fritters, brought a whole new level to bananas . The combination of everything sounded kind of odd, but in the end it worked out quite well. These savory little cakes are sweet, spicy, and a little smoky from using ground chipotle chiles. Coaresly mashed bananas are mixed with flour and crunchy cornmeal for a bit of texture. They are quickly pan fried and then tranferred into the oven to bake until puffy. The sweetness from the bananas brings down the heat from the chipotles just enough to balance it out.

The soup for tonight, Curried Peanut-Squash Soup, is what really drew some attention while I was prepping. I got several looks of "what in the world are you doing" when I was measuring out the peanut butter along side of rice, edamame, carrots and butternut squash. I did use pre-cut butternut from Trader Joes to cut down on prep time. The original recipe called for peas, but I used shelled edamame instead. The combination of a hot madras curry powder with sweet carrots and squash was quite an interesting experience. I loved the taste and texture that smooth peanut butter added to the soup. It took a few spoonfuls for us to warm up to it, but in the end we both liked it. The combination of sweet and spicy went over quite well. It was hard to get a semi decent picture as it does not have the best apperance.

This was our entry for the Virtual Recipe Club - Check for the round up here.

Recipes
Banana Corn Fritters
Curried Peanut-Squash Soup

Please... send some this way...

It's official, we've hit a new record in Phoenix this past week. To-date, we have not had a drop of rain for 103 straight days... Crazy! I know we are in the desert... but a little something would be nice!

11 new recipes again this past week. I think the ones we liked the most were Curry and Ginger Crackers along with the Pistachio and Carrot Cake Cookies. Tomorrow night we will be having an interesting combination of ingredients for dinner. When I told Jeff what was included (without telling him what it will end up as) I was asked to make sure we had something else we can heat up in case it does not work out... how's that for confidence?! Here's a little peak at some of the ingredients.

Netflix also sent us Ocean's Eleven as the other DVD for weekend movie nights. This has an all-star cast, but we've had people tell us it is either a love it or hate it movie. I can't remember if we saw parts of this on TV already, but I'm fairly sure we have not seen the whole movie before. We have a quite an adventurous week ahead food-wise for us. Stop back and see what new recipes we try out next!

Buzzed from cupcakes...

A couple weeks ago I mentioned using some new baking cups when I made a whole grain muffin. I wanted to see how they would do using a lighter batter with a cupcake to see how they would perform.

After sifting through the recipe piles I came up with Coffee Cupcakes with Espresso Syrup. If you love coffee I think you will enjoy these. While I do quite like frappaccinos, I am not a huge fan of coffee by itself. So while these definitely have an upfront coffee flavor, it is not overwhelming. If you don't have access to instant espresso, you can use instant coffee, but use just a bit more than the recipe calls for. For something different, before I set these in the oven, I placed a chocolate covered espresso bean in the center of each cup filled with batter. I was worried that it would just sink to the bottom while baking, but it stayed right in its place.

After these are baked and allowed to slightly cool, a toothpick is used to poke holes all over the crown of the cupcake. A syrup is then liberally brushed on that is made from a reduction of sugar, water and espresso. It is slowly absorbed into the cupcake and brings a new dimension of flavor and moistness. When cool, a shower of confectioners' sugar is sifted on top.

Again, they popped right out of the individual sili-cups with no crumbs left behind and seemed to have an even color. Side by side there does not seem to be much difference, except for the texture from the ripples. I did notice that the ones baking in the separate cups seemed to crack a bit on top, where the ones in the regular baking pan were smooth.

Tonight's DVD selection from Netflix will be The Longest Yard with Chris Rock and Adam Sandler. I have not thought much about the menu for next week, but I hope to get it planned out later. It's not like I don't have enough new recipes to look through!

Recipes
Coffee Cupcakes with Espresso Syrup

Veggie filled Friday...

Tonight's dinner menu is filled with veggies. Lots of potatoes, broccoli, carrots and spinach was used to create these two dishes.

This first dish could certainly be used as a side dish, but we opted to go with a little larger portions for the main part of the meal. Potato, Ham, and Spinach Gratin is layered with buttery yukon gold potatoes, salty ham and spinach. The potatoes are thinly sliced right before the dish is put together so the starch does not leach out. I used a food processor and that made very quick work of them. I would suggest using that or a mandolin as there are quite a few potatoes and you want to get even slices. The recipe called for an 8X8" pan, which I used, but after baking I wish I would have went with my instincts as a 9" pan would have been better. This one was a little too full for my liking. The rich tender potatoes are covered in luscious Gruyere cheese that melts and seeps into the little crevices between the slices. If you wanted to go full veggie, take out the ham and use another 10 ounces of spinach or another vegetable you like.

I had a bunch of broccoli and carrots on hand from a sale that I needed to get used up. Normally I would just steam these and serve them on the side, but I was looking for something just a little different. Broccoli and Carrots with Toasted Almonds was quick to prepare and full of flavor. The vegetables are first quickly blanched to brighten and retain their vibrant colors. They are then pan steamed with a bit of butter and chicken stock until crisp tender. Toasted almonds are sprinkled on top to lend a crunch and an intense nutty flavor. I took these out a little earlier than the recipe calls for as we like them with a bit more snap rather than too tender.

Recipes
Broccoli and Carrots with Toasted Almonds
Potato, Ham, and Spinach Gratin

Spicy soup to warm us up...

Whenever we have soup for dinner, I like to have something crunchy to go along with it. It could be some crusty bread or chips, but since the soup tonight already has tortilla chips as a topping I thought this would be a good time to make some homemade crackers.

I wanted something that was thin and crisp with a nice bite to them. Curry and Ginger Crackers turned out to be just what I was looking for. These crunchy crackers are slightly sweet, have a bit of heat to them and a pleasant bite from the crystallized ginger. The ginger needs to be in very small pieces, so to achieve this you would want to have a food processor or even a blender. While you could chop them by hand, it would take forever to get them small enough. Blending them with part of the flour ensures they don't gum up the blades when you process them. The curry in these crackers adds a flavorful and interesting twist to them. Getting the dough quite thin is essential to get the right texture. I have these rolling pin bands that allow me to get an even surface with whatever thickness I need. I used the 1/16" band to get the right size. To make short work of cutting out squares, I used a pizza cutter and a ruler. If your dough sticks a bit when you try to move them to the baking sheet, you can move whatever you rolled it on into the freezer for about 5 minutes. These are quite addictive!

The soup I made to go with these crackers for dinner tonight was Chipotle Turkey and Corn Soup. This soup does not need to simmer long so it is great for a quick weeknight meal. Thin strips of turkey breast are seared off until brown and then a quite spicy mixture of chipotles, chicken broth and corn are added. Left to simmer for only 5 minutes, the soup has a high amount of flavor. A final squirt of fresh lime juice brightens up the soup and the crushed tortilla chips add a nice texture as they slowly absorb the broth. Warning, this is very spicy if you use the full amount of chipotle and adobo sauce. Reduce both amounts by at least half if you don't like that.

Recipes

Curry and Ginger Crackers

Chipotle Turkey and Corn Soup

Back for part two...

Well I'm pleased to report that I think the treats were gone in record time today at Jeff's office. Yesterday I talked about part one, but had to wait until today for the other item because I had to assemble it at the last minute.

Fresh Fruit Pizza with Citrus Glaze was the first thing that went this morning. I have made this at least 3 other times for them in the past and this is what they requested for the "last" treat day from the co-workers that were leaving.

Sugar cookie dough is pressed in a round pizza pan and then baked off to create a large cookie base. Next, a silky mixture of softened cream cheese, vanilla and sugar is spread on top of the semi-crisp cookie. You can use whatever fresh fruit you like, but I decided to go with strawberries, bananas, kiwi fruit and blueberries. I bought a little too many strawberries, so I decided to do a double layer of them on the outside ring.

To add an additional layer of flavor, sweetness, and to help the fruit from turning colors, a citrus glaze is quickly made in a small saucepan. Orange and lemon juice are the primary flavors with some sugar for sweetness and cornstarch to thicken. As soon as this mixture thickens, you will want to remove it from the heat so it does not reduce down and get too thick. You want it thin enough to be easily spreadable. This can be drizzled all over the pizza if desired, but I like to just brush the fruit with it to keep the bright contrast in color between the white cream cheese and brilliant color from the fruit.

Dinner tonight was a light pasta salad, Farfalle with Zucchini and Prosciutto. Tender bowtie pasta is coated in a bright dressing flavored with a hint of fresh lemon. Matchstick zucchini is the main vegetable flavor here, but to stretch this dish I think you could easily add some broccoli or maybe some crisp sugar snap peas. Rich salty prosciutto brings a welcome contrast to the mellow pasta. I was tempted to crisp the prosciutto up a bit, but after taking a bite I liked the texture better this way. This is one I will have to remember to make for picnics in the spring and summer time. Light, refreshing and would be a great way to fill up after a hike.

Recipes
Fresh Fruit Pizza with Citrus Glaze
Farfalle with Zucchini and Prosciutto

Anymore stuff inside and they would fall over the ledge...

I got most of the recipes done today as tomorrow is Wednesday Treat Day for Jeff's coworkers. There will be 2 items and I will talk about the other one tomorrow as I have to wait until the last minute to assemble it. This will be the last one for many of them as they have sadly been let go, so I wanted to make sure I would have enough to go around.

The first one, Rocky Ledge Bars, have so much stuff packed into these triangle shaped cookies. It's hard describe them as there is so many flavors going on. The bars are thick, dense, chewy, and very rich. Each piece is overloaded with white chocolate chips, semisweet chips, butterscotch chips, marshmallows and delicious caramel pieces that melt into chewy puddles. The dough base is buttery with a deep richness from the molasses in the dark brown sugar. It was a little tough to determine the doneness as the dough is already golden and trying to find a clean spot to do a toothpick test was almost impossible without hitting a chip, marshmallow or caramel. Are they over the top? Yes... but wow are they tasty!

Tonight's dinner was a nice change of pace in the form of a big ol' apple pancake. Sweet golden delicious apples are satueed in a bit of butter to soften. A heavy egg based batter is whirled in a blender until smooth and then poured on top of the hot apples. After a quick run through a very hot oven the pancake puffs up quite high from the eggs. The batter enveloped the apples when it rose, so I decided to flip it over so you could see the apples on the bottom. Surprisingly, the pancake itself is not overly eggy despite the ratio of ingredients. I left off the maple syrup as they were plently sweet for us and all that was needed was a gentle dusting of confectioners' sugar.

Recipes
Rocky Ledge Bars
Big Apple Pancake