I am about to brag.
I was trying to figure out a way to combine some of my favorite ingredients: bread, cheese, a tangy vinaigrette. So I figured, why not throw them on a plate...with some arugula to catch the vinaigrette, as well as a pear to add something sweet...and voila! My favorite salad that I binged on for weeks.
Ingredients
Arugula
1 wheel of camembert cheese
1 ripe pear
Thinly sliced red onion or scallions (your preference)
French baguette
1 garlic clove, lightly smashed
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Champagne vinaigrette (My favorite is Girard's...in the triangular bottle)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice a french baguette on the diagonal to create thin slices of bread.
3. Place on an unlined baking sheet and brush all sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
4. Toast until the edges turn golden brown and turn over, repeating the same for the other side.
5. Remove from oven and when just cooled enough to handle (but still hot), rub with the smashed garlic clove. Set aside.
6. Now, line the baking sheet with parchment paper and cut the wheel of camembert into quarters.
7. Place the cheese on the lined baking sheet and bake for a few minutes until the cheese just starts to ooze (very technical, I know).
8. Meanwhile, thinly slice the red onion and pear, removing the seeds.
9. Place a large bunch of arugula on a serving dish and toss with the champagne vinaigrette.
10. Add the sliced pears and red onion, and toss gently.
11. Top the salad with the wedges of camembert and sliced bread.
This year, a new area of culinary interest emerged: combining flavors that seem to contradict each other. I can't tell you why, but these strange pairings have been calling my name. This was one of those recipes; I mean, butternut squash and cilantro? But that's the funny thing about trying new things...when they work out and taste totally amazing (like this one did), it reinforces the need to keep exploring!
Ingredients
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 cups cilantro leaves (loosely packed)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
6 oz. plain Israeli couscous
1/2 cup toasted nuts of any preference, or toasted chickpeas
Juice of half a lemon
2 1/2 cups boiling water
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Directions
1. Heat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Peel and cube the butternut squash, and toss in a big drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and black pepper.
3. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet and roast until tender and starting to brown, approximately 25-30 minutes. Stir once during the roasting process.
4. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. In a small food processor, combine the garlic, cilantro, cumin, coriander, and 1/2 tsp. salt.
6. Add the lemon juice and continue to process until finely chopped.
7. With the processor running, slowly add 3-4 tbsp. of olive oil until a loose sauce is formed. Set aside.
8. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil.
9. Meanwhile, in another medium saucepan or skillet with tall sides, toast the couscous over medium heat until it turns golden brown, approximately 5 minutes.
10. Once the water is boiling and the couscous is browned, add the boiling water and 1 tbsp. of olive oil, along with a pinch of salt.
11. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the water is absorbed and the couscous is tender, approximately 12 minutes.
12. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, toast the nuts or chickpeas until golden brown.
14. In a large mixing bowl, toss together the couscous, cilantro sauce, roasted butternut squash, and toasted nuts. Gently toss until everything is well-coated.
15. Adjust salt and black pepper to taste, and serve warm.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's been that long. This is a Christmas cookie recipe that I made as a new addition to my Christmas 2012 treats. Don't let the delay in posting fool you...these are tasty to make right away. Just like little mounds bars...and so addictive!
Ingredients
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups flaked coconut, divided into 3 and 2 cups
48 milk chocolate kisses
Directions
1. Beforehand, unwrap the hershey kisses and place in a bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in egg yolk and almond extract.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Slowly add flour mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
7. Stir in 3 cups of coconut with a spatula.
8. Cover and refrigerate for one hour or until dough is easy to handle.
9. Roll dough into one-inch balls and roll in remaining two cups of coconut.
10. Place two inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
11. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
12. Remove from oven and immediate press a chocolate kiss into the middle.
13. Let cool on pan for 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate is softened.
14. Remove to wire rack and cool completely.
If it's any indication of the craziness of 2012-2013, here is a post that I wrote nearly five months ago...and it took me this long to just get the picture uploaded!
Well, it's been four months since the last post. The busiest semester of my grad school career has finally come to a close, and it's refreshing to be able to return to the blog. Though I have had the time (or energy) to sit down and post new recipes, don't you worry...there's been no shortage of cooking in the kitchen. I haven't starved, people. I know you were concerned.
So today I'm going to dip my toes into the pool, so to speak, and post a few recipes from many months back. I have more...many more...from Asian noodles to grilled artichokes to the joyous addition of my Cooking Club (which I started in February). There will be many more posts to follow, but frankly, having to load all my pictures to the computer and then write up a gazillion recipes feels just slightly overwhelming to me four days into my semester break. So I'll start slow, with many posts to follow in the coming weeks.
A few months ago, and by that I mean all the way back to October, I was feeling like I needed some non-school related activities to get involved in. Entering my second year of the program, I felt like I was overwhelmed with school and needed to get away from psychology for a little while. So I started hunting out small groups through my church. I've consistently met good friends this way in every city I've lived in, so I was hopeful about meeting some people that I had a few things in common with. The first group I attended was nice, but it wasn't a good fit. I was the youngest by 20 years, and they were several weeks into their study about an easy book at the back of the Bible called Revelation (*ahem, easy: read, "I don't understand it"). We had a nice discussion over a potluck-style gathering, and even if it wasn't love at first bite, I did get the opportunity to meet some new people, which encouraged me to keep trying new groups. This is what I made for that first meeting: tomato salad with crushed croutons from over here.
Ingredients
Croutons
4 slices rustic white bread
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tbsp.)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
Black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Tomato Salad
1 lb. cherry or grap tomatoes
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
Pinch of sugar
Tomato salad
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, mixed colors if you can find them
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon mellow red wine vinegar (yours isn’t mellow? use less)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Pinch of sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
Handful basil leaves, slivered.
Prepare the crushed croutons: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tear bread into chunks and pule them in a food processor until coarsely ground (largest chunks can be lima bean sized). No food processor? Keep tearing the bread up until it is in ragged, mixed sized crumbs. Spread crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan until croutons are evenly coated with oil. Bake until golden brown and dry, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly. (Warm is fine, hot might wilt your tomatoes, boo.)
Assemble salad: Halve each tomato lengthwise and arrange cut side up on a platter. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, salt, sugar and a few grinds of pepper in a small dish. Drizzle over tomatoes. Sprinkle tomatoes with crushed croutons. Garnish with slivers of basil.
If I were to make a "Top 10 List of Satisfying Accomplishments" from the last couple of months, I'd probably include things like turning in a draft of the literature review portion of my dissertation (last week), having a really good session with a difficult client...heck, even getting all my bills paid on time (it's been busy, people). But toward the top of the list would also be this recipe...homemade cinnamon rolls! I was nervous working with a yeast dough and having to worry about it rising, sitting rising, baking, etc. But they really couldn't have been easier (and so delicious!)
Ingredients
Dough
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup whole milk, warmed
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (roughly 1 0.25oz or 7-gram package)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
Filling
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Glaze
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Directions
1. Melt 6 tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter brown so it sizzles and you see little browned bits at the bottom of the pot (but don't burn it!) You'll notice it starting to smell nutty and, well, it just smells like perfection.
2. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. To warm the milk, you can place it in a small saucepan and watch it with a thermometer (don't let it get over 116 degrees).
*Note: to be easy, I just put it in a microwave-safe measuring cup and nuked it for 45 seconds. You'll notice it bubbling a little around the edges and it should be warm to the touch.
4. Add yeast to the warmed milk and set aside. In five to seven minutes, it will be slightly foamy and you know your yeast is going to do it's job!
5. In a large mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugars, salt, and spices.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the browned butter and stir to combine.
7. Add the yeast mixture, pumpkin, and egg, and stir until combined.
8. Now, use your dough hook instead of the paddle attachment on your mixer and let the dough hook work the mixture for five minutes on low speed.
9. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl (with olive oil or vegetable oil) and dump the dough into the bowl.
10. Cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap and set aside for one hour in a warm and draft-free spot. The mixture should just about double in size.
11. Combine the ingredients for the filling into a small mixing bowl and set aside.
12. Once the dough has doubled, scoop it out onto a well-floured surface. Generously flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a rectangle (approximately 16x11").
13. Brush with the rest of the browned butter and sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the top.
*Note: I gently spread the mixture out (without pushing down) to make sure it's all even.
14. Starting on the long edge, begin rolling the dough into a tight spiral. Move slowly so your spiral is even and so you don't lose too much of that delicious filling.
15. Now that your dough is rolled up into a log shape, take a serrated knife and gently cut 1" sections. To maintain the spiral, don't push down with your knife while you are cutting. Just gently saw back and forth and let the blade do all the work.
16. Now, grease two 8-inch cake pans with butter and nestle the rolls side-by-side.
17. Cover each pan with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap and set aside for rise for another 45 minutes.
18. Once they have risen, you can either refrigerate them overnight (then, in the morning, pull them out an hour before you want to bake them and allow them to warm up) OR you can keep going because, honestly, they're kinda hard to resist!
19. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
20. Make the glaze by beating the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
21. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and combine.
22. Drizzle in the milk until you get the consistency you want.
*Note: I like mine at medium thickness so it drizzles but isn't too runny.
23. After 45 minutes of rising time, bake the rolls for 25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
24. Cover with glaze and eat hot.
Second semester, second year of the doc program...is over! A few more days at work and the holidays can truly begin. Somehow, I survived the most rigorous semester of my life, and while I haven't been as active posting recipes, I'm looking back through my photos and realizing that I still managed to keep myself busy in the kitchen in whatever spare time I must have had.
So here come a few pumpkin recipes from the fall...better late than never, right? These cookies were surprisingly good - I love when cookies plump up twice their size in the oven!
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Icing
Powdered sugar
Milk
Vanilla extract
Directions
1. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla, and beat until well-combined.
3. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients.
4. Beat until just combined.
5. Divide the dough in half and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least two hours until firm.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. On a well-floured surface (with a well-floured rolling pin), roll out one-half of the dough at a time to about 1/4" thick.
8. Cut with a cookie cutter in whatever shape you like.
9. Place on baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
*Note: my batch baked for the full 10 minutes and even then were just browned.
10. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Once the cookies are cooled, prepare the icing.
12. Put 2 cups powdered sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
13. Add just enough milk and vanilla extract to get the desired consistency...I like my icing on the thicker side.
14. Spread generously on top of the cookies and let harden.
Well, true to form, I have a paper to be working on but instead I'm posting some recipes. I was craving Mexican food a few weeks ago, and this was a good make-ahead meal that lasted for days. Adapted from over here.
Ingredients
1 package medium flour tortillas (8-10)
1 bag shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Salt and black pepper
Cumin, ancho chile powder, chipotle powder
Olive oil
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
4 oz. can diced green chiles
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, cumin, ancho chile powder, and chipotle powder. Saute until cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In the skillet you cooked the chicken in, melt 3 tbsp. butter.
3. When the butter is melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
4. Add the chicken broth and whisk until smooth.
5. Continue cooking until the mixture is bubbling and thick, then add the sour cream and the diced green chiles. Set aside.
6. When chicken is cooled enough to handle, shred either by hand or in the bowl of a stand-mixer with the paddle attachment (the latter is my preferred method!)
7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x13" baking dish with butter and set aside.
8. Separate the flour tortillas on a clean surface. Divide 1/2 of the shredded cheese among each tortilla. Then add the shredded chicken.
9. Roll the tortillas by tucking in the ends and rolling over. Snuggle tightly into the baking dish.
10. Pour the sauce over the top of the tortillas and sprinkle with the last 1/2 of the shredded cheese.
11. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Enjoy...they're just as good left
over!
