Welcoming a New Baby with a Sad Cake

I attended a baby shower on Sunday, and I was asked to bring a dessert for brunch. I felt like baking my famous pound cake which I haven't made for a long time (I got sick of it after making hundreds of them for the local farmer's market). So I tried a new twist on an old fave: Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze. I just hoped that it would turn out nicely for the party.
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Hoping that it "turned out" ended up being tragically prophetic! I either didn't let it cool down enough, or I should have floured the bundt pan, but pieces of it stuck when I flipped it out, and I nearly bawled. My next thought (since I made it Friday night) was, oh well, at least I have time to make something else before Sunday. But the bits I tasted were so yummy, that I wondered if I might salvage it.

I carefully stuck the pieces back on and gently pressed them in (the cake was VERY moist). And then I made the glaze a little thicker than usual and applied it very liberally to cover the multitude of sins. I put it in the fridge overnight to firm up (and so, hopefully, it would hold together when sliced). But the icing just seemed to emphasize the unsightly fault lines on the cake. So my friend, Jan, offered a brilliant solution--to hide the structural flaws with fresh spring flowers! It ended up looking lovely on the brunch table, and no one was the wiser. And it was tasty to boot! Whew--catastrophe averted!

Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

2 sticks butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening
5 large whole eggs
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose white flour (measure on the 3rd and last sift)
zest of 2 lemons, very finely grated (preferably, with a Microplane/wood rasp)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 325. Spray or grease bundt pan and lightly flour entire surface. (Or the Pam with flour for baking makes it even easier!) Cream butter and shortening together at slow mixer speed. Add sugar and eggs, one at a time, alternating with the sugar. Begin and end with sugar. Scrape bowl often. When all added, set mixer on high speed for exactly four minutes. Sift flour three times, adding baking powder, soda and salt on last sift, then measure three cups. Whisk the lemon zest into the flour mixture and set aside. Add the vanilla and the lemon oil to the buttermilk and stir. Add the buttermilk and the flour mixtures to the bowl, alternating ingredients, beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in the frozen blueberries. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

The cake will take about 1 hour and 15 minutes to cook depending on your altitude, humidity and oven calibration. Test by inserting a knife or tester. It's done when it comes out a little oily but no batter. Cool on rack until the bottom of bundt pan is warm but not hot, then turn out on a plate. Let it cool a bit, and then glaze with the recipe below.

Lemon Glaze

3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter
splash of vanilla

Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth. Add the butter and microwave on high for 30 seconds to one minute (until butter is melted). Add a splash of vanilla, and whisk again until smooth. Coat pound cake with every last bit of the glaze (using a pastry brush is very helpful here), then let cool until set before serving.

Need a quick fix idea? I gotchyo back!

I made a yummy "quick fix" dinner tonight: Fresh Fettucine with Chicken and Tomato Cream Sauce. This may be a new weeknight go-to "recipe!" Ready for a real "cheater" meal? Here we go...

Start with a deli chicken that you break down (remove the skin and bones and inedible bits) and shred. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute a chopped onion and a couple/few cloves of minced garlic until softened (you might also throw in some sliced mushrooms if you have them on hand). When the veggies are tender, toss in the shredded chicken, a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used a three cheese blend from Sam's Club), and some fresh black pepper (1/2 teaspoon?). Cook for a couple of minutes until heated through, then stir in about a cup of half and half.

In the meantime, boil a one pound package of fresh fettucine for about four minutes until al dente (or whatever the package directions say to do). When cooked, add the drained pasta to the skillet, and add some pasta water to thin the sauce if need be. Taste to see if it needs salt, but as you'll want to top it with some coarsely shredded parmesan, go easy. And that's your dinner! You're welcome.

Bringing a little taste of NYC home...

For today's post, I pay homage to my recent Spring Break NYC trip with a couple of my infamous recipe recreations. First up is my version of Momofuku's Spicy Cold Noodles with baby spinach, Chinese sausage, and honey roasted cashews. SO GOOD--especially when it's NOT 15 bucks a bowl (as the dishes are above)! This was so easy, too--a real weeknight quick fix.

Momofuku's Spicy Cold Noodles (Copycat Version)

I started by preparing 8 oz. of soba noodles (boiled for 4-5 minutes in salted water, then cooled thoroughly under cold water and drained).

Then I made a vinaigrette from the following ingredients and poured it over the noodles:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha
1 tablespoon miso (you could use another tablespoon of teriyaki)
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

I put the noodles in the fridge while I browned three large links of Chinese sausage (removed from the casing and crumbled in the pan). Then to assemble, I placed a large handful of baby spinach on the plate, half of the dressed noodles, half of the cooked sausage, and a handful of honey roasted cashews to garnish. That's it! Easy, fresh, and yummy!

Though my dessert at Momfuku was SUBLIME (pineapple and brown butter cake soft serve swirled together to make pineapple upside-down cake ice cream!), the other NYC-inspired knockoff that I want to share is hazelnut chocolate bear hug rice pudding, a la Rice to Riches--the amazing rice pudding shop in Soho--with amazingly high prices for a dish consisting mainly of rice, milk and sugar. I am VERY pleased at how my inexpensive rendition turned out.

Rice to Riches' Hazelnut Chocolate Bear Hug Rice Pudding (Copycat Version)

1 cup arborio rice
1 quart whole milk
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

Put everything except the vanilla and Nutella into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until rice is tender and mixture is thick and creamy.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and Nutella. Stir until Nutella is fully melted and mixed in. Serve warm or cold.

Food from Friends

I have some fabulous foodie friends, Jaymie and Audrey, and we like to swap recipes on occasion...or at least food ideas or inspirations. One of their favorite fun dinners that they are often Facebooking about is cheeseburger pizza. I'm not sure if they've ever made it the same way twice, and when I tried it, I didn't make it exactly as they do (they like American cheese on theirs--BLECH!). But man, is it YUMMY! And you can be so creative when you make it--just think about all the things that you like on your hamburger, and incorporate those things as pizza toppings. I think this would be a very fun meal to get kids involved in, too...if'n I had any. ;-) Here's how I went about making my my version:

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Pizza with Mushrooms and Onions

I cheated and started with a thin crust Boboli. I spread about a half cup of ketchup on it (you might also consider Thousand Island dressing for that Big Mac appeal), then about a cup of a pizza blend cheese (mozzarella and cheddar), then a layer of cooked ground turkey and/or beef (about a half pound) that had been seasoned with a little BBQ rub, then another cup of cheese. I put that in the oven at 450 degrees for eight minutes while I got on with frying and crumbling up four pieces of bacon, sauteeing six sliced baby bella mushrooms, and chopping some white onion (1/4 cup or so). When the timer rang, I topped the pizza with the cooked mushrooms and bacon and put it back in for another four minutes. When it was done, I sprinkled it with the (raw) onions, sliced it up, and served it.

Jaymie and Audrey also turned me on to this delicious Peruvian pepper sauce that's kind of a cross between salsa verde and chimichurri called Aji Sauce (Salsa de Aji Amarillo). There are too many recipes to determine which is the definitive version--apparently, folks keep their secret recipes close to their vests--but I loosely followed a template provided by Serious Eats blogger, Andrea Lynn, who attempted to clone the sauce at a well-known Peruvian restaurant in NYC, Pio Pio.

Aji Sauce

2 Cubanelle peppers, seeded and roughly chopped (what I had on hand, but I would normally use four large jalapenos)
2 tablespoons aji amarillo paste (check the Latin foods aisle for this)
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves of garlic, peeled (normal people might use 4!)
bunch of cilantro (mostly leaves)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of one large lime (or two small ones)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (cojita cheese would be more authentic--again, it's what I had on hand)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Throw everything except the mayo in the food processor and blend it all until it is as smooth as it's going to get. Then add the mayo and pulse a few more times until it's all mixed together. DELISH! You'll want to put it on EVERYTHING: grilled steak, pork chops, fish, hamburgers, nachos, burritos, Mexican omelettes, you name it. This would be welcome anywhere you would normally use a tomato salsa. Throw in a couple of avocados, and you'd have a kickin' guacamole, too!

Happy weekend! Make yourself a lovely omelette to celebrate it...

Sometimes, the best dishes are "use what you have" melanges from the veggie and deli drawers in your fridge. I made a faaaaabulous omelette for brunch today, and I just thought I would share the (admittedly slapdash) methodology.

Melt a bit of butter in a nonstick saute pan over medium-low heat. Toss in a couple of tablespoons of finely-chopped onion, one very small clove of minced garlic, and a couple/few baby bella mushrooms, sliced somewhat thinly. Cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms have become tender, then throw in a big handful of baby spinach that you have sliced into a chiffonade. Wilt that for another minute, then pour in a splash of balsamic vinegar and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. Swiss chard is good in place of the spinach, too. I like the tanginess of the balsamic with the greens. But only use a little bit, or it will overpower your eggs!

Crack three eggs on top of the vegetable saute, sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt, then kind of jostle everything together (so that the yellow and white is not homogenously mixed), and toss on a handful of the shredded cheese of your choice. Turn the pan to lowest setting and cover with a lid. Leave the pan go while you get on with making some toast. But the time your bread or bagel has been toasted and buttered, it will be time to remove the lid from the pan, flip the omelette over on to itself and serve. YUM!

Garlic Lovers, UNITE!

OUCH! Eyes were burning and noses were running when I made Susan Spicer's (of Bayona, New Orleans) Cream of Garlic Soup. It calls for six cups of chopped onions and two cups of garlic cloves! But it was the perfect excuse to try out my new purple stick blender that I bought at Sur la Table over Spring Break in the Big City! I had a boring white one that I liked very much, but I accidentally melted its cord (draping it across a hot burner--oops!). So now that they make a purple one, I thought it was a sign that it was time to replace my old damaged one.

Now I know that TWO CUPS of garlic and all those onions sounds scary, but you first caramelize the onions and garlic until they are golden brown and sweet (like roasted garlic). The soup is DELICIOUS, silky smooth and with a wonderful depth of flavor. This is a must-make for garlic lovers!

Bayona's Cream of Garlic Soup
(8 servings)

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups peeled and sliced onions (about 2 pounds)
2 cups peeled but not chopped garlic cloves (save yourself and buy a big jug of peeled cloves at Sam's Club!)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
6-7 cups chicken stock
1 bouquet garni* made with parsley stems, thyme sprigs and bay leaf
half a loaf stale French bread, cut into cubes
1 cup (up to a pint) half-and-half or heavy cream
salt and pepper, to taste

Blend the butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until they turn a deep golden brown,30 to 40 minutes (up to an hour). Add the thyme, 6 cups chicken stock and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Stir in the bread cubes and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the bread is soft. Remove the soup from heat and cool for 10 minutes. (If you use a stick blender, you can skip the cooling step.)

Remove the bouquet garni and puree the soup in a blender ( in batches, if necessary), until completely smooth. Return the soup to the pot and heat to the desired temperature. Whisk in more chicken stock if the mixture is too thick. Add half-and-half or cream until the soup reaches the texture of a classic cream soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*I didn't have fresh herbs on hand, so I just used dried thyme (one teaspoon), parsley (one tablespoon) and two bay leaves. I fished the bay leaves out before pureeing the soup.

(Susan Spicer, Crescent City Cooking. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2007)

Like an insensitive houseguest, winter will not take the hint and LEAVE already!

I am off to the Southlands to find me some spring, but as it was EIGHT degrees when I left Burlington yesterday, I thought I might share this easy casserole--a hearty and warming favorite, in case springtime hasn't found you where you live either!

Simple Shepherd's Pie

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, lamb or a combo)
1 large onion, diced
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen peas (I like lots of peas in my shepherd's pie!)
1 tablespoon beef or vegetable bouillon (I like Better Than Bouillon)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 stick butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 cup water
6 cups prepared mashed potatoes

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook the meat and the onions until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent (sliced mushrooms would have been good here, too, but I didn't have any on hand). Add the frozen vegetables and cook for a minute or two until thawed. Add the bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, granulated garlic, and pepper and stir to combine.

Make a well in the middle of the meat and vegetable mixture, and melt four tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted, toss the flour over the mixture and cook everything together for a couple of minutes, stirring the whole time. Pour the water over the mixture and cook for another couple of minutes until the gravy thickens, stirring constantly.

Pour the meat and vegetable mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and top with the mashed potatoes. Top the potatoes with bits of the remaining four tablespoons of butter, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until browned on top and bubbly.

*If the potatoes are not crispy enough to suit you, run the pan under the broiler for a minute or two.

A tasty shot of fiber for ya...

I don't even have a picture for you today, but I have a great recipe. One of my college friends started a group on Facebook called Healthy Cooking on a Budget, and another college friend posted a bran muffin recipe that is very yummy and quite easy. In fact, I had a batch whipped up and out the door to take to a meeting at work before I remembered to take a picture! They aren't much to look at anyway, but they are delish, and full of nutritious ingredients.

Of course, I made a few tweaks to the original recipe below. The first change was a mistake. When I was at the store, I remembered that I needed some kind of bran cereal, but I bought All-Bran instead of oat bran. Oops. But I just stirred the cereal in with the wet stuff and let it soften while I got on with the rest of the batter. I also used whole wheat white flour, because that's what I had on hand. It made the texture very light. And instead of chopped dates, I used date crystals, so they ended up dissolving into the muffins like sugar. I upped the vanilla to one full teaspoon, and I added an extra couple of tablespoons of oil, too, but the batter still looked a bit heavy to me. So I ended up stirring in a scant 1/4 cup of buttermilk. I baked them in cupcake liners, and they came out just beautifully. Using a regular muffin scoop, I got 14 muffins. They took 20 minutes to bake, and I let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them out. YUM!

Mimi’s Muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
3/4 cup oat bran cereal (I accidentally used All-Bran*...and would do it again)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.  Then mix the following in a larger bowl:

1/3 cup mashed banana (=one banana)
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
2 egg whites or 1 egg
2 tablespoons oil or applesauce (I increased this to 1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I increased this to one teaspoon)
1/2 cup brown sugar
*I stirred the All-Bran cereal into the wet ingredients to let it soften while I mashed the banana and grated carrots and chopped nuts.
**I also added about 1/4 cup buttermilk to the wet mixture.

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet mix, then fold in:

1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup dates, chopped (I used date crystals)
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (I used walnuts)

Bake in muffin tins at 400* for 18-20 mins. Makes about 10-12 muffins. (I got 14 using a regular muffin scoop.)

It's just not funny anymore.

We awoke to almost 13 inches of new snow today, making it the second Monday in a row of no school, and third inclement weather day of the semester. You might think that I would revel in these unexpected days off, but it's wreaking havoc on my academic course schedules, and I fear that my Monday-Wednesday and Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes will NEVER get caught up from missing a whole week of classes! UGH!

However, the crazy, persistent winter has--as you may have noticed in recent posts--inspired a streak of marvelous soups and stews. The most recent of which started with a pound of 32 bean (and 8 vegetable) soup mix that I bought in the bulk food section at the Healthy Living Market in Burlington. The brand name is North Bay Trading Company and you can order online, or they'd probably have something similar at your local co-op. I didn't follow any particular recipe, but here was my general methodology for Ham and 32 Bean Soup:

In my large Dutch oven with some olive oil (two tablespoons or so), I sauteed some diced/sliced veggies--2 medium onions, 3 large stalks celery, 2 large carrots, a few hot peppers, two or three cloves of garlic, and about 8-10 large mushrooms. Then I added the bean mix in its soaking liquid (water to cover, soaked for two hours) and added a tablespoon each of vegetable soup base (Better Than Bouillon) and salted herbs (it's a Canadian thing--feel free to add a total of two tablespoons of soup base instead). I also added a teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

I brought this to the boil for five minutes, and turned it to simmer for two hours. I ended up adding two more cans of vegetable broth to the mix, as it thickened during cooking. Then I added a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and about a pound of diced ham, and simmered it for almost another hour. Good stuff!

To go with the soup, I made a batch of the most wonderful potato rolls! I ran across the recipe for crusty potato bread on Allrecipes, and I thought I might prefer rolls to bread. Several of the reviewers had reported that they had successful produced rolls with the dough, and also offered helpful recipe amendments which I also adopted. This were so easy and really lovely--they rose high and were airy in texture, despite my using some white whole wheat flour. I don't know why I don't make homemade bread more often, especially when I now have a perfect dough rising spot near the warm fire and no longer have to rely on home-rigged contraptions to get bread to rise! Even if you fear yeast doughs, I urge you to give this one a try...
 
Soft Potato Rolls
(adapted from Allrecipes)

3 cups all-purpose flour (I swapped out one cup white whole wheat)
3/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 cups warm--not hot!--water (up to 1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons instant yeast

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix all of the ingredients until they come together, then continue to knead with the hook for five minutes until a smooth ball forms (you may have to add a little extra water, a teaspoon at a time, to get the right consistency--there shouldn't be dry stuff at the bottom of the bowl). Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel, and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Divide into 12 equal portions and roll into smooth balls. Place in a 9x13 baking dish that has been coated with nonstick spray. Spray a piece of plastic wrap and cover the dish with that and the tea towel. Put the rolls back in a warm spot to rise until doubled.

Carefully brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes until deep golden brown on top.

Winter's Bitch

"In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours." ~ Mark Twain

In the span of less than a week, we've experienced five below zero, then 40 and raining, and then back to the Snowpocalypse. I've given up on trying to understand it or predict it; I'm now just trying to ride it out. So it doesn't look like the winter is going to be through messing with us anytime soon. Thus, we need more hearty, rib-sticking, soul-warming comfort food.

Now I have always been a big fan of a roast chicken, as evidenced many times on this blog. But here's a slightly different approach to the dish that was shared with me by my friend, Heather. She and her husband have two small boys, and it's their family favorite.  I can see why, as it's simple, delicious, and elevates a random Tuesday night to something pretty special.

One Pot Chicken Dinner

1 chicken, cut up -- or 4 chicken breast halves
4-10 red or yellow potatoes, peeled and quartered (depending on how many mouths you're feeding)
4-12 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inches pieces (again, depending on how many people you're serving)
1/4 onion, diced (I used a whole onion)
1/3 cup butter, room temperature, softened or melted
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (or more, if preferred--LOTS more!)
pepper (to taste)
* I added a pinch of red pepper flakes and a good sprinkling of dried oregano.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F).

Place potatoes, carrots, and onions in bottom of large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Rinse chicken thoroughly and pat dry. Place chicken on top, skin-side up. In a small bowl, mash up and mix butter with garlic, salt and pepper. Spread or drizzle butter mixture over the top of the chicken. Cover* and bake (at 450) for 60 minutes, or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165-170. (Basting a few times, every 20-30 minutes, is a really good idea!)

*OOPS! I missed the part of the instructions where you were supposed to cover the dish, which explains why the garlic on top of my chicken pieces burned. But I just scraped the burned bits off, and the dish was perfect. Next time, I will cover it, but I would think that the foil should come off (or go on) halfway through.

Butter Lane (is in my ears and in my eyes...and in my tum-tum!)

Recently, a friend of mine got in on a Groupon deal to take a cupcake-making class at Butter Lane, my favorite cupcake shop in NYC, for $25! That includes a dozen cupcakes to take home, and they sell those for three bucks apiece in the shop! So it's like they're paying YOU to take the class! Well, as you can imagine, I was very jealous of my friend, especially as I live in a city that's too small to be able to use Groupon! Boo hiss!

So what's a gal to do but to make her own cupcakes? Luckily, I found this blog where the author took the same class as my friend and documented her experience, including sharing their recipes for banana cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. Mind you, this very cupcake was profiled by Ted Allen on Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" as the best cupcake in the City.  I don't even like bananas, and I have to concur!

Of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so I made my own way with the frosting. I added some local, Grade B maple syrup and a whole bunch of buttered pecans, and in doing so, I may well have produced one of the best baked goods to ever come out of my kitchen! (This was confirmed by my top three most faithful taste testers.)

If you're in the Big Apple, you have to check out Butter Lane. You have your choice of vanilla, chocolate or banana cupcakes, with a whole menu of different frostings, including both American and French buttercreams. In the meantime, MAKE THESE:

Butter Lane's Banana Cupcakes
(Should make 15 cupcakes...I got 18!)

1 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 eggs (mix the second egg, and approximate half)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour (or 1 1/4 cups all-purpose)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup pureed bananas (about three)

Cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy. Add half the flour mixture followed by half the buttermilk and repeat. Fold in banana mixture on low speed, finishing folding by hand. Scoop with ice cream dasher into lined muffin tins about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake at 300 for 23-28 minutes (until a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs). Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Maple Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick of (salted) butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons maple syrup (preferably, Grade B)
1 cup pecans browned in 2 tablespoons butter, cooled and chopped

In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter. Add one cup of whole pecans and brown them in the pan, stirring frequently. When the nuts have turned a deep golden brown and smell toasty, remove from heat and cool the nuts completely. When cool, chop with a large knife into fairly small pieces.

Beat the cream cheese and butter for five minutes. On low speed, mix in powdered sugar, then add vanilla and maple syrup and mix for another three minutes until very smooth. Finally, add the buttered pecan pieces and mix until thoroughly combined.

In which I am revealed to be a tightwad...

This story begins with my love of all things pickled. Starting around Thanksgiving, I make up a big vat of pickled things, comprised of all the homemade pickles in my pantry, plus some purchased pepperoncini and olives and whatever else I decide to toss into the brine, and keep the bucket in the fridge to munch on when I get the urge. But then tragedy struck, and I ran out of homemade pickled carrots.

I was just going to buy some more, but A) you can't often find carrots by themselves that aren't in giardiniera (and I hate cauliflower), and B) if you do find a jar of just carrots, they are $6 or $7 a jar! Refusing to fork out that kind of dough, I bought a 3 lb. bag of baby carrots at Sam's Club for four bucks, a package of Mrs. Wages kosher pickling mix at Wal-Mart for a dollar-fifty, and with less than an hour's worth of work, I had six pints of pickled carrots cooling on the counter for about $1.33/jar!

Did you know that you can use Mrs. Wages on vegetables other than cucumbers? Me neither! I simply followed the instructions on the package but used (rinsed) baby carrots instead, although I added a peeled and cracked clove of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each jar. Also, I hot water bathed the jars for ten minutes, as I did not sterilize the jars up front.

It's only been ten days, but I opened a jar and snuck a sample. DELISH, and just the right texture between tender and crunchy (at least, to my tastes). And the flavor will be even better in a couple more weeks. Score one for the cheapskates!

My second miserly tale begins in Burlington, Vermont when my roommate and I took our youngest kitty (Nova aka Itty Bitty or just Bitty) for his big boy surgery. While he was having his, err, bits removed, we took ourselves to brunch. We initially wanted to go to our favorite cafe, Penny Cluse, but the wait was over an hour! So we walked over to Church Street and down to Leunig's Bistro, which I had heard from friends was wonderful, but a bit pricey for dinner. I am pleased to report that brunch was quite reasonable, and SO GOOD!

We started with some piping hot beignets drizzled with real maple syrup. Then Cyd had their signature skillet with local bacon and Cabot cheddar and caramelized onions, and I had this awesome twist on Eggs Benedict. It had a big, fluffy English muffin on the bottom spread with an avocado hummus, then it was supposed to have a tomato slice, but I opted for fresh salsa, then a spicy black bean cake, a perfectly poached egg, and finished with cilantro Hollandaise. Amazing! And everything on the menu looked wonderful--I can't wait to go back!



After brunch, we made our way down to our favorite health food market, the store we affectionately call the Wealthy Living Market or the Healthy Wealthy People Store. They have an incredible deli and salad bar there, and I saw this edamame and corn salad that I wanted to try, but it was $5.50 for a little cup of it! I think you know what I did. I took note of the ingredients of said salad, and I went home and whipped up my own version that turned out very well--so fresh and tasty!--for much, much less.

One of the ingredients in the salad was miso, something I am not that familiar with. Oh, I have enjoyed miso soups and miso dressings in my travels, perhaps even salmon with a miso marinade or glaze, but I have never cooked with it myself. Despite my tightwad ways, I actually splurged and spent twelve bucks on a large jar of sweet white miso that was handcrafted according to ancient Japanese traditions at a small farm in Massachusetts called South River Miso Company. And guess what? I tasted a little from the jar, and I love it! It sort of tastes like something in the soy sauce family, but also kind of nutty.

South River Miso makes at least a half dozen kinds of miso, but I thought I'd start with the mildest variety which would probably be the most versatile. Now I find myself throwing a little into everything! And miso is a fermented product, so it has all of those probiotic benefits like yogurt and such IF you don't cook it. So either use it uncooked or stir it into whatever you're making at the very end over the lowest heat. Good stuff!

Edamame and Corn Salad with Orange-Miso Vinaigrette

1 lb. bag frozen edamame
12 oz. bag frozen corn
1 small red pepper, seeded and diced
2 or 3 hot peppers (jalapeno, serrano, Fresno, cascabella, etc.), seeded and diced
4 large scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (preferably, 2T white and 2T black)

Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
2 teaspoons miso (I used mild/sweet white)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add a couple of good pinches of salt, then the edamame and corn. Cook for five minutes, or until the veggies are tender. Drain and run under cold water until completely cool. In a large bowl, combine the cooled edamame and corn, along with the chopped peppers, scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, orange juice, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, fish sauce, miso, honey, soy sauce and black pepper until thoroughly combined. Stir 1/2 to 3/4 cup* of the vinaigrette into the vegetable mixture. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours until the flavors marry.

*Use the leftover dressing to make a tasty salad with mixed greens, shredded carrots, slivered shallots, some cilantro leaves, and sliced almonds. MMM!

WAIT! Don't throw out that sourdough yet! There's hope!

I have a confession to make. I am horribly lax in maintaining and using my sourdough starter! I bought my starter from King Arthur Flour more than a decade ago, and their instructions encourage weekly feeding, though I usually opt for monthly, and that's when I'm on the ball with it! There are times when I've gone a couple of months, forgetting about it in a crock in the back of the fridge, and though the resulting product looked worrisome, I have yet to ruin the starter completely. As insurance, I do have a few bags of dried starter in the freezer, just in case, but so far, I haven't had to resort to using them.

If you have neglected your starter as I often do, you may find it very flat-looking and covered with a thick layer of yellowish or grayish liquid referred to as "the hooch." I pour this off and then rinse off the thick starter below with clean water, then feed it a couple of times until it gets going again. No biggie. But recently when I pulled the crock out of the fridge, there was pinkish, yucky-smelling liquid on top and some mold around the edges. Now, conventional wisdom would tell you to discard, but I don't give up that easily! I am not guaranteeing that all starters in this advanced state of decay can be rescued, but it's certainly worth a try.

I have found this method to be successful. First, I pour off the hooch and rinse the starter below. Then I take a spoon and remove any mold left around the edges. Then I take another clean spoon and scrape off the top layer of starter. Next, I take a third clean spoon and carefully remove about two tablespoons of clean starter from the very middle of the crock, trying not to touch the very bottom layer. Setting the reserved starter aside, I wash the crock very well with hot, soapy water. Then I put the rescued bit of starter back in the crock and stir that together with a cup of flour and enough water to make a thick, pancake-like batter. Sometimes I add a pinch of sugar to give the yeast a quick wake-up meal, too. I leave this mixture to work overnight. The next day, I remove about a half cup of the starter, add another cup of flour and water to make a thick batter and let it work again. You want to keep feeding it in this manner for another day or two until it starts to get really active and doubles between four and eight hours, I'd say. Then you can stash it in the fridge again and ignore it for another month! Tee hee.

In the process of trying to revive your mostly-dead starter, you are going to pitching out a lot of viable starter. Again, as I despise waste, I wanted to do something with some of it. I had an idea inspired by this chocolate walnut loaf that one of my students gave me for Christmas that was very good. I asked for the recipe and was surprised to find that it was cake-mix based. But I am no snob about such things. The problem was, it also called for a box of chocolate pudding, which I did not have on hand. What I did have was that crock of sourdough starter bubbling away on the counter. So I thought I might try throwing some of that in, along with making a few other tweaks. The loaves turned out YUMMY! I will share the original recipe first then my sourdough version. Both are delish.

Heather Kelley's Double Chocolate Walnut Bread

1 (8oz.) box chocolate cake mix
1 package chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix cake mix and pudding mix together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Double Chocolate Sourdough Walnut Loaves

1 box dark chocolate cake mix
1 cup active sourdough starter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups roughly-chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, mix everything except the chocolate chips and walnuts (about 50 strokes, just until it all comes together). Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Spoon evenly into two loaf pans sprayed with flour-added baking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until a tester comes out with just moist crumbs clinging to it.

Snowmageddon rages on leaving its victims exhausted...and hungry!

Seriously, this weather has got to give us a break! There was so much snow piled up over the porches last week, that we had to hire our wood guy and his helper to come over Saturday morning and scrape the icy mountains off so that the rooves wouldn't collapse from the weight. Then it was 40 degrees yesterday morning and everything was melting, we had a mini-blizzard that evening, and by 8am today, The Weather Channel reported that the wind chill was making it "feel like" 23 below! And yet, they say by Friday, it may hit 50 degrees! BIZARRE! Clearly, winter isn't done having its way with us yet. So we still need some hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare to carry us through the last few arctic blasts. And I've got a couple for you that are quite YUMMY!

The first recipe is my twist on a dish posted on the Fix It and Forget It website for barbecued black beans with sweet potatoes, which would make a wonderfully flavorful and filling vegetarian meal on its own. But I found some boneless baby back ribs at Sam's Club recently that I decided to involve in the dish. So I spiced them generously with some BBQ rub and browned them in my large Dutch oven in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then I fished them out and in the leftover oil, I sauteed two celery ribs, one large onion (diced), and two cloves of minced garlic.Then I added 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper, two bay leaves, a tablespoon of hot sauce, and about 1 1/2 cups of Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce, mixing it all together. I put the meat back into the sauce, covered the pot, and put it in the oven at 300 degrees. About an hour later, I added a large (29 oz?) can of drained black beans and and two large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks. I returned the covered pot to the oven, lowered the heat to 275, and let it cook for another 2-3 hours until everything was sufficently tender and super-delicious!

Then tonight, my roommate and collaborated on a pretty easy and very tasty Beef Stroganoff that's worth making a record of for a return engagement in the future. By the bye, I remain completely enchanted by my Le Creuset dutch oven that I bought last year, but both of these dishes would be excellent candidates for the crock pot!

Beef Stroganoff

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. stew meat
one large onion, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste
1 cup beef broth
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

Heat a large skillet or braiser, add the olive oil and brown the meat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Saute the onions and mushrooms in the skillet, and when almost fully tender, add the minced garlic. When the vegetables have cooked through, season with salt, pepper, thyme and paprika. Then stir in the worcestershire sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, beef broth, and the golden mushroom soup. Add the beef back and combine everything. Simmer for 2-3 hours or until beef is tender enough to suit you, then stir in the sour cream, and serve over hot egg noodles.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, sweethearts!

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day and that your sweeties (or family members or special friends) treated you right, and let you know how much you are loved! My dear BFF and roomie made me a Valentine's gift bag with a blu-ray of the The Social Network, a cd of my little bubby, Justin Bieber (ha ha), and some chocolates. I got her a mop. In my defense, it was a special mop...one of those steam cleaning thingamabobs...and she had been saying she wanted one for quite some time. And I also got her chocolates and a funny card with Sue Sylvester from "Glee" wishing her a Happy Valentine's Day. Tee hee.

For my work colleagues and friends, I baked some decadent chocolate chip cookies made in a cute Valentine's molded pan from Wilton. I tried out a new recipe over the weekend after hearing Ina Garten make mention of Tate's Bake Chop in the Hamptons. Apparently, people lose their minds over their thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies. I thought they were delicious, and interestingly, the recipe is practically identical to my very favorite Levain Bakery copycat, except for using less flour. The Tate's recipe calls for two cups of flour to one cup butter, while Levain uses three. When I made the heart-shaped cookies in the molded pan, I split the difference and used 2 1/2 cups so that they would hold their shape better and not spread. Then I packed them up in some cute little treat bags that I found at Wal-Mart (though they look more like Tar-ghay!), and distributed to them to all of my Valentines at work. Cute, huh?

Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Food Network)
Yield: 3 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup salted butter, 2 sticks
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt.
In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugars, then add the water and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Add eggs to the butter mixture and mix them lightly. Stir in the flour mixture. When flour is mixed in, fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough 2-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Make sure the cookie sheets are well greased, or line them with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the edges and centers of the cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

Superbowl XLV

Happy Superbowl Sunday to you! I hope you were rooting for the Packers (I was--I am fond of those cheese hats).  But even if you're a Steelers fan, you have to admit, it was a good game. Then again, what do I know about such things?  I hate sports and only tune in for the commercials and the halftime show. The rest of the time, I'm in the kitchen, whipping up the party food. I didn't go all out this year, as it was just me and my roommate. But I did make a few simple, tasty, though admittedly artery-clogging treats. ;-)

To begin with, I made some Swedish meatballs that were just okay, so I won't bother posting a recipe for them. And devilled eggs hardly seem worth blogging about, but Cyd said they were my best batch EVER, so for posterity's sake, I will note that I hard-cooked a dozen eggs and mashed the yolks with about 1/3 cup mayo, a squeeze of yellow mustard (1 teaspoon?), a tablespoon or so of onion relish (zucchini relish is good, too), maybe 1/2 teaspoon of sriracha for a little bite, salt and pepper, plus a sprinkle of paprika. Pretty basic, but darn good!

Next, I whipped up a quick Rotel dip to be eaten with tortilla chips. I tried making the traditional Velveeta-based version over the holidays, but I just LOATHE processed cheese sauce, and even all zhooshed up with a lot of add-ins, I just can't get past the texture. A friend of mine from college told me that she makes the same sort of thing with cream cheese, so that's what I tried this time. It's not a very attractive-looking concoction (=understatement), but it's delicious. In fact, if you're a "mild" person that eschews hot sauce, you might want to add a little (sweet) chili powder and/or paprika to turn the greyish hue to something pink or reddish. It's still going to have a certain...emetic...quality to it, but the flavor will far outweigh its appearance.

Lastly, instead of the classic Superbowl hot wings, I made a stellar batch of teriyaki wings--perhaps my best yet. However, they may have been even better with honey, but I was out, and I didn't want to make my way through yet another dumping of snow to get to the store today. So I made do with brown sugar. As I said, they were really good, but the honey would have given them a certain gloss and stickiness that I find desirable in party wings.

Whatever you munched on, I hope you had fun with your family and friends feasting at your own Superbowl throwdown. And if your team didn't win, there's always next year!

No-Velveeta Rotel Dip

1/2 pound mild sausage
1 small onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime, drained
1/2 can seasoned chili beans, drained
1 tablespoon hot sauce (or to taste)

Brown the sausage with the onion and garlic. When cooked, drain off the fat, and add the remaining ingredients. Let everything melt over low heat. Serve with tortilla chips.

Teriyaki Wings

2 1/2 lbs. chicken wings, thawed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon sriracha (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and marinate wings overnight. On a lined baking sheet, place the wings so that they are not touching and bake at 375 degrees for about an hour, turning them over at a little past the halfway point, or when they've taken on enough color on one side.

Snowpocalypse 2011

Normally, I enjoy a snow day as much as the next kid. But this past Wednesday when schools were closed for the onslaught of snow that was paid forward to us from the midwest, I was, shall we say, less than enthused. My day started with foraging through a maze of boxes and Halloween decorations in the garage to get to the snow shovels so that I could then dig a path all the way around the house to clear the kerosene monitor's exhaust pipe. This was followed by a lesser shovelling out front so the dogs could have a spot to potty (as they had begun using the porch...ewww).

The whole premise of this particular snow day was annoying, because I missed the first night of a once-a-week class, which is nothing short of a disaster that screws up the following week, too, and basically throws the whole schedule off for the semester before we've ever even met! I did email the class to tell them how to get caught up for next week's class, but most of them won't read their school email. So I had to spend more than an hour calling 20 people and repeating the same message over and over again to as many voice mail systems. Ugh.

I realize, however, that grumpiness in the face of an unexpected mid-week day off is a highly inappropriate response. To reframe my attitude, I bought very cheap airfare for spring break (Burlington, VT to Charlotte, NC=$222 round trip!), took a two-hour nap, and when I awoke, set about making a ginormous cauldron of a quick and easy, but very hearty and healthy soup. The original recipe came from my high school friend, Sheri, but of course, I had to put a few of my own twists on it. I can't believe how fast this came together, and yet it was so savory and satisfying. Definitely put this one in your snow day soup repertoire--in fact, it's simple enough for a harried week night, too.

And let us heed the words of my wise friend, Vicky: "Just being home and able to make soup is a great thing. These are the days that break the monotony of our lives, make time slow down, and force us to rely on our own talents and resources. Love the snow day! Don't struggle against it, ride it!"

Snow Day Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 8 oz. package sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
2-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lb. chicken sausage, sliced (I used a 12 oz. package of Italian)
1 lb. artichoke hearts, if frozen, thaw & halve (I used one 15 oz. can, drained and very roughly chopped)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 or 2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon (I like Better Than Bouillon)
64 oz low sodium chicken broth (I needed extra stock, so I used one 48 oz. box of chicken and two cans of vegetable=77 oz.)
1 bunch (1 lb) greens (chard, kale, etc) stemmed & roughly chopped (I used half of a ginormous bunch of kale)
2 cans cannellini beans, drained

Garnishes: fresh lemon juice, shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil, and saute the onions until translucent. Then add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until tender. Add the sausage and brown. Add the artichoke hearts, oregano, red pepper, black pepper, vegetable bouillon and both kinds of broth.

Bring to boil, turn down and let simmer ten minutes, then check seasonings. Add greens and white beans and simmer three more minutes until the kale is tender and beans are heated through.

Garnish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese. Serve with a crusty bread.

Brownies, brownies and MORE brownies!

Ever since I got the FABULOUS Baker's Edge pan for my birthday, I find that I cannot stop making brownies! And when the latest issue of Bon Appetit arrived and it had Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts on the cover, it felt like my density...err..destiny. As luck would have it, I was invited over last weekend for another potluck/game night at my friend June's house. Unfortunately, I had to spend most of the day Saturday in traffic school due to my little auto mishap back in October, so I couldn't bring anything elaborate to the party. Thus, I had the perfect excuse to try the brownies that Bon Appetit decreed the "BEST EVER" and warned that, if you made them, you would eat the whole tray!

I followed the recipe exactly and did not make any changes as is usually my way, other than to bake them in the edge pan. Our verdict? We did finish them off in short order, and they were certainly very fine brownies, and the browned butter gave it an interesting depth of flavor.  But all in all, they were not THE BEST BROWNIES IN THE WORLD or anything. In fact, and I know I may get hate mail for this, but a college friend shared her favorite brownie methodology with me, and I daresay that they were OUT OF THIS WORLD and among the best brownies I've ever made--and they were from a MIX!  Now I don't agree with his philosophy, but my friend, Tom, purports that all brownies are "the best" brownies. Maybe you'll have to make both and decide for yourself--what a delicious dilemma!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts
(Source: Bon Appetit, February 2011)

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Wendy's "Enhanced" Brownies

As for the other "recipe," my friend Wendy says: "My favorite enhanced mix brownies are as follows: I start with Ghiradelli brownie mix. I add Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips and (the secret ingredient), just a little bit of Heath toffee chips in the mix, and a few more toffee chips on top (total toffee chips - in the mix and on top - is only a little more than a tablespoon). Bake until barely done. YUM."

My follow-up remarks: I've always thought that Ghirardelli made the best mixes, and baked in my edge pan, they make extra-super-fabulous brownies! The one I had on hand was dark chocolate and already had chocolate chunks in it, so I didn't add any extra. But I did use Heath milk chocolate toffee bits (like chopped-up Heath bars rather than just plain toffee bits), and I used 1/4 cup in the batter, and sprinkled another 1/4 on top. CRAZY GOOD! Thanks, Wendy! :-)

Still trying to keep those resolutions? Chickpeas to the rescue!

Recently, I got one of those "recipe o' the day" emails from a site called Kitchen Daily, where they shared a Greek-style chickpea salad that looked fairly light and very tasty. As a bonus, it looked pretty quick and easy, especially if you start with canned garbanzos. So one night last week when I didn't have the time or energy for an elaborate dinner, I threw a double batch of the salad together, then I just marinated some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in fresh lemon juice and zest, lots and lots of garlic, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and seared them in a skillet. In less than a half hour, I had Pan-Seared Greek-Style Chicken Breasts and Chickpeas with Red Onion, Feta, Dill and Lemon.

When I served some to my roommate, she joked around, saying it all looked too healthy, like a dietician had prepared it. But soon thereafter, I heard her "mmm's" and "ahh's," so it must not have tasted TOO healthy!  Tee hee. Actually, you can make this a little healthier by going easy on the amount of vinaigrette that you use. In the original recipe, there is more than TWICE the amount of dressing that a reasonable person would actually desire. So I am doubling the salad ingredients below, as I did when I made it so that we would have plenty left over for lunches to take to work. And you know this is the kind of thing that is even better the next day!

Chickpeas with Red Onion, Feta, Dill and Lemon
(Source: adapted from Gail Simmons at Kitchen Daily)

Salad:
3 cups dried chickpeas, (or 2 - 15.5 oz cans of chickpeas)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 cups grape cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2/3 cup finely sliced red onion
2/3 cup roughly chopped fresh dill (I used one of those small clamshell boxes of baby dill)

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and gently bashed (I used 3 or 4 large cloves, minced)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
kosher salt* and freshly ground black pepper
**I also added a generous teaspoon of dried oregano

Rinse dried chickpeas and place them in large bowl of water to soak overnight. Drain and place them in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water by 2 inches; add bay leaf and cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer beans until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain and remove the bay leaf and garlic. Allow to cool. (If using canned chickpeas, simply place in a colander and rinse under cold running water).

Make vinaigrette: In a large bowl whisk lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard and garlic. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and whisk to emulsify. Season with sugar, salt* and pepper (and oregano, if using). Set aside to macerate while you prepare vegetables then discard garlic. (I doubled the garlic, minced it, and threw it right in!)

To the bowl, add crumbled feta, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and dill. Add chickpeas and toss to coat everything evenly. Season with more cracked black pepper if desired.

*Note: I do not recommend the addition of salt, as the feta brings plenty of saltiness to the party!

You say it's your birthday...

Oh my gosh! I just realized that today is a momentous one! Not only is it my sweet puppy Grady's SEVENTH birthday (how is that possible?), but it is also the FIFTH anniversary of the creation of this little blog o' mine. My oh my, time sure does fly...



This doubly festive occasion calls for a very special treat. I started back to work today, so there was no time to make a cake or anything as troublesome. But I had another delicious plan. The new Bon Appetit arrived a few days ago, and as a February issue demands, the main focus was CHOCOLATE (a welcome change from January's interminable health consciousness)! There's a brownie recipe in there that I am dying to try in my wonderful edge pan, but I am a bit "brownied out" right now. So I thought I'd try another chocolatey recipe that caught my eye: Crisp Cocoa Pecan Cookies. Isn't the name itself enough to make you smile? It was a pretty easy recipe, although it requires a lot of passive cooling and chilling time. My advice is to make the batter the first day, then bake them off the next. Then, it's a snap!

As it turns out, and despite their name, my cookies came out more chewy than crisp--ironically, kind of like a flat brownie. Maybe I needed to bake them another minute or two? I followed what the recipe said and let them puff up and then flatten out. But on such a dark cookie, it was hard to see if they were beginning to darken around the edges. Also, I only baked one half sheet pan at a time, with six cookies about 2-3 inches apart, not 5 inches as the recipe stated. They were fine and did not spread into each other on the Silpat, but maybe those choices affected the texture? Not sure.

In any case, the cookies were very tasty, especially with the bittersweet chocolate drizzle on top! I considered leaving it off, but that would have been a mistake, as it took them over the top, both in looks and taste! And birthday or no, Grady is NOT getting one of THESE cookies! He will have to settle for some chicken-flavored Pupcorn and a big rawhide chewie. ;-)

Crisp Cocoa Pecan Cookies
(Source: Bon Appetit, February 2011)

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (scooped into measuring spoon, then leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (11/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon (generous) salt in medium bowl. Stir butter and next 5 ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, then nuts. Cover and chill until firm enough to scoop, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment. Measure 2 level tablespoonfuls dough; roll between palms into ball. Place on prepared sheet. Using fingers, spread out dough to 3-inch-diameter disk. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 5 inches apart.

Bake cookies 8 minutes; reverse sheets. Bake cookies until flat and beginning to darken around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to rack (cookies will crisp as they cool). DO AHEAD Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Place rack inside rimmed baking sheet. Place chocolate chips in small microwave-safe bowl. Heat chips in microwave in 15-second intervals until smooth, stirring occasionally. Place cookies on rack. Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.