Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies July 3, 2009

Throw away all previous recipes for chocolate chip cookies. They are unnecessary after this easy to follow recipe from the one and only Alton Brown.

Ingredients

* 2 sticks unsalted butter
* 2 1/4 cups bread flour
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside. You don’t really NEED to sift, but if it floats your boat…

Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. I like to freeze it first, but not necessary – I think it makes a better cookie when you freeze it. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Starbucks Mocha Frappacinos from Scratch January 26, 2009

I just saved myself like $50 making these delicious things. I used Christmas Starbucks blend coffee and it just tastes just like the real thing. The texture wasn’t exact because I don’t have a commercial blender (who has one of those at home??), but it tastes so good it doesn’t matter. I was out of syrup and used cocoa powder instead and it still tasted GREAT!! Super YUM!

1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tbs sugar (or use equivalent in sweetener)
1/3 cup strong coffee
1 cup ice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except ice– in blender, whirl until sugar is dissolved– add ice and blend until smooth. If the consistency is too smooth, add some more ice.

More D.D. – Avocado in Chocolate! January 1, 2009

My new favorite chocolate fondue.  It has avocado in it and mixed with the chocolate tastes GREAT.  You wouldn’t even know there was an avocado and some cauliflower mixed in!

I also made the potato soup with added carrots.  She must have used white carrots or something – because the picture looks nothing like what I made.  It tasted okay.  Nothing to write home about.

I also made the Applesauce Muffins.  They were tasty and healthy!  I think next time I’ll try using Apple Cinnamon oatmeal for the topping.

My Journey through Deceptively Delicious December 16, 2008

Brownies (with carrot and spinach)

Now – they aren’t REAL brownies.  But they do taste really really good.  I give it a thumbs up on taste.  However, and this is a big however, if you are picky about texture this is not the recipe for you.  The brownies are more cake-like.  They don’t bake flat, so you have to turn them upside down to hide their lumpiness.  But I don’t care – they still tasted darn good for 3 grams of fiber and only 133 calories!

semisweet chocolate

carrot puree and  spinach puree

brown sugar

cocoa powder

margarine

vanilla

large egg whites

flour, baking powder,  salt

If they are warm, the notes say you can taste the spinach a little bit.  But cool, you don’t taste it at all!

Tuna Salad (with cauliflower)

This was fantastic.  Great texture and taste.  I’m sure if you are a diehard about adding sweet relish like my hubby is, you could do that too.  But this was YUMMMMy.

tuna (water pack), drain

cauliflower puree

low fat mayo

stalks of celery, finely chop

chili powder, paprika, garlic powder

salt

pepper

Mix tuna, cauliflower and mayo.  Stir in celery and seasonings.

I’m trying the Creamy Potato Soup recipe next!

Yummy stuff for this weekend November 9, 2008

Cinnamon Muffin Melt Knock Offs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 large egg

3/4 milk

1/3 cup unsalted butter

For Rolling:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1  teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

2. Mix dry ingredients together, set aside. Beat egg and milk together in small bowl, set aside. Beat softened butter until light and fluffy.

3. Alternate adding in egg and flour mixtures, mixing after each addition.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup 2/3 full.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, turn pan over onto a wire rack removing all muffins then turning them over with tops up. Let them cool enough so they may be handled.

6. Melt the remaining butter. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

7. Once muffins have cooled dip all sides in melted butter then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on wire rack to finish cooling.

8. May be served warm or cool. Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Bread

• 2 cups sugar (I use 2 cups sugar when subbing applesauce for most of the oil as mentioned below.)
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I use 1/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon clove, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1/2 cup water

In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs.  Add pumpkin and mix well.  Combine dry ingredients; add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with water.  Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans.  Bake at 350 F for 60-70 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.

Best Curry Chicken – don’t be afraid August 28, 2008

When simple and easy meet – it is always good. Here are pictures on preparing the yummiest Curry Chicken recipe ever. And if you are afraid of curry because it is an Indian spice – don’t be afraid. Curry is your friend.

3T butter
2 onions – cut thin
2T curry
4 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2c chicken stock
2T cornstarch
2T cold water
1/4c heavy cream

Melt the butter and add your onions. Cook 5-6 minutes on medium heat. Then add curry. Turn heat down to low and cook another 3-4 minutes.

Add chicken breasts that you seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook on medium 2-3 minutes (time may vary). Pour hot chicken stock in the pan and boil. Simmer on low 9-10 minutes. Meanwhile combine cornstarch and cold water (you knew it was coming!). Mix and stir in. Stir in the cream and boil. Simmer 2-3 minutes. And your done! Yes, it is very yellow. Add some parsley if you can’t take the yellow. Sorry – no pic of the finished product. We ate it so fast!

C is for Cookie and Cookies are for Me August 4, 2008

My new favorite – or one of my new favorite cookies is the Cranberry Hootycreeks! And not just because it has a cool name. Hootycreeks… sounds like it should be some posh new rock band. (And why is “posh” not flagged on my spellchecker, but Hootycreeks is? What is this world coming to?) So here is the low down to this wonderful, easy dessert. You can leave out the pecans… it just doesn’t taste as yummy. But I did so that Maddox could eat some.

1 1/8c flour
1/2c oats
1/2t salt
1/2t baking powder
1/3c brown sugar
1/3c white sugar
1/2c EACH of white chocolate chips, dried cranberries and chopped pecans
1 stick of butter (now don’t go using that trans fatty margarine now)
1 egg (yeah… if you kind of forget this part… .you can add it in later, not that I would know..)
1t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. And you know the drill. Mix dry, mix wet. Add wet to dry. All done. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you don’t know the drill…. well you haven’t been baking at my house very much, have you?

Making Take-out Chinese at Home July 23, 2008

Take out can get quite expensive. Or, perhaps you are like me and want to know exactly what is in you and your baby’s food. Here is how to make your basic Chicken and Broccoli.

Prepare 2 cups of rice with 4 cups of water. I used brown rice that was not Instant, so I had to soak it for 30 minutes.

and then prepare it in my rice cooker. Sorry Alton Brown, this is one unitasker my hubby likes.

Chop 1/4c of onion

Cut up 2 chicken breasts into strips against the grain. Add 2T cornstarch, 4t of white wine/sherry/water, 1t salt and 1/2t pepper. Stir until combined – it will look so pretty and something like this.

See? Isn’t that a pretty bowl of chicken.

In Skillet #1, melt 1T of butter and add 2 eggs, beaten. Now I love the taste of eggs in the rice. Next time I will be adding 4 eggs. But always start low and work your way up! Eggs should be scrambled and cooked thoroughly. Then, set aside onto a plate.

Yes, I had to show off my pretty square plate. And now…

In Skillet #2, add 3-4T of veg or olive oil. Med to med. high heat. Add 1 garlic clove minced and 1 slice of ginger minced. Cook 30 seconds. Then, add chicken. Yes this step comes later because I wanted the chicken to sit a while in the cornstarch mix. Cook chicken 3-5 minutes.

Add 4T soy sauce, 4T oyster sauce (if you have it), 1/2c chicken broth and 2t of sugar. Mix that all up. Then, toss in some cooked broccoli. Fastest way to cook this broccoli: Buy the Florets in the 14oz bag. Throw it all in a steam bowl like the Pampered Chef’s black steam bowl. Add a little water, microwave for 5 minutes. Came out PERFECT!! Done all the way, but not mushy. Why didn’t my mother teach me these things, so I didn’t have to wait 10 years to figure this out??

Remember our Fried Rice Skillet #1? Yes, I did this later because well, the rice took a little longer than expected. Anyway, add another 1T of butter to the skillet and 1/4c of chopped onion. Cook that 3 minutes.

Now, add your eggs back in, 2 cups of cooked rice (supposed to be cooled, but.. well… that didn’t happen), and 1/4c soy sauce. Toss until it looks uniform. You CAN add 1/2c cooked peas if you want. I just like the look.

And Voila: Here is the platter you end up with. Happy Eating!!

I apologize for the poor lighting in advance.

Fourth of July July 6, 2008

Well this cake is yummy enough alone to celebrate America’s Independence. It may just be my new pot luck staple. Or a birthday cake staple – this sucker is huge! What it is: a 12.5″x17″ pan, butter, cream cheese, et al.

With the flash off.

With the flash on.

Hmmm… I think I like it without the flash. Well, if you too would like to make a cake that would serve 20-30 people (and who wouldn’t??), here is the recipe from Barefoot Contessa. Now – anyone know why she isn’t wearing any shoes? New fashion statement?

Barefoot Contessa’s Fourth of July Cake

Cake:
18 tablespoons (2 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter (I used 2 sticks and it worked fine)
3 c sugar
6 extra-large eggs
1 c sour cream
1 ½ t vanilla extract
3 c AP flour
1/3 c cornstarch
1 t kosher salt
1 t baking soda

Icing:
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ pounds cream cheese (3 – 8oz boxes)
1 pound powdered sugar
1 ½ t vanilla extract
2 half-pints blueberries
4 half-pints raspberries (I used strawberries b/c Walmart stinks and ran out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (or spray with baking spray) an 18 x 12 x 1 ½
sheet cake pan.  I used a roasting pan that was 12×17.
Cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add eggs, 2
at a time, then add sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bow. With the mixer on low speed,
add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric
mixer. Mix just until smooth.
Spread ½ of the icing on top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the star section of the flag with a

toothpick. Pipe two rows of icing, then place 2 rows of raspberries, alternately, to form the stripes of the cake. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.
Recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa, www.barefootcontessa.com.
From the cookbook, “Barefoot Contessa Family Style”

Making Tuscan Garlic Chicken June 25, 2008

If you want to have a nice Olive Garden dinner without paying $13 per plate, then you can make this yummy dish instead!  And it is THE recipe from Olive Garden.  No joke – they have some nice recipes on their site.

Julienne 1 red pepper and 1/2 lb. of fresh spinach.

Dredge 6 flattened chicken breasts in 1c flour, 1T salt, 2t black pepper and 2t Italian seasoning.

Cook those boobies, oops, I mean babies, in 2T of olive oil on med. heat until cooked through. Flip after 5-8 minutes until golden brown.

Cook 1 lb. Fettacini according to the directions on the box.

To make the sauce: cook 2T olive oil, 3t minced garlic (roasted if you have it) and the pepper for 1 minute.

Add 1T flour and saute.

Add 1/2 cup of white wine. Drink the rest with dinner! If you have any left to go with dinner after drinking it throughout the process of making the dinner… Not that I would do that.

Add 8oz of spinach. You are supposed to remove the stems… but I’m too lazy and it works anyway.

Add 1 1/2cups of heavy cream. Ya, lather it on. Cook until the spinach is wilted and then add 2 cups of parmesan cheese.

Mix the noodles with the sauce. Place a chicken on that yummy white goodness and you are done! Congrats! You have made a delicious Italian dinner.