roasted potatoes

I've always really loved potatoes, but for some reason I have always been really underwhelmed by roasting them.  They were never flavorful enough, or too mushy, or there wasn't enough cheese.  However, potatoes are relatively inexpensive and I thought that I would try a roasted potato recipe to go along with my slow-cooked pork loin from the entry below.  I was really determined to have a wholesome home-cooked meal.  I was also incredibly hungry, so I didn't take any photos.  The picture below is an extremely accurate representation of what my potatoes looked like before roasting.

Image from Lovin' From the Oven

One of the great things about cooking for myself is that I am completely in charge of how I prepare my food.  Sure, this is kind of a drawback sometimes like when I turn pancakes into burnt pucks or perhaps burn myself with flying grease but I'm feeling optimistic today.  So, you know what?  I don't like my potatoes mushy: cook them longer.  I don't like them bland: add more garlic and salt.  I got my love of cheese from my Dad: add more cheese.  Always add more cheese.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
Adapted from: Lovin' From the Oven


Ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes, rinsed and diced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 4-6 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 2-3 tsp shredded parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the potatoes into a baking dish.
3. Drizzle olive oil on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the seasonings on top. Use a large spoon to evenly coat all of the potatoes.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, making sure to move the pieces around every 15 minutes.

slow cooker pork loin

I am scared of both my slow cooker and large/expensive cuts of meat that I've never used before.  I was recently introduced to a chain of grocery stores (Market Basket) that I had previously avoided due to local horror stories and one ill-fated trip that ended up with me sewing my vagina shut and vowing (again) never to have children or to go anywhere where children are permitted to be present.  I was going to say "I don't know how you parents do it" but if my trip to the Somerville Market Basket is any indication, "do it" means "let your children roam free and screaming through a busy grocery store."  Also, I hate you.

But I digress.  I went to the Burlington Market Basket late one night and was escorted through the bakery section, eyes lit-up.  That there was enough to convince me to change my grocery store allegiance from Stop & Shop.  Imagine my delight when I found my long-lost favorite cereal just hanging out on the shelves waiting to be purchased.  Here, I will help you out so that you don't need to imagine: I immediately grabbed two boxes, clutched them to my chest, grabbed the arm of the person I was with, and possibly yelled "I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOR YEARS!"

Uh... but I digress again.  The moral of the story is that prices are very low here and it's worth the 15 minute drive versus the 5 minute walk to Stop & Shop.  I've been doing my weekly shopping here and recently purchased a five and a half pound pork loin on a whim.  $12 seemed like a very reasonable price for so much meat.  I often ignore the fact that I live alone when I grocery shop and go hog wild (ha ha) on things that are on sale.  I was smart this time and sawed that baby in two and froze half of it when I got home.

I decided to use my slow cooker that I got for Christmas last year (and have only used once, mostly out of fear) so I looked up a recipe.  I have modified the recipe for future cooking, as it didn't really come out perfect.  Also, there aren't too many pictures because meat is kind of gross looking.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin
Adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

• 2.5lb pork loin, not trimmed
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 cup water
• 3/4c red wine (I used pinot noir because that's all I had)
• 3tbsp minced garlic
• pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Put everything in the slow cooker.  Place the meat in fatty side up.
2. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
3. Check after 3 hours.  If pork has reached 145 degrees, you may take out.  If not, cook until it has reached 145.

vanilla cinnamon circles

I have started using baked goods as a way to bribe people at work into getting things done.  I promised that I would bring in something today if all requirements were met by the end of the day on Friday.  The promise of food seems to kick people into action, and I poked through my cookbooks to find something to bring in.  I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks that had minimal ingredients, most of which I had already.  Vanilla cinnamon circles seemed simple and tasty.  All I needed to buy was unsalted butter.

Sometimes things do not go as planned.  I had a feeling that something would go wrong with these cookies.  The recipe just seemed too simple.  Too easy.  I purchased a 79cent bag of brownie mix as a backup just in case something happened.

I doubled the recipe because the dough only made 25 cookies.  Maybe that was my mistake?  Once I mixed up the dough, I could tell right away that something was going to be wrong about these cookies.  I continued to follow the directions to the best of my abilities, with the dough crumbling apart as I was trying to roll it into a ball.  I shoved it in the oven and hoped for the best.

I ended up not with 25 cookies, but with a cookie sheet sized crunchy mess.  My apartment smelled delicious, though.

And delicious brownies were had by all at work.

Vanilla Cinnamon Circles
adapted from: Indulgence: Cookies

• 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 c superfine sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 c flour
• 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp sugar (extra)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl using electric beaters until pale and fluffy, then stir in vanilla.  Sift in the flour and add the milk.  Stir with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough, gather into a ball and place on a sheet of parchment paper.
3. Press the dough out into a log shape, 10 inches long and 1 1/4 inches thick.  Roll in the paper and twist the ends to seal.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm.
4. Cut the log into rounds 1/2 inch thick.  Sift the extra sugar and cinnamon onto a plate and roll each cookie in the sugar mixture, coating well.  Lay well apart on the sheets and bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Let's pretend they looked like this:

toffee cakes

With my extra day off this weekend, I decided to do some baking.  As I've already starting checking out Christmas craft/cookbooks from the library to find tasty recipes, I'm starting to amass more than I will realistically be able to bake between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  To avoid the Christmas cookie sweatshop that was my last Christmas season, I've started my baking now.  I've been bringing the extras to work with me to share with my coworkers (yes, I could eat 45 cookies but I probably shouldn't).  These didn't get me any rave email replies, but I thought they were pretty tasty.

Toffee Cakes
from: Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Comfort & Joy






Ingredients

•3/4 c butter

•1/3 c sugar

•1 tbsp milk

•2 tsp vanilla

•2 3/4 c flour

•1/2 c chocolate covered toffee pieces

For Chocolate Drizzle:

•  1/2 c chocolate chips

•  2 tsp butter

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar together.  Add milk & vanilla, continue to beat.  Add flour slowly.  Stir in toffee pieces and mi dough with hands until flour blends.

2. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 325.  Shape dough into 1” balls.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly browned.

4. Combine chocolate & butter in a saucepan to melt.  Drizzle over cookies.

I attempted to drizzle chocolate over mine, but I ended up wasting almost an entire bag of chocolate chips on the endeavor.  Apparently if there is any moisture in your saucepan, your chocolate will seize up and turn into chocolate frosting.  Make sure you don't do that. 

vanilla pumpkin bread

See you later, summer.  The weather has finally gotten cooler here in Boston and I celebrated the passing of summer by baking two loaves of pumpkin bread (one for me, one for my coworkers at the office).  I'm fairly indifferent towards pumpkin as a flavoring, but it seemed like something quick I could whip up that would leave my apartment warm and smelling good.  Both of these things are true.  The pudding keeps this bread extra moist, and adds a hint of vanilla flavoring.


Vanilla Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs 
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 
• 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 2 pkgs. (3 oz. each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp. salt 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. 
3. Combine remaining ingredients; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. 
4. Pour batter into 2 greased 8 x 4 x 2" loaf pans for 75-80 minutes OR 5 greased 5 x 2.5 x 2" inch loaf pans for 50-55 minutes / until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5.  Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

lemon picnic cake

Summer is winding down; temperatures have dropped dramatically literally overnight, leaves are starting to fall, and I am getting back into the cooking/baking mood.  This is good news for my blog; probably not so good news for my waistline.  I had just finished reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and it inspired me to make a lemon cake as one last hurrah for summertime.


This cake is more of an understated lemon cake rather than having in-your-face flavor like your average lemon box mix.  The batter only has a hint of lemon (creating more of a pound cake flavor) and most of the zing lives in the glaze.



Lemon Picnic Cake
recipe adapted from Mom

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup milk (I used skim)
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Separate egg whites into small bowl.  Beat egg whites at high speed, scraping bowl often, just until stiff peaks form, 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Combine the 2 cups sugar and 1 cup butter, beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg yolks, continue beating until creamy.   
3. Mix together the flour and baking powder, reduce speed to low and gradually adding flour mixture alternately with milk to butter mixture, until well blended. Add lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla.  
4. Continue beating until well mixed.  By hand gently, fold in the egg whites.   
5. Pour batter into greased and floured 12 cup bundt or 10 inch tube pan. Bake for 50-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

   

For glaze:

In a 1 quart saucepan stir together all glaze ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 3-4 minutes.   With chopstick, poke holes in top of cake; pour glaze over cake, letting glaze seep down into the cake through the holes.  Cool 15 minutes, remove from pan.

oven-fried chicken tenders

It's been... a while.  I wish I could say that I've been cooking up a storm in my new kitchen, but cereal and pasta have been my good friends lately.  I finally dragged myself out of my non-eating stupor this month and decided I'd actually make dinner... a few weeks ago (I'm sorry).  I scoured my recipes for something quick, simple, and non-offensive.  I came up with oven fried chicken tenders.

This recipe once again called for panko-style bread crumbs and I finally bit the bullet and picked some up at the store.  I am glad that I did.  They stayed crispy where normal bread crumbs would have gotten soggy and gross.  I still haven't mastered the wet-hand, dry-hand method and ended up with club fingers while attempting to bread each chicken strip.

These turned out a little bland - I bought plain style bread crumbs and didn't add a great deal of seasoning.  I think that next time, I would add some herbs and spices to jazz things up a little bit.

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders
recipe from Taste & Tell

• 1.25 pounds chicken tenders or chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper
• cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a baking sheet with foil, then put a baking rack on top.  Spray the baking rack with cooking spray.

In one shallow dish, place the flour.  In a second shallow dish, mix the egg and the water.  In a third shallow dish, place the panko bread crumbs, the Parmesan and salt and pepper.

Dip each chicken strip into the flour, then the egg mixture, then the bread crumb mixture.  Place on the cooling rack.  Spray lightly with cooking spray. (This is where the one dry hand and one wet hand method comes in handy...)

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until no longer pink and the coating is golden brown.

mint birthday cake

Well, I'm all moved in and as settled into my new apartment as I am going to get.  The kitchen is a lot bigger, but I haven't really taken much advantage of it since moving in.  I'm still eating mostly cereals and pastas because I am terrible.

I did, however, get my act together enough to whip up a special birthday cake.  The birthday boy in question is fond of chocolate and mint, so I scoured the internet to try to find a mint chocolate cake.  I never really found anything that was close to what I was looking for, so I combined several recipes into one to suit my needs.

I wasn't quite ready to try my hand at making a cake from scratch, so I went looking for a boxed chocolate cake mix.  I ended up with Devil's Food because stores don't seem to sell just "chocolate cake" mix any longer.  I think in the future, I would pick something that was more chocolatey, like chocolate fudge cake.

I followed the directions on the box and made two round nine inch layers.  During the mixing process, I added a tiny bit (maybe half a teaspoon) of peppermint extract because I was worried that the frosting wouldn't be minty enough, but this turned out to be unnecessary and I would actually advise against it, especially if using the devil's food flavored cake.  It wasn't bad tasting, I just think it would have been better and more subtle without the extra mint flavoring.

To go between the two layers, I made my own mint frosting.

Mint Frosting
- 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons), softened
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 tablespoon water *

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and beat until whipped and fluffy.
* I found that 1 tablespoon of water was not nearly enough and butter/sugar was flying everywhere when I was using my hand mixer.  I poured in more water until it softened everything up and created a frosting-like consistency while I was blending.

After spreading that on top of the bottom layer, I placed the top layer on it and used a serrated knife to level the cake.  I chose just a plain chocolate frosting to go over the cake and then decorated it with some white piping.  It wasn't quite as tasty as a thin mint, but it was well-received and a good starting point if I wanted to improve upon the recipe in the future.

I ended up having to freeze a good portion of this cake.  I cut into slices, put each slice in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes or just long enough to harden the frosting, and then wrapped each slice first in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before throwing them in a Zip-Lock bag.  Here's hoping it keeps well.

Bertucci's olive oil

My motivation to cook anything has hit an all-time low lately.  I haven't really been eating anything besides pasta for dinner.  With an impending move in the works, I will also have to start the process of eating whatever food I have left in my apartment so that I don't have to move it.  I foresee a lot of rice in my near future.

This weekend, I went to Bertucci's for dinner.  I will be feasting on the leftover pizza for the next few days (since I somehow ended up with almost an entire large pizza given to me... ahem) and found one of their free rolls in the box of pizza.  I, presumably like most people eating at Bertucci's, enjoy their rolls quite a bit.  Even more, I like the olive oil that they bring along with it.

Image from This Is Framingham

Over the past few years, I've purchased several brands of "garlic infused olive oil" in the hopes of recreating the experience at home.  Last night, I gave making my own a whirl to make the idea of eating a cold and slightly stale roll slightly more appealing.  Luckily (or perhaps unfortunately, as this does not make for a particularly entertaining read), mixing up an olive oil requires nothing that can burn or cut me.  It turned out surprisingly well and I think I'll be heading off to the grocery store during my lunch break this afternoon to pick up some rolls to go along with my rice for dinner.


Garlic Olive Oil
I didn't measure anything, so all seasonings are to taste
- extra virgin olive oil
- garlic powder
- garlic salt (Whole Foods makes a really tasty one with sea salt)
- red pepper flakes
- Parmesan cheese

Place olive oil in a bowl.  Mix in the above ingredients.  I was surprised at how the olive oil took to the garlic powder.  A+.

grilled chicken

The Christmas griddle was finally removed from its resting place under my butcher block and was used over the weekend.  I was originally going to do a another slow-cooker recipe this week, but I was feeling a little sorry (and guilty) for the Christmas gift that I have neglected for the past three months.  I read with trepidation the meager instructions it came with: turn on, wait for light to turn green, place food on grill, close top, remove food, eat.  I turned it on.

One of my favorite food stand-by's is Italian-dressing marinated grilled chicken.  Since I've moved away from home, I've had to satisfy myself with marinating the chicken and then baking it in the oven, which is certainly not as good as chicken fresh from the grill.  Since I am now in possession of my very own personal grill, I thought that Italian-marinated chicken would be an excellent inaugural choice.

As the grill warmed up, my kitchen was filled with the smell of melting plastic.  The instructions told me that this was normal and that I should just let the grill do its thing and the smell would dissipate over time (lie).  I retrieved my bag of marinated thin-sliced chicken breasts from the fridge and waited for the light on the grill to turn green, indicating that it was now safe to use.  It should also be known that the grill has three heating settings: low, medium, and high.  The instructions weren't clear about what setting would be ideal for my situation, so I chose "medium."  It seemed like the safest choice - not too hot, and hopefully warm enough to kill any salmonella.

I was feeling pretty confident at this point.  Once the grill had heated up, I grabbed a chicken breast and attempted to gently place it on the hot grill plates.  Here is where my confidence wavers and the story takes a dark turn.  I wasn't expecting grease to splatter so quickly from the meat onto my bare arms, but it did.  I leapt back from the grill after throwing the lid down on the chicken.  I was unclear as to how long I was supposed to leave the chicken to cook, so I approached carefully with one oven mitt on and a meat thermometer in the other hand.  Over time, I got very good at throwing the chicken down on the grill, slamming the lid closed, and leaping away while moaning in despair.

I sustained many burns that evening.

Italian Marinated Grilled Chicken

• Half bottle of Italian dressing.
• 1 lb chicken breasts (any size)
• Sandwich fixin's (ciabatta bread, baby spinach, mayonnaise, red onion in my case)

1. Marinate the chicken at least overnight in the Italian dressing.  I usually just throw it in a Ziploc bag and throw it in the fridge.
2. Cook chicken on grill.
3. Make sandwiches

pulled pork

Just in case you were all unaware, I am fairly lazy when it comes to cooking.  I enjoy eating a nice meal when I come home from work that includes both protein and fresh vegetables, maybe a nice warm crusty piece of Italian bread, but I do not want to put any effort forth to actually prepare said meal.  I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but in my fantastic imaginary life I come home and dinner is fresh from the oven and waiting for me when I get out of work.  I eat at the table every night with my boyfriend or a close friend and share funny anecdotes about our day at work (because surely those exist).

Reality:  I settle for frozen entrees (fancy name for TV dinners) - maybe some herbed chicken, mashed potatoes, and something resembling a vegetable.  What I waste in money I save in time.  Four to six minutes in the microwave and dinner is hot and ready to be eaten at my desk or in my bed while I watch old episodes of Gilmore Girls.  I've only eaten at the table 5 or so times and only when I have company.  Sometimes I even treat myself to a glass of Coke even though the caffeine makes my heart beat a little funny.  It's worth it.  I feel a little shamed buying these dinners at the store and even a little guilty after I eat them.  I feel like a failure at taking care of myself or completing even the most basics of tasks (feeding myself).  At least I take the food out of the plastic container and onto a plate.

I think my parents understand this, as they got me a slow cooker and a little personal griddle for Christmas.  Despite being comfortable using technology, something about kitchen gadgets makes me wary.  Every day when I come home from work, I take a look at the griddle and the slow cooker as I'm microwaving my food.  They look easy enough, but I'm scared.  It wasn't until earlier in the week that I finally decided to use the slow cooker.  It seemed easy enough on paper.  Put food in, turn cooker on, leave for work, return, eat.  I had visions of my apartment burning down while I left my food simmering away, the slow cooker overflowing everywhere, the food either being overcooked or undercooked when I returned.

I put away my fears and planned a pulled pork dinner.  I picked up pork and instructions for cooking from my Dad during a trip to Connecticut and began with trepidation.

Pulled Pork
recipe from my Dad

Ingredients:

• Boston butt/pork shoulder (mine was 5.5lbs, cut in half so only 2.75 was cooked)
• Mesquite barbecue seasoning rub
• olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp of liquid smoke
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 jar barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1. Prep the night before.  I had forgotten/fallen asleep and these steps happened at 1:30am.  I do not recommend that.  Cut up onion and place in the bottom of the slow cooker insert to keep the meat from touching the bottom.
2.  Pat dry pork and rub with a tiny bit of olive oil.  Afterward, rub with barbecue seasoning and place on top of onions.  Place insert in fridge overnight.
3.  In the morning, place insert into slow cooker and pour half a bottle of barbecue sauce and the 1-2 tablespoons of liquid smoke over the meat.
4.  Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 11 hours.
5.  Meat is done when it can be pulled apart easily with two forks.  You will wan to pull the pieces of meat apart and put them in a separate bowl.  Remove fat and discard with juices and onions.
6.  Add desired amount of extra barbecue sauce.  Serve alone or on a roll.

granola bars

I'm trying to be good*.  I could have made those sugar cookies I've been sitting on for a while, but I decided I'd try my hand at granola bars because those are healthy, right?  Chocolate chip granola bars?  I've had a jar of honey from my friend's farm sitting in my cupboard for several years now.  The internet tells me that honey doesn't ever go bad, and if I can't trust the internet, who can I trust?  Unfortunately, the honey had solidified into a crystal-ly mass in the mason jar.  The internet also tells me that if I soak the jar in boiling water it will return to its original form.

Photo from Jackie Norris

So I boil the jar in a medium-sized pot of water and attempt to mix the rest of the ingredients together while I wait.  All goes well until I hit the brown sugar and I remember that my brown sugar has also solidified into a hard mass.  For this, I have no internet tips.  I probably could have looked something up, but my hands were all sticky and washing them off proved to be too much effort.  So I decided to dampen the brown sugar block in water and then use a cheese grater to  break it apart.  This was a great idea in theory.  In practice, it basically turned into brown sugar goop.  Between the goop and the hot honey, these granola bars are a little on the, uh, chewy/moist side.

* No, I'm not.  I just ate pumpkin cheesecake directly out of the box with a fork.

Granola Bars
recipe from Jackie Norris

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 cup flour

3/4 cup chocolate chips (or dried fruit)

3/4 t. salt

1/2 cup honey

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup canola oil

2 t. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. Either line a 9×13 pan with parchment or grease thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, chocolate chips and salt. Add remaining ingredients, gently mixing it all together. Press the mixture into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

banana bread

I've made a lot of lousy loaves of banana bread.  It took me several years to get a good recipe under my belt and I think that for a while I was afraid of bananas.  My early loaves were always too dry and then there was that unfortunate chunk of time where I stopped measuring everything and routinely added too much baking soda to all baked goods and wondered why my cookies and breads left my mouth tasting like burning.  Then there was that other unfortunate time where I thought I wanted to eat healthier and used nothing but whole wheat flour, bran, and applesauce to bake with.  In case you were wondering, everything I made during that time period tasted like sticks.

It turned out okay, though.  I buy bananas now for the sole purpose of letting them rot on my kitchen counter and throw them into the freezer for later.  I realized that adding more bananas would alleviate the dryness and using actual sugar wouldn't kill me (and neither would my impending diabetes, hopefully).  I don't even burn myself anymore!

Banana Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheal flour (old habits die hard)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (it is important to measure this)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 6-7 overripe bananas, mashed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten*. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

* At this point you can either keep the recipe as is, or add some nuts or chocolate chips.  I know this is starting to feel like a round of Cooking Mama.  Sorry.  This time around, I opted for one plain loaf and one chocolate chip loaf.

peppermint bark

My blog readership has doubled since my last entry!  I hope y'all (all four of you) had a wonderful holiday.  I'm still getting caught up on Christmas recipes, so bear with me.  I probably should have done this sooner as I had over a week off from work, but I was too busy wallowing in a bed full of post-Christmas malaise.  Life is tough, guys.

I had made peppermint bark the year before and recalled it being a pretty simple recipe to make.  You get out my Pyrex dish, melt some dark chocolate, spread it around, wait for it to cool, melt some white chocolate with peppermint extract mixed it and spread it on top of the dark chocolate, crush some candy canes and sprinkle them on top.  Done.  Eat.

Of course things do not go that smoothly.  I didn't check to see how much white chocolate I had left before I started making this.  Turns out, not really enough.  I ended up having to unwrap and throw in some candy cane flavored Hershey's Kisses which turned out to be a good idea.  The white chocolate was festively pink with little flecks of candy cane inside of it already.  I was a little too stingy with the peppermint extract, as it smelled like Listerine when I opened it and I was afraid of it being too overwhelming.  Lesson learned.

Most important lesson leaned?  LINE THE GLASS DISH WITH SOMETHING.  Chocolate is really hard to get out of glass, guys.



Peppermint Bark

• 8oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 8oz white chocolate chips
• 1tsp peppermint extract
• candy canes

Directions

1. Lightly grease a 9x9 inch pan and line with waxed paper, smoothing out wrinkles; set aside.
2. Place the semisweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. When the chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the peppermint extract. Pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan, and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate until completely hardened, about 1 hour.
3. Place the white chocolate and the remaining 1 teaspoon canola oil in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. When the chocolate is melted, stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. Pour the white chocolate directly over the semisweet chocolate layer; spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining crushed candy over the top and gently press in. Refrigerate until completely hardened. Remove from pan; break into small pieces to serve. 

white chocolate chip chocolate cookies

Image from VeryBestBaking

These are another cookie that I grew up eating every year for Christmas.  They are essentially a reverse chocolate chip cookie, with the chips being white chocolate and the cookie being chocolate flavored.  I made these when the Chocolate Crinkles had to be put in the fridge over night. Aside from that, these cookies were baked without incident, which means I have nothing amusing to tell you.  Just bake the cookies, they are delicious.




White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies
Recipe from AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are set. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

chocolate crinkle cookies

I felt that for the next recipe made in my Christmas cookie sweatshop, it would behoove me to try something new.  My boyfriend had expressed an interest in "chocolate crinkle cookies" and having never made nor eaten one before, I thought that it would be interesting to give it a go.  I find the powdered sugar tops to be charmingly festive and perhaps it would have added a bit of visual interest to a bag of misshapen lumps.

I started the recipe after dinner one night, having psyched myself up for making cookies.  I picked this recipe out of my pile of Potential Cookie Print-Outs and started making the dough.  I should let it be known that I do not read recipes in their entirety before I start making them.  I do a little skim to make sure I have all the necessary ingredients and cookware, but I don't go much deeper than that.  Imagine my disappointment after mixing together the dough when I realize that it must be refrigerated overnight.  I angrily put the bowl in the fridge and started on another cookie. (recipe forthcoming)

Fast forward to the next day.  I pull the dough out of the fridge and find that it has formed into a fudge-like consistency.  I dig my spoon into the mix and it bends under the pressure of my attempted scooping.  I give up after a few balls are made, choosing instead to dig my nails into the fudge and claw wildly until I have enough to form a tiny cookie.  Then the rolling.  I have to roll the dough between my hands to form a ball, the fudge melting slightly and leaving my hands a dark brown color.  It's a mess.

The balls go into a bowl of powdered sugar, where you roll them around.  At this point, there is powdered sugar everywhere in my apartment, being stuck to the trail of melted chocolate fudge from when I inevitably have to touch things.  It's a mess.  It's a mess, and I didn't even care for these cookies.

As a side note, please notice that this recipe makes FIVE DOZEN COOKIES.

Chocolate Crinkles
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

• 1 1/3 cups (8 ounces) chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips (I used a mix of bittersweet & semisweet)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups (7 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• confectioners' sugar* (for coating)

Dough: Place the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, and heat or microwave till the butter melts. Remove it from the heat, and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs, vanilla and espresso powder. Stir in the chocolate mixture, baking powder and salt, then the flour. Chill the dough for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight; it'll firm up considerably.

Shaping: Put about a cup of confectioners' sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a teaspoon-sized cookie scoop, a spoon, or your fingers, scoop out heaping teaspoon-sized portions of the dough; they should be roughly 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Drop the dough balls into the confectioners' sugar as you go. Once about five or six are in the bowl, shake and toss the bowl to coat the balls with the sugar. (If you try to do this with too many balls at a time, they'll just stick together.)

Baking: Place the coated dough balls on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them. Bake the cookies in a preheated 325°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, switching the position of the pans (top to bottom, and front to back) midway through the baking time. As the cookies bake, they'll flatten out and acquire their distinctive "streaked" appearance. Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Yield: about 5 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies.

corn soufflé

If we were still operating under the guise that there were any rules left to this blog, I would say that this entry was going to be a little bit of a cheat.  I have made this recipe several times already and I didn't make anything new last week.  But it is so delicious that I can't store the recipe away forever.  This recipe will be new to you.  At least I cooked something at all, okay?  Get off my back.

The 21st was my third annual Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving.  This is an event that I host every year the weekend before Thanksgiving, whereupon I invite all of my friends over to share a pot-luck style dinner.  I have normally seen these kind of events referred to as "Friendsgiving," but I do not find this cute and there is no need to make myself feel bad if no friends show up to my Friendsgiving.  In my usual fashion, I went into hostess overdrive, preparing far more dishes than were necessary, fretting over tablescapes (despite them being non-existent year after year), and wondering if anyone would show up.

I catered to a smaller crowd than is the norm this year, which actually worked out for the best as my apartment is a cozy size (read: small) and barely enough room for me and my excessive amount of belongings.  This was also my first year without a full-sized stove and someone to coerce into roasting the turkey.  I opted instead to purchase a rotisserie chicken, which took off some of the pressure and allowed the stove to be used for the last minute preparation of literally everything else I was making.  Independent woman, and all that.

I made candied yams, stuffing, expired garlic and cheese biscuits, and a bowl of corn souffle.  Do not let the name fool you, corn soufflé is not actually a souffle.  Answers.com tells me a soufflé is: A light, fluffy baked dish made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a main dish or sweetened as a dessert.  Corn soufflé has eggs in it, and is not "light and fluffy" by any stretch of the imagination.  One of my guests referred to it at "corn pudding," but I do not find this name to be particularly accurate either.  I guess no one would want to eat it if it was called "corn mush," which is what I'd name it if I were in charge of such things.  Luckily, I am not.  I have a hard enough time getting people to try this dish with even its fancy name.  It is not very appetizing looking.

Corn Soufflé

• 8oz Sour Cream
• 1 can of corn niblets
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1 package of Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 stick of butter

Mix all ingredients together in a baking dish.  Heat oven to375 and cook for 45 minutes or until center is cooked through and something inserted into the center comes out clean.

peanut butter blossoms

My miniature Christmas tree has finally been decorated (as of 2am).  The presents are wrapped and underneath the tree.  I participated in my first non-denominational office holiday party/Yankee gift swap.  I've walked arm-in-arm in the flurries to catch the train.  And so begins the Christmas cookie season.

Because I now have coworkers that I can stand to be around for 7 hours a day, I thought I would make everyone little bags of cookies for the holidays.  This satisfies my desire to give people presents, bake, "taste test" cookies, and make everyone around me fatter so that I look skinnier by comparison.  With the holidays rapidly approaching and only one recipe completed out of a planned five or six, my apartment promises to be a little Christmas cookie sweatshop these next few days.

The first/only cookies I've made so far are peanut butter blossoms.  I have had these every year for Christmas for as long as I can remember, but this is only my second year doing more than just pressing the Kisses into the hot cookies.  This recipe is fairy simple, which I appreciate.  No Kellys were burned, cut, or maimed in the making of these cookies (for once).



Peanut Butter Blossoms
Recipe from AllRecipes

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 18 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, peanut butter, and egg.
3. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie.

macaroni and cheese

I have been thinking about baked macaroni and cheese now for weeks.  I have put it off or come up with excuses: I don't have a casserole dish, I can't find a good recipe, my grocery store doesn't sell cheese chunks in a bag.  I invited Ian* over for dinner last night and he picked macaroni and cheese over a "meat dish."  This worked out to my advantage as I had everything I needed already in the apartment.  It was like I was getting a free dinner!
* He plays a reoccurring role in these recipe recaps, as my motivation for cooking something other than cereal or pasta with old sauce on it for myself when I am alone is admittedly low.

Just kidding.  It was like I was getting dinner in exchange for an hour of manual labor and confusion.  Who knew macaroni and cheese took so much effort?  Can't I just throw a box of pasta into a pot of boiling water and toss in some cheese and some milk?  Doesn't a box of this stuff cost like 79cents?  I had already made a cake earlier in the day (recipe forthcoming) which means that a significant portion of my Saturday was taken up by preparing food.  How do people do this on a daily basis?  WHY do people do this on a daily basis?

I was already feeling vulnerable after the cake-making adventure, but I bucked up and put on my confident face.  This is macaroni and cheese.  How hard can this recipe be?  I gave it a once-over and immediately threw out some of the ingredients.  Onions in my macaroni and cheese?  Do I look like my grandmother?  No, thank you.  A bay leaf?  Honey, I don't even know what that is.  Clearly unimportant.  "Panko" bread crumbs?  That sounds like "Italian-Seasoned Stop & Shop brand Bread Crumbs" to me.

I'm not going to lie, I had to look up what tempering an egg was and I also sort of doubled the recipe but not really.  I wanted to use an entire box of macaroni instead of half a box so I roughly doubled everything else.  Except for milk.  The original recipe called for 3 cups, but I only really had 2 cups left.  Okay, that's a lie.  I had three but I wanted to save some for my cereal in the morning.  I really just made most of this recipe up.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything who adapted it from Alton Brown

• 1lb of dry macaroni
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
•  2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 large eggs
• 1 package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste. I used about 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large pot of boiling, extremely salted water cook the pasta to al dente.  Do not overcook it.  Drain pasta.
3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes.  Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes.  The original recipe says that "it will thicken, trust me."  Mine didn't.  In fact, it turned a weird brown color and smelled kind of like burning.  I feel that perhaps the bay leaf would have played some importance here.
4. Temper in the egg - I warmed it in a separate frying pan.  I put a handful of cheese into the warm egg and mixed it up until it became gooey.  I then threw this into the pot of drained pasta and mixed.
5. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese into the pasta and mix well.
6. Pour brownish butter/milk/mustard mixture into the pasta and mix.
7. Put pasta into a casserole dish.  I used a 9inch glass pyrex dish.
8. Top the pasta with remaining cheese and sprinkle on desired amount of bread crumbs.
9. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five to ten minutes before serving.  
10. Send half of it home with your boyfriend so it doesn't look like you are going to eat 5 pounds of pasta and cheese by yourself.

caramel bars

I have spent the last week and a half* rationing out these caramel bars, and we are down to the final four.  Last night, I sadly wrapped the remainders in tin foil for delivery and spent the rest of the evening going back and forth to the plate with crumbs on it, popping them into my mouth and shamefully ambling back to my bed.  Thank goodness I don't have roommates anymore.

My mother makes these every year for Christmas, and for some reason during the holidays it seems perfectly reasonable to shove handfuls into my mouth.  And one of every other cookie offered.  I think this year I might just cut to the chase and start eating sticks of butter rolled in brown sugar.

*  I know that I'm supposed to do one new recipe every week and I know this is only my second week and I have already failed.  In my defense, I haven't been feeling well and I made three new recipes last week.  If you're interested, I can certainly post the recipe for "half-eaten bowl of cereal" and "cold pitas with hummus."

Caramel Shortbread Squares

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).2. In a medium bowl, mix together 2/3 cup butter, white sugar, and flour until evenly crumbly. Press into a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
2. After baking, I placed the shortbread into the freezer for about 10-20 minutes to cool.  If you do not do this, the caramel will separate from the shortbread later on.
3. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust. Cool until it begins to firm.
4. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute, then stir and continue to heat and stir at 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover completely. Chill. Cut into 1 inch squares. These need to be small because they are so rich.