Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Happy Overdose on Sugar and Sweets Day!

The way I see it, the dreaded Valentine’s Day is a great day to stuff your face with chocolate, candy, and brownies no matter what your marital status is.
I’m tackling the mecca of domestication Martha Stewart‘s brownie heart cupcakes today. The recipe appeared in last year’s Valentine’s Day issue of Martha Stewart Living which should have just been called: CUPCAKE OVERLOAD.

I mean, the woman’s staff included a food dye gradient for different shades of buttercream frosting…hello? Reminds me of dying shoes to match your 80s polyester poof bridesmaids dress.

But I took the, um, Betty Crocker route. I cheated. I didn’t make the cupcakes from scratch, but what the heck. I have a Valentine myself so he’s not gonna care.

For my brownie heart cupcakes, which saves time and (the all important) money, buy these things:

– one box of Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate brownie mix
– one box of Betty Crocker Fudge Marble cake mix.

Which, just in case you don’t want to read the back of the box, you’ll need the following:

– six eggs
– vegetable oil
– water (simple enough!)

But the buttercream, ah yes, I made from scratch:
– 3 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
– 1 lb. confectioners sugar
– 1tbsp. vanilla extract
Whip this concoction together adding 1/2 c. of sugar at a time in butter, add extract and douse those cupcakes.

For the brownie hearts I put aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and poured in the brownie mix. After they were done, since I don’t own a heart cookie cutter, I used a paring knife to cut some heart shapes.

Now, for the next part:

The presentation: Eat your heart out, Martha.

Enjoy!!

finished

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Posted by Filed under Food Education, Indulgences

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Snowpocalypse, snowmaggedon, and now snoverkill

While the greater part of the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area is under a monstrous 54 inches of snow, I’m not even attempting to dig out. Instead, I’m going to chronicle my newest appetizer recipe thanks to my handy-dandy Crock Pot!

Now, let me preface this by telling the tale of last year’s Superbowl. My roommate Julia and I, in our utter foodie-ness, decided to make the atypical football food for our annual gathering of pigskin debauchery. What, you may ask, did Julia and I come up with?

Crab-filled wontons, and chicken nubbins wrapped in bacon and covered in cinnamon. (modified Paula Deen recipe). Oh and it was all tantalizing and mouth-watering. If there was a competition, we would’ve won best house food for Superbowl.

This year, due to snowmaggedon we were limited in our grocery choices thanks to the epic clean-out of any and all essential ingredients at the grocery store.

So, peeking into our freezer what did I find but a copious amount of frozen chopped spinach?

In leaps and bounds I trekked in a snow suit and backpack to the grocery store in horrendous unplowed road conditions…which, in reality, only took me about 15 minutes.

There, I found the few things needed for a scrumptious treat.

  • cream cheese (3-6 oz. depending on serving size)
  • sour cream (16 oz.)

Back at the house, we had the rest of the necessary ingredients:

  • olive oil (approx. 3 tbsp)
  • shallots
  • garlic (add to taste, the more garlic the better)
  • chopped spinach (1/2 lb. to 1 lb.)
  • large onion (I find Spanish onions to be the best, they’re sweeter.)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, or ANY two or three kinds of soft melty cheese you have

From there, you can do this one of two ways: pan cooked all the way (served cold or hot), OR Crock Pot it.

Either way, it all begins the same:

  1. In a 12-inch frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat
  2. Add thawed spinach to pan once smoking hot (if you don’t thaw the spinach, it’ll be horrible. hot oiled pan + frozen crystals = disaster and burns)
  3. Put heat on low, add sour cream, cream cheese, shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.
  4. From here, I transfer the mixture to a pre-heated Crock Pot on medium.
  5. Add cheese, stir, and serve.

**For an extra kick, warm up pita or tortilla chips in the oven at 200° F.

Photo to come soon!

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Posted by Filed under Appetizers

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Grocery Deals and Epic Fails.

$3.00 lobster tails and a brand new crock pot. That’s how today’s food excursion started.

Riding high off of a few great grocery steals and the itch to get back to cooking, I wanted to get back home to make a pound cake dessert.

The recipe, stemming from my crock pot cookbook (which I will NEVER use again for anything other than soup or stew), called for berries in the middle of the pound cake.

Basic cooking math dictates that when something is in the middle of a dish, especially if it is a cake, the cooking time changes.

Then tell me, stupid Crock Pot cookbook, why you would call for a pound cake to be cooked on high for 1 1/3 hours.

Let’s just say, it was a disaster. My pound cake burned on the outside, didn’t cook at all on the inside and failed altogether. I didn’t even bother trying to save it, it was beyond repair.

Today’s saving grace was the lobster tails.

Oh my, thank you ocean life.

Put a frying pan on medium high and add a 1/2 cup of water
Butterfly the lobster tails, pop ’em in, throw a lid on and steam for 8 minutes.

Fire engine red tails with clarified butter and a bit of fettuccine linguine is one helluva meal.

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Posted by Filed under Entrees

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Carb-Loading!

44 degrees in October? What in the what?! This calls for the heavy winter recipes to come out. I usually revel in the fall months for cooking because I get to overuse pumpkin in every possible way, but I will save the pumpkin muffins for a heartier meal suitable for a cold winter’s day in the prime of autumn.

There is one requirement for this dish: you have to channel your inner-kid.
Note: There is little to no health value in this dish, and I’m not even going to begin to count the calories.

Cheesy, Bacony, Carby, Baked Mac n’ Cheese

1 box (1 lb) elbow macaroni (or rigatoni, but elbow usually makes you reminisce from when you were 5)
¾ c. butter1
¼ c. milk
1 c. bread crumbs
2 c. cheese (mozzarella, parmesan or any kind of melty cheese works really well but for this recipe I used Velveeta)
bacon (2 strips is enough, add more if you want to be Paula Deen)
salt
pepper

The steps to heavenly creamy goodness:

1.) Cook the macaroni, usually one cup water to one cup pasta. Bring the water to a boil, add salt if desired. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2.) Once macaroni is cooked, drain and set aside. Cook bacon to desired crispiness, medium high for 3 minutes works well
3.) Mix butter, milk, and cheese together in a bakeable dish (glass or ceramic works well), add macaroni. Stir.
4.) Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
5.) After 20 minutes, give the concotion a good stir, sprinkle bread crumbs and bacon on top. Bake for another 20 minutes.
6.) Delight in the gooey-ness, have a glass of milk and don’t forget to eat your vegetables.

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Posted by Filed under Quick Meals

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Quick, Delicious, Easy-to-make PIZZA!

To make yourself a crunchy flatbread pizza of your choosing, take hold of these ingredients and you’ll have a personal pizza in 7-10 minutes, for about half the cost of a delivered pizza!

  • 1/2 cup of mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup of parmesan
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 7″ pizza crust (I use Mama Mary’s Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts)
  • 2 tbsp whole milk ricotta
  • any kind of meat — pepperoni, salami, panchetta, proscuitto, etc.
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Brush olive oil on the pizza crust
  3. Add cheeses
  4. Layer meats with cheeses
  5. Add a dollop of ricotta cheese on the pizza
  6. cook for 7-10 minutes
  7. ENJOY!

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Posted by Filed under Quick Meals, Uncategorized

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

The ratatouille is bubbling…

…due to the scorching summer heat and humidity from the delightful mid-Atlantic seaboard.

And we are back in action, just in time for the new season of Bravo’s Top Chef.

After a scintillating summer of Top Chef: Masters, the newest season which takes place in Las Vegas is a bit lackluster.

Top Chef: Masters had the best of the best from a variety of backgrounds. The greatest part of Top Chef: Masters was the twists of using past Top Chef chef-testants (as Bravo calls them) to either judge or help the Master chefs. It was sweet revenge to see some of these Master chefs, who were judges in the past, gulp and perspire in the wake of seeing their judgees become judges.


It may also be a detriment to some of these Master chef’s careers. Well, not some, just one. Michael Chiraello from Easy Entertaining on the Food Network appears on his show to be an easy going gentlemen with an affinity for hosting Italian dinner parties. However, on Top Chef: Masters he appeared to be one giant a-hole. Especially while picking past Top Chefs to be his sous-chefs for the second to last challenge. Come on, who pisses off their work force? Undermining these sometimes volatile past Top Chefs could invoke the wrath of their Top Chefy strategy which they all implored so well in many competitions.

Chiraello’s attitude aside, it was good to see some old favorites like Ilan (always fit with an unusual pair of glasses), Jamie (the scallop queen from San Fransico), and my personal favorite Fabio (who had many a gaff in his season).

Without fail, Fabio delivered, on cue, a loveable comment about a twist in a buffet challenge: “I sweating like a mountain goat at the beach now.”

Awesome.

After this tantilizing episode, my taste buds were waiting for more food porn to grace my senses. But, instead, I was accosted by piercings and throat tattoos. Not that I have anything against piercings and tattoos in general; but when theres a lip septum thing talking about her vice being alcohol and excess next to a pair of ginormously gaged ears talking about her hot-temper…I’m not feeling quite so hungry.

Thankfully, Jennifer Z., her gages, and her throat heart tattoo had to pack their knives and go yesterday. So this season could be potentially awesome. I mean, someone won $15,000 in the quickfire.

Did GE come into some money this season? Where is all this cash coming from?

More scrutinizing personality descriptions and food recaps coming next week.

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Posted by Filed under Food Education

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

finals.

the best treat for finals week?

look below:

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat-free)
* 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup peanut butter chip
* 1 cup vanilla chip
* 1 cup broken salted pretzel (thin pretzels are preferable)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt butter in 13×9″ pan in the oven.
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter.
4. Mix well and press firmly into bottom of pan.
5. Pour condensed milk evenly over crust.
6. Sprinkle chips over condensed milk (each flavor individually, or mix them together in a bowl first).
7. Sprinkle broken pretzels over chips, and press everything down firmly with a spatula or fork.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes (edges should brown a bit).
9. For best results, cool in pan completely before cutting into bars.

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Posted by Filed under Indulgences

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

“Call it Education…

It was somewhere in between you gave me some sound advice but I wasn’t listening.”

So say the Modest Mouse lyrics, which remind me of my Grandma trying to teach me cooking skills as a kid. Alas, being the stubborn and unwilling to learn kid that I was I ignored all my Grandma’s wisdom and decades of culinary skills and now I have stooped to learning from food shows.

Alas, in order to save you from the same mistakes that I have made I am here to tell you the top four educational cooking shows!

4. Take Home Chef — Host Curtis Stone

Why? Because the Aussie hottie “picks up” women in the grocery store and convinces them to “take him home” and cook dinner for their significant other. Its educational because Stone takes the women through the grocery store to pick out quality goods and then demonstrates step-by-step how to prepare and cook a gourment meal. When? varies depending on day/time

Channel? TLC

Grade? B-

3. Good Eats — Host Alton Brown

Why? If you can take the cheesey nature of the show, Alton Brown can really teach you a technique or two in preparing traditional dishes. Its like Bill Nye the Science Guy meets Home Economics.

When? Monday – Thursday 8pm/7c

Channel? Food Network

Grade? B+

2. Giada at Home — Host Giada De Laurentiis

Why? Without fail, everyone loves Italian dishes. Giada shows quick and easy ways to make Italian meals ranging from pizza and ravioli to lasagna and swordfish penne. She gives ready pointers as well as mini Italian lessons.

When? new episodes Saturday 1pm and Mondays 4:30pm

Channel? Food Network

Grade? A-

1. Barefoot Contessa — Host Ina Garten

Why? Her back to basics lessons give the audience hints to all things easy. Garten resides in the Hamptons so her cooking reflects the laid-back atmosphere.

When? new episodes Saturdays 1:30pm and Sundays at 1pm

Channel? Food Network

Grade? A

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Posted by Filed under Food Education

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Happy Easter!

Every year, PEEPS are by far my favorite Easter candy treat.

And, coincidentally, the Washington Post holds a “Peeps Show” contest every year as well.

The outcomes are amusing, I invite you to take a look at the pictures.

There has been some earth-shattering news in the Peeps world this year…

introducing:

The Tulip Peep.

Now, my boyfriend is Dutch and undoubtedly he will fall in love with the Peep Tulip.

What I’m not so sure about is the “mousse Peep.” A chocolate peep that is shaped like a bunny.

The question is, why change? Peeps have always been marshmallow and sugar flavored….why add chocolate to the mix!?

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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Posted by Filed under Food Education, Indulgences

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Cupcakes Doubletake.

Okay, so last week in the “sweet treats” week of blogs, I talked about Georgetown Cupcakes and their lavish deliciousness.

I have another cupcake bakery, or as many like to call it, “cupcakery” that I was notified about by a fellow sweet tooth.

Oh, and its local.

CUPCAKES ACTUALLY is located nearby in good ole Fairfax Corner (across from Chipotle to be exact).
The first words on their website reads: “Okay. We admit it. We are snobs. Cupcake snobs.”

Now, that is my kind of place.

Cupcakes Actually opened up early this year in a prime location, making their snob-ish decadence something you can’t miss. Hailing from the Detroit suburbs, Cupcakes Actually’s cupcakes are the creations of the owner Sue and her love for frosting and cake batter.

There are three “classic” kinds of cupcakes that Cupcakes Actually produces and they are (dare I say it) better than Georgetown Cupcakes’…and closer.

  • Actually Dipped Chocolate (devil’s food cake topped with buttercream and dipped in chocolate fudge…OMG)
  • Actually Dipped Caramel (vanilla cake topped with buttercream and dipped in caramely goodness)
  • Actually Dipped Peanut Butter (devil’s food cake AND peanut butter icing AND chocolate fudge…to die for.)

Some other interesting choices are “Let’s Stay Awake, Cupcake (A rich, chocolate mocha cupcake, iced with a coffee buttercream),” “Razzmatazz (vanilla cake blended with a raspberry purée, iced with a rich raspberry buttercream)” and “Italian Stallion (butter cake, traditional iced with Italian butter cream).”

I gotta go get me some cupcakes.

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Posted by Filed under Critiques, Food Education, Indulgences

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