Double Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

As my first step away from the computer into the blogger community, I'd say my first year as a cookie swapper was a success.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2012 was the brainchild of Julie and Lindsay, which must have been a huge undertaking. Each food blogger is matched with 3 other bloggers, each of whom receives one dozen cookies from 3 other bloggers. This year, there was a charity contribution and a match from OXO to Cookies for Children's Cancer. Cookies for a great cause near the holidays - who could resist?

Not wanting to get too crazy or inventive with my cookie ingredients, I stuck with a pretty classic play on salty and sweet. Next time I'll use a darker cocoa powder and a bit more salt in the cookie as it didn't quite turn out as rich as I'd envisioned. I also may have overbaked a couple of the cookies which were sent to my matches (sorry ladies!), Kim, Rebecca and Kelly. You really do want to make sure they're taken from the oven when they look a little underdone. Lesson learned - this was also one of the first several cookie recipes I developed on my own, without a recipe.

In return, I received the following delicious cookies in the mail:

Cherry-almond/chocolate-walnut cookies from Nora
Saffron-vanilla snickerdoodles from Kathleen
Salted oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from Morgan

I can't wait for next year and I really hope my matches enjoyed their cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup crushed pretzels (I used waffle pretzels)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until fluffy.  Blend in the eggs one at a time. Add the cocoa powder and mix until well blended.  Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon, then add the crushed pretzel pieces and mix.

Drop onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 11 minutes. The cookies should appear slightly underdone; do not overbake!

New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp

First of all, let me say that these barbecue shrimp will never see a grill. Instead, they are covered in Creole seasonings and cold butter, then quickly broiled until they are slightly charred. Don't ask me why they're called barbecued when they're not - what they are is easy, spicy and it's far too easy to eat a pound by myself.

You will need:

2 pounds medium shrimp, unpeeled but deveined
1/2 stick cold butter, cut into slices
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Salt
Black pepper

Rinse shrimp and place in a large bowl. To the shrimp add Worcestershire, lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic, cayenne, thyme, salt and pepper and stir to coat thoroughly.

Transfer shrimp to a rimmed baking sheet. Position oven rack in the top third of the oven and turn broiler to high. Distribute butter slices over the top of the shrimp and place pan in broiler. Watch closely - shrimp will turn pink after about 2 minutes. Remove from oven, and stir/flip shrimp. Place back in oven. As soon as the shrimp begins to brown, remove from oven to turn again, return to oven, and allow to brown on the other side. Remove from oven immediately. Serve with crusty bread.

Classics: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to be honest here.

Part of me chastised myself for a moment for even considering posting what has become known as my signature chocolate chip cookies, often complimented among my circle of friends as the best they've ever had (which is the best compliment you can give, in my opinion).

But then I thought - this recipe is not all that different from most chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. There's nothing secret or earth shattering about the ingredient list. There is, however, the inclusion one step that is usually neglected by impatient cooks and PMSing women who must have chocolate rightnow.

You must let the dough refrigerate for quite some time before you bake the cookies. A good 24 hours in the fridge or overnight in the freezer changes the texture of the final product. I'm terrible at explaining it, but somehow the cookie tastes less...something. Raw, perhaps. Or young. Like a baby cookie. Refrigerating the dough matures the flavors and texture noticeably.

But what about when you NEED A COOKIE RIGHTNOW? It's not going to help you immediately, but if you can wait for the first 24 hours, I've successfully frozen bags of the dough for weeks. Perfect for when the craving hits. And as evidenced above, baking it right away isn't necessarily bad, it's just not the same.

You will need:

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbs pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (I prefer kosher)
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips

Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl. With the paddle attachment of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat until combined. Add second egg and vanilla; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. While the mixer is on low, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in thirds, combining after each addition. If you like your chocolate chips intact, mix them in with a wooden spoon. To break them up a bit, add to the mixer bowl and combine with your paddle attachment.

Transfer dough into a gallon ziplock bag and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or freeze for at least 8 hours.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake - it is better to remove them from the oven while slightly undercooked and let them stand on the cookie sheet for a few minutes than to overbake in the oven.

Alternative: spread dough into an 11x17 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (watch it!) to make cookie bars. Cool completely and turn dish onto a cutting board or platter. Cut into squares.

Baked Brie with Candied Walnuts and Caramelized Onions

My mom typically serves various versions of baked brie around the holidays, so I essentially grew up eating it. It's a classic appetizer with limitless variations. Different jams work well for a salty/sweet appetizer, or you could make it more savory with roasted garlic.

I served this during a long-overdue girls' night in this past week. All three of the ladies I spent the evening with are "food people," so just as I expected when I put this together, nobody turned their nose up at baked cheese with onions and sweet nuts. It's a surprisingly perfect combination, and not surprisingly at all, I didn't come home with any of it. Maybe I ate most of it, maybe I didn't...

You will need:

1 wheel Brie cheese (double cream is the meltiest in my experience), rind intact or cut off
1 sheet puff pastry
1 small yellow onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Caramelized onions

To a hot pan, add olive oil and once the oil shimmers, add onions. Season with salt and cook over low heat until the onions are soft and caramelized. Remove onions to a plate, cool.

Candied walnuts

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Once the butter is melted and just barely browned, whisk in the brown sugar. Add a pinch of kosher salt and remove from heat, stirring every so often to keep the butter and sugar from separating. While the butter cools, lay walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet, and toast in a 350 degree oven. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until you can just smell them - be careful they don't burn (it will happen quickly).

Add hot walnuts to butter/sugar mixture, and, working quickly with a wooden spoon, coat all the walnuts evenly. Still working quickly, spread the coated walnuts back onto your baking sheet. Using a fork, separate the nuts from each other, sprinkle with kosher salt, and allow to cool completely. Note: you may want to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick mat. I stuck my whole pan in the freezer to cool them quickly.

Baked brie

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the top rind off of the wheel of Brie (optional - your toppings will melt into the brie more if you remove the rind, but it is totally edible).

Lay your puff pastry on a baking sheet and place the Brie on top of it, cut side up. Spoon caramelized onions over the top of the cheese, then layer on cooled candied walnuts.

Wrap the cheese in the puff pastry by lifting each corner of the pastry toward the center of the Brie and pressing gently. Cut off any excess dough. If you'd like, you can make something decorative (like leaves) with the excess and place them on top of the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. Serve hot with sliced apples, crackers or baguette slices.

I'm Back!

It feels good to be writing about food again! But before that, I guess I should explain where the hell I've been for the last 8 months.

My last blog post was way back in February. In March I started low-carb dieting like a crazy person and stopped cooking or eating anything fun. I told myself I'd give myself a month, then start cooking more regular food and posting again. I continued to low-carb myself into boredom through April, then gave up all together and just started counting calories again.

Eventually we got to early May...the most exciting month on record of 2012 up to this point. Josh proposed! It was a perfect proposal here on this bridge (we returned to take engagement pictures).

So, through the summer and today, I am planning a wedding. And working out like a lunatic.

In August we bought a house, which is right up there with getting engaged in terms of excitement and distraction and endless to-do lists. My kitchen had zero purple elements for a while, but that was one of my first projects. I now have a purple island and built-in pantry.

In September, there was a slew of bad news, a death, and general sadness. I also turned 29.

Suffice it to say that for the better part of the year, not a whole lot of cooking had been going on, and when it happened, it was unimpressive. I was buying a lot of frozen items for dinners and liking it.

But now I'm out of the honeymoon phase with the new house, and though I'm still planning the wedding, all the big stuff is behind me. It's time for me to start cooking again and posting again, if only for the fact that I need my arsenal of "stuff I've cooked" to refer back to on those nights I can't come up with dinner ideas. My  house also has a tremendous amount of natural light, which means no more shooting food pictures in front of my barely-opened apartment door, light filtered through a filthy screen door, and I'm inspired to improve my photography.

Also, not that anybody remembers (I didn't until I re-read some of my old posts), but I challenged myself to complete a 30x30 list last September, and now I have 11 months to complete it!

I'll have my first recipe in ages up next week!

White Wine-Braised Chicken Thighs

I've been kind of a jerk lately. Josh has put up with a lot while I've been kind of a jerk. After spending a Sunday afternoon alone, in attendance at the maudlin movie "The Vow," once I regained control of my emotions I decided to stop being a jerk. And since I don't know how to apologize/celebrate/function socially without food, I also decided to make Josh a comforting, hearty meal to apologize with.

Front and center was this braised chicken, cooked in white wine and a mirepoix with a few other winter vegetables thrown in. The resulting sauce was a rich and lovely apology for this girlfriend's bad behavior.

I'm not suggesting you screw up as an excuse to make this chicken, but if you already have, this may be a good way to wipe the slate clean.

You will need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for sauteeing chicken
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 leek, sliced into rings
4 cloves garlic, whole
Small handful Italian (flat leaf) parsley, roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
Enough chicken broth to cover chicken (about 1/2 cup)
Splash heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Have a 3-quart Dutch oven waiting on a burner over low heat. Heat butter and oil over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Once butter has melted, increase heat to medium-high and cook garlic cloves until browned. Add carrots, celery, onions and leeks and stir, seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables have softened slightly and have started to brown, add Herbes de Provence, thyme and cayenne, stir well. Transfer vegetables from skillet into Dutch oven. Add parsley to Dutch oven.

Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then sear quickly (2-3 minutes on each side). Once chicken is well-browned, transfer to Dutch oven. Wipe out the skillet of any excess oil with a paper towel, and reduce heat to low. Deglaze skillet with white wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and pour into Dutch oven. Pour enough chicken broth to cover the chicken about 2/3 of the way up. Add in a splash of heavy cream and stir to combine.

Cook over medium-low heat for 60-90 minutes. Add more cream and/or seasonings if necessary at the end of the cooking time.

Oven-Fried Shrimp with Chipotle Dipping Sauce

Often, when I'm lacking inspiration for a weekend meal when we have Alyssa, I play to her nine-year-old sensibilities and ask her what she would like for dinner. I try to acquiesce her requests when reasonable, yet I always brace myself for "pizza." Lately as she's gotten older, however, her responses have been surprising me.

"Fried shrimp, broccoli and white rice."

After my momentary shock wore off, I got to work dreaming up a recipe and made a trip to Sam's Club, where we found the biggest shrimp I've ever seen in a freezer case. I waffled on whether to lug out the deep fryer or bake the shrimp in the oven, and I'm so glad I ultimately decided (at the last minute) to bake them. They were exceptionally crunchy thanks to their panko coating, and I didn't destroy my kitchen or ingest an additional 500 calories by frying them. Alyssa didn't seem heartbroken over the fact that I wasn't actually frying the shrimp, either.

I'll warn you, the prep time on these is a little steep if you don't buy your shrimp deveined. My shrimp were not deveined (and repulsively veined due to their size) and I probably spent 30 minutes at the sink, peeling, carving, disposing of the vein and rinsing them clean.

I couldn't fathom eating "fried" shrimp without a bit of dipping sauce, so I whipped up a quick dip using canned chipotles (look for these in the international or Mexican aisle of your grocery store), mayonnaise and a few of the same seasonings from the shrimp.

You will need:

2 pounds jumbo (16/20) shrimp, peeled, deveined and rinsed
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set out 3 medium bowls. In one, add flour. In another, add eggs, milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Whisk to combine. Add panko breadcrumbs to the third bowl and season with remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne.

Dredge shrimp in flour and when coated, move into the egg mixture with a fork. Coat shrimp in egg mixture then dip in panko, ensuring the shrimp is coated in panko crumbs. Move coated shrimp to a prepared baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Repeat with remaining shrimp. Spray shrimp with cooking spray, and cook at 425 degrees for 7 minutes. Flip shrimp over, spray again with cooking spray, and place under a low broiler for 1 minute or until  toasted (do not leave your oven!), and serve with chipotle dipping sauce (below).

Chipotle Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup light sour cream
Splash Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon (or more to taste, but it's spicy stuff) sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients until sauce is smooth. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to allow flavors to marry. Serve cold.

Spicy Sesame Oil Popcorn

There's so much you can do with popcorn that doesn't involve a microwave - caramel corn and kettle corn being some of the more common examples. Both are widely available commercially, but like most things, making it at home is infinitely better - I for one like my kettle corn a bit more on the salty side, and making it myself allows me to manipulate the hot, unpopped kernals however I choose.

As long as you have a pot with a small footprint (8 inches across or so) and tall sides, you can make basic popcorn at home. Kernals, salt and vegetable oil are cheap and the whole process is quick. Creativity comes in when you pop your kernals in flavored oils or use flavored salts, much like Josh did last night at 1 AM.

You will need:

Canola oil, enough to barely cover the bottom of your pot
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
Enough popcorn kernals to cover the bottom of the pot in one layer
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic Powder
Ground cumin
Cayenne pepper

Add oil to the pot and heat over medium heat for about a minute before adding popcorn kernals. Immediately after adding kernals, sprinkle in salt and other seasonings to taste, then cover the pot and shake it up. Keep the pot moving over the burner as the popcorn pops to keep it from burning.

Immediately after the kernals have popped, remove to a bowl. Add additional seasonings if needed.

Other oil/seasoning combinations include:

Truffle oil and truffle salt
Garlic oil, salt and parmesan cheese
Vegetable oil, salt and sugar (kettle corn)

Cinnamon Rolls

Hey everyone.

Remember me? Blog abandoner extraordinaire?

I'm back. I'm hoping to be back regularly. And since every piece of advice I've ever read on blogging says not to apologize or offer excuses for prolonged blogging absences, I won't. On to the recipe!

These have become a Christmas day tradition over the last few years. For as long as I can remember, we've had a Christmas Eve tradition, where we ditch the cooking for a night and go out for a big, splurgy dinner at a fancy restaurant - usually Italian. I took it upon myself to add a little structure to Christmas day, and started the tradition of baking up homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I make the dough the day before, and wake up before everyone else to start rolling the dough out. The clattering of pans and rolling pins generally means I won't be alone in the kitchen long.

They're gooey and messy and cozy - the kind of indulgence you can eat in your pajamas, with bed hair and no makeup, amongst family.

You will need:

1 quart whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages active dry yeast
8 cups (plus 1 cup additional, divided) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) baking powder
1 teaspoon (scant) baking soda
1 tablespoon (heaping) salt
2 sticks melted butter
2 cups sugar
Cinnamon (use your best judgement)

Glaze:

1/2 bag powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt

To make the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to scald it (right before it boils, about 200 degrees). Remove from heat and cool to warm. Sprinkle yeast on surface of milk and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until combined, then cover and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour. After an hour, remove the cover and add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. At this point you can use the dough right away and start to assemble the cinnamon rolls, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (Note: dough is easier to work with if it’s been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the bowl. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, rolled very thin.

To make the filling, pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers or a pastry brush to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Use more butter and/or sugar/cinnamon as needed and desired.

Beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Keep the roll tight - I find sometimes it's easier to fold the dough over itself. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down.

With a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into cake pans and coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans.

Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans. Set aside to rise again for at least 20 minutes before baking. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t overcook!

In the meantime, make the icing: in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, and salt. Whisk until smooth. Taste and add in more ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency/flavor. The icing should be somewhat thick but still very pourable.

Remove pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle icing over the top.
 
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Sweet Potato and Sage Orzotto

I didn't share a single Thanksgiving recipe with you guys. As a matter of fact, for nearly the entire month of November I was MIA. I could make a bunch of excuses about how busy I've been at work, or that my parents were in town, or that I was responsible for a lot of the Thanksgiving meal we all had together.

Or, I could just share a post-Thanksgiving, we-need-to-use-these-sweet-potatoes-soon dish in this "orzotto." My heart was set on sweet potato risotto, but guess who's out of risotto rice? Orzo works as a great risotto substitute in a pinch; since it's a pasta it's just about as starchy as Arborio rice (risotto rice). The trick is in the very slow cooking with very hot broth, allowing the orzo to fully absorb the last addition of broth before adding more. A touch of sage and a touch of Parmesan, and maybe you will want to serve this on Thanksgiving next year, and not just to use up whatever raw ingredients you have left over from the big day.

You will need:

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups dried orzo
3 cups hot chicken broth
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add sweet potatoes, onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until all have softened. Add orzo and toast for 2-3 minutes.

Gradually add the hot chicken broth one cup at a time, waiting after each addition until the orzo has fully absorbed the broth and stirring constantly.

Once all broth has been added and orzo is tender, season with salt and pepper, add cream, parmesan and sage. Serve immediately.

One Giant Cookie

Even though this is just one cookie, this is so not a cookie for one. Jenny over at Picky Palate would like you to think it's a cookie for one. It's a cookie for four or five, Jenny.

You can easily turn this one cookie into four individual servings by simply splitting up the dough as you would with any other cookie recipe. Either way, it's freaking amazing and you should really give it a shot, and not just for the novelty of pulling one giant cookie out of the oven.

You will need:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons beaten egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup Reese's Pieces or M&Ms

Note: how do you measure out  two tablespoons of egg? Simply beat the egg in a bowl, then measure out two tablespoons and discard the rest. Couldn't be easier!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the butter and sugars by hand until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in peanut butter with a wooden spoon, then add flour, baking soda and salt.

Mix until not quite combined, then add the Reeses Pieces or M&Ms, then mix until combined.

Scoop one giant cookie (I used an ice cream scoop) or 4 large indiviudal cookies onto a baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes for the large cookie, or 8-10 minutes for the individual cookies, until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

Queso Fundido

It doesn't happen often, but tonight I really didn't want to cook. It was the first really cold night (read: cold for Nashville) of the season, this is my busiest time of year at work, and I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible at home.

But when I can't scrape away a little bit of my day to daydream about food, I come home from work and stand in my kitchen uninspired. Nothing sounds good. Then I get cranky and Josh starts calling out the items in our fridge and freezer. Nothing sounds good. I get crankier. Bless that man.

This was actually his suggestion, though it had just happened that it was already on my 30 by 30 list from September (which I still haven't started on, save for this accidental tick off the list, but I have 2 years, right?).

Unfortunately I got a little carried away with the jalapenos, and my lips are still burning as I type this. Next time I'll use a can of green chiles and a different cheese (probably Chihuahua). We are fortunate to live in a melting pot area of Nashville, so I sent Josh to the Latin store up the street for Asadero cheese. He came home with Oaxaca, which was delicious but didn't work well for melting.

If you don't mind doing some chopping on a weeknight, this comes together relatively quickly and is delicious wrapped up in soft flour tortillas; equally so with a fork.

You will need:
3 cups of shredded asadero cheese
1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack
1 can roasted green chiles
1 small onion, cut into rings
1/2 cup of Mexican chorizo

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break up the chorizo and cook it in a skillet until it’s done, about five minutes. Cook onions in sausage grease until translucent and add chiles until just heated through. Lightly grease a medium-sized cast-iron skillet or a casserole dish and add the cheese. Top with the crumbled, cooked chorizo, cooked onions and diced chiles, and cook for 15 minutes or until bubbling.

Spoon onto tortillas. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Homesick Texan.

Chicken and Dumplings

Food. We're obsessed as a society with it, aren't we? Taking pictures of it, posting our dinners to Facebook. There's even a "food" setting on my new camera.

Some food, however, is hopelessly unphotogenic. Some food is downright ugly. Here's a great example of some ugly - but comforting and filling - food. No matter the lighting I put this in, no matter the angle I took the pictures from, chicken and dumplings is just not pretty. But it is fulfilling and warming on a cold evening, a throwback to the days before Facebook, when food didn't have to be styled or angled just so, or anything but delicious and satisfying.

Everybody loved this. The dumplings are chewy but fluffy. The stew, rich with homemade chicken stock and a twinge from a splash of dry Sherry. And it only got better on the second and third day, as the dumplings and chicken soaked up the flavors from the stew. I'm not sure how well it would keep beyond the third day as it didn't stand a chance in my house - I had to wrestle away the last serving from Josh just to get this ugly picture.

You will need:

For the stew
1 store bought rotisserie chicken, skin discarded and all meat shredded
Salt and black pepper
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
6 green onions, chopped, all parts
1 large yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
1/4 cup whole milk (do not use anything other than whole)
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon herbs de provence or dried thyme
1 cup frozen green peas
3 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves

For the dumplings
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the stew: add butter to a Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat. Add the green onion, yellow onion, andsalt and cook until softened. Whisk in the flour to make a roux, then whisk in the sherry, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme/herbs de provence, and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Discard the bay leaves. Simmer again, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.

For the dumplings: Stir the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together. Microwave the milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl on high until just warm, about 45 seconds. Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour/cornmeal mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Return the stew to a simmer, stir in the peas and tarragon, and season with salt and pepper. Drop golf-ball-sized dumplings over the top of the stew, about 1/4 inch apart (my pot was too small, so they were pretty much crammed in there - they were fine and didn't clump together). Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size, 15 to 18 minutes.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

Aside from the obvious link between October and pumpkin season, there's another great reason for slipping some pumpkin into your baked goods this year. It's extremely low in calories, and canned pumpkin can act as the "fat" in many recipes, replacing butter and oil. Try making boxed brownies with pumpkin: to one box of store bought brownie mix, add a can of pumpkin and nothing else, and bake as directed on the box. Bet you'll never know the difference.

Of course, when you slather a pumpkin buttercream over the cake, you've pretty much negated any benefits to replacing butter and oil with pumpkin inside the cake, but outside of this lovely season, how many other times of the year do you really feel like digging into pumpkin anything?

Ah, autumn. The great justifier in orange sweets.

For the cake, you will need:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), 2 tablespoons reserved for buttercream
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

For the pumpkin buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
5 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and lightly flour a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together and add to wet ingredients. Stir pumpkin in with a spoon until well-blended, but do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes, then flip onto a plate for further cooling.

While cake is cooling, prepare buttercream. Cream butter in a bowl until smooth on medium speed. Turn off mixer and add half of powdered sugar. Turn mixer on lowest speed to combine (otherwise powdered sugar will fly all over your kitchen). Turn mixer off and add second half of sugar, beating on low until combined. Add vanilla and milk and mix on low speed until completely combined. Stir pumpkin and pie spice in with a spoon until blended.

Once cake is completely cooled, spread buttercream on thick with an offset spatula or butter knife. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Panzanella Salad

Panzanella, while generally a summer dish during the height of tomato season, is also a great way to use up the last of early fall's puny tomatoes.

From what I understand, the dish was created for using up day-old bread, though typically I purposely buy a loaf of fresh bread specifically for making Panzanella and dry it out in the oven. It's basically a deconstructed bruschetta - tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil - just about any typical Italian ingredient is welcome here. I keep meaning to try it with chunks of salami and pearls of Mozzarella.

You will need:
 
1 loaf crusty bread (Italian or French)
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
2 pints cherry tomatoes or 8 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks and seeded if you have the patience*
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced or grated
6 ounces Parmesan, grated  
3 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white balsamic or white wine vinegar
Handful basil
Handful parsley
 
2-3 hours before serving, prepare tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, place chopped tomatoes into a strainer fit over a bowl. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add onions, garlic, basil and parsley. Place in the refrigerator and let tomatoes drain for 2-3 hours.
 
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Cut bread into 1-2 inch cubes and arrange on a sheet tray. Drizzle on 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss bread cubes to coat and place in oven for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool.
 
Meanwhile, remove tomatoes from fridge and adjust seasonings if necessary. Discard tomato juices. Add oil, vinegar and Parmesan and toss to combine. Once bread chunks have cooled, toss bread with tomato mixture. Serve immediately.

Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries

It has been well-documented that my favorite thing to do, any day of the week, any hour of the day, is cook. I've become known as the one who will never show up empty handed to a get-together and will never let you leave my house hungry. But I also have a tendency to be a "behind-the-scenes" cook - meaning when guests arrive I have been so busy cooking that I usually don't have anything for them to help me with.

So when I received a text from my friend Missy, an aspiring home cook herself, simply stating "I have a recipe I want to do with you," I was thrilled that not only would I get the chance to try something new, I'd get to try it with my girlfriends and hang out in the kitchen for a couple of hours. What could be better than that?

These strawberries may have been better than that. They're incredibly simple but I would imagine people would think you spent a lot more time on them than they actually take. Add a couple of friends, a bottle of wine, and some finger foods and it sure beats a night out - with no money spent and without fighting for a parking spot!

You will need:

2 lbs strawberries, trimmed and hulled
1 8-ounce brick cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup crushed graham crackers
Mint leaves, for garnishing (optional)

Wash, trim and hull strawberries to create a bowl in the center of the strawberry. If you want to stand yours up (which I recommend as it's easier to fill and present), slice off about a quarter inch of the bottom of the strawberry so it will lie flat. Dry strawberries and arrange them on your serving plate.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese (make sure it is very soft), powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Stir until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Spoon cream cheese mixture into a piping bag (or Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off) and fill strawberries until the cream cheese just crests the tops of the strawberries.

Add the crushed graham crackers into a small bowl. Immediately roll the tops of the strawberries in the graham crackers, coating the cream cheese, and return to serving plate. If desired, garnish each strawberry with a mint leaf.

30 by 30

On my 27th birthday, I challenged myself to lose 28 pounds by my 28th birthday.

I almost did that. I'm still 9 pounds away, but what's 9 pounds after 19?

Today is my 28th birthday, so it's time for a new challenge.

I'm hopping on the bandwagon of 30 by 30 challenges. That is to say, by the time I turn 30 I will have baked/cooked/made all the following semi-ambitious dishes. 95% of them are fattening, but I'm thinking that by starting with a 2-year lead time, I can make one per month (doubling up closer toward the big 3-0) and consider these fattening, ambitious dishes a monthly treat.

In no particular order, I will attempt:

1. Fresh pasta
2. Lobster rolls
3. Duck (suggestions on how to prepare welcome)
4. Fried calamari
5. Bananas Foster
6. Mozzarella cheese
7. Candied bacon
8. Spanakopita
9. Filled cupcakes
10. Queso fundido
11. Lemon meringue pie
12. Soft pretzels
13. Cured meat (thinking pastrami, salami, or chorizo)
14. Potato chips
15. Guiness chocolate cake (made brownies, same thing).
16. Sticky buns
17. Croissants
18. Graham crackers
19. Flavored margaritas
20. Chocolate pudding
21. Potato bread
22. Crepes
23. A whole fish
24. Naan
25. Beef Wellington
26. Buckeyes
27. Gnocchi
28. Fried yeast donuts
29. Empanadas
30. Clam chowder

Specifying "by 30" may make it sound like I'm freaking out about turning 30. I'm really not - I still have two solid years of my twenties to be a twentysomething, dumb at times if the situation warrants. By 30, I hope to have children, and some of these recipes will be great to have under my belt by then. Needless to say, I'll be blogging along the way in an attempt to hold myself to these challenges.

Cheers to my twenties!

Texas-Style Queso

The past few days, I've been quarrantined at home with the worst cold I've had in years - mainly because I actually haven't even gotten sick in almost 2 years. I knew once it happened it would knock me flat.

So when Josh asked for a "savory snack," my comfort food cravings immediately turned to thoughts of cheese. I whipped it up in minutes, but that's not to say it hadn't taken me several attempts over a few years to get it right the first time. I refused to use Velveeta. Heavy cream just made more of a macaroni and cheese-type sauce. One day I spotted the oft-ignored can of evaporated milk that had been hiding in the pantry since who knows when, and thought I'd give it a shot.

The secret all aloig was the evaporated milk. Who'd have guessed?

You will need:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons flour
1 tablespoon (or more, depending on taste) chopped green chiles
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper (seeded if desired)
2 tablespoons chopped white onions
1 small Roma tomato, seeded and chopped
6 ounces evaporated milk
4 ounces cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
Dash ground cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
Hot sauce to taste
Salt to taste

In a small saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium-low heat. Once oil is shimmering, add chiles, jalapenos, cilantro and onions, and heat until soft but not browned. Whisk in flour to make a light roux, then pour in evaporated milk. Heat until bubbling, then remove from heat and stir in cheese. Add chopped tomatoes, cumin, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and salt. Serve immediately.

"Splendid" Salted Caramel Ice Cream

I started picking up inklings of Jeni Britton-Bauer late last fall, when a local coffee shop here in Nashville started carrying her artisan ice creams flown in from Ohio. While I never made it over to the coffee shop and subsequently stopped thinking about artisan ice cream through the winter, in early spring I read that Jeni was opening her first store outside of Ohio in - you guessed it - Nashville.

Shortly thereafter, Josh decided on a whim to buy me an ice cream maker.

A few weeks later, I saw Jeni's book in a store in New York City, with recipes for her signature flavors.

Then, my good friend Krista managed to get to Jeni's before I could and proceeded to rave about it.

That was the last straw - the universe wanted me to have Jeni's in my life, damn it, and who was I not to take heed? I bought the book.

The book, aside from the fact that it's a page turner if only because you cannot wait to see what crazy combination Jeni teases you with on the following page, is outlined by season so you can make a point of using the freshest ingredients possible. In addition to ice creams, the book includes recipes for sorbets and frozen yogurts, as well as for ice cream cookies, cocktails and sundaes. It is comprehensive and gorgeously photographed, and judging by the first one I tried, the recipes themselves are foolproof. The ice cream froze as solid as you'd find it in any scoop shop, which can sometimes be difficult to acheive at home. The pure flavors of caramel and sea salt blasted through the custard, as well as a surprising taste of pure butter - even though there is no butter in the recipe. I am still amazed that I made this quart of amber heaven, but I did - and I'm ready for round 2 with Jeni at my side.

You will need:

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon corn starch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)

Prep:

Make sure the bowl of your ice cream maker has been frozen for at least 24 hours. Do not remove from freezer until the moment you are ready to spin the ice cream macine.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color. Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: it will fizzle, pop and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, sitrring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If any caramel flecks remain, pour the mixture through a sieve.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Recipe and method copied from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home.

Vanilla Bean Marshmallows

For a few years when I was very young, right before we moved to and stayed in Texas, my family lived in a tiny town in Massachusetts. I don't remember a whole lot from those days, but when I went to college in Rhode Island I visited often with a family that used to live down the street from us when we lived there in the late 80s. New England, specifically Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, remains one of my favorite places on earth. After all, it is what introduced me to quite possibly my #1 flavor combination: marshmallows and peanut butter.

My mom somehow found out about this winning combination sometime before I started school, and opening my lunch box to find a Fluffernutter (marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwich) was like finding gold to a kindergartener. Once we moved to Texas, the kids would gawk at my funny-looking sandwich with raging jealousy. "What is THAT?" How did they not know?

I would later find out that Fluffernutters were a New England thing, but of course that's all changed now - Fluffernutters are no longer a well-kept secret among New Englanders, and the flavor combination can be found anywhere. But, naturally, I had to make my own. It only took me 23 years since my first bite of Fluffernutter to get around to it.

You will need:

3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin  powder
1 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour 1/2 cup cold water and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. Let sit while you make the sugar mixture.

In a medium pot combine sugar, remaining water, corn syrup and salt. Heat over low heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and let sugar come to a boil. It will bubble up quite a bit - do not let it overflow. Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees F (measure with a candy thermometer).

Once mixture is at 240 degrees F, turn off heat and gently pour it in the mixer over the gelatin with the mixer on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixerall the way to high and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It should grow in size and be white and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes in, add the egg whites to a separate bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. with a hand mixer. Once stiff peaks are formed, add egg whites and vanilla bean paste to the sugar/gelatin mixture and beat until just combined.

Pour marshmallow mix into the 9 x 13 pan. You will not be able to get it all out of the bowl, but I found it helpful to spray a spatula with cooking spray. Dust powdered sugar on top and let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours.

Once firm, turn the pan upside down on a cutting board to release marshmallow rectangle. Cut them into pieces. I found the easiest way to do this was with a pizza cutter.

Every blog I read about making marshmallows warned of the ridiculous stickiness, the impossibility of getting the whole mixture out of the bowl, the difficulty of removing the marhsmallows from their resting pan. I experienced none of these fiascos, but you must follow these precautions:

1. When you think you've used enough powdered sugar and corn starch on the bottom of your resting pan, you haven't. Use more than you think you could possibly need, then add some more.

2. Pam cooking spray is your best friend. Spray your spaulta, spray your knife, spray your hands.

3. A stand mixer is essential. It is a work horse and it will not let you down. Turn that baby all the way up and let it go. I don't know if I can honestly suggest trying this without one.

Adapted from How Sweet Eats.