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.