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August 19, 2010, at 10:00 pm
I recently came across this recipe and decided to give it a shot with what I had on hand. My first attempt was much less fancy, but it tasted spectacular. The two things I like best about this concept are 1) how easily you can customize it to your tastes or a guest’s tastes, and 2) how little you need in the way of ingredients. If you wanted to get really gourmet, you would need hardly any of each ingredient that you used — this is a great way to get rid of the little bits of this and that in your fridge. This is all I used to make four frittatas for Mark and me to share:
As you can see, I used silicone muffin cups instead of a muffin pan, because I wanted to make sure everything fit. I think it would have been a challenge in a standard muffin pan. For each frittata I used one piece of thick-cut hickory bacon, one egg, one half of a thick slice of cheese (chopped), and one half of a sausage patty (also chopped). (Confession: those aren’t real sausage patties, they’re Morningstar Farms breakfast patties. They are so awesome that they can be forgiven for not being real meat.)
I curled the bacon around the inside of the cups and filled in with my cheese and sausage pieces:
 I beat the eggs individually and poured one over each cup of ingredients, then baked the cups at 350F for 30 minutes. If you end up with a little egg white at the top, the whites will look shiny and you may think they’re not done, but if you see the surrounding ingredients start to brown up, take them out.
 They puff up beautifully as they bake. Just give them a minute to rest and gently loosen the bacon from the sides with a fork, then pop them onto a plate. You may lose a little bit of fat from the bacon if you don’t spray the cups, but it won’t be much.
 These little protein bombs were a lot more filling than they looked. After two I don’t think I could have eaten anything else (except dessert — I always have room for dessert). Try it your way!
August 8, 2010, at 9:59 pm
These are an old favorite of mine (stolen from Quaker), from when I lived in NJ and used a hand-me-down hand mixer to satisfy my need for baked goods. They take no more than 15 minutes of prep time (10 if you’re in a hurry). I used to make them at least twice a month (it’s a miracle that I didn’t burn out the motor in the hand mixer) and a 9×13 pan never lasted long. A coworker in NJ called them ‘hobbit bars.’ They are so dense and delicious that they could potentially eliminate the need for chocolate chip cookies. Yeah, they’re that good — especially warm.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups uncooked oats (any kind but I like old-fashioned)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup nuts (optional — I never put these in!)
Heat oven to 375F. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, milk, vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, salt; mix well. Add oats, chocolate chips, nuts.
Spread in ungreased 9×13 pan, bake 30-35 minutes (err on the side of under-done, or they may become too chewy).
Around here, we like to eat them for dessert, and then again for breakfast. It’s okay because they have oats in them!
August 5, 2010, at 10:00 pm
If there is anything I love as much as cake, it’s doughnuts, which are breakfast cake. A good muffin is sort of like cake, too, so a cake-like muffin that tastes like breakfast cake is…well, I’ve lost that train of logic, but it sounds awesome, right? I think the King Arthur people actually tapped directly into my brain to come up with this recipe.
The fun part is dipping them in melted butter and cinnamon sugar. I made a 2:1 sugar to cinnamon blend, which was strong but really good. We also found that they went well with the last bit of leftover lime glaze that had been abandoned in the back of the fridge (yes, it kept that long! 10 seconds in the microwave and it was like new).
As always, I tested one as soon as they were done. It was so fluffy and delicious that I had to try another just to make sure the first wasn’t a fluke.
Nope, not a fluke. Give these a try for breakfast this weekend! A muffin is a perfectly legitimate, grown-up breakfast food — you can tell yourself that you’re not really eating doughnuts OR cake. Your secret is safe with me.
August 1, 2010, at 10:00 pm
I recently ran across this recipe on a friend’s blog and knew I had to try it! It assembles pretty quickly, and then you can set it aside to bake whenever you’re ready.
If you are like me and tend to keep a lot of baking basics (flour, butter, eggs, etc.) on hand, you’ll probably only need to buy graham crackers, marshmallow fluff, and chocolate. I went generic on the first two and bought Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking pastilles instead of Hershey bars. I actually bought two tubs of fluff (7 oz each) and needed only one, so I ended up with enough ingredients for two batches at a total of $7.40 plus the minimal value of the staples I had on hand. The bars were so good that we only got two nights out of an 8×8 pan, but that’s still pretty inexpensive.
 I really had to work to get half of the dough spread out across the entire pan. It wouldn’t hurt to double the dough if you like thick cookies — the end product was much thinner than I expected.
When I got to this point I realized why the original recipe calls for Hershey bars — spreading the fluff is a challenge! Remarkably, with a little care almost all of my chocolates stayed where I had pressed them gently into the dough, but next time I think I’ll flip the middle layers and just sprinkle semi-sweet or dark chips across the fluff.
 This is another reason it would be good to increase the dough recipe — unless you are a master dough-handler, you are just not going to make this pretty. It’s so soft that it’s very difficult to work with in pieces of any size, though you could try refrigerating it first if you’re more patient than I am. After I took that photo, I filled in the cracks a little more with what was left over, so when it came out of the oven it looked like this:
 It smells wonderful baking, and the consistency reminded me of s’mores Pop Tarts. I’m looking forward to trying a variation on this recipe with the leftover crackers, chocolate, and fluff. We microwaved our leftover pieces the second night, but first I took a bite of mine while it was still cold from the fridge, and I have to say it was pretty awesome that way, too.
July 11, 2010, at 10:00 pm
Anyone can enjoy this smoothie, but the squeamish may not want to know how I made it.
One of the nice things about smoothies is that you can use them to hide overripe fruit or lots of other produce that is starting to go south. When I pulled out all the ingredients for this one, the strawberries were starting to get moldy and some of them were a little mushy. I cut off a few of the mushiest spots, pulled off the worst-looking leaves, and gently rubbed the mold away as I rinsed them. Obviously you may not want to do this if you have mold allergies, and definitely not if the mold has been growing a while, but I knew these were recent so I took a chance and suffered no ill effects. Use your judgment.
I recently made a smoothie with ice for the first time in a while, and I was disappointed at how the addition of ice seemed to blunt the flavor of the fruit, so this time I went back to blending my fresh stuff and then adding frozen fruit. It came out perfectly, and it really was that red!
So here’s what was in it: a quarter of a papaya with skin, a thick slice of pineapple (core included), a banana, a ton of strawberries, a handful of fresh blueberries, a couple handfuls of mixed frozen fruit and frozen blueberries, and a splash of milk. It’s generally the same stuff I always use, but much heavier on the strawberries than usual because I wanted to use them up before they got worse.
By the way, happy birthday to Mark! We celebrated Saturday night at El Meson, a Cuban-Spanish-Mexican restaurant that is one of our favorites, but our brunch plans today were thwarted when we realized Beaver’s would be packed with World Cup watchers. Oh well!
July 4, 2010, at 10:00 pm
Happy Independence Day! Today I am declaring temporary independence from editing my Hawaii photos, and sharing something delicious instead. I do that every time I take a trip somewhere — I shoot hundreds of photos and then come home and burn out a fraction of the way through the resizing/editing process. It has taught me to be more selective about determining what I like enough to edit, but I still have to categorize and go through all of them in the first place! Thank goodness for digital.
The recipe for this summery cake was delivered to my inbox a few weeks ago via the King Arthur newsletter — the source of most of my favorite baked goods recipes. If your sweet tooth runs your life like mine does, you really should subscribe. Occasionally there is a recipe for something savory, but you can just delete those emails and nobody will have to know!
This cake is inspired by the lime rickey, a cousin of the mojito. I think you could dress it up any number of ways and end up with something amazing. King Arthur suggested a raspberry sauce, but I’m not a fan of fruit with my dessert (wait, isn’t lime a fruit? Don’t worry, I didn’t use any limes. The recipe gives you the option of using lime oil, which unlike limes, I already had). I considered a ginger glaze, but I feel like I always do ginger with lime, so this time I decided to keep it simple.
I opted to use a bundt pan instead of the recommended 9×13 because it always makes me happy to see something pretty on my cake plate. Plan on about 45 minutes of cooking time if you go this route. And instead of the glaze they recommend, I whipped the following until it was uniform and stiff:
- 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1/4 tsp lime oil
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
I love the crunch of sparkling sugar on top of baked goods, so I mixed half a cup with lime oil as recommended and sprinkled it on the glaze. I had maybe half a cup of glaze and half of the sparkling sugar left when I decided the cake was frosted enough.
So how did the cake turn out? We both had seconds on the first night and Mark declared it one of his favorite recipes yet. He says that about almost everything (except for the one time I made a cake with Crisco that had gone bad, whoops), but this really is a very good cake. I was a little worried that it would be too candy-like with the lime glaze, and it is very sweet, but not overpowering.
Even if you are a purist who insists on zesting actual limes, this simple cake would be a great last-minute treat that you could whip up and serve with about an hour’s notice. It’s pretty moist, so I think you could even skip the glaze and whip some heavy cream. See what you think!
June 1, 2010, at 10:00 pm
Homemade ice cream is best in months with three or more letters in their name. Our first batch of the summer is honey rosemary with a citrus twist. Rosemary is one of my favorite flavors and this ice cream tastes nice and light on a hot day.
You’ll need:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk (whole preferred but use whatever you have)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- a couple shakes of salt
- 2 large sprigs of rosemary
- 1/8 tsp Fiori di Silicia (this is where the citrus flavor comes from)
I usually prefer no-heat ice cream recipes because I’m lazy, but this one is worth the extra effort. Heat the cream, milk, honey, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and Fiori di Sicilia, stirring over low heat until warm and completely mixed. Add the rosemary, cover, and steep for 30 minutes — you can do this off the heat to be safe, or you can do this as low as your stove will go if you like a strong rosemary flavor. I let it go without heat for the first half and then add it back in for the last 10-15 minutes.
Chill the mixture after it’s done. Don’t be impatient/rushed and not let it cool completely, or it won’t get cold enough in the ice cream maker for enough ice crystals to form. You won’t get enough nucleation once it goes into the freezer, and you will have to wait much longer for it to harden. Er, or so I hear.
When the liquid mixture is done chilling, whip the eggs and gradually whip in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, then whip in the cream mixture and follow your ice cream maker’s directions (we use the ice cream attachment for our KitchenAid mixer and transfer the ice cream into two chilled Zak Designs pint containers).
Some people add the eggs when they’re heating the initial mixture, but you have to be cautious not to get it too hot. You can also omit the eggs entirely, which I did the first time I made this, but eggs will give you a smoother ice cream and will make it melt just a little more slowly. Homemade ice cream melts so darn fast anyway that I’ll take any advantage I can get.
What’s your favorite homemade flavor?
May 16, 2010, at 10:00 pm
I seldom make chocolate chip cookies because they never live up to my fantasy — moist and THICK. A cookie can’t be too thick. So I was hoping that the recipe by Wendy Gaynor of Ruby et Violette would be the cookies of my dreams.
Recipe!
They were delicious and moist, and (Mom, stop reading) I licked every bit of dough from the beater (I told you not to read that. I promise I did not get salmonella!), but they did flatten out more than I’d hoped — especially the ones that had to bake directly on the pan because I ran out of parchment, oops. Also, I skipped the step where you refrigerate the dough because chocolate chip cookies are comfort food, and I am not interested in waiting OVERNIGHT for comfort food. Seriously, who has that kind of self-control? But maybe it would have kept them thicker, guess I need to try again to be sure. Oh, and the recipe is supposed to yield 36-72 cookies, but in this house, it yields closer to two dozen. I’m sure that had nothing to do with it. :)
The blog where I first stumbled across this recipe suggested that four cups of chocolate chunks were too many and I scoffed — does not the fact that two bags of Whole Foods’ dark chocolate chunks contain four cups plus just enough for a snack while they bake indicate that four is perfect? — but I have to admit that I agree. If you regard the cookie as merely a vehicle for chocolate, then four will work for you, but if you want to enjoy the cookie as well, scale back.
Anyone have a recipe that might work better for me, even if I cheat on some of the steps?
May 11, 2010, at 10:00 pm
When I was on my business trip to Lake Charles, the only thing I missed as much as Mark and our Tempur-Pedic was my smoothie supply. I threw this one together on Saturday in an effort to use up some stuff. Blueberry isn’t the dominant flavor, just the dominant color:
 When Mark makes smoothies, they are always green or brown. I told him that sometimes I see him putting in so much spinach that I wonder how there will be any room for GOOD stuff. :) When I’m driving the blender, a handful is enough to make me feel virtuous for the day!
Contents: a handful of spinach, half of a small avocado (peeled), a banana, a couple very large chunks of pineapple, a cup and a half or so of papaya, a couple handfuls of frozen blueberries, a couple cups of frozen mixed fruit, and a longish pour of milk. The frozen mixed fruit came from a gigantic bag of HEB’s own brand, containing peach slices, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, and grapes. I didn’t add any ice since so much of the fruit was frozen, and ended up with one pint glass and one Camelbak bottle’s worth. Drank the former, froze the latter and had it today for breakfast.
I know my directions are imprecise, but I duplicated it the next day without worrying too much about proportions and it was just as good. I always blend what looks like enough, taste it, and decide whether to add more of anything. I have to admit that it makes the engineer and the baker in me a little nervous to just throw things in so willy-nilly, but it works!
March 28, 2010, at 9:30 pm
Before:
 From top to bottom: kiwis, pineapple, banana, strawberries, papaya, mango, spinach, milk. I leave the skin/stem on everything but the banana and pineapple, because it makes everything easier and the skin is where you find a lot of antioxidants. I was initially very squeamish about the little hairs on the kiwi, but you can’t detect them in the end. Trust me, I’m the pickiest person alive.
After:
 It’s kind of unfortunate that the color is less appealing than the taste, but even just a little spinach tends to turn it brown. Again I didn’t use any sweetener (and you know how I love candy, so that should tell you something). If your creation looks too ugly, you can add some strawberries or blueberries to perk up the color. If it becomes too tart, add more pineapple. I have always hated pineapple, but it is essential to the sweetness!
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