Let's Get Together

Time, Love and Tenderness

2010-07-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Let's not talk about how long it's been. Real friends don't mention indiscretions and delinquencies.

So I needed to send some love in the mail to a couple friends, and I came across this little gem of an idea. Cupcakes in jars. Because everyone needs a little sugar now and then, hmm?

When I went to bake the actual cake itself, it was really important to me to find a recipe that was dense yet tender, moist, and tasty. I remembered having read on Smitten Kitchen about the "ultimate" yellow cake, so I decided to give it a whirl!

To begin with I used these teeny darling jars, sprayed them with non-stick cooking spray, and filled them about 2/3 full with the batter.

After they baked a bit and got nice and golden I pulled them out of the oven. They looked like this:
Aren't they precious! After they had cooled a minute or so I popped them right out, and let them finish cooling on a rack. While I was waiting I washed the jars and made a little of this favorite deliciousness to put in the middle and on top.

And when everything was all assembled I put them in the freezer to sit and chill out until I was ready to ship. And when I pulled them out they looked like this:

YUM, right?!

In the end, I hope my friends were pleased. I thought the cake was a little dry and not as tender as I would have liked. I probably won't be using that recipe again. The frosting tasted good (as always) when I made it, but sadly, it was so hellaciously hot that it probably didn't resemble anything like this when it arrived. But at least there were mini chocolate chips in there, and everyone knows. Mini Chips = Love.

Make this.

2010-01-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

This would be a good recipe for the big giant football game coming up... it's delicious, cheesy, oozy, melty and spicy. And completely customizable. Behold. Pizza Dip. (A recipe I got from a friend.)

I should warn you that the person I got this from makes this with ricotta cheese, which I'm not a huge fan of. So I switched a few things, and Bob's your Uncle, it turned out delicious.

First mix a brick of neufchatel cheese (that's the cream cheese that's 1/3 less fat.) with about 1/2 a cup of mascarpone cheese and a few hefty spoonfuls of sour cream (Also reduced fat. If you want to go full fat, please by all means don't let me stop you.) Put it in a bowl and mix with your mixer... also add in a few shakes of garlic salt and also some oregano or other italian seasoning and some pepper. Smooth this all into a small baking dish (like 8x8 perhaps.) and then top with half a jar of your favorite tomato sauce. I like Barilla or DeCecco, but seriously, whatever's on sale will work just fine. Smooth the sauce evenly on top of the first layer. Then top with some Italian blend shredded cheese... and then whatever pizza toppings you like the best. Mister and I are pepperoni-onion pizza lovers, so I sauteed some onions in a little olive oil and put them on here with diced pepperoni slices and black olives. I would have put bell peppers on here but Mister's not a fan. Maybe next time. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so until it's bubbly and brown in spots, like pizza. Take it out of the oven, but for heaven's sake don't eat it right away or else you will singe off the roof of your mouth and then you won't want to be my friend anymore. Serve it with whatever scoopers you like best, Scoop Tostitos are good, but Scoop Fritos taste exceptional as well, and I think really bring the party feel. Heck, you could go all fancy and find some cool crispy flatbread or something, too.

Anyway, bring this to the next party you go to. Or whip some up for Super Bowl. You'll knock their socks off. This gets 5 stars for ridiculous.

P.S. If you want to make the ricotta version, kick out the mascarpone cheese and sour cream and sub in half a cup or so of ricotta. Blehck!

Chicken Tortilla Soup #1

2009-12-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a soup. A Chicken Tortilla Soup. And it lived at a semi fast-food restaurant called Baja Fresh. The soup was not your ordinary semi fast-food fare. It was rich and dark, full of mysterious flavors and not too many chunks of vegetables. It was topped with cilantro and avocado and a wedge of lime, which as everyone knows, is The Trifecta of Mexican Cuisine. The soup was cryptic, inscrutable, an enigma.

This, friends, is not that soup.

When searching for recipes that would compare I tried to identify just what the ingredients are that make the soup so outrageously good. It's really dark, practically black. Could special something be that chipotle, the smoky little devil? This recipe calls for some basic ingredients that sounded good, in theory, and some jalepenos. So I decided to substitute chipotles in the place of the jalepenos.

I've had better ideas.

Chipotle is NOT the mystery ingredient. And this recipe calls for far too many onions. It's basically a Mexican Onion Soup which is good and all, but not The Soup.

12 Days of "Cookies" and 1 Day of Ina

2009-12-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

It's time, once again, for Food Network's annual "12 Days of Cookies" email/recipe series. Let's take a moment to reflect on a few of this year's offerings, shall we?

First up are Gingerbread Cookies by Chef Alex SomebodyorotherthatIdon'tknowandprobablyneitherdoyou.

Those are the saddest, flattest, driest little men I've seen in a long while. I think I've seen cardboard that looked more flavorful and moist. In fact, did they use Elmer's to decorate those little pieces of particle board?

Next up are The Neelys' Butter Cookies. I love this picture. Because, really, the first thing you want to be reminded of while eating cookies is... a pig.

Finally, Sunny's Crunchy Peanut Butter S'more Bites. You know what I usually do when I'm jonesing for some S'mores? I take a huge chunk of peanut butter, roll it around in some sawdust and fingernail clippings, and then make a sandwhich out of it with some Crisco. Mmm mmm good.

And I'm not even going to dignify Sandra Lee's Peppermint Dandruff Cookies with a response. You can't make me.

Did Food Network redeem themselves by including a 13th recipe for Rugelach? Hard to say. There are Hateful Raisins in them. But Ina always comes through for me in the end. At least someone at Food Network does.

I'm so over Turkey right now.

2009-11-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving... our family came over and we cooked a big bird in the oven. Which yielded lots of leftovers. Even after one extra go-round of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and cranberries, I was pretty much over turkey today. But we still had two Gladwares' worth. What to do? I thought about making Turkey Tettrazini from Elise's recipes.... but the thought of more creaminess and thickness, I wasn't ready. So how about Meseidy again... I had seen her Chicken Chilaquiles recipe last week or so and thought that would be good to do with the leftover turkey. It's hard to find real, good Mexican food here and I haven't had good chilaquiles in a looong time, so here's how it all went down.

First, get some onion and garlic going. If your recipe starts this way, it's pretty much going to be a winner. Just saying. Then shred up your leftovers, so they are nice and stringy. Toss the skin. It's gross when it's cold, huh?
Add the turkey to the softened onions and add in your seasonings... I used cumin, cayenne and chili powder... a few shakes of each. Also salt and pepper. Heat the turkey through and start chopping some roma tomatoes. Add those in and let them get all melty and groovy. Then... add in a jar of tomato salsa. I'm partial to Whole Foods brand... but use whatever. And then add half a jar of green salsa. Then, add some hot sauce to your taste... We love Cholula and lots of it! Also, squeeze a lime in there and add a handful of chopped fresh cilantro.
I think at this point, you could cover all of it with turkey stock or chicken stock, heat through and call it a delicious soup. But no... keep going. Make sure to taste it right here... does it need more salt or spices or hot sauce? Good? Yes? Okay.

Then, in a small casserole, spray with with Pam and layer the bottom with tortilla chips. You could use taco shells, or tostada shells, or fry up your own chips if you want. I think this is the best way to use day old chips that you left open that have that stale chew to them. But whatever you think is best. They just have to be crunchy. On top of the layer, add half of the turkey mixture, then a layer of cheese I had half of one of those Mexican blend pre-shredded cheese bags on hand, so I used that and shredded up some aged Australian white cheddar too. Mmmm. You could use Queso Fresco or Cotija like Meseidy did, too, but you need something cheddary to glue everything together. Layer again with chips, turkey and cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so until it's bubbly and melty and you can hear it making that bubble sound. Behold....

See look... some of the corners will be kind of burnt and good. So delicious. Cut yourself a piece and serve it with some beans or rice or both... I made seasoned black beans with mine. I served it with cilantro, sour cream and chopped avocado. (I'm a California girl, I could eat avocado on a shoe and call it good.)

This is a yummy, hearty meal... it will cure your turkey leftover blues in a hurry, and it will warm you up from the inside out. It also makes great leftovers... it's spicier the next day. Easily giving this 5 stars and a dannnnnng for good measure. Enjoy!

Don't be alarmed.

2009-10-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

It's just salsa.

The easiest and best tasting salsa you've ever made. If, indeed, you've ever made salsa. Which I had not. Because it scared the chili peppers out of me. But my friend Angela makes it look so easy, and when she shared her recipe with me, I said "What the heck?!"

It's a large (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes. 1 bunch of cilantro. 1 bunch of green onions. 2 cloves of garlic. 2 jalepenos (de-seeded and de-ribbed). 2 serrano chilies (also de-seeded and de-ribbed). Salt and pepper. That's it. Chop it up rough, and then give it a whirl.

It's not pretty, but DANG, is it good. Play with the proportions, make it your own. Give it a try!

Elvis would approve.

2009-10-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Legend has it that Elvis loved him some banana and peanut butter sandwiches. In honor of October being Midwestern Chic month here at Let's Get Together, I'm taking the banana and peanut butter combo and turning it upside down.

I like my banana cake like I like my men. Smooth and rich, with some naughty, naughty frosting on top.

Here's the Banana Cake recipe (I skipped the caramel sauce in favor of Nutella. I would probably skip most things in favor of Nutella). It's good. Really, really good.

Nutella Frosting
4 Tbs. butter, softened
2 Tbs. Nutella
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs. milk

Blend the butter and Nutella together until creamy. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk until well blended. If you like a stiffer frosting, decrease the amount of milk. If you like your frosting to be on the softer side (which I do), increase the amount of milk.

You've been Mattin-ed.

2009-10-01T11:14:00.001-07:00

Tasty?

2009-09-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Followers of The Pioneer Woman (or, as she's known to some of us, PDub) know that she's launched a new recipe website called The Tasty Kitchen. It seems like a great idea - home cooks who are internet savvy sharing their recipes. So clearly this calls for an experiment.

I had half a loaf of french bread left over from dinner, and it got a bit stale. What better to do with stale bread than to make a bread pudding? Yum! Now when I was 15 the words "bread pudding" would have filled me with pure terror, but who knew?! My mom was right. Now that I'm OLD, I like all kinds of foods I never thought I would. Except for beets. Mom's still wrong about that.

I went to The Tasty Kitchen and searched for bread pudding recipes. There were a couple to choose from, but when it came down to it I went for the chocolate (surprise!) instead of the raisins (no surprise!). This recipe has a rating of 4.07 mitts. Notice, however, that the reviews that are posted are from people who haven't actually prepared the recipe. Honestly, that blows. How can a rating system work when people flaunt the commonly accepted guidelines in such a cavalier manner, I ask you?!

Anyway.

It turned out okay. Nothing crazy good, but not bad. Definitely 3 stars, not no 4.07 mitts. My kids liked it, but they'll eat just about anything with a chocolate chip in it.

Probably the Best Cupcakes I've ever made.

2009-09-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

And believe me, I've made an obscene amount of cupcakes in my lifetime. These, however... a masterpiece. I don't know if I can top them.

They are Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache. And before you squish your nose all on me at the thought of "Banana" I'm about to school you. If you think you don't like banana, then I urge you, please try these cupcakes. The banana in them merely acts as a sweet, hint of flavor that 1. enhances the chocolate and espresso, 2. Makes these cupcakes so moist and dense you would think they sopped up something tasty, and 3. doesn't really overly taste like banana, more like a underlying note of sweetness... almost like a honey flavor. The come out the most beautiful golden brown... like a chocolate chip cookie. And the ganache totally sends it over the edge.

For you normal people that enjoy a nice slice of fresh baked banana bread, these cupcakes will take that flavor payoff and RAISE you about a hundred. I mean. Seriously. Look at the inside... there's hunks of banana in these squishy pockets and those funky black flecks that show up when you bake banana (what are those anyway, like banana seeds?) Lest we forget to mention the chocolate. The CHOCOLATE that sets everything off perfectly. Ahhhh... I can't say enough.The Recipe:

4 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed but not all the way (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup melted butter (unsalted)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

Stir all of these together with your best wooden spoon... NO MIXER, please.

Then, the dry stuff:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp. instant espresso (I used just over)
1 tsp. salt (I used just under.)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (don't use Milk Chocolate ones. Trust me.)

Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ones. Again, please no mixer. You want this to be soft and mooshy. Not all beaten up and bruised.

This makes about 12 cupcakes, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let them cool for a few minutes in the pan and then move them to a rack.

When they have cooled, make the ganache: ( I made this recipe doubled, and ended up with tons of ganache leftover, so I'm giving you the half recipe. If you want to make the whole thing and have ganache for something else, knock yourself out and double the recipe.)

1/2 cup cream
4-5 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

Heat the cream juuuuuust to a boil, stirring gently the whole time to avoid that nasty dairy skin thing. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and stir until smooth. Even whisk, maybe. Then dip the top of each precious cupcake in the ganache and let dry on a cooling rack to catch any drips.

It's actually a super easy and quick recipe. Easily, 5 Stars... no doubt. The recipe I read called for a peanut butter frosting, but I think that it wouldn't be right to add another flavor in there... I will have to try it to be sure. I'm glad I went with my instincts on this one.

Recipe for the cake courtesy of The Noshery and the Ganache Recipe is one I remembered from something I made of Martha Stewart's, but I don't have a link. But thanks, Martha.

Happy Cupcake eating! Make these for your sweetie and I'm sure you'll get a little PG-13 action at the very least.

Makes me want to get out a bowl.

2009-09-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

I needed a quick little something to add to a wedding shower gift. I think this fits the bill! You can find directions and recipe here.

He's a handsome devil.

2009-08-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

When someone asks you if you want a homegrown zucchini, say "Yes." Or even "Yes please!" Or possibly even "HECK YES!" You won't regret it.

Because here's the thing about zucchini. You can make zucchini bread with it.

It's been a year or two since I visited zucchini bread. This time around I really wanted to try something different, maybe even vaguely healthy. And heaven knows, with such a gorgeous specimen I certainly have plenty of opportunity to experiment.

I've seen recipes for Chocolate Zucchini Bread, which, of course, begged for a try. But the other thing I wanted to experiment with was cutting the amount of sugar and oil that most recipes call for. So. I scoured the internet for appropriate recipes and found these likely candidates:

Smitten Kitchen's Zucchini Bread
Joy of Baking's Chocolate Zucchini Bread

BUT. I cut the amount of sugar in both recipes in half. Anything can be tasty if you add enough sugar, but you take the chance of losing the real flavor. Plus it makes my kids crazy. Also, in the Smitten Kitchen recipe I took her advice and used 1/2 applesauce. Here are the results.

I took the candidates to work with me and introduced them to the ladies. And they willingly sampled a bit of both. Here's the verdict: regular is better. The Smitten Kitchen recipe is really, really awesome. Excellent flavor and texture, even with the changes. The Chocolate Zucchini is just, well, chocolate and zucchini. It's not bad, it's just not as good as old faithful. Probably with the addition of the extra sugar it would have been a lot better, but, as I've established, that's cheating. At any rate, they're both gone, so they must have been okay.

IT'S TOP CHEF NIGHT!

2009-08-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing about Heidi. I love her like a sister. But she doesn't "get" Top Chef. I've tried to explain its awesomeness. I've even talked her into viewing an episode (even though it took the producers of LOST to convince her). And apparently she still just doesn't "get" it. What's to get, I say?

There's drama! There's excitement! There's a guy with a funny name! And a bow tie!

There's a chick with a tattoo! Right on her neck! OW!

There's a chick wearing a nightgown and some cowboy boots! Nice!

There's...

an oompaloompa?

(Seriously. What's up with the orange face, Michael Voltaggio? It doesn't matter how many awards you've won if you glow in the dark.)

Honestly. I can't wait! Heidi doesn't know what she's missing.

Because it's summer and slushies from Sonic don't count as fruit.

2009-08-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a salad that I made for a get together this weekend... I made it with baby spinach leaves, reeeaaallly thinly sliced golden delicious apples, and goat cheese rolled in roasted unsalted chopped pistachios and sliced on top. The dressing was a Meyer lemon vinaigrette that I made by whisking a little Meyer Lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon zest. I have this thing about Meyer Lemons lately. Anyway... summer light and refreshing, and the creaminess of the goat cheese goes really nicely with the pistachios. I think that's a peanut butter and jelly type flavor marriage there. Freeze the goat cheese, before you roll it, it is much easier to slice that way. You could easily add grilled chicken, or grilled salmon to this salad and make it a meal.

Other hits:

This yummy Avocado-y salad from Aida on the Food Network who amazes me with her GIANT smile... she's kind of like the Julia Roberts of the Food Network with that facial grill of hers. Click here! The only thing I really don't care for is fresh mozzarella. Maybe I just haven't ever found one that I really like, but to me it just tastes kind of flavorless. I like adding a different type of cheese, even using a regular mozzarella. You need a little bit more of a salty bite, in my opinion. One more thing, too... this recipe has wayyyyy too much oil in it. You could half it, and you'd probably be fine.

And, because cupcakes are my thang, I vote for this recipe, hands down. I want to marry it. It's Sprinkles recipe for Strawberry cupcakes. Holy. I mean. Shoot. Right? Click here!

Happy, happy. That's what you'll be.

The Pie that was made out of INSANITY.

2009-08-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, Alison and I were up late chatting on Facebook and probably debating which Depeche Mode album yielded the greatest number of Twilight related songs or something like that when all of a sudden, she sends me the link to a pie she saw on a blog called Alpine Berry. I bookmarked the recipe in the hopes that someday I would make it. A few weeks ago we went to dinner at our dear friend's house, and I made the pie and brought it to them. It was such a hit, that we sent a few pieces home to her mom and dad and brother, who incidentally happen to also be their neighbors, and moments later, the three of them called and via speakerphone in unison declared this pie the best dessert ever.

People, I'm here to tell you that this pie is insane. It's the pie of insanity. If you ever saw the movie Waitress starring Keri Russell, she would make up all these new pies and give them funny names. This is so one of those pies. My friend Lo and I make pie references when asking each other how are days are going... and we say things like "Today, I'm Moody Needing Chocolate Pie with peanut butter graham cracker crust." Or "Today I'm key lime wish it was Friday pie." This is one of those pies.

At any rate... this pie could solve the budget crisis. They should make this pie into currency. They should send this pie to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pie might even evoke a Hands Across America type of movement. It's that good.

Enough of me yammering on... go make it! Here's the link----> Insanity Pie. Please, please, I beg you... do not use a pre made graham cracker crust. Do the heavy lifting and make one from scratch. It really makes a huge difference. Plus those pans are so dinky, you'll need room in an actual 9 inch pie pan to get the job sufficiently done.

Here is a pic of the inside, too... you know, as if you needed more encouragement.

What are you still doing here?? GO!

Anticlimactic.

2009-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

I hate baking a lot during the summer. My kitchen gets hot and I get cranky. But yesterday I had the itch, so to speak, so I made my family a little coffee cake. Now, I have to confess, I'm famous for adding chocolate chips to anything I possibly can. So when I found a Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake recipe, I just knew it was meant to be.

So here's the Anticlimactic part. I don't have a picture.

See, the whole thing is gone. Scarfed. My family has apparently been more deprived than I originally thought because they devoured the whole darn thing. Tears may have even streamed down my daughter's face at some point as she sighed, "This is the BEST thing I've ever put in my mouth!" By the time my camera battery was fully charged, there was nothing left but crumbs.

Anyway, try it. I definitely give it 4 stars. While I try not to adjust recipes too much, I did add 1/2 a cup of applesauce (as suggested by those intrepid reviewers!) because there's nothing worse than dried out coffee cake. Plus that makes it healthy, right?

"If you're feeling sad and lonely...

2009-07-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

There's a service I can render...

Tell the one who loves you only...

I can be so warm and tender...

Call me. Don't be afraid. You can call me. Maybe it's late but just call me. Tell me and I'll be around."

The potstickers have landed.

2009-07-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

You know how you see something, like a recipe or a picture or project, that gets stuck in your head and you can't get it out until you actually sit down and do it for yourself? That's what happened to me.

Ever since Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice posted this recipe, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Sure, I like potstickers, but the idea to actually sit down and make them myself had never occurred to me. But the photo haunted me. Until potstickers were the only thing I could think about. So I went to the store.

And I made some dough.

And I pinched some seams.

And I took a bad picture that can't possibly accurately represent the heaven on earth that these are because I was in too much of a hurry to eat.

Heaven.

You can find an excellent recipe with super detailed instructions here (it's also linked at Cream Puffs in Venice). I used ground turkey instead of pork, and because it came in a 1.25 lb. package, I doubled the dough recipe and used the whole filling recipe. It made about 50 potstickers. I cooked off about 12 and froze the rest.

Holy cute.

2009-07-09T07:54:00.001-07:00

If there's one thing I hate about summer (other than the heat, the electric bill, the kids getting bored and complaining and making each other scream, the lack of anything good to watch on TV, and potato salad) it's slaving over a hot stove. So I try to find fun recipes that require very little to no cooking. This recipe is a winner in several areas. A) it requires ZERO turning on of the oven; B) it contains only 3 ingredients; C) it's actually a lot of fun to prepare; D) even kids can help put it together; E) you will forever be famous for both making these and having "too much time on your hands."

The recipe for these little darlings can be found here. As you are probably aware, it is required by allrecipes.com law that one must change a minimum of one ingredient. I'm no rebel. I used herb cream cheese and they were a huge hit. Try them. You will be famous, I guarantee!

My New Best Friend Marlene's Healthy Green Enchiladas

2009-06-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I hosted a little recipe swap. Over the course of 10 months, 10 of us worked our hungry way through the alphabet. Along the way some truly awesome recipes were shared, but none surprised me quite as much as Marlene's "Healthy Green Enchilada" recipe. It is, in a word, DIVINE. Light and fresh tasting, but extremely satisfying. We fought over the leftovers, I kid you not. Try it. Immediately, if not sooner. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Here's my version. It's not as pretty as hers was. She served her dish with limes sliced thinly laying on top of the enchiladas. So nice!

Great. Now I'm all hungry again, just looking at that picture.

If it sounds gross, change it.

2009-06-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this past weekend on Giada's show, she made these sandwiches and none of them sounded all that fantastic. One of them was an egg salad sandwich, but she put gorgonzola in the egg salad. Along with chives. And while all of those things individually taste great, the concept of all of them being together didn't quite sell me. (Plus I couldn't stop thinking about how bad your breath would be after. Eeesh.)

Next she made a sandwich (ahem, PANEENO with an Italian accent) that really pissed Alison off (we texted about it at great length) because Giada went on and on about how her mom never baked her cookies but instead she made her this PANEENO with cheese, rosemary, jam, and brown sugar. You know what Giada? My mom made cookies, okay? Sometimes she even used store bought dough. So don't come at me with your gourmet sand- Errr... PANEENO and tell me that your mom never once made you cookies. I'm sure she just strolled you on down for freshly made Italian Gelato on the daily as well. Giada, I have nothing but love for you, but really. Sometimes I find myself saying things out loud like "Oh, spare me" when I watch your show.

Anyway... I thought the jam in the sandwich YEAH, I SAID SANDWICH reminded me of a Monte Cristo, which I normally love, except that they usually have vile ham on it... plus the whole batter and powdered sugar thing is a mess. I think the last time I had a Monte Cristo was at the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. Without ham, of course. I decided to make my own version, and it turned out so delicious, and it was so easy. I used my grill pan, too... since I don't have a Paneeno maker, And P.S. I thought it was Panini anyway? Her version was buttered/olive oiled bread, with fresh mozzarella, rosemary and raspberry jam. Eh... not so much with the rosemary. Ask Alison about the time she made something with rosemary and it took over her whole house. It's a funny story.

My version was buttered bread, with provolone and asiago cheese, then a few slices of oven roasted turkey and a spoonful of raspberry jam and the other slice of bread... Grill until crispy and serve with jam on the side a la the above photo. Giada and I do seemingly prefer the same brand of jam... I don't know what it is called but it's the one with the red and white gingham top that has some kind of French writing on it. What does that say Bonne Mama? Mamman? HEH? Incidentally, my other favorite jams are my friend Chucky's homemade strawberry jam and also the kind you can buy at Ikea. Unfortunately, they don't come around that often. But the mystery French Jam is great. It's like the French woman on Lost. Try the apricot, too.

To make a long story short, I have found that with most recipes, if it's gross, change it. You might end up making a new signature dish! This gets our top rating. 5 Stars for Ridiculous.

Click here for links:
Giada's My Mom Made this instead of cookies recipe
Monte Cristo Sandwich Recipe

Top Chef Masters: Week 1

2009-06-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the premiere of Top Chef Masters. Who watched? What did you think? Do you want some Macaroni and Cheese like I want some Macaroni and Cheese?

Here are some of my random and (partially) incoherent thoughts.

I THINK I FREAKING LOVE THIS SHOW.

How genius to take only 4 chefs at a time to compete against each other? This prevents any kind of personality overload, while still giving us the opportunity to get to know each chef. I did not expect these "Masters" to be so personable and funny. Just normal dudes, hanging out, sniffing pork. And with only 4 chefs preparing food, the dishes each got the attention they deserved.

So each week they'll be revisiting past Top Chef Quickfires, you say? GENIUS, I say. To see these renowned men practically get all teary eyed because they have to prepare a dessert? For Girl Scouts?! (And knowing that even I could school Michael Schlow in the dessert department is just wicked, by the way.) It doesn't get any better than that. Unless it's...

Cooking in someone's real live actual dorm room. Using a hot plate. Rinsing pasta in a shower. Genius.

The "critcs?" LOVE them. They're not too salty, not too sweet. Just right. And the scoring system? Have I used the word "genius" yet? Cuz it fits.

Bravo, I'm well on my way to forgiving you for The Fashion Show. I'm still holding a little grudge, but if this show doesn't make up for it, I don't know what could.

Lemony Goodness.

2009-06-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Since she is my culinary hero and everything, I thought it was about time I included a review of an Ina Garten: Barefoot Contessa recipe. Honestly, every one of her recipes I've tried has turned out amazing, just like she promises on her show. There's nothing worse than watching someone prepare a recipe or seeing photos of some yummy food, and then attempting it yourself and finding out that you would have been better off with a $1 hamburger from Wendy's or a bowl of cold cereal. So when I want to make something delicious, I turn to Ina. Consistency is so important, don't you think?

Here's just one example of her greatness, her fabulous Lemon Bars.

I don't have her team of handsome gents on hand to make my presentation look flawless, but you get the idea. Every once in a while I get a craving for something lemony and buttery and this is the perfect antidote. I cut the recipe in half and bake it in an 8" x 8" pan, and it works just fine. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

The musical fruit.

2009-05-30T10:41:00.001-07:00

I know, I know... I couldn't resist that old song about beans. But seriously. These beans are the beans. I made them over Memorial day weekend, but they are perfect for any summer BBQ action you have going. And easy too. This recipe is from my friend Laura and her sisters. And boy, do they know beans. (Okay they don't like, own a bean company or anything. This recipe is just super good.)

Take one can pre-fab baked beans (like those cheapo pork n' beans), a can of lima beans (I can never find the can, so I use frozen that have been thawed) a can of light kidney beans, and a can of butter beans. I have also used pinto beans and Northern beans, but the butter and the lima are a must. Pour them all in a drainer and rinse. Then, take the pre fab can and fill it up about 2/3 with water and save it. Trust me. Then put all the beans in a 13x9.

Cut up a package of bacon into 1-inch pieces and get it all working in a pan, almost crispy. Drain it off, and then cook a small chopped onion in the same pan. Add back the bacon, and the water from the can with all the bean can floaties in it and one cup of brown sugar. (Packed. Like I have to tell you that though. That's a major food rule. Have you ever heard anyone say, don't pack your brown sugar? Not me.) Stir for a minute and then add a 15oz can of tomato sauce. Heat for a sec, and then pour all of that on top of the beans in the 13x9 and stir. Bake for about an hour or so @ 350ish and then transfer to a crock pot on high for an hour to thicken up the sauce. Turn it down to low and eat them up. So easy and so tasty. And it makes a ton... so have people over. Grill up some hot dogs like me and Mister did. He likes just mustard, as you can see.

Feel free to add whatever you like too... the last time I made them, I added a little ketchup and then shhh... don't tell anyone, but when I transferred them to the crock pot, I added a small spoonful of the bacon grease. I know, I know. But it keeps it all copacetic.

P.S. Check out our new food hottie, too. If I were Ina I would say "T.R., These beans are so easy and delicious. How bad can that be? No really, how fabulous is that?"

Brace Yourselves.

2009-05-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's my first bad review.

I love the Pioneer Woman. I want to curl up on her front porch and live off her table scraps. I want to mosey around the ranch and name all the calves. I want to hang out with her kids and hold her sister's adorable baby. Which makes what I have to say very hard.

The recipe she posted for Hummus was yucky.

I once had Hummus at a Greek restaurant and I immediately fell in love. Store bough versions never came close to tasting the same. So when I saw her "Classic Hummus" I thought BOOYA, and I went out and bought all the ingredients. I think the ingredients themselves were right on, but the amounts she has listed are waaaaaay off. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with cement. There's not a chance you could actually pull this recipe off in a blender. Unfortunately, I had company that evening (WHATUP PEEPS!) and couldn't really mess around with it to try to fix it up. They were good sports and ate it anyway. But there was so much left over that I decided to experiment.

I tripled the amounts of lemon juice, olive oil and water and it almost came close to what I remembered. This is what it looked like with three times the amount of liquid listed.

Still a little bit thick for my taste. Sorry, but this one is definitely not a keeper. 1 star.

Guest Contributor Day!

2009-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

My best friend Missie says this is the best way to make Roasted Butternut Squash...

Ingredients: 1 Butternut Squash cut up into bit sized cubes! The cubing is essential! Olive Oil (EVOO) duh, Rachael Ray.
Kosher Salt
Cracked Pepper
Pinky's (If you know the supplier)
Toss together and roast at 400 till they start to get brown.
Serve with a grilled steak or chicken.

I'm reluctant to share it with you, though, since most of you do not have access to the secret ingredient here known as Pinky's. Pinky's is what makes it... but alas, it is only available in limited quantities, courtesy of a certain cowboy from Poteet, Texas named Armand. (Her Father in Law.) If you want some... maybe go comment on Missie's blog: HERE. And check out her darling little girls while you're there. I can't make you any promises on the availability of Pinky's though. I'm lucky enough to have some Pinky's in my pantry (that sounds so cute!) and I'll tell you, it smells amazing. But what's in it? I haven't a clue.

Thanks, Missie my love, for being our first guest and for rocking the show. Love you!

How I roll.

2009-05-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I have a distinct and un-ignorable craving for Cinnamon Rolls. I can't tell you why, but it has resulted in much experimentation. I've tried several yeast doughs, but this recipe has to be hands down the best ever. It's puffy and light and super easy to put together. The only thing I change about this recipe is I double the filling, because I like to taste lots of cinnamon.

Behold. King Arthur Flour's recipe for Cinnamon Rolls. If I can do it, so can you.

Babycakes cookbook...

2009-05-09T21:05:00.001-07:00

BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here (Almost)! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

Babycakes NYC vegan bakery website----> Here.

Stop the presses!

2009-05-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hold the phone! There's a new Top Chef in town.

Beginning June 10 on Bravo 24 "Master" chefs will compete against each other for money to be donated to the charity of their choice, and I will definitely be there. No Bourdain as of yet, but I think we can practically guarantee he'll work his way in somehow.

Food Quirk.

2009-05-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

I think that I prefer to eat my salad in a circle. I put all the salad components in a circle around the plate or bowl, and then drizzle the dressing on all of it. Then you just stab your fork in each section and you end up with the perfect bite every time. No naked spinach leaves, no drowned orange slices. Do you think it would be too Sally from "When Harry Met Sally" of me to order it like this in a restaurant? I'm kind of that girl when it comes to on the side and all that jazz. Hmmm.... anyway.

This is my pseudo Asian chicken salad... grill up some chicken with house seasoning on it, add mandarin oranges, red bell peppers and spinach. (I usually have a few toasted almonds on there but I forgot this time.) The dressing is just rice wine vinegar, a few shakes of soy sauce, pepper, splenda/sugar and canola oil shaken up in a small Tupperware jar to taste.

Try it!

Mascarpone Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze

2009-04-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

I made these for Mister's birthday party a few weeks back, and they went faster than a Friday afternoon. I got the recipe from an episode of our favorite teeny Italian girl, Giada DeLaurentiis... of the "Mmmm! This boiling water is so flavorful in my mouth!" and her high-horse Italian pronunciations. These would be Mass-Car-Poh-Nay cupcakes. Not Mascarpone-rhymes with phone.

The only thing I think I would do differently is that the recipe is made as a mini cupcake... and I made these full size. The mascarpone makes these literally melt in your mouth, and it's hard to do that in a three- bite cupcake. If you do make them into a full cupcake, try filling them truly 2/3 full. Not to the top. The one there on the lower right is one that was over filled.

The strawberry glaze is what totally makes these... but you could easily do a raspberry or even a peachy/mango glaze. Whatever frozen fruit you can find. Strawberry makes a perfect lovely shade of pink though. The don't end up very cakey... they will kind of have a batter taste to them. But in a good way. Again, they totally melt in your mouth. Dang.

For my first contribution, I am going to give these our top rating... 5 Stars, or Ridiculous. Make them now. Go. Do it. You will be the hero of your family, your office, your book club, your baby shower, your Edward Cullen appreciation meeting... etc.

Here's the link --------> Giada's Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze

What's Black and White and good all over?

2009-04-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

When I was 5 years old my grandmother came for a visit. She came all the way from Pennsylvania and she wore a bun in her hair. She must have been close to 80 years old, but she still loved to cook. I distinctly remember her letting me help her make chocolate chip cookies, and I've been baking (mostly cookies) ever since.

Having said that, I will admit this: while I consider myself an experienced baker, the idea of baking Black and White cookies scared the bananas out of me. I was born and raised in California, but I have a fascination with all things New York, so clearly these infamous cookies caught my attention the first time I saw them in a picture. Pretty soon they were all I could think about, and they've haunted me ever since. Recently I felt brave. I scoured my cookbooks, the internet, magazines. I weeded out recipes until I found this one from Smitten Kitchen. It took me a while until I finally worked up the nerve to dive in, but dive in I did.

Allow me to introduce you to my cookie sheet. It's battle-scarred and well-loved. Notice how the batter is mounded up in the middle? That's because on the first round the cookies spread all over. I put the bowl of batter into the fridge for about an hour, and then heaped them up a bit on the pan. It worked like a charm.

Here are some cookies baking. See how they spread out? These are cookies #157-#263. This recipe makes a lot of cookies.

Ooo la la! I did it! The frosting is honestly the only part of these that I'm iffy about. I did add extra unsweetened cocoa (as suggested)to darken the chocolate frosting, but my dark chocolate tasted almost burnt, while the white side was pretty much tasteless. Overall the flavor wasn't awful, but it definitely could have been better, in my opinion. Other recipes call for dark/white chocolate ganache, and next time I may try a little bit for comparison.

So there you have it. I conquered the Black and Whites. And it was totally worth it. They were soft and scrumptious. They were kid pleasers and crowd wowers. They were even better the next day.

4 stars... (Repeatable! See star scale to the left...)

And now a word from the sponsors...

2009-04-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Name: Alison (left).

Location: Victorville, CA.

General likes: Nutella, trashy books, polka dots.

General Dislikes: clowns, interruptions, being late.

Signature recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Beverage of choice: Iced Tea (Lipton only, please, unsweetened).

Foods that scare me: okra, gefilte fish, cheesecake, peas.

If I were an ice cream I would be: Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch.

Food Network Crush: Ina Garten.

Quirky food rules: Cold drinks must be accompanied by a straw and sandwiches or toast must be cut in half diagonally.

Last Meal on Death Row: In-N-Out cheeseburger animal style, fries well done, Coke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Heidi Joe (right).

Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma by way of San Diego California.

General likes: 90210 reruns, Cherry Chapstick, Design and decor blogs, Etsy, orange Tic Tacs, magazines, Edward Cullen and squirrels.

General dislikes: Clowns and Mimes and people that call me Heidi Ho.

Signature recipe: Any kind of cupcake.

Beverage of choice: Homemade Lemonade with frozen strawberries or Sofia champagne in the pink can.

Foods that scare me: Variety meats (i.e. Spam, Potted Meat, Pimento Loaf, Bologna, et al) Squid, Octopus, and anything that's not a body part you're supposed to eat. Oh yeah, and Ham.

If I were an ice cream I would be: Strawberry and Pistachio Gelato, divided equally in one bowl.

Food Network Crush: The Deen Brothers.

Quirky Food Rules: Eating Triscuits by the row, never eating the top two pieces of bread in a loaf (the heel=sick, the 2nd piece=impenetrable cap of freshness), sucking on Hot Tamales until they are clear and eating trail mix in a designated order.

Last meal on Death Row: Crinkle cut french fries with ranch dressing and a red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles.

(P.S. Alison, really? Peas? Who knew?)

(P.P.S. Heidi, yes. I don't know why. I enjoy split pea soup very much, and raw peas, but cooked peas - eeek. And isn't Pimento Loaf a given? I mean what is that stuff, anyway?)

I know we just got started, but...

2009-04-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Is it too early for a Rick Roll?

Inspiration

2009-04-19T23:05:00.001-07:00