The BEST Jalapeño Poppers EVER! 10/27/2011

That’s not a lie.  I am not boasting.  These seriously are the best jalapeño poppers you will ever eat in your life.  Moving on.  This is my first post in several months.  And for that, I apologize.  It’s due to a combination of busyness, laziness, and poorness.  But I’M BACK! So now, on to these poppers, the most excellent of snacks.  These are quick and easy to make and perfect for a snack or appetizer for a party.  Here’s my disclaimer: these are not healthy.  They’re bad for you..like most delicious things. Here’s what you need:

8 jalapeños

1 8oz package of cream cheese (softened)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (you can substitute any cheese here–mozzarella is good too)

3-5 scallions (chopped)

1 tbsp sriracha sauce (like a BOSS)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

And for frying:

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

flour

panko breadcrumbs

grated Parmesan cheese

canola/vegetable oil

First, clean and cut the jalapeños.  Slice off the stems and the cut them in half lengthwise.  Clean out all the seeds and stuff on the inside.

Next, mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, scallions, sriracha, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  I used a spoon, but if you’re lazy, you can use a standing mixer or hand mixer.

Once it’s all mixed up and looks like a gross ball of gooey cheesy mush, then you know it’s ready for stuffin’! Using the jalapeños as cups, spoon the mixer inside the jalapeños. When they’re all stuffed, you must prep them for frying!!!!!  Get three bowls!  Crack the eggs into the first bowl and whisk, then add the milk.  Put some flour into the second bowl.  And in the third bowl, mix together some Parmesan cheese and panko at a 2:1 ratio. Take each stuffed jalapeño, and dip in the eggy milk.  Then roll in flour.  Then dip again in the eggy milk and then roll in the panko-cheese mixture.

Repeat this until all the poppers have been prepped. Then you heat some oil and fry them up!  Fry them about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Until they turn a delightful golden brown.

And another disclaimer.  LET THEM COOL OR THEY WILL BURN YOUR FACE OFF!!

NOTE: If you want to make these healthier, instead of frying, fill jalapeños with mixture, then spray with cooking spray before rolling in panko breadcrumbs and bake in the oven at 350F.  But I can’t promise they’ll be as good as when you fry them!

Chocolate GUINNESS Cake! 03/22/2011

Okay, so I figure I need to stop procrastinating since this one is a St. Patrick’s Day recipe and I should probably write this up before people forget that holiday exists and they move on to obsessing about Easter and Passover…well at least I obsess over Passover.  Notice how in the title of this entry one of those three words are CAPITALIZED! That was NOT an accident.  I wanted everyone (all 8 of you) to know as soon as you came to my site that there is BEER IN THIS CAKE! I was so excited to make this recipe.  It’s kind of ironic because I’m not usually a fan of Guinness and other dark beers.  But when I was googling something to make for my neighbors’ St. Paddy’s Day party (because I’m not Irish and have no idea what Irish people eat for dessert), I came across this recipe.  There are about 100 different blogs and recipe sites that have different versions of the recipe, but essentially, it’s a chocolate cake, made in a springform pan (normally used for cheesecakes) and OH YEAH..THERE’S BEER IN IT!  Here’s what you need for the cake:

1 cup Guinness stout
1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
3/8 cup sour cream
2 eggs (large)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Take your 9-inch springform pan and grease the bottom of it.  You can use vegetable shortening or butter.  In a saucepan, add the butter and the Guinness.  Heat at medium until the butter melts, then remove from the heat.  Slowly whisk in the cocoa powder and the sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add that mixture to the Guinness mixture.  Then gradually add the flour and baking soda and mix until it’s a nice, smooth batter.  Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for about 45 minutes at 350F.  Cool it completely on a wire rack, about an hour.

This cake works really well with vanilla or cream cheese frosting on top.  You can make an easy cream cheese frosting from scratch by mixing (with a stand-up electric mixter or hand blender):

1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 8oz package cream cheese (softened)
1/2 heavy cream

When it’s smooth, put it in the fridge for about a half hour and frost the top of the cooled cake!!

**I had some green sugar in the house, so I got all fancy and made a Shamrock!**  YAY HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!

Baked Mac N Cheese! 03/15/2011

Everyone loves macaroni and cheese.  Seriously, I don’t know a person who doesn’t love it.  But what if…and stay with me here…what if, we baked that mac and cheese into crispy deliciousness?!?! I know, I’m a genius.  So anyway, baked mac and cheese is amazing, easy to make and just off the chain delicious.  Baking does not make it better for you to eat.  In fact, I think I use more cheese and butter when I bake it rather then when I make it normally.

What you need:

cooked pasta
milk
butter
LOTS OF CHEESE! (any kind that you want)
panko bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta as you normally would.  I don’t think I need to instruct anyone on how to make pasta.  If I do, you can email me directly and I will give you a one on one pasta making lesson.  Alright fine, I’ll tell you.  Boil the noodles.  Moving on.  You can use any kind of pasta you want.  I used classic elbow macaroni, but I also like using bowties and tri-color rotini.  Just don’t try and use spaghetti.  That’s silly.

So after the pasta is cooked and drained, and while it’s still in the pot (or feel free to transfer to a mixing bowl) add the milk and butter.  I don’t measure when I do this, so just use your best judgment when adding these ingredients.  Less is more, and depending on how much pasta you made, you probably don’t need to use much of either the milk or butter.  I made about 1 cup of pasta, and I probably used 1/8th of a cup of milk and a tablespoon of butter.  But I’m just guessing.

When the pasta is all milky and buttery, you’re going to transfer it to your baking dish.  What you want to do, so that all of the pasta gets cheesy, is make a layer of pasta in the baking dish, then add a layer of cheese, and repeat until there isn’t any room left in that dish and it’s overflowing with cheesy noodlely goodness.  Don’t forget to top it off with a layer of cheese. When I make my mac and cheese, I like to use a variety of cheeses, but I almost always incorporate mozzarella.  But cheese can be very personal, so I’ll just let you decide on your own.  Before you do anything else, add an additional tablespoon of milk to the full baking dish.  This helps it all from getting too dried out.

Lastly, you sprinkle a layer of panko bread crumbs over the top and then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of that.

Cover it with foil and bake it for about 10 minutes at 325F to melt all the cheese, then uncover and continue baking until it’s crispy on top.  I like mine to be dark around the edges so you get that crunch on top and then gooey cheesy noodles in the middle.  It’s quick and easy to make, and the perfect comfort food! Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini 01/22/2011

Although I’m a great lover of disgustingly delicious foods that are fried up and greasy, I’m also a great lover of veggies.  Zucchini is a favorite of mine because not only is it tasty, it’s one of those foods you can cook a million different ways and feel full and comfortable after eating it and not really gross and fat.  I really like to steam zucchini and yellow squash together with some salt, pepper and garlic, and maybe some red pepper flakes.  But then one night, my mom, in all her infinite wisdom, was ripping the guts out of a spaghetti squash (also delicious) and I thought about doing the same thing to zucchini and then stuffing it with goodies.  You can basically stuff them with anything you want.  I decided to only do veggies as a stuffing, but feel free to variate this recipe with tasty things like bacon and melted cheese.  Just an idea…

4 medium zucchinis (cut in half, lengthwise)
1 cup chopped potatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic (pressed or grated)

First thing you do is take those tasty cut zucchinis and scrape all the guts out of them with a tablespoon.  I thought it was going to be more difficult than it actually was.  Then you have 8 delightful zucchini “shells” and a big bowl of zucchini guts (YUM!):

Then what you want to do is mix all your other ingredients in with the zucchini guts.  Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, parsley, onions and the garlic.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Before you start stuffing the zucchini, spray them with a little oil.  You want to lay the zucchini shells in a glass or aluminum baking pan.  Once they’ve been sprayed (or brushed) with oil, you can go ahead and stuff them!!

Bake them at 350F for about 20 minutes covered with foil.  Then for another 10 minutes uncovered, or until the potatoes are nice and tender.

Feel free to make this dish your own and stuff it with whatever your heart desires!

Some ideas:

Potatoes with bacon and melted cheese with scallions
Quinoa, rice or couscous with diced tomatoes
Ground turkey or beef (and pretty much anything!)

Thanksgiving Treats (Part 2) 12/08/2010

As promised, this is part 2 of the Thanksgiving Treats installment.  My good friend Katy, who flew in from Michigan just to see me (and no one else ) came over the day before Thanksgiving to not only be my wonderful sous chef for my pumpkin cheesecake, but also to make her delicious Lemon Meringue Pie.  This recipe is courtesy of Katy and from the end of this sentence, to the end of the recipe, these are Katy’s words..not Corinne’s..sorry guys, I’ll miss you, but I know you’ll love Katy’s recipe!

For the pie:
Baked pie shell (or make your own–recipe can be found here)
1 cup sugar
5-6 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups water or milk
3 beaten egg yolks (save 2 whites for the meringue!!)
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon rind (add more if you want a more lemony taste)

For the meringue:
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp granulated sugar or 4 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

**NOTE** Tips for meringue: egg whites are easiest to beat at room temperature. Separate your eggs before you begin so they have time to sit out and warm up. Additionally, eggs will NOT beat properly if the bowl or whip/hand mixer is wet at all. Dry all equipment first to avoid a frustrating experience. Finally, beautiful meringues come from experience with looking at beaten eggs, so practice over and over and you’ll get it. But even if it falls a little the first time, it’ll still be delicious! Don’t give up!

Pie crust:
Normally I’m lazy and use a store-bought crust, but for this special occasion Corinne and I used her recipe for a pie crust. The important part is that the pie crust gets baked before the filling goes into it. If using a store-bought crust, there are instructions included on the crust for pies that require a baked crust. For Corinne’s recipe, we baked it at 350 for around 15 minutes, until the crust darken a bit and no longer appeared doughy. This will vary with your oven so pay attention to it while it is baking. It will need to cool before the filling is added.

Pie:
1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in the top of a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, a metal bowl or smaller pot that fits in a larger pot will work. Make sure the bottom of the bowl/smaller pot is not touching the small layer of water in the lower pot. Turn the heat on medium/medium-low, so the water does not bubble through the double boiler and splash unsuspecting arms. Add milk or water very gradually, around 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly.

2. Stir and cook this mixture over the hot water for about 8 to 12 minutes, or until the mixture starts to thicken (if it doesn’t, add more cornstarch–but give it time, even when it doesn’t appear like it is ever going to thicken, all of a sudden–it happens). Cover and cook for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from heat.

3. Separate the eggs, saving 2 egg whites for the meringue and putting the 3 yolks in a heat safe bowl. Pour a little of the sugar mixture over the egg yolks. Beat this mixture, and then return it to the double boiler. Cook and stir gently for about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat.

4. Mix in butter, lemon juice, and rind. If you want a more lemony pie, add more rind, NOT lemon juice, since more juice will thin the filling and create an unpleasant consistency. (Best to have the pieces of zest be on the smaller side to avoid feeling them in the pie, but it’s not anything to stress over.)

5. Cool the custard by stirring very, very gently to release any steam, which might condense to thin the filling. Once cool, pour into a cold pie shell. When it is almost cool, you can start the meringue part, but you do not want to let the meringue sit out too long before being baked or the texture will not be as good.

Meringue:
Pre-heat oven to 350F
1. Whip egg whites until they are frothy (You can use a hand mixer or regular mixer attachment, but a whisk attachment is easiest.)

2. Add cream of tartar and whip until stiff but not dry. Should stand in peaks that lean over slightly. Test peaks by pulling your beaters out in an outward direction and see how much they move. Soft peaks will form a mountain but still fall at the top, but you want stiff peaks, which stand straight up.

3. Beat in the sugar, 1/2 tsp at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every 1.5 tsp or so, depending on how much is being pushed up. Do NOT overbeat, just until mixed. (When you are first making this, put the 3 tbsps sugar into bowl and measure out the half tsps one at a time for ease.)

4. Add vanilla and beat till JUST blended.

5. Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, making sure to get it all the way out to edges to prevent the meringue from pulling away from the crust as it bakes. For extra fun, lightly tap around the pie to create peaks of meringue. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meringue. When done, the tops of the meringue peaks will be slightly browned, while the rest of it will remain white in color.

Now that, is one sexy looking pie!

Thanksgiving Treats (Part 1) 12/04/2010

Thanksgiving dessert.  That’s usually pie.  Pumpkin pie, cherry pie, apple pie, etc. But several years ago, I came across this recipe for pumpkin cheesecake and it’s been a Thanksgiving staple for my family ever since.  I don’t remember where I got the recipe, since it was so long ago, but I’ve been making it about 6 years now and it gets better every year.  Usually on Thanksgiving (and almost every other holiday), my good friend Debbie would come over to enjoy the delicious foods and good company that the holidays have to offer.  This year, right before Thanksgiving, she passed away and we didn’t have our usual Thanksgiving dinner, so this recipe and this post is dedicated to her.  She fucking loved this cheesecake.  <3

First things first: the crust.  If you want to make this cheesecake right, you need to make your crust from scratch.  Here’s what you need, and it’s super easy:

24 graham cracker squares
2 tbsp sugar
1 stick butter (melted)

First you grease up a 9-inch springform cheesecake pan with some vegetable shortening or cooking spray.  Take the graham crackers and crush them up either in a food processor or by hand.  (This was made in the middle of the night when my entire house was sleeping, so sadly, we had to crush them by hand.)  Doing it by hand is annoying, I recommend the food processor.  When the crackers are all good and crushed, put them into a small bowl with the sugar.  Pour the melted butter in and mix.  When it’s all mixed up, press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan evenly.  Bake it at 325F for about 10 minutes and BAM! You got crust!

For the filling you will need:

1/4 flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 (15oz) can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
4 pkgs (8oz each) cream cheese (softened)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 sugar
5 eggs

Mix the flour, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin in a small bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Gradually beat in brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth.  On low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time until blended.  Gradually beat in the pumpkin mixture until smooth.

Pour the filling over the crust and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes (or until set) at 325F.  Make sure cheesecake is set, but is still jiggly when moved.  Turn the oven off and open the oven door slightly and let cheesecake remain in the oven for another 30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight before serving.

You can serve it as is, or with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top!! This is a really great fall dessert that is especially best after stuffing your face with turkey!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Thanksgiving treats with a recipe provided by my good friend Katy who was my sous chef on this pumpkin adventure.  ENJOY!

Margherita Pizza 10/17/2010

As a kid, I made pizza with my dad all the time.  We usually made regular Neapolitan pizza with store-bought pizza dough.  This time around, I decided to make Margherita pizza (my fav) with homemade dough.  You can make the dough two ways.  One is using regular active, dry yeast and the other is using special (magic) pizza dough yeast.  If you decide to make the dough using regular yeast here is what you need:

1 cup warm water
1 package active, dry yeast
2 1/2 cups flour (plus more for kneading, rolling out, etc)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

You let the yeast dissolve in the warm water for about 5-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add the yeast mixture and olive oil and stir until you can form a ball with the dough that isn’t too sticky.  Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or so.  Use the remaining flour for kneading.  Lightly coat a bowl with olive oil and put the dough ball in the bowl and cover it with saran wrap.  Let it rise for about 2 hours.  After 2 hours, you can roll it out into a pizza shape!

Now, I understand what a pain in the ass all that is for pizza dough, so you could also use pizza yeast.  Fleishman’s makes both active, dry yeast and pizza crust yeast.  The regular yeast comes in a red and yellow package and the pizza yeast comes in a green and yellow package.  So if you want to make pizza, but don’t want to wait 2 hours for the dough to rise, use the pizza crust yeast.  It’s really simple.  You can look on the package for the instructions on how to make the yeast or you could look here!!

1 1/2 cups flour (okay to add a little more if necessary)
1 package pizza yeast
1 1/2 tsps sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 warm water
3 tbsp oil

Combine 1 cup flour, non-dissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the water and oil and mix for about 1 minute until blended.  Add the other 1/2 cup of flour gradually until dough forms a ball.  Add additional flour if needed and turn out onto a floured surface to knead.  No rising necessary!!!!  Once that dough is rolled out, you can start making pizza!!

So now onto the Margherita pizza!  I made my own marinara sauce.  It’s super easy to make and it only takes about a half hour.  You need:

2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add garlic, cook 1 minute.  Make sure you’re constantly stirring the garlic in the pan so it doesn’t burn.  Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, oregano, basil and salt.  Bring to a boil, and cook, uncovered for 30 minutes over medium-low heat.  Stir occasionally.  You can use the sauce immediately.  This amount of sauce makes about 2 large pizzas, so you can use half and freeze the rest!

So once you’ve got your pizza dough and your sauce ready, you can begin to assemble the delicious concoction that is your pizza!  For a Margherita pizza you need:

pizza dough (we just made it!)
marinara sauce (golly, we made that too!)
olive oil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
6-8oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Parmesan cheese
basil leaves

Heat the oven to 500F and coat the pizza pan with cooking spray or olive oil.  Roll out the dough onto the pan.  **Don’t forget to use flour when handling the dough, and flour up your rolling pin too.**  First, drizzle a little olive oil on the pizza dough.  Then spread the sauce evenly on the rolled out dough using a wooden spoon or a soup ladle.  Don’t spread the sauce all the way to the edge of the dough, because you want to have crust.  Sprinkle the oregano over the sauce.  Arrange the mozzarella slices over the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan.  **You can either place the fresh basil leaves on the pizza now and cook it along with everything, or you can add the basil leaves after the pizza is cooked, it’s up to you!**

Bake for about 12-15 minutes until it’s nicely browned on the bottom.  Cut into 8 delicious slices!!!

This pizza is so freakin’ good, I can’t even tell you.  But, what I can tell you is, you can use this recipe and add any kind of toppings you can think of.  Veggies, meat, pineapples, anything your heart desires.  Enjoy this, because it’s awesome.