April 26, 2010

{Food & Friends}


Whenever I visit Sunday Suppers I drool over her lovely tablescapes and think about how I can't wait to have a place of my own where I can entertain friends over brunch or outdoor dinners in the summer.  I think about cooking for others a lot - I have a TON of recipes bookmarked, tucked away for someday/someone.  I hope that day comes soon!

[Images via Sunday Suppers]

April 25, 2010

{Currently Reading} Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide


I bought this book some time ago but only recently started to read it. Once I read the first couple pages I knew it was one of those books that I would read slowly because it was already so good and I tend to not want to finish them quickly so as to "savor" them if you will. Anyways, the first couple of chapters are focused on sexual slavery, sex trafficking, and forced prostitution. At the end of the chapter about saving women from these evils, the authors included a powerful Hawaiian parable that really struck a cord:


A man goes out to the beach and sees that it is covered with starfish that have washed up in the tide.

A little boy is walking along, picking them up and throwing them back into the water.

"What are you doing, son?" the man asks. "You see how many starfish there are? You'll never make a difference."

The boy paused thoughtfully, and picked up another starfish and threw it in the ocean. "It sure made a difference to that one," he said.

April 18, 2010

Lemon Almond Biscotti

I've been thinking about making biscotti ever since I saw Giada make some on the Food Network. She made delicious lemon almond biscotti and I knew that I just had to try to make them for myself. I have to admit I was kind of skeptical about her recipe because she used cornmeal. Luckily my aunt made Giada's recipe first and I got to sample what they tasted like - they were good, but I could definitely taste the cornmeal and I wasn't a fan.

I finally decided to look up some other lemon almond biscotti recipes and stumbled on the King Arthur Flour blog, Baking Banter. Their recipe looked nice and easy so I decided to give it a try - I was not disappointed!


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Lemon-Almond Biscotti
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
grated rind of 1 medium lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
¾ to 1 ¼ teaspoons almond extract, to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon, because in the past too much almond extract has been too strong. I think you would be safe in using 3/4 - 1 teaspoon).
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 to 3 tablespoons (1 to 1 1/2 ounces) freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste (I think this recipe could use more lemon juice to get a stronger lemon taste...perhaps 4 tablespoons of lemon juice)
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup of coarsely chopped almonds.

Directions:

reheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, lemon rind, almond extract, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the lemon juice and eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour and almonds, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.

Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Shape it into a log that’s about 13" long x 3" wide x 3⁄4" thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. I just wet my hands and it worked fine.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen. Reduce the oven heat to 325°F.

Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. (I didn't have a spray bottle so I just used a brush :) ) Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.

Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1⁄2" slices. As you’re slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they’ll topple over during their second bake.

Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 30 to 35 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden around the edges. Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.



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That's it! Easy peasy. It seems like a long process, but it's super easy and you'll have most of the ingredients in your fridge/pantry. My one critique of this recipe is that it's not very sweet, which is fine with me, but my mom said it would taste better if it were sweeter. I dipped them in melting chocolate (NOT CHOCOLATE CHIPS) to give them added sweetness.

September 6, 2009

Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

I had a slice of autumnal heaven today. YUM! I was looking for a recipe to try today and came across Martha Stewart's recipe for pumpkin cupcakes. Since this is the "end of summer," I thought I would welcome fall with these lovelies.

What you'll need:

For the cupcakes

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 c. vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

For the frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
8 tblsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

(Note: I had originally intended to make my own cream cheese frosting, but when I got home from the market and opened the package of cream cheese, it looked more like feta cheese! EW! Luckily I had a can of cream cheese frosting in my pantry and was able to use that)

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, oil, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester (toothpick or knife) inserted in the center, comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.


For the frosting:

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in powdered sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

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These cupcakes are SO moist and sweet and they will have you coming back for seconds and thirds! Pair a cupcake with a cold glass of milk and you will be on your way to pumpkin heaven!




August 23, 2009

Peach Pie

MMMMM! This recipe is delicious and perfect for an outdoor summer party. Who knew four peaches and some pie dough could make such a perfect treat? You'll definitely want to head to the grocery store, farmer's market, or your backyard and pick up some peaches to try this out!

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Pie crust can be a tricky thing, so be sure to read Smitten Kitchen's comments on how to make the most flaky, buttery crust possible, here.

And now for the recipe!
(Adapted from Une-deux senses)

What you'll need:

For the pie dough, make half of the recipe found here. Make sure to chill your dough for at least an hour, but preferably two.

For the streusel:

1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. of baking powder
pinch of salt
3-6 tbsp. of flour
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For the filling:

4-5 medium peaches, pitted and quartered
2-4 tbsp. sugar (depending on your sweetness preference)
pinch of salt


How to prepare:

To prepare the pie dough, roll the dough out about 1/8 of an inch thick to fit a regular pie dish ( 9 - 10 inches in diameter). Trim the edges and fold under or crimp as desired. Use a fork to poke holes all throughout the bottom. Transfer to a freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F about 15 minutes before you remove the crust.

To make the streusel, mix the powdered sugar, baking powder, salt and 3 tbsn. flour. Add the cold butter and use a fork to work it into the flour until it resembles course crumbs, add additional flour as needed, set aside. (Note: I ended up doubling the streusel recipe because I wanted it to cover the entire pie).


To par-bake the crust, tightly press foil against the crust and fill with beans or pie weights in order to keep the crust from bubbling up. Bake for 10 minutes and then remove the foil and weights carefully. Return into the oven for another 5 minutes or until lightly brown. Transfer to rack to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F.


To make the filling, sprinkle the peaches with sugar and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add the peaches to the pie dish and top with streusel. Bake until bubbly and golden brown about 40 - 50 minutes. If the edges brown up to fast, cover with foil and continue cooking. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.


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Don't have peaches on you? Try using apples or nectarines!

August 20, 2009

Roasted Tomato and Artichoke Pasta

This pasta is a great meal if you're looking for something with only a couple of ingredients. Although it is relatively simple to make, I will warn you that you will need to allot about an hour from start to finish, only because roasting the tomatoes takes ~45-50 minutes. Other than that, it's a breeze!

The Ingredients:
(adapted from The Zoe Blog)

1 8 oz. package of pasta. I used Fussilini pasta, but really, any kind will work. (I wouldn't recommend spaghetti or angel hair pasta, only because this is more of a "pick up with your fork" rather than a "spin around your fork" type dish)
Sun-dried tomatoes
12 oz. package of cherry tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts
A spoonful of brown sugar
olive oil
salt & pepper

How to prepare:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice cherry tomatoes lengthwise and toss with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a heaping spoonful of brown sugar. Arrange the tomatoes cut-side up on a cookie sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes until shriveled. (Note: try not to get a lot of the olive oil/brown sugar juice on the cookie sheet as it does burn a little/turn into a syrup consistency, which will ruin your tomatoes. I learned this the hard way and didn't end up with as many of these tomatoes in the pasta as I would have liked. They are definitely delicious, so if you want to err on the side of caution, use more cherry tomatoes)

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2. Prepare pasta according to directions on box/bag.

3. While pasta is boiling, drain the can of artichoke hearts and chop into bite sized pieces. Place them on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place them in the oven (right beside the tomatoes!) for about 10 minutes, or until they brown slightly.

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4. Julienne the sun-dried tomatoes if they aren't already prepared that way.

5. Toss the pasta with the oven roasted tomatoes, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes.

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Enjoy!

July 26, 2009

Spicy Mango Shrimp!

While waiting for my sister at the dentist's office the other day, I picked up an issue of Sunset Magazine. After reading a couple of them, I found this recipe for Spicy Mango Shrimp. Wanting to try something new, I ripped out the recipe (shh!) and hurried home to try it.

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Let me tell you, this dish is aromatic, spicy, sweet, easy to make, and most importantly, DELICIOUS! This is a definite crowd pleaser; my whole family really enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

3 tblsp. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. red chile flakes
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tblsp. soy sauce
1 tblsp. fresh lime juice
About 12 oz. peeled and deveined shrimp (30 to 35 per lb.)
2 cc. cubed fresh or frozen mango (preferably unripe)
1/4 c. toasted shredded unsweetened coconut


Directions:

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and sauté onion in oil until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chile flakes, basil, soy sauce, lime juice, and shrimp; cook, stirring often, until shrimp turn pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add mango and cook until warm. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Tip: I put a piece of parchment paper on top of a baking sheet and spread the coconut out over the parchment paper. I set the oven to 350 degrees and toasted the coconut for ~5 min.

Going Bananas!

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I don't know about you, but I LOOOOVE banana bread (not necessarily bananas themselves, hehe). My mom found this recipe in Paula Deen's 2007 Holiday magazine. With bananas, banana pudding, cool whip, and shaved chocolate, how can you go wrong?

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 c. mashed ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c. plus 2 tsp whole buttermilk
1 box banana cream instant pudding
1 (12 oz) container cool whip, thawed
grated chocolate for garnish.

How to Prepare:

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and mashed bananas.

In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour batter into a 13 X 9 greased pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for one hour.

With the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes halfway through cake in half inch intervals. Next make pudding according to box. Pour over top of cake and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Spread whipped topping over top of cake and garnish with grated chocolate.

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Yummy!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

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While in school, my go-to lunch was Mediterranean pasta salad. It can be eaten by itself, or as a side dish (I am partial to enjoying it with a juicy hamburger!). I like this dish because it is extremely flexible -- you can replace the red bell peppers with tomatoes, throw in Kalamata olives instead of black olives, substitute parsley for cilantro...the list goes on and on! You can definintely personalize it to suit your tastes :)

Ingredients:

1 c. Orzo pasta
A handful of chopped cilantro
1 red bell pepper
1/2 c. diced black olives
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes (I prefer the sun-dried tomatoes that are NOT soaked in oil. They're less messy).
1 stalk of green onion, sliced
4 oz. feta cheese
Italian dressing of your choice (I like Wishbone)
salt and pepper

How to Prepare:

Prepare the orzo pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and rinse with cold water. It should look like this:

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Next, chop the olives, red/green onions, bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes, and cilantro.

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Add your veggies to the orzo and mix well. Add the Italian dressing until the orzo is well coated, along with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for a few hours so that the orzo can soak up the Italian dressing. Right before serving, add a little more dressing as well as the feta cheese.

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Enjoy!

July 5, 2009

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake

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I decided to celebrate the 4th of July by baking this Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake that I found a couple of days ago on Lovin' From the Oven. Boy was it delicious! It had the perfect amount of sugary sweetness and was super moist. I had to use frozen blueberries this time because the fresh ones at the market were really expensive! Luckily they worked out really well and I would definitely recommend them for when blueberries aren't in season. This yummy cake may leave you with blue teeth, but it is totally worth it!

For the cake:

1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup milk

For the topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbl butter

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) Mix flour, baking powder and salt on waxed paper.
3) Cream softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, beat in the egg.
4) Place blueberries in a small bowl, dust with a small amount of the flour mixture. Toss to coat.
5) Add the remaining flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, mixing continually
6) Gently fold blueberries into batter.
7) For the topping, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, cut in butter until crumbly.
8) Spread batter into a greased 8 inch square baking dish.
9) Sprinkle topping over batter.
10) Bake for 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Enjoy!