Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Movie Wednesday: Push

Megan's turn again for movie night, and she chose 'Push'...

"The film centers on a group of people born with various superhuman abilities who band together in order to take down a government agency that is using a dangerous drug to enhance their powers in hopes of creating an army of super soldiers."


Yup. That's about it...

It takes place in Hong Kong, which meant chinese food again, which meant that this time Sam and I were going to attempt a couple recipes out of a really really old cookbook that belonged to my grandpa.


Handle with Care

Signed by the Author

No recipes, since it was all out of a book... but here's some lovely pictures!


Almond Guy Ding. A chicken chop suey with fried almonds.


Chicken chow mein

-Jess

Monday, July 19, 2010

Lazy, hot, monday Taco Burgers.



Still feeling too hot and lazy to cook for the most part, but we deliberated and decided to construct taco burgers. It didn't require an oven or the stove top, so it didn't heat up the Kitchen of Despair too much.

Taco Burgers - Easy

What We Used
(burger)
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • cumin
  • coriander
  • onion powder
  • paprika
  • basil
  • chili powder
  • breadcrumbs for consistancy
(toppings)
  • Iceburg Lettuce
  • 1 Tomato
  • 1/4 onion
  • 1 orange pepper
  • 2 med avacados
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • Tortilla chips
  • cheddar cheese (grated)
  • sour cream

There was really no measurement for the spices in the burger... we just put them in until it smelled right. We mixed all of the burger ingredients together then formed the mix into patties. The mix turned a beautiful red color due to the chili powder and the paprika! Very lovely.

For the toppings, Sam made a pico de gallo out of the tomato, onion and pepper (she chopped these three ingredients into small pieces and mixed them together.)

Meanwhile, G (Sam's bro) made guacamole by smashing the avocados, the garlic, and some of the pilfered pico de gallo together.

The burgers were constructed with the shredded iceburg lettuce, burger patty (grilled on Sam's indoor grill) the grated cheese, guac (or just the pico de gallo if they didn't like avacado) tortilla chips and sour cream on homemade hamburger buns that Sam tried her hand at making.


These were seriously some of the best burgers I have EVER had the pleasure of eating! YUM!

-Sam and Jesso

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night and secret recipes!

No recipes tonight unfortunately, though I thought I would come and mention the interesting food we're going to be having tonight. Since we're watching Repo the Genetic Opera, we opted to do 'body part' food.

A blurb about the movie:

"The movie is set in the year 2056; 26 years after an epidemic of organ failures devastated the planet. Out of the tragedy, the biotech company GeneCo, run by Rotti Largo, emerged to provide organ transplants to the needy populace on a financial plan, making it affordable to anyone who needed one. Through his efforts, Rotti also got approval to create the Repo Men, assassins dispatched to deal with customers who default on their payments and made his company become a megacorporation, having influence from politics to fashion."

We're having ribs, a secret recipe from Jess' family that cannot be posted up here, but rest assured they tie for the best damn ribs I've ever had!!

There'll be spinach dip dyed red to mimic brains served in a loaf with a face, 'stomachs' which are actually just more of the infamous pizza bites and possibly other goodies to be had!

See you soon with more recipes and adventures from the Kitchen of Despair.

-Sam

Monday, July 12, 2010

Life and more Pizza Bites

Late update is late. It's been busy and hectic and stressful the last couple of days, there has been much A&W consumed and not a whole lot of cooking going on. We apologize...

Since Doctor Who isn't having new episodes until Christmas, we've decided to start watching Life, the newest in shows along the lines of Planet Earth and the like. We made pizza bites again, but this time with different fillings.

There's a pizza place that does amazing vegetarian pizzas, so we used the same vegetables and spices that they did in an attempt to mimic their deliciousness. We also decided to try bacon cheeseburger pizza bites!!

Hopefully this week will bring more delicious posts for you guys to try. Thanks for tuning in!

-Sam and Jesso

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Beach Day, 40 degrees and grilled Souvlaki



After a wonderful day in the sun at the lake, I got the idea to do some sort of souvlaki for dinner since we have plenty of pork tenderloins still and some leftover ingrediants from movie night I've been itching to use.

Pork Souvlaki in Orange Yoghurt Sauce - Easy

What We Used:

  • 1 cup plain yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • pinch of white pepper
  • pinch of rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 orange, zested and juiced
  • a dash of Worchestershire Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Olive oil
  • 2 cloves elephant garlic
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 pork tenderloin, cut into medium sized cubes

I prepped the sauce first since I needed to put the pork into it right away. I put the yoghurt, spices, oil, Worchestershire sauce and the orange juice and zest into a bowl, mixing it all together and letting it sit while I cubed the pork. I then dredged the pork in the sauce. YUM. It makes such a lovely sound.

After that, I prepped the vegetables. I sliced the garlic and the pepper into thick slices, cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and then into half moons, and cut the onion into quarters, pulling it into petals.

After everything was ready, we broke out the skewers! You can layer them however you want, add whatever other vegetables you'd like or take things out if you don't like them. We ALMOST had exactly enough stuff for each skewer, but we still ended up with one that was only meat, onions and garlic.



We used our grill, but you can also use a barbecue to cook them, or broil them in the oven until the meat is cooked all the way through and browned however much you'd like.

We paired these with Crash Hot Potatoes, which are such a hit, I think they've become a staple in our house.

-Sam

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night!

Tonight's choice was made by Jess!! It's a hilarious comedy called 'Stiff Upper Lips' and it spawned the dinner theme of "English tea party."

Or something of the sort. There's a TON of food coming our way tonight, and we're contributing several items ourselves! Bread Pudding compliments of my little brother G, curry, lavender sugar cookies and cucumber sandwiches.

Here's a blurb about the movie:

"Emily is now 22 and ripe for marriage. Her idiotic brother Edward decides, in cahoots with Aunt Agnes, to pair her off with his upper-class twit friend Cedric Trilling. Emily has already had and refused a proposal of marriage from the local vicar Mr. Tweeb on the eminently sensible grounds that his eyebrows were too bushy! An accident at the family lake brings Emily very closely into contact with the naked, handsome, muscular, lower-class peasant George and she is instantly attracted to his ripping unmentionables! Seeing the undesirability of the match Aunt Agnes takes the family first to Italy and then to India to try to separate the lusty, ill-matched couple but George accompanies them as a servant. Will lust prevail or will Emily be forced into a loveless marriage with the extremely dull and boring Cedric?"


It's been a busy day already in the Kitchen of Despair!!

Lavender Sugar Cookies - Easy

What We Used:

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • lavender sugar* for garnish

I sifted together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and set it aside. Then I creamed the butter together with the sugar, added the egg and vanilla and beat it till it was all incorporated.

I gradually added the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon instead of using the mixer, and eventually I just mixed it by hand since the dough is heavy and a little dry. I then shaped the dough into balls using one teaspoon of dough for each. I dipped the top of each ball into the lavender sugar before putting them onto the cookie sheet. We baked them at 375 for 8-10 minutes, or until they turned golden brown, then let them sit for a bit on the pan before moving them to the cooling rack!

Verdict?

Gaaaaah, it smells so good in here. These cookies are DELICIOUS!! Even the ones I overcooked. I'd definitely use this recipe again! Not too sweet and deliciously buttery.


*Lavender sugar is really very easy to make. You take blossoms from a lavender plant and put them into a sealed container with 1 cup of sugar. Keep it in a cool, dark place and use whenever you feel the need for something sweet and fragrant in your cooking!


Meanwhile, I trimmed the crusts off of slices of homemade bread to get the right shape for the cucumber sandwiches, and my brother used the scraps to make bread pudding!


G's Bread Pudding

What We Used:

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 loaf of bread

G mulched the bread in the food processor, whipped the eggs with the sugar and added the spices and vanilla. He then added the milk into the eggs and mixed everything together, adding the bread in and beginning to soak it. He moved the mix into a Pyrex loaf pan, letting it sit for half an hour. Then we heated the oven to 375 and popped the bread pudding in. It was cooked until a knife stuck into the center came out clean.

Verdict?

Sweet and spicy and very tasty! Too bad I was too full to eat more than a few bites.


The chicken curry was lifted from this recipe here, so no reprinting. The bread is the same recipe posted in an earlier post here on the blog.

-Sam and Jess

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tuna Noodle Casserole



Tonight I decided to make one of my favorite comfort foods. It's quick, cheap, easy and always always tastes delicious. And apparently, I make it better than my mom does.

Tuna Noodle Casserole - Easy

What We Used:

  • 2 cans tuna
  • 1 package egg noodles
  • 2 tins mushroom soup
  • 1/4 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 cups cheese


Put a pot of water on with oil and salt for the noodles. Cut the garlic into small bits and add it to the water. While the noodles are cooking, you can prepare everything else!

Open the tins of tuna and put them in a bowl, liquid inside included if it's tuna in water. It makes it taste better. Open your tins of soup and put them into the bowl. Mix the tuna and the soup together, then slice your onion up however large you'd like and add that in as well. Grate your cheese and stir into the soup mix. By now, your noodles should be finished.

Drain the noodles, then mix the soup and tuna mix into the pasta, putting it all into a casserole dish. Heat your oven to 375 and pop the casserole in. At this point in time, you can heat it until it's crispy or until it's gooey or until it's just warm all the way through, however you'd like.



I also added a few vegetables for substance. You can add them in, whichever veggies you think might go nicely, like red pepper or broccoli or tomatoes. Once it's finished, pull it out of the oven and enjoy!

~Sam

Monday, July 5, 2010

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Roasted Vegetable sauce



Today we took on something rather adventurous... Gnocchi!! This is a pasta alternative made with potatoes or other root type vegetables that is usually boiled and tossed with sauce or flavored butter.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi - Intermediate and time consuming


What We Used:
  • 1 butternut squash, steamed and peeled
  • 2-4 cups flour
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • onion powder
  • 2 eggs
We cut and gutted the squash, then quartered it (it was pretty small) and tossed it in our lovely steamer. Once it was done cooking, it was set aside to cool. I got my brother to peel it for me while I was busy with the sauce, then he mashed the squash and set it to cool a little further. We mixed in two eggs, the spices, then started adding flour until we had dough the same consistancy as pasta dough.

After that, I cut the dough into small pieces and we rolled them into roundish shapes and squished them with a floured fork. This part is actually best done with a pot of boiling water on hand to put them in right away. *sigh* Unfortunately, I didn't think of that at the time and some of the gnocchi ended up sticking together in a glob.

We added the gnocchi to boiling water and waited for them to float to the surface, indicating they were done. Then they were scooped out and set aside. I oiled them a bit in preparation of baking them and to keep them from sticking together.

I baked the gnocchi at 375 until they were crisp and golden in color on either side, then served them with meatballs and the sauce.

Roasted Vegetable Sauce - Easy

What We Used:
  • 1 orange pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1/4 onion
  • 1 clove elephant garlic ( or about 6 cloves of regular, my current garlic is on steroids )
  • 4 tomatoes
  • corriandar
  • basil
  • oregano
  • onion powder
  • oil
To start with, I gutted the peppers and cut them into quarters, laying them in a baking dish and sprinkling them with oil. I cut an onion into quarters, removed the skin and pulled the whole petals off. I halved the tomatoes, cutting a shallow X into the bottom half to make sure the skin peeled back properly.

I put the garlic in the middle of another baking dish, put the tomatoes around it then tossed the onions in. Both dishes went into the oven at 350 degrees until the tomatoes were soft, the garlic was tender and the onions were crisp around the edges. The peppers took a little longer. I pulled them out when the skins were beginning to turn black and set both pans on the stove to cool.

Once they were cool enough to handle, I pulled the skins off the peppers and tomatoes, cut everything into large chunks and tossed it into a pot along with the spices. It simmered until the meatballs and the gnocchi were finished baking.

Verdict?



VERY good! The sauce complimented the slightly sweet gnocchi perfectly! And my curry meatballs were great with the whole dish. This is something I'd definitely do again!


~Sam

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Crash Hot Potatoes and Beer Battered Cod!

Sam here with an update! We haven't been doing many posts lately, shame on us, and there have been many cheeseburgers consumed in the past few days. Boo!

But tonight, I stepped up and made what will hopefully be a delicious meal.




Crash Hot Potatoes (Sam Style) - easy


What We Used:
  • 1 small bag young red potatoes, skin on
  • coarse salt
  • roasted peppers and garlic ( premade spice in a bottle )
  • grapeseed oil
Boil the potatoes till they're tender but not too mushy. Oil a pan generously once they're finished and break out the potato masher!

Put the potatoes on the pan one at a time and mush them down, but don't mush too much, you're just trying to flatten them a bit. Once you're done pressing them, grab your salt and whatever spices you wish to use and sprinkle on top of the potatoes.

Finish with more oil and bake them in the oven at 400 until they're golden and crispy.


Beer Battered Cod - Intermediate (for deep frying action)

What We Used
  • 1 package of cod
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cup of Guinness ( you can use whatever type of beer you'd like, this is what we had )
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper
  • 1 egg
Put the flour, spices and egg in a bowl and mix together a bit. Add in the Guinness until you've got the right consistancy. I cut the bits of cod we had in half since they were REALLY long.

Heat oil in a pan ( We used the Mok Wok ) and then dip pieces of cod in the batter and pop them into the hot oil until they're crispy and golden! Voila!


Verdict?

Holy shit oh my god.

And while we're at it, here's some long belated images...


Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night: Dark Prince

Brandon's night. He chose Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula...

"Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad Dracula, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble, and a patriot who fights the occupation forces of the Turks hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan."


...So we got to make Romanian food. Big shout out to Emily that remembered the name of the 'meatcicles' we loved so much at a party hosted by a romanian friend: Mititei, or Mici (prounounced like 'meetch'). They're a popular grilled Romanian sausage, often served with mustard and beer.

Mititei (
very much not for beginners)

What We Used:
  • 1 lb. pork tenderloin
  • 1 lb. beef
  • 1/2 cup of beef stock
  • 2 slices of bread
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/8 tsp thyme
  • 1 clove of elephant garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • The Food Processor: This thing got a workout, so I thought it might be good to list.

Note that this really isn't the traditional method of creating them... We did the best we could...

Sam started by cutting up the tenderloin and we loaded it into the bowl of the processor where it was mulched down and set aside. The same thing was done with the beef (we had a couple nice steaks that went in.) then in batches, we put the ground pork in with the beef and a bit of bread. until the pork, bread and beef were kind of a paste.

Again in batches we added pieces of the garlic and mulched again. By this point the processor was complaining loudly. I mixed it a bit with my hands and set it aside.

Sam, meanwhile, was dissolving the baking soda in the beef stock and mixing in the herbs, pepper and salt. We added the liquid to the meat and kneaded until all it was doing was sticking to Sam's hands.

The entire thing was covered with a towel and put in the fridge. It's recommended that you keep it there overnight, but we had about seven hours.

Since there was a lack of sweet things, while I was out Sam decided to make Paximade, which is a greek sweet bread/cake thing.

Paximade (beginner)

What We Used:
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon anise seed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 white sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk

I sifted together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stirred in the anise seed. In a separate large bowl, I creamed the sugar and the butter, then added the eggs in one at a time. After that, I added the flour mix and milk alternately into the large bowl with the butter mixture and beat everything together till it was incorporated.

Since I have no loaf pan, I opted to use mini-loafs!! I greased the pan and spooned the batter in, then baked it at 350 for about 35-40 minutes. If in doubt, poke the bread with a toothpick to see if it's done. Let it cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then put it on a cooling rack. It's best warm with butter and is great for breakfast!

anyway... this post is ridiculously late (due to me having pictures, then not uploading them, then discovering that the sd card had been in the computer the entire time and I didn't actually have pictures in the first place...) so here you go... we'll get back to a more regular schedule pretty quick here.

-Jess and Sam

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Doctor Who Night: Pizza Bites

Doctor Who night, which sadly will end for the year tonight, was the time for appetizers. Sam and I came across a blog talking about pizza bites a while back, and we decided to try our own take on them.

Pizza Bites (intermediate difficulty)

What We Used

Dough:
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp white sugar

Filling:
  • Pepperoni
  • Mozzarella Cheese
  • Cheddar Cheese
The dough was actually fairly easy to prepare, though time consuming. We dissolved the yeast in the cup of warm water and let it stand about ten minutes until it was milky.

When the yeast was done turning into slime, we stirred all the dough ingredients together in a bowl, then kneaded (add a little more flour if it's waaaay too sticky during this stage) until it was thoroughly mixed. Then we let it sit for a couple hours until it doubled in size.

When it was done growing, we pulled off little palm sized chunks and formed them into little discs. We filled the discs with a few pieces of cubed pepperoni and cheese then pinched the discs closed to make little filled balls which we placed in a 9 x 11 cake pan. We covered again and let them rise again for a while.

Once they were the size of small buns, we placed them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Before you put them in the oven you have the option to brush them with olive oil and herbs... we used garlic and basil, which was awesome. Some parmesan cheese would have been lovely as well, but we didn't have any.

We served with a dish of maranera sauce, and the entire thing was fantastic. Nice little snacky pizza pockets.

-Jess

Monday, June 28, 2010

Well, there went the weekend...

Company this weekend cut into cooking time, though we did come up with a fantastic flank steak and rainbow cupcakes that were eaten so fast pictures were nigh impossible.

Today was a leftovers picnic and lots of lounging... but don't worry! We have something interesting for tomorrow's Doctor Who night finale.

Until then, ciao!

-Jess


PS: Hello to you new follower types. Nice to see you again!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Just a couple images

No recipes tonight, just a couple late pictures...


Flapper pie from yesterday. Note where I mangled the meringue.


The Super Mac and Cheese

-Jess

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night: One Week

I love movie nights! Megan's turn this week, with an indie offering titled 'One Week'.

"Ben Tyler has been diagnosed with cancer. With a grim chance of survival in the best case scenario even if he immediately begins treatment, he instead decides to take a motorcycle trip from Toronto through the Canadian prairies to British Columbia."

It's kind of a love letter to Canada, which naturally means Canadian food. Which naturally means someone brought poutine, and we're all getting Tim Hortons... but besides that, Sam and I decided to take another shot at Flapper Pie... which was a dismal soggy mess last time I made it.

Flapper Pie is like a vanilla custard merangue pie of fantastic on a graeme cracker crust and one of my favorites, despite my inability to make one.

Sam, however, is a ninja.

Flapper Pie

What We Used:
Crust
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
Filling
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Meringue
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
There was a lot of me dictating to Sam today, as my foot is still resembling a softball and standing is a bit annoying.

The oven was preheated to 375 as Sam prepared the crust. All three of the crust ingredients were mixed well in a bowl. We reserved a couple tablespoons of the mix for the topping then pressed the rest into the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate, which was baked for about 8-10 minutes (depends on the heat of your oven really... )

The next bit is easy to burn, so we made sure all of our ingrediants were ready to go before we began (ie: make sure you seperate your eggs right now.)

The sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt were measured into a saucepan, then the milk was added gradually. Once the milk was in, the mixture was cooked over medium heat until thickened, stirring very frequently. It was cooked for about two minutes after coming to a boil, then some of the hot mixture was used to temper the egg yolk. The yolks were stirred into the mix and then cooked for another minute or so.

Everything was removed from heat, then the butter and vanilla was stirred in. The entire thing was cooled for about fifteen minutes before being poured into the crust. Then it was left to cool completely.

Once the thing was cool (and after a few rounds of certain video games) we made the meringue by beating the egg whites, vanilla, and 1/4 cup white sugar until they could hold a hard peak.
The meringue was spread over the cooled pie, then the reserved graeme crumbs were sprinkled over top. Then the pie was baked again at about 425 until the meringue was golden brown.

Verdict?

It was tasty! Not worthy of pictures being a messy custardy pie, but it was still very tasty!!

-Sam and Jesso

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Breakfast for Dinner?

I love doing this. Really... and we've been looking for a good reason to break out Sam's cast iron griddle.



Jess's Mom's Awesome Buttermilk Pancakes

What We Used
  • 2 cups of buttermilk
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs (separated)
We sifted the dry ingredients first, then added the buttermilk and stirred until smooth. Once it was smooth, we added the egg yolks and melted butter. If the mix is too glue like at this stage, you can hit it with a shot of regular milk to thin it up a bit.

We heated up the griddle, and while it was getting ready, we beat the egg whites until they could
hold soft peaks. Right before we were ready to cook, the egg whites were folded in.

An easy way to tell when it's time to flip your pancake is when it starts bubbling slightly. And don't worry... the first one is almost always ugly.

Huckleberry Compote

What We Used
  • 1 1/2 - 2 cups huckleberries
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • splash of parrot bay coconut rum
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
Sam combined all the ingredients in a pot over medium low heat and simmered until it reached the consistancy of a sauce. There was also a random pine needle in our sauce... which just shows how fresh the huckleberries were.

-Jess

Monday, June 21, 2010

Slow Cooker Flank Steak and Swiss Chard Salad

So... Most of the cooking today was Sam in the kitchen and me supervising from the couch. Took a spill on her front steps yesterday that resulted in a case of softball ankle, so standing in front of the stove for extended periods is a no no.

I've been excited about the swiss chard that my grandma gave me from her garden for a bit, so I'm glad we finally had a day where we could use it.
The salad is a basic cobb/spinach, using the chard instead of the regular stuff and mixing a couple dressings together to make a sweet dill sauce. Easy times, and no recipe since apparently mom got this out of a book.



A lot of my friends are big on fruit in salad, but I've always been more of a bacon and cheese girl.


On the other hand, the flank steak is all ours



Slow Cooker Flank Steak Stew


What We Used:
  • 1 flank steak
  • 1 fresh tomato
  • 1 tin of stewed tomatoes (though it was a jar in our case, also given by grandma)
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tbsp fresh ground coriander
  • 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 of an onion
  • 1/2 of a red bell pepper
Dump it in a slow cooker/crock pot until it's done. Profit.

-Sam and the Gibble

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Stuff in the Fridge Sunday! Sam's Meatballs, mashed taters and fresh corn!

Kay, so I wasn't entirely truthful. I decided to wing it on my own tonight so without further ado!!


Stuff in the Fridge Sunday presents


Sam's Meatballs


What We Used:


  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 tsp curry powder, coriandar, smoked Paprika
  • pinch of white pepper
  • 1/4 onion minced
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • bread crumbs
  • a dash of Lee and Perrin's
  • 1/4 cup deli style mustard ( I used the grainy stuff )

Throw your ground beef into a bowl and start adding in all the other ingredients, minus the bread crumbs and egg. When you've got the stuff mixed up, put your egg in and mix well. Then add bread crumbs until you've got the desired consistancy you want for meatballs.


Form into balls and place into a baking pan. I used my big Pyrex dish for these and baked them in the oven at 350 till they were done!


No pictures tonight, we all know what meatballs look like anyway. This used up some leftover onion and leftover ground beef I had in the fridge! Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure!


-Sam

No Post Tonight except...

The post saying there will be no post. Jess unfortunately took a spill and twisted her ankle and is currently rolling about on the floor in pain.



Tomorrow is Doctor Who Monday, and we will hopefully have a post!!



-Sam

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Chicken Cordon Burgers

Ryan is kind of a pre-packaged type guy. Frozen chicken...fries... sidekicks. That there is the repitoire.

One of our favorite 'Ryan' foods, however, is Chicken Cordon Burgers... we usually do it with pre-frozen chicken patties, ham, swiss cheese... We decided to do a new take on it and make our own chicken patties for this particular version of the meal... which is what Sam set out to do while I was making Chocolate Chip Cookies (from the same kids cookbook as the delicious brownies we made last time.)



Chicken Cordon Burgers


What We Used

The burgers:
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 green onion
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika (or regular if you don't have smoked)
  • breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • onion powder
The Fixings:
  • Old Fashioned Ham deli meat slices
  • swiss cheese
  • mayo (if you like it...)
  • whatever type of hamburger bun you prefer
Sam started out by mulching the chicken breasts with the pepper, the green onion and the paprika in the food processor. Bread crumbs and egg were mixed in until the mess had the proper consistancy (ie: It would hold a patty shape)

The patties were covered in bread crumbs and a little onion powder and then put in a pan with grapeseed oil to fry.
After the patties were done, they were topped with a slice of swiss cheese and the ham and placed lovingly on a bun.

Ryan, of course, approved. Which is what was important.


And there was cookies!



-Jess

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night: Big Trouble

Sam's turn for the movie of the week, and her choice was 'Big Trouble', a comedy that quietly snuck in and out of theatres in the aftermath of September 11th (September 21st 2001 was the original release date, but it was pushed back to 02 because of a scene involving smuggling a bomb onto an airplane... so no one has really heard of it.)

"A chain of events starts with the arrival of a mysterious suitcase in Miami. Arthur Herk, a corrupt business owner, wants to get his hands on the case. At the same time, two hit men want him whacked. Tired of his constant fixation on drinking and television, Herk's wife Anna and daughter Jenny decide to find new love interests in divorced dad Eliot Arnold and his son Matt. To add more complication, two thieves decide to steal the case and lead a Miami police team and two FBI agents on a wild goose chase."

So the food of the week was miami cuisine... Which for us meant Key Lime Pie, cuban sandwiches, and Arugula pesto.

Unfortunately, Key Limes aren't in season up here... So lame lame Jess made Lime Out of a Box.

Sam, on the other hand, was still delicious.

Pasta with Arugula Pesto

What We Used:
  • Fresh baby Arugula ( not sure about how much, I used about half a 142g package )
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 clove elephant garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 cups macaroni
Okay, well, this was supposed to be an easy thing to make, but it took a little bit more effort than I remember. First things first! Prep your ingredients, make sure you have them all on hand and get your food processor ready.

Start with some of the arugula, put the pecans on top to weight the leaves down (I found it a little hard to get the right consistancy at first) and start grinding them up. Add the garlic, the parsley and the olive oil, and more arugula if you need it. After that, add the grated parmesan!

After everything is ground up nicely, taste it. Add salt and pepper if you need/want to.

Cook your pasta, and toss it with some of the pesto, using however much you like! Add more parmesan as a finisher and voila!

Cuban Sandwich

What We Used:
  • 1 loaf french bread
  • Grainy deli mustard
  • pickles (bicks garlic baby dills)
  • roast pork deli meat
  • old fashioned ham deli meat
  • swiss cheese
It's fairly quick and easy. Slice the french bread open like it was one enormous kaiser roll. Slather some mustard on the bottom layer, then a layer of sliced pickles, a layer of roast pork, a layer of ham, then finish off with swiss cheese. We put the top back on, sliced it up into portions, then due to our lack of panini press we just put portions into a hot frying pan and pressed on it with a second pan until the cheese was melted.

Anyway... time to get back to work. I have a key lime pie in a box that needs making.

-Jess
and Sam

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Maple Chipotle Lamb and Jess' Experimental Corn Chowder

So, today we decided to step away from our usual comfort zone when it came to our choice of meat and decided to try and recreate an amazing soup we had at Hector's Casa, a lovely Mexican restaurant in downtown Kelowna.

Jess' Experimental Corn Chowder

What We Used:
  • 1/2 onion
  • 5 cobs of corn, shucked
  • 5 red chilies, chopped
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups milk or cream
  • 1 cup cheese, grated
  • salt and pepper to taste
To start with, we heated some oil in the bottom of a large pot. We chopped the onions and chilies and added them to the oil, cooking them till the onions were transparent.

After shucking and rinsing the corn down, we cut the kernals from the cobs and added them into the pot with the onions and chilies, setting a portion aside for later. Then the chicken stock was added and we let it simmer.

After the corn was tender, it was time to mulch the soup so that everything was properly incorporated. We tempered the milk (we used milk instead of cream, but you can use whatever) and added it in slowly, then added salt and pepper to taste. The reserved corn and grated cheese were thrown in to finish the soup off.

Verdict?

Hooooly~~~~

Sweet with heat. Absolutely awesome. We're thinking of tossing a strip of bacon in the pot during the onions and chilis frying... but other than that it was perfect.

No recipe for the Maple Chipotle Lamb... We just grilled a butterfly cut lamb sirloin with a Maple Chipotle sauce we picked up from Quality Greens. Sam had never had lamb, and even though it wasn't quite the traditional method of cooking, it was all good.

Verdict?

HOMIGAWD, sooooo good. I would DEFINITELY eat lamb again, it was SO GOOD. We cooked it medium rare, it was so tender and juicy and the Maple Chipotle was sweet and just the tiniest bit spicy. Delicious!

-Sam and Jess

Monday, June 14, 2010

Doctor Who Monday: More of the Shortcakes, Sorbet, and the Great Phyllo Experiment

Should we just rename Doctor Who Monday to Shortcake Monday? We liked them so much last week that we wanted to do them again (except... smaller. With enough whipping cream for everyone.)

Doctor Who night tends to involve a bunch of people and snack food. As such, we've taken to mostly making finger foods, ergo the phyllo pastry.

Broccoli, Mushroom and Cheese in Phyllo

What We Used:
  • Phyllo pastry
  • 2 cups mushrooms (button works best, but we also had some leftover Portobello)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups grated marble cheese
  • 1 head broccoli, cut small
  • 2 shallots
  • melted butter
  • marjoram to taste
Mince the shallots, slice the mushrooms, grate the cheese and cut the broccoli! Heat some oil in a pan and add the shallots and marjoram. Add the mushrooms once the shallots are cooked for awhile, and when the mushrooms cook down a bit, add the broccoli. Cook until the broccoli is tender but not too soft.

Now it's the hard part.

Layer three sheets of phyllo pastry together and brush them down with butter. Cut into squarish shapes (they don't have to be perfect) and put some of the veggie mix into the middle. Top with cheese and fold them however you'd like. We wanted to do triangles, but we ended up going with a much different shape in the end.

Brush the tops with more butter to keep them from drying out and bake in the oven until they're golden and crispy!

Verdict?

Perfect. The buttery Phyllo added just enough salt to the mushroom/broccoli/shallot mix to make lovely bite sized yummy things.

Lemon Pomegranate Sorbet

What We Used:
  • 1 large pomegranate
  • 5 lemons
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • a pinch of salt
  • a splash of 7-up
I was official in charge of lemons again, since Sam's allergic. I beat up, halved, and squeezed five lemons into a measuring cup. The goal was 1 cup of lemon juice, but I was slightly short so after I strained out the seeds and pulp with cheesecloth, I topped it off with 7-up.

Sam, meanwhile, was removing the seeds from the pomegranate and setting them aside.

In a pot on the stove, we dissolved the sugar in the water and brought the entire mix to a boil on a medium heat (make sure to stir constantly). After boiling it for a few minutes, we removed it from the heat and added the lemon juice, pomegranate seeds, and a pinch of salt. It was brought back to a boil until the pomegranate seeds released their color.

The entire thing was strained again into a pre-chilled metal bowl and then shoved into the freezer. Every once in a while, it was removed and stirred to put air in the mix and get the right texture.

Verdict?

The flavor is fabulous. But sorbet is the perfect place to experiment with mixing fruit flavors. The pomegranate added a beautiful color and sweetness to the sourness of the lemon.

-Sam and Jess

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Stuff in the Fridge Sunday: Rainbow Cake and Nachos...?

I got ambitious and decided I wanted to try my hand at a Rainbow Cake!! I've been seeing so much about them on the internet, I figured, 'how hard could this be?'

I suppose we shall see. We went to the store to get more food paste for the colors (all the colors of the rainbow!) and gathered some extra things we needed for dinner, then it was to the Kitchen of Despair for an adventure!

Suze's Wedding Cake*

What We Used:
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 and 1/3 cups milk
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
First step was to grease and flour the pans. We then beat the eggs with 1/3 cup of milk and the vanilla and set this aside.

We stirred together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) and beat in the butter in what appeared to be a modified version of 'cutting the butter in.' This is a new recipe, but the effect of what seemed like a strange way of doing things at the time turned out nicely. and remaining milk at medium speed.

Okay... the batter did something really weird here. It started looking a little like bread dough. We thought we were doing something wrong, but adding in the egg made it look marvelous. Do this in three batches, scraping down the sides as you go.

Once it was all mixed, it was time to break out the food coloring. We put about a cup and a quarter of batter into a different bowl and added the red food coloring, then repeated with the orange, seeing as it was easier to do two colors at a time. The batter looked great! Food paste totally rocks! Continue mixing colors till you've got the whole rainbow... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple! (though, you can do only a few colors, if you so choose. Some people only do three or four, we're just crazy.)

We scooped the batter into the prepared pans and spread it as flat as we could, then baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes. We had to watch them really closely because they were so thin.

Put them on a cooling rack and when they're all done cooling, ice the layers and the top with buttercream icing. We piped some decorations and used crushed and whole Smarties to make our cake look extra rainbow-y!

Verdict?

Very sweet and buttery. This isn't the type of cake that you can have a big piece of... We shared a single piece and still had trouble finishing it!

*Our friend Suze is a very colorful individual. We've joked in the past about making her a garish wedding cake, and this might just be the scary prototype.

Nachos

What We Used:
  • Blue Corn nacho chips
  • 1/3 can refried beans
  • 2 cups cheese
  • 2 chorizo sausages, uncased and ground
  • Homemade salsa
  • 2 avocados
  • sour cream
  • chili paste
I prepared the salsa in advance, and mashed up the avocados to make guacamole. I usually add extra garlic into the guac, but with how much garlic was in the salsa, I didn't bother this time. What you do to make guac is just mash the avocados then add salsa in to taste. It's quick and easy and really healthy!

We made some spicy sour cream to go with it, too, by adding the chili paste into the sour cream.

Grate the cheese, uncase and grind up the chorizo, prepare your refried beans, then layer it all on top of the corn chips and shove it in the oven. Then sprinkle on some salsa, drizzle on some spicy sour cream, add a dob of guacamole and you're ready to go!

-Sam

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ye Olde Late Post

The camera is down, so apologies... no pictures while it's being sent in for repairs.

Friday night was a little rainy, and Sam was a bit uncertain about what we should make for dinner. Of course, I decided to shout out one of my old stand-bys: Mac and Cheese. With a twist, of course. My goal was to not use ketchup on top (something I'm notorious for.)

Jess and Sam's Mac and Cheese with Chicken

What We Used
  • 2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles
  • 1 large head of broccoli
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • breadcrumbs
  • seasoning salt
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • asian chili sauce
Sam was kind enough to set the pasta to boiling and cut the broccoli into small bits and set to steaming while I made the sauce.

I generally start my cheese sauce with a blonde roux: In a saucepan over medium heat I melt the butter then add the flour and mix until it's a golden bubbly thing that doesn't look like it contains flour anymore. This thickens up the sauce later.

Slowly I added the milk... Normally I would only use 1 cup, but in the end it was thicker than I liked so I used more milk to thin it. So it's a good idea to reserve some of the milk for this purpose. Once the milk was happily simmering, I dropped in the cheese cubes and stirred until it was all melted. That's about it. I added a little black pepper as well.

You can tell this sauce is done when it can coat a spoon, but isn't so thick that it makes stretchy cheese strings.

We were kind of going for a not quite overwhelmingly spicy breaded chicken to eat with this stuff, but didn't want to do buffalo chicken (which seems to be the standard faire for eating with mac and cheese). Sam butterflied the chicken and rubbed it down with the asian chili sauce, then rolled it in a mix of the breadcrumbs, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. We then fried the chicken in grapeseed oil.

When the pasta was done, we strained it, stirred the broccoli and cheese sauce in, and topped it with strips of the chicken and a little grated cheese.

Basically the verdict was 'homg.'

Anyway, sorry for the late post... I really recommend this dish to anyone wanting some good comfort food... and if you have any interesting variations on mac and cheese, let us know!

-Jess

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Experimental Pork fricassee, spaetzel, and brownies with caramel sauce

Sam and I are always impressed with how we haven't been repeating recipes. B is probably starting to go 'but what about my favorite??'...

We did pork again, since all of a sudden we have an over abundance of the stuff hiding in the freezer (expect to see 'pork tenderloin' on a lot of our 'what we used' lists for a bit...)



Experimental Pork Fricassee

What We Used:
  • 1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
  • 1 leek
  • 1/2 clove elephant garlic OR 3 cloves regular garlic
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 portabello mushroom, sliced thin
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • butter (for the pan)
We prepped everything before even starting to cook. The pork was cut into thin medalions, the garlic was minced, the celery was chopped, and the mushroom sliced. The round part of the leek was seperated from the top and chopped into thin rounds. The leaf part of the leek was julienned for our purposes... but I'm pretty sure it could be cut however you want (Sam insists that all parts of the leek can be used.)

The pork was cooked in the mock-wok with butter until it was almost done, then the celery, garlic and the round part of the leek were added. When the celery was soft the mushrooms were added. It was all cooked for about two minutes, and then the julienned leek and the stock were thrown into the mix.

We didn't actually time how long the thing simmered, since we were busy with the caramel for desert... but after a long while we tempered one cup of heavy cream and stirred it into the rest of the mix to thicken it. If you need it, you can add a corn starch slurry... which means you remove some of the liquid from the pan, add corn starch and mix until it's kind of like a runny mud, then add it back to thicken further.

After a couple taste tests, we ended up also adding a dash of the asian hot chili sauce sitting in the fridge.

The question 'what are we serving this with?' always seems to come up with us. Rice or potatoes are the default... but since we have a project in mind, we ended up going with spaetzel... which is like a german dumpling noodle thing. We also didn't go traditional with it (nutmeg) instead opting for saffron and white pepper.

Experimental Spaetzel

What We Used:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • pinch saffron
  • pinch white pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
Sam mixed together the flour, salt, white pepper, and saffron. The eggs were lightly beaten, and added alternately with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. (Since you don't really need to worry about it rising, beat the crap out of it.)

After it was all mixed, we put a pot of water on to boil with plenty of salt added to it. When it reached a full rolling boil, we got to the fun part. Using a slotted spoon, we scooped up some of the batter and pushed it through the holes and into the boiling water. The spaetzel cooked for about four minutes, until everything was floating, and the end result looked a little bit like scrambled eggs.

Dump the contents of the pot into a strainer, then transfer the drained spaetzel back into the pot and keep it warm till you're ready to serve!

I'm not going to get into the brownies, since the recipe used was out of a cookbook... but (as inspired by Sam's sister) we made a Grand Marnier caramel sauce to drizzle over top.

I had a lot of fun with this, since one of my loves is fudge making and I do enjoy candy.

Verdicts?

The spaetzel had kind of a scrambled egg texture... which is how it's supposed to be (I guess). If we were to do it again, Sam and I agreed that we'd try finishing it off by frying or something.

The Fricassee had fantastic flavor, on the other hand, and is a definate 'must try again'



Grand Marnier Caramel Sauce

What We Used:
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp grand marnier
Like in any candymaking endevor, I made sure everything was ready to go beside the stove before I even turned on the heat.

Once everything was set up, I set the stovetop to medium heat and put the cup of sugar in. It was stirred vigorously... When you're doing this, you want the sugar to melt, not burn... and it all happens very suddenly. In fact, I was apparently standing there for a while stirring dry white sugar in a pot.

When the sugar had melted and had turned into a glorious amber color, the butter was added. Once the butter was melted, I removed the pot from heat and slowly added the cream and then the liquor. All this was stirred vigorously for a while... the liquids caused the caramel to bubble... but as soon as it was smooth, it was done. I transferred the mess over to a glass measuring cup to cool (do NOT use plastic. Boiling sugar + plastic = melted sugar flavored plastic all over the floor.)

Finally, after it was cool I transferred it again to a drizzling bottle and proceeded to douse my brownies. Which is delicious.

Verdict?

I was worried about the grand marnier flavor when I first tried it, trying to figure if it was orang-y enough... but it turned out fantastic. What we may do in the future, however, is add a touch of salt.

Anyway... dinner was interesting and will definately be something to work on. Until next time, Ciao!

-Jess

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wednesday Movie Night: Ka

Tonight for movie night, my sister Kit is going to be treating us to one of Cirque du Soleil's finest... KA!

"Kà is a story about "conflict and love", of "imperial twins who are separated at the prime of their youth and must undergo a rite of passage of self-discovery. It is about their encounters with Kà, the fire that has the dual power to destroy or illuminate."

Since we're doing a circus show, the theme tonight is Circus food!!

Our menu choices consisted of such things as caramel apples, popcorn and pretzels, but Jess and I decided to put the Kitchen of Despair to use by making homemade french fries and chili dogs!!

Chili Dogs

What We Used:
  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1/3 red pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove elephant garlic (or about 6 regular sized cloves)
  • 2 tbsp each of basil, oregano, chili powder, onion powder
  • 2 tsp each of coriandar and cumin
  • dash of white pepper or cayenne pepper (for spice)
  • 1 can red kidney beans (or other types if you'd like to use them)
  • 3 good sized tomatoes, chopped
This is a cheap, quick, dirty, easy recipe!! You can either slow cook it all day or you can do it fast in a pot on the stove, and you can change up the spices as much s you'd like. Sometimes, I add curry to it to give it a bit of a flair, and I've had it with cinnamon before. If you add more beans, you can take out the ground beef for a wonderful vegetarian variation.

Chop the onion and garlic and add it to a pot with a bit of oil at the bottom on medium heat. Add the ground beef and all the spices, cooking till the ground beef is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and the can of beans, then simmer over low heat for however long or little you'd like. The best way to get the best flavor is to slow cook it as long as you can. I usually do it in a slow cooker, but I was lazy this morning and ended up doing it in a pot. You can also add mushrooms or more peppers or whatever... it's very versatile!

Cook up some hot dogs or smokies or whatever and put the chili in the bun on top or beneath them! A little cheese is also awesome.

Anyway, guests are arriving... time to go and watch some movie!

-Sam

ETA: imaaaage

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

So hey guys. What's up?

Sam's out of town for the day, so the roommates and I are slumming it. And I felt that this would be an excellent time to say Hi!

So... Hi! How are you? Where are you from? Got any neat recipes we can try or things you want to see? Or even better... Have you tried anything we've posted so far?

I know, a lot of questions... but I know there's a few of you out there and I kind of what to know who you are!

So cheers,

-Jess

Monday, June 7, 2010

No Doctor Who night? Lasagna with Mr. Science!

Due to Wine-ing Philosophers taking up Carmen's time this Monday, we asked Mr. Science to guest star on the blog (he's been itching to make lasagna for a while now... what a good excuse!)

Lasagna A La Mr. Science



What We Used

Sauce
  • 2 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (Mr. Science prefers extra lean, but admits you need some fat to help everything stick together)
  • 5 or 6 roma tomatoes
  • 2 cans tomato paste
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • dash of marjoram
  • dash of thyme
  • 4 sticks celery
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 3 brown mushrooms
  • 5 white mushrooms
All the Rest of it
  • 3 brown mushrooms
  • 5 white mushrooms
  • Lasagna noodles (We used fresh ones, not homemade, but fresh)
  • A large tub of baby spinach, chopped
  • A bit of butter for cooking the spinach
  • 2.2 lbs Ricotta cheese (or two large containers)
  • Mozzarella cheese, grated (we used a large block of it, you can use however much you'd like)
Saute the onions and garlic in a pot, then add the ground beef and spices. Brown the beef. Chop the tomatoes, mushrooms, parsley, and celery and stir them in. Let everything simmer for about 20 minutes then add the tomato paste.

Slice the additional mushrooms and set them to the side. Mr. Science says that adding in raw mushrooms to the layers gives you better texture and taste.

Chop all the spinach and fry in a pan with a bit of butter until the spinach is cooked. It will cook down a LOT, so don't be intimidated by how much you've got. Mix the spinach once it's cool with the ricotta cheese and set aside.

Once everything is ready to go, it's time to layer it. Mr. Science used a stoneware casserole dish for his lasagna, and greased it before beginning to assemble the lasagna. Assembly goes as follows...
  1. Noodles
  2. Sauce
  3. Mushrooms
  4. Noodles
  5. Spinach
  6. Noodles
  7. Sauce
  8. Mushrooms
... and etc, etc, until you've got all your ingredients used up! Top with cheese! Bake covered with aluminum foil in the oven at 375 degrees for thirty five to forty five minutes. Bake for five minutes uncovered or until cheese is browned.

Just as a note, using fresh noodles will actually cut down on cooking time, because you don't have to wait for the dried noodles to cook!

Verdict?

Super awesome! We all agree that it could've used...something. Egg in the ricotta layer? Eight more bulbs of garlic? salt? bay leaf? Dunno. But then again, that's the glory of experimentation!

Home Made Strawberry Shortcakes



What We Used

Shortcake
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup cream
The Rest of it
  • Strawberries
  • Sugar
  • Whipping Cream
  • Vanilla extract
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or a fork, then stir in egg and cream. Knead until it's one solid lump of dough.

Grease a cookie sheet, and place dough in 1/2 inch thick discs on it. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until slightly brown on top.

While the shortcake is baking, slice the strawberries into a bowl and sprinkle a couple teaspoons of white sugar over them. Set those aside. Whip the whipping cream with a little sugar and vanilla to taste. Cover and refrigerate.

When you're ready to eat the shortcakes, slice them in half like you would a bagel. Layer some strawberries and whipping cream on the bottom half, place the top half of the shortcake back on, then put a little more of the strawberries and whipping cream on top.

Verdict?

Tasty! The shortcake was just sweet enough, without being too overwhelming.

Anyway, good night for now, see you in the morrow and ecetera...

-Jess