food lately: not really but still good, part 2

because it has been a long time, there is more to share:

dinner of poblano hash with soyrizo & corn, fried eggs, and cornbread waffles

coconut-crusted tofu, fried bananas, jerk refried black-beans, and salad

avocado with salt & pepper (because what else does it need?) and succotash with the big lima beans - my favorite 

 more jerk-refried black beans, but now with sauteed pineapple, sweet potatoes, and goat cheese toast

and last but not least, my favorite treat of late - plain full-fat yogurt with my blackberry syrup and mini chocolate chips.  Better than ice cream folks 

xoxo

food lately: not really but still good, part 1

I have been cooking (& eating) but I've been behind on posting (obviously).  

So here are some things from the last couple of months...

Tomato-Basil Bread from here plus I added some sun-dried tomatoes

Challah (at a Balla) from my bread cookbook, which is this one if you are interested (it was super delicious) 

Chocolate-Strawberry Pie with Whipped Cream for added deliciousness 

Southern Spread of deviled eggs, cheese, pickles, and crackers (for the derby! so long ago!)

More deviled eggs with a salad of blackberries, goat cheese, and pecans, so very good

and if your curious -- 

what goes in my traditional southern deviled eggs:

egg yolk

mayo 

dijon mustard

pickle juice (from the sweet ones)

salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne 

xoxo

bread & butter bakery

Bread & Butter is a local bakery steps away from my house. 

I love it.  

Everything is delicious and fresh.  The bread is perfect, and the pastries are dangerous. 

Like the bostock above, the ridiculous cinnamon rolls as big as your face, or brioche that takes me back to paris.  

I want it all when I go there. 

It's probably a bad thing, but I don't care. 

OH and, as the best bakeries do - they have wonderful coffee. 

Really, it's a winner, you should check it out if you are in town!

xoxo

childhood favorite

scallion pancakes.  

I consumed many of these thanks to my Chinese babysitter, Mary. And I love them so.  

They are easy to make but take a bit of time.  Don't worry, it's worth it.

Ingredients: 

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup boiling water

1 Tablespoon oil

Seasame oil

Scallions, tops, chopped

Salt

Directions:

In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt

Then, add the hot water and oil while the mixer is on low until the dough comes together

With the mixer on low, let the dough knead for about 10 minutes

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes

Cut the dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a ball 

Keep the other pieces covered while you roll

Then press each piece in the tortilla press to about 4 inches

Brush each pancake with sesame oil and scallions

Roll up the pancake into a cylinder, pinch the ends, and coil it up into a spiral, pinching the end

Cover and let rest for at least 20 minutes

Flatten each pancake in the press again.  Let rest for another 20 minutes

Heat some oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Fry the pancakes for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown.  

Transfer to drain and sprinkle with salt while still hot. 

so very delicious.

xoxo

food lately: baking times

It's been cold out, which means more baking. Some sweet, some savory.

Almond cupcakes with Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting for Ashley's B-day:

Mom's chocolate chip cookies for everyday treats:

Tomato Basil Bread for sandwiches:

Better than...Cupcakes for the Oscars: 

More pretzels because they are so good, but this time, in a pretzel shape!

Keep eating!

xoxo

all knotted up

by pretzels.  The soft chewy pretzels with salt on top.  I've been making them and they are delicious.  It's really a good thing they take a bit of time to make, otherwise I'd probably eat them everyday. 

So, the recipe comes from homemade by Holman.  I only made one change - I  use melted butter instead of olive oil just to make them a little more ridiculous.  

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 cup water, at approximately 110 degrees

1 package rapid-rise yeast

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups bread flour

1 Tablespoon melted butter

For the boil:

6 cups water

3 Tablespoons baking soda

*Yup, fun fact, you boil a pretzel, like a bagel, but you had baking soda to the water, strange, but delicious. It gets very very bubbly...

For the toppings:

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Salt - the big crunchy sea salt variety please 

And various other toppings – I used onion flakes and ranch seasoning but you could also use a cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat.

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, yeast, and honey.  Let proof for 10 minutes.  Then add the remaining ingredients for the dough.

Mix on low speed until combined and then continue on low speed to knead the dough for another 5­ to 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Coat a separate bowl with olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning to coat evenly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about one hour.

Punch the dough down, recover, and let rise another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line two large baking sheets with greased parchment paper or a slipat. 

Separate the dough into 12 pieces.

Roll each piece into a long string and twist into your desired pretzel shape.  

Turns out, I'm not so good at actually making the traditional twisted pretzel so I went with the circle "twist":

Meanwhile, in a shallow pot, bring water and baking soda to a boil over medium-high heat.

Next, transfer the pretzels, a few at a time to the boiling water and cook 30 seconds on each side. Drain and transfer to the prepared baking pan.

Brush with melted butter and top with salt and/or other toppings

Bake for approximately 12 to ­14 minutes until dark golden brown. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve.

And enjoy.  They are so very delicious.

xoxo

bagels!

bagels are delicious. but they are hard to find in good form in non-city locations. 

(yes you can get good bagels outside of NYC, believe me) 

there is one place in CH that offers a tasty bagel, but it's far. 

so i made some.

i used this recipe from the sophisticated gourmet, and i was pleased.

i know it's surprising to hear but I followed the recipe strictly, no tweaks!

yes, this picture makes it clear, my rolling skills leave a lot to be desired, but the end product was delicious, so I don't really think it matters too much

i think next time i'll boil them for longer (i did one minute per side this round).

oh and i topped them with a mix of things: some with onion flakes, others just with salt, and a couple with paprika, red pepper and onion flakes.

most were consumed with some smear (plain whipped cream cheese is clearly the best) 

but I also made some pizza bagels, because as we all know so well, when pizza's on a bagel you can have pizza anytime:

and some bagel sandwiches:

so delicious.  and seriously, not hard. 

so when in need, make your own bagel!

xoxo

adventures in gluten-free cooking

(Boy) Casey, as he's called, has to try out a gluten-free diet. A sad time for us all. But pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving was coming and this meant some adjustments had to be made. I make some veggie dressing (no not stuffing because you don't stuff it in anything, stay with the program northerners) so I just had to make it gluten-free to meet everyone's dietary complications. 

What did this really mean? GF Bread and Cornbread.  Dets on the dressing will come next, but for now let's just focus on the important things: 

Cornbread, GF style

So what does this entail? Nothing crazy actually, just substituting the flour for GF flour in my usual recipe. Yup they have all sorts of things for these poor peeps now.  

Ashbash gave me a cup of GF flour and then I just followed my recipe

So what is it?

         Ingredients:

1 cup corn meal

1 cup GF flour

3 T sugar

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

      Directions:

It's real complicated. Mix it all together - dry first obvi. But first, preheat the oven to 450 and pour a teaspoon of oil in a cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in the oven while it's preheating.  

Once it's all mixed and the oven is hot, pull out the skillet (with a mit)

Pour the batter in and bake for 20 minutes

and boom

delicious every time.

xoxo

lunch these days

This is the semester from hell. 

We are all about to pull our hair out and cry, and we aren't ones to cry, promise.

Lunch is often filled with many mini containers of things. You know how I love a mini. 

There is usually ranch and some veggies, cheese, bread and some protein.  Here it was hummus.

Please note my reading glasses, a recent addition.  Too much to read in this place.

xoxo