Friday, March 19, 2010

Red Velvet Cupcakes


Red Velvet Cupcakes with 
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Originally uploaded by L.TON
Ahhh, springtime is wonderful- it marks warmth, sunshine and LOTS OF BIRTHDAYS!

Today is my friend Mimi's birthday. So Red Velvet cake it was. The funny part of red velvet cake though, is that its only red because the massive amount of food coloring in it. This particular recipe, adapted from Paula Deen, doesn't use a lot of cocoa powder, so you can easily make this Purple Velvet (if you were Shena) or Blue Velvet or what ever color velvet you wanted it to be. Really, its nothing more then a glorified vanilla cupcake if you ask me.

But tasty nonetheless. I made pretty much a standard cream cheese frosting, but I also added Madagascar vanilla bean. Adds a slight crunch and a lovely aromatic flavor of vanilla. Yum.

Also fun and optional is a fun sugar crystal rim.

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese

ingredients
2.5 c ap flour
1.5 c granulated white sugar
1 tsp b soda
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp cocoa powder
1.5 c vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tblspn red food coloring (1 bottle) or 1 big scoop of gel food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

frosting
1 stick butter, RT
1 8oz package cream cheese, RT
.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
2-3 c sifted powder sugar
seeds scrapped out of .5 vanilla bean (optional)


instructions

1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pan with paper lines
2. in your mixer, mix together all wet ingredients for cake
3. while wet ingredients are mixing, sift together all dry ingredients
4. when all wet ingredients are well incorporated, mix in 1/2 of the dry ingredients at a time until all dry ingredients have been mixed in
5. fill cupcake pans 2/3 of the way, bake for 10-15 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
6. let cool on wire rack

while your cupcakes are baking..... make the frosting!

7. cream together your butter and cream cheese. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes
8. add the vanilla bean, vanilla extract and milk
8. add powdered sugar until you've reached your desired consistency
9. spread over cooled cupcakes


yield = 18 ish cupcakes, with enough frosting for all 18

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Magical Veggie Pizza


Veggie Pizza
Originally uploaded by L.TON
Oh, how I have been craving a perfect slice of NY cheese pizza the size of my head. Unfortunately, once you head west and end up in Chicago, well you get something called "deep dish", which to me is more like pizza casserole and indigestion.

Anyhow, I'm headed off to spring break in mere days and have to consume what ever produce I have left, ASAP so I've been making veggie everything. Okay- so I've only tried to make pizza once before, a long long time ago and I remember it coming out distinctly terrible. Besides, with this business of studying, I really don't have time to make/roll out the dough nor do I own a pizza stone. SHORT CUT: BUY A FROZEN CHEESE PIZZA!!! So for $3.99 at Trader Joe's I bought myself a frozen pizza. But how to piazza it up?? Simple additions of some veggies here and there and voila, 8 dollars later, you've got yourself a pretty much organic veggie pizza of magical proportions. I'd say it straddles the line of homemade if you ask me!

I roasted the pepper (instructions to follow), sauteed the spinach in lots of garlic, sliced up a tomato and and mushrooms, followed baking instructions plus 5 minutes and voila, 20 minutes later, pizzzzaaa!!!

If you are like me and pretty much cook for yourself or don't have a well stocked fridge, I'd raid either the salad bar or loose veggies section to get your veggies to sprinkle on top.

Magical Veggie Pizza

ingredients

1 frozen pizza
1 on the vine ripe tomato (sliced, quartered or halved)
3 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper (i used a yellow one)
2 cups of spinach
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tblspn olive oil
salt and pepper


instructions

1. Roast your bell pepper. You must have a gas stove, or else I don't really know what else to tell you except google "electric stove, roasting bell peppers". Place your bell pepper on the stove, heat high. Let each side char and rotate until all sides are charred. It should look something like this.

Also, use metal tongs. You don't want to melt your plastic ones.
2. Place your piping hot pepper into a small bowl and place a dish towel over it to let it steam itself. This will help make removing the skin easier.
3. While the pepper is cooling, saute your spinach and garlic together in some olive oil.
4. Once the pepper has cooled enough to handle (5-10 minutes), you should be able to easily rub off the skin. If you can't well, then you didn't char it enough now did you? Don't worry about not being able to remove all the charred bits. As tempting as it might be, DO NOT RUN THE PEPPER UNDER THE SINK. You'll wash away the flavor.
4. Once its nicely peeled, jullianne the pepper.
5. Preheat your oven to 425F (or what ever the pizza box calls for)
6. While your oven preheats, decorate your pizza with your veggie ingredients
7. Bake as instructed, plus 5-10 minutes depending on your pizza size.
8. Let cool, then cut and serve! Remember, hot cheese is taste bud searing cheese.

Serves as many people as the pizza size you bought.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, Garlic and Cubed Chicken


Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, 
Garlic and Cubed Chicken
Originally uploaded by L.TON
Ahhh, the core GCC coursework is done, done and done! Congrats to all my fellow 1st years at Rush!! So what’s a girl to do with all this so called spare time? Okay, maybe not really because I still have a couple of papers and 3 exams to study for… but come on now, a little mental breather is well deserved!

I bought a 1 lbs bag of baby spinach this past weekend. If you’ve never seen 1 lb bags of spinach, well it’s A LOT. Eating it raw is the best way, but that’s also a lot of spinach to eat. Why not into some pasta form? Over all, this is a super easy recipe if you just go with the spinach/garlic/chicken part to top off some noodles, but if you really want to go for it, it doesn’t take much time at all for super fresh pasta. Pasta making from start to finish takes me about 1-1 ¼ hrs, resting time included.

Why butterflied chicken breast you may ask? Mainly because it just cooks faster. MUCH faster.

Also- this doesn't really make a "sauce" soooo you might want to have a jar of alfredo on the side.

The last time I made spinach pasta, or attempted to I should say, was in Santa Barbara at my Ladera house. Ah, what a nightmare. I still think that my pasta roller was possibly one of the best kitchen investments I’ve ever made.


Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, Garlic and Cubed Chicken

ingredients For spinach pasta noodles:

2 cups fresh baby spinach
.25 c water
1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tblspn olive oil
2-3 c AP flour


ingredients For Spinach and garlic pasta sauté with cubed chicken

1 cup fresh spinach
2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
1 tblsn olive oil
2 chicken breasts, butterflied

pecorino romano or parmesan for topping


instructions: Pasta Noodles

1. in a pan, sauté baby spinach in the water and salt until cooked down and tender
2. let cool down, transfer into a blender and mix in egg
3. in your Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, make a well of flour with 2.25 c flour.
4. Pour in spinach/egg mixture into the well, add 1 tblspn olive oil
5. Mix on medium until dough forms
6. If the ball forms but feels sticky, add flour until the dough isn’t sticky anymore
7. Let rest for 15-30 minutes
8. Roll out into desired pasta noodle size (this time I went with a pappardelle)
9. Boil in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente (2-3 minutes)

Makes about 1 lbs pasta


instructions: Spinach, garlic and Chicken
1. In a large pan, heat olive oil, sear chicken breast until about 2/3 of the way cooked through
2. Remove from pan, let rest 1-2 minutes then cube
3. Return pan to stove, on medium high heat, sauté together cubed chicken and garlic.
4. Once chicken has heated all the way through, toss in spinach and sauté until wilted
5. Put sauté mixture on top of noodles, or alternatively toss into noodles.
6. Top of with cheese

Makes enough for 4 servings, ish.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet

In tune with yesterday’s recipe, Lamb Chili, what is consuming chili without cornbread? During the Grad College Ski trip a few weeks ago, Kwang O. made an amazing cast iron skillet cornbread. It was sweet and had the whole kernels of corn incorporated into it. It just made it a great way to start off breakfast and a great snack to scarf after an afternoon of snowboarding & skiing. And of course, anything cooked in a cast iron skillet is generally pretty tasty.

The versatility of my cast iron skillet continues from stove top to oven! Why not just use a regular baking pan? Of course, sure, you can use a regular baking pan. After all, not everyone has a cast iron skillet. The idea of using your cast iron skillet is by baking the bread in a preheated pan, you’ll get that nice, crisp golden brown crust that most of us are accustomed to when it comes to having cornbread. When you pour the batter into that preheated pan, its going to make the most beautiful sizzling and bubbling noise.

The corn kernels add a nice element of surprise as you bite into the bread… a little pop of moisture and surge of sweetness (depending on the type of corn kernels you bought). Definitely to be enjoyed with Lamb Chili.

If you aren’t going to use the cast iron, you can just use a regular 9” round cake pan, just omit the "preheat your pan" step, but do remember to grease it, unless you are using nonstick.

Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet

ingredients
1 c cornmeal
1 c milk
1 tblspn fresh lemon juice
NOTE: If you happen to have some buttermilk laying around, use that instead of the milk+ lemon juice)

1 tblspn vegetable oil or bacon fat (for greasing)

1 stick butter
.66 c white sugar
2 eggs

1 c AP flour, unsifted
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking soda

1 c corn kernels (frozen or drained from a can)


instructions

1. Mix together milk and lemon juice, let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Pour on to corn meal, mix and let soak as you prepare the rest of the recipe
3. Preheat oven to 375F, grease a 8” or 9” cast iron skillet with vegetable oil or bacon fat (I used bacon fat)
4. Place the cast iron skillet into the oven to let it heat up
5. On the stove, melt the stick of butter on medium heat.
6. While the butter is melting, in another bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.
7. Remove from heat and beat in sugar and eggs.
8. Mix in the cornmeal/milk mixture and the rest of the dry ingredients
9. Mix in the corn kernels
10. Remove cast iron skillet from the oven and pour mixture into the pan. Be careful! Cast iron pan = hot!
11. Bake at 375F for 40-55 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.


Makes 6 nice sized wedges.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Lamb Chili


Lamb Chili
Originally uploaded by L.TON
Chili... it's one of those strange comfort foods. One that I kind of really, really love. I've been craving it for some time now, especially when it's been cold out. Travis and Jen brought some turkey chili in the other day and it was soooo good!

On this weekends market adventure, ground lamb was on sale, so I picked some up and was thinking: what could I possibly do with all of this lamb? Put some in my wonton mixture and the rest...uhh.. duh! of course! MAKE CHILI.

So, this recipe I am about to post will fix my craving with gluttonous proportions (it makes at least 3 quarts of chili... or so it seems) that I am going to be eating this for what seems like the rest of the quarter.

A few things to note, I've been crazy for making Indian foods lately and at the international market bought BAGS of cumin, coriander, red chili powder, tumeric and garama marsala that are straight out of the motherlan India. Be aware of the red chili powder heat index and adjust accordingly. In the Whole Foods bulk spices section, they will tell you the heat index. The bag that I bought from the international market doesn't state the heat index but.... it is hotter then any other normal red chili powder. So. Be warned, this recipe is HOT.


Lamb Chili

ingredients
1-1.5 lbs ground lamb
1 tblspn oo

1 bell peppers (1 orange, 1 green), chopped
2 Serrano peppers, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 tblspn minced garlic, divided

1.5- 2 tblspn cumin
1.5- 2 tblspn red chili powder
1 tblspn coriander
2 tsp red chili flakes
2 tblspn dark brown sugar
1.5 tblspn Worchester Sauce

1 cup chicken broth
1 15 oz can black beans
1 15 oz can white or red kidney beans
1 28 oz can of crushed tomato

Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tblspn bacon fat, optional


instructions
1. In a large, deep pan, heat the oil and brown the lamb with 1 tblspn garlic, lightly salt and pepper, until the lamb is about 2/3rds cooked through. Remove from pan. Also, try not to over stir the lamb while it browns to avoid getting little crumbles
2. Drain the fat back into the pan and reheat. Toss in onions, peppers, remaining garlic and sauté on medium high heat until brown. Lightly salt and pepper. Here is where you can add the optional bacon fat to sauté the vegetables in.
3. Add in spices, sugar, Worchester sauce, coating the vegetables well.
4. Return ground lamb into the pan, evenly distributing the lamb throughout the pan
5. Add in chicken broth, beans, and tomato sauce.
6. Simmer for 10-15 min, splatter shield on.
7. Taste the mixture and adjust spices, add salt and pepper as needed.

Makes about 2.5-3 quarts.