New Favorite Cookies

I found this recipe on pinterest for chocolate chunk pecan cookies this week and could not wait to try making them.  Oh  my god these cookies are incredible and SO ridiculously easy to make.  You will only need one bowl to mix everything (and of course a measuring cup, teaspoon, spoon, spatula and baking sheets) so it makes clean up very easy.  They took me 15 minutes to mix up and I only baked them for 10 minutes so in under 30 minutes I made my favorite cookies to date.  Lately all the chocolate chip cookie recipes I try and sort of lackluster so as you can tell I'm a little excited. I also do really love pecans so that might be adding to this enthusiasm. 

Picture from Bake or Break

I didn't alter the recipe at all - click here for the full recipe.  Make sure you toast the pecans to bring out the flavor - it makes a big difference! Bake or Break is definitely going to be my go to place for recipes now. 

Token crappy cell phone picture.  Mine aren't as pretty as Bake or Break's but they do taste incredible.

Enjoy your weekend! It's feeling like fall here in Boston which is my favorite season in New England so I'm excited to take a few walks and just relax. 

New Favorite Cookies

Quiche-a-licious

So clearly losing weight was not high on my priority list last week because I decided to randomly make quiche. I blame it on the rain (yeah, yeah) and Smitten Kitchen for all her ridiculously awesome recipes.

It was super easy to make and tasted incredible. My husband polished off half of the quiche in a night and then finished it the next day. He was still in a quiche induced coma when I decided to make a second quiche two days later to finish off the pate brisee dough that I just couldn't let go to waste. Yes I could have put it in the freezer but whatever. Cheese and dough is too hard to resist sometimes.

Now that I've told you a useless back story and mentioned the word quiche a million times (isn't it a weird word), I'll move on to the recipe which I ever so slightly modified. The no-modified version can also be found here on Smitten Kitchen.

Images via Smitten Kitchen

Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar (I included this but Smitten Kitchen didn't in this savory recipe. It didn't taste weird or sweet so whatever floats your boat)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice water

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar.
2. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. - I used our kitchen aid because we don't have a food processor and it was all good.
3. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream. Mix (pulse) until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Don't do this for more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together. If it's crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic.
5. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month. Or if you are like me, just make 2 quiche's in 2 days. Its worth it.

Spinach Quiche Recipe

Press out the dough into a 9-inch round pie dish or removable-bottom 9 inch round tart pan. (I used a pie dish).

Ingredients:

• 1 3 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature (I used light cream cheese and it still tasted great)
• 1/3 cup half and half (or milk) - I should have used milk but I used half and half
• 3 eggs
• 1 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 cup of grated cheddar or gruyere - we only had pepper jack so I used that and it was amazing
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 4-6 green onions thinly sliced or 1/2 cup finely diced red/white onion/shallot - I used the green onion
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder - this was my own addition because I like things spicy. It didn't add much to the taste in the end though

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Beat cream cheese in bowl (or kitchen aid) until smooth
3. Gradually beat in half and half/milk and eggs
4. Mix in remaining ingredients
5. Pour mixture into the crust
6. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set (about 25 minutes). I ended up baking until the filling was golden brown too because I just prefer it that way.
7. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Thats it. Its pretty easy and its very hearty/filling. We ate the quiche with ketchup because we are awesome and unsophisticated. In my opinion the dough is the best part.

Any non fat kid recipes you want to share with me?

Quiche-a-licious

More Soup for you!

Potato and Leek to be specific.

I apologize for being so quiet and not writing much lately. Work and life have just been a little crazy.

So I guess I'm on some kind of soup kick since the last recipe I posted was for tomato soup. I found this soup recipe via Design*Sponge from the In The Kitchen With series. Giao Trac writes a blog called kiss my spatula with many wonderful homemade recipes. Here's Design*Sponge's background on Giao Trac:

"About Giao: Though Giao began her career as a management consultant for Fortune 500 clients, she’s always had a deep love for good design, and for good food. After pouring blood, sweat and tears into a two year design and remodel, Giao stepped foot into her new kitchen and never left. She began recreating her own version of restaurant favorites and whipping up homemade supermarket staples from scratch. Why go out to buy soy milk, goat cheese, baguettes, hummus, mustard or ketchup when you can make them in the comforts of home? Her food is simple, seasonal, local and organic whenever possible. She’s transferred her passion of interior design into web design and photography –with an etsy store and web design shop in the works, so stay tuned. Until then, she chronicles her homemade culinary adventures at Kiss My Spatula."

Umm homemade soy milk and mustard? Holy impressive. I figured I had check it out and noticed that many of her recipes are simple and easy to follow. I decided to try out her Market Day Potato and Leek Soup recipe and it was REALLY simple and really delicious.

Here's her recipe (I've noticed my minor changes):

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh leeks (I wasn't sure how much 1 lb was so I chopped all 3 stalks of my leeks. That's just too much leek. I ended up setting aside about 1/3 of my bowl. Not sure what I'm gonna do with those leeks just yet)
• 1-1 1/2 lbs potatoes, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 20 black peppercorns
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 cups organic chicken stock (I used vegetable stock for my vegetarian husband)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• plain yogurt
• parsley or chives

Method

The two main ingredients - potato and leek

Lots of Leeks (crappy pictures from my phone)

Halve the white portions of the leeks lengthwise and rinse under cold running water. Clean thoroughly. Slice thinly crosswise and set aside. Prepare bouquet garni by placing bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme together in a small piece of cheesecloth. Bundle and tie with string. Set aside. (I didn't have cheesecloth so I used these disposable tea bags that you can buy from Sur La Table. I just doubled the tea bags up and it worked just fine.)

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add the chopped leeks and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved bouquet garni, chicken stock, potatoes, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are falling apart.

Remove the bouquet garni. Working in small batches, puree the soup in a blender. Secure lid tightly and place towel over lid for extra protection. (I just used my handy dandy hand immersion blender. It works great and you don't have to wash the entire giant blender afterwards.) Stir in milk and adjust to taste. (I added much a decent amount more salt and some chili powder to add a little kick). Serve immediately with a big dollop of yogurt and chopped parsley/chives (I forgot the parsley/chives so it didn't look as pretty but was still really delicious).

The soup simmering on the stove (pre hand blender)

The soup. I didn't take a picture of mine cause my camera phone was full. Plus this turned out way prettier than mine :)

I paired the soup with some Pillsbury biscuits (yeah I'm classy like that) and I think dinner was a big hit.

The recipe was really easy to follow and it took me very little time to prepare. I think I'm definitely going to have to test some more kiss my spatula recipes this month.

Any recipes you are want to share?

More Soup for you!

dinner for a snowy day

It was supposed to snow a lot in Boston so I thought I'd make the classic cold day meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese. It didn't end up snowing much but I wasn't about to change my dinner menu. Oh and I threw in a side of chocolate chip cookies just because I'm awesome/gross like that.

I used this recipe from Michael Chiarello which was pretty easy to follow. I don't even like tomato soup but I really liked this recipe. If you leave the cream out and go lighter on the oil (3/4 of a cup is excessive) then the recipe is pretty healthy.

Soup for you!

Ingredients:

• 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I didn't use this much oil - it just seemed like too much)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth (I used vegetable broth instead)
• 1 bay leaf (I didn't use this)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, optional (I used cream and it was really good but did add a lot of richness to the recipe)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using (I simmered for about 45 minutes since I had time before our friends came over and I think this helped the flavors come out even more). Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

I've never used a hand held blender like this and it was AWESOME! I want to use this amazing little gadget a lot more now.

For the grilled cheese:

Ingredients:

• Loaf of sourdough
• Butter (to butter bread and coat pan)
• Cheese - any kind you want. I used pepperjack and cheddar.

Directions:

I know everyone knows how to make grilled cheese but for the hell of it I'll write directions. Slice the loaf of sourdough and butter one side of each slice. Cut the cheese (ha ha) into slices and place between two slices of bread (on the non buttered side).

Heat a skillet with butter (med-high) and grill sandwiches. I pressed the sandwiches down with another skillet just to help the cheese melt a little.

Bread, butter and cheese always works

For the cookies I used the classic tollhouse recipe.

Cookies!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) chocolate chip cookies
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I didn’t use any nuts this time)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Hope you are staying warm!

*All images via flickr (click on the links below pictures for sources)

dinner for a snowy day

Tres Leches Goodness

Tres Leches cake is ridiculous. Its SO rich and light at the same time. And as the name would suggest, very milky. In my quest to cook something new every week, I decided to try this cake from The Pioneer Woman. Clearly this isn't going to help the weight loss goal but I just love to bake so I'll just have to hit the gym a little harder. Or really just go (I blame it on jetlag - I've been too tired this week).

The cake is super easy to make and the only things you probably won't already have are condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream and whole milk (yeah I guess its technically Quatro Leches cake).

I didn't add rum this time, but I think I just might next time...

*Images via The Pioneer Woman

Tres Leches Goodness

cookies and cornbread. don't judge.

I got crazy sick last week and for whatever reason it affected my asthma really badly. I basically couldn't and kind of still can't walk up stairs without feeling like I can't breathe. I was feeling a little stir crazy on Sunday so I decided I was going to make soup. Soup morphed into vegetarian chili which naturally led to cornbread. I love me some cornbread.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

I searched all over my favorite recipe websites before finding Ina Garten's jalapeno cheddar cornbread recipe. It was soooo good. Of course anything with two sticks of melted butter had better be really good.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten (I just used regular eggs and it was fine)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided (I used about 4-6 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers (I left the seeds in for an extra spice)

Directions

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (it took me about 40 minutes for some reason). Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

To be even more of a fat kid I made these chocolate chip cookies while letting the chili cook (recipe and picture courtesy of With This Nest).

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp if possible)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 1/4 a bag of semi sweet and 1/2 bag of milk chocolate)

Directions:
Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a mixer. Then add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until creamy. Add the vanilla. (Don't accidentally add half the bottle because you weren't paying attention like I did. I had to pour half the vanilla down the sink - stupid me.)

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together before slowly adding them to the creamed mixture. When combined, stop the mixer and add the semi-sweet chips. Mix up and then drop by the teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Mold them into a ball as best as you can with the spoon for a more shaped cookie.

Bake on 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool.

Yummm.

cookies and cornbread. don't judge.

Veggie Sushi Bowl

I was craving sushi the other night but my husband really doesn't like sushi. Also, we've been trying to cut back a bit on spending since we bought our tickets to India/Sri Lanka and are trying to get our back deck repaired. Plus I want a puppy! Anyway, I found this recipe on 101 Cookooks and saw it again on My Daily Bread (a food blog from one of my favorite fashion bloggers What I Wore).

I didn't really follow any recipe but here's what I did.

1.) Cook brown rice. I bought Uncle Bens brown rice and make it on the stovetop in 10 minutes. This would be good with white rice too.

2.) Heat a sheet of nori (seaweed) in a dry pan and then cut up into slices.

2.) Sautee tofu. I bought pre-diced extra firm tofu cubes but you could do this with regular extra firm tofu and just dice it up yourself. I didn't use any oil according to the 101 cookbooks recipe and it turned out just fine. Just make sure you use a non stick pan.

3.) Add veggies. I bought frozen broccoli, frozen edamame and shitake mushrooms and tossed those all in over the tofu. Then added a bunch of soy sauce, some rice vinegar, a little salt and black pepper and some chilli powder for kick. I left this to cook for a while to let the flavors soaked in. Right before serving I threw the nori slices in there to mix with the veggies.

4.) Cut avocado into slices.

5.) Assemble your bowl. Start with brown rice on the bottom, put a heavy heaping of your veggies and tofu and then spread a nice pretty layer of avocado slices. Then top it all off with some toasted sesame seeds.

My husband saw the bowl and actually said "Am I allowed to eat this? It looks too pretty." followed by "Do you want to take pictures of this for your blog?". Haha. I would have but our camera is broken so I leave you with a picture from 101 Cookbooks and My Daily Bread.

My Daily Bread - Vegetarian Sushi Bowl

101 Cookbooks - Sushi Bowl Recipe

My friend Sangeetha's husband also doesn't like sushi and really needs meat in all his meals. I think you can do this same recipe and just substitute the tofu with diced chicken.

Veggie Sushi Bowl

Gooey amazingness

For fathers day yesterday I made the most amazing cinnamon rolls from scratch. I followed this simple recipe from Bon Appetit via Epicurious. They weren't hard to make but they take some time because you have to let the dough rise for about 3 hours. Although, I was worried because I didn't think my dough rose all that much they ended up rising a lot in the oven. My family had at least two after eating a HUGE brunch so I think they are pretty darn good.

(Mine had A LOT more cream cheese glaze and were much more gooey than this picture)

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:

• 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Glaze:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

For dough:
Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 21/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling:
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray (Charmi note: I just greased them with a little butter). Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. (Charmi note: I skipped inverting them and just left them in the glass dish and they still turned out great). Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

For glaze:
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature

I burnt them a bit but saved them by putting the cream cheese glaze on them while they were still hot so it soaked into the rolls and made them soft again. Mmmm...now I'm hungry.

Gooey amazingness