Cous Cous Salad

So I have a problem... I have a deep rooted fear of ad libbing recipes, or making up a recipe.  I don't know where this particular phobia developed but I am coming to the realization that I should work really hard to get over this phobia.

This was my first attempt at an ad-libbed recipe and it went so-so.  It was fabulous the first two days, but after that the mushrooms were slimy, which just was not appetizing.  Also- I totally cheated on the cous cous and used a box.  Whoopsies!

Cous Cous Salad
1 box cous cous ( I used Near East brand parmesan cous cous)
Asparagus
Bell Peppers
Mushrooms
Almonds
Dried Cherries
Balsamic Vinegar
Italian dressing

I cooked the cous cous, and while it was resting, I blanched the asparagus, cut up all the other veggies, and then mixed it up.  I added the balsamic vinegar and italian dressing to give the salad a little more taste.

Hopefully I can continue to leave the recipes behind! I know my sous chef would love that, because that is how he cooks all the time!

YUMMY.

Ah... once again it has been too long since I have posted.  This is actually not a post about food that I made (sorry) but yummy food that I ate and a restaurant to recommend.

After my sisters graduation ceremony (My sister is AWESOME and is now a PA)  we went to Frontera Grill, which is one of Rick Bayless' restaurant and it was fantabulous.  Yes fantabulous.  Since it has been so long since I ate, I don't remember what this dish is called, but it was some type of mixed plate, and it was wonderful.  It was presented beautifully and super YUM.

7 things

Today/ tonight I wanted to share a couple of truly lovely things with you all.  Some of these I found 5 minutes ago, others I found long ago and continue to reread and/or re-watch many many times.

1- A post on The Curvy Carrot that is very thoughtful, and very grounding.

2- A post about the Truth about Santa that is adorable.

3- My favorite youtube video.  Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"

4- The Good Women Project.  One of my favorites is an article entitled "When it isn't a skinny day".  Great reminders of faith.

5- A post on Joy the Baker about turning 21, that is very sweet, and grounding.  It has many good tips that all women need to hear, no matter how old they are!

6-  Leading With Lollipops.  Its a 6 and 1/2 minute tedX talk that revolutionizes how to think about leadership, and the impact of one person.

7- A story corps animation that makes me cry everytime I watch it.  

Enjoy your night!  Think happy thoughts!

Sugar Cookie Bars

So I apologize, that I have been away from blogging for so very long, BUT I have a treat to share with you tonight.


I found this recipe on a food blog that I do not follow, and I am currently realizing that I have NO IDEA how I found this recipe, which I made over a month ago, which probably means that one of two things happened; either I found it off of a food blog I do follow OR I saw it on Pinterest, but I can not remember.


These were SO simple to make, it was perfect.  And they are delicious.  Who doesn't love sugar cookies?  You are going to want to make these.  And eat them.  LOTS of them.


Also- the original recipe calls for frosting with shortening, and because of a terrible baking experience that I had with shortening, I refuse to use the stuff.  Its might be a phobia, but I avoid the stuff as much as I can.  So I went to one of my favorite food blogs -Annie's Eats- and looked for a frosting recipe- sans shortening- and luckily enough I found one!


Sugar cookie bars- A little Bit Crunchy A little bit rock and roll
1 cup unsalted butter

YUM.  Butter sugar and eggs.

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1- Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. 
2- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3- Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. 
4- Add the vanilla to the creamed mixture and then slowly add the dry ingredients.
5- Press into a greased 13 x 18 inch pan and bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes.
6- Cool and frost (see directions below).


Frosting- adapted from Annie's Eats
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T melted butter
2 t vanilla
roughly 4 T milk
optional- food coloring and sprinkles


1- Mix powdered sugar and butter.  Add vanilla.  Add milk until desired consistency is reached.  Add food coloring and sprinkles, and frost away!

The Final Product

YUMMY.

Soda bread

My Nana's soda bread was always a treat in my house growing up.  We had it for breakfast, for dessert, with tea for an afternoon snack, and everywhere in between.  Soda bread is a (slightly sweetened) quick sweet bread that uses baking soda and baking powder instead of yeast as the rising agent.

Many people have asked me how Irish soda bread actually is, and I always have the same slightly awkward answer.  My Nana's recipe was the one that she learned to make as a girl in Ireland from her mother with out a recipe.  This was one of those things that you eyeballed- used a pinch of this, and a handful of that.  This was how she continued to make soda bread for a very long time, until she was in the paper and had to figure out some measurements.  My mother, for years did not know the soda bread recipe, and had to go hunting for one.  The following is the recipe she found, and that she and I both use, mostly because my Nana uses buttermilk, and I never have that on hand in my dorm room.

Yes I do watch How I met your Mother while baking.

Soda Bread-
1 cup raisins
3 3/4 cups flour

I added a little too much milk for my taste,
but this is an idea of what it should look like.

1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 T baking powder
1 egg
1+ cup milk

1- Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8x8 pan or a cast iron skillet.
2- Optional- But I would recommend trying it!  Pour boiling water over the raisins and let sit for a couple minutes.  Then drain the raisins.  This gets the raisins nice and tender.
3- Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
4- Add the raisins.
5- In another bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and milk.
6- Add the wet to the dry mix and stir together.  This should be a very dry mix, but all the flour should be incorporated.  The best way to do this is mix with your hands after the initial mixing.  Add more milk if needed (The more milk you add, the more you lose the dryness of true soda bread.)
7- Put dough in pan, pressing the edges slightly down so the middle is raised.  Then make an X in the dough with a serrated knife.
7-Cook for 50-55 minutes.
Enjoy!

I like to eat mine toasted with a litte butter on top with a cup of milky tea.  I think plain tastes great too!

As I was pressing the sides down in the pan.

The finished product.

Food.

So I made it my goal to update this blog twice a week, and then I came down with something bad (I still don't know what it was), and I failed to post a second time last week.  So in lieu of last weeks second food post, I thought I would post this picture that I found on the internet, and I thought was adorable! 

I am feeling much better, and anticipate that some soda bread being made soon.  Stay tuned!

Orange Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are the first recipe in my favorite baking cookbook "Baking: From my home to yours" By Dorie Greenspan, and I can not believe that I waited this long to make them.  They were everything a good fruity muffin should be, sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, colorful, moist, and perfect to snack on/ great for breakfast!

I bought most of the ingredients a couple days before and had started making the muffins before I realized that I didn't have buttermilk!  Oopies.  So I looked in the back of the cookbook and Dorie suggests that you use 2/3 cup of plain yogurt and 1/3 cup milk for every cup of buttermilk in the recipe.  Thankfully, I had these, so I didn't have to run to the store!

Orange Blueberry Muffins- From Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My home to yours"
Ingredients
1 orange
about 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 T honey
8 T unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 cup blueberries- fresh or frozen (not thawed.)
(I used more blueberries- about a 1/3 cup more)

Directions-
1- Preaheat oven to 400 degrees F, and center an oven rack.
2- Grease a muffin tin, or use paper cups.
3- Zest the orange and mix with the sugar until fragrant.
4- Melt the butter and let cool.
5- Juice the orange and mix with eggs, honey and melted butter.
6- Into the sugar/zest mixture, whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
7- Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, gently but quickly sir to blend- it might be lumpy and thats how it should be!
8- Mix in the blueberries and divide in the muffin cups.
9- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. When the muffins are fully baked the tops will be golden, or a knife or toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.
Enjoy!

Fajitas

This is a recipe that I grew up on and has always been a family favorite.  My mom got the base for this recipe from a little printed recipe book that is about 6 pages long and the size of a notecard.   These fajitas have been the dinner that I always ask for when I go home, or for special occasions like birthday dinners and graduation.

Fajitas- From my mother's kitchen

Waiting to be cooked!

Ingredients
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp peper
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
4 to 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 bell peppers
1 onion

I like to enjoy my fajitas with margaritas- recipe to come

1- Slice the uncooked chicken and place in a tupperware container or a ziplock back and add the ingredients for the marinade.
2- Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (longer is better).
3- Slice the onion and the peppers.
4- Saute the chicken, onions and pepers in a medium skillet, over medium high heat until chicken is cooked (depends on the size of chicken slices you used, I usually slice them about 3/4 inches thick).
5- Serve alone or with any fixings you like!


Serving suggestions
Tortillas
Beans, black or refried
cilantro
lime wedges
cheese, shredded cheddar or queso fresco
olives
tomatoes

Veggie Enchiladas

These are another recipe that I saw on a food blog and wanted to make for a long time, but never got around to, and I am so happy that I kept it on my radar because it was SO good!  It took a little prep time- but I am a slow chopper, so I know that I am the time constraint.

Recipe- Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1 tsp. canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. sugar
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

For the filling:
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup finely crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup drained chopped canned green chiles
Salt and pepper

For assembly:
about 20 tortillas (I used both corn and flour because that's what I had!)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1- Heat oil for sauce in saucepan over medium high heat until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until softened, roughly five minutes.

2- Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar and cook for 30 seconds.

3- Stir in tomato sauce and water and cook for about 5 minutes.  The sauce should be slightly thicker.

4- Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5- Mash half of the black beans with a fork until smooth and set aside.

6- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

7- Heat oil for filling in large skillet until shimmering and then add chopped onion and bell peppers.  Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.

8- Add chopped zucchini and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

9- Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

10- Stir in all beans, mashed and non-mashed, and cook until heated, about 2 minutes.

11- Transfer veggies to a large bowl and add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce, the queso fresco, cilantro, and green chilies to veggies and mix to combine.

12- To assemble enchiladas, microwave tortillas until you can bend it easily, about 30 seconds, and fill with veggie mix.  Roll and put in 9 x 13 inch baking dish, seam side down.

13- Repeat until all the filling is gone.  Pour the rest of enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas.

14- Sprinkle cheddar cheese over mixture, and cover with tinfoil.

15- Bake for 10 minutes, then uncover and bake until cheese is melted, about 4 minutes more.

Enjoy!

The Final product.  Not the prettiest, but so yummy!

Guinness Stew

I really love reading food blogs, and dreaming about when I can make the recipes that I see.  This was one of the first recipes on my list of things to make, because it sounded heavenly.  It was the perfect recipe for St. Patrick's day, as it was hearty and filled with veggies.  My sous chef (my fiance) suggested that we add some chicken or beef next time but I thought it was perfect without any meat.

My mom actually asked me NOT to give this soup away because "it was too good."  I laughed a lot about that one.

Recipe- Adapted from The Curvy Carrot 

My sous chef hard at work peeling potatoes.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
6 small celery stalks, chopped into bite-sized pieces
16 ounces (1 lb) button mushrooms, cleaned, de-stemmed, and sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
One 11.2-ounce bottle of Guinness Stout
4-5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 lb (about 3-4 large) Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soup base
1 small can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
4 cups water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic (chopped or pressed whatever floats your boat)


1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat until shimmering.
2. Add onion, celery, and about 1/4 of the mushrooms, stirring frequently until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the flour, stir to coat and cook another 2 minutes.
4. Add Guinness carefully!
5. Add everything else, and bring it to a boil.
6. Decrease the heat to low, and simmer the soup uncovered for about 45 minutes.
7. ENJOY!

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

As prep for spring break, I made a list of all the recipes that I wanted to make at home in the comfort of a stocked kitchen, and the list ended up being WAY too long.  I couldn't have made all the recipes if I had three weeks at home, nonetheless one week.  So, I painstakingly edited down the list to make a semi-reasonable amount of food over spring break.

After I made the list, I wanted to make ALL the food right that moment, or at least make SOMETHING.  I might be the least patient person I know.  So, to solve the problem that I created for myself, I decided to make some chocolate chunk banana bread for my drive home.   It was a wonderful decision.

However, because it was a little late a night, I totally forgot to take pictures.  Ah well.

As a child, my family never had chocolate banana bread, even though we had lots of banana bread, and this was because my Dad does not like chocolate.  So, chocolate banana bread is SUPER exotic to me. I am still trying to get over how much I liked this.

Also- Handy idea for the bananas, when they start to get too ripe to eat, peel them and freeze them until you have time or enough bananas to bake with!

Recipe- (I got this recipe from my mom, who got it from who knows where.  I'll ask her and post credit soon.)

3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large bananas)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 to 2 cups chocolate chunks (depending on how chocolaty you want it to be.  this can also be omitted.)

1- Heat oven to 325 degrees and grease two 9x5 pans.
2- Mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs.
3- Mix in remaining ingredients and pour into pan.
4- Bake 60 to 70 minutes.

Enjoy!

Brownies

YUM.  These were good.  A friend had a bad day, and I really could not think of anything better to cheer her up than brownies.  I decided to make them in a muffin tin because they would bake faster (I didn't start making them until 11:30, so the difference between a half hour baking time and 12 minutes really counted.)

Sadly, since I am new to this food blogging extravaganza I totally forgot to take pictures when I was mixing the batter.  I actually didn't remember until the brownies were in the oven and I had finished washing my dishes. Ah well, this is a learning curve right?

Muffin Shaped Brownies (adapted from the bakers one bowl brownies)
- I made muffins so they would be easier to transport.  Also- Instead of mixing chocolate chunks into the batter, I put big chunks on top, which was a really good idea until they sunk when they were cooling.  Not the prettiest, but still yummy!

Ingredients
4 oz of unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped chocolate/ chocolate chips (whatever type you like.  I am a sucker for any type of Trader Joe's pound plus chocolate.)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line muffin tins (or a 13x9 pan) with tinfoil, making sure the foil extends over corners.  Grease foil covered pan.  (making sure you have enough foil is super important if you have muffin tins, as is greasing... two steps that I forgot.  Ooops!)

Microwave

 chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl for approximately 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. (You might have to microwave it more.  Just be sure to do it in small segments to not overheat the butter.)

Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and chopped chocolate or chips, stir to combine.  Fill muffin tins, filling each 3/4 of the way full (you will have more than 12 finished muffins).

Then precious brownie is wasted by being stuck to the tinfoil.

Bake for approximately 14 minutes for muffins or 30-35 for a 8x8 pan.

Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving/ sharing with friends!

The one part of food blogging that I will never forget is the sacrifice of one product solely for the purpose of taking pictures, and then, as to not waste food, you have to eat it.

YUM.

Italia!

This past January, I had the opportunity to travel to Italy, specifically Florence. While I was technically there to take an art history class, I was really there to explore a country that loves food.  Italy was a truly wonderful gastronomical experience for me. 

Some delicious bruschetta and sparkling water... YUUM

All different types of muffins at a bread stand at the San Lorenzo market.
Sadly, I did not eat one of these muffins.

The most delicious lunch on the go I have ever eaten.

Every day in Italy, I would wake up and want nothing more than to go to a cafe, get a cappuccino and some decadent pastry and enjoy being somewhere new.  Breakfast in Italy is simple.  No one is caffeinated quite yet, so the world is quiet.  (Believe me, when Italians are caffeinated, they are ANYTHING but quiet.) Many tourists do not get up early, so the whole experience has an air of authenticity that can not be achieved during the rest of the day.  I miss this stillness, this simple but unbelievably decadent breakfast.

This is a spinach and ricotta pizza.  This pizza was the BEST pizza I have ever had in my life.  Now, I am from Chicago, so I have some pretty strong views about what a good pizza is, and this pizza single handedly changed my world-view of pizza (something my fiance has been trying to do for a while).  It was THAT GOOD.

I hope to go back (especially to the pizza) someday and experience the food of Italy again.

Meg

My love of food.

I love food.  I always have loved food, because it brings people together.  I love the versatility of food.  I love the process of making a good meal, or a celebratory dessert.  I LOVE to eat good food.  I love that food can instill emotion.  I love that food can reach out and connect people.  I love learning about food.

As a young girl, my mother would bake with my sister and I in our kitchen, and I remember being amazed at what a bunch of regular ingredients could turn into.  I continue to be amazed at what food can do to a group of people. The soda bread that made me proud to be of Irish decent.  The soup that warms up your soul on a gloomy winter day.

I have wanted to start a food blog for awhile, as someplace to share my adventures in the kitchen, and my love of food. Currently I am a senior in college, who has lived in the dorms for all four years, and I miss kitchens.  Real people kitchens.  Dorm kitchens are not my favorite place to hang out in, because they lack the heartbeat of a true kitchen.  I love the feeling of creating something in a kitchen that has been well loved and taken care of, and I find myself looking out at the void of post-graduation excited to create a kitchen that I get to love.

I follow a bunch of food blogs where i drool over the recipes (and lets be honest kitchens as well).  I hope this will provide a space for me to document the recipes that I try.

I invite you to join me with a declared love of food!

Meg