no-bake recipe

I haven't made anything in over 2 weeks. I step into the kitchen and the only thing I've been able to grasp is a glass of ice water. That's all I'm capable for right now. My love of cooking and baking blossomed over the past two years by trying new recipes, trusting that messing up is okay and let's be honest, having someone to help me and feed at the end of the day. I've stopped feeding myself by means of my kitchen.

I feed myself by waking up each day and smiling. Making myself smile first before anything else like a crazy person who has lost their damn mind. I smile no matter what - sun up, sun down, rain or shine. For a week I woke up at 4am everyday to smile. If I start with a smile, the day is already on its way up. It's my body saying, "Okay, another day. Be grateful, be honest. Try." It's my mind saying, "You're okay. Even if you aren't, that's okay. You'll get there."

I feed myself by riding my bike. The movement helps me. While everything around me seems to be shaky and scary I was able to do this thing. I was able to pedal my legs and trust that my body would take me there, even if my mind didn't want to. There is so much to be said about physically being able to do something that emotionally you can hardly handle.

I feed myself by practicing yoga. I practice breathing everyday, all day.

Others are feeding me. Friends who ask how I'm doing. Hugs and hellos stitch me together. Family to lean on. I have the strongest people around me, it's like being fed steak and potatoes everyday. Take a bite of their kind hearts and rebuild yourself.

I had a taste of a coworkers quiche yesterday and it made me long for the quiche I make myself. But I'm not going to force it. I'm not ready but when I am I know that the ingredients can be found and the time will be set aside. For now I'm working on my no-bake recipe.

sugar, oh honey honey

Due to my work/gym schedule, most of the cooking and/or baking happens on the weekend. One weekend I was craving something sweet. What exactly I was craving were Chris's moms butter cookies but those were long gone from the Christmas holiday. I stumbled upon a recipe for chewy sugar cookies by milk & mode and had everything I needed already in the apartment so it was a win-win situation. Needless to say, these cookies did not last very long. The sweet, salty taste was addicting. I laid in bed on Sunday reading and popping these suckers into my mouth one after another. Re-posting the recipe below as a bookmark for myself and in hopes that some of you will try it out. Trust the recipe, do not bake more than 10 mins… they are plenty baked and are chewy and delightful. Enjoy!

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 cup light brown sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 large egg 

1 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 cup turbinado sugar, or coarse sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper. Cream butter and sugars for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Continue beating for another minute. Scrape bowl again.

Add vanilla. Beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Add egg. Beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Beat 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and beat for another minute.

Make small balls of dough to be dotted with course sugar. I skipped the course sugar and used rainbow sprinkles instead. Do not press the balls down. This will ensure a chewy middle. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, turning and reversing pans midway through baking. Resist the urge to bake your cookies longer, or they won’t be chewy. The tops don’t get much color, but the bottoms will be nicely golden.

Place pans on cooling racks. When cool, store cookies in air-tight containers.

p.s. this is quite humorous coming after the +8 post ;)

apples to apples

I made my first apple pie back in October when inspired by Blue Stoves own homemade pies. I've been perfecting my skill since then for Thanksgiving, Chris's Birthday and just for the sake of the smell filling the apartment. Tonight I made apple cake as requested by the apple king himself, Chris. As we wait for the cake to cool, I thought to share the two recipes for those of you who are looking to fill your own kitchen with the amazing aroma of baked apples. Happy Sunday to everyone. Cheers.

apple pie

crust

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 cup butter, chilled and diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ice water

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Refrigerate while you prep the filling. Roll out half the dough to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Fill the pie with your apple mixture. Roll out the other half of the dough and either lattice 1/4" wide strips or cover it fully and slice small slits into the top.

filling

4-5 baking apples

3/4 cup fine sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Peel and core the apples. Dice them into 1-inch cubes. Place in medium bowl with sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix together and empty into pie curst. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

apple cake

ingredients

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

4 large apples (a mix of varieties)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, melted and cooled to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch pan. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Peel and core the apples. Dice them into 1-inch cubes. In a separate bowl whisk eggs until foamy. Whisk in sugar, then rum and finally the vanilla. Add in half of the flour mixture and half the butter. Add the rest once it blends together. Fold in apple cubes little by little until they are well coated in the batter. Scape everything into your pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Puff, Puff, Pass

Hello, yes it's me. Miss Bad Blogger. The holidays can go either way really. Some years I have next to nothing going on so I'm blogging away about this and that and other years I'm so busy that I'll be walking down the street thinking some random thought and taking a mental note to blog it later and then I'm distracted by whatever bakery I pass or some odd smell (pine, good. homeless, bad). This holiday is busy. I know I said I wasn't going to use that word… so let me rephrase. This holiday has been hectic. You already know I'm moving, work is full throttle until break, I have 3 freelance projects going at once (not complaining, I love you freelance clients. You rock my world!) and I'm trying to find the energy to begin running again and possibly pick boxing back up.

In the midst of everything I've been cooking and baking lots. So much that I haven't been able to post any of the recipes. I hope that someone out there takes a chance and cooks something I post because they really are tried and true. Either way, it's nice to bookmark recipes so that I can go back to them from time to time. I just sat down after prepping tonight's dinner for Chris and I. The menu is comprised of roasted brussel sprouts, garlic and rosemary potatoes and lemon chicken. After dicing and chopping and having everything ready to boil, brown and bake I sat down to work on freelance and thought… one quick post. 

A month or so ago I picked up November's issue of Bon Appetite and tried to cook my way through it. I think the favorite dish was the spinach puffs. I made these during hurricane Sandy. My supermarket was surprisingly stocked and I was itching for some sort of a project. I set to these puffs and ate the entire pan myself. Not in one day though, I'm not that disgusting. They are delicious and like most things I post, easy. I would suggest whipping these up for a dinner party because they taste very impressive and require minimal ingredients. My only recommendation is that you use a mini muffin pan. These are a bit big so I think if I were to serve them to guests, I'd make them more bite size and easy to eat. I was unable to purchase the frozen puff pastry so I made crust and rolled it thinly to line the pan. I also used fresh spinach where the recipe called for frozen. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1/4 cup minced onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped dill

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed, rolled out to a 12-inch square, kept chilled (or sub homemade crust, just scroll down some here)

Chop up your spinach and mix with next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a separate small bowl, beat 1 egg to blend; fold into spinach mixture. 

Cut puff pastry into 3 equal strips. Reserve 1 strip for another use. Cut each remaining strip into 3 squares for a total of 6. Place a square in each muffin cup, pressing into bottom and up sides and leaving corners pointing up. Divide filling among cups. Fold pastry over filling, pressing corners together to meet in center. If you make your crust just be sure to roll it to about 1/4" thin.

Preheat oven to 400°. Beat remaining egg to blend in a small bowl. Brush pastry with egg wash (this will give the pastry a nice sheen). Bake until pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let puffs cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp paring knife around pan edges to loosen; turn out puffs onto rack to cool slightly before serving.

original recipe bon appetite magazine

quiche me

I have a confession. While I've been fully moved out of my parents house for 7 years, it wasn't until roughly the last summer that I've taking an interest in actually cooking for myself. I am a living example that one can live on eggs, toast, waffles and soup. It wasn't that I couldn't cook but cooking for one always seemed a bit dramatic. City living doesn't make it any easier either. I walk past 10+ delicious restaurants on my way to the market, then have to lug everything I bought back home and then use my barbie-sized kitchen to prepare a meal that may or may not turn out the way the picture looked online. My daily routine consisted of working late, running a few miles and then satisfying my hunger with whatever took the least amount of time. I always felt cranky, tired and suffered from sweeps of anxiety. Something had to change.

Change one, new apartment and neighborhood. Suddenly there were markets all around me that didn't charge $10.00 for mustard. Change two, a new job. 40 hour weeks rather than 50-60 hours. Change three, I got really sick of eggs, toast, waffles and soup. I also watched a lot of Top Chef at my first apartment in Hoboken. I'm not sure why exactly but eventually all those episodes sparked something in me. A commitment to a healthy mind and body, I began to cook. 

I started small. Basic chicken, seafood and dips. Guacamole became a staple in my world last summer. I didn't cook for anyone but myself. I would think back to Top Chef were the challenge was to whip up a 5 star meal in 15 minutes. Well I had 2 hours and aimed at about 3 stars, how hard could it be? I learned to cut recipes down to simple fresh ingredients. What the staples were in whatever I was preparing and what might improve the meal depending on fresh produce or what I was craving. I often pretended that I was hosting my own cooking show to an invisible 20 something crowd. A very casual, "I was just like you once, didn't know a mince from a chop but look at me now," cue severely professional knife skills.  

You've (whoever you are that reads my random internet thoughts) probably caught on to the more food related posts within the last year. More recently I've started cooking not just for myself but for my boyfriend. Prep work is my favorite. Happily dicing up onions while mascara tears stream down my face or pulling basil leaves apart and measuring flour, sugar, etc. Thinking about the day, putting worries to rest, focusing on the equation of ingredients rather than what needs to be completed at the office. More than anything an importance on slowing down. Why rush the process? There is no race against the clock. Sip water, breathe in, smell lemon and garlic, warm up the oil, warm up the oven. My most recent work is quiche. Inspired by a quiche my good friend Erin used to make at my first job and by a more recent bite at The Blue Stove in Williamsburg. The recipe below and for anyone who has never made crust, this crust is very simple and easy. I was sure that this would be the crust that ruined my cooking run but alas, perfectly golden. Enjoy.

crust

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced

 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ice water

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Refrigerate while you prep the filling. Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

filling

6 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

salt and pepper

2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk together. Layer the spinach and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust. Add bacon to the the egg mixture then pour on top of cheese and spinach. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set.

original recipes for quiche and crust

blueberry beauties

Seems that lately all I have to blog about is food that I'm cooking up. But for now, that's all I have time for. Somewhere between the garden I started with my guy and fixing up an old bike, I've been hacking away at my pile of recipes. A perfect excuse for a new recipe was the just passed fourth of July. The best part about these cupcakes that they can pass for muffins without the frosting. You can eat them anytime of the day and feel guilt free! Like all my baking/cooking posts, take your time and the cupcakes will make themselves. AND for once, the food looked like the photo from the website which was great since I was bringing them to a party! :) Cheers!

Blueberry Hill Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup low-fat yogurt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, frozen for 4 hours

Frosting
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 teaspoons (or more) whole milk
1 cup chilled fresh blueberries
Fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift flour and next 4 ingredients into large bowl. Whisk melted butter and oil in medium bowl. Add eggs; whisk to blend. Whisk in yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and peel. Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just to blend. Stir in frozen blueberries. Divide batter among liners. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks; cool.

For frosting:
Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add 4 teaspoons milk. Using electric mixer, beat until well blended and fluffy, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls if dry (small granules of maple sugar will still remain), about 4 minutes. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes. Garnish cupcakes with chilled berries, and mint sprigs, if desired. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

original recipe from bon appetit

scrumptious scone

I've been busy catching up on my New York life since I've returned from my month of travels. Playing catch up means that I'm back to cooking and baking, or at least trying to. I'm good at pulling and saving recipes but that's often as far as it goes. This past Sunday I set out to make scones. I'm a breakfast/brunch fanatic so it only seemed fitting to learn how to bake the perfect scone. Originally the recipe came from Epicurious.com. With minor tweaks and a whole lot of mess, my scones came out semi-perfect. It is of my own belief that they would have been 100% perfect if I had more counter space to work in and an oven that wasn't comparable to Barbies. The recipe is below with my added changes. This weekend I hope to try a vanilla, blueberry batch. Cheers!

Lemon Cream Scones
Bon Appétit, May 1996

Ingredients
*revisions/tweaks I made
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
*3/4 cup chopped dried peaches (originally apricots)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
*1/2 lemon to squeeze into dough
   
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Stir in apricots and 1 tablespoon lemon peel. Add whipping cream and stir just until dough forms. This is where I squeezed in some fresh lemon juice to add more lemon flavor. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently just until dough holds together. Form dough into 10-inch-diameter, 1/2-inch-thick round. Cut into 12 wedges.

Transfer wedges to large baking sheet, spacing evenly. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon peel in small bowl. Brush scones with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake scones until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.) Serve scones warm or at room temperature.