Smitten Kitchen’s Broccoli Pesto and a new website discovery
I know it seems like I’ve stopped eating, but I promise I haven’t. I even still take pictures of most of the things I cook (usually), they just never make it this far. This one I just took with my phone as I reheated last night’s leftovers for lunch today – but that counts, right?
First, the exciting news. I’ve discovered my new favorite website/tool – Pepperplate – which basically consolidates recipes from the internet or inside your head and lets you tag them, sort and search them, meal plan, and make shopping lists from the ingredients. For free. It has a few quirks, and things I think it’s missing (I’ve annoyingly emailed them every time I find something), but it’s a great tool and it’s allowing me to move away from my immense piles of printed recipes that I can’t ever find or remember I have to something much more useful. It also partners with Smitten Kitchen, which is both awesome and dangerous, because it means I am spending inordinate amounts of time on her site looking through all the billions of recipes I want to make. Which leads me to the Broccoli Pesto.
Broccoli is one of those things. I love it. Calin does not love it. We agree to disagree, but he still has to eat it sometimes, so I’m always on a quest to find broccoli recipes that he will eat and hopefully enjoy at least a little bit. When I discovered this recipe, I immediately added it to Pepperplate (see where that comes in?) to make soon – because pesto! and pasta! and broccoli! and kind of easy! Well, the reality didn’t come out quite as well, but it was absolutely worth trying, and I’m definitely going to tweak it for us in the future.
Problem 1: My garlic and onions were both sprouting. In garlic, I think that makes it stronger, but apparently in onions it makes them more mild, because the onion flavor was minimal.
Problem 2: I lost the garlic. Seriously, one minute it was there, and the next minute it was gone. I finally found it hiding in with the broccoli, dutifully steamed. Weird. So I added another clove, but that one didn’t get cooked long enough, so I ended up with this weird combo of faux-roasted and raw garlic.
Problem 3: I didn’t have any heavy cream. I used half 1% milk and half plain yogurt instead. Definitely different, and less flavor, but better for us…
Problem 4: I overcooked the broccoli. There’s no getting around this one.
So the pesto was tasty, but a little bland (I also didn’t measure the salt or pepper, because I’m lazy), and Calin’s verdict was that he would probably rather just eat broccoli. Or, preferably, not eat broccoli at all. So, success for me but still a no-go in the “eating more broccoli” department. Oh well. The leftovers were actually pretty good, too. I think I’ll try fixing the problems first, and then maybe see if I can add some other things to make the flavor stronger if that isn’t enough.
Do you have reliable go-to broccoli recipes you’d recommend?
The Swing of Things – Breakfast Blueberry Muffins and Moming
I went back to work full time after New Year, and all my hopes for keeping up with this blog have been dashed. To all of you bloggers out there who are parents and have full time jobs and still manage to post regularly, I salute you! I have no idea how you do it – my day consists of working, nursing, and getting all the housework done after the baby goes to bed. Where the blog fits, I have no idea. For that matter, where cooking fits is a bit of a mystery as well.
Tonight after bedtime, I decided it was high time to resuscitate one of my favorite recipes – Whole Grain Blueberry Muffins, which are healthy enough that they can be considered a legitimate breakfast food, and which a friend recently pointed out also contain flax and oatmeal, both of which helps with milk production (TMI for you non-moms out there, right?). My other favorite blueberry muffin recipe can’t pass for anything other than dessert, and doesn’t help with nursing, so it’ll have to wait for another day – and I have to applaud my own fortitude on that front, because I found that recipe first while digging for this one, and talked myself out of it.
These muffins are ridiculously easy, especially since I discovered that I’d already ground a bunch of oats, so I didn’t even use the food processor this time. I just mixed all the flours, blended the dries, whisked the wets, combined, folded in the blueberries, and baked. As easy as muffins! They’re sitting on my stove now, cooling from the oven, and they smell delicious. Almost delicious enough to make me excited about tomorrow morning – but no, I’d still rather stay in bed (which, needless to say, is no longer an option either now that I have a 4 month old).
What are your favorite week-day breakfast foods? How do you get through the work week morning routine?
Potatoes In Many Forms: Easy Roasted Potatoes
It’s a nasty day outside – cold, wet, grey, miserable – and I’m sitting inside in the almost-dark thinking about Thanksgiving and all the intense cooking and eating in the next few days. Most years, my sister and I go all out and make a feast, regardless of how many people we’re expecting. This year my sister can’t come home and I have a newborn, so Thanksgiving will be in the capable hands of my in-laws and I’m only a contributor. I am contributing my famous Caramelized Brussels Sprouts (easy), and a pumpkin cheesecake (easy). Which is making me think about all the incredibly easy recipes there are out there and how, even with a new baby, I should be cooking more.
Potatoes are one of the most versatile and comforting foods there is. They can be prepared in so many ways, some healthy, some not so healthy; they can be simple or supplemented with delicious additives (like ranch dressing – thanks to Hidden Valley ads during Agents of Shield on HuluPlus, I’ve been craving mashed potatoes with ranch dressing for weeks). Every time someone fixes them for me, I remember how much I love them and how I should make them more often. Potatoes last a really long time, so they aren’t one of the “emergency – eat these now” vegetables, which also makes them a good stand-by.
This “recipe” could not be easier. It’s so easy that I wouldn’t even call it a recipe – I’d call it a cooking style. (I do actually apply this general style to almost all the veggies I cook – it’s excellent for broccoli and brussels sprouts also.) Since there’s no real measuring, you can make as many or as few potatoes as you want. These potatoes make a great side dish for dinner, or a simple substitute for fancier hash browns at breakfast. And if you’re like me and you like to use your hands rather than utensils, the olive oil is great for your skin!
Easy Roasted Potatoes
- Cut up some small potatoes, however many you have or want (I had about five yukon gold here).
- Toss them in some olive oil, salt, and chopped rosemary (or whatever herb/spice you have around).
- Spread them on a baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. (You should be able to stick a fork straight in with no trouble.)
- Serve hot.
Cinnamon Ice Cream – Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
It’s supposed to be 80 degrees today, so it seems like a good time for the first ice cream post of the season! I discovered home-made ice cream when I first got my KitchenAid mixer, and every time I make it I struggle to remember why I don’t do it more often (other than the fact that it’s a 24-hour gratification process, which might really be enough of a reason).
I actually made this cinnamon ice cream for Thanksgiving last fall, to go with mom’s apple pie, and it was amazing. My favorite part of making my own ice cream is that the flavor is entirely up to me – if I want more or less of something, I don’t have to whine about Breyer’s choices – I just have to change the recipe! I have big plans for the ice cream season this year – chocolate, black raspberry, ginger… I also want to experiment with some sorbets and frozen yogert. We’ll see what I actually get around to.
Like the cardamom rose ice cream, this was a custard base, which I’m pretty sure just means you cook it. It’s a little time consuming because you have to watch and stir it constantly, but not terribly so, and the results are much creamier than an uncooked base.
Once the custard base is cooked, it has to be strained to make sure you didn’t get any clotted milk clumps (because that’s what milk and cream do when you cook them). This part involves too many hands, but it’s actually sort of fun. And ice baths look neat.
Once it’s strained and cooled a little, it has to be refrigerated overnight to completely chill it. Before you do that, you usually add most of the spices and flavorings (if they weren’t already in the custard). I use the same air-tight plastic containers for chilling that I do for freezing the completed ice cream, because I have tons of them.
I didn’t end up taking any pictures of the churning this time, for some reason, but it worked a lot like the cardamom rose or the peach ice cream I made ages ago – pour the chilled custard in the frozen mixer bowl (They have a separate bowl for this that also has to be frozen, so don’t let that throw you off if you’re making ice cream yourself. It needs at least 18 hours frozen, so I just keep mine in our chest freezer at the ready for “spontaneous” ice cream making.) and churn until it’s done, following the instructions in the ice cream maker manual. And every now and then sneak a taste of what’s splashed up the sides. (They always leave that part out of the directions, for some reason…)
Cinnamon ice cream was perfect with apple pie. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this years ago – I’m pretty sure it’s going to become an annual occurrence. (Ha. I like to predict things, but I’m not so big on going back to see if I ever follow through. Don’t hold me to that.) But it’s also a really easy mix, since it’s just flavorings and no extra ingredients. Highly recommended!
Mmm, now I may need to sneak out for ice cream after my lunch.
Cinnamon Ice Cream
Sweat Pea’s Kitchen
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 inch piece vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and seeds removed, pod reserved OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Set a fine mesh strainer over a medium sized bowl and set the bowl over a large container of ice water.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, cream, 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla seeds and pod, stirring occasionally to break up the vanilla seeds, until steam appears and the liquid is hot (175 degrees) about 5 minutes.
- When the milk mixture is cooking, in a separate bowl, whisk the yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar together until smooth.
- Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the yolks to temper them.
- Then slowly whisk the tempered yolk mixture back into the remaining hot milk mixture.
- Continue to cook the custard mixture over medium heat until it is very hot but not simmering (180-185 degrees).
- Pour the custard mixture into the strainer bowl set in the ice bath and let cool, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the custard mixture from the ice bath and add cinnamon.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold (40 degrees), about 3 hours.
- Remove and discard the vanilla pod from the custard (or add the vanilla extract, if using) and stir well.
- Pour the custard into the ice cream machine canister and churn, following the manufacturer’s instructions, until the mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream, about 20 minutes.
- Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, press plastic wrap flush against the surface, cover the container, and freeze the ice cream until firm, at least 2 hours.
Recipe Note: Two teaspoons of vanilla extract may be substituted for the vanilla bean. Stir it into the chilled custard just before churning. (I don’t like vanilla specks in my vanilla, so I went with extract. Also, beans are much more difficult than just pouring things out of a bottle.)
Gooey Cinnamon Squares – Smitten Kitchen
It’s another Smitten Kitchen post! Huzzah! It’s been a weird year, so I haven’t gotten to nearly as many of my planned recipes as I had intended, but I think I’m headed back into it. Honestly, though, I made these months ago and just never got around to sharing them with you.
The name is really fitting on these – they are the gooeyest things I think I’ve ever baked. And since I spent several years inventing my own recipe-less cooking projects, that’s saying something. They don’t look that gooey in the pictures, but trust me – it’s alllll goo.
Cupcake Friday: Pumpkin Mocha Cupcakes – LivingWithPurple Edition
This is a red letter blog post. It’s the first time I’ve turned a Cupcake Friday cupcake into a LivingWithPurple Edition! Huzzah! I’ll confess that the photos on Jamie’s blog are prettier, but I’d challenge her to prove that her cupcakes were tastier! These turned out amazingly well – we ate most of them at the Super Bowl party, and the rest were demolished the next day at work.
[Note: I did discover that while pumpkin coffee makes these amazing cupcakes, it does not make amazing coffee. So I’m hoarding the rest of the beans for when I have another pumpkin coffee recipe I’m enthralled with.] (more…)
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts – Joy of Cooking
My relationship with Joy of Cooking got off to a rocky start, but things are definitely looking up. I don’t think I ever got around to telling my Joy of Cooking story, so now’s as good a time as any. And then I’ll get around to the Brussels Sprouts.
Super Bowl Cooking Extravaganza
I’m slowly easing my way back into this here blogging thing… And by “slowly” I mean “sometimes I get around to it”. Anyway, back in February there was this thing called the Super Bowl, or at least that’s what they told me. I have no interest in football at any point, and not a whole lot more when there’s a trophy at stake (although the Idaho Potato Bowl, which has a bowl of potatoes as a trophy, is pretty awesome), but I do like excuses to make tasty food. And what better excuse to invite people over to eat said tasty food than this once-a-year commercial party that apparently people like to watch?
This year we ended up with more people than usual, because that’s the way these things seem to be going in my life (check back for the Easter post in about two months, there’ll be more of that). I’m going to assume that’s because people like it when I cook things for them, and that it makes me a good party host, because that’s nicer than assuming that people just don’t say no. But regardless, we had lots of mouths to feed this time around, and we decided to go a bit overboard. The menu included Stuffed Baby Potatoes, Slow Cooker BBQ Cranberry Meatballs, Artichoke Spinach Dip, and Pumpkin Mocha Cupcakes (which I’ve been promising for a while). I’m actually going to give the cupcakes their own post, since they were featured on Cupcake Friday with the original recipe, and they deserve the honors of their own Cupcake Friday now that I actually made them. But the others I’ll write about here.
Most Excellent Pot Pies
In honor of the first day of Spring, I’m posting a recipe for a classic fall dish. Figures…
This was meant to be a collaborative post with Alimonkee, but sadly I wasn’t able to get the pictures put together in time. So I think we’re both going to be posting our own versions of the same cooking event. (And by “going to” I mean that Alice posted hers *months* ago, and I never finished my draft until now.) Also, due to some mishaps with lighting and trying to use a camera-phone, less of the documentation turned out well than I’d hoped, so the pictures are a little different.
‘Twas the Thursday Before Christmas (a hot chocolate and cookies story)
It’s almost here – the impending family, friends, food coma, and gift wrap extravaganza that is Christmas. And in our time of frantic shopping, wrapping, planning, decorating, baking, preparing, I thought I’d share a calm moment of bliss.
Nothing could be more holiday-appropriate than peppermint hot chocolate with under-baked chewy chocolate triple-gingerbread. So take a quick break from your high pressure schedule and cozy down with a warm drink, some cookies, and a loved one. Take a moment to appreciate a few smooth creamy sips before the sugar rush kicks in and you slam back into the ever-hectic Now.
If you’re feeling decadent, you could even pull out that milk frother you bought years ago but have only used twice. When’s a better time than the Thursday before Christmas? ―When all through the house every creature is busily shuffling tissue paper and curling ribbons, counting labels and triple checking the list to make sure no one is missing.
Thanksgiving: Broccoli Cheese Casserole
This year for Thanksgiving (yes, I’m finally getting around to the Thanksgiving posts), we initially decided we would be making “green bean casserole that doesn’t suck”. Two years in a row we have made green bean casserole that does suck, and for some strange reason for the third year we decided maybe we should do something different. Who knows – maybe we’re just tired of not wanting to eat our greens?
The broccoli casserole is on the right side, around the middle.
I looked around for alternative recipes and actually found a few that looked promising, but then I found this recipe in my new Joy of Cooking cookbook (there’s a story behind that – I promise I’ll tell you later) and thought maybe the solution to green bean casserole that doesn’t suck was to skip the green beans! We all love broccoli (and anyone who doesn’t should learn – it’s the vegetable of champions), and we definitely all love cheese, so really how could we go wrong?
Thanksgiving 2012: A Survival Guide
Well, we made it. I feel a bit as if I’ve just emerged from a food-coma-induced cloud, only to discover that someone filled my fridge with delicious leftovers.
Since this is my third annual Biggest Little Thanksgiving, I thought I had this down. I thought that making a ton of food was making a ton of food; because it is, isn’t it? I failed to take into account two important factors: 1) the size/quantity of the bird(s), and 2) people, and therefore time.
Pumpkin in Many Forms: Drunken Pumpkin Chili
Thanksgiving was yesterday, but Calin and I celebrated with his family, which this year meant that I didn’t cook anything. I showed up in my apron and looked busy staying out of the kitchen while everyone else did the hard work. We did bring cream cheese and some of my pepper jelly as appetizers for the chefs and onlookers, which I suppose counts for something…
Don’t worry – we are doing my family’s Thanksgiving on Sunday, so I’ll have loads of things for you next week. But since I didn’t do any of my own chefing, I don’t have a real Thanksgiving post for you today. But I don’t want to leave you with nothing to read on this beautiful no-work Friday, with your full tummies and relaxing souls, so here’s another episode of Pumpkin Love.
~*~
Continuing my fall obsession with pumpkin, I found this fantastic recipe for pumpkin chili. This is perfect because 1) chili is the easiest, tastiest soup I know, and I make lots of it in cold weather, and 2) it has pumpkin in it, which makes it feel even more seasonal. I wasn’t 100% sure how the flavors would work out, since I don’t usually combine pumpkin with savory things (other than ravioli, which I haven’t made but I really want to), but love of pumpkin and love of chili combined to make this something I just had to try.
Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t quite go as planned, and I didn’t have an evening where we would actually be home to eat chili! So I decided to make it as an all-day crockpot extravaganza and have a week night dinner instead. This, of course, meant that I had to modify the original recipe, because it was designed for real cooking rather than slow cooking. (more…)
Sweet Potato Fritters
This is another case of a recipe I found by accident that I had to make immediately. I love sweet potatoes, and Calin generally doesn’t, so anything I can do with them that I think he might actually eat is always welcome. Also, fritters are some of my favorite things – probably just because of the word – so they’re high on my list of things to learn how to make. If I’d known before I became an addict just how fried these little buggers are, I might have tried to stay away…
Tomato-Glazed Meatloaf – Smitten Kitchen
For my first Smitten Kitchen recipe, I decided to go with savory. We needed dinner. I actually meant to make the Roasted Fingerling and Carrot Coins, but then I decided we needed a main course, and by the time I figured that out, it was too much food to have both. So instead we had the Tomato-Glazed Meatloaves.
They were supposed to be made with brown butter mashed potatoes, but I lost a little momentum by then, so I just made regular mashed potatoes, with the yukon gold potatoes I had been planning to use for the roasted fingerlings. I’ll make the brown butter ones for another post.
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Best Blogiversary Present Ever
Technically this cookbook was my birthday present. But since the publication date was later, and I actually received said cookbook much closer to my blogiversary, from my co-blogging fiend Alimonkee, I’ve decided it was actually meant as a blogiversary present.
Smitten Kitchen has been a favorite blog stand-by since I started reading foodie blogs. I can’t remember whether Alice got me started or I got her started, but either way, we’re both hooked. So giving me the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook as a birthday/blogiversary present could not be more perfect. In fact, when she told me she’d gotten me a present, she said “Guess what it is!” and only had to give me one hint. (As an aside, if you don’t already follow the Smitten Kitchen blog and you like cooking/food/blogs, start now. Seriously. Click that link, or do a google search, and sign up. Or bookmark it. Or whatever. You will not regret it, I promise.)
I’m not going to pull a Julie & Julia here, mostly because I don’t have time. (Although, heavens, certainly not because I don’t want to. There isn’t a recipe in this book that I don’t want to make now now now.) But I do have big plans to make many of these recipes in short order.
Chalkboard Contact Paper and Loose Leaf Tea
I discovered chalkboard contact paper sometime last year, on Shelterrific, who in turn apparently got it from ModFruGal, who I don’t follow but I clearly should. (Remedying that right now…)
Chalkboard paper comes in 18″ by 6′ rolls, like all contact paper, and you can cut it down to any size you want. At first, I used it to label things. Lots of things. I labeled my clear counter-top containers that you can already see through, and can probably already tell what’s in them (maybe overkill?). I labeled my canning with the contents and can date (definitely not overkill – who the heck can remember when you canned something?). I labeled the coffee in the freezer so we could tell the difference between hazelnut and regular, because I know a few people who are militantly opposed to flavored coffee (with good reason) and I would hate to incur their wrath inadvertently by failing to properly distinguish.
Cupcake Friday: Halloweeny Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin-Cinnamon Icing
Happy Friday everybody. :) Turns out I never posted my Halloween cupcakes post, and how better to celebrate the coming weekend? So here they are! Halloweeny pumpkin cupcakes with pumpkin-cinnamon cream cheese icing!
Inspired by Katie, created by Miz Purple, iced and eaten by Helper Hubby.
It’s never the wrong time to make cupcakes, but cupcakes in the fall get high marks, especially if they’re pumpkin. (more…)
Apple Picking is Good for the Soul: Part 3 – Apple Butter
My grandmother used to make my sister and I “sandwiches” of cream cheese and apple butter on what our friend Laura called “tissue bread” – wonder bread. Not only was it wonder bread, but she cut off the crusts for us – how decadent! I’m not big on wonder bread, but I did love those sammiches (they’re one of my fondest memories of my grandmother), so I have a serious soft spot for apple butter.
When I had the overabundance of apples recently, I decided that along with applesauce and apple crisp, I should probably try making apple butter. I didn’t have a go-to recipe, because I’ve never made it before, but I thought I’d try out an old reliable – Joy of Cooking. (In retrospect, this was a mistake. I love cookbooks, but sometimes a recipe with comments and ratings is more reliable. But how was I to know?) **Please see the note with the recipe – this might not have been such a mistake if I’d actually read the recipe correctly… I’m going to put this one down to half Purple-fail and half Joy-of-Cooking formatting fail.
Election Crêpes!
Do not be fooled by their ordinary appearance. These are not everyday crepes. These are…
Dun dun dun…
Election Crêpes!
Otherwise previously known as Thanksgiving Crêpes. (And that’s where you can find the recipe, in case you were wondering.)
May also be used for any special occasion. Or just for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.
Yum.
Honey Challah Rolls (for ham)
Calin loves ham rolls. Mostly he loves ham, but he does usually want to eat it on something, and ham rolls are the ideal. At the grocery store this weekend, I bought a rotisserie chicken that came with a free 4-pack of hawaiian rolls. I generally consider hawaiian rolls the best possible (store-bought) roll for ham rolls, and we happened to have some leftover Virginia ham from Yoder’s Country Market (best ham ever for ham roll purposes). It was all a set-up.
Hubby decided one stormy morning that what he wanted for dinner that night was ham rolls. But the hawaiian rolls were only a 4-pack, like I said, and they’re small enough that that’s not really enough for dinner. So I said I’d make rolls, and we could have home-made ham rolls to supplement the hawaiian rolls. I underestimated the appeal of fresh-from-the-oven rolls, clearly. The hawaiian rolls are still sitting in their package on the counter, and these honey challah rolls are gone.
They were almost gone instantly, actually. I made us stop while there were still enough left to pack some for lunch the next day. It was an intervention.
Pumpkin in Many Forms: Pumpkin Bread
When a man with a toothache says he wants pumpkin bread, you make it for him. Especially if you’ve already been planning to make some, and it’s a Sunday afternoon, and you really want the house to smell good.
I have been planning on this for a while, but I didn’t actually bother to find a recipe until it got time to settle down to it. I figured I’d try my cookbook collection first, but they turned up nothing of consequence. (Okay, that’s a stretch – they turned up plain old nothing.) So I turned to my trusty internet, with its trusty other-people’s-cooking-blogs (and with AllRecipes – let’s give credit where it’s due), and low and behold found an amazingly simple recipe on of my old faithfuls – My Baking Addiction.
Cookie Season Begins: A Brief Look at Snickerdoodles
Today, after a hard day of moving an office, Calin requested cookies. Then he advised me that he would even help me make them, and that I could listen to Christmas music while we made them, just this once, if I wanted. (Please keep in mind that it is still October, in case I take forever to actually post this.)
I asked him if he was sick, or if he had been abducted and replaced.
And thus, cookie season begins.
Apple Picking is Good For The Soul: Part 2 – Apple Crisp
Don’t miss Apple Picking is Good For The Soul: Part 1 – Cinnamon Applesauce!
~*~
After the applesauce extravaganza, I still had quite a few apples left (surprise, surprise… 18 lbs is hard to get through!), so one night I decided to make an apple crisp. It was a night when I had help eating it, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Ultimately, although this tasted reasonably good, it didn’t turn out at all the way I wanted it to. The biggest problem was the volume of liquid in the crisp, which I think was because I used fuji apples. (They’re sweeter and crunchier, so I think they have more water in them? How to Cook Everything gave me an apple chart, and fujis were listed as “eating apples” not “baking apples” or even “all purpose apples”, so there’s probably a reason for that – although they were great in applesauce.) (more…)
LivingWithPurple 