So....that happened.

Let's note a few things, shall we?

1) It's been a few weeks.

2) It's so NOT entirely my fault. Except for the part where it kind of is. But whateverDON'TJUDGEME.

3) Fruit salad is totally an acceptable brunch option. My noble competitor's opinion notwithstanding.

4) The West Wing is just as awesome as it was 15 years ago. Although the fact that there are only, like, 7 computers anywhere is hilarious. "The Internet is not a fad!" hahahahaha

5) We've moved on to Pasta! Get behind it.

One of the stated goals of this blog is to get us to use our cookbooks instead of constantly trying/failing to cook out of Pinterest. Lemme tell you what, BAD IDEA. If you actually follow the trail back, you find some random 42 year old tossing things at a bowl and then photographing it with bokeh like that actually makes a difference in the final deliciousness outcome. But heeeere:

Zero progress has been made on the front of keeping a tidy kitchen while cooking. This is why I normally wait until both roommates are gone, so that they come back to a lovely SURPREESE of clean kitchen + food.

Also, get a load of how healthy this looks. The color! The texture! THE COLOR.

I don't remember where I saw this - it was on one of those depressing tv shows where they go to some family's house and make them take out all the food and it's packaged and sad and entirely shades of brown. The point is, the more color on your plate the better. I may or may not use that as an excuse to get fully loaded pizza.

Did you know that Stanley Tucci wrote an Italian cookbook? And that it's actually fantastic?

Technically, this is a summer pasta salad, and it's only April but whatever. Still brilliant. Also, I doubled the amount of fresh mozzarella. Because I'm not a heathen. This recipe made a LOT, so hooray for lunch this week! Everyone knows that pasta salad gets better the longer it sits, and if right before serving I toss in a little pomegranate balsamic vinegar, well...that just proves that I'm a friggin' genius.

Me and Toby Ziegler.

Bacon, Asiago Scones - Appetizer or Breakfast Food?

So to find a new appetizer and not my favorite cream cheese + yummy type dip proved to be more challenging than expected.

Until I found it - basically a trifecta of the three best foods ever: bacon, cheese, scones (aka bread product). So, my  "Easy Entertaining" cookbook won my heart and my baking time this week with "Bacon and Asiago Scone Bites."

First of all, it is important to note that this recipe was modified since I am not eating wheat flour currently. So, per the usual, I subbed in some of my favorite thing on the planet Pamela's Mix.

And the best part was this was super easy to make too.
1. Started by cooking up some bacon - easy enough.

2. Mix the "flour" and etc. together.  And of course it's going to be delicious when you're adding a stick of butter and some heavy cream - good grief!
Don't forget to ripped up the bacon and add it in.

At this stage I have to admit, I found the dough to be a little wet, so I went ahead and added more Pamela's.  I'm assuming that regular wheat flour wouldn't be this wet and/or since the chef was expecting that you were going to have the patience to knead and roll out the dough with some extra flour you were already going to dry it out.

3. But rather than roll it out, i simply grabbed little balls and shaped them.  I went ahead and made a few 'big kid' sized scones before remembering that this dish was going to be an appetizer.  At that point it was super eating to start with about a 1" ball of dough and shape it into a little brick.

They baked beautifully.  The final product was a little crumbly, this is really a scone not a biscuit, but OMG yum.  The OTT has been making himself quite content all week with the extras.  I'll go by and see a bite missing (oh wait, maybe that was me!)

I would absolutely make this recipe again - and even better, I would serve the scones with prosecco for a fabulous start to any event.  The salty and sweet are bellisimo darlings!

Happy eating,
L

Battle 5: Easter Appetizers

Happy Easter Weekend all!

And there's nothing like family gatherings, egg dying and a sugar high to make Chef Sink and I want to get cooking.

And luckily we're both still at the wonderful age of "oh sweetie, why don't you just bring an appetizer..." so that's exactly what we're going to do.  Easter Appetizers - and the recipe MUST be from a cookbook.  This means, no cheese platter for these girls.

Ladies, start your ovens!

Daddy's Shrimp 'n Grits - trust me, it's breakfast

So, other than the fact that I'm posting a bazillion days late - I would call this battle a complete success.  I follow France's savory cheesy breakfast with in fact a savory cheesy breakfast... notice a trend? Get on the 'cheese-for-breakfast' bandwagon!

I blended a classic southern breakfast with a family favorite (thanks for the recipe Dad) to bring you THE BEST FOOD EVER - Shrimp 'n grits.  

I physically cannot NOT order Shrimp and Grits whenever it's an option as a restaurant, and have therefore tried my fair share of this dish.  So it is with great authority that I tell you that despite the stick of butter in this recipe, I stand by the fact that this is the healthy version.  After all, there isn't a half inch of butter floating atop your bowl like they do in Key West (Mother-of-god it's delish!)

Nope, here we made our grits with milk, chicken broth and some cheese.  Load it into muffin tins and pop them in the oven.











Now the OTT (official taste tester) said he didn't believe in shrimp for breakfast, but he couldn't argue with  (or resist) cheese grits and ham gravy.  So while the grit "cups" are baking, I browned up some smoked ham,  butter (of course) and some extra broth.  I substituted gluten-free Pamela's Mix for flour in the gravy; still browned up beautifully and no sacrifice in taste either.

Now, here comes the good part.  Once the grits have been in the oven and firmed up.  Use the back of a spoon to make little bowls.  Then spoon in the ham gravy and top with cooked medium shrimp. Warm them back up for about 10 minutes. 

This recipe is originally for an appetizer size AKA mini-muffin tin, but for a breakfast portion I made them in regular sized muffin cups  (makes about 12) and served 2 each topped with some fresh parsley and of course my favorite, Texas Pete Hot Sauce.  

And no, I didn't refrain from licking my plate, cooking implements, fingers or anyone else's.

Happy Eating!
L

Pão de Queijo

One day I will be able to do this without making a gigantic mess.

Zomg.

ANYWAY.

Favorite.

No, but seriously. This is a perfect food.  As in up there with pizza and toast. THIS IS PRACTICALLY THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

Even the batter/dough thing is visibly delicious and cheesy.

Hang on. I'm drooling from the thought of a pizza crust that tastes like this.

Super easy recipe, and I finally got to use one of my cookbooks on BatchBattles. It's not...exactly perfect. Even the frozen stuff my relatives can get at the grocery store has a more delicate flavor, and while this recipe is definitely one of the better ones I've tried, the interior is not as fluffy as I'd hope.

Whatever.

CHEESY BREAD.

And this totally counts as breakfast. I would eat these for breakfast. So would you, and so would your mom.

I'd tell you how many I've had since they came out of the oven...but then I'd have to kill you.

Complete. Genius.

YOU GUYS.

My flawless counterpart is a goddess among women and had a brilliant idea. Neither of us has any time for this nonsense this week, so we are extending the deadline to the weekend and doing a SPECIAL BREAKFAST EDITION.

I'm. So. Excited.

Please excuse our chefs!

Due to a snag... also known as no one wants to consume anything made by a sick chef, we will not be battling this week. 

Please accept our deepest apologies. We will return next week with a bigger, badder, more delicious battle.

YES FINALLY ARGH

You guys...these turned out amazingly well. Even though I totally used lamo Target strawberries, because oh I don't know, I didn't want to pay $9 at Bristol Farms. See, you can't even tell:

Well, maybe I shouldn't be so amazed. I ACTUALLY CAN BAKE, YOU KNOW. EVERYTHING USUALLY TURNS OUT SWIMMINGLY. These last few battles, though, have really done a number on my confidence.

ANYWAY. The point is, STRAWBERRY & CREAM BISCUITS. And they're delightful. Like, beyond delightful. I actually didn't bring them into work because I knew I wanted to scarf them at home with a cup of tea.

Also, a quick sidenote: as I've noted here before, I'm the Midnight Baker. My usual routine is to bake when I'm bored after work, right? So last night, I decided to squeeze these biscuits in after flouncing off to go see A Good Day to Die Hard because NO ONE WOULD GO WITH ME.  Turns out, everyone else had the right idea. I was probably too excited by the poster tagline (Yippee-kai-yay, Mother Russia), and it got my hopes up for the rest of the movie.

Protip: PLOT. Kind of a thing. Barely linking together explosions and gun fights does not a plot make.

So, my point is, strawberry and cream biscuits make everything better. I wasn't about to buy $6 organic unsalted butter from Target, so I used regular salted butter and fudged the salt the recipe called for.

15 minutes later, and BOOM. Perfection.

I think next time I'll try uber-ripe garden/farmer's market berries. Mine weren't super juicy so while the biscuit itself is gently redolent of strawberry, I'd like to see what would happen if I were a little less subtle.
Which is funny, because I'm not exactly a subtle kinda gal.

To wit, me and my strawberry-cream biscuits:

Sorry, work people. These are staying in the Haight.

Hot Damn and Cool Berries

Spring is in the air and berries are in the grocery store, but how can you pick just one kind.

Instead I did a mix of berry goodness (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) complemented by a meringue pavlova and fresh whipped cream.  Even better is this dessert is completely gluten-free and a great trick to have in your back pocket.

All I can say is, please come visit, I need to have company over so I can have an excuse to make this again!

Start by making the meringue (oh Ina Garten, how I love you) and rather than bake it into one large pavlova I made smaller hearts by piping them onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed/parchment paper.  Ok, some were circles too but I was trying to be cute for an anniversary dinner.   On another side note: I made these the night before, and apparently they can keep for up to a week in an air tight container... that has a padlock on it.

After baking for a ridiculously long time in a ridiculously cool oven, out they popped, shimmering crisp shells with warm, slightly gooey centers.  In other words DIVINE.

I then stole a fruit sauce from my cooking crush, Smitten Kitchen, who I love more now after this sauce.  Ladies and Gentlemen, buy a bag of frozen berries (she uses raspberry, I used mixed), let it defrost and blend! Then warm on the stove with a touch of sugar.  Honest to god, I didn't even bother to strain them and didn't hear one complaint.  Again, I made this the night before during while I waited for the meringues to bake.

Cut up fresh berries (I used strawberries for me and raspberries for the OTT) and mix them up with a good smattering of the fruit sauce.  This is not the prettiest image of the night, but I dare you to not lick the bowl.

Whipped cream came right before serving.  I like to make my own to control the vanilla (lots) and sugar (not much).  My whipped cream is usually a tad beige from the quantity of vanilla I add, and for this recipe the warm vanilla flavor played beautifully against the tart fruit.


Lost story short, yes, make this...I know it's going to cycle around quickly in my kitchen this spring and summer... can't wait to try with peaches.

Battle 3: Berry Battalions

Ladies - choose your weapons!
Introducing Batch Battle Round 3 - The Berry Battle

So maybe there won't be blood spilled during this battle, but at least our kitchens should look like it.

There are no other specifics for this battle.  If Frances decides that marionberry has what it takes to win- so be it, even if Lauren chooses to showcase the lovely springtime treasure known as a strawberry. And of course, a berry combination would never bring about a complaint.

May your kitchens run red (or purple) with the sacrificed juices of the sweetest berries.

Cupcakes vs. Muffins

I'm one of those people who has a fantastic memory for unimportant, trivial data. Need the name of an actor from a bad action movie you saw two years ago? Got it. How does the chorus go for that random song from the early 90s? No problem.

So there's this one scene from Shrek where the Gingerbread Man is being questioned on what he knows,

and for some reason, this was all I could think about while making these...muffins? Cupcakes? Are they automatically cupcakes because they have frosting? Muffins, because of the gingerbread?

THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW.

The point is, these gingerbread muffins/cupcakes with the white chocolate cream cheese glaze/frosting turned out epically better than the horror of the citrus bars. (Yes, "horror" is a bit strong, but you didn't see what was left after straining the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. AND MAY YOU NEVER HAVE TO.)

I used a Trader Joe's gingerbread mix that had been lurking at the back of my shelf since December or so, and it was spectacular. I think making a loaf of gingerbread would have actually been too much of a flavor punch - too intimidating to consume. After a judicious batter tasting (there might have been a warning on the box to not eat raw batter. I don't know - I make it a point to disregard/deliberately not search for these types of cautions), I poured them out. The mix exactly filled out the 12 cups in my silicone muffin...contraption.  I hate this thing, by the way. I CAN NEVER GET IT CLEAN. It remains spitefully oily, no matter what I do.

I topped the muffins off with a white-chocolate cream cheese glaze/frosting from Vanilla Sugar Blog. It was pretty straightforward, but oddly the cream cheese so exactly countered the sweetness of the white chocolate that I ended up needing to add some vanilla to bring it home.

Honestly, the only way these could have been better were if the glaze had come out pure white instead of the erm, softly dingy eggshell.

PRETTY TASTY THOUGH!

Mix Battle - Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Luscious Cream Cheese Frosting

Let me start by saying, I know I'm one of the lucky ones.  I grew up on home-made cookies, many times getting to help with the process, not to mention lick the bowl and I just can't get over it.

And so we begin  round two - the 'Mixes' Batch Battle which means I'm already not happy.  I started with a bag of "Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix" that my OTT (official taste tester) threw into the shopping cart during an adventure to the grocery store while hungry (I'll never learn).

I knew I was going to struggle when the bag clearly stated two things I in general disagree with:
1. "Natural and Artificial flavors"
2. "Do Not Eat Raw Dough"

But alas, I persevered and tried to think of something rather than just boring cookies.  I started dreaming of frosting options, and then it struck me - CREAM CHEESE.  Every Thanksgiving we beg (BEG) my mom to bake a pumpkin pie cheese cake which thankfully she does, but god forbid you're there a minute late because it WILL be gone.

With this new hope for cookie mix I dug in starting with my favorite ingredient, a stick of butter.

I tried to stay true to the directions and mixed by hand. Luckily, this was not too difficult, but yikes, I totally forgot how lucky I am to have a fabulous mixer.  

Cookies were deposited on the cookie sheet in 1" balls and baked for about 9 minutes.  Super quick!

While these little darlings were baking, I got on to the real show.  Frosting!

Two packets of cream cheese to one stick of butter makes this version of cream cheese frosting simply decedent and almost indecent; in other words I can't get enough of it.  This picture simply doesn't do it justice - it is creamy and rich with just a hint of sweetness.  

The cookies came out of the oven surprisingly well.  Flat bottoms, puffy tops, and somewhat of a cake-like texture.  Betty Crocker - you shocked me!

Overall, I'm still not a huge fan of mixes, but this did open my eyes.

Happy Eating!
-L

ROUND TWO

DING DING DING

I was going to call this post "Celebrity Death Match" but I didn't want to peak too soon (which apparently, someone asked Jennifer Lawrence last night after she won the Academy Award...harsh).

ANYWAY.

I had the brilliant idea this morning to base this week's challenge around a store-bought mix of some kind. Handily, this helps me clear out a totally random Trader Joe's gingerbread mix from my cupboard before it gets to be, y'know, June.

Lauren was down, like a champion, so here we are!

Wish us luck! Well, wish me luck. Lauren doesn't appear to need it.

LOVE,
FRANCES

PS. Here's a CDM gif, because every baking blog should have one. Obviously.

In which Frances fails, but not at alliteration.

Ok so, let's break it down:

1) In the future, we'll have more than, like, 5 hours to figure this out. I'll have an idea so that I can go to the store on my way home from work. A recipe selected from the PANTHEON of cookbooks arrayed on my shelf. NOT scrambling to select one from my Pinterest food board. Leading me to my second point.

2) What is this, amateur hour? Not reading the comments?! Come ON, Frances. You're better than this. I'm sorry, Lauren/Internet. I assumed the zest of 6 oranges would correlate to the exact amount of juice I needed (it didn't). I also assumed that blood oranges would overpower the virulent yellow yolks (nope).

What does this mean? Basically, it means that for this first round anyway, I did not put my best food forward. I need to pull myself together.




Damn. I just put it back in the oven, with the curd and made a GIANT mess. BUT ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS.

 And after a brief, encouraging (HA) call from my noble competitor, here is the final shot. That flap you see are the remnants of a tumah (cue like 3 minutes of 4 people saying IT'S NOT A TUMAH) SO.

What do we have. We have a disaster in the kitchen which, folks, is unusual for me...The Midnight Baker. (Whatever, it's not like a cool nickname or anything). And by disaster, I mean the bars, which look nothing like what they are supposed to. Head on over to the geniuses at White on Rice to be impressed, but team, I got nothing.

Sorry.

HUMILIATED,

F.

Butter Baby wins with Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Let me start by saying, I've been DYING to make peanut butter and jelly bars. 

Peanut butter may in fact be my kryptonite - I would consider giving up bacon for it (don't tell my 'Official Taste Tester').  

So this challenge finally gave me an excuse to indulge in this blissful treat.  I started with "Cookies & Cups" recipe (February 5, 2013) and barely made any alterations. 

I may have added a BIT more peanut butter (consider it a calculation error) and I chose to use Raspberry jelly... well OTT chose raspberry, but since he went to the store, who am I to disagree.  Other than that, presto - even her baking times were spot on.

This is a four layer bar

The first being a relatively simple shortbread.  But by baking it twice, it really gives a nice snap when you bite in.  

There are no words to describe the second layer of this cookie.  Raw or baked - it is as if angels are having a tea party in your mouth.  Seriously though, if I offered up spoonfuls of the raw peanut butter, butter, sugar mixture there would be a line from Walnut Creek to Kalamazoo - yum.  Did I mention it's thick and creamy?

Then the seemingly boring layers of jam and crumble.  Pretty normal stuff here.  

A little butter here, a bit of oats there. 

Here's the kicker though - after you pull it out of the oven, you get to test your will power by letting the whole pan cool.  Seriously, don't touch it! Just let it be; if I can do it... you can.  

And here's why.  Snappy, gooey, creamy, tangy and just a hint of salty goodness.  Now go make yourself a cup of tea.