I'm not saying that Alfredo sauce tastes like glue or has other unwanted glue properties, rather that Alfredo sauce can hold a dish together and you can stick anything in it. We LOVE Alfredo sauce, so I make it regularly. Right about now you are imagining either a jar of white sauce or a sauce pan full of scratch sauce. If you are thinking of jar sauce, stop it! That stuff is terrible! Read on and learn how to make the most basic sauce that you can easily customize. Wow your friends with this easiest of all recipes. Or if chicken noodle soup isn't working, this is a great comfort food when served with pasta.
Of course, like with many popular recipes, there are hundreds of variations. I have tried MANY of them, and I'm going to share the one that is successful every time. Some recipes are just not that good. This is a quick recipe, and with it you should be able to serve dinner in 30 minutes or less. (Provided you know how to cook more than one thing at a time. If you can't boil pasta, grill chicken and steam broccoli all at the same time you made need help with the sauce whisking.)
So to start, gather your ingredients! For a simple sauce (that will turn out and be tasty) you need only flour, butter, milk and Parmesan cheese. We can add many things to this, but that's for later. You will also need a medium sauce pan (I use a non-stick sauce pan), a silicone coated whisk (or regular for pans without coating) and a couple measuring cups and measuring spoons.
In your medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat (med-low is better than med-high). When the butter foams, whisk in an equal amount of flour (2T butter and 2T flour works quite well). I use a non-stick medium sauce pan so I use a silicone coated whisk. I strongly recommend whisking, though it will turn out using spoon stirring, whisking is just easier, and shouldn't cooking be easy? Heat the butter and flour for at least 3 minutes, with an occasional whisk to prevent sticking or burning, or a continual whisk if you're nervous about scorching. The butter and flour (which is now a "roux") may darken a little in color, and this is fine. We cook the roux to prevent a starchy flavor from dominating the sauce.
To the roux you will add 2 cups of milk, in increments, whisking to combine completely. Again, you can use a spoon to stir, but it will take a little longer. Add 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (depending on taste and desired thickness of the sauce) and whisk to combine. Simmer (not boil) for 4-6 minutes, and it will start to thicken (the longer it cooks the thicker it will be).
Serve with pasta, chicken, broccoli, bruschetta, pico de gallo, mushrooms, green onions, asparagus... the options are vast, because this is yummy! If you have leftover veggies or meat in your refrigerator, this is a good recipe to put them in. This may be technically a cream sauce more than an Alfredo sauce, but I always just call it creamy Alfredo sauce.
Now for variations! When you originally melt the butter you can add a clove or two of pressed garlic, chives and other herbs to taste or even diced onions.
Instead of 2 cups of milk you can add 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of chicken broth or 1 cup of white wine or even 1 cup of tomato juice (sauce is a little too thick). You can even skip the milk altogether and add any combination of those things! (I have never tried it with just tomato juice though, I've always used milk and tomato juice together.)
And in addition to the Parmesan cheese you can add whatever kind of cheese you like - mozzarella, provolone and cream cheese work very well. I have heard of blending cottage cheese in a food processor and adding it!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Champagne Cake (A Birthday Story)
This was another calendar recipe, and it looked so good I had to make it for Shane's birthday. It was May's picture, so it was like fate. So we procured a white cake mix, pink champagne, and heavy whipping cream. All the other ingredients we had on hand. (Milk, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, powdered sugar)
In the picture there are four pink layers with fluffy white frosting in between. My cake was a little different. I didn't use any food coloring to make it pink (even though Shane said he'd totally rock a pink cake) because I only have green food coloring left over from St. Patrick's Day's Green Eats. And my cake was only two layers. Not because it would be too hard to do four or I didn't have time or didn't feel like it, but because I dropped one of the cakes on the counter when I was taking them out of the oven. My cake pan manufacturers thought it would be just brilliant to make the outside with a non-stick coating as well. Not such a good idea after all. I put the cake back into the pan and later I was able to frost the cracked cake back together, but there was no way I'd be able to make layers with it like that.
But back to the beginning of this story! I separated my eggs into my batter bowl (I hate making cake without it now, since it has the measuring cup pouring shape) and so not to be wasteful I made a tiny egg yolk omelet, which I accidentally crisped a little while trying to figure out if you need to coat non-stick baking pans. I never did find the answer but coated them anyway.
To the egg whites I added milk, vegetable oil and double vanilla (vanilla is the best, and I say you can never use too much! You can, however, use way too much almond extract) Then, just like my recipe said, I took the whisk to it and added the cake mix. It was a horrible un-whiskable mess. Then I remembered I had forgotten to add the champagne. I poured in the champagne, and a little for me on the side, to test it. (I tested it again a little later, too.) And it was still a horrible un-whiskable mess. So I scraped out the cake "batter" from my whisk and used a spatula to gently stir in the champagne, it took a few minutes to fully incorporate and I thought I had ruined it! But finally it began to homogenize and I stopped freaking out. Batter into the coated pans, bake for 20 minutes.
I got out everything for the frosting except for the heavy whipping cream, which I waited to be the last thing I got out. The colder your whipping cream, the faster you'll get to soft peaks (my goal). So into my bowl went 1/2 cup powdered sugar and again double vanilla, with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream. I stirred slowly at first to avoid flinging powdered sugar and cream all over the kitchen. Then I turned the beater on medium until it just began to thicken. Earlier, I had quartered 3 marshmallows and put them in the microwave, when the cream began to thicken I turned them on for 15 seconds and immediately added them to the cream, beating on high. There was some splashing, but not too much. I beat the cream for the next 20 minutes, and was not quite to soft peaks when the cakes finished baking.
The cream (future frosting) went into the refrigerator for a much needed chill, so I could take the cakes out to cool. I let the cakes cool and the cream chill for about 20 minutes before turning out the cakes and beating the cream to soft peaks, which didn't take long since I had done most of the work earlier and it had had a chance to chill.
I put the broken cake on my cake pedestal, because I say, if you're going to bake you may as well be fancy about it. I don't bake often, so it's like a special occasion. The broken cake was the bottom layer, so I scooped a big pile of frosting (formerly cream) onto the cake and spread. It was so easy! I had never used a cream frosting like this before, and it was so smooth and not sticky at all (like jar frosting which is basically sugar paste). The other cake went on top and the rest of the frosting I scooped onto the top of that and spread and smoothed down the sides. This cake took about 45 seconds to frost, it was amazing! This is the only way I'm making frosting from now on. The cream may be more expensive than buying jar frosting, but it tastes so much better and is so easy to use that the added cost and effort are worth it. Especially considering I make cake like twice a year. And unlike other homemade frosting which call for more powdered sugar than anything else, this frosting doesn't harden. (Even refrigerated overnight, it was still soft and fluffy)
I refrigerated the cake until time to sing happy birthday, cut the cake and serve it! I used my new high heel cake server because it is fabulous and perfect for the job. We also finished the champagne with the cake, and it was a perfect pairing.
In the picture there are four pink layers with fluffy white frosting in between. My cake was a little different. I didn't use any food coloring to make it pink (even though Shane said he'd totally rock a pink cake) because I only have green food coloring left over from St. Patrick's Day's Green Eats. And my cake was only two layers. Not because it would be too hard to do four or I didn't have time or didn't feel like it, but because I dropped one of the cakes on the counter when I was taking them out of the oven. My cake pan manufacturers thought it would be just brilliant to make the outside with a non-stick coating as well. Not such a good idea after all. I put the cake back into the pan and later I was able to frost the cracked cake back together, but there was no way I'd be able to make layers with it like that.
But back to the beginning of this story! I separated my eggs into my batter bowl (I hate making cake without it now, since it has the measuring cup pouring shape) and so not to be wasteful I made a tiny egg yolk omelet, which I accidentally crisped a little while trying to figure out if you need to coat non-stick baking pans. I never did find the answer but coated them anyway.
To the egg whites I added milk, vegetable oil and double vanilla (vanilla is the best, and I say you can never use too much! You can, however, use way too much almond extract) Then, just like my recipe said, I took the whisk to it and added the cake mix. It was a horrible un-whiskable mess. Then I remembered I had forgotten to add the champagne. I poured in the champagne, and a little for me on the side, to test it. (I tested it again a little later, too.) And it was still a horrible un-whiskable mess. So I scraped out the cake "batter" from my whisk and used a spatula to gently stir in the champagne, it took a few minutes to fully incorporate and I thought I had ruined it! But finally it began to homogenize and I stopped freaking out. Batter into the coated pans, bake for 20 minutes.
I got out everything for the frosting except for the heavy whipping cream, which I waited to be the last thing I got out. The colder your whipping cream, the faster you'll get to soft peaks (my goal). So into my bowl went 1/2 cup powdered sugar and again double vanilla, with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream. I stirred slowly at first to avoid flinging powdered sugar and cream all over the kitchen. Then I turned the beater on medium until it just began to thicken. Earlier, I had quartered 3 marshmallows and put them in the microwave, when the cream began to thicken I turned them on for 15 seconds and immediately added them to the cream, beating on high. There was some splashing, but not too much. I beat the cream for the next 20 minutes, and was not quite to soft peaks when the cakes finished baking.
The cream (future frosting) went into the refrigerator for a much needed chill, so I could take the cakes out to cool. I let the cakes cool and the cream chill for about 20 minutes before turning out the cakes and beating the cream to soft peaks, which didn't take long since I had done most of the work earlier and it had had a chance to chill.
I put the broken cake on my cake pedestal, because I say, if you're going to bake you may as well be fancy about it. I don't bake often, so it's like a special occasion. The broken cake was the bottom layer, so I scooped a big pile of frosting (formerly cream) onto the cake and spread. It was so easy! I had never used a cream frosting like this before, and it was so smooth and not sticky at all (like jar frosting which is basically sugar paste). The other cake went on top and the rest of the frosting I scooped onto the top of that and spread and smoothed down the sides. This cake took about 45 seconds to frost, it was amazing! This is the only way I'm making frosting from now on. The cream may be more expensive than buying jar frosting, but it tastes so much better and is so easy to use that the added cost and effort are worth it. Especially considering I make cake like twice a year. And unlike other homemade frosting which call for more powdered sugar than anything else, this frosting doesn't harden. (Even refrigerated overnight, it was still soft and fluffy)
I refrigerated the cake until time to sing happy birthday, cut the cake and serve it! I used my new high heel cake server because it is fabulous and perfect for the job. We also finished the champagne with the cake, and it was a perfect pairing.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Curry Chicken Ramen
A friend emailed me a recipe, asked if I'd make it when he came over - it looked good and not too hard, and it called for curry (one of my favorite flavors) so I said sure! I then lost the recipe and half forgot about it. Yesterday we were facebook chatting and the recipe came up... had to find it, but luckily the email search feature came to my rescue, the recipe was found and the day was saved.
Of course, I didn't go shopping for any of the ingredients and I didn't even read the instructions until today, while I was writing down the recipe so I would know what to cook.
The recipe called for potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips and other similar vegetables. I had carrots only so I sliced a couple handfuls of baby carrots and put them on the boil for 4 minutes. The recipe didn't call for onions, but I put onions in almost everything, so I chopped half of one and set it aside. Then I diced the chicken and put it in my large skillet with olive oil, 1 clove garlic (pressed with my trusty garlic press! I use that thing almost every day, if there is one thing every kitchen needs it is a garlic press!), and 1 tsp each chili powder, crushed rosemary, curry (I used red), and "grainy" mustard (I used a stoneground which had a bunch of whole seeds still in it, very tart and very nice). After a minute or two when the chicken was no longer pink on the outside I added the onion and drained carrots, stirred and covered.
(On a side note I used dried rosemary leaves that I crushed using my marble mortar and pestle. A mortar and pestle is not a standard kitchen object, but I think it should be. I may not use it every week or even every month, but there are some things that just don't turn out right if you don't have a set! I could have tossed my leaves into my herb grinder [i.e. our 2nd coffee grinder] but they would have gone too powdery. I could have crushed them by hand, but then they would have been too hard. In the end it was my mortar and pestle which gave me the consistency I was looking for.)
Then I started to rummage through my cupboard looking for something fast that would go well with this chicken. Pasta didn't sound right and neither did egg noodles. Rice and barley would take too long and I didn't have minute rice or anything like that. Then I found in the back of the cupboard a food I didn't remember we even had - ramen noodles. And I thought, why not? I can make them on the side and if they're terrible when I taste them together, I can throw them out, they cost 25 cents so it's not a big deal.
I boiled the noodles for 5 minutes and before draining, I reserved 1 ladle of the water. Then I added the seasoning packet and the ladle of water to the noodles and stirred, tasted, and of course they tasted like bland but too salty ramen noodles. My chicken called for 1/4 cup creme fraiche, which I did not have, and I did not have any suitable substitute, so I decided I was going to use milk and this recipe was just going to have to turn out anyway!
I stirred the milk in with the ramen noodles and tasted them again... you would never believe it but adding milk to ramen noodles makes them taste edible, even good! It was amazing, so I stirred them in with the chicken let it sizzle a moment and tasted this culinary concoction, to my amazement and delight it tasted pretty good! Next time I will probably add more curry, because I LOVE curry, but most people would probably prefer it with the current amount of curry.
I seriously deviated from the recipe on this one, but I think it turned out better than what the recipe would have. And I didn't feel like baking, which is what the recipe wanted me to do with the chicken and potatoes.
Of course, I didn't go shopping for any of the ingredients and I didn't even read the instructions until today, while I was writing down the recipe so I would know what to cook.
The recipe called for potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips and other similar vegetables. I had carrots only so I sliced a couple handfuls of baby carrots and put them on the boil for 4 minutes. The recipe didn't call for onions, but I put onions in almost everything, so I chopped half of one and set it aside. Then I diced the chicken and put it in my large skillet with olive oil, 1 clove garlic (pressed with my trusty garlic press! I use that thing almost every day, if there is one thing every kitchen needs it is a garlic press!), and 1 tsp each chili powder, crushed rosemary, curry (I used red), and "grainy" mustard (I used a stoneground which had a bunch of whole seeds still in it, very tart and very nice). After a minute or two when the chicken was no longer pink on the outside I added the onion and drained carrots, stirred and covered.
(On a side note I used dried rosemary leaves that I crushed using my marble mortar and pestle. A mortar and pestle is not a standard kitchen object, but I think it should be. I may not use it every week or even every month, but there are some things that just don't turn out right if you don't have a set! I could have tossed my leaves into my herb grinder [i.e. our 2nd coffee grinder] but they would have gone too powdery. I could have crushed them by hand, but then they would have been too hard. In the end it was my mortar and pestle which gave me the consistency I was looking for.)
Then I started to rummage through my cupboard looking for something fast that would go well with this chicken. Pasta didn't sound right and neither did egg noodles. Rice and barley would take too long and I didn't have minute rice or anything like that. Then I found in the back of the cupboard a food I didn't remember we even had - ramen noodles. And I thought, why not? I can make them on the side and if they're terrible when I taste them together, I can throw them out, they cost 25 cents so it's not a big deal.
I boiled the noodles for 5 minutes and before draining, I reserved 1 ladle of the water. Then I added the seasoning packet and the ladle of water to the noodles and stirred, tasted, and of course they tasted like bland but too salty ramen noodles. My chicken called for 1/4 cup creme fraiche, which I did not have, and I did not have any suitable substitute, so I decided I was going to use milk and this recipe was just going to have to turn out anyway!
I stirred the milk in with the ramen noodles and tasted them again... you would never believe it but adding milk to ramen noodles makes them taste edible, even good! It was amazing, so I stirred them in with the chicken let it sizzle a moment and tasted this culinary concoction, to my amazement and delight it tasted pretty good! Next time I will probably add more curry, because I LOVE curry, but most people would probably prefer it with the current amount of curry.
I seriously deviated from the recipe on this one, but I think it turned out better than what the recipe would have. And I didn't feel like baking, which is what the recipe wanted me to do with the chicken and potatoes.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Warm Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad
I finally made my calendar recipe from March! I admit, that I didn't follow the directions, but I did use the same ingredients, except that I omitted the artichoke hearts, because I couldn't find any marinated artichoke hearts. I think I should have checked Meijer, but I didn't, so I didn't get them.
I started by making a layer of pea pods on the bottom of my saute pan, and I added less than 1/4 cup water, just enough to cover the bottom and get them wet. I don't like boiling vegetables unless they are potatoes, which are tubers and don't count. So I turned that on to cook off the water and steam the pea pods. In the mean time I took some potatoes that Shane had crinkle cut for me with the Ultimate Mandoline (that's what it's called, and it is pretty cool, so don't knock its name :D) and put them in my large Micro Cooker with 4 cups of water for 15 minutes (which turned out to be too long).
While the peas and potatoes were cooking I chopped 1/3 of one large green bell pepper and 1/3 of one huge red onion. The onion I added right to the peas, along with 1 clove garlic pressed and 1 T olive oil and half of 1 lemon freshly juiced (the water had cooked off by this point). I gave that a nice stir and drained the potatoes and chopped the breast from a rotisserie chicken (so yum!)
In my small size Batter Bowl, which is a large measuring cup that is big enough to mix and make and bake in, I whisked together just under 1/4 olive oil and the other half of that lemon. When it was done it looked sort of like whisked egg yolk, so that was cool and odd. I added some cracked black pepper and added that along with the potatoes to the peas and other things.
When I stirred that all together, the potatoes crumbled and became a mashed potato coating for the other food. Upon tasting this dish, I remembered that I hate lemons and everything that tastes like lemons... I think picture was so pretty I convinced myself that it wouldn't be that lemon-y. I was wrong, it was VERY lemony. I added a pile of salt and that helped (and if you know me you know I don't like salt either). If I make this dish again it is not going to involve lemons. I am considering an orange. And I could use rice or perhaps cook the potatoes less.
I started by making a layer of pea pods on the bottom of my saute pan, and I added less than 1/4 cup water, just enough to cover the bottom and get them wet. I don't like boiling vegetables unless they are potatoes, which are tubers and don't count. So I turned that on to cook off the water and steam the pea pods. In the mean time I took some potatoes that Shane had crinkle cut for me with the Ultimate Mandoline (that's what it's called, and it is pretty cool, so don't knock its name :D) and put them in my large Micro Cooker with 4 cups of water for 15 minutes (which turned out to be too long).
While the peas and potatoes were cooking I chopped 1/3 of one large green bell pepper and 1/3 of one huge red onion. The onion I added right to the peas, along with 1 clove garlic pressed and 1 T olive oil and half of 1 lemon freshly juiced (the water had cooked off by this point). I gave that a nice stir and drained the potatoes and chopped the breast from a rotisserie chicken (so yum!)
In my small size Batter Bowl, which is a large measuring cup that is big enough to mix and make and bake in, I whisked together just under 1/4 olive oil and the other half of that lemon. When it was done it looked sort of like whisked egg yolk, so that was cool and odd. I added some cracked black pepper and added that along with the potatoes to the peas and other things.
When I stirred that all together, the potatoes crumbled and became a mashed potato coating for the other food. Upon tasting this dish, I remembered that I hate lemons and everything that tastes like lemons... I think picture was so pretty I convinced myself that it wouldn't be that lemon-y. I was wrong, it was VERY lemony. I added a pile of salt and that helped (and if you know me you know I don't like salt either). If I make this dish again it is not going to involve lemons. I am considering an orange. And I could use rice or perhaps cook the potatoes less.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Grillin' Easter Eggs
Today I walked out my front door to find my dad in his front yard (directly across from my own front yard). He saw me and instead of waiting to speak to each other face to face, like I assume civilized (boring) people do we shouted across our yards to each other while I walked over. Our conversation had lots to do with where my mom was currently located and what are we eating for Easter dinner?
The first question was easy, she was brushing her hair and easily found. The second question was also fairly simple, we'd be grillin'! Now, I don't know if you readers grill or barbecue (or barbeque) or how or if you prepare food out of doors in the great wilderness of your yard, front side or back. But when we grill, we ALWAYS have macaroni salad with our seared meats. See, I had you all tricked, thinking I'd be the grill master, but no, I am the kitchen wench in this story. It's not so bad though, I get to wear great outfits! (Okay no more Ren Fair references today, promise.)
So I volunteered/was drafted for macaroni salad making. Prep work took less time than usual today, since I only had to boil macaroni - the eggs were already boiled for this venture! My parents, nieces, siblings and I had dyed eggs on Friday. While it was nice to not have to boil eggs, I was sad, as I am every year, when it came time to peel those vibrant shells away from the milky colored egg whites.
Then I had a brilliant, colorful, rainbow-rific idea. I would dye the boiled eggs again... now that they had been peeled! I Googled first and Google found me eHow and eHow said it was an overnight project involving both food coloring and water (with eggs of course) and I said I don't have that kind of time eHow!
Then I remembered that Marna (my Pampered Chef Executive Director) had just sent me a recipe for tulip eggs, which were both artful and delicious. Her instructions were to dye the peeled boiled eggs in food coloring (no water) and then cut with a v-cutter and devil and garnish appropriately. So I compromised and mixed enough water to cover my eggs with my chosen colors of food coloring, which happened to be red, yellow, blue and green because those were the colors of food coloring we had. I sliced all my eggs in half and dumped the yolks into a bowl so I could make the "sauce" for the macaroni salad while the egg whites colored.
I'm sure everyone has their own special secret recipe for macaroni salad, passed down in secret from parent to child. In any case, I do have a special secret recipe, handed down to me from my mother. So I'll tell you SOME of what goes into this particular dish, but it is my special secret family recipe after all!
For the "sauce" I crush the yolks, then add whatever spices sound delicious, miracle whip (NEVER mayonnaise), mustard, ranch dressing and a few more things - I whip that up and pour it on the boiled, drained and cooled macaroni. To chop the now colorful eggs I put them in my egg slicer, slice, turn, and slice again. This gives me no hassles, barely any mess and chopped eggs in less than a minute. I love my egg slicer!
To finish this very easy, very tasty dish I stirred in the eggs,
flatten/squish the salad in the bowl with my stir-er (a big serving spoon) and then used a paper towel to clean the edges (it saves on dishes when you mix in the serving bowl!)
Garnish with a light dusting of paprika, chill and serve! It was the most festive macaroni salad our Easter dinner has ever had!
The first question was easy, she was brushing her hair and easily found. The second question was also fairly simple, we'd be grillin'! Now, I don't know if you readers grill or barbecue (or barbeque) or how or if you prepare food out of doors in the great wilderness of your yard, front side or back. But when we grill, we ALWAYS have macaroni salad with our seared meats. See, I had you all tricked, thinking I'd be the grill master, but no, I am the kitchen wench in this story. It's not so bad though, I get to wear great outfits! (Okay no more Ren Fair references today, promise.)
So I volunteered/was drafted for macaroni salad making. Prep work took less time than usual today, since I only had to boil macaroni - the eggs were already boiled for this venture! My parents, nieces, siblings and I had dyed eggs on Friday. While it was nice to not have to boil eggs, I was sad, as I am every year, when it came time to peel those vibrant shells away from the milky colored egg whites.
Then I had a brilliant, colorful, rainbow-rific idea. I would dye the boiled eggs again... now that they had been peeled! I Googled first and Google found me eHow and eHow said it was an overnight project involving both food coloring and water (with eggs of course) and I said I don't have that kind of time eHow!
Then I remembered that Marna (my Pampered Chef Executive Director) had just sent me a recipe for tulip eggs, which were both artful and delicious. Her instructions were to dye the peeled boiled eggs in food coloring (no water) and then cut with a v-cutter and devil and garnish appropriately. So I compromised and mixed enough water to cover my eggs with my chosen colors of food coloring, which happened to be red, yellow, blue and green because those were the colors of food coloring we had. I sliced all my eggs in half and dumped the yolks into a bowl so I could make the "sauce" for the macaroni salad while the egg whites colored.
I'm sure everyone has their own special secret recipe for macaroni salad, passed down in secret from parent to child. In any case, I do have a special secret recipe, handed down to me from my mother. So I'll tell you SOME of what goes into this particular dish, but it is my special secret family recipe after all!
For the "sauce" I crush the yolks, then add whatever spices sound delicious, miracle whip (NEVER mayonnaise), mustard, ranch dressing and a few more things - I whip that up and pour it on the boiled, drained and cooled macaroni. To chop the now colorful eggs I put them in my egg slicer, slice, turn, and slice again. This gives me no hassles, barely any mess and chopped eggs in less than a minute. I love my egg slicer!
To finish this very easy, very tasty dish I stirred in the eggs,
flatten/squish the salad in the bowl with my stir-er (a big serving spoon) and then used a paper towel to clean the edges (it saves on dishes when you mix in the serving bowl!)Garnish with a light dusting of paprika, chill and serve! It was the most festive macaroni salad our Easter dinner has ever had!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Experimental Dessert: A Brilliant Creation or a Terrible Disaster?
In March I started offering My Pampered Chef Hosts and Hostesses free dessert when they host a party in the month that their birthday is in, and today (Saturday) I needed to provide a free dessert. I actually had this particular culinary adventure on Friday, but it's been a busy weekend (you know, homework, facebook, planning for the Pampered Chef party, facebook, housework, facebook...)
Originally I was going to bake a cake, but then I thought that was too boring. Then I was going to make a cookie dessert pizza thing, but decided that was too much work and too many ingredients. So I looked in my cupboard and I looked at my cookbook and I had a rare moment of total and utter recipe loss - I had no idea what I should make, and I had 12 hours until time to leave for the party (sleep took up a big part of the 12 hours). So I sat down and balanced my checkbook (math soothes me, don't ask because it probably won't make sense to you, I'm just that strange). While balancing the checkbook I came across the receipt from groceries earlier that day and on that reciept was two kinds of cheerios and an idea began to form.
I had both chocolate cheerios and cinnamon cheerios and at first I wanted to just cover and smother them all with a simple chocolate coating (2 cups chocolate chips, any kind, and 2T+2tsp shortening). It turned out I didn't have enough chocolate chips for that so I thought about the cheerio flavors - I'd already represented chocolate so more cinnamon would probably bring a nice balance to this thing I was making. I googled "cinnamon fillling" and found an amazing recipe for cinnamon rolls that I promptly stole the cinnamon filling from. I thought I would mix the cheerios in the cinnamon filling and then coat them in chocolate, like little coated candy treats. (Later I saw that cinnamon filling wasn't sticky enough to lend itself to this idea, so I came up with a new one.)
I mixed up a half batch of cinnamon filling in a mixing bowl and then a half batch of simple chocolate coating in the Double Boiler (then set to simmer so it wouldn't re-harden). I checked my cinnamon filling, and for cinnamon rolls, it would have been perfect, but I wasn't going to be making any sort of roll. So I doubled the butter (I know, I'm so bad, but it tastes so good!) and that gave it a smoother more "spreadable" consistency - but not at all sticky the way I had hoped it would be. I had another idea though, so all was not lost. But before I went and ruined two perfectly good things, I took a small bowl and mixed a spoonful of each sweet to give it a taste combined - the taste was good, the chocolate drowned the cinnamon a little in my sample, but overall there was more cinnamon filling than there was simple chocolate coating, so that wouldn't be a problem with the full size mixture.
I added the simple chocolate coating to the cinnamon filling and stirred until they were well combined, then I added 1 cup each of chocolate and cinnamon cheerios and stirred to coat. There was a lot of chocolate-cinnamon goo left so I added another 1 cup of each flavor of cheerios and stirred them in. This time they were all evenly coated without an excess amount of leftover chocolate-cinnamon sauce.
I spread out waxed paper onto two cookie sheets and cleared space in the refrigerator - chocolate sets best when chilled. I used my Small Scoop, which holds about 1 T, to scoop up about 65 of these little cheerio treats. I wanted them small because they had a lot of flavor, and if they ended up too big they'd be too sweet to eat. Once I had dished them all out I put them in the refrigerator overnight.
After packing up all my show supplies (cooking gadgets and toys, catalogs, order forms, netbook, first aid kit and aloe - I'm a little accident prone, and Pink Zebra demo products) I almost didn't remember to pack up my little creations! But luckily for me, since I had promised a free dessert, I did remember to pack them up (after sharing a few with my husband of course!) According to the guests, my brand new Chocolate Cinnamon Cheerio Treats are a brilliant creation, because there were only a handful leftover!
Next time I promise a dish, I think I'll plan ahead. (Even if these did turn out, you never know when a terrible disaster will land on your cookie sheet!)
Originally I was going to bake a cake, but then I thought that was too boring. Then I was going to make a cookie dessert pizza thing, but decided that was too much work and too many ingredients. So I looked in my cupboard and I looked at my cookbook and I had a rare moment of total and utter recipe loss - I had no idea what I should make, and I had 12 hours until time to leave for the party (sleep took up a big part of the 12 hours). So I sat down and balanced my checkbook (math soothes me, don't ask because it probably won't make sense to you, I'm just that strange). While balancing the checkbook I came across the receipt from groceries earlier that day and on that reciept was two kinds of cheerios and an idea began to form.
I had both chocolate cheerios and cinnamon cheerios and at first I wanted to just cover and smother them all with a simple chocolate coating (2 cups chocolate chips, any kind, and 2T+2tsp shortening). It turned out I didn't have enough chocolate chips for that so I thought about the cheerio flavors - I'd already represented chocolate so more cinnamon would probably bring a nice balance to this thing I was making. I googled "cinnamon fillling" and found an amazing recipe for cinnamon rolls that I promptly stole the cinnamon filling from. I thought I would mix the cheerios in the cinnamon filling and then coat them in chocolate, like little coated candy treats. (Later I saw that cinnamon filling wasn't sticky enough to lend itself to this idea, so I came up with a new one.)
I mixed up a half batch of cinnamon filling in a mixing bowl and then a half batch of simple chocolate coating in the Double Boiler (then set to simmer so it wouldn't re-harden). I checked my cinnamon filling, and for cinnamon rolls, it would have been perfect, but I wasn't going to be making any sort of roll. So I doubled the butter (I know, I'm so bad, but it tastes so good!) and that gave it a smoother more "spreadable" consistency - but not at all sticky the way I had hoped it would be. I had another idea though, so all was not lost. But before I went and ruined two perfectly good things, I took a small bowl and mixed a spoonful of each sweet to give it a taste combined - the taste was good, the chocolate drowned the cinnamon a little in my sample, but overall there was more cinnamon filling than there was simple chocolate coating, so that wouldn't be a problem with the full size mixture.
I added the simple chocolate coating to the cinnamon filling and stirred until they were well combined, then I added 1 cup each of chocolate and cinnamon cheerios and stirred to coat. There was a lot of chocolate-cinnamon goo left so I added another 1 cup of each flavor of cheerios and stirred them in. This time they were all evenly coated without an excess amount of leftover chocolate-cinnamon sauce.
I spread out waxed paper onto two cookie sheets and cleared space in the refrigerator - chocolate sets best when chilled. I used my Small Scoop, which holds about 1 T, to scoop up about 65 of these little cheerio treats. I wanted them small because they had a lot of flavor, and if they ended up too big they'd be too sweet to eat. Once I had dished them all out I put them in the refrigerator overnight.
After packing up all my show supplies (cooking gadgets and toys, catalogs, order forms, netbook, first aid kit and aloe - I'm a little accident prone, and Pink Zebra demo products) I almost didn't remember to pack up my little creations! But luckily for me, since I had promised a free dessert, I did remember to pack them up (after sharing a few with my husband of course!) According to the guests, my brand new Chocolate Cinnamon Cheerio Treats are a brilliant creation, because there were only a handful leftover!
Next time I promise a dish, I think I'll plan ahead. (Even if these did turn out, you never know when a terrible disaster will land on your cookie sheet!)
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Invention of my Famous Quick Chicken Goulash
I say famous in the title, because I know that I'm going to be asked to make this one again and again! I was looking at the cupboard and I wasn't sure what I felt like making for dinner so I started setting things on the counter, to visualize the possibilities.
I started with tri-color rotini, because pasta is quick and Shane (husband creature) had to go to work in less than an hour. Also, they are pretty. Next to that box I placed a can of dark red kidney beans and a can of chicken. Ideas began to form in my head so I added a can of diced tomatoes and started the water to boil. I measured my pasta and went to the refrigerator to forage for produce. I found onions, garlic, green bell pepper and tomatoes, but decided it was quicker to use the canned diced tomatoes, so the fresh tomatoes had to stay behind.
The pasta water came to a boil so in the pot with the pasta. Set the timer and give it a stir and it can take care of itself in my non-stick pot, an invention handed straight from the gods to mankind. Nothing sticks to non-stick, not even ignored pasta!
On to my veggies! The onions and peppers I treated the same, almost. Of course, they are different creatures, you don't peel your pepper and you don't de-seed an onion, but I did mince them both with my food chopper. I had decided this dish would be soup-ish so I wanted them really little, I don't like big chunks of pepper or onion in my soup (unless it's French onion, and then peppers aren't invited at all). The onion went into the frying pan with a little sea salt and butter - to start them caramelizing faster. The pepper needed to wait a minute, as it wouldn't be added to the pan until the end. After peeling the garlic I pressed it right into the frying pan with the onions, which were about half way done at that time (I was going for a more light burn than a true caramelization). I added a little more butter and gave it a healthy stir before remembering I hadn't stirred the pasta since I had started it to boil.
So I stirred the pasta and then drained it, reserving 2 cups of my boiling water. To the same non-stick pot I emptied the can of diced tomatoes. I put the kidney beans back in the cupboard because I decided I didn't need competing proteins and I had already decided chicken sounded better. To the diced tomatoes I added the two cups boiling water and I hate to admit it, but 2 chicken bullion cubes (I'm out of canned low sodium stock!) I also added paprika, black pepper, basil and cilantro (I love cilantro, it goes all sorts of places it was probably never meant to go).
Back at the frying pan the onions were starting to get a nice crispy sort of brown, so I added the peppers and stirred them. Then stirred the soup, and then I opened the canned chicken, because yes it is edible, and rinsed it REALLY well. The onions were added to the soup and the chicken went into the pan to cook off the extra water. At this point I felt my soup was too thin, so I added about 1/2 can of tomato paste. I then decided it didn't have enough vegetables and it wasn't yet colorful enough so I added a can of corn, I normally use frozen, I really don't care for canned vegetables, BUT canned corn that is going to become part of soup is my one exception. I didn't even drain it, as I had added a bit much tomato paste and it would add a little bit of sweet and salty flavor.
By this time I had almost forgotten about the pasta again, but it was still hot when I added it to my soup, which I promptly decided was more like goulash than soup, so now it was a goulash (you see how recipe naming works now, don't you?) I also added the chicken, and debated adding black beans, decided against and stirred vigorously. This broke the rotini a bit, but that was fine with me. I let it simmer maybe 6-8 minutes before serving, allowing to cool for about 2 minutes and eating.
It was super yum, and Shane only poked it once to find out what all was in it before eating the whole bowl!
I started with tri-color rotini, because pasta is quick and Shane (husband creature) had to go to work in less than an hour. Also, they are pretty. Next to that box I placed a can of dark red kidney beans and a can of chicken. Ideas began to form in my head so I added a can of diced tomatoes and started the water to boil. I measured my pasta and went to the refrigerator to forage for produce. I found onions, garlic, green bell pepper and tomatoes, but decided it was quicker to use the canned diced tomatoes, so the fresh tomatoes had to stay behind.
The pasta water came to a boil so in the pot with the pasta. Set the timer and give it a stir and it can take care of itself in my non-stick pot, an invention handed straight from the gods to mankind. Nothing sticks to non-stick, not even ignored pasta!
On to my veggies! The onions and peppers I treated the same, almost. Of course, they are different creatures, you don't peel your pepper and you don't de-seed an onion, but I did mince them both with my food chopper. I had decided this dish would be soup-ish so I wanted them really little, I don't like big chunks of pepper or onion in my soup (unless it's French onion, and then peppers aren't invited at all). The onion went into the frying pan with a little sea salt and butter - to start them caramelizing faster. The pepper needed to wait a minute, as it wouldn't be added to the pan until the end. After peeling the garlic I pressed it right into the frying pan with the onions, which were about half way done at that time (I was going for a more light burn than a true caramelization). I added a little more butter and gave it a healthy stir before remembering I hadn't stirred the pasta since I had started it to boil.
So I stirred the pasta and then drained it, reserving 2 cups of my boiling water. To the same non-stick pot I emptied the can of diced tomatoes. I put the kidney beans back in the cupboard because I decided I didn't need competing proteins and I had already decided chicken sounded better. To the diced tomatoes I added the two cups boiling water and I hate to admit it, but 2 chicken bullion cubes (I'm out of canned low sodium stock!) I also added paprika, black pepper, basil and cilantro (I love cilantro, it goes all sorts of places it was probably never meant to go).
Back at the frying pan the onions were starting to get a nice crispy sort of brown, so I added the peppers and stirred them. Then stirred the soup, and then I opened the canned chicken, because yes it is edible, and rinsed it REALLY well. The onions were added to the soup and the chicken went into the pan to cook off the extra water. At this point I felt my soup was too thin, so I added about 1/2 can of tomato paste. I then decided it didn't have enough vegetables and it wasn't yet colorful enough so I added a can of corn, I normally use frozen, I really don't care for canned vegetables, BUT canned corn that is going to become part of soup is my one exception. I didn't even drain it, as I had added a bit much tomato paste and it would add a little bit of sweet and salty flavor.
By this time I had almost forgotten about the pasta again, but it was still hot when I added it to my soup, which I promptly decided was more like goulash than soup, so now it was a goulash (you see how recipe naming works now, don't you?) I also added the chicken, and debated adding black beans, decided against and stirred vigorously. This broke the rotini a bit, but that was fine with me. I let it simmer maybe 6-8 minutes before serving, allowing to cool for about 2 minutes and eating.
It was super yum, and Shane only poked it once to find out what all was in it before eating the whole bowl!
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