Cooking

Two Funerals and a Wedding

Posted by Kelly Nicole

May 7, 2009

In one week, I went from here (funeral #1):

To here:

Back to here (funeral #2):

Needless to say, it has been a long and hard few weeks. I hope to update soon. Miss you all.

-Kel

Although I’ve been cooking quite regularly, I haven’t gotten around to sharing a recipe in a while. I thought I’d change things up today and share a recipe for a delicious breakfast (or dessert) treat.

I had never heard of a Dutch baby before my coworker shared a yummy recipe with me. Contrary to my first impression, a Dutch baby is not an infant from the Netherlands (har har), but it is a sweet German pancake, made of butter, flower, sugar, and milk. It’s definitely not something a doctor would condone eating regularly. But, boy oh boy, is it tasty. And, it’s super duper easy to make. If you want to try a super simple impressive breakfast, a Dutch baby is the way to go.

Ingredients: Milk, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, and powdered sugar (and a squeeze of lemon, not pictured)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425. Whisk together flour, eggs, milk, and sugar.

Step 2: Melt half a stick of butter in a cast iron/oven proof pan. While butter is heating, do 1000 push-ups and run five miles.

Step 3: Pour the egg/flour/milk mixture into the cast iron skillet and let it cook for one minute without stirring.

Step 4: Place the skillet in the oven and let the pancake cook until it puffs up, 12-15 minutes.

Here’s what the pancake looks like through the oven window as it’s rising.

Puffy! I thought it was going to jump right out of the skillet.

But once I took it out, it started to deflate immediately. So, I served it right away.

Step 5: Sprinkle some powdered sugar on the pancake and add a squeeze of lemon juice (to cut the sugar a bit)

Eat and enjoy! And then go to the gym for two hours.

Dutch Baby (makes one – 10inch cake: serves 2 to 4 people)

Ingredients:
½ cup milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 Tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Whisk together milk, flour, sugar, and eggs until smooth.
3. Melt in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast iron is ideal) over medium heat – 4 Tbsp ( ½ stick) unsalted butter.
4. Tilt pan so that the butter coats the sides of the pan.
5. Pour egg mixture into the skillet and let it cook, without stirring for 1 minute.
6. Place skillet in oven and bake until pancake is puffed and golden – 12 to 15 minutes.
7. Serve immediately, for the pancake loses its puffs, and therefore its drama, almost immediately.

Note: Serve this straight from the oven with a dust of powered sugar (aka confectioner’s sugar), a spoonful of the best fruit preserves, or simply some fresh squeezed lemon on top.

French Toast, Oooh La La

Posted by Kelly Nicole

December 2, 2008

I’m going to take a break from stamping today to share a recent recipe success I had. I was dying for a good French toast recipe for ages. My coworker gave me a tip to use cream and brioche instead of regular bread and plain eggs. Since the brioche loaf is full of buttery goodness, it tastes extra rich with the butter and egg mixture. Well, I tried it and I have only one thing to say: Best. French Toast. Ever. And it’s super easy to make. The whole process literally takes 10 minutes. Try it and impress your loved ones.

Ingredients: For four pieces of French toast, I used four slices of brioche one cup of milk (use cream if you have it. I didn’t), a splash of vanilla, three eggs, a dash of cinnamon, a tablespoon of brandy, and butter for cooking.

Whisk up all the wet ingredients in a shallow bowl.

Meanwhile, heat a nonstick pan on med/high. The butter should melt and sizzle, but not brown. If the butter browns immediately, the pan is too hot.

Dip the brioche in the egg mixture, wait five seconds, and flip.

Immediately transfer the egg covered bread onto the heated pan and fry.

Flip and cook the other side. Mmmmm. Soooo…. Gooood…

Add a touch of powdered sugar and serve with fruit, syrup, butter, or whatever you like. Yummy!

Lazy Eats for a Lazy Gal

Posted by Kelly Nicole

August 26, 2008

I am all about simplicity. Well, more accurately, I am all about laziness. Take showering, for example. If being smelly wasn’t offensive to people, I probably wouldn’t shower as much. I only shower every day because Hubs makes me. If I were living on my own, I’m sure I’d only bathe half as much as I do now. Gross, I know. Hey, medieval people only bathed twice a year and they were just fine. Anyway, my point is, I’m lazy, and if there’s an easy way to do something, you can bet I’ll figure it out. That’s why I love the internet so darn much; it’s a lazy person’s paradise. Shopping, entertainment, and information, all within two square feet. Awesome! Poor Hubs. He married a very lazy woman.

Even a lazy wife has to feed her hungry husband once in a while. Because I’m lazy, I’m also resourceful. I like cooking, but I love eating even more. Hubs says I’m one of the pickiest eaters he knows. What does a picky, lazy girl do when she’s hungry? She makes quick and easy recipes that are satisfying to the taste buds. Below is my take on an ultimate gourmet chicken sandwich for the ultimate lazy cook. Hubs thinks I’m preparing him a meal fit for a king and I get to make the easiest recipe next to instant ramen. It’s a win-win!

Kel’s Lazy Chicken Sandwich
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Marlboro Man’s 2nd Favorite Sandwich

Ingredients (for two sandwiches):
Two chicken breasts (or one large breast that can be split into two)
6-8 mushrooms
1/2 onion
Creole seasoning
2 wheat hamburger buns
2 pieces of lettuce
2 slices of cheese of your choice (I like provolone, but swiss or jack would also taste yummy)
Condiments

Wash and pat dry a chicken breast and remove the fat with a knife. Make sure you have your left pinky finger sticking up in the air just like I do. It makes the meat taste better. Then, using the flat side of a meat tenderizer, flatten the chicken to about 1/2 inch thickness. When I get really lazy, sometimes I just slice the chicken breast in half sideways to get a thin piece of chicken that cooks quickly.

Next season the chicken very well with creole seasoning. You should be able to find this stuff at your local grocery market. I use this in everything, from jambalaya to chicken marsala. Yup, you heard right—chicken marsala with creole seasoning. (I’ll post the recipe for that soon.) The creole stuff really adds a kick of flavor to your dishes. Once you’re done seasoning the chicken, set it aside to marinate for a bit.

Now, take about four slices of bacon and cut them in half (this is for two sandwiches, so double if you’re making more). Then, add the bacon to the unheated pan and turn your stove to medium low (about 4 on a scale of 10). Let your bacon cook all the way through.

While the bacon is heating, slice the mushrooms.

Slice up the onions. You can leave them in long slices. No need to chop them up into small pieces, unless you want too. I’ve already told you guys that I’m lazy, so the less chopping I need to do, the better.

Now, remove the cooked bacon from your pan and let the pieces drain on a paper towel. If there’s a lot of fat left in the pan, drain some of it off. Leave about a teaspoon or so in the pan and add the onions. Leave them to cook until they begin to caramelize.

Then, add the mushrooms and saute them until they are cooked through and the water has mostly evaporated. Remove the onion mushroom mixture and set it aside.

Take your hamburger buns and spread a small amount of softened butter on them.

Add the buns to a clean hot pan with the inside down. You can skip this part, but I like to have a nice yummy crust on the insides. If you want, you can flip them and heat the outside part of the buns too.

Now, heat one tablespoon of oil in the pan. When the pan is hot, add your marinated chicken breasts. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes per side. If you’re using a pan without a non stick coating, you’ll know your chicken breasts are finished when a crust forms on the bottom and they easily release when you try to turn them over.

When your chicken is almost done cooking on the second side, add the bacon strips on top.

Then, add your slices of provolone or jack or mozzarella (or whatever cheese you like) plus the mushroom, onion mixture. Heat until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese has melted. When everything has finished cooking, take your buns and add the condiments of your choice. Layer with the lettuce leaves to top off your yummy lazy chicken sandwich.

Yum-O. The ultimate definition of an easy, tasty chicken sandwich. And it only took about 20 minutes to make. Let’s name it a lazy-girl chicken-wich, shall we?

Hubs’ Favorite No Meat Pasta

Posted by Kelly Nicole

August 19, 2008

For the record, any vegetarian dish that my husband eats without complaining must be a good dish. If he eats it and actually likes it, now that’s a recipe worth making, my friends.

Hubs tells me that I only like “fresh” tasting food, like cilantro, basil, and tomatoes. That’s his code word for, “fancy food.” I like to garnish my dishes with parsley. Hubs says parsley is pointless and complains that it scratches the top of his mouth. He thinks a dining establishment that serves parsley is a “fancy” restaurant.

Hubs likes things simple. Protein. Carbs. Salt. You see, the thing about Hubs is… well, he’s not exactly the pickiest of eaters. And when I say not picky, I mean he’ll take a container of old chicken out of our fridge, stick his nose in the Tupperware, and take a deep breath. If the food passes his sniff test (even with a C-), he’ll eat it. Say it’s a tad sour, but not quite gone bad yet, he’ll place it in his mouth to perform a chew test. As long as the questionable item once walked and breathed and had at least two legs, he’ll eat it. Needless to say, our toilet plunger is not pleased that Hubs grades our refrigerator contents on a bell curve.

Anyway, last night I made a “fresh” tasting pasta that Hubs actually enjoyed. He scarfed the dish down and declared as one of his favorites. I thought I’d share it with you guys in case you ever need to sneak healthy food into the stomachs of your loved ones. They just might love it too.

Ingredients: Good olive oil (make sure you use the good stuff), basil, 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, garlic, 2-3 oz of goat cheese, 12 oz of camapell— I mean, capanell— err, that box of pasta you see in the picture. Fusilli works well also.

Boil the pasta in salted water and cook the noodles until they are nice and al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, mince three large garlic cloves. I minced five or six. But that’s me. I looove my garlic.

Now, wash and chop your basil leaves. I like to cut them Rachael Ray style. I roll up the leaves into a long bundle and it makes the chopping very easy.

You’ll want about two or two and a half cups of chopped basil. Or whatever your preference. I like basil so I chopped enough to feed a small country with pesto sauce.

Heat about three tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, go ahead and dump the two pints of tomatoes into your pan. Oh wait! I forgot to mention, wash your tomatoes. Oh well. Adds to the flavor, right?

Anyway, the tomatoes are going to sizzle and pop, but just cover them up with the pan lid and let them saute until they begin to soften and some of them start to collapse.

About four minutes into the sauteeing, add the minced garlic into your pan. Make sure you don’t throw it in to early or you’ll have a one big mess of burnt garlic. Let the garlic, tomato mixture keep cooking until the tomatoes are nice and soft, but not totally falling apart. They should still look whole, with a few of them collapsed.

Once your pasta has cooked, drain it and toss it with some olive oil to prevent sticking. I like to use garlic flavored olive oil, but that’s just me. You know I love my garlic.

Now, throw the pasta back into your large pot while the noodle are still hot. Add the 2-3 oz of goat cheese into the pot also.

Add the entire tomato mixture, garlic and all, into the pasta and goat cheese pot. Now, this is the fun part. Take a spatula and toss away. Toss, toss, toss. Toss until all the cheese has melted and mixed into your pasta. Try not to break up the tomatoes too much if you can.