Surprise Surprise!!!

Something happened to me today that was awesome!! I was just hanging out at my apt. before I went to work yesterday. It has been nice here for the past couple of days, so naturally I was outside. I decided to look in my trunk to see what all was in there. As I was digging I felt a book with my hand and as I pulled it out I realized that I found gold. I had in my hands my fathers copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking!!" Oh I was overjoyed!!!

sooo good!!! Below is a closeup shot. Just in case

you didn't catch it above.

Of cource I had to flip through the pages to find the "one and only" recipe. Can we all guess what that is????? You guessed it!! Boeuf Bourguignon!!!! Holla! I wonder if you can make it in a crock pot? Sometimes I feel like crock pots take the talent out of cooking. To each his own.

I looked inside to see what what other treasures I would find and I came across an old cake request from when my Dad worked at the Waterford Hotel. He worked there as a pastry chef and would do people's wedding cakes all the time. This couple whoever they were wanted this particular cake below. Kinda pretty.

Thanks for going down memory lane with me. I also found volume two in my car. Who knows I may have the whole set!!We should all get together and make something sometime soon. But for now, Bon Appetit!!

Scalloped Potatoes

A good friend once told me that the "f" in flavor stands for fat. Even though a fellow contributor is a dietician, and even though I work at a heart hospital, I have to agree with that statement on some level.

My mind knows that healthy food can be tasty, my mouth knows that butter is heaven and heavy cream is from the Lord.

Everything in moderation, right Steph?

So, with that said, here is a very delicious and flavorful recipe for scalloped taters.

I start by slicing 3-4 large potatoes- I like to use red potatoes with the skins still on and I slice them relatively thin so that there are more layers in the end product.

Also, grate about a cup and a half of cheddar cheese (I used cheddar because I had it handy, but it'd be fun to experiment with different cheeses) and a cup of parmesan cheese. Butter the pan you are intending to use.

The concept of scalloped potatoes is similar to layering a lasagna. Throw some potatoes down, then some cheddar then some parmesan, then season, then more potatoes, more cheese. You get it. Seriously, though, don't forget to season each layer. It makes a difference. And reserve a little parmesan for the top. Here are some layering pictures.

So the last real step is adding a milk component to your masterpiece. Here's the deal: you can use heavy cream, you can use fat free milk, you can use a combination. The first time I made it, I used half heavy cream and half 2% milk. The second time, I used fat free milk because it's what I had handy. Both times, the potatoes were goooood.

In a saucepan, heat 2- 2 1/2 cups of milk (less if you prefer dryer potatoes) on low heat. Add 2 cloves of chopped garlic, several sprigs worth of fresh thyme, 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Pour milk mixture over the potatoes, sprinkle remaining parmesan over top layer, cover with foil, bake 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 5 minutes.

Make if for a potluck, like I did. Or eat the entire dish yourself, like I wanted to.

breakfast kick-ass-erole

this casserole is a beautiful display of all things protein: eggs, cheese, sausage, cottage cheese...if the last one frightens you (people love it or hate it!) do not be afraid. the strangely textured dairy product will not be detected.

casseroles are wonderful things to take to a potluck style event. or if you are entertaining several people for breakfast. if you've ever tried to make breakfast for a big group of guest, you may have noticed how stressful it becomes. whether it be preventing burnt waffles or pancakes, or attempting to create the perfectly fluffy scrambled egg while trying not to burn yourself in bacon grease...flustered is often a feeling that becomes me. for this reason, i often turn to the breakfast casserole. you can put it together the night before and cook in the morning. just slice up some fruit, brew some coffee, and enjoy your guests :)


for this breakfast casserole, chop up a medium onion and green pepper. saute with about a pound of turkey sausage (remove casing if using links) and cook until no longer pink. remove from heat and drain. in a seperate bowl, combine 16 ounces of cottage cheese (low-fat), 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 cups of egg substitute, 1 cup skim milk, 1 cup reduced fat biscuit/baking mix, and a 4 ounce can of chopped green chili's. add this mixture to the sausage/pepper/onion mixture and stir it up. add to a 13 x 9 inch baking dish coated with nonstick spray. bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Austin: A Flavor Explosion.

Although this post does not include a recipe, I hope that it inspires you to take a little trip south of the Red River to Austin, Texas and see what it has to offer!

The purpose of the trip was for Annie to run in a half-marathon: GO ANNIE!!! But it also included some wonderful culinary delights. Some of these places we went, we have been before because they were THAT GOOD. Last time Annie and I went to Austin was for a job fair in the Spring of 2008... which needless to say.. those jobs did not work out, but when we were there we discovered some delicious treats!

1st off: Guero's Taco Bar. Now, this place has been around forever and for good reason. They have amazing tacos, 3 different types of salsa, and refreshing margaritas. If I had to pic my favorite part of the meal, it would have to be the black beans... AMAZING.

2nd: Amy's Ice Creams. There are many locations of this place around town, but the one we visited was on South Congress. Soooo good. It's kind of a coldstone-ish type place where they do the mix-ins. I had dark chocolate with junior mints, and Annie's was unbelievable with Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream, hot fudge, and prailine sauce. WOW.

Finally: We ended our trip with an outing to Whole Foods. We were here for quite awhile.. So many things to look at!!! Some of the things we ended up with was hand ground almond butter, bulk spices, lentils and pecarino-romano cheese. We could have done more damage, but due to the lack of refrigeration on our 6 hour car ride, we decided against it. When will OKC get one of these!!!??!!

Overall, it was a great trip! Shout out to Hannah King for letting us crash at her house!

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food. It is also so very flexible that one would have topractically try to mess it up. One time, a batch of Amish Friendship Bread (the culinary equivalent of those old-school chain letters that haunt one's existance) was such failure that I just cubed it, let it dry out, and I'll be derned if didn't make a killer bread pudding. Then again, any dessert consumed with bourbon sauce, The Bachelor, and the company of fellow blog contributers. . .

Anyway, the bottom line is this: Comfort food + Easy = Me loving it.

So I had made these whole wheat dinner rolls a while back (like way back), and there were a few left. I always let them hang around on the counter for a while with the intention of bread pudding, but these were really like little rocks. Like, get-the-rolling pin-out-and-hammer-them-to-pieces rocks.

I had also just procured four adorable ramekins, so the stars were obviously lined up and screaming bread pudding at me.

Bread Pudding

makes 3 servings in 1/2 cup ramekins

1 and 1/2 c. dried out bread, cubed or broken

1 c. milk

2 eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

a sprinkle of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350. Divide the bread among the ramekins (this can also be done in a baking dish on a slightly larger scale).

In a bowl, mix up the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and spices.

Pour over the bread. This will probably cause the bread to float up a bit.

For a few minutes, weight a plate on top of the ramekins to hold the bread down so it soaks up some of the custard mixture.

Put them in the oven and wait anxiously for 20 or 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out like they're done. Cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.

Notes: This is a very basic recipe. Because I only had skim milk, I added a few thin slices of melted butter. You could probably throw in another egg if you wanted it a little richer, or more sugar if you like things sweeter.

Raisins are a fun addition, or take out the cinnamon and nutmeg and add chocolate chips.

Apple Crostata

Mmmmmmm!

The other night I had a bunch of friends over. I had some apples in the fridge and some flour in the cupboard so I decided to try an impromptu Apple Crostata. I know. I sound pretentious. Like the Barefoot Contessa. I'd been meaning to try it though, and I just thought the setting was right for it.

I was first introduced to apple crostada at Coffee Slingers (who get's their pastries at Praire Thunder Bakery). Apple crostata is best described as a little pocket of apple pie only it's better, because it's sweet and cinnamony and the crust is so tender and buttery. The crostata Praire Thunder makes are "personal sized" which are accessible and nice in their own way. The evening I made mine, I just felt like we all needed to share a huge crostata together.

First make the outside pie dough. Combine in a food processor:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick of cold, cold butter

Process ingredients together until the contents look like clumpy sand. Add 3 tbsp of cold water and combine until dough is formed. Form dough into a disk and wrap in saran wrap. Refrigerator until it is chilled well.

Peel, core and chop 3 large or 6 small apples. I don't care what kind you use. I had granny smith in the fridge and they were excellent.

Next, roll out you pie dough. I just made mine into a huge circle. Here are two terrible pictures of the dough rolling process for you to reference.

Place the chopped apple pieces in the middle of the dough, leaving about an inch and a half border. Make your crostata filling by combining:

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

Sprinkle this mixture on top of the apples. Or you could always toss the apples into the dry ingredients. Fold the edges of the dough over the apples and filling to make a "pocket". I pinched off the areas where the dough overlapped. Thinnly slice a tbsp of butter and place slices in over the crostata.

Bake on 450 degree Farenheit for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. You can let it cool, but it's better if you enjoy it hot off the pan like we did.

BEST Banana Pudding

Hi there :) My normal day to post is Saturdays, but since I've neglected the past 2, and no one seems to mind a sporadic post here and there, I'm taking advantage of a day off work and posting today!

I enjoy banana pudding very much - enough to say it's probably in my top 3 dessert choices. When I first tasted Nora Berry's banana pudding I knew it was the best I'd ever

had. This specific dessert is made even more special to me because Nora Berry is the mother of a very important man in my life, Joey. I was first introduced to her pudding on a visit to his hometown in the DFW area, then Joey made it once while we were in college at OU. The first time I loved it, the second time I knew I had to have the recipe!

Today I am sharing the love :)

Ingredients:

2 large boxes (or 3 small) of banana instant pudding

Approx. 6 cups milk

1 box vanilla wafers of your choice

Bunch of bananas

1 tub whipped topping

Now, you should know that not all banana pudding is the same. There is a certain ingredient that makes Nora's recipe stand out among the rest....and that ingredient is....

ahhhhlelulah!!! Can you hear the angels singing? ;)

add an 8oz. pkg of cream cheese to your list of ingredients

Directions:

Soften the cream cheese, then mix with whipped topping. Prepare instant pudding as directed on box (this is where the milk comes into play). Slowly add pudding mixture to the cream cheese/cool whip blend. The pudding should become a pale yellow color. Mix until smooth.

**PAUSE** for a mini-lesson on how to properly peel a banana:

For years I've tried to open bananas by breaking the stem-part off at the end. This resulted, more often than not, in mush. Most people I know also open bananas in this manner - it's how our parents taught us, right? Well, it's time we take a lesson from the monkeys.

If you've ever noticed the way a monkey chooses to peel a banana, you'll note that they do NOT start from the end with the stem! Instead, they pinch the other end of the banana and peel from there, like so

It's much easier with no mush involved!

Slice bananas (as many as desired).

In a dish, layer vanilla wafers, pudding, then sliced bananas.

Repeat until the dish is filled. Garnish the top with crushed wafer cookies.

Listen as your taste buds cheer!

P.S. I made this dessert for the Mesta Park potluck last night and it was a hit! Beulah house church-ers will get the leftovers tonight :)

Pictures to get you through the weekend

We had dinner at my house last night. We ate it on the floor of my kitchen. The lasagna was not good, but the crostada was like tasting a childhood fourth of July.

The apple crostada disappeared before we could get a picture of the whole, glorious thing.

That's Anna bein' awesome.

simply sweet

Greetings friends!

It's Anna again! I played with my kitchen aid mixer this week. I made cookies of the chocolate variety. DELISH! I realize as I continue to cook/bake that I do not have many of the normal things that belong in a kitchen. ie..cookie sheet. So in these pictures you will notice that I use a roasting pan as a cookie sheet. Just has to be flat, right? Below is a sweet action shot of me and my mixer! notice my excited face.

another action shot! I couldn't stop. I bake in a tiny kitchen and my mixer is on the floor because that is where the plug is. One day I will be more sophisticated. For now it's floor mixing time! (haha I spelled the word mixing as "mixen" first cause thats how I say it) You're lucky I edit.

Here is a sweet shot of the baking. No worries I DON'T bake with the oven door open. That is just for the photo op, and to show you my creative baking methods. It does work people, just be creative.

I made these delish cookies because of the souper bowl. I'm not sure that is spelled right but I am going to spell it that way and I had some dough left over. I am making them to give to my friend Jaime. I decided to make chocolate cookies, well because they are yummy, but also that is what I had in my pantry. COCOA! WHOO HOO!

Makes about 3 dozen

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 pound good-quality milk chocolate, 4 ounces coarsely chopped and 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Melt 4 ounces coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.
2. Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks.
3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft). Let cool on parchment on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

By the way makes about 3 dozen, whatever I never really believe that. I doubled the recipe and did not get 3 doz. out of it. But at the same time I don't really want 3 doz. cookies. hope you enjoy these, they are soooooo good. A really rich chocolate taste.