Tag: Eggs

Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

I didn’t grow up in a meatloaf household. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So when my boyfriend put in a special request for meatloaf I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But he rarely asks for anything specific, and is always willing to eat whatever I make (I jokingly refer to him as “I Can Eat That”) so I think he deserves this one request. I decided to try a recipe from Tyler Florence with a few changes.
Bacon-Topped Meatloaf
Ingredients:
Tomato Relish:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely diced
4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 12 ounce bottle of ketchup
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Meatloaf:
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons milk
1 pound ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
2 eggs
Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and pepper
3 bacon slices

Continue reading Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

Gnocchi

I have wanted to try to make gnocchi for some time now. Luckily, I am part of a food swap and they were willing to let me experiment on them. Here’s hoping they turned out well! I used this article as a base for my recipe.
Note: I actually made the gnocchi twice because I wasn’t happy with the original result. I used smaller potatoes the first time (see below photo) and I found that the normal Idaho potatoes were much better for this recipe. (Special thanks to my boyfriend for a lot of his help during the making of the gnocchi)

Ingredients:
3 large russet (Idaho) potatoes, scrubbed
1 egg yolk
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by pricking each potato all over with a fork. This will allow some of the heat to escape while it is baking in the oven.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half, or until the potatoes are soft.
 
After removing the potatoes from the oven, cut each potato in half to allow the steam to escape.
While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the insides into a potato ricer into a bowl.
Place the potatoes onto a clean work surface, like your counter, and form into a rectangle and allow to cool enough that they are not hot to touch.
Season the potatoes generously with pepper. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and drizzle the over the potatoes.
Measure 1 1/2 cups flour and sprinkle a bit of flour over the potatoes as needed (the less flour you use the better). Using a pastry scraper, mix the flour and egg into the potatoes by chopping everything up and folding it in on itself, until well mixed. The dough should sort of resemble coarse crumbs.
Bring the mixture together into a ball.
Sprinkle some on the work surface. Place the dough on top and flatten into a disk.
Dust the dough with more flour. Using your hands, fold and press the dough until the flour is incorporated. Do this two more times, incorporating the flour each time. If the dough still feels sticky, repeat once more.
Divide the dough into four equal parts.
Roll each section into a long thin roll, about 1/2″ thick.

Cut into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

Because I was making these for a food swap, I arranged all the pieces on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and put them in the freezer overnight.
I then divided the gnocchi into freezer bags and popped them back into the freezer.
To cook, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and top with whatever you prefer: tomato sauce, pesto, butter, etc. (I’m a big fan of tomato sauce with some pesto mixed in, yum!)

I tried a few of these and they were pretty good! I hope that they continue to get better as I make them but I thought this recipe turned out well, here’s hoping those in the food swap agree!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I am so excited that pumpkin season is back, and to share this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! I eat/drink pumpkin flavored things all year, but September through December are when I can truly indulge in my pumpkin obsession.

To kick off the season in style, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe is adapted slightly from Annie’s Eats recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes and the icing is an adaptation of a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from Kraft.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2  teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
  • 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cups (about 3 tablespoons?)
  • 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon  vanilla extract
  • 1 16 oz package of powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Brownies

Hurricane Irene has forced me to stay indoors for most of today, which means I’ve resorted to cooking/baking to keep me occupied. Today’s creation is another Cooking Light recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon bakery emulsion
  • Cooking spray

Topping:

  •  1/4 cup butter
  •  1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  •  3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided
  •  1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  1/2 cup powdered sugar
  •  1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  •  1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
  •  1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Continue reading Salted Caramel Brownies

Lobster Corn Creme Brulee

One of my favorite shows on the Food Network is 5 Ingredient Fix. I love that all the recipes include 5 ingredients or fewer (plus salt and pepper, they are considered “freebies”) and I find the tips that host Claire Robinson shares to be so so useful.

I was watching an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix a few weekends ago, where she was making a Lobster Corn Creme Brulee. It looked so delicious (and easy!) that I promised myself I’d try it out the next time my CSA share came with corn. I didn’t have to wait long!

Ingredients:
  • 3 cobs fresh corn
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 pound lobster meat, diced (tail and/or claw)
  • 2 ounces finely grated Parmesan
Continue reading Lobster Corn Creme Brulee

Fried Okra

Okra. I have never made anything with okra, nor have a really had a hankering to do so. But it was one of my vegetables in my CSA  share so I thought I’d give it a try. If I had time this weekend, I would have preferred to attempt to make a gumbo, but I’m short on time so I did the second best thing: fried them. Now I have zero idea how to fry anything, especially okra. Thankfully, All You had an easy looking recipe.
Ingredients:
1 pound okra
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 seeded and minced jalapeño chili
1/4 cup minced scallion
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 inch of vegetable oil

Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1 seeded and minced jalapeño chili and 1/4 cup minced scallions to a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Prepare the okra. Trim off both ends.
Cut the pods into 1/2 inch pieces and place into the buttermilk mixture.
Mix together so that the okra is coated. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.
While the okra is marinating, mix 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon smoked paprika in a small bowl.
In another bowl, mix 2 cups cornmeal and 1 teaspoon salt.
Heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a medium frying pan to 375 degrees. Take a few pieces of okra out of the buttermilk mixture at a time, shaking to remove excess mixture, and toss in the cornmeal. In batches, drop the okra into the oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden.
Drain on paper towels.
Sprinkle with the paprika-salt mixture and serve.
This was my first time eating fried okra so I honestly don’t have anything to compare this to. But fried food tends to taste, well, fried. And this does, but has a lightness to it that really surprised me. The jalapeño and smoked paprika add a little hint of heat at the end which is really nice!
P.S. My photos will (hopefully) be getting better now. I just bought a new toy suggested to me by my friend Mikey who always manages to take the most fantastic photos, be it of food (usually fried, hence my post choice to try this out), the Philadelphia skyline, or people.  I picked up a Portable Photo Studio which should help with some lighting issues I’ve been having in my kitchen (no natural light). Any comments or suggestions about how to best use the photo studio are appreciated. Thanks again Mikey!!

Fried Rice with Sweet Soy Sauce

I really try to make an effort to bring my lunch to work each day. My office is absolutely freezing, so I tend to gravitate towards warm lunches. Because of this, I am always looking for new pasta and rice recipes that sound like they would reheat well and still taste good. As usual, Cooking Light came to the rescue with the August issue’s Fried Rice with Sweet Soy Saucerecipe. I made all four servings so that I could have a batch for dinner, and get a few lunches out of it.

 

Ingredients for Fried Rice:
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 finely chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped
4 cups cooked  rice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 thinly sliced daikon radish
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 lime wedges
Ingredients for sweet soy sauce:
1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (The original recipe used dark brown sugar. I didn’t have any. Oh well)

Begin by cooking your rice. You can just cook the rice in water because the soy sauce will add plenty of taste, no need to waste your chicken broth.

 

While your rice is cooking. prepare your shallots, garlic and chile. I am a wimp about heat and serraro chile can really be hot, so I removed all seeds before chopping. If you like spicy food, keep the seeds in.

 

Slice your daikon radish. I used a mandoline slicer.

 

Prepare your herbs.

 

To make the sweet soy sauce, combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat. Simmer for 2 minutes or until the brown sugar is incorporated into the soy sauce. Set aside.
Add 4 eggs to a bowl and lightly beat.

 

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to a large saute pan over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Pour eggs into the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until they set. Remove and set aside.

 

Increase the heat to high and add 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the pan. Add your shallots, garlic and chile and saute for 1 minute.

 

Add the cooked rice and cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

Add cooked eggs and soy sauce mixture.

Season with salt and pepper and mix to coat. Add to bowls and top with radish and herbs. Serve with a lime wedge.

 

This meal was really tasty, not only the first time around but also when reheated. The serrano pepper gave a subtle heat to the whole dish which counteracted the sweetness of the soy sauce, great combination! When I packed it for lunch, I kept the rice mixture in one container and a few radish slices,herbs , and a lime wedge in another container. I heated the rice in the microwave and topped them with the radish slices and herbs, then squeezed the lime juice over the whole dish. Perfect!

Dark Chocolate ROOT Cake

I have wanted to try to incorporate ROOT into my cooking for a while now. ROOT is basically the alcoholic version of root beer. For the history/back-story, check out their website. Here is also a video on the stuff:

The spirit contains birch bark, smoked black tea, cinnamon, wintergreen, spearmint, clove, anise, orange, lemon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and pure cane sugar so I thought it would go really well in a chocolate cake. I used this rum cake recipeas a starting point, and substituted in ROOT and dark chocolate, as well as a little instant espresso coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients for the cake:
6 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso coffee
5 ounces (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup ROOT
4 large eggs, separated
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
Pinch saltIngredients for the chocolate glaze:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces roughly chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon espresso powderIngredients for Chantilly cream (optional):
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon sugar or to taste
Small pinch salt
Continue reading Dark Chocolate ROOT Cake

Chocolate Mint Pudding

Chocolate Mint Pudding. Need I say more? This recipe is actually really easy, and it tastes amazing. I made a few changes to the original recipe depending on what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups fat-free milk
  • 1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Continue reading Chocolate Mint Pudding

Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

My little sister is graduating college and her party is next weekend. She asked me to make a cake for her and I couldn’t say no. So I decided to do a test batch this week to make sure I like the recipe (she asked for yellow cake with chocolate icing). I naturally can’t just buy cake in a box, so I’m going to make yellow cake with dark chocolate ganache with raspberries.
Ingredients for cake (this makes enough for 2 9-inch cake pans):
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 ½  cups white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ cups buttermilk
  • 3 ¾ cups cake flour (you can use all-purpose flour as a substitute)
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • Cooking spray
Ingredients for ganache:
  • 16 ounces chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chocolate)
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
This is a double layer cake, so I also needed icing for in between the two layers. You can just buy chocolate icing in the store and use that, but I only want to deliver the best for the little sister.
Ingredients for chocolate frosting:
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 16 oz chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Continue reading Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Barbuzzo’s Salted Caramel Budino

Tasting Table posted an adapted recipe of Marcie Turney’s Salted Caramel Budino. If you’ve never been to Barbuzzo in Philadelphia, your taste buds are missing out on one fantastic dessert. So, if my attempt at this adapted recipe is even half as good as the original salted caramel budino, I will consider this a win.
Barbuzzo’s version is described as “dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, sea salt.” The Salted Caramel Budino version below omits the crust, but maintains the vanilla bean salted caramel poured over a maple flavored custard.
Ingredients
  • Salted Caramel:
    • ¼ cup granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoons light corn syrup
    • 3 tablespoons water
    • ¼ cup heavy cream
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for garnish
    • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Pudding:
    • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
    • ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
    • ¼ cup water
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 2½ cups half-and-half
    • 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks
    • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
    • Whipped cream, for serving

Continue reading Barbuzzo’s Salted Caramel Budino

Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to test out my recipe for Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting before the big day to make sure it didn’t need any tweaking.

Guinness cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes that use a dark stout to enhance the flavor.

To keep with the theme, I decided to also make Bailey’s frosting.

Ingredients (makes 24 cupcakes)

Guinness Cupcakes:

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 12 oz bottle of Guinness (or any other dark stout) – if your bottle is more than this, just measure out 12 oz
  • 1 (4 oz) stick of butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup sour cream

Baileys Frosting:

  • 2 (4 oz) sticks of butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 8 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

Continue reading Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

VisitPhilly.com’s Philly Homegrown section recently posted fall recipes from local eateries in Philadelphia. All of them sounded amazing and I hope to try them all in the coming weeks, but my pumpkin obsession took priority. Metropolitan Bakery’s Pumpkin Walnut Muffins were calling me. I’ve adjusted the recipe a bit, but the general idea is still very much there.

The recipe made two dozen large muffins, or 4 dozen cupcake-sized muffins. Your friends and coworkers will like you a whole lot after you make this recipe!


Ingredients:

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups pumpkin puree, canned
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts

Continue reading Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

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