Gnocchi

Here's yet another recipe I've been wanting to make for YEARS and just never did. Until two weeks ago...

Was it worth the wait after all these years?!? Abso-freaking-lutely.

So what is gnocchi? It's basically a potato pasta. Atkins and South Beach would be very, VERY angry at me for making this. But Atkins and South Beach can suck it. Gnocchi is freaking delicious and every bite is like a little pillow of softness in your mouth.

Trader Joe's sells a pretty delicious vacuum-sealed version I buy, but I'd always wondered how much better it would be from scratch. Now I know and I don't think I'll ever go back. And it's really not that hard to make!

Although the day I made the gnocchi it *was* a pretty crazy day. But I brought it upon myself because I decided to try not just one, but TWO gnocchi recipes. One from Cooks Illustrated and one from Ladia's Italy (a PBS show from a real Italian in which she cooks... you guessed it, Italian foods!) I mean we ARE making pasta here folks. So a competition it became: which recipe would yield the better gnocchi?? You all know how much I like my throwdowns, so this time it was a gnocchi throwdown.

(ding, ding, DING!)

In one corner we had the Cooks Illustrated recipe (in which you mixed the potatoes + manchego cheese + a little bit of flour). In the other corner we had Lidia's Italy recipe (in which you mixed the potatoes + eggs + flour). As you'll notice, the biggest difference was eggs, or the lack-there-of. And oh boy what a difference it made...

Sorry to spoil the ending, but I'm just gonna say it right now: for the first time ever Cooks Illustrated has given me a giant DUD recipe. It wasn't BAD, but it wasn't GNOCCHI. It tasted like little balls of mashed potatoes. Gnocchi isn't supposed to be mushy, it's supposed to have a soft little bite to it, like a dumpling. And Lidia's gnocchi were just that.

You can even see it in this picture if you look closely enough. (I prepared the gnocchi with a brown butter sauce with sage. The only good thing about the Cooks Illustrated recipe was this sauce. I promise to write it up sometime soon...)

On the left is the Cooks Illustrated recipe, Lidia's Italy on the right. The CI gnocchi look as though they are disintegrating, whereas Lidia's gnocchi are nicely holding their shape. I won't even bother giving you the Cooks Illustrated recipe (or photos I took of the process) because it's seriously not worth it.

Soooo, you ready to make your own gnocchi?!? Lots of pictures to follow the very easy process.
(Disclaimer: This is my first time making any kind of pasta from scratch. So although it was delicious, I still haven't made it enough times to truly know what works/what doesn't/what I should improve upon. But I have to say, it seems like a pretty forging recipe, so there's no way to really mess it up.)

OK, first thing you have to do is cook your potatoes. Lidia's recipe calls for boiling the potatoes, but most others I've seen (like this one at Smitten Kitchen) has you bake them. I don't think it really matters recipe-wise. Just cook the damn things, but try not to overcook them.

After they're cooked, you need to break them up without turning them into total mush. You can use a potato ricer or a food mill (thanks to Liz for letting me borrow hers!), which basically works like a grater.

Place the roughly chopped potatoes in the food mill and just crank away.

It ends up extruding the potatoes and ensuring a nice, smooth "paste" like texture.

Don't have a food mill or ricer?!? Fear not! Smitten Kitchen suggests using a box grater and grating the cooked potatoes. I'm definitely going to do that next time.

At this point the recipe calls for drying the potatoes on a baking sheet (up to 3 hours). I let them sit for a few hours but that's not really necessary; the potatoes cooled quite quickly.

So you'll probably find different versions of gnocchi recipes out there. This one calls for two eggs, one from Smitten Kitchen calls only for one. And there's different ways to mix the dough too. I'll probably give SK's recipe a shot next time I make gnocchi (yet ANOTHER gnocchi throwdown) but I'll be showing you Lidia's recipe and technique today.

As a warning: this method of mixing the dough is messy. Feel free to hunt around the internets for less messy preparations. You'll get your hands less dirty, but I can basically guarantee they won't be nearly as much fun to prepare!

Make a little "volcano" with the shredded potatoes and place the beaten eggs in the middle.

Now add the flour on top.

Whereda eggs go?

Now, just mix it all together (trying to keep the eggs from going all over the place). Sorry, no pictures of the process, my hands were a bit messy.

Feel free to add a little less/more flour, depending on the dough. You want it to come together and lose most of its stickiness. But be very generous with the flour on your working surface. Sprinkle everything to keep the dough from sticking.

Once the dough comes together you want to knead it for a few minutes. The texture feels very much like bread dough (I haven't made dough many times before, but it does have an elasticity that dough has). Here's me kneading the dough (with one hand since I was filming with the other) so you can see what the texture/consistency is like. Smacking it is not necessary, but fun nonetheless (that's what she said?!?)



To shape the gnocchi, cut the finished dough into 3 or 4 pieces (making sure to cover what you're not using with a cloth to prevent it from drying). On a well floured surface, roll one piece under your hands into a thick cylinder and gradually stretch it to long rope, about 2/3-inch thick.

Rollin', rollin', rollin' (Check out my reflection in my bowl- I just noticed it!)

Perfectly long rope...

...2/3" thick.

With a sharp knife slice the rope in 1/2" pieces.

At this point you're basically done, but if you want to make them look like cute little gnocchi (which typically have these little ridges on them), use the back of a fork and press/roll the gnocchi down the tines to make an impression. Flour the fork if the dough is sticking.

It doesn't take long to go through all the pieces.

Lookie how cute!!

Place your pieces on a floured baking sheet (and cover with towel while you work on the rest of the gnocchi)

And that's it- you're done!

At this point you can do one of two things:
1) Cook all the gnocchi ASAP. (Drop in batches in boiling water for 2-3 minutes until they pop to the surface. Yes, it's that easy!)

2) Store the gnocchi. To do this, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 30-60 minutes. Once they are individually frozen, place the gnocchi in a freezer bag. And whenever you want some gnocchi for dinner, just throw some frozen gnocchi into boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until they pop to the surface. Don't thaw the frozen gnocchi, just cook them as you would fresh.

Well there you have it folks- homemade gnocchi. They were AMAZINGLY delicious in a simple butter sage sauce (my photo from before to remind you of the finished product).

Like I said, I'll be posting that prepared recipe soon enough. And I've got two giant bags of frozen gnocchi sitting in my freezer just WAITING for me to try out different recipes- so if you have any ideas- I'll gladly take them.

Jackie

Recipes
You may want to check out Smitten Kitchen's gnocchi blog entry for a slightly different version of this recipe and tips/recipe ideas. Next time I'm gonna try out her recipe. I absolutely love her blog!

Gnocchi dough, from Lidia's Italy

With all dishes using potato dough, keep several time factors in mind to get the best results. First, allow the cooked potatoes to air-dry thoroughly before you mix the dough-2 hours or even longer if possible. The drier the potatoes the lighter the dough will be when cooked. Second, because potato dough is best when freshly mixed and cannot sit around, plan to shape the dough into gnocchi and cook them right away (or freeze them). If you are making stuffed gnocchi or offelle, have your filling ingredients ready when you mix the dough.

Makes about 1.5 pounds dough, enough for 6 servings of gnocchi in different shapes

1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (all the same size)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten well
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for working with the dough

Recommended equipment:
· A potato ricer or vegetable mill with medium disk

Put the potatoes, whole and skin-on, in a large pot with cold water covering them by at least 2-inches. Bring to a steady boil and cook just until they are easily pierced with a fork or sharp knife blade-don’t overcook. (Jackie's note: you could also bake them in the oven)

Lift potatoes from the water and let them drain briefly. Peel and press through the ricer or food mill as soon as you can, while they’re still very hot, so their moisture will evaporate. (Jackie's note: you can also use a cheese grater for this step.) Spread the potatoes in a thin layer on a baking sheet or tray, sprinkle the salt all over and let them cool and dry for at least 20 minutes, preferably 2 to 3 hours.

To mix the dough, pile the dried potatoes in a large loose mound on a board or marble work surface. Pour the beaten eggs over them then sprinkle 1 cup of the flour on top. Using your hands, work in the eggs, mixing and moistening the flour and potatoes. Gather into a single mass and knead for several minutes, scraping in sticky bits from the board and your hands. Incorporate additional flour in small amounts, only as needed, until the dough is smooth, soft and only slightly sticky. Avoid adding too much flour which will make the gnocchi heavy and dry. Cover the dough with a towel and form into gnocchi or offelle as soon as possible.

To shape traditional gnocchi, cut the finished dough into 3 or 4 pieces. Dust the work surface and your hands with flour. Roll one piece under your hands into a thick cylinder and gradually stretch it to long rope, about 2/3-inch thick. With a sharp knife or dough cutter, slice the rope, crosswise, into ½-inch lengths; sprinkle pieces with flour.

Hold a dinner fork, tines downward at an angle to your work surface. Place one of the cut sides of a piece of dough against the tines. With your lightly floured thumb. press into the dough on the other cut side and at the same time push it off the end of the fork onto a floured board. It will be hollow and curved where you pressed it and ridged on the side that rolled off the fork. Press and roll the other cut pieces into gnocchi, dust them with flour and set in a single layer on a floured tray, not touching.

Small gnocchi should be cooked (or frozen) as soon as they are all shaped.
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Chocolate leaves

Cake decorating tutorial time!!

For Thanksgiving I'm planning on making an entire meal, from scratch. But along with the turkey, side dishes, and cupcakes I'll have more than enough on my plate. So any decorations that I can do in advance will be a god-send come Thanksgiving eve.

For some fall-related decorations I was thinking leaves would be perfect. Because nothing says fall like multi-colored leaves. And I've seen/read about making edible leaves by painting chocolate onto leaves. So I figured I'd give it a shot.

This was my first time trying this technique, and I have to say, it was easier and more successful than I even thought it would be. The moment you peel the leaf away from the chocolate is like magic!

All you need is:
* chocolate
* leaves (plastic or from an edible plant)
* cheapo paint brush

For chocolate you can use whatever block chocolate you want. I'd probably stay away from chocolate chips, due to the emulsifiers they use, they don't melt very easy. For decorating with chocolate I often use "melting wafers," or little buttons of chocolate, because they're cheap and you can buy them in a multitude of colors.

Alternatively, you can color white chocolate using chocolate coloring. But beware- regular food or icing coloring won't work b/c they're water-based (and water causes the chocolate to seize). You'll need chocolate coloring, which is oil-based to prevent the chocolate from seizing up.

To melt your chocolate just break it up (or toss a few wafers) in a little cup/bowl and warm in the microwave until just melted. Make sure not to burn the chocolate, so heat it at reduced power for short time-periods (30 seconds at first, less as you get close to the end.)

This is basically all you'll need to get started

I used mint leaves since they're edible, delicious and a bunch yields a lot of differently sized leaves.

Now just paint on the colors on the UNDERSIDE of the leaf. Remember, this chocolate technique is basically in reverse, so what you paint first will be at the "front" of the chocolate decoration.

Continue with any other colors you like. Let the chocolate set for longer if you want your colors to remain distinct and separate from each other. If you don't mind them mixing together a little bit, go ahead and brush the next chocolate color on while the previous color hasn't fully set.

In the end you'll have to give the leaf a nice, thick coating of chocolate to hold the whole thing together. Just make sure you have no "leaf spots" still showing. And I found out the hard way that not enough chocolate makes for brittle and broken leaves. So don't skimp on the chocolate in this step.

And just repeat the process a million times.

It took me ~ 1 hour to do about 30 leaves. But that included having to melt my chocolate repeatedly (boooo to cold ass apartments) and using lots of different colors on each leaf. If you're doing a solid color this will go by a lot faster. But it doesn't require a lot of technical or detailed work, so it's easy to do while watching tv or whatever.

When you're done just pop the leaves in the freezer for a few minutes to really firm up the chocolate. Then just gently peel away the mint leaves, and VIOLA!

The mint leaves will basically shrivel up as they warm up after you peel them off. So they're one-time use only. It's OK though- they've sacrificed themselves to a beautiful cause.

I mean seriously, how cool do these leaves look??

Make sure to use leaves of all different sizes. It makes for such an interesting contrast.

And just because I can, lots more pictures of pretty, pretty leaves

Can't wait to finally use them on Turkey Day. Happy decorating!

Jackie

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THE BEST chicken teriyaki

If you're a fan of chicken OR teriyaki you must read this post. Why?? Because I can guarantee you've never prepared chicken like this before and/or you've never made your own teriyaki sauce. And your life will not be complete until you do. Am I being overly dramatic?!? Not at all. :)

The beauty of this recipe is that you can use this method for cooking chicken for many recipes (eaten plain even) and use the teriyaki sauce for whatever you like. Each recipe will blow you away; make them together and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about.

The other great thing about this recipe is that it is ridiculously simple. Almost no prep time and very little active cooking time. Which means there's really no way to mess it up.

Are you ready to make this mouth-watering creation??

Well, just follow along.

You'll need the following to get started:
chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
teriyaki sauce (made up of soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, cornstarch and mirin if you have it)
(Recipe, as always, is at the end of the post)

Let's deal with the chicken first.

Heat oil in a pan on medium high, and then when super hot add the chicken skin side down. The trick here is weighing the chicken thighs down (to crisp up the skin and render the fat). Place a pot and a large can on top of the chicken to press down on the chicken.

Can you see the fat just melting off from under the skin? But here's my warning: it's a violent process. Lots of loud popping sounds and fat spattering around. Can you hear it sizzling?? Good, it's working!

Now, walk away. Yes, I said walk away. Don't touch it, don't adjust it, don't do anything. Just let that cook for 16-20 minutes. Easy huh??

While the chicken is cooking, go ahead and prepare your teriyaki sauce by combining soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, cornstarch and mirin (if you have it- I just eliminate it). And yes, it seems like a lot of sugar. It is, but it's delicious...

You'll be done making the sauce well before the 16-20 minutes is up. So easy!

Ready to flip? OK. Now make sure to protect yourself at all times, the heat is on pretty high and fat is splattering EVERYWHERE at this point. I covered my hands with a towel and used long tongs to flip the chicken over.

It's dangerous business this cooking, but it's totally worth it! Look at the color on that skin. Crispy, delicious and none of the nasty fat underneath it.

Continue to cook the chicken for another 3-5 minutes, or until done.

And if you didn't believe me about how splattery the whole process is, just check out this video. (Make sure to have the sound on!)




(And can I just say: Yea for my first video on the blog!!!!!! This new discovery is going to be a dangerous thing for me.)

At this point the chicken is done. So if you don't like teriyaki sauce you could just eat the chicken as-is for a delicious meal. But if you want to make it ultimately delicious, you're going to have to teriyaki it up.

Remove the chicken from the pan and drain off all the fat from the pan. I know it looks pretty bad with all that grease, but the chicken isn't greasy at all. In fact, it's probably healthier since all of that fat is rendered and thrown away.But if it still bothers you, feel free to use a paper towel to dab off any excess fat on the chicken.

Now it's time for your chicken to get a teriyaki bath. Add the teriyaki sauce to the pan. Be prepared, it's gonna sizzle!

Then ddd the chicken back to the pan and use a spoon to coat it with the teriyaki sauce.

As the cornstarch and heat help thicken the sauce it'll really start to cling onto the chicken and form a shiny and delicious coating.

I mean just look at it when it's all done. Mouth-wateringly good.

So there you have it folks- the most amazing chicken teriyaki. The chicken is juicy, the skin is crispy and the sauce is devine.

The only downside to this recipe: stove-top cleanup. The fat splatters everywhere...

Jackie

Stovetop Chicken Teriyaki, from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 5 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat and skin
Ground black pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mirin
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 medium clove garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

1. Pat chicken dry chicken with paper towels, then season with pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just beginning to smoke. Place chicken skin side down in skillet; set heavy pot filled with three or four 28-ounce cans on top of chicken. Cook until skin is deep brown and very crisp, 16 to 20 minutes, checking browning after 10 minutes and adjusting heat as needed. Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger, garlic, and cornstarch together in small bowl.

2. Remove cans from skillet; using tongs, flip chicken thighs. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, without weight, until second sides are brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of thigh (not touching bone) registers about 175 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to serving platter.

3. Pour off fat from skillet. Whisk soy mixture to recombine, then add to skillet; bring to simmer over medium heat. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet; turn to coat chicken with sauce. Turn chicken skin side up and simmer until sauce is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to serving platter; transfer sauce to small bowl and serve, passing sauce separately.

Note: Mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine, is a key component of teriyaki; it can be found in the international section of most major supermarkets and in most Asian markets. If you cannot find it, use 2 tablespoons white wine and an extra teaspoon of sugar. If desired, low-sodium soy sauce can be used in place of regular soy sauce. Serve with steamed rice, preferably short grain.
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Homemade "ricotta" cheese

Yes, you read that correctly folks. This isn't a recipe USING ricotta cheese, it's a recipe FOR ricotta cheese. And it's quite possibly the easiest thing I have ever made in my life.

Can you pour milk in a pot? Can you heat that pot? Can you pour an acid into that pot and stir? Can you then dump out the liquid?? Well, then YOU TOO can make your own ricotta cheese. Yup, that's it.

Ready to make cheese?!?

Disclaimer: We're not really making ricotta, since real ricotta is made from whey, and not curds (whey is the liquid that's left over after you curdle the milk into cheese curds). In this recipe we'll be making "ricotta" from the curds; but it's a pretty damn close approximation and can be used interchangeably with store-bought ricotta.


First pour your (whole) milk into a big pot and set temp to medium high heat.

Next add salt.

Now, you stir. Basically you want to get the milk to a simmer but you DO NOT want to burn the milk. Burned milk= no good. What do you to prevent milk from burning? Whisk. A lot. And regularly. And remember, the closer you get to a simmer the more you should whisk, because that's when the milk is more prone to burning. You'll also notice the milk get a bit foamy around the edges and a bit bubbly- this is good. It's getting close.

Once the milk is at a simmer add 2-3 TBSP of lemon juice. I used the ghetto-fabulous from concentrate kind because I have a giant bottle of it that's been in my fridge for years. Fresh will work too. (The acid isn't for flavor, it's to curdle the milk.)

Now just stir for another minute or two (turn down the heat if it starts bubbling too much). Almost instantly you'll see a change in texture. Can you see the clumpies?? (Note: I'd suggest using a wooden/silicone spoon for this step instead of a whisk. Whisking vigorously resulted in much smaller curds; stir gently for smaller curds)

Once you're done just pour the whole thing in a strainer.

The recipe I was using said use a slotted spoon to transfer the curds to a strainer. But my curds were too small (I think b/c I whisked after adding the lemon juice vs. stirring gently) and they went right through my slotted spoon so I just dumped the whole thing in and it worked perfectly. Other recipes also call for cheese cloth. While you can use cheese cloth to dry the cheese even more (and press it into the kind of cheese used in Indian dishes called paneer) it's not necessary either.

See, just a strainer with small holes is all you really need. Look how the curds (aka cheese) nicely separate from the whey (aka leftover liquid).

The leftover whey should be transparent (vs. the opaque milk), "thin/liquidy" looking, and a bit yellowish. If it still looks milky you can go ahead and repeat the process to get more cheese. Mine was pretty much cheesed out though.

So what's the final product look like?? An airier, lighter and drier version of ricotta cheese

And you don't need to let it sit or anything. It's literally ready within a minute of draining the whey. You COULD let it sit longer, but I was hungry for dinner. mmmmmmm, cheese...

OK, time now for my random thoughts/comments:

1. 1/2 gallon of milk will yield ~ 1.5 cups cheese. It's not alot, and makes you realize why cheese is so damn fattening...

2. The cheese had a really great texture, very light and "clean" tasting. However, it was a bit bland. Perhaps that's just because I crumbled it on my pasta and didn't actually add anything else to it (which you would if you were to use it for stuffed shells or lasagna). So I dunno if adding a smidge more salt would help.

3. I made this using whole milk, and I'd suggest the same. Maybe 2%, but I don't know if I'd risk milk with less fat than that.

4. Cooks Illustrated says to store it for 3 days. You can probably get away with a little longer than that (it didn't smell bad even after a week) but eat it later at your own risk. :)

5. This is exactly the same way you make paneer, the cheese cubes used in Indian dishes like palak paneer. Watch this great video to see the making of paneer. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1Vfi2Bypg) Actually, watch the video even if you never plan to make paneer- it shows you exactly how everything will look. It also gives you advice on how to use the leftover whey and different ways to flavor the cheese (since it is a bit bland).

6. This is a great recipe to whip out if your milk is on the verge of going bad and you know you're never going to drink it in time. Just scale down the salt/acid to the amount of milk you have for a single serving of cheese.

Enjoy!!

Jackie

OK, recipe time.

My recipe, adapted from this recipe on livejournal

1/2 gallon milk
1 tsp salt
2-3 TBSP lemon juice

Add salt to milk and heat on med/high heat until simmering, making sure to whisk throughout the heating. When frothy and slightly bubbly, add the lemon juice. Stir and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes. Pour curds + whey into a strainer with small holes and lift out the strainer. Done.

Cooks Illustrated Recipe. Same thing just more details

1 1/2 gallons whole milk
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 - 3/4 cup juice (from 6 to 7 lemons or concentrate)

1. Heat milk and salt in 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-high, stirring frequently with rubber spatula to prevent scorching, until milk registers 185 degrees on instant read thermometer, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove pot from heat. Using rubber spatula, slowly stir in 1/2 cup lemon juice until fully incorporated, 15 seconds. Allow milk to stand, undisturbed for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes milk should separate into white solid curds and translucent liquid whey. If after 5 minutes whey is still milky and opaque, add 2 more tablespoons lemon juice, gently stir to combine and let rest 5 minutes longer. Check separation again and repeat with another 2 tablespoons juice until whey is no longer opaque (depending on your milk, whey may appear different shades of yellow or blue). Once milk is separated into curds and whey allow pot to rest for 20 minutes.

3. Line colander or large strainer with double layer of cheesecloth and set over sink. Using large spoon, carefully spoon curds into colander. Discard whey. Using rubber spatula, gently fold curds over themselves until liquid no longer runs out of colander and curds have texture of grainy cream cheese. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

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Baby shower cake

A month or so ago my friend Kelsey contacted me about helping her decorate a cake. There were three women at her work who were all expecting within a few months of each other (all three were having boys) and she wanted to do something special.

I hadn't made a cake in a while and it was seriously the most perfect idea. I didn't have to bake or do dishes or prepare anything. All I had to do was grab all my cake decorating supplies and head over to her place for an evening of decorating fun. And 'OH BOY' was it a blast.

We ended up decorating this cake and 24 cupcakes, all within ~4 or so hours. Not bad!

Here was the cake in all its glory

We had a great time laughing over our not-so-great sculpting abilities. We had our GIANT baby (green blanket), our CUTE baby (yellow blanket) and our BIGFOOT baby (blue blanket).

Wanna see all the awesome details?!?

First of all, look back at the original cake to see how giant the baby under the green blanket is. Especially in comparison to our teeny bitty baby under the blue blanket. [He's gonna eat cha.]

For the blue baby I wanted his feet to poke out from under the blanket . But I think I made his feet wayyyyyyy too big.

BIGFOOT!

They were all adorable, but I think the little sleeper was my favorite. (Yes, I'm not an ACTUAL mom yet, so I can play favorites.) His little hand on his head and the little smile as he's sleeping- too cute!

But the other babies were cute too. (OK, OK. I love them the same amount, just differently...even if they are freaks with their big bodies and ginormous feet. Happy?!) How could you not love them, just look at their hair!!

I made the hair on the right with the help of my awesome new cake decorating tool: a clay extruder (which works great on gumpaste).

I was so excited to use it for the first time. Here I'm working on the border.

See how uniform the border came out? Perfect!

And of course we had to whip up some cupcakes too

We had little feet, baby bottles, onesies and little clothes.

And to break the monotony of the blue decorations: rubber duckies!

Yea for cake decorating sans baking :)

Jackie
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Cranberry yogurt cake

Who here loves cranberries just as much as I do?? Dried, in cookies, with orange; however you like to eat them, they're awesome. Well, maybe not raw. I have a feeling they're pretty nasty raw... but I digress.

Anyways, it's sad to me that fresh cranberries are so seasonal. So when they're around for the season I like to try to use them at least a few times. But what to do when the cranberry bug hits months after Christmas?? Well, did you know you can freeze cranberries to store them? It's true- just pop the bag in the freezer and you're done. Fresh (frozen) cranberries ready to use at any time. It's a great way to make things like orange cranberry sauce or whatever you like well past the holiday season.

Anyways, I made this cake a loooong time ago (I'd posted it on my livejournal account) but figured I should post it on my official food blog. Plus the season of cranberries is soon approaching so it may provide you with an easy recipe to try.

My cranberry yogurt cake was inspired by this recipe I read a while back. In the original she uses raspberries, so I just replaced them with cranberries. You could replace them with any kind of berry, or even no berry at all. This cake is quite forgiving so I think you could add just about anything you wanted to the base recipe.

Now let me clear something, when I say "cake," it's not really the type of cake you'd get from a box mix. It's more of a moist, soft cake you eat sans frosting. Perfect for breakfast, a snack or dessert. What makes it extra wonderful is how quick and easy it is. Seriously, one of the fastest recipes I've ever whipped up, with no necessity for fancy mixers and such. I swear it's almost as easy as a box mix, and a million times more delicious.

PLUS it tastes even better the next day. Don't believe me?! I dare you to try it out.

Here's the cake in all it's glory. Sorry, I couldn't resist a piece.

Closeup of the cake. I actually used a teeny bit of a sugar glaze to sweeten it a bit more because cranberries are nowhere as sweet as raspberries. (See my recipe notes below)

Here's the recipe as written from this post. I made a few changes (see below)

2 eggs
1 cup of plain unsweetened yogurt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 or 2 tsp vanilla extract, to taste.
300 grams of raspberries, frozen (no need to thaw them) or fresh

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. In large bowl, combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
4. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together.
5. Pour half of the batter into a 9 or 10" cake pan (bottom lined with parchment paper and greased). Scatter half of the raspberries on the surface. Cover the berries with the remaining batter and top with remaining berries.
6. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
7. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

My changes to the recipe
1. I added ~ 1/4 tsp of salt. Don't know if it made a difference, but I always use a bit of salt in cakes.
2. Used cranberries instead of raspberries.
3. I love the combo of cranberries and orange so I added 1 1/2 tsp tangelo zest + a few TBSP of juice (I reduced the 1 cup yogurt by a teeny bit since I was using a thicker greek yogurt anyways and replaced the volume with the tangelo juice)
4. I didn't add any additional sugar to the recipe (since I don't like super sweet cakes anyways) but the cranberries were definitely a bit too tart for the cake. So instead I added a little sugar glaze (easier to add sugar than take it away!) Dissolved a few heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar in 1-2 TBSP of tangelo juice and glazed the entire cake with it. PERFECT amount of sweetness, for me :)

Additional comments
Flavor of the batter is very delicate but would work easily on it's own or with other berries. I would have preferred a bit more orange zest as a better balance since I used so many cranberries. Maybe a full TBSP next time....

Jackie
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Indian- spiced chicken

Another recipe from Dutch Girl Cooking!

This time its an Indian dish called Roti (search for "Roti" and go to the first post in the search). Yes, apparently this Dutch woman likes international foods. And I like her foods, so it's win-win for me. I'd seriously suggest you check out her original post, because she includes a recipe for scratch-made Indian bread with a bit of mashed potato inside which looks phenomenal. I didn't make it but I'm sure it's equally delicious as the Roti I made.

This is mostly all you'll need (plus chicken of course). So simple, most things people have laying around in their pantry.

Chop the potatoes, cover with water and place them to the side until you're ready to use them

There's a serious amount of onions in this dish. It'll make your kitchen smell amazing.

Sauteeing the onions and potatoes in pot #1. (I didn't have any green beans so I eliminated them...)

Pot #2 has the rest of your onions + chicken

Mix the two pots and allow the mixture to simmer for 20 minutes. In the end, it'll look (something) like this.

Sadly I don't have any pretty plating pictures of the food. (Check out the Dutch Girl Cooking blog for some of those). Although my dish looks a bit different from hers in the end. I'm not sure if the potatoes should have been added a bit later, but my potatoes were seriously soft and the mixture had thickened quite a bit (almost like a thick stew/paste consistency), presumably from the starches. But whatever the case, it was a hearty and seriously delicious dish that would be perfect for the cooler winter months.

Jackie

Note: I probably also replaced some of the curry with garam masala. It's my new favorite thing to do with Indian spiced recipes: replace the curry with a 1:1 ratio of curry: garam masala.

Roti chicken, adapated from Dutch Girl Cooking

2 large chicken fillets (about a pound)
18 oz potatoes
7 oz green beans
1/2 red chili pepper (or Madame Jeanette)
2 medium onions
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp curry powder (or 1/2 TBSP curry + 1/2 TBSP garam masala)
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
pinch ground cumin (or djinten)
1 tbsp tomato paste
chicken stock cube or chicken stock
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water
pepper
salt


Chop the potatoes in bite-sized pieces and place in bowl with cold water until ready to use.

Cut up 2 medium onions. Mince or grate garlic cloves (keeping them separated). Finely chop 1/2 chili.

Wash green beans (I didn't use them b/c I didn't have any)

Cut chicken in bite size pieces.

Heat 2 tbsp oil. Add half the chopped onions and 1 grated garlic clove and cook for 3 minutes. (Note: she states the recipe relies heavily on the use of sunflower oil and doesn't suggest substituting it. I'm sure it would have been even better had I used the sunflower oil, but I just used regular oil.)

Add 1 1/2 tsp curry powder and half the chicken stock cube (if using). Cook for a minute while you drain the potatoes. Add the potatoes and green beans, give it all a good stir and cook for another minute before pouring in 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water in there as well (replace the water with liquid chicken stock if you're not using the cube).

Put the lid on and simmer, over low heat, for 10 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp sun-flower oil, and add the remaining onions, garlic and chili pepper. Cook for 3 minutes before adding 1 tbsp curry powder, the remaining chicken stock and 1 tbsp tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute to sweeten the tomato paste.

Add chicken and cook for a few minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the chicken mix to the potatoes and beans and stir.

Season the chicken and potatoes with a generous amount of salt and optionally some pepper. Put the lid back on and simmer for another 20 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are well done.
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