Happy Halloween!

As I've blogged before, autum is not my favorite season, but autumn flavors are my favorite. I went to a pumpkin carving party last weekend (see photo for impressive carved pumpkins!), and I intended to make these cookies then, but I ran short on time so it didn't happen. Tomorrow, I'm headed to a Halloween/Birthday party, and it still totally and completely pumpkin and cranberry season, so I gave these cookies a whirl. A friend makes pumpkin cookies by mixing a can of pumpkin w/ spice cake mix, and those cookies are delish and w/ a good amount of spice, but I just so happened to have ALL of these ingredients on hand (including pumpkin!), so I opted for this recipe.

The dough itself is easy enough to mix. There's some leftover pumpkin, but I imagine myself using it in pancake batter (OMG, I can't wait!). It didn't say to let it chill before making the cookies, and maybe it wasn't necessary, but the dough is certainly sticky and a little hard to work with. After making the first batch, I threw it in the fridge to harden it up a bit. My first batch were also quite big... ah well, you live, you learn. The cookies also are more cake like then I expected. But I do love soft cookies, so I'm pretty happy with them.

I'm not a huge frosted cookie fan. I don't think it's needed, and since I LOVE pumpkin, I didn't want to mask any of that deliciousness. BUT, I also love cranberries, so I thought to meself, perhaps I can add a fresh cranberry on top and it'll bake in. I was a bit worried that they may not burst, but they all did. I split the batch half and half, but they're all lovely...

Since today was the last day in the office before Halloween, we all dressed up. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures in the middle of the afternoon, and it was a blast. I didn't have my full costume on, but just a bit of a test run for tomorrow night's retro party! Here's a pic of me and my colleagues Shelby and Delysha...

Vegetarian Enchiladas

So enchiladas may be my favorite meal. I love everything Mexican. EVERYTHING. I think it has to do w/ my appreciation for all things cheesy. My dad makes awesome cheese enchiladas, and I've been pretty successful at turning Christmas Eve dinner into Mexican night w/ enchiladas and tacos, and I'm pretty sure that's the best tradition ever. BUT, I'd never ventured to tackle enchiladas myself. My dad's have tons of steps and makes a boatload of food, so I think I was always overwhelmed that it would be a lot of work and produce too much food. Then one night Mollie invited me over for dinner and she'd made enchiladas and they were delicious, and didn't seem too difficult to recreate.

So I was at the store, planning on making an eggplant feta pizza when all the sudden the urge to make enchiladas overtook me. Corn tortillas were on sale, I had refried beans in my fridge I needed to use up, my cousin had brought me some fresh jalepenos, BUT there was only one type of enchilada sauce, and only one can wasn't dented. I bought that one... Then I came home and googled recipes to get some ideas.

I diced up jalapenos and a banana pepper and sauteed that w/ onion. Then I stirred in some cayenne pepper, chili powder and cumin into the refried beans. I warmed some corn tortillas, then smeared the bean mixture, threw in some peppers and onions, some shredded cheese and then rolled it up. I filled up a small baking dish and then just poured the can of sauce over top, threw some more cheese on top along w/ some dried cilantro. What is easier than that? Threw it in the over for abt 30 min and the enchiladas were done! Easy and delicious. Now that I know how easy it can be, I want to try and experiment, especially w/ the sauce. I used red, but would like to try the green. My dad stirs in some sour cream to make it creamy. Perhaps I'll attempt to make my own sauce... We shall see

Grillin'

For my parents last night in DC, we grilled out w/some friends. I found a grill on the street a few weeks back, and after a bit of a struggle w/ my landlord, ended up passing it over the locked fence in the back so I wouldn't have to bring it thru the house. Whatever, my landlord sucks, but I have a pretty decent grill now!

My parents and I made the majority of the food, and boy, oh boy, did we have a feast! My mom, per my request, made potato salad. It is quite the process and has a ton of ingredients, but it is amazing and I try to get her to make it for me once a summer. She also made her famous chicken, also from my childhood. Of course I haven't had it in abt 10 years, but I do remember it fondly. She marinates it w/ soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic. I marinated veggies-- portabellos and zuchinni in balsamic vinegar and garlic and eggplant in olive oil, fresh herbs and garlic. This was my first foray into marinating and grilling vegetables other than portabellos, and if I do say so myself, this was a HUGE success. The veggies were awesome! I also made a 3 bean salad. This is the easiest salad in the world, but always a big hit. It is a great way to clean out the cabinet and fridge, and I bring it to almost every summer potluck/cook out I go to. I typically use black, kidney and garbanzo beans. I then add diced bell peppers (this time red and green) and red onion (or scallions). I also added corn this go round cuz I had some in the fridge. In the past, I think I've added diced olives. I use salsa as the main sauce, but kick it up w/ some dried spices (cayenne pepper, chili powder, cilantro, cumin, etc). This batch came out w/ a bit of a kick... We also did some corn on the cob.

For additions, Daphne brought this amazing walnut broccoli dip (cream cheese base), haloumi cheese that you grill in tin foil, squirt some lemon juice on and crack some pepper on (delish!), corn pudding and incredible white wine sangria. Mollie made an incredible trifle dessert. It was fresh strawberries and blueberries with cheesecake pudding, angel food cake and whipped topping. So incredible. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of it all. But it was great to utilize the grill, eat outside and have my parents meet my DC friends. Another successful dinner party!

Herb Garden and Uncooked Sauce

When my parents were in town, I bought a bunch of herbs and pots, to start a little herb garden on my porch. I now am attempting to grow mint, basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley and garlic chives. So far I haven't killed anything yet, and I am trying very hard not to... I haven't had much success in the past, but I like to blame that on living in a basement and not being a good waterer. Despite not having killed anything yet, I'm also hesitant to use my herbs in fear that they made not grow back, or that I over trim...

So after a week or so of keeping my plants alive, I decided to take the plunge and use some herbs! Also leftover from my parents trip, I had some lemons in the fridge that needed to be used up. A few years ago my mom made me a little cookbook of pasta recipes from my childhood. They're all super easy, and many are no-cook. I knew there had to be something in there utilizing lemon. There were two-- a butter lemon sauce, and a tomato lemon sauce. I opted to kinda combine the two...

I bought a pint of grape tomatoes, sliced them in half, added the zest of one lemon, and the juice of a quarter of it. I also put in 2 cloves of garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and then added some chives, parsley and basil. All in all, I thought it came out great. So easy... but fresh and flavorful. Perfect for a hot summer night when you don't want to heat up the kitchen. I finished my dish w/ some fresh grated parmesan cheese.
In other news, summer is in full effect now. This week it has been constantly around 90% humidity. It has also been abt 90 degrees. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this before. You feel like you're swimming thru air. I cannot believe people opt to spend time outside. I saw people eating outside, and I just wonder why. If I could somehow get to the metro w/o going outside, I would. It is awful. Walking in the shade barely helps. I actually walked thru Macy's to get from one end of the block to the other, just so I could be in the AC. But I am still amazed at how lucky I've been w/ this summer. It is mid August and it is only getting bad right now. That's amazing. I don't know what I'll do next summer...

First Successful Cream Sauce!

I have tried to make cream sauces for pasta before, and I never am satisfied w/ my concoctions. Remember my MO is easy... so I've looked on Cooks.com and opted for easy mac-n-chz sauces. This usually entails a roux (flour stirred into melted butter), milk, and then cheese melted in. I've never made a successful roux, this means I end up w/ a sauce that has a slight flour taste (ick!) and never thickens properly. This time I googled cream sauce and bechamel sauce. I dunno how this was different because the ingredients were primarily the same (roux and milk), but it turned out MUCH better!

First, my roux was a success! I melted abt 3 tablespoons of butter and started by adding abt 2 tablespoons of flour. I believe my typical failure w/ roux has been too much flour, or not enough butter, so this time I made sure I stirred in all the flour before attempting to add any more. I'd say I ended up w/ abt even parts, but it may have still been slightly more butter... regardless, it worked!

Once my roux was slightly browned, I poured in some skim milk (no idea how much...) and started to mix in order to stir in the roux to help thicken up the milk as it warms. As you have gathered, it worked. Usually I grate in some cheese to try and thicken it, but not only does it increase the fat content, but it doesn't do anything to rid the sauce of that raw flour taste. This time I actually decided to add more milk because the sauce was thickening up so quickly and nicely. I actually had considered adding some half and half I had on hand in case I need some thickener... I did also add a small piece of bleu cheese I had... I'd say roughly 2-3 ounces.

I added diced white onion to the sauce as it cooked, asparagus to the pasta as it cooked, and tossed them together w/ fresh tomato and raw garlic. To the sauce I also added salt, pepper, nutmeg, and maybe parsley and oregano...

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by my cream sauce. It was thick, it didn't have the raw flour taste, and I felt like it was pretty guilt free w/ not too much butter or cheese and only skim milk!

Ricotta Gnocchi

I don't fancy myself a great chef. My focus is always on taste, simplicity and quickness. I love decadent, involved meals, but I rarely create them. My goal is start to finsh, out of the fridge and onto the plate in under an hour. Ideally faster, but I'm no Rachel Ray, so 30 minutes is generally unachievable...

My friend Kaitlin found this recipe for Ricotta Gnocchi and I was amazed. It looked amazing, but wayyyy too difficult for me. I do NOT make my own pasta. I do always make my own sauce, but making things from scratch has really never been my bag. Maybe I'm more like Rachel Ray than I thought. Kaitlin made the gnocchi and claimed that she did it start to finish, including sauce in 45 minutes, so my interest piqued. I had some leftover ricotta in my fridge, so I decided to give it a go. I'm sold. It was easy, fun, rewarding and oh so deliciously satisfying! I altered the recipe to fit the amt of ricotta I had, and I didn't have a lemon, so I just squirted in some lemon juice. All in all it was a success. I mixed 1/2 a cup of ricotta, with 1/4 cup of parmesean (both low/no-fat varieties) w/ a squirt of lemon juice, chili flakes, dried parsley and an egg yolk and added the flour. Then I broke up the dough into the 4 sections and rolled out snakes. I found the dough wanted to separate some, so I'm not sure if I used too much or too little flour, but it worked nonetheless and I cut them in to knuckle sized pieces w/ my fork.

To fry, I put some olive oil in a pan and heated it w/ some cracked garlic. When the garlic started to brown, I took it out of the pan and threw the gnocchi in. I shook the pan to make sure the oil was underneath the gnocchi. I also squirted some lemon juice over them to infuse a bit more flavor in them. I turned them once and pulled them out and put them in a paper towel lined bowl to soak up any excess grease. My condensed recipe made 2 batches of gnocchi, and 2 meals.

Instead of the brown butter sauce in the original recipe, I made a simple tomato sauce. I sliced up the already cooked garlic, some leek and added a can of tomatoes flavored w/ burgundy wine and olive oil. To that I added a splash of the red wine I'd be drinking w/ dinner and herbs and spices (basil, oregano, parsley, s&p). Quick, flavorful and easy. My MO.

Start to finish, this meal honestly took abt 45 minutes. Sure, there was a bit more clean up cuz I had to clean my counter more thoroughly before and after cuz of rolling out the gnocchi dough, but the gnocchi and sauce were made in the same pan, so that was nice. I didn't add cheese on top cuz I figured the gnocchi had enough cheese in them anyway. This meal was delicious. I can honestly say I was PROUD of what I had done. I often think abt what I can make for dinner parties that is easy, but impressive. This recipe certainly covers both. I can't wait to make them again!

BTW, check out Kaitlin's food blog too.

Baked Eggs

Back in December, I was in NYC visiting a friend who has a strong passion for food: cooking it, eating it, writing abt it, etc and she made me a brunch I had never even dreamed of, baked eggs. Honestly, it kinda blew my mind. I'd never even heard of baked eggs. She sauteed up mushrooms, which I'm not even a big fan of, in truffle oil and, simply put, they were divine. See her food blog here-- South Bronx Foodie

So after getting some awesome ramekins from my aunt for Christmas, all I could think was BAKED EGGS. This weekend, I finally took them on. I sauteed up leeks, frozen spinach and tomatoes in olive oil w/ s&p. I added this to the bottom of my ramekins, topped w/ a slice of cheese and then cracked an egg on top. Then put in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, then I rotated the pan for another 10 minutes. Katherine served them w/ toast, while I opted to make homefries while they were in the oven. I used the same pan and honestly these were the best homefries ever. Not sure how I managed that...


Ultimately, my yolks came out hard, but I made these again this am w/ broccoli instead of spinach and rotated after 8 minutes and everything was runny... edible for sure, but I'm still a little skeeved out by runny whites. Maybe 9 minutes is the happy medium...

Garlic Hummus

I make a pretty mean hummus if I do say so myself. While I always enjoy hummus, I often think the store bought kind is a bit too acidic, whereas mine is not... As always, I try to make it a bit more healthy than normal too.

I start w/ a can of drained and rinsed chick peas in my all time fav kitchen gadget, the Magic Bullet. I add a heaping tablespoon of tahini, a squirt of lemon juice, some parsley, pepper and paprika, a splash of olive oil and maybe 1/4 cup vege stock, then for a kick I add 2 cloves of raw garlic and blend. Trust me, it has a kick. A friend once asked me what I used to make it spicy before realizing it was just pure, raw, unadulterated garlic. My fav...

Serve w/ veges such as baby carrots, cuke sticks, celery sticks and/or homemade tortilla or pita chips.

For alternatives, I cut back to one clove of garlic and add something else for flavor. My favorite was fresh, raw spinach. Made a nice bright green hummus...

White Bean Salad

I was at a friend's house for dinner/drinks one night and she whipped together this delicious white bean salad. She lives in the North End and would probably kill me for not saying Cannelini beans. Anyway, I attempted to recreate it months later from memory.

I used one can of white beans, drained and rinsed. I diced up a few slices of red onion to mix in. I stirred in some dried basil and parsley (she used fresh basil and of course that is wayyy better, I'm lazy and cheap...), a small amt of olive oil, s&p, a squirt of lemon juice and finally some parmesan cheese. At first it tasted a bit bland and I was sorely disappointed in myself, but I threw it in the fridge and that really helped the flavors come together. Nice simple side or snack and pretty healthy as long as you don't go too heavy on the oil or cheese...

Mexican Night

This night I made black bean soup, homemade tortilla chips, guacamole and corn bread for when I brought the soup for lunch.

I made this soup a long time ago, so my memory may be a bit hazy, but here goes. It's essentially the recipe off the back of the Progresso black beans, but w/ some changes. I'd made it once before and found it to be a bit too salty, this time it was a bit bland. Maybe next time... Also, I prefer a thicker soup and this is still a little runny for my liking. As for the recipe, I'm not a big follower. I always make adaptations and as a result will not be very specific. I think it best to play around and find out what works best for you.

I diced up a large onion, some celery and carrots and sauteed them for abt 5 minutes w/ chili powder and cumin. You then add 2 cans of black beans and something random like 4 cans or 52 ounces of chicken/vege stock. Last time I stuck to this and I blame it both for the saltiness and the runniness, so this time, I believe I added the beans in their liquid, instead of rinsed and drained, and one cup of stock and one cup of water. It was still a bit runny, but definetly less salty.

Then you take 2 cans of drained, rinsed beans and blend them with a jar-ish of salsa. Last time I used up my jalepenos and their juice and that added a nice kick. This time I needed to add additional liquid to get everything moving. Then you mix this mixture into the soup, which thickens it up a bit. I like that this soup has blended beans and chunky beans and vege, I guess I just want the overall soup a bit thicker. I'll need to continue to play w/ water content...

Next, I used my new favorite kitchen gadget to make some delicious guacamole. I love this gadget cuz it is a salad spinner, egg separator and hand spun food processor all in one. It's amazing! I think guacamole is one of the best things ever, but I'm pretty much a purist and don't like to add much to the avocado. I generally use red onion, garlic, salt, lime juice, cilantro and maybe tomato. No sour cream ever, it just cuts the flavor. I also prefer it a bit chunky, that's why I use this gadget and not the infamous Magic Bullet.

For tortilla chips, I just rip flour tortillas and place on a sprayed baking sheet. I generally make a spice mix that has salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika and pepper. I then pinch this over the tortillas. I bake them for abt 8 minutes at about 400 degrees.

Here's the finished meal. I garnish the soup either with scallions or a Mexican cheese mix (seen here). This meal was complimented by a glass of Spanish sangria that I brought back from my most recent European vacation...