Monday, August 4, 2014

The Best of Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar, the sweet molasses-y concoction that is creditable for heaps of flavor in many of the desserts we all love. For example; Bananas Foster, the New Orleans creation most people have trouble getting enough of. The dessert famous for the beautiful flambe action that happens when the rum hits the pan consists of mainly brown sugar (butter too, but this post is about brown sugar). The soft and warm bananas coated in the sweet-syrup like sauce is delectable, especially when served with vanilla ice cream. Though vanilla ice cream does not have brown sugar in it, it goes great with something else that usually does... cookies! The first cookie that usually comes to mind is chocolate chip but that's not the kind of cooking I'm thinking of. The cookie on my brain makes brown sugar a star, Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies, the recipe courteous of the Pioneer Woman blog.

You're probably wondering where I'm going with this so I'll explain with a math equation.

Bananas Foster+Vanilla Ice Cream+Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies= The Best Ice Cream Sandwich You've Ever Had In Your Life

Mind blown, right?
Yeah, me too.

The inspiration came from:
  1. Seeing the Pioneer Woman make the cookies on her fabulous show
  2. A bunch of bananas at the grocery store
  3. The hankering for some good ole' fashion ooey-gooey Bananas Foster after seeing a bunch of bananas at the grocery store
Here's how I made 'em:

First, we have to make the cookies.
The  Pioneer Woman's recipe seemed a little on the large side for me so I halved it, you may do what you please. I ended up with around 16 average sized cookies so if that info does anything for you, good.
While the cookies cooled I got to work on the Bananas Foster. The recipe I use is adapted from Emeril Lagasse's, it only has a few differences but it turns out a whole different dessert (mine is better in my opinion, no offense Emeril). I came up with my version after multiple different variations but this version is the one that I like best.
*A good rule of thumb when making it, depending on how much you want to make, is one tablespoon of butter and around three tablespoons of brown sugar per banana. It's super healthy, I know.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (you can use light or dark, I like light)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
Juice of 1/4 of an orange
4 ripe bananas, sliced into rounds
1/3 to 1/2 cup dark rum (depends on how boozy you like it)

Directions:
Take out some vanilla ice cream and let it get nice and soft. Then, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange juice. Once all incorporated, turn the heat to high and add the bananas, cook till soft. Have a lighter on standby if you're not comfortable dipping the pan into the flame (watch this video from the 1:47 mark to see what I mean). When the sauce is very bubbly you know it's hot enough to flambe. Heat is a very important aspect for a perfect flame. When you think the pan is hot enough, quickly add rum and remove from heat, then ignite either with lighter or stove top. Return pan to stove, keep pan moving until the flames die out. Congratulations, you've successfully made Bananas Foster! Hopefully without burning anyone's eyebrows off.

Now back to the ice cream sandwiches.


Take your cookies and throw a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on there. Don't be cheap with the good stuff.

Now comes the magic, take your warm Bananas Foster and spoon it over the top of the ice cream. Watch as the sauce drips down and coats the cookie. Try to contain yourself and grab a second cookie and sandwich the whole thing together.

Now this is the hardest step, ready? Take a minute and just look at it. Make yourself admire what you've just made. Enjoy the moment, it won't last long before your instincts take over and you dive into the glorious piece of food art.

Please ignore the paper plate. I got so many dishes dirty today, I didn't want to use another one.




Don't deprive yourself of this treat. Enjoy every indulgent bite of it and thank Brown Sugar for it's wonderfulness.

-Madison








Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The Ups and Downs of Key Lime Pie

Oh Key Lime Pie, how adored you are by many. Your graham cracker crust, tart lime filling, all finished with a mountain of whipped cream is to die for. The best part about you, Key Lime Pie, is that you are so incredibly easy to make, once you get past the whole actually juicing the key limes part. That part sucks.
Pardon my choice of words, but have you ever laid your eyes upon a key lime? They are TINY. Like smaller than a golf ball tiny.
See? 
It actually took an entire two pound bag of key limes to get 1 cup of key lime juice (I made two pies, don't be freaked out when you see the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of juice). Thank the Lord for my mother who had the patience to juice 99% of them. Granted, they sell bottles of key lime juice, unfortunately HEB did not have any. If your grocery store does, buy the bottled juice. While slicing and juicing two pounds of key limes was a great way to waste a whole lot of time, I would gladly buy the juice in the bottle had I been given the choice.
Once I got past the biggest downside of Key Lime Pie, the rest was a breeze. I did everything from scratch, especially the crust (the best part).

Graham Cracker Crust:
Brace yourselves for a crazy delicious and fattening recipe.
  • 1 package graham crackers (not one box, one package from a box)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 stick salted butter, melted
Break up the graham crackers into a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse until fine crumbs.
Once the graham crackers have been pulverized, keep pulsing the mixture and slowly drizzle in the melted butter.
Yes, you did read the ingredients correctly. Yes, I did say an entire stick of butter. You're welcome.
Now, once the butter is all incorporated the mixture should be moist and hold together when pressed.

Key Lime Filling:
  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon key lime zest
  • 1/2 cup key lime juice (ugh)
I recommend zesting and then juicing your limes before you do anything. Once you have that done, preheat your oven to 350°. Then in a medium bowl, whisk the sweetened condensed milk with the egg yolks. Once combined, stir in the zest and juice.
Remember that beautifully fattening graham cracker crust? Press it into a GREASED nine-inch pie dish, then pour the key lime filling on top of it.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the pie is set (when it doesn't jiggle in the center).

While the pie is baking you can make the...

WHIPPED CREAM:
This is honestly the easiest thing ever. Don't buy the pre-made stuff.
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons (or more) powdered sugar, I prefer mine sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon key lime zest (optional)
Ready for the super hard instructions? Throw everything in a bowl and mix it either by hand with a whisk (I don't recommend this), an electric hand mixer, or a stand mixer. Mix till stiff peaks form.

Once the pie has completely cooled, get the whipped cream and start forming that whipped cream mountain I mentioned at the beginning. Garnish your pie with either key lime slices or zest for an extra pretty touch. Then devour your pie. You can even do it in style and eat it for breakfast like I have the past two days in a row.
No this is not the prettiest slice or the prettiest picture, but regardless it still looks darn tasty.

Side Note: If you can't find anything key lime at your grocery store, normal limes will work just fine. They'll be a lot easier to juice too.

Enjoy!
-Madison

 


Sunday, June 29, 2014

Ode to Peaches

As you can tell it's been a while since I last posted. It's really been a while since I actually cooked. My schedule with school, graduating, going to Europe as my graduation present, and going to my college orientation have really kept me away from my home, the kitchen. Now that most of the excitement in my summer is over, I have loads of time to spend getting my hands busy with food. Since it is summertime and the living's  easy "peachy" (get the pun?), I decided to celebrate the season's sweetest fruit and create a menu, with a little help from my favorite food magazines of course, (almost) entirely dedicated to peaches. I give you,
Ode to Peaches

 Appetizer

Entrée  

Boston Lettuce, Peach Vinaigrette, Fresh Peaches, Red Onion, Blue Cheese



Dessert
with Vanilla Ice Cream

The nice thing about this menu is it is simple and parts of it can be made a few days in advance. Things such as the brine for the pork chops (actual brine- two days, pork in brine- 24 hours), the peach mustard (two days), and the peach vinaigrette (one week). Plus the menu is loaded with peaches and since we only have them for a couple months, enjoy them as much as you can while you can! 

I have good news and bad news about the outcome of the meal. Good news, it was DELICIOUS. The absolute best pork chop I have ever had. The bad news? The only thing I got a picture of was the cobbler, which I'll save for the end.

Starting with the first course, the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Peaches with Scallions. These were a savory sweet delight that my dad and I thoroughly enjoyed. They were stuffed with scallions that had also been grilled prior to being stuffed in the pit of the peach, giving the appetizer a wholesome savory feel. I highly suggest these at your next BBQ.

Next came the highlight of the meal, my Citrus-Brined Pork Chops with Peach Mustard. The infused flavors of cardamom and fennel seeds working with the brown sugar and citrus notes that the pork absorbed while being brined was just fantastic. So much flavor came through in every bite, especially with the peach mustard which also gave a nice tang.

More mustard notes were introduced in the Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Jalapeños. The potatoes are roasted and then after cooling slightly, are smashed, tossed in a mustard dressing, and then finally fresh parsley and sliced jalapeños. No jalapeños for me though, I wimped out on that option. Regardless, not only were these potatoes delicious, they were incredibly easy to make. They were also the only thing on the menu without peaches! Sad, I know.

The thing that highlighted peaches the most and was loved by all (surprisingly), was my "Peachy-Keen" Salad. This salad composed of Boston leaf lettuce, thinly sliced red onions, diced peaches, and crumbled blue cheese was tossed with my homemade peach vinaigrette. I came up with this recipe after being inspired by a bottle of Peach Balsamic Vinegar, which I got from the Lakeline Farmer's Market. I used the vinegar to dissolve some peach preserves, whisked in some veggie oil, threw in some minced shallots, a little salt and pepper seasoning, and that became a delicious new staple in my refrigerator. Isn't it amazing how one ingredient can inspire an entire dish?

The final peach dish of the night came in dessert form. I sliced up some peaches and tossed them with blackberries and a touch of sugar. I let the fruit mixture sit for a while so the natural sugar and juices in them could be released . While doing so I made the crust, most people's favorite part. My crust is one that goes well with any fruit and is simply equal parts flour, sugar, and melted butter. With some fruits I might suggest you throw a little cinnamon in there, I did so with this particular cobbler. Dollop the crust on top of the fruit and throw it in the oven. Then put an ever bigger "dollop" of vanilla ice cream on there and devour.

I hope my ode to peaches inspires you to have your own. This picture of cobbler might help you out with that.
 -Madison




Saturday, May 24, 2014

Memorial Day and Lemon Bars

Memorial Day weekend is a time when the men and women who have died in battle fighting for our country are meant to be honored. How do we as Americans honor them? By calling up friends for BBQ and stuffing our faces with delicious food, naturally. Not that this is a bad thing, I mean I'm sure the people who have died in battle are pleased that we celebrate their bravery with food. Food is one of the few things people easily bond over and it certainly makes people happy (a little fat too, but hey who cares, right?). The three day weekend lifts people's spirits and the gathering of friends is also a delight. So for the Memorial Day BBQ I was invited to I decided to make dessert. Which sweet treat do I happen to have up my sleeve?
Lemon Bars. Wonderful, sweet, tart, devour-able lemon bars. Lemon is clean and lemon is sour, lemon is my favorite thing for a near-summer time dessert and Ina Garten happens to have the perfect recipe for lemon bars.
Now I have made these lemon bars before but instead of using normal lemons, I used ones of the meyer variety. What is a meyer lemon? It is a citrus fruit that originated in China and is thought to be a cross between either a normal or mandarin orange. It is not tart and has a mellower flavor that is quite enjoyable. While I loved my meyer lemon bars, today I felt a typical lemon was the way to go.
I would love to say I stopped there,  but I couldn't help myself.
I turned the lemon bars into lemon-raspberry bars.
I know, I know, I should have just kept it simple but I mean, lemon-raspberry bars, can you say "YUM"? Unless you don't like raspberry... or lemon bars... in that case though, you're just not human.
 Seriously though, if you don't like raspberry you can use any kind of berry you want. I think blackberry, strawberry, or blueberry would work beautifully but if you want to branch out the berry field, try cherries! Cherry lemon bars would be delicious now that I think about. Maybe I'll try them. I'll keep you posted.
Okay, back on track here, back to my lemon-raspberry bars. I started off by making a raspberry sauce on the stove that I let cool in the fridge while I made the dough for the crust. I used raspberries because they are the frozen fruit I had in my freezer. If wondering how I made the sauce, here's my guidelines from when I made customizable cheesecake. Once the sauce was made and the crust was par-baking in the oven, I began the lemon filling; which I may or may not have added way more than two tablespoons of lemon zest to. It won't hurt them, zest to your liking. I followed the lemon bar recipe exactly (minus the whole extra zest thing, "whoops") because Ina knows what she's talking about and I didn't need to doctor it. Once the filling was ready to be baked, I grabbed my raspberry sauce and dotted it all around in the filling. I took my spoon, though in hindsight a knife would have made it prettier, and marbled it throughout all the lemon filling and then into the oven they went.
Ina says to let them cool and serve at room temperature but I disagree. Lemon bars are at their best when their cold so I let my sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving. Once nice and cold, dust with powdered sugar and cut into whatever shape your heart desires if wish to.
I had planned to make them prettier but even though I thoroughly greased my pan, the crust still stuck a little bit. Luckily, they still taste fantastic. 
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
-Madison


Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mother's Day Dinner

High school has been a crazy series of events lately and my time has been consumed by school, sorry for the lack of posts.
Finally, I got a chance to cook. The occasion? Mother's Day.
I told my mom I was going to get her a gift and I was sorry I had not had a chance to get one yet, she stopped me there and told me the perfect gift would be for me to cook her dinner. All she wanted was a home cooked meal, how simple was that? After all, food tastes the best when made with love. This is how my mom's favorite foods became the perfect gift.
The menu she requested consisted of chicken picatta and a salad coated in a homemade poppy seed dressing. I added in some fresh green beans on the side that were cooked with merely some shallots and garlic. Did I forget to blanch them before sauteing them in butter like I meant to do? Possibly. Were they a little extra crunchy? Yes, but they did taste good.
The chicken picatta however was fantastic, per usual. The recipe for this chicken picatta is courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis but I make a couple changes to the recipe. Giada does not serve her chicken picatta with pasta, but what is Italian food without pasta? That is why I double the recipe for the pan sauce that is made after pan frying the lightly dredged chicken. I toss the pasta in the sauce and serve the chicken on the bed of deliciousness. I also make another change to the sauce other than doubling it, I sub a little bit of the chicken stock the recipe calls for with white wine. Why? White wine and chicken work beautifully together and the flavor you get when cooking wine down is outstanding. I also use nearly half a cup of capers instead of the quarter cup the recipe says to use since capers are the secret star of the dish. These little changes to the recipe make the chicken picatta what my mom says is the best chicken picatta she's ever had and that is saying a lot. I won't mention the number of times I had to make the dish before I could even get her to say it was good.
The salad requires (yes, requires) boston leaf lettuce. The velvet texture of the leaves is addicting and simply cannot be left out. The salad dressing the lettuce is tossed in is homemade and can easily be sipped with a straw (kidding, slightly). I got the recipe courtesy of my boyfriend's mom and I can say my mom is forever grateful to her for it. I am too but no one loves this poppy seed dressing like my mom does. The recipe, posted at the bottom, is super easy and is made in a blender. Homemade salad dressing is no where near difficult, don't be afraid to make it. It is actually one of the simplest things to make in the kitchen, in most cases. It's even a little healthier than the bottled stuff if you choose for it be since you have control over what and how much of everything goes in it.
The last few touches to the salad are segments of grapefruit and diced avocado. It sounds weird but it is so good. Don't doubt it. Eat it.
My mom's mother's day gift ended up looking a little like this...
Was it the prettiest plate ever? No. Was it the tastiest gift ever? My mom would say so. 
Happy Mother's Day!
-Madison

Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe
Ingredients:

  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 small shallot
  • 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup honey 
  • 1/8 cup poppy seeds
  • salt and pepper
Instructions:

  • Blend garlic, shallot, and champagne vinegar together. Add mayonnaise, buttermilk, and honey and blend.
  • Stir in poppy seeds. 
  • Season with salt and pepper.



Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Sunday mornings call for pancakes. I myself am not even a huge breakfast fan but pancakes have a special place reserved for them in my stomach. My craving for pancakes today was different than usual, I knew I wanted something with extra flavor instead of plain-old classic buttermilk pancakes. When I stumbled upon Bobby Flay's recipe for Cinnamon Mascarpone Pancakes with Warm Morello Cherries and Hazelnuts, two words stuck out; cinnamon and mascarpone. Now don't get me wrong, the cherries and hazelnuts sounded wonderful but seeing as I had neither on hand, I needed to improvise. After all, part of being a good cook is knowing how to improvise.
I ended up not having to improvise too much for this recipe as I have for some in the past. The only changes I really made was subbing lemon zest for the orange zest it called for, amping up the cinnamon, and using maple syrup instead of making my own cherry syrup with hazelnuts. The results?
Absolutely delicious.
The interesting thing about these pancakes is not only do they have mascarpone in the batter, but mascarpone is the finishing touch to these little beauties. The mascarpone is sweetened with a little powdered sugar and makes a wonderful substitute for whipped cream, I actually prefer it. The mascarpone is creamy like whipped cream but smooth and rich so it melts over the top just like butter. I would almost say the dollop of sweetened mascarpone on top is actually my favorite part.
The recipe for my take on the pancakes can be found on my allrecipes page. I hope you enjoy these bright and spicy pancakes as much as I do!
-Madison



Saturday, April 19, 2014

Customizable Cheesecake

New York Style Cheesecake, the epitome of a simplistically wonderful dessert. It is one that I love to make and one that I most certainly love to devour. Don't we all?
So yesterday when we had people over for dinner I decided to surprise them with dessert. My dessert of choice was of course cheesecake. Now this recipe is not good, it is the best. Lucky for you I am willing to share this wonderful New York Style Cheesecake recipe on my allrecipes page. I will note that is important to serve this cheesecake really cold otherwise it just doesn't taste as good. Making it several hours in advance, even the day before would be a rather smart choice.
Back to my story, cheesecake can go a million different ways. Since not everyone likes the same things, I made this cheesecake "customizable" by making a cheesecake toppings bar. I bought an array of candies, some dessert syrup toppings, and made a raspberry sauce. 
Like this cheesecake needs to be cold, this cheesecake also needs raspberry sauce. It is so easy to make too, there is no point in leaving it off the menu. Merely throw some frozen raspberries, let's say a cup, in a pot over medium heat, with about a teaspoon of lemon zest, a couple tablespoons of sugar (sweeten it to your liking), and a teaspoon or two of water. Bring it to boil and let it get nice and syrupy, let it cool, and then store it in the fridge so it gets beautifully cold too.
The cheesecake was lovely and everyone thought being able to throw whatever they wanted on it was great. I have to admit it was a pretty darn good looking dessert too. 
-Madison



Homemade Pasta

Pasta is delicious in all shapes and sizes, it is the Italians gift to the world. I have never met a person who was not a fan and it is also a crowd pleaser. Yet one type of pasta stands out above all the rest and is hands down the tastiest around. This pasta is homemade pasta. 
I have made pasta multiple times before and whether it be spaghetti, fettucini, or even ravioli (stuffed with an incredible roasted mushroom mixture and topped with a mushroom cream sauce), it is always heaven upon my taste buds. Last night I made some pasta and went the fettucini route. When it was ready, I then topped it with a delicious bolognese sauce, recipe courtesy of Ina Garten. While the sauce was incredibly wonderful, the real show stopper here was still the pasta, so here is how you make the dough...
The general rule of thumb when figuring out how much to make is one egg per person and then one cup of flour for every two eggs. So basically since I was feeding six people including myself, I used six eggs and three cups of flour. 
The flour, that has been seasoned with salt, goes into either the bowl of the stand mixer so you can use the dough hook attachment or onto the counter so you can knead by hand. When you have chosen your method, make a well in the center and crack in your eggs.
I also add in a splash of olive oil for flavor. 
Now the old-school Italians do this next step, well actually this whole process, by hand. I have done it this way but I have gradually learned that the less pasta dough stuck on my fingers, the more I enjoy my pasta.
Using a fork or your hands, begin incorporating the flour into the eggs. 
If it seems too dry, add a little bit of water at a time until moistened.
I start my dough in the stand mixer and once it's combined I bring in the dough hook to knead it a little. Then I scoop it all out onto a floured surface and do the rest by hand. 
This is a super important step and quite a great stress reducer. Knead the dough until you merely cannot knead anymore! 
Then when it is no longer sticky and has a smooth surface, spray some plastic wrap with non-stick spray (I use the olive oil kind) and throw it in the fridge to rest for a few hours. 
When you're ready to cook, cut the dough into at least four sections and begin rolling it out with either a pasta roller or a rolling pin. I happen to have the luxury of a pasta roller stand mixer attachment and it is quite helpful with this task.
When the pasta is all rolled out you have the freedom to go whichever route you want! I suggest ravioli, it's my personal favorite. Keep in mind when cooking it in a pot of boiling salted water, fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried and will probably be ready in about two minutes. Enjoy!
-Madison



Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Perfect "Panini"

There are certain dishes that you'll never forget. Flavors attribute to memories and from time to time you'll look back on something you ate and develop a craving for that hit-the-spot meal. One of my dishes that I constantly crave is from the Mosquito Cafe in Galveston, Texas. I was in Galveston for a few days on vacation and after trying the Mosquito Cafe's "Turkey Divinity" sandwich once, I was hooked. I made sure to get another one before I went back home to Austin but that second sandwich doesn't hold someone over for two years. So today when I was thinking about the layers of garlic-herb mayo, bacon, turkey, brie, and green apples all sitting upon a luscious french baguette, I decided it was time to make myself one. 
It was simple to make and really doesn't require a recipe. I used probably about a half cup of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of chives, parsley, tarragon, and garlic to make a batch of garlic-herb mayonnaise and that became the base layer of my "Turkey Divinity". Don't worry, I definitely did not put all of that mayonnaise on my sandwich. I just made a lot to last me the rest of the week!
Next on the sandwich came a piece or two of some hickory smoked bacon that I cooked in the same pan I planned to grill my sandwich in. Why? Because I made multiple unhealthy choices when making this sandwich and one of them was to use rendered bacon fat instead of butter to get my bread nice and golden. 
On top of the bacon was a layer of Boar's Head turkey from the deli at my grocery store, not pre-packaged sandwich meat. This sandwich deserves nothing but quality ingredients. 
That is why after the turkey came some julienned (Julienne is a knife cut for those who don't know) green apples, whose bright crispness cut through the heaviness of the meat and mayonnaise. Guess what? That is not all the bright crispness of the apple cut through, the final ingredient to be stacked on the french baguette was another of french origin, brie. Oh brie, how beautifully creamy and delicious it is. It is my favorite cheese by far and certainly makes the sandwich what it is. I used a decent amount of brie, like I said I love it but every ingredient proportion is up to who is eating it. That is why there is no recipe, it's up to you!
For those of you who questioned why I have the word "panini" in quotation marks in the title of the post, it is because I don't have a panini press. So, my "panini" is a sandwich I put on a grill pan and smoosh down with a hot, heavy cast iron skillet. It comes out like a panini but I can't quite call it one, it really is a smooshed sandwich. 

What a beautiful smooshed sandwich it is. It made a perfect lunch and I highly recommend it to try. Did I mention how easy it is to make?
-Madison


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Chimichurri

Balancing being a high school student and having a part time job has been a little harder lately,  sorry for the lack of posts. Thursday night I had time to cook myself dinner but the rest of the evening was spent doing homework. The good news is the dinner was DELICIOUS.
I was at school pondering what I would do for dinner that night. My mom was going to dinner with friends and my dad was out of town so it needed to be something simple but better than a sandwich or fast food. I did a little idea searching and found Bon Appétit's article for 10 marinade recipes to use with chicken, steak, and seafood. A lot of the recipes included herbs so I went to the one that used a lot of the stuff in my garden. I halved the recipe, especially since my herb plants have barely even started growing, and went to work on a chimichurri marinade.
It's a simple marinade that begins with garlic and shallots (when is that ever a bad combination?) that sit in red wine vinegar for ten minutes so they can infuse their flavorful goodness. While the garlic and shallots do a little marinade of their own, it's time to chop some herbs; cilantro, oregano (I grow Greek), and parsley. I chopped my herbs by hand but when I make this again, I am definitely going for the food processor. You want this done fast because it has to actually marinade for a while. I was hungry so I only marinated my chicken, which I halved and then cut on a bias into little fajita stye bites, for about an hour and a half. The recipe says three hours to overnight but it still turned out packed with flavor.
Sorry for the lack of prepping pictures but I did start taking some when I started cooking. Except, there are no pictures of the raw chicken being cooked because that sight is never very pretty.
However, here is the finished product:
Like most delicious things, it was cooked in a cast iron skillet. It may not look so appealing but it was SO yummy. I thinned out some sour cream with lime juice and that was a beautiful combination with the chicken. Sadly my house was lacking both tortillas and lettuce so I could not make a taco or a salad. Both of those options would be delicious though!
Since I was lacking anything to go with chicken, I rummaged through my fridge and found a head of broccoli and a lemon. What I made next was pure taste bud heaven. 
Ladies and gentleman, I present to you Roasted Broccoli Salad. Something I came up with when trying to use up some broccoli. 
I tossed some broccoli that has been cut into florets with a little bit olive oil, lemon zest, and salt and pepper before roasting it. While it cooks, I make a lemon-garlic vinaigrette. When the broccoli cools from roaring hot to warm, I toss it in the vinaigrette and then devour. 
A fresh glass of iced tea with lots of lemon and fresh mint from my garden was the perfect accompaniment for a simple night. 


Quick tip: I personally am not a huge fan of sweetened tea but for those who are, simple syrups are a quick and easy way to sweeten tea up. Add equal parts sugar and water to a pot on the stove and stir it over some heat till the sugar dissolves. A simple syrup is a beautiful canvas to get creative with simply by steeping some flavor additives (herbs, citrus zest, spices, almost anything) while it cools. 
It was another hodge podge of a dinner but when it's delicious, who cares?
-Madison





Sunday, April 6, 2014

An Unplanned Dinner

There are some nights where you're tired, hungry, and determined to eat whatever sounds delicious, even if it seems a bit random. Saturday night was sort of like that for my mom and I. I had been at work for the majority of the day and came home to only leave again in order to make a trip to Lowe's and the grocery store. Luckily, I managed to find all the herbs I needed at both stores so that was a successful part of the evening. I even threw in a roma tomato plant, but back to our dinner. I knew walking into the grocery store that I was going to make something from my new cookbook, Plenty (read more about it here). I chose a really beautiful dish, Roasted Butternut Squash with Sweet Spices, Lime, and Green Chili. I made a few alterations to the dish but I will talk more about that later. Continuing on with the grocery shopping, my mom requested guacamole so the ingredients for that went into the cart too. The last element of the meal was tilapia, which my mom was craving along with a heavy dose of lemon juice to go with it. 
When we got home we began cooking, starting with guacamole. Well really I made it and my mom stood by anxiously waiting to dive into the finished product. She was right to be anxious, as I am not one to brag but I do make the world's best guacamole. That is honestly the only thing I make that I boast about. This particular recipe for guacamole comes from Alton Brown. I must seriously thank him for this brilliance because I have yet to devour guacamole that touches this one.
Cilantro made its way into every dish
but it's prominent in this guacamole.

Guacamole in the making

Once I finished our appetizer, I moved on to my butternut squash. When making it, I did make a few changes to the recipe. My version of the dish is available on my allrecipes page. Yotam Ottolenghi's version calls for cardamom and allspice, which sounded amazing but I'm not sure if anyone realizes this but cardamom is SUPER expensive. This is why instead of buying it at the grocery store, I went along with the flavors of my guacamole and subbed in cumin and cayenne.
The squash gets a spice rub before roasted,
so much flavor in such a simple dish!
The only other change I made was my choice to leave out the green chili. I couldn't handle any more spice, the cayenne was already enough. My mom and I agreed, after cleaning the plate, that the final result was very tasty and actually quite pretty. 
I love the vibrant green against the natural orange of the butternut squash. It always dazzles me how beautiful food naturally is, along with how tasty it can be! This dish was no exception and we gobbled it right up. This was definitely a promising start to tackling this cookbook. 
Yet the dish was not the last part of the meal! My mom even made something. Remember the tilapia I mentioned earlier? She baked it with some lemon and garlic, we even threw a little left over cilantro on top. It was quite good and wonderfully simple. 
See all that liquid? I told you she likes lemon juice.
It was a hodge podge of a dinner but it was filling and it satisfied our cravings. Considering we were just cooking for the two of us we had a nice night. Besides any night with my guacamole is a good night. 
Just kidding! Kind of.
-Madison




Saturday, April 5, 2014

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

There's no doubt that any Austinite reading this blog has heard of Hopdoddy's. It is one of the best burger places in the city and that is why, even though I've been there multiple times, I felt the need to blog about it. The food is delicious, they make everything in house, and they always have one-of-a-kind burger and milkshake specials. The only bad part about going to any of their locations is the insane line that you wait in to order your food. The wait is worth it, especially if you order a milkshake made from their homemade ice cream.
Almost as soon as you sit down at the table, milkshakes are brought to the table, in order to hold you over as you wait for the mouth-watering burgers to be brought as well. The milkshakes we ordered? A staple of the menu, Caramel and Sea Salt, as well as the special, Almond Joy.

The Caramel and Sea Salt was a delectable treat but the Almond Joy was a nutty-chocolate-coconut goodness rival that I happily sipped on throughout the meal. 
I didn't sip on it too much at first because I had to make sure there was room in my stomach for the Truffle Fries. Now let me tell you that I have had many truffle fries, I simply adore them, but no truffle fries touch these. Except maybe the Black Truffle Pommes Frites from Second Bar+Kitchen on Congress but that restaurant is a whole another review. Back to Hopdoddy's fries, where they arrive coated in parmesan with a side of truffle aioli to dip them in. 
I could make a whole meal of the fries alone, as I'm sure most people could, but the burgers are the show stoppers. 
I chose a Primetime burger, my usual favorite, probably because it has a smear of truffle aioli on it. While I love the truffle aioli, it also comes with brie (extra brie for me), arugula, caramelized onions, and steak sauce. The caramelized onions with ooey-gooey melted brie on top make the burger the most magnificent burger of all burgers. It is ever so juicy and the beef melts in your mouth when you take a bite.
 The other burger we got, the Goodnight, I myself seriously considered ordering but sadly did not get to taste. It consists of Tillamook cheddar, hickory BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, sliced jalapeños, and "sassy sauce". What sassy sauce is, I have no clue, but from how fast the burger was eaten I can tell it was delicious. 
All in all it was a great dinner, as it usually is. If you live in the Austin, Dallas, or Scottsdale, Arizona areas, I highly suggest you get a Hopdoddy's burger soon. 
-Madison



Thursday, April 3, 2014

Rosemary, Parsley, and Thyme, Oh My!

Fresh herbs are some of my favorite things in the world. They are so simplistically beautiful and contain an uncanny amount of natural flavor. The only thing better than having fresh herbs on hand, like say from the grocery store, is having them right in your own back yard.
This April makes my third year of growing herbs and each year my garden expands more and more. I grow my herbs in pots because I find it simpler than digging holes in the ground and because I like to keep the herbs separated. Pus, pots can be pretty. I would like to be able to say that I keep my herbs going year round but the funky weather here in Texas makes it hard for me to keep them past December. So this year when it came time to buy a new batch of herbs I decided to sit down and make a list of everything I wanted to grow. I not only picked which herbs to grow this year but I also did a little research on how to grow all the different plants, especially my new herbs. Hopefully I actually yield some good results from all my research.
After my trip to the outdoor section of two different hardware stores, I was sorely disappointed to not have found all the herbs on my list. Sadly, I am going to have make a second trip there this weekend to see if they got another shipment, but for now, here's what I got:

  • Rosemary
  • Sweet Basil
  • Lemon Thyme
  • Greek Oregano
  • Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley
  • Dill
  • Cilantro  

Rosemary, thyme, parsley, and basil are always staples to have on hand and I highly recommend growing them. I managed to get all of these but thyme on first trip so I will be on a mad hunt for it during my next trip to the hardware store. I planted cilantro so it will be interesting to see how long it lasts. It is so delicious but so hard to grow here in the heat of Texas. While I have it, I look forward to making some pretty great guacamole with it. In addition to thyme, I also plan on grabbing sweet mint, tarragon, and chives to grow. Wish me luck with my herbs!
-Madison
Rosemary

Sweet Basil

Dill

Greek Oregano
Lemon Thyme

Cilantro and Buck 

I forgot to mention my Jalapeño plant I'm growing for my Dad.
Bella likes it too. 

The herbs.



Saturday, March 29, 2014

A Fool for Fools

When hearing the word "fool", dessert is probably the last thing to come to mind. Though when you hear someone say, "I'm making a raspberry fool", your mind starts to churn a little bit.
A fool, in the culinary sense, is similar to a trifle or parfait, at least in modern times. It is a British dessert and has gone through many variations over the years. My raspberry fool is not exactly traditional, but it is delicious without any doubt.
I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but sadly I cannot. This wonderful summer dessert is courteous of a magazine I hope to write for one day, Bon Appétit. The brilliant minds there managed to create a dish so bright and bursting with a refreshing fruity flavor. It's layered with complimentary textures, yet so wonderfully simple. The thing itself only has six ingredients and one of them is a pre-made angel food cake. Who doesn't like things simple to make and even easier to eat?
I actually made the dish this weekend per request from a friend whom I served it to at a dinner party a long, long time ago. Her craving for it inspired a post on the blog, so while I cannot take credit for the recipe, I can show you how to make it.
The dish begins with angel food cake. Now, many of you may not like angel food cake usually, I myself am included. I beg you to stay with me here because this angel food cake is about to be toasted. Yes, toasted. Dice it up and throw it in the oven till it's nice and golden. The cake becomes crunchy on the outside but stays so luxuriously soft on the inside.
While the cake is cooling, the raspberries get lightly mashed with some sugar and lime zest. The natural sweetness in the juice of the raspberries slowly builds up in the bowl and works with the lime zest to create an addicting, delicious syrup.
As you layer on the raspberries, that syrup I mentioned soaks into the toasted angel food cake and becomes a decadent little cup of heaven. While the raspberries are the "cherry on top" per say for me, the next step is my mom's weakness. The whipped cream. 
This is not your normal whipped cream. While it is heavy whipping cream beaten with sugar, this fool has a little trick up its sleeve; sour cream. 

It sounds strange but the tanginess of the whipped cream with the sour cream is what cuts through the sweetness of the raspberries. May I say one more time how good this dessert is?
Finish the whole thing of with a little lime zest and the dessert is ready to be eaten. Once tasted, everything about this dessert makes sense but the name. Maybe the British decided to name it a fool because when you eat it, all you can think is "I'm a fool for this dessert". I don't know and I guess I don't need to. All that matters is that it is yummy and easy to make. Even though I happen to be content with the dessert how it is, there are so many ways this fool could go. All sorts of variations of fruits could work here and they would all look and taste beautiful. After all this fool is dressed rather sharply in its martini glass. 




Thursday, March 27, 2014

A Slightly Vegetarian Life

Life has been known to throw a curve ball or two, some rougher than the others. My most recent curve ball came when my mother, who began to do research on where the food we eat comes from, made a change in lifestyle when she decided to become a vegetarian. One might think this is not a big deal, but we are a family in the center of Texas, also known as cattle country. We love our meat, especially our BBQ. No one was ready to give up the carnivorous lifestyle but to accommodate my mother, it became time to be more of an omnivore style family. 
Now, I happen to love vegetables, so the situation is not all that bad for me. The down-fall of her new lifestyle is the fact that half of my family is of the male gender and are VERY picky eaters. My father and brother are stereotypical meat and potato kind of guys. They don't quite like things that are green, unless it's a jalapeño or a bell pepper. If they are eating vegetables, the dish has to be loaded with flavor. Luckily, my generation has the luxury of google and I never really have a hard time finding a good recipe online. Yet, I am one of those teenagers who has a soft spot for old school things. I love my Beastie Boys and Jimi Hendrix CDs that live in my car. There is no way I can forget to mention my Doors vinyl collection that resides next to the record player in my room. Classic comforts like these are why it began to make sense to me to switch my recipe searching from the internet and over to the pages of a cookbook. Granted, I did find my new cookbook online and had it delivered to my house but whatever, that's not the point being made here.
When the cookbook finally arrived, I spent some time with it in my backyard. My afternoon consisted of reading it while bathing in the warmth of the sun. The name of the cookbook you ask? Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi. 
The book features tasty and solely vegetable recipes that work as both side and main dishes. A lot of the recipes are herbaceous and bright, something I really enjoy in my food. The herb-y recipes excite me seeing as my herb garden will be expanding this year, but that is another blog post. Plus, lots of recipes consist of yummy goat cheese, who doesn't love that? The best part is even though it is a cookbook, Ottolenghi actually made it a pretty great read. I have not made anything from it yet, but I cannot wait to dive into the recipes. The recipes are simple, the flavors make sense, and the cookbook itself is quite beautiful. 
I'll keep everyone updated on my progress as I go through the book , but for now I recommend you buy a copy for yourself. Here is to hoping the omnivore life works out for my family.
Enjoy.
-Madison 


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Cake Fail Turned Cake Balls

Though I may be young, I have made many cakes in my life. This is why when I was strolling the aisles of my grocery store and spotted coconut flour, my mind jumped to using it in a chocolate cake. The coconut flour went in my cart and excitement flooded through me. When I arrived at home, I pulled the most wonderful chocolate cake recipe in the world out of it's hiding place and went to work.
I assumed that coconut flour would be a great and more delicious substitute for the all-purpose flour the recipe calls for. I assumed wrong. Not about the delicious part but definitely about it being a great substitute. The coconut flour completely changed the consistency of the cake, making it seem more like a mealy brownie batter. I would have tried to fix it but I was also running short on time. Seeing as I still had to get ready for a party, I dumped the batter into two eight-inch round cake pans and threw them in the oven. When I came back and the timer went off, the cake looked horrible. This is not an exaggeration, it was lumpy and uneven all across the surface. Yet, the consistency of it was still cake-like. My hope returned to me and then was crushed once again after letting the cakes cool and taking them out of the pans. The cake fell apart. It was like all my hopes for this wonderful gluten-free coconut chocolate cake were thrown up the counter before me. I glanced at it and thought, there's only one thing I can do; cake balls.
It's really important to note that I am not a particular fan of cake balls. For one thing, I don't like frosting typically unless I make because then I get to control the sweetness of it. Two, I don't like the outer chocolate coating. I know, I'm weird about them but it's whatever. So since I didn't want to dump a perfectly tasty cake into the trash, I went to work on a coconut cream cheese frosting. When the cake and frosting were combined and had not yet been dipped in chocolate, the cake was like a Mound candy bar (these cake balls, despite much mental debate, were almond free). I was pretty satisfied with them but they still needed that dreadful coating of chocolate.
After rummaging through my pantry I managed to find Ghirardelli dark chocolate, yum! I started melting the chocolate (15 second intervals in the microwave) and began dreading what I was about to do. I wanted my cake balls to be pretty, like the ones sold at professional bakeries, but I knew if I was dipping them, that was not going to happen.
They did not turn out perfectly smooth but they turned out kind of cute, nonetheless. All I can say is at least a tasty cake did not go to waste. Plus if you are gluten-free, these aren't healthy but you can totally eat them! Get the recipe at my allrecipes page.

-Madison



Saturday, March 22, 2014

Savory Sweet Potato Pie

The name sounds contrasting, "savory sweet potatoes", but I guarantee this combination of flavors is delicious and worth every calorie. Many of you are probably familiar with the fantastic combination of sweet potatoes, rosemary, and olive oil. As I roasted those ingredients together the other night, an idea came to me, why not make it a pie? Seeing as I had never even made sweet potato pie before and I wasn't even really a fan of the sweet version, a lot of research was in order. After an hour or so on the internet, I developed a recipe of my own and I have to say, I am quite proud of myself for doing so. Especially after tasting the test pie, I can say I am rightfully proud. I made one whole pie but as my family and I dined on as a side dish, we all came to the conclusion it would make a wonderful appetizer if made in a mini cupcake pan. You could even keep it as a side dish but make it individually portioned by baking them in a regular sized cupcake pan. If you choose to do this, biscuit cutters are your friends when it comes to pie dough. If you feel up to trying to make this cheesy, flavorful, and super easy to make pie, head over to my allrecipes page.
Those are Parmesan shavings on top, they make the pie a little prettier.
-Madison

Teenage Taste Buds, A Welcome to My Foodie Life in Austin, Texas

My name is Madison and I reside in one of the greatest food cities in the country, Austin, Texas. Austin has been my home for over nine years now and as a teenager growing up in such a wonderful city, it's hard to not fall in love with all the food created here. With such a pallet-pleasing town practically in my backyard, I though what the heck, let's take a food journey. So that's why this blog is here. Plus my dream is to become a food journalist, this is like a step in that direction. Here I have the freedom to post about the restaurants I go to and the recipes I conquer. Maybe some people will go on this journey with me, especially seeing how practically everyone considers themself a foodie these days. I have a serious passion for food and I want to share it with everyone I love, and apparently now the internet too. So here's to Austin, here's to food, and here is to my teenage taste buds. -Madison