PB&J Muffins

These are definitely my new favorite muffins. Peanut butter and homemade blackberry jam in muffin form, my mouth waters at the thought alone. Sigh. While they didn't come out of the pan very well they were definitely delicious, although if you don't have some milk to drink with them, you are pretty much doomed.Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
From Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¾ cup peanut butter
1/3 cup plus
2 TBSP Mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1 egg, well beaten
1 small jar seedless blackberry jelly(or any jelly of your choice), you will have leftovers

Preheat oven to 350F.Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.Add peanut butter and Mascarpone cheese. Mix until well incorporated.Add the milk, egg and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated.Grease and flour a standard muffin pan(I used square ones). Fill each muffin tin up 1/3 of the way full. Add a large TBSP of blackberry jelly. Spread it around with your fingers. Cover the jelly with peanut butter dough. They do not rise very much so you can fill the muffins to almost the top of the muffin hole(leave a little room).Bake for 20-25 minutes. Test to see if done by using a wooden skewer and inserting it in the middle of the muffin. If it comes out clean(there will be jelly on it though) then you are good to go.

If you want to add glaze like I did it is simply 1/3 cup seedless blackberry jelly melted in a saucepan and then add 1 cup powdered sugar. Pour over muffins.

Bagels!

I love bagels, especially cheese bagels. Actually, I love almost anything cheese, but I especially love cheese bagels. I have made bagels a few times before, but this is my first time ever trying them with cheese. And it was a success! I loved them, EC loved them, the people at EC's law school whom he shared some with loved them, they are simply loved all around (get it a-round, bagels are round, funny, I know). The bagels look kind of paste-y in these pictures, but don't let appearances deceive you, they are yummy!

Bagels
From Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice
Yield: 12 large or 24 miniature bagels

Sponge:
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour (see note below)
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

Dough
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar (see note below)

To Finish
1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, rehydrated dried minced garlic or onions

1. Day one: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients for a ball, slowly working in the remaining 3/4 cup flour to stiffen the dough.

3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour - all ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 71 degrees F. If the dough seems to dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.

5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.

6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with one of the following shaping methods:

Method 1: Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter (half of this for a mini-bagel). The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots.)

Method 2: Roll out the dough into an 8-inch long rope. (This may require rolling part of the way and resting if the pieces are too elastic and snap back, in which case, allow them to rest for 3 minutes and then extend them again to bring to full length. Wrap the dough around the palm and back of your hand, between the thumb and forefinger, overlapping the ends by several inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rocking back and forth to seal.

7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float. Return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.

9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minutes flip them over rand boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side . While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decide to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) If you want to top the bagels, do so as soon as they come out of the water. You can use any of the suggestions in the ingredients list or a combination.

11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are baking only 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.

12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

Pad Thai

Ever since we had Thai food one day at work I have been a huge fan of Pad Thai. I can only handle the medium spiciness, nothing too hot for me, but I must admit, that I am addicted to the stuff. So when I was on MSN one day and they had a recipe for Pad Thai I thought I would try it. EC really enjoyed how lime-y it was. I on the other hand prefer my lime flavoring to be small, indistinct even, like in Sprite. His only real complaint was that the noodles were a little soft. I, however, think I will leave the making of Pad Thai to the professionals at the various Thai restaurants we frequent, that way I won't have to make it or clean it up.

Ooh, an action shot of me actually cooking, how exciting!

This meal was also a test to see if EC is allergic to the shrimp that I cook. He had a bad experience with seafood while visiting his family over the summer, and has been afraid to eat it since. I am happy to report that nothing bad happened and we plan to celebrate by eating a shrimp and broccoli dish very soon, hooray!

Pad Thai (From Good Housekeeping)

1 package (7 to 8 ounces) rice stick noodles
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 T sugar
1 T canola oil
8 oz medium shrimps, shelled and deveined, then cut in half lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 t crushed red pepper
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 oz fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
1/4 c unsalted roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges


In a large bowl, soak rice stick noodles in enough hot water to cover, for 20 minutes; drain. With kitchen shears, cut noodles into 4 inch lengths.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Prepare all remaining ingredients and place next to stove for easy assembly.

In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add shrimp, garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring, 1 minutes. Add eggs and cook, stirring, until just set, about 20 seconds. Add drained noodles and cook, stirring 2 minutes. Add fish-sauce mixture, half of bean sprouts, half of peanuts, and half of green onions; cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Transfer pad thai to warm platter or serving bowl. Top with remaining bean sprouts and sprinkle with remaining peanuts, remaining green onions, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

I saw this recipe for Snickerdoodle muffins and decided that I needed to try it. Not because I have any problem with eating cookies for breakfast, but because if it is in a muffin form, I will feel slightly less guilty about it. They were pretty good, but it has been a while since I had an actual Snickerdoodle cookie, so I can't remember if the muffins are close to what the actual cookie tastes like. I think what I need to do is make these muffins AND the cookies and then eat them at the same time, to compare and contrast - for breakfast of course.

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Snickerdoodle Muffins

(From Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

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2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

¾ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp cream of tarter

¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 and ¼ cup sour cream

2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar and 2 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling

1.Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.

2.In a separate, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and cream of tarter.

3.Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally.

4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place muffin in to muffin tin.. Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20-22 minutes in a 350F oven or until they are golden brown.

Cheesecake Pops

*Update on previous post regarding bad drivers: EC and I went on our weekly trek to Spokane this Saturday. We were driving back pretty late, so it was quite dark. As I was driving along, I looked in my rear view mirror to see a car coming up behind me, pretty close. I glanced in my mirror again and saw the dreaded red and blue lights coming from his grill. My stomach did a flip flop thing and I thought, I have never seen lights on a grill before, it must be an undercover cop. So, I proceeded to pull over, but the car simply passed me. Strange. Then off from the side of the road, a car pulled out of the darkness. A few seconds later I looked in my rear view mirror once again to see the dreaded red and blue lights flashing. That's twice in less than five minutes - I almost had a heart attack. Once again I proceeded to pull over, but the cop just passed me, turned off his lights, and raced into the darkness. A mile or so down the road we saw the first car that had lights on its' grill pulled over by the actual cop. Which made me happy.

Now, on to Cheesecake Pops!

This little balls of goodness were fun to make and tasted amazing! EC had one while we were walking to the neighbors, to share some so I didn't eat them all, and he bemoaned the fact that we were giving so many away. Perfect, bitesized pieces of cheesecake on a stick. I also still have some in the freezer that I didn't put on sticks, which will be more like cheesecake truffles, but I ran out of chocolate so I didn't have a chance to make them all. The best part about these was decorating them, I had a lot of fun with my different sprinkles.

Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor and Leigh Beisch
Makes 40 – 60 Pops
5 8-oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
Forty to sixty 8-inch lollipop sticks

2 pounds semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped (chocolate chips are fine)
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325º F. Set a kettle of water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease 2, 10-inch cake pan and pour the batter into the cake pans. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls, about the size of a walnut or a heaping rounded tablespoon. Place balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, freeze for 10-15 minutes, then roll with your hands into uniform spheres. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In a double boiler, or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, warm the chocolate and shortening, stirring continuously until smooth and glossy. It’s best to work with 8oz of chocolate and 1 tablespoon shortening at a time, so the chocolate does not dry before all pops have been dipped.

Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the heat source. Working quickly, dip a frozen cheesecake pop, swirling to coat it completely. Gently shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. Place the finished pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening as needed.

Refrigerate the pops in a covered contained for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Roast Chicken Artichoke Pasta

Warning: This first part has nothing to do with food :)

This week I have been very annoyed with college student drivers or possibly just drivers in general, but I have noticed the road rage more acutely since school began. In the last three days I have been tailgated, had brights flashed at me (in the middle of the day, come on people! The only reason I noticed was because I happened to be glancing in the rear view mirror at the time!), and had someone following me turn on his left hand blinker, possibly in an effort to tell me to get over, because I don't think he was going to pass me in the suicide lane - all while I was SPEEDING and had no option to get over because I was PASSING other cars. Ugh

*end rant


We had tons of leftovers from when we had roast chicken so what better use for those leftovers than a roast chicken artichoke pasta? Answer: there is no better use. So, that is what I cooked up for dinner last night.

I sauted me some garlic (I think it got a little over cooked during the photo shoot, curse artistic licence).

Then I boiled and drained my noodles (this could also have been the cause for the overcooking of the garlic, sometimes I forget how long noodles can take to cook). Then in a step that isn't shown because EC was working on his homework and I felt bad bothering him so often to take photos, I added all sorts of good things, cheese, mayo, lemon juice, yum.

The finished product was pretty good. EC thought it was pretty tasty, which is good, because I made enough to feed everyone I have ever known or will ever meet, so he will be eating this as leftovers for a while. I thought it was a little too "zingy" and next time will omit some of the lemon juice and use actual mayo instead of miracle whip, in an effort to control the zing.

Roast Chicken Artichoke Pasta (from jenyu.net/)

1 lb roast chicken, chopped
24 oz. artichoke hearts, cooked, drained, quartered
1 lb. penne, cooked and drained3 tbsp olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 cups Parmesan, grated (to taste)
1.5 cups, mayonnaise (to taste)
1/2 cup lemon juice (to taste)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In a large sauté pan heat olive oil on high flame. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the drained penne and sauté for a few minutes. When the pasta is well-coated, toss in the chicken and artichokes and stir until thoroughly heated. Remove pot from heat. Toss in the Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and parsley. Stir well and serve hot.

Lemon Roast Chicken

Since yesterday was fast sunday, dinner called for a more elegant meal than normal. So Saturday EC and I went and bought a roasting pan and Saturday evening I seasoned a chicken for us to enjoy the next day. The chicken turned out beautifully, with a hint of lemon. However, I also grated two garlic cloves for the rub and my whole apartment still smells of garlic. The seasonings for the chicken still need to be tweeked a little, but the vegetables were divine, especially the onion. Does anyone have any good seasoning blends they can suggest for a roast chicken?

Blackberry Marscapone Tart

We have some friends who invited us to go blackberry picking with them. Ecstatic to spend time with my favorite three year old friend and at the prospect of getting free blackberries, we readily agreed. We came home with two gallons of blackberries and subsequently went back two more times. This meant that I needed to find recipes that called for blackberries. I stumbled upon a yummy looking recipe and knew I had to try it. The first attempt tasted good, but didn't look so good, so when my sister came up we tried again. It tasted as good as it looked.





My sister was the genius food artist behind this picture. One day I will be creative. Until then I will simply live off the creativity and talents of others, like a leech.

Wheat Bread Take 2

Last week while my older sister was up visiting, we attempted to make whole wheat bread. I checked out Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice from the local library and we were off! Things did not go smoothly however, and although the bread tasted good when it was done, it was very small and dense. Apparently we were not patient enough to let it rise enough during the final rising. So this weekend, in an effort to redeem myself, I tried a different recipe, one that used whole wheat, rye, and all-purpose flour, as well as wheat germ. The results: beautiful loaves of bread that tasted wonderful! I learned a very important lesson from all of this: I do not like 100% whole wheat bread.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever?

I love chocolate chip cookies. In my mind they are the ultimate comfort cookie. However, the recipe that I have been using recently has left something to be desired - which in most cases is height. The recipe that I had usually resulted in flat, ugly looking cookies. One day recently, I ran into the New York Times article about the best cookie ever. I decided that I needed to try this recipe and thirty-six hours later I was rewarded with a delicious, if slightly overly chocolate-y, cookie. I definitely recommend this recipe, although next time I will add a little less than the recommended pound and a quarter of chocolate.

Starting Up

Well, due to the fact that I like to cook and due to the fact that my eternal companion likes to photograph, I see this as something productive we can do together. Let's hope it works!