Also for the Super Bowl, I made twice baked potatoes. These are a favorite of mine from growing up. They are fun and easy to make, but delicious and very satisfying to eat.
Twice Baked Potatoes
What You Need
-4 large russet potatoes, about a pound each
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1/2 cup milk
-3 Tbsp butter, softened
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (plus a bit more for topping)
-4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
-2 small heads broccoli, chopped
-1/2 onion, chopped
-4 strips bacon (optional)
What You Do
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Scrub the potatoes clean under running water.
3. Poke each potato in several places with the tines of a fork so that when the potatoes are cooking they don't explode.
4. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. They should be soft when you poke a folk in them.
5. If you are including bacon in your stuffing, while the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool and crumble.
6. Sauté the mushrooms, broccoli, and onion in a little butter until the broccoli is bright green. Use as much or as little as you like. This is where you get to play! Think of other items you want in your potato.
6. When the potatoes are done, allow them to cool to touch (10 minutes min.)
7. Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise.
8. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides. Be careful and make sure to leave the skin in tact.
9. Place the scooped out potato insides, sour cream, milk, and butter into a large bowl.
10. Mix the sautéd veggies and crumbled bacon in with the potatoes. Add in the cheese and mix some more. Reserve some of the cheese and bacon (if you are using it) to sprinkle on the tops of the potatoes.
11. Spoon fillings into the potato shells.
12. Sprinkle with extra toppings.
13. Heat oven to 350°F.
14. Place potatoes on a roasting pan and bake 15 to 20 minutes until heated through.
Next time play around with some of your favorite items to add into the potatoes. They are good no matter what you put in them!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sweet Treats
After the Jambalaya was simmering, I got started with some chocolate chip cookies. This recipe was fantastic and I think I will be sticking with it for a long time. The cookies turned out soft and sweet! They were a great hit for the Superbowl yesterday as well.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies(from Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
What You Need
-2 sticks butter
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-2 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 cups chocolate chips
What You Do
1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. (By the way, I hate using the electric mixer and only do so for a short time and then resorted to working by hand. It gets the butter and sugar everywhere!)
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add them to the batter by hand, stirring to blend. Stir in the vanilla and then the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets and bake until lightly browned about 10 minutes.
Share with friends, and eat with a glass of milk.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies(from Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
What You Need
-2 sticks butter
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-2 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 cups chocolate chips
What You Do
1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. (By the way, I hate using the electric mixer and only do so for a short time and then resorted to working by hand. It gets the butter and sugar everywhere!)
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add them to the batter by hand, stirring to blend. Stir in the vanilla and then the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets and bake until lightly browned about 10 minutes.
Share with friends, and eat with a glass of milk.
Back in the Game
As you may have noticed, 2010 has not been a great year for the blog so far. Some of this is due to the craziness of the past two months, but it has also been because of some trouble I've been having with my apartment. I have been fighting tirelessly against an army of roaches that have made their happy home this winter in my kitchen. I know, it is gross. But, I thought it was about time I blogged about it and got it off my chest. I was finally able to get the exterminator here last Thurs. and so far, things have been looking a lot better. I'm on the "rotation" for pest control in my building and so, hopefully, I will be able to sneak back into my kitchen and get cooking again.
With the two feet of snow we got this weekend, I hardly left my house. Thankfully, the roaches had retreated enough to allow me into the kitchen to try some goodies for the cold weather (and also for the Superbowl).
First was the Jambalaya:
Jambalaya (from epicurious)
What You Need:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- large onion, chopped
- 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, minced
- 4 oz extra-lean smoked ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 precooked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 5 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
- 1 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped into bite-sized pieces
What You Do:
1. Add oil to a large nonstick saucepan.
2. Over medium heat, sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery until onion is translucent.
3. Add parsley, ham, chicken, sausage, bay leaf, and cayenne pepper.
4. Cook, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce, and 1 3/4 cups cold water.
6. Gently simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
7. Pour rice into the pan and stir well.
8. Bring mixture to a boil.
9. Lower heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes or until rice is cooked and absorbs most of the liquid.
10. Stir in shrimp and cook 5 minutes more.
11. Remove bay leaf.
12. Season to taste with cayenne pepper and salt.
13. Enjoy!
This is great for the cold weather... more weekend treats to come!
With the two feet of snow we got this weekend, I hardly left my house. Thankfully, the roaches had retreated enough to allow me into the kitchen to try some goodies for the cold weather (and also for the Superbowl).
First was the Jambalaya:
Jambalaya (from epicurious)
What You Need:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- large onion, chopped
- 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, minced
- 4 oz extra-lean smoked ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 precooked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 5 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
- 1 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped into bite-sized pieces
What You Do:
1. Add oil to a large nonstick saucepan.
2. Over medium heat, sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery until onion is translucent.
3. Add parsley, ham, chicken, sausage, bay leaf, and cayenne pepper.
4. Cook, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce, and 1 3/4 cups cold water.
6. Gently simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
7. Pour rice into the pan and stir well.
8. Bring mixture to a boil.
9. Lower heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes or until rice is cooked and absorbs most of the liquid.
10. Stir in shrimp and cook 5 minutes more.
11. Remove bay leaf.
12. Season to taste with cayenne pepper and salt.
13. Enjoy!
This is great for the cold weather... more weekend treats to come!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Lilly Pancakes
I was up in NJ last weekend helping my grandma move from her home in Queens, NY to a new apartment in an independent living facility in NJ. It was a great success. We also had time to get together as a family to have Sunday brunch. We made a family classic: crepes.
Growing up, my dad used to make us "pancakes" on the weekends. When I went to IHOP for the first time, I was shocked and appalled because they're pancakes were so fat and dry. And you couldn't roll them up with fruit inside. It took some time to realize what I had always known as pancakes were actually crepes.
My sister and dad are the experts on these amazing crepes, but I'm learning as well. Here is our family recipe adapted from the 21st printing of the Joy of Cooking from 1980 (the recipe is different in my new Joy). We always double the recipe, but doing the math is part of the fun so I left the original amounts below...you can double it yourself.
Lilly Pancakes (Crepes)
What You Do
1. Sift together dry ingredients.
2. Beat 2 eggs.
3. Mix together liquid ingredients ad eggs.
4. Pour liquid into sifted ingredients and wisk gently (don't worry if there are some clumps).
5. Heat skillet (the size you want you crepes).
6. Grease skillet (we use pam but oil is good too...this needs to be done before each crepe is put on the skillet).
7. Use 1/3 cup measure to scoop batter into skillet. When adding the batter, tip the skillet to spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the entire skillet.
8. Cook on medium heat.
9. When first side is brown, flip crepe and brown the other size. We like them pretty light, and my sister and dad are the masters of the flipping skills!
10. After all the batter is used up, serve with vanilla yogurt, cut strawberries, other berries, and/or nuts. 
11. To prep the perfect crepe, place the crepe on your plate, spread yogurt on the whole thing and then add a fruit topping in the middle. Roll up the crepe and enjoy!
I hope you can get as much pleasure out of this recipe as my family.
Growing up, my dad used to make us "pancakes" on the weekends. When I went to IHOP for the first time, I was shocked and appalled because they're pancakes were so fat and dry. And you couldn't roll them up with fruit inside. It took some time to realize what I had always known as pancakes were actually crepes.
My sister and dad are the experts on these amazing crepes, but I'm learning as well. Here is our family recipe adapted from the 21st printing of the Joy of Cooking from 1980 (the recipe is different in my new Joy). We always double the recipe, but doing the math is part of the fun so I left the original amounts below...you can double it yourself.
Lilly Pancakes (Crepes)
What You Need
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon double acting baking powder
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (this was always our job growing up..making sure to get a good sniff of the vanilla)
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon double acting baking powder
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (this was always our job growing up..making sure to get a good sniff of the vanilla)
What You Do
1. Sift together dry ingredients.
2. Beat 2 eggs.
3. Mix together liquid ingredients ad eggs.
4. Pour liquid into sifted ingredients and wisk gently (don't worry if there are some clumps).
5. Heat skillet (the size you want you crepes).
6. Grease skillet (we use pam but oil is good too...this needs to be done before each crepe is put on the skillet).
7. Use 1/3 cup measure to scoop batter into skillet. When adding the batter, tip the skillet to spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the entire skillet.
8. Cook on medium heat.
9. When first side is brown, flip crepe and brown the other size. We like them pretty light, and my sister and dad are the masters of the flipping skills!
10. After all the batter is used up, serve with vanilla yogurt, cut strawberries, other berries, and/or nuts. 11. To prep the perfect crepe, place the crepe on your plate, spread yogurt on the whole thing and then add a fruit topping in the middle. Roll up the crepe and enjoy!I hope you can get as much pleasure out of this recipe as my family.
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