Hurricane Day Cupcakes

I did get my half of a hurricane day, so that means I did get to make cupcakes. Hooray for hurricane day cupcakes! Fortunately, good old tropical storm Fay barely made an entrance for us. We just had some wind and rain. Our trees are still intact and we did not have to camp out with candles or a boy scout camping stove.

I saw this recipe for cupcakes on Nigella's show this weekend. I have failed several times at making cupcakes from scratch. They always came out too dry and hard. This, on the other hand, is one of the best cake recipes I've used! The cupcakes were AMAZING! They were moist and slightly fluffy, but still dense enough that you could tell they weren't from a box. It yielded exactly twelve cupcakes, which is perfect because I didn't want to be eating cupcakes all week. It is just such a great and easy recipe to have.

For the frosting, I didn't make her royal icing since I still get a little weird about using raw eggs. I'm sure eventually I'll get over it. Instead, I made a lemon white chocolate ganache frosting. It was such a good match for the cupcakes!

Nigella Lawson's Cupcakes

from foodnetwork.com

You can find the recipe here.

A few changes I made: I added one tbsp of almond extract instead of one of the tbsp of vanilla. I also added another tbsp (or two) of milk to thin the batter out a bit more.

Lemon White Chocolate Ganache Frosting

1 1/2 cup good quality white-chocolate chips or shavings

zest from one medium lemon

juice from 1/2 the lemon

2-3 tbsp milk

Melt the chocolate chips using a double broiler (or a double broiler method). Once melted, whisk in the rest of the ingredients until smooth. You can add more or less milk depending on the consistency you want. Let it stand for about 10-15 minutes to thicken and cool before frosting cupcakes.

I've done this method with dark chocolate chips and oranges too, and I've added lime instead of lemon to the above recipe. Both are great versions of the above frosting!

Back for Now

I actually did a bit of cooking this weekend...just a bit. My motivation is starting to come back and my mind is beginning to think about what new recipe I can try next. I have a Nigella cupcake recipe sitting on my kitchen counter hoping for a hurricane day. We are possibly getting one tomorrow- an itty, bitty one that is small enough to be of no concern but big enough to hopefully close work. A and I have survived several larger category three storms since we've been here and lucked out. So, a category one hurricane is really just a holiday for us. Hey, we tend to be optimistic.

On Friday, I finally had the urge to get myself into the kitchen. I decided to do something similar to this pasta recipe. I changed it up a bit, but it's still similar. It was very, very good. I wasn't sure how the canned clams would turn out, but it was really a great buy. If you don't like clams, this recipe would be tasty with shrimp too, or skip the seafood and just use an additional sausage.




Sausage and Clam Linguine
adapted from Foodandwine.com

1 package linguine
1 small can of clams (in salt and water only, no preservatives or additives), drained but saving 2 tbsp
2 tbsp of the clam water from can
2 small spicy turkey sausages (spicy Italian, chorizo, or similar), uncased
1 small onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-1 1/2 cup good white wine
2 tbsp butter
1/2- 1 cup reserved cooked pasta water
juice from half a lemon
olive oil
dried basil
fresh parsley
salt and pepper
lemon wedges for serving

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a large pan or skillet, uncase the turkey sausage and brown until cooked thoroughly. You may need to had a drizzle of olive oil since turkey sausage tends to be very lean. Once cooked, remove the sausage from the pan. Add another drizzle of olive oil to brown onion and garlic (add the garlic once the onion is partly cooked to avoid burning). After onion and garlic are browned and soft, add in the white wine, reserved clam water, some salt and pepper, and dried basil. Make sure you pick up the bits from the bottom of the pan. After cooking down the liquid for about 5-1o minutes , add in clams and butter. Simmer on low for another 5 minutes. Slowly add in reserved pasta water until you have a sauce-like consistency.Toss cooked pasta together with sauce, fresh lemon juice, and parsley. Drizzle a bit more olive oil if needed. Serve with a generous sprinkling of shredded Parmesan or Romano and a lemon wedge.

Busy as a Bee

I've been so busy lately. Busy with what? I'm not exactly sure but I know there has been a lot of "stuff" going on, which means hardly any cooking to document. I did make some disastrous ice cream cookie sandwiches that melted all over my freezer, along with a spicy eggplant stew that didn't have any flavor. I haven't quite figured out went wrong, but I have a list of suspects.

Hopefully this week I'll get to cooking SOMETHING good!

Garbanzo Love

I have fallen hard in love...with the wonderful and glorious chickpea! Beyond the relationship I have with hummus, I have now introduced the garbanzo to all sorts of new dishes. It's been great in salads, pastas, couscous- the possibilities are endless. I am a casual vegetarian (meaning I do eat white meat and seafood on occasion, when the mood strikes), so garbanzo beans are a nice addition to "beef" up a dish.

This recipe is absolutely a keeper! I love tapas and I have seen this stew on a few Spanish menus. It is easy to make and really could be eaten as a side dish, or as a main course with some crusty bread and cheese.

Chickpea and Spinach Stew

from Foodandwine.com

You can find the recipe here.

Lazy with Asian Flair

A and I have been more busy than lazy, really. I think we have had one weekend at home together in a few months. Between small trips and A's grad school, it's been non-stop moving around! I can't complain too much since I like having somewhere to go. However, it has made me that much more tired during the week, which means less cooking. I have been making a lot of quick and simple dinners that are also light for the summer heat. Since I don't indulge my Asian side too much, I try to experiment with the most basic of Asian ingredients. The recipe calls for toasted sesame seed oil and kimchi- both staples in the Korean household. Kimchi can be an acquired taste if you're not used to it, but I've been eating it since I was a child. I love it! The tangy and spicy cabbage just adds a nice kick to an Asian dish, especially this very simple one.

This one has been a recent favorite go-to of mine since it takes no more than a handful of ingredients and ten minutes to prepare. It is my favorite form of comfort food- noodles, veggies, and kimchi. As usual, I pieced together several recipes so I can't take full credit for the dish. The picture is a bit sloppy due to hunger and my old clunker of a camera.

Sesame Noodles

The measurements will vary on how much you make. I am going to base it on 1 serving, since I usually just make a small bowl for me.

1 serving of udon noodles (dried or fresh), the amount would be about 1 1/2 in. in diameter if dried

2 cups frozen Asian stir fry veggies (I like the one with edamame.)

1 tbsp sesame seed oil

1 tbsp good soy sauce

1/2 cup chopped kimchi

Cook udon noodles until chewy all the way through. At the same time, stir fry veggies with just a little olive oil and water to be sure they heat and cook. You don't want mushy, watery, or oily veggies. Once both are done, mix noodles, veggies, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, and kimchi all together in a bowl. You can add as much soy sauce and sesame seed oil as you want if you need a stronger flavor. I usually like it pretty light. See! Easy and so very good!

Simply Tomatoes

Just a quick post today. I had leftover grape tomatoes and wanted to do something a little different with them. I normally just throw them raw into a salad since they're sweet all alone. However, this time I sauteed them in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil and a couple pinches of dried oregano and sea salt. What a great combination! Add them to salads, pastas, or just have them as a side dish.

Grape Tomatoes with Oregano

a cup or two of grape tomatoes
couple turns of extra virgin olive oil

pinch or two of sea salt

a few pinches of dried oregano

Saute grape tomatoes in a pan with the rest of the ingredients over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. You know they're done when the tomatoes just start to soften and blister.

First Attempt

I've been having weird cravings lately- crunchwraps from Taco Bell, turkey burger with extra pickles, gummy bears, and Indian food. No, I'm not pregnant, but you'd think it by the strange combination of things I've wanted to eat. I did eat a crunchwrap over the weekend (check!), which I know doesn't follow my buy real and organic food diet. Whatever, life is too short anyway. The Indian food I attempted to fix on my own. I've been wanting to dabble in making more Asian and Indian dishes since that is an area of cooking I have not really explored. A and I love Indian food and sadly we can't get very good Indian food in Florida like we could in Boston. (We had our very first date at an Indian restaurant!) So to remedy this and not spend money going out all the time, I attempted to make Chicken Tikka Masala. I say "attempted" because it was a mish mash of four different recipes and it didn't taste like restaurant quality. The picture isn't a good representation since it tasted much better than the way it looks in the picture. I wanted to take a picture of it "plated" but forgot in my hunger. Enjoy! It's worth trying with shrimp, tofu, or veggies too!

Tikka Masala- style Chicken

For the marinade:

4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs

1 cup yogurt (low fat or Greek-style work best)

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp ginger (freshly grated or powder)

1 tsp turmeric

a few good pinches of salt and pepper

Mix all the spices into the yogurt. In a large ziplock bag, mix the chicken and the yogurt marinade. Let it marinade in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours (overnight if possible). When ready to cook the chicken. place in a baking dish (discarding any left over marinade) and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. You can also cook it out on the grill too!

For the sauce:

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2/3 small can (4 oz) of tomato paste

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves finely minced garlic

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cayenne

1 pinch cumin

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup of whipping cream

2-3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Over medium heat, brown the onion using butter and olive oil. Add in the minced garlic toward the end to brown, making sure it doesn't burn. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Once it is thoroughly mixed and starting to heat through, add lemon juice, garam masala, ginger, cayenne, and cumin. Cook at medium low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add in the whipping cream and chicken. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle fresh cilantro right before serving. Goes great with brown or basmati rice.