Picture Perfect Cookies - Elizabeth

Sorry for being so absent lately - cooking has taken a back seat to school, work & house projects lately. However, I did want to share these beauties:




You might remember these chocolate chip walnut cookies I made a few months back. They tasted good, but looked so sad & pathetic. Since then, I've been wanting to overcome the embarrassment. So, when making another batch for the same person, I chose a new recipe - based on the pictures this time.

So. Wonderful.

They're Jaay's Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies. The only modification I made was to add about a cup and a half of chopping walnuts. That's it. So good. 

Shrimp Enchiladas - Rachel

(sorry about the terrible picture!)

easy & delicious!

Ingredients:

3 T butter, divided

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 red bell pepper, diced

3/4 c onion, diced

1/4 t oregano

1/4 t salt

dash garlic powder

dash cayenne pepper

2 t flour

6 T heavy cream

1/4 sour cream

6 oz shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend), divided

1 c tomatoes, seeded & diced

8-10 (8 in) flour tortillas

Directions:

1. In large pan, melt 1 T butter over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to the pan in even layer and cook for about 1 minute without moving. Flip shrimp over and continue cooking, about 1 minute until just pink and opaque. Remove from heat and spoon shrimp onto plate. When cool, chop into bite-size pieces.

2. Melt the remaining butter in the pan. Add diced pepper and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add oregano, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper & flour. Stir well and cook about 1 minute.

3. Lower heat to medium-low and carefully add cream to pan. Cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

4. Remove pan from heat and stir in sour cream, half of cheese and tomatoes. Return shrimp to pan and mix everything together until cheese is melted.

5. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 baking dish. Assemble enchiladas by scooping desired amount of mixture down center of tortilla, sprinkle some more cheese on, and roll tortilla tightly. Place seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining filling, tortillas and cheese. If desired, spread some remaining filling on top of tortillas.

6. Bake about 30 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Source: Annie's Eats

Modification Ideas:

Would love to try a mix of shrimp & chicken next time.

Samoa Cupcakes - Rachel

delightful remix on the Girl Scout cookie!

Ingredients

For cupcakes:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 c water

3 eggs

1/3 c veggie oil

For chocolate ganache:

8 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1 c heavy cream

1 t vanilla

For frosting:

1/2 c butter

1 c brown sugar

1/4 c milk

2 c powdered sugar, sifted

1 t vanilla

For topping:

1 c coconut

Directions

For cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cupcake batter according to box directions. Fill cupcake tray with liners, and fill each liner about 3/4 full. Bake according to box directions. Let cool completely before frosting.

For ganache:

1. Stir chocolate chips and cream in double boiler until melted. I started to melt the chips first, then stirred the cream into the partially melted chocolate.

2. Add vanilla, stir to mix. Cool to room temperature.

For frosting:

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes.

2. Add milk; continue stirring until boiling. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm.

3. Put about half of mixture in mixing bowl, add one cup of sugar and combine. Add remaining mixture and other cup of sugar and combine. Add vanilla, combine and beat on medium-high for about 4 minutes. (I added a smidge more cream at this stage as well. My frosting consistency was not fluffy at this point. I put the frosting in an airtight container and left it overnight, and it was much better the next morning when I frosted the cupcakes.)

For topping:

Pour cup of coconut onto a baking sheet and spread around evenly. Place in oven heated to 350 and bake for about 7-10 minutes. **Be sure to stir the coconut every couple minutes to avoid burning! Remove when coconut is a golden brown.

To assemble cupcakes:

1. Smooth top of cupcakes with a light layer of ganache. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes so ganache slightly hardens.

2. Using pastry bag (or cut a little hole in a Ziploc bag), pipe frosting onto cupcake.

3. Sprinkle toasted coconut on top.

4. Heat some ganache in microwave about 10 seconds. Stir to drizzling consistency and drizzle over cupcakes.

ENJOY.

Source: adapted from The Cooking of Joy - I wasn't sure about the sugar measurement for her coconut frosting, so I searched for a recipe for caramel frosting, which I found at Cooks.com.

Modification ideas:

- Joy put caramels inside her cupcakes, but said they sank to the bottom and were too hard to chew. If I had more time, I would make a caramel sauce and make a few holes in the cooked cupcakes and insert some caramel sauce. Perhaps messy, but it sounds awesome.

- I might mix more toasted coconut into the caramel frosting next time. The upside of just sprinkling it on top was that many of my students (for whom I made the cupcakes) don't like coconut, so they were able to brush it off and still enjoy. However, I love coconut and there wasn't enough for me.

Related recipe I want to try:

Homemade Samoas... yum.

Toasted Orzo Chicken Soup - Rachel

Since winter decided it wasn't quite finished with us, here's a delicious soup to warm up with.

Toasted Orzo Chicken Soup

Ingredients

32 oz chicken stock

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken

2 T butter

3/4 c orzo pasta

2 T EVOO

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c frozen peas

1/4 c parsley

2 t grated lemon peel

salt & pepper

Directions

1. In a medium-sized pot, bring chicken stock and chicken to simmer. Lower heat and poach chicken about 12 minutes.

2. In a second medium-sized pot, melt butter. Add orzo and cook until toasted (about 3-5 minutes). Plate.

3. Add EVOO to pot #2. Add zucchini, carrot, pepper, onion and garlic; season with salt & pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes. Return orzo.

4. Remove chicken from stock. Skim and discard fat from stock, and transfer stock to pot #2. Chop chicken, add to soup with 2 c. water. Bring to boil and cook until orzo is tender, about 5-8 minutes.

5. Add peas during the last minute. Turn off heat. Stir in parsley and lemon peel. Serve immediately & enjoy!

Source: Um. I copied this down... I'm fairly sure it was from a Rachael Ray magazine...

Buttermilk Cake with Blackberries - Elizabeth

This afternoon Joel and I hosted my dad, stepmom and grandma for lunch. We had cheddar chipotle biscuits [coming soon], fish cooked in white wine & butter, with sweet potatoes & broccoli [Joel blogged about those two sides here].

This cake was the perfect desert - light, slightly sweet and super simple. I would have made some whipped cream to top it, but I forgot to pick up heavy cream yesterday and it was just fine without it. You can definitely substitue any fresh berry in this.

Buttermilk Cake with Blackberries
From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh berries (about 5 oz)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate


Enjoy!!

Mocha Cupcakes - Elizabeth

I think I'm going to be into making mini cupcakes for awhile here... Hope no one minds. ;)

These mocha cupcakes are pretty good. We had run out of coffee earlier in the day [& were snowed in], so I used some Starbucks Via [instant coffee] we had laying around. It didn't give the cupcakes as strong a coffee flavor as I would have liked - I would supplement with adding ground coffee to the batter next time. I frosted these with the ever-delicious cream cheese frosting from this post.

Also, the batter is pretty thin, but don't worry, it cooks up well.

Mocha Cupcakes
Makes 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients
2.5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ c cake flour
½ c flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups hot coffee
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions
Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, cocoa powder and baking soda to form a paste, then slowly whisk in the hot coffee until the mixture is smooth.

In a third bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla extract. Add the melted chocolate and beat to incorporate.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the liquid mixture (beginning and ending with the flour mixture), beating just until all ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Spinch Feta Bread Bowls - Elizabeth

These were fairly simple since I already had some dough in the freezer I could use [otherwise I'd use the same dough as I did for the calzones - you'll only need a half recipe]. Joel remarked that these would be a good Superbowl party snack - I agree!!


Spinch Feta Bread Bowls
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients
About 10oz dough
3 T olive oil [plus some to oil the pan]
2 cups baby spinach, torn into pieces
1-2 gloves of garlic [depending on taste]
3 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c crumbled feta
1/8 chipotle or chile powder
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
In a large frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil with the chopped garlic & onion. Add the spinach & cook about 4 minutes, until wilted.

In separate bowl, cream together sour cream & cream cheese. Stir in chipotle/chile powder, salt, pepper & feta.

Cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Press into an oiled cupcake pan, creating small bowls. Evenly divide filling among breadbowls.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until bread has turned golden brown. Remove, cool & serve.

Enjoy!!