Almond Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Almond Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Tomorrow night is a pot-luck dinner at our synagogue and having a wonderful last name that starts with 'C' means that I get to bring dessert! This is absolutely perfect because I have been waiting to try a new recipe lately, but I was waiting for a good reason. I also have been dying to use my new cupcake tool, and tonight was the night! First things first: the cupcakes...

Vanilla Bean & Almond

1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used a half&half/skim milk mix)
1/4 tsp ground vanilla bean powder from North Market Spices
1 tsp almond extract

Beat all ingredients in electric mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Spoon into cups and bake for 20 minutes at 350*. Remove from the pan and cool on cooling rack before frosting.

Baked Vanilla Bean Almond Cupcakes

I decided to use the ground vanilla bean powder to mellow out the almond flavor and to give the cupcakes these delightful little brown speckles. Coming at $9.99/oz, I didn't want to use too much of it and I also haven't used it yet so I wasn't sure how strong it was. It smelled pretty strong, but I am happy with the amount I used. You can really taste the almond flavor but it isn't overpowering and you can taste hints of vanilla in the cupcake.

Cupcake Batter Dispenser

Tonight, I had the pleasure to use my brand new Chicago Metallic Baking Essentials Cupcake Dispenser, and it was awesome! The batter comes out slow enough that I have control of it but not so slow that it drives me nuts. I can keep the batter in the cups this way instead of having it go all over the place. The cupcake recipe makes exactly one dispenser full (4 cups is what the measuring part of it says). The trigger isn't difficult to squeeze and is pretty comfortable. It is nice that it is clear so that I can see how much batter is left. The only thing that is a bit of a bummer is that the less batter there is, the more the apparatus slows down since there isn't such a weight pushing it down, but it isn't so bad. There is an online demonstration here from the 'Bed, Bath, and Beyond' folks, but I bought mine off Amazon.

Chocolate Frosting

For the frosting, I used the Ghirardelli Chocolate Frosting recipe that came on the side of the container. I had originally thought about putting some almond extract in the frosting instead of vanilla, but I decided that there was enough almond in the cupcakes, so I left the frosting alone:

1/4 cups butter
3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate & Cocoa
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
dash salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosted Cupcakes

"Combine butter, milk, and Sweet Ground Chocolate in saucepan; stir over very low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add confectioners' sugar, salt, and vanilla; beat until smooth." I used my mixer to beat the frosting and letting the machine run until the frosting was nice and fluffy also allowed it to cool a bit more. It was so delicious! I am still working on my frosting techniques, but I think these worked out pretty well.

Frosted Cupcakes

In the end, it made about 30 delicious cupcakes since I like my cupcakes to be below the paper edge. The next time I make these I am thinking about putting crushed chocolate covered espresso beans on top like sprinkles. The cupcakes were fluffy and sweet and the frosting was creamy and delicious.

North African Chickpea and Date Tagine

North African Chickpea & Date Tagine

I had made this recipe once before, but I had some kosher strip steak in the freezer and I wanted to use it. I took a recipe from The Vegetarian Times, a Chickpea and Date Tagine. A tagine is a sweet and savory dish, and this particular one comes from North Africa. The recipe, with my own variations, can be seen below:

North African Chickpea & Date Tagine

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced (I used a medium sweet onion)
4 cloves garlic (I used 3 large cloves)
1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander, ginger (I used 1/2 tsp each)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 1/4 tsp)
15 oz.can crushed tomatoes
15 oz. can chickpeas
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup pitted dates, halved (I large chopped)
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used lime)
salt and pepper (to taste, I didn't use any)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (I used more like a cup, because we love cilantro)

Cilantro and Lime

Cook onions until brown, cook 10 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, 1/4 cups water, simmer 10 minutes. While the tagine is cooking, brown dry couscous in pan, add 1 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover for 5 minutes, fluff to serve. Add dates, lemon juice, salt and pepper to tagine and serve with couscous, garnish with cilantro.

To serve, I put the couscous down first, followed by the meat (if using), spoon the tagine on top, and top it off with cilantro. The recipe says to garnish with cilantro, but I really pour it on top. I find that the fresh cilantro does something magical to the whole dish. It is also very good for you, and many claim that cilantro is helpful in removing heavy metals and other toxic agents from the body. Cilantro is also used as an anti-inflammatory for arthritis, for relief of stomach gas, to ward off urinary tract infections, reduce feelings of nausea, and to help stimulate the endocrine glands (which secrete hormones into the bloodstream). Cilantro has also been used to ease hormonal mood swings, reduce menstrual cramping, and is a source of iron and magnesium, which may be helpful in fighting anemia.

For the meat, I cooked it in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. While the meat was cooking, I pressed cilantro with fresh squeezed lime juice with a mortar and pestle. After the meat had been cooked medium rare, I added the cilantro lime mix and simmered it for a couple minutes.

I really found this to be a filling and delicious dish when we made it without the meat, but with the meat cooked in similar flavors, it really went with it. I was very happy with now the dish turned out, as was Nathan. The best part is that the leftovers will marry in the fridge overnight and be even better tomorrow.

Crêpes

I love breakfast. It is probably my favorite meal of the day. I love eggs. I love grits. I love (soy) bacon. I love bagels and lox. I just love breakfast. I always eat a nice breakfast, but over the weekend I really enjoy a nice big breakfast either at home or out.

Plain Crêpes

This morning, I wanted to try out my first crêpes . They were pretty tasty, but anyone could tell that they were my first. I took the recipe from the Food Network: 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup milk. The recipe said that it would make 6 servings, but it barely made 4. I think that they turned out more pancakey than crêpe. I wonder if I used more milk would it a little thinner and easier to spread out.

We had crêpes a few ways. Nathan made his with maple syrup and chipotle sauce. I made my one half with Vermont maple cream cheese and the other half with Bonne Maman Cherry jam.

Breakfast Crêpes

Anyway, the breakfast crêpes were assembled this way:
1 slice american cheese
1/2 cup home made hash browns (potatoes, butter, Melting Pot spices)
2 slices Morningstar Farms Vegetarian Bacon Strips, crumbled
1 egg fried sunny-side up

The meal was delicious overall but I am sure that my next crêpes will be fabulous and thin and everything I remember them to be from when we were in Paris.

Marilyn Groden's Award Winning Pecan Noodle Kugel

Last night, my mother made Marilyn Groden's Award Winning Pecan Noodle Kugel for Shabbat. It was super delicious and I knew I had to share the result and the recipe!

Marilyn Groden's Award Winning Pecan Noodle Kugel

WINNING PECAN NOODLE KUGEL
¾ cup (12 tablespoons) butter or margarine, melted
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup pecans
1 pound wide noodles
4 eggs, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Pour half the butter or margarine into a 12-cup Bundt pan or ring mold. Swirl the butter to coat the bottom and sides. Press brown sugar into the bottom, then press pecans in a pattern into the sugar. Set aside. Cook noodles in boiling water according to package directions. Drain. Mix with eggs, vanilla, remaining melted butter, cinnamon, granulated sugar and salt. Spoon into the prepared mold. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes, or until the top is brown. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before unmolding. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

A Provincial Dinner

Carrots & ingredients

Tonight for dinner, I made BBQ chicken wings with whole carrots. Remember the dinner scene in What About Bob where Bill Murray goes crazy for the dinner and makes yummy noises that just seem obscene? Or the dessert scene in Young Frankenstein where the monster makes the yummy noises? This dinner was like that.

Carrots pre-oven

Chicken:
1 package kosher chicken wings
olive oil
pinch Penzey's Spices Arizona Dreaming
1/2ish cup William's Sanoma Maple Mesquite BBQ Sauce
salt

Carrots:
1 bunch whole thin carrots with the tops and tips cut off
olive oil
smoked garlic salt
100% pure maple syrup

Chicken from the oven

First, I baked the chicken for about 30 minutes at 350* in the oven with olive oil in the pan and a pinch of Penzey's Arizona rubbed onto each wing and a bit of salt. Next, I placed the carrots in an aluminum foil pouch with all the ingredients and closed it up before placing it into the oven for 10-15 minutes. After I took the chicken wings out of the oven, I seared them on a pan and then added the juice from when the chicken was in the pan and cooked the wings in the BBQ sauce until the sauce got nice and thick.

Chicken in BBQ sauce

The wings were absolutely fantastic, in fact, Nathan licked the bowl. The carrots were soft and crunchy and just picked up the flavor of the olive oil, maple syrup, and garlic salt. When I make food like this, I can't believe that I was a vegetarian for 14 years. It isn't that I regret the years I was a strict vegetarian- it was the right thing for me for all those years- but I am happy that I am more open in my options now.

POLL: A very special cupcake

Well, I was trying to set up a poll but I can't get it to work... I am trying to come up with the perfect combination of chocolate, coffee, and almond for a special cupcake for a special lady and I need some opinions. I would like to have all three elements in the cupcake in some way. Any suggestions can be left in the comments. Thanks!

Cupcake - This is for the cupcake itself with potential add-ons

1. Chocolate with chocolate covered coffee bits like chocolate chips
2. Chocolate with espresso liquor filled chocolates in the center
3. Chocolate with coffee in the batter
4. Chocolate almond

Frosting - This is for the frosting flavor

1. Chocolate almond
2. Vanilla almond
3. Chocolate mocha
4. White mocha

Arizona Dreaming Tomato Sauce

The ingredients before mixing

We always keep a stock of fresh made and fresh frozen ravioli with fun and exciting fillings, usually vegetable fillings, so that when we don't feel like making a big dinner, the freezer helps us out. Tonight I cooked up some asparagus ravioli and Florentine ravioli with spinach. For a sauce, I found that I had to use the tomatoes that have been hanging around our counters and the parsley and the other shallot that were left over from the meatballs last night.

The sauce after mixing

I decided to take a break from my knife skills and popped everything into the food processor. I put 3 tomatoes, a bunch of parsley, 1 shallot, 1 garlic clove, 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 small can tomato paste, salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp sun dried tomato powder, 1/2ish tsp Penzey's Arizona Dreaming spices (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysarizonadreaming.html), thyme olive oil. I pureed them and popped the sauce onto the stove for a few minutes, and enjoyed! It was pretty spicy, but I've been working on eating slightly spicier foods so I'm not left out of so much in the culinary world.

I love low maintenance meals like this one, but I wish I had a better color pick up on my phone so that the sauce would look more red than brown when I take the picture. I will try the real camera next time. The plan for tomorrow is Maple BBQ Chicken Wings and whole roasted carrots... my mouth is watering thinking about it! I also ordered a new toy that should be here by Monday. I can't wait to try it out and write all about it!

My Most Delicious Meatballs

I had a vision today for a turkey meatball recipe. I made it happen. It was awesome!!

Minced ingredients all in a row!

MEATBALL INGREDIENTS
1 lbs Kosher lean turkey
1 small onion- diced super fine
1 shallot- diced super fine
1 garlic clove- diced super fine
1 bunch of parsley- diced super fine
1 egg
1/2 tsp (could have used more) sun dried tomato powder from the North Market Spices in Columbus
salt & pepper
smoked salt
thyme infused olive oil
olive oil

Meatballs simmering!

First, I sauteed the olives, shallots, and garlic in the thyme olive oil for just a minute. I put them aside and mixed them in with the turkey, egg, parsley, tomato powder, onion/shallot/garlic, salt and pepper, and a small pinch of smoked salt. I balled them up (a bit larger than a golf ball) and cooked them in the onion/shallot/garlic pan with regular olive oil. Once they were thoroughly cooked, I added a small can of tomato sauce (just sauce, nothing special) and coarsely chopped sweet basil.

The final dinner plate

I served the meatballs up with kale and whole wheat couscous. It was an awesome dinner, but seriously- the best meatballs I've ever made! Considering I have only made a few, this isn't a huge feat, but everyone who ate them agreed they were totally awesome!

Knife Skills

Knife skills on potato

I have been working on my knife skills lately. I have been trying to see how thin and evenly I can slice things. I have been paying close attention to the ways that various chefs cut on TV as well as listening to the advice they have when they give it. For dinner tonight, I worked my skills on potatoes. I sliced them super thin and laid them flat on a pan drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled them with my go-to seasoning (Melting Pot Garlic & Wine Seasoning) and baked them at 350* for a short while. These potatoes were so delicious! They were crispy and well seasoned and I was so happy with them.

I also have been experimenting with a new method of cooking broccoli. I have been peeling the stalk and slicing thin all the way up to and through the florets. I sauteed them on a pan with a little olive oil and fresh sliced garlic, salt and pepper. They cook quickly, have plenty of flavor, and then I don't waste the stalk.

Knife skills on potato

Lastly, we tried two new things today and I think if I enjoyed red wine, I would have enjoyed one of them more. We bought some dried trumpet and lobster mushrooms and reconstituted them in a pan with red wine and garlic. I could not get into the bitterness of them, but Nathan quite enjoyed them. We also cooked up some red trout and it was a nice tasting fish. It was soft like tilapia and tasted more like salmon. It went in the pan with a little olive oil and Melting Pot seasoning.

Overall, it was a good dinner and I am proud of my growing skills.

Cookbook: The World of Street Food

For Hanukkah this year, our dear friend Joe got us the kind of gift that keeps on giving: a great cookbook. The book is "The World of Street Food: Easy Quick Meals to Cook at Home" by Troth Wells. Being the adventurous kind of cooks and foodies that we are, we are up to the challenge of bringing international street food into our home. The book includes recipes from Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa. I can foresee that some recipes will require some sort of substitutions due to the fact that I don't know whether I'll be able to find cassava root, and other various items. I can't wait to try out the Indian pav bhaji (vegetables with bread) or the Colombian bandeja paisa (which appears to be a bean and beef hash).

When Nathan and I go out of town, we enjoy finding the places where the locals would eat and eat what the locals would eat. One of the best parts of leaving home is getting a taste of what other people call home. I know that whatever I make will not be anything like what the real people make. However, one day I hope to visit these areas of the world and have the real thing. In the meantime, I will do my best and enjoy whatever comes out of my kitchen.

Thanks Joe! A proper review will come along when I try some of these fabulous recipes!

Cookbook: Movida Rustica

One of the best parts of being a teacher is Barnes and Noble's teacher appreciation weeks. Teachers get 25% off books and 10% off CDs/DVDs for one week every once in a while. This weekend I decided to get a cookbook that I spotted and couldn't take my eyes off of. Movida Rustica is "A Return to Spanish Home Cooking" by Frank Camorra with tremendous pictures by Richard Cornish. More than the recipes, I was attracted to the pictures. They were just so fabulous, it inspired me to want to try sardines and anchovies. I am not sure which recipes to start with but I know one thing: I must have a Spanish Tapas party, and soon! With recipes like patitas panadera con setas (soft potatoes and onions with mushrooms thickened with egg), potaje de garbanzos con espinacas y bacalao (aromatic chickpea potage with spinach and salt cod), puerros cocidos (slow-cooked buttery leeks), and truita amb suc (spinach and white bean tortilla in sauce), how could my mouth not be watering?

As soon as I try out some recipes, a proper review will be in order.

White Russian Cupcakes

Wednesday night was our staff party. For this special occasion, I made White Russian Cupcakes. I had seen some recipes but decided that one was the right one. I borrowed from "CB" at iheartcuppycakes.com. CB also had worked from Martha Stewart's recipe, which I had originally looked at but wasn't sure about. CB calls hers "White Russian Cupcakes v.2" Here is her recipe:

White Russian Mini-Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS (Makes 24 full sized cupcakes, 72 mini cupcakes)

For cupcakes-
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
12 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 large egg + 2 egg whites, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream (I used half&half)
1/4 cup Vodka
1/4 cup + 4 tbsp Kahlua, divided

Baking directions are on her website: iheartcuppycakes, White Russian Cupcakes v.2

The results: The cupcakes were delicious! When they were first out of the oven, we could really taste the alcohol, but by the time the party came around a day and a half later, they were just creamy (from the half&half) and delicious. The part that I really got the compliments on was the frosting...

CB's INGREDIENTS, my measurements:

For Kahlua Swiss Meringue Buttercream**
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
4-6 tsp Kahlua, to taste

I also added (after I tasted how buttery the frosting was):
3 tbsp half & half
1 cup confectioner's sugar

The results: The final frosting was fluffy and creamy and buttery and had a nice little kick from the added Kahlua. I gave each cupcake a little dollop with a floral frosting tip and topped them off with Silver French Dragees and they looked really nice, and tasted great!

Dinner Party

Last night we had some friends over for a dinner party. It was a cold and snowy night so I popped a few logs on the fire (still working on that) and cooked up a nice winter meal. We had brisket with a white wine mustard sauce (see recipes below), caramelized onions on thick cut organic wide leaf kale (wilted with a little white wine, olive oil, salt and pepper), organic yellow skinned potatoes (roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper), and thick cut beefsteak tomatoes with smoked salts. We also had a nice green salad that my friend brought, and I made a delicious balsamic vinaigrette, my very first!

For dessert, we had a lot of leftovers from our New Year's party: Nutella cookies, whiskey shortbread cookie bites, pomegranate champagne sorbet topped with pop rocks, and other various cookie bites and chocolate bites we had around.

I do enjoy entertaining. I have so much fun setting the table in my house with my beautiful tablecloth and dishes. I love my beautiful serving wear and my silverware. I can't always promise that what I make is delicious, but it always looks great!

White Wine Mustard Sauce
The recipe called for 1/2 cup dry white wine, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon.
I used more wine (about a cup or so), and a little less mustard.
Whisk together mustard and wine, simmer until thick, add tarragon.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
A deliciously thick balsamic vinegar that my brother Josh (www.joshrzepka.com) got us for Hanukkah, thyme olive oil, olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 clove fresh minced garlic.

The first blog

Last night, my husband Nathan suggested to me that I start a blog. It is an idea that I have been toying around with for months, but didn't want to seem like I was trying the "Julie Julia" thing. I love food. I love to eat food, I love to cook food, I love to read about food. I love food gadgets. I love cookbooks. I love cooking shows. I don't, however, have good handwriting. I print off recipes and make little scribbly notes, but then can't read them later. To remedy this situation, I have decided that a blog would be the perfect tool for me. I will be able to write about the things I cook, bake, eat, read about, etc. If anything, this will be a great opportunity for me to keep track of things and share them with other people.

A little bit about myself:
I was a vegetarian for 14 years and have decided to eat meat again in the the last year. I still cook plenty of vegetarian food, most days of the week in fact, but every so often we have meat. I keep Kosher (http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm) because I am Jewish. I am adventurous and always trying to improve my repertoire and skills.

So, here it goes.