Happy Moanday: Hunger Pains

Another weekend, another weekend of delicious food. Dave, Steve, and Jenna were all in New York this weekend, which gave me an excuse to go out to eat (which I do, like, nevah). On Saturday, Dave and I had a picnic on Governor's Island, and then all four of us met up for pre-dinner drinks at Grey Dog Coffee in Union Square. After that, we had dinner at Basso56 (recommended by Rebecca), which was just so fantastically delicious we all left round and happy. I had smoked buffalo cheese and lobster-filled crepes in a creamy tomato sauce (just typing that is making me salivate) and finished things off with some tri-colore gelato. So amazing.

On Sunday, Dave and Steve ran off to watch soccer while Jenna and I went flea marketing (I bought a cat-shaped salt shaker, in a bid to start off a collection of spice rack chotchkeys). With no reservations for brunch, we decided to just wander around until we found some place good, and I told Jenna my tricks for picking out restaurants: stay away from tourist-heavy areas (like Times Square), avoid places with lots of families (who care more about convenience than quality), and look for places populated with cops, businesspeople, or people sitting by themselves with the newspaper. Jenna pointed out a little cafe-bakery near the market and, as soon as we saw three people buried in the Sunday Times, we knew we were at the right place. It was charming and cutely decorated, and the tattooed hipster working the counter fried us up some waffles in minutes. We were about to leave when Jenna passed their impressive display of cupcakes, and, deciding that it was fate, we bought two.

Little did I know that my funny honey would surprise me later with a huge Oreo cupcake from Crumbs--it is a pleasant day indeed that involves two serendipitous cupcakes. Dave and I came home from Manhattan to make some salmon and salad (I used my favorite balsamic-honey-orange glaze recipe), and I collapsed in a happy food-wine-cupcake coma. It was really very nice.

But! Now I'm back to reality, and the reality of cooking for myself. I'm feeling something big and filling, after my disappointing foray into chilled melon soup. Chicken tikka masala sounds pretty good, or possibly fancy mac n cheese. I'm also experimenting with grilling on the pan and in the broiler, to, I believe, good effect. Last week I made hamburgers and fries that were simple, delicious, and much healthier than anything you'd get at Burger King. This week I'm headed back to Bostontown, where Dave and I are planning a touristy weekend full of all the fun Boston things we don't usually get to do (duck tour, aquarium, Daily Catch)--should be fun! Read more!

Counter Intelligence: Tugs at the Apronstrings

Tuesday's unappealing experience of having chunks of melon thrown all over me made me realize that what I really need (aside from better cooking skillz) is an apron. Chefs and aprons go together like spaghetti and meatballs, but I'm usually not a fan of them until I discover dried splatters of food on my upper arms the morning after I've cooked a meal. At the pub where I worked as a short-order cook, we had to wear giant polyester chef's coats, which look lovely and stylish on 6'2" male chefs and laughable on 5'3" tiny women. Usually the girls would snarl over the single bib apron available, but otherwise we were stuck with hot, scratchy, decidedly un-streamlined size XL coats (you could fit your legs comfortably in the armholes. I mean, I assume...).

Although I suppose I could splurge on a beautiful, breathable, size-and-gender-appropriate chef's coat, I'm more fascinated by the wide world of aprons.

The thing that struck me most, as I searched the Internet tubes for pictures of aprons, is how lovely and beautiful most of them are. Far from "Kiss the Cook" iterations, aprons--especially old-style--are sweet, gauzy, and charming, looking more like dresses or boldly-patterned skirts than kitchen style. This can be challenging to pull off if you don't like to cook in solid-colored A-line dresses (and heels), but from an aesthetic standpoint, they are certainly nice to look at.

I think, as sweet as they are, aprons get a bad rap in that, for centuries, they were considered de rigueur apparel for women, as, aside from makin' the babies, the main job of women was to cook (in the 1800s, women were more likely to wear an apron than a pair of underwear. Oh history...). The very existence of the charming little number known as a "hostess apron" is proof that, for women of the much-maligned and -revered 1950s, yes, you could throw a rollicking good party, but you were still at work, sweeping in and out of the kitchen in your delicate little lace apron. Aprons are also just about the polar opposite of chef's coats. The coats are all about square shoulders, rolled up sleeves, wide torsos. They are big and blank, worn primarily for the purpose of keeping boiling oil and sticky flour off the chef's arms and clothes. By contrast, floaty aprons the size of cocktail napkins could barely withstand a gentle hand-wiping, let alone a sauce-covered meatball heading straight for your chest (it could happen).

So, being a woman (last time I checked), rhapsodizing over beruffled, embroidered, bow-covered aprons can feel a little like betraying the feminist heroes of yore, who saw aprons as yet another symbol of female disenfranchisement ("Burn Those Aprons" had less of a ring to it). Still, I can appreciate the resurging popularity of cute, kitschy, tongue-in-cheek aprons as an attempt to poke fun at and circumvent their relationship with female service (is it too obvious that I once took a class on women, gender, and sexuality? No? Ok cool). More than anything, I'm fascinated that they are so pretty and delicate, when most serious cooking is hard, dirty, sweaty work. It can be a little disconcerting to have this ideal of the perfect cook who doesn't spill a drop on her silk-and-satin apron, but I appreciate the attempt to make cooking a little prettier, a little more fun, and a little more of an occasion to dress up.

Ok, musings aside, I like aprons to be both pretty and hardy, preferably patterned so as not to show splatters too often (pristine white chef coats are for people with very good washing machines). And since my normal cooking attire (and living attire) is a pair of jeans matched with a solid t-shirt (and sneakers! shoes--with good arch support and the ability to withstand heavy and hot things--are veeeery important for cooking), I also like aprons to not be so over-the-top girly to look too fancy by comparison. Here are some of my favorites, from spunky to sweet, from delicate to dishwasher (wearer) safe.

I don't have a dog but once upon a time I walked a dumb little Scotty dog named Buster
He was just as cute and jumpy as this little scamp

I like how this apron sort of straddles the line between ugly and interesting

Sooo pretty. I love the unusual polka dots

This sweet little apron is made for a toddler (squee!)
If I had a little girl (or, let's be serious, also a boy), I would totally send her to Pre-K in this

Gentle pink, delicate bow: puts me in mind of summer breezes and strawberries

Love love love this--the star pattern of the apron, the splashy atomic vintage print
A-dorable

This is one of those beautiful historical things that I would never ever actually cook in

I wish I had this little tongue-in-cheek number when I was a waitress

Pockets include "tips," "complaints," "compliments," and "suggestions"

From Fendi. Haute couture, hot apron

Possibly my favorite. I would wear this out as a skirt

Roses, frills, ribbons--check, check, check!

Read more!

Recipes Regurgitated: Cooled Response to Chilled Melon Soup

Deciding what I want to eat every day usually starts with figuring out how I feel. Am I a little chilly, stuffy, under the weather, bored, ambitious? I think food should do more than just fill your stomach--it should meet other needs as well, so that if you're feeling cold and a little sad (midwinter blues), the warmth and comfort of a giant bowl of chili is perfect, or, if you're feeling energetic and ambitious, a complex recipe like chicken tikka masala is a good meal to reward your efforts. And since yesterday was hot and muggy, thunderstorms booming in the distance, all I wanted was something sweet and refreshing.

Years ago I'd tried and enjoyed a chilled melon soup that tasted both amazingly fresh and deliciously cool. With a hint of sweetness, it was a smooth soup that tasted almost a little sherbet-y, but with more sustenance. A Google search brought up a couple recipes, and I settled on one from the Food Network's Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh. My spirits high, my mouth parched, my tastebuds curious as to what cantaloupe would taste like, I embarked on my quest for fruity-cool soup. By the end of the night, my sink, blend, and clothes were a mess and I was thanking my lucky stars that I had some leftover rice and chicken in the fridge.

But enough of my endless patter (right?), let's break this thang down. Recipes get 1 to 5 surprised saltshakers () based on the following 5 categories:
Shopping ease -- which includes convenience of finding items and cost
Preparation -- for it to be a regular weekday recipe, it should require no more than half an hour of actual work. Also did the preparation require special tools? How many knives did I go through? Big clean-up afterward?
Recipe readability -- The New York Times is notorious for dropping made-up words like "balouquet" into a recipe as though they expect me to know what it means. I hate this in life, but I hate it even more when I need to understand something so I don't accidentally poison myself. Did I have to wikipedia the recipe? That is bad.
Health Factor -- while most people might disagree, I really am trying to get into this "good for you" thing. Could I brag to my mom about this recipe? Would I be forced to lie when I go home?
Taste -- arguably the most important aspect of a recipe, how'd it turn out? Did it make my tastebuds rejoice? Did I make happy moaning noises that made my roommate uncomfortable? Did I dream about it? Were the dreams scary? All things to consider.
Now, let's get on to the evaluations! (full recipe printed below)

CHILLED MELON SOUP
Food Network says: for a "semi-formal celebration..."
I say: ...of your terrible taste in soup

Shopping Ease -- exceptionally easy. I had everything at home except for the yogurt and the cantaloupe (also the optional spring of mint). Altogether, the ingredients cost about $2--hard to beat. The only problem is that I spent about 5 minutes staring at the cantaloupes, trying to figure out if they were ripe while that bit from Jerry Seinfeld about bowling melons played in my head.


Preparation -- this probably should have been easy, but I had a ridiculously hard time with it. Basically the recipe just asks you to cut up the cantaloupe and mix it and the other ingredients in with a food processor. I first used my blender, which did nada, and then brought out my top-of-the-line mixer. That sent melon juice and chunks of melon all over my kitchen, and I had to wrap the whole thing in seran wrap to keep everything inside (I was flicking off melon chunks from my clothes and arms all night). Granted, with better equipment things probably would have gone smoother, but I've never had a messier experience.


Recipe Readability -- fine enough, although the recipe didn't specify that I should have cut off the green parts of the cantaloupe and only used the orange parts (is that common knowledge? Am I revealing my surprising lack of cantaloupe knowledge?). The result was I ended up with mostly-mashed melons with little floating green chunks. Looovely.


Health Factor -- absurdly high, which is maybe also why I thought it tasted terrible (more on that, later). While the Food Network didn't have any details on this recipe, a health food website listed a similar recipe (all the same basic ingredients) having 106 calories per serving. Since it's pretty much just cantaloupe, with a dash of honey and yogurt, it's unsurprising that it is super good for you


Taste -- no. No. No. So bad. I am a picky eater, of course, and am not a huge fan of cantaloupe in general, but this was just terrible. I doubt I made the recipe wrong, and unless my cantaloupe was particularly terrible, I can't imagine mine was very far off from what the recipe intended. Where I was imagining something smooth and sweet, the soup was actually unappealingly thick, and so overwhelmingly cantaloupe-flavored that it was almost bitter. The recipe also called for dashes of nutmeg and cayenne pepper, which I would do away with next time. I'm fond of nutmeg in heavier dishes--like lasagna or thick winter egg nogs--not sweet and light fruit-based soup. And the cayenne pepper was disastrously terrible, adding an awful flavor. I tried, truly, to eat as much as I could but only got about 2 spoonfuls before I dumped the whole thing down the sink (Even the sink was like "Oohh, this is bad.").
(no shakers)

Final tally: 16/25
Strong showings from the health and shopping categories aren't enough to pull this sucker from the "no good" pile. While my search for a melon-based soup isn't over (maybe I'll try some sherbet in the next one?), this recipe is done-zo.

CHILLED MELON SOUP
INGREDIENTS
1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch cayenne
Fresh mint, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Put half of the cantaloupe into a blender along with the yogurt and blend until smooth.
Add the remaining cantaloupe and blend again until smooth.
Pour into a large mixing bowl.
Add the orange juice, honey, nutmeg, salt and cayenne and blend until well mixed.
Pour into a soup tureen and chill at least 1 hour before serving.
Garnish with fresh mint sprigs before setting out.

Read more!

Celebrate 100 Posts by Voting for Meeee!

Wow! 100 posts! The time does seem to have flown by! From my first post on a full Indian dinner to today's frosting-cover post, it has been a pleasure to write (mostly) and design (mostly) this lovely little blog. Here's hoping to many, many more posts!

And what better way to celebrate this milestone than with a little shameless self-promotion? My Couch Peanut cupcakes are up against many other delectable ice cream cupcakes in the Cupcake Project / Scoopalicious' 2nd Annual Ice Cream Cupcake Contest. While Stef, Bethany, and Tina are busy trying to decide the winner (a job I am not envious for), the contest is open for anyone and everyone to vote for their favorites, and of course I'd appreciate your vote! Remember, a vote for Couch Peanut cupcakes is a vote for peanut butter chocolate ice cream goodness!

Of course, there are also a lot of a-ma-zing cupcakes out there that deserve a look-over (and drool-over), so check it out! Vote here: voting ends June 7, and winners to be announced next week. Read more!

!Feliz Dos de Juno!

Oh I knew I would get that joke in there somewhere...

While this year I actually did eat something pseudo Mexican (Tex-Mex to be fair) on Cinco de Mayo, there are also plenty days left, in my opinion, in which to enjoy churros, margaritas, and burritos. Besides which, I stumbled upon a recipe so cheap, simple, and delicious, that I had to share it.

A few days ago, I indulged in some chimichurri steak with saffron rice, which was as delicious as I could have planned. But I wanted something a little more festive and out of the ordinary and while the half-gallon of margarita mix cooling in my fridge did, truthfully, seem promising, I decided to see how hard it would be to make my own tortilla chips.

I am not a chip person in general (except I recently discovered PopChips. These are great. They will change your life), but I usually like tortilla chips, granted they're pretty fresh and not overly salty. Tostitos do not really do it for me--being fairly stale-tasting and loading on salt--although every once in a while my dad would microwave a bowl of them while we watched TV on the weekends, and that was nice. Since my parents also decided the pillar of salt in each bag was not worth it anymore, they've switched to fancy-pants organic yellow corn tortilla chips, which are nice. The best--of course--are from Border, where they arrive at the table in steady intervals, hot and crispy from the fryer.

After a quick Google search--my favorite method for tracking down recipes--I discovered that most tortilla recipes are ridiculously simple, requiring only some corn tortillas, hot oil, and salt. Since I am a hot fryer pro, regularly whipping up funnel cake and paneer pakoras, I wasn't at all daunted, and tried them out for myself. They were So. Great. I really could not have been more pleased. After slicing the tortillas into normal chip sizes, I dropped them in the hot oil, flipped them, took them out, tossed them with some salt, and enjoyed. They emerged cripsy and deliciously thick--almost a little like a pita chip. Paired with a margarita (I am lameface and just buy mix) or my chimichurri steak, they are South of the Border-delicious.

TORTILLA CHIPS
INGREDIENTS
1-2 dozen corn tortillas (about 6" in diameter)
low-fat canola oil for frying
sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Fill a pot or pan with canola oil (1 1/2" to 2" deep) and set heat to medium
Cut the tortillas into triangles
After the oil has heated up for about 5 minutes, drop 1 tortilla triangle into the oil
When it starts to turn golden, turn and remove
Add the rest of the chips 3-4 at a time, turning when they become golden
Toss chips with sea salt and serve hot

Read more!

Happy Moanday: Summer Luvin!

After taking some (planned. sorta.) time off from the blog, I am back with a vengence (and more recipes!). I'm staying in New York this whole week, something which has not happened since the weekend of April 24. That means I can strive for bigger and better recipes without worrying that the leftovers will sit, sad and lonely, in my fridge for many days (like the panko-crusted chicken from Memorial Day and half of my homemade walnut-arugula pizza).

This week things are finally starting to resemble summer, with blue skies and fair breezes. Summers have, traditionally, been rough times for me, eating-wise. The summer after sophomore year was my first time cooking for myself for an extended period of time, and it did not go well. For some reason the dorm in which I was staying had barred the kitchen to any summer residents. A friend living in the same dorm bought a hot plate, over which we boiled water for our spaghetti, but that was the extent of my cooking. I mostly lived off bags of popcorn, Easy Mac, ramen, and cereal, with occassional trips to the vending machines. I probably would have gotten incredibly fat if not for the fact that I was so poor even ramen stretched my budget.

The next summer was a little better, since I also spent a good amount of time in Dave's new apartment. Our dinners usually were some variation of chicken and pasta (spaghetti and lemon chicken, chicken parm, ziti and peppercorn chicken), which is just about one step up from cereal and Easy Mac. That summer I also lived in New York, wherein I first began to try out some different recipes, thanks to Google (searched for "budget cheap easy recipe"). That's where I made my first quiche and attempted my mom's lemon shrimp recipe. It was fun, although I often fell back on the pizza crutch (also a factor: the Dunkin Donuts across the street. I breathed lemonade coolatas).

Last summer I settled into a routine, tried out some new things in earnest, and began to actually think of myself as someone who could cook. While once cooking seemed to me an endless depressing drudgery of recipes to research, ingredients to buy, and meals to prepare, I now look forward to all these things, excited when I actually produce something flavorful. My substantially larger salary as well makes it easier to splurge on an $8 roll of goat cheese, without then having to forgo some essential (milk? who needs milk?).

And this summer, with a full year of cooking under my (longer) belt, I'm excited to branch out even more, especially since the quest to find more recipes for the blog has me searching for ever-more entertaining meals.

Enough conjecture, what's on the menu? I'm looking for something light, slightly sweet, and delicious. Maybe my wonderful glazed salmon, or possibly some other kind of shrimp (why does fish always seem so light?). Summer means veggies, salads, berries, cool meals without a lot of cooking. Once I had a very delicious, very refreshing chilled melon soup. And light, thin breads like crepes and paninis. Hmmm.... I'll have to think about this... Read more!

Couch Peanut Cupcakes: Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Ice Cream

Is there a single better phrase in the world than "chocolate peanut butter ice cream cupcakes"? This weekend had me (and my lucky taste-testers) in a dreamlike swirl of experimental frostings, mixed toppings, and flavorful cakes. After several days of testing and weeks (yeah, seriously, weeks) of planning, I finally produced a batch of mouth-watering cupcakes. How? Why? And can you have some? All questions to be answered...

I am a faithful reader of Stef's Cupcake Project ever since I stumbled upon it many months ago while looking for a reliable recipe for naan. That, plus her very good advice when crafting my shotglass cupcakes, had me hooked, and so when I saw a post on her blog about an ice cream cupcake contest (co-sponsored with Scoopalicious), I was immediately intrigued. I love baking, but more than that I love a challenge and trying out new techniques and novel ideas. I went right to the drawing board and started dreaming up cupcakes.

Technically, the cupcakes I finally settled on were my third attempt, after two other potential cupcake creations fell by the wayside. They will get a Foodie Dreams, Kitchen Nightmare post in due time.

Just as I was wondering what else to try, I started talking with one of my coworkers, Rebecca, about my weekend plans. I mentioned the cupcakes and my various attempts and ideas, and she said that she often made ice cream cakes. One of her favorites was a peanut butter chocolate fudge cake with layers of ice cream. That was all she had to say before I was off in cupcake dreamland, already envisioning a dream cupcake. I el-oh-vee-ee peanut butter and chocolate, and I was dumbfounded that I hadn't thought of pairing them, cupcake form, sooner. I started researching different frostings and cakes before I settled on the final form: a peanut butter cupcake inside a crushed-Oreo cookie crust, covered in peanut butter frosting and topped with a scoop of ice cream and Reese's pieces. It was a triumph of peanut-chocolatey-creamy madness, and a completely amazing blend of flavors and textures.

I started with the cake, which was pretty easy. Using a box of vanilla cake as my base, I mixed in a scoop of peanut butter (about a cup, although I was only using 1/3 of the boxed batter). It was amazingly smooth and baked up perfectly and pleasantly round.

Once they had cooled, I melted some chocolate using a double-boiler and dipped the sides and bottom of the cupcakes in the chocolate. I had already crushed some Oreos (removing the filling first), and rolled the cupcakes in the Oreos, giving them a cookie crust (note: no paper liners for these cupcakes). I mixed up some peanut butter frosting--basically peanut butter, butter, and sugar--and scooped out a place for the ice cream. I frosted the whole thing, "caulking" the hole for the ice cream a la my shotglass cupcakes, and stuck them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. While they were freezing, I scooped ice cream into small balls and rolled them in the crushed Oreos. Once the cupcakes were cold enough, I topped them with the ice cream and quickly frosted them (it's best to take them out of the freezer and frost them one at a time), finally decorating them with some Reese's pieces.

After all the work and all the waiting, finally, my testers and I could enjoy the cupcakes of my labor. How did they taste? Oh-so-amazing. I was very, very pleased with the final result. All the flavors balanced and enhanced each other very nicely, while the combination of textures--the crunchy Oreo crust, the smooth peanut butter cake, the cold ice cream, and the sweet frosting--gave it a wonderful feel. I was very happy especially with the peanut butter parts--the cake and the frosting. I would completely make both of them again, although possibly not together. The cake was nutty without being over-powering, while the frosting tasted like the smoothest, sweetest peanut butter on the planet. Plus, I got a new toy, a pastry bag with different applicators, and had loads of fun trying it out. Secretly (or not so), I dream of being a professional cake-maker, and I can imagine myself piping and swirling for many happy hours.

All in all, I declare the peanut butter chocolate ice cream cupcakes a success! (as though, if you mixed all those things together in any way, shape, or form, they wouldn't be a success)


CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM CUPCAKES
INGREDIENTS
1 box vanilla cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 eggs
3 cups extra creamy peanut butter
1 dozen Oreo cookies
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons milk
vanilla, chocolate, or peanut butter ice cream
Reese's pieces

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix cake mix (note: before opening the bag, roll it between your hands to break up any clumps) with oil, water, and eggs
Add 3 cups peanut butter and mix until smooth and even
Fill a muffin pan 2/3 with batter (do not use paper liners)
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the cupcake is round and smooth
Let cool and remove from pan
Remove vanilla filling from Oreos with a knife and place cookies inside a heavy-duty freezer bag
Crush using a rolling pin until fine
Using a double boiler (or a metal bowl on top of a pot of boiling water), melt chocolate chips
Dip sides of the cupcakes in the chocolate, then in the Oreo cookies
Scoop out a hole in the top of the cupcake, where the ice cream will sit
Prepare the frosting: mix butter, peanut butter, sugar and milk until smooth; it should be even-colored and hold its shape
Cover the entire top of the cupcake with frosting and freeze for about 10 minutes
Scoop out ice cream (about a walnut-sized amount) and roll in the Oreos
Top the cupcake with the ice cream and quickly frost, using a pastry bag instead of a knife
Decorate, as desired, with Reese's pieces
Read more!