May 8, 2008

Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta

Have I ever mentioned that I have a subscription to EVERYDAY FOOD? It’s a really great publication for anyone who is starting to broaden their cooking/baking horizons. It’s also a great for those who don’t have a lot of time after work and want to enjoy simple tasty meals. Every recipe is accompanied with a photo which makes it easy for you decide if you really want to make something.

A lot of the times I just look at the pictures to get inspired…but never end up making the recipes. I think I’ve had my subscription since the magazine started! Which means I have a HUGE stack of them in my kitchen. There’s been soo many times where I contemplate discontinuing my subscription because I have so many issues I have yet to cook from. But, I found this month’s issue to be pretty inspiring! I was excited to find at least 6 recipes that I immediately wanted to try.

So last week I got some rhubarb in my weekly organic fruit/veggie shipment from Farm Fresh To You. I’ve never made ANYTHING with rhubarb, so it was a delight to see this following recipe in this month’s issue. I hopped right to it!

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote (Everyday Food- May 2008)

Ingredients:

1 pint of strawberries (hulled & halved)
2 stalks of rhubarb cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup of water

1. In a large saucepan, place strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, and 1/4 cup water; bring to a simmer over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb begins to break down, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve warm or cold!

***This simple recipe produces the tastiest topping! I ate A LOT of it soon after making. It will instantly transport you to summer! ***

I had every intention on using this compote with yogurt for my breakfast the next morning…..but all of a sudden I saw one of my favorite desserts in the magazine. VANILLA PANNA COTTA!

It’s something I’ve wanted to try making…. but for some reason I thought it might be too complicated.

On Sunday, I quickly got over my fear and dove right in.

Here we are in progress… (see the strawberry rhubarb compote?)

I brought all the chilled ramkeins over to my sister-in-law’s house and served them up.

Just top with the compote after you release the panna cottas from their molds!

Sooo incredibly creamy & light. Can you say decadent??

Vanilla Panna Cotta (Everyday Food May 2008)

*serves 6*

Ingredients:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 cups half & half
1/2 cup sugar
a dash of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place 1/4 cold water in a small bowl; sprinkle with gelatin. Set aside to soften, 5-10 minutes

2. In a medium saucepan, combine half & half, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Add vanilla and softened gelatin mixture. Stir until dissolved.

3. Divide mixture among six- 6oz. ramekins. Chill, covered with plastic wrap until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.

4. To serve, run a small knife around the edge of each panna cotta to loosen, then carefully dip bottom of the ramekin in hot water for a few seconds. Invert onto a small plate and shake firmly to release the panna cotta onto the plate.

***In the magazine, they recommend drizzling the tops of the panna cotta with maple syrup. Perhaps next time I’ll try that. ***

2 MORE RECIPES COMING SOON!

around the home, out & about, Uncategorized

May 6, 2008

snippets of geekdom

woke up saturday morning….started the day off right:

ate my weight in oranges (not really)

went to the Maker Faire with the hubs & met some friends there:

around the home, Uncategorized

April 29, 2008

flashback: weekend!

It’s Tuesday…and all I can think of is the past weekend and the weekend coming up. We live for weekends don’t we? Weekends seem like the only time I am able to play in the kitchen and take photos at my own pace…and this weekend I did just that.

Started off with breakfast outside on the patio….

Here I am busy working in the kitchen while Casey snoozed:

End result = eggs with chives & cheddar, toast with strawberry puree and coffee!

Our plates were licked clean…

I did some gardening…

I bought a new doormat for the patio…

A new fern for each bathroom (i love them!)

We fixed up our other deck and ate the Orange Strawberry popsicles I made on Friday to celebrate!

I stuck three cucumbers in the juicer and out came this lovely shade of green…

The cucumber pulp inspired me to make tzatziki…and then I ended up with this:

I made turkey meatballs without following a recipe…

And of course I had to use that cucumber juice so I made a delightful ginger-ale/cucumber/mint/lemon concoction…

cheers!

Also:

-watched a few movies (La Vie En Rose, Into the Wild & Alpha Dog)

-Casey continued to work on painting our kitchen cabinets

-I started a sewing project that ended terribly 🙁

-Took a trip to Home Depot

-Daydreamed about my perfect kitchen…..

What are you doing this weekend?

recipes, Uncategorized

April 27, 2008

Creamy Mac & Cheese and Better than Brownie Cookies!

This weeks girls night (plus 1 boy) was all about comfort food.

I made a New York Times recipe for Creamy Macaroni & Cheese (found via Smitten Kitchen).

Thank you Deb!

Did I ever tell you how much I love the crunchy bits of Mac & Cheese?? I used to fight with my two older brothers over the crunchy parts when we were growing up.

Aren’t you jealous- Ryan?

Here’s a close up of the creaminess….the cottage cheese was a nice touch!

I paired the mac & cheese with a salad (cucumber, tomato, red onion & feta with a mustard dressing) and some steamed broccoli.

I HAD to balance out that fat/veggie ratio….

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

New York Times 01/04/06

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup whole milk cottage cheese
2 cups milk (not skim)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 handful of breadcrumbs (not in the original recipe-I added this)
Pinch cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

2. In a blender, puree cottage cheese. When consistency is extremely smooth, add milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together. Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and breadcrumbs. Dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

***The only thing that I regret…is not making a double batch!***

And for dessert…..

Earlier that day I decided to make these brownie cookies I found from one of my flickr buddies. I totally screwed up the batch when I made it a couple of weeks ago. I ended up with 1 big cookie the shape of my cookie sheet! I got it right this time…Not sure what happened.

Better-than-Brownie-Cookies

makes about 18

The recipe came from Welcome to My Pantry (thank you!)

Ingredients:

2 cups chocolate chips
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/8 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

-Set oven to 350 degrees

1. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips with 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate. Add butter, stir til melted.

2. Mix eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Combine thoroughly. Set aside.

3. Mix flour & baking powder together in a small bowl.

4. Add melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and slowly add your dry ingredients. When stirred, add remaining cup of chocolate chips- stir!

5. Scoop cookies onto a cookie sheet. Bake & try not to scarf them down the second they get out of the oven!

FINAL RESULT:

My makeshift Neapolitan dessert!

I put two cookies in each of bowl, topped it with vanilla bean ice cream and added some strawberry sauce on top!

For the strawberry sauce, I pureed strawberries with a little bit of sugar & water. Taste as you go and check the consistency and it’s pretty darn easy.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

recipes, Uncategorized

April 21, 2008

Strawberry Juice

As you might know, I got some really great strawberries at the Farmers Market on Saturday.

Here they are right before I started digging in:

So after my strawberry overload breakfast (see below) I decided to treat myself to a refreshing beverage.Â After working around the house/yard over the weekend, it was well deserved.

I started juicing them with my juicer!

I juiced two of the containers! It produces the best puree!

I think I will use it for pancakes or perhaps in my yogurt….or ice cream!

I muddled some basil leaves with a little bit of sugar. I added some fresh strawberry juice and some sparkling water.

Put in a straw & top with a little strawberry and you have yourself a refreshing drink!

The basil was great! If you aren’t as daring…try some mint! MMMMMMM

around the home, Uncategorized

April 20, 2008

another sunday breakfast

Last week my mom made me an Orange Glazed Pound Cake from one Ina Garten’s cookbooks.

She gave me a whole loaf to take home. So dangerous! What a good momma!

So I cut into it this morning:

I cut up some farmer’s market strawberries using a trick I found in the current MS Living magazine.

Just use an egg slicer! It worked perfectly!

I took some honey, plain yogurt, a slice of the cake and assembled…

I scarfed this down!

The drizzle of honey was heavenly on top of the yogurt…

My husband leaped out of bed to find this waiting for him.

You can find the cake recipe here. Just look within the whole recipe and you’ll see the cake part.

Although.. a Raspberry Orange Trifle looks pretty awesome to me.

Don’t you agree?

around the home, Uncategorized

April 13, 2008

87 degrees this weekend!

It was so hot in our bedroom on Saturday morning, that we took off our thick/winter duvet cover and bought this new one. We must prepare for the warmer days ahead!

I really love it.