S'mores Bars ~ July 31, 2011

S'mores. They just SCREAM summertime, don't cha think? I love 'em, all the messiness of them, too.

Whenever I see a recipe for something S'mores-y, I gravitate towards it like a bee to a flower. Funny that my only recipes for July are s'mores related!

I think I first saw this on Pinterest (my new love) and I knew I had all the ingredients to make it happen THAT night!

On with the recipe:

 S'mores Bars
adapted from Betty Crocker
1 pouch of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie dough mix ( 1lb. 1.5 oz)- I had two small batch sized bags that I used
1 cup graham cracker crumbs - I just had that EXACT amt (I was destined to eat these last night ;)
1 cup of butter, melted
3 cups chocolate chips (I may have used a tad mor)
4 1/2 cups mini marshmallows - I had stars leftover from July 4th
2-3 graham crackers- broken into bits

Mix together the sugar cookie mix and graham cracker crumbs.
Pour in the melted butter and mix it all together
Line a 9x13 pan with foil.
Dump in the mix and press to the edges and make it all even.
Bake at 375 for 18-20 min.
Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let them get melty (I ran and did some laundry and came back for the next step)
Smooth the chocolate all over the cookie crust
Set oven to broil and top the chocolate layer with marshmallows and then dot the in-betweens with broken up bits of graham crackers (my addition).
Broil in the oven for less than 2 minutes (otherwise you'll have what I had up there- burnt marshmallows! DON'T WALK AWAY, not even to the sink to do the dishes!!)

Let cool a bit and cut them into squares. I did the baking part prior to dinner and then as the table was cleared, popped the marshmallow topped bars under the broiler. Perfect timing.... except the part where I left them in too long.... heed my warning!

So delish with a tall glass of milk!

Summertime Frozen S'mores ~ 7.1.11

One day last week or so, I was having a hard time figuring what else to schmear Nutella on when my Magic Pop (korean rice cakes) were all gone.

Thanks to facebook and my cousin, Linda (I have gads of smart cousins ;), help was on the way. She told me to put whipped cream and nutella on a graham cracker and then freeze them. BRILLIANT!

I had cool whip. So I went with that. Whipped cream is obviously not fake. So whatever floats your boat.

I set up my graham crackers assembly line-style and smeared on the Nutella, then the cool whip, topped it with another graham cracker and popped them in the freezer. (please note  that I did eat several and licked my fingers many times during this process and I can say, they're GREAT frozen or not).

That's all that's to this.
graham crackers
cool whip
nutella

oooo, thinking that marshmallow fluff would be another good option, too!

freezer.

enjoy our frozen s'mores!

Middle Eastern delights ~ 6.9.11

{corn and black bean salsa (with edamame), falafel and hummus}

Would you take a look at that plate! I mean, wow! Doesn't it all look so delicious? Okay, I'm a total food freak, I know. Who else takes pictures of their lunch? Well, I know a few more.... but still, I had to take a picture so that I could share these fabulous foods with YOU!

The recipes I'm sharing today all hail from Lucinda Scala Quinn's show, Mad Hungry on The Hallmark Channel. I have a link to the blog over there on my sidebar, do take a look. I have another handful of recipes to share with you that I've made in the past few weeks and they are ALL from her SHOW! I made all of the recipes on her Israeli Cooking show: Hummus, Falafel and Israeli Salad. I'm sharing 2 out of 3 of those recipes with you today. That last recipe was eaten so fast I didn't have time to photograph it!

Both of these recipes today start with a bag of dried chickpeas. Sometimes they can be hard to find. I didn't find them with the other dried beans/legumes in the grocery store. Instead, they were in the International food aisle, in the Mexican section. They're my new pantry staple.

I know I've posted a great hummus recipe in the past, but this one takes the cake. The former is great if you're short on time, but if you prep your chickpeas in advance, go with this recipe made from dried chickpeas. WOW. The creamy texture was so amazing and the flavor is subtle perfection.

Mad Hungry Hummus

3 1/2 cups cooked dried  chickpeas ** recipe to follow** or 2 15.5 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbs tahini paste (I love Kyros)
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil

In bowl of food processor, combine chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and salt. Pulse to a thick paste. With motor running, slowly add water, then oil in a steady stream. Taste and add more salt if needed (mine needed a tad bit more).

Serve with pita, chips, veggies or spread on a sandwich!


This next recipe was not a hit with the family, but I LOVED them!

Falafel
these are fried vegetarian patties. You can eat them alone or on a pita, served as a sandwich. Drizzle a little tahini over them if you'd like

1 3/4 cup cooked dried chickpeas, or 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 small yellow onion, minced
1/4 cup parsley
2 Tbs mint
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted (I left those out)
1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
For serving: pita, sliced tomatoes, red onion, lettuce, tahini

Place half of chickpeas in food processor and pulse a few times until chopped, transfer to large bowl.

Place remaining chickpeas in processor with garlic, onion, herbs, spices, baking soda, salt and lemon juice. Pulse to a thick, chunky paste, about 30 sec. Transfer to bowl with chopped chickpeas.

Add egg and sesame seeds to bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill batter for 30 minutes. (I left mine in the fridge 2 days before frying)

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Form batter into 2 inch wide patties (I got about 10 patties in total). Place in hot oil and gently flatten. Cook, turning once, after the first side is a nice golden brown- about 4-5 minutes total. Transfer to paper towel (or bag) lined plate to drain.

Serve with pita bread, tomato slices, lettuce and red onion. Drizzle with tahini.

Cooked Dried Chickpeas
from Martha Stewart dot com


1 pound bag of chickpeas
water
1 Tbs baking soda

Soak the chickpeas in water with baking soda for 8 hours (aka overnight!). Drain and rinse. Place chickpeas in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, simmer and cook until softened (about 2 hours). Rinse the chickpeas and use as desired.

One bag of chickpeas is enough for both of the above recipes!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes ~ 6.3.11

Not too long ago, I posted a recipe for Blueberry syrup. This little beaut would go perfectly dressed with that syrup. So fresh. So summer. So delish.

Enjoy. These are a perfect reason to use up that last little bit of ricotta in the container. Keep this in mind.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

(adapted from Everyday Food- originally Orange Ricotta...)

ingredients:

1 3/4 cup park skim ricotta cheese (15 oz)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp grated lemon zest

2/3 cup all purpose flour

canola oil

confectioner's sugar and/or Blueberry Syrup

directions:

-In a med bowl, whisk the ricotta, sugar, eggs and lemon zest together. Whisk in the flour until just combined.

--Heat oil in a nonstick skillet or spray a griddle pan over med-low heat.

--Working in batches, add batter, use about a 1/4 cup (or little less) for each pancake.

--Cook until browned, 4-5 min per side.

Transfer to plate lined with paper towels (esp if you used canola oil). Serve hot with confectioner's sugar or blueberry syrup

Crisp High Roast Chicken with Potatoes ~ 5.20.11

Maybe you've figure this out about me, but maybe not. I love cooking shows. I'm a visual learner and when  I see someone make something- it brings the recipe to life and gives me the confidence to approach the recipe! Maybe that's why Ree is so popular? She shows you step by step. Well, that and her amazing recipes.

I digress.

I've always been a fan of Cook's Illustrated and more specifically the PBS show America's Test Kitchen. I find it fascinating to hear all the trial and error they put into testing these recipes. Makes me really believe that this is the best way to cook/bake something.

I thought this recipe for cooking a whole chicken was brilliant and doable. And the first time I made this recipe was back in 2006, right before I left for a week's vacation in California! Why do I find it necessary to try new things 24 hours before a big event? I dunno. It was my VERY FIRST time cooking a whole chicken! seriously! And I'm glad I started with this recipe because it was amazingly moist and those potatoes- WOW!

This time around, I skipped the brining and just split my chicken according to my How to Cook Everything cookbook. Not too difficult, made easier with kitchen shears. As with most of their recipes, there are many steps, but the result is well worth it. Just a lot of explaining. I promise it's not that difficult to prepare. I made this on a soccer night!
Here's the recipe:

Crisp-Skin High Roast Chicken and Potatoes
from America's Test Kitchen

For the brine (optional- but give it a go sometime so you can say, (Oh, yeah, I've brined a chicken")
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole chicken, 3 1/2-4 lbs; giblets removed and reserved for another use, fat around cavity removed and discarded

Dissolve the salt in the sugar in 2 qts cold water in a large container. Immerse chicken and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour.

2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick (use a food processor or a nice, sharp knife)
1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt

Compound butter- place in a bowl to schmear your chicken!-- OPTIONAL, but AMAZING addition
2 Tbs softened butter
1 med garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees! HOT, HOT, HOT
Line the bottom of your broiler pan with heavy duty foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Remove chicken from brine (if you brined), and rinse thoroughly under cold running water (be sure to clean out your sink!). Butterfly chicken, flatten breastbone and apply the flavored butter (if using) under the skin of the chicken- all over! Thoroughly pat the chicken dry.
 And place on the top part of your broiler pan.

Toss the potatoes with 1 Tbs oil, slat and pepper in a medium bowl. Spread the potatoes in an even layer on the foil lined broiler pan. Place the top of the broiler pan over the potatoes- See picture above. Rub the chicken with the remaining olive oil and season with S&P. Put into the oven.

Cook until the chicken is spotty brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue to roast until skin has crisped and turned a deep brown and an thermometer registers 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast, 20-25 minutes longer.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board and with pot holders, remove top of broiler pan. Using paper towels, soak up the excess grease from potatoes. Remove foil liner with potatoes and invert foil and potatoes onto a cookie sheet. Peel back foil and scrape off remaining potatoes with a spatula. Pat off remaining grease with paper towels.
Cut chicken, arrange pieces on a serving platter and transfer potatoes right beside them. Voila- dinner is ready.
Serve with fresh steamed green beans or a crisp garden salad!

Lemon Spaghetti ~ 5.14.11

 I first made this recipe for spaghetti after watching Giada make it on her food network show. It sounded amazing to this lemon lover and what few ingredients! What a perfect springtime dinner. I made it in 2006 for Father's Day and everyone loved it.

Just this past week, I resurrected this lovely recipe to serve alongside Lucinda's chicken piccata. I had never made chicken piccata but after watching her make it on her show Mad Hungry, I knew it was doable and would compliment this spaghetti perfectly. 
As a note, I only used 2 very large chicken breasts- butterflied them (split them open like a book) and then pounded them thin. It served everyone in my family! I simply cut the breasts into servable pieces before I dipped them in the flour and cooked them. Really great weeknight meal.


 
Giada DeLaurentiis' Lemon Spaghettti

 I'm going to count this as a 5 ingredient recipe because S&P don't count and you use the lemon 2 ways!


1 pound spaghetti

2/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup grated Parmesan- (use the good stuff, please, not a green shaker jar.... gasp)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon zest (have forgotten this and guess what, it's OK)

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (take it to the next level)



Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

**Eat leftovers mixed with a little premade pesto! Delicous!

Spinach Pie (Byrek Mi Spinaq) ~ 5.25.11

{my first albanian spinach pie- the edges got a bit crispy, but not a problem, just cut them off!}

So, maybe I've talked about my love for a show on the Hallmark channel called Mad Hungry. Lucinda Scala Quinn, a dear friend of Martha's, hosts this amazing little show. that I DVR everyday. What is it about this show that I love? Maybe it's the presentation, the approachable recipes, the unique flavors she presents, the excitement of guests in the kitchen (love the Albanian recipes show!) or Calder, her son, joining her in the kitchen. Well, it's all of these. Lucinda presents recipes in a simple, straightforward manner. You feel like you're in the kitchen with her and you cannot wait to see what she's cooking on the next show. 

Add to all of that, the fact that my 4 year olds LOVE the show-- especially, Zach. They say things like "mmmm, can you make that sometime?" and "can we watch "the" cooking show?" I know just the one that they're talking about.

 Check this out- she has a cookbook (or two)- thanks Lucinda!

Yet, maybe the best part is that so many of these recipes are REAL, passed down from family and then shared with us. I think that's the part I can relate to the most (that and Lucinda's love for salty pork products ;)). I love hearing the stories behind recipes and seeing the family cooking together- loved when her brother came on and made deep dish pizza dough and light and fluffy meatballs. After that show aired, I knew exactly what I was making for dinner THAT weekend (look for those recipes to come Friday)!

On this particular episode, Lucinda invited her son's friend, Milot, to come into the kitchen and share his family's Albanian Spinach Pie (Byrek Mi Spinaq). I knew I had to make it asap. I even had all the ingredients in my fridge! I had just bought 3 bags of spinach on sale that week and just needed a little yogurt and whipped butter to make this recipe. I even had the phyllo dough in the freezer leftover from the last Spanokopita I had made. Perfect reason to make this recipe and they made it look doable on a weeknight!

Oh and if you're like me and are a bit fearful of working with filo I say, pshaaaw! DO NOT be afraid! It couldn't be simpler, as long as you watch to keep it covered so it doesn't dry out while you work! It's extremely forgiving: read- even if it does try out, just butter it up and piece the broken pieces together, it's all good in the end.

My kids LOVE this recipe, so there's a little butter involved, at least they're eating spinach!!

Now, onto the recipe:

Spinach Pie

(adapted from Mad Hungry, May 2011)

1 8 oz container of whipped butter

1/2 cup canola oil

3 bunches of spinach, stemmed and chopped (I used 3 bags)

1/2 small onion, chopped as fine as you like it

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbs plain yogurt

1 tsp salt

2 Tbs of butter and oil mixture, as per directions

20 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed if frozen (I made it with 1/2 of a box of filo and it worked out just fine- that's what I had on hand!)

optional: a little feta- not true to the Albanian version, but I had a little to use up- so in it went!

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degreees

2. Combine butter and canola oil in a saucepan over low heat until butter is melted. Stir to combine. Reserve two tablespoons for the filling

3. For the filling: In a VERY large bowl (get out the biggest one you have), combine the spinach, onion, egg, sour cream, yogurt, salt and 2 Tbs of butter/oil mixture and mix it all well- use your hands if needed. Set aside

4. Using a large rimmed sheet pan, butter the bottom and sides of the baking sheet and lay down 2 sheets of phyllo so that the edges overlap in the middle. Brush with butter. Continue this process for 9 more sheets of phyllo making sure to butter each sheet and the parts that overlap- the butter helps everything to adhere and get flaky and delicious!

[ As a side note, the recipe says to use one sheet, but it barely covered the bottom of the baking sheet, so I adapted and laid the sheets side by side. Once you unroll your phyllo and size up your sheetpan, you'll have an idea of how you need to lay out the phyllo, too]

5. After your 10th sheet is laid down on the baking sheet, top the buttered phyllo with your spinach mixture. Even it out with a spatula. Repeat the phyllo layering process with 10 more sheets of phyllo- don't forget to butter every layer. Butter, butter, butter!

6. Turn up the edges to seal- folding them over towards the top is just fine. Nothing fancy. Think RUSTIC.

7. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until top is golden brown. Use a knife to check the bottom to make sure it, too, is nice and crispy. Let cool for 15 minutes (if you can wait!). Slice however you like and serve.

The spinach filling really cooks down!