Breakfast Bars

December 4, 2009 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

I didn’t really know what to call this post. They can’t be called walnut and dried cherry bars, because those are the only two things I omitted from the recipe…I stuck with breakfast bars because I eat these for breakfast. Any suggestions for a more interesting name?

When I saw Ellie Krieger’s recipe for walnut and dried cherry bars, I really wanted to make them. The only problem was that I didn’t have any dried cherries on hand, and I can’t bring nuts to work with me. I decided to give it a try, anyway, with raisins and dried cranberries instead.

They were so easy to make and very delicious. It took about 5 minutes to put the ingredients together and 30 minutes in the oven, and I have breakfast for a little over a week.

Roasted Mushroom Pizza With Fried Egg

November 18, 2009 by Stephanie | 3 Comments

I love pizza. I love making it at home, I love little mini ones, and I love pizza store pizza. Sometimes, homemade pizza needs a little twist. Tomato sauce and muenster cheese can get boring. When I saw Aida Mollenkamp make pizza with roasted mushrooms and an EGG on top, I knew I had to try it.

I made it once before, on one pizza dough, and with only one egg. That was definitely not enough – of course if two people are eating the pie they’ll fight over that lone egg. So this time I made the pizza I split the same amount of mushrooms over two pies, and put three eggs on one pie, and two on the other. The result? Well, aside from absolute deliciousness, it was a perfect meal for a busy/lazy day. I didn’t even to make a side dish that night. If you’re not lazy like I am, a nice big salad would be delicious with this. Continue reading …

Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes

November 13, 2009 by Jessica | 1 Comment

I used to watch Jamie Oliver when he was The Naked Chef on the Food Network, but only watched his new show, Jamie at Home, once. In that episode he made game pigeon, which did not really look appetizing to me. I never tried any of his recipes, but admired his use of homegrown (or local/seasonal) ingredients. When I read this article last week, I knew I had to take a look at his new cookbook, Jamie at Home. While browsing through it at the book store, I saw a lot of unkosher recipes, and some graphic pictures of dead hanging rabbits and other animals. I did find a few recipes that looked delicious and very easy, and decided to give a chicken recipe a shot at home.

I actually got the recipe from the food network site (it’s the same as the one in the book), and changed it a bit (or a lot) to make it a little easier. Maybe I’ll try the original one next time…

Apple Cranberry Crisp

November 11, 2009 by Jessica | 2 Comments

apple crisp

It’s cranberry season! That means I get to buy bags and bags of cranberries and bake lots of desserts with some and freeze the others (you can keep them in the freezer for about a year – just throw the bag in the freezer and that’s it!).

Well, when I added too much sugar to an apple crumble recipe, I knew that adding the recently bought cranberries would be perfect to save the dessert from being too sweet. With that addition, it occurred to me that this is a great fall dessert!

apples

Meringues Chantilly with Roasted Berries

November 7, 2009 by Jessica | Leave a comment

As you probably figured out by now, I really like Ina Garten. I watch her on the Food Network all the time and own one of her cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa at Home. Every time I look through it, I bookmark more recipes to try. The day after I put a post it on her pavlova with mixed berries recipe, I watched the episode where she made meringues chantilly with roasted berries. I liked the idea of everyone having his or her own serving. I also liked the fact that the berries would be roasted instead of just fresh, especially because the raspberries I had were frozen (yep, from the same batch as the raspberry jam). I also found some packaged strawberries in the freezer, my dad probably bought those when they were on sale.

swirling

These were surprisingly easy to make, probably because I used the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. The hardest part was the shaping, but after one or two even that got easier. I didn’t have a pastry bag (uni-tasker!) or a star tip, but I did have a zip top bag and some scissors, and that worked almost as well. Continue reading …

Nutless Granola Bars

October 1, 2009 by Jessica | 1 Comment

I often try to make granola bars, only to find myself with granola in the end. After watching Ina Garten so easily make granola bars for her friends, I decided to try it out again. I added dried fruits and flax seeds to her basic recipe, and omitted the nuts so I could bring them into school (nut-free) and snack on them while there.

ready to go

I ended up with 17 granola bars. There should have been 18, but one completely crumbled. I had it with milk the next morning. These granola bars were pretty easy to make. I cut them after a few hours and wrapped each one in wax paper. I then stuck them in zip-top baggies and stored half on the counter and half in the freezer.

Next time I think I’ll lower the sweetness and add some chocolate chips.

Baby Bello Lasagna Rollups

September 29, 2009 by Jessica | Leave a comment

The Food Network website recommended that I try Ellie Krieger’s portobello lasagna rollups. These were very easy to make kosher – they are vegetarian, anyway. I didn’t use portobellos, just because they were kind of expensive. You can use any mushrooms, but I like the baby bellos, and they weren’t much more expensive than the white button variety. Continue reading …

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

September 27, 2009 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, and all I want to break the fast on is cinnamon buns. This recipe is very easy, and though there’s a lot of wait time, it’s worth it.

Can you tell that I really like cinnamon buns?

The recipe yields a tender dough. The egg yolks make it rich, and the buttermilk adds a hint of tang to the recipe. I changed Alton’s recipe only a little bit because I didn’t have any instant yeast.

Everyone’s really excited to eat these tomorrow after 25 hours of fasting. Continue reading …

Throwdown Banana Cream Pie

September 21, 2009 by Stephanie | 3 Comments

Somebody I know really likes banana cream pie. I really like Bobby Flay. So I decided to make Bobby Flay’s banana cream pie.

It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Mainly because Bobby’s recipe calls for powdered vanilla pudding mix. Usually his recipes are a bit more complicated than mixes; not that there’s anything wrong with that. At least I made my own graham cracker crust…

banana cream pie

Toasted Ravioli

September 9, 2009 by Jessica | 3 Comments

As annoying as Rachael Ray is, a lot of her recipes are delicious and easy. After watching her make toasted ravioli, I decided to try it on my own, with a few tweaks. Rachael used fresh herbs and made a delicious looking roasted red pepper dipping sauce. I was pretty lazy and used only what I had on hand, so stuck with the seasoned breadcrumbs and jarred marinara sauce. They still turned out delicious.