Recipe: Kiffens

For as long as I can remember, my aunt/godmother has been baking a butter cookie she has dubbed “Kiffens,” but that my friends swear are actually called Mexican or Italian wedding cookies. Whatever their true identity, she’s been sending them to the whole family for years around Christmas, and we always look forward to the tiny, spherical sugar coated delights each holiday season. I decided to try them myself when I first began baking, and although I can’t make them quite like she can, my boyfriend is always begging for them!

So, I thought I’d share this simple but delicious family recipe with you guys: they pair wonderfully with tea, coffee, and hot chocolate alike.

Makes 30-40 small cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Soften the butter, then cream it together with the sugar and vanilla.

3. Mix flour and salt together in a separate bowl, then add it to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix only until combined; over mixing could make them tough!

4. Shape the dough into small balls–about 1 inch diameter–and line them up on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until just barely light golden on the bottom.

6. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar.

Let cool, and enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Michelle

Recipe: Black bean, Corn, and Kale Enchiladas

I have shocked both myself, and nearly everyone who has known me over the years: I enjoy eating healthy food now. In the span of just one school year, I went from happily gorging myself on vegetarian junkfoods like cheese, french fries, and cookies on a tri-daily basis to actually attempting to incorporate vegetables into my diet. (I credit my formerly fast metabolism as being the only thing standing between me and obesity these past 19 years.) I’ve been experimenting with such previously unfamiliar ingredients as kale, fruit, and even the dreaded whole grains.

But despite the fact that some think eating healthy sounds like torture, both my waistline and tastebuds couldn’t be happier about the change.

So, where I would have previously opted to cook sinfully greasy cheese-stuffed enchiladas, I decided to satisfy my Mexican cuisine craving with a new recipe: black bean, corn, and kale enchiladas. I even completely left the cheese out of my half in order to continue my haphazard attempts at being mostly vegan, and I didn’t miss it at all. My parents–avid meat eaters–raved about their cheesy half of the dish, too!

Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t stand a chance when my sweet tooth drags me to the cookie jar now and again,  but at least eating healthy most of the time makes me feel much better about it when I give in!

Used this recipe as a base.

Makes 10 Enchiladas

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup of vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder to taste
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4-1/3 cup Las Palmas red pepper sauce to taste (optional)

For the Enchiladas:

• 10 tortillas–I used 6″ diameter corn & whole wheat blend
• 1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 10 oz can of corn
• 10 oz kale, washed and shredded (can also sub 5oz for equal amount spinach instead)
• 1/2 yellow (or white) onion, chopped
• 1/2 avocado, cut into small cubes
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese + 1 cup for topping
• Chopped scallions or sour cream for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a saucepan, and saute the garlic until fragrant or just beginning to brown. Add the tomato sauce, vegetable stock, spices, and red pepper sauce if desired. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the beans, corn, kale, onion, avocado, cumin, and salt and pepper until avocado is mashed and evenly distributed and there are no large clumps of kale. If allowing mixture to sit before making enchiladas, add the avocado pit to prevent browning.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease a 9×13″ baking dish.

4. Assemble the enchiladas by placing a tortilla on a plate, and spooning desired amount of filling in a line down the middle. Sprinkle cheese (about 1/2 to 1 tbs) on top of filling if desired,  roll the tortilla, and place them seam-side down into the baking pan. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas. Pour the sauce over the prepared enchiladas, and then sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese if desired.

I made half of it vegan, but feel free to make it as you like!

5. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 25-30 minutes, then remove tinfoil and bake for another 5 minutes, or until cheese and sauce is bubbling. Garnish with chopped scallions or sour cream, and serve with a spatula.

I served this alongside a Mexican salad with a divine dressing (recipe coming up!), and a mango for dessert. There are tons of options for side dishes, but these two were particularly fresh and low calorie!

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Recipe: Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Vegan. Whole wheat. Sugar free. Oil free.

Flavor free? Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Let’s just say, when I stumbled across this bread recipe, I was expecting something that I would consume for sustenance alone; I was sure it would be permeated by the taste of “health,”  that it would prove binge-proof. Upon biting into it, however, I saw just how wrong I was. And I bit into it again, and again, and again, and now it’s gone.

Tragic, right?

And yet, I don’t feel nearly as guilty as I would have after eating an entire loaf of normal banana bread in a mere 24 hours. That’s right, I admit it, I ate the whole thing in a day. All this bread calls for in terms of flavor is bananas, dates, and cinnamon; the baking powders, flour, and flax seed manage to give it a wonderfully moist and dense texture. It even cooked through much more evenly than the dairy, egg, sugar and oil filled white flour banana breads I’ve made in the past!

Time: Active: 20 minutes

Inactive: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups mashed banana (approximately 4 large bananas, preferably overripe)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dates (I used dried)
• 2 tbsp flax seed powder + 6 tbsp water
• Optional: 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Mix together the flax seed and water, allow it to set, stirring occasionally, until gelatinous.

2. Mash the bananas. My preferred method is to mince them by slicing them, spreading the slices out, and tapping lightly and rapidly with a knife horizontally. Then, turn the cutting board 90 degrees, and tap horizontally again; repeat as necessary. The key is to leave very little space between cuts, and you’ll soon have nearly mashed bananas, no matter how firm they were to begin with!

3. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. Add the chopped dates and mix together. I had trouble keeping my dates from clumping up, so I used my fingers to “rub” the dates into the flour as I would butter, breaking up clumps when I found them.

5. Add the bananas and flax seed/water mixture to the bowl, and stir until combined. It may seem too dry or doughy, but trust me, there’s no need for more liquid!

6. Place dough into a loaf pan, sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired (I omitted them), and bake in oven for 45-55 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean; it should be risen, subtly golden, and slightly crusty on top when it’s done. And as an added bonus, the whole house should be filled with the aroma of bananas!

Next time, I’m going to try adding sliced almonds and dried cranberries–this recipe is just begging for other equally delicious variations. Hope you guys like this healthy treat as much as I did!

Thanks for reading,

Michelle

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I didn’t think it was possible, but it seems as if chocolate chip cookies actually taste better in cake form. Don’t believe me? Read on.

First of all, when a cookie is in cake form, your eaters can choose which part of the cake to eat based on how they like their cookies done. I, being a lover of all things doughy, find myself preferring the lighter, less done middle. Those who like the crunchier, chewier aspects of your typical chocolate chip cookie, however, have plenty of edge pieces to choose from. With a chocolate chip cookie in cake form, everyone wins.

Secondly: no dough-ball forming necessary. Why spend your precious time making individual balls of dough when it’s so easily spread into a pan in a matter of seconds? I don’t know about you guys, but I always seems to be short of time (that could just be the college student self pity syndrome talking, though).

A third appeal to time-saving: just one batch. In fact, I fit both of my cakes in the woefully small communal oven at once, and was able to watch TV study as they both simultaneously browned to perfection.

Let’s just say I’d never taken the chocolate chip cookie cake seriously until I tried it myself, and now, I’m hooked. What I once considered a perversion of a classic, I now see as a great stride in the world of baking.

So, on to the recipe!

Based on a recipe from Foodnetwork.

Time: Active: 10-15 minutes

Inactive: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

•  2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
Sweetened cocoa, for garnish
Sweetened whipped cream, accompaniment

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Depending on what you’re going for, a) line a 14-inch round pizza pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper or b) line and grease a 13×9″ or 2 – 8″ pans. (I chose the latter because I don’t have a pizza pan at school!)

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, and beat well after adding each.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Add to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate, and stir in the vanilla extract.

4.  Spread across the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until the edges are golden and the cookie is set but the center is still slightly soft, 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

So simple, so good. I suggest trying it both warm and refrigerated–something about the cold chocolate chip cookie flavor was just to die for!

This one’s for laughs, and is perhaps the most awkward presentation possible. And yet, some seem to find my lack of dorm room cutlery endearing.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this quirky concoction as much as I did!

Michelle

Recipe: Poached Pear with Spiced Caramel Sauce

Being an aspiring cook in a perpetually dieting household is a daunting task. Particularly calorific dishes will inevitably be vetoed, griped about, and, in some cases, even looked upon with apprehension.

The people I cook for aren’t the only ones, though; most of us are, in some way or another, looking to cut away calories where we can. So after planning a full course dinner that was already perhaps heavier than necessary (I subbed half and half for heavy cream wherever I could, though, I promise!), I decided I needed to go light on the dessert. Instead of my usual pastries, I came up with something a little bit more sophisticated: poached pear with a spiced caramel sauce.

It’s an easy dish that can be for the most part kept on the back burner (literally!), and is a refreshing way to clear the palate after a wide variety of meals.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Time: Active: 10-15 minutes

Inactive: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:

• For Poached Pears
  • 4 oranges or 1.5 – 2 cups orange juice
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 8 cups water
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 firm-ripe pears (Anjou are recommended)

• For Caramel Topping
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 whole clove
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
  • 3 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds or hazelnuts

  
  

Directions:

Poach pears:
1. Zest the oranges unless you’re using juice only; a zester is preferable (for obvious reasons) but a vegetable peeler can be used if necessary. Juice the oranges and the lemon halves into a pot, and add the lemon halves, zest, water, and 2 cups sugar.

2. Peel the pears with stems attached and add them to the pot. Simmer 25 to 35 minutes (here’s that back burner part I mentioned!), or until just tender, and cool in liquid.

Make caramel:
3. Put 1/2 cup white  sugar in a small pot and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Melt them over medium heat without mixing until the white sugar is nearly melted, then begin to stir occasionally until the mixture is a deep golden color.

4. Pour in the cream (which will result in some crazy fizzing, bubbling, and then hardening), then stir in the clove, cardamom pods, fennel, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks.

5. Simmer, stirring, until the caramel dissolves completely and the sauce has reduced to about a cup; about 10 minutes.

6. Pour the sauce through a strainer and let it cool until warm.

Assemble dessert:
7. Drain pears and pat dry, then transfer to plates. I found that slicing them first resulted in a more even coating of the caramel and nuts. Serve drizzled with sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts.

And now that you’ve made it to the end, I have a little secret for you: not only is this sauce amazing on its own, but it has the potential to go with a lot of other desserts. I’ve tried it on apple and raspberry tarts, and even found that it could spice up an old sopapilla!

So have fun with your light dessert, and let me know if you come up with any caramelly creations of your own!

Thanks for reading,

Michelle

Recipe: Cinnamon Caramel Brownies

I have been on the search for the perfect brownie recipe since I began baking three years ago. I’ve tried the one my mom swore by, I’ve tried all sorts of “classics” the internet raves about, but no luck. They’re always a tad too dry, lacking in flavor, too chewy, or just missing that special brownie spark. Perhaps my standards are too high, but I could not be stopped in my search.

So I decided to try a new strategy: I had to look for something different, something unique. Something unheard of, even.

And that’s how these Mexican style brownies happened. They’re halfway between cake and brownie, with a light, almost melt-in-your-mouth kind of texture. The main thing that had me hooked, however, was the flavor combination; I even threw in some chili and cayenne for good measure, and they turned out wonderfully.

Adapted from Epicurious.

Time: Active: 15-25 minutes

Inactive: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:

• For Brownies
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • *Optional: Ancho chili powder to taste (I’d start with no more than a pinch)

• For Caramel Topping
  • 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • *Optional: Pinch of cayenne powder

Directions

For Brownies

1. Preheat oven to 325°F, and grease or line an 8″ pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the 4oz unsweetened chocolate with the butter until smooth, stirring to prevent burning. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in sugar, salt, and cinnamon, along with ancho chili powder if desired. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Stir until batter is smooth. Add flour and whisk in until just blended, then stir in chocolate chips.

4. Pour batter into pan, and cook until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Make sure to check multiple spots with your toothpick, in case your first tries happen to get a melted chocolate chip stuck to it!

For Caramel Topping

5. Stir sugar, cream, and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture is smooth and comes to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and mix in the vanilla. Let cool for 10 minutes, and then stir it until it thickens.

6. Spread over the brownies, and sprinkle with almond slices.

I recommend them heated up and then paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream–simply delicious!

Michelle

Panko Substitution: Make your own Breadcrumbs

When I was making my avocado fries the other day, I realized that I had no panko, also known as japanese breadcrumbs. (Okay, we actually had some hiding in the back of the cupboard, but I didn’t realize this until after the fact…)

Luckily, we did have some stale french bread, so I decided to share my way of making some breadcrumbs for recipes in a pinch.

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• Thin bread slices, preferably slightly stale

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread your bread slices out on a sheet of tinfoil or a baking sheet.

2. Toast bread in oven until crispy on top, and flip to crisp up the other side too.

3. Once bread is crisped through, remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

4. You can turn the bread into crumbs in a variety of ways: my favorite ways are to use your hands to crumble it up, or wrap it up in tinfoil or a bag and pound it with a mallet/rolling pin until at your desired crumb consistency.

The resulting crumbs worked perfectly for my avocado fries; hope this substitution can prove useful to you too!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Recipe: Avocado Fries

When I first saw this recipe for fried avocado strips, my first thought was that they could either be really strange, or really delicious. Luckily, it turned out they were the latter, and they even received a slew of compliments from people who usually find my ideas for avocado concoctions suspicious sounding! They can be eaten on their own, or served as a side with a variety of cuisines.

I decided to alter the recipe a bit and add some lime, but feel free to garnish it with whatever you like; I might try grated cheese or some kind of chili sauce with them next!

Recipe adapted from Sunset Magazine.

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Canola oil for frying
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, beaten to blend
• 1 1/4 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 2 firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-in. wedges
• Optional: Lime or lime juice

Directions

1. Put flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a plate. Place eggs and panko in their own separate plates.

2. Heat about an inch of oil in a skillet.

3. Sprinkle the avocado slices with the remaining ½ tsp salt.  Dip each slice in flour, then dip in egg, then coat with panko. Set on plates or wax paper.

3. Fry as many avocado slices as you’d like at a time (that you can fit in a single layer in the skillet) until both sides are deep golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer slices to a plate lined with paper towels. Keep warm in oven while cooking remaining avocados. Sprinkle with salt and lime juice if desired.

I hope you’ll like them as much as we did!

Thanks for reading,

Michelle

Recipe: Wild Mushroom and Leek Tarts

I’ll start off with a bit of a confession: these were originally supposed to be galettes. As my dinner plan grew more and more complicated, however–due to my soup, squash, and poached pear I’ll be uploading soon–I realized I couldn’t afford the potential catastrophe that the uncertain edges of a galette could introduce. So, I decided to dust off my neglected tart pans for some added security!

Serves: 6 – 4″ tarts tarts

Time: Active: about 30 minutes

Inactive: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup minced leek (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 6 ounces portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, caps finely chopped
• 3 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems removed, caps finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used pinot grigio)
• 6 tablespoons fresh soft goat cheese (such as Montrachet)
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

• 3/4 of  my simple tart crust recipe (or a sheet of frozen puff pastry if you’re in a rush)

Directions

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add leek and shallot and sauté  for 2 minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons butter, then add the mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Add wine and simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of goat cheese and stir until slightly thickened, about a minute. Season with salt and pepper, stir in 2 tablespoons parsley, and remove from heat.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out your pastry dough to about 1/2″, and line the tart pans with the dough. If desired, use cookie or fondant cutters to cut out decorative shapes to top your tarts with.

4. Spread about a tablespoon of goat cheese across the bottom of each tart, and then fill them to the top with the mushroom mixture.

5. Put decorative cutouts on baking sheet or parchment paper and put them in the oven along with the tarts. Bake the cutouts until golden (8-15 minutes), and remove them from the oven to cool.

6. Continue baking the tarts until the pastry is puffed and golden, 30-40 minutes. Remove them from the tart pan once slightly cooled by sliding a knife between the metal and the tart.

7. Decorate them with your baked cutouts,  sprinkle with chopped parsley, and enjoy!

Recipe: Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

There’s something irresistible about butternut squash on a cold day. Although I could have gone with your typical brown sugar buttery concoction, I decided to whip up a more savory dish adapted from Epicurious that incorporated one of my favorite foods: goat cheese.

I served it with my cream of red bell pepper soup and mushroom leek galettes (which I’ll be posting the recipe for shortly!), and it made for a wonderfully warm winter feast.

Serves: 10+

Time: Active: depends on starting ingredients (30 mins – an hour)
Inactive: About an hour

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash (about 2 medium), peeled, seeded, cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes (8 cups)  [Timesaving tip: many stores sell pre-cubed squash, and the difference isn't noticeable!]

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
• 3 cups sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 5.5-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (can also use half-and-half to cut down calorie count!)
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Put butternut squash cubes in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out in a rimmed baking sheet or glass pan. Roast until tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped leeks and sage, season with salt and pepper, and saute until tender and brown for about 15 minutes.

3. Coat a 13×9 glass pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Spread half of the leek mixture over the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with half of squash and half of goat cheese, and repeat the layering. (The dish can be chilled and stored in the refrigerator for up to one day at this point)

4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Pour cream evenly over gratin, and sprinkle with toasted chopped hazelnuts. Bake, uncovered, until it is heated through and the cream is bubbling, about 30-40 minutes.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Michelle