Collegiate Contessa

Oh Suh-weet Biscuits!

2013-08-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

So this recipe is a throwback from a post I found from about a year ago. It had been left all alone in my blog-draft attic, getting dusty and lonely. But now, it's coming back out into the world! Make lots of friends little recipe, I know you can do it!

The Tale of Sweet Biscuits

I had to search high and low for a sweet biscuit recipe so y'all better appreciate this one. Apparently they're a southern thing cause I couldn't find any websites with recipes... except for one! They turned out really well, it was my first time making homemade biscuits... and it will not be my last!!

PLUS David and I made this and our delicious Black Bean Quesadillas while building a dresser. I know, we're beasts. Just look at those sweet biscuits.

Beasts.

David actually made these while I made a quesadilla casserole, so do not be alarmed by the manly hands in the photos. It's just David!

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter

1 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix sugar, flour, and salt in large bowl. Cube butter and add to mixture. Stir in mixer until the ingredients become grainy.

Crack and whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add to dry ingredients along with milk.

Stir and mash with hands until mixture forms a flaky dough. Knead three times and roll out onto floured surface so that dough is 1/2 to 1in thick.

Using a cookie cutter or jar, cut circles out of dough and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and bask in their thick, flaky deliciousness.

This is David with his ginormous biscuit. Feel free to make one of your own if you wish, but leave it in the oven for a bit longer. It was so delicious - at least the small part that I was able to steal was delicious.

Oh, but we didn't stop there. You see, this adventure began when I received some berries from the leftover sangria at my work. YES. They were about to throw away perfectly delicious, juice and alcohol-soaked berries. Well, I put a stop to that.

Sooo, we decided to make sweet biscuits to serve them with!!

Heres the situation. I just heated the berries and a little bit of their juice over medium high on a nonstick skillet until they simmered. I added a bit of sugar and let them cook for about 5 more minutes to thicken up. Finally, we poured all the delicious goodness along with some local honey over the warm biscuits. It was a night to remember. However, David and I aren't really drinkers, so we ended up ditching the berries and opting for peanut butter and honey as toppings as well.

Nevertheless, it was delightful to make, and it looks really pretty!

Kale Pesto

2013-08-22T09:13:00.003-07:00

Hello all!

I think it goes without saying that it's been some time since I've posted. Thaaats not because I've renounced cooking and the blogging world all together. I would never do that to you. Its actually because I graduated, got married and moved into a new house.

The good news is I also got a new job! So I'll be able to make some money, learn about food, and spend time with the people (and food) I love - you being included in that.

So my husband and I compiled a cooking adventures list where we listed out all the grand, exotic, and strange things we wanted to try to cook. Needless to say, its quite exhaustive.

Here is one of our first adventures into the vast gastronomic universe: Kale Pesto.

That's right. This recipe was inspired by

1. Our disturbing love for pesto

2. The equally disturbing amount of kale I end up purchasing from the farmers market each weekend.

So this recipe is adapted from one by the ever-lovely Giada DeLaurentiis. I doubled it and added kale. Then after I realized I was out of olive oil, I substituted some leftover pasta water - it still had all that starchy goodness bubbling inside it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup basil (loosely (packed)

2 1/2 cups kale leaves (loosely packed)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 and 1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup pasta noodles

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread out pine nuts on baking sheet.

2. Fill a medium pot with water and set on oven to boil.

3. When oven has heated up, toast pine nuts for approx 5 mins or until slightly golden. Set aside to cool.

4. When water has boiled, add in 1 cup dried pasta (I used shells cause they're awesome and make me feel like a little kid!). Reduce heat and let cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Place a small bowl under colander in your sink. drain pasta through colander, collecting some of the pasta water in the small bowl. Place drained noodles back in pot.

6. Place garlic, basil, kale, pine nuts, salt and pepper in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. DO NOT simply hold down the blend button. Pulsing helps to ensure that the veggies don't get too overheated and loose their pretty green color.

7. While pulsing, slowly add in the olive oil then 1/3-2/3 cup pasta water. You want a smooth, creamy consistency.

8. Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan and pesto to noodles. Stir until the cheese melts.

Now you're ready to serve! Dish it up and top with remaining parmesan cheese for a lovely display.

Have a lovely afternoon! Take kale!

North Lime Study Blitz

2012-11-27T13:21:00.003-08:00

Studying our new favorite coffee shop in Lexington, North Lime Coffee and Donuts. The donuts here are the best in Lexington! Check them out!

I'm currently enjoying some Swell Season, heated air, and a peanut butter honey donut. Mmmmmm...

Roadtrip Snack To Remember

2012-08-21T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hello friends and loved ones. This morning I made one of the greatest purchases of my young life. David and I went on a little road trip this morning with our friend Simon and all Lexingtonian foodies know that a Lexington-roadtrip can't be complete without a $5 box of doughnuts from Doughdaddy's. Essential.

So naturally on our way out of town, we stopped for gas at the lovely Doughdaddy's station and I entered to purchase one of said boxes. I took a quick survey of the box pile and then began my search. I dug and sorted through hose boxes like it was my job, and it was looking grim until I uncovered the last box in the pile. I am not exaggerating here. It was beautiful. I inside this box were all the Doughdaddy's flavors that David and I adore, in perfect portions to share equally.

Blueberry, Blueberry Cream Cheese, Buttermilk, and Buttermilk Cream Cheese. Real. Life.

But oh these aren't your regular doughnuts. They're cake doughnuts. So, SO bad for you but mind-bogglingly delicious. I don't understand how they're so good and I don't really care. Some things in life are better left in secret.

So in my giddiness I had to share. Thank you for basking in this glory with me.

STAPLE DINNER: Black Bean Quesadilla Bake

2012-08-20T15:30:00.005-07:00

So I have done it again. I know I've been MIA for the past couple weeks but this will be the last time that happens.
...I hope.

I have moved again, this time to an even BIGGER KITCHEN! (insert evil laugh here). Therefore I have been scurrying to try and put together my house/room. Plus school starts on Wednesday so I've been trying to deal with that emotionally as I will no longer have as much free time to cook delicious meals and spend shameful amounts of money on food to feed my friends. But nonetheless, my cooking will continue and hopefully I will refine my pitiful abilities to put together a meal.

Sooo I decided to christen my kitchen with a Collegiate Contessa Classic - Black Bean Quesadillas. The planets were aligned for this one folks. My fiancé's mom had given us a fresh jalapeño pepper a few days before and David had given me two cans of black beans the previous week. If that's not destiny frankly I don't know what is.

So let's get cracking. I added a few more ingredients to this one than I normally do, but please feel free to add some extra pizzaz to it yourself. Add your favorite salsa or veggies or obscure cheese. It's too easy.

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 jalapñeo pepper
Shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend but your favorite classy cheese is fine)
Soft tortillas

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get ready for action.

Open tomato can and drain about 3/4 of the juice into a small bowl. Chop up jalapeño and place in a bowl with cheese, drained black beans, corn, and tomatoes. Mix it up. Now you have the insides of your quesadillas! Yippee!

At this point in the process, I realized that I left my can opener at my old house (rookie mistake) and my lovely fiancé, David volunteered to run to the neighbors and ask for a can opener and make friends (if your reading this, thank you Chad!).

While you're preparing this, it's probably a good idea to heat up the tortillas in the oven for about 3 minutes. You just want them to get a little soft, making them easier to roll. NOTHING - I repeat NOTHING is worse than watching a tortilla rip mid-rollup. It's like watching a cat get hit by a car. Just look away.

After the tortillas are soft, place a heaping spoonful of the quesadilla-insides onto the middle of the tortilla. Roll up the quesadilla, folding in the edges as you do so. Place quesadillas (I made 4) in a greased baking dish - 8x8in usually works well for 4-5 quesadillas.

1. 2.

Pour tomato juice and a little bit of leftover insides on top. Heap on cheese!

Bake for 20-25 mins.

So good! We devoured these. I hope you do too!

Now what? ... Nachos!

If you only make a few of these, you'll probably have a good deal of leftover insides. In order to remedy this dire situation, you can make nachos as an appetizer to complement your quesadillas. I know, right? This is what happens when I get horribly distracted and leave the tortillas in the oven for too long, creating crispy tortillas.

Simply cut your tortilla rounds into triangles, and place them on a cookie tray in the oven for 5-10 minutes. It would be a good idea to do this when you bake the tortillas for the quesadillas. Next, place chips in an oven-safe dish and pour your leftover quesadilla-insides over the chips. Bake this delicious mixture in the oven for about 8-10 more minutes.

Angsty Protein Shake

2012-07-31T09:33:00.003-07:00

The other week I was feeling super angsty after a dramatic phone conversation. So naturally, as soon as I got back to the apartment, I ran to the kitchen to let my emotions out by cooking. You can see how this is becoming a problem (financially and psychologically).

In a frenzy, I grabbed the first ingredients that suited my fancy and current sweet/chocolate craving. Thank goodness I had chocolate protein powder and my roommate had some cherries in the fridge that were on the brink of death. God was watching out for me that day.

Luckily for me, this angst gave birth to a fabulous protein shake, perfect for quenching my hunger and raging emotions after my morning run/phone conversation.

So here you go, all the goodness, with no guilt for you, my readers. Here is my chocolate-cherry protein shake.

Ingredients

1/4 cup cherries
1/4 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup soymilk
1 scoop chocolate soy protein powder
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

Chop up cherries.

Add all ingredients to blender and blend to your heart's content.

VOILA! Easy peasy cherry-squeezy. So next time you're feeling moody, head for the shake instead of the ice cream or chocolate bars, my friends. This shake is just as rich and will keep you fuller for much longer.

Egg-Sausage Casserole (less dairy haha)

2012-07-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sooo... since the egg-sausage casserole was such a hit at the BFD party (yes i made an acronym, its gonna catch on), I thought I would share the recipe with you all since I'm a good friend like that. And so I remember it to make later.

I got the recipe from Mama Fred and it originally had cheese in it but obviously I had to take that out. You can add cheese if you have an insatiable dairy craving. Trust me, I understand. Otherwise I think it tastes fine without it. Plus, its probably a lot healthier.

Also, this recipe is a great way to get rid of you eggs if you suspect fowl play.

...that just happened.

Anyways, I encourage you to add whatever mixins you desire for this recipe to spice it up!

Vamonos!

Ingredients

1 lb sausage
4-6 slices of bread, cubed
6 eggs
1 cup soy milk or almond milk - UNSWEETENED
1tsp salt
2 tsp turmeric or mustard powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup chopped peppers (optional)

- Brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat.

- Meanwhile whisk the eggs and add the soymilk, salt, pepper, and turmeric.

- Grease a 9x13 baking dish and place bread cubes and sausage (and peppers if you wish) in dish.

- Pour egg mixture over top.

- Let sit in fridge overnight.

Oh, hello 3 cartons of almond milk in the fridge. That's right. My roommates are awesome and we have 3 cartons of almond milk. Cause we live on the edge.

Ta-dah!

- When ready, bake for 30 minutes at 375 or until just a small amount of juice comes out when you turn the dish on it's side.

Devour with friends or alone while watching your favorite sitcom.

Breakfast for dinner party!! ...finally

2012-07-12T07:44:00.001-07:00

I apologize for the late post on breakfast for dinner but its been a busy week. I've been trying to get used to working and such.

Buuut here are some photos of our wonderous breakfast for dinner night that included doughnuts, pancakes of all varieties, fruit salad, egg sausage casserole, and of course, peanut butter.

It was a lovely evening for all. I highly recommend group dinner parties cause then you can eat as much as you want and feel no remorse because everyone else is eating lots too!

Ta-da! Here is the pheNOMenal fruit salad that Scott made! It was delicious and we devoured it. As far as ingredients go, I don't know what to tell you all except that he pretty much just took all the delicious fruit in Kroger and chopped it up and threw it together.

But seriously, it had bananas, strawberries, mangoes, apples, and kiwi in it.

LAAAAAAA!

...that was me singing. Because it was so delicious.

Next in line, Doughdaddy's $5 for a dozen doughnuts. Oh my lanta these are so good. Let it be known that if you are ever having a bad day, a breakup, a traumatic life experience, etc... these doughnuts will make it all better. We drove 20 minutes to get them and I am forever grateful that we don't live closer to this place.

If we did, I would probably weigh about 250 lbs right now... and probably work there.

And now for the pancakes!!!

Delicious apple-cinnamon-walnut pancakes that is.

And last but not least was my egg-sausage casserole. I got the recipe from my momma but adapted it a bit since my roommate couldn't have dairy. It was still delicious though!

Twas great fun! We ate a lot that night and made beautiful breakfast for dinner memories.

The End.

P.S. Stay tuned for the (dairy free) egg sausage casserole recipe!

Sorry Friends!

2012-07-02T09:48:00.001-07:00

I apologize for going MIA for a bit these past few weeks. Ive moved into a new apartment! Whoo! So you know what that means! Lots of cooking adventures and trying to organize things and get acquainted with my lovely new roomies.

But never fear loved ones! New posts will be coming soon! Tonight, we are having a "Breakfast for Dinner" party, so recipes and photos for that will be up shortly.

For now, here is a lovely photo spread I have dedicated to my new kitchen. It features a huge sink, a functional oven, and a dining room table. And I only have to share it with 2 other people! Oh dorm kitchen.... I'm sorry to say you will not be missed.

Here is a view of the kitchen in all its glory.

Here are the burners that do not have little crumbles of food beneath them from semesters before.

Here are the glorious cupcakes my roommate Rachel made (recipe to come soon... sorry we ate the batter too quickly for me to snap pictures).

Here is our fabulous kitchen table. Notice the awesome cupboard in the back. I got it for $25 at a yard sale. Beast. I know. It will soon house all kinds of delicious baked goods and ingredients.

Finally, here is good ole Grandfather Coffee. As you can see, he's made a friend. She might be a but young for him, but we'll see where this relationship goes!

Thank you for enduring the tour of my kitchen. I'm very excited to start sharing with yo all the beautiful creations that are birthed from this special place.

Vegan Whole Wheat Pancakes.

2012-05-29T15:55:00.004-07:00

So this morning when I got back from a very short morning jog I was famished. And famished for only one thing - PANCAKES. You know what I'm talking about. Today was perfect for the little guys. I had just exercised, the air was a little humid and cloudy because of the storm coming in. Oh yeah baby.

Only one problem. Well several problems actually... I had no eggs... or butter... or vegetable oil.

VEGAN PANCAKES IT IS! I said. haha

And luckily I love experimenting with food so I was up for the adventure as always. Did the prospect of failure frighten me in any way? No. Way. This is the beauty in living on your own. If you cook something disgusting, you're the only one who knows and pays the consequences.
However, this time I wished more people were there, cause these bad boys were pheNOMenal.

Allrightie enough chat. Lets cut to the chase folks.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup good whole wheat flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup soymilk (i used vanilla flavored, but regular is fine)
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp honey

See! So easy! I had all of these on hand!

First, place a nonstick skillet on the stove over medium heat.

Then, mix all the dry ingredients together (flour-salt).

Today this involved opening my brand-new bag of whole wheat four. It was just so beautiful and innocent-looking, I had to take a picture.

Next add in the soy milk, water, and honey.

Finally, mix in the flaxseed. This stuff is so good for you! Flaxseed is low in carbohydrates and has tons of fiber to help you stay fuller longer.

Pour the delicious concoction on the skillet and wait until small bubbles start to appear in the batter.

Flip!

Cook other side for about a 1-2 minutes more then place on separate plate.

I was feeling adventurous today, as I have already stated and had some leftover pear in my fridge that had been wasting away since I used half of it yesterday. It needed to be put out of its misery. Soo I closed my eyes (not really though, don't do that, its a bad decision) and did the deed. I put the pear into beautiful cubes. He would have wanted it that way.

Now stir the cubes into the rest of the batter and pour the remaining batter onto the skillet. Repeat the flipping process.

Now you could stop there. You could be satisfied with your lovely little pancakes sitting there all happy and ready to be enjoyed. And thats fine. However, that's not what I chose. If you don't have syrup, like me, you can try to make your own using a simple syrup recipe. This is different from regular syrup (especially cause I put pumpkin in mine) as it is super sweet!

Pumpkin Honey Simple Syrup.

For starters, I just want to explain a simple syrup. Its equal parts sugar and water heated over the stove until the sugar becomes gooey and some of the water evaporates. Its used in fruity drinks and cocktails a lot of the time. The important thing to remember is that you're going to get about half of the amount of water you start with. A key factor that in my absent-mindedness, I forgot. So I only had a little but it sure was good.

Here is what I recommend.

Ingredients

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

3 tbsp honey.

Mix water and sugar over medium heat in a small pot. Stir continuously and watch closely. Don't let the sugar start to brown!

When the sugar-water begins to bubble, add in the pumpkin.

When mixture has thickened to desired syrup consistency, remove from heat and stir in honey.

Pour over your pancakes and enjoy!

Peanut Butter-Addicts Anonymous.

2012-05-22T15:56:00.001-07:00

Hello all!

This week I made the tough decision to go on a peanut butter fast after speedily consuming 20 oz in approximately 5 days.

I regret nothing.

So, in order to compensate for this, I came up with an alternative to my dipping and spoon-feeding desires. Chocolate whipped cream. NOM!

It’s pretty much the easiest thing ever, and I never use a full carton of whipping cream, so this is a practical solution to dispose of the remains. Very economical. How easy is that?

So here we go.

Ingredients:

2 Cups whipping cream

1tsp vanilla

2-3 heaping tbsp of cocoa powder (depending on how chocolatey you want your whipped cream to be)

1/2 cup of sugar

It’s quite simple. You pour everything in a bowl and mix with a mixer or whisk until the cream forms soft peaks. Basically, this is when you could pull your whisk out of the mixture and have a lovely peak of cream attached.

I love this because you can

1. Use it as a PB substitute (for all you addicts out there)

2. Can whip it up all by yourself instead of going to the store and making yourself feel like a fatty - you just prepared a meal for yourself on a college budget! Look at how healthy you are! You home-cooking goddess, you! Not like all those other lazy college students who get fast food for their dinners.

No sir-ee.

Anyway, I sprinkled mine with a bit of extra cocoa powder to make it look classy and then ate it with a peach I got from the farmer's market. It was a lovely evening.

I wish you the same as you make this lovely recipe!

Refrigerator Clean-out Chicken and Peppers

2012-05-16T15:25:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I made a lovely meal. Making this meal even more fantastic was the fact that I made it with FREE CHICKEN AND VEGGIES. Yes. your eyes did not deceive you there my friend. My wonderful pal Joyce went on a trip to South America and I had the privilege of assisting her as she cleaned out her fridge. Its what friends are for.

In the process, I snagged some seriously delicious goods. Today, I decided to put to use that chicken breast that had been calling out to me. And of course, I was feeling an Indian-themed adventure....and those are the only spices I have an abundance of.

So, after perusing food blogs for days looking for recipes, I just decided to make mine up. Let's adventure together. Please excuse the poor quality of my camera. It's not quite up to par with other food bloggers. But this is the college life. I can barely afford food and gas.

Let us begin.

Refrigerator Clean-out Chicken and Peppers

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Flour

1tbsp Breadcrumbs

2 tbsp Curry Powder

1 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala

a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Olive Oil --- good olive oil!!!

1 Chicken Breast

1 cup Basmati Rice

1-2 Cups maranara sauce

Mix your spices in a bowl. I totally added more curry powder after I took this picture. Don't judge.

Add the breadcrumbs and stir it up.

Coat chicken breast in olive oil. Go on, embrace it and get your hands dirty (after you wash them of course)! Place the chicken in seasoning bowl and toss to coat

Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the chicken.

Cook for 5-8 minutes. Please don't turn it over every 3 minutes like me kids. It makes the process so much longer. Bobby Flay would be so ashamed. He hates frequent flippers.

Flip as you feel moved. I added a bit more seasoning to the opposite side before I flipped it... but I just really like curry powder. Let sit on this side for about 5 minutes. Check the inside by cutting with a knife if you're a real meat-cooking amateur like me.

At this point in the process, I came to the realization that I didn't have enough olive oil and proceeded to sprint to my room to grab some more. This step is of course optional for you, unless of course you enjoy some mid-cooking cardio.

I feel like I could host a KET program for that... I'd need to buy some sweatbands first. If only I had stylish male friends like Ina that could monogram me some!

Place the chicken on a warm plate or in a ziploc bag to keep warm. Don't you dare rinse out your skillet. Keep those delicious juices in there!

Reduce to low heat and add maranara sauce. Stir all those delicious leftover spices in there! Next, add in the cooked basmati rice. I had some leftover from the night before! Let sit for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If your chicken has cooled, take it out and let it sit in the pan for a bit with the sauce and rice as needed.

The moment has come. Plate that beauty!!

Doesn't it look lovely! Now take an excessive amount of close-up photos of it.

Look at the rice! Isn't it pretty?

Look at the chicken. Congratulate yourself! And finally, dig in.

You can enjoy your meal with an Indian movie and a jug of Mango Lemonade like I did, or maybe you could waltz out to your patio and let the neighborhood drool at the scent of Indian spices.

When Life Doesn't Give You Cauliflower... Make Curried Veggies!!!

2012-03-15T10:47:00.013-07:00

Why, hello there.

Oh is that you? Don't mind me, I'm just stirring away at delicious concoctions in my oversized button down.

Today, I was feeling an Indian vibe, which, if you know me, isn't that unusual.

This recipe was supposed to be that of the lovely Aarti Sequiera as seen here. But the lovely cafeteria was not serving cauliflower today. Of course.

After picking up the broken pieces of my Aloo Gobi dream, I moved on to other vegetables.

I just grabbed a few basics for this recipe, which ended up being more along the lines of curried vegetables. But hey, it satisfied my Indian craving.

Quick and Easy Curried Vegetables

About 4 cups fresh veggies (I used carrots, broccoli, squash, mushrooms, and green beans)

1 tsp turmeric

3 tsp curry powder

3 tsp cumin

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp mustard seeds

Salt and pepper to tastey

1 cup of water, divided

2 tbsp olive oil

Bollywood Hits CD (essential)

To set the mood, turn up your favorite Bollywood or classical Indian music.

Mix spices (except for mustard seeds) and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl to create your very own wet masala mix. Please add and subtract spices as you wish to maximize the tastiness to satisfy your personal palate.

Warm the oil in a pot over medium heat until oil starts to move around a bit. GENTLY add in the mustard seeds. Be careful, if the oil is too hot they will explode all over the kitchen… I speak from experience. Though exciting, exploding, burnt mustard seeds are not exactly a crowd pleaser.

Next, add the wet spice mix and cook until the oil starts to gather and bubble up a bit on the edges.

See... PRETTY!!

Add the veggies and another ½ cup of water. Stir together until the veggies are coated evenly. Add more spices as needed.

Any questions? Fell free to email them to us on our "Ask Contessa" feature on the website (Not really though, we aren't that high-tech yet). But I look tech-savvy here next to my fancy laptop and popped collar, yes?

Good. I'm glad you agree.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-25 minutes.

TA-DAH! Your veggies are thoroughly cooked and delicious.

We are sari* to report that the veggies were devoured before they were photographed. My photographer and I were far too hungry and delirious to remember to take pictures before we devoured the evidence. If you would like to share your curried veggie photographs, feel free to post them below!

Home Cooking - Finally!

2012-02-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

It has been quite some time since we have posted about our culinary adventures, but I have decided to break this hiatus with tales of my visit to my best friend's abode this past weekend.

Let me tell you a bit about Anna Grace first. She is a wonderful, beautiful woman who helped to spark my interest in the wonderful world of cooking. We met in the dorm last year and became great friends, but we both seem to agree that our friendship was truly solidified when we made naan pizzas together for the first time (I promise, we will teach you sometime!)

When describing Anna Grace to any human being, I cannot do so without using the words "CULINARY GODDESS." Anyone who has ever met her would say the same. She is attending culinary school in the fall so watch out world! She's about to tantalize your tastebuds with her genius and natural talents.

A dear friend of mine and I went to visit her lovely abode this weekend and were welcomed by a beautiful home-cooked meal. I thought I would share it with you all so that you could drool at its beauty...really, I just wanted to gush about it to someone and my fiancé probably wouldn't fully understand like you beautiful people.

The menu was as follows:

Swedish Tea Rolls

These were so delicious! We scraped up all that cinnamon sugary goodness that oozed out quicker than you can say "gluttony." Twas a bonding experience.

Fresh Fruit Salad

Dill, Green Onion, and Ham Fritatta...

...with a dash of parmesan cheese!!!

NOM! I was drooling for the majority of the time, which unfortunately made it quite difficult to make conversation.

I have never been able to cook a perfect fritatta, but Anna Grace is clearly a master at her art and wowed us with her abilities to master the impossible in the cooking world.

Everything was so delicious and the family was so welcoming! We love them all dearly!

For Unto Us, Another Macaroni and Cheese Recipe is Born!

2011-11-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

I hope that wasn't borderline blasphemous...

The Thanksgiving holidays approached, and this Collegiate Contessa escaped away to a magical land of clean kitchens, useful (and not broken) gadgets, and a spice rack that was alphabetized and organized by name and spice genre. So unto the blog, another macaroni and cheese recipe was created; this time with a different sauce. This recipe is a little more complicated, and takes more preparation and focus than the last. So hang on, watch closely, and get your grating hands ready because this one calls for a lot of cheese.

What You'll Need:

3 Cups of freshly grated sharp cheddar
1 Cup of freshly grated Gouda Cheese (NOT smoked)
1 Cup of freshly grated Pepper Jack cheese
2-3 Cups of milk
4 Tablespoons of butter
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Box of elbow macaroni
1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
2 Teaspoons of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

The Preparation:

Go ahead and get the pasta started at a rolling boil, olive oil and salt thrown in the water. Put a lid on it. Walk away. Let it go crazy.

....meanwhile...

Caution...This is gonna be messy.

Get out your cheese grater, and get ready. This is long, laborious, and messy, but totally worth having freshly grated cheese. It helps if you put the device right over the measuring cup, that way you don't have to estimate the entire time you're doing it. Measure out at least three cups of sharp cheddar to start with. Honestly, you'll probably need closer to 4 or 4.5 cups of the cheddar, but use your best judgement as you go along. Layer the next two cups of cheese on top until your measuring cup is bursting with cheesy goodness. Once you have the cheese prepared, measure out the rest of your ingredients and have them ready in the following sequence:

Butter, Flour, Milk, Cheese, Spices.

(Now is a great time to check your pasta to make sure it isn't doing anything shady.)

In another pot over medium heat, start melting the butter until it is fully liquid. I usually let it start to kind of boil before adding in the flour, but if you're not comfortable with this, then just get it to a liquid state. Add in the flour, and start stirring like crazy. The butter is going to mix in with the flour and create a sort of slurry in the bottom of your pot. This is totally normal, so don't fret. While stirring, slowly add in the milk and continue stirring. It is crucial that you do not stop stirring during this process. Milk can easily scald if you aren't diligent about watching and continually stirring, which will mean scrapping and starting over if you aren't careful. As you stir, the milk will start to thicken up until it is at a very smooth and dense consistency. Turn the heat down to between low and medium heat, still stirring, and slowly add the cheese until it is fully melted and smooth into the milk and butter mixture. Add cheese as you see fit. (Word of advice: Extra cheese is always a crowd pleaser!) Add in the spices next and stir once more. Add more spices as you see fit; again, this is a taste-as-you-go type recipe.

Oh...Oh, man.

Drain your pasta until all of the water is gone, and add it directly into the pot of cheese, stirring slowly. Fold the macaroni into the mixture until all of the leetle elbows are fully drenched in the cheesy goodness you've created. Place in a dish that has been sprayed lightly with a little cooking spray, and sprinkle about a quarter cup of your favorite cheese on top for garnish. Dish out or eat it directly from the pan, and enjoy!

Delicious, right?

From Disaster, Success is Born

2011-11-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

So after the pumpkin massacre when I successfully mutilated an innocent pumpkin (all he wanted from life was to be a beautiful jack-o-lantern)…after that, and through that came something beautiful. Yes. You’re peeking ahead at the pictures aren’t you? I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. Its pumpkin seeds time.

Cinnamon-Sugared Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds (cleaned)

Cinnamon

Sugar

Chai Spice (optional)

Place wax paper on baking sheet. Spread out seeds on sheet and toast pumpkin seeds in oven at 30 F for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and toss seeds in olive oil, just to coat very lightly, cinnamon, and sugar. Return to oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden and delicious.

Place in a precious little glass jar and share with your friends (and residents)!

Once Upon A Pumpkin...

2011-11-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

Once upon a power weekend there was a young pumpkin. He was specially chosen by hand. Selected with the utmost care by a young ambitious college girl, with culinary dreams of journeying with him into the wonderful land of baking.

This would be a new experience for the both of them. She was anxious but eager, a light growing brigeter in her eyes at the mere mention of his name and their future together. She knew he was the one and she was ready to take the next step in their relationship. One Saturday, they took the plunge.

Despite warnings from her wiser friends that he was not the right kind of pumpkin, she pushed all advice away and begn to carve the pumpkin.

… it was a disaster

So my lovely friend Evan went to the store and got me a big o can of pumpkin. And all the world was right again.

And thus pumpkin cream cheese spread was born.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

1 big o can of pumpkin

2 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened)

Cinnamon

Vanilla Extract

Honey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Add honey, cinnamon and vanilla for taste as desired.

Enjoy!

Gouda Mac and Cheese...Janky Kitchen Style

2011-10-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

In our efforts to make our power weekend more...fun...Caroline and I set to cooking like fiends for our time that we were chained to our building. This recipe is more so an experimentation of things rather than an actual, factual recipe. It's good for those days when you're stuck in your room with nothing to do, but you're craving a home cooked meal with pasta that branches out from the traditional "I'm so going to cook today, look at me with my noodles and...butter." So here it is! A gouda macaroni and cheese recipe that will tantalize your tastebuds, impress your residents and friends, and make you look like you know what you're doing as you navigate around the kitchen.

Gouda Macaroni and Cheese, College Style
(Due to the fact that our cooking utensils are limited, most of these measurements are estimated. It's better if you taste as you go along)

One block of gouda cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons of Rosemary leaves, dried
2 tablespoons of butter, I used Earth Balance
1/2 package of pasta, I used fusilli
Salt and pepper to taste

To Begin:

Start with a janky community kitchen, complete with dirty dishes in the sink, and a mess strewn everywhere.

For Example:

Note: The dishes in the sink.

Fill a kettle (clean preferably) with enough water to where it stops halfway up the pot. Salt the water and turn it on high, adding about a tablespoon of olive oil to the water once it starts to come to a rolling boil. As the water is heating up, take the gouda and cut it into small cubes to help with the melting process once the pasta has finished cooking. (We didn't know going into this that gouda cheese is nearly impossible to melt, so cutting it down into the smallest unit possible will help to accelerate this process)

We cut it into strips. Good idea.

Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the pasta and olive oil and let it cook for 8 minutes. Once the pasta has finished cooking, strain it leaving about 5 tablespoons of pasta water in the bottom. Add the gouda, butter, rosemary, and Italian seasoning directly into the kettle and stir. Caution, stirring and melting gouda is a process, so exercise patience when trying to break down the cheese. Should you find that this is increasingly difficult, adding a little bit of liquid such as cream or milk will help, and it will make the cheese smoother and more delicious. Keep stirring, and stirring...and stirring....and..you guessed it! Stirring.

Or you can stop for a dobro break like Caroline is doing.

Bam!

Once it's ready, serve it in your favorite polka dotted Pampered Chef bowls and cups, and enjoy! In the words of Ina, how easy was that?

Bask in its deliciousness, it's okay to drool.

Notes:
Like we said before, this is more of a taste as you go recipe. These spices we used were simply ones that we had available while cooking it the first time, but this recipe is also good when using Nutmeg. I highly recommend grating the nutmeg yourself, but packaged works just as fine. As for the pasta, you can use your favorite type, we just used the one that we had on hand. Happy cooking!