The Cracked Kettle

Poor Girl Cooks: Quiche aka Cheese Pie

2010-09-25T10:13:00.015-04:00

Eggs. Eggs and I are not friends. I'm not really allergic to them, and it's not that I don't care for the taste, it's just that every time I eat them I get the worst stomach ache and the inside of my ears itch to the point where I consider using a power drill to fix it. So, accordingly, I often choose not to eat egg-intensive dishes. However, my love of cheese often outweighs my common sense and so I often make quiche!

This is a modification of my mom's recipe. She had already altered it to include a full pound of swiss cheese and a minimum number of eggs, but I found that by decreasing the cheese and increasing the meat that I could actually use even fewer eggs! In this edition, I've used sharp cheddar and some delicious fontina to enhance the flavor lost by reducing the cheese. I also decided that eating half a pound of bacon was probably a bad idea, so I switched to using turkey sausage instead.

Start by frying up half a pound of your meatstuff of choice. You could easily go ground beef with this, throw in a dash of taco seasoning, and call this quesadilla pie, but I didn't.

Then select your cheeses. I recommend using about 12oz of whatever combination you choose. Since this is "Poor Girl Cooks", I went with the cheapo sharp cheddar and half a wedge of fontina.

Now here is the embarrassing part: 99.9% of the time, I make my own pie crust to go with this (because let's face it, I make fantastic pie crust). Lately though, we've had a problem with our faucet leaking nasty water all over the counter and I just can't bring myself to roll out anything I later plan to eat on it. So I did the big bad, I went and bought refrigerated pie crust from Wegman's (which ironically tastes just like my own). At any rate, place a round of your preferred pie crust into a dish and cut slits around the bottom. Then place a thin layer of cheese...

Followed by your meatstuffs...

(apologies for the blurry, feel free to donate a DSLR at any time)

And then add the rest of the cheese and the eggy goo.

Mmm no wonder my dad calls this "cheese pie".

You'll notice that you probably won't be able to even see most of the eggy goo, but trust me, it's enough. Do not panic at this point, your cheese pie will come out fantastic.

Pop that bad boy in the oven for about 45 minutes and take a quick nap with your adorable baby kitty.

Then, badda bing! You've got a one dish meal.

Now please, don't feel restricted to my recommendations, this is a super versatile recipe that can take almost anything. Shredded chicken and green peppers? Possible! Ground beef and jalapenos? Possible! Bacon and broccoli? POSSIBLE! And these are just the things that my cold-addled mind can come up with, so explore, explore!

Low-egg Quiche

1/2 lb of ground sausage
8oz of sharp cheddar
4oz of fontina
1 pie crust
3 eggs
1/2-3/4 cup of milk
Black and red pepper to taste

1.) Brown your sausage and set aside. Shred the cheese and toss to mix. Place crust into a pie pan and slit the bottom.

2.) Assemble the pie starting with a loose layer of cheese, followed by the meat and the rest of the cheese. DO NOT PACK DOWN.

3.) Whisk together three eggs and and the milk. Add the pepper to taste. Pour over assembled pie as evenly as possible.

4.) Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until the top is browned and the eggs are set. Remove and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Mmmmmm delicious cheese pie....

Poor Girl Cooks: Sticky Buns for People Who Like to Sleep In

2010-09-15T18:36:00.015-04:00

When I was younger and less concerned about my waistline, the one weekend a year when my mom would break down and make sticky pecan rolls was the best weekend in the world. I've never really understood what would spur her to make them (I think if I had figured it out, I would have exploited it endlessly), but I was sure glad when she did. The batch never made it to Monday morning. They are some of the tastiest breakfast treats ever created by God or man or my mom. Therefore, when I inherited my very first KitchenAid I made it a priority to learn to make sticky buns. I suddenly learned the great drawback to this fantastical recipe: they take over FOUR HOURS to make. No seriously, four hours. And that's rushing things along! You see, my mom uses a double rising dough (is that a real name for it?), and rising takes quite a bit of time, especially in the middle of a cold Pullman winter. That, coupled with the kidnapping of my KitchenAid by a storage unit, has led to no further attempts to make my own sticky buns (minus the small incident last spring involving a whole wheat attempt).

I sulked around about this problem for a bit until one day I saw an article about a quick and easy way to make cinnamon rolls! Turns out if you take frozen or tinned biscuits, mush them all together to make a sheet of dough, you can actually use them to make cinnamon rolls with great success! And even better, the recipe can be further adapted into sticky buns! Joy unbounded!

These are of course some of the healthiest things you can make...for your soul. They bring it one step closer to being set free...

Please ignore the half pound of butter staring you in the face.

When I starting to make the sticky sauce, I forgot to adjust for the fact that I was making a much smaller batch of buns and I may have made entirely too much sauce.

Yes, entirely too much sauce.

At any rate, pour your sauce into the pan and add your nuts.

Yes, I meant that variety of nuts.

Set the pan aside and pop your biscuit tins and lay them out in a rectangle type pattern. Then proceed to smoosh them together. This could take a while and probably won't be perfect.

Paint on a layer of butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and roll up into a little roll of deliciousness.

Slice it into 1"-1.5" rolls and arrange on top of your nuts. Then bake, remove, flip, and admire.

Perhaps not as delicious as my mom's thoroughly prepared recipe, but still amazing AND I got to sleep in. Highly recommended.

Sticky Buns for Sleepy People
adapted from Nerdist.com and my mom

Sticky sauce (adjusted for volume)
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
Pecans or walnuts (or any other nut you prefer)

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir to incorporate the brown sugar and syrup. Pour into a baking pan and sprinkle with nuts. Set aside.

Buns
2 tins of biscuits
Melted butter
Cinnamon sugar

Open tins and lay out biscuits in a rectangle. Smoosh together to form a coherent sheet, brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar, and roll. Slice into 1"-1.5" rolls and arrange in your pan of sticky sauce. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the buns look done. Remove, cool for about 5-10 minutes, then invert onto a foil lined surface (trust me, you'll appreciate not having to clean up sticky sauce). Eat as many as your diet may (or may not) allow.

It's Time for the Talk: the Truth about Macaroni and Cheese

2010-09-15T17:51:00.008-04:00

Dearest followers, it's time. It's time to have "The Talk". The Talk about the nitty gritty. The Talk about the reality of the world around us. The Talk about the noodles and the cheese.

Now let's face it, I am rarely described as a patient woman. I am, however, often described as a woman who loves her cheese. Once, on a long cold winter night, I asked my dearest friend, Michelle, to make me her mother's macaroni and cheese. She then shelled out hours of her time and many of her dollars slaving over an amazing dish that I historically called "not as cheesy as I was expecting". This statement clearly began a curse that proved quite difficult to shake off.

Then, a couple of months ago, I asked Michelle to send me the recipe (yes, this is the Michelle of Delicious Enchiladas fame). She did, and though concise, I felt it adequately expressed the steps needed to acquire my own dish of creamy amazingness. I also thought that I knew better than the years of experience that went into the recipe and I thought that I would simply make it cheesier. I was wrong. The resulting sandpaper and noodles was so unpalatable that even Adam agreed we should throw it away. A mad cooking panic ensued, wasting not a few pounds of cheese and boxes of noodles, and driving me over the edge. Even Adam's grandfather commented on my inability to make this simple dish (although he did encourage me to continue trying). So I present to you the learning curve of the ever classic Macaroni and Cheese.

First of all, there really is a particular cheese ratio that makes the recipe work. THIS is an example of entirely too much cheese:

And THIS is how much cheese you are supposed to use:

In fact, it is exactly how much cheese you should use (when the recipe is halved). Turns out that if you follow directions, these things work out far, far better in the long run. It also makes a big difference if you use cheeses outside of the usual cheddar. Michelle suggested a bit of Fontina, which I've decided is my new favorite cheese (quiche recipe coming soon!). It's buttery, smooth comfort flavor was perfect to round out the sharpness of the cheddar and add another layer of creaminess. I probably would have shredded up the whole block if I wasn't determined to follow directions for a change. I can be pretty headstrong when I start to feel like a failure.

Then came time to make the Béchamel sauce. This is where my problem with patience comes into play. This sauce requires warming milk and flour...

...and letting it get thick, then adding in your cheese of choice until it is well melted.

When I first attempted this, I left the heat on through the whole process and ended up with a sad version of liquid sandpaper. In fact, I was so frustrated with it, that I gave up on the Béchamel sauce altogether! My next attempt involved a sad slow cooker recipe made primarily of evaporated milk and the tears of starving children. The sauce and I needed some time apart.

After a bit of counseling we got back together and learned that when you add your cheese, you MUST KILL THE HEAT. This is important. Turns out if you do it, you get a sumptuously perfect sauce that is fit to serve to anyone!

At this point I caved and starting eating greedily, but to properly finish this dish you should bake the sauce into the noodles and get a tasty cheesy crust on the top.

All told, Michelle and her mom seriously know what they are doing when it comes to the Macaroni and Cheese. The key is to follow instructions, follow them patiently, and trust in years of trial and error. I present to you, with some elaboration:

Mom's Mac 'n Cheese
from Michelle and her mom

8 oz macaroni, cooked al dente

2 and 2/3 cups of milk
1/2 cup of flour
seasoning salt
pepper

Stir flour, salt, pepper into cold milk. Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. If too thick, add a little milk. After boiling for at least a couple minutes, turn off the heat add the following:

4-6 oz shredded sharp cheddar
2 oz shredded fontina
a couple of slices of swiss, cut into small pieces
Parmesan if you like

Stir to combine. Drain pasta, combine with cheese sauce, and bake at a 375 until brown (~30 mins).

I hope you still love me... or My story of terrible luck

2010-09-04T13:08:00.007-04:00

Dearest followers,

Many apologies for the complete lack of posts for the last...well, at least the last three weeks. Possibly longer, I lost track. See, my computer decided to up and off itself recently! I had catastrophic hard drive failure, which would have been okay and easily repaired if Dell hadn't shipped my new hard drive to WA, where I do not live. Fortunately the girl in India who answered my complaint call knew that WA and NY were not geographically near, so about a week and a half later I had a new hard drive! Hooray!

Except not. They sent me the wrong version of Windows pre-installed, so there was a bit of a hassle with that. Then I had to make a mad dash to Toronto (more on that in a later post) which set it back another weekend. Then, once I finally had time to sit down and make the darn thing work, it decided to inform me that a)my network card didn't work anymore; b)my battery had "expired"; and c)my motherboard was shot. Seriously?!?! Now keep in mind that my computer is about 18 months old and still under warranty. Tech support had the nerve to tell me that this was pretty typical for a computer of this age. So I waited another week for the other new parts to go to WA, get lost, come to NY, and arrive at a tech's house so that he could come out after work one day and install them.

That was yesterday. He was here for about 2 hours, which caused us to miss the Coheed and Cambria concert at the NY state fair (in the interest in full disclosure, it was pouring rain as well), and when he finally declared it all done he handed it over and we thought everything was better forever! Then as he was driving away we realized that I no longer have any mouse functions and only 1 working USB port. I frantically called him before he could get too far down the road, at which point he informed me that the motherboard must have been dead on arrival. By now, I'm pretty well done with Dell. So now I'm waiting for yet another motherboard to make its circuitous journey around the US to arrive and my house and get installed. Also, because of the corrupt motherboard, Windows isn't exactly functioning correctly, which makes it a great fun to try and pass the security check on most websites.

So AT ANY RATE, I hope all of you still love me and are interested in reading what I've done. I've got several stories in the can, so to speak, and some of them will be going up retroactively so that you'll get the chance to read them in order. We're looking at the following topics (at least):

Vanilla Ice Cream (review of Vanilla Bean Paste)
Successful Macaroni and Cheese
Review of the Awesomest Tea Mug ever made
Trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls
and much, much more!

Oi, I better get to typing. Many thanks for your continued loyalty!

My best,
Katie

Quick pick: Thai Tea Ice Cream

2010-08-26T13:52:00.000-04:00

Due to unexpected technical difficulties, I was unable to salvage any of the photos for this post. Thusly, it'll be quick!

This is not an original recipe, but rather one from MAC & CHEESE (who unexpectedly write about ice cream on occasion) and it is utterly fantastic. The only thing that I would change is the sheer volume of loose tea that they ask you use in this recipe: really friends, 1/3 of a cup is a bit much if you aren't using a large french press. You could easily cut this down to just double strength brewed tea and save yourself a bit of a hassle. I found the tea that I used from Teavana, which is a pathetic hippy chain of tea nuts (not the good variety), but which happens to have had this tea when I was buying the most amazing mug ever. Still, it came out fantastic and is strongly recommended to anyone who enjoys an ice cold glass of classic Thai Tea.

Thai Tea Ice Cream
by MAC & CHEESE

1/3 cup loose leaf Thai tea (or enough to make double strength, depending on your pot)
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half and half

* Add 2 1/2 cups of hot/boiling water to loose leaf Thai tea, and steep for 20 minutes (this is more water than the brewed tea called for in the recipe, because some of the water will be absorbed by the leaves). Strain tea (I pushed the French press plunger down) and let cool to room temperature.
* Mix 1 1/2 cups brewed tea, sweetened condensed milk, and half and half in a large bowl.
* Process mixture in an ice cream machine. Chill overnight in the freezer before serving.

Poor Girl Cooks: Ultra easy vanilla ice cream

2010-08-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

Do you ever sit and think to yourself "Boy I wish I could make ice cream with things in my cabinet"? Because I sure do! And when I came across this recipe for vanilla ice cream on Baking Bites, I knew it was a dream come true.

In addition, I had recently read an article on vanilla bean paste. Vanilla bean paste is a specialty item (I've only been able to find it at Williams-Sonoma) that can be substituted for vanilla extract in any recipe where you want a strong vanilla flavor and pretty little vanilla specks. Now whoever named this used a bit of creative liberty with the words, as it is not at all paste like, but rather like a thick syrup. It pours easily, which is convenient since since the opening of the jar is not well designed for inserting a spoon (nor should you ever insert a spoon into a jar of something, as this can cause unnecessary early spoiling from contamination). It also smells *amazing*, although I managed to refrain from eating it straight out of the jar. I'm pretty sure it's made primarily of bourbon...

Okay, so, ice cream! With only 5 easy ingredients, this recipe wasn't that great for an abundance of pictures. You whisk everything together...

And put it in the ice cream maker. The sour cream adds a particularly nice lightness to this, as you don't feel weighed down by the sweetness of the condensed milk.

Here's a shot of those delicious vanilla flecks though:

Well worth the $11 investment. I highly recommend the use of the vanilla bean paste!

Ultra Easy Vanilla Ice Cream
by Baking Bites

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cup half n’ half
1 cup milk
2 tbsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

Combine sweetened condensed milk and sour cream in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in half n’ half (or light cream), milk and vanilla extract until well blended. Pour into prepared ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers’ directions.
Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for about 2 hours, or until ready to serve.

Makes about 1.5 quarts ice cream

Double feature!: Brownie Cheesecake and Layered Strawberry Pudding

2010-08-15T17:30:00.017-04:00

The end of the summer can only mean one thing: Adam's annual family reunion. Last year we managed to escape unscathed due to his sister's wedding and subsequent cancellation of the reunion, but this year there was no where to run. Don't get me wrong, we love his family, it's just that, well, there are a few in every bunch if you know what I mean. My mother in law hates to bake, so she asked me to bring dessert! With 16 people and a variety of dietary needs, I picked a super simple brownie cheesecake and a cool layered strawberry pudding. The weather was projected to be wicked hot, but remained quite pleasant, and I'm really glad I chose cool desserts.

Brownie Cheesecake!

This is another one of those semi-cheater recipes where I followed the instructions and bought a pre-formulated brownie mix. The first step involves taking a portion of that mix, sifting it with flour and stirring in some melted butter to make the crust.

The recipe recommends not greasing the pan and I can deeply understand why: the crust was so greasy I couldn't get it to commit to a solid layer. It kept slipping and sliding around all coy like, simply refusing to become a crust. But I won.

And then I used the same mixing bowl to make the delicious cheesecake part. I'm pretty sure that this isn't FDA approved, but since the recipe didn't contain anything that you can't eat raw, I figured I was in the clear. Once you beat your cream cheese into fluffy submission, add the rest of the brownie mix and the included package of liquid fudge.

Don't you wish you were in my kitchen right about now? When you turn the mixer back on the batter will quickly pick up a mousse like consistency, which is pretty fun. Then you pour it over your prepared crusty parts (and pray that they've stopped sliding around under pressure). Pop that baby in the oven for the recommended time based on your pan size and viola! Chocolate cheesecake.

Betty Crocker tried to convince me to add a can of cherry pie filling on top, but I found the idea rather vile, so instead I took a box of fresh berries to put on top (and promptly forgot them in the refrigerator when it came time to serve). The recipe says that this little cake serves 16 people and it is not kidding; this is one of the most crazy rich cheesecakes I've ever eaten. And oh so good!

Brownie Cheesecake
adapted from Betty Crocker

1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1.) Heat oven to 350ºF. Stir together 3/4 cup of the brownie mix, flour and the butter. Press in bottom of ungreased springform pan.

2.) Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed about 2 minutes, scraping bowl frequently, until smooth. Add remaining brownie mix, the whipping cream and chocolate syrup. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently, until smooth. Pour over crust in pan.

3.) Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until set; cool 20 minutes. Run metal spatula along side of cheesecake to loosen before and after refrigerating. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

=========================================================
INTERMISSION
=========================================================

Layered Strawberry Pudding!

I want you to know that I agonized over what to call this dish. My mom used to make it for fancy dinner parties when I was a kid, so I asked her for the recipe and she didn't include a name! So I made one up. Think of pudding in the British sense, not the slimy sense, except that it is served cold. Or something.

Start by tearing up an angel food cake into itty bitty pieces...

...and by convincing the boyfriend to slave over slicing two boxes of strawberries. Sprinkle the berries with a smudge of sugar to get them to release their juices, but not too much because this dish turns out pretty sweet on its own.

Then start whipping up a couple of boxes of pudding. Originally my mom told me to use French Vanilla, but then about halfway through the whipping step she sent me a twitter update saying that perhaps she had meant white chocolate. Either way, I was stuck with a bowl of neon yellow goo and I decided to roll with it. No one knows the difference, right?

Okay, the difference is pretty clear. Ignore that part.

Take a very large bowl and place a layer of cake pieces in the bottom. Add a layer of strawberries, pour in some pudding, smooth over a layer of cool whip. Then add a layer of cake, strawberries, pudding, etc. Continue until you either run out of bowl or out of ingredients, but end with a cool whip layer. That way, if you are smart, you can make a pretty design out of strawberries on top. Or you can be like me.

And Adam's version of what to do with leftovers:

When you serve this, it is best to go straight down into the bowl and take a deep scoop. This way you get the most possible layers and create for yourself a little tunnel of deliciousness:

Layered Strawberry Pudding

1 angel food cake (premade or make your own, I won't judge)
2 boxes of fresh strawberries
a little sugar
1 large tub of whipped topping
2 small boxes of instant white chocolate (or possibly french vanilla) pudding
4 cups of milk

Tear angel food cake into little pieces. Slice strawberries and toss with a little sugar to release the juices. Whisk together milk and pudding mix, following the instructions on the box. In a large, preferably glass, bowl, layer in the following order: cake, strawberries, pudding, whipped topping. Continue until bowl is full or ingredients run out, but be sure to end with whipped topping. Chill for a few hours and serve with deep scoops.

That's it for this year's family reunion. Let's see if he keeps me through next year's...

Poor Girl Cooks: Zucchini Salad +an update!

2010-08-08T19:26:00.006-04:00

Okay, first of all, I have not been blowing off the blog. I've actually been diligently trying to figure out how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch at home. I want you to know that it was been a TOTAL FAILURE. Apparently basic things like muffins and cheese sauces are beyond my abilities. At any rate, I'm hungry, there's no dinner, and this was my backup plan.

I present: Zucchini Salad!

I feel like everytime I go to the farmer's market I find myself saying "Boy I really wish I liked zucchini" (or eggplant, but I'm not made of miracles). So I found a recipe similar to the one that I used on the internet (it's for more than just porn!) and set myself to chopping veg for about an hour while the macaroni and cheese was plotting my demise. It turned out very nice and colorful, except that I think I would use an orange pepper next time instead of green to help diversify the presentation.

It's delicious, a good way to sneak zucchini into the diets of those of us who believe the vegetable is good for nothing more than making chocolate cake. Cheers!

Zucchini Salad

3 small zucchini
1 red apple
1 sweet pepper
2-3 stalks of celery
1/2 packet of dried onion soup mix
3/8 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
3/8 cup cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together white vinegar and onion soup mix. Set aside.

Chop your produce and place it into a large bowl. Thoroughly whisk olive oil, cider vinegar, salt and pepper into the onion soup mix. Pour over produce and stir. Allow the salad to sit for about 4 hours in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to combine.

Obviously you could double this recipe to use up the whole soup package, but no two people can consume that volume of zucchini before it goes bad...so use your discretion.

In other news, here's a photo of horribly ruined macaroni and cheese!

Maybe the universe wants me to be vegan...

"The Last Month Sucked" or "Karma is cyclical, right?"

2010-07-30T20:01:00.002-04:00

So I don't often do posts about myself, which I suppose completely defeats the purpose of having a blog, but I feel that many people out there need an update on what is going on over here besides the fact that Adam and I are eating far too many sweets. Well, it's summer in Rochester, which is not at all like summer was here last year, but rather crazy hot and super boring at work. Here are the highlights:

The Bad) I lost that career starting job that I managed to grab last year in DC. This was pretty much soul crushing.
The Good) Now I can go to grad school! This was something I was kind of bummed that I would have to miss out on, so I'm glad that I don't have a pesky career getting in the way (or that's what I'm telling myself).

The Bad) I never took economics in college, so I'm missing a hugely important pre-requisite for getting into graduate school.
The Good) U of R offers many economics courses and I've officially been working there long enough to earn tuition benefits.

The Bad) I will be staying in my abysmal job at least through December.
The Good) I'm staying because my office agreed to cover 100% of my tuition this Fall, as long as I continue to work for them through the end of the semester. That's about $3,000 they are shelling out to help me feel happy, so you have to give them a little credit for that.

The Bad) Some jerks ripped my porch to pieces and stole our new bicycles.
The Good) ...actually I'm not sure there is a good. Oh, they didn't manage to steal the package my grandmother sent me for my birthday, so I have a blender now! Never have I so desired adult blended beverages...

The Bad) We're having the hottest summer on record. This is not so great in a 400 sqft apartment.
The Good) My godparents generously donated the funds for Adam and I to purchase an air conditioner, which is A-FREAKING-MAZING. No really, it works wonders, and for once the tiny floorplan is paying off, since the little machine cools the whole house down in about 20 minutes.

So that's the two-cent version of what's happened to me since the first of July. I'm having a good time thinking that everything came out even, although there is still one day left for the month to wreck havoc on my outlook. Instead I'll sit here eating my grainy mac and cheese while waiting for my hair dye to set and hope that August brings much better times than its predecessor.

Cheers all.

Poor Girl Cooks: Gluten-Free Peppermint Patty Brownie Cupcakes

2010-07-23T17:47:00.007-04:00

Okay, first of all, my GOODNESS have I discovered the most delicious gluten-free brownie mix. I first made these cupcakes good ol' wheat flour style from scratch, but they sort of turned out like chocolate mint hockey pucks and even Adam would barely eat them. So I thought about my problem (almost 100% sure I'm over stirring, which we all remember from the epic blueberry muffin failure that didn't get posted) and realized that perhaps I should just leave the brownie making to the professionals. I mean, they've had years to make it idiot proof, right? And to that extent, why not use the gluten-free brownie mix so that everyone could enjoy them? And that is what brings us to this concoction.

When I go on baking sprees, it is really best for me to go to the grocery store by myself and stare at the gluten-free flours so that Adam doesn't get all antsy and unhappy. I went in search of brownie mix, obviously, and the store had a few brands but this is the one I selected:

What drew me to this particular mix? In all honesty, it was the only one at Wegman's that did not claim to be dairy free. They all said that they contained real chocolate chunks, but dairy free chocolate isn't my favorite thing. Plus, I was just going to put candy in the middle of them anyway, so dairy free was sort of an abandoned principle from the beginning.

This mix was just as easy to use as any ol' off the shelf brownie mix (although about 3 times as expensive). You add an egg and some oil and some water and ...

...(barely) stir it all together. No really, I went around the bowl only 26 times (yes, I counted) and really, it could have used a few more rounds but I wasn't really in the mood to flirt with danger.

You add one spoonful of brownie mix to each cup and then lightly push a mini peppermint patty (York patties are certified by the FDA to be gluten-free) into each one, then top with more batter. I had to stretch my batter pretty thin, but it made exactly 1 doz cupcakes.

Now here's my shortcoming and something I hope you can understand: These were so amazingly rich and fantastic that I never got a good picture of the presentation. No really, they were that awesome, we ate them without a thought of preserving their image for the world. I did get this quick action shot with my cell phone during lunch the following day, but that's all that remains of the legacy:

Gluten-free peppermint patty brownie cupcakes
adapted from The Crepes of Wrath

1 package of Pamela's Gluten-free chocolate brownie mix
1 egg
1/2 cup of oil
3/8 cup of water
12 mini peppermint patties
12 foil cupcake liners (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to instructions. Line cupcake pan with foil liners (or boring paper ones if you are no fun at all). Place one small spoonful of batter into each cup. Press an (unwrapped, duh) patty gently into each cup, just getting the batter to settle. Place an additional spoonful of batter on top of each patty, being sure to cover the whole thing. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cupcakes look done on top (err on the moister side of things). Enjoy and share at your discretion. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Poor Girl Cooks: Ultra Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

2010-07-18T18:49:00.012-04:00

Let me start off by saying that my favorite chocolate ice cream in the whole world is Breyer's Chocolate. My parents raised me exclusively on Breyer's, so I started out pretty biased, but recently they've reworked the recipe and it is utterly fantastic. No seriously, go try some, you'll agree.

So in order to be consistent with my nature, I decided to take a good idea and try come up with it myself (I was taught too much Mathland as a child). Anyway, I don't like custard-based ice creams, I wanted a nice Philadelphia style, and for this I turned to David Lebovitz, who is (I've been told) the guru of all things frozen, desserty, and chocolate. Brilliant! So I borrowed a recipe off of his website and gave it a whirl. And then it dealt that favor right back to me...

So first, you heat up some milk and some cocoa on the stove. Regrettably I only had Hershey's cocoa, I think next time I'll use a nice Ghirardelli or something...

Whisk for approximately 300 years while it comes to a boil, then let it simmer while you frantically remember to open and chop the chocolate.

Momma taught me right. Kill the heat on the pot and stir in the chocolate bits until it is delightfully smooth.

Then add the other half of the milk and a splash of booze (shouldn't everything have a splash of booze? [hey, I'm legal, stop your judging]) and stir some more. Then put it in a bowl and chill it overnight.

And I mean it, CHILL IT OVERNIGHT. If you only chill it for a few hours, like Mr. Lebovitz suggests, you'll be doomed to return to your ice cream maker to find a very cool liquid at the end of the churn cycle! And then you'll weep on the inside for lack of chocolately goodness, and you'll taste it and find it bitter, and the whole world will come crumbling down! Or at least, that's what happened to me, but it's been a rough week.

To fix the ice cream (not the week, that's beyond repair) I added about an additional quarter cup of ultrafine sugar and about half of a cup of extra milk. I figured this was safe because the recipe only yielded a quart anyway, and my ice cream maker makes a quart and a half. Surprisingly enough I was right, big shocker to us all, and when I finally churned it again 24 hours later it came out quite well. It's a little gritty, which is to be expected after using sub-par cocoa (Lebovitz suggests running it through a blender prior to churning to help with this, but some of us don't own a blender), but it is the ultra-rich, slightly bitter taste of the Ghirardelli melted into good milk. You could adjust the recipe for sweetness depending on your tastes, but really, I think I like it this way.

Ultra Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz's Chocolate Sherbet

2.5 cups of milk (use your preferred fat level)
3/4-1 cup of ultrafine sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (one that you really like and could drink)
4 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 Tbsp of liqueur (he suggests Kahula, I only had rum, creme de cacao would probably be good too)

1.) In a saucepan, warm half of the milk with the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 seconds or so.
2.) Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking constantly until smooth. Then add vanilla, liqueur, and the rest of the milk. Stir to blend and taste for preferred sweetness (and run through blender if it tastes grainy), then chill in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
3.) Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Yields 1-1.5qt

Poor Girl Cooks: Instant Chocolate Ice Cream

2010-07-17T18:24:00.004-04:00

Now don't get me wrong, I'm very wary of anything labeled "instant". In fact, the recipe doesn't even call itself that, but the process was so quick and simple that ---

Well look at that, it finished while I was talking. No exaggeration here folks, you'll honestly have chocolate ice cream in around 20 minutes using only two ingredients. The texture is average, the flavor is below what I desire (more on this in a later post), but it delivers exactly what you would expect: a quick bowl of cold chocolatey goodness. And so I present:

Instant Chocolate Ice Cream
found all over the internet and in my ice cream maker manual

1 package of instant chocolate pudding (the 3.9 size or whatever the small box is)
2 cups of whole milk

Mix the pudding powder thoroughly into the milk. Pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions. No seriously, that's it.

Discussion Time: Perfect Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

2010-07-10T11:43:00.005-04:00

So let's start you off with a little eye candy...

Or should I say "eye ice cream"? That doesn't really flow the same though, nor carry the same connotations. Hopefully you get what I'm saying anyway, right?

Okay, so I recently came into the ownership of an ice cream maker by rather top secret means. I remember my mom's from when I lived at home and she always made the BEST ice cream with it, and since I rarely prefer plain flavors I definitely had kitchen-tool envy. Now that I have my own, I've had the opportunity to test run it through two radically different recipes, both to pretty great success.

First I made raspberry frozen yogurt with chocolate chips. It sounded like a really great idea and marginally healthier than the standard ice cream. The recipe called for me to use some sort of magic to get all the seeds out, but since I lacked the magic tools I just went straight for the punch and used whole raspberries, greek yogurt, a touch of sugar and some mini chips. The flavor that resulted was INCREDIBLE, it was like eating a fresh raspberry with a little yogurt and chocolate stuffed into the middle, except that the seeds were almost unmanageable. I guess these recipe writers sort of know what they are talking about....

But we aren't here to discuss frozen yogurt! We are here to discuss my most favorite ice cream of all time: Honey Vanilla. I was first introduced to this two years ago when Haagen Das released their "Save the Honey Bees" version of their recipe (and seriously, go save the honey bees, it is REALLY IMPORTANT OKAY??). They have the advantage of selling it in those little pint size boxes, but I wanted to make a giant quart and a half! In true hipster fashion, I also decided to make it with the freshest ingredients possible just to see if it would make a serious difference.

Honey
I'm a pretty serious honey snob, I travel to apiaries all around the area to find the best to treat my allergies, I brave the largest farmer's market in America to talk to beekeepers, and it drives me nuts when bottles are sealed and I can't smell the honey before I buy. That being said, I had a type of honey that I really wanted to use from an apiary about two hours away, a summer blossom 2010 harvest. I bought the bottle that gave me the original honey-gasm at the farmer's market downtown (which yes, really is the largest in America and is SCARY) and so I figured I could also buy some at the local co-op. I was WRONG. Instead, I settled for the next closest thing, a wildflower honey from a much closer farm. Of course the bottle was sealed (those jerks), so I just had to trust that it would be comparable. When I got home and opened it up, I found it far inferior and stuffed it into the back of the cabinet for use in my tea. Then I took a few deep breaths and committed myself to the inevitable: I would have to use the remains of my favorite bottle for this ice cream. So I did, and boy was it the right decision! What lovely aromatics, what perfect smoothness and light flavor! Ah if only all honeys were made with such care, perhaps more people would fall in love with them...

Fresh Cream
In addition to using the best honey, I also wanted to try using the freshest cream. It seemed to make sense at the time, because then it would let through the clearest honey notes (did I mention the obsession with honey?) and finish cleanly on the palate, maximizing the overall experience. Again at our co-op, they sell same day cream from the closest dairy at amazingly good prices, so I went ahead and picked up a pint to use for this recipe. When I opened up the tiny adorable bottles, it was everything I expected: lovely creamy aroma, smooth pour, a little extra fat bits stuck to the rim. It heated up well and didn't form that sticky top layer when it cooled, it seemed I was in cream heaven. Then came time to put it into the ice cream maker. I'll probably never know if it was the fault of the cream or perhaps the weather, but it took more than two full cycles with the ice cream maker to get that stuff to set. Still, it was possibly the best smell to ever fill my house, so I was very hopeful. I spent all day at work thinking about the bliss I would find when I came home and I barely made it in the door that night before dishing myself out a bowl. And let me tell you, a choir of angels came down when that first bite hit my tongue. And the second bite! And most of the bowl! Until I suddenly realized that something was a bit off. It felt like the ice cream wasn't sitting quite the same way in my mouth, wasn't going down as smoothly as it was before. And then I realized....my mouth was coated in a layer of milk fat! A gritty, sticky, stubborn layer of nastiness! The only explanation that I can come up with is that perhaps the fat content of my cream was actually a bit too high and next time I shouldn't be quite so ambitious in purchasing the best that I can find.

However, this was still an amazing experience and it is taking a good amount of self control to not eat this ice cream for three meals a day. The recipe also includes some milk and vanilla, so I used the milk in my fridge and bought the only vanilla I could afford, but I figured the key ingredients were fresh enough to overlook this. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who loves honey or ice cream, it will change your life.

Gordon says "My mommy is crazy but I love her anyway!"

Perfect Honey Vanilla Ice Cream
Adapted from Maison du Miel's Heather Honey Ice Cream Recipe

2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of whole milk
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup of really good honey

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and warm over medium low heat until little bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature for at least one hour. Find the vanilla bean and remove it, cut it in half lengthwise, and scrape the pulp into the cream mixture. Add the pod back in and chill the mix overnight in the refrigerator. Remove and stir take out those pesky pods for good, then add mixture to ice cream maker and complete according the manufacturer's instructions.

Poor Girl Cooks: Bell Pepper and Edamame Salad

2010-07-04T12:18:00.002-04:00

So lest my mother suspect I am only capable of cooking desserts, I have decided to feature my favorite summer salad today. This recipe originally came to me as a black bean salad recipe, but since I'm not the world's biggest bean fan and I couldn't get Adam to eat the original recipe, I've adapted to greatly to cater to our tastes and make it a little bit lighter in the belly. This has also worked out well because we've had one of the worst heat waves in the history of EVER, so minimal work is very important...

First off, pick yourself up one of those three pepper packs from the produce section. For some reason it is cheaper to do this than to purchase the peppers individually, and I'm all about saving money. You can also include a green pepper if you like, but I don't, so these are the three that I'm going to use.

I should also mention that this is not taking place at my house, but rather at Adam's parents' house, as they had extended their hospitality and washing machine to us for the day.

First of all, Carla BLEW MY MIND but showing me a super secret and extra efficient way to deseed these lovely peppers. I'd always cut the stem out and cut them in half and dug the suckers out, but apparently if you just chop the top off you can just grab them all from the get go! What a fantastic revelation! Anyway, dice those babies up and throw them into a bowl....

So pretty! Our red pepper ended up being gross in the bottom and we had to throw most of it out, but it's okay. Salads are never exact, right? Add to that half a bag of frozen corn and half a bag of edamame (not in the shell kids, let's use our logic here). Toss it with the dressing and let it sit until the frozen veg is slightly less frozen. Then dice up a firm avocado (not crazy firm, just easy to work with), stir in and you are ready to serve!

Totally delicious, I could eat this every day. And the in-laws like it too! I served it with the delicious enchiladas, I'm pretty sure they'll let me marry into the family now...well, hopefully...

Bell Pepper and Edamame Salad
adapted from my mom's black bean salad

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 avocado
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1/2 bag of frozen out-of-shell edamame (soybeans)

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp of honey
3 cloves of garlic, crushed/diced
1 tsp cumin

Dice your peppers and put them in a pretty bowl. Stir in the corn and the edamame. Whisk together dressing and pour over, stirring thoroughly to combine. Right before serving dice avocado and stir in. Goes surprisingly well with Mexican food.

Poor girl cooks: Breakfast biscuits!

2010-07-02T10:19:00.006-04:00

This week I got it into my head that since most of my staff would be out Friday, I would make breakfast for those of us stranded on campus. With about 10 people to cook for, I decided to make Orange Chocolate Chip scones and Breakfast Biscuits. The scones (which I completely forgot to document, so you'll have to wait until I make them again) were really far more frustration than they were worth, although the turned out pretty good. The biscuits however...well, those turned out simply fantastic!

Step one is to remember to cook your sausage the night before so that it has time to cool. I remembered to do step one!

Step two is to set your alarm super early and wake up to make the biscuits themselves. Though I completed step two, I wasn't really on top of the taking pictures part of things (I hadn't had any tea yet you see). Anyway the gist of it is that you combine all your ingredients and stir them together. Not too much higher level thought, thankfully.

(Check out my sexy new spatula!)

The recipe then, for some unknown reason, demands that you leave the mixture alone for 10 minutes. 10 minutes is a lot longer than you think when it is 6am and all you want to do is go back to sleep. I spent my time watching my cat go crazy with the kitchen rug and I have provided this snippet for your enjoyment:

Then you fill a greased muffin tin (the recipe calls for a mini muffin tin but I don't have one and who wants a mini breakfast biscuit anyway?) and pop those suckers in the oven for a good 20 mins or so. Then remove and enjoy your little greasy bites of goodness. Use caution when sharing them with your coworkers, as they will disappear quickly (especially with student employees).

Voila! I hope your breakfast can now be that much tastier.

Breakfast biscuits

3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 lb of cooked sausage
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese
Oregano and ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin tin (mini or regular). Whisk together flour, baking powder and spices. Mix in egg and milk. Fold in cooked sausage and cheese. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Spoon into muffin tin filling each space 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are a golden brown (judge by batter, not cheese color). Remove and let cool slightly before serving. Makes 12 regular size or 24 mini.

Adventure Time: Berry picking

2010-06-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

So one of the benefits of living in Western NY is the unlimited supply of orchards. Many of the orchards are open for berry picking once the picking is good, so we drove up to Adam's hometown for a cherry/strawberry extravaganza!

I've never been cherry picking before (at least not to my knowledge) and so this was pretty fun for me. I was completely unprepared for the sheer volume of perfect cherries these trees would be bearing.

Eventually Adam and I had to commit to stop picking, otherwise we'd be eating cherries for the rest of our lives. I feel we pulled off a pretty good harvest though.

Next we were on to the strawberries. Though Adam willingly reached up to great heights to select cherries for me, he was less than thrilled at the idea of walking around crouched over to pick strawberries. Instead, he appointed himself chief photographer and gave the directions "Look like you are picking strawberries and then look at me. And look happy!"

Again, we didn't pick every berry we found because it would just be very impractical, but we did get quite a few. We're reaching the end of strawberry season here, so these berries ripened crazy fast and we almost didn't eat them all in time.

It was good times all around. Then we went to his parents' house for a nice lunch and a lazy afternoon. Just my style :)

Poor girl cooks: Delicious Enchiladas!

2010-06-26T10:33:00.005-04:00

Today we present: Delicious enchiladas! I have no memory of being introduced to enchiladas before Shell, one of my bestest friends in the world, sat me down one night with a giant plate of them and opened me up to a whole new world. This recipe comes entirely from her and it is the most delicious one in the whole world!

Here is our cast of characters: enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, chilies, chicken and cheese. Shell's secret ingredient is a pre-roasted chicken from the local grocery store. This is absolutely BRILLIANT as it eliminates like half of the hard work from the equation. And we all know how I feel about work. Also we're using 2% cheese because Adam and I like to pretend that we eat healthy, so shh, don't ruin our bubble of ignorance!

Usually I purchase the chicken fresh the same day, but since the grocery store here is a total zoo between the hours of 8am and 8pm, we purchased this a day ahead of time and popped it in the fridge. Cold chicken takes about twice as long to shred as hot chicken, but no flavor was sacrificed. Also, for some reason the store only had Kosher chickens, although this is going to become considerably Un-Kosher in about 15 minutes.
Mmm delicious shredded chicken. Throw on your can of green chilies and some cumin to taste. Or don't taste it, like I do, and have a surprise when it comes out of the oven!

Some idiot clearly can't read the sauce cans and accidentally bought one can of green, one can of red. Oh well, warm up the tortillas in a wet dish rag and give them a sauce bath before folding them up, it keeps them from self destructing in the pan.
Decidedly NOT self destructed! For some reason I thought it would be smart to throw the extra chicken mix on top, we'll see how that works out.
Can you have too much cheese on top? I don't think so, so I pretty much put an entire bag all over the spicy goodness. Once again, we'll see how this works out. Pop into the oven at 350 degrees until it smells too good to resist and the cheese is all melted.
Ta-da! Apparently you can't have too much cheese, it just turns into a pan straight from Heaven.
Excuse me while I go stuff my belly full of my prize.

Delicious Enchiladas
courtesy of Michelle

1 roasted chicken (from the store is easiest)
2 cans of enchilada sauce of your choosing
2 bags of cheese
1 can of green chilies
12 corn tortillas
Cumin to taste
Sour cream to taste

1) Shred your roasted chicken into a medium mixing bowl. Add chilies and cumin. Toss to combine.

2) Warm up one can of enchilada sauce in a shallow bowl. Place 6 tortillas in a wet towel and warm for 15-20 seconds or until soft. Dip a tortilla in the sauce and set it in the pan. Add a pinch of chicken mix and some cheese to the middle, roll to secure (the first one is the hardest). Squish to the side of the pan and repeat with remaining tortillas (warm up the rest once you run out).

3) Pour the second can of sauce over the rolled enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Remove and let rest 5-10 minutes.

4) Dish out and top with sour cream. Never serve fewer than 2, for they are far too delicious.

Things I want: Kitchen Edition!

2010-06-25T11:09:00.005-04:00

So since I'm wasting time waiting for my camera to get here so that I can show you more of my adventures, I've been thinking of new and fun ways to blow away my money. Today's objects of desire will be things that I "need" for my kitchen.

1.) ~~A spatula~~. I want a proper, rigid, silicon spatula that I can use to scrape bowls and stir things. I know, I dream big.

2.) ~~A mesh strainer~~. I recently learned while making orzo that a plastic strainer with holes can sometimes be your worst enemy, especially if you don't have a garbage disposal. Also, washing rice can be such a pain.

3.) ~~A blender~~. Now that I no longer live in the commercial center of Rochester, it actually takes about half an hour of driving to satisfy my milkshake cravings. It would be lovely to just blend one up at home!

4.) ~~An ice cream maker~~. Because nothing makes a milkshake healthier than being able to make your own super awesome ice cream flavors to put into it.

5.) A bread maker. The idea of no longer kneading bread by hand makes my toes tingle!

6.) A rice maker. Not necessarily a priority in the summer, but once it gets cold out and I start making slow cooker curry again, we're going to need rice. And I always, always, ALWAYS burn it on the bottom.

7.) A double boiler. Think of all the possibilities once I learn to melt chocolate...

8.) ~~Mixing bowls~~. Right now I only have one and it makes for quite a bit of washing during multi-step recipes.

9.) This shirt because it validates my needs.

Thank goodness I can't actually afford any of these things, because I think if I owned this many appliances Adam would just leave me outright to be buried by my stuff like a bad episode of "Hoarders".

In other news I attempted to make blueberry muffins last night but ended up with frisbee shaped blueberry bread product. Evidently, muffins are one of the most difficult things to bake properly...I feel a challenge coming on!

Poor girl cooks: Gluten-free cardamom chai cupcakes with lemon frosting

2010-06-22T20:33:00.015-04:00

Let me preface the story with this: I found these cupcakes online at work and they originally called for regular flour; however, a good friend of mine is gluten intolerant and so I thought to myself "hey, how hard can it be for these to be gluten-free?" And now we're about to find out.

It's a pretty standard cupcake recipe. Cream sugar and butter, add vanilla, mix in flour with baking powder and spices, add tea and milk, bake. Not so hard, right?

Here are today's featured contestants:

Cream the butter and sugar...

Add the flour, etc...

I may have neglected to measure the cardamom...

Oh crap and some idiot forgot to make the tea! Here's to some thumb twiddling and random pictures of masks...

Now mix it all together...

Looks normal to me so far!

My oven even decided to cooperate and heat to the recommended temperature (although I'm regretting it with today's weather).

Here's the first batch out of the oven. They smell FANTASTIC!

Time to make filling/frosting! If ever you wake up one morning and realize you own too much powdered sugar, making frosting is the best way to remedy your problem.

Also, if there is any one activity in this world that I utterly despise, it is the zesting of a lemon. This is probably due to the fact that I do not own a zester. Guess who's birthday is coming up?

At any rate, here's the filling with lemon curd...

And finally, the cupcakes filled (and some with tops back on). I was getting pretty tired at this point and sort of forgot to keep taking pictures.

All frosted and packed for work.

So far the taste is good, although a little powdery, perhaps due to the new flour. I'm waiting to see how they mature overnight and then present them to the test subjects (aka coworkers) first thing in the morning. Wish me luck!

On a side note, all of today's photos were provided by my trusty cellphone. My actual camera committed technological suicide today and refuses to turn on. I play to replace it as soon as I get that raise...

Ciao!

Presents from the Parents: Venetian Masks

2010-06-22T17:38:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I came home and to my delight what did I find? Not one, but TWO ultra-light boxes fresh of the plane from Italy. And what might they contain? Nothing less than four of the most beautiful pieces of art ever seen. They are as follows:

This is the mask my mom had made for me:

I feel it pretty much captures all the good things I see in myself, I have no idea how she conveyed that to the artist.

This is the mask that she had made for Adam:

His response "Why do I have to be the jester?", but I think it is also fantastic! Just look at the delicate border...and the bells really jingle!

And finally, two additional masks that will be perfect accents to the collection.

I'm pretty sure I'm the world's luckiest daughter right about now! Thanks mom!

The Innagural Post! ...which probably won't say much

2010-06-22T11:32:00.001-04:00

Back by popular demand, I have a new blog to follow my exploits in everyday life. It won't be quite as lavish as my last blog, since I don't have a bottomless bank account to travel around Europe on, but hopefully it will be just as entertaining. Some topics may include: cooking, tea, my cat, Adam, our apartment, eating, and a variety of everyday stupidity, all on a ridiculously small budget! Let me know if there is something you want to see or read about and I'll try to accommodate.

Love!