Cooking adventures!

Today I made this beautiful (if I do say so myself) little cake for my mother's birthday. It is full of rich chocolatey goodness covered in chocolate ganache and almonds. Yum!

But seriously, it could not be simpler or more classy. Though I made about thirty dishes, I did this in just over an hour between classes. Worth it? Yes.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
(adapted from a recipe from KirbieCravings.com via foodgawker.com)

Cake:
7 oz semisweet or milk chocolate chips (I used bittersweet and added about a 1/4 c. sugar)
1/4 c. butter
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract/dark rum/orange extract/whatever you feel like (optional)

Ganache:
1 c. heavy cream
9 oz chocolate chips
powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a 6-7" round pan with parchment paper (cake will stick to a greased-only pan).

Microwave chocolate and butter in 30-second intervals, stirring between each go, until melted and smooth (probably about 1 - 1.5 minutes). Meanwhile, beat eggs at high speed for about 7 minutes until almost tripled in size. Add egg mixture by thirds into chocolate, folding carefully until no egg streaks remain.

Pour into pan and bake for 22-25 mins, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Will not rise very much.

Ganache: Heat cream over medium heat until just boiling. Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add powdered sugar for sweetness or thickness. (You can also cool it in the fridge and then whip it for a lighter frosting.) When cake has cooled slightly, poor over it starting in the middle and working toward edges.

Add chopped almonds and powdered sugar (or orange peel, or sprinkles, or whatever floats your boat). EAT WITH A VENGEANCE!

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I also recently made replicas of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I've never had the real thing, so I'm not sure how close they actually come to the real thing, but they were extremely good. Worth making if you're craving deliciousness.

This is actually the recipe I used (or a censored version of it...ha. Thanks Imgur.)

4 c. Bisquick
1 1/3 c. water
4 oz shredded sharp cheddar




Mix!





Bake @ 375F for 10-12min

Combine:
1/2 c. melted butter
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp salt
black pepper

Brush as it comes out of the oven!

EAT!

All the Stars!

So the past few weeks have been exhausting and exciting. It's been super busy and crazy and aaaaaaah I can't wait for Thanksgiving break.

Two weekends ago I went camping at Ray Roberts with these awesome people.

 

Andrew, Jena, and I struggling to tame the tent. Ugh. 

All of our outdoor-culinary adventures. We got quite gourmet! Garlic-spinach chicken sausage with toasted asiago bagel, anyone?

We also had a beautiful laying-in-the-middle-of-the-street stargazing party, followed by a midnight glowstick rave and ridiculously aggressive card games. Fun times. 

I also took senior portraits for my friend Amanda. This is the first time I have ever been paid to take pictures of someone, and I admit I was quite nervous. I think they turned out well though! (Despite the enormous pain and frustration that inevitably plagues me during projects like this that actually matter. UGH TECHNOLOGY UGH.)

And finally, this last Friday there was an Honors exodus to Inwood Theatre in Dallas at midnight, where our collective favorite godawful movie, The Room, was playing--WITH TOMMY WISEAU AND GREG SESTERO PRESENT!

This is me standing between Greg Sestero (left) and Tommy FREAKING Wiseay (right. Obviously.). 

O-M-EFFING-G. There is only one word to describe how I felt, and that is starstruck. I'm not sure if Tommy is technically a celebrity, but in Honors he's like the second most important person next to Dumbledore or maybe The Doctor. Meeting him after watching his movie dozens of times was surreal to say the least. And honestly, having experienced the nearly incoherent way he speaks broken English, I'm impressed that his movie made any sense at all!

And he signed my spoon!

My favorite quote of the night had to be this:

TOMMY: People say my movie is "bad acting". But you know what we say about "bad acting"? Greg, tell them--what do we say is "bad acting"?

GREG: Uh... I think you people pretty well know. 

Ha! Poor Sestero. So much shame. But a top contender for best quote was when Tommy called up a girl to sing Happy Birthday to her, then started and completely made up the lyrics. It went something like this:

TOMMY: Happy Bir-day to you, Happy Bir-day to you, Yay, you have Happy Bir-day, Yayayayayay, that's it! Now get off the stage. 

Ooooooh my. It was an experience. A spoon-throwing, screen-yelling experience. But oh my god it was possibly the most awesome night of my college life. My life is a joke. 

Anyway, then today I went to see these fantastic boys perform at the Country Club:

Andrew Jackson!

And in two days I'm going to Houston for Thanksgiving. All I have to do between now and then is finish my obnoxious English essay, which I have written except for the last sentence, which currently reads: "AND THEN SOMETHING ELSE GOES HERE. BLAH." Probably not academic enough for my teacher. 

Ah yes. Good times, good times. 

Banananananana

SO MUCH BANANA IN MY DORM ROOM. O_O

It's seriously a little ridiculous. 

We have bananas, banana pudding, banana bread (right), and banana chocolate chip bars (left).

OH YES!

Seriously, though. You should make the banana chocolate chip bars. It's a freakin' banana miracle.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla 

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)

1 3/4 cup flour (all-purpose or wheat)

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chip (any variety)

To make: Cream butter and ALL THE SUGAR! With one hand, gracefully break the egg into the bowl. Do a backflip. Add vanilla (with generosity). Throw in flour, baking powder, and salt and mix together. Add as much chocolate as your heart desires. Bake for 20+ minutes (seriously, it takes forever) at 350F in any cake pan, preferably one that's unicorn shaped. Eat with your face. 

On another good note, I am all registered for classes next semester! :D God I love early Honors registration. 

I am taking American Literature from 1870 to Present, Advanced Readings in French Literature, Organizational Behavior, Honors Technical Writing, and Physics of the Solar System. Wheehoo! 

PS - My professors are Conn for American Lit, Lawler for Physics, Powell for Organization, and Kaplan for French, in case you know anything about any of them (I'm looking at you, Alex). 

Cookies and Books

Today I made my special chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal cookies, which are made with all healthy ingredients and are also delicious! This time I even made them with white chocolate chips, which is an interesting twist.

Chocolate-Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies (or Goddess Cookies, because according to Jena, they are what keeps me young, blonde, and strong. [or something.] )

(adapted from Quaker Oats' Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe--you can basically mess with the proportions/ingredients as you like, but this is what I do)

1/2 cup + 6 Tbsp apple sauce (or butter)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1+ tsp vanilla (my general rule about vanilla: always add more.)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or, you know, whatever kind of flour)
1+ tsp baking soda (add a little more because of the apple sauce)
1+ tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal (I use only about 1 1/2 or 2, but it's just preference)
1 cup craisins

Combine apple sauce and sugars; add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Add oats and craisins. Blah blah blah toss onto a cookie sheet in absolutely perfect spheres weighing exactly ten grams each blah blah blah and bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes enough cookies to share with your friends or hoard over the course of a week.

I also read this book:

Which was a very beautiful, human book about ten people who are trapped in an Indian visa office in an American city after an earthquake, each sharing one amazing story from their life as they wait for death or rescue. Read it.

Still, despite all this, my weekend has been excruciatingly boring. Sigh. :-/ I need to do something legitimately exciting next weekend. Like seriously.

Gummy Bear Quesadillas and other (occasionally revolting) adventures.

Just some pictures from the last few days. You know. College is happening and stuff.

Gatsby the suave Lego man.

Prickly pear fruit.

A gummy bear mosaic!

New friends from China!

Beautiful Jen(n)as!

This is what quesadilla night turned into. And it's exactly what it looks like. 

Disgusting. 

Serendipity Bread (Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread)

Did you know that you can take any old chocolate chip cookie recipe, like say, this one--

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

--and add approximately two cups of pureed fresh strawberries to make a batter, which, when baked for twenty-five-ish minutes, becomes a freaking delicious quick bread? 

I didn't either until last night! Mmmm, was it amazing!

Just combine wet ingredients, add eggs, combine dry ingredients and add in, stir in pureed strawberries and fold in chocolate chips. Does good in bread pans or in a 9"x13" scenario. 

You're welcome. 

Banana Bread Is Da Bomb

Banana Bread is amazing, am I right? My family (like many families, I'm sure) has been eating banana bread for my entire life. So when I started hard-core cooking/baking, of course I wanted a perfect banana bread recipe with which to dominate taste buds everywhere (without kicking anyone's daily calorie allotment's butt, because it's me and I do that kind of thing).

So this is one of the recipes I grew up with, and the one I sort-of-kind-of used today, with modifications, because to me recipes are more like guidelines to which I apply creativity and experimentation in order to invent more delicious/healthy/convenient/picky-eater-friendly foods. Anyway, here's the recipe:



But the one I use regularly is in fact a muffin recipe (I like to think of banana bread as just one giant muffin) and can be adapted for, well, anything! Any preference, any occasion, any pantry, any diet, any taste. I think this gets the Most Versatile Recipe of the Year award.

Basic Muffin/Quick Bread Recipe

 (Mix 'n' Match! Choose one set of ingredients per category.)

Baking Agents

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Eggs

1 egg

2 egg whites (for healthier muffins!)

Flour

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. all-purpose flour (the proportion here really isn't too important - it's just how wheaty you like your muffins!)

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

¼ c. flax seed

½ c. oatmeal

1 c. whole wheat flour

¾ c. oatmeal

Sugar (may need to add more to taste - good excuse to eat some of the batter. Haha.)

¼ c. honey

¼ c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

½ c. granulated sucrose (sugar substitute, which I have used but some people don't like)

Oil (mix and match, add up to ½ c.)

½ c. canola oil/butter/vegetable oil

¼ - ½ c. low fat vanilla yogurt

¼ - ½ c. no-sugar-added apple sauce

¼ - ½ c. canned pumpkin

Milk (optional, especially if you used yogurt above)

¾ c. 2% milk

¾ c. skim milk

Spices (use as much or as little as you like!)

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 – 1½  tsp. vanilla

Flavorful Additives

1 c. canned pumpkin

3 medium bananas, mashed

½ c. fruit preserves (strawberry, etc.)

¼ c. honey (if not sweet enough)

¼. c. chocolate chips

¼ c. raisins

¼ c. nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc.)

1 apple, diced

  

TO MAKE:

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine all ingredients. Pour into muffin tins/bread pan. Bake 20ish minutes @ 350°F. Consume rapidly. 

I would most recommend this recipe made with full eggs, whole wheat flour, brown sugar maybe augmented with a little sucrose, apple sauce, no milk, all the spices, and either bananas or pumpkin, but that's just my taste. This is a recipe which takes a lot of experimentation but can result in a muffin that is exclusively yours and perfect for your tastes.

YUM!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Muffins!

I made these muffins yesterday in an attempt to bring some sunshine back into an otherwise dreary day. And it worked! They are freaking delicious, perfect with their dense but not too sweet flavor, fresh strawberries, and just enough chocolate! Yum!

So, without further ado, MAKE THESE MUFFINS!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I used all-purpose, but there's no rule against whole wheat!)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 egg

1 cup sugar

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 1/4 cups sour cream or natural Greek yogurt (I used the yogurt with no problems)

1 cup(ish) fresh strawberries or thawed frozen (I used fresh and you can just kind of guestimate based on how much strawberry goodness you want in each muffin)

3/4 cup chocolate chip of your choice (semi-sweet was nice)

Chocolate drizzle:

     3 Tbsp chocolate chips

     1/2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Oven: 425F

Pan: Large muffin tin, lined and greased and ready to go! (Although honestly I always do this last...hehe)

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in your largest bowl. This shall henceforth be known as the "dry bowl". 

Now in your second largest bowl, whisk (ahem, I definitely just used a wooden spoon) the egg until yolk and white are just combined and lightish yellow. Dump in the sugar and combine. Add the butter in three additions, whisking together sloooooooowly. Then gently add in the sour cream/yogurt and mix until just combined. Do not overmix! This is very important. I don't know why, but it is. This is henceforth known as the "wet bowl".

Add the strawberries and chocolate chips to the dry bowl and mix up until the strawberries look weird all covered in flour. It's okay. That's good. Then slowly dump the contents of the wet bowl into the dry bowl in three additions, and fold slowly and carefully until all the dry ingredients are wet. Again, don't overmix. This batter will be quite thick. 

After that, you know the drill--spoon batter into muffin tins, but this time make sure you fill them all the way up. The batter won't rise an incredible amount so you want the tins pretty full. Then bake them at 425F for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350F and bake for another 20-22 minutes. Let them cool for five minutes while you melt the butter and chocolate together (I had a stupid amount of trouble with this--shut up) and then drizzle (or plop) the mixture over the muffins. When they've cooled a bit longer, invite your friends over and eat them all! It'll probably make about a dozen muffins. 

Enjoy!

302 cal/muffin (1/12 of recipe)
With healthy substitutions (butter > apple sauce, fat-free sour cream, sugar substitute, no chocolate drizzle) = 169 cal/muffin (1/12 of recipe)

(From Sally's Baking Addiction)

(Thanks Mom for successfully melting the chocolate and putting it on the cupcakes.)

Day 28: Adventures in Fruit Pickin' and Park-n-Floatin'

We started today with a trip to Chyreen Farm, a pick-your-own fruit farm with an abundant bounty of black currants and gooseberries. Luckily it wasn't raining, so we were able to pick almost 3 pounds (or was it kilograms?) of both fruits, which you can see me carrying below :)

Then we went down into Falmouth and rented a small boat to take out for four hours. We (my dad, mostly) drove the poor little 6-horsepower thing all over the bay (in the freezing wind) to Smuggler's Cottage, the cute little coastline pub we've been coming to forever. Recently, though, it has changed hands and lost some of its homey charm, though the food was still good. The significance of the place, actually, is that Eisenhower stopped there to have a meeting when all the boats converged there to set out for D-Day. So that was nice. Then we took it back, trying desperately to beat the high tide. We made it.

When we got home, my grandmother and I made black currant jam. It's actually not difficult. Just a cup and a half of water boiling with a pound of black currants for twenty minutes, then for ten minutes after adding four cups of sugar. We put them into four hot jam jars, and tomorrow they will be cool and ready to eat! I will also be taking some home with me, of course. :)

And that's about it. I have four busy days left before I take the train up to London for a night and leave the next day. Phew! It'll be nice to be home. :)