Fallen Souffle

It’s crazy that I have had this recipe saved on my Bloglines for almost 3 years! I need to challenge myself to actually make these recipes I have been savings. I got this recipe off of Joe’s Blog. I love how he can post a recipes everyday! Wow, I wish I had that dedication. Maybe that’s another challenge…

So anyways, I was tired of making banana bread but was faced with a plethora of near rotten bananas and a need to bake something fabulous so I thought I would whip this up. It comes together very easily, I made this Thursday night after a workout and while cooking dinner. I brought it into work and it received rave reviews! I made this in a 9×13 inch pan instead of a 15×10 pan so it took about 30-35 minutes to bake. Next time I may make it in 2 round 8 inch pans and double the icing. I may also add a bit of cinnamon in the cake next time.

Overall, a fantastic cake that is moist and tender and perfect for an impromptu office treat or a special birthday.

Picture will hopefully be up tonight…

Banana Bars with Browned Butter Pecan Frosting

For the cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas for me)
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
(I also needed a splash of milk to smooth it out a bit)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

To make the cake

Preheat oven to 375

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined. Add sour cream, mashed banana and vanilla - mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Scoop the mixture into a 10″ x 15″ baking pan coated with nonstick spray - spread the top smooth with an off-set spatula. Bake until golden and a toothpick placed in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 18 to 25 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool completely.

To make the frosting

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium - continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter releases a nutty aroma and just starts to turn golden, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

In a small bowl, mix together browned butter, confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and salt until well combined and smooth. Spread frosting over the bars and sprinkle with pecans.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

So I have been debating whether or not to even write this post but feel like I might as well put it out there as this is the real me and I am no longer ashamed. So much has been going on the last 7 months or so and it’s time to come clean with it. I am currently separated from my husband. I am about 5 months away from being divorced. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be someone to get a divorce. I come from a long line of happily married family members including my parents who are about to celebrate 30 years! However, sometimes life throws you a curveball and forces you to deal with it. So at the end of October I bought my townhouse-which I love- and moved to Raleigh with a room mate. The room mate has thrown me another curveball and is unexpectedly moving out this month. So now I feel like I am starting over again as I have to buy new furniture and deal with my finances in a totally different way. In the meantime, I put on some weight, nothing major but enough to not feel like “myself” hence the reason for the Abs Diet. While that was a great starting point, I have concentrated alot on “cleaning up” my diet, lifting weights, running more, and mountain biking. I just did a 5k this weekend and have decided to run a 10k in two weeks. Maybe I will get the guts to run a marathon by the end of the year. I’m pretty excited to be getting my life back on track, in more ways that one. I have started to see someone, which is always scary when coming off a break up, especially a marriage, but I have trust and faith in myself and am tired of having my life on hold for other people. I have the awesome support of my family and friends which have helped me tremendously through the past 7-8 months.

So that’s why there was a 2 month hiatus, that’s why I am cooking different foods, working out more, and chopping off 8 inches of hair :). I am concentrating on myself and it’s sad that it took an event like this to really focus on my well being. I am doing things now that I love to do; trying new restaurants, going to art galleries, taking long walks with Bella, and planning some really fun trips (Alaska in 3 months!) so life is definitely not boring!

Whew- feels good to get that off my chest…now back to our regularly schedules recipes…..

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I am back on a health kick, not that I was really ever off…well I kinda took February off…but now with the weather getting warm I know bathing suit season is looming and I wanna look hot! I have been working out about 6 days a week and even on the 7th day I usually take Bella for a 2 mile walk so I’m not too sedentary Easting during the day is easy, I have it all planned out and have plenty of healthy snacks at work (I have kinda taken over the fridge in the breakroom with yogurt, carrots and cheese!) but dinner is kinda a crap-shoot. I usually plan out the menu but this week has been weird with meetings and a mid week concert (Rusted Root-fun!) and working out after work (I just can’t get my butt up at 5:30am this week.) But last night I was resolved to make something healthy and you cant’ get much healthier then salmons, eggs, greens and tomatoes!

This salad doesn’t take too much time to prepare but I did use about 3 pans to cook everything- I felt kind like Rachael Ray with 3 pots on the stove and a pan in the oven. However, if you weren’t tight on time or were prepping this ahead of time, this salad is a snap to put together and would require fewer pots. The marinade for the salmon is yummy and I will definitely use it again on other fish. I also really liked the vinaigrette and was excited to finally put my bottle of champagne vinegar to use! Though if you don’t have this Ina staple, I think white wine vinegar would work just fine.

Ina used about 6 pounds of salmon as she was apparently feeding an army or maybe just some very hungry women, therefore I cut the recipe in about a third, though I didn’t measure too much. I also used bagged salad instead of the arugula and forgot about the olives- gasp…the horror! And I nixed the anchovies as well, though I would not be opposed to trying those in the future…mmm hairy fish. I kept the recipe as is though so you can scale it down however you like. I was happy to be able to make a mini salad for lunch today…mmm it’s good to eat “feel good” food.

Salmon Nicoise Salad
From Ina

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
4 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 pounds skin-on fresh salmon fillets
3 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes
1 1/2 pounds haricots verts, stems removed
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (6 small tomatoes)
12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut in 1/2
1 bunch watercress or arugula
1/2 pound large green olives, pitted
1 can anchovies, optional

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

For the marinade, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, mustard, garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and 1/2 tablespoon pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the salmon on a sheet pan that has been covered in aluminum foil, and drizzle the marinade over the salmon. Allow the salmon to sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot off the heat and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Leave the potatoes to steam for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but firm. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them in thick slices and set aside.

Place the salmon in the oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it is almost cooked through. Remove to a plate and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Remove the skin and break into large pieces.

Blanch the haricots verts in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 1/2 minutes only. Drain immediately and immerse in a bowl of ice water. Drain again and set aside.

For the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Set aside.

Arrange the salmon, potatoes, haricots verts, tomatoes, eggs, watercress, olives and anchovies, if used, on a large flat platter. Drizzle some vinaigrette over the fish and vegetables and serve the rest in a pitcher on the side.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

This dessert is awesome. Really. Perfect dessert for the spring, the honey and orange are light and fresh yet the ricotta and cream cheese provide a richness that isn’t too overwhelming. It’s perfect if you crave cheesecake but don’t want a thick slice of heaviness.

I used biscotti for the crust but I think amaretti cookies or even a graham cracker crust with some ground almonds would work. I somehow had a crapload of crust crumbs left over, I was going to save them and make some mini cheesecakes but I don’t have mini pans so I threw them out Both the crust and filling are made in a food processor which is super easy. I was making rolls while making this so I was able to clean my processor and let it dry in between crust and filling.

Please try this recipe, it’s wont disappoint!

Honey Orange Ricotta Cheesecake
From Giada

8 ounces purchased biscotti
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 (12-ounce) container fresh whole milk ricotta, drained (I used low fat and did not drain it…whoops missed that step!)
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature (used low fat)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange blossom or clover honey (I used orange blossom and it rocked!)
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Finely grind the biscotti in a food processor. Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom (not the sides) of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack.

Blend the ricotta in a clean food processor until smooth. Add the cream cheese and sugar and blend well, stopping the machine occasionally and scraping down the sides of the work bowl. Blend in the honey and orange zest. Add the eggs and pulse just until blended.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. (I skipped this because I was lazy, my cake did crack but I decorated it with orange segments so no one knew) Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour and 5 minutes (the cake will become firm when it is cold).

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days. Cut the cake into wedges and serve.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

At 26 years old, my Mom still makes me an easter basket/bag I was in Va Beach last weekend for my Dad’s birthday and since I wasn’t going to be able to make it back for Easter she sent me back with my easter “bag” and under strict instructions was told not to open it until the morning of. So first thing this morning (after preheating the oven and starting the water for fresh bagels) I opened the Bed Bath and Beyond bag tied with the Bath and Body Works ribbon (Mom is so creative on the fly) and there it was, in all it’s glory….plastic easter grass, Reese’s eggs and loose M&M’s which were all over my counter Nonetheless, it was awesome to still have a piece of childhood even when I can’t be with my family today.

I have been baking a lot this weekend, in addition to the bagels this morning I made Potato Rosemary Rolls for tonight and Honey Ricotta Orange Cheesecake. I also made some Banana Walnut Bread last week. It’s nice to be back in the kitchen and back into baking. Recipes to come, the bagels are calling me now! Have a great easter!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Cravings have been dictating the menu this week (really lack of menu as I am fighting a cold) and luckily I just needed to grab some lettuce and bread and cheese at the store to make this salad. Caesar salads are not something I ever order out because I find most to be really gross. The dressing is too heavy, the cheese if fake and the croutons are from a box. I first made this salad back in college, junior year if I remember correctly. Thinking back to that year in school, I cooked a lot. I was in my first apartment so I took advantage of having a full kitchen at my disposal. Food Network was always on the TV (somethings don’t change) and I was always printing up recipes in the computer labs, quickly snatching them up from the printer so I wouldn’t get in trouble for doing non-school related computer work. I think that year in college really molded me as a cook, I would try just about anything and was not afraid to accidentally set off the smoke alarm making chicken parmesan.

This recipe was inspired by the Alton Brown recipe but I tweaked it by making the dressing in the bowl and not on the leaves. I think the consistency is better and better incorporated the anchovy paste (if you decide to use it). The Worcestershire sauce provides enough saltiness if you don’t want to use anchovy paste but I felt it wouldn’t be a caeser salad with out it

Caesar Salad
1 loaf day old Italian bread
3 garlic cloves, mashed
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
2 eggs
2 heads romaine lettuce, inner leaves only
7 grinds black pepper
1 lemon, juiced
6 drops Worcestershire sauce
squirt of anchovy pasta if you so desire
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut 1/2 to 3/4-inch croutons from the loaf of bread and place on a baking sheet and put into the oven until dry but not browned.

Use a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic with 4 tablespoons of oil and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Strain the oil into a skillet over medium heat. Add the dried croutons and fry, tossing constantly until all of the oil is absorbed and the croutons turn gold. Set aside. (Or you can be lazy like me and just finely mince garlic and add garlic to the olive oil in a pan over low heat until you can smell the garlic, raise temperature a bit, add croutons and fry)

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the eggs and cook for 1 minute. Chill in ice water to halt cooking. Set aside.

In a very large bowl, add remaining olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy pasta and egg yolks (yes they will be raw) and whisk vigorously. Add lettuce leaves and toss until coated. Toss in Parmesan cheese and serve with croutons.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Well, it has been quite some time since I have looked at my 101 list much less update it!

However today, I checked off a pretty major one, I donated hair. Yes 8 inches of hair to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths. I figured it was time for a change since there have been a lot of changes in my life, so lopping off 8 inches of hair is a pretty major change. I was a little nervous going into it but once I got in the chair I was so excited. I have a fabulous stylist and I knew she would make me look amazing. And she did not disappoint. If you live in the Raleigh area and need a new stylist go to Shannon at The Spa by Mitchell’s at Cary Towne Center…she rocks!

So I will be sending my pony tail off to be made into a wig. It’s funny how many memories are in that hair, but I’m ready to make lots of new ones with my new sassy short do! So I am challenging you to donate 8 inches, hint hint, especially to my sister! She is quite attached to her hair and I don’t know if she would ever do it, but I can at least try

There were also a few other items I checked off including attending a wine festival (went to two last fall), went to the NC Art Museum and went dancing at a club.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

That’s right, I won a chili cook off with the most unlikely recipe…Chicken Tomatillo Chili. I was going to re-create this awesome chipotle chili that I made on a recent ski trip but decided to go out on a limb and try something totally different. I figured people would either love it or hate it. One of these days these experimental recipes are going to back fired but for now I have a pretty good track record!

Since everyone was going to go with a traditional beef chili (some with beans) I decided to make something with chicken and without tomatoes as there seem to be a growing population of tomato haters. I have seen many new recipes using tomatillos and thinking back to my love of salsa verde, I decided to take a stab at these little guys. Tomatillos look like little green tomatoes with these weird paper like husks on them. I found them in the tomato section but they are not related, I think I heard they are related to gooseberries but I could be making that up. To prep them, remove the husk and give them a rinse as they are a little tacky on the surface. I roasted mine in a 425 degree oven until they burst and started to blacken a bit. I also used some canned tomatillos because my Harris Teeter didn’t have many fresh ones (I needed about 4 pounds all together) but I think this worked well because they are already softened.

I sort of combined a couple recipes to come to this one, and then added to random stuff which makes it difficult to recreate when people ask for a recipe

This chili got RAVE reviews, seriously I was blown away by how many people liked it. After I was awarded first place all of the guests were told to go eat all the leftovers, well there was none left of mine This is a mild to medium chili but you could add more poblanos or even some canned green chilis to kick up the spice level. This chili has a really fresh flavor to it which I really liked. The texture is nothing like traditional chili, the tomatillos have seeds much like tomatoes so a few people commented on that. This is also a pretty healthy chili and it reheats really well, which is good because this makes a big pot full!

Award Winning Chicken Tomatillo Chili
4 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 pounds of tomatillos, canned or fresh ones that are roasted
3 poblano peppers
2 cups chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the poblanos on a foil lined baking sheet and place under broiler until skins are blackened. Turn peppers to allow all side to blacken. When completely black, remove from oven, place peppers in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

2. In a large dutch oven, heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the chicken thighs in batches (mine too about 3 batches). Remove all thighs to a plate.

3. In the dutch oven, add a bit of oil if necessary and add onions and garlic, cook until soft. When soft, add chicken, tomatillos, stock, cumin and salt and pepper. When it starts to bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

4. Remove poblanos from bowl and peel off blackened skin, stem and seeds. Finely chop peppers and add to chili.

5. Allow chili to simmer about 45 minutes so as to allow it to thicken. The chicken will get tender and I would go in with some forks and shred the chicken a bit so you don’t have huge chunks of chicken. If you find it too thick, you can add more stock or water. The tomatillos have a lot of pectin in them so you will notice it does tighten up.

6. Serve with cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice, if desired.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

This breakfast is so good! Seriously, it is the best of all possible worlds. Bread, cream cheese, sweet blueberry…it’s awesome. This french toast reminds me of the blueberry cheesecake bread I used to make at the bakery, sort of the same idea, dough wrapped around a mixture of cream cheese and berries with some brown sugar. Next time I may whip up the cream cheese and sweeten it with some sugar but this wasn’t a bad start at all!

I didn’t use a recipe, I used more of a technique. I smeared some cream cheese on some slices of french bread, sandwiched two together and dunked it into a mixture of about 3 eggs, a splash of cream, about a tablespoon of sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon. I cooked these on a medium high griddle until golden then flipped. In a small saucepan, I added half a bag of frozen blueberries, about 1/2 water, a couple tablespoons o sugar and some vanilla. Brought it up to a boil and allowed to thicken a bit. I let mine cook too long and didn’t have a ton of syrup so if it looks too thick add some more water. Drizzle the blueberry sauce over hot french toast. YUM!

Next I will try this with nutella and a bananas foster sauce

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

So the Abs Diet is going well. I have lost 12 pounds since I first weighed myself at the Restoration Hardware in Crabtree mall earlier this month and realized I had to do something. I have been working out 5 days a week, 3 days weight lifting and 2 days of cardio. Sometimes I don’t get in 2 days of running like I would prefer, but I get at least one in and then take Bella for a long walk on the weekend. I increased my lifting weight this week and am feeling the pain! I am eating better, taking in 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, I just can never seem to get in that snack before bed but I don’t think that’s hurting anything. I try and cheat at only one meal a week, and the past two times have been wings and I have felt miserable after eating, so I may retire the chicken wings for a while. I am cooking alot, packing alot of lunches (which is helping me save some money) and am loving the smoothies.

I make a few of the recipes in the book but don’t follow it strictly just because the recipes tend to get boring, but I do get the gist of what I’m suppose to eat. I made this soup this week after realizing I had a huge jar of roasted red peppers from my sister. I also wanted to try and re-create a roasted red pepper soup I had at a local deli. This isn’t quite the same but it super easy to make and is really tasty.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 quart jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped into large chunks
2- 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, undrained (you can also use whole tomatoes that you crush in your hands)
2 teaspoons chili powder (can add more if you like)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup or so of fat free half and half
1/2 cup shredded gouda, white cheddar etc (pretty much whatever you have on hand)

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add chopped red peppers, tomatoes, and spices and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
3. Blend with a stick blender or in a standard blender until smooth.
4. Add half and half and cheese and allow cheese to melt and soup to heat back up.
5. Serve with a grilled ham and cheese (whole wheat bread please!) and enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!