Spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini

I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately and decided to have some soup that I had in my cupboard for dinner but of course, soup is never enough. So since I had half a head of cauliflower left in my fridge I figured I might as well sift through my recipes and see what I could try to make. I landed on a recipe from Savuer for a roasted Cauliflower and figured I’d try it as a filling post dinner snack-ish whatever you want to call it.

This is a simple recipe and I had everything I needed (minus jalapeños because I’m not a huge fan, or cilantro which is the garnish). I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for awhile because the photo looked so good and I love cauliflower so I mixed it with everything needed: salt, turmeric, paprika, olive oil, and garlic. I tossed the cauli, roasted it in the oven, and 45ish mins later it was ready to eat. I topped it with a little lemon to brighten it up and had my tahini (store bought, sorry!) standing by. This came out so bright and beautifully roasted and I was so happy with the outcome. It tasted pretty good, though the florets soaked up much more seasoning than the stems so I had to calculate my bites to make sure everything was balanced. I guess since I didn’t have jalapeños it wasn’t really spicy and I would’ve liked the little heat kick that it mentioned but the lemon and tahini balanced the flavor really well and it was so easy to make this is for sure something I could do in the future to add some flavor and color to extra cauli laying around. Simple and tasty.

Latkas

I’m no where near being Jewish but I love potatoes and that’s enough reason for me to make some Latkas. When you watch a Bon Appetit video with Carla Lalli Music and Miz Cracker and potatoes are involved, you get inspired. Watching these two make Latkas is just too fun and they both make this look simple and doable. The video links to a recipe but if you watch you realize it’s not exactly what they’re making so I used the online recipe as a guide for measurements and tried to stick to the video as much as possible.

This wasn’t terribly difficult to make though I won’t lie, I did manage to cut myself on my new grater while grating potatoes. It’s not the best and while I was going through the potatoes I knew it was going to happen. Minor injuries of the kitchen. While drying out the onions they totally got me and had me tearing up too. Concentrated onion water is real guys. Aside from these small hiccups, the latkes came together very easily and mine were a little wetter than Carla’s and Miz Cracker’s. I think I had too much egg and then tried to make up for it with a little more flour and my latkes ended up a little pancake-ier than I was hoping for. I love that potato-y flavor and texture and I wish I was a little more careful and thought about my adjustments with the egg and flour. Still very good in the end and I was pretty proud of myself with how I fried them. Maybe next time I’ll just make a hash?

Roasted Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower)

The Bon Appetit test kitchen has been adding a couple of small appearances by new cooks and Priya Krishna has been one of them. She’s been a little slow to grow on me and has a cute personality but seems a little more home cook-y and less professionally trained. This isn’t a bad thing because you learn a lot from being in kitchens and not all good cooks need to go to culinary school, but when a cook doesn’t have great knife skills I’m a little hesitant to learn from them. Priya mostly cooks Indian dishes from her cookbook Indian-ish which I kind of love the title of. Clearly Priya is like me and has a mix of traditional and American culture so I like the idea of cooking in an ‘-ish’ sort of manner. I also do like Indian food though I don’t get to eat it much especially here in Cortland (there are no Indian restaurants here so I’d have to make the trip to a nearby town and hope for the best) so Priya’s recipes are definitely interesting to me because I’d love to give that type of cuisine a shot at home. I also love vegetables and since a lot of Indian dishes are vegetarian oriented I tend to enjoy the concept a lot. That’s why when I saw her video for Aloo Gobi and realized it was just a mix of cauliflower and potatoes I was 100% in.

I really appreciate Bon Appetit and Priya for making Indian dishes available and accessible to the masses. Priya’s casual manner make the recipes approachable - if she can make these things, I’m gonna give it a shot too. Her recipe is super easy and I even had time to cut up some chicken and cook that while the veggies were in the oven to mix in with them later. I could use a little more of a kick with spices but this was such an easy dish to make and it seriously has everything I need in it. I did skip out on fresh cilantro leaves and ginger because I didn’t have any but i was totally fine without it this time. This is a go-to recipe for sure now. I’m already excited to make it again and I still have leftovers in my fridge today for lunch.

2nd day update: So this was still pretty good the second day, reheated but the potatoes totally didn’t hold up well. They got a little dried out in the middle and the texture was off but everything mixed together wasn’t too bad. Moral of the story is eat it all while it’s fresh. Easy.

Pasta al Limone

With the holidays coming and traveling ramps up, I’ve had a little less time to cook and try new recipes. I will say I’ve made a couple dishes that haven’t been very noteworthy or photogenic so I’ve opted out of writing about them but I figured I’d throw in a dish today to keep the ball rolling. I had the day off yesterday and had a amazingly lazy day with some grocery shopping and a couple new recipe tests including Bon Appetit’s pasta al limone by Molly Baz. This is a super simple recipe and I’m surprised it’s not a Basically dish because there are 5 ingredients plus salt and pepper and it takes about 10-15mins to make. Super easy and worth while. Molly makes a really quick video of it that is easy to follow and a cream based pasta with a hint of citrus is a little adventurous without being crazy hard to imagine. Obviously when you make cream sauces like Alfredo, they can be heavy but adding a hint of lemon is so logical and would brighten up the dish a lot. Caleb has shown very little interest in the lemon so I’ve decided to make this for myself instead.

Like I said, this was a super easy recipe with minimal prep of ingredients. Boil pasta, make the sauce while the pasta is cooking, toss and stir. I’m having mixed feelings about this dish though. The first few bites were amazing and I was hooked but as I kept eating I had hard time adjusting to the cheese and lemon flavor being together. Each bite finishes with a lemon-y tang which I think I enjoy? While I was eating I kept going back and forth; not bad but I don’t think I’ll make this again/it’s so tangy and fresh I want more. Honestly, I made to servings and I’m super excited to have some again for lunch really soon, but I have a feeling I might be over it halfway through only to be excited to make it again sometime. Moral of the story? - Give it a shot, it’s a simple yet fun dish for sure and it’s got me intrigued.

Chocapocalypse Cookies

I’ve been meaning to make these for awhile and Caleb actually bought a kitchen scale so it was the perfect time to break out the recipe for Alton Brown’s Chocapocalypse cookies. Don’t be fooled by the maze of recipe links on the food network site because they just lead to chocolate chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. This is the real recipe from the Good Eats season 8 special. Of course, Alton does his baking recipes by weight so I could try to convert them to rough cup measurements but the point was the be exact so I was stalling on these cookies. Luckily I got to use Caleb’s scale in exchange for cookies and gave these guys a shot.

I know I’ve said I don’t really like eating chocolate that much but that doesn’t mean I can’t bake chocolate things. I just don’t tend to eat them. Sharing is caring and no one is complaining so I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.

This was the first time I’ve used baking chocolate in bars and it was a trick for sure but I felt petty legit hacking away at a bar. I didn’t have much success chopping it especially in a relatively cold house but I did make a ton of noise if that’s what you want to call a success. So my chocolate chunks were probably larger than intended but it worked out overall. These cookies are seriously chocolatey and there’s a lot of dark 100% chocolate so I’ve been warning people but they’re still really good. It’s a super easy cookie to make and my batch yielded 18 cookies which isn’t too bad. I’m pretty sure I portion a little larger generally but that’s okay. Fewer cookies to give away this time. They baked off super evenly and crisp up really well. I probably could’ve gone a couple more minutes to get them a little crisper and a little less soft in the middle but these were still good especially after they cooled and set a little more. Those chocolate chunks were pretty large too so that also too a little while to set and getting a bite of dark chocolate in the middle of a dark chocolate cookie is sharp.

Basically, these are easy and fun to make but need a safety warning before eating.

Fettuccini Alfredo

I love Fettuccini Alfredo. I love the long, thick, chewy noodle shape and the creamy, warm sauce is always comforting. This is a dish I grew up with, kind of. We never had Fettuccini Alfredo made at home, don’t get me wrong, but this is a go to dish when we would go out for dinner. I love all pastas and am a carb fiend. I love broccoli which is a typical accompaniment when eating out and am not against a little chicken here and there. I can clearly remember my first experience with Fettuccini Alfredo and it’s quite embarrassing but here it is.

The summer before 4th grade my family went on vacation for a week or two to visit my aunt and uncle in Florida. My cousins are a year and 6 years older than me, making me the baby of the group and at 8 years old things were still pretty fresh to me. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before but while we did eat American food at home both my parents tend to cook more Vietnamese/Chinese cuisine and that’s more of what I leaned towards in terms of taste but my brother and both my cousins in Florida are super picky and growing up they favored American food more. Less weird sauces and seafood and more carbs and chicken. Cue the microwavable Fettuccini Alfredo by Michelina’s. I still remember the green box with the lid that doesn’t quite peel off correctly and the frozen mass of noodles and sauce that somehow melt perfectly when microwaved. 8 year old me did not need much convincing. I was addicted to this meal and my mom and my aunt bought me troves of these at the grocery store for the rest of the trip and on through the summer once we got back to Rochester. This tiny box was the perfect amount for me then but every once in awhile when I revisit this microwavable meal I’ll opt for the larger boxes from various brands. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of these but they remind me of growing up and summertime still. That was the year I gained 7lbs and shot up 3inches to the glee of my childhood physicians. I’d finally hit an average weight and he didn’t have to ask me if I ate enough at home anymore, a hilarious question for a child with a chef dad and a grandmother who’s greeting wasn’t “Hello” instead being “Have you eaten yet today”. I always well fed but baby Emily was a rabbit that consumed vegetables and rice like no other and ran around outside till it was dark. Fettuccini just fueled this drive and gave me longer legs to do it.

This was a long detour all to say that I love pasta and Alfredo and would not be the solid 5ft 1inches that I am today without it. Maybe. So when Caleb mentioned Carla Lalli Music had a recipe for Alfredo one night we decided to give it a shot. Let me just preface that we‘ve made this recipe twice and it’s quite tricky. Caleb gave it a shot the first time and while the list of ingredients consists of pasta water, butter, and parmesan cheese it was more difficult to get the sauce to come together than we’d like. When Caleb made it we watched Carla’s video as a guide and he admits that he didn’t take the time to add the butter in chunks and instead threw the whole stick into the pasta water base for the sauce and it never quite came together with the cheese not integrating and instead forming little balls in the water instead. Not a terrible attempt because it tasted like buttery pasta but not quite cheese and creamy like we wanted.

Last night was my stubborn attempt to see if we would like it more if the sauce came together the way the Carla described. Video in hand and butter cut down, I got the butter to emulsify the way that Carla describes and the cheese melted into it perfectly. I had to reduce it down a little and ended up not adding any extra pasta water. In the end I was a little concerned because it did still look a little watery in the pan but the cooking utensils were catching some unseen melted parmesan and solidifying when pulled out so I hoped for the best and seasoned with pepper and dinner was served. This attempt worked out much better and the noddles were lightly coated in a glossy layer of cheesy, buttery sauce that was almost undetectable by the human eye but as intended. Success in accomplishing Carla’s Alfredo. However, for us we miss the cream from our idea of what Alfredo is. Tasty but this is a buttery pasta and we want cream. Not our favorite sauce but I’m glad I gave it a shot and nailed the execution. Took us a couple tries but now we know for sure. We just have to find another recipe in the Bon Appetit troves.

Mozzarella Arancini

I’m gonna say today’s dish was more inspired rather than followed to a T. As I’ve mentioned I’ve been trying to eat the food that I have in my kitchen instead of buying too much and that’s led us to arancini. I was watching Bon Appetit videos on youtube and landed on Molly Baz making mozzarella arancini and I realized this was a perfect dish for me to try to make this week. Typically, I make one recipe that is written to feed a whole family of people and I don’t realize it until it’s cooked an on my kitchen table so I have to eat it for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week just to finish it. It’s not a terrible system because that means I don’t have to think about what I’m going to eat for lunch at work each day but it does get a little old. Well this week I made that shepherd’s pie from Good Eats and loved it so much I managed to finish it in about 4 meals so by Thursday night I had nothing to eat and no more leftovers. I did realize that I just happened to buy a bag of frozen ready to cook risotto from Wegmans last week when I went grocery shopping so instead of just making that, I could have a really simple shortcut to try and make my first arancini using Molly’s recipe as guidance.

I can easily say I did not grow up with arancini. This was just out of the realm of non-asian cooking that it completely missed my radar until maybe 3 years ago when I started working in the prepared food department at Wegmans and we put out arancini on the Hot Food Bars. Spoilers for all you Wegmans arancini lovers out there, we get it frozen and fry/bake it. This is not your grandmother’s homemade arancini. Now for me, this was a great discovery. The arancini at Wegmans is still somehow nice and airy and I wold wait until it was a little dry and crisp to eat it. Stuffed with meat in the center, these little guys filled you up and made you warm. I love carbs.

So when I watch Molly making it and realized I had risotto waiting for me in the fridge as a helping hand/short cut, I knew it was time to try and make it on my own. Of course, this is a super time consuming dish so while it’s not terribly difficult, if someone makes this for you, its love. They just spent hours basically making you two dishes because risotto is only halfway there. Thank your little Italian grandmas.

Once the risotto is made, Molly says to let it cool so you can handle it, then it needs to be portioned out, flattened, stuffed with mozzarella (I had shredded but her cubes looked so much easier to handle), then frozen for about 10mins to harden just a little. I took this time to do some dishes and clean up my recipe box. Then they’re dredged in flour, egg, and panko (I only had regular breadcrumbs) and fried around 350F. Now, my thermometer is dead and I haven’t gotten new batteries for it so I’m eye balling the oil and trying to get it right but this is just setting yourself up to fail so get working thermometer and don’t be like me. Molly advises to cook them for about 6-8mins but mine are brown and crispy in about 3 so I get a little nervous and throw them in a 350F oven for 10mins to make sure the insides are warm and my cheese is melty, praying that they don’t darken too much more on the outside. Guys, I nailed it. Granted, these would be much better if I used cubed mozzarella and panko breadcrumbs instead of regular Italian breadcrumbs but with what I had I’m pretty proud of myself. I could’ve had them be a little smaller and I was seriously missing a marinara/tomato sauce to dip them in but overall, it was great. The cheese melted so well and they were oozy and warm I couldn’t help but rip them open and eat with my hands. It was a little messy but warm and perfect. Like I said, very time consuming and I didn’t even make risotto from scratch so these are not a regular dish to make but they’re love man.

Shepherd's Pie

I’ve got a Good Eats meal today and I’m super pumped for it. I jumped ahead a little but I happened to have just about all the main ingredients for a Shepherd’s Pie in my kitchen so in an effort to save a little money and eat what I have, I made Alton’s recipe from season 12 episode 6. This is a great episode in the theme of Sweeney Todd. Alton tells a story about an ‘ancestor’ and it’s basically that this great ancestor helps this woman who has a meat shop (Mrs. Lovett) create tastier pies while patrons of the barber shop manage to ‘leave’ every time Alton’s ancestor starts a new recipe and needs more ingredients. He doesn’t catch on at all and SPOILERS, ends up running away with the Mrs. Lovett character to America where he eventually disappears under mysterious circumstances. What a tale to tell just to show us how to make meat pies. This is class A educational cooking entertainment.

It’s dark early now guys - I’m just gonna blanket apologize for the poorly lit food photos for the rest of winter. Can’t wait for that spring golden hour light again in six months.

In any case, this is a great episode and I’m a fan of Shepherd’s Pie though it’s not a very popular dish going out and I maybe have made it once in my life. Veggies, ground meat, and potatoes - it’s pretty simple but it’s all the things I want and it’s pretty well rounded and simple to make. Alton manages to cook the whole thing in a large cast iron skillet but mine isn’t big enough so I had to do a couple pots and pour everything into a pie pan which was fine with me. I also cheated it and just used instant mashed potatoes on top to save time and use up the last package I have in my cupboard. The filling is a simple onion, carrot, corn, peas, and garlic mixture and then obviously ground meat. Alton uses lamb but of course it’s interchangeable.

Wegmans recently started selling “Impossible meat” which is a soy based substitute that looks and mimics the texture of ground meat. I obviously do eat meat but I love vegetables and I’ve been trying these meat substitute burgers when I go out just to see what they taste like. A little less red meat in my diet is also fine and I’m not gonna give up steak but switching out ground meat for impossible meat or beyond me is fine with me. I thought I’d give it a shot because people were really excited about Wegmans selling this even though beyond meat has been in stores for quite some time now. There was actually a full freezer case of Impossible meat at the local Wegmans here and I’m guessing they went all in with the product ordering and are hopeful to sell a lot. I decided to give it a shot and honestly I’m not disappointed at all. I added it into the recipe just like I would ground meat and it cooked and crumbled off the same way real meat would and the consistency was a perfect match. While it was cooking it smelled great and I was so excited to try it in the pie.

I’ll say I wasn’t disappointed at all. I’m so pumped for this dish now and honestly I feel like I don’t want to buy ground meat anymore, I’m just going to get Impossible meat as a substitute when I can because it tastes so good and I feel so much better about myself when I eat it. It’s not so greasy and it’s a little lighter but still filing especially in this dish of potatoes. It has a great flavor as it cooks and I’m so happy I gave it a shot. 10/10 would cook this again with impossible meat. Truly guys, give it all a shot.

Adult Mac and Cheese

Bon Appetit has derailed my Good Eats efforts ever so slightly but boy am I eating well. Bon Appetit has their line of “basically” recipes that are around 10 ingredients or less and super easy to execute which I think is fantastic. They have videos on YouTube that have the chefs cooking some of the recipes which is nice if you’re one of those people that needs a visual guide or aren’t familiar with different cooking techniques. I’m getting to see the chefs’ personalities and I get pretty excited when I see that a video includes one of my favorites but honestly, at this point, they’re all my favorite.

Molly Baz is the chef behind this recipe and she’s great and super easy to understand. This is a great recipe for mac and cheese lovers but also for the young college student that loves boxed mac and cheese because it’s just as easy to make. Molly’s recipe doesn’t requite a roux and isn’t complicated but it tastes so much better than boxed mac and cheese. You boil whatever kind of pasta you want, Molly uses shells but we used rotini because that’s what we had in the pantry, and then you make the cheese sauce using butter, black pepper, milk, and freshly grated parm. Molly says in her video that you can use KRAFT singles if that’s all you have on hand and I love that she makes it so casual and accessible. You do you; add whatever cheese you want that is melty and delicious. You make the sauce, add the pasta, and season to taste. It’s literally the same as a boxed mac and cheese and takes the same amount of time but it’s so good and much more satisfying. I’m not sure I can go back to boxed mac and cheese after this. It’s got everything; it’s quick, it’s simple, and it tastes great.

Chicken Pot Pie

I’ve never made a chicken pot pie before but I do love eating it and Alton does a little twist in season 6 of Good Eats that’s super easy and fun to make. Episode 11 of that season is called Casserole Over where Alton’s beloved dog, Matilda, gets kidnapped for ransom after Alton wanders over to a church potluck and eats all of their homemade casserole dishes. That’s right, church ladies steal his dog and hold her as a hostage until he comes back with casserole dishes to replace the ones he’s ruined. This show is gold.

Because of the premise, Alton is in a hurry to get Matilda back so all of the casseroles in this episode are easy to make. The Chicken pot pie recipe actually contains curry but I skipped out on that because I didn’t have any curry powder. It’s a twist on a pot pie because there’s not bottom crust and the top isn’t fully sealed, which inches it over into the world of casseroles.

This recipe honestly is super easy to make and not terribly time consuming. I get pretty hungry after work and now I’m a super old lady who likes to eat dinner closer to 5 than 7 but this was totally worth waiting for. My only issue with it was that I don’t currently have round cookie/biscuit cutters so I had to improvise a little and my puff pastry didn’t rise up around the edges like it should. I knew it would bake off a little pinched because of the way I cut it so it wasn’t unexpected but it still tasted great so that’s all that matters. I actually love crust on a pot pie so I do wish there was a little more but I see an actual closed pot pie recipe coming up in upcoming episodes so stay tuned. I have a feeling I might enjoy that a little more though I’m sure it’ll be more difficult and time consuming having to make a double crust. Overall, I’d make this again. Unfortunately, Caleb doesn’t like pot pies so I’m going to be eating this one alone so maybe I’ll be tired of pot pie by the end of the week when I’ve eaten leftovers every day. I’ve already recommended this recipe to someone else so get cooking guys, it’s worth it.

ROC - Sticky Lips

It was homecoming at RIT this past weekend so that’s exactly what I did, came home. I had work Saturday morning but I’m loving that Rochester is only 2 hours away because I can be back in a snap. Caleb agreed to come with me and we spent Saturday afternoon running small errands for my dad and checking out the local hobby shop/game store before eating a semi-early dinner and heading to the Brick City Hockey game downtown. I love RIT Hockey. Sunday was a pretty relaxed day laying in bed a little later and catching up with my mom. Caleb and I decided to head to RIT because we really wanted to hit up the Salsarita’s on campus but when we got there we found out it was closed for the day. I had hopes that it would be open this Sunday because of all the parents visiting but I was wrong. I guess parents take their kids off campus to eat, who knew? So we stopped by ShopOne to check in with my crochet pieces and drove off campus for lunch

LOCATION: 830 JEFFERSON RD. ROCHESTER, NY 14623

Jefferson Rd happens to be right by my parents house and RIT and has been filling up with commercial stores and restaurants through the years. If you want to go to a chain, it’s probably on Jefferson or right off of it. It’s pretty convenient. This leaves us with a whole slew of choices when it comes to lunch spots and we considered going somewhere with pasta; Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, and Carrabbas are all nearby. But Caleb loves BBQ and I kept bringing up Dinosaur BBQ the day before because it’s right by the hockey arena so I think BBQ was on his mind a little. We decided to head to Sticky Lips BBQ because they have a location right on Jefferson and have that for lunch. It was almost 2pm on a Sunday but we had about a 20min wait which wasn’t bad. We hung out at the bar and I watched some football and checked out the menu.

Caleb and I both decided to build our own combos which is what we typically do when we get BBQ. I went with a 2 meat combo with Texas Beef Brisket and St. Louis Cut BBQ Pork Ribs (with a dry rub) and Cajun Corn as my side and an added side of Home-Cut Fries. Caleb couldn’t decide so he went with the 2 meat combo and also got the St. Louis Cut BBQ Pork Ribs because we both wanted our own servings, Boneless Chicken Breast, and Smoked Turkey with Mac & Cheese (of course) and an extra side of Sweet Potato Fries. The combo also comes with a side of corn bread which is perfect because I don’t like corn bread and Caleb does so he gets his piece for now and my piece for later. We always go into these things knowing we’ll get two meals out of it and it’s always worth it.

So, usually I only get brisket because I love it, or so I thought. I was watching some Bon Appetit and there was an episode where Brad Leone went to a BBQ joint and they did a little view of some pork ribs that looked so good so this time around I got both and I was not disappointed. In my mind, I have the vision of saucy messy ribs and it’s deterred me from eating them but this was a tender dry rubbed fall apart rack of ribs with amazing flavor and I officially have a new favorite. I can’t go to a BBQ place and not get ribs now. They beat out the brisket easily. The beef brisket wasn’t bad here; a little dry and not as tender as I want it to be. The first bite of these ribs was fatty but meaty and just so good. I’m actually getting myself excited for leftovers today. I almost got mashed potatoes with gravy, I’ll keep looking, but I yelped some photos before we had to order and they didn’t look like they were the smashed, chunky texture I’ve been craving so I opted for the french fries and Caleb and I split between those and his sweet potato fries and weren’t disappointed. I love starchy hand cut fries like this. His sweet potato fries were so good! it was like a dessert explosion in your mouth. They have a cinnamon/brown sugar coating on them that tastes so sweet but balances perfectly with the potato starch and tastes like you’re eating a pie. Caleb doesn’t get my like of corn because I always order it on things or as a side when it’s an option and he never wants it. To him, it’s just corn. But this Cajun Corn was a step up for sure and I’m so happy I got it. They come dusted with this seasoning that’s a little salty and a little spicy to give the sweet corn a kick of an aftertaste. It was fantastic. I’ve never had corn with seasoning like this before and I’m all for it. I’ve got to make my own blend at home or something, not that I’m really making that much corn at home, but this is going in the books because it’s so good.

Overall, it was a fantastic meal. The staff was so nice and it was a little slow once we finished eating to get our check and some boxes but I think another table was having some issues with their cards or orders so our waitress was occupied but as soon as she had a chance she came back to us so it was all good.

Sticky Lips also has one of those food challenges for anyone out there who’s looking. It’s called the Atomic Bomb Challenge and it’s about 5lbs of meat and sauce and fries and food that you have to eat in 30mins. While I would never be able to do one, I’m so fascinated by them. I guess I should be watching Man vs. Food or something. It’s so gross but crazy to see someone do one of those plates or challenges. It’s so much food. This one was only $20 which seemed pretty fair and if you finish I think you get a t-shirt and possibly some other stuff. Our waitress told us to check it out on youtube. Sound’s like a great time.

Baked Eggs and Hash

Not gonna lie, I got a little side tracked in my Good Eats watching and ended up watching Bon Appetit youtube videos featuring my favorite test kitchen chef, Brad Leone. Brad does a series for youtube called It’s Alive mostly featuring fermented dishes and ingredients like kombucha and miso but he get’s a little out of the box sometimes too. I love the silly sounds and fun graphics that come along with his videos and just feel happy watching him. He did a little three episode series where he went to the woods and ‘camped’ and cooked food including some breakfast in a cast iron skillet. I’m highly susceptible to food in videos and shows and want to eat everything I see. Which is pretty dangerous seeing that I spend most of my days watching food related shows.. very curious.

In any case, I watched Brad crack these eggs into a great pan of veggies and decided I had to go home and make my own cast iron skillet of hash. This is not the first time I’ve seen a cast iron skillet with beautiful yolk-y eggs on top so I’m not new to this dish but this is the first time I’m taking notes so here we go.

I of course, love potatoes - so I started my skillet off on the stove with a little oil and a sliced potato base. I still like a potato-y, starchy feel to my potatoes so I don’t tend to like a traditional grated hash as much so something sliced or cubed works better for me. I let it go on low so it would cook through better and give it time to get a little brown on the bottom while I figured out what else I was going to do. I ended up mixing in some of my left over acorn squash and stuffing because this skillet hash tends to be great ‘refrigerator velcro’ as Alton Brown would say. This is just that this is a great place for leftovers to go to give them a second life before they have to get thrown out after sitting in your fridge dreaming of getting eat. I decided to search this recipe on the Bon Appetit website and found their Portuguese Baked Eggs and got some good guidelines for oven temps and times and set the oven to 400F.

Once everything was warmed through, I cracked my eggs on top and baked it in the oven. Bon App suggested a baking time of 15-18mins and I went for the lighter end of that spectrum and went for 15mins myself. The whole dish looked so good and I took Brad’s tip from one of his videos to drizzle olive oil around the edge of the pan so when it cooks the edge is crisp and lifts off the pan and this worked perfectly. I timed this really well and got some solid golden hour light in my apartment as I pulled this out of the oven so of course I ran around the place with a hot skillet trying to get a shot before the sun set even more and I missed out. Overall, this was great. My squash was a good idea and sweetened up the eggs and potatoes really nicely but the potatoes added a nice mellow taste to the acorn squash that I appreciated. Unfortunately my eggs, while looking perfect, were completely cooked through and not runny at all. Highly disappointed but I still ate the whole thing so it wasn’t really bad. I’m still craving that runny yolk so hopefully I can get it right next time. That’s the note boys and girls (and future Emily - reading this to remember what I did) - bake for less time, 5-10mins maybe? Just enough to let the whites set and for everything else to be warmed and ready to eat.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I know it’s been slow going on trying to cook new recipes but it turns out groceries cost money and my funds are quite small right now. Instead, I’m trying to save some money and make my way through my stockpile of food in my freezer and in my cabinets before I buy a lot more food. This ends up meaning I’m eating ramen and lots of frozen chicken breasts. Not a very exciting time but economical. It reminds me of being back in college except I think I still had better groceries back then.. Adulting has turned out to be way less fun that it should be. I digress.

I’m still working my way through Good Eats and have decided to treat myself to cooking new food this week. Season 8 episode 14 is entitled “Stuff It” and has a recipe that I’ve decided to give a shot. Alton has spent 7 full seasons reminding viewers that “Stuffing is Evil” but by season 8 he’s gotten so many fan letters asking for a stuffing recipe because, let’s be honest, stuffing is the best part of Thanksgiving. I just love side dishes and could live off of those and appetizers as full meals. I love snacks. Of course “Stuff It” starts off with a traditional stuffing, turkey and all. Alton gives the tips to stuffing and how to make sure that everything is done cooking around the same time so you’re turkey isn’t raw, or dry. Not Good Eats. However, I’m not going to be making a whole turkey with stuffing for myself anytime soon so I’ve decided to move onto the next recipe.

Sorry for the terrible photo; literally crawled out of bed when the timer went off on the oven and almost didn’t take one before laying back down.

Stuffed Acorn Squash is where I’m at. I love acorn squash but I’ve never made it for myself. It’s peak fall season so they’re in every store and stand that I pass and they look so good and I love the way they taste plus they look so cute so I figured this was the time to do it. I cut the recipe in half and by in half I mean I made the whole serving of stuffing and only bought two acorn squash but I think it worked out well. I ended up baking the extra stuffing in a small casserole and had extra rice to eat on the side. It turns out you can’t really fit too much in an acorn squash so it was nice to have a little extra to fill me up because I made this as my dinner, not just a side. I planned on having one squash for dinner and the other for lunch the next day and I’m pretty happy about this decision. I followed the recipe and filled with ground pork, rice, carrots, onions, and celery but I switched out the spinach for mushrooms because I didn’t have it thawed and ready to cook. A little unprepared on my part. I may add the spinach for the second one at lunch today though. I added a little extra wine to the casserole with the extra stuffing and it’s only a little overpowering so some spinach could help cut that flavor just a bit.

This tasted better than I expected. I will put a disclaimer that I have a cold right now so my taste buds are all off kilter and I know that it could use a pinch more salt but I enjoyed making this dish and eating it and I’m really happy with this process. I would totally do this again, it was super easy and really filling and it made my apartment smell great and feel so warm for fall.

'CUSE - Dinosaur BBQ

It’s the day after my birthday and we’re keeping it super chill; lay in bed all day and watch tv kinda chill. This is how I like to spend my days because I’m an old lady and I’m just embracing it.

But actually, on my birthday yesterday we got up to get some breakfast and then went off to a nearby corn maze. I love corn mazes and the fact that my birthday is smack in the middle of autumn with apple picking and corn mazes makes me so happy. Apple Cider and tractor rides, all day. Another girl in this Cortland friend group is the one who really planned this event. Her birthday is in a couple days so she wanted to do a corn maze the weekend before which just so happened to land on my real birthday. I’ll piggyback off of that and celebrate my day in a maze, why not?

Trinity Valley was actually super cute and a had a fun scratch off puzzle for their corn maze which was really adorable. We make it through pretty quickly seeing as Caleb and his housemate Matt both work at the environmental center and are pros at orienteering. There were about 10 of us so we naturally split off into groups but trekked through the maze without a problem. The Dairy Farm gave out a free donut for finishing the maze and we got to pet some baby goats and a sheep after so it was a successful morning with perfect weather.

After, Caleb and I decided we wanted to head to Syracuse and go to Dinosaur BBQ. Trinity Valley was in the slight general direction and I initially wanted Korean BBQ but it turns out its much harder to find out here than I anticipated.

LOCATION: 246 W WILLOW ST, SYRACUSE, NY 13202

Being a Saturday there was quite a crown when we arrived a little after 2pm. We just hit the tail end of lunch so our wait for a table for 2 was only 15mins. Not bad for how popular this place is. Of course, there is a Dino BBQ in Rochester and Caleb and I have each been there before but this was our first time together and my first trip to the Syracuse location, the original.

Caleb loves bbq so this was more his pick than mine but I’ve been watching too many good eats episodes involving BBQ that this really hit the spot.

I’m not a huge BBQ fan but I enjoy good food and this is it. Caleb loves a good pulled pork or a bbq chicken but brisket is my favorite. He got a combo plate with his two meats and two sides (mac and cheese and rice with black beans) which also came with a couple sides of cornbread. I ordered the deluxe brisket plate which came with slow-smoked hand sliced brisket, pickled onion and jalapeno relish, and sliced jalapeno. I opted for my jalapenos on the side since I’m not a huge fan, and my two sides were fresh cut fries and simmered greens with smoked turkey. I don’t typically order greens but I really felt like a vegetable today what with all the fried doughy-buttery foods we had all morning. I almost went with a mashed potato or a chili but decided against it. I was pretty happy with my selection. Caleb’s dish came out wrong with brisket instead of his pulled pork so we mentioned it to the super nice waitress and she fixed it, bringing him his pulled pork. This just mean that we had another half serving of brisket and Caleb isn’t really a fan of beef so it was all for me.

The dino sauce that they put on the brisket is just what I like - vinegary and tart to brighten up the meaty flavor. This brisket was a little leaner for me and some of the edges were a little chewier while some slices were marbled really nicely and fell apart really well. It’s a hit or miss i guess with the cuts you get at the high volume they have to cook and serve to keep up with this place.

I’m super happy with my choice of greens. At first bite was a little skeptical about my decision but as I continued eating brisket with greens it was a wonderful blend that I was happy I did. The greens, like the bbq sauce, were tart and vinegary so there was my hit of that. I saved most of my fries for later because I knew going in that this was a two meal order - more like three with Caleb’s extra serving of brisket. But the fries were perfect. They’re warm and crisp on the outside while still being soft and potato-y on the inside. They were seasoned well and they have that freshly cut and fried taste which I can appreciate.

Overall, this was a great birthday meal. We didn’t mention that it was my birthday so I wonder if they do anything special (i.e. free dessert) but we were so stuffed and had so many leftovers we decide to call it a day and head to the nearby mega mall and walk it off a little. A successful birthday lunch - it wasn’t KBBQ but it was close enough and very tasty.

Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

Another weekend, another opportunity to bake! I’ve been on a Good Eat’s kick and I’ve been slowly re-watching all 14 of the original season before I start the newest one. I’ve only made it up to season 7 so far so it’s slow going but it’s worth it. Good Eats was one of my favorite shows growing up and it fostered this love of cooking and baking but also the science behind it. Not to mention Alton Brown’s mix of sarcastic and witty is just a great way to live life. So this week’s recipe is from season 7 and it’s the Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookie.

I’m not going to lie, these cookies were a bit of a challenge. The dough was a little dry for me which made it difficult to roll but I think that could be help by rolling it out in a warmer place (my kitchen is freezing) and monitoring the amount of time I refrigerate everything for. It got to be a little frustrating but I got it to work with a little effort and some patience.

These guys came out a little more peppermint-y than chocolate-y which I think is fine. I am still getting used to my oven and I will admit that I over-baked them slightly. The tops look perfect but the bottoms are quite crisp and while it’s not burnt, it’s a little tough. I did eat a slightly thinner end piece so I’m hoping the middle cuts are a little softer but with my oven, I’d opt for a 9-10 min bake instead of the instructed 12mins. I was just deceived by the light color tops and should’ve done a better job checking them.

So far I’ve gotten that they’re a good paring with coffee (to soften them) and with a little more baking they could hit biscotti hardness which also works. I guess I ended up in the middle being not quite too hard but also not soft either. Life’s a balance.

Overall, these aren’t bad and they’re a good doable challenge compared to other easy roll and cut recipes. They just take some patience and perseverance but they could probably also used a little more warmth and a little less time in the oven.

Orecchiette with Bacon, Black-Eyed Peas and Spinach

I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m doing it! I have these stacks of food magazines from years ago and before I moved this summer I sifted through all of them an make recipe cards with things I’d like to try to make. Now that I have a kitchen and have decided to learn to feed myself things are coming along. I should really be doing half portions of everything because that yields enough for me but the accidental meal prep is also fantastic because I always seem to forget about lunch.

This week I’ve shuffled through the stack of recipe cards and the the one on top is from Food & Wine. I’m a fan of theirs obviously and figured I’d give this a go. I substituted the black eye peas for just regular black beans and I actually wilted my spinach a little. I’m cutting it close with that golden hour light to finish the dish but it worked out.

I’ll top with bacon and cheese each day when I sit down for lunch. Pretty excited about how this one turned out.

Ratatouille

Ever since the pixar movie came out in 2007 I’ve wanted to make a ratatouille, of course. But while it’s been on my list, it’s never made it to my kitchen. Whenever I’m living with my parents, cooking doesn’t usually happen too much. My dad is a chef and neither of my parents really eat ‘American’ food so I’m left to eat anything I cook while also being served their food left and right. But I’ve finally done it. I’ve pushed myself to actually cook this now that I don’t have mountains of homework and an actual kitchen that’s all mine.

We also went to the farmers’ market on Saturday and I found amazing zucchini and yellow squash to use and I should’ve bought eggplant and tomatoes while I was at it but of course I didn’t plan ahead so I ended up with a trip to the grocery store for the rest of my ingredients.

I googled ratatouille and found a couple different recipes and pieced them together so I don’t have anything specific to share. I bought myself a cute overly-expensive mandolin/grater and sliced the eggplant and tomatoes by hand and lined them up in my square casserole dish and called it a day. It actually came out a lot nicer than I was expecting and I’m pretty proud of myself for finally making it. Of course one eggplant, one zucchini, one yellow squash, and a whole bunch of tomatoes means I’ll be eating ratatouille for the next two weeks but at least lunch is all set!

The Best Blueberry Muffins

I still have a whole container of gingerbread crinkle cookies sitting at Caleb’s house but they don’t make for my kind of breakfast so this week I decided I would make blueberry muffins so my stomach won’t grumble up a storm while I’m at work trying to keep my eyes open at 6:30am.

My friend Julia from high school gave me the recipe for her family’s blueberry muffins that I’m in love with. Back when we were in middle and high school her mom would bake these muffins with the perfectly crisp tops that popped right off full of huge blueberries melting inside. Of course the muffin tops are the best part so you save those for last and you eat the bottoms while the sugary crisp tops wait for you on your plate. Then when that’s done you get to take a bite of this amazing piece of pastry. It’s the best. These muffins are seriously my favorite, and I’m not a huge breakfast/sweets person. The cinnamon sugar balance is so good and makes me so happy. I’m eating one right now at my desk trying not to get crumbs all over the place.

Of course it’s not my recipe to give so it’ll have to be a secret that I keep. But rest assured, even if you have the recipe, these guys are hard to make so perfectly. Julia’s mom has obviously had years of experience but maybe if I’m making these every couple of weeks I’ll be able to nail them down. As it is right now I can’t get those perfect tops which is the reason to eat these things in the first place but I’ll get there. I just need to fill my tins with a little more batter so that they puff over the top and actually make a removable top that doesn’t get stuck to the paper liner. It’s a work in progress, a very delicious one. I also modified these this time with some raspberries so its a blueberry raspberry muffin which I think is a great combination. There just happened to be a sale at the grocery store for BOGO berries so I figured a little experimentation can’t hurt. It came out tasty and since the blueberries are going out of season with this wrap up of summer, they’re a little sour and the raspberries helped balance it out because for whatever reason, they’re still sweet. While this batch isn’t perfect yet, they’ll get there, I just need a few more tries.

Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

I’ve caught up on all my past posts and found myself with very little to add to the blog and a handful of extra time just sitting around. Unfortunately, Cortland is a very small town with very few places to eat that make me excited to write about. Diners and chains are fun but not always noteworthy. So I’ve decided to bring back baking to fill my time and give me some fodder. Hope you guys are ready for it.

First up are some Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies. I’ve never made crinkle cookies before so this was a fun experiment and actually really simple. The dough is made and formed into balls and rolled in powdered sugar and when they bake, they crinkle open and flatten out to make these really cute cracks. Mine didn’t quite flatten out which seems to be a regular problem I’m having with cookies in general but they still taste good and crack open a little and with some help after they come out of the oven I can manually flatten slightly. They are pretty dense and flavorful with molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and clove all working together. I’m really glad I portioned them out into small cookies because they’re heavy but they’re still good.

The best part of these is they smell so good, making my apartment warm and ginger-y. They do require 2 hours to chill in the refrigerator before baking so that time needs to be accounted for but it’s a nice recipe that’s easy to follow and yields acceptable results and warm fall/winter smells.

Comeback - cookies

After over a year of hiatus from blogging I’ve gotten my life together and I’m back! Things have been crazy and I’ve moved away from Chicago after graduation to start a new job in Cortland, NY. Now that I’m settled into my new place and a new job I’ll go back into the archives and see what I can find in terms of photos of my food travels and cooking adventures and maybe backlog a few posts to make up for the year without posting. So, scroll down and see what I’ve been up to the past year, I promise I’ve been eating well.

As a little welcome back, here are some cookies I’ve been in love with recently from Bon Appetit. We’re a little in love with the Bon Appetit youtube channel and I was shown the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookie Video which we had to make right away.

I’ve never done a cookie with toffee before and I really really love it. That salty, sweet combination is balanced so well in this cookie and while I’m not a HUGE fan of chocolate, Rick uses a chocolate wafer instead of a chip and it’s life changing. A wafer just adds a softness and a chewiness to the cookie that makes it melt in your mouth. This is a cookie we’re gonna make many more times in the very near future as a great party dessert or for any sort of fun gathering.

Seriously - Try them