Anddddddd I'm Back!

After an extremely long, unexplained absence, I wish I had an interesting story to tell about why I haven't posted anything in more than a month. Something like... I was whisked away to Paris, France as soon as a restaurant owner heard of my blog, and I have been working there! Truth is, I was swamped by school. That's all there is to it. Boring... However, I have still been cooking and taking pictures, I just haven't been able to update the blog. I will try my hardest to update more regularly, at the very least, once a week.

And so, I figured since I am on March Break, I could spend some of my time updating this (while listening to the Harry Potter soundtrack, of course!)

For my first recipe; a rather simple, yet elegant, dessert. Lately, I've realized that I should always have a frozen pack of puff pastry in my kitchen. If I am out of ingredients to make a more complex dessert, or simply too lazy, I can always use the puff pastry dough to make croissants or some other quick pastry. Which is what I decided to do one night, but I didn't feel like serving my parents and myself plain croissants. So I decided to dress them up, and everyone loved them! I loved how the sweetness of the mango cut through the heaviness of the chocolate; it just worked really great. Enjoy!

The Intellectual Croissants

Ingredients:

1 frozen pack of puff pastry dough

1 egg and tablespoon of water (for egg wash)

Mango puree/ sorbet (run frozen mango chunks for food processor until smooth)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Splash of heavy cream

Directions for croissants:

-let the puff pastry dough thaw, until cool to the touch

-on a flour-covered surface, roll out the dough until rather thin, yet not translucent

-using a sharp knife, or pizza cutter, cut the dough into quarters

-then cut each quarter diagonally and you will end up with 8 triangles

-roll the triangles, with the tip pointing out from you, into croissant shapes

-with the egg wash, 1 beaten egg and a splash of water, brush it on top of the croissants

-place on a slightly greased baking tray, or on aluminum foil

-follow the instructions on the dough box on how to bake, but I made mine at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes

Directions for chocolate ganache:

-while those are baking, you have time to make the chocolate ganache

-while you can use a double boiler to melt the chocolate, the microwave saves you a lot of time and pots to clean later

-into a microwave safe bowl, add in the chocolate and heavy cream

-heat on medium power for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds

-your ganache is ready!

To assemble:

-once the croissants are ready, dip or smear the ganache on top of them

-on plates, add 1 tablespoon of the mango puree/sorbet

-on top, place the chocolate-smeared croissants and there you have it!

A Sweet Treat for Valentine's Day

Once I found this recipe online, I just had to make it. I had to. Firstly, it looked delicious. Secondly, it was adorable, with it's Valentine's Day theme. And lastly, I had never made cupcakes before so I figured this was a good starting point! These were simple enough to make and had an extremely delicious and delicate flavour to them. There was only ONE revision I had made to this, which was for the icing, I used about 1- 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar. I despise icing that is composed of only sugar, so I wanted to cut back and it tasted divine. Make these for that special someone to show your true sweet feelings! (Awwwwwwwww!)

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 tbsp strawberry puree (which is running fresh/frozen but thawed strawberries through a food processor)

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup of strawberry puree

1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

-for the cupcakes, pre-heat the oven to 350 F

-mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl

-in a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla and strawberry puree

-beat the butter in another bowl, and then add the sugar, beating until mixed well

-while mixing on the lowest speed, add the egg, and beat until combined well

-add half of the flour mixture and mix on low, then add the milk mixture, mixing briefly

-add the rest of the flour mixture, mix well again

-into greased cupcake tins, or as I did, into greased muffin tins, add the batter

-bake for 23 minutes

Frosting:

-beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until mixed well, then add a tablespoon of the puree, mix well, then add another tablespoon and mix again

Enjoy!

Sammy Samosa

I've never had a samosa before tonight. And what a great way to start it off; with my own! To summarize, they are delicious but a pain in the butt to make. Making the filling wasn't hard, but it was putting it into the puff pastry, then trying to secure them that just took copious amounts of time. However, it may be because I'm not experienced with them. I could see these being a tremendous hit at a dinner party as appetizers. This recipe I actually tweaked from the book I found it in. So read on and good luck!

Samosa

Ingredients:

1 pack puff pastry dough

1 lb ground turkey (or chicken or beef)

1 large onion

Salt, pepper

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 egg, beaten, and 2 tbsp water

Directions:

-pre-heat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit

-heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, and when hot enough, put in the ground turkey

-chop the onion into quarters and feed into a food processor

-pulse until in small bits

-once turkey isn't pink anymore, combine it with the onions in a bowl using your hands

-add salt, pepper and cumin

-roll out the puff pastry until thin, but not translucent

-using a cookie cutter, or a glass like I did, cut as many circles as you can

-when that is done, add a small amount of filling in the middle of each

-fold one end over and, using a fork, seal the edges

-on a baking sheet with alumnium foil, spray a small amount of Pam to keep them from sticking, and align the samosas

-in a small bowl, beat the egg with the water and brush over them

-bake for 20 minutes, then turn the heat to 355 degrees Farenheit and bake for another 15 minutes

-Enjoy!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For "Mushrooms!"

There is just an endless amount of things you can do with pasta. So many different recipes, yet so little time. Yet again, I made this exactly as the recipe stated, so I am treating you to another "copy and pasted" recipe. Yes, this seems unprofessional, and please excuse me, but I will stop this soon enough. Now this didn't take me long to do at all. Well, actually it kind of did, but that's only because I am very thorough when I cook, so I end up taking forever. However, if I were to make this again, which I definitely will as it was a major hit, I would spend a lot less time fumbling around. Just five words: the mushroom sauce was delicious. It was perfectly creamy and tasty and just perfect. When you make the recipe though, add more mushrooms! There wasn't nearly enough of them for the amount of pasta there was. There can never be too many mushrooms.

PASTA WITH CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE
2 servings

freshly cooked pasta
200 g/7 oz mushrooms, cremini, Portobello or common button mushrooms
1/2 clove of garlic
a small bunch of parsley
100 ml/0,42 cup fresh cream
salt
white pepper
butter or extra-virgin olive oil

- Put mushrooms, garlic and parsley in a food processor and run for a minute or two until everything is chopped into small pieces. Or chop by hand, it's pretty quick that way too.
- Cook the mushrooms in butter or olive oil over medium heat until the liquid has evaporated.
- Add cream, pepper and salt and continue to cook until creamy, then add to the freshly cooked and drained pasta.
- Serve as it is or with freshly grated parmesan.

Pa-pa-pa Parm!

I adore chicken parmesan. Simply the thought of chicken and tomatoes together makes my mouth water. Now I found this recipe, yet again, on FoodGawker, and I followed it exactly. So, I do not want to sit here and re-type the recipe. By the way, I have been making a lot of my recent meals exactly as I find the recipes online, so if I just post the link, do not get upset. I will be modifying my meals soon though, so expect the recipes fully written out. This recipe though, I cannot find the link, so I copy and pasted it from the email I sent myself containing it. Now, I made the sauce the night before, because I wasn't ready to sleep, so at midnight, I was working the magic in my kitchen. I simply refrigerated it overnight, and it was absolutely fine to serve with the chicken the next day. Enjoy!

Lighter Chicken Parm
from Cooks Illustrated

Tomato Sauce

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
4 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
table salt and ground black pepper

Chicken

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
table salt
ground black pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
nonstick cooking spray
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets
3 ounces reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

For the Sauce:

Pulse the tomatoes in a food processor until mostly smooth, about ten 1-second pulses; set aside. Cook the garlic, tomato paste, oil, and pepper flakes in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the tomato paste begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and cook until the sauce is thickened and measures 2 cups, about 20 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside until needed.

For the Chicken:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees. Combine the bread crumbs and oil in a 12-inch skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring often, until golden, about 10 minutes. Spread the bread crumbs in a shallow dish and cool slightly; when cool, stir in the Parmesan.

In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together. In a third shallow dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place a wire rack on top, and spray the rack with vegetable oil spray. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg whites, and finally coat with the bread crumbs, Press on the bread crumbs to make sure they adhere. Lay the chicken on the wire rack.

Spray the tops of the chicken with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the meat is no longer pink in the center and feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce onto the center of each cutlet and top the sauce with 2 tablespoons of the mozzarella. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and serve, passing the remaining sauce and Parmesan separately.

Ooh La La

Nigella Lawson is my British cooking idol. She seems to be so relaxed, yet she creates the most gorgeous and delicious looking meals. I needed a simple dessert one night, so I made her recipe to a T. I'm not going to bother re-typing it, so I'll just post the link. This honestly is extremely easy to make, and the croissants are absolutely scrumptious with a hot cup of tea at the end of a long day.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/chocolate-croissants-recipe/index.html

Enjoy!

Complete and Utter Deliciousness.

I love all recipes that include chicken thighs, as the thighs are probably my favourite meat on a chicken. When made right, they're incredibly tender and go well with any meal. I made this recipe using one I found online on someone's blog, however I just cannot find their website to cite it. Whoever you are, thank you so much for the recipe. All rights go to you! Anyway, I made this for a sort of late brunch, however this can definitely be served for dinner. It is very filling and visually appetizing. And I served it with a bed of baby spinach and my capri salad tomatoes (which the recipe can be found here: http://cookshmook.blogspot.com/2010/01/little-taste-of-italy.html) For those of you who haven't cooked with brown rice before, it will have a different texture than white rice. So don't be fooled into thinking it's not ready, it will be ready after approximately 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 tsbp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup brown rice

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 and 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp of each: salt, cumin, dried basil and dried oregano

1/4 tsp of paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

chicken thighs (about 2 per person)

Directions:

-heat olive oil in a large skillet, or deep pan, on medium heat

-add onions and cook until soft

-add garlic and rice, then stir for about 1 minute

-add seasoning, tomatoes and chicken broth

-place the chicken thighs on top

-bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat

-simmer until rice is tender and chicken is done (about 45-60 minutes)

-enjoy!