Hu Hot at home?

Have any of you ever been to Hu Hot? Once I initially get over my buffet anxiety and ignore the fact they are giant germ pools of grossness, I for whatever reason really enjoy this place. You grab a bowl (or 2) and go through three different buffet stations... the first being meat and noodles, the second your veggies, and the third and largest station your sauces (a surprisingly large variety). You put all of your ingredients in bowls and hand them off to your smiling Hu Hot employee. Then, they throw it on a giant round flat top. Chop it all up, make a bunch of noise, and throw their spatulas around all while flipping your meal in the air and whatever other random things they decide to do. During dinner the buffet comes with a salad, rice, and tortillas. It's all you can eat and fairly healthy. They even have a healthy Hu Hot section on their website.

Anyway, it inspired me to make a healthy lunch at home, that was so good I ate it two days in a row. Please don't judge my shameful use of imitation "Krab" meat... I'm a broke college kid okay??? Lay off! Also, this meal is insanely delicious, fills you up all day, and is SUPER quick. I typically have an our tops between my last class and having to be at work, so this is definitely my new favorite lunch.

You will need:

-All of your favorite veggies

-2 cloves of garlic

-Meat of your choice (or not)

-Teriyaki sauce

-Sweet Chili sauce (you can use soy or whatever other sauces you like on your "stir fries"

-Veggie steamer (or steaming basket), frozen veggies would work too, or a wok

-Small sauté pan

-Rice of your choice

What to do:

I grabbed a lot of convenience products, just to save time. I took

-a small bag of sugar peas (still in the pod)

-pre-sliced button mushrooms

-red and orange bell peppers (julienned)

-pre cut broccoli, and some sliced red onions rings

I put the broccoli and sugar peas in the bottom level of my veggie steamer, and then placed the julienned peppers and mushrooms on the top tier. I set the steamer for about 9 minutes. (I like to have some bite in my veggies)

*I split them up because I thought the mushrooms and peppers would cook quicker, but they were actually ready the same time as the broccoli and pea pods.

While your veggies are steaming grab a small sauté or omelet pan. Over medium heat add:

-1 Tablespoon Teriyaki sauce

-2 Tablespoons Sweet Chili sauce

-2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

-1/2 cup of *cough cough* Krab

The Krab is precooked, so this is just to heat it up.

While this was going I threw in a pouch of Uncle Ben's Jasmine rice, that cooks wonderfully in 90 seconds. (Granted, you can put rice in your veggie steamer, but this is quicker and already portioned)

When finished, take rice out of microwave and pour pouch into large bowl. Add your steamed veggies and top with Krab and sauces.

This is seriously delicious, super super healthy, and even more importantly filling. It's so great to feel full from a nutritious lunch. I went to work right after this meal and felt full, but not heavy. I had so much energy and wasn't as tempted to snack on...everything.

Try this at home with your favorite veggies and sauces! Enjoy!

My first go at Pâte à choux...

Winner winner (mini) éclairs for dinner (and a few mini cream puffs)!

I never knew how simple it was to make lush eggy little tubes of custardy deliciousness. Yep, that's right... eggy tubes of custardy deliciousness... DIPPED in chocolate. My dad loves éclairs and I love crossing baked goods off my list of things to try, and so my mind was made. Also, any time I have a reason to make vanilla bean pastry cream... I'm in. (If you have never used actual Vanilla Beans, do it. They're pricey, but will change your life and are far worth every cent.)

I used Pierre Hermé recipe for pâte à choux. It was simple and turned out beautifully. Try it. You can do it, I promise.

½ cup (125g) whole milk

½ cup (125g) water

1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

¼ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your hand mixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes: 1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

oh hey little pile of deliciousness

For the filling, (Crème Pâtissière fancy pants for Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream) I used this wonderful recipe from the book The Art & Soul of Baking. I doubled it, but that's only because a.) I didn't want to run out and b.) I'm always happy to use up extra pastry cream, it definitely won't go to waste, but here is the recipe (not doubled).

Equipment
• Large Bowl, Medium Saucepan, Paring Knife, Two Medium Bowls, Whisk, Fine- Mesh Strainer

Ingredients
• 1½ cups (12 ounces) whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) sugar
• 1/4 cup (1¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cold unsalted butter


Directions
1. Fill the large bowl halfway with ice and water and set it aside. Pour the milk into the medium saucepan. Use the tip of a paring knife to cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Turn the knife over and use the dull side to scrape the seeds into the saucepan, then add the pod. Heat until the mixture just begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and let steep for 30 minutes. (If using vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean, skip this step and add the extract later.)

2. Heat the milk to just below the boiling point and remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolks, and sugar until well blended and smooth. Add the flour and whisk vigorously until the mixture is very smooth. Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper the yolks. Slowly pour the yolk mixture back into the hot milk, whisking all the while.

3. Heat the mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the flour from lumping, until it reaches a boil. Continue to cook and whisk for another minute, until the pastry cream is very thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter (and vanilla extract, if using). Strain the pastry cream through the strainer set over a medium bowl to remove any lumps or tiny bits of egg. (Save the vanilla bean: Rinse it thoroughly, allow to dry, then use it to make vanilla sugar).

4. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream, then set the bowl into the bowl of ice water. Once the pastry cream has completely cooled, use or store in the refrigerator until needed.

my dad was astounded by how teeny my cream puffs were and insisted they be photographed next to his silver dollar.

Now, you have your beautiful little pastries and your delicious pastry cream. You have two options for filling them. Cut them in half lengthwise with a serrated knife or fill them with a pastry tip. If you don't have the super long filling pastry tip, I'd suggest cutting them. I however, had the super long goofy looking pastry tip, so I used that.

Now, for dipping. I used really nice milk chocolate for some of them and a 53% chocolate for the others.

-Now... get about 2 cups of nice quality chocolate and about 1 Tablespoon of butter.

-Put 3/4's of the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it in 30 second intervals.

-30 seconds.

-30 seconds again, then stir with spatula.

-Continue with 30 second intervals until it's entirely melted.

-Once the chocolate is melted dump the remaining unmelted 1/4 cup of chocolate and tab of butter in. (The fat in the butter will allow the chocolate to set firmer) Stir together. Ta da! You just tempered chocolate. Feel free to add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup for extra sheen.

Eclairs are obviously best served fresh. They can be stored in the fridge, but they'll get soggy with time.

Bake and enjoy!

new recipe in a very old pan...

My family is visiting tomorrow, and I couldn’t be more stoked! My brother has been trying to come down for the last two weeks, but between his work schedule, my work/school schedule, and snow it hasn't happened. Whenever my parents come to town we always go out to a nice dinner (usually hit up the Casino), and then come back to my apartment for some dessert. I typically try to make them a little something to take home too. I decided to try out éclairs for dessert. My dad adores them and I had never made them before. They turned out absolutely beautiful. I’ll share them with you in the next post.

My father also, absolutely loves pears and grows some of the most delicious ones I’ve ever tasted. His pears are like sugar, juicy juicy sugar. Unbelievable. Anyway, we’ve had some really great pears at work lately too, so I decided to pick a few up from the store a few nights ago to send home with my dad. Well, I guess they ripen quicker than I remember and truthfully I entirely forgot about them. So while my éclairs were baking I was looking around for a pear recipe. I didn’t feel like making anything too fancy or too time consuming seeing that I just made, piped, and baked éclairs and vanilla bean pastry cream (yep, start drooling). I saw pear bread that a lot of people made from Smitten Kitchen, which is usually the first spot I look when searching for a new recipe. It kept saying to grate the pears, and my pears were not grateable, they were… mush. So I thought to myself you mash bananas why not mash pears? So I did. I mashed em, real good. There were a few chunks here and there, but all in all it was mush. Let me tell you, mush has never tasted so good. Apart from it looking beautiful and tasting great, it was so incredibly aromatic while baking. I wish I could save that scent. It really was incredible.

*Sidenote, I should never use bundt pans. I always will, because I have my grandmother’s bundt pan and I will use and cherish everything that is hers for the rest of my life, but I’m not patient enough for bundt pans. I waited 10 minutes, I even set a timer! Flipped it, felt it touch the plate, and well… there was a big ol chunk still in the pan.

yep, that's a hole

It’s entirely baked, it’s just a curse. Oh well, I guess that was my grandmother’s way of insisting I try it right then and there. Anyway, here’s the recipe. In addition to the ingredients below, I added about ½ cup of pecans and ½ cup of walnuts… because that’s what I had. When it came out of the pan I sprinkled it with cinnamon and brown sugar because uh.. hello it's cinnamon and brown sugar.

Make this, enjoy this, and have a little more patience than me

Pear Bread, adapted from here who adapated it from here

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 (heaping) tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

2/3 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

4-5 ripe pears, peeled and cored

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Butter and flour your favorite bundt pan. Set aside.

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a large bowl.

Place the pears in a small bowl and mash. *Some of my pears were not as super ripe as the others, and it was just fine if they’re a tad on the chunky side* Add the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix well.

Add the pear mixture to the flour mixture. Fold the mixture until no specks of flour remain, being careful not to overmix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the bread out on a wire rack and cool completely.

Sunday Brunch

Okay, so I woke up at noon on Saturday and made this before I went to work, but it was still brunch time! Plus, it was so good I might make it again today, so HA! Sunday brunch!

Below you will see a guilt free feast fit for a food fanatic. Get ready to chow down with out chubbin' up. This entire meal maybe takes 10 minutes to prepare, and fills you up all day. Also, the options are endless... load up your omelet and pancakes with whatever you'd like!

Baby spinach and mushroom egg white omelet

(look at that fold, be impressed)

cinnamon, banana, and walnut whole wheat buttermilk pancakes

with delicious CALORIE FREE syrup

This morning (cough cough afternoon cough) I threw a griddle and omelet pan on the stove, and got down to business. I sprayed my pans with my ever loyal Criso butter pan-spray and turned the heat on. I poured my liquid egg whites in the omelet pan (just enough to coat the pan plus a tad more for good measure) and did a quick chiffonade on some baby spinach, threw in some button mushroom slices, a pinch of kosher salt and cracked some black pepper on top the whites. Truthfully I'm not going to get too in-depth on proper omelet making...perhaps that will happen on a later date.

With the omelet looking fabulous and waiting to be eaten, it was onto the pancakes...

As you can figure out by the links, I used Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancake mix, which is incredibly delicious. They are light, taste great, and cook up a beautiful golden brown. (seriously, look at those banana's looking good) All you need is:

• 3/4 c of the pancake mix

• 1/2 c milk

• 1 egg

• 1 Tablespoon of oil.

Throw the ingredients in a bowl, whisk em up, and pour onto a hot griddle. Flip your jacks when they start to bubble. SO simple.

But there's more...

Calorie Free syrup. Calorie free?! YEP. TRUTH. I wouldn't lie about calories. Honestly, I don't like drinking water... perhaps I can just put this in a water bottle and be set? Okay...this syrup is freaking delicious but really... that was gross, sorry. However, it tastes JUST like the real deal. So good! I could be a dirty liar, but I feel as though there is an ever so subtle coffee taste to it. That could be a lie... but it was intended to be a good thing.

Okay, I'll stop flapping my gab and you start flipping some flap jacks.

Bake and enjoy!

Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Cream

I had been itching to make something for you all for a few days now, and more so wanted to make something to photograph. I'm really really trying to brush on my photo skillz, ha! However, I've been swampedwith work. Valentine's Day means extra fancy desserts and extra reservations. Oh well, extra hours means extra money, wohoo. (If I can snap some photos tomorrow I'll be sure to share, we have some beautiful desserts this weekend.)

Anyway, I saw that the lovely Smitten Kitchen had a new update, so of course I had to check it out. If you don't know her blog, you should. If you don't love her blog, you don't have a brain. Seriously. But anyway, she had these cute little cupcakes and I knew I had to try them. Apart from her brilliance, another selling point was that it only makes 9. I live alone, and I just wanted to photograph something, 9 was perfect.These little guys are adorab

le, and would be great for a small dinner party. Make them, and try them. They're light and fluffy, moist and flakey. Mmmm! Did I mention they are BEAUTIFUL!?

She originally made these with mint cream which I imagine woudl be fabulous, but I was just gifted some nice white chocolate and Chambord so I decided to make mine raspberry.

Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Cream snatched with the utmost respect from the talented Smitten Kitchen

Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes

6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I preferred this with bittersweet)

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) (86 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) espresso or instant coffee powder

3 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons (97 grams) sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Raspberry Cream
2 ounces (56 grams) white chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon Chambord (more or less to taste)

Get the cream ready for later: Place the white chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute to melt the chocolate. Whisk well. Add the booze and whisk again. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream. Chill until very cold, about two hours.

Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9 standard-size (3-ounce) muffin cups with paper liners. Stir chocolate, butter and espresso powder together in heavy medium saucepan over low heat mostly melted, then remove from the heat and whisk until it is fully melted and smooth. (I like to put the butter underneath the chocolate in the pan, so that it protects the chocolate from the direct heat.) Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.Using electric mixer (a hand mixer, rather than a stand mixer, actually works best here because the volumes are so small) beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Briefly beat lukewarm chocolate mixture, then vanilla extract, into yolk mixture. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and all of the salt, beating until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each three-fourths of the way. (You might find, as I did, that you had enough leftover for a extra half-cake. That’s your “taste tester”. It’s a, uh, very important part of the process.)Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry to the touch (some may crack, embrace it) and a tester inserted into the centers comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a cooling rack, where the cupcakes will almost immediately start to fall. It will be all the better to put your raspberry cream on them.

Finish your masterpiece: Beat raspberry white chocolate cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Remove cupcakes from pan, arrange on a platter. Fill each sunken top with a healthy dollop of white chocolate raspberry cream. Top with shaved dark chocolate, if you’re feeling fancy. I’d say “eat at once” but I suspect that you already have.

King Cake

I know I am a week early with this post, but to be honest I have Mardi Gras on the brain. Don't get it twisted, I'm from Saint Louis, which is the second biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the country (second to NOLA, obviously). In all honestly, I never really got behind the whole Mardi Gras thing. I'm not a flasher, I don't enjoy drinking to the point of possible death, and well Saint Louis is COLD in February. SNOWY and COLD.

However, being a fat kid in grade school I LOVED Fat Tuesday. Going to Catholic school my whole life, Fat Tuesday was a big deal. Teachers would bring in crazy colored popcorn, doughnuts, cupcakes, and whatever else. Fat Tuesday was the last day to indulge in whatever we were giving up for Lent. Typically for me, it was drinking insane amounts of soda, lying compulsively, and swearing like a truck driver. So in honor of Fat Tuesday and fat kids out there everywhere, I wanted to give the infamous King Cake a whirl. I've never eaten a King Cake. Saint Louis is home of the Gooey Butter Cake, and I've seen those Mardi Gras'ed out, but that's about it.

Also, I didn't expect to actually get to blog about this because I was positive I'd jack it up and throw it in the trash can and sulk on my couch. However, it not only turned out, it turned out fabulously, so I'm eager to share. In fact, I'm eager to share so I give the darn thing away so I don't eat it tonight. I've had... more than I'd like to admit. But whatever, it's the Tuesday before Fat Tuesday, lay off!

look at it!!!

I spent several weeks researching King Cakes, and trying to figure out what is a traditional King Cake. I finally decided on this recipe, and followed the steps EXACTLY. This blogger gave better how-to-instructions than I ever could, so I'll just copy and paste. However, the only thing I did differently was the icing. I didn't follow the directions for the icing for a couple of reasons...

gooey deliciousness!!!

1.) She used raw egg whites in her icing, and that just seems weird.

2.) After lots of research I've so eloquently concluded that King Cakes are braided cinnamon rolls shaped into a ring. Ta da!

3.) A lot of people stuffed their braids with cream cheese, and I decided since I'm very inexperienced in braiding breads I shouldn't try to stuff something in what I'm attempting to braid.

4.) Rather than the "traditional" decor, I made stupidly delicious cream cheese icing and colored it with my handy dandy Wilton gel colors. They're vibrant and awesome. Truthfully, the thought of putting TONS and TONS (if you google King

Cakes you'll see those bad boys are COVERED in sprinkles) of gritty colored sugar sprinkles, on top powdered sugar icing, on top a cinnamon roll makes my teeth hurt and my stomach sick.

you can do it!!!

She included these helpful tips:

• The dough can be started one day in advance. Once the dough has risen the initial hour, it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours, covered.
• The cake is definitely best eaten within one day of preparation, ideally the same day that it is prepared. Be sure to keep it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature to prevent it from drying out.
• Feel free to play around with the filling recipe, depending on what you have on hand. Finely chopped almonds or pecans, candied citron, dried cranberries or cherries, and raisins are all good options.
• Instead of braiding the dough, you can also roll it up jelly-roll style. After rolling the dough to the 24X10-inch rectangle, brush it with the melted butter and sprinkle the filling on top. Tightly roll the dough and then bring the ends of the roll together, pinching to seal.

here is what you'll need:

For the dough

1/2 cup whole milk

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

6 ounces butter, softened

4 large eggs

Zest from one orange

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the icing:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

delicious guts of half a vanilla bean

the juice of one whole lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Here is what you'll do:

Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan, heat the milk to about 110F degrees. Pour the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Add 1 teaspoon of the sugar and stir to combine. Set the mixture aside until the yeast is foamy, 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the remaining sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the yeast mixture and mix for 1 minute. Add an egg and mix thoroughly; follow with a third of the flour. Repeat with the remaining eggs and flour. Add the orange zest, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt, and continue to mix on low speed for 7-8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, and it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too soft, add up to 1/2 cup of flour.

Scrape the dough from the bowl and lightly knead to form into a ball. Butter or oil the inside of a medium size bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

When the dough has risen, turn it out of the bowl, punch it down, and knead it lightly to form a ball. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Form the cake: Flour a clean work surface. Roll the dough into a 10 by 20-inch rectangle, keeping the thickness consistent throughout. Cut the dough lengthwise into 3 strips. Paint each strip of the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border clean along the length of each strip. Reserve any leftover butter. Sprinkle the strips with the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Fold each strip over lengthwise toward the clean edges to enclose the cinnamon sugar, and pinch the seam to seal the dough closed. Snugly braid the three pieces together. Transfer the braid to the baking sheet and form the braid into a wreath, pressing the ends together. Cover the wreath with a clean towel and set aside to rise for 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

Brush the cake with the reserved melted butter and bake for 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cover the cake loosely with foil and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes more, until baked through.

While the cake is baking, make your icing. Cream together butter and cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Then add vanilla bean insides, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat until all ingredients are incorporated and it becomes light fluffy and delicious. Divide icing into three bowls and color appropriately with the dye of your choice.

Remove the cake and while it's still warm, smother in cream cheese icing. I decorated it so that there were 3 chunks of each colors. Green, yellow, purple, green, yellow, purple, green, yellow, purple. Get it? Got it? Good.

P.S., this was far easier than expected, and truly gratifying when it turns out beautifully. I had a picture of the great braid before I iced it, but apparently my SD card ate it, grr. Don't forget to hide a little plastic baby! (I didn't get to because well, I live in Missouri which is a giant sheet of ice currently) Just realize it's a commitment. It's a day project, for sure.

spicy heathy and awkward

I feel awkward, and weird—more than usual. In this entry, I’m going to share with you a meal, not cookies, not brownies, not cheesecake, a meal. Shocking, I know. Brace yourself, it’s *clears throat* vegetarian. It’s like…really vegetarian, not because it just happens to have no meat in it like a chocolate chip cookie is vegetarian, but because *looks down in shame* it has “meat crumbles”. I’m sorry, but the thought of “meat” crumbles makes me shudder. There is V8 juice in it too, spicy and hot V8 juice… I’ve never in my life even held a bottle of V8, so stumbling around the grocery store, and realizing there are multiple varieties of such a putrid concept I was taken aback.

A few interjections must be made, and will be done so at this time.

1) I love cooking. I cook a lot. I make meals that make grown men drool. It’s what the women in my family do; we are blessed with natural ability and a developed palate. I made a roast over winter break that almost made my father hold me hostage from going back to college. The reason I never blog about “real” food is because I do love cooking, and I rarely have written recipes. I cook by taste. I throw this in throw that in and if doesn’t taste perfect I add a little more of this or that. Even when I bake I have to stop and think about how much of what I put in, so that I can share it with you all later.

2) I’m not a vegetarian, at all. Once at Sam’s Club bought a case of Boca Burgers because they are so low in calories and when I diet I’ll eat dirt if it fills me up without being caloric. Anyway, with a case of Boca Burgers in my cart I instantly ran and bought a 3 lb slab of bacon because I didn’t want people to think I was a vegetarian… as if that was a bad thing. “That girl only has Boca Burgers in her cart, she must be a murderer!” But seriously, I’m a carnivore, and have been my whole life. Truthfully I never realized steak was considered a treat to some people until I was like 13 because we ate it almost nightly growing up. As a kid I use to be like “ugh, steak again??” and demand a bologna sandwich or frozen pizza again. My father could eat steak 3 times a day, and probably has.

3) I’m dieting, and truthfully I always feel ashamed when I talk about dieting. I’ve lost a lot of weight, close to 40 lbs. Anyone who has lost weight knows it takes a while for the mind to catch up with the new pants size (which may I add I’m wearing the smallest pants size I’ve ever wore), and truthfully I’m awesome at dieting and feel like I can help others diet too. I’m counting calories and eating great. I will tell you my secret to dieting. Get as full as you do on Thanksgiving, everyday but on awesome awesome food. (example: I eat a sandwich FULL of veggies, so full I can barely put my mouth around it, with healthy lunchmeat and good cheese, an apple, a yogurt cup, and a serving of baked cheetos. I am always full halfway through my lunch but press on. It’s amazing how you feel when you are THAT full on such great foods.) Eat real food and eat lots of it.

But anyway, back to the actual point of this entry. I saw a bowl of soup on foodgawker that looked delicious so I clicked on it, and it turns out it was vegetarian chili. I love chili. I love eating healthy so I thought, why the hell not.

This is hearty, delicious, spicy, and… awesome. I wouldn’t call it soup and I wouldn’t call it chili. If soup and chili had a love child, it would be this recipe. Here are the ingredients as listed by Pickycook, and I’ll add my helpful (or snide) comments.

-1 package “meat crumbles” (I know, I know)

-1 onion, chopped (I used a sweet yellow onion)

-1 pepper, chopped (I used an orange bell pepper)

-5 cloves of garlic, minced

-1 large bottle of V8, hot & spicy variation

-28 oz can (or 2 14 oz cans, whatever) fire roasted tomatoes, diced

-2 Tablespoons of chili seasoning (That is what the recipe called for, but I don’t even know what that is. Put what you normally put in chili, I used a random mixture of cumin, cayenne pepper, hot chili powder, oregano, garlic salt, a few dashes of "chipotle tabasco sauce" adds smokiness, dried chives, and coarse ground black pepper.)

-1 Teaspoon Chili Powder (I used hot)

-1 bay leaf

-kosher salt and black pepper to taste

-1 lb macaroni cooked 2 minutes less tah instructions (I used a box of Healthy Harvest 7 grain fusilli)

-1 can black beans, rinsed (I used Bush’s seasoned Black beans)

-Olive oil

-I also put some Jalapeño rings (the ones you put on nachos that come from the jar) and Green onions (because I put green onions on everything) and I topped it with Sargento’s Reduced fat Mexican Shredded Cheese blend

Get started: In a large pot get a pot of water boiling and throw in some kosher salt. When the water has reached a rapid boil add in your pasta. Remember you will want it a little “under done” as it will cook a bit in the pot later.

In another large pot, coat the bottom with olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and pepper until tender. Add the garlic and let it all do it’s business for a few minutes. Add the dried spices and bay leaf. Stir to combine. Pour the crushed tomatoes and the V8 into the pot. Let it come to a boil, and then reduce the temperature to a simmer for around 15 mins. Check your seasonings, does it taste good? Does it need something? Let your tongue tell you what’s up!

Okay, brace yourself and add the crumbles and black beans and let it all cook for another 5 mins or so. Then dump in your pasta and let it cook for like 2 more mins. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaf!!

Bowl it up and add some shredded cheese and green onions on top!

the search is over...

for now.

Being a giant baking nerd, I'm constantly looking for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. People always say they have the best, whether it be The New York Times CCC, The Neiman Marcus CCC, your crazy great Aunt's CCC, your college roommates crazy great Aunt's CCC, whatever, you're picking up what I'm throwing down. Just like you know that lady that has the cutest dog, the smartest kid, the biggest diamond, hers is always the best (you know what I'm saying, don't hide it!). I'll tell you right now, I won't lie, the last two cookie posts, the m&m sugar cookies and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies won't change your life. However, this post...just might.

Honestly, until last night my favorite was always Alton Brown's, "the chewy". I've been posting a lot of cookies lately, because I always have to make fancy cakes or random French pastries at work, so I enjoy the simplicity (and deliciousness) of cookies. These cookies are classic and awesome. There are no special tricks to make these cookies fabulous, you don't have to make them on a full moon or let them rest or chill for 48 hours, you don't have to light a candle and make a wish... they are what they are and they are delicious.

I adapted the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie, and as usual Dorie's recipe was right on.

Sara Tea's new favorite CCC (adapted from Dorie)

-2 cups all purpose flour

-1 teaspoon kosher salt

-3/4 teaspoon baking soda

-2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and diced into cubes

-2/3 heaping cup of brown sugar

-2 teaspoon milk

-1/2 vanilla bean, slit down the middle, long ways

-2 large eggs

-12 oz bittersweet chocolate (I had a few ounces of several types of chocolate so I actually used a mixture of Hershey Special Dark chips, Tollhouse semi-sweet chunks, and then some nicer 70% cocoa discs I had in the pantry.)

Preheat oven to 375 F, and prepare a parchment lined cookie sheet.

1. Open vanilla bean lengthwise with pairing knife. Gently pull apart and use the back of your pairing knife to scrape the vanilla-y goodness out of the pod. Drop butter, sugars, and vanilla into mixing bowl and cream with paddle attachment. Beat for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. While butter is creaming combine dry ingredients into one large bowl.

2. Lower mixer speed and add eggs one at a time. Add milk.

3. Turn mixer off and scrape down sides of bowl so that the mixture is fully incorporated.

4. Turn mixer on low, and add dry ingredient mix gradually. Once again, turn off mixture and scrape down bowl.

5. Dump chocolate chips in and fold.

6. Using portioning tool of your choice, place portioned dough onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 10 minutes, turning halfway through. Allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for one minute before transferring to cooling rack.