Time for dessert!

Amanda had us over for dinner tonight so I made dessert. This is the second time I've made these and they're still good. I might call it more of a hazelnut paste...it's not a cream you can spread with a knife.

Hazelnut Cream Stuffed Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies

(Rachael Ray Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (divided)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup blanched and peeled hazelnuts, toasted
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375° and line a cookie sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, the baking soda and salt.

2. Using a mixer, cream 1 stick butter, the brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture at low speed.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Using a 1 1/2-inch scoop, form 12 mounds. Dip the rounded side of each mound into the sugar mixture to coat, then place sugar side up and 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake the cookies until golden at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for about 2 minutes, then, using a spatula, transfer to a rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, using a food processor, finely grind the hazelnuts. Add the confectioners’ sugar and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter; process until smooth. Spread 6 cookies with about 2 teaspoons hazelnut cream each and sandwich with the remaining 6 cookies.

Also...

Pottery Barn owns my soul.

Totally worth it.

Bits and Pieces of my childhood

Mr. Lawyer constantly makes fun of me for this garlic bread and yet....he eats it all. There is a story though! Since I grew up in the woods and far, far away from civilization you couldn't just run to the store when you needed something...say like garlic bread. In fact, going to the grocery store was a very exciting field trip and my dad often let me get something special from the cheeeeese island!  So my parents would use whatever was in the kitchen such as left over hot dog rolls. Some rolls, little bit of butter, sprinkle with garlic powder and pop it in the broiler. Done. Hamburger rolls work just as well and yet my brother and I would always fight over the hot dog ones.

He has dubbed this my "from the woods" garlic bread. I wasn't going to let those hot dogs rolls go to waste though! The garlic bread accompanied some pasta with leftover Wegman's Meatballs from the freezer that we topped off with leftover provolone from the thai pizzas.

Lame Lemonade

Well. You've got to have the bad with the good right? Kind of like my burned pancakes. I made some lemonade Sunday evening and it was lame, I didn't even try to make it look pretty. But you always have to try new recipes because you never know. At the moment if you desire lemonade I recommend Food Network's Perfect Lemonade or if you want to mix it up a bit their Cinnamon Grapefruitade. This one let me down, it was more like lemon water. While the simple syrup is an obnoxious part in the Food Network recipe it adds a nice sweetness that this recipe was missing. I was excited about the prospect of just throwing everything in the blender and having lemonade without slaving away over the stove but alas, it was not meant to be. I did like the addition of ice in the blender which not only chilled the lemonade but gave it a slightly slushy texture.

Fresh Lemonade

(Ina Garten....don't worry, I still love you.)

Ingredients:
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
1/2 to 3/4 cup superfine sugar, to taste
1 cup crushed ice
4 cups water
Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth. Serve over ice.

Satay Chicken Pizza

In grad school I developed a slight obsession for Thai food and recently I have been brave enough to start experimenting with it in the kitchen. Granted it's normally in some Americanized version (my spicy peanut shrimp linguine which has yet to be featured here) or a pre-made kit but you have to start somewhere right? I'm also hindered by Mr. Lawyer's dislike of peanut sauces (and bean sprouts!).  I recently had the Thai Chicken Pizza from California Kitchen which was delicious but the copycat recipe had a bazillion ingredients, looked time consuming and required you to make your own pizza dough (my arch-nemesis!). I found another more simple recipe for Satay Chicken Pizza that used pitas instead of making your own crust, ingenious! I also had some satay sauce by Spiral Foods which did not have an overwhelming peanut flavor so the Lawyer could enjoy it.

Satay Chicken Pizza

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, chopped into pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup prepared Thai peanut sauce (I used a whole lot less)
1 to 3 green onions, chopped (depending on how much you like green onions)
4 small (4 inch) pita breads
Shredded provolone cheese

1 carrot, shredded

Cilantro, chopped peanuts, or jalapenos for garnish
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Saute chicken pieces in hot oil for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the soy sauce and brown sugar in during the last minute and let it simmer down. This adds some flavor and color to the chicken.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
3. Spoon desired amount of peanut sauce onto each pita. Sprinkle 1/4 of the browned chicken and 1/4 of the scallions on top of each. Top each pizza with cheese. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

4. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes and sprinkle with carrots, cilantro, jalapeno or peanuts.

So pretty. Such a keeper.

Reasons why this dish is wonderful:

1. No homemade pizza crust diaster!

2. Individual pizzas are easy to customize if you don't like something! I put more sauce and less cilantro on mine.

3. No need to cut it into pieces, pitas are easy to pick up and devour!

4. Provolone Cheese! I was a bit confused by this ingredient...provolone cheese and thai food?! But it worked really well with the flavors and added a nice tang to it. 

The perfect compromise sauce: light on the peanuts and a nice bit of zing

Notes on cilantro: I don't love it but I keep trying it in hopes that one day I will at least be able to enjoy it (much like my hunt for a super drinkable red wine. I'm leaning towards Pinot Noir by the way). It does not taste fresh, citrusy or lemon-limey to me. In fact it tastes kind of soapy, too much ruins a dish so I am always very reserved with it. Evidently this is fairly common and the NY Times ran a whole article on it which can be found HERE.

Good Idea

I'm going to start "Bits and Pieces" entries which are good food ideas that are simple, don't really have a recipe, or involve left overs. The first official Bits and Pieces entry was Vanilla Milkshakes and Nutella Graham Crackers both of which are wonderful ideas. Last night's dinner involved leftover pesto and some extra cheese for good measure.

Pesto meet Pasta!

Bits and Pieces

I must say that I make a pretty stellar vanilla milkshake. My chocolate ones aren't half bad either. I do tend to fail with strawberry. Mr. Lawyer says my vanilla milkshakes are some of the best ones he has ever had and I'm going to decide that it's not a boyfriend lie. My secret weapon?

Vanilla Bean Paste. It really does make a difference and it's so much better than vanilla extract. Not only is the flavor amazing but it adds little specks of vanilla bean that just up the game. Plus real vanilla beans are expensive unless they magically appear in your mailbox from some mystical tropical island (Hey Sandy!). Back to the milkshake. I have no exact recipe and wing it. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes you want a thick slurpy milkshake that requires a spoon and sometimes you want a smooth one that you can drink through a straw in 10 seconds so the milk to ice cream ratio varies. The good thing is that milkshakes are very forgiving you can add more milk/ice cream to fix it and not only do you reach your desired consistency but you also have more milkshake (and how is that a bad thing?!) I always add a good dollop of Vanilla Bean Paste. It's always awesome.

Vanilla Milkshakes

(the kitchen of Jenni)

Ingredients:
Vanilla Ice Cream
Milk
Vanilla Bean Paste
Directions:
1. Add your desired amount of ice cream and milk to blender and blend.
2. Blend in a good dollop of vanilla bean paste.
3. Enjoy one amazing milkshake.

I whipped up some vanilla milkshakes last night for our impromptu gathering and sous chef Amanda plated Nutella Graham Crackers (because Nutella is always a good idea). Now Nutella Graham Crackers tastes an awful lot like s'mores. Then Amanda made the amazing decision to dunk them into the milkshakes. S'more heaven.

And that's why we didn't have dinner last night.

Goat Cheese, Garlic and Pesto Bruschetta

We've done a pretty good job finishing up leftovers and putting a dent in the super full freezer (seriously, I have a pint of ice cream in the ice machine and therefore no ice and I was also attacked by some rogue chicken cordon bleu that last time I opened the door). To celebrate this accomplish we met Amanda for happy hour at the Kite and the Key (They had Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence! ♥!) and came back to our place for appetizers and dessert (but no dinner).

I have been wanted to make Goat Cheese, Garlic and Pesto Bruschetta which we originally had when we went out to Tria with the boys. It was amazing and Weggy was in need of some pruning so it was the perfect time to make some fresh pesto.

Say hi to Weggy enjoying his prime Center City view:

(before and after pruning)

Mr. Lawyer constantly makes fun of me for naming my plants, talking to them, and generally becoming too attached to them but I argue that I get a better product and happy plants. Without Weggy this meal would not have been possible and it was delicious so he deserves a little respect!

Goat Cheese, Garlic and Pesto Bruschetta

(inspired by Tria, Pesto recipe from Giada)

Pesto Ingredients:
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (many recipes also use walnuts which are cheaper)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/2 to 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Pesto Directions:
1. In a blender or food processor, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until finely chopped.
2. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil until the mixture forms a smooth and thick consistency.

3. Add the Parmesan and pulse until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bruschetta Ingredients:

Yummy Baguette

Pesto

Goat Cheese

Garlic

Bruschetta Directions:

1. Slice the baguette and toast it at 425 degrees for 8 minutes (4 minutes each side)

2. Remove toast from oven and rub with garlic

3. Spread on goat cheese and top with pesto

It's a great combination but you have to like goat cheese which is very strong and rich. The pesto was better after it sat for a couple of hours. Definitely a keeper.

Biscuits and such

It's not a cooking week. We're working on leftovers and freezer stuff. Today Woody's leftover meaty manly chili, tomorrow hot dogs! But the poor chili just needed a little something so I whipped up some biscuits. The biscuits came out wonderfully, like something Grandpa Norm would make! In continuing with my compound butter addiction I made some Marmalade Butter. It was good but I'm not sure I would make it again unlike my garlic butter or cinnamon honey butter. It's definitely more of a brunch thing and the Lawyer isn't really a fan of orange marmalade ("It's like eating pulp!") so I will be eating it all up myself.

Biscuits

(from seriouseats.com)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick or 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cold cream cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Add butter and pulse until butter is finely dispersed throughout dry ingredients.
4. Add cream cheese and pulse to distribute, leaving a few small, pea-sized pieces of cheese in tact. Turn mixture into a mixing bowl.
5. Drizzle in about a 1/3 cup of the buttermilk and toss gently with your hands to evenly distribute. Add more milk a tablespoon or so at a time until dough is just moist enough to come together without any dry crumbly bits.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the surface of the dough lightly with more flour and pat the dough out to about ¾-inch thick.
7. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds and pat out to about 3/4-inch thick again, flouring the surface lightly as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
8. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds again, then pat it out to a final thickness of about 1/2 inch.
9. Using a lightly floured 2 1/4-inch round cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet, at least an inch apart. Scraps may be gently packed together, patted out to 1/2-inch thickness once more and cut.
10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until biscuits are well-risen, pale golden on top and a deeper brown on their bottoms.

Marmalade Butter

(Ina Garten)

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup good orange marmalade
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Mix it all together and serve at room temperature

Our Italian Market Adventure!

This entry is about amazing food and yummy things but I didn't actually make anything and there's going to be a ton of pictures so I will actually use a page break, even though I despise them.
Today it was nice and warm (sundress time!) so Kevin and I ventured out to South Philly to explore the Italian Market. Best Saturday morning ever. I'm always a little camera happy so the following is a picture story of our adventure or as Kevin called it "It's a good day when you have cheese steak grease on your pants."