Kevin's Birthday Brownies

Kevin's birthday is tomorrow and originally, he had asked me to make him German chocolate cake for his birthday. Then, we ended up scheduling our cake tasting for the wedding (!!!!) for tomorrow. I asked him if he still wanted a birthday cake even though we were going to be cake tasting and he said no, he wanted some brownies instead that he could take to work today (his work is sweet and gives you your birthday as a paid day off). In the past I have made plenty of brownies from the box mixes, but I wanted to try making them from scratch this time.

Baker's One Bowl Brownies
Source: Baker's Chocolate box

Ingredients:
4 squares Baker's Unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (I omitted)
I also added some Wilton Halloween sprinkles on top.


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9-inch baking ban with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil. (I didn't use foil and just sprayed the pan with cooking spray)
2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 2 min., or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour and nuts; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container.

I haven't tried one yet, but it seems like they were a hit because I got this text message from Kevin a little while ago: "Brownies are amazing!" I asked him to save me one for later and he replied "Good luck everybody is eating them all." Hopefully I will get to try one when we both get home from work tonight, but if not that just gives me an excuse to make another batch!

Thai Chicken Pizza

Lately I have been in a mood for California Pizza Kitchen, which of course we don't have here in southern Indiana. My favorite thing from there was always the Thai Chicken pizza. I know they sell a frozen version in the grocery store but I decided to try and recreate the pizza myself. I thought it was delicious, though it has been so long since I had the original that I don't really have anything to compare it to. Kevin wasn't the biggest fan of the flavors, though he did finish two slices.

Thai Chicken Pizza
Inspiration: California Pizza Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 batch of pizza dough (I used store bought but you could easily use homemade)
1/2 cup of Thai peanut sauce (see previous blog entry for recipe)
1 very large cooked chicken breast, chopped
2 scallions (on my half only since Kevin doesn't like them)
1/2 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup peanuts - I bought these to put on the pizza, but ended up forgetting until dinner was over!! :( It was still good without them, though.
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Spread pizza dough onto baking surface. Top with sauce, then all toppings except cilantro, and then sprinkle with cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes, then sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Thai Peanut Sauce

I made this tonight in preparation for tomorrow's dinner, Thai Chicken Pizza. I was planning on just buying a jar of the stuff, but when I looked at Kroger it cost over $6, so I decided to try making it instead. I already had peanut butter and soy sauce so I figured I would just google for a recipe. That I did, and I came up with this recipe from Cooking with Amy.

Perfect Peanut Sauce
Source: Cooking with Amy

1/4 cup peanut butter (natural, no sugar kind) (I only had the regular kind so I used that)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar (I used a bit less than this since my peanut butter had sugar in it)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup coconut milk (lite is fine, if you prefer or substitute water)
1/4 cup water
red chili flake to taste
chili garlic sauce to taste or 1 clove crushed garlic

Optional:
sesame oil
curry paste
rice wine vinegar
fish sauce
grated ginger
shallots sauteed till brown in oil
Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients with a whisk in a small bowl, adding the water last. Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until sauce begins to bubble and thicken. Experiment with this sauce adding a teaspoon at a time of one of the optional additions and tasting as you go. Serve hot or cold.


I ended up adding a splash of rice vinegar and sesame seed oil to my sauce, and a dash of ground ginger. It smelled and tasted great, so I am hopeful for tomorrow's pizza! I will try to get a picture tomorrow night.

White Chocolate-Macademia-Pretzel Bars

Oh man these cookie bars were AMAZING! I took them to work on Saturday night and my co-workers went through almost the whole pan! I had 3 people ask for the recipe, so I would say that they were successful.

White Chocolate-Macademia-Pretzel Bars
Source: Pillsbury

Ingredients:
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
1 bag (12 oz) white chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pretzel sticks or twists
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 oz)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup chopped cashews (I used macademia nuts)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9in pan with cooking spray. Break up cookie dough into pan. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of the white chocolate chips and the pretzels over dough; lightly press into dough.
2. Bake 16-20 min or until light golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 30 minutes.

3. In small microwaveable bowl, place 1/4 cup of the white chocolate chips; set aside. In large microwaveable bowl, microwave remaining white chocolate chips and the semisweet chips on high for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. If necessary, microwave 30 seconds longer. Stir in peanut butter and cashews. Spread mixture evenly over cooled baked crust. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes. (It took mine over 30 minutes to set completely)
4. Microwave reserved 1/4 cup white chocolate chips on high for 30 seconds; stir until melted and smooth. If necessary, microwave 10 seconds longer. (I added a few drops of vegetable oil to thin out the chocolate and make it easier to pour) Drizzle over bars. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows. (I did 5x6 rows)

Overall these were so so good, but very rich! I ate two and got a stomachache, but that was probably a good thing because any more and I would have been at the gym for hours working them off! One thing I might change is to make my own sugar cookie dough from scratch instead of the premade kind, just because I am not the hugest fan of the taste of the Pillsbury sugar dough, but it was a very good shortcut that made these super easy to put together.

Sweet Potato Fries

I have never made my own fries before, usually opting for the Ore Ida bagged fries for a side, so I decided to give it a go. I didn't really follow a recipe for this, but just cut up the sweet potatoes, seasoned them and threw them in the oven for about 45 minutes. I thought they tasted pretty good, but they were not very crispy at all so my fiance didn't enjoy them too much. One thing I did try was adding an egg white to the olive oil I tossed them in, because I read somewhere that this will help them crisp up more, but it didn't seem to do anything for me.

Sweet Potato Fries
2 large sweet potatoes
Seasoning Salt
Thyme
Garlic powder
1-2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 egg white

Would I make these again? Yep! I love sweet potatoes, and like I said, they tasted great, it was just the non-crispiness of them that wasn't so awesome. I would definitely be a little less lazy and cut the fry pieces much smaller, as I think that might have had something to do with it.

Focaccia Bread

For my first real blog post, I think it is fitting that I am posting about my first time making anything with yeast. I found this focaccia recipe over at Amber's Delectable Delights and have been wanting to try it for awhile, but I was afraid of the yeast since I had never used it before. It turned out that I had nothing to be afraid of- the bread was very easy to make and turned out to be delicious!

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia
Source: King Arthur Flour via Amber's Delectable Delights

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour I used 2 cups regular bleached all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1/4 cup (1 ounce) Vermont cheese powder, optional
Pizza Seasoning, optional
I omitted the above seasonings and used garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a bit of grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.
2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy.
4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.
6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.
7) Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(by the way, if anyone knows why this picture rotated itself and how to get it back the right direction, please let me know...)

I cut the bread into 6 pieces, then since it was so thick I cut each piece in half through the middle to make 2 slices. I made paninis with turkey, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves on our little George Foreman grill, which I served with baked sweet potato fries. My bread addict fiance loved the fact that I made homemade bread, even though he thought the fries were not crispy enough. Oh well, I liked them. :)

New blog

Well, I decided it was time for me to start my own food blog. I have always enjoyed cooking, but about a year ago I began to get more "serious" about it and started cooking on a regular basis. A few months ago I found the What's Cooking board on the Nest and started reading a number of blogs and have gotten so many new recipes and cooking ideas from the ladies over there! This blog will be a way for me to keep track of the food I prepare and the progress made with my cooking skills, as well as share ideas with others.