Taste-Test Thursday

Because of this blog and my posts about various taste tests including Sonic's bacon milkshake, a co-worker - we'll call her K- approached me to start our own bi-monthly taste test at work. We call it Taste-Test Thursday and volunteers try a new recipe to be judged by co-workers.

So far, we've only had two TTTs, K's and mine. We both opted to try sweeter dishes that were good in the morning (and all day long) - she made ice cream bread and I made pumpkin spice mini muffins.

The ice cream bread, to me, is a total oddity. The bare-bones version of it K made only had two ingredients: softened (chocolate) ice cream and flour. That alone, I think makes it a freakish dish that I was wary of. But it worked! It actually rose and baked up into two very pretty cocoa-colored loaves.

However, in terms of flavor, we were both somewhat disappointed. K and I had both anticipated something with rich chocolate flavor, like a brownie. However, as the name implies (duh!) it had less of a cakey texture and was like a dense banana bread with very subtle chocolate flavor. It wasn't bad per se, but it was certainly not what we expected. The recipe has an addendum that suggests using more complex flavors of ice cream and folding in some additional goodies - like chocolate chips or mashed up bananas etc. This route may yield something more along the lines of what we were anticipating a sweet, dessert-like food rather than a savory snack bread.

I've included the recipe and information on the sweetened up tip below.

This Thursday, I brought in pumpkin spice mini muffins. Every fall, my family buys various pumpkins - pie pumpkins, candy roasters etc. - and roasts them and packages our own puree to freeze because inevitably every fall I love to make pumpkin dishes - gooey butter cakes, ravioli, pies and more. I thawed out a pack of pumpkin (but canned would work too) and made a double batch of the pumpkin spice baked mini donut recipe below. I don't have a mini donut pan (or a full-sized one either) so I modified it to use a mini muffin pan instead.

This recipe was very simple and actually made 12 more muffins than I'd anticipated. The interesting thing about this recipe, and what I think holds it apart from other muffin recipes is that because it was intended to be for donuts, you get that spectacular cake donut texture. Unlike a muffin mix which can be almost runny and makes a fluffy, crumbly muffin, this recipe creates an actual springy dough that bakes into dense donut with wonderful mouthfeel. And this dough makes beautiful mini muffins, they look almost like light orange popovers (fill your muffin cups about 2/3 full), but you could shape them while warm to look more like donut holes (if you wanted).

They are delicious plain, but the wonderful finishing touch is to dunk them in melted butter and roll in a cinnamon sugar while still warm. I opted to save a few calories by only coating the tops, but they'd be delicious fully covered.

I highly recommend this recipe (not doubled) - included below- for potlucks, parties or family brunch.

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Ice Cream Bread

Ingredients:
2 c of your favorite ice cream, softened
1 1/2 c self-rising flour

Method:

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8x4" loaf pan. Mix the ice cream and flour together in a bowl until just combined. Smooth it out so it looks even. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool and serve.

*For jazzier bread: use a more bold flavor (like Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey) and any mix-ins you'd like (nuts, bananas, chocolate chips) fold in after mixing the flour and ice cream together. Bake with the same instructions.

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Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

Ingredients for muffins:

1 3/4 c self-rising flour
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t allspice
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
3/4 c pumpkin puree
1/2 c milk

For coating:

1/2 c butter, melted
2/3 c sugar
1-2 t cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter muffin pan, set aside.

In a large bowl mix together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture and stir until just combined, careful not to over mix.

Fill each cup with batter. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and they are springy.

Turn out onto a wire rack and cool for a few minutes. While still hot, dip each muffin into butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately.

If not serving them immediately, wait to coat with butter and sugar until ready to serve - reheat and then follow butter/sugar instructions.

Downhome recipes from The Dessert Queen

Today was our church's eighth birthday party and we celebrated with a "country hoedown"-themed party. There was tons barbeque, fried chicken, sweet tea, fresh corn and NC apples.

Knowing that it was going to be a fellowship lunch based on good, Southern cooking I decided to make one classic family recipe and one new recipe with deep country roots that I knew would be a crowd pleaser. Both of these recipes were very inexpensive, easy to prepare and they are both very good make-ahead dishes. I made my mom's macaroni salad and a banana pudding poke cake I saw on Pinterest.

Normally, my goal with church fellowships is to make something quick, affordable and delicious; so delicious in fact, that parishioners eat it all and we don't have to bring any home with us. However, with mom's macaroni salad recipe, I was silently hoping they wouldn't love it too much and I could have leftovers. Thankfully, there was a bounty of salads today - potato, quinoa/cornbread, black eyed pea and lima bean and regular veggie salads - so there's just enough for us to have with dinner.

Here's mom's idiot-proof recipe for delectable macaroni salad:

Ingredients:

1 box elbow macaroni (you can technically use any small pasta, but I like the elbows best)
1 small can evaporated milk (NOT SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK)
1 small jar pimentos, drained
1/2 of a small green pepper, finely diced
1/2 of a small white onion, finely diced
1 c mayonnaise (good Southern families only use Duke's)
3 T sugar
1 T white vinegar

Method:

Prepare macaroni according to package instructions (try for al dente, so as not to be too soft). Drain and cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in another bowl. Pour "sauce" over macaroni, stir. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made ahead up to 2+ days (I think it only gets better with time).

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I also signed up to bring a dessert. I scrounged through my Pinterest board "Recipes: To Try" and decided this was the perfect occasion for a banana pudding poke cake. This recipe was so simple, it didn't even include instructions, but rather a six-step infographic. All of the components of this cake are delicious alone and since it is a play on a Southern staple I assumed it would be equally tasty.

When we arrived at the hoedown, my dessert was whisked off and labeled for judging. Apparently we were having a dessert contest, just like you'd see at the fair.

I am proud to announce that I was the winner of the cake category and the best-in-show award, so you can now address me as Dessert Queen. There were four judges who tried over a dozen entries, so I'd say that is a pretty good testament to the flavor of this cake.

Here is the recipe for banana pudding poke cake:

Ingredients:

1 box moist yellow cake mix
ingredients listed on mix to make cake (mine were 3 eggs, 1/2 c oil, 1 c water)
2 boxes instant banana pudding
ingredients to make pudding pouches (mine needed 4 c milk)
1 container whipped cream, thawed
1/2 box Nilla wafers, crushed

Method:

Prepare cake according to box instructions. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon (or small, clean finger) poke holes in the cake about 2 inches apart (if your holes are too close the cake will collapse when cut).

Whisk pudding packets with milk and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Pour pudding over cake; spreading evenly. Place in refrigerator to cool completely (I did this the afternoon before our event and it got nice and soft, I think any more than 24 hours and it might get too mushy, but less time would be fine too your cake will be more firm).

Spread whipped cream over the pudding layer and top with wafer crumbles. Serve cold.

Note: this cake can be customized to so many other flavors - using a white cake, chocolate pudding, and Oreo crumbles etc.

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I am super pleased with these two recipes and of course, my new title. And yes, I have laminated my ribbons and hung them on the fridge.

Sincerely yours,

The Dessert Queen

Restaurant Week: Part Two

We've just returned from our fancy-schmancy date night courtesy of Biltmore Village Restaurant Week.

Thanks to their wonderful deals, we were able to enjoy a three-course meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for a fraction of the normal cost. As, I'd mentioned in my earlier post, we were hard-pressed to pick between the six great choices in BV but chose Ruth's because we found it to normally be way out of our price range and this affordable option allowed us some high class exploring.

I'd anticipated being served delicious food, but in very small portions and assumed we'd be stopping at good ol' Krispy Kreme on the way home. I was pleasantly surprised!

Here's the delicious menu we were treated to.

We both had the lettuce wedge salad, opted to add $10 for the filet mignon, shared our garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and thoroughly enjoyed our individual cheesecakes.

One of the changes I've noticed in my taste preferences is that I actually like bleu cheese now. As a child, I was terrified of the molded fromage, but found the (gargantuan) crumbles along with matching bleu cheese dressing to be the perfect tang to compliment the bacon and generally flavorless iceberg lettuce.  

Neither of us are big red meat eaters, and rarely eat steak at home, but since this was a renowned steakhouse (where the filet ALONE costs $43 on a regular night) we decided to try it out. The filet which looked tiny was actually rather huge (11 oz.) and full of flavor. The meat was incredibly tender and cooked perfectly. Despite being initially apprehensive, I really appreciated that there weren't steak sauces available other than the juices and butter the steaks were cooked in. Undoubtedly, this was the best steak I've ever eaten.

The sides were wonderful compliments to the steak as well. The mashed potatoes were of a great consistency without lumps, but not too "wet" from either milk or butter and were incredibly flavorful. I love mushrooms in almost any preparation and these were no exception. Five rather large button mushroom caps had been sautéed in and served with herb butter. The level to which they were cooked gave them a satisfying meatiness that subtly mimicked the steak.

And of course, the cheesecake. I can honestly say, I have rarely had a bad cheesecake anyway, but this one was exceptional - very creamy, with almost a whipped cream cheese layer on top and the graham cracker crust wasn't too heavy or too light. I was very surprised to find I loved the dark chocolate bark with pecans and walnuts (I don't like "healthy" chocolate; I want mine milky!). But it was rather soft - it actually melted when you touched it - and brought an earthiness to the very sweet cheesecake and berries.

Though this day had had many snafus beforehand and an old man farting beside our table as he left, the meal at Ruth's Chris was wonderful. They seem to pride themselves on giving their patrons a spectacular experience with great ambience and terrific service - including a complimentary valet (poor dears had to run several blocks down the highway to fetch the cars!), vigilant waiters and back servers and they even "de-crumb" your tablecloth between courses.

Any time we spend together is a blessing, but this date night and meal were spot on. I highly recommend visiting a Ruth's Chris location, as long as you have some good company.



Freezer-Friendly Food Frenzy

We run around more than those people with kids you always hear about; you know, the ones who are members of the PTO, Rotary Club and the church deacon board and they have three kids who each play in at least two seasonal travel leagues and are learning piano from the old lady across town. Every weeknight has a plan - an exercise class, church small group, or family time. Which leaves very little time to prepare nutritious, not to mention tasty, meals at home.

I'm tired of eating out and so is my wallet. So I've decided to take on the challenge of freezing easily reheated or crock pot friendly dinners, desserts and sides. I know casseroles are a cinch to freeze and maintain their yumminess, so this weekend I made three mini chicken casseroles from an old family recipe. This recipe is tried and true, so I have very little worries about it being a successful project.

I did however, try a new freezer-friendly recipe for apple crumble adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties which I found on Pinterest (my foe!). I made two of the 8x8" square tin pans of it on Sunday and we just sampled it tonight. And it was delicious, I only want to make one minor change for our taste buds (I'll note the original and change) and I will share it below.

I know some families who do the once a month cooking thing (where you dedicate one weekend to shopping, cooking and freezing a month's worth of meals). I'm not sure we're there yet and I don't know that I want to be. However, I do want us to have a wide variety (maybe just not a month-wide) of quick foodstuffs at the ready for these hectic nights, but also when extra guests come over or we forget about a church function or potluck and don't have time to start from scratch.

With that being said, I'm looking for recipes that are easily frozen and reheated, but that maintain their deliciousness and the integrity of the dish. What good are frozen burritos if they have the texture of wet socks? So I'm wanting to know if you freeze your food and what are your favorite (and least favorite) items to freeze? We are certainly open to suggestions!

Now on to the apple crumble...

Ingredients
- 5 lbs of apples; cored, peeled and sliced into chunks (I used Gala apples but, McIntosh, Granny Smith    and Honeycrisp are great cooking apples too)
- grated zest of 1 orange (this was WAY too much for me, I'd drop it by 1/2)
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 T fresh squeezed orange juice
- 2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 2 t ground cinnamon
- 1 t ground nutmeg

For the topping:
- 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c granulated sugar
- 3/4 c light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 t kosher salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter; cold and cut into cubes

Method

Preheat oven to 350 if you do not plan to freeze it. Butter dish(es).

Combine the apples, zests, sugar and spices into a large bowl. Toss to cover completely and spread the spices. Pour into dish(es).

To combine topping, combine flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (I used two standard, non-paddle beaters and it worked fine). Mix on low until mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas (be patient this takes 5-7 minutes if your butter is really cold). Scatter evenly over apples. It will look like way too much crumble, but it's the best part after cooking, so load it up.

If eating right away: place crisp on sheet pan and bake for 1 hour until top is brown and apples are bubbly. If it begins to brown too much, cover with tin foil. Serve warm with ice cream.

If freezing: do not cook beforehand. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, label and date and freeze. When ready to cook, pull straight from freezer and follow traditional instructions.

Serves 10 (Can use 9x2x13 pan, two 8x8, or more smaller containers - I want more, smaller servings) 

Foodie Holiday: Restaurant Week!

While we were watching The Food Network this weekend, they kept airing commercials for the Crystal Coast's Restaurant Week and I was totally jealous. And then I found out this morning that it is Biltmore Village Restaurant Week!

For those non-locals, Biltmore Village is the posh area of Asheville that houses the Biltmore Estate (America's largest privately owned home), some area landmarks from Biltmore patriarch George Vanderbilt's expansion, frou frou shops (think Williams-Sonoma and Talbots) and wonderful dining opportunities.

However, like the Le Crueset dishes at W-S, these restaurants are often incredibly expensive. But, again like Le Crueset, you're paying for quality - many restaurants feature locally sourced produce and proteins, creative flavors and fanciful preparation.

Which makes Restaurant Week all the more exciting. The food which is often out of our financial reach is suddenly affordable. For seven days, restaurants in Biltmore Village will be featuring three courses for $30 deals.

This year, RW is featuring six restaurants featuring cuisine varying from traditional Mexican to classic French to Mediterranean fare. We were hard pressed to find a restaurant we didn't want to try, but decided that this weekend we will be visiting Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Yes, Ruth's Chris is a chain restaurant, however, it is what us online reviewers would label a "$$$" restaurant. Meaning, there is no way we would normally be able to afford it...ever. The others ranged from $ to $$; which is either commonly doable or a manageable splurge. I hope to someday try the remaining five restaurants and seeing as Asheville Restaurant Week is during our mini-moon (our short local honeymoon) I'm confident this goal is within reach.

We will certainly give an update of the wonders of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - as mentioned in this gem.

For more information on Biltmore Village Restaurant Week visit their website here.

Living to Eat

Today, I was talking with a co-worker about the inconvenient timing of our Zumba class. At 7:15 p.m. I'm left with two full hours between getting off work and starting my exercise routine. I generally hate that waiting feeling anyway, but this time is even worse because it means I either eat a wimpy dinner (that can withstand the jumping, swirling and sloshing of Zumba) or eat dinner after 8 - neither of which, in my opinion, are good options.

She said that after work she has no real desire to eat; she doesn't really think of food after 5:00 and on the weekends she's rarely driven to eat big meals. After I regained my composure and closed my slackened jaw, I asked her, "Do you enjoy food or do you merely eat to live?" And she said that for the most part she only feels the need to eat for sustenance and rarely for pleasure.

I realized then, that I live to eat.

This is not to say I sleep with Oreos under my pillow and double-stuff my mouth the second I wake up. But rather, that I thoroughly enjoy eating and choose my food accordingly. Yes, I do try to take health and finances into account - I do not enjoy eating out frequently, nor can I afford it. Yet I make choices about what fills my lunchbox, office snack cabinet, and home refrigerator based on more than the biology of hunger and the mathematics of calories:energy ratios.

Here is a sample of my weekday meal plan:

• Breakfast: 1 cup of a low-calorie, multi-grain cereal with 1/4 cup light vanilla soy milk; I add sliced fruit when I can

• Lunch: 6 slices of turkey/chicken lunchmeat, 1 slice of cheese and a low-calorie wrap; one salty side (Cheez-its, Special K crackers etc.) and one sweet snack (fruit, yogurt or a 100-calorie pack)

• Afternoon snack (between 2 - 4:30 p.m.): a small snack like a cheese stick or spoonful of peanut butter

• Dinner: This varies wildly - but generally falls into a pattern of a lean protein (usually poultry) and two+ vegetables and some grain-product

• Evening snack: Either a mini bag of popcorn or ramekin of ice cream - sometimes a little of both, I'm a sucker for that salty/sweet mashup, obviously.

None of this is particularly exciting and during the week, I rarely vary from my daytime routine; but everything I eat is good and I savor my choices. Despite the fact that I LOATHE packing my lunch and there's only so many bowls of cereal you can eat at your desk before you lose your mind, I can't say my sole motivator is hunger.

And on the weekends, we make precise plans about our meals (except that blah Sunday lunchtime) and more times than not, we weave food into our free time together. I get to play housewife and practice mastering the art of French cooking or we get to go out on dates to fancy restaurants like Curate (and our favorite local joints) or hit up events like the fair (funnel cake!!) or farmer's market.

As I've said before, to our generation food is a worthwhile and stable experience that is worth spending (some) money on. And so, why shouldn't living revolve around the growing, purchasing, cooking and/or savoring of food? We probably spend as much time in the grocery store or at the kitchen table as we do at the movie theater and I can guarantee I talk more about food than politics, so why not make it a fun spectacle? Why not try out the Asian market downtown or dance together as you wait for the pasta water to boil?

The stock market is risky, so invest in eating and enjoy the blessing of an endlessly delicious life.

"Come Join Us" - Who We Are

The long-and-short-of-it is we're just two crazy kids who are crazy in love. We've been dating and living together in Western North Carolina for a while now and are getting married in January. This blog has been born out of how much time we spend together in the kitchen and at the dinner table.

Jordan is a marvelous cook and works at a locally owned deli that's renowned across the state for it's creative and delicious sandwiches. He has this great - and rare - ability to create new dishes out of thin air; he just understands flavors so well. And is "the god of my lunchbox."

On our first date, he actually made the most delicious picnic for us including wonderful blueberry scones. Of course, I'm a brainwashed girl and resisted the urge to eat copious amounts in front of a new love interest (but I REALLY wanted to). Instead, I ate modestly and wowed him with my witty banter about NPR, Mercury in retrograde and Star Wars (hook, line and sinker).

I think I'm not too bad of a cook either. While Jordan is very willing to - and successful at - trying new flavors and inventing new dishes, I am easily excited by new recipes (perhaps too excited). I love trying new dishes. Pinterest may be the downfall of my stomach and/or wallet.

But I have a few tried and true recipes that I can whip up in a matter of minutes and always enjoy. Before Jordan moved in I was pretty set in my ways in the kitchen and had two trusty "single girl" entrees that I alternated almost every night - an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pasta carbonara and equally overloaded nachos. That stale period of dinnertime fare may be to blame for this rash of Pinterest experiments.

I think each couple has their "thing" that they do or enjoy together. Some couples travel together to wild locations and explore new worlds. Others devote themselves to family-owned businesses or throw themselves into being the best cheerleader parents. At this point in our lives, we take great joy and care in our food.

We take the time to eat and cook together. Even on those "floppy nights" where we pick up Subway on the way home, we sit side by side or at the table and enjoy it. I'm always happy to be Jordan's sous chef and he's more than willing to jump in when I get flustered trying to make three components at once with the smoke alarm inevitably beeping (it goes off only when I'm panicked cooking). And we love trying new things - new restaurants, new menu items and new eating experiences together.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; but it's also a great foundation a relationship. A love that rests on sharing tastes, textures and feelings and grows with new ingredients, tools and techniques is a love that continues to mature with the new and find comfort in tradition and memories.

Come join us...