Vanilla Bean Syrup

 

This is a horrible picture of something wonderfully delicious and something that has changed my morning routine!  I recently discovered that I can get fresh vanilla beans at my local Henry's for close to nothing - I got three beans for $1.27 because they charge per pound.  Since discovering this wonderful fact I have been loading up my life vanilla beans - I have a batch of homemade vanilla extract "brewing" right now along with a vanilla sugar that should be ready soon!  

The one thing that has transformed my life is this vanilla syrup, which used a vanilla bean pod that I had already scrapped for a cookie recipe, however you could make this with a whole unused vanilla bean pod.  This has also made my goal of cutting back on Starbucks even easier!  I add a dollop of this with my soy milk before heating - add a couple of shots of espresso using my stove-top espresso pot that I got as a gift a couple of years ago and I have a delicious and really inexpensive vanilla bean latte!  While I still get in a Caramel Macciato a couple times a week, these vanilla bean lattes have made almost made me a morning person! 

Vanilla Bean Syrup

1 cup water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 used vanilla bean pod

Place water and sugar in small saucepan, heat until sugar is just dissolved.  Add in vanilla bean and heat additional minute.  Turn off heat and allow vanilla bean to seep in the simple syrup until room temperature.  Once cooled store in airtight container in the refrigerator - use as needed.

Pasta e Ceci Soup

 

We have finally got some cold weather here in Southern California and I have been loving it!  Granted my cold is 55 degrees with a slight drizzle but my thin blood is freezing!  It has been a perfect opportunity to whip up some hardy soups that warm you up.  

I found this recipe in a search to try and find more meatless dishes to incorporate at least once a week.  This is largely in part to Oprah and her recent show on the Vegan Challenge that she and her staff were a part of.  While I will never become a vegetarian or vegan - I love my yogurt and steaks too much - it made me think about my eating habits, and I am trying to incorporate meatless lunches into my work week and at least one meatless dinner into my week.  The hubby is trying to gain weight/bulk with this workouts (must be nice) and so I need to make sure that these meatless meals have a lot of protein.  Not only do the chickpeas in this soup have a lot of muscle building protein (one cup has 14.5 grams) but they are full of heart-healthy folate, fiber and iron which makes this a healthy addition to my meatless recipes. The best part is that I had all of these ingredients in my pantry already and so this made for a very inexpensive main course!

I pureed the soup with an immersion blender but left some chunks of chickpeas and carrots intact so that it wasn't like baby-food.  The pastas gave the soup wonderful texture and I sprinkled with a little bit of mozzarella cheese to add richness. 

I paired this with some cheesy crostini's and it was a hardy meal that we both enjoyed!

Pasta e Ceci Soup

Recipe from Family Bites 

2 tablespoons oil

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

3 celery ribs, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon dried sage

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

6 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup ditalini

Over low heat, warm oil.  Add carrots, onion, celery, and garlic.  Saute until the become soft.  Deglaze with white wine, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add chickpeas, salt, sage, tomato paste and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in your blender.  If using your blender be careful as always with hot liquid. If you soup is too thick you can add some additional chicken stock.  Return to heat and add pasta.  Cook until pasta is al dente - 5 - 8 minutes.

Serve immediately with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

ENJOY!

King Arthur Flour Sourdough Starter

I can't believe I forgot to mention my new desire to make bread at home!  I get so disappointed with the quality of bread in the stores that I decided to try to make my own at home.  From reading other blogs it seems to be an straight forward process - I have a Kitchen Aid mixer so the kneading part should be easy, all I need is a little patience and a little instruction!   Growing up close to San Francisco I grew up with the wonderfully tangy sourdough bread from the Boudin store in Fisherman's Wharf.  YUM!
I did a little research on the King Arthur Flour Website I decided to try my hand at Sourdough bread with their Sourdough Starter.

I was so excited to see that it had come in today after a LONG Monday at work!  I started feeding my little starter last night and can't wait to see the results!  With a little help from the hubby (all I had to tell him was that the first sourdough bread was said to start in Egypt and he was all over the web researching!  I guess it helps that the tv is broken!), we should be baking up some bread tonight!!!

Chicken Thighs with 40 cloves of garlic

I was watching Nigella's Kitchen the other day and was intrigued with her take on Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.  This is a recipe that I have seen several times before on other cooking Shows and in various cookbooks but have always worried that the garlic would be too overpowering.  It must have been meant to be because the next day when the hubby was at Trader Joe's he picked up some chicken thighs, which is what Nigella uses instead of the traditional chicken breast. 

I am very glad that I got over my reluctance to make this dish!  The final flavor is DELISH!  You can taste the garlic but it isn't overpowering.  Another wonderful thing about this dish is that it is VERY easy and affordable.  The next time I have guests over for dinner I will probably make this because it comes together in a flash but tastes like you were in the kitchen working away for hours!

Chicken with 40 cloves of Garlic

Adapted from Nigella Lawson and Life's Ambrosia

Ingredients

2 tablespoons regular olive oil

8 chicken thighs (I used boneless and skinless because that is what the hubby brought home)

1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme

40 cloves peeled garlic

2 tablespoons white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof Dutch oven and sear the chicken over a high heat.  Once the chicken is seared remove to a plate.  

Add garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes.  Add in wine and chicken stock to deglaze the pan.  Scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add back in chicken and cover with tightly fitting lid and cook in the over for 30 minutes.  Remove lid and cook for 10 additional minutes.   Remove from oven and set chicken on a plate.  Add 1/4 cup heavy cream to the pan, whisk and cook 2 - 4 minutes until thickened.  

Place chicken over brown rice and cover with sauce.

ENJOY!

Baja Style Fish Tacos

I have been craving good fish tacos for a while now and these did not disappoint!  I love fish tacos that are fried versus grilled, I know it's not the healthiest but they are so yummy!  I pulled together a couple of recipes and mixed them together to create this fabulous combination.  I will definitely make this again!


Baja Fish Tacos
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil and Broke Ass Gourmet


Avocado Salsa


1 large avocado, diced
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 diced jalapeno
juice of one lime
Salt and pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.


Lime and Sour cream Sauce


2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 chipotle in adobe sauce, finely chopped
1 minced garlic clove
Salt to taste


Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Season to taste.  Set aside.


Beer Battered Fish


2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup beer,  I used Newcastle
Pinch of salt
3/4 lb. tilapia, cut into 2 inch pieces




Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.  In a plate add a small amount of flour.  Heat one inch of oil in a heavy bottomed pan.  Dredge fish in flour and then drop in batter to coat.  Drop fish into pan and cook until golden brown, flip over and cook other side until golden brown.  Once fish are cooked, drain on paper towel lined plate.   Sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.


To serve, warm small corn tortillas.  Place 2 - 3 pieces of fish on each tortilla, drizzle a small amount of lime juice.  Cover with lime sour cream and avocado salsa.  Salt to taste.


ENJOY!

S'mores Cookies

I love to bake, but I usually don't care much about eating what I bake.  This is an exception!  I could have eaten them all, these are so delicious that my hubby ate a DOZEN in one day!  I had to make them again just so that I could get to eat one and because I had told the whole office about them and they needed to try them!  So far everyone who has had them loves them, the mixture of graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and marshmallows makes you feel like you are sitting around a campfire.

They are a little time consuming but they are SO worth it!  I will be making these next week for my sisters bake sale - I hope that people like them! 

S'mores Cookies

Recipe from Baked Perfection

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups miniature chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Avocado and Corn Salsa

I am lucky enough to live next a wonderful produce store that gets produce directly from farmers in the area.  It always has very fresh selection and living in Southern California we are lucky enough to have local produce all year long.  Right now I can't get enough corn!  It is so deliciously fresh and sweet that I have been throwing it on the grill, making creamed corn and this weekend making fresh corn salsa.  This was a really easy and fresh way to dress up our tri-tip tacos!

Avocado and Corn Salsa
Recipe from CD Kitchen

1 whole avocado, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
5 - 10 cherry tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 whole shucked ear of corn
1/2 red onion cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 whole jalapeno, diced and seeded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Add avocado into glass bowl and combine withe juice of 1 lime.  Mix well to prevent oxidation.  Add tomatoes, corn kernels, red onion, jalapeno and fresh cilantro, mix to combine.   Add more lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate about 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine.  Before serving mix with more lime juice and check the salt and pepper for flavor.  This salsa will need a lot of salt and pepper for flavor.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichoke

I love Real Simple magazine - they always have great articles, recipes and ideas for making life simpler!  As soon as I saw this recipe in the April issue I knew that we had to try this!  It looked delicious and simple to make on a busy weeknight.

We got mixed reviews in our house - my husband loved it while I thought it was just okay.  I think it needed more seasonings and I wasn't a huge fan of the artichokes.  I think that this is one that I will play with and see what I can turn this into!

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichoke

April 2010 Issue Real Simple Magazine

8 oz. cooked short pasta - I used ziti

1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered

1 9 oz. package frozen creamed spinach, thawed

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Combine pasta, artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.   Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to 8 inch square broiler safe baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Broil until browned - 3 minutes.

Enjoy with some crusty bread or my favorite crescent rolls!

No Recipe Cherry Jam

My Aunt sends out jam for Christmas, this was my first year getting my very own package.  I was so excited because I love homemade gifts and the flavors sounded yummy!  I decided to open the Sour Cherry Jam first and I fell in love at first bite!  It was wonderful!! Full of cherry flavor and a little something else that I haven't figured out yet and will have to ask for recipe.  I ate my little jar in secret, hiding it in the back of the fridge only sharing a couple of bites with my husband, taking peanut butter and jelly to work for a week.... I wish I was joking about this but I really am obsessed!  Sadly I recently had my last spoonful and have tried a couple of store bought version to try and get the same taste without luck.  They were good but not the same, so I decided to take it to the internet and try and find a recipe for cherry jam.

I have never made am kind of jam before and was a little intimidated, until I came across this No-Recipe Cherry Jam post on David Lebovitz's blog.  It made it seem easy enough for anyone to do, so I decided to give it a try.  I was also excited to use my new cherry pitter which was a gift from my mom (she has heard me talk about this jam so much that she knew I was going to have to try my hand at it.)  Cherry were on sale this week so I decided to give it a try!  Unfortunately they were not sour cherries like the ones in my aunts jam but I decided to give it a try.  The end result was a yummy jam that was full of cherry flavor.  It wasn't the same as my aunts, I think I need to try this with sour cherries but it is yummy!

Cherry Jam
Recipe from David Lebovitz

8 cups of pitted cherries
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest fo 1 lemon
3 cups sugar

Place the cherries, lemon zest and juice in non reactive pot, I used my Dutch Oven for this.  Cook until cherries are wilted and soft.  Stir frequently.   Remove and measure cherries, add back to pan and add 3/4 the amount of sugar.  I ended up with 4 cups of cherries so I added 3 cups of sugar.  Stir together and increase heat to high.  The mixture will bubble, be sure to continuously stir the mixture, scraping the bottom to prevent the mixture from burning.  While the cherries are cooking place a small plate in the freezer.  Once the bubbles begin to subside and the mixture coats the back of the spatula turn off the heat and place a small amount of jam on the plate from the freezer.  Let the mixture stand on the plate and if the mixture wrinkles it is done.  If not turn the heat back on and heat until this does happen.  Be careful not to over cook.  Ladle into containers and allow to come to room temperature before storing in the fridge.  The jam will last several weeks in the fridge.

The Best Vanilla Buttercream EVER!

You will never need another Vanilla Buttercream recipe!  This is so delicious, just look at those wonderful vanilla bean flecks!  I won't be telling my trainer about this one - ha ha!

I made these for a Birthday in the office and they were a hit!!!  The cupcake was the same recipe as they vanilla cupcakes I made for St. Patrick's Day, they have become my favorite go to cupcake!  They are easy to make and the results are fabulous.  I spruced them up by adding food coloring in four different colors.  I then layered the batter into the cupcake liner and swirled with a toothpick to create a groovy finish!  This would be a lot easier to make in regular sized cupcakes but I really enjoyed this look.

Now for the new recipe that had everyone asking for more - Vanilla Bean Buttercream!  I even converted a non-frosting lover!  Try this today - make something that needs this frosting!

Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

2 1/2 sticks softened butter
1 vanilla bean, split
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

With a whisk attachment, beat butter until smooth.  With paring knife scrape seeds out of vanilla bean and beat into butter.  Add powdered sugar and salt gradually.  Once fully incorporated add in vanilla and heavy cream.  Beat until fluffy and light - ENJOY!

Crispy Breaded Shrimp with Cannellini Beans

• 
  
• I got this recipe from a Real Simple email that featured quick meals.  Not only was this meal quick but really healthy about 450 calories per serving- something that my trainer will appreciate!  I didn't have some of the key ingredients, you would think I would learn to make a list BEFORE going to the market!  Even though I was missing some key ingredients it was still delicious.  I will make this again - I would like to add in some spinach to the beans as the recipe requests as well as maybe do a lemon vinaigrette for the top.   Try it the next time you need to get a wonderful dinner on the table within 20 minutes!

Crispy Breaded Shrimp with Cannellini Beans

Adapted from Real Simple

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 19-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed

Preheat over to 400 degrees.  Mix together bread crumbs, dried oregano, old bay, parmesan and 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.  Add shrimp and toss to combine.  Place shrimp on baking sheet and add the excess bread crumbs to the top of the shrimp.  Bake 10 - 12 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the remaining two Tablespoons of oil and garlic.  Saute about 1 minute careful not to burn.  Add in beans, 1/4 cup water and salt and pepper.  Cook 3 minutes until the beans are cooked thru.

Serve the beans on the plate with the shrimp and extra bread crumbs.   Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata

Sometime recipes just don't work out the way that you had intended, that's what happened the other night when I decided to try the Chicken Piccata recipe featured on Pioneer Woman Cooks.  I have tried several of her recipes with success - you must try her onion blue cheese sauce, I could eat it on ANYTHING!

The resulting dish from the Chicken Piccata recipe was really good, but for some reason my sauce didn't thicken.  I still poured it over my deliciously crispy chicken and loved it.  I would try it again - hopefully it will thicken up next time!

Chicken Piccata
Adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 whole lemons
3/4 cup cream
Handful of grape tomatoes, halved

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.  Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan.  Fry each breast - careful not to burn the butter.  Remove to a plate.

Add in wine, chicken broth and juice of lemons.  Scrape bottom of pan.  Allow sauce to cook and reduce by half.  Add tomatoes.

Reduce heat and add cream.  Whisk until sauce has thickened.  (I cooked mine for a while but it didn't thicken at all, must try again!)

I used baby bow tie pastas and added them to the sauce right at the end.  Spoon pasta onto plate, top with chicken and pour sauce over the entire plate.  Enjoy!

Dulce de Leche - Slow Cooker Method

Our good friend just went to Argentina a couple of months ago, along with some strange herbal alcohol he brought back Dulce de Leche.  The best Dulce de Leche ever made!  Since having a spoonful - I have been obsessed with making some.  After looking around the internet, I decided that I would try the Slow Cooker method.  It seemed to be the method that was least likely to explode all over my kitchen or take hours in the oven.  You just plop it in and wait, although I won't lie - every time my husband and I heard any noise from the kitchen we both wondered if the can was on the verge of explosion!

Simply take a can of sweetened condensed milk, remove the wrapper.  Place the can in your slow cooker and cover with water.  Cook on low for 6 - 7 hours.  I left mine to cool in the slow cooker overnight and once I opened it was met by this wonderful thick caramel.  Delish!

I will admit that I have had a couple of spoonfuls straight from the can/jar!  I am debating what I want to make with this - I think a Dulce de Leche ice cream would be delightful, maybe a cheesecake!  Stay tuned!