eat.this.food.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes July 31, 2006

As cute and delicious as this looks, we learned looks can be deceiving. Our taste tester reported the cake was “bogus and tastless”. Unfortunately, we had to agree. We had fun using the ginger with the pumpkin, but we are back to the drawing board…searching for a fantistic pumpkin cupcake with a bite of crystallized ginger. Happily, you can put the icing on just about anything (hairballs, four day old chicken ala king, sawdust) and it will taste just like carrot cake.

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted & cooled slightly
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) crystallized ginger cut into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger into a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer on low speed, beat the melted butter, sugar and pumpkin until smoothly blended.
4. Mix in eggs and crystallized ginger.
5. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated. The batter will be thick.
6. Fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter.
7. Bake until the tops are firm and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
8. Cook on a wire rack.

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese (softened but still cool)
• 5 Tbs unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbs sour cream
• 1 1/4 cup (5 ounces) powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Place cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sour cream into a large bowl and mix on high speed until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Using an off-set spatula, spread a generous amount of frosting onto each cupcake.
4. Garnish with crystallized ginger if desired.

Cupcake recipe from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

Frosting recipe from The Best New Recipe: All-New Edition

Zack’s Five-Way Cincinnati Chili July 29, 2006

Not long ago Zack was reminiscing of his childhood days in Florence, Kentucky and this dish popped into his head. The flavor of the sauce is very unusual, complex, and delicious. We like it so much, we’ve added it to our monthly rotation!

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbs chili powder
• 2 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa
• 2 15 oz cans unsalted tomato sauce
• 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
• 1 16 oz package uncooked spaghetti

Toppings

• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups shredded medium or sharp cheddar cheese
• oyster crackers **

Directions

1. In a heavy bottomed 5 quart pot, saute onion, ground beef, garlic and chili powder over medium-high heat until ground beef is slightly cooked.
2. Add allspice, cinnamon, cumin, salt, cocoa, tomato sauce, kidney beans, Worcestershire sauce, and water.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for an hour and a half.
4. 30 minutes before sauce is done, boil water and cook spaghetti.
5. To serve, place a serving of noodles on plate and top with sauce, cheese, onions, then oyster crackers.

Serves 6-8 (or 4 if you eat like we do!)

**We have found one brand of oyster cracker beats the rest - Olde Cape Cod from Safeway.

Easy Lemon Squares

These are so lemony! And the best part is, they aren’t THAT bad for you..so, just go for it! If you like lemons, you’ll like these bars.

Crust

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbs. butter softened
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Topping

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tbs. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare crust: beat sugar and butter at medium speed in mixer until creamy.
3. Gradually add the flour to the sugar mixture at low speed until it resembles fine crumbs.
4. Gently press mixture into bottom of an 8 inch square baking pan
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
6. To prepare topping: beat eggs at medium speed until foamy.
7. Add next 5 ingredients (sugar through salt) and beat until well blended.
8. Pour mixture over partially baked crust.
9. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until set.
10. Cool on wire rack.
11. Once cooled, sift powdered sugar evenly over top.

Makes 16 servings

Recipe from Cooking Light

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa

The cool thing about making salsa is that you can tweak the ingredients to your liking…so if you like it super spicy…add another jalapeno or two! One more thing…if you are in a hurry you can skip roasting the corn, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Just slightly cook the corn and add the rest of the ingredients in raw. It will still be good…just not as good as the roasted version!

Salsa

• 1 package frozen sweet corn** or 4 cups fresh corn
• 1 large red bell pepper-roasted, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno- roasted, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 of a large red onion- finely chopped
• 1 15oz can black beans
• cilantro (as much or as little as you like!) You could substitute italian parsley if you don’t like cilantro.

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• zest from 1 lime
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place bell pepper and jalapeno on a cookie sheet and broil. Turn peppers periodically so the skin turns black.
2. Place the blackened peppers in a paper bag. Roll the top of the bag to close. Wait at least 5 minutes.
3. Bake or broil the corn until it is slightly brown in color.
4. Once the peppers are cool enough to touch, take them out of the bag and peel the blackened skin off. It should come off pretty easily.
5. Chop bell pepper and put in medium bowl.
6. Finely chop jalapeno and add to the bell pepper.
7. Add roasted corn to the peppers.
8. Finely chop red onion and cilantro. Add to corn and peppers.
9. Drain and rinse black beans and add to the bowl.
10. Dressing: combine all the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake to combine.
11. Pour over salsa and enjoy!

This salsa tastes good right after you make it…but it tastes great the next day when the flavors have had a chance to meld together. Serve with chips (I like the baked blue corn ones the best!) or inside of a quesadilla.

**If you are going to use frozen corn it is best to dry it out a little in the oven, to reduce sogginess. Also, I have noticed that frozen corn can be kinda starchy and not that sweet. The best frozen sweet corn I’ve found is the Organic Sweet Corn at Trader Joe’s.

Parmesan Chicken July 27, 2006

This dish is good on warm summer days. It’s light and refreshing. The contrast between the crispy warm chicken and cool salad greens is delicious!

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• Unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• Salad Greens for 6 (washed and spun dry)
• Lemon Vinegrette (recipe below)

Directions

1. Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin. In a pinch, I have used a bottle of wine wrapped in plastic wrap!
2. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate.
3. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 Tbs of water.
4. On a third plate combine bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.
5. Coat chicken on both sides with flour mixture.
6. Dip both sides into the egg mixture.
7. Dredge both sides in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing lightly.
8. Heat 1 Tbs butter and 1 Tbs olive oil in a large saute pan.
9. Cook chicken breasts for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. (You may need cook chicken in two batches.)
10. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep warm while finishing the rest of the chicken.

Salad Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 lb chunk of very good Parmesan Cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, wisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Place washed and spun salad greens in a large bowl.
3. Pour on enough dressing to lightly coat salad.
4. Place chicken on an individual plate and a large helping of salad on each chicken breast.
5. With a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, shave parmesan into large shards over salad.

Serves 6

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa: Family Style

Outrageous Brownies July 26, 2006

Seriously, these are outrageous. They reminded our quality control taste tester, Zack, of a candy bar.

Ingredients

• 1 lb unsalted butter
• 1 lb plus 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 Tbs instant coffee granules
• 2 Tbs pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1 inch baking sheet.
2. Melt butter, 1 lb of chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. (Or you can place chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently.) Allow to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar.
4. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
5. In a medium bowl, sift 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add flour to chocolate mixture.
7. Toss walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup of flour.
8. Add nuts and chocolate chips to chocolate batter.
9. Pour into baking sheet.
10. Bake for 20 minutes. Then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and brownie dough.
11. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE!
12. Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

These are SO rich…I usually make a 1/2 batch and cut the squares much smaller. A little goes a long way!

Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Earl Grey Chocolate Cupcakes July 25, 2006