Baked Brie

17 Mar

Are you in need of something simple, tasty and quick to make? It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting a party, eating with your family or like me – enjoying a Saturday afternoon by yourself. I made this last weekend before I started packing for my Mexico trip. It was the perfect treat and one I had been waiting to make ever since I bought the makings at the grocery store. It’s – Baked Brie!

The back-story to this – I visited a good friend of mine, Marissa, in Memphis, TN a few weekends ago. She and her significant other were hosting a party at their house one evening and she whipped up this recipe as one of the snacks. It was delicious! I couldn’t believe I’d never made it before. When I returned home, I knew it was on the list of things to make. SOON.

Baked brie has many variations. I knew I wanted to use puff pastry, a mouth-watering rhubarb-berry jam and brie cheese. I wasn’t sure what other ingredients were needed/wanted in the recipe. I googled baked brie to see what came up and ended up with this recipe from Simply Recipes. I made some variations with ingredients which can be seen below:

Baked Brie:

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sheet of puff pastry dough (Remove it from the freezer 40 minutes before you plan to use it and it’ll be perfectly thawed.)
  • 1 wedge of Brie cheese – do not remove rind (I used a strong French brie, which turns out I didn’t enjoy as much as mild brie. Find the type of Brie you’d like best and use that.)
  • Any sweet jam you can find and think sounds tasty (I used rhubarb-berry jam but any kind will work. Experiment!)
  • Brown sugar to sprinkle
  • Maple syrup to drizzle (The recipe calls for 1/4 cup, but I preferred to drizzle it on top which probably totaled only 2 Tbsp. You can do as much as or little as your sweet tooth desires.)

How to Make:

Preheat your oven to 350. If you haven’t already started thawing your puff pastry – get on that! It takes about 40 minutes, depending on the brand you use.

Once the puff pastry is ready to go, lay it out on a flat surface. Place the wedge of Brie (with the rind on!) smack dab in the middle. Spread on your jam as thick or thin as you’d like. I layered on a lot of jam. I like jam. You may not. You could even try a few flavors, perhaps mixing different types. Experiment. Come up with whatever makes your mouth water!

After you have the amount of jam on top you’re happy with, wrap up the jam-soaked Brie with the puff pastry. I didn’t make mine very pretty, but perhaps you’re more skilled. As long as it’s all folded in and the edges are pinched together, you should be good to go. But if you’re hosting a big group of people at party and you want it to be prettier – please feel free to do so.

Now you’re ready to drizzle and sprinkle! Drizzle the maple syrup on top – as much or little as you’d like. Follow that with sprinkling brown sugar. I had quite a few clumps of brown sugar and I thought it’d be fun to sprinkle a few of those on the top as well. Sprinkle away until you’re satisfied.

Pop the whole concoction onto a sprayed cookie sheet and bake it for 25-30 minutes. You know you’re done when the top of the pastry starts to turn a little brown. Let it cool at least 10 minutes or so before you dig in.

I ate mine with honey crisp apple slices, but crackers, stiff bread or other firm fruit would also work.

Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

 

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Mexico Trip – Top Ten

16 Mar

I thoroughly apologize for the massive delay in posting, it was not due to how much I’ve loathed blogging thus far or for lack of material (Opposite of both, actually!). I was on vacation in Mexico with one of my very best friends and was unplugged for the last 5 days. Felt very refreshing to not be checking Facebook or Twitter, or responding to email…just taking in the ocean and sunshine. It was great!

In my first blog, which I haven’t referenced too much, I chronicled my study abroad travels. Many of those blog postings were about trips I took and for my family and friends back home. One of the fun things I came up with in the process was looking at a ‘Top Ten’ (of Five if the trip was short) of trip highlights. These ‘Top’ lists usually provided some humor as well. I’d like to describe the “Chelsea and Betsy, Mexico 2012 – Top Ten”…mostly via pictures:

1) Upgrades. Chels and I had bought a Living Social deal for our resort so we got a heck of a deal. The package included a basic room, airport transfers, all-inclusive food/beverages and 2 50-minute massages. We thought we won the jackpot with that deal! Anyway, our basic room was already wonderful, simply for the fact that we’d be in Mexico! When we checked in, and they brought us to our room, we saw we did NOT have the basic room, but a big suite complete with washer/dryer in the unit, a full working kitchen, jacuzzi and large balcony! We were flabbergasted! So we made sure we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we felt incredibly lucky. Picture of the living room/kitchen below and our balcony view:

2) Fun, Fruity Drinks. Not much needed to be said here, but we enjoyed tasting as many fun drinks as we could. A favorite of mine was the Miami Vice – half Pina Colada and half Strawberry Daiquiri. Yum!

3. Food Pictures. If my blog doesn’t already attest to this, I love taking pictures of my food. I realize this made me appear even more touristy than I already did, but I couldn’t help it. A few of my favorite food pictures are below: Caprese Salad (I had this many, many times) and Chelsea’s Flank Steak Cheese Fondue. Oh my was the latter delicious. She LOVED it too!

4. Breakfast. Similar, but different from food pictures…breakfast. Possibly the best meal of the day down there. We felt the need to include Nutella in most of our breakfasts, but our last day also included a fantastic Lox bagel. I need to make that more often at home. So good. (The first picture is of the breakfast Chelsea and I shared, just so you don’t think I’m completely piggy.)

5. The Swing Bar. This was a favorite stop of ours throughout the day because it was just, plain entertaining. This was an outdoor tiki bar on the beach that had swings on three of its four sides. You sat on the swing, sipped your drink and thought about what a great idea  a swing bar is. Here’s a picture of us enjoying it below:


6. The Spa. Oh goodness. So you may be into massages, but I’m a huge wimp and they’re not usually my thing. However, as mentioned above, Chels and I got 2 50 minutes massages with our Living Social deal, so who was I to turn it down?! We decided our first full day was perfect, early afternoon. That way, we weren’t burned to a crisp yet (we hoped). We were told to come to the Spa an hour before our massages. Which we did. We were instructed to head to the steam room. We were to be in the steam room for 15 minutes. Chelsea was in heaven. I was dying after 2 minutes. Apparently my lungs don’t like steam. I proceeded to use the shower head in the steam room to continually douce my face with cold water alternating with going outside into fresh air. Like I said, I’m a wimp. I fully admit. Post-steam room we went into three different little pools. The first was FREEZING, on purpose. Something to do with your pores. Then a really hot one. Then a warm one which was in between. This last one was my favorite. After our skin had been thoroughly assaulted by the steam and varying water temperatures, we were ready for massages. Chels opted for a deep tissue massage which to me sounded extremely unpleasant. (The wimpy thing comes in here again). But my normal massage sounded good to me and…the massage was great! I was very skeptical beforehand, but it was very relaxing, my body did not hurt afterwards and there was no painful sunburn to worry about. Excellent Spa experience all around. (Except that silly steam room.) Below is a picture of the Spa, which is nestled amongst a ton of foliage, trees and shrubbery.

7. Hats. Chels informed me she had a floppy hat for Mexico and all I had was my trusty Twins hat. Wanting to have something fun and girly Chels and I rushed to Target at 10:50 PM on Saturday evening. We made it in with 2 minutes to spare and were hustled out. But not before I found a great, white floppy hat and Chels found much needed pink wedges. I get to Mexico and put on my floppy hat and am no longer able to see a thing. The floppy hat was in fact, too floppy. How’s that possible? Chels rocked her hat during the trip and I went back to my Twins hat. Hard to beat the classic. Shaded my face at least!

8. Sunburn. Yes, this happened. Not surprising considering my freckled skin and strawberry blonde hair. The funny thing is, the most sunburned part of my body was my feet. Who burns the tops of their feet?!? Me. I will forever more coat my feet in sunscreen in addition to all other appendages and spots on my person. However, the sunburned feet didn’t deter me from joining Chels back in the spa for pedicures on our last full day. Check out a necessary beach, pedicure and sunburn picture below:

9. The Staff. I highly recommend staying at the resort we went to – Villa del Palmar Cancun. Not only because it’s a great resort with delicious food, great pools, tasty beverages and a beautiful beach…but very friendly staff! We had great experiences from meals, to the front desk, to the bartenders to those in the Spa. Great staff made this such a great vacation. Can’t say enough great things about them.

10. Twit. My friend Chelsea is fondly known as ‘Twit’, ever since I’ve known her. We met freshmen year of college and now in our first year out, we are still close friends. She too loves to cook, travel and lounge. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip due to Chels being there. We are already planning another trip…perhaps this will become an annual thing?! 🙂 Here she and I are on one of the nights we dressed up for dinner.

That wraps up the Top Ten! Great trip and I wish I were still lounging on the beach with a cocktail in hand! More blog postings with recipes will be coming this weekend – I have a few that I haven’t posted yet and am planning a few in addition.

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Vanilla Bean Frosting

10 Mar

Is there anything better than vanilla bean? I think not! I have always LOVED the taste of this wonderful ingredient but used it for the first time today in the frosting for Dad’s cake. It was a bit of a hectic day, so I didn’t get a chance to whip up (no pun intended…ok…slightly intended) the frosting until my parents arrived at my apartment. Ah well, I enjoy cooking with some company. 🙂

For dinner, my parents and I had planned something relaxing and delicious – none other than Punch Pizza! See my recent post about Punch and why I think it’s so divine. We enjoyed both a Margherita Extra (the best EVER) and a delicious meat concoction with onions. It was great to have the combination of the two pizzas with the olive oil on one to outweigh the zip of the spice on the meat version. I’ll have to look up the name of that pizza, it was tasty.

Back to the vanilla bean. And the frosting. So, I’ll put this out there – this is not a healthy frosting. But MAN is it good. Mom and Dad kept sticking their fingers in the bowl of frosting and insisting on putting more on the cake. I even caught them in their frosting frenzy – including Dad sneaking extra layers on the cake. Got to love it.

For the recipe, this again a Sweetapolita creation. Below is her exact wording, measurements, ingredients and ‘how to make’ process which can be found on this page in her blog (when you see an ‘I’ that refers to Rosie, not to me):

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Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients

3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (375 grams/13 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

3 cups sifted (480 grams/1 lb + 1 ounce) confectioners’ sugar (icing, powdered)

3 tablespoons (45 mL) milk

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract — I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract

pinch of salt

Method

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

3. Best used right away.

4. You can eliminate the vanilla bean and use a total of 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.

*Adapted from Donna Hay

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So, as I was whipping the frosting for a total of 8 + 1 + 6 minutes, I got in a little workout too. I unfortunately do not own a Kitchen Aid mixer. I know – the shame! It’s on the lists of “I’d really like…” but hasn’t quite made the list of “I REALLY NEED…”. Yet. If you’re like me and use a hand mixer, prepare for a little arm workout. If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer…well good for you. What color is it?!?

Back to frosting and cake. Locate your cake plate, or in my case, an upside down pizza pan. (I meant to buy a large cake stand last weekend and totally spaced it out. The humor here is I own three mini cake plates (for perfume, picture frames etc.) but not one that’s cake size. I know – little weird.) Either way, as long as the surface you use is flat, you should be good.

Slather frosting all over the top of whichever cake you’d like to be the bottom. I was told I should have put MORE frosting on for this middle frosting layer, but this is up to you and much you LOVE frosting. Set your other cake on top, face down. This gives you a nice, flat surface for the top of the cake and makes it easy if you wish to decorate. Layer on the frosting on all sides and the top until your satisfied with the both the coverage and depth of frosting. I didn’t use all of the frosting, but there wasn’t too much leftover.

Decorate as you’d like or be like me and just use candles. Here’s the birthday boy:

And here he is, in vanilla heaven:

All in all, a delicious cake and frosting recipe and a successful birthday celebration was had. I highly recommend both the frosting recipe and the cake recipe from yesterday’s post. This is no ‘boring vanilla’ cake . I’m a chocolate girl and loved this cake. Trust me.

Now go make some cake!

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Vanilla Cake from Scratch

9 Mar

Today was such a bizarre day! I travel for work and my entire travel itinerary was thrown off today as my flight was cancelled. I drove home instead, arriving home (after a stop at a few grocery stores for ingredients) at 10 PM. I had planned on spending the evening getting things ready for my parents to stop by tomorrow for my dad’s birthday. I had a few errands to run for some last minute items for his gift and wanted to make this cake from Sweetapolita.

The author of that site, Rosie, has a wide array of cakes on her blog – all of which looked delicious. I had a craving for something really simple, fluffy and preferably with vanilla bean. (I’ve never cooked with it but love the taste.) I compromised with a fluffy, vanilla cake and a vanilla bean frosting. I didn’t vary any details or ingredients from her recipe, as I was too afraid I’d screw something up!

The one thing I didn’t follow to a ‘T’ was the sifting of the cake flour. I don’t own a sifter (I did look  tonight at two grocery stores) but googled some ways to also ariate the flour without sifting. One suggestion was to whisk the flour – which is the method I used. Hopefully my cake will be fluffy even without the sifting.

I unfortunately have only one cake pan – so I am practicing patience this evening by doing one at time for the two tier cake. My last one is  juuusssttt finishing up – the second of two is cooling right now.

As I didn’t vary any part of the recipe – this is Rosie’s, from Sweetapolita, exact wording, measurements, ingredients and ‘how to make’ process (when you see an ‘I’ that refers to Rosie, not to me):

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Fluffy Vanilla Cake {modified}          

Yield: One 2-layer, 8-inch round cake or 9-inch round cake

*Very fluffy and light, but can be a bit more challenging if even a fraction too much liquid is added.

Ingredients

5 large egg whites (5 ounces/150 grams) at room temperature

3/4 cup whole milk (180 mL/6 liquid ounces), at room temperature

2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (12.5 mL) — I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (10 ounces/285 grams–weighed after sifting)

1 3/4 cups sugar (12 ounces/350 grams)

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder (19.5 grams)

3/4 teaspoon salt (5 grams)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (6 ounces/170 grams), at room temperature and cut into cubes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease, line with parchment, and flour two round 8-inch pans.

2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, 1/4 cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.

4. Add the butter and remaining 1/2 cup of milk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 90 seconds.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition.

6. Divide the batter in two, spreading it evenly with a small offset palette knife. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh to ensure 2 even layers.

7. Bake 25-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center. Be so careful to not overbake. Check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.

8. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best eaten the same day as baked.

*Slightly adapted from Classic White Cake recipe on Baking Bites

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If you notice some of the measurements are bolded, and the recipe is a modified one. If you go to the recipe you’ll see Rosie modified it from her orignal recipe a bit.

I’ll post more about the frosting and what the final product looks like, tomorrow!

Also sending a ‘Happy Birthday’ out to my Dad via the blogosphere!!

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Favorite Minneapolis Spots

8 Mar

Everyone needs some places to go that just make your day better. For some it’s a coffee place, others, their favorite shoe store. I’m still discovering what my favorite places are to go in Minneapolis but here are a few that I encourage anyone in the area to visit. These are purely my own opinion about local spots that make me smile:

Punch Pizza: I cannot express enough how fantastic this pizza is. It’s authentic Italian pizza and just the smell of this place reminds me of Italy. Nothing beats the Margherita Extra pizza (don’t get me wrong, I LOVE pepperoni pizza…but this pizza is by far the best ever), but I’ve never tasted anything bad from their menu. Punch has a quite a few locations around the Twin Cities, and thankfully one of those is within a mile of my apartment. Next time you’re craving pizza, this is the spot to go!

Patina: This is the best store if you’re in the mood to just wander and window shop (or purchase!). If I  need a pick-me-up, this is one of the first spots I go. For anyone who enjoys unique home decor, bath accessories, cards and stationery, fun kitchen gadgets, (when in season) Christmas ornaments, coffee table books, gift ideas etc. – Patina has it all! I discovered one near campus while I was a student at the University of Minnesota and luckily, have one close to my apartment in Uptown now too. There are a few locations scattered around the Twin Cities and one even in Golden Valley. I promise you’ll love it!

yum!: Yes, this is the name of an actual place and it lives up to its name! This bakery and restaurant is on the outside cusp of Uptown and is one of a my favorite spots to eat out. I even went here on my birthday last year, when I was out celebrating with my lovely parental units. This place has delicious food – just check out the online menu for a peek. There’s wine and beer that are suggested as pairings for each main dish from the restaurant side as well. I have yet to try anything from the bakery but that is NOT because it doesn’t all look fabulous. I just don’t trust myself to stop after one of the delicious-looking sweets! If you’re looking for a unique, local spot to eat next time you’re in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, check this place out. They have just about anything you could be craving, so you’re bound to leave with a full, happy stomach. Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner…or even just dessert!

Mara Mi: This is not technically in the Twin Cities, but in Stillwater, MN. I found this place while on a mother/daughter weekend with my mama in early February. We were out stopping in all the fun antiques and boutiques on the main street in Stillwater, and then stumbled into this place. It’s hard to really describe the fun shop they have, but it’s part cafe (paninis, pizza, cupcakes, coffee etc.) and part store. Their store sells uniquely designed stationary as well as other fun accessories – desk/office supplies, home decor, home organization/travel accessories and more! There’s so much color in this store and great patterns everywhere, it’s hard to not be inspired. The really neat part is, the design studio for the company is just upstairs – where they design all their stationary/patterns! What a fantastic job – design, sell and bake. Love it!

I have many more spots I could list, but these are some favorites. I love to support local spots that are a unique piece of what makes Minneapolis and the Twin Cities overall such a great place to live. If you’re ever in town to visit or if you’re a local like me, I encourage you to stop by one of these spots!

I’m always looking for new spots around the area, so if there are any favorites among any of the readers out there – please share!

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Earring Chain

6 Mar

So this was an idea I came across at some point in the last few months, I believe it was pinterest (do you sense a theme here?). Super simple idea for those of us who have a problem with having too many earrings and having no idea how to store them. I’ve tried different boxes for different types, arranging on a plate etc. None of these methods seem to work too well so I was up for trying something new…an earring chain!

I am a bit concerned that when taking a pair off, others will also fall. A few attempts I made this week while packing for work (I travel for work and usually pack 3-4 different earrings…one must accessorize each outfit!) caused some others to fall. I’ll have to see if it’s just me learning to take them off the chain, or perhaps the chain needs to be farther away from the wall to avoid that problem? I’ll continue the experiment and see.

All you need for this craft is a metal chain. I got mine at Home Depot and had the guy helping me cut off about two feet. I hung it with two nails, but I’d imagine hooks would work too. It may be more stable and allow you more room between the chain and wall for your earrings to ‘dangle’ instead of be ‘pinned’ between the wall and chain, like mine. I will forewarn, the more of a ‘U’ you have, the more the earrings will sag together. I think it’s more fun to see all the earrings you have, so aiming for more of a line vs. a ‘U’ shape should help with that.

I recommend hanging your heaviest pairs in the middle and the more dainty on the outside. This helps keep the slight ‘U’ shape while avoiding anything dainty being smashed or hidden by heavier pairs.

Good luck and happy earring hanging!

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Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

6 Mar

So, I preface this post with this – I’m not a great baker. I for some reason have more success with the ‘cooking’ end than the ‘baking’ end of culinary abilities. Nonetheless, I’m determined to change that! I’ve dabbled in cakes and cookies but one thing I want, no DESIRE to become good at is bread making. Maybe it’s the kneading thing or that it’s just fun to watch rise. Or that it smells divine when it’s baking. I even loved play-doh as a kid (ask my mom!) and I think it’s all about me, deep down, wanting to be a master of bread.

Ok, that’s a bit extreme. Either way, I’m trying to attempt some variations of breads to see what I like, what’s fun to make etc. This past weekend, while I had the lasagna simmering on the stove, I attempted to make Rosemary bread. I found this recipe on pinterest.com which took me to the recipe I used on a great blog: A Hint of Honey. I can’t wait to peruse the blog for other tasty recipes!

This was a great bread recipe for a newbie like me – not a lot of steps but still kneading fun involved. 🙂 I modified the recipe a bit, but see A Hint of Honey for the original recipe and other delicious ideas.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm water (not scalding hot but fairly warm)
  • 1 Tbsp. cane sugar
  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast (if you’re like me and get the packets, you’ll have a bit left over, 1/4 tsp to be exact)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped or 2 tsp. dried (I only had dried, but LOVE rosemary and decided to use 2 Tbsp anyway. Up to you!)
  • 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (or pinch of each ground garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil) (I went with her suggested concoction and it turned out great, as an FYI)
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (I used normal whole wheat flour, again, up to you!)
  • 1/2 cup bread flour + extra for kneading
  • 1 egg, whisked + 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash
  • dried rosemary, for sprinkling

How to Make:

In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. To a new bread maker, this process allows the yeast to ‘proof’. For those that know all about breads, I’m sorry I didn’t know about this term. I’m now more educated.

Stir in the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and whole wheat flour. I didn’t mix it all the way in, just enough to have the flour and liquid start to mix together. Then, add in the bread flour and stir until it starts to come together. Mine came together in many little balls but it’s supposed to come together in one larger ball. Either way, now it’s time for FUN! Let’s knead…

Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes. Yes, I know, you want to knead for 10 minutes. I too had to cut myself off from kneading. You’ll survive. If the dough becomes sticky, add in more flour to the dough or your heads, or both! It shouldn’t be sticky, but smooth when you’re all done.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl; cover (I used a clean kitchen towel for this); and let rise until (about) doubled in size. This step takes about an hour. If you’re making the lovely lasagna from my post a few days ago, this gives you time to continue work on that. Or drink a glass of wine. Or watch some Netflix. I may have done all three.

Now, more kneading fun, well, just punching. Punch down the dough and form it into a round loaf. I  then placed my load on a pizza pan sprinkled with bread flour. The original recipe also states you can place the dough on a flour dusted pizza peel or parchment paper. Whatever is in your kitchen should be able to work. Again, cover that baby up and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes this time around

At this time, hopefully your lasagna (or other items in the oven, if there are any) are out and you can turn the head to 400 F. The recipe suggests to preheat and bake on a pizza stone, an item lacking in my kitchen. I simply warmed up my pizza pan (moved the dough to a new, floured spot while this preheat was happening.) Once the dough has risen, brush that baby with the egg wash and with a hearty helping of dried rosemary.

Bake on preheated stone (or for those with less cooking items at their fingertips, a preheated pizza pan) for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. I did not tap mine, but it was golden brown and looked/tasted done to me.

This recipe makes one, lovely, round load of glorious smelling bread. It also goes FABULOUSLY with lasagna. Just saying.

Enjoy!

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Lasagna (like you’ve never had it…)

4 Mar

Realizing there’s been an extensive hiatus since my blog creation and first post, I have finally found the time to post about a recipe I truly love.

First, I must tell you, I am a huge Pioneer Woman fan. I mean huge. I love her humor, her witty blog and most of all, her recipes. If you haven’t heard of her (which would baffle me) or haven’t read her blog – check her out: http://thepioneerwoman.com/ Her lasagna recipe is the feature of my post today. This recipe is featured both on her website and in her cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. (I must put this out – she has no idea who I am or that I love her food. I just love her and her recipes. That’s it.)

Now even for those who aren’t huge fans of lasagna, I guarantee you’ll think it’s delicious. I can make that claim as I was once you. After making this the first time, I am now a lasagna lover.

It’s a simple recipe, but has multiple steps. I need to learn to master multi-tasking kitchen tasks, but perhaps you’re more equipped with this trait than I.

Ingredients:

  • 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
  • 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage (I used a combination of mild breakfast sausage leftover in my freezer and regular breakfast sausage, as it was all Target had available)
  • 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
  • 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley (or fresh if you have it)
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil (or fresh if you have it)
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 cups Low fat Cottage Cheese (small or large curd)
  • 2 whole Beaten Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley (yes…you’ll use this twice…again, this can be fresh if you have it.)
  • 1 teaspoon Salt (needed twice too)
  • 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles (I used whole wheat noodles, but any type will do)
  • (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)
*Note…none of the cheeses or eggs are present in the picture above because I’m a moron. But they were used in this recipe.

How to make:

Preheat the oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding the olive oil and a pinch of salt.

(Here’s where the kitchen multi-tasking begins) In a large skillet (the largest you have would be best), throw in your meat – ground beef and sausage. Also, add in your chopped garlic. Over medium-high heat, brown it up. This starts to smell fantastic. If you’re going for a slim version, you can drain the fat (about half is suggested). I like the rich, fatty taste of the meat and I leave it in. Judge me if you must.

Once everything is all brown, turn the skillet down to low and add in your whole tomatoes (including the juice), tomato paste, 2 Tbsps of parsley and 2 Tbsps of basil and 1 tsp of salt. Let simmer for about 45 minutes. Don’t be like me and realize your burner has been off for the first 10 minutes. I was not pleased with myself. However, it tastes delicious and if you’re as impatient as me…I suggest sneaking a spoonful of this from the pan. Yum!

While this is simmering, stir occasionally to get things heated evenly. Now you have time to complete another task – creation of the cottage cheese mixture. Mix your cottage cheese, the beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, the other 2 Tbsps of parsley and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix it all up. I set mine in the refrigerator for a bit as I was overzealous and mixed this when there was still much more simmering needing to happen to my meat/tomato mixture. But, it should be fine to have this sit at room temperature for a bit.

Your pasta water should be bubbling by now – add in your lasagna noodles. Just cook until they’re al dente, no more. (You’ll need approximately 8 noodles, depending on the size of the dish you’re using.)

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, your meat/tomato mixture is done simmering (and smells like heaven) and the cottage cheese mixture is ready, grab the mozzarella. It’s assemblage time!

Layer lasagna noodles in the bottom of your dish, about four overlapping should do the trick. Pour half of the cottage cheese mixture on top, spreading it around evenly. Next, layer your slices of mozzarella. Finally, spoon about half of the meat mixture on top. Repeat all four steps once more – noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella and then ALL the rest of the meat on top. If you’re really into Parmesan cheese, this goes well sprinkled on top. But it’s delicious without too.

Now, you can throw in the oven and bake it, or freeze it to bake later. (I did both! Splitting mine into two small square pans and baked one and froze the other.) You can also refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Your choice!

Bake the lasagna for 20-30 minutes. The top should be ‘hot and bubbly’ as the Pioneer Woman says. Your kitchen should also smell pretty lovely at this point. This recipe serves 12, but those are 12 large helpings. I personally eat mini-helpings and made this into 24 between my two square pans.

Slice it up and ENJOY!

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Spatulas and Buttons.

29 Jan

The inaugural post! Now you may be wondering what spatulas and buttons have in common…well, nothing. But they represent two hobbies of mine – cooking and crafting. I do more cooking than crafting, but I’d like to capture both on here. I want some place to track my real successes and epic failures. Maybe somebody will stumble upon this and pick up an idea or two. If not, this is my virtual recipe box and craft project timeline.

This is my second time blogging (I blogged while studying abroad in the Netherlands, read here if you’re curious: http://bvosegoingdutch.blogspot.com/). I tend to have an unusual blogging style so if there is anyone out there reading this, be forewarned.

1) I write in incomplete thoughts. It’s more fun.

2) I use hyphens too much. I know. I do it anyway.

3) See #1. I also enjoy using “…” wherever possible.

4) I am not a chef. I’m not a professional crafter. I’m learning as I go.

5) I thoroughly enjoy following and reading other blogs, searching pinterest.com and looking in magazines for ideas. I’ll always source any recipe or craft idea I’ve found in the off chance  1) I attact any readers and 2) said readers want to make what I did.

I think that’s all the forewarnings. As of now, anyway. Let the blogging begin!

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