finding time for cooking

May 14, 2013

Basted Eggs with Shredded Brussels Sprouts — and how to baste eggs

This isn’t necessarily a “recipe” so much as a meal idea I stumbled across in the throes of overwhelming hunger desperation, to avoid yet another meal of cereal and wine.

I’ve already shared my love of brussels sprouts, including this delicious, easy caramelized shredded brussels sprouts (and much faster than roasting them in the oven!).

So one night, I had a few brussels sprouts sitting in the fridge I knew I could make up, but that wasn’t going to cut it for dinner. So I decided to baste up some eggs for a protein kick. What was great was how the egg yolk (I like mine on the runny side) mixed in with the brussels sprouts. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cooking for One, Go-To Recipes · Tagged: food, vegetarian, dinner, brussels sprouts, quick dinner, eggs, garlic, olive oil, water, salt, pepper, egg yolk, turbinado sugar, raw sugar, caramelized brussels sprouts, basted eggs, easy eggs, easy egg recipes, eggs with brussels sprout, brussels sprout hash, salt pepper

May 13, 2013

Pasta with Peppers, Sausage, & Goat Cheese

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

My made-up pasta dishes seem to follow a certain theme—namely, chicken sausage, veggies, and deeeelicious cheese. This is definitely comfortably in that wheelhouse. But somehow I like it better than other recipes I’ve made, it had this great mellow flavor.

I think the key was forgoing red peppers in favor of their paler yellow and orange siblings, and using red onion instead of white. That, combined with roasting instead of sauteing, took this up a level. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foods I'm Obsessed With, Go-To Recipes, Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: bell pepper, bite size pieces, chicken sausage, dinner, easy dinner, easy pasta recipe, fast dinner, food, goat cheese, minced garlic, olive oil, orange bell pepper, pasta, pasta dishes, pasta recipe, pasta water, pepper, recipe experimentation, red onion, roasted veggies, rosemary, salt, sea salt, trader joes, trader joes chicken sausage, trottole, yellow bell pepper

May 12, 2013

Easy Chocolate Lava Cakes

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

It’s Mother’s Day here in the States, and I’d planned to do a post on my mom’s coffee cake recipe, which is the best thing ever and perfect for Mother’s Day brunch or breakfast in bed. Alas, I’m still getting used to the lighting in my new kitchen and I HATE the pics I took of the recipe, so I’ll have to make it again (I know, the sacrifices I make…). So in lieu of cinnamon-sugar goodness, I bring you gooey, chocolatey goodness.

I adapted this from a lemon white chocolate lava cake recipe my mom and I tried a few months ago. What’s great about these vs. a lot of chocolate souffle-like recipes is that you don’t end up wasting gobs of egg whites or egg yolks due to separation, and they’re not temperamental at all (no sad, deflated souffles here!). Also, they are the easiest thing ever and take under a half hour from start to finish. And with them being chocolate, they’re a total crowd-pleaser.

Want proof that these are the easiest, fastest thing ever? Well, a few months ago, when I tried the recipe for the first time, I had my family in town and a friend over. We’d made a big, elaborate dinner and were sitting on the couch in a food coma, drinking wine and talking. I got up and went into the kitchen—open kitchen, I might add, so they could see me—made these and put them in the oven, then came back to the living room and sat back down. About 10 minutes later, my mom goes, “Should we go ahead and get dessert going?” “It’ll be ready in about 5 minutes,” I said. They couldn’t believe I’d thrown this together in mere minutes with no fuss at all. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foods I'm Obsessed With, Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: butter, chocolate cake, chocolate chips, chocolate lava cake, chocolate lava cake recipe, chocolate souffle, chocolatey goodness, confectioners sugar, dark chocolate chips, dessert, easy chocolate cake, easy dessert recipe, easy lava cake, egg yolk, eggs, extract, fast chocolate cake, fast dessert recipe, flour, hazelnut extract, lava cake, lava cake recipe, muffin tin, orange extract, powdered sugar, ramekins, recipe experimentation, salt, vanilla

May 5, 2013

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

To me, pecan pie is one of the most awesome traditional Southern foods. And maple BOURBON pecan pie???

Well, that takes things to a whole different plane.

I love pecan pie (in really small amounts!). And I love a good whiskey. Or a sometimes a not-as-good, if we’re talking cooking. And pie in general. That’s really good, too.

Good ol’ JD…

My mom found this recipe in a magazine a while back, and we finally got around to trying it for Thanksgiving last year. It was so good that I made it again for the Night to Be Much Observed this year, and it got rave reviews. The maple adds a little extra sweetness and the bourbon adds a smokiness and depth—all topped off (or bottomed-off) with my Aunt Kristy’s awesome whole wheat and oil pie crust! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: bourbon, bourbon pecan pie, butter, comfort food, dark corn syrup, dessert, dessert recipe, eggs, food, jack daniels, jack daniels pie, maple bourbon pecan pie, pecan pie, pecan pie recipe, pecan pieces, pecans, pie, pie crust, pie dough, recipe experimentation, salt, southern food, sugar, traditional southern food, unsalted butter, vanilla, whole wheat, whole wheat pie crust

May 1, 2013

Kale & Quinoa Salad with Feta & Pecans

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

Healthy fooooooood!

That’s right, after biscuits, creamy chicken pasta, and more pasta (con pesto), I bring you this deeeelicious fiber-full, protein-stuffed gem.

I know, you think I’m insane and that weird green leafy thing with the little sprinkling of grain doesn’t look remotely appetizing. But that’s where you’re wrong! It is sweet and salty and crunchy and chewy and super filling. Give it a try. Go on.

We’ve already discussed my love of kale. If you don’t share that love…well, you’re wrong. But I forgive you. Just give it a few chances—it just has to be prepared correctly.

Apr 29, 2013

Whole Wheat Biscuits

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

I am on a mission. A mission to find the best, most delicious, easiest, perfect biscuit recipe.

Melissa recommended this recipe when she and my mom were visiting last month. I think we stuck to the recipe, except in regards to the flour. I had some self-rising flour that we had to use up before the Passover/Days of Unleavened Bread, so we substituted about half self-rising flour, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t decrease the baking powder at all, so they turned out even fluffier than usual.

They were really amazing, definitely the best biscuits I’ve made—and I love that they were whole wheat but didn’t feel like rocks (or get stuck in your throat on the way down)! They were even good leftover, the true mark of an awesome biscuit.

So without further ado, here’s the best biscuit recipe I’ve found yet… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foods I'm Obsessed With, Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: baking powder, best biscuit recipe, biscuit recipe, biscuits, breakfast, brunch, butter, comfort food, easy biscuit recipe, flour, fluffy biscuit recipe, golden biscuits, milk, salt, self rising flour, skim milk, southern biscuits, unsalted butter, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat biscuit recipe, whole wheat biscuits, whole wheat flour

Apr 27, 2013

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

I’ve been trying to break out of my pasta rut a little bit lately. Don’t get me wrong, my rut is quite delicious—homemade pesto or sauteed/roasted veggies and sausage with some kind of cheese in the sauce, you can’t go wrong. But pasta can be so many things, and I really under-utilize its potential sometimes.

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and pulled it out quite a while ago. It’s been sitting on my couch since then, largely because I had to remember to buy mascarpone at Trader Joe’s. You can also find it at certain grocery stores, though not all the time. But good ol’ TJ’s always has it. The flavor was mild and yet really interesting. While I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms, they were great in this dish. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken stock, cooking light magazine, creamy chicken pasta with mushrooms, dijon mustard, dinner, dry pasta, easy chicken recipe, easy dinner recipe, fast chicken recipe, fast dinner, fast pasta, flour, food, fresh garlic, fresh parsley, fresh thyme, garlic, half-and-half, mascarpone, mascarpone cheese, mushroom, onion, pasta, pasta with chicken, pepper, recipe experimentation, red wine vinegar, salt, wild mushroom blend

Apr 20, 2013

Giovanna’s Pasta con Pesto

By starshy926 · 2 Comments

I’ve long said that if I had to choose one scent and be able to smell only that for the rest of my life (who’s making me choose? why? don’t think about it that hard), I think it might be fresh basil. Fresh basil is one of the BEST smells in the world!

As I mentioned back in my tiramisu post a few months ago, I studied in Italy during college on a language immersion program, and I lived with this awesome couple named Pietro and Giovanna. Giovanna was an amazing cook and made us three- and four-course dinners every night, and also imparted a few of her family’s recipes to me. This and the tiramisu are the two that have become a permanent part of my recipe book.

I make this every week or two during the summer when fresh basil is plentiful and high-quality. It’s my #1 go-to recipe because it literally takes 15 minutes from start to finish. Basically, as long as it takes to boil pasta, that’s how long this dish takes.

As you’ll notice in the pictures below, I’m actually showing you pictures from two different times I made this dish (don’t be confused!), because there are two ways you can do it—the real way, and a slightly modified way with fewer ingredients. Both are really easy, it just depends on if you want to go to the trouble of buying two extra things.

First, I’m going to show you the weird secret to the best pasta con pesto. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Family Secret Recipes, Go-To Recipes, Foods I'm Obsessed With · Tagged: al dente pasta, authentic italian, basil, best pesto, dinner, easy pasta, easy pesto, food, fresh basil, fresh garlic, fusili, garlic, homemade pesto, italian pasta, italian pesto, language immersion program, olive oil, parmesan, pasta, pasta con pesto, pasta dish, pasta recipe, pesto, pesto pasta, pine nuts, rotini, sea salt, shredded parmesan, vegetarian

Apr 17, 2013

Healthy Lemon Cornstarch Pudding

By starshy926 · 2 Comments

Oh man, guys, it has been one heck of a week! Last Wednesday we closed on my first home, started painting our faces off, moved, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. I haven’t had much time for cooking, but I am excited to get started again. I just might have to change my blog heading, because “adventures in a tiny kitchen” doesn’t really fit anymore—my kitchen is so much bigger and nicer! Can’t wait to put it through its paces.

I made this a few weeks ago, and absolutely loved it. As I mentioned a long time ago, chocolate cornstarch pudding is one of my family’s secret recipes, a summer go-to for me when I’m craving something cold and a little sweet. I particularly love that recipe because it doesn’t require any kind of gelatin or anything like that, just simple cornstarch. But a while back I got to thinking about it and how, in theory, that recipe could be adapted a million different ways.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that lemon was the first flavor that came to mind. Adapting it was incredibly simple, just leaving out the cocoa powder and adding fresh lemon zest, juice, and a little lemon extract to make it extra…lemon-y.

The resulting flavor was so fresh and sweet and tart, I wanted to make gallons of it. As it was, I devoured it in a few sittings! Now I want to try orange, lime, all the flavors! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Family Secret Recipes, Foods I'm Obsessed With, Go-To Recipes, Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: best pudding recipe, cornstarch, cornstarch pudding, dessert, easy pudding, family secret recipe, food, healthy dessert, healthy pudding, lemon extract, lemon juice, lemon pudding, lemon zest, milk, pudding, pudding without gelatin, skim milk, sugar, vanilla

Apr 8, 2013

Quick No-Knead Bread

By starshy926 · Leave a Comment

One of these days I’m going to put together a whole list of bread recipes and how long they take from start to finish—that way, when you want to make bread but only have, say, two hours, you’ll know which ones you can choose from and which ones have to rise overnight and are out of the question. Because every time I’m browsing bread recipes, I fall in love with one, and then realize that it has to rise for 12 hours before baking. Baking fail.

This one falls somewhere in the middle, at about 4-5 hours.

I hadn’t tried a nice, simple artisan bread in a long time, only soda breads and the like. So it was nice to smell the yeast doing its thing, see it rise all puffy and wet, and get golden and crusty after baking. There’s a sense of accomplishment in that, not to mention how tasty it is!
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Recipe Experimentation · Tagged: artisan bread, baking, bread, bread for beginners, bread recipes, breakfast, dinner, easy bread, fast rise yeast, flour, food, how to bake bread, instant yeast, oil, recipe experimentation, salt, soda breads, warm water, whole wheat flour, yeast

finding time for cooking

Basted Eggs with Shredded Brussels Sprouts — and how to baste eggs

Pasta with Peppers, Sausage, & Goat Cheese

Easy Chocolate Lava Cakes

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Kale & Quinoa Salad with Feta & Pecans

Whole Wheat Biscuits

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms

Giovanna’s Pasta con Pesto

Healthy Lemon Cornstarch Pudding

Quick No-Knead Bread

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