finding time for cooking - for the time-starved or curious culinary adventurer

Orange Cinnamon-Sugar Twist Bread

September 20, 2018

Every time I go to Chicago for work lately, I’ve stayed at The Godfrey for convenience, and had a lovely run along the River Walk in the early morning. Then, as a reward, I’ve stopped at Beatrix and gotten the biggest latte they have a morning bun. Their morning buns are an inspiration, like a cinnamon roll’s way cooler cousin…dough that’s slightly sweet with some lamination and a hint of orange zest, a cinnamon-sugar filling that’s positively gooey inside, and some sugar on the outside. No frosting, nothing overly sickly. Perfection.

So I’ve been lingering on this particular recipe on Pinterest lately, since it ticks the same flavor boxes as my beloved morning buns. I finally decided to tackle it a couple weeks ago and was SO happy I did!

One of the biggest changes I made was adding orange zest into the dough itself, versus just in the glaze. That slight hint of orange in the dough with a subtle cinnamon-sugar filling is just sublime. Additionally, I adapted the glaze by eliminating the butter and decreasing the amount quite a bit. I think the changes work SUPER well and make it a little less sweet, which is more my style.

I’d also recommend not being daunted by the number of steps in the recipe. It’s not a difficult recipe, and other than braiding the split layered dough ropes (it’s a bit messy!), it’s totally doable as long as you have the time. Don’t rush it and it’ll be a breeze!

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Bourbon Cherry Crisp with Brown Butter Streusel

September 12, 2018

This is one of the better ideas I’ve had in a while…

I’ve been totally obsessed with cherries lately, partly because they’re absolutely delicious and have been everywhere at the grocery store, and partly because I recently got a cherry pitter and can now have this fruit candy easily anytime I want (without hand-pitting and looking like I’ve murdered someone…).

Bourbon has also been everywhere in my life lately, since starting my new job at Brown-Forman in Louisville. Pretty much any bourbon will work for this, I used the bottle that happened to be open, which was a lovely Old Forester 100 proof. Combined with the brown butter, cinnamon, and cherries, this was BOMB.

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Browned Butter 101: How To Brown Butter

August 26, 2018

The cooking and baking world has long been obsessed with brown butter. Very charmingly called “beurre noisette” (or hazelnut butter…and it’s actually delicious *with* hazelnuts), it’s basically butter that’s been gently boiled until the milk solids evaporate, leaving you with a clarified, brown, nutty pool of YUM.

It’s useful everything from baking to simple, rich pasta sauces, and is actually super simple to make as long as you know what to look for. So today we’re going to talk about how to brown butter.

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Roasted Vegetable & Farro Salad with Creamy Shallot Dressing

August 20, 2018

Ever since I got my grill, it’s been tough pushing myself to try new recipes that don’t require me to just throw things on the grill, because it’s my new favorite thing ever.

But this recipe has been a staple the last few months as I’ve navigated moving, living in a temporary apartment for a couple months (with a terrible kitchen set-up), and then trying to balance the gluttony of travel and meetings with the need to fit into my clothes. The key is that it’s not just healthy, it’s YUMMY.

There’s a fair amount of “dealer’s choice” in this recipe. It’s incredibly flexible and forgiving…you can substitute different vegetables, use different grains (I use farro, but barley, Israeli couscous, wheatberries, or other similar grains would do), and I’ve even had to substitute dressing ingredients in a pinch. One time I didn’t have fresh lemons or oranges, so I used a combination of lemon juice & rice wine vinegar to get the tang and acidity, and one time left out the Greek yogurt, and it was still great.

So that’s all to say, I’ll tell you how I’ve done it a few different times, but if the spirit moves you go with your gut. Grill, roast, and drizzle your way to healthy deliciousness.

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Easy Side Dish: Fried Baby Potatoes

August 12, 2018

I moved away from home when I left for college, and only get back to Kansas once or twice a year. Usually that’s around Thanksgiving, but on the rare occasions it happens to be during the summer, my mom invariably asks if there’s anything in particular I want to eat, and I invariably answer “grilled chicken and steak with fried baby potatoes”.

It’s our thing.

It’s nice that some things in life are consistent 🙂 This is barely a “recipe”, but I’ve never really had these quite the same anywhere else so I wanted to share how we do this. The reason that summer is key is because we want to get fresh new potatoes if possible (red is best), and the key is SMALL. Yes, you can make regular potatoes this way, but it’s only with smaller potatoes that you get the right ratio of buttery crispy goodness and soft fluffy innards.

Innards. Mmm.

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Cheesy Rosemary Sweet Potatoes on the Grill

July 29, 2018

Guuuuuyyyyys. I know I haven’t posted a non-dessert recipe on here in a while. That’s mostly because I haven’t been cooking—I’ve been GRILLING. Ever since I moved in and have been getting settled, I’ve started using my awesome new grill non-stop. A lot of that has been slapdash marinating or brining and then throwing things on the grill as fast as I can. Not really “recipes”, per se. But *this* is the real deal, and I couldn’t wait to share it.

Behold, cheesy rosemary sweet potatoes on the grill.

I mean, that’s just ridiculous. I’ve been experimenting a lot with foil packet veggies (it’s my fave way to do cauliflower on the grill), and this is my favorite find yet. You can still make these if you don’t have rosemary (or could substitute fresh sage), but the rosemary really elevates it.

I *am* working on a bigger post on grilling for first-timers. I definitely can’t claim to be an expert yet, but I’ve done a lot of experimenting and reading up, with a lot of success, so hope to make the subject feel a little less daunting for other first-timers. I’ll share my favorite marinades and rubs, different ways to prepare veggies, tips for moist and not overcooked meat, and how to make sure you cook things to a safe temperature. So stay tuned!

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Orange, Apricot, & Pistachio Biscotti

July 23, 2018

Now isn’t *that* a match made in heaven?!

I feel bad because it’s been challenging getting new posts up as regularly as I normally would. I could blame it on travel schedules, the new job, and the continual process of settling into the new house. And all of that is 100% true. But you know the real reason?? I’ve just had trouble finding recipes that taste as good as they should when I make them. It’s not that I haven’t been baking and cooking, but rather that the recipes I’ve tried in the last month have all been fairly underwhelming—and not something I want to share with you.

Until this, that is.

I don’t know why I’ve been slightly obsessed with the idea of biscotti lately. It’s off-season, to be honest…more of a fall and winter food in my mind. But for some strange reason every time I see a new biscotti flavor combo, I’m smitten. So I finally decided to try a new one out. There was an orange, apricot, and almond recipe I’d been wanting to try, but I swapped in pistachios (and toasted them for more flavor) since that’s what I had on hand.

I was pretty skeptical about the recipe not having any fats, or any liquid except the egg and orange juice. But the more I thought about it, it made sense…a fat would make it more moist and soft, and that’s the opposite of a good biscotti. The orange zest and juice bring a brightness here, while the apricots bring the sweet. I’m glad it’s only lightly sweet, since that lets the fruit flavors really linger on your tongue. This one’s a winner for sure.

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Cinnamon-Walnut Challah…And Some New Digs

June 16, 2018

Oh hello there!

Yes, I know it’s been a hot minute since last we met here. But things have been a little insane around here, due to relocating (in my tiny Corolla), living in a temporary furnished apartment for a couple months (with the WORST kitchen supplies! Also, the cats were not fans…), house hunting, finalizing my move from Atlanta, and closing on a house here in Louisville. Oh yeah, and starting a major new job. So yeah, a lot’s been happening.

But I have a mountain of deliciousness to make it up to you today.

The great news is that I’m back in a fully-functioning kitchen and raring to go. I had to have them pipe in a propane line and install a new gas range because I was not dealing with that electric stove nonsense. Isn’t she pretty????

So that’s where I’ve been hiding for the last couple months. And without further ado, I bring you the yummiest stuffed challah bread you’ve ever had. Butter and walnuts and cinnamon and brown sugar meld into a magical mess inside a soft enriched dough (yes, I’ve been watching GBBO). But it’s surprisingly easy to pull together and got rave reviews from my co-workers. Totally worth the little bit of extra effort.

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Baked Whole Wheat Penne with Beef and Summer Veggies

April 25, 2018

I’ve mentioned a few times in the last couple years that I’ve been shying away from making too many pasta recipes, as I’ve had to keep a closer eye on my weight (for annoying and boring reasons like injuries and stress). But I have found a couple recipes that strike a good balance between feeling like delicious pasta goodness and not being just a calorie and carb bomb.

My baked ziti with chicken sausage and summer veggies was one such recipe, but I thought that it could be even healthier without feeling like I’m giving something up. I usually make it with Trader Joe’s chicken sausage, but that adds quite a lot of calories, so I swapped that for lean ground beef or venison. You can do it meatless as well, I’ve accidentally done that a few times and while you don’t get nearly the protein, it’s still very satisfying

I also used whole wheat penne or ziti instead of regular pasta, and packed in even more veggies so that my pasta to veggie ratio was about 1:1. The core vegetables here are zucchini, squash, and tomato, but you can add other veggies if you want (I’ve thrown an orange pepper in before, for instance).

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Garlicky Farfalle with Marinated Feta & Arugula

March 18, 2018

Pasta recipes used to be a staple on this blog, but in the last couple years I’ve had to waaaayyy scale back on the pasta for health reasons. But I LURVE pasta and was super excited to try out a new recipe that was 1) super easy and 2) super delicious.

I’d never marinated feta before, and boy, is *that* dangerous knowledge to have now! You have no idea how hard it was not to just eat that marinated feta straight out of the bowl. YUMMM.

One thing that’s great about this recipe is its simplicity. Other than making sure you have high-quality feta, the rest of the ingredients were ones I generally have on hand or can easily grab at the grocery store (like the arugula). But if you’re having it for a date, make sure you both eat a ton because it is super garlicky, so you want to have an even playing field 🙂

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