This knife is my go-to knife. I use it for everything! Examples: To cut and trim chicken breasts, to cut fruit, chop veggies, and so much more! It's the perfect size for my small hands, and for big hands too. Professional chefs may use chef's knifes for everything, but I use this. Another great part of this knife is, it was SUPER sharp when I first bought it, and stayed like that for a while! Now I just do a couple of strokes on a sharpener (or whatever it is called) every once and a while to keep it razor sharp. I also love the subtle curve of the blade, which make slicing and dicing much easier. If you are looking for a go-to knife, I would definitely recommend this one!
For this blog post, I decided to do something different. Instead of a recipe, I'm going to share my favorite kitchen tool of the past month. So, without further ado, my favorite kitchen tool of the month is........
This miniature skillet is amazing! I love to make a miniature omelet on a bagel. Eating one always makes me feel like I'm eating an egg sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts, or Breugger's Bagels!
I absolutely love this little pan, but then again, I love anything little. I'm going to let you in on a secret; I have a slight (okay, maybe not that slight) obsession with anything and everything small! I just love having miniature everything! It makes me happy! :) Having a egg that fits neatly on a bagel helps if you are eating it on the go; there is much less mess than with scrambled eggs or a folded omelet. This little pan is super cute!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! I hope you are having a day full of love! Now, to the food. Exactly a year ago, I went out to brunch, and got a Nutella-Mascarpone Crepe with Raspberry sauce. It was ridiculously amazing! Unfortunately, it was a special just for Valentines day, so I've been severely deprived... :) I've been wanting to recreate it ever since I sank my teeth in it, and I finally did a couple of weeks ago! The results turned out great! Don't be intimidated by the idea of making crepes, it really isn't that hard. Just know, the first couple might turn out a little funny looking (mine were quite misshaped), but they taste just fine, so don't beat yourself up about it! Crepes are a perfect vehicle for all sorts of filling, and the basic crepe recipe could be used for a sweet or savory crepe. Oh, the possibilities! A few key points about making crepes-
Make sure to use a nonstick pan
Use enough batter so they are big enough and get swirled into the right shape
Do not leave the pan while a crepe is cooking, they cook very quickly, and you don't want to burn them
Have fun, and eat a lot! :)
Crepes Makes 4 crepes Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Marscapone cheese*
Nutella (or other chocolate hazelnut spread)
Raspberries, halved
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and egg (I know it sounds weird, but it works! Just trust me!). Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled nonstick pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approx. 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown, Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.
Put on a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm (or stick in a VERY low heat oven) while you make the rest.
Mix mascarpone cheese with Nutella (Just eyeball the proportions), taste and adjust to your liking.
Spread the mascarpone-nutella mixture in the center of a crepe, add raspberries, and fold.
Enjoy!
*If you don't have mascarpone cheese, just use this substitute:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp cream
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sour cream
Beat in a bowl until smooth. These crepes are so yummy and easy, and whoever you serve this to will think you spent a bunch of time and effort on them! But that can be our little secret. :) I hope you have a great weekend!
First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope your holidays were great! Now, to business. :) Today I made Chocolate-Marshmallow cupcakes, and homemade pizza! Let's start with the cupcakes... My friend sent me this recipe to make, and when I looked at the ingredients to start making a grocery list, I realized that I had all the ingredients, and they are all items that people typically have on hand! It was the icing on the cupcake (pun intended!) :) These cupcakes are absolutely DELICIOUS, and really easy to make! Definitely going to become a go-to dessert! I'm planning on trying variations; Nutella, caramels, Rolos, etc **. We'll see how it goes! I think mini marshmallows would work better than the regular sized ones, because I had to cut my marshmallows in smaller pieces to fit. But these cupcakes are amazing, trust me!
**Update on different insides: I made another batch a few days later, this time half with Nutella, and half with a caramel inside and sea salt on top. It was amazing! But for the caramels, make sure to either eat them all warm out of the oven, or pop it in the microwave. The caramel hardens as the cupcake cools. I must say, I liked the variations better than the original!
Melt the chocolate and butter (it's okay if it looks a little weird, don't worry!)
Finished! The recipe made six, but they got eaten before I remembered to take the picture!
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar (since my chocolate was sweeter, I did a skimpy 1/3 cup)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
mini marshmallows
Preparation
In a small saucepan over very low heat, stir chocolate
chips and butter until melted and smooth. Pour into a bowl and whisk in
granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour.
Spray ramekins with nonstick cooking spray (or butter and flour them). Fill six ramekins (1/2-cup capacity*)
about halfway. Press a couple marshmallows into the center of the batter in
each ramekin. Spoon remaining batter equally over marshmallows,
completely covering.
Bake in the center of a 350° regular or 325° convection oven
until tops are puffed up and crackly, 13 to 17 minutes. Let cool about
10 minutes, then run a knife along inside of ramekins and invert to
release cakes. Place right side up on plates.
* If you don't have ramekins, you can use muffin pans (about
1/2-cup capacity, but mine were about 1/3 cup capacity, so I just poured less in, and it turned out fine!!).
These were supposed to be Molten, but my marshmallow dissolved. I could still taste it a little, and it gave it a great, moist texture! Either way, I LOVED these! Hope you do too!
Next was the pizza! I decided to make my own pizza dough, using our bread machine! It did take a while, but it was delicious! Since I love my meat, I made a BBQ chicken and bacon pizza!
Before the oven...
Perfection!!
Homemade Pizza Dough, Bread Machine (I got the recipe from Allrecipes)
Ingredients
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 Tbsp dry milk powder
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp dry active yeast
Directions
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough cycle; press Start.
Remove dough from pan after rise cycle and use for your favorite pizza recipe.
My dough took about 2 1/2 hours in the bread machine, but the machines differ. The recipe made 1 big pizza, and it had a thick crust! My pizza took about 10-15 minutes to cook, at 400* F.
Hope you are having a great year so far! Keep cooking!
Sometimes, I just crave a hot pasta dish. Last night, I had all the fixings to make lasagna, just not the time to cook the pasta, assemble the pan, and bake it all. So instead, I came up with a quicker version that has all the flavors of typical lasagna!! I made this with leftover pasta, but if you are using new pasta, just omit the stock. The cheese mixture is actually ravioli filling! This recipe is very loose, and I made it by just adding things until it looked good!! :) The recipe can be made for a family meal, or just for one!
Ingredients:
Cooked pasta (I used fettuccine)
Pasta sauce
Ricotta
Mozzarella
Parmesan, grated (I just used the pre-grated stuff)
salt and pepper
Butter
Olive oil
Chicken or Vegetable stock
Directions: Cheese mixture: In a medium bowl, mix equal parts ricotta and mozzarella. Sprinkle in parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Taste the mixture and fix to your liking. In a medium (or small, depending how much pasta you have) saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil together. Add the pasta and a splash of stock. Stir. Pour in however much sauce you want and stir some more. Add the cheese mixture in dollops. Stir occasionally until the cheese is melted and everything is warm. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!
This
Chicken Pot Pie was yummy and comforting! Now, I'm not an expert on
Chicken Pot Pie, since I've only had it a couple of times, but this was
pretty simple and really fun to make! I was recently watching Food Network,
and Melissa D'Arabian made Chicken Pot Pie Turnovers, and ever since then, my mind has been on
making it. Then I ate Turkey Pot Pie at a restaurant, and it was
delicious, so I began recipe searching! I ended up using Melissa
D'Arabian's recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Turnovers, but I tweaked it to my
liking. The modifications I
made were: I used 1 1/4- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock instead of 1 cup stock,
1/2 cup white wine. I only used 1/2 teaspoon Dijon instead
of 1 tsp. I used a heaping 1/4 cup of frozen peas, and a heaping 1/4
cup of frozen corn instead of just peas. I also forgot the egg-wash,
but it turned out just
fine! I made it into a pie, instead of turnovers. I love the fact that you can customize this recipe to your
taste! This would be a perfect meal for one of those days where you just
want to snuggle up on the couch and read a book. :) If you are vegetarian, you could make Chicken-less Pot Pie. Just
don't use chicken, and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock! This was delicious comfort food!
Chop onion, carrot, and celery.
Melt butter and add vegetables.
Add garlic and thyme and cook. Add flour.
Deglaze with stock. Add Dijon, chicken, peas, and other frozen veggies. It's starting to look good!
Before cooked!
Done! (This is the day after.)
Here is the recipe:
Makes about 4 servings
1 8x8 baking dish (You can also make this in a pie dish, or individual ramekins)
Total time: 1- 1 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, chopped (I chopped my onion very small, because I don't like biting into a chunk of onion)
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or 1 cup stock, and 1/2 cup white wine)
1/2- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup frozen peas
(I added corn, but you can add really any frozen veggie)
1 1/2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed, and unfolded
1 egg
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the
onions, carrots, and celery with salt and pepper, to taste, until the
carrots soften, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for
an additional minute, stirring frequently. Add the flour and cook about 1 minute more. Turn up the heat to medium-high and
deglaze the pan with the stock. Add the Dijon mustard.
Add the peas and chicken and cook on a very low simmer until the sauce
thickens up into a gravy, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set
aside.
Pour the filling into dish. Place the puff pastry on top, and cut it to size. Whisk
the egg with a splash of water and brush the pie with the egg
wash. Cut a small slit in the top to allow the steam to escape during
baking. Bake the pie until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let
cool and set, at least 10 minutes before serving as the filling will be very hot.
