by JP Esq | Aug 31, 2010 | Uncategorized
[Before I begin, can I just say how completely surprised I was to see my Three Cheese Mac ‘N Cheese in the Foodbuzz Top 9 today?!?! I never thought I’d see anything of mine in that group. I definitely do not feel worthy, but am super excited to have the honor and join the ranks for the awesome foodies & photographers with a Top 9 appearance.]
Now, about those peaches.
When I got home yesterday I wanted dessert. If you follow me on Twitter you probably saw my tweet about peaches that needed a purpose. Well my one lone peach that made the journey to work with me did not get eaten with that fabulous cottage cheese. Instead, it found another yummy place in a skillet then shortly after my tummy. I had no idea what I was doing, but with a bottle of Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar staring me in the face and some left over heavy whipping cream from that mac ‘n cheese adventure, I decided to go for a simple & sweet snack. Here goes nothing:
The Ingredients
1 peach
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp dark chocolate balsamic vinegar
3(+) tsp light agave nectar
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste
1/4 tsp nutmeg
The Process
Slice your peaches however you want. You have to eat them, after all.
Melt the butter in a skillet. Add 1 tsp of the light agave nectar and 1 tsp of dark chocolate balsamic vinegar.
Add the peach slices to the skillet & cook them in the pan to your desired “doneness”. {If I’m eating hot fruit, I don’t want it to be the same consistency as cold fruit. So I tend to let mine get a little soft. You do whatever you want.}
For the whipped cream I used my handy-dandy Magic Bullet {darn if that thing isn’t coming in handy}. Whip together the 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and 2 tsp {or more} of light agave nectar {depending on how sweet you want your whipped cream}. I tend to go for a slightly sweet, not overpowering whipped cream – I wanted to relish in the glory of the the sweetness of the peaches. {In that lovely Magic Bullet this took like 11 seconds}.
Plate it. Drizzle a little extra dark chocolate balsamic vinegar on it. Eat it. Love it.
Then make dinner and eat that next. Because you are grown and your mother isn’t here to tell you that eating dessert first is probably inappropriate.
by JP Esq | Aug 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
No woman in my family {or man for that matter} makes macaroni and cheese with a recipe. The only thing from the box are the elbows, because no one in their right mind would attempt to make elbow pasta from scratch. That’s stupid. I learned how to make mac ‘n cheese from watching, tasting, and dumping stuff into a bowl. My mother, grandmothers, aunts – they all do the same thing.
This batch was no different. Someone graciously volunteered me to make mac ‘n cheese {and spaghetti} for a fundraising fish fry. I, of course, never turn down the opportunity to cook for 100+ people. Why? Because my ingredients hoarding is at an all-time high and even though I live a Life of One, I always end up making enough food to feed a small country anyway.
Kids, there is no recipe. I’ll recount what I used and what I did, but you need to spread your wings and give comfort food sans rigid step-by-step guide a try. Your stomach will love you. your thighs will hate you. And all those people you feed will be in sweet creamy mac ‘n cheese heaven. Read on for the inspiration…
The Ingredients
What You Need {How Much I Used} – scale it to your own needs
Elbow Macaroni {3 lbs}
Butter {5 tbsp}
Flour {4 tbsp}
Heavy Whipping Cream {1 pint}
Evaporated Milk {2 cans}
Egg {One}
Extra Sharp Cheddar {3 – 8oz blocks}
Vermont Extra Sharp White Cheddar {8 oz block}
Pepperjack Cheese {8 oz block}
Ground Mustard {about 2 tsp}
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt {about 2 tsp}
Ground Black Pepper {enough}
Paprika {enough}
Boil your macaroni as normal until it’s just tender enough to pierce with a fork. Don’t over boil. Don’t let it sit in the water after you’ve cooked it. Otherwise, you’ll end up with macaroni bits & cheese because it will fall apart. Once it is cooked, rinse it, drain most of the water {reserve a little so it doesn’t dry out or stick together}.
In a bowl, grate 1 block of the extra sharp cheddar, the Vermont extra sharp white cheddar, and the pepperjack cheese.
Make a roux. {By the way, if you’ve never made a roux your life is incomplete}. Melt the butter in a saucepan, gradually add the flour stirring constantly.
To the roux, slowly add the heavy cream and evaporated milk {1 can}, whisking to incorporate.
In a bowl, remove some of the white sauce and add it to the egg. Mix it up. Then dump the egg mixture back into the larger pot of white sauce. This should prevent scrambled eggs ‘n cheese.
To the white sauce add the ground mustard, seasoned salt, and pepper. Add in grated cheeses slowly, mixing to incorporate and melt the cheeses in.
Stick your finger in it.
If the sauce is too thick, add that other can {slowly} of evaporated milk until it is the desired consistency. {This cheese sauce will thicken up as it bakes. Therefore, in order to keep a creamy texture, I am generous with the fatty liquids otherwise known as heavy cream & evaporated milk}.
Put the macaroni in a baking dish. Pour on the cheese sauce. Mix it up. Add more salt, pepper or whatever to taste. Sprinkle in some paprika.
Stick your finger it in again.
Grate the other pound of extra sharp cheddar. Mix half of it into the macaroni. Put the other half on top.
Bake at 350 until the top cheese is melted and yummy looking.
Now, stick a spoon it in. A big, giant spoon.
*This is the general, for-starters, basic mac ‘n cheese recipe I generally use. Then, you add stuff like bread crumbs, pepperoni, bacon, etc and it becomes that much more amazing. I’m sure those variations will end up on this blog at some point.
by JP Esq | Aug 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
This weekend was about baking, buttercream, and benadryl. My allergies were on fire something terrible. But, I found comfort in my trusty bottle of Children’s Benadryl-D and somehow found a way to release my inner Betty Crocker. I baked all weekend. And, it was probably the best weekend I’ve had in a while. I offered cupcakes for my friend’s son’s 4th Birthday Party. The theme: Phineas & Ferb. Uh, right. Do I need to remind you that I do not have children and never turn my television to the Disney channel. PBS & Sesame Street? Yes. Disney Channel? No.
I don’t freaking know anything about Phineas & Ferb or how to transfer that theme to a cupcake. So she got basic ol’ sugar filled yellow cupcakes with tinted two-tone vanilla frosting. Kids that age don’t care about any flavor other than the overwhelming flavor of sugar. She made a platypus cake complete with fondant and sculptured junk. You go mommy. I’ll stick with the basics.
Anyway, the bestie had a softball game this week – as he does every week. Good friend that I am, as I was already elbow-deep in butter & flour, I thought I’d send some baked goodies with the kid to his game. Bestie did not come retrieve said goodies. So I delivered them instead to my mother’s hospital for the doctors & nurses to enjoy. What were these goodies? Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Let’s focus on the cupcakes and more specifically – that luxurious vanilla bean buttercream. I may or may not have eaten about a cup of the stuff by itself. Here’s your inspiration:
For these cupcakes, I used Martha Stewart’s Yellow Buttermilk Cupcake recipe. It’s easy. It’s tasty and it works as a basic foundation for stuff.
The CupcakesFrom Martha Stewart Cupcakes, June 2009 and here
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt {coarse}
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter {room temp}
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 cups buttermilk {low-fat}
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line your muffin pans. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder & salt together and set aside.
Cream butter & sugar. Add whole eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add yolks and beat until combined. Add flour mixture {3x} alternating with buttermilk {2x} – start and end with flour. Beat in vanilla.
Fill your cupcake liners. Bake 20 minutes – or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool.
Keeping with the overall idea of how I cook – you know this frosting recipe isn’t exact. I played – I tasted – I fell in love. Try it but loosen up a bit & don’t cling to your measuring cups.
The Frosting
2 sticks butter
Powdered Sugar {4+ cups}
1 1/2 TBSP Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add evaporated milk a little at a time. The point is – you can always add more if necessary, but you don’t want glaze, so go easy on the milk at first. Continue this process until it’s the thickness you prefer. It’s frosting not brain surgery, so exact science – in my opinion – isn’t necessary. Mix in the vanilla bean paste and stick your finger in it. Continue to stick your finger in it and forget you actually have cupcakes that need this stuff.
Pipe on to your cupcakes and keep the extra for future finger dipping.
By the way – Phineas & Ferb is one of the best cartoons I’ve seen in a long time. My TV now has Disney in the favorites.
by JP Esq | Aug 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
Well kids, this is going to ruffle some feathers. And you know what? I don’t care.
Today, I’m having a moment. Perhaps because I watched way too much I Love Lucy this weekend. You know what I want to do? I want to go for a walk. I want to go for a walk right out of my doctor of jurisprudence heels and walk into a frilly apron and a dress that I put on just for baking/cooking and all that jazz. I want to spend all day in the kitchen cooking for people who don’t exist. Food makes me happy. Watching people eat food makes me happier. Watching people eat food and enjoy it makes me happiest.
I appreciate all of you corporate ladder climbers. I’m perfectly happy climbing my two-step stool to retrieve my mixer from the top of the cabinets. I can still do this in Louboutin’s mind you. And I’ve just spent the past 30 minutes brainstorming buttercream with my dear friend KJ in the Netherlands. We were discussing Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste and those six words just slid out of my face like butter on a slip-n-slide. It makes me way too excited for words and I love it.
And I won’t apologize for it.
The difference between me and Ms. Thang in the picture above? My skin is a lovely shade of mocha and my hair is thick and woolly. Otherwise – we’re soul sisters.
I just want to spend my days in a kitchen.
And my nights doing 501(c)(3) applications & writing IP cease & desist letters.
All the time. That would make me happy.
by JP Esq | Aug 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
Well I didn’t really stuff a cupcake {see previous post if you’re lost}. But, I did make some…cupcakes that is.
And they were dense.
And they tasted fine.
But it bothered me that they were so heavy.
Why? Because I used 1 CUP of butter instead of the 1 STICK I intended to use so had to use a different cake method to compensate.
So there’s no reason for me to give you the recipe/process – because I wasn’t really a fan of it.
Just know that I made some cupcakes – threw in some cocoa powder, mayo & a little coffee. And topped it off with peanut butter buttercream.
And that stuff was the bomb. So much so that I ate it for breakfast the next day.
Add Reese Cup. Deliver to people at work. Give to parents.
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