Foodie Friday – Page 4 – The Prose of an Electrate Mind

September 30, 2011September 30, 2011

[Foodie Friday] Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

My son came home on Monday last week with a hand-out from his teachers letting us know that they would be collecting apple recipes to create a class cookbook in honor of Johnny Appleseed. Today, they’re having a Johnny Appleseed Tasting Treat. Now, I’m sure everyone and their mother has an apple pie or an apple crumble recipe up their sleeve. I thought I’d have a bit of trouble figuring out a unique apple treat for my son to share with his class, but then it hit me — Annie’s Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls! How perfect for celebrating apples during the early autumn days! They are unique, they are delicious, and my son’s bound to get his teachers and classmates hungry for plenty more. Follow the above link for the recipe, but keep in mind that I decrease the powdered sugar in the frosting and chose a different variety of apples this time around. Also, I’ve made tinier rolls for tinier hands.

September 16, 2011September 14, 2011

#FoodieFriday Chocolate Therapy Cafe

On Wednesday I visited a hidden gem I found while searching for a good tutoring location. I had been hoping for a book store or coffee shop as libraries can tend to be a bit stuffy. I found out about a little coffee shop called Chocolate Therapy Cafe, located in downtown Chickamauga, GA. This charming little shop resides among some other Main Street type shops in historic downtown Chickamauga, and the charm just keeps going when you walk in. The friendly, welcoming staff are quick to greet and serve you. I purchased a chocolate cafe au lait with amaretto syrup at the recommendation of the woman telling me about their specialties. I had a seat with my student as she prepared my coffee. Moments later, she brought me a fresh hot mug of delicious coffee, topped with fresh whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The gorgeous pink mug and saucer immediately gave me feelings of homey comfort. Over the course of our two hour session, another staff member brought us glasses of ice water — and even came to refill my water when it was still more than half full. I left the cafe feeling like I’d discovered a perfect tutoring location, and I’m half unwilling to share this review because I’m terrified my new sanctuary will become a little hot spot. However, Chocolate Therapy Cafe offers too much for me to keep this to myself. If you’re in Chickamauga, drop me a note. We’ll meet up for coffee and chocolate cobbler at my new favorite coffee shop.

September 2, 2011August 29, 2011

#FoodieFriday Sweet and Sour Chicken

Last year when I was trying to find ways to recreate our favorite take-out foods at home, I tried my hand at sweet and sour chicken — Brian’s favorite Chinese take-out meal. However, I didn’t want a breaded version, and I wanted to increase the amount of vegetables. I decided to go more for a mall food court sort of sweet and sour chicken cooked in the sauce, rather than served separately to be dipped into the sauce. I found a great recipe, but I recently found that adding some pineapple juice brings out such a wonderful flavor. The result is a delicious meal that almost negates the need to call for take-out ever again.

For the sauce:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsps cornstarch
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 cup pineapple juice (reserved from can if using canned pineapple)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce (low sodium)

Whisk together the dry ingredients until combined. Pour in apple cider vinegar and soy sauce and whisk, allowing the vinegar to help dissolve the sugar. Add ketchup and pineapple juice. Whisk until combined. Set aside.

For the dish:
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
chopped pineapple
2 cups of vegetables (have fun with this!)
sweet and sour sauce

Heat some oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure even cooking on all sides. Drain the fat, and return the chicken to the pan with (thawed) vegetables and pineapple. Heat through for about 5 minutes. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce. Cook for 5 more minutes, or until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Serve over rice. (I prefer brown rice.)

August 26, 2011August 25, 2011

#FoodieFriday Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

May I forewarn you: I have an ego when it comes to my chocolate chip cookies. I’ve been baking them since I was 11 years old, and I’ve had years to perfect my recipe and execution. My cookies are renowned among friends and family. But of course, sometimes I need to switch things up a bit. I enjoy brownies particularly for the texture of the bar, and I’ve made my chocolate chip cookies as bars once before. I enjoyed the heft it added to the cookie’s texture (of course, my hips don’t appreciate that extra heft, but it’s all about balance, kidlets). So Tuesday evening, I decided I wanted to make a cookie bar to celebrate my husband being home from the hospital and my in-law’s 42nd wedding anniversary. I made a couple of adjustments to my regular cookie recipe, starting by halving the recipe to fit an 8×8″ baking dish.

1/2 stick of unsalted sweet cream butter (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/8 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp natural cocoa powder (NOT dutch process — save that for drinks and syrups)
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
6 ounces (half a bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease an 8×8 (or 9×9) baking dish. Melt the butter. Whisk together melted butter, oil, and brown sugar, making sure to break up any sugar clumps. Add granulated sugar, and whisk in the egg. Add vanilla and cocoa powder, and whisk some more. Add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and whisk. Then add the flour. Whisk until combined. If your whisk isn’t up to the challenge, you could also employ the use of your hand or stand mixer. Once you have a cookie dough, stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough evenly in your baking dish. Baking in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely — patience, grasshopper! — for roughly half an hour to an hour. Cut into bars, and dig in! Eat them straight up, with a glass of milk, or with a warm cuppa. Enjoy!

August 19, 2011August 19, 2011

#FoodieFriday Oatmeal

For a quick, simple, healthy breakfast, you only need three ingredients: oatmeal, pumpkin, and vanilla almond milk (or any other milk — dairy or otherwise). Mix 1/4 cup of quick-cooking oats, 1/2 cup of almond milk, and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin in a microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle in cinnamon if desired. Microwave for 2 minutes. Let it sit to cool for a minute or more. The oatmeal will thicken, and you’ll have a nice healthy breakfast. Pair it with a piece of fruit if you’d like.

If you’re not feeling like pumpkin oatmeal, you could also have apple cinnamon oatmeal. Instead of adding 2 tablespoons of pumpkin, you could add in half of a chopped apple. Mix 1/4 cup of quick-cooking oats, 1/2 cup of almond milk, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute in the microwave. Add the chopped apple and microwave for 1 and a half minutes more. Let it cool for a minute or more. Ta-da! Apple cinnamon oatmeal. Eat it with the other half of the apple.

Share any other variations you like with me. And of course, you could substitute quick-cooking oats with whatever you’ve got on hand. It’ll take a little longer to cook, you’ll probably want to cook it on the stove, but I know the results will still be healthy and delicious.

August 12, 2011August 11, 2011

#FoodieFriday Peanut Butter Cream Pie

In life we get reminders that our time is finite. Yesterday was no exception. I read Nicki’s post about her friend Jennifer losing her husband. So often we put things off until it’s too late, and Jennifer’s to-do that didn’t come in time was a peanut butter cream pie. She’s asked that we all make peanut butter cream pies today to honor her late husband. Today I’ll be honoring her request and amending it slightly to appeal to my husband. I’m the sweet tooth of our relationship, and he’s the savory lover. He’ll be enjoying a delicious dinner including home-made macaroni and cheese made with sharp cheddar. We don’t know how long we’ll get with the ones we love, so we should treasure them while we have them.

June 17, 2011

Foodie Friday: Chicken Marsala Penne

Last month my sister went to Italy and Greece and brought back a couple bottles of wine for me and Brian. I requested marsala and chianti — because marsala makes excellent dishes, and chianti’s an Italian classic. I was also inspired by Bitchin’ Kitchen’s creamy chicken marsala penne. It was perfect: bite-sized chunks of chicken served over pasta. I got to work searching for recipes to build my own, but I mostly adapted this recipe from Bitchin’ Kitchen and Emeril Lagasse.

Chicken Marsala
3 chicken breasts (or roughly 1.5-2lbs)
8-12oz sliced mushrooms (more or less, depending on your tastes — get creative with the varieties, too!)
Half of a diced vidalia onion (or just use what’s on sale and in season)
3/4 cup good Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of AP flour
5 tbsps unsalted butter, divided
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Season flour with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Chop chicken into bite-sized chunks. Dredge chicken in flour. Heat oil and one tbsp of butter in a pan. Cook the chicken through, then place on a plate in the oven to keep it warm. Add 3 tbsps butter into the pan, and saute the onions and mushrooms. Once golden, add marsala and bring to a boil. When reduced by half, add broth and remaining tbsp of butter. Lower heat and return chicken to the pan. Cook until sauce is thickened. Serve over penne pasta (or whatever pasta you’d like). Serves 4-6. I also added some green beans for some additional veggies.

February 18, 2011

Foodie Friday: Strawberry Cupcakes

Back in December, Annie of Annie’s Eats inspired me to make strawberry cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. In the past few years, I’ve been trying to cultivate a family tradition of eating lots of strawberries on Valentine’s Day. February marks the start of strawberry season in Florida, so they were readily available to me. In fact, Plant City was maybe a two hour drive south of Gainesville — and the labels usually indicated that’s about as far as they traveled to get to my home. So a recipe calling for lots of strawberries jumped right out at me. I love strawberries. Brian loves strawberries. Our children love strawberries. This was the perfect sweet treat for our “strawberry fest.”

I used Annie’s strawberry cupcake recipe from last December. Instead of milk, I used heavy cream because for some reason that’s what I thought her recipe called for while writing the shopping list. Also, I pureed the strawberries before mixing them into the batter. Finally, I added 5 drops of red food coloring to bring out that pink color I was looking for. For the frosting, I selected her original strawberry cupcake frosting recipe. Again, I tweaked it — I can’t help it, it’s in my nature to experiment in the kitchen! I increased the pureed strawberries to one whole cup, and I whipped in a cup of heavy cream to increase the volume. (Okay, and because I love fluffy whipped frosting!) Overall, these cupcakes have been a big hit. Thank you Annie for the recipes and the inspiration!

Strawberry Cupcake

October 29, 2010October 29, 2010

Foodie Friday: Happy Birthday

Using my chocolate cake recipe* and Annie’s pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting recipes**, I created a delicious birthday cake for myself this year. Because my birthday is the day before Halloween, I’ve always been a fan of Halloween and love incorporating it into my celebrations. A pumpkin (orange) layer and a chocolate (black) layer seemed to be quite festive indeed, and both flavors suit my tastes this year. I hear rough frosting looks rustic and homey, so I figure my not-so-great decorating skills are that much more endearing.

Yes, those are gummy worms adorning my cake. I’ve always been more about the taste and flavor — what’s inside — rather than looks. Still, it came out rather lovely if I do say so myself.

*Obviously, Hershey’s gets the credit for the original recipe, but I vary between chocolate milk and heavy cream depending on my mood. Also, I halved the recipe to yield one layer. The only reason I didn’t halve Annie’s recipe was because I figured the dozen cupcakes would be a fun treat for the baby, who cannot have any of the chocolate cake until he’s got the all-clear for cow juice.

**Annie uses 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar for her frosting. I’m not the biggest fan of super sweet frostings, so I only used 1/2 cup. Yes, I know, that probably sounds bizarre, but trust me when I say it fits my tastes.