The Power Of The Belly

How cooking - and a few good friends - helped me through the worst year and a half of my life.

2011-04-26T15:17:00.005-05:00

This is my first post in a year and a half.

And, my God, what a year and a half it has been.

There hasn't been anything particularly traumatizing since my last post, but a lot has changed. I was (essentially) jobless from October 2008 until November 2010. I left my life in Denton, Texas (and my greatest love, Jonathan) in March 2009 to return to my hometown of Leesburg, Florida to work for my family, since I could no longer pay my bills. I tried to get into dental hygiene and radiology programs for Fall 2009 and got rejected by both. I completed a program for medical coding in September 2010 so that I had some sort of marketable skill to hopefully get a job. I got rejected by a medical coding internship at Baylor in August 2010. All this time, Jon and I were exercising our relationship skills while he was in Texas and I was in Florida. I was miserable, and so was he. I cried myself to sleep a lot and was utterly depressed with the way things were going on around me, because not only did I miss Jon more than I could put into words, but my family that I lived with had a nuclear meltdown around me, which just made me angrier and more miserable. The main thing that got me through was hearing Jon's voice at the end of the day when I was mentally and physically exhausted from the things asked of me by my family that I was obligated to do because they were paying me to do it. I kept my mouth shut a lot, rarely expressing my anger and unhappiness to anyone other than Jon and my best friend Melissa and her husband Mark, who opened their home to me anytime I could escape to visit them in Tampa, which I will always be eternally grateful for. Because, even though I rarely say stuff like this out loud, I will say it now - they were my safe haven in the stormy blackness that had become my life. They were the little ray of sunshine (along with Jon) that broke through the storm every now and then when I felt like it would swallow me whole. The became more family than friends, and I love them dearly.

So what does this have to do with cooking, you might ask? Well, if you'll relax a minute I'll tell you.

Cooking and baking became a bit of a safe escape for me. It was something that I looked forward to most nights, because it's something I enjoy doing. At first, my family would try to help me in the kitchen, which irritated me. That is not how I roll. I want to be left alone when I'm making a meal, to be left alone with my thoughts and my emotions and to do whatever I want to the food I'm preparing so it tastes the way I want it to. I appreciate when someone asks if I need help, really I do, but 95% of the time, I'm going to tell you "No, thank you" and go back to ignoring you. Just set the table and I will consider that as more than adequate in the Help Department. On very rare occasions, I can use someone to dice an onion or peel some potatoes or some other inane task that, despite my knowing that you're not a complete moron, I'm going to cut a sideways glance at you every minute or two so that I know you're not fucking it up. But I'll ask if I need help. Anyways, my family seemed to figure this out after a little bit of time and a few curt words thrown in their direction, and they started leaving me alone to do what I do. And the results were generally very good, if not superb. They trusted me to be left to my devices because they realized I knew how to cook, and cook well. Real well. And that I experimented and that was usually pretty damn good, too. I taught myself some useful kitchen things, learned some things from people around me and from the internet, and possibly the most important thing of all, I learned how to grill really good food. Unfortunately during this time, I wasn't concerned with sharing my cooking endeavors with anybody. I spent so much energy hiding the way I truly felt about things outside of the kitchen that it wasn't surprising that sharing my cooking adventures would take a hit as well. Some recipes that I came to know and love while ~~serving my time~~ living with my family in Florida I will revisit soon and share with whatever people (if any) stumble upon my blog. For instance, I'll be making Key Lime Pie sometime around May 11th for Jon's birthday, because it's his favorite (as it should be for any good Florida boy or girl) and because I make a damn fine Key Lime Pie from scratch.

These days, life is much better. I'm back in Denton, working as a receptionist in a law office, and I love doing it. I don't miss working in the medical/dental field at all, which is pretty much all I've done since I graduated from high school almost a decade ago. Jon and I are stronger together than we've ever been, because after enduring a taxing year and a half of being 1,200 miles apart, anything from here is a cake walk. And for that alone, I am thankful for the time I did in Florida. That and getting to spend time with Melissa and Mark while she was pregnant with Jon and my's goddaughter, Lilly, who is now the cutest, happiest little four-month-old that ever existed.

This is Lilly with a face full of carrots.

Be expecting more pictures of her.

Why? Because she's really freaking cute, that's why.

Along with my happier existence comes the urge to share my journeys through the world of food. Some good, some great, some questionable to my health, and some that should never have happened.

In other words... I'm back. And I curse more than I used to.

You've been warned.

Eggplant Marinara Pasta Casserole

2009-11-16T10:50:00.003-06:00

This is the first thing in a while that I have made that, after making it, I know exactly how I did it. Lots of fresh tomatoes, courtesy of my neighbor, and a beautiful eggplant from the grocery store, and I can make magic. Unfortunately, no pictures this time, but believe me, this dish came out rather colorful, and delicious too.

Eggplant Marinara Pasta Casserole

1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (makes 6-8 cups)
1 tsp. kosher salt
cooking spray
1 oz. pancetta or bacon, chopped (optional)
2 c. sweet onion, thinly sliced or chopped (if it is not a sweet onion, I would only go with 1 c.)
1 Tb. extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. dry white wine or red wine (if wine is not available, a couple of Tb. lemon juice will work)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 Tb. fresh basil, chopped
2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
6 c. tomatoes, chopped (you can use fresh - not beefsteak though! - or canned)
16 oz. uncooked pasta (I used tricolor rotini, but any other type of bite-sized pasta will do)
2 c. shredded Italian cheese (shred your own mozzarella, fontina, etc. or buy the preshredded Italian blend stuff)
1 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese (if it is not in your Italian blend cheese)

1. Arrange eggplant cubes on several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Let stand 15 minutes. Pat dry with additional paper towels.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Arrange eggplant in single layer on baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

4. Cook pancetta/bacon in a Dutch oven (or similar pan/pot) over medium heat until crisp. Add onion, oil, and garlic to pan; cook 6 minutes or until onion is lightly browned, stirring frequently.

5. Add wine/lemon juice to pan; cook until liquid evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in salt, basil, oregano, red pepper, and tomatoes. Bring to simmer over medium heat; partially cover and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in eggplant.

6. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta in colander, reserving 1/4 c. cooking water beforehand.

7. Add pasta to tomato mixture; stir well. If mix needs more moisture, add reserved cooking water.

8. Spoon mixture into 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cheese, then breadcrumbs. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.

Devil's Food + Strawberries = Super-Yum!

2009-02-22T11:39:00.005-06:00

I have had cravings lately for cake. Nothing complicated, just a simple, moist, yummy cake. Preferably chocolate. I decided on Devil's Food (a real Devil's Food cake, chocolate with a touch of coffee flavor, from scratch) with Whipped Cream frosting. Because I have decided Whipped Cream is my fave. While the cake was baking, I realized I had about half a pint of whole strawberries in my fridge that only had a day or so shelf life left. And so, the genius idea of Devil's Food Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting and Strawberries was born! Even Jon, who is not so into the desserts, and really not a fan of the chocolate, thoroughly enjoyed it... We finished a two-layer 9-inch round cake within a couple of days. And it was worth every calorie!

I used Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes recipe for the cake itself. I halved the recipe, since I just wanted a smallish cake for Jon and I, and I replaced the 3/4 c. warm water with 3/4 c. strong coffee. The Whipped Cream Frosting was the same as the last post, with the White Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting and Strawberries.

And the final result, is this piece of glorious yumminess!

mmm....... cake.........

2008-11-21T21:14:00.011-06:00

I love cake. And I love strawberries. And I love whipped cream. So, for a big party thrown by one of Jon's program buddies, I made the simplest of yummy cakes: White Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting and Strawberries. This was insanely easy to make, and was a huge hit at the party.

I used two boxes of white cake mix which I added quite a bit of pure vanilla extract. I prefer vanilla bean paste, but I was out of it and was too lazy to go get some. Also, I didn't have any eggs in which to get egg whites from, so I used Wilton's Meringue Powder as a substitute.

The cakes were baked according to the package directions. While the cakes were baking, I washed and sliced two containers of strawberries.

Once the cakes were done I let them cool completely. Once cool, I made the whipped cream frosting. It took one pint of heavy whipping cream, 3 Tb. of granulated sugar and about 1 tsp. vanilla. I added all of the cream to the mixer and whipped for a minute, added the sugar 1 Tb. at a time while whipping in between each addition. At the third addition, I added the vanilla, then whipped until I was happy with the consistency.

Assembly was ridiculously easy as well. One cake layer stayed in its pan. I covered it with whipped cream frosting then topped with strawberry slices. The other cake layer went on top then was covered with whipped cream frosting and more strawberries. Ta-da! All done.

The cake was delicious. It wasn't too heavy, wasn't too sweet, wasn't too anything. It was just wonderful. Even Jon, who doesn't particularly care for sweets, thoroughly enjoyed it.

The picture of beauty. This picture is of only the first layer; the second layer was even more grand.

2008-07-19T16:01:00.018-05:00

The weekend of July 4th, I was sick. A little bit of vomiting and lot of nausea later, I made Matzoh Ball Soup. Think of it as the Jewish ancestor of Chicken and Dumplings. And it's much better, in my opinion. See... one of my pet peeves is bad dumplings in my soup. I hate dense dumplings, and these dumplings made with matzoh meal are light and fluffy and oooooh so good. I got the recipe from my good friend Rochelle, who is cook extraordinaire in my opinion. I love her to death, and I miss hanging out with her and her boyfriend and her way too cute dog, Wyoh.

This is Wyoh. The cutest of the cute.

Anyways.

I made this soup because it was the only thing I felt like I could eat without wanting to throw it back up. Because it's just that damn soothing and that damn tasty.

Chicken & Matzoh Ball Soup

Broth:
1 whole roasted chicken (either roasted yourself or bought already roasted from the deli), skin removed, meat pulled from the bones and cut into bite-sized pieces; reserve the bones and any juices for chicken stock
1 bunch celery, cut into large chunks
3 to 4 large carrots, cut into large chunks
1 large shallot, peeled and left whole or sliced in half
2 to 3 bay leaves
7 to 8 cubes chicken bouillon, ground to powder
fresh ground pepper

Matzoh Balls:
1 c. matzoh meal (you can find it in the ethnic section of the grocery store)
4 eggs
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste

Add the chicken bones and any juices from the chicken to a stock pot; also add the celery, carrots, shallot, bay leaves and chicken bouillon.
Add just enough water to cover everything in the pot and cover with a lid.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium and let boil for 45 minutes to an hour.
Once all ingredients for the broth are in the stockpot, mix all matzoh ball ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl, cover, and refrigerate about 30 minutes.
Just before the thirty minutes is up, begin boiling a small pot (two to three quarts of water).
Pull the matzoh ball mix from the fridge and uncover.
Form matzoh balls using your hands dipped in water to avoid sticking to your hands (make them small, about the size of a large marble; they will get really big once cooked) and drop into the boiling water.

Cook the matzoh balls for 20 to 30 minutes, until doubled or tripled in size (I check them by cutting the biggest one in half and making sure it is almost completely white throughout the entire ball).

Can you tell the difference? The left is not done enough (too yellow on the inside), the right only needs another couple of minutes, which can be done in the chicken soup.

Once the matzoh balls are done, you can get the broth ready: strain out the vegetables and bones and reserve the broth in the pot.

Add the cut-up chicken meat to the chicken stock.
Strain the matzoh balls from the water so you can add them to the soup.
Season the soup with black pepper, to taste.
Make sure the chicken meat and matzoh balls are heated through, serve the soup with some yeast rolls (because yeast rolls make everything better), and enjoy.

*If you want to leave the vegetables in the soup, just make sure to add more water and chicken bouillon, cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, and get the bay leaves out of the soup before serving.
**I think you can freeze any leftovers for later; I froze some of the leftovers when I made it, I'll let you know how well it comes out when it gets eaten.
***And one more thing: you don't want to cook the matzoh balls in the chicken stock. They soak up a lot of liquid, so you won't have much stock left if you cook them in the stock.

2008-07-19T15:26:00.011-05:00

Raspberry Curd. mmmm........ I love raspberries, because they go with a lot of different things. Mostly dessert things, which just happens to be my favorite food group. I froze it when I was done, and I'm hoping to turn it into a Raspberry Meringue Pie when Jon's parents are here in Texas for a visit from the Great State of Florida. Even though they already like me (they jokingly tell Jon I'm the favorite child ever since the dog died), I want to show-off my mad cooking skills. Recently, it's been my one sense of accomplishment. But, enough that! Onward to cooking!!!

Raspberry Curd

3 half-pint baskets raspberries
about 1/2 C. sugar
4 T. unsalted butter
1 1/2 t. fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Puree the raspberries and put them through a fine strainer to remove the seeds.

Seeds = not smooth curd = not good eats

Measure 1 1/2 c. puree, heat it in a non-corroding saucepan, and stir in the sugar and butter.
Taste and add the lemon juice to taste.

Heating on the stove... Look at that beautiful color!

Whisk the eggs and egg yolks just enough to mix them, then stir in some of the hot puree to warm them.
Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick - it should reach a temperature of 170°F.

Looks kinda... Grey-ish. This happened after I added the eggs to it. I added a bit of red and purple food coloring to make it look more like the pre-egg color.

Chill.

Makes 2 cups.

So, flavor-wise, it's delicious. It will be really great in a pie crust with some meringue on top. However, I don't think I got it quite hot enough, because after refrigerating it over night, it didn't thicken the way it should have. But I was too lazy to fix it at the time, so I decided that the next time I do something with it I'll try to thicken it then. If I need to, I'll add a bit of cornstarch when I re-heat it. Otherwise... I want to eat it!!!

2008-07-12T20:28:00.005-05:00

So I've been cooking up a storm the last couple of weeks, but I've been lazy about posting here. I'm going to post some things I've been making lately, but I'll spread it out over a few days so as not to overwhelm the internets (a series of tubes).

First things first: Summertime Stir Fry!!! I was totally winging it when I made this meal. It especially helped that the mushrooms, squash, zucchini, carrots and onion was already cut up and packaged in the produce section of the grocery store. That gives me the ability to be a bit lazier, which I love. :)

~~~
Summertime Stir Fry

about 1 1/2 Tb. olive oil
about 1 tsp. sesame oil
1 pork chop, diced into cubes
about 1 1/2 Tb. garlic, diced (more or less to taste)
white mushrooms, sliced
yellow squash, sliced and halved
green zucchini, sliced and halved
carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
purple onion, sliced into large chunks
about 1/4 c. low sodium teriyaki sauce (more or less to taste)
about 1/2 tsp. ginger powder (more or less to taste... I don't like a lot of ginger, so this amount works well for me)
about 1 1/2 Tb. sesame seeds
1/4 package chinese rice noodles, cooked according to directions on package and drained (you can start the noodles just before you start to make the meat and veggies and it should be plenty of time)

In a wok over medium-high heat, heat oils thoroughly... You want the pork to sizzle when you add it to the wok.
Add the pork to the wok and cook until just barely done all the way through. You don't want to cook the pork to completely done here because you'll run the risk of overcooking it later.
Scoop the pork out of the wok and put in a bowl to the side; don't pour the pork out of the wok because you still want the oil and juices from the pork in the wok to cook with.
Add the garlic to the wok and saute until golden brown; add the veggies and cook, stirring occasionally, until just starting to soften.
Add the pork to the veggies and mix in.

Isn't it beautiful?

6. Pour the teriyaki, ginger and sesame seeds in the wok; stir to mix and let it heat through until the teriyaki simmers.

Now we're getting somewhere...

7. Here's the part that's the most tricky to me... Add the noodles a little bit at a time and incorporate into the stir fry after each addition. If you add the noodles all at once and try to mix it in, the noodles won't separate enough to get the other ingredients mixed in. You could also just serve the noodles on the side and make people mix their own stuff together. :)

Oh yeah! Looks soooo good!

8. All done! Serve and enjoy! Also makes good leftovers, as most chinese-type food does.

This came out incredibly good. A nice change from me and Jon's usual broccoli, mushroom and chicken or pork stir fry (which is also quite yummy). Even with squash and zucchini, which we are not big fans of, we still thought it was really f-ing good. I love chinese and japanese take-out food, and this is a healthier, and possibly tastier way of getting my asian take-out fix. Now if I get just learn how to make steamed pork dumplings... ::saliva dripping from mouth::
~~~
Tomorrow I'll be going through how I made Raspberry Curd. In case you're not quite sure what "curd" is referring to, think of it this way: you know what the creamy, smooth and extremely tasty lemon filling inside of a really great lemon meringue pie tastes like? That's lemon curd. I made that, but with fresh raspberries instead of lemon. mmm.......

London Broil for a Welcome Home dinner!

2008-06-23T15:13:00.011-05:00

Jon is finally home! Which gives me a good reason to cook a nice dinner. When I was grocery shopping yesterday, I saw something in the meat section that I had not encountered since before I went to UF in 2003. It was a London broil. I got a bit nostalgic and decided to go for it. Here we go with Jon's Welcome Home Dinner!

Marinated London Broil
Yeast Rolls
Salad
Fruit Salad with Vanilla Yogurt Dressing (inspired by Alton Brown)

~~~
Marinated London Broil

1 London broil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 Tb. balsamic vinegar
4 Tb. lemon juice
3 Tb. dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tb. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tb. soy sauce
1 tsp. oregano, dried and crumbled
1 tsp. basil, dried and crumbled
1 tsp. thyme, dried and crumbled
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2/3 c. olive oil

Whisk together marinade ingredients.
Place meat in plastic bag or small non-metal baking pan.
Pour marinade over meat and marinate 8 hours, turning once halfway through.

::sigh:: a little bit of heaven!

Place oven rack close enough that the meat will be about four inches away from broiler.
Turn oven on to broil.
Cook meat on five minutes on each side, until the outside is brown and the inside is medium-rare.
Allow meat to rest five minutes.
Slice diagonally across the grain into thin strips to serve.

*London broil is technically not a cut of meat but rather a cooking method. Any cut of meat labeled London broil is usually a flank steak or some other cut of tough meat. Grilling the meat is probably better than broiling, but I do not own a grill or a stovetop grill pan, so broiling it is! Be careful to not over-cook this meat, or it will be like chewing leather.

**Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the meat after it was cooked. Considering the fact that the entire slab of meat was gone by lunchtime the next day, suffice to say it was pretty darn tasty!

~~~
Fruit Salad with Vanilla Yogurt Dressing

This recipe is derived from Alton Brown's Fruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing.

1 - 6 oz. container vanilla yogurt (I like Yoplait Fat-Free Light Yogurt cups)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 small seedless watermelon, cut into chunks
2 c. grapes, mix of white and red
3 fuji apples, cored and cut into chunks
3 peaches, pitted and cut into chunks

Whisk together yogurt, vanilla, and lemon juice until well-combined.
Place all fruit in a large bowl and mix together.
Pour yogurt mixture over fruit and toss to coat.

De-lish!

Up close and personal - las frutas!

I am aware of the fact that the yogurt dressing looks kinda... nasty, maybe... on the fruit. But I promise you, it is really really good!

~*~*~Review~*~*~
The dinner was a huge hit. The meat was tender and juicy and flavorful. And the fruit salad made a really great, light, not-too-sweet, summery-type dessert. Even Jon, who is not a fan of fruit salad with any type of dressing on it, liked it. And the fact that there was no citrus in it kept the salad from tasting like nothing but citrus. I love citrus, but I love other fruits, too. All-in-all, a wonderful meal!

Posting of past recipes 3: Brownies

2008-06-23T14:57:00.006-05:00

Okay, so this will be quick and easy. Remember the Chocolate Chunk Cappuccino Chip Cookies from 6/12/2008? All I did was use a brownie mix (for shame!) and add the remainder of the cappuccino chips leftover from the cookies. Instead of pouring mix into a baking pan, I greased a cupcake pan and poured the brownie mix into that. I probably will not do that again because they were a bit hard to get out of the pan without them coming apart. Other than that, they were very good. Quite tasty, actually. Since Jon is out of town, I do not know what his opinion is of them. He comes home tonight, so I will get an opinion then.

Here is where they started.

Uh-oh! What happened to the twelfth one?!?

A close-up of one of the brownies.

~*~*~Follow Up: Brownies~*~*~

The brownies were yummy, according to me and Jon. They got even better a couple of days later when I put one in a bowl and put rocky road ice cream on it. Soooooo tasty!!!

Posting of past recipes 2: Pork Roast

2008-06-23T13:49:00.011-05:00

I have a deep love for pork. And beef. And chicken. Really, I just love meat. Anyways. I had not made a pork roast, ever. And I was craving it. My mom and grandmother make rather tasty pork roasts. So when I saw them on sale at the store, I got really excited and bought one. I searched long and hard on the internets (a series of tubes) for a recipe that would be full of flavor and would give a yummy, crispy crust on the outside. Because few things in life are as sinful and delicious as a bit of fat on piece of meat that has caramelized and gotten crispy. Yes, I do eat a bit of fat when I eat meat, and I do not cut it all off. That would be bastardization of a wonderful piece of meat. So, without further adieu, here is what I did:

Garlic & Herb Pork Roast

Pork roast (I believe it was about 2 lb.)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp. coarse salt (I used sea salt)
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 Tb. ground oregano
1 Tb. ground thyme
1 Tb. crushed rosemary leaves
1/2 Tb. rubbed sage
1 tsp. onion powder
2 Tb. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450^oF.
Pat dry pork roast.

a beautiful piece of pork!

In a bowl, mix together olive oil and spices to make a paste.*(see below)

mmmmm...... I love me some garlic!!!

Here is what the paste rub looked like.

Rub paste all over the roast.

pre-cooked pork roast

Place in oven (on roasting rack, if you have one) and roast 15 minutes.
Turn oven down to 300^oF.
Roast 45 minutes and check temperature; once internal temperature reaches 160^oF, remove from oven.
Let sit 10-15 minutes before slicing.**(see below)

*I prefer super-flavorful dishes, so I added more of each spice. If 2 Tb. olive oil is too much oil to form a paste, just add a few dashes more of some (or all) of the spices to form a paste. You do not want a runny paste because it will not stick to the roast.
**If the roast is still a bit pink on the inside when you slice it, I promise you, it is okay. I know, you were probably taught that pork has to be cooked all the way through (as was I), but not true. Unless you killed your pork out in the wild, it is virtually impossible to get trichinosis. I promise.

I will definitely be making this again. It was fantastic! Jon loved it too, which made me happy. And it was still really good the next day, sliced thin and put on some bread for an open-faced pork sandwich. I love meals that are still good the next day. :)

Posting of past recipes 1: Ratatouille

2008-06-23T12:42:00.009-05:00

Since the last post, I have been ridiculously lazy with my cooking. Partly because Jon's been gone for almost a week, and I am a lot less likely to cook when it is just me at home. So, I am doing a super-post that has a few recipes in it that I have made in the past.

And so begins the marathon of yummy-ness!

~~~
A couple of months ago I made Ratatouille. Sort of. I kind of made it up. And, in Jon and I's pursuit of finding new vegetable dinner options, I decided to make a dish that looks similar to the ratatouille dish seen in the movie (you might have guessed) Ratatouille. I do not have an exact recipe anywhere, but I can give a fairly accurate account of how I made it. Here we go:

1 eggplant
1 yellow squash
1 green zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 can tomato sauce
6 garlic cloves, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 Tb. dried basil leaves, crushed
1 Tb. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 Tb. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1 Tb. rosemary leaves, crushed
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400^oF.
Saute garlic and shallot over medium heat (I used a little over a tablespoon of olive oil) until garlic and shallot have browned; remove from heat.
Combine tomato sauce, garlic, shallot, and spices in a bowl; set aside.
Thinly slice (about 1/8 in. - use a mandoline if you have it; I do not and it was rather tedious) the eggplant, squash, zucchini and pepper and toss in tomato sauce; remove vegetables from the sauce and set aside, reserving the sauce.
Pour tomato sauce mixture into bottom of a casserole dish/pan.
Alternating vegetables, layer slices in dish, filling the casserole dish/pan, something like this:
eggplant, zucchini, squash, pepper; repeat until dish is filled.
Sprinkle top of dish with salt and pepper.
Roast until vegetables begin to soften and turn transparent, and sauce is bubbly (I think it took 10 minutes, but I really do not remember for sure).

Here is the finished product:

Considering the fact that neither Jon or I like squash or zucchini, and are not particularly fond of eggplant either, this was rather tasty. A rather delightful veggie dish. :)

Chocolate + Cappuccino + Cookies = yummy?

2008-06-12T22:03:00.005-05:00

Some time ago, my wonderful boyfriend Jon came across Guittard's Cappuccino Chips during a trip to Publix (before we left the fabulous state of Florida for the not-quite-as-fabulous state of Texas last July). They got packed in a box when we moved then got shoved to the back of a cabinet in my new kitchen when we unpacked. A couple of days ago, I found them, still unopened and crying to be ~~eaten~~ loved. So, I adapted a Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I have been meaning to try to test the new chips.

Here is the original, unaltered recipes. I will list my alterations after the recipe.

Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 18 fairly large cookies

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour (measured by spooning into measuring cup then leveled with a knife)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
5 Tb. butter, soft
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg white
1/4 c. chocolate chunks
1/4 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350^o.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk.
Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl; beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended.
Add vanilla and egg white; beat 1 minute.
Stir in flour mix, chocolate chunks and chocolate chips.
Drop by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheet(s) with cooking spray.
Place pan(s) in freezer for 5 minutes.
Bake at 350^o for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven and cool on pans 2 minutes.
Remove from pans to wire racks to finish cooling.

Here is what I changed:
~ Because I was idiotic and did not check my ingredients first, I did not realize that I did not have brown sugar, so I substituted 1/2 c. regular sugar plus 1 Tb. dark corn syrup for the 1/2 c. brown sugar... I got the idea from my grandmother.
~ Because I was (again) idiotic and did not check my ingredients first, I had no eggs. So I used Wilton's Meringue Powder to make up for it. 1 tsp. meringue powder + 1 Tb. water = instant large egg white!
~ Instead of vanilla extract I use vanilla bean paste. Because it tastes better.
~ And, of course, instead of chocolate chips... Cappuccino Chips!

The yummy tasting Cappuccino Chips! ::slobber::

The ~~heroin~~ chocolate used for chocolate chunks. Soooooooooo yummy!

My favorite vanilla medium: vanilla bean paste. The superiority of vanilla bean flavor without the hassle of scraping vanilla beans. And a bottle of vanilla bean paste (equivalent to about 12 vanilla beans) costs about the same as one vanilla bean. Sweet!

The result: the cookies were chewier than I like. I prefer my cookies to be a bit crispy, but not so much chewy. I am attributing the chewiness to the brown sugar substitution. Also, the dark chocolate overpowered the taste of the cappuccino chips. Otherwise, tastes yummy! Great milk-dipping cookie.