food made simple

• 2012-02-03

  xorobynncole asked: Hey :) I was wondering if you could POSSIBLY tell me how to make cupcakes that have like a rainbow look? i just saw a picture someone posted of a rainbow batch of cupcakes and i wanna bake some.. thaaaaaaaaaaaankyou :D xx

  
  I’ve never made rainbow cupcakes myself, but I would recommend following this recipe I found as it’s very detailed. I also would definitely use a box cake mix as you experiment. There’s no point in going overboard making a homemade recipe for your first batch as you try to get the look right. (Also, I personally enjoy a box cake to most homemade recipes I’ve tried.)

  The basics of rainbow cupcakes:

  • Use WHITE cake mix as a base and the colors will be more vibrant. Get a name brand like Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines.
  • There is skill involved in getting the look right, each time you make the recipe, they will improve as you learn tricks that make a difference. (When you do - please share!)
  • The layers will be neatest if you spread the batter gently. If you press it in too hard, the layers/colors will blend together. Lightly place batter in the middle of the liner and then spread outward, to the sides, not downward.
  • Be careful not to get misplaced batter on sides of the liners. This will interfere with the look from the outside - if you’re using liners that show through the cake.
  • The recipe I linked to has you mixing the colors in separate bowls. Some other recipes I came across instruct you to use ziploc bags, squeeze to distribute the coloring, and cut a corner from the bag to distribute into the liners.
  • I prefer using muffin tins with cupcake liners, instead of liners on their own or silicon. The tins really hold the liners in shape better.

  Also, what liners you use will make a difference. If you want them to be surprise rainbow cupcakes, pick an opaque liner that you can’t see through (like tin foil). Otherwise, thin white paper ones should be the best bet if you are confident in your layering abilities and you want them visible from the outside.

  If you Google search “How to make rainbow cupcakes” you’ll come across tons of people happy to share their experiences making them, through videos and blogs.

• A Day in the Kitchen :: Part II - “Are Those Cupcakes?”

  
  Photo by Russ
  
  Continuing my day on Saturday, after I finished the sugarless cupcakes for the babies, I moved on to sugary versions for the adults. Yes, this is the definition of a double-standard. :)

  I am on the hunt to find a cake recipe worthy of my favorite frosting recipe. I’ve used it once on chocolate cupcakes, in August for Sarah’s baby shower. And now, once on vanilla cupcakes, above. I liked both versions fine, but wasn’t head over heels. Maybe it’s just that this frosting will always steal the show.

  I will say, I am not a frosting person. So much so, that I have never preferred cake to other things, except ice cream. I disliked frosting that much, actually scraped it off (yes, especially when I was a kid, weird). But, I have always liked whipped cream frosting - and I do like cake itself.

  My challenge for Sarah’s shower, was that I was making and transporting them on the hottest day of the year (I think it hit 95?). I wanted to make whipped cream frosting, but I knew if it was plain it would never hold up to the heat. When I found this recipe with cream cheese, I thought I’d give it a chance. I’m so glad I did. Since it involves cream cheese, it’s a lot like, if not the same as, red velvet icing. But who says that should just go on red velvet cake?

  Best Whipped Cream Frosting Ever

  Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I just leave out to room temp.)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

  How-To

  1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.
  2. In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. This means: whip just until it will hold it’s shape as a dollup, without sinking/melting/drooping - but not a second more).
  3. Fold whip cream into the cream cheese mixture. (Don’t over-mix, you want it to retain the lightness of the whipped cream as much as you can).

  The following are cake recipes I’ve used with the above whipped cream recipe:

  Simple White Cake, for Colton’s party + book club
  The negative reviews on this one said it was dry, so I followed these suggestions from reviewers:

  • Add a little more milk (I only added an additional 1/4 cup to make 3/4 cup altogether).
  • Beat butter with sugar very well until it’s light in color and creamy - could be minutes.
  • Beat eggs well after each addition.
  • Fold dry ingredients into butter mixture alternating with milk.

  Russ really liked this cake recipe, it reminded him of one of his favs - pound cake. One review said to sub in shortening for half of the butter which I may try next time.

  Moist Chocolate Cupcakes, for Sarah’s shower
  I paired the chocolate cake recipe linked to above, on Farm Chick’s, with the whipped cream frosting and it was stellar. So stellar, in fact, that on the way home one got lifted by a complete stranger. Yes, in New York City, that’s a lot of trust - taking homemade food from someone you’ve never met.

  I was on my way home, a long walk through Astoria, carrying my sealed plastic serving tray with two cupcakes inside, keeping company with a cake pop. I passed a restaurant with the same name as our favorite Thai place, Thai Pavillion. I was excited that it must be the second location I’d heard of - and it had cute outdoor seating! I went up to check if the menu was the same, and as I was standing there concentrating on the menu, holding my tray level, and trying not to melt in the heat, the front door of the pizza place next door opened. A waiter’s head popped out the door. “Are those cupcakes?”

  And my mind reeled with the possible answers.

  I settled on, “Do you want one?”

  And he did. He took it and said I should come back for pizza sometime.

• 2012-02-02

  A day in the kitchen :: Part I

  

  During the 24 hours from Friday evening to Saturday evening, I spent a bunch of them in the kitchen. I planned a few things that wound up running together like that. I enjoyed every minute (except cleaning up, ha!).

  On Friday we had Derrick and Amanda over for dinner, and I made Buffalo Chicken Chowder (I told you I was going to make it one of my regulars!). I also made videos of Russ playing guitar and singing to all those hits from the late 90s he knows since that’s when he played guitar. He doesn’t want me to post those for some reason.

  On Saturday morning I made mini cupcakes for Colton’s first birthday party. A lot of his friends don’t eat sugary things, so the challenge was to make cupcakes without sugar (the defining ingredient of cupcakes!). I found a recipe for Sugarless Banana Cake which I followed mostly, except I substituted blueberries for walnuts and added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Oh- and they only needed to bake for around 8-10 minutes as they were so small.

  In my opinion, blueberries were necessary for flavor - I am used to sugar so it tasted bland to me. Also - the more ripe the bananas, the sweeter it will be. Mine were spotted, but not super-ripe. Anyway, the recipe is more like a muffin or bread than what you think of when you think of cake. Speaking of bread, since the cupcakes were so mini, I made a loaf out of the rest of the batter.

  Next job: frosting without sugar. I have a favorite frosting recipe which is primarily whipped cream, cream cheese, and sugar. I decided to try it without the sugar. As you can imagine, it was not even close to the same. But it accomplished the purpose of creating a sugar-free alternative with similar components of a cupcake. The sugar-free frosting also didn’t come out as smooth as it does with sugar, but it worked. You can find the regular recipe for the frosting in Part II, and just omit the sugar from that. I would never recommend the sugar-free version unless you also have extenuating circumstances.

  
  Loaf w/ remainder of Sugarless Banana Cake batter

  
  
  Mini Sugarless Banana - Blueberry Cupcakes

  
  + sugarless frosting

  Stayed tuned for the rest of my adventure. Part II involves cupcakes WITH sugar (for the adults)! Part III involves a 1920s themed meal for book club!

• 2012-01-22

  Buffalo Chicken Chowder

  

  If you like the wings and the dip, you’ll love this soup, too. It’s infused with Buffalo flavor without being too heavy. I found the recipe on accident when I was searching for an asparagus puff pastry appetizer option. In my search, I came across the blog Closet Cooking, which I plan on visiting frequently. The puff pastry recipe I found there didn’t turn out right, not sure why. I took it out when the edges were brown, and didn’t use the full amount of cheese since it seemed too much, but it was really soggy in the middle.

  I’m not re-posting the chowder recipe as I didn’t change much, but:

  • I used less blue cheese than it suggests since Russ doesn’t like it. People can always add to taste to their own bowl.
  • I’ve made it twice and each time I doubled the recipe - which worked fine. It might take more time to cook the vegetables through since there’s so much more of them, but I put the lid on for a couple of minutes of the cooking time, which really sped things up.

  This recipe will probably become one of my “regulars”.

• 2012-01-13

  “To Make” List :: Inspiration from Everyday Food Jan-Feb 2012

  

  Everyday Food, as always, is a great go-to magazine for me, though I’m still backlogged on my issues. (In other news they changed their identity/branding. Not a fan, but it’s minor and I wonder if any non-graphics-centered people noticed?)

  They are pandering to the resolution-making types with this volume, so I was planning on not having as much to flag (I cringe at the idea of making compromises in recipes for “lightness”). But even with the lightness, they managed to catch my eye on a bunch. Here’s the pages I folded down on this edition:

  Breakfast

  • Potato Pancakes  I’ve never made these, but love them. They make it sound easy - using frozen hash browns.
  • Denver Omelet Cups  I love a good savory breakfast. These are a winning combination of delicious-looking and cute. They are like mini-egg-pies (baked) with a crispy hash brown crust. Other winning ingredients: ham, cheese, bell pepper.
  • Blueberry-Orange Cornmeal Muffins   So many things I like combined in one.

  Lunch

  • Chicken Salad with Avocado Dressing   Very curious about whether Russ will like this. We both have a strong aversion to mayo, which means we stay away from your standard chicken and potato salads. This chicken salad recipe involves zero mayo, or any of the other white things I have aversions to (cream cheese, sour cream).

  Appetizers

  • Classic Guacamole   I have this goal in life to master guacamole; to make it just like we’ve loved it in Mexico. I went so far as to email our beloved honeymoon resort, to no avail. Martha’s rendition looks promising, though a key factor to great guacamole is the quality of the avocados, which I don’t think can possibly be as good around here as in their native environment. 

  Mains

  • Roasted Salmon and Vegetables, then Asian-Style Salmon Burgers    Everyday Food has this section where you make a big quantity of something basic, and then re-use it/ repurpose it later in the week. I am curious about the burgers. Since the salmon has already been cooked through, I don’t see how the burgers will be moist when you cook them for so long (8 min.) additionally. I do love the idea of efficiently cooking, though, and I love salmon!
  • Salt and Pepper Shrimp with Snow Peas    I should cook more with shrimp. We love it. And snow peas.
  • Rustic Chicken Minestrone   This looks amazing and includes some things that are outside of the norm for us, but that I love: kale, chickpeas. There are instructions for how to make chicken base and then this is one of 5 renditions of chicken soup you can make with it. I already have a [family] chicken soup recipe I love, but there is always leftover broth - which I could put toward this or another favorite of the renditions…If I’m out of it and don’t have time for the 5 hours it involves, I’ll buy the boxed broth at the store for the base.
  • Asian-style Chicken Soup   Soy sauce, ginger, fresh herbs, jalapeno, and cherry tomatoes, oh my!
  • Rosemary-Garlic Roast Beef   Russ’s family loves rosemary with meat. Just this past New Year’s weekend we had cornish hens with it, they have it with lamb for Easter, and Grandma Marino’s Rosemary Chicken is to die for. I love roast beef, but have never made it. I’m going to try my grandma’s recipe for it soon, and then try this one.

  Sides

  • Avocado Citrus Salad   I’ll make this one of those times when I’m over the standard salad and want something out of the box. Also a time when Russ isn’t involved -  he’s generally not a fan of avocado in their native form.
  • Classic Applesauce   This would put my apple peeler-corer-slicer to work. It would also make me feel straight out of Little House on the Prairie - to make from scratch. They include suggestions in the mag, for mixing it up with different flavor additions (my favorite being spiced: with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves).
  • Roasted Spaghetti Squash    I love texture and I think spaghetti squash is so unique. I’ve never made it, but the magazine proposes that it’s easy to roast it as one large squash (puncturing first) and then scooping out once it’s cool enough to handle. What really pushed me over the edge was the additional recipes to use it for:
  • Spiced Squash Pancakes   These look like potato pancakes in the end, but you use the spaghetti squash, mixing up with a bunch of spices, jalapeno and shallots.
  • Roasted Squash with Parmesan and Herbs    Butter, Parmesan, a few of my favorite fresh herbs, and garlic. Yum.

  Dessert

  • Gingerbread Mini Cakes   These look adorable baked in the mini-molds the magazine used, but I’m saving this recipe to use in a loaf pan, as the alternative cook time offers. I’m a big fan of making things simpler, easier, less time-intensive, as long as taste and quality isn’t compromised.

  Drinks

  • Sparkling Red-Wine Cocktails   Sparkling red wine, sparkling orange, bourbon, plus a cinnamon-sugar rim. Wow. Though I really think these should have been put in earlier, around the holidays.

• 2012-01-01

  

  Hello, 2012!

  Well, 2011 was a full year. I cooked and baked less frequently, but many times when I did, set personal records in terms of volume. Some examples…

  Coffee cake for 50 in May

  Strawberry shortcake for 60 in June

  A record 9 pumpkin pies in November (6 of which were made in 1 day, along with a triple recipe of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that weekend).

  I made 5 pounds of bacon this morning between 8 and 11, while making eggs to order for 14 people and toasting and buttering toast. I finally feel I have mastered bacon - it has been a challenge for me, but I have learned a way to cook it consistently well after today [just plain old frying it in a frying pan…I have tried that, the microwave, and the oven]). Three pounds of it went with breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon, pumpkin bread with fresh whipped cream, and Clementines), and two pounds are for my dad-in-law’s breakfast casserole for tomorrow.

  I’m hoping in 2012 I’ll be able to make more time to cook, bake, find and try new recipes, and post here - which I totally enjoy doing when I have time. 2011 didn’t have much of that!

• 2011-11-24

  

  This Thanksgiving, be thankful for great pie and make this recipe for apple, or make half the crust from that to go with Libby’s recipe for pumpkin pie.

  Kim went with apple, and sent me this picture!

• 2011-10-13

  Our “bests” in food from a recent trip to Europe

  Back when we got married, almost 5 years ago, I had this plan to take a big trip for our 5th anniversary, to Europe. It was hard to narrow down where to go since neither of us had ever been and there’s so many places we’d eventually like to visit. I thought a good place to start was visiting countries of our ancestry, so that narrows it down to: Italy and Germany [Russ] and Hungary, Ireland, England, Scotland and The Netherlands [me]. 

  We settled on Italy for this trip, and found it was cheaper to fly to Paris - so added 3 nights there. We visited Paris, Rome, the Teramo region in Abruzzo, Florence, and Menaggio in Lake Como. You can expect several posts about our time spent in these places - food was a huge part of our experience, and I took photos of almost everything we ate.

  So, here they are. I only included categories we ate repeatedly throughout our trip to be fair. 

  Best Bread: Paris
  Overall, we preferred Italian food, but hands down - Paris had the most consistently great bread and pastries. Crusty bread, buttery croissants, and flaky pastry. We bought Pain Aux Chocolat the day before we left Paris at a bakery down the street from the apartment we rented. Even the day after as we ate it on a bus to the airport, squished in a bag in my purse, it was amazing. 
  
  Pain Aux Chocolat at Boulangerie Berthollet, Paris, France

  Best Dessert: Roasted Figs w/ Cinnamon Gelato at Le Tourbillon, Paris
  Our first night in Paris, we had an amazing dinner at Le Tourbillon Restaurant, less than a block from our apartment. Russ ordered a dessert of roasted figs which came with a scoop of cinnamon gelato.
  
  Best Dinner: Homemade Fusilli w/ Tomato and Basil Sauce at Osteria dell’ingegno in Rome, Italy
  When Russ finds a place he likes he just wants to go back over and over to not risk disappointment elsewhere. This is why we have been back to where we honeymooned twice since, and never to Europe ‘til now. On this trip I didn’t want repeats, but then I messed up on a restaurant choice our last night in Rome [more on that later]. So, after eating somewhere sub-par, we went back to the restaurant from our first night, planning to get dessert. When we arrived, the table next to us had just received their food, and it was homemade fusilli with tomato-basil sauce; which Russ had ordered the first night. At which point we decided to have a 2nd dinner instead of dessert.
  
  x2

  Best Tiramisu: Homemade at La Grande Quercia Bed & Breakfast near Teramo, Italy
  Yes, Tiramisu and dessert are separate categories. We had Tiramisu several times, it’s Russ’s favorite! Our favorite was Sergio’s, at the bed and breakfast we stayed at near Teramo. We would spend evenings with he and his partner [another] Russ, drinking wine. Our last evening Sergio brought out a dish of Tiramisu for each of us.
  

  Best Hot Chocolate: Bar Trattoria Tex’Sara in Menaggio, on Lake Como, Italy
  I don’t like coffee, and I like certain tea, but hot chocolate - I love. Russ drank tons of espresso everywhere we went, and I kept up somewhat with hot chocolate. I will say, this is not only the best hot chocolate of the trip, it’s the best I’ve ever had. She frothed twice - once just the milk, then after she added the chocolate.
  

  Best Gelato: Pane E Cioccolato in Menaggio, on Lake Como, Italy
  I would have gelato in between almost every meal [as Russ would shake his head], and always after dinner. I didn’t want to regret that I didn’t eat enough gelato. Compared to everywhere else we traveled, Menaggio in Lake Como was disappointing when it came to food. But, it was here that we found the best gelato of the trip, and we went there at least once a day. In appearance their gelato wasn’t as bright and bloated [puffy?] as the other gelato places. Their signs said it was all natural and homemade. There was a girl that worked the entire day shift, so it was embarrassing to go twice in one day but I did. Each time we would go after dinner at night, the man working the night shift would have a cone in his hand of batches he was making/testing that night. They had a printed review from Lonely Planet [circa 2004], saying it could be the best gelato in Italy. It was never very busy!
  
  Limone / Fragola
  

• 2011-08-28

  Blueberry Banana Hurricane Pancakes

  
  We had these this morning for breakfast. I usually make them with blueberries, sometimes with chocolate chips, but this time I made them with blueberries and bananas - which wound up a stellar combination.

  I got the recipe for plain pancakes from our local ABC channel’s “Neighborhood Eats” review section [but I always mix something in]. It comes from Bubby’s Restaurant in Tribeca. When ABC reviews a restaurant, they also post at least one recipe from the restaurant [odd, right? but I’m not arguing…]. The original recipe says it makes 16 pancakes, but it actually makes WAY more than that, so for just two people I make 1/4 recipe.

  Last weekend we were in Syracuse and went out for breakfast to a small, quirky place we came across called Sparky Town. They had raspberry pancakes on the menu. I love raspberries, but wouldn’t have thought go well in a pancake. They were great, though I can imagine it’s harder to mix in to the batter without them bursting. Next time, I’ll try it.

  Ingredients [makes about 7 pancakes]
  

  • just over 1 TB butter melted, plus more for the skillet
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • heaping 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • Add-ins: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 small banana - sliced thin

  To-Do

  1. Melt just over 1 Tablespoon butter. Set aside to cool.
  2. Whisk sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg until foamy and light. Add the sour cream, cooled melted butter, and milk. Beat briefly to combine ingredients.
  4. Gently fold egg mixture into flour mixture, being careful not to over-mix [a few lumps are OK - if you over do it they will be tougher]. 
  5. Fold in add-ins, just until integrated.
  6. You can cover and refrigerate at this point, but use within 6 hours.
  7. Preheat a griddle over medium heat [it should be hot enough for a drop of water to bounce].
  8. Lightly grease the pan with a little butter and form the pancakes [the batter is relatively thick and they immediately start to cook, so try to serve out a whole pancake in one glop and flatten out slightly].
  9. Only flip the pancakes once. You’ll know they are ready to flip, when bubbles start popping on the surface. Wait until they are popping toward the center of the pancake.

  Tips

  • You may need to adjust the temperature [lower] so that they don’t get overdone on the first side. 
  • They’ll cook quicker on the second side.
  • Since the batter is the thick, the pancakes are on the thicker side, so I have had the problem of them not cooking through though being golden on both sides. This is why you may want to turn down the temperature slightly, too cook them longer without over-browning.

• 2011-08-16

  Anonymous asked: alrighty - have a challenge for you : ) Ray/Signe are coming to town next weekend and I am trying to find a couple breakfast dishes.....i just have random thoughts as to what i want or don't want: i don't want it to be too eggie - i am not crazy about eggs, but can handle it if it's like a quiche or something....i don't want it to be terribly unhealthy (hello sausage gravy), and i would like it to be something i can make in advance.....any ideas? (julie damdar)

  Dear Julie, 

  I’m sorry I took such a long time to respond to this, but I’m glad I have the opportunity to redeem myself before Ray/Signe’s next visit. I am also glad you let me make breakfast at your house this past weekend!

  I wanted to because 1) I love making stuff 2) you have a baby 3) you were hosting 6 people at your house and 4) I never answered your question on what to make for breakfast! And I’m glad you accepted.

  When making others breakfast, here are the things to consider:

  1. Your audience. What are their feelings on eggs, dairy, and meat? Do they have allergies or Gluten issues? If it will be a number of people, having both sweet and savory options is a good idea so your bases are covered. 
  2. The timeline. Odds are you’re hosting people for an event or occasion, so you might want to look up recipes that you can make beforehand. That way, you don’t have to wake up extra early and spend time during and after on a big cleanup. If, for instance, you have a baby who loves you so much they can’t part from you, make-ahead recipes can be made and cleaned up from while they are sleeping. Even sans baby, I enjoy being able to eat with the people I’m hosting, and make-ahead recipes fit the bill. 
  3. Fruit. Everyone likes it. It goes well with whatever you’re making for breakfast, be it french toast, breakfast casserole, or coffee cake. Pick types that can be cut up into a fruit salad the night before, or just buy some clementines to put out - everyone loves those!
  4. Bread. If it’s an egg-based casserole like the one below, bread is nice to have alongside. Buy croissants or a loaf of crusty bread and people can put the casserole together with it to make sandwiches if they like. Or buttered cinnamon-sugar, jam, or Nutella on toast can be your sweet option. 

  Here is the menu from this past Saturday:

  • Fruit salad: strawberries, blueberries, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple
  • Blueberry Buckle [coffee cake]
  • Scrambled Egg Casserole
  • Italian bread

  Julie+Macy-pants