Good Stuff

These are some blogs we follow daily (or, well, whenever we don't have 50-pagers hanging over our heads):

Making Love in the Kitchen

BranAppetit

Zesty Cook

Simply Recipes

Recipe Girl

Canned Tuna with Peas

Submitted by soroberts:

Ingredients:

• Splash olive oil
• Can of tuna
• Splash tomato sauce (pasta sauce is fine)
• Dash curry powder
• Dash salt
• Dash pepper
• 1 squeeze of mustard
• Big dash oregano
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2c frozen peas

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in pan and add onion. Sautee until the onion starts to turn translucent and add everything but the tuna.
   
2. Once that's all nice and hot, mash the tuna up a bit, add it and cook for a few more minutes or until the tuna has heated up and absorbed the flavors. Voila!

Ricey Puddin'

Submitted by soroberts:

"Let's say you got some Chinese food. Great! But you have crappy Chinese takeout rice that is not so great. Well, you can make ricey puddin' with it! This recipe is easily generalizable, but the units used will assume you have the amount of rice that comes in a Chinese takeout container."

Ingredients:
~ Puddin' Base ~

• Milk (twice as much as rice)
• Rice (from crappy takeout place)
• Sugar of any kind, 3/4c. If you use maple syrup, 1/2c. This is highly recommended.

~ Recommended Extras ~

• 1 egg (optional; will make the pudding thicker)
• 1/2-1c raisins (optional; will make pudding more delicious)
• Rum (optional; will make raisins and pudding more delicious)
• Vanilla (small splash; to taste)
• Nutmeg (small dash; to taste)
• Cloves (small dash; to taste)
• Ginger (small dash; to taste)
• Cinnamon (big dash; to taste)

Directions:

1. Put milk, sugar and rice in a BIG pot. The more surface area the milk has, the better! Heat this concoction and get to work on your extras.
2. Put raisins in a bowl, pour enough rum in there to cover them, and stick in the microwave for 1 minute. Take the raisins out and let them sit. In a few minutes, for extra-plump raisins, repeat this process once they start to cool off. (If you don't like the taste of rum and want plump delicious raisins anyway, use water.)
3. Is the milk boiling yet? Give it a stir. Keep an eye on the milk so it doesn't form a gross skin. Nobody wants that.
4. Dash spices in there as desired; there are some recommended ones above.
5. Once the milk really starts to boil, stir it near-constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot. If you don't, milk will burn on down there and whoever's on dish duty will hate you. Add raisins if you have 'em; an extra splash of rum in the pudding won't hurt, either, if you are fond of the flavor.
6. After a while, the milk will stop making real bubbles and will start making craters. If you are choosing to use an egg, crack it directly in there and stir it up really fast. You should notice the pudding getting a little thicker all of a sudden. If you are not using an egg, skip this step completely; once the pudding starts making craters it is done.
7. Remove from heat and stir for a little while longer; it's still too hot to eat and you might as well help some of that water vapor escape. Once it's been sitting and you've been stirring it for a little while, you should notice that when you scrape the spoon or whatever along the bottom of the pot, it leaves a clear path that doesn't fill immediately. HOORAY! Pudding achieved!
8. NOM. Get housemates to do dishes.

Everyone Loves Quesadillas

niclark submitted the following:

Ingredients:

• flour tortillas (one per quesadilla)
• avocados (1/2 to 1 per quesadilla)
• cheese, grated or cut into small cubes (we used sharp cheddar cheese because that's what we had on hand, but many cheeses would work just as well)
• a wee bit of butter (optional)
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cinnamon
• balsamic vinegar
• lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mash up the avocado. Mix in equal parts garlic powder, onion powder, and cinnamon (a pretty heavy dash of each), a splash or two of balsamic vinegar (a little goes a very long way), and a small splash of lemon juice.
   
2. Melt a little bit of butter in a medium or large skillet (large enough to fit your tortilla), or just bring the skillet up to medium-low heat without the butter if you want.
   
3. Put the tortilla in the skillet and let it start to brown a little bit. Flip the tortilla and sprinkle on the cheese.
   
4. When the cheese just starts to melt, add the avocado mixture. Fold the tortilla in half, then cook for about a minute on each side.

Optional delicious additions: diced tomatoes, diced red onion

Apple Walnut Baklava

Submitted by niclark:

Apple Walnut Baklava (adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baklava/Detail.aspx) 

Ingredients:

• 1 roll of phyllo dough (usually comes in a box with two rolls; you only need one)
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 2 large Granny smith apples (or 4-5 small ones)
• 1 cup butter (if you need the dish to be vegan, use Smart Balance)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• ~1/2 cup brown sugar 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9X13 inch glass or metal baking dish.
   
2. Chop apples into very small pieces and toss with cinnamon and walnuts.  Set aside.
3. Melt the butter and unroll the phyllo dough.
4. Place a sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the dish and brush butter onto it.  
5. Repeat until you’ve used half of the roll of dough.  
6. Spread the apple/walnut/cinnamon mixture over the dough and pour a little bit of butter over it. 
7. Finish with the rest of the phyllo dough in the same way you did the first half.
8. Use a sharp knife to cut diamonds or squares all the way to the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes (in a SoCo oven it took 60 minutes, turning once halfway through to compensate for uneven heating)
9. While the baklava is baking, put the apple cider, white sugar, and brown sugar in a pot over medium-high heat and cook until it reaches a syrupy consistency, stirring frequently and watching to be sure it doesn’t boil over.
10. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour the sauce over it.  Let it cool, then enjoy.

Easy: Apple and Cream Cheese MAGIC

Did your parents load you up with even more apples after Thanksgiving break, and you mysteriously have some cream cheese left that's not gone bad yet? 

This is by far the easiest thing to do with the apples... I whipped it up quickly before my friend's pre-Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit. 

Bavarian Apple Torte. 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

YUM!

I made these today and shaped some of the cookies to letters for my friend's birthday! Easy and good. The only thing I changed was that I used whole wheat flour for half of the flour, and ended up pouring more pumpkin into the dough (adding extra flour because of that). They're not super super pumpkin-y but they're really good and moist. PLUS I made a cookie sandwich using the following filling:

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/3 sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or more), a little ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp flour
  

Beat together with an electric mixer. Spread on top of cookies after they're cool.

Vegan? Look here.

Kacosta '10 (say it out loud, it sounds cool. She's a cool girl, so it fits perfectly) updated her blog and made it into a cooking blog. She's vegan, so try it out if you're vegan as well. Or if you're a carnivore. Just do it.
Here are some links!
Pumpkin Pasta Casserole with Camalized Onions and Walnut Topping
Rice Milk and Rice Yogurt Recipe
End-of-week curry soup

The other day I made the last one (the soup) with some alternations, since I didn't have a few of the ingredients, and simply substituted them with something else. It's delicious, easy, and I still have lots to go (it's one of those things I don't get sick of having everyday!). Very economical, and easy.

Thanks KaCosta!

This one's a winner

People have informed me that this has a high chance of winning the international dessert cook-off competition with this one. Unfortunately, I am lazy and won't be entering the competition.

Leftover Halloween candy? Still? It's almost Thanksgiving... time for sweet potatoes, not pumpkin and toothache. Well, here's a suggestion as to what to do with it: More specifically, use up those Butterfingers!

Butterfinger Pie (Adapted from here - essentially, I cut the filling in half, and tweaked it a bit, and it works perfectly! It's INTENSE.) Oh and this is not for the faint-hearted...

Ingredients:

Crust:
14 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)
4 Tbs butter, melted

Filling:
7.5 ounces fun-size butterfinger candy bars (or 15 ounces of butterfingers), divided
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs flour
1 cup milk
1 large egg yolks
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, or other chocolate (I used a little bit of white chocolate chips because that's all I had)
3/4 cups whipping cream

Topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Prepare crust: Preheat oven to 375° F. In a food processor, process the cookies into fine crumbs. Add melted butter to crumbs and continue to process until well blended. Transfer mixture to a 9-inch pie pan and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. The crust will puff up and shrink slightly. Use the flat bottom of a drinking glass to gently press down on the crust. Cool completely.
2. Prepare filling: In a food processor, process all but 3 of the butterfinger bars into fine crumbs. Divide the crumbs into two 1/4 cup portions and one 1/2 cup portion; set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour and milk. Slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolk in a small bowl. Whisk in hot milk mixture 1 Tablespoon at a time until egg is tempered (slowly warmed up). Then add the egg to remaining milk in the pan, bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the peanut butter mixture and put it in a medium bowl; cover and set aside. Add chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of the butterfinger crumbs to the remaining peanut butter mixture in the saucepan. Stir until chips are melted. Pour this mixture into the cooled crust. Refrigerate while you’re preparing the next layer.
4. Prepare peanut butter layer: Whip 3/4 cups of whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Scoop into the bowl with the reserved peanut butter filling and fold together with 1/4 cup of butterfinger crumbs too. Remove pie from refrigerator and mound peanut butter mixture evenly over chocolate layer and spread to the edges.
5. Prepare the topping: Whip the 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in remaining 1/2 cup of butterfinger crumbs. Spoon over the top of the pie, mounding slightly in the center. Chop the remaining 3 fun-sized candy bars and sprinkle over the top of the pie.
6. Cover loosely and refrigerate until ready to serve.
7. YOU DID IT! Good job. This was pretty crazy.
   

Submitted by vefehrm

Blandness, soups, and then some

A couple of weeks ago I was sick. Being sick at college is just really not that great, because you still have to do everything you would've done anyway if you were well. Or you don't, and watching re-runs on TV makes you go stir-crazy. Then there's that whole thing where nothing tastes like anything. So what are you to do when this happens to you?

Things to do (not necessarily fun but productive):

• clean out that Tupperware with old old food that should've been cleaned out a long time ago (hey, you can't smell it now, so why not?)
• drink seltzer - to get your carbonation fix (you can't taste the soda anyway...)
• eat things that are good for you that you usually don't like
  
• eat/make soup
• eat comfort food

Examples of soups:

Carrot Kale Soup:

• onion and garlic (or garlic powder), chopped up
  
• butter
  
• carrots, chopped up
  
• kale, chopped up
• lemon juice
  
• salt, pepper, veggie or chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, cook butter and chopped up onion and/or garlic until onion is translucent.
   
2. Add the carrots, and kale. Cook until carrots are tender.
   
3. Add the veggie/chicken broth with the right amount of water if it's in the form of a bouillon cube. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice.
   
4. Cook for 20-30mins until desired consistency.
   
5. Cream in a blender.
   

Carrot Ginger Soup - I made this and it's very good! Do it!

Grilled ham and cheese sandwich (with kale on the side):

• 2 slices of ham
• 2tbsp of butter
• 1 slice of cheese
• mayo/mustard (optional)
• 2 slices of bread

Directions:

1. Butter two slices of bead. Each on one side. Put the buttered-side of the bread down in a pan, spread mayo or mustard if desired on the un-buttered side. Add 1 slice of ham.
   
2. Add the cheese. Add 1 slice of ham on top of that.
   
3. Put the other slice of bread, with the buttered-side up on top of the rest.
   
4. Cook until desired at medium heat.
5. In the rest of the pan, you can fry other things. I tried putting kale in, and it tastes so good!

Other variations: For fieldwork we went to this farm called McEnroe one good Wednesday two weeks ago, and they had this TBA sandwich that the other intern and my professor chose. I had a bite. And it was one of the best bites of a sandwich I've had in a while. What does the TBA stand for?
Turkey, brie and avocado. Yeah. That's right. Yum!