Spiced Candied Cashews

by Stephanie | Leave a comment

So you know when you walk by those Nuts 4 Nuts carts in Manhattan and they smell so amazingly good that you finally cave in and buy them, only to realized that you wasted two dollars on something that smells 1000 times better than it tastes? Why do they not taste like they smell? I decided to take matters into my own hands. These subtly spiced candied cashews made my apartment smell amazing and they made my taste buds happy. Take that, nuts that you buy from a cart on the street (when you put it that way, I’m not so surprised…)!

I had all of these leftover cashews from when I made cashew chicken. I also wanted something to munch on. These candied cashews come together so quickly and easily (maybe 15 minutes), as long as you have cashews around, you’re good to go. Or else try them with other nuts. They’re very similar to the peanuts that Jessica made, but I played around with the spices and the sugars.

Candied Cashews

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups raw unsalted cashews
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment  paper.
  2. Mix the spices together.
  3. In a large skillet over high heat, mix the nuts, sugar and water. Stir frequently and bring to a boil. Continue stirring; the liquid should evaporate and turn into a syrupy consistency. This should take about 10 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle the spices over the nuts and stir vigorously, letting the water completely evaporate, for about 4 minutes.
  5. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the nuts are coated in the crystallized sugar.
  6. Carefully pour the nuts out onto the baking sheet to let cool.

Cashew Chicken

by Stephanie | Leave a comment

For some reason I was really craving Chinese food. So I found this recipe, printed it out and hung it up on my fridge. I went to Trader Joe’s and I bought a bag of cashews. I found kosher hoisin sauce. I defrosted some chicken cutlets that had been hanging out in my freezer. And now dinner for the next night was planned and prepared, so I went out for dinner with some friends. When I came home, I discovered that David cooked the chicken for dinner tomorrow! And we didn’t have any more cutlets, but we had plenty of chicken! So I didn’t want to shop for more chicken. So I gave up, the rest of the ingredients all sat unused and unloved in the kitchen and the recipe stuck to my fridge. Until one day I decided to buy chicken cutlets again and make cashew chicken for dinner!

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did. Make this chicken! It comes together really quickly, it’s healthy (add more veggies when cooking to make it even healthier!) and the leftovers make a great lunch.

Next time I have a craving for something new, I think I’ll try sweet and sour chicken.

Cashew Chicken slightly adapted from Thyme for Wine

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1” cubes
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 ancho peppers, cut into 1” pieces
  • 5 leeks, cut into 1” pieces (I only had leeks, so I used those instead of scallions, which would make more sense)
  • 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup toasted cashews (4 oz)
Directions:
  1. Toss the chicken in the cornstarch in a medium bowl until coated. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a large cast iron skillet, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken, tossing for about 3 minutes until browned. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Add remaining oil and chicken to the skillet, along with the garlic, green pepper, and leeks. Cook, tossing for another 3 minutes until chicken browns.
  4. Return first batch of chicken to the pan. Add vinegar; cook for about 3o seconds until evaporated. Add hoisin sauce water; cook another minute tossing until chicken is cooked through.
  5. Remove from heat and stir cashews.
  6. Serve immediately over rice.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

by Jessica | Leave a comment

It’s kind of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread. And with a lot more peanut butter. And a little more amazing. Use your favorite jam (oh, use some of the homemade stuff if you want this to be even more decadent!)

I made these pareve, and used earth balance shortening and natural peanut butter. I actually use Skippy brand because 1. it was on sale, and 2. it is much creamier than most natural peanut butters. And though that’s not what I always prefer in pb&j sandwiches, it’s definitely better for the texture of the cookie. No trans-fats in this recipe! Use butter if you want it to be even more amazing, but then you can’t serve it to your family after Friday night dinner.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars, adapted from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound earth balance, or your favorite natural margarine or shortening (or butter, of course!)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups (18 ounces) peanut butter
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (unless you have really salty peanut butter. then just leave it out)
  • 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) jam. I used raspberry, but use your favorite flavor)
  • 2/3 cups roasted salted peanuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease and flour a 9×13 cake pan (I used a pyrex)

3. In the bowl of your electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium until they turn light yellow, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and peanut butter. Mix until just combined.

5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

6. Add the flour mixture to the wet with the mixer on low. Mix only until just combined.

7. Spread about 2/3 (just eyeball it) of the batter to the bottom of your baking pan. Smooth it out and make sure it’s even using a knife or spatula.

8. Spread the jam on top, evenly.

9. Take spoonfuls of the batter and drop the rest on top of the jam. Don’t worry if the jam layer is not completely covered, the dough will spread during baking.

10. Sprinkle with the peanuts.

11. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.

12. Let cool before cutting into bars (or else they’ll fall apart and crumble – they’ll still taste good, though!). I cut them into 24 bars. They’re really decadent, so they don’t have to be big to be enjoyed!

Oatmeal Bread

by Jessica | Leave a comment

I love baking bread. It just makes the house smell so good. And I know it doesn’t have ingredients I can’t pronounce in it. It also allows for some really easy lunches – sandwiches! Though I’ve tried many bread recipes, my go-to recipe is always Amish white bread. It has the soft texture and flaky crumbiness that just works. I try to have some slices in my freezer at all times. Sometimes, I want some variety, though. Whole wheat bread, rye bread, and  sourdough bread are great, but oatmeal bread? That’s something new to me. So when I saw Alton make bread using leftover oatmeal, I just knew I had to try it. And I did, the very same day. I didn’t eat oatmeal for breakfast, though. I cooked it just for use in the recipe. It was definitely worth it.

This bread is amazing with some salted butter or fruity jam. It’s great for breakfast, and healthy, too! Put some in the freezer for fresh bread the entire week. Those oats are good for your cholesterol, according to the Cheerios commercial. This is a bread that I’ll definitely be keeping in my bread-baking rotation. I might double the recipe next time, though. It takes a lot of time to only yield one loaf. And maybe try to make it in my mixer because after being spoiled by my dough hook, kneading by hand gets tiring (though it wasn’t nearly as hard as kneading bagels).

Oatmeal Bread, adapted from Alton Brown:

Make one loaf – I got 16 slices.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
  • 11 ounces bread flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1/4 cup uncooked rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 12 ounces cooked oats (to make this, use 3/4 cup oats and 1 1/2 cups water), at room temperature (you don’t want to kill that yeast!)
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons agave syrup (I used one tablespoon honey because I ran out of agave. Use both honey if you don’t have agave, or substitute with sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon raw oats
  • 1 egg + water, for eggwash

Directions:

1. Combine yeast, flour, 1/4 cup uncooked oats, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Combine cooked oats, agave, water, and oil in a large mixing bowl.

3. In three increments, add dry ingredients to wet. Mix with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated.

4. Knead by hand on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Add more flour if it’s too sticky.

5. Oil bowl, add dough, and cover. Let rise for an hour.

6. Punch down dough and shape into loaf. Place in greased loaf pan.

7. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 8 hours.

8. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

9. Combine the egg yolk and water in a small bowl. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of raw oats.

10. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour (actually it took me 1 hour, 10 minutes), until the internal temperature of the dough reaches 210 degrees.

11. Cool on rack for 30 minutes before slicing.

Shallot Red Wine Steak Sauce

by Stephanie | 6 Comments

Sometimes I like to cook up a couple of big juicy steaks, mix up a salad, and call it dinner. David likes it, too. But sometimes, plain old steak gets boring. I’m not one to dip my steak in ketchup, but I want something to eat my steak with. Something good. Well, that brings me to our  next recipe: shallot and red wine steak sauce. This whole meal fits together quite nicely, almost like a puzzle where the steak fits into the sauce and then the sauce with the glass of red wine you are drinking with dinner. Because it’s the same wine, you see.

And that is a perfect night at home, good food, a glass of wine and great company.

Shallot & Red Wine Steak Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 2 steaks (make sure they have some fat on them, you’ll need it!)
  • 1 gigantic shallot, or 2 regular sized ones, cut into rings
  • 2 springs of thyme, leaves only
  • 1 cup red wine
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Turn on your broiler (this step is optional; you can really cook the whole steaks on the stove, but my tiny apartment + a lot of smoke = angry smoke alarm) and line a baking sheet with tin foil
  2. Sear the steaks in a little bit of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan for 4 minutes on each side (you may need to do this one at a time), or whenever they lift up easily. I used my dutch oven, because I have a limited collection of meat cookware.
  3. Remove the steaks to the prepared baking sheet and let them finish cooking in the broiler (or a plate if they’re done).
  4. Lower the flame, add the shallots to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes until the shallots cook down and become soft.
  5. Add the thyme and wine and raise the fire. Reduce the sauce by about half.
  6. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and eat.

Meatless Mondays: Vegetable Pot Pie

by Jessica | 11 Comments

Another Ina meal. What can I say, she has such fabulous recipes that are perfect just the way they are, but also really easy to tweak. This one needed some tweaking. A vegetarian recipe using chicken stock? What’s the point! So I used store-bought vegetable stock…don’t worry, all this chopping and peeling let me make 3 quarts of my own vegetable stock for next time.

I also switched around the vegetables (but of course kept the butternut squash, because it’s my favorite. Can you tell?) and omitted some ingredients that I didn’t have – Pernod? No thanks. The fennel gives enough anise flavor for me. And while I know saffron gives a great color and flavor, I can’t bring myself to spend the money on it. Maybe if someone buys it for me I’ll try it next time.

Recently I’ve been craving chicken pot pie. I see recipes in cookbooks and on TV and think it just sounds so good. With this cold weather here, a big bowl of steaming veggies covered with flaky pie crust is just what we need for a 1-bowl dinner. It’s also a hearty way to make a Meatless Monday meal!

Vegetable pot pie, adapted from Ina Garten:

  • 2 yellow onions, chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cubed
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 3 potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 recipe flaky pie or tart dough, or your favorite pie crust

Directions:

1. Make sure all your vegetables are chopped to the same size.

2. Combine the butter and olive oil in a large pot and add onions and fennel. Saute over medium heat for ten minutes, until lightly browned.

3. While the onions are browning, bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the potatoes for ten minutes and remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

4. Boil the butternut squash, carrots, and celery for five minutes. Drain and add to bowl.

5. Add flour and mix. Turn heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, until all the flour is absorbed. Mix occasionally.

6. Pour vegetable broth into pan and mix until thickens.

7. Add vegetables, including peas, into sauce.

8. Add parsley and mix.

9. Divide dough into six oven-proof bowls or two nine-inch pie plates.

10. Cut dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece flat. Wet edges of bowl, and place pie crust over the bowl.

11. Brush will egg wash, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

12. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour until the top is crispy and the vegetables are bubbly and hot. Let cool for about ten minutes, because it’s going to be very hot!

Spiced Apple Cider

by Jessica | Leave a comment

I love apple cider, and especially love it from the farmer’s market. If I’m stuck at home, though, this will have to do. On a cold winter night, it’s sometimes better than hot chocolate. We can make this delicious stuff all through the winter. I know it’s not technically winter yet, but it’s cold enough here in New York now to call it winter!

No, I didn’t make the apple cider on my own. But I did add ingredients to it to make it extra special; the whipped cream is a must. Continue reading …

Superb Butternut Squash Soup

by Jessica | Leave a comment

I remember watching Jamie Oliver on the Food Network, back when he was the Naked Chef. Well, he wasn’t actually naked, which is why I wasn’t surprised when they changed the name of his show (or did they just start a new one) called Oliver’s Twist. Anyway, he would “strip down” recipes so that they were really just the essentials of cooking. No fancy gadgets or ingredients, just great homemade food. Now he’s never on the Food Network anymore, and I don’t get the Cooking Channel, so I never see him on TV. I can’t even watch the reruns of his show Jamie at Home. But I can still get most of the recipes on the Food Network website, which makes me happy. His recipes are simple and tasty, and he doesn’t use any gross ingredients; it’s mostly natural, earthy food. His recipes really bring out the essential flavors of the main ingredients.

And this is why I was so excited to make this soup recipe. I love Jamie Oliver and I love butternut squash! It’s definitely my favorite winter squash, even though it’s a pain to peel and chop. Everything else about it is just perfect, an my favorite way to eat it is in soup form. Something about butternut squash soup just makes me smile.

Sage is a classic combination with butternut squash, and infusing the oil with that flavor imparts a wonderful undertone to the soup. The sage on top adds a great crispiness. I ate a lot of those sage chips before serving the soup. Oops. Hence the lack of crispy sage on top of the soup in the picture. It’s delicious with a teaspoon of sour cream mixed in, too. Just so you know.

Superb squash soup, adapted from Jamie Oliver (serves 8):

Ingredients:

  • 16 fresh sage leaves
  • 2 red onions, peeled and chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds taken out and chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 quarts vegetable stock
  • Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat large saucepan over medium heat and pour in some olive oil, enough to cover the bottom.

2. When it’s hot, throw in the sage leaves and fry for about 30 seconds, until crispy. Remove with a slitted spoon and drain on paper-towel lined plate.

3. Add your celery, onion, and carrot, garlic, and jalapeno to the pot. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

4. Add the squash and stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

5. When the squash is soft, blend the soup using an immersion blender until you have a smooth puree (or as chunky as you like it).

6. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle the sage leaves on top.

7. Serve with croutons if you want (that’s how Jamie Oliver did it).

Doughnuts

by Stephanie | 6 Comments

It’s a Hanukkah tradition to eat fried foods, you know, to remind us of the oil that lasted eight days instead of only one. Sufganiot, or jelly doughnuts, are one of the foods that you will always see at a Hanukkah party, along with latkes.

I have to admit, I don’t really eat doughnuts, especially ones filled with jelly or cream. It’s not that they aren’t delicious, they are, but only in theory. The ones you can buy at Dunkin Donuts is just not worth it, and the ones that are filled just have way too much filling to be enjoyed. They’re also too big, too sweet, and not fluffy enough. That’s why I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own doughnuts. They’re just a soft dough that’s cut into bagel-like shaped and fried, how hard can that be? And what better timing to make them than a family Hanukkah party?

No, I didn’t make the traditional Sufganiot. But they’re still fried in oil, so they’re still Hanukkah worthy. Continue reading …

Pink Pickled Turnips and Cauliflower

by Stephanie | 1 Comment

Happy birthday, Dad (December is a big birthday month for our family)!

And Happy Hanukkah!

When I read that we would be getting turnips and beets from our final farmshare pickup, I said Awesome, I can pickle the turnips, if only we had some cauliflower… And that Monday, when I went to pick up the vegetables, surprise! We also got to take home a head of cauliflower. So now I had to make these pickles!

Continue reading …