The Texan New Yorker

Dr Pepper Cocktail

Posted on May 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

I know everyone is heartsick over the recent tornado devastation in Oklahoma City this week. The damage is unbelievable. My heart goes out to everyone directly or indirectly affected by this disaster. I know the helplessness those of us who live far away are feeling.

Dedicating a blog post to those affected doesn’t seem like much, and indeed it isn’t much. It certainly isn’t tangible help. But it is my tiny way of showing how much I deeply care. Food and drinks are a universal thread that run through any society and connect people all over the world together. We give food to show our neighbors, friends and family that we care, or to congratulate them, or to help them out. Food is nourishing and comforting; it is both our most basic means of sustenance and one of the most joyful experiences we can share with others.

Some may disagree with me, but I think a stiff drink is in order. Not as a means of escape, or to pretend this tragedy is less than what it is, but because sometimes you have just earned one. Dr Pepper was my favorite soda growing up. And while I no longer drink it, I still think fondly of it. It is familiar and reassuring, and turning it into a hard drink is perhaps a little of what is needed right now. This drink tastes exactly like Dr Pepper, if Dr Pepper were alcoholic. It was lovely.

To all those in Moore and OKC, please know that we are thinking of you, praying for you, grieving with you, and wanting to help you in any way we can. We send our love and condolences and wish you healing and grace.

Source: adapted from Cocktails Drinks Recipes

Ingredients:
1 part Kahlua
1 part Southern Comfort
3/4 part Amaretto
Club soda
Note: when I (or rather Matt) made this, 1 part equaled about 1 shot glass

Directions:
Fill a tumbler glass with ice. Add ice to a cocktail shaker. Add the Kahlua, Southern Comfort, and Amaretto to the shaker. Shake to combine. Strain the mixture into the glasses. Top off with club soda and serve immediately. Makes 1 drink as written.

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Posted in Drinks

Tagged Alcoholic

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 1 Comment

Today is my wedding anniversary. Eight years ago, Matt and I stood before friends and family and exchanged vows in what was probably one of the shortest wedding ceremonies in recent history. Our wedding took place at a beautiful church in the heart of Dallas, Texas. The ceremony was held on their outdoor pavilion (which is now a parking lot – good thing I’m not superstitious). The sky was brilliantly blue without a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was a scorching 98 degrees Fahrenheit, without a whiff of wind in sight. I had fervently prayed for no rain on my wedding day. Evidently I’d forgotten to pray for a breeze.

The guys were in their tuxes, I had my long, thick wedding gown on, the poor minister was in full garb, and of course I had chosen black for my bridesmaid’s dresses. The minister was mercifully quick and thankfully the reception was indoors.

So I chose this recipe to post today because anniversaries are romantic, and pasta with clams or mussels is one of the most romantic meals I can think of. I don’t know why mollusks are so romantic and sexy, but they just are. We ate this a couple weekends ago, not for any special occasion, but just because. It was a lovely date night evening, complete with dimmed lights, white wine and garlic bread. So it seemed appropriate to share it today.

This is a delicious recipe, no matter the setting or occasion. Though I suppose I should admit that I’m not at all picky when it comes to my pasta and clams. Red sauce, white sauce, it’s all good for me. This one was fantastic, and I highly recommend it for your next romantic meal with your significant other! Happy Anniversary Matt!!! I love you and I’m thrilled to share my life with you. Here’s to many more!

A few recipe notes: this recipe calls for 8 ounces of pasta; I used the whole package of 16 ounces without changing much else and it was fine. But you could certainly cut back if you want.
With experience, I have discovered that 1) a bunch of clams in a pot don’t open all at the same time, despite being all the same size; and 2) I absolutely despise overcooked clams. So I stand at the stove as they are cooking, and remove them as they open. This is not so cumbersome as it sounds, the entire process will take maybe 5 minutes and you’ll ensure that none of your clams overcook.
Also, with the exception of the pasta water, I don’t call for salting anything. I found it didn’t need it at all because the clams and their juices are very briny and salty. Taste to see and add a pinch of kosher salt if you find it needs it.

Source: adapted from Homemade with Love by Jennifer Perillo

Ingredients:
2 dozen little neck clams
8 or 16 oz. uncooked linguine, fresh if you can find it
4 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ tsp crushed chile flakes
½ cup white wine
1 cup clam juice or seafood stock
Freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons
Kosher salt and black pepper
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:
Immediately upon coming home from the store, place the clams in a large mixing bowl. Cover with water and sprinkle some cornmeal into the water. Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. The clams will “eat” the cornmeal and this will rid them of any sand and grit.
When ready to cook, remove the clams from the fridge and drain them in a large colander. Rinse them thoroughly to remove the cornmeal. Discard any that won’t close. They are already dead and not safe to eat.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, salt it generously and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions for al dente noodles. Drain when done cooking.
Meanwhile, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil. Once the butter melts, add the garlic and chile flakes. Cook until fragrant and the garlic is lightly golden, about 1 minute. Add the wine and clam juice and bring to a gentle boil. Add the clams and make sure your heat level is on medium. Cover the pot and let the clams steam open. Have a clean bowl ready beside the stove. Don’t walk away at this point. Let the clams steam for a few minutes, then peek in. Use tongs to remove any that have opened, then quickly cover the skillet again and let the rest steam. Check every couple minutes and remove the clams as they have opened. If any clams don’t open, discard them as they are not safe to eat. When they have all opened, shut off the heat, add the lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Place the clams back into the pot and add the drained linguine. Toss everything together, then pour into a large serving bowl, making sure the juices get in there too. Garnish with the parsley and serve immediately.

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Posted in Cooking

Tagged Italian, Pasta, Seafood

Lettuce, Bacon and Cherry Tomato Salad with Aioli Dressing

Posted on May 20, 2013 | 8 Comments

Today is exciting because it’s my very first time participating in Surprise Recipe Swap! Basically food bloggers are assigned another food blog at random, and then we choose a recipe from that blog to make and photograph. But we can’t tell anyone until today, aka the big reveal. Fun!

I was assigned Sew What’s Cooking with Joan! and I chose basically a BLT Salad. It was an easy choice, really; I love BLT sandwiches, and I love salads, so putting them together sounded like a terrific idea. Turns out, it definitely was.

This was a delicious salad. Matt and I kept going back for more. I think the aioli dressing was what made it. Though it didn’t look much like the mayo you would spread on your sandwich bread, it tasted like a better version of plain mayo dressing the greens and tomatoes and bacon. Really tasty!

The only change I made was possibly to the amount of greens used. Joan calls for 12 cups of salad greens, and I never bother to measure my greens for salad. So I used a 5 ounce package of spring mix greens, and it was plenty. The ratio of greens to tomato was fine. Enjoy!

Source: Sew What’s Cooking with Joan

Ingredients:
8 slices of applewood-smoked bacon, chopped
5 oz. package of your favorite greens, I like spring mix or arugula
10 oz. yellow and red cherry tomatoes, and/or pear tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
3 tbs mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbs white wine vinegar
Fresh ground pepper and pinch of salt

Directions:
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp; transfer to paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet; reserve skillet.
Place lettuce and tomatoes in large serving bowl. Heat bacon drippings in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, then mayonnaise and vinegar; whisk until well blended. Season dressing with salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour over greens and tomatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle bacon over and serve.

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Posted in Cooking

Tagged Lettuce, Salad, Tomatoes

Grilled Shrimp with Tarragon-Tabasco Butter

Posted on May 17, 2013 | 2 Comments

Don’t ask me why, but lately I’ve been pondering societal colloquialisms that really don’t make sense when you think about them. I heard them all through my childhood and they usually left me scratching my head, although I did come to learn the point they try to get across. But when you dissect them, things don’t always add up. For instance….

* Until the cows come home – I’m a bona fide city gal, so this really means nothing to me. How long does it take for cows to come home? Wouldn’t it depend on where they went in the first place? Which also begs the question of where did the cows even go?

* Talking until you’re blue in the face – the only things that will make your face turn blue is smearing something blue on your face, or being denied oxygen. If you’re talking, clearly you have oxygen. I get that the phrase indicates that talking about something for a long time won’t make a difference, but I’m really unsure of what the blue face reference is all about.

* You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar – perhaps that is true. But why would I want flies?

* No way, Jose, no siree Bob, etc. – every time one of my parents said some of those sayings to me, my silent retort was always, “I’m not Bob/Jose/etc, my name is Julie.”

* Hold your horses – what horses? Again, bona fide city gal here. We don’t have horses. And when I picture horses, a majestic mammal galloping freely through beautiful fields isn’t what comes to mind. More like a large, smelly animal pooping in the street while hooked up to a carriage with an annoying man yelling at you. My grandfather said this one to me and my cousins a lot, and our response was always, “I didn’t know I had any horses, Pawpaw!” I don’t think he much cared for it, but we sure found it hilarious.

But it occurred to me, sometimes colloquialisms aren’t the only things that don’t entirely make sense; sometimes food flavor combinations don’t make much sense either. Like combining tarragon with Tabasco sauce. I think of tarragon as a rather fruffy, sophisticated Frenchy herb, while Tabasco is of course a down n’ dirty, low-brow, Cajun hot sauce. I would’ve never thought of combining them.

And yet, it’s a delicious combination, at least within the context of compound butter. So while I still maintain that it makes no sense, I won’t be questioning it, and you shouldn’t either. Just eat it and enjoy!

And what about you? Any colloquialisms that never made any sense to you? Or do you know of the origins of any that I’ve mentioned?

Source: inspired by Barbecue Addiction by Bobby Flay

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened and cut into chunks
1 generous tbs Original Tabasco sauce
1 generous tbs tarragon leaves
Pinch of cayenne
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:
Preheat your grill or a grill pan to medium high. While you are waiting, make the compound butter.
In a small food processor, combine the butter chunks, Tabasco, tarragon leaves, cayenne, plus salt and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. Using a spoon or small rubber spatula, remove the butter and place it in one clump onto plastic wrap. Roll the plastic wrap around the butter, shaping it into a cylinder. Encase the butter cylinder in the wrap and place in the refrigerator until needed.
Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Grill about 2 minutes per side, until pink and opaque in the back center. When you press on the shrimp with tongs or your fingers, it should feel firm, not squishy, but not rock-hard either. Remove the shrimp to a large bowl and immediately toss with pats of the compound butter. I used about half the log of butter for the shrimp and then put a couple pats on some grilled asparagus. Awesome!

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Posted in Cooking

Tagged Grilling, Seafood

What is the Difference Between White Cake and Yellow Cake?

Posted on May 16, 2013 | 2 Comments

Not that I’ve run the statistics or anything, but I would hazard a guess that this question is one of the more frequently asked by home cooks and bakers, especially those who use boxed cake mixes. And while I love baking from scratch and don’t use them, I have often wondered this myself. What is the difference between white cake and yellow cake? I decided to find out.

{White Cake}

Well, not to sound too obvious, but first there’s the color of the cake. White cake really is white, and yellow cake really does have a yellowish hue. But I’m pretty sure they were created then named for their appearance. So the question really becomes, what makes the white cake white and what makes the yellow cake yellow.

{Yellow Cake}

And the answer is eggs. White cake has only egg whites while yellow cake contains whole eggs, and it’s the yolks that give the cake its yellow tint.

Beyond that, other differences include:
* White cake is made with cake flour, whereas yellow cake uses all-purpose flour.
* White cake has a very light, almost sponge cake-like texture, whereas yellow cake has a moister and denser texture.
* White cake has a very thin, liquidy batter while yellow cake has a thicker batter.
* Yellow cake is more prevalent and tasted more familiar – most standard cakes are yellow cakes. Wedding cakes are frequently white cakes though.
And that’s pretty much it! The flavor between the two was quite similar, the differences were mainly color and texture.

You’re probably noticing that my white cupcakes browned on the top and don’t look too white. I don’t know why. They certainly weren’t overcooked, the texture was wonderful. It really bugged me, but then I frosted them and it didn’t matter anyway. At least that’s how I will choose to see it.

Sources:
White Cupcakes — Can You Stay for Dinner?
Yellow Cupcakes — adapted from Simply Scratch
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting — The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila

Ingredients:
WHITE CUPCAKES:
1 cup cake flour
½ cup whole milk, at room temperature
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
5 tbs unsalted butter, softened but still cool

YELLOW CUPCAKES:
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 whole eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup half and half
1 tsp real vanilla extract

FROSTING:
1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup (1 1/2) sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract

Directions:
WHITE CUPCAKES:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard size cupcake tin with paper liners. Spritz each with nonstick cooking spray.
Lightly whisk milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract in large glass measuring cup.
Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand electric mixer and add butter; beating at low speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no large clumps of flour.
Add 3/4 of the milk mixture to the crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 20 seconds longer at low speed.
Evenly distribute the batter in the cupcake tin. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cupcakes from the pan carefully and let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Makes 12 standard cupcakes.

YELLOW CUPCAKES:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard 12 muffin pan with liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a medium bowl use an electric mixer to blend together the stick of butter and the 3/4 cup of sugar for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add one egg in at a time and blend well after each one.
Next add in half of the dry ingredients, blend. Then half of the half and half, blend. Then repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients and half and half, mix until incorporated.
Add in the vanilla extract and blend to combine.
Divide the batter among the twelve cupcake liners and bake in a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Once baked, remove and let cool completely before frosting.
Makes 12 standard cupcakes.

FROSTING:
Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and blend until combined. Add the powdered sugar in 1/4 cup increments until combined.
Add the salt and vanilla and continue beating until frosting is thick and smooth.
Spread or pipe onto the cupcakes.
This will make enough frosting for all 24 cupcakes.

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Posted in Baking, Dessert

Tagged Cupcakes

Strawberry Banana Bread

Posted on May 15, 2013 | 2 Comments

Summer is on the horizon, so we’re making vacation plans and storing our warm-weather clothes. I’m very excited for it to get here. It’s got me thinking about all my favorite things about summer, and isn’t it shocking that most of them revolve around food!

Like eating sweet cherries on the beach. And putting berries in almost every dessert I make. Peaches – ‘nuff said! And grilling almost every night. Ice cold refreshing beverages. Lobster going on sale at my grocery store. Eating outside at restaurants in Manhattan. Lots of salads and seafood. And ice cream – lots and lots of ice cream, with some sorbet thrown in for good measure too.

Most ice cream I consume these days is homemade, but that wasn’t the case until a few years ago. I can’t remember my mom ever making ice cream, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t own an ice cream maker. Some good family friends did though, and they brought that thing out several times a summer. I loved it. Their machine was the older hand-cranked model, and it made the softest, most delicious ice cream.

I think there were several flavors in rotation (if I’m remembering correctly), but my favorite was always strawberry-banana. It’s such a great combo, but I don’t see it around the foodie webs much these days. Is it just done and overdone, or is it cliché at this point? I’m not sure.

I still love it, and while I’m on no mission to single-handedly revive it, I will make this one contribution to the wonderful flavor combination with this quick bread.

It was delicious and more cakey than bready. I found it on Joy the Baker, but couldn’t resist tweaking it quite a bit. It turned out to be lovely. Heads up – it’s best to let it cool for awhile. Matt and I decided we couldn’t wait, and the first two slices really fell apart on us. No matter, they didn’t taste any different!

Oh, and I was figuring I would freeze some of this bread, but I blinked and it was gone. So good! Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick (8 tbs) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain yogurt (any fat content)
3 medium overripe bananas, peeled and chunked
1 cup diced strawberries plus enough thinly sliced strawberry to cover the top of the banana bread in a single layer (I used 7 small and medium strawberries)

Directions:
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, yogurt, and banana until well incorporated.
Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to reveal any hidden pockets of flour. Fold in the diced strawberries. Fold together ingredients, but try not to over stir.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with thinly sliced strawberries. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Posted in Baking

Tagged Bananas, Berries, Breads, Quick Breads, Strawberries

Cream Cheese Biscuits

Posted on May 14, 2013 | 2 Comments

With some practice over the years, I’ve become rather adept at making biscuits. Whereas I once felt totally incompetent at such a venture, and spent the entire time second-guessing myself and quadruple-checking whatever recipe I was following, now I can make a good biscuit in my sleep.

So recently I’ve begun playing around with flavorings in biscuits. I used to stick to the classic buttermilk kind, but now that I feel so much more comfortable with the whole endeavor, it’s nice to branch out and try new things.

Several months ago, I saw a mention of cream cheese biscuits (can’t remember if this was on Pinterest or Facebook). I thought that sounded interesting and delicious, and wondered if I could master-mind such a thing. So I intentionally didn’t google those words to find a recipe, and just used what I know of biscuit ratios to come up with my own version. I wanted to challenge myself, I guess.

I figured that the cream cheese would be part of the fat in the biscuit, instead of an addition, like cheddar or parmesan would be. So I replaced half of the butter with cream cheese, making sure my cream cheese was well chilled first. But I still wondered how this would turn out. Would it change the texture any? Would you be able to taste the cream cheese at all?

Yes and yes, and both for the positive. The texture was slightly softer than a regular all-butter biscuit, and you really could taste the flavor of the cream cheese. And may I just say that you definitely should split open a hot biscuit and slather some strawberry jam on it. Ohhhhh, lordy, that was pure bliss. Its taste was reminiscent of strawberry shortcake. Come to think of it, these biscuits would be PERFECT for strawberry shortcake! How did I not think of that until just now???!!! Aaaahhh! Okay, we’re doing that. And if you do as well, definitely let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
4 tbs chilled unsalted butter
4 tbs chilled cream cheese
¾ cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and cream cheese, and blend them into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. There should be some uniformity but still with clumps of fat. Add the buttermilk and stir to combine with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
Flour your hands, then dump the dough out onto a well-floured work surface. Knead for just a minute until it comes together. Flour a rolling pin and then roll the dough out to about 1/2 an inch thick.
Stamp into rounds with a 2 ½ inch floured biscuit cutter. Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 400 F for 14 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Serve plain, with butter, or with strawberry jam.

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Posted in Baking

Tagged Biscuits, Breads, Breakfast, Cheese

Orecchiette with Heirloom Fingerlings and Asparagus Pesto

Posted on May 13, 2013 | 4 Comments

If there is ever a meal that will scream SPRING to you, this would have to be it. Beautiful spring produce, light and healthful, yet still filling and even felt right to eat it during a rainstorm. I did have to overcome one of my quirks to make this meal though.

For whatever reason, and I really couldn’t give you anything specific, I have always been somewhat adamantly against what I call a “carb on carb” recipe. Mostly those involved potatoes meeting a bread, like potato tacos, or potato pizza, or potato pasta, but also included things like pasta on pizza, or lentils on pasta, etc. The whole thing just didn’t really make sense to me, and almost felt greedy, like you were hoarding the amount of carbs allotted to you by the universe and therefore depriving someone else.

Don’t worry, I did have a practical objection in addition to my weird abstract protestation; I was also concerned that it just plain wouldn’t taste good. I figured it would be too heavy, or that the textures would be too similar. But I keep seeing such “carb on carb” recipes on the web, over and over and over, so I started to think that maybe there was something not so terrible about them.

Well. I was wrong and the internet was right. Carb on carb is delicious! The textures did not clash at all, and the asparagus pesto salved any conscientious objections I may have had to eating all those carbs in a single sitting. I have a good hunch this won’t be my last carb on carb experience.

By the way, the asparagus pesto was fantastic, I would highly recommend doubling that portion of the recipe and keeping it around. It would work so nicely on grilled chicken or pork tenderloin.

A few recipe notes: after you have boiled your potatoes, make sure they are very dry, otherwise they will not brown in the sauté pan. Don’t ask me how I know this. And speaking of potatoes, this recipe calls for heirloom fingerling potatoes, which I would recommend trying to find as they are beautiful and delicious. But really any small potato will do. Same with the pasta shape – as long as you stick to something small, the recipe will work just fine. Orechiette is pretty widely available these days, but elbow macaroni, mini penne, or small shells would sub in nicely too.

Source: slightly adapted from Webicurean

Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
½ cup chopped basil, packed
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
¾ lb heirloom fingerling potatoes, rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 lb orecchiette pasta
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese + some for garnish

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by placing some ice cubes into a large bowl and filling with water. Salt it and mix the salt around with your fingers.
When the water is boiling, add the asparagus and blanch for about 1 minute. They should be bright green and still tender-crisp. Remove with a spider or other large slotted spoon and immediately plunge into the ice bath. This will stop the cooking and retain the lovely color. Leave the asparagus in there for a minute or two, then remove to a cutting board. Leave the water boiling, as you can use it for your potatoes and pasta!
Cut the asparagus into thirds, and add to a food processor bowl along with the basil, pine nuts, and garlic. Process until well chopped/blended, then drizzle in the olive oil while the food processor is still going.
Blend in the Parmesan using the pulse setting. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Resalt the boiling water. Halve the larger potatoes, and add to the boiling water. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tender. Remove with the spider to a bowl.
In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and add the potatoes, cooking until brown and crispy on all sides. Salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, resalt the boiling water and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions. Reserve about ½ cup of the water before draining.
Add the drained pasta along with the crisped potatoes to a serving bowl and toss with about half the pesto and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Use the reserved pasta water to thin out the mixture if necessary. Add more pesto as desired (I used about three-quarters of it). Garnish with additional cheese and serve.

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Posted in Cooking

Tagged Asparagus, Meat-Free, Pasta, Pesto, Potatoes

Fattoush Salad

Posted on May 10, 2013 | 4 Comments

Happy Friday, y’all! Wow, it has been quite a week of dessert recipes here on The Texan New Yorker. Now I’m feeling somewhat obligated to close out the week with a salad, just to rebalance my nutrition karma.

Fattoush is a wonderful salad for many reasons, not the least of which is that it’s such a fun word to say aloud. Try it – fattoushhhh…. Yeah, it’s greatness. Anywho, fattoush is a Middle Eastern version of the Italian panzanella – bread salad. But the bread here is pita chips, which makes it all the more awesome.

The pita chips provide a satisfying crunch against the flavorful dressing and wholesome vegetables and salty feta. Matt and I both really enjoyed this one.

A few notes: I would highly encourage making your own pita chips, and I’ve written the recipe this way. It’s very easy, mostly hands-off, and I’ve never found a store-bought brand that even remotely rivals homemade. Secondly, there is one possible unusual ingredient in the salad dressing – pomegranate molasses. If you can find it, get it and use it, it’s delicious. If you can’t find it, you can make your own by boiling down pomegranate juice until it’s a syrup consistency; or you could just substitute balsamic vinegar. Either way, it’s delicious. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Keys to the Kitchen by Aida Mollenkamp

Ingredients:
PITA CHIPS:
2 pita breads
Olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
VINAIGRETTE:
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
2 tsp ground sumac
1 tbs honey
2 tsp pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and black pepper
SALAD:
8 oz. romaine hearts, chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
1 plum tomato, seeded and roughly chopped
1 medium cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and chopped
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tbs roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 oz. crumbled feta

Directions:
First, get going on the pita chips. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Cut each pita into 8 equal wedges. Drizzle some olive oil on a baking sheet. Lay the pita wedges on the baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to loosely toss the wedges so they are all evenly coated with salt, pepper and oil. Spread them back out into a single layer.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until browned and crisp. You know they are done when you can tap a wedge with your fingertip and feel crispness and now sponginess. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them.
Make the vinaigrette: in a small bowl, vigorously whisk all the ingredients together. Let it sit for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
Make the salad: place the lettuce in a large salad serving bowl, then scatter the tomato, cucumbers, mint and parsley over top. Drizzle the vinaigrette over top, then top with the feta. Crumble the pita chips over top. Toss all together and serve.

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Posted in Cooking

Tagged Lettuce, Middle Eastern, Salad

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

Posted on May 9, 2013 | 2 Comments

Matt and I are neither milk drinkers nor cereal eaters. We don’t even put milk in our coffee. (He prefers half-and-half while I find that chocolate soymilk disguises the coffee-ness of coffee just enough to make it barely tolerable). Thus, as you can imagine, we don’t ever purchase a carton of milk unless some is needed for something I’m cooking or baking.

So a few weeks ago, when I somehow managed to misread my own grocery list, and bought an entire gallon of organic milk from grass-fed cows because I needed, oh, half a cup of milk for something, well, that leaves quite a bit of extra milk that nobody’s drinking, now doesn’t it.

And since that milk was so high-quality, I really couldn’t stand the thought of throwing it out. Yet, there was so much of it. What to do… I began searching my arsenal for recipes that called for a lot of milk and stumbled upon this pudding that I’d pinned several weeks ago. 4 cups. That’s quite a bit. Pretty helpful in my quest to use up good milk before it spoils.

This pudding was so yum! Chocolate and peanut butter is such a wonderful combination, we go crazy over it in my house. And this pudding is made completely from scratch, so you know there are no nasty chemicals in there. Homemade pudding is delightfully easy to prepare and deliciously fun to eat.

So if you and/or yours go bonkers over anything chocolate-peanut butter, then you’ve got to make this one. So good!!

Source: Joy the Baker

Ingredients:
PEANUT BUTTER PUDDING:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE PUDDING:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
WHIPPED CREAM:
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons powered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
PEANUT BUTTER PUDDING:
In a medium saucepan whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk just to combine. It’s ok if the mixture is just a bit lumpy. Add the milk and heavy cream and whisk. Turn the flame on to medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking occasionally along the way. Be sure to whisk in the rounded corners of the pan so that pudding doesn’t burn.
Once the peanut butter pudding comes to a simmer, whisk constantly at a simmer for 1 minute. Mixture should thicken but still remain a bit loose. Remove from the heat and add peanut butter and vanilla extract. Quickly whisk and pudding will thicken substantially. Divide warm pudding between six glasses. Store uncovered in the refrigerator while you make the chocolate pudding.
CHOCOLATE PUDDING: in a (clean and dry) medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt. It’s okay if there are a few brown sugar lumps remaining. Add milk and cream and whisk to incorporate. Turn the flame on to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally along the way. Be sure to whisk in the rounded corners of the pan so the pudding doesn’t burn.
Once the chocolate pudding comes to a simmer, whisk constantly at a simmer for 1 minute. Mixture should thicken but still remain a bit loose. Remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until the chocolate is melted and pudding is thickened.
Spoon the pudding atop the peanut butter pudding. Cover each pudding cup with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap touches the top of the chocolate pudding. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. This recipe can be made a day in advance.
WHIPPED CREAM:
When ready to serve, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract into soft peaks. Top each pudding with whipped cream and serve.

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Posted in Baking, Dessert

Tagged Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Pudding

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