Grilled Cheese

I think I've mentioned how much I love grilled cheese. Seriously, it's one of my favorite meals. Grilled cheese and tomato soup mmm mmm good.

That being said boyfriend makes some of the best grilled cheese out there. We went to the grilled cheese fest this past spring and learned a trick or five...

1) Use high fat butter. The highest fat butter you can get. At the regular supermarket the highest we've found is Challenge butter. There's another even higher fat content butter at Trader Joe's that the guy at the fest was talking about - have yet to find it.

2) Use fresh bread. Not like white bread from the bread isle. Bread from the bakery that you have sliced for you. It needs to be thick enough to hold up to the amount of butter you use.

3) Dijon mustard. Yes. Mustard. Spread a thin layer of mustard on one side of the sammy. It helps bring out the cheesiness. Even if you don't like dijon - you should still give it a shot.

4) Shredded cheese. I'm not talking bagged shredded cheese. I'm talking buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. Why? Because sliced cheese melts unevenly, and pre-shredded cheese has a chemical coating that keeps it from completely sticking together.

And lastly:
5) Butter the pan too. I know, I know, you've buttered the bread. You wanna get that special greasy crunch? Butter the pan!

Seriously - follow these simple rules and you'll wonder why you haven't been eating grilled cheese the right way all this time...

Cute Things #2

How cute is this!? Makes me wanna go home and make a tiny gingerbread house to hang on the side of my coffee! Seriously I can't get over it. I love that notmartha blog.

Christmas Breakfast #3

I got thinking - everything that I've been trying has made use of the oven. Christmas dinner is done at my parents house. Which means windows open, heat off, fans on...in below 20˚ temperatures. Why heat up the house with the oven before we even have to? So I found a recipe that utilizes the stove top.

My sister is a huge fan of french toast. She could eat an entire loaf of bread cooked as french toast. So..what could a person do that isn't as typical and boring as the actual thing itself? STUFFED FRENCH TOAST! Duh...so I tried it. It's most definitely not a difficult as I had thought. Look out IHOP here I come...

Stuffed French Toast
courtesy allrecipes.com

Serves 4:

Ingredients

8 slices oatnut bread *I used Challah and sourdough* both tasted the same
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened *I eyeballed it*
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam *also eyeballed it*
5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract *I used Vanilla*
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Spread 4 slices oatnut bread on one side with cream cheese. Spread remaining 4 slices on one side with raspberry jam. Press cream cheese slices together with jam slices, forming sandwiches.

2. In a medium, shallow bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and almond extract.

3. Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Dip sandwiches in the egg mixture to coat. Place in the skillet, and cook on both sides until golden brown.

Christmas Breakfast #2

We liked this A LOT. The entire thing was gone...might have to make double if I do decide to do this one. It's some serious competition this year! I followed the recipe completely - I think if I make it again I'll add more goat cheese.


Goat Cheese Quiche with Hashbrown Crust
courtesy Martha Stewart

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 package (1 pound) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
12 large eggs
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1 package (4 to 5 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature
4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with butter. Line the sides of the pan with strips of waxed paper (the same height as pan); brush paper with butter.

2. Squeeze excess moisture from hash browns. Mix in a bowl with butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pat into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, using a moistened dry measuring cup. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, goat cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until well combined; whisk in 11 remaining eggs. Pour into crust, and sprinkle with scallions. Bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes. Unmold quiche, and peel off waxed paper before serving.

Christmas Breakfast #1

I make Christmas day breakfast. This is a tradition that started when I moved across the country. It used to be no big deal...make some pancakes or some french toast and done. Then I got a little crazy one year and made some apple pancake muffins...and there was no going back. So every year I make something Christmas morning that's a little bit...well, special. So I have a few recipes that I wanna try for my big day. My lucky boyfriend (or unlucky depending on how awful it is) gets to be the guinea pig. The first one that I tried was the Apple Puffed Pancake from Martha Stewart online. It was a pretty big hit. We even went up for seconds!

Apple Puffed Pancake
courtesy Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Serves 6

6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups skim milk, preferably organic
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 apples, such as Gala or Red Delicious, peeled, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
Confectioners' sugar, optiona

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla in the jar of a blender. Blend until well combined. Add flour, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend until dry ingredients are well incorporated; set aside.
3. Place butter in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Transfer dish to oven and heat until butter has just melted. Carefully remove from oven and place apples in a single layer in baking dish. Return to oven and cook until butter begins to bubble, about 4 minutes. *I sprinkled them with some brown sugar to make them a little more sweet*
4. Pour batter over apples, sprinkle with brown sugar, and continue baking until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired; serve immediately.

--The boyfriend also suggested maybe using a more bitter apple...like granny smith. Just to get the bitter and the sweet.

Grilled Cheese Truck!!

We've all heard of the Kogi Truck and all the other taco trucks out there..but have you heard of the Grilled Cheese Truck? Neither have I, until now. Thank you Tasting Table LA. I want to go to there!

This is something I can get into. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love tacos. But I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the corn tortilla un-fried. It's just too thick for me. All the taco trucks that I've visited have been corn tortillas. I know I know I can get something other than a taco at most trucks...but seriously what's the point of going to a taco truck if you're gonna get a burrito? It's not the burrito truck.

But grilled cheese truck - oh my lord. Talk about my kinda truck! I might make this my goal this weekend...to hunt down the grilled cheese truck. WHO'S WITH ME!!?

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

I've made these before but it was before the time of the blog. My sweet tooth kicked in again the other night and I thought "mmm, I could really go for some blondies!" This recipe is really easy and has very little ingredients. I found everything for it right in my pantry.

Halloween Blondies
courtesy of Everyday Food

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more, room temperature, for pan
1 cup packed light-brown sugar *I used dark brown because that's all I had*
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 cup each orange, yellow, and brown candy-coated chocolates (from a 12.6-ounce bag)
**You could use pretty much any candy you'd like for this. I used reese's peanut butter cups and chopped them into small pieces*

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter; line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.*this makes it easier to just lift the blondies out of the pan* Butter paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; stir just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Arrange candies in 12 rows (2 rows per color, repeating once) on top of dough. *or just sprinkle on whatever you've chopped up*

3. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares. (To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.)

SO. TASTY.

Caramel Brulee Latte

There's something about Starbucks during the holidays. It just makes you wanna go out and decorate something with tinsel. It never fails to make me feel more in the holiday spirit. I've been a little down about the holidays this year. Not sure why, but I'm gonna do my best to get in the spirit. So I stopped into Starbucks and of course they have some fancy holiday drink that they've never had before! Of course I got it! This season it's the Caramel Brulee Latte. How do you pronounce caramel? CAR-mel (omitting the a in the center entirely) or car-A-mel? For me it depends on the context. I usually go car-A-mel, but sometimes I go CAR-mel.

Thanksgiving Day Recipes

I know it's kinda late, but I figured I'd post it anyway!

This year I made Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, and a Pumpkin Pie (of course).

Last year's mashed potatoes were made with Alaskan potatoes which are purple on the outside AND the inside...so we called them (appropriately) Purple Palin Potatoes. They were supposed to be as bad as they were. So in an effort to make up for last years horrible display of t-day mashed potatoes, I went all out!

For the green bean casserole I originally just bought the cans of soup, beans, and onions. But I thought to myself "I need to do this justice" so I found a more natural version of this online. If I hadn't forgotten about it being in the oven, it would've been suuper tasty. (It got a little charred) But it was so easy and SO tasty...I kinda liked the crunch of the burned little bits.

The pumpkin pie was the easiest part of this personal cook-off. :-)

Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
courtesy of Yours Truly

2 Pounds red potatoes
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup half & half
1 branch(?) rosemary
salt & pepper to taste

1. Cut potatoes in quarters (doesn't really matter how big or small they just need to be boil-able). Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender.

2. While potatoes are boiling... warm butter, half & half, whole cloves of garlic, rosemary, dash of salt and pepper over low heat in a saucepan. Be careful to not let it boil...or it will make the half & half too thick.

3. Drain the fork tender potatoes and put back into pot. Strain the half & half mixture over the potatoes (to get the rosemary and garlic out) and put one clove of garlic into the potato mixture. Mash with potato masher.

4. Garnish with some rosemary and ENJOY!

Pumpkin Pie
courtesy of ehow.com

1 pie pumpkin or 1 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk *I used sweetened condensed milk*
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
*1 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
1 9-inch pie shell *half baked* I put it into a 325˚ oven for about 20 mins

1. Preheat your oven to 425˚

2. Combine together the sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In separate bowl beat eggs and stir in your dry ingredients as well as your pumpkin. Mix well and slowly add in the evaporated milk (or sweetened condensed milk) while you stir. Make sure the filling is blended and smooth.

3. Pour pumpkin mixture into half baked pie shell. Bake at 425˚ for 15 mins turn temp down to 350˚ and bake for 45-55 mins.

4. Enjoy!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
TB

Cute things #1

I think I'll do an ongoing "Cute Things". They'll be things that I find - that are cute. Food related of course! Today's cute thing is....

...this adorable little Starbucks cup. It even has a mini green straw to go with. They had them with samples of a latte. I couldn't tell you what flavor - I was sipping away thinking "I've got the cutest latte ever."

Needless to say It wasn't the latte that made me pick it up. Or even the free part. It was the cup that broke my stride. I do have to say it was much cuter filled with the latte. I didn't get a picture of it's original form....sorry it just looked so darn tasty! So this coffee/whip cream version will have to do.

(please excuse the darkness of the picture...need to get myself a REAL digital camera)

Pumpkin Scones

So I searched and searched for the best pumpkin scone recipe that existed on the internet, but to no avail. Well at least not one that didn't require a trip to the store. So I found a couple recipes and took a few ingredients from one and a few ingredients from the rest and came up with my very own! Scones can't be that hard right? What I got was....you guessed it...pumpkin scones! They're super tasty and going to be breakfast for the next few days.

I hope you enjoy them. Recipe below.

I have a feeling by the end of this pumpkin puree I might be tired of pumpkin flavored things.....nah prolly not!

Pumpkin Scones
courtesy Yours Truly ;-)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold, cubed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
(If you don't have the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger you can substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cooking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger (or pumpkin pie spice). Add butter and cut in with pastry cutter or two knives. Mixture should resemble course meal. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together pumpkin and egg.

4. Fold pumpkin mixture into flour mixture. When most of the pumpkin mixture has been incorporated mix a few times with hands. (be careful not to mix too much or the warmth of your hands will melt the butter) After the dough has been completely mixed lay on a floured working surface and shape into 7-9in round 3/4 inch thick ball. Cut into 8 pieces.

5. Place the pieces onto parchment lined baking sheet about an inch apart and bake for 12 - 15 mins. Scones are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6. ENJOY with some hot apple cider!

Pumpkin Bread

Another 2 cups gone! Only 5 1/2 to go.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. There were a lot of suggestions on how to tweak it to make it "better" The only thing I changed was the sugar. I thought it would be more rich if I used some brown sugar. So I did. I substituted 1 cup of the white sugar with brown sugar and I think it's fabulous. This bread is so tasty I'm glad I have two loaves. :)

Pumpkin Bread
courtesy of allrecipes.com


Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree *I used 1 3/4 cups of my pumpkin puree*
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar *I did 2 cups white, 1 cup brown*
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. *I did two 9x5 inch*
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. *The oil will probably sit on top, mine didn't blend completely* In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


This bread is seriously some of the tastiest pumpkin bread I've ever had. I had to bring a loaf to work to keep from eating one completely to myself. (And yes, that's butter!) Enjoy!!
-TB

San Francisco - House of Nanking and Irish Coffee

I made it to 2 of the 3 food places I really wanted to go. I lost my appetite for clam chowder, I won't say why.


One of those places was House of Nanking. This place is so so good. Last time we were here it was a suggestion from a former San Francisco dweller. I recommend the Sesame Chicken and House Noodles. The boyfriend and I got these to share and it was plenty, although I'm sure we both could've had our own noodles and still eaten all of them. :-) They're THAT good. The noodles are garlicy - which I love. The chicken is crispy and the sauce is not what you expect for sesame chicken, in a good way. I know by looks alone I expected them to be more orange chicken-like. But nope, no citrus at all, just tasty! Normally there's a line out the door and down the street, oddly we were seated right away this time. MMmmm House of Nanking I will return to you soon...

The other place was The Buena Vista. They claim to be the bringers of Irish Coffee to the free world. I believe them. I've tried to find the same thing in LA and it's just not quite the same. I'll save those places for a different post ;-).

I've heard some reluctance when it comes to Irish Coffee. It's hard to describe how amazing it is when it's done right. It's not just coffee with whiskey. It's a perfect blend of coffee, sugar, and whiskey. With a thick cream that sits on top of it all. Beyond that - it just makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside! Who doesn't like that?! And yes, I had two. Oh and you get a free postcard with every visit. My collection is up to two!

I've still got some pumpkin recipes in my back pocket so check back for the next pumpkin delicacy.
-TB

Pumpkin Cookies

One cup of pumpkin puree gone! Only 7 1/2 to go.

These cookies are super moist and tasty. They're also really easy to make. I omitted the glaze because the reviews on all recipes said it was a little too sweet.

I have a million of them. Not really but I do have a ton. I hope my roommate gets the munchies this weekend and eats all of them. If she doesn't then I might have to bring them to my lovely coworkers on Monday.

Recipe:

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
from allrecipes.com


Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree *I used my homemade pumpkin puree*
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze: *I omitted this*
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. *I found I didn't have to do this with mine, the mix was already a little runny.*

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Wake up, San Francisco!

Obviously a Full House reference. I'm off to San Francisco tomorrow to visit the boyfriend. He's working up there for a little while.

I wanted to see if anyone (if anyone is reading this) had any suggestions for things to keep me occupied while he's at work. I have a feeling that I'm going to be mostly on my own. I get in late Friday night so it'll be relaxing dinner & drinks then rest up for the weekend. But Saturday I wanted to see if there was a sports bar or some place to catch the Ohio State game. I got a suggestion from a friend that lives in the area but I have a lot of time to kill. Although...I don't hate the idea of wandering around the city. :-)

Places I will definitely visit:
The Buena Vista - Irish Coffee is one of my must haves when I'm in SF.
House of Nanking - House noodles to die for!
Clam Chowder at Pier 39 - I know this is super touristy but I can't help it. It's so tasty...plus who doesn't like a little seal watching with their chowder?

So far that's it...bring on the suggestions!
-TB

Tis the season...

...for everything pumpkin related!

After the pumpkins were carved(and then melted in the heat) for Halloween, we still had one left over. Economical me decided that it shouldn't go to waste, after all the poor guy didn't get carved, and it wasn't free. Why not try to make something out of it right?

First things first:
It needed to be cut up, guts scraped out, and roasted. I cut the stem off like you would for a jack-o-lantern. Threw it in the garbage.
Then cut it in half and scraped out the guts. Easy peasy.

Then I put the much-larger-than-I-thought-pumpkin, cut-side down on a baking sheet and roasted it at 350˚ for around an hour. Let it cool for 30 mins or so and then scraped the skin off. What was left was the pumpkin flesh. Mashed with a potato masher and then into the food processor it went.

What came out was a beautiful orange pumpkin puree.


I got about 8 1/2 cups out of a normal carving pumpkin. I read all over the internet world that carving pumpkins aren't as sweet as a pie pumpkin. But I don't take no for an answer so we'll see how these pumpkin recipes go. I apologize in advance to my friends and coworkers. You'll have to eat my creations.

Coming up - pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread....any suggestions for a pumpkin recipe?

-TB

Deep Dish Pizza

I'm a lover of all things with cheese. I've never really been huge on deep dish pizza. (I'm a NY style pizza girl) A lot of times the center is a little too soggy and the crust is just not quite there. But before I go on about the flaws of it...

Let me talk about Prizzi's deep dish pizza. It's PERFECT. The center of the dough is cooked through, the crust is crunchy and a little greasy. The toppings are layered nicely. On top of all of that is oozing cheese melting off of this hot delight. It helps that this place is awesome too. Prizzi's is just a very pleasant place to be. You just want to hang out and enjoy yourself. The service is right on - they don't push you and you don't feel like they're waiting for you to leave so they can put someone else at your spot (which could be a good or bad thing).

They have Monday Madness (or something like that). $6 Martini's and $5 Mojitos. If I hadn't had my heart set on a glass of wine I would've went for the Mojitos. Next time folks. But seriously if you're looking for deep dish pizza is Los Angeles. This place is IT! I mean just look at that crust - don't you just wanna take a bite? MMMM can't wait to warm up the left overs!

POINT PROVEN

The video speaks for itself...



I think I might have joined Mr. Bourdain in my dislike for this woman's crime on food. I'd hate to be the bride that got this as a wedding cake!

-TB

Halloween!

Halloween is upon us and all of the delicious things that go with it. Candy, cakes, cookies, punches, etc. I myself am attending a Halloween themed party tonight.

Boyfriend and I haven't actually made any plans for the official day yet, but maybe something will emerge. I got my bumblebee costume all ready just in case something does come up.

The point of this post it....Sandra Lee. What do you think of this woman? Anthony Bourdain despises her. I'm on the fence. She has wonderful ideas for little to no effort which also cuts costs, but her schtick is kind of, how do i say this?, lame? There will always be the infamous Kwanzaa cake (YIKES!). But then she has this:



And I can't hate it! Dang...

TB xoxo

Introduction

My name is Tanya and I like food. Well most food. I like to cook and bake and eat. I am not a writer and I am most certainly not a professional cook. But I eat.

I have never been a good critic of, well, anything really. I'm a (or at least try very hard to be) a super positive person. I have a "glass half full" mentality. So when it comes to movies, books, TV, and even people I usually can find the best qualities. What I mean is I am by no means a food critic. So this isn't a fancy schmancy gourmet magazine (RIP) blog. But it is MY blog.

I've decided that I want to put my food out there. Whether it's food I've cooked and eaten, baked and eaten, or gone to a restaurant and eaten. I will try my best to put it up here. I will put recipes on here if they exist.

I have a bit of a problem with certain foods - we'll explore this later. Newer foods are a bit off putting to me. But I will give most things an attempt for the sake of the blog! :-)

So Welcome and I hope you enjoy following me.

-Tanya