Spaghetti Pot Pies with Spinach, Ricotta and Optional Ground Beef

I sort of fell in love with baked spaghetti pies this summer when I made the Mediterranean eggplant pasta cake. That is still definitely my favorite spaghetti pie recipe, but when I saw my new obsession blog had a recipe for miniature spaghetti pot pies, I knew I had to try.

The coolest thing about this recipe is that it's from Kitchen Treaty's One Meal, Two Ways section; she gives instructions on how and when to separate the meal into half that stays vegetarian, and half that you add meat to, so you can please vegetarians and carnivores alike with the same meal.  Is that not genius!?  Here's the funny part: Mark requested that I not add the ground beef.  I think he is secretly a vegetarian and just doesn't want to admit it.  His dad called him out on it at Thanksgiving so he made sure to down extra turkey and short ribs, but the man refuses to eat any ground meat or sausage.  He's well on his way to the veggie life and I'm loving it.

Anyway, back to the pies.  These little guys are baked in individual ramekins (make sure you keep track which colors are meatless, if you're adding meat to half!) and they have layers of goodness.  Sauce on the bottom (with or without beef), then a ricotta-spinach mixture, then a slice of provolone, then the spaghetti.  It turns into a crunchy "crust," hence the pot pie name.  It's basically a little ramekin full of Italian glory.  As you can see, they went over pretty well here at the Ajemian house.

Can we please talk about how Thanksgiving break is almost over?!  And then it's almost December!?  And there are 9 inches of snow out there?!  Craziness.

Recipe:

spaghetti pot pies with spinach, ricotta and optional ground beef
from Kitchen Treaty
makes 4 large pot pies or 6 medium

Ingredients:
1/2 pound spaghetti noodles
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
3 cups Italian tomato sauce or marinara sauce
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 ounces (4 - 6 ounces) Provolone cheese
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
if adding meat to half the pot pies:
1 pound lean ground beef

Instructions:

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 4 large (12 ounces) or 6 medium (10 ounces) ramekins on a baking sheet.  Boil spaghetti noodles in a large pot until al dente, according to package directions.  Drain and return to pot.  Set aside to cool.

2) Beat the eggs and add them to the noodles, along with 1/2 cup Parmesan.  Toss until all the spaghetti is covered with the egg and cheese.

3) Brown ground beef and drain any fat.  Add 1 cup of the tomato sauce and stir. Set aside.

4) In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, spinach, mozzarella, nutmeg, and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper.

5) In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 Parmesan cheese with a spoon.

6) Divide the ingredients among the prepared ramekins.  Start with the Italian tomato sauce with or without ground beef.  Drop 3 - 4 tablespoonfuls of the ricotta mixture into each ramekin, adding an extra tablespoonful to the vegetarian versions.  Lay one slice of provolone over the top of each, tun divide the spaghetti noodle mixture evenly between each ramekin.  Using clean hands, gather and press the noodles firmly into the ramekin, taking care not to squeeze out any of the contents.  Spoon the breadcrumbs over the top of each pie.

7) Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until bubbling and the spaghetti topping is golden brown around the edges.  Let cool for 5 - 10 minutes until the ramekins have cooled a bit.  Serve.

Gluten-Free Fudgy Pecan Brownies

Well folks, tomorrow is Thanksgiving!  Have you been cooking and baking up a storm today?  I have.  Literally.  There is a snow storm going on like crazy today.  We had about 7 inches last I checked.  This has meant I am basically home-bound by myself (Mark is working); I did make one attempt to buy a few last-minute ingredients and got stuck in the parking lot for a few minutes, so that wasn't the best idea.  What else is there to do but bake?!  I have made 3 new recipes for tomorrow (stay tuned!), which will be my first Thanksgiving as married woman and also my first without my family.  It's a little weird to think of it.  I am excited to go to my in-laws' Thanksgiving, but I will definitely miss my mom and sisters.  Of course, it meant that I had to spend hours researching recipes to make sure that I would impress everyone with what I brought to dinner :)

What are you bringing to your Thanksgiving?  I am always assigned desserts, and this year is the same.  I made so many lists of possibilities, crossing things out and adding in new recipes and swapping others... and finally I think I have settled on my final 3 (maybe 4... we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning!) sweets.

If you happen to still be panicking about what you're going to bring, and, like many families in this day and age, someone at your dinner is gluten-free, then consider this your gentle push to make these brownies.  I made them a few weeks ago for a dinner at Mark's parents'.  His sister and Kaz were going to be there, and so I knew I wanted to make a gluten-free dessert for Kaz to try.  I searched around the internet for a recipe with no super bizarre ingredients; I didn't feel like running to the store for xantham gum or almond meal.  Voila: the weirdest thing in this recipe is cornstarch.  I had everything I needed in the cabinets, so I got started on them right away.  And I was finished right away too.  These guys are quick and easy to throw together.

I don't know why we haven't seen more gluten-free recipes where flour is replaced by cornstarch.  It's genius.  I need to try this strategy out some more.  Obviously, the end results were awesome, fudgy, chocolatey brownies studded with pecans (which you could always leave out for nut allergies!).  I made Mark taste test them before we left and he was surprised they were gluten-free.  Everyone at the  Ajemians agreed that they were pretty delicious and tasted just regular old wonderful brownies!  Score!

Do yourselves (and your gluten-free relatives) a favor, and try these out for tomorrow.  Dani? Maggie? Kaz? Susie and Andrea by default? I'm talking to you :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  I am thankful for you.

Recipe:

gluten-free fudge pecan brownies
from Martha Stewart
makes 16 brownies

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1/3 cup cornstarch, spooned and leveled
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup toasted pecans

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line wit parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.  Whisk together cornstarch, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt.

2)  In a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter and chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Stir in sugar and vanilla.  Stir in eggs, one at a time, until combined.

3) Add cornstarch mixture and stir vigorously until mixture is smooth and begins to pull away from side of bowl, about 2 minutes.  Stir in pecans.  Pour batter into pan and smooth top.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.  Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.  Using paper overhang, lift cake out of pan and cut into 16 squares.

Crock Pot Applesauce

Yes, again with the Crockpot, and no, I'm not sorry about it.  Plus this is basically one of the few things that I have made in it that I have actually enjoyed!

Let's talk about this applesauce.  First of all, you don't even have to be an applesauce person to love it.  It's tart and sweet with a hint of lemon and cinnamon.  It makes your house smell glorious.  And the best part?  It's ridiculously simple to make.  The hardest part is peeling and coring the apples.  Oh by the way: apple corers!?  How have I never had one until my wedding shower?  What an amazing little tool.

Oh and how did I leave out the coolest part?  The recipe calls for a mix of 8 apples.  I had a few left from the store, and ended up using some from my very own tree in the backyard.  I was super excited about that.  That apple tree was the source of much discussion all summer: what kind was it?  Crab apple?  Something else?  The size of the apples, along with the sweetness, make me realize now that this is a legit apple tree, and the apples just happen to be heavenly when turned into sauce!

There was nothing so exquisite as eating this applesauce warm, straight out of the slow cooker.  But a very close second was when I packed it up and took it with me to school.  It could be any temperature, really, and I would still be in love with it.  I foresee many batches applesauce in my near future with this recipe in hand.  My mouth is literally watering as I sit here typing.

Recipe:

crock pot applesauce
from SkinnyTaste

Servings: 12 • Size: 1/4 cup • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 1 pts
Calories: 65.9 • Fat: 0.2 g • Protein: 0.2 g • Carb: 17.5 g • Fiber: 2.8 g • Sugar: 12
Sodium: 0.6 mg

Ingredients:
8 medium apples (use a combination of types)
1 strip of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 inch cinnamon stick
5 tablespoons light brown sugar

Instructions:

1) Peel, core, and slice the apples.  Place them in the slow cooker.

2)  Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel, lemon juice and brown sugar.  Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours.  Stir apples occasionally; they will slowly become a delicious applesauce.

3) Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.  If you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact.  I just used a fork to mash it up a bit more.

Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

Have I mentioned lately that I love my slow cooker?  Because I do.  It was about a month or so ago that I really discovered this, and lately my slow cooker (which lives in a cabinet with other appliances) has appeared on my counter more often than my food processor, blender, and espresso machine... combined.  I just love that you throw stuff in there and forget about it, and soon your house smells like food and it's time to eat.

Unfortunately for me, recently I am all about making meat in there, which makes everyone very happy but leaves me kind of hungry.  And can I be honest?  Sometimes having my house smell like meat cooking makes me want to vomit.  But hey, I do it because I love my carnivores.  And usually, slow cooking meat involves minimal meat-touching but has very successful results.  Therefore: slow cooker Italian pot roast with sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives.

One thing I struggled with for this recipe was the timing.  It needs to cook on low for 9 - 11 hours.  When on earth was I supposed to put it in the slow cooker?!  If I put it in before work, that would work, but the last thing I want to do is brown a roast in a skillet at 7 AM.  I could have done it the night before, I suppose, and put the meat in the fridge overnight to start cooking in the morning, but that would be dirtying a container with raw meat for no reason.  After work wouldn't suffice unless we felt like eating pot roast for breakfast (ew).  I finally decided to do all my prep work for it late one Friday night, and I cooked it overnight to have it ready for lunch the next day.  This meant waking up to a house that smelled like pot roast, which was absolutely repulsive.  You want to smell breakfast foods if anything on a Saturday morning, not beef and onions, but maybe that's just me.

Back to the pot roast.  You have to brown it, as I mentioned, which is not enjoyable, and then put it in the slow cooker along with wine, beef broth, and garlic, and dried spices like oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil.  Then you "nestle" (direct quote from the recipe... I love recipes with fun words like that) sun-dried tomatoes, pearl onions and kalamata olives around the roast, and go hang out for 11 hours.  Now, I am not a huge fan of sun-dried tomatoes, but they become more than bearable in this dish.  I know this because my mother absolutely hates them and I'm not sure she noticed they were in there.  They become super soft and lend some of their tomato flavor to the pot roast so that they aren't so overwhelming on their own.

This was basically a very easy and still impressive lunch, and my family loved it.  It was moist, flavorful with hints of saltiness and sweetness, and very tender.  In fact, it went over far better than the tiny brussels sprouts I had bought at the farmer's market the day before.  I made the mistake of admitting that most of them were full of tiny bugs and it took me an hour to clean the ones I was using.  Probably not the best way to get your family excited to eat their veggies.... oh well.  At least they had their meat.

My tablescape... ignore the tiny sprouts :)

Recipe:

slow cooker Italian pot roast with sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives
from Elly Says Opa

Ingredients:
1 beef chuck roast (about 3 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1 10-ounce bag frozen pearl onions

Instructions:

1) Season the roast liberally with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high, and once hot, brown the roast on all sides.  Move to slow cooker.

2) Add the garlic to the skillet and stir until fragrant.  Add in the wine and broth, scraping up the browned bits.  Stir in the sugar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour the mixture over the roast.

3) Nestle the sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and pearl onions around the roast.  Cook on low for 9 - 11 hours.  Skim off the fat and heat on high, uncovered, to thicken slightly if desired.

Vegetarian Butternut Squash and Beer Chili with Optional Ground Turkey

I realize that I love chili perhaps more than your average vegetarian.  No, I don't put meat in mine, but seriously there is just something about a big, hot bowl of chili, maybe with some rice and sour cream and cheese.  I've made vegan chili and crockpot black bean and quinoa chili, and one more recipe coming up to still share, and frankly never met a meatless chili I didn't love.  I was pretty excited when I found this recipe, which was a little different from the others due to the addition of butternut squash and beer.  Um, yes please.

This chili has a lot of flavor going on - more than your average chili.  I have now made two chilis from this same blog, and both of them have more than your average chili powder.  It gives it a super rich chili flavor, if that makes sense.  Then of course, there's the slightly sweet squash tossed into the mix.  Plus there's carrot, bell pepper, and pinto beans, and as for the spices?  Get ready: garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and my secret obsession, smoked paprika.  Plus beer.  Are you drooling yet?

Mark and I both loved this chili and devoured it for dinner.  Then we both ate it for lunch until it was gone!  We loved sprinkling some cheddar cheese on top, and I stirred some sour cream into mine.  Mmmmm.

Oh, and here is the coolest part.  This is from my new favorite blog, Kitchen Treaty.  I've told you about her before.  She is a vegetarian who married a carnivore, so she has a section on her blog called One Meal, Two Ways.  She tells you at what point in your dish's cooking you should split the food in half, add meat to one half, and keep the other vegetarian.  Genius!  The funny thing is, even though I have made a few of her recipes, every time I get ready to toss meat into Mark's half, he tells me not to bother!  I think he is secretly a vegetarian too :)  So this chili has the option of adding ground turkey to all or half of the dish.  Use that information as you wish; I'm telling you it doesn't need meat, but the carnivores of the world may disagree.  The beauty of this recipe is that it's up to you to meat it up or not!

Recipe:

vegetarian butternut squash and beer chili
from Kitchen Treaty
serves 6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
1 tablespoon diced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced butternut squash
1 cup diced red bell pepper (about 1/2 large pepper)
1 cup grated carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
4 cups (or 2 15-ounce cans) cooked pinto beans, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 cup American lager, blonde, or IPA beer
more kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
if adding ground turkey to half (optional):
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound ground turkey
pinch kosher salt
if adding ground turkey to all (optional):
1 pound ground turkey
2 - 3 teaspoons olive oil
pinch kosher salt

Instructions:

1) In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and spices (chili powder cumin, oregano, and smoked paprika) and stir for another minute.  Add the remaining ingredients - butternut squash, red pepper, carrots, beans, tomatoes, and beer- and, keeping the pan on medium heat, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes.

2) If adding turkey, brown in a medium saucepan over medium heat with olive oil and pinch of salt until cooked through, about 10 minutes.  If only including turkey in half, remove about 2 1/2 cups of the chili from the vegetarian batch and add it to the turkey.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.  If including turkey n all, you can just pour the browned turkey in with the chili and the end of the process, or you can add it when you add the squash and other ingredients.

3) Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired.  Serve with shredded monterey jack cheese, sour cream, and diced avocado for topping.  You can also serve it over rice.

Oatmeal Creme Pies

These oatmeal creme pies were Kenzie's idea, and they were a great one.  I made them the day that Tuck and Linda came to visit as a dessert for the non-diabetics.  I was having trouble coming up with something, as I often do, so Kenz narrowed it down for me and begged for oatmeal creme pies.  I was intrigued by the thought of them so I gave them a shot.  And good thing I did, because people went wild for them.

The cookies are soft, buttery oatmeal cookies that frankly were pretty great on their own: spiced with cinnamon, cloves and molasses, they hardly need to be turned into pies.  And yet, they do.  The creme filling is nothing like I've ever made before.  I expected marshmallow or something, but it's butter-based, with powdered sugar (much like frosting, but then it's rich-ed up by heavy cream).

And then of course, you sandwich two cookies together with plenty of the filling. These oatmeal creme pies are pretty amazing.  They're over-the-top rich and filling - I could only eat half, but then again everyone else was devouring them.  Sam dubbed them among the best dessert I ever made.  There were no leftovers.  I'd say that's a successful dessert!

Even Walter wanted a bite!

For those of you interested in perhaps trying these out for a non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert, the good news is that you can bake the cookies early.  I baked them the night before, and then made the filling and sandwiched them that morning.  They were perfect, so it is possible to get these started early!

Recipe:

oatmeal creme pies
from Sally's Baking Addiction
yields 14 - 15 sandwiches

Ingredients:
for cookies:
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups uncooked quick cooking oats (not whole-rolled oats)
for creme filling:
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt, as needed

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.  Set aside.

2) With a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugars together at medium speed until light and creamy.  Add egg, vanilla, and molasses, scraping down the sides as needed.  Set aside.

3) In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.  Whisk it all around.  Add the quick oats and combine.

4) With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  The dough will be quite thick and you may have to mix it all by hand after a few seconds in the mixer.  Drop dough with a large cookie scoop or make sure that each ball of dough is 2 tablespoons in measurement.  Cookies will spread in the oven, so drop each ball of dough 2 inches apart.

5) Bake for 10 minutes, until cookies are lightly golden around the edges.  Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6) Make filling: with a stand or handheld mixer, beat butter for about 1 minute until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar and mix on medium speed for 1 - 2 minutes.  Pour in heavy cream and vanilla extract.  Mix on high for 3 - 4 minutes until fluffy.  Taste and add a pinch or two of salt, as needed.  If filling is way too thick, add a couple more teaspoons of heavy cream.  Spread 1.5 tablespoons of cream filling on the bottom side of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies, right side up.

7) Cookies stay fresh and soft with creme filling at room temperature for 2 days in an airtight container.  After that, store in the refrigerator to keep the creme center fresh.  These are best eaten within 2 days.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I was pretty depressed when this was Rachael's request for dinner when Tuck and Linda were coming to visit last month: spaghetti and meatballs.  Made from real meat.  I suggested lentil balls or beet balls, but no one was having it.  I was going to be touching meat and there was nothing I could do to sway them.  Rach claimed that she deserved the spaghetti and meatballs - her favorite meal - because she had just started her new job and was (and still is) feeling overwhelmed.  So hey, if I can don a pair of gloves and roll some meat into balls to cheer her up, I'll do it.

Now this is what I learned that morning.  It is seriously hard to get your house and a meal ready for a get-together by yourself.  Mark was at work, and I am not used to living in a house with less than 4 able-bodied women all bustling around the house!  I was running around like a crazy person and by the time Tuck and Linda arrived, my hair was wet and my floor was dirty.  Oh well.  I guess the food had better be good!

And, good it was.  Everyone told me that my meatballs were good.  Obviously I just ate spaghetti and eggplant parm, but Nick even whispered that my meatballs are better than Kenzie's.  Shhhhh, don't tell her that.  She's kind of known as the meatball queen.  And frankly, I'd like to let her keep that title.  While I am glad that people liked them, I was less than thrilled when I was making them.  Even the sauce kind of freaked me out, because you cook the meatballs in it.  Let's face it: I've seen Kenzie bake meatballs.  I know what comes out of them.  And so I know that's in the sauce.  Of course, my family claimed that's probably what made it taste so great, but hey, I'll stick with my eggplant.

With that said, if you want a good recipe for meatballs - or frankly anything meat-related - go to the Pioneer Woman.  She has never led me astray in the meat department.  Plus she has basset hounds.

Recipe:

spaghetti and meatballs
from The Pioneer Woman 
serves 8

Ingredients:
for meatballs:
3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
2 whole eggs
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
splash of milk
1/2 cup olive oil

for sauce:
1 whole yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red or white wine (optional; I left it out)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
8 whole fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

2 pounds spaghetti, cooked al dente

Instructions:

1) To make the meatballs, combine the meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, and a splash of milk in a mixing bowl.  Mix together well with hands.  Roll into 25 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a  cookie sheet.  Place cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to firm up.

2) To brown the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy pot or large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs 8 at a time, turning to brown.  Remove and drain on a paper towel after each batch.  Set meatballs aside.

3) In the same pot, add onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until translucent.  Pour in whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and wine if using.  Add salt, pepper, sugar, and parsley.  Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

4) Add meatballs to pot and stir in gently.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer.

5) Just before serving, stir in basil if using.  Serve over cooked spaghetti.  Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

I was really torn on whether or not to share this recipe.  At first I was adamant that it should be considered a failure and not blogged about.  But then when people started surprising me with compliments and asking for the recipe, I figured I had to get over my anger and just share the recipe, sob story and all.

The idea is simple but great: chocolate cookies, stuffed with pieces of marshmallow!  Genius.  The cookies themselves are chocolatey with a touch of salt (is that not the best combination?).  They are soft and chewy but have a crunch from a roll in sugar before baking.  Then you bite into one and you get surprised by a soft, gooey bite of marshmallow!

Except... there were no surprises in my cookies.  Because every single one split open and the marshmallow exploded out of it.  I will be honest, I had a total hissy fit about it.  I may or may not have thrown my spatula.  But calm, level-headed Mark came to my rescue, scraped up my exploded cookies, and put them in my Tupperware.  You see, my plan was to bake these for the paint night that was being held at my mom's.  Everyone was bringing something, and I confidently assumed I'd be bringing wonderful cookies.  And then my cookies exploded and I threw my spatula.  but, with nothing else to bring, I brought them anyway.

I wasn't going to paint... I announced I would stick with culinary arts - but I went to hang out with everyone. I sadly threw my box of cookies on the counter and the pretended not to have known who brought them.  But then something amazing happened.  Betsy said they were the best thing at the party and asked for the recipe.  People started eating them and not caring that they were ugly and surprise-less.  The craziest part happened when I came home, and the hunks that had been too misshapen to eat had been eaten by Mark, Nick and Ross, who were here having a guy's night.

So here's the deal.  These cookies did not work out for me and I don't know why.  Did I made the dough balls to small?  Too thin?  That's my best guess.  If you try these out, make the dough around the marshmallow really thick so it would have to really work to explode out!  And don't overcook them; pull them out right before you think they are done.  That's what I did, and the consistency was perfect (albeit exploded).  Regardless of how they looked, I can't deny that they were tasty.  If you try these out, please let me know!  I'm dying to hear if it's possible to keep the marshmallow hidden in there!

Recipe:

chocolate marshmallow cookies
from NoBiggie

Ingredients:
5 marshmallows cut into thirds
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (plus 1/2 cup for rolling)
1 cup Crisco
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 unbeaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut marshmallows in thirds using scissors and place in freezer while preparing cookie dough.

2) Measure and sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3) In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar, brown sugar and Crisco.

4) Blend into the sugar bowl the 2 unbeaten eggs and vanilla.  Beat together well.  Stir in the dry ingredients.

5) Roll dough around each marshmallow third, sealing it in a small ball.  Roll each ball in sugar and place on a cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

6) Bake for 4 1/2 to 5 minutes - it is better to undercook them than to overcook them.  Set out on racks to cool.  These cookies freeze very well.

Smoky Delicata Squash and Black Bean Baked Quesadillas

You know what's weird?  I swear every time I learn a new word, all of a sudden I hear it in every day.  Has that happened to you?  I remember this happening in high school with the word enamored.  Suddenly everyone was enamored with everything and the word popped up in every conversation.  Maybe it's just that, once you learn the word's definition, you notice it more often, but I swear most of these words have been hiding out until I learn them, and then they bombard me to make up for last time.

The same goes with ingredients.  Until this fall, I had never heard of delicata squash, and I definitely have never seen one at the store.  Kenzie gave me two delicate squash from someone's garden a month or so back.  I was interested but not quite sure what to do with them.  Then, lo and behold: my new favorite blog (more on this amazing plethora of great recipes later) posted a recipe for smoky delicata squash and black bean baked quesadillas.  Okay then: it was a sign from the god of new words/ingredients.  It got added to the dinner menu immediately.

Let's talk some more about delicata squash.  They are slightly sweet, and very tender, and can truly be the shining star in any dish because they take up the flavors of the foods you cook them with.  Plus, you can just slice them up, skin and all.  The skin is soft and thin and you can eat it without hardly noticing it's there.  Oh, and can we talk about how pretty this squash is?  I mean, we all love the butternut, but let's face it, it's not the most beautiful thing there is (not to mention how terrible it is to peel and cut).  This little gem looks like it was painted with stripes.  And it's so easy to prepare!  Slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and cut it into little half moons.  No peeling, hacking, nearly cutting off your fingers/hands.

Then comes the step that makes your whole house smell amazing.  The squash slices get sautéed with brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, and the magic ingredient, smoked paprika.  They get this lovely red color and smell smoky and spicy and absolutely incredible.  If you aren't a quesadilla kind of person, just stop at this point and enjoy the best squash side dish you ever had.  I'm serious.  I have one squash left and am seriously considering just making the spiced squash slices and calling it a day.

That's not to say more amazing things aren't about the happen (I hate double negatives, sorry).  The quesadillas are filled with the squash, sautéed onions, black beans, and pepper jack cheese, and then baked to a melty, hot, amazing perfection.  Serve with some sour cream and expect everyone (except Nick) to be thrilled.  Mark ate more quesadillas than I thought was humanly possible, and my mom and Kenzie were excited about them as well.  Mom agreed that she didn't even miss meat because there was so much flavor.   I ate the leftovers at work (although there weren't many left), not even caring that microwaving them makes them mushy and not the crunchy beauties they are when they come out of the oven (they reheat perfectly in a toaster oven, but alas, all I have at work is a microwave).

The bottom line?  I am enamored with delicata squash.  Get it?

Recipe:

smoky delicata squash and black bean baked quesadillas
from Kitchen Treaty
yield 6 quesadillas

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small yellow onion, halved and sliced thin
1 delicata squash, halved, seeds removed, and cut into 1/4-inch thick C shapes
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 10-inch flour tortillas
1 cup cooked black beans (or about 1/2 of a 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, sliced thin
assorted toppings for serving, such as sour cream, Greek yogurt, fresh cilantro, salsa, pico de gallon sliced tomato, and/or sliced avocado

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Set out two rimmed baking sheets.

2) Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the onions.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned here and there, about 5 minutes.  Remove onions from pan and return pan to the burner.

3) Reduce heat to medium and immediately add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the squash.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the squash pieces have been seared golden brown on at least one side and are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add water, brown sugar, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Stir gently to distribute water and spices and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, until the water coke off, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4) Place a flour tortilla on your prep surface and add 1/6 of the toppings to the bottom half of the tortilla, in a single layer.  Start with the squash, then scatter about 3 tablespoons of black beans, then add some onions and finally 3 - 4 slices of the pepper jack cheese.  Fold tortilla over to form a half-moon shape  and carefully transfer to a baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  Make sure the quesadillas sit in a single layer on the baking sheets.  You can brush the quesadillas with olive oil at this point to help them bake up a little more crisp and golden; I didn't, and they were still crisped.\

5) Bake until the cheese has melted and the tortilla is golden brown and crisp in spots.  Using a pizza cutter, cut each quesadilla into thirds.  Transfer to plates and serve with assorted toppings, if desired.

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

I will be honest: I am not 100% sure that I am sharing the right recipe today.  I've explained before that I have a wonky, disorganized way of keeping track of the recipes I have to blog.  I take pictures on my phone of everything, and that's how I know what is next.  I keep the recipes open on my iPad or laptop, pinning things when I can, so I don't lose them.  But then there are the times when someone closes all my websites down to open Craigslist (ahem NICK) or fantasy football (ahem MARK).

To be fair, neither of them are to blame today.  I made this recipe one night at my mom's house and used her iPad to find it.  They had gone apple picking and had an overabundance of them.  Somehow I stumbled upon a caramel apple upside down cake, and I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, the next time I peeked at Mom's iPad, the recipe was gone, so I have spent way too much time this morning trying to search it out.  I'm about 75% sure that this is the one, but the good news is, most of the recipes I have found seem pretty similar, so even if this isn't it, you should be fairly safe trying it out!

Now to the cake itself: my family loved it!  Mom said it was one of my best cakes.  I actually ended up taking it out of the oven and then heading home - can't remember why, but I was somehow in a rush and didn't have time to eat it.  But my mom, sisters, and Cathleen were there and ate it quite happily.  The cake is moist and fluffy and topped with homemade caramel and sliced apples.  The scary part is that, being an upside down cake, you pour the caramel and layer the apples on the bottom of the pan (I also added a few chopped walnuts for Mom's benefit), and then pour the batter on top and bake it.  Then you have to flip it upside down when it comes out of the oven.  I was petrified that something bad would happen - it would spread out everywhere, or stick in the pan, or something... but it came out perfectly.  Not only is it tasty, it's beautiful and impressive.

And now I'm off to be on good wife duty.  There are few things as panic-inducing as a vomiting husband 2 hours before you're supposed to head to a wedding.  Ugh.

Recipe:

caramel apple upside down cake
from The Recipe Critic (I think!)
serves 8

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, divided
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
2 medium apples, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a 9-inch round pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

2) In a medium saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat until melted.  Add the brown sugar.  Bring it to a boil and remove from heat.  Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Pour into the bottom of the greased pan.  Arrange the apples over the brown sugar.

3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

4) In a large bowl or mixer, beat together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy.  Add in eggs and vanilla.

5) beat in flour mixture alternating with the milk until smooth.  Pour batter over the apples and spread evenly.

6) Bake 55 - 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

7) Run knife along the edges of the cake and flip upside down on a pan.  Serve warm with whipped cream on top.

Pre-flip!

Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks

Yes, you're reading the title right.  Chicken.  Drumsticks.  (And honey and soy, but you probably weren't so shocked about that).  Yup, I made chicken.  Believe it or not, I made these honey soy chicken drumsticks twice.  Once during some sort of sporting event mini-party here, and once for my mom's surprise birthday party.

I am not sure what got into me there.  I saw the recipe on Pinterest and for some reason decided to try it.  Chicken is one of the meats that I never ever make.  I absolutely would rather do anything on earth than touch raw chicken (which is ironic these days because back when I ate meat, chicken was the one I liked the most).  I have been trying to be a good little housewife and make Mark some meat every now and then, but never was it chicken... until this.

I still don't know why I suddenly decided to try it out.  I think I noticed that drumsticks don't involve any cutting.  It's the cutting of chicken that gets me, so this was far less heinous that chicken breasts.  As far as meat goes, this is quick an mostly painless (yes, I wore gloves, but there was minimal touching). And I also love anything with sesame oil - not that I was going to try these, but still.  Sesame oil plus honey plus soy sauce?!  And fresh garlic and ginger?  Meat or not, I had to try it.

The first time I made them, they were all eaten up quickly by my carnivores.  When they were so successful, I added them to Mom's surprise party menu.  That time, Nick and Kenzie went to BJ's for me and bought some other cut of chicken... it was wings with some other part attached to them?  You can tell I'm not up on my chicken cut lingo... anyway, Nick had to cut the wings from the other part, and I cooked them all up the same way and they came out fine.  I guess my point is that you could probably use a different chicken part if drumsticks weren't your thing.

How are they?  No idea. But I can tell you that everyone loves them and they get devoured pretty quickly.  Plus even I have to admit that they're pretty with that deep caramel brown color.  Flavor-wise, no idea, but I am more than happy to let my friends and family eat the chicken for me.  As for me, I am planning a honey soy tofu... anyone want in on that?

Recipe:

honey soy chicken drumsticks
from Jo Cooks
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 to 3 pounds chicken drumsticks, bone in, with skin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
5 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic, or about 3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder)
salt and pepper to taste
parsley for garnish

Instructions:

1) In a shallow 4.8 quart baking dish about 2 inches deep, whisk all the ingredients together, excluding the chicken.  Add chicken and toss, making sure each piece is coated with the marinade.

2) Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a couple hours or overnight.

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove plastic wrap and bake the drumsticks for about am hour, turning them over halfway through.

Zucchini Bread

Last year at Christmas time, lots of my students got me presents.  Kenzie got some gifts too.  Some of the presents stick out in my mind... for example, I got a mug with the handle broken off, and a bag that used to hold cookies but was just crumbs after a ride on the bus in a backpack.  And Kenz?  Oh, she got a Coach bag.  A real one.  We joke about it, but for some reason, Kenzie gets more presents than me, and they're all a bit flashier (the Coach bag wasn't even a fluke.  She also got a huge blue hydrangea at the end of the year!).  Just today, one of her students brought her Mike's Pastries from the North End because she suggested that he visit there.  Adorably, she jokingly told him to buy her some cannolis, and he couldn't remember what she asked for so he bought croissants.  Close enough, kid.

But come on.  Where are my Mike's Pastries?  I don't even like sweets, but still.  This is one of the hardest years I've had as a teacher.  The number of kids in my class, plus the number of special ed kids, plus the number of regular ed kids who aren't so regular... it's really overwhelming.  Let's just say that even the principal has sensed my panic, and there are some times during the day when I have 4 aides.  It's not even enough, but it helps.  And you know what else would help?  A Coach bag.

Okay, that's not true either.  I don't even want a Coach bag.  A little token of someone's appreciation would be nice, though.  When I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off (or, as Mark puts it, running around with my head chopped off), a croissant in a box tied with string would go a long way towards staving off the insanity that seems inevitable at this point in the year.

So, imagine my happiness when one of my students brought me in a homemade zucchini bread!  Now, let's be honest: with lots of homemade baked goods, you have to be cautious.  I remember a teacher once telling me when I was student teaching, "never eat a single thing the kids bring from home.  Ever."  I am not as crazy as that... if I think I won't get violently ill from a treat, I'm going for it.  And luckily this is a nice clean little family, so I dug right in.  My student was thrilled because she had done most of the baking herself, she told me.

And then I was thrilled too, because this is a zucchini bread like no other.   I'm not sure what made it so exquisite.  Is it the cinnamon?  The chocolate chips just sprinkled on top?  The zucchini itself, making it moist and dense and flecked with green (Mark asked me if I brought home marijuana bread... is that a thing?).  I don't know what it is about it, but I scarfed down the entire loaf in a few days, for breakfast... and snack.... and lunch....  And again, I don't even like baked goods that much, so this was big.  I decided I had to ask for the recipe and try it out on my own, which I did, and it was just as wonderful.  Just maybe a little bit less because it wasn't handed to me by a grateful fifth grader.  Who needs Coach bags and hydrangeas when you get a zucchini bread like this one?!

Recipe:

zucchini bread
from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1/3 cups chocolate chips, optional (but not really)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Sift together flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, and baking powder.

3) Beat eggs.  Add sugar, vanilla, and oil, and mix well.  Add zucchini to egg mixture.  Add dry ingredients, mixing well.  Stir in nuts if desired.  Pour into 2 ungreased loaf pans.  Top with chocolate chips.

4) Bake for 1 hour.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

As I said before, when I roast pumpkins and make my own puree, there always follows a time when I am scrambling to use it up.  In addition, I randomly have a huge bag of pepitas (the insides of pumpkin seeds) taking up far too much prime space in my baking cabinet.  When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, combining both pumpkins and pepitas, I knew I had to try it out.

I loved the colors of this soup: red and yellow bell peppers, orange pumpkin, black beans, and even green jalapeños if you're feeling brave, which obviously I wasn't.  All the vegetables get cooked down with onions, garlic, and cumin.  Vegetable broth gets tossed in too, and then when it's all cooked, it gets pureed.

I've come to understand that I don't like pureed soups.  I like them to have some texture, some things to chew on while I'm eating.  So I pureed it a little bit, but I left most of the soup in tact.

Of course, don't skip the final part: topping the soup with pepitas and Parmesan cheese.  It adds a little crunch and creaminess to the soup.

As expected, this soup tasted like fall in a bowl.  The black beans give it some protein and all the vegetables give it a lot of flavor.  I'm finding that having an abundance of pumpkin puree and pepitas is a great problem to have when it forces you to try out recipes like this one!

Recipe:
pumpkin and black bean soupfrom The Skinny Fork

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups reduced sodium vegetable or chicken stock
1 14.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 12.5-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
pepitas and grated Parmesan for topping

Instructions:

1) Lightly coat the inside of a large pot with non-stick cooking spray and add in the bell peppers, onion, jalapeño, and garlic.  Saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften and become fragrant.

2) Add in the remaining ingredients except for the pumpkin seeds and cheese, and increase the heat to medium-highto bring the mixture to a boil.

3) Once it all comes to a  boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about half .

4) Use an immersion blender to blend down into a creamy soup.

5) Season with salt and pepper and ladle into bowls.  Top with pepitas and grated Parmesan.

Buffalo Ranch Veggie Burgers

I've made many a veggie burger in my day, and I have loved them all for different reasons.  But these are special.  These are veggie burgers that not only I became obsessed with, but my whole family loved.  My mom, for example, dubbed them my best veggie burgers.  Nick ate one.  Kenzie loved them.  And obviously Mark was a fan.  I found them to be excellent the day I made them, but they reheated well, and I devoured them happily for days.

In fact, I have a vivid memory of the last really warm day this fall.  I made up another one of these burgers for myself and threw some potato chips on the plate.  I took the plate and my book outside, and sat there on my front stoop, with Daisy, basking in the final few warm sun rays, happily enjoying this delicious buffalo ranch veggie burger.  It's such a small moment but I remember it so perfectly because it was just a perfect few minutes there.

Now, let me preface by saying that I hate buffalo sauce.  I actually pinned this burger with Nick in mind because he loves it.  But, I don't think you can really taste it at all.  I added more sauce on top of Nick's burger, and that seemed to do the trick with him.  For me, the biggest "sauce" you can taste was the ranch dressing, which is both in the burgers and used as a topping (along with avocado slices and mixed greens).  If you weren't a fan of ranch, you could skip it on top.  The other flavorings in the burger are Montreal chicken seasoning, red lentils (have you ever cooked with these? Theyr'e awesome; they turn to total mush and add great texture to burgers and soups), peas, and yellow mustard.

Let's talk about another awesome part of this burger: the protein.  Besides the fact that the main ingredient is smashed chickpeas, this recipe is gluten free, and therefore calls for chickpea flour and crushed chickpea chips.  That's a triple chickpea attack, people, and leads to each patty giving you 15 grams of protein (AKA you may never eat again!).  They're extremely filling.  Seeing as we are not gluten-free here, I used regular flour and breadcrumbs, so mine were not as protein-packed, but even so, my mom commented on how filling they were.  All you GF people out there, here's a fabulous burger idea for you.  And all you people who aren't.... here's a fabulous burger idea for you, too.  I will most definitely be making these again.  Thinking of eating that burger on the stoop makes me feel happy and nostalgic.  If I can't bring back warm weather, I will at least bring back buffalo ranch veggie burgers.

Recipe:

buffalo ranch veggie burger
from Nosh and Nourish
serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked red lentils
15 ounces canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup sweet peas (you can substitute sweet kernel corn)
1 egg
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour (or all-purpose)
1 cup chickpea chips. crushed (or breadcrumbs)
1 tablespoon buffalo sauce
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
2 teaspoons Montreal Chicken Seasoning
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
6 - 8 hamburger buns
3 avocados
2 cups mixed greens

Instructions:

1) Mash chickpeas in a medium mixing bowl with a fork, or use an immersion stick blender (I actually used a pastry blender!)

2) Add in all other burger ingredients (everything except buns, greens, and avocado), stirring thoroughly.

3) Set bowl in fridge for half an hour before baking.

4) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Form mixture into 6 - 8 patties and place them in a single layer on a greased cooke sheet.

5) Bake for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.

6) Serve with additional ranch, buffalo sauce, greens, and avocado slices.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Ah, the familiar struggle of trying to find as many pumpkin recipes as I can when I have just made my own pumpkin puree.  I know I can and should just freeze the puree I don't need to use immediately, but first, my freezer is kind of small, and second, freezing sometimes scares me because it requires so much planning ahead.  How long does it take pumpkin puree to thaw?!  I have no idea!

So anyway, this struggle lead to this pumpkin gingerbread.  I had Kenzie and my mother over.  My sister loves pumpkin, and my mom isn't such a fan, but she loves gingerbread, so I thought this would be a good compromise.  I was intrigued at the idea of mixing fall things like pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg with gingerbread things like ginger and molasses.  Combining pumpkin bread and gingerbread: these are the things that excite me these days.

The end result is a super dark, moist bread studded with raisins (they were optional but I thought they'd be a good idea).  The pumpkin flavor is more subtle than the gingerbread flavors, but you definitely get the idea that something else is going on in there; it's not your average gingerbread.  This bread also got pretty rave reviews; like I did with the apple cake, I brought the rest of this bread up to Gram's one day, and it got devoured.  Definitely a success.

Maybe I'll freeze my next batch of pumpkin puree... or maybe I will continue my frenzied but successful search for last-minute pumpkin recipes!

Recipe:

pumpkin gingerbread
from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 5 x 13-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter.

2) In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3) In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together the pumpkin puree, melted butter, sugar, molasses, fresh ginger, and water.

4) Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Add the raisins if using.  Stir only until incorporated.

5) Place the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Then gently run a knife around the edge of the loaf and invert the load to remove it from the pan.  Let it cool on a rack for 30 minutes or longer.  The loaf's flavor will improve with time.

German Apple Cake

I don't know why I ever doubt Allrecipes.com.  When I am looking at recipes, I often find myself skipping over the links to that site to browse "real blogs" instead.  And why?  It's regular people, home chefs, who want to share their best recipes.  Then literally hundreds of people try it out, rate it, and write comments.  The recipes on there are tried and true.  After all, this is the place that gave me my overnight caramel pecan rolls.   Why am I such a blog snob?

If there is anything I can learn from this apple cake, it is to give Allrecipes more of a chance, because yet again, it proved to be a goldmine of recipes.  After apple picking, my mom had more apples than she knew what to do with, and she requested an apple cake.  I told her to pick a recipe for me, and she chose this one.  Being a snob, I whined about it, but even I couldn't ignore the 849 reviews, or the 4 1/2 star rating.   I decided to give it a try, and I am so glad that I did.  This cake was probably one of the most uniformly-loved desserts I have made in a long time.

My mom was in love with it that night that I made it, and took some home with her.  Then we sent some over to Mark's parents and they loved it too.  A few days later, I noticed that we still had a few pieces, so I cut them up and walked up to my grandmother's, where she had a house full of people who all tried it.  Everyone fell in love immediately and I handed out the recipe to two different people.

And that's the other great part.  This cake was pretty easy and the ingredient list was short.  No weird ingredients - it's just flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, with the apples of course.  That's not to say it isn't flavorful, and moist, and stays good for days and days.  It just lets the apples - 4 whole cups of them, diced - shine without overpowering you with any unneeded spice.

At this time of year, lots of people seem to have the wonderful problem of too many apples.  May I kindly suggest making applesauce (recipe to come soon!) or this delicious German apple cake?

Recipe:

German apple cake
from Allrecipes.com


Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups apples - peeled, cored, and diced

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13" cake pan.

2) In a mixing bowl, beat the oil and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.

3)  Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl.  Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined.  The batter will be very thick.  Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon.  Spread batter into the prepared pan.

4) Bake for 45 minutes of until cake tests done.  Let cake cool on a wire rack.

Serve with ice cream, perhaps?

Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans

Two posts in one day?  Yup, that's what happens on a weekend when Mark is working both days and I am trying to avoid housework and homework :)

Anyway... speaking of things you don't expect, here's a great salad!  As you know, I'm not a big fan of salads.  I love vegetables, but most salads don't do it for me.  They are boring.  Plus I think I hate lettuce, so if lettuce has to be the star of the show, then it's a show that I don't want to see.  Something else has to be in the spotlight.

In this salad, the spotlight is on juicy, sweet grapes, which are unexpected in a chopped salad where everything is all savory and salty and tangy.  Then there's brown rice, which gives the salad some interesting texture and chewy bites, along with pecans, which happen to be my favorite nut.  The recipe calls for ricotta salata, but that's clearly a cheese that I didn't have on hand, so feta was a good substitute.  A mustard vinaigrette ties it all together.  And yeah, there's lettuce.  But the lettuce is more of a backup singer than the main actor, and so it's okay.

I was actually surprised how much my family liked this salad.  I brought it over to my mother's one day when they were grilling last month.  Mark and my mom especially liked it; Mark happily devoured the leftovers for days.  For any salad to grab my attention, and the attentions of those two, you know it's got to be something special.  It's a good salad for this time of year; grapes are still good, and pecans are so fall-early-winter-ish, and brown rice is just always awesome.  So this is a recipe you probably want to hang on to.  These next couple months are full of times when you are going to binge on unhealthy things, and you just may want a salad to help you detox after that!

Recipe:

chopped brown rice salad with grapes and pecans
from The Kitchn
serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1 cup brown rice, long- or short-grained
1 cup whole pecans
1 heart of romaine
2 cups red grapes
1 cup crumbled ricotta salata

For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Bring a 2-quart pan of water to a boil. Add the rice and a teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is chewy and cooked through. Drain and set aside.

2) While the rice is cooking, heat the oven to 350°F and spread the nuts on a baking sheet. Roast the nuts in the oven for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until toasted a darker shade of brown and very fragrant. When cool enough to handle, transfer the nuts to a cutting board and roughly chop. Set aside.

3) Slice the hard of romaine down its length into quarters and then chop each quarter cross-wise into thin slices. Slice the grapes into quarters.

4) To make the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, olive oil, brown mustard, a healthy pinch of salt, and a few cracks of black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine, taste, and adjust any of the ingredients to taste as needed.

5) Combine the cooked rice, chopped pecans, chopped romaine, and grapes in a large mixing bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad mix. Stir and toss the salad until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Stir in the crumbled ricotta salata, reserving a few crumbles to sprinkle over the top of the dish. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

6) Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the reserved ricotta salata. Leftovers will keep for about 5 days refrigerated.