Holy Yumminess

This was my first thought as I took a bite of my Barley-Asparagus 'Risotto' with Balsamic Vinegar. Yum yum yum and oh yeah, YUM! This recipe is from weightwatchers.com and it's only 3 points per 1 cup serving. I had barley in the pantry, so I thought I would see how well I could fool my own tastebuds.
Sadly, our camera died, so I wasn't able to get a picture, but take my word for it...it's awesome.

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion(s), minced
1 cup uncooked barley, use quick-cooking pearl variety
3 cup fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth (I used vegetable)
1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup chives, fresh, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until onion is tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in barley and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more. Add broth, cover and simmer over low heat for 8-12 minutes; stir in asparagus and simmer 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in chives and vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Tuesdays with Dorie

I'm very excited to be accepted into the ranks of the Tuesdays with Dorie Baking Blog! So how do I show my appreciation? I email them to tell them that I can't start for the next few weeks. Way to be responsible, Beth!
Alex and I are moving, temporarily, into downtown Baltimore and we have a wedding in LA over the July 4th holiday. My cookbooks and kitchen gear will be packed in boxes very soon, so I won't be able to bake/cook much for a few weeks. That makes me sad.
So, to the wonderful women and men of TWD, I apologize for being an immediate slacker. I will, however, attempt to do the Apple Cheddar Scones this weekend with my friend, Red.

Summer Vegetable Curry

Again, in the WW-world, we were looking for a healthy and filling dinner. This recipe caught my attention because I love curry and I was in the mood for a big veggie dinner. We topped it with Fage 0% Yogurt and chopped fresh mint leaves. YUM! And only 3 points for each huge serving.

Ingredients:

1 sprays cooking spray

1 large onion(s), finely chopped

2 medium garlic clove(s), crushed

1 piece ginger root, 1 inch, peeled and finely chopped

2 Tbsp curry powder, or to taste

1 pound butternut squash, chopped

1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets

1 medium zucchini, sliced (we eliminated since neither of us like cooked zucchini)

1 medium sweet red pepper(s), chopped

1/4 pound uncooked string beans, chopped

3 1/2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped

1 cube vegetable bouillon cube, dissolved in 2 cups hot water (we used 2 cups already prepared broth)

2 Tbsp cilantro, leaves and stalks, roughly chopped (about a handful)

1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

Directions:

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, garlic and ginger until softened, but not browned, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add curry powder and stir well. Add vegetables, canned tomatoes, broth and 1 1/2 tablespoons of cilantro; stir and heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about for 45 minutes.

Season to taste and garnish with remaining cilantro. We mixed about 1/4 cup Fage with chopped fresh mint leaves.

Weight Watchers Mini-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, I realize the irony of this, but this baking gal has started Weight Watchers. Well, anyways, I was perusing their awesome e-tools and recipes, and there was a recipe for mini-chocolate chip cookies, 1-point for 2 of them! I was instantly intrigued, and had to make them. 10 minutes later, I had cookies. And they are good! Not the same as regular cookies, but they are soft and sweet and hit the spot when I'm in the mood for dessert.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter, softened

2 tsp canola oil

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp table salt

1 large egg white(s)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine. In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.

Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Yields 2 cookies per serving.

Lemon Meringue Fathers Day Goodness

I would just like to start this post off by celebrating my very first ever pie from scratch!!

::booty shaking happy dance::

Okay, I'm done. I'm just very proud of this pie, I can't help it. Alex and I went to his parents for Fathers Day dinner, and his dad loves lemon meringue pie (LMP). I just couldn't resist the challenge! I made the crust on Saturday afternoon, and pre-baked it so that I could do the rest on Fathers Day AM.

In my search for the ultimate recipe, I scoured my cookbooks, Dorie included of course, and online. I ultimately decided on one from Allrecipes.com based on all the solid reviews. It was delicious! Great lemon flavor and a perfect non-weepy meringue. The only issue I had with this pie was that the filling was just a little more dense than you would expect for a LMP. Flavor was outstanding; lemony, tart and sweet, but it was a little more like a thick custard. The meringue was great and held together perfectly! I only used 3 egg whites, and I wanted it to be higher, so perhaps I'll use 4 next time. Or I'll just learn how to arrange it more artfully :-)

The dough had a great flavor (Thanks Dr.Annie!) but I trimmed it a tad too short, so it shrank during baking. Okay, overall, it wasn't the prettiest LMP I've ever seen, but it was gosh darn good! This was all that was left after dinner. Luckily, I am married to The Man Who Loves Pie, no matter how it looks.

The Crust (Dr. Annie's Cooking Blog...to be linked shortly)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 tbsp very cold water

Directions:
Fit your stand mixer with a paddle attachement, and stir together flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.
Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and then flatten into a disk. This dough should be rolled out immediately, not chilled. Lightly flour your work surface, then flatten the disk with 8 or so gently rolling pin taps. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour as needed, and then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single crust.
Pre-Baking: Cover the dough with foil and fill with either metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 10 minutes or so, until browned. Cool completely before filling.

The Lemon (allrecipes.com)
1 cup white sugar (might use just a tad less next time to kick up the tartness factor)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested (I chopped the zest afterwards, to make it more fine)
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. This will temper the egg mixture, so that you won't end up with scrambled eggs when you add them back to the sugar. Do NOT skip this step! Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell. Cover loosely with foil to keep in the heat while you make the meringue. The filling should still be hot/warm when you top it.

The Meringue: (Allrecipes.com)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons white sugar (I used powdered sugar, which I think blends better)

Directions:
In a small saucepan, combine water, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over low heat until clear, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
In a large glass or metal bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until mixture is foamy. Mix in vanilla, then gradually add the 6 tablespoons sugar, beating constantly until meringue forms soft peaks. Gradually pour in cornstarch mixture, beating until stiff. Spread over top of still-warm filling and seal to the edges of the crust. This will ensure that the meringue doesn't shrink up on you! Brown in oven if desired. I placed it under the broiler for about 1.5 minutes, which was just perfect. If you do this, don't walk away from the oven or you could end up with burnt meringue.

Gazpacho

With this insanely nasty heat wave, we were craving something light and cool. Alex decided that we should have gazpacho, so I turned to the trusty Temple Aliyah cookbook and picked a recipe. Anyone find it amusing that we used a recipe for Spanish Gazpacho from a cookbook put together by a whole lot of Jewish mothers? Yeah, us too. Alas, no picture this time, but it was really good. I like my gazpacho pretty chunky so I chopped up celery into mine. Alex prefers it smooth. And isn't compromise what marriage is all about?

Gazpacho (Even More Delicious)
1 can tomato juice
3 whole tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled
1 red pepper, seeded
1 green pepper, seeded
1/2 small jalapeno pepper, seeded
1/2 small onion
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, without stems
1/4 cup parsley, without stems
2-4 cloves garlic, depending on preference
3 tbs lime juice
2-3 tbs EVOO
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar, or to taste

Put tomato juice in a large bowl or pot. In a food processor run tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onions, cilantro, parsley, and garlic until finely chopped. Transfer processed ingredients to tomato juice as the food processor becomes full. Add lime juice, vinegar, EVOO, salt and sugar and mix well.
Refrigerate overnight for best taste. Top with sour cream (optional) and cilantro.

Dinner in a little more than 30-minutes...

So I do like some of Rachael Ray's recipes, but I am just unable to do them in 30-minutes! For some reason, it always takes me about 45-minutes. FAIL!

Anyways, it might not be an attractive picture, but these were pretty darn tasty. I also included a roasted asparagus recipe from my synagogue's sisterhood cookbook. Thanks, Temple Aliyah!

Portobello Burgers (Rachael Ray, 30-Minute Meals 2)

2 tbs EVOO
4 large portobello mushroom caps

Steak seasoning blend (I used Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 lb smoked mozzeralla cheese, sliced (I used sharp cheddar, but I think mozzeralla would taste better with the balsamic)

Heat a nonstick skiller over medium-high heat. Add oil and mushroom caps. Season mushrooms with steak seasoning and saute, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Add vinegar and coat the mushrooms on both sides. When the vinegar has evaporated, turn the mushrooms cap side up and cover with sliced cheese. Turn off the heat and cover the pan, allowing the cheese to melt (2-3 minutes). Rachael serves these on a bun, but I decided to cut some carbs and go without. Would probably be a nice addition, next time.

Roasted Asparagus (Even More Delicious! Temple Aliyah Sisterhood)

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

3 tbs. EVOO

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1.5 - 2 tbs lemon juice

Salt

Cook the asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain, and dry asparagus on a paper towel. Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until tender and light brown. Add lemon juice. Put asparagus into the pan and coat with mixture evenly. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spread out asparagus. Sprinkle with salt and broil 3-5 minutes until browned.

Not a bachelorette party!

Our wonderful friend Tara is marrying our wonderful friend, Jeff, in LA on July 3rd. She requested a girly get-together in lieu of a bachelorette party, and I was very glad that I didn't have to hunt around Sp.encers Gif.ts for yet another "Buy Me a Shot, I'm Tying the Knot!" t-shirt. We spent the morning at a lovely spa and then came back to my apartment for some dinner, games and general girly mayhem.

I started putting the extensive menu together a few weeks ago, but had to reign myself in when I took a realistic look at the fact that there were only 6 of us. I can't help it, it's the future Jewish mother in me...I need to have enough food for everyone. My worst party nightmare is to run out of food. Oy vey, the HORROR! (or should I say, the hora?) :-)

I got recipes for the great ladies on the What's Cooking message board on thenest.com, and they were all a hit! I made a few tiny modifications here and there, depending on what was in my pantry and what was affected by the insane 95+ degree heat wave we are going throughhere in MD. I also apologize in advance because I was so caught up in the party excitement that I forgot to take pictures of all the food before it was eaten!

Party Menu

Make-your-own quesadillas

White bean dip with homemade pita crisps

Vegetable crudite with ranch dip

Chips and guacamole/salsa

Ranch Oyster crackers

Spiced carrot cake with cream cheese icing

Quesadillas

This meal is pretty easy, and everyone liked it. I chopped up green peppers, mushrooms and onions, and sauteed them in olive oil until they were soft and slightly browned (about 5-6 minutes). Everyone then layered their choice of veggies and cheese onto a whole wheat tortilla and I broiled them on a foil covered baking sheet for 6-7 minutes at about 300.

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White Bean Dip (from Good Things Catered)

Amazing, delicious, flavorful...just day-um good! Thanks for the great recipe, Katie#'s!

Ingredients:

2 14oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly, divided

2 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 1/2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I only had dried)

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper

1/4 c. water

1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
-In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter and add salt and onion
-Cook until onion is lightly golden, about 10 minutes.
-Add garlic, parsley, thyme, and white pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
-Deglaze pan with water and lemon juice, scraping up all browned bits.
-In the food processor, add onion mixture and half white beans and pulse, scraping down sides, until starting to smooth.
-Turn food processor to on and add the olive oil slowly while blending until smooth.
-Turn out bean mixture into a medium bowl and fold in remaining whole beans and salt and pepper if needed. It needed salt, so be sure to taste and season appropriately.

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Homemade Pita Chips (from Amber's Delectable Delights)

Super easy and really delicious with the bean dip. Amber gave me the idea for these, and since I really wanted pita chips, I altered it a little bit.

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

Olive Oil
Seasoning (I used Salt & Pepper, but you can use anything. Amber has a great recipe for a creole seasoning!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cut each pita pocket in half with a pizza cutter, and open them. Brush with olive oil. Cut each half into 3 triangles, and sprinkle with seasoning. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes, or until brown and crisp.

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Ranch Oyster Crackers (From Ambers Delectable Delights)
The girls raved over these and they were super easy to make. A good hit for a party or poker night.

Ingredients:
1 (14oz box) oyster crackers (can also use pretzels)

1/3 cup canola oil

3 Tbls (1.5 oz) dry ranch seasoning mix

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp garlic powder (I didn't use because I didn't have any!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place oyster crackers in gallon size zip-lock baggie. Add in the oil, seal bag and shake to coat all crackers with oil. Open bag and add all dry seasonings, seal bag and shake to coat. Dump onto cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until oil has absorbed into the crackers. Let cool and enjoy!

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Spiced Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (From Good Things Catered)

I will preface this by saying that carrot cake is not my favorite, nor am I a huge fan of cream cheese icing. However, the bride-to-be really loves it, so I was more than happy to whip this up for her. This is where the 90+ degree heat really affected my baking and icing. Our AC wasn't working properly, so it took a while for the cakes to cool, and my icing was running everwhere! It dripped off the cake onto the counter and I ended up keeping the finished product in the fridge until I served it (about 24 hours after baking). It was a messy but fun experience. My first layer cake! TA DA!

Also, since I made a layer cake, I doubled the frosting recipe and that seemed to be enough. I had maybe a little bit left over, so next time I might do 1.5 times instead of doubled.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp table salt

1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar (I only had dark brown, but it still worked out fine)

4 large eggs

1 1/2 c. vegetable oil , safflower oil, or canola oil

Icing:

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool

5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool

1 Tbsp sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions:

Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour(or I used 2 9-inch pans). Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside. In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor workbowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape mixture into medium bowl. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

Icing: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 10 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)