whiskey caramel sauce (for apple pie)

as you know, i have made my share of rustic fruit pies, but after a recent apple picking trip i decided to try my hand at a good old fashioned, two-crust, mom-style, cool-in-a-window-sill apple pie.

honestly, i was so nervous i didn’t pick up my camera until the end.

ta DA!

check it out!

okay, so it wasn’t the bestest pie ever in the entire world and there’s always room for improvement, but (if i do say so myself) it was an impressive first go.

and what does one need to serve apple pie with? why, whiskey caramel sauce, of course!

my recipe wants you to melt a cup of sugar in a heavy sauce pan, and warns not to stir, but SWIRL the pot.

this took FOR-EVER.

swiiiirrrrl

when it’s all melted, you are supposed to add a cup of hot water. i added half a cup of hot water… and half a cup of whiskey.

careful, the sugar bubbles up like crazy when you add liquid!

pour over apple pie!

probably pretty good over vanilla ice cream or in coffee or hot apple cider, too!

tuna casserole pasta

reading icf, you might think i’m in love with broccoli. i’m not. i’m just drowning in it.

since i’m never making cream of broccoli soup again, tonight we’re trying a different route: tuna casserole pasta. my mom never actually made this classic potluck dish, but if yours did, i’m sorry if this desecrates the memory. i leave off the potato chip crust. so sue me.

i cut my broccoli into small pieces and started water boiling. (i was making two servings because i wanted leftovers for lunch. two servings worked well with the ratio of one can of tuna. i started with probably a cup and a half of broccoli florets.)

the pasta i had on hand was whole wheat elbow macaroni (about a cup?), which takes 7 minutes to cook al dente.

once it had been in for about 6 minutes i added the broccoli and blanched it while the pasta finished.

drain broccoli together but save some pasta water – about half a cup is plenty. pasta water is my secret weapon for thickening pasta sauce. works every time.

in a serving bowl, i added 1/3 cup grated ramano and parmesan mix to the broccoli/pasta and a can of tuna (drained, but not bone dry. also a note on tuna, i like the kind packed in oil, but that’s just me).

the point here is for the wetish ingredients to make a “sauce” with the grated cheese. it takes more cheese than just your average sprinkle on top, and if you need more liquid, add some of the pasta water.

SUPER fast. healthy. delish. retro. and not soup…!

redrocks

sending a shout out to my current favorite pizza place in the city – redrocks in columbia heights.

i stole this from their website...

reasonably priced, nice ambiance, diverse clientele… and the pizza was great.

i had one with eggplant, pesto and goat cheese. it was even good left over for lunch.

OH, and the burrata di bufala – tomato, baby arugula topped with burrate cheese, olive oil, with house-baked bread – will be enough to tempt me back on its own.

caramel apple rolls

told you i was going to do some scary things with trader joe’s 99-cent pizza crust…!

i started with two large apples (peeled)

and chopped one finely. (then i decided i only needed one. see? i do this so you don’t have to.)

next i mixed the apples with 1/3 cup brown sugar, some cinnamon and 2 tablespoons melted butter.

then i rolled out the dough, cut it into four rectangles and spread each with the filling.

and rolled them up, just like the cheesy rolls.

slice the rolls about an inch thick and lay them in a baking dish.

bake like pizza for about 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees, until the dough is done and caramel is bubbling.

one important note: these rolls MUST be served warm. if they are not warm, the caramel gets hard and they become absolutely cemented to the dish. so make sure you can whisk them directly out of the oven to your guests, or that you have way to reheat them. in my case, this meant on top of the toaster at work (because the pan was too big to fit inside) with the toaster on high. you know how the top of a toaster always gets hot? now you can put it to good use.

my coworkers didn’t seem to know or care how they were warmed… they just gobbled them right up!

gnocchi

what a happy coincidence that the day after i got a butternut squash in the box (much like an acorn squash, i have no idea what to do with a butternut squash), i came across this butternut squash gnocchi and white wine butter sauce recipe. with a few changes and adaptations, the end result was a truly decadent and delicious dinner.

(seen here with a mushroom sauce and side salad with balsamic vinaigrette)

you start the recipe by roasting your peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash. the recipe called for “one squash,” and i decided that mine was an extra small,

so i added a chopped potato, too, (if you’re making this recipe, you need about four cups of cubed vegetable total) and about five cloves of garlic because… well, why the heck not?

salt and a drizzle of olive oil before throwing into the oven for about 35 minutes or until very tender. the recipe called for 1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg, too, but i used 1/2 a teaspoon of dried rosemary instead.

when the squash comes out of the oven, toss it in a food processor (or mini-chopper!) and blend until very smooth.

while i generally like chunky textures, in the case of gnocchi, smoother is better!

to your mash, add two cups of flour (i used one of white and one of whole wheat), grated parmesan (recipe called for one cup, but it was so salty and the mash was already salty… i used 1/2 a cup) and two egg yolks (yolks only! separate them over another bowl in case you make a mistake, and beat them a little, too, before adding).

it doesn’t look like much yet, but as you mix, you’ll see the dough come together.

turn it out on a floured surface, and with floured hands, kneed the dough a little, adding more flour if it gets too sticky. try not to over-work the dough (or handle it more than necessary) because i assume that would make your gnocchi tough.

now you want to break off chunks and roll them into one-inch logs.

with a floured knife, cut the log in about half-inch pieces. then with lightly floured hands, i shaped the gnocchi a little more. traditionally this is rustic dish, though, so don’t worry about being perfect.

the ones i didn’t gobble up for dinner immediately, i froze on a baking sheet, then packed in a freezer bag. the recipe promised they’d keep frozen for three months. i don’t think i’ll wait that long!

to cook gnocchi, toss them into boiling water. they’re done when they float to the surface, about 2 minutes depending on size and number in the pot.

because of the very deep, complex flavor of these gnocchi, i liked the suggestion of a simple butter and wine sauce.

i melted about a tablespoon of butter in a pan and added a splash of white wine.

when the gnocchi were done, i added them to the sauce and made sure they were well coated!

although it is a little time-consuming, this is a simple recipe that i will definitely try again. now that i know the proportions, i can make all different kinds of flavors – pumpkin, spinach, carrot? and what about a sweet gnocchi…

white trash margaritas

i can’t even tell you how excited i am to present my first cocktail blog here at icf. today’s guest blogger jumped at the challenge and i don’t think you’ll be disappointed with her results! if anyone knows a good cocktail, it’s her! i would also like to mention that if some of the pictures are blurry, she had already been drinking for several hours when she mixed up this particular batch…

just when you thought icf couldn’t get any better, she starts featuring cocktail recipes!  i am very pleased to make a guest appearance on icf to share my favorite recipe for one of my favorite fun and festive drinks…MARGARITAS!

these ‘ritas are affectionately referred to as “white trash margaritas,” because the ingredient that makes them so special is a bottle of beer.  does the beer component really make it deserving of the title white trash?  i don’t know… i really don’t care … i just drink it.

i was first introduced to the white trash margarita at a baby shower of all places.  as the host of the party poured me one, she proudly explained that this would be one of the best margaritas i will ever have and she would be happy to give me the recipe.  ever skeptical… i took a sip, was hooked and promptly asked for the ingredient list.  now, i like tequila and i like beer… but tequila and beer mixed together? it’s quite magical.

to start, you will need a pitcher, ice cubes, tequila, any variety of lemon-lime soda, one bottle of mexican beer, and one can of frozen concentrate limeade.

fill the pitcher half way with ice cubes and empty the can of limeade into the pitcher.  use the empty limeade can to measure out equal parts tequila, lemon-lime soda, and beer.  ue sure to fill the limeade can to the brim with each ingredient. you wouldn’t want to short change yourself on the tequila or beer… or lemon-lime soda i guess.

mix together and enjoy!

this white trash margarita is the perfect companion to your mexican fiesta, football party, quiet evening at home… or even a baby shower!

recipe notation

a fascinating blog about how recipes should be written more like music.

i totally wish i had thought of this one first. what do you think? easier to work with?

cream of ice box calzones

boy was i in bad spot the other night. i was in charge of dinner for both of us (read: no cold cereal), but i was literally out of everything. except a 99-cent trader joe’s pizza crust! and some leftover ground turkey! hooray! pizza is easy and healthy (-ish. when i make it.)

unless you don’t have sauce. or enough cheese. oops.

literally, i had less than a cup of marinera sauce, and about as much cheese. (so little, this bottle actually looks empty…)

rummaging, i found the end of a jar (about a quarter cup) of trader joe’s roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade. (this is pantry staple for me. dip it, spread it, top pasta with it, eat it with a spoon…)

all into a bowl together… uh oh. still not enough to even cover the pizza.

at this point, i had a hungry man breathing down my neck, so i had to think fast.

mini calzones?! (i had seen giada do something like this, although granted, hers were a little more sophisticated and premeditated.)

i separated the little cheese i had between the four, pinched the edges together, and brushed the tops with olive oil and a little grated parm. (i should say “grated parm rind” because it was really the end of the block.)

bake like a pizza – at 450 degrees for about 13 minutes or until the outside browns. (since the turkey was precooked, i just had to get it hot and the cheese melty.)

i honestly didn’t know what to expect, but…

now tell me – what’s wrong with that dinner?! (and after he had two, i still had one leftover for lunch! always the sign of a successful meal at my house.)

sour cherry yogurt

once i had tackled cheese, i decided to mosey on through the dairy department to yogurt. the recipes i had read sounded easy enough, since (like cheese) most of the time you’re waiting for it to do it’s own thing. the tricky part was the temperature, because of course i don’t have a kitchen thermometer. (i don’t have a medical thermometer, either. i checked. not that it would have helped me, but just fyi.)

fortunately, my recipe offered handy tips.

1. begin by heating half a gallon of whole milk to 180-190 degrees (apparently this means “steaming and beginning to form bubbles”)

2. take it off the heat and let it cool to 115-120 degrees (“somewhere between very warm and hot” – you can imagine how many times he and i both stuck our fingers in it to test…)

3. for each quart of milk (in this case 2), stir in 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt thinned with a little of the warm milk. (this is known as tempering, and is also where i went wrong the first time.)

i just so happened to be on the phone at this stage of the process and skipped step 2. that is, i spooned some of the super hot (i can only assume 185-degree) milk into the cold yogurt. and what did that do? it killed the beasties.

the beasties, of course, are the probiotics – good bacteria that make yogurt yogurt and keep jamie lee curtis and activia in business. by adding them to the milk at the right temperature, they grow and mass reproduce. by adding them to the milk at the wrong temperature…

let’s just say 8 hours later i had to buy a new half gallon of milk.

4. keep your milk/beastie mixture warm for at least 6, but no more than 12, hours while the little buddies do their thing. to do so, i wrapped the pot and its lid in cloth towels and stored it in a warmed (but turned-off) oven with the oven light on (it adds heat… i’m not crazy). i waited 7.5 hours.

it was at this point that i confirmed what i already knew to be true the first go around, when the “yogurt” came out at the same consistency that it went in. the beasties had been boiled. to death.

5. repeat steps 1 through 4 (optional)

6. strain your now-yogurt through cheesecloth (yogurtcloth?)

and mix in flavors. i used chopped, jarred sour cherries. mmmm

at this point, my yogurt was still runnier than commercial yogurt, but tasted just right (like plain yogurt, but with a little sweetness from the cherries). after a night in the fridge it firmed up a little, but was still runny. i’m not sure if this is because i didn’t let it sit long enough in the oven, because i used greek yogurt instead of regular, or if that’s just the nature of homemade yogurt… but i definitely think this is a recipe i’m going to try again. not only is it cheaper to make your own yogurt, you know you’re avoiding fake sweeteners and preservatives, too.

cakes gone wrong

fine, dear readers. FINE!

i got this link from so many of you, that you wore me down and i POSTED IT!

same place i "borrow" most pics from - nytimes

although on second thought, if so many people sent it to me… so many people must have already read it… so this could be a smidge redundant…?

[insert “icing on the cake” joke here.]