Tuesday, November 15, 2011

famers' market pizza and triple chocolate cake?? yes, please!

...last tuesday night i had the pleasure of cooking for the Hodel family. my parents were gone for the week so they had the pleasure of watching out for me:) it's a good thing they came over so i could have someone to cook for; otherwise this post would probably be how to cook a frozen pizza to perfection. i made a triple chocolate cake for them and a farmers' market pizza. i love pizzas that don't have a sauce and just rely on the the veggies to give it the flavor.
the pizza....halfway gone. i forgot to take a picture of it before serving it.
and the cake.

..so i decided to make a short little video of me making the cake.  it was a lot of fun to make. enjoy!

Recipes:

Local Farmers' Market Pizza
Hands on time: 32 min.
Total time: 60 min.
 Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (16-ounce) refrigerated fresh pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
5 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
 Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Position an oven rack in the next to lowest setting. Place a 16-inch pizza pan on the rack.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add 2 cups onion and thyme to pan; cook for 3 minutes or until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add bell pepper and garlic to pan; cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn, salt, and black pepper to pan; cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
3. Roll dough into a 16-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Remove pan from oven. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Place dough on pan. Arrange mozzarella slices evenly over dough. Spread the corn mixture evenly over cheese, and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake at 425° for 23 minutes. Arrange tomatoes evenly over pizza; bake an additional 5 minutes or until crust is browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle with basil. Cut into 6 slices.
 
SIDE NOTE: due to the limited grocery store that is closest to me, i was not able to use the parmigiano - reggiano cheese

Triple Chocolate Cake
 Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa, divided
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Cooking spray
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
8 ounces cake flour (about 2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Dash of salt
4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 teaspoons butter
1/8 teaspoon instant espresso granules
Dash of salt
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cake, combine 1 cup boiling water and 1/2 cup cocoa. Add 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate; stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Coat 2 (8-inch) round metal cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray; dust pans with remaining 1 tablespoon cocoa.
3. Place 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream; beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until combined.
4. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire racks. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks. Discard wax paper.
5. To prepare filling, combine 1/3 cup milk and the next 3 ingredients (through dash of salt) in a saucepan over medium-low heat; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add milk chocolate, stirring until smooth. Pour into bowl. Cover and chill. Uncover; fold in whipped topping.
6. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and remaining ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Place 1 cake layer on a plate. Spread filling over cake, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with remaining layer. Drizzle glaze over top of cake, spreading it out over edges. 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Crispy Pork Medallions and Pumpkin Pie

..i love pumpkin. it is seriously one of my favorite foods. like once my mom made some pumpkin bread and i ate practically one whole loaf all by myself in one night. i just can't ever get enough of it. so one day when i was searching the web i came across this recipe for a double layer pumpkin pie, and i just had to try it! and i loved it! it was so good. i also made these crispy pork medallions. it was very easy and fast to make, and i got to use something new: panko, which is a type of Japanese breadcrumb. i had never used panko before but i was really glad i tried it. it was perfect; it was soft but still had a great crunch to it. i also made roasted root vegetables to go with the pork. and i cooked them in a broiler pan, which i had never used before. it was a night of new and delicious things.
the pork.
the vegtables.
 all dished up.
and the double layer pumpkin pie!

Recipes:

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
(1) 8" graham cracker pie crust
4oz. creme cheese softened
1T. evaporated milk chilled
1T. granulated sugar
1 1/2 c. frozen whipped topping thawed
1 c. evaporate milk chiled
(2) pkgs. of vanilla instant pudding (3.4 oz. each)
1 can (15 0z.) pure pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Directions:
Combine cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of evaporated milk and sugar in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spread on bottom of pie crust.
Pour 1 cup of evaporated milk into bowl. add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk for 1 minute. Stir in pumpkin and spices with wire whisk until well mixed. Spread over cream cheese layer.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set. Garnish with additional whipped topping, if desired.

Crispy Pork Medallions
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 8 medallions
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Rub mustard evenly over pork medallions. Combine panko, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Dredge pork in panko mixture. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork; sauté 2 minutes or until golden brown. Turn pork. Place skillet in oven; bake at 450° for 8 minutes or until pork reaches 145°. Let stand 3 minutes.



Roasted Root Vegetables
Ingredients:
8 ounces quartered small red potatoes
2 thinly sliced carrots
2 thinly sliced parsnips
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°. Combine potatoes, carrots, and parsnips in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; toss well to coat. Arrange vegetable mixture on a rack placed in a broiler pan. Bake at 450° for 28 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Grilled Chicken:)

...so i grilled for the first time all by myself! and turns out i love to grill now. i was just in chicago recently and went on this food tour and one of the stops was at a spice shop. it turned out to be my favorite stop in the whole tour. it was so much fun to go around the store and taste all the different spices, which sounds kinda weird because i would have never pictured tasting spices straight up but it was actually really fun.

 the shop.
i bought the awesome italian dressing seasoning there
 i marinated my chicken in this for about 10 hours.
        after 10 hours i turned the grill on and i made a garden salad and cooked up some butter potatoes.


thanks to my awesome sous chef joseph, the master of chopping and dicing, i had help making the salad and potatoes!

                                              grilling! i was so nervous i was going to burn the chicken!

                          drum roll please .............(dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadad)
 grilled chicken that is actually NOT burnt or underdone! now that i am not so scared of grilling i think i will start grilling all the time instead of making my dad do it for me. oh yes and the thanks go to him for teaching me how to grill.