Saturday, August 27, 2011

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies


I love desserts of all, shapes, size, color and taste. However, my favorite dessert in the whole world is probably the simple chocolate chip cookies. As much as i love them, I hardly ever make them from scratch. Maybe because they're so delicious at places like Paradise Bakery and they're so easy using break and bake. Or, maybe it's the fact I can down way more cookies than I'd like anyone to know in one sitting. But after seeing this recipe I decided to give into my "desires" and bake a batch.


Ingredients
2 cups and 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
between 1 1/2 and 2 cups  chocolate chips


Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.


Mix the melted butter, white sugar and brown sugar in another medium-large sized bowl.


Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix again.


Mix in the vanilla extract.


Slowly mix in the flour mixture.


Stir in the chocolate chips. In case you haven't read some of the other recipes with chocolate on this blog, I have the firm belief that everything is better with more chocolate. The recipe I was using said to use 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, but I used just about 2 cups. However, it means that my cooking times will be different so I make sure to watch over the cookies every few minutes while they're in the oven to make sure they're baked the appropriate length of time.


Finally, you're going to take a little less than 1/2 a cups worth of dough and ball it up.


Next, you'll split the ball in half, putting the flat side facing up (making two cookies from every one ball).


Once you've filled up the cookie sheet, pop it in the oven at 325 degrees from anywhere between 10-14 minutes. Make sure to watch them the last few minutes of baking to make sure they aren't overbaked. Depending on your preference of soft vs. hard cookies, you'll want to take the cookies out accordingly. Keep in mind, they still bake a little after taking them out so I would take them out when they look almost done but still soft. If you like harder cookies you may wait until the cookies are browning. 




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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Butterbeer Cupcakes

I stumbled on this recipe a few weeks ago and thought it'd be the perfect thing to make for my brother's birthday. They're not difficult to make and they're pretty good but be forewarned: they are super sugary. I don't think I could eat more than one at a time.


Ingredients
Cupcake Batter
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cream soda
Ganache
1 package butterscotch chips
1 cup heavy cream
Frosting
1/2 cup butter softened
1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 16-oz package powdered sugar


First, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Put this bowl aside for later.


In another bowl mix the butter until it's nice and fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until everything is well combined. Beat in your eggs and then mix in the vanilla extract. 


Alternate mixing in the cream soda and a little bit of the dry mixture at a time.



Fill cupcake tins about 3/4 of the way full and pop them in the oven (at 350 degrees) for about 17 minutes, or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.


While the cupcakes are baking, start the ganache. You will need a double broiler or two different sized pots. If you use two pots you will need to put water in the larger pot.


Melt the butterscotch chips and the heavy cream. Stir until melted and smooth.


Take the ganache off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.


Cut out the center of each cupcake once they've cooled. 


Pour some of the ganache into the center of the cupcakes.


Combine the frosting ingredients. When I did this the frosting was really dry so I added a little bit of milk at a time until it was at a consistency I wanted.


Frost the cupcakes and drizzle some of the ganache on top. Then these cupcakes are all ready to eat!



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Seafood Marinara

Thus begins a sad chapter for phxculinaryadventures: one in which Becca and I must cook separately while I am attending law school in New York and she is working in Arizona. Yet, despite the difficulties this will inevitably raise in our motivation to cook and the time our schedules permit we are determined to keep the blog going. So, while our recipes may become a bit simpler and the pictures will be shot in different kitchens, we will continue updating for you; our 5 or so dedicated followers. 

So here's the first of many. This one's super easy. I picked up a seafood blend at Trader Joe's (best place ever) which is what makes this otherwise complicated and expensive recipe easy. Besides that you just need marinara, olive oil, your pasta of choice, and some basic seasonings. 


 Get a pot of water boiling on the side for the pasta and separately dump the thawed seafood into a pan. I drained mine a little, but make sure to leave plenty of the liquid in the pan. Some of this water is going to cook off so your sauce isn't going to be watery in the end, plus the juices have lots of great seafood flavor. After you have drained add just a little bit of olive oil for the fish to cook in. 

 Once the fish is almost cooked through (or heated up in the event you bought pre-cooked seafood) add your marinara sauce. 

Stir it in, adding more until you have the desired amount of sauce at around the desired consistency. Remember water will continue cooking off. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir every few minutes until the pasta is done.  

Plate it and enjoy. This took me about 15 minutes total. 


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Noodle Stir Fry

Something I love about stir fry is that there are an endless combination of possible ingredients. The key is in the sauce, and we happen to think that this is a particularly good one; sweet, not too oily, and goes great with our veggie additions. 

Our sauce: 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sweet rice wine
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (we like to use a thicker marinade sauce but any will do)
2 tablespoons brown sugar


Mix it all up and set it aside. 

This particular evening we made a veggie stir fry with tofu (firm), broccoli, Asian noodles, shelled edamame, and peanuts. Some other great additions are sugar peas, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms. 
Start by sauteing the vegetables and tofu in a pan with a little bit of cooking spray. It's important not to add too much oil at this point because there is plenty in the sauce. 
The noodles we used were precooked and not dried so we only had to boil them for about 30 seconds to heat them up, but dried noodles will of course take a bit longer so plan accordingly. 


Drain the noodles and add them to the pan. Pour in the sauce and cook until everything is of the desired consistency. This is an easy recipe and pretty healthy. If you are looking to make this meal more substantial you can add meat, or serve with a side of pot stickers. Enjoy.


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