squash, zucchini, and eggplant rice gratin

As you can see in the last entry, I have quite a few veggies on my hand. In an effort to cook with them and waste as little as possible (advice, please!), I wanted to make something that would use quite a few tonight for dinner. This recipe took me about 2 hours and involved me being pretty darn hot in my kitchen for a lot of it (when I'm cooking, I just keep my a/c off and the windows open and fan on; save the electricity costs and I'll be hot regardless). The biggest "failure" of the recipe was the rice - but that is because, try as I might (and I do, oh I do), I am so bad at cooking rice. Every time I read someone's foolproof recipe and try my darndest to follow it exactly, but it still burns. At best, it's a bit soggy and I'm just thrilled it doesn't taste like burned popcorn. Tonight was more of a burned night. So that brought the dish down a bit to have slightly crispy, burnt popcorn flavored rice. One day I will prevail!

I love love love roasted veggies, though, and I could probably have eaten them all right off the sheet after the oven (so good), so that part of the recipe went well. I didn't have enough cheese for it to be really cheesy, so I added in a bit of my whole organic yogurt instead of cheese to the egg mixture and then just grated some cheese on top. I also didn't have tomatoes (I sure as heck wasn't going to buy more veggies), and so while that certainly changed the recipe, I don't think it was really a negative effect. I wouldn't recommend using the cast iron skillet to cook it in, but I just was overrun with dirty dishes and didn't care. I am sure the recipe as she has it is delicious and one day I hope to make it. But this was good and different, and I enjoyed giving it a try in between crying over the Olympics (I'm just such a sucker for sports).

1/3 cup white rice, long-grain is suggested but use whatever you prefer
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium), sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 pound plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Table salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided

Preheat oven to 450°F. Cook the rice according to your favorite method. The package directions work in some cases, but check my notes above about adjustments I find I have to make. If you cook the rice in a large, wide-ish covered skillet, it might cook even faster but you’ll have the chance to use it again (and save on dirty dishes) when you need to cook the onions in a bit.

While rice cooks, coat two large (or, if you have the same pitifully small oven as I do, three smaller) baking sheets each with a tablespoon of a of olive oil (a bit less for smaller pans). Spread zucchini and tomato slices on the baking sheets in as close to a single layer as you can. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Roast tomatoes for 10 minutes and zucchini for 20. Flip zucchini halfway through; it’s not worth the messy effort for the tomatoes. Leave oven on.

Heat large, heavy skillet (such as the one you used to cook your rice) over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, heat oil, then add onions, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking onion until limp and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Combine onion mixture, rice, eggs, thyme, half of your grated cheese and a half-tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Add a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. Use the remaining half-tablespoon of olive oil to coat a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Spread half of rice mixture in bottom of dish. Arrange half of roasted zucchini on top. Spread remaining rice mixture over it and please don’t worry about being neat about this; dinner will be “rustic” tonight! Arrange remaining zucchini on top, then tomato slices. Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese and bake until set and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Each oven varies, but I find mine does the very best browning when the dish is on a rack near the top of the oven.

cheddar mustard beer pull apart bread

Hello superbowl food! I wasn't that excited about the game this year (a combination of still getting back into football after a few years abroad and out of it and not caring about the teams too much), but I knew I wanted to make some superbowl food to take with me to watch the game. I had made the banana cupcakes the day before, and then SK posted this recipe for savory pull apart bread, so I had my bases covered. I ended up watching most of the game at my boyfriend's friend's house (which is conveniently located around the corner from my apt), and as the only girl, I also had the only sweet and bread contributions (aka, they had just ordered wings and bought beer).

This was not so difficult to make, but I rarely feel overwhelmed by a recipe (well, one that involves baking anyway). I chose to make the dough the night before and keep it in the fridge and then finish it by making the filling and baking it a couple hours before the game. That probably contributed to me not thinking it was such a big undertaking. I also felt that it wasn't terribly hard to assemble the bread, which was a bit surprising. And although I wasn't completely sold the instant I ate it (you'd expect more cheese in every bite but it gets soaked into the bread or something), I ended up liking it and the guys took care of the rest handily.

 Yellow time: mustard sauce + dough + countertop = indistinguishable

Bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1/3 beer, preferably dark but really, use whatever you like to drink
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup rye flour (use additional a-p flour if you don’t have this) [I used wheat]
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) instant yeast
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Filling
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dijon or a mustard of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Several grinds black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar [I did not measure out and probably used more]

Make dough:
In a small saucepan, heat the 4 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup of beer, just until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add the remaining 1/3 cup beer. Set aside to cool down slightly. You want the mixture warm (110 to 116 degrees), but not steaming hot.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, sugar, yeast and table salt. With the mixer on low, pour in the butter-beer mixture, mixing only until the flour is moistened. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. The batter will look lumpy, but will become smooth in a moment. Add the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and all of the rye flour, mixing until just combined. Replace paddle with a dough hook and let the machine knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes on low. [My mixer was not at its best with this recipe, so I ended up kneading it by hand.]

Oil a medium/large bowl and transfer dough to it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside for 50 to 60 minutes, until doubled. Meanwhile, prepare fillings.

[Do ahead: You can also rest the dough in the fridge overnight -- wrapped tightly with plastic. The next day, let it rest at room temperature for an hour before rolling out.]
[I wasn't clear on whether I should let it rise for an hour and THEN put it in the fridge, so I didn't, but I think that would have been the correct way to do it.]


Make filling: 
Back in the same small saucepan you used for the butter and beer, melt the 3 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, Worcestershire and hot sauce until smooth. Set aside.

In the bottom of a medium bowl, stir together mustard powder, paprika, table salt and several grinds of black pepper. Add shredded cheddar and toss until grated strands are evenly coated with spices. I like to keep this in the fridge until needed so it doesn’t get soft and clumpy, making it harder to sprinkle over the dough in a bit.


Assemble bread: 
Either coat a 9-by-5 loaf pan lightly with butter or a nonstick spray and set aside.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and roll the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter by lifting sections and re-flouring the counter as needed. Brush the butter-mustard-Worcestershire mixture evenly over the whole surface, right up to the edges. Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips; each should be 12-by-4 inches. Sprinkle the first one evenly with a heaping 1/4 cup of the grated cheese (which is now fine to leave out at room temperature). Gently place another strip on top of it, coat it with another heaping 1/4 cup of cheese, and repeat with remaining strips until they are stacked 5-high and all of the cheese is used.

With your very sharpest serrated knife, gently — so gently! The lightest sawing motions the weight of the blade will allow! — cut your stack into 6 to 7 2-inch segments (each stacked segment should be 4-by-2 inches). I say 6 to 7 range because while your 12-inch length should clearly yield only 6 2-inch segments, I find that the soft dough stretches so much when you lift and stack it that I end up with 7. Either amount will fit; this is totally not something to fret over.

Arrange stacks of dough down the length of your prepared loaf pan as if filling a card catalog drawer. I make this easier by standing my loaf pan up on its short end to make the next part easier. If, when you finish filing all of your dough stacks, you ended up with less than needed for the dough “cards” to reach the end of the pan, when you return the pan to rest flat on the counter again, just shimmy it a little so the dough centers. It will all even out in the final rise/oven. If you ended up with too many dough cards, before you add the last stack, simply press gently on the dough already filed to make room for it.

Loosely cover the pan with more plastic wrap and set it aside to rise again for 30 to 45 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake loaf for 25 to 35 minutes, until puffed and brown. Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes before flipping it out onto a serving plate/cutting board. Serve warm with cold beer.

Loaf “pulls” apart the easiest when it is hot or warm. If it has cooled beyond the point that the layers wish to easily separate, simply serve it in thin slices. Wrap leftovers in plastic and keep at room temperature for a day. I bet the leftovers would be fantastic reheated with scrambled eggs.

Nutritional Information (for 1/10 of recipe)
271 total calories
14g total fat
27g total carbs
9g protein

goat cheese & basil chicken

As it was personal training night for the boyfriend, it was another night for me to cook dinner. He said he wanted something relatively healthy and with chicken, so I decided upon this recipe from my Ina Garten cookbook. I've been making an effort lately to use my cookbooks more often even though the internet and SK and allrecipes are great resources.

This turned out really well. It was super easy to make, quick in terms of time spent on it (though it does have 40 minutes of cooking time), and tasted really good. We love goat cheese, so that worked out really well. I decided to make a little couscous salad to go with it, and I think that it paired well together. I got a few compliments on it, and since that always warms my little heart to hear I've made someone something delicious, I was a happy camper.

*I'm writing down my adjusted recipe. This was 2 breasts - he ate all of his but I had about 1/2-2/3 of mine.

2 chicken breasts [she says skin-on, boneless, but HEB doesn't sell that anymore. I bought the split breast with the bone-in and skin and then just cut the breast away from the bone. Also, it was considerably cheaper for much more meat than boneless, skinless.]
2 oz herb and garlic goat cheese [make sure you get a creamy kind]
2 fresh basil leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Loosen the skin from the breast, leaving one side attached. Cut the goat cheese into slices and place a few plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast. Pull the skin over as much of the meat as possible so that it doesn't dry out.

Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake chicken for 35-40 minutes, until skin is lightly browned and chicken is just cooked through. [When I checked with my boyfriend after 40 minutes, he had me turn the oven up to 450 for another 5 minutes and it turned out really well. This helped get the skin a bit more crispy, and if I'm going to eat it, I definitely want it to be crispy.]



1/2 cup uncooked couscous [buy it in bulk from the grocery store for cheap!]
3/4 cup boiling water
Mix couscous and water and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

4 campari tomatoes [between cherry and vine tomato size, but whatever works for you]
2 leaves fresh basil
1 oz herb and garlic goat cheese
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar [I didn't actually measure]
2 tbsp olive oil [I didn't actually measure]
salt and pepper

Cut the tomatoes and julienne the basil. I mixed the balsamic, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper together to make a salad dressing [a simple one I learned from a roommate in Bulgaria]. Mix tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, and dressing into couscous. Serve on the side of the roasted chicken. 

christmas party: baked brie + mulled wine

My mom had a little Christmas shindig while I was home, and it was super fun. I helped out with the grocery shopping (mainly to help her from buying everything; I was mostly unsuccessful) and making the baked brie and mulled wine. Both were really simple and easy, but they made me feel like I was making a fancy contribution.

I looked up the baked brie recipe on a couple different sites and they all said pretty much the same thing. The mulled wine recipe was also really basic, and I followed one that my mom set out in a magazine for me.

Baked Brie


1 (8 ounce) wheel Brie cheese
3 tablespoons apricot preserves [whatever flavor you want]
1/2 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed [we used crescent rolls, as in Pillsbury]
1 egg white [oops, I used the whole egg I think]


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

I didn't really follow this recipe very well, so I'm just going to write down what I actually did. First of all, take out the crescent rolls (or have your step-dad do it if you are a weenie with things that pop). Divide it into two square pieces. Press the seams together so that they don't separate when cooking (you can see that I was lazy in my seam-securing). Place the brie on the center of one of the squares on the cooking sheet. Spread the preserves on top. Place the second square on top of the brie and press the pieces together, tucking the top piece under the brie a bit. Use a knife to cut off the excess pastry. You can be creative and make a design on top or eat it raw, like I chose to.

Beat the egg white, or whole egg if you're me, and brush it on the pastry. Pop that baby in the oven! Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry in golden brown. Serve immediately. Eat all of it. What, just me?

Mulled Wine
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 lemon, sliced
zest of 1 orange
3 cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1 bottle cabernet sauvignon

Bring water to a boil. Add all ingredients except wine. Stir until sugar dissolves.

Add wine and bring mixture to a simmer for 20 minutes. Do not boil. Because I was serving it hot, I picked out the cloves and then just served it from the saucepan. If you are giving it away (as suggested by the magazine), strain it and let it cool before pouring into gift bottles.

parmesean chicken couscous

I didn't use a recipe for this! Yes, it isn't complicated, but I still have been pretty reliant on recipes and hesitant to shy away from it. I have made a lemon chicken recipe a couple times lately, so I guess I was feeling like I had a sense of what to do and then was ready to mix it up a little. I saw that I had one chicken breast left over in the fridge, a few basic ingredients, and midway through cooking I remembered that I wouldn't want chicken alone, and so I decided that couscous was a good save since pasta would take too long.

1 chicken breast
1/2 lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 pat butter
1 tbsp half and half
1/3 cup dry couscous
1-2 tbsp grated parmesean

I put the butter and squeezed the lemon juice into the pan to heat up. Once it was melted, I mixed it up, and then I put my chicken breast in. I poured in about a 1/4-1/2 cup of wine and about a tbsp of half and half. I swished it around the pan to mix it up and coat the chicken in it. I waited until the chicken was cooked pretty well on one side before flipping it, probably about 4-5 minutes. Then I flipped it over and mixed it around with the sauce, which was starting to cook off a bit but there was enough under the chicken to keep it from burning.

While the chicken was cooking, I put some water on to boil in my electric water heater (I don't have a coffee maker or microwave, which drives my mother crazy, even though she doesn't live here, so she insisted that I at least have this). Once the water was boiling, I mixed 1/2 cup of water with 1/3 cup of couscous and some salt. I covered the couscous and let it sit for about 5 minutes before fluffing it.

Once the chicken and couscous were done, I put the couscous in a bowl, sliced the chicken on top, poured in any of the remaining sauce from the pan, and grated some parmesean on top. I mixed it all together, and I was a very happy camper with my lunch.

Nutritional information (for 1 cup couscous and 1 chicken breast):
513 calories
11g total fat
49g carbs
44g protein
*note: I wasn't exactly sure how big my chicken breast was, so I used an entry for 3.5 oz