Croutons

My grandma (mom's mom) made the best homemade croutons. This is not her recipe. In fact, I don't think I have her recipe. But it's not the same if she didn't make them, y'know? These are my croutons... and they're rarely the same twice in a row, so it's one of those vague recipes.

Croutons

Ingredients

bread (I like baguettes for this)

olive oil

seasonings (these have garlic powder, paprika, shallot-pepper seasoning, and salt)

Equipment

foil, baking sheet, oven, bowl

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F. (I like my croutons a little chewy. If you like crispier croutons, change that to 425F.) Cube your bread and put into the bowl. (Smaller cubes = crispier croutons.) Drizzle with olive oil; toss until evenly coated. Sprinkle with seasonings; toss until evenly coated. Spread evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-30 minutes (check on them periodically; baking time is entirely up to you and your crunchiness preferences).

Yields

Depends on how much you cut up. I used half a demi-baguette to make what you see above.

Total time

20-30 minutes, depending on how long you want them to bake

Cleanup rating 1/5

Clean the bowl, toss the foil.

Difficulty rating 3/10

I was going to make it a 2/10 but then I remembered that one time I nearly cut off a finger because the knife slipped when I was cutting the bread, and I was very thankful that I'm terrible about sharpening my knives. So, you know... be careful with your knife. I'm serious.

Flavor rating 9/10

You can make them exactly the way you want, as far as seasoning, doneness, and size are concerned, and I love that. Plus they taste fresh, as opposed to the pre-packaged ones that now taste like over-flavored cardboard to me.

Adjustability: high

Cut them smaller or bigger, bake them less time or more, use whatever seasonings you want, add cheese or some other topping, use a different bread like cheese bread or jalapeno bread or olive bread or rye bread... go totally nuts on these things.

Make it with...

Well, I traditionally just put them on salads, but they make a great snack on their own, too. When I was in Paris last summer, we went to a cooking class where we made skate Grenobloise-style, which calls for lemon juice, capers, and croutons to garnish the skate, so that's something I had never done with croutons before. (Hers were cooked in butter in a skillet, too... but stay tuned for a recipe for croutons like that soon!)

Honey Mustard Dressing

I can't even try to introduce this one. I found it in an image on Pinterest (from Spark People but the image is here). Everything I want to say belongs in a section below, so here we go... honey mustard dressing.

Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp honey

Equipment

bowl, whisk

Instructions

Combine ingredients in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

Yields

Enough for maybe 4-5 salads? Maybe about 1/3 cup?

Total time

5 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/5

Lots of liquids to be measured so you need to clean your Tbsp several times (or have a bunch of them on hand and clean them all after).

Difficulty rating 1/10

Mix things in a bowl? That's literally all it is. Mix things in a bowl.

Flavor rating 5/10

What a weird honey mustard. Yeah, there's honey in it... and mustard, too. But that much balsamic vinegar makes it very weird, and the Greek yogurt is a little apparent for my tastes. Birk really liked it, which I guess is great, but I don't think I'll repeat this one. When I brought Birk his plate, he said, "I thought you were going to make honey mustard?" So it's obviously not your usual honey mustard... but not bad.

Adjustability: low

I wouldn't have a clue how to change this. I'd just find a new recipe if I wanted something different.

Make it with...

Well, it was good on our salad, which it was intended for. It might be good drizzled on fresh bread, too.

Bonus photos: Dinner was avocado chicken with potatoes and salad made of lettuce from our planter, cucumber, and homemade croutons.

Skillet Corn

I forgot to take a photo of this one. So I'm borrowing the photo from here, which is where I got the recipe from.

From here

Before I made this, I didn't really know what creamed corn was. It just brought to mind a tin can of gelatinous goo with corn in it. (Turns out, I wasn't far off on that count.) But I described to a coworker this corn that I made over the weekend, and she said it sounded like creamed corn. So I guess creamed corn is actually pretty good. At any rate, the original recipe poster called this skillet corn, which sounds way more delicious than "creamed corn."

Skillet Corn

Ingredients

3 cups corn

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 Tbsp sugar (I'm fairly certain I accidentally left this out)

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup milk

Equipment

skillet with lid, stove

Instructions

Put corn, salt and pepper, sugar, butter, and water in 10" skillet. Cover; simmer 15 minutes (stir occasionally). Combine flour with milk. Stir into corn. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Yields

about 3 cups of corn

Total time

20 minutes (negligible prep time, 15 minutes to simmer and 5 minutes to finish it off)

Cleanup rating 2/5

All you have to clean is a pan, spoon, and whatever bowl you put the corn in. And the measuring cup. Nothing sticky or anything; very simple.

Difficulty rating 3/10

Just make sure you stir constantly after you add the milk; I'm always very wary after adding milk to a hot pan because I know it can do weird, disgusting things. The rest is incredibly easy.

Flavor rating 5/10

Yum. It might have been better if I had remembered the sugar, but it was still good. It went perfectly with burgers and hot dogs on a beautiful-weather Father's Day.

Adjustability: low

I don't know what else you could do to it.

Make it with...

Well, like I said, it went great with cookout food. But it would also work with... pretty much anything. Chicken, beef, pork, whatever.

Rocky Road Cookies

These were so good. So sweet, but so good. Kind of like the GoT finale I made them for.

Rocky Road Cookies

Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp salt
3 large egg whites
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2.5 oz sliced almonds (I used slivered because that's what I had)
1 cup mini marshmallows

Equipment
large bowl, baking sheet, parchment paper, oven, MUSCLES, freezer

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix up your powdered sugar and cocoa. Whisk in the salt. Add the egg whites and vanilla; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds. (This is where the muscle comes in... it's a thick batter.) Spoon small mounds onto parchment paper and top with a few marshmallows (press them in a little to make sure they don't tumble off). Stick them in the freezer for a few minutes to prevent too much spreading when they bake. Put on a baking sheet (I didn't think it was a good idea to freeze the baking sheet itself) and bake about 12 minutes (until marshmallows are toasted like in the photo). Let them cool a few minutes on the pan before transferring to wire rack.

Yields
2 dozen cookies

Total time
about 30 minutes (I baked two batches, so about 10 minutes prep, and about 10 minutes for each batch to bake)

Cleanup rating 3/5
Chocolate everywhere. Powdered sugar more everywhere.

Difficulty rating 6/10
I'm not kidding about stirring that batter... it's thick. Don't be lazy about it, though; you want evenly distributed bits. And someone save you if you think whisking your wet ingredients in is a good idea. Your whisk will pick up all of the batter and be rendered useless.

Flavor rating 8/10
Really sweet but really yummy. Kind of sticky.

Adjustability: medium
Don't like almonds? Use pecans, or walnuts, or no nuts at all. Try mixing some marshmallows into the batter. Try cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips or caramel bits or toffee chips. I know rocky road has a specific definition but I've always thought of it as the "everything bagel" of desserts.

Make it with...
Nothing; it's a cookie. Our dinner was burgers and hot dogs on the grill with veggies. This seemed like an appropriately casual dessert for the occasion.

Maple Cookies

Happy Fathers' Day, everyone!

You know what I love about making cookies as gifts for people? I get to taste test them.

My dad loves a good maple bar, so when I ran across a maple cookie recipe on Pinterest, I thought they might make a good gift for him.

Maple Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar

Equipment
oven, mixer, baking sheet, cooling rack

Instructions
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, syrup, and vanilla; mix until combined. Add soda, salt, and flour; mix until combined. Refrigerate for about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 F. Put sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1" balls and flatten slightly; dip one side in sugar and set on greased baking sheets (sugar-side up). Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Yields
2 dozen cookies

Total time
90 minutes (a few minutes to mix everything, 1 hour to refrigerate, a few minutes to roll into balls, 10 minutes each for two batches to bake)

Cleanup rating 2/5
As long as you can manage to not get syrup everywhere while you're measuring, this is only as messy as a basic sugar cookie (simple enough to get the batter off the bowl and beaters, throw your measuring implements in the dishwasher, you're done).

Difficulty rating 3/10
The hardest part is creaming the butter and sugar, which is so easy.

Flavor rating 6/10
They're pretty good. They don't have a strong flavor (which I prefer, personally) but they're nice. I used light brown sugar, so that probably makes a difference.

Adjustability: low
I don't know what I could do to change this recipe. Maybe some kind of frosting to make it sweeter, or throw some walnuts in there?

Make it with...
Nothing, they're cookies. If I were a coffee drinker, I might think they go well with coffee... I'm not sure.

Dipping Sauce for Dumplings

This is the incredibly easy sauce I made to go with our chicken dumplings. It almost doesn't even call for a separate post. But here it is!

Dumpling Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
2 Tbsp honey
1.5 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1.5 Tbsp orange marmalade

Equipment
bowl, spoon

Instructions
Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. (Told you it was easy.)

Yields
Um... about 5 Tbsp of sauce. Based on math.

Total time
5 minutes

Cleanup rating 3/5
It's sticky and you don't want to let it sit overnight or it will be harder to clean.

Difficulty rating 1/10
You saw the instructions, right?

Flavor rating 8/10
YUM. I like sweet sauces, so I love it. Maybe a little less honey is called for. It was delicious though.

Adjustability: low
I'm sure you can mess with this one, but I don't know what I would do with it.

Make it with...
Well, the dumplings, of course. It would make a nice dipping sauce for most Chinese-style foods, really. Or just plain stuff, like grilled chicken or steamed veggies.

Bonus photos:

Steamed Chicken Dumplings

No, not chicken and dumplings... chicken dumplings. Like, Chinese food. I got a bamboo steamer! And I was very, very excited to use it. I got it so I could make steamed buns, but I thought I should start with something a little easier to get the hang of how the steamer works, since I've never used one before.

Steamed Chicken Dumplings

Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
4 green onions, minced
4 Tbsp minced garlic
about 1" of fresh ginger, peeled & minced
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 package wonton wrappers
optional: cabbage or lettuce leaves instead of parchment paper

Equipment
mixing bowl, wok, bamboo steamer, stove, parchment paper

Instructions
In a large bowl, mix the ground chicken, green onions, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce by hand until thoroughly combined. Line your bamboo steamer with cabbage or lettuce leaves or with parchment paper. Spoon a little bit of chicken mixture into the middle of each wonton wrapper, wet the edges and fold together into a triangle, pressing out the air and sealing it. Set the dumplings into the paper-lined steamer trays in a single layer. Steam according to your steamer's directions for about 10-12 minutes. (Mine calls for putting about 2" of water in the wok, setting the steamer in, waiting until it boils, and then starting the timer for how long to cook.)

Yields
We made about three dozen dumplings and had a little chicken mixture left over.

Total time
Since we made ours in three batches, it took about 45 minutes, what with the 10 minutes per batch, and figuring out how to work the steamer and putting together the first batch of dumplings (I made the others while the previous batch was cooking).

Cleanup rating 2/5
For so much work, it's surprising how easy it is to clean up. We used parchment paper, so I don't know if lining with leaves makes a difference, but the steamer just needed a quick clean, and other than that, there's just a mixing bowl and spoon to deal with.

Difficulty rating 7/10
In future dumplings recipes, I'm sure I'll rate this a lot lower, but with it being our first time using the steamer (and not realizing that you can leave at least the bottom tray in the wok while you remove cooked dumplings) and getting the hang of making dumplings that don't make big air pockets... it was a little more difficult than it probably will be in the future.

Flavor rating 7/10
YUM. We made dumplings, you guys. Real, honest-to-goodness, dumplings. Like the ones in restaurants. It's kind of amazing. We used a little bit too much ginger (my fault) but they were delicious. Birk threatened to eat all of them so I had to pack up leftovers for lunch before he could do that.

Adjustability: high
You can put pretty much whatever you want in your dumplings. The original recipe actually called for ground pork, but I couldn't find any at the store, so I used chicken instead. You can add minced veggies or other spices or whatever! You could also pan-fry them after they're steamed, which I plan to do next, as far as dumplings are concerned.

Make it with...
Well, there's a dipping sauce recipe here that I loved with these. You could make some rice, steam some vegetables in another tray of the steamer, make tempura... whatever!

Bonus photos:

Pre-steaming

Chicken mixture

Bamboo steamer in the wok, starting to heat up

We cut open the first one to make sure it got cooked thoroughly

BIG pile of dumplings!

Just Two Cookies

Last night, I was poking around the kitchen looking for a snack. I found nothing that interested me, but I opened the cabinet and realized that I could make a snack, because I had all the makings of basic baked goods (because of all the cookies and cakes and such I've been making lately). So I switched to poking around on the internet to look for "small batch cookie recipes" and I was not disappointed.

(No, those aren't on the usual big plates; it's on the little tiny plate.)

Just Two Cookies

Ingredients 

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp (packed) brown sugar

1 Tbsp sugar

pinch of sea salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp (heaped) chocolate chips

1 Tbsp (heaped) butterscotch chips

Equipment
small baking sheet, oven

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. If you want a softer cookie, line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the pan if you prefer crisper cookies. In a microwave-safe bowl, soften your butter. Add sugars, salt, and vanilla to butter and mix by hand. Add egg yolk and stir until combined. Add baking soda and flour and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Split into two and set on baking sheet a few inches apart. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before enjoying.

Yields
2 cookies

Total time
15 minutes (preheating while mixing, then baking)

Cleanup rating 2/5
It's great to not have a mixer and mixing bowl and spatula and all that to clean... just a small bowl (like a salad bowl) and the fork I used to mix.

Difficulty rating 3/10
Sure, you have to be able to separate a yolk out of the egg, and mix thoroughly, and whatnot.

Flavor rating 4/10
I've got to stop using those damn butterscotch chips. They're just too ridiculously sweet. I would recommend going back to what the original recipe said: 2 Tbsp chocolate chips, no butterscotch.

Adjustability: medium
You could add different things: nuts, other chips, caramel bits, etc.

Make it with...
Nothing, it's just a cookie. I guess if you're into milk, you'd probably like that with them.

BBQ Pizza

I was planning a really epic dinner of dumplings with dipping sauce and a soy-honey pork, but the store was missing a few key ingredients. So I had to improvise. And I made pizza!

No, the color isn't off on your monitor (well... it could be, but if it weren't, this still might look a little odd) and I didn't burn it. It's bbq pizza!

BBQ Pizza

Ingredients
Boboli pizza crust
Jack Daniel's honey barbecue sauce
pepperoni
black olives
four-cheese blend (the same one I used on the avocado chicken parm last night)

Equipment
cookie sheet or pizza stone, oven, pizza cutter

Instructions
The instructions are actually on the Boboli crust package. Preheat the oven to 450F, put sauce, cheese, and toppings on the crust, bake for 8-10 minutes. I put the cheese on top of my toppings in the hopes that it would keep the pepperoni from sliding around when I tried to cut the pizza (like they've done in the past) but it didn't help.

Yields
an 8" pizza (which I cut into 6ths)

Total time
15 minutes (waiting for the oven to heat up takes half the time; baking the pizza takes the other half)

Cleanup rating 1/5
It hardly gets easier. No dishes involved, except the pan (which, unless you're just the worst at spreading sauce, will be almost clean anyway) and the plate I ate off of.

Difficulty rating 2/10
I had to fight with the olive can because I had a mishap with the can opener, but that isn't really the recipe's fault. There's a reason people use "make your own pizza night" as a family event... kids can do this.

Flavor rating 5/10
Not bad. I used a little bit too much sauce.

Adjustability: high
You can put ANYTHING on your pizza. Any sauce, any cheese, any toppings... whatever you want.

Make it with...
I made a big huge salad to go with mine, because I usually associate pizza and salad with Italian dressing. Probably from going to the Pizza Hut lunch buffet so much as a kid, I guess.

Avocado Chicken Parmesan

I sent a photo of this one to my dad to tell him it's okay for him to be jealous of my dinner. That's a pretty good sign that this was amazing, because my dad is an excellent cook so I have to do a really great job to think I can impress him.

Avocado Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

Chicken breasts

Flour

Egg

1 Tbsp milk

Bread crumbs

Tomato sauce*

Avocado, sliced

Cheese (mine was a 4-cheese blend with Parmesan in it)

Equipment

Cookie sheet, foil, oven, a bunch of bowls

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. Set up your bowls: one for flour, one for an egg beaten with the milk, one for bread crumbs. Do one chicken breast at a time: lightly bread it with flour, dip in the egg, thoroughly coat with breadcrumbs, and lay on greased foil lined pan. Bake for about 4 minutes, flip them over, bake another 4 minutes. Take them out of the oven and spoon sauce over the top of each one. Lay slices of avocado on top of each, and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, unless cheese is all melted.

Yields

As many chicken breasts as you make. For every two chicken breasts, use one egg and one avocado.

Total time

About 20 minutes

Cleanup rating 1/5

Don't spill sauce everywhere and you're fine. You've got foil on the pan, so you've got a few bowls to rinse out and toss in the dishwasher and that's about it.

Difficulty rating 3/10

I almost gave this a 2 but then I remembered that a lot of people have difficulty slicing avocados for some reason. I had what I'm pretty sure was the world's most perfect avocado so that kind of helps I guess. But all the other steps are really easy.

Flavor rating 8/10

YUM. Remember how I said up there at the top all that stuff about how amazing this was? Just refer back to that.

Adjustability: medium

Use seasonings in your flour and/or breadcrumbs! Switch up your sauces (see the asterisk below)! Try different cheeses!

Make it with...

Original recipe told me to serve it with a green salad. I made peas with garlic butter. Pretty much any vegetable will be friends with this chicken. It doesn't really call for much else. You could make a little spaghetti and add some of your sauce to that too.

*I "made" my own tomato sauce too. I use the sarcastiquotes because it wasn't hard, so it doesn't really feel like I "made" anything. Target had a tiny little can of tomato sauce for $0.39 so I got that instead of buying a giant jar of shmancy sauce that I'll barely use any of. Then I added basil, oregano, shallot-pepper seasoning, LOTS of garlic powder, and some Brady Street cheese sprinkle. So this part is super adaptable.

Bonus photos!

My sauce and avocados, waiting for the chicken to bake.

Adding the avocados

 

Beautifully done!

Mmmm, dinner.

Lime Cake

Let's talk lime cake. I made this for Game of Thrones night! Everyone said it was good (and I agree). (Apologies for the photo... I forgot to take a picture when it was still whole... so this is the piece I took to work the day after.)

Lime Cake

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp butter (room temperature)
2 eggs, well beaten
juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar

Equipment
mixer, oven, 8"x8" square cake pan

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and lime juice and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and baking powder and mix thoroughly. Pour (my experience was more like "drop") into your greased and floured cake pan (I had to spread it evenly with a spoon, so do that if you need to). Bake 25 minutes (inserted toothpick should come out clean). Let it cool for a few minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before it's completely cooled (it will stick better if it's a little warm).

Yields
I don't know, an 8"x8" cake.

Total time
About 45 minutes (maybe a little longer if you forgot to get your butter up to room temp before you get started). It takes a little while to get the butter and sugar creamed (unless I'm doing it wrong).

Cleanup rating 2/5
Remember my rule about rating cleanup of things that involve powdered sugar? That applies here. Also, I didn't cool my cake on the cooling rack so it kind of stuck to the plate but still, not a biggie.

Difficulty rating 4/10
The most difficult thing about this recipe is creaming the sugar and butter (not my favorite thing in the world to do). Remember: I use a hand mixer. So that contributes. But you have to get the batter spread evenly in the pan or it's probably not going to turn out well for you.

Flavor rating 8/10
YUM. Everyone seemed pretty happy about this one. It almost totally disappeared, which is a good thing for cake.

Adjustability low
At least, as far as I know, it's low. The original recipe recommended garnishing with chopped peanuts, which I planned on doing, but I had no peanuts. I want to look into some kind of honey sauce I could put on top... but still, options are limited.

Make it with...
My coworker Missi was the lucky recipient of my other leftover piece that came to work with me, and she said it was screaming for coffee (not in the way that it's dry but in the way that it would pair extremely well with coffee). I don't drink coffee, so I wouldn't know, but I'll take her word for it. I think it would go really well with some fresh strawberries too.