Easy And Delicious From Homemade With Love
Apr 10, 2013 Food
I’ve already written about the lovely launch party I went to last week for my friend Jennifer’s new cookbook Homemade With Love. And the baking lesson I took Fiona to and the wonderful cheese crackers the kids and I made. It was all fun and delicious.
But here’s a little confession: as fun as it can be to bake with my kids, what I really love is to be in my kitchen all alone. It’s my happy place. The TV is on in the background playing something I’ve seen a million times and don’t have to pay much attention to, like an old sitcom (no Maddow or Daily Show or Colbert – I don’t want to get angry while I cook!). All of my ingredients and tools are lined up and waiting. By the time I’m done the place is usually a disaster, but I like to start with things neat and clean.
I started Saturday night by putting together the Baked French Toast. I’m always looking for breakfast recipes that I can make the night before – so much easier when company is coming over, or relatives are staying at my house. This one was really simple to put together. The hardest part is always finding room in my fridge for a 13×9 pan. :-)
A note about using vanilla beans: Do it! I’d never used one until a couple of weeks ago when I was making this banana pudding with pistachio topping. The first time I make any recipe, I always try to make it EXACTLY as written. The recipe said vanilla beans, so I bought vanilla beans. They are very easy to work with: just cut them in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, add the seeds to your recipe, and enjoy the wonderful smell on your fingers!
The next morning all I had to do was put it in the oven, and serve. It was a hit!
I prefer my French toast a little drier, so I casually suggested that I might reduce the liquid a bit next time or bake it a little longer, and my husband agreed. Fiona said no way, it should be even moister! Then Jake chimed in with “Don’t change anything, it’s perfect.” Now, I don’t want to discount the opinions of my husband and daughter – I want them to like what I make and I’m thrilled when they do. But when my cooking pleases Jake, well, that gives me a special thrill, because he’s the pickiest in the house. Score! I think I’ll keep everything the same for next time.
I then moved on to making Creamy Homemade Ricotta. If you’ve never had fresh ricotta spread on a little piece of crusty bread, go do it now. I’ll wait.
Divine, right?
Making ricotta isn’t like making a solid cheese, which can be difficult and involves all sorts of equipment and exact temperatures. Ricotta is easy-peasy. There’s lots of room for error. And here’s a little cheat for you: if for some reason you’re just not getting curds, add a tablespoon or two of white vinegar. Fixed!
I wanted a dryer ricotta. The longer you drain it for, the dryer it will be. After draining for about thirty minutes, it looked like this:
I was making the ricotta to use in the Crispy Spinach-Ricotta Latkes. I love just about anything potato based, but have never made latkes, so I was dying to try this recipe. It has very few ingredients, and I was able to throw it together quickly. I used frozen spinach, and was able to microwave and drain that and shred the Parmesan while the potato water was resting.
They were perfect! Unfortunately I only got to eat two of them. :-/ Fiona and my husband gobbled up most of the rest, and then Fiona claimed the leftovers for the next day’s school lunch before I could get to them. Darn it! Next time, double recipe.
Crispy Spinach-Ricotta Latkes
(Reprinted with permission from Jennifer Perillo and Running Press)
Makes 10 to 12 latkes
Ingredients:
1 large russet potato, peeled
1/2 cup (95 grams) packed, very well-drained steamed spinach, chopped
1/2 cup (100 grams) Creamy Homemade Ricotta, well-drained (see page 32 in Jennifer’s book)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons (14 grams) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil, for frying
Directions:
Fill a large bowl with ice water. Shred the potato into the bowl of ice water. When done, use a strainer or slotted spoon to transfer the shredded potato onto a kitchen towel – do not discard the water in the bowl. Gently squeeze the towel around the potatoes to absorb ay excess water. Let the reserved liquid sit undisturbed in the bowl for 10 minutes so the starch can settle to the bottom.
Meanwhile, mix together the spinach, ricotta, egg, and Parmesan in a deep bowl. Add the nutmeg, and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Carefully pour out the water from the reserved liquid bowl, making sure to save the starch that has collected at the bottom. Spoon the starch into the bowl with the spinach mixture. Add the shredded potatoes and give it a good stir to combine.
Fill a skillet with 1/4 inch (0.75 cm) of canola oil and heat over a medium flame. Drop generous tablespoonfuls of the spinach-potato mixture into the heated oil. Cook until golden, about 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes until golden on the other side. Transfer to a parchment or paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt immediately, if desired. Serve warm.
Make Ahead: These also reheat with delicious results in a preheated 350 degree F (180 degree C) oven for about 6 minutes. Just flip them over halfway through. If you really want to plan ahead, make a double batch and freeze the cooled leftovers in a sip-top plastic bag. I’d also suggest these for brunch parties instead of roasted potatoes or home fries, since they’re an easy dish to prep in advance.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: cooking, Food, Homemade With Love
Super Easy Ranch Roasted Cauliflower
Jun 8, 2012 Paid/Sponsored Post
[I wrote this post as part of my compensated ambassadorship with Hidden Valley Ranch’s Love Your Veggies program.]
I just made this for lunch:
If you like Hidden Valley Ranch on your salad, you’ll love the tangy flavor on roasted cauliflower!
To be honest, I hate cutting cauliflower as much as I love eating it. So to keep this recipe quick and easy, I cut the cauliflower as soon as I buy it. In fact, I’ve been working on this bag for almost two weeks, with not a brown spot in sight. The trick is, after I cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and wash them, I let them drain as much as possible. Then I put them into a big zipper bag and stick a folded paper towel in there to absorb moisture. I push as much air out of the bag as I can, and – as my son Jake would say – wa-LA!
Tags: cooking, Food, Love Your Veggies
Jennifer Perillo guests on a podcast
Oct 13, 2011 Blog & Social Media Stuff, What's Going On
So occasionally I post my Blogging Angels podcasts here. I don’t do it all the time, because often they’re geared more toward bloggers and pr pros. But our latest one is one of those that everyone will appreciate, thanks to our awesome guest, Jennifer Perillo. She’s a food writer, blogger, and all-around great person.
You may have read here or elsewhere that Jennifer lost her husband very suddenly a couple months ago. In the podcast she talks about grieving online, as well as writing and photographing food, and other topics. It’s not a maudlin podcast by any means, although there are a couple of spots that still bring tears to my eyes.
You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. If you want to have access to the links we talk about, you can find them here.
To download this episode to your computer directly: right click here, then click “save link as”
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: baking, cooking, Jennifer Perillo, podcast
How to make perfect pancakes
Oct 11, 2011 Cooking & Baking
I make pancakes every weekend, and on an occasional weekday if the kids beg hard. Sometimes I make my own batter, but most of the time I use Aunt Jemima Complete mix – just add water!
I’ve learned a few useful things over the years:
- Whether you’re using an electric griddle or a pan, let it preheat for a long time. You want the heat evenly distributed across the whole surface, and you don’t want the temperature to change while you’re in the middle of cooking.
- Don’t mix your batter too much, just enough to get everything incorporated and most of the lumps gone.
- After mixing, let the batter sit for at least ten minutes. Bubbles should form on the top.
- Use vegetable oil to grease the pan. Butter will burn, and olive oil will taste funny.
- Serve the pancakes immediately. You can keep them warm for a short period of time in a 200 degree oven, but they’re best if eaten right away.
- Take the syrup out as soon as possible so that it can come to room temperature. Don’t warm it up – it gets too runny.
And now, how to make perfect pancakes!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Today’s Agenda: soup edition
Oct 7, 2011 Today's Agenda
So I’ve been trying to make squash soup for several days now. But something keeps getting in the way. Thank goodness squash doesn’t go bad quickly. But today’s the day. It’s a little chilly (despite that fact that it will be in the 80s over the weekend) and just feels like a soup day. I’m making bread to go with it. The Ass is even coming home in time for dinner with the fam. Yay for family dinners!
I’m feeling like today will be a productive day, what with the ten hours of sleep I got last night. I was so exhausted that I begged my husband to stay up and pick Jake up at school when he got back from his one day DC trip, and I went to bed at 9:30, right after Fiona.
Today, aside from the soup making, I’ll be editing the fabulous video I got yesterday of Hugh Jackman talking to a small room of bloggers and press about his new movie, Real Steel, as well as parenting and other fun topics. I cannot stress to you just how relaxed and charming he was. He even gave Jake a little personal message on video along with a Real Steel toy. When I showed both to Jake this morning he was over the moon!
So, this will be exactly the kind of day that I love: lots of cooking and baking and couch-based work. :-)
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: baking, cooking, Hugh Jackman
Today’s Agenda: bloody pillow edition
Oct 5, 2011 Today's Agenda
So this morning Jake came into my room to say hello and ask me where his pants were (in the washing machine, natch). He got about three words out and then got a look of horror on his face and asked me if I was OK. Turns out there was blood all over my pillow and my face!
After washing all of the blood off of I finally found the source: my lip had been bleeding. A lot. A tiny tiny boo boo somehow managed to bleed all over my pillow. Ewww.
That may be the theme for today, because I’m also getting the first period I’ve had since starting Seasonique three months ago. I guess logically I should be grateful for skipping two, but instead I’m simply going to be three times as much of a baby about it as usual. Should be a fun day.
I have some interesting stuff coming up today though. A little later I’ll be writing about a website I think a lot of moms could use right now: it posts legitimate, non-spammy non-scammy work-at-home opportunities.
I’m also going to be making this squash soup recipe (it’s the fourth one down), sent to me by my friend Julia Beck of Forty Weeks, and testing out something really goofy I bought at the As Seen On TV store in the process. I’ll let you know how both turn out.
And last, I’ll be trying to get Jake (and myself) to bed early, since he has to be at school tomorrow morning at the insane time of 5:30 for a one day trip to Washington, DC. Yes, they are crazy. But the fifth graders are really looking forward to it. They’ll be visiting a bunch of landmarks and tourist attractions, as well as two colleges: Howard and Georgetown Universities.
I really admire the school for planting the college seed in these kids early. For a lot of them, going to college is not a foregone conclusion, and their teachers and guidance counselors want to change that. Hell, I’m not even sure Jake knows that I didn’t graduate from college, and I’m not going to point it out to him either. I want him to assume that it’s the key to success. After he’s grown I’ll clue him in that the key to my success was most definitely not chasing a BFA in musical theater.
Enjoy your Wednesday!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: birth control, college, cooking, Kids
How to peel an avocado
Sep 16, 2011 Food
So who else knew that today was National Guacamole Day? I didn’t! Avocados from Mexico sent me some avocados as part of their avocados for breakfast campaign, so I was poking around a bit online and discovered that today is, indeed, set aside for lovers of guacamole.
I’ve been a huge fan of avocados every since I first tried guacamole. I didn’t try it, though, until I was 25! Think of all the years of guacamole I missed out on, just because I thought it looked gross. I’m having the same problem with Jake.
Tomorrow morning I’m going to try to coax him into trying a little before Tae Kwon Do. I do not expect to be successful. But I’ll keep trying. In the meantime, Fiona has promised to eat some guacamole with me.
So, in honor of making guacamole, here’s the method I use to peel avocados.
Oh, and yes, that is my cat meowing and sneezing in the background. Worse than a kid, I tell you.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Toss and Chop review: chopped salads at home
Aug 29, 2011 Product Review
Last month I went out for lunch with my fellow Blogging Angels and got a delicious salad. It was one of those great places where you can add whatever you want and then they toss it in a big bowl with dressing and charge you an insane amount of money. But I don’t care, those salads are always so much better than the ones I make at home (and I make awesome salads).
But this time, they asked me if I wanted it chopped, and of course I said yes, because chopped salads taste even better than regular salads. You get every single flavor in your salad in each bite. I watched in amazement as they fed my salad into a big machine that spit it out chopped!
Since that lunch I’ve been obsessed with making chopped salads at home. I researched all the different gadgets you can get for chopping salad and decided to try the Silvermark Toss and Chop. It’s like two pairs of scissors glued together with a little scoop on the bottom. It also has a little clip that holds everything closed for storage – very good design. The blades are very sharp and you wouldn’t want to come across them while rummaging through a drawer.
I gathered my ingredients. I tore the lettuce leaves, used a peeler to slice the carrots, cut the onion into big chunks, and left the grape tomatoes and chick peas whole.
I set a timer for two minutes and got to work. This instructions said to hold the Toss and Chop in one hand and steady the bowl in with the other, scooping up salad and then moving on to another area, so that’s what I did. After two minutes, my arm was killing me and the salad looked like this:
I had chopped a lot of it, but not very small, and not uniformly – there were plenty of pieces still almost untouched.
I went to work again, but this time I held the Toss and Chop perpendicular to the bottom of the bowl, and squeezed with both hands. I was able to get a lot more control this way, work faster, and not tire my arms out so quickly. I stopped every 30 seconds or so to toss the salad around and see which parts still needed work. After about two minutes more I had a very nicely chopped salad! There were a few pieces of onion that were bigger than the rest, and a couple of chickpeas had remained whole, but that was it. Everything else was done beautifully. The blades were even sharp enough to actually cut the tomatoes instead of smooshing them.
I tossed it with some croutons and dressing and was done. But – and trust me on this part – before I sat down to eat my salad I rinsed the Toss and Chop off and left it on a towel to dry. If you leave it until later, even a little later, you’ll be digging bits of lettuce out of the grooves with a toothpick. But rinse it off right away and it takes about ten seconds to get completely clean.
My salad was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure I’d make the effort every time I make a salad to chop it, but it’s nice to know that doing so only adds a few minutes to the prep. Now I just have to invite Rebecca over for salad – not sure that’s enough to get her to Brooklyn though.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Tags: cooking, Food, kitchen gadgets, Shopping
