Announcement!

We'd like to take a break from cooking to wish our very own, Maltese Parakeet, a Happy Birthday today.

Lil bird, Buddy is waiting to give you a big old wet kiss.

My brownies have wings

These brownies should be wearing Dolce & Gabbana because they have that much TASTE.

America's Test Kitchen recently had an episode on Lightening Up Chocolate Desserts. I almost passed it by. Most low-fat desserts that have been re-made usually leave me colder than a Montana morning. If you don't want the calories, either eat less or not at all. I, unfortunately, don't do either so I'm always battling the pounds.

When the episode started with that same sentiment, it got my attention. What the hey, I've got 30 minutes to kill. This is the usual ATK recipe in that they use way too many ingredients but this time it pays off. I've made the recipe twice, once for friends and once for the husband. Both approved.

ATK did not supply any info on how low-fat this recipe is but just making the recipe you know it doesn't have much. Being interested in the final count made me search online and, of course, there's a site to help you count each fat gram and calories in anything you make. The site is Calorie King and it's got great info and easy to use.

I did learn that vanilla extract has more calories than I thought. I use a vanilla bean paste by Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc and did not find any info for that so I used the twelve per teaspoon figure for regular extract. What else, baking powder has one calorie, go figure.

If you are worried about carbs be aware of the sugar. There is more sugar because it's actually a "wet" ingredient, it melts when baked, so you need more to make this brownie soft. Hey, ya gotta have a trade off somewhere.

Ok, to my surprise, here are the results for a 2 inch brownie?

• Total fat 2.18 grams
  
• Total cal 102.25.
  

Wow

A basic recipe I'd checked had at least 112 calories and 7 grams of fat for a 2 oz brownie. Even though this is not low calorie it still comes in way low in the fat column, plus, THEY TASTE GREAT!

What are we up against

Here's a shocker:

• Starbuck's fudge brownie bite, 2 oz: 300 calories and 14 grams of fat.
• Mrs. Fields' double fudge 2.7 oz: 360 and 20 grams of fat.

Fudgy low-fat brownies
makes 16, 2 inch brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces bitter sweet chocolate, chopped (I found some with zero fat)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 1 egg white
1 cup sugar

Oven 350. Fold two pieces of foil to create a foil sling the size of your pan. I used an 8-inch square baking pan. Push the foil in the corners and to be safe, spray with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in medium bow. Melt bittersweet chocolate and butter in large bowl over simmering water until smooth. Cool 2-3 minutes they whisk in sour cream, chocolate syrup, vanilla, egg, egg white, and sugar. Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into chocolate mixture until combined.

Spread batter into pan and into the corners, level surface with spatula. Bake until slightly puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few sticky crumbs attached, 20-25 minutes. Cool brownies completely in pan, at least 1 hour. remove brownings using foil and cut into 16 squares. To keep the brownies moist do not cut until ready to serve, then stand back, they will fly off the plate.

Mushroom Soup

and creamy tasty, silky texture that warms your bones...that's what I made last nite. Let me say that my sweet husband does not eat mushrooms in any way but he loves mushroom soup...........go figure.

I found this recipe over on Simply Recipes blog.....Elise adapted this recipe from one made by Wolfgang Puck. This is my adapted version........sorry no photo.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 1 pound regular white mushrooms, cleaned, quartered or sliced
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp minced shallots
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (I like more pepper)
  
• 2 cups heavy cream (I used half & half and it was fine)
  
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (low sodium)
  
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp water
• Minced parsley for garnish (no fresh parsley on hand, sprinkled a bit of the fresh thyme as a garnish)
  

Method

1 In a food processor, coarsely chop mushrooms and lemon juice.

2 Melt butter in (4-5 quart) sauce pan and lightly sauté shallots on medium heat. Add mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf, sauté over moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid that is released from the mushrooms disappears.

3 Add salt, pepper, cream and chicken stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

4 Add cornstarch and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Correct seasoning and add more lemon juice to taste.

Serves 4. Serve sprinkled with a little parsley.

Lucky to have her as my daughter

My Mother's Day was a bit different this year. In past, lil bird has fixed some pretty great fare. Last year was a wonderful yummy brunch but this year I requested a knitting lessons. You can read about my knitting lesson on my blog, French Benefits.

One of my other requests was a cooking session together. I love that. I'd been watching Jamie Oliver at home and he had cooked a quick and terrific looking fresh pasta with broccoli and cheese sauce. I have a pasta machine, it was a gift from doodles, and what better than to whip up a nice lunch together. Dad gets to benefit from this holiday, too.

The recipe on Food TV is a bit different from what he made on the show and we adapted the process for our needs.
The sauce is made on top of the pan boiling your pasta water. How great is that for an energy saver?

Sauce

• 2 hand fulls of grated parmaesan and fontina cheese
• 2 heaping tablespoons of creme fraiche

place this in a heat proof bowl on top of the boiling water for the pasta.

• baby broccoli, sliced thin
• 2 large egg yolks
• chopped fresh herbs, we used thyme

Pasta

• 2 large eggs
• 80 grams AP flour per person

Add eggs and flour to food processor. Mix until the dough comes together. Now this is important, pinch some dough between your fingers. You are looking for dough that just holds together and isn't too sticky. If it is, add a tablespoon of flour, mix and then test again. You don't want the dough too stiff.

Give it a quick kneading on a lightly floured board and then into the pasta machine on the
widest setting; running it through about 4-5 times. It should start to become silky and smooth.

Now you need to reduce the thickness on the machine, rolling the dough twice each time, until you get to the thinnest. You'll need to cut the dough into more manageable pieces because it's gonna get real long, real quick.

Flour each sheet, fold and cut into the width noodle you'd like. Remember, they do get bigger when they cook. Toss to open up the noodles.



Yes, that is a bandadge on my finger and, yes, I cut it but I am wearing my favorite Dave Matthews Band t-shirt.




















Remove the dish with the cheeses they should be nice and melty by now. Toss the sliced broccoli and the noodles in the boiling water salted water and stirring bring back to a boil and cook for about two minutes. You'll need to test the pasta. Don't overcook or they'll get too soft.

Drain the pasta then put it into your serving bowl.Whisk in the two egg yolks and herbs into the sauce and quickly pour over the hot pasta. This cooks the eggs. If you are at all concerned about this you can use Davidson's Eggs. They are pasteurized so you won't get salmonella. Their website has a nice coupon because they're a bit pricey.





Serve this up quickly, Dad was waiting, with a bit of chopped Italian parsley. It couldn't taste fresher.

This is one of the basic recipes you'd like to make again. Lil bird thought it would be great with a bit of lemon zest in the pasta and maybe some crispy panchetta tossed in too.

It was a great Mother's Day, wouldn't have it any other way, me and my little chickie cooking together.

free rice!

check out this cool site called free rice. by playing a fun little vocabulary game, you can help donate rice to the un world food program.

what's it all about? from the site's "about" page:

FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.

2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

so pop on over and get clicking! we are lucky to live in a land of plenty where we have the luxury of access to such a wide variety and large amount of food that we actually have blogs dedicated to what we cook and eat. i know i don't need to remind you that many others are not so lucky. food bloggers unite against hunger!

just to make it interesting, we'd love to know if you visited the site, how many grains of rice you donated on your first visit and a fun or funny word that you learned. let us know in the comments...

Scalloped Potatoes

One of my sweet husbands favorites. I found this recipe several years ago on Food TV and have been a faithful user ever since. A very simple recipe but cooking the potatoes partially in the milk and water, I think, makes a big difference in flavor.

Potato Gratin
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons butter
4 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 bay leaf (no bay leaf on hand but did have some fresh rosemary)
1 cup grated Swiss cheese (I had gruyere cheese)
Salt & fresh ground pepper
Nutmeg (I didn't have fresh nutmeg but did use some smoked paprika)
2/3 cup heavy cream (I used half & half)
As you can see by my notes to the side of the original recipe this as is many recipes are quite adaptable to your tastes and what you may have on hand. I might also add I cooked this in my toaster oven, my new best friend since we are in an RV.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub a baking dish with garlic clove and then with butter.

In a medium saucepan, combine potatoes, milk, water, bay leaf and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.

Drain the potatoes and layer half of them in the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle on half of the cheese and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Spread out remaining potatoes and top with remaining cheese and seasoning. Pour heavy cream over potatoes. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden and bubbly.

So what's your favorite scalloped potato recipe.........now I know this is not a low fat dish...maybe I should send it to Cooking Light magazine so they could adjust the calorie count.

Can food heal?

Chris at Mele Cotte is hoping it can. This is her second annual event, Fighting Cancer 2 and how could I help but participate. With so many being touched by this stinking disease maybe what we put in our bodies can help. If you make it healthy and tasty it can't hurt.

After seeing this interesting article about broccoli having an ingredient that may fight bladder cancer I set out finding a new recipe. Broccoli has been a fav at our house for ever but most of the recipes were heavy with fat and that's a definite no for someone with cancer. I needed to find something different. I tried a few different recipes but kept coming back to just good old steamed broccoli. Stumped I tried some sauces. Cheese, too much fat. I needed something lighter. While picking some lemons off my tree it hit me. Broccoli goes great with lemon. Here is a nice light sauce for steamed broccoli.

Soy Lemon Sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons soy sauce. ( I used a reduced salt variety)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons salad oil
toasted sesame seeds

Place all the ingredients together in a small jar with a cover, shake well to blend, and let stand one hour. Shake sauce again and pour over two servings of steamed broccoli. Toss to coat and serve. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds.

My photo was crummy but the broccoli was yummy. None left. Serve up someone you love some healthy cancer fighting foods and visit Chris' blog to get some good ideas.

Taste and Create

Myamii's Taste and Create event pairs up participating food bloggers randomly and they get to taste-test one recipe from each other's blog.


This month, I was paired up with a blogger from One Hot Stove. When you go to her blog you too will be overwhelmed, as I was, with so many various tastes to create that are new to me and maybe new to you as well. Nupur features her ongoing fascination with Indian regional food, as well as little tastes of new flavors from around the world. One Hot Stove comes to you from St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Hummus happens to be a favorite of the family and since PBE is a family blog I thought I would try her recipe ... roasted garlic hummus to be exact.


We did a few adaptions to the recipe one was chopped ciliantro to scatter on top, did not remove the skins from the beans, whisked the oil and the tahini together before pouring into the mixture. That seemed to emulsify and make the hummus a creamy texture. Also used cumin powder instead of cumin seed.

But this is a very creamy hummus that is sure to be a keeper recipe ... thanks Nupur.

Earth Day

It's Earth Day and because we at PBE care, we are sharing a super idea to recycle t-shirts. If you use your own bags at the market–and you should–this is a great way to make them and recycle something else, as well.

Here is our recipe for a great market bag:

• Take an old t-shirt and cut a half-circle out of the neck
• Cut out the sleeves
• Sew the bottom

Because of the knit in the t-shirt there is no need to hem any of the edges.

Need a small bag? Don't forget to recycle those kid's shirts. This is almost too easy. It would be a great project for kids especially if they hate getting rid of a favorite shirt.

Make up a few and keep in the trunk of your vehicle and be part of the solution, not the problem. There are way too many plastic bags in the landfill each day.

Here are some other ideas for Earth Day. It really is easy to get involved.

You know it's Spring

Aren't they beauties … no the lime is mine for my Corona!

My sweet sister Moon's lemon tree is bearing fruit and this spring I was able to take advantage of the beautiful lemons. This is not a young tree ... I think it's been decided that this lone tree is about 40 years old. For awhile sister and dear brother-in-law thought it was a gonner; like all things living it was showing it's age. It might have missed them when they took their hiatus to Bakersfield.

Luckily, they happened to have a landscape gardener that knew what to do; low and behold he whacked that tree way back to almost nothing. I believe that was about three years ago and now look what is coming around.

Nothing like fresh lemonade all summer long. Think of all the foods to prepare with a squeeze of lemon. My mouth is watering just to think about these gems.

Just in case you find yourself with some fresh lemons, here are some friend blogs lemony recipes.

Lemon Bars from Just Baking
Simply Recipes Meyer Lemon Sorbet
and from us, Lemon Pound Cake

Brought to you by Doodles and Moon

Carrot Cake/Muffins

Oh my word to me there is nothing better in the morning than a carrot cake muffin along side a cup of my favorite tea......well maybe a really good bagel

A couple a weeks ago I made the mistake of buying already made carrot cake muffins.....bad, really, really bad. They were greasy and that overpowered the carrot taste which was none, no taste of carrot at all. And they had raisins which I am not fond of in my carrot cake muffin. Then I found this recipe over at Baking Bites

One-Bowl Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice (I did not have allspice but I did add some fresh ginger)
1/4 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups coarsely shredded carrot (from 2-3 large carrots), well drained

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and eggs until smooth. Beat in melted butter, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, spices and salt. When combined, sift in the flour and baking soda (sifting helps evenly distribute the baking soda) and gently stir it into the batter until no streaks remain. Stir in shredded carrot, then scrape into prepared pan. Bake for 36-42 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Since I made muffins I started keeping an eye on the baking time about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
8 oz. cream cheese
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 Tbsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add melted butter until absorbed. Add vanilla, then sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

The usual suspects

The weather in Southern California has been interesting this week. Sunday was in the 90s and yesterday it barely broke 70. Today should be somewhere around 90, again. So, what to cook with roller coaster weather like this?

I had planned to BBQ chicken thighs on the grill but I really wanted something to warm us up. Yeah, I know, 70 isn't ice skating weather but when you drop more than twenty degrees it but a body into a tailspin. Here is what I did.

Chicken stew

Drain and rinse a can of cannellini beans. Mash half of them with the back of a spoon.
Brown the seasoned chicken breast in some olive oil then remove from the pan and let cool enough to remove the skin. Next go the onions and celery. There should be enough fat left in the pan. Toss in the mushrooms, don't forget to salt them a bit. When they get a bit limp add the rest of the cast of characters including the mashed beans and add some chicken broth. Reserve the unmashed beans for later. Adjust the seasonings and add the thyme. When I braise I want the liquid not to cover but to leave about a third of the thighs showing. Bring to a simmer, barely, cover and cook for about an hour until the chicken is done and the veggies are tender. Toss in the unmashed beans and stir to heat.

I served this with a mound of rice in the bowl and ladled the stew over top. The mashed beans thicken the broth a bit and add a nice texture. This is most colorful and quite tasty and you can really add whatever fresh veggies you have on hand.

Because I can't cook for only two I'm making soup from what was left. Shred the chicken, add more chicken broth and we've got soup for lunch.

Free is our favorite flavor*, **

For curiosity, we track how many people come to PBE. We use a nifty little free app called Site Meter. What I've noticed lately are where our visits come from.

Food Porn Watch
Blogs of Note Archive (we are eternally grateful for that mention)
Some other blog who have listed our link on their site; cool

Play with food
Refining Life
The Big Fat Indian Dream
Femme in the Green Sneakers
Carbs and Diet Coke
Joanna's Food
Kaylyn's Kitchen
C is for cooking
Mixed Salad Annie
Laura Rebecca's Kitchen
Soul Fusion Kitchen


Sorry if I missed mentioning anyone, these are the referrals that came up recently. We do appreciate the advertising and will reciprocate by adding addition blogs to our list, just e-mail us.

Editor's note:*"Free is my favorite flavor" is a quote attributed to lil bird and I've used it quite freely.

** note from lil bird: actually, i usually say "free is my favorite four letter word that starts with f." and if you know me, you know how liberal i am with the f-bombs! ;)

lazy sunday mornings

ah, a lazy sunday morning. was perusing my favorite food blogs and ran across kitchen wench's yummy looking scones but the pumpkin spice just wasn't doing it for me. lest we forget, ellie's smack in the middle of fall down there in oz, so pumpkin spice certainly fits the bill for her. here in (not so sunny) southern california, we're all spring-like and i wanted something a little, well, springier. what to do?

to the internets!

i found a nice little recipe for scones in the joy of baking and then found some dried bing cherries in my cupboard to mix in. i omitted the jam and, upon reflection, i also should've skipped the sugar carmelizing step as well. these scones were flaky, tender (as my boy alton would say, don't over mix!) and flavorful. the simple egg wash with some sugar sprinkled on top would've been sufficient as i think the carmelized sugar took away from the texture of the scone, which was the star of the show.

Blog hopping finds

can be very beneficial to foodies and I am truly one to search and find.

Now I have my favorites one of which is Baking Bites I have said this before that I'm not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, however Nic does review some products, some of which I have actually gone out and purchased. While poking around on Baking Bites the other day I came across this regular feature she does on Bites from other blogs This one caught my eye


Any time I see pecan pie I must take a look and oh Lord I am so glad I did. WOW!!! are these good. Although, they reminded me more of a muffin than a cupcake. These taste very much like pecan pie and are so incredibly easy to make. I made them in my silicone muffin pan and baked for 20 - 25 minutes.

Next time I'll make the mini size. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I can see making these for a gift during the holidays or a pot luck that requires a dessert. You'll get rave reviews I tell ya.

This year's Pullet Surprise goes to …

We put out the hunt for egg recipes for our second annual Pullet Surprise and here are our participants. We still haven't gotten many entrants but that makes the people who did enter all that more special. Thanks to them and with all the "events" in the food blogging world we do understand.

First up is Fab Grandma's entry is a Mushroom and Sausage Fritatta. This recipe is not only yummy, it's gluten free.

She has a fun site so do visit. Her and her husband are full time road travelers and have been since 2000.



Now here is an Indian recipe, Egg Biryani but Maybelle's Mom from Feeding Maybelle has a different twist. She makes a curry sauce to flavor this "pot pie" in a pastry. I checked some of her other recipes and she's quite adventurous.



Mechele has entered her BLT Fritatta and it can be found on her "What we eat …" section of her blog. She serves this one with a healthy handful of arugula splashed with oil and vinegar. Great photo. You can see more of her work on her blog and don't miss the vacation shots.





Irma's Rose Cottage is next and we have a recipe for Breakfast, Lunch or Supper. Migas is a dish that includes eggs, cheese and corn tortillas and was a favorite of our father/grandpa Gene here at PBE. This variation was prepared by Irma and served some some pretty fancy garage sale finds. Nice touch.



Sweet Pea's Posts did send us an entry and even though it had no photo or link back to use she tried real hard with this. She is new to food blogging so I'll link to her Sausage Brunch Bake. It's a variation on a strata and I love dishes you can prep the night before. Great for a large gathering. She says she'll be getting a camera soon but it looks like a large golden soufflé. Nothing wrong with that description.

Without further ado, here is what we chose for this year's Pullet Surprise.

Chris from Mele Cotte has made a fantastic Chicken and sun-dried tomatoe soufflé and one great photo. She's also having a second anniversary of her event Cooking to Combat Cancer. You've all got time, check her site for the rules.

As your "prize" you'll be able to use this banner on your blog for as long as you wish. We hope you weren't expecting a real Pulitzer.

Thanks to our submitters and all of our loyal readers. Next time, we'll be expecting something from you folks, too.

PBE makes breakfast egg soufflé

If you've ever eaten something in a restaurant and decided you could make that at home; read on.

When sister Doodles and I get together one of our favorite places for breakfast is Panera Bread. This tasty little breakfast-cafe-franchise seems to be popping up all over the country. I've only been interested in their bread and bagels but lately noticed a hot seller, baked egg soufflés, and thought what a great challenge for Doodles and myself.

The egg dish looks pretty simple. A soufflé/quiche like mixture baked in a puff pastry dough. Sounds easy enough but we did run into some difficulty. Here is our attempt.

Because there were only three of us for Easter brunch we used three two-cup oven proof bowls. I might adjust this to six 6 ounce custard cups next time.


Recipe
2 eggs
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped ham or sausage
3/4 teaspoon chopped chive
3/4 teaspoon chopped thyme
salt and pepper
one sheet puff pastry dough

Pre-heat oven to 400 Cut pastry dough in five-inch square or to fit your baking cups. Divide cheese and ham between the three cups. Divide herbs and sprinkle on top of ham. Beat eggs and add half and half. Whisk in sour cream. Pour egg mixture over ham and cheese and bake in middle rack for about 35 minutes until eggs are lightly set. Don't overcook.


What we had was a lovely eggy soufflé with underdone pastry. That afternoon our darling Chef Teri stopped by and we asked her. She's worked in the food industry for quite a while and is a wealth of knowledge. She knew where we went awry. To get the puff pastry to "puff" you need to blast the heat in the beginning, then turn it down and cook your soufflés until the eggs are done. Also, she suggested using some paper soufflé that are sold at Sur la table. This is why we revere her so.

What did we learn? It's fun to try something new even if the results are not exactly what you intended. Try something new!

My Pullet Surprise

Since the deadline for our Pullet Surprise is March 26th.....thought I would get this in now. We will post all our entries on March 31.

Hard boiled eggs have always been a nemesis of mine. I could never get it right. At times the yolk would be gray around the edges and terribly unappealing, other times I couldn't remove the shell without tearing up the egg, terribly frustrating.

While having friends over one nite for dinner the subject turned to food and in particular egg salad. Mr Doodles mentioned I love egg salad but Doodles never can boil an egg good enough to make one of my favorite lunch items. So the male friend piped up and said I have a fool proof way to cook eggs, I'll tell you how and you can make us egg salad for lunch. You're on I say.

My method of boiling on egg...............

• place eggs in cold water
• put a good handful of table salt in the water bring to a boil and boil eggs for eight to nine minutes
• turn off heat, put lid on pot and time for eight to nine more minutes
• remove eggs from pot and put in ice water
• Salt hardens the shell making it easy to remove.
• Larger eggs require the nine minutes.

I learned this method from my friend the cop, so now Mr Doodles is happy getting his egg salad once in awhile.

Now I'm sure you have your very own foolproof method but this is mine and it works for me.......but please share yours if you care to.

Made with Love

Recently I decided to participate in the Taste & Create Event this month where you are randomly paired with another food blogger and you have to pick one of the recipes in their blog to make yourself. I was lucky enough to be paired with Robin who is the creator of Made with Love... let me tell you this was not easy. When you go see her blog you will know why. It’s like paint samples way too many good ones to choose from. But when I came upon the following.........you'll understand why this one caught my eye.



The following is the recipe copied from my partner, Robin's blog

Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie

(from MarthaStewart.com)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (about 9 ounces) mixed milk- and semisweet chocolate chips
the chocolate chips I had on hand were the teeny semi-sweet and I also added chopped pecans.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix until they are fully incorporated. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (I actually used my 12-inch skillet and cut down the cooking time to about 30 minutes........in my oven it took 40 minutes just remember to watch after 30 minutes), and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges. Serve warm; top each wedge with a scoop of ice cream and maybe drizzle some chocolate fudge sauce on top......decandent!!!

Now when a recipe says you can serve with ice cream how can you go wrong, hardest part is trying to decided what flavor.

Thank you Robin for a wonderful, easy dessert item that company would certainly enjoy.

If you have never participated in this event, go take a look . leave a comment with Nicole the creator of this event. You will have a blast and meet a lot of new friends with some terrific recipes/ Now that's what blogging is all about.

It's all in the rub

for roast chicken that is.
The dry rub I used:
1 T salt
1 T fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp smokey paprika
1 tsp Tom's Chipotle seasoning this is sister Moon's favorite seasonings

After rinsing and drying your bird rub the chicken with olive oil and butter. My bird was approximately four pounds.

Then the baking...it was cool enough today to turn on my oven. Follow these direction for baking and you will have the most tender, juicy bird. I found this method of baking over at foodtv.com

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Wash the chicken in hot water and dry thoroughly. Season the cavity with salt and black pepper and stuff with the onion, lemon, and celery leaves. Rub the chicken lightly with softened butter and season all over with salt and pepper. Tie the drumsticks ends together and set the chicken, breast side up, in an oiled v-shaped rack or on an oiled roasting pan in the oven.

I stuffed halved lemons and six whole cloves of garlic

Roast for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees, baste the chicken, and roast for 15 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrot to the pan, basting them and the chicken. Continue roasting the chicken until the juices run clear, for a total of 45 minutes plus an additional 7 minutes for each pound. (In other words, a 3 1/2 pound chicken would take a basic 45 minutes plus an additional 25 minutes, for a total 70 minutes or 1 hour and 10 minutes of cooking time.)

Remove the chicken and spoon the fat out of the roasting pan. Into the pan, stir in the herbs and blend in the broth and, stirring constantly, boil for several minutes on the stovetop to concentrate the flavor. Correct the seasoning and strain the sauce into a warm sauceboat. Carve the chicken and serve with the warm sauce, which is perfect for oven roasted potatoes.

Now with this large of a chicken and only the two of us, we have a lot left over, so I am off in search for a new chicken salad recipe.

Stay tuna'd for a new dessert I am about to undertake....

The clock is ticking

for the Second Annual Pullet Surprise

Read the rules HERE

Knowing what a creative bunch of readers we have here, we look forward to seeing y'all s egg dishes.

Hobo Fish

What if you didn't have an pots or pans to cook the lovely fish you just caught? What would you use?

This, again, is a method rather than a recipe from me and I'll give the credit to Giada de Laurentiis. My husband likes fish but I'm allergic. Cross contamination is a fear so I'm always looking for ways to cook it on the grill away from anything I'm cooking. This works great with the add bonus of keeping any fishy smells outside.

For this meal I needed:

• large square of heavy duty foil
• one thick cut of halibut (or any thick fillet of fish)
• fresh baby spinach
• lemon
• sesame oil
• salt and pepper

• Place a good amount of spinach mounded in the center of the foil. Season with salt and pepper and at least a tablespoon of lemon juice.
• Season both sides of your fish and place on top of the spinach.
• Sprinkle with sesame oil and a bit more lemon.
• Seal the foil into a packet.
• Grill should be hot but don't put packet directly on burner. I put them on a rack above the main rack. You can also put on a cookie sheet and bake in a 425 oven. Either way it only takes about 12-15 minutes. Fish should flake when poked with a fork.

Place in flat bowl, open foil and serve. The clean up is quite tidy. There are quite a few variations you can do with different fish. Get creative. Just remember you are only cooking this for a short time so spinach is the perfect base. The fish should be at least an inch thick but if thinner adjust the cooking time.

Enjoy! My husband likes all sorts of fish done this way but his favorite is Salmon.

Food Bloggy Pets of the Month for March

Buddy Dog needed a special treat. Since he's such a good camper I mixed up a batch of his favorites. I thought I'd made them too thin but he seemed to enjoy the crunchiness. There are a multitude of pet treat recipes out there, just Google. Here is a fun site, The Poop. Do remember that there are many human food that can poison your pets.

Here are our Food Bloggy Pets for March:
The Candied Quince has a good explanation of her dog Milo's name and a dynamite recipe for ice cream.






Sisters of the White Rose have a people recipe and their dog dressed appropriately. Check out there post for Chinese New Year. (Sorry, we didn't get a pix of the dog, maybe next time)

Pretty birdy! Ripley, a Cockatoo knows the importance of a good breakfast. Visit Little bits and you can learn, too.






Here are a few non-food blog friends from Hometalk that read PBE.

This is Buster, an Australian Shepard, waiting for his treats. His momma, Lenie is in the kitchen dishing up a bowl.






Second is Halo. Here she is with her bib all ready for a meal. Halo resides in the snowy tundra of Hoosierland and is waiting for Spring.











This is Wilbur waiting for a walk or maybe a cookie




And now, the women of PBE Pets!

Dude, hurry up! Well, that is what Buddy Cat would say if he could. This curious cat lives with our own Doodles and Mr Doodles and loves water, he just can hardly wait to get in.




Here's Buddy on the latest camping trip. He likes to head off to bed early so he has enough energy for the next day.






Last, but hardly the least, is a video an pix from lil bird. This is Multi, one of her sweet Maltese, who is quite the chow hound.


Here is Max, hiding. He must have been watching primary election returns.










Thanks to all the sender-inners for this month. We'll give this another try in April. Deadline-April 30. Roundup sometime the next week. We are still working with a broken wrist.

Need more info? Check this post. How to get on Food Bloggy Pets of the Month.
Don't forget to include:

• Link to your post
• Small photo of your pet
• Link your post to PBE
• FBP for April in your e-mail subject line

why you must brine

pork loin with grits
Originally uploaded by lornababy

one of the reasons i never used to cook pork that much was that it always turned dry and tough. alton brown taught me how to brine a turkey, but ming tsai taught me how to brine a pork loin. and now there is no other way for me to cook a pork loin.

here's my take on ming's recipe. i get a simple one pound pork loin from trader joe's, then throw it in a ziplock back with some kosher salt (maybe 1/4 cup), some soy sauce, some peppercorns, a knob of peeled ginger, some star anise and enough water to cover. let it soak overnight, then take it out, dry it off (pick off the peppercorns), rub some canola or olive oil on it and then roast in a 400 degree oven until the internal temperature is about 135. take the pork loin out of the oven, cover in some tin foil and let it rest about 15 minutes (the temperature will go up to about 140 or 145, which is what you want for medium). slice and serve. it will look a little pink in the middle, but that's because of the brine.

it's simple and flavorful and sure to impress. you could make a sauce to go over it to dress it up, but you really don't need to, because the pork is so flavorful. if you do want to make up a sauce, be warned, you won't be able to make a pan gravy with the drippings, because the pork is so lean and it doesn't give up any fat. with the asian flavors in the brine, i like to serve it with asian style vegetables with some soy sauce to pick up the soy sauce flavor in the pork. sauteed baby bok choi or, in this case, snow peas, work great. roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes (regular or sweet) or rice are also great sides, but this time i tried some grits with white cheddar (i wasn't thrilled with the result on the grits, for the record).

i got to meet ming at a book signing for his blue ginger cook book in december 1999. ming's brined pork recipe is in that cook book, btw. i generally don't like to post pictures of myself online, but it's pretty cool to have met one of my favorite chefs, so here it is...

Asparagus...a great side dish

This is easy and so good especially now that asparagus is coming into season. Well at least it is in my area...it will in your area soon I'm sure.

I got rid of the woody ends of the asparagus then blanched the asparagus. Julienned a red pepper, then sauteed the pepper with some thinly sliced garlic in a bit of olive oil. Make sure the asparagus is well drained. Put asparagus in the same pan that you sauteed the pepper and garlic and a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper to taste... Voila!!!

What to do with leftover pork

One of my favorite things is to make stacked enchiladas. There is not a recipe just a method.

Gather together the following:

your leftover pork or even beef
grated jack or cheddar or both if you so desire
green enchilada sauce (I like green sauce with pork and red with beef but that is just my preference)
sauteéd onions

cilantro, chopped

No salt because there is plenty of sodium in the green sauce or you can make your own green sauce for future use.

I like to crisp up the pork by heating it up in a skillet then adding a bit of the green sauce.

Start layering first place a corn tortilla on a cookie sheet.
Add the pork, a few of the onions, a few tablespoons of the green sauce, cheese, cilantro, another tortilla.
Repeat those steps until you have reached, oh maybe five tortillas in the stack; top off with cheese.

Bake in a 350* preheated oven for about 20 minutes and the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

This method was first originated by my sister Moon and it's a real favorite with Mr Doodles


Please don't give me bad marks for this photo I know it is awful

Calling All Pets

It's time for Food Bloggy Pets of the Month for March.
This months deadline will be Thursday, March 6. Look for the roundup by Friday, March 7.

• Post your photo of your pet on your blog, hopefully with a food related entry
  
• Have a link to PBE on that post, http://pbetouffee.blogspot.com
  
• E-mail us the permalink; the link that goes just to that entry
• Send a small photo of your pet for our page
  

Then:

• PBE will post all these links and photos together for all to see
  
• Visitors to our site click to find a wonderful new Food Blog
• You get to share the furry love of your life and add some new visitors
  
• We get to see some furry faces, or feathered, or scaly. We are still waiting for someone to produce a reptile photo.

E-mail, pbetouffee@gmail.com if you have any questions about how to send your files.