: : lindstew foodies : :

Brown Sugar Cookies

2011-11-13T19:25:00.001-07:00

This weekend rolled around, and once again, we were in the mood for something sweet! I didn't want to make the usual (since I'd just made them earlier this week...wait, I mean...earlier this month...I didn't make cookies twice this week...). With a little searching, I stumbled upon these gems from Joy the Baker. Chewy and carmel-y, with hints of cinnamon and ginger. These babies hit the spot and they are some of my new favorites! They're almost a cross between sugar cookies and a gingersnaps. Or like a flavorful chocolate chip cookie without chocolate chips. Just make them.

Brown Sugar Cookies

from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar*

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.

Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for one minute more.

Add the dry ingredients, all at once, to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat on low speed until the dough begins to come together and the flour disappears. Stop the mixture and finish incorporating the ingredients with a spatula. Once all the flour is thoroughly mixed in, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner. Dollop tablespoon size balls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days...good luck getting them to last that long. ;)

* If you only have light brown sugar like me, just add 1 Tbsp of molasses.

Pumpkin Waffles

2011-11-01T07:19:00.000-06:00

If you don't already know, I go on a major pumpkin kick the last three months of the year. When I saw these pumpkin waffles from You're Gonna Bake It After All, I knew it was just a matter of time before I consumed them.

Photo from You're Gonna Bake It After All

I made a couple small changes to make them a tad healthier, and they were so delicious! Think pumpkin pie in waffle form. When the smell of pumpkin and spices had filled our house, Stew said to me, "The smell of pumpkin and spices in the kitchen at this time of year means there's someone in the kitchen who loves me!" :) He was so glad I convinced him to have these waffles for dinner. Make them soon!

Pumpkin Waffles
Adapted from this recipe

Makes 5 full traditional (not Belgian) waffles (20 squares)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 cup wheat flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar 
2 1/4 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 tsp ground cinnamon 
1 tsp ground ginger 
1/4 tsp ground cloves 
4 large eggs, separated 
2 cups buttermilk* 
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin 
6 Tbsp canola oil 
Cooking spray for waffle iron

*Or use 2 cups milk with 2 tablespoons vinegar and allow to curdle for 10 minutes.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron.
Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined. In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold them gently into the waffle batter until just combined.
Spray waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour or spoon batter into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.
If serving many people, transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp.
Repeat with remaining batter.
I just cool my extra waffles on a cooling rack, break up the squares, wrap them in waxed paper, and pack them up in freezer bags. Then they are ready to pop in the toaster from frozen.
Serve topped with butter and maple syrup and enjoy the flavors of fall!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

2011-10-30T15:54:00.002-06:00

Happy Halloween from lindstewfoodies!

Our little Hattie-cake and her bakers, and the candy corn cupcakes we made for a Halloween party.

Cupcakes have become really popular in the last few years...and I have to admit...I'm not a cupcake person (please don't shoot me). I mean, I won't say no to a good cupcake now and then, but I definitely wouldn't pick a cupcake over a yummy cookie.

For the Campbell family Halloween party we were in charge of a dessert. I was going to make pumpkin cookies or some other festive treat, but then I got thinking...Hattie's Halloween costume is a cupcake...it would be cute if we took cupcakes to the party. Once I mentioned that thought to Stew he wouldn't have it any other way! I remembered seeing candy corn cupcakes online in several places and thought they'd be an easier cupcake to make (seeing as I'm a novice cupcake baker).

I didn't want to just use a boxed cake mix, but I wasn't about to make them from scratch. I knew of two ways to make a cake mix taste homemade, and since I made a double batch, I did them both! I filled the muffin tins a little too full however, and this is what the first round looked like out of the oven.

Sorry for the bad phone photo, I texted this to Stew with the caption, "The cupcakes exploded!"

Then I sent this photo to Stew saying, "They are actually pretty cute from the side!"

I think cupcakes have frosting on top to hide the flaws...right? Topped with the best buttercream frosting I've ever made (I figured out the secret to a good buttercream!), these cupcakes were actually pretty delicious, and I admit I looked forward to eating the leftovers days after.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients:

White cake mix, plus ingredients called for on box

1 cup sour cream

-OR-

White cake mix, plus eggs called for on box

Buttermilk or milk instead of water called for on box

Melted butter instead of oil called for on box

Directions:

Preheat oven to temperature called for on box. Prepare muffin tins with white paper holders (or something you can see through).

Make cake mix as directed on box, either substituting milk and butter for water and oil, or adding sour cream at the end.

Divide batter into three separate bowls. Add yellow food coloring to one bowl, yellow and red to another, and keep another bowl white.

Drop a spoonful of white batter into each muffin "hole" (is there a proper name for that?), and spread evenly over the bottom. Follow with orange, and then yellow. **Be careful not to fill the muffin tins too full, especially if you added sour cream to the batter, as that tends to make the muffins expand more.

Bake cupcakes for the time recommended on box. Let cool, then frost!

Best Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened (not melted)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Splash of almond extract, if desired

Directions:

Place butter in a small bowl of an electric mixer. Beat butter until it is as white as possible (the step I've always missed!). Gradually add about half the sugar, beating constantly. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. Mix in vanilla, and milk if needed. Frosting should be smooth and easy to spread. Add extra milk or sugar until frosting is spreadable.

Keep frosting white, or color yellow or orange. Spread on top of cooled cupcakes with a knife (or if you're fancy, pipe it on). Top each cupcake with a candy corn. Enjoy!

Need an easy Halloween dinner recipe? This is what we'll be having.

Check out all our pumpkin recipes!

Pea Pesto Pasta

2011-09-14T09:00:00.002-06:00

Made this the other night and it was so good! Great way to use all those fresh peas from your garden (or frozen peas from the store)!

I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, go here to get it!

Changes I made:
Used roasted salted almonds instead of pine nuts (which I didn't have)
Added more garlic
Used shell pasta instead of linguine

Chicken "Gyro" with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

2011-09-08T18:59:00.001-06:00

Photo from here.

We’ve been on a Greek kick for the past couple of months because of a certain someone on the Next Food Network Star show…we’re so glad she didn’t win but really enjoyed watching her make some of the most amazing Greek dishes. Her dishes had our mouths watering every time she cooked! We’ve been to a few Greek restaurants lately and that coupled with the show has made us want to incorporate a Greek dish into our family dinner rotations.

This recipe can be done with lamb or chicken. We haven’t tried it with lamb yet…in fact, neither of us has ever eaten lamb. But the next time we make this (which will probably be in a couple of weeks) we will make it with lamb and report back. :) Making it with chicken can be a little less scary for kids and people who are not used to Greek food…but we’re serious when we say this: this is one of the most flavorful dishes we have ever made (to date).

So first…you gotta make the marinade for your chicken/lamb…

Ingredients for marinade:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon zest OR 2 to 3 drops lemon oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions for marinade:
Crush the garlic, and mix it with the remaining ingredients. Trim any fat off of your chicken and cut them into strips about 2.5” inches wide. Place the strips on a cutting board, and pound them till they're about 1/4-inch thick. You may want a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken while you're pounding to keep it from "spattering." Put chicken and marinade into a Ziploc freezer bag and keep refrigerated until ready to cook (up to 24 hours).

Next, the cucumber yogurt sauce…

Ingredients for cucumber yogurt sauce:
2 cups (16 ounces) plain yogurt (whole or low-fat, not nonfat, preferably without gum or other thickeners*)
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 12 ounces, about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions for cucumber yogurt sauce:
Place the yogurt into a yogurt cheese maker, or into a very fine sieve, or a sieve lined with a coffee filter. Set it over a bowl (if you're using a sieve rather than yogurt cheese maker), and let it drain for 1 hour or so; up to 3/4 cup of liquid will drain off. This helps thicken the sauce (and trust me, you want it thick…not runny), and also mellows the acidic flavor of the yogurt. If you're using an English cucumber, or one without waxed skin, you don't need to peel it. Mix the chopped cucumber with the salt, place it in a colander, and let it drain for 30 minutes or so. Rinse the drained cucumber with cool water, and let it drip dry. Crush the garlic, and chop the mint leaves medium-fine. Or combine the garlic and mint in a small food processor, pulsing a few times till they're pretty finely chopped. Remove the thickened yogurt from the drainer, and mix it with the garlic and mint. Add the drained cucumber, then the black pepper, stirring to combine. Add salt to taste. Refrigerate for several hours (or overnight) for the flavors to meld.
Yield: about 2 cups sauce.

Assembling the sandwiches:

Ingredients:
6 to 8 soft flatbreads (I used pitas and it turned out divine!)
olive oil
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
cucumber yogurt sauce

You can either grill the chicken or sauté it as follows. Heat a cast iron or other heavy frying pan over medium-high heat for several minutes, until a drop of water will bounce across the surface. Grease the pan very lightly, and place as much chicken as will fit in a single layer into the pan. Cook until the edges turn white before turning over. The chicken is thin, so this doesn't take more than about 4 or 5 minutes before it's ready to turn. Cook just until browned, then remove it from the pan. The sandwiches are good made with either warm or cold (refrigerated) chicken, so this is a flexible recipe.

Lightly brush one side of each of the breads with olive oil. Grill them, or heat them in a heavy skillet just until they're warm and pliable (and we discovered that the hotter the pitas were…the better they tasted…so let them get hot). Place the breads on a plate, and top them with the cooked chicken, lettuce, onion, and tomato. Add a dollop of sauce. For a more portable feast, use a square of parchment or waxed paper to roll and transport the sandwiches.
Yield: 8 sandwiches.

YUM! Let us know what you think!

Recipe from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. XII, No. 4, Spring 2001 issue.

Brown Rice Bowl with Shrimp, Snow Peas & Avocado

2011-09-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

This was really good, super fresh, and fast (besides peeling and deveining the shrimp, I suggest you buy shrimp that has already been deveined...gross). The creamy avocado is surprisingly good, and adds a creaminess to the dish. Sorry there's no picture, but the recipe was so good I just had to share!

Brown Rice Bowl with Shrimp, Snow Peas & Avocado
[ recipe from Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast by Martha Stewart]

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup brown rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 ounces snow peas, stems and strings removed
1 piece (1 inch) fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 cloves garlic, minced (our addition)
1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Cook the rice with the two cups water (rice cooker or stovetop).
Meanwhile, make the sauce: Stir together soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
While rice is standing, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add shrimp, snow peas, ginger and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are opaque throughout and snow peas are bright green and crisp-tender, 2–3 minutes.
Fluff rice with fork, and divide among four bowls. Top with shrimp mixture and avocado; serve sauce on the side or pour over top.

lindstewfoodies update

2011-08-07T20:55:00.001-06:00

Hattie is now over three months old! She is a little cutie and we love her so much! She sleeps around 10 hours a night (knock on wood), and smiles and coos all the time!

We've had a great summer (can't believe it's almost over!), and have been cooking, despite the lack of posts. The truth is, while most of my time is spent with Hattie, I do have a little extra time, and I guess I could use that time to blog. However, I usually use my extra time for graphic design jobs, laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, napping, enjoying my little cutie, etc. Most days I don't feel like I'm caught up on everything by the end of the day (life of a mom, right?). Since this blog is a "just-for-fun" thing, I've been putting it at the bottom of my list. I don't cook to blog anymore like I used to, I cook because I like to give my family good, nutritious food. I'm still trying new recipes, but I'm really lacking the desire (and time) to blog right now. So, I thought I'd give our loyal readers an update, and just let you know that blogging is at the bottom of my list right now, so we won't be blogging as often as we used to. By telling you this, it also relieves some pressure I've put on myself to blog.

Thanks for reading our blog! We still love food, and please feel free to share good recipes with us! Keep our blog in your rader, because we might post every so often (and might start up again in the future)! Also, follow us on twitter! We tweet more than we blog! @lindstewfoodies

: : lindstewfoodies : :

Glazed Chocolate Cake

2011-06-29T22:25:00.000-06:00

Hey foodies! It may seem like we've been out of our groove lately (having a baby and all)...but I promise that we are still true foodies and still baking, chopping, kneading, and eating! ;)

For Lindsey’s birthday this year, I wanted to bake her a cake…but I didn’t want to make just ANY cake…I wanted it to be a cake that was complicated, time consuming, and different. Not because Lindsey wanted it that way…but because I wanted to feel like I was doing something hard…something different that I had never done before…all for her.

Last year I found a cook book by Martha Stewart (I know cliché but I really liked the book, Everyday Food—Fresh Flavor Fast, 2010). I purchased the book not only for the recipes but because I thought the design of the book was similar to the design of Lindsey’s graphic design work. So I bought it. Anyway, there are some amazing pictures of food in this book…one in particular was calling my name. Yes, my name…not so much Lindsey’s…mine. A glazed chocolate cake.

I am a big chocolate fan. I’m pretty sure that I inherited that from my Mom. I remember when I was little my Mom and I would go the store and we would buy a chocolate candy bar and split it and eat it before we got home (being the youngest of 10…you have to be sneaky like that). The craving for chocolate is real…some would say that I am a woman’s dream…but I would say that I am normal. Those who don’t like chocolate are fooling themselves and missing out on some of life’s greatest moments. (Wow…now that I read that paragraph…it sounds like a woman talking about her affinity for chocolate…oh well, I’m not ashamed). Fortunately for me, Lindsey likes chocolate as much as I do. She really liked this cake…we even thought this cake resembled a flourless cake…but this cake is SOOO moist!
Here it is.

Glazed Chocolate Cake
Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for whipped cream (optional)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-round cake pan; line bottom with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Butter paper; dust bottom and sides of pan with cocoa, tapping out excess.
Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour.
Spread batter in prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on countertop once to eliminate large air bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom-side up).

Set rack with cake over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run over sides; spread gently with an offset spatula or table knife to coat. Let set, about 30 minutes.

If desired, whip cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Cook's Note
Dusting the pan with cocoa powder (rather than flour) keeps the cake dark on the outside. To make chocolate shavings, scrape along the edge of a bar of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes. Makes ¾ cup.

And there you have it...chocolate heaven!

Our Latest Creation...

2011-05-26T13:44:00.000-06:00

Hattie, our little foodie!

It has been a wonderful few weeks since our baby girl joined our family! We can tell she's already a foodie because she really loves her milk and is growing like a weed! Please excuse our absence the past couple weeks, and probably for a few more to come. We're just enjoying our little family!

When we come back, we'll have new recipes, as well as a product review and giveaway, so stay tuned!

Grown-up Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2011-05-02T08:30:00.001-06:00

For a last "hurrah" before our foodie baby comes, Stew had the idea to do a little "babymoon." He had the whole day planned, from the time we woke up to the time we went to bed. One thing we did was make lunch, "lindstewfoodies style." We'd been watching the show "America's Next Great Restaurant" (talk about a show made just for me—food + design?!), and one of the contestants on the show had the idea for a grilled cheese restaurant (we both wanted him to win, but sadly he didn't).
Stew, being the creative guy he is, decided this would be a fun lunch (especially because I've upped my grilled cheese intake since being pregnant). He found a picture (recipe NOT included, from Martha Stewart here), secretly bought all the ingredients, from the Dijon mustard to the sourdough bread (thank you Kneaders!). I was very impressed.

It was such a flavorful sandwich!!

We couldn't quite "grill" our sandwiches, because of the type of bread we used, so we just broiled them in the oven, and they were still great! However, I think to be a "grilled cheese" we should have used double the cheese...our sandwiches were more like a grown-up BLT...but still fantastic! Even though neither of us love Dijon mustard, we both thought the tang added a lot on this sandwich!
Next time you need a change from the regular grilled cheese, make this! You won't be disappointed!

BLT Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients:
Loaf of artisan sourdough bread, sliced
High quality sharp cheddar cheese

(Stew splurged on the cheese, and it was so worth it!)

Dijon mustard
Turkey bacon
Avocado, sliced
Tomatoes, sliced
Black pepper

Directions:
Cook bacon in a skillet. Set aside.

Turn on broiler (500º F), panini press, or skillet for grilling. Spread Dijon on one slice of bread. Layer tomato and avocado slices on top.

Sprinkle black pepper on top of avocado. Place bacon, about three slices per sandwich (depending on bread size), on top of avocado. Top generously with cheese slices.
If broiling, place in broiler, along with bare bread slices for tops, until cheese is melted and bubbly (watch carefully).

If grilling or pressing, top with second slice of bread and grill until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.
Top broiled sandwich with second slice of bread. Cut in half and enjoy!!