Chocolate Press Cookies

I'm going to blame this new kitchen gadget on my mom, and Amazon.com and their 4 for 3 deal on kitchen gadgets. Every Christmas my mom talks about how she wants to make Spritz cookies. Usually we don't. Mainly because we have lost some part to the cookie press or we just plain forget. Despite this my mom is still nostalgic about them. Nostalgia about food is something I understand. Especially with foods associated with holidays. I love making Christmas cookies and giving them to friends, I also really like receiving colorful tins lined with a variety of delicious holiday treats. So as a way to learn about my mom's love for the cookie press I decided to get one of my own.

Our friend invited us over to watch some college football and eat some amazing BBQ. I usually bring desserts to events like this so I had to decide what to bring. I know pressed cookies are usually associated with the holidays, but my new Kuhn Rikon Cookie Press said on the box that these cookies weren't just for the holidays anymore. It even came with a variety of disks to make different themed cookies. Since it is Autumn I decided to go with the pumpkin shaped and one that is called Abstract, basically a squiggly shape. There is even a dinosaur shaped disk, although I think it looks more like a camel or a llama.

I'm not much of a vanilla person, chocolate is much more my style. So of course I had to try the chocolate cookie recipe that was included in the manual. But oops, I grabbed the wrong measuring spoon and added nearly twice the amount of salt. Sometimes mistakes are for the best. I'm going to misquote what my friend said after eating about 20 of them. "You've captured what makes tortilla chips so addicting in a cookie". A great compliment for me as I find tortilla chips to be the most addicting food on the planet. So go ahead and add a little extra salt.

Chocolate Press Cookies
Adapted from Kuhn Rikon Recipe Book

2 sticks butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt (plus a little extra)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour

1) Preheat oven to 375 F
2) Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy, then add vanilla, egg, milk, and salt

3) Sift in cocoa and flour then mix with a wooden spoon

4) Place dough into cookie press and attach disk then press onto ungreased cookie sheets

5) If adding sprinkles, do this before baking
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from baking sheet and let cool
7) Decorate with frosting if desired then store in airtight container, or just eat them and enjoy!

Meat and Potatoes

Whenever my boyfriend visits home his mom always sends him back with a cooler full of meat. Whole chicken, pork tenderloins, ribs, and my favorite...steaks. As I get older I have begun to appreciate steak more. I went from liking it charred and cooked way past the point you should ever cook a steak, to appreciating the wonderful flavors of a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak.

The restaurant that cooks the best steak I have ever eaten is The Hitching Post. A lot of people may remember this restaurant from the movie Sideways. It was the restaurant and bar they went to every night. My dad is their go-to plumber so he has gotten to know the staff and owners over the years. So whenever I am home visiting I have to go there. They know how to cook a mean piece of steak and their Magic Dust seasoning is phenomenal. Plus, there is nothing like cooking meat over a wood burning fire, using red oak of course. Oh and if you go there you HAVE to try their grilled artichokes. They are amazing!

http://hitchingpost2.com/

We don't have a huge wood burning grill to cook our steaks over. But we do have a tiny grill that gets the job done. Now if only we had some red oak. Oh well. We grilled up the steaks, made some mashed potatoes with my brand new potato ricer, and sauteed up some spicy red kale. A decadent meal for a Monday night, but hey, it's only going to get colder and we're running out of grilling time. I also wanted to use my new potato ricer since I had never used one before. I didn't even buy it for this purpose, I heard you can use them to make spaetzle, and they are great for getting rid of moisture in potatoes and zucchini for frying them up.

I'll leave you with a recipe for riced mashed potatoes and spicy sauteed red chard. We just put some seasoning on the steaks and throw them on the grill until done.

Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
I approximated the measurements, add heated cream mixture slowly so you don't add too much liquid

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste 

1) In a large pot of water add the potatoes and plenty of salt and boil until tender
2) Drain potatoes then lay out on baking sheet for 15 minutes or so

3) Place potatoes in a potato ricer and rice them into a bowl

4) Meanwhile heat milk, cream, and butter until heated then pour over potatoes and mix with a whisk

5) Add salt and pepper and serve along side main dish

Spicy Sauteed Red Chard
1 bunch of red chard, or other leafy green
Olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Rinse and chop chard into smaller pieces
2) Heat olive oil in pan, when hot add the chard and spices

3) Cook until tender, stirring frequently, then serve along side main dish and enjoy!

Enchiladas with Poblano Sauce

As you may have been able to tell from the previous post I am now obsessed with Poblano sauce. I was so glad to have leftovers. But I now had to come up with something to do with those leftovers. Then it hit me... enchiladas! Possibly my favorite food. There is something so delicious about them and growing up in California, they were my comfort food. Warm, gooey cheese encased in a lightly fried corn tortilla, covered in subtly spicy sauce topped with more cheese. I mean, what is better than that? I knew this would be the dish that could showcase this sauce perfectly. I grabbed a can of black beans, some onions, shredded cheese, fried up some tortillas and got to work. You could add chicken or pork to this dish if you would like, but for me cheese enchiladas are always the best. This may be one of the best recipes that I've come up with. And I finally figured out a way to make awesome enchiladas.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Poblano Sauce
1 can of black beans
1 onion, chopped
6-8 tortillas (depending on how many servings, I made 3 per person)
Oil for frying and cooking beans
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups Shredded Jack cheese
Poblano Sauce (see previous recipe)

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F
2) Saute onion with spices, then add black beans until heated through

3) In a small pan heat oil (enough to cover a tortilla), when hot add tortilla and lightly fry on both sides, about 5-10 seconds on each side, just to soften

4) Drain tortillas to catch excess grease
5) In a pan lined with foil, begin to assemble the enchiladas by placing a portion of the beans and cheese into each tortilla, then wrapping them shut

6) When finished wrapping the enchiladas place them in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted

7) Top with enough Poblano sauce to cover them as well as more cheese
8) Switch oven to broil and let them broil until sauce is heated and cheese is melted, about 2-3 mintues

9) Remove from oven, serve, and enjoy!

Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce with Fried Tilapia

Roasted chile sauces may be some of the best things on the planet. I love their deep, rich, smoky flavors with the hint of spiciness that livens up many dishes. Growing up we used to grill Tri-tip, a cut of meat which my hometown of Santa Maria, CA supposedly invented. See http://www.eatmedaily.com/2010/06/top-of-the-food-chain-tri-tip/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip. When we grilled up some Tri-tip we would usually grill some Anaheim chiles and Linguica as an appetizer. Roasted chiles are tied up with childhood memories of barbecues and hanging out with friends and family.

The Poblano sauce I made the other night reminded me of these memories. A new twist on flavors that I had grown up with. As I peeled the roasted Poblanos I remembered putting Anaheim chiles in paper bags to steam, then peeling off the burnt skin to reveal the smoky flesh of the chiles. So delicious! This sauce captured all of those flavors and memories. I just couldn't get enough of this sauce! The following day I even made enchiladas with the leftover sauce (see later post).

Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce 
3-4 Poblano chiles
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt to taste

1) Place Poblano chiles in a roasting pan and set under broil until skin has blistered and becomes slightly charred (you can hear the skin popping in the oven); do this to both sides of the chiles
2) Remove from oven and place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they can steam, for about 5
 minutes

3) Remove skin and stem of the chiles with your fingers then chop into large pieces
4) Place Poblanos in food processor with milk and blend until smooth

5) In a pan, make roux with butter and flour, then add the Poblano puree, lower heat and add cream

6) Stir sauce until thickened and add salt
7) Top over chicken or fish, or practically anything and enjoy!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

I've been wanting to try this cake ever since I saw the post on Smitten Kitchen. Thursday night I finally had a chance. We were having a quiet night at home watching movies and I thought the perfect thing to compliment the chill night would be some nice warm chocolate cake. This cake is surprisingly easy and fast to make. I think that I had started it and finished eating a piece within an hour. My kind of cake. Plus, there really isn't anything more delicious and simple than freshly whipped cream, except maybe if you add some cinnamon.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen


6 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup red wine
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup plus 1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 325 F and butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan
2) Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, red wine, and vanilla
3) Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients

4) Add batter to pan and bake for 25-30 minutes

5) Cool in pan for 10 minutes then slice into pieces, top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Cinnamon Whipped Cream
This is more of a suggestion than a recipe because I just poured heavy cream into a bowl. Start whipping, then add sugar to taste and continue whipping until peaks form. Add cinnamon and place on top cake, or coffee

Athens Family Restaurant

Last night we finally tried Athens Family Restaurant, a diner with an extensive Greek menu. We've heard great things about this place, it was even featured on Diner. Drive-Ins, and Dives, so we knew it had to be good... and it was! The building looks and feels like a diner. But the menu will surprise you. They serve breakfast all day, but we decided to stay on the dinner side.

My boyfriend chose a Lamb Burger with Bacon, a perfect fusion of American classic diner with a Greek twist. The fries even came with crumbled feta on top. The burger was huge and delicious. It had that great lamb taste mixed with the familiar flavor of bacon. I wanted to try one of the Greek entrees so I ordered the Kotopita. I had never before tried this dish, but hey, it comes wrapped in phyllo. How can you go wrong? Inside the delicious, buttery phyllo wrapper were pieces of chicken, cheese, and vegetables. Yum! It was served with a mixture of vegetables in a tomato sauce, which was slightly spicy and had a great flavor. In addition it comes with Dina's Creamy Potatoes, pieces of potatoes cooked in a creamy cheesy sauce.

Athens is a great place that has a huge and diverse menu. There will be something on the menu for everyone to enjoy, whether they prefer traditional diner classics or are feeling more adventurous and want to try something Greek.

Scandinavian Meatballs

I should probably refer to these as Swedish Meatballs, but I am of Norwegian heritage and this delicious meal is known throughout Scandinavian, and not just restricted to Sweden. This dish reminds me a lot of home and has remained a favorite comfort food for me. Traditionally these meatballs are served with mashed potatoes, but I love when they are combined with egg noodles and topped with some fresh parsley. The meatballs are very tender and flavorful and compliment the rich and creamy sauce. This is a great winter meal that is filling and delicious.

Scandinavian Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup of bread crumbs soaked in 1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp of nutmeg

For the sauce
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream

1) Preheat oven to 350
2) Combine first set of ingredients in a bowl and roll into balls about 1 inch round and place on wax paper until finished

3) In a large saucepan melt 3/4 tbsp of butter and brown meatballs, working in batches, once browned place on a sheet pan lined with foil

4) Once all meatballs are browned, but not fully cooked, place in oven and finish cooking, about 15 minutes

5) In the saucepan, remove most of fat, if there is any, and add the remaining butter, when melted add the flour and create a roux

6) Add chicken broth and reduce slightly
7) Lower heat and stir in sour cream and add meatballs

8) Serve over egg noodles or with mashed potatoes, top with parsley and enjoy!