Culinary Goods

This recipe came from melskitchencafe.com. We doubled it to make a 9x13 and we didn’t change a single thing because my girls were making them. So, these are good. I mean, it’s a brownie. They get a 7.5 I just don’t think they are any better than any other brownie made with cocoa. I’m a brownie snob. The boxed kind is better than cocoa brownies, and real brownies with full on chocolate are better than boxed. So that’s the scale. These are cocoa brownies from scratch. They’re fine. The Best Fudgy Brownies {Think: Homemade Brownies Like The Boxed Mix!} Ingredients 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks or 5 ounces) butter 1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces) sugar 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/2 cup (2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour   Click here for directions: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-fudgy-brownies/     Mel’s Source Recipe retrieved 10-...

Just in case my title didn’t scare everyone away, I think this picture will: Seriously, John. The pepper? Calm down there. Anyway, I am going more vegetarian again, so my recipes will likely reflect that. I adapted this recipe from a previous recipe I blogged. You can find the original inspiration (and a great meat version) by searching “Shepherd’s Pie” in the search bar at the top left. Anyway, Gavin loved this, which is SHOCKING. Everyone like it but Grey, and it gets a 7. I changed things around a ton, so here is what it ended up being: Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie 2 cups onion 6 cloves garlic, minced 3-4 cups carrots 2 cups frozen green beans, cut into small sizes 1 cup frozen corn 1 cup frozen peas 1 1/2 cups green lentils, cooked 16 oz. mushrooms, chopped small 1- 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. chicken Better than bouillon paste 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. dry oregano 1 tsp. dry thyme 3/4 tsp. rosemary 1 small can tomato paste 1 cup sour cream   So, throw som...

P.S. The bubbles in the soup are because I poured it boiling hot into the bowl very quickly, and it splashed a bit. So, I have made minestrone soup for years, and it’s always good, but this version is the best—I would give this an 8. Does a better version exist somewhere? Probably, but I’m done looking because this one is good. So, here is what I am putting in my permanent recipe box. Oh, and all the spices are dry. Finally, you NEED the parmesan cheese. Don’t skimp. Minestrone Soup 2 Tbs. olive oil 1 medium chopped onion 5 medium cloves minced garlic 1 ½-2 tsp. salt 1 stalk minced celery 2 medium diced carrots 1 small diced zucchini 1 small diced yellow squash 25 green beans, snapped in half (some websites I was searching on said you can use canned Italian green beans. I have no info on this, but maybe it’s good) ½ head small green cabbage, shredded 1 cup fresh spinach 1 can kidney beans 1 can white beans 6 cups vegetable broth 2 cans small diced tomatoes, with juic...

John made this recipe up, and it’s yummy. John had it on the table when I walked in from the airport after a week in Oregon, and it was so fantastic. Anyway, these are good—they get an 8.3. Keep in mind that ideally, you could add butternut squash to my Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas recipe, cut out the chicken to make it vegetarian, and that would probably be the best of both worlds. First, made the green chili verde sauce I have blogged about 10 times by now (you can find it by searching “green chile sauce” on the blog). Next, bake the butternut squash (cut into cubes) and coated in olive oil, oregano, and kosher salt at 350 for 20 minutes, or until it was soft. Add, 3-4 cans worth of black beans in a bowl, add 1/2 onion, and mixed the onion beans and squash with the chili verde sauce. Fill into corn tortillas with Monterey jack cheese, add leftover sauce, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Serve with avocado, tomato, lettuce, olives, etc.

These were good, chewy cookies. I left out the  coconut   extract and they still had a nice coconutty taste. They get a 7.5 and I got the recipe from cookingclassy.com. Ingredients 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened I used 1/2 C. butter and 1/2 C. oil 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar I used 2/3 C. 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 Tbsp milk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp coconut extract (or 1/2 tsp for more coconut flavor) I left this out 3 cups rolled oats (old fashioned) 12 oz dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut 1 cup unsalted almonds, chopped I left these out Here's the link to the instructions: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/05/oatmeal-coconut-almond-chocolate-chunk-cookies/

I didn't get a picture of this because my sister-in-law made it, but I loved it. It gets an 8. Anything with puff pastry, lemon curd, cream cheese and raspberries is good in my book. She left the raspberry jam out and the powdered sugar and it wa still awesome. The recipe came from http://susikochenundbacken.blogspot.com/2014/02/rustic-raspberry-lemon-cheesecake-tart.html. You can also access the directions here. Ingredients: 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold 4 oz. cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling 2 Tbsp. heavy cream 1/3 cup lemon curd,  homemade  or store-bought  1 pint raspberries 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, warmed Powdered sugar

I loved this. Jared gave it an 8.5 and I gave it an 8. It made a ton of sauce, so I'm going to use the rest for a stir fry. I got the recipe from all recipes.com. I listed the ingredients and you can access the directions here:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/132929/easy-chicken-satay/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results           1/2 cup coconut milk              
 1 clove garlic, minced             
 1 teaspoon curry powder             
 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar             
 1/2 teaspoon salt                   1/2 teaspoon pepper                   1 cup coconut milk      ...