Gadget of the Day: The Pastry Scraper

My husband got me a wonderful Christmas gift this year! Well - he got me several, but one gadget I've wanted for quite while is a Pastry Scraper, although to be truthful... I don't make many homemade pastries. These little tools are designed specifically for the purpose of flipping soft doughs and scrapping up scraps of dough from the work surface, but I find them extremely handy for scooping up chopped veggies and clearing your cutting board. The one below is from Williams Sonoma and cost only $8!

So - whether you make pastries or not - you probably have chopped an onion and been frustrated that the edge of your knife can't carry it all to the skillet.... enter the Pastry Scraper!

Kristy

Easy Marinated Italian Chicken

This recipe is just about the easiest form of a wonderfully marinaded chicken that you will ever taste. My Aunt Venus gave it to my Mom a while back and I was able to make it for the first time for Brian the other night and we both loved it. It has a TON of flavor, and I served it with peas. Pictured above is chicken tenderloins because that is all I had but a chicken breast would probably be the better option!

Easy Marinated Italian Chicken

1 bottle regular Italian dressing

1lb. chicken breasts or cutlets

Garlic salt

In small glass dish (*use glass, as other materials might soak up the smell of an Italian dressing), place chicken breasts face up and then pour entire bottle of Italian dressing over chicken. Let sit overnight or at least 4-8 hours. When ready to cook, pour all contents (chicken + leftover dressing) into a skillet and cook on 350 degrees or Medium/High heat until chicken is no longer pink. Use garlic salt to add a little more taste before serving.

These would also make a great warm appetizer cut up into bite-sized pieces and served on a toothpick!

Enjoy!

Easy Popcorn Balls

The other day my husband and I were attending a Christmas lunch party at the lab that we work in, but we had our interviews for medical school that morning, too! We had no time to go home across town in Miami and grab whatever it was we'd be taking to the party, so we had to figure out something to take that could easily sit in the car during the interview and during errands and wouldn't go bad or melt! Lo and behold... popcorn balls! I made a few changes to a normal recipe to accomodate our tastes and what we had at home. They were a perfect non-super sweet addition to the dessert table and you can always make them as big or as small as the party would call for. This recipe makes about a dozen medium-sized balls.



Easy Popcorn Balls

2 regular sized bags of Kettle Popcorn
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
Dash of salt

Prepare popcorn in microwave as directed, being careful not to overcook. Meanwhile, mix together corn syrup, sugar, and salt in a medium sized pan and heat & stir on low. Add 1-1/2 to 2 bags of popcorn to pan and gently fold popcorn in the sweet mixture with a rubber spatula, being careful not to break the popcorn. Continue folding until all sugar is dissolved and popcorn is well-coated. Rub butter on the palms and fingers of your hands and form popcorn into balls and set on your platter. Let cool.


Enjoy!

Vanilla Icing

The Holiday season is in full swing... and sooner or later you're going to need some icing for those cookies of yours that you're going to let the kids (or husband :) ) sprinkle! This recipe for vanilla icing is a modified version from my buttercream icing. It's less butter and more milk, and makes in a smaller amount so you can double it as needed for however many cookies you are making. We made almost 5 dozen large cookies, though, and this recipe was more than enough to cover them all!

Vanilla Icing
1/4 c. soft or melted margarine
1 t. vanilla
4 T. milk
2 c. powdered/confectioners sugar

In medium size bowl combine all ingredients. Mix by hand until butter chunks are smaller, then mix with mixer to smooth out (no longer than 30sec. to 1min.). Add milk as needed to thin the icing, or sugar to thicken it.

Enjoy!

Word of the Day (and a Healthy Snack!): Edamame

Edamame is the word used for fresh soybeans. You can find edamame sold in their pods or out of the pod. You can usually find them in the frozen food section in traditional or "steam-in-the-bag" forms. I love the steam-in-the-bag variety because they are so fuss-free, but if you find the kind you need to boil, it only takes about five minute.

"But...How do I eat that?" I think this is the quesiton that causes many people to shy away from edamame. If you buy the peeled variety, you can use the protein-packed beans in salads or soups or pretty much any other dish as you would another type of bean. The taste is slightly sweet, but it works in a lot of dishes to up the protein count. You can find a great recipe at this website - where I also found the picture above - for a Three-bean Salad using edamame.

My favorite way to eat edamame however is straight out of the pod as a snack. Just steam or boil your edamame, sprinkle a little salt on the pods, and put a pod in your mouh. You your lips to squeeze the beans out of the pods. YUM! And, a half cup has about 15 grams of protein!

Enjoy!

Kristy

Apple Cider Spice Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

My husband and I are alike in SO many ways, there wouldn't be enough days in the year to count them! The ONE thing we differ on?... Dessert. In every way, shape, and form. He likes fruity desserts, I think dessert is only dessert if it has chocolate as an ingredient. :) Recently when I made our first Thanksgiving meal together, I really wanted a dessert that we would both enjoy. I came across a recipe for a Spice Cake, but didn't have the specific type of pan it required. So I did a little bit of creating and came up with an Apple Cider version that can be cooked in any regular cake pan. It isn't an overwhelming sweet taste, but has a very holiday scent and taste and would be great as an alternative to all the extra-sweet desserts at the table (which I equally love, too!). Try it for your next holiday meal this season!

Cake Ingredients:
2-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/4c. cornstarch
4t. baking powder
1/2t. salt
2t. ground ginger
1t. ground cinnamon
1/2t. ground nutmeg
1/2t. ground allspice
1/2t. ground cloves
1c. apple cider
3 large eggs
2t. vanilla
1c. unsalted butter, softened
2c. dark brown sugar

Cinnamon Glaze ingredients:
1/2c. sugar
1/4c. buttermilk
1/4t. baking soda
2t. corn syrup
1/4t. vanilla
1/4c. margarine
1/4t. cinnamon

For cake: Preheat to 350. Grease and lightly flour a metal 9 x 13" pan (or two 8" cake pans). Whisk dry ingredients and spices in large bowl. Mix milk, eggs, and vanilla extract in seperate bowl. Beat softened butter into dry ingredients on medium. Add milk mixture and beat on low until smooth. Add the sugar and beat about 30 seconds. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake until toothpick in center comes out clean or about 40minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

For glaze: Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to rolling boil over low heat. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top cake with glaze and serve warm. (To get an even distribution over cake, use the back of a regular spoon to spread.)

Enjoy!
Brittany

The Garlic Smash

My mom (my own culinary teacher!) recently said I should write a post about how to peel garlic. I was shocked that she didn't know the technique that I have loving dubbed, "The Garlic Smash"! The very best way to get a clove of garlic out of its paper is to take a flat object (I use the flat edge of your chopping knife - it's probably what you will use to cut up the garlic anyway, so it's convenient), and place it on top of the clove of garlic. Use one hand to steady your choice flat object and the other to give it a good firm smash! The clove will separate from the paper making peeling easy!

Photo: courtesy of startcooking.com.

So - mom, and the rest of you faithful readers - happy smashing! And if you have a great way to peel garlic - leave it as a comment!

Kristy