The Silver Mandoline

Pizza!!

2009-07-15T23:15:00.002-04:00

I made pizza for the first time! It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it was...

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (105F)
4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons of olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in water. Add oil and flour and mix thoroughly for about a minute. Press out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle yeast evenly over dough and knead for 12 minutes.

Divide dough into portions: 6 oz. for Calzones, 18 oz. for 12 inch, 25 oz. for 15 inch. Roll each portion into a ball. You want a dough ball without visible seams except the bottom. Place dough balls in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to proof for 1−2 hours at room temperature to use the same day, or store in refrigerator to use the next day.

Place dough ball on lightly floured surface, and lightly flour the top. Use fingertips to evenly flatten out the dough ball. Work from the edges to the center press dough into a 12" circle. Place both hands within the shell edge and stretch with fingertips and palms maintaining an even pressure. Or, use a lightly floured rolling pin to stretch to desired shape.

Sprinkle cornmeal or semolina on pizza peel (a wooden paddle with a handle to slide the pizza in the oven) or a cutting board. The cornmeal allows the pizza to slide onto the stone easily. After topping the pizza, when you are ready to cook it. Shake the peel or cutting board to make sure none of the dough is sticking. Carefully slide the pizza into the oven.

Bake in a 500 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden.

Baked Ratatouille

2009-07-15T15:20:00.009-04:00

This ratatouille recipe is a perfectly light summer main course served with rice, or comforting side dish to meat in the colder months. It's extremely simple to make and yet can be made into a beautiful presentation piece.

This recipe will serve A LOT. (Check my notes at the bottom to hear some more about it). Photos to come soon!!

Ingredients:
1 small eggplant
2 medium yellow squash
4-5 plum tomatoes
1 medium-large zucchini

Herb Sauce: the measurements here are just GUIDELINES. you may use dried herbs, and therefore the herbs, if fresh, should be finely chopped.
olive oil (2 T)
tomato paste (1-2 cans)
parsley (3-4 T)
oregano (1-2 T)
basil (1-2 T)
4 large cloves of garlic
ground black pepper (to taste)
HOT paprika or red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt (to taste, i did not add any)

Special tools:
A special kitchen tool that you might want to invest in, especially when making this dish is a mandoline. (Yes, what the blog is named after). If you already own one, you know just how useful and time saving it is. Mandolines may be found at just about any kitchen store.

Directions:
Take all the herb sauce ingredients and put them into a food processor. Do not attempt to thin out the sauce with water. The vegetables will let out a lot of water when baked.

If you do not have a food processor, finely chop the garlic and herbs and mix thoroughly with the rest of the herb sauce ingredients.

Use the mandoline, or a knife to thinly slice all the vegetables into rounds.

In a pyrex, casserole dish, or just about any oven safe pan, thinly spread the sauce on the bottom. Arrange the vegetable slices however you wish.

I alternated 2 slices of different vegetables into a pretty pattern. You do not have to do this. This method also takes up a lot of space and I ended up using TWO medium sized pyrex to use up all the vegetables.

Spread the rest of the sauce on top of the vegetables. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour at 375 F.

Enjoy!

Notes:
This dish is very versatile, and I'd expect anyone to tailor it to their liking and convenience of ingredients. One prepared, the ratatouille goes great with or on just about anything you can think of.

This is also a really CHEAP dish. The vegetables cost about 9 bucks in total, and the rest of the ingredients i had lying around my house. It'll probably end up being 3-4 very filling meals for 2 people.

It's also super healthy!!

Stuffed Peppers in Tomato Sauce

2009-07-11T15:12:00.006-04:00

This is a super tasty, super easy dish to make. Serve with rice.

Meat Filling:
1 lb. ground beef or pork
salt
1 T. or more, spices to taste (i used cinnamon, oregano, allspice, etc)
2 t milk
ground black pepper
1 egg
1 white bread bun

Pepper and Sauce:
2 onions
sugar
6 bell peppers
5-6 T. canola oil
1 liter beef stock
5 pieces of whole allspice (powder may be used too)
1/3 to 1/2 can of tomato paste (120 g)
2 T. flour
3 bay leaves (whole)
5 black peppercorn
2 t. milk

Directions:

Wash and remove pepper core and seeds while being careful to keep the pepper whole. In a bowl, tear up pieces of the bun and soak it in the 2 teaspoons of milk. Add the remainder of the meat filling ingredients. Fill the peppers with this mix.

Chop the onions and cook them until clear in a large and relatively deep pan with the canola oil. Add the peppers and cook them on all sides.

Add the bay leaves and peppercorn to the pan. Pour in beef stock and add tomato paste.

In a separate bowl mix the 2 teaspoons of milk and 2 tablespoons of flour. Add this mixture to the pan.

Slowly bring the contents of the pan to a boil. Simmer until meat is thoroughly cooked.

You may thicken thicken the sauce with milk or sweeten with sugar.

Ham & Onion Potato Dumplings

2009-07-06T19:11:00.006-04:00

These dumplings are a traditional Czech dish that is much, much, MUCH more scrumptious than it looks in the photo above. The dumplings pair excellently with sauerkraut, purple cabbage, sausage, etc.

The recipe below is by weight, so you will need a scale or a conversion.

Filling:
1 large white onion
1, 1 cm thick slice of boneless ham
vegetable oil

Dumpling dough:
800 g Yukon potatoes
50 g potato starch (this is easily found in kosher sections of grocery stores, look for Manischewitz brand, or natural/health food sections by Bob's Red Mill brand)
150 g semolina flour (Look for Bob's Red Mill brand again)
100 g all-purpose flour
2 large eggs

Filling Directions:
Chop the onion and ham. Pour enough oil into a pan to thinly cover the bottom. Heat up the pan until a piece of onion will sizzle when dropped into the oil. Add the ham and onion. Cook on medium-low heat until the onion is clear. Keep moving occasionally.

Dumpling Dough Directions:
Boil the potatoes in a pot until cooked through. Make sure you DO NOT peel the potatoes before boiling them; they will absorb too much water. Once fully cooked, peel the potatoes.

Grate the peeled potatoes through a medium-coarse sized grater into a large bowl. Add the potato starch, semolina flour and all purpose flour. Kneed this with your hands. Add the eggs. Kneed with your hands until relatively smooth but well mixed. The dough is allowed to have chunks of potato in it-- really it's a matter of preference, but I prefer there to be no chunks because it makes the dough more workable and the dumplings cook better.

The dough should not be too wet. If it sticks to a clean, wet hand, you might want to add some more all-purpose flour.

Making the dumplings:
Boil a large post of water. This is how the dumplings will be cooked.

Roll a medium amount of dough into a ball, then press it out into a disk with your palms. The disk should be a little larger than your palm if you are a 'small' woman. Add a small spoonful of filling and pinch the dough close. Roll the ball in your hands so that it has been properly sealed.

Do this with the rest of the dough and filling.

The dumplings then may be cooked in the boiling water. They should begin to float and will be ready about 5 minutes after they first float. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the dumplings. Be careful to make sure that the dumplings are not sticking to the bottom of the pot, or to one another.

Take the cooked dumplings out, strain, and eat hot.

Note: It is important to use the dough while it is fresh and just made.

back to business

2009-05-22T14:43:00.003-04:00

So it's definitely been a while since I've blogged here; but, I'm back.

I have a bunch of Czech dishes to share, and a cookbook that I hope I'll eventually put out with a bunch of recipes that I've accumulated and stocked up over the years.

;)

Kitchen Tips:The Perfect Sweet Potato

2008-09-28T14:36:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder how to cook that perfect sweet potato without checking timers, boiling water, etc? Well now you can! Just...

Pick your sweet potato of choice.
Thoroughly scrub the outside.
Place it on a microwave safe plate, and poke a fork around the whole of the potato.
Place the potato in the microwave for 4:30-7:30 minutes depending on how large it is.
Check it by poking it with a fork.

Voila! So simple, and you can probably polish off a couple of dirty dishes while it cooks. :)

Cheddar & Chive Biscuits

2008-09-27T15:01:00.006-04:00

These biscuits are AWESOME! I kid you not! I woke up Saturday morning itching for some homemade goodness. I thought, what should I make?

Scones obviously! Well, I didn't have my scone recipe with me, nor my biscuit recipe. I was in trouble. But, where luck runs out, it also runs in... So I formulated something off the top of my head, threw in some stuff that needed to be used in the fridge, and surprisingly enough, voila: savoury and crispy breakfast delight!

The best cheddar and chive biscuits... EVER!

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Ingredients

1 3/4 C. all purpose flour
2 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
6 T. cold butter
2 large eggs
1/3 C. half and half
3/4 C. - 1 C. extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1/4 t. paprika
1/4 C. chopped chives, loosely packed

Directions

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
Cut in the butter using a pastry knife/cutter. If you don't have one you can use 2 knives.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Then, add the half and half, cheddar, chives, and paprika.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg liquid.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet using a spatula. Be sure to mix as little as possible because the less you handle the dough, the more flaky the biscuits will be.
On a floured board or surface, press or roll the dough to about 3/4 of an inch in thickness.
Cut into about 2 to 2 1/2 inch rounds, and place onto baking sheets.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden.

Good-Stuff Guacamole

2008-09-23T00:41:00.002-04:00

Mmm... homemade guacamole. More fiesta food below! Oh, and be sure to check out the Simply Scrumptious Salsa. :)

1 extra large avocados
1/3-1/2 extra large red onion
1/2 large tomato
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
3-4 cloves garlic
handful of cilantro
garlic powder
chili powder
red pepper flakes
salt
pepper

Halve the avocados. Peel away and throw out the skin. In a medium sized bowl, mash the insides of the avocado with a fork until relatively smooth.
Chop the onion, cilantro and tomato. Add to the avocado.
Mince the garlic and add.
Squeeze in the lemon and lime juice, adding more if needed.
Season to taste.

Simply Scrumptious Salsa

2008-09-23T00:04:00.006-04:00

Mmm... for KM's (my house's) unofficial Last-Day-of-Summer Fiesta Kick Off we had tacos and homemade guacamole and salsa, fragrant, farm fresh chopped tomatoes, crisp shredded lettuce, served up in only the most piping hot tortillas this planet has ever seen. Oh, and did I mention the savoury red onions and organic lean ground beef with homemade seasoning?

Hungry yet? Well I hope so, because there is a delicious salsa recipe below...

Ingredients

3-4 extra, extra large tomatoes
1/3-1/2 extra large red onion
1/3 can sweet corn
1/3 can black beans
3 cloves garlic
1/4 lemon (optional!)
handful of cilantro
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
chili powder
salt
pepper

Directions

Chop the tomatos, onion and cilantro.
Mince the garlic and add the beans and corn.
Squeeze some lemon in if you'd like and season as desired.

Notes
Imay have forgotten some stuff because I jus tmake things up as aI go and season to taste... Neverless, enjoy!

A Spice of Delight Cookies

2008-09-22T20:17:00.006-04:00

So, I've been MIA for a while due to summer (I got LOTS of new recipes that I've been too lazy to type up), and getting back to school. But, I'm making up for it with this delicious recipe that is just perfect for the coming of fall.

Theses scrumptious cookies are just as the title says... delightful! They are perfect paired with coffee or tea and are wonderfully complemented by lemon. Mmm... read on for the full report.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Ingredients

1 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter, softened but not melted
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 C. flour
3 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
3/4 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
cinnamon-sugar-ginger mix

Directions

Cream sugar and butter. Beat in the vanilla and egg.
Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.
Add to the butter mixture; blend well.
Refrigerate for 2 hour, or until the dough can be formed into relatively stiff balls.
Shape into small balls about 3/4 of a inch in diameter. Roll in cinnamon-sugar-ginger mixture.
Set balls on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until gently browned on the edges.
Remove and cool.

Note
I personally found the cookies' sweetness was better offset with some lemon juice, however all the people that had them liked them the way they were. You may want to make a bitter-sweet lemon glaze for theses if you're feeling adventurous. However, I'd reduce the amount of sugar if you are going to do so.
I tend to go heavy on the spices and reduced my spice measurement when I typed up this recipe. Experiment. :)

Happy baking!

Epic Eggs

2008-07-22T01:24:00.015-04:00

When I say 'Epic', I mean that there are few that can be as epic in retardation when it comes to boiling an egg. Never the less, science will prevail over such a setback.

Ingredients
1 pseudo-boiled egg
Soysauce, cheese, and various herbs found in a used bowl

You know the egg is perfect when it still appears to be embryonic. Cracking open the shell reveals a jiggly, semi-translucent landscape of slight disgust. Those with weak stomachs may now find the time to retch ever so slightly. Please do not actually vomit as that is not one of the ingredients.

After the pseudo-boiled egg is removed from water, its shell needs to be carefully peeled away, and as much of the edible parts of the egg should be salvaged and placed in the bowl with the remaining ingredients. For added crunch, add shell.

Using the science of the Microwave Oven, you should then proceed to nuke the bowl with embryonic egg for approximately 30-45 seconds in 15 second intervals.

Eat at your own expense.

Summery Teriyaki Salmon

2008-07-06T21:56:00.040-04:00

Another dish made for the Fourth of July. This was a last minute preparation, but it still came out well. It has the perfect amount of sweetness mixed with the excellent savoury sesame. The seeds and green onion bring a wonderful texture to the dish as well.

Ingredients:
3-5 lbs. salmon fillet
4/3 C. low sodium soy sauce
1 C. dry sherry
3 Tbsp granulated white sugar
4 Tbsp ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
sesame seeds, enough to cover the fillet (about 2/3 C.)
sesame oil
green onions, for garnish
cedar plank for grilling

Notes: This recipe was made up on the spot for the Fourth of July. It's not a completely perfect recipe. But it was quite good. To really seal the deal on this recipe, I'd slice a lemon into thin slices and lie them on the fillet before grilling the salmon. I haven't actually had the chance to try this yet.

Directions:

Turn the grill to medium to medium-low heat. Put the salmon fillet onto the cedar plank.
Toast sesame seeds in pan on low heat. Keep a good eye on this to make sure they do not burn. Thinly slice the green onions.
Meanwhile, add the soy sauce, sherry, sugar, minced garlic and ginger to a saucepan to create the teriyaki marinade. Bring to a boil and simmer until reduced to about 2/3 to the original amount.
Brush the salmon fillet in sesasme oil and cover the fillet with the toasted sesame seeds; cover the entire fillet.
Cool the teriyaki sauce.
Once fully cooled, brush the sauce onto the salmon fillet. Be sure to cover the top and bottom of the fillet.
Put the salmon into the grill. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Baste the fillet about every 5 minutes with the sauce.
Remove from the grill. Garnish the fillet with thinly sliced green onions and the garlic and ginger from the teriyaki sauce.
Serve hot!

Mediterranean Summer Pasta Delight

2008-07-05T23:03:00.013-04:00

This was one of those fourth of July dishes... So naturally it had to be easy to make. I've made this dis many times but yesterday I doctored it up a bit to make it more complex. It can be served hot, warm or chilled. Dee-lish!

Unfortunately for you, I made this for a huge amount of people (50), so the portions are just as large, and I was too lazy to convert the measurements. :P

Ingredients:
3 lbs. penne pasta
4 relatively ripe, but still firm avocados
10 medium sized tomatoes

Ingredients to Taste:
1.5-2 lemons, juice
olive oil, enough to coat the pasta
soy sauce*
red pepper flakes
paprika
salt
pepper, fresh

*If you are allergic to soy/soy sauce, this is a completely optional ingredient. Be sure not to add too much soy sauce-- it can be overpowering.

Directions:

Cook pasta. Cube tomatoes and avocados.
Add the olive oil, tomatoes and avocados to the cooked pasta.
The pasta may be warm or cold. Be sure to add in the tomato juice. You may also add an avocado seed tor two to keep the pasta from turning brown.
Mix these ingredients so a small sauce is created, but be sure to kepe the tomatoes and avocado intact. You do not want them to turn into much.
Add the rest of the ingredients to taste.

Notes: This dish should be made right before serving so it doesn't turn brown!

Saliva-cious Salmon

2008-07-02T14:39:00.002-04:00

Wonderful Waffles

2008-06-30T14:30:00.001-04:00

Delicious, simple, and the PERFECT breakfast! All you need is a waffle iron!

Ingredients*:
2 C. flour
4 eggs
2 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. butter
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn salt

*Thids is all from memory so it may not be 100% correct, but I think it is!

Directions:
There is a proper way to mix this all together, but I just throw everything together, mix it up and pour it onto a hot waffle iron.

Mmm... Maccaroni and Cheese

2008-06-26T23:26:00.005-04:00

I'm moving base from PA to NY for the summer, so naturally I have to work on cleaning out the fridge for the summer before I leave tomorrow. I was GOING to make a simple garlic and olive oil sauce drizzle for the leftover pasta in the fridge, but instead I found CHEESE and decided to make mac and cheese... Obvi!

The food itself came out really well, but the recipe is going to suck because I literally did everything to taste/what I could find in the fridge. Oh well, read more to see some expert guesstimation!

Main Ingredients
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
6 oz. soy milk (I ran out of milk)
3/4 C. Parmesan cheese (I just dumped some in to taste)
4 Tbsp flour

Okay, now things get even tricker...

Ingredients to Taste:
chili powder
pepper
red pepper flakes
dried oregano
dried parsley
garlic powder (only a little, because I was too lazy to chop the garlic)
salt
TURKEY BACON (3 slices, cooked)

Directions:

Put the cheese, flour and milk into a sauce pan. Melt and keep stirring on medium.
Add the spices to taste and cook the bacon.
You can cook the bacon and chop it up and put it into the sauce. I would have done this, but I forgot and added it after, which is fine too.
Remove from heat and pour over pasta.

Voila!

Note: You can also try baking the mac and cheese in a pyrex on 350 F for 15 minutes. Mmm. Whatever.

PS: I just tried heating this up to eat it, and I SWEAR microwaves stretch time. They warp reality so that 1 second is more like 3.

Classy Chinese Chicken

2008-06-24T01:09:00.016-04:00

Salty flavor; tasty flesh. The clean combinations of this Chinese inspired chicken will create confidence in the chef, and consummate the consumer’s credence in said cook.

Ingredients

2 pounds Chicken Wings
¾ cup Soy Sauce
¾ cup Cooking Wine/Sherry
2 sprigs Spring Onions, chopped
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 gloves garlic, smashed
3 tbsp oil
½ cup water
Pepper to taste

Let the chicken marinade in the soy sauce, sherry, and flavoring vegetable mixture for at least 20 minutes making sure that all of the chicken is covered. Then, heat the oil in a high walled pan over high heat, then put the chicken with the marinade sauce into the pan.

Let the heat begin cooking the chicken, making sure to turn the chicken so that all sides are evenly cooked. After the sauce has begun to boil, add enough water to submerge some of the chicken; about ½ a cup. Then reduce the heat to medium to allow the chicken to slowly cook. The chicken should still be turned to allow it to cook evenly.

After most of the water has boiled off, make a final effort to ensure that the chicken is cook thoroughly, then remove from heat and serve. Garnish with some spring onions for added effect!

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

2008-06-20T01:50:00.010-04:00

All I can say about these is that they are SO good and moist. They took all of 30 minutes to make... AND I didn't even have a grater for grating an entire lemon for lemon zest so instead i spent 10 minutes using a serrated knife to do it. Oh... I also didn't have buttermilk... read below for a nifty buttermilk substitute trick!

Oh, I've also updated the photo for the Muffcake recipe because I just made them again the other day. Mmm... I'm also working on a FULLY vegan version of the muffcakes.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
3/4 granulated white sugar
2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 C. buttermilk*
2/3 C. canola oil
1 tspn vanilla extract
14 oz. canned blueberries

*If you do not have buttermilk, you can do what I did and mix 3/4 C. milk (I used fat free because that is all I have) with a little less than 1 Tbpn white vinegar (you can also use lemon juice!). Let this mixture stand for about 15 minutes, or until it has curdled and become thicker.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease and flour a 12 muffin pan.
Beat the buttermilk, egg, canola oil and vanilla extract in a bowl.
In a large bowl sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
Fold the blueberries into this dry mixture.
Slowly mix in the wet mixture, but do not over mix.
Pour into the muffin pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

(Un)fussy Fried Rice

2008-06-17T22:59:00.009-04:00

Slightly more complicated than digging dirt, and slightly less complex than brain surgery, this fried rice recipe really has no traditional background. It is merely vegetables, rice, and eggs. And soy sauce. That’s about it. Go make it now.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups day old rice
1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables, not too much ice
2 eggs
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp soy sauce (or more, if you’re into that sort of thing)
Pepper to taste

Heat oil, add garlic and stir for about a minute. Add in the frozen veggies, and let the heat thaw them out well. When all the ice is melted, and the veggies are beginning to cook, add in the rice, and break it apart with a spatula. Contribute the soy sauce to the mixture, mixing it thoroughly throughout the rice. After the rice is heated up, clear some space in your pan, and crack the eggs directly above the exposed pan. Keep the eggs mixed up, and scramble them. After they are mostly cooked, about 3 minutes, mix among the rice and veggies.

After removing the fried rice from the heat, and moving to a bowl or plate, you might be looking for an extra kick of flavor. Enter cheese: cheddar or other salty cheeses is a great addition to the dry taste of the fried rice. Excellent!

Chinese Style String Beans

2008-06-17T00:20:00.004-04:00

Easy to make on the fly... delicious and... yeahh... (WYSIWYG)

Ingredients:

2 handfuls string beans
vegetarian oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2+ cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp cooking oil

Directions:

Mince the garlic, and chop the ends of the string beans off.
Heat up the pan with oil, add the garlic, and the string beans.
Add the soy sauce. Add oyster sauce to taste.
Stir fry until garlic is browned and string beans to your liking.

Tempting Tomato and Eggs

2008-06-16T23:07:00.023-04:00

A simple vegetarian dish, often served with love. Chinese cuisine is filled with the dangerous duo that is tomatoes and eggs; served in a noodle soup, fried up with rice, or served alone. This recipe gives you bare basics.

Ingredients:

3 Large Eggs, beaten
3 Medium tomatoes, cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
3 sprigs basil, chopped (optional)
3 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper

In a hot pan, heat the oil above high heat while letting the oil cover the pan. Next, add the minced garlic, and let that create some wonderful aromas for about 1 minute, before adding the beaten eggs. The idea is to cook the eggs so that they become solid without becoming too brown. The point is that the eggs are cooked, but when the tomatoes are added, they bring lots of delicious tomato juices to the mix, and you want the eggs to absorb some of that juice.

When the eggs reach this point, add the tomatoes and basil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep the ingredients moving in the pan so that the tomato gets hot, then remove from the pan and serve!

If you have enough leftovers of this dish, they make a great addition to noodle soup, or added to a fried rice dish!

Vicious Vegetable Stir Fry

2008-06-13T02:30:00.005-04:00

So simple... so easy... satisfies my midnight cravings (for vegetables).

Ingredients:

2 cups broccoli
2 medium-large carrots,
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp canola oil

Additional:
2-4 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce

Directions:

Add the canola oil to the pan/wok.
Slice the carrots and cut the broccoli.
Mince the garlic and add it to the wok and heat the oil/garlic up.
Lower the heat and add the vegetables to the wok.
Just before they are cooked to your liking, add the teriyaki sauce.
Serve hot!

Simple Spinach Salad

2008-06-12T01:09:00.005-04:00

This salad is simple, summery and healthy. It's perfect for that hot weather, and easy to prepare. I made this sort of quickly, hence the ugliness... it will be my lunch tomorrow. :)

Ingredients:
2.5 C. baby spinach
2 slices turkey bacon
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
5 snow white mushrooms, sliced

Directions:
Cook the egg and bacon. The bacon should be crispy.
Slice the cooked egg and raw, washed mushrooms.
Add to the washed baby spinach, toss and serve.

Note:
This is good with a simple balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.

More Notes:
140 Calories
Serves 1

Saddening Stirfry

2008-06-11T00:14:00.008-04:00

Leaping Flames! Scalding Sauces! Tasteful mixtures of meats and veggies come to mind with the mere mention of “stir fry”. But not all is well in Wokland; sometimes the combinations of the chef-selected ingredients leave much to be desired. Once, a lazy hand created a stir fry of an unsatisfactory nature; this is that tale.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ginger, sliced or minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs spring onions, chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 pound beef for stew, cut into thin slices
1 pound Bok Choy
1 tbsp soy sauce

Heat the oil in the pan until hot. Over high heat, add the ginger and the garlic, and stir for approximately one minute to release the flavors. Next, carefully add the beef to the oil being careful to separate the slices and to turn them so they cook evenly. Add the soy sauce immediately with the onions.

After the beef has a generally changed color on all sides, about 4 minutes, add in the Bok Choy. Keep the ingredients in the pan moving so that nothing gets overcooked, and it will be done when the leaves of the Bok Choy have wilted under the heat.

However, as you might soon taste, this stir fry leaves much to be desired. The ginger doesn’t mesh well with the Bok Choy, the beef is relatively tasteless, and the onions add nothing to the overall effect. While the ingredients are indeed delicious, together in one stir fry, they are not recommended.

Kickin' Kimchi Fried Rice

2008-06-08T23:58:00.006-04:00

Kimchi, a common staple of Korean cuisine, is a incredibly versatile side dish or contributor to an entrée. I bet you can guess what one of the easiest, and tastiest, Kimchi dishes is. If you guessed “Kicking Kimchi Fried Rice”, click on the “Start Cooking” link below for your prize!

This recipe calls for slices of salmon as a source of protein, but anything, from canned tuna to tofu to diced spam can be used. The reason for using day old rice is that it should be slightly dried out so that the flavors can be more readily absorbed into each grain, creating pockets of tasty explosions.

Ingredients

1.5 cups Chinese Napa Kimchi, room temperature
2 tbsp Kimchi juices
2 cups day old rice
0.5 lbs Salmon, sliced thinly
2 eggs
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ large onion, cut into slices
3 tablespoon oil or butter

Put your pan on high heat and let it get hot before adding the kimchi. Thoroughly heat the kimchi until it almost begins to burn before adding the oil or butter. Then, as the oil gets hot, add the garlic and onion to the mixture. Again, let the oil get hot before adding the rice.

Next, careful mixing of the rice is required for excellent taste. Large clumps should be broken apart with a spatula and flipped and turned. The kimchi juices are added at this point to supplement the flavor. After the rice is a good red color, a large hole in the rice is made in the center of the pan. Break the two eggs into the exposed pan and mix with your spatula. The egg should harden before you stir it into the rice.

Lastly, another hole was made in the fried rice, and the pan is left to gather heat. The salmon is then placed on the exposed pan, and the heat is shut off while the salmon is moved around to gather heat. Mix into the fried rice, and serve!

Sweet Sushi

2008-06-07T17:56:00.010-04:00

Sushi. Whatever inspired the Japanese to eat raw fish we may never know, but it is clear that like robots and animated coitus it is another on of Nippon's great cultural exports, wrought with time honored tradition and timeless history. History- Shmistory!

Ingredients

1/2 pound Salmon
2 cups Japanese Short Grain Rice
3 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 Avocado
Seaweed Squares for Sushi
Wasabi
Salt

Bamboo Sushi mat

Preparation

The rice is rinsed until the water runs almost clear, and is then cooked in two cups of water, ideally in a rice cooker. The rice should then be removed from any heat sources and left to cool for 15 minutes unenclosed.

Then, the Rice Vinegar is added to the rice, which should bring it to room temperature. Salt the rice to taste.

Directions

The simplest sushi is just a piece of fish glued with wasabi to about 2 tablespoons of rice that has been formed into a small brick. This is called Nigiri and can be seen at the top of this post.

More complex sushi would come in a roll. For this, start out by slicing the avocodo in to long, thin slices, and prepare the fish by cutting thin slabs of it. with the bamboo mat on a flat surface with the bamboo slats parallel to you. A square of seaweed is placed on the bamboo mat, with 3/4 to 1 cup of cooked rice spread evenly across the square's surface.

The avocado and salmon are layed out on the bed of rice with patterned consistancy. Now the hard part: carefully roll up one end of your sushi over onto itself about halfway up the seaweed square using the bamboo mat to keep things straight, and tighten the roll by squeezing and pulling the bamboo mat so that everything in the roll is held together.

Then roll the remaining part of your roll up and tighten again with your bamboo mat. Finally, for good presentation, cut the roll in half, then sixths, or eights, and lay out with soysauce and more wasabi. Itadakimasu!

Back soon!!

2008-06-07T11:32:00.005-04:00

This is what happens when your fridge is turned down too low-- you get frozen cucumbers! I'll be taking a break for a while (about 2 weeks) from blogging here, but stainless should be updating.

I'll be back soon!

Simple San Bei Ji

2008-06-03T22:25:00.001-04:00

As you can see here, we have a prime example of San Bei Ji, or in other words--more specifically English words--Three Cups Chicken. What does this pot of stewed flesh have to do with cups, you might ask. Well that, dear traveller, can be found with a simple click.

Ingredients:
1 cup oil -- Sesame or Canola
1 cup Soy Sauce
1 cup Cooking Wine
3 sprigs of Basil
1 spring Spring Onion
5 cloves of Garlic
1 small piece of Ginger
1 pound of Chicken thighs
Pepper to taste

Directions:
First, the chicken needs to be removed of any bones; skin can remain to add flavor. They should be cut into small to medium cubes. Then, the basil, spring onion, garlic, and ginger need to be roughly chopped into pieces.

The oil is placed first in a medium sized pot and heated to a high temperature above a high heat. Then, the garlic and ginger are placed in the oil to release some of their flavor. After sauteing the garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes, the chicken is then added. All pieces of the chicken should be allowed to come into contact with the heat and cook in the oil for approximately 4 minutes.

Finally, the rest of the ingredients are added to the pot, and thoroughly mixed. This mixture should be left on high heat for 10 minutes before the heat is reduced to medium, and left to reduce the sauce until it thickens and the chicken meat darkens from the soy sauce. Stir occasionally.

Serve and enjoy!

Marvelous Chocolate & Cream Cheese Muffcakes

2008-06-01T13:05:00.015-04:00

Muffcake /ˈməf-ˈkāk/ (n.) - A deliciously moist sweet bread (no, not the thymus gland), that resembles a cupcake but yet you still want to think of it as a muffin.

These marvelous baked goods are just chocolaty enough for the chocolate enthusiast, yet the moist and dense cream cheese filling provide the perfect vanilla touch for those who are less passionate about chocolate. These muffcakes will be the hit of any party or social function and keep in the fridge beautifully for up to 4 days. The only problem you will have with them is keeping them IN the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Grease 12 muffin cups with butter; lightly flour the sides and remove any excess flour.

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 C. granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

1.5 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. light brown sugar
1/3 C. unsweetened coco powder (I used Hershey's)
1 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn salt
1 C. water
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tspn vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Directions:

Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth again. Set aside.

Chocolate Cake Directions:

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Mix the water, vegetable oil, white vinegar and vanilla extract in another.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the middle. Mix until smooth.

Directions:

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cups.
Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the middle of each filled muffin cup.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the filling has become golden or cracked.
Remove from the oven and let cool before loosening the muffcakes from the tin.

Nutritional Information (if you DARE):
Calories - 257 per serving
Total fat - 13.5g
Saturated Fat 5.6g
Cholesterol 38mg
Sodium 220mg
Total Carbs 31.2g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugar 17.4g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 5%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 3%
Iron 8%

Magical Mushroom & Cheddar Omelette

2008-05-31T11:00:00.001-04:00

Magical is a good adjective for this omelette. I created it on a whim... well actually I started making some mushrooms, and turkey bacon and decided that it all needed to be wrapped up in something; the obvious choice was eggs. The photo may not look like much, but that's because you can't see the mushrooms! ;)

Ingredients:
8 medium-large button mushrooms, sliced
2 oz. egg beaters
2 oz. egg whites
1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated or sliced
black pepper
pinch of salt
olive oil

Additional Ingredients:
2 slices turkey bacon
1/2 medium tomato

Directions:
Slice the onions and cheese. Heat up a pan with some olive oil and add the mushrooms. Cook until browned.
Heat up another pan, (you might want to grease it), pour in the eggs. Flip and add the cheese and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper is desired.
Fold and cook until the cheese is fully melted.

Additional Directions:
Heat up a pan and add the bacon; cook until desired.
Slice up the tomato. Garnish the omelette.

Perfect Portobello Mushrooms

2008-05-29T00:24:00.007-04:00

Scrumptious, vegetarian, and light enough for summer, this makes for a simple yet delicious party food for the next coming months. You may want to try adding pine nuts to give it some more texture, etc. Mmm...

Ingredients:

3 portobello mushroom caps
2 oz. goat cheese
fresh basil, chopped
1-1.5 C. tomato sauce, homemade or no sugar added

Portobello mushroom caps.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F
Pour the sauce into a oven-safe dish (i.e. 9x9 Pyrex)
Wash the portobello caps and place them grill-side up in the dish; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese if bubbling.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with basil.
Serve hot.

Bell Pepper & Chicken Stirfry

2008-05-27T20:26:00.005-04:00

I was feeling lazy today and didn't feel like finding a good South Beach recipe or being especially creative (too much homework tonight)! So I basically just found a bunch of phase 1 food I had in my fridge and stir fried it. :) Typical. Photo under the cut.

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers, diced (I used one red and one green)
2 skinless, boneless, chicken breast, cubed
1.5-2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2-3 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
red pepper flakes, to taste
black pepper, to taste
soy sauce, to taste but at least a few tablespoons
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Prepare the ingredients while heating up a pan with olive oil.
Throw into the pan, add the soy sauce and spices.
Stir fry for about 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables have become softer and the chicken thoroughly cooked.
The end... and you wondered why Chinese food came out of the kitchen so fast...

Killer Kimchi Burger Beasts

2008-05-27T00:08:00.012-04:00

Globalization. That one word brings about feelings of unity, the assimilation of cultures, and the creation of Killer Kimchi Burger Beasts. These burgers fully deserve the adjectives that bracket the main ingredients; the are indeed Killer in their sharp taste and high sodium content, and are clearly Beasts, as you need to be a beast to stomach a culinary creation as raw and heart-burning as these burgers.

The easy version of this recipe is four things:

Ingredients

Hamburgers (or Veggie Burgers)
Bread for Hamburger Buns
Cheese (Optional)
Kimchi

A note on the ingredients. There are infinite varieties to this recipe; but the most common would be all-beef burgers, with white bread hamburger buns, American cheese, and Chinese Cabbage Kimchi.

Alternatives would include turkey burgers and veggie burgers, whole wheat or artisan bread for the buns, Chedder or Havarti cheeses, and any of the 12 varieties of Kimchi. The versatility of this food is great, but they are all satisfying!

Charming Chicken Teriyaki

2008-05-26T19:30:00.001-04:00

This is a simple dish to make. It also brings a different flavour to the table compared to most of the South Beach things I've been cooking. Mmm... fresh ginger root can't be beat!

Fresh ginger root and garlic.

Ingredients:

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. Splenda (you can vary this to your liking, or use sugar instead)
1.5 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1.5 Tbsp garlic, minced

Marinading chicken.

Directions:

Mince the garlic and ginger.
Add these to a small sauce pan with the water, soy sauce and Splenda.
Simmer until reduced by 1/2 (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally.
Trim the chicken breast if needed and place in an oven safe dish (i.e. Pyrex).
Make a few shallow slices into the top of the chicken breast.
Using about 1/2 the sauce, cover the chicken, being sure to get the bits of minced ginger and garlic. Cover with tin foil.
Preheat the oven to 375 F and let the chicken marinade until the oven is at the correct temperature.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken breast over, add more sauce and bake for another 30 minutes. Be sure to leave some sauce for ocassional basting.
Serve hot.

I served the chicken with boiled broccoli.

Goat Cheese & Turkey Omelette

2008-05-26T10:33:00.002-04:00

Cheddar & Turkey Omelette Variation

South Beach Diet, phase one again. These are much like the turkey & cheese eggs, except I used goat cheese (mmm...) and basil. I love goat cheese, so naturally I think this beats yesterday's egg recipe. I also made a version with sharp cheddar today. Photos below.

Ingredients:

2 oz. egg beaters
2 oz. egg whites
1 oz. goat cheese (or sharp cheddar cheese)
1 slice turkey
1/3 medium tomato
2 tspn olive oil
pepper
basil

Directions:

Scramble the eggs and pour them into hot pan (with olive oil).
Make sure the shape and thickness of the eggs is even.
Once the eggs look firm, flip over.
Sprinkle the cheese over one half of the egg pancake.
Put the slice of turkey on this side as well.
Fold the pancake in half and cook both sides until brown, and the cheese has become runny.
Remove and garnish with tomatoes.
Season with pepper and basil.

Notes:

You might want to try rosemary instead of basil, however it is a heavier spice, and may be best left for colder months.

Goat cheese & turkey omelette.

Chicken Chili

2008-05-26T00:48:00.001-04:00

Honestly, this is simple, delicious and so easy to make! What's so great about it is that you can basically just throw everything into a pot and do the dishes as you wait for it to cook. Pretty awesome... especially for busy college students like me. :) Anyway, let's get cooking!

This is yet another South Beach Diet recipe (humm... do you spot the trend?). I never really follow the directions, but as usual, I'll supply you with the original recipe, and tell you what I've doctored. This makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
8 ounce can of mushroom pieces
1 can diced tomatoes*
2 C. Classico Tomato and Basil sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium bell pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic**
1 tspn sea salt***
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn basil
2 Tbsp olive oil

*Instead of using the diced tomatoes, I used leftover pasta sauce I had made a few days prior. The sauce was a little acidic for my taste so I thought I'd use it up and give the chili some more kick. The sauce also had a lot of yellow onions in it.
**I used A LOT of garlic. Probably more like 4 tablespoons.
***I omitted the salt.

Additional Stuff:

I added a dash of nutmeg
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Black pepper
More oregano and basil

Directions:

Mince the garlic, cube the chicken and chop the onion and pepper.
Add these and the olive oil to the pot.
Sauté. The chicken should be thoroughly cooked and the rest of the ingredients slightly browned and soft. It should also smell good. :D
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until well cooked and fragrant.
Dig in.

Nutritional Facts (Un-Doctored Recipe):

Calories: 292
Total Fat: 11.5 g
Saturated Fat: 2.2 g
Cholesterol: 110 mg
Sodium: 97 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 4.5 g
Protien: 40.6 g
Vitamin A: 20%DV
Vitamin C: 97%DV
Calcium: 4%DV
Iron: 9%DV

Turkey & Cheese Eggs

2008-05-25T22:31:00.008-04:00

Easy to make and part of the South Beach Diet, phase 1 meal plan. It's high in protein and also a lot better tasting than it looks. Mmm... so much better than campus food! Better/Updated Version Here.

Ingredients:

2 ounces egg beaters*
2 ounces egg whites*
1 ounce sliced turkey
1 ounce cheddar cheese
pepper to taste

*You can substitute this for two eggs, but the South Beach recipe called for the above.

Directions:

Spray a pan with some oil.
Whisk the eggs with the pepper and shred the turkey and cheese.
Pour the eggs into the pan. The original recipe was for an omelette but I ended up scrambling the eggs because my pan was not big enough.
Add the cheese and turkey; brown.
Serve hot.

Notes:

This would also be delicious with some fresh tomato or salsa on the side.
You'll probably feel like reaching for the salt when you add the pepper in... but DON'T. The cheese is probably salty enough!
You might like to try this with Parmesan cheese (grated) instead of the cheddar.

Nutritional Facts:

Calories: 204
Fat: 12.7 g
Saturated Fat: 6.8 g
Cholesterol: 52 mg
Sodium: 390 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 1.1 g
Protein: 28.3 g
Calcium: 25%D.V.
Iron: 11%D.V.

Prodigious Puttanesca Sauce

2008-05-25T00:07:00.003-04:00

This sauce is yet another easy, yet wonderful food to make. Another bonus is that it has a fancy name so you can impress all your friends. Cool.

The recipe is yet to come... for I have lost the book I wrote it in!

Pasta Perfectamente

2008-05-24T21:33:00.009-04:00

This pasta is the PERFECT way to procrastinate... especially if you have to study for finals. :) It's easy, mindless, and we assure you, A LOT more fun than hitting the books. Think of it as edible play-doh!

We decided to go with the bow-tie shape... but you should definitely try some other shapes (it's pretty intuitive to make them). Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.75 C. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 eggs, lightly beaten (oops! we forgot to do this and added it, it turned out OK!)
salt
water, if necessary

Directions:

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mound on the table.
Make a well in the center of the mound, (think when you make a 'swimming pool' with your mashed potatoes); pour in the eggs.
Knead this mixture for about 10 minutes, or until soft enough to work with.
If the mixture is too hard, add some water, if it's too soft, add some flour!
Shape the dough into a ball and let stand for 15 minutes.
Roll out onto a lightly floured surface... the dough should be pretty thin because it WILL shrink when you set it aside.
Make into desired shapes.

Notes:

To make OUR bow-ties roll the dough out into a thin sheet. It helps if you break the large ball into smaller, more manageable ones before rolling them out. Try rolling them into strips. We then hung the strips off an edge of a tall glass so that they would not shrink. The strips were then cut into smaller more linear strips, and from there into rectangles. These rectangles were then pinched at the center to make the bow-tie shape you see. Easy!

Scrumptious Seven Onion Soup

2008-05-17T00:03:00.006-04:00

This was originally an experimental soup in an attempt to use up all the onions in my fridge before moving out of my apartment. That part was a failure, TOO MANY ONIONS! So anyway, this soup turned out to be quite like French Onion Soup, except awesome, because it was made from scratch, and with chicken broth!

Ingredients:

7 medium yellow onions
A few Tablespoons of butter
7 cloves of garlic
1 quart chicken broth
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Fresh thyme spring
Parsley flakes
Red pepper flakes
Black pepper
A few pinches of salt

Directions:

Slice the onions and set them aside, mince the garlic, or slice thinly.
Add the butter to a large pot and melt until sizzling.
Reduce to medium heat and add the onions and garlic to the pot and stir until lightly browned to medium browned.
Add the chicken stock to the pot, add the spices and simmer for about 30 minutes, take off the heat.
The soup should be relatively sweet due to the onions, offset this by adding balsamic vinegar to taste.
Add additional spice to taste.

Variation:
If you want this to be more like French Onion Soup, put the soup into a bowl, put some cheese on top, PROPER Parmesan is nice, and pop it all in the oven so it melts!!

Pleasant Pork Dumplings

2008-05-04T14:13:00.033-04:00

Non-Failure. Extreme victory. The creation and consumption of these pork dumplings was an utter delight; dare I say it, this is the creation of pork dumplights! Har har.

PPD's are a simple easy to create food that can double as a fun group activity. Take, for instance, the following example:
After much begging and pleading, you have finally convinced your friends to attend a gathering at your abode, but what do you do to entertain the pants off the people in your life that makes it worth living?

Obviously, it is pork dumplings. It’s fun, messy, and delicious.

Dumpling Ingredients:

1 lb of ground pork ( for a lot of dumplings for four people)
1 large egg
Napa cabbage
salt and pepper
ginger
spring onions
flour
water

Filling Directions:

Mince the napa cabbage. You want enough to have a similar volume to the ground pork.
Mince roughly a tablespoon of ginger, and 2 tablespoons of spring onions.
Mix the three vegetables and pork. If your group of friends and you wish to be unsanitary, the entire group can use their hands to mix up the meat/vegetable blend. Oh, and add the egg into the mix.

MEANWHILE

Dough Directions:

Conscript a victim to make the dough. Flour and water, and knead it well. Start with a cup of flour in a bowl, then slowly add water.
Mix with your fingers and hands until it clumps together well, then knead it until it is smooth and consistant.
The dough should broken into small fist-sized chunks, then rolled into cylindars about half an inch thick. From this tube, smaller bits should be cut off; each bit being less than an inch long. each bit needs to be rolled, yes, with a rolling pin if you are a square, or a glass jar/bottle if you are hardcore. The bit needs to be rolled into circles about 1/8 thick.

Assembly Directions:

A heaping teaspoon of the meat is placed in the center of the dough circle, and the dough is folded over the meat and sealed.
Water might be needed to wet the edges of the dough.

Now you just to make a heckload of these things. Enjoy the company of your friends; they'll be tired after this.

Store these bad-boys in the freezer on a pan that has been dusted with flour.

Cooking Directions:

To actually cook the dumplings, you can fry or boil them.
Fry: 2 tablespoons of oil into a big fry pan. Place the chilled dumplings in the oil; fill the pan. After they heat up for about 4 minutes, slowly add water to the pan, enough to submerge the dumplings to 3/4ths of their height. partial cover until the water has boiled off, then let it fry for another 5 minutes or until the bottem of the PPDs are golden brown.
Boil: Water in a pot; dumplings in the boil. Not too complicated. They are done with they have floated to the top of the water for about 4 minutes. Enjoy.

For Sauce; Mix to taste:

soy sauce
chinese vinegar
sesame oil
chile paste

Not-So-Elegant Purple Pancakes

2008-05-03T16:55:00.003-04:00

Disaster No. 1:

Idea: Perfectly wonderful pancakes... with 'smashed' raspberries... inside...

Result: Something purple, slightly goopey, half delicious, yet completely edible for the empty stomach.

So maybe defrosting frozen raspberries and mixing them into the pancake batter wasn't such a good idea as it sounded at first... On the other hand, we learned a lesson, AND ate naturally dyed purple pancakes...

We swear we can actually cook!