S'mores Cupcakes

For some reason, I've been obsessed with the graham cracker-chocolate-marshmallow combo of s'mores pretty much all summer.  Since we can no longer stand outside in front of our fireplace or the grill and roast marshmallows, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and come up with another way to enjoy this delightful combination throughout the winter, as well as make it a bit less messy.  Et voila:  My friend who makes yummy yummy cupcakes posted a s'mores cupcake on her blog.  Well, she posted a PICTURE of her s'mores cupcake on her blog.  NO RECIPE.  So, I figured this one out on my own, with the help of another friend who makes yummy yummy cakes and cupcakes who was happy to share a baking secret or two.
So, to figure this recipe out, I laid out the required components of the s'more:  marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers.
So, starting from the bottom of a cupcake liner, I mixed up about 1-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, old-school.  (That means I put some graham crackers in a baggie and used a rolling pin to crush 'em.)  I added 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar and mixed it all up.  And I tried really, really hard not to sample it, but that didn't work.  Set this aside for later.
The next step was a little trickier:  Not only do s'mores need chocolate, they need dark, deep, rich chocolate, so the cake had to be super-duper chocolatey.  I asked around about very chocolatey cakes and my sweet friend, Nikki, was happy to share one of her secrets:  To get a very chocolatey cake that is rich, use a Devil's Food box mix (or something chocolatey-er, like what I used:  Chocolate Fudge) that uses oil instead of butter with the mix.  Substitute buttermilk for the water and use 4 eggs.  Otherwise, prepare cake batter according to directions.
Finally, I decided that this wasn't even chocolatey enough, so I also added a bag of mini chocolate morsels to the batter.  
Now, time to put it together:
I used the foil baking cups in my cupcake pans.  Put about a tablespoon of your butter and graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press it down.  
Being careful to get some chocolate chips in each scoop, spoon cake batter on top of crust, filling the liner about 3/4 full.
Bake per the cake mix directions.
While the cupcakes were baking, I made some marshmallow buttercream frosting:
1 cup of butter, softened
1 7-oz jar of marshmallow cream
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of powdered sugar (or to taste, I was travelling with these, so I wanted the frosting more stiff)
In a bowl, whip the softened butter on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add in the marshmallow cream and whip it until completely incorporated.  (I used the whisk attachment on my KitchenAid.)  Reduce the speed to low and beat in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla.  Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.
When the cupcakes were cooled completely, I piped (using a large round tip) the icing on top in a swirl, then sprinkled a little bit of plain graham cracker crumbs on top.  
These were DELICIOUS.  And I totally forgot to take some pictures before travelling to Virginia with them, so the only pictures I have look like a cupcake post-apocolypse.  But really, these are divine, so try them.


P. S. I wanted to make these as mini-cupcakes, but ran out of mini liners, so I just made the regular cupcakes.  I plan to try these as minis and promise to report back.  However, if YOU try these as minis, let me know how they turn out.  Thanks!

Many Dishes, One Oven

It just occurred to me that I've always done all of my cooking, baking, roasting, steaming, sauteing, braising, rolling, cutting, and searing in a ridiculously inadequate space.  And worse, I've almost always done it with ONE OVEN.  Now, some of you may say, "Why would you need more than one oven?' and the only response I have for you is, "Go pick up your Thanksgiving meal at Whole Foods."  But, really, I think the biggest challenge everyone faces with holiday meals and worse, holiday entertaining, is the dilemma of one oven and many dishes.  So, I figured I'd help you put it all in perspective using my dinner last night as an example:
On Monday night, I received a chat message on Facebook from my dear friend, Nancy.  Nancy lives most recently in Nairobi and formerly in Abuja.  Now, one would think that when you live that far from family and where you grew up, you might plan ahead a bit more when you are flying thousands of miles to visit your former home.  This is not the case with Nancy and her husband, Kirk.  Due to a complicated web of extended family, vacations and work-related stuff, they often only give us a day or two notice when they are in town.  And, I must admit:  I am so happy to see them, and thankful that they are choosing to spend their limited family time with us, I don't really care that I often have to juggle and pull some switcharoos to see them.  It is totally worth it.  So, on Monday night, when Nancy sent me a chat message saying, "We're at my in-laws, what are you all doing Wednesday?"  I replied, "Hanging out with you!"  Our friendship with them goes back to our pre-children days when we were big movie buddies with them, so when Nancy said, "Want to go see Megamind?" I immediately started thinking in terms of a quick family dinner so they could see the kids, and then how to arrange a sitter so we could get to a 7 pm movie.  So... what to serve for dinner so that I am not wasting our precious dinner conversation slaving over a hot stove or grill, and, also, something light enough that we will still have room for popcorn?  Et, voila!  Seasoned Roast Pork Loin with Herbed Roasted Root Vegetables and my favorite Cranberry-Feta Salad.  Oh, and because Nancy is a known brownie junkie: A pan of walnut brownies.  
Now, if you know anything about cooking, you can look at that menu and realize that other than the salad, every single part of my meal is going to do some time in the oven.  And, if you know anything at all about my crazy week, you know that very little cooking gets done on Dance Night, which is Tuesday.  So, it leaves me Wednesday afternoon to cook everything before 5:30, and after 2, which is when I return home from volunteering at the book fair at our school.  So... how to do it?  It's easy:  Just organize your cooking times and resting times.  First of all, I love brownies, but you can't serve them hot from the oven unless you just want to crumble them over ice cream, which I've also done, but there was a chance that the brownies might become contraband at the movie theater, so that would not do.  Also, the roast was BIG, so it needed a good hour or more to roast, then certainly some time to rest to retain its juiciness.  Finally, the roasted vegetables are best served hot from the oven.  With that in mind, here's how it went down:  
Tuesday night, before bed, I rubbed the roast down with a seasoning of choice.  (Right now, that choice is Emeril's Seasoning mixed with a little bit of my friend's family's secret seasoning, Keith's Salt). Once it was good and rubbed, I wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.  
2:30 pm Wednesday:  I came home and immediately turned the oven to 325 and whipped up a pan of Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownies.  (BEST BOX MIX EVER.)  
While they were baking, I pulled the wrapped pork out of the fridge to allow it to come to room temp.  
I then washed, spun and chopped my lettuce for the salad, put it in a bowl and topped it with the craisins, walnut and feta, covered it and put it in the fridge.    
3:15 pm:  I removed the brownies from the oven.
3:25 pm:  I turned the oven up to 400 and drizzled a roasting pan with some olive oil.  I placed the pork loin fat-side up on the pan and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.  Then I turned the oven down to 300 and roasted the pork until it reached an internal temp of 160 (yes, this is low, but you'll see....)
While the pork roasted, I peeled and cubed (about 1.25-inch dice) some parsnips, carrots, small yellow potatoes, a red onion, and cut the bottoms off of some brussel sprouts and threw them all into a big roasting pan.  
3:40 pm:  When the roast came to temperature, I tossed the root vegetables in olive oil, salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence.  I then removed the roast from the oven and covered it in foil.  I cranked up the temperature to 375 and placed the vegetables in to roast.  
So, by this time, it was 4:30... an hour or so before my guests were to arrive.  I set the table, hid the remaining junk in closets, drawers and under the sofa and chilled some beers.  
At 5:25, the vegetables were ready, so I pulled them out of the oven and turned it off.  I then returned the roast to the oven to keep it warm and covered the vegetables to keep them from drying out.  (At this point, the sitting roast in its heavy (and hot) roasting pan had continued cooking and its internal temperature had reached the perfect 170.)
Our guests arrive at 5:45.  
And I served a beautiful sliced roasted pork loin that was deliciously hot and juicy, surrounded by lovely slightly and randomly browned roasted root vegetables on a platter.  With a gorgeous salad to the side.  And everything was the perfect temperature and, if I say so myself, deeeeelish!
So... how to convert this to a holiday meal?  
First, focus on your longest-roasting item and build the oven schedule backward and forward from that.  Turkey needs 5 hours to roast?  Put that bird in the oven at least 7 hours before your guests are scheduled to arrive, which leaves you time for the bird to rest because all cooked meats must rest before being sliced, as it helps them retain their juiciness when sliced.  
Anything in your menu that needs to be baked, but can be served room temperature or slightly warmed?  Make sure you bake that BEFORE the bird goes into the oven, so figure that time in before the bird's start time.  
Hot casseroles?  Go right into the oven when the bird (or other big roast) comes out.  
And, most importantly:  EVERYTHING should be cut, chopped, sauteed, seasoned, and at least mostly assembled a day ahead of time.  The only stuff that should be prepared the day of are the dishes that absolutely cannot be prepared ahead of time, like sauces or salads.  And if you have limited fridge space:  Chop and prep everything into ziplock baggies and lay 'em out flat to store, just make sure you cool anything that has been sauteed first so you don't melt your baggies.  When you're ready to assemble your dish, just pull out the bags you need and mix it up, pour it into your baking or serving dish and you're ready to go into the oven or onto the table.  (Treat these baggies as checked luggage during the holidays:  Identify the contents AND their destination, lest they end up in Denmark.)
I don't know if this will help you with your holiday meals, but this is how I do it, and, for the most part, it's always worked well and my guests are normally pretty happy with the results.  As am I.
So, as we come into the holiday season, I wish you all the happiest of times with your families and friends, and a table full of great food to enjoy with them.  

Lazy Girl Lasagna

Time for my favorite "you're sick/you had a baby/I'm cleanin' out the fridge/I need a crowd-pleaser" meal:  Lazy Girl Lasagna.  This is my favorite lazy meal that packs a punch.  I will never understand why, but whenever you make a big Italian dish, people think you've been slaving in the kitchen all day.  And the strange thing about that is that if you know anything about Italian cooking, it's that it's all about keeping it simple.  So, first things first:  This is simple.  Second:  You have to swallow your pride and use a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, unless you make sauce by the bucketful and keep some frozen sauce on hand.  Third:  Do not think that you must use this or that pasta.  Use whatever's in your pantry and this will still be delish.  HONEST.  Finally, why do I call this Lazy Girl Lasagna?  Because after years of wrestling half-cooked and over-cooked lasagna noodles into a layer and trying to keep it tidy, I realized that that was far too structured for me.  Also, I hate that no matter how you do it, you never REALLY slice all the way through that bottom layer of lasagna noodle in the pan, so when you go to pull your serving out, you bring the entire bottom layer along with you.  This version is much more scoopable and therefore, family-friendly.  With that, I give you
LAZY GIRL LASAGNA
1 lb pasta of your choice (ziti, penne, gemelli, shells, just not spaghetti)*
1 jar of your favorite sauce
1 16-oz tub of Ricotta cheese (any amount of fat will do)
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped Italian flatleaf parsley
a dash each:  salt, pepper and nutmeg (YES.  Trust me on this one.)
Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add pasta and cook to al dente.
While pasta is cooking, mix together the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, 1/3 cup of the parmesan cheese, the chopped parsley, and the seasonings.  Mix 'em well and taste to adjust seasonings.  Then mix in the egg.
When pasta is cooked, drain it well and toss it with about half of the jar of sauce.  
Drizzle a little bit of sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Pour half of the pasta into the bottom of the casserole, then add a little more sauce.  Cover with the cheese mixture and sprinkle 1/2 cup of the remaining mozzarella over it.  Drizzle a little more sauce over that, then dump the rest of the pasta on top.  Drizzle more sauce to cover, then finish up with the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  Sprinkle a little bit of your chopped parsley if you have some left.
Bake uncovered at 375 F for 30 to 45 minutes or until bubbling and lightly browned on top.
Allow to rest for about ten minutes before serving, then devour.
Some notes:
Do NOT overdo it on the nutmeg. When I say a DASH, I mean a dash.  When you adjust the seasonings, only adjust the salt and pepper.
If you want to add meat:  Saute 1/2 lb ground beef or turkey (great way to use up leftover meat) with some onion, garlic, salt pepper and Italian seasoning.  Put this over the first layer of pasta.
If you want to add veggies, there are various methods:  I have just layered fresh spinach under and over the layer of cheese and baked it right in there.  I also like to saute spinach in the method desribed above for ground beef, then add that over your first layer of pasta.  A final and very yummy way to add veg:  Finely chop onion, mushrooms, red or yellow bell peppers and squash and saute with a bit of garlic and seasonings.  Add this under and over the layer of cheese mixture.  This is a great way to use up some veg, and also sneak it in where the kids won't see.
So, for those of you who already know that lasagna and pasta dishes are easy, this is no great post.  But for others, this is the ho-hum reveal.  I think the biggest secret to making a yummy pan of lasagna is to pour your love into it and know you're bringing someone a big dish of comfort food, likely when they need it the most.
Don't forget to serve it with some extra sauce for those who like their pasta extra-saucy!
*A final note:  Last week, I planned to make a pan of my lazy girl lasagna and forgot to check the pantry.  I had a 1/2 lb of penne, 1/4 lb of gemelli, and a 1/4 pound of some weird frilly pasta I can't remember the name of.  I checked cooking times, staggered them appropriately so as to cook them all in one pot, and used the melange of pasta for the dish.  It was deeeelish, very pretty and a lot of fun.  Wish I'd thought to take a picture of it!  

The heck with cowbell... MORE PUMPKIN!

So, on FB yesterday, my friend pops up on chat and says, "Have you seen this?"  THIS, as it turns out, is a recipe that had me drooling while reading it.   As you know, I love everything pumpkin, from the minute the first chill of Fall is in the air until the first daffodils of Spring bloom.  I can't get enough of it, and this recipe is now in my sights as a MUST TRY AND EXPERIMENT WITH... Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan:

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything  Good

1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/4 pound cheese, such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped

4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped

About 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

About 1/3 cup heavy cream

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment.  
Using a very sturdy knife, cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin (. It's easiest to work your knife around the top of the pumpkin at a 45-degree angle. You want to cut off enough of the top to make it easy for you to work inside the pumpkin. Clear away the seeds and strings from the cap and from inside the pumpkin. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper, and put it on the baking sheet or in the pot. Toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon, and herbs together in a bowl. Season with pepper — you probably have enough salt from the bacon and cheese, but taste to be sure — and pack the mix into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well filled — you might have a little too much filling, or you might need to add to it. Stir the cream with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and pour it into the pumpkin. Again, you might have too much or too little — you don't want the ingredients to swim in cream, but you do want them nicely moistened. (But it's hard to go wrong here.)
Put the cap in place and bake the pumpkin for about 2 hours or until everything inside the pumpkin is bubbling and the flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. Because the pumpkin will have exuded liquid, I like to remove the cap during the last 20 minutes or so, so that the liquid can bake away and the top of the stuffing can brown a little.
When the pumpkin is ready, carefully, very carefully — it's heavy, hot, and wobbly — bring it to the table or transfer it to a platter that you'll bring to the table.
Serving
You have choices: you can cut wedges of the pumpkin and filling; you can spoon out portions of the filling, making sure to get a generous amount of pumpkin into the spoonful; or you can dig into the pumpkin with a big spoon, pull the pumpkin meat into the filling, and then mix everything up. I'm a fan of the pull-and-mix option. Served in hearty portions followed by a salad, the pumpkin is a perfect cold-weather main course; served in generous spoonfuls or wedges, it's just right alongside the Thanksgiving turkey.
OMGOMGOMG... can you even wait for Thanksgiving to try this!?!?!?  I CAN'T!

Who needs a soup pot when you have a big old pumpkin!?!?!

So, today is my pumpkin-inspired blogpost day.  My friend shared a recipe for a stuffed pumpkin, which reminded me of one of my favorite vegetarian WOW dishes from back in my veggie days:  The Pumpkin Tureen from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest.  I loved to serve this in a big, beautiful cooking pumpkin and bring it to the table on a round platter, because something about a slightly browned, glistening pumpkin full of a lovely chowder is just jaw-dropping and drool-inducing in and of itself, before you even taste the yumminess within.  With that, I give you:

The Pumpkin Tureen

1 sincere 3-4 lb pumpkin

1 Tbs butter, softened

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1 tsp prepared horseradish (or to taste)

1 tsp prepared mustard (or to taste)

1 13-oz can of lowfat evaporated milk

2 slices rye bread with caraway seeds, cubed

a few dashes of each:  salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg

1/2 cup (packed) Swiss cheese (the sharper the better)

Preheat oven to 35o F.  Prepare the pumpkin as you would a Jack O'Lantern by cutting a circular opening in the top and scooping out the seeds and stringy stuff.  Rub the interior of the pumpkin with 1 Tbs softened butter.  Add all of the remaining ingredients into the pumpkin and replace the top.  Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet (either greased or lined with parchment to make it easy to remove) and bake until the pumpkin becomes tender, about 2 hours.  To test for tenderness, remove the "lid" of the pumpkin and gently poke the sides of the pumpkin from within with a fork.  You should feel scant resistance on the pumpkin's part.  

To serve:  Carefully and gently, place the pumpkin tureen on a round serving platter and plop it right down in the middle of your table as your guests oooh and aaaah.  When serving, scoop deeply to include bits of pumpkin flesh along with the creamy, yummy soup.  Enjoy!

What kills me about this recipe is how insanely simple the ingredients are and how easy it is to throw together.  Maximum WOW for very little effort, if you ask me!  (My favorite kind of recipe!)  Now I am off to the grocery to find a nice cooking pumpkin.  Or two.  I've got some recipes to try... or to revisit!

And what good is chili without cornbread!?!?!?

This is my favorite cornbread recipe, so I thought I'd share.  I don't know that any cornbread recipe is much different from any other, but I get compliments on mine and it does seem to be quite a bit moister than others.  And it's definitely better than Jiffy mix!


HONEY WHEAT CORNBREAD
1 cup good quality yellow cornmeal 
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (plus a bit extra) buttermilk
1 egg

3 T unsalted butter, melted

4 T honey 

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease your favorite cornbread pan or muffin tin.

Combine dry ingredients in bowl of mixer.

Combine the honey and butter and stir together.  

Beat the egg into the buttermilk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 22 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.  Keep an eye on it though; you don't want to bake it!  For muffins, bake for 14-18 minutes or until golden.  (I never really know the range with my oven, sorry!)

Spread a little bit of butter across the top of the hot cornbread.  Devour immediately, or pace yourself and enjoy your cornbread warm or cold.

Tonight, I am making muffins so the girls can enjoy them with some jam for breakfast, but this cornbread, once cooled, slices beautifully so it's not too messy to serve to a crowd.  Store in an airtight container and you can enjoy this cornbread for several days, if it lasts that long.

Fall is Finally Here!

Ok, another drive-by:
Today's cool weather (coupled with my desire to use up stuff in the pantry and freezer) has inspired a Beef and Bean Chili.
I've posted about chili before, and I will say it again:  There is no such thing as a chili recipe, only chili suggestions.  So, here is today's 


BEEF AND BEAN CHILI SUGGESTION
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small hot red pepper, and now I can't remember what kind it was, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Combine above ingredients in dutch oven and saute until soft-ish.
Add 1 lb ground beef (7% fat is what I used) and saute until browned.
Add the following HOMEMADE CHILI POWDER that I made from scratch:
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cayenne
Stir together and add to the chili, allowing it to cook in for a few minutes to release the flavors of the seasonings.
Add 1 20-oz can crushed tomatoes, and three cans of your favorite beans (rinse 'em first!); Today I used a can of light red kidneys, a can of black beans and a can of cannelinis.  Stir to combine.
Chop three Chipotle Peppers in Mole sauce and add it to your chili.
Bring it to a boil while stirring, reduce heat and allow to simmer for as long as you can stand it.
Serve with some chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded Mexican cheeses and cornbread, or with Tortilla chips or whatever else you like with your chili.  This is just a suggestion afterall!


P. S.  I did take some pics of this chili, but I have to go pick the girls up for dance, so I'll post 'em later!