Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Delish Makers

I am thrilled to introduce our two newest Delish Makers, Karin and Mary. Please feel free to introduce yourselves or say hello.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Danielle's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these a couple of months ago.

Like LuAnn said, this recipe makes the most delicious cookie dough! A good portion of mine got eaten as dough as well.

I made them at night and it was too late to chill the dough if I was going to get to eat any. So I made some that night and then put the rest of the dough in the fridge. Both ways I made them (chilled and not chilled), the cookies spread quite a bit and were pretty flat. The chilled dough didn't spread as much, but they were still flat cookies.

I don't mind a flat cookie, but I didn't like that the cookies browned so much. Was that just my oven or is it the dough? If anyone else makes them, let me know if you had the same experience. I kept thinking they were burning but they didn't look set yet. Even though they were pretty brown, they stayed chewy, but I still didn't really like the flavor they got from being so browned.

I can't really say why, but I thought the cookies tasted better the day after I made them.

Overall, these were tasty, but this won't be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I might make it again some day, but these won't replace my favorite recipe.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Chocolate Chip Cookies, p. 139

I've made these twice, but I'm going to wait to make them a third time until I get some feedback.  The first time I made these I put a tray of them in the oven and forgot to set the timer.  I pulled them out with I thought they looked done and they just sunk and were pretty flat.  This dough is darker due to the dark brown sugar so it is a bit deceiving.  Then...since this dough is SOOOOOOO good we ate all the dough before anymore got baked.

The second time I made them I followed the directions exactly...(at least I'm pretty sure I did) and they sunk again.  I usually take my cookies out a bit before they look done so I took them out on the shorter end.  Again I think I ate most of the dough...but I did bake at least a couple trays.

So please make these and let us all know how they work out for you.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Cami's Ginger Chicken


I have various peanut butter-chicken recipes but I think this is my new favorite. I loved the flavor and it was really easy to make. The relish was my favorite part and I may try to incorporate it into other chicken dishes. I served mine with rice which was perfect. I think you could also serve it over pasta.

I didn't really follow the recipe. I forgot to look at the recipe in advance to see how much time I would need and at 5:00 tonight when I decided to make dinner I realized I should have been marinating the meat since yesterday. Oops. So, I ended up just putting all the marinade ingredients in my large skillet and threw in the chicken. I cooked the rice and mixed the relish and we ate. It was awesome. I think it only took me 20 minutes to make dinner. Next time I'll try it like the recipe suggests. I'm sure it will taste just as good if not better. Thanks Amy!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Peanut Ginger Chicken

This is one of my family's favorite meals, however, I will be honest and say that I haven't made it since last summer. I've been extremely anti-chicken this pregnancy, but I'm posting this recipe for 2 reasons...

1. Every time I make it and have people over, they love love love it.
2. Since its getting warmer, I figured a nice "fresh" recipe might do us all a favor of inviting Spring, warm air, and BBQs back into our lives.

So here it goes...

12 skinless chicken thighs (works fine with breasts, too)
1/2 c. hot water
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. chili sauce
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. veggie oil
2 T. vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
2 t. grated ginger root
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Salsa:
1 c. chopped fresh fruit (peaches, pears, pineapple, really anything)
1 c. chopped seeded cucumber
2 T. sliced green onion
2 T. chopped cilantro
1 T. sugar
1 T. veggie oil
1 T. vinegar

For chicken and marinade: Slowly pour hot water into peanut butter and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients and marinate chicken in a bag or non-metal bowl for 12-24 hours (this is key, the longer, the more tender the chicken).

For salsa: Combine all ingredients and cover and chill for 1-2 hours.


Cooking options... We grill ours on the BBQ, however if you don't have one or its not warm enough for a BBQ, make these into chicken satay with wooden skewers and broil them for a 7-10 minutes.

Whether we make these into just chicken, satay, or some form of kabobs, we serve this with some sort of rice and the salsa on top. Since fruit for this dish isn't exactly in season quite yet, feel free to use canned fruit, or just buy pre-made mango/pineapple salsa from the deli to save a step or defray grocery costs.

Hope you like it as much as my family does! You might also want to set aside a little of the marinade to glaze over the top of the finished chicken.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Melanie W.'s Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

I thought this pie was good. Really good. But not my favorite. I do like chocolate pies, but this didn't satisfy me quite the same way say a chocolate cream pie can. :)

I followed the directions exactly, except I don't keep whiskey on hand so I added a little vanilla extract instead. I thought about doing a graham cracker crust but ultimately decided I wanted to taste the "true" Baked recipe so I made their pie crust. I thought it was really good! and I'm glad I still have a disc of dough in my freezer for a future pie.

Things I would change: I probably wouldn't cover my crust halfway through baking, or at least be careful to not cover it so much. The foil partially hung over the pie so the edges didn't get nice and browned like the rest. Also, I topped the pie with chocolate chips but, like others, they just sunk straight to the bottom and they made it almost too rich. Next time I'd rather leave them out completely or add them halfway through baking so they would stay on top.


Friday, March 12, 2010

Danielle's Indian Spiced Cauliflower & Potatoes



Like Melanie, my husband claims to not like cauliflower. I've always liked it so I cook with it occasionally, and basically, Max eats whatever I make for dinner. Max actually said he really liked this dish and would be happy to eat it if I made it again.

I liked it, but I can't say I really loved it. I mean, it tasted good. But realistically, I don't see it being a favorite that I'll make over and over. I think it needs a sauce or something. As is, it seems like more of a side dish. But I appreciate any good vegetarian meal, so I might try this again and make up some kind of sauce.

If any of you are interested, I made some homemade naan to go with it that was quite good. The whole process takes a long time (longer than other breads I've made), but there's a lot of down time in between (for rising) that you could be doing other things so it's not too bad. I stuck with the lower end of all the time ranges and it took me about 3.5 hours start to finish.

Here's the recipe: Snowshoe Naan

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Melanie W.'s Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes


I wasn't quite sure about this recipe at first for two reasons 1) I don't usually make Indian spiced dishes, though I do like Indian food. I just wasn't sure how mine would turn out. 2) I never make cauliflower because my husband does not like to eat it. He thinks it's bland, has no nutrition, and he thinks old people smell like cauliflower. Regardless, I decided to give it a try.

Well, I thought it was really good!! And my husband did too. He even willingly ate the cauliflower. :) I didn't have any cumin seeds, coriander, or turmeric and I wasn't going to spend $15 on them just for this meal so I substituted curry powder and it was yummy. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. I don't like crunchy onions or even slightly crunchy onions so I sauteed the heck out of them instead of roasting them like Jeannie did. I removed all the seeds from my jalepeño because the last time I cooked something with jalepeños I left in just a few seeds and the food was way too hot, so I didn't want to take any chances. I would still consider this a spicy dish, but not too spicy.

I served it over Thai Jasmine rice because that's what I had, along with some naan bread, and it was a delicious meal that filled us up and even gave us leftovers! If I were to change anything I would probably just add more too it, like broccoli or carrots or chicken to make it a little more hearty and colorful.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Danielle's Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie


This was delicious! Way better than pizookies. We took it over to share with some friends, and it was a hit for everyone! And the best part, it was super fast and easy to make!

Like Cami, I did mini pies. I had planned to halve the recipe, and doing individual dishes seemed like the only way to pull that off. I ended up making the full batch so we could share it with friends, and I'm glad I did so we could have a couple extra mini pies leftover. The full recipe only filled six four-inch ramekins -- not a huge batch.

Based on Cami's comment about the pie crust being a little odd, I went with a graham cracker crust. I'm glad I did because I loved it! I crushed up crackers and mixed it with cocoa powder, sugar, melted butter, and some vanilla. And it was delicious. The other change I made was that I used pecans instead of walnuts because that's what I had. I thought it was odd that they said the pie was a cross between pecan pie and a cookie, but the recipe called for walnuts...

Also, I put chocolate chips on top of my pie filling before putting them in the oven, but all the chocolate chips just sunk to the bottom anyway. So don't bother putting them on top. Just mix in what you want and leave it at that.

Unfortunately, we didn't have any ice cream to put on top. Ice cream would've been an improvement, but we put whipped cream on top and that was pretty good too. I'll make sure to have ice cream on hand next time.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes


I am in love with roasted cauliflower. It's ridiculously flavorful and hearty while still being super good for you. For those of you who may believe that it's a bland vegetable, I urge you to reconsider. You could actually skip all the other stuff in this recipe and just roast it in some olive oil and call it good. But the other ingredients are tasty, too, so go ahead and give it a try.

I've made it several times with some modifications that I think make it easier to prepare. Serve it up with some basmati rice and some warm naan and you've got yourself a well-rounded meal.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes
Gourmet | February 2004
Posted on Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeño, including seeds
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup water

Directions:
  1. Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.
  2. Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, cumin seeds, and1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.
  3. While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

yield: Makes 4 side-dish servings
active time: 30 minutes
total time: 30 minutes

266 calories per serving

Total cost = approximately $1.50 a serving (unless you don't have the spices on hand)

Cook's Notes:
  • This is not that spicy. I would just say it's more flavorful. My kiddos don't mind spicy foods but I usually leave out the jalapeño seeds just to be sure.
  • I don't think it's necessary to do Step 3. Why waste an extra pan? I just toss all of the ingredients (minus the water) into a bowl to mix and then dump it all onto a baking sheet to roast in the oven together.
  • I've never used cumin seeds and it's still turned out great.
  • If you don't have all of the dry spices and don't want to go out and get them, you could probably get by with just some yellow curry powder.

*I forgot to take a picture so I've borrowed from Epicurious. Hopefully, I'll remember to add my own soon.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Cami's Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

I decided to make these into 4 inch tarts instead of a whole pie. It is easier to freeze and eat later than a whole pie. I think I have this mini obsession with small, individual serving desserts.

This was good, but not as good as I would have liked. I think the crust is confusing. I so heavily associate this crust with fruit pie that it seems weird to basically put a chocolate chip cookie inside. I think a graham cracker crust would be better. The inside of the pie was really good. Like a large, very gooey chocolate chip cookie. The recipe says to add chocolate chips to the top so you have a chocolate top but I kind of like it like this. Plus, I ran out of chocolate chips.

I accidentally made the whole pie crust recipe and am glad I did because it will be good with apple or cherry pie in the future.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Want to be a delish maker?

It looks like we have some delish makers who have stopped checking the blog. Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally. In order to make sure delish runs smoothly I'm going to ask that anyone who wants to be in the recipe selection rotation this time please email me or post a comment on this thread. That way we have a recipe every week.

If you aren't a delish maker but want to be a delish maker, please join us! Just send me an email or comment on this post and we'll get you on the rotation.

Each rotation we'll give you the option to select a recipe for the rotation. If you choose not to select a recipe, please keep making and posting them! My email address is cowilcox @gmail.com

Poll

I've posted a poll on the top of the blog. It's just a fun way to keep track of who looks at the blog and why. So, if you're reading delish through an RSS feed, click on over. The poll should be open for the next week.