Mexican Hot Chocolate Meringues

Ruby and I were invited to our friends' apartment for Shabbat lunch. Proper etiquette in this situation is to offer to bring something. But me being my big-headed "culinarily-skilled" self, I responded with: "What can we bring? I cook, so if you want me to actually make or bake something, I'd be glad to." I was then asked to bake something, and it had to be Parve, because we would be having meat at lunch. This presented a challenge. Observant Jews are cursed with a whole variety of nasty desserts made with non-dairy substitutes. I was not going to make one of these, I was having a classy food week (Jeff and I made Orange-Rosemary Shortbread on our day off and I made Roasted Greens Panzanella for dinner one night); plus, there is no reason for it when the lovely dairy-free option of meringues exists. I decided on meringues and then as I was falling asleep the night before I was due to make them, the idea of flavoring them in the spirit of Mexican Hot Chocolate dawned on me, and in my deliriously tired state I thought it was quite genius; I still think it's a pretty good idea. After 2 failed attempts yielding sticky meringues, I sought baking counseling and put in a last ditch effort. I am SO happy I tried it again because they came out melt-in-your-mouth perfectly.

Ingredients

2 egg whites
pinch of salt
half a capfull white or cider vinegar
3-4 dashes hot sauce
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
demerara/turbinado sugar "in the raw"

Directions

Preheat oven to ~250 degrees F.

Beat egg whites on low speed (most recipes say it's best when they are at room temperature) until just before they form soft peaks. Add salt, vinegar (or cream of tartar), hot sauce and vanilla, then continue to beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar in at least 2 increments so that it has time to dissolve. Turn up mixer speed and beat until mixture is glossy and forming stiff peaks. Add in cocoa powder and cinnamon and beat on high for one minute. Any movement made in the batter at this point should leave a track.

Transfer mixture into a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with a cut corner. Pipe small meringue dots onto a lined baking sheet. I used a reusable baking sheet liner, I have no idea what it is or what it's made of (it's definitely not parchment or silicone), but I credit it and my friend Jeff with the success of the third try on this recipe.

Sprinkle each dot with some sugar in the raw. And place the sheet in the oven for 2 hours. After 2 hours turn the oven off and let the meringues continue to cool and dry in the oven with the door closed for at least another hour.








Because I took a picture of it, this is what my Panzanella looked like. I followed Giada's recipe for the most part, but we know I'm not a fan of exact measurements. I hit it with some grated Parmesan and served it with "fried" eggs which was the perfect companion.

Teriyaki Noodles

So I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but I got inspired by the stuff in my fridge. I bought these precooked noodles last week, and I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with them, even in the end I don't think I used them properly. This dish tasted delicious, but I think the execution would have been easier had my noodles not been all stuck together.

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus, sliced into 1" pieces on the bias
1 container sliced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
1 large scallion, thinly sliced
1 package thin precooked asian noodles
1-2 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
2 eggs, beaten

I created a sauce and called it Teriyaki

1/2 cup lite soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1-2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp ginger, chopped or grated
2 TBSP sugar
5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced or grated

Directions

Mix together all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Then pour into a skillet and heat until the sauce bubbles, then let it keep bubbling for a little under a minute. The bubbling is the sugar melting and thickening the sauce and the oil frying the other ingredients bringing out their flavors. Add the white part of the scallion, the mushrooms, and the asparagus and mix to coat the veggies in the sauce. Cover with a pan lid or some foil, or a contraption consisting of both. While the veggies are cooking down (stir them occasionally), prepare the noodles according to the package directions. The poorly translated directions on my package said to add cold water and fry to desired crispness, I sort of fudged it in some semblance of that. Once the veggies cook down and the sauce gets more watery from the moisture in the vegetables being trapped under the cover, remove the cover and add the green part of the scallion. After some of the liquid cooks off, add some (or all if your pan is big enough) of the noodles and mix everything together. Add in the beaten eggs and mix until eggs are cooked, as the eggs cook they will coat the noodles and veggies, you don't want chunks of scrambled eggs. Add sesame seeds and toss with the rest of the pasta. Top each serving with more sesame seeds.

Greek Salad with Tuna

After a long day (about a month ago) of shopping for me and work for Ruby we wanted a light dinner (with some protein, of course). So a salad it was. The dressing turned out really well, because the capers and onions are chopped together before being whisked into the dressing with the other ingredients, it's important to spoon it on.

Greek Tuna Salad
Green Leaf Lettuce
English Cucumber
Feta Cheese
Tuna (1 can per 2 servings)

Dressing
1/4 red onion, chopped finely
capers
dill from a tube
mustard
red wine vinegar
olive oil
S+P

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mayo and Rice and Beans

I made these fish tacos once over the summer when I was cooking for my family most nights with the condition that my Mom did the dishes, they were a hit with my family so I figured I'd try it again. I mostly used the recipe found here http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fish-tacos-with-honey-cumin-cilantro-slaw-and-chipotle-mayo/detail.aspx with a few adjustments. The only really notable adjustment is a revamp of the chipotle mayo and the addition of avocado slices to the taco. I also just realized from reading the title of the recipe I used that it may have been confused as to which sauce to mix with the slaw; I used the Chipotle Mayo, but I may try the Cumin Honey Lime sauce next time. We served the tacos with Saffron Rice (it came in a packet and we prepared it in the microwave) and Black Beans. Ruby made the black beans with some coaching, and I think they came out well, especially considering it was both of our first time making beans.

Chipotle Mayo
2 chipotles in adobo sauce (can substitute chipotle powder)
1/2 an avocado
zest and juice of 1 lime
a few dashes Frank's Red Hot
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. It came out pretty spicy, a little much for my minimal to zero spice tolerance, but Ruby really really liked it.

Black Beans
olive oil
1 can black beans, slightly drained
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup water

Saute onions and garlic in oil until soft and lightly colored. Add in the rest of the ingredients (spice measurements are approximated). Stir and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes or until they reach a consistency a little on the wet side of familiar.

Hi, I'm Jenna

I just wanted to introduce myself a little and explain how Becca's blog became Becca and Jenna's blog. Becca is my sorority big sister, and food is one of the many things we bond over, so we're sharing this blog and taking it bi-coastal. I'm living and working in Cambridge, MA. I cook for myself and my roommate, Ruby. Ruby has one specialty (sweet noodles with cottage cheese) but otherwise doesn't cook much. I am slowly teaching her things, but I like our arrangement because she does the dishes. The other interesting detail of my culinary situation, is that I cook and eat kosher. This won't be that different from any other food blog, there just won't be any pork or shellfish recipes, and recipes with meat or poultry won't also contain milk or dairy products and vice versa. If anyone actually cares I can give a Kosher lesson or FAQ later, but it's really nbd. I asked Becca to be a contributor to potentially motivate myself to cook better and more often, so let's hope that works out. This first week is going pretty well, but I don't think I'll keep posting daily. I'll work on cutting back my entries so that they are reasonable and readable. Also, I know Becca cooked a lot for Thanksgiving, and I am calling her out, you better post those up soon!

Pasta with Chunky Tuna Tomato Sauce and Green Leaf Salad

Tonight's Dinner was also the product of the empty refrigerator and my quest for protein. I ended up going food shopping on my way home because we needed capers for the sauce, and I'm glad I got them. It was at the grocery store that I found the green leaf lettuce, which I recently realized I really like because it's lettuce, but it actually tastes like lettuce. The Lemon Vinaigrette was due to the fact that I was using zest in the sauce and needed to do something with the juice. You can leave a zest-less lemon in the fridge, but it gets pretty unhappy pretty quickly. I added dill to Becca's vinaigrette recipe, because I'm a sucker for dill, no, I really just overuse it. I was a big fan of the Tomato Sauce and I'm looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch. Ruby, who is working on her food critique skills for your reading pleasure, says: Everything was delicious, the flavors blended really well.

Chunky Tuna Tomato Sauce

Olive Oil- a few turns of the pan
a pinch Dried Rosemary
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 heaping TBSP capers, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped
zest of one lemon
1 can tuna
1/2 jar marinara sauce
parmesan for "garnish"
cooked pasta, I used rotini

In a small saucepan heat the oil and rosemary (rub it in your palm to bring out the flavor). Add the carrots, onion, and garlic and saute until soft. I actually added some water put the lid on the pan so the veggies would soften without burning. You can let the veggies brown a little bit once soft. Then add the sauce, the lemon zest, the capers and the tuna. Stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes for flavors to meld. Mix with cooked pasta and sprinkle generously with grated parmesan. I forgot to do this but adding some reserved pasta water would probably make the sauce stick and mix a little better.




Green Leaf Salad
Green Leaf Lettuce
Dried Cranberries
Dried Apricots, chopped
Becca's Lemon Vinaigrette + Dill

The dried fruit was really good with the lemon vinaigrette, I think it might even be good if you have the time to soak the fruit in the vinaigrette before putting it over the lettuce.

Egg Sandwiches and Roasted Carrots

I'm Jenna, I'll introduce myself properly soon. I'm not yet as blog-savvy as Becca, but here is my first post:



So after the leftovers bonanza that cleaned out our fridge pre-thanksgiving break, I was left with very little to work with for tonight's dinner and very little motivation to actually drag my butt to the grocery store. So at work I got to thinking about what to make (something I do most days). I knew I had some homemade pesto in the freezer, but also wanted to include some form of protein because we don't get much. I landed on egg sandwiches which I would model on one I had at Toscanini's the one time I went there for brunch (with Becca), a fried egg sandwich with spinach pesto, caramelized onions, and feta. After spending a few hours searching for a place to buy some good (hopefully sourdough, yum) sandwich bread on my very short commute home, I gave up and opted on using the pita in my fridge. The rest just came to me as I was cooking, and probably a little as I remembered the Tosci's sandwich. The carrots were also the only vegetable in my fridge, and my roommate really likes cooked carrots, and I like to hook her up with things she likes to eat where I can.

Also, sorry for the lame picture, I asked Becca to let me contribute after we finished eating, so all I have to show is the leftover carrots. I promise to take better pictures in the future, because nobody likes a cookbook without pictures.

Ingredients
4 eggs
milk
2 pitas
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
balsamic vinegar
pesto ("recipe" below)
cooking spray
butter
cheese (I used the little bit of monterey jack I had)
S+P


Directions
Cut pitas in half and place on baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with S+P. It's important to cut it before toasting, because trying to slice toasted pita just results in a lot of unnecessary crumbling. Toast in oven at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes, just keep an eye on it as you cook everything else.
Spray a skillet or saute pan with some cooking spray and then melt some butter in the pan too (I like cooking with butter and oil together, after I saw Julie and Julia I realized how deeply devoid of butter my life and cooking were). Add the shallot slices and saute for about 2 minutes, I then added some balsamic to help along the caramelization, I added a generous splash, which I thought was too much but it turned out fine. Continue to saute for 2-3 minutes or until they look soft and caramel and yummy.
In the meantime I had taken the pita out of the oven and sprinkled one half of each sandwich with some shredded jack, there was not much left in the bag so the retained heat of the bread and the shallots which I put directly on top of the cheese was enough to melt it, plus I forgot to put the cheese on before toasting the bread. I defrosted the pesto and spread it on the other half of each sandwich.
(My roommate and) I have a strong preference for scrambled eggs, so I haven't spent much time perfecting my other egg preparation method techniques. Beat the 4 eggs with a splash of milk and some S+P, then scramble in a pan sprayed and heated with both cooking spray and butter. I like my eggs light and fluffy so I let them sit in the pan for a minute before stirring then I start bringing in the edges as the cook and then keep it moving till everything looks cooked. Then I take it out of the pan as quickly as possible to prevent well done eggs. I put half of the eggs on top of the shallots in each sandwich, sprinkled them with some more S+P (I like it in and on my eggs) and closed the sandwiches with the pesto'ed top.

A little drippy (potentially from the milk in the eggs or the loose pesto) but pretty delicious. And my always very kind and complimentary roommate, Ruby, says they were very good.

Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
half a bag of baby carrots, halved lengthwise
3 scallions, halved lengthwise then chopped
olive oil
sugar
S+P
juice of one lemon
chopped parsley

Directions
Place halved carrots and chopped scallions in a pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with S+P and a little bit of sugar. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
When the carrots look nicely roasted squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle chopped parsley over them and toss.

Next time I think I would go with the roasty scallion flavor (as the scallions cook and "brown" a lot faster than the carrots) OR the fresh lemon parsley flavor, but they were still yummy.
Ruby says: I really liked the carrots.

Pesto
basil
garlic cloves
toasted walnuts
parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
S+P

As you will probably learn (and despise me for), I'm like a grandma from the old country when it comes to measurements, I don't record them or pay attention to them, ever. I have no excuse, my grandmothers are both American, but I will try to work on including measurements.

Pulse to rough chop basil leaves in a food processor (mine is mini), add garlic and chop fine, add nuts and drizzle in olive oil if you can. I can't because the holes on my processor lid are too small, so I just pour it in in increments until the sauce comes together. I add the cheese last because I saw someone do it that way once but it doesn't matter. Honestly, I'm sure you could just throw everything in at once and blend it up.