Sunday, July 31, 2011

Lil' Annie, Big Dessert

Annie Ewing is in the house (or she was like 3 weeks ago, and I'm finally blogging about it) and she's hookin us up with my favorite combination in the world: Coffee and cigars.

Wait. Okay, my second favorite combination: raspberries and chocolate.

This dessert has more calories than Annie has centimeters, but that's still not very many.
Before baking this bomb batch of berry-infused brownies, you'll need this stuff:
(recipe courtesy of epicurious.com)

7 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
8 ounces butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa, sifted
1 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen (if you use frozen, no need to defrost)

Then, do this:
  1. Preheat Oven to 355°F.
  2. Place chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth.
  3. Place chocolate in a bowl with sugar and eggs.
  4. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and mix to combine.
  5. Pour into a 9 inch baking pan lined with non-stick baking paper (which we didn't have, and it wasn't the end of the world).
  6. Top the mixture with the raspberries and bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. Serve warm.
When that's done, you should have something that looks like this:

And this:

That's it! Let the Age of Baking begin.
Our Basil plant is really bored.




Friday, July 29, 2011

Holy Cheese Fungus Bird (Swiss Mushroom Chicken)

If there are two things I love on my chicken, they are mysterious cheese and edible fungus.

This is one of the most simple and most healthy recipies we have done so far..and pretty much all of our recipes are simple and healthy. Westin cooked this one; the recipe is courtesy of allrecipes.com.

Before we begin, I have a special message for those of you who are already crying in your chairs, "I don't like mushrooms!" My message is this:

But seriously. Assuming that all mushrooms taste the same all the time is like assuming Lindsey Lohan has always been a high-strung crack-addict..it's simply not true. She didn't start until she was 9. That being said, there are a LOT of mushrooms in this recipe.

If you're really freaking out, just make it without the mushrooms, and this recipe will still be a ridiculously simple, but tasty way to bake your chicken. (Get it..baked..Lindsey Lohan..)

To begin this crack-free recipe, you'll need this stuff:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 cloves crushed garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 chopped green onion
1 8 oz package fresh mushrooms (sliced)
4 slices Swiss cheese

Ignore the cajun seasoning in the picture.
I decided not to use it.












Once you've chopped your green onion and sliced your mushrooms, do this:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Combine oil and garlic in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add chicken breasts and coat well with the oil and garlic. Sprinkle with the vinegar.

  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

  4. Remove chicken from oven and cover with green onion and mushrooms; then add a few more sprinkles of oil and vinegar and return dish to oven for 10-15 minutes more. Remove from oven and immediately place 1 slice of cheese on top of each chicken breast; cheese will melt. Serve immediately.
*Note: The recipe lady and I disagree slightly on this last step. Rather than re-bake the chicken, I took it out of the oven after 25 minutes, added everything on step 4, then returned to the oven for 10 more minutes, and it turned out a-ok. I don't want to Lindsey Lohan your chicken..sorry, I mean over-bake.

THAT'S IT. Ohmahgawsh it's so easy. Enjoy! When you're done, it should look something like this:



Cost of this meal per serving: I don't remember, but less than a gram of crack, I bet.
Status of Basil plant: Flourishing, but slightly bored.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Maria's Marvelous Mid-Morning Minnesota Mom Munch.

Full credit for this recipe goes to our lovely new neighbor, Ms. Maria Becker. Looks like our hallway will be sharing many good meals together.

If you'd like to join us on this delicious new floor-wide friendship, then make sure you have this stuff:

1 loaf French Bread
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil (duh)
Whatever veggies or meats you'd like to throw in. We used asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms, and red pepper.

Then, do this:
  1. Cut the crust off your French loaf and cut into 1 inch cubes

  2. Place cubes French bread pieces into a 13x9 greased pan.

  3. Whisk eggs in a bowl, add milk and salt and pepper.

  4. In a frying pan, sauté vegetables and meats with olive oil.. ours looked something like this:

5. Pour your egg mix over the bread, followed by your sautéed vegetables. It should look like this:



6. If possible, store in fridge overnight. Preferable, but not necessary.

7. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, depending how you like yo eggs. Make sure the middle is set and not too runny. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving, and it should look something like this:



Enjoy! Also, our Basil plant is still flourishing.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Basil Plant: Flourishing. Blog: Neglected.

Yeah...sorry about that.
We've been cooking, I just haven't been blogging. I apologize in every language for the delay, but now


To be honest, a few recipes/pictures have been lost in the sad bout of neglect, but not to worry. Scott is here to save the day with one of my favorite meals of all time--Chicken Parmesan.

To begin this recovery meal after weeks of roman noodles because you can't survive without our blog, you'll need this stuff:

1 26 oz jar traditional pasta sauce, divided.
4 4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 large egg
2 tablespoons skim milk
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Hot cooked linguine



You'll also need this stuff:





Pictured: Other stuff you'll need.









Once you have all that stuff, do this:

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
  3. Place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound to 1/2-inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin or child.
  4. In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper (to taste).
  5. In another shallow bowl whisk together egg and skim milk.
  6. In a third shallow bowl (SO MANY BOWLS) combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
  7. Dredge a chicken breast in flour mixture; shake off excess. Dip in egg mixture; let excess drip off. Dredge in bread crumb mixture; shake off excess. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
  8. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add breaded chicken, in batches if necessary, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn with a spatula and cook 3 minutes more or until golden brown. Place in prepared baking dish.
  9. Spoon remaining pasta sauce on chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
  10. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted. Make your linguine while you're doing this.
Once you've done all this, taken a few bites because you forgot to photograph your food, then taken a really low-quality picture, it should look something like this:



Despite the crappy picture, this meal was delicious.
Speaking of success, our Basil plant is flourishing.
Speaking of failure, we lost the receipt for this meal, so I have no idea how much it cost. But I'd definitely serve it with asparagus.

Enjoy!