bacon and corn chowder

yep, it was as decadent as it sounds.  We adapted this decadent (yet somewhat healthy) soup recipe from Cooking Light and topped it with sumptuous lobster tail, compliments of Mrs. Kay Ann (because let's face it: lobster was NOT in our food budget for the week). here is the original recipe although we are convinced you will love our version better because we used a homemade shrimp stock as opposed to chicken broth.  Now, let me say that this trip converted me from the canned stuff- not that I have a huge issue with it because it is delicious and meets my purposes, however, after seeing how Kate recycles every.single.thing she chops and how it results in a broth that is incomparable to the can, I am a convert.  To make our shrimp stock, we saved everything we worked with ranging from cucumbers to lemons, and of course, the shrimp shells.  We put it in a large stock pot, covered it with water, put it a lid on it, and let it simmer away for a couple of hours.  Make sure to add plenty of salt!


So, follow the original recipe, but if you want to make it the Mer Mer and KK way, you'll do the following:
-make your shrimp stock (this would require that you have used fresh shrimp fairly recently, so if this isn't the case- just make some delicious veggie or chicken stock)
-roast the corn ahead of time (we did this by putting it on a sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees until we saw brown spots)
-remove all of the bacon grease from the pot except a small amount to sautee your veg in
-use rosemary instead of thyme (although either would be delicious)
-cook a lobster tail in boiling salt water for one minute per ounce that it weighs (ours was 8 oz so we boiled it for 8 minutes)
-top your soup with some lobster and scallions

incredible, right?

panzanella and tomatillo gazpacho

Hey beh-beh's!  We're at the beach together for our traditional family trip that we try to do once a year (although it hasn't happened in six- so we're beyond PUMPED that we are finally at the beach together!).  This year, we're in charge of cooking!  We knew we wanted at least one of our dishes to be something out there that we wouldn't normally try. Somehow we conjured up the idea of tomatillo gazpacho (actually Kate thought of this because she's a culinary genius and I nodded my head).  We didn't so much take step by step pictures (our sweet sisters were a little ADD and wouldn't focus long enough to take step by step pics while Kate and I bustled about the kitchen) but we definitely captured the end product.  First of all, look at all of the beautiful produce we have here with us:

ok, I'll admit, this is more of a picture gallery of us cooking rather than the recipes- let's face it, my recipes (when I type them) are a mile long, so we are going to tell you the links and give you the changes.


Click here for the tomatillo gazpacho recipe.

Changes that we made:
-We doubled the recipe (we're feeding 8 people here!)
-Nixed the olives... 'cause that flavor combo just sounds wrong.
-We added a jalapeno (If you're not a spice fan, take out the seeds and the "ribs". Kate left them in because Bobby Flay told her to. Consequently we almost scalded off the roof of everyone's mouth with the heat. Shame on you, Bobby Flay.)
-For extra creaminess, and to try to curb the jalapeno, we added a couple of dollops of plain yogurt. (An extra avocado or two would also be lovely! Make this your own.)

We roasted some shrimp to go on top (lemon juice, olive oil, S&P) and here you have our gazpacho that was so delightfully delicious on a beachy night:

tomatillo gazpacho with a dollop of yogurt, roasted corn, and shrimp.

an unflattering action shot of us deveining our shrimp.

kate is loving it

 

chopping away

thanks for indulging us.  you want that panzanella recipe now, don't you? ok, HERE IT IS. 

and just to get you to click on that link and make it, here's how good it looked:

this was such a lovely, light dinner combination that we encourage all of you to try!  

m and k

creamy beet risotto with goat cheese

have you ever seen something so beautiful? 

look at that creamy, deep crimson deliciousness.  if you've never tried beets, this is your recipe to get your feet wet with this delectable root.  

Our mommies are visiting both of us right now and since these women taught us how to appreciate good food, we thought we'd go the distance and try something new.  and by new, of course, we mean something funky that we'd never thought we'd cook or eat!  I mean, let's be honest, how many of us are eating beets all the time?  After I tried this recipe, let me tell you, I'll be eating them more.  Not only do they have a stunning knock-your-socks-off color, they have this "buttery" texture, as kate says (and I agree).  Oh, and they are incredibly healthy for you.  Kate and I knew we wanted to try something funky this week for people who will appreciate it fully (yes, Scott and Anthony would appreciate this, but there would probably be many questions about why we are eating beets and since we wanted a quiet audience, we tried this recipe on our moms and are happy to report it is blog worthy indeed).  onto the recipe:

 

cooking time: 30-45 minutes

feeds: 5-6 people

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 beets, scrubbed well, and chopped (no need to peel, especially if organic)
• 3 or so tablespoons of olive oil
• 1-2 cups of arborio (risotto) rice (I eyeballed the amount and ended up with more like 2 cups and it could have fed 5-6 people)
• white wine
• 4-5 cups chicken stock (get 2 cartons of chicken stock to cover that)
• 3 sprigs of rosemary- it adds such a wonderful depth and after taste! oh it's so lovely!
• balsamic vinegar
• goat cheese

Directions:

• put your chicken stock on the burner behind where you will cook your risotto on simmer
• next, get your stock pot out and put your oil in it over medium-high heat
• add your chopped onions and chopped beets (below is how I chopped mine)

take its' hiney off, then cut down into large slices

 like so

then I cut them into matchsticks, then cubes, like this

• so get your onions and chopped beets into the pot and let them cook down (with some salt! layer your flavors!) for 10 or so minutes

• deglaze that hot pan with a couple swigs of white wine and let it reduce
• add your arborio rice and allow it to toast for a few minutes (let's say 5)
• take a couple ladles of your hot chicken stock into the arborio rice and stir it around, then reduce the heat to medium-low
• once your chicken stock has cooked out, it's time to add more stock! here's the kicker: only add your stock one ladle at a time, allowing the chicken stock to cook down before you add another ladle full
• during this process, chop up your rosemary and add to the pot
• keep adding your ladles slowly, one at a time, and after 20 or so minutes, taste your risotto to make sure it's cooking properly (it should not have a bite to it when all said and done)
• when your risotto is cooked, it should be creamy and delectable.  add some of your goat cheese:

•  stir it around and add a swig, or so, of the balsamic vinegar, stir in, and serve!
• sprinkle some more goat cheese (or a lot) on top and ENJOY this delightful, creamy, beautifully colored risotto that is not only sensational, it is good for you!

kate will be posting her experience with this risotto soon- stay tuned! 

barley, sweet potato, and mushroom risotto

This was one of those recipes that looked great in the magazine picture, but one that I never thought I'd actually make because who makes barley?  Well, I have decided I'm goingg to start being more adventurous in my cooking and pushing myself outside the confines of what I am comfortable with.  So, barley risotto it was- and man was I glad I made it.  First of all, barley is accessible at my commissary whereas arborio rice is NOT.  Second of all- there is no second of all, it just looked scrumptious.  Don't trust me yet?  Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look delish:

It has a bit more of a bite than risotto, but it's a good, scrumptious bite.  And the wine in this dish?  holy smokes it knocks it out of the park.  I love the essence of white wine in my dishes.  mmmmm.

disclaimer: the actual recipe calls for butternut squash and shiitake mushrooms, but since I was talking on the phone at the grocery store and distracted, I accidentally grabbed a sweet potato, which was delicious, and since baby bellas are more affordable at my grocery than dadgom shiitakes, I used them instead.

So here goes; feeds about 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
• olive oil (for cooking purposes- need I specify?)
• 1 package of baby bellas, dirt wiped off, caps removed, and sliced however you'd like
• 1 yellow onion (although the original uses purple), chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup uncooked pearl barley (I think I added another 1/2 cup)
• lots of white wine 
• chicken broth
• freshly grated parmesan (the original recipe calls for taleggio, which I'm sure is delicious but it's also deliciously expensive)
• thyme- 5-6 sprigs
• a dash of half and half, if desired

Directions:

• preheat oven to 450
• put diced sweet potato (or butternut squash) onto a sheet pan
• toss in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a good amount of salt and some pepper
• roast until tender, 10-20 minutes 
• in a large stock pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat
• once the oil is heated, add your garlic, onion, and mushrooms and a healthy pinch of salt
• let them all cook down for 15 or so minutes (or until wilted and the mushrooms look a golden brown color)
• add barley and let it toast for a couple minutes
• add your thyme sprigs (you can add them whole to infuse it with flavor, or you can put the leaves in)
• deglaze the pan with a heaping amount of white wine (a few swigs around the pot) and turn the heat up to bring the wine to a boil
• let it reduce down a little bit for about 3 minutes, then add enough chicken broth to pretty much cover the barley, let it come to a boil, and then reduce it to a simmer, cover the pot, and let it do it's thing for 30-40 minutes.
• check for seasonings and also to see how the barley is doing
• add your sweet potato and stir in gently
• note: I didn't think mine looked creamy enough- it looked like cooked barley in some liquid and I thought "this doesn't look like risotto or the magazine picture!" but then I took the lid off, let the liquid evaporate a little bit, and added LOTS of freshly grated parm and a little splash of half and half and that did it for me
• oh, I also have an abundance of parsley that I hardly ever use, so I added some to it to "brighten the flavor" as some Food Network chef would say

I encourage you to make this.  I just had it as a main course, and you could do that and add beef tips (and use beef broth instead of chicken for a real depth), or eat it as a side dish.  Either way, it's worth trying and expanding our idea of what "risotto" can be!  happy eating!

Vanilla Cupcakes Round 1

I'm on the prowl for a really good, really light, really moist vanilla cupcake.  So, I found this recipe from www.joyofbaking.com that I am going to share with you that is perfectly delightful and filled my craving this week for a vanilla/vanilla cupcake, but I will be posting more vanilla/vanilla cupcakes in the future, hence the "round 1." (vanilla/vanilla meaning vanilla cake with vanilla icing).  I made mine a little smaller so if you made them bigger, I'm sure they'd taste even fluffier.  They weren't too dense, but a few of mine might have been because of the amount of batter I put into each muffin tin (I was trying to make a dozen turn into 18).  I will say, they were a delightful little treat and scrumptious.  Make these and join me on my quest to find the PERFECT vanilla/vanilla cupcakes- let me know how yours turn out along the way!

makes: 12 (can make 18! if you divide the batter and make "thinner" cupcakes if you're in a pinch! or just double the recipe like a normal person would)

Ingredients for cupcake batter:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 2/3 cup sugar  
• 3 large eggs (always use room temp eggs when baking)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• zest of 1 large lemon
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour (all purpose)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk

Directions for cupcake batter:

• beat butter and sugar on medium/low speed until light and fluffy
• add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed
• beat in vanilla extract and lemon zest
• sift together flour, baking powder, and salt (see below)

• it should look like powdered snow when you're done:

heavenly, right?

• with mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture with milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.  scrape down sides of bowl as needed to make sure everything gets incorporated!

"please don't over mix me!"

• get out some of this stuff if you don't have liners- it works WONDERS

• spray down your pans a good amount and fill your muffin tins using an ice cream scooper so they'll all be even (I used a spoon because an ice cream scooper would have yielded enough batter in each tin for just 12 and remember, I needed more)
• bake them at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

•  remove each cupcake and let them cool completely on a wire rack
• while they cool, make your frosting!

Ingredients for Buttercream frosting:

• 2  cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream
• food coloring (if you want)

Directions for Buttercream frosting:

• in a mixer, cream butter until smooth and well blended
• add the vanilla extract
• with mixer on low, gradually beat in the sugar
• scrape down the sides of the bowl
• add the milk and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy (3-4 minutes)
• add a little more milk or sugar, if needed
• to ice them easily and make them look glam, put your frosting in a plastic bag and snip the corner off and pipe away!

enjoy my friends, enjoy.  let's embark on finding the perfect vanilla/vanilla cupcake together! 

Grocery Store Dilemma

A new Whole Foods just opened up in my precious little neighborhood of Montrose in Houston. Anthony and I, priding ourselves on being on the cutting edge of everything hip, trendy, and cool in this city, sashayed ourselves over there for a little preview of the new "it" place. Leaving behind our beloved Pretty People Kroger felt a little traitorous at first, but we were swayed by the promise of a more accessible grocery store where we can easily find organic and sustainable options. We have an image to keep up, people.

Man oh man. That is one amazing grocery store.

It has a view of downtown...

Electric car chargers out front....

A collection of cacti from the Texas Hill Country! Look at those beautiful colors. I need these in my garden.

The most gorgeous selection of sustainable fish I have ever seen.

Yes. This is a bar. A bar! In a grocery store! Where you can sip wine and order a plate of cheese and crackers while contemplating how cool you are to be drinking alcohol in Whole Foods.

A stunning flower selection. Those pink flowers in the back are proteas, the national flower of South Africa, where I spent a semester in college. I rarely see these in the U.S.

A whole wall of spices. Every one you could ever imagine. (Meredith, I found garam masala!)

After this incredible first trip to the new grocery store, Anthony and I were converted. "So long, PPK, we are leaving you for your more environmentally conscious competitor." I was so excited, that I returned the very next day with a long grocery list of items to make samosas. Arriving about 12pm, I had a very different Whole Foods experience than I had the previous day.

I could barely find a parking spot.

The produce section was so crowded. People were fighting over plastic bags and ramming their carts in to each other just trying to get by.

Full of fancy business people on their lunch break, the line at the checkout counter was forever long and tempers were high.

Shopping in a new grocery store is stressful enough as it is because you don't know where to find anything. I walked around like a bewildered child, dodging angry shoppers and just trying to find a safe, quiet, peaceful spot to park my cart while I checked my list and looked for the chipotles in adobo sauce, which cost a bit more than I had ever paid before. In fact, this was a trend that I was noticing as I marked off the items on my list. I have never thought of my Pretty People Kroger as particularly cheap, but compared to these prices at Whole Foods, geez, the PPK looks like a bargain store. After finally making it to the freezer section and locating the puff pastry, my jaw hit the floor as I read the "$11.00" price tag. $11?!?!? For puff pastry?!?! I don't think so.

I'm sorry for my unfaithfulness, PPK. I will never betray you again. Your small organic section is good enough for me.

I haven't forgotten about our beloved blog!

....but I've been without internet.  However, I am planning on making some delicious vanilla cupcakes and taking pictures of the journey and will post them soon!

As American As Apple Pie

I thought it was appropriate to post an apple pie recipe on July 4th. Problem is, it's not my recipe.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST APPLE PIE YOU HAVE EVER HAD!

This was all that was left of it before I could snap a picture.

We didn't make our own pie crust, but someday....

Farm Fresh Food

So my mom has all these weird friends.

Weird... but cool... and kind of crazy... but cool. I don't know, she attracts weird/crazy/cool people. Probably because she's all in to yoga now and yoga people are kind of crazy. And weird.

I've been home in East Texas this weekend for the 4th of July. For those of you who aren't from East Texas, let me just tell you, it's a special place. We take the 4th of July very seriously in these parts. I digress.

So Anthony and I get to Tyler Thursday night and my mom informs me that she wants me to come with her and one of her weird/crazy/cool friends to this organic farm the following morning.

Organic farm? In East Texas? Seriously?

Obviously I'm down. On the way out to the farm I chatted with my mom's friend, Katie, about yoga and her misspent youth and the new "high fat" diet she's on. She eats lard. And butter. And she sucks the marrow out of beef bones. And she says it's good for you. Fascinating. I'm not sold... but I am fascinated. I mean, she's a pilates instructor, so surely she knows what she's talking about, right? Here are some pictures of this awesome farm that we ended up at.

Completely organic. All these beautiful vegetables are grown without the aid of any chemicals.

The other day I saw a recipe for poached pears soaked in red wine. I want to make that.

Heirloom tomatoes.

I did not photoshop this picture. These eggs really are pastel colored. Like, they came out of the chicken like that.

This is my cute yoga-momma sorting through all the bounty.

This is the lunch we made with all the vegetables when we got home. Very simple. Very elegant. Sliced heirloom tomato. Goat's milk cheese. Fresh cucumber. Basil from the garden. All drizzled with a little red wine vinegar and topped off with some sea salt. Served with naan and hummus. Delightful.

To learn more about the farm I visited, click here.

(Katie, if you read this, I hope you aren't offended. You know you're weird/crazy/cool. And you know I luv ya. And I want to hear more stories about your misspent youth.)