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Hello people of the internet! Thanks for stopping by. I think San Francisco is one dirty city, but I love it here. I'm a 9-5er with a mission to eat, drink, and travel as often as my resources allow. Documenting it is part of the fun.

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Posts Tagged ‘recipe’

Kitchen Play : Pork Sirloin Tip Roast in Garlic Cream Sauce

It has been awhile since we participated in Kitchen Play, so we jumped at the chance to use the ingredient for this month – Pork! We took a shot at adapting the small plates course – Roasted Pork Loin prepared by Paula of Bell’Alimento. We used a pork sirloin tip roast that we picked up from Costco. It ended up being the main dish for the evening, served over pasta.

Kitchen Play - Pork

Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Garlic Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
2 pound pork sirloin tip roast
kosher salt
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup beer [we used Asahi Dry]
1/2 cup half and half

Kitchen Play

Directions:
Brine sirloin tip roast in kosher salt brine solution [1/2 cup salt for 2 quarts water] for two hours. Dry off the roast and coat with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper. In a cast iron pan, melt butter and brown the pork on all sides over medium-high heat.

Kitchen Play

Once browned, roast in oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until the pork is 145 degrees on the inside. Remove roast from pan.

Kitchen Play

In the same pan [with the drippings], saute garlic. Add beer, half and half, and reduce by half. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Slice pork into 1/2-inch pieces. Top with sauce.

Since we didn’t have cannellini beans as suggested by the original recipe, we used pasta. The sauce came out on the richer, saltier side, and the pasta helped to balance that out. We have a few more of those roasts to use, so we’ll definitely try this one again.

Each month, Kitchen Play hosts a sponsored Progressive Party with six food bloggers assigned to create a dish incorporating the same product into one of the following courses: cocktail, amuse bouche, salad, appetizer/soup, entrée (main course) and dessert. At the end of the month, a contest is held for blog posts and recipes inspired by the creations in each course. This month’s sponsor is the National Pork Board.

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies w/ Butterscotch Chips + Cookie Swap!

Food Blogger Cookie Swap

It’s time for the grand reveal! For the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2011, I baked truffle chocolate espresso cookies with butterscotch chips using Godiva’s Chocolate Truffle Coffee. We were assigned three lucky recipients each, so that was 36 of these cookies! I didn’t do a particularly good job of portioning out the dough, so the ones I made in the beginning were much larger than the ones at the end. I ended up with just two to sample and make sure they weren’t the worst cookies ever!

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies with Butterscotch Chips

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons finely ground dark-roast coffee beans
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butterscotch chips

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies

What To Do:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 large heavy baking sheets. I used a Silpat Baking Mat, so I didn’t have to worry about greasing them.

2) Cream the butter and sugar.

3) Add eggs, baking cocoa, and ground coffee. Blend until smooth with the mixer.

4) Into this mixture, add sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Mix into a wet gooey chocolate dough.

5) Stir in the butterscotch chips.

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies

What To Do [continued]:

6) Drop batter by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets.

7) Bake in middle of oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until puffed and cracked on top. Cool cookies in baking sheets 1 minute and transfer to racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Truffle Espresso Cookies

I sent these out last Monday, and I think all three have received them. Hopefully they weren’t too sweet or too caffeinated. I had a very different cookie in mind, but decided to try this after seeing this recipe. Mine is a simplified version.

On the flip side, I haven’t heard from the folks sending me cookies yet. Hopefully they’re waiting for me at the office. I’m feeling like cookies this week!

If you want to participate in the next cookie swap, fill out your details here to stay updated.

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

For Thanksgiving meals at friends’ homes, I decided to bake cookies as my contribution.

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

I wanted to try incorporating flavored honey cremes into cookies and found a very simple honey cookie recipe online to work with. With just a few tweaks, they turned out quite nicely. The lemon honey flavor was subtle, and the cookie was chewy in texture.

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries [adapted from Food Network]

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs [I used three small ones]
1 cup lemon honey creme
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
dried cranberries

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

What To Do:

1) Cream the butter and sugar.

2) Add eggs, lemon honey creme, and vanilla. Blend until smooth with the mixer.

3) Into this mixture, add flour, baking soda and cranberries. Mix into a thick dough.

4) Chill dough until firm, preferably in freezer, approximately 2 hours. I didn’t wait that long.

5) When ready, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6) Pull off small pieces and roll into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

7) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. 12 was my magic number.

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

If given the opportunity, I think that Ryan would have eaten all of the dough. It was lemony, buttery, and sweet. I left the dough in the freezer for about an hour and a half before bringing it out for use.

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

Lemon Honey Cookies with Cranberries

I have a few cookie swaps coming up. I might try other honey creme flavors for those! Considering how easy the recipe was, this might become my go-to cookie.

Disclosure: While Honey Ridge Farms sent me free product as part of their “Taste the Love” campaign, I was not compensated for this post. All honey-loving opinions are my own.

NaBloPoMo 2011

Kitchen Play : Apple Parfait

Since we bought the Costco pack of apples, it’s time for yet another entry for this month’s Kitchen Play. This time I’m looking for inspiration from the Apple Parfait recipe from Brandy of Nutmeg Nanny. Another recipe perfect for the weather we’re having.

Apple Parfait

Ingredients:
1 Gala apple, chopped into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice [used a Meyer]
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
8 oz. Daisy cottage cheese

Directions:

Take chopped apples and combine with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and vanilla in a bowl. Stir and let sit for 30 minutes.

Apple Parfait

Heat the mixture over the stove for about ten minutes or until the apples are soft but not falling apart. The sugar mixture should thicken up a bit too. Remove from heat and let cool. In a glass jar [I used a mug], add a spoon full of the cooled apple mixture and then a large spoonful of cottage cheese on top – continue until you reach the top of your jar!

Apple Parfait Apple Parfait

Tastes better than it looks, I promise! It’s hard to make cottage cheese look pretty, but I used Daisy cottage cheese because I like it a lot more than yogurt. Best of all, it is made of just three ingredients! Look at the label – it says cultured skim milk, cream, and salt. That’s it.

If you’re wondering what the dark purple substance is in the middle of the layers, it’s huckleberry preserves that my coworker brought back from a recent trip. Quite a tasty addition to the parfait!

Apple

Each month, Kitchen Play hosts a sponsored Progressive Party with six food bloggers assigned to create a dish incorporating the same product into one of the following courses: cocktail, amuse bouche, salad, appetizer/soup, entrée (main course) and dessert. At the end of the month, a contest is held for blog posts and recipes inspired by the creations in each course. This month’s sponsor is the U.S. Apple Association.

Kitchen Play : Honey Apple Faux-jito

My favorite season is here! For San Francisco, it means that it is time to bust out with the sun dresses and shorts. The past week has been absolutely gorgeous, and while the earlier half of today was an exception, it should be nice and warm the rest of the week.

With this warm weather, I decided to base my entry for this month’s Kitchen Play on the Apple Mojito recipe from Brooke of Cheeky Kitchen. It’s super refreshing and perfect for the weather we’re having.

My recipe is short because it really is that simple!

Honey Apple Faux-jito

Ingredients:
3/4 oz mint
6 Gala apples
a Meyer lemon
lots of ice
honey to taste
1 liter of sparkling water

Honey Apple Faux-jito

Directions:

Juice the apples. Strain into a pitcher. Juice the lemon into the pitcher.

Honey Apple Faux-jito

Add mint and muddle. Add ice. Add the sparkling water and honey to taste.

Honey Apple Faux-jito

I ended up making a pitcher of this honey apple faux-jito, which Ryan and I polished in the evening. Guess we were thirsty! The version I made only had four apples, so the apple flavor was more subtle. I used a teaspoon of honey, which added just enough without being too sweet. Honey flavor without the honey sweetness. It’s really up to you how you want to make it. I was also pleased to have another chance to use the SodaStream!

Each month, Kitchen Play hosts a sponsored Progressive Party with six food bloggers assigned to create a dish incorporating the same product into one of the following courses: cocktail, amuse bouche, salad, appetizer/soup, entrée (main course) and dessert. At the end of the month, a contest is held for blog posts and recipes inspired by the creations in each course. This month’s sponsor is the U.S. Apple Association.