2008: Year in Review

So here is my “best of 2008.”  Looking back it was clear to me which were the best because we made them over and over again, either for ourselves or to give to other people.  I definitely started cooking and baking less in the fall when I started grad school, but I’m hoping that I will find more time to try new recipes in future semesters.  Thanks to all the food bloggers who kept me inspired this year, I have bookmarked so many recipes that I want to try out in the new year!

January:
pecan crusted salmon with honey mustard glaze
deep dish lasagna
mushroom rigatoni bake
roasted asparagus with balsamic brown butter

February:
roasted red pepper and goat cheese sandwiches
mustardy pot roast and vegetables

March:
chicken orzo salad with goat cheese
beer cheese dip

April:
spinach feta pasta with pine nuts
dorie’s lemon poppy seed muffins

May:
snickerdoodles
dorie’s florida pie

June:
dorie’s french chocolate brownies (with raspberries!)

July:
baked trout (my family made me a believer!)
homemade salsa

August:
cheese ravioli with toasted walnuts

September:
red pepper pesto sauce

October:
wok-fried chicken with noodles

November: umm I am ashamed to say that I only made and posted one new recipe this month, in my defense that’s when most of my papers and projects were due!  The one I made was really good though!

cream of mushroom soup

December:
teriyaki salmon
sugared pecans

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Sugar Cookies

Last year the sugar cookies I made turned out wonderfully, but when I used the recipe again at Halloween this year the cookies and the frosting didn’t turn out well at all, probably due to human error.  I decided to try new recipes this year since there are so many out there and I’d been bookmarking them left and right in my Google Reader.  I went with Katie’s sugar cookies that have a bit of lemon zest in them, and Bridget’s frosting, which was so sugary sweet!  I was REALLY happy with the cookie recipe, they rolled out so easily and only took 5 minutes to bake, such a time saver!  The lemon zest added a great flavor and everyone commented on it.  The frosting was also good, tasted great on the cookies, but not the best for decorating since it never really dried.  Still, I would use it again.  My niece helped decorate these cookies but all the pictures of that are on my dad’s camera.  We had so much fun and I just finished the last cookie today and now I’m craving more.

Fabulous Sugar Cookies (from Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.
-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.
-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream (from Cooks Illustrated April 2007) as seen on That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

The buttercream frosting can be made ahead and refrigerated; if refrigerated, however, it must stand at room temperature to soften before use. If using a hand-held mixer, increase mixing times significantly (at least 50 percent). This recipe can be doubled to make enough for a two-layer cake.

Makes 3 cups

20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups Confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
1/8 tablespoons table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

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Chocolate Macaroons

Last year I made a batch of chocolate macaroons but didn’t use my mom’s recipe, just one I found online that I thought looked the same.  They weren’t the same and I really didn’t like the melted chocolate.  Cocoa is just way better in this recipe in my opinion!  So this year I used my mom’s recipe and we were all quite pleased.  The recipe yields about 18 cookies with my medium cookie scoop, make sure you make a couple of batches because this will go fast!

Chocolate Macaroons (family recipe)

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups unsweetened coconut (I only had sweetened and that was fine)
3 T cocoa powder, more if you want them to be more chocolatey!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix milk, coconut, and cocoa powder in a double boiler until well blended and warm.  Scoop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (if you want to be able to remove them after baking!)  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool, then eat with a tall glass of milk!

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Teriyaki Salmon

Here’s another great recipe for salmon, I looooooooved it.  Easy and quick to make, and although you have to brush the marinade on every 2 minutes, it’s really not that complicated.  Tyler made the salmon while I made the sides, dinner was ready in less than 30 minutes!  We’ll definitely be having this one again!

Teriyaki Salmon (from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets
2 T soy sauce
2 T sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 t fresh lime juice
1 t wasabi (we didn’t have any so we left it out)

Directions:

Cut the salmon crosswise into 1-inch strips. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Heat broiler. Arrange the salmon skin-side down in a broiling pan and brush with the sauce. Cook 2 minutes and brush again. Repeat until the salmon is just flaky, about 10 minutes total.

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Toasted, Sugared, Devoured

I can’t go to any kind of craft/art fair without buying these, but it never occured to me that I could make them myself until my mother in law made them last Christmas.  With our Costco membership I got a great deal on 2 lb bags of really nice large pecans and I decided to whip these up as gifts for some friends and co-workers.  Christmas cookies are great but take so much time, each batch of these sugared pecans took me around 30 minutes to make start to finish, and I’m all about saving time right now!  Just be careful not to burn these like I did with the first batch (had the oven temp too high).  And make sure you bag these up and give them away ASAP or you may eat them all yourself, they are sooooo yummy and they’ll make your house smell delicious!

Sugared Pecans

1 egg white – beat until stiff
1 T water- add water and beat
1lb pecan halves- fold into egg white mixture

combine:
1 cup sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon

Fold in dry ingredients, stir to coat pecans.  Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.  Let cool and break apart, store in an airtight container.

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Lean n Green

I’m still alive, I swear!  The semester is over and I can finally get back to cooking!  Tyler has been so great about cooking, he’s really done 90% of it the last month or so and I have been terrible about contributing (for example, I’m pretty sure some of the dirty dishes in there are over a week old, I really need to clean it up!)  I don’t think we’ve tried any new recipes over the last 6 weeks or so, but we finally branched out last night and made this chicken chili, another one that I tried at the November cooking clug.  This chili is delicious and very versatile.  To thicken it up I ran it through the food processor, but if you want it as more of a soup and less of a chili, just skip that step!  An immersion blender would also work well, but I don’t have room for any more gadgets!

Stacey brought this chili to cooking club and Nemmie recently featured it on her blog.  It is yummy and it doesn’t take long to whip up at all!

Lean N Green Chili (from Simply Tasty)

Ingredients:

8 6-in. corn tortillas, divided

2 tsp. vegetable oil, dived

1 c. chopped Poblano Chile peppers (or green bell peppers)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-in. pieces

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 cans (14.5 oz.) 99% fat free chicken broth

2 cans (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/4 c. salsa verde (or 1 can green Chile enchilada sauce)

3-4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut four of the tortillas in half and stack them one on top of another. Cut the tortillas into ½ inch strips. Place in bowl and toss with 1 tsp of the oil. Spread in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake 10 – 12 min or until crisp, stirring once. Remove from oven.

Chop Chile peppers and onion. Cut chicken into ¾ inch pieces; toss with cumin in small bowl. Fold one tortilla to fit into a food processor coarsely grate. Repeat with remaining 3 tortillas. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in large pot over medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 min. Remove chicken from casserole; and Chile peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir 3 min. Stir in chicken, broth, beans, salsa and grated tortillas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 15 min.  To thicken, run through food processor or blend with an immersion blender.

Stir cilantro into chili. Ladle soup into bowls; top with baked tortilla strips.

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