I told you about all of the jalapenos.  So after a few batches of salsa, we needed to branch out with some more experiments.  First, I attempted guacamole.  The results were not as immediately good as the salsa, but after tinkering a bit, I made some pretty tasty guacamole…

I started by mushing up some avocados in a bowl.  I then squeezed the juice of an entire lime all over the avocados and mushed it up more to distribute the juice throughout.  I then diced up a jalapeno and added the entire thing (minus the stem, I hope that’s not even a question ) to the bowl.  I actually started with just the outsides of the jalapeno, but through the “tinkering” process ended up gradually dumping in the whole shebang — seeds and all.  Next a teensy bit of salt, cumin and cayenne.  Finally, some minced garlic and plenty of cilantro.  NGHubby and I are big time cilantro fans, so I put in WAY more than the recommended 1 tablespoon — isn’t that the freedom of cooking anyway?  Like the salsa, there should probably be onion in there…if you’re into that kind of thing.

Here’s the ingredient list.  Now go forth and conquer.

Guacamole from Scratch

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Recipe adapted from Food Network, Alton Brown

Coming next: NGHubby’s bacon-wrapped jalapenos

- Clarissa

A couple weeks ago NGHubby came home from Costco with a huge bag of jalapenos — HUGE.  I had talked quite a bit recently about trying to make salsa with a real jalapeno (normally I cheat with Rotel).  So, with a huge bag of jalapenos, I had a great chance to give it a whirl (and another whirl, and another, and another…).  I experimented a bit and came to the following recipe that was awesome — if you can take the opinion of this German-Irish girl — and much like I’m used to eating at restaurants.

Salsa from Scratch

• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 jalapeño, diced – Include seeds proportionate to how hot you can handle your salsa.  I used about half of the seeds from the jalapeno
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• Dash of cumin
• Dash of salt
• Dash of sugar
• Normal people would also include some onion – maybe 1/2 of an onion.  That’s if you, unlike me, don’t have anybody in your household deathly afraid of onions.

Chop the tomatoes and jalapeno (and onions, if you choose) and throw it all into a food processor or blender.  Pulse until the tomatoes are close to the consistency you want — I was going for restaurant type consistency, so you want to be careful not to over-pulse.  Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse just enough to integrate everything.  Finally, pour it all into a pretty bowl and serve with some nice chips.  Or eat it all right there before anyone else arrives.  Whatever suits your fancy.

Now for my next problem – what to do with the other 34 jalapenos left in the bag?  We have eaten jalapenos in and on just about everything this last week.  So I’ll give you a few more great jalapeno recipes as soon as I can replicate them.

Hasta luego!

- Clarissa

It seems the obligatory drink at any baby shower worth its diapers is punch.  I can’t remember ever choosing to buy punch or even drink it on a regular basis, but for some reason I need punch at a shower.  There are millions of punch recipes out there, but I happened to stumble across one that I wanted to share.  Unlike most punches I’ve had, it’s not real sweet but instead somewhat tart.  Here’s the recipe for the next shower you hold.  Or maybe you just want to whip some up for a warm Sunday afternoon

The only variation I made to this recipe was to substitute regular ginger ale for cranberry ginger ale.  That was no scientific substitution, simply because the grocery store where I was shopping didn’t have cranberry ginger ale and I wasn’t about to go ’round town hunting it down.  I’m really not sure what that changed in the taste except, I suppose, making it less cranberry-y, but I thought it was plenty cranberry-y for me.  Also, beware of the can sizes when you’re shopping because what I would call the “regular” frozen concentrate cans are 12-ounces, not 6.  Now don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Pink and Bubbly Punch

• 2  6-ounce cans frozen pink lemonade concentrate
• 1  6-ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
• 1 gallon cranberry juice
• 2 liters cranberry ginger ale
• 4 cups crushed ice

In a large punch bowl, mix lemonade concentrate, pineapple juice concentrate, and cranberry juice.  Add ice and slowly pour in the ginger ale.

- Clarissa

These days I’m all about the quick, healthy meals.  That mostly stems from both NGHubby and me looking to lighten up our loads a bit (aka lose weight).  So, I want quick meals because our after-work walk moves dinner prep ever so close to that 7 o’clock hour and we’d like to eat before 8.  You know how it goes.  I want healthy meals, well, for obvious reasons.  So, we’ve now focused our dinners on lots of vegetables with an emphasis on spinach, very rare starches, fish, and, of course, meat of all kinds.  Sure we could cut to lean meats only, but we frankly just love our beef tenderloins and pork ribs way too much for that.

We have, however, added more chicken breasts to the rotation.  This latest recipe is a departure from a Rachel Ray recipe I found by Googling spinach stuffed chicken breast.  It’s not extremely healthy, but pretty darn close while tasting really good.  It starts with two chicken breasts (imagine that) that gets pounded thin.  Well, problem #1, our chicken is frozen.  So I cut a slit for the stuffing instead.  Setting that aside for now, we heat a bit of butter (about a tablespoon) over medium heat with a clove of garlic, onion, and lots of mushrooms.  Problem #2, NGHubby hates onions.  Problem #2A, NGHubby hates mushrooms.  So I used garlic and sun-dried tomatoes instead which made for a great taste in the end.  Once the butter is frothy, and the garlic and tomatoes are cooked to your liking, remove the pan from heat and dump it all into a bowl of spinach with a cup of ricotta cheese.  Problem #3, there’s no ricotta in my fridge.  So I used just a tablespoon of light sour cream just to help everything stay together a bit.  Now, take the chicken that you carefully pounding out or carelessly cut a slit, lay it out, and stuff it with the spinach-tomato mixture.  Put a tablespoon of oil in the pan you used earlier, and place it over medium-high heat.  Back to the chicken, use a toothpick or three to hold it all together, and place it in the pan on the stove.  Cook for about 10-12 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked) turning to brown all sides.  When it’s all set, remove the stuffed chicken from the pan and return the pan to the stove.  Now it’s time for the not-so-healthy but so delicious part.  Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and the same amount of flour to the pan.  Whisk it around, and then add some broth (about 1/2 cup).  I didn’t have broth, so I just used water (which contains much less sodium anyway, plus you should have plenty of chicken drippings left in the pan that nothing more tasty than water is needed).  Whisk the gravy until it’s nicely mixed, and then return the chicken to the pan until ready to serve, aka you refill your glass of wine (well, we’re eating healthier so that means a second glass of wine, right?).

Give it a try sometime for a decently healthy meal that feels like a major splurge!  Here’s the original Rachel Ray recipe if you want to try it “by the book.”

- Clarissa

Looking back through my various recipes I realized that it sounds like everything always goes perfectly in my kitchen.  I start with a recipe, assemble ingredients, mix them all appropriately, bake/cook, and voila – beautifully perfect creations.  If only you knew how it really goes down…

For one thing, I have a habit of always using a bowl one size too small.  No matter what the size needed, I always seem to think it will fit in one size smaller.  This usually results in food going all over the counter as I try to carefully mix it, dirtying another bowl of the correct size, or both.  You’d think I would learn, but for some reason this happens every single time.

Possibly the reason I thought this week about mishaps in the kitchen is because of my Caesar Salad experience.  It started with a very random desire of mine to make Caesar Salad for dinner.  We didn’t have Caesar dressing, so I wondered what is required to make it.  As it ends up, I had almost all of the ingredients to combine a couple internet recipes for Caesar dressing.  So I put the first few ingredients into the blender as directed.  I turned on the blender (don’t worry, I did put on the top), and all of the stuff inside just went splat on the sides while the blade in the center spun undeterred by any silly ingredients in the way.  Nice.  Then I decided to get out the mini-processor and transfer everything to that.  After getting it out of the cupboard, assembling, and plugging it in, I decided it would probably do the exact same thing.  So, after putting that all away, I settled on a little bowl and whisk (who doesn’t need a little more arm muscle toning?).  Luckily that worked perfectly to combine the garlic, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and mayonnaise.  After those ingredients were smooth, I slowly added the olive oil (I should note I only used about half the oil suggested in the recipe), salt, and pepper.  I whisked and whisked until a nice little dressing was born.

At this point I was very concerned about the dressing being NGHubby approved, but continued nonetheless.  After pulling out the salad and placing it in a big bowl, I poured the dressing over the top.  I then went to “toss” it all together and realized the big bowl was WAY too small.  Nice again.  So I pull out a bigger bowl and successfully toss.

In the end, despite the pile of dirty barely used dishes, the salad was excellent.  I (as well as NGHubby) was very surprised by the tastiness, and, in our opinion, better than anything in a bottle.  So, here’s the recipe:

Caesar Salad Dressing from Food Network

• 6 cloves garlic, mashed and minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lemon juice
• Minced anchovy fillets or Worcestershire sauce

Mix (in whatever vessel you find appropriate ) garlic, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and mayonnaise.  Add anchovy or Worcestershire sauce as desired.  Slowly add olive oil, mixing while adding.  Stir in salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

- Clarissa

These cupcakes are supposed to be like those Hostess cupcake dealies you find at the convenience store.  One huge difference, though, is that these have a shelf-life of a couple days rather than a couple decades — come on, you’ve seen those Twinkie exposés.  I don’t recall ever actually having the convenience store cupcakes, but the picture in my cookbook just looked too fun to pass up.

For materials, these are supposed to be the jumbo cupcakes requiring the silly jumbo cupcake pan.  My common sense told me it’d be just the same, but the Martha in me sprung for the jumbo pan (about $4.50 at Hobby Lobby — with the weekly coupon — if you’re interested).  You’ll see later why I hesitated to use smaller cupcake pans…

Enough talk, let’s get baking.  Start by combining the dry ingredients of flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Then with a mixer, cream some room temperature butter and sugar until nice and fluffy.  Then, add 3 eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition.

Measure 1 cup of sour cream. (as if you don’t know what a cup of sour cream looks like)

With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  When that’s mixed in (be careful not to OVER mix, you want it to just barely be homogeneous).  Follow that with half of the sour cream.  Then repeat with the second half of the flour and second half of sour cream.  By now it is super dark and chocolaty and gooey — there are all kinds of food hazards involved, but I couldn’t resist licking the beater on its way to the sink.

Now in the cupcake tins, rather than using cups, you’ll see why in a sec, brush them with butter and then dust with some cocoa powder.  Time now to pour the chocolate gooey batter into the pans.

Stick the pans in your preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes (obviously much less if you’re not using the jumbo cupcake pan).  When they’re done, allow them to cool about 5 minutes and then run a knife around the edge of each and remove from the pans.  They’ll have to cool completely before you touch them again — trust me, I tried to hurry a couple and it ruined them.

So while those are cooling, you can put together the marshmallow filling.  It’s easy with just two ingredients: marshmallow cream and butter.  Yes, more butter.  Whisk those together and then stick it in the refrigerator for about a half hour just to firm it up a bit.

Now comes the really fun part.  Maybe you’ve noticed a little problem in my blogging pattern — if not, I’ll take the liberty of pointing it out now.  I’ve noticed that whenever the preparation gets a little dicey I start to concentrate harder and forget to take pictures.  I’ll have to work on that, because this step is when pictures would really help.  For now, use your mind’s eye   When the cupcakes are completely cool, take one and turn it upside down.  Using a small spoon (or melon baller if you have one) carefully scoop a little circle out of the bottom.  Save it and guard it with your life because you’ll need to put it back into the cupcake.  Then scoop a little extra out and eat it (or discard, but that’s no fun) because you need space in there for the filling.  Now, with the marshmallow filling in a pastry bag (or as close as you can get), fill in the middle of the cupcake.  Be careful not to overfill it because the only thing holding it in will be that little circle you scooped out of the bottom (see why I said to guard it?).  So, replace the bottom of the cupcake and then turn it right side up to dry.  That sounds complicated and precarious, but it is a little (you thought I was going to say how easy and carefree it is, didn’t you?)  So, that whole process is why I hesitated to make smaller cupcakes.  What’s your thought?

Finally, with a little more of the marshmallow filling, pipe a little swirl ( or whatever you want) on top for decoration.

The math nerd in me figured that there is 1/4 of a stick of butter in each cupcake — EACH cupcake — so be sure you have somewhere to take them to share.  Pretty and just a little out of the ordinary.

Here’s the list:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus some for tins
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus some for tins
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream (the stuff in the jar)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature and cut into pieces

- Clarissa

D’-lish-ous — if I do say so myself.  These mini-cheesecakes were a huge hit at the Superbowl party we attended last week.  I think cheesecakes are just amazing anytime, but what’s great about these is they require no knife, fork, or plates so they’re perfect for parties.

I’ll give you the full recipe, but I actually just made half because the whole recipe yields 32 cheesecakes.  It’s a very easy one to halve, so keep that in mind if you’re preparing for a smaller crowd (or making other desserts like I did).  The recipe comes again from my Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book.  If you’re into cupcakes, definitely worth checking it out.  Look how pretty…

To prep, line some muffin tins with paper liners.  The cheesecakes bled right through my papers, so you may want to use plain papers for the baking and then put another clean paper on the outside before serving if presentation is important (and if you have enough papers).  Using the second paper is an “in” thing right now anyway.

There are three separate sections to prepare for this recipe.  First is the graham cracker crust.  Start with 1 1/2 cups of graham crackers (about 12 sheets) in a food processor or chopper like so…

Once it’s nice and “finely ground,” stir it together with 3 tablespoons melted butter and 3 tablespoons sugar.  Now press about a tablespoon of the crust mix into the bottom of each cup.  Bake them about 5 minutes and then set aside to cool.

The next piece is the raspberry puree.  I don’t have any pics of this process because I didn’t really think it was going to work, but it did!  Start with 6 oounces of raspberries.  Martha says to use fresh, but I used (thawed) frozen ones and it worked perfectly.  So, put the raspberries in a food processor and run about 30 seconds until smooth.  Next (this is the part I didn’t think would work for me) pass the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds.  I used a colander and pressed the raspberries with a spatula so the liquid dropped through into a bowl.  It took a few minutes, but worked perfectly.  Finally, mix in 2 tablespoons of sugar and your puree is ready!

Finally, the actual cheesecake…Grab 2 pounds of cream cheese (we all have that lying around, right?) at room temperature and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Next add 1 1/2 cups sugar slowly with the mixer going on low.  Then add a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and continue mixing until smooth and combined.  Finally, add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating after each until just combined.

Now it’s time to put it all together.  Pour/spoon (I make a mess when I try to “spoon” it into the cups, so I pour) the batter on top of the crusts in each cup.  These rose VERY slightly, so you can go ahead and fill them at least 3/4 full.  Now, drip a few drops of the raspberry puree on top of each cheesecake.  You want to kind of spread out the drips so it doesn’t all just sink to the bottom in a pool.

Now, using a toothpick or any sharp pointy object (preferably clean) swirl the sauce into the batter.  How much you swirl just depends on how swirly you want it (how’s that for direction?).

Now place each tin into a roasting pan, I used the rimmed cookie sheets in a pinch.  Pour enough water into the pan so the water comes up the sides of the cups about 3/4 of the way.  Now stick it all in the oven and bake about 22 minutes or until the filling is set.

When they’re done, remove them from the water and the oven and let them cool completely (if you don’t have a cat that likes to steal food like mine does, in which case make the usual waxed paper tent to keep him/her out of the creamy deliciousness). Once they’re cool, you’ll want to refrigerate them at least 4 hours to set up. These are a great make-ahead dessert too since they can be kept in the fridge (in an airtight container) for days without any ill effects.

Sounds like a lot of steps, but ends up really pretty and tasty.  See?

Next week will be the chocolate creme-filled cupcake recipes.  So that means you’d better get these made and devoured before then

Here’s your ingredient list:

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 12 sheets)
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 container (6 ounces) raspberries
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature

- Clarissa

‘Nough said.

Well ok, I’ll say one thing…These cupcakes have absolutely nothing to do with the Superbowl except that I used the Superbowl as an excuse to make them.  They were a complete hit at the party, so I can tell you with certainty that you will love them.

Recipes coming soon!

- Clarissa

Really, how can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?  These cupcakes were really dense — that might be from something I did wrong, but in this case I think I actually made them correctly.  The chocolate was intense, the peanut butter was intense, and a glass of milk was a necessity.

First, you create the chocolate batter.  Start with 4 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips), 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, and 1/2 cup butter in a double-boiler.  I just received a double-boiler for Christmas so this was its inaugural run.  If you don’t have one, set a heatproof bowl over a pan of water on the stove.

I think we’re off to a good start with that pan!

Once it’s all melted and smooth, remove it from the heat and let it cool just a bit.  Then whisk in 3/4 cup sugar followed by 3 eggs.  Whisk until it’s nice and smooth, and then stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla.  Next you can add the dry ingredients of 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  If you want to be perfectly correct, you should combine those dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add the whole she-bang to the chocolate mixture. Yeah, yeah whatever.  Ok, back to the good stuff.

Now the peanut butter batter.  No steps for this one, just put 4 tablespoons  of melted butter, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla into a bowl and mix it all up like so…

Finally, line your muffin tins with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Then, spoon about 2 tablespoons of chocolate batter into each cup.  Then spoon about 1 tablespoon of peanut butter batter on top of the chocolate in each cup, followed by one more tablespoon of chocolate batter, and then one final tablespoon of peanut butter batter.  Now, swirl the top of each cupcake with a toothpick or fork (I used a fork to get it done a little quicker).  Then bake them for 35-40 minutes and remove when a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

And here they are.  Marble-y and Delicious!

I adapted this recipe from a cookbook I absolutely love, Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes.  It is a beautiful and fun book that’s great for the recipes, but really fun to just sit down and read too.  I definitely recommend it.

Since I’ve now been banned from making desserts “just for the fun of it,” I now enjoy making them for every possible occasion I can find.  Next on the list, a potluck Super Bowl party we’ll be attending.  I’m going to start through my cupcake book now to pick out a couple new recipes for Sunday.

- Clarissa

Ok,  I’ll confess, it’s actually chocolate cake that just looks like a pint of Guinness.  I did find a recipe that uses Guinness beer in the cake, but I decided that’s something better kept for private tastings than birthday party debuts.  I was also informed that the birthday boy’s favorite cake is chocolate with chocolate frosting, so I stuck with what works.  The birthday boy also happens to be a huge fan of all things Guinness – hence the shape of the cake.  I’m not THAT crazy.

I was going for something like this glass but with lines like the ones we brought home from Ireland…

See, even the little harp?  I was proud of the little harp.

The frosting is the super fudge-y stuff I used earlier on those stinkin’ Hawkeye cupcakes.  Point of order, they were amazingly good, but I say stinkin’ because they’re Hawkeyes and have been the most popular photos and recipe on this site.  Just wait until Michigan gets good enough again at some sport to warrant some cupcakes

Anyway, back to the Guinness.  Here’s some proof of how good it was.  They look just moments from slipping into a chocolate coma, don’t they?

- Clarissa