A Stone Fruit Soiree

Summer is such a lovely time. Can you believe it's almost over? In honor of balmy nights, good friends, and belly laughs, here's a great recipe using the summers greatest gift- freestone peaches! Whether you get them from your local farmers market (my favorite!), a road side fruit stand, or the grocery look for peaches that are a deep yellow and give a bit when you press their skin. May all your summer adventures turn out, well, peachy!

Sauteed Brown Sugar Peaches (With Ice Cream!)

• 4 peaches: washed, pitted, and cut into slices
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, but light will do!)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

After prepping your peaches, place them in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half a lemon in and toss them around a bit. Place a large pan on the stove over medium heat and place the butter in the pan. After the butter has melted, pour in the brown sugar and the vanilla and stir until combined with the butter. Then, place the peach slices in the pan and toss them around with the sauce, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until peaches are tender and sauce is a thick, but pourable consistency. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream (Talenti vanilla bean gelato is my favorite!) and enjoy! XO- L

Recipe Revision Round 2

Sorry to say I took no photos. I tend to eat things before I remember to take pictures. Its a personal flaw- lets just say I'm working on it, mmk?

At any rate- I have recipes for you!
To start, I got inspired by a recipe on The Hungry Mouse where she put whiskey, cranberries, and butter all over ribs. I mean. Come on. I had to recreate it.
But then the butcher had no ribs. Its summer, cranberries are no where to be found. And cranberry preserves are invisible. So, I improvised.
In the preserves section I found apple butter, which- apples and pork are fab together even if I'm not much of a pork person myself. And I figured whiskey couldn't hurt in this instance.
Without further ado,  here is my recipe for Apple Butter Whiskey Pork Loin.

Recipe Revision

When I am looking for a dinner idea, I often stumble upon fabulous recipes, with fabulous ingredients that I hardly ever have use for and therefore never have on hand. With that in mind, almost every recipe I see, requires a little change up to fit my pantry and limit my grocery list.(Warning, this is going to be a long post!)I've also recently fallen in love (Read: become obsessed with...) a blogger by the pseudonym of The Hungry Mouse. Her name is Jessie Cross and she writes all about food, with helpful step by step photos, her love of meat, and her sidekicks aka dogs. She is extremely knowledgeable about all things edible, leading her to be published in many magazines as well as in her very own cookbook, Slushed! 
My favorite feature on her blog is a protein drop down menu, pick your choice and all recipes are categorized accordingly. Extremely helpful when you only have a pork loin on hand.
Without further ado, here are my recent remakes of her recipes!

Hello, risotto.

Im an Italian food addict, and I could live on rice and chicken, so as Im sure you can imagine, risotto is dream food for me.
I just recently began making it myself, and thought id share its simple deliciousness with you.

You can put just about anything in risotto, but this is the recipe for the risotto I made last night.
Grilled Chicken and Pea Risotto
You will need:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups Arborio rice
1 3/4 cup white wine (not cooking wine!)
4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1 tablespoon butter
1- 1 1/2 cups peas (cooked)
2 cooked chicken breasts or 1-2 cups shredded chicken

Day #2 Without Sugar

This may be just a coincidence, but I feel like I'm already seeing the effects that processed sugar has had on me. First and foremost, I am spending more time in the kitchen, but thankfully some time up front gives me a lot of snack options that I know are OK. Secondly, I had a headache at the beginning of the day (I ate an apple, chewed some sugar-free gum and it went way). Thirdly, I can see my energy level changing. For example, it's almost 4 PM. I've usually already had an afternoon crash in energy which I used to attribute to lack of caffiene or whatever else. I am blogging and making homemade cheez-its (!!!) while my roomate is snoozing on the couch! I feel like I have a ton of energy. On that note, here are a few more snacks I have tried (and really liked!)

First of all, my roomate (the one who is sleeping on the couch!) had an ice cream craving, so I went to the store with her to get supplies for cheez-its and (hopefully) find some ice cream with no unnatural sweeteners. I was in luck! I found "So Delicious" Coconut Milk Ice Cream in Toasted Almond Chip. It is seriously better than regular ice cream and all the sweetness comes from organic coconut milk. In any case, here is something to tide you over if you're feeling munchy. It's nice because it's super customizable and can be as healthy as you want using substitutions!

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

I don't think it's really a secret that I love food. I love trying everything, but I've never really thought about what was going in my body until recently when I stumbled on a blog about sugar free eating. Sugar free? That's nuts! I love to bake! And sugar is in everything. I do mean everything: from crackers to vegetable soup to oatmeal (this surprised me the most). While reading I came upon a common theme on a few sugar-free blogs: they all challenged their readers to go a period of time (a week in most cases, but sometimes more) without processed sugar. I think that's a great idea and I'm going to go for it!

It's day one and I seriously CANNOT believe how much sugar permeates everything I have in the pantry. However, with the resources I found on these blogs for recipes and what to look for on labels that is just sugar cleverly disguised, I feel confident. I'll share my first few recipes with you so you can go along as well! It will take longer, but make sure you check the labels as you shop. Naturally derived sugar from plants is fine, but anything else is cheating (I learned this the hard way.)

Basic Biscotti

Hello there!

I'm big on biscotti. Its one of my favorite things to make, and its definitely one of those treats that people turn their heads to see when you announce what you're bringing to the holiday table.
Biscotti means "twice baked," but I bake mine 3 times. My biscotti is also a touch softer than the packaged variety you buy at a grocery store or in line at Starbucks. Below is a basic recipe, that I tweak and add to in order to create new flavors.

Basic Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened 
3/4 cup white sugar 
3 eggs 
3 cups all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder

Here is how you change this up, and finish off the recipe!

Typically, biscotti has almond extract in it, but I do a combination of extracts, and depending on their strength, add up to about 1-2 teaspoons of extract total. Just two examples:

Peppermint Biscotti: 1/2 tsp peppermint extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Birthday Cake Biscotti: 1 tsp almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract

And so on, but any combination works, its what you like best. You can also use orange, strawberry, lemon, or any other type of extract at all- just make it fit the combination of ingredients you put in your biscotti. You're simply flavoring the dough.

To change up to a chocolate biscotti, I use 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder.
Then, the fun part- the goodies inside the biscotti. Use 1 cup worth of extras for this recipe. I use chocolate chips of any variety (minis work well for this), chopped nuts, dried fruit, sprinkles, candy, etc.

Once all of your ingredients are sorted, here is how to actually MAKE the biscotti:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large cookie sheet. 
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the extract(s). Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in extras. 
With lightly floured hands, shape dough into two 10 inch long loaves. Place rolls 5 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet; flatten each to 3 inch width. 
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set and light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut loaves on a bias into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange slices cut side down.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown. Turn, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Cool completely.
I usually melt a little chocolate, drizzle over the top, sprinkle on a topping of sorts, and voila! Delicious biscotti for all to enjoy! Or not, no one says you have to share it ;)

-Rachel

Keep rollin' on...

It just occurred to me that this blog hasn't been updated in nearly a month, Ack!
But, I thought a delicious roll recipe would be perfect to rectify this little problem.

I'm all about a combination of easy and homemade, and these garlic and parmesan rolls are just that. Its also a very "forget about it," easy recipe as well.

To start, you'll need:

1 whole garlic bulb
Olive oil
1 ramekin
Aluminum foil
1 can of Pillsbury Flakey Layers biscuits
Grated parmesan cheese
Cooking spray, like Pam
1 baking sheet
Dried parsley
Salt
Pepper

Notice the lack of measurements? That's how simple this is.
Preheat your oven to 350, in the meantime peel back the first few layers on skin on the garlic bulb, not all of them- you want it to stay whole, but just a few outer layers- I think I took 4 off of mine.
Then, cut across the top of the bulb, about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch down, to reveal the cloves tops inside, the bottom of the bulb should be intact, and you'll be able to see the inside of the bulbs.
Place the bulb in the ramekin, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cover the ramekin with aluminum foil.
Bake for 60-75 minutes.

When that's done, seperate your rolls and stretch them out into long skinny rectangle shapes. Spread the soft roasted garlic on the inside (if its not spreadable, put it back in for a few minutes.) Then sprinkle a tiny bit of parsley and pinch (or more, if you're so inclined) of parmesan cheese on top.
Roll them up, maybe smush them into a more roll shape if they're a bit tall.
Spray your baking sheet, place the rolls on top, bake for 14 minutes, then remove, sprinkle a bit more cheese on top, put back in for about 2 minutes.

When they come out, you will have irresistible, warm, soft, garlic (did I use enough adjectives ) rolls- and your kitchen will smell incredible!!

Enjoy,
Rachel

The Gold Standard

There comes a time of year when we have to put away the Scharffen-Berger (bummer, I just bought a bunch and it's amazing) and pull out the pumpkin desserts. It is a wonderful time filled with pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake gelato (it's best from Coolato Gelato!), and pumpkin spice whipped cream (yeah, I know!) However, my favorite thing of all time ever is pumpkin cheesecake. When I go home for Thanksgiving, I try to get some from The Cheesecake Factory (I recently heard we're getting one in Knoxville: score!!), but sometimes I just can't wait. I really don't have the patience or brain capacity to do the whole water bath, springform pan routine that goes into real cheesecake, so I made pumpkin cheesecake bars and, bonus, I got to use my Goldtouch pan that I recieved for my birthday!

These were uber delicious and I can't wait for you to try them. And, for the record, the Goldtouch was totally awesome and lived up to its reputation. My edges and corners came out perfectly brown (not burnty brown like normal) and it was super non-stick. If you're in Williams-Sonoma soon, I would definetely suggest picking one up in every size!

A Chocolate Affair

Hello!

Considering that I'm currently sitting in bed eating Nutella out of the jar with a plastic soon (super classy, I know), I thought I'd share one of my favorite Nutella recipes with you. I love all things made with this chocolate and hazelnut spread, but warm gooey brownies certainly take the cake (pun intended).

You will need:
1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
4 Eggs
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1/8 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup Nutella
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 355 degrees.
Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl (mixer) , melt the butter, then add the sugar and vanilla. Once the mixture is cooled, add the eggs and mix.
Add the flour mixture slowly to the egg mixture, mix completely before adding the nutella and chocolate chips.
Use Crisco in a 13x9in pan, they tend to be really impossible to get out of the pan. Crisco works much better than spray. I usually fold a paper towel, and use it to spread the Crisco around.
Bake for 40 min. They might need to go a tiny bit longer, but no more than 50 min.

Once they're done, cut a large one for yourself and enjoy!

Rachel

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Last week, I got my Williams-Sonoma fall catalog which was like an early Christmas present! I had my eye on a few trusty favorites I've gotten before (the spooky gingerbread house, for example) but what caught my attention was a jar of my absolute favorite fall flavor combination: salted caramel sauce. Williams-Sonoma suggests you use it slightly heated on ice cream, but I've got a few other recipes up my sleeve and I can't wait for you to try them!

Doesn't this look delightful?

Lets talk about spice, baby.

(Produced by Muirhead, Sold by Williams-Sonoma)

Anyone get my inappropriate song reference? No? Moving on then...

I have a deep love for fall at Williams-Sonoma. If you aren't aware of their fabulous fall products- please visit a store or their website. I promise you'll be thrilled. Each year they come out with a number of products that are pumpkin, spice, and everything nice (sorry, last one, promise). I normally buy bulk amounts of their Pumpkin Pecan Pancake Mix (also, love that alliteration). Much to my dismay, there was none to be found this year.

As a replacement, I purchase the Pecan Pumpkin Butter. It comes in a glass jar topped with a gold lid and cursive font- a simply beautiful presentation. It is also, simply delectable.
Because the product is wet, its a perfect addition to a number of batters. You could add a bit to pancake mix, as a replacement for the Williams-Sonoma mix of previous year, or to muffin batter, icing, etc. Its a lovely way to impart a little seasonal flair to just about anything.

Here is a quick, easy way to use the butter in a breakfast favorite of mine- french toast!