Culinary Quirks

Eggs Benedict for 250 calories Toast a SmartStart whole grain...

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:29:56 -0400

Eggs Benedict for 250 calories

Toast a SmartStart whole grain english muffin
Drop a handful of spinach in a nonstick pan with cooking spray & cover to steam
Spread each 1/2 of the muffin with 1/2 a wedge of Laughing Cow Light
Place 1/2 of the wilted spinach on each muffin 1/2
Spray pan again with cooking spray and add about 1/3 cup of eggbeaters. Season with salt and pepper (I used Adobo). Shape eggs while cooking into an oblong fashion to cover both muffin halves.
Layer cooked eggs on top of spinach, top with a small sprinkle of shredded cheese. I used cheddar.
Add 2-3 tablespoons skim milk to pan, reduce heat to low and add 1 tablespoon reduced fat mayo, 2 teaspoons yellow mustard and a sprinkle of paprika. Whisk until smooth and pour over muffin halves.

Coconut Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting Cupcake Notes: 5...

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:01:32 -0400

Coconut Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

Cupcake Notes:

5 large eggs + 1 yolk =5 extra large eggs
I used butter flavored and coconut flavored extracts instead of vanilla & almond. It was very tasty and the butter complimented the caramel frosting nicely.
Do not beat the butter & sugar on high for 5 minutes. This adds way too much volume and instead of the 18-20 piece yield, this recipe made 24 full size & 24 mini cupcakes. Most of the cupcakes had flat, wide tops that required trimming to neaten up spillover.

Frosting Notes:

Don’t add sea salt to the caramel. If using salted butter, it should be enough. Adjust within final product if needed.
Pop the caramel in the fridge or freezer to cool thoroughly while prepping the meringue. I didn’t do this and the caramel addition melted my frosting. To rectify, I popped the whole bowl in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and then re-whipped to add volume after the mixture was cool and the butter firmed back up.
I added a touch of rum extract to the frosting and it didn’t seem noticable.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcake Notes:

This was too fluffy and cakey for my taste. I like carrot cake very dense and moist. My favorite thus far is the Betty Crocker recipe, but I tested this because I wanted the additions of pineapple, coconut and raisins. I did not use the nuts. I would consider using the BC recipe and simply adding the extras and tweaking a bit on my next attempt.

Frosting Notes:

I used 1 brick fat free and 1 brick neufchatel cream cheese. Didn’t make a super notable difference in taste or texture.
It’s an OK recipe, but I think I’d add less sugar next time, and possibly some cinnamon and lemon or orange zest to perk up the flavor.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes 1 box strawberry cake mix 1 package...

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:30:00 -0400

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

1 box strawberry cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup strawberry milk
8 oz sour cream

I use a kitchenaid mixer for all my baking and typically beat cupcakes & cakes until they’re super stiff. I did that for this recipe and then filled cupcake liners 3/4 full and popped into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or so.

The main key is to check often after the 15 minute mark and do the usual tests: Is the top dry and springy to the touch? Does a toothpick inserted in the center come out dry? Are the edges just starting to turn golden?

I removed from the oven, cooled on a wire rack for 15 minutes or so proceeded to the filling.

To fill, I poke a hole in the top of each cupcake with a chopstick and then wheedle it around a bit to make some space. I then took 1 jar of polaner strawberry preserves, added a few drops of water and microwaved the concoction until I was able to whisk to smooth consistency. Once smooth, transfer filling to pastry bag fitted with bismark tip and fill each cupcake. Don’t overfill, a teaspoon or 2 is all you need.

Once filled, I set to work on my frosting.

Lemonade Frosting

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
8 oz cream cheese
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp Crystal Light Lemonade drink mix powder

Again, use the kitchenaid. Put the mixing bowl and the whipping attachment in the freezer overnight to ensure that they’re cold. Cream doesn’t whip well in warm bowls.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and remaining ingredients until very smooth, beat to incorporate air until it’s light and fluffy. About the consistency of marshmallow fluff.

Carefully fold the 2 bowls together, do not overmix or you’ll lose volume.

Add frosting to a piping bag, frost cupcakes. If pretty yellow stripes are desired, paint gel food coloring in stripes inside the pastry bag before filling with frosting. Be sure to squeeze slowly and evenly to keep stripes as defined as possible.

Time to Create: 3 hours. 1 hour to prep cupcakes, 30 minutes to prep frosting, plus requisite time for cooling, frosting and cleanup.

Time to Concept: 1 month? This concept was on my summer list of things to invent. They were a big deviation from traditional chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and I think for a first attempt they went very well.

Time to Consume: These were big hit with the non-traditional crowd. I’d give them an 6, based on how much of the recipe was assembled from mixes and the like. If I was to attempt again I might try to go more from scratch or use dried strawberries and extracts and things in the batter. The frosting is very summery, but depending on how hefty the cupcake was it might be fun to try a more traditional buttercream, lemonade flavored, of course!

Tortellini Pasta Salad 1 bag Barilla tortellini, I prefer the...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:53:00 -0400

Tortellini Pasta Salad

1 bag Barilla tortellini, I prefer the Three Cheese variety
2 cups broccoli, trimmed to bite sized florets
1 can artichoke hearts, coarsley chopped
8 oz skim mozzarella, diced to 1/2 inch cubes
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1 bottle italian dressing, I prefer Wegmans Fat Free Parmesan Italian

Prepare the tortellini according to package instructions. Toss the broccoli into the pasta pot 1 or 2 minutes before pasta is cooked and allow to blanch quickly. Drain well and run under cool water to stop cooking.

Once cool, toss pasta with veggies & cheese and a 1/4 cup or so of the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If salad appears dry, add a few more tablespoons of dressing and toss to coat.

Time to Create: 30 minutes, start to finish.

Time to Concept: Can’t really recall, I’ve been making versions of this for years. Swap out fixins as you see fit. Ham, pepperoni, baby spinach leaves, black olives…pretty much anything you could put on a pizza could easily added in.

Time to Consume: This is ALWAYS a huge hit. And every time I serve it people are perplexed as to why they never thought to use tortellini instead of plain old rotini. I recently served this at a BBQ with six cold salad options (I do not kid around about BBQs) and this was the first to go. It’s a winner for sure!

Not So Red Velvet Cupcakes OK, so this got rave reviews from the...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:59:00 -0400

Not So Red Velvet Cupcakes

OK, so this got rave reviews from the tasters and all, but I’d rate it as one of my biggest flops in a long time. I spent weeks trolling for the perfect recipe and had very, very high hopes for this. It wasn’t inedible, but it fell more than a little bit short of the hype.

Recipe for the cupcakes and frosting are here.

I followed everything to the letter, EXCEPT I’m a bit of a dunce and also a dark chocolate junkie. The primary duncery was my foolish belief that I should resist all instinct and leave the oven undisturbed until the minimum recommended cooking time had passed. Result? Dry cupcakes. So, so sad!

Beyond that, aka, the secondary duncery: Dark chocolate cocoa powder makes it virtually impossible to achieve a red result. These would have been more aptly named Black Velvet Cupcakes.

I’m not totally giving up on Red Velvet, but the hunt continues for a solid recipe.

Regarding cream cheese frosting, the recipe above is OK. It’s dense and pipeable and not overly sweet. It wasn’t awful or anything, but again, I was expecting a real knock-my-socks-off-whiz-bang-zowie! result. It definitely didn’t hit that level on the Culinary Quirk taste o meter.

If you’ve read this far and you really are interested in the finer points of frosting, then I urge you to try this. It’s a cream cheese frosting that incorporates whipped cream and I’m totally hooked on this combo. It’s light and flavorful and *perfect* for topping a nice, densely moistly delicious cupcake. mmmmmmm!

Time to Create: 2-3 hours, including all prep & cleanup & allowing time for the cupcakes to cool before frosting and all that jazz.

Time to Concept: Weeks. Ridiculous amounts of hours of recipe scouring went into this endeavor.

Time to Consume: This is the first time in the history of my kitchen that I’ve thrown a cupcake away. I sent all but one cupcake off to the tasting crew. That poor little fella sat in my fridge for a week or so before sent him to the trash. I feel evil just writing that! What kind of monster throws away cupcakes?!

Root Veggie Salad 1.5 cups sweet potato, peeled, 3/4 inch...

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:20:00 -0400

Root Veggie Salad

1.5 cups sweet potato, peeled, 3/4 inch dice
1.5 cups beets, peeled, 3/4 inch dice
3/4 cup turnips, peeled 3/4 inch dice
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 of one fresh jalepeno, seeded & minced
2-3T chopped fresh cilantro
3T fresh squeezed lime juice (one generous lime)
3T real maple syrup (do not use Mrs. Butterworth and expect tasty results)
3T extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Whisk the jalepeno, cilantro, lime juice, syrup, EVOO and salt & pepper together. Adjust syrup or lime juice to taste. You want a slightly sweet taste here.

Using separate pans to avoid color bleed and to accomodate for differing cooking times cover root veggies with water, add salt and boil until tender. Drain each veggie well and run under cool water to stop cooking.

Toss veggies gently with the dressing and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Time to Create: 1 hour, including all the veggie cooking time.

Time to Concept: A couple days. Friends gave me an assortment of beets and turnips and I had to think about what to do as neither are on my typical shopping list.

Time to Consume: Still in the fridge, but initial sample was so tasty and so pleasing to look at! I’ll be serving tonight with grilled swordfish steaks and grilled polenta slices.

Ham and Cheese Pizza 1 flatbread, pizza parlor style1 wedge...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:28:00 -0400

Ham and Cheese Pizza

1 flatbread, pizza parlor style
1 wedge Laughing Cow Light, French Onion flavor
3 slices low fat, smoked deli ham, julienned
3 tbsp 2% shredded cheddar
3 tbsp 2% shredded mozzerella
10-12 slices banana pepper
a sprinkle of grated romano
a dash of Franks Red Hot

Spread the Laughing Cow wedge on the flatbread. Top with ham, shredded cheeses and banana peppers

Pop in a toaster oven until cheese is bubbly and brown (400 degrees for 10 minutes or so).

Remove, slice, top with romano and Red Hot.

Time to Create: 5 minutes, plus 10 minutes cooking time.

Time to Concept: 2-3 minutes, all my work is done based on what random stuff is in my kitchen.

Time to Consume: 15 minutes. I was scarfing on mute during a conference call, so I couldn’t be focused on a speedy inhalation. This was tangy, smokey, cheesey delicious! Quirky, but I’d serve it to a friend.

Cucumber Tuna Cups 1 can albacore tuna in water, drained and...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:33:21 -0400

Cucumber Tuna Cups

1 can albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked with a fork
1 small cucumber, shredded coarsley (about 1/2 cup)
2 tbsp light mayo
salt & pepper to taste
1 small tomato, sliced paper thin
8-10 decent sized leaves of lettuce

Mix the first 4 ingredients until combined.

Grab a lettuce leaf, layer on a few tomato slices, a dollop of the tuna salad and enjoy!

Time to Create: 5 minutes

Time to Concept: 2-3 minutes, another make-it-up-as-I-go operation

Time to Consume: 15 minutes or so. I ate them all and really enjoyed the added crunch and flavor that the cucumber added to the tuna. And I’m a huge fan of using lettuce as my sandwhich vessel. Too many carbs at lunchtime make me drowsy, this did just the trick!

Chic Pea Salad 3 cups green leaf lettuce, cut into wide julienne...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:19:00 -0400

Chic Pea Salad

3 cups green leaf lettuce, cut into wide julienne strips
1/4 cup fresh tomato, coarsley chopped
1/2 avocado, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup chick peas
a drizzle of Wegmans Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch Light Salad Dressing
fresh cracked black pepper

First off, it’s not a typo in the title, I was thinking it was a pretty chic lunch salad and went with it.

I don’t really think there’s a need to offer a play by play on this one. Layer the lettuce first, tomatoes next, then avocado, then chick peas. Top with the dressing and a generous dose of black pepper and dig in!

Time to Create: 10 minutes

Time to Concept: 5 minutes, I pretty much made it up as I went.

Time to Consume: 15 minutes? I mean, it was lunch and all. There’s only so fast a girl can shovel veggies in her face. Super tasty and I sure patted myself on the back for the rustling up something nutrient laden and filling.

BBQ Pulled Pork, Citrus Dill Zucchini & Sweet Corn

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:58:00 -0400

This one isn’t documented on film partly because I was starving and partly because it just wasn’t the prettiest thing ever. It was quick and mindless, but tasty nonetheless.

Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy to be homemade and healthful. Not to be all Rachael Ray, but this took me less than 30 minutes and I was able to clean the kitchen as I was cooking, and if pulled pork is the worst thing on your dinner plate then you’re doing just fine nutritionally.

So much more rewarding than ordering take out.

BBQ Pulled Pork

This was a total cheat. I defrosted some pulled pork that my brother supplied all neatly vacuum sealed and frozen and added his special vinegar sauce and some Wegmans Kansas City BBQ sauce. YUM!

Citrus Dill Zucchini

Sliced up a large zucchini into 1/2 wheel shapes and seared in a non-stick pan with butter flavored PAM on high until it browned. Flipped the zucchini over and browned the other side. Reduced the heat to medium-low and added some Wegmans Citrus Dill marinade. Also delish.

Sweet Corn

Another total and complete cheat. I tossed a bag of Birdseye SteamFresh sweet corn into the microwave. No muss, no fuss.

Lemon Coconut Cream Cupcakes 1 box lemon cake mix 1 package...

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:26:00 -0400

Lemon Coconut Cream Cupcakes

1 box lemon cake mix
1 package lemon instant pudding
1 cup creme de cacao
1/4 cup oil
8 oz sour cream
2 tsp coconut extract

I use a kitchenaid mixer for all my baking and typically beat cupcakes & cakes until they’re super stiff. I did that for this recipe and then filled cupcake liners 3/4 full and popped into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or so.

I removed from the oven, cooled on a wire rack for 45 minutes or so then put in an airtight container until I frosted them in the AM.

Coconut Cloud Frosting

1 1/2 cups whipping cream 8 oz cream cheese 1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar 1/8 tsp salt 2 tsp coconut extract 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and remaining ingredients until very smooth, beat to incorporate air until it’s light and fluffy. About the consistency of marshmallow fluff.

Carefully fold the 2 bowls together, do not overmix or you’ll lose volume.

Add frosting to a piping bag, frost cupcakes, and sprinkle each with a bit of coconut.

Time to Create: 24 hours. 1 hour to prep cupcakes, 30 minutes to prep frosting, plus requisite time for cooling, frosting and cleanup.

Time to Concept: 3 weeks? I’ve been thinking of something with lemon and coconut for weeks, but mulled it over for a long time to really nail down what I wanted. Given that I’m attempting these again this weekend with some modifications to the cupcake recipe, maybe I’m not technically done concepting ;)

Time to Consume: These were a huge hit at a BBQ. All the cupcakes were gone, none were left 1/2 eaten. I’d give them an 8, but it’s my own perfection that’s holding me back. Per the above, I’m attempting again this weekend with some modifications. The taste was superb, but the cupcakes didn’t have the height that I want. Check back next week for an improved version!

Salmon Packet, Asian Style 1 frozen salmon filet1 relatively...

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:38:00 -0400

Salmon Packet, Asian Style

1 frozen salmon filet
1 relatively small russet potato peeled and sliced thin
8-10 thin slices of zucchini
salt
honey
ginger (I only had dried ground)
roasted chili oil
tamari sauce
spicy asian bbq sauce
Tear a sheet of tinfoil, create overlapping rows of the potatos.

Salt the potatoes, then drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with ginger. Drizzle wtih roasted chili oil. A little goes along way of all these potent ingredients, so use sparingly!

Layer 2 rows of zucchini over the potatoes and shake a little tamari sauce on them.

Rub the salmon fillet with a tablespoon or so of the BBQ sauce, set it on top of the bed of veggies.

Seal up the packet and place on the grill over indirect heat for 15-20 minutes or so. To achieve indirect heat on a gas grill, turn one burner off or all the way to low, leave the other on high/medium high and place the packet over the burner that is not on. Also, always make sure your grill is heated properly. I always leave mine on high with the lid on while I’m prepping then adjust as required when I put the food on.

Time to Create: 25 minutes. 5 prep, 20 cooking time.

Time to Concept: 3 minutes. Rations in the kitchen are sparse, had to get a bit creative on this one.

Time to Consume: a few minutes. I’d say it was a 7. Not my most creative work, but it was a totally presentable dinner.

Radish Potato Pizza 1 pizza crust style flat bread1 relatively...

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:01:00 -0400

Radish Potato Pizza

1 pizza crust style flat bread
1 relatively small russet potato
2 relatively large radishes
2 oz marinated feta
2 oz emmentaler cheese (swiss)
a sprinkle of pecorino romano
salt
pepper

Prick the potato a few times and microwave. I just used the Potato button on my unit, you decide what works best for you.

While the potato is cooking, slice up your radishes & grate the emmentaler. When the potato is done cooking, slice that up as well.

Scoop the feta onto the flatbread and use the back of a spoon to mash it up and spread it around. Drizzle a little bit of the marinade on. Layer on potatoes and radishes. Top the veggies with salt and pepper then the emmentaler.

Bake in a toaster oven at 300 degrees until cheese is melted (4 minutes?), then crank it to broil to make it bubble(2 minutes?).

Sprinkle on the romano after removing from the toaster oven.

Time to Create: less than 10 minutes

Time to Concept: none, this was an assemble as I go operation

Time to Consume: gone in 60 seconds; at least a 9 on the salivation scale.