Crispy Parmesan Garlic Fries > Baked!

These aren't the fastest things you'll ever make in the kitchen, but trust me when I say these are amazing and wonderfully crispy. I've tried oven-baked fries before that tasted fine but they never had that satisfying crunch like that of a deep golden browned french fry. These have that crunch - plus grated cheese and garlic oil... all from the oven. 

The secret? Soaking the potatoes in a bit of cold salted water to remove the starch and dry them out before they hit the oven. My family gobbled them up. Next time, I'm doubling the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Purple Foodie.

Ingredients: 

• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each) 
• 3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• freshly shaved parmesan 
• chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 440° F.
2. Parboil the potatoes about 5 minutes until you can stick a fork in them (potato should still be fairly firm).
3. Remove potatoes, let cool for a while.
4. Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl, warming it in a pan over the stove until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Transfer 1-2 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to 1 or 2 foil lined baking sheets, coating it well. I also sprayed the foil lined baking sheets with some non stick spray just to be safe.
6. Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside. (I may have added in more garlic powder since I love garlic, so don't afraid to be liberal with that!)
7. Cut cooled potatoes into wedges. Don't worry if some of the spud's skin comes loose.
8. Secret to making crispy oven fries - do not skip this step! Rinse wedges two or three times in cold water. Then soak the potatoes in ice water with 1-2 Tbs of salt for 5 minutes or so.
9. Remove wedges and thoroughly pat dry with a towel as much as you can.
10. Toss wedges in the garlic oil and then the garlic powder mixture to coat.
11. Place wedges in a single layer on prepared baking sheets. Make sure you don't place them too close together or the potatoes will steam. Use another baking sheet if you need to.
12. Sprinkle any remaining garlic powder mixture left over from the bowl to the top of the wedges. The clumpier the better.
13. Shave fresh parmesan to the top of the wedges, as well as parsley if you wish.
14. Bake in the oven turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, about 40-45 minutes. Keep an eye on them in the oven and don't be afraid to remove earlier or keep in the oven for longer depending on how crispy you prefer them.
15. Remove from oven, taste and season with a dash of fresh shaved parmesan or even truffle salt (I love my truffle salt from Dean & Deluca).
16. Serve with ketchup or garlic aioli!

German Pancake Recipe

I'll pretend like I haven't had german pancakes 7 times for the last 2 weeks for dinner. If you haven't had these, you have to try them. My mom, who is not a breakfast or brunch person at all, makes exceptions for this, and it is SO easy to make. They always remind me of her because she always makes these for me when I'm home! They're light, thin, chewy and perfect with simple lemon and powdered sugar. They turn out wonderfully in a trusty cast iron skillet, but I've made them in a pizza pan too. The best part? You can make them with only six ingredients that are most likely to already be in your pantry.

I halve a recipe I've adapted from All Recipes and it's perfect for a single serving in a 15-inch cast iron skillet. 

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 TBS butter, melted

Recipe:

1. Place your cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F 
2. Whisk eggs and milk in a bowl.
3. Add flour and salt to the egg and milk mixture and stir until mostly smooth
4. Once oven is preheated, add the 2 TBS melted butter to the cast iron skillet and roll the butter around to cover the bottom and sides of the skillet
5. Pour batter into the skillet and bake for 20 minutes. The sides and middle will pouf up and may be bubbly, but that's ok - it's the best part!
6. Remove from oven, and garnish according to taste.

To serve, I always opt for squeezing a lemon and dusting with powdered sugar, but butter and syrup, pumpkin butter, mixed berries and powdered sugar all work too!

unbelievably easy dinner > bubble up pizza

 

I feel pretty strongly about meals that are comprised primarily of carbs and cheese (mac and cheese, grilled cheese, calzones, etc.), so I naturally needed to try this Bubble Up Pizza from Pass the Sushi (via The Kitchn). I can’t say it’s the most nutritious dinner in my repertoire, but the fact that I’ve made it twice in one week definitely says something – mainly that it’s delicious and incredibly easy. 

I used my cast iron skillet (brushed it with some olive oil first), and it turned out perfectly. Also, my off-brand biscuits with eight in a tube were plenty. Definitely didn’t need two containers. And bake for a good 20-25 minutes to make sure the biscuits cook all the way through.

Bubble Up Pizza

• 2 containers refrigerated biscuit dough, 6 biscuits each
• 1 jar pizza sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup pepperoni (or other favorite toppings)
• 5 fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven as per directions on dough. With a sharp knife, divide each biscuit into 4. In a large bowl, combine diced biscuit dough, sauce, 1 1/2 cups cheese and toppings. Stir to combine.

Pour mixture into greased oven safe skillet or 9×13 baking pan. Chiffonade the basil and sprinkle on top along with remaining cheese. Bake according to directions on dough, checking to make sure dough is cooked through and cheese is bubbling. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Summer Treats > Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

How was your Fourth of July? Lauren and I got together with a group of friends to grill and lounge around in the sun for the perfect Chicago summer day we had yesterday. There's something about summer that just begs for nostalgic, kid-like eating, so I made these super easy ice cream cookie sandwiches to go along with our burgers, hot dogs, Oberon and Watermelon vodkas. :) Naturally. I accidentally (or on purpose) made the cookies about the size of a human head, but judging by the way my friends wolfed them down, this wasn't a problem.

The combinations of cookie, ice cream flavors and candy topping are endless - so I made several different varieties and individually wrapped them in foil for easy eating. Recipes and easy directions are below!

Ideal Cookie Recipes for Ice Cream Sandwiches:

Both cookie recipes below were great because they're slightly crisper in texture which made for easier freezing and ensured the cookies didn't get soggy sopping up the ice cream during the sandwich-making step. They also spread out a bit more than your average favorite cookie recipe would, and ensured a slightly thinner and flatter cookie, also easier for sandwiching and eating! 

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, via All Recipes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a mixer, cream the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients by hand, and stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop oversized spoonfulls of cookie dough with a cookie scoop on to cookie sheets and press cookies down slightly with your hand (to ensure smooth, flat, thinner cookie). Careful these will spread out quite a bit!

Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies - adapted via Smitten Kitchen, via Retro Desserts

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room temp, unsalted butter
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375°F. In an electric mixer, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Continue mixing and add the butter and then the egg, until dough forms. Use cookie scoop for slightly oversized rounded balls of dough and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, using your hands to slightly flatten the dough (same as chocolate chip cookies in recipe above). Bake for 10 minutes and then allow cookies to cool.

Making the sandwiches

Once your cookies have cooled completely, scoop your choice of ice cream on to the flattest part of one cookie, before sandwiching together. Shake your candy topping on the exposed ice cream sides of the sandwich. If using heavier toppings like chocolate chips, you may have to press the chips slightly into the ice cream to make it stick, but do it fast! It's a messy affair and the ice cream will melt pretty quickly. Place evenly on a tray (not touching each other) and freeze immediately. Freeze overnight to allow sandwiches to harden up before wrapping invididually in foil. 

Go crazy with ice cream flavors and toppings! With the chocolate chip and chocolate sugar cookies above, I used a combination of the below because they were what I had on hand at the time: 

• Vanilla bean ice cream
• Mint chocolate chip ice cream
• Raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Chocolate chips

2011 Oscar Party Photos & Recipes

I know this is my millionth Oscar post (enough already!) but I can't help it - it's up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving, and admit I'm completely neurotic about it. To follow up from my pun-filled menu ideas, here are some photos of the spread from my party last night. Aside from the actual awards show being a total snoozefest, I had my best pop culture-loving friends over for lots of bubbly, food, fashion judging and bets over just how stoned James Franco had to have been to forget he was hosting the godfersaken Oscars. But back to the food:

Foiled Cupcakes - Blue Valentine

Foiled Cupcakes generously provided three dozen (three dozen!) cupcakes for my psychotic party, and they were a favorite. Gorging on red velvet, coffee, vanilla and cookies and cream cupcakes with champagne (yes, please!) would put anyone in good spirits. The coffee was by far and away the favorite flavor - even the boys who "don't like sweets." Liars. (Bonus points for the cute delivery guy. Seriously, thanks for that). But really, they taste as good as they look. 

To go along with my puntastic menu, I got these cupcake toppers from the Purple Peony Couture etsy shop for Blue Valentine. Romantic "valentine" messages like "Facebook Me" and "XOXO" or "U + Me = Us" were put on to blue cupcake toppers. (Yes, that is a 2gether MTV reference. What? Don't act like you've never heard of this before.) Follow @foiledcupcakes - aside from selling lick-your-face delicious cupcakes - the ladies there are amazing and doing some cool stuff with social media. Thanks, Marni and Iris!

*Foiled cupcakes provided me with free cupcakes, but opinions (on both the cupcakes, and delivery guy) are my own. 

Open Facebook-ed Sandwiches - The Social Network

These were amazing! I used Ina's recipe (only slightly tweaked) and there were no leftovers in sight. They're perfect because you can basically assemble them 95% of the way, wait for guests to come and finish off with a few minutes under the broiler before serving. I hate running around like a crazy troll when people are over, yaknowwhatimsayin? Oh, and yes, these are carb and fat free. You're welcome. Recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups hot milk (I used whole milk) 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
• Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces baked Virginia ham
• chopped chives, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Microwave milk for 1 min, until warm to the touch. Melt butter over low heat and add the flour, stirring for 2 minutes. Pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

2. Toast bread on baking sheets in the oven until both sides are crispy and toasted - about 10 mins. 

3. Lightly brush the toasted bread with dijon mustard (this adds some kick, so if you don't want it too spicy make sure the layer is thin), add 2 slices of ham to each, and spoon cheese sauce over ham. (I don't slather, but put just enough for a thin layer over the ham). Sprinkle with Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes, or just until cheese melts.

4. Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve hot.

You can make these all the way through step 3, and just keep on baking sheets in the oven on warm, until all guests arrive. When you're ready to eat, just turn on the broiler to toast the top.

Okay, one more look. Tell me that doesn't look delicious! I'll post the Black and White Swan pasta recipe later! Don't forget to check out my Oscar Bingo (the best, if not scarily competitive Oscar viewing activity ever), Harry Potter Butter Beer and 127 Hours Trail Mix! What did you do? Am I the only one obsessed with this event?