S'mores cookies

One of my favorite things about summer, and the occasional (and slightly dreaded) camping trip, is the chance to make S'mores.  The only problem with this gooey, melted, delicious treat is getting the perfect combination of graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate... and I love my chocolate!  Then you have to worry about getting the marshmallow just right: not too gooey that it droops and falls into the dirt, not too burnt that it tastes like charcoal, and not too under-heated that it retains its fluffy shape when smooshed between chocolate pieces and graham cracker.  

So, rather than trying to make a goopy, sticky mess in my kitchen, I opted for S'mores cookies, adapting the recipe from here.  They turned out amazing!  No overly crispy cookies for me, they were perfectly chewy and chocolatey.  I can almost smell the campfire, can't you?

   *Oops! Just realized I incorrectly wrote this recipe the first

    time around.  As of 7/11/11 it's correct!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups mini chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

2 king size hershey bars (roughly chopped)

Method:

1) combine butter and sugars in standing mixer until fluffy
2) then mix in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined

3) add flour, graham crackers, baking soda and salt and continue
   to mix

4) fold in chocolate chips

5) refrigerate dough for 1 hour

6) roll dough into balls (about the size of 1 tbsp) and place on
   lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart

7) bake at 375F for about 8 minutes

8) remove from oven and push 3-5 marshmallows and several Hershey
   chunks into each cookie
9) return to oven and bake for another 3-5 minutes until
   marshmallows have melted and browned

Hit and miss (... well sort of)

As I have made pretty clear in the past (as you can see here, here and here), I love, love, love macarons!  So, the other day, I decided to meander along inside the Ferry Building once again, and stop at Miette to buy some of these sweet, puffy, chewy little cookies that are always a hit.  Last time, I only tried their Rose-Geranium flavor, and that remains my favorite to date.  Not only do the delicate flavors stand out more, this type of macaron tends to be better constructed than their other varieties.  Second place goes to the Chocolate Lavender whose flavor profile is nearly as innovative.  Now, the flavor that keeps eluding me is the Chocolate Orange macaron.  Hopefully I can stumble upon it soon!

On another note, one of my other recent adventures (herein lies the "miss" part) was a trip to Little Skillet.  The idea of the place was great: a little walk-up restaurant serving soul food, known for its great fried chicken n' waffles.  The waffle was pretty good, soft enough to tear and munch on with ease, sturdy enough to hold up to a good drenching in syrup.  Less impressive was the fried chicken.  Having grown up in the south, I love when fried chicken slaps me in the face with great flavor.  This just didn't stand up as well as I would have liked.  That being said, I would go back for their sweet tea and waffles.  

Chicken parmesan {with crispy gnocchi}

Have you ever fallen in love with the idea of a dish, but haven’t found the perfect version at a restaurant?  Well, this is the case with me... and Chicken Parmesan.

It wasn’t until I came across this recipe, that I truly fell head-over-heels for this chicken dish that incorporates tomato sauce from scratch along with Parmesan, Pecorino Romano and Mozzarella cheeses.  As I have in the past, I decided to simply refer to the recipe as a guideline, using a handful or two of cheeses where desired rather than specific measures. 

Due to time (and ingredient) constraints, I didn’t have the chance to make pesto myself, so I used some that had been freshly made at the Whole Foods Market, along with packaged fresh gnocchi.  For my gnocchi, instead of dropping the small lumps of dough into boiling water for 30 seconds, I decided to try something new: crisping them up, for about a minute per side, in a pan with olive oil.  I then seasoned the gnocchi with salt and pepper, and combined with two spoonfuls of pesto... Yum!

Just thought this was amusing...

Ten things NOT to say at a farmers' market:

1.       These carrots have dirt on them.

2.       How much for one?

3.       If I buy two pounds of beans, do I get

discount?

4.       What kind of pesticides do you use?

5.       How much bio-diesel did you use to drive

here from Iowa, again?

6.       Were these beets humanely killed?

7.       Isn't grass-fed beef redundant? or But I

don’t like grass-fed beef.

8.       How come you never have creamed corn?

9.       Do you have change for a $100 bill?

10.             It's cheaper at (name of supermarket).

(courtesy of the Chicago Tribune... see the full article here)

Sioux City Kid

Although this post isn't at all food related, I wanted to show you what I've been up to lately. Now, I rarely get the opportunity to go see indie or rock concerts, yet this is sure to be one that I won't miss out on.  The band, Sioux City Kid, has a unique and mellow sound that I love, coupled with amazing melodies.  You can listen to their music here, or watch one of their jam sessions with The Revolutionary Ramblers here.

In case you're wondering how I came across this band, I actually ran into Matthew from the HUGEwhisper the other day.  After seeing some of my artwork, he asked me to participate in a competition to design the poster for an upcoming concert on June 16, celebrating the release of Sioux City Kid's new album.  Here's what I've come up with so far, and please, any input would be greatly appreciated!

              

              

              

Oven-dried blueberries

In light of my recent creation of yummy granola, I've decided to make another batch (sometime in the near future).  Of course, always using the same fruits, nuts and sweeteners could make the consumption of granola a bit monotonous; so I wanted to try my hand at making oven-dried blueberries.  For my attempt, I chose to use the smallest, least sweet and juicy blueberries I could since honey is used to sweeten them anyway.  I also cut the recipe, using only 1/3 cup of blueberries and ended up leaving them in the oven for 3 and a half hours (oops!).  In the end, they still turned out better than I had expected.  

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries

1 tsp honey

Method:

1) Mix blueberries and honey in small bowl

2) Preheat oven to 225F and bake on lined baking sheet for 2 hours, 

   or until fruit has shriveled slightly

The delicious sweet potato

Growing up, I only saw sweet potatoes mashed and topped with sugar and gooey marshmallows or baked and loaded with butter and cinnamon sugar.  These days, I have come to love the simple and subtle flavors of this starchy vegetable in dishes that actually retain its integrity.  Now, rather than making mashed sweet potatoes overpowered by cream, butter, sugar or marshmallows, I've decided to create a lighter, healthier (but just as delicious) version.

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato

2 tsp plain yogurt

1/2 tsp olive oil

dash cinnamon (to taste)

salt (to taste)

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Scrub sweet potato and poke holes with fork

3) Bake for 55 minutes in oven, until soft

4) Top with dollop of yogurt, olive oil, cinnamon and salt, or 

   combine all ingredients until smooth