Sautéed Apple and Brie Crostinis

Of course you can just eat the uncooked apples on top instead, but the sauté makes them warm and tender and remenicent of delicious apple pie. This would actually make a great appetizer to a holiday party or thanksgiving dinner. It's also great if you have a brother who is allergic to raw apples but not cooked, like me. That's an allergy I've never quite understood; like he can have apple pie but he can't eat it in a salad? I wonder what it is about the rawness that he can't have. I guess something get's cooked out in the baking process; but isn't what's baked out still in the pie itself? Who knows! well google probably does...The fact that raw apples is the only food allergy we have in my family is such a blessing though. I got in a car with a girl allergic to peanuts and she could smell it on my breath! Peanut butter does have a pretty distinct smell, but still. I also sat by another coach when I was a counselor on a 10 hour bus ride once only to find out if I had eaten peanuts that day with my hand and he touched my hand (even hours later), he would have had an allergic reaction - and I had brought snacks with peanuts with me on that trip....

After experiences like that and knowing a million and one people with allergies, if I ever open a restaurant, customers should know everything in my food. I don't know how, but they should. I mean I made curry last night and it had flour in it. Did you know a lot of curry's have flour? because I didn't! But anyway I digress; don't know how this got me on a rant about allergies.. but back to the crostinis...

Sautéed Apple and Brie Crostinis 

Ingredients
1 french baguette
1 apple, sliced
wedge of brie (or spreadable)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of sugar
Sea salt or fleur de sel

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the baguette at an angle to get optimal surface area for the apple slices. (if desired) very lightly brush or dip the slices of bread in melted butter. Toast for about 7 minutes until lightly brown around the edges, watching closely.

Melt the butter and sugar over medium heat. Add the apple slices and sauté on each side for about 2 minutes or until tender and slightly brown on the edges.

Place slices of brie on the hot bread, then place the sautéed apples on top. Sprinkle with fleur de del or sea salt and serve!

Caramelized Onion Dip

I feel like I've been talking in superlatives but this is the BEST dip ever. Like holy cow it's amazing. I've made it three times in the past month. It also was eaten so quickly I actually "had" to make it again so I could take pictures of it. The secret is in the onions. There are very few things that can compare to the deliciousness of a caramelized onion. That incredible melt it your mouth flavor is totally worth the hour it takes to make them. 

It is also officially 4 days until the end of my college career. It definitely hasn't hit me yet. Maybe it will during the 14 hour drive back to New Orleans....I also feel so unprepared. I keep forgetting I actually have to figure out how to move in to an apartment in New York. - not to mention finding an apartment in general. At least I already have roommates though...finding those would be a doozy at this point 

Caramelized Onion Dip

Ingredients 

*2 Vidalia (sweet) onions, chopped and caramelized

1 16 container of sour cream

1 container of nonfat greek yogurt

2 tablespoons light/low fat mayo

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon of salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

*to caramelize the onions, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet with the chopped onions and add about 1/3 cup of water. Cook over medium low heat for about 40 minutes or until the water has evaporated, string occasionally. (during this time feel free to watch TV, take a shower, fold laundry, and check on it every now and then - thats what I do). Turn the heat up a bit and turn it every few minutes or so when the bottom onions start to change color. When the onions have dramatically reduced in size and have changed to a dark golden color, remove from the heat and let read room temperature.

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and boom - you're done. Try not to eat it all at once...

Edamame Hummus Dip

Recently I've been doing a lot of daydreaming about what I want to do after culinary school. Maybe because people keep asking me, or because graduation day is approaching way too quickly, but I have so many ideas I don't know what to do with them all. I have an ongoing list of restaurant names on my iPhone that I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes to jot down (those aren't usually the best ones, but at the time they seem beyond brilliant) One of my dreams is to open a super girly spot (not aesthetically though of course, just conceptually) where people can go to actually get a light and healthy meal. Surprisingly these places are really hard to find. I would have less healthy/ heartier items to appeal to the hungrier folk, but a place like this really needs to exist everywhere. We kind of have one at Elon, and it does really well; always filled with girls too of course, but it doesn't have the ambiance I'm looking for.

It's a fact; girls love appetizers. We love dip, and small things that you can pop into your mouth. Just snacks in general really. I think its safe to say that girls snack/graze significantly more than boys, right? Anyway, I want to open a spot that has killer brunch and lunch (we would serve dinner too. can't expect to stay open without dinner) and an amazing terrace or outside seating paired with an extensive app, salad and wine list with small and light desserts. (because every girls WANTS dessert, but only wants a bite, right?)

Thus, I have made it a new goal of mine to try and invent and test out as many different dips as possible. It also helps that I bought a mini food processor over the summer when I was having a bad day and have been loving it ever since. I have made three kinds of hummus so far, and all of them have been really good, but I think this edamame hummus has been my favorite because it's so light.

Edamame Hummus Dip

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups low sodium chickpeas/garbanzo beans 
1 1/2 cups cooked edamame (I used the frozen kind)
1 1/2 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil 

Start by mincing the garlic in the food processor and then add the tahini and blend until smooth (you will need to constantly scrape down the sides of the processor to make sure nothing gets left behind. You want it to be as smooth as possible). 

Then add the lemon juice, some of the water and salt and blend. Add the cooked edamame and blend until fine. 

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans (I do it right in the can. No need to dirty a bowl or strainer)

Add the beans, rest of the water and olive olive and blend until you can't blend anymore. If you think you are done blending, you aren't. Keep going. and going. Unless you like it less smooth (which, for the edamame hummus, is actually kinda nice. I did it two ways, smooth and less smooth, and I couldn't decide which I liked best). - for a more hummus-y consistency though - blend until you think your machine is going to break from the bleeding. Then take a break and then turn it back on again. You want it to be as smooth as possible. 

Spoon into a dish and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. The dip is 1000x better when it's cold for some reason....

Drizzle good quality olive oil on top and serve with pita bread. I also LOVE this dip with sliced mini sweet peppers (you can find them in a pastil ziplock-like bag by the regular ones usually) I even tried it with carrots...and I was kinda into it. Which is saying something because I generally hate raw carrots. 

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I wanted to actually make something for at least one football game this season, so I decided to make spinach and artichoke dip for the Saints vs. Seahawks playoff game. I also happened to be hunger over with a serious case of the munchies when I was in the grocery store earlier that day, and just couldn't pass up the idea when it popped in my head. You should have seen the bizarre assortment of food I had in my basket as I was checking out. If it wasn't for the dip ingredients, it really wouldn't have made any sense at all. I had angel hair pasta, boxed blueberry muffins mix (only a hungover me would go for this), ice cream, salsa, diet sunkist (SO underrated let me tell you) and then obviously frozen spinach, cream cheese, etc. etc….

Spinach and Artichoke Dip 

Ingredients 
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil (can use dried)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (plus more for top)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream or mayo
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 frozen square thing of spinach, defrosted
1 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350. Rinse and chop the artichoke hearts and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the spinach and artichoke hearts. (I started with a whisk but that was a pain because the thicker ingredients kept getting stuck. I thought I large spoon was easiest.)

Squeeze out as much liquid from the spinach, break it apart with your hands and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix in with a spatula or large spoon. Then gently stir in the artichoke hearts.

Spread the dip evenly into a baking dish (either one you are serving or a square cake pan. I don't have pretty serving dishes so I used a pan and just put it in a bowl after. I feel like it would have stayed warmer longer in the pan but it wasn't very pretty looking)

Sprinkle a light even layer of mozzarella on top and bake for 25 minutes.

Creamy Homemade Ricotta

I have been dying to make my own cheese for a while now. It's just one of those things that so cool to say that you have done. And after reading countless blogs and recipes that said it's actually the easiest thing ever to make, I thought I could give it a shot. They weren't kidding. DO NOT waste your money on crappy store bought ricotta!!! Especially if you ever plan on making cannolis. We paid $19 for fresh, house-made ricotta from St. James Cheese Company for our cannolis. We would have saved most of that AND our ricotta would have been better anyway! It's takes maybe 5 minutes.

I did use a recipe that isn't technically "traditional" ricotta, but I really didn't want to end up with that grainy mess that you so often find in the grocery stores. I wanted smooth, creamy, delicious ricotta, and that is EXACTLY what this stuff is. My pictures show the ricotta before it has been refriderated, so it is less viscous. But once it has had time to chill, this stuff is thick, creamy heaven. Of course it is great either way. It's just depends on how you plan on using it.

Creamy Homemade Ricotta
Ingredients 
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream (heavy cream if you can find it)
1/2 tps. salt
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (reserve a little more in case you need extra)

Pour the milk, cream and salt into a sauce pan over medium heat. Using a candy/meat thermometer (I like using two, just for accuracy) and heat to 190 degrees F. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon to cook evenly and prevent scalding. When the milk has reached the desired temperature, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir a little to make sure the lemon juice is distributed and then leave untouched for about 5 minutes.
position

Line a colander with cheese cloth (folded several times) and position on top of a bowl, leaving enough room under-neither to catch the milk without touching the bottom of the colander.

After the five minutes are up, use a wooden spoon and push aside some of the cheese which should have separated from the whey. If the whey is still pretty cloudy, add more lemon juice and let sit a while longer. Then pour the everything into the cheesecloth and let strain for about an hour. For lighter ricotta, stop at an hour. For a thicker ricotta, more similar to cream cheese or creme fraiche, let sit for around two hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container.

Blackberry, Goat Cheese, Honey, and Arugula on Homemade Naan

I'm back! It's actually been almost a year since I have posted on this blog. How terrible is that! After being in Paris for the fall semester and then living in a dump of an apartment in the Spring, cooking and blogging were just not an option for me. I had serious withdrawal. Needless to say, when I finally got back into the kitchen, I went a little overboard. Within the past few days of being home, I have made cookies, homemade naan, blackberry flatbread things (this post), Louisiana drum fish with corn and pea orzo, blackberry crumb bars, homemade ricotta,  two different kinds of ice cream and baked a cake for my grandmothers birthday. AND I have only been to the grocery store TWICE. Yeah, I know! I can't believe it either. Actually, I only went twice because I was cooking/baking at two different houses. I'm on a roll. Although, it could also be because I have basically stock piled so many miscellaneous ingredients over time that I really don't need to go as often. (Although, we are almost out of flour and sugar, which are ingredients I always feel weird buying. - because it feels like I already have them, even when I don't. you know what I mean? Like salt...that's definitely a weird one)


Basically this post is more about the Naan than what I decided to put on it later. Anything with goat cheese and arugula is my jam, and I wanted to unify the meal by having blackberries in the dessert and appetizer. Well also, because I love blackberries and I think they are totally under-appreciated...

Making your own naan is FUN and so easy to do! It doesn't involve any yeast, which makes it sort of fool proof-ish if you ask me. Of course, you can over-knead, make it too dry blah blah blah, but that the end of the day, it was never supposed to be perfect anyway! I know for a fact I didn't make it perfectly. I followed a recipe until it just wasn't working out and did my own thing. And guess what, it was so good anyway! So try it. Mess up. Have fun. Who cares! I hadn't really cooked/baked in a year, and I needed to try something that I wasn't afraid would fail, and this was the perfect thing (even though I felt pretty fancy after they were finished...) AND, better yet, I bet you have the ingredients already, too.

Homemade Naan 
Recipe adapted from this one here from a blog called Singapore Shiok

Ingredients 
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons skim milk
2 tablespoons of olive oil
butter *optional

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a well in the center of the mixed, dry ingredients and add the water and yogurt. Using a fork, begin stirring in the center of the well until the dry ingredients around the perimeter begin to fall in and are gradually incorporated. If the dough has not come together (*this is where my recipe differs. Hers said wet and sticky, but mine was totally dry)  add a tablespoon of skim milk until the dough comes together. (I used 3, but differing climates many require more or less) If the dough is a little sticky, that is ok.

Then add the two tablespoons of olive oil and knead the dough with your hands in a folding pattern until it is incorporated. (this part feels totally weird. At first it will seem like the oil does not want to be mixed, in but it will) Then flatten the dough into a thick disk and cut it like pizza slices into 8 pieces. Roll and flatten the pieces into small disks and thoroughly coat with flour. It can be used immediately, but I waited about 30 minutes so the dough could relax and dry out a bit so it would be easier to roll out. - but don't refrigerate if you do this! Just leave it on the counter.

Roll out the first disk into a long oval shape. Make it as thick or think as you want. Once you make on or two, you can decide the thickness you prefer. At first I thought I wanted it thin for flatbread purposes, but the ticker pieces were best eaten plain with butter and onion or regular salt on top.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or heaven pan) until very hot, and add about a teaspoon of olive oil. Make sure the bottom of the pan is fully coated in oil, then add the dough to the pan. Similar to making a pancake, when there seem to be a lot of bubbles, flip it over. This will take about a minute. If it's not brown enough, you can always flip it back over! During that time you can roll out your next dough. They are delicious served fresh, but they also store well for a couple of days in a large ziploc bag.

Some of my bubbles were small, and some were large like the one below. Both are fine!

After eating a bunch plain with butter by accident...as a taste test, you know...I set up my flat bread station with the blackberries, goat cheese, honey and arugula. Make sure to let the goat cheese sit out for a while though so it is easier to spread! I also started by slicing the blackberries, but then I realized I can get more in each bight if I break them apart in my hands and let their juices fall where they may. I drizzled honey in a zigzag motion and then baked in the oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes on a cookie sheet. Add the arugula at the end not before! It gets wilted. I did it on one and not the other, and doing it after is definitely the way to go... I also sprinkled finishing salt on one of them. Don't do that either.

ALSO use cooking shears to cut them NOT a knife. It's so much easier and a lot cleaner too.

Arugula added before baking...

Arugula added after baking (the better choice)

Bruschetta

This bruschetta was honestly so delicious. Probably one of the healthiest things I've made in a while and it was pretty easy too. I'll definitely be making these again very soon. They're the perfect little appetizer and can be cut in half as well if you are serving more people (...or just use smaller bread).


Bruschetta

Ingredients 

5 Roma Tomatoes, diced and de-seeded
about 1 1/2 teaspoons Chopped Basil
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling
2 cloves of garlic, minced 
Baguette
salt and pepper  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl and spoon the tomato mixture on top of the bread slices. Drizzle additional olive oil ( about a teaspoon) on top of each. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Queso Dip

It's no secret that my roommate Courtney and I LOVE Mexican food. We also happen to love any kind of appetizer, and would actually prefer them over eating a real meal. I mean who doesn't love dip? We sure do. I had been gawking at this recipe for queso for a pretty long time and finally I decided to give it a try (it also didn't hurt that there was a buy one get one free cheese deal at Harris Teeter - I can't resist buy one get one free I just can't). All I have to say about this recipe is HOLY QUESO this dip is soooo good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Not only is it amazing right after it is made, but it lasts so well in the fridge. Popping that hot cheesy goodness in the microwave after a late night out (during chilly winter term no less) is the most heavenly midnight snack you will ever eat. That and maybe a hot-dog from kangaroo, but there is really no comparison.

recipe adapted from Let's Dish 

Queso Dip

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped

16 ounces white American cheese, shredded or cubed

4 ounces Monterrey and Colby Jack Cheese, shredded 

3/4 cup cream or half and half 

half a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 Roma tomato, seeds removed and diced 

1 small bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped 

Directions 

Sauté the onions and olive oil together over medium heat until the onions are pretty much transparent. Pour the cheese and cream over the onions and let melt, stirring occasionally. Add the half can of diced tomatoes and chilies, the diced Roma tomato and the chopped cilantro. Stir and serve hot. (if it gets to cool and starts to stiffen at the top, just pop it in the microwave and it will go right back to the way it was. I mean it’s not velvetta, it can’t stay melted forever!)

Pork and Shrimp Gyoza

What I love about my mom and Jon is their obsession with ethnic food. I used to be really picky, and if it weren’t for them I would have never tried anything new. Papa Bear Bruns loves Cajun and Italian food, of course, so that only aided my food bias. But when my mom would only cook with ingredients like curry or soy vay, I had to get over that pickiness pretty quickly. Creole/Cajun cuisine will always be my favorite (apart from dessert), but thanks to Mom and Jon, Thai and Japanese definitively hold a new place in my heart.  

The only problem with cooking Asian food is the complete lack of necessary ingredients in your everyday grocery store. Gyoza skins? Wonton wrappers? Chili garlic paste? Forget about it!  No, these ingredients can only be found in your local international or Asian food market that looks kinda dirty and is run by a small old lady who barely speaks English and only takes cash. These places are so much fun to go to though because you never know what you are going to find. And not to mention cheap! I bought a bag of almond flour (what you use to make macaroons) for $5!! It’s $15 at whole foods! My mom took me to this place literally in the middle of nowhere (aka by the airport somewhere) and they had an amazing assortment of noodles and rices. I’ve been dying to make an authentic homemade Pad Thai, but I went there for the gyoza skins and that is what I left with.

I’ve been waiting 3 months since I bought those gyoza skins. I got them with my mom over the summer, but there just wasn’t enough time to make dumplings between leaving work and getting ready for school. Fortunately they last forever in the freezer, so when we cracked them open they were as if I bought them yesterday. I also thought this recipe was going to be so much harder than it was. Finding the ingredients was harder than the actual cooking. Restaurant dumplings are amazing so I just didn’t think I was going to be able to achieve that level of delicious. I can’t believe how wrong I was! No, they were not as perfect or pretty as restaurant quality dumps, but they were definitely as good. The crispy edge was killer and they cooked really quickly too. If you are willing to do a little hunting for the ingredients, I definitely suggest giving these a try because the finished product is immensely satisfying (especially when you have so little faith in yourself to begin with!). 

This recipe was adapted from a blog called Former Chef. Some adjustments were made do to taste preferences and ingredient substitutions. 

Pork and Shrimp Gyoza

(Also known as Dumplings or Pot Stickers)

Ingredients 

2 cups finely chopped bok choy

½  tsp + ¼ tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tsp.  fresh ginger, grated
2 Tablespoons green onions, finely chopped
6 oz ground pork
5 oz chopped, cleaned and diced shrimp (about 6 shrimp)
¼ tsp sugar
½  tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ Tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Dipping Sauce Ingredients

4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar, unseasoned
1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Directions

Chop the bok choy and put it in a separate bowl along with ½ teaspoon of course salt. (I should have soaked it in ice water to clean it off first but it isn’t life or death if you don’t) Let it sit for about 15 minutes so the excess moisture is released. When is ready to use, squeeze out the excess water from the bok choy with your hands. This should reduce to about ½ cup.

In a large bowl, combined the pork, shrimp, bok choy, green onions, ginger and garlic and mix with your hands so all of the ingredients are completely incorporated. 

In a smaller bowl, combined the salt, sugar, pepper, seasoned rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir it up and then pour it on top of the shrimp/pork mixture. Mix it all together with a spoon (or with your hands)

Have a small glass of water next to you as you prepare your dumplings. Dip your fingers in the water and wet the outer rim of the gyoza wrapper. Scoop a little less than a tablespoon of the meat mixture and place it in the center of the skin. Fold it over and firming press along the rim, making sure there is no air left inside of the wrapper. You can do the fancy crimped edge, but I found that after they were steamed, you could barely tell which ones were crimped and which weren’t (they tasted exactly the same)

In a hot wok or sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Place the dumplings in the wok and let them cook for about 2 minutes or until the bottoms look nice and crispy. Then carefully pour less than ¼ cup of water into the wok and cover with a lid to steam and finish cooking the gyoza. Do this for about 6 minutes or until most of the water is gone. If there is still a lot of water but your dumplings look finished, pour out the excess water and cook them for about a minute longer to re-crisp so they don’t get soggy.

Serve immediately.