Royal Heart Shaped Pancakes with Chocolate Chips, Strawberry Purée and Cocacchino Whip Cream for the Princesses.

Isabelle's best friend Kelly slept over last night and I promised them I would wake up early and make them breakfast. I wanted to make it fun because this was my daughters first sleep over.  

So I made them heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes with a strawberry purée. To add a little fun I topped it with a homemade whipped cream flavored with Cocachino powder.  Now before I give you the recipe. You need to know that this breakfast takes organization and good multi tasking skills.  

You should make the whip cream first. Which you can always do the night before. 

Make the Purée so it can simmer for a bit

Then make the pancakes.

Homemade Whip Cream (make your own flavor)

Equipment- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer or a Whisk and Metal Bowl.

Regular Whipped Cream so the Base:

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

(add your ingredient for your flavor here)

mine- 2 tbsp Cocachino powder

Put the ingredients in to the mixer. Turn the mixer on medium to medium high. Watch it as it whips. It will start to turn the consistency of whipped cream. You want to whip it until it has medium peaks (hold the beater up and the whip cream will hold a peak). As long as you watch it the whole time you will do fine . Just stop the mixer when you see that it has the consistency of whipped cream. (If you over mix it, it will turn into butter. Under mix it and it will be watery and fall apart.) Keep it chilled to you need it.

Customizing your flavor.     

(Cocachino is a specialty Cocoa powder I bought at Market Spice at Pike Place in Seattle it is a cinnamony light chocolaty Cocoa powder. It is different and good. If you want to borrow it let me know.

Put the ingredient or ingredients needed for your flavor in before you mix and VWALA! Your own fancy gourmet whipped cream!


Cinnamon - 1 tsp of cinnamon

Vanilla - 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Rum- 1 tbsp Dark Rum

Coconut- 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp Coconut Rum, Lightly Toasted Sweetened coconut flakes to garnish.

Cocoa - 1 tbsp of Cocoa powder


If you think of any other flavors let me know and I can test it and figure out what you need to make it.

Strawberry Purée

Equipment- Utility Knife and cutting board, food processor or blender, small sauce pan

1 pint of Strawberries (stems removed and quartered)

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

Place quartered strawberries in food processor. Purée. Place strawberry purée in the sauce pan mix in sugar and lemon juice simmer for 10 minutes.

Heart Shaped Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Equipment- measuring spoons, measuring cups,  whisk, two small bowls, 1 large bowl, 1 rubber spatula, large flat spatula, a flat top griddle or a large pan, a ladle, and a heart shaped cookie cutter.

2 cups flour

5 tbsp sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs separated (yokes/ whites)
4 tbsp of melted butter
Cooking spray
3/4 cup of chocolate chips


Heat up griddle if you're using one.


Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl mix milk egg yokes and melted butter together. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth (no lumps)
Beat egg whites until they are stiff. Gently fold into batter. 
Mix in chocolate chips


Ladle 1/4 cup batter circles on to sprayed griddle or pan. 2-3 minutes on each side. Until golden brown.
Use cookie cutter to make heart shape. Put left overs in a bowl to eat.


For regular pancakes just ditch the chocolate chips.

Soups Dejour I mean Galore.

Tuesday it was a blustery cold cloud day. I had leeks, onions, and potatoes that I needed to use or they were going to go bad. So I decided it was soup day. Soup is very easy to make, it is cheap and it freezes well.  A couple of times I year, I have soup day where I make 2-3 different types of soup and then jar it and freeze it for later. I made two different soups. Potato Leek Soup and French Onion Soup.


Let's start with the Potato Leek Soup. In order to do that let's talk about leeks.

                                    
 

Leeks are a member of both the garlic and onion family. They were originally found in Mediterranean countries. They have a milder and more subtle flavor then that of an onion or garlic yet it does have onion like under tones.  Leeks can be used as a substitute to onions in most dishes. The dark green part is generally used in stocks as well as to wrap different things in. The light green/white stalk is the edible part and can be boiled, fried, and eaten raw. They make great side dishes like creamed leeks or leeks and potatoes. Many uses for them. I love leeks.

Leeks have to be cleaned very well. They are full of gritty sand and dirt... 

To clean them whole. Grab the green leaves hold them together and quarter then just to the stalk. Spread them apart. Run them under cold water shuffling the leaves to get all of the dirt out.

I always slice mine then clean them :

Slice the root off of the leek. Thinly slice the leek up until you reach half way through the light green portion. Throw the green away. Place the slice leeks into a colander and place in the sink. Sift leeks in the running water with your hands separating them in to individual circles. Once you can see they are completely rinsed. Pat them dry.

Potato Leek Soup

Equipment: 6 quart sauce pan or a dutch oven, Immersion hand blender or regular blender, Utility Knife and cutting board, colander, Potato Peeler, and Spatula.

1 bunch of leeks (greens discarded, light green/ white stalk sliced very thin and cleaned well)

5 medium russet potatoes (peeled and medium dice)

5 tbsp unsalted butter

6 cups of Chicken or Vegetable stock (1.5 quarts) (see my page on how to make stocks)

1 cup heavy cream

Kosher Salt

Garnish- Handful of chopped chives, 4 or 5 pieces of bacon crumbled, Cracked Black Pepper . (mild shredded cheddar if ya like cheese)

Place sauce pan or dutch oven on stove top. Melt the butter. Add the leeks with a good pinch of salt. Cook on med/low heat for 25 minutes or until leeks are tender. Stir every few minutes.

Add the stock and potatoes. Turn up the heat to med/high. Bring stock to a boil. Reduce heat to med/low. Simmer until potatoes are soft about 45 minutes. Turn heat off

Now there are two different things you can do next. It depends what type of soup that you want .

For a more hearty and rustic soup- remove half of the soup and place it in a bowl. Use the immersion hand blender (or pour the rest into the regular blender) and puree until soup is nice and smooth. Then add the rest of the soup back in to the pan. Mix in the heavy cream.

For a creamy soup- place the immersion hand blender in the pan and blend all of the soup until smooth. (pour all of the soup in batched into the blender and blend) Mix in heavy cream.

Garnish with the bacon, chives and pepper. 

Serve immediately or wait and serve it cold. The cold version is traditionally called Vichyssoise (Vee-SHE-swahz).

French Onion Soup

            

Equipment: 6 quart sauce pan or dutch oven, 8-16 oz souffle dishes (or oven proof bowls), Utility Knife and cutting board. Spice bag or cheese cloth, cookie sheet and aluminum foil.

5 large sweet onions quartered and sliced thin

2 cloves of garlic minced

6 cups of Beef Stock (1.5 quarts)(see my page on Beef and Chicken Stock)

2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup dry white wine or cooking wine

5 sprigs of fresh Thyme

1 Bay Leaf

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Garnish- 1 loaf of crusty bread like a french baguette. 2 cups of shredded Gruyere Cheese (or just use swiss to save money)

Place saute pan on stove top. Drizzle with olive oil. Saute onions and garlic on medium/low heat until onions are tender and yellow. Use a pinch or two of kosher salt and sprinkle the flour on the onions. Cook for another 8- 10 minutes. Until flour is browned.

Place the Thyme and Bay Leaf in the spice bag or cheese cloth.

Add beef stock and wine to the pan. Bring to a boil. Add spice bag. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Turn Broiler on high

Slice bread into 1/2 inch slices. Butter them and place them on the cookie sheet. Broil until golden brown 1-3 minutes. (keep an eye on them) Transfer them to a plate.

Cover the cookie sheet with foil. Place souffle cups or bowls on the cookie sheet. Ladle soup into the bowls. Place a slice of toasted bread on top of soup and cover with the cheese.  Broil for 5-6 minutes. Until the cheese is browning. (always watch things in the broiler they can burn fast)

Enjoy!

S'more's The Disney Way

One of my favorite places to eat when we would go to Disney World in Orlando was the 50s Prime Time Cafe at MGM Studios. You  walk through the front door right in to the 50's. Each table is surrounded by its own 50's style kitchen with a black and white TV. It plays the Mickey Mouse Club. Your  server was either Ma or Pop and they  greet you as Hey Kids! They serve all sorts of comfort foods like pot roast and meat loaf but all I remember is the dessert. 





Equipment- A cookie Sheet
The 50s Prime Time Cafe S'Mores!
(serves 4-6)


16 graham cracker squares
16 large marshmallows
3 regular size Hershey's Chocolate Bars
Hershey's chocolate syrup to drizzle

Turn Oven on Broil High


Place graham crackers on cookie sheet. Place two rectangles of Hershey bar on each graham cracker square.
Put in oven for 1-2 minutes make sure you watch don't let the chocolate melt to much.
Take out of oven. Place marshmallow on each square.
Put back oven for 30-50 seconds . Until a char forms on the marshmallow. Watch! It will burn fast.
Drizzle Chocolate Sauce all over as much or as little as you want!


Enjoy! If you have a torch you can always just use the torch to melt the chocolate and to get a good sear on the marshmallow if you do not want to use the broiler. That is how a real foodie does it!

Cilantro Lime Flank Steak with Lyonnaise Potatoes and Orange Green Beans

Cilantro Lime Marinated Flank Steak
I really wish I could take credit for the flank steak but it is from Costco. It would be very easy to prepare on your own though.  It is an awesome way to get a great beef fix with out shelling out a lot of money. Flank Steak is usually a tough piece of meat but when you marinate it for a couple of days, it tenderizes the meat. The marinade for this has lime juice, rice wine vinegar, chopped garlic, red pepper, sugar, salt and cilantro. The acidity helps break down the meat making it so tender. Never listen to the directions. If you cook it for 30 minutes it will be shoe leather. I cook mine for about 15-17 minutes until it is rare on the verge of med rare. You always want to pull your meat about 5 degrees cooler then you want it because you have to let the meat rest for 5 minutes and it will continue to cook. Never just cut into a piece of meat. Let it rest 5 minutes or when you cut into it you will lose all of the juices. Always cut flank steak against the grain.


Equipment- A Chefs Knife and Cutting board and a Mandolin (w/ a guard if you have one). Saute Pan, a good baking sheet that is deep or a casserole dish.


Lyonnaise Potatoes (the french and gourmet way to say sliced potatoes with onions and butter)
(serves 2 adults and 2 children so add more potatoes per person 1 1/2 med potato or 1 large per adult and half an onion each adult)


6 medium to Large Potatoes. I like to use Russet. Sliced thin about 1/2 inch thick**
2 medium Onions julienne (cut onion in halves the quarter then quarter again til  thin strips)
Half stick of  Butter (or Butter sub. or your potatoes will be so dry) Cut into pads and then 4th'd
Salt to season
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (just to to keep onions from sticking)


Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cut up onions and throw them in a saute pan with a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil . Saute Onions until caramelized 8-10 minutes. 

Slice up Potatoes. While your slicing them throw a baking sheet or casserole dish in the oven with 3 pads of butter . Let it melt. Layer your first row of potatoes onto the pan.  Layer with onions and salt. Add a few small squares of the quartered butter. Layer another layer of potatoes. Add onions. Repeat until done. Put in oven for 45 minutes or until potatoes are golden.*

* to speed up the process you can precook the potatoes in the microwave or boil them. Then they will only take 15 minutes in the oven. I am impatient. Just do not over cook them . It will dry them out.

* *A mandolin is a great tool to have it can cut all sorts of veggies uniformly and much faster then you can with a knife. They usually come with different blades to do different cuts like a waffle blade, julienne blade straight blade. But you have to be very careful and always use the guard. Don't play super chef and do it like you see professionals do because you will cut a finger off I promise =).       




Equipment Saute pan, Knife and cutting board.


Orange Green Beans


1 lb of green beans 
2 oranges quartered
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (if not using a non stick pan)
Salt to Season


Throw green beans in a pan. Salt . Saute them until they begin to cook. Juice Oranges over the green beans letting the orange meat fall into green beans. Cook for 10-12 minutes.


You can add a good Orange Vinegar or Olive Oil to add more flavor . Or orange juice.  Seseame Seeds work well for flavor too. It gives the beans a good flavor with out adding a lot of fat or calories like butter would.

That was dinner this evening. If you have any questions let me know! I only ate the onions on the potatoes because  I am watching calories. These pictures were taken with my phone I apologize for the quality of the pictures! 


                                                                                                               

Breakfast Pizza!

So today I needed to make something fairly healthy that I could eat for brunch. Since I did not eat breakfast. So I made a breakfast pizza. You will learn that I can make pizza out of almost anything and make it good.  This pizza is sure to be a crowd pleasure for breakfast and you can put any ingredients on it that you want.  It is all personal preference.


Equipment - A Mixer with dough hook, rolling pin, large skillet or griddle, pizza pan, cutting board and knife, mixing bowl, whisk, and small prep bowls to put your pizza toppings in.


First things first... The Dough! You can purchase your dough at your local store or you can make it yourself.  This is how I make my regular pizza dough. You should make your dough a day a head of time to make it easier.
Dough (see dough recipes on side of blog. 
Use Hand Toss Dough for this pizza)


Ingredients- They can be anything you want for mine today I used Veggies, Eggs and Cheese.


1/2 of an Avocado
1 Shallot thinly sliced
1 tomato diced
3 mushrooms chopped
7 basil leafs chopped
2 oz Fresh Mozzarella thinly sliced
2 oz of Goat Cheese crumbled
2 oz of Mild Cheddar Cheese
6 Eggs
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream.


I saute all the veggies separately because my girls only like certain veggies. I saute the mushrooms, shallots and the tomato/basil (together) each for like 2 minutes and then put them in prep bowls. You can saute them all at once. And use what ever veggies and cheeses you like! Be creative.
Whisk the eggs and heavy whipping cream together. In an oiled skillet scramble the eggs to your liking.

                                                                                                                                                                          
Place cooked eggs in pizza crust shell and spread out. Layer with your veggies in my case, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and shallots. Then place your cheese or cheeses on top. If your pizza crust is already firm and crispy then just put the oven on broil and throw pizza in until cheeses are cooked to your liking. If not and your cooking raw dough . Make sure you preheat your oven to 450* and place pizza in for about 15 minutes until your cheeses are nice bubbly.



The toppings are endless you can just do cheesy eggs, there are a million cheeses. Just be careful Your cheddar cheeses can be greasy. Bacon Sausage Ham! Put what ever you want on it. HMM Maybe i will have to make a green eggs and ham Pizza soon!

Ready Set CooK!

I am Megan! Welcome to my blog. I have started this blog because I love to cook and I am a huge foodie. I aspire to write my cook book and to one day be a chef. For now though I am a self taught cook. I am not classically trained. Up until 6 years ago I hated to cook and then I was stay at home mom and I started watching Top Chef and the Food Network and realized not only do I love to cook but that I am damn good at it.

Anyone can be a good cook. You just have to know how to read and follow a recipe (at first) and you can make great things too. As you learn and progress you will see you don't need a recipe to cook and you do not need to measure. Things come more naturally to you. If you have a good palate, you will come to just know what pairs well together and you can start to come up with your own recipes. Cooking is so much fun and it is something you can do alone or with loved ones. 

A "Foodie" is someone who has a passion for food. Not all foodies cook but all foodies love to eat! I learned everything I know from TV shows, books and of course the Internet.  <---------Me!

I will post recipes, tips, rants about food shows, tips on restaurants, cookbooks, websites. Lots of stuff. Any recipes you want me to try or anything you have questions about feel free to ask and post! I hope you will try my recipes as well and tell me how you like them! 

On the side I have posted Kitchen Staples. You know all the must haves for convenient cooking. As well as everything I have that helps me cook. It is a huge collection. I love it because I can just make something "on the fly" when ever I feel like. I do not have to run to the store to make something delicious. I will also be adding other pages like:

A Glossary of terms and ingredients.

Foodie reference guides and websites.

Charts to help you  with Substitution of ingredients, measuring, temperatures, and so much more!

So Stay tuned and bare with me I am a newbie to blogging!