Blueberry Boy Bait

This recipe comes complete with an incredibly cute back-story. In 1954, a 15-year-old girl won second prize in the junior division of a Pillsbury baking contest. Her entry was a moist and tender blueberry cake that was named after the effect it had on teenage boys--one bite and they were hooked. Adorable right? I tell ya, I’m a sucker for cuteness.

I read about this recipe in 2006 in an issue of Cook’s Country and the story always stuck with me. When I saw the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen site last year I moved it towards the top of my to-bake list. That was way back in July, when the days were warm and blueberries were actually in season. I guess it speaks to the length of my to-bake list that I didn’t actually get to the recipe until now.

Anywhoo, the important thing is that I finally did get to bake this boy bait and boy was I glad I did. Get it? “Boy” was I glad I did? Ha, I crack myself up. You know who else cracks themselves up? My boyfriend; who seemed to think it was hilarious to continuously make remarks about how I was trying to attract other men by baking this boy bait. Luckily I had this delicious cake to shove in his mouth to quiet him down for a bit.

And it is delicious. A combination between a coffee cake and a blueberry muffin, it’s moist and filled with just enough blueberries to add a bit of tartness here and there. It’s definitely not the healthiest baked good, with a half a pound of butter and over a cup of two kinds of sugar, plus more sprinkled on top for good measure. But hey, when you’re baiting a boy, all bets are off.

Chocolate Soufflés

I couldn’t agree more with Mary that Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to stay in and cook, rather than go out to a restaurant. While I love dining out, on this particular holiday I’d rather stay in and make a special meal with a special someone. I like to use the occasion to make recipes that may seem a little too time consuming or perhaps too elegant for just any ordinary night of the week. It’s a fine time to not worry about calories, splurge on an expensive cut of meat, open up that bottle of wine you've been saving, and most importantly, take pleasure in the time spent preparing and enjoying the meal together.

As cliché as it may sound, I believe that cooking for someone shows that you care about them. And since Valentine’s Day is all about the love, what better way to show it then by preparing a special meal for those you care about? Whether it’s your significant other, your friends, family or maybe a furry friend, go ahead and take the time to cook them something really special. I guarantee they’ll feel the love.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

 

This weekend is Valentine's Day.  I must say that while I'm not vehemently opposed to the holiday, it does make restaurants more crowded and menus somewhat contrived, so it's one I prefer to spend at home with a movie, a bottle of wine, and a damn good home cooked meal.  Fitting with that theme, this red velvet cheesecake practically screams out for a place on your Valentine table.  It's rich, creamy, and red for heaven's sake!  Need I say more?

While I'd like to say that the inspiration for this cheesecake came from staring into my lover's eyes and looking into his soul for the perfect dessert, the truth is that Bethenny Frankel (of the Real Housewives of NY and the super awesome Skinnygirl book series) tweeted about the Cheesecake Factory's red velvet cheesecake, and I couldn't get it out of my head for three days.  Think about it.  Why do people love red velvet cake?  Two reasons:  the color and the cream cheese frosting.  The color is easily replicated, and a cheesecake is essentially a cream cheese frosting on steroids.  Some things just work, and this cake is one of those things.  

What's that?  You'd like me to stop rambling and tell you how to make it?  Ok, here goes.

Start with a bag of chocolate teddy grahams.  Take a moment and reminisce about elementary school, when teddy grahams were all the rage.

  

Aww...  So cute.  I love their little pot bellies.

  

Buzz your teddy grahams in a food processor until they're crumbly (if you don't have a processor, you could put them in a ziplock and whack them with a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer.  Or a hammer if you're feeling aggressive).

Short Rib Sandwiches

It’s Friday afternoon with the weekend in sight. This is the point in my week where I become absolutely useless. Because of this, I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer you except a recipe for Short Rib Sandwiches.

These short ribs worked double duty at my house this week. There was enough for a decadent dinner on Sunday night, and then they transformed themselves into easy yet delicious sandwiches for Monday night supper. Any recipe that can pull that off is a winner in my books.

Short ribs are perfect for a weekend meal as they take a little while to cook. They require very little prep, but need to simmer for several hours. I love setting something to cook on the stove, coming back a few hours later and having a delicious meal ready. It speaks to the lazy inside of me.

Chicken Enchiladas

 

Buenos noches!  Tonight was an enchiladorama...  But before I take you straight to Tex Mex heaven, there's something you should know about me.  I'm a runner.  In a few short weeks I'll be pounding the pavement in my third marathon, and I don't know how or why that happened, but it is a fact that three mornings a week, I find myself exercising on the mean streets of Culver City at an hour when it's still dark out.

I don't do this alone, which brings me to tonight's dinner.  11 of my running pals and I have decided that it's a good idea to enter The Relay, a 200 mile relay race.  On foot.  Through the night.  In the cold.  I want my mommy.  So tonight we had our first meeting, and in order to keep people from fleeing, I made enchiladas.

If you're squeamish about having guests over on a weeknight, you're not alone.  Life is hectic, and getting an impressive dinner together after a long day at work is daunting.  But there are two words that will keep your reputation as a domestic genius in tact:  Make Ahead.  All the dirty work for this meal was done the night before my guests came over, so all I had to do today was heat and greet.  Copyright that phrase please, I just thought of it.

Start with chicken.  I bought a whole chicken already cut into 8 pieces, but you could also buy a whole chicken and cut it yourself.

Cover the chicken pieces in a pot with water, and boil them for half an hour.  Doesn't boiled chicken sound appetizing?  Why no it doesn't, but this chicken will get mixed with all kinds of yummy flavors and baked into deliciousness, so fear not.  Once the chicken is cooked through, let it cool, and shred the meat with two forks.

Shortbread

I feel a little bit bad for the shortbread cookie. I would like to say that I had a craving for shortbread and had been planning on making it for days, but that could not be farther from the truth. The truth was that I felt like baking but was too lazy to go to the store to re-stock some essential baking ingredients such as milk and eggs. What I did have was butter, and the handful of other ingredients this recipe needed. And so, out of an unwillingness to go to the store, came this shortbread.

But this cookie deserves more credit than that. For something with so few ingredients these are exceptionally delicious. The consistency is crumbly yet fine, and they are buttery with a savory edged sweetness. They can be prepared in less than an hour and last up to two weeks in an airtight container. So the lowly little shortbread has a lot more to offer than it was the only thing I could make with the ingredients I had laying around.

The recipe comes from the Tartine cookbook, which is a renowned San Francisco bakery and cafe.
I've never been to the bakery, but based on the mouth-watering recipes in this book, I would be remiss not to pay it a visit someday. What I like and sometimes dislike about this cookbook is the attention to detail. Each recipe is meticulously covered step by step down to the smallest detail. This means that a lot of the desserts in the book can be a little high maintenance, but the results are well worth the effort. This shortbread recipe is most definitely not high maintenance however and may be the simplest in the book. This simplicity is yet another reason this cookie deserves more credit than it receives.

For this particular shortbread recipe, Tartine recommends using butter that is extremely soft. It describes the butter needing to be the consistency of mayonnaise which is pretty darn soft. I achieved this by microwaving it in ten second intervals until it was at that point. Place your butter in either the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium mixing bowl.
Add the salt and then mix until the salt is completely dissolved.

Sift the flour and cornstarch into a bowl or on to a piece of parchment paper.
Gradually add the sugar to the butter and mix until just combined.

Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until the dough just comes together. Mine was still a little crumbly still and it turned out fine. Place the dough into a buttered pan.

Pat the dough out as even as possible and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes. You want the edges and the bottom to be just golden brown.

Once the shortbread is done cooking, take it out and let it cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes. You want it to still be warm, but not too hot to handle. Sprinkle the surface with sugar and tilt the pan to coat, shaking out the excess. This will give the shortbread a sparkling top layer and add some sweetness.
While the shortbread is still warm, cut it into slices using a sharp knife. If it gets too cold it will be more difficult to cut. Once cut, let it continue to cool completely in the pan.
Once the shortbread is cooled, carefully lift out the pieces. The first piece will possibly break and be difficult to get out but it should be easy after that. It's even easier using a small offset spatula.
Enjoy your delicious shortbread and make sure to share it with some friends so it can get the credit it deserves.
Shortbread
Adapted from Tartine

1 cup + 2 tbsp (9 oz) unsalted butter, very soft
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cups + 2 tbsp (9 oz) all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 tbsp (2 2/3 oz) cornstarch
1/3 cup (2 ½ oz) granulated sugar
¼ cup (2 oz) superfine or granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit. Butter a 6 x 10 inch glass baking dish*

Place the butter in a mixing bowl. The butter must be very soft – the consistency of mayonnaise or whipped cream. Add the salt to the butter and mix well so that it dissolves completely before you add the rest of the ingredients. (I used a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) Sift the flour and cornstarch together. Add the granulated sugar to the butter and mix just until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix just until a smooth dough forms.

Pat the dough evenly into the prepared baking dish. The dough should be no more than 2/3 inch deep. Bake until the top and bottom are lightly browned, about 30 minutes (mine took about 35 minutes). The middle of the shortbread should remain light. Let cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes.

Sprinkle the shortbread with the superfine or granulated sugar. Tilt the dish so that the sugar fully and evenly coats the surface and then tip out the excess sugar. With a very thin, sharp knife, cut the shortbread into rectangular fingers. If the cookies have become cold they will not slice well, so they must still be warm to the touch at this point. Chill thoroughly before removing from the baking dish.

The first cookie is difficult to remove, but the rest should come out easily with the aid of a small, thin offset spatula. The cookies will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for 2 weeks.

*I'm not sure I've ever seen a 6 x 10 inch baking dish before. I thought that was pretty random. Until I pulled down the glass baking dish that I own, measured it, and found out that it's 8 x 12 inches. Which may be even more random than 6 x 10... Anyways, I used that, and it worked fine. I'm pretty sure the more traditional 9 x 13 inches would work fine as well.

Pizza!

Is there anybody out there that doesn’t love pizza? I would find that hard to believe with so many different variations out there. In just the United States alone there are so many different types of pizzas. From the wide foldable slices of NYC to the deep dish Chicago style, to California pizzas with their thin crusts and unique toppings. With so many choices, there’s got to be a pizza for every type of person.

Personally I haven’t found a style of pizza that I don’t like. I even like bad pizza. I’m not kidding. From frozen pizza to the worst restaurant chain pizza, there isn’t a slice that I would turn away. But we’re not talking about bad pizza right now. We’re talking bout goooood pizza. The kind of pizza that you won’t believe came out of your own oven kind of pizza.

Last week I provided you with a pizza dough recipe but no instructions on how to cook it and no topping suggestions. And that’s just not right to leave you all hanging like that. So I’m back at ya, with Pizza: Part Deux!