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Archive for July, 2010

Daddy’s Kasha Varnishkas

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on July 28, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Little Mommies back again to guest post, this time with Jessica’s Dad’s help.  I have a secret.  Jessica left for college in September of 2005 and I haven’t cooked her Dad dinner since.  Yes, I love to cook, especially bake, but I hate making dinner.  18 years of putting a salad, a protein, a vegetable and a starch on the table every night so the three of could have a family dinner together was enough.  Jess left for college and I was done.  Well, Dad has been very patient for 5 years, but tonight he wanted a hot meal–instead of the usual peanut butter and jelly I frequently offer him–so I handed over the kitchen to him.  He made one of his Grandma Sarah’s favorite Jewish dishes, Kaska Varnishkas.  Kasha is pure roasted, whole grain buckwheat that is low salt, low fat, has no cholesterol with a nut like flavor.  The Varnishkas are the farfalle or bowtie pasta that is added.  Daddy usually likes to include sautéed onions and mushrooms with plenty of salt and pepper for extra flavor, but omitted them today since my reflux doesn’t enjoy them.  Grandma Sarah would be proud of this recipe because she was very health conscious.  While this is not a low calorie recipe, it is certainly a delicious and healthy one–high in whole grains, protein and fiber.  How do you say Bon Appetit in Yiddish?

Ingredients:

  • 1 2/3 cups chicken stock or broth
  • 1 cup kasha, whole granulation
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Olive oil Pam
  • 1 cup farfalle or bowtie pasta, cooked
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Kasha, yum!

Bring broth to a boil.  Keep at a low boil/simmer.

This is what the kasha kernels look like.  100% pure roasted whole grain buckwheat.

Stir beaten egg into kasha.  Coat each grain well.

Over medium heat, heat skillet sprayed with Pam.  Cook kasha, stirring constantly until kasha is dry, toasted and all the kernels are separated, about 5 minutes.

This step gives the kasha a nuttier flavor and keeps the integrity of the individual grains in the finished dish.  You don’t want mushy kasha.

Add hot broth and pepper.  Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until most of the broth is absorbed.

If after cooking for 10-12 minutes, the kasha is cooked, but still al dente firm, and you have this much broth left in the pan, drain off excess broth.

Stir in cooked pasta; cook 2 minutes to combine flavors.  This would be when you would add the onions, mushrooms and extra salt and pepper if you were Jessica’s Dad.

Kasha Varniskas ala Daddy.  Makes 4-5 servings which Daddy ate most of.

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Peanut Butter M&M Explosions

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), tagged , , , on July 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

So Rachel and I are moving in a week (yay!) and we are trying to use up everything in our kitchen.  I have lots of baking materials that I don’t really want to bring with me, so some experimenting had to take place.  Halfway through making this dough–sugar and butter creamed, eggs added–I remembered that not only did I not have chocolate chips, but I only had cake flour.  I ran to Duane Reade and bought some Peanut Butter M&Ms (my absolute favorite) on sale.  If these things are bad, I don’t want to be right, and then replaced the flour in my normal cookie recipe with cake flour.  The result is a slightly chewier cookie, that puffs up a little bit more in the oven.  The recipe made around 48 cookies, if they make it out of your kitchen.

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium bag (about 12 ounces) Peanut Butter M&Ms.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


I know, it’s a little blurry.  It’s just butter and sugar anyways; so shoot me.

Beat together the butter, sugars, and vanilla.  Once lightened and well combined, mix in the two eggs.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and combine well.

Stir in the bag of M&Ms.  It’s okay to let some break.

Scoop rounded teaspoon sized balls onto a Silpat-lined or greased cookie sheet.  I found the cookies took about 10 minutes to bake, but I would check after 9 to see if they are done.

Let cool, or enjoy while they are melty.

Slightly chewy, and perfect.

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Chocolate and Jam Filled Crescent Rolls

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), Uncategorized, tagged , , on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

So, I had an extra package of crescent roll dough hanging out in my fridge, leftover from when I made Pigs in a Blanket.  I really didn’t want to waste it, so instead of just baking them up, slathering them with butter and stuffing my face, I decided to fancy them up.  I looked around my pantry and found some jam and chocolate and turned to stuffing.  It was in that moment that I found magic.  They are incredible.  You can use any flavor jam and any type of chocolate you have, just don’t over stuff them or all the filling will ooze out during baking.  These are perfect for breakfast, brunch, snack, dessert–or anytime you need a sweet fix.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough
  • Jam–any flavor
  • Chocolate–any type, chopped  (I used semisweet Callebaut.  Chocolate chips would be great also.)
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Unroll 4 crescents at a time on wax paper for easy clean up.

Spread about 1-2 teaspoons of jam (I used fig and blueberry) on each crescent.

Place 1-2 teaspoons chopped chocolate at big end of crescent.

Loosely roll up starting at point and rolling to big edge where chocolate is.  Be sure to tuck all the chocolate inside.

Place, seam-side down, on silpat-lined baking sheet (or line cookie sheet with parchment paper or non-stick Reynold’s Wrap.  Some filling will ooze out and this will make it easier to remove crescents and to clean the pan) and curve into a crescent shape.  Repeat with remaining 4 crescent dough pieces.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown.  Sorry about the blurry pictures.  (Are you surprised?)

Sprinkle with Confectioners’ sugar.  Serve warm.  Makes 8.   Mmmm stuffing.

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Grilled Cheese Quesadillas

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , on July 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Now this is gonna sound a little sappy, but I gotta be honest.  I’ve always been very close with my parents, but over the past few years as I’ve become an adult–23 now, Happy Birthday to me!–I appreciate them more than ever.  I’ve always been lucky to have pretty cool parents and my friends seem to agree. Now see, there is one thing in my life that my parents have always fought about and that would be cheese.  My dad loves cheese.  My mom loves my dad being thin.  These two things work inversely.  When a bunch of us went back to what we call “Jesschester” my parents threw us a BBQ and for a starter had some grilled cheese quesadillas.  They were amazing.  However, the war of the cheese was raging strong.  I’m gonna support adding as much cheese as you want, but Little Mommies may not agree.  Go for what feels good…

Ingredients:

  • 6 large tortillas or wraps, any flavor
  • 4 cups shredded, 4 cheese Mexican blend (I used Sargento Fancy Shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix (Don’t use too much.  It is very salty.  Can be omitted.)
  • Olive oil Pam

I used low calorie, high protein, high fiber wraps to try to trick me into thinking that these were going to be healthy.

In large Ziplock bag, combine cheese and taco mix.  Shake well.

Heat up grill to medium-high.  Spray with Pam.  Place tortilla on grill.  Arrange cheese on top.  Don’t be skimpy.  Or be skimpy.  I’m trying not to pick sides…

Grill until bottom starts to brown and firm up and cheese begins to melt.

Flip quesadilla over and continue grilling until cheese is melted and quesadilla is brown.

Transfer to serving plate. Repeat with remaining tortillas and cheese to make 3 large quesadillas.

Cut into 8 wedges.  (I used a scissor.  It’s the easiest way!)  Garnish with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, whatever…  Indulge!

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Mexican Style Turkey Stew-ish

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , on July 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

So as the only moron who wanted to turn on their stove during the 100 degree days, I naturally needed to make something spicy, hot and stew like–because I’m crazy and that’s what I crave during a heat wave.  I would call this a chilli, but it would be a disgrace to all those who slave for hours for their homemade goodness, so stew-ish it is.  You can use this as a taco filling, or just as is.  Plus, it is easy to reheat and pretty cheap to make.  I do make it a little spicy, so if you’re a whimp, cut out the chili powder, just know I’m making fun of you.  I’m sure you can also replace the turkey with beef or any other meat as well, but after Tad’s, I think I’m gonna skip over the red meat for a little while…
 
Ingredients:
  • 1.5 pounds (or whatever Fresh Direct gives you over a pound when you ask for a pound) white meat, ground turkey
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 small shallot
  • 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce, like Hunts
  • 1 can (4 ounces) green chilies
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 scant teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Fresh black pepper to taste

 

Chop up the onion and the shallot, and feel free to throw in a minced garlic clove if your garlic doesn’t look green like this.

Spray a dutch oven, or a high sided saucepan, with Pam.  Let onions begin to soften for a few minutes.

Add the turkey, and break up so it browns evenly.  Brown for 5 or so minutes.

Add the tomato sauce.

Then the chilies, cumin, chilli pepper, and then the secret ingredient!

Cinnamon!  Best thing for spicy food–totally rounds out the flavor.  Totally, dude.  Add pepper to taste.

Let simmer for ten minutes or so, then enjoy!

With 1.5 pounds of meat, a massive serving of a quarter of the stew is around 300 calories.  I suggest throwing it over a salad or just hitting it with some sour cream.  Or you can throw it in a taco shell, but my ass doesn’t need those carbs.

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Tad’s Broiled Steaks

Posted in Uncategorized on July 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

As you can tell from the consistency (or lack there of) of my posting, and the consistency of my anger in each post, June was a rough month.  We had this huge project at work that basically led to quite a few late nights and not really much time to do any cooking.  However, the project finished on July 2nd, so we all decided to reward ourselves.  My company, that shall not be named, is located in Times Square.  Now for all who know me, I consider Times Square the epicenter of Hell and think it’s where all the people I hate most (mostly made up of that f*&kin% roommate who screwed Rachel and me over, plus Dina Lohan) should be forced to be chained to the center.  Yet, there is this a particular restaurant in Times Square called Tad’s Broiled Steaks.  I guess its been around for a long time and it’s basically a fast food steak restaurant, SO WE HAD TO GO.  Screw celebrating at Bobby Van’s next door, or anyplace else of true foodie value, we went to Tad’s.

Here is my first restaurant review–be warned, it gets gruesome.


Here it is, in all its glory.  Nothing like a place that shares a kitchen area with a Tim Hortons and KFC.  DOUBLE DOWN.


Yup, $7.29 folks.  Yet they don’t tell you they charge extra for tomatoes on your salad or onions on your steak.  Luckily, I was afraid of both.

And here is the menu.  However, we wanted the special from outside.  The drink selection is impeccable, including mini beers.  Our lovely server hid from my picture, but the dapper young man knew how to dangle a steak in the air over the floor hoping you will yell out how you want your steak cooked before he drops it.

Yes, those are single glasses of wine wrapped in plastic wrap.  And yes, I did get one.  The 2010 Blush from the fridge was a necessity.  I was hoping the germ killing qualities of the alcohol would cleanse my soul as the Tad’s went down.

Meal of champions.  The best part was when they ladled melted butter across the top.  I think my heart stopped.  However, it is only a 6 ounce raw steak which can’t be more than 5 cooked; therefore, only around 250 calories, minus butter sauce and the inherent fat that it must have since it’s from Tad’s.


Well, the garlic bread was good…

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Smoked Paprika and Garlic Hummus

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on July 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

What do cream cheese, sour cream, hummus, and peanut butter have in common?  I cannot keep them in the house without going at them with a spoon.  Or my face.  However, sometimes we make mistakes and this is a wonderful one.  This is not a low calorie recipe.  When I started to calculate the calorie count and saw that just the tahini alone was 300 calories for 3 tablespoons and then the can of chick peas had 350 calories and I’m not even going to mention the olive oil, I knew the results were gonna be ugly–so I just threw in the towel and decided to extol the virtues of this very healthy, full of protein and fiber, vegan dip that is fast and easy to make and can be seasoned to please your palate.  Any leftovers are great as a sandwich spread or as a sandwich itself.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (15.5 ounces) chick peas
  • 3 tablespoons sesame tahini paste, stir well before using
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice or water (I used water because I didn’t have any lemon juice and it tasted great.)
  • 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

Use only the best ingredients you can find for the best tasting hummus!

Rinse and drain chick peas.

In food processor fitted with steel blade, combine chick peas, tahini, paprika, salt, garlic and lemon juice.

Turn on processor and stream in oil.  Process until creamy/smooth.

Scrape down sides to incorporate the paprika.  Taste for seasonings.  You may want to add more salt and/or paprika.  If hummus is too thick, add 1 tablespoon more oil, lemon juice or water and pulse until incorporated.

Spoon into serving bowl and sprinkle with additional smoked paprika.  This recipe, which can be made 1 day ahead, serves 4-6 people as a dip.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

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