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Archive for the ‘Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain’ Category

Pizza Dip

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , , on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Mother-effin Pizza Dip.  Done and Done.

Ingredients:

  • 1, 8 ounce, block of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 1 cup pizza sauce (or any tomato sauce you have lying around, preferably not too chunky)
  • Chips, homemade garlic bread, crackers for dipping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the softened cream cheese in a pie plate or any small square/round oven safe dish.  Add the spices and mash around until well mixed, then evenly distribute across the bottom of the dish.  Sprinkle on about 1 cup of cheese, pour on tomato sauce and evenly distribute, then add the rest of the cheese.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until melty and starting to bubble.  Then, if you would like, kick on the broiler and brown the top for 3-5 minutes, or just continue baking.  Serve!

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Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on February 8, 2011 | 1 Comment »

First, Happy Birthday Little Mommies!  You be old :) .

Alright kids, it’s story time.  One cold, rainy, ice stormy, day in February, seemingly like all the others in 2011, a young Twofacedchef set out to make a Cap’n Crunch-laden cookies at the request of her compatriots for a Super Bowl party.  She measured, she poured, and mixed to her heart’s content.  She found herself tasting the wonderful peanuttery batter and oohing and aahing over the flavor and texture.  She put the cookies in the oven and they baked and browned and were removed and then something terrible happened…they tasted awful!  This young broad was overcome with sorrow, knowing that many were waiting for said cookie and that they would be sorely disappointed.  She let the cookies cool and wrapped them up to bring anyways  to share as a flop or maybe become cat food.  The next morning said “chef” was woken by a squeal of delight!  Her roommate thought the cookies were delicious and did not understand the Twofacedchef’s dismay.  The cautious chef reached out and tasted a cookie and cried in success!  The cookies were eaten and quickly became a favorite at the Super Bowl party.

The moral of this story?  Do not judge a cookie before it cools.  And like world peace or something.

Due to my upset nature over the cookie, I violently deleted the photos.  Here is the recipe and some wonderful pictures if you would like to try the recipe.  http://picky-palate.com/2010/06/10/capn-crunch-peanut-butter-cookie-stackers/

Oh, and I doubled the amount of Cap’n Crunch because I’m a lush.  So sue me.

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Kalamata Olive and Rosemary Bread

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , on February 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Hi everyone.  This is Little Mommies guest posting again for two reasons:  One–Jess has been working 24/7 and has had no time to cook.  And two–I made this amazing bread, but it has olives in it.  Unfortunately, Jess is olivephopic and doesn’t condone this post, so I am the designated writer.  This is a wonderful, no knead, rustic, yeast bread that can be prepared and risen the day before and baked fresh the same day as serving.  It is quite flavorful with specks of salty olives throughout and just a hint of rosemary.  Absolutely delicious.  I made this bread for Sassy Sindy’s (To meet Sassy Sindy, click here: http://twofacedchef.com/2010/12/12/aunt-sindys-sassy-spears/) annual New Year’s Day Brunch.  Since I didn’t want to get up at 3am to make the homemade yeast bread that Sassy Sindy requested, I adapted this recipe to the food processor and allowed it to do its third rising overnight in the refrigerator; thus enabling me to do all the hard work the day before.  This is a great project for all of you who are stuck home in the snow/ice storms that are assaulting our country.

 

 

Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/mediterranean-black-olive-bread/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup Kalamata black olives, drained and dried
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
  • 1 tablespoon cornmeal

 

Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil.

In food processor fitted with steel blade, measure in flour, yeast, sugar, salt, olives, rosemary, and olive oil.  Pulse 3 times to mix.

Add water through feed tube while machine is running. 

Process for about 20 seconds or until dough forms a ball.  Do not overprocess or the heat of the machine can kill the yeast.

If dough feels too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour and pulse a few times to incorporate.  Do not overmix.

Transfer dough to prepared bowl.  Cover with a dish towel and set aside in a warm place and let rise about 45 minutes.

 

After rising, punch down dough, shape it into a round and place back in bowl and let rise until double in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

 

 This is what it looks like after the second rise.

  Lightly oil baking sheet and dust with cornmeal.

 

Gently turn loaf out onto pan.  Gently brush with very little olive oil.  Cover with a dish towel and place in refrigerator to rise overnight.

 

Take bread out of refrigerator for one to two hours before baking to warm up. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  While oven is preheating, put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven.  The steam the water creates in the oven helps create a crunchy crust. Bake loaf at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 more minutes, or until done. Cover bread with foil if it starts to brown too quickly.  The bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom with your fingers.  Yes, it hurts to test the hot bread!  Let bread cool on a rack for about 15 minutes before serving.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes 1 loaf.

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Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on January 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I’ll admit it, I’m an appetizer whore.  I would rather spend my meal at a cocktail party, eating one bite-sized delight after another, than at a full sit down dinner. One appetizer that has always disappointed me at weddings and restaurants alike, are stuffed mushrooms.  Not only is this recipe great, but you can saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms ahead of time to save time when your guests arrive…if you can save any for them.

Adapted from Vegan Piggy

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds Baby Portobellos, the bigger the better (or button mushrooms)
  • 1 cup Italian Seasoning Bread Crumbs (The original recipe ground up two slices of bread and said that you needed 1.5 cups. However, I could barely fit a cup in.  I would have extra bread crumbs lying around and add slowly; you want the mixture to be crumbly, but stick together when you pinch it.)
  • 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Medium Red Onion, chopped
  • 1 Garlic Clove, pressed

Remove stems from mushrooms. Brush one of the tablespoons of oil around in a 13 X 9 pan. Chop up the onion, garlic, and mushroom stems. (I did this in the food processor; just pulsed a few times.) Heat the rest of the oil in a pan over medium high heat.

Add garlic and onions and sauté for 7 minutes. Stir in the bread crumbs.

Evenly distribute mixture to mushroom caps. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your mushroom caps. Keep an eye out that they don’t get too brown.

Sorry, they went quickly…

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Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on January 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Happy New Year!

Thank god she had her red cup with her for the ride.  It may have been in Jersey, but it’s all I can ask for.

So anyways, let me impart on you something delicious.  These are shortbread-like crackers with a strong blue cheese flavor.  Delicious served alone or with a sweet jam and a glass of wine!

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
  • 1/2 cup walnuts

Slightly altered from a recipe from Ina Garten. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/blue-cheese-and-walnut-crackers-recipe/index.html

In food processor fitted with steel blade, coarsely chop walnuts.  Transfer nuts to a bowl; set aside.

Place butter and blue cheese in food processor.  Process 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape down sides of bowl, until mixture is smooth.

Add flour, salt and pepper to bowl.  Pulse 10 to 15 times until mixture is in large crumbles.

Add 1 tablespoon water and pulse until mixture forms a ball.  This happens very quickly.

Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 12-inch long log.

Brush the log completely with the egg wash.  Spread the walnuts on one side of a cutting board and roll the log back and forth in the walnuts, pressing lightly, and distributing them evenly on the outside of the log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 4 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the log into 30, 3/8ths-inch thick, slices, with a small, sharp knife and place the crackers on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for 22 minutes until golden brown. Rotate the pan once during baking.

Cool on wire rack.

Serve at room temperature.  Makes 30 crackers.

 

To make without a food processor:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and Stilton together for 1 minute, or until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, salt and pepper and mix until it’s in large crumbles, about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix until combined. Proceed as directed above from step when you shape mixture into a log.

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Jalapeno Popper Dip

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , on December 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Why has it been a ton of time since I last posted?  Is it because work has been busy?  Is it because I went on a lavish vacation?  No, sorry.  It’s because I got drunk and left my camera at my friend’s place.  But hey, at least I had fun, right? Well, now back to the dip.  I love jalapeno poppers and I love hot dip.  I’ve seen a ton of jalapeno-related dips popping up on blogs as Christmas is getting closer and I wanted to try to make my own–and let me tell you, it came out perfectly.  I honestly wanted to dive inside of it and live in a butter cracker hut. It’s the perfect dish to bring to a dinner party and even better to comfort me after that whole Miley Cyrus scandal that I can’t even discuss.  Try it; you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:

  • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup light mayonnaise (the 35 calorie one)
  • 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
  • 4 ounces canned, diced jalapeno peppers (I used the jarred, sliced ones and chopped them up; but I heard some places do actually have canned jalapenos. Jealous.)
  • 1/2 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup Panko

Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix together the mayo and cream cheese until well blended.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients except the Panko; spread into a pan.

If you want to make the dip ahead of time, stop here.  Otherwise, sprinkle on a cup of Panko, and give one quick spray of PAM on top.  Bake for around 30 minutes, until the mixture is hot and the crumbs are browned.  

Serve with carrots and butter crackers.  Proceed to be addicted.

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Bacon and Swiss Scones

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , , on October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

A few months ago, we had some coworkers in from London and on their last day, after plenty of meetings, we finally all went out for lunch.  I know that as Americans, everything is bigger and better here, i.e. the Friendly’s Grilled Cheese Burgermelt or the KFC Double Down.  However, you don’t really realize how big portions are EVERYWHERE until you have a Brit sitting next to you in a cheap Thai restaurant commenting on how his curry could be eaten over four lunches and you are actually thinking they stiffed him.  The continuous quote from the 1960′s of a parent telling you “You must clean your plate” is a constant memory of restaurants during my youth, knowing that I could never truly finish my plate.  Being on my bacon kick lately, I wanted to finally try to make scones, but after some research I discovered that scones have an incredible number of calories and an insane fat content.  Yet, when I realized what the size of a normal scone is, I was almost as horrified as my London cousin dining in the Thai restaurant.  You can make this recipe however you want.  The scones are deliciously flaky and bacony and even taste good the next day if you nuke them for 5-10 seconds, but I strongly suggest cutting these babies into 16 wedges, not 8.  If you decide to go all out and make scones the size of your face, 20 minutes in the oven will do you.  Remember ladies and gents, scones do puff in the oven.

Stolen from here: http://sugarcrafter.net/2010/06/04/bacon-swiss-scones/

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup half and half
2 eggs
3 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
6 strips bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cook the bacon until crispy.  Leave the oven on!  After the bacon cools, crumble it into small pieces. Toss the bacon crumbles together with the cheese.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until well-combined.  (I did quick pulsing in a food processor here instead, DON’T OVER MIX!)  In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and half-and-half together.  Pour both the egg mixture and the bacon mixture into the flour mixture.  Stir gently until the dough comes together.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently for 2-3 minutes.  Roll the dough into a circle about 1-inch thick.  Place on prepared baking sheet.  Cut dough into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half so that you have 16.  Pull each wedge out slightly so that they have room to bake. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

The original recipe made 8 scones, but they were just too huge for me so I cut them into 16.  Darn Americans and their huge delights.

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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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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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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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