Lavender Honey Chicken

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The French lawyer and epicure, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once stated, “The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.” I could not agree more. When I was advised by my dear friend Ana that there was a Pen Pal Recipe Swap, I could not resist to sign up! The idea was to connect with other creatives through the exchange of recipes.

I was paired with Lauren of My Favorite F Words. Her blog regularly highlights variations of her favorite F words, including faith and family. Food, another F word, happens to be something she also enjoys. When we were paired she sent me a recipe for Lavender Honey Chicken. Knowing that the recipe was near and dear to her heart, I couldn’t wait to try it out.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs
• 1 tsp. culinary lavender buds
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1/4 cup honey
• the juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Rub chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and lavender buds; let sit for at least 30 minutes
2. Melt butter with olive oil in skillet
3. Add minced garlic and onion to skillet; cook until tender but do not brown
4. Add chicken to skillet; brown it on all sides but do not cook all the way through
5. Put lemon juice and honey in a small bowl; microwave for a few seconds and then stir together (the heat helps the two mix together easily)
6. Add lemon and honey mixture to skillet
7. Lower heat and cover the skillet to steam cook chicken all the way through
8. After the chicken is cooked through, turn up the heat to create a caramelized glaze

Notes:

• You can use any kind of chicken just try to use thin pieces of chicken OR cut the chicken down to bite size pieces; if you don’t, the chicken will become dry.
• I usually serve this over rice and use the excess glaze as a sauce, it is divine!
• Yes, you can taste the lavender – and it tastes just like summer, something that Lauren and I both need in our snowy tundra homes! It’s supposed to be spring in 3 days. Let’s hope the weather reflects that!

Have you ever partaken in a pen pal recipe / food swap?

Cake Batter Oreo Cookies

I love me a good cookie. I have been wanting to try out something new and of course the Pinterest gods did me a solid: they pointed me to Sally’s Baking Addiction, specifically her Cake Batter Oreo Cookies. I saw chocolate chips, sprinkles, oreos, and cake on the recipe; I was SOLD!

Her recipe can be found below:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 and 1/4 cups (160g)all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 cups (190g) yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup (80g) sprinkles
• 10 Oreos, crushed into pieces 
  

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Using a hand mixer, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth.
3.  Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute.
4.  Add the vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined.
5. Add the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and crushed Oreos. Mix on low until the add-ins are evenly disbursed.
6. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days. This step is mandatory. The dough is fairly sticky, so chilling the dough is required in order to avoid the cookies from spreading too much. If you chill longer than 2 hours, make sure you roll the cookie dough into balls after the 2 hour mark. Place dough balls on a plate, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
7. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
8. Scoop rounded balls of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Use about 2 Tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie. Shape your cookie dough balls to be “taller” than they are wide, as explained and pictured in the original recipe. Press a few chocolate chips or crushed Oreo pieces into the tops of the cookie dough balls, if desired. That makes a pretty cookie. Make sure to keep dough chilled when working in batches.
9. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Mine took 10 minutes exactly. The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will set as they cool. You may also press a few more chips into the tops of the cookies at this point (the chips will melt down and stick from the warm cookies).
10. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days. They won’t last that long! (They didn’t — mine were gone in 2 days. YIKES!)

Have you ever tried any of Sally’s Baking Addiction’s recipes?

Ginger Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Whenever I feel like I want a hearty but healthy meal, I resort to turkey lettuce wraps. The recipe I keep coming back to is from Simply Scratch.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2-1/2 tablespoons Fresh Ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup Extra Light Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• A generous pinch of Red Pepper Flakes {I refrain from using as I love the sauce as is, without the kick}

For the Wraps:

• 2 pounds Ground Turkey
• 1 container of Sliced Water Chestnuts, diced small {I used half}
• 1/4 cup grated Carrot
• 1/3 cup Cashews, roughly chopped {Didn’t include due to a food allergy, but would be delicious otherwise!}
• 1-2 heads of Romaine Lettuce, ends trimmed
• Cilantro, roughly chopped {for garnish, optional}

Directions

1. In a bowl or a good size jar, add in the minced ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, tamari, oil, honey, and sesame oil.
2. Shake well to combine all ingredients.
3. Drizzle a little olive oil in a large pan and heat up over medium. Once hot add in the ground turkey and cook until done.
4. Add in the carrot, water chestnuts, and cook for 5-8 minutes.
5. Pour in the jarred sauce and stir. Bring to a bubble, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
6. Finish off with a couple tablespoons of tamari {more or less to taste} and spoon filling into prepared romaine leaves.
7. Serve with a little of the chopped cilantro.

What’s your go to hearty but healthy?

Cronut Recipe

So did my last post get you salivating or what? If you’re interested in trying out how to make the cronut yourself, please find the recipe below!

Traditional Cronuts

Ingredients

• 3 package active dry yeast
• 1.5 cup warm water
• 3 t salt
• 7.5 T white sugar
• 1.5 cup milk
• 6 T butter, melted
• 1T vanilla
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ pie spice
• 10-12 cups or 3 pound flour
• 4.5 sticks butter, room temperature

Directions

1. Place yeast and warm water in stand mixer. Stand until creamy and foamy, 5 min. Add salt, sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla, egg and spice. Whisk. Pour on flour. Switch to dough hook. Mix.

2. Knead in mixer until ball forms and it becomes soft and sticky. It should pull away from bowl. Transfer to floured work surface. Knead a few times, shape into ball. Wrap loosely in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes to let gluten relax.

3. Remove from refrig, unwrap, dust with flour.  Divide in thirds. Roll out into 9 x 18 rectangles for each slab. Spread 12 T of butter on right 2/3 of the slab. Fold over left 1/3 onto center. Fold right 1/3 over that, so it is layered, dough, butter, dough, butter, dough. And looks like the front of an envelope.

4. Transfer to sheet pan, cover with wrap and kitchen towl. Refrig 30 minutes until butter is firm. Flour again and place on work surface and pat into 8 x 12 inch rectangles and about ¾ inch thick. Fold into thirds again. Roll back into 8 x 12 inch rectangle, keeping outside as even as possible.  Fold in thirds again (third time) Cover in refrigerator for two hours.

5. Roll dough to 5/8 inch thick, only one at a time. Use 3 inch rings to cut out donut shapes. Use 1 inch circle to cut out holes. Place all on baking sheets over parchment and sprinkle with flour. Let rise one hour until doubled in size. Fry.

Quinoa Chili

You know you’re going to have a great night when you have fabulous company and great food. Last week, I headed over to Shelby’s for some much needed yoga. Candles lit in the background with some Johann Sebastian Bach, we couldn’t have had anything better.

Oh wait, we did. After yoga, Shelby whipped up some quinoa chili for us. It was actually spectacular; she is quite the food guru. Everything she makes, I’m obsessed with. Remember when I went nuts?

But, back to the quinoa. Below find Shelby’s recipe for this nom quinoa chili. I swear, this is up on my fridge now as we haven’t seem to hit a break with the frigid winter cold. Chili is ALWAYS a go to. You should try it out too!

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 can of  black beans (drained/rinsed)
• 1 can of kidney beans (drained/rinsed)
• 1 cup of frozen/fresh corn
• 1 red bell pepper finely diced
• 2 cups of cooked quinoa (1 cup dry)
• 28oz can/jar of good quality tomato sauce (I used one with garlic and basil from Whole Foods)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 cups of fresh spinach (optional health kick)
• coarse salt and fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil

Directions 

1. Simmer onions and garlic with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and until translucent and fragrant.

  Add bell pepper, and frozen corn. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Add beans, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water (or more depending on how thick you want your base to be)

3. Add your quinoa (was cooked with stock instead of water for more flavor), spices, tomato paste and spinach. Stir to combine. Cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes (the longer the better for flavors to mix and mingle).

4. Serve with your choice of chopped scallions/chives, sliced avocado and your favorite chips – Shelby’s are the semi spicy flaxseed tortilla’s from Trader Jo’s.

What’s your favorite dish to have when friends come over?

Sugar Cookie Covered Oreos

I cannot wait for the BlogHer Food Conference in May in Miami. One fine lady I am excited to meet is Hayley from The Domestic Rebel for many reasons.

1. She has a killer food blog.
2. Just from reading her blog, I can tell we’re going to hit it off in Miami.
3. She was the creator of the following Sugar Cookie Covered Oreos.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg refrigerated sugar cookie dough, room temperature (can use homemade, I also used store-bought because it was easy)
• 12 Oreos
• Rainbow non-pareils

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners for easy removal. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, pour some of the rainbow sprinkles.
2. Using your palms, flatten out one square of cookie dough into a flat disk. Place a cookie on top of the dough and sandwich between another flattened disk of dough. Seal the dough edges together around the Oreo to enclose it completely. Roll the stuffed cookie into the rainbow sprinkles and place in the muffin liner.
3. Bake for approx. 15-18 minutes or until the edges are light golden and the center appears set. Allow them to cool completely before removing the liners and eating. Best kept at room temperature, airtight, up to 2 days.

Enjoy. As she says, eat that extra cookie…or six. But really, you will. They’re THAT good.

Crazy Good Nut Butter

This girl goes nut for a good nut butter. Shelby over at Tutus and Tea brought me some to try last week and it was just exquisite. The recipe is so simple and fabulous.

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup mixed nuts (roasted almonds, pistachios and cashews were used)
• Honey, eyeball to taste
• Cinnamon, eyeball to taste
• Pinch of coarse salt

Directions

1. Combine 1 cup of raw almonds with 1 cup of mixed nuts (roasted almonds, pistachios and cashews were used, but your favorites can’t go wrong)
2. Optional, but delightful to add honey, cinnamon, and a pinch of coarse salt to taste
3. Blend in a high speed blender (Vitamix) until the nuts heat and mix, releasing their own oils and forming the most delicious nut butter ever.

There are so many good ways to use it. Two of my favorites are in yogurt or banana sandwiches. Also, it really adds to overnight oats!

What’s your favorite use for nut butter?

The Easiest Lentil Recipe You’ll Ever Follow

When a girl (this girl) is busy, she’s busyyyy. When time becomes a luxury, it becomes tough to cook proper meals. Thus, any really good but very simple and quick recipe is always welcome in my book. I’d prefer that than a frozen food meal ANY DAY.

Yesterday, I followed the lentil recipe on the Trader Joes’s lentil bag that was so easy it’s unbelievable.

All you need is:

• 1 cup whole small green lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 21/4 cups low sodium broth
• 1/4 cup white wine (I used a 1/3)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp TJ’s Everyday Seasoning to taste (I used 1 tbs)
• 2 tbs Badia Completo Sazon* (My own addition – if you have a spanish section in your aisle at the supermarket, you more than likely can purchase this seasoning. I bring it up from Miami. It is true love.)

Directions

1. Add lentils, broth, wine and seasoning (except salt) to a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer until tender and the liquid is almost absorbed, 35 to 40 min. (I did 45 min.)
3. Salt to taste and serve simple or add toppings of choice. (I paired with quinoa.)

Cookies and Cream Filled Brownies

This girl has limited time these days. While I love busting out the Cake Bible or Sprinkle Bakes to try something new, sometimes I cheat and look up “simple, but delicious” recipes via Pinterest. That way, I have time to clean the apartment, cook dinner, and also study for the GMAT. Today, I stumbled on Inspired By Charm’s bodacious brownie aka Cookies and Cream Filled Brownies and I figured let’s give it a go.

I loved this recipe because it was so simple, four ingredients and all.

Ingredients

• 2 boxes of brownie mix
• Eggs
• Vegetable Oil
• Hershey’s Cookies & Cream Chocolate Bar

Directions:

1. Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the package. Per Michael’s recommendation I added an extra egg (for a total of 3 per box) for a more ‘cake-like’ brownie.
2. Line a 13 x 9-inch cake pan with aluminum foil. Spray the bottom with cooking spray. Spread half of the brownie mix into the cake pan. Place the candy bars as close as possible to one another on the batter. You may have to break up one of the bars. Cover with remaining batter.
3. Since you are doubling up on the cake batter, these take about 35 – 40 minutes to bake. (Mine took 45 minutes, each oven is different) You can test their doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. When it comes out clean, your brownies are done.

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

What better way to warm up than with soup, right? Meet my dear friend Kate, whose family has had Cooks Illustrated passed around the kitchen for years and years. This Thanksgiving, her dad made a pumpkin soup for the holidays. She was inspired by his soup creation and decided to make some on her own, this time, Butternut Squash Soup. You can find the recipe below, with slight modification!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks (about 7 cups)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1leek, white and green parts only, quartered lengthwise, sliced thin, and washed thoroughly (about 1 1/2 cups)
• Salt and pepper
• 4c ups vegetable broth
• 1 – 2c ups water
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (was not included because Kate didn’t want to buy a whole thing of thyme and use two small bits. I don’t blame her! It was still delish!)
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch cayenne pepper (a bit more than a pinch was used; I loved the kick!)
• Sour cream

Instructions

1. Place squash in bowl, cover, and microwave until paring knife glides easily through flesh, 14 to 18 minutes, stirring halfway through. Carefully transfer squash to colander set in bowl (squash will be very hot) and drain for 5 minutes; reserve liquid.

2. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, leek, and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until squash pieces begin to break down and brown fond forms in bottom of pot, 10 to 13 minutes.

3. Add 2 cups broth and scrape bottom of pot to loosen and dissolve fond. Add remaining 2 cups broth, reserved squash liquid, 1 cup water, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and cayenne. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until leeks are fully tender, 6 to 7 minutes.

4. Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Working in batches, process soup in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Return soup to clean pot and bring to simmer, thinning with up to 1 cup water to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve with dollop of sour cream. (Soup can be made up to 2 days in advance.)

—

I had a chance to sit down with Kate to enjoy this lovely soup over dinner and got to ask her a few questions.

Q1: What’s your favorite soup?

KB: Chili. Does that count as soup? If not, clam chowder.

Q2: Thing you want to do most in December?

KB: Host a holiday party. Last year, I had one and it was so fun!

Q3: Given that it’s themed for the holidays, what would be the drink of the night?

KB: Peppermint Schnapps. It would bring us back to our college days. (We laugh.)

EH: I wouldn’t mind some hot chocolate spiked with that!

Q4: If you could have on gift, any gift, this holiday season, what would it be?

KB: A new party dress – Kate Spade or J. Crew – and a marvelous event to wear it out to!

EH: Oh yes, that sounds marvelous. Mine is a DSLR camera. Hopefully, we get both of ours so I can join you at the event and take marvelous photos and document our night and your new dress!

That’s right. Get on your feet, out the door and buy some ingredients. This soup is something you can’t miss this winter season!