Cheeseburger Pie

Continuing the "dips on dips" theme of this football season (chips&salsa -----> buffalo chicken dip ----> reuben dip ----> sausage and cream cheese dip), I made my darling father some yummy noms for the Broncos game today. Cheeseburger pie. Yes. Cheese, and burger. And also the pie part too.


http://family.go.com/food/pkg-family-approved-recipes/recipe-633078-cheeseburger-pie-t/

(sans pickles)

MM MM DEE LICIOUS

The most magical cookies of all

This little compliation has got to be the greatest Hannukah present I've ever received:

This perfectly combines my literophilia with my sugarophilia. LOVE THIS BOOK. My father knows me too well. When we first started flipping through this book, the first thing that caught my eye was the black sausage. Then I realized that the recipe called for two cups of blood.

Moving on.

My dad immediately was drawn to the Chewy Ginger Biscuits recipe, which is completely unsurprising. And when my dad wants a specific food, he becomes fixated to the point of obsession. It runs in the family. (Frozen yogurt? Reuben dip? Pigs in a blanket? The great ongoing cheesesteak pilgrimage of 2012? You get the point.) 

So my dear friend Kyle Krueger and I decided to make these ginger biscuits. According to the cookbook, these biscuits make an appearance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry pisses off Dolores Umbridge, the great pink-clad villain of our time. She sends him to Professor McGonagall, the great old-lady bad-ass of our time. Instead of scolding Harry for his transgressions, McGonagall offers him a cuppa (I'M SO AUTHENTIC) and a newt-shaped ginger biscuit. The cookbook doesn't call for the biscuits to resemble the aforementioned lizard; however, everything tastes better as an amphibian. Kyle and I decided to make our own newt-shaped cookie cutter, and although I am an AWFUL handiperson, Kyle has a knack for construction of any physical object:

I wonder if he learned that in Construction Management school. Maybe there's a Working with Wire Cookie Cutters adjunct or something.

Anyway.

So we proceeded to make cutout cookies out of dough that was not even remotely designed to be shaped. Surprisingly, this worked pretty well! I would advise chilling the dough and using a sharp cold knife to make shapes sans cookie cutters.

The newt

Nearly headless Nick

Aragog, the fluffy spiderfriend

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

What an excellent batch of cookies. With a little sugar and magic, anything is possible.

Except maybe a hippogriff. 

Garlic Rolls

Since my experiment with pizza dough went mostly well, I've decided to foray a little further into yeasted breads, rolls, etc. (Okay, this recipe is basically a pizza dough recipe, in a cupcake pan, but still. I feel adventurous.)

Adapted from http://www.mamajanskitchen.com/2010/04/easy-peasy-garlic-rolls.html

1 batch of pizza dough (see previous post)
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 cup + 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 teaspoon dried parsley
kosher salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Tear pizza dough into 12 pieces and place in the muffin tin.
3. Divide all but 3-4 cloves of garlic among the pieces of dough, pressing them into the centers. Drizzle with 1/8 cup olive oil and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
4. While dough bakes, heat remaining oil, garlic and parsley over low heat. Do not simmer.
5. Toss in a bowl with garlic oil and melted butter; season with salt.

Mediterranean Dinner Party

Having a dinner party for 10, under any circumstances, is a bold move. When you factor in the fact that I'm living in Kenya, it becomes classified as a stupid move. I'll be honest -- finding ingredients for a dinner party was NOT the easiest thing in the world. I mean, honestly, what kind of grocery store doesn't carry ARTICHOKES?! (Answer: Every single grocery store in Kisumu. I would know, because I walked up and down every aisle of all five stores.)

BUT. I was up for the challenge. Here's the menu for my Mediterranean-themed Birthday Dinner Party!

Appetizers:

Hummus Dip

Cheesy Spinach Dip

Pizzas:

Margherita

Pesto, Tomato and Meatball

Onion and Pepper

Meatball, Onion and Pepper

Main Course:

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

Dessert: 

Tiramisu Cupcakes with Kahlua Cream Cheese Glaze

I suppose we'll start with dessert first! These are the cupcakes, taking a little Kahlua bath and soaking up the flavor.

One of the ingredients in the Cheesy Spinach Dip is white wine. How did I transport it to my friend's house? In a Nalgene bottle. Only the classiest chefs employ this technique. 

Oh, what a lovely cake! No, wait. It's frozen pizza dough! Partially thawed! And certainly not ready to be made into a pizza pie! This sight put me on the brink of a minor panic attack. (Read: Major panic attack.) But with some quick thinking, I stuck a chunk of this sucker in the microwave to thaw it, and it actually turned out fine! If Kenya has taught me one thing, it's improvisation. 

I never said I was a clean cook... And luckily, we chose to host our dinner at a house with a live-in maid.

Ah, pizza success! No one would know that this came from that weird holey chunk of dough. 

Yum on yum

And some more yums

My friend Ryan brought a cell-shaped cake, complete with golgi bodies and endoplasmic reticuli! What a fantastic cake : )

The main course: Mediterannean Chicken Pasta

My roomies, all looking snazzy and sharp!

The finished Tiramisu cupcakes

Zach loves him some cupcakes... 

Another birthday cake from Mitch! It used to say "H" on top, but a certain someone couldn't wait and ate a piece of chocolate : )

Here are the recipes I used:


Appetizers:


I cobbled together this hummus recipe from different sites. Unfortunately, no grocery store carried tahini (surprise!), so I had to do without. 

1 can chickpeas, drained (juice reserved)

1 clove garlic, chopped well

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin

2 tbsp sesame seeds (or tahini)

2 tbsp lemon juice (to taste)

Mix in a blender, adding more chickpea juice for a smoother hummus dip. Or, if your blender is not such a great blender, you can smush the whole thing by hand. I would know. 

Cheesy Spinach Dip

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/hot-cheesy-spinach-dip/detail.aspx

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 bunch baby spinach, rinsed
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot sauce to taste
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup half-and-half

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, baby spinach and white wine. Cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Mix in salt and pepper and hot sauce. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Mix cheeses, mayonnaise and half and half into the bowl with the spinach mixture. Transfer mixture to a medium baking dish.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 20 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Note: This took longer than 20 minutes; perhaps it was that I didn't use enough spinach, or that my oven was hot. My dip turned out a bit runny, so I sprinkled in about 1/4 cup flour to thicken it and it was perfect!

Pizza: 

Dough (adapted from How Sweet It Is)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

(Note: 1/2 cup water wasn't enough to get all the loose flour off the bottom of the bowl, so I added a bit more).

Combine flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add water, honey and oil, mixing with a spoon to form into a ball. Continue mixing with your hands and knead for about 60 seconds. Lightly oil bowl and add dough back in. Cover and let rise for 2-3 hours.

Roll out dough on a well-floured surface. Top with sauce and preferred toppings. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. 

I tripled this recipe, and had enough for four medium-sized pizzas. 

Main dish: Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/mediterranean-pasta-in-minutes-recipe/index.html

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, sliced diagonally
• 1 (8 1/2-ounc) jar sun-dried tomatoes, julienned (1 cup)
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1 pound fresh angel hair pasta
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (1/4 pound)
• 6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Boil water for pasta in a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken strips until no longer pink -- about 3 minutes each side. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to skillet. Saute for 2 minutes. In the meantime, add the fresh pasta to boiling water, cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Now add the basil, olives and feta cheese to the skillet. Saute 1 minute then stir in the cream. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl. Add the chicken saute to the pasta and toss. Season with oregano, salt and pepper before serving.

Unfortunately, this recipe called for artichokes, which would have been delicious. Alas. Sigh. Woe is me.

Also, I was a little flexible with the proportions... I one-and-a-halved the recipe, roughly. It turned out to be too much pasta, so next time I'd just made one pound of pasta with one-and-a-half times the chicken and sauce. 

Dessert: Tiramisu cupcakes

One of the most crucial ingredients in Tiramisu is the mascarpone cheese. 

Do Kenyan grocery stores carry mascarpone cheese?

No. 

Do they carry sour cream, so you can make a substitute for mascarpone cheese?

No.

So is this cupcake really a tiramisu cupcake?

Of course it is! Just run with it. 

Recipe:

16 Basic Vanilla Cupcakes (I used http://www.eatliverun.com/tiramisu-cupcakes/, and added 1 tsp cinnamon)

When cupcakes have cooled, poke 6-7 holes in the top of each using a toothpick. No toothpick? You can use a piece of spaghetti! (I told you Kenya made me creative.) Brush the top of each with about 1/2 tsp of Kahlua. Let sit for an hour or so.

Glaze:

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp instant coffee

3 tbsp Kahlua (or more, to taste)

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Here's the truth: I wanted a real, thick frosting to pipe on my cupcakes. But I kind of forgot that you need to add butter into a cream cheese frosting. So, I ended up with a glaze. Delicious? Absolutely! But next time I'd make a Kahlua frosting instead of a glaze.

Homemade Margherita Pizza

Let's be straight-up with each other for a moment. I have a serious fear of failure. "What?" you say. "That's impossible, because you've never failed at anything in your life!" Or, more likely, you'd say, "What? That's impossible, because you've failed at so many things in your life! (see: earlier posts about exploding cupcake disasters.)

When it comes to high-stakes situations, I need assurance that I won't fail. I won't even attempt something if it carries a chance of failure. And on Thursday, I'm facing my most high-stakes situation ever.

MY BIRTHDAY DINNER PARTY.

Compared to this, applying to college was a cinch! I've been spending hours looking up recipes, but not just any recipes -- recipes that are doable in Kenya. Not the easiest task. I've created a tentative menu, and because of my fear of failure, I need to make SURE these recipes will work before I try to make them on Thursday. Because I have this nagging haunting vision of me dissolving into tears in the kitchen over a pan of burnt blackened FAILURE. Oh wait... that's already happened. More than once.

Anyways, my first project was PIZZA. I was totally daunted by the idea of making homemade pizza. Anything that involves dough rising is a new concept to me; so far, my primary experiences with yeast have been with Saccromyces in a microbiology lab, measuring gas output per concentration of organisms. Nerd 4 lyfe.

PIZZA. right. moving on. Pizza is actually really easy to make! How do I know that? Because if it was even slightly difficult, I would have ruined the whole thing! I adapted this whole-wheat crust recipe because, let's face it, if you asked a Kenyan for a bag of whole wheat flour, they'd give you a bushel of wheat stalks. White flour it is, then.

RECIPE (adapted from How Sweet It Is):

Dough:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

(Note: 1/2 cup water wasn't enough to get all the loose flour off the bottom of the bowl, so I added a bit more).

Combine flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add water, honey and oil, mixing with a spoon to form into a ball. Continue mixing with your hands and knead for about 60 seconds. Lightly oil bowl and add dough back in. Cover and let rise for 2-3 hours.


And if you let it rise for a bit more, that'll work, too. How do I know this? I took a serious nap and missed the three-hour mark. I'm developing excellent time-management skills, I know. 


Toppings:
I made two types of pizza: Margherita, and green-pepper-onion-tomato. For each, I added about 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and a half-cup of parmesan, then layered the toppings and sprinkled with about a quarter-cup of feta. The combination of cheeses worked really well! The recipe for this is quite simple:

1. Grate cheese unsuccessfully for approximately 5 minutes until you realize you’re using the wrong side of the grater. 

2. Switch sides of grater.

3.Grate cheese for what seems like 5 hours and curse the pizza gods for placing you in a place without pre-grated cheese. 

4. Chop up an entire bell pepper and arrange it in a sunburst pattern around the pizza because it looks really pretty. Chop up other toppings and just toss that shit on the pizza.

Margherita pizza!

Onions, peppers, tomatoes!

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees, or somewhere between 220 and 250 Celsius. Who knows if my oven dial is right or not. It's Kenya!

Oh, and I also made hummus (another fear-of-failure experiment in preparation for an appetizer for Thursday. Although it was tahini-less, after fruitlessly visiting four grocery stores.

Also, it turns out hummus is not very photogenic.

But delicious nevertheless!

Ginger Cake Donuts with Nutella Glaze and Snickers topping

Yum.

Apparently being in Kenya has made me a better baker, because I've made two fantastically yummy things in the past two days.

Baking here isn't easy. There's a very limited selection of supplies, so I've had to improvise a bit. For example, there isn't any buttermilk here. I've seen one tub of cream cheese, but it looked suspiciously like cottage cheese. Corn syrup is called "liquid glucose" (literal, isn't it?). And originally, when I couldn't find a cupcake pan anywhere, I bought a mini donut pan instead. (Does anyone else think it's strange that they have donut pans, but not muffin pans? Or is it just me?)

One of my favorite snacks in Kenya is ginger nuts, little gingersnap crackers. I decided to try and make a cupcake (and then a donut, per my limitations) inspired by these yummy little noms. I used a ginger cake mix with a few pinches of cinnamon thrown in, made a Nutella glaze using 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp Nutella and 2 tbsp milk, and crumbled some Snickers on top.

Please take the time to admire my food styling, and the use of paper towel as background. 

Dee-licious.

Hannah makes real food

Here's the thing: I'm not so great at making real food. Yeah, I can bake a mean hand pie, and I can frost a cupcake so prettily you'll swoon. I can even make a pretty darn good sandwich. But dinner food? Not so much. I'm not sure if you know about the forgetting-the-water-in-the-Easy-Mac-and-almost-burning-the-house-down story. I think you get the point.

Anyway, it was my turn to cook at my new apartment in Kenya the other night. So I spent about two hours looking online for a simple recipe to make. And then I spend another two hours having multiple small panic attacks in the grocery store. (No mushrooms? Are you serious? Wait, is this all the cheese you have? You're telling me that you don't sell anything but whole milk? Is that a joke?) Etc, etc. 

Eventually I settled on a simple pasta, tossed with chicken cubes and tomatoes in garlic olive oil. I was positive it was going to be a mushy mess.

BUT IT WASN'T! HAPPY TIMES! 

Okay, I know it's really, really hard to mess up pasta with olive oil. But you're talking to the girl who baked the same cake (from a cake mix) 5 times and has yet to successfully keep it from collapsing. Or perhaps my mother just sabotaged each one so she could claim the Happy Cake crown.

That's beside the point.

Here's a lovely picture of my first-ever homemade dinner!

About the wine: I'm legal, in Kenya. SO THERE