Month: December 2007

Peppermint Cookies and Cream Brownies = Crazy Good

Peppermint Cookies and Cream Brownies

I saw these on Slashfood awhile ago and I knew I had to have them. My housemates thoroughly agreed. So once I finished all the projects and classes and found myself in vacation, I went straight to Trader Joe’s, bought myself a box of Peppermint Jo-Jo’s (so much better than an Oreo will ever be) and baked up a plate of these insanely delicious brownies.

I didn’t follow the Baking Bites recipe exactly. Or at all. Instead, I found a basic brownie recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book and stirred in the crushed up peppermint cookies at the end. And wow, oh wow. They were the very picture of decadence. The creamy peppermint filling melted into the brownie, and the cookies got crispy and extra baked tasting, and all in all, this was a brownie experience well worth repeating. In fact, I only got one brownie before they disappeared, which is both testament to their deliciousness and a requirement for me to make them again. Soon.

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Saffron cream sauce, refrigerator pasta, and my new pizza peel

Pasta in saffron cream sauce

Now that the semester is finally over, I’m looking forward to some cooking and some baking and, yes, some blog posting. To kick off the good times, I have a few things to share that I actually did get around to cooking over the past few weeks. I know you’re thrilled.

That up there? That some extra special pasta with a saffron cream sauce. I had a similar dish in two different restaurants, and both times I swooned into my plate and vowed to attempt such a feat in my own kitchen. And for such an incredible dish, it’s actually pretty easy to pull off. Other exciting news? Pizza has returned! I finally got myself a nice, wood pizza peel. Any future disasters with sticky dough and topping-flinging have been averted, and I must say, the first pizza I made using this excellent tool was pretty sweet. The pizza peel is my hero. Pizza experimentation will resume in full force.

And last night? Last night was clean out the refrigerator night, and I managed to put together a delicious dinner in about 15 minutes, and achieve some winter-time comfort to boot.

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Guest Bloggity Blogger: Christa’s Turkey Chili Rice

Turkey Chili Rice

Don’t worry readers, Laura will return shortly for the next posting! This is the roommate, Christa, coming at you to report on my culinary undertakings this week. We eat well around here.

My story begins on a lazy Saturday afternoon when I had nothing to do and realized my love affair with the Food Network has been grossly neglected. I flipped the television on and settled in for an episode of Guy’s Big Bite (for you FN devotees, he’s the dude who won the Next Food Network Star Challenge a while back). He was doing a bunch of stuff with turkey, and one recipe in particular caught my eye and called to my growling stomach. I’ve been known to enjoy both chili and rice on their own, so how could a meal that combines the two be bad, I thought? Well, as we all soon discovered, it can’t.

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Light Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Chive-Cayenne Oil

Bowl of Broccoli Soup

When people think of broccoli soup, the ubiquitous casserole-glue cream of broccoli usually comes to mind. I don’t know many people who consider broccoli soup high up on the list of adored foodstuffs. But you see, my love of broccoli knows no bounds. I mean, I even love the stuff on pizza. And while I do have a bit of a weakness for a heavy, creamy bowl of canned badness, I’ve never tried my hand at making my own. Of course, now that I have an immersion blender, broccoli soup had to be one of the first things I introduced it to. (Are you guys sick of hearing about the immersion blender yet? I hope not–I suspect it’s going to be a soupy winter.)

When I started looking for a recipe, though, I found myself shying away from those full of heavy cream and flour and cups upon cups of cheese. I’ve been feeling lackluster from the lack of vitamins in my diet, and my inability to get to the gym on a regular basis probably means that I should limit my intake of heavy creamy dairy just a titch. I wanted to find a recipe that really let the broccoli dominate, but I was worried about producing boring soup. This was such a conundrum, people!

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