bFeedme

Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Archives for July 2009

Foodie Game: Restaurant City

By

Yes, Facebook is great for finding everyone from your best friend in the first grade, to checking out what your ex-boyfriend’s been up to, to networking for business purposes- but the truth is there’s one thing that’s been making sure I visit Facebook daily, and it’s called Restaurant City. Here’s what my restaurant currently looks like:

resto-city

Emphasis on the “currently”, because as anyone who plays this strangely addicting game knows, one is constantly decorating and redecorating in Restaurant City. You start with a small, simple structure- one or two tables, a stove, a cook and a waiter- and, as in the best of games in this genre, from there it’s all about building.

resto-city-in

With each level, you get a larger restaurant or an additional employee, and you build your menu with ingredients you “collect” (one free ingredient a day, two if you answer the daily food quiz correctly!) And, because it’s a Facebook game, the social aspect of the game is most important: you must trade ingredients with your friends, giving up an ear of Sweet Corn for an Onion, for example, or some Rice for three scoops of Ice Cream. It all depends, of course, on what dishes you’re featuring on your menu. Used to be, you could only feature one dish from each category (Starter, Entree, Dessert, Drinks)- but a few days ago, RC increased this to two dishes per category- causing a huge flurry of ingredient-trading, at least among my similarly-obsessed friends.

resto-city-dishes

Sound like something you might enjoy? Check out Restaurant City by Playfish Games on Facebook. And while you’re there, don’t forget to visit the bFeedme Facebook Page and become a fan.

Delicious Links this week

By

dlinks-july30

Ready for some comfort food? Yeah, me too. This week, I’ve picked out five uber-comforting dishes for you, with the kicker that these are all pretty easy recipes to follow. See for yourself:

1. From Tea & Cookies comes these (surprise, surprise) cookies that look like they would be awesome with tea. Or milk. Or coffee… they’re Apricot Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. Their name speaks for itself, no?

2. Over at Smitten Kitchen, this Cantaloupe Salsa has me smitten for several reasons: first of all, I love cantaloupe. So much that I’ll take any excuse to have it. And in a salsa? Chilled, as a side to something spicy? Come to Mama.

3. We’ve all had Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, but Dozen Flours’ Upside Down Sweet Cherry Cake looks like it might be even better. If you like cherries, this is a no-brainer.

4. If this is how geeks eat, then I wouldn’t mind being called one! What geeks eat’s Perfect Potato Salad is made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, chopped fresh parsley, green onions, and mmm… bacon.

5. And finally, a pancake recipe! Because I will never tire of featuring pancake recipes here at bFeedMe. Banana Pancakes from My Baking Addiction are chock-full of good stuff, from fresh bananas to whole milk to vanilla extract to cinnamon. Pour on some maple syrup and a generous dollop of butter.

Serious(ly good) Cake

By

This, ladies and gentlemen, is serious cake.

serious-cake

It isn’t much to look at- especially when the photo was taken with an ultrabad cellphone camera- but the point is that it’s weak-at-the-knees delicious. Rich and gooey and chocolatey and sweet and nutty and… will leave you swooning. It’s chocolate, of course, and like the best of chocolate cakes, isn’t ashamed to shout it to the world: hey! there’s chocolate in here. A LOT of chocolate. And sugar. And butter. As you’ll see:

Texas-style Chocolate Pecan Sheet Cake

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter (around 230 grams)
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

The frosting, that hot chocolate and pecan oozing deliciousness, will set after a few minutes. Slice into squares, and enjoy.

Recipe source: The Pioneer Woman’s Best Chocolate Cake

Stick to Your Ribs Barbecued Ribs

By

ribs

According to The Free Dictionary, the expression “stick to one’s ribs” refers to food that will “last long and fortify one well”. The example sentence they give is “I don’t want just a salad! I want something that will stick to my ribs.”- something I agree with very often. In a perfect world, all meals will fortify you well.

These barbecued ribs are such a meal. Yes, they’re mostly bone, but as any rib-aficionado knows, it’s the meat next to those bones that are stunningly delicious. Moist, succulent, and tasty.

Stick to Your Ribs Barbecued Ribs

Ingredients
6 lbs pork spareribs (or pork babyback ribs)
1 28-oz can chunky tomato sauce (or you can use some tomato sauce and a can of good chopped tomatoes)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I’ve used either chinese or japanese- they’re both good)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder (may be substituted with 3 crushed cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients (except the ribs, naturally) together in a large bowl. Slather over the ribs. Now, depending on how you want to cook this, you can either:
– Put it into a crock-pot, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, OR
– Fire up the grill, and barbecue these babies.

Note that there isn’t anything ladylike about this dish- enjoying it requires a good amount of paper napkins, after all- but if you want ladylike, have a salad.

Cornflake Girl

By

cornflakes

As a child, the only boxed cereal I’d eat was Frosted Flakes. I’m not sure if it was because of Tony the Tiger- my favorite toy for years was a beat up old Tigger doll (which I still have, and which is staring at me from a top shelf right here in my office as I type this. Hi, Tigger!)- but I loved my Frosted Flakes. As I grew up, though, I found it too sweet for my tastes, and transitioned to regular cornflakes. With honey- or vanilla sugar if I’m feeling naughty- and creamy whole milk (but not too much, I don’t like soggy cornflakes). What exactly is in a cornflake, though? Some online research brought me these interesting facts:

  • Wikipedia tells me that cornflakes were originally manufactured by Kellogg’s “through the treatment of corn”, and that it was originally called “Granose”. Good call changing the name, I say- although the “treatment of corn” doesn’t sound too healthy to me.
  • This awesome page describes the process of making cornflakes, from milling the sweetcorn to rolling it into flakes with 40 tonnes of pressure, to um, “spraying” it with vitamins and minerals.
  • Although I like them best in a bowl with milk and sweetener, cornflakes are a wonderful substitute for breading in most recipes. Check out this Cornflake Fried Chicken recipe from Epicurious, for example. One reviewer said the sweetness of the cornflakes was “a delicious change”.

Finally, let me leave you with this recipe from Nigel Slater that uses four ingredients, and makes some of the most addicting little “cakes” I’ve ever tasted. Try them and see.

Chocolate Cornflake Cakes

Ingredients
50g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup (or corn syrup- or honey)
100g good dark chocolate
75g cornflakes

In a small, heavy pan over low heat, melt the butter, syrup and chocolate together. Stir in the cornflakes. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out rounds of the mixture onto a buttered baking sheet or silpat mat. Chill in the fridge.

Mini Chicken Pies

By

chicken-pies

Mini chicken pies might seem like they take a long time to make, but the beauty of these little gems- aside from being jaw-droppingly delicious, of course- is that they freeze beautifully. Make a big batch, stick them in the freezer, and whenever you or anyone in your family feels like some hot pie, simply heat it in a hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Because I’ve spent so much time perfecting my own pie-crust recipe, I use homemade pie-crust. But feel free to use store bought pie crust- or even some puff pastry or filo. The star of this show is the filling– the recipe of which I give you here:

Mini Chicken Pie Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded (from your favorite roast, or simply some chicken you’ve boiled up)
6 thick slices of bacon, chopped
1 1/2 cups white onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
4 teaspoons fresh marjoram, chopped (* sage works particularly well in this too!)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cups creme fraiche (or good thick sour cream)

Preheat your oven to 450F (yep, you want it preheated HOT so you don’t get soggy crusts). Prepare your crusts by rolling it out and cutting in circles. Line the holes of a muffin pan with these mini crusts. Set aside.

In a large pan, fry chopped bacon until crispy. Remove bacon from pan- and add your chopped onions into the pan. Saute this until soft and lightly browned, around six to eight minutes. Add carrots, green beans, and marjoram, and cook while stirring for about a minute. Add chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced, but not dry. Stir in your chicken, the creme fraiche, and bacon. Simmer shortly. Season to taste. This is your filling.

Fill the mini crusts with a generous amount of filling. Cover each with another piecrust round, pressing the edges together to seal. Cut holes for steam. Bake until golden brown, around 25 minutes.

Five Quick & Healthy Snacks

By

carrot-sticks

It may not seem like it, but it’s not all about over-indulgent desserts and cooking with lots of butter here at bFeedMe: we really do care about eating “well”- and most of the time, that means sticking to healthy choices. Which is why today I want to post about my favorite healthy snacks- and really, because they’re so quick to prepare, there’s no reason not to grab one of these in a moment of peckishness. Instead of a cookie or that bag of chips, I mean.

Chilled Carrot Sticks
It’s not easy to find fresh baby carrots at my local supermarket, but when I do, I like to wash them, portion them out in small freezer bags, and chill them- to be eaten plain when I’m looking for something crunchy and sweet. Without baby carrots, regular carrots will do as well- wash, peel, and cut into sticks. Can’t get much easier than that.

Boiled Eggs
So after years of telling us to limit our egg intake, it turns out eggs are good for us. I knew that all along, of course- and boiled eggs are probably my favorite quick snack of all time. Hard-boiled or soft-boiled, I can’t really decide which one I like best. Oh, and they must be perfectly done- learn how to make a perfect hard-boiled egg here.

Banana Peanut Butter Smears
I could be the only person on earth who calls them this- but these are basically plain bananas smeared with peanut butter. All you need is a banana, a jar of your favorite peanut butter (I like crunchy, but would never turn my nose up at creamy), and a good spoon. And a napkin. Bananas give you potassium, and peanut butter is chock full of good things like Vitamin B3, Niacin and Protein. Who knew healthy snacking could be such fun, eh?

Hot Cocoa
This is what I reach for when I have a strong chocolate craving, and don’t want to wreck my diet with a slice of chocolate cake. There are so many awesome varieties of instant hot cocoa these days (helloooo, Jacques Torres Wicked), and if you make it with skim milk, and give it a good whisk, it makes for a wonderfully satisfying, luxurious chocolate snack.

Slices of Cheese spread with Jam
A few slices of regular cheddar cheese spread with jam (or natural fruit preserves, if you want to be strict about it) really hits the spot for me. Seriously, if you’ve never tried this one- do. The salty creamy cheese is perfectly offset by the sweet tartness of the jam. I like strawberry, but went through a cheese and marmalade phase not too long ago.

What are your favorite snacks?

Make it Yourself: Green Tea Ice Cream

By

Green tea is consistently named one of the best health foods of all time- it’s said to fight cancer and heart disease, lower cholesterol, burn fat, prevent diabetes and strokes… the list goes on and on. But while I do enjoy the occasional cup of green tea (with a fondness for nutty Japanese blends), one of my favorite ways to have green tea is in ice cream.

Green Tea Ice Cream

Okay, so maybe green tea ice cream isn’t the same as green tea. Maybe I’m cancelling out all the nutritional benefits by mixing it with a ton of heavy cream and sugar… but this is one of those times I like to fool myself. Haagen-Dazs makes a particularly delicious Green Tea ice cream, but why buy when you can make it yourself? It isn’t that hard, I promise you.

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream
Based on a recipe by Gale Gand

Ingredients
3 cups heavy cream
1 cups whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
9 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons green tea powder (also known as “matcha”!)

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, milk, and vanilla bean, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn’t scorch on the bottom. When the cream mixture reaches a fast simmer (do not let it boil), set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the still-hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. At 160 degrees, the mixture will give off a puff of steam. When the mixture reaches 180 degrees it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don’t have a thermometer, test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready; if the edges blur, the mixture is not quite thick enough yet. When it is ready, quickly remove it from the heat and whisk in the green tea. Meanwhile, half-fill a large bowl with ice water. Strain the mixture into a smaller bowl to smooth it and remove the vanilla bean. Rest the smaller bowl in the ice water and let the mixture cool, stirring often, then continue according to the directions of your ice cream maker.

This makes really awesome green tea ice cream. Creamy and not too sweet.

Ya Gotta Eat Yer Spinach

By

Perfect Spinach

I never understood the aversion to spinach that so many people have. Spinach has always been one of my favorite vegetables- perhaps my very favorite leafy green ever– and I’ve only ever looked upon a large bag of fresh spinach with much anticipation of deliciousness to come. I love how affordable and versatile it is as well: chop some up and throw it in a frittata, add it to your stir-fries, bake it in a souffle, sprinkle with lemon juice and seasoning for a salad- there’s so much to do with spinach.

But this, this simplest of ways to prepare the leafy green, is in my humble opinion the perfect way to enjoy spinach:

Perfect Spinach

Ingredients:
5 cups fresh spinach
4 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thinly*
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Prepare your spinach by removing any thick, hard stems. Discard these, or hand them to your family dogs in exchange for many puppy kisses. In a large saucepan, heat around 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the garlic in this lightly, until just very lightly browned. Add the spinach, tossing it to make sure it’s properly coated with olive oil and garlic. Cover. Lower heat, and let this cook for around four to five minutes… after which time, you’ll wonder where all the spinach went. It’s wilted, and that’s fine- that’s what you want. Season with salt and pepper, and maybe a little more olive oil.

And that’s it. When I’m feeling veggie, I’ll have this for dinner with a nice hunk of bread, or maybe over some plain pasta with olive oil- but it’s great as a side dish to any meaty entree as well.

* Ever since I saw Mario Batali prepare his garlic by slicing it thinly, this has been my favorite way to cook with garlic. It cooks more evenly, and looks better than regularly-bruised garlic.

Brandy your Cherries

By

Brandied Cherries

Cherry Brandy was one of those things that sounded absolutely delicious to me as a child. I was determined to drink it when I grew up. Now that I’m all grown up, though, I’ve discovered something I like much better than Cherry Brandy- Brandied Cherries!

There’s just something about brandying my own fresh cherries that make me feel all fifties housewife with fire engine red lipstick and a pink apron. Here’s how to do it:

Homemade Brandied Cherries

Ingredients:
5 pounds fresh, dark cherries (the sweeter, the better!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup good brandy

Method:
Wash and pit your cherries. To a large pan, add sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add the pitted cherries, and let simmer for around five minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the brandy. Et voila! The most delicious Brandied Cherries ever.

What to do with these? My favorite way is atop a generous slice of chocolate cake. It’s also killer over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or- if you really want to be wicked- with a scoop of Cherry Garcia and a good dousing of chocolate syrup.