Easy Coffee and Cookies
I have coffee.
Make this easy “LAZY” coffee on your countertop over night. You already know I really dig these multi-day techniques. They make me feel so productive, as if I am multi-tasking all day and night. Here’s a good base recipe: 80z medium grind coffee for every gallon of water. Mix room temperature water and coffee. Let it sit for 24 hours. (at least 12) Filter the coffee twice through a metal sieve lined with cheese cloth. Store in the fridge for about 2-3 weeks. I made quite a large batch here. Mistakes were made. Just be patient and filter twice. You’ll probably change the strength of your brew to suit you after your first batch. SO just make some. After it’s chilled, get a big glass of ice and add milk, sugar and whatever you like. I like both. Oh yes!
“Breakfast Cookies”
These cookies are amazing! My good friend Martha Stewart told me about this in her magazine this month. Also here on the webs. She calls for a half cup of dough per cookie. It would make them as big as pizzas! I used a quarter cup and they were still huge. I eventually switched to a small scoop which made a more reasonable sized treat. Next time I will make them more of a haystack puffy cookies as opposed to so crispy. I’m not gonna lie, they are really good. Together they make a great mid -day snack for your boring work day. Get your coffee started NOW and then head to the store so you can bake these tomorrow!!
perfect snack snack!
Giveaway from America’s Test Kitchen!
Sunshine on a plate!
The Pietanic
It’s The Pietanic!! Your heart will go on!
Because finally!! The long anticipated pie post on America’s Test Kitchen’s Blog, The Feed! Is up and awesome!
You remember don’t you? I, and my humble blog, won a free trial scholarship to the online cooking school. America’s Test Kitchen Online Cooking School. You might recall the deal was: I would receive a scholarship if I agreed to bake apple pies utilizing their courses and blog about them for their blog called, “The Feed.” COOL right? Yes! COOL!
It was so much fun for me. I learned making pie is a science and a craft. More importantly it is an art! Art is ALWAYS harder than it looks. But I swear this was pretty dang easy. (Once I relaxed and got my pie mojo!) Near, far, wherever you are– you can go and read all about my process and see all of the pies and the surprise delight that came from them!
HERE’S THE GIVEAWAY!
You can make pretty pies too! As a matter of fact, I WANT you to make pies, and pasta, and eggs and meat! So much so that I am giving away (with the help of ATK Online Cooking School) to TWO lucky winners- a 60 day trial to the cooking school! Yep, you can go back to school and have total access to the course catalogue and all the lessons for 2 whole months! You know you need this! It’s already back-to-school, Memorial Day LABOR DAY* is coming, and before you know it it’ll be Thanksgiving! It is TIME to get your cooking mojo flowing! It’s time to get those questions answered, and take your skills to the next level- whatever that level is!
Here are the details on how to enter to win:
1. follow me on twitter AND leave your Twitter handle along with your desire to be entered to win- in the comment section here.
I will want to follow you back and put your name in the giant hat!
Click “like” on my Facebook page! Poor ‘ole thing, it needs the love!
Go check out “The Feed.” If you do nothing else, do this. It is so amazing! I learn so much from this blog! You’ll thank me for this. I subscribe to their blog. I love it that much.
It’s that easy. I will pick a name at random out of the giant hat at the next full moon! (August 31) and two lucky winners will be on their way to amazing delicious cooking!
Go on! Tell me, do you want to go back to school- right in your own kitchen? What do you want to learn more about cooking?
* thanks Doug, those end of summer vs beginning of summer holidays confuse me!
LIVE bears!!!!!
I am obsessed with these live cams. Bears fishing for salmon. LIVE! This is not poor qualaity boring live cams! No, my friends- this is action awesomeness! Will you get addicted like I am?
Hello Darlings!…
Hello Darlings!
I am on a blog vaycay for about 2 weeks. BUT I expect to have my pie post on Americas Test Kitchen website this week, and I will post it here then. until then…
Four Chocolates Brownie
Sometimes you just need to make brownies
Sometimes you just need brownies. You know what I mean? Sometimes it just feels good to make brownies. So familiar and chocolatey. A comforting dish to make. (and eat!)
I had that feeling the other day, I just wanted to make brownies. I went back to a recipe that I’ve been playing with for a while now. It’s called “The World’s Best Brownie.” And I agree it’s a damn fine brownie, but I made a couple of changes – and now it’s called the “Four Chocolates Brownie.” The brownie on its own is absolutely delicious. Perfectly ready to sneak out of the pan as you walk past the kitchen. No one would ever know. But if you want to have a little fun and share it with your friends you can dress it up with some raspberry sauce and or whipped cream. I did both. 🙂
with raspberry sauce and guajillo honey, vanilla bean whipped cream.
The last time I went to the farmer’s market there was a lady there selling local honey. You can buy local honey in the local grocery store, but there’s something about getting the honey from the lady who’s working the bees isn’t there? She had her regular honey but she also had guajillo honey. She explained to me that this is a very special plant that only blooms for a short while. I guess the bees really like the nectar, they get it while they can. The honey is limited quantity and deelish! It’s a lighter honey and its flavor is delicate sweet. She recommended that I not use it for baking and cooking because it’s flavor would get lost. I felt like it would be perfect to sweeten whipped cream. It was. I had the raspberry sauce from one of my jam making marathons last month. Adding it here seemed the right thing to do.
Four Chocolates Brownies
2 sticks of butter softened
2 cups of white sugar
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs slightly beaten
3/4 cup high fat cocoa powder
1 short cup of flour (1 cup -1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 ounce milk chocolate chips
Grease and flour 9 x 13 pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chopped and chips. Pour into the pan and smooth evenly.
Bake at 350° on the middle rack for about 30 minutes. After 3 minutes start checking it. Jiggle the pan; if the middle jiggles sloppily, put it back in the oven and bake for another 2-4 minutes. Keep checking on it doing this until cracks just start to appear and the middle has stopped jiggling. Remove the brownies from the oven and let cool.
Guajillo Honey and Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 Whole vanilla bean
2 teaspoons of guajillo honey
Place your bowl and beaters in the freezer while you gather your ingredients.
Split the vanilla bean pod carefully down the center without going all the way through both sides. Using the back of your knife scrape gently scrape the vanilla caviar out of the bean pod. Put the heavy cream place in your cold bowl, add the vanilla beans 1 teaspoon of sugar and the honey. Using a hand mixer (or your own hands and a whisk) beat it until it starts to get firm. Add the second teaspoon of powdered sugar. Continue whipping cream until it’s nice and firm (but not too much or you’ll have butter).
Enjoy!
Make Ghee!
Today is the best day of the year to make GHEE! You probably know ghee as clarified butter. But it’s more than clarified butter it’s super clarified butter! It’s spiritualized clarified butter! Ghee is the best thing in the whole wide world. It’s great on toast, on bread, as a base to everything you sauté or use melted butter in. (Not sure about baking. If you do know, reader please share here!) Because it has a very high smoke point I even use it when I grill -it adds a wonderful flavor.
I love making ghee. You can make a little bit of ghee by just preparing a pound of butter, but I’m not a small batch kind a girl. I think you know that by now. So here it is, the recipe have been promising for over a year, ghee!
Ghee
A mostly photographic instruction. **a surprise bonus video at the end of this post.
Step 1: Take a shower
Step 2: Make an Altar
An Altar is nothing more than a gathering of things that give you joy, or offer a sense of closeness to your Self. Ideally you would include an item that brings you close to “spirit”. It’s Guru Purnima so a photo or memento of a spiritual teacher or deity would be ideal. Gather your favorite things. (crystals, stones, feathers cards, drawings) Light a candle, light some incense; turn on some nice music such as chanting or classical, something calming and easy to listen to.
upstairs north window altar
Step 3: Melt the Butter.
Step 4: Wait. Ghee is not fast. You can’t rush. The ghee process that you see here took three and one half hours. I started with 3 or 4 pounds of organic unsalted butter
melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy bottomed pot. do not stir.
as it boils it will foam up, eventually it will begin to crust up onto the sides of the pot. do not stir your ghee.
take the butter to a good steady simmer, do not stir.
as it simmers it will get clearer. do not stir the ghee.
NOW you can carefully skim from the middle of the surface. do not stir. gently skim the foam to reveal the bottom of the pot.
impurities on bottom of the pot are allowed to caramelize some to sweeten the ghee. do not stir. do not allow to burn.
strain ghee. pour carefully. do not allow the impurities from the bottom to be strained through the cheese cloth. they will be stored separately.
pour into small jars for storage.
the batch.
The solids from the bottom of the pot. There are 2 schools of thought about this part of the ghee. One says they’re impure, toss them out. Others say it is the sweetest part of the ghee. I like them, I tend to have this on my toast as a treat! It is also said to add sugar to this and feed it to the children! 😉
I usually use a canning lid on the ghee jars to get a good seal. Place the lids on while the butter is warm. It does not need to be refrigerated, even in Houston I have kept ghee in the cabinets for 2 years without any problem. If you refrigerate it, it will last “forever”. (If you don’t double dip your knife or spoon in.) BUT it will be very hard and difficult to remove from the jar when it’s cold. Just use a clean knife each time you go in, and keep it in a dark cabinet, it’ll be fine. Of course, toss it of you see mold or any other suspicious growth.
Now, the last step: sit one jar on your altar as an offering to your teacher or to spirit. Ask the universe to accept it and enjoy it and bless it with it’s pleasure. Leave the jar overnight. Now your ghee is ready to eat.
Go on, make ghee! It’s the most perfect day of the year!
**BONUS VIDEO:
BONUS VIDEO #1: The Sound of Ghee
This is how the ghee sounds while you are cooking it. It’s LOUD stuff! How cool is this?
BONUS VIDEO #2: The Experience of Making Ghee
Happy Guru Purnima!
July 3, 2012 is a very special full moon-
In many Hindu based belief systems it is known as Guru Purnima “The Guru’s Moon.”
This is the time we look back at our year, review our spiritual progress, renew our intention and determination on the path, and Honor the Guru!
(it is also the BEST day of the to year to make ghee- go buy at least 4 pounds of unsalted butter today and look for a ghee recipe this Tuesday for ghee!)
This video is a sweet song of devotion to the Guru from the Beatles. It came on my Pandora station today, just as I walked in from outdoors. How auspicious! I found this lovely video of the band having darshan and meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, their teacher. Please watch this video and consider how you can further yourself in your spiritual growth. May you be blessed by this great full moon!
Om Guru Om.
Across The Universe
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass- they slip away across the universe.
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai Gurudev! om.
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
They call me on and on across the universe.
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box- they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe.
Jai Gurudev! om.
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Sounds of laughter, shades of earth are ringing
Through my opened ears inciting and inviting me.
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
million suns and calls me on and on
Across the universe.
Jai Gurudev! om.
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Nothing’s gonna change my world!
Jai Gurudev!
Jai Gurudev!
Jai Gurudev!
Hibiscus Watermelon Refresco
It is so hot! I hear it all over the web. It’s hot here in Houston. It’s thick hot. Then it’s dry hot. Then it’s humid and hot. It’s just so much. All you want is to cool down!
This is the perfect drink for these unbearable days and nights.
No major energy spent at all.
Hibiscus Watermelon Refresco
2 cups Hibiscus tea
3 cups watermelon
Lime
Agave Nectar or Honey (or not)
Pink sea salt
Brew 3 tablespoons of dried hibiscus flowers in 2 cups of water. Pour boiling water over flowers and stir.
Sit down. Fan yourself.
Remove seeds and cut 1/3 of a large watermelon into chunks.
Stand in front of open refrigerator after putting away the melon. Close your eyes and enjoy the cool air.
Put 3 cups of ice into a large pitcher, have a little ice party on your forehead. Let the water run down your neck.
Strain tea from solids and pour the beautiful red tea into the ice. Stir. Inhale the fruity essence of the tea.
Put the watermelon in your blender, in batches if necessary, but don’t strain yourself. It’s not molecular cuisine is it?
Read a nice magazine while you wait for the ice to melt completely into the tea.
Add the melon to the pitcher. Squeeze half a lime into the mixture. Squirt some agave nectar in. Add a little salt to taste.
Pour the tea thru a strainer into a pretty glass and recline.
Fan your self as you refresh while you enjoy your beautiful drink.
Take a nap with your favorite animal.
Why not? That was exhausting and it’s so hot!
I used lemon not lime as my recipe calls for. It was so hot, I just used what was already sliced.
Take a Figgy Break
figs
Great Fig Idea
Wash.
Slice.
Eat.
Sexxy Beans
fresh beans with pico de gallo
Beans are not beautiful.
Actually, uncooked beans can be quite beautiful. But once beans are cooked they are they are less than sexy. I have fond memories of beans, delicious flavorful beans. I am from Tennessee and beans were a staple in our diet. We were poor and didn’t eat meat every day. (Well, of course there was bacon or ham hocks in the beans, but a proper meat entrée wasn’t always available.) I know now as an adult but these beans were very overcooked but for some reason that is still my standard of delicious. Lately I’ve been cooking beans trying to get good flavor without creating a bowl full of mush. Of course in the case of red beans and rice Louisiana style- a big bowl of mush is exactly what they should be! So perhaps the standards are regional?
Last week I was at the farmers market and fresh pinto beans were available! Of course I scooped up a pound or so and decided to give it a go. I washed and separated the beans, covered them with water and cooked them for a few hours. After the 1st couple of hours of cooking I added in some pan fried andouille sausage and let them cook for another hour or so. They came out great, but… Again not sexy. To make them a little more attractive I went for the old Texas (Tex-Mex) standby–pico de gallo. “Pico” as it’s called in my house is pretty simple and straightforward, the most important thing is to use the freshest ingredients possible.
yes, that is a wet paper towel- this is not one for tastespotting.com!
Pico de gallo is a simple mix of firm tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and peppers. I have 3 banana pepper plants growing out back so I decided to use one of the banana peppers to give my pico a little personality. Pretty much all you do is cut the tomatoes into chunks remove the seeds, chop the onion, chop the cilantro, and chop the peppers. You can add a little lime juice if you’d like I usually don’t but this time I did because I had an abundance of limes. Once everything is chopped it makes a beautiful dish like this.
Pico de gallo
The pico de gallo added a wonderful flavor to the beans and also gave them a bit of crunch and spice. I don’t always add pico de gallo to my beans, sometimes I like to have them southern style and serve them with cornbread and pan- fried potatoes. Not quite as beautiful but definitely just as delicious. I think beans are good any time of year, even if it’s hot outside you can use them cold as a salad, such as black-eyed peas in a dish called Texas caviar. How about you friends? Do you eat beans year around? And please tell me, how do you make your beans sexier?
darla cooks 