Two Things I Ate Last Week

Last week was very interesting. I went skiing for the first time in my life, which was life changing. The Superbowl happened. It was the first full week of class in a while. ... But despite all of this excitement- there was still more to be had.

I had the privilege to try two new treats, one that was a gift from the Quaker oats man, the other from the Village Point Market, where I work.

Quaker True Delights-

OK- I never thought that having this FoodBuzz publisher thing would ever pay off, (look to the far right) but any time you get free food it is a plus for sure. One day last week I opened my mailbox and to my pure joy and excitement there was a large envelope with the FoodBuzz logo and 6 "new to the market" Quaker Oats granola bars.

They were AWESOME! My favorite is was the Banana Macadamia Coconut combination, with a close second being the Cashew Berry. When these things hit the market (they might already have) everyone should most diffidently go out and buy a box. There are only 140 calories and taste like they have 100 more.

Vosges Bacon Chocolate Bar-

I have had my eyes this bar ever since my first day at work. The bar comes in a nice little box, but disappointingly the chocolate is about 1/8 the thickness of the box it comes in - very misleading. The chocolate was very...interesting. It tasted like straight smoked chocolate. Would I buy this particular bar again?- probably not. Would I buy another Vosges Chocolate bar...maybe.

Would I buy some more Quaker True Delights? You bet.

Candied Ginger-

There is no mistaking that candied ginger is ginger. In case you were wondering or assuming that coating thin slices of ginger root in sugar would in some way dull the infamous spicy after taste- it most certainly dose not. Is it still good? Yes.

That being said, doing the candying process in your own kitchen is very cool. You have to remove the paper thin skin off the root and then get to have fun slicing  it on a mandolin. It is a little bit of work but if for some reason you need a pound of sugar coated ginger, very worth while. I have a few ideas for how to use the stuff, and will have plenty of room to experiment given I do in fact have a pound of ginger now. 

You could go the ginger snap cookie rout, and there are TONS of good recipes out there. I really want to hunt around and find something different to make with my ginger, something a little more unexpected. 

Until then, enjoy these little snacks of sugar coated ginger goodness. Eaten one at a time on there own they are really tasty and have a unique taste, but as mentioned about, you know you're eating ginger. 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. 

Candied Ginger-

One large "hand" of ginger

5 cups water

Sugar

Break hand into manageable pieces and remove skin by quickly scraping a small knife up and down the sides. Set mandolin to 1/8 of an inch and slice ginger into rounds. (If you don't have a mandolin, you can try and use a large knife but ginger is very fibrous and sometimes hard to cut thin.) Add ginger and pour water into a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil then lower to medium high temp and cook for about 35 minutes. Strain out ginger but reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Measure the weight of the cooked ginger and then add an equal weight of sugar to the cooking pot. Add back the cooked ginger and the reserved liquid and cook on medium high heat until all of the liquid is cooked off. Spread out on wire rack to cool.  

Ribs with a Good Sauce

There is nothing more to say. When you want ribs, you want ribs, and this weekend my family and I wanted ribs. This is a good go to recipe and is pretty unique as far a sauces go. There's only a few ingredients, which is a plus for an easy Sunday dinner. 

These have kind of an Asian spin/ latin spin, combing chipolte peppers with an orange glaze. I cut the sugar content down to about half because there is no way I rationalize putting 8 cups of sugar in about 4 cups of liquid. 

There is really no right of wrong as far as how you want to cook the ribs. The recipe says smoke them but I have never tried that method with these ribs. I do recommend starting them at a low temp, say 225- 275, covered in foil and basted in sauce for a few hours and then once tender, finishing them on the grill. If you don't want to break out the grill, just turn the oven up and uncover them to get some color. 

That being said, the recipe I present to you is more for the sauce than cooking the meat itself. Put it on chicken, pork, beef or even eggs if you feel bold. 

Orange Chipolte Glaze - 

-adapted from Emerils

1 cup orange juice

4 cups sugar

2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

One 7-ounce can of chipolte peppers in adobo sauce, chopped fine

Reduce the orange juice in a non-reactive sauce pan. Add in the soy sauce and vinegar. Stir in the the four cups of sugar and allow to dissolve. (You may prefer more sugar if too spicy) Pour in the chopped peppers and cook for 30-45 minutes until thickened slightly. 

The Power of the Box: Chocolate Mint Brownies

Do you ever just want to make something? Eat something? Do something? ....but then don't want to do something? 

Behold the box. Boxed brownie mix might the be quintessential pantry staple. Super easy, super moist, super good - you really can't beat Duncan Hines brownies done up according to the 'fudgey' directions. Just add oil, water, and a few eggs....watch ace of cakes for around 30 minutes and violla! 

Brownie party. 

I couldn't just stop with the simple brownies though. Growing up, we always had brownies with mint icing on top. Different people call them by different names, but they have always been a family favorite. I'm not trying to go all Sandra Lee on everyone, but there really is some charm to taking 5 minutes to make a great desert that's home made at the same time. 

To put them together, you just whip up a simple cream cheese icing, (i.e. carrot cake) add a bit of cream de menthe, then melt up some chocolate and pour it on top. Stay far away for an hour or so and then enjoy some really great munchies. 

Note: I didn't really measure or use a recipe on this icing, just to let you know. If you have a great cream cheese icing, go for it. Just add about 2 tbs of the cream de menthe or enough to suit your own taste. 

Chocolate Box Brownies with Cream de Menthe Icing -- 

Make the brownies according to the box you choose (don't mess this up)

For the icing - 

3 tbs margarine 

1 package cream cheese 

2 cups powdered sugar (you may prefer more)

2-3 tbs cream de menthe

With an electric mixer, combine the sugar, cream cheese, and margarine until well combined. Pour in the cream de menthe and mix. 

Once the brownies are cooled, spread the icing evenly over the top. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring after each run. Pour the melted chocolate over the icing and cool for at least one hour. 

2 Ps in a Brittlle

Looking for something different to pour sugar over and having a Fresh Market gift card left over from Christmas, I bought a few pistachios and pumpkin seeds. Where these little nuts/ seeds would lead me, I wasn't sure, but I wanted to give a shot at some brittle. I had no true basis for these brittle, but do have a favorite carmel sauce recipe I turn to week after week and thought I could doctor that up a bit to make it work.

The carmel sauce is a 1:2:3 ratio of water:sugar:cream; the cream makes it a sauce instead of just caramelized sugar. But its the caramelized sugar that I wanted for my brittle, so out goes the cream. The result, once heated to deep carmel perfection and poured over the nuts, was out of this world. The combo of both pestacio and pumpkin seeds was perfect with the hard sweet carmel and dash of sea salt I thew in the mix.

The finished brittle vanished from its little zip lock bag in no time. While making carmel can be a little daunting and time consuming, the reward is well worth the risk and effort. Be carfeul with this one but have fun and enjoy a great snack.

Any Nut Brittle--

1 to 2 ratio of water to sugar

(for this, I used 1/2 c water to 1 c sugar)

seeds/nuts of choice (pre-roasted)

dash of salt

Prepare the nuts in whatever pan you would like, but make sure the pan is lined with both cooking spray and parchment paper. Dash the nuts with salt if you would like. Pour the sugar in a sauce pan and then wet with the water. DO NOT stir at any point. Heat over high heat until the sugar turns a nice amber color. (If the sugar starts to get too dark around the edges, lift the pan off the heat and swirl the pan around to combine.) Once at the desired color, pour the sugar over the nuts. Swirl, turn, and tilt the nut pan to ensure even coating of the nuts. Allow to cool and then break into pieces.

Orange and Cream Snow Cream

It really is snowing. 

I felt the need to celebrate this rare occasion and day off from school with recreating a childhood favorite: the infamous snow cream. 

I braved the harsh elements of a North Carolina blizzard to bring you up to the minute coverage of a new way to eat your snow, with a wedge of orange on the side. I used the tried and true sweetened condensed milk version of snow cream from winters past, but kicked it up with some zested orange as well as orange juice. 

The result was really awesome. It tasted like a orange and cream-sickle but it was low fat. (I used reduced fat condensed milk) Everyone who is lucky enough to have a little snow on their front porch needs to head out and enjoy the snow, both in sledding and in your belly. 

Stay warm.

Orange and Cream Snow Cream-

1/4 of a cup reduced fat sweetened condensed milk

zest of one orange

juice of 1/2 of an orange

Snow (I don't know how to measure this, just use enough but not too much)

Whisk together the orange ingredients and the milk. Fold in snow. Enjoy. 

You must do this all outside to make it official, by the way.

Almond Cake

I have gained intense weight after this cake. 

The cake is gone, and I made it yesterday. There is no doubt that the cake is Almond, and if you don't quite understand what I am trying to say, make it and it will become explicitly clear. 

There is 7 oz. of almond paste (an ingredient I clearly don't know how to use 100% correctly and have never used before yesterday) as well as a tsp of Almond extract. I actually have never used any kind of almond flavoring before, and when a slice was presented to my girlfriend, she replied, "I love the cherry flavor in here," haha so I knew I was on the right track. 

Despite the intense almond flavor and the hap-hazard chunks of Almond paste I did not soften enough before adding to the batter (I figured that trick out after dropping rock hard chunks into the batter and hearing the clunk around the bowl), the cake is out of this world. I mean- it really is all gone. There is a distinct addictive quality to the cake, which makes it both awesome and dangerous at the same time. 

I finished the cake with toasted almonds and powdered sugar, but that all is up to you. You need to make this cake at least once, and seeing as it is cold outside, there is no time like the present to get your almond fix. 

Just to note: I opted to use a bunt pan instead of a spring form for two reasons. A) The site where I got the recipe, A.G., many people complained that the cake sunk in the middle when a spring form pan was used. B) I like crust on my pound cake type cakes, and using a bunt pan will allow more of the cake to harden up a bit. Feel free to use which ever pan you like, but I really liked how the cake turned out in the bunt pan. Just in case your wondering, the cook time is the same, so don't go opening the oven and poking holes in it like I did. You don't want that kind of sinkage. 

Almond Cake -

Adapted from Cooking For Mr. Latte

4 egg yolks

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup sour cream, room temp

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour, measured after sifting

1/2 tsp salt

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

7 ounces almond paste 

1 tsp almond extract (feel free to cut this down if your scared of too much almond)

Butter heavily a bunt pan or spring form pan. Mix the sour cream with the baking soda. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add in the warmed up almond paste into the butter mixture a few pieces at a time. Sift together the flour and the salt and then slowly add into the butter mixture. Blend in the sour cream mixture and the almond extract until mixed completely. Pour into the prepared pan and then bake for one hour at 350 degrees. 

Corn Bread Worth the Effort

A lot corn bread leaves me hanging. Dry, flat, hard, tacky...it really is hard to find a solid recipe that is both moist and flavorful. I particularly like this version, once again by the great Ina Garten. The combination of ingredients speaks for themselves, combining green onions or shallots with a nice cheddar that keeps the bread moist throughout. You can adjust the amount of peppers however your taste buds prefer, or take the jalapeno out completely.



On to other business. Thanks to Kim Grizzard for the great article in the Greenville Daily Reflector. She conducted an excellent interview and wrote an outstanding article. You can read the story here.

I have also started to new job at the Village Point Market here in Greenville. I'm only one week in and have already fell in love with the place. The staff is awesome and the food they put out really is exceptional. If you are anywhere close to the Greenville area I strongly encourage you to make your wake to the Village and pick up lunch or dinner to go.

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread-
Ina Garten

3 Cups AP flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 pound)
8 ounces sharp Cheddar
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons seeded and chopped jalapenos.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. Do not over mix. Mix most of the cheese, saving some for the top of the bread, followed by the jalapenos. Let the mix stand for 20 minutes.

Spread the batter into a greased 9 by 13 inch pan and sprinkle additional cheese and green onions on top. Cook the bread in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.