Happy New Year!

Well, we’ve made it through another year.  We even survived the end of the Mayan calendar.  Woohoo!  Jumping on the resolution bandwagon, Seeley and I thought we’d post some goals we have for 2013.  We’d love to hear about yours, as well. 

What new recipe would you like to try?

Seeley - My new recipe isn't really a new one. It's just one I haven't made in a long time. Back when I lived on an island, there was this awesome little restaurant that had live local music on the weekends, a sushi bar, and some of the hugest salads you've ever seen on a single plate. I know, I know, restaurants that do a little bit of everything rarely do anything well, but this dip.... It's a baked cream cheese and spinach dip, (Taneasha's baked goat cheese dip reminded me about this one) with roasted garlic, and tiny chunks of brie. The brie gives it an amazing gooiness, and with a bit of French bread, it's the best hot spinach dip you've ever tasted. Totally need to make that one again.

Taneasha - As for me, I’d like to make a recipe for super soft sugar cookies.  You know the ones I’m talking about that are usually topped with pink frosting.  The problem with the ones you can buy is that they are loaded with hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives.  I want to make them without all that crap.  It’ll take plenty of trial and error I’m sure, but I’ll be certain to share when I do get it right. 

 

What new ingredient would you like to use?

Seeley - I've had a jar of dried lavender flowers in my spice cabinet for a few months now. I bought it because I could, and had no idea what to do with it. Still not sure. I've found a few recipes I'd like to try... a currant tart with lavender cream, lavender shortbread or sugar cookies, and one for roast lamb with lavender and rosemary.

 

Taneasha - I bought a bottle of rose water a while back, and have yet to actually use it.  Seeley swears it’s amazing stuff.  She’s already used it in her Yazdi Cakes, which look fabulous.  I think I might try it some kind of quick bread or cake. 

Which recipe would you like to make some changes to and try again?

Seeley - Tomatillo pie. This was a nice bit of win after the epic fail that the mesquite jelly was. Though, if I was able to follow instructions, it might have actually worked. The tomatillo pie totally worked though. But I want to mess with it. More fruit, less apple-y spice, a tillo and berry mixture with wild dewberries. Also, maybe a tart shape, or tiny individual ones, or turnovers; definitely turnovers. Gotta love a pie you can eat with one hand...

Taneasha - The cornstarch based frosting I made was fabulous, but I think I’d like to try it with other variations like chocolate, caramel, and other flavors.  Plus, it’ll give me an excuse to make lots of different kinds of cake in the process. 

Which recipe of Taneasha/Seeley’s would you like to try?

Seeley - Taneasha totally rocked the sweets this year with her awesome candy and chocolate recipes, but the ones that stood out for me were the savouries. Like the buffalo chicken stuffed shells. That was pure freaking genius. I mean, holy shit. I'm also fascinated by her baked onoins. Yes, they were just a topping, a part of a bigger, better recipe, but I'm pretty sure I could just eat a plate of those. And then a whole batch of oniony buttermilk biscuits.

Also, I made cheesy poof muffins. They are fucking awesome.

Taneasha - I have made Seeley’s crepes recipe I don’t know how many times, and I made chile verde just last night.  Those are both from 2011, though.  I have bought pinto beans and plan on making her refried beans, and those pear muffins are seriously calling to me. 

Well, that wraps up 2012.  We’d really like to see Authors Kitchen become a bit more interactive in 2013, so don’t hesitate to post in the comments section.  Any questions, reviews of recipes you’ve made, and requests for specific things are always welcome.  So don’t be shy.  Seeley rarely bites... hard.

Happy New Year!!

skinned alive

At least I think I'm still alive.

I've never had a semester with such a brutal exam schedule. But, it's over. And I think my GPA made it out relatively unscathed.

I on the other hand am exhausted, brain dead, and ready to sleep for a week. But first, dinner:

I'm very much a fan of finger foods. No cutlery to wash. And since it's the time of year for entertaining (apparently in December, most people get to go to parties, and don't have to do metric shittonnes of calculus) I made an appetizer for dinner.

Fast enough that you can make them long after the guests arrive, easy enough that you can make them long after the first bottle of wine is empty, and tasty enough that you won't have to figure out what to do with the leftovers.

Potato Skins

What you need:

• 4 small baker potatoes
• 1 c grated cheddar
• 3 strips very crispy bacon
• 2 green onions
• 1/2 jalapeno (or a few rings of the pickled ones)

What you gotta do:

We at authorskitchen do not typically advocate cooking anything in the microwave, but there have been times when we've had to. And times when we totally regretted it. But when you're whipping up an appetizer for hungry guests, or brain dead engineering students, baking a potato in the microwave just really doesn't seem that bad.

Just make sure you poke holes in them first.

Mine took about 12 minutes, but I did them in 4 minute increments. 4 minutes seems a reasonable increment.

They will be making steamy noises and will give under pressure if you squeeze them.

Set these aside and let them cool while you chop the onions, crumble the bacon, grate the cheese, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Once the potatoes are cool enough that you can hold them in your hand without wanting to toss them across the room at someone, roll them around on the counter or baking sheet first though to see which are their flat sides. Cut them in half so that the halves rest on the flat sides.

Remove the potato innards with a small spoon. Leave a bit of an edge and enough on the bottom so that the filling will have something to sit on.

Toss the cheese, bacon, etc. together and then divide it up between the skins. They will seem full, but trust me, they're not. I think about 1.5 times the amount of stuff I put in these, would be ideal.

They only need about 7 minutes to bake.

Bacon, melted cheese, eat with your hands. Perfect.

I imagine most Americans will want to dip these in ranch dressing (srsly guys, what's with the fucking ranch on everything?) but I like a bit of sour cream spiked with some hot sauce.

And there you go, less than 30 minutes and you've got tasty cups filled with bacon and cheese.

What more could anyone want?