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Banana Bread Muffins and Giveaway!

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Kaitlin

When I have time on Sundays (which isn’t terribly often), I like to make a batch of muffins so I have breakfast for the week. Because I had some overripe bananas, this week I decided to make Banana Bread Muffins. I was recently sent some coupons to try Kretschmer Wheat Germ products so I thought adding some of the Honey Crunch would add some nice texture and flavor to the muffins. So what exactly is wheat germ? Wheat germ comes from the wheat kernel, which is the part removed when refining whole grains into white flour. Wheat Germ is a great source of Vitamin E, B vitamins and folic acid. You can find it in the cereal aisle. Wheat germ can be used in recipes calling for flour or breadcrumbs so its quite versatile. I’ve also used it in smoothies. So that you can try wheat germ for yourself, Kretschmer is giving away some coupons good for free wheat germ products to an I Can Cook That reader! More on that below. Ingredients (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins, of 6 large muffins): 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup Kretschmer Honey Crunch Wheat Germ 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon … Continue reading →

Irish Soda Bread

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Kaitlin

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! One of my favorite memories growing up was my mom making Irish Soda bread during March. It is a fairly straightforward bread and is really quite easy. The bread uses baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast as its leavening agent. Irish Soda Bread is also made with buttermilk that reacts with the baking soda to make it rise. Soda bread is a mostly savory bread, but it usually has some kind of dried fruit in it (raisins, currants, etc) that add a bit of sweetness. My mom’s version has caraway seeds in it that add a little bit of an anise flavor to it (caraway seeds are typically found in rye bread) and I just love it. I wanted to make this with currants but couldn’t find any, so I used raisins. Feel free to substitute golden raisins or currants. Ingredients: 3 cups coarse wholemeal flour 1 cup all purpose flour 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 2 tablespoons caraway seeds 1 cup raisins or other dried fruit 2 cups buttermilk, or more if needed

Chicken Fricassee With Tarragon

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Kaitlin

Cold weather always makes me crave comfort food. I tend to really want pasta (and would be perfectly happy eating it every day that drops below 40 degrees) but am always open to healthier comfort food options. BetterEats.com had a lighter recipe for Chicken Fricassee, which is a French stew with chicken, vegetables, white wine, and cream that when paired with some day old bread makes a fantastic comfort food option. Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks) – bone-in, skin removed (I used 1 chicken breast, 1 thigh, 1 leg, and 1 drumstick) 1/4 teaspoon salt pepper, black – to taste 2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose 1 tablespoon oil, olive, extra virgin 1 cup shallots (about 4 large ones) 1 cup wine, dry white 1 1/2 cups broth, chicken, less sodium 1 medium carrot – peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup) 1 pound mushrooms, I used 1/2 lb baby bellas, 1/2 lb button – wiped clean and halved or quartered 4 sprig(s) tarragon, fresh 4 teaspoons tarragon, fresh – chopped 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon water 1/4 cup sour cream, reduced-fat 2 teaspoons mustard, Dijon

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Kaitlin

This year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.The Cookie Swap is in its second year and helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers. I wanted to make a cookie that was a spin on a traditional cookie. This Cooking Light recipe was perfect: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, AND Pecans! Ingredients 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces) 1 cup Steel Cut oats 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 large egg 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Rainbow Cookies (a.k.a Seven-Layer Cookies)

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Kaitlin

If you’ve never heard of these lovelies, you are not alone. Rainbow cookies are made of almond cake died fun bright colors with apricot preserves all sandwiched in between two thin layers of chocolate. They really aren’t cookies at all, more like thinly packed cake. But whatever the heck they are called, they are delicious. I don’t really recall these cookies growing up, but my boyfriend (who is from Long Island) absolutely loves them. In fact, he was kind of taken aback when I mentioned I didn’t really know what they were. One of his friends was absolutely horrified; he basically forced me to eat one right then and there which I didn’t complain about. I love them now! So I wanted to try to make these little guys… I’m not sure why. They are awfully difficult (well, more time consuming than difficult). But I was so darn proud of myself when they were done, I don’t even care about the effort I had to put in! The cookies go by a ton of names … Rainbow, Seven Layer, Neapolitan, Tricolor… but I’m pretty sure they tend to be a Christmas staple in Italian households. I found … Continue reading →

Mini Cranberry-Vanilla Coffee Cakes

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Kaitlin

What is it about tiny treats that make the food taste better? I love perfectly portioned food so I was excited to be sent Petite Treats: Mini Versions of Your Favorite Baked Delights. The cookbook has recipes for mini donuts, muffins, scones, pies, and bundt cakes. The recipes sound absolutely delicious but to make most of the treats, you’ll need quite a bit of hardware: mini bunt cake pans, mini donut pans, mini scone pans, mini cupcake pans, etc. There are a few recipes that use a normal muffin pan that sounded really appealing, including mini cakes, but I decided to make the mini coffee cakes so I could have breakfast all week. Ingredients: 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 1 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen cranberries, thawed) 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,at room temperature, divided 2 large eggs 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Apple Cinnamon Donut Holes

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Kaitlin

I wanted to make another batch of the Applejack Spiked Hot Cider but *gasp* I couldn’t find any apple cider anywhere! There must have been a Thanksgiving rush, but I wanted some darn Apple Cider. But then I remembered I bought a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and figured I could at least make Apple Cinnamon Donut Holes as a sweet apple-y substitute. (Because I couldn’t find apple cider, I substituted apple juice) Ingredients (this makes 2 1/2 – 3 dozen): 1¼ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon allspice ¼ cup vegetable oil 1 egg ½ cup apple juice ¾ cup sugar 1½ teaspoons cinnamon

Cream of Tomato Soup

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Kaitlin

“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it. … If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.” – James Beard James Beard is basically the father of American cooking as we know it today. He, along with the beloved Julia Child, is basically the “foodie” community’s version of The Beatles. As Julia Child put it, “in the beginning, there was James Beard.” So when I was offered to review a new compilation of some of his best recipes, I couldn’t wait to dig in. The cookbook, The Essential James Beard Cookbook: 450 Recipes That Shaped the Tradition of American Cooking is in stores beginning today. The cookbook is filled with what we think of today as quintessential recipes: coleslaw, potato salad, pot roast, chicken pot pie. But James Beard’s travels through France as well as inspiration from the Chinese cooks who worked at the hotel his mother owned. Each page is filled with both new and different recipes as well as classic approaches to everyday food (ex. roasting a chicken). The editors did a great job of going through and … Continue reading →

Hake Meuniere over Spaghetti

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Kaitlin

With Julia Child’s 100th birthday fast approaching, the food blog world has been celebrating in the best way we know how: honoring Julia Child through her recipes. I am currently reading a book about her life called Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. (I will have a review of this book when I’m finished reading). I just got to the chapter which describes Julia’s first encounter with French food. Her first meal in France was Sole Meuniere, a simple but absolutely delicious dish. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I made a slightly altered version of Julia’s version over spaghetti. I wanted to make it with sole, but my market was all out. Hake is a similar fish, so I substituted it for the sole. Ingredients: 1 pound fresh spaghetti 3 skinless and boneless hake or sole fillets, 4 to 6 ounces salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 cup flour 4 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 lemon, cut into wedges Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, … Continue reading →

Cherry Pie and Review of Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Kaitlin

I was recently sent the Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook to review. Paging through the cookbook, I really loved the number of how-to’s included in the book. Everything from how to cook an omelette to what kitchen utensils every beginner cook needs. The recipes are really simple with beautiful photos to help you throughout; it’s basically a better version of my blog! The cookbook isn’t just for beginners though, there are plenty of recipes that are helpful for any level of at-home cook. There is a recipe for gnocchi I can’t wait to try! (I attempted to make gnocchi once before, but they didn’t end up being happy little pillows of deliciousness; they were pretty dense. Sigh) I decided to try to make their cherry pie. I have only made pie crust once before so I was excited to try again. Plus, I recently bought a Babycakes Pie Maker and had yet to try it out. The recipe for the cherry pie was followed by a how-to for making a lattice pie top so I wanted to try that out as well. Ingredients: Filling: 1 1/4 cups sugar 1/3 cup cornstarch 1 cup cranberry juice 4 … Continue reading →