Macaroni Salad

So, Zak and I have been to the local Hawaiian restaurant here in Moscow a few times. Overall, it's pretty good, but their macaroni salad leaves something to be desired. It's bland, flavorless and needs a decent amount of salt, and makes me sad. Because I love mac salad and Hawaiian food, and it was just disappointing. So I decided to make some myself, using the family recipe. My grandma was born & raised in Hawaii and this is her recipe. I was nervous that Zak wouldn't like it as much as I hoped, because his idea of mac salad is something so foreign to me (involving cheese, tuna, other things? it didn't sound bad, it just didn't sound like what I knew to be mac salad). Well, I worried needlessly, because he devoured this and wants me to make more as soon as possible! Yay! We had this with grilled teriyaki chicken, rice, and corn on the cob. It made me feel like I was home. :)

Here is the original recipe, I cut it in half and it still made a huge bowl's worth. But that's ok, because we certainly did not mind having leftovers!!

Salad

1 package (16 oz.) salad/elbow macaroni, cooked until soft (super soft), drained & cooled

1 carrot, peeled & grated

1 cucumber, peeled & quartered lengthwise

6 - 8 hard-boiled eggs, shelled, cooled & chopped

1 can small black olives, sliced in half

Dressing

1 1/2 c. mayo

1/2 c. milk

1/8 tsp. celery seed

salt & pepper to taste

1. Scoop out/cut seeds out from cucumber, chop into thinly sliced pieces and place into a small bowl. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for a few minutes. Gently squeeze out the water from the cucumbers, discard liquid.

2. Place above ingredients into a large bowl, then fold in the dressing.

mmmmmm

pictures make me salivate

White Cake (with Whipped Cream & Strawberries)

This is the cake I made for Easter, that I mentioned in this blog post. I got the recipe from my mom, who had made it a few weeks earlier for a co-worker's birthday. I figured it would be a perfect Easter/spring cake and called her for the recipe and her tips on it. She said the original recipe had a different filling, but she just to use just whipped cream and strawberries. She suggested I incorporate the strawberries into the whipped cream, in the hopes that it would sit and set up better. She had done: cake/whipped cream/sliced strawberries/whipped cream/cake, etc., and it was a bit slippery. The way I did it worked well, but I didn't need nearly as much whipped cream and strawberries as she suggested, so ... just a note.

Also, another note: follow the recipe exactly. And use parchment paper. It just makes life easier. The cakes turned out perfectly and my confidence level for cake making rose about 50 points after this baking episode.

White Cake (warning, you will be licking the bowl, it is so tasty!)

2 1/4 c. cake flour

1 c. whole milk, room temperature [a tip for getting things to room temperature: set containers in bottom of sink, filled with hot water, leave for 10 or so minutes, just make sure to check periodically]

6 large egg whites (3/4 c.), room temperature

1 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 c. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

12 Tbl. unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Either cut parchment paper to lay on the bottom of round pans or grease and flour pans.

3. Pour milk, egg white, extracts into 2 c. glass measuring cake and stir with fork until blended.

4. Add cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and beat in mixer on low speed until all mixed up.

5. Add butter, beat on slow speed until resembles coarse crumbs.

6. Add all but 1/2 c. milk mixture, and beat on medium speed 1 1/2 minutes.

7. Add remaining milk mixture, beat 30 seconds on medium speed.

8. Scrape sides of bowl, beat another 20 seconds on medium.

9. Divide batter evenly into pans.

10. Bake on middle rack 23 - 25 minutes. Make sure the middle isn't wobbling; if the cake starts to sink when it's pulled out of the oven, it's not cooked enough.

11. Rest for 3 minutes in pans after pulling out of oven.

12. Loosen sides with a knife around the edges.

13. Turn over onto cooling rack; turnover again so top is facing up (use parchment, if desired).

14. Let cool 1 1/2 hours.

Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 lb. strawberries, cut and diced into small pieces

powdered sugar

almond extract (opt.)

vanilla extract (opt.)

1. Beat whipping cream until thick.

2. Add powdered sugar (sorry I don't have an estimate, just until it is sweet enough; don't add sugar to the strawberries because they'll 'leak', so allow the cream to get sweet enough to compensate for the berries) until sweet.

3. If desired, add in some vanilla and/or almond extract. Just eyeball it.

4. Once thick, remove from mixer and incorporate strawberries in by hand.

5. Spread whipping cream between cake layers, on top and on sides if there is enough. It's also good just by itself!

a beautiful golden cake

complete with filling; this cake is very dense and rich

care for a slice?

Breaded Chicken Parmesan

This recipe is so simple and tasty. We've had it a few times, last time Zak was in charge of the chicken. We have this with mashed potatoes and corn, easy and delicious!

12 oz. chicken breast

1 Tbl. grated parmesan cheese

1/4 c. Italian-style bread crumbs

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbl. dried onions

sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

salt & pepper

1-2 Tbl. olive oil

1. Cut the chicken breasts horizontally (filet) into thin pieces.

2. Lightly rub each piece with olive oil.

3. Mix dry ingredients and pat each piece of chicken with it.

4. Bake at 375 minutes for about 20 minutes.

Seriously 'Sinful' Cheesecake Brownies

I heart cheesecake brownies. They are more or less, my number favorite dessert. It is hard to describe my love from them. I try to not make them often because I will sit and eat the whole pan in one sitting. So, moderation is the key. I made these because our friend Mat did a lot of help with our car recently and wanted to make a little something for all of his help. I got this recipe from food.com and it did not disappoint.

brownie

6 Tbl. unsalted butter

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate (or semisweet; I used a combo of semisweet and milk)

2/3 c. sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 c. flour

1 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. chocolate chips (I used a mix of milk, semisweet and white chocolate, just to see)

pinch of salt

cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

5 Tbl. sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Line an 8" or 9" pan with foil (trust me, you'll regret it if you don't..), lightly mist with non-stick spray.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, pour into heatproof bowl.

4. Add 2/3 c. sugar, and then eggs.

5. Mix in flour, cocoa powder, salt, then vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

6. In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese, yolk, 5 Tbl. sugar and vanilla until smooth.

7. Distribute cream cheese mixture across top of brownie mixture, then swirl together with dull knife.

8. Bake for 35 minutes.

9. Once cool, lift foil out of pan and cut into pieces.

soooooo delicious

'Sour Cream Noodle Bake' / 'Easy Lasagna'

I found this recipe through stumbleupon, and couldn't pass it up. It's from the website thepioneerwoman.com. I haven't made up my mind about the site yet, but the post about this recipe was kind of cute. Right as I started making this last night, I realized I didn't have enough for the full recipe. Luckily, I did have enough for half, and it turned out just fine. I added in some extra seasonings and used lowfat/light sour scream & cottage cheese. And it fit an 8"x8" pan, making 6 pieces in all.

Here is the original recipe, which I cut in half, more or less.

1 lb. ground chuck (ground beef worked fine)
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. egg noodles
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/4 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. - 1/2 c. green onions
1 c. cheese
black pepper
optional seasonings: onion powder, red pepper flakes, garlic salt

1. Brown meat in large skillet, drain and add in tomato sauce, salt & pepper. Simmer while preparing other ingredients.
2. Cook noodles; drain and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese; mix to combine. Add in pepper, noodles and green onions (to taste). Add in other optional seasonings until it tastes good.
4. To assemble, place half of the noodles in the pan. Add half of the meat mixture on top, followed by half of the cheese. Repeat the layers.
5. Bake for 20 minutes (or until cheese melts) at 350-degrees.





Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 12
amount per serving

Calories: 234.2
Total Fat: 10.8 g
Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 3.1 g
Cholesterol: 58.2 mg
Sodium: 400.5 mg
Potassium: 322.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 18.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Sugar: 3.4 g
Protein: 15.6 g
Vitamin A: 6.81 %
Vitamin C: 5.2 %
Calcium: 10.5 %
Iron: 11.2 %

Snickerdoodles

It seems that I'm always posting dessert recipes. It's not that I'm constantly making desserts, it's just that I'm more prone to take pictures of my 'fancy' desserts and share them. Let me assure you, I do make plenty of dinners in addition to the yummy desserts I've documented.

Let's move on. Last night I had a dream about my grandma's snickerdoodle cookies and couldn't get them out of my head. So I convinced Zak to make some with me on our day off together. He didn't mind at all, and did an excellent job measuring everything. I got to roll out the cookie dough; he's not very fond of getting his hands dirty if he doesn't have to. But it was still fun to bake together. Currently we are waiting for the second batch to come out of the oven and boy, do they smell just like Grandma's! Here is the recipe I used, which is halved from her original recipe.

1/2 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. sugar2 T. cinnamon

1. Mix together shortening, sugar and egg.
2. Add in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda & salt.
3. Chill dough (optional); roll into balls the size of wlanuts.
4. Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes OR at 250 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. (Tip: make sure to under-cook them by a minute, otherwise there will be a slight burnt flavor to them.)

Makes at least 2 dozen cookies, plus some extras!

so beautiful and round

mmmmmm

Homemade Oreo Cookies

I found this recipe on some blog that looked intriguing. I had never thought about making oreo cookies from scratch before, but after this recipe, I think I will from now on. They taste a little different than the store ones, but in a way that I can't describe. I don't know. They were pretty good and are great with milk. I will say one thing though: make tiny, like dime-sized cookies on the baking sheet, because these things expand like you wouldn't believe. It took a few pans to get them down to the average oreo size. Oh, and this recipe will make something like 50 or so small cookies. We have a ton of them leftover.

Cookie:
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetend cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. + 2 Tbl. butter, room temperature
1 egg

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt and sugar.
2. Beat in the bugger and egg, continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Make little balls (dime-sized, seriously) of dough and flatten slightly on hand (they also turn out very thin and crispy), place about 1 inch apart on greased pan.
4. Bake for 8 - 9 minutes at 375 degrees, set on a rack to cool.

Filling:
1/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste, which is what the blog author used)

1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and mix at low speed.
2. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
3. Turn mixer on high and beat for 2 - 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
4. The blog author talked about using a piping bag or something to place the filling on a cookie; I just took a small spatula and spread it on the bottom cookie and made sure the top cookie was about the same size, and gently pressed them together.

yum! (see the different sizes? yeah, these things get big quick)