I'm back! And I have a friend!

Oh, hello world. Every once and a while people ask me about this blog and I kept meaning to bring it back. But blogging can be so hard and lonely sometimes. Meanwhile, I've also been jealous of my friend Heidi's cooking forays as posted on Facebook. So, I've invited her to contribute here. Because we are both full time students with jobs and have tons of free time and all.

My goal is to post my soup of the week here. Heidi is also going to post once a week if she can. PLUS -- we want you! We've added a fun new feature that will allow you to contribute to this blog! Click here if you want to submit a post and then pass it on. Think about how many recipes and fun stories we could accumulate if you share this with a friend. Join our little experiment in cooking. GO.

Chicken with Cranberry Mustard sauce and Roasted Cauliflower

I've taken a little bit of a hiatus from writing in this blog. If you didn't know, my adventures in a tiny kitchen have recently turned into adventures in a big kitchen. And instead of cooking for just the one and only me, I've been cooking for my mom and dad as well. So, it didn't seem so pertinent to post things here.

However, last night I made a really tasty recipe that could easily be made for just one. The heading is pretty self explanatory but I will describe it for you anyway. It's basically a chicken breast, sauteed. Then you make a quick pan sauce using cranberry juice, butter, mustard, and chicken stock. The cauliflower is roasted in the oven and then you toss it with a butter mustard and lemon sauce and roast a little longer. The lemon in the dressing adds a bright kick to the otherwise boring cauliflower and the mustard brings out the flavors in the chicken dish. Serve with salad on the side.

Here's how to do it:

First, prepare the cauliflower. If you want to make the whole head, that's fine. This will keep well as leftovers. Cut it up into indivual florets. I know some people would say to make them evenly sized pieces, but I am not one of those people. I say, make them around the same size, but variety is the spice of life so if some little pieces happen or some big clunkers, you will just have some crispy bits and some softer bits. All will be delicious. Spray a baking dish with a Pam-like substance and the throw your cauli in there and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, season your chicken breast (s) with salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Heat up a teeny bit of oil in a medium sized sautee pan (larger if you are doing more than one serving) and brown the chicken on both sides. Really get the chicken nice and brown. My version wasn't browned as much as I would have liked in the end. You don't need to cook the chicken all the way through at this stage. Remove from pan.

While you are browning the chicken, in a seperate pan or in the microwave, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Cut a lemon in half and then zest one half of the peel into the butter. Then squeeze the juice from that lemon into the butter/zest mixture. Last, add a tablespoon or two of whole grain dijon mustard. Stir the ingrediants all together. By the time your chicken is browned, your cauliflower should have roasted for at least 10 minutes. Remove from oven and toss the dressing you've prepared over the cauliflower. If you feel like you made too much dressing, save it, you can throw it into the pan sauce for the chicken. Put the cauliflower back in the oven, and roast for about 15 more minutes.

Back to the chicken dish: In the pan that you browned the chicken, melt 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour (the same amount of each). Then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of mustard to that (or the leftovers from your cauliflower dressing). The butter, mustard, flour combo should bubble and cook up. Then, slowly add a 1/4 - 1/2 cup cranberry juice to this. Once that bubbles, add up to another cup of chicken stock (I'd buy stock in a resealable container). If you are only doing one chicken breast, I'd only use a quarter of a cup of cranberry juice and a 1/2 cup of stock. If you have dried cranberries, you can add them to the sauce at this stage.

Once this is boiling, add the chicken back into the pan. If you are nervous about cooking this all the way through, you can cover the pan for about 5 minutes to steam cook the remainder of the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked through, make sure to let the sauce simmer in the pan for at least 5 more minutes uncovered to thicken up. Once the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, it is done.

At this stage, your cauliflower should be done as well. Take the chicken out of the pan, and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with cauliflower and salad on the side for a healthy meal.

Both of these recipes were inspired by recipes from the Fast, Easy, Fresh cookbook by the editors of Bon Appetit Magazine.

Bananas for Bread Pudding (But all alone, as per usual)

I am a huge fan of dessert and I love bread pudding, but too often I make it in enormous batches and then eat a whole 9 x 13 pan by myself, which is never a good thing. So, I came up with a little trick to make bread pudding for one by using leftover muffins instead of regular bread pieces.

I can't remember if I posted a recipe for banana muffins, but if I didn't, you can use whichever muffin recipe suits you (I have a vision of pumpkin muffins in the recipe in the future), although I don't think I would do blueberry. That might be weird. Or, it might be delicious, who am I to judge? On the topic of muffins-- even if you are like me and all alone in your apartment/ house/ mansion/ Tuscan villa, feel free to make a full batch of 6 or 12 or 24, because muffins freeze splendidly and defrost within minutes in either a toaster oven or microwave (or regular oven, of course). Then, when you have a craving for a muffin or the bread pudding dessert I am going to explain below, you just have to defrost one and enjoy.

Once you have the muffins made, prepping for the bread pudding is exceptionally easy.

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees as per usual for baked goods (aren't you glad I told you to do this at the start of the instructions instead of waiting to the end like normal?). Then, take 1 egg, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk together. If it seems to eggy, add more milk. If you like lots of cinnamon, you can add more as well.

Then, take the muffin, and break it into lots of pieces. If you are like me and take out muffins to defrost them but forget about them let them get stale, you can use a stale muffins for this recipe as well. Put this broken up muffin into the bowl with the egg mixture. Let the egg get absorbed into the muffin pieces and once thoroughly coated, scoop the dredged muffin bits and put them in a greased ramekin, coffee mug, teacup, or any small single serving oven proof container.* If there is any leftover egg mixture you can pour it on top, but don't over do it. You will know what I mean.

Last, bake this for about 15 minutes, until it is cooked through (knife inserted will not be coated with eggy-ness), puffy, and golden brown. Top with whipped cream or ice cream or nothing and enjoy.

*One muffin might be too much for one ramekin (depending on the size of it) so if you are overflowing, you might need to make 2 mini bread puddings. But think about it this way--- it is still a single serving because it is only 1 muffin. Am I right or am I right? I'm right. Don't feel guilty eating a muffin's worth of bread pudding, that'd be silly and then we couldn't be friends.



Post Script: you can substitute the muffin with a slice or two of your favorite kind or bread.

Final Note: Having trouble loading photos (again) so you will have to wait to see the end result! My apologies!

Link Alert!

So, there are tons of more amazing food blogs and blogs that write about food than mine, and when I stumble upon a recipe that I find delicious looking or just written in a fun and interesting way, I like to share.

Here's a recipe to a Blueberry Crostata that I think you will all enjoy-- reading and making.

Spanish Tortilla My Way

OR Omelet with Sweet Potatoes, Red Pepper, Artichoke hearts & Farmer's Cheese

I saw a recipe for a Spanish Tortilla with fancy ingredients on Smitten Kitchen and thought I'd try my own version. "Tortilla" in spain is basically an omelet type dish that is chock full of potatoes. Mine has Sweet potatoes, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and farmer's cheese for good measure (was going to make pierogies and bailed so needed to use the soft creamy cheese in something else).

To make this, peel one sweet potato and cube (small cubes). In a pot of boiling water, parboil these potatoes so they are tender to the fork but not mushy. Then, throw them into a small, single serving frying/sautee pan with oil. Let them brown up so they are cooked through and season with salt and pepper. Then, add the artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers (these I got from the olives and antipasto bar at WholeFoods, but you could get them jarred). Stir those up so they are warm. Then, sprinkle the farmers cheese (or any cheese or choice or no cheese) over the top.

Whisk 1 egg and 1/2 cup of egg beaters/egg white. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over potatoes. As it cooks, roll the pan and lift the sides so the uncooked egg flows underneath and then press down. You want this to be packed up pretty tight. Once it solidifies, flip the omelet over and press down some more. Keep flipping and pressing until you have a heavy egg and potato omelete. Invert the pan and slice into pie pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a side of salad or top with a pepper and onion salsa.

"Flat Bread Pizzas"

Unfortunately for you, my camera didn't do the best job capturing these lovely pizza-type concoctions. However, I will still share the recipe here. The title is in quotes because if you are in the mood for ooey gooey cheesy pizza, this is not for you. But, if you are in the mood for a piece of flatbread topped with anything and everything, then get cooking.

At the place I currently work, there is a cafe, and they serve up individual flatbread pizzas daily. I adjusted this recipe by using store-bought lavash wraps (you can experiment with other unleavened bread of your choice) and whatever was in my fridge.

To start, take one lavash wrap and cut it in half so you have two long strips. In an oven pre-heated to 375 degrees (don't you hate when I tell you to pre-heat during the recipe. Ha ha.), bake the un-topped lavash for 5-10 minutes so they get brown and crisp (but not crispy).

Remove from oven and top with anything you like. For this recipe, I used tomatoes, corn, black beans, and cheddar jack cheese. Put the topped flat breads back in the oven and bake until cheese is melty and bubbly and brown on top.

Since I love avocados and this was definitely a very southwest dish... I topped my pizza with fresh avocado. Enjoy.

Thai-style Mango Curry

So.... I have been having computer memory issues that prevented me from blogging. Normally when that happens, I would use my work computer after hours to post and upload photos. My schedule these past few months was a little busy so I just never got around it. My apologies.

Moving on, I have become a vegetarian for the past few months and have some recipes to prove it. I am going to keep these short and simple so I can post them rapid fire while I have a second.

This first recipe is one of my favorite things to make. For starters, it is incredibly easy. Anyone can make this if you have the right ingredients and the ingrediants vary depending on what you like and what you don't like. For those of you who eat meat, you can easily add cooked chicken to this dish.

This is a Thai-style curry because it uses coconut milk and fresh veggies, however I used Indian Red Curry paste for the flavoring. When making curries, you can use curry powders or pastes. I prefer the ready-made paste you can buy in the international aisle of your grocery store. If you opt for the powder, you might need to put a few tablespoons extra in, as well as other spices. Play around with it.

The prep for this dish is really easy. Slice up onions and the red/yellow/orange peppers (your choice which colors you use). In a shallow saucepan or sautee pan, add some veggie oil and cook the onions. I like to leave the onions in big pieces for this dish, that way if your friends don't like onions they can pick them out. While the onions are cooking, cut up your mango (or if you are using frozen mango cubes, remove from freezer), and get the rest of your veggies ready to go (cut up broccoli, rinse snow or snap peas, half the cherry tomatoes).

Once the onions are starting to get translucent, add in the peppers and a tablespoon or two of the curry paste. Mix it all up so the curry paste is coating all of the peppers and onions and cooks. Add more curry paste if your veggies aren't coated. .

Then, pour in a 14oz can of coconut milk (lite coconut milk works fine, too). If you are going to add chicken, now would be the time to add cubed, browned chicken (it doesn't need to be fully cooked because it will cook up the rest of the way in the curry sauce) .

Let the coconut milk come to a boil and then add in the rest of your veggies and the mango (if frozen). If using fresh mango, wait a minute or two before adding it in. Let the veggies cook up so they are tender, but the green veggies should still be green. Serve over rice.

I'm a Flip-Flopper

Yes, Liz Lemon said it best when she referred to herself as a 'flip-flopper' when confronted with her membership in the Steak of the Month Club and her subscription to the Vegetarian Times. I often find myself in the same boat, as I go through phases of vegetarianism without trying, but then when I do try I end up out to dinner and ordering the steak tips at Silvertone (they are sooo good).

Anyway, I have been feeling quite informed as of late when it comes to food. I typically buy as locally as I can, and shopping at Whole Foods makes it easy to go organic. I know that veggies are a good choice-- and I honestly love vegetables. I get cranky when I don't get my fair share of vegetables in a day so when I am being good and not living off of macaroni and cheese or the pasta I always keep in my cabinet, I eat a lot of the green stuff.

This week I ate entirely vegetarian, except for one day when I had chicken noodle soup at work, but I didn't make that. And I didn't eat a single fake meat product. I am not against fake meat-- I love a good veggie burger. I just think that if you are trying to be vegetarian, you can do so without a constant barrage of tofudogs, sliced deli-style tofurky, and all of the smart brand stuff ('bbq chicken style veggie protein' and 'veggie protein chili') although I have to say, most of that Smart stuff is good.

This was also the week of peppers. I bought 5 peppers-- a couple red, a yellow, and an orange. I'm not sure why, it's not like there was a sale or anything. But I do like peppers and I was planning on making a Thai style curry and I need at least a couple of colors of pepper for that dish. Then I figured I'd buy a few extras and use them in other dishes throughout the week. One of the red peppers was an honest mistake and I was too embarrassed to return it. But, one of my rules of shopping is trying to get one ingredient to work in a few meals. That way if one recipe only calls for say, half a pepper, then the next recipe you make will hopefully call for the other half. Waste not, want not.

Right when I got home from the store, I started off with the peppers. I sliced all of them up and put the ones I wasn't going to use in a tupperwear container. It actually wasn't tupperware, it was a grocery store container that at one point held salad green or something of that nature. Since they were already sliced up-- the peppers were conveniant as a snack or to throw into a dish or salad. I ate them with hummus while watching TV; I sauteed them with onions and enoyed them in a warm salad on top of a Spanish-style omelette; I diced up a few of them onto a Southwest Flatbread pizza. It was a good week.

The point of this little story is-- there is a point, it turns out, I wasn't sure at first-- although it can be tricky shopping for one and buying the right amount of each thing, with even the slightest amount of prep you can get 5 peppers eaten in 5 days. I know for a fact I wouldn't have eaten those peppers if I hadn't sliced them all up the day I made my curry. Getting them prepped in advance made it that much easier to use them throughout the week even if I was in a rush or feeling lazy. Doing that was also great to incorporate veggies into a snack. I almost always have hummus on hand, and if I have vegetables chopped up and ready to go, I will sit there and snack on them. If the vegetables need to be chopped when I am ready to eat- I will just grab crackers instead.

So don't be afraid of buying a lot of one thing. With a little creativity/ prep or whatnot, hopefully you will get them eaten before they go bad. Unless it is bananas. I have three bananas that went bad in my kitchen right now. Well, they might be banana bread acceptable, but they aren't peel and snackable anymore. Which is a shame. But such is life.

Chicken and Parmesan Biscuits with Fennel, Parsnips and Carrots in an Herbed Wine Sauce (I'm not very good at concise recipe titles)

OR You Will Recognize This One But It Will Be In French
OR Some People Think Casseroles Don't Get Hurt Feelings. Some People Don't Think This Is a Casserole. It Hurts the Casserole's Feelings When You Say That.
OR The Above Two Titles Are Inside Jokes With Myself And I Just Made Myself Laugh. A Lot.

My friend Lauren and I were having a Flight of the Conchords mini marathon and so food was in order. Because one of their songs mentions casseroles (and hurt feelings, see above) I thought I should do something in a casserole form. Originally I was thinking some sort of creamy chicken and rice dish. Then I gave it all up and thought I'd just serve the soup I made on Sunday because it really was delicious and I made lots of it and had plenty to spare as I had put the whole cauldron of it directly in my fridge and it was occupying lots of space that could be used by sour milk and baking soda instead. Then, my other friend Bridgid forwarded me a Chicken and Biscuits casserole recipe by Rachael Ray (Actually, I think Rache called it "Chicken 'N Biscuits"). Rachael's dish seemed like a good idea. Then I thought of a better one.

My take on Chicken and Biscuits involves more of a french twist (not the hairstyle, Liz) than the usual. What I came up with was basically what would happen if Gina Neely picked a down-home recipe and asked Ina Garten to update it, Rachael Ray to make it fast, and Sandra Lee to modify it with semi-homemade tricks that even people who have electric stoves can handle. Ina Garten suggested making the gravy an herbed wine cream sauce and added pancetta to crumble on top. Rachael recommended using pre-roasted chicken because no one has time to roast a whole chicken in 30 minutes and your local Price Chopper has them ready to go and serve right in their pre-cooked section! Yumm-O! Sandra Lee thought that if you mixed Bisquick, Parmesan, thyme and milk together, you could make really simple parmesan biscuits that would be just as good as if you bought them from a bakery or had pastry chef experience like she does. And she also wanted you to know that her red gingham shirt matches her curtains.

Moving on-- I started by purchasing a pre-roasted chicken. This was actually a really good time saver and it was cost effective. I could have bought chicken pieces, uncooked, for the same price as the whole roasted chicken. I'm not kidding around here. While letting it cool a smidge, I took 5 slices of pancetta, rolled them onto eachother, and then sliced and diced them up. I rendered those in a saucepan l as I took the time to carve the white meat off the roasted chicken and rip the subsequent pieces into shreds. I then put shredded chicken bits into a square casserole dish that had been buttered so nothing would get too sticky.

Next, I started on the sauce and veggies. I finely sliced up a bulb of fennel so I could get it cooking immediately. Fennel has a bit of an anise flavor when it is raw, but it is actually quite sweet when cooked all the way through and adds richness that onion lacks. By this point, the pancetta was more than crispy and pretty much burnt, so using a slotted spoon I removed the bits from the pan and onto a paper towel, reserving the fat and oil in the pan. I added the fennel to that very pan and let it sizzle. Here's the point where you want to chop up your parsnips and carrots. I cut them on an angle and kept them slender so they would cook up quickly.

Add those to the pan, toss in some dried herbs de provence, stir and let them cook up with the fennel so they are tender on the inside with carmelized bits on the outside. Once the veggies look amazing and you want to gobble them up even though you know (A) it would ruin the final dish and (B) you would burn your mouth, pour about a glass full of white wine (maybe 2 glasses of wine if you want to get it drunk) into the mixture. Let it reduce. Roll a lemon on your table, cut it in half, juice it, and then forget you did that because even though it would have added a nice citrus glow to your sauce, you forgot about it and ended up using it for salad dressing which was too lemony, I'd say, but my guest was too polite to mention it.

Once the wine has evaporated into oblivion, add two tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour to the pan. Stir it up fast. Add a couple of cups of chicken broth. Pour in some skim milk. Stir stir stir like crazy. Watch it thicken. Don't watch it thicken. Chop up fresh herbs (a mixture of thyme, tarragon, parsley) and throw it into the sauce/vegetables. Pour this over the chicken. Then, in a seperate bowl, take a cup or so of bisquick, a few handfuls of parmesan, chopped up thyme and mix. Pour in some milk, mixing until it forms a dough. Drop onto the top of your now saucy chicken.

Bake the casserole in the oven at somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees F (did I mention you should preheat) and bake until the biscuits are cooked through (about the length of one episode of Conchords-- 26ish minutes). I suggest serving this with a mixed green salad tossed with a citrus vinagrette that you make with mustard, olive oil, herbs de provence, sea salt and only HALF of the lemon juice you previously juiced (i.e. one half a lemon's juice).

Tuscan Sausage Soup with Zucchini, White Beans, and Spinach

My Aunt Sharon sent around a recipe the other day for a turkey sausage soup that sounded delicious. That recipe reminded me of how much I love sausage in soups... then I thought about how I love Ribollita (a hearty Tuscan veggie soup boiled twice), which made me think of Tortellini soup (who knows why), which made me want a soup that had all of the above: tasty veggies, sausage, and tortellini. I made it happen in the recipe I am going to share with you now.I call this Tuscan because if you have ever experienced the slightly more Northern Italian cuisine you will have noticed they go easy on the red sauce. Instead, their bases are hearty broths complimented by white beans and other vegetables, or meat. This soup reminds me of that kind of cooking.

If you are a vedge, and you want to forego the meat, that will work out perfectly in this dish. It can easily stand on its own many veggies. I would suggest however that you pick up some italian sausage seasonings, as the purpose for adding the sausage is to add a little bit of kick to the dish. Or, just add some red pepper flakes.

The first thing I did was brown the sausage (meat removed from casing) with shallots in a dutch oven. I chose shallots instead of onions because I hear they are cousins of garlic and onions and I pretty much avoid garlic at all costs but like onions. This seemed like a compromise. Kind of like those two-in-one shampoos plus conditioner. Meanwhile, I chopped up some baby carrots. Why the babies? Because they are already peeled. Because I always have them on hand as a healthy snack. Because they cook faster and I love tender carrots in soup. Because I don't need a reason to use baby carrots instead of the big ugly ones. They are cute, okay? I like cute things. Once chopped up, I threw the carrots into the pan and seasoned with some Italian seasonings. Next, I cubed two zucchini. The fastest way to cube a couple of zukes is to cut it in half lengthwise, then cut each half into strips. Line them up and chop them crosswise. Done. I added them to the pot, stirred, etc. Then I took one can of diced tomatoes and threw them in along with one can of white beans (your choice). Rinse can beans before using them-- no one needs the extra starch and it could make things gloppy. [Actually, it probably won't ruin it, I just always think 'glop glop' and then the idea of soup is ruined by the idea of gloppiness.] Then I stirred it all up and poured 32 oz of stock in to make it a soup. I chose chicken stock, you can choose veggie or beef, whatever, it will all taste good. Except maybe fish stock. I think that might be gross.After leaving the soup simmer for as long as I could stand it (about 45 minutes... I kept myself occupied with other things to keep my mind off what I couldn't yet have), in a seperate pot I got some salted water boiling. Once that was on a roll, I tossed in my tri-colored tri-cheese tortellini. At the very same moment (yes, one hand was throwing tortellini into one pan while the other hand was dealing with the soup), I added the final flourish to the simmering zuppa... fresh baby spinach. The spinach and the tortellini cooked up in about the same time, so it was perfection. I threw some torts in a bowl, ladled the soup atop, and dusted the bowl of goodness (or if you were Rachey Ray you'd call this a stoup) with parmesan cheese and pepper (I usually go easy on the salt and pepper during the cooking process, especially with soups. Everyone has their own preference and those seasonings are easier to do bowl by bowl by bowl by bowl).I know what you are thinking. Jenn, why are you making these tasty things in such large quantity? Isn't this supposed to be cooking for the one and only? And yes, friends, it is. However, in the winter, I'm going to be honest. Cooking for one isn't about sacrificing the homey dishes that families get to make. Cooking for one means stocking your freezer with lots of tasty soups, stews, chilis, pastas, sauces, etc. Because there is nothing better than a big pot of soup cooking on your stove promising you meals in days to come. And come on, we are all busy here. Cook once, serve 5 times. If that's not a saying it should be. I promise come springtime when fresh vegetables are aplenty, there will be more singular sensations and I might even hop back on the vegetarian bandwagon... so look out Spring! Here I come.

I like to call this Chocohotopotamus For One

OR How Not to Eat Your Weight in Chocolate
OR Because Eating Chocolate Will Make You Feel Less Rejected by Loser Guys Because They Are Losers and You Are Awwesome

Nigella Lawson once made these decadent chocolate hot pots (chocohotpot). She made her recipe for 4, because she has a couple of kids with whom to share her treats. I know myself, and if I made 4 chocolate pots of yumminess, then I would eat them all. And not, one now, one later, one a little after that. I would eat them all in a row until I got sick. So, I needed to modify her recipe so it only made one... On a snowy winter day, I did just that.

These mini molten chocolate cakes are made with only a few ingredients. 1 egg, 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, and 1 Tablespoon flour does the trick.

First, melt the chips. You can do this on a double boiler, or you can be like me and climb onto a kitchen chair to do this in the microwave. Either way, throw the butter into your melting apparatus so you can do both at once. If you are micro-ing the chocolate, do it in spurts of 15-20 seconds, stirring between each heat blast so you don't burn the poor things. You will know you have gone too far if the chocolate gets chunky and dry. If that's the case, start over my friend, you can't come back from that catastrophe. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and sugar. At the last moment, throw the flour in and continue to whisk it all together.

Let the chocolate/butter combo cool slightly before adding it to the egg mixture, and then stir to combine. Next, butter a ramekin. Pour the chocolate mixture into the 'pot' and then place on a baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for just under 20 minutes.

You don't want it to be as puffy on top as mine, but it will still be good- it's chocolate. It should be cakelike on the outside and gooey on the inside. Serve with whipped cream if you are into cream that's been whipped. I'm not really, so I ate mine straight from the ramekin with alternate spoonfuls of blood orange sorbetto that I had in the freezer.

Notes: When I adjusted this recipe for 1, I actually only cut a recipe for four down to a third. It was easier that way (because it called for 3 eggs and I tried an egg beater vesion which didn't work out). So, if you want to make the full recipe for 4, you should actually triple the ingredients instead of multiplying them by 4. Also, if you've properly buttered the ramekin(s) before baking, you should be able to take a knife around the edge and pop it out of the container onto a plate, for a pretty presentation. These need to be eaten warm from the oven. If you want to have people over for dinner and serve these as dessert, you can make the batter ahead, just wait to pop them in the oven about 20 minutes before you want to serve. Also note: This is not a souffle. This is a deeply rich chocolatey dessert that is a cross between a flourless cake and a molten chocolate cake.

Chili Chili Chili

OR Not the Prettiest Recipe But Still Worth Eating... Everyday For a Week and Then Two Months Later When You Find Even More Leftovers in the Freezer

With superbowl around the corner (when I made this chili anyway, I realize this post is going to come up after the superbowl), I was in the mood for chili. Also, Boston has been seeing some really cold nights and what better way to warm up than with a nice steamy bowl of chili, topped with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole, and served with tortilla chips.

Chili is simple to make and perfection when you live alone. This recipe definitely makes a ton of chili, don't get me wrong. But if you live by yourself you are constantly inviting yourself to others houses. What better way to secure an invitation to a Superbowl party (or Real Housewives of NYC premiere party, whatever floats your boat) than by saying: "I'll bring the chili dip and chips." Usually that statement is followed by an "Mmmm... come over at 6." And for me, chili dip is simply the chili you made two nights ago mixed with cheese, melted, and topped with sour cream. Of course, you could always add a layer of cream cheese to the bottom of a baking dish, top it with chili and a layer of cheese, and do a 3 layer dip. Whatever. Chili plus anything equals delicious when it comes to party fare.

To make my chili, I use ground turkey. I brown that in a large saucepan (the biggest one you have, a dutch oven sized monstrosity with two handles most likely, because you want to cook your entire dish in this pot) with chopped up onions. I cried a lot when I cut these ovens and it was kind of embarrassing, but fortunately I was alone. Once the turkey was cooked through and crumbly, I added in a packet of chili seasonings. If you are a purist and don't believe in those packets a combo of chili powder, red pepper flakes, cumin, and whatever else you want will do the trick. I just do the packets because I haven't stocked up my spice cab yet.

Then, add in the following ingredients: 1 can of mixed chili beans (or multiple cans of the beans of your choice), 1 can of your favorite bean (I used a red bean), 1 can of diced tomatoes (if you get ones that have chilis or jalapenos then you can add some kick in this way), a squirt or 1 small can of tomato paste, 1 small can of mild green chilis, 1 can of corn (drained). Mix all of these together with the seasonings and let it simmer for as long as you can stand it. Scoop some into a bowl over rice, or top it with guacamole and sour cream. Or, make an avocado/ corn/ lime/ red onion/ cilantro salsa and top your chili with that.

Some of you may wonder what you will do with the remaining chili after you've eaten your dinner and gone to your superbowl party. Well, I always like to freeze a container or two. There is nothing better than finding a serving of chili in your freezer. I also like to make chili scrambled eggs topped with fresh avocado and sour cream for breakfast. Sometimes, I make about 1 muffins worth of corn muffin batter, top a glass dish of chili, bake, and have a chili bake. Really, there are so many things you can do with chili, I can't even list them all here. If I do any of the above, I will be sure to post more recipes.

White Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage

Normally I'd say lasagna isn't the best when cooking for a small number. But, lasagna is only as big as the baking dish you put it in so it is pretty easy to shrink it down if need be. My friend Sara was coming over for dinner and then we were going to see Marley & Me, so I needed a dish I could make the night before and this lasagna was what I chose.

This recipe was inspired from a skillet lasagna in the Williams Sonoma catalog, but I think my version is easier because you can make it ahead, refrigerate or freeze, and then bake the day you want to serve it. It's layers of thinly sliced butternut squash, sweet Italian chicken sausage, and cheeses (Parmesan, Asiago, and Fontina) all doused in a crème fraîche béchamel.

The first thing you want to do is get all of the components ready. I started by preparing the chicken sausage. I purchased 2 links of sweet Italian chicken sausage that added up to about a half a pound, not even. I split them open and scooped out the insides into a pan that already had one small finely chopped onion cooking away. To that, I added about a tablespoon of Italian seasonings and a little bit of olive oil. I used a wooden spoon to break the sausage into tiny ground bits- you don't want really big chunky pieces in this lasagna.Meanwhile, I sliced the butternut squash. I bought a half a butternut squash that was already peeled. I picked one that had a big neck, as the neck piece was what I wanted to use so they'd all be around the same size after being slice. You could certainly buy a whole squash, halve it, and peel it yourself, but I am lazy. Plus, I didn't want a lot of leftover squash.Next I made the béchamel. This is really just a white sauce but I prefer the sound of the word béchamel roll off my tongue. Sounds classier. A white sauce sounds like something I'd use in tuna casserole (which I am not against and actually that sounds quite appealing right now, but I'm just saying). To make this creamy sauce, I used 2 tablespoons of butter melted into 3 tablespoons of flour. Whisk the flour and butter together, once combined thoroughly start adding milk in half cup portions while whisking. You want to add a total of 2 cups of skim milk (the proper technique requires whole milk or maybe even cream, but no, that's not what I did). Keep whisking until it is creamy but not really boiling. Then, remove from heat and add about 4 oz of crème fraîche. Just drop it in, and whisk some more until it is combined. This adds a nice creamy flavor to the white sauce.Last, cook your noodles. I used fresh pasta sheets. Like I have mentioned, I shop at Whole Foods and though expensive, it has all kind of cool things like pasta sheets that you just have to try. Make sure when cooking the pasta you oil the water. This way they won't stick together when you drain them. (Believe me, that's annoying).

Now that you have all of the ingredients prepped, you just need to layer it up. First, pour a bit of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Then, put one sheet of cooked pasta down (or two or three is you are using traditional dried noodles). On top of the pasta, create a layer of the thinly sliced butternut squash. If you slice it thin enough, you don't need to cook it beforehand. If you are worried, you can sauté the slices in a bit of oil in a pan to cook them a teeny bit but it shouldn't be necessary. Next, distribute the cooked sausage and onion mixture throughout the layer. Sprinkle on your shredded cheese of choice, pour on more béchamel and again with the pasta layer. Repeat until you have a full lasagna. Make sure to end with one layer of pasta, the béchamel, and shredded cheese.You can cover this with saran wrap and aluminum foil and freeze it or refrigerate it overnight to be baked the next day or beyond. Because mine was small, I only needed to bake it for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees, but depending on the size of your lasagna you might need an hour to cook it through. It should be bubbly and brown on top.Cut it into squares and serve it to a friend. To make use of the leftovers, wait until it has cooled and solidified before cutting it into individual servings to either be frozen for a later date or packed up for tomorrow's lunch.

[A couple people have mentioned to me that those lasagna noodles that don't require precooking would be a quick and easier way to master this dish. I'd have to agree-- if you are looking for something quick and easy without sacrificing taste, definitely go that route instead of doing what I did- wrestling entire sheets of cooked pasta out of the water as they stuck to each other (I lost a few pieces of pasta to my kitchen floor, I won't deny it). On the note that some people like to make things easier, I wondered if there are people out there who want to make recipes more difficult. If you want to create MORE work for yourself on this recipe, then you can actually take fresh pasta sheets and run them through a pasta roller to get them paper thin or make your own pasta and roll your own sheets super thin. Since those sheets only take seconds to cook in boiling water, you also don't need to pre-boil them as long as you use a little extra bechamel.]

Leftovers of Love

Cheese, Potato & Cabbage Pierogi
My grandmother (Bobbi) is Ukrainian (which makes me one quarter Ukrainian) and part of her holiday tradition is making pierogi: cheese, potato, or saurkraut filled pockets of tastiness. This year, my Aunt Sharon, Aunt Carolyn, and my cousin Lauren helped out. I reaped the benefits.

This week, I was quite disturbed to fall off the cooking wagon due to an extreme cold that hit Boston. Normally, it being cold outside doesn't prevent me from cooking up warm and tasty comfort food inside, but I also woke up one morning on the wrong side of the bed with a hacking cough and a bad night's sleep behind me. Thus, every day this week I have been bundling up, walking the 15 or so minutes to and from work, swallowing knives, and coming home to a warm apartment and little to no motivation to do anything more than lay on my couch and heat up cans of soup. By Thursday I was pretty much out of soup, so I looked in my freezer. Lo and behold, what I found was a true Christmas miracle. The homemade Ukrainian dumplings that Bobbi had sent me home to Boston with were hanging out there begging to be eaten. Sometimes, it turns out that cooking for one means letting the ones who love you give you leftovers that you can keep in your freezer.

To cook them, I boiled them first, and then tossed them with butter, salt, and pepper in a skillet. I left the kitchen for a moment and they got a little crispier than anticipated, but they were still delicious. It is true that the best gifts are homemade and edible. Thanks, Bobbi.

[Will post a Pierogi recipe shortly or at some point in time, but wanted to get this post up so everyone knows I am still alive and kicking.]

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

OR When Cooking for One Means Eating for Four (No, I'm Not Expecting Triplets)
OR Had a bad day? Make pancakes and don't look back.
OR Pancakes for Dinner? Cookies for Breakfast!
OR My Apartment Smells Like Maple Syrup.

When I was growing up, one of my best friends used to have sundaes for dinner on occasion. Even though my parents both have sweet tooths, we weren't the "Eat dessert first" type of family. The closest thing we'd get to having dessert for dinner was having breakfast for dinner. This wasn't too often and usually consisted of an egg dish, but how great are pancakes for dinner? It's like how you wait for French Toast Stick day in the school cafeteria to beg your parents for lunch money instead of having to take your baloney sandwich. (Does your baloney have a middle name? Mine didn't.)

This Thursday, I decided to whip up some pancakes. Quite frankly, it was because I wasn't in the mood for anything I had in the fridge. Also, I was craving maple syrup and what better vehicle to hold the maple syrup than tasty blueberry pancakes.

My first snag was I didn't actually have any pancake mix. Then I remembered that pancakes are actually really easy to make, and if you are even only slightly grown up like myself then you probably have all of the ingredients on hand (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, egg, butter, milk). I quickly referenced Allrecipes, which is a good website if you are looking for ALL RECIPES. What I like about this site, actually, is you can convert the ingredients into smaller amounts and you can do it by serving size. I was hungry, so I converted an 8 serving recipe in half and I was lazy so I let the computer do it.

Here is what you need for 4 servings of pancakes (or click here for original recipe):
3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used whole-wheat pastry, it's what I had)
1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder (I estimated this)**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons milk (I used more milk than this because I like my batter thinner)
1/2 egg (use 1/8 cup of egg beaters or other egg white mixture)
almost 2 tablespoons of butter
**A few people think this is too much baking powder. I honestly just took a regular old spoon and spooned some in so I have no idea how much I used. If you want to cut it down, go for it. 1 heaping teaspoon would probably be enough. Who cares about b-powder. I'm sure I don't.You are supposed to sift all of the dry ingredients in order to make them light and airy. I don't have a sifter or a sieve, so I put them in a bowl and whisked them dry. Seriously, this works. It takes out the lumps and adds the air into them. Then, add your wet ingredients. If you can, warm up the milk slightly and get the egg to room temperature. I can't remember why this is, but there is something about using very cold milk and very cold egg that isn't fabulous for pancakes. It won't kill it though.

Whisk all ingredients together. It's fine if there are lumps, you don't want to over whisk. If you do, they will become more dense because by whisking too much you get rid of the air bubbles. Nobody likes dense pancakes. Then, add your blueberries.

The blueberries I choose are frozen by this company:Why do I use only these blueberries? (1) They are tasty (2) They are frozen fresh (3) They don't add any unnecessary sugar. If you can't have fresh it is definitely okay to go frozen. BUT, do not get the kind that is frozen in a block of syrup. That's not even real fruit. Those frozen fruits should only be used to make strawberry cake when extra sugar will only make you stronger.

Next, I usually use a measuring cup to pour them out onto the pan, that has been sprayed with Pam or coated with a knob of butter. Why a measuring cup? No, I am not anal about the size of my pancakes nor do I need them to all be the same. I've just found that a soup ladle picks up too much batter whereas a 1/4 measuring cup is the perfect amount for a medium sized pancake. A gravy ladle (if you have one) works great, too.If I had a dog, I would purposely ruin the first pancake so I could give it to her, but I don't. So, pay attention. Wait til the edges are dry and there are bubbles in the top before flipping it. If it burns before it is cooked thoroughly enough to flip the pancake easily, your pan is too hot so turn the flame down.It will only take about half the time to cook the second side, so make sure you keep an eye on it. Some people press down on their pancakes with a spatula so they can watch the ooze come out and make sure it's cooked all the way through. I'm not against this technique, but some people think that's a sure way to kill the fluffiness. Whatever.

Stack them all up on a plate, top with butter and maple syrup, and cut them into triangles like you are serving up the most amazing layer cake for dinner ever, and EAT THEM ALL. You won't regret it. Okay, you might, but just a little.

Mustardy Potato Slivers over Mixed Greens

I had bought potatoes because I thought maybe I'd make some oven baked fries to have with the quiche. I didn't do that, and I had so much fun slicing my onion with my mandoline, I decided to slice up some potatoes in that manner and see what I could come up with.

Since I never have a ton of ingredients on hand (my kitchen is almost never fully stocked), I decided to cook the potatoes seasoned with a salad dressing recipe I use constantly: Dijon mustard, tarragon vinegar, oil, dried herbs, salt. Instead of baking them, I opted to cook them on my stove to see what would happen.First, I thinly sliced my potatoes using a mandoline. If you don't have one, and don't think you can thinly slice potatoes with a very sharp chef's knife, then I'd suggest just cubing the potatoes or even slicing them into fries and baking them. Next, I mixed up the herbs (a combo of rosemary, basil, and oregano), oil, and salt in with the potatoes. I did this directly in the pan so as not to waste a bowl.

Then, I turned on the stove, and let the potatoes sizzle for a little bit, to get the cooking started. Because I felt like it would be good, I poured a bit of tarragon vinegar in and then covered the pan. The reason I covered the pan was to steam the potatoes for a little while, that way they'd be cooked all the way through and would be soft on the inside instead of chewy.Next, I added the mustard to the herbed potatoes and stirred it up. Then I followed a pretty simple process of making a thin layer of potato, letting it cook, flipping and stirring the potatoes, making another thin layer, and so on. I did this until the potatoes were getting crispy on the outside.I honestly wasn't really sure where I was going with this dish, but I thought maybe it'd be good in a salad, so I tossed some greens with the same dressing that seasoned the potatoes.

I poured the potatoes on top of the greens and it was perfectly satisfying as a main dish, however, I added a slice of quiche on the side because I am obsessed with my quiche. These potatoes could be eaten without the salad greens as the side to any meat. Or, you could put them in an omelet to make something similar to a Spanish tortilla.

Roasted Vegetable Quiche with Caramelized Onions and Feta Oh My

I'm a huge fan of quiche for a lot of reasons. First, it is perfect for cooking for one. I can eat a quarter of a quiche in one sitting, pack a second quarter for lunch the next day, and then invite a friend over for dinner to finish off that second half the next day. Why can I eat so much quiche in a row? Because it is delicious.

It's also not that unhealthy. Sure, it can seem unhealthy when you read about it in that old cookbook your grandmother had, because it uses cream and has a crust and aren't eggs bad? The truth is, quiche got a bad reputation. Nowadays, if you make it with skim milk, substitute some of the egg for egg whites, use minimal cheese and fill it chock full of vegetables, you can have a healthy dinner without a lot of effort.

First, make sure your caramelized onions and roasted vegetables are done. These should be done in advance so you can make assembly of this dish 1-2-3. You don't want the quiche to sit around waiting for ingredients. It will get impatient and may make quite a stink. For my crust, I purchased it frozen. Since it is from Whole Foods, it is an organic whole wheat delight. Because I bought it a while ago, dropped it a few times between the freezer and the table, it was broken. Even though the packagers told me to use the crust frozen and not to thaw it out, I disregarded their message and let it unfrost so I could mend the cracks. I didn't want my eggs to leak underneath the crust. Gross.

I filled the crust with a few forkfuls of my previously roasted vegetables (see how handy they are already) and some crumbles of feta cheese. The reason I chose feta is because it is a strong cheese so you don't need a lot of it. This is a good way to cut fat out of a meal. Instead of using a whole brick (cups worth) of a mild cheddar, if you use just a few tablespoons of punchy feta you will have the bang without the caloric buck.Then, I whisked together 2 eggs, a quarter of a cup of egg white (I used one of those containers of egg whites with the artificial color, like egg beaters but called something else), about 1 and a half cups of skim milk (I wasn't measuring, just pouring), along with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. I used the herbs de provence in the roasting vegetables, so I thought I'd incorporate that layer of flavor into the egg mix. Sometimes when making quiche, I also add in two tablespoons of fat free ricotta. Adds substance without adding fat. But in this case, I didn't, because I didn't have any on hand. I poured this egg mixture into my pie crust, on top of the roasted vegetables.Next, I added the carmelized onions into the quiche (I delicately added them strand by strand so they were evenly distributed), and I took another tablespoon of feta and crumbled it over the top of the pie. Then, I placed the whole shebang into the oven which had been preheating at 375 degrees. I let this bake for about 45 minutes to an hour. When you can smell (if you can smell) the scent wafting through your home, you know it is close to done. Check it with a knife inserted in the center. If it comes out clean, the quiche is cooked thoroughly and ready to be enjoyed.