Honey Walnut Cake ('The Hobbit' inspired)

So my obsession with all things Lord of the Rings has reached new heights with the release of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit." I've always done a great deal of day dreaming about sword fighting, archery, horse back riding, mountain climbing, adventure, and because of the influence those books have had on me, I have tried a great deal of these activities.

my dream mountain man

However, I didn't realize how deprived I have been until I was re-immersed (twice in the opening weekend) in the visually stunning fantasy world that is Middle Earth (and yes, I will be moving to New Zealand soon; I am sure of it). Then I happened to read an article on HuffPost about foods that the modern Hobbit would eat for each meal:
 7:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 AM: Second Breakfast
11:00 AM: Elevensies
1:00 PM: Luncheon
4:00 PM: Afternoon tea
6:00 PM: Dinner
8:00 PM: Supper

hipster hobbits

This recipe by Tartlette for a Honey Walnut Cake with Riesling Sabayon was one of the options.  Again, like usual, I have adapted it for my kitchen and resources, and I left out making the Riesling Sabayon for The Single Serving, as regular whipped cream seemed like a delicious alternative. I wish it looked most photoshop pretty in the end, but it was a delicious and surprisingly healthy, compared to normal cake.

les ingrédients

toast the walnut pieces in the oven

blend dry ingredients together- this is one of the best kitchen tools for a Single Serving-  Cuisanart® SmartStick® Immersion Hand Blender 

close-up view inside my hand-held blender

all of the blended dry ingredients

beat butter, honey, and sugar together until fluffy

literally one of my favorite tools in my kitchen

mix the eggs and vanilla extract

add the egg mixture to the KitchenAid®

added the dry ingredients

not in my original ingredients, but I decided to add a splash of cinnamon

pour batter in baking pan

place in the oven for 35-40 minutes

The Single Serving

Honey and Walnut Cake Recipe:

     Ingredients-

1 1/2 cups, walnut pieces
1 cup, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp, baking powder
pinch of salt
12 tbp, unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
1/2 cup, honey
1/4 cup, sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon

     How To-

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter your cake pan. Reserve on the side. Break up the walnuts so they are in pieces, and spread them on a sheet pan to toast in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. Grind the nuts in a food processor with 1/2 cup of the flour until fine. Add the baking powder, salt and remaining flour to the mixture and give it a few quick blends. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand mixer, beat the butter with the honey and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. While that is beating, in a small bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla. Add it to the stand mixture. Make sure it is well mixed. Add the remaining dry ingredients mix until fully incorporated. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cake rack to cool. Serve with the whipped cream and fresh berries.

Thoughts:

I could easily see Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck sitting at old Biblo Baggin's hobbit-sized table, eating this cake while Bilbo recounts his adventures.

Steak & Baked Potatoes

     This past week, as it is the week before Christmas, I had a lot of deadlines and after work parties to attend- #firstworldproblems.  However, as such, I didn't have a chance to do any cooking for myself as I ate out mostly.  But I had still had the leftover red onion from the chorizo mac & cheese recipe, some leftover potatoes and an eye-round steak I needed to cook. I didn't want these to go to waste while I am away for the break. A big part of this blog is also trying to not waste ingredients. So for one meal, I was able to make a meal using all of these. This particular recipe will yield two servings as this is the smallest steak I could buy and I had two much onion for a single serving.  Thus the two baby potatoes, one for each serving.

your ingredients

place potatoes in baking pan and cook for 45 min

chop up the remaining onions

place the chopped onions in the melted butter

brown the onions until they are soft

cook the steak until desired done-ness (I prefer medium)

The Single Serving!

Steak & Baked Potatoes Recipe:

     Ingredients-

3 tbs, butter

3 qtrs, Red Onion, sliced 

2 baby Russet Potatos

1 Eye-Round Steak

Dollop of Sour Cream

     How To-

Preheat oven to 400 and pierce your potatoes so they can breathe while in the oven. Put the potatoes in the oven for ~45 minutes (since these are on the smaller side).  Around the 35 minute mark, start melting 2 tbs of butter on medium low heat.  Slice the red onion while the butter is melting.  Stir in the onion so it is coated in butter and let brown/soften (~6-8 minutes).  Remove the onions to a plate and melt 1 tbs of butter for the steak on medium heat.  Cook your steak until desired done-ness; I cooked mine until medium (5-7 minutes on each side). The steak and potatoes should be done cooking around the same time. Slice steak and place onions on top.  Open the baked potato and drop your dollop of sour cream (I may use more than a dollop, just saying). Enjoy!

Thoughts:

Definitely a good go-to for leftover ingredients.


Happy Holidays!!!

Chorizo Mac & Cheese

my oven mitt is telling me to drink...

 I got this recipe from DamnDelicious but I modified it slightly.  The recipe calls for macaroni (which I forgot to buy) so I used rigatoni, no loss here as all pasta types are delicious.  Also, the original recipe was a bit spicier, with the addition of jalapeños.  Not such a fan of those, but feel free to add them on your own accord.  I saw this recipe and remembered I had purchased a chorizo (stick? link?) from Eastern Market and froze it two weeks ago so this sounded like the perfect opportunity to make something with it.  This week has been hell and nothing like some comfort food on a Friday night followed by some video gaming!

Attention Ingredients!

Boil Yo Pasta!

dice the onion and pepper

no jokes here please- heat the chorizo in a skillet

stir in veggies

add the dusting of flour

mix in the milk and cheese until it's goopy

pour into baking dish and mix with pasta

sprinkle the panko to make it crispy

The Single Serving

Chorizo Mac 'n Cheese Recipe:

     Ingredients-

1 cup, macaroni pasta

Splash of Olive Oil

1 Chorizo

1 qtr, Red Onion, diced

1/2, Bell Pepper, diced

1 tbs, All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup, Milk

1/2 cup, Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 tsp, Lime Juice

1 tbs, Panko Breadcrumbs

     How To-

Preheat oven to 375 and grease your baking dish. Cook macaroni in a separate pot.  While the macaroni is boiling, chop up the red onion and bell pepper. Place the chorizo in a heated skillet with olive oil, medium heat. Make sure the chorizo is crumbling and gets crispy as it cooks (about 2-min). Turn down to medium low heat. Add onion and pepper to the chorizo and cook until the onion has softened (3-4 min).  Whisk in the flour, stir the milk slowly until fully combined.  Add the cheese and lime juice, then stir until a gooey mass (about 2 min).  Remove from heat and toss in your pasta. Pour into the baking dish and top off with panko crumbs for extra crispyness. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Thoughts:

So delicious man.
Ps. It's pretty spicy with the chorizo so think twice before adding jalapeños if that is your preference

Egg & Broccoli Rice Pilaf

I think this was Nana's at some point- I'm not sure if she gave it to me because I relate to Martha or the Bitch....hmmm

     Tonight, I am racing a deadline at work for an archaeological conference presentation I have to make in January (see my presentation abstracts here).  I also forgot to take meat out last night.  Thus, I found a box of Trader Joe's rice pilaf/orzo and I had some frozen broccoli florets and a egg.  Feel free to use real broccoli here, I just prefer only the florets  and the cheapest least wasteful way to do that is to buy them frozen. Since it's very hard to open a box of rice (or similar product) without using the whole thing, I did get leftovers of the pilaf from this recipe- however the other ingredients are geared for ONE SERVING.

I really love Kikkoman Soy Sauce; too bad it's not medicine

Butter is melted, rice and seasoning are stirred, water is added

Pot is brought to a boil and then let to simmer, covered

Delicious pilaf

In retrospect, I remembered I always add garlic salt and lemon juice when I cook broccoli (it might be the only way I know)

Splash lemon juice and pour the garlic salt generously

One scrambled egg coming right up

The Single Serving

Drizzled in soy sauce

Egg & Broccoli Rice Pilaf Recipe:

     Ingredients-

 2 tbs, Butter

2 cups, Water

1 box, preferred brand of Rice Pilaf

1 tbs, Lemon Juice

1 tbs, Garlic Salt

1 Egg

1/3 cup, chopped broccoli

Splash of Soy Sauce

     How To-

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.  Add the contents of the rice box (rice and seasoning) and stir well. Slowly bring this to a boil, and add the water.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the water. About 10 minutes into the pilaf cooking, start on the broccoli.  Add the chopped florets to a separate skillet on medium heat.  Douse with lemon juice and garlic salt. Let broccoli cook for 5-7 min, occasionally stirring and adding a pinch more garlic salt.  Put the broccoli in a plate and scramble the egg in the same pan.  Both meals should be done cooking simultaneously. Mix up with soy sauce and serve!

Thoughts:

This was really unexpectedly delicious. I thought it would be a decent meal thrown together at the last minute. Yet despite the few ingredients, the flavors were very explosive. Would easily make again.  Plus, protein from the egg.

Shrimp Scampi, Quinoa, and Tomato Mozzarella Salad

I am going to dedicate this first meal to my pops CB, for the man loves food with a passion, and has been sending me recipes links since I was a freshman in university.  Seven years and two degrees later, I feel like I owe the man his due credit so I decided to do a simple meal (also in hopes of inspiring him to be healthy) of shrimp scampi and quinoa (the new 'it' grain- its so popular i think i want its phone number)

I love my daddy and my skyline

yes, this is the same man (check out his feature in Dads are the Original Hipsters debut book)

I took this recipe from an email (one of billions!) that CB has sent me over the years because I didn't have many ingredients in the apartment and thus Shrimp Scampi with artichoke hearts and quinoa was born.  The original recipe is by a lass (I assume on a food blog) named Ellie Krieger back from '07.  The original doesn't add a side so I added the quinoa, and I didn't have shallots and I hate parsley (I hate garnishes with a passion).  I also bought a tomato that would have gone bad soon so I made a tomato and mozzarella salad because its healthy and cheesy.

Always line up your Ingredients

We don't really care about the Quinoa, it's cooking like you cook rice- I hope I don't have to teach you how to do that

Heated the olive oil and softening the garlic clove

Stir in the shrimp, artichoke hearts, white wine, and lemon juice until shrimp is ready

On the side- tomato and mozzarella salad with olive oil and vinegar

The Single Serving

Yes, that is white wine in a frozen beer mug

Shrimp Scampi Recipe:

     Ingredients-

 1 clove, chopped, Garlic

1/4 tbs, Olive Oil

1/4 tbs, Lemon Juice (real lemon or my preferred way, out of a bottle)

1/3 cup, Shrimp- peeled and deveined (up to you if you want to remove tails before cooking)

3.5oz, Artichoke Hearts

splash of White Wine

pinch of Salt and Pepper

     How To-

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped garlic and cook until its softened (~a minute and a half) but don't let it get burnt. Next, add the shrimp, artichoke hearts, white wine, and lemon juice, cooking until the shrimp is cooked all the way through (2-4 min). Grind some salt and pepper on top and serve on top of quinoa.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad Recipe:

     Ingredients-

 1/2 Tomato
1/2 Mozzarella ball
oil and vinegar to your liking (i smother in vinegar)

     How To-

Cut up tomato and mozzarella to your liking (I like bigger pieces) and douse it in the oil and vinegar.  Can add olives to this salad but I didn't have any.

Thoughts:

Converting recipes is hard work, I sometimes underestimate the flavor conversions.  I would have added another clove of garlic and some more lemon juice for flavor- which I added afterwards