stay tuned- 5 course dinner just happened

for real, the 5 course dinner picture and recipes will be made available one post at a time starting very soon!

Helen's glorified fudge

OK

So I always talk about my brownies, which I lovingly refer to as glorified fudge. Why is that Helen? Funny you ask...it's because I love my brownies super chewy, stick to your teeth, chocolatey and underbaked. And YES they are delicious this way! They are made with barely any flour, and if you eat them hot out of the oven, you better use a spoon because it is literally just like warm fudge.

Really, make them yourself. This is my own recipe that I have perfected after much trial and error, so I promise it is no fluke! I will admit I was inspired by a former co-worker who was attending culinary school. Shout out to Liam just in case you ever see this.
If you are really nice to me or if I'm feeling really nice, I'll make these for you as a gift from my heart. <3


Glorified Fudge
1 stick sweet cream butter (also known as unsalted)
1 bar semisweet baker's chocolate (about 3.5 ounces or 100 g)
1 cup (or 1 1/4 cup if you like things sweet...but brownies are about the chocolate and candy is about the sweet, right?) granulated sugar
2 eggs MUST BE ROOM TEMPERATURE
1 cup flour
1/2 cup (two handfuls....if you have hands my size) chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (PURE, HK does not play games)

create
1. Preheat oven to 360º F. Get a 9x13 or 8x8 pan ready by buttering it up.
2.  Melt butter with chocolate, I use the microwave most of the time, but I have done the double boiler before when I feel inspired. Either will work,
3.  Transfer butter chocolate goop to mixing bowl and add sugar. Stir until well mixed. Sugar doesn't have to melt. And, most of the time, it won't.
4. Carefully temper and incorporate the eggs into butter/choc. How do I do this? Take a small amount of butter/choc mixture and stir into room temperature eggs. Then, stir this mixture back into the mixing bowl with the rest of the butter/choc.
5. Optional: stir in vanilla if you want to use it. I can never tell the difference myself, so it's up to you.
6. Stir in chocolate chips. This is not optional.
7. Spread batter evenly in a baking tin and bake for 16 minutes if using the 9x13; 20 minutes if using the 8x8, or until the top is slightly cracked if your oven is uneven/messed up.
Note: baking for this suggested amount of time will leave you with GLORIFIED FUDGE, but if you want real brownies you can add on 2-3 extra minutes of baking time. But, let's be real who wants that?


The secret recipe is out.

just eat,
HK

PS- shoutout to Sky my baking buddy on this project. Props to her for baking with me and taking/providing the picture.

Helen's attempt at Thai Green Curry

Hello!

There are just times when I crave Thai green curry. This craving struck me last week when I happened to have thai green curry paste and some Asian ingredients in the fridge. I proceeded to go for it and make a lovely curry. So, the curry paste I found was pretty legit. Like spicier than I thought and a little went a very long way. So, when you carry on with green curry adventures of your own, please start with a little of the green stuff and work your way up...since you probs don't want to burn a hole in your face!

Helen's Attempt at Thai Green Curry
1/2-1 tablespoon of Thai green curry paste. I got it from an Asian market, it has a Thai label so sorry I can't help with letting you know a brand...but isn't it a good sign that there's no English on it?
smidge of oil, maybe a teaspoon
1 can of coconut milk (I used low fat because I don't like my green curry to taste like slightly spicy coconut fat, but if this is your thing go for the regular full fat version)
1/4 - 1/2 cup chicken stock (could be optional, read below)

my curry add in's
2 Japanese eggplants (partially peeled, sliced on a bias and then into finger sized strips, and lightly sauteed in vegetable oil till slightly browned)
Firm, crispy skinned tofu (you can find this in Asian markets. Make thin slices. If you want it extra crispy, go ahead and saute this in some veg oil too, until brown and even more crispy!)
1 can of baby corn (rinsed, drained, and I go ahead and blanch them to get rid of the "tin" taste)
1/2 a pepper, 1/2 an onion, 2 cups of mushrooms (cook this together in some sort of fat. butter, oil, your choice, till its nice and brown and the mushrooms have lost a good amount of liquid)
1/3 cup of peas/carrots (this is straight up American of me, I won't even pretend. I had it on hand. don't use it if you hate peas or carrots or both
handful or two of thai basil leaves, depending on how obscene you want the basil flavor to be
depending on if this is the vegetarian meal or not...and depending on if I have leftovers to use, I add in some precooked chicken bits. yum.

make it work:
1. Fry the curry paste in the oil for literally 30 seconds or so, and then add the coconut milk. Stir to incorporate the curry into the coconut milk. This will be your yumtastic curry sauce. Let this simmer in the corner if you need to prepare the other stuff, like cook the eggplant or crisp the tofu. Make sure you taste your mixture. Too much curry? too intense? too much coconut? add the stock! not spicy enough? add more paste GRADUALLY. And keep in mind, this is going to cook down so flavors do concentrate....
2.  Dump in the add-ins. Is there an order? Well, think about what you want to soak up the most curry flavor and what you don't want to be a soggy, gross mush. For real, this can happen. I usually put the tofu in first, let it simmer for 3 minutes, then dump all the rest of the stuff.
3. Let this mish mash of curry stuff simmer for another 5-10 minutes on low, until the little bits have soaked up just the right amount of curry (which is obvi based on preference)
4.  I can imagine eating this by itself, but I like rice, so I serve it over rice. yumsville.

吃
HK

late night hashbrowns- mistake or genius?

Since the day I moved in to my current house, I spied a bag of hashbrowns in the freezer. Like, it hung out in the freezer and practically taunted me. They have gone unclaimed for about 3 months and trust me, it took a lot of self control to not just cook them. I'm really into hashbrowns.

I don't know exactly inspired it, but my housemate Hillary suggested that we just cook them. It was 11 pm and I guess it was time for an almost midnight snack. We threw it together and enjoyed it while watching "I Used to be Fat" (because "You're Cut Off" wasn't on).  Try out this creation if you too have a bag of mysterious hashbrowns chilling out in your freezer (whoa, I just made a funny and didn't even try).

Hil and Hel's Gross-good Hashbrowns
1 tablespoon of veg oil and an obscene amount of butter (at least 2 tablespoons)
1 bag of frozen hashbrowns. this is what we used, but I'm sure you could be a real person and grate the potatoes yourself or use something of a higher quality than what we used. ha
2 small onions roughly chopped up
1/4 bell pepper chopped up
cheese of your choice (pinch, fistfull, whatever!)

Lets the l-o-l's begin
1. Heat up the oil/fats in a large pan
2. When butter starts to sass you and make noises or smell nutty, add the onions and peppers. Let them fry around for about a minute.
3. Add the hashbrowns. cook to your liking. I like mine really brown and this took an amount of time that I do not quite remember since Hil and I were chatting away. 10 minutes?
4. After hashbrowns are browned, add cheese. how much? who knows. Which kind? I did mozzarella but I'm sure many other cheese options would be good too
5. Serve it with salsa or be a real college kid, and eat it with packets of ketchup you stole from BK.

giggles
HK

meat craving- taco turkey burger with fiesta salad!

Hey all,

Since I'm doing this whole vegetarian two meals a day thing, I noticed I get really intense but semi random meat cravings. So, for that one meal when I indulge in meat, I want to make it count.
Last week I had such a craving for burgers. I really love burgers and I happened to have ground turkey and some select seasonings, and thought it was time to experiment with a taco turkey burger!

Taco Turkey Burger
(this is for two servings, so good for a date or for a relaxed dinner and easy packable lunch the next day)
8 ounces ground turkey- I prefer breast, 93/7
fairly small onion chopped up
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon oil of your choice
1-2 tablespoons chicken stock
1/2 packet of sason
1/2 -1 tablespoon of taco seasoning (depending on how salty and taco-ish you like it)
black pepper to taste

suggestions: serve on toasted sesame seed roll, like I did.
use a bit of black bean and corn salsa AND sliced avocado for that extra awesomeness, like I did.

this is what you do:
1. Mix the above ingredients together. Don't over work the meat. Be extra cool and let this mixture marinate overnight. it'll be a damn good burger if you have patience, but its damn good either way.
2. When you are ready to cook, split meat in half to form two patties. Shape them accordingly (thin if you want it to cook faster, thicker if your buns are...smaller? hehe )
3. Get a pan ready. Get out the big guns cast iron if you have one. If you are poor collegiate kid like me, get out the non stick. Coat with the thinnest, wispiest layer of cooking spray. When pan is moderately hot put that bad boy in.
4. Let the burger sear and cook on the first side for 4 minutes. Flip over and let it cook for 3 minutes on this side. It should be done by now....but if you are paranoid cut it open and check it. Really- you CANNOT eat a turkey burger any less than WELL DONE
5. Toast the buns/roll/starch you will put the burger on. Garnish with the black bean/corn salsa. Cut up an avocado if you are feeling fancy!!!
6. Eat and enjoy...if you feel a bit guilty eat this with a fiesta salad...

Fiesta Salad
your favorite salad mix
black beans (canned is fine, as long as you drain, rinse, and pat dry)
sweet corn
salsa
^mix it together and eat this with something that involves tacos; heck use this as a base and REPLACE the bun you carbophobe!!!!

Tabete,
HK

vegetarian in nature: pesto pasta salad

I started this new year by making a promise to not eat obscene amounts of beef (like I do when I go back home and the first meal I request is braised beef shins, but I digress). When I'm here in etown I try to only eat turkey or chicken if I'm going to have meat at all, but I decided to one up myself! Now, I have 2 vegetarian meals a day. So far, so good.

This is my first attempt at a strictly vegetarian meal. It's loaded up on veggies so I'm not tempted to chop up kielbasa or some other cured sausage product and throw it in there, so yes: the vegetable to pasta ratio is like 50:50.

Pesto Pasta Salad
1 1/2 cup fusilli (I went badass and did regular pasta, not whole grain, but I've done the whole grain before and it works the same)
3 tablespoons pesto*
1 tablespoon oil (whatever you like to cook with)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cup vegetable medley of your choice (I did peas, carrots, and sweet corn)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used button but baby bellas would be nice)
1/4 roasted red pepper, diced
*I usually don't do the premade thing but sometimes its just more practical for my collegiate cooking to get things like premade pesto. If you want to make your own, please do! Alas I did not but the end product was still tasty.

Do it:
1. Boil a big ole daddy pot of water for the fusilli. That should be the first thing you do when you make pasta, before you even touch or wash any accoutrement for it. Maximize your utility minimize stove time. Is that my slogan now?
Use your peripheral vision and check to see when water boils. Salt the water liberally and add the fusilli. Cook according to directions on box.
2. While you wait for the water to boil get the vegetable medley ready. For example, if it is frozen, rinse and let drain.
3. Heat up a saute pan with the oil on medium heat. Maybe it's a wives' tale but I don't like to heat up my nonstick with nothing in it; I put the oil in first then that pan on the stove. When the oil is way hot, add the garlic. Let it get brown, obvi don't let it burn but let it get as close as your cooking anxieties allow. This is when you add the vegetables. Saute them around and add salt to taste if you like salt on your food (seriously, some people don't do salt). Transfer vegetables to a vessel of your choice.
4. In this same pan: take a look. Is there residual oil? If so, throw the pan back on the stove and put the mushrooms in! If not, add a few drops of oil, then put the pan on the stove and add shrooms. I like my mushrooms browned, so leave them in until this happens (on medium heat about 3-4 minutes). Once again, salt if desired.
5. If your timing is awesome, your pasta will be ready just about now. Whenever its ready: drain it.
6. In the minute it takes for pasta to drain, get your mixing bowl out. Spread the pesto around the inside of the bowl. Why? Because its easier to incorporate the thin layer of pesto into the pasta as opposed to a 3 tablespoon sized glob. Let's level here, its like putting the dressing at the bottom of the bowl pre-toss.
7. Toss in the HOT pasta (really, it needs to be as hot as possible for it to absorb the pesto goodness) till its nicely coated in the green stuff. Now add the vegetable medley, mushrooms, and roasted red pepper. If you hate the taste of pepper, leave it out. There is only a 1/4 of it for a reason.
8. Enjoy! Can be served hot or cold! Wow!
Suggestions: I eat this on a bed of kale when I'm feeling extra veg-head. If you are patient, it is one of those dishes (like curry) that tastes better the next day- perfect for packing a lunch or making one cooking sesh span multiple meals.

Comer!
HK

2010- A food tribute

Hello! I have failed since the launch of Second Trimester Food Baby (STFB) at posting my culinary adventures. I did indeed cook, eat, and on occasion take pictures of my creations. Here are some snapshots of the glorious food I made and/or ate in 2010.
Note:  I cooked a lot more than what you may think from looking at these 6 pictures, I promise. I'm bad at documenting my food making adventures but I'll be a lot better about that from now on. Also, no recipes yet but if you are interested in making any of the below let me know and I'll be happy to share!

A French inspired cooking adventure with Nick. Above: potato pancakes with baked eggplant and red pepper "ragu" served with creme fraiche and dill; below: glorious pan seared ribeye with side of kale chips

Homemade spaghetti bolognese: the surprise? It's turkey bolognese. Trust me, you won't even miss the beef.

Thanksgiving smorgasboard that I created with Michelle. Clockwise (starting after the stack of plates)- Asian bbq marinated and glazed turkey (the dark meat) served with the turkey bacon I baked it with (picture of whole turkey is somewhere...I'll find it), the white meat on a separate platter, buttermilk biscuits, chilled corn salad, primavera vegetables, mushroom/carmelized onion sage stuffing, and my first attempt at "candied yams" even though they weren't too sweet and were in fact sweet potatoes. In the center is dill and garlic smashed red potato salad. It was a 7 hour cooking fest!

^Yours Truly^

Moving forward I promise to be a better blogger. I'll post up some oldies but goodies of my never fail go-to dishes, picture and recipe included, very soon I promise! I'll make sure to keep you all in my culinary loop.

mangia
HK