Apple Pie Bars

As you may be able to tell, I’m a huge fan of cookie bars. So, surprise! Another cookie bar recipe. My excuse this time: last day of work at my current company. What says “Goodbye!” in a nicer way than delicious apple pie bars? On this rainy President’s Day, I made the .5 mile trek to Wisconsin Avenue for the second time (went to the gym this morning! Woo!) and picked up apples and eggs at Whole Foods.
I followed this recipe, with a couple tweaks.


~Apple Pie Bars~

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves (I didn’t have cloves, so I substituted pumpkin pie spice)

1 stick of butter, softened

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 TBSP of vanilla (I used a little less than that…)

2 apples, cored and diced (don't bother peeling them and granny smith is best)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.
In a large bowl (or your stand mixer) beat butter and sugars together until light&fluffy.
Add in eggs one at a time on low speed until completely mixed together and smooth.
Add in a little flour mixture at a time on low, mix until all of the flour is incorporated.
Stir in apple chunks. The dough will be super thick, more like the consistency of cookie dough and it kind of hard to mix.
Spread dough evenly into your greased pan, you can use a spatula to help get it even or I just sprayed my hands with a little of the nonstick spray and flattened everything out that way.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, it will be a light golden brown colored.
Let cool completely before cutting into them.

Weekend Restaurant Warriors

It doesn’t really make sense that I eat out the most on the days when I have the most time and resources to go to the grocery store and plan a meal, the weekend. This weekend has been heavy on the meals out, which definitely adds up. I’m not complaining though, they’ve been well worth it.
Friday night, Stephanie and I went out to dinner before heading to a friends house warming party. We settled on Le Pain Quotidien, one of the more foodie chain restaurants out there (which I appreciate).

We both ordered off of their tartine menu (this reminded me of the croissant recipe I still need to make from my Tartine Cookbook!). I chose the grilled chicken and smoked mozzarella with arugula and basil pesto tartine.

Steph had the prosciutto and mozzarella di Bufala with sundried tomatoes and basil pesto. I love this place. (Pictures courtesy of Stephanie)

The next night – Hibachi. Perfect place for a group of 10, and it’s fun and exciting EVERY time. I had my first sake bomb experience. I wasn’t crazy about the temperature/taste of the mixture, but you’ve gotta love how disruptive interactive it is.

I really tried with the chopsticks, but my impatience kicked in and I switched over to the fork. I actually managed to clean my plate. In my day, I used to have leftovers for days after going to a Japanese steak house. Smaller portions? More stomach capacity? Either way, no leftovers . As you’d expect after a meal like that, most of us called it a night.

White Bean, Rosemary & Parmesan Stuffed Tomatoes

My appetizer for Book Club! My dear friend Molly invited me to join her book club that her and her sister just started, and naturally I was thrilled. First book on the table: Fahrenheit 451. Great discussion, interesting tangents about everything from birthing children documentaries to awkward first dates, and FOOD. I found an interesting recipe for stuffed tomatoes this morning and decided to take it on. However, Whole Foods did not have suitable plum tomatoes so I went with grape tomatoes. This meant a lot more tomatoes to scoop out and fill and sprinkle and drizzle.

Hence, I showed up a little late to book club.

Though I was working off a recipe I found on a blog…I made a couple edits and additions.
My version:
10-15 grape tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans
1 tbsp olive oil, more for drizzling
2 tbsp chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp green onions
1 tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
1 small shallot, mince
Squeeze lemon juice
Sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan over each tomato

Slice tomatoes in half, scoop out seeds and arrange in a baking dish. Blend rest of ingredients except Parmesan in a food processor until smooth. Spoon into each tomato and top with Parmesan and sprinkle of olive oil. Bake at 400 for 7-8 minutes.

These are best hot right out of the oven. Unfortunately, the bus ride down to Molly’s in Georgetown caused these guys to get a little on the over done side. Not to worry because most of us were too busy refilling wine glasses to worry about filling plates.

A Valentine’s Worthy Dinner

Yay for Valentine's Day! I think it's nice having a day built in for recognizing the people that you love. After much debate, I planned my Valentine's Day dinner menu: Pan Roasted Cod with Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms, Broccolini with White Beans, Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes and Chocolate Chip & White Chocolate Chunk Blondies for dessert. The recipe for the Blondies is a gem in my back pocket that is easy to throw together and people love them. Or maybe I just love them, and use any excuse to make them. The recipe can be found in this old post.

(But this time I used white chocolate chunks instead of chips…)
 
Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

Dash cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

Dash ginger

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp brown sugar

Pop the sweet potatoes in the microwave, one at a time, for 6 minutes each. Let cool a while before slicing open and scooping out the soft insides into a bowl, but reserve skins. Mix together with remaining ingredients, then scoop back into sweet potato skins. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
The two other recipes I adapted from Sara Foster's Casual Cooking Cookbook.

Broccolini with White Beans

1 bunch broccolini, trimmed (or broccoli rabe)

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz can cannellini beans, or navy beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chicken broth

Salt & pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil and add salt. Add the broccolini and blanch for 20-30 seconds, until it turns bright green. Drain the broccolini and rinse with cold water until completely cooled. Pat dry.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans and broth, and season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the broccolini, stir to combine, and cook about 2 minutes more. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Pan-Roasted Cod with Sautéed Shiitake Mushrooms

3 tbsp olive oil

4 6-oz cod fillets

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp butter

4 oz shiitake mushrooms

1 shallot, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives

Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season fillets with salt and pepper and place skin side down in the skillet to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Flip the fillets and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until cooked through. Remove the fillets to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of the butter with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in the skillet that you just cooked the fish in over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallot, and cook and stir until mushrooms are golden, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and lemon juice, bring to a boil, and reduce it for about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat. Add remaining butter to the sauce, and swirl until creamy. Serve the fish fillets with the mushrooms spooned over and around them and chives sprinkled on top.

Dinner felt celebratory and special :) Even when a car alarm went off for 15 minutes right outside my house. Just crank up the music! For my Valentine's gift, Evan got us a couples massage at this beautiful hotel’s spa while we're in Santa Barbara!

This trip keeps getting better and better…

Goat Cheese, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

It has been a fun, whirlwind of a weekend. I made a quick 24-hour trip down to Raleigh, NC with Evan for his grandmother’s 80th birthday party. Lots of fun, lots of people and lots of food…I so wish I had documented it all, but I’m not the best at that during social gatherings.

We did get to sneak in a quick visit to CH!

After the drive back today, I wanted something lighter and quick. I opted for an oldie goldie. Though this is not the first time I’ve posted this recipe, I think it deserves a second round. It is my absolute favorite pizza recipe to make (and eat). I wrote out the recipe in this post, though this one is missing the mushrooms. Safeway was out (??)

NEWS: I GOT A NEW JOB ! While I was away from the blogosphere this week, I’d been interviewing and anxiously waiting to find out their decision. I’ll be working in the development office for a private school in Alexandria, and I start Feb. 28th!
Now I have the task to pick out what to make for Valentines dinner tomorrow night. Since I didn’t go the gift-giving route, this meal needs to pack a punch. And then there’s dessert to plan (hopefully, if I get around to it) !  So little time.

Lighter Stuffed Shells

A cheesy success story. Though these shells are called “lighter,” they’re just as filling and luscious as you would hope for a stuffed pasta. I don’t know what I would do without my Google Reader to aggregate all of my favorite food blogs, helping me figure out dinner day after day.
The recipe claims to make 6-8 servings, though Evan and I finished over half of the pan in one sitting . That’s probably a bad sign…
The healthy title for this meal comes from swapping ricotta cheese with cottage cheese and ground beef for vegetables. However, I didn’t think this dish was missing anything.

Ingredients

12 oz box jumbo pasta shells
2 cups cottage cheese
1 onion, diced small
10 ounces mushrooms, diced small
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
pinch nutmeg
10 ounces baby spinach
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
32 oz jar tomato sauce
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

This recipe is from The Kitchn.

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Boil a large pot of water, add a tablespoon of salt, and cook the pasta shells until barely al dente. You want them a little under-cooked for this dish because they will absorb more liquid in the oven. Set the shells aside to cool.

Set a strainer over a bowl. Pour the cottage cheese into the strainer and allow it to drain for at least 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a healthy pinch of salt, and cook until translucent and beginning to brown, 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and turned golden, 5-7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, nutmeg, and another good pinch of salt. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add as much of the spinach as will fit in the pan and cover with a lid. After a minute or two, uncover and stir the spinach. As it wilts and creates more space, add the remaining spinach to the pan. Continue stirring and steaming until all the spinach is wilted. Uncover the pan and stir the spinach for a few minutes to let the residual liquid evaporate. Remove from heat.

Combine the drained cottage cheese, the cooked vegetables, and the mozzarella in a large bowl. Taste a spoonful and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Pour half of the can of tomatoes into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole or other baking dish. Scoop a healthy spoonful (2-3 tablespoons) of the filling into each shell and arrange them side-by-side in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and cover tightly with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes covered and 10-15 minutes uncovered. The tomato sauce should be bubbling around the edges and look thickened in the pan. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top of the shells in the last few minutes of cooking. Allow the casserole to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

B4D: Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Not many things more comforting than breakfast for dinner. It’s the little things that make me happy. Tonight’s little things were cheesey eggs and pancakes. These pancakes are made with things you probably already have around your house,which means not going to the store after work

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3 tbsp sugar (regular or brown)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 cup low fat buttermilk
2 tbsp chocolate chips
1 banana sliced or mashed
cooking spray
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and buttermilk, then mix dry ingredients into wet mixture until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and banana. Heat skillet, cover with cooking spray and spoon 1/4 cup batter onto hot surface. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip pancakes. Top with syrup, butter and/or powdered sugar.