In general, I’m not a big fan of mayonnaise. I think it has a very real and very important, but somewhat minimal, place in food. I like a thin layer of mayo on a turkey sandwich to give it some moisture. I like it mixed with canned tuna. And I like a dash of mayo when I make crab dip. But when it comes to salads like potato salad, or worse – egg salad (cue gagging face) then mayonnaise is just too much. And yet, here I am posting a recipe for mayonnaise done three ways. Spoiler, the three ways are sriracha, garlic, and regular.  

Here’s what happened. A few weeks ago before Ryan and I went to see the Dalai Lama speak we went out to lunch at the Chicken Shop in Holborn. The place is lovely with charming decor, amazing chicken, and tasty mayonnaise. So this is the thing. Here in the UK when you order fries (chips) they ask you what sauce you want. Ryan and I always say ketchup. The server brings ketchup but then always brings mayonnaise too; because how could we not want mayo? Mayonnaise on fries is how it’s done here. I’ve tried it, it’s fine, but I’m going to choose ketchup every time.

And then the Chicken Shop gave us fries with house made garlic mayonnaise and my world turned around. It has so much flavor! It was zesty, creamy, and full of garlic flavor without any bitter taste. Homemade mayonnaise is so much better than the jar! Get out of the way ketchup, I don’t need you any more. Who knew mayonnaise could be so delicious?!

I decided I needed to try making mayonnaise at home. So I turned to Julia Child and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Homemade mayonnaise always makes me think of the scene in Julie and Julia where Meryl Streep as Julia Child says that she has discovered “foolproof mayonnaise” and that it has “scientific workability.” Armed with Meryl Streep’s voice in my head I was ready to go. But obviously I couldn’t make just regular mayonnaise, I needed garlic mayonnaise to go with what I had discovered at the Chicken Shop.

For the garlic mayonnaise I used roasted garlic for a rich yet sweet flavor. It’s ultimately a bit thicker than regular mayonnaise but really delicious. I also made sriracha mayonnaise. I think I’ve had that before, but I can’t place where or when. I liked this idea because of the combination of spicy heat and creamy coolness. To test all three I made a batch of French fries and did some eating. My favorite turned out to be the sriracha. If you have other ideas for mayonnaise flavors let me know! I’m now officially into the idea of fries and mayonnaise together.

The crazy thing is that I made this by hand. I intended to use my stand mixer, but in the beginning there isn’t enough material in the bowl so the whisk couldn’t reach it. Since I had everything in the bowl already, I just switched to the regular whisk. I’m sure you can do it in a food processor (but I don’t trust mine) and I think an electric hand mixer would work too – but I decided to be hard core and use my arm strength. Surprisingly my arm didn’t hurt it just takes a long time.

Finally making mayonnaise is all about making an emulsion. The egg and oil doesn’t want to mix, but you’re going to make it! If while you’re doing this you aren’t getting a good emulsion and your mayonnaise splits add some cool water and whisk vigorously. You can read more about what to do on Sheknows.com. But friends, delicious mayonnaise can be yours and it’s not hard. Just put on some comfortable slippers, pop in your headphones, play your favorite podcast and get to work whisking. You can do this!

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipe for plain mayonnaise is pretty much unchanged, it’s the addition of roasted garlic and sriracha that are mine.

Messy level: Although mostly a pretty dish-free and clean recipe, I ended up with oil EVERYWHERE. I got it on my hands, it dripped down the side of the measuring cup as I poured it in drip by drip. I had a small oil slick, but that was my only mess.

Mayonnaise Done Three Ways

 

Print

Serves: ¾-1 pint mayonnaise

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice, plus a little more might be needed
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon dry or prepared mustard (I used a jar of Dijon)
• ½ pint/2 cups/16 ounces olive oil
• 2 tablespoons boiling water (boil water first then measure out the water)
• 4-5 cloves roasted garlic (optional, recipe for how to roast garlic to follow)
• 2-3 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

1. Use a large ceramic, glass or stainless steal bowl. Turn the hot water on from your kitchen sink. Let it run over the bowl to warm up a bit. Dry the bowl.
2. Add the egg yolks and using a whisk beat for 1-2 minutes until they are thick.
3. Pour in the vinegar/lemon juice, salt, and mustard. Beat for another 30 seconds.
4. Now for the tough part, incorporating the oil into the eggs. Add the olive oil a tiny bit at a time (drop by drop if you can manage) into the egg yolks. Beat with the whisk continuously until the sauce thickens. [Note: Julia Child says beating at the speed of 2 strokes per second is fast enough. To go drop by drop I held the measuring cup of oil with my left hand and just gently tipped the lip of the cup over the bowl, I then whisked with my right hand].
5. Every 30 seconds or so stop pouring the oil and just beat the eggs to make sure the oil really is incorporating.
6. Once you've used about ½ the oil and the sauce has started to thicken you should be out of the woods. You can now rest your arm a bit. Once you get back to beating you can add the olive oil in 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Still, be sure to beat thoroughly after each addition of oil.
7. If the mayonnaise becomes too thick or stiff, add a drop of vinegar/lemon juice to help thin it out.
8. When you're finished beating in the oil add the 2 tablespoons of boiling water. This is what Julia calls an "anti-curdling" method.
9. Now you have regular mayonnaise. If you'd like three types of mayonnaise divide your sauce into three. Set one aside to leave regular plain mayonnaise.
10. If you'd like roasted garlic mayonnaise, heat your oven to 400°F/205°C. Remove the garlic cloves from the bulb but leave the papery skin on. Drizzle with olive oil and then wrap in aluminium foil. Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. The garlic is ready when a knife easily pierces through. [Alternatively you could cut the top off the bulb of garlic, drizzle with oil, wrap in foil, and roast the whole thing use what you need and save the rest in the fridge.]
11. When the garlic is ready, peel off the skin then mash the garlic into a paste.
12. Mix the garlic paste in with ⅓ of your divided mayonnaise. It will make the sauce a bit thicker and chunkier, but with a nice rich, yet subtly sweet garlicy flavor.
13. With the remaining ⅓ of your mayonnaise add in 1 teaspoon of sriracha sauce. Taste. Add more, 1 teaspoon at a time (or ½ teaspoon at a time) until it reaches your desired spiciness. This will thin out your mayonnaise, but it's a wonderful blend of spicy hot and creamy coolness.
14. Now you have three flavors of mayonnaise for all your dipping and sandwich needs!

3.3.3077

The post Mayonnaise Done Three Ways appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Back in March, before I went back to DC for my friend Mala’s wedding, I asked Mala if she would get me the largest jar of peanut butter she could find. I asked her in part because my friend Sarah had been impressed by the size of the peanut butter in my cupboard and I told her it was nothing compared to what I could get in the US. Also I asked because Ryan and I wanted some US peanut butter. You know, tastes like home and childhood. 

Mala went to Costco to get me the peanut butter, but in classic oversize American warehouse style she couldn’t just get one jar – she got a two pack. Look how big and gigantic those American jars are compared to what I bought at Tesco?! It’s astounding and overwhelming. I was worried they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase, although thankfully both made it back to London. Now it’s June and we’ve gone through one of those jars. Whether that’s impressive in a good way or a bad way I don’t know, but it’s the truth.

Since March, we’ve been generously eating peanut butter. We’ve had lots of pb&j sandwiches, we’ve put it on apples, and spread it on crepes with Nutella. Then the other day at work I had a craving for the flourless peanut butter cookies I wrote about when we first moved here. It was a controversial choice since it requires one cup of peanut butter – and since we’re on to the second jar it would put a significant dent in our inventory.

However, I kept day dreaming about those cookies. I had to make them. And then day dreaming turned to innovation. I thought, “you know what I love with peanut butter? Pretzels!” Pretzels with peanut butter. It’s probably my favorite snack to have after work. Sometimes right after work and before dinner gets started Ryan and I are famished and need a snack. Pretzels and peanut butter is perfect because it’s filling and the perfect combination of smooth and crunchy.

Then I my day dreaming got even better and I got extra snacky. What makes everything better? And what’s delicious with pretzels? Chocolate! There it was – the trifecta – peanut butter pretzel chocolate cookies. It might be my perfect sweet snack food. The pretzels had crunch and some salt, the dark chocolate is sweet and slightly bitter, and peanut butter is perfection. Most importantly, even with those addition this recipe is crazy easy because you need hardly any other ingredients. I just adapted the flourless cookie recipe to incorporate these add-ins.

I decide to use dark chocolate from a bar because I like the randomness in sizes and it melts really well. I’ve done it with chocolate chips and they work just fine. However, chocolate chips have more stabilizers in them, so even when baked the chips hold their shape. Chocolate cut roughly from the bar creates melty gooey-ness when the cookies come straight from the oven. Use whichever you like, either will be delicious.

Messy level: Everything is made in one bowl! It’s the cleanest recipe and so easy to make. Yes, peanut butter is sticky but it stays in the bowl. And flourless means that the flour doesn’t spill on the floor or fly in the air. So clean people! One tip though, grease your measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring the peanut butter. Do that, and the peanut butter will slide out easily.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

13 mins

Total time

18 mins

 

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼-1/3 cup crushed hard pretzels
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl mix together the peanut butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
4. Stir in the crushed pretzels and dark chocolate until mix throughout
5. Take about 1-2 tablespoons of dough and form into a ball. Put the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Then, flatten the ball slightly.
6. Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until just slightly darker on the edge.
7. Let cool. Then serve, preferably with milk.

3.3.3077

The post Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cookies appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

My childhood memories of Easter holidays include fancy flower dresses that I was so excited to wear even though it was always still a bit cold, baskets filled with chocolates hidden among green plastic grass, and brunch with my family. When I was a little kid my family and I used to go to a hotel in downtown Baltimore to eat. In my memory, the place was huge with people and buffet lines on multiple floors. I remember it feeling like such a party and it was so exciting that I could eat all kinds of different foods at the same time.

From one of those occasions there’s a picture of me and my brother Eric standing next to the Easter Bunny giving him the side eye. We’re looking at him with a mixture of fear (because he’s a stranger and a giant rabbit) and respect (because earlier he had brought us a basket of candy). It’s a hilarious picture and one day if I find it I’ll post it here to show you. Anyway, I liked going to brunch with my family. And I like that brunch is a part of my Easter celebration memories. Most holidays are all about big roasted dinners and I like that breakfast gets its chance to be fancy.

One of the brunch foods I love is Eggs Benedict. Well, not Eggs Benedict because I don’t eat ham, but Eggs Royale. Eggs Royale substitutes smoked salmon for the ham and it is delicious. But, regardless of the meat there is just something about the presentation of fluffy poached eggs smothered in hollandaise sauce that feels special. It’s one of those dishes that  gives me a thrill when I can see a server coming over with my order and it’s a dish that I can’t wait to eat.

My mind was set on making standard Eggs Royale for Easter brunch – that is, until inspiration struck. Last last week Ryan and I went to a new place in our neighborhood called the Barn and I had an awesome breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with avocado and crushed red peppers. It was creamy with a little spice at the same time. It was an interesting combination of flavors, but using really familiar and easy to access ingredients. I decided I should turn this dish into our Easter Brunch. So here it is, a new twist on a recipe, Eggs Royale with avocado.

Part of what defines Eggs Royale (or Eggs Benedict) is the hollandaise sauce on top. Hollandaise is is an emulsion of butter and egg yolks. You can definitely buy hollandaise sauce from the super market, but it will be sweeter and tarter than if you make it on your own. Even so, I was feeling intimidated about making it by hand. And Julia Child even said I should learn to make it the traditional way. But, then I also found her recipe for making it quickly in a blender and I was less nervous. She literally says an 8 year-old could do it. Also, in a blind taste test Ryan preferred the homemade version over the store bought. So try making it for yourself because people will notice.

Messy level: This recipe is really all about the prep. There’s some amount of chopping, toasting, blending, and egg cracking – all of which leads to dishes or using some appliances. It’s not terrible and you shouldn’t have a horrible mess, but be warned you should be organized to keep your kitchen neat.

Inspiration from the Barn, hollandaise sauce recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1, and the poached egg method is from an earlier Cooking is Messy post.

Eggs Royale

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

A recipe for poached eggs, hollandaise, with avocado and an English muffin. This recipe is written to serve two people two eggs. However the recipe can easily be increased to serve more people. Additionally, the hollandaise recipewritten as is will serve more than two people.

Ingredients

Hollandaise Sauce

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pinch of pepper
• 4 oz butter

Poached Eggs

• water
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vinegar

Other Sandwich Materials

• 2 English Muffins
• 8 slices smoked salmon (or to taste)
• 16 slices of avocado (or to taste)
• red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Start with the hollandaise sauce. Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, water, salt, and pepper into a blender.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and place into a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the butter is hot and foaming. Remove from heat.
3. Turn the blender on high and blend for two seconds.
4. While the blender is still on, open the top (if you don't have a small opening on your blender, use a towel to cover the top a little bit) and pour the hot butter into the egg mixture drop by drop. [Note: I wasn't coordinated enough to pour drop by drop but I could pour a tiny stream at a time. This made the sauce a bit runnier, but it was still tasty.]
5. Taste the sauce and blend in more seasoning if needed. Set aside.
6. Put about 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a boil.
7. Add the salt and vinegar to the water, then lower the heat so the water is just simmering.
8. Crack 2 eggs into a bowl. Bring the edge of the bowl to the top of the water and gently slide the eggs in. Cook for 3-5 minutes. The longer you cook the more solid the yolk.
9. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon. Bring the water back to a low simmer then repeat the above step with the last two eggs.
10. While the eggs are cooking, cut the English muffins in half and toast them to your liking.
11. Take two plates and put both sides of one English muffin on each plate.
12. Put 2 slices of smoked salmon on top of each English muffin half.
13. Put 4 slices of avocado on top of the salmon.
14. Place one poached egg on top of the avocado.
15. Using a spoon, drizzle hollandaise sauce on top of the egg.
16. Sprinkle a generous pinch of red pepper flakes on top of the hollandaise.
17. Serve immediately so the eggs will still be warm.

3.2.2925

The post Eggs Royale with Avocado appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

But the other reason I haven’t cooked much is that I love cooking for other people and I haven’t had much opportunity to do that. That is until a few weeks ago when I had a girls night at my apartment. It was one last big blow out with my girls before London. The eight of us (not all pictured below) had a potluck and we ate and we drank and we ate some more. In addition to piñon, we had salad, pizza, cheesecake, chips and dip, and raisin bread. Aren’t pot lucks excellent?! You get to eat all kinds of things!

We also talked and told old stories from college and new recent stories. We laughed and laughed and laughed. And finally we dragged ourselves away from the table, we put on some heels and we went out dancing. At the end of the night we came home, ate more food, had a sleepover, and then the next day I made them watch Orange is the New Black. Best night ever. I felt loved, I danced my heart out, and my feet hurt in the morning. It was an absolute blast. Some photos are below. Some are nice and some are weird… so it goes.

But back to cooking. Having everyone over was also the perfect reason to make something off of my recipe bucket-list. I love sweet plantains and I have been wanting to make this recipe forever, I just needed a captive audience. This is lasagna-like only because meat is layered between things and then baked. Otherwise, the ingredients aren’t that similar.

I was making it as the girls arrived and when I opened the door a few people immediately said, “something smells good!” That is always a good sign. I think sweet plantains and meat may sound like a weird combination, but it totally works.  Everyone said they liked it, and it has an excellent array of flavors. Try it out.

I adapted this recipe from Wilo Benet’s Puerto Rico True Flavors. I used ground turkey instead of beef to accommodate dietary restrictions. I also cooked the plantains in a skillet instead of in the oven. And finally, I seasoned the meat how I felt like it and didn’t use the cookbook recipe at all. Anyway, have some people over and try it out.

Ingredients: 

4-5 ripe plantains

3 oz green beans, trimmed and cut into small pieces

1 lb ground beef or turkey

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup sofrito

2 tbsp cilantro

3 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°

2. Peel the plantains and cut lengthwise into about 4 pieces. To peel the plantains, cut off the ends then score lengthwise. Slowly peel the skin from the fruit. Use your knife to scrape what won’t peel off. Plantains don’t peel like bananas.

3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the plantain slices. Fry until they brown a little bit,then flip. Place them on a paper towel to drain the oil. You will have to do this step in batches.

4. Steam the green beans. I did this by putting a little water in a pot, putting a steamer in the pot, adding the green beans, then cooking on high while covered for about 5-7 minutes.

5. In another skillet, heat some oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, saute the onions and garlic until they are soft and browned (5ish minutes)

6. Add the red pepper and sofrito. Cook for about 7 minutes.

7. Add the ground meat. Break it up using your spoon. Cook until entirely cooked through. When it’s done cooking place on paper towels to drain excess grease.

8. Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and steamed green beans. Mix!

9. Oil the bottoms and sides of a 8″x8″ casserole dish.

10. Arrange a layer of plantains on the bottom of the dish.

11. Top the plantains evenly with the meat. Press down with your hands or with a spoon to make it all fit tightly.

12. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Pour (or spoon/brush) half of the egg over the meat. This egg will help bind your end product.

13. Top the meat with the remaining plantains.

14. Pour the remaining egg over the plantains.

15. Place in the oven and cook for about 35-40 minutes.

16. Slice and serve!

Messy level:  This is a four spoon recipe. You need three burners to cook the meat, green beans, and plantains. You also need a dish for the oven. And you have to drain two things to get the grease out. That makes for a lot of dishes!! Also peeling and cutting the plantains is messy work – I had that goop all over the kitchen!

The post Piñon (Puerto Rican Lasagna) appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

But, going back was something I wanted to do. From the time Ryan got the job offer to our move, it was only about six weeks. We needed more time to pack, store, sell, ship, and cancel everything we own. I wanted to stay at my job a bit longer and get to finish the school year. I’ll also get to go to some weddings and baby showers that I would have missed otherwise. There are lots of good reasons to go back, but separation is hard and I’m bad with change.

To send me off right, Ryan and I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was epic. We took the bus to Notting Hill and looked at the colorful row houses. We walked through Portobello Market, which was really impressive. There was so many cute silver dishware, flowery teapots, and tons of other knickknacks. The food also looked amazing and the smells were alluring. There was fresh baked pies, huge pots of paella, and Mediterranean feasts. And on top of all that, tons of beautiful fragrant flowers. The only drawback was how incredibly crowded it was. The whole time we walked at a really slow pace and were constantly shoulder-to-shoulder with other people. It made it difficult to browse, so all we bought was one delicious cherry pie.

While in Notting Hill, we also went to Books for Cooks. It’s a bookshop that exclusively sells cookbook! JUST COOKBOOKS. I was in love and there were many things I wanted. Ryan and I settled on a book called Pies and Tarts, and that’s where today’s recipe comes from. It’s a book both of use were excited about and it’s full of sweet and savory pie recipes and three pastry recipes. For the dough recipes, I loved that there were step by step how-to pictures. Some of the recipes seems like a challenge but there are many I want to try. I want to make everything in the cheese chapter. Cheese pies?! How great is that.

Anyway, we left Notting Hill and got fish and chips for take out. We took our food, walked to Hyde Park, and made ourselves a picnic. It was glorious! We ate and people and dog watched. After lunch we strolled around the park and passed by a few other beautiful buildings and monuments.

We then went to the Science Museum which had a lot of exhibits that made me go “whoa.” We also saw a special exhibit on the Large Hadron Collider. The exhibit was pretty good and very interesting. From my perspective as a museum professional, I thought the exhibit was so well put together and they made some really great and engaging choices. If you’re in the area check it out.

After, we crossed the street and went through a small part of the Victoria & Albert Museum. This museum is amazing because every corner we turned there was something else jaw dropping. I wish we could have done more but we were probably there for an hour.

Finally, we went home, watched the Arsenal match and cooked this dish.

Exhausting right? We did a ton, but it was an amazing day.

A few pieces of advice on this dish. The recipe for the pastry makes more than you need. If you use all of it you’ll have a lot of pastry on your pie and it will be very thick. Don’t feel like you have to use it all. Also, Ryan and I improvised on the ingredients based on what we could find at the store. The bacon was a nice addition, but I think it would still be delicious without. Anyway, here’s my adaptation based on Pies and Tarts by Stephane Reynaud.

Ingredients:

Pastry-

9oz cold butter

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 egg yolks

3 1/2 oz cold water

Sausage Roll-

4 medium sized sausages

4 oz soft-rind goat cheese (I asked the cheesemonger at the grocery store for help, you can use more cheese if you like)

basil leaves (about 16 or more, one bunch will be more than enough)

8 slices of bacon

1 egg

pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the butter into cubes and leave out to soften a little bit.

2. In a bowl, or on the counter, mix the flour and salt.

3. Add the butter. Work the butter in with your fingers. Break it up until it looks sandy.

4. Make a well in the middle of your mixture. Put the egg and water in the well. If you do this on the counter, be careful! Water will try and run away and make a big mess on your counter.

5. Using your hands, mix it all together. Mix until you can make the dough into a smooth ball.

6. Cover with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minues.

7. In a medium pot, boil salted water. Add the sausages and cook for 30 minutes.

8. Remove sausages from water, let cool a bit, then cut in half lengthwise.

9. Heat oven to 350°.

10. On one half of the sausage, place basil leaves (I used 2), then slices of cheese, then more basil leaves. Put the other side of the sausage on top. Now you have a little sandwich.

12. Wrap the sausage sandwich with bacon. I used 2 slices per sausage roll.

13. Whisk the egg

14. Remove the dough from the fridge. Cut into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle, that’s about 1 inch longer than the sausage.

15. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg. This will help keep the dough stuck together.

16. Put the sausage on the edge of the dough and roll up. Press firmly where the pastry ends, and try to make it smooth as possible. Pinch and fold the ends to keep it together.

17. Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the sausage rolls on top. Brush the rolls with the egg. Cut a criss-cross pattern into the pastry. Don’t cut all the way through the pastry.

18. Sprinkle top with pepper.

19. Bake for 30 minutes.

20. Cut and enjoy!

Messy level: This was severely messy! The dough got all over the floor, the apron, and my hands. I probably should have done it in a bowl, but I followed the book and used the counter. It was a dangerous idea because the water got loose and spread everywhere. It was not so easy to keep my mess container. Also, wrapping the sausage with bacon is a bit messy. It took two of us to do it neatly. Not a clean recipe, but not too difficult either. Just make sure you give yourself time to do this.

The post Sausage Roll appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

On Saturday, Ryan planned for us to go to Hampton Court Palace. This was Henry VIII’s home. What you might not know about me is that I’m crazy about Tudor history. I have read so many books, both fiction and non-fiction. I was obsessed with the Tudors TV show. I had TWO mugs that when you put hot water in them, Henry’s wives would disappear. I love Tudor history so I was really excited for this trip. I was buzzing with excitement. I was the kind of excited children get when you take them to Disney. For all I have read about Henry VIII, I never thought about going to see his palaces or anywhere else related to him. So Ryan planning all this, was fulfilling a dream I didn’t even know I had. It was amazing.  He won some major husband points. Anyway, let me nerd out a ton so I can tell you about my greatest day.

We get there and we’re in line to buy tickets, and I convince Ryan that we should become members. We get free admission to Hampton Court and five other places! One visit to Hampton Court and the Tower of London (which I haven’t done yet but am DYING to) covers the cost of the membership. So now we’re members and I’m so flipping exciting because now I can go back whenever I want. We walk in and I’m overwhelmed with things to look at. We started in the kitchens where costumed interpreters were actually cooking meals. One guys was making a crown out of marzipan and gold foil! He was saying you can actually ground up lapis lazuli into fine powder and put it on the crown, but that it doesn’t taste very good. We saw huge casks for wine and ale and a gigantic fire place. It was so amazing.

We then went out to the main courtyard to meet up with a costumed interpreter for a mini tour. The main court has a fountain that ran with wine! WINE. How cool is that? We met our guide, Jane Seymour’s father (before he was father-in-law to the king), and he took us to meet the king himself! I took one picture and it has half a guy’s head in it but oh well. We listened to that for awhile, then peeled off from the tour to look around for ourselves. Ryan and I picked up the audio guide, which was well worth it! The guide is told with lots of voices, from curators, historians, and costumed interpreters. The screen on the device also shows images and videos, which was a really cool touch. Not only did the guide tell us about the history, but it also told about the conservation of the palace and its contents.

We used the audio guide to tour Henry’s apartments. I was blown away by the great hall. There were amazing tapestries and huge stained glass windows. The room was arranged with long tables and on the table cloths were printed period appropriate etiquette tips. Over the course of the tour we saw where he married Catherine Parr, where Katherine Howard screamed for her freedom, and where Henry went to church. In one hallway there was a painting of Henry with his children and the deceased Jane Seymour. I have read so much about that painting that when I saw it, I audibly gasped.

After that, we toured the gardens, which were truly spectacular. There were immaculately trimmed trees, bright flowers, and beautiful fountains. I can’t adequately describe the love, attention, and beauty that is evident in the gardens so you’ll just have to look at my pictures to understand. Also, I took a creeper photo of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour’s father strolling through the gardens. Is it possible to be star struck by a long dead monarch? If so, I totally was. I loved the trip and left with a souvenir kitchen towel. It’s completely tacky with pictures of Henry VIII and all his wives. I don’t care that it’s tacky. I love it.

Sunday, it was drizzly and we were tired from our long day trip, so we stayed in. I made breakfast and then we went out to the pub later to watch the Arsenal game. I decided to make this breakfast because I thought it looked cool – and that’s really the only reason to make this. It does look cool, but basically it’s toast and eggs. So unless you’re showing off, save yourself the effort and make a regular breakfast. If you’re looking to get mildly fancy, then this is the recipe for you. It’s yummy and satisfying and a nice Sunday brunch treat.

Ingredients:

butter

bread (as many slices as eggs you want to make)

eggs (as many as slices of bread)

salt & pepper (to season)

Directions:

1. Use a glass, or a circular cookie cutter, to cut a hole out of the center of the bread. Set the circle aside.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. If you’re making more than one slice of bread, you may need to lower the heat between batches so you don’t burn the bread.

3. Melt the butter in the skillet. When it’s melted, add the slice of bread. Let it cook until it is just getting golden brown. For the first slice this may take 5 minutes or more, for later slices when the pan is hot, it can take 1-2 minutes.

4. When the bread is getting golden, crack the egg into the bread’s hole. I cracked the egg in a glass first then poured it in the skillet.

5. Let the egg cook until the egg white is set enough that you can get a spatula under it. You can flip it after 1 minute if you want a runny yolk, or you can wait longer.

6. Flip the egg and bread. Cook for 1 minute, more if you want the yolk mostly cooked through.

7. Remove from the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Use the bread’s circle to sop up extra yolk.

8. If you’re making more than one, be sure to butter the skillet between times.

Messy level:  Two spoons. The first one I flipped I splattered egg white all over the pan. After that I was more careful and let it cook longer. Other than that, there was no mess!

The post Eggs in a Hole appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

My kitchen mixer with the juicer attachment on top!

I remembered it again this week for two reasons. I was feeling a bit mopey, and baking cheers me up. Especially if I can make something delicious and lemony. I love baking because I can clear my mind, focus on the task at hand, and end up with a delicious finished product. I call it productive leisure time. And, I was doubly excited to make this cake because I got a new kitchen gadget! I like to call it “my robot,” because the packaging it came in was in many languages and in Italian it was called “robot da cucina.”

Anyway, in our great move across the pond, the American kitchen appliances did not make it. They have different plugs and voltages, and so my American appliances are on a vacation. I’ve been sad about leaving my stand mixer, and was totally intending to buy a hand mixer, when I came across this crazy beauty. It is a stand mixer, with whisk, paddle, and dough hook attachment. It is also a blender, a food processor, and a citrus juicer! It’s all the things I want in one (except a toaster, we bought that separately). Blows your mind right?

So, I took this baby out, and juiced a lemon. Then I mixed the heck out of all my ingredients. And I made a pretty awesome cake. I didn’t feel mopey anymore, because how can you when there’s cake?

This cake has a distinct, but not overpowering lemon flavor. To my taste, the rosemary wasn’t strong. But Ryan says it adds the right amount of flavor. When you get a bite with a fleck of rosemary, it has a pleasant herbal taste that nicely complements the lemon. Also, the cake is super moist. Try it out, it’s not your usual cake, but it’s a yummy snack.

Recipe from Patent and the Pantry

Ingredients:

1 lemon

4 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped (plus more leaves for optional decorating)

Butter/cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350.°

2. Zest your lemon. Then juice the lemon.

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs for a minute. They will be frothy!

4. Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until mix is pale .

5. Add lemon zest, juice, and olive oil. Beat until well mixed (1-2 minutes).

6. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, rosemary, and salt.

7. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Mix until just combined! Don’t beat the heck out of your batter. The more you beat it, the denser your cake will be.

8. Spray or butter a loaf pan. Or you can line with parchment paper. Pour in the batter. You can sprinkle a few decorative rosemary leaves if you like.

9. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the cake comes out clean. The top should be golden. (You can see I over stabbed the middle of my cake to check for done-ness).

10. Let cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve.

Messy level: With my new juicer this was so easy! Before, I would have hand juiced and this would have been a 3 spoon at least. But, overall this is pretty easy and straightforward mixing. The lemon is the only crazy bit, so I’m giving it 2 spoons.

The post Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

And then I tried a roasted acorn squash stuffed with rice and lentils. It came out under cooked and under seasoned. That was probably a recipe that with a little tweaking I could get right, but I was still disappointed.

But one meal worth writing about was my lunch on Monday. I had off for Columbus day and my friends Ashley and Mala came over. We had a pretty fancy lunch despite some lazy hostessing on my part. And by lazy hostessing, I mean that 75% of the dining table was covered with a puzzle of Abraham Lincoln that I’m working on, and I also made them use paper plates. In spite of that, lunch actually turned out quite nice and now I wish I had taken more pictures.

We started out with a cheese plate. Ashley brought apple-cinnamon covered goat cheese. I had never had goat cheese coated in anything but herbs, so it was cool to try. We also had Gruyere and cheddar, which I served on my fancy cheese platter with the fancy cheese knives.

For our lunch we had a salad (that Ashley made), pici pasta, and homemade tomato sauce. Ashley’s salad was a great combination of sweet, from the fruits, and a sharp saltiness, from the blue cheese. The pear she used was a little soft, which was actually really nice because it soaked up the dressing. And the addition of pecans made for a nice crunch.

The recipes for the pici and tomato sauce I adapted from the Amateur Gourmet. We were all skeptical of how well the pasta would come out and we were delighted that it actually tasted like pasta. We did have some issues with shaping the pasta. The Amateur Gourmet said to shape the pasta, put it on a plate, and toss it with flour before putting the pasta into boiling water. We did that, but we must not have used enough flour because all the pasta stuck together and Mala and I ended up ripping the heap of dough apart and throwing in random sized pieces into the water. The three of us agreed it would have been easier to bring the water to a boil, then shape the pasta, then immediately throw it in the water so the shape would be less weird. Because of the random shaping, some of the fatter pieces were heavy and reminded me of gnocchi. But, if you roll thinner pieces it really tastes just like pasta. Though in the end, I think we were all impressed that we made homemade pasta for lunch.

The pasta sauce was my favorite part. I learned about it from the Amateur Gourmet, but the original author is Marcella Hazan. This recipe is SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS. I really don’t think I’m overselling it. There’s this pasta restaurant that Ryan and I love called Pasta Mia. The pasta there is so good that we always overeat because we want to soak up as much of the good flavor as possible. The first time I made this recipe I thought, “this smells like Pasta Mia.” But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to influence Ryan. Then he took a bite and said, “this is like Pasta Mia.” So if Pasta Mia means anything to you, then you’ll know this sauce is good. If Pasta Mia means nothing to you, sorry. You should still try it because it’s so simple and comforting and tasty.

Anyway, today’s post has three recipes and I hope you enjoy!

Ashley’s Salad–

Ingredients:

(Portion amounts based on your taste preferences)

arugula

sweet and spicy pecans

crumbled blue cheese

1 pear, sliced

dried cranberries

balsamic vinaigrette

Directions: 

1. Mix arugula, pecans, cheese, pear, and cranberries in a large bowl.

2. Dress with balsamic vinaigrette. Serve!

Tomato Sauce –

Ingredients:

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

5 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half.

Directions:

1. Empty the can of tomatoes into a pot. Use a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes. Don’t get crazy with this, just cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters.

2. Add the butter and onion halves. Turn on the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.

3. Once it’s simmering, lower the heat. Let it simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and crush the tomatoes.

4. After 45 minutes, discard the onion.

5. Serve.

Pici Pasta –

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 large egg, beaten (Mala beat the egg first, then we measured out half)

1 cup water, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix together flour and salt.

2. Add the water and egg. Knead until smooth. (Amateur Gourmet says about 5 minutes)

3. Flatten it and rub it with olive oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.

4. While you’re waiting for the dough, bring  a large pot of water to boil.

5. Generously flour your work surface and hands. Roll out the dough. Cut the dough into desired pieces. (I cut the dough into chunks and then rolled out snakes).

6. Drop the pasta snakes into the boiling water.

7. Boil for 3-4 minutes.  You want the pasta to be cooked through but not raw.

8. Drain, top with sauce. Serve!

Messy level: The salad and tomato sauces are easy 1-2 spoon recipes. The pici though is a 4-spoon recipe. You have to stick you hands in and knead the dough and it get really sticky and caked into your finger nails. Also you have to flour your work surface and roll everything out. It takes a bit of work and makes quite a bit of mess. All this mess is the reason I was  a lazy hostess and opted for paper plates.

The post Pici Pasta, Tomato Sauce, and Salad appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Recently, I’ve had nothing! I’m in an inspirational drought. I don’t know what I want to cook next. My excuses are first, that I’m obsessed with the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, but I don’t want to just post a thousand cookie recipes from one book. And second, being a real working person is getting to me. Oh, I still cook throughout the week – but I’m trying to hone my 3-4 best after-work-doesn’t-take-that-long-meals. And when I do get those down, I’ll be sure to share. But I haven’t been making anything I find truly exciting.

So I’ve got cookers block. Is that a thing? Maybe. I think it’s like writer’s block, but instead I don’t know what to cook. If anyone has any suggestions of something for me to try I’d be happy to know it.

Until I come out of cookers block, here’s a delicious and simple recipe for homemade mozzarella sticks. I made them once and Ryan, our friends Shane and Anna, and I devoured them. They were so good and it didn’t even bother us that we basically downed a whole package of Polly-O string cheese. But, there’s not much that’s better than melty hot cheese and it’s football season again so this is a perfect snack for Sundays.

Ingredients: 

Package of mozzarella cheese sticks (you could also definitely use balls, or cut discs from a log of cheese. You just need bite sized pieces)

2 Eggs

1/4 cup water

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cup Italian seasoning bread crumbs

Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. Heat a deep fryer filled with vegetable oil to 350°. Or heat about 1 inch of oil in a skillet until it’s very hot.

2. Mix the flour and cornstarch in a separate bowl.

3.  Beat the two eggs and water in a bowl.

4. In a third bowl, pour in the bread crumbs.

5.  Take all of your cheese sticks and unwrap them. If you’re using Polly-O, then cut the sticks in half across the equator (so NOT long). If you’re using something else, just make sure you’ve got bite size strips, cubes, or balls.

6. Coat the cheese in the flour mixture, then in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumbs.

7. Put in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. It takes about 45 seconds. If you’re using a skillet, you may have to rotate them so all sides get brown.

8. Let drain either in the fry basket, or on some paper towels. 

9. Eat it all immediately.

Messy Level – Medium. This is medium because of all the dipping in different bowls. Your fingers will be coated just like the mozzarella sticks. And inevitably, there is flour, egg, and bread crumbs all over the counter. Also, if you’re using a deep fryer sometimes the cheese leaks out and gets stuck in the fry basket so clean up can be a pain. What’s great about this recipe is it’s quick and doesn’t require too many dishes.

The post Mozzarella Sticks appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

The blue things on the side of the book are the post-its for all the things I want to make!

A few months ago my aunt suggested that I try out Christina Tosi’s cookbook Milk. It took me awhile to get around to it, but I’m so glad I did, and today’s recipe comes from the book. Let me tell you, I was absolutely enthralled by the book. I found it both intimidating and exciting. I really couldn’t wait to dive in and make a half-dozen recipes.

But let me back up. Momofuku Milk Bar is basically a bakery in New York City. But their cookies, and cakes, and pies, aren’t run of the mill. The use unexpected ingredients to make delightful treats. They use breakfast cereal, salty snacks, and of course sugar, to make amazing baked goods.

At first I was intimidated, and I still am a little bit. Baking is about precision and Tosi takes it pretty seriously. She strongly advocates for measuring ingredients in grams and for using specific ingredients. After the introduction, there is a whole section on ingredients and another section on equipment. This was where I got intimidated because she uses ingredients like glucose, freeze dried corn, and both brown and clear vanilla extract. Tosi recommends buying what you can’t find in stores on Amazon. Whew. For some reason, no matter how amazing a recipe looks, I’m averse to buying an ingredient if I’m not sure I’ll ever use it again. Why can’t I use what I already have?

But what is clear from all these instructions is that Tosi loves Milk Bar and loves what she does. And so most of the time when I get a celebrity or restaurant cookbook it doesn’t feel like these are the real recipes, but instead are instructions altered for public consumption. But, here it feels like these are the true recipes and she’s sharing it with us, her readers, and letting us know that it might be scary but we can make amazing baked goods. And so, why not push myself? If the purpose of my blog and my cooking adventures is to try something new, then I should suck it up and figure out where in the world I can buy malt powder.

What really got me excited about the book is how the recipes are exciting and vivacious. There’s no plain sugar cookie in this book. Every recipe has great personality. Throughout the book there’s a great mix of sweet, salty, crunchy and gooey. I was so inspired by the idea of using rainbow sprinkles, or cornflakes, or crushed pretzel bits. I rented this book from the library, but I’m definitely going to buy a copy on my own because there’s too much I want to try. My only true gripe is there are not enough pictures of the food. I want more drool worthy images!

Look at all the gooey yummy cream cheese!

Anyway, I decided to start out with the bagel bomb recipe. This recipe would push me out of my comfort zone because I hardly ever make bread, but it doesn’t require any hard to find ingredients. To describe this recipe, it’s like a bagel the shape of a dinner roll, baked, and filled with oozy gooey cream cheese. Amazing right? I made them on Saturday for breakfast and Ryan and I had to hold back so we didn’t devour them too fast and burn ourselves on the very hot cream cheese.

What is great about this recipe is that there is so much room for innovation with this recipe. As is, the recipe is for an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.  But, you could easily knead chocolate chips in the dough and use plain cream cheese. You could also knead in raisins and cinnamon, or dried cranberries. Or you could fill it with salmon cream cheese! Oh the possibilities!

One last note before we get started…  I’m going to give you the ingredient list using cups and spoons, not grams. I know it’s less authentic, I’m sorry! I didn’t use grams because my kitchen scale isn’t sophisticated enough, and I only want to share with you what I actually did. Also, I changed up Tosi’s cream cheese recipe because she used bacon in it and I didn’t feel it was necessary. And finally, “everything bagel topping” calls for black sesame seeds but I didn’t use those. I already had white sesame seeds and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy more sesame seeds. It still tasted good. However, if you make this and decide on using both types of sesame seeds, I’ll be super proud of you.

Ingredients:

Bagels –

3 1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp salt

1/2 packet or 1 1/8 tsp of active dry yeast

1 3/4 cup water at room temperature

grape seed oil (although I used vegetable)

Cream Cheese –

7 ounces cream cheese (buy the kind that’s in a square package, ounce measurements will be on the outside)

3-4 scallion greens thinly sliced (I used the food processor)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Everything Bagel Topping –

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

2 tsp black sesame seeds

2 tsp poppy seeds

1 tbsp dried onion

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder.

Other

1 egg

1/2 tsp water

Directions:

1. Start with the cream cheese because it takes the longest. Chop up the scallions into small pieces. Put the cream cheese in a bowl and beat until lighter and smooth. You can beat it a.) by hand (ouch! my arm would be tired) b.) electric hand mixer c.) Tosi’s recommendation, stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium.

In case you don’t know what yeast looks like… at the store it comes in packets and you can find it in the baking aisle

2. Add the scallions, sugar, and salt to the cream cheese and beat until well mixed.

3. On a parchment lined baking sheet, put 8 lumps of cream cheese. Freeze until hard, about 1-3 hours. I left mine in 1.5 hours.

4. Now move on to the dough; that takes the next longest. Tosi recommends a stand mixer, and that’s the directions I’ll use, but I’ve made bread dough before completely by hand, so if you don’t have a stand mixer, I am confident you can still do this recipe. ANYWAY. Put the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl. Hold the dough hook in your hand and mix. Basically pretend the dough hook is a spoon.

5. Slowly add the water. Continue mixing, by hand, using the dough hook. Tosi says it should be a “shaggy mass,” which to me meant the dough was a little shredded looking and not smooth.

6. Attach the dough hook to the machine. Mix on the lowest speed for 7 minutes. At about 3.5 minutes in you can stop and check the progress if you feel so inclined. Tosi says it should “look like a wet ball.” Mine didn’t look wet, but it was sticky and when I poked it the dough slowly bounced back into place (which she said it should). If yours looks really wet, then add a little flour.

7. Grease a large bowl with oil. To do this, I poured a little oil in a bowl then used a paper towel to coat all the sides. Put your dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 45 minutes.

8. Mix all the ingredients for the everything bagel topping in a small bowl. Set aside.

9. Heat oven to 350°.

10. Lightly flour your work surface. Put the dough on your surface. Punch down the dough to flatten it. Using a dough cutter (or a ruler, or something that shape) divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Using your hands and gently stretch the dough pieces to be about 3 inches wide.

11. Put a frozen cream cheese lump into the center of each piece of dough.

12. Bring the edges of the dough up and around the cream cheese. Pinch the dough shut, then roll the ball gently in your hand to seal it up.

13. Put the bagel balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Give 3-4 inches of space between bagels.

14. Whisk the egg and 1/2 tsp of water. Brush each bagel with a generous coating of the egg mixture.

15. Generously sprinkle the everything bagel topping over the bagel. Cover it as much as you can!

16. Bake for about 25 minutes. You want it to be a light golden brown and the cream cheese should be exploding and oozing out of some the bagels. Looks great right? I want to run home and make this right now. Thank you Milk Bar!

Messy Level:  This recipe is more time consuming than it is messy. I’ll call it a 2 spoon recipe. You need to use a few bowls, but nothing flies all around or gets sticky or crazy. Yes, the cream cheese oozes, but then you just dip in the bagel. This recipe cleans itself. YUM.

The post Bagel Bombs appeared first on Cooking is Messy.