Category Archives: Her Kitchen

Just want Chocolate

Posted on August 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

For the past few baking posts I’ve shared recipes that starred peaches and blueberries, the bounty of our Farmer’s market.  But, you know what is always in season?  Chocolate.  Sometimes chocolate like to be eaten straight from the wrapper, but sometimes it wants to get dressed up and be a star and this cake lets it be the star.

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients for Cake:
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 
1 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Hot Chocolate Powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, 0%
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan.
Combine in a medium sized bowl the chocolate chips and softened butter, and stir in the boiling hot water.
Blend together until the chocolate, butter and hot water make a silky chocolate soup.
In a separate bowl combine flour, hot chocolate powder, baking soda and salt and gradually blend in the chocolate soup.  

Then add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla and continue to blend, and pour into the prepared bundt pan.
I retained a little bit of the batter for 4 cupcake sized portion since we had friends over, and I wanted to taste test the new recipe, so I only baked it for around 40 minutes, even though the recipe calls for 55 to 60.  I would recommend checking at 40 minutes with the toothpick trick and then extending for five minutes and checking again.
After baking, let the cake cool in the pan for at least ten minutes, and then invert on a plate and if time allows continue to let cool.  I made my cake the night before a family party and made the glaze the morning of, but I am sure they could all be done the night before and would stay beautiful and delicious.

Ingredients for Glaze:
1/2 stick of butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 – 3 tablespoons of hot water

This might be the most simple, most delicious frosting.  I think  you could be creative and add food color, or other flavor extracts (almond, mint, liquor, lemon, etc), but I kept it simple.

Melt the butter and gradually stir in the powdered sugar, water and vanilla.  
 Beat by hand with a whisk until smooth, adding more water a teaspoon at a time if you’re finding it too thick, or lumpy.   This makes more than enough glaze – so maybe you’ll lick the whisk, or share with a friend!


Pour a generous amount all around the cake, in any free form design.  I think with a cake this classic it doesn’t need to look “too perfect”.   I added some plain slivered almonds for fun – and crunch.  

Cut a big slice and enjoy!  This cake is sweetened with the sugar and chocolate chips, but not too sweet with the balance of the yogurt.  I think you could tweak this recipe with nearly anything you had on hand.  It’s so moist you don’t need anything else, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t love it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

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Posted in Baking, Christmas, Dessert, Her Kitchen, Holiday Food

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The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake

Posted on July 29, 2010 | 1 comment

Blueberry Harvest Cake
Part of the joy of getting a pedicure is reading the magazines.  And I was extra joyful when I stumbled upon the August issue of Food & Wine Magazine.  With tributes to Tuscan Farm to Fork cooking and a feature on Greek Chef/Philosopher Michael Psilakis I was hooked.  

On Sunday, a few days after the pedicure, we were having Mark’s family over for lunch to wish his mom a “buon viaggio” before her trip to Italy.  This was our first time entertaining in our new house, and we toiled on the menu, prepared on Saturday, shopped our Farmer’s Market Sunday morning and cooked and cleaned just until showtime.  On a hot day, and a full menu the big debate was dessert, and then I remembered the magazine.

The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake 
adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, August 2010

All the ingredients ready to be delicious
Ingredients:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 – 1.5 cups of blueberries, fresh
Confectioners Sugar for dusting
Use a 9″ springform pan
Oven at 350 degrees

Whisk the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl whisk, by hand, the eggs with granulated sugar until fully combined and a smooth yellow color.  

Then pour in the vanilla, milk, and olive oil and continue whisking by hand.  Slowly and while whisking continuously, pour in the melted butter.  It’s a good idea to let the melted butter cool for a few moments as this cake would not taste good with scrambled olive oil eggs.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, again by hand, it will be a beautiful golden yellow color.  Try to resist “taste-testing”, I usually cannot, but I know that I should.

Pick your favorite fruit.  The Food & Wine recipe calls for seedless red grapes, but since I live in DC and not Napa, and since blueberries are delicious right now, I adapted.

Fold the blueberries into the batter with a whisk and a gentle hand, being careful to not crush them along the way.


Pour into springform pan and bake for 15 minutes.  At fifteen minutes remove the cake from the oven and pop on a few more blueberries on the surface, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.  Check to ensure it is fully baked with a toothpick – clean toothpick means it’s done!

After the cake has cooled sprinkled on some confectioner’s sugar and you could serve it with more fresh berries, like I did, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, a blueberry sauce or just plain, because it is just that moist and delicious!

Oh, so why the name?  Why the “Cake that Stole the Show”? because after a delicious Caprese salad, Aged Cheddar and Bacon Macaroni, perfectly seasoned baked chicken breast and a salad that would make any farmer proud – this cake was devoured.  And Mark very proudly boasted, this was the best cake ever, it “stole the show”.

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Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Dessert, healthy, Her Kitchen, summer

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Enjoying the Bounty

Posted on July 28, 2010 | 2 comments

For the past few days my home Internet has been down – which means I haven’t been able to share pictures I have taken, or any new recipes.  I’m overflowing with sweets and savories!

As an appe-teaser, enjoy some of the bounty from our trip to the Bloomingdale Farmer’s Market.

Parsley, Sage and Basil from our Friend’s Backyard Garden
25 Pounds of Sauce Tomatoes – lots of chopping for lots of delicious homemade sauces.
Beets and Radishes that were used for Sunday’s Lunch
Shots of Espresso to end the day

The table is set for a Sunday feast – recipes to follow!

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Posted in DC, entertaining, Family, Her Home, Her Kitchen, Seasonal, summer

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Zucchini in bloom?

Posted on July 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

I like my vegetables, but I by no means have a green thumb.  Prior to shopping more frequently at farmer’s markets I was fairly accustomed to seeing my produce displayed at Whole Foods, wrapped in plastic, or dare I say it in the frozen foods aisle.  Yikes!  

Anyway, the joy of the market is getting to see all parts of the produce at their peak.  Let me introduce you to the part of the zucchini most people never meet: 
Image by Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, via Virtual Gourmet
I’ve always heard of these prepared battered and fried (like a very delicate onion ring) or stuffed with a ricotta based filling.  After walking the Bloomingdale Farmer’s Market with my Italian born mother-in-law we brainstormed on how to best use these little flowers.  She made a risotto, and I made up my own, crispy, light recipe – and if you can still find these guys, it’s worth taking 10 minutes to make.

First you have to rinse and dry the flowers, and remove the pistil.  I am sure there is anatomy lesson somewhere here, but I am not going to bother.  Basically picture the flower like the colored Christmas lights – you are going to cut off what on the light is the black part and pull out the bulb (or the pistil).  If this analogy hasn’t confused you enough onto step 2.

The ingredients for this impromptu experiment could not be more simple.
I was trying to keep it light so I splashed some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and then dipped in a mix of Italian bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper.  
Then I put the lightly coated flowers in a shallow pan with olive oil over medium heat.  I really just aimed to brown them slightly and crisp them up.  Because I did not use a traditional batter, when they were “done” was more of a personal estimation.
When they were all done I patted them with paper towels to remove any excess oil and sprinkled on freshly grated cheese.  Again, bread crumbs, oil and cheese are hard to screw up so any extra cheese just means it’s extra amazing.

And, what do you know – all gone!

The zucchini flowers probably taste more authentic when eaten on an authentic Deruta table, special thanks to my mother-in-law again!

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Posted in Appetizer, Her Kitchen, Seasonal, Snacks, summer

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DC’s real Top Chefs

Posted on July 22, 2010 | 2 comments

I have lived in DC since 2003 and I am happy to say my culinary experiences have grow over the years.  

In college my best girlfriends and I were our happiest just eating at any restaurant.  This isn’t to say we didn’t fully enjoy the dining hall at American University – hard to beat  Macaroni and Cheese Wednesdays or the Herhsey’s Moose Tracks Ice Cream, but going off campus was truly decadent.  Many birthdays and Valentine’s day were celebrated over shared spinach dips/salads/cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory, “homestyle” Italian food at Mama Lucia’s and margaritas/chips and salsa at Guapo’s.

Post college new restaurants have risen to the top of my list: Cava, Ardeo Bardeo, Belga Cafe, Zaytinya, Bangkok 54 (technically Virginia – but amazing!)

I’ll share with you reviews and favorites at each, but first up: 
Cava – with locations in Capitol Hill and Rockville, and a new restaurant soon to be opening in Clardenon, VA.  We went to the Capitol Hill location, and were blown away.  Cava says they serve unique Greek-inspired dishes, skillfully crafted by talented Chef Dimitri Moshovitis. All dishes are served mezze style—in small plates, but with portions large enough to share.    
We first discovered Cava at our Whole Foods – the harissa, was hot enough to make Mark who grew up in the Middle East go back for seconds, thirds, fourths… and hot enough to make me tear up…

 Harissa that knocks your socks off – promise!

Feta and Honey will make you wonder why you haven’t always been eating this combination

A classic spanakopita
 
Fresh and tender grilled octopus
 
All images by Stacy Zarin via Cava’s Facebook Page

What they should say is that each dish is prepared with an attention to detail and flavoring and that the atmosphere is engaging.  If you go, try to order as much as possible, and share – you won’t want to miss a thing, especially not these: the Roasted Beet Salad, Lamb Chops – see deliciousness below, Lollipop Chicken (seriously, I could eat the whole plate by myself, that good!) and save room for the honey sweet loukoumades.

More DC Top Chefs coming soon!

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Posted in DC, Her Kitchen, restaurants

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It’s Easy Being Green

Posted on July 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

Moving has really made me think about what we use, and how we use it.  We have always been  very conscientious about not overusing paper towels, recycling, bringing our own bags to the store and shopping at our local farmer’s market so we have produce without packaging.  

But, now that we live in a bigger house there is even more to be aware of and I am thinking twice about what items we buy to equip our new kitchen.


We got the Bamboo Cutting Board with Colander as a shower gift and it has proven to be a great item.  It is a space saver by not having two have two separate pieces of equipment and the bamboo serves as a great cutting surface while also being a more readily renewable resource.

Moving to DC meant no more tap water, this is something I hope is resolved in time, but in the interim we are using the Brita Green Grand Water Filter and Pitcher.  This eliminates the use for bottled water which is a major save for the environment – plus the green is so cute!

If you’re heading to the store in DC you’ll be wise to bring your own bag and save the $0.05 tax, and of course by bringing your own you help the environment too.  This Envirosax “Planet Green Series Bag”  is a great green option, while also being compact and chic. 
Now this canvas tote I couldn’t resist, since our new neighborhood is called Bloomingdale (not Bloomingdale’s) I thought the “In Bloomie’s We Trust” Recycled Cotton Canvas Tote would be a great bag to bring to Bloomingdale’s Farmer’s Market; I’ll show some neighborhood pride and be acting green.
Something else to consider when planning a greener lifestyle is length of use.  I apply this thinking to my fashion choices as well.  I prefer to spend more on an item that will last me years and years that and won’t soon end up in a landfill or worse the ocean, and won’t contribute to our general collection of excess stuff.

These are great investment pieces that will pay dividends:

As you know I am an avid baker and every time I bake I put a piece of tin foil, wax paper or parchment paper down on the pan.  Those days are over!  As a housewarming gift (thank you!!!) I got a new Silpat mat, these French pastry mats are time tested and will last nearly forever, saving lots of foil and paper.

The Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Cookware might be the holy grail of cookware.  These pieces are built to last and therefore not need to be replaced for a very long time.  We also got a few of these pieces as a wedding gift and are happy to get cooking.

Each of these choices are based on what works for our lifestyle.  But for me, just like when I cook I want to use the best ingredients I have access to, I want to use the best equipment and tools too.

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Posted in Decor, Her Home, Her Kitchen

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Everything is sweeter when small

Posted on July 19, 2010 | 4 comments

These are cutie pies. Pies are pretty much my favorite thing. Small things also rank pretty high on the list of favorites.

I’ll share some Joey Tribiani logic with you,
Pie = butter + flour + sugar = delicious
Small = handheld + portable + more fun – plates = cute

Small + pies = cutie pies = good

I didn’t always get in “A” in Math class, but I am pretty confident with that equation.

So the key to any good pie is good dough.  I told you I preferred to make my own dough, so I am glad I was able to share this with you on such a cute, summer, recipe.  I learned this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.
Pie Dough – makes two doughs or approximately 10 cutie pies with lattice tops.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
*With a naturally sweet filling like peaches I might add just a touch more salt.


So, you could make this dough with a food processor, but then you can’t really control the texture, or with a pastry cutter, but I can’t find mine, or with two butter knives, or forks…

Then I put my hands in there and really work it through.  If I remember I take my rings off first – I rarely remember – that’s a good thing.  I shaped it into a nice, big, buttery ball.

The magic with pie dough is all in keeping the butter cold so that when it’s rolled and then baked the crust is rich, flaky and amazing.  Now that the dough is a pretty smooth ball I divided it and wrapped in plastic (or parchment/wax paper) and stored it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

For the filling I followed my intuition – that often seems to work.  
Peach Filling for 6 Cutie Pies:
5 Peaches
1.5 tbsps granulated sugar
2 – 3 shakes of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of corn starch
**I probably ate a peaches worth of cut up peaches after making the pies…

To remove the fuzzy skin – I boiled a small pot of water and dunked the peaches in the boiling water on the stove for about 15 seconds.  After their spa experience they all get dunked in a bowl of ice cold water so that they don’t continue cooking.  At this point the skin peels right off.

For Cutie Pies I like the fruit pieces to be a bit on the smaller side, since the container is smaller too. Once everything is chopped I sprinkled in the sugar/cinnamon/corn starch and just let it hang out for a little while.  The fruit loves the sugar – it doesn’t need much but, when they’re together they make some really delicious things happen. 


Time to get rolling…
So, you caught me.  I don’t own a rolling pin.  I love pie and I don’t own a rolling pin.  We used to live in a considerably smaller home, with a significantly smaller kitchen and therefore I have grown accustomed to using a Chopan Vodka Martini mixing bottle as a rolling pin.   It’s a bit silly, but it works.

Anyway, throw down some flour on the work surface and keep some handy for the bottle/can/rolling pin/whatever.

I use a muffin tin as the pie pan and a juice glass to cut out the circles.  The pan doesn’t need any additional grease as the dough is already pretty deliciously buttery. 

I put in generous servings of fruit – it makes it more fun to get a sweet bite of peach in every, single, juicy bite.

With the excess dough I cut out little strips and made a mini lattice for the tops.  With my fingers I rubbed a bit of skim milk, but you could use an egg wash or water in a pinch, and sprinkled some raw sugar on top. 

I forgot to mention… you’ll want to bake these at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Due to the small size, and the sensitivity of different ovens – keep an eye on these babies.  Also, if you’re not into cleaning ovens, (and really who is?) try layering the muffin tin on a cookie sheet so that any extra bubbly juices land on the sheet and not the oven or racks.


And then it’s time to eat.  And eat we did! 

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Her Kitchen, summer

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A belated 4th…

Posted on July 16, 2010 | Leave a comment


We moved on the weekend of July 4th.

No matter what anyone tells you, moving is exhausting.

The three day weekend proved to be a the perfect time to pack, haul and move across town.

So that Monday off was critical! And on Sunday we were able to finally sit back and enjoy our independence from moving trucks, packing tape, and boxes and celebrate our nation’s independence too!

Our very good friends, and now new neighbors, invited us over for 4th of July BBQ. In full disclosure it is probably the first time I have ever gone to someone’s house for a meal/party/celebration without bringing something, but with the exception of ice cubes, and some beer we were saving for later, I had nothing to share. Not to worry – we were well fed and imbibed. Yum! Real coconut pina coladas. I’m not a fan of coconut, like at all, and these were pretty damn good!

BBQ’d sliders with a toppings bar? Uhm, hello Summer! I am officially in food heaven. These were delicious and we all enjoyed eating them, a lot!

That’s me in the background – can you tell how happy I am over the bacon/swiss/sliders? Glee!

After dinner we managed to climb up, feeling very full, to our roof for the most spectacular fireworks show I can remember ever seeing. The neighborhood effort definitely rivaled the National show. It was like a welcome party just for us!

Our friends taking in the view!

We can’t wait to celebrate more!

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Posted in DC, entertaining, Her Home, Holiday Food, Holidays

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What a peach!

Posted on July 9, 2010 | 1 comment

Last Sunday we went to the Farmer’s Market in our new neighborhood – ahh! yes, we have a farmer’s market!!! – and picked up a variety of fresh produce, some zucchini flowers, blueberries, eggs, lettuce greens, gelato (that somehow never made it beyond noon on Sunday) and peaches.

Peaches were not a fruit I grew up loving, I was more of a basic kind of girl, apple, banana, orange, grapes, but after visiting enough Farmer’s Market and seeing and smelling the ripe little fruits they were hard to resist. Sometimes I’ll cut up the peaches with oatmeal for breakfast, or grill them with yogurt for dessert but this week I made them the main event for a dinner I am calling, “What Spices do I have in my new Kitchen Peaches and Chicken?”

Bon appetito!

Ingredients:
Two bone-in chicken breasts, with the skin on
Peaches (3)
1 large onion
1/2 lemon
Garlic
Butter for the pan and chicken
Olive oil for the pan and chicken
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay seasoning
A sprinkle of brown sugar
**You might notice there is a jar of jam (apricot) I never used it. Also the bag of slivered almonds was used for the spinach – yum!
 
I don’t like to clean up a lot of pots and pans so I did everything in an oven-safe pan. Okay butter in the pan, and I rubbed a bit of butter on the skin and sprinkled on a generous amount of Kosher salt, fresh pepper and Old Bay.While this is lightly browning on the stove, it’s time to get chopping…


I chop my onions to be a pretty decent size, so that they are a part of the dish, not just for flavoring. Next everything goes right in the chicken pan and into the oven. I also put a bit of chopped garlic under the skin of the chicken just for flavoring.On a whim I decided to throw in a splash of balsamic vinegar for color and a little more tart rich flavor. This baked at 400 with the top on for about 30 minutes. (My oven is a little finicky right now, so I kept checking, and I wouldn’t swear by that time or temperature.) With about 10 minutes left in the baking, I sprinkled on a teeny bit of brown sugar on the skin- for an extra sweet surprise.

While this was baking away and making a sweet, and hearty sauce I prepared the spinach. So simple and satisfying. I heated up a little butter and slivered almonds for a light golden color and then replaced the almonds in the pan with sliced garlic. When the garlic was also nice and golden I added frozen spinach (I know, frozen!). When everything was nice and combined I added the almonds again and prepared to serve.
Bon appetito!

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Posted in dinner, healthy, summer

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Kicking it old school, an Elementary classic

Posted on June 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

What is better than this? Ok, so this is better, and really good at disappearing (really fast)!
So what could beat the world’s best sandwich that is also appropriate for lunch, dinner, midnight snack? Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies!

I don’t know why I felt the need to move beyond the peanut butter & jelly sandwich, because truthfully I could eat it any day, at any time but sometimes you feel like a sandwich, and sometimes you feel like eating a bunch of cookies. Sometimes I feel like eating both, so that’s just what I did.

Here’s what you will need:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
  • cinnamon and sugar for sugaring the cookies
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam

Recipe only slightly adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 30 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie, roughly tbsp sized.

Wow, butter is delightful – but not worth taste testing, yet!

Butter and peanut butter and sugar, and more sugar – getting closer!

Vanilla and egg are added. I do taste the dough here. I know raw egg – yikes! – but I do it anyway.

Add in the flour and dry ingredients, and look at this crumbly, buttery deliciousness! Taste away – still raw egg if you’re squeamish!
Ball up those cookies and throw them in with some sugar (I added cinnamon because I like it). I also like how they look like little mini donuts.
Bake at 350 – after ten minutes you pull these guys out of the oven and make a little dip in the top of the cookie, bake for another 6 or 7 minutes. Then fill the little dip with your favorite jelly, jam, marmalade.

And then pour a big glass of milk.

It’s mandatory.
Peanut butter and jelly really loves milk.

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Posted in Baking, Comfort Food, Her Kitchen

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