It’s quite possible that this is the food item that birthed this blog. Dan and Kim were over for a simple lunch of leftovers: butternut squash soup and quesadillas. They enjoyed the soup just fine, but when Daniel bit into his quesadilla–CRUNCH– his eyes opened wide and, through a mouthful of food, he exclaimed, “This is SO GOOD! What did you do to it?! It’s so good!”
I was beaming. Nothing elevates a compliment like someone giving it with their mouth still full of food.
The answer is simple. I gave it a parmesan crust! Mmmmm!! A lot of people seem to like burritos, but I’m a quesadilla girl myself. Quesadillas take the best parts of a burrito (meat, cheese), drop off the less tasty parts (rice, lettuce, beans), and are pan-fried for that delectable crunch! If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll notice that I love crunchy things: crispy skin on chicken, crispy cheese layer on quiches, crispy bacon… I could go on. Adding a parmesan crust does to a quesadilla what a good pan-fry does to a potsticker. You know what, I’ll just let the unfiltered iphone 4s photo convince you:
I still remember the first time. I was a college student. We were at Crepevine in Berkeley, and I probably should have gotten something off the savory menu. It was, after all, dinner time. But I couldn’t resist, and instead I selected The Jamaican: Bananas in Caramel Rum Sauce.
I was intrigued. Caramel? Rum? Bananas? What on earth would that taste like? Soon, I found out.
It was spectacular. I had never really had cooked bananas before this, but cooking them in a buttery caramel sauce was definitely the way to go. I wasn’t sure if that addictive flavor was the caramelized banana, the buttery browned caramel, or maybe… the rum? It didn’t matter. When you melded them together and then topped it on smooth, vanilla bean ice cream and a touch of whipped cream, it was magic. My taste buds swooned over the new notes of delicious, and I felt like Remy in Ratatouille as he explained the beauty of food to his brother in the alleyway, fireworks and all. Mmmm.
So of course, the next step was to make it. It wasn’t very hard, actually. There was obviously butter, sugar, rum, and bananas in it. I’d figure out the rest.
…Turns out, that’s all it took. Four ingredients = an explosion of happy in my mouth.
Growing up, mall food was a thing of luxury to me. You know, Chinese parents. In the same way that going to the movies meant enjoying buttery popcorn by smell, I could only enjoy the flavors of Cinnabon and Mrs. Field’s Cookies through their intoxicating scents, inhaling deeply the way I imagine Charlie did when walking past Mr. Wonka’s gates. Looking back, I’m glad my parents didn’t spoil me by buying me whatever I wanted. But I’m equally glad I can spoil myself by making whatever I want, now.
Several years ago, Ben and I plotted to visit the local mall to get a special Cinnabon-y treat. For some reason, it had come to mind and we were both craving it. When we arrived, mouths watering and splurge-ready (I’m pretty sure mall food will feel like a splurge for the rest of my life), we were distraught to find that it had closed right before we arrived! Noooooo!!!!
On the way home, disappointed and hungry for sweets, I decided we could just make it ourselves. I looked it up and found a promising recipe– “Clone of a Cinnabon” on allrecipes.com. Unfortunately, the instructions required a breadmaker. There’s probably an easy workaround, but I’m no bread master, so I had to study the comments to figure it out. Here is the resulting recipe after reading dozens of comments and reviews! I also increased the proportion of filling and icing. Noms. It breaks my 8-ingredient preference (although you should have most of the pantry items already), but trust me– it’s worth it. So deliciously worth it!
The ooey gooey cinnamony and buttery brown sugar filling screams comfort food, and the cream cheese icing is just a melty glob of lip-smacking yum! I add a splash of lemon juice to my frosting to give it a little zing. Most people can’t tell what it is, but it gives it that extra something that makes it really finger-licking delicious! My favorite is the very middle, where you have the highest ratio of sweet filling to bread, and can wipe up all the extra frosting into one marvelous final bite. Sigh.
You can make these the night before and refrigerate them, then pop them into the oven the next morning. You can also freeze them and thaw them in the refrigerator the night before you plan to make them, so it’s a great make-ahead treat as well!
There are few things better than waking up to the warm scent of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon wafting through your room! It’s a perfect way to wake your loved ones on a Saturday morning, and also reheats wonderfully in the microwave for a midnight snack!
We all have it. That disorganized drawer stuffed full of user manuals and instruction booklets.
You buy a new toaster oven, glance through the user manual, then tug open that heavy drawer and squeeeeze it into the bulging pile and hope the drawer closes… just one more time. Yup. I know exactly where that drawer is in my parents’ house, where it was in our previous home, and where it was in this house. Because I avoided that drawer. Is this pot dishwasher-safe? Hmm… probably says so in the manual, but…. eh. I don’t want to look for it. Or maybe you just broke your very expensive blender and are desperate to know how long the warranty is. Already flustered and very nervous (hubby will NOT be pleased to know you broke the machine after 7 years and 1 month, especially if the warranty was for 7 years (which it was… go figure)), you sift through piles and piles of manuals only to realize it’s. not. there. BUT WAIT maybe you missed it, let’s try again! Your frustration increases as your pile somehow looks twice as big as it started. Where is that thing?!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had your manuals, instruction booklets, random back-of-the-packaging-with-important-instructions, DVDs and other relevant items all lumped in one place, ready to turn to whenever you need?
Early this morning, I came across a recipe for pancakes that had just three ingredients: banana, oats, and eggs. Whaaaaaaaaatttt you can do that?! Make pancakes with just bananas, oats, and eggs?! Noooo wayyy!!
I have always loved quiches, and I don’t know what took me so long to make one. I guess I frequently see my pie and tart pans as vehicles for dessert, so quiches didn’t really come to mind until more recently, when we had a lovely brunch with the girls. One of the ladies brought a quiche, and I was enamored. After that, it still took me a while to re-remember that I wanted to make a quiche, but a frozen bag of kale from Trader Joe’s did the trick. Isn’t kale supposed to be a superfood? I had never cooked with it, but I had a kale salad once at Whole Foods that I wasn’t too crazy about. Well, nothing can taste too bad if it’s buried under a pile of cheese, cream, bacon, and eggs, right? Then again, there’s probably no food healthy enough to make up for all that junk too… but hey, this is no health blog. It’s goodeats. Consume at your own risk!
Look at that skin. Just look at it.
It is as crackly-salty-tasty as it looks. And the vegetables…oh, the vegetables. As juicy and tender as the chicken comes out, sometimes I find myself looking forward to the veggies even more than the meat! There is nothing better on a winter night than this juicy, whole-roasted chicken with salty, crackly skin on a bed of root vegetables sopping with chicken juice.
Gateau Au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie Recipe
It was 4:55 and I was expecting my family over at 5:30 for my mom’s birthday dinner. Thirty-five minutes. I bit my lip and skimmed the recipe again. It looked totally doable, but my own “mommy-brain” had also been causing me to make a number of mishaps in the kitchen lately, and I couldn’t afford that with just 35 minutes on the clock. I deliberated for about ten more seconds, then remembered how much we always enjoyed chocolate cakes for Mom’s birthday in years past. Today needed that little bit of birthday special, and I would bring it. So I set to action, taking every shortcut I could think to take (on an already-simple recipe) and hoped for the best.
The Best Lemon Bars Ever. At least, that’s what a lot of people tell me when they eat this lemon bar. If there’s any one recipe I get asked for the most, it’s this one. It’s hard to resist the crumbly, buttery crust layer against the tartness of the lemon.
The Secret to Cooking Crispy Bacon
How fitting, that my first savory post should be about the most savory of them all: bacon. Even the word should get your mouth watering in a way that no dessert ever could. I have been in pursuit of the ultimate bacon-crisping technique for years now. I have pan-fried my bacon. I have baked my bacon, aluminum foil rack and all (which is useful if you’re feeding a crowd). I have even microwaved my bacon, which is okay if you’re in a hurry. However, none of these techniques have yielded the crispy, crunchy, intensely salty bite that I crave.
Meet JoEllen
Subscribe via Email
Top Posts & Pages
Categories
