Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Boston has been extra rainy this month. Isn't rain supposed to happen in April? April showers bring May flowers? No? Okay. Anyway, yesterday was particularly gross, and so soup was made. Baked potato soup to be exact. Loaded. And grilled cheese sandwiches. With ham.

Hungry yet? I am. Even though it's 10 a.m. My Chobani isn't cutting it today. Just so everyone knows, the blood orange chobani is the shit. Back to the soup. I love soup. I went to dinner with my Dad on Saturday, (Gheppetto's Grille - Which is amazing. Thanks, Dad!) and we were chatting about my childhood obsession with clam chowder. I ordered the stuff every single place we went. Every single one. I've probably sampled over 100 different kinds of clam chowder. Which is probably the main reason why I can't eat it anymore. It's very sad.

Sidenote: I'm very mad at myself for not taking pictures at restaurants I've been going to. I'm sitting down this weekend and figuring out to use the manual mode on my camera. Anybody know what a Coolpix P100 does?

Anyway, even though I can't stomach clam chowder, (as a Bostonian, I realize that this is probably punishable to the fullest extent of the law) I do love almost every other kind of soup. Even other forms of chowder. Which is basically what baked potato soup is. I searched for a recipe yesterday, and found quite a few I liked but I ended up making my own version. One thing though, don't be like me and have to strain your soup because you accidentally turned the burner to medium-high instead of medium-low when you add the flour to the milk. Oops. Also, stir it pretty much constantly until it thickens. Don't turn your back on it. It gets angry. But then it gets delicious.

Oh, I'm also a professional grilled cheese maker. I don't know if you knew that about me. Ha.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

• 8 large-ish potatoes
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 half gallon milk (I used skim because I realize this recipe is evil)
• half pound of bacon
• 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cups cheddar jack cheese
• sliced green onions

1. Bake potatoes in a 375 degree oven for 60 minutes, until tender. Let cool while bacon cooks. *You can do the potatoes in the microwave too, and save yourself a lot of time. But since my microwave is useless, it takes about the same amount of time to just do them in the oven.

2. Spread bacon on a cookie sheet and bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until done.

3. Peel and chop potatoes into small pieces. Chop bacon into small pieces as well.

4. Pour milk into a large pot over medium-low heat, and add flour. Whisk until there are no lumps. Continue whisking until milk and flour mixture thickens. Stir in seasonings.

5. Once thick, add potatoes, bacon pieces (leave a little for a garnish), sour cream, and cheese and continue cooking until cheese is melted. Mash potatoes pieces in the pot with a potato masher, if you like.

6. Serve immediately. Garnish with extra cheese, green onions, and bacon.

I think I'll get about 6 bowls of this stuff. Keep in mind it is super filling, so it's more like half bowl servings!

Breakfast for Dinner

Oh, boy do I love breakfast. Anytime, always. I also love breakfast for dinner. My Mom's favorite meal to cook growing up was breakfast, and she took any excuse to make it. Dad makes a mean omelet too, so breakfast was always a big deal for us. We loved breakfast, and pancakes or eggs for dinner was always something to look forward to. I have a few tried and true breakfast recipes that will always be some of my favorites which I'm sure I'll share eventually, including my mom's blueberry stuffed french toast...drool.  But then I found these miraculous things. They're savory pancakes with bacon and corn in them. Then they're served with maple syrup. Woah.

I love weird food. I really do. I'll try anything once, and I love different combinations (except things with whole tomatoes chunks. blech.). This is where Scott and I are very different. He eats because he has to. I eat because I freaking love food. Imagine my surprise when I made these bacon and corn "pancakes," and he actually LOVED them. I think he liked them even more than I did.

I made them with simple breakfast potatoes that had a poached egg on top. This was by no means a low calorie dinner, but it definitely hit the spot! They do have a really thick batter, but don't let that fool you, they cook up into a nice little savory cake. I'm already thinking about other combinations... ;)

My breakfast potatoes are more of a method than a recipe, but they're definitely my favorite way to prepare them.

Breakfast Potatoes

• 3 medium sized potatoes
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Seasoning salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry potatoes and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes until tender. When done, chop into 1-inch pieces. You can either leave the skin on or take it off. I usually leave the skin on about half the potatoes.

2. Put oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat, add butter to oil and when melted add in chopped onions. When onions begin to brown, add potatoes. Season with salt and pepper (I've used Tastefully Simple's seasoning salt forever, but any kind works!) and toss with the oil, butter and onions. Pack the potatoes into a layer on the bottom of the pan and don't touch them for 8 minutes.

3. Using a spatula, flip over sections of the potatoes until all of them are turned over. If all the moisture is gone (the potatoes can be greedy suckers) add another pat of butter into the middle of the pan or some oil. Let the other brown for about 8 minutes. Done!

Now for the good stuff!

Bacon and Corn "Pancakes"
Recipe slightly adapted from Recipe Girl

• 8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup frozen, canned or fresh corn
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Jack cheese
• warm maple syrup, for serving

1. In a medium skillet, cook the bacon pieces until they begin to brown. Add the onion and cook until the bacon is crisp and the onion is softened.

2. While the bacon is cooking, combine the flour, chives, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk, egg and oil, until just mixed. Stir in the bacon and onions, corn and cheese.

3. Heat and grease a griddle or large skillet. Pour a heaping 1/4-cup of the batter onto the griddle and cook until it is golden brown- 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining batter.

4. Serve stacks of cakes topped with a good dose of warm maple syrup.

This recipe gave me 8 pancakes. Enjoy!


Also, I need to say Happy Birthday to my little cousin! Can't believe your 13!

Please ignore my soap and Splenda. I need some photo editing software!

Restaurant Rundown: Happy's Bar + Kitchen

One of my best friends, Liz and I went to this brand spanking new restaurant called Happy's last night that opened last week on Boylston Street. It's the newest restaurant by the same chef that opened Tico downtown, which I've only heard good things about. My dad happened to see Happy's on Chronicle last week and how they have scorpion bowl-like drinks with Swedish fish in them! Sounds fun, no? It's like your given an excuse to eat alcoholic candy and not trying to sneak those damn addictive vodka-gummy bears.

Photo from BostonTweet

So we decided to try it. I have to say, I wasn't that impressed. Granted, it's a brand new restaurant, and I will still go back in a few months to try it again, but it just didn't wow me like I wanted it to. They do also have brunch though, and I will definitely be trying that!

The atmosphere of the place is pretty cool (I LOVED this light fixture made of teacups and spoons. I want one.)

Photo from Happy's

However, those "drink bowls"? They are almost $40. Each. Crazy! We ended up with beer. Of course. We work at a microbrewery, it usually ends up that way. We had the duck tacos for an appetizer, and they were good, but a seriously small portion. We got two mini tacos for $9. The "TV dinner" for the night was fried chicken with coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a little mini cheesecake. I must say, it was cute. They served it in a plate made to look like an actual TV dinner tray. The food was good, but I've definitely had better fried chicken. Liz had the short ribs, which came with noodles, and they were good. But for some reason, I firmly believe short ribs should come with mashed potatoes. It's natural.

I had planned all day to actually use my camera and take pictures of our food, but I forgot. I'm an idiot. So, what's left is just my opinion on this place. It was decent, but kind of expensive. Like I said, I'll go back in a few months to give it another shot and I really hope the brunch is good. They did have Magic Hat #9 though, which does make me like it more!

I'm in the process of making a sourdough bread starter, and then will try my hand at making bread. I'm nervous! But my starter is doing all the weird things its supposed to, like bubbling and smelling sour and generally creeping me out, so I think it's working. Hopefully, I'll be making the bread this weekend and then posting the recipe!

Holy Calzones

This is turning into way more of a food blog than I wanted it to be. But I haven't had much chance to do anything else lately with working at my internship and the restaurant. Once my internship is over at the end of June, I may decide on a new direction!

Anyway, a few years ago I tried to make calzones. I found some random recipe on the internet (not a lot of well-known food blogs then!) for pizza dough and stuffed it with some cheese, pepperoni and sauce. Good god were they awful. The dough was horrible, sticky and gross and it just did not work. We had to throw them away and order a real pizza. That bad. 

I've actually had pretty bad luck with yeasty doughs For some reason, they just don't like me. I've tried sourdough bread and pizza dough but they usually don't work. I need more practice, I think. But the other day I wanted to try again. So I found this recipe, probably from pinterest, as per usual but I actually don't remember how I got to the blog. This calzone recipe came out so good! It has homemade dough and homemade sauce, and it's stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, onions, cheese, and I added peppers. I don;t know if it's the BEST pizza dough I've ever had, but it worked and I'm definitely on the hunt for one that's even better.

I think next time I'm going to use chicken and broccoli for the filling, or maybe shaved steak and cheese. Possibilities are endless.

Calzones
Recipe adapted slightly from Simply Scratch

Pizza dough

• 2-1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 cup Warm Water {115-120 degrees}
• 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon Honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Olive Oil, plus more for oiling bowl

1. Add a half teaspoon of honey into a clean large bowl. 
2. Add the hot water into the bowl and sprinkle with the packet of yeast. Stir and let sit for a few minutes. 
3. Season with a half teaspoon of salt and olive oil. 
4. Sprinkle with one cup of the flour, stir with a spatula. Add in the second cup, stir until combine. 
5. Add the remaining half cup of flour and stir by hand until combined. 
6. On a well floured surface, knead the dough (add more flour if you need to) until no longer sticky. Should take about five minutes. 

7. Form the dough into a ball and add it to the bowl with the olive oil. Coat the dough with the oil, using it to work the oil up the sides of the bowl. 
8. Cover with a towel and place in a dry warm place for about an hour.

Pizza Sauce

• 15 ounce can of Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried Basil
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• a pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
• Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste 

1. In a small sauce pan over medium low heat combine the tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Stir until hot then remove off of the heat to cool.

The Calzones:

• 1 recipe for homemade pizza dough
• 8 slices of pepperoni, quartered
• 1 medium onion, sliced root to tip
• 1/2 pound Ground Italian Sausage
• 2 cups Freshly Grated Mozzarella
• 1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 whole Egg, beaten  

1. In a skillet brown the sausage, drain and set aside. 
2. Over medium heat cook onions until soft and golden. Add peppers after about 3 minutes.
3. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal portions. Roll out to about 8 inches in diameter. 
4. Smear a couple spoonfuls of cooled pizza sauce. 
5. Top half of the circle with cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, cooked onions and cheeses. 
6. Stretch and pull the dough over the top of the filling and twist and pinch the two seams together.
7. Beat the egg and brush it over top of the entire calzone. 
8. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-minutes. Let cool before eating. Use any leftover pizza sauce to dunk your calzone in.


Real good.

Gorillas, Strawberries, and Rhubarb, Oh My

We went to the zoo! I freaking love the zoo. I had a random day off on Saturday, and we used it to our advantage! Of course, once we got there I decided I needed to get my Master's in Anthro-zoology. Totally logical course of action after a bachelor's in English and Business... right? Anyway, Scott let me look at these guys for about 2 hours...

He loved us. Don't let him fool you with his imposing stature, he's my new best friend. I think his name should be Ringo because he just has that vibe. There was also a baby gorilla. Baby. Gorilla. I wanted to cry, I loved him so. What a sweet little nugget! He did seem to be quite a handful though. Case in point:

CHEEKY LITTLE THING. I didn't name the peanut, too busy oohing and aahing. We also saw tigers, and zebras and some really cool (non-gorilla) monkeys. For a city zoo, it was actually better than we expected. But nothing will make my love for the pandas at the National Zoo fade. I LOVE that place. National Zoo, Disney, St. Thomas = top 3 favorite places to be. But anyway, on to more important things. A busy day like this at the zoo must involve something sweet, no?

We were in the store, and Scott mentioned he likes rhubarb. Strawberries were on sale, and so a plan was born. All it took was a naked orange, a little sugar, and some chopped fruit. Well, a few other things too, but I needed a way to say 'naked orange' and couldn't figure out another one...

After figuring out the difference between a crumble and a crisp (Crumble vs. Crisp) I decided to go with a Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble. I adapted this one slightly (I have to be different) and man, was it DELICIOUS. So good. Sweet, but not overly so, with the perfect cake topping. And one leftover, naked orange. Here's the visual and the recipe, hope you like! Side note: My pictures will get better once someone teaches me how to use my fancy camera. Any volunteers?

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

For the topping:

• 1 1/3 cup flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 6 tablespoons sugar 
• Zest of half an orange (here's where it got naked. I had no way to use the insides of the poor dear!) 
• Zest of half a lemon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted 

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces 
• 1 quart strawberries plus a few extras, hulled, quartered 
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1/3 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoons honey 
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch 
• pinch of salt 

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a foil-lined baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.


I highly recommend putting it in a bowl before you take a bite. It may help you avoid eating the entire damn thing at once... Happy Monday!

Little Brothers + Oreo Cake

My little brother is one of my favorite people in the entire world. He amazes me everyday and keeps me going. He has been through SO MUCH so young, and he still manages to be one of the coolest and most down to earth people I have ever known. He also turned 16 years old yesterday. I cried. Well, I wanted to. But i was too busy being so excited for him for getting his permit. He has waited forever to get that, and I'm so proud of him for passing on the first try. :) And I made him a cake. More on that in a minute.

See, last  week, he went to Hawaii with his ROTC group at his high school. On crutches. Oh, I didn't mention that earlier? Yes, he has a broken ankle. From BMX biking/riding whatever. Crazy stuff. But yes, Hawaii. On crutches. To military bases. (Side note: told you he was the coolest ever.) Anyway, while he was there I was plotting. So, I asked him all coy and stuff "Brother dear, what pray tell is your favorite flavor of cake? For no reason what-so-ever just merely curious." To which he replied: "Oreo ice cream."  ........ 'Hmm," I thought "Way to be difficult." Difficult because I would need to travel with this cake back to my house for his birthday dinner. And ice cream, well, ice cream melts. All over my car. I'm already a mess as it is, goodness knows I do not need a melted ice cream puddle in my car. So I said, "How about an Oreo cake WITH ice cream?" And he said. "Sure." Very talkative, my brother.

And so, this monstrosity was born:

This dears, is an Oreo cake. Well, specifically, chocolate cake with Oreo butter cream and chocolate ganache. Keep yourselves together, there is no crying in cake-making.

MAKE THIS.

Oreo Cake
Recipe from My Baking Addiction


For the cake:

• 1 box package devil's food cake mix {with or without pudding}
• 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the Oreo Butter Cream:

• 1 stick salted butter – room temperature
• 1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons very cold milk
• 25 Oreo cookies, chopped

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of (2) 9 inch round cake pans with parchment and grease pans thoroughly.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mix, salt vanilla, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and divide batter into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for 25-35 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking the baking time. Bake until the top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake for at least 30 minutes before inverting. Allow cake to cool completely on wire rack.

For the Oreo Butter Cream

1. Cream the butters in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract and combine well.

2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining well after each addition until you reach the desired consistency.

3. Fold in chopped Oreo Cookies and frost your cooled cake layers.

For the Chocolate Ganache

1. Place the chips in a heatproof bowl. Pour the heavy cream into a sauce pan, and heat to boiling.

2. When boiling, remove from heat and pour over chips. Whisk until smooth.

3. Drizzle over frosted cake.

Do not drool. Actually, it's okay to drool a little.

Happy Birthday little brother!

Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Homemade, baked, macaroni and cheese is probably one of my favorite things. I've made many versions, some lackluster, some weird (buffalo chicken mac and cheese, anyone?), and some perfect, like last night's version. As usual, my favorite place recently to search for recipes is SkinnyTaste. Again, Gina did not disappoint! This version includes broccoli and doesn't use 8 pounds of butter. It's perfectly creamy and with some panko breadcrumbs and a little extra sprinkling o' cheese, it was quite literally one of the best mac and cheeses I have ever had.

Also, I don't have a picture because it was THAT good. What's left of it doesn't make a nice picture.

Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese
Modified slightly from SkinnyTaste

• box of elbow macaroni

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/4 cup minced onion

• 2 cups skim milk

• 1 cup fat free chicken broth

• 8 oz (2 cups) Sargento shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar, plus an extra handful

• salt and pepper

• 1 tbsp. spicy mustard

• 12 oz fresh broccoli florets (I used frozen, it was what I had on hand)

• 1/4 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs

Directions: 
1. Cook pasta and broccoli together in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions for al dente (or slightly under cook 2 minutes). 
2. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. 
3. Preheat oven to 375°.
4. In a large, heavy skillet, melt butters. Add onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes, add flour and cook another minute, or until the flour is golden and well combined. Add milk and chicken broth and whisk, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil; cook about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes smooth and thick.Season with salt and pepper.
5. Once the sauce is thick, remove from heat, add cheese and spicy mustard and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and broccoli and mix well. 
6. Pour into prepared baking dish. Top with the extra handful of grated cheese and then breadcrumbs.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until breadcrumbs are golden.


I dare you to not inhale this.