Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

We make a lot of chocolate chip cookies. It seems like each time we make a new recipe, always looking for the perfect one. Today's chocolate chip cookies were made from this recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/344840/soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies. These are Nick's favorite cookies so far. They came out perfectly soft and moist. They also have a good chocolate chip to cookie ratio (most recipes skimp on the chocolate chips! These are also quick. We forgot to let the butter sit out, so we wrapped it up in plastic food wrap and mushed it up so it was softened enough to blend with the sugar.

Completed Cookies!

Closer look

the parchment paper really helped to cook them evenly

ready for the oven - dark cookie sheet

Ready for the oven - light cookie sheet

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

What we liked:

Great chocolate chip to cookie ratio. Very soft and moist. Cooking on the parchment paper allowed us to use our light and dark cookie sheets and the cookies cooked the same on both. Usually, the dark cookie sheets produce crispier, more cooked (sometimes burned) cookies. But not these! We cooked them for 10 minutes and they came out great!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, they are great. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

HE LOVES COOKIES. He's a little cookie monster. He also loves chocolate chips by themselves too. 

Next time:

No changes needed!

Slow Cooker Hungarian Beef Stew

Alona likes broth-ier soups, while Nick enjoys a more hearty, thicker stew like soup. We usually try to make a soup in the middle that makes everyone happy. Kaspian is not yet into soups; he just picks out potatoes and carrots out of them. This recipe looked really good, but we did not have the time to make it in the dutch oven as Kaspian has swimming lessons on Wednesdays this month. So, we converted the recipe from Cooking Light into a slow cooker recipe. We also used more beef broth and water. Here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-beef-stew. It was very enticing with paprika and the whole house smelled like delicious paprika all day long. The baby potatoes turned out perfect. We couldn't really taste the caraway seeds in the recipe.

Hungarian Beef Stew with Sour Cream

Almost ready to eat!

Ready to serve!

Finished after 8 hours of cooking!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 garlic cloves
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups water
32 oz beef stock
1 pound baby potatoes
1 pound baby carrots
8 mini bell peppers, chopped into circles
Sour Cream for serving

Directions:

1. Set the slow cooker to High
2. Put oil in the slow cooker. Add chopped onions and garlic.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together wine, flour, paprika and caraway seeds. Add to the slow cooker.
4. Add the meat, potatoes, carrots and peppers. Add salt and pepper.
5. Add in the beef stock and another 2 cups water.
6. Cover and cook on HIGH for 8 hours.
7. Serve with sour cream 

What we liked:

Paprika! The potatoes were perfectly done to the point of being buttery and flaky. The meat was also very tender and delicious. The peppers complimented the soup.

What we didn't like:

It needed the sour cream. The stew was not complete without it. Couldn't taste the caraway seeds.

What Kaspian thought about it:

It didn't really warrant his attention. 

Next time:

Use pearl onions instead of onions. Add more flour. Perhaps add more caraway seeds as their flavor was unnoticed in this recipe. 

Chicken Shawarma

This recipe is quick, easy, and oh so good. We love middle eastern food but rarely make it at home, usually choosing to get it at one of the restaurants in Albuquerque. We were surprised to find that it is actually quite easy to make this delicious chicken shawarma. The first time we made this was a few weeks ago, before starting this blog and we closely followed the recipe found here : http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-chicken-shawarma. This time, we made it with our own variations. We prefer more spices in our meat and we do NOT like greek yogurt. Additionally, the first time we used generic store bought pitas which were not nearly as good as the smaller, but fluffier fresh made pitas from Cafe Istanbul (http://www.cafeistanbulabq.com/Home.html). The fresh pitas really helped to make this recipe even more delicious. Additionally, the original recipe says to halve the pitas, but we found that opening them up and stuffing them instead works much better and less of the filling falls out. We also got some tabouli salad from Cafe Istanbul to go with our dinner tonight. Nick also added romaine lettuce to his shawarma for an extra crunch. This recipe can really be customized to add any variety of veggies you desire.

Chicken Shawarma with tabouli salad and pickles

Chicken shawarma

Before adding the chicken filling - sauce and onion and pickles

Chicken Shawarma frying! Almost done!

Cooking!

Tahini Sauce 

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/2 cup sour cream, divided
1 lemon for juice - about 4 tablespoons  lemon juice, divided
6 garlic cloves, chopped and divided
2 chicken breasts sliced into strips (about 1 lb)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon tahini (add more to taste if desired)
4 (6-inch) pitas
1/2 cup chopped pickles or cucumbers
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1/4 cup of sour cream, juice of 1/2 of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons), and 3 chopped garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté until browned and done. This should be about 3 minutes per side

2. While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup sour cream, remaining 1/2 lemon juice, remaining 3 chopped garlic cloves, and tahini, stirring well. Add more tahini or lemon juice to taste. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon tahini mixture inside each pita. Divide chicken evenly among pitas. Fill each pita with desired amount of pickles, tomatoes and onions. Serve!

What we liked:

Very easy and quick to make. Most ingredients are usually on hand - just pick up some pitas and you can make chicken shawarma! 

What we didn't like:

It was great. After our modifications to the "inspiration" recipe from Cooking Light, there is nothing that we did not like. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He discovered some canned chili in the pantry and had a dinner of beans and corn. He loves beans. After we came home from Istanbul, he did devour a whole pita with hummus though. He loves pita and hummus and Cafe Istanbul has one of the best hummus in town!

Next time:

Nick keeps forgetting to use the steel pan. We will use the steel pan next time to make a crispier chicken. 

Slow Cooker Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Tonight, we made a slow cooker chicken with 40 cloves of garlic recipe. Here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-40-cloves-of-garlic.
It turned out DELICIOUS. This recipe can be easily thrown together in 15 minutes in the morning. The chicken and potatoes were extremely soft and tender and deliciously garlicky (gotta keep those vampires away!). The lemon also added a lot to the dish. This dish made a lot less than we expected it to make. There is only one serving leftover for lunch. If we had anyone over, there wouldn't have been anything left over at all. The chicken thighs were also fattier than we prefer.

Alona's bowl - to keep the jus from escaping

Nick's plate

Kaspian opted for the 'baby potatoes'

Cooked dish

Uncooked - set in the morning

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed
40 garlic cloves, peeled
12 fresh thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Coat bottom and sides of a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

2. Combine stock, wine, flour, butter, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk; pour mixture into slow cooker. Sprinkle chicken thighs evenly with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place thighs in slow cooker, skin side down. Arrange potatoes, garlic, and thyme over chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper evenly over garlic and potatoes. Cover slow cooker; cook on LOW for 8 hours.

3. Transfer chicken to a platter. Transfer potatoes and garlic to platter with a slotted spoon; discard thyme sprigs. Sprinkle chicken and potatoes evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and parsley. Strain cooking liquid from slow cooker through a sieve into a liquid measuring cup; let stand 3 minutes. Discard any fat that rises to top of liquid. Serve jus with chicken, potatoes, and garlic cloves.

What we liked:

It was very easy to make (only 15 minutes!) and very flavorful. The chicken and potatoes came out extremely soft and tender and the dish dish looks really pretty. 

What we didn't like:

We did not like the fatty pieces of the chicken (we would like to try chicken breasts next time). Unfortunately, the parsley detracted instead of adding to the dish. The parsley was pretty but it did not complement the savory flavors well. Finally this dish made less food than expected; this might have been because chicken thighs had a lot of fat and skin on them. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He loved the baby potatoes and happily ate a handful of them (as long as they didn't have stuff on them, such as garlic)

Next time:

No parsley
Use chicken breasts instead
Use more chicken and maybe make more sauce as well. 

Menu Week 4

Menu for week 4 is as follows. We have 2 swimming classes again, so we are aiming for 2 slow cooker recipes, one Monday, the other on Wednesday and hopefully a dessert of chocolate cake one of these days.

1. Slow Cooker Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
2. Tuna with herb roasted vegetables and olives
3. Hungarian Beef Stew
4. Chicken Shawarma
5. Chicken Pasta with Lemon Caper sauce

Possible side of Asparagus

Desserts -
Chocolate Cake

Breakfast Mini Omlette Bakes

Saturday, we made these really easy and delicious breakfast sausage bakes. These are very versatile, and can be adapted by switching out sausage for bacon or adding any other veggies that you prefer in your breakfast. These can be made in either a full sized muffin pan or a mini one.

Breakfast bake 

Out of the oven

Just before baking

With sausage and cheese

Cheese!

Blood Orange/Orange Juice mix

Ingredients:

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Dough
6 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons cooked breakfast sausage
2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
cooking oil spray 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream and salt and pepper.
3. Pinch the crescent dough triangles together, and instead cut out 6 square pieces.
4. Spray the muffin pan with oil and put the 6 pieces of crescent dough into 6 muffin spaces. The square edges will stick out of them, that's okay.
5. Add a teaspoon of shredded cheese, then cooked breakfast sausage to each spot.
6. Divide the egg/heavy cream mixture evenly among the 6 bakes. Top with more cheese if desired. Top with chives.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes until middle is not runny.

What we liked:

Very easy and tastes delicious and filling! We also had blood orange juice left over from the blood orange souffles, and added to regular orange juice made for an impressive drink, and was much sweeter than just regular orange juice. 

What we didn't like:

We made these in mini muffin pans before, this was the first time we made them in the larger muffin pans and we like them better as the larger ones. Although the bite size ones are pretty, it's hard to put much filling into them. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He did not like the chives on the top. He is not a fan of "green things" in his food. Odd, as green is his favorite color. 

Next time:

No change, they were great!

Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes

This is the easiest recipe for baked potatoes that results in the most juicy wonderfully cooked potatoes. These take just a few minutes to set in the morning and make a great meal that you can customize by adding any topping you want.

Nick's potato

Alona's potato

Kaspian's Potato

Wrapped in Foil!

Potato in slow cooker

Ingredients:

Baked Potatoes - we usually do 1 large baked potato per person
Cheese - we prefer cheddar
Sour Cream
Butter - Kerrygold is the best

Topping ideas:
Bacon
chives
avocado
barbecue meat

Directions:

1. Wrap each individual potato up in foil.
2. Put all the potatoes in the slow cooker.
3. Cook on high for 8 hours.
4. Cut open potato and serve with your choice of toppings.

What we liked:

Super easy and delicious. The potatoes come out perfectly cooked and moist. 

What we didn't like:

The potatoes do tend to be a little off-colored when they are done cooking, but they make the best baked potato ever. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He just wanted a basic potato, cheese, sour cream and butter on his potato and he said it was "so pretty like daddy's". He is a potato lover. 

Next time:

No change. Good as it is.