Salted Dulce de Leche Chocolate Tart

I'm not in a relationship. Well, I'm in relationships, I have friends, a sister, parents, all the extended family, and people like that, but I'm not in a relationship with a man/boy/male.
If I was, I'd probably make him fat. So, it's a good thing that my sister's boyfriend if a skinny guy because I've made it my goal to break his addiction to chicken fingers, fast food pizza, and Snickers and turn him on to something called--what's the word again? Oh, yeah, flavor. He doesn't even like brownies. I swear to God, I will change him.
The one food I've ever seen him get emotional over is manjar. He doesn't just like the creamy Chilean dulce de leche, he has a relationship with it, and I guess you can add it to my list of relationships too.
His birthday was last weekend, the same day as my mom's, so I decided to make him a birthday treat. Salted caramel chocolate dulce de leche bars. Oh. Yes. These things are all sorts of dangerous.
My sister brought them on a picnic dinner with all of his other favorite foods and was kind enough to snap a few shots of the bars at home on a picnic blanket and in their mouths.
Happy Birthday Al Pal!

Sorry there are no pictures. I told my sister to take pictures of it when they were on their picnic because I thought the scenery would be great for the pictures. They didn't take pictures, though. They squished it in the picnic basket and then they ate it. Sorry. I promise I'll make it again, and when I do, you'll be the first to see the pictures!

Chocolate Dulce de Leche:
Makes 1 9 inch tart

1 quart 2% milk
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup of heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
3 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 tsp sa salt + more for the top

1 stick of butter, melted
2 cups ground digestive biscuits
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tbs sea salt

For the Dulce de Leche:
In a large pot, combine int sugar and milk. Bring to a simmer, stirring regularly, until the sugar it totally dissolved.
Remove from the heat and add your baking soda (if it's lumpy, you can first dissolve it in about 2 Tbs of warm water) and salt. Whisk like crazy to combine, then return the pot to the heat.
Bring the milk back up to a simmer and cook for about an hour, until it is pale brown in color, stirring only occasionally.
Continue cooking, keeping a close eye on the mixture until it deepens in color, has reduced to 1 cup, and is about the thickness of jarred caramel, it will thicken even more when cooled.
Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve and cool to room temperature (it's fine if the mixture is still pretty warm)
Bring the cream and newly made dulce de leche to a simmer in a heavy pot, stirring until the dulce de leche is dissolved.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and slowly pour in the dulce de leche, whisking as you pour. Continue whisking until the mixture is very well combined.
Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle flame until the mixture is thickened and the spoon leaves tracks on the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and vanilla extract as if you were making a ganache.
For the Crust:
(Best made when the milk and sugar are still simmering for the dulce de leche)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan with a piece of parchment and grease the parchment.
In a food processor, blitz the digestives, salt, and brown sugar until very fine. Add the melted butter and pulse until the mix becomes thickened and crumby.
Press into the bottom of the pan and just about 1/4 inch up the sides. You want a good 1/2 inch thick crust for this recipe.
Sprinkle the top evenly with about 1-2 tsp sea salt and bake for 15 minutes. Chill until cooled after removing from the oven.
Construction:
Once the crust is cooled, pour the dulce de leche into the crust and spread into an even layer. Chill in the fridge until cold and set (2-3 hours)
To remove from the pan, just pop off the sides and peel away the parchment. Cut into generous slices, and enjoy!

My Taste of Home: The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

My favorite food is a really good chocolate chip cookie. Really, it's true. It's not because I have memories of making them from scratch with Mom (who NEVER ever bakes) or because my grandma has a great recipe that makes me sentimental. No, I am in love with chocolate chip cookies because they embody everything I love about food.
And, if you were unsure, I love food.
They're a textural adventure, chewy, crunchy, gooey, and crisp all in one bite. They're chocolatey and vanilla-y and caramelly and salty and sweet. They don't have frosting, they shouldn't ever have a glaze, and they just look so adorable and perfect.

I'm leaving for college in the morning, so I just had to make a double batch of these. 1/2 are hiding in the freezer for Mom and Dad to enjoy when both their kids leave in one swoop (I'm a twin) and the other 1/2 has been packed up in my purse. Yep, I have a purse full of cookies and I'm not ashamed.
They're a little taste of home.

I have been on a quest for the absolute best chocolate chip cookie ever. I might post my original recipe someday, but now that I've found this guy, I might not give you any of the others. I don't want you wasting your time on sub-par cookies.

These guys aren't your super quick mix, drop, bake at 350º for 15 minutes cookies. These are made in a large pot, there are 3 different oven temperatures involved, and they have to be baked for exactly 9 minutes. Yep, 9. Not 10, not 8, and if you leave then in for the standard "12 to 15 minutes" I might just cry.

Please, also use chocolate chips. I know that using good quality chopped chocolate is sort of the big thing to do now, but that's a chocolate chunk cookie and that's an entirely different animal. An animal I'm not too big on either, believe it or not. I do recommend a slightly bigger chip here, though. Ghirardelli 60% is perfect because the chocolate is free of waxyness, and the chips are fairly flat, so they melt very well.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 large egg, 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (yep, the 1/3 is right on the money for even chip distribution)

1) Preheat the oven to 400ºF and position 1 rack at the middle level and the other at the level 2nd from the top. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2) In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking until the butter turns a golden color and starts to smell nutty. Remove from the heat and immediately mix in both sugars. Mix until well combined and the mixture has cooled significantly. This should take about 2 to 4 minutes, and some of the sugar should have melted. If the sugar does not melt, return the pot to medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, and then re-cool the mixture. Beat in the vanilla, egg and yolk.
3) Add half of the flour, all of the cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, stir until almost combined, then add the rest of the flour. Mix well.
4) Fold in the chocolate chips and form into about 20 cookies of 2 tbs dough. Space evenly on the two baking sheets. Put in the 400º oven, on the center rack, and bake for 2 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300ºF and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Heat the oven again to 425º and move the cookies to the higher rack for the last 2 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven at 9 minutes exactly.
Cool on the pan for 2-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or your mouth.
Enjoy!

Nightcap of Choice: Steamed Cinnamon Almond Milk with Honey and Cardamom--ready with pics

I need to drink something hot after dinner. I call it my nightcap.
If I had my way, it would be hot chocolate every night, but because I have to be rational sometimes, and a day full of cookie baking, followed by a large mug of cocoa cannot be called rational, I usually make tea.
I'm sick of tea right now. I sipped it all summer long, and I want something more. Something that screams fall, something spicy, healthy, and a little sweet.
That's where Andrea comes in.

My sis is a die hard almond milk fan and has really turned me onto the stuff. Her favorite preparation: Steamed.
She usually just gives it a good fluff, maybe with a little bit of cinnamon or honey, but I go hard.
Not like that, oh no, I meant with spices.
Legal, healthy spices.

Steamed Honey-Spiced Almond Milk
Serves 2

1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened almond milk
2-3 cardamom pods, cracked with seeds inside
3 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the steam setting on a cappuccino machine.
Fill 2 10 oz mugs (8 oz will cork, but it's a tight squeeze) with 3/4 cup of almond milk, each.
Add half the honey, cinnamon, and cracked cardamom pods to each mug.
Stir well. Using the steamer heat the milk until warm, not adding any foam. Stir again, until the honey is dissolved in the mugs.
Return the mugs to the steamer, moving constantly and bobbing up and down until foamy and hot. Serve hot with the cardamom pods still in the mugs for extra aroma and steeping flavor. Do not eat the pods.

*Make sure you clean your steam nozzle thoroughly, as the honey will make it sticky*

Mom's Quick Corn Salad (ready w/ pics)

There are a few things you need to know about my mom: She's not into cooking. She makes great banana bread. When she finds a recipe she likes, she makes it nonstop.
That third fact is why she is a gnocchi pro, and why I look forward to family barbecues. I love my family and all, don't get me wrong. But I really, really love her corn salad.

I have a weird memory of her getting the original recipe from something Paula Deen made, but because she's very into altering recipes, she made something better.
She always makes it with frozen corn, but because it's summer time and that means that freshly husked corn on the cob is pretty much mandatory, you can feel free to use that instead, just cut the corn off the cob instead of tossing a bag in the microwave. Other types of beans ca be subbed in too, depending on what you like and have on hand. We're a black bean family, but if you're the kidney or pinto sort, I'm sure that would be great too!

Probably would have been a better idea to take pictures before digging in. Oops

Mom's Corn Salad:
Serves an Army

6 cups frozen sweet corn (thawed, or fresh, cut off the cob and blanched for 4 minutes)
2 15oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 avocados, finely cubed
1 large red onion, chopped fine
2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Thaw your corn and place in a large bowl. If you're using fresh corn, cut it off the cob and blanch it in boiling water for 4 minutes. Transfer to an ice water bath tho stop the cooking and cool the kernels.
Drain your corn and toss with the beans. Gently fold in the onion, tomato, and avocado.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the olive oil, vinegar, chili powder, cumin and lime zest.
Slowly mix the dressing into the salad, until the mixture is coated but not wet. Taste and season with additional cumin, chili, salt and pepper.
Chill the mixture for an hour, or until cold all the way through.
Serve and send the extras home with grandma!

Vegetable Stock (Ready with pics)

It's FALL!!

Sweater weather.

Pie time.

Soup Season.

It's time for soup season, and as we all know, the best soups start with the best stocks, and the best stocks start in your kitchen, not a can.  So, before I show you all my favorite soups, I'll show you my favorite base.

This is a very basic recipe that can serve more as an outline and directions for stock making. Feel free to make this into your own favorite base for your own favorite soups. Use any combination of veggies, herbs, and even some chicken bones, depending on what you have on hand, or what's sitting in your fridge, close to expired.

Here's my basic recipe:

Vegetable Stock
Makes 6 cups

2 quarts of water
2 tsp olive oil
1 pound of celery, in large chunks
1 large red onion, quartered with skin
4 large carrots, in large chunks
2 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
1 green bell pepper, quartered with stem and seeds
4 cloves of garlic, smashed in the skin
1 head of broccoli, in chunks
1 tsp whole pepper corns (about 10)
1 whole bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
Sea salt to taste

In a deep pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, a pinch of salt and carrots and cook until the onions are just beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, pepper and broccoli and cook until the skin on the pepper starts to shrink, about 5 minutes.
Add the water, peppercorns, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, them reduce to a simmer.
Season with about a teaspoon of sea salt and simmer, covered for about 3 hours, stirring every hour or so, making sure all the vegetables are all continually submerged.
After about 3 hours, uncover the pot, season to taste with salt and pepper and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the mixture is reduced by 1/4.
Strain the stock through a fine mesh stainer or sieve into a large, airtight container or soup pot, for later use.

*I like to add different veggies and seasonings to the stock, making it extremely adaptable, depending on what soups I plan on making. Some of my favorites are: mushrooms, parsnips, sweet potatoes, spinach, parsley, sage, and beets*

Vegan, Flourless Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

It's fall, and I'm excited. I'm super psyched for sweater weather, crunchy leaves, the pretty contrast of orange leaves against a blue sky, and pumpkin. I'm excited for pumpkin.
I go a little crazy in the all, adding pumpkin and cinnamon to just about everything I bake and eat. Pumpkin and spinach curry, pumpkin mousse, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup. I especially love adding it to chocolate.
The sweet earthy flavors of chocolate and pumpkin are surprisingly similar and go together beautifully, especially with a healthy splash of vanilla and a healthy dash of spice.
These cookies are vegan and flour-less, but that's not a matter of them being trendy, it's a matter of getting the best texture possible. They're like loose fudge and the oats provide just enough texture to keep these guys in the cookie category.
I hope you love them as much as I do, and share them with your vegan friends who have Celiac's (I really hope that's not a thing, it would just be too sad.)

Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 fake egg (mix 2 Tbs baking powder, 2 Tbs water, and 1 Tbs oil of choice)
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger


In a bowl, mix the oats, cocoa, spices, baking powder and salt.
Combine the "egg", pumpkin and sugar and mix well, until slightly fluffy.
Add the oat mixture to the pumpkin and mix until thoroughly combined.
Scoop 1 Tbs rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350ºF

Because We Can: Ripening Tomatoes

Dad is a doer.
When he works at home, he grocery shops, fixes the bathroom sink, makes 25 gallons of beer, and actually gets all his work done.
On Sundays, he take a nap. His nap is a sort of reward for what he does earlier in the day like...
walking the dog, making a trip to the grocery store, going to Lowe's, watering the plants, dropping off the dry cleaning, making about 400 espressos/coffees/teas for the rest of the family, making at least 5 work calls, driving me or Andrea or the dog somewhere, waking up at 6am, going for a run, and picking up lunch.
This week, we added ripening tomatoes to that list.
Dad likes to do interesting things, and the kitchen or basement brewery are where most of these things take place. The mostly all work out, probably because he bases a lot of his kitchen decisions on Alton Brown's teachings.
We love that man.

We've been growing a lot of tomatoes this summer, and Mother Nature's been growing a lot of chipmonks. Turns out, chipmunks like to devour tomatoes. To protect our miniature home garden, we've been hoarding still-green tomatoes, hoping and praying that they'll ripen up on the kitchen counter.
We haven't been too successful.

This disappointment, of course, led my dad to do some research on how to coax your tomatoes into ripening. After a couple of attempts and remembering that Mr. Brown ripened something with a banana in a bag, we threw some better thought out key words into Google and found the method.
The very best way to ripen tomatoes off the vine.

You will need:
Tomatoes
A ripe banana
A paper bag

You will need to:
Put the banana in the paper bag.
Add the tomatoes, close the bag pretty tightly.
Leave the bag on the counter for four-ish days, checking for ripeness every 2 days or so.

Enjoy your tomatoes!

My Views on Shellac

Shellac nails are not for everybody.
This should be made perfectly clear at the beginning, because, though they served my purpose for a week, I don't know that everybody would think them worth the $35 price tag, or that I will get them again.

My Nails After a Week and a Half (With a layer of polish)

Quick Questions Answered:

How long do they last? Mine lasted a week and 2 days before they really started peeling away. Granted, my nails were really short when I got them, so the application was a little trickier than it otherwise would have been. I've had friends who have had the nails last for 3 weeks, but it would ave been a serious problem if I had attempted to leave them on that long.
How much do they cost? I paid $35, about twice as much as a regular manicure. Prices vary, but I checked out a few salons and this seemed to e about the average price.
What color did you get? I got mine in the color Tutti Frutti. The color selection is pretty limited, so I figured that I would get a color that I would never use on myself. I had a gray color in hand and then switched to the neon fucsia shade. BIG mistake. I forgot that nails grow. If you plan to leave the shellac on for a week or more, I recommend a neutral or lighter color so the bare nail at the bottom is less obvios as your nails grow out.
Did they damage your nails? Nope, they didn't. Soaking my nails in acetone for 10 minutes wasn't the best thing, but once I washed off the white residue, they seemed okay.

Now onto the actual review:
The shellac nails did what I wanted them to do and nothing more.
I got the shellac to stop me from biting my nails, giving them a chance to grow out. My logic was thins, if my nails are essentially encased in plastic gel, I can't bite them. If I can't bit them, they'll grow and look pretty. If they look pretty, I won't want to bite them. Bam! habit broken.
Honestly, it seems to have worked. I have had the color off for 2 very stressful days and have yet to bite my nails back down to nubs.
Though the shellac did not last nearly as long as I had hoped, a week and a half-ish is way longer than I could have gotten out of a regular menicure, so for me they seem be be worth the heightened price tag.

After some peeling and picking. You can see the original pink color underneath.

You may not be so excited if you need to leave them on for more than a week, or already have nice natural nails. Unlike gels, which I have never had, you cannot get shellac nails filed in between appointments, so if you want the added protection of shallac for more than a few weeks at a time, you will have to continually have to pay for a full manicure. This averages out to about $70 a month.

If you want to keep your nails looking manicured for a longer period, like a vacation, or if you want to protect your nails while growing them out, then I think that shellac is the way to go. Mine looked freshly manicured for about 5 days, and I was really happy with the strong, smooth finish.
If you have healthy, long nails and are happy with a regular manicure, I suggest you save your money (and nails from the difficult removal) and stick with the basics.

Strawberry Swirl Meringue Cupcakes

My sister is a meringue fool.
Marshmallows are her absolute favorite, but a meringue with a soft center will make her crazy.
Meringues are to Andrea what Chocolate Chip Cookies are to me. Yes, Chocolate Chip Cookie is a proper noun here.

It's where they had the snowball fight in Elf!

Before we left for college, I made each member of my family a special treat. Mom's getting soft pretzel rolls, Dad's getting amaretti cookies, and Andrea's getting meringue cupcakes.

They may look like regular cupcakes, but...

These are pretty amazing, and I'm pretty proud of myself. Martha, as in Stewart, has a recipe that's really similar to this, but I didn't see it until after I developed my own. I sort of feel like a pro, but no big deal.


The meringues are still soft on the inside and the base is all vanilla. Andrea's a huge fan of strawberry, so that's the flavor I used, but if you prefer plain vanilla or another fruit, feel free to substitute. The mango from Trade Joe's would probably be great, and I'm dying to make a couple batches of these with apples and cinnamon in the fall.

But these are very special!

Strawberry Swirl Meringue Cupcakes
Makes 12 Cupcakes and tops

6 egg whites, at room temperature
pinch of salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries, powdered in a food processor (use your favorite fruit)

Preheat your oven to 225ºF, and line a 12-muffin tray with cupcake liners and spray with nonstick spray.
In a clean bowl, with a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on medium-high, until they are frothy, continue beating and slowly add the vinegar and vanilla.
Beat on high until the mixture forms medium peaks. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating continually, then beat for 2 more minutes more, until the eggs are shiny and form stiff peaks. The sugar should be dissolved.
Transfer the 2/3 of the egg whites to a plain pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner snipped off, and fill the 12 liners just to the top.
In the bowl, gently fold the powdered strawberries into the remaining egg whites, mix until the mixture is marbled with pink--swirled, not solid.
Transfer the strawberry meringue mixture to a clean pastry bag and pipe 2-inch swirls onto the tops of the cupcakes, coming about 1 inch above the top of the liner, at the highest point. The swirls should be the same diameter as the top of your cupcakes.
Put the cupcake pan in the oven on the center rack and bake for about 3 hours, until the outside is dry and brittle, but the middle is still soft. Turn the pan half way through.
Enjoy!

*You can find freeze dried fruit at Target (Archer Farms brand) and Trader Joe's*