Feliz Cumpleanos Iris! (AKA Dueling Mixers)

So Tara's moving into 1532 next Saturday. After living in her hobbit hole basement apartment for close to 15 years, her landlords are finally kicking her out to make way for a new upscale rental unit. So she's saying goodbye to Corcoran St. and her bourgeois Logan Circle neighborhood.

Welcome to Truxton 86 Circle Tebonce!

With this move, we now find 1532 with double kitchen appliances...and I couldn't be more pleased. I mean, when was the last time you saw two KitchenAid mixers in one kitchen?

Today is Iris's birthday. She's our mexican friend. So Tara brought over her trusty 1000 Mexican Recipes cookbook.

Tara's always prattling on about this cookbook.

She calls it the Bettina Cocina (Mexican Betty Crocker I think).

In a effort to win the affection of our favorite Mexi, we

picked two separate cakes and baked as we plotted against one another.

Tara chose Tres Leches (Three Milks Cake) and I chose Torta Borracha (Drunken Cake). Mine has a significant amount of Rum. I've battled before and have found that a little liquor usually greases the wheels in my favor. Tres Leches on the other hand is one of the most divine cakes I've ever eaten. But I also know it's pretty involved. We'll see if she can pull this off.

(Please note the dueling Corona and Mimosa in the photo. I pulled the Corona out as a prop and somehow while my back was turned it was opened)

The baking begins. I set the powdered sugar canister out in hopes she'd mistake it for flour again, but apparently she's on to that trick.

At some point Tara realized the Three Milks Sauce called for rum also.

Tara: Oh! Look at that. This calls for Rum too. I'm putting some Jack up in there.

Scott: It's Mexican cake. You can't use Jack Daniels.

Tara: The recipe calls for

Rum, Sherry or Cognac.

Scott: Jack is nobody's Cognac.

Tara: Tennessee is a lot closer to Mexico that France is. (insert stinkeye and a head wag)

I started to get concerned. My cake was also making me nervous. It made a very light batter and had cooked up

nicely but the drunken part called for rum simple syrup (Rum not cooked of course). It was a lot of liquid. I just kept spooning the boozey sugar water over the cake and it wasn't soaking in.

Crap! Is this working? I can't let Tara see me flustered. Damn her Tres Leches looks good.

This is when I faked a break and walked away for about 10

minutes.

Damn if all that syrup didn't soak into that cake. Completely gone. Worked perfectly.

At least I hope so. As Tara noted, baking's tough. You can't sample to know if it's gone well like you can with cooking. You just have to follow direction and hope for the best.

Tara's turned out nice too. Matt lended a hand and tried to make a fleur de lis out of strawberries. Odd maybe, but if you know Iris you know why.

!FELIZ CUMPLEANOS IRIS!

Hoppy Nu Yeaaaah!

2k10 is finally here. Out with the bad and crazy and in with the good and crazy. After an all day brunch with the Spinelli's yesterday, Scott and I decided that we need to get back on "plan". This means that we will actually watch what we eat more closely as opposed to our caution to the wind approach that seems to happen more often than not.

Speaking of crazy, we started out the day by going to the Really Ghetto Giant on Rhode Island Ave because they were giving out free bags to assist with the new bag tax. This turned out to be a futile trip. The parking lot was full on a Monday afternoon which made Scott apprehensive, we didn't even last 5 minutes in the store when we saw the long lines and there were no shopping carts available. I guess we could have gotten the "day laborers" from Home Depot to carry the groceries, but that might have made a bigger expense. So we went to his favorite Safeway, which was kind of low on the produce. What is it with low produce on Mondays? I digress.

After our arduous journeys to a grocery store with long lines and no carts and one with lacking produce; we were still challenged as to what to make. We repeated the Mao Pao Tofu (7 WW points, in case you were wondering) and Emeril's Mushroom Ragout (8 WW points with 1/2c pasta). Dinner is Shepard's Pot Pie, my bastardization of beef pot pie and Shepard's pie.

So here it is, my rendition of Sheperd's Pot Pie:

1 onion

5 Tbsp butter

1/2c Flour

1 pkg sliced mushrooms

8oz frozen peas & carrots (I added extra peas)

3c beef broth

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg of frozen Puff Pastry shells

Preheat oven to 400.

Brown ground beef and mushrooms, lay aside. Place pastry shells in oven and cook according to package directions. In a dutch oven, melt butter and add onions, cook until softened and add flour. Stir about a 2 minutes then add beef broth. Stir until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Add beef and mushrooms. Stir in frozen veggies. Let simmer until veggies are melted, about 3 minutes. Place about a cup of ground beef mixture into individual ramekins and bake until bubbly. Once done, place a puff pastry on top of each pot pie and serve.

6 servings. (this is nobody's WW meal, so we didn't even bother to do points)

Cookie Day 2K9

Happy Christmas!

We made cookies despite Ben's last minute no show. I unfriended him on Facebook and then refriended him so that he would notice. This may sound childish, but he does it to me quite frequently, so I'm really just playing along.

Tara meticulously made thousands of tiny Ginger Snaps and some really perfect Peanut Butter Cookies. Cindi and I are a little mischievous, and might've accidentally brought up that time she made cookies with powdered sugar instead of flour. I think that's why she's giving me stink eye. Sorry, sometimes we are mean...write that down!

Tara also made our dinner. A delicious Sausage Tinga with corn tortillas.

Cindi made Pignoli, Jam Filled Thumbprints, Chocolate Coffee Crinkles, and Maker's Mark Bourbon Balls. The Pignoli are EYEtalian and are topped with pine nuts (apparently also Italian). The bourbon balls are...well...like a really strong shot. I think I got my boss drunk on these little treats. It made today's meeting a little more enjoyable for sure.

I made my mom's Oatmeal Cookies, Oh Henrys (aka no baked or boiled cookies). Everyone seems to know this cookie by a different name. I also made a savory Jalapeno Parmesan Rusk which is really just a biscotti, and was really too good to share so didn't make it into any of my gifts.

Bobscott attempted haystacks twice, but that didn't go so well. He recovered with Miss Paula Deen's Chocolate Cheese Fudge and Mother Cyndi's Cookie Drops.

These Cookie Drops are something like a deconstructed Oreo cookie. Deconstructed meaning you food process the hell out of them and then reform and redip them in some white/chocolate stuff then droozle them with some other stuff. The combination is fantastic and these were a huge hit with my coworkers.

FYI-Bobscott's not really in soft focus in this photo. I realized later that my phone was once again covered in bacon grease.

While we were baking, Matt and Spinelli trimmed

the tree and ate A LOT of cookies.

Well it's getting late and there're some Bourbon Ball nightcaps awaiting.

Happy Hollandaise everyone!!

Cooking Light-ish

This week was my week and it is the last cooking week for the rest of the year. But don't you fret, Sunday is Cookie Day where 4 of us will get together and create our favorite holiday cookies to give to people that are near and dear to us, but not that near and dear that we want to spend money on in these hard economic times. I digress.

At first I didn't have any ideas, but due to technical difficulties at the Shappell-Fineout household I had an extra hour, so I took the opportunity to peruse through the December issue of Cooking Light. I found three recipes that were flavorful and hearty enough to take us through this stormy week:

Wild Mushroom and Lentil Cottage Pie This vegetarian version of a low-cal Shepard's Pie is a very satisfying treat. We subbed Cook's Brut (leftovers from Mimosas) for the dry sherry and Swanson's Regular Chicken Broth for the Vegetable Broth it called for. We refuse to sacrifice taste for low sodium.

Then we made Mao Pao Tofu, which was a challenge because Scott's beloved Gentri-Safeway did not have Extra-Firm Tofu. They also didn't have green onions and they were very low on carrots, but that's another post....Anyways...

We managed to make the recipie with Silken Tofu, which is somehow different from Extra Firm Tofu. I couldn't tell the difference, but as long as one can make it crispy, I am one happy broad.

I was really looking forward to this next dish and I was a bit apprehensive to present it to Scott, knowing his aversion to hominy. Thankfully, he was willing to eat around it, just as I usually eat around the many ingredients I don't care for. (Did I mention, I can be a picky eater?) This made me happy, cause there is nothing I like more than a stew with Mexican inspired ingredients.

Ancho Pork and Hominy Stew

Overall, my favorite dish this week is the Mao Pao Tofu. It was quick, easy and tasty. Tune in next week because Cookie Day is always full of fun and surprises.

Our advanced apologies; due to popular demand, we are unable to take cookie orders at this time. Thank you for your support.

Sunday Funday Pantry Raid

First up Big Dave's Beef Machaca.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/BIG-DAVE-S-BEEF-MACHACA-1226279

We've made this several times before and it's really great.

It's also perfect for tough, cheap cuts of meat. You cook it 2 hours then tear with a fork.

Then back in the pot until it soaks up the rest of the sauce.

I suggested making this our dinner and sharing with Matt and Michael. Tara said "Hell no. We're not sharing that with them. Order them a pizza."

Anyway, the recipe calls for marinating overnight. I skipped that and just added a little more spices. I didn't have green peppers but I did have some chipotle in adobo so I added one

chipotle pepper and about a tablespoon of the sauce. I know that's not really the same...but I think it'll be tastier.

Next up Turkey Vegetable Soup.

I made a stock from the carcass adding onions, garlic, carrots and bay leaves. Boiled the hell out of it about 2 hours, then strained and used one of those fat-reducing measuring cups.

Look at all that fat I saved us.

Then we just added all the stuff we had

leftover.

This time...onions, potatoes, carrots, brocolli, peas, corn, radishes, garlic and turkey of course.

Last up...Turkey Curry.

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 head of cauliflower

4 Tbsp. of curry (or more?)

2 Tbsp. berbere (ethiopian spice)

1 can of pumpkin puree

1 can of lite coconut milk

1 cup of turkey stock

10 oz. cooked turkey

2 chopped tomatoes

1 cup frozen peas

We sauteed the onions, garlic and cauliflower

in about a Tbsp. of olive oil for a few minutes.

Then added the spices and simmered one more minute. Next we added the pumpkin, coconut and stock and simmered until the cauliflower softenened. Threw the turkey, tomatoes and peas for about 5 minutes. Done and done.

In the end Tara relented and we shared our machaca with the guys. Tara made rice and we heated up some corn tortillas and we served piled up it with sour cream. Delicious.

So this week...

Booze=mimosas

Food=Turkey Soup, Turkey Curry, Machaca

Gossip=There was some... but you might be reading. In fact, you probably are.

Also, note to self...buy a rice cooker.

Uh oh.

She found it.

PANTRY RAID!!

Last time TB and I tried this we went to the store for just a couple extra things and ended up leaving 200 dollars lighter. This time we're really going to figure something out with only the crap here at 1532.

TB claimed there was to be a run on pumpkin this year. Last I was at Safeway, I believe they had an entire isle, but she bought like 14 cans, so we're covered just the same. Anyway, I'm hoping to make something from this leftover turkey carcass, some tough steaks we had in the freezer and maybe a pumpkin, curry, coconutty, ethiopian spices thingy. We'll see soon.

I'm also trying to get us back on track so I've hidden the butter and bacon.