2013 November Archive - Simple Everyday Food

chocolate chunk caramel cookies

Posted by :Amy On : November 25, 2013

Tags:caramel, chocolate chips, cookies, dessert

A few weeks ago, I started my surgery and anesthesia rotation for my internship. As much as I love emergency medicine, there’s just something about surgery and anesthesia that is equally as exciting to me. There’s actually a lot of similarities between the two – they both require constant diligent observation of your patient, you need to be on your toes at all times, and you have to be able to quickly adapt treatments to the status of your patient. There’s no room for slacking and not paying attention to how your patient is acting or how they’re reacting to the treatments you gave them – vital signs can quickly change without warning and you are responsible for either fixing the problem, or notifying the veterinarian about the status of your patient.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a group of amazingly talented technicians that are very patient and knowledgeable and willing to teach. It truly has made my internship a great experience so far!

You know what else is great? This cookie.

Soft chocolate chunk cookies with a gooey caramel-filled center that are super easy to make. Dark chocolate shavings are added in addition to chocolate chunks to make sure chocolate is tasted in every single bite. In my personal opinion, these cookies are the best straight out of the oven after they’ve had a chance to slightly cool down a little. That’s when the cookie is still warm and soft, and the caramel is still gooey on the inside. The caramel is the star of the show and is what surprises people when they first take a bite into it. Once the cookies completely cool, the caramel is going to harden a bit and lose its gooey texture, but I found out that throwing them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds is just enough to melt the caramel and transform them back into the warm, soft, gooey chocolate chunk cookie again.

chocolate chunk caramel cookies

2013-11-06 14:16:04

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Ingredients

1 and 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1 bag of caramel candies - unwrap about 20 of them and cut them in half

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Gently stir to mix and set aside.
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
A little bit at a time, add in the flour mixture and mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Fold in the chocolate chunks and finely chopped dark chocolate with a spatula. I cheated and stirred them in by turning on my mixer onto the "stir" function.
Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons worth of cookie dough, then make a slight indent in the middle by using your thumb and place one halved caramel candy in the center, then make sure the cookie dough is rolled up in a ball so the caramel candy isn't showing. Repeat until all dough has been used up. Cut up more caramel candies if needed.
Before you put them in the oven, slightly flatten them a bit with the palm of your hand. Bake for 11-13 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wired cooling rack.
Bake for 11-13 minutes. They will look super soft but they continue cooking after you remove them from the oven. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Makes about 48-50 cookies

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Table For Two

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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I was quite surprised that the recipe yielded almost 50 cookies. I was able to keep some at home, bring some to class to share, and bring some to work as well. Everybody loved them!

Also, if you have kids who are always eager to help in the kitchen, this is also a good recipe to get them involved! After the cookie dough is made and scooped into balls, you can have the kids help with stuffing the centers with caramels. There’s really no chance of “screwing” up, and it’ll also make them feel as if they contributed.

Happy baking!

Recipe from Table For Two

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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bacon cheeseburger quesadillas

Posted by :Amy On : November 20, 2013

Category: International

Tags:beef, cheese, mexican, quesadillas

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that this past weekend, we made another trip out to Seattle to celebrate our anniversary. There’s just something about that wonderful city that calls my name – the weather, the city, the people, and don’t even get me started on the food. Oooooh… the food. The food is amazing in Seattle. It feels like home here. For all you people who already live there – I’m jealous.

We had plenty of seafood, plenty of Taiwanese food, experienced some drizzly weather, shopped and spent money, went to watch the Vikings play the Seahawks, got at least 9-10 hours of sleep every night, and experienced our first ever room service (because who doesn’t like to eat dinner in bed in front of the TV?). Unlike last time where I had our everyday planned out with places to go and things to eat, this time was more of a relaxing vacation. We lounged around in our hotel until we figured out what to do, then we would wander around the city finding new places to try, and we even went on a little adventure to Bellevue using public transportation.

As wonderful as vacation is, there’s always something about going home, being in the comfort of your own home, being able to cook food in your kitchen, and sleeping in your own bed (ooooh, king-sized Tempurpedic bed… how I missed you!). After eating out for 4 days straight, I just wanted to make something simple for dinner.

This quesadilla is a twist on the classic bacon cheeseburger. It has all the essential ingredients, toppings, and condiments on it. Minus the bun, it tastes just like a cheeseburger! Not the mention it’s totally customizable to what you normally put on your burger. Instead of adding ketchup while you’re assembling it, you add it into the beef as it’s browning in the skillet. This will prevent the tortilla from being overly soggy – you’ll want to trust me on this – you can thank me later. Brian, the carnivore in our house, requested only bacon, ground beef, and cheese on his. I, on the other hand, added additional lettuce and tomatoes on mine. If you like sliced pickles, onions, and mushrooms on your burger, feel free to add those in too! I also used a mix of shredded sharp cheddar and pepperjack cheese for a spicy kick on top of the classic cheese.

The hardest part of making this is flipping the quesadillas in the skillet. It actually took me a few tries to get it done right, so I’ll share my little trick with you: After the bottom tortilla is nicely browned, place a paper plate; face down, onto the quesadilla. In one swift motion, flip your skillet upside down so the quesadilla is now on the paper plate (with the browned side facing up). Then gently slide the whole quesadilla back into the skillet so the other tortilla can brown for a few minutes. Repeat above steps when transferring your quesadilla onto a plate when done.

bacon cheeseburger quesadillas

2013-11-10 13:06:31

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Ingredients

1/2 lb bacon, diced and cooked
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 lb ground beef
3 tablespoons ketchup
6 8-inch flour tortillas
1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1.5 cups shredded pepperjack cheese
Additional topping as desired: diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, etc.

Instructions

In a medium skillet, heat up the EVOO over medium high heat. Brown the beef until cooked. Add in the ketchup (and mustard, if that's your kind of thing). Stir and drain off excess fat. Set aside.
Place another large skillet over medium high-high heat. Plate a tortilla onto the surface and lay down a nice even layer of cheese. Then pile on your toppings - ground beef, bacon bits, lettuce, and tomatoes. Top it off with another even layer of cheese and top with another flour tortilla. Periodically check to see if the bottom tortilla has started to brown. Once slightly browned, it's time to flip your quesadillas.
Place a paper plate; face down, onto the quesadilla. In one swift motion, flip your skillet upside down so the quesadilla is now on the paper plate (with the browned side facing up). Then gently slide the whole quesadilla back into the skillet so the other tortilla can brown for a few minutes. Repeat above steps when transferring your quesadilla onto a plate when done.
Cut into quarters and serve immediately.
Makes 3 quesadillas

By Simple Everyday FOod

Adapted from Taste and Tell

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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And just as a side note – the more toppings you add in, the heavier the quesadilla will be, and the more coordination the flipping might require…. It’s just a price we pay for a delicious flavorful burger.

Recipe adapted from Taste and Tell

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crunchy cinnamon roasted chickpeas

Posted by :Amy On : November 16, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:cinnamon, munchies

About a week or two ago when I was getting ready to transition to my week of overnight shifts for my internship, I decided I needed some motivation to stay up later than 2 a.m.. I figured I could slowly train my body to get used to going to bed at a later time, so getting off of work at 8 a.m. wouldn’t seem like such a ridiculous idea. What better way to stay awake than making something that smells delicious in the oven in the middle of the night?

The actual baking time for this recipe really only takes about half an hour or so, but the prep time leading up to it literally took about 8 hours. If you just slightly freaked out over how long this is going to take, don’t worry – it’s nothing that requires constant attention. It’s a good recipe to work on if you’re at home all day running around doing laundry, chasing after kids, going to the grocery store, or even if you’re just having a lazy day sitting around watching TV on the couch.

The reason it takes so long is because the key to these chickpeas being perfectly crunchy is for them to be 100% dry before throwing them in the oven. The drier they are, the crunchier they get. Any moisture left in them would give you soft, mushy chickpeas, and I don’t know about you, but that sure doesn’t sound appetizing to me at all. It is also for this reason why this recipe is a good, easy one to work on if you’re craving that sweet, crunchy snack.

Before you start, make sure you rinse the chickpeas under cold water for a few minutes to get rid of the extra starch that’s on the outside. During this time, the thin, semi-translucent outer shell may come off – that’s okay. Leaving them on is totally optional because unless you’re extremely OCD like I am, otherwise spending an hour in front of the sink trying to peel away the outer shell on EVERY.SINGLE.CHICKPEA is entirely unnecessary….

When I first started on this, I tried to convince myself that whatever shells came off during the rinsing process will be perfectly fine, and that it wouldn’t bother me one single bit if I left the other non-naked peas alone. Well, a few minutes into the rinsing, I quickly realized that my OCD tendencies were going to take over, because picking every single shell off of every single chickpea quickly became an obsession.

Once you’re satisfied, lay the chickpeas on a paper towel-lined baking sheet to dry. For me, the process took me all day, simply because it gave me something to do and I had all day to do it. Every few hours or so into the evening, I would periodically stir those peas around on the paper towel, making sure that they’re nice and dry. If you want, you can even change the paper towel underneath every once in a while so the peas have a dry surface to dry on. If I had the time, I totally would’ve just used my hair dryer and blew hot air over them to speed up the process…

When your chickpeas have dried, throw in them in the oven to roast for the first half of the cooking time. Take them out, drizzle a little bit of EVOO, then toss them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and throw them back into the oven to cook some more. I think I went a little cinnamon-happy with mine, because let’s face it – one can never have too much cinnamon.

Once the roasting is done, leave the chickpeas in the oven with the oven door cracked open as they cool. They’ll be crunchier this way. I remember I put these in the oven at 3 a.m., and when they were done, my kitchen smelled amazing at 4 in the morning.

crunchy roasted cinnamon chickpeas

2013-11-04 14:59:26

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Ingredients

One 15-oz can of garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas)
1 tablespoon EVOO
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Line a rimmed baking sheet with
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a large strainer, rinse and drain the chickpeas very well to remove the starch. Spread them out onto prepared baking sheet and pat very, very dry. The drier the chickpeas, the crunchier they will be. The skin of the bean may peel off as you pat them dry. That is ok. You may remove the skins or leave them on. I like to remove them, but that takes time and is not mandatory.
Once 100% dry, place chickpeas into the oven and roast for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and drizzle with olive oil. Using a large spoon or spatula, mix the beans around to make sure they are all evenly coated. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over beans. Mix around very well to heavily coat each bean. The beans will be flavorless, so you want to make sure each one is thoroughly coated. Add more cinnamon-sugar if you'd like. Place back into the oven and roast for another 15 minutes.
Leaving the chickpeas inside, turn the oven off and crack open the door slightly. Allow the chickpeas to sit inside as the oven cools down for 30 minutes. This will help them get crunchier as opposed to sitting at room temperature. Chickpeas are crunchiest on day 1. Store at room temperature.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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So next time you have to stay up til morning for whatever reason and need something to keep you occupied throughout the night, you should make these! Every time I thought about going to bed, I remembered the chickpeas laying on my kitchen counter needed to be dried and roasted. Perfect for staying awake!

Who needs coffee to keep you awake when you can make cinnamon sugar roasted chickpeas instead?!

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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pumpkin spice puppy chow

Posted by :Amy On : November 8, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:Hershey's Kisses, munchies, no bake, pumpkin, puppy chow

I am no longer allowed to go shopping at Target by myself. This latest time when I shopped there myself, these came out of my kitchen:

I have proven that I have no self control when it comes to that store. It also doesn’t help that there’s a Super Target literally right across the street from our house, which also happens to be on the way home from school.

When Brian and I go, he’s always my voice of reason. “You don’t need that”, “don’t you already have something like that?”, “when would you ever use that?”. He probably saves us a good chunk of money every month by going to Target with me.

When I go by myself, it’s a totally different story. Yes, I make a list of things I need.. and I do try my hardest to stick to only things on that list. But somehow 30 minutes later, I always come out of there spending at least $30 more than what I would’ve spent if I stuck to my list. It’s just so easy to grab a basket, stroll through the aisles, look through the clearance racks, and find things that you absolutely “need” or are too good of a deal to pass up.

Please tell me I’m not the only one that has this problem. Next time I really shouldn’t even grab a basket. Once my hands are full, it’s time to head to the checkout lanes… oh but that’s easier said than done.

Anyway… the other day when I went to Target, I saw these out of the corner of my eye and just had to get them.

Dang you Target, for putting Fall/Halloween candy in the 50% off clearance aisle!

I had the perfect idea – pumpkin spice puppy chow. I know what you’re thinking – it’s already November and pumpkin spice needs to make way for peppermint desserts. It’s true, but I can’t let these Kisses sit on the shelves all by themselves, can I? Someone needs to rescue them…….

I still had some leftover pumpkin pie spice from last month, so it just sounded like a no-brainer. Cinnamon Chex cereal coated with white chocolate pumpkin Hershey Kisses, dusted with powdered sugar with hints of pumpkin spice. Mmm mmm mmm.

Initially I dreaded unwrapping two bags of Hershey Kisses by hand. I thought I would find it tedious and time-consuming. Once I got a system down though, the process went by faster than I imagined. And somehow the melting process also seemed to go a lot smoother than my other puppy chow recipes..

pumpkin spice puppy chow

2013-11-08 17:13:22

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Ingredients

9 cups Cinnamon Chex cereal
1.5 10oz bags of Hershey's pumpkin spice Kissees, unwrapped
2 cups powdered sugar
2 heaping teaspoons pumpkin spice

Instructions

Place Chex cereal in a large bowl, set aside. Then in a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine and set aside.
Using a double boiler, melt the pumpkin Kisses. Pour the melted chocolate over the Chex mix, stir until all the Chex is covered with chocolate. Then gradually sprinkle the powdered sugar mixture onto the cereal. Stir until everything is covered evenly with powdered sugar.
Makes ~9 cups

By Simple Everyday Food

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Although the pumpkin spice Kisses taste a little artificial if you eat them by themselves, these puppy chow don’t taste artificial at all! This is probably because most of my puppy chow recipes already utilize vanilla almond bark or white chocolate, so the white chocolate center of these Kisses were a perfect fit for this recipe! The cinnamon-y, pumpkin-spiced powdered sugar coating is the perfect combination with the subtle hints of pumpkin spice flavoring in these chocolates… It was a hit with all my pumpkin-loving friends!

Now that pumpkin season is unofficially over, it’s now time to move on to one of my top favorite flavor combos – chocolate + mint.

Here are a few more recipes came out of my kitchen this pumpkin season:

Pumpkin n’ spice cream cheese truffles

Ooey gooey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Glazed pumpkin coffee cake

Pumpkin peanut butter dog biscuits

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chicken pot pie

Posted by :Amy On : November 2, 2013

Category: Casseroles/Comfort Foods

Tags:chicken, comfort food, pie

Chicken pot pies and I have a love-hate relationship.

I’m absolutely in love with it, but I also know how bad it can be for you… the crust requires butter. The filling also requires butter and some sort of a heavy cream. Annnnddd… it’s super time consuming. But man, is it the ultimate comfort food or what?!

Chilly weather, warm oversized hoodies, fireplaces, and individualized chicken pot pies…. YES please!

Imagine the moment you stick your fork into the light, flaky, buttery crust… you’re greeted by the warm filling filled with all kinds of yummy goodness – chunks of chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, corn, and broccoli florets. Make sure you get a little bit of everything if possible… as you savor the different textures that’s in every single bite, you can feel the the warmth of the pie filling warming your insides as it makes way to your stomach. This is exactly why I love having a hot bowl of soup in the frigid Minnesota winter.

The past few times I’ve made pot pies, I’ve always made my crust from scratch. However, since I’m typically trying to get six things done at once nowadays, I opted for the easy way out this time and used pre-made pie crust instead… tsk tsk. However, to “balance” out the amount of butter I used, I used skim milk instead of heavy cream… just to make myself feel a little bit better about it.

First I poached the chicken. You can by all means use pre-cooked diced chicken breast if you’re strapped on time, but I find fresh chicken to be better than the processed stuff. Place the chicken in a casserole dish, fill it with 3 cups of boiling water, cover it with foil, and cook it in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Take the chicken out to cool on a cutting board, and use the same water that’s left on the dish to poach/cook your peeled and halved potatoes, about 30 minutes. Dice up the chicken and potatoes once they’re cooled, but keep them in separate dishes.

The reason you keep them separate is because you’ll be covering the bottom of your ramekin with the potatoes. This is because if you add the already cooked potatoes while you’re making and stirring the filling, you’re probably going to mash the potatoes up even more in the process… and no one wants mushy mashed potato/pot pie filling in their chicken pot pies.

While I was cooking/cooling/dicing up the chicken and potatoes, I took out my frozen pre-made pie crust out to thaw. Once thawed, remove the pie crusts from the foil baking dish it came in, onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a big ball, then roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/8″ thick. Next, using a bowl that’s slightly bigger in diameter than the ramekins you’ll be using, place the bowl upside down the onto the dough, and trace an outline of it with a knife. This is going to be your pie crust. Use the scraps of dough to roll it back into a ball, and repeat the process until you have about 6-7 pie crusts (we have 8-oz ramekins and two pre-made pie crusts yielded seven 5″ crusts). Stack the crusts together, with either a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap in between each one. Return to fridge to chill while you’re making the filling.

chicken pot pie

2013-10-10 18:32:21

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Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and halved the long way
7 tablespoons butter, divided
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and black pepper
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups skim milk
1 cup broccoli florets, roughly chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 frozen pre-made pie crusts (usually a package you find at the store has 2 crusts)
6 to 7 (8-oz) ramekins

Instructions

Take frozen pie crust out to thaw. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To cook the chicken

Place the chicken breasts in a glass baking/casserole dish. Add 3 cups of boiling water to the chicken and cover with aluminum foil. Cook in oven at 400 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Remove chicken onto cutting board to cool, then dice into bite-sized pieces. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

To make the potatoes

Using the same dish with the same water you used to cook the chicken, add the potatoes, cover with foil, and cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Transfer to cutting board and let cool. Cut into bite-sized pieces and transfer to another bowl.

Make the pie crust

On a floured surface, remove pie crusts from aluminum baking dishes. Combine the two pie crusts and roll into a dough ball. Using a rolling pin, roll until dough is about 1/8" thick. Find a bowl that's slightly larger in diameter than the ramekins you'll be using. Place the bowl upside down onto the dough, and trace an outline of the bowl with a knife. Combine the scraps of dough and roll it back into a ball. Repeat steps to get as many discs of crusts as you can. Stack the crusts onto a plate, separating each crust with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Return to fridge to chill.

Make the filling

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the carrots, celery, and onion and cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir.
Add in the rest of the 4 tablespoons of butter into the vegetable mixture. Once the butter has completely melted, stir in the flour. Stir continuously to make sure the bottom of your pot doesn't burn. Cook flour for 1-2 minutes.
Add in the chicken broth and milk to the vegetables. Cook until mixture starts to thicken, about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add in the diced chicken, broccoli florets, corn, dried parsley, thyme, another 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Continue to simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Once filling is thickened and vegetables are cooked, remove pot from heat and let cool for 20-30 minutes.

To assemble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease six 8-oz ramekins. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.
Add chunks of potatoes onto the bottom of each ramekin, enough to cover the bottom. Spoon the cooled filling mixture over the potatoes, filling each ramekin to the brim. Placed the pie dough you made earlier over the top, crimping the edges. Make several slits with a knife for ventilation.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.
Remove ramekins from oven, let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Simply Scratch

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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See?! Told you pot pies are time consuming. But I promise it’s totally worth it in the end!! :)

It will be important that you cool the filling down a bit before ladling them into the ramekins and topping them with the dough. This is because if the filling is steaming hot, it could melt your dough and your crust won’t be able to hold its shape while baking.

This chicken pot pie is TO. DIE. FOR. The filling is creamy and the crust is buttery and flaky. Although the entire process took about 3 hours to complete, the final product sure didn’t disappoint! I’d happily do that all over again tomorrow if I had the time.

Also, just as a warning – the filling will be super hot when it comes out of the oven, so as difficult as it is to sit and wait and be tortured by the smells, letting it cool for a bit before eating is highly recommended! Burnt tongues ruin the enjoyment of eating pot pies, that’s for sure.

Recipe adapted from Simply Scratch

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