Food Planet Tour Wicker Park

Helloooooo Kitty!

My Mom and I are taking the Wilton I cake decorating class and for our first week we worked on decorating using the star decorating tip. We were supposed to do a rainbow cake, but after seeing several "flops" of this cake online, I decided to do a character cake, Hello Kitty! Next week we learn how to make flowers.

Rainbow cake I found online, ick!

Chicken Sate' with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Just because I haven't been posting, doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. This summer has been awesome and I've been busy making alot of great recipes. Here is one of my favorites: Food on skewers is fun, this recipe is a great summer appetizer, who doesn't love chicken? The sweet and spicy taste of the peanut sauce is soo tasty. Tastes great with a good drink too! I made watermelon mojitos to go with these skewers (my mixed drinks still need some work so I'll save that post for later.)


Recipe from Cook's Illustrated

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh minced cilantro
1 scallions, sliced thin
1 1/2 Teaspoons Tabasco
1 garlic clove, minced

Whisk together the peanut butter and hot water. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Chicken Sate' Recipe:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (two pounds) trimmed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
3 Tablespoons ketchup
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Teaspoon Tabasco
4 scallions, sliced thin

Slice the chicken diagonally into 1/4 inch thick strips. Combine the soy sauce, oil, sugar, cilantro, ketchup, garlic, Tabasco, and scallions over the chicken. Refrigerate 30min to 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to approx. 6 inches over top broiler unit. Line pan with foil. Weave the chicken onto the bamboo skewers, lay the skewers on the pan and cover the skewer ends with foil so that they do not burn. Broil until fully cooked, about 8 minutes, flipping skewers half way. Serve, passing the peanut sauce separately.

New Grocery Store Products

Recently I've been getting coupons at the Jewel and Dominick's to try some new products for Free: Sierra Mist Splash, Good Belly Probiotic drinks, and 100 calorie pack yogurts, here are my reviews:
One Thumb up!
Diet Sierra Mist has a new flavor, Ruby Splash. This soda is worth trying if you like diet Sierra Mist products. It has a more artificial grapefruit taste than it's Coca Cola counter part Fresca. Less tang and bite than Fresca though that some people may prefer.


If you're looking for a two thumbs up soda i'd recommend Diet Orange Crush. One of the few diet sodas that contains calories, a mere 15 calories per 8oz serving. For those measily 15 cals this soda tastes very close to the full calorie crush. Two Thumbs up!

Two Thumbs down!
Breyer's 100 Calorie pack yogurt packs contain four 4oz yogurts each with sometype of candy sprinkles to stir into the yogurt. I tried the cheesecake flavor with graham cracker candy pieces on top. The pieces tasted like lame cereal and the yogurt was sour and very light tasting. I'll keep my 6oz Dannon Light and Fit yogurts at 80 calories each thank you very much. Needless to say most of these yogurts went straight in the trash.

Dannon Light and Fit has two limited edition summer flavors: Watermelon and Canteloupe. I recently tried canteloupe and it has a nice smooth flavor, one thumb up!

One Thumb up! The Dominick's register spit out two coupons for Free 4 packs of Good Belly to me. I've tried the strawberry and the Blueberry Acai. Good belly is a probiotic drink found near the yogurts in the refrigerated section. This drink is filled with good bacteria for your digestive system. They cost about $2.99 for a four-pack which makes me question if this small shot sized dairy free juice drink is affordable for the average person to regularly consume. The taste wasn't that great either, I'd stick to Dannon's Activia if you want a healthy dose of probiotics.

Cookies Quick

I'm getting some pictures ready to post of some foods I cooked over the weekend. 2-day Marinated Steak sandwiches with Adobo BBQ sauce, Korean Short Ribs in sticky rice lettuce wraps with Cucumber Kimchee, Homemade Hawaiian Pizza, Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce, Watermelon Mojitos... a friend even gave me a lesson in candy making as we tried making Chocolate Covered Toffee and Peanut Brittle that turned out fantastic!

While I'm getting my next postings ready, here is a list of my favorite cookies to try at nearby chain restaurants:

#4 Sugar Cookie at Pot Belly Sandwich Works

#3 Snickerdoodle Cookie at Noodles and Company

#2 Oatmeal Raisin Cookie at Subway

#1 Chocolate Chip Cookie at Qdoba (My favorite of all, although I hear now some locations use
a different formula)

Honorable Mention, Best Grocery Store Cookie: Jewel-Osco Chewy Chocolate Chip

Leave me a comment if there's a fantastic cookie that you feel should've made the list, I'd love to hear from you!

Best Lost Recipes

I love recipes that take me back to a different culture or era. The Pagache also known as Polish Pizza and this hearty beef and barley soup accomplish just that. Both recipes are from America's Best Lost Recipes cookbook.

The Pagache was a cross between a large pierogi and a potato and cheese calzone. Pagache features cheesy mashed potatoes encased in a light, yeasted crust. I've never been good at making foods that involve yeast so it was clear C would be making the dough.

Here are the steps:

Roll out the dough into a 14 by 20 inch rectangle on a floured work surface and evenly put potato cheese filling on half of the dough.

Fold in half and pinch sides closed.

Place in 9 by 13 inch buttered pan and poke holes in the top to vent.

Brush top with melted butter, let cool about 10 minutes, cut, serve and enjoy!

I love making soup because it usually involves me cutting up vegetables in front of the television and then going to bed and awaking to an alarm clock to turn the stove top off when the pot of soup is done simmering. Soup means meals for a week and extras to freeze to enjoy the fruits of your past labors on a relaxing no cooking day. Soup is inexpensive, healthy, and good for your soul.

And the winner is....

I'm waiting for some pictures to be uploaded for my blog, more entries coming soon. In the mean time, I received my free coupon for a package of Oscar Mayer All Beef Hot Dogs in the mail and gave them a try. Oscar Mayer claims that they were voted higher than Ball Park and Hebrew National in a taste test. I agree, these hot dogs were pretty good.

A Tale of Two Frostings

This banana cream layer cake is frosted with whipped cream. Whipped cream is one of the easiest and most versital dessert skills you can master. When I'm asked to bring a dessert someplace at the last minute it usually involves whipped cream because there's nothing to making it and it's a crowd pleaser. (Pick up some fresh strawberries at the store, wash, quarter, and sweeten them with a little sugar, whip some cream , and cut up store bought angel food cake or made short cakes for a quick dessert with no recipe needed.)


If you've never whipped cream here's what you need to know. Purchase Heavy Whipping Cream. You will need an electric mixer or standing mixer. Take your mixing bowl (preferably stainless steel, it will chill better) and your mixing beaters and put them in your freezer until they are good and cold. This will help the whipped cream hold it's shape. Pour cream in bowl and beat the heck out of that cream on high speed! Once the cream gets some volume and peaks begin to form, add some vanilla extract and granulated or powdered sugar to taste. Beat until cream has firm peaks and then chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Do not over beat or you will get butter.

On this Devil's food layer cake I tried America's Test Kitchen's Milk Chocolate Frosting. This is my new go to chocolate frosting! Ready in minutes, so smooth, and with a rich milk chocolaty taste similar to a candy bar. A lot of kids don't like the taste of most semi sweet or dark chocolate frostings so this milk chocolate frosting is kid friendly! I made this particular cake for a client at work who was turning 63.

Milk Chocolate Frosting
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

10 oz milk chocolate
1T light corn syrup (spray the tablespoon with non stick spray to prevent syrup from sticking)
pinch salt
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 8 pieces
1/2 c powdered sugar

In a food processor pulse together milk chocolate, corn syrup and salt. Through tube attachment, pour 1/2 c. boiling heavy cream. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar. While machine is running slowly add 1 stick butter through tube attachment until combined and smooth. Refrigerate at least an hour or overnight so frosting can thicken. Let frosting sit on the counter until it softens and easily spreads over the cake.

Strawberry Cupcakes

The strawberries in the grocery stores are finally sweet, not to mention on sale. Here's one way to use them. You will need a 1 lb. container of strawberries to make these delicious cupcakes. The strawberry frosting was amazing, creamy, tangy, and packed with fresh strawberry flavor. Next I want to use the strawberry frosting on homemade banana cupcakes! Mmmm strawberry banana....

Strawberry Cupcakes:
Compliments of Good Things Catered
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar (minus one heaping tablespoon)
2 eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. chopped strawberries

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans.
-Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
-In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
-Add eggs one at a time until combined.
-Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined.
-Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
-Fold in berries.
-Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way.
-Bake for 20 minutes.


Strawberry Frosting:
1/4 c. strawberries
1 Tbsp. strawberry liquor (I used strawberry extract)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla

-For frosting, put berries, extract/liquor, and juice in saucepan.
-Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer for 5 mins.
-Let cool then blend until smooth.
-In bowl of mixer mix cream cheese and butter until creamy.
-Add sugar, then vanilla.
-Add berry puree (after cooking I pureed in the blender) until smooth.
-Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled.


If you are low on time, I'd recommend making the frosting and buying a Duncan Hines Cake Mix. (While i'd never dream of using canned frosting, cake mixes are usually a good product.) Duncan Hines mixes have been rated the best cake mix brand and are always guaranteed to be fluffy and moist. I'd stick to their basic Devil's food and Yellow cake mixes because some of their flavored mixes have a very artificial taste. If you want to add other flavors to the basic mix, recipes from the Cake Mix Doctor should do the trick.

Selling candy or something more...

The Mars Candy Company released a new candy bar marketed towards women. The chocolate bar comes in a pink wrapper, the chocolate is covered in subtle pink sparkles, and it's called The Fling bar. The candy campaign markets the bars using sex appeal. The fling isn't called a candy bar but instead candy "fingers." The following is a list of phrases used to advertise the candy on the Fling website:

"We created FLING™ Chocolate Fingers to celebrate the female spirit – the unapologetically feminine playful, naughty, flirtatious, and alluring nature that brings shimmer into the world."

"So tear it open and sneak in a quickie. "

"a ménage of flavors."

"Then you can pleasure yourself with this chocolate sensation time and time again."

"So let yourself go! Have a FLING™ in private, or wave it all around town; in the office, the bedroom, or the great outdoors."

If this wasn't enough, check out the commercial!

If you ask me, this candy bar will be a flop. If Mars really knew women at all the candy wouldn't be sparkly pink but instead would have a a noise free wrapper so women could discreetly open chocolate in their purse for "secret eating."

Local Food Events

Patrick and Gina Neely from Food Network's new hit show, Down Home with the Neelys will be at Meijer in Rolling Meadows, IL signing copies of their cookbook, Down Home with the Neelys on Friday May 29th beginning at 6:00pm. The duo are high school sweethearts who went on to own one of the most popular BBQ restaurants in the south.


Spring Valley and Harper College will be hosting a new class called, Foraging for Wild Edibles
Saturday, June 13 • 9AM-1PM
Learn the ancient skill of foraging for wild plants. Our local woods and
meadows abound with nutritious and tasty wild plants (including red clover, wild greens, cattails.) Participants
will learn to identify, properly harvest and prepare a variety of plants
during a walk along the trails. the program will conclude with a mini feast
as we sample the fruits of our labors.
Course: LPL0314-001 Fee: $39 visit Harpercollege.edu to register

Ode To Mom

Where do I get my enthusiasm for food? One major influence has been my Mom. For years she stayed at home looking after me and my sisters and there was always a homemade meal on the table at 5pm every night. She taught me how to "time a meal," the order inwhich to prepare a meal so that all the food would be hot and ready at the same time. She taught me speed in the kitchen and how to clean up as I cook so there's less mess after I'm through. I don't remember cooking with her very often growing up but she always had me watch her cook and she told me that even though we were just talking as she cooked, that I was learning how in the process.

In honor of Mother's Day today my sister and I helped with some yard work and good thing we worked up an appetite because my Mom whipped up a rather enjoyable meal. My Mom loves good wine, there's always several types around her home to choose from. Tonight we had some Relax Reisling. Bare Foot Contessa is my Mom's favorite Food Network star. For dinner she made Bare Foot Contessa's Panzanella Salad. It's was as colorful to my taste buds as it is to look at. Hands down everyones favorite dish on the table. She fried chicken in a 100 + year old cast iron skillet (this is a good thing because cast iron is very durable and the older the pan, the better seasoned it is) and served fresh berries and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. My Mom's philosophy towards food has always been "keep it simple" so you can bet she took pride in having a two-dish dinner.

A quick disclaimer before we get to the pictures. C, who typically take the pictures for my site is out of state visiting with his own Mom so the pictures were taken with a camera phone and don't really do the food any justice so use your imagination, enjoy the pictures, and Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Week in Review

Here is a breakdown of everything i've created this week:

BBQ Smoked Pulled Pork

Smoked outside for hours and then finished up in the oven until meat is falling off the bone. I love the smell of the air when the meat is smoking on the grill. Tastes so good you have to shut your eyes while eating. Hickory wood chips created the ultimate smokey flavor. Here is the basic rub recipe from Test Kitchen. This was a joint effort with C. I rubbed it, he smoked it. Here's the basic rub recipe we used.

Basic BBQ Rub:
1/2 c. chili powder
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c salt
2T ground pepper
2t cayenne pepper


Chocolate Chewies
Fat free, and under 100 calories per cookie, intense chocolatey taste, very chewy texture. Had to use up the left over egg whites from the cheesecakes, these cookies fit the bill. Recipe Complements of Cara's Cravings. Visit the link to her site to see the full recipe.

Beer
Bottled some Belgian Witbier and brewed some German Oktoberfest. M invited C and I over for our first brewing experience. Even the flat beer, before the yeast had time to produce carbon dioxide in the bottle, tasted amazing, a very labor intensive process but the flavor tastes so much better than your average store-bought varieties. I can't wait to try the final product once it is complete. M has also made homemade hard cider, wine, and mead.

Sanitizing the bottles and getting ready to cool the wort.


Steeping caramel grains and warming the malt extract (so it's easier to pour).

New York Style Cheesecake

Perfectly blonde, smooth consistency throughout, everything a cheesecake should be. Another Test Kitchen success story.

New York Cheesecake
America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
for greasing the pan
8 whole graham crackers (4 oz), broken into rough pieces and processed in a food
processor to fine, even crumbs
1 Tbsp sugar

2 1/2 lbs. (five 8-oz packages) cream cheese, cut into rough 1-inch chunks, at room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/3 c. sour cream
2 tsp juice from 1 lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 lrg egg yolks plus 6 lrg eggs, at room temperature

Directions:
-For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.
-Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with 1/2 Tbsp of the melted butter.
-Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl; add 5 Tbsp of the melted butter and toss with a fork until evenly moistened.
-Empty the crumbs into the springform pan and, using the bottom of a ramekin, 1 c. measuring cup, or drinking glass, press evenly into the pan bottom, using a tsp to press the crumbs neatly into the corner of the pan.
-Bake until fragrant and beginning to brown around the edges, about 13 mins.
-Cool on a wire rack while making the filling.
-For the cheesecake filling: Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees.
-In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese at medium-low speed to break up and soften it slightly, about 1 min.
-Scrape the beater and the bottom and sides of the bowl well with a rubber spatula; add the salt and about half of the sugar and beat at medium-low speed until combined, about 1 min.
-Scrape the bowl; beat in the remaining sugar until combined, about 1 min.
-Scrape the bowl; add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla, and beat at low speed until combined, about 1 min.
-Scrape the bowl; add the egg yolks and beat at medium-low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 min.
-Scrape the bowl; add the remaining eggs 2 at a time, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 min, scraping the bowl between additions.
-Brush the sides of the springform pan with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp melted butter.
-Set the springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any spills if the pan leaks).
-Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake 10 mins; without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake until the cheesecake reads about 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center, about 1 1 1/2 hours.
-Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool until barely warm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
-Run a paring knife between the cake and the springform pan sides.
-Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours. (The cheesecake can be refrigerated up to 4 days.)
-To unmold the cheesecake, remove the sides of the pan.
-Slide a thin metal spatula between the crust and the bottom of the pan to loosen, then slide the cake onto a serving plate.
-Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature about 30 mins, then cut into wedges (see note) and serve with Fresh Strawberry Topping, if desired.

Chocolate Marbled Cheesecake
Beautiful, made for a co-worker's birthday. Cracked quit a bit because I doubted the cheesecake was done since I didn't have a thermometer to check the temperature, oops.


Raspberry and Cream Jelly Roll Cake
Fun to make. First recipe i've made from my Martha Stewart Cooking School cookbook so far. I added orange zest to the raspberry preserves for an added flavor. Made for a Tuesday night get together. I chose the recipe because Jelly Rolls take about 8 minutes to bake in the oven since the cake is baked in such a shallow dish. Due to this, I was able to bake and assemble the entire cake after work in under 1.5 hours. While jelly rolls have a whimsical final product, the cake is spongey and rather low fat so this isn't the sort of cake crowds rave never forget like they would about a cheesecake or brownies.



Chicken Broth
Made and froze some homemade broth that I plan on using this week for Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Worth a Try

On Monday KFC offered one free piece of their new KFC grilled chicken to all customers. I tried a wing, the chicken skin was so flavorful and very CRISPY! It left a greasy feel on my lips, I was skeptical whether or not this tasty chicken was much healthier than the fried version. KFC website claims 4 grams of fat and 70 calories in a grilled chicken drumstick! I guess voodoo makes this chicken taste so good because this chicken has a lot of flavor and is low cal compared to a drumstick of their original recipe which has 110 calories and 7 grams of fat.

Trader Joe's has a wide variety of tasty cookies. Their graham crackers are unlike any i've had before and their peppermint Joe Joe's tasted great when I coated them in chocolate this Christmas. My most recent favorite is their Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookie. Once again I was skeptical when C bought a container but I was wrong! These are amazing!!! There are several websites circulating online to make a homemade version, I definately will have to try it!

One step closer to the President

I spent the weekend in Iowa and got a chance to try the first families favorite cookie: Chocolate Chunk from Baby Boomer's Diner.

Here's the story:President Obama spent alot of time at his election head quarters in Des Moines, Iowa located near Baby Boomers Diner. Naturally, President Obama ate many late night meals there after a rough day on the campaign trail. Sasha and Mali took a liking to the Chocolate Chunk Cookies that sat in a large glass jar on the counter and the Obama's ordered dozens and dozens of these cookies to take with them to Washington. Eventually this cookie was declared a favorite by the first family. When the world caught on everyone wanted these cookies.

Here's what the Boomers website says about the sweet treat: "Perhaps you found us because you were intrigued about what the First Family finds so delectable in a cookie. No matter what your political affiliation, one bite and you'd agree, along with thousands of others, that this is one GREAT cookie. Always delicious, but just now getting the recognition they deserve, Baby Boomers Chocolate Chunk Cookies are mighty."

What Did I think of the cookie?

Obama is a man after my own heart because this cookie is made just the way I like it, soft and chewy! There was just one thing missing, the flavors didn't pop, was there no added salt? I scoured the ingredients list. Sure enough, no salt! Salt is a flavor enhancer, it acts as bifocals for your taste buds. Now I understand that many people cut down on salt for health reasons however if you are going to have a sugary indulgence such as a cookie I say do it right!

In the mood for a good cookie after reading this?

Try this recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies courtesy of Simply Tasty. Last week I brought these to a gathering and they were a hit. These cookies stayed soft, and the oatmeal and peanut butter complemented the chocolate nicely. Click here for the recipe.