Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

Ok, so I know we're generally all about eating healthy, so two, though decadently delicious, mega cream cheese posts in a row might seem a little odd, but have you SEEN that enormous block of cream cheese we scored for a super low price?  Can you really blame us?

You'll need:

16 slices of your fav bread (may we suggest something whole grain?)
8 oz. cream cheese (softened or lightly whipped with that sweet mixer you have)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (please steer clear of "pancake syrup" and all of its high fructose corn syrup)
3 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt (We'll talk about measurements in a bit.)
1/4 cup dried blueberries (You can probably use fresh, but those are unavailable to us here--lame, I know.)
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
butter or oil for greasing

Let's start with the filling:
1.  Mix together cream cheese, brown sugar, maple syrup, 1 tsp. of vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt until it's all smooth.
2.  Stir in blueberries.
3.  Boom. Done with the filling.

Evenly-sized globs--very technical term, here.

Now to prepare those toasts:
1. Put evenly sized globs of filling on half of the pieces of bread.
2. Spread out the filling on each piece and top it with a second slice of bread making a "sandwich."

To the coating and the cooking:
1.  Wisk together milk, eggs, flour, baking powder, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
2.  Dunk each "sandwich" in the coating and flip it around a few times.  (Think covered, not soggy.)
3.  Let the excess coating drip off.  Put them on a greased skillet and brown them on the stove. (At the advising of one of our favorite cooks, Amy Renfroe, we registered a double griddle for our wedding.  Best. idea. ever.)

Browned, not burnt, mmk?

4.  Flip them over to brown on the other side.  This really shouldn't take very long.
5.  Place the browned toasts on a greased baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 F.
6.  Make them appear restaurant-quality dust with powdered sugar if you like.  Eat, eat eat!

Grilled Tuna Sandwiches for Two

I'm (Kayti) always looking for ways to spruce up canned tuna fish (easy lunch option), but don't think of this sandwich as a tuna fish sandwich, think of it as a grilled cheese with pizzazz.

Here we go:

1 can of tuna
3 tbsp. plain yogurt (much more healthy than all mayo and tastes delicious)
2 tsp mayo (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dill
pinch of celery seed (or use a pinch of salt and a pinch of celery salt instead of salt and seed)
your favorite cheese (sliced, grated, whatever...)--(may I suggest skipping the overly processed cheese and going for the good stuff)
two whole pitas

Mix everything together minus the cheese and bread.
Slice each pita in half and insert cheese (however much you'd like).  Spread the tuna evenly inside the four slices.  It will look sparse.  If you want more, double the recipe above.

Then... grill!  We use our grill pan and grill press from The Pampered Chef.  You can also use a sandwich maker, panini press, or a skillet with something heavy on top. ( love this sandwich grilled... the crunch is splendid.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Ok, so this isn't exactly an orthodox dinner menu, per say, but it is pretty much two of my (Kayti) favorite things...ever... in one divine dessert.  

Let's begin with the crust.  Now, I completely understand not making a pastry crust from scratch but I have absolutely no idea why people don't make crumb crusts at home. They are so simple.  For this cheesecake, we used Oreos.  

Crust:

1 1/2 cups of crushed cookies

1/4 cup of melted butter (half a stick or 56 grams)

2 tbsp of white sugar

Mix them together and press it all in the bottom of a lightly buttered spring form pan (the 9 or 10 inch variety is fine). Your crust should cover the bottom and go up about a half inch on the sides. Bake the crust alone for about 6-8 minutes in a 350 F oven.

While that's baking, get started on the cookie dough...

Cookie Dough:

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of butter

2 tbsp of water

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup of flour

1 cup of chocolate chips

1.  Cream the sugars and butter together in an electric mixer.  [Side note: If you have a hardcore mixer (e.g. the KitchenAid stand mixer) you can start by whipping your butter straight from the fridge.  Whipping it a few minutes will get your cold butter to the consistency of "room temperature" butter which is what it should be when you cream it with sugar.] 

2.  Add the water and vanilla and beat well.  

3. Mix in the flour and chocolate chips.

4. Eat a spoonful.  (No, this is not optional.)

Now for the cheesecake...

Cheesecake

1 cup of white sugar

16 oz. of cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup of sour cream

3 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1.  Beat together the cream cheese and sugar. (Again, if you have a hardcore mixer, you can start by whipping the cream cheese a little by itself until it's soft instead of waiting for it to arrive at "room temperature.")

2.  Add sour cream and then the eggs (one at a time).

2.  Add the vanilla and mix until smooth.

Now for the combination!

1.  Pour the cheesecake batter into the baked (and cooled) crust.  

2.  Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough all over the cake batter, submerging them beneath the surface.  

3.  Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes.

Whilst it is baking...

Topping

1 cup of sour cream

1 tsp of vanilla

2 tsp of sugar

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

And for the finale...

1.  Remove the delicious cheesecake from the oven.

2.  Pour topping over hot cake.

3. Let cake cool.

4.  Refrigerate the cake for at least 3-4 hours (overnight is best). We tasted this cake after two and a half hours and then again in the morning.  It was so. much. better in the morning.  Seriously.

5.  Unhook the side of your spring form pan and release your creation. (You may need a knife to separate your cake from the edges a bit.)

6.  Drift away into bliss.

Layered Mexican Pizza

This is a scrumptious recipe that you can really play around with in the kitchen.

We don't have pinto beans
so we improvised with "foul beans"
(pronounced "fool").

You'll need:

• 1/2 a medium sized onion
• 2 (ish) tablespoons of butter
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can pinto beans, drained (really, you can use any combination of these beans... even 3 cans of black beans)
• 1 small can of corn, drained (Let's not get too specific here, use as much or as little corn as you prefer.)
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 3 tomatoes
• 2 cups (ish) of shredded cheese of your choice
• 1 package of taco seasoning (or this recipe)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (about a handful unchopped)
• salt (to taste)
• 6 (8 inch) tortillas
• sour cream
• 1-2 avocados, chopped

Now on with it!

1.  Chop your onion and mince or press your garlic (basically you want your garlic to be in the tiniest pieces possible).  Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat and add the garlic and onion.  Cook until the onion it is done (taste it to test it).

2.  Meanwhile, chop your bell pepper (as small as you like) and tomatoes.  Set them aside.

3.  In a saucepan, mix together beans, corn, peppers, salt, and taco seasoning.  Heat them together until warm.

4.  Stir in the garlic-butter-onion concoction and the cilantro (the cilantro was a last minute addition to ours, so we just sprinkled it on each layer).  

5.  Grease two round 9 inch cake pans.  

Here's a shot of one set of layers.

6. Layer in the pans starting with a tortilla, then bean mixture, then cheese, and lastly, tomatoes.  Finish with a tortilla and cheese on top.  You'll use three tortillas per pan.  So, it'll go like this: tortilla-beans-cheese-tomatoes-tortilla-beans-cheese-tomatoes-tortilla-cheeeeeeeeese (we like cheese).

7.  Repeat with the second pan.

8.  Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned on top and the cheese is all delicious looking.

9.  Top with sour cream and chopped avocado pieces, cut into slices (we used a pizza cutter, naturally), and eat!

What's nice about this recipe is that you can easily make it your own.  Add or take out whatever you prefer!  Try some lettuce, chives, salsa, etc., and tell us how you made yours!

Onion Chopping with Austin

Baked Potato Soup, Butternut Squash Braid, and Banana Crumb Bread

It's best to start with the Butternut Squash Braid on this one:

You'll need:

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 of a butternut squash
• 1/3 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3-3.5 cups  flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

And here's how to do it:

Butternut squash cut in half

1.  Start by slicing your full-sized butternut squash lengthwise in half.  You'll only be using one half of this squash.  The rest will keep in the fridge if you wrap it in plastic wrap.  Then scoop out the seeds and guts and discard (or bake the seeds for a yummy snack!).  

2.  Cube the rest of your squash and steam it using a steaming basket.  If you don't have a steaming basket, boil your squash until it's tender (think mashed potatoes).  We cooked and mashed our butternut squash in our baby food maker (amazing).  
 3.  Now you're going to concoct a yeast paste by dissolving the yeast in the warm water.  It's pretty important for the water to be the right temperature so try and use a thermometer if you have one.  Once your paste is dissolved, set it aside.
4.  Combine your squash, milk, egg, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl (or stand mixer bowl) and mix it well.
5.  Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and the yeast goo and give it a good mix.  Slowly add the rest of your flour until it becomes a soft (and perhaps a little sticky) dough.
6.  If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for 4-5 minutes.  If you don't have a KitchenAid stand mixer, turn your dough (which basically means "put your dough) onto a floured surface, (If you get some flour on your hands first, this is a much easier process) and knead for 6-8 minutes.

Floured dough ball

7.  Put your dough ball in a greased mixing bowl (just spray it with oil), cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.  (If it's particularly cold in your house, like ours, it will take quite a bit longer.)

8.  After it rises the first time, punch it down, and turn it onto a floured surface. Divide it into 3 equally sized balls.  Roll each ball out into an 18 inch "rope."  Lay them on a greased cookie sheet and braid them just like you would braid hair. Pinch the ends and fold them under a bit.

Braided

9.  Cover your braid with a kitchen towel and let it rise for another 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size again. 

Braid after it has risen

10.  Make an egg wash by combining the beaten egg and tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
11.  Brush your braid with the egg wash and bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes or until it's golden brown.

mmmm...

Now for the Baked Potato Soup!

You'll need:

• 2-3 large baking potatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons of butter
• a small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 3 cups of chicken broth (easily made with chicken bullion if you don't have broth on hand)
• 1 cup half and half (or 1/2 c. milk plus a 1/2 c. cooking cream)
• shredded cheddar cheese (to your liking---we like a lot)

Now let's get to it:

Dirty, fresh potatoes

1.  Wash your potatoes, especially if they look like ours (suuuuper fresh).
2.  Cook your potatoes however you like.  You can bake them in the oven for an hour, boil them in water and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or  microwave them.  Basically you want soft, mashable potatoes.
3.  Melt your butter in a large saucepan while you chop your onion.  If you're looking for an easy way to chop an onion, check this out.  Mince your garlic using a garlic press.  There's little else better in the cooking world than a solid garlic press.
4.  Cook your onions and garlic in the butter until the onions are soft (test by taste).
5.  Add the flour, salt, basil, and pepper and mix well.

After adding the flour, it'll look a little dry.

  

6.  Slowly add the chicken broth and mix it well.

After adding the chicken broth, let it boil for 2 min.

7.  Bring it to a boil and let it boil for about 2-3 minutes.
8.  Turn down the heat, add the half and half and the potatoes (mash them up a bit--however you like them).  Heat it through, but don't boil it.

Don't boil it after adding the half and half.

9.  Add cheese just before you serve it up.

um.. yum!

For the sweet Banana Crumb Bread

You'll need:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup very ripe mashed bananas (about 2 large bananas) (ours weren't "very ripe" but they worked fine)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 egg whites (you can separate yolks from whites using a separator or by using the eggshell)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I left this out of ours and didn't notice)

and also...

• 3/4 cups of quick cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

and lastly...

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp milk
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon

Let's get on with it...

Scrumptious!

Banana bread batter

1.  Combine the flours, sugar, and baking powder.  Wisk it together in order to mix it well.
2.  Add the banana, butter, egg whites, and vanilla.  Mix it only until it's wet.  You do not want to over-mix this!
3.  Coat your desired pan with cooking spray.  We used four mini-loaf pans.  

4.  Spread the batter evenly throughout your pan(s).
5.  Mix together the middle set of ingredients.  Evenly coat the bread with this crumb topping.
6.  Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes (adjust if you're using different pans and check it often).
7. Combine the last set of ingredients and drizzle over the top of your bread.

Some notes on pacing: Start the braid way in advance as it has to rise twice.  The good thing is that your potato soup will stay warm on very low heat, so if the timing is off a little, you can still serve it hot without overcooking it.  The banana bread can be made in advance as it's really good both warm and cooled, or you can set it up to go in the oven just as dinner is being served (don't forget to set a timer!)

Step into our kitchen...

Now that we've had our first meal together, we'd like to formally invite you to our kitchen.  We're basically two twenty-somethings who love spending time in this particular room of our apartment (so much so that our son has permanent "kitchen toys").  First, a little about us:

Just a mere 5 years ago, Kayti's idea of cooking was a Betty Crocker "Meal in a Box" deal (barf).  In high school, she once murdered a box-mix of cookies by baking them with spreadable butter.  (Nice one.)  You'd never know it now though as she lives for baking delicious goodies from the oven and grieves over "burnt" pancakes.

Austin's first cooking memory is spreading about a half cup of Easy Bake cake mix into the bottom of a full sized cake pan. Apparently someone had bought him an Easy Bake mix, but not the pans to cook it in... needless to say, disappointment followed. Since then, his cooking has thankfully taken a turn for the better. Around college-time, when home cooked meals disappeared faster than you can overcook an egg, returning to the kitchen became the best alternative to the cafeteria and the "Freshman Fifteen." Though rarely revisiting cake baking (Kayti usually handles this part), he now throughly enjoys big fresh flavors and new recipes.

Our vision for this blog is to bring you:

• Simple Recipes: Not that our recipes will be dull or mundane, but we hope to simplify them for the amateur cooks (like ourselves) by explaining techniques that we've learned as well as deciphering cook-ish vocabulary along the way.
• Useful meals you can make: Most of our posts will be complete meals that we're making here at home.  Seriously, you're really just coming into our kitchen... except... you actually have to cook it again.  (We've done the planning for you though--so, yay!)
• Easy how-to's: There are some things that we'll trial-and-error for you... step... by... step.  No holding back either, if we screw up, you'll see it.  
• Fresh Ingredients: It is difficult (and/or expensive) to buy processed foods where we live (not to mention incredibly unhealthy to eat) so most of what we push out onto the dinner table will be made from scratch with fresh ingredients.  Don't be scared of "from scratch."  Most people don't understand how simple cooking from the ground up can really be!
• Entertaining Reads: Recipes can be boring in blog form, so we plan to talk with you and show you plenty of pictures.  This will make for lengthy posts, but we'll try to use font to highlight the important parts when you're going back in just for the recipe.  (We highly recommend copying down the recipe on a card or notebook though.)
• and of course... deliciousness!

We hope you'll comment, question, and contribute. We've made a lot of mistakes before, and sometimes it's hard to remember what we've done wrong so if something is unclear or if you have a problem that we didn't cover, please ask. You're probably not the only one with that question!