Homemade Mexican-ish Salsa

It’s been a while since I last posted a recipe. To be honest this new job is keeping me pretty busy during the day and I barely have any energy or time to cook or write at night. (Lame)

A few weekends ago, I was going through my fridge and found a couple of things that needed to be used right away. I was also in need of some entertainment so of course, I turned to one of my favorite things: cooking.

I came up with a recipe for a Mexican salsa that is very similar to the one served at a great Mexican restaurant back home. We later had some friends over for drinks, so I served it in a martini glass alongside yellow and blue corn tortillas. Yum!

Mexican-ish Salsa

• 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 serrano pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Roast the serrano pepper until skin becomes black. You can use the broiler for this step. Peel skin off, remove stem and seeds and dice. Roast garlic cloves with skin on until they become sweet and soft. Carefully peel the garlic cloves and remove any overdone or burnt edges.

Pour all ingredients into food processor and pulse until well incorporated.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Isn’t it cool how the ingredients in this recipe have the same colors as the Mexican flag?

Dog-Sitting and Very Hot Summer Days

So, it turns out I found a project to work on right after my brother asked me to dog-sit for him. It breaks my heart to leave him at home while I’m at work but there aren’t many options.

And, it doesn’t help that the dog isn’t really used to being alone for more than a couple of hours. To make up for the partial neglect this week, I took him out for a Pooch-ini at Shake Shack today.

Chiki

He was ecstatic to leave the house, of course, and ice cream sounded like the perfect idea for a hot summer day.

The Pooch-ini at Shake Shack

Doesn’t this sundae look delicious? It’s doggy-safe vanilla custard, peanut butter and two biscuits. Yum.

Of course, I had to get a black & white shake to cool down under the 102°F weather.

Here he is digging into his sundae

I’m sure he loved his frozen treat, not so sure about the walk down Lincoln Rd after…

My First Time – Soufflé

As some of you know, I am currently attending culinary school. And of course, by attending culinary school I mean that I have the Food Network on most of the day.

I can’t complain. I have learned valuable cooking techniques from some of the nation’s favorite chefs and have tested delicious recipes in the comfort of my own home.

A coupe of weeks ago, during the “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics” course dedicated to High Wire Eggs Dishes, Ina (we’re on a first name basis now) taught us how to make a Spinach and Cheddar Soufflé. She promised her technique would yield the perfect soufflé every time, and I’m happy to say that her promises were not in vain.

Perhaps one of the most intimidating foods to make, soufflé takes precision and patience when it comes to both preparing and baking the dish.  I have to admit that I was so scared of not getting it right, I stood in front of the oven, looking through the window for about 30 minutes until my soufflé finally puffed and it was golden brown.

I didn’t have a big soufflé dish, so instead I used 3 medium-sized ramekins from Target. This worked out perfectly and made even, one-person soufflés. I think I prefer to do this rather than bake the whole thing in a big mold.

Another tip for this recipe is to place the grated parmesan cheese in the food processor and pulse until you are left with small bits similar to breadcrumbs. This makes it easier to coat the ramekins. And, always use fresh parmesan instead of that powdery stuff that comes in a bottle!

Spinach and Cheddar Soufflé

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 extra-large egg yolks, at room-temperature
• 1/2 cup grated aged Cheddar cheese, lightly packed
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
• 5 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter the inside of a 6 to 8-cup souffle dish (6 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches in diameter by 3 1/2 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, the nutmeg, cayenne,  salt and  pepper. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.

Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Cheddar, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and the spinach and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.

Whisk one quarter of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don’t peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

A Prescription for (Exotic) Travel

After months of trying to schedule an appointment with my dentist, I was finally able to see him today. It turns out that every time I schedule an appointment with him, his secretary has to call me to cancel and reschedule last minute. Why? Because he’s enjoying his life and out of the office.

Forget about “out fishing” or “went golfing”. The man is traveling all over the place with his family. Sweet life. And honestly after all those years of studying, stressing out over tedious exams, and dealing with crazy patients who bite his fingers because they are impervious to anesthesia and are in a lot of pain while he’s all up in their mouths’ pulling out teeth (that would be me), he deserves a break every now and then.

It’s cool with me, I get it. I’d like to I will live that life one day, too.

He recently refurbished a retainer I was given for my upper teeth a few years after my braces were removed. “I am sorry to tell you that you have to wear this thing every day, all day long. Again, sorry to ruin your social and sexual life,” he said with a pearly-white-straight-and-perfect smile on his face.

Of course, I wore the darn thing around the house, never in public and mostly at night until one day I started forgetting to wear it at all. It really wasn’t sexy.

So, no hard feelings for my dentist given his recurrent travels, I walk in there today with my upper retainer on to complain about my teeth. “Doctor, my lower teeth are all over the place. See this tooth down here? It’s a bit crooked. And these other teeth right here, I don’t like the path they’ve taken.”

The guy gets me. He knows I like a straight smile. But most importantly, he also knows that teeth going wild can cause headaches and a lot of pain.

According to him, crooked teeth are a result of two things: excessive grinding at night or stress. And, after asking me questions about my life’s status, happiness and overall satisfaction with things, he prescribed the following: a simple retainer for my lower teeth and lots of exotic travel.

“The retainer is not urgent. But you really have to enjoy your youth and travel more.”

I thought I was going to end up with braces all over again or have to invest thousands of dollars in something like Invisalign. But no, he told me to travel far away and as often as possible.

I can comply with his treatment, especially the second part of it. I just wonder if he’ll waive all fees for the retainer so that I can put that money to good use and start traveling, again.

For the moment, I guess I’ll start wearing my retainers more often and travel vicariously though my photo albums.

Confession: Baking Disaster #1

No one’s perfect. Everyone fails at some point in their life. However, as the great philosopher Carrie Bradshaw once said, “When real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep walking.”

In preparation for tomorrow’s viewing of the film Eat, Pray, Love I decided to make a batch of brownies to sneak into the movie theatre. Yes, I do occasionally bring my own snacks to the movies because as you all know there’s a recession and the theatre I go to does not have the sweets I like. No big deal. Besides, what’s a better companion to Eat, Pray, Love other than chocolate?

I am told by many that my brownies are really good. (I used to make them for my co-workers as a birthday gift and people would sneak into their offices to steal the brownies. So, I guess they are breach-of-privacy-and-theft-worthy good.) The secret: a “specific brand” of brownie mix and a couple of well… secret ingredients to jazz it up.

It turns out that I happened to have a semisweet chocolate bar from the same “specific brand” I love for my brownies in my pantry and on its label was a recipe for brownies from scratch. Of course, I thought this recipe was going to turn out even more amazing than the fool-proof mix.

I was wrong. Very wrong. I followed the instructions and measurements to the T. (Ok, I did add my special ingredients but they are not to blame for the disaster as they are only enhancers.)

I ended up with a batch of pale, grainy and sugary yet salty cakes that tasted nothing like chocolate and therefore, nothing like my brownies. When I tried them, it was like putting a spoonful of sugar in my mouth with a hint of sea salt.

To give you an idea of how off their color was, let me share with you my brother’s reaction. I was at pilates, working my butt off literally, and I get a text message from my brother asking: “Are these pot brownies?” Let me just say that he asked this, not because I bake pot brownies that look just like these, but because they looked liked nothing I’ve ever baked. He was puzzled.

I tasted the brownies multiple times, hoping that “at some bite” they’d get better. “Maybe something’s wrong with my taste buds today”, I thought. So, I asked my brother to asses them too and his verdict wasn’t that promising either.

I was heartbroken because I wouldn’t have brownies for my girlfriends tomorrow after I’d promised them (and because I had eaten at least four bites of non-pleasurable calories after my very painful, nausea-inducing workout). My brother, being the psychologist in training that he is, appropriately advised me to dump the brownies before I ended up eating the whole batch only to discover what I knew all along– it was a batch of brownies that didn’t work out.

“Sometimes, you just fail,” my brother said as he threw the brownies into the garbage disposal.

I have shared my baking failure publicly. I guess I now have to get right back up and keep on baking.

Quarterlife Crisis and Really Good Cupcakes

This is a difficult post to write.

Last Thursday was my birthday. My 25th birthday.

I had heard and read about a phenomenon called “Quarterlife Crisis” a few years ago and I had this weird gut feeling I might experience it myself one day, perhaps because I was already experiencing it. A Quarterlife Crisis is defined as a period of anxiety and uncertainty in many twenty-something to thirty-something individuals. The problem: not knowing what we’re doing next in life.

And here I am today, living a life very different from the one I imagined I’d be living at 25 and self-diagnosing myself with the “Quaterlife Crisis” syndrome (?). Unemployed, itching for more education, hungry for more adventure, afraid of failure and yet not sure about what to do next I celebrated my 25th birthday.

Yet, despite everything I described above, I had an amazing birthday. I am lucky enough to have people in my life that love me enough so as to make me forget about everything that bugs me. On Thursday night, I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Naoe (review coming soon) with the boy and on Friday we had a Martini & Dumplings cocktail party hosted and organized by no one else but the boy.

Check out Notable Nibbles review of our Hendricks Gin Martinis that night — an absolute favorite of mine!

Of course, when I found out I was having a birthday party I knew I had to bake some cupcakes. There’s so many recipes I want to try and not enough reasons to make them all. I just can’t keep baking and eating everything myself. Perhaps, setting up  my very own cupcake stand in front of my apartment building will solve the problem.

And because it was my birthday, I decided to make Ghirardelli chocolate cupcakes with Baileys buttercream frosting– yet another baking success. Well,  except for the fact that the buttercream frosting melted on the way to the party because it was 101°F  that day thus, ruining my presentation.

Nonetheless, they were very yummy. Chocolate cake and Baileys shot all-in-one.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream Frosting

Ghirardelli Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 standard-size cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Ghirardelli website.

• 1/2 cup Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 1/8 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 5/8 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cupcake pan with liners.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder , baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer, blend the egg, brown sugar, and white sugar. Incorporate the milk, coffee, vanilla extract and melted butter. Add the dry ingredients in increments making sure the batter becomes a homogeneous mix of all the ingredients. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake molds, filling them about three-quarters full with an ice cream scoop.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes and then carefully transfer to a wire rack.

Baileys Buttercream Frosting

• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3-4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*Double the recipe if using pastry bag to ice the cupcakes

Sift confectioner’s sugar. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until it becomes pale in color. Add confectioner’s sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Once almost all sugar has been added, incorporate Bailey’s Irish Cream little by little until the buttercream reaches the icing consistency. You can always add more sugar and Baileys Irish Cream to taste.

Salt is bad for you.

Apparently, Angelina Jolie’s new flick, SALT is not the only concealed health threat out there these days…

We all know a bit too much sodium can lead to serious health issues such as high blood pressure. However, according to an article on today’s Wall Street Journal titled “The Salt Hiding in Your Diet”, the problem to cutting back on sodium lies in that most of the sodium we ingest is in processed foods, restaurant meals and not-so-obvious foods. Cereal and sliced bread are among those foods that conceal dangerous amounts of sodium. Who knew, right?

The following graph shows you how much sodium there actually is in meals that you wouldn’t consider to be necessarily salty and thus high in sodium– except for the popcorn and soda snack. Click here to find out how much sodium each component of these meals has.

Image from WSJ Article "The Salt Hiding in Your Diet"

Good thing chocolate has no sodium.

According to the WSJ article, “[n]early 90% of adults consume more salt than U.S. dietary guidelines recommend. Now, federal officials are considering making those guidelines even tougher to follow.”

Right, I’m sure they will. I think I’d rather start baking my own bread, eliminating all processed foods from my diet (including that organic mac and cheese I had for lunch with 660 mg sodium) and not eating out at all. Thus, surviving on a bland diet of mostly air and sweet chocolate.