Recipe blog by Adrianna Adarme

January 2010

29

Jan

Banana Cream Pie

Sometimes failure isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes it ends up being downright delicious, like this banana cream pie. I’ll give you two reasons why this wasn’t one of my kitchen “successes.”

1) This was supposed to be a caramel banana cream pie. However, I burned my finger while making the caramel sauce, and then subsequently burned the sauce while I tended to my finger. So, this became a caramel-less pie.

2) Even though I now know how to make my own piecrust, I decided to use a store brand with this recipe. Sorry – I get lazy sometimes. However, I learned my lesson when, while baking in the oven, the crust softened and shrunk. You’ll notice how it doesn’t go over the edges of the pie dish. Yeah…it was a crust failure.

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{ 6 comments }

27

Jan

Blood Orange Granita

in Desserts

I’m a huge advocate of winter. If winter ever needed a representative to defend him or herself in the court of law, winter should give me a ring. For me, winter signifies a time of cuddling, celebrating holidays, eating comforting foods and…not sweating. Yeah, I despise sweating. But sometimes, I must admit, winter can be a huge bummer. The dreary, cold days get old after a while so I think that’s why winter citrus is so crucial to my January happiness. Every time I go to the market, the ray of citrus sunshine that comes from the produce department makes me giddy. The brightness from the meyer lemons, honey bells, clementines–and my recent love–blood oranges, can turn any dreary day into a sunny one.

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{ 7 comments }

22

Jan

Definitely Not Boring Broccoli

in Sides

I am a big fan of broccoli. I really don’t feel that there’s any need to dress it up; to me plain steamed or sautéed broccoli is just delicious. However, when Adam from Amateur Gourmet advertises that he has The Best Broccoli of Your Life, it’s definitely going to pique my interest. I decided one day to make it and then while I was at work I asked Chase what he wanted to have to go with his broccoli. Here is our text message conversation in verbatim

Me: I’m making broccoli for dinner. What else do you want?
Chase: Just broccoli?
Me: I have a recipe for the blog
Chase: Ok. I’m saying it’s just broccoli? That’s it? That’s a boring blog entry. Here’s some broccoli. Mmmmmm. Just steam it or grill it up and there ya go.
(yes, that is a sarcasm you’re detecting in his messaging)
Me: So you think. This broccoli is gonna be amazing.

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{ 12 comments }

19

Jan

Granola Blueberry Muffins

in Breakfast, Scones & Muffins

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day, but despite my heavy addiction to pancakes, (which you’ll find here, here…and here) I hardly ever make them during the workweek. I’d much rather opt for sleep than wake up early to prepare a full breakfast. Instead, I usually just make myself a blueberry smoothie which takes less than 5 minutes. But as it’s recently been damp, chilly and rainy in LA, a cold smoothie simply does not sound appealing.

I always gaze at the marble loafs and sugary-coated scones at Starbucks and dream of eating them, but having a sugar rush first thing in the morning isn’t what I want. So, to hit the spot, I’ve moved my attention to something just as healthy as my smoothie, but with less sugar than the marble loafs I lust over—Granola Blueberry Muffins. Surprisingly they’re just as flavorful and easy to make.

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{ 6 comments }

14

Jan

Fried Green Tomatoes with Jalapeno Cheese Grits

in Dinner

So, I’m back in California. Back to the real world, with alarm clocks that go off at 6:00am and traffic that robs me of hours in my day and blahhhhh…. I just don’t want to think about it anymore. Instead, let’s pretend I’m still in the South and mull over that for a while. For starters, Southern folks really love to fry their vegetables. And, we really love grits, especially cheesy grits. So, yeah that’s what I would rather think about, okay?

First, a word on cheese grits. Most self-respecting Southerners have a cheese grits recipe that involves baking in the oven to really get them just right. You know that scene in “My Cousin Vinny” where the guy is offended at the suggestion that he uses instant grits? Where he proudly says in the courtroom, “I take pride in my grits!” Yeah, that’s not an exaggeration. This recipe, however, is the “quick” version of cheese grits, meant to be prepared over a stove in less than 30 minutes. If you’re lucky I’ll give you the recipe for my stepdad’s “real” cheese grits, but that will have to wait for another day.

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{ 14 comments }

11

Jan

Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake

in Breakfast, Desserts

I realized something about myself today. Olive oil is my thing.

When I was 12 or 13, I received a spa cookbook for my birthday and became hooked on mixing up oatmeal masks, honey hair treatments and avocado masks. Why my 12 year old self needed any sort of facial mask is another story. But I think I just liked the idea of cracking eggs in my hair and slapping oatmeal on my face; it seemed so neat and kinda retro. Now, the thought of slathering avocado all over my face sounds sort of weird, and plus, I’d probably just end up eating it anyway, which is even weirder. I know.

Anyway, I didn’t think much of it when I picked this pound cake out of a book of 200 or so recipes. Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake? I’m there. Sooo there. I then went to get ready for the day and grabbed my olive oil face wash and then put on this olive oil body lotion. And then I stopped. Whoa…I umm…really like olive oil. I guess I’m not so far off from my 12 year old self. I still put food on my face thinking it’ll make me pretty. Hmmm…interesting.

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{ 11 comments }

06

Jan

Chocolate Pudding with Pomegranate

in Chocolate, Desserts

Well, this recipe comes with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I learned how to make easy homemade pudding, something that is probably going to be common fixture in my home from now on. The bad news is that as excited as I was to incorporate pomegranate, it didn’t really live up to the hype I had in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, this was incredibly delicious, and anyone that turns their nose up at it is probably not someone I want to be friends with for much longer. But I feel that whenever something has “pomegranate” in the title, it should transcend any normal expectations you might have.

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{ 5 comments }

01

Jan

Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree

in Pasta

Happy New Year everyone! I have to say, it was a little hard to say good-bye to 2009. It’s been a good year; Adrianna and I started this blog, which is awesome. I got a Kitchen Aid standing mixer, which is super awesome, and Chase and I are engaged, which…well, it goes without saying how amazing that is. But nonetheless, I’m ready for 2010. I only hope that it realized how big the shoes are that it has to fill after these last 12 months.

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{ 6 comments }