Monthly Archives: April 2011

Amatriciana Sauce & the new Bon Appetit

Posted on by tinycookba
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This is for all the Slavinskys out there!  When I received the latest issue of bon appetit magazine the other day, I knew we would be eating pasta this week.  I made the Bucatini all’Amatriciana (except that I used spaghetti instead of bucatini) and it was DELICIOUS!  The crushed red pepper adds just enough heat to make the sauce interesting, but not enough to burn your tongue – even my toddlers loved it.  I will definitely be making this again and again.  Just a reminder to add lots of kosher salt (maybe 2 Tablespoons) to your pasta water – it is the key to delicious pasta and it is especially important in this recipe since  you use the pasta water to help create the sauce, and the salty water adds flavor. Okay, now for a review of the magazine….

The May 2011 issue of bon appetit is a wonderful issue, focusing mostly on Italian cuisine.  There are many great pasta recipes as well as a few amazing dessert recipes, like zeppole, chocolate tiramisu, rhubarb and raspberry crostata, and a pistachio biscotti.  There is a wonderful article about traveling to Rome with young kids – makes me excited to think that we could actually do that with our kids in a few years!  On top of all the amazing Italian recipes and articles, there are also Cinco de Mayo recipes and dreamy chef Eric Ripert shares his recipe for Blender Hollandaise.  This is one of the best issues of bon appetit that I’ve ever read – go out and get it, or at least check out their website for some of the recipes.~

Rhubarb – the Jewel of Spring!

Posted on by tinycookba
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The first time I tried rhubarb was about 2 years ago and ever since then I have been obsessed with it.  It has such a unique tart flavor that I can’t even describe – you just need to try some!

I’m also obsessed with vanilla beans,  so rhubarb and vanilla beans together makes me a very happy person.  Instead of a crisp or other baked good, I decided to experiment with a compote – and it came out great!

Rhubarb Compote

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (remember the leaves are poisonous)

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, added at the end)

1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

pinch of salt

Mix everything together in a square glass baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, stirring once, midway through.  OR, put everything in a skillet and cook for about 20 minutes until everything is cooked through.

My kids loved this over their ice cream and I loved it over my Greek yogurt for breakfast. It would be great as the J on a PB & J, delicious on toast or scones, or just eaten with a spoon, which is how I ended up eating most of it:)

Vanilla Bean Coconut Cupcakes

Posted on by tinycookba
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I had such high hopes for this recipe, as I love vanilla beans and coconut  – and I was intrigued by the idea of reducing the coconut milk and adding it to the batter and the frosting!  I got the recipe here, from Epiciurious.com.

It was a bit labor intensive, with reducing the coconut milk and toasting the coconut as additional steps to making batter and frosting.  (Once again, I should remind you that I do not have a sweet tooth so my perspective might be a little different than yours.)    I expected to bite into a moist coconut dominantly flavored cupcake – there was coconut flavor, but not as much as I expected, and it wasn’t as dense and moist as I had hoped for (keep in mind that I undercook my cupcakes by at least 2 minutes because I hate dry cupcakes).  And I felt like the frosting was WAY too sweet.  Everyone else seemed to like them, but as for me, I prefer Martha Stewart’s Yellow Butter Cupcakes (made with vanilla bean).  Give those a try – and make sure not to overcook them:)

A little tip on vanilla beans, you can get them super cheap at Costco around the holidays – I always stock up for the year, otherwise they are so expensive.  I also use them in sugar cookies and caramels – which I’ll blog about a little later.

Deviled Eggs – 3 Ways

Posted on by tinycookba
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Nothing says Easter like deviled eggs.  So for Easter I decided to make some deviled eggs, but I wanted to shake things up a bit and try a few different varieties:  1) Classic, 2) Chipotle, 3) Smoked Salmon.

1) Classic Deviled Eggs

I used one of Martha Stewart’s recipes – except here are my changes:  I used hot sauce instead of cayenne – and I started off with 1/2 tsp lemon juice and then added more until it tasted how I liked.  I just mashed the yolks instead of using the food processor, which was fine, except that I couldn’t use the fancy piping bag because it would have gotten all clogged up.  I wish I had some paprika on hand because that would have looked nice sprinkled on top.  A good basic recipe!

2) Chipotle Deviled Eggs (pictured at the top)

I happened to have some chipotle aioli in the fridge, so I added about 1 T per egg and then put a cilantro leaf on top of each filled egg – nice presentation and they tasted great – definitely the favorite of all the varieties of deviled eggs.  Here’s my recipe for chipotle aioli (it’s great to dip veggies into – especially roasted or grilled fingerling potatoes and asparagus!):

Chipotle Aioli

2 cloves garlic

1/2 chipotle chili (from the can) (add a little at a time)

1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes, drained

1 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Best Foods or Hellman’s brand)

2 scallions, chopped

kosher salt, to taste

Whiz the garlic cloves in the food processor until chopped up finely.  Add everything else and blend until smooth and combined .

3) Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

I got this recipe from Fine Cooking.  It was delicious, but maybe a little heavy for deviled eggs.  I think I would have preferred the Classic Deviled Eggs with a piece of smoked salmon on top of that.

Overall, they were all good eggs.  Yum.