Restaurant Review: Torchy's Tacos

Torchy's Tacos is my favorite taco joint in Dallas.  Their menu is hysterical and their tacos are food heaven.  I love the Democrat (beef barbacoa) and Mr. Pink (salmon).  The Democrat has enough meat for two tacos so I order it along with a side of torillas and have two delicious tacos.  The breakfast tacos are also stellar.  My husband likes the Trailer Park and he gets it trashy.  Torchy's sauces compliment the tacos nicely.  The queso has just the right amount of kick, and Torchy's serves Maine Root drinks -- my favorite is the vanille creme soda.  Super YUM!

Recipe Review: Chocolate Chunk Cookies from The Pioneer Woman

For years I have been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I finally found it!

I love The Pioneer Woman's recipe for chocolate chunk cookies.  The secret is browned butter -- it gives the cookies a wonderful caramel flavor.

I omit the coffee and the nuts.  I usually find that I need to add extra flour.  I recommend following the instructions in the blog post.  The key is to refrigerate the dough before you bake the cookies -- do not skip that part -- otherwise you will have flat cookies.

My son helped me make this dough for a Memorial Day potluck at our friend's house.  We used 1 cup of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup of mini M&M's.

I baked most of the dough in a round springform pan for around 20 minutes.  We decorated the big cookie with store-bought frosting.  I used the rest of the dough to make individual cookies.  I hope that the kids and the grown ups like them!

Recipe: Easy Lasagna

I do the cooking on Sundays, and lasagna is one of our favorites.  This is an easy lasagna that takes a little over an hour to make.

You will need:

8 to 12 oz. chicken sausage
8 oz. ricotta
1 egg
9 sheets no boil lasagna (I typically use a whole wheat lasagna available at Whole Foods)
approximately 1-1/3 jars pasta sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

1.  Brown the sausage.  I like to use my crinkle cutter to mince the sausage after I cook it.

2.  Mix together the ricotta and the egg.

3.  Grease a square baking dish.


4.  Assemble the lasagna

1/3 jar sauce
3 sheets lasagna (they will overlap)
half of the ricotta
half of the sausage

repeat

top with 3 sheets lasagna and 1/3 jar sauce

NOTE:  You want to use enough sauce to cook the pasta, without using too much sauce

5.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes

6.  Remove from oven.  Top with the shredded mozzarella.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.

I typically like to shred my own cheese since I think it melts better.  But pre-shredded cheese is certainly more convenient.

7.  Put under the broiler until cheese is brown and bubbly.  I love the flavor that the browned cheese adds to the lasagna.

8.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

You can experiment with different brands and flavors of ingredients until you find your favorite combination.  I'm still experimenting to find mine!

Cheese of the Week: Camembert

This week's cheese is a wedge of camembert that I picked up at Trader Joe's.

Camembert is a semi-soft cheese from France that is similar to brie but with a stronger aroma and flavor, and a texture that becomes creamier than brie when heated.

I let the camembert warm up to room temperature before eating it.  I liked the buttery texture, but the flavor was a little bitter for my taste.  I'll stick with brie in the future.

Gadget Review: Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker

I had been making "banana ice cream" (or as Daniel Tiger calls it, banana swirl) in my Cuisinart food processor.

To save wear and tear on my food processor, I asked for the Yonanas frozen dessert maker for Christmas.  It retails for around $50 but you can find it for less.  It comes with recipes.

To use the Yonanas maker, start by peeling and freezing "cheetah spot" bananas.  When you're ready to make your dessert, allow the bananas to thaw slightly (I pop mine in the microwave for 15 seconds on high).

Put half a banana in the Yonona maker.  Turn on.  Add your other ingredients (my favorite combination is frozen mangoes and berries).  Turn on.  Add another half banana.  Turn on.

The result is a super yummy and healthy treat!

My only complaint is that about half a banana is left inside the machine.  Since I don't like to be wasteful, I open the machine and scrape out what is left.  The machine is easy to take apart and easy to clean.

Recipe Review: White Chocolate Frosting

Quite by accident, I stumbled upon The Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcake bakery in Draper, Utah about four years ago.  I had the most delicious cupcakes!  Now I try to stop at The Sweet Tooth Fairy whenever we're in Utah to visit my in-laws (sadly their Southlake, Texas location closed).

The owner is a Cupcake Wars winner and was kind enough to share her black & white cupcake recipe with the world.

I tried making the dark chocolate cupcakes and they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.

But the white chocolate cream cheese frosting was AMAZING.  It is my go-to frosting recipe.  I just need to be sure I have lots and lots of white chocolate on hand!

I once heard Alton Brown (my hero -- all that science and all that food!) say that he approves of cake mixes but he believes in making homemade frosting.  I agree.  I like to make a chocolate fudge cake mix and stir in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips.  Then I top it with the amazing white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Here is the amazing frosting at my son's birthday party.  I recommend chilling it slightly before piping it.

Cheese of the Week: Muenster

I'm sure I've eaten muenster on sandwiches I've bought at a deli, but I think this is the first time I've bought it to eat at home.

Muenster is a semi soft cheese from the United States.  It is a white cheese with a distinct speckled orange rind.  I think it tastes a lot like mozzarella.

My favorite way to eat muenster is on a buttery cracker.  It'a a great flavor combination!

Easy Party Brownies

My favorite treat to take to a party!

I buy two-bite brownies at Kroger, pipe on store bought frosting, and add fruit and nuts.

Easy peasy!

S'mores Cake Pops

My little boy has been begging me to make cake pops that look like Oh the alien from the movie Home.

This was the first time I tinted white chocolate melts with oil-based food colors.  It was easier than I expected.  I used both purple and blue color to get the shade I wanted.  The candy dried darker than when it was melted, so I'll remember that for next time.  We added candy eyeballs, purple licorice ears, and a black marker mouth.

While we were making cake pops, I made some s'mores cake pops.  I used chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.  When I rolled the cake balls, I rolled two mini marshmallows into the middle of the cake ball.  I dipped the cake pops in dark chocolate melts and then dipped them in graham cracker crumbs (my mini Cuisinart is the perfect tool for making graham cracker crumbs!).  SUPER yummy.

Recipe Review: Chicken Quesadillas from The Pioneer Woman

I love carbs and cheese.  Grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, empanadas.  Yum.

I really like The Pioneer Woman's recipe for chicken quesadillas.  So easy!  I make them on my electric griddle and they turn out perfectly crispy.

I buy my tortillas from the Taco Cabana drive thru for $2.50 a dozen.  They sell them warm and I could eat the entire dozen between Taco Cabana and my house.  They're THAT good.

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Captain America Pancake

I saw a photo in my Facebook feed of a pancake that looks like Captain America's shield.

Here's our version:

I used 1/2 cup of pancake batter to make an extra large pancake.  We decorated it with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana, and whipped cream.  I found that cutting the raspberries in half and cutting the stems off the blueberries kept them from rolling off the pancake.

It was a lot to fit on one pancake!  Next time I will cut my strawberry slices in half.  Also, I discovered that Captain America's shield only has one white stripe, not two!

Cheese of the Week: Jarlsberg

This week my cheese selection was limited to the imported deli case at Target.  The only cheese I hadn't tried was jarlsberg.  This is a pricey little cheese.  I was hoping I wouldn't like it so that I can, you know, send my kid to college.

Jarlsberg (pronounced "yarlsberg") is a Norwegian semi soft cheese that looks a little like Swiss cheese.  You might remember it from a scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Andy's chef boyfriend makes her a grilled cheese sandwich.

I found that jarlsberg melts beautifully.  It also tastes pretty amazing on its own.  It has a flavor that is full and distinct without being overpowering.  This cheese won't go to waste.  It just might be awhile before I can afford to buy more.

Cake Ball Mix-ins

I love trying new cake ball combinations.  I pick the cake flavor, the frosting flavor, and the candy coating flavor.  Sometimes I try mix-ins.  I've tried coconut and I've also tried peppermint chips (peppermint-flavored white chocolate).  The mix-ins add a kick of flavor and can also add color, texture and moisture.  Other mix-ins I might try are mini chocolate chips and toffee chips.  I also think it might be fun to have a mini marshmallow at the center of a cake ball.