I felt like chicken piccata, so I made some, it was pretty easy

I had some chicken breast, some pasta and some capers.  I added some flour, some water (or broth), some lemon and some butter.  I had a pretty killer dinner for one.  This is easy to upsize to feed as many as you want. 

This is one of the drive-by meals, it's a method more than a recipe.  Once you get it, you can alter and swap things out (like salmon for the chicken which is amamamamzing!) or different pastas, you're going to use it all the time. 

Here's the link to the video, it's sort of long but if you slip past my nagging at the beginning, I think you're going to be delighted with this new shortcut :) 

https://youtu.be/2rhOGVRK0Io

/enjoy! :)

Quick and easy vanilla cupcakes

I have to preface this post by saying I am not a cupcake sort of girl.  I like a big BIG cake and like many layers and thick icing and a plate and a fork. Then I like another piece!

I don't understand the big cupcake push.  Most of them are merely tasteless, woolly, methods to transport overly thick and sweet icing that looks pretty.  I'm a taste fan.  Oh look at me trashing the cupcake industry.  HAHA  What I mean is I find most cupcakes to be on the bland side.  The texture is too light and airy, yeah, it can be TOO light.

I'm STILL eating the chocolate custard Italian meringue pie I made the other day and even though it's starting to get weepy, I'll still take a slice, or two, of that over any cupcake, any day of the week.

THAT being said *sigh*  I jumped on the cupcake bandwagon this morning.  Ridiculously, I was working on a new method for my ciabatta this morning and while standing in the middle of the kitchen waiting for things to rise I was suddenly struck by the notion, and realization, that I don't DO cupcakes.

I grabbed my Cuisinart, all the bowls to the kitchen aid were occupied, and then I grabbed my scale and thought, how hard can this be?  I had a general high maintenance recipe but was not the slightest bit interested in going there.

I futzed with it and since I know the general rules for cake baking and I make a mean biscuit and I bake more bread than any one soul really should, seriously, how hard could this be?  I wanted a fast, easy, fool proof, no fuss, no muss, vanilla cupcake that was light, airy and a little eggy.

First time out, I think these are it!!  I've sent the recipe to my International Tester and am waiting for results.

I didn't take play by play pictures because I was winging it and just dumped and blitzed.  I WILL take play by plays next time I make these which will be the next time I am invited ANYwhere!

OH and I weighed everything so that I could be accurate and so that I could reproduce it and so that my International visitors could make it just as easily.

This is a combination of a recipe and a method and some regular cooking, sometimes the instruction "add milk until it's a lovely consistency" is the best I can do.

Tracy's Quick Vanilla Cakettes (because I loathe cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

IN the bowl of a Cuisinart or whatever food processor you have, combine:
*use a scale, don't convert this, I don't know if it will work the same*

125 grams sugar
125 grams self raising flour**
125 grams room temperature butter (I use unsalted)
pinch of salt
3 eggs (I was shootoing for 125 grams of eggs and 2 was too light and 3 took it to 150 grams so I stuck with the 3 you CAN only use 2 eggs if you want a less "eggy" sponge cupcake)
2 tsp of vanilla bean paste or plain PURE vanilla extract
A little bit of milk (! sorry but I didn't measure and I think it will be different depending on the day with the flour so trust me and just add a little, you know what cake batter looks like!!)

**REMEMBER:  to make self raising flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt to every cup of flour.  Make a bunch and keep it in a sealed container so you can have it whenever you need it and you don't have to fuss about making just the right amount every time.  

Throw it all in the Cuisinart, except the milk.

Whirr it up for a moment then add a little bit of milk to make a smooth batter.  I think I added 3 tablespoons, just a little while the motor is running.  You want dropable consistency but smooth and soft.

Spoon the batter as evenly as you can into the 12 liners and bake about 15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.  These stay beautifully pale on top and are light and airy and tender and delicious.

I combined equal amounts of dark chocolate and warm cream, then I dipped/swirled each cakette when they'd cooled to room temperature.  You can ice these with whatever you love.

*I DID take one of them and poke holes in it with a fork while it was still hot then dropped a tablespoon of Lyle's Golden Syrup on it to soak in, that one was my favorite and I'll be taking that kind to my next function, with a dollop of unsweetened cream on top, I'm going to be a rock star!!

Here's the pictures and commentary

*Yes, I did rush back into the kitchen to make another batch.  These I drizzled with lemon glaze, just to see if they could handle lemon as well as chocolate.  They can.  I only used 2 eggs and one yolk this time to bring the weight to 125 grams and there was no discernible difference from the 3 egg batch I made previously.

See, just dump it all in. This is before I added a little milk
   
Adding a little milk, about a tablespoon or two, softens the batter and lightens it a bit.
   

In the mean time, I have about a cup of powdered (confectioners) sugar and some fresh lemon in a green bottle!  (don't judge) ready to make a pour-able glaze.  I poked the cakettes with a skewer a bunch of times, right out of the oven.  Then I moved them to a rack over some wax paper.  I mixed the sugar and lemon to make a pourable glaze and then I went to town, covering them LIBERALLY

   
I had to leave the room to wait for them to set up and cool down.
   

So, here they are.  Ridiculous.  They are TART!!! and delicious.  The texture of the cake is more like a pound cake, dense and light at the same time.  

 

Make these, ice them with icing or frosting or glaze.  I think they're a keeper recipe, super fast, super easy and a definite go-to. 

Next, I'll add chocolate to them ;) then we'll be unstoppable! 

/enjoy



:

Quick spinach and lemon pasta lunch

As you're aware, my new passion, my local farm box from Greenling, arrived today.  I have it delivered every 2 weeks.  That makes me happy.

I looked through the box today and found spinach, lemon, and oregano,  I had olive oil, garlic, tomato and pasta.  Sounds like lunch to me!

There's no recipe, it's a method so there's only one version, the long winded with loads of pictures version: 

TRACYS QUICK SPINACH AND LEMON PASTA

1/2 box of pasta (I used Barilla angel hair, broken in half - don't judge)
large handful of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 tomato, seeded, chopped
zest of half a lemon
juice of that lemon
olive oil
butter (seriously, we can't NOT have butter, you don't need much but use some!)
a little chicken stock or water
1 large garlic clove (sliced paper thin in my new favorite garlic slicer from pampered chef)
salt, pepper, nutmeg (nutmeg and spinach are best friends, always use them together)

Put a large pot of heavily salted water on to boil.

Grab your NEW favorite IKEA non stick frying pan (365 series, look how there's no scratches and it's about a year old) and heat up some olive oil and a good blob of butter
  
Arrange your beautifully chopped up food on the island for quick grabbing.  This is my garlic slicer, i love this thing.  Just drop the garlic in and twist and paper thin slices come out the bottom.  Yeah, it's a good buy.
  
Fry the garlic lightly then add zest and lemon juice and then the chopped tomato.
  
Grate in some fresh nutmeg, spinach and nutmeg are complete best friends, each is better for being near the other.  All the time. Drop in a branch of fresh oregano and shush it around a bit.
  
I'm not terribly patient waiting for water to boil and too lazy to find the lid so this is my speeder-upper regiment.  Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Do not overcook it! Before you drain any pasta, ALWAYS grab some of the cooking water, it's starchy and salty and it's a much better option mix into any sauce or to use to make anything into a sauce, just always do this.
  
Look at this yummy sauce, almost together!  This is going to be good. TASTE it, if it's too dull, add more lemon, if it's too acidic, add some pasta water.  Add some wine, add some stock, it's your dish! Drop the drained pasta into the sauce and then top with the chopped spinach.  Toss around quickly, the heat from the pasta cooks the spinach and the pasta absorbs all the olive oil, lemony juices.  MMMMM.
  
Toss around for a minute and plate it up!

  
Freshly grates parmesan cheese for Connor and some fresh oregano leaves. I had cut some homemade bread thickly, buttered and sprinkled garlic powder on it and toasted it.  Mmmmm.  Rather nice looking lunch for two in about 10 minutes.
    

Here are the random beauty shots:

        

This says success to me! 

It's a quick, easy, light lunch and with just a few super fresh ingredients and it's absolutely delicious.  

Go make yourself a quicky bowl. 

/enjoy

Mini Pressure Cooker Cheesecake in Jars

**** for those looking, the recipe for the 7" pressure cooker cheesecake with topping is here:
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2016/09/the-pressure-cooker-creamy-cheesecake.html

I ALSO have done a fudge lava cake in a jar in the pressure cooker, oh yes I did, baby, there's also a howto video on my youtube channel
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2017/08/pressure-cooker-molten-chocolate-lava.html


OK, the mini cheesecakes, there's nothing I won't cook in a jar OR in a pressure cooker

Seriously? Cheesecake, mini cheesecake, in jars, in the pressure cooker and you're just going to wing it?

OH.YES.I.DID! and it was GREAT!!!

I had a kitchen alchemy day today and you will not BELIEVE how good these mini cheesecakes turned out! I created a recipe that will be my new go-to.  There is a second batch cooking now and if they turn out as brilliantly, then I'll get this post completed for you in the morning.

I have been doing cheesecakes in jars, all sorts of pies in jars actually, forever.  I laugh when I see people talking about the "new" trend, seriously?  Anyway I had to try to come up with a recipe for the pressure cooker because I'm on a mission to expand my repertoire.

You will NEVER believe the silky texture of these little gems.  These are quick to make, quick to cook (SEVEN minutes) and quick to chill, mine only took about an hour and a half.

Tracy's Mini Pressure Cooker Cheesecake in a Jar

2 graham crackers, crushed
1 tbsp room temperature butter (no need to melt)
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp sugar

4 oz cream cheese
2 Tbsp sour cream
a little lemon zest
the juice of a lemon
tsp vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
1/4 cup sugar (more or less for taste)
pinch of salt
1 egg

Quickie instructions 

Combine crumbs, butter, salt, sugar in mixer or by hand.
Divide into 4 mini mason jars, tamp lightly.
Mix remaining ingredients until very smooth
Divide between jars, cover each with foil, loosely.
Pressure cook jars on trivet, over 2 cups water for 7 minutes.
Allow to release naturally.
Remove, cool, eat.

Longwinded, rambling, commentary with some pictures instructions:

Ok, so I absolutely cannot believe how well these turned out, crazy!  Who pressure cooks a cheesecake, well I guess *I* do now and so do you.  The taste is delicious, any cheesecake recipe will work I suppose but this is mine.  The texture is light and airy while still being dense and creamy and delicious, I am dying to hear how you like it. 

Throw the crackers and a blob of butter in your fabulous Magic Bullet.  Whirrrrr and press it into 4 waiting mini mason jars.  See how pretty mine are tamped down?  I actually HAVE a wooden tamper, really, we all already knew that I would.  However, when I cannot find it in the very chaotic drawer, I just use the handle end of my biggest wooden spoon to gently press the crumbs into these jars.  Works well when we line with pastry too, just a FYI.  

I get my jars here: 

 I'm classy like that. I cook, steam, bake, freeze and bake from frozen in them.  Take the plunge and load up on them.  

  
Here's the mixture, just beat the heck out of it in a measuring cup, it's about 1 1/2 liquid.  Be sure to TASTE this for the tartness level you like!!!  If you're squeamish then taste before the egg if you're not then after.  TASTE TASTE TASTE.  LOOK how evenly this divided, wow, I'm on a roll this year.  Cover each loosely with a piece of foil, just to keep the water off the top, and put on a trivet in the pressure cooker.
  

LOCK AND LOAD 7 MINUTES!  Leave to release on it's own, I left it 8 minutes and opened, there was a little squirt but that's all.

Here is one of them the next morning, I didn't tighten the foil so it separated a little more from the side of the jar.  Big whoop, I'm going to remove it anyway. Run around the side with a tiny knife, being sure you're all the way at the bottom to release the crust too, loosen the cake from the jar.  *Are there sweeter words to be spoken?*
  
Let's just take a moment...  yeah, it's creamy and thick and ... well, we all know this is going to be good.  When you loosen it, gently turn the knife with the jar on it's side and it will gently slip onto your waiting fingers, look for a moment, avoid the temptation to pop it in your mouth and put it on a plate.
   

*sigh*  I'm so proud.  Admire it for a moment then... with a very hot knife cut it in half and look at it.  Smooth and creamy and thick and delicious...  then...  oh alright, go on, dive in.
  

There you go, mini cheesecake in a jar in the pressure cooker.  You can tart it up any way you can think of, I'm already thinking of ways to chocolate it and will post any creations I devise. 

I'm sure you have 2 graham crackers and a half a pack of cream cheese in your fridge, seriously, go make this. 

/enjoy