#20 - Potato Chips

Emily takes these surveys online when she has free time on the computer (i.e., when she's watching Real Housewives of Papua New Guinea), and after answering some questions about random products, she gets points to spend on fun stuff. We'd heard good things about Omaha Steaks, and since they showed up on her list of redeemable prizes, we thought we'd try it out.

Now that we have burgers in the freezer, we figured we needed to make a new sidedish.

Potato Chips

From Epicurious
In honor of Claire Robinson competing on Chopped, this is our 4 Ingredient Fix - potatoes, oil, salt, and pepper.
So by now you know we love our KitchenAid. We've used it for mixing cookie dough, beating egg whites, and even making pasta and churning ice cream.

Well, we have another KitchenAid attachment that we've never used before - a slicer. We figured this was a perfect time to use it because, uh, who wants to slice potatoes into 1/8 inch slices?
It was pretty awesome.
It wasn't in the original recipe, but some of the comments on Epicurious said that it's a good idea to pat the potato slices dry before oiling them up to put in the oven.
These were pretty tasty potato chips and really easy to make, but we don't think our first attempt came out just right. They were a little soggy, and it was kind of hard to get some of the chips off of the baking sheet.

Part of the sogginess problem was because we forgot to put the finished chips on a cooling rack because the burgers finished just as the timer went off for the oven.

And one of the commenters on Epicurious suggested putting parchment paper down so the chips wouldn't stick.

Next time we make these, we'll definitely try those two tips. And there will be a next time because we love potato chips, we love our slicer attachment, and we have four more burgers in the freezer.
Homemade chips are just minutes away:

Ingredients

• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and slice the potatoes into thin even slices.
3. Pat the slices dry using paper towels, and place in a bowl.
   
4. Toss the potato slices with the olive oil and season lightly with salt.
   
5. Arrange the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
6. Season again lightly with salt and pepper when they come out of the oven.
7. Transfer to a rack to cool for maximum crispness.

#19 - Pasta all'Amatriciana with Meatballs

We were looking to make a new pasta this week, and stumbled across this Amatriciana recipe from Giada online. Since we loved her macaroni and cheese and her salmon in foil was really tasty and simple, we thought we'd try another one of her recipes.

Pasta all'Amatriciana with Meatballs

Adapted From Giada at Home
Since this recipe included a complicated sauce and some crazy meatballs, there were approximately three thousand ingredients we had to line up for this picture.
Emily always cries when she has to cut an onion, and we thought that following this recipe's instructions to grate the onion as opposed to chopping might help.

Wow. We were wrong. Grating an onion may be the worst experience one can have with produce.
So one thing that was pretty scary about this recipe for meatballs was an ingredient that just doesn't belong in Italian food - ketchup. You can't see it in this picture, but we were grimacing as we were measuring out the Heinz.
Once mixed, though, the meatballs looked fine. We didn't feel tempted to dip french fries in them or anything.
After getting the meatballs all prepared, we made the Amatriciana sauce, which had a lot more traditional Italian ingredients - olive oil, pancetta, garlic, salt, etc.
In the end, the final dish was alright. It was a nice meal, but probably not one we'd make again soon.

The meatballs tasted fine, but the little voice in the backs of our heads saying "There's ketchup in there - gross" was a little distracting. And since we know how to make other meatballs that are definitely tastier, we'll probably stick with those.

The Amatriciana was good, and we might make that again, but first, we'll have to finish the leftovers.
If you wanna try your hand at it, here's the recipe:

Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
  
• 2/3 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated
  
• 1/3 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbs ketchup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb pork, veal, and beef meatball mix
• 2 oz Bocconcini mozzarella balls, halved

Preparation

1. Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven, and preheat to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the onion, parsley, Parmigiano, bread crumbs, egg, ketchup, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
3. Add the meat, and using your hands, mix well.
4. Shape the meat mixture into 16 meatballs and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Make a hole in the center of each meatball, place half-ball of mozzarella inside, and reform the meatball so the cheese is completely covered.
6. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes until cooked through.

Pasta all'Amatriciana

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 6 oz pancetta, diced
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 lb spaghetti or other long pasta

Preparation

1. In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until golden-brown.
3. Remove the pancetta to paper towels.
4. Add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds.
6. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and the cooked pancetta.
7. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
8. Stir in the cheese.
9. Cook pasta in salted boiling water, strain, and toss with sauce and meatballs.

#18 - Bacon, Onion, Potato, and Jack Strata

There's nothing better than waking up on Saturday morning and already having your breakfast made for you. That's why we decided to try to make a strata, or as the Becks call it, egg casserole.

Bacon, Onion, Potato, and Jack Strata

From Diana and Dan
A great thing about stratas is that you can make them with lots of different ingredients. For our first attempt, we decided to go with a bacon, onion, potato, and Monterey Jack that we first had at a party at Diana and Dan's house. Afterwards, someone asked them for the recipe, and it found its way to us.
This strata makes tons of sense because who doesn't love bacon, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast? And that's what this recipe is - bacon, eggs, and potatoes, and toss in some cheese and onions to top it off.
So all you do after cooking up the fix-ins is layer them in a dish, pour in the egg mixture, and sprinkle in as much cheese as you want on top. Then you put it in the fridge, and it's ready to pop in the oven when you wake up.
We're glad we picked this recipe for our first attempt at a strata because like we said bacon, eggs, and potatoes are the perfect breakfast combo. The final dish came out really tasty, and the best part about it was that since we don't have a big enough casserole dish, we had to make it in two smaller ones, which means we can have some more tomorrow morning!
Here's the recipe for breakfast deliciousness:

Ingredients

• 1 lb Bacon
• 2-3 medium potatoes (red or Yukon Gold, not Russet), cubed
• 1 small-medium Onion, diced
• 2 cups bread, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• Salt
• Pepper
  
• 4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Preparation

1. Cut the bacon in half.
2. Fry in a skillet until crispy, and then remove to paper towels.
3. Remove all but 1-2 Tbs of bacon fat from the skillet.
4. Brown the potatoes in the bacon grease, leaving them to get crispy by not stirring too often.
5. Remove the potatoes to paper towels.
6. Saute the onions.
7. Butter a casserole dish, and layer the bread, covering the bottom of the dish in a single loose layer.
8. Layer the bacon, potatoes, and onions on top of the bread.
9. Lightly beat the eggs and milk, and add salt and pepper.
10. Pour the egg mixture over top of the bread and toppings, and cover with cheese.
11. Cover, and refrigerate overnight
12. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
13. Bake 1 hour.

#17 - Mamu's Rice

Beans are done, rice is up next.

Mamu's Rice

From The Great Mu
Like the beans, there aren't too many ingredients and except for the green pepper, it shouldn't be too hard to keep the rest of these things handy.
The green pepper actually was a little bit of a problem, though, as we couldn't find the Cubanelle that Mamu suggested at our Giant and we had to settle for a bell pepper.
We didn't take too many pictures while we cooked the rice as we were kinda busy making the tacos, beans, and tortillas simultaneously. And as you can see, in the chaos, we forget an important step - to cover the rice! So that was a mistake.
But all in all, this too came out pretty good. The rice was a little hard (because all the liquid cooked off really quickly), and it came out a little insípido (because we used low-sodium chicken broth instead of regular, oh, and it all cooked off really quickly), but it was a solid first effort.

And if we remember to cover it next time, it'll hopefully be a lot closer to Mamu's.
Here's our attempt at typing up the recipe:

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup Canilla extra long grain rice
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
• 1/8 cup green Cubanelle pepper, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 10 pepper corns
• 2 tomatoes from 14.5 oz can of Hunt's whole tomatoes
• 1/2 of a 14.5 oz can of chicken broth

Preparation

1. Coat the bottom of a medium pot with vegetable oil, and put on medium-high heat.
2. When the oil is hot, add the rice and stir frequently for around five minutes until they begin to change color.
3. Add the onions and green peppers until they turn translucent.
4. At the same time, put the garlic, pepper corns, tomatoes with juice, and some water in blender, and blend until thoroughly mixed.
5. Add the blended mixture to the rice, and add the chicken broth.
6. Stir well, and cover the pot.
7. Once it begins to boil lightly, turn the temperature down to medium-low and don't touch it for 25 minutes.
8. The rice will be done when there is no liquid remaining on the bottom of the pot.
   

#16 - Mamu's Beans

We've known how to make tortillas for a while now, we can make some pretty good salsa and guacamole, and we even know how to make yummy pork tacos. The problem is, we don't know how to make a complete Mexican meal. So today, we're attempting to make two new things - rice and beans.

Mamu's been making both of these for as long as anyone can remember, and before her it was the Great Mu cooking up a storm. So the recipes we were given are a little less precise and more along the lines of "you'll know when it's right," so it was a bit of an adventure.

First up: beans!

Mamu's Beans

From The Great Mu
You don't need much to make beans. And it's not too much work to make sure you have all these things around the kitchen at all times.
The first step is to clean the beans. This is the step that makes you feel like you are a maid in a telenovela.
After the beans are cleaned and rinsed, you plop them in a pot to boil for several hours. Then you start on the sauce. Based on this picture, we probably didn't add enough water to the pot before boiling because that looks pretty low.
Overall, our beans came out pretty well. We made them a night in advance so we could concentrate on the rice today, and we refried them when it was time to eat. They came out a little salty, but that's probably because we added the right amount of salt but we boiled off too much water.

Other than that, they tasted really good, and we're definitely on the right track. We just need to make them about 3,000 more times to catch up with Mamu.
Here's the best we could do at typing up a solid recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 lb dry pinto beans
• 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 1/2 Tbs salt
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup sweet onions
• 8 oz can Hunt's tomato sauce

Preparation

1. Clean the beans, by spreading them on a table and rolling them between your fingers. Throw away any loose rocks or pieces of dirt that got packaged with the beans and any beans that are broken in half. Keep the cleaned beans in a colander.
2. Rinse the beans in water, and put in 8 qt pot.
3. Fill the pot with water to cover the beans by about 4 inches, and add garlic.
4. Cook covered on medium-high heat until boiling.
5. Lower the heat to medium-low, making sure the beans are still boiling slightly, and keep covered.
6. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.
7. Add salt, and cook for another 1/2 hour.
8. At the same time, cook the bacon in a large pan, and remove.
9. Chop the onions, and saute them in bacon fat until translucent.
10. Add the tomato sauce and some of the bean water, and simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Scoop out the garlic from the bean pot and discard.
12. Place 2 cups of beans and 1 cup of bean water in blender and blend thoroughly.
13. Pour the blended beans into the sauce.
14. Scoop and drain all the beans into the sauce, squishing the beans with the spoon as you combine.
15. Cook for 15-20 minutes, adding salt if necessary.
16. Store in refrigerator uncovered, and to reheat, cook a few strips of bacon and heat the beans in the fat.

#15 - Salmon Baked in Foil

Remember how we said we've been trying to have more fish lately? Well, since the last few times we've made fish it's gone in some sort of pasta, we decided to try something else this time.

Salmon Baked in Foil

From Everyday Italian
This recipe is pretty straightforward and doesn't call for too many crazy ingredients. And you can replace the fresh herbs with dried ones if you don't want to spend too much time a) at the store and b) chopping oregano.
The first thing you do is chop up some tomatoes and shallots, and toss with fresh herbs and olive oil and lemon juice.
It smells really good, but don't taste it as is because of the lemon juice.
Then you put the salmon on a piece of foil, cover it with the tomatoes, wrap and pop in the oven. And that's it. Simple, huh?
And oh my goodness, for being so easy to make, this fish was delicious. We made some mashed potatoes and peas while the salmon was cooking, and we had a really nice complete meal done in less than an hour start to finish.

And with Lent coming up, we're going to have to try this out again soon on a Friday.
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 Tbs + 2 tsp olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (3/4 tsp if dried)
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (3/4 tsp if dried)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 4 salmon fillets (6 oz each)
  

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, stir the tomatoes, shallots, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 2 Tbs olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
3. Lay out four sheets of aluminum foil, and spoon 1/2 tsp olive oil in the middle of each.
4. Place one salmon fillet on top of the oil and turn to coat.
5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper over all of the salmon.
6. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fillets.
   
7. Fold the sides of the foil over the fish and tomato mixture, covering completely, and seal the packets closed.
8. Place packets on a large baking sheet.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. Carefully transfer the foil packets to plates, open and serve the fish using a large metal spatula.
    

#14 - Banana Cupcakes

Teachers love professional days without students. They also love to find any excuse for a party. The only thing teachers love more than parties without students is cupcakes. When Emily was put in charge of desserts for tomorrow's surprise baby shower for the male gym teacher, she knew that cupcakes were the way to go.

Once we knew we were making cupcakes, we turned to our trusty cute cakes blog, and here's what we found.

Banana Cupcakes

From Bakerella
Most people would make a chocolate or vanilla cupcake, but we went out on a limb and made banana cupcakes because bananas are delicious and babies love bananas. There were no babies at the baby shower, but adults love bananas too.
As you know, we love our Kitchen Aid, and it had double duty today, making first the cupcake batter, and then the frosting.
We've watched enough Paula Deen (y'all) on Food Network to know a few tricks when it comes to sweet goodness, and one thing we decided to try out here was using an ice cream scooper to get nice, even fills in each cup.
The best part of a cupcake is what's on top, and this recipe called for a yellow cream cheese icing. We liked the yellow because bananas are yellow and because baby showers when you don't know the gender of the baby are yellow. And cupcakes for a baby shower when you find out the gender of the baby the day before but after you already committed to banana-flavored turn out yellow too.
Emily's always wanted to use a piping bag, and she finally got her wish with this one. Check out her handiwork; she'll be working at Georgetown Cupcake in no time.
Oh my gosh, these cupcakes were incredible. They tasted like bananas which everyone loves. And despite having a whole box of confectioner's sugar in the icing, they were oddly not sweet at all. We're hoping it's someone's birthday soon so we can make these cupcakes again.
Make these now:

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla, divided
• 1 large ripe banana, chopped
• 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 lb confectioner’s sugar
• Yellow food coloring
• Star sprinkles

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tray with 12 baking cups.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a wire whisk.
3. Cream the unsalted butter and sugar in a mixer for about four minutes.
4. Add the banana and mix until combined.
5. Add the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla and mix until combined.
6. Add about a third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the milk, and scrape the sides.
7. Repeat until all the flour and milk has been added.
8. Scoop the batter into the baking cups.
9. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until done.
10. Cream the salted butter and cream cheese in a mixer until thoroughly combined.
11. Add 1 tsp vanilla.
12. Add the confectioner's sugar in small batches until combined and creamy.
13. Add yellow food coloring to frosting and mix until the frosting is the desired color.
14. Once the cupcakes have cooled, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorate with star sprinkles.