Churropillas

(subtitle: yes, I just invented a word, and somewhere in the greater Chicago area, Rick Bayless is having a heart attack, since I would have the audacity to maul the words for two different yet delicious Mexican treats.)

Before I tell you the recipe, I must say that this half marathon I've signed up for is going to be LAUGHABLE. I know I get worried about upcoming races, but seriously y'all. I'm nowhere near where I think I need to be in order to run a half. I'm sure I'll run it just fine, and I'll probably even finish somewhere just over 2 hours (which is my goal), and when I finish and am inhaling my third bagel, I'll think, "wow, that was awesome, let's do another one!" But right now, training is really tough. I ran 8 miles today, which is the longest I have ever run in my life. I am sore. I actually required a *nap* this afternoon, and I don't like naps.

But the good thing about constantly training for a half marathon or triathlon? I use it as an excuse to eat whatever the hell I want.

Tonight's carbo-loading took the form of homemade pizza. I should first say that 2010 is the "year of the bread" in Casa Dawmilam, as I am committed to learning how to cook breads of all sorts - quick breads are easy, but those involving yeast? They give me trouble. I also don't know how to make biscuits. Admitting this publicly probably embarrasses my mother and might result in the loss of my "southerner" card if I don't hurry up and learn how. Pizza dough seems easier, so that's what I did tonight. Rosalie used to make it all the time while we lived together (and it was dang tasty). But for some reason, I just don't have the hang of it yet. I think I'm not rolling it out properly.

Anticipating a potential disaster, I chopped off a little bit of my ball of dough and reserved it to "play" with. I thought that if the pizza sucked, at least I'd have a couple of breadsticks or - light bulb! - dessert breadsticks. I call them "churropillas" because they are a cross between churros and sopapillas. Dave had the genius idea to dip them in honey. They are a low-fat version of the fried sopapillas we used to get at Rosie's as dessert, and they are also a lower-fat version of churros, which I think are the same thing as these little guys, just fried.

First: make some pizza dough. And get some melted butter ready.
Then: roll it out really thinly.
Next: Slice the dough into strips. Brush with butter, and top with cinnamon and sugar.
Last: Bake it at 350 for about 15 minutes, top with honey and enjoy.

Pound Cake with Ice Cream and Blueberry Sauce

Here is a delightful little summer dessert.

Coincidentally, do you know how I remember that there are two s's in "dessert," subsequently never confusing it with "desert?" Just remember that you always have apple pie and ice cream. 2 things for dessert - 2 s's. It's one of the same devices that Mrs. Hagood (who wasn't even my teacher but taught my aunts Sherry & Leia and my mom and my dad) drilled into the brains of my loved ones who then passed it along to me. I also remember the day that Sherry, Leia and mom taught me how to never misspell "separate:" There's always a rat in separate. See it? No i or e misplacement in that word, ever, thanks to that little device. I was a dork even as a small child; I just wish that there was some sort of device I'd picked up along the way that instructed me how to write a dissertation proposal in, like, 15 minutes. That'd be really helpful about now.

Back to dessert. I made another pound cake (and the Swan's Down cake flour pound cake as shown in this post is simply divine, baked in the high quality Nordic ware bundt pan my mom got me for Christmas this year), and topped it with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Ice Cream (or the vanilla-ish ice cream of your choice) and this homemade sauce:

about 1/2 pint fresh blueberries, washed, stems removed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon orange liquor
2 Tablespoons orange juice
and the zest of an orange, if you have one laying around
or substitute orange for lemon
or just leave it out all together, really the blueberries and sugar and water are the main ingredients

In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, boil blueberries with water and sugar (and other ingredients) until the berries start to burst, the water turns dark blue, and it becomes somewhat congealed, anywhere from 15-30 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool.

What a simple yet delicious sauce that goes on top of ice cream by itself, pound cake by itself, or biscuits, or pancakes. It's a variation of the cranberry sauce I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Blueberries happened to be not quite as expensive as a gallon of gas at Publix a few weeks ago, so I splurged, got a pint, and have been enjoying them in this form for some time. It lasts for several days in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Chess Squares

Another side project I've had this summer has been to reorganize my personal recipe collection. My collection started out as random clippings and hand-written recipes on index cards, stored in a clear index card storage box. I created it the summer before I went to Auburn. The summer before I started at Kentucky, my storage box was out of control and in need of redesigning, so I created a binder. This made me giddy, as I love things organized in binders. You can imagine my elation when I realized that, this summer, my one binder had outgrown itself. My personal recipe collection now spans three whole binders! Binder 1 is appetizers, dips, salads, soups, breads/breakfast items (yes, I have enough appetizer recipes that I have to partition them into actual appetizers and dips). Binder 2 is main courses: beef, poultry, pork, pasta, vegetarian. Binder 3 is desserts: cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, other, and drinks. One of my favorite things to do is peruse the collection, a very organic assortment of things I've jotted down on post-it notes, things printed from foodtv.com, recipes passed on from both grandmothers, and clippings from food magazines and newspapers.

While perusing the other day for a dessert, I came across Momma Charlie's recipe for Chess Squares. Over Christmas, while we were home visiting Aunt Debbie, she shared part of a chess pie with Dave and me, and I had no idea he loved that dessert as much as he did. He thought it was some sort of lemon treat; admittedly, it does taste somewhat lemony though there is no lemon in the filling or crust. After making them, I felt like they oddly resembled Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cakes. I cross checked my recipes and, sure enough, Momma Charlie's is just like Paula's except she only uses one stick of butter instead of two. In my mind, this makes a great "healthy" dessert.

Chess Squares
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 8 oz package cream cheese (as always, I use 1/3 less fat), softened
1 16 oz box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan.

In small bowl, combine melted butter, one egg, and cake mix. The batter will be stiff. Spread it out on the bottom of the cake pan. In another bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and remaining 2 eggs with a hand mixer until well incorporated. Pour mixture over the top of the cake crust. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until set. Allow to cool completely before serving. Cut into small squares and enjoy.

These are amazing, and we've been eating on them for 4 days. Store in the refrigerator for maximum freshness.

Chocolate "Not"-lage

There are very few things in my life that are absolute certainties. I prefer to deal in hypotheticals, dreams, ideas, and gray areas rather than concretes. However, there is one fact that I face daily now that the hell that was Spring 2008 is over. If I do not write a dissertation proposal this summer, I will not graduate in May. Even if I write a proposal, there is still no guarantee that I will graduate then. But, failure to write down what I plan to study over the next year certifies that I will under no circumstances walk in May.

You'd think that understanding the implications of not writing a proposal would be enough motivation to push me in the right direction. And it is, as I had full intentions of writing something, anything, down yesterday, on my first full day of summer vacation. Instead, I went to the grocery store, planted an herb garden, got paint samples for the guest bathroom, made cupcakes from scratch, roasted pork tenderloin for dinner, and laid out by the pool. I did read the first two chapters in "Tune In/Log On" by Nancy Baym while I was laying out. So I guess that counts for something; regardless, I woke up today determined to do more work. So far, I have run 3 miles, did yoga for 45 minutes, made lunch, baked a new dessert for tomorrow's lunch with Dave's mom, and decided to blog about it. I call this my creative writing exercise for the day.

So there's a restaurant in Birmingham, Cobb Lane. It is difficult to find, and I've only really eaten there once for Allison's bridal tea. At night, it turns into a martini bar - Blue Monkey - where I have sipped on many an inspirational chocolate martini (it was the first place I ever tried one, actually). Cobb Lane is a charming little Southern restaurant, and I fell in love with one of their desserts - chocolate roulage. It's like a grown-up version of a swiss cake roll. I loved it so much I bought the cookbook on the way out the door that day, and resolved to make it for myself at some point. Unfortunately, I'm not as talented of a chef as I wish I was, so I had to modify it. Here is, then:

Chocolate Not-lage
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% cocoa squares), melted over a double boiler with 3 tablespoons water
coco powder
1 cup whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

To begin, melt the chocolate with water, set aside to cool slightly. Preheat oven to 325. Generously butter a cookie sheet, cover with one piece of wax paper, and then generously butter the wax paper. In medium-sized bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, set aside. In another large bowl, beat egg yolks well. Add 3/4 cup sugar, and beat until thick. Stir in the cooled, melted chocolate. Gently fold in the egg whites. Spread over the wax paper, bake for 10 minutes, and reduce heat (I reduced it to 300, the cookbook did not say exactly what temperature I should reduce the oven to) and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, and cover with a cool, wet towel until cooled completely. While cake is cooling, whip cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff.

Here is where the recipes diverge and things got tricky for me. The original recipe calls for you to dust the cake with cocoa, and turn it over on a clean sheet of wax paper, then gently remove the old wax paper. Then, you are to spread the whipped cream all over the cake, and roll it up like a jelly roll.

This results in a beautiful presentation and makes you look like a kitchen rock star. However, my cake came out a little cracked. I was too scared to attempt to jelly-roll it. So, I took out a clear, small casserole dish, and made a "not-lage." I cut out a section of cake, and laid it down in the bottom of the dish. Then, I covered it with 1/3 of the whipped cream. I layered the dessert until I had used up all the whipped cream and topped it with the last section of cake, which I dusted with cocoa. I put the lid on the dish and stuck it in the fridge, where it will stay until I'm ready to go tomorrow. I haven't tried it yet, but I did eat some of the whipped cream with a piece of the cake, and boy howdy, it is amazing. I plan on cutting little squares to serve, and maybe even garnishing it with some fresh raspberries.

And, I plan on getting right to work on the proposal, right now.

Drunken Strawberry Shortcake

Man, I love HDTV. I am being totally spoiled this week by my techie boyfriend's sweet home theater setup. Where I have a passion for food, he has a passion for cables. Gadgets. New technology. At first, I didn't understand and rejected his assertion that we needed a large flatscreen samsung something or other, but now, as I sit here watching American Idol in high def, I can criticize no more. High def rocks! I really was hooked after Christmas break, because there is very little in life that's better than blu-ray Naveen Andrews.

Very little indeed, except, perhaps, this new dessert I just invented. I served it in martini glasses, and you should too. Here is:

Drunken Strawberry Shortcake
2 slices homemade pound cake (see my previous post; it's amazing)
1 shot Godiva liquor
1/2 cup whipping cream
scant 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
sliced strawberries (I used 4-5 large ones)
chocolate shavings for garnish (this totally justifies my keeping half-used chocolate bars in the freezer)

First, whip cream with hand mixer until almost at stiff peaks. Add in the powdered sugar, and whip until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the mascarpone cheese, set aside. Wash and slice strawberries. Retrieve martini glasses for serving (or any clear glass will work). Break the pound cake slices in half (or tear them to fit your glass) and soak the pound cake slices in Godiva. Layer the dessert as follows: Godiva-soaked pound cake, whipped cream mixture, strawberries, and repeat for one more layer. Top with chocolate shavings for extra beautiful presentation. Take a spoon and dig in.

This was a remix of the limoncello tiramisu I made last night, that was good, but this was better. Now, don't get me wrong, I love limoncello and homemade lemon curd as much as the next girl, but there is just something sentimental, warm, and comforting about a strawberry shortcake. It was my favorite dessert growing up, and I remember when my mom switched from those nasty cardboard-flavored discs and strawberry glaze with the consistency of motor oil to angel food cake, sugar-coated strawberries and cool whip. I was hooked! My new, grown-up version is classy enough to impress a first date, or just enjoy with your sweetie. Or by yourself. Or while watching Sayid fight his way through the jungle. Whatever. It's really good, and the addition of mascarpone takes it to the next level. It's one of those "worth the splurge" purchases; sometimes you can catch it on sale for $4/half pound, but I usually pay about $5 for the same amount. What do you do with the rest of it? Try not to eat it all by itself with a spoon. Or, make it into a fruit dip with vanilla extract and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Spring Break Means Nothing in Grad School

I stole my title from Laura G., a beloved sorority sister who is in grad school at Georgia State. It was her status on facebook today. Yeah, I'm a stalker, whatever. Anyway, I think it's brilliant and accurate. Spring break means time to catch up on all the projects you've stupidly taken on before finals crunch time. Or, if you're me, spring break is your last ditch study effort before quals. I planned my quals date strategically, specifically so I would have this week to immerse myself in all things media effects, feminist theory, content analysis, and critical/cultural approaches to mass comm. But what am I doing? Blogging! And baking a cake. I really hope no one on my committee is reading this and thinking I'm a slacker. It's just a 2 hour break. Seriously, I studied all morning! And someone very wise once told me that I can't work all the time.

Besides getting prepared for quals, the other thing I looked forward to for this week was baking. And cooking. Anything that's bad for me. I've already gone through a pint of heavy cream and a box of butter, and it's only Monday afternoon! Part of those ingredients went to my attempt at a whipping cream pound cake, found on the back of the box of Swan's Down cake flour. I have been itching to try out the bundt pan I got for Christmas, and now was the time to do so.

I will add this to the category of recipes called "things that are counterintuitive." From my culinary education on food network, I've learned that in cake baking, you always do wet ingredients first, then add the dry. I even screwed up on my own once ignoring the rule. I also have learned, the hard way, to always preheat the oven. But this time, the cake recipe called for me to ignore both of those truisms and do the opposite. We'll see how it turns out. Here's the recipe, with a few minor adjustments in the technique:

Swan's Down Whipping Cream Pound Cake
3 cups sugar
3 sticks butter, room temperature
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 pint (8 ounces) heavy whipping cream

Do not preheat oven. Cream butter and sugar with hand mixer until creamy. (Note: this was really tough for me, for some reason, with so much sugar and butter. I am now convinced I need a new hand mixer.) Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and add the vanilla. With a wooden spoon, alternate adding the whipping cream and flour until all incorporated. Pour into a greased bundt pan, and bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool completely.

I'm still waiting on it to come out of the oven, but it sure smells good right now while it's baking! And the batter was delicious, so that's a good indication, right? I'm baking my own pound cake in order to make something I saw on someone else's blog - Limoncello Tiramisu. I'll blog about that one when I need another break.

S'mores Brownies

I somehow persuaded everyone to go eat lunch with me today at Bangkok House, my new favorite Thai place in Lexvegas. It is birthday week, after all, so that's really all the excuse we needed to get out of the office, not work, and not eat whatever else we brought for lunch today. Anyway, right after I showed him how to personalize ring tones, John "gently reminded" me that I should blog more, especially since he thinks he's hot stuff now that he has his own blog. I'm not one to get in a "blog-off," but just because I'm still in procrastination mode, and becuase I made something really good this week, here is a new recipe and a blog update for y'all.

S'mores Brownies
adapted from Food Network
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, finely processed
1/2 stick melted butter
1 box Ghirardelli brownie mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 egg
almost a whole bag of marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9 x 13" pan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press down into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven to cool.
Meanwhile, make brownies according to package directions (mine called for oil/water/egg - yours may be different - but I highly recommend using Ghirardelli brand). Pour batter over the graham cracker crust. Bake until almost done, taking brownies out of the oven with about 5 minutes left to cook. Then, pour marshmallows all over the top of the almost-done brownies and stick them back in the oven to melt/get golden brown on top, about 5-7 minutes depending on the oven. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

The Food Network version tells you how to make the brownie part from scratch. This weekend, though, there just wasn't time for "made from scratch" brownies. So I used a box, and everyone here thought they were just fine. No complaints from broke and hungry grad students! These were seriously the bomb for me. I loved them. And I don't even care for s'mores all that much.

Happy Birthday Week to us all!