Fall Favorites

At this time of year, we are surrounded by Fall: the sight of amber colored leaves, the chill that makes you put on a sweater, the fireplaces lit for warmth, and most importantly, the tastes of comfort. Fall is a time of hot, hearty dishes that will fill you up and leave you satisfied as you enjoy all that the season has to offer. On the menu are seasonal favorites including cranberry appetizers, sweet potato fries with a spicy dipping sauce, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing, and an apple cider spritzer. Fall is the perfect time to cook and bake with produce straight from the harvest that will only be here for a short amount of time, so let’s beat the Falling leaves and get cooking!

First up are two appetizers that utilize cranberries, an ingredient commonly used this time of the year. First up is a cream cheese cranberry dip perfect served alongside crackers, chips, or pretzels at your next gathering. To make the dip, add softened cream cheese, orange juice and orange zest to add a zip of freshness, and a dash of cinnamon to a food processor. Once this is combined, you want to mix in some dried cranberries so that they don’t break apart while you mixed the other ingredients. Store this dip in the refrigerator, and eat whenever you want (it’s perfect for a snack, lunch, or even breakfast)! The next cranberry appetizer that I cannot get enough of are cranberry brie bites. These are legitimately so addictive, so take caution! Not only are these delicious, but they are super simple and can be made in a flash. There are only three ingredients (yes, you read that right!). You want to start out with the phyllo dough shells which can be found in the freezer section of your supermarket. Then, you want to spoon about half a teaspoon of cranberry sauce into the middle of each cup or enough to fill the cup about half way. On top of the cranberry sauce, add some cubes of sliced brie, my all-time favorite cheese. Pop in the oven for five minutes on 350 degrees, and you will have the perfect appetizer that can just be popped in your mouth and enjoyed. Seriously though, be careful!!!

The next Fall favorite that we will be cooking up are sweet potato fries. Recently, these have become a lot more popular because they are a healthier option compared to regular fries. Sweet potatoes are also an item specifically harvested in Fall, so you want to take advantage of these now. To make the fries, you want to start out by slicing your sweet potato into thin strips and arranging them onto a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle a bit of salt on top, and bake for 20 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees. Let cool, and get started on the dipping sauce, because we all know that every good fry must have something to be dipped in. Start out with a little bit of mayonnaise, then add a sprinkle (or depending on how spicy you want it) of cayenne pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and finish with a dash of salt. These are perfect served alongside a meal or just by themselves as a snack.

Now a Fall food blog would be nothing without something pumpkin, so the next treat that we will be making are mix and match pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I say mix and match because I take two recipes, one for the cake part and one for the icing and put them together to make a truly decadent Fall delight. Once you spread the icing onto the cupcakes, you can top them with chocolate chips, colored sprinkles, candy corn, or any other Halloween candy. You can also make these really festive by using specialty Halloween wrappers with decorations to make these fun to look at and even more fun to eat. Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

The last seasonal Fall favorite for this blog is a chilled apple cider spritzer. Apples are a great Fall harvest food because they are super versatile and can be used in basically everything from apple pie to applesauce to apple fritters to apple cake to apple doughnuts…I think you get the point! You can even go to a farm and pick apples yourself. This season, I went with my family, and we ended up picking more than 21 pounds of apples. To make this drink, you want to start with some of your favorite chilled apple cider. To that, you’re going to add some cranberry juice, orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and some seltzer to add some bubble and fizz to the drink. After you stir the drink together, remove the cinnamon sticks. Serve in a big pitcher with ice and some orange peels for presentation.

The harvest has brought us some treats that fall straight from the farm to table within seconds. We’ve got cranberry orange dip, cranberry cups, sweet potato fries, pumpkin cupcakes with icing, and an apple cider spritzer sure to please. With the leaves on the ground and Fall spirit in the air, you can whip up all of these delicious seasonal favorites, all when you’re Cooking with Carly!

 

 

The Morning Madness

Your alarm didn't go off, it's only Tuesday, and the bus comes in 20 minutes. Well, for most families this seems like a grab a bag of cereal or granola bar type of morning. But with a little preparation and some speedy assembly skills, you can feed your family a quality breakfast even when everyone’s rushing to get out of the house on time. On the menu is stuffed French toast, mini egg frittatas, and baked hash brown potatoes. There’s nothing better than starting your day with a warm, home-cooked breakfast. I would suggest making big batches of each item either on the weekend or on a night when you have time to spare and storing them in the fridge. This ensures that in the morning all that you have to do is simply heat everything up. Now, let’s get cooking!

One of my favorite breakfasts is a stuffed French toast that my mom has been making for my family since we were little. It’s two pieces of buttery, griddled bread sandwiched between a layer of fresh fruit and cream. Decadence at its finest! To start out, you want to make the actual bread component of this stuffed French toast. To start out, to want to choose a type of bread such as white, wheat, brioche, or challah. This recipe is surprisingly very good when you have stale bread because it will soak up the egg mixture better than pliable fresh bread. Once you’ve chosen your bread, you can start on the egg mixture to soak the bread in and make it soft and pillowy. To make the egg mixture, simply beat as many eggs as you want, add a splash of milk, some melted butter, a little bit of sugar, and a tiny drop of vanilla extract. Once this mixture has been whisked and is fully combined, add the bread into the bowl, and let it soak, constantly checking to make sure that the bread doesn’t get too soggy. After your bread has soaked, you want to cook your bread in a frying pan or on a grill pan. Once your toast is done cooking, wrap it in foil and store it in the refrigerator for breakfasts in the morning. To reheat it the next day, you will want to microwave it in 10 second increments until it is warm, or if you have time, you can surely griddle it again for about a minute. For the filling to the stuffed French toast, combine softened cream cheese, a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar, and a fruit of your choice. I particularly like to mix in strawberries or raspberries. This cream is perfect to just keep in a bowl in the fridge to use whenever you want to enjoy this delicious sandwich.

The next item that can be made ahead of time for breakfast are mini frittatas. A frittata is typically an Italian egg dish resembling a large egg omelet with cheese and mixed veggies. I like to make mini frittatas in cupcake pans because they are individual portions that can just be popped in the microwave whenever you want to eat them. For the egg mixture, combine eggs (as many as you want to make), milk, salt, pepper, your choice of sautéed vegetables, and a cheese that easily melts. I like to combine asparagus, tomatoes, fried onions, and fontina cheese. Stir all of these ingredients together and ladle into your greased cupcake tin. The end result is a golden mini egg frittata perfect for a quick meal and served either plain or dipped in ketchup. Reheating the egg frittatas is just as easy as making them; pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and enjoy!

The last element to this make-ahead breakfast is hash brown potatoes. Similar to everything else, these can be made in a big batch and reheated whenever you want. To start, choose which type of potatoes you would like to use. I like to combine Yukon gold and russet potatoes because of their contrasting flavors, colors, and textures. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces and place them into a bowl. Then you want to take some vegetable oil, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, or rosemary, and toss the potatoes in these seasonings. Then spread the potatoes onto a baking sheet and cook until tender and golden brown. Store the potatoes in a plastic bowl in the fridge, and microwave for 20 seconds for a satisfying side to a breakfast that can be made in a flash.

Between a stuffed French toast loaded with cream and fresh fruit, mini veggie and cheese frittatas, and homemade hash browns, you can still feed your family a quality breakfast on those mornings when nothing seems to be going right, all possible when you're Cooking with Carly!

An Italian Feast

For parents who are the cleaning service, the chauffer, the Laundromat, the money maker, the tutor, the secretary, and the personal assistant, dealing with picky kids who don’t want to eat anything other than  chicken fingers and French fries can be a struggle even bigger than helping them with their homework. Well, this is where I come into play. Each week, I am going to provide some helpful hints and ideas for making both yours and your children’s eating experience simple, quick, and of course, delicious!

This week, I will be focusing on a fast dinner sure to satisfy your fussy eaters. With September here and hectic schedules filling up your calendar, it’s important to make sure that your plans for dinner are easy to achieve and easy to gobble up! So on the menu this week is an oven-baked pizza, a tossed Caesar salad, and the easiest trifle dessert. Parts of this meal can even be taken for lunch the next day, and throughout, I will provide some tips on making sure that your leftovers (if there are any!) stay fresh and just as delicious as they were on the day that you first made them.

As soon as you get home from work or from a busy day running errands, the first thing that you want to get started on doing is making your pizza dough. If you don’t have the time to make dough from scratch, you can go ahead and buy premade pizza dough from either your local pizza place or from the supermarket (Pillsbury’s pizza dough tastes just as good and provides a very quick and cheap shortcut). However, nothing can replace the taste of freshly kneaded dough. Following the recipe attached, make sure that you have enough time in your schedule to allow the dough to fully rise so that you get the fluffiest, airiest pizza dough possible. Once your dough has risen, I follow a trick that my mom always did when I was younger. Divide your dough in half to take a recipe that would originally account for one batch and make it into a recipe that yields two separate pizzas. This also makes your pizza crust thinner and crispier, but if you prefer a thicker crust, just go ahead and keep the batch of dough as it is. You can also put a spin on this and make it healthier by using whole wheat dough instead of regular white flour dough. So now you are ready to spread your dough out to bake. I suggest using a sheet pan similar to the one that you would use to bake cookies. Put some olive oil on the bottom of the pan so that your pizza dough doesn’t stick because it would just be awful to sit down to dinner and see that every single slice of pizza is stuck to the pan. Pizza Dough Recipe

After your dough is rolled out, it’s time for the sauce. If you are crunched for time, you can use a store bought sauce right out of the jar. Even if you don’t have a lot of time, making homemade sauce is something that takes little effort and turns out great. Simply pour a can of crushed tomatoes into a saucepan with a little bit of olive oil and either fresh or dried Italian herbs such as parsley, basil, or oregano. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer on the stove. Presto! You now have a fast, easy shortcut for an authentic tomato sauce.

Once your sauce is ready, you can now start assembling the pizzas. This is a great activity for the kids as well because they can customize the toppings and arrangement of their pizzas. To make sure that this doesn’t turn into a giant mess all over the kitchen, I would set up an assembly line with the pizza crusts at one end, then the sauce, and then all of the toppings. I’ve found that kids like the basic toppings: pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, olives, and of course lots of cheese. To make an adult version of this pizza, one of my favorites is a margarita pizza with tomato sauce, freshly sliced mozzarella cheese, and torn up pieces of basil with a little bit of olive oil sprinkled on at the end. Once they are all assembled, you can place the pizzas into the oven and move on the next component of the dinner.

To make a simple and quick side to the pizza, I suggest making a Caesar salad; it’s something that both kids and adults love to eat. There are some great bottled dressings that are already ready at the supermarket, but these can be very fattening and defeat the purpose of actually eating a salad. So for a homemade dressing that is packed with a punch, you simply need vegetable oil, a 2-minute cooked egg, anchovy (you won’t even taste it, I promise!), parmesan cheese, a squirt of lemon juice for freshness, Worcestershire, and small amounts of garlic and vinegar. Place all of the ingredients into a blender, and with the push of a button, you have your own homemade Caesar salad dressing. To assemble the salad, start with some torn romaine lettuce leaves, parmesan cheese, and some croutons. If there are any other vegetables that you want such as tomatoes, carrots, celery, or cucumbers, feel free to add them to the mix. I like to serve the salad dressing in a small bowl alongside the actual greens because different people like different amounts of dressing, and you don’t want your salad to get soggy.

So, your pizza is out of the oven, your salad is ready to serve, and you’re feeling a sweet tooth coming. For the perfect no-bake dessert that can be easily made on a school night, always turn to the trifle. A trifle is traditionally a layered dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of cream or pudding. You can really put any spin on this that you want because the combinations are endless. Chocolate banana, peanut butter, strawberries and cream, fresh mixed fruit, or chocolate pretzel are all combinations that I love. My favorite, however, is a strawberry brownie trifle with layers of fudgy chocolate brownie, juicy strawberries, and layers of whipped cream. It’s the best!

So look at that, making fresh oven-baked pizza with homemade dough and sauce, a Caesar salad with your own dressing, and a truly decadent trifle can be simple when you plan in advance to ensure a delicious meal made in a flash! It's all possible when you're Cooking with Carly!