Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

The Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil 

3 tbsp sesame tahini 

1 roasted red pepper

1 can organic garbanzo beans

1/2 lemon for lemon juice

1/4 cup roasted red pepper brine

3 roasted garlic cloves 

2/3 cup water

cayenne pepper

pinch of sea salt

Before

I start with the garbanzo beans- even though they're organic, I don't like using their brine since it can be high in sodium. Drain the garbanzo beans and put into a blender. Bake your garlic in a clay baker for 30 minutes (until soft) and add to the mix. I also chop my roasted red pepper prior to throwing it into the mix, but it depends on the quality of your blender. Add everything into the mix and add your water a little bit at a time so as to not water down the hummus too much. Cayenne pepper and a pinch of sea salt can be added at the end to taste. Nice and thick, just how a homemade hummus should be! 

After

Bacon-Cheese-Scallion Savory Muffins

1 tbsp baking powder

2 cups multi grain flour (I prefer Trader Joe's)

1 organic scallion stalk

Etorki cheese (Basque)

1 cup milk

2 strips of organic bacon

1 large organic egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 stick of unsalted butter

1 pinch of salt

Mix all baking ingredients together in a bowl. Wash one organic scallion stalk and use scissors to cut small rings. In a pan, fry your two strips of bacon. Pat down the grease and once cooled, cut into small pieces. Add chives and bacon into the baking mix. Then, cube some Etorki cheese and add to the mix. Please note that if it's cubed, it will melt nicely into the muffins! Preheat oven at 400 degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes. (In a buttered muffin tin). These are for my landlord's mother who lives below me...she's only getting 11, though...

Thickest batter I have ever laid my eyes on

Pre-baking

Edible delights

Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies

2 cups nutella

1 cup flour

2 tbsp butter

4 tbsp organic peanut butter

3/4 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

Mix all ingredients into a bowl. Butter a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. They are dense, moist, and chewy.

P.S. This was my first time making brownies and I only started baking last month. In the words of Borat, "Great success!" My brother and his friend pretty much ate all of them. 

Thick batter 

Pre-cooking

Taste the amazingness.

The best risotto I have ever made

Mushroom Risotto

Featured ingredients:

10 organic cremini mushrooms

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms

1 cup organic arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

1 small yellow onion

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cups free range chicken broth

2 tbsp unsalted natural butter

organic truffle oil

1 organic scallion stalk

organic raw, crushed walnuts

WARNING: This recipe requires lots of multi-tasking! 

Place dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl and soak in water at room temperature. You will get back to these in a few minutes.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 cup of water into a sauce pan and add rice. Keep on medium heat for about 20 minutes and keep adding a little bit of chicken stock as the rice cooks. Cover it halfway to increase cooking time but without the rice coming out of the sauce pan. Add wine a every few minutes. Stir occasionally. 

Risotto myth: You need to add cream. You actually don't. The type of rice affects the texture of the risotto tremendously. Arborio rice is the BEST to use for this, and you will see how creamy it gets as you cook it. 

While this is going on, put 1 tbsp of butter in a frying pan. Dice your onion and add to the butter. Cook at medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Then, chop cremini mushrooms. Add second tbsp of butter to the pan and when melted, add mushrooms. The mushrooms should decrease in size quite a bit and the onions should be caramelized. 

Add this mixture to the rice. Now, come back to the dried porcini mushrooms. Squeeze the water out of them and add them to the rice as well. 

Mix in some parmesan cheese. 

Finished product: Topped with additional parmesan cheese, truffle oil, crushed walnuts, and scallions. 

Homemade Toasted Almonds

Toasted Almonds

2 cups raw almonds

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg white

cinnamon

Mix egg white until frothy. Then add all other ingredients. Spread almonds onto a baking pan and evenly spread out the mixture (adding cinnamon to taste). It should be quite thick and syrupy. Toast almonds at 350 degree heat for 15 minutes, taking almonds out every 7-8 minutes to make sure they are being evenly toasted. They should be crunchy after about 15-20 minutes. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Pre-toasting

Post-toasting

Shrimp stir-fry

Saucey goodness

Final product! 

The bulk of it all

1 doz. 31-40 ct. deveined shrimp

1/2 can baby corn

8 oz. frozen broccoli florets

The rice

1 cup organic brown rice

2 cups water

Vegetable oil

Shrimp stir fry sauce

Organic ginger paste or fresh ginger

Sriracha sauce

Low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 yellow onion

Sunflower seed oil

Put rice and vegetable oil in a pot on medium heat. Mix so that the rice is gently coated in oil. Then, add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste. The rice I used is from Trader Joe's and takes about 15 minutes to cook. Not all rices are the same so they may have different cooking times.

Boil shrimp and peel them. Move to the side- you will get to these soon. Wash out the pot and boil the broccoli. Then, add this to your bowl with shrimp in it. Rinse your baby corn and add them into the mix.

For the sauce, sautée your diced onion in sunflower seed oil. Add ginger paste or fresh ginger to taste. Then, add soy sauce and sriracha sauce. These can be salty, so make sure to add some water to loosen up the sauce.

Add the shrimp and vegetables to the sauce. Serve over rice. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Thick, yummy batter

Pre-baking with a plethora of toppings- nutella, raspberry jam, and dark chocolate squares

Ready for your mouth cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

4 tbsp. butter at room temperature

1/2 cup organic, unsalted peanut butter

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

pinch of salt

pinch of baking soda

Mix all ingredients in a large, plastic bowl. The batter should be nice and thick. I love soft and chewy cookies, and the salt and baking soda definitely help with that texture. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Feel free to add your own toppings to the cookies, either pre or post-baking. My personal favorite is the plain, but I think everything tastes better with nutella! 

Asian-inspired Popcorn

Asian-inspired Popcorn

Organic popcorn kernels

Chili powder

Garlic salt (or adobo)

Red pepper flakes

Sesame seeds

Vegetable oil

Coat the bottom of a deep frying pan with oil. Once the popcorn is popped, add all ingredients to taste. I'm typically a huge truffle oil popcorn fan, but this is so flavorful and with a good kick to it that I am in love! 

Crêpes

 

                         

                                                   Butter and sugar crêpe

                                     

Plain crêpe

Pre-rolled nutella crêpe

Folded nutella crêpe

Crêpes

1/2 cup milk
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 egg

Put all contents into a bowl and mix. The batter is somewhat runny, but that's OK because it helps create a nice, thin, crêpe. My brother-in-law would say that the trick is in your wrist, because it helps spread the batter evenly in your pan. Make sure the pan is sprayed with Pam or has a layer of butter on the bottom to coat the crêpe batter for it to cook evenly. I show some examples of different toppings you can add, but it's totally up to you. You can make a thicker batter increasing the amount of flour and eggs (namely, the yolk), which is ideal for a thicker, savory crêpe, or "galette" which you can fold and fill with various meats, veggies, sauces, and cheeses. Bon appétit!