I Sing In The Kitchen

Short And Sweet. Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie.

Posted on June 4, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

Holy mother of all that is Short and Sweet.

This Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie is completely, utterly insanely easy and, likewise, insanely delicious.

You stir together all of the standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients in a skillet on the stove top. Transfer to the oven.

That is it.

One half hour later you have the mother of all cookies.

If you love chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven when the dough is soft and the chocolate is melting, then you will drool over this skillet version.

Even if right out of the oven cookies are not your thing, you will love a slice of this cooled and eaten for breakfast (with ice cream of course) like I did this morning.

Note: The following recipe calls for an 8 inch cast iron skillet. I only have a 10 inch one, so I doubled the ingredients. More cookie. More happiness.

Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

Ingredients:

4 oz butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, large chips or cut into chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.

2. Melt butter in an 8 inch cast iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat. Let rest until pan is warm, but no longer very hot, about 5 minutes.

2. Add egg to the butter and sugar mixture, and stir. Place flour, baking soda, and salt on top, and carefully stir into the mixture until smooth and well-mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks.

3. Bake skillet in the oven for 15-25 minutes, or until starting to turn golden on the top and around the edges, but still soft in the center. Serve with vanilla ice cream. I also had some caramel sauce that I threw on top. Why not?

Recipe from Tasty Kitchen Blog

Short and Sweet music time.

Short:
The Basics-Just Hold On

Sweet:
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis- (Baby) Hold Me Tight

Check out The Basics on their Website, where you can also buy the music.

Learn more about Kitty, Daisy & Lewis on their Website. Upcoming Ireland/UK gig dates are listed and you can pick up the music there, too.

Cheers!

Posted in Cookies, Dessert | Tagged Kitty Daisy & Lewis, The Basics | Leave a comment

Roasted Asparagus And Tomato Penne Salad With Ricotta. Dive Into This New Song From DIIV.

Posted on June 3, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

My husband has a fabulous asparagus bed that he lovingly tends to each year. For about 4 weeks between May and June, we have fresh and wonderful home grown asparagus.

I always keep my eye out for new asparagus recipes, even though simply steaming the stalks and tossing with butter and cracked pepper is almost all they need for perfection.

Roasted asparagus is my second fave way to prepare the veg. The crisped asparagus and the caramelized sweetness of the tomatoes are perfect combined with the honey laced dressing that the pasta is tossed with. I especially loved the addition of ricotta, it’s creaminess so welcome in bites with the salty feta.. Next time I am going to try the goat cheese, because that sounds dreamy as well.

Roasted Asparagus And Tomato Penne Salad With Ricotta

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked penne
12 asparagus spears
12 cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
kosher salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
2 cups baby spinach or arugula
2 oz cubed feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese or fresh ricotta

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

3. Place asparagus and tomatoes on a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss gently to coat; arrange asparagus and tomato mixture in a single layer. Bake for 6 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Remove asparagus from pan. Place pan back in oven, and bake tomatoes an additional 4 minutes. Remove tomatoes from pan; let asparagus and tomatoes stand 10 minutes. Cut asparagus into 1-inch lengths; halve tomatoes.

4. Combine shallots and the next 4 ingredients (through honey) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Season with salt and black pepper. Set dressing aside.

5. Place pasta, asparagus, tomato, olives, dressing and ricotta or goat cheese in a large bowl; mix well. Add spinach or arugula and toss before serving.

Recipe from More Than Burnt Toast

Dive now DIIV.

Dive into this totally cool song. Dreamy and light. I feel like the notes soar around me until I want to spin around and mimic them.
DIIV-How Long Have You Known?

The video for the song is pretty great, too. If you’re not a smoothie kind of person, here are some ideas of ways to use your blender.

Check out DIIV on Facebook. The new album will be out later this month. You can buy it here.

Cheers!

Posted in Pasta, Salad | Tagged DIIV | Leave a comment

Spicy Grilled Pork Ribs. Texas Corn Bread. Dave? Yes.

Posted on June 2, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

Overheard on SNL:

“My little brother was born with no mouth.”

“That must have been hard.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Ha!

Let’s talk about some really good ribs.

I loved how easy it was to throw this recipe together. Leave the ribs to roast to tender perfection in the oven and then finish up on the grill. The spice blend is one of the best combinations I have tried.

The rib recipe as is only serves 2, so be sure to double or triple it as needed.

Corn on the cob is a great side dish, but I wanted to share this really fantastic version of corn bread. It is dense, moist and very rich. VERY good.

The original recipe calls for melting a whole stick of butter and pouring it over the warm bread before serving.

Wow. Even by my ‘throw tons of butter and cheese into everything’ standards, that was too much for me. I poured 1 ounce of melted butter over and it was perfect. It gave the bread a lovely sheen and a nice hint of butter flavor.

If you try the whole stick of butter thing, you must let me know what you thought!

Spicy Grilled Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

1 rack pork back ribs (about 2 lbs/905g)
1 cup (250g) prepared BBQ sauce

Ingredients for rub:

1 Tbs (7.5g) chile powder
1 teaspoon (2.5g) ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons (3.8g) paprika
1/2 teaspoon (1g) fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon (18g) kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp (7.5g) dark brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F/150℃.

2. Line bottom of broiler pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

3. Cut pork ribs into sections of 3 or 4 bones.

4. Stir all dry rub ingredients together. Sprinkle on both sides of ribs and rub into the meat.

5. Place ribs on broiler pan, meaty side up. Bake until tender, for about 2 hours.

6. Prepare grill.

7. Place ribs on grate over heat. Baste with barbeque sauce until ribs are well coated. Grill until glazed and heated through about 10 minutes, turning frequently and brushing with sauce.

Serves 2

Recipe from Vermont Castings’ Modern Grilling

Texas Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal (see note below)
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) grated cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 (17 ounce) can cream-style corn
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 oz butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450℉. Grease a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients.

3. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.

4. Pour melted butter evenly over warm bread and cut into serving-sized squares.

Note: If self-rising cornmeal is not available, use a mixture of 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon baking powder.

Serves 12

Recipe from Mr Food

More fun from Scotland. Where else?

Dave?

That is the name, question mark and all.

Dave?

I love that band name.

I thought the name of the band was cool and then heard this song. Hooked.
Dave?-Take This Chance

Check out Dave? on Facebook

You can pick up the song over at the Dave? Bandcamp page. Buy the new album ‘Songs For Adverts’ here.

Cheers!

Posted in Bread, Side Dish | Tagged Dave? | 1 Comment

Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on June 1, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

Now for today’s WTF moment.

I visited Japan about 2 years ago and I can attest to the fact that the toilets can do just about anything, except perhaps make some Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies. Nooooo. We wouldn’t want them to.

But, you want to make some seriously amazing chocolate chip cookies.

And this recipe will fit that bill.

I think this may be my second favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe of all time. Numero Uno is still the chippers With Fèves And Sea Salt over in this post.

You have to plan ahead since the dough needs to chill, but I love that the cookies are slice and bake. Insanely easy.

Don’t skip toasting the nuts. It makes all the difference.

Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed (215g) light brown sugar
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (350g) flour
¾ tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp salt
14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into ½ – 1-inch chunks (Or chop chocolate disks like these.)
1 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated.

3. Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate.

4. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferable for 24 hours.

5. Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

6. Slice the logs into disks ¾ inch thick and place the disks 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake the cookies until lightly browned in the center, about ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking.

7. Remove from oven and let cookies cool. Transfer cookies to a wire rack with a spatula.

Storage: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to five days in an airtight container.

Yield: 40-48 cookies

Recipe from David Lebovitz via Slow Like Honey

Friday Night.

Oh yes!

Act On Impulse.

Sure.

I want to wear this song like a cape. Throw it on and fly away. Supa Hero Style.
We Were Promised Jetpacks-Act On Impulse

Check out We Were Promised Jetpacks on their Website where you can learn about upcoming shows and buy the music.

Cheers!

Posted in Cookies | Tagged We Were Promised Jetpacks | Leave a comment

Sweet White Scones. New Music From Two Wounded Birds.

Posted on May 31, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

This is worth it just for “MY Eye! My Only Eye!”. Cracks me up.

Of course, Skittles has nothing to do with Scones apart from the fact that they both start with S.

Big debate in my house: Sc-OWN or s-CON.

I’m a scown person myself.

I once had a friend in Texas, who was from England, who made scones for every gathering. I still think of her when I whip up a batch.

You’ll love these light, sweet scones. So good layered with cream and jam and accompanied by a steaming cup of tea.

Sweet White Scones

Ingredients:

7 cups/900g/2 lb flour
pinch of salt
1/4 cup/50g/2oz granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
175g/6oz butter, cubed
3 eggs
425ml milk

Glaze:

1 egg, beaten
granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475℉/250℃

2. Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter (I did this in the food processor).

3. Beat eggs with the milk and add all at once to the dry ingredients. Mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface.

4. Knead dough lightly, just enough to shape into a 1-inch thick round. With a cutter or knife cut into scones. Brush the tops with the egg wash and dip tops in granulated sugar.

5. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in the hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown on top.

6. Cool scones on a wire rack. Serve warm split in half and slathered with jam and butter and/or clotted or whipped cream.

Makes 18 to 20 scones

Recipe from Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery Course Cookbook

New favorite of mine.

Two Wounded Birds.

Cool, catchy, and fun. Feels like the sun shining on one’s face.

Two Wounded Birds’ self titled debut album is due out on June 11th. Learn more about the band here where you can also pre-order the cd. Summer UK tour dates are on the band’s Website.

Cheers!

Posted in Breakfast, Cake, Snack | 2 Comments

Paneer With Broccolini. Stir Fried Minced Beef And Noodles.

Posted on May 30, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

So, do you want to See what I found funny today?

This.

These recipes are not hard either.

Bonus is that they are more interesting than your standard stir fries, too.

If you haven’t tried paneer, a mild Indian cheese that is slightly chewy and very similar to queso blanco, this is a good introduction.

You can make either recipe alone. The Paneer With Broccolini is good for the vegetarian crowd. I liked serving them together for the contrast of textures and flavors.

Paneer With Broccolini And Sesame

Ingredients:

200g broccolini
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1 large jalapeño , finely chopped
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
1 medium onion , sliced
140g paneer cheese, cut into strips
1 Tbs grated ginger
2 garlic cloves , crushed
1 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp ground mace

Directions:

1. Trim the broccolini and boil or steam for 5-6 minutes until tender but firm to the bite. Drain and cool under cold running water.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add cumin seeds, sesame seeds, chile pepper, mustard seeds and the curry leaves. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the onion and cook another 2 minutes.

3. Add in the paneer, ginger and garlic. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutess until the paneer turns golden. Add the broccolini and mix through the paneer and spices, then add lemon juice, mace and twist of pepper.

Serves 4

Recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine

Stir Fried Minced Beef And Noodles

Ingredients:

375g rice noodles
500g beef mince (ground beef)
2 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tbs finely grated fresh ginger
2 Tbs oil
1 bunch green onions, sliced
200ml hoisin sauce
1 small bunch chopped cilantoro

Directions:

1. Prepare the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Fry minced beef, garlic and ginger in heated oil until meat is browned.

3. Stir in green onions and hoisin sauce. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and noodles and heat through.

Serves 4

Recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine

Do you watch Mad Men?

I loved the Hare Krishna scene with Harry and Paul. So funny.

Harry cracks me up. And he reminds me of Colin Meloy.

In honor of the Paneer and Harry and Hare, how about a Hare Krishna waltz?
Krishna Das-The Krishna Waltz

A few years ago I went through a total Krishna Das/Meditative world music phase. I still love the songs when I pull them out.

Check out Krishna Das on his Website, where you can also buy the music. If you are looking for a starting point to get hooked (he has A VERY LARGE catalog), my favorite albums are ‘One Track Heart’ and ‘Pilgrim Heart’.

Cheers!

Posted in Beef, Main Courses, Pasta, Vegetable | Leave a comment

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars (Make The Most Over The Top Ice Cream Sundaes)

Posted on May 29, 2012 by I Sing In The Kitchen

Sundae Speakers anyone?

They look pretty sweet, but how do they sound?

I do know how these Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars sound.

They sound Freakin’ Amazing.

They ARE amazing.

A toffee studded graham crust topped with a thick, gooey chocolate layer. All that under a chocolate chip cookie graham toffee top.

Amazing on their own, but taken to Mount Everest heights of goodness when thrown into a sundae with your favorite ice cream and drizzled with some caramel and/or chocolate sauces.

I guarantee the entire 13 x 9 pan will be gone in 2 days…and that is if you eat it all by yourself. Gone in a minute if you share.

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

Directions:

1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (32 squares)
1 (8 oz) bag toffee bits
1 roll refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
2 cups chocolate chips
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Grease 13×9 inch baking dish and heat oven to 350℉.

2. Soften cookie dough for 10 minutes on counter.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter, 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and 3/4 cup of toffee bits. Pour mixture into the greased pan and press evenly until mixture covers bottom of pan. Refrigerate for around 15 minutes.

4. In a 2 qt saucepan, heat the milk, chocolate chips and the tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Stir frequently until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Spread the mixture over the graham cracker crumb mixture.

5. In another medium mixing bowl, break up the cookie dough and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs until blended. Crumble the mixture evenly over the chocolate layer and the sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup toffee bits on top.