Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Steak and Shake Newbies

If you haven't been to Steak & Shake lately, you should. They have a new steakburger and a new milk shake. Both are amazing. The new steakburger is called The Royale Steakburger. It is a double cheeseburger with bacon, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, and tomato. Sounds amazing already, right? Well it's topped with a fried egg! It's is absolutely delicious. Believe me, I had my reserves about it but it was thrown to the wind as soon as I took a bite. Get one... trust me, you won't be disappointed.



Now on to the new milkshake. It is an M&M Milkshake. Amazing! A vanilla milkshake filled with m&m bits and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Looks good. Taste good. Mmm mm mm... get one :)

The Basic Popover

Ever heard of Popovers? I just heard about them last night while watching Good Eats. It seemed easy enough to make so I made some. So the ingredients for this 'basic' popover: flour, eggs, salt, butter, and milk. Really easy right? Oh, and a actual popover tin. I used a muffin tin so my popover are really mini-popovers. A popover tin looks like this:



So yea, think muffin tin on steroids... or something like that. So anyway, I made these mini-popovers and they are actually quite interesting. The inside is hollow which allows you to fill them with anything you like. I'm imagining custard and strawberries with a dusting of powder sugar... mmm

So here are what mine look like:



And the inside is hollow, but obviously not big enough to fit in custards and fruit. So I slather it with butter and it's delicious. I thinking these will be really good with a hearty soup or as a mini bread bowl.



So if you've never made popovers, I think you should. It's super easy, just throw all the ingredients into the blender and than pour into the cups. Want the recipe? Here it is.

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 teaspoon room temperature for pan
* 4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 2 large eggs, room temperature
* 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

Directions

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
* Grease a 6-cup popover pan with the 1 teaspoon of butter.
* Place all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds. Divide the batter evenly between the cups of the popover pan, each should be about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the popovers to a cooling rack and pierce each in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Happy Birthday Pancakes!

Every birthday since I can remember, my mom has always made me b-day pancakes. This is the first year I haven't been home for my b-day to receive my b-day pancakes. I decided to make my own for Adam and I. We had them when he came home from lunch so it was like... brunch.

So the reason that this is going into my blog is because I was out of the Hungry Jack instant pancakes. They are usually a staple in the kitchen but apparently, I forgot to restock. So, for the first time in my 24 years, I made pancakes from scratch by my self. And you know what, they weren't that bad.



I used a simple recipe that I found on line that turned out to need a little adjustment. They were to thick so I had to increase the amount of milk by 1/4 cup or so. So if you want the recipe, here it is.

Old Fashioned Pancakes:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk (I added another 1/4 to the batter to thin it)
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.


So there we go. I consider this a new conquest for me because it was something I personally have never done. Adam asked if he needed to stop on the way home to pick up some more pancake mix for tomorrow (since my family is coming) and for once, I said... "nah, I can make some from scratch." Lol :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The New Year Resolution

Subconsciously, I discovered that I have undertaken a New Year resolution. Adam and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for Valentine's Day and I ordered something I never had before... or probably would ever have. I mean, it sounded great but I tend to stick to things I know I will like. Like pasta or a hamburger. This happened again while I was at Buffalo Wild Wings. I ordered something uncharacteristically uncommon for me again. So while I was sitting there, I realized that I have began to try new foods and step out of my food comfort zone. So that is my New Year's Resolution.

For the rest of the year, whenever I go to a restaurant, new or old, I will try something I never had before. Also, I'm going to try and cook new things when I can. Than I think I might take a picture and write about it because I have nothing else to do at this time of my life. So, I'm going to post a picture of the last three I have had.

First is the Chicken Di Pana from The Cheesecake Factory. This was red mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and lightly breaded fried chicken. A white butter wine sauce was served over the broccoli, and it was fantastic.



For dessert, we had the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. A creamy cheesecake swirled with white chocolate and raspberry topped with fluffy whipped cream. I don't need to go into detail about how delicious this was because the name speaks for itself.



At Buffalo Wild Wings, I had a Steak and Potato Flip. The waitress said it was absolutely delicious and she was right. Sandwiched between a piece of flat bread was shredded steak and french fries with melted mozzarella cheese. Also, there was ranch and honey BBQ sauce. It was served with tortilla chips and salsa. It was delicious and crazy. Who would have thought to put french fries, steak, and flat bread together.



Lastly, for breakfast yesterday, I made Creme Brulee French Toast. This was a recipe that we tried at the Burl Graves Bed And Breakfast, so it is an adaptation of their masterpiece. I made come creme brulee by mixing eggs, whipping cream, vanilla, eggs, etc. together and baking it in a ramkin. It chilled and then we took some Italian bread, cut them to size and then slit a 'pocket' to fill with creme brulee. Than we just soaked the top and bottom in half and half, eggs, and vanilla and fried all sides (it is french toast after all) and topped it off with raw sugar and syrup. The finished dish:



So there we go, my first Culinary Conquest blog. It's lacking a bit right now but that's because I was trying to remember everything. For now on, it will be my own pictures and I'll be able to describe things better. So, now it's your turn. Go try something new :)