S'mores Brownies

So rich and delicious, s'mores are one of those treats I never make unless I'm camping. And I'm never camping, so I thought this an excellent opportunity to get my fix! This recipe comes out of the Food Networks Magazine's "50 Brownies" booklet in the March issue. The recipe recommends making a graham cracker crumb crust with butter and the whole nine yards, but I just used whole crackers on the bottom, without any difference.

S'mores Brownies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325. Either line an 8x8 with foil or spray with non-stick spray.
Line the bottom of the pan with graham crackers. It's ok, there will be gaps.

To make the brownie batter, put the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again, if needed until completely melted, maybe about 2 minutes more. I only had to melt it for 2 minutes once.
Stir in both sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, about 40 minutes.

Take brownies out of the oven and reposition a rack on the top level and turn oven to broil. Dump marshmallows on the top and toast under the broiler until golden, about 3 minutes. Do NOT leave the room or go anywhere, this will go quickly! I like my marshmallows on fire when I'm camping, but you do NOT want burnt marshmallows on your brownies.

Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps.

ENJOY! These are tasty and delicious, especially when eaten right away. I found reheating them(individually) for 15 seconds the next day helped recreate that gooey-ness too.

Curried White Bean Dip

We snacked on this dip the other night whilst cooking the real dinner. It was amazing! I hardly wanted to eat anything else after! Enjoy!

Curried White Bean Dip
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 packed cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
Zest of 1/2 large lemon

Dump it all into the food processor and blend until smooth! Enjoy with pita chips, wheat thins, triscuits or whatever!

Pining...

Anyone from Utah, or Bountiful, more specifically, can tell you how amazing the sugar cookies from Parson's Bakery are. Don't get me wrong, everything on the menu there is tasty, but the sugar cookies are the best by FAR. They are always soft and warm, with a perfectly smooth coating of icing that has a little skin on it. I always get mine in a holiday shape or color, and not once have I had a Parson's sugar cookie without sprinkles. This is what makes me homesick. Don't get me wrong, I miss my family every single day I'm in Texas. But I can always pick up the phone and call my them. I can't do that with Parson's sugar cookies or Nielsen's pumpkin custard. My list of foods I miss from Utah can go on and on: squeaky cheese and root beer milk from Gosner's in Cache Valley, pine nut gnocchi from Cafe Molise, seafood chowder and veggie lasagna from Salt Lake Roasting Company, the turkey melt from The Training Table, a slice of pizza from ESTE or The Pie, Pad Pra Ram and Tom Kha from Sawadee!!

I'm begging my friends and family, if you're out there, if you're reading this: pay a visit to my foods for me. Tell them I miss them, and let them know I'll be home soon!

Pasta Primavera and White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Last week I went grocery shopping at my favorite SuperTarget. I came home and realized (after I had started making the dish) that I had left three bags of produce at the store. Needless to say, I was salty and we didn't have this yummy dish that night. But good things are worth the wait, right? This was amazing last night, and I'm glad we waited, because we made a few tweaks that really made it shine.
Pasta Primavera
12 oz short pasta (we used wide egg noodles, but you could use fusilli or rotini)
1/2 lb sugar snap peas, halved
2 carrots, shredded
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced super thin
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese
4 oz cream cheese, cut into small cubies

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Watch the clock, because you're going to add the sugar snap peas, carrot and bell pepper to the water for the last two minutes of cooking, and you don't want your pasta to already be done when you put the veggies in. You'll get squishy pasta that way. When you go to drain it, reserve 1/2 C of pasta water before you dump it out. Return the pasta and veggies to the pot or a really big bowl.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil and add the garlic, cooking until just golden. Don't burn it! Then it'll be gross.
Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes and a tsp of salt. Cook until the tomatoes wilt, two-ish minutes. Stir in the pasta water and pour over the veggie-pasta mix.
Add the parmesan and cream cheese and toss. Serve immediately while hot!
If you're a cream cheese fiend, you can definitely add more. But don't do too much or it'll coat the pasta too much and overpower the other tasty flavors. Same goes with red pepper flakes.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
For this one, I changed some things up too. It called for a full tablespoon of vanilla, which seemed like way too much to me. So I reduced it by half and added a teaspoon of almond extract to it. I must say, I think the almond flavor makes these cookies, but if you hate almond flavoring, just leave it out! I also thought it called for too many chocolate chips, and not enough cranberries. I'll give you the amounts I used, and you can tweak it, depending on what you like most. Remember, they're just cookies! I wouldn't mess with the flour/egg/soda/salt proportions, but the mix-ins can be played with, as long as you don't overload the dough with too much of them.

1 C butter, room temp or softened in microwave
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 T vanilla
1 t almond extract
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
3 C flour
1 C dried cranberries
1 C white choc. chips

Heat your oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until they look fluffy and pale-ish. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, not as large, mix the flour, salt and soda. Add to the butter/egg/sugar mixture a third at a time until it's all combined. Add cranberries, and chocolate chips. Scoop onto greased baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes. These cookies don't spread out a whole bunch, so size them pretty close to what you want the finished cookie to be.
These little treats are sweet and tart, soft and crunchy. I would even go so far as to say they were a good breakfast cookie, like my Merm's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are. Oh, what? Those haven't made it to InThreeMinutes yet? Hmm. I'll have to change that! Or maybe I'll keep that one a secret, since they are so amazing.
Enjoy your cookies asap! They will go fast, even though this recipe makes 5 dozen :)

Maple-Ginger Glazed Salmon, Orange Spinach Salad and Toffee-Coffee Tartlets

Today was my Merm's birthday, so we made dinner extra special. The salmon was fresh, the salad was tangy and crisp and the dessert was rich. Oh, and the company was great, too!
Part of this meal almost turned to disaster, but luckily I saved it! More on that later...
This meal comes from... you guessed it! Food Network Magazine. But, there are a few modifications. You'll see!

Oranage Spinach Salad
1 bag spinach, rinsed
1 sliced avocado
2 oranges, segmented
chopped pecans
Dressing:
1/4 C orange juice
1 T honey
1 lime, juiced
1 t dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
3 T olive oil

Whisk the oj, lime juice, honey, mustard and salt. Add the olive oil and continue to whisk. Toss the spinach, pecans, avocado and orange segments in a bowl and drizzle with the dressing.
The original recipe called for watercress instead of spinach and hazelnuts instead of pecans, but I put pecans on EVERYTHING. Those two substitutions made it great and very tasty.

Maple-Ginger Glazed Salmon
For this one, you want to get 4 oz of salmon for every person eating. We had three people, so Evan picked up a 12 oz fillet. The glaze should be enough for up to 3 lbs of salmon, so unless you're feeding an army (which 3 lbs would probably feed, actually), stick with the original proportions.

appropriately sized salmon fillet, skin on
2 t ground coriander
s&p (preferably kosher salt)
1/4 C maple syrup
1 2-inch piece ginger, grated and peeled
1 lemon, juice and zest!
2 t butter

Heat your oven to 425. Put your salmon in a baking dish (glass, metal, whatev) and sprinkle with the coriander, 1 t of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Set it aside, and just let it be for 10-15 minutes.
While you're waiting, put the maple syrup, ginger, lemon zest and butter in a small saucepan and put it over medium heat. Let it get a little thick, 5-7 minutes, take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Brush the fish with half of the maple-ginger glaze. Put it in the oven for 12-ish minutes, until it's a bit firm and barely golden on top. Turn the oven to broil and move the rack to the top level in your oven. Brush the fish with the remaining glaze and broil another 2-3 minutes. Check for done-ness and remove from oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes before diving into it.
When you slice it up, the skin should come off fairly easy. Serve it with the skin on, it won't stick to the fish when you pick it up with your fork. I used to be very freaked out about having the skin on when it hit my plate, but it's actually no big deal. It comes off easy and isn't weird at all. Ok, there's my schtick on fish skin.

Toffee-Coffee Tartlets
THIS is the dish I had a little mishap with. The recipe says to boil the cream and coffee grounds, let chill, then whip until stiff peaks form. I whipped that crap for 30 minutes and nothing happened. My hand mixer overheated, and I was schvitzin about ruining Merm's birthday dessert! But I threw it in my ice cream maker and turned it into rich, (almost too) creamy coffee ice cream that I then scooped into the tarts instead. I'm going to include the method the way I did it, but remember you can always try whipping the cream instead!

Filling:
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1/4 C ground coffee
3/4 C caramel topping
2 T butter
1/2 C powdered sugar

Cups:
1 10 oz pack frozen puff pastry shells
1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 C toffee bits (I couldn't find any at the store, so I bought Werther's and hit them with a hammer)

Bring the coffee and cream to an almost boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Turn it down to low and let it cook there for 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and strain it through a fine mesh strainer. Set it aside.
Put the caramel topping in another saucepan and bring to a boil, over med-high heat. Reduce to medium and go for 2 more minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the butter. Carefully and slowly whisk the caramel-butter mixture with the coffee cream mixture. Refrigerate until completely chilled, about an hour.
Bake the pastry shells according to package directions. Once cool, pull out the centers. You won't need these so you can throw them out or find something else to do with them..
To melt the chocolate chips, you can either place them in a glass bowl over a pot of almost boiling water and constantly stir, or you can microwave them VERY carefully, 20 seconds at a time stirring between each time until melted. Either way, don't let the chocolate get over cooked and crumbly. That's bad.
Pour the toffee bits onto a pie plate. Dip the rims of the pastry shells in the chocolate, then in the toffee bits. Set aside.
Once your cream mixture is cold, beat in powdered sugar. Now you can either try to beat the whole thing with a mixer until stiff peaks form, or throw it into your ice cream maker and churn according to how your machine works. Either way, once you have a finished product, spoon it into the shells, drizzle with caramel topping and enjoy!
Really, it doesn't matter how you choose to do it! How can you go wrong with heavy cream, caramel and chocolate??

Kitchen Misadventures...

I think failure is too harsh a word. I definitely feel like one a lot of the time, but when it comes to cooking, I'd like to think that a little exploration and creativity shouldn't be marked as such. That's why I'm going to call this one a misadventure. It makes it sound like some great culinary undertaking was about to happen, if it weren't for a tiny misstep. Yeah, I like it. Look for this as a reoccurring theme here at InThreeMinutes. Misadventuring is just as important as adventuring!

This misadventure is brought to you by the Food Network Magazine and grapefruit. This month's issue had a section called "10 minute desserts". I love desserts AND races against the clock, so I was thrilled to try it out. The dessert I attempted was Grapefruit Brûlée. Here are the instructions given:
Slice a grapefruit in half.
Segment it, but don't take the segments out.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Torch the sugar with a kitchen torch.

Done and done. Guess what I got? A burned grapefruit. The sugar soaked in faster than I could torch it, and so I was left cooking the top of the fruit. I did get a little gummy sugar coating from what sugar did stay on top, but there was too much water in the grapefruit for it to get crunchy.



Nothing lost, nothing gained, right?

Spicy Egg Salad Sandwiches, Quinoa with Greens and Apricot Oat Bars

This was our menu tonight. It was filling without being heavy, healthy yet comforting. And it was quick. I really wasn't feeling it as far as making dinner, so it was nice to have a good meal without having to work too hard for it. Since everyone has different preferences for how... dressed.. they like their egg salad, and we each have our own threshold for spiciness, feel free to tailor this recipe to your liking. As for the salad, throw on whatever veggies you have on hand, whether frozen, raw or cooked.

Spicy Egg Salad Sandwiches
5 eggs, hard boiled
1/4 C mayonnaise
1 dill pickle, diced
S&P to taste
Sriracha or other hot sauce
crunchy, nutty whole grain bread

Cut/mash up the eggs in a bowl. Just make sure there aren't any big pieces hanging out, they don't have to be uniform slices. Add the mayonnaise a little at a time until desired wetness is reached. Toss in the pickles and season until it tastes good. Then, add hot sauce 1/8 tsp at a time and mix thoroughly until it's as hot as you want. Toast your bread and top it!
I'm betting there are some eyes rolling out there, as this isn't even a real recipe. Silence nay-sayers! It's tasty, and good, and easy. And I would make it again and again. So THAT is why it made it to this blog.

Quinoa with Greens
1 C quinoa, rinsed
1 C frozen peas or other veggies
S&P to taste
Salad greens (we like Organic Girl's Good Clean Greens 50/50 mix)
Light vinaigrette, honey mustard or cilantro-lime dressing

Boil quinoa in a large pot of salted water. It should take between 10 and 12 minutes, just like pasta. Drain it using a fine mesh strainer. If you don't have a fine mesh strainer, pour out most the water, put a doubled up layer of paper towels in your colander and then pour the quinoa out of the pot. Put the hot quinoa in a bowl and toss with your veggies, adding salt and pepper. Put in the fridge until it's cool(at least room temp, if not colder).
Plate a serving of greens onto each plate and top with a few heaping spoonfuls of your quinoa/veggie mix. Drizzle with a bit of dressing for flavor (not for swimming in). Yum!

Apricot Oat Bars
I'm not going to lie. I stole this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis. It smells like heaven out of the oven, with its warm cinnamon, crunchy oats and sticky apricot preserves.

Filling:
1 1/4 C apricot preserves
8 dried apricots, chopped

Crust:
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
3/4 t salt
3/4 t baking soda
1 3/4 C oats
1 C chopped walnuts (or pecans!)
1 C butter, melted
1 egg, at room temperature, beaten
1 t vanilla extract

Put your rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix the jam and the apricots. Set aside.
In a big bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in the oats and nuts. Add the melted butter, egg and vanilla and stir until it's all gooey and mixed together.

Make sure your hands are clean and press half of the crust mixture into the bottom of the baking dish you just greased. Then, spread the filling over the crust leaving a tiny 1/2 inch border around the edge of the pan. Cover the filling with the remaining crust mixture and press it ever so lightly to flatten it out.
Bake about 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool for 1 hour, if you can keep your paws off it that long!

PS. Don't cut into it too soon, or it'll just crumble into a million delicious pieces. It's worth it to wait just a little while so it can be enjoyed in large forkfuls.

Topo Chico

If you haven't ever had sparkling mineral water, do it. Do it now!
It's plain old water with a little tiny bit of carbonation. For me, it satisfies that part of my brain that likes soda, without all the sugar and coloring and flavoring and stuff that makes soda bad for you.
Here's a bit of a warning though: it's not sweet at all. I know since I said it was plain old water with carbonation that kind of implies that it's not sweet, but seriously, your brain will want to tell you it should be sweet. If you can get past that, it's deeelicious.
I'm addicted.
That is all.

Knock off Treats!

So, I love my pre-packaged goodies as much as the next guy. But what I love more than my cheap, partially-hydrogenated, sugary treats is being able to make them at home with *somewhat* wholesome ingredients. The following recipes are by no means healthy, but they are made with regular sugar, regular butter and regular chocolate. They are NOT shelf stable(not just because they get eaten too quickly to find out) and they are NOT cheaper than buying them at the store. But they are delicious and worth the time and effort.
This first treat, Salted Nut-Roll Bars, are the epitome of sweet and salty. They are chewy and a little bit gooey in all the right ways. I always think of these bars when I'm feeling snacky but can't quite nail down what I'm craving. They are incredibly easy.

Salted Nut-Roll Bars
Crust:
1 lb. peanut butter sandwich cookies (if I was on the Food Network I couldn't just say Nutter Butters, but no one's watching here..)
1/2 C butter, melted

Topping:
2 C peanut butter chips
2/3 C light corn syrup (as a side note, I always look for this in the baking aisle and every damn time it's by the maple syrup. I think that's weird.)
4 T butter
1 t vanilla
2 C mini marshmallows
2 C dry roast peanuts
2 C Rice Krispies

Heat your oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 pan.
Dump Nutter Butters in the food processor or blender. Once you have fine crumbs, add that stick of melted butter and turn your machine of choice back on until it kinda clumps together. Press it into the pan and bake for 15 minutes.
Put peanut butter chips, corn syrup, vanilla and the other butter into a saucepan and melt it down until it's smooth. You'll want to stir it often and stick around, it should only take about five minutes.
Spread half of this mixture over the crumb crust you've pulled out of the oven, sprinkle the marshmallows over it, and put it back in the oven for two minutes or so. You just want the marshmallows to get a little puffy up. Don't let them brown or they'll be tough and crunchy!
Toss the peanuts, cereal and remaining peanut mixture together and spoon it over the marshmallow topped crust. Spread it a little with a spatula. It doesn't need to (and will not) look perfect. It's not going to be a uniform looking bar.
Let the bars cool, then dig in! You may need to coat your knife with non-stick spray before cutting in.. Unless you like to live dangerously and lick stuff off your knives. I don't recommend that though....

The second knock off treat I loooove is the Samoa cookie. Now, don't go replacing your girl scouts with this one. This is only to get you by between cookie sales. It's tough to go an entire year without girl scout cookies!
These can be made two ways: you can make them in a sheet like a bar cookie, or individually cut out every little circle and cut another tiny little hole in each of those. I personally don't care what they look like, as long as they taste similar. So here's the bar version (much easier!)

Samoas (or caramel delites)
Cookie:
1/2 C sugar
3/4 C butter, room temp
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 C flour
1/4 t salt

Topping:
3 C shredded coconut
12-oz caramels
1/4 t salt
3 T milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate-chocolate chips work!

Turn your oven on to 350.
Spread the coconut out onto a cookie sheet and bake five minutes at a time until it's toasty brown. Mine only took 10 minutes.
Cream the butter and the sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, until just incorporated. Then add the salt and flour a little at a time until it's all blended in. The dough will still be crumby, that's ok. Press it into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake it for 20-25 minutes.
Make your topping by microwaving your caramels and milk and salt until smooth. Dump the toasted coconut in and stir until combined.
After your crust has cooled, spread the coconut caramel mix over it. Make sure you've timed it so the caramel stuff has just come out of the microwave, and is still hot. It's going to be a pain in the ass to spread if it's cool. Even if the cookie crust is hot. It just won't work. Trust me.
After you've assembled it all and it's cooled, melt down your chocolate and drizzle it over the top. If you want chocolately bottoms (like the real deal), dip the bottoms in chocolate after you've cut them all up.
Enjoy!
And if you know any girl scouts.... tell them sorry!

Agnolotti with artichoke sauce

It's been too long. I don't want to talk about it.
Here's an awesome recipe we made for dinner tonight. I didn't substitute or omit ANYTHING, so here it is in it's purest form, straight from the Food Network Magazine. I definitely recommend getting a subscription, if you don't already have one. Although, that may cut my readership down considerably.....
Agnolotti are moon shaped stuffed pasta, so if you can't find any, regular cheese ravioli will do just fine!
This sauce has a bit of half and half in it, but it's not heavy at all. The lemon zest and juice give it a fresh, bright flavor that works well with the artichoke hearts tartness.

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 C half and half
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1/8 t red pepper flakes
salt
1 C frozen peas
1 t lemon zest
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 lb refrigerated cheese agnolotti
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the artichokes, half and half, garlic, red pepper flakes and 1/4 t salt in a large skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the frozen peas and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and zest.
Meanwhile, cook the agnolotti according to the package directions. Reserve about a half cup of the pasta water, then drain and add the pasta to the artichoke sauce. Add the parmesan and gently stir until the agnolotti are coated. If the sauce seems to thick, add a little pasta water until it reaches desired consistency.

For those who care, this dish has 22g of protein! I'm keeping track of my protein intake, so I always like to know how much is in what I eat.

Andrea's Famous Tortilla Soup

There are no words for this soup. Seriously. I have been on a quest lately to find tasty tortilla soup, and have encountered nothing but disappointment. The soups either already have actual meat in them(I'm ok with chicken stock or boullion) or are disgusting. I had one that was basically a chicken stock with carrots(!), celery, cilantro and melted cheese. It was.. terrible. I've had this recipe in my collection for quite some time, but hadn't ever made it. I gave it a whirl this weekend and was blown away. I have never been so full and satisfied by a soup. I'm really not doing it justice here... It's amazing!

Tortilla Soup
1 C rice
2 T chicken boullion granules
2 tsp lemonade powder (with sugar)
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp cilantro (you can used dried, but I use fresh and add it last with all the other fixins)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C dried chopped onion
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
10 C water
Diced cooked chicken (OPTIONAL! who wants chicken anyway? psh.)

Dump everything in a big pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chicken, if using, and cook five minutes more. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado and tortilla chips.

Soooo good!

Lemon Meringue Pie

I've always been intimidated by meringue, and pies in general, but this one was so easy. Almost too easy. Easy enough that I thought I was doing something wrong. But it's not a lie, (it's a pie... ha ha ha... sorry) it is in fact that easy.

This comes courtesy of my Merm's mail order "McCall's Cooking School" cards. I was laughing to myself at how old and funny the pictures in the recipe looked, until I saw the date was 1991. I was six, and I remember that year quite well. Not so funny anymore. Good thing the pie is tasty enough to take away the bitterness of the being 25 :)

Lemon Meringue Pie

One store bought pie crust
Lemon Filling:
1/4 C cornstarch
3 T flour
1 3/4 C sugar
1/4 t salt
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 C lemon juice
1 T lemon zest
1 T butter

Meringue:
4 egg whites
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/2 C sugar

If you bought the roll out pie crust, then... roll it out. Onto a pie plate. Fold the edge of the crust under and pinch rim decoratively with thumb and finger. If you bought the frozen kind, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Prick the pie crust with a fork and pop it in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 450. Let it cool. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees.

For the lemon filling, combine cornstarch, flour, 1 3/4 cups sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually add 2 C water and stir until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil for one minute until shiny and translucent.
Stir some of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Then stir the eggs back into the saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and butter. Pour into pie shell.

To make the meringue beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Add sugar, 2 T at a time, beating after each addition. Once all the sugar is added, beat on high until stiff peaks form. Spread it over the lemon filling in the crust, sealing the edges. Swirl the meringue around so it looks pretty and decorative. Bake 7-9 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown on the highest points. Let it cool for at least 2 hours and when you serve it, cut it with a wet knife!

Now, wasn't that easy??

Pumpkin Time!

I'm so excited that it's fall! I know some of you may already be experiencing fall-type conditions, but here in Austin, it's still in the 80s. I think tomorrow it's supposed to hit 90! So while it may not feel like fall with flip flops and A/C, I'm making room for it anyway. Here are two recipes that call for pumpkin; one is an old favorite that I just can't get enough of, and the second is something new we tried this weekend. Both were absolutely amazing.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe comes from a cookbook titled "Cookin' with the Crazy Lady" that my Auntie Carol gave me and Evan for a wedding gift. I halved it and still got 4 dozen cookies from it, but here I have included the recipe in it's entirety. These are hardly cookies. If you've had them before you know they're more like tiny, moist, tender cakes dotted with smooth and melty chocolate chips.

1 C butter or shortening
3 C sugar
3 eggs
3 C pumpkin
4 1/2 C flour
2 t baking powder
2 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t vanilla
2 t cinnamon
2 t nutmeg
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter/shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and pumpkin. Stir in remaining ingredients and drop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Pumpkin Waffles
This recipe comes courtesy of October's issue of the Food Network Magazine. They ask you to slice, scrape, roast and puree your own pumpkin, but we were starving and decided to spend that time doing something more.... worthwhile. Here is the modified recipe, including sweet whipped cream to dollop over the hot waffles.

Waffles:
1 1/2 C pumpkin
2 1/4 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
2 t pumpkin pie spice (if, like me, you don't have this, check below for a quick way to make your own)
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/4 C plain Greek yogurt (put regular yogurt in a damp paper towel and let the liquid strain out)
1 C milk
4 T melted butter

Pumpkin Pie Spice(makes 1 t):
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves

Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. You'll be adding the wet ingredients to it later, so make sure it's big enough to hold it all. Whisk sugar and egg yolks in a separate bowl, then add the pumpkin, yogurt and milk. Then mix in melted butter. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture in two batches, stirring until just combined. Beat the egg whites until stiff and GENTLY fold into batter. Pour into a pre-heated waffle iron (greased if it's not non-stick). Keep waffles warm on a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven until you're ready to eat them. Waffles may take longer than you're used to, they'll be super soft if you try to pull them out early. They really aren't as crispy-on-the-outside-soft-in-the-middle as regular waffles are. But they are SO good. And how many times a year can you have pumpkin waffles??

Curried Salmon Cakes and Spicy Ginger Chutney

Yesterday was our 2nd anniversary! I can't believe how fast it's gone! We decided to stay home and cook together to celebrate, and it was amazing. We had a perfect evening enjoying each others company and this delicious food! We also had egg rolls with these two dishes, but those came from the freezer (shhh!). Some things are worth the time, and some are not!


Curried Salmon Cakes with Mango Salad
1 lb skinless salmon fillet, halved crosswise
2 t curry powder
s&p
8 T store bought tartar sauce
1/4 C saltine or ritz cracker crumbs, plus a bit for sprinkling
2 T grated, peeled ginger
1 bunch scallions finely chopped
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 red bell, seeded and diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 mango peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Put the salmon, 1 T water, 1 1/2 t curry powder, s&p in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2-3 min, or until fish is opaque. Flake with a fork and let it cool slightly, you don't want the egg to cook when you put it in.

Add 1 T tartar, cracker meal, ginger, half the scallions and the egg. Form into 4 patties and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

Whisk 7 T tartar and 1/2 t curry powder(I like to dump some extra in, I LOVE curry powder) and set aside. Take 1 T of the curried tartar and combine with bell pepper, mango, celery, remaining scallions, lime juice and s&p to taste.

Heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle both sides of salmon patties with cracker crumb and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve topped with mango salad and tartar sauce on the side.

I substituted the celery for carrots because Evan doesn't like celery, and it tasted just as good. The mango salad makes this dish, so don't leave it out thinking it'll be the same. You need it!



Spicy Ginger Chutney
3 T vegetable oil
3 T rice vinegar
1.5 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
2 t grated fresh ginger
2 minced garlic cloves
1 t sugar
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 scallions thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro

Combine all. You can serve it room temperature over hot brown rice, or refrigerate and serve cold over Udon noodles or the like.

And yes, we did have dessert, but it was weird and not very... blog worthy. So I'm not including it!

Coconut-Milk Cream Cheese Flan

I made this flan for dessert last night, and it was amazing. It was really more like a cheesecake-flan hybrid. Two of the pickiest eaters I know (Aleah and Anna) ate it. And they don't like some pretty tasty things!
This recipe is from a book my good friend Andrea gave me for my birthday called "Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey". It's a book full of decadent, guilt-inducing desserts that are well worth the work and the calories. This is one that needs several hours or overnight to chill, so plan ahead! This always something I don't take into account, and then end up with dessert a day later than I needed it.
It looks long and complicated, but it really isn't. Just don't burn the caramel and don't let the foil touch the custard! These are two things I learned the hard way!

Coconut-Milk Cream Cheese Flan

Caramel:
1 C sugar
2 T water
1/2 t fresh lemon juice

Custard:
16 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 C coconut milk (asian section, easy)
1/2 C cream of coconut (in the pseudo-liquor section, like with all the margarita mixers and grenadine and stuff, surprisingly easy)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
7 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
boiling water

Place a rack in the middle level and preheat the oven to 300 F.

To make the caramel, combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, stirring carefully every so often. When the color changes slightly, turn the heat to high and cook to an amber color. Sugar still cooks once the heat is off so try to catch it right before it turns, about 4 minutes. If it starts to smoke or gets too dark, it'll just harden in the bottom of the pan and taste like crap. So don't do that! Pour the caramel into a 9 inch cake pan and swirl around to coat the bottom and up the side a little bit.

For the custard, combine all ingredients except boiling water in a food processor or blender. Make sure the cream cheese is completely mixed in and that there aren't big chunks floating around.

Ok, here's where the book had the steps all wrong. Rather than pouring the custard into the pan, putting the pan in the larger pan, pouring the water and THEN moving it to the oven (trying to balance a full custard pan and a pan full of boiling water), do it this way:
Put the caramel lined pan into a larger roasting pan(I had a big rectangular cake pan I used) BEFORE you pour the custard in. Cover with aluminum foil, making sure there's a little lift in the center so it won't touch the custard at all. Poke holes in it and remove it from the pans.
Place the whole thing on the oven rack, pulled out as far as it will go and still hold weight. First, pour the custard into the caramel pan, and be careful! Next, pour the boiling water in the roasting pan, so it comes halfway up the side of the caramelly pan. Finally, cover with the foil and CAREFULLY slide the rack into the oven. It's full of boiling water and you do NOT want to slosh that on you.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. If the center is still liquidy and jiggles when you move the pan, it's not done. Leave in for 10 minute increments until the center appears firm. It can be a little bit jiggley, but not too much.
Remove the pan from the water bath and put it on a cooling rack. Once completely cool, cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a least 5 hours, overnight if you can!
When you're ready to eat, run a knife around the edge, taking care not to slice into the custard. Put a platter or large plate upside down over it and flip the flan over onto it. Let the juices pool around the custard. Serve immediately!
This recipe says it serves 6-8, but if you only cut this into six slices, you will be hating yourself. It's far too rich for such huge slices! Not that I couldn't try to eat it all, but I think realistically it's in the 12-14 range.
But it's your flan! Enjoy!

Easiest. Salad. Ever.

This is one of my favorite summer time recipes. My Merm always makes it for me on my birthday, and I don't think I know anything easier to make. Other than cold cereal maybe :)

Spaghetti Salad

1 lb. spaghetti
1 bottle zesty Italian dressing (I don't buy the light or free kind because they have high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of nasty gook in them)
1 bottle salad supreme seasoning
Your choice of veggies- I use broccoli, bell pepper and grape tomatoes. My Merm puts big cut up red onions for flavor, and you can easily fish them out for those picky onion haters :)

Boil the spaghetti, drain and cool.

Cut up veggies into bite size pieces and toss in a large bowl with spaghetti, dressing, and seasoning. let marinate for a few hours or overnight.

That's it! Dee-licious.

California Black Bean Burgers and Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ok, so I know this will only be the third set of recipes I've posted on here, and it's the second type of burger, but it's summer! That's where burgers belong. I absolutely love this burger recipe, and have modified it a tiny bit to suit my tastes. Feel free to do the same!

Black Bean Burgers

1 15 oz. can whole black beans, undrained (I like to buy the kind that have jalapenos already in them!)
1 4 oz. can green chiles
1 egg
1 C plain breadcrumbs
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 C cornmeal
2 T vegetable oil
Buns

We like to put pepperjack cheese and avocado on our burgers but you can put whatever you like: mayo, salsa, mustard, lettuce, tomato, etc.

Blend beans in food processor or blender until mashed. Add chiles, bread crumbs, chili powder and egg. Shape into patties and coat with cornmeal.

Heat oil in skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Cook patties 5-10 minutes, turning once, until cooked through. If you're adding cheese, throw it on there and cover the burgers for a minute or so until the cheese melts.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese
1+1/2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
2 packages of crescent rolls
1/2 C butter
1 t cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cream cheese, 1 cup of the sugar and vanilla. Press on package of crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top and lay the remaining strips across the top.

Melt the butter and drizzle over the top (you may have some left over). Mix cinnamon and the rest of the sugar and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes!

This tasty treat comes courtesy of the Austin Tri-Ward Cookbook I got for Christmas from Andrea! It's amazing!

Honey Chicken and Buttermilk Pie

Ok, so I know all two of the people who read my blog already have this recipe, but I thought I'd throw it on here since I've passed it out a ton lately, and everyone seems to LOVE it.
My Merm gave me this recipe, which she got from a woman she worked with a long time ago. That woman got it from her mother, and before that, it's a mystery!

Honey Chicken

1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C honey
1/4 C yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
4 chicken breasts (also works well with extra firm tofu!)

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour over chicken in a shallow baking dish. Bake at 375 F for 1 hour.

Sometimes I like to double the sauce for the same amount of meat! This is really good served over rice with steamed veggies on the side!

Buttermilk Pie

1 1/3 C sugar
1 C buttermilk
1/2 C Bisquik baking mix
1/3 C butter, melted
3 eggs

Blend (in a blender, silly) until smooth. pour into 9 inch pie plate (sprayed with nonstick spray). Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Jerk turkey burgers

I've decided to make In Three Minutes a food blog. Or at least mostly a food blog. Hopefully I'll be able to include a nice main dish, side dish and dessert, but I'm not making any promises! Starting us off is a meal I made recently to celebrate a special occasion, Jerk turkey burgers with polenta fries. I do have to confess, these recipes are not my own (I'm not fancy enough to invent tasty dishes), they came from my Food Network maganzine!

Jerk turkey burgers

1 lb ground turkey
1 T Jerk seasoning, plus more for sprinklage (I found it at Targét in the spice section)
1 small green apple, peeled and grated
1/2 C finely chopped scallions
1/4 C panko (also easily found at Targét)
Salt and Pepper
1/4 C mayonnaise, plus more for brushing.
3 C shredded cabbage
1 carrot
non- stick spray

4 buns or challah rolls


Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Mix turkey, jerk seasoning, apple and 1/4 cup scallions and panko. Season with salt and pepper. Form into four 1-inch patties and put a small indentation in the center to prevent puffage on the grill. Chill.

Toss mayo, cabbage, carrot and remaining scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Spray grill with non-stick spray and grill the patties until browned and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes on each side.

Brush cut sides of buns with plain mayo and sprinkle with jerk seasoning, and toast on grill for 30 seconds.

Serve burgers, topped with slaw, on toasty buns.

Polenta fries

1 1/3 C milk
2 C polenta (or corn meal)
1/2 C grated gruyére cheese (not hard to find at all)
3 T unsalted butter
Olive oil for brushing
2 t salt

Bring 7 cups of water to a simmer. Take 4 cups of the hot water and add it to the milk in a heat-proof bowl that will fit over the saucepan. Gradually whisk in the polenta and the salt. Cover the bowl tightly with foil and put over the hot water, but do not let the bowl touch the water. Cook until very thick, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, brush a 9x13 pan with olive oil.

Stir the cheese and butter into the polenta. Spread into the prepared dish and refridgerate at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450*. Slice the chilled polenta into small fry sized pieces and transfer to a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake for 30-35 minutes, turning halfway through.

If anyone was wondering....

Ok, here are a couple things I'm confused about..

First, when a place says they'll trim your bangs for free between haircuts, do they really mean it? Today I went in to get my eyebrows waxed, and asked the girl who usually cuts my hair to trim up my bangs. She was more than happy to do it, but afterward she just kinda stood there, waiting. Was I supposed to tip her? Was it really not free? Let me just mention that I get my hair colored far less than I used to because all the services there(and in Texas in general) are a little pricey. I don't consider myself to be a tight ass with the money (especially in a salon!), but if I'm going to pay for a bang trim, I'm just going to go all out and just get the whole damn head cut.

And second, whatever happened to good customer service? I called my doctor's office to make an appointment, and made the simple request that I be scheduled as early as possible. Apparently most of the doctors in the clinic start seeing patients at 7:30 a.m. Perfect. I'll take one of those! The woman setting appointments informed me that not only would my doctor would be out of town until the 22nd, but that he only does physicals at 7:30 and can only see me at 3:00. I explained my work situation to her, and asked her if she could make an exception, and you know the response I got from her? Complete silence. And when I said "Uh, hello?" she said "So do you want the 3:00 or not?". Wtf? Are you trying to be the worst appointment setter ever? Ugh.

Needless to say, I don't have a doctors appointment, and probably don't have a hairstylist anymore either...