chicken meatballs

Meatballs are a guilty pleasure of mine--"guilty" because I have always been a sucker for the pre-packaged, frozen variety; and "pleasure" because well, come on, they're little savory balls of meat in sauce, and I don't know if you guys know this about me but I'm a meat, cheese and eggs kinda girl. 

Currently though, I'm cutting back to red meat only once a week, so when I sensed my bi-monthly, urgent craving for meatballs I was so excited when I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. I gotta admit, I was a little put off by the whole ground chicken part of it all at first; I'm not sure why, but I've just never thought of chicken as a minced meat. Needless to say, there was no ground chicken in sight in my fridge, but there were two perfectly good (and kind of enormous skinless), boneless chicken breasts. I introduced them to the food processor and then there was ground chicken. 

But if theres one thing that really sold these for me pre-tasting, it was reading this sentence from the Smitten Kitchen post: "I hope it sounds as good to you as it does to me: They taste … cheesy. Like you’d snuck a whole lot of melty goodness in there, even though there is none." 

Like I said: meat, cheese and eggs. That's all it takes, really. I'm a simple girl.

And they're good, you guys. Really good. Like, is it tomorrow afternoon yet so i can have my leftovers? good. Also, this is one of those recipes that could work with a variety of different meals. I went with the easy, reliable sautéed potatoes and roasted tomatoes as a side, but I can imagine throwing them into a bubbling pot of homemade ragu and serving with a side of good, eggy pasta (I haven't made homemade pasta in a while, hmmm...); or baked as is, maybe topped with a little parmesan and served with rice and side of avocado; OR, as mentioned in the SK post, SLIDERS. yes. all good prospects.  

I stuck to the SK recipe pretty loyally, with a few exceptions: 

1. I used bacon instead of pancetta. 

2. I tossed in a palm-full of smoked, sweet paprika to the meatball mixture (only because I didn't think of throwing in some Sazón instead).

3. I also threw in some salt and pepper.

4. I used "everything" italian bread, which I highly recommend. 

5. ( I am seriously contemplating mixing in some cheese next time)

Potatoes: sautéed in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Tomatoes: oven-roasted in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

pâte à choux // chouquettes

I like to think that I'm adventurous in the kitchen, so I thought I'd challenge myself and make a French staple that I didn't get to try in France: Chouquettes! This was my first time trying my hand at any sort of bread-y pastry--seriously, you guys, not even a homemade pizza dough. Pâte à choux is one of the in-betweeners of the baking world, stuck in the land of not-quite-breads and not-quite-pastries. So for my intents and purposes it's going down in the mange tout dictionary as a "bread-y pastry". In any case, it's delicious and worth the effort. Not gonna lie, it's a pretty hefty task, making homemade pâte à choux---on a scale of homemade pasta to homemade puff pastry, i'd say it lands in the middle, BUT don't be intimidated(!) it's most defenitely doable.

This recipe is originally from this book (which my thoughtful and AWESOME sister gave me for christmas).The book is geared towards, well, "the professional pastry chef", the bakers, the fine people that need batches large enough to fill bakery racks, but the great thing about this book is that it also includes 'small-batch' measurements for every recipe, which work great for any not-so professional pastry chef. And, even greater, I found this post by Beth of A Bread A Day on working with this recipe, which turned out to be immensely helpful on account of her step-by-step guidance and visual aids--due to my insufferable desire for artsy photography for this blog, my visuals are not so aid-y, so feel free to head over to her post for a more detailed visual walk-through.



Pate à choux is the pastry used to make cheese puffs (gougères)  and éclairs (... and also these things), I went for making the traditional chouquettes, better know as cream puffs, but not always filled with cream, so just 'puffs'? yes, puffs, filled with almond cream.
It is quite an elaborate production to make these little guys, but trust me, it is so so worth it.



read on for recipe and method

puerto rican style cappuccino or easy café viennois

I remember the first time I had a cappuccino--or what I now know was more of a Puerto Rican style cappuccino (a "real" cappuccino is basically a latte with the extra milk foam on top, and in most of the cafés I went to in Europe, they served it topped with cocoa powder). I was 6 or 7, maybe 5 (they start us off young in PR), and I was wide-eyed with excitement at the heaping mound of cinnamon-covered whipped cream that topped the otherwise standard cup of café con leche I was holding. That kind of delight sticks with you, now that I'm older I can still think of nothing better than a good--really good. . .like the-way-abuela-makes-it good--hot cup of coffee generously dolloped with some freshly whipped cream and cinnamon. . .mmm.
I had a similar experience at Café Broglie in Strasbourg, France when I was studying abroad there last year. There, I tried café viennois for the very first time; and at the accepted risk of sounding like a coffee snob, I will say, it was one of the most decadent, most satisfying coffee experiences I've ever had. It was like having the fancy, all-grown-up version of my childhood favorite. A little cup of freshly brewed espresso (sans milk or cream), topped with the familiar mound of whipped cream and a delicate sprinkle of shaved dark chocolate. I mean, enough said, am I right?
It's funny, my mom actually called me a couple days ago to tell me that she had accidentally bought a carton of whipping cream instead of half and half, and she wanted to know if I knew how long fresh whipped cream lasted in the fridge. I didn't really know the answer to that question but when I asked why she wanted to store already-whipped cream she said it was (of course) to make herself cappuccinos in the morning. happy, delicious accidents.

so. . .moral of the story: if you find yourself with some leftover whipping cream, or if you 'accidentally' bring home some whipping cream instead of half and half MAKE CAPPUCCINOS. . .PR style.

click "read more" for the recipe and rest of the post

cornmeal sponge with mixed berry syrup and whipped ganache frosting

 This cake came about from the tattered remains of a cornmeal cherry upside down cake. no joke. Attempt number one of what would later be tweaked and added on to to make this cake was not nearly as successful. The recipe I was using is not at all a bad one, but I'm working in a college apartment kitchen with the finest equipment and ingredients that a student budget can buy. . .so, bottom-line, improvisations were made, and sometimes improvisations work better than others. In any case, even though the cherry upside down cake (which I made with mixed berries instead) didn't work out (this time!), I really, really loved the sponge--I'm a fan of cornmeal. So, with the remainder of the mixed berries and enough ingredients to make two more batches of the cornmeal sponge, I decided to make a cake! I wasn't sure about the frosting until my roommate told me she had leftover Guirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips (because she is literally the best roommate.) and I immediately thought GANACHE. 

I turned the berries into a syrup (with which I drenched the top of each sponge round) and I whipped the ganache--i say whipped. . .I wanted whipped. . .but creamed-up is more accurate for what I was able to manage with the 1950's (or 60's?) hand mixer I borrowed from my mom. If you're using a Kitchen Aid or any other stand mixer, you're ganache will probably be a lot fluffier and spreadable-- into a more frosting-friendly consistency et voila! this cake was born. It was a great (and incredibly yummy) turn of events considering how disappointed I was about my botched upside down cake.

click "read more" for the rest of the post and recipe