Balsamic Steak

Balsamic vinegar is my new favorite thing.

I loved the balsamic vinegar from the Pasta Fresca recipe - and I figured that it would be delicious on steak too.

And boy was I right.

I mixed together a few things - and voila - an amazing dinner.

My roommate and I had gone to a farmer's market a few days before - so I also made some corn on the cob with my steak!

Balsamic Steak
recipe from Wearing Pearls While Baking

Balsamic vinegar
Juice from 1 lemon
Minced garlic
Steak of choice
Olive oil

Add balsamic vinegar to a mixing bowl (I didn't measure - just poured enough for the meat I had).

Add the lemon juice and minced garlic to the vinegar, and stir.

Add the steak to the bowl and mixed until it had all been coated. (I had wanted flank steak but the store didn't have any. I got an angus steak - stir fry sliced).

Warm a saute pan - and add a small amount of olive oil. Once heated, add the steak and vinegar mixture. Cook steak as desired.

Cake Decorating Class - Level 3

After completing Level 2 - I HAD to take Level 3 - Gum Paste and Fondant.

As the name states - we learned a lot about fondant. We also continued to make make flowers.

I went into the class not being a fan of fondant - but it was a lot easier to make flowers with fondant than with icing - so that was definitely a plus.

Here are my projects from Level 3:

Carnation, Rose, and Calla Lily

Mum and Daisy

Fondant base, Final cake, and Fondant Bow

Happy Birthday, America! Final Cake - Fondant

Cake Decorating Class - Level 2

I had such a fun time with Level 1 - that I had to sign up for Level 2.

I took Level 2 in May - the class was Flowers and Cake Design.

In this level - we learned about working with Royal Icing and we made A LOT of flowers!

Here is what I made:

Pansy and Button Flower

Rosebud, Primrose, Apple Blossom, and Roses

Violet, Daffodil, and Lily

Final exam -Daffodils and Piped Swirls

Basketweave!

Cake Decorating Class - Level 1

What fun!

I had told my roommate back in 2010 that I wanted to take a cake decorating class. It was something new and different - and I thought it would be a lot of fun. I learned that AC Moore offered a class, and I planned to take it sometime in 2011.

For christmas - she got me a gift card for AC Moore - which was perfect, since now I had to take the class, and couldn't procrastinate.

So, in April, I signed up for Level 1. My instructor was incredibly nice and talented. In Level 1 - we learned all about icing cakes, buttercream icing, and making flowers!

Here are some of the things we made:

piping gel transfer - fishy!

rosettes on a cupcake

shaggy mum on a cupcake

final cake - iced, lettering, and roses

close-up of the roses

Pasta Fresca

Yikes - I forgot to take a picture again! Trust me - this is delicious!

I had the Pasta Fresca at Noodles and Co. - and it was amazing! I searched online to see if there was a recipe for it.

Every recipe I found had large portions - so I took the basics from Enzler Recipes and made it work for me!

Pasta Fresca
recipe from Enzler Recipes

Fresca Sauce:
Garlic powder
Salt
Balsamic vinegar
Sweet white wine
Olive oil
Penne pasta
Feta cheese
Baby spinach leaves

Cook penne pasta as directed until al dente. Cook the amount needed for your serving size.

While pasta is cooking, make the fresca sauce. I didn't give amounts, since I didn't measure anything. I mixed together the ingredients and was satisfied when I had a good amount of sauce and it had a good flavor.

When the pasta is done - add olive oil to a saute pan and then sear the noodles until steaming hot.

Next, add the fresca sauce and spinach. Toss to combine.

Serve with feta cheese.

Filet Tips with Penne Pasta in Lime Tequila Sauce

I won't lie - I was so excited to eat this recipe, I forgot to take a picture before eating it.

This is one of my favorite meals to get at the Great American Restuarant - Mike's, and I figured I'd search for a recipe based from this. I found one on A Lil'Welsh Rarebit.   It was a pretty good meal - but didn't taste like the meal from Mikes. Oh well.

Filet Tips with Penne Pasta in Lime Tequila Sauce
recipe from A Lil'Welsh Rarebit

Tequila Lime Sauce
1/2 cup silver tequila (gold can work too)
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 large limes)
6-8 sliced shallots
1/2 of a red bell pepper, thinly sliced into strips
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 turns freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted room temperature butter

The sauce will be the first part of the recipe you make.

Combine the tequila, lime juice, shallots, bell pepper, garlic, cilantro, salt, sugar and pepper in a saute pan over high heat and bring to a boil.

Reduce by half.

Stir in the cream and simmer for 3 minutes.

Whisk in the butter and remove from the heat. Continue whisking until all of the butter is incorporated.

After cooking, let the sauce rest for half an hour before pouring over pasta/meat.

Penne pasta
Boil until al dente.

Filet tips
I used Ribeye to save some $. And since I don't have a grill - I simply sauteed them on the stovetop. But grilling would the better option.

 After all parts are cooked, combine steak, pasta and tequila lime sauce in saute pan. Stir until heated. 

Strawberry Crostata

Major fail.

I don't know what happened with this recipe - it was really simple and easy - but my attempt appeared nothing like the picture I saw and didn't taste anything like it either.

I didn't even take a picture of it - since I was so embarrassed!  I'm posting a picture from Buns In My Oven - since her version looks amazing!

See - how fabulous is that?!


Strawberry Crostata
recipe from Buns In My Oven

1 1/2 pounds strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar, for sprinkling (or more, to taste)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 pie crust, store bough or homemade

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Hull and slice 1 1/2 pounds of ripe, juicy strawberries. Sprinkle them with two tablespoons of sugar

Take the 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and mix it up with 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

Now, you can either make a pie crust or use a store bought version.I grabbed Pillsbury Pie Crust, since there was no need to make my own pie crust today!

Lay the pie crust flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using an off-set spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture all over the pie crust leaving a one inch border around the edges.

Pile your strawberries on top.

Devil's Food Cupcakes

Happy Birthday Cupcakes!

Another fabulous find from foodgawker! I had my eye out to find a recipe for extra chocolately cupcakes for my boyfriend's birthday.
This recipe seemed like a winner - and it was!

My only downfall was it was my first time adding a filling to cupcakes - and I definitely need some more practice. Some cupcakes came out with no filling, while others had a little smidgen. Even without the filling - they were still amazing!

Devil's Food Cupcakes
recipe from Kitchen Wench

Cupcake Ingredients
4oz good quality dark chocolate,
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Using a double boiler (or alternate method) mix the chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder and buttermilk until the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated. Set aside for now.

Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, making sure you beat well after each addition.

Once the mixture is fluffy and pale golden, beat in the chocolate mixture and the flour till everything has been evenly mixed in and the mixture as the texture of barely whipped cream (the mixture should be light, thick and liquid without being completely watery).

Fill your cupcake cases 1/3 full and bake for about 15 minutes.

The cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. They should be filled the day they will be served.

Creme Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar

To make the filling, beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar till you have soft peaks.

Fill a piping bag with a filling tip (such as Wilton #230), push the tip right to the bottom of the cupcake and slowly fill the cupcake while pulling the tip up.

You’ll feel the pressure push against the piping tip as you go. Be careful not to overfill, as the cupcake will break up. (I was so nervous about this step, I didn't apply enough pressure!)


Chocolate Buttercream
2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 oz dark chocolate, melted
3 tbsp cocoa powder
6 tbsp milk
6-8 cups powedered sugar

Melt the chocolate till smooth, then mix it together with the cocoa powder and milk till it forms a smooth paste.

Beat the butter till light and fluffy, then add the chocolate paste and 2 cups of icing sugar and beat at high speed till it is well mixed in and fluffy again.

Add the powedered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and make sure that you beat the icing at high speed for 5 minutes after each addition. The more powdered sugar, the thicker the icing will be.

Honey Lemon Chicken

I love a crockpot recipe.

Have I mentioned that I'm obsessed with foodgawker?! I like to check it out on my lunch breaks and find new recipes.

This one seemed like a winner - honey, lemons, chicken - and the ease of a crockpot?! Sign me up!

I cooked this on a Sunday afternoon. Luckily, my boyfriend came down to visit that night - since I realized I had NO idea how to carve a chicken! He, however, did an amazing job!


Honey Lemon Chicken
recipe from Cook Eat Love
1 whole chicken
handful of fresh thyme leaves 
a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
Rinse and dry the chicken.  Then, rub the chicken with olive oil and season with sea salt and fresh pepper.  

Place half an onion inside the cavity of the chicken as well as half a lemon and 6 garlic cloves whole.

Cut up an onion on the thicker side as well as  one lemon. 

Take a whole head of garlic and remove the skin but leave the garlic whole.  Get a handful of fresh thyme and rosemary. 

Put the sliced onion on the bottom of the crock pot.  Add the chicken to the crock pot breast side up.  Sprinkle the chicken with the thyme .  Cover the chicken with more onion slices, lemon slices and garlic.  Finally, pour 1/4 cup of honey all over the top of the chicken and 1/4 of chicken stock to the bottom of the crock pot. 

Cook on high for 1 hour then turn to low for 4-5 more hours.  When there is one hour of cooking left add rosemary to the crock pot-just throw it in there.
1 1/2 lemons
2 heads of garlic peeled and and separated into cloves
2 medium onions
sea salt
fresh pepper
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of chicken stock