Sorry!

Well, I have been really bad about blogging here. Life has been crazy, but it seems to be settled down now!

And now down to business...

I've had a rough day, a rough week, a rough every thing else, and my husband has been a saint. Therefore, I would like to make him a yummy, but healthy dinner tonight. Unfortunately, I ALSO have to do homework, so I need to be able to make it quickly. So I've decided on the following:

Teriaki Salmon with a Twist (I know... Occasionally, I am a bad vegetarian...)
Blanched Asparagus with Lemon
Low Fat Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberries

With the exception of the asparagus, I have not made this meal before, so it's all new to me. The salmon recipe is a simplified version of a recipe that a particularly wonderful of mine makes, and the cheesecake is a modified version of a low fat cheesecake that my father makes. I was hoping to be able to make the cheesecake in individual ramekins, but I don't really have time to go cookware shopping, so I shall settle for making it in something that I already own.

Eep, I'm excited! I haven't really cooked in ages!

Hummus Heaven

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a backyard barbecue at my friend's new house. I, being the conscientious vegetarian that I am, went ahead and brought something (other than chips and potato salad) that I knew I would be able to eat. The lucky winner = hummus. I have brought hummus to many places, and am always shocked by how impressed people are. I mean, seriously, it's a half dozen ingredients thrown into a food processor. In answer to many a request, I am now putting the recipe up here.

Basic Hummus (large batch)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chick peas (drained, liquid reserved)
• 4 heaping Tablespoons of Tahini (I prefer the brand Beirut)
• 6 cloves (or to taste) of crushed or finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• Sprinkle of Paprika (optional)
  

Directions:

• Combine chick peas, tahini, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add reserved liquid as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
  
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Spoon into a bowl, and top with a Sprinkle of Paprika and a drizzle of Olive Oil.
• Serve at room temperature.

Variations:
I have many different types of hummus that I make. These are a couple of my favorites. These ingredients should be blended with the chick peas, tahini and spices.

• Red Pepper Hummus: Add 1/2 cup fire roasted red pepper. If you would like a hotter hummus, add either an extra 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or a Tablespoon of crushed red pepper.
• Parsley - Add a cup of chopped parsley or cilantro, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice.
• Roasted Garlic: Instead of adding raw garlic, coat your cloves in olive oil, and roast in aluminum cones under your oven's broiler until browned.

Hummus is one of the most versatile spreads. You can put anything you want into it. I usually just put in what I happen to have in the refrigerator. You can be as creative as you want, or it's great plain. It doesn't matter.

And now kids, if you are EXTRA good, I'll post Hummus's beautiful sister, Baba Ganouj, and Hummus's lovely lady friend Tzatziki. We shall see!

Bento Love AKA. Sometimes I don't hate carrots.

I made myself a lovely little Bento this morning. It even had some delicious carrots in it... and I usually hate carrots.

• 2 mini peanut butter (Smart Balance Crunchy) and honey (local, of course.) sandwiches on french bread
• Matchstick Carrots and Slivered almonds
• A container of Ken's Steakhouse Asian light dressing (YUM)
• A few hot peanuts
• A few slices of dried apple
• A small piece of chocolate covered toffee

All and all... it was delicious, and it allowed me to snack during the day, which is how I like to eat. Good stuff! i just thought I'd share. The carrot salad in particular was a little stroke of genius, though it would have been enhanced by some sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Marshmallow Treats! Yum!

So I hear you have a batch of marshmallow fluff that you don't have anything to do with? What a fantastic coincidence!

Vegetarian Marshmallow Treats with Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

• Your batch of marshmallow fluff (http://cooking-with-coconuts.blogspot.com/2008/05/vegetarian-marshmallow-fluff.html)
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 7 cups Crispy Rice Cereal

Directions:

• Put the marshmallow fluff, butter or margarine, and peanut butter into a medium sauce pan.
• Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until everything is melted together.
  
• In a large bowl, pour the marshmallow mixture over your Crispy Rice Cereal.
• Mix until the cereal is covered.
• Press into a greased 9x13 pan.

This makes approximately 24 nice, thick, peanut buttery marshmallow treats. Yum!

Vegetarian Marshmallow Fluff

These were originally supposed to be marshmallows BUT with a little finagling, it turned out to be the most beautiful marshmallow fluff ever.

Ingredients:

• 1 25 gram packet of unflavored agar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light Karo syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch salt
• 1 generous Tablespoon vanilla
• powdered sugar
• canola oil
• 2 egg whites

Directions:

• Grease and powder (with powdered sugar) a large sealable container (plastic or glass) that you will store your fluff in.
• Combine the sugar, Karo syrup and 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan, and slowly heat until 250 degrees. (hard ball stage for you candy experts out there.)
• When that gets up to temp, turn it off, and quickly stir the Agar with 1/2 cup warm water.
• Drizzle the sugar mixture, while beating on low.
• Beat on high for approximately 8-10 minutes.
• Mix in the egg whites, and beat on high until light and fluffy.
• Stir in the vanilla.
• NOTE: This DOES have raw egg in it, so refrigerate it, and those of you who do not eat raw egg.... Don't eat it!
• Store in an airtight container, and use it pretty quickly.

If anyone else tries this, please comment and let me know how it turned out!

Also, Almond Dream Vanilla Almond Milk... I just tried it, and it is wonderful. It has a delightful milk like texture, color, and taste. Perfect on cereal or in coffee. Even my hunny bunny likes it!

It's a great day!

My best friend and I went down to my parent's house this weekend to A: See my sister off to prom, and B: Celebrate her birthday with her. Since my birthday is less than two weeks from now, my parents went ahead and gave my birthday present to me. It's a copy of only the GREATEST looking Vegan cookbook ever... the Veganomicon! ( http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html)

I can tell you that I am quite excited to try, and then change some recipes out of that book. I believe the first that I will try will probably be the Banana Nut Waffles. I just happened to flip the book open to that page at my friend's house, and that was when I decided that I needed a copy! So stay tuned, gentle readers! Same cooking blog, Same cooking channel.

Greatest Vinaigrette Ever

You will have to refer back to this often. I invented this dressing, and it's so amazing that part of me wants to share, and part of me wants it to be my secret forever. (Like my banana bread spices... good luck ever getting those out of me.) Lucky for you, I've decided to share:

GREATEST VINAIGRETTE EVER

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I think I have Sun of Italy or something like that? It's nice and mild and sort of sweet on its own)
• 4 teaspoons olive oil (Extra Virgin of course)
• 1 crushed garlic clove (fresh)
• pinch of sugar (more if your vinegar is more acidic)
• pinch of salt
• generous grinding of pepper (I use a fresh ground peppercorn blend)

Directions:

• Mix together
• Taste, and adjust according to you liking
• Let sit for a while so the garlic with incorporate
• Serve

NOTE: I make this fresh, and never refrigerate it. This is enough to generously dress two or three salads.

Hiatus Over

Well, there really is no excuse for how long I've been gone... but I"m back now. I don't know if I've brought this up before, but last year on August 5th, I went off the meat, so I'll be experimenting with many Veggie and Vegan recipes. I've actually been cooking up a storm lately, so I have LOTS to post!

OTHER EXCITING NEWS: I got my laptop lunchbox (http://www.laptoplunches.com/) in the mail yesterday, and made an excellent brunch for myself. I did take pictures of it, so I'll post those later. I've been reading this post (http://www.veganlunchbox.com/) for years now, and have always wanted the bento that she uses. As I have been out of lunch baggies for over two months now, and have been using solely reusable containers, I figured it was time to treat myself to a really great bento! It finally came in the mail yesterday, and is just as wonderful as I thought it would be! Even the Hunny was excited! (I got him a black and red one, but mine is the "whimsical" colors.)

TODAY FOR MY BRUNCH I PACKED:
Sourdough bread (I will use Brummel and Brown to make this into toast though)
Sliced Fresh Strawberries with a sprinkling of raw sugar
a teeny tiny bit of slices Bree
a teeny tiny bit of Merlot cheese
a quarter of a vanilla tart from La Madeleine

A bit much, I know... but it's brunch! And all I'll have after that is probably a couple of pieces of fruit.

WHAT SORT OF THINGS HAVE I COOKED, SO WHAT DO WE HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?
Well I'll tell ya...

• Open Faced Sourdough Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Patties, fresh greens, and the greatest vinaigrette EVER
• High Fiber Low Fat Vegan Brownies
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Filo Rosettes with Bree
• Yummy Spinach Salad with that same "Greatest Vinaigrette Ever"

And that's just a beginning. I've been a cooking fool, lately! Tonight, I think I will use that marshmallow fluff to make rice crispy treats. Oh how I have been missing those bad boys since I went all veggie and stuff. They have good ones at Trader Joe's... but they aren't the same!

THING I'M ABOUT TO TRY:
What does Courtney have in her fridge to try out, you might want to know... WELL...

• Tofu Jerky
• Those Rice Crispy treats

And more!

Keep posted...

Oh Goodness, I disappeared!!!

So sorry I fell of the face of the earth. Tons of exciting stuff is happening in my life right now. Part of which: My first niece should be born just any old time now. For that reason, and a couple of other ones, I'm going to see my family. Now, my bro's girl, I'm pretty sure the reason why she likes us is because of my Dad's Thai Fried Noodles. It's way different from traditional Pad Thai. In fact, they aren't even really the same dish, but I thought I'd include this recipe for your viewing enjoyment. You can add whatever meat you want. I usually add shrimp. Also, the amounts are strictly up to the cook's discretion.

First, throw some rice noodles in some really super hot water, and some bean sprouts in some ice water. Next mix up a big fat spoonful of red curry paste (or Massaman if you prefer), a spoonful of all natural peanut butter, an egg, and a bit of sugar. Next heat up your wok, and toss the sauce in with your soft noodles. Put a bit of fish sauce on it, toss in your drained and crunchy bean sprouts, and top with some chopped peanuts, chopped green onion, and chopped cilantro. We add precooked shrimp while it's in the wok and add some chopped dried shrimp to the topping. To salt it at the table, we put a bit of soy sauce in, or a bit more fish sauce. It's quick, easy, and completely delish. To make a sweeter, softer dish, make more sauce, and add more sugar, and less curry paste. To make a spicier dish, add more curry paste and less peanut butter. For more peanutty sauce... well, you get the idea.

Yum. I think I"ll make this for my little baby mama when I go and see her. Never hurts to accrue those brownie points. :-)

E-Z Green Beans

My sis made these for me last night, and I was reminded by how much I LOVED them when I was a little kid. It should tell you what kind of a weird kid I was by the fact that I used to BEG my mom for these... and for brussel sprouts. I have a not so secret love affair with brussel sprouts. Picture this convo:

Me: (adorable, intelligent little child that I was) Mom. MoOm. MoOom!! They have brussel sprouts. MOM. They have BRUSSEL SPROUTS! Can you GET SOME, MOM???
Mom: No. Those things are nasty.
Me: No they aren't. Belinda makes them for us. They're SO good. Can YOU make them?
Mom: No! And DON'T. ASK. AGAIN.
Random Shopper: *gawking* How did you get your kids to do that?

Anyhow...

Green beans with Hoisin Sauce

Level: Easy Peasy

• Snow Peas (or regular green beans) Make sure they are fresh and lovely!
• Green Onions
• Canola Oil
• Hoisin Sauce

Clean your beans. Cut off any weird threadies. If you used regular green beans, break them into big bite size pieces. Clean your onions and cut them into the same sized pieces as your beans. (NOTE: I usually do about 2 parts green beans to 1 part onion) Heat up some canola oil in a wok or frying pan. Throw the beans and onions in there just long enough for them to cook through WITHOUT losing crispness. Slop some Hoisin sauce on them, and toss. It's doesn't take too terribly much of the hoisin sauce.

What do you have?

Monster Deliciousness.

She also made the most amazing lo mein that I've ever had, but I'll have to find out precisely what she put on it to make it so WONDERFUL. I should have taken a picture. It was beautiful as well as wonderful. So good, my hunny couldn't answer whether or not he liked it, because he was too busy polishing his plate with his tongue and getting up to get another serving!

And one more thing. A hint on the cupcakes? Chocolate Genache will be involved because I have cream I have to use. So stay tuned. I have found an amazing recipe. They will be ridiculous.

I just found the most AMAZING new blog

More coming soon.
Wait for it.

Later for now Gaterroos.

Heh heh heh

My coworker gave me the most terrific idea for cupcakes. I'm very excited, and think I will make them with my little sister on Saturday.

Also, I think I will make an expiremental jumbalaya tonight. Usually, my hunny bunny makes that, and he uses real pork sausage, but I'm going to try it with turkey sausage. We'll see. We'll see.

Let me eat cake!

This is my grandmother's recipe.

Italian Cream Cake

Cream together

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup oil (I used canola, because I'm health conscious. *smirk*)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I never measure vanilla, but I probably doubled that.)
• 5 egg yolks, one at a time

Then beat the 5 egg whites until they form stiff white peaks, and cream them in too.l

Add

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 can angel coconut

Bake in 3 (9 inch) cake pans or a tube pan for 25 minutes or until done, longer for a bundt pan.

I used a 9x13 sheet pan for once in my life, and it took FOREVER. It's done with the edges pull away from the side of the pan a little, so make sure you grease well. I am a huge fan of the baking Pam, though I just used regular butter flavor Pam this time.

Some other changes I made:

Can angel coconut? What on earth is that? I'm not from Georgia or Tennessee or someplace CRAZY where you have coconut in a CAN! So, I took 1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut, soaked it in the some milk for an hour or two in the fridge, then squeezed most the milk out to add it. This does make a VERY moist cake, almost wet, that is actually better on the second day. IF and only IF it lasts that long.

The icing:

Whip together

• 1 stick butter (REAL BUTTER)
• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (again, I bet I doubled this)
• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans

NOW, let's talk a bit about buttercream. This is a cream cheese buttercream. Everything you use it in should be room temperature. Cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Then add the powdered sugar. Very. Slowly. Then add your pecans. Make sure these are a pretty fine chop. If, when you are done, you find your icing very thick, you can add a bit of hot water. When I say a bit, I mean a teaspoon at a time, until the consistency is right. This particular icing is not one you can use to decorate with, the but nuts make it pretty attractive. For an extra attractive option, you could make it a layer cake, leave the nuts out of the frosting, then press them against the icing on the side of the cake, and drizzle a few across the top. I, however, was lazy this time, and so made a sheetcake. And I certainly did take a lot of crap for that, but you know what? I can't be Superwoman ALL the time.

Cupcake suggestions?

Hey there all. I am looking for some fabulous cupcake recipes. Like I said, I've been checking out that cupcake website, and I am feeling inspired to make some adorable, delicious, little cakies. Anyone have any ideas, drop me a line at cooking.with.coconuts@gmail.com

Vielen Dank kids!

Links

As none of you know me, I would like to post a few of my favorite cooking links. Each of these delights and inspires me!

http://www.cookingcute.com/
I just love bento. I'm slowly coming up with a collection of adorable food preparation tools. I have animal shaped onigiri molds, egg molds, little sauce bottles... So far, I've just been preparing them in gladware, but I've been checking out some VERY cute boxes, and I think I'm about ready to make some purchases. I'm not very good yet, but I'd be willing to put up some of my Adventures in Bento pictures and recipes.

http://mmmbento.livejournal.com/
Another great bento blog.

http://community.livejournal.com/curiouscupcakes/profile
I just ran across this one today. Some of these cupcakes are simply ADORABLE! This is definitely going to make the daily rotation.

http://thecakeblog.livejournal.com/
This bakery makes some of the most amazing looking and delicious sounding cakes I've ever seen. When I was younger, I worked for a long time as a cake baker/decorator, and this site has really inspired me to get back into it.

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
This site is one of the ones that made me want to get into bento. Though I am not vegan, I love most of her ideas, and I certainly don't MIND not eating meat, so I will be experimenting with some of her recipes. Who knows? I may even buy the book.

http://allrecipes.com/
I freaking LURV this Website. You can find recipes for ANYTHING, and most of them have been rated and commented upon, so you kind of know what you're getting yourself into.

Adventures in Indian

As you read this, I am smiling in happy relief. I had a luncheon this weekend, and though I won't say that it went off without a hitch, I WILL say that it was rocking awesome fun. The food was (For the most part, Damn you rice) excellent, the drink flowed, but not in any sort of cumbersome manner, and the cast was perfect. For the main course I made Butter Chicken. If I do say so, it turned out very well. I'm not sure if it tasted at all like what is in the restaurants, but everyone seemed to like it. One quick note before we start: I don't measure things unless I'm baking, but these should be pretty accurate guesstimates!

Butter Chicken

• 8 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)


• 4 medium yellow onions


• 3 Tablespoons chopped garlic


• 1 inch ginger (peeled and grated)


• 1 large can chopped tomatoes (I can't remember what size I used. It costs in between $1.50 and $2.00 though.)


• 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder


• 3 Tablespoons Garam Marsala


• 1 stick butter


• 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 1/3 cup canola oil

I know, I know. This is NOT one of my healthier recipes!

The key to this recipe was patience. I started out by grabbing my largest frying pan and dumping approximately 1/3 cup of canola oil into the bottom of it. I turned the fire up to a low/medium heat, and started chopping onions. You are going to puree the sauce in a food processor, so just a loose chop is fine. I threw the onions in, and because onions cook faster than garlic, I waited until they were translucent to put my garlic and grated ginger in. I let they go a little longer, and then put half a stick of the butter into the pan with me. I kept on just cooking it on a nice low heat until it was nice and caramelly looking, and then I added the spices. I opened my tomatoes, drained all the juice off, and put them in the frying pan with the onions. I cooked it for maybe ten to fifteen minutes longer, and then took the frying pan off the heat. While that was cooling, I chopped my chicken into about one inch cubes, and threw those into a crock pot. Once the onion and tomato mixture was cool enough to handle it, I put it in a food processor and whirred it until it was pureed, but not liquefied. I put the puree in the crock pot with the chicken, stirred it all up, and set it on high. I waited about half an hour, and then put the other half of the butter into the crock pot. I stirred every once and a while, and when the chicken started to look kind of done, I put on rice. (NOTE: the chicken only took about an hour and a half to cook, so keep a pretty close eye on it.) About ten minutes before I took the chicken off the heat, I added the cream, tasted the mixture, and added a bit more garam marsala and chili powder. When the rice was done, I set the rice maker and the crock pot on the table along with some Nan and let people go to town.

The Rice

Some people are rice challenged. I am definitely one of those people. I have a small rice maker with a 5 cup capacity. I had never made all 5 cups of rice, and I learned that I need to put in a bit less liquid when I do that. My rice was a bit um. Mushy. So my advice is, make sure you completely know your appliances before using them to prepare food for guests.

The Nan

Not all of you may know what this is. It is an Indian flat bread that you get in pretty much any Indian restaurant. You can buy them at most any international grocery store. However, my friend managed to find it at Trader Joe's, and I must say, it was fantastic. He got regular Nan, and then a garlic Nan. I put them in a very low oven (175 degrees F) for about fifteen minutes, and pulled them out when I was ready to serve everything else.

Dessert

I made Italian Cream Cake. It is wonderful enough to deserve its own post.

The Final Conclusion

It was basically an awesome little party. And I was gratified to see people come back for seconds, and in one case, thirds. I'm betting I could have done better, and certainly next time, I may make some changes, but I think this was pretty terrific for a first try. Not to mention, I love my friends, and everyone really had fun.

NOTE: I didn't take the pictures until the next day. The sauce had soaked into the rice, and it looked more like porridge, than beautiful chicken pieces and orange sauce over rice.