Black Bottom Cupcakes

So I’ve taken a hiatus from cooking as the Holiday season is getting into full swing.  I have to admit that I probably won’t do another cooking post until the New Year.  I am heading back home on Thursday and I probably won’t even be allowed in the kitchen while I’m home.  

I needed to bring a dessert item into work today so I busted open my favorite baking book from Magnolia Bakery in NYC.  I have never actually been but I’ve heard great things from my friends who live in NYC and have made their cupcakes before.  I decided to go try a new recipe today and went with the Black Bottom Cupcakes.  They are chocolate on the bottom with a Cream Cheese Filling on top.  I don’t have the recipe on me so I will have to post tomorrow.  

One thing I noticed was that the filling makes much more than the cake batter.  I also think I could have gone a little heavier on the filling.  Give it a try and let me know how it goes.  

Day 4: Baked Chicken and Rice

I bought a ton of tomatoes when I was at the store so I've indulged this week with Tomato and Mozzarella Salad every night.  It is super easy to make and is great as a salad before a meal or as a full meal.  Yesterday I used a couple tomatoes and most of the container of mozzarella and made it a meal.  Today I went with one tomato and the leftover mozzarella.  I have my favorite olive oil that I get from a place up in Napa and then some balsamic reduction and pepper.  It is super easy to make and always tastes great.

Tonight I went with another recipe I found on Real Simple over the weekend.  This was Baked Chicken and Rice. I omitted a couple of the ingredients in an effort to make this a bit easier to make and scaled down on the portions to make it for one.  In the end the rice didn't cook very well so I was overall disappointed with the meal.  I have some ideas for trying again next time so we shall see how it goes.  It was pretty easy to put together.  Everything goes in a bowl and then everything goes in that great Pyrex baking pan I mentioned last time.  If you try this let me know how it goes with cooking the rice!
   

Day 3: Tired Chicken

This is my go-to meal when I know I’m not going to want to do anything complicated.  I took the other half of the tomatoes from yesterday’s risotto to make a nice mozzarella and tomato salad.  I simply cut the grape tomatoes in half and sprinkled some olive oil, pepper, and balsamic on top as well as some fresh mozzarella.  I find Whole Foods brand Mozzarella to be one of the best finds.  I took another chicken breast out of the freezer last night so that it would be ready when I got home tonight.  I seasoned it with olive oil, balsamic, cumin, oregano, and paprika and then left it in the fridge while I went to the gym.  I stuck it in the oven at 350° for 40 min and it was perfectly juicy when I took it out.

I find my two most important cooking elements to be an 8” Pyrex baking pan and a roll of aluminum foil.  I hate doing dishes and washing the baking pan after is not an easy task.  I use the aluminum foil to extend the life of my baking pan.  It makes cooking nightly a little less of a chore.  I suggest getting a good kind of aluminum foil that doesn’t rip easily since that will defeat the whole purpose!

Sometimes you just have to stick with your old faithful!  Look for something new and exciting Friday morning.  I will be skipping tomorrow night.      

Day Two: Risotto with Roasted Tomatoes and Chicken

So I deviated from the original recipe on two fronts.  I added chicken so there would be some protein.  I also excluded some of the ingredients and cut down on the original portion amounts.  I wanted to try and make enough for dinner and to take leftovers for lunch.  I had added some herbs in place of the original fresh thyme leaves, which I didn’t find very appetizing.  I excluded this from the final ingredient list I’m posting.  I had never had risotto before so I was nervous about cooking it.  It looks pretty bad at the beginning but it really gets going at the end.  I found 1 cup to be more than enough and could probably be cut down to ½ cup.  In that case you would probably use half as much onion and chicken broth. 

I managed to get three of my favorite ingredients into this meal: tomatoes, cheese, and onion.  I seriously struggled cutting the onions so my pieces would definitely not qualify as “finely chopped” but it didn’t really make a difference in the final taste.  Not too much else to mention on this one.  If anyone happens to try it out let me know how it goes and if you have any suggestions.  I enjoyed having this dish for dinner and hope you do too!

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

•  1 Chicken Breast
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
• ½ small white onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 2 ½ low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°. 
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chicken breast.  Place chicken breast in an 8” baking pan and place tomatoes around the chicken.  Drizzle olive oil and salt over the tomatoes.  Place in oven and roast for 35 minutes.  Once done let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
4. Add the finely chopped onion and cook for 3 minutes. 
5. Add the rice and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
6.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed.
7.  Add ¼ cup of chicken broth at a time, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed.  It should take about 20 minutes for the entire mixture to be absorbed. 
8. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan and sprinkling of salt and pepper.
9. Remove the chicken and tomatoes from the oven.  Let the tomatoes sit.  Cut the chicken into small pieces.
10. Stir in tomatoes and chicken pieces.

Day One: Grocery Shopping

I started my journey by typing tomato into the recipe search bar on Real Simple.  I printed out five recipes that looked quite delicious and heading off to the grocery store.  I tried to focus on some generic ingredients across the board knowing that I clearly wasn't going to need the full portions for just one serving.  I ended up going to both Whole Foods and Safeway to get all the necessary ingredients and spending entirely too much money.  I got home and cleaned out my refrigerator so that I can start my new project completely fresh. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post with pictures and comments on how the first adventure went!

I'll try to come back with a good recipe but remember that Cubans don't like to stick to recipes!

Grocery Store Loot:
- Fresh Tomatoes: package of grape tomatoes as well as lots of regular sized
- Canned Tomatoes: These are supposedly good for sauces so I bought Whole Peeled, Crushed, and Diced since different recipes called for all three
- 4 Chicken Breast: I put them in separate bags and froze three and left one out for tonight's dinner
- Whole Grain Penne Pasta
- Brown Basmati Rice
- Arborio Rice (used for Risotto)
- Package of Spinach
- Yellow Onion
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Ricotta Cheese
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese