Baked Not Fried

Trying to find healthier alternatives to fried food can be a difficult feat. Some things are just meant to be fried. While baked alternatives may not ever be able to emulate the deliciousness of their fried counterparts, I've been trying out some recipes in hopes of finding some suitable substitutes.

In the past, I've tried baking buffalo wings, fries/sweet potato fries, zucchini, many attempts in vain, but some more successful. The most recent and most successful attempt was buffalo wings. Using Alton Brown's method of steaming the wings before baking produced a tasty result that was *this* close to fried buffalo wings.

Tonight for dinner, I attempted making a baked version of chicken taquitos. Taquitos are a celebrated fried snack food, making them an ideal target for the "baked not fried" challenge. The results weren’t exactly amazing, but at least they tasted good. The corn tortillas split open while baking, something that happened when I tried baked taquitos before. I think it has to do with the tortillas drying out in the oven because there is no oil (just non-stick spray) to keep them moist.

For the chicken, I baked off a chicken breast then mixed in the adobo sauce from canned chipotles, leftover yogurt dip (greek yogurt, chipotles, garlic, lime), mozzarella cheese, and spices including cumin, coriander, garlic and smoked paprika. I wrapped them up in corn tortillas that I got from a Mexican grocery store in Oakland. After spraying them with non-stick spray I baked them at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

I added a side of homemade refried pinto beans. To make these I just sauteed half a jalapeno, one shallot and one clove of garlic in a little bit of olive oil in a small pot. I drained half the liquid from a can of pinto beans and then using a fork smashed and mashed them up in a bowl. I added the beans to the pot along with a little salt and pepper plus a bit of cumin. The beans cooked for 10-15 minutes on low until some of the moisture had evaporated. Before serving I added some cheese to the pot and put the lid on so it would melt. Even though I was trying to cook healthier I ended up with a meal lacking in vegetables besides onion and jalapeno so I added some tomato on top of the beans.

Here's a picture of the result.

Overall, it was a tasty and satisfying alternative to the fried snack, but I want to play around with ways to make the taquitos so they don't split open during baking.

4th of July Oreos

Homemade Red and Blue Oreos

For the 4th of July I wanted to make something patriotic and decided on red and blue Oreos (I actually planned on having white ones, too, but after some miscounting I ended up with just blue and red). I don't actually like real Oreos except in Cookies 'n Cream ice cream so I was wary of how these would turn out. Overall, I think I prefer store bought Oreos because my homemade ones didn't come out as crisp as store bought. They were chewy, but not soft...just kind of a weird texture.

Here's the link to the recipe I used. I added food coloring to the filling to make them red and blue.

Duo Challenge Day Coffee Cake

Blueberry Crumble Coffee Cake

This past weekend, I made this coffee cake for a potluck picnic and bbq. I knew I wanted to make something with fruit because it's summer. Originally, I was thinking about grilling pineapple, but finally settled on a blueberry coffee cake because the last coffee cake I made came out so yummy. This blueberry version came out delicious as well...moist and chock full of blueberries. There was almost a 1-1 ratio of blueberries to batter.

Here is my adaptation of the recipe. I used 1.5 the recipe so I could make a 9x13 cake.

Blueberry Crumble Coffee Cake

adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
Streusel
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbs granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
 pinch table salt
6 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened

Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tss baking powder
15 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs , room temperature
6 cups fresh blueberries, washed

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt until well combined. Add butter and mix with hands (squeeze pieces of butter so they break apart) until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain. Set aside.
2. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with 2-inch sides with nonstick cooking spray, line bottom with parchment, and spray again with nonstick cooking spray. 
3. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside. 
4. In standing mixer fitted with a paddle, cream butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes; using a rubber spatula, scrape down bowl. 
5. With mixer running at medium speed, add eggs one at a time; beat until combined, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. 
6. With mixer running on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat until flour is combined, but don't over mix. Using a spatula, gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed.
7. Transfer batter to prepared pan; with rubber spatula spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Sprinkle streusel over the batter by squeezing handfuls to form a clump and then breaking the clump and distributing evenly.
8. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Cool on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. 

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

For Ryan's birthday I made him chocolate molten lava cake...ooey, gooey and chocolate-y. I had bought a special pan for making molten cakes, but I didn't use the recipe that came with the pan. This turned out to be a mistake, because the method for the recipe I used just did not work with the pan. I ended up following the recipe and putting the batter into a ramekin, which definitely worked a lot better. Next time, I will use the recipe that goes with the pan and see how that comes out and so the pan doesn't go to waste!

I bought a giant box of Scharfenberger chocolate bars so look forward to many more chocolate recipes...hopefully soon!

P.S. Excuse the grainy picture it's from my iPhone...not that my other pictures are all that great though.

Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

After making a coffee cake awhile ago, I realized how easy it is to put one together. This time I used cocoa powder and cinnamon in the swirl, but I felt like the chocolate flavor didn't come through even though I increased the amount of cocoa. Still, the coffee came out moist and with a delicious crumble on top. This is an easy way to impress someone for breakfast or even dessert with a cup of coffee.