Thai Noodle Salad

I'm starving...I serious! Absolutely starving and I have nothing to fix at home. I've been wanting to make this salad for the longest but I'm sooo hungry I can't even think straight. I figure if I go to Trader Joes to get the ingredients on a hungry stomach I'll come outta there $50 later and missing some ingredients for the salad. GAAAAAAA! I don't have anything in the house because I just came back from my business meeting from Washington DC and I'm soo hired of eating out (I know I'm crazy but seriously how much hotel food can a person eat??). I whipped this salad together soo fast and scarfed it down so fast I can honestly say I'm not sure how it tasted. But I do know one thing for sure, if it hadn't been so damn good I would have opened up the garbage can and thrown it away, grabbed Macy in the backseat and we were heading to McDonalds!! Seeing that that didn't happen, my guess is that its really good (Pioneer Woman hasn't let me down yet...and I've tried about 5 of her recipes!! Thanks Cowgirl!!). I'm taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow so that will be the verdict. But I have no fear that I'll be making this quick & simple salad again.

Thai Noodle Salad
adapted from The Naked Chef

SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head Napa cabbage, finely sliced
1/2 to 1 head purple cabbage, finely sliced
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
3 cucumbers, peeled, sliced, seeded
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch

Garnish
1 cup whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted in skillet (I forgot to add in picture)

DRESSING:
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
1 large handful of fresh basil and cilantro, chopped

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.

*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro/basil.

Petite Vanilla Scones

Ok, fine, I'll admit it...I'm a Starbucksaholic. And to top it off I'm addicted (and I mean HARD addict) for their Petite Vanilla Scones....Yum-the-freak-O! And if that's not enough, I get super mad each time I purchase them because I know that I could make an entire batch of them for the price that I pay for just 3 of them (get real...who can just have one of those petite things!!!!) So of course the hunt was on and I found this recipe a while back and have been making them homemade ever since. Do I still go back to Starbee's and purchase them? Of course! It would take the fun outta being an addict!!!! LOL I will admit that this recipe is much lighter/less dense than the one's at Starbucks. I actually like these BETTER because I'm not a fan of eating carboard scones! I also added the vanilla beads to the glaze so it would resemble Starbucks!

I also decided that this would be my April entry for Master Baker's challenge. This recipe screams out vanilla and all the essence of its true aromatic flavor. Vanilla: the flavor of the month!

Petite Vanilla Scones
Adapted from RecipeZaar


Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Wet Ingredients
1 cup regular full-fat sour cream
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
water, as needed
1/8 tsp vanilla beads

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until flour resembles coarse meal, or use the following tip: The "grate" method: grate a block of cold butter against the large holes of a box grater. Toss the butter ribbons with the flour mixture, and then use two knives to cut the flour-coated ribbons into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg yolk and vanilla extract until blended. Add this to the flour-butter mixture and stir with a fork until dough forms a cohesive ball. Use a spatula to get the dry bits fully incorporated. (It may not seem to have enough liquid at first, but the dough will eventually come together.).

Place the sticky dough onto a parchment-lined (or ungreased) baking sheet and pat into a disk about 1-inch in height. Cut the dough into wedges but do not separate. Or scoop dough into a mini scone pan if available. (Yield will vary depending on how big you slice the wedges.).


Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

PREPARE GLAZE WHILE SCONES ARE BAKING.


GLAZE:
Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl, and add water one teaspoon at a time, mixing vigorously until smooth and runny.


Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of glaze over the hot scones. Brushing rather than drizzling gives a smoother appearance and requires less glaze.


Serve immediately. Store cooled scones in an airtight container.

Steak with Wine Sauce and Potato Gratin

Ok, I don't have a pic from my own cooking (well, I do, but its a pic that has the food in tupperware...soo not blog PC!!) so I'll just point you to Everyday Food website where I got it off their latest episode (don't you just love TiVo??!!). Also seeing that I don't eat beef I make it alot for my BF or others but don't partake (mainly because I don't like the taste of beef, and like it soo well-done--I don't like my cow moo'ing on my plate--that all I do is chew on a hockey puck so never mind!!!!). Anyways, the recipes were soo easy to make, I was done in a little under an hour and had a full course meal. This is my kinda cookin'!!!!!

Steak with Wine Sauce and Potato Gratin
Adapted from Everyday Food

Pear and Granola Muffins

So Martha Stewart's Everyday Baking made these muffins the other day (watched on my TiVo) and they just looked waaaay too good. Ok, I have to say it, I can't contain myself any longer...what's up with John Barricelli face? Did he stray on that tan or what? I mean, come on...it looks really bad! He looked completely normal when he was co-hosting Everyday Food with the rest of the girls, and then when they break him off a new show...he goes BRONZE??? I mean I know he's italian and olive skin and all but COME ON!!!!! Either he's seriously got to lay off the cheap tanning lotion or tell his makeup artist to slow down...ok, I digress...

So I couldn't think of a better muffin to submit for Greedy Gourmet's SnackShot#3. Muffins is the theme and boy are there tons out there! But what’s the difference between a muffin and cupcake? Well, a muffin contains less sugar and doesn’t have an icing top, so that means healthier right? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight! So I finally tried these muffins out and big HUGE Y-U-M--O...they are soo good! I love the combination of granola in and ontop fo the muffin. They were very simple to make (I didn't even have to take out the Kitchenaid!!!!) These are definitely going into the 'signature' file.

Pear and Granola Muffins
Adapted from Everyday Baking

For Muffins:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 D'Anjou pears (2 cups), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

For Granola Crisp Topping:
1/2 cup granola
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and mix in flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the granola and pears.

Make Granola Crisp Topping: In a bowl, toss together 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour and packed light-brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into pieces; add to granola mixture, and rub in with fingertips until clumps form.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 muffins

Matcha Cookies

So last year (pre-CIA blog) I was seeing a lot of activity of baking with matcha, the Japanese green tea. You know, the kind they make Green Tea Ice Cream with. Anyways, there were tons of bloggers baking with matcha. I'm a year behind schedule but I'm catching up blog people!!!! I'm still a baby blogger!!!

I'm heading off to Washington DC for a conference this week/end and had this recipe in the fridge chilling since this weekend so had to make it seeing that my last day in the office is tomorrow and my 'testers' are my co-workers.

Matcha (Green Tea) Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from RecipeZaar

2 cups bleached all purpose flour bleached all purpose flour
1-2 Tbsp Matcha
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Sift the flour, powdered tea and salt into a bowl.

In a mixer bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.

Add flour mixture to mixer bowl and mix slowly until dough just comes together.

Pull dough together carefully in a log, approximately 2 inches in diameter.

Wrap dough log and place in freezer for 30 minutes or until dough has firmed to the touch.

Slice dough into 1/4 inch rounds and place on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet, approximately 1 inch apart.

Bake in a preheated 325*F oven for 16 to 18 minutes (or until the cookies are just starting to turn golden around the edges), turning the pan halfway through the baking time.

Remove cookies immediately from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container or wrap well and freeze.

The well-chilled cookie dough can also be rolled out and cut into desired shapes before baking.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheese, Tomato, and Basil

I TiVo several cooking shows off the FoodNetwork and also PBS. Martha Stewart's 'Everyday Food' is one of my favorites. After I watched an episode this weekend, I knew I had to make this stuffed chicken recipe soon and what better time than the present! So I whipped it up (real quick as usual) and even got the approval of my non-chicken-breast-eatin' BF!!!!! He loved it!!! It was sooo moist and flavorful! I really believe that the skin of the chicken holds in all the moisture so that the breast doesn't dry out. This is definitely the new way that I'll be cooking 'stuffed' chicken! YUM-O!

I also made one of Giada's vegetable recipes, Asparagus, Artichoke, and Mushroom Saute with Tarragon Vinaigrette. This simple yet super flavorful side dish was the perfect accompaniment to the stuffed chicken.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheese, Tomato, and Basil
Adapted from Everyday Food

4 bone-in chicken breast halves (14 ounces each)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, about 8
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2oz Fontina or mozzarella cheese, cut into four pieces
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside. With a paring knife, cut a 1-inch-long slit in thick side of each breast. Insert knife, and without enlarging opening, carefully work around inside to form a pocket (make sure you do not go through the other side).

On a cutting board, pile basil, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, zest, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper; finely chop. Divide mixture evenly, and spoon into breast pockets, spreading it around. Insert one piece of cheese in each breast pocket.

Close pockets, using 2 to 3 toothpicks per breast; arrange, skin side up, on baking sheet. Rub with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast until well browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) reads 165 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes. Let chicken rest 5 minutes; remove toothpicks before serving.

Asparagus, Artichoke, and Mushroom Saute with Tarragon Vinaigrette

Asparagus, Artichoke, and Mushroom Saute with Tarragon Vinaigrette
Adapted from Everyday Italian

Vegetable Saute:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
8oz mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch asparagus (1 pound), sliced into 3-inch pieces
1 (8-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1/2 pint teardrop tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Tarragon Vinaigrette:
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Vegetable Saute:
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and the garlic and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and artichokes and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and reserve.

For the Tarragon Vinaigrette:
Combine the oil, vinegar, tarragon, salt and pepper in a glass screw-top jar. Seal the jar and shake vigorously to mix the vinaigrette.

Toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette and serve.