Let’s Talk About You (and Coffee Cake)

January 3, 2013 by

Shutterbean's-Sour-Cream-Coffee-Cake-on-Channeling-Contessa

I realize this decadent sour cream coffee is probably the last thing you want to see after all the holiday cookies and cakes, but I couldn’t help but share. The photo just came out so well! That and when you are ready to take a break from your post holiday detox, this cake is a phenomenal way to start. Just make sure you have 10+ people around because this thing is downright huge.

Now, moving on to more important matters. I want to talk about you. Up until recently I had this funny idea in my head that if I put it to you guys- ie asked you what you wanted to see around these parts, that the question would in some way suggest I was unable to come up with content on my own. I know, really silly. And maybe kind of selfish? In any event, now I’m asking. So the first part of your assignment is to tell me the following: What makes you come to CC everyday? What do you want to see more or less of? And most importantly, what do you want to see that’s not here right now? For those of you who have left comments and questions- no worries I’ve got you covered, but if you haven’t shared your opinion before, hop to!

Number two! Yep, I’m feeling pretty demanding today. Can you tell me who you are? I know some of you, but there are thousands- and well, I want to know more! What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you love to eat? Did you see Les Mis? Or anything else you’d like to share!

I appreciate you all so much and without you, well, CC wouldn’t even be possible. So in 2013 I want to make sure I know you all better- and we’re covering what you want to read! Sound like a plan? Let’s do it.

Oh! And coffee cake recipe below.

Shutterbean's-Sour-Cream-Coffee-Cake-on-Channeling-Contessa-1

Mom’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Shutterbean
makes 12-16 servings

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups butter
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons each vanilla & water

Maple Frosting/Glaze

  • 1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°.

Beat butter and granulated sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, then beat in the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Stir in the sour cream. Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together and blend into mixture.

Combine nuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the batter into a grease, flour-dusted 10 inch tube pan or bundt pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the nut mixture. Continue layering to make three layers of each, ending with the nut mixture. Blend vanilla and water in a bowl and drizzle it over top.

Bake cake for about 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 20 mintues on a wire rack, then remove from the pan.

In a small bowl, mix the confectioners sugar, maple syrup & vanilla together to make the glaze.

With a spoon drizzle glaze on top of the cooled cake and serve.

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Tuscan Kale Salad

September 6, 2012 by

This has definitely been the year of kale in our household. We can’t seem to get enough of it. My first obsession was Kale Chips, and I’ve since moved on to this Tuscan Kale Salad. It’s like the kale version of Caesar salad, but a really good homemade Caesar salad- think raw garlic, tons of fresh parm, and  homemade breadcrumbs. If you met me in person and we were chatting about this salad, I would rant and rave and probably talk your ear off for a good 20 minutes about how amazing it is- it’s at that level of goodness. You need to make it right now, ok? Like really, you got it? Ok, great. Glad we’re on the same page. I’m implementing brute force from now on when it comes to telling you to make my recipes- just fyi.

Tuscan Kale Salad adapted from Shutterbean/ Melissa Clark

Makes 4 servings

  • 8 cups (generally one large bunch) of kale cut into ribbon like pieces
  • 1/4 of a baguette thinly sliced (or 2 slices good white bread)
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 T olive oil
  • 3/4 cup grated parm and 1/2 cup parm shavings
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

The marinade period: You should begin marinating the salad at least 4 hours prior to serving, but you could also do it overnight. To marinate, place the chopped kale in your serving bowl, squeeze in the juice from a quart of the lemon and pour in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss with your hands, massaging the leaves gently. Set aside.

Make the croutons: Toast the baguette until it’s nice and golden brown. Cut it into large rough chunks, reserving the bread crumbs too.

Make the dressing: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and half the grated parm. Two hours prior to serving toss together the marinated kale, dressing, and bread crumbs.  When ready to serve, top with shaved parm and a bit more salt and pepper.

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Linguine with Marinated Tomatoes

July 9, 2012 by

Do you guys follow Joy and Tracey? I read their blogs all the time, faithfully listen to their podcast each week, stalk them on Twitter, and make their recipes often. They are two awesome ladies that I would totally love to be friends with in real life.

In their podcast last week, they were talking about summer shortcuts- specifically shortcuts in the kitchen when you’re cooking and entertaining. So this got me thinking about my summer habits, and little things I do to entertain simply and give myself a break. A few things came to mind. For one, watermelon- totally counts as a side dish. Cantaloupe wrapped in proscuitto is pretty much the best (and easiest) appetizer or side dish ever. BLTs make a phenomenal dinner. Get really good quality bacon and bread, use big basil leaves instead of lettuce, and throw in some avocado- your guests will be in heaven.

And then there’s this pasta dish- my newest shortcut. It’s one of those things that at first glance looks too simple to be that good, but it is so so good. Tomatoes, olive oil, raw garlic, and basil get tossed together to marinate for several hours before cooking the pasta. This breaks down the tomatoes, creating an incredibly fresh and garlicky tomato sauce (with no actual cooking involved). The dish is just as good served hot as it is room temp- perfect for entertaining. This one is truly a summer must!

Do you have summer shortcuts in the kitchen? I need more. Do tell!

Linguine with Marinated Tomatoes slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

 

  • 1 pound linguine (or spaghetti)
  • 4 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 T minced garlic
  • large bunch of basil, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • parmesan for serving

Combine the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, basil, salt, red pepper flakes, and ground pepper in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Right before your ready to serve the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta for 7-8 minutes until just al denté. Drain the pasta well and add it to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Toss well to combine. Serve in shallow bowls with lots of grated parm on top.

 

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Thai Beef and Noodle Salad

April 20, 2012 by

I could not be happier it’s Friday! This week started out on a sick note and then quickly transitioned to all my energy being focused on catching up on work. That combined with working most of last weekend has left me a little burnt out, so I’m thrilled to kick off my weekend a little early and be taking Friday off! Aaah… feels like such a treat. What makes it even better is that I have something super fun planned. After doing a little lounging and reading this morning I’m headed to a Biz Ladies Lunch at the Design Sponge offices in Brooklyn. I’m so excited to meet Grace, the founder of Design Sponge, as well as a bunch of women that work for themselves in the NYC area. It’s a pot luck, so the noodle salad you see pictured here is what I’m bringing with me.

A few things on this salad- yes, there are quite a few ingredients. But I assure you, they are all completely worth it! The flavors in this dish are downright addictive- Brandon and I have literally been eating it in various forms (once as a salad, once as a noodle salad) since Wednesday. It’s also ideal for entertaining because all the ingredients can be prepped the day before and then tossed together a half hour or so before serving. It’s best served a little cool or at room temp.You must add this dish to your spring/summer repertoire.

And with that I’m off! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, with lots of time outside. Oh, and, the blog will be down a bit this weekend as I work on some things on the back end so thanks for your patience. If all goes according to plan I’ll have something very exciting to reveal on Monday… see you then!

Thai Beef and Noodle Salad inspired by Shutterbean and Camille Styles
Makes 4-5 entrée portions

For the salad (Note: You can swamp out the noodles and serve with two heads of torn romain lettuce, just use a bit less dressing.)

  • 1 lb linguine (or any fine noodle)
  • 1/2 pound skirt steak
  • big bunches of cilantro, mint, and basil roughly chopped (should equal about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 carrots peeled and shaved with a vegetable peeler
  • 1/2 an English cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange) thinly sliced
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes cute in half
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped roasted peanuts
  • Steak marinade: 2 cloves garlic crush, 1 T fish sauce, 2 T soy sauce, and 1 T sugar

For the dressing:

  • 2 T and 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 2 T and 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 3 tsp Sriracha
  • 4 T brown sugar
  • 4 T peeled, minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)

Marinate the Steak: Place the steak in a large Ziploc freezer bag, add in steak marinade ingredients. Shake bag around and massage steak a bit to mix everything together. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes prior to cook, but up to 1 day- the longer it marinates, the better. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking to bring to room temp.

Cook the pasta until al denté (about 8 minutes), drain and toss with a little vegetable oil. Set aside.

Heat a cast iron or heavy bottomed frying pan over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Once heated place the steak in the pan and cook for 4 1/2 minutes on each side. While the steak is cooking, mix together ingredients for the dressing. Once the steak has finished cooking, place it on a plate, cover it in tin foil, and let it rest while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Place the noodles, vegetables, and herbs in a large bowl. After the steak has rested, thinly slice it against the grain and add two thirds of it to the salad. Pour in the dressing and toss well to combine. Place the noodles on a large platter and top with the remaining steak and crushed peanuts.

4 Comments

Tuning Out the Noise

February 27, 2012 by

Aaaah… how was your weekend? Mine was unexpectedly wonderful. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, it was just one of those weekends where the perfect balance of productivity, relaxation, and time spent with friends somehow fell into place.  I feel pretty proud of myself, actually! I’ve been struggling lately with the separation between work and life.

I’m certainly not complaining. I’m very thankful to be so busy and  have multiple many projects at play. Nonetheless, it’s still daunting.  I find that when my schedule gets this way, the things I used to enjoy, like cooking, working out, or reading a book, become chores. I dread doing them because it seems impossible to mentally separate myself from everything else in my life and truly enjoy going running or preparing dinner. I have a hard time tuning out the noise, and being present. Does that ever happen to you?

I sort of stumbled on a solution to my problem. Being a avid follower of Joy the Baker, I started exploring her other online work- Homefries. Have you guys heard of Homefries? It’s a collection of podcasts (and other cool stuff) curated by Joy the Baker, and some amazing other bloggers/people. There are multiple podcasts to choose from, but I’m totally hooked on the Joy the Baker Podcast and We’re About to be Friends. Ok, I’ve also listened to a fair amount of the Simple Mom Podcasts (I’m preparing!).

I didn’t realize it initially, but I became so into these podcasts, I found myself making time to listen to them. I had no problem shutting off work at the end of the day and starting dinner, because it meant I could listen to the newest podcast! Same thing went for getting my  butt out the door for a lunch time run. For some reason, listening to podcasts allows me to completely tune out all the thoughts running through my head and truly take a break. I like the Homefries ones especially, because it feels like two close friends chatting next to me, except I just get to listen and take it all in, instead of engage.

Do you listen to podcasts? Do you find them relaxing? How do you disconnect and tune out the noise?

Ps: And if you have podcasts to recommend, please send them my way!

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