Easy, Easy Key Lime Pie

One of Florida's greatest gifts to the world is the Florida Keys. Beautiful mangroves, clear blue water, soft sand, Hemingway's 7-toed cats* and a fun atmosphere. Also, the 7-Mile Bridge always inspires awe in me, as well as a ridiculously overwhelming fear that I will fall off the edge and die in my car.

The most important, in my opinion, is the small and delicious Key Lime. As citrus season is pretty much over, I am running a little behind to be making a Key Lime Pie, but I just couldn't help myself. Key Limes are still in the stores and I had vowed back in January to make one with real Key Limes (it just tastes gross with regular limes).

*I took piano lessons from a woman who literally COLLECTED "Hemingway cats" (cats with 7 toes on each foot). If that's not the greatest example of a stereotype, crazy piano teacher, I don't know what it is. We were always stopping in the middle of lessons because the cats were getting into something. Not surprisingly, I did not make it very far in my career as a concert pianist.

Key Lime Pie

Adapted from Emeril

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted

2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk

1 cup key lime juice (do not use regular limes)

2 whole eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the sour cream and serve chilled.

Blue Steel Muffins (Zoolander, anyone?)

Are you craving a muffin like the ones they sell at bakeries, but fearful of the 500 calorie and sugar-crash price tag? Well, fear not, my friend, for I have the solution. These wonderful muffins are big enough to hold you through the morning madness (of course, I suggest adding a cup of yogurt on the side for added calcium and protein) while providing you with steel-cut oats, whole wheat flour, and a bit of fruit for some long-lasting energy.

I found this recipe on NYTimes.com, which, I am sad to say, will soon be locked behind a price wall. However, for the time being, I am scouring the paper's online recipe index as much as I can before it costs money to do so. Maybe "investing" in the Sunday-only subscription would be nice, since it's also a source for news -the international page is my homepage, after-all.

Blue Steel Muffins

(the name for these comes from the blueberries and steel-cut oats, but also my nostalgia for that stupid movie, Zoolander)

Adapted from the NYTimes

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

(or put 1 T and 1 t lemon juice in a measuring cup, then fill to 1 1/3 cup line with low-fat milk)

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup COOKED steel-cut oats

(you will break your teeth and have to go to the dentist if you use un-cooked)

1 cup blueberries tossed with 1 teaspoon flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with the rack positioned in the upper third. Oil, spray or butter 12 muffin cups, or use paper or silicone liners.

Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk (or milk and lemon juice), canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Quickly stir in the dry ingredients with a whisk or a spatula. Do not beat, just mix, stirring up from the bottom until you can no longer see flour. A few lumps are fine. Fold in the cooked oats and the blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cups, filling them to just below the top. Place in the oven, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until nicely browned. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding.

Cool on a rack, or serve warm.

The little beauties, fresh out of the oven.

Note: although these are not sweet like cupcakes, they still have a natural sweetness to them from the blueberries and maple syrup. If you really, really have a hankering for a sweet muffin, I suggest adding 1/4 cup of sugar with the dry ingredients.

Grilled Cheese with Style

Every time I buy onions, I end up buying way too many and either leave them in the fridge to turn black (I know, I know, that takes forever to happen. I am that bad). But I refused to just sit by while my onions' potential wasted away this time.

I happened to have some Gruyère in my fridge, left-over from a few weeks ago when I was feeling over-confident in my groceries' budget and splurged on an $8 piece of cheese, and the idea of caramelized onions and Gruyère was just too much to pass up. Now, for those of you who think that buying a small, $8 piece of cheese is crazy, let me assure you, a little bit of Gruyère goes a long way. Like most things of good quality, you use much less of it compared to how much you use of the cheap stuff, so it usually ends up being only minimally more expensive to get the incomparably better-tasting stuff. The key is to learn how to tell through context clues which recipes originally used the cheap stuff and which ones used the good stuff, so that you know when to scale up or down.

Caramelizing onions. Mmmm, can you smell that delicious-ness?

Grilled Cheese with Style

Note: I am about to explain this as if you are in kindergarten, so be forewarned.

2 slices of whole grain bread (I used Panera's, but the OMS bread would also be delicious)

3-4 thing slices of Gruyère cheese

1/3 of a medium onion, sliced into thin, long strips

1/2 teaspoon of butter for spreading onto the bread

Place onions and the tiniest but of oil or butter in a pan over medium heat. Caramelize onions (cook for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally).

Butter the outside faces of your sandwich bread.

Layer Gruyère cheese on the inside (un-buttered side) of one piece of bread, then top with caramelized onions. Place bread slice, cheese and onion side up, in a skillet over medium heat. Top with remaining piece of bread, butter side up. Cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on how browned you like your grilled cheeses.

Flip, and cook for another 2-3 minutes on other side.

Congratulations, you have made yourself a simple, but very sophisticated and gratifying grilled cheese.

Mmmmm, just look at those onions and that melted cheese...

Gluten-Free Dinner for 20+ Made Easy

This weekend I was given the opportunity to make dinner for a wonderful group of people with whom I attend church (sorry if that's incorrect grammar). Because so many people are trying to be healthy or have dietary restrictions, I tried to think of something yummy, nutritious, gluten-free, and cheap, so of course Black Bean Soup came to mind.

Being that this soup is primarily compromised of my favorite combo, onions+green peppers, this is one of my favorite meals. I like to make it a few days ahead of time to give the flavors time to really come out and to allow it to thicken up. Actually, if you allow it to thicken up over 2 or 3 days, it will become very thick and remind you of your grandma's authentic Cuban black beans and rice (or maybe that's just me). Serve it over brown rice and top with plain yogurt (or sour cream) and shredded cheese. Magnificent.

A double batch of this soup, along with rice, cheese, and sour cream, ran me less than $1.50 per person, when feeding 20 people. Seriously though, it was probably cheaper per person because I probably have enough for leftovers to feed at least 6 people soup with the rice, cheese, and sour cream.

Honestly, if you are looking to cut down on fat, you can halve the bacon in this recipe and still have it turn out well (I did that when I served it for my family's Christmas Eve dinner in 2010). There is a ton of protein from the black beans, then lots of carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers boost your veggie intake. I put plain yogurt and cheese on top for deliciousness and calcium. The brown rice makes for a great, gluten-free complex carbohydrate. All in all, this is one yummy and good-for-you meal, so be sure to finish it off with a big chocolate chip cookie or something, k?

Black Bean Soup

adapted from Food Network

Note: to serve 20+, double the soup recipe and make sure you have a 9 quart stock pot.

5 slices bacon, finely chopped (cut fat: 3 will work too, or just bacon grease)

2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)

1 to 2 large diced green peppers (I use two because I love green peppers)

5 diced carrots

4 garlic cloves, minced very finely (no one wants a huge bite of garlic)

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 bunch cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

Plain yogurt or sour cream, for garnish

Grated cheddar, for garnish

Brown rice, to serve with

Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the onions, green pepper, carrots and cook, stirring, until the onions start to turn translucent and carrots soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute.

Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Serve with the garnishes.

Seriously guys, don't skip the yogurt/sour cream and the cheese, they make the dish!

Oh, and if you happen to have a ham bone and some ham around, feel free to throw that in too.

The same goes for a bay leaf.

After a few days, everything mushes together and becomes less vibrant, but -in my opinion- more flavorful.

Cold-Brewed Coffee

Coffee is something some people see as utilitarian (the only way to wake up in the morning), some see it as almost an art form of choosing the right region's soil, the perfect roasting conditions, etc. But if you're like me, coffee is mostly what you drink when you want to relax in a nice, cozy coffee shop or sit down to talk to some friends.

I like the smell of coffee and the taste of coffee-flavored foods, but the taste is so bitter and it is so acidic that I usually end up masking the coffee flavor with generous amounts of milk and honey.

Well, I have found the answer: cold-brewed coffee. The process brings out the flavor of the coffee and leaves behind most of the bitterness and acidity. As far as I can conclude from reading various websites, cold-brewed coffee stays good for 7-10 days in the fridge and only has 30% less caffeine than traditionally-brewed coffee. The only drawback is the 12 hour or overnight brewing time required, but if you are like most people with an automatic-timer on their coffee pot, you set up your coffee the night before anyway. Even if you don't do that, it keeps for at least a week, so you can always make it ahead of time and keep it around for when you get a craving.

For my first attempt, I used my Barnie's Decaffeinated Cupcake-Flavored Coffee. It was delicious. I could have taken it black, but I added the tiniest bit of milk and sugar 'cus I love sweet things (example: faced with choosing between French fries or cookies, I will take cookies every time). Next time I will try it with my Snickerdoodle flavored coffee!

Anyway, so here's the deal, taken from this lovely NYTimes article:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best and I recommend flavored coffees)
Water, cold or room temperature

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. I simply put a coffee filter in my coffee-maker and poured the grounds/water mixture into the filter where you would normally just put the grounds. Be sure to pour slowly so that you don't get a messy overflow of wet coffee grounds. Discard grounds. You now have a coffee concentrate that will keep in the fridge for a week or so.

3. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk and sweetener.To make hot coffee, dilute concentrate one-to-one with water and heat in the microwave.

Makes 2 drinks.

Simply heat in the microwave if you desire hot coffee.

Rainy Morning Pick-Me-Up

As I was wandering around Facebook the other day, I saw that a young lady who I knew in middle school and high school had a homemade, cranberry oatmeal bar for breakfast. Naturally, I had to ask for the recipe. I am so glad I did! These bars taste like a combination of two of my favorite foods, oatmeal and French toast. Adding the cranberries into the mix and then topping with a dollop of yogurt gives you a half of a serving of fruit and increases the calcium and protein. If you have some strawberries lying around, simply slice up a couple to put on top of the yogurt and you pretty much have a complete breakfast (full serving each of calcium, complex carbohydrates, and fruit, as well as a lot of protein in there too).

These bars are quick to put together and can fit easily in your morning routine. If your routine is an hour and 15 minutes long, you can make them that morning, or just make them ahead of time and grab one as you head out the door.

I got home from the gym at 7:05am, pre-heated the oven, mixed the ingredients, and had the bars in the oven by 7:15am. While the bars baked, I took a shower, dressed, and spent some time reading my Bible, then I took the bars out at 8:05am and was eating one by 8:10am. Not too bad.

Cranberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Yield: 6 servings

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites, lightly beaten,

1 ½ cups fat-free milk

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla yogurt or additional milk, optional

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir into the oat mixture until just combined.

Place in a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until oats are tender and liquid is absorbed. Cut into 6 bars. Serve in bowls with milk or topped with vanilla yogurt if desired.

This can easily be doubled for 9x13 if you are feeding a larger amount of people or want extras for snacks and other breakfasts.

Yummy Leftovers

Through trial and error, I found that spaghetti squash gratin does not re-heat well. But I hate wasting food, so I had to find some way to use it up w/o forcing myself to eat something unappealing. Eating an appealing food is like an unforgivable sin, in my opinion. I mean, your body only needs so many calories per day, why waste them on nasty tasting things?

A frittata was the perfect answer. Yummy, full of protein and calcium, this frittata was the perfect post-run lunch when paired with 2 slices of buttered, homemade wheat bread.

Let's Make Leftovers Yummy Frittata

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup left over spaghetti squash gratin

3 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters

1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese

Optional: a few left over spaghetti noodles

Whisk all ingredients together and pour into a small, non-stick fry pan over medium heat.

Let cook until thick/solid enough to flip, no longer bubbling, and cooked almost all the way through (will have a nice brown "crust" on the bottom, but not charred). Flip, then cook the now-bottom-side until browned a bit (as in picture). Enjoy!

Adventures with Spaghetti... Squash

I have got to improve my picture taking skills

(or get a better camera than the one on my phone)

Despite that I promised a month of pasta, I have somehow only gotten around to making a fake: spaghetti squash. Seriously, it is so easy to let kids think it is pasta. I really will get around to satisfying my pasta craving eventually. Tomorrow is supposed to be mozzarella-stuffed meatball night with my mom, so there's my motivation right there. I haven't seen her since Christmas and she hasn't been up to Kentucky since my freshman year of college, so there will be lots of good food and good shopping for the next 2 days.

My mom has never had spaghetti squash, but neither had I before tonight. I am thinking about tossing the left-over squash (plain squash that did not go in the gratin) with some bow-tie pasta, feta cheese, fresh tomato slices, olives, asparagus, and balsamic vinegar. I'll let you know if that plan comes to fruition. At this rate, it will be a miracle if I get around to those mozzarella turkey meatballs.

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

Serves 4 as a main dish. I suggest serving with some fresh bread.

Adapted from NYTimes

1 spaghetti squash, about 3 pounds

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 large eggs

1/2 cup low-fat milk

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (1/4 cup basil leaves)

1 cup cheese, grated (whatever you have on hand, I used a combo of mozzarella and cheddar and Gruyère)

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino romano

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Meat/Red pasta sauce, optional (but highly recommended)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash in half ("hot dog" style). Place spaghetti squash, cut-side down, in a large baking dish or pan (I used a 9x13) and pour 1/4 inch of water into the pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the heat, and allow the squash to cool until you can handle it. Remove the seeds and discard. Scoop out the flesh, and place in a bowl. Run a fork through the flesh to separate the spaghetti-like strands, then chop coarsely. Measure out 4 cups squash. (Use whatever remains for another dish, or freeze.)

2. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds to a minute until fragrant. Add the squash. Cook, stirring often, for five minutes until the strands of squash are a little more tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the milk, salt (about 1/2 teaspoon), pepper and basil. Stir in the squash mixture and the cheese, and combine well. Scrape into the baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs, Parmesan/pecorino over the top.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until nicely browned and sizzling. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm or room temperature. Top with a meaty red pasta sauce.

Beignets, 'Cus it's Mardi Gras!

Since it's Mardis Gras and all, these seemed very fitting. Just make sure not to cook them too long (get them out of the oil when they are still light gold, before they turn dark brown.)

New Orleans Beignets

Adapted from Southern Living

Yield: Approximately 25-30

1 generous teaspoon active dry yeast (roughly half a packet)

3/4 cup warm water, divided

1/4 sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 t salt

2 T shortening

3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Vegetable oil

Powdered sugar

Make the yeast mixture: combine the yeast, 1/4 c warm water, and 1/2 t of granulated sugar in a bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add milk, eggs, salt, and remaining granulated sugar..

Form a dough: microwave remaining 1/2 cup of water until hot (about 115F); stir in shortening until melted. Add to yeast mixture. Beat at low speed, gradually adding 2 cups flour, until smooth. Gradually add remaining 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour, beating until a stick dough forms. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl; turn to grease top. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours.

Roll and cut: Turn dough out onto a floured surface roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares.

Fry until golden: pour oil to depth of 2 to 3 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 360F. Fry dough, in batches, 2 minutes or so on each side or until golden brown. Drain on wire rack. Dust immediately with powdered sugar.

Oat and Milk Snack Cake

I tried it with pecans on the left and strawberries on the right

(My mom taught me the tinfoil trick when trying to make pans different sizes)

You can ask almost anyone who knows me, I can go a bit overboard when it comes to health bars. I love them and, if I had enough money to buy bars that cost $3 each, my whole house would be filled with them. It's a good thing I don't have that much money, since I might never get around to eating real food.

Due to the high cost of nutrition bars, I have started poking around for recipes for them. I found this recipe the other day and tweaked it to my liking (using whole wheat flour, milk and lemon instead of buttermilk, and tossing in some strawberries that were about to go bad). The use of milk and lemon is mostly because I too cheap to go and buy actual buttermilk.

I brought these to my Friday night church group and got lots of compliments on them. For the pictures on this post, I made a half batch of strawberry and a half batch of pecan. Both turned out well. When summer is here, I think I will make this into something of a quick bread and add blackberries, mmmm.

Whole Wheat, Oat and Milk Snack "Cake"

Adapted from Cooking Light

3/4 T lemon juice in a 3/4 cup measuring glass

Enough milk to fill the 3/4 cup with lemon juice in it

1/4 steel-cut oats

1/4 cup oat flour (rolled or quick oats ground to a powder in a blender or food processor)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 c brown sugar

2 T butter

1/2 t vanilla

1 large egg

Optional:

1/4 cup chopped pecans to sprinkle on top

or

1/3 cup sliced strawberries (heck, any kind of berry) folded into batter

Combine buttermilk and oats; cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flours into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat until well blended. Stir in oat mixture; beat until well blended. Add flour mixture, beating just until moist. If using, fold berries into batter.

Spoon batter into a 8x8-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. If using, sprinkle pecans on top of batter. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired.

You can easily double this recipe for a 9x13 pan with the same baking times, just fyi.

Strawberry version on the left, pecan version on the right.

Of course, you can just make it plain if you are allergic to nuts or don't have strawberries and it will still taste delicious.

Uh-oh...

I just found a local pasta company and I happen to be on the verge of a March Pasta Spree (mozzarella-stuffed meatballs, chicken parmigiana, butternut squash ravioli, orecchiette with chicken meatballs, etc.).

This is bad. For my wallet, of course. I must now try to edit and reorganize my grocery shopping list in order to fit this in.

$2 for 1/4 lb of fresh, local pasta with flavors like "lobster" and "tomato basil" and "Spanish saffron" or $1 for 1 lb of pasta at Walmart... You can see how this is purely a problem for my financial sensibilities and not at all a dilemma for my stomach.