Iron Forks

A few weeks back, I won tickets to Nashville's Iron Fork's Competition at my school's silent auction. Its our little city's version of Iron Chef, and as an avid food lover, I pounced the second I saw those tickets. We spent the evening watching local chefs go head to head with a mystery ingredient and indulging in all the Nashville restaurants that lined the room with samples for everyone to try. 

I quite literally ate one of everything--every restaurant just outdid itself.

The pulled pork + fruit puree combo + crunchy chips made for some of the best nachos ever.

After eating my way through the venue, it was time to watch the chefs get to work! The secret ingredient was maple syrup, and it was so much fun to watch the chefs scheme with each other and figure out how to serve it up for the judges.

We got lucky and ended up standing next to Chef Jamie Watson (of Cafe Fundamental) as he was plating his food. He let us munch on his leftover bits that didn't make the plate and holy.deliciousness.  Since I'm sure every other chef's plate tasted just as amazing, I think its fair to say the judges had quite an enjoyable evening. 

It was pretty much a [foodie] dream--I left so uncomfortably full and ridiculously happy. Success.

Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

The first dessert I ever learned to make on my own was an Oreo Cheesecake. I felt so proud using my mom's spring form, crushing those little sandwich cookies into a delicious chocolate crust. I'm pretty sure the sense of accomplishment I felt after I tasted a delicious bite of my very own creation was a huge catalyst in my love for baking, which has (thankfully) matured to goodies beyond Oreo cookies. (but seriously, Oreos are delicious. Especially Parent-Trap style with peanut butter).

I've built on that first cheesecake recipe I learned to make and have come up with countless variations, but this is one of my favorites. I made these for my friend's birthday and they were a nice change-up from the usual cupcakes. Plus, they include roasted strawberries. ENOUGH SAID. 

***

Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Strawberries:

1 pound of strawberries

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 Tbsp Honey

2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Cheesecake

1 1/2 sleeves of graham cracker cookies (depending on how thick you'd like your crust(

1 stick of butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese (I used 2 full fat and one reduced fat), softened

4 whole eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 sour cream

***

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup, honey, and balsamic vinegar

Hull your strawberries and slice them into small bite size pieces and dump them into the bowl

Stir everything so that your strawberries are coated

Pour into a single layer on a cookie sheet (aluminum foil is recommended..things get sticky) and roast for about 30min or so, until everything is thick and bubbly and your strawberries are puffy and have a bit of color on them.

While that roasts, crush all of your graham crackers into a fine crumb with a food processor. 

Add the vanilla and butter, and pulse until everything is combined.

Press into a baking dish--the size varies with how much of a crust to cheesecake ratio you would like. I used a 9-inch baking dish for 50/50 ratio.

In a bowl, beat together your cream cheese and sugar until smooth 

Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined. 

Finally, add the sour cream and mix again.

Pour the cheesecake into the crust

Take your strawberries out of the oven and pour them and all the juice from the tray on top of your cheesecake. Use a knife to marble them throughout your cheesecake batter.

Bake your cheesecake for about 45 min to an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Once your cheesecake is done, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake sitting in there for 10 minutes.

Let it cool completely before slicing into bars, and then stick in the fridge to firm up before serving. 

drool.

The Cookie Lover's Cookie

While being indecisive may not be the best attribute, indecision led me to these cookies, and I must say--I am forever grateful.

They're a peanut-butter and oatmeal and chocolate chip concoction that fulfills every cookie dream, and my roommate and I couldn't stop eating them. Go make them right this second, and eat one warm with a cup of tea or some hot chocolate while you swoon; repeat as often as necessary.

***

The Cookie Lover's Cookie

makes 12 cookies

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar; packed

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup oats

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 heaping tbsp peanut butter

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

* * *

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a bowl, sift together your flour, salt, and baking soda. Toss in your oats, and set it aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, and vanilla until its creamy and delicious. Add in your peanut butter, and mix until combined.

Add your dry mixture to your wet mixture in three batches, and keep mixing until everything is combined.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Take out roughly 1 or 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball.

Place the balls on your cookie sheet, and flatten them just a little. Keep a decent distance between them since the cookies spread out a bit as they bake.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until golden brown on the edges but still soft in the middle.

Let them cool for 10 minutes before transferring off the cookie sheet.

A Visit

A few weekends ago, my sweet friend made the trek west to come and visit me. We have such a lovely weekend together--I'm still having a hard time accepting the fact that not all weekends can quite as wonderful as that one.

We ate so much delicious food (so.much.) and pranced all over Nashville visiting old favorites and some new cool places I've been wanting to try. Throw in there a night on the town that had us dancing until the wee hours of the morning, and lots of good conversation, and it was pretty much the greatest three days ever.
***

Adventures in East Nashville began at the Barista Parlor which was just a cool place. The coffee was amazing (yes, I'm looking at you Bourbon Vanilla Latte) and the people watching was spot on.





After grabbings some locally made raviolli from Porter Road Butcher, we walked down to five points jus to remind ourselves just how far from hipster cool we really are.

Naturally, I could let Jenny leave without trying my favorite place, Jenis! Between us, we sampled a million flavors (thank you Jeni's staff for being so kind and gracious with those tester spoons...) and we were smitten with our final choices.

Honey-Pistachio and my favorite, Sweet Potato with Torched Marshmallows. 

walking along my favorite spot downtown.

So full after a delicious restaurant week meal at Holland House.


As avid brunch goers, I had to take her to one of the best brunch spots in town:  Tavern. Its conveniently located across the street from my house, and their sangria and just about every entree on the menu makes my heart skip a beat.

I miss you already, friend. Please come back and visit again soon.

Sugar Cookies with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

I used to not be a huge fan of cookies (I know. what?). Given the choice between cookies and say, cheesecake, or pie, I would never choose a cookie. All of this changed in England though, when I discovered Ben's Cookies. They were soft, yet crunchy. Sweet, but kind of salty. I realized I had just been eating sub-par cookies, and after seeing the light, I've now embraced the goodness that is a perfectly made chocolate chip cookie.

I'm still struggling to get on the sugar cookie bandwagon though. Sugar cookies are not part of the European/Balkan dessert repertoire and I always felt like they were missing something. I decided to give them another shot though when my sister and I both needed some sweet treats to bring to friends, and I think I'm starting to come around....the addition of cream cheese frosting certainly didn't hurt things.

* * *

Sugar Cookies

recipe adapted from The Professional Palate ; makes about 3 dozen cookies

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, very soft

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

* * *

In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter for a few minutes, until light and fluffy

When combined, add the milk, vanilla & almond extracts, and egg, mix until it all comes together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add it to your wet ingredients in 3 batches, and beat until combined.

Dump your dough onto a lightly floured surface and mush it all together to combine. Its kind of a sticky dough, so just keep the flour coming on your hands and the work surface so that you can combine it all.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and and refrigerate for an hour or so, just so that its easier to roll out and work with. I separated off about 1/4 of my dough and dyed it red with a few splashes or red food coloring. This was because I bought a lobster cookie cutter in New Hampshire and I've been itching it put it to work.

Once your dough is nice and chilled, grab your rolling pin and roll your dough out. If you like soft cookies, go for about 1/4 inch thickness, even more if you like. If you like them crunchy, go even thinner. I used powdered sugar to flour my surface so that my dough wouldn't get tough from additional flour. I also dunked my cookie cutters into the powdered sugar before I used them so that they wouldn't stick to the dough. The dough gets sticky as it warms up, so try and avoid handling it too much with warm hands so that it will cooperate with you!

Preheat your over to 375

Once your cookies are cut out, put them on cookie sheets with wax paper or no stick spray. Pop the cookie sheets into the freezer for about 5 minutes or so prior to baking. Depending on the thickness of your cookies, they will take about 8 or so minutes to bake. Check on them by sticking a toothpick in the middle to see if it comes out clean. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10-12 minutes, and let them cool completely on a wire rack prior to frosting.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

4 tbsp butter

1 or 2 tbsp milk

2-4 cups of powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp coconut extract

* * *

In a standing mixer or a bowl with a hand-held mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter, 1 tbsp of your milk, and vanilla extract.

Slowly add the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time and mix together. How much powdered sugar you use depends on how sweet you like your frosting. I ended up adding about 2 1/2 cups (I don't like super sweet frosting), but just add a bit and taste as you go. Add the extra tbsp of milk (or more, if necessary) if your frosting is too thick and you like it runnier. I went with about 1 tbsp.

The coconut extract is also contingent on your taste--I added about 1 1/2 tsp for a great coconut flavor that wasn't overpowering. My suggestion would be to just add 1 tsp, mix it, and give it a taste. If it needs more, add about 1/2 tsp more at a time until you're happy with the flavors.

Grab your sprinkles and your cooled cookies, and get to decorating! My sister was kind enough to handle sprinkle/decoration duties while I frosted. I reserved some of the plain frosting prior to adding the coconut, so some had simple vanilla cream cheese frosting, while others had the coconut. My favorite was definitely the coconut frosting.

This recipe was great because it made so many cookies--my sister and I both had enough to take to our friends and have some leftovers. I ended up marbling the rest of the red dough with the white dough for a few pretty ones that I left frosting-less for those people who don't like frosting. I also ended up having a lobster cookie tragedy--I should have made my dough fatter because they ended up being too brittle and breaking when I took them off the tray (hence the lobster bodies in the bowl). We still ate them though (hence the fact that there is only 1 lobster body in the bowl)--they were too yummy to pass up!

Banana Bread Pancakes

These pancakes are a recently added rotation to my weekly breakfast menu. With a whole egg and cottage cheese in the mix, its a great way to get some protein in while enjoying sweet and delicious pancakes.

Banana Bread Pancakes

(adapted every so slightly from Peanut Butter Fingers)

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese

1/2 mashed banana

1 egg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients in your food processor and zap together until everything is combined.

Pour small scoops onto a griddle or skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray over medium-low heat. I usually get 3 or 4 pancakes from the batch, depending on how big I make them.

Once the edges are golden, flip and cook for another couple of minutes.

Smother with syrup, fresh fruit, and some powdered sugar if you're in the mood to feast like a king, which, lets face it, I usually am.

{this recipe can be easily doubled, as seen above, or even tripled if you've got lots of hungry mouths to feed!}