Crispy and Chewy Garlic Knots

I’m going to start this one off with a bit of an explanation–I made these knots over a week ago and was happily writing the post below when my computer froze. I turned it off, tried to restart… and waited for seven hours. After a long day in stores and driving around LA, I discovered that my hard drive was completely shot. I lost everything on the drive, and had to replace it with a new one. Somehow, luckily, I had uploaded all these photos onto WordPress before The Incident, so here we go. Probably the most stressful post I’ve written to date, but here it is!

There is nothing I love more in life than starch. It’s a fact. If I could eat pastries and bread and pasta for every meal, I would be so happy… but sadly, that’s not really the way life works. Why do I have to be a responsible adult sometimes?

Luckily, I believe in balance in my life. There is a wonderful time and place for gluten, and when it involves butter and garlic? Count me in. I made these on a lazy afternoon in my apartment and shared with friends–they were greatly appreciated by all. My garlic knots, from this recipe, are easy to make and even easier to eat. They made your house smell lovely and are such a wonderful treat.

You will need:

• 1 and 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 packet of instant yeast (you can use regular yeast, but instant yeast will eliminate the first rise)
• 3/4 cup of warm water (110˚-130˚ F)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt

Start by combining the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast in a large bowl.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and then pour the water and oil into that well. Use a fork to loosely stir the mixture around, until it’s shaggy and starting to stick together. Once it holds together loosely, take it out of the bowl and put it on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about five minutes, until the dough forms a smooth, springy ball. It should bounce back when poked. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise for ten to twenty minutes in a warm place.

After this time, the dough should have about doubled in size. Using a sharp knife, cut in half. Work with one half at a time for simplicity’s sake!

Take one half of the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Using your hands, push the dough into a rectangle. Knife is for scale–it should be about six inches long and maybe three inches wide.

Using your sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/2″ to 1″ wide strips. The edges will be very sticky, but use a little flour as you see fit.

 Take one strip at a time and stretch it out a bit until it’s maybe eight inches long. Then, cross the ends over each other, and pull one end through the hole in the middle. Place the knot on a lightly greased baking sheet, and continue with your remaining strips.

 When they’re all knotted, cover with plastic wrap and leave somewhere warm until they’ve doubled in size. This is their second rise, and it’s crucial! I preheated my oven to the lowest setting, turned it off, then opened the door for a few minutes. I then put the dough inside, and left the door cracked so that it wouldn’t be too hot in there.

After this rise, take the rolls out of the oven, and preheat that oven to 400˚F. When the oven is hot, take the saran wrap off your sheet, brush your rolls with a bit of olive oil, and place them in the oven. Bake the knots for 13-16 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and brush your garlic butter over the top.

I recommend making your garlic butter while the rolls are in the oven. Start by melting your butter in a small/medium saucepan over medium heat. When it’s melted, add your garlic, and cook for a minute or two, until the garlic is fragrant. This is just to take that raw garlicky bite out of the butter. Finally, add the salt and parsley, and stir to combine it all. Turn off the heat, cover, and wait until the knots are out of the oven.

Spoon or brush your garlic butter over each knot, then dig in. They’re crispy yet chewy, deliciously starchy, with a nice depth of flavor due to the garlic butter. I inhaled two, then gave the rest away to coworkers and friends… the knots are simply addictive! While the two rises of the dough do take up a bit of time, they’re dead simple to make and absolutely worth the effort. You could also cut down on time by using pre-made pizza dough–it will still need the second rise though! Also, if you do manage to ration these and have leftovers, I would recommend maybe ten seconds in the microwave. These knots, when warm, are absolutely amazing.

I’ve finally moved into my new place, and I’m thrilled to say that there is a ton of natural light and a well-appointed kitchen. Also, I just bought an awesome new cookbook, so prepare for some creative recipes! If you’re looking to see more regular, delicious updates, follow me on Instagram @__katherinew.

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Not So Authentic Huevos Rancheros

Well, two finals down and two to go! This past week has been a whirlwind of studying--I commandeered the kitchen table on Monday and parked myself there for maybe ten hours a day, culminating in an all-nighter on Thursday night to prepare for my two morning Chemistry finals. Needless to say, I'm a little sick of the kitchen. Though, really, we've reached that point where I don't want to cook or buy groceries, so I've had to be a bit creative in my cooking to try and find healthy, easy, and quick meals.

One of my roommates had these jalapeño and cilantro tortillas that she hated, so she offered them up to me. Her loss! I ate one by itself as a snack and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor and mild heat from a store-bought flour tortilla. This then inspired me--why not use them in a meal? Naturally I thought of breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day--I like it so much that I will generally have cereal for breakfast and oatmeal for lunch! However, to power my countless hours of studying, I needed something filling and hearty. Huevos Rancheros perfectly fit the bill--while they may be my cheap, not-very-legitimate college version, they're still dang good.

Dead simple to make, these require few ingredients and take a grand total of ten minutes to prepare.

You will need:
 -1 tortilla (corn is traditional, but I used Jalapeño and Cilantro flour tortillas)
 -1 egg
 -1/4 cup refried beans
 -2 tbsp pico de gallo (or salsa!)
 -1/3 bell pepper, chopped
 -1/2 avocado, diced

First of all, heat up 1/2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. While you're waiting for that to get hot, nuke your refried beans until they're warm.

When that pan's nice and hot, place your tortilla in it. Let it cook for about thirty seconds, then flip it over. There will be nice big air bubbles--yum! When both sides are golden-brown, remove the tortilla from the pan and place it on a plate. Then, adding more oil if you need to, crack an egg into the pan. While that's frying, spread your refried beans over the tortilla.

I personally love runny yolks, so I left my egg sunny-side up. However, feel free to cook however you'd like. When your egg is fried to your satisfaction, turn the heat off and slide it on top of the refried beans.

Finally, add toppings to taste! I went with some mild pico de gallo for some brightness and a bit of a kick, the bell pepper for some greens and great crunch, and avocado, since everything's better with avocado, right?

Feel free to top with whatever you'd like, including jalapeños, cheese, hot sauce, or more veggies! You can make these whatever you'd like. However, huevos rancheros will always be a fast and incredibly filling meal. I was stuffed until dinner! This meal also presents a nice balance of protein, carbs, and fats--you gotta fuel that brain!

Serve for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can't go wrong! They're quickly becoming a staple in my rotating menu, because of their awesome versatility and nutritive benefits. Give them a try when you need a quick and hearty meal to power you through the day--I promise they won't disappoint!

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Peaches and Cream Pancakes

Happy May! It really feels like we're barreling towards summer now. Yesterday's high was 99˚, my last day of class is tomorrow, and all that stands between me and the beach is four final exams! To celebrate my last Thursday morning, I woke up early and make a little pancake breakfast for my roommates.

After searching through Google and my Bloglovin' feed, I stumbled upon a recipe for peach pancakes and modified them slightly for myself. Without further ado, here's the recipe! It's perfect for a breakfast with friends, and I'm sure families would love it for Mother's Day!

You will need:

 -1 cup flour

 -1 tbsp sugar

 -2 tsp baking powder

 -1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

 -1/4 tsp salt

 -1 cup milk

 -1/2 can (15oz) peaches, drained and chopped finely

 -4 tsp peach juice

 -1 tsp canola oil

 -1 egg, lightly beaten.

 -whipped cream, for topping

Spray a griddle with Pam and heat to medium-high. The pan is hot enough when you can flick water onto it and it sizzles loudly.

Start by combining the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. 

Then, add all of the wet ingredients--milk, egg, oil, and peach juice. Mix well, you don't want any lumps of unmixed flour. It will be quite wet, don't worry! Once it's all combined, fold in your chopped peaches.

Now, since your batter is ready and your pan is hot, fill a 1/4 cup measure most of the way up, and pour onto the griddle. Let them cook for a minute or so, until bubbles have come up and held their shape. Flip 'em over with a spatula, and let them cook for another minute or so. You want a nice golden brown color on both sides!

When they're done, flip them onto a plate and take a seat!

Set up a nice little stack for yourself...

And definitely don't forget the most important part!

Lots of whipped cream is a necessity, of course! If you're looking for a homemade alternative, check out my recipe here, halfway down the page. 

Cut yourself a bite of these fresh springtime pancakes! They're light but filling, and have a great peach flavor. The cinnamon also adds a nice depth. Obviously, you don't need to use canned peaches either--this is just what I had on hand! 

These were so easy to make too--I woke up at 7:30, picked up some groceries, then started on these. The pancakes were on the table by 8:30, and that's with my photography taking up some time! I highly recommend these for a simple and delicious breakfast.

Since I have some free time in between studying for finals, I'll be coming up with more delicious spring recipes to share with you all. Stay tuned!

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Peanut Butter Jelly Muffins

Well, here at Study Central, I've started counting down the days until spring break. Everyone's up to their eyeballs in midterms and desperately wishing that vacation would come just a little faster. 

I've been brainstorming countless recipes to make and share, but I sort of ran into blogger's block for a week. It seemed that everything I wanted to make was too similar to things I've posted recently. However, on Sunday afternoon, I had a bit of a brainwave.

I've had peanut butter on my mind lately, but I wanted to steer clear of its usual companion; chocolate. If you're really craving some chocolate-peanut butter action, I recommend you head over to my peanut butter swirl brownies--but I digress.

I made these peanut butter jelly "muffins" in bar form a few years ago, and had completely forgotten about them until my brainwave. Peanut butter dough sandwiching a layer of jelly, with some crunchy peanuts on top--count me in. I didn't have a small enough pan, so I brought out my trusty muffin tin and hoped for the best.

They're absolutely delicious and perfect for a breakfast on the go. Peanutty yet bright, rich but still light, these babies are sure to please everyone with a soul who has a hankering for that old PB&J taste.

You will need:

 -1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, softened

 -3/4 cup of peanut butter (chunky or smooth, doesn't matter)
 -3/4 cup of light brown sugar

 -1 1/2 cups of flour

 -1 egg

 -1 tsp vanilla extract

 -pinch of baking powder

 -1/4 tsp salt

 -1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

 -3/4 cup jelly of choice

Oven temperature: 350˚F

Start by mixing your peanut butter, butter, and sugar together. Use an electric mixer unless you're looking for an arm workout. 

Next, add your egg and vanilla. Keep mixing until it's all combined.

Then, add your dry ingredients--flour, salt, and baking powder. Keep combining until it holds together. Use your hands to sort of knead it a little bit if you'd like. At this point, divide your dough in half, and put one half in the freezer.

Lightly grease a muffin tin. Push your dough into each well to make an even layer. Use all of the dough, and try to put an even amount in each one.

Fill a tablespoon measure about 3/4 full with your jelly, then spread over each muffin base. Again, try and get this as even as possible! As the muffins cook, the jelly will bubble, and you do not want hot, sticky jelly all over your oven or yourself. Trust me on that one.

Next, take the other half of the dough out of the freezer and crumble it over each muffin. Push it down into the jelly to make it stick. They can be pretty large dough chunks, but they really do add a lot to the texture.

Finally, top with your chopped peanuts, pressing down to make them stick in the dough. Pop them in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the jelly is bubbling and the peanuts are golden. 

Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before attempting to dislodge the muffins from the tin. If you try and get them out while they're still warm, the jelly will make them slide around and disintegrate. Pop them in the fridge for a bit if you're extremely pressed for time, then pry them out with a knife when they're cool.

These dense little muffins are probably going to be my breakfast for the next few days. They keep well and taste delicious for as long as it takes to be consumed. One friend told me that these little beauties are even better than the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich--I can't help but agree!

They're really easy, don't take any weird ingredients, and come together rapidly. These muffins are hopefully going to provide me with the energy to get through to spring break!

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Fusilli with Mushrooms, Greens, and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Really, if you've ever eaten a meal with me, you definitely know two things: firstly, that I'm a strict vegetarian (no, I won't pick the pepperoni off pizza), and secondly, that I hate mushrooms and olives. I will pick them out of any dish because there's something about their texture that I just... I just can't.

Well, big news. Like, earth-shattering. I like mushrooms now. 

I have no idea how or why I suddenly tolerate them. Throughout my years, I tried a mushroom every few months only to realize why I hated them so much. But within the past six months, I've sort of enjoyed eating them. I even bought some when I was grocery shopping last month. I'm a whole new person. 

This new discovery led to my lunch the other day--I wanted something fast and yummy. My typical weekday meal consists of a grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I was sort of looking for something a bit more grown-up. This simple fusilli with mushrooms, greens, and sun-dried tomatoes hit the spot perfectly.

For one serving, you will need:

 -1/2 cup of fusilli

 -1/2 cup of mushrooms (precooked or fresh)

 -1/2 tsp minced garlic

 -1 tbsp chopped sun dried tomato

 -2 big handfuls of greens

 -1/2 tbsp olive oil

 -salt and pepper to taste

This is not much of a recipe, more like a combination of ingredients into one dish. Does that make any sense? But this is super customizable and you can really put whatever greens and such that you'd like in it.

Your very first step will be to boil your water and cook the pasta until al dente--start making the vegetables once you've put the fusilli in the boiling water.

Start by heating your oil over medium-high heat. Once that's all hot, add the garlic and move it around for approximately fifteen seconds. Then throw in your mushrooms, and cook until they're softened. 

Then, add your greens and sun dried tomatoes. Cook until the greens have wilted. 

Your pasta probably should be done by now. Take a half-cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Do not drain!

Add the drained pasta to the skillet and cook until everything is well combined. Add a bit of the pasta water if you'd like to make it a bit more moist or saucy. You could potentially add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and some cheese if you'd like, just for an extra punch of flavor.

Put it in a bowl and consume immediately! It's pretty simple, but it tastes good and hits all the major tastes. Maybe next time, I'll add some more spices besides salt and pepper. I think some red pepper flakes would add a nice little kick. Next lunch!

It took about twenty minutes from start to finish. I loved the starchiness of the pasta, the earthiness of the greens, and the complexity added by the sun dried tomatoes and the mushrooms. Now that I'm eating mushrooms, it's like there's a whole new food group to explore! 

And, yeah, mom, you're right; I suppose I eventually learned to like mushrooms. Savor the moment. I will never admit this again.

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Bean Dip

Last week's Superbowl had absolutely no meaning to me. I'm a fair weather Patriots fan at best, so this whole football thing was maybe more about the commercials and food than the actual game. Well, scratch that. It was entirely about the commercials and food. I made bean dip from this recipe to bring to my friends' party, since I don't like showing up empty-handed. I placed it on the counter with a bag of chips without any fanfare and walked away... within an hour, the dish was scraped completely clean.

It's not the prettiest dip, but it's delicious and really quite cheap. You can easily make this as spicy as you'd like, and I'm sure you could add things like finely chopped bell peppers, other small vegetables, or even some ground meat. Think of it like the inside of a taco, in dip form.

Fast, easy, and really dang good, I highly recommend this for your next gathering. A group of hungry boys demolished this, but it could easily be halved for a slightly less ravenous crew.

You will need:
 -8oz (1 package) of cream cheese, softened
 -1 cup of sour cream
 -2 (16oz) cans of refried beans
 -taco seasoning mix, to taste
 -hot sauce, to taste
 -1/8 cup of chopped fresh parsley
 -1/2 of an onion, chopped
 -2 cups of cheddar/monterey jack cheese

Oven temp: 350˚F

You'll start by taking your softened cream cheese and fully mixing it with the sour cream. I took a picture for this but it looked completely nasty. You just want them to combine to make a nice, smooth texture. I'm sure you get it--you don't want any weird clumps of straight cream cheese hangin' out.

Add literally everything else and mix together very well. I ended up adding the majority of the taco seasoning as well as a fair amount of Tabasco and Frank's Red Hot sauce. Overall, probably a few teaspoons of each sauce. I wanted to make sure that the flavor of the beans didn't completely overpower the other tastes in the dip.

Maybe self-explanatory, but make sure everything is well combined and mixed. You want an even distribution of all the components. Who ever wants to bite into a mouthful of straight parsley?

Transfer to an oven-proof receptacle. I used a 9" cake pan, but you could definitely use a 9" x 13" pan to have a thinner layer of dip.

Top with cheese and pop into the oven for twenty or thirty minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Remove from the oven and serve hot with a fat handful of tortilla chips. You could even dip crunchy vegetables, or slather this onto a burger. The options are endless! I was hoping I would have some leftovers to put into a breakfast burrito the next morning, but unfortunately, I couldn't.

When football starts up again in a few months, I'll definitely be thinking of this for a crowd-pleasing dip. So easily customizable to your tastes, not too messy, and inexpensive! Just make sure you get a few bites before it all disappears.

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Double Chocolate Cookies

My friends and I had a little dinner party recently. We all gathered in an apartment, sprawled on various chairs, couches, and the ever-lovely floor, and ate our potluck dinner off of paper plates. While it certainly wasn't the most cohesive dinner I've ever eaten, I laughed until my sides hurt and realized that college is probably the only time where such a random, eclectic dinner party is truly acceptable.

I was tasked with dessert. Let me tell you, I dithered for a solid thirty minutes about what to make. See, I bought a container of cocoa powder at Trader Joe's recently (read up on that adventure here), and I absolutely wanted to use it. I looked up various recipes ranging from ice cream to cakes to truffles and everything in between. However, at the end of it all, I decided on something fairly easy and non-messy: chocolate cookies studded with chocolate chunks.

It was really quite easy. I didn't really use a recipe, I just subbed out a bit of the flour for the cocoa powder. While the baking time was a little iffy due to their awesome thickness, I figured it out in the end! My roommate N said that these are the best things I've ever made. I think that phrase gets thrown around a lot with what I make (humble brag), but everyone who tried these absolutely loved them.

You will need:
 -1 stick of butter, softened
 -1/2 cup of granulated sugar
 -1/4 cup of brown sugar, packed
 -1 egg
 -1 tsp of vanilla extract
 -1 cup of flour
 -1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
 -1/4 tsp baking soda
 -pinch of salt
 -1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or chips)

Oven temperature: 350˚F.

As with most cookies, start by creaming together your butter and your sugar with an electric mixer. You want all the sugar to be incorporated into the butter, for the mixture to have no lumps, and to be light and airy.

Then, add your egg and vanilla. Continue mixing until fully combined.

In a separate bowl (or Tupperware), combine your dry ingredients. That'll be your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a fork or your fingers or whatever, mix it all together until combined.

Then add about a third of the dry mixture to the butter and thoroughly combine. Continue until all of the dry mix has been added, and keep stirring/combining until the dough forms a bit of a ball and has an even texture, with no un-mixed lumps.

Now throw your chocolate chunks in there and mix to evenly distribute. Like with any cookie, you could add anything you like to these, including nuts, other types of chocolate, dried fruit... the list goes on and on!

This recipe only yielded ten cookies, since I love 'em huge and chewy. Each cookie was about two tablespoons' worth of dough, rolled by hand then pressed onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Then, place them in the fridge for about half an hour, up to overnight. You'll notice as you roll them out that they're very soft and malleable, and for thick cookies, you do not want to have warm dough going into the oven! Otherwise, they'll spread far too much and you'll have thin cookies.

Once they've chilled, put them in your preheated oven for about twelve to fifteen minutes. Mine took about fourteen. You want the tops of the cookies to look lighter, dry, and a bit dull. Pull them out when they're an even brown, but keep them on the cookie sheet to cool, since their bottoms will cook some more while they're on the sheet.

These cookies pack a ton of intense flavor into each bite. They're chocolaty without being overly sweet, and they're deliciously soft. Serve them warm with a glass of milk after dinner with friends, and prepare to reap praise! Everyone loved these, and I loved how easy they were to make. I had all the ingredients I needed at home, and I only dirtied two bowls!

Since we didn't exactly have any leftovers, I wouldn't know how long these would keep for... but I'm sure they'd at least keep for a few days in a Tupperware container!

I can't wait to continue to experiment with cocoa powder in the kitchen. Single's Awareness Day Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so there's my excuse!

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