recipes | faithinpoison.com:

chocolate buttercream icing.

21-09-2010

Tags: buttercream, chocolate, icing, recipe

i desperately desired some chocolate for dessert this evening, but only had a box of devil’s food cake mix. i added some chips to the cake mix, thinking that would be enough, but what i really needed was some chocolate icing. i haven’t made a buttercream in years, but i remembered generally how to do it, so i just started mixing things and tasting it and it came out AMAZING.

super easy chocolate buttercream icing
6 tbsp salted butter, softened
1/3 cup (about 2 1/2 blocks) unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup milk (whole, please)
2-3 tbsp heavy cream

with a hand mixer, beat the butter on low until it’s smooth and creamy. add the melted chocolates and vanilla extract, and continue blending until fully incorporated.

add a cup of the confectioner’s sugar, 1 tbsp of the heavy cream, and half of the milk, and mix on a medium speed. icing should be pretty thick, but not thick clumps that stick to your beaters. if this is happening, add a splash more milk. add the rest of the confectioner’s sugar, milk, and cream, and mix on medium-high until smooth and fluffy. if it’s too thick and not spreadable, add milk only by the teaspoon until it has reached your desired consistency.

this only makes about 2 cups of icing, which is enough for 12 cupcakes (since it’s SO rich), but if you want to ice a whole cake, you’ll need to double it. so yum.

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pesto rubbed chicken with tomatoes and basil.

By: amber

23-07-2010

food!, recipes

Tags: basil, chicken, dijon, dinner, pesto, quick, rubbed, tomatoes

DSC_0056, originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

another gem from finecooking, and one of the quickest and easiest things to make. this is perfect for a night when you’re really starving but you only have a half hour or so of cooking in you.

pesto rubbed chicken with tomatoes and basil
4 butterflied chicken breasts, or chicken breast cutlets
(no more than 1/2 inch thick – if they are, pound them thinner)
home made or store bought pesto (about 1/4-1/2 cup depending on how much you like pesto)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
olive oil

mix the lemon juice into your pesto. lightly season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides (don’t go nuts because store bought pesto is already salted), then rub the pesto in. i did this step, then put the chicken in the fridge for a half hour while i made the tomatoes.

tomatoes and basil
one and a half big, fresh, and ripe jersey tomatoes (if you’re not lucky enough to be in the state with the best tomatoes ever, you can use 4 ripe plum tomatoes)
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
generous tsp of dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 med cloves or 1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
generous freshly ground black pepper

seed the tomatoes and dice them. combine all of the ingredients except the tomatoes and basil in a bowl and whisk til the dressing comes together. once it does, add the basil and whisk it in. finally, toss the tomatoes in the dressing and set aside (not in the fridge!).

back to the chicken. add a good amount of olive oil (i probably used 3 Tbsp) to your grill pan, then heat it to medium-high heat. when the pan is hot and a little smoky, add your chicken breasts. grill 2-3 minutes on one side, until you can see the edges turning white, then flip once to grill the other side, taking 4-6 minutes total.

serve tomatoes atop hot chicken, preferably with lemony orzo. enjoy your vacation to flavor town.

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i really have to share this recipe with you: warm roasted potato and mushroom salad.

By: amber

07-07-2010

food!, recipes

Tags: dinner, food!, recipes, yum

DSC_0148, originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

what we’re focusing on here is the potato salad. let me make it clear: i hate potato salad as most people know it. boiled white potatoes, eggs, onions, and mayo. i can’t even think of a combo more repulsive than that, really. so when D suggested i make this new roasted potato salad from our fine cooking magazine, i was somewhat reluctant, but figured why the hell not since the ingredients included orange juice and mascarpone? huh? how weird.

let me tell you: i have made this twice now, and the second time it was even more delicious than the first. the different flavors, the creamy yet light sauce, the saltiness, the sweetness, it’s everything. if you make anything that i post in this blog, make this. it will change your perspective on potato salad forever.

warm roasted potato and mushroom salad
6 medium yukon golds, cut into pieces no larger than 3/4″ and no smaller than 1/2″
8 oz of cremini mushrooms, or white buttons, quartered (we haven’t been able to find cremini mushrooms yet)
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/4-1/3 c. very thinly sliced scallions, white parts are fine

dressing
1/4 c. orange juice, no pulp
1/2 c. mascarpone
1 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
about 1-2 T. olive oil (just make sure you have this much left in the bottle)

pre-heat oven to 450 and drizzle the bottom of a baking sheet with about 3 T. of olive oil. toss the potatoes in the oil and add salt and pepper for roasting (i used maybe about 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt and 1/8 tsp pepper?), then toss again. arrange in a single layer and roast 10 minutes, then move them around on the sheet and roast another 10.

while the taters roast, mix the ingredients for the dressing in a large serving bowl and whisk until smooth and there are no lumps of cheese left. once mixture is smooth, slowly drizzle in a Tbsp. or so of the reserved olive oil while whisking briskly. it will start to thicken up a bit, so stop when the dressing is your desired consistency. i don’t like it too thick so i was probably a bit shy of a tablespoon. once dressing is how you like it, set it aside.

after the potatoes finish their second 10 minute oven party, add the mushrooms to the sheet wherever they will fit. make sure they’re touching the oven sheet, and not all piled up on top of the potatoes. roast 10-15 minutes until they’ve shrunk a bit and are browned but not totally shriveled. once mushrooms are done, immediately remove from oven and add to bowl of dressing. toss thoroughly and garnish with scallions. prepare to be amazed.

if you make this, please tell me how you liked it. finecooking.com FTW again!

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fettuccine with chicken, goat cheese, and spinach.

By: amber

12-06-2010

food!, recipes

Tags: chicken, cooking, entrees, food!, goat cheese, pasta, recipes, spinach, wine

DSC_0097, originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

guys, i’m so excited about soon being unemployed, and i gave my kids a lot less work than usual this marking period so i have nothing but free time, so D and i have been cooking like crazy people. if you didn’t read the description of this photo on flickr, i mentioned that we bought this cooking magazine at the checkout in the grocery store, which unbeknownst to us was like $10! but it’s been TOTALLY worth it – it has an amazing wealth of really tasty and EASY recipes (WITH the calorie counts for each), and the ingredients are things that you can find at normal grocery stores.

fettuccine with chicken, goat cheese, and spinach.
1 cup of dry white wine (we used crappy grocery store cooking wine – if you do this, omit the salt from the shallot sauce because the wine is salted already)
2 tbsp minced shallots (we used one really big one, but it made the sauce delightfully tangy)
1/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
pinch of red chile flakes (we used probably 1/2-1 tsp, and it was PERFECT)
1/2 tsp kosher salt (if your wine isn’t salted)
1/2 lb of dried fettuccine (half a box)
about 1 lb of chicken breast (we used the tenders)
olive oil
4oz of fresh spinach (we used one bag of the pre-washed baby spinach by dole or fresh express)
about 8-10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

start your pasta water, because dry fettuccine takes forever to cook! (totally forgot about this, and everything else was done while the stupid pasta was STILL cooking.)

salt and pepper your chicken, add a tsp of olive oil to a pan, and cook chicken until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle. remove from heat to a large serving bowl. in the same pan, add the other tsp of olive oil and sautee spinach until just wilted, 2 minutes.

while your chicken and spinach cook, add your minced shallots to a small pot and begin to sweat them (this isn’t in the original recipe, but i think it made them sweeter), then add the cup of wine and 1/2 tsp of pepper. reduce the liquid by half, about 5 minutes. whisk in the goat cheese in batches, then add the red pepper flakes. simmer for another minute or two and whisk till smooth, then set aside.

drain pasta and reserve a cup or so of the water, then add everything to the bowl the chicken is in, and toss to coat evenly with sauce. the recipe recommends perhaps adding the reserved pasta water just in case the sauce gets too thick or “gunky” (as a recipe commenter calls it), but we thought it was perfect as is.

serve with some basil on top, and enjoy. yes it will still be delicious without the basil, but knowing how this tastes WITH the basil, i wouldn’t make it without!

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white bean salad with artichokes and roasted tomatoes.

By: amber

27-05-2010

food!, recipes

Tags: cooking, food!, recipes, salads

DSC_1059, originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

i think i mentioned in my last post that i’m trying to cook more at home and take things to work for lunch instead of a) wasting money and b) eating crappy disgusting school lunch. so to go with some chicken and roasted zucchini and squash that i made, i threw together this really simple white bean salad. it is time consuming if you don’t already have roasted tomatoes sitting around – they have to bake for quite a while – but other than that, the actual assembly of the salad takes like 5 minutes.

white bean salad with artichokes and roasted tomatoes
2 14 oz cans of white beans
1 jar of artichoke hearts (i used the marinated ones)
~ 2 tbsp fresh rosemary (you can chop it, mince it, leave it whole, it doesn’t matter, and neither does the quantity. use as much as you like)
little lemon juice (~tsp or so)

roasted tomatoes
2 large, fresh tomatoes
some of that rosemary
~ tsp salt, optional
~ tsp pepper, optional
about 1 tbsp of olive oil

preheat oven to 400. in a foil lasagna pan, drop in the olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. slice the tomatoes into eighths, then toss in the olive oil/salt/pepper/rosemary mixture. make sure each piece is evenly coated, then lay meat-side down and roast until soft and fragrant, 40 mins to an hour depending on how much bite you want. let them cool.

drain the water and extra bean juice from the cans of beans. in a large bowl, gently mix beans, lemon juice, the rest of the rosemary, artichokes, and cooled tomatoes. you don’t want to break the tomatoes too much.

it’s edible immediately, and the longer you let it sit in the fridge to marinate, the better it tastes! it can be served hot or cold; i prefer it cold. yum!

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— faithinpoison.com:

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chocolate buttercream icing.

pesto rubbed chicken with tomatoes and basil.

i really have to share this recipe with you: warm roasted potato and mushroom salad.

fettuccine with chicken, goat cheese, and spinach.

white bean salad with artichokes and roasted tomatoes.

me.

eye candy.

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love.

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