I am back - I didn't leave you or forget. I was busy celebrating my four-day birthday extravaganza weekend. More on that later but that is my excuse for posting twice within a couple of days, catching up without making one really loooong post. This post is 2 new recipes and 6 hats.
When last I wrote, we were about to celebrate Valentine's Day and try a new recipe. E made his traditional pan-seared steaks with bourbon-thyme sauce, and I made mashed potatoes (timing them so they are still hot when the steaks are ready is the biggest challenge with my contribution). We shared a bottle of wine from Snowy Peaks Winery that we picked up on one of our trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, and I made a new recipe for dessert - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie that I had pinned from Julie's Eats and Treats blog. I knew I wanted to make a skillet cookie, trying to recreate a Pizookie that we had in Sacramento one time. The recipes I was finding were for different (smaller) cast iron pans than the ones I have, but this one fit the bill so I tried it. I wanted the cookie to be hot and gooey when we ate it so didn't want to bake ahead of time. Also, I did not want to be messing up the kitchen, mixing cookie dough after eating a lovely dinner, so I made the dough in the afternoon and then refrigerated it. That may have been a mistake. Instead of taking 35 minutes to bake, it took more like 50. It looked done at 35 (at least according to what Julie said it would look like) but it was RAW. Overall, we liked it pretty well but it was not what we were hoping for. Instead of pizookie, it was more like choc chip cookie bars that happened to be round and baked in a cast iron pan instead of a cake pan. Next time I will make about 1/2 the dough, and then figure out how long to bake it from there.
Recipe Seven - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
1 C butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 C brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 t vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 t cornstarch
1 t baking soda
1 3/4 C chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 deg. Lightly grease oven-safe skillet (I used 10" cast iron, next time I might use larger, if I don't halve the recipe).
In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer), beat butter for 1 minute on medium speedy until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat again on medium until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla on high (gradually go up to high - I got a lot of splash ramping up to high too fast) until combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch and baking soda until combined.
Slowly mix into wet ingredients until combined (slowly and on slower speed - the flour flies otherwise and makes a mess. Ask me how I know.)
Add chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.
Spread dough into skillet. Bake 35 minutes or until browned on edges and light browned on top (center should be firm to touch - she said it would be gooey in the middle but mine was very raw).
Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and serve (I cut mine into wedges - apparently she ate the whole thing with a spoon, starting in the middle. We also topped it with a couple scoops of Halo Top Sea Salt Caramel ice cream.)
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| skillet cookie cooked "rare" |
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| 15 minutes later |
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| yummy with ice cream |
A couple days later, I had a hankering for some fish. I don't make a lot of fish at home but love to eat fish and other seafood when we are cruising. Sadly, our cruise was cancelled this year (and we were going to be cruising for the first time ever ON my birthday!), but I decided to try a new fish recipe at home. Chili Lime Baked Cod sounded easy and it was! It was also fairly delicious. I served it with paprika roasted potatoes, which E liked with the lime butter. It would also be very good over rice or wild rice. Adapted from KeyIngredient.com. It does need to sit for at least 30 minutes in the rub before cooking so plan ahead.
Recipe Eight - Chili Lime Baked Cod
1 t dried parsley
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t salt (I used kosher)
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 cod fillets (mine were about 3 oz each. You could also use salmon, halibut, tilapia or other fish, and use bigger fillets.)
1 T unsalted butter
zest and juice of 2 limes (I only used juice of one which was plenty)
In a small bowl, combine all of the spices and mix well.
Using 1 T of olive oil, brush the cod filets on all sides and then rub the filets with spice mixture - use it all and coat well.
Refrigerate the fish for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 450 deg. Place cod on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily and is opaque throughout. (Mine took a little longer, though I suspect they were a bit thicker.)
Meanwhile in a small saucepan, melt the butter with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add in the lime zest and juice and swirl the pan to mix. (I used the microwave and a glass measuring cup and instead of swirling, I whisked.)
Serve the cod over brown rice and corn, if desired, and top with the lime butter. (I poured a little of the lime butter sauce over the fish while still in pan, served cod alongside paprika roasted potatoes, and had side dipping bowls for extra sauce.)
I turned in 6 hats on 2/22 and completed 6 scrapbook pages over my birthday extravaganza weekend, plus got back to walking (and Nordic walking) on 2/18. I also baked a birthday cake (new recipe! Will be in the next post), and finished 3 more books (see next post for those as well).
I'll leave you now with pics of cute hats.
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| upside down cable hat in persimmon |
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| Citrus inspired |
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| 2 more cute hats |
Fifty for 50 Tally
Books completed – 9 (5 more in progress)
Recipes tried – 9
Blog posts published– 8
Miles walked in February – 32.76
Miles walked year-to-date –76.53
Scrap book pages completed –12
Hats donated – 12
Hours volunteered – 0
Until we read again (hopefully in the next couple of days),
Hallie
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