Tag: recipe

Annnnd We’re Back: Puff Pastry Garlic Parmesan Spirals

Leave a comment

To kick off this week, I wanted to share this adapted recipe that was absolutely delicious. They are called Puff Pastry Garlic Parmesan Spirals. A mouthful that’s for sure but also what you will literally have, your mouth full.

This recipe was showcased at our family Easter dinner and it was a perfect addition to the rest of our meal.

Garlicy and warm and buttery oh my goodness this is delicate yet bursting with flavors.

It was pretty easy to make, I made a few changes to the original recipe. The original recipe came from Kim at Today’s Creative Life:
https://todayscreativelife.com/puff-pastry-garlic-parmesan-spirals/

I didn’t have oregano, which was quite a surprise, so I opted for a blend of herbs and spices. I used a basic Italian mix which you can find at any grocery store. However, this was one I had made myself. Anyways, I thought it would add another dimension of flavor and it did!

I also used an entire head of garlic which is 7-9 cloves. The original recipe called for 3 cloves but as you know, in the Kearns kitchen, the more garlic the better. My Dad and I love love loved them and the amount of garlic caused a spiciness that was delightful. The rest of my family though, thought it was too much. That is why I put 5 cloves of garlic but depending on your own preference, add more or less as you see fit.

Something else I ran into was letting the puff pastry thaw for too long. I was busy in the kitchen cooking away and forgot about it. Later that night, when I went to make the spirals, it was very wet, doughy, and sticky. I had to use a hefty amount of flour on the rolling pin as well as the surface I was working on. Treat your puff pastry with care, people!

Also check out a sleepy Peanut that was keeping me company as I made these delectable creations.

Puff Pastry Garlic Parmesan Spirals

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup butter – melted
  • 5 tablespoons grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
  • 5 cloves garlic – chopped
  • 1 sheet puff pastry

Instructions

  1. Thaw puff pastry to room temp. Once thawed, unfold.
  2. Roll dough out slightly making sure it is not too thin
  3. In a small bowl, melt butter.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the butter and stir.
  5. Spread onto puff pastry with a pastry brush.
  6. Roll up into a log shape.
  7. Cut into about 1/4 inch slices.
  8. Use cooking spray on a baking tray and place spirals on, about 12 per pan.
  9. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes, making sure they don’t get burnt.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Leave a comment

We are at the end of the week! If you are feeling like you are lacking creatively or just plain lazy, I get it! Nothing like a long week. But hopefully this recipe can spark some inspiration to start your weekend off right!

My mother *shoutout* found this recipe years ago and my family LOVES it! She has to make twice as much because our family demolishes it within minutes. It is pretty basic and requires little skill or manual labor (because slaving over the oven can be work).

I wash all my produce before using and I washed the broccoli with this spray.  I use Veggie Wash Natural Fruit & Vegetable Wash, 16-Ounce Spray which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Veggie-Wash-Natural-Vegetable-16-Ounce/dp/B001OHV29G/ref=asc_df_B001OHV29G/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167151917164&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4107117550374405661&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001869&hvtargid=aud-643191255296:pla-274455990951&psc=1

It is all natural and contains organic citrus. I am a big believer in using a supplement wash. I feel like it really gets the grit and the fine dirt on both my vegetables and fruits. It’s pretty inexpensive and I highly suggest trying it out!

In my family, the more garlic the better. We even have a shaker of garlic powder next to our salt and pepper. So, this may be too garlic-y for the common man. But as the following meme suggests, cater to what you like!

thank you to
https://twitter.com/ONgrownGarlic

It is true though, food brings us together! So enjoy this recipe and show a little love for your mom today.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes or less

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 heads of broccoli
  • 6 cloves of minced garlic (which is 1 head of regular size garlic)
  • 1 ½ Tbs extra virgin olive oil (or substitute for other oils, grapeseed, canola, etc.)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Chop off broccoli stalks and cut the remaining broccoli into florets.
  2. Mince garlic
  3. Combine broccoli florets with the minced garlic and add the oil. Toss to coat and spread onto a sheet pan. Don’t worry about greasing the pan, the broccoli will have enough oil to not stick to the pan.
  4. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes. Until you smell the aroma of garlic and see that the edges of the broccoli become crispy, like a char. If your oven is finicky like mine, you may want to turn your pan around halfway through. My oven runs hot so my broccoli only took 16 minutes. If you are making this for the first time, monitor the broccoli after about 15 minutes, just to make sure you don’t burn them.
  5. Take out of oven and don’t forget to scrape the garlic off the pan!

Beginnings and Brown Sugar Cookies

1 Comment

I figured I would kick-off my blog with a recipe I had made that was roughly based on Sabrina Synders’s recipe which I will link here:
https://dinnerthendessert.com/brown-sugar-cookies/

I made some modifications to her original recipe just based on personal taste.

Firstly, instead of using AP (all purpose) flour, I used cake flour. Cake flour is different that regular AP flour. It has a lower protein content and is made of bleached winter wheat. It is softer, and lighter and much finer than your run of the mill AP flour because it has been super ground until it is delicate enough. And this lower level of protein inhibits the formation of gluten. This is nice because usually if there is more gluten in a food, it is associated with a more tough, resistant, and chewy texture. And on top of all that, the fact that it’s bleached also prevents the gluten formation. I wanted to go for that extra light texture because the recipe had 2 cups of dark brown sugar, which could be a very heavy and decadent cookie. I wanted it to be enjoyed as a few cookies in one sitting, not just one that would give you a stomach ache if you ate more that one.
All-purpose flour: 9-12% protein content.
Cake flour: 6-8% protein content 

Another adjustment I made was also in efforts to make the cookie light and chew, was to incorporate dairy-free butter in the recipe. The recipe calls for 14 Tbs of butter. You heat 10 in a saucepan and then after it browned, move to another bowl and add in the final 4 Tbs of butter. I used Earth Balance Original as the 4 Tbs in place of the last 4 Tbs of butter. I noticed that my cookies did not spread as much as the recipe I was referencing, most likely from the lack of butter. I think (correct me or let me know if this is wrong) the Earth Balance and butter has a higher melting point than butter, so there was more integrity in the mix.

I would not recommend this recipe if you plan on doing different cut-outs or decorations. They did spread a little bit but I do not think it would hold other shapes well.

I also was experimenting with how baked I wanted my cookie to be. I had them in the oven for 12 minutes the first batch and took them out when I saw brown creeping up the sides. However, they were pretty crunchy, with some chew in the middle. The second batch was better- I took them out at 10 minutes which is when they were the perfect amount of softness in the middle and crispy around the edges. Given, my oven runs hot even with the speed bake off.

Whew! What a load of information! Overall, it was a perfect cookie for a cold rainy day, eating them while they are straight out of the oven, warm and chewy with some tea. All I can say is, ah magnific! Here is my tweaked recipe and huge shoutout to
https://dinnerthendessert.com/ for coming up with the original and amazing recipe!

Brown Sugar Cookies

Yield: 44 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes max

Total Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter 
  • 4 Tbs Earth Balance Original
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 cups cake flour plus 2 tablespoons
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a saucepan melt 10 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat (mine was more at high heat). It helps if you cut the butter into Tbs before melting to speed up the process. Whisk constantly until butter starts to brown, about 4-5 minutes Pour into bowl, add Earth Balance Original to same bowl and set to the side.
  3. In another bowl whisk together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
  4. Add the rest (1.75 cup) dark brown sugar and salt to butter and whisk until smooth, this may take a minute but if you put in the work now, you won’t regret it. You can not “over mix” at this part. Whisk the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a bowl until it it thorighly combined. Then add it to the butter and sugar mixture.
  5. Combine butter mixture with dry ingredients, pouring the dry inmgredients in 3 separate installations, stirring it all together until a dough forms.
  6. Use a Tbs measure to portion out each cookie, making sure to roll it into a ball. Optional: sprinkle sugar on top.
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until you see just the littlest bit of brown on the edges. And when I say little bit, I mean it. These cookies can brown really quickly once they reach a certain point. Keep your eyes on this!

My recipe made 44 cookies