nicoleharbeezy in tha kitchen

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July 2018

A snapshot of this summer’s beach/park picnic game!

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July 2018

Insanely red strawberries this summer from Wilklow. I made a strawberry rhubarb galette for Gabby’s birthday party in the park.

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June 14, 2018

Gabby sent me this recipe for a Strawberry- Rhubarb Polenta crisp because I told her I had cornmeal I needed to use. It was really good- better than I was expecting!

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May 27, 2018

Chef made pizza at the Wilklow Memorial Day party. I helped! It was quite the scene. 

Dining In Update: I’ve freed myself! I hated it, being tied to all those recipes. Whatever. I did use the book recently for a shortbread recipe though, I just need to not force myself to do things to rigidly. 

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Recipe 7: “Chocolate- Tahini Tart with Crunchy Salt”

March 28, 2018

Overall, I got a lot of outrageous compliments on this tart. I brought it to the office for Emilee’s going away party at work. And it was good! But it was also pretty easy so I didn’t feel like I could take that much credit for it, though I did rub elbows in the office because of it. Anyways, the first pic is me using 1 to 1 oat flour for AP flour. Didn’t look great... Second pic is half oat flour and half tapioca flour which was better. I did like the addition of oat though because it gave it some nice texture. So, yeah! It was pretty delicious and went very fast at the office. I would make it again. 

Total cost: $7.28

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Recipe 6: “Cocoa Banana Bread”

March 10, 2018

This was DENSE! It was good, it was like a dense moist cake and it wasn’t too overly sweet which was nice. I added walnuts, obviously. I would have done without the banana on top because 1. I don't like eating the texture of cooked banana and 2. it kind of left a spot where there was too much moisture on the cake itself. But besides that it was delicious and I would make it again!

Total cost: $2.75

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Recipe 1.5: “Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, or Why Would I make Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever Again?” 

March 6, 2018

I re-did THE COOKIES! And they worked, wow. I’m still so amazed that I got them to work!! I think the biggest change was, I creamed the butter and sugar for longer and I remember seeing it change into what looked like the “right” consistency. I did a half batch and it worked great!

Total cost: $4.99

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Recipe 5: “Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Hot Honey Browned Butter”

March 4, 2018

This was an easy one. I didn't read the recipe all the way so I got this giant sweet potato from the market instead of a few to slice open. Overall, it was good, I would do browned honey butter again but I might not put as much ACV or none at all. I kind of wish it was a little thicker too, like a drizzle. 

Total cost: $0.00 (I had everything, and Rigo didn't charge me for the sweet potato!)

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Recipe 4: “Luckiest Biscuits in America”

February 11, 2018

I made a half batch of this recipe because I didn’t have enough butter but they were good! I cooked them for 27ish minutes and the bottoms were getting a little too brown but they were so thick that the insides could have used like 2 more minutes. I used yogurt that I got from the market as the buttermilk which seemed to work but I wish my tops of my biscuits were shinier. Anyways, I would make them again! Not that exciting but they look pretty nice when they puff up, I might use a round cookie cutter next time.

Total cost: $5.00 (sort of)

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Recipe 3: “Slow Salmon with Citrus and Herb Salad”

February 8, 2018

I only got two pics, but it was gooooood (so said the crowd). Caitlin so lovingly picked up this (expensive) piece of salmon for me and then it was easy, just sliced citrus, rosemary and olive oil. I wish I had a blood orange. I didn’t submerge the filet all the way in olive oil because I just didn't want to use up that much of my olive oil... so I basted it a little bit. But it was tasty, moist and tender. I brought it to a little get together at Kathleen’s and we ate it with farmer cheese on She Wolf bread and also just with our fingers. I will probably buy cheaper salmon somewhere else new time I make this.

Total cost: $15.78

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Recipe 2: “Lemon Shaker Tart”

February 8, 2018

I would say this was a successful recipe! It basically tasted like a lemon bar. The crust slid down some and filled up more of the tart pan than I would have liked. Next time, I will use the measuring cup and press it up the sides more and then freeze it. Also, I could have made 1/2 the amount of “filing” due to the crust issue. Anyways, it was good and I would probably make it again, mostly because it was pretty presentable and photogenic. 

Total cost: $9.88

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Recipe 1: “Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, or Why Would I make Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever Again?” 

January 24, 2018 

I’m getting a late start to this season so I thought I’d start with familiar territory.

I followed the recipe (something I’m trying to be better about) and I also watched Alison, herself make these on the Bon Appetit Facebook live. The dough was super crumbly but I formed them into logs and let them sit in the fridge. Anyways, I cut them into rounds and all shit hit the fan. It was a punch to the ego. I managed to salvage three cookies together and they tasted pretty good but DAMN. What an emotional rollercoaster. 

Update: I ended up re-crumbling the dough and adding one egg to bind it all together. I had to cut them and form them with my hands and then individually roll them in sugar but it was fine. Still not satisfied with this recipe though yet.

Total cost: $17.96

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January 24, 2018

Dining In, “I’m Gonna Julie-and-Julia- the fuck out of this book!” I finally got it. I received Alison Roman’s cookbook, “Dining In” in the mail yesterday. I am going to attempt to cook my way through it, in about a year and a half. I’ve split it into seasons but will realistically have to give myself more time than that for the amount of recipes. Here is where I’ll be documenting each recipe and my attempts… Wish me luck!

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Kombucha 10/2017 Amanda gave me a scoby! For each 1/2 gal. jar i did: 3 chinese black tea bags 2 pomegranate white tea bags 7 tbls white sugar (6 cups full) 10/31 i added the scoby and put them in the cabinet. i think i'm going to use my concord grape juice to flavor one batch instead of making grape jelly. and maybe my rhubarb syrup from this summer for the other. check back in next week!

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october 2017 concord grape jelly, part one. 1 quart of grapes made 2 cups of juice

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October 2017 

Maya and I experimenting with granola recipes: 

Pumpkin purée, olive oil, chia seeds, flaxseed meal, brown sugar oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, coconut flakes, salt, honey walnuts, sliced almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, (cranberries, Maya doesn’t like cranberries.)

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september 2017

thanks to john from hudson valley duck for teaching me how to cook my duck breast, it was so good!!

feeling more confident with cooking meat!