Love of Grub

Sharing our culinary adventure one bite at a time.

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Savory Pancetta Sage Stuffing

It’s Thanksgiving week!! A couple weeks ago, my fiancé’s work unit had a (very early) Thanksgiving…

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A Love of Grub Original: Kale & Barley Squashage

It’s that time of year again! I still sleep with my windows open and live in jersey skirts, but…

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Anthony Bourdain is 57 Today!

Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite people I’ll never meet.

To celebrate, here are a…

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Rice-a-Flower

Doesn’t that sound lovely? I’m not going to lie, the idea of grinding up some cauliflower and…

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Onion & Smoked Gouda Quesadillas with Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Holy smokes, these were delicious! I combined this recipe for Bourbon Barbecue Sauce with this…

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Cold, Creamy Bananas

I’m sure that, being the hip, progressive internet readers you are, you’ve already heard about the…

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Mom's Classic Chocolate on Chocolate Birthday Cake

My mom recently turned 61. I called her the evening before her pre-birthday gathering and she…

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Mom's Classic Chocolate on Chocolate Birthday Cake

My mom recently turned 61. I called her the evening before her pre-birthday gathering and she casually mentioned that she would be getting up early the next day to bake herself a cake. This didn't sit well with me, and despite having perhaps never attempted to bake a birthday cake before, I assigned myself the honor of making hers.

First, I did what I do almost every time I need to bake something sweet: called my big sister and asked to borrow a pan. I don't know why, in my many years of kitchening, I haven't bothered to procure 2 matching cake pans or my own mini muffin tin, but I'm certain my sister finds my habit of borrowing hers for months on end before returning them (often by force and totally scratched up) endearing. How could she not?

Once I found a recipe for the most classic of classic chocolate cakes with delectable chocolate frosting (Annie's, duh) and gathered supplies, it was far too late to embark on cake making, so I got up early the day of the party and this is what ensued:

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake

1¼ cups (6¼ oz.) all-purpose flour

1 cup (3 oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pans

2 tsp. instant espresso or coffee powder

1 cup boiling water

½ cup sour cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c1¾ cups (12¼ oz.) sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

For the Frosting

9.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

4 tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

For the Cake

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Butter the edges of 2 9-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder, shaking out the excess.  Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, and boiling water.  Whisk until smooth; set aside to cool slightly.  When cooled down a bit, whisk in the sour cream and vanilla.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer (note: if you have exactly 2 plug ins in your entire kitchen and no stand mixer, be prepared for an epic mess!), beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually blend in the sugar and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes more. Blend in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk to blend. 

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream mixture, beating each addition just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cake layers for about 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through to ensure even baking. Transfer the baked cake layers to a wire rack and let cool in the pans at least 30 minutes before inverting onto the rack to cool completely. 

For the Frosting

To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Set aside to cool until just barely warm.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt.  Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and then the sour cream.  Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended.

Assembly

To assemble the cake, place one of the cake layers on a cake board or serving platter. Spread an even layer of the frosting over the top of the cake. Top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake using a thin crumb coat first. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set. (While the crumb coat sets, you may want to leave the mixer on low speed with the remaining frosting so that the melted chocolate doesn't set.)

Once the crumb coat is set, frost the top and sides of the cake again using an offset spatula or spoon for a soft, billowy appearance. (Alternately, you can mask your lack of soft, billowy cake decorating skills with SIXTY ONE candles. Once they bite into it, nobody will care how it looks anyway.) Sing, extinguish flames, slice and serve. 

Happy birthday, Momma! xoxo

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ABC Date Bars

I'm not even going to call them homemade Lärabars because this is exactly how I felt about all 2-3 Lärabars I have ever had:

These are awesomely delicious date bars. Sure, they might have the same basic ingredients as their packaged and mass-produced counterparts, but I prefer the homemade kind. If you love Lärabars, save some money and make them yourself. If you feel "meh" about Lärabars, also try making them yourself. You can google "homemade Lärabars" and a ton of recipes with different flavor combinations will come up, so for now I am just giving you the list of what I put in my food processor to make mine. I am a sucker for anything PB&J, and I am also Paleo-ing, so this is what I do:

Ingredients: 

1 cup fancy Medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup almond butter*

about 2 Tbsp dried cranberries*

about 1 Tbsp fine coconut flakes*

about 1 Tbsp water 

a few drops of coconut oil

Directions:

Toss everything in a food processor and process until it becomes a big, smooth, stuck-together (but not to the processor) mess. Add water as needed. Lay out a big piece of wax paper and smoosh the ball of date stuff onto it.  My method is to fold the paper over the top and flatten it with a pan or cutting board or whatever is lying around (I suppose a rolling pin would work, too), shape it into a rectangle, and cut it into 8 little perfect serving sized bars. You could also form it into little balls and smoosh them into round date cookies. That would be adorable. You don't have to refrigerate these, but I like to at least chill them for half an hour before eating them. I also like to put mine on these fancy Desert Rose plates I inherited from my grandma, but that's totally optional. 

Enjoy! 

* unsweetened, of course! 

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Whole30

Love of Grub is taking the Whole30 challenge and going Paleo for June! Sad as the elimination of delicious cheeses, cured meats, and bread may sound, it doesn't have to be! I've been loving this new way of eating so far.

I even managed to make it work for Happy Hour (ok, wine isn't technically approved, but everything else is!) 

I also discovered a new favorite late-night snack: red grapes and pistachios! Last night I went crazy and added a few blackberries and these raw, organic kale chips I found that only have pineapple, coconut and sea salt added. Yum!

All this nonsense might go against everything I generally believe in, but I've lost 3.6 pounds in the first 3 days, I'm never hungry, and everything I've eaten has been wonderful. Cheers to a healthy June!

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Happy Coq au Vin Day!

I read somewhere that today is Coq au Vin day.* To celebrate, I made my very first Coq au Vin last week so I could be totally on top of my food-blogging game and show you pictures ON Coq au Vin Day instead of however long after it took me to get them up! Since it's already been a week and I have failed to compile anything but pictures, pictures are what I have to offer. That, and this hot tip: Read your recipe(s) before you attempt to make them. I can't count the number of times I have regretted not doing this, but I have regretted zero percent of the times I have. Also, if a recipe (such as this one, which I used) calls for components that have their own recipe (such as brown-braised onions & sauteed mushrooms), you should really go ahead and review those recipes before getting started, too. 

Bon appétit!

* I read somewhere else that it is yesterday, and somewhere else that it is March 22. Silly internet! Love of Grub officially declares May 29 the day that we celebrate Coq au Vin!

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Love of Grub Original: Cucumber Sandwiches

As an afterthought to the panini feast I had planned for Mother's Day Brunch, I threw together a few cold sandwiches. I did this mostly as a hasty bargain for time so I could get away from the panini press long enough to put clothes on before guests arrived. I rounded up what I could find in my kitchen and piled it on some leftover bread. The result was fresh and bright, simple and surprisingly satisfying. Those unassuming little morsels of vegetarian goodness were a hit, even with my extremely carnivorous family! I had to make them again, pronto. 

Give this sandwich a try for lunch with a handful of salt & vinegar chips or for dinner alongside a hot bowl of cauliflower & cheddar soup. It's also a fantastic midnight snack after an evening of beer drinking and music making!  

Ingredients:

4 kaiser rolls or an equivalent mass of bread-like vehicles

1 small cucumber, sliced

1 large handful of lettuce, salad mix, spinach, arugula or something similar

4 oz. hummus

8 oz. Greek yogurt & feta spread*

GREEK YOGURT & FETA SPREAD

6 oz. plain nonfat Greek yogurt

5 sundried tomatoe strips, chopped

2 oz. crumbled feta cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1 hearty squirt of fresh lemon juice

dried oregano, basil, thyme & black pepper to taste

Stir everything together in a bowl and season to taste. 

Directions:

Prepare the spread, slice the bread, and slather one side of each sandwich with tangy, Greek goodness and the other side with hummus. 

I have faith that you could take it from here on your own, but in case you like instagrams as much as I do...

arrange your cucumber slices on one side (for whatever reason, I prefer to do my building on the Greek side),

top with lettuce,

and put a lid on it! 

Now, eat!

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La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.

Auguste Escoffier

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Lovers of Grub, 

I would like to introduce you to Artie. If Artie lived outside your dining room window, what would you do with him? I think the most obvious thing would be to invite him to dinner...but how should I prepare him? 

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Lemon Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I may as well change the name of this blog to Love of Annie's Grub. While I love trying recipes from a variety of sites and even occasionally coming up with something original, Annie's Eats has been my go-to food blog more often than not lately. If you visit her site, you'll understand why!

For Mother's Day Brunch I made a bunch of tiny lemony cupcakes from this recipe and frosted them with this. I halved both recipes, and I made simple cupcakes instead of the fancy-pants layered cake she shared, so here is the adaptation:

LEMON CUPCAKES WITH WHIPPED VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes: (makes 48+ minis)

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

Zest of 1/4 a lemon

1 cup sugar

2.5 large eggs, at room temperature*

5/8 cup buttermilk, at room temperature**

1/2 tbsp. lemon extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 

For the frosting:

3/4 cups plus 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (optional)

1 tbsp. heavy cream

1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract

* I hate wasting things like half an egg, and I like adding things like flaxseed to my baked goods, so I did a fun trick and mixed 1/2 tbsp. flaxseed with 1 1/2 tbsp. water and called it half an egg. 

** I also don't love buying things like buttermilk when it's so easy to make my own. So, I put 1/2 tbsp. + 1/8 tbsp. white vinegar in a measuring cup, added milk to the 5/8 cup spot and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Prepare your muffin (or mini muffin) tin(s) by lightly greasing and flouring them or lining them with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together and set aside.  Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment a large bowl and set it somewhere that can be reached by a plugged-in hand mixer.  Add the lemon zest to the bowl of the mixer with the butter.  Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.  Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Combine the buttermilk and the lemon and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.  With the mixer on low speed a wooden spoon in one hand, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Pour the batter into your cupcake tin(s). I had enough batter for 2 full tins of mini cupcakes (48) plus one mutant cupcake that I attempted to bake in a liner in a bowl. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the frosting:

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment  a bowl near a plug-in.  Whip with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod (if using) into the bowl and add in the salt.  Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated.  Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4-5 minutes.

I couldn't find my pastry bag, so I cut a hole in a sandwich baggie, shoved a pastry tip in it, and filled the bag with frosting. It worked well enough to make some cute-ish squirts of frosting on the cupcakes, and I topped them each with a lemon head. I wasn't entering Cupcake Wars or anything, so I didn't obsess over this detail much, but if you wanted to, you could probably make your cupcakes look more showroom-ready :) 

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"Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?"

Julia Child

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Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

Annie has done it again! I was so pleased with the outcome of the last batch of truffles I made that when she posted this recipe for these sweet, salty, crispy, creamy balls of delish, I felt up to the challenge of making my own for Mother's Day Brunch. I am SO glad I did! Not only were they raved over by everyone who tried them, my mom insisted on taking a few more for the road. Of course I kept a secret stash for later, which Ryan and I happily depleted while watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall when the house cleared out. 

Make these now. They're quick and easy and insanely tasty, especially for those who prefer their desserts a little on the less sweet side. 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups crushed pretzels*

For the coating: 

12 0z. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the drizzle:

1 tbsp. creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp. milk

4-6 tbsp. confectioners' sugar

Directions:

To make the filling, combine the peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, butter and pretzels in a medium bowl.  Mix well with a spoon until evenly combined and all ingredients are incorporated.  Roll the mixture into small balls, about 2-3 teaspoons worth each.  (You may need to clean your hands between batches to keep the mixture from sticking to your palms.)  Place on a baking sheet lined with foil, parchment, or wax paper.  Transfer to the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a bowl of simmering water, and heat until melted and smooth.  Dip chilled peanut butter-pretzel balls in the chocolate, gently shaking off the excess.  Transfer back to the lined baking sheet.  Chill to let chocolate fully set.

To make the peanut butter drizzle, combine the peanut butter and the milk in a small bowl.  Microwave briefly, about 15 seconds.  Add in the confectioners' sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Adjust consistency as needed with additional confectioners' sugar.  Drizzle over the coated truffles.  Let set before packaging or serving.  I kept the remaining balls (few as they were) in the fridge because I found they got a little melty sitting out for very long, and I preferred them chilled. 

NOTE: Annie's pictures are way prettier than mine and she offers advice like How to Temper Your Chocolate, whatever that means, so be sure to check out the original recipe. 

NOTE ON INGREDIENTS: I used pretzel thins from Trader Joe's and I think that might account for the wonderfully Butterfinger-esque texture in the truffles. I'm sure any pretzels will work, but these turned out to be a wise choice! Also, I couldn't find bittersweet chocolate so I used chocolate bars from Trader Joe's: Dark chocolate lover's, milk chocolate truffle, and dark chocolate truffle. They worked just great.