Sloppy Joe's : The Super Hero of the Culinary World

3/21/10: Super Sloppy Joes with Homemade Hamburger Rolls and Life By Chocolate Cupcakes

Meal details: Annemarie made some crusty hamburger rolls on Saturday for my Super Sloppy Joe's. The Sloppy Joe recipe includes onions, tomato sauce and paste, bell peppers, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and of course, ground beef. For dessert, I made chocolate cupcakes, each with a Hershey Kiss in the middle. :)

Defining moments: First time using a Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) recipe and making ganache!

Recipe sources: The Sloppy Joe recipe is from Rachael Ray and I actually made this before. See my original posts here and here. The chocolate cupcake recipe is from the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen. I just noticed that the Sloppy Joe recipe link on the Food Network website is obsolete. Ugh. How can they delete this recipe from their archive? Oh well, I'll write it out here for you all:

Rachael Ray's Super Sloppy Joe's --

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 lbs ground sirloin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons steak seasoning, such as McCormick brand Montreal seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Garnish

• sliced ripe tomato
• pickle

Instructions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add oil and meat to the pan.
3. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up.
4. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning.
5. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine.
6. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet.
7. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes.
8. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan.
9. Stir to combine.
10. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer.
11. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops.
12. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, dill pickles and Potato Salad.
13. We like to put a thick slice of cheddar on top of the meat in the sandwich and broil it for a few minutes to melt. YUM.

What I learned: Well, because I have done the first recipe before, nothing new there. But the cupcake recipe included a chocolate ganache that you dip the baked and cooled cupcakes in. I've seen it done on t.v. many a time but this is my first on hands approach. It was a lot of fun to make! Especially when pouring the hot cream over the chocolate--boy, did that look delicious!

Any modifications? Yes, I tweaked both recipes slightly. For the sloppy joe's, I didn't use the steak seasoning (don't have any), instead I used pepper. I used ground chuck instead of ground sirloin (cheaper, lol!).

And for Ree Drummond's recipe. . . I didn't add the baking soda to the wet ingredients at the beginning, like the recipe states. I instead, placed the soda in the dry ingredients. I did this because I knew the baking soda would react with the wet ingredients and I didn't want to lose all that leavening power before they are in the oven.

How it tasted? The Sloppy Joe's were as good as ever (especially with those homemade buns), and the cupcakes were VERY good. But then how, I ask you, can a cupcake that has a chocolate batter, a chocolate kiss in the center, and a chocolate ganache on top be bad? Yeah, that doesn't make sense. :D I loved everything about both recipes!

How about a 2nd time? Without a doubt, absolutely, totally, definitely. . . In other words: YES.

Oh yes, a note about the photos. I will begin sharing my photos to you by way of Flickr. So when you click on any one of them, you will be transferred to my Flickr account and have the ability to view them at full scale.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies : My First "America's Test Kitchen" Recipe

3/13/10: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last Saturday my sister and I baked some chocolate chip cookies using a recipe that was demonstrated on the PBS t.v. show, America's Test Kitchen. This show is my new favorite because it brings the chemistry of cooking to the forefront and really walks you through each step. It also includes a taste test segment as well as a kitchen utensil discussion--both things that add a special touch to the program.
We really were interested in this chocolate chip cookie recipe because the hosts boasted about the crispness of this cookie along with its chewy center. Sounded like texture heaven! They also had very unique preparation techniques that I had to try out. So let me walk you through it. . .

The Ingredients: The ingredients consisted of the usual suspects: brown and white sugar, flour, baking soda, butter, etc., but the intriguing ingredient was one hard boiled egg yolk. The hosts said that if you were to add a whole egg (uncooked) to the batter, the water-to-sugar ratio would not be correct and you wouldn't get the chewy texture that was being aimed for.

The Preparation: The way they prepared the batter was also unexpected. Instead of just throwing all the ingredients together in a bowl, they melted the butter until it was brown, added it to the sugar and whisked it for 30 seconds, allowed it to sit for 3 minutes, and repeated this step two more times. This stirring and waiting technique allows the sugar to dissolve completely which makes for a fine textured cookie and enables the cookie to form a crust fast. If a crust is formed soon after it is in the oven the center will retain its texture, thus a chewy centered cookie. The hosts mentioned that this technique was devised by accident; they said a staff member, while mixing the batter, had to walk away and answer a telephone. When he returned he noticed how thick and glossy the batter looked and the dissolved sugar factor was examined more closely. What great things come from accidents!

Any Recipe Changes? No, I made no modifications to this recipe. And for a side note. . . I used Semi-Sweet Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips.

The Tasting Panel: We did notice a difference in the cookie's flavor and texture. It had more of a rich, caramel flavor compared to the Nestlé version and the crisp outer layer and the chewy interior were there. A very good cookie and is now my new favorite chocolate chip!

A Long Awaited Treat

6/21/09: Hot Dogs with Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• Meal details: Main course, hot dogs -- pork and beef hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, and green tomato relish for condiments.

Dessert, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies -- I don't think I need to explain further! I would believe most of you can visualize what these two cookies are like. :)

• Recipes sources: I had an incredibly hard time trying to find a chocolate chip recipe. . . Not! I just used the good old Nestle Tollhouse cookie recipe that I found on the back of the chip bag. I've tried many different C&C (aka chocolate chip) recipes before and I have found these to be my family's favorite. The oatmeal raisin recipe came from Annemarie's Betty Crocker cookbook. I don't know what I would do without that cookbook!
• Defining moments: I made TTTOOONNSSS of cookies before, they are one of my favorite things to bake, so I didn't take a big step into the unknown this week.
• What I learned: I discovered why someone created refrigerator cookie recipes. It was so hot in that kitchen last Sunday! I think the temperature was around 80 that day so you can imagine what it would be like when you are standing by a 375 degree oven for an hour! But the cookie satisfaction afterwards can't be beat. :)
• Any modifications? Nope, followed the recipes precisely.
• How it tasted? Haven't had cookies since Winter so they were readily received by all.
• How about a 2nd time? Yes, and a 3rd, and a 4th, and. . .
  

Now stop, take a deep breath, and scroll down slowly.

Drooling yet? :)