Buffalo Chicken Mac N' Cheese Bites

This is a perfect example of why America has an obesity problem. We reinvent dishes like macaroni and cheese to make them more tantalizing, irresistible and heart-stopping over and over. Fried oreos, bacon sundaes, chocolate covered corndogs, and now - buffalo chicken mac n' cheese. This is terrible. This is wonderful.

We had a Finger Food Challenge in my office last week, so I wanted to make something cheesy but easily portable. I ran out to buy a mini cupcake tin, which I now need to find a hundred other recipes for because they make everything bite-sized and adorable! My love of sliders and miniature food items made these mac n' cheese bites a no-brainer. My coworkers made two different buffalo chicken dips (3 TIMES the buffalo chicken!!!), bruschetta on toast, and two potato samplers with smoked salmon and dill sauce.

The food

Contestants with their prizes

Needless to say, we were all winners.

Buffalo Chicken Mac N Cheese Bites
Makes: 36 bites  Prep: 20 minutes  Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 lb elbow macaroni
3 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup crumbly blue
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper3/4 cup milk
2 eggs yolks
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 tbs hot sauce
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions
Cook macaroni al dente and set aside.
In a large pot, melt the butter on low heat and add flour. Add mozzarella and crumbly blue cheese, and stir until completely melted. Pour in salt, pepper and milk and heat on high for 3-4 minutes until the mix is fully incorporated. Remove from heat and mix in egg yolks.
In a separate bowl, combine shredded chicken, hot sauce and buffalo wing sauce. Mix well, then transfer into mac n cheese pot. Toss mac n cheese with chicken and spoon into lightly greased mini cupcake tins, pressing down to fill the tins completely. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Curry Chicken Soup with Sweet Potato and Coconut

I've taken a brief hiatus from blogging for a bit in lieu of doing lots of fun traveling, but I plan to come back with a vengeance! I only have a few weeks left in New Jersey before finishing my internship at Johnson & Johnson and moving back to Boston for summer classes. It's very bittersweet, but I want to make the most of my last days and am looking forward to being back with all my Boston friends. In the past few weeks, I've gone away to Syracuse, Boston, Chicago, Atlantic City, and am heading to Cleveland this weekend to visit Dylan one last time. Believe it or not I've still done some yummy cooking but haven't had the time to capture it all - which I'm very mad at myself for. Time to get back on the horse!

This soup reminds me of my mom because she loves Indian food and it's comprised of all her favorite things. I made it right before going home for Mother's Day and promised my mom I would give her the recipe. A lot of people don't love curry, but if you are a fan then you'll love this soup. The sweet potato and coconut subdue the curry powder and all the ingredients create a delicious blend of Indian flavors. With my love of sweet potato, I was just happy to think of a recipe that allowed me to eat more of them! Hope you enjoy and look for more recipes to come very soon. :)

Curry Chicken Soup with Sweet Potato and Coconut
Serves: 6   Prep: 1 hour  Total: 2 hours

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup coconut milk
1 lb chicken breast tenderloins
1 tbs fresh ginger
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp curry powder
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
Salt and pepper
Toasted coconut for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In two separate dishes bake the sweet potatoes for 45 minutes, then the chicken breast tenderloins for 30 minutes. When the sweet potato is done, scoop out the insides and set aside.
In a large pot, combine a little oil, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, salt and pepper. Cook at medium heat until the onions have softened, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and chicken stock, and bring to a boil and reduce by half. Bring to a simmer and add coconut milk and chopped chicken. Heat for another few minutes, then top with toasted coconut to serve.

Homemade Take-out Sesame Chicken

Alright, let's be real. I'm a college student, thus I love any food that falls under the category of "take-out". However, I also love to cook and I'm really cheap so making my own Chinese takeout has been an aspiration of mine for some time. When I stumbled across this recipe it was like the stars had aligned. I found it under a list of Martha Stewart's lighter versions of comfort food, so it takes all the guilt out of take-out and doesn't burn a $10 hole in my pocket per serving.

I made a whole batch to eat all by myself and I'm not sick of it yet. This recipe would also be great for a crowd but... why share?

Homemade Take-out Sesame Chicken (from Martha Stewart)
Serves: 4  Prep: 40 minutes  Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 cup brown rice
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken tenderloins
3 tbs honey
2 tbs sesame seeds
2 tbs soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
2 eggs whites
1/4 cup corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup scallions, diced

Directions
Cook brown rice according to package instructions. In a separate pot, steam chopped broccoli over boiling water until cooked through, about five minutes.
To make the sauce, combine honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce and minced garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk egg whites, corn starch, and salt and pepper. Chop chicken into two-inch chunks and toss in egg mixture. Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat and fry chicken, flipping every 2-3 minutes until fully cooked. When done, add sauce, broccoli and diced scallions into the skillet and heat for another few minutes. Serve over brown rice.

Chocolate Easter Cake with Ganache Frosting

Attention all chocolate lovers: this cake might put you over the edge. Two dense layers of chocolate cake, rich and creamy ganache frosting, topped with shaved milk chocolate (Cadbury, to be exact) and the smoooothest little chocolate eggs you've ever had. (Again, obviously Cadbury... I'm a little obsessed.) I'm usually a fruity dessert lover, but to appease the chocolate eaters in my family I made this rich chocolate cake for Easter dinner back home. Dylan came home with me for the holiday and I have no doubt he was happily fed the whole trip. He's always astounded by how much my family eats. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing...

Posing with the cake

Easter Sunday

Dyeing eggs with Dylan and my sister Megan

Another exciting part about the weekend was that Dylan and I got to celebrate our 2-year anniversary! We've been living 8 hours apart since January, so seeing each other in general is reason enough to celebrate. Back in Boston we would cook together most nights, so we decided to make a nice dinner for the occasion. We had caprese salad, paprika-spiced flank steak, and beer-battered coconut shrimp. Expect to see that coconut shrimp recipe on here soon - it was amazingggg. Then again, how could you go wrong beer-battering anything?

Set-up in the dining room

Caprese salad

Paprika-spiced flank steak and coconut shrimp

Getting back to the cake, I found this recipe on marthastewart.com, which has yet to steer me wrong. This cake was spongy and moist, giving it this awesome sensation of both soft and heavy. The Cadbury chocolate on top is what pushed me over the edge. Dylan introduced me to these chocolates, which are only sold once a year around Easter and are his absolute favorite. This cake would be great to make all year round, but the chocolate egg nest make it particularly adorable for spring. Enjoy! :)

Chocolate Easter Cake with Ganache Frosting (from Martha Stewart)
Serves: 10-12  Prep: 1 hour  Total: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup butter
1 tbs instant espresso powder
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbs vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbs corn syrup
8 ounces milk chocolate
Cadbury eggs for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Coat two 8-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray, cover in parchment paper, spray again and sprinkle with cocoa powder, shaking off excess.
Melt butter in a large pot and whisk in water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until dissolved. Whisk in sugar and remove from heat. Add the remaining wet ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and mix until fully incorporated. Pour into cake pans and bake for 45-50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
When the cake is done, remove and let cool in pans for 20 minutes. Remove from pans and let sit until cool to the touch. Cut off the rounded tops of both cake layers to make them flat. Place one layer cut-side up on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Spread a little less than half the frosting in the center of the cake. Cover by laying the second half cut-side down and spread remaining frosting over the top and sides. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until frosting is firm.
Melt semisweet chocolate, heavy cream and corn syrup together in a heat-proof bowl over boiling water. Let cool for several minutes before pouring over cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Before serving, shave milk chocolate with a large knife and garnish on top of cake with Cadbury eggs.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Happy spring! It's been a while since I have written an official post but I promise I've been making a lot of good stuff. With work and traveling the past few weekends, I haven't been so great about documenting all my creations. These, however, I knew I had to share. I baked these cupcakes for my co-op manager Jaime, who has since left for maternity leave. (We miss you, Jaime!) I found the original recipe on my favorite blog, Love and Olive Oil.

Since I do not have a hand mixer here in New Jersey, I decided to come up with my own frosting. I have the same strawberry cake for my birthday every year and I will definitely use this strawberry frosting from here on out. I think I might have eaten about four cupcakes-worth of frosting just by licking the bowl. Not even kidding. And I don't even regret it because the frosting was that freaking good. The cake itself was sooo delicious, exactly what I expected from such a great blog. All in all another cupcake success. Round two, please?

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes (Adapted from Love and Olive Oil)
Makes: 24 cupcakes  Prep: 20 minutes  Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice

Frosting:
2 sticks butter
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 tbs pureed strawberry (or 1/2 cup strawberries
tsp lemon juice

Directions
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, coconut milk, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry.
To make frosting, puree strawberries in a food processor and combine with softened butter, cream, vanilla and lemon juice. Add powdered sugar gradually until perfect texture is achieved.

Green Velvet Cupcakes with Rum Spiked Frosting

Continuing with the Irish spirit, I decided to make some GREEN velvet cupcakes for Saint Patty's Day. Since half of the fun (or maybe 99% of the fun) on Saint Patrick's Day is the drinking, I spiked some cream cheese frosting with a little bit of rum. You only need a touch of imitation rum to get the right flavor, so if you're looking to recreate these don't go overboard or you'll end up feeling like you're eating a shot... not always so delicious. Enjoy!

Green Velvet Cupcakes with Rum Spiked Frosting
Makes: 18 cupcakes  Prep: 20 minutes Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs green food coloring
12 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup butter
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp imitation rum

Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix well until lumps are gone. Pour into paper-lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry. Let cool before icing.
To make frosting, combine softened butter and cream cheese in a mixer and beat on high for 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and rum and beat for another minute or until smooth.

Irish Bacon and a Traditional Irish Breakfast

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I came home for the weekend to celebrate with my whole family this year, so we woke up early to make a big traditional Irish breakfast. My brother used to work at a great Irish pub in Chicago, so he gets credit for most of this meal. He put together a menu of Irish bacon, Irish sausage, fried eggs, British-style baked beans in tomato sauce, sauteed tomatoes, and Guinness brown bread with Kerrygold butter.

Oh, and don't forget the Irish coffee - made the real way with some good whiskey! Yesterday, my brother Conor and I brined a pork shoulder overnight in preparation for boiling this morning. I rarely eat red meat, so this was a big treat. After boiling the pork shoulder for three hours we sliced and seared it for a nice golden crust and that great greasy flavor.

Conor also baked up Guinness brown bread last night which we ate with some Irish butter. I had never had Kerrygold butter before, but my brother explained the difference is a higher fat content. How are Europeans skinner than us again? If I ate this kind of breakfast each morning I would be doing a lot less baking, that's for sure. Now I need to prepare myself for tonight's dinner of corn beef, cabbage, potatoes, soda bread, grasshopper pie and green velvet cupcakes. (Spoiler alert! I'll be posting this later today...)

Irish Bacon

Makes: 10 servings  Prep: 40 minutes  Total: 24 hours

Ingredients

1 6-pound pork shoulder

3 cups kosher salt

3 heads fresh garlic

1 tbs ground pepper

1/2 tbs butter

Directions

Fill a dutch oven with water 5-6 inches below the rim. Pour in kosher salt and stir for several minutes until fully dissolved. Rinse pork shoulder, place in dutch oven, cover and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to cook, boil pork in salt water for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, dump out salt water and replace with warm water. Bring to boil again for 1 minute, add pepper and garlic, and simmer on low heat for 3 hours.

Pour out water and place pork shoulder on a large cutting board. Slice pork across its natural break into thin strips. Melt 1/2 tbs butter in a large skillet and fry sliced pork one minute each side on medium-high heat. Let drain on paper towels before serving.