posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_dala at 08:02pm on 08/01/2013
the_dala at 08:02pm on 08/01/2013My mouth is a super happy place right now. Tonight I made this Chicken in Peanut Sauce recipe from Budget Bytes. You know how sometimes you try a recipe, and you're all excited and the pictures look so good and it smells great while it cooks, and then you taste it and you're like, "Meh"? This was not one of those times. The sauce came out so creamy and rich and delicious. It was really easy, too, and it's good for adding the flavors to taste -- I ended up using a whole lime and a little extra soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic. Didn't have the hot sauce, unfortunately. I anticipate it will be even better tomorrow when the sauce has had a chance to sit (I could only resist dishing it out for so long). Next time I might try it with the light coconut milk, which Giant didn't have, on account of how I kept spooning the sauce out of the pan like a weirdo.
Anybody who knows me IRL has probably listened to me stan for Budget Bytes already, but I haven't done it here. So! IT IS AWESOME. I've made maybe ten of her recipes so far and they've all ranged from very good to omgsoamazing. The black bean quesadillas are a staple of my life. Plus there are step-by-step pictures, and Beth M. loves food and isn't afraid to gush about it. That might be my favorite part.
Recipe #2: Right before Christmas, my dad brought home some cookies that had been brought into his school. He saved me one, assuring me it was the best cookie he'd ever had. I took one bite and I was sold. We made a first batch and devoured it, then I tweaked the recipe to make them perfect and took them to two holiday parties, where they got rave reviews. I've decided they will be My Thing from now on.
They are these: Lemony Gingerbread Whoopie Pies. They're soft and pretty and not too sweet, and the warm spices of the gingerbread are perfectly set off by the bright flavor of the lemon. There's also a version that rolls the edges in candy cane pieces, but I dunno why you would ruin it like that.
Now let me lay down some truth about the icing: as written, it sucks. It's way too sweet and you can hardly taste any lemon. The way to fix it is to make it with 2/3 marshmallow creme and 1/3 whipped cream cheese; add the powdered sugar to taste (I think I ended up cutting it by a 1/2 cup); and add some lemon zest, not too much, just about 1/4 of a lemon (much stronger lemon flavor than the extract, although I still used that). Which did have the effect of making the icing softer, but if you pop it in the fridge for half an hour or so before putting the cookies together, it should harden up. You can also achieve this by refrigerating the finished product, but be careful the cookie part doesn't get hard. You can also make mini-pies if the full whoopie pie monty is a bit much, just reduce the baking time a little so they don't overbake (mine were done at 9 minutes for the big ones and 7-8 for the little ones.
Oh, and I suggest adding more spice to the dough (I happen to like all my ginger-things strong, but that's between you and your god). And just a bit more flour than the recipe calls for.
Yes, this is how I cook everything. JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE.
My mission for this year is to find the perfect apple pie recipe for Thanksgiving next year. I'm going to try a different one every month, although I'll probably skip January. If you have a good one, share!
Anybody who knows me IRL has probably listened to me stan for Budget Bytes already, but I haven't done it here. So! IT IS AWESOME. I've made maybe ten of her recipes so far and they've all ranged from very good to omgsoamazing. The black bean quesadillas are a staple of my life. Plus there are step-by-step pictures, and Beth M. loves food and isn't afraid to gush about it. That might be my favorite part.
Recipe #2: Right before Christmas, my dad brought home some cookies that had been brought into his school. He saved me one, assuring me it was the best cookie he'd ever had. I took one bite and I was sold. We made a first batch and devoured it, then I tweaked the recipe to make them perfect and took them to two holiday parties, where they got rave reviews. I've decided they will be My Thing from now on.
They are these: Lemony Gingerbread Whoopie Pies. They're soft and pretty and not too sweet, and the warm spices of the gingerbread are perfectly set off by the bright flavor of the lemon. There's also a version that rolls the edges in candy cane pieces, but I dunno why you would ruin it like that.
Now let me lay down some truth about the icing: as written, it sucks. It's way too sweet and you can hardly taste any lemon. The way to fix it is to make it with 2/3 marshmallow creme and 1/3 whipped cream cheese; add the powdered sugar to taste (I think I ended up cutting it by a 1/2 cup); and add some lemon zest, not too much, just about 1/4 of a lemon (much stronger lemon flavor than the extract, although I still used that). Which did have the effect of making the icing softer, but if you pop it in the fridge for half an hour or so before putting the cookies together, it should harden up. You can also achieve this by refrigerating the finished product, but be careful the cookie part doesn't get hard. You can also make mini-pies if the full whoopie pie monty is a bit much, just reduce the baking time a little so they don't overbake (mine were done at 9 minutes for the big ones and 7-8 for the little ones.
Oh, and I suggest adding more spice to the dough (I happen to like all my ginger-things strong, but that's between you and your god). And just a bit more flour than the recipe calls for.
Yes, this is how I cook everything. JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE.
My mission for this year is to find the perfect apple pie recipe for Thanksgiving next year. I'm going to try a different one every month, although I'll probably skip January. If you have a good one, share!
There are 5 comments on this entry. (Reply.)