Parade Day - Carbomb Cupcakes!

We had a great Parade Day - filled with food, friends, and fun! Everyone was decked out in green & orange.  We kept the party going for nearly 12 hours, and there were hardly any leftovers. Thanks to all of our friends for making it a great Parade Day!

I discovered this recipe in 2009, and it's since become a mandatory dessert on both Parade Day and Christmas Eve.  These cupcakes pair perfectly with a glass of port, and that's just what we do on Christmas Eve.  For Parade Day, however, they're more often paired with mimosas or beer.  Not the most sophisticated pairing, but it'll do!

The ingredient list says the whiskey and Baileys are optional, but I'm just not sure the cupcakes would be the same without it.  If you'd like a non-alcoholic version, don't worry about the Guinness because it bakes out.  The whiskey can be omitted altogether, and the Baileys can be replaced with milk.

I do a lot of the Parade Day cupcake prep the night before.  Bake, cool, and core the cupcakes; store them in an air-tight container.  Store the ganache in a Ziploc bag, and the icing in a tupperware in the refrigerator overnight.  Microwave both in 15-second increments to warm them up, but make sure the ganache is still relatively thick so filling the cupcakes is easy.

Carbomb Cupcakes
Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitten
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes
Time: 1 1/2 hours

Cupcake Ingredients
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling Ingredients
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting Ingredients
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

Make the cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

2. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.

4. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.

5. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.

6. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, 15-18  minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the filling
1. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate.

2. Put chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; pour simmering heavy cream over chocolate and let it sit for one minute.  Stir until smooth. If the chocolate isn't melted all the way, put the bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Make the frosting
1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

2. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, add the Baileys or milk, and whip to combine.

Fill & frost the cupcakes:
1. Make sure the cooled ganache is thick but still soft enough to be piped.

2. Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. Core  most of the way down to the bottom of the cupcake but do not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way.  A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out.

3. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. Ice and decorate the cupcakes!

Parade Day Breakfast

Parade Day is here! We're hosting friends (and friends of friends) for breakfast, but in all likelihood it will turn into late afternoon before we leave the apartment! Here's a sneak peak of what I made for breakfast! Enjoy!

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
Adapted from a a recipe I received through an email recipe exchange
Time: 1 hour
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 bag shredded hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt& pepper
butter
Sleeve of ritz crackers

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix hashbrowns, cream of chicken, sour cream and cheese in a bowl.

3. Spray pam in a casserole dish, coat the bottom of the pan with a little bit of milk, and place hasbrown mixture inside.

4. Melt 1/4 cup butter in the microwave.

5. Crush ritz crackers into a bowl and mix in with melted butter.

6. Spread crackers/butter across the top to create a topping.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 45 minutes.

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Baked French Toast
Adapted from Whatever...
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients 
1 stick of butter (melted) 
1 C brown sugar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
15 pieces of bread 
2 C milk 
6 eggs 

Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Melt 1 stick of butter, then add brown sugar and cinnamon; stir together 

3. Pour mixture into 9x13 pan to cover the bottom.  Layer bread on top of the sugar mixture. 

4. In a mixing bowl whisk together milk and eggs 

5. Pour egg mixture over bread 

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown 

7. Remove from oven, drizzle syrup over the top; put back in the broiler until brown and bubbly, maybe 2-4 minutes.

Chicken and Pea Fettuccine Alfredo

Pasta week comes to an end with Chicken and Pea Fettuccine Alfredo.  Even though I'm  half Italian, a girl can only stand so much pasta in one week!  KK saved this meal for the eve of Hoboken Parade Day to make sure we had a hearty meal to fuel-up for the big day. 

Parade Day is probably the biggest party day in Hoboken.  It's the one day of the year that NYC-city dwellers willingly come to New Jersey.  Most bars are open by 10AM with lines out the door.  In all honesty, some people get a little out of hand.  In fact, after about 25 years, Hoboken actually cancelled it's St. Patrick's Day Parade due to Public Safety concerns.  Hobokenites, however, don't take "no" for an answer, and they created "Lepre-Con," mimicking NYC's "Santa-Con," to ensure the Irish festivities are still observed on  the first Saturday of March.

When it's just the two of us, KK and I usually half the recipe and still have leftovers.  Since the Budnicks were joining us for pre-Parade Day dinner, I decided to cook the whole thing.  I'd say this would've served 5 people perfectly, along with some salad and the rustic Italian Bread we got from Amy's Bread.

Chicken and Pea Fettuccine Alfredo
Adapted from How To: Simplify
Serves: 4-6
Time: 

Ingredients
1 lb chicken, chopped
Italian dressing
1 lb Fettuccine noodles, cooked
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups Alfredo sauce 
1/2 tablespoon dried Basil
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
1.  Place chopped chicken in a Ziploc bag.  Pour enough Italian dressing into the bag so the chicken is coated.  Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

2. When the chicken is done marinating, bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook Fettuccine according to package directions.

3. Meanwhile, heat half the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, saute the chicken until it's cooked through.  Transfer chicken to a plate, cover with foil.

4.  Coat the bottom of the same skillet with the remaining olive oil. Add onions to the hot pan. Saute until they are translucent (approximately 2-3 minutes).  Add garlic and continue to cook for 1 additional minute. Add the frozen peas and cook for approximately 2 minutes.

5. Pour the Alfredo sauce into the onion and pea mixture and cook until all the ingredients are heated through. Add the dried basil and season with salt and pepper.

6. Add the pasta and cooked into the mixture and toss to coat.

Cheesy Chili Mac

Along with the fact that I do not like raw tomatoes, I also don't like chili.  Thankfully this meal reminds me more of Velvetta than it does of chili.  That bodes well for KK because this is one of his favorite dinners.  One day I'll post a "KK's Top 10" list.  One day...  Anyway, because this is one of his favorites, and the fact that he was starving last night, KK only gave me what felt like two seconds to snap a picture of the Cheesy Chili Mac before he dug into this skillet on Wednesday night:

With limited cabinet space in the apartment, KK decided that we'd finish up an open box of gemelli instead of opening a new box of elbow macaroni (and only using half of it!).  I ended up adding more water, and cooking the pasta for 16 minutes - I think that's because gemelli takes longer to cook than elbow macaroni.  Watch the pasta as it cooks to make sure you don't over cook it.  Most importantly, stir frequently so you don't end up with pasta sticking to the pan!

Cheesy Chili Mac
Adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures 
Serves 2-4
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 pound ground turkey
2 cups water
16 oz tomato sauce
8 oz small pasta, such as gemelli or elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions
1. Set a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the oil.  Heat until shimmering.

2. Add the onion, chili powder, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the ground turkey and cook until it is no longer pink.

3. Stir the water and tomato sauce into the ground turkey mixture in the pan.  Add the pasta and stir to combine.  Cover the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.  Cook until the pasta is al dente, about 12-15 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking.  Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a vigorous simmer.  If the water evaporates and your pasta isn't cooked through enough, add another 1/2 cup water, stir, and cover the pan for another 2 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat under the pan and add 1 cup of the cheese.  Stir until cheese melts, then season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the top and cover the pan again.  Let stand for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts.   

Spaghetti in Garlic Gravy with Lemon Chicken & Tomatoes

It's apparently pasta week in Apt. 3D! In all fairness, we hit up the discount produce section on Saturday, and scored 2 pints of cherry tomatoes for $1 that we needed to use sooner rather than later.  KK went off his original menu plan to accommodate the spontaneous purchase.

This recipe calls for the chicken to be marinated.  If time permits, I recommend you marinate overnight to really get the herb flavors infused into the chicken, otherwise leave the chicken in the marinade for at least 20 minutes before cooking it.

The only major change I made to the original recipe relates to the tomatoes.  The Goddess of Scrumptiousness version of the recipe calls for the tomatoes to be added during the last step, but I don't like raw tomatoes unless they're in Caprese salad.  Strange, I know.  By adding the tomatoes in the beginning,  they were sauteed perfectly.

Spaghetti in Garlic Gravy with Lemon Chicken & Tomatoes

Adapted from Goddess of Scrumptiousness
Serves 4-6
Time: 35 minutes

Marinade Ingredients
1 pound chicken, sliced into 1 inch chunks
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Other Ingredients
1 lb spaghetti pasta
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, finely minced
2 cups whole cherry tomatoes
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups chicken broth
1/2 Tablespoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Marinade Directions
1. Add all the marinade ingredients into the chicken and marinate for at least 20 minutes, it it's best if you marinate overnight in the fridge.

Directions

1. Cook pasta al dente.

2. Meanwhile, saute the marinated chicken in extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat until cooked (about 4-5 minutes), then set aside.

3. After finishing the chicken, saute the butter over medium heat in the same pan.

4. Add garlic and tomatoes.  Stir frequently and saute until fragrant, about a minute.

5. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.

6. Add chicken broth and simmer gravy until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in basil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Add sauteed chicken, cooked spaghetti, and grated Parmesan into the gravy. Serve.

Crispy Gnocchi with Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Basil

It was a slow weekend for cooking, but I'm getting back on track today.  We had leftovers from last week on both Friday and Sunday nights.  On Saturday,  we went out for dinner and a joint Budnick birthday party in the LES (that's the Lower East Side for those of you not familiar with NYC :) ).  To satisfy my craving for Mexican food, KK found an Open Table reservation at Fonda on Saturday night.  Per the Yelp reviews (which KK has also started writing - more on that another day), we ordered their famous guacamole and margaritas to start.  I ordered the vegetarian enchiladas because they had eggplant in them, and KK ordered the Pollo Norteno.  Both were delicious.  Now it sounds like I'm the Yelp reviewer! Because of our plans after dinner, KK was quite disappointed that we weren't able to take the leftovers home.

I worked late this evening, but really wanted to cook dinner.  Luckily, KK's menu plan had me trying this quick dish from Iowa Girl Eats.  Gnocchi and corn - what's not to love!? Not surprisingly, we had zero leftovers!

Crispy Gnocchi with Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Basil
Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats
Serves 2
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
16 oz. packaged gnocchi
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 small zucchini, chopped
3/4 cups frozen corn
1 small onion, chopped
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 cup light cream
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add gnocchi then spread in one layer and saute undisturbed for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Toss then saute for 3-4 more minutes or until golden brown on all sides. Remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Heat butter in the same skillet then add zucchini, corn, and onion, and then season with salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes

3. Add chopped garlic and basil, and saute for 30 more seconds.

4. Remove skillet from heat then add light cream and Parmesan cheese, and stir to combine. Add gnocchi, toss to combine. Season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Cheesy Tomato Soup

Pinterest success.  It would be next to impossible to go wrong with anything described as "pizza you can slurp."  KK and I made a trip to Hoboken's Antique Bakery for some sourdough rolls.  Unfortunately, they only had tiny sourdough rolls and loafs, so we opted for white bread rolls instead.  The bread bowls were very easy to make - just be sure to leave enough extra bread on the edges so you don't have to worry about leaks when you inevitably refill your bowl! I tried toasting the bread bowls in the toaster oven, but quickly reverted to the standard oven's broiler because things started to get a bit smokey.  If you have a broiler, stick with it, just keep an eye on things to avoid burning.

Cheesy Tomato Soup
Adapted from Pepper.ph
Serves 2
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 large rolls for bread bowls
olive oil, for brushing
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 cup Italian cheese blend, shredded
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and sage to taste

Directions
1. Cut top part off each bread bowl and scoop out inside bread to make a bowl. Brush with olive oil and toast in your oven's broiler for 3 minutes. Cool and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in pot over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions for 2-3 minutes until cooked, but not browned.

3. Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and bouillon cube. Stir in sugar, season with salt and pepper.  Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes.  Add desired seasonings to taste.

4. Add in basil and mozzarella cheese, stir for 1 minute and turn off burner.

5. Scoop soup into bread bowl.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan and cheddar cheese.  Stir remaining cheese into the pot (you will be refilling your bread bowl!).

6. Broil bread bowls in the oven until cheese melts, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.