Creamy Parmesan Spinach Orzo from Life as a Strawberry

Creamy Parmesan Spinach Orzo - made August 8, 2022 from Life as a Strawberry 

2 cups uncooked orzo pasta

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 green onions, chopped (I substituted a regular onion - my mistake)

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons flour

1 3/4 cups milk

2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1. Cook orzo in very salty water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add green onion and garlic. Saute, stirring, for about a minute until onions have softened and garlic is fragrant. Add salt and pepper, stirring to combine.
3. Add flour and stir to combine. Let cook for 30 seconds to cook out any raw flour tastee.
4. Add milk to the pot, a little at a time, whisking constantly to work out any lumps. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened and reached a low simmer, about 5-8 minutess.
5. Add chopped spinach to sauce and stir to combine. Add parmesan cheese. Stir until cheese has melted and sauce is smooth. Add cooked orzo to sauce and toss to coat. Turn off heat and serve immediately.

Another orzo recipe, similar to the last one I posted with spinach and parmesan cheese. You know when I do very similar recipes one after the other, that means I have the same ingredients to use up. This is like the Italian Sausage Orzo but also noticeably different since it doesn't have the sausage in it so it can easily fit in on a meatless day. It's made with whole milk instead of heavy cream so it's also a bit lighter.

I have to say though that it's also a bit more bland. I used a regular onion instead of green onions and erred further by not cooking the onion enough so they didn't soften enough and instead made the dish a little crunchy. I don't mind the flavor of onions but definitely don't like their texture unless they've been cooked and softened enough to blend with the pasta. Which they didn't here but that was user error on my part. This was okay but I think it would've been better with some mild or spicy Italian sausage to add more flavor. But hey, I did end up eating more spinach that I usually do.

Seriously Fudgy Homemade Brownies from Sally's Baking Addiction

Seriously Fudgy Homemade Brownies - made July 26, 2022 from Sally's Baking Addiction 

3/4 cup unsalted butter

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup (82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt butter and 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, whisking until completely melted and smooth.
3. Remove from heat and add granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla extract, whisking until completely combined.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour and salt. Add to melted chocolate mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined. Fold in remaining semisweet chocolate and chocolate chips if using.
5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the corner comes out clean but a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting and serving.

I think I need to remake these again and leave off the Nutella Crunch topping so I can give the "plain" brownies an honest rating. Because I love this topping so much, I'd probably eat it off cardboard.

Nevertheless, I *think* this was a good brownie. It might not have been as fudgy as it should have been but that was user error. Meaning I turned the oven off and meant to leave the brownies in there for another 2 minutes to make sure it wasn't too underbaked. 10 minutes and a few answered emails later, underbaked wasn't a problem. Yes, I forgot it in the oven. And also, yes, good thing the oven was already turned off. But still, these baked longer than I intended.

That didn't seem to have done it too much harm, according to the people I shared these with but I think they too loved the topping so they forgave any deficiencies in the base. So I'll log the recipe here for now with a reminder to myself to come back another time and bake just the brownie (and to bake them properly without forgetting them in the oven). Recipes from Sally's Baking Addiction are usually on the mark so I'm sure the original brownie would be just fine without the topping.

Crumbl Cookies review #29 - Walnut Fudge Brownie and Lemonade

Crumbl Cookies review #29 - Walnut Fudge Brownie and Lemonade

Still trying to catch up to the current week's Crumbl flavors. This was last week's so I'm getting there. The lineup for last week was (in the picture below: left to right, top to bottom) Fried Ice Cream, Lemonade, Cotton Candy, Old-Fashioned Doughnut, Milk Chocolate Chip and Walnut Fudge Brownie. 

I only meant to try one flavor this week. I was intrigued by the Fried Ice Cream, having never had it before. But it's a chilled cookie and while I always let them come to room temperature before I eat one, some of the online reviews said the topping got stale and was mostly cornflakes. Pass. I don't care for cotton candy and while I figured the doughnut one would be good, it bothers me (yes, I can be bothered by a cookie concept) that the middle is missing to mimic a real doughnut. The middle is the best part of a cookie! I wasn't interested in the Walnut Fudge brownie either as I don't like walnuts and I often find Crumbl's chocolate cookies to be too rich for me. So I was only going to get the Lemonade last week.

Walnut Fudge Brownie

But yes, you'll notice the pictures of the Walnut Fudge Brownie. No I didn't weaken and change my mind. I was out doing errands and there just happened to be a Crumbl nearby that I hadn't tried before. So of course I went to try it. I ordered the Lemonade and when they gave it to me, to my surprise, the Crumbl guy gave me two additional boxes of the Walnut Fudge brownie cookie. Two.

I suspect these were extras they had too much of but I'm not one to look at gift cookies askance so I thanked him, told him "that's so nice of you" and was really glad I always tip when I buy a cookie as I had just gotten 3 cookies for the price of one. And it turns out I did like this cookie. I still don't care for walnuts but the cookie itself was just like a (delicious) brownie, rather than the sometimes too-rich Crumbl chocolate cookie. This store also had the perfect amount of glaze, not too much or too thick. I ate half a cookie and put the other 1 1/2 cookies in the freezer to enjoy later. 

Lemonade

I was full from the unexpected half cookie brownie so I had to wait to try the Lemonade. Which worked out since it was initially chilled and I had to let it come to room temperature.

I loved this cookie. It was the perfect, slightly underbaked texture of a Crumbl sugar cookie although not quite as sweet. The lemonade frosting was nicely tart. There was a little too much frosting for me but not the usual layer of a thickly frosted Crumbl cookie. The frosting complemented the cookie perfectly.

The texture of the cookie base was so good I debated going back the next day to get another Lemonade to freeze for later. I resisted the temptation since I still had 1 1/2 Walnut Brownie cookies in the freezer already (plus a few other random piece of past cookies) but yes, I did think about it. This definitely goes on my list to get again. I also have to keep this particular Crumbl location in mind for a repeat visit, not in the hopes of getting free cookies again (although that wouldn't hurt my feelings) but because they baked both cookies just right.

Crumbl Cookies review #28 - Banana Bread cookie

Crumbl Cookies review #28: Banana Bread cookie, visited August 5, 2022

Someday I'm going to get caught up enough to publish my reviews of Crumbl cookies the same week the flavor(s) I've tried are actually available. Today is not that day. Tomorrow's not looking good either. 

This was from a couple of weeks ago. It was also a week that I could have either skipped entirely or found it was easy to go with just one flavor. I had already had the chocolate caramel before, I don't like mint and chocolate together, I'd rather eat strawberries in their original form than in a cookie and I don't care for peanut butter so it was easy to pass up the monster cookie. Which only left me with one viable flavor. And as you can tell, I didn't skip the week and the only flavor that tempted me was the banana bread cookie. 

This was the display cookie - banana bread

Turns out, I should've skipped this week after all. Not that the banana bread cookie was bad because it wasn't. But it was fully baked which means, while it wasn't exactly dry, it also wasn't moist and didn't have the soft, underbaked texture I prefer in my Crumbl cookies. 

The middle part of the cookie came closest to it but overall, the flavor wasn't anything special and it appears that I don't like bready cookies. Glad I tried it, glad the icing was light, wouldn't get again.

Italian Sausage Orzo from Salt and Lavender

Italian Sausage Orzo - made August 5, 2022 from Salt and Lavender

17.6 ounces Italian sausages, removed from casings

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flavor

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

2 cups fresh baby spinach, packed

salt and pepper to taste.

1. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, crumble sausage and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
2. Add onion and cook another 5 minutes until sausage is browned and onions are soft.
3. Stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes and orzo, stirring for 30 seconds.
4. Stir in the chicken broth and cream. Once it starts to bubble, continue cooking for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring constantly. Lower the heat so the mixture gently bubbles, not boils. 
5. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the parmesan and spinach and cover the pot for 3-5 minutes or until sauce has thickened and spinach is soft. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

I love simple, one-dish meals. Even better if I can sneak in something a little healthy and eat it without choking. Of course I refer to the spinach above. I don't love spinach but I can usually eat it raw (with other stuff) or cooked (with other stuff). It's one of the few vegetables I'll eat cooked as I prefer the few veggies I do eat to be raw. But cook down some spinach in a quiche or a cream-based dish, I'm good. Yes, I know that takes away from the nutritious value of spinach but oh well.

I don't usually cook with orzo but this seemed so easy to make (and it was), that I wanted to try it.

This is a great dish if you want something easy and quick to make. The Italian sausage adds some spice and protein to the dish and okay, fine, the heavy cream and parmesan cheese don't make it that healthy but hey, spinach.

Turns out I like orzo because it seems like a good cross between rice and pasta. Plus it's easy to cook with. And even the spinach goes down easy in this dish.

Alice Medrich's Blondies with Toffee Bits

Alice Medrich's Blondies - made July 31, 2022 from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt in Your Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich  

1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (6.125 ounces) packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon dark rum or bourbon, optional

2/3 cup (2.33 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts, optional

1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or 1/2 cup toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the brown sugar. Use a wooden spoon to beat in the egg, vanilla and rum, if using. Stir in the flour mixture followed by half the walnuts, if using. Spread the batter in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts and the toffee bits evenly over the top.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the nuts look toasted, the top is golden brown and the edges have pulled way from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan on a rack before cutting and serving.

Every once in awhile, I remind myself I have a ton of baking books I should be using. I literally have full bookshelves of them. And that's after I culled a lot of them out and donated them to my local libraries prior to my last two moves. So I should make more of an effort to use them since I've only tried a fraction of the recipes from those books. That reminder usually comes when I catch myself looking at new ones and almost buying them. Before the mental slap of "use what you already have" comes around.

So with this recipe, I did. I've had good luck with recipes from Alice Medrich's Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy baking book and this was no exception. Her original recipe calls for adding nuts and chocolate chips into these blondies. I don't like nuts inside most baked goods and I don't really see the point of adding chocolate into blondies. If I wanted chocolate in a bar cookie, I'd make brownies.

Instead, I added toffee bits for a little extra flavor and a bit of a crunch that delivers better than nuts would inside baked goods (nuts steam and soften in baking, hence losing most of their crunch). These blondies were really, really good. I only had a sliver as I was packing them up for Soldiers Angels care packages and the recipe only makes an 8-inch pan's worth of blondies. But I had enough to love the flavor. Surprisingly, I think it was due to the rum. I don't drink but I have rum on hand for baking and it worked really well in this recipe. It cuts the sweetness and adds a flavor you may not guess unless you know it's rum. My non-alcoholic palate wouldn't have known but I thought it was perfect in this blondie.

Crumbl Cookies review #27: Coconut Rainbow Cake, Macadmia Nut and Sugar Shark

Crumbl Cookies review #27: Coconut Rainbow Cake, Macadamia Nut and Sugar Shark

This was a week of flavors where I was only going to get one single cookie or a 4-pack. That was the plan anyway. I failed in that plan as I ended up getting three cookies instead. Economically, it's cheaper per cookie to get 4 cookies. The 4th cookie I had planned to get was the pineapple upside down cake cookie but I'd read too many mixed reviews online about it being dry, mushy, soggy, dry again, no flavor, great flavor, etc. Normally I like to make up my own mind but since I've discovered my local Crumbls don't have that much turnover in their cookies and I always seem to get cookies that have been in the warmer too long, I was afraid I'd get one of the ones that are dry. No thanks.

So I went with my original plan to just get the Coconut Rainbow Cake. The nod to the rainbow was the scrap of rainbow sour licorice (?) garnish. I tried the garnish and didn't like it. They could've just called this a Frosted Coconut Cookie and that would have been fine with me.

I thought this cookie was excellent but then again, I love all things coconut. The outer edge were a bit crisp (that too long in the warmer thing again) but the middle of the cookie had a great, soft texture. I also liked the flavor. For me, it wasn't an overwhelming coconut but more like a sugar cookie with coconut flakes. There was still too much frosting for me so I scraped most of it off and enjoyed the cookie. This was from my first Crumbl visit of the week.

Later the same week, I was taking my mom out to do her grocery shopping and we ended up at an Asian grocery store that had a different Crumbl nearby that I hadn't gone to before. Wanting to test my too-long-in-the-warmer theory that unfortunately holds up too often in the other Crumbls I've gone to closer to my house, I thought I'd try this new one and see what they were like. They're a little too far to go just for cookies (12 miles vs 2.5 miles to my closest one) but since I was already there in the same parking lot for another reason, might as well check it out, right?

I'm glad I did as their cookies were the perfect level of underbaked that had lured me to Crumbl in the first place. Not too mushy but soft and chewy/cakey/just right. 

The macadamia nut was perfectly made, good brown sugar flavor, generous amount of white chocolate and macadamia nuts. I can make my own macadamia nut white chocolate cookies that are also pretty good (my favorite recipe here) but I always like trying Crumbl's version, at least once. I don't need to get this one again but I'm glad I tried it from a good location.

The Sugar Shark is basically their vanilla sugar with blue frosting and gummy sharks on top. I knew that going in but I love their vanilla sugar and like to get it when it's available. Plus I was still in test-my-theory-about-the-warmer mode and this seemed like a safe one to get.

It was a good decision as this too was perfectly made and just as good as the vanilla sugar I got from the Sparks, NV Crumbl store back before I moved. I didn't care for the gummy sharks and threw them out (not worth the chewing effort or the calories) but I loved every crumb of the cookie. I even ate most of the frosting since they didn't spread it too thick.

Now I know, next time Crumbl has a good lineup of flavors, I'll have to gather up all the errands I need to do in that neighborhood and drive the extra distance to the Henderson, NV Crumbl.