Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

I'm willing to bet you know about the 3-ingredient recipe for peanut butter cookies, right?

You know, a cup of sugar, a cup of peanut butter, and an egg?  I've used the recipe a dozen times, and it always comes out the same: really peanut-buttery and a crumbly-yet-not-falling-apart texture.  Everyone in my house loves them.

And since I've also been dying to use those melting chips to dip something in, I thought:

"DUDE I COULD TOTALLY MAKE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS FOR REALZ YO!"

...only Hetalia fans will appreciate the joke.

Anyway--

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

My only complaint with these is the amount of icing: I think it overpowered the chocolate, so don't be afraid to toy with the recipe depending on your preference in the peanut butter to chocolate to icing ratio.

Ingredients:

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips (you can melt more if you need to)

1/2 container of icing (any kind)

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Combine peanut butter, egg, and sugar.  Dollop spoonfuls of the dough into a lubricated muffin tin (I used butter), until the cups are halfway full.

3.) Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

4.) Pop the cookies... cupcakes?  Cookie-cakes out and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

5.) Meanwhile, pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat until melted.  I cooked them for a minute at a time, stirring in between until the mixture became smooth.

6.) Dip the tops of cookie-cakes into the melted chocolate.  Let sit and cool until the chocolate hardens.

7.) Optional: using a wide tip, frost the cookie-cakes.  I started in the center and frosted in a circular motion to make a pinwheel shape, but you can go gung-ho at it however you want.

These were really easy to make and everybody loved them, aside from the excess of icing.  You can adjust your amount if you need to, or nix it altogether.  Next time I make them, it will be without the icing, most likely.

It's a pretty much fail-proof dessert that appeals to peanut butter AND chocolate lovers, and are pretty hard to mess up, both in terms of appearance and taste!

ECHO out.

Open-Faced Breaded Parmesan Sandwich

Some adjustments will be made in regards to my post frequency:

First and foremost, I know I tell you guys a lot that I'll be posting something later in the day or the next day, and then I don't.

My problem is that I do cook, but then have so many other things to do that I forget or am unable to post because it's so late.  I'm really sorry about that.  School and other delinquent teenage stuff, ya know?

So instead of trying to post every day, I'm going to cook stuff all week and post it on the weekends, when I'm not quite as busy.  Everything will still have its own post (for easier browsing), but I'll get everything uploaded at once.

So check back every weekend for great new stuff!  I cook often throughout the week, and take pictures of just about all of it, so there should always be something new :)

NOW ONTO SOME SERIOUS BUSINESS.

I've decided that, since I'm preparing to join the world of professional culinary art, it's time to step my game up.  I'm gonna start delving into some important cooking skills, like knowing the base for something and knowing how to change it and make it my own (like in the recipe you're about to see), as well as about a million other things that I'm too lazy to name off.

So I'll be challenging myself every week to focus on building one culinary skill in particular when I cook.  Starting this week, I'm working on the aesthetics of my food--namely, making it look a little prettier.

But every week, the floor is open for you guys to challenge me!  If I don't get a challenge from the readers, I'll just pick it myself.  

Moving on!

Since I'm focusing on appearance, I thought I would kick it off with something I haven't posted yet, and something that I actually rarely make: an open faced sandwich!

These puppies are so easy to play around with and customize to make your very own, and leaves a lot of room to garnish and touch up to make it look just as appetizing as they are.  Not only that, but they're actually not too bad for you!

This recipe in particular was made for only one serving (I was just cooking for myself), so just double it, triple it, or quadruple it however much you need to accommodate more people.

Open Faced Breaded Parmesan Sandwich

Ingredients:

1/16 lb. Ground turkey (I just took a sliver off of the end of a log)
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plain panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup sliced peppers and onions (mine came from a frozen mix, but you can cut them fresh if you'd like)
1 thick slice Texas Toast, garlic
1-2 tbsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Salt
Black pepper
Chopped scallions (optional)

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

2.) In a medium sized bowl, combine ground turkey, minced garlic, about 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and a little bit of the egg (the white works better).  *Pour the rest of the egg into a separate bowl and beat it, you'll use it in a minute* Mix well.

3.) Press the ground turkey into a patty, roughly the size of the slice of Texas Toast.  Set aside.

4.) In another bowl, mix together the panko and Parmesan cheese.

5.) Carefully dip the patty into the bowl of egg, laying it flat on one side.  Turn it over and lay the other side down, so that the entire patty is coated in egg.

6.) Quickly transfer the patty into the bowl of Parmesan and panko, coat both sides well.  If you have extra breading, set it aside and feel free to throw some on while the patty cooks!

7.) Lay the patty into a skillet (I pre-seasoned mine with Italian seasoning) and cook on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.

8.) While the patty is cooking, throw your sliced peppers and onions into a small pot over medium heat and let them simmer.  I added salt, pepper, and some juice from my jar of minced garlic to keep them moist and give them flavor.

9.) When both the turkey and peppers/onions are close to being done, pop the Texas Toast into the oven and let it cook for about 6 minutes, or golden brown on the edges.

10.) When all of it is done, lay the patty onto the Texas Toast, and top it off with onions, peppers, and scallions (if you wish).  Enjoy while it's hot!

I love the breading trick I used--my mom taught it to me when I was pretty young, and the method was originally for breading chicken strips.  I'm not sure why it dawned on me to use the method while I was cooking today, but my sandwich came out great and I'm not complaining!

Plus, the un-healthiest thing about it is probably the Texas Toast.  Other than that, it's a delicious and surprisingly healthy lunch dish.  I reckon it wouldn't be half bad with a bed of homemade fries, either.

I'll have to post my recipe for fries sometime, now that I think of it.

Anyway, I'll be posting more for the appearance challenge next weekend.  In the meantime, you can check out the Asian stir fry and peanut butter cups I made this week!

ECHO out.

Quick Update and Why I Hate Stick Shifts

This won't be a long post; I just wanted to touch base with you guys.

1.) I'll be posting a dessert recipe tonight!  

I've had a hankering to make something awesome with all the icing, cake mix, melting chocolate, fruit, and various other goodies in my pantry.  

BUT.

I'm going to take on the challenge of making a healthier alternative to a great dessert, in honor of national eat-without-feeling-guilty day.  (As declared by me)

So expect to hear from me later on tonight!  Feel free to comment suggestions for what I make!

2.) ALSO, I'm working on expanding my audience.

One of the things I plan on doing is making some short Youtube videos talking about food and the various trials and tribulations that go along with making it.  Nothing too long, maybe 5-6 minutes a pop.  I'm also considering creating a Twitter account and a Facebook page (I hate Twitter, but I really REALLY want #FeedYourInnerSpartan to be a thing), just to get The Spartan's Kitchen on the map.

In other news, I found out that I suck at stick shifting!

As an incredibly generous gift from one of my great-uncles, I've gotten my very first car!!  Just a little '95 Volkswagen Passat.  It's got a few minor kinks, but it runs really well and I already love the thing.

Except the fact that she has a manual transmission.  I'm not too great at it.

SO, until I get back on later tonight, feel free to pass the time by letting me know your opinion in the comments:

1.) What kind of delicious dessert should I tackle making healthier tonight?

2.) How do you feel about trends in the social media, like hashtags?

3.) What's your preference in vehicles?  What brand/model?  Automatic or manual?

DON'T FORGET TO #FEEDYOURINNERSPARTAN

ECHO out. 

Date Night with Myself

So everyone had gone fishing for the day, and I had opted to hang out at the house by myself.

What better to do than cook a supremely fancy meal?

I had gotten all my other stuff done, and as I was readying to satisfy the rumblies in my tummy, a thought dawned on me: I should make something fancy!!!

I began sifting through the Interwebs for something good based on some of the stuff in my kitchen--things like zucchini, beef, corn, tomatoes, and some of the best darn Dunkin' Donuts Glazed Chocolate Doughnut flavored coffee you've ever tasted.

My curiosity piqued when I stumbled upon something called Piroshki.  Turns out it was a sort of Russian dish consisting of dough pockets filled with various meats and vegetables.

Much like a Hot Pocket, but without a side order of Pepto!

I set to work on a recipe I found on Allrecipes, attempting to follow it as closely as possible.

I mean, I'm all for making something my own way IF I know the in's and out's of what I'm making.  Say, pasta, for example.  But I'd never even heard of Piroshki.

Granted, I had to work with what I had, since the recipe called for a few different vegetables and such, but they weren't detrimental to the outcome of the dish.

At least, I hadn't thought so.

I was having an absolute BALL that night.  I don't mind sharing the kitchen, and I can't really afford not to going into my field of career choice, but there's just something so enjoyable about having free reign of the kitchen all.  To.  Yourself.  You can make whatever you want, however you want, and reap the rewards and/or consequences all for your own. You can go at your own pace.  And as soon as you sit your dish down on the table, everyone immediately knows: "Oh yeah.  Name here cooked this."

Plus, nobody can complain about your choice of music while you work.  I found myself on a binge of hilarious video game music video parodies by Hiimrawn on Youtube.  Fellow gamers, if you haven't heard of him, I'd fix that.  Dude's a genius.  Start with the Zelda Rap.

ANYWAY, I thought the cooking was coming along pretty well.  I had my ground beef and vegetables all wrapped up in dough pockets and baking, my zucchinis were halved, hollowed, and stuffed with MORE vegetables, and I even found a simple sponge cake recipe that utilized coffee.

SCORE!

Finally, while everything was finishing up baking or staying warm in the microwave, I ran and dolled myself up.

Personally, I don't think I clean up too badly!

I had already set up the table, and everything was ready to be served.

Yes, sir, I was ready to dine on some Class-A, 5 star International cuisine.

It.  Was.  Terrible.

First of all, the Piroshki pockets were hard and crunchy, almost to the point of being painful to eat.  The meat and veggies inside were ridiculously bland.  As it turns out, I hate zucchini in all forms, even when stuffed.  My sponge cake ended up hardening on the outside and staying raw on the inside, but it actually tasted pretty good.

So, in the end, I just nommed on chunks of sponge cake brittle and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender on the laptop.  Not a bad way to end date night.

This was definitely a learning experience, and the more I look back on it, the more things I realize didn't go over well. 

I didn't season the meat well, and my pairings of vegetables were just poor choices.  

I should have heeded the warnings about the dough on the website, since it had no yeast and no rest time.  Evidently, Piroshki are supposed to be more of a bread pocket than a tortilla/pizza roll pocket.

Not only that, but it could definitely have used some cheese.  

The stuffed zucchini should have been nixed altogether and replaced with something better, like a rice-stuffed tomato.

And I don't know WHAT happened with my sponge cake, I'm guessing it had to do with the heat and the temperature I baked it at.  Or the egg.  I scold myself for it, but I cut the recipe down for about 1 person, which called for an egg yolk AND an egg white, and I only used the yolk.  I now realize that it doesn't work like that.

But the flavor was phenominal!

All in all, I had a lot of fun and learned a good deal about cooking from this.  And I definitely won't refrain from trying something like this again, knowing what I know now.

My question for you is: what would YOU have done differently for Date Night Alone?  Tell me in the comments!!

ECHO out.

103 VIEWS?!?!

My literal reaction.

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think I'd breach over 100 views, at least not that fast.

I can't even begin to tell you guys what this means to me.  The fact that people actually consistently listen to what I have to say really touches me.

And I just wanted to say 'thank you' somehow.

What I'd like to do is get to know my readers a little better.  I don't know how many of you there are (I have a feeling that many of my views are from the same people over and over), but I would love to hear what YOU wonderful people have to say for a change.

So here's my request.

Tell me a little bit about yourself in the comments.

You DON'T have to include your name, or any other information you don't want to share.  

But I'd love to hear about why YOU love food; what your cooking style/experiences are like, what you want to see from me, your aspirations, and what keeps you coming back to The Spartan's Kitchen.

All of you guys out there who take time out of their day to read my little blog, you humble me with your attention.  I love you all.

ECHO out.

Creamy Italian Chicken and Rice

So my mom pulled out a package of chicken breasts, plopped it on the counter, and said, "There you go, Han."

We didn't have a lot of stuff in the kitchen to go with chicken, so I hit one of my FAVORITE websites: supercook.com!!!

If you've never used Supercook, it goes like this: you type in what you have in your kitchen, and it pulls up all kinds of recipes based on what you have.

This is chef's best friend.  If you're a chef and this isn't your best friend, FIX THAT.

Anyway, I ended up finding an awesome recipe from Kraft.com that I had to adjust a bit since I didn't have instant rice, only regular white rice.  Other than than, I followed it really closely and it came out with a creamy, tangy flavor that everyone at the dinner table loved.  

Personally, I don't see any reason to post the whole recipe, since it's not my own and I didn't really tweak it to make it my own (Hannah: 1, Copyright Infringement: 0).  You can just follow the recipe from the link, except with the rice, get it in a pot and cooking before anything else.  Let it cook in its own pot, and do the chicken/vegetables separately.  Then, if you'd like, combine it all before serving.

I also added some of the broth to the chicken and the rice, which I think added a nice balance of flavor through everything.  And since I was short of some of the vegetables, I used green peppers and broccoli.

Bene, no?

Hannah: 0, Italian Language: 1

I think in the near future, I'll try to sway a little farther out of my comfort zone and try some new things.

I have noticed that I have a tendency to make variations of the same dishes, which is only due to the fact that we have a somewhat limited food budget and I often worry about using up every ingredient in the house on something that comes out badly.

But, as a budding chef, I would very much like to expand my horizons, as well as put together some of my own 100% unique recipes.  Plus, who doesn't like experimentation?

Hannah: 0, Awkward Word Choice: 1

So be on the lookout for some interesting dishes soon, as well as a reflection on Date Night with Myself.  Can't wait to tell you guys about it!!

ECHO out.

Toasty Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Don't you just love waking up to the enticing aroma of warm maple syrup and sizzling sausages as your parents prepare a delightfully hearty breakfast?

...Yeah, that never happens to me either.

I've found that one of the simplest yet most enjoyable breakfast concoctions ever to be introduced to man is, in fact, the breakfast sandwich.  I mean, come on: fluffy egg?  Crispy bacon, sausage, and ham?  Creamy cheese all atop a piping hot pancake, waffle, or English muffin?

I imagine the heavens just opened up one day and out came a hot breakfast 'wich, descending gracefully from golden clouds.

BUT ENOUGH OF MY ENDLESS BABBLE.

Since everyone was hungry one morning and I was in the mood to cook, I thought up a simple twist on one of my mom's favorites: the tomato and cheese sandwich.

Toasty Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/8 block cheddar cheese, cubed

1/2 small tomato, sliced thickly

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

1 slice American cheese (white is better)

1 tablespoon flour or dry pancake batter

2 slices wheat toast

A little butter (for lubricating the pan)

Instructions:

1.) In a small bowl, beat the eggs until completely broken up and combined.  Garnish generously with seasonings, and gradually beat in flour until well mixed.

2.) Mix in the chunks of cheddar cheese.  +1 for awkward alliteration.

3.) Over a medium heat, pour the egg mixture into a light buttered pan.  Stir/flip frequently.

PROTIP: one of my favorite ways to lubricate anything when I cook is to use a stick of butter much like a glue stick.  Just peel a little of the wrapping off and go at it.  Then, when you're finished, make sure there's nothing on the stick and cover it back up.  Simple, easy, efficient.  Works on warm toast, too!  Just scrape the crumbs off, afterward.

4.) When the eggs are done, set them aside (preferably somewhere like the microwave, to keep the heat).

5.) Lay a slice of cheese onto a piece of toast.  Top with a bed of fluffy eggs and tomatoes, and enjoy!

I whipped up, like, four of these within fifteen minutes.  Very easy to make as well as adjust for more or less.  Plus, I'm willing to bet it wouldn't be half bad with some meat or hash browns.

But that's just me.

Well, I'm off to work on my college application essay!!  I'll post some time after I finish working.  Or procrastinating.

Whatever comes first.

ECHO out.

Long Awaited Return... With Lots of Goodies!

Ahem.  *Clears throat, shuffles through a stack of scrambled note cards.*

So I know I've been away for quite a while.  I deliver my sincerest apologies directly through your screen.

Feel that?  That's me cuddling you tenderly in spirit.

Long story short, school happened and I was simultaneously pelted with various projects, events, and a lot of apples.

And I was being literal about the apples.

Anyway, on an exciting note: I'll be updating my blog a lot more frequently now, and have a lot more to say.

Because I found out that The Spartan's Kitchen might score me a scholarship for the Art Institutes of America!!!!

Yes, sir, I recently sent in my First.  Ever.  College application the other day, and the positively lovely admissions counselor that guided me and my mom through the whole process mentioned that a food blog might count toward a project-based scholarship!!!  

As if my love of food and my dearest viewers weren't enough of a drive to keep this ole blog alive and kickin'!

So in celebration of this, I've got a handful of things to post for you guys, tonight.  Like, right now.  Right this second.  All of it.  No more, 'it can wait 'till tomorrow, sleep is important' nonsense.  This blog is now my source of oxygen.

So what's in store?  Well, let's see...

Creamy Italian Chicken and Rice

Toasty Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Mexican Stir-Fry Tacos with Fried Potatoes and Rice

And a short recap of 'Date Night with Myself', including my failed attempt at a Russian meal.

SO LET'S GET CRACKIN'.

ECHO out.  Sort of.

Fancy, Flavorful Sugar Cookies

Aaaaaand we're BACK!

So I now have even MORE stuff to show you, thanks to an adorable young duo of helpers showing up at my house yesterday!

So I started out giving them a drawing lesson that didn't go over so well, and when the idea of collaborative cooking came up, well...

You know how these things go.

We decided to make cookies--using this sugar cookie recipe as a base, we divvied up the dough into thirds, 

And everyone was left to develop their own flavor of cookie.

We also ended up making a glaze for the cookies, in place of frosting, which actually didn't turn out too bad!

THE RESULTS:

Taylor's concoction: Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cookies (with a touch of cocoa)

What she used: cinnamon, pumpkin spice, allspice, ground coffee, cocoa powder, ginger

Tasted like a delightful spice cake!

Lizzie's concoction: Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies

What she used: Cocoa powder (lots of it), cinnamon, brown sugar, pumpkin spice

Had a really nice, moist-in-the-center texture, and just so darn chocolate-pumpkiney...

My concotion: Lemon-Lime Cookies

What I used: Lemon juice, lime juice, food coloring for a pretty garnish

Came out more like a cupcake (probably because I added more liquid), but had a unique citrus-y flavor.

Overall, we got some good ratings from our professional taste testers.

(Our parents)

But I think the girls learned a lot about putting flavors together, things that compliment each other, and things that don't.  We had the laptop on the counter for anyone who wanted to look anything up, and I was hit with a lot of "Would this taste good with..." and "Should I add..."s, and I know they had a lot of fun doing it.

I had a blast myself.

Don't go anywhere: I've got a breakfast sandwich and a tasty Italian chicken dish for you next!!!

ECHO out.