I was in the mood for baking today (plus, it was date night, so no recipes to share for dinner… Can we say, “All you can eat Sushi?!?!”)

Looking through the kitchen, I had the ingredients for nearly anything I could imagine baking, and my little mind decided it wanted chocolate chip cookies. But in muffin form. Because… Just because.

But? When I looked for recipes for Chocolate Chip Muffins or Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, well, they were all either needlessly complex or required a few ingredients I didn’t have. And I was too lazy to go to the store. Those 3 blocks? Too far. Just too much to ask, really. And the whole getting-dressed thing? Yeah, no. Not gonna happen.

So? What to do? Well, if you’re me, you just do what you always do – make up your own recipe. And so, I took the most common ingredients from the recipes I was looking at, decided on the various amounts of each that might yield the result I wanted, and voila!

Z’s “Famous” Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

(I add the “famous” because it seems like most great bakers have that in their recipe titles, and why not aspire to be great? Huh? Exactly.)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup flour

chocolate morsels to taste (1 cup-ish)

nuts to taste (I used almonds, to make them “fancy”)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together eggs, butter, and sugar until creamy. Add salt, vanilla, and baking soda and mix. Mix in the flour until even. Stir in the chocolate chips (and nuts, if you want). Spoon into lined muffin pan. (Should make 12 muffins). Bake for ~15 minutes.

YUM!

Let’s just say… Long week. Tired. And leave my lack of culinary gusto for the night at that.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this dish, and the husband scarfed up all the leftovers so I can’t even fudge it. Use your imagination… Or better yet, make it yourself and see how it looks!

Tonight was actually a cooking cheat night for me. Because? You see? The sauce? I made yesterday. Scroll down a bit… That sauce? On the zucchini? The red stuff? Yeah, that. THAT is my homemade sauce. Which I just re-used tonight. And the tortellini? Totally from a package. Some day, I hope to make my own. But that’s just not going to happen right now…

Anyways, the sauce. A quick, delicious, simple little thing. Here’s what I did (yes, this is a “off the top of Z’s head” recipe… I have a lot of these…)

Ingredients:

A dash of olive oil

1 large ripe tomato, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

“hearts” of 2 zucchini (basically, the seedy parts), diced

red pepper flakes

ground black pepper to taste

(and any other spices you might desire)

Instructions:

In a skillet, heat the oil and sautee the garlic for a minute. Add the tomato and zucchini, stirring occasionally to help reduce the tomato/juice the tomato/(insert appropriate cooking term here). When tomato has been warmed, add spices to mix and continue to cook for another few minutes, until everything is well blended. Put over pasta, or any other dish you desire, and enjoy! (Mine came out to be a delightfully spicy sauce!)

Last Saturday, I went to the local farmer’s market. And while picking up a number of items I needed for the recipes I had planned, I also picked up some zucchini. Because? They were calling my name. And I love me some zucchini.

The question, however, was what to do with them… But the next day (or… you know, the one after that. Or something) that question was answered, and by the most unexpected of sources.

You see, as I was reading the NYTimes, I came across this article – which was really a recipe.

And – *lightbulb!* – I knew what to do.

And let me tell you, it was exquisite. If you like zucchini (and really, even if you’re not sure you do) – I’d highly recommend this delicious, simple dinner.

Tonight, the husband had co-worker bonding while me? I had a clothing swap!!!

I’ve never been to one before, but can I just say? Wonderful.

Especially since I emerged from it with far fewer clothes (which was the point – I needed to trim down my closet a bit) but also? A fantastic pair of knee-high brown leather boots. Oh? And a red coat.

Yes.

Yes, I did!

So, in lieu of the cooking that I did not do, I will instead present to you a favorite recipe of mine…

Six-Minute Chocolate Cake (another Moosewood wonder!) – and it’s vegan!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons vinegar

*1 tsp chile powder – this is my addition, not part of the original recipe, but I find the spiciness goes very, very well with the chocolate!

for glaze: 1/2 lb bittersweet chocolate, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar (and chile)into the pan you are going to bake in (either an 8″ square or a 9″ round pan). Pour liquid ingredients – EXCEPT FOR THE VINEGAR – into baking pan and mix. When batter is smooth, add the vinegar and mix QUICKLY (should form pretty swirls when mixing). Bake for 25-30 minutes.

For glaze, melt the chocolate then stir in the hot water and vanilla. Spoon over the cooled cake and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

And then? Enjoy the pure chocolaty yumminess!

It is hard for me to imagine a time when I had not yet discovered the wonders of Indian cuisine, yet I know that for the first 18 years of my life, I had not yet tasted what is now one of my go-to comfort foods… It was not until I left the small town in which I grew up (cuisine choices: pizza, greasy chinese, and mexican) that I was truly able to explore my culinary options. (This does NOT say anything about my parents or family, who are all adventurous eaters who will try anything and everything – rather, about the limited options available in rural NH)

Living in NYC, I love having the option of picking up my phone and getting tasty Saag Paneer delivered to my door, or putting on pants and wandering outdoors to sit in a booth scarfing down Aloo Gobi. But? Since I like to cook, I also enjoy chopping up my vegetables and trying out various recipes to see if I can re-create the deliciousness myself. (In fact, I have a 5 pound cookbook titled, simply, “Indian”)

What I have found, however, is that try as I might – follow the recipes EXACTLY as I might (which is a real feat for me to manage) – I CANNOT truly re-create restaurant-style Indian dishes at home. Now, this might have to do with me using less butter (or ghee) than they do in their kitchens (a real possibility); it might also be the recipes I try. But, you see, Indian cooked by me? Is delicious, true, but all the vegetables are still… hmmm… distinct. They are chunks. They are yummy yummy chunks, but they are not molten smooth sauces that run into my rice and flavor everything so deliciously.

So? Today? When I was cooking “Indian” (in quotes because I wasn’t following a recipe, just throwing things together that I had in the kitchen)? I thought – “Hmmmm… Smooth? Sauce-y? Why don’t you stick it in the blender, you dolt?!?!” And so that’s what I did. I took half my creation and pureed it like a mad-woman, then re-combined with the remaining veggies for the perfectly textured meal, with plenty of vegetable chunks to sink my teeth into, and plenty of sauce to coat my rice and flavor up every bite!

I don’t have a recipe, per se, for this one – but my tips for re-creating Indian? Use butter. And turmeric. And, for me, I almost always use peas and cauliflower and potatos. And ginger. Add whatever you want to this mix, simmer for a long time, blend half, throw over rice – and while it is in no way authentic Indian, it sure is delicious!

Over the weekend, whenever possible, I like to make a few things to put into tupperware for easy lunches, snacks, etc during the week. “Whenever possible” usually means every other week, but this was that week!

First, I made a large batch of pesto:

Next, I made something that I absolutely adore and the husband doesn’t touch (so – perfect for me! The “leftovers” will remain around for MY consumption, as opposed to me craving something I think we have in the fridge, only to find he has eaten it all… Which has happened, oh, FREQUENTLY) : Cheesy Vegetable Soup

This picture? Does nothing to show you the amazingness of this soup. Especially because it just shows you piles of tupperware (with some leftover couscous in the front) which is really not how this BESTEST SOUP EVER! should be presented. But I forgot to take a picture while cooking… Whoops.

The original recipe is from one of my oldest cookbooks (Moosewood – such fabulous cookbooks!), though I have deviated many times from the recipe and it always comes out amazing. Which, to my mind, makes it a fantastic dish – good as it is, good as it is not, easy, and always yummy

Anyways, here is the original recipe, but I’ve made many different vegetable substitutions. The only things I leave alone? I always keep the onions, garlic, potatos, and cheese! From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onions

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium potatos, thinly sliced

1 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

pinch of turmeric

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup buttermilk or milk

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

salt to taste

Directions:

Saute the onions (and garlic – I always add garlic) in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in potatos, carrots, squash, pepper, and turmeric. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the milk and cheese. Puree in a blender or food processor (I like to leave some veggie chunks out, but mash the majority together…) Gently reheat. Add salt to taste. Enjoy!

Saturday, again. Pizza, again. YUMMY!, again

Today it was two very different pizzas – high-brow and low-brow, if you will. Or gourmet and, um, not gourmet? (I can’t come up with a good antonym, and google? Ain’t helping me much… or at all)

First, his pizza – the less-than-spectacularly-epicurean creation, that was nevertheless what he wanted and perfectly yummy:

Using my usual homemade wheat pizza dough, it was topped with tomato sauce from a can (like I said, less than gourmet), shredded cheddar from a package (ditto), and chicken. Yup.

MY pizza, however, is a thing of absolute beauty:

This would be the same crust, but topped with homemade spinach-basil pesto, fresh tomato slices, some garlic, and herbed goat cheese. Gourmet? I think so. Yummy? Most definately!

Mmmmmmm… Mango margaritas! Mmmmmmm… Nachos! Mmmmmmmm… being drunk before you make it home at 6pm due to those yummy margaritas on a less-than-full stomach

So – no cooking today. Instead, more Mexican yumminess to match the Margaritas!

Remember my risotto? And remember how I’d had one only days before? Though that restaurant risotto didn’t quite hit my need-for-cheese spot, it did do something very fabulous: topped the tomato-based risotto with asparagus and goat cheese. And that combination? OH MY YUM!

I decided tonight to try to duplicate that deliciousness at home, minus the risotto. And so, I made some spaghetti tossed with butter and a little lemon, which I topped with steamed asparagus and slightly-melty herbed goat cheese (the husband also got some chicken from the Foreman grill, which he pronounced “dry”).

And?

YUM.

The restaurant asparagus was better prepared, but even with my slightly-less-than-perfection steaming, this combination? Is a winner.