CoSkay.com

So it’s Friday night.  I’m tired.  I also recently decided to take my second ever snowboarding lesson the following day (aka second ever day of falling on my ass on a mountain multiple times in a row).  I also have a potluck dinner on Saturday evening.

So I’m spending Friday night in the kitchen (I did also manage to complete my system dynamics homework somehow) and I’m making Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting.  Next thing I know; it’s 10 pm, my apartment smells delicious and I have eaten caramel sauce for dinner (read = not a good idea, maybe my mom was right about that balanced meal thing).

Aside from a minor stomachache, this cake was a great learning experience for me.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have a dark secret.

It usually involves cooking.

And dancing.

And the Mamma Mia Soundtrack.

Read the rest of this entry »

Some people grew up watching sitcoms with their families.  I grew up watching cooking shows on public television.  Long before Rachael, Giada, Emeril and Paula had taken over our homes with the Food Network, there were the Jacques; Pepin and Torres (of course Julia was prior to them, but I wasn’t alive when her first show was on tv)  I would watch with my family in awe at they created masterpieces (a chocolate oven..really?!).

Another show that has garnered great praise in my family is America’s Test Kitchen.  It is fantastic.  (I also highly recommend their cookbook).  For those unfamiliar with ATK, they do more than just cook.  They test and they explain.  For example, in the following recipe, the butter is melted.  They explained this created a chewier cookie than creaming the butter and then showed the crispy creamed butter cookie.  The cook books also provide information such as the preferred brand of peanut butter to use in cookies.  It removes a lot of the guesswork and adds some science.  I love it.  I’m such a nerd.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have to say, I’ve been pretty lucky this summer.

1. I’m in California; which right there would be enough for an awesome summer, but there is more awesomeness, so keep reading
2. My summer internship was pretty cool (I’m working at VMware on Mobile Virtualization)
3. Unlike NY and Boston, I haven’t seen rain more than once in weeks and I think I might have blocked out forgotten what humidity is like
4. My house is huge and has a kick-ass kitchen
5. I live with 4 really nice med-students, some of whom have a bottomless stomach

That last point is key.  I’m able to bake up a storm knowing whatever is produced will be gone in less than four days.  Unlike living by myself where I can’t blame anyone else for eating the last cookie (or the entire batch), now I can just say it was one of the roommates. Living in denial is fantastic.

So as a final course to the dinner I made last week, I chose peach cobbler.  An obvious decision given peaches are in season right now and EVERYWHERE.

Now normally, cobblers and other peach related desserts are made with yellow peaches.  They are sweeter and have that traditional peachy goodness.  I decided to make this cobbler with a mix of yellow and white.  I enjoyed it because each bite produced a slightly different flavor.

Although I will be honest, it received mixed reviews.  Some people liked the less sweet peach mix and others wanted more of the familiar peach flavor.  Regardless of which peaches you chose, the crust part is delicious.  I preferred my cobbler warm served with vanilla ice cream.

Peach Cobbler

Adapted from Martha Stewart

• 15 ripe peaches, sliced (about 2.5 quarts)
• Scant 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup cold heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 375°.  Mix peaches, cornstarch, dark-brown sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Pour mixture into an 8.5 x 11.5 inch baking dish
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using whatever means you like (I used my hands) mix in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal
3. Whisk together egg and cream and to dry ingredients; mixing until dough just comes together.  Ok, here Martha says to roll into a log and make disks.  Instead, I tore bits and pieces and scatter them to cover the pan.  I liked the nooks an crannies it produced, as you can see in the pictures above.
4. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar.  Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.

So if you couldn’t tell by now, I love strawberries.  A whole lot.  They’re one of my favorite fruits and I try to eat them as often as possible during the summer when ripe.

Well a couple of weeks ago my roommates and I went to Costco and I picked up a giant crate of strawberries.  Since it was Costco, there were enough strawberries to feed a small army (or in my case a house full of people).  I did manage to stash a couple of them away in the freezer for future use luckily.  Unfreezing berries for cooking always yields mushy results, which are fantastic for baking.  When I initially froze the strawberries I had no future plans and thought I would hold on to them until I found something delicious to make.  Well luckily, that something found me.  While in Whole Foods last week I decided to buy a magazine but unfortunately they were out of Us Weekly, so I picked up Whole Living instead (I’m joking…Whole Foods doesn’t even sell Us Weekly).

Anyway, I found this recipe for Strawberry Muffins and

I just knew they had to be made.

I think they’ve gone over well with the aforementioned army known as my roommates.  More than have of them were gone in less than 24 hours and the remainder within 48.

I like this recipe for a couple of reasons.  The first being, I modified it a bunch and the muffins were still delicious.  Secondly, it does not produce an overly sweet muffin.  The cake part is wholesome and the strawberries are the sweet parts of the muffin.  As a result, these are good for breakfast on the run.

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Whole Living

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar, lightly mash the berries and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined and divide among 12 muffins.
4. Bake about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.