05 Kitchen Experiments

of Stelanie

audience of One

05 Kitchen Experiments

Our laboratory for ummmms :)

Check out what’s been cookin’ >>

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Breakfast

Every Sunday morn’, our neighbors and us gather for breakfast before heading to church, and we take turns with the responsibility of cooking

On an average week day, we typically just have cereal, oatmeal, or fruit

Lunch

There’s never really time for this, so we stock up on granola bars or I just eat at the cafeteria of the hospital where I work

Dinner

Usually made by Amy or Daveen, sometimes Melanie, almost never Stephanie

Occasionally our neighbor Jason will surprise us and cook for us

We really enjoy having different guests over for dinner and try to do so at least once a week, and once in a while between organic chem exams will throw huge dinner parties

Amy/Daveen: typically Chinese (Mandarin) fare, occasionally Korean, lots of fried rice

Stelanie: American food, random picks from our collection of cook books, and lots and lots of pasta

Jason: more on the gourmet scale than the rest of us

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Chocolate chip pancakes

Yogurt parfait and walnut bread

The Peter Hung Special: butter and jelly sandwiches

Notice I did not say ‘peanut’ butter….

Chocolate covered bacon: that’s exactly what it is, an inside joke with Julie Ott

Red ants on a log: a healthier version of the classic with dried cranberries instead of raisins, almond butter instead of peanut butter

Vegetable and pork Dumplings: it’s all homemade, from the wrapping to the filling

Gourmet mini turkey burgers: it actually does taste better than beef

Ox tail soup: Jason’s specialty

Eggplant Parmesan: another of Jason’s creations

Pumpkin puree: Alan brought over this half pumpkin one time and I literally pulled an all-nighter transforming it into puree to use in future recipes, what a waste of my life

Chocolate covered pretzels: pretzel sticks dipped into melted chocolate and rolled in a variety of toppings like almonds, chocolate flakes, toasted coconut, sprinkles, or drizzled with white chocolate

During finals week, Stephen, Robin, and us ran around CMU campus passing it out to friends busy studying

Halloween cupcakes

Kabobs: we grilled sausage, pineapples, and peppers on a stick

Waffle cones: yup, we made our own ice cream cones using a pizelle maker and a cone-shaped block of wood

Sweet chips: baked phyllo dough, sesame seeds, and light sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar

Pizza pies: personal pizzas made simply by putting toppings on top of pita bread and baking

Salad in Parmesan baskets: you simply heat up a pan on a stove top, sprinkle Parmesan cheese (other types don’t work) and let it melt and harden, then quickly drape over a small cup to form the bowl shape

Bacon-wrapped scallops

Pork chops with red wine sauce and grapes

Korean barbecued beef

Steak dinner: a combined effort by the neighbors, Jason with the juicy steak and Henry with the very buttery corn

Steph’s first (and pretty much only) successful independently-cooked meal: herb crusted chicken

Congratulations [finally]

Tofu burgers with teriyaki sauce – nutritious and delicious! On the plane ride back from winter break, we brought back 42 lbs of tofu from Chicago because the Pittsburgh grocery prices are ridiculous. And we’re ridiculous.

Grilled spiced tilapia with cashew yogurt sauce topped with a watercress salad: we made it for Albert’s fancy schmancy 22nd birthday dinner.

Ribe-eye steak infused with the spirit of Chilean red wine, purest of Australian olive oils and an aromatic blend of spices. Served with greens dashed with sea salt. Also for Albert’s birthday dinner. (The picture doesn’t do it justice)

Feta & spinach baskets nestled in phyllo baskets:the appetizer for Albert’s birthday dinner

We baked our own French bread loafs

A favorite snack of ours: our own dry snack mix of cereal, almond slivers, dried cranberries, pecans, etc.

An easy breakfast: a semi-hardboiled egg in just 43 seconds via microwave. Sounds sketchy, but it’s really good!

Beef & vegetable stew: via the ever handy slow cooker. You just pop all the ingredients in before you go to class, press ‘on,’ then when you get back, dinner’s all ready and the apartment’s not on fire

Jello oranges: you slice an orange in half, gut it, then fill it with orange jello and let it set. Slice and serve, and you might even fool some into thinking they’re really oranges

Char-broiled vegetables: you toss the sliced veggies with olive oil and hickory char powder (Trader Joe’s), stick them into the toaster over (our favorite kitchen appliance) to broil, and you’re good to go

Hickory Crusted Pork: we broiled these the same way we did with the vegetables above; the hickory char powder really seals in the juices and flavor well, and it takes less than ten minutes ! Take that, Rachel Ray

Cinnamon Broiled Oranges: again, the toaster oven is an amazing kitchen appliance. We made a healthy dessert by releasing the orange slices from their rind, then lightly dusting them with cinnamon and brown sugar, and let them broil. When broiled, the natural sugar in the oranges caramelizes

Ginger Crumble Cookies: we made these for the kiddos we visited in NYC, and because we have a new found love for everything ginger

Bruschetta: our homemade baguettes topped with beef tomato sauce, spinach, and parmesan

Heart-shaped Egg Tarts: they actually look better than they taste, but it was fun trying

Fettuccine with sun dried tomatoes and spinach: the most popular selling dish at the Sunset Deli. The sun dried tomatoes add a tangy sweetness to the yummy cold pasta dish

Fresh mozzarella tomato and spinach pizza: a different take on the typical college fare by substituting with fresh mozzarella

Iced Coffee with floating hearts

Magnolia’s Banana Pudding: this dessert is from a cafe in NYC that Amy loves; it tastes just like the filling of a banana cream pie

Magnolia’s Vanilla Cupcakes: another of Amy’s successful attempts at reproducing a treat from Magnolia’s; it’s not very sweet and they’re tiny, so unfortunately you feel less guilty eating a bunch of them

Pumpkin Bread: using the pumpkin puree Steph made (see story somewhere above)

White Chocolate Macademia Cookie: shaped like a duck and made for Robin Quek’s birthday

Stuffed Shells: jumbo pasta shells filled with ricotta cheese and spinach

Teriyaki Chicken on a bed of spinach

Heart-shaped Toast and Apples: on Valentine’s Day, we got to wake up to this nice surprise that Amy made : )

Loaves of Cardamom Bread: an unusual but surprisingly delightful use for this spice. One is topped with sliced almonds, the other with rock sugar.

Lettuce Wraps: a tasty concoction of ground turkey, broccoli slaw, and other goodness enveloped in large lettuce leaves.

Maple-glazed Yam Stars: are yams the same as sweet potatoes? Who knows. Either way, we LOVE yams/sweet potatoes. Here we simply just used a cookie cutter to form stars from slices of the potato, then gently brushed a sweet maple glaze on them before baking.

$Amy\'s birthday brownie cake$