Author Archives: athaidek

Mar16

From-scratch Baked Falafel Salad with Honey Tahini dressing

Posted on March 16, 2015 by athaidek

It’s sppprrriinnngggtiimmmeee peoples!! How do you all feel about having a birthday party for spring? As many of you may know, I have a die-hard obsession with Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers movies (the Parent Trap featuring Lindsay Lohan and Lindsay Loan and You’ve Got Mail being at the tippy-top of the list). In Nora Ephron’s top success (if you ask me) You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan famously says that Fall “makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”

Now what would you say about Spring to your mysterious email-pal? I know my friend Molly would say she’d send somebody a package of freshly cut green grass, as she claims the green lawns of UVA made her commit to going to school there. I might say I’d like to take a music box and capture the sound of birds in the morning or the sound of the whistle from soccer practice. What about the last class before spring break? How about the smell of dew hitting your nose as you walk out the door, the fresh scent of lilies, or eating warm ham biscuits with mustard on Easter? Going to Mellow Mushroom after soccer practice, and walking through the gardens at UVA. I love it! In addition to loving spring, I also love a good revival of an old fashion trend to bring back when the weather gets warm. One year it was overalls. This year, I’m feelin the comeback of platform flip flops. Thoughts?

And in true spring fashion, I’ve got a green-colored dish for you all. It just so happens that it’s the day before St. Patty’s as well. This year, I went to Savannah for St Patty’s and brought some Guinness cupcakes with me!! Are you an enthusiastic baker who jumps at the chance to make holiday-themed baked goods?? If so, come hang with me.

On to falafel. Fa-la-la-la-fel. One of my absolute FAVORITE foods, and also one that I haven’t ever mastered. Falafel is essentially a fried ball of chickpeas and herbs (but in this case baked.) Alas!!! A baked falafel recipe worth sharing from Cookie and Kate, a favorite blog in my home. There’s this place that sells delicious falafel by my office called Ameer’s. Every time I go, I try to craft a falafel salad which ends with me ordering side salad and falafel appetizer. Awkward meal, no more. I had heard that to make a homemade version of falafel, it is essential to use dried chickpeas. Well I don’t know if I mastered how to cook dried chickpeas, but I did get a good consistency.

Cookie and Kate says to soak the chickpeas for a long period of time, but I think you are also supposed to cook them once they soften. Mine were a little bit dry but all it did was make the falafel more firm.

Baked Falafel, adapted slightly from cookie+kate

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water at least 8 hours
⅓ cup chopped onion (she says red I only had white)
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sesame seeds, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep two wide skillets with 2 tablespoons olive oil while the oven heats.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine soaked and drained chickpeas, onion, parsley, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Puree until smooth, 30 seconds-1 minute.

3. Before you start forming the falafel patties, make sure you’ve oiled the pans because otherwise you’re going to have a mess. Scoop out roughly two tablespoons of the mixture and roll into a ball first. Then flatten the ball lightly into a patty about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

4. Place each patty into one of your oiled skillets and drop a few sesame seeds on each.

5. Bake falafel on the middle rack of your oven for 13 minutes on one side. While the first side is cooking, prep your dressing.

6. QUICK DRESSING: Whisk about 2 tablespoons tahini, 1/2 tsp honey, 1 TBS water, a dash of cumin, salt and pepp, 1-2 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar together.

7. Flip your falafel and bake for another 13-15 minutes. I found that for the flip I needed some more oil to get a crispy crust. In reality, this recipe may need more oil all around because I never got them to be super crispy.

8. Remove falafel from the oven. Sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds. Serve on a bed of lettuce, with chopped cucumber, carrot, tomato if you have it and some toasted walnuts. Drizzle dressing over top or use as a dipping sauce. Enjoy!!

Mar3

Two gals and one large stack of Banana Oat Walnut Pancakes – Galentine’s Brunch

Posted on March 3, 2015 by athaidek

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I agree with the lovely Deb Perelman in her recent Valentine’s post about what one should cook for Valentine’s day. Deb makes a lovely slow cooked beef (someone tell my future husband anything involving the words “slow cook” is a straight path to my heart) and says that although the words pot roast don’t exactly sound romantically, cozy, cold-weather, home-cooked foods are the perfect way to celebrate in a way that both you and your loved one can enjoy.

When I was pinterest-ing to find the ultimate Valentine’s dishes, I was surprised to see fancy lamb chop dishes and wayyy too many chocolate-covered strawberry posts. If you come to my house, I will make you my “warm and fuzzy” dishes – pancakes with maple syrup drizzle and my signature slab of peanut butter as a side “dip”. For those of you just joining us, pancakes = love, at least in my book.

As our lovebird neighbors left Atlanta for the weekend, my friend Jules and I had quite the baking/cooking adventure. First, we attempted red wine brownies and then couldn’t stay away from each other and had a delicious Galentine’s brunch the next morning.

As all pancake recipes start, this one started from a chocolate chip pancake base and evolved into an oat-y, banana, walnut cinnamon pancake recipe. Following this brunch, I also celebrated Galentine’s with an Indian brunch with my mom, Grandma, and sister, hung out with my main man (Dad), and sang my heart out with a dose of late night karaoke. A solid weekend to say the least.

Banana Oat Walnut Pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (grind oats in food processor until they are the consistency of coarse flour)

3/4 cup white wheat or all-purpose flour

2 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond milk/low fat milk

1 TBS cider vinegar

1 egg

2 TBS melted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 brown-spotted bananas, mashed up

a handful of walnuts, chopped coarsely

1. In a small bowl, whisk milk and vinegar together and let sit aside for 5 minutes. This will make your regular milk the consistency of buttermilk which seems weird but adds richness.

2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a large bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk melted butter (or coconut oil or veg oil), mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla together. Once milk is ready, whisk into this bowl as well.

4. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and add in your walnut pieces.

5. Let the batter sit 5-10 minutes to let the oat flour absorb the liquids. Heat griddle or large skillet to medium/medium high heat and coat the pan in a thin layer of butter/oil.

6. Dollop a ladle-full scoop of batter onto your skillet once the oil starts to sizzle. This should be around 1/3 cup of batter, but if you want them smaller or larger take some liberties. Cook for 3 minutes on one side, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

7. While you are still making pancakes but have some ready, keep them warming in the oven set around 200 degrees.

8. Serve on a perfectly set kitchen table with the “lazy weekend” or “indie brunch” (if you’re feelin cool) Spotify playlist in the background. Top pancakes with banana slices and an uncomfortably large mound of maple syrup. Light a candle. Feel romantic.

xoxo,

the gals of Galentine’s brunch

Feb28

Challah, Challah Bill Y’all – A Judeo-Christian culinary experience

Posted on February 28, 2015 by athaidek

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About a month ago, my expert challah-making friend Kate (who has a laundry list of talents I might add), taught our group of friends how to make challah! In school, Kate made challah every week with an extracurricular group to raise money for hunger relief and let me tell you, it was the highlight of my week. My roommates in our sorority house NOMMED every week on one savory and one sweet loaf – usually some herby garlic, cinnamon raisin, or the cherished pumpkin chocolate chip (life will never be the same without you).

Bringing back the college memories and teaching us a little about Jewish traditions, Kate brought the dough and we contributed the toppings. I learned that in the Jewish tradition, you always bless the bread, hence, the importance of the challah. Shoutout to our snazziest consultant travelling visitor, Chandler who contributed most of these pics. While I didn’t actually make this dough, I can show you a bit about the process and how to get to the pretty part of the challah baking process 🙂

First, we rolled the dough (that had been rising for a few hours), into tiny balls that would later be rolled out

Then, you take two dough balls for your little challah roll and roll them into long thin flat rectangles. This is where you’re going to create a bed for all the fillings. In the pockets, you want to OVERLOAD on ingredients. This is one thing I hadn’t thought of – but apparently when you’re adding filling to these, since the dough expands so much, you always want to put more filling than looks necessary.

In this instance, we made chocolate chip-PB, chocolate cinnamon, sundried tomato garlic basil, peanut butter nutella, and I think cinnamon sugar. Delicious!

After you put the fillings in, you want to start tucking them in. There’s a sort of braiding going on where you tuck the right bottom corner to the left side of the dough and up. Then you go the opposite way and press into the dough to seal it. Do this until the filling is completely enclosed. The one below is sundried tomato, garlic, olive oil, and basil.

Once everybody’s sealed up, you want to make an X with the two pieces of dough. Then, carefully wrap the two strands around each other, seal the ends together, and spiral to make a round loaf.

Place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for around 25-35 minutes – seems to be an art to this timing! Serve the savory ones with some yummy soup and have the sweet ones for dessert! Here’s to faith-sharing and food. Cheers 🙂

Feb16

Blueberry Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

Posted on February 16, 2015 by athaidek

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My friend JP likes to preface every discussion over which type of baked good to make with, “How about something that makes me feel like it’s really healthy but it tastes really NOT healthy.” Frozen fruit combined with chocolate and oats? I think you’ve found your mate my friend. I’ve always been a huge fan of the trail mix cookie, or as I like to think of it, pantry dump baking. In the past I’ve made popcorn cookies, and dumped graham cracker crumbs, broken pretzel sticks, and granola into my cookies to add texture and flavor to the classic cookie.

At my apartment, we are partial to certain types of baked goods – mostly muffins, bars, and cookies. I’ve made fewer cakes and pies in the past year because they’re not as portable/shareable. Tell me if you agree with me here – a warm plate of cookies or muffins seems more homey and personal when bringing something to a potluck.

I just thought of the play out of a scene (go with me for a second) – you bring a warm plate of cookies to a party and as you set them down, the party-goers/cookie monsters all dive for dessert. The quickest hands grab one or two for themselves and a friend, disappear, and then as two singles go for the last cookie, they graze hands and awkwardly defer to the other. Before you know it, the two sweets-lovers are now sweethearts and you are now responsible not only for their cavities but eternal happiness. ALL BECAUSE of your blueberry oatmeal dark chocolate cookies. It’s hard being you, sometimes, is it not?

So – I’m not going to claim that that’s actually happened to me, but the point is, cookies are a crowd-pleaser and always a good dinner party companion. I brought these to a paella dinner at a dear friend’s parents house, and they warmed our hearts and stomachs on a cold January night.

When you make this for a crowd, will you let me know if you become the cookie match-maker and now have four beautiful God-children and recently find yourself as a main of honor/best man? Because then I’m going to write a match-making cookbook.

Blueberry Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

adapted slightly from lady and pups

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark, I used light)

1 large egg, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt (fine grain or table salt)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate

1 cup frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and both sugars together until fluffy (like a whipped butter). Then beat in egg and vanilla.

3. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Slowly beat this mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir in oats slowly with a spoon. Then, fold in chopped chocolate and blueberries.

I had to put this picture in here because this Penzey’s cinnamon is a GAME CHANGER MY FRIENDS. My friend Mike got this for me for Christmas and it makes the biggest difference in my baked goods. Splurge if you are feelin lucky.

4. Roll dough into 1-2 inch balls and space out about 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let rest in the pan for 1 minute, then remove and let cool on a baking sheet.

Enjoy!

Jan29

“Brinner from the Threeg”

Posted on January 29, 2015 by athaidek

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Here it goes….first guest post (from the one and only Edward. For those of you unfamiliar with “the Threeg,” it refers to an apartment in the land of Buckhead where Ed and his roommates live).

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Miss Katie. It is truly an honor to have been asked to be the first guest poster for the blog; and you can only image how humbled and flattered I was when the BeetsMe queen herself asserted that I was “the most handsome and culinarily gifted of [her] friends” **

**(In true BeetsMe fashion, we may be taking a few liberties with the facts / quotes here).

Wthout further ado…

BeetsMe Presents: Brinner from the Threeg

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a Sunday family tradition in the Sampognaro household – Breakfast for Dinner (“Brinner”). Mama Carmen was always a visionary in finding the most efficient ways to feed the present and future physicians of America, and the Brinner tradition is no exception — no better way to get rid of the Sunday scaries than with a simple, tasty meal everyone can look forward to. I like this recipe in particular because its quick, highly customizable (there are various combinations of meat and vegetables you can substitute), and makes for great leftovers. I made up this recipe myself for 2 main reasons: 1) to have a pre-made breakfast prepared for the rest of the week, and 2) to incorporate more vegetables into my diet earlier in the day. But you don’t need to have these goals to appreciate this recipe.

Breakfast Shepherd’s Pie

Portion serves 5 average eaters, or 1 cross training private equity professional

What You’ll need

Ingredients

· 9 Eggs (beaten)

· 12oz ground bison (but you can substitute for any lean ground meat)

· 1 medium onion (diced)

· 1 large sweet potato – (baked or raw, diced roughly)

· 2 cups broccoli (chopped)

· 1 TSP paprika

· 1 TSP salt

· 1/2 TSP black pepper

· Your choice of oil

· 8oz of cheddar cheese [Optional]

Other

· Favorite outfit [read: dress for comfort – Coffield approval Optional]

· Chef’s Choice Music [HMU if you need any spotify or soundcloud recommendations]

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs together with the paprika, salt and pepper. Mix in the chopped sweet potato. Set aside.

3. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat add oil and brown your choice of meat. Once meat is cooked, remove it to a separate bowl.

mmm. bisons

4. In the same skillet, add the onion and broccoli and sauté on medium heat until they are softened (~6 mins), then returned the cooked meat to the pan.

5. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Turn off the heat and stir the ingredients to combine. Once complete, cover the top with your choice of cheese (if you are electing to do so)

6. Put the entire skillet into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are set and not runny.

I forgot to take a picture of this part….

7. Serve directly from the skillet or slice and store for leftovers.