Simple Tomato Sauce

I am seriously getting into this whole "d.i.y." thing. You know, do it yourself. It is so much healthier and cheaper, and ok for foodie dorks like myself- fun!  Apparently though, I am a little behind the 8 ball on this recipe. I found it on Annie's Eats, who found it on Smitten Kitchen, who found it on...well the point is...it's been out in the food blog word for awhile. And with three ingredients and one pot needed you can understand why.

This recipe truly is simple and delicious. And I took other's advice to NOT mess with it. Stick to the recipe. Which I admit- I, at first glance, thought..but no garlic?! No basil?! How can this be? Perhaps I will add some. The suggestions that everyone made was do not be tempted to change this recipe. *Sigh*. I surrender. 3 ingredients and one pot. Got it.

Turns out..simple is better. And with only three ingredients, very friendly on the wallet, too. I decided to put the sauce over my spinach stuffed shells. (recipe to come) And for some reason my camera did not save the photo, so I apologize but this is the photo from myrecipes.com.



Simple Tomato Sauce

Note: I used a vidalia onion. They are in season and therefore, a little cheaper. And I adore vidalia onions, with the added sweetness they add.

1 onion, skin removed and halved

5 tbs. butter

1 28 oz. whole plum tomatoes

Combine the tomatoes, onion, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to keep the sauce at a low, steady simmer for 45 minutes.  Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.  Remove from the heat, discard the onion, and add salt to taste.  (I didn’t add any salt.)  Serve warm with pasta.

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

       This cupcake is for all the teachers out there. Teaching. Is. Hard. And Summer. Is. Almost here! On those two notes, doesn't life deserve a cupcake right now? Especially with all the lovely New England sunshine- err, rain we have been having lately.  I do apologize if right now if you are drooling over these cupcakes. I know-Vanilla. The word just screams, "Plain! Boring". But I assure you this little simple package was anything but. I am usually disappointed by vanilla cupcakes I have tried to make at home. However--(are you ready for this next statement?) I do believe I have found my go to vanilla cupcake recipe. And if you know me that is one TALL order. I am always searching for the perfect _______________. Perfect...red velvet. Perfect...carrot cake. The perfect recipe for the best all-american desserts. Oh who am I kidding- the perfect recipe for just about anything you can bake. Why drive myself crazy, you ask? I have absolutely no idea. I am the type of person who if I could afford to would make multiple recipes of vanilla cupcakes to be able to taste test them side by side. I'll leave that to the Cook's Illustrated experts for now.

This cupcake recipe is fairly simple (ok there is a lot of mixing), with not a long list of ingredients. The crumb was fantastically light. Great vanilla taste. The icing- divine. I am honestly surprised I got to the assembling part at all and didn't just lick the entire bowl of batter.

I made these for a last department meeting (so close to summer!) cookout. I love cupcakes. They just put a smile on my face and I figured a cookout to celebrate the end of the school year needed a great cupcake. I chose vanilla because I figured it is an all-around crowd pleaser. And I was right. These didn't last long. I managed to sneak one home for later.

I am now wishing I had snuck two cupcakes.

I used these cute cupcake liners I had recieved as a gift from my sister in a Paula Dean cupcake kit. A well balanced diet is a cupcake in each hand. So true Paula...so true.

Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from Annie's Eats

Please note: the original recipe called for vanilla bean. I, having none on hand  (Let's face it vanilla beans are't cheap!) I simply doubled the vanilla extract to 2 tablespoons. If you choose to use the bean (and I only imagine it can enhance an already great cupcake) scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the bowl of the mixer with the butter and discard the pod (or reserve for another use.)  

Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together and set aside.
3.Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.
4.Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.  Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
5.Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will likely have batter left over after filling 24 wells.I managed to make a full 3 dozen cupcakes)  Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Replace paper liners and bake remaining batter if desired.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
Yield: approximately 30 cupcakes (like I said I got 36 cupcakes!)

Easy Vanilla ButtercreamIngredients:20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted1/8 tsp. salt2 tsp. vanilla extract2 tbsp. heavy cream  Directions:In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.  Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.  Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.  Scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds.  Then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.  

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Bars

 You know a recipe is good when someone says, "I wish you hadn't cut them so small!" I had a faculty meeting to attend and it was our team's job to provide the snacks. I, of course, chose to make something sweet (always looking for an excuse to bake and try a new recipe!)

Chocolate and caramel. Sweet and salty Yum and yum. Two blissful reunions made in heaven. The original recipe used caramel candies to make the salted caramel sauce. I wanted to try my hand again at making caramel. I really truly believe a person (albeit- chef, doctor, whoever) is as only as good as their tools. In my case- a candy thermometer. I used my candy thermometer, but luckily grabbed the pot off the stove before my precious caramel went from perfect to burnt.  If you have never made caramel- trust me, the perfect to burnt timing happens very, very quickly.  My thermometer, unfortunately did not reach all the way into the caramel. (Seriously, who designed this?!?) After making these bars, I am already on the hunt for a better thermometer.  Any suggestions?

So if making caramel scares you, try using the candies. Either way find a way to make these! And take my co-worker's suggestion..don't cut them so small!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Originally from Two Peas And Their Pod

Note: If making caramel using the candies, substitute the homemade caramel sauce with

10 oz. of caramel candies (unwrap them of course!) with 3 Tbs. of heavy cream. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave caramels on High until caramels are melted, stirring every 20 seconds. This will take about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.

Ingredients:

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 to 1/2 cup of salted caramel sauce (I tended to lean towards the more side with this stuff)
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart baking pan (which is an 11 X 7 pan-I used a glass Pyrex dish) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.
6.Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.


Salted Caramel Sauce:
Originally from Baked bakery, in NYC

* 1 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon fleur de sel (I used the sea salt I had in my cupboard and it seemed to be just fine!)* 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, mix together cream and salt. Bring cream to a boil and cook until salt has dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Carefully add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Whisk in sour cream. Cool, and store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.