Smoky Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

I have an amazing recipe for you today. Amazing in that they are easy and also in that everyone who tries them loveslovesloves them :) I usually double the recipe and make 2 sheet pans worth as people fall on these like wild animals and there is NEVER EVER any left. No pic as they were inhaled rather quickly.

Smoky Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

• 4 medium red potatoes
• 3 Tb olive oil
• heaping 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (preferably the good stuff from Italy, in the gourmet cheese section)
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika (preferably Spanish)

Preheat oven to 425 F. If you have a convection oven, turn that part on too.

Wash and dry the potatoes. Cut each in half lengthwise and then cut each half into thin wedges, about 5-7 each side depending on the size of the potato. Put them in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil.

Mix the cheese, garlic powder, salt and smoked paprika in another bowl. Add this to the bowl with the potatoes and toss to coat.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray (you could also just grease with more olive oil). Dump the potatoes onto a cookie sheet. A half-sheet pan works well. Make sure the potatoes are in ONE layer.

Bake for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and turn over all the potatoes. Put them back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes until crispy.

Eat warm!

Vegan Pad Thai

Yummy and Easy!

My recipe was based on this recipe at Chef Chloe

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tb oil
• 1 large onion, sliced (any variety)
• 2 cups slice mushrooms
• 2 carrots, cut into sticks
• 3 cups of broccoli florets
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 scallions, sliced thinly
• 8 oz rice noodles
• 4 Tb brown sugar
• 3 Tb fresh lime juice plus extra wedges for serving
• 4 Tb soy sauce
• chopped fresh cilantro
• chopped, roasted peanuts

Heat oil in a large skillet (enough to hold veggies and noodles) and saute onion til softened. Add mushrooms, carrots and broccoli, scallions and garlic and saute til tender. Mix brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce in a small bowl. Heat salted water in a large pot. When boiling add rice noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain noodles and add to veggies in skillet along with sauce mixture. Toss until everything is coated with the sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of lime juice, peanuts and cilantro on top.

Scrambled Tofu

I LOVE scrambled tofu. It is easy to make, delicious and good for you. You can mix it up with whatever veggies you have on hand. I made mine today with red onions and cremini mushrooms.

My recipe was inspired by this recipe at Vegan Dad

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tb oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (any variety) - optional
• other veggies (mushrooms, spinach, carrots etc) - optional
• 1 pkg firm tofu (14-16 oz)
• 1 tsp onion powder (optional if you are adding chopped onion)
• 1 Tb dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste, preferable freshly ground
• 1-2 Tb nutritional yeast

Place the tofu on a plate and place another plate on top. Put some cans on top of the top plate to add weight. This will help press out excess water from the tofu. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute til softened. Add other veggies and saute til cooked. Drain the tofu and crumble it with your fingers into the skillet. Add the the rest of the ingredients and saute for about 8-10 minutes on medium heat until the mixture is fragrant and most of the water has evaporated from the tofu. This reheats beautifully and is also a good wrap, pita or sandwich filler.

Chocolate Cake

Another painting inspired by Wayne Thiebaud. Sending this one to the 6x6x2012 art exhibition at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center.

Dogtown!

Went to Dogtown for the first time today. Its a cute little place on Monroe Ave. across from Oxford St. and the Plum House. There is a small parking lot in front of the building. I got there at 11:45 a.m., which is a good idea because the lunch rush is busy and the place is pretty small.

What I love about Dogtown is that there are Lots of veggie options. There are veggie hotdogs, veggie burgers, the soup of the day is always vegetarian, and they have vegetarian chili. In addition, two of their sandwiches are vegetarian (the portobello sandwich and the mushroom melt). On Thursdays, they have a veggie burger special. But what I was there for was the veggie garbage plate aka the junkyard plate.

I got mine with a veggie hotdog and a veggie burger, mac salad and homefries with a topping of veggie chili, mustard and raw onions. It was awesome! I've had a lot of so-so veggie hotdogs. The one at Dogtown was the best I ever had and it was grilled perfectly. The veggie burger was green (!); I don't know what was in it but it too was tasty. The homefries were amazing, perfectly brown and crispy on all sides. Best homefries I've had in Rochester. The mac salad was pretty much your typical mac salad, it was a little on the dry side and could have used a little more dressing. There was a small amount of veggie chili on top. I would've liked to have more chili as the whole plate was a little on the dry side as far as garbage plates go. But overall, this was an amazing garbage plate and I would order it again. They also have cool sodas; I got a sparkling blackberry and my bro got a green apple soda. Service was friendly and detail oriented. The place is small inside and you will pretty much hear the conversations of the folks around you. Dogtown has a funky, cool, urban feel. I will definitely be back.

Painting Homework Week 2

Week 2's assignment was to pick a favorite artist and use that artist for inspiration for this week's work. I picked Wayne Thiebaud. I just LOVE his paintings of cakes, pies, cupcakes, and lollipops.

Dollop Cupcakes!

Went to Dollop bakery for the first time today. Dollop is dangerously close to where I live. It is is located at 1865 Penfield Rd. Did you know that they won on the Cupcake Wars on Food Network? It was the Monster Truck Jam episode. You can watch the episode below. Very cool!

When my mom and I stopped in this morning, shortly after they opened, the place was busy. Its a tiny little storefront but there is plenty of parking. I understand that a lot of times, the line goes out the door. I can definitely see that.

Dollop has a cupcake bar, so you get to create your own cupcakes. Today the available cakes were: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and caramel. There are lots of fillings to choose from like lemon cream, boston cream, raspberry, chocolate ganache, and apple pie. Then you pick your frosting and there are lots of those as well. Some of the choices are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry champagne, caramel, and cream cheese. Once you decide all that, you can pick a topping like gummi bears, oreo cookies, heath bars, sprinkles. Its really fun but a little daunting if there are a lot of people waiting behind you. I found the staff to be super friendly and enthusiastic. They will help you with flavor combinations if you get stuck.

1st row, left to right:

vanilla cupcake, boston cream filling, strawberry champagne frosting, rainbow sprinkles
caramel cupcake, caramel filling, caramel frosting, caramel topping
chocolate cupcake, chocolate ganache filling, chocolate frosting, snickers topping

2nd row, left to right:
chocolate cupcake, raspberry filling, caramel frosting
caramel cupcake, apple pie filling, caramel frosting, cinnamon topping
chocolate cupcake, chocolate ganache filling, caramel frosting

So how do they taste?

Peeps, these are some seriously deliciously cupcakes. Those of you that know me, know that baking is one of my passions. The cake has the right balance of moistness and density. They definitely taste homemade. The fillings are a great addition without being too sweet. The caramel filling had loads of caramel flavor. The chocolate ganache was smooth, with deep chocolate flavor. I could tell that quality ingredients were being used. The frostings are where I really have to give Dollop kudos. They are super light and fluffy and again not too sweet. All the frostings were good but the strawberry champagne frosting and the caramel frosting make me feel like sneaking back there with a wig and sunglasses to get more cupcakes. The cool (and dangerous) thing is that they sell frosting shots :)

So I definitely recommend you stop by Dollop if you are in the Rochester area. It is well worth the trip. They have a facebook page that sometimes lists special cupcakes of the day. Today's was the caramel cupcake. They also have a website (link below).

Link to the Dollop website

The episode of cupcake wars where Dollop owner, Heather Saffer wins :)