My Favorite Meal of The Week – Honey Chicken

Posted in Crock Pot, Dinner, Healthy by

Something you should know about me: I love my crock pot. But every year, I forget about it until it starts to get cold and windy outside. Then I remember how awesome it is and start using it all the time. One of my new favorite recipes is this honey chicken recipe I found on Pinterest. The original can be found here.

I served it for my parents when they visited, and it was a big hit. I’ve now made it several other times, and each time I love it. It’s cooking in my kitchen right now, and the smell is amazing! The best part is that it is ridiculously easy and healthy. To start you just throw everything in the crock pot. See below.

Then you let it sit for a few hours, and at the end you get to eat this:

Pumpkin Cranberry Scones with Orange Butter

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Fall by

In the fall, I always try to have pumpkin around. I like to throw it in everything- risotto, croissants, and pasta. This weekend I had some extra pumpkin, and I love whipping up random baked goods on Sunday mornings, so I decided to go looking online for something breakfast related with pumpkin.

The result was cranberry pumpkin scones.

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My Favorite Meal of The Week – BBQ Chicken Cornbread Pie

Posted in Dinner by

Last weekend, I decided to give into Dave’s Sunday football plans by making something for dinner that seemed like the perfect football food. I had been meaning to try a dish from one of my favorite food blogs – Table for Two – and decided to do the BBQ Chicken Cornbread Pie, which seemed like the perfect option for football Sunday.  And oh my god, I am so glad I did. It was relatively easy, and so delicious! Dave and I had to stop ourselves from eating the entire dish. You can find the recipe here and I definitely recommend checking out the rest of the blog.

The first two pictures below are before placing it in the broiler, and the last picture is right before I ate way too much!

My only notes on the original recipe are:

  • I’d probably do less brown sugar. The dish was delicious, but it was almost too sweet for me, so if you wanted to make it healthier, you could easily cut down the sugar.
  • I cooked the chicken myself. I just did it in a pan on the stove with some oil, and then shredded the chicken in my stand mixer like the recipe recommended.
  • I didn’t need to put the pie in the broiler for the full three minutes. At two minutes the top was already starting to brown, so I’d recommend watching it.
  • Lastly, I bought Trader Joe’s cornbread mix, instead of the corn muffin mix as recommended in the recipe. Mainly I was just too lazy to go to a second store, but it worked. I only used half of the mix because the mix I bought was twice the size. My box mix also said to include oil (instead of butter like in this recipe), so I stuck with oil and it worked out.

Whole Wheat Orange Bread

Posted in Bread by

Growing up, I remember lots of homemade breads. There were some made by hand, then there was that time when my dad tried out a bread machine. But at some point, my mom got diagnosed with celiac disease and most of the homemade carbs had to stop.

After being deprived for years of that amazing smell of bread rising and then baking, I have brought back one of my favorites-whole wheat orange bread. You could say I am a little obsessed. I give it as a house warming gift, I’ve given it as a get well gift, and really I just look for any excuse to make it. The bread has just enough sweet that all you need to do is toast it and spread a little butter on top.  It’s perfect with a big cup of coffee or a smoothie in the morning before work.

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My Favorite Meal of The Week – Home Made Pizza

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As many of you know, I live in Washington DC, and was thus part of the country that got to frantically prepare for Hurricane Sandy last weekend. Luckily, we ended up only getting strong winds and rain, but not before I stocked up on water and food.  To get prepared for the storm, we got up early last weekend and went to Trader Joe’s. Upon walking in the store, I was immediately overwhelmed because the line was even longer than usual and things were clearly selling out. While Dave got in line, I ended up running around and grabbing whatever food I could find that seemed like good “storm food.” This ended up involving the fixings for homemade pizza (I decided to assume that I’d at least have power long enough to bake the pizza).

Trader Joe’s has a couple different pizza crust options, but I think the one with basil and garlic is the best!  We also got pesto, bacon, pepperoni, peppers, spinach, zucchini, and onions to throw on top. Because we had no clue when our power would go out (or that we would actually not ever lose it), we made two large pizzas as soon as we got home so that we could have lots of leftovers to eat cold if we found ourselves sitting in the dark.

Homemade pizza on a day when it is gross out is so delicious. Especially when it only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, and 10-20 minutes to cook.

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Pies and Crumbles

Posted in Dessert, Pies/Tarts/Crumbles by

I am a big proponent of baking things from scratch in almost every case. Home baked goods taste better and are so much more satisfying than anything store bought.  That being said, I do think there are a few exceptions to this rule. One of these is pie crust. My mom taught me how to make Julia Child’s pie crust. And while yes, I do think it is delicious, I really can’t tell the difference between hers and the store bought ones. The focus of a pie is always the filling, and so as long as you have a crust that supports the pie with flaky buttery layers, I don’t think you can go wrong.

That being said, fruit pies and crisps have to be one of the easiest desserts ever.  People love them, they are less sinful than a cake or cookie, and can be prepped ahead of time and baked while eating dinner.

With all of these apples I have right now, I’ve been baking pies and crisps like crazy. Dave and I have almost single handedly put away 3 pies/crumble in the last couple of weeks. It has to be one of the best all around meals.

So now on to the important part of how to make these lovely pies and crisps.

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My Favorite Meal of The Week – Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Posted in Dinner, Fall, Lunch, Vegetarian by

I was introduced to a farm out in Maryland a few years back where you can pick your own fruit and vegetables, and ever since then I have been making the trip up there regularly. In the spring and summer, it’s to pick boxes and boxes of my own berries and peaches. In the fall, it’s to stock up on apples, pumpkins, gourds, and other amazing fall vegetables.

We made our annual October trip up there recently and spent way too much money on apples. Now that I have all of these apples, I have been trying to get creative with how to use them.  On a recent perfect fall Saturday, I decided to use them in one of my all time favorite, all-American meals—tomato soup with grilled cheese.  It was perfect on a day when it was just a bit chilly outside, but not so cold that you had to be stuck inside.  I used the creamy tomato soup from Trader Joe’s and then for the grilled cheese, I did white cheddar with sliced fuji apple on whole wheat bread.  Oh my god.  So simple, so easy, and yet so delicious. Dave opted for bacon instead of apple, which also made for a delicious sandwich.


Croissants for Beginners

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch by

So I would guess that most people like croissants. But here’s the thing, I like croissants a little more than your average person. No really, I even wrote my law school admissions essay on croissants.

Anyways, I’ve always enjoyed croissants, but when I was staying in Paris for a few weeks back in early 2011 I really truly fell for them. While there, I took a baking class that involved learning the basics for pastry dough and I’ve been making them ever since I came back to DC.

So I’ll be upfront with you, pastry dough and croissants are not the easiest thing out there to make (don’t get intimidated by the long instructions below). BUT if you are patient, they are totally worth it. The hardest part is you have to have your craving for them about 48 hours in advance. Most of us are used to instant gratification, so this may seem hard, but I’m telling you, it’s WORTH IT.

The reason you need your craving 48 hours in advance is that the dough must be prepped three different times. And after the first two times, it is best if it then is left in the fridge overnight. For example, when I want to serve them for brunch on Sunday, I get started Friday night. I know this sounds tedious, but when you smell that amazing flaking buttery dough coming out of the oven on Sunday morning, you’ll forget about all of the work.
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A Little Introduction

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While I have always felt passionate about food, I have not always had an interest in baking or cooking. I grew up in northern California in a household filled with amazing food, mostly healthy and organic food. But my mom’s amazing kitchen skills did not initially translate into a cooking or baking interest of my own. I felt content knowing that I could eat boring food on my own, and then go home and be spoiled with delicious creative dishes you’d generally find in a restaurant.

It wasn’t until I moved to DC and started living with my best friend from college, Kelsey, that I realized I found pure joy in standing in the kitchen for hours with a spatula in my hand and quite often, flour all over the place.

There were a couple big moments that helped spark and encourage my interest in baking.

  1. The first was receiving a bright red and cheerful KitchenAid mixer for Christmas back in 2009. Once you have this glorious tool, you sort of wonder how you ever did anything without it. No seriously. It makes food so much better. I tried making cookies from scratch at a friend’s (who did not have a mixer) and they were just not the same as what I could have made at home!
  1. The second was my trip to Europe a year and half ago. After spending 15 months at your average “first year out of school” administrative job, I felt the need to go do something interesting. I’d never had the chance to study abroad in college (I spent a semester in DC instead) and I’d kept waiting, thinking I’d find a friend to travel with eventually. But finally I gave in and just decided to do it by myself. I spent two months abroad in several different cities, but my time in Paris had the biggest impact. While there, I took a baking class to learn how to make pastry dough (aka croissants, which will be covered in post 2) and breads. Realizing that the average baker could create the deliciousness that is a buttery croissant sealed the deal for me. Ever since I came back about 18 months ago, I have spent a lot more time baking.
  1. This last big moment might sound silly, but it really did help. Having roommates and a boyfriend who will consistently eat the baked goods you leave out (or co-workers who will demolish them the second the email goes out letting them know it’s in the kitchen) makes a big difference. For me, part of baking is being able to share it with the people around you. I almost never bake just for myself. The best part is waiting for it to be done and then watching other people enjoy it (of course while I enjoy it myself). Living with close friends, and now my boyfriend, has provided me a constant stream of tasters and helpers.

To those of you reading this, I thank you. To get started I am going to try to post one baking recipe a week. I’ll also try to post “My Favorite Meal of the Week” every week. This will generally be things I have made at home and I’ll include the recipe. Although sometimes I may throw in a fun food adventure outside of my kitchen too. Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@ameliahbarry) and Instagram (ameliahbarry) and email me any questions or suggestions (thepetitecroissant@gmail.com).