vietnamese beef stew (bò kho)

March 19, 2010 by 8 Comments

On saturday evening my friend Nancy and I were headed out to a friend’s birthday party (the aforementioned karaoke extravaganza). I came over to pick her up, chat a bit, and hang out kid-free before heading to the festivities. Upon entering her house I was greeted by one of the most unbelievable food smells I have ever encountered.

“WHAT are you cooking?” I practically shouted.

“Oh, it’s just a Vietnamese beef stew,” she replied casually, as if that pot of bubbling, boiling heaven sitting on the stove was no big deal.

Lucky for me they hadn’t eaten yetò, so I got to join her at the table for a bowl of this incredible stew. It’s thick, rich, and deeply spicy in a hot-but-doesn’t-burn sort of way. The beef is fall-apart tender, and the carrots and mushrooms lend texture and tiny bites of deliciousness.

Even luckier for me, she gave me her recipe.

You must make this. You have to make this. There is no way for me to tell you how important it is that you make this. Like, NOW.

Ready?

You’ll need meat. My dealer hooked me up with the goods.

You’ll also need some flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Stick it on a plate.

You’ll need garlic two ways: three cloves lightly smashed and four to five minced.

Now here’s where that incredible, indescribable flavor comes from: spice packets available at the Asian market. You’ll need one labeled “Gia Vi Nau Bun Bo Hue” and one called “Gia Vi Nau Bo Kho“. They were easy to find on the spice aisle and cost only $0.79 each.

If you can’t find these, you can re-create the Bo Kho packet by mixing paprika, anise, garlic, chili powder, onion powder, ginger and cloves in descending order of ratio (I haven’t done this, so I can’t help ya much). If you can make your way to an Asian market or order them online, I highly recommend the ease and low price of the pre-mixed stuff.

Begin by dredging the beef in the flour mixture.

Heat two tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat and throw in your smashed garlic. Cook for about one to two minutes just to flavor the oil.

Remove the garlic…

…and throw in the floured beef.

Brown it, baby.

Once it’s becoming evenly browned on all sides, toss in your minced garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Add a little red wine to the pot to de-glaze*, stirring rapidly to release all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

*Traditionally, Vietnamese don’t use wine in this recipe. But this isn’t a traditional recipe, it’s just my friend Nancy’s way of making it. So yell at her. Not at me.

Next, add enough water to cover the beef, plus about a half an inch.

Return pan to the stove and add your spices: a half-packet of Bo Kho and three tablespoons of Bo Hue. You can see how powerful the spices are already—they change the water color immediately.

Now you need to measure out some other stuff. 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, and one teaspoon each kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add all of those ingredients to the broth, give it a good stir, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, prep your veggies. Carrots, mushrooms, or whatever else you’d like to add: leeks, bok choy, potatoes, onion, etc. This stew would work nicely with pretty much any veggie you feel like adding.

Dice your mushrooms into quarters…

…and your peeled carrots into half-inch rounds.

By now the stew has thickened quite a bit. Throw in your veggies and add more water if it looks too thick for your liking. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for another 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The final result?

Oh my.

I find it really hard to describe the flavors of this stew because it’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. It’s the tiniest bit sweet, spicy in an almost smoky way, and rich from the meat but well-rounded with flavors from the garlic and vegetables.

It’s just something you’ll have to try to believe.

Oh, the carrots. They were probably my favorite part.

Wait, no. The beef and broth. That was my favorite part.

Actually, just inhaling it. That was my favorite part.

The sooner you make this, the sooner you will realize what your life has been missing.

TGIF!

-RDG

Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho), Nancy’s Way

  • 2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 3/4 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 3 cloves smashed garlic
  • 4-5 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1/2 packet Bo Kho spices (see above)
  • 3 tablespoons Bo Hue spices (see above)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 small carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ rounds
  • 2-3 cups quartered mushrooms

In a large pot, heat the oil with the smashed garlic over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes until the garlic becomes aromatic. Remove the garlic cloves. Dredge the beef pieces in the flour mixture and add to the oil. Cook, stirring often, until evenly browned on all sides. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the red wine and de-glaze, scraping all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add enough water to the pot to cover the beef by a half-inch. Stir in the sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, salt and pepper, half of the Bo Kho spices and three tablespoons of the Bo Hue spices. Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium-low, and let simmer uncovered for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the vegetables and simmer for an additional 90 minutes. Serves 6. A toasted, crusty bread works nicely for sopping up the broth.

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le fournil

March 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

On monday I told you about my gluttonous weekend. I’m still recovering, and officially on Jillian Michaels’ shit list.

But whatevs. I’ve never been one to play by the rules, especially when it comes to “eating right” and “exercising.” These are both activities that can be manipulated to my specifications. Let’s take my visit to this gorgeous French bakery, Le Fournil, for example. “Eating right” in France entails coffee and pastry for breakfast. I mean, you wouldn’t be French if you didn’t. So naturally, I ate right.

Venturing into this cute Eastlake cafe, I faced a serious dilemma: which pastry to choose? A cream cheese croissant?

Or one of the apple variety?

Pain au chocolat, peut-être?

Something containing nuts? That could be considered protein.

Of maybe just basic butter? A plain croissant is the bar for which to measure a French bakery, after all. Let’s go with this one.

Shut up, Jillian.

From the outside it was perfect: crispy, flaky, and not even one tiny bit soft as inferior croissants tend to be.

The inside was chewy, buttery, and seriously, seriously tasty. This was one mighty good croissant, my friends. One of the best I have ever had in this city.

Licking the flaky crumbs from our lips, pal Jen and I decided that we needed to fulfill the “exercise” portion of this whole “eat right, exercise” phenomenon. So we picked our butts off of our chairs, walked an entire ten feet to the pastry case, and peered inside. I believe we even needed to bend over and squat to see some of the lovely baked goods.

See Jillian? I did a squat. Boo-yah.

I believe a mixed fruit tart would count as a serving of fruit.

As would a blueberry tart. And, by the way, have you ever seen a cuter mini-tart? This ones surely take the cake. Or in this case, takes the mini-tart.

Rosemary pear? Get out. I love creative flavors.

Chocolate? I dig the half ‘n half design with the little lemons. Too freaking cute.

But the winner? The chocolate eclair. How could we not order this gorgeous specimen of French pastry? The dough was lightly crisped around the edges with a bittersweet ganache on top. Inside (which I neglected to photograph because I was…well, scarfing the whole dang thing down) contained a richer-than-rich chocolate mousse. It was a blissful combination of textures and flavors. By far the best eclair I have ever, ever tasted.

With our curiosity about this delicious bakery satisfied (two thumbs up) and our tummies full of pastry, we headed home to nap it off. Wait, I mean…we went home, grabbed our hand-weights and did the 30 Day Shred.

If you happen to run into Jillian Michaels today, please tell her I’m at the gym. But in reality I’ll be at Le Fournil sampling their delicious croissants and eclairs. I would recommend doing the same.

Happy Hump Day! (*snickers*)

-RDG

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spicy roasted eggplant marinara

March 16, 2010 by 3 Comments

I don’t make marinara often. Mostly because we don’t eat a ton of pasta. But also because I don’t think there’s anything really mind-blowing about plain ‘ol tomato sauce.

Somewhere in Italy they just yelled at me. Not only for the “tomato sauce” vs. “marinara” discrepancy, but for not liking it in the first place. Before you judge little old me, however, let me explain: if I’m going to carbo-load and have pasta for dinner (usually at a restaurant), I want it to be totally decadent. Cream sauce, pesto, meat sauce, ravioli, tortelloni, cannelloni, lasagna—I want to go all out.

But back here, in the simplistic and limited-ingredient world of my kitchen, I was craving a healthy pasta dish. Noodles, some type of vegetable-based sauce, and that’s it. No cream, no meat, no stuffed anything. But how to make it taste good? How to give it flavor when tomatoes this time of year are red mush inside a pretty tomato-looking package? And, most importantly, how to make it taste sinful without any of the fattening stuff?

I started with spice. Crushed red pepper, kosher salt, and freshly-ground black pepper.

And then I grabbed an eggplant.

Okay, that’s a lie. An eggplant was delivered to me in our produce order and I needed to use it up before it turned into eggplant mush. All in all the perfect candidate for an experimental sauce.

I halved it…

…and then chopped it into 1″ pieces.

I also had one yellow onion on hand that I needed to use.

First person is getting old. Let’s switch.

Chop off the ends, peel and skin.

Cut into quarters…

…and then cut each quarter into four slivers.

Grab a half-head of garlic…

…lop off the ends…

…and peel the cloves.

Give ‘em a rough chop.

Pile all three veggies into a bowl and drizzle with two tablespoons of olive oil.

Toss in your crushed red pepper. One tablespoon if you like it hot, two teaspoons if you want it medium, and one teaspoon if you’re only flirting with the idea of spice.

Toss to coat and place in a baking dish lined with foil. Roast in a 450F oven for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking.

Done! Perfectly roasted, tender and flavorful.

Take a large fork and mash the veggies up a bit. I like a really chunky sauce, so mash more if you like it smoother and less if you like it chunkier.

Toss the roasted veggies into a large saucepan and add one can of diced tomatoes…

…and one small can of tomato paste.

Also pour in one cup of good quality red wine. You’ve heard me say it a million times before, but don’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. Because you will die. And by “die,” I mean a rogue band of Italian chefs will kill you. Or me.

Either way, it’s bad.

Add one teaspoon each dried basil and oregano. If you have fresh herbs, by all means use them!

Bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better.

Oh yeah, baby. Chunky, spicy marinara full of tender eggplant and aromatic garlic.

Serve over any kind of pasta that you like. This sauce would also be kick-booty as a dip for garlic bread with some mozzarella melted on top.

There I go getting all fattening again.

Roasting the eggplant with garlic and onions beforehand really helps bring a rich flavor to the sauce.

This is a total Lady and the Tramp moment in the making. If only I had two dogs.

I am a little in love with this marinara. The eggplant gave it a richness that is hard to beat in a vegetable-based sauce, the spice was intense but not burning, and the red wine gave it depth.

A perfect sauce for me. Husband (who doesn’t even eat pasta unless there is no other alternative) even scarfed bowls of the stuff. It’s a veggie pasta sauce for meat-lovers. Total score.

Happy marinara making!

-RDG

Spicy Roasted Eggplant Marinara

  • 1 whole eggplant, chopped into 1″ pieces
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped into 1″ wedges
  • 6-7 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup good quality red wine
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper, depending on desired level of spice
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 can diced red tomatoes
  • 1 can tomato paste

Preheat oven to 450F. Toss chopped eggplant, garlic and onion with olive oil. Add crushed red pepper, salt, and ground pepper and toss to coat. Pour into a baking dish lined with foil and roast for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking.

Mash roasted vegetables with a fork. Pour into a large saucepan and add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine. Stir, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours. Serve over pasta. Serves 6-8.

If you like, this sauce would also be delicious with added spicy italian sausage, ground turkey or beef, or meatballs.


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a crazy delicious weekend…and things to come

March 15, 2010 by 3 Comments

Because I’m trying to lose a few pounds and get in a better general state of physical shape, I spent the entire weekend eating. Naturally.

It started on Friday with making this spicy roasted eggplant marinara. It was fiery. It was delicious. I ate about 5 gallons of it. I’ll share the full recipe and how-to with you tomorrow so you can gain 3 pounds of pure marinara too.

Then on Saturday I, with friend Jen in tow, took a trip to one of my favorite Emerald City establishments for a fix. I was getting jittery from withdrawal.  This cuban pork sandwich is my drug of choice. Slow-roasted pork, onions, jalepenos, and garlic mayo? Hello, beautiful.

With our tummies full of pork and with no room for sweets, we decided to embark on a two-stop mini-bakery tour of Seattle. Because let’s face it: when you’re full, there is always room for dessert. Or several desserts. This lemon-merangue tart was completely killer.

But we still needed more sugar. So we hopped on over to a little French bakery and had the most delicious chocolate eclair I’ve ever encountered.

I spent the rest of Saturday recuperating from my overeating extravaganza. And listening to karaoke at a friend’s birthday party. Two guys duetting After All and A Whole New World? This was pretty much the best Saturday of all time. 

On Sunday we were fortunate enough to catch up with some dear friends and see their beautiful daughter.

Their beautiful, upside-down daughter.

Whew. What a weekend! I’ve got tons of picture-sorting and blog planning to do—so much to share with you guys.

I hope you had a fantastic weekend too. Happy Monday!

-RDG

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pork tenderloin with caramelized balsamic pears

March 12, 2010 by 6 Comments

I adore pork in all of it’s delicious forms. Chops, bacon, ribs—they’re all special in their own piggy ways.

But tenderloin, when done right, is pretty much king of them all for me. Why? It’s a relatively inexpensive, lean cut of meat (I got this 1-pound organic, ethically raised cut for $7.50 at my local butcher) that packs a ton of flavor. It’s super easy to prep and roast, and the sky is the limit for toppings and sauces. I tried a twist on the basic pork and apples by serving my tenderloin with some bosc pears caramelized with white balsamic vinegar. So easy, so delicious, and perfect for the cold rainy days we’ve been having around here.

I know that I’ve been talking a lot about what I call “hippie” meat lately—organic, free-range, natural, grass-fed, cage-free what have you. I was so flippin moved by watching this powerful documentary that I, for a moment, considered dropping meat altogether from my diet. Me. Maker of prime rib and pork belly—and that’s just in the last few weeks.

But the next morning I came to my senses and started purchasing only local meat from a cruelty-free butcher. I’m not getting all preachy on you, but I do want to say this: the one thing we all want is for the meat that we prepare to taste incredible. The largest difference I have noticed between this new meat and the stuff I used to buy at the grocery is flavor. Ethics aside, I’ll never go back to grocery store meat simply because it tastes awful compared to the stuff I now get. And the price is not that much different. At all. If for no other reason, consider switching for taste.

Whew. Okay, stepping off my soap box now. For this recipe you’ll need a one-pound pork tenderloin, several cloves of garlic, and two pears.

Rinse and pat the pork dry, and then begin making tiny little slits all over, about 1″ deep.

Peel your garlic cloves…

And slice in half. Thirds if they’re whopping.

Insert the garlic slices into the slits…

…and season all over with salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 400F and heat one tablespoon oil in a cast-iron or stainless skillet (no non-stick for this recipe) over medium-high heat. Use tongs to place the tenderloin in the heated pan.

Brown for 10 minutes, turning every minute or so to prevent burning.

Meanwhile, halve your pears, core…

…and dice into 1/2″ chunks.

Once the pork has browned, place in an oven-safe dish (I always line mine with foil because I’m lazy and hate scrubbing pans). Pour in 3/4 cup of white wine and place in your preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Your skillet should look something like this. But don’t worry—we’re going to de-glaze it so all those little pork bits won’t be a pain to clean.

With the skillet still over medium-high heat, pour in 1/2 cup of white wine.

The wine will quickly boil and steam, so be quick to scrape all of those little bits off the bottom of the pan. We want all of that flavor to be incorporated into the caramelized pears.

Once it’s reduced a bit and all of the little browned bits have released themselves from the bottom…

…toss in your pears.

Measure out two tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar (you could use regular balsamic as well, but dilute it with a little water as it tends to be more intensely flavored). This super cool measuring shot glass is my new favorite kitchen tool—it makes measuring everything so easy! (Thanks, Jen!)

Pour in the vinegar…

…and add one tablespoon of dijon mustard.

Stir to incorporate and let the pears caramelize and brown for 3-4 minutes.

Oh these smell sooooo good.

Pull the pork out, cover in foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. It will continue to cook a bit.

Did I mention I have a helper in the kitchen? My little lady thinks that my measuring cups and dough hook are fantastic toys.

Those little legs and that cute diaper butt  just crack me up.

When you’re ready to serve, top with the pears and pour a little of the pork pan juices over the top.

I love the flavors of the tangy pears and juicy meat together—sweet and savory combos are my fave.

Oh yeah, baby.

Throw in a vegetable side and you’ve got dinner. I went with sauteed broccoli raab.

When it’s time to carve, pluck those little garlic cloves from the meat. They lend flavor while it’s cooking but they won’t be fully cooked themselves. It’s not a treat to eat raw garlic.

It will be nice and browned around the edges with a light pink center. I don’t worry too much about internal temperature with tenderloin since it’s meant to be served medium. If you’re scared of undercooked meat, leave it in the oven a little longer.

Perfect. I love this dish. Make it for your favorite folks this weekend!

TGIF!

-RDG

Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Balsamic Pears

  • 1-pound pork tenderloin, rinsed and patted dry
  • 6-7 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in 1/2
  • 2 ripe pears
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon oil for browning
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 3/4 cup plus 1/2 cup white wine, divided

Preheat oven to 400F. Using a sharp knife make 1″ slits all over the tenderloin and insert garlic cloves. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet (not non-stick) and place pork in hot pan. Brown for 10 minutes, turning every 60 seconds or so to prevent burning. Remove from heat and place in an 0ven-safe dish. Add 3/4 cup white wine and place in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash, core and dice pears into 1/2″ pieces. Leaving pork skilled over medium-high heat, pour in 1/2 cup white wine. De-glaze by stirring rapidly until all browned bits from the bottom of the pan are incorporated. Add pears, white basalmic vinegar and dijon mustard. Saute until pears are tender and caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove pork from oven, cover in foil, and let rest 10 minutes. While carving, remove garlic cloves. Serve 1/2″ slices with pears and pan juices on top.

Serves 2-3.


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spring fever, with flowers

March 11, 2010 by 4 Comments

No, it’s not the first day of spring yet. But we did have a patch of sun this afternoon and I was able to snap some photos.

Someone tell my yard that it’s still winter. Or don’t—I’d like these beautiful buds to stick around awhile.

Happy spring from my garden to yours!

-RDG

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girl scout cookie cupcakes

March 10, 2010 by 8 Comments

It’s my favorite cookie time of the year. And yes, there are cookie times of year. Don’t fight it. Acceptance is the key that unlocks the door to happiness.

At least that’s what my Chinese horoscope says. Right now Samoas are here. As are Thin Mints. And Tagalongs. And some weird new flavors that nobody wants. But I’ll forgive them their dried-cranberries-in-a-cookie misstep just this once.

I just can’t resist those cute little gals in uniform in front of the grocery store. I’m their best customer, and especially so this year because I decided to take on a baking project involving my all time fave—the aforementioned Samoas. Crunchy cookie covered in chocolate, caramel and toasted coconut? What could be better?

Making it into a cupcake, of course. You could do this with any of your favorite cookies, Girl Scout or non—see my suggestions at the end of this post. To match the flavors of the Samoa, I chose a basic vanilla cupcake and a frosting lightly flavored with coconut.

I now accept that I am ready to begin. So I will.

First we need to get some coconut milk reducing to make it more concentrated.

Pour a can into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for about a half hour. Give it a stir once in a while. It will froth and get really big, but the liquid is really reducing in there.

Meanwhile, grab the basics: flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.

4 eggs. Hippie eggs. I wrote a song about them earlier but I felt it would be inappropriate to share with you.

Unsalted butter. 2 sticks. Cubed.

One cup of whole milk. And I’m definitely not going to share my song about hippie milk with y’all.

Pure vanilla extract. Don’t ever buy imitation vanilla flavoring, pretty please. I will come over and throw it out your window.

And, most importantly? The cookies.

I used two boxes for 24 cupcakes. I accept that there are far too many calories in Samoas alone, let alone in a Samoa cupcake.

Somewhere Jillian Michaels is doing push-ups in her magical trainer castle and plotting what she’ll have in store for me tomorrow.

Stick ‘em in your food processor and pulse away.

Not even close.

Getting closer….

…perfect.

Toss ‘em in a shallow bowl and let’s get ready to make our cupcake batter.

Toss your dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Give it a quick spin on low to combine the powdery stuff.

Throw in your butter…

…and mix just until those little buttery chunks are coated with flour.

Crack your 4 hippie eggs into the milk and add one tablespoon of vanilla.

Mix well.

Add the milk/egg/vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients a third at a time, stopping before each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

One…

two….

…three. It’s alright if it’s a little lumpy. Those little chunks of butter will serve to keep the cupcakes moist.

Now here’s my trick for filling cupcake liners. Grab a big freezer bag and anchor 3 inches of one of the bottom corners under something heavy. Your stand mixer works perfectly for this.

Pour in the batter (I usually hook one edge of the bag onto the little metal thingie that the mixer attachments hook onto. Yes, that is it’s proper name.).

Seal the bag, hold at the corner and cut off the tip. This is for those of us ghetto-fabulous chefs who don’t own pastry bags.

Fill your liners about 1/3 full…

…and then sprinkle on a light layer of the crumbled cookies.

Then squeeze more batter over the top so that the entire thing is about 3/4 full.

Throw into a preheated 325F oven for 17-20 minutes.

By now your coconut milk should be about a quarter of what it once was. It’s also creamy and thick—perfect! Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Ready to make frosting? Combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and reduced coconut milk in your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Mix until light and creamy.

Once the cakes are done, set them on a rack to cool completely before frosting.

I’m fairly certain my cupcake army is plotting to take over my home.

Once they’re cool enough, frost with about 1 tablespoon of frosting each. We’re really using frosting in this case to serve as “glue” for the cookie crumbs—we don’t want to overdo it.

After frosting, give ‘em a light dunk in the cookie crumbles.

Perfect!

I found one stray cookie in the box, so he gets the seat of honor.

Uh oh. Maybe he’s commander of the army. I think I’ve just done myself in.

And, just because I feel like being sued for copyright infringement*, I stuck a purdy little Girl Scout logo on one of these beauties.

*Rainy Day Gal has no affiliation with the Girl Scouts. She admires and respects the organization and hopes that they will not sue her, but instead send her boxes and boxes of cookies.

Alright, let’s get down to it: how did they taste?

Pretty darn good. The cake was moist and a tad on the dense side, with a crunchy little layer of cookie halfway down.

The frosting added to the flavor of the cake, but didn’t overpower the taste of the cookies on top.

I simply loved the texture: crunch is always good.

These cakes are not for the faint of heart, however—they are incredibly rich. I would make two Girl Scouts share one.

A chaser of milk is definitely in order.

I now accept that this post has come to an end. But before you go here are some ideas I have for making cupcakes using other flavors of GS Cooks (that’s my new nickname for them. Go with it.):

I hope you’re enjoying Girl Scout cookie season as much as I am! Well, who am I kidding—I don’t think anyone enjoys Girl Scout cookie season as much as I do.

Have a totes fab wed, y’all.

-RDG

Samoa Cupcakes

  • One batch Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake batter
  • 2 boxes Samoas cookies, pulsed in a food processor until crumbly
  • One batch Slightly Coconut Frosting (see below)

Preheat oven to 325F. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full of batter. Sprinkle a light layer of cookie crumbs on top of batter. Pour the remaining batter on top until liners are about 3/4 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once cool, spread one tablespoon of frosting on top and then lightly press frosted side of cupcake into cookie crumbs. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Slightly Coconut Frosting

  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Pour coconut milk into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 75%. Let cool. Combine 4 tablespoons of the reduced coconut milk and remaining ingredients and beat until light and creamy. Refrigerate any unused frosting.

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