The Baking Duet

Drumroll please!

bettaphish — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:08:00 -0500

Announcing the winners of our chai contest!

Congratulations to jewelsy for winning first place with her fabulous Sweet and Savory Spiced Chicken! We thought it was a unique recipe and embodied exactly what the contest is about. She wins 0.8 ounces of Chai tea, her choice of a Pier 1 mug, and a tea infuser/strainer.

Second place goes to tinytuna and her recipe for Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa! The presentation was wonderful and it fits so great with the season. She wins 0.8 ounces of Chai tea and a tea infuser/strainer.

Thank you for your entries guys! Over the next few days, we’re going to try out your recipes and feature them on the blog. Keep a lookout!

3 weeks left to submit your chai contest entries!

nickelflowers — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:35:00 -0400

We’ve only gotten two entrants so far. Let’s get crackin’!

See the contest rules here.

On the other hand, we have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is that, after the contest is over and we choose our winners, we’re going to take a temporary hiatus. We have been way too busy with school to post anything decent for you guys, and we prefer to deliver some quality stuff for you to see.

The good news is, before we go, we’re going to write one last post for Home-Made Helpings, which we’ll share here as well. We always think of you guys, don’t we?

Love you all!

Guys, look how cute! Our good friend Isai made us a little...

nickelflowers — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:26:00 -0400

Guys, look how cute!

Our good friend Isai made us a little animation for our chai tea contest. Isn’t it absolutely adorable?

So that being said, we’re extending the contest until the end of October. We feel this will give everyone more than enough time to create something amazing.

Check out the new contest dates here and make sure to subscribe to Isai’s YouTube channel to see even more animations.

Chai tea breakfast rollsChai-inspired contest submission #1...

jewelsy — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:26:00 -0400

Chai tea breakfast rolls
Chai-inspired contest submission #1 from Jewelsy

[Recipe].

Sweet and savory spiced chicken with caramelized garlic and...

jewelsy — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:26:00 -0400

Sweet and savory spiced chicken with caramelized garlic and onions
Chai-inspired contest submission #1 from Jewelsy

[Recipe].

So, there is this contest on Facebook involving Hass Avocados... I honestly think you two should enter your bean and avocado brownie recipe. ;-;

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:59:57 -0400

Could you send us a link please? We’d love to enter!

Pumpkin Spice Hot CocoaChai-inspired contest submission from...

tinytuna — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:43:00 -0400

Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa
Chai-inspired contest submission from tinytuna

Pumpkin spice syrup

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Over low heat, bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to keep the sugar from burning.Simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved and the pumpkin is fully mixed into the syrup. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to an airtight container. Refrigerate and use within 3 weeks.

Now for the hot chocolate …
Melt good dark chocolate over a double boiler until smooth and lucious, remove from the heat and pour in full fat milk (or skim, your choice) and blend until it’s still viscous (between heavy cream and pudding in consistency) Add a pinch of salt!
Add pumpkin spice syrup to your taste and top off with a nice big swirl of whipped cream (homemade and lightly sweetened)

You can do a chilled version as well, just blend everything cool with ice and you’re good to go!
Enjoy on these chilly autumn days!

www.Adventuressheart.com

To invite the fall weather, I wanted to change it up this Tea...

nickelflowers — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:10:00 -0400

To invite the fall weather, I wanted to change it up this Tea Time Tuesday by presenting you guys a contest.

Thinking of you, we went ahead and bought some loose leaf chai tea and small trinkets for you to enjoy. If you win, we’ll send you a sample pouch of tea (enough to make 8-10 servings) and other tea-making supplies.

Here’s how it goes:

Make any food item you want using at least 3 typical chai tea ingredients: black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, vanilla, and black pepper.
Take a nice, clean photo and invest time into your presentation. It doesn’t matter if you have a DSLR or a camera phone. Just make the food look edible. (Here are some food photography tips via Vegan Yum Yum).
Submit your entries here. Be sure to include (a) at least one photo, (b) your three chai ingredients, (c) your own recipe, and (d) the story behind your idea. Optionally, you can link us to your food blog or professional site if you have one. We will post these publicly once you submit.
We will be judging on creativity. Make something that has never been done before and try not to adapt recipes. We want to see what you can create.
Submissions close on Monday, October 31. Winners will be announced on Friday, November 4.

Winners and prizes:

There will be three winners for this contest. Natalie and I will recreate all three of the winners’ recipes and feature them on the blog, then evaluate their rankings.

First prize: 0.8 oz chai tea, your choice Pier 1 mug, and tea infuser/strainer.
Second prize: 0.8 oz chai tea and tea infuser/strainer.
Third prize: 0.8 oz chai tea.

Make sure to reblog this and let your friends know about the contest!

P.S. If you have any questions, aim ‘em here.

Rosemary Sweet Potato Bread (Vegan) Without even realizing it...

nickelflowers — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:54:00 -0400

Rosemary Sweet Potato Bread (Vegan)

Without even realizing it while I was making it, this dish is both earthy/Thanksgiving-y and has bananas in it, satisfying both of our most recent Suggestion Friday requests.

This is a vegan rosemary sweet potato bread, completely invented by yours truly. No eggs, no margarine or oil, no sweeteners. I wanted to create something warm and chunky for the cold weather that’s to come, yet healthy and lively. I heavily adapted my own vegan banana bread recipe and replaced most of it with sweet potato and herbs. Like I said, there is absolutely no added sugar—the sweetness of the rosemary potato with the added bananas really take control of this savory bread.

I’m proud of the way this came out and I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did! Once it cooled, I wrapped it up in tin foil and I’ve been gobbling it up for breakfast with my tea/coffee all week. And if you don’t like sweet potato, I’m sure you can substitute this with pumpkin, or even butternut squash. Yummm.

[Recipe].

I want to start with saying this is neither earthy, or has...

bettaphish — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:25:04 -0400

I want to start with saying this is neither earthy, or has bananas in it. These came about last Saturday afternoon, when I was hungry and felt the need for something fried but not utterly unhealthy, and I started rummaging around the plastic tubs of food to be found in my dorm room. And what did I find? Something fishy.

Tuna. I had about seven cans of it, for some odd reason. So what do you do with seven cans of tuna? Well, you fry them up and make tuna cakes, obviously!

THIS was the recipe I used, altering it slightly, of course. Mostly in portion size, but also in ingredients. I’m not too fond of spicy things, and tuna and jalapeno peppers didn’t sound tasty to me, so I replaced those with green onions. The product? DELICIOUS, and fast and simple too. Sure, the bubbling olive oil was a little but of a safety hazard, but hey, if you don’t try new things and tricks, you won’t grow.

opaldragon answered your question: Suggestion Friday! Something earthy maybe for the fall season?...

nickelflowers — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:19:00 -0400

opaldragon answered your question: Suggestion Friday!

Something earthy maybe for the fall season? Like thanksgiving-esque?

mychemicallydependent answered your question: Suggestion Friday!

something with B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Here we have it then. We’ll put our brains together and come up with a few things for our two lovely suggesters.

Suggestion Friday!

nickelflowers — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:15:00 -0400

Here it is again. It’s our second one and we’re hoping for tons more feedback. Reblog this for maximum impact.

So what do you want us to cook this month?

It’s been a while, but guess what? It’s Tea Time...

nickelflowers — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:32:00 -0400

It’s been a while, but guess what? It’s Tea Time Tuesday again!

With my ever-growing herb collection, I’ve already been able to harvest some basil leaves and make some tea.

If you’ve never had basil tea, you should know that, since basil is in the mint family, drinking this herbal goodness is beneficial to stomach aches and your overall digestion.

The process is as simple as making any tea: you’ll need leaves, a strainer, and some hot water. Put a good handful of leaves in a strainer (I don’t really measure, honestly) and rest it on top of a large glass bowl. Pour enough hot water to cover the leaves and let steep for 5 minutes or until you get the strength of tea you want. Serve hot or cold. And most of all, enjoy!

ETA: By “hot”, I mean boiled.

This was done before I left to college, as my parting gift to my...

bettaphish — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:05:00 -0400

This was done before I left to college, as my parting gift to my family. It’s nothing special, just a chocolate cake. What is rather comical about it is I used a donut-shaped mold to make it that a friend gave me for my birthday. This one to be specific.

Another thing is the frosting. To those of you that don’t know, frosting, when heated, becomes thin but still viscous, like a glaze. I heated vanilla frosting in the microwave (in a microwave safe bowl, of course), and drizzled it over my giant donut. It seeped into the pores of the cake really well, penetrating the chocolate with hints of creamy vanilla. So, if you ever want to fancy up a cake or cupcakes, I would try this neat little technique.

Fall is arriving and I don’t know what to do with myself!...

nickelflowers — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:10:06 -0400

Fall is arriving and I don’t know what to do with myself! What do you mean summer is over?! I was just sunbathing on the beach last week!

Well, as seasons change, so do diets. Colder weather means heartier meals and warm, earthy flavors. Since it’s not exactly autumn yet, I decided to make a transitional snack to keep your tummy full and your mind back to the books.

Why not kick it off with everyone’s favorite healthy nut? Almonds!

Here are some scrumptious sweet & savory almond clusters. Using homemade roasted almonds, sweet coconut, and caramel, how can you resist making them? This nutty snack has earthy flavors with a chewy tropical twist.

Note: If you don’t like almonds, ~~how dare you!~~ this would also taste good with nearly any other type of nut.

[Recipe].

P.S. We just hit 50 followers! We’re so elated about this. Just keep reblogging and share the love. :)

Newsletter issues

nickelflowers — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:30:00 -0400

A few people have been having problems signing up for our newsletter. You should get a confirmation email once you sign up. If not, be sure to check your spam folder.

If you still haven’t received the email, and it’s not in spam, give us your name & email address via ask box and we’ll manually add you to the list.

Being back in college means a few things, one of those being...

bettaphish — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:19:00 -0400

Being back in college means a few things, one of those being sharing what little ingredients there are between you and your dormmates and making a meal out of it. This was one of those times. Taking pasta, sauce, chicken, spinach, tomatoes, bread, and cheese between us, my girls and I came up with the above dinner.

It may not look like much, but it was quite tasty. The bread was just a spur of the moment thing; sourdough topped with garlic powder, tomatoes, and cheese. And we made enough to feed seven people, so it was overall a very nice ‘welcome back’ dinner.

As a note, from this point on, even if my posts are sporadic, I intend to document and show how eating in college doesn’t have to be all about ramen cups and pizza. My friends and I try to make our cooking as healthy as possible, so I will be posting some of their creations as well. Hope you enjoy it!

Remember that photo of an avocado and black beans I posted on...

nickelflowers — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:17:00 -0400

Remember that photo of an avocado and black beans I posted on Thursday? Believe it or not, this is the product of those two ingredients (with a few more added in).

When I saw Cara’s recipe for black bean and avocado brownies, I knew I had to make them right off the bat. That is exactly what The Baking Duet is all about: experimentation and surprises. It also helped that the main ingredients are very readily available in South Florida…and our posts have been very Cuban-based lately. Did you notice that?

They tasted good, but they weren’t perfect. (Pictured above is the result of trying the recipe three times—the first two came out flat as a pancake).

I want to put my own twist on it and see if I can reduce the amount of white sugar in the recipe while maintaining that chocolate taste. I already have a few ideas up my sleeve. So keep in tune!

Note: Whatever you do, don’t use Cuban style black beans. I made the mistake of using that can in Thursday’s photo, but it’s seasoned with herbs and the taste will come out in the brownies. Sorry! Just use a can of Goya beans.

Dear good people of the internet, You will never guess what I...

nickelflowers — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:17:24 -0400

Dear good people of the internet,

You will never guess what I made today using these two classic Miami ingredients. This is some sneaky Iron Chef stuff right here. And it’s 100% vegan/gluten free.

If you know what it is already, don’t spoil it for anyone else! ;) I’ll get it posted as soon as I can…I’m still waiting for it to cool so I can photograph it before the sun goes down. Otherwise I’ll snap some pictures tomorrow morning before work.

P.S. Add us on Google+ and Twitter! Don’t forget about our newsletter too (I’ll pester you about it until you sign up, you know).

I’m leaving to go back to college next Thursday, so this...

bettaphish — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:38:06 -0400

I’m leaving to go back to college next Thursday, so this past weekend has been all about seeing my extended but close-knit family and saying my goodbyes. Today, I paid a visit to my great aunt, who very kindly made an AMAZING lunch for us. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share of her chicken fried to perfection, of her tostones, or even of her anise-drizzled bunuelos we had for dessert.

All I have is words to describe, and even then I don’t think I can do it justice. So, instead of trying to do that, I’ll point you in the right direction for some VERY tasty latin foods, and allow you to find out just what I was drooling over earlier today.

First up is tostones, which are essentially fried plantains. They can be eaten various ways, with dipping sauces and different toppings and what not, but I like them best with just some salt sprinkled on top. This recipe looks closest to what my aunt did.

Secondly, bunuelos are a very light, airy, crisp doughnut-like pastry. Usually, they’re made during the holidays, and Cuban bunuelos are made with starchy vegetables like yucca and malanga, but my aunt used a recipe that is more similar to that the Jewish community uses around Hanukkah, like this one.

I hope that these recipes got you guys hungry and raring to try it yourself!

Credit for the above image goes to this website