The Long Summer Caprese Bites

Tomato, Mozzarella, and Fresh Basil Bites with Balsalmic Vinegar

The Long Summer is finally drawing to a close, and that means that winter is coming. Hear at Cook's Landing, the long lunch seems to be winding up as well. And we all know what that means, dinner is coming. We're about to enter fall, or what we like to call "that awkward phase before dinner when you fill up on appetizers". 

So today we bring you Caprese Bites - the perfect, light appetizer for your pre-dinner treat.

You'll need:

Fresh basil leaves

Cherry tomatoes

Mozzarella cheese

Salt

Pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Toothpicks

Step 1: Cut the cheese into cubes. Put one cherry tomato, half a basil leaf, and one cube of cheese on each toothpick. I like to heat mine up in the oven so the cheese is warm. If you like it warm, preheat the oven to broil and place your bites on a pan. Let them sit in the oven for no longer than 1 minute so the cheese isn't too melted. 

Step 2: Sprinkle salt and pepper over your bites and then drizzle balsamic vinegar on top. I like to keep extra vinegar in a bowl with salt and pepper in it to dip the bites in.

And that's the whole process. An easy and delicious appetizer that anyone can make. Enjoy!

Baratheon Bread: Lemon and Poppy Seed Bread

With the gold and black colors of the House Baratheon of Westeros in mind (and Stannis' rather sour personality), today we're bringing you our own Baratheon Bread! This delicious lemon and poppy seed bread is both sweet and tangy. It's light quality makes it a perfect snack, breakfast, or dessert! It's versatile like that.

Lemon and Poppyseed Bread Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes, bake time: 50-55 minutes
Serves: 10-12
Difficulty: Easy

Bread Ingredients

11/2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 large eggs
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of olive oil
2 tsp of lemon zest (grated lemon peal)
1 tbsp of poppy seeds

Lemon Syrup Ingredients

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice


Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º

Step 2: Mix sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl.

Step 3: Place the eggs, olive oil, evaporated milk, and lemon zest in a bowl and beat until thoroughly mixed.

Step 4: Pour the mixture from Step 3 over the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed. Once mixed, fold in the tablespoon of poppy seeds and stir until fully mixed in.

Step 5: Pour the batter into a greased 4 x 8 and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Step 6: While the bread is baking, combine the lemon juice and sugar for the lemon syrup in a saucepan and cook over a medium to low heat until the sugar has fully disolved and has turned to a light syrup.

Step 7: Once the bread has finished, check to make certain it is baked through by poking a long wooden toothpick into it to see if it comes out clean or gooey. If it comes out gooey, give it a few more minutes to finish baking. If it comes out clean, poke lots of holes throughout the top of the bread and slowly pour the lemon syrup over it.

Step 8: Allow about 10 minutes to cool in the pan, then remove and allow another 10 minutes on a plate. Once it's cool, simply slice and enjoy!

Mother of Dragons! Guacamole

Sometimes you learn the hard way that walking through fire doesn't always turn eggs into dragons. It's disappointing but true. Even the mother of dragons had to learn this the hard way. 

The question is: what do you do with the egg? If you're anything like us, you turn it into delicious guacamole. Our guacamole recipe is fast, easy, and tastes excellent. Keeping it simple makes for a tastier guacamole that anyone can make. In no time at all you can turn that dud dragon egg into spicy dip that your whole army will envy. 

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 avocados (squishy is better)
• 1 roma tomato
• 15 fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 - 1 (depending on how spicy you like it) medium-sized jalapeño
• Juice from two fresh limes
• Onion powder - ½ tsp
• Garlic salt – ½ tsp
• Table salt – ½ tsp
• Finely ground red pepper - ¼ tsp

Step 1: Don't peel the avocado. Simply start at the stem and cut all the way around the pit until it is sliced in half. Remove the pit. Cut the avocado into a grid while still in the peel and then squeeze each half into the a medium sized mixing bowl. Do this to all three avocados.

Step 2: Chop the roma tomato and add it to the bowl.

Step 3: Finely chop or tear the cilantro leaves and put them in the bowl.

Step 4: Very finely chop the jalapeño (either half or whole, depending on level of spice you want). Make sure to chop it into very small pieces (you don't want to take a bite with a big piece of jalapeño in it). Add to the bowl.

Step 5: Add all spices to the mix. Add lime juice.

Step 6: Don't stir this with a spoon. Take the knife you used to chop the ingredients and cut through the mixture. Cut all the way through the mixture until the larger pieces of avocado are chopped and then stir using the knife. This will keep the guacamole from becoming too mushy when you stir. The guac will taste better if it’s not too finely mashed. If you cut through the mixture, it will leave pieces of avocado - which provides a much nicer taste and texture.

Step 7: Taste it. Add salt or lime juice as needed. Serve with corn chips. Or if you want a healthier and tasty option, try sweet potato chips instead.

Enjoy your dip, and next week we'll show you how to make a spicy chicken to go along with your guacamole.

Khalee-C-Cupcakes: Heart-Shaped Red Velvet Cake

Caramel Flavored Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Peppermint Garnish

As we watched Daenerys Targaryan muscle her way past the gag reflex and choke down a raw horse heart during the first season of Game of Thrones, we thought to ourselves, "OMG, cupcakes!!" Yes, you read that correctly: cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, mind you, but red velvet cupcakes with delicious whipped cream frosting and peppermint pieces all in a sweet little heart shape--a nod to Daenerys' suffering. 

Unfortunately, one amongst our number isn't such a fan of red velvet cake and handles eating cupcakes made with it about like Daenarys handled the horse heart...

If you're still with us--which you should be, because these bad boys are tasty--then let's get to baking!

Ingredients:

 Red velvet cupcakes (recipe here) 

 6 ounces of caramel ice cream topping

14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

 red food coloring

 peppermint candies

Step 1: Start out by prepping your favorite red velvet cupcake recipe. Here’s a good one from drool factor, but if

you’re more comfortable making it from the box than from scratch, that’s fine too. 

Step 2: I’m using a Wilton heart-shaped cupcake pan. If you don’t have or want to buy a heart-shaped pan, you can either make regular round cupcakes, or there are a couple of simple tricks you can follow to get heart-shaped cupcakes.

•        One is the place a marble between the cupcake filter and the inside of the pan. This created the top of the heart.
•         The second option is to bake your cake batter in a large flat pan and either cut out the heart shapes or use a cookie cutter.

Step 3: Use whichever shaping method you’ve chosen above and bake your cupcakes.

Step 4: While the cupcakes are in the oven, it’s time to prep the caramel and sweetened-condensed milk.  Combine the milk and caramel in a saucepan and stir. The mixture should be warm and easy to pour. Don't let the mixture become too hot and burn the caramel and milk.

Step 5: When the cupcakes are done let them cool for five minutes. Then take a knife and cut slits in the top of the cupcakes. Make sure not to cut to the bottom.

Step 6: Slowly pour the caramel and milk mixture over the slits in the cupcakes. I like to use a big spoon for this, but make sure not to pour too quickly. You want the cake to absorb the mixture.

  

Step 7: Prep the whip topping.

•           Pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream into a bowl. Mix until soft peaks form.
•           Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 tbsp of confectioner’s sugar, and a few drops of red food coloring
•          Beat until soft peaks form

Step 8: Put the whip topping on the cupcakes. To get a great look, put the topping into a piping bag and use a star-tip. I used a 1M star tip (which is quite large) to get a good icing look.

Step 9: Crush peppermints. This is easiest if you put the mints into a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Once crushed, garnish the top of the cupcakes with the peppermints. Don’t like peppermint? Any chocolate or hard-candy will work and will add a great flavor.

Crushed peppermints sprinkled on the cupcakes

The sweet red velvet cupcakes with sprinkles of peppermint all around 

...take a bite and enjoy! 

A Game of Scones

When you play the game of scones, you win or you die.  There is no middle ground.

Inspired by the books "A Song of Ice and Fire" and the HBO series "A Game of Thrones," we bring you a culinary twist for your imagination: A Song of Spice and Fire. 

Together through the bond of sisterhood, but separate through differences in age and physical distances, we five sisters of the House Cook have joined our forces to create this adventure in the world of cooking. Every few days we will share recipes, decor and tools for your kitchen, and a healthy heaping of humor to lighten your day. Because days need lightening. Lunch has been long and comfortable and monotonous ... but, my friends, dinner is coming. 

A Game of Scones

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Whether you prefer the bitter-sweet crimson of cranberries, the sugar-capped goodness of chocolate chips, or the tang of cinnamon-covered raisins, these scones will suit your palette. But once you pick, you can never go back. Choose your side. Are you brave enough to play the game of scones?

Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes

Makes 36 scones

Ingredients: 

4 cups of flour

½ cup of sugar

4 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of salt

½ cup of soft butter or margarine

1 ½ cup buttermilk

1 cup craisins (dried cranberries), chocolate chips, or raisins     

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F
2. Next, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt
3. Cut in your soft butter or margarine (Tip: Grate the butter and then fold it gently into the dry ingredients for easier mixing)

4. Slowly pour in the buttermilk while stirring. Still too dry and not mixing well? Feel free to add a tiny splash or two more of buttermilk.

5. Knead the dough together then divide into three equal sized balls.

6. Clear a large space and cover in flour.

7. Roll out the first ball of dough and lay craisins across it. Gently press them into the dough. Then roll the dough up, with the craisins inside. Knead again. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness.

8. Cut using a cup or something else round with at least a 4-inch diameter (We use the lid of a Lemonade powder container. It’s a great upcycle that works perfectly). Using a table knife, cut the circles into quarters – this is easiest if you dip the knife in flour first.

9. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and lay the scones on it. Lightly brush with milk and sprinkle each scone with a little sugar.

10. Place baking sheet in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are golden brown.

11. Repeat steps 7-11 for raisins and chocolate chips.


For a gorgeous and tasty finishing touch, after baking, sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the raisin scones, or powdered sugar over the chocolate chip scones. 

To make the cinnamon sugar, make a simple mixture that's 1 part cinnamon and 4 parts sugar. Stir it up and dust it on.



This recipe makes quite a few scones. You may surprised how many. There’s so many, you can even throw them at each other!

 Let the games begin…