summer recipes Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on July 1, 2014

Well, it is officially the week of Fourth of July and you know what that means..S’more season is here! What is better then (or equal to a s’more,) but a S’more Chocolate Chip Cookie combination.

The boyfriend and I have a bit of an obsession with chocolate chip cookies. I feel like we haven’t baked much of anything else this year except for white sandwich bread and chocolate chip cookies. My boyfriend has become a chocolate chip cookie baking-pro over here. While he was gone today, I decided to make a new cookie recipe. We had this bakery near our old house in New Jersey that sold really good cupcakes and cookies. They had the most amazing S’more Cookies and ever since then I have been trying to recreate them. This recipe is pretty darn close!

One Thanksgiving, my mom was making Martha Stewart’s recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole and asked me to cut up large marshmallows to put on top because that is what the recipe called for. We joked that maybe Martha didn’t realize they made mini marshmallows. This particular cookie recipe calls for mini marshmallows, which of course I forgot at the grocery store. Luckily, I had large marshmallows and got to cut them up like old times!

S'more Cookies

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1¼ cup AP flour
1 cup graham crackers crumbs
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup milk chocolate chips
3-4 Hershey Bars broken into squares
1 cup of mini marshmallows or large marshmallows cut up

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and then add both sugars. Once mixed, add in egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, and baking soda.
Add the dry mix into the wet mixture, scraping down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.
Mix in chocolate chips (not the Hershey's squares yet.)
Scoop the cookie dough into 24 balls and spread out on two cookie sheets lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Bake one tray at a time for 8 minutes, take out of the oven, closing the oven door so you do not lose heat. Press marshmallows and Hershey's squares into the top of the cookies (I did 1-2 squares and then 3-4 marshmallows in each cookies). Put tray back in the oven and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes. Repeat for second tray.
Let cookies cool for 5-10 minutes and then move to cooling tray. Store in an airtight container.

Source- Adapted from Carl’s Bad Cravings Blog

Looking for more S’more desserts? Try these:

S’more Ice Cream

Raspberry Truffle S’mores

Frozen Cupcakes S’mores

Posted by Meaghan Barry on July 17, 2013

caprese pasta salad

I’ve been too caught up in newborn/toddlerland to post for the past few weeks, but I’ve finally decided to hop back on the blogging train. I haven’t been cooking too much lately as we’ve also been fortunate to have had a lot of meals brought to us each evening. Baby N is pretty relaxed during the day, but things get a bit chaotic around dinnertime each night with him and T. Yesterday, I had big plans to make this caprese pasta salad right after lunch today while both boys were sleeping. However, T fought his nap big time, N woke up earlier than expected, and I spent any downtime I had trying to make our house look a little less like a scene from Hoarders.

I finally got a chance to start making this caprese pasta salad around 5 last night, but didn’t get a chance to start taking photos until 7 and I was losing natural light fast. Baby N was a bit fussy so I had him in the Moby wrap while I was photographing. Hence, these are not the most stylized or perfectly lit/focused photos. But, I promise what my photos lack, this recipe makes up for in taste!

caprese pasta salad

This recipe combines two of my favorite types of summer salads: a good pasta salad made with fusilli and a caprese salad. I love the bright flavor that the white balsamic vinegar brings to this recipe as well. While I was making it, I was a bit concerned about using a half a cup of vinegar, but I think this is the ingredient that really makes this recipe shine. This caprese pasta salad would be a delicious summer dish on its own or served on a side with a piece of grilled chicken or steak.

Caprese Pasta Salad

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Ingredients

4 cups fresh basil leaves
1 pound fusilli pasta
½ cup white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, chopped into bite size pieces (you could also use small mozzarella balls)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used a combination of the two)
2 tablespoons capers, drained

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath in a separate bowl Once water is boiling, blanche basil leaves for 30 seconds. Once they turn bright green, use a slotted spoon to add them to the ice bath. Drain well, squeezing out any excess liquid. Add basil to the bowl of a food processor.
Using the same pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water until cool. Add drained pasta to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, in the food processor, add the vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper to the basil. Process for a few seconds. Continue to process and drizzle in the olive oil slowly through the top of the food processor until fully combined.
Pour dressing over the top of the pasta. Add mozzarella, tomatoes, and capers. Stir together all ingredients until fully combines. Can be served immediately or refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Source: Slightly adapted from Love and Olive Oil

sister m signature

P.S. Happy, happy birthday to my favorite co‐blogger of all time! That glass of rosé is for you!

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on July 2, 2013

Although I love a chilled glass of rosé in the summer and the occasional icy cocktail, sometimes I love a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. My favorite summer drink is to mix lemonade with iced tea and make what I call a half ‘n half, but it is also known as an Arnold Palmer.

When I was in high school, I worked at the New York State Fair for the two weeks it ran every year in Syracuse. It was a great way to make extra cash to buy my back‐to‐school clothes. I worked for a fried dough place that also owned lemonade stands. The lemonade stands were in the shape of a lemon sliced in half and then propped open. I would always work in the lemon which was fun because I got to people‐watch and drink lemonades. The occasional fried dough also helped. Whenever I drink fresh lemonades, it reminds me of when I worked in the lemon.

The recipe for lemonade is pretty basic; lemon juice, sugar, water and ice. In this recipe I use super fine sugar because it dissolves easier than regular granulated sugar. This sugar is found in most grocery stores. If you can’t find it you can use regular sugar…you may just have to stir it a little longer. I give a range for the amount of sugar because it is based on personal preference. My lemons were very tart so I used the full 3/4 cups of sugar. I used my hand lemon squeezer which works very well for juicing. This recipe can be halved or double based on your crowd size.

Serve a pitcher this week at your Fourth of July party with a pitcher of ice tea! You could also use this recipe to make Arnold Palmer popsicles or basil lemonade.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

1 cup of lemon juice, from 4-5 lemons
½-3/4 cup of super fine sugar
4 cups cold water
1 cup ice
lemon slices, for garnish

Instructions

In a large pitcher add all ingredients and stir vigorously until all the sugar is dissolved. Serve with additional ice if needed.

Source- Adapted from Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on July 1, 2013

Pistachio Ice Cream

I finally indulged in a KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment for my mixer the other weekend. I was planning to wait for my birthday that is in a few weeks, but I found a really great deal on one that I could not say no to. It was extremely difficult to decide on what flavor ice cream I wanted to create first. I read through lists and lists of flavors as my boyfriend and I drove to the grocery store. My favorite type of hard ice cream is chocolate with peanut butter swirl, which we happened to have a pint of in the freezer. We decided to go my boyfriend’s favorite flavor, pistachio nut.

I found an awesome recipe online and picked up the ingredients while we were grocery shopping. I was able to find shelled pistachios which only came in salted. I rinsed the salt off of the 1 and 1/3 cups of pistachios that were going to soak in the milk/cream mixture and then baked them for 5 minutes in the oven to dry them out. I kept the other pistachios that were added to the ice cream salted and it seemed to work out perfectly. I added a small amount of green dye to the ice cream to make it looks like the classic pistachio ice cream. This is optional of course.

The custard tasted like delicious pistachio ice cream right away so we anxiously waited for it to chill, churn into ice cream and then freeze all the way in the freezer. When we finally got to taste the end results, it was awesome! I was very impressed with my first ice cream making experience. I am not over-exaggerating when I say thi,s but it was the best pistachio ice cream I had ever tasted!

Homemade Ice Cream

Pistachio Ice Cream

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

1⅓ cups shelled roasted pistachio nuts
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
Green food coloring
¾ cups pistachios, roughly chopped

Instructions

If your pistachios are salted- follow this first step. Rinse 1⅓ cup of pistachios with water in a colander. Dry nuts on a towel and spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment papers. Place in oven heated to 350 degree and place in the over for five minutes to dry.
Add nuts to a food processor and grind into small pieces. Set aside.
In a medium sauce pan; add milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream, and salt. Heat on medium-low heat until warmed. Take off heat and stir in ground pistachios. Let soak for 30 minutes.
Strain the nut mixture liquid with a mesh strainer, apply pressure to the nuts to make sure all the liquid comes out. Dispose the nuts and add milk mixture back into sauce pan.
In a large heat proof bowl add the remaining 1 cup of cream to bowl and place cleaned mesh strainer on top.
In a medium sized bowl beat 6 egg yolks with a whisk. Slowly whisk egg yolks into sauce pan with milk mixture. Heat mixture over medium heat stirring the entire time with a heat proof rubber spatula. Stir until the custard thickens and easily coats the spatula.
Pour the custard through the strainer into the cream in the large bowl. Stir to combine.
Mix in the vanilla and almond extract into custard.
Add custard to an air-tight container and refrigerate until completely chilled.
Add chilled custard to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once ice cream is churned add in green food coloring, adding a few drops at first and working up to the green color you prefer (this is optional, it does not add to the flavor.)
Gently stir in roughly chopped pistachios and place back into an airtight container. Freeze for an addition 3-4 hours until complete frozen. Serve and enjoy!

Bowl of Pistachio Ice Cream

Source: slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

sisterk (2)

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on June 23, 2013

The other week, my boyfriend and I were craving the Chicago-style hot dogs that we experienced on our first trip to Chicago a few months ago. We were reading recipes online and I found a recipe for homemade hot dog buns. I got really excited about this because I have been wanting to make my own hot dog roll for some time now. Also, I could easily make these homemade buns into some poppy seed buns that are required for Chicago hot dogs.

Although the hot dog bun recipe has poppy seeds on them, you can make these plain by skipping the topping instructions. Bread-making wise, these are really easy to make and you won’t believe how good they taste! Make them now and put them in the freezer for your Fourth of July party. Your friends and family will be super impressed when you say “ Yeah I made these, no biggy!” (yes I totally just made up this scenario, but it could happen!)

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cups warm milk
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
3 cups (plus more if needed) all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 tbsp. of cold water
2 tbsp. poppy seeds (optional)

Instructions

In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let the yeast mixture sit for 5 minutes. It should get foamy.
Add in warm milk, vegetable oil, salt and 1 &1/2 cup of the flour to the yeast mixture. Mix on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Switch to the dough hook attachment and turn mixer onto low. Work in additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough come together and pulls away from sides of the bowl.
Let the mixer go to 8-10 minutes on low to knead the dough.
Oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball and place into the oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. It should double in size.
Ones the dough has risen, punch out the dough on to slightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 8-10 equal sized balls. (I used my kitchen scale and measured the dough to divide it. I also made 8 rolls and they were a little big for normal sized hot dogs.)
Roll the dough balls into long rolls in your hands. You will want them to be about 4 and ½ inches long, then flatten each slightly with your palm.
If using topping, sprinkle baking sheet with poppy seeds and lightly roll each dough piece in poppy seeds.
Place the rolls on baking sheet so that they are equally spread out. Cover with towel and let rest for about 45 minutes.
When there is 15 minutes left to the dough resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk together the egg and water in a small bowl to prepare egg wash. Brush the top of each roll with the egg wash and sprinkle each with poppy seeds (if using.)
Place the roll in the oven and bake the rolls for 20 minutes. The roll will be lightly golden brown when done. Remove from baking sheet and let cool on wire rack
When ready to serve rolls, slice lengthwise pulling the knife only ⅔ the way through, leaving other side closed. Store in airtight bag or container.

Source– Adapted slightly from Curvy Carrot

Recipe for Chicago-style hot dogs to come!

Mmmmmm….

Posted by Meaghan Barry on June 19, 2013

Herbed Potato Salad (from 2 Sisters 2 Cities)

I recently came across this recipe for Herbed Potato Salad in a recent copy of Better Homes & Gardens. While I am not one to be craving potato salad on a daily basis, I certainly appreciate it’s place as a summer side whenever we make grilled chicken, hot dogs, or hamburgers. I tend to associate potato salad with tons of creamy mayonnaise. I was very surprised how much delicious flavor this recipe had considering the relatively small amount of mayonnaise and sour cream it used. I have definitely been eating it by the spoonful before the serving bowl even hits the dinner table.

Another thing I really like about this recipe is that the method for steaming the potatoes is pretty much foolproof. I am a chronic potato under‐cookerer (yes spellcheck, I realize cookerer is not a word, but it should be.) Nothing is worse than biting into a rock hard potato center…yuck! However, they have come out perfectly done every time using this steaming method.

Bowl of Herbed Potato Salad

I have already made this Herbed Potato Salad several times this spring and I’m sure it will be making it’s way to our dinner table many more times this summer. It’s tastes even better the next day (that is, if there is any leftover!) I also love that it uses a relatively small amount of fresh herbs so that I can use my container garden supply. I’m certainly not yielding any pesto‐sized crops yet so it’s nice to be able to use my my own herbs in recipes that call for a scant amount.

Herbed Potato Salad

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

3 pounds small red potatoes, washed, unpeeled, and cut into 1‐inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra‐virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1‐2 tablespoon(s) fresh herbs (I have been using a combination of chives, thyme, and oregano)
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (regular or light)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon celery seed

Instructions

To prepare potatoes, boil a large pot of water and place a steamer basket just above the water line. Once the water is simmering, add the potatoes to basket. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Allow potatoes to steam for 18‐20 minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool down a bit.
In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Add the cooled potatoes and stir to combine. You can serve immediately or place in the fridge to be served at a later time.

Source: Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, June 2013

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on May 23, 2013

Before K and I start delving into a whole new season of summer recipes, we wanted to share a few of our favorites from the 2S2C archives. With Memorial Day weekend coming up (seriously people, I’m pretty concerned about what just happened to the entire month of May- eek!), I have been starting to plan my menu for the holiday weekend. If you are looking for even more Memorial Day menu ideas, be sure to check out our Memorial Day Weekend and Fourth of July menu round-ups from last year. In addition, K’s post about our Fourth of July family reunion party from last year is chock-full of patriotic menu and decoration ideas. I really want to make her DIY Patriotic Pennant Banner to have on hand for all the patriotic holidays!

Even though the weather forecast is looking pretty lousy for the Boston area this weekend, I’m still hoping to do a lot of grilling. In addition, we are going to have our first lobster night of the summer- can’t wait! I’m also going to try to make some of the 10 summer recipes shown below.

10 Memorial Day Menu Ideas

Salt Potatoes: an upstate NY summer tradition

Baked Beans: a great side dish for summer cook-outs

Greek Pasta Salad: the perfect side for hot dogs and hamburgers

Orzo and Spinach Salad with Lemon-Cranberry Vinaigrette: a family favorite (and a 2S2C old-school photo flashback!)

Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip: serve with red and blue tortilla chips! {I realize I put this dish in just about every round-up that I do, but you will not regret making this for your next party!!}

$Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip$
Mediterranean Dip: this recipe is great for showcasing fresh summer produce

The Classic Margarita: get the weekend started off the right way with this perfect margarita (5 more weeks to go until I can sample one!)

Sausage, Pepper, Onion, and Potato Bake (I’m making this tonight- one of my favorite summer dishes!)

Frozen Cupcake S’mores: a great summer treat!

Patriotic Star Sugar Cookie Cut-outs: for the very ambitious Memorial Day celebraters!

Well, it looks like K is a way better summer-blogger than I am considering that 80% of the above recipes are hers. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to catch up to her pace this summer with baby #2’s arrival, but I am still hoping to share a few of my new favorite summer recipes over the next few months. What do you have planned for your Memorial Day weekend menu?

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 30, 2012

I have been getting a lot of eggplants in our CSA lately and have been trying to think of ways to prepare them. I decided to use up a bunch of them to make a batch of Baba Ghanoush. I was really impressed how it turned out. I make my hummus recipe a lot, but I sometimes get a little tired of it. The Baba Ghanoush has a similar texture, but a bit of a different variation on flavor. I made a big batch of toasted pita chips to serve with it (this dip also goes well served alongside this Mediterranean Dip.)

Baba Ghanoush

Author: m

Recipe type: Appetizer

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1 pounds eggplants (about 3 small or 1 large), pricked all over with fork
1 tablespoon tahini
1 and ½ tsp lemon juice
1 and ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, set eggplant on baking sheet and place in oven. Roast eggplant for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. Take eggplant out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
While the eggplant is cooling, place tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, ⅛ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper in a food processor. Once eggplant is cool, trim off the top and bottom of the eggplant. Slice eggplants in half (length-wise) and scoop out the pulp. Transfer pulp to food processor. Process the ingredients until it has the texture you prefer. Season with additional salt and pepper and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.
For storage, make sure you put plastic wrap flush with the baba ghanoush and store in the fridge. Best consumed that day.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 23, 2012

My son loved the Blueberry Lemon Mint Popsicles I made last week, but this week I wanted to make a type that combined some of his favorite fruits (and that was a little less messy than pureed blueberries.) I decided to combine two tropical fruits to make some banana mango popsicles. The result: a perfect toddler treat that’s actually very healthy!

Banana Mango Popsicles

Author: m

Recipe type: Frozen Treat

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 4 hours

Total time: 4 hours 5 mins

Serves: 6

This ratio of bananas to mangos still has a very strong banana taste (which my son loves)- I recommend using half of a banana if you (or your child) do not like a lot of bananas.

Ingredients

-1 ripe banana, peeled
-1 ripe mango, peeled and roughly diced
-1 cup milk
-1 tablespoon agave nectar

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until pureed. Pour mixture into popsicle molds (leave at least ¼ of an inch extra room at the top to to allow for expansion when freezing.) Freeze for at least 4 hours. Remove popsicles from mold and enjoy.

What are your plans for this week? I hope it includes making popsicles!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 11, 2012

At my family’s Fourth of July lunch that my sisters and my mom hosted at my parent’s house, we served two dips for appetizers. One of the dips we made was the a Mediterranean Layer Dip with toasted pita chips.

The Mediterranean Dip is similar to those seven layer Mexican dips with the layer of sour cream/cream cheese and taco seasoning, beans, salsa, lettuce, and tomato etc. but instead the layers have more of a Greek flair. The first layer is the classic hummus, followed by basil pesto, cucumbers, red onion, banana peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese and lastly fresh tomato. Toast up some sliced triangles of pita bread with a touch of olive oil and you have yourself one worthy appetizer.

My mom also brought this to a graduation party to test it out before the party. The dip did not last long and she was tracked down by several of the guest for the recipe. The original recipe calls for sun dried tomatoes but since it tomato season we opted to use some fresh ones from the farmers market. You can use your own recipe for the hummus or pesto but I am linking M’s hummus recipe here.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mediterranean Dip

Ingredients

Hummus
Basil Pesto
Cucumber, seeded and diced
Red Onion, diced
Banana Pepper, diced
Kalamata Olives, sliced
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Tomatoes, diced

Instructions

Spread a layer of hummus on a platter followed by a layer of pesto. Next sprinkle evenly with cucumber, red onions, banana peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes.
To toast pita chips- Cut pitas in triangle slices and place on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush pitas with olive oil and bake for 5-10 minutes. Turn over pita chips and continue to cook until toasted.

Source– Adapted from Annie’s Eats