TYL’s Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew)

December 11, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 3 Comments

We’ve been sitting on this recipe for over a year. We’ve been waiting for the perfect time to share this recipe and now is the time. The weather is cool and kind of dreary and it’s perfect weather for Beef Stew or if you’re being classy, Boeuf Bourguignon. Which is beef cooked in a red wine sauce, which is basically pretentious beef stew.

The dish itself originated in the Burgundy region of France which in French is pronounced Bourgogne. Get it? Boeuf (Beef) Bourgogne (Burgundy)? Magic! The Burgundy region is located South-East of Paris. Tons of well known dishes come from the Burgundy region like Coq Au Vin, which is basically, according to Julia, the same dish as Boeuf Bourguignon, but with chicken. Escargot, Persille Ham, and Pain d’épices (spice bread or gingerbread) to name a few also come out of the Burgundy region.

Boeuf Bourguignon is a wonderful dish for the fall and winter months because it is hardy, warm and will keep you full for hours. The dish is prepared by braising the beef in a red wine and beef stock, and you traditionally use a burgundy wine. According to Julia the wine doesn’t need to be expensive because you’re cooking it, not drinking it. So don’t worry about getting a fancy bottle of wine for this dish. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if your wine is expensive or not.

What’s funny about this dish is it started out as a peasants dish because traditionally tougher cuts of meats were used, but while braising they became tender. But over the years the dish grew into “haute cuisine” and became a classic staple in French Cooking.

Julia Child once said that Boeuf Bourguignon was ,”certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man”.

And you know what? We have to agree. We’ve actually spent a lot of time working on this recipe and are really excited to share it with you. If you have the time, we also suggest googling Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon and watching the very first episode of the The French Chef . She’s so incredibly funny and is a riot to watch.

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S’more Brownies

December 10, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

Are you missing the summer months? Are you a camper who dreams of the perfect s’more? Or are you a glamper like us who just loves the idea of a s’more? Either way these bumped up brownie s’mores are for you!

We love homemade brownies, but there is something about boxed brownies (specifically Ghirardelli’s) that really tickles our pickle. Of course, you can make your own brownies if you’re feeling especially Ina-centric that day, but boxed brownies are a perfectly perfect substitute. Amen.

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Breakfast Pie

November 6, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

It’s that time of year again and no I don’t mean the holidays so stop trying to rush Christmas! No, it’s that horrible time of year that we have to experience twice a year, it’s old and antiquated and if you guessed Daylight Savings then you get fifty points!

While most love getting that extra hour of sleep, both of us can’t stand it. We already wake up early so when the clocks go back and we wake up thinking it’s 6am only to realize it’s 5am you can imagine how that feels. And let’s not even talk about “spraining forward” you want us to loose an hour?! No thank you.

Anyway, we digress (as usual) and our recipe today is a good one. Sunday is all about Brunch and this is a perfect brunch recipe. It’s perfect because not only can you make the entire pie ahead of time, but you can the filling ahead of time and then make the pie the next day. It’s really up to you and how you like to brunch.

This recipe is enough to make two full breakfast pies and each pie has about 12 slices depending on how you cut them.

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Easy Homemade Ramen

October 30, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

Happy Sunday Everyone! Its cloudy, rainy and actually kind of cool here in Los Angeles. So we thought the best recipe we could possibly share for a rainy and cold Sunday is one that’s easy to make and keeps you warm on cold and rainy Sundays.

One of our favorite things to buy from the Supermarket is Ramen. Not the ones that college student live off of, but the ones that they sell in the Asian food section. Nong Shim Noodle Bowl Soups are always on sale and perfect in a pinch.

While we’re all for the convenience of instant ramen noodles, we love being able to make just about anything at home. This Ramen is probably one of the easiest things we make so it’s almost impossible to mess up. If you can boil broth, you can make this soup.

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Piña Colada Ice Cream

October 27, 2016October 27, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

We’re in the middle of moving. Again. And it’s been crazy. We want to apologize for the lack of updates, but we truly mean it, we’re back. We have so many wonderful recipes to make and share with you. We thought that our apartment would be perfect for our photos, but it turns out living in a dark box with no direct light doesn’t do well for photographing food or our general overall happiness. We now know how much we love and appreciate sunlight.

So as of right now, we haven’t found the perfect place so we’re moving back home. And you know what? There is absolutely no shame in having to move back home. We know a lot of people think having to move back home is a downgrade, but instead of suffering for another year in a crappy apartment that has horrible neighbors, no sunlight, and management that never answers their phones or returns calls, we would wait and find the perfect place or let it find us! No sense in rushing into something we know we’re going to be unhappy with.

#millennialproblems

Okay, so anyway, we’re back and earlier this summer we actually were planning on sharing this recipe, but time got the better of us, and we never got around to it. But just because summer is over (in the Northern hemisphere), that doesn’t mean we can’t bring summer into your lives this fall and winter. So why not relive those wonderful summer memories with delicious and creamy Pina Colada Ice Cream!

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Eat Like a Gilmore: Mock Turtle Soup

October 26, 2016October 27, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

One thing about us is we love to watch TV and Movies. I mean, we went to film school so it’s not completely out of the norm for us to love watching and analyzing our favorite shows and movies. And one of our all time absolute favorite shows? Gilmore Girls.

We’ve both been watching Gilmore Girls since it’s original run and have rewatched so many times we’ve probably lost count. When the show sadly ended it’s run in 2007, that while it wasn’t the ending that we all wanted, we knew it wasn’t the end. I personally remember Googling “Gilmore Girls Movie” and “Gilmore Girls Reunion” every couple years because I knew it would happen. And last year, when they FINALLY announced that it was actually happening, we were both freakin’ thrilled.

And then, earlier this year, I remember a post on Facebook about a Kickstarter for a Gilmore Girls Cookbook…say what? Gilmore Girl inspired recipes? Shut the front door and sign me up! Which we immediately donated to Kristi Carlson, the incredible woman behind Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls. And finally, after what feels like forever, the book is almost here. And when Kristi asked if there were any bloggers who wanted to try a recipe…we obviously jumped at the chance.

We were fairly open to whatever recipe Kristi sent us and when we finally got the recipe we would be testing, we were a little shocked and kind of scared. Mock Turtle Soup. A name and recipe we were only familiar with when we watched the show and thought to our selves, “what the hell is that”. And then proceeded to google and be totally grossed out. We had similar thoughts when googling and researching the origins of “Johnny Machete” and most times we were turned away and continued with our watching. So when we got Mock Turtle Soup, we were kind of afraid. But thankfully it’s MOCK turtle soup and there is no actual turtle in the soup! Phew! *Wipes sweat off brow*

Kristi’s Mock Turtle Soup is a tasty combination “land-etarian” friendly eats. The soup itself contains chicken thighs and beef and is filled with tomatoes, eggs, onions and peppers. It reminds us of a cross between a beefy stew and sexy gumbo. Yes, gumbo can be sexy.

The recipe itself was quite easy to follow and even though there were a lot of yummy ingredients and you have to pay attention so you don’t loose track, the results were great! The soup was quite hearty and very filling. We can see why it was a Richard Gilmore favorite.

Eat Like Gilmore is available through Kristi’s website, amazon and Barnes and Noble.

When we finally received our copy of the cookbook this week, we were thrilled. So many fun recipes! And we can’t wait to test, taste and try them all! Kristi, we will gladly come and cook with you anytime! Solidarity Sister! Ya Ya!

Below are some pictures from our cooking adventure. And though we won’t divulge the actual ingredients and steps so that you order your own copy, we can share how much we enjoyed the recipe and the process.

Yay! Ingredients! (Missing the onion)

We call it Tomatohenge

Tomatoes getting ready for their bath!

Beeeeeeef!

Peaches, our official taste tester, loves licking the chicken board.

Beef and veggies getting to know each other.

Egg me!

I hope for all your super hardcore Gilmore Girls fans out there, you notice that we have the same plates that Babette has when Rory cooks her Donna Reed Dinner for Dean (ick…we’re Team Logan in this household).

It’s hard to tell in this photo, but if you go back and watch you can actually see this plate patterns a couple of time. And we only know this from watching the series twice this year. We actually started earlier in the year, and got to season five and said we would wait until the premiere date was closer, and as the date drew closer, we just decided to start over again. We powered through and are now in the middle of season six, and counting down the days until November 25th.

Black Friday, come home, order Pizza, make pies and watch Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

Bonus, here is a bad photo of Rory and Dean in the Donna Red episode holding our vintage plate ware!

TYL Ribs and Rub

July 3, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

BBQ Lesson Number 1: Perfect ribs shouldn’t fall off the bone, there should be a little give when pulling the meat off the bone.

We’ve made ribs before, but we made them in the oven. And while they were delicious and fell off the bone, they were almost too tender for ribs, there needs to be some texture. In our (not so) humble opinion, smoked ribs are the best. The slow and low smoke of Pecan/Maple/Mesquite/Hickory wood, is the best! We like Baby Back Ribs, but you can use St. Louis Style too. While a lot of people think BBQ is about the sauce, it’s actually about the meat, and you want to let the meat to shine through. The sauce is like a light jacket, just keeping the ribs warm.

This recipe is actually a two in one, the first part is for what we think, is the best rib rub. It’s sweet, it’s spicy, it’s full of flavor and will make your mouth water. And the second is for smoked Baby Back Ribs.

This rib rub isn’t just for ribs, it can me used on any meat of your choosing, but for today, and the rest of the weekend, it’s going to be used on pork! This is the perfect Fourth of July BBQ recipe, because you can put it in the smoker, and leave it! Very little work, and the results are MAGICAL.

Rib Rub

Ingredients

½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup ground espresso, ground (or coffee)
¼ cup smoked paprika
2 tablespoons dry mustard powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
½ teaspoon celery seed

Step 1: In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Use as at least ¼ of a cup per rack of rib. Season liberally.

For Smoked Ribs: Season the ribs, using the dry rub and a little bit of apple cider vinegar to help the mixture stay on the ribs. Allow the ribs to “marinate” for a minimum of six hours, for best results, we suggest overnight.
Set you smoker to the lowest setting (we use an electric smoker) allow to heat up for five minutes. Place the ribs on the grill for four to five hours. Periodically, spray the ribs with pineapple or apple juice.
Remove the ribs from the grill and place in foil, brush lightly with your favorite BBQ sauce (about ½ cup).
Increase the temperature of your smoker or oven to 350°F and finish the ribs off for another 40 minutes.

According to the FDA pork ribs are “done” when they reach 145°F internally, but we like to get ours to 190°F–203°F for perfect ribs.

Nanaimo Bars

July 1, 2016July 3, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

Hello loyal and wonderful followers! We are back! And this time, we mean it. We’ve been making a lot of changes to TwoYoungLadies and trying to figure things out and stock pile as many wonderful recipes as we could before we came to you! And there is no better time like CANADA DAY to come back and share a recipe with you.

Today (or tomorrow’s) recipe is for one of Canada’s delicacies, or so says Wikipedia, Nanaimo Bars! These bars originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia in 1953 and the first time they ever appeared was in a recipe in the Vancouver Sun under the name “London Fog Bar”. Later that same year, they appeared Edith Adam’s 14th Edition Prize Cookbook.

Apparently the Nanaimo Bar is one of Canada’s most popular desserts and is notoriously and coylingly sweet. We made a few adjustments to our Nanaimo Bars so you’re not punched in the mouth with an overly sweet dessert. Our bars, have the perfect balance of sweetness and _______insert something.

Our bars are the perfect treat for any Canada Day Party and will leave you wanting more.

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer

½ cup of European-style butter
¼ cup of sugar
5 tablespoons of dark cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ cup of graham cracker crumbs
½ cup of almonds, finely chopped
1 cup of shredded sweetened coconut

Step 1: In a double boiler, melt butter, sugar and coco powder until smooth.

Step 2: Add in the beaten egg and mix. (if the mixture starts “breaking”, then add a little cream/milk and mix until smooth again. It will have a slight gelatinous nature. Take off the heat and put into a bowl to cool.

Step 3: Into the chocolate bowl, add the graham crackers, almonds and coconut. Mix until everything is evenly distributed.

Step 4: Press firmly into a parchment lined 8”x 8” pan. Later, the parchment helps in releasing the sugary beautiful from it’s prison when it’s all set up.

Middle Layer

½ cup of salted butter
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of vanilla custard powder (Jello Cook & Serve is perfect)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of maple extract

Step 1: Cream the butter, cream, vanilla custard powder, and maple extract.

Step 2: Add the powdered sugar, a cup at a time to avoid Sugar Storms! Combine until it’s lightened in color a little.

Step 3: Spread on the bottom layer and let it firm up in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Top Layer

6 to 8 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate
2 to 4 tablespoons of butter
½ teaspoon espresso powder

Step 1: In the double boiler, melt the butter, espresso powder, and chocolate until melty and shiny. Let it cool slightly. It should still be pourable, but you don’t want it to melt the middle layer.

Step 2: Smooth the chocolate over in an even layer and place back into the fridge to firm and chill.

Cut and serve! While our bars make look big (for photo’s purposes) you can cut your bars into smaller or even bite size pieces!

P.S. We we’re inspired to make these while watching Schitt’s Creek a couple weeks ago. Eugene Levy and his son Daniel Levy created a hilariously smart small town world that includes the genius of Catherine O’Hara. If you have a sense of humor and breathe air, please watch it! You won’t be sorry!

For our American friends: CLICK HERE

For our Canadian friends: CLICK HERE

Chocolate and Cherry Ice Cream

April 29, 2016April 29, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

It’s Friday, so lets celebrate with a classic ice cream flavor from Ben and Jerry’s tasty collection. Cherry Garcia has been one of our favorite flavors for as long as we can remember.

I (Marlee) remember countless summers at the Hollywood Bowl, where during intermission my dessert would be getting a Cherry Garcia Ice Cream Bar and thoroughly enjoying it. Christie was skeptical at first, she hates artificial cherries and cherry flavor, but loves fresh cherries.

When we first made this for our neighbor (at his request) we decided we needed to buy a small container of Cherry Garcia and break it down to be able to recreate the same flavors. Again Christie wasn’t even sure she wanted to try it because she was afraid of the artificial flavoring, but once she tried it, she was pleasantly surprised that the cherry flavor wasn’t at all artificial and she actually enjoyed it! It took a couple of tries, but after adjusting the recipe we came up with something really wonderful that allows the natural flavor of the cherries to shine through and and the chocolate perfectly accompanies it.

This is tart, sweet, chocolatey and creamy! You’ll feel like a regular Ben or Jerry when you make this, so get going!

Chocolate and Cherry Ice Cream

Ingredients

½ cup Dark Chocolate Chunks
¼ cup Cherries (halved and pitted)
½ cup Cherries (puréed)
2 large eggs
¾ cup white sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk

Step 1: Roughly chop and place the dark chocolate into a freezer safe bowl and put in the freezer until ready.

Step 2: Using an electric hand mixer beat the eggs until they’re light and fluffy.

Step 3: In a saucepan, combine the sugar and milk and heat until just before it boils. Remove from heat.

Step 4: Making sure you are whisking constantly slowly pour half of the heated milk mixture into the eggs.

Make sure you are whisking constantly so the eggs don’t curdle!

Step 5: Add the egg/milk mixture back into the sauce pan and add the heavy cream and cook over a low heat until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Step 6: Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool and then move to the fridge to really get cold.

Step 7: When the mixture has cooled, add the cherry purée and mix together. Then pour the mixture into your ice cream makers and churn according to manufactures instructions.

Step 8: Before the last five minutes of churning, add the cherries and the chocolate chunks.

Inspired by Ben and Jerry’s Original Cherry Garcia Recipe

Bacon Peanut Butter Banana Bread

April 7, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Bacon. Peanut Butter. Banana Bread? Say what? We love a good loaf bread over here at TYL, and when you combine bacon, peanut butter, and bananas do you know what you get? If you’re thinking Elvis, you’re not wrong, but when you mix those three things in the kitchen? You make something truly wonderful!

This is the epitome a sweet and savory snack or dessert or get crazy with some french toast. The bacon pairs nicely with peanut butter and bananas already so add them together, and you get magic. Pure magic. A party in your mouth.

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Banana Bacon Bread

Ingredients

6 Sliced Bacon (Thick-cut and chopped)
2 1/2 Cups AP Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoons Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Large Egg
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar (Loosely Packed)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Stick Butter (Browned and cooled)
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter*
1/4 Cup Bacon Drippings
4 Ripe Bananas (Mashed)
1/3 Cup Milk

*You can take out the peanut butter and add Nutella…YES. Life is better with Nutella.

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray your loaf pan with cooking spray.

Step 2:

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add bacon. Cook until the fat had rendered out. Remove the bacon from the pan and reserve the bacon fat.

Step 3:

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Step 4:

In a large bowl, whisk your eggs and sugar together. Next add the vanilla, peanut butter, bacon fat, and browned butter. Stir until smooth.

Step 5:

Next, add the mashed the bananas and milk and stir until combined. In batches, slowly stir in the dry ingredients until the batter begins to come together. Fold in the bacon.