RENTED in Columbia Heights!!

Time was ticking yet again during the Holidays and right before Thanksgiving, we found a wonderful apartment for rent in Columbia Heights, near U street Corridor, shopping, entertainment, Metro, etc, for our client who needed to move in ASAP.

1427 Chapin St NW, Washington, DC, 20009

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend!

My Almost-Famous Guacamole!

My favorite part of Mexican night? The Guacamole!! I used to make it before fajitas night and have people dig in, with a margarita in their hand, thinking a big batch would be more than enough for them to enjoy prior to dinner, and on top of their fajitas or tacos... so wrong. After 30 minutes of margaritas and nibbling, no more avocado goodness. Once, someone actually grabbed a spoon, took the dish, and starting devouring 1/3 of the bowl (no, they were not drunk), leaving none for everyone else. 

Lesson learned, I make 2 batches now!

Cat's Almost-Famous Guacamole
Mole mole mole

My guacamole isn't the typical recipe most people or restaurants make, it's much simpler. I want the avocado taste to stand out more, so no tomatoes, jalapenos/chili, cumin, whatever you put in it. Rarely I put a few drops of green Tabasco to spice it up a bit. Simplicity is key in my Guacamole.

Here're what I use to make one batch:

4 Ripped Avocados

2 Cloves of Garlic, finely minced

1/4 Cup of Onions, finely minced

A Handful of Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

I add my creamy avocados, onion, and garlic in a bowl, then with a fork start mashing it all together to get the desired consistency (you can mix until it's like a paste, but I prefer roughly mashed with some avocado pieces still intact). Then I add all my cilantro, salt and pepper, mix together and you're ready to eat!

I love cilantro so I tend to put a lot, but it's up to you how much you use.

OLE!

-Chef Cat

Cointreau Lemon Funfetti Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting!

It's 6am, coffee's brewing, and I'm craving pancakes...mmm... but instead what do I see in the pantry? Halloween themed funfetti cake mix that I have yet to use!!! Naturally, I change my course of action and pick it up to make myself some funfetti pancakes (too much sugar in the morning was a bad choice), and decide to share the wealth (and the sugar high) by making my coworkers and friends some cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The box asks to add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, and three eggs to the cake mix and stir together until there are no lumps, then add the FUN-fetti. I added 1 lemon's zest and 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the batter to give it more flavor. Pour the batter into the cupcake wrappers about 2/3 of the way full and pop it in the oven for about 20-22 minutes.
While they're puffing up in there, you can make the Nutella frosting. I personally don't like a lot of frosting, so I made a little bit to put on top of half of the cupcakes (12). I used 1 tablespoon of butter (room temperature), 1/2 teaspoon of powered sugar, and 2 big tablespoons of Nutella, mix well together and voila!!! If it's a little too thick, add a tiny bit of milk or cream until it's at your ideal consistency. It's slightly disturbing how much I love incorporating that chocolate hazelnut yumminess in the little baking I do.
Already one cup of Joe down, and the cupcakes are perfectly golden brown. While they are still slightly warm, I've got my Cointreau liquor ready (I know, it's 6:30AM!), and a bamboo skewer to poke in the middle of my cupcakes so I can pour a little bit of the Cointreau inside each one of them. I used one of those mini bottles for all 24 cupcakes, so don't go crazy with the alcohol here. If you don't know what Cointreau is, it's a brand of triple sec from France, delicious by itself as an aperitif or digestif (a.k.a. before or after a meal drink), or in cocktails (cosmopolitan, margaritas, etc).

And now the waiting game...cool down so I can lather you up in frosting...and eat you!!

TADA!

Cointreau infused Lemon Funfetti Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting.

Hope you enjoy!

- Chef Cat

SOLD in Kensington!

Congratulations to my buyer on this great home in Kensington Maryland!!!!

Asking Price $399,000

Rosemary Parmesan Truffle Pumpkin Seeds

In order to get enough seeds for a batch (about 2 cups), I had to carve 2 medium-sized pumpkins.
Before turning these bad boys into a savory snack, you have to soak them in water to separate them from the pumpkin goo, clean them up with water, and let them air dry (which takes too long and I have no patience for) or put them on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes, stirring them every 10 minutes so they don't stick.
When they are dried and ready to go, mix them in a bowl with:
1/2 teaspoon of truffle oil (if you don't like truffles, you can use an infused oil olive, such as garlic or Italian herbs)
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped rosemary

Toss well, then spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes in a 300 degrees preheated oven; stir occasionally. They should be golden brown. When you take them out, mix them with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and you are ready to dig in!

Rosemary Parmesan Truffle Pumpkin Seeds

Happy Halloween!!!

-Chef Cat

SOLD Contemporary in Potomac!!!

Our Clients closed on this amazing contemporary home in Potomac this week!

Asking Price: $1,699,000

Congratulations to both Sellers and Buyers!!

How to make butter...

About a year ago, I had the strangest desire to make butter from scratch. So I looked it up online and decided to go for it. All you need is a hand mixer (or blender, or stand mixer), and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. This will make a decent amount, but you can use more heavy cream if you plan on making different types of butter.

Let the beating begin...

This is after a couple of minutes after whipping the cream into shape, you could stop here and add vanilla extract and sugar to dollop on top of your favorite berries or desert, but that's not our goal here, so keeping beating (medium speed)...

After maybe 8 minutes or so, this is what the cream looks like. You can see the fat starting to separate from the buttermilk and clump together. You're doing great!

"Ewww it's just clumpy curds with this weird liquid" ...this is what you get about 10 minutes in! Congrats, we're almost done! Slow it down so you don't make a mess with the butter milk. When it looks like the picture above, stop beating! Time to drain the curds from the liquid. Use a strainer or whatever else works for you. Return to the mixing bowl and starting whisking again on medium speed.

After the second round of whisking, this is what you'll get. Gather up all that butter in your hands and start squeezing out all the leftover liquid out.

Squishy squishy...

Gently press the liquid out until you feel like there's nothing left. I would suggest rinsing the butter in ICE cold water so it lasts longer, or you can devour it in the next few days, up to you.

Homemade butter!!

Congratulations, you've just made butter from scratch!
You've got unsalted butter, but there are many other options. Strawberry honey, Cinnamon Sugar, Cilantro and Chive, Sun-dried Tomato, Chili Citrus, the possibilities are endless.

For this batch, I made my favorite, Garlic Herb Butter. You give me that and fresh baguette, I will eat the whole thing. It is also great for cooking.

Add one clove of garlic (minced), Herbes de Provence (savory, fennel, basil, and lavender), Salt and Pepper to taste. Stir together. Wasn't that easy?

Garlic Herb Butter

Feel proud, flaunt what you've made to your guests. They'll be impressed and crave it every time they come over.


-Chef Cat