Pre-Test Munchies

Today is the last day before I take my surgery shelf exam, yahoo! I officially finished my time on surgery on Tuesday afternoon, after completely my last 28 hour shift. Your body gets very angry at you when you force it to keep working for that long. I got to work at 7 am on Monday and was doing pretty well until around 6 am Tuesday running on no sleep. We stayed pretty busy through out the night, but as things started to slow down, that's when my body started to realize "what are you doing to me?!" Those last few hours of work I spent in a lecture, signout, and rounds were brutal. I felt like a walking zombie in a strange delirious state. I am definitely not going to miss that rotation! 

I've been trying to kick some bad eating habits out of my life. I've resisted the temptation for cafeteria french fries at 11 pm and opted for a nice hummus cup instead. One of my favorite foods is fried zucchini. I had some zucchini in the fridge and decided to try and healthy baked version. I had all of the ingredients laying around and it was a nice snack while I'm studying about fluid resuscitation, pneumothorax, and small bowel obstruction for my surgery shelf. Enjoy this easy healthy treat!

Parm Zucchini fries

adapted from Canella Vita

• 2 large zucchini
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp salt, divided
• ground black pepper, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups panko (other bread crumbs would be fine too)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. spice blend (I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut zucchini into thick French-fry-size sticks.
Now make the assembly line. Arrange 3 shallow, wide bowls or pie plates in a row. In the first bowl, mix flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In the second bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. In the third bowl, combine panko, Parmesan, spices, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

First dip zucchini in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to egg mixture and toss until coated, then coat zucchini in bread crumb mixture. 

Arrange fries, in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes and then rotate the pans. Continue to bake until panko coating is golden and crisp, 7 to 12 minutes more. 

Cinco de Mayo

I have been meaning to post this for a while, I have just been so busy. I'm doing trauma surgery right now, and I feel like every moment where I am not working, all I want to do is sleep. I made this cake for Cinco de Mayo, actually it was the day before because I was on call on the 5th. This recipe is from my good friend Randi, who has literally saved me while on this surgery rotation. She made this cake a couple of years ago and I was in love. I finally got around to getting the recipe from her and whipped it up in my kitchen. JC was supposed to share it with some friends, but that didn't happen, so we gobbled it up between the two of us. This cake is super easy to make and is absolutely delicious. It is not too soggy and just perfectly sweet.

Randi's Tres Leches Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

3. Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.

4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.

6. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.

7. Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!

Save Me San Francisco

I recently spent a week in San Francisco for spring break. This is quite possibly one of my absolute favorite cities, largely due to the food scene. Every time I visit, I feel like all I do is eat, and I'm not complaining. This past trip I got to try some new dishes like the chicken porridge at Out the Door, pho ga at Turtle Tower, xiao long bao at Shanghai Dumpling King, "salad basket" at Suppenkuche, bi bim bap at Be Bop, and a dosa at  Udupi Palace. I also hit up some of the tried and true favorites like crawfish beignets at Brenda's, honey lavender ice cream at Bi-Rite, pizza at The Cheeseboard, and chai tea at Philz. I could not have stopped by all these places without my wonderful hosts Krista, Ralph, and Jennifer. Thanks all of you!!

One snack I loved and was inspired by was the sea salt lavender shortbread cookie from Batter Bakery. I actually thought I might be able to replicate it, so I did some searching and found a recipe for honey lavender shortbread cookies. These are super yummy and are not soapy tasting at all. To make things even better, they are incredibly easy to make, you just throw everything into your kitchenaid mixer :) and press it all into a pan. Definitely try these out, they are delicious.

Sea Salt and Lavender Shortbread Cookies
from Spache the Spatula

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp culinary lavender
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp honey
• Sea salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8″x8″baking tin with butter or non-stick spray. Line with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper as well (make sure there is enough overhang of the parchment paper so that you can easily lift the cookies out of the tin). Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all of the ingredients and mix in low speed until combined (it’s fine if the dough is crumbly).
3. Press the dough into the prepared tin. With a fork, poke the surface of the dough all over.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and the cookies feel firm when lightly pressed
5. After you remove to cookies from the oven, sprinkle the tops with sea salt. Allow to fully cool in the pan before removing and slicing into 16 equal squares.