Weekly Challenge: Junk Food from Scratch
This should be a blast! We’re following one of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules, “eat all the junk food you want, but make it yourself.” Here’s the guidelines.
The Basics
Think about your favorite junk food, from whoopie pies to pineapple upside down cake. Whatever it is, go online or hit the cook books and look for a recipe that seems doable. Check the pantry, go to the grocery store if necessary and whip up your amazing creation. If you’re new to cooking stick with something easy like cupcakes. If you’re a seasoned chef page through some cook books for inspiration and pick a more difficult recipe.
The Next Level
Bring a friend or family member in to help. Cooking is always more fun with laughter and gossip in the kitchen. Collaborate on your creation and wow your household with your work.
The Gold Standard
Invited to a party? Go all out with a junk food selection for a large crowd. Challenge yourself to adjust recipes or cook in batches. If you’re using frosting to decorate experiment with ways to make them look scrumptious. Your goal here is to get that “oooh” escaping from everyone’s mouth when they first see your handiwork.
Some inspiration
- Cup Cake Blog (wide variety of cupcakes)
- Epicurious Desserts (tends to be for the more experienced cook)
- Homemade Potato Chips (easy and delicious!)
- Nachos, including the tortilla chips
- Pizza (we use frozen dough from Whole Foods, but this is all the way from scratch)
Make sure whatever you make you share with others … the idea is to enjoy and savor, not get fat!
Enjoy
**Sidenote. Looking at cupcake pictures in Flickr just about killed me! I’m making this recipe today for Red Velvet cupcakes from the famed Magnolia Bakery in New York City.
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I LOVE homemade junk food. One of my favorites is homemade potato chips and dip (I make curry dip or blue cheese and bacon dip.) You have to have a mandolin or food processor to get them sliced thin enough though. They aren’t very hard, just a bit time consuming. I also love stove top popcorn. It tastes so much better than microwaved, especially if you pop it in coconut oil. I have also used leftover corn tortillas to make homemade corn chips. Those turn out well too. Can you tell I like salty junk food?
I’m also a fan of salty junk food and I’ve made my own potato chips from scratch too. They came up pretty good, I like them with a little softness in them … can’t get that from a bag on the shelf. L–