See Marie cook!

Portuguese Fish Stew by Tyler Florence

2012-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

I am an Aquarius. My due date to be born was December 24th, but I held in there until January 26th. I tell my mom I was just making sure I could be born an Aquarius. She is not amused. Can't blame her really, I wouldn't be amused to be pregnant a MONTH longer than necessary just to then give birth to a 10 pound baby who grew to be an incredibly sarcastic and strong willed child. But I digress.

The reason my astrological sign is mentioned is because it was my birthday recently. For a gift a few of my friends got me what they knew I would love the most, an amazon gift card. With that gift card I purchased the beautiful masterpiece you see here:
No, amazon did not sell me a pot of soup, but I did get the fabulous pot it was made in. That is pure Lodge Logic enameled dutch oven greatness. In green, which happens to be my favorite color.

I could not wait to get cooking with it. Funny how I have made about a million recipes that call for a dutch oven, at which point I would bust out our hilariously huge 12 quart camp one, and curse that I did not have a smaller one. So of course when I finally get a smaller one I cannot find a single recipe to break it in with. So I searched The Food Network website and found one.

My only regret about the recipe I chose is that I did not take step by step pictures as I usually do. Once it was ready to serve I saw the error of my ways and managed to at least snap a few before eating it.

So here it is:

Portuguese Fish Stew courtesy of Tyler Florence (who I happen to kind of be infatuated with)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound linguica or chorizo sausage, sliced in chunks
5 sprigs fresh thyme sprigs
1 handful fresh oregano, hand torn
2 bay leaves
2 pounds potatoes, sliced
3 quarts chicken broth
1 pound kale, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
1/2 pound perch, cod, or bass fillets, skin and pin bones removed (I used cod)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Recipe Rustic Crusty bread, for serving, recipe follows

Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy 4 to 6-quart pot over medium flame. Add the onions, garlic, and sausage; cook, stirring with wooden spoon, until the sausage renders out some of its fat and the onions are soft. Toss in the herbs and then the potatoes, stir that around for a minute to coat in the oil. Pour in the chicken broth and bring up to a simmer. Add the kale, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are nearly tender.
Uncover the pot and add the clams; simmer, covered, for 15 minutes until the clams open. Add the fish and continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the fish is cooked. Serve with crusty bread.

There you have it, a soup pot to heaven.
Pardon the shadow, I was jittery with the excitement of sitting down to this fabulous feast. I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it because... well why the hell not?

Now for a random picture. This was the scene out of our master bedroom window a few weeks ago. Unusually dry winter + high winds + a brush fire = this madness. We were incredibly fortunate that it didn't reach us. Anyhow. Make this stew and love it as I did. You certainly won't regret it. It is even better a few days later. YUM.

Now fellow foodies, please tell me, what is your favorite piece of kitchen equipment?

Crockpot french dips

2012-02-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs chuck roast, remove as much fat as possible
1/2 c soy sauce
1 beef boullion cube
2 bay leaves
4 whole peppercorns
1 t thyme
1 t garlic powder (I used fresh minced)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1. Slap it all into a corckpot, set on low.
2. Add and stir in water to barely cover the meat.
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
4. Shred meat, serve on rolls with broth from pot to dip.

Ahh yes, here we are at the long ago promised crockpot french dip post. Sorry for the delay. Every time a new semester starts at school it takes me a while to get back into the regular flow of things, and here I am!

Contrary to the simple directions above, I did some additional prep work the night prior to add another laywer of flavor. My foodie friend Jessica gave me this recipe, and also gave me this extra tip. Take a beautiful hunk of meat like this:
And combine them with this:

And what you end up with is pure flavor insanity.

First I mixed some wine (probably about a cup), a generous drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Then I got to trimming off as much fat as I could. If you leave any fat on there it will dissolve into the dipping juice and basically eventually give you a heart attack. Nice visual. On we go...

After the fat has been trimmed, put the meat in a large ziploc bag.

Add the wine and olive oil mixture. Let this mellow, and get the other additions ready for the morning.

Mix the soy sauce,

the boullion ( I used Better Than Boullion paste),

add the peppercorns,

the thyme,

Mix that and toss in the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs.

I set this and the bag of meat in the fridge overnight so it is all ready to put together in the morning. I am so devoted to food blogging I managed to snap a few morning pictures of the assembly, even though I get up at the atrocious hour of 5am. Yikes.

I get up so early that my brain isn't ready to work until I am long gone from the house, as evidenced by the mistake I made in the recipe at this point. I forgot to add the water! Which is why I came home and the crockpot looked like this:

It still smelled and tasted amazing, just salty. So I took the meat out and added some liquids to the pot. I put about a half cup of wine, and 1-1 1/2 c of water. I put the crockpot on high and let the liquid bubble while I prepared the topping.

I started by getting my cast iron skillet nice and hot. While also being mortified and the hot mess that is the griddle in the background. I didn't have the time to clean it off because at this point I was almost drowning in my own drool the house smelled THAT GOOD. I added some olive oil to the pan.

Then went to chop up some beautiful peppers. I don't like to waste anything so I use all but the stem.

My super secret ingredient to any sauteed peppers is always anchovies. Toos a few fillets into the hot oil and stir them around. They will melt into the oil leaving a salty and nutty flavor behind. It does not taste like fish at all, but it does provide an incredible extra layer of flavor.

I add the peppers.

Yum, aren't they gorgeous? Peppers like this are one of my favorite things.

For the bread I knew I wanted something crusty, but not too big so it would be easy enough to handle and dip into the sauce. These are technically hotdog buns from Whole Foods, but they work really well for sandwiches.

And there was no possible way these sandwiches could be eaten without some creamy hot beaver! We are huge fans of horseradish in this house.

I toasted the buns, smeared generously with horseradish, piled on the meat and pepper, and set it on a plate next to a bowl of the drippings.

Completely fabulous and out of this world delicious.

Next time I will make sure to remember the water. I mean really? I blame the 5am wake up alarm. I scarfed this sandwich down in about two bites, with my eyes closed, maybe swaying from side to side in a trance.

In fact, I texted the fiance "What time are you off? 8? I want to know when you will be home to experience this culinary masterpiece".

Make this. Remember the water. Be amazed. That is all.

Chili Con Carne

2012-01-17T16:59:00.001-08:00

Ahh yes. Finally. A savory dish. This is the Chili Con Carne from the January/February issue of The Food Network Magazine.Which I love.

I will openly admit that up until recently I was not really a chili fan. I am a picky meat eater, I wasn't a huge fan of kidney beans, and I found that one could taste so drastically different from the next that I found it hard to trust. This recipe tastes pretty much exactly like what I think chili should taste like.

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon
2 lbs of ground beef chuck
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1/4 c chili powder
1 T ground cumin
2 t paprika
2 t dried oregano
2 T tomato paste
1 12-ounce amber beer
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 1/2 c low sodium beef broth, plus more if needed
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 T hot sauce
Shredded cheddar, sliced scallions, and sour cream for topping (optional)

1. Cook the bacon in a large sauce pan until crisp. Drain on a paper towel until cool and then crumble and set aside.
2. Pour off all but 1 T bacon drippings from the pan (but don't throw it out, save it for later).
3. Increase the heat to med-high and add the beef. Break it up and cook until browned.
4. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon, wipe out the pot.
5. Heat 1 T of the reserved drippings in the pan/pot over med-high heat, add the onion and green pepper, cook until soft.
6. Add the garlic and salt, cook 2 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and tomato paste. Cook until the tomato paste is brick red, about 6 minutes, stirring.
7. Add the beer and simmer until almost completely reduced.
8. Stir in the beef and any juices from the plate.
9. Add the cocoa powder, tomatoes, beef broth, and beans. Bring to a simmer and cook until the chili thickens, about 1- 1 1/2 hour.
10. Ladle into bowls and cover with desired toppings.

Now time for all the (not so) pretty pictures. Let's go!

Ingredients. I tried and tried but there was no way to get these to stand up pretty for a picture. Besides, I had worked all day and gone grocery shopping for the week prior to this.
Bacon goes into the pan. I am honestly not a fan of bacon. I may have mentioned it here before, I may not have. Point is, I am in the minority when it comes to bacon.

Cooking it up. Don't get too enthusiastic as I did. It is kind of hilarious to watch my stove top get more and more filthy through out this process. Or not, since I will have to clean it.

See? Way too enthusiastic here. It all turns out alrght in the end.

Now chop up that lovely green pepper and onion. Viola.

Ahh the second batch came out better.

Oh garlic, my dear friend. I can seriously eat bulb after bulb of roasted garlic. Literally.

Crumble that bacon into little bits like this.

Last year there was an amazing sale at Whole Foods on organic grass fed ground beef. So I bought a whole bunch of it. At home I portioned it into pound sized packages, foodsavered it, and popped them in the freezer. This is the last one, so much sadness. Yes, I made foodsavered a brand new verb. Let's celebrate it. A foodsaver is a necessity if you ever buy in bulk. That is the plastic mystery looking bag of beef you see in the ingredients line up.

Toss the meat into the pan, be confused at the difference in color. I know. The darker is the organic grass fed, the lighter is the basic ground beef sold at Whole Foods.

Brown until you get this, at which point you will put it on a "plate". Or not, because it was a delicate operation to get the beef on this plate, an oversized plate even! Just slap it into a bowl. And eww, I need to clean my toaster oven.

Toss the onion and green pepper into the pan after you have heated more bacon drippings in it.

Stir until soft like so:

Add the garlic, chili powder (confession here, I used cayenne, only a T but it was plenty), cumin, paprika (which I did not use at all because I didn't know I didn't have any until I got back home after a full day. FOODIE FAIL), oregano (I used Italian seasoning another foodie fail), and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is brick red.

During all this I have drained and rinsed the beans. I did not use all black beans, I thought a good chili needs kidney beans. Kidney beans I happen to love now.

This is what I would consider brick red.

Look at that steamy goodness...

Now add the beer. Can you guess where I live? Haha.

Add the glorious beer of your choice to the pot.

It will bubble and steam and make mouth watering bubbly noises.

Then go ahead and add the beef, stir to combine.

Add the cocoa,

then add the tomatoes. I did not remember to get the canned tomatoes even thought they were RIGHT THERE on my grocery list! Am I the only one that does this? Needless to say I got home and was peeved at myself, until I remembered all these beautiful canned tomatoes I had courtesy of my mom and her dear friend who has passed away. Thank you Linda! Give my Oma a hug and a shot of vodka! Okay, that emo stuff put aside look at these beautiful 'maters.

Fantastical tomatoes added here. Of course there are additions to Linda's canned tomatoes. Celery and such. I promise you that it was still delicious at the end, and I am sure it will be if you use regular canned tomatoes for it.

When it came to the beef broth I poured it in the tomato jar, shook it up, and then put it in the chili.

This is the sad sight that will greet you after adding the spices and broth.

Just take my word and get that stuff simmering.

Stir it up every now and then. Prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Notice the stove top getting filthier and filthier.

You want to let it get all bubbly like this before stirrig it around.

This bamboo spoon, and the other four in the set, were purchased from Ross for $5. For all $5. YES.

Toast up some crusty bread to serve along side. Don't get all crazy like I did. Whoops part 2.

All came out alright.

Oh yeah it did. Just look at this.

Make this. Trust me. You will like it.

I certainly do. Seeing as I was raised by a single mother born and raised in Germany, I didn't have a lot of first hand experience with chili. Please tell me about what you think consitutes a good chili. Beans? No beans? What was your favorite chilhood meal?

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

2012-01-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

This is another part of the fabulous foodie day I had Thursday. I was checking the food blogs, as I do almost daily, when I came across this recipe. I immediately saw that I had all the ingredients and couldn't wait to try it.

I got the recipe from the fabulous Kate's blog:
http://yesiwantcake.com/

Check her out, she is amazing. She also happens to have a baby so cute it should be illegal.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c peanut butter
2 T flax + 1/4 c water (this is your flax egg)
1 t vanilla
1 c flour
1/2 c oats
1 t baking soda
1 c chocolate chips

Icing
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 T peanut butter
2 T milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until fluffy
3. Beat in the flax egg and vanilla
4. Combine the oats, flour, and baking soda in a bowl
5. Stir it into the creamed mixture and spread it into a greased 9x13 baking dish
6. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and put it in the preheated oven
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, cool for 10 minutes
8. Combine the icing ingredients in a plastic bag, squish it up
9. Cut a hole in the corner and squeeze all over the topof the bars
10. Let them cool completely, then cut them and try not to inhale the whole thing

So, let's get started shall we?

Ingredients, all things I already had as I mentioned above.
Creaming the butters and sugars until fluffy and beautiful.

Add the flax egg. Those tiny little seeds are a nutritional powerhouse. They are so incredibly good for you. I love the texture they give to food also.

Add the vanilla.

Comine the dry ingredients,

And dump them in with the creamed mixture.

Mix to blend the ingredients together nicely.

Now spread the mix into a greased 9x13 pan. The layer will be very thin but fear not, it will puff up nicely in the heat of the oven.

Sprinkle on the chocolate chips.

Once that is in the oven mix the topping ingredients together in a plastic bag.

See? All golden, puffy, and warm. Pay no attention to the meyer lemon in the back. That was sliced for something completely unrelated, my vodka and club soda to be exact.

Would you take a look at that.

Drizzle the topping on. Gorgeous my friends, GORGEOUS. Well, not as gorgeous as Kate's baby A but still.

The beautiful thing about the icing is that it doesn't soak into the bars making them soggy, it sets up nicely on top and really adds to the experience.

Here is where I am a little ashamed. This dog, Roxy, I promise you is normally really bright. Too smart for her own good actually. But here she is, thinking that little dishtowel is concealing her, giving her the chance to steal one of these bars.

No such luck girl. These are ALL for the humans in the house.

It is two days later and there are only three pieces left. Yes, you can say we enjoyed these.

It is a beautiful Saturday here. Now I am off to do some more research on where I can find a reasonably priced cage for two guinea pigs. Yes, it seems we will be adopting two guinea pigs from the shelter here in the next few weeks. Never, ever tell a 13 year old you will GLADLY get two guinea pigs after you've had a few glasses of wine. They will remember it later and hold you to it. In reality, I have been wanting to open my home to more rescues anyway so I didn't need that much convincing.

French Dips, to be continued....

2012-01-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a foodie's delight. There were some amazing blog updates, I found a recipe I wanted to try and had all the ingredients for, but first thing in the morning THIS happened:
I admit, I am a bit of a meat snob. There are so many rules regarding meat I will or will not eat that it is often easier to tell people I am a vegeterian. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found a kindred meat snob soul at work! We quickly bonded over our mutual love of Whole Foods, and she happens to have about one of the cutest babies I have ever seen.

She gave me a recipe for french dip sandwiches you make in the crockpot, one of my favorite tools. Then she went above and beyond and brought me a sample of the recipe she made the night before! Well, needless to say I think it took about two bites for me to polish off the sandwich, then it took everything in me to not bathe in the remaining sauce. The poor fiance didn't get a single bite. I actually had to wash the dish out quickly and drink some wine for fear he would smell it on me, like a wild dog. You see, these type of sandwiches are pretty much one of his very favorite things. That being said, I trust we can keep this fact between us: I have no choice but to purchase the ingredients and surprise him with this meal sometime next week. The recipe will be posted of course.

In the meantime, I have even more recipe and posts in the pipeline. But it is Friday, I have poured my first glass of wine, and I intend to at least finish the rest of this bottle. Until tomorrow then...

Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel

2012-01-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

What do ya know? Another sugary sweet recipe!

What you will NOT get in this post:
Beautiful photography
Fancy techniques
A quick, easy, and light recipe

What you WILL get in this post:
A great example of fail
A decadent and incredibly rich dessert
Something that takes forever to make but is so worth it

Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
From... you guessed it, the December 2011 issue of Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

Blondie
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t kosher salt
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 c (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla extract

Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
4 c roasted unsalted peanuts
2 c sugar
1/4 c honey
1/4 c (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 c thin twisted pretzels, coarsely crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (pan should be 13x9x2), leaving a 1" overhang on sides
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
4. Stir butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until browned bits form at bottom of pan, 7-8 minutes
5. Transfer to a medium bowl
6. Add brown sugar, and using an electric mixer beat until well combined, 2-3 minutes
7. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until fluffy and well combined
8. Add dry ingredients, beat until smooth. Batter will be thick
9. Using a spatula evenly spread batter in prepared pan
10. Bake blondie until golden brown and edges pull away from the side of the pan and a tester inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs, 20-25 minutes
11. Let cool completely on wire rack

Caramel
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread peanuts evenly in it
2. Bake the peanuts in 350 oven, stirring frequently until fragrant, 5-7 minutes
3. Stir sugar and 1/2 c water in large saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves
4. Increase heat to a boil without stirring, occassionally swirl the pan until caramel is deep amber
5. Add honey, and return to a boil, stirring often
6. Add butter, stir until blended
7. Add cream (mixture will bubble up so be careful) and whisk until smooth
8. Stir in peanuts and pretzels
9. Pour mixture over cooled blondie and chill until cool, at least 30 minutes
10. Run a knife around sides of the pan to release blondie
11. Using parchment paper overhang, lift from pan
12. Cut into bars, but keep them small because they are richer than Beyonce and Jay-Z, trust me on this

Yay here they are! All excited to become something tasty.
Lining my pan with parchment. I must confess, it probably wasn't the exact 13x9x2 measurement suggested but it worked out just fine.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. At this point in the recipe it tells you to then set it aside. Now I don't know about you, but really? Do they need to tell me to set it aside for fear that I won't? That I will then complete the recipe with one hand and in a panic because I forgot to set this bowl aside? Oh the world would end! Come on now.

Melted butter goes into another medium bowl.

Then you will plop all that beautiful brown sugar in there. Mmm I love brown sugar.

Beat together until it is supposed to resemble wet sand. I guess that depends on what kind of beach you are used to. Mine was mixed well so that's all that mattered.

Now add the eggs and vanilla.

Beat that all together until it's nice, fluffy, and well combined. Man, there is a whole lot of beating going on in this recipe. Might be good on a bad day.

Then of course you add the dry ingredients.

This batter will be very thick, won't resemble any cake batter or even most brownie batters. Take a spatula, and a spoon if needed like I did, and spread that thick beauty into the pan.

The end result will look messy, but it's fine because it will be covered in caramel heaven later.

Bake it according to the above directions, and you will get something that looks like this.

Put those nuts in a pan to roast. I did not line it with parchment paper because it seemed unnecessary.

While the peanuts are roasting I put the sugar and water in a pan. Then put that on a burner and stirred to dissolve the sugar.

Right about then the peanuts came out of the oven. Looking pretty much exactly as they did before they went in.

Well lookey here! Looks like this caramel is coming together nicely, so I step away to let it do its thing.

In about two minutes I have the pretzels pulsed in my mini food processor,

So that they look like this.

Caramel, bubbling along nicely...

and then BAM, it seizes. Just. Like. That. CARAMEL FAIL.

Considering it is just sugar and water, I just start over. Man have I matured. Just three years ago this would have triggered a full on tantrum.

I get the additions ready.

Now this is what a good caramel should look like.

Stir in the peanuts and pretzels, and get ready to spread.

Would you take a look at this beauty? I mean look...

at...

this.

While I still stand behind the statement that I really don't have a sweet tooth, I cannot resist anything caramel. Just ask my dentist.

So I had to take a few of these to the Kummer family, who handily live a mile down the road.

I then packed up the majority of the rest and brought them to work.

These do have an insane amount of labor required, and they are insanely sweet so not something you would want everyday, but what a fantastic "special occassion" dish. Sometimes a foodie wants to cook or bake something a little more complicated.

While these were very good right away, they get better every day so these are a good make ahead if you are doing them for guests or an event.

Enjoy!

Almond Oat Lace Cookies

2012-01-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, here it is, more cookies.

These are also from the December 2011 issue of Bon Appetit. Months and months went by where it seemed I didn't dog ear a single page in the issues of BA I was getting in the mail. I am not a fan of the changes that have been made with the new editor, and have been left feeling just... blah about each issue. And then we can fast forward to the December issue. Literally every other page dog eared. I figured I would try a few recipes and maybe end up liking two. Wrong. Each and every one blew my socks off. So bear with me, as the next few posts will be from the December issue. Here we go...

Almond-Oat Lace Cookies

1/2 c whole natural unsalted almonds with skins
2 T old-fashioned oats
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
6 T superfine sugar
2 T (packed) light brown sugar
1 1/2 t honey
1 t all-purpose flour
1/4 t kosher salt
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper
3. Pulse almonds and oats in food processor until coarse meal forms, set aside
4. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
5. Add both sugars and honey to butter, whisk until blended and sugar dissolves, 1-2 minutes
6. Remove from heat. Add nut mixture, flour, salt, and stir until well blended
7. Spoon batter by 2 teaspoon portions onto baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart
8. Using your fingertips, pat cookies down to 1/4 " high and push in edges to form smooth circles
9. Bake, rotating sheets after 6 minutes, until dark golden brown, 10-12 minutes
10. Slide cookies on parchment onto wire rack to cool
11. Using a pastry brush, brush half of each cookie with melted chocolate
12. Let stand until the chocolate is set, about 2 hours

Here we go!

Amazingly few ingredients for something that ends up so delicious.
Now let's all take a second and look at what the cookies were SUPPOSED to look like. That way it will be fresh in our minds while we laugh at how they really look later.

Lining my favorite cookie sheet with parchment. This cookie sheet was actually purchased at a thrift store, but it out performs the ones I paid big bucks for.

My mom actually gave me this mini food processor. At the time I couldn't imagine I would use it a lot. Well I have actually used it almost everyday since. So handy.

Pulse the oats and almonds together...

Until they look like this, then set aside.

Once the butter has melted in the pan, I add the sugars and the honey. Yes, this pan is old enough to be registered to vote. What?! Am I supposed to toss a perfectly good pan? I am far too cheap to do such a thing. On the other hand, maybe if I toss these it would justify buying new ones. Hmmm...

Add the nut mixture, flour, salt, and stir until well blended.

Here is where I was a little confused apparently. When the directions said to spoon by 2 teaspoon portions onto baking sheet, I must have gotten a little generous, you'll see what I mean later.

Pat them somewhat flat, and make sure the edges are rounded.

I popped them in the 350 oven, turning after six minutes, taking out when they were done. Which got me these....

So, like I was saying above, be a little light handed with the blobs of dough you plop onto the sheet. Place the cookies with the parchment paper onto cooling racks. The directions say to brush half the cookie with a pastry brush and chocolate. I decided to drizzle.

Though perfection isn't a strong suit of mine.

Pretty or not, these things were damned delicious.

And incredibly easy. What more could you want?

Yum. Enjoy!

25 Things About Me

2012-01-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

There are so many people doing this I firgured I'd give it a shot also.

1. I was born in Minnesota.

2. I have ridiculously curly hair.

3. Without a doubt, I drop the F bomb more than I should.

4. My mom was born and raised in Bremerhaven Germany, which is also where my older brother was born.

5. I have 3 sets of teeth, rather than the usual 2.

6. I am a hemophiliac which is rare in females.

7. Contrary to what this blog states, I much prefer savory food over anything sweet.

8. I drink too much wine... but is there really such a thing?

9. I was raised mormon but I am not currently active in any church (uhhh see #'s 3 and 8).

10. I thought 25 things would be easy to think up but it's not...

11. My favorite # is 2.

12. January 26th is my birthday.

13. My favorite color is green.

14. Dream destination vacation would be Bora Bora or Iceland.

15. My favorite place to go on vacation is Santa Cruz California. There is a nice KOA there and we bring the dogs who LOVE it. Everytime we are there we have to go to Phil's Fish Market for dinner, and Los Palmas taco stand for Mexican food.

16. For me, feeding people is the most sincere way to show I care.

17. My favorite season is fall.

18. I love yoga.

19. I am currently listening to The Script, loving them at the moment.

20. I worked with autistic kids when I was a teen.

21. I read every single day, and don't think there are enough years to read all the books I want to read.

22. I am allergic to pineapple, bananas, and cantaloupe. Yes, it is just as awful as you think it would be.

23. When I was a kid I wanted to be a judge AND a forensic pathologist. Oh, and I was going to marry an architect. Seems it didn't work out that way.

24. I have been on two billboards in town.

25. Tom Hanks is my favorite actor.

I have several recipes in the pipeline and hope to post a new one tonight!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

2012-01-02T17:12:00.001-08:00

COOKIES!!

Admittedly I have not tried any recipe lately that has blown my skirt up. In fact, most have made me walk away annoyed that I even wasted the ingredients it took to make them. So when I was half assedly (is assedly a word? It is now) flipping through the December issue of bon appetit I saw a whole section that struck my fancy. So I decided to make the Chewy Giner Cookies. Basically I Saw that they called for molasses, which I not only had, but happen to love. Enough said.

2 1/4 c all purpose flour
2 1/2 t ground ginger
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c vegetable shortening (I must admit here I used butter flavor crisco because I had some)
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1 large egg
1/2 c blackstrap molasses
2 t finely grated peeled ginger
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c finely chopped crystalized ginger (I did not use this)
1 c raw or sanding sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks arranged in lower and upper thirds of oven.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in medium bowl.
4. Using an electric mixer on med-high speed beat brown sugar, shortening, and butter in a large bowl, until light and fluffy.
5. Reduce speed to low and add the egg, molasses, grated ginger, and vanilla, beat just to blend.
6. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just to blend.
7. Mix in crystallized ginger (which I did not do). At this point the dough will be very soft and sticky.
8. Put the raw sugar in a shallow plate or bowl.
9. Using a tablespoon (T) measure scoop out dough. Using a second spoon scoop dough into bowl with raw sugar; turn to coat well.
10. Roll into a ball.
11. Transfer ball to prepared baking sheet, spacing the balls 1 1/2" apart.
12. Bake the cookies, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are firm 8-10 minutes.

Ingredients as per usual:
This is what the cookies are "supposed" to look like. Yeah, I don't go by that much.

Lining my pan with parchment... exciting stuff right there.

Mix the dry ingredients - flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Whisk those together and set aside. In my kitchenaid mixer bowl I put the brown sugar, shortening, and butter.

Then I mixed like crazy.

Until it looked like this. I love how they say "scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then". Uhhh, ya think?

Now add the egg,

And the molasses...

Notice how that sticky stuff flows all nice...

and easy away from the sides of the measuring cup?

That's because I sprayed the measuring cup with PAM spray before pouring in the sticky substance of choice. Works like a charm every time.

Add the vanilla.

Mix just to blend. Like so. Add the dry ingredients and again mix just to blend.

I did not have a bowl shallow enough for my raw sugar. So I used a plate.

For all of that beautiful sugar.

I busted out my brand new secret weapon. THE COOKIE SCOOP. Seriously. Worth every penny.

I scooped out even amounts of dough, just enough to fill the scoop with the top scraped off.

Which I then rolled in the previously mentioned gorgeous sugar.

Once I had several on the sheet they were ready for their main scene in the oven. 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Which resulted in these wonderous beasts.

Just look at them...

I had absolutely no choice but to immediately sample one (or three but hey who's counting?!) with a glass of milk.

If you make these, you will love them. Period. I did.

Thanksgiving spread - the general idea of it anyhow

2011-11-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Here it is already days past Thankgiving and swiftly coming into Christmas if you can believe it. We had the usual Thanksgiving set up this year which was having my mom and stepdad over for the feast. Since most of the dishes we prepare are very traditional to all homes that celebrate this holiday I won't bore everyone to tears by posting each detail about every one of them. Instead, I decided to do a basic overview of my day.

It starts with this handsome fella. This is a fresh Diestel turkey I bought a few days prior at Whole Foods. I have always heard great things about brined turkeys but this was my first attempt at doing one myself. Whole Foods had a bucket of their in house brining mix for sale so I bought that as well, and boy howdy am I glad I did. I don't think I can ever have turkey any other way again. So here he is after being brined overnight, ready for some love.

I took a stick of room temperature butter and added some herbs and spices. I went very easy on the salt as the turkey is brined which contains a lot of salt. In with the butter I added Italian seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, and some pepper. I would have added some cayenne but unfortunately my mom is unable to eat spicy foods. I then mixed this all together to make a quick herb butter.

Which I then rubbed all over this grateful turkey. My original plan was to start it breast down and flip it most of the way through the cooking. My understanding is that this makes for an incredibly juicy breast. I decided against that since I was a) unsure about what difference there might be in cooking a brined bird and b) this would definitely NOT be my first time ruining a turkey if it didn't work out. Yeah, I have never ever had a turkey come out perfectly. In fact, last year we had to pull the still mostly raw turkey apart and cook it in the gravy in huge chunks since HOURS had passed since we should have eaten! Many many tears were shed, and many bottles of wine consumed to ease the pain. ANYWAY.

I did a lot of prep work the night before, which made a huge difference in the panic level the day of. Wednesday night I peeled and diced the potatoes for the mashers, and the yams for the yam dish. Then I put them in their individual pots, covered with water, and left in the fridge overnight. This tip worked well and will be one I use from now on.

Yuck, look at my dirty stove burner things. What are those called? The racks or what have you? My absolute least favorite chore in the entire history of chores is cleaning my stovetop. I would rather clean anything else, toilets included. So, who wants to come over and scrub my stovetop in exchange for me feeding you delicious foods? Think I'm kidding?

I put the turkey in the oven @ 5oo degrees for half an hour. Then I took it out to baste it and make sure there was enough liquid in the pan. Then it was covered (with aluminum foil as the lid wouldn't fit on the pan with this huge beast in it), the temp lowered to 350, and put back into the oven. This was an 18 lb bird, and after the initial 30 minutes I believe it was in for about another four hours.

Ahh pretty birdie.

Now I prepped the brussel sprouts. This is an old family recipe originated by my Oma. This will be made a star in its own individual post at a later date. Brussel sprouts in the bowl on the left, odds and ends in the compost bowl on the right.

Once the yams were tender I drained them, mashed them, and put them in a casserole dish. Dotted the top with some Earth Balance. No marshmallows this year as I tried to lighten things up a little. The taste was still delicious.

Melty goodness...

I sliced each brussel sprout in half and tossed them in the steamer, then whipped my potatoes with plenty of garlic in the kitchenaid mixer. After the bowl was tightly covered with aluminum it was set aside, and was still plenty warm to serve when it was time to eat.

I may or may not have eaten almost a pound of these myself to "taste test" them before serving. Hey! I was starving! A good cook always tastes as they go!

Periodically the turkey would be taken out and basted, I would say every 45-60 minutes.

Then I started on the dressing. It was a classic style dressing. I used a loaf of my mom's handmade bread that I cubed and let sit out for two days to get stale. I also added mushrooms because they are delicious. The recipe also called for dill, but not much, so now I have a whole bush of dill in my fridge. Know of any recipes or good ways to use it?

Chicken stock in pan heating for the dressing, oil and butter on the right for the onions and celery which would also go into the dressing.

Turkey Tom, all done and gorgeous.

The spread! Clockwise from the bottom left green bean casserole (mom brought), yams, dressing, gravy, rolls (mom brought), Oma's sprouts, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (homemade from mom), and the star Tom.

This was my first brined turkey, but positively NOT my last.

Just look at all the spectacular leftovers.

Not a bit of the turkey went to waste. After it cooled enough I tore it apart.

Meat in the bowl, skin and bones into a seperate container to make stock. My house smelled just as good the next day while the stock cooked.

There you can see a very excited and blurry Rusty in the back ground. Yes, they surely each got their share of goodies. This year was much less rushed than past years. Part of that was because of all the work I did in prepping the night before, and it is the way we will do it from here on out. Sadly we were unable to be surrounded by all of our family but that's the way things go sometimes.

Gobble gobble, I hope all who celebrate had a great Thanksgiving as well!

What are your plans for leftovers?

Don't forget to share any recipes requiring dill if you have them!

Roasted chickpeas

2011-10-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

Holy smokes I am alive! I know I haven't updated this in forever. It's actually been so long that I almost couldn't remember how. Where I have been and what I have been doing is nothing exciting, nor anything extremely positive or even worth talking about. Let's just pretend I was on a fabulous trip to somewhere magical. K? Moving on!

I am not getting any younger, or any thinner for that matter. So, in an effort to change my indulgent ways I am making a serious effort to eat better and move more. This recipe reflects that. Roasted chickpeas, an incredibly healthy, budget and waist friendly, snack. Really easy and really simple. I've got to get back into this slowly you know?

Ingredients are:
2 T olive oil
1 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Salt to taste
Cayenne to taste
Curry powder to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Rinse and pat the beans dry
3. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, cayenne, and curry powder
4. Place it all in a baking pan or sheet
5. Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the beans/peas are crunchy and brown but not burned

Here is my journey:

Lining up my ingredients. I completely forgot about the curry powder until later.
Preheat the oven to 450.

Rinse the pretty little beans/peas.

Pat dry with a paper towel. PAT DRY. Not man handle and squash like I almost did. Sometimes I don't know my own strength.

Toss them into a bowl with the olive oil, some cayenne, salt and this is when the curry powder should have gone in.

A perfectionist I am not, which is made obvious by the crooked and sloppy cut parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Really I don't think it is even necessary to use but you know, I am a rebel and all that so....

This is also where I remembered the danged curry powder. So I just sprinkled some on and tossed these around a bit.

Put them in the oven and bake, but keep a close eye on them towards the end. They will burn quickly.

Done.

What is this fat little enchilada licking his lips for? You'll see in a minute.

These may not be the prettiest things you have ever seen but they are indeed delicious. Crispy, spicy, salty, and some still had a little softness in the middle. Yum.

This is the object of Remo's infatuation. I was giving him some "carrot noodles", which is basically the carrot skin after peeling. I am whipping up a huge pan of roasted veggies to eat through out the rest of the weekend.

Happy eating everyone! I have really missed doing this and hope to be back on a regular basis!

If you want some other healthy ideas and tips, check out this blog:

http://yesiwantcake.com/

This woman is serious about her health and fitness. Would I ever be able to be that committed? Yeah, committed to the nuthouse if I even tried. Either way I am hooked on her and can't stop reading.

Have a great weekend!

Grilled Fish Packs

2010-05-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have tried to post this several times but it seems something always got in the way! So here we are, at long last, a new post. Not that anyone was losing sleep about my lack of posts but it was definitely bugging me. Anyway, on to the fun.

Grilled Fish Packs

~1 halibut fillet (about 1 lb) cut in half
~1/2 T of cumin, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne
~1 can of cannellini beans
~2 c (about 6 medium) mushrooms chopped
~1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes
~1 T olive oil
~2 T balsamic vinegar
~Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Pre heat your grill
2. Sprinkle the fillet with salt and pepper
3. Scatter the other seasonings on a plate.
4. Rub the seasoning on the fish.
5. Drain and rinse the beans.
6. Put the beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a bowl.
7. Pour the olive oil in the bowl, and sprinkle some salt and pepper in it. Mix together.
8. Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil.
9. Place about half of the bean mix on the foil. Top with the seasoned fish.
10. Wrap the bundles so that the foil is sealed all around.
11. Place the packs on the grill and cook for 14 minutes or until fish is done.

Corn

~3 corn cobs
~1/4 cup of butter, softened
~Approximately 1/2 t thyme, parsley, and paprika
~1 clove of garlic, minced

1. Remove husks from corn.
2. Place corn on a sheet of aluminum foil.
3. Mix the spices and garlic into the butter.
4. Spread even amounts of the spiced butter on each cob.
5. Wrap in foil, and grill with the fish.

Ingredients all pretty and ready to go.

This is a beautiful piece of fish. Worth every single penny.

I just use a paper plate for the spices, easier clean up though far less "green".

Don't these look pretty? Now don't be scared. I know this looks like an overwhelming amount of spice but it's not. As it cooks in the packet the seasoning will melt off onto the veggies below.

Drain and rinse the beans. I can just eat these straight out of the can I love them so much.

Now I break for an intermission, a snack intermission. This is "moody blue" cheese from Whole Foods and holy mother is it good. I don't even bother with a cracker, just eat it as it is. Mmm...

Toss the beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes into a bowl. Toss in the olive oil and spices and mix well.

YUM!

Now lay out a sheet of aluminum. I got these at the dollar store and now regret not buying ten boxes! They are pre-cut and perfectly sized sheets of foil.

Put about half of the bean mixture on one sheet, and top with the fish. Do the same with the rest on another sheet.

Start folding up the sides of the foil. Pour 1T of balsamic on each piece of fish.

Wrap the fish completely.

Now for the corn. Mix the butter, spices, and garlic together.

Place the corn on a piece of foil and pull up the sides.

Spread an even amount of the butter mix on each ear of corn.

Wrap the corn in the foil and set aside.

Take the packets and corn, and put them on the pre heated grill. They will cook for 14 minutes or so.

At which point I go in the house to pick the wine to be enjoyed with this fine meal. This was on special and I have never met an Australian wine I didn't like. This one didn't disappoint!

When the time is up go and get the stuff off the grill.

Open the pack and check to make sure the fish is done. If the fish is not quite done simply re-seal the foil and let it sit for a few more minutes. The fish will continue to cook in the foil. I actually like to take it off a little early and let it finish cooking in the pack. It stays so moist it is unbelievable.

Plate the fish, veggies, and corn. The best part about this recipe? The clean up couldn't be easier. The foil gets put in the recycling bin and there you have it.

Look at the inside of the fish. Heaven.

Well, judging from his plate, I think the man of the house enjoyed his meal.

This recipe is healthy as well as delicious. It is my own version of the Halibut Fish Packet recipe from Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. You can eat this and not feel guilty about having dessert afterward!

Enjoy!

Angel's Eyes Cookies

2010-03-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right. I am making cookies called Angel's Eyes.

My mom was born and raised in Bremerhaven, Germany. She moved here to America with my older brother about two years before I was born. Sadly I never learned how to speak German but I was fortunate enough to be raised in a home where there was almost always some kind of baked good in the oven. Ironically enough I have never been a big fan of sweets so I didn't fully appreciate the effort that goes into making the types of delicacies she made.

In the past few years I have made an effort to get more into baking, though I am still far away from mastering the tortes and pies that my mom makes! In January I had a milestone birthday (30 but who's counting!?). For that birthday my mom gave me what has to be one of the best presents I have ever received. Behold:

Well, the best present I have ever received not including my beloved Kitchenaid mixer but I digress. She gave me a German cookbook translated into English! I was giddy with glee, giddy I tell ya!

After leafing through the book several times I could not decide what to make first. As you can see I had about two dozen little post it tags flagging the pages with things I needed to try ASAP. Finally deciding to leave it to the person likely to enjoy the treats first, I handed the book over to my fiance and let him pick whatever he wanted me to make. He picked these:

Angel's Eyes. Leave it to us German's to name a delicious morsel after the optical organ of a celestial being.

Angel's Eyes

For the shortcrust pastry:

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1 level t baking powder

1/2 c sugar

3 drops vanilla essence in 1 T sugar

1 pinch salt

yolks of 3 medium eggs

3/4 c soft butter or margarine

In addition:

whites of 2 medium eggs

2.5 oz blanched chopped almonds

4 T redcurrant or other jelly

2 t water

1. To make dough, mix together the flour and baking powder, sift into a mixing bowl, add the other ingredients and stir with a hand mixer with kneading hook, first briefly at the lowest setting, then at the highest setting until the dough is formed. Then form into a ball using your hands. Wrap the dough in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 325 and line the baking sheet with baking parchment (I used wax paper).

3. Mould the dough into 7 cylinders (16 in long), cut into pieces 2 cm/ 3/4 in long them form them into small balls. (This.... is not happening. Something must have been lost in translation because there is NO possible way this recipe makes the 140 cookies it says it will as you will see below).

4. Whisk the egg whites with a fork. Dip one side of each ball of dough in the beaten egg white, then press into the chopped almonds. Then place the balls of dough with the non-almond side down on the baking sheet and make a hollow in each ball of dough using the handle of a wooden spoon. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake four approximately 15 minutes.

5. When the biscuits are done, remove from the baking sheet with the baking parchment and put on a rack (with the parchment which I obviously missed when reading this and did not do. ::sigh::).

6. Bring the jelly with the water to a boil and fill the hollowed centre of the biscuits using a teaspoon. (I had to make double the amount of the jelly mix even though this recipe only made half of the 140 it was supposed to make.

Here we have the cast. Very simple, not too much involved.

A while back I posted about that fancy new hand sifter I got. Well, yeah. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to buy one for a few bucks at a discount store. That thing doesn't work well at all. So I am back to my tried and true process of sifting it through this metal strainer. It never lets me down.

Toss them in the mixing bowl.

With this cookbook my mom also gave me a whole slew of baking goodies that she knew may be hard for me to find in regular grocery stores. Like this vanilla sugar. You can make your own vanilla sugar by stashing a sliced open vanilla bean in a jar of sugar, or you can make the mix this recipe recommends. 3 drops of vanilla stirred into 1 T sugar. I of course get to cheat because my mom is awesome.

Separate the yolks and the whites. Here I display a classic that never ever let's me down either. That good old Tupperware egg separator. It has a little notch in the side to hang on the side of a bowl and everything.

I add the yolks,

The butter (which is melted because once again I forgot to take it out to let it soften. One day I will get it right).

and remaining ingredients.

When it was transformed into dough I tossed it out onto a floured counter.

Where I formed it into a ball and wrapped it with plastic. Which then went into the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Which is the perfect time to go ahead and get your oven preheated. And maybe catch up on some Real Housewives episodes you may or may not have DVR'd. I mean, not that I would watch such a show or anything. No! Not me. Not a chance. Hey everyone! Look over there! It's a pink elephant!!

Now after 30 minutes of not watching an addictive reality trash TV show has passed, take the dough out of the fridge.

Shape it into logs and mark where you will cut it to form into balls.

Now, this is where I save you a bunch of frustration and confusion. These little nibs were the size of the tip of my thumb, and as you can see I was nowhere close to getting 140 little balls from it. So I ended up with about half of that amount. These cookies do not rise at all either, so the size they are when you put them in the oven is just the size they will be when they come out.

Dip one side of the ball in the egg white you have beaten with a fork, then dip into the almonds, and place almond side up on your cookie sheet. Like so.

After pressing a little hollow into each ball put them in the oven.

They will come out looking like this. Just slightly browned.

When I put the next batch in, I started on the jelly mix. Where I cheat again. You see, my mom grows currants in her yard. So I just so happened to have some of this fantastic homemade currant and gooseberry jam in the fridge. But of course, not everyone can have their very own Betty Crocker on the German Prairie for a mom, so it is perfectly fine to use store bought jelly of any kind really. I am confident that any kind would taste just as fabulous.

I put the jam and water in a pan, and brought to a simmer to thicken it a bit.

Once it has set, I put a dollop in the center of each cookie. Now these don't look nearly as beautiful as they do in the book but holy cow these have a TON of flavor. It's amazing really how much flavor can be in what turned out to be bite sized cookies.

After telling the fiance that next time I would just triple the batch and make bigger cookies, he asked me to not do that, saying these cookies were perfect just this size. That way you aren't biting a cookie that would crumble and break in your hands. Even if he was just trying to make me feel better, I have to agree. So tiny they will stay.

Enjoy!

Bertolli Fontina and Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breast

2010-03-14T12:37:00.001-07:00

I am in the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, and I will sometimes get emails about products they want people to try. I don't like to be greedy so I told myself I would only opt in to get a product if I really wanted to try it. Well this Bertolli sauce was definitely one I wanted to try. I absolutely love Bertolli products and have never had a bad experience with them. So when I got a box in the mail with this sauce I absolutely took a second to do a happy dance in the kitchen.

Included in the package were some recipe ideas. I wasn't quite sure what to make, when the fiance pointed to this one. Boy am I glad he did. It sounded complex but it really wasn't. On with the show.

4 servings
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs)
1/2 cup shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese (about 2 oz)
2 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
2T finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1T olive oil
1/2 cup Italian dry bread crumbs
4 cups baby spinach leaves
2T water
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 jar Bertolli Four Cheese Rosa Sauce
8 oz fettuccine, cooked and drained

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Make deep 1 inch long cut with knife parallel to cutting board, inside each chicken breast half to form pocket.
3. Combine cheese, bacon, and basil in small bowl.
4. Evenly stuff pockets with cheese mixture, then press edges together to seal.
5. Brush chicken with olive oil, then dip in bread crumbs, turning to coat.
6. Arrange chicken on baking sheet (which I covered with aluminum and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray).
7. Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
8. Meanwhile, cook spinach, water, and garlic in a skillet over medium high heat until spinach is wilted.
9. Stir in sauce and heat through.
10. To serve, arrange hot fettuccine on serving platter (or directly on plate as I did), then top with sauce mixture and chicken.

Now, as you see above, this recipe does not call for any extra seasoning, such as salt. This had me a bit concerned as I think everyone has had their share of bland chicken. I was not confident that the Italian seasoned bread crumbs would be sufficient in flavor to make up for the naturally devoid of flavor chicken breast.

Also, bacon. Yeah. I am some kind of a scientific anomaly, a rare human, one of only .0003% of people on earth who do not like bacon. I could happily live out the rest of my life without ever eating another piece. Also, I rarely eat meat anymore except for when I have company over. I gave in for this recipe with the chicken alone, the bacon was like a whole different level of sin! So I was really really tempted to leave the bacon out, but in the end I am SO Glad I kept it in. For one, surely the fiance would never speak to me again had he found out that this recipe called for bacon and I didn't use any. Secondly, I was still quite concerned with the lack of additional seasoning as I mention above.

As usual, we start with the bit players in this culinary production.
After turning on the oven to pre-heat, I started with the bacon.

Holy dirty stove Batman! Yikes. Sorry about that.

Then I went on to slice the pockets into the chicken breast. This really was not as hard as I thought it was going to be.

Once the bacon was done it was time to put together the filling.

Hahaha half cup of cheese I mock you! Surely a HALF cup of cheese is never enough cheese! So as you see here I went a little over the recommended amount. It's in my DNA. I cannot help it.

That mix was then tossed together into a bowl,

and stuffed into the waiting chicken breasts. Even using almost twice the amount of cheese, I was able to stuff all of the filling into these breasts.

They were brushed with olive oil, doused with bread crumbs, and placed on the baking sheet.

Into the oven they went, while I went to work on the rest of the meal. I got the past in the boiling water and prepped the skillet for the sauce.

Speaking of the sauce, here it is in all it's glory. I am not usually a fan of any jarred pasta sauce outside of the regular tomato based ones. But as always, Bertolli did not let me down. I am telling you folks, if you see this on the shelf, BUY IT. You will not be disappointed.

Put the spinach, water, and garlic in the skillet and cook until just wilted.

Then you add the sauce. Cook until just heated through. If you like you can turn the heat off, or keep it on the lowest setting. At this point everything else is coming together so the sauce shouldn't have time to get cold either way.

Take the chicken breasts out of the oven.

And don't be shy to take an extra moment to admire their beauty. Ahhh the smell of these...

Don't leave your windows open while cooking this unless you want the neighbors to come barging into your house demanding a plate.

I mean, look at these!

Arrange the pasta on a plate, and spoon some sauce over it.

Place one of the breasts over the pasta, and serve. Now this is a huge serving here, but I wanted to use this much to get a nice picture. I need not to have worried, as the fiance devoured this entire plate almost without interruption before sitting back with an expression of bliss on his face.

As I mentioned, I was very impressed with this sauce and would definitely buy it. It was not overly salty as some sauces tend to be. Also, the cheese and bacon add the perfect amount of salt to the breasts. Combined with the fresh flavor of the basil it adds a wonderful taste to the chicken while keeping it moist.

Enjoy!

Roasted shrimp and asparagus pasta in lemon sauce

2010-03-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Today's recipe is one that I have been messing with for a few months now. I finally think I have it perfected.

Ingredients:
1 lb angel hair pasta (or any pasta of your choosing, I just think angel hair works best)
Olive oil
2T butter
1 lb of asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
1lb large shrimp, peeled & de-veined
Salt and pepper
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
1 large shallot, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 small anchovy fillets
Shredded parmesan (approx 1 handful)

1. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Lay shrimp in a pile on a baking sheet. Drizzle with approx 3T olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
3. Place a large pot of salted water on the stove, add 2T olive oil, and bring to a boil.
4. Bring a smaller pot of water to a simmer (this will be for your asparagus)
5. In yet another pan/skillet slowly melt the butter with 2T of olive oil.
6. Put the asparagus & pasta into their pots. Cook until done to your liking, which will probably take about the same amount of time as the shrimp will be in the oven.
7. Place the shrimp in the oven, and roast for 6-8 minutes until the shrimp is pink and cooked through.
8. Turn the heat a little bit higher under the butter and olive oil mixture. Medium is perfect.
9. Into the butter add the anchovy fillets & stir until they are dissolved.
10. Add the lemon juice, zest, shallots, and garlic to the butter and anchovy sauce. Cook until the shallots are soft. DO NOT burn this. Cook it over medium or lower heat just until the shallots are soft. Then you can either turn the burner off, or put it on the lowest heat possible. If the lemon zest burns your sauce is ruined.
11. When the timer goes off take the shrimp out of the oven, and check to see if your pasta and asparagus are done. Drain the pasta, and drain the asparagus.
12. Place the pasta in the butter sauce and toss to coat.
13. Add the shrimp, asparagus, and a handful of the shredded parm. Stir together.
14. Plate and serve!

Enjoy this meal. It is very easy, and VERY flavorful. Don't be scared of it because it has anchovy fillets in it. When they are melted into olive oil they take on a rich, nutty flavor. It won't even taste like fish.

Here is the cast of characters:

First the lovely shrimp. You are just going to pile them right on a baking sheet like so.

Then you put 3T of olive oil on it, sprinkle with about 1T each of salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

And trust me, if you must sample the wine to be served with dinner at this point, well I sure won't be telling anyone. Consider it a quality control of sorts. Wouldn't want to serve anyone bad wine would you?

Now shake the pan up so the shrimp are scattered across it evenly.

Place a pot of salted water on the stove top and bring to a boil. Place a smaller pot of water on another burner, and bring to a simmer.

Take a large skillet and put it on ANOTHER burner, at which point I was wishing I had a six burner stove. Melt the 2T butter and 2T olive oil over very low heat. Put the pasta in the boiling water, and the asparagus in the simmering water.

Place the shrimp in the oven and set your timer for 6-8 minutes. I set mine for 7 to check their progress at that point.

Now turn the heat up to medium under the butter and olive oil. Pick three or four fillets out of your anchovies.

Put the fillets in the pan, and stir them until they dissolve. Which is really hard to get a picture of it turns out! Where's my professional photographer when I need him/her?!

Then add the garlic, shallots, lemon zest, and juice. Turn the heat down and cook just until the shallots are soft. Like I said above, be very very careful not to have the heat on too high. Burned lemon zest is the nastiest flavor on earth and you will ruin your sauce if you let it get that far. There is no saving it once it's burned.

Now things will be happening quickly. The shrimp, pasta, and asparagus will likely be done at the same time. Take the shrimp out of the oven.

Drain the pasta, and the asparagus.

Now put the pasta (as much as you can fit) into the sauce and toss to coat.

Now add the shrimp, asparagus, and a big handful of the shredded parm.

Stir this together.

Plate it all pretty like, and serve! I usually give another sprinkle of parmesan at this point.

Enjoy!

Rugelach with mom

2010-02-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas I go a little bake crazy. It's the time of year where I get to show my love through what I bake people. Cookies, cakes, pies, pastries. You name it, I want to bake it and feed it to someone!

So in the beginning of December my mom came over to school me in a new recipe. Well, new to me anyway. Rugelach!

Rugelach is such an easy, and versatile recipe. You can really do anything with it. The dough itself does not have sugar in it, so the possibilities are endless. So, let's get this show on the road!

We made a double batch, so you could really cute this in half to make fewer.

Dough:
-4 sticks of butter, at room temp
-8 ounces of cream cheese
-4.5 cups of flour

1. Put the butter and cream cheese in your mixer (you can use a hand mixer also).
2. Once mixed, add the flour, and mix together well.
3. Dump the dough onto a well floured counter, and shape into six balls.
4. Flatten the balls into discs, wrap in plastic, and store in the fridge for 1 hour to overnight.
5. Place dough on a floured surface. Roll dough out into an approx 14 inch circle.
6. Place toppings of your choice on the round.
7. Using a pizza cutter, cut round into 16 slices.
8. Roll slices from the outside, toward the middle, to create a crescent shape.
9. Place the crescents on a baking sheet covered in aluminum & sprayed with non stick spray. We did not do this and what a hot mess we had on our hands, as you will see below.
10. Bake at 350 until just starting to brown.

Here are our ingredients, including some of the filling we chose.
For the fillings we have hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, two types of jams, chocolate chips, and some natural sugar.

These are preserves that my mom got at the local Grocery Outlet store. Bargain shopping score! These were delicious. Very good quality.

We toss the butter and cream cheese into my beloved kitchenaid mixer.

We mix it until it looks like so.

Creamy delicious.

At that point we add the flour, and mix until it forms a nice dough.

Meanwhile, my own living handy vac is making sure I haven't dropped an goodies. I mean hey, you never know when a whole stick of butter might drop down from the heavens.

Once the dough is mixed, we slap it down onto a well floured counter.

And mom gets to work kneading and rolling the dough.

she has done this so much in her life I think it comes as second nature. She could knead dough in her sleep!

Flatten the ball slightly, and cut it into six pieces.

Then shape these pieces into balls,

and flatten them.

These will be wrapped in plastic, and placed in the fridge for 1 hour to overnight.

While the dough chills, we get to work on some of the toppings. Well... my mom does. I just snack and take pictures.

After chop, chop, chopping, we came up with an easier solution. While my sidekick waits patiently by, always on the look out for any escapees.

This is the closest thing I have to a food processor. I know! It's a crime! But it works well enough for a small job like this.

Tada! Beautiful, uniform, chopped nuts.

Now the chocolate chips get the same treatment. You do not want to keep these whole. It makes it really difficult to roll the rugelach.

Now we have our filling all set out and organized. We also decided to go with some cinnamon and sugar as you see below.

Now we get the dough from the fridge, one disc at a time.

Sprinkle some flour on the counter,

Then roll the dough out into a circle.

Now this is where you can go crazy. We spread raspberry preserves across the circle of dough.

Take it far out to the edges, like such.

Then it was sprinkled with crushed hazelnuts,

Followed by some white chocolate.

And what the hell, why not toss some cinnamon/sugar on there. Wild and crazy, that's us!

Now it's ready to slice.

When you get towards the middle, just go slow and steady, as the dough wants to roll up into the wheel sometimes.

From there, roll from the outside, toward the center. You will get little crescents like this:

Now this is the part I would NOT advise. We just put them right on an ungreased cookie sheet, which caused a mess when the filling would sometimes leak out a bit. Speaking of cookie sheets, isn't this one of the most loved ones you have seen? Now THAT cookie sheet has clearly seen it's share of delicious baked goods.

Pop quiz, can you spot the big NO NO in this picture?

That would be the wooden cutting board in the upper left. Yeah, don't put cutting boards on the stove top. When I was about three, my mom had left a wooden cutting board on an electric heating element on the stove. I remember walking through the kitchen and seeing billows of smoke coming up from the board. I wander into the living room and say "Fire in the kitchen!", and I get shooed from the room. Surely she would notice if there was a FIRE in the KITCHEN. Right? Well apparently not, because she did indeed find the kitchen filled with smoke. See? It isn't always just a case of over active imagination. ANYHOW. On we go.

This is a large sheet, so we go ahead and fill, cut, and roll another ball of dough.

Using apricot to start this one.

We covered these with the natural sugar.

Followed of course, by more spreading, cutting, and rolling...

I got adventurous and pulled a bag of craisins out of the cabinet to use as a filling as well.

Then into a 350degree oven until is JUST starts to brown. See the spillage of the ones on top? Yeah, hence the reason non stick spray and/or aluminum, is a good idea.

Pouty dog is pouting. This is my mom's Jack Russell, Toby. He is a handful and a half, but so cute it almost makes up for it.

Yum! These are really delicious. They are not overly sweet, and are perfect with a hot cup of coffee.

Of course, if you make these during the holidays, it is a must to arrange them on a tacky Christmas plate like this one.

Have fun baking, and enjoy!

2010-02-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it. I have been a complete slacker witht the blog the last few months. Life hasn't been handing me lemons. It's been THROWING them at my FACE. By the truck loads. So I've been here, scrambling my butt off to make the biggest batch of lemonaid you've ever seen.

That being said, I am back with renewed energy and passion. I have some great recipe ideas, and will be posting on a more regular basis. I'm baaaaacccckkkkkk!!

Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

No stories or long background explanations here. Just a really good, really simple cookie recipe. This recipe can be altered and changed in any number of ways. I have added chopped up Heath bars instead of walnuts, used fruit instead of chocolate chips. You name it.

The ingredients are all things that bakers usually have on hand, but if you don't have one of them, they aren't complex or difficult to find.

They are:
-1 cup butter, softened
-1 cup brown sugar
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1T vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-2 cups all purpose flour
-2.5 cups oatmeal
-1T baking soda
-1T baking powder
-1/2 t salt
-1 16 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
-2 cups walnuts, chopped
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a blender, grind the 2.5 cups of oatmeal.

In large bowl cream together the butter,

sugars,

vanilla and eggs.

In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, ground oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Then mix those ingredients in with the wet ingredients.

See how easy that was? Now all you have to do is add in whatever other ingredients you choose. For me this time, it was chocolate chips.

and walnuts.

Combine.

Roll the dough into even sized balls, I used a 1/8 cup measuring device. Though what I really need is a cookie scoop! Maybe one day...

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Then my friends Amy and Mike showed up with their ridiculously adorable newborn, and I couldn't tear myself away to get some steaming fresh out of the oven pics. That's fine though, you'll see how good and easy these are for yourself if you bake them!

This picture will have to suffice. Trust me though, these are GOOD.

Enjoy!

Ruth Reichl's Sweet Potato Pie

2009-11-15T13:14:00.001-08:00

Mmmm, MMM! Sweet potato pie!

I still remember, clear as day, my first experience with sweet potato pie. My mom, brother, and I moved from a small town in Minnesota, to Sacramento California when I was six. When I was seven, we moved into a house next door to an older lady named Mrs. Mosley. Mrs. Mosley was a really sweet woman, who's house was always buzzing with activity. There seemed to be no end to the number of people she had in her family, who would often come by to visit. She also always seemed to have something cooking on the stove, or baking in the oven, to feed the crowds.

One day while I was at her house, she sliced me a piece of her sweet potato pie, and watched closely as I took my first bite. I looked at her, excited, and said "This tastes just like pumpkin pie!". Wrong. Apparently that is NOT how you respond to someone blessing you with your first taste of sweet potato pie. Needless to say, I won't go into the time her daughter made me some grits, and I exclaimed "This tastes just like Cream of Wheat!". I had a lot to learn...

I have to hand it to Mrs. Mosley, in the 22 years since that day, I still haven't had a sweet potato pie that could even hold a candle to hers.

Ruth Reichl was the Editor in Chief at Gourmet magazine for a number of years, until it's untimely and unfortunate end this month. She also happens to be one of my favorite writers. While reading her second memoir, Comfort Me With Apples, I came across this recipe for her sweet potato pie. I had just recently purchased a large box of sweet potatoes from Costco, & had everything else on hand, so I figured I would give the recipe a try. I was not disappointed!

As usual, the cast of characters:
-2 medium sweet potatoes
-1/2 stick of unsalted butter
-3/4 cup sugar
-3/4 cup whole milk
We drink fat free milk so I used 1/2 cup of half and half, and 1/4 cup fat free milk
-3 large eggs
-1t vanilla
-1/2t cinnamon
-1/4t nutmeg-the recipe calls for freshly grated, which I did not have
-1/4t salt
-1T dark rum
-1T all purpose flour
-1 9 inch pie crust
So shoot me, I use a store bought frozen pie crust! Pillsbury makes a great product and I have never been let down by it. If you are going to go store bought, make sure you get a good brand.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The days are getting really chilly here, so baking sounds like a great idea. Need some visual proof of the cold weather? Well just take a look at her.

Diva with a capital D. She stayed put right there through out the baking process. Only moving to change which part of her body was nearest to the fire.

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non stick cooking spray. This makes clean up later so much easier.

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork & roast them until they are tender. This will take about 1 hour and 15 mins, to 1.5 hours.

Take them out of the oven, and let them cool down to room temp.

Raise the oven temp to 400 degrees.

Place a shallow baking pan on bottom rack.

Scoop the flesh from the potatoes into a mixing bowl. Then mash with a fork or whisk until smooth.

Melt the butter in a small pan.

Then stir in the sugar.

Add the butter and sugar mixture to the potatoes.

Add the milk,

eggs,

and whisk until smooth.

Now whisk in the vanilla,

cinnamon,

nutmeg,

salt,

dark rum,

and flour.

Whisk until completely combined.

Here's a tip I learned from the Food Network for filling pie shells:

Set the pie shell directly on the rack, or a sheet in the oven.

Then fill it. This saves you the precarious walk to the oven with a liquid filled pie shell. Which is always the time the cat decides she wants to attck my feet and/or the invisible zombies surrounding me.

Isn't that color beautiful?

Now bake the pie until the filling is just set. About 40-45 minutes.

Set the pie on a rack and let it cool completely.

I got a little to eager, and cut into the pie before it was cooled. Which made it not look as pretty as it could have, but it still tasted delicious!

Enjoy!

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sun Dried Tomato Gravy

2009-11-07T12:54:00.001-08:00

This October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine was my inspiration for today's recipe. Look at that cover. My my isn't it beautiful.

I have seriously cut back on eat red meat, or even pork. But something as luscious as this swayed me. I knew I had to try it.
Now, as per usual, I kind of veered off the recipe and adjusted it to what I had, and the direction I wanted my end result to go.

Cast of characters:

5 lbs of short ribs

Coarse kosher salt

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

3 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped carrots (4 large)

2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)

8 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 lb sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)

1/4 fresh thyme sprigs

5 large fresh sage sprigs

5 bay leaves

2 cups dry red wine

4 cups homemade chicken stock

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a few ribs at a time in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt & pepper, then toss with some flour until coated.

Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a heavy bottom pot on med-high heat.

In batches, cook ribs in oil, until well browned on all sides.

Now don't be afraid to get a really nice crust on the ribs. They will get really tender while they bake later.

Place the browned ribs on a baking sheet while moving on to the next steps.

Now, at this point, I realized I should have been using my cast iron dutch oven, as the whole pot will have to go in the oven, so I switched to it. So if you are making this, just remember to start with an oven safe pot in the beginning. Learn from my mistakes.

Put the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil in the pot over med-high heat.

Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook about 12 minutes until tender. Stirring often.

Add the sun-dried tomatoes. Unintentional Christopher Ranch ad! I really do love their products though.

Then add the thyme,

followed by the sage,

and lastly the bay leaves.

Stir to coat the ingredients.

Put the ribs into the pot. It's likely you will have to lay them on their side, so that they are all in a single layer like so.

Now pour in the wine.

Oh the beautiful wine.

I was going to use some other red wine that I had on hand. But when I saw this in the store, well, I couldn't resist. It was called "Mad Housewife" cabernet.

Now, I wouldn't call myself a mad housewife per say. More of a "reluctant house fiance" thanks largely to the crap economy.

Just look at what the back of the bottle says. That is perfect.

After tasting it, I thought it was the perfect choice. So much so that I had a glass while cooking. Go ahead, you'll want to also. I won't hold it against you...

as long as you invite me over and share!

And now I realize in my haste to pour myself a glass, I didn't get a picture of the front of the bottle. Complete fail on my part.

On with the show.

After adding the wine, let the pot simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes or so.

Then add the stock.

Here I get a little out of hand. I added a generous splash of balsamic. Oh yeah... balsamic is my latest have to have ingredient. But man was it worth it here. It added a whole different layer of flavor to the gravy in the end.

Now cover the pot and bring it to a simmer.

The recipe in the bon appetit issue serves this with swiss chard. I did buy some while at the store, but when I got home I realized that I had some asparagus in the fridge that I really needed to use.

I trim the ends by cutting off the tougher white part, and using a veggie peeler to peel the ends before blanching the stalks. I like the way it looks, but it is definitely not a mandatory step.

By now the contents of the pot should be simmering.

Transfer the pot to the oven, where you will leave it for a minimum of two hours. Try not to peek or mess with it too much. Which truly is a test of will once the scent of the cooking meat and gravy starts to float around your house. I am not kidding you, it was heaven on earth.

When the time is up, you will take the pot out and let it sit for 15 minutes, covered, at room temp.

Which is when I simmer the stalks of asparagus in a skillet of water for 5-10 minutes. Just until done to your preference. Do NOT over cook them. They will be soggy and completely the opposite of what anyone would consider appealing.

Drain the stalks, put on a platter, sprinkle with kosher salt, and set aside. I covered mine to retain some warmth.

Now would you take a look at these? Oh man, go ahead.

Take a closer look. The smell is out of this world.

At this point I had a ravenous man on my hands, driven almost mad after having to smell this cooking for over two hours. So I had to speed things up.

Carefully remove the ribs, without seperating the meat from the bone if possible. Strain the contents of the pot, and put the juices in a pan over high heat, and bring to a rolling boil. Add cornstarch, 1 tbsp at a time, and whisk until it is completely combined. Now how much you add completely depends on how thick or thin you want your gravy. I wanted mine just slightly thick, so I added 2.5 to 3 tbsps.

I served this with a side of mashed poatatoes as well. It would be a sin not to considering how well the gravy turned out.

Wow that gravy was something. In a perfect foodie world, it would be used as currency it was THAT good!

Finished product. In the end both plates were completely cleaned. I could only tell the difference between mine and Brad's, by the finger patterns where he cleaned any excess off of his plate with his fingers before licking them clean.

Beyond delicious, rich, decadent, and ridiculous. This dish was all of those.

Enjoy!

Gumbo Soup-courtesy of Maxine

2009-10-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

Today I have a recipe we got in the mail from Brad's mom, Maxine. I love trying new recipes, and I also know that Maxine has great taste. When Brad saw this recipe he was adamant that I cook this as soon as possible.

This recipe was really easy to make, and we happened to have all but a few of the ingredients on hand already. I did have to go to the store to get the clam juice, and gumbo file. Well, I had no idea what gumbo file was. In a case of true iPhone fail, I did not look it up on my phone, and instead left the store without that ingredient. Turns out, gumbo file is the powdered leaves of the sassafras tree. Well, you learn something new everyday! Here are some of the ingredients lined up.

Ingredients:

1 quart clam juice

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup of rice (I used jasmine)

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 lb of cut okra (I used frozen okra that I thawed)

2 stalks diced celery

1 small chopped green onion

1 diced red pepper

1/2 diced onion

1 diced green bell pepper

1 tsp gumbo file (which as you read above, I did not use. I will definitely add it next time)

1 cup cut up shrimp (I used 31-40 size shrimp, cut each in half)

1 cup cut up scallops

1 mahi mahi fillet, cut up (You can really use any fish for this. I used mahi because I figured it would hold together better than salmon or tailapia)

Put the clam juice in a pot over medium-high heat to bring to a boil. While that is heating, in a medium bowl, add the tomatoes,

Rice,

Tomato sauce,

Yummy, slimy, cut okra,

Green onions,

Red bell pepper,

Onion,

and green bell pepper. This is where you would also add the gumbo file.

The juice wasn't quite simmering, so I started in on the shrimp. I had to shell them, re-clean them to get the remaining vein, then chop them in half.

At that point the juice was bubbling nicely, so I added the tomato and veggie mixture.

That's when I got back to the seafood. Making sure all pieces were roughly the same size to ensure they'd all cook at the same time.

When the rice was a few minutes from being done, I added the seafood.

At this point the recipe says to ass 1 tsp of tobasco. Well, I really like spice in my food, so I added one tbsp of red pepper flakes, and a healthy squirt of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. Mmmm, MMM! Also add salt and pepper to taste.

Then cook for about another five minutes, giving time for the fish to cook. I then covered it, took it off the heat, and let it sit so the flavors could blend together a bit more, though you could surely serve it at this time.

Gratuitous cat spam. The cat loves this sweater of her dads. Any time it is left out in the open she has to lay on it. Think it's safe across the back of a bar stool? Not so. I could hear her purring like mad and walked around the counter to find this.

She is not amused by my interruption. But she is not amused by much, except for that sweater of course.

Then it was time to eat. I served this with and artichoke on the side. Because... well... since when does anyone need an excuse to eat a delicious artichoke!?

This soup was hearty, filling, and absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend you try it. This is a good company meal as well. It is impressive and looks a lot more complicated than what it is.

Enjoy!

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie & Cast Iron seasoning tip!

2009-10-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

So months ago, we went on a camping supply shopping frenzy. Well, not necessarily ME, it was more Mr See Marie Cook who went through this spell of temporary insanity. Of those purchases, there were two I was truly looking forward to getting. A cast iron skillet, and a cast iron dutch oven.

Of course, between buying those things, and now, our world was shaken up and tipped over like a snowglobe. Losing jobs, selling a house, starting a business, and moving have all taken the top priority, and now the dust is starting to settle. I have used the dutch oven, but have just recently gottten around to digging out the skillet.

A few weeks ago Brad said that he wanted something cozy, some comfort food to match the gloomy weather outside. Well, I happen to know one of his all time favorite old school dishes is chicken pot pie. What a perfect opportunity to use my skillet.

I had recently DVR'd an episode of Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network. The topic of that episode was Chicken Pot Pie. Here is how it worked for me:
I was shocked to realize that I had no chicken stock in the house. None, not a drop. Luckily Mr Tyler Florence included his chicken stock instructions in the recipe. I love that man. Anyway...

Stock ingredients:
-1 whole chicken
-1 gallon cool water
-2 carrots, cut in 2 inch pieces
-2 celery stalks, cut in 2 inch pieces
-1 onion, halved
-1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
-2 turnips, halved (I did not use these as I did not have any on hand)
-2 tbsp dried thyme
-1 tbsp rosemary
-1 bay leaf

Chicken. Good. All right that's a line from the movie The Fifth Element that always makes me laugh. Oh, no one else knows what I'm talking about? ::ahem:: carry on...
You will need a large, heavy bottom stock pot for this. I believe this is one Brad's mom gave to him a while back. A lot of my often used items were gifts at one time or another from Brad's mom. A kitchen Goddess that woman is.

Veggies and herbs getting ready for a swim.

Now of course you will need to handle the chicken, and after handling and raw meats make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. Before handling the bird, I take off my ring...

Oh who am I fooling, this is just a chance to show off my gorgeous engagement ring! The man has good taste.

Of course I cannot chop carrots without snagging a few for the beasts. Carrots are their favorite.

Chop the carrots and celery into 2 inch pieces.

Half the onion and garlic head horizontally. Like so.

Put the chicken in the stock pot, and cover with the gallon of cool water. Add the veggies and herbs, then bring the pot to a boil.

I also had to add some salt and pepper. Couldn't help myself.

Bring that to a boil. Skim it well, then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 45 minutes, skimming any oil off that rises to the surface.

This is when, in my recipe, the box in the freezer that I THOUGHT was puff pastry was actually pie crust. Awesome. Well I figure in a pinch, I could use the pie crust instead. But in the end I decided to go with the good old Bisquick biscuit topping.

Once the chicken has cooked for 45 minutes, remove it to a platter to cool. At which point it looks a hot mess, but we will remedy that I promise.

Let the chicken stock continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes. This helps to condense the flavor. You should end up with about eight cups when you are finished, which is why the ingredients specify a gallon of water.

Ahhh Bisquick. You've saved me again. I made a double batch of the recipe on the box for chicken pot pie. Of course, I just made the dough portion of the recipe.

Now strain the chicken broth into another large pot. Discard the solids.

I pick out the cooked carrots, again, for the dogs. They had quite a treat that night for dinner.

When the chicken is cool, shred the meat and discard the skin and bones.

Picked clean.

This is the chicken I will be using for the pie.

And THIS is the chicken that ensures my dog's endless love for me. This is what they got on their kibble for dinner. Their eyes glazed over I swear it.

Now for the pie.

Ingredients:

-1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

-1/2 cup all purpose flour

-Salt and pepper

-3 carrots, cut in 1/2 inch circles

-1 onion, chopped (next time I will dice them finely)

-1 box of frozen peas (though I used shelled edamame)

-1 tbsp parsley

-1/4 cup of shredded parmesan

Now wipe out the stock pot, and put it back over medium heat. Melt the butter in the pot.

Then add the flour a little at a time, whisking to form a paste or roux. Whisk until smooth.

Gradually pour in eight cups of the chicken stock. I did it one cup at a time. Whisk the entire time to prevent lumps.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Now, I cannot emphasize this enough, make sure to use plenty of salt! It's not often that you will hear me say that, but in this case it is crucial.

Run your frozen veggies under cool water for 2-3 minutes to thaw them.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

While the edamame thawed, I prepared the dough for the top of the pie. This is the recipe, which I doubled:

-1 cup bisquick mix

-1/2 cup milk

- 1 egg

Stir the ingredients together with a fork until smooth.

Set aside until you have the pie assembled in the skillet.

Now go back to the roux. It should be nice and thick. Fold in the chicken,

Carrots,

Onions,

and edamame or peas.

Stir to combine.

Spoon the mix into the skillet.

Get the bisquick mix, and spread evenly over the filling.

Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese, and sprinkle some pepper on as well. Makes it look a little prettier in my humble opinion.

Bake the dish for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the top to be nice and brown, like this!

Isn't it pretty?

Nice and ready for it's close up.

I mean my goodness. At this point I heard Brad yell from the livingroom "Are you going to eat it or make out with it?!". Never you mind buddy boy...

Now, no matter how good this smells, how beautiful it looks, or how many men and children you have wailing about their growling bellies, you must let this set for at least 25 minutes. Otherwise you are going to cut into a soupy mess. That would really be a shame considering all the work you just put into it. I won't lie though, it was a test in patience and strength to go about our lives for the whole half hour I let this sit, pretending that it wasn't just right there on the kitchen counter.

After we could take it no longer, I cut into it...

Behold!

I will tell you, Brad thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Though he did use even more salt at the table. He enjoyed it so much, that this is the chunk that was missing when we were done.

And it was even better as left overs a few days later.

Since I want my relationship with my cast iron to be a very long and successful one, I know that I need to take good care of it. This requires some maintenance after every use. According to the pamphlet that came with this skillet, I was instructed to wash it out with warm water right after using it. A small amount of dish soap in a sink full of hot water is acceptable as well. Then dry it completely. At which point it this is what I have:

Then I sprayed it generously with a cooking spray, I used PAM.

Flip it over, and spray the backside also.

I let that sit overnight. Then in the morning I wiped any excess oil off, and put the skillet away.

Enjoy!

Flour Sifter!

2009-10-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

So after all my belly achin' in the lemon cornmeal cake post, look what I found today!

I was at Ross, looking for some cheap picture frames for a project we are doing.

Lo and behold, I find this beauty in the kitchen section!

This is that nifty pump handle I was talking about.
And for just $5 too! Clearly it was fate. Now if only I can stumble on a $20 food processor...

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Lemon Glaze and Blueberry Sauce

2009-10-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

I saw a picture of this cake, in Bon appetit's April 2009 issue. I fell in love and knew I had to try it! Alas, we were in the middle of a thousand stressful things, including getting prepared to move. So this lovely recipe had to wait. I did end up making it last weekend.
As per usual, the cast of characters:
Glaze-
1 1/2 cups packed powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons, or more, fresh lemon juice
Cake-
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Crushed blueberry sauce (I have a recipe for this if anyone wants me to post it. Luckily my mom is skilled in all things canning so I had a delicious jar of her blueberry sauce willing to sacrifice itself to this recipe. Blueberry sauce not pictured below. Well, part of the jar is...)
First task was grating the lemon peel, and squeezing the lemons. Grate just the very outer yellow part of the peel. The white part just doesn't taste good, trust me. I always put citrus peels down the disposal because it makes the kitchen smell delicious and fresh.

I used the grated peel of two lemons.

And, of course, the juice from those lemons as well.

Now to sift the powdered sugar. I always check the thrift stores for one of those old fashioned sifters. You know, with the pump handle? For now I just use this. It works fine. Just isn't nearly as cool as an old school sifter would be.

Plus, I always make a mess with this, like so...

Now add the lemon juice to the powdered sugar. I had to add 3 tbsp just to get it to a glue consistency. Which is not what you want...

You want a thin glaze, like this. Now set that aside. I think I ended up using something like 5 tbsp of lemon juice.

At this point, I was melting the butter in the microwave. Not the best idea, as I soon found out. I heard a loud POP come from the microwave, and this is what I discovered.

Awesome, just what I want to do in the middle of baking a cake, clean the microwave.

But it had to be done. I am far too anal to let something like that sit.

So I got another stick of butter, but this time put it in a pan over low heat to melt. I pre heat my oven to 350 degrees, then butter the cake pan.

I draw a rough sized circle out of some wax paper, and press it to the botom of the pan.

Then I bust out this beauty. I have often heard these mythical stories about the great Kitchenaid mixer, and how every good cook should have one. I couldn't afford one and tried to convince myself that I didn't need one, hell didn't even WANT one. That is, until I was completely surprised with one from my boyfriend (now fiance which he can thank the kitchenaid for as well), on Christmas! I literally wept with joy. Literally, I cried. Then spent half an hour caressing the box as if it were my own newborn child. Behold, the beauty...

Now I also have heard that every good cook should have a food processor, which I do NOT have. ::hint hint, nudge nudge:: Brad, if you are reading this...

I digress, on with the recipe.

Now I combined the flour and cornmeal.

Yellow cornmeal is beautiful, on top of being damn tasty.

Add the sugar,

baking powder, and salt, in a large bowl.

Whisk the ingredients to blend.

Now in the mixer, I poured the buttermilk, and turned the mixer on to med-high speed.

Added the eggs,

lemon peel,

and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients, into the dry ingredients.

Then add the melted butter. Which, if all turns out right, wouldn't have previously exploded in your microwave.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture together until just blended. DO NOT STIR.

It will look like this:

Then pour the mixture into the buttered, and papered, pan.

Now, the recipe calls for a 9 inch diameter pan, with 2 inch sides. Well my pan wasn't 2 inched high, but I decided to pour it all into one pan anyhow. It was less than half an inch off from being 2 inches, but that didn't stop me from being nervous about it. Especially when only nine minutes into the 30 minute baking time it looked like this:

As you see here, it turned out okay after all. Aside from that dip in the middle which proves to be problematic in a minute. This is after 30 minutes of baking.

Run a knife around the sides of the cake, which should be seperating from the pan a bit. Flip the cake out onto a rack, and behold it's beauty.

Then flip it back over onto another rack, so that the top is facing up again. Stir the glaze up until it is blended. While the cake is still hot, drop the glaze onto the cake by the spoonful. Spread it to within 1/2 inch of the edge.

Some glaze may drip down the sides of the cake, but I think this makes it look even better.

Don't you agree?

Now look at that blasted dip in the center. My concern was that the glaze would run into it, and make the middle of the cake too rich, and basically soaked in lemon glaze. I just continued to use the back of a large spoon to push the glaze towards the edges of the cake. I did this for just a few minutes until the glaze started to harden in the places I wanted it to go.

Then I sprinkled the left over lemon peel over it. Because what the heck, it makes it look fancy. One of my favorite Food Network shows is the Barefoot Contessa. Ina always says to put something on the outside of the dish, to let people know what is on the inside. In this case, that was lemon peel.

When it is cooled slightly, slice this bad boy up!

Then pour on a generous spoonful, or three, of blueberry sauce.

Tada! Enjoy! I know I did. This is also delicious with a nice cup of coffee in the morning, says Brad.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

2009-09-27T13:12:00.001-07:00

This is a recipe I got from the bon appetit October 2008 issue. It is a recipe that a reader wrote in to get, after having the dish at JW-s Food & Spirits in Grand Haven Michigan. I had some canned chicken that my mom made, and had been looking for a dish to use it in. Plus, I was hoping by making chili I could temp the weather gods into finally giving us some cool weather! It worked, last night was pretty chilly... pun intended. Anyway! On with the show...

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno from a jar (I used fresh. I always have fresh ones on hand)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 15 ounce cans of Great Northern Beans, drained
1 pound cooked chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup of half and half
Time to start chopping. I actually enjoy chopping veggies, I find it soothing.

Celery and onion done.

Chop the pepper

Done

I chopped the jalapeno on a seperate cutting board. Of course you already know this, but wash your hands after handling jalapenos! I once forgot to do so, and wiped my hand across my upper lip. Yeah, for about 3 days I looked like I had experienced a horrible lip waxing accident. Not pretty. And the pain! Oy, not something I want to experience again that's for sure.

Then get to work on the garlic. I used really large cloves. Garlic makes everything better.

Here is a line up of the other ingredients. Including the chicken my mom canned. She had warned me that it would be delicious, but wow. This chicken was absolutely phenomenal! I could really eat it right out of the jar. I will definitely be buying a whole bunch and bringing them to her house so we can can some more! That gives me an idea, I'll document the whole process and post it here... Now, back to the task at hand.

While I was chopping, I had the oil heating in a large saucepan, over medium high heat.

I then add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and jalapeno. I cooked them until they started to soften, about 4-5 minutes.

At which point I added the chili powder (cayenne), garlic, and cumin. Cook that for 1-2 minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, until veggies are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the beans,

Chicken,

and half and half.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until heated through. This only takes a few minutes. Make sure to season with salt and pepper as needed.

I garnished ours with a sprinkle of fat free shredded cheese, and some toasty bread. This dish was so simple to make, and was a huge hit. Mr. See Marie Cook had three bowls! Then laid around moaning about how stuffed he was. I would definitely recommend this dish. You could easily leave the jalapeno out if you are serving people who don't care for much spice.

Enjoy!

Carmelized Chipotle Chicken

2009-09-26T14:16:00.001-07:00

This recipe comes from the September 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine. A friend also posted this recipe on another blog. I immediately knew I wanted to try it.

The original recipe serves 6. I cut the recipe in half, as it was just 3 of us eating. Cutting it in half still left us with plenty of leftovers. With those I plan to make warm chicken salad, once I find a decent recipe for it...

Ingredients: (this is from the original recipe, which I cut in half)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup ketchup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo (from a 7 oz can)
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 whole chickens (about 3.5 lbs each), each cut into 8 pieces

I used a whole chicken, which I then realized I would have to cut up myself! Yikes. Never done that before. I immediately thought about one of my favorite cookbooks, which has excellent infortmation and instructions on exactly this kind of stuff.

And it again had exactly what I needed. I decided to just split the chicken, as opposed to cutting it into 8 pieces.

I did a pretty decent job!

At this point, I tossed some red potatoes and two smashed cloves of garlic into a pot of salted water. I didn't turn the heat on yet, just wanted to get them in there. I mash these skin and all. Which I will show more of later.

Now here is an excellent tip I learned from watching the Food Network. Wet a paper towel, and lay it on your counter. Then put your cutting board on top of it, that way the board won't slip around as you are working on it. Brilliant.

It really works.

Here are some of the ingredients. Mingling, getting ready to play a part in a beautiful dish!

Heat your oil in a large, heavy, skillet. I got mine about a year ago from Kohl's. One of the best purchases I ever made. I love this thing. It can go from the stovetop, right into the oven.

When the oil is shimmering, toss in the garlic. Stir it constantly, as it can burn quickly. Have you ever tasted burned garlic? That is a horrible flavor that takes days to get rid of!

Once the garlic is golden, transfer it to a bowl or plate with a slotted spoon.

Reduce the heat to medium, and cook the onions. Stir just occasionally, until the onions start to brown.

Now the kitchen is really starting to smell amazing. Of course, I think garlic and onion cooking smells just like heaven. My kind of heaven anyhow.

This is the perfect time to start getting the other ingredients together.

When the onions are done to your liking, add the garlic back in, and then toss in the rest of the ingredients.

Vinegar, worcestershire sauce, cinnamon.

Mustard. I didn't have dijon so I used stone ground mustard.

Brown Sugar

Ketchup

and the chipotles.

Also add a bit of salt and pepper.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened. It only took mine about 10 minutes or so. I imagine it would take longer if you used the full recipe.

While waiting for the sauce to thicken, preheat the oven to 450F.

Coat the chicken with half of the reduced sauce. Then roast it, skin side up, for 25 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven, and brush on the rest of the sauce.

Then pop it back into the oven, until it is cooked through, and well browned in some areas. Mine too about 25 minutes or so.

By this point I had boiled the potatoes until they were done, and drained them.

Now get a pen, because these instructions are very specific.

I put in a generous splat of butter, and a hunk of cream cheese. Very scientific measuring going on around here I'll tell ya.

Add some milk, salt, and pepper, and mash them. Or, smash, would be a better term.

It's time to cut up the chicken. I let the man of the house do this, makes him feel like he has a part of making the meal you know.

The spread! Yum.

Enjoy!

Fired Up Chicken Pitas

2009-09-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

Now here I go, posting a healthy and filling recipe. Trust me, I wouldn't post it if I didn't find it absolutely delicious.

What you'll need:
1 portion of cooked chicken breast (a portion is a piece the size of your palm)
1/2 a cucumber, peeled and diced
1 tomato, diced
1 slice of onion, chopped
1/4 tsp of cayenne
1 tbsp fat-free plain yogurt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 pita, cut in half

Now, I really like spicy food, but feel free to not use the cayenne or hot sauce.

Here are my ingredients laid out:
Slice the chicken breast into bite sized pieces.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the chicken, cucumber, tomato, onion, cayenne, yogurt, and hot sauce. Sitr until it's all combined.

Then just spoon the mixture into your pita halves, and you have lunch! You can also make a bunch of this mixture, to use through out the week. This dish is good for you, and really filling. I got the recipe from the Eating For Life book by Bill Phillips. The book has a ton of really tasty and healthy recipes. Some others will be posted here later. Enjoy!

Stuffed figs and prosciutto

2009-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

Figs stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto.

Ingredients needed:
Figs (I used fresh)
Goat Cheese
Prosciutto
Balsamic vinegar Mmmm figs! A couple months ago, I started seeing flats of figs at Costco. I hadn't had figs in a long time, and wanted to try them out. So I waited for the price to go down, and then I had to get them.

A few years ago in Napa, I had a delicious appetizer at a restaraunt called Celadon. It consisted of goat cheese cruted in macadamia nuts, and figs that were poached in port. That appetizer was a dream and I have never forgotten it. I was having a BBQ, and figured it was a great time to re create the dish, in my own way.

I started by slicing the figs in half, like pictured below. I covered a baking sheet with aluminum, and sprayed it with non stick cooking spray. This all makes clean up a snap. Just how I like it.

How much of each ingredient you would need, depends on how many people will be eating. This was so simple. I just sliced pieces of the goat cheese, and rolled each slice into a little ball. I then pushed each ball into a half of a fig. Once that was done I took a long strip of prosciutto, and wrapped that around each stuffed fig half.

I pre made these in the morning, and at this stage I wrapped the whole sheet with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for a few hours.

Once my guests started to arrive, I took the figs out of the fridge, and pre-heated my oven to 400 degrees. I roasted them for 10-12 minutes, until the prosciutto started to get nice and crisp. I moved them to a serving platter, and drizzled them lightly with balsamic vinegar. Then I had to snap a quick picture before they vanished off the plate! These were definitely a hit, and really easy to prepare.

Eggplant Shepherd's Pie

2009-09-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe I got from the March 2009 issue of Bon Appetit. The original recipe calls 2 pounds of lamb. I used one pound of really good quality ground sirloin I got from my butcher, and one pound of ground turkey. I also added a few other ingredients to make this recipe my own.

Ingredients for the filling:
-1 medium eggplant, cut into cubes
-kosher salt
-4 tbsp, or more if needed, extra virgin olive oil; divided
-1 lb ground sirloin
-1 lb ground turkey
-1/2 large white onion, chopped
-1 14 ounce can of tomatoes
-1.5 cups of broth, whatever you have on hand
-2 tbsp flour
-1/2 cup of white wine
-4 large garlic cloves, chopped
-1/2 tbsp of oregano
-1 tsp cayenne
-4 large mushrooms, chopped

Ingredients for the potato topping:
-12 red potatoes chopped in 4, NOT peeled
-1/4 stick of butter
-1 tbsp olive oil
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 cup of milk
-1 cup shredded cheese

Now onto the fun.

Lay the eggplant cubes on a baking sheet, use one with a raised edge. Like so.

Sprinkle with kosher salt, don't be shy now.

Let that stand all nice and pretty, for about an hour. Tossing every now and then.

At that point you will rinse the eggplant, and pat dry with paper towels.

Heat up 3 tbsp of oil in a heavy large pot over med-high heat. Add the eggplant and saute until it is tender, about 12-15 minutes. Toss the cooked eggplant into a medium sized bowl.

In the same pot, lightly brown the ground meat, and set aside. This meat will continue to cook in a sauce so do not brown it too much in this step.

In same pot, add in 2 tbsp of butter, the onions, 2 tbsp of flour, and stir to coat. Continue to stir until the mixture has thickened, and the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the wine, and boil until most of the wine has evaporated. Be sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, that's where a lot of flavor will be.

After the wine has evaporated, add the tomatoes with juice, broth (I used some homemade chicken stock I had on hand), garlic, oregano, cayenne, and mushrooms.

Add the meat with it's accumulated juices. Simmer until thickened to your liking, then keep over very low heat while you cook the potatoes.

At this point I set my oven to preheat to 375 degrees.

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes or so.

Melt the butter & oil in a medium saucepan over med-high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, not more than a minute or so. Add milk and simmer.

Drain the potatoes, and return them to their pot. Leave the heat under this pot on medium, and stir the potatoes until the cooking water has almost completely evaporated. Enough to where you can see that it has cooked off, but not long enough to let the potatoes start to stick to the pan.

Add the milk mixture, and mash until the potatoes are smooth.

Here is what my filling looks like before I put it in the baking dish, I just used a large, square, Pyrex baking dish. You can use whatever dish you like, even a 13x9x2 would work.

Pour the meat filling into the baking dish, then cover it with the potatoes.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top. I used a blend of cheddar and Monterrey jack.

Place in oven and bake, until the filling is heated through, and the topping has turned a golden color.

Juices from the filling may seep up onto the top of the casserole. It doesn't make it look pretty but the flavor is amazing.

I served it with a salad and enjoyed every bite!

In hindsight, next time I will add something green, and some carrots.

This is a very versatile dish, the possibilities are endless.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

2009-06-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

My 11 year old step kid would eat his entire weight in these if we let him. This is a kid who doesn't like cake, won't eat cupcakes, and will turn away most pie and 95% of every other kind of food. These though? Well these are in his words "heaven".

Here's what you'll need for the cookie patties:
-2 (18.25 ounce) packages of devil's food cake mix
-4 eggs
-1 cup shortening

And for the filling:
-6 tbsp cream cheese
-1/3 cup butter, softened
-1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
-1 tbsp cream
-2 tsp vanilla extract

To make the cake patties you will start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Blend together the eggs, cake mix, and shortening until well mixed.

Roll in balls all uniform in size. Mine come out to be about 1-1 1/2 inches wide. Make sure you have an even number of balls, as these will be filled.

Here is what mine look like at that stage:

Bake for 10 minutes. These will be very soft when they come out of the oven. It is crucial to let these cool completely before spreading the filling on. You can even make these a day ahead, and fill them later.

Now to make the filling.

Mix the cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, cream, and vanilla.

This mixture will be rather loose. I like to let it sit in the fridge for 10 minutes or more to tighten it up. It makes it easier to spread that way.

Now look at these beauties, just waiting to take that final step to Destination Delicious.

After they have been filled, I put them back into the fridge to cool. Well, I'd like to do that anyhow. But there is some law that states you HAVE to try one right away, even though you know the filling will just squish out of the sides at this point. Honest, it's the law.

Once the filling has set up, these will be a spontaneous free for all of flavor going on. No joke.

You want your kid to eat all of his or her veggies? Just tell them these are on the menu for dessert. You'll see those veggies disappear before your very eyes!

5 Spice Chicken Thighs

2009-06-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Now, to be honest, this recipe was going to be the Chinese 5-Spice Chicken recipe from the April 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. My first mistake was sending my boyfriend to the store for the required "Chinese Five-Spice powder". Knowing I would have a hard time finding it myself, I don't know what I was expecting him to come up with. Needless to say, by the time he called from the store frustrated because he couldn't find it, I told him I'd figure something else out. It's easier to post a recipe I make on average once a week anyhow.

I feel like I need to insert a disclaimer here:

This dear friends, is chicken that will indeed, if not careful, make you want to slap your mama. It is THAT good. So until you have tried it a few times, refrain from having mom over for this meal. Or grandma even, I can't make any guarantees.

Here is what you'll need:

-12 chicken thighs, defrosted (which leaves plenty for leftovers, but I wouldn't bet on having any left over)

-2, gallon sized, ziploc bags

-1 cup olive oil

-8 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped. Or more, I won't hold it against you.

-2 tsp kosher salt

-2 tsp each cumin, cayenne, and lemon pepper

-1 1/2 large onion, chopped into wedges. I use white, but use whatever tickles your fancy

Now, put half of the olive oil, garlic, salt, and other spices in one of the ziploc bags, and the rest in the other. You'll have a mix that looks like this.

Then add 6 pieces of chicken to each bag. Now let that sit and get to know each other for at least an hour, all the way up to 24 hours or so. On this night, I let mine sit for about 3.

This is also when I chopped my onion. I wanted to be able to just toss it all together when I was ready to cook it. This would be a great meal to have everything ready the day before, so you could just assemble and toss it into the oven when you get home from work.

I add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to my onions because I am a rebel.

Mmmm, now take a look at that!
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Line the bottom of a roasting pan roughly 13x9x2 in size, with the onions. Make sure you have a pretty even layer.

Look at that chicken. Sitting in it's hot tub of delicious, all excited and ready to join the onions.

Lay the chicken thighs, skin side up, on top of the onions.

Here's where we can get really crazy. I then drizzle the seasoned oil that the chicken was marinating in, over the chicken and onions. I just seal the bags closed, clip off a bottom corner, and squeeze all the oil and lovely chunks of garlic out.

Now there are times when you just KNOW the dish you are preparing is going to knock your socks off. This is one of those.

You wouldn't believe how delicious the house smells just 20 minutes after putting this in the oven.

Roast the chicken until it is cooked through, mine took 55 minutes.

If you could only smell this.

I took the chicken out, and put the pieces on a serving platter, then loosely covered it in foil so it could rest for 15 minutes or so. That fork comes in handy to jab at any stray men that wander into the kitchen to sneak a piece at this point.

I ladled all but a tiny bit of the juices out of the pan, just leaving the onions. I put those back in the oven to get some color, about 15 minutes should do.

Yum, would you just lok at that juice! That is going to be the base of some KILLER stock.

Here's the spread. Chicken, rice, and mixed veggies. The vegetables are literally just a mix of whatever I had in the freezer, plus some fresh cauliflower I had in the fridge. Sprinkled with some freshly grated asiago cheese and some pepper.The rice is cooked with chicken stock, instead of water.

The onions were FABULOUS over the rice.

This recipe is so easy, but it is packed with so much flavor. You won't believe your taste buds.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Soup

2009-06-03T16:06:00.001-07:00

I love cauliflower, I love soup. What could be more perfect in life then, than a cauliflower soup?! Well, lot's I am sure, but let's start here.

Here's a line up of some of the fixin's:

For this recipe I am sure I will have ample opportunity to use my new, totally awesome oven mitt and dish towel given to me by a dear family friend, Darlene.

"Easy as pie my ass" is right!

I buy this chicken stock in bulk. While I sometimes make my own, I rarely have time to do so. Pacific Natural Foods makes amazing products. Remember the love of soup I mentioned above? Pacific Natural Foods make an organic Creamy Tomato Soup that is to die for!

Anyway, on with the show... err... blog...

Oh my santoku knives. I didn't know what a good knife was until I had you. These were a Christmas gift from the wonderful boyfriend.

While I have carrots out, I can't NOT give some to the pooches. Carrots are their favorite treats.

This recipe calls for finely diced carrot, onion, and celery. Now that's a dice to make mama proud!

This recipe does not, however, call for garlic. Which is blasphemous! To get back at the man I went ahead and finely diced two whole cloves to toss in as well! Ha! You know, it's really the little things sometimes.

To start I began to melt 4 tbsp of butter in a large soup pot.

I then added the onion and cooked over medium high heat until it began to brown. Roughly 6 minutes or so.

Then add the carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook for a few more minutes. 5-6 should suffice.

Toss in the cauliflower and parsley. At this point I was glad that I was using my super large soup pot! This was cooked over low heat for about 15 minutes.

Now is when the chicken stock goes in. Which was then brought to a boil. Then lower to a simmer.

While that simmers, it was time to start the thickening agent. After melting another 4 tbsp of butter, I mixed flour and milk, and whisked to combine. This was then slowly added to the butter.

Removed from the heat, I stirred in the 1 cup of half and half. The mixture was then added to the soup, and simmered for 15-20 minutes.

After checking the seasoning, and completing the last steps, this was the end result.

This soup was very tasty. Though after we were finished, I did end up using an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth and creamy consistency. There was plenty for left overs as well!

I got this recipe from the awesome Pioneer Woman blog! With some changes of course. Like the garlic :P

1 stick of butter

1/2 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 celery stock, finely diced

1-2 heads cauliflower, roughly chopped (I used 2)

2 tbsp chopped fresh or dried parsley

2 cloves of garlic, diced/minced

2 quarts of chicken broth or stock

2 cups whole milk

6 tbsp flour

1 cup half and half

2-4 tbsp salt, to taste

1 generous cup of sour cream, at room temperature

In large soup pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to brown. Add the carrots, garlic, & celery, cook for an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

In a medium sauce pan, melt the other 4 tablespoons of butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. I used a bowl off of the stove to do this. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half & half. Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. This is where you check your seasoning and add any salt or pepper as you feel fit.

Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or tureen. Add 2-3 ladles of hot soup into the tureen or serving dish, and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir. Serve immediately.

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Pasta Salad with mozzarella and cucumber!

2009-06-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

After calling my parents to come over for dinner last week, I realized I wanted to try something new for a side dish. I knew I wanted a pasta salad, but I didn't want to make the traditional, mayo drenched, version.

I searched on the web for some new, inspiring recipes. While there are obviously tons of recipes to choose from online, I took notes and ingredients from several, to make my own version. Here it is!

Ingredients~

1tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp salt

1 lb pasta (I prefer the tri color rotini, but use whichever you prefer)

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

12 ounce container of marinated mozerella balls, drained NOT rinsed

1 cup sliced black olives

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 large red onion, diced

1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup shredded parmesan and romano cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions~

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp of salt, and pasta. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes, or according to package directions. Drain, and spread on a flat surface to cool (this will avoid the noodles sticking together). When cool, transfer to a serving bowl and toss with 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Mix remaining ingredients in a seperate bowl. Toss with the pasta, adding seasoning to taste, and enjoy!

This was delicious and a big hit! It's crisp, refreshing, and not nearly as heavy as the old fashioned pasta salads. It was also incredibly easy, and left overs were just as delicious the next day.

Breakfast burritos

2009-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have made a challenge for myself, to take a picture of one of my meals each day, then post the photo and include prep instructions and recipe if applicable. Maybe that is a big undertaking, but I think it should be fun. So today it starts.

Today's breakfast is my version of breakfast burritos. It's an attempt at a healthier, meatless recipe that is still delicious. Instead of meat, I used black beans for protein, and feta cheese instead of gobs of cheddar or American. Also, I use small corn totillas, instead of flour.

I like to juice. I do it on the weekends because I really don't have the time on the weekdays. This morning's juice consisted of:

5 carrots

2 ribs of celery

1 dozen or so strawberries

2 pears

4 oranges with the peels sliced off. The peels make the juice too bitter for my taste

Looking at this really makes me wish I had my stuff together enough to compost! Maybe one day. Putting the peels in the disposal does make the kitchen smell great though.

Now for the burritos:

-Beans-

1 15 ounce can of black beans. Drained lightly, not rinsed

1/4 medium white onion, diced

3 tbsp feta, divided

1 small handful of cilantro, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

-Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.

-Once hot, add the onions, cook until soft.

-Add the blackbeans. You can mash them a bit with a fork if you prefer.

-Cook until heated through and most of the liquid has absorbed.

-Move the beans to a serving bowl, sprinkle with 2 tbsps of feta & about 2/3 of the cilantro.

-Cover.

-Eggs-

Beat 2 eggs (or more. Depends on how many people are eating), with a splash of milk until well mixed.

-Pour eggs in pan.

-Toss in the remaining feta & cilantro.

-Scramble as usual.

-Tortillas-

-Meanwhile, heat up a griddle or pan using med-high heat. I use a cast iron griddle for this, but a regular frying pan would work fine. Place the tortillas on the hot surface and toast until one side is hot and a tiny bit crisp. Flip and repeat on the other side.

Serve with salsa, hot sauce, and some sliced avocado. Enjoy!

2008-12-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here I am. Not so boldly diving into this cooking blog that I have wanted to create for years. So why on earth did it take me months to finally try this thing out after creating it?