Alexis a la Carte

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T21:34:00.007-05:00

Last year I made sure to write down everything my mom did to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. This Turkey Day I tried my first stuffed Roast Chicken.

Besides a few of my roasted potatoes not being cooked fully, I thought it was a great first making. 4.5 YUMS. I didn't even have to season my gravy at all! It was perfect just from the stock and drippings. The chicken was perfectly cooked too. Moist and flavorful! I accompanied the chicken with Spicy Sausage Stuffing, String Beans, Gravy, and Roasted Red Potatoes.

For lunch I made homemade Butternut Squash Soup. You wouldn't believe how easy it is and delicious! And I can't see this soup having more than 100 calories per serving! Its so healthy! 5 YUMS. I got this recipe from my mom too. Again, it had not measurements! But it doesn't really need detailed directions. You can't really do anything wrong with this recipe.

1 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into medium size cubes
onion
celery
1 box, 32 oz. chicken broth
sage
butter
olive oil
salt and pepper

Peel the butternut squash and deseed it, then cut into medium size cubes. In a soup pot saute the onion and celery in butter and olive oil. When the onions are soft add the butternut squash soup and minched sage. Salt and pepper to liking. Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then lightly boil for about 25 minutes. Do the fork test; pierce a piece of squash, its ready when the fork slides out easily. Let cool for a bit. Add to a food processor in batches and process equal amounts of stock and squash pieces. Extra sage would not hurt to add in here. Blend till pureed and there are no chunks. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Time

2009-10-25T20:10:00.003-04:00

I love pumpkin and this year I didn't want to just make pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie like I always do. I found a recipe on Foodnetwork for Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta. It is delcious, a 5 yum dish. It was a quick and easy meal, and is probably pretty healthy for you!

1 lb penne pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) pumpking puree
1/2 heavy cream
1 tsp hot sauce, to taste
nutmeg to taste
2 pinches cinnamon
salt and pepper
7-8 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced, plus some for garnish
grated parmgiano-reggiano

Bring water to boil and cook pasta to al dente.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic to a saute pan and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, and combine with the pumpkin. Stir in cream and season wth hot sauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 5-6 minutes to thicken. Stir in sage and toss wth pasta and add grated cheese.

Since I only did a half recipe of the above dish, I still had a half of can left. So I made a half recipe of Downeast Main Pumpkin Bread that I found on Allrecipes.com. It was pretty good, bet than my usual pumpkin muffin recipe that I got back in 7th grade home ec. I would say 4 yums.

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
2/3 cups water
1 cup oil, vegetable
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger

Prehead over to 350'. In a bowl, mix pumpkin, eggs, water, sugar, and oil until blended. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until combined. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Leeks All Around

2009-09-29T15:51:00.005-04:00

The star of this post was just an afterthought when the mushroom soup called for 2 leeks and my grocery store only sells them in bunches of 3. I had no idea what I would use 1 leek for. I googled the Food Network and found a recipe for Fried Leeks. You don't even need a recipe for this one and they tasted surprisingly good; almost like a mini onion ring, but sweeter and you can pop them in your mouth rather than bite them off. They would be great to put out at a party. 5 YUMS.

2 cups of flour, separated
1 egg
about a 3/4 cup milk
leeks, cut up in 1/2 inch rings
canola or frying oil

Combine the milk and egg in a bowl and mix. Put the flour in 2 bowls. Take the leek pieces and pull apart so 2 rings stay together. I used the middles too as chunks and they tasted good too!

Dust the rings in 1 bowl of flour, then dip in the egg mixture and then flour again. Put aside and in a fryer, or in my case a saute pot, heat oil to 375'.

[Side Note: My kitchen is not equipped with a fryer or a thermostat that goes to that temperature. I heated my oil over medium-high heat and to test for hotness, I sprinkled doughy bits from the flour and egg mixing together to see if they started to sizzle and cook right away. If they do, the oil is ready to fry. I also made sure there was enough oil to cover the biggest leek piece.]

When oil is ready, put leek bites into oil a few at a time. Do not over crowd! Fry for about 1-2 minutes until they start to turn light brown. Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve hot.

These were also good cold. The original recipe didn't come with a dipping sauce, but these would taste great with one. Some marinara would be a yummy Italian twist.

Now for the reason I discovered the fried leeks, Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. This soup is good, but not as creamy as I was hoping. It could have been a tad bit thicker in my opinion. This definitely took time to make too, gives me more appreciation for truly homemade soups at restaurants. 3.5 yums

5 oz fresh shitake mushrooms
5 oz fresh portabello mushrooms
5 oz fresh cremini mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1 stick plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 cup yellow onion, chopper
1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 tsp minced leaves, divided
salt and pepper
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4 inch thick an if they are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, onion, sprig of thyme, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 cups of stock. If not add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining stick of butter and add the leeks (I remember only using a half stick- maybe this is why mine isn't as thick...but definately more healthy). Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushrooms caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1.5 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half and half, cream, parsley and season again with salt and pepper as needed. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve hot.

The Tiniest Scallops

2009-09-15T20:19:00.005-04:00

I found Sweet Pea, Scallopo and Mint Risotto recipe early in the summer, but took all summer to see scallops on sale. I got a bag of frozen raw teeny tiny scallops on sale and finally made the recipe. I thought this receipe was awesome. The recipes calls for diver scallops...who knows what those are....but I used scallops in 1' size; they were so easy to get on the fork in perfect proportion to the peas and rice. The title says mint, and I used fresh from the garden. If you don't like mint, don't worry, the flavor hardly came out. 4.5 yums

5 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup chopped almonds

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper

1/4 cup fresh chopped mint

8 cups chicken stock, heated

1 cup peas, frozen

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp butter, room temperature

1/2 cup grated parmesean

1 lb. diver scallops

Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat and pout in 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add the shallots and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionaly till soft. Add in the rice and mint, stir till the rice turns opaque, about 3-5 minutes. Then pour in wine and cook off the alcohol for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper. Begin to ladle in broth 1 to 2 ladles at a time. Stir often, when the liquid is almost gone, pour more ladles. Cook for 15-25 minutes, till rice is creamy but has a little bit of bite. You may not use all the broth. Stir in the peas and parmesean and all but 2 tbsp butter. Remove from heat and cover.

In a saute pot, heat butter on medium high heat. Add in scallops, and depending on size, cook 4-8 minutes. Turning over half way. I cooked my little ones for 4 min. Then add to arborio. Sprinkle with remaining mint. Serve hot.

Can't Get Simpler for Summer

2009-08-19T22:35:00.003-04:00

I'm watching the new season of Top Chef and the final episode of Top Chef Master's and I got the urge to write in my blog! TV tonight has also made me check out a video of how to shuck a clam! But anyways....a summer staple, that everyone loves is Caprese. My tomato plant is on hiatus till the next batch turn red, and there were locally grown tomatoes at the grocery store. Got to support the community! And then walking down the aisle, lucky me....mozzarella balls were on sale! 2 for $6! Automatically got a craving for the appetizer and picked some fresh basil leaves from my garden to layer with. Simple yumminess. Nothing can get much simpler and rate at 5 yums. Its light and fresh and could easily be drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette and be even better...now that i think about it!

Summery Goodness

2009-08-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

There is nothing better than fresh garden vegetables in the summer. Mix in sausage and you can't go wrong on a hot summer night. The Fresh Corn Salad I found from Ina Garten is amazing served cold or at room temperature. I couldn't stop taking bites of it when I was cleaning up!

I served the salad along side Sausage, Pepper and Red Onion. I cut up the hot sausage before I sauteed with the julienned red peppers, red onion and some olive oil. The would have been served great in a toasted sub as well!

The salad is definitely a keeper forever in my recipe book. It will be great for taking to potlucks in the summertime, but I would definitaly make double as this recipe only serves 5. Definitely 5 yums!

Fresh Corn Salad

4 ears of corn
1/2 cup diced red onion, small
1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp slat
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup julinenned fresh basil leaves

Cook corn for 3 to 5 minutes in boiling water for the starch to come out. Drain and immerse in ice water to stop cooking and set the color. (I never have ice so I ran the corn under cold water). Let the corn cool and cut the kennels off the cob.

In a bowl, toss the corn with the remaining ingredients except the basil. Before serving, add the basil. Taste for seasoning.

Another Healthy Mac and Cheese That Is Actually Good!

2009-04-21T20:47:00.004-04:00

Yes! I finally found a semi-healthy mac and cheese that is pretty good that will have you asking for one more serving! My friends from home were coming to visit this past weekend, and I tried Macaroni and 4 Cheeses out on them. They had nothing bad to say about it, asked for seconds, and had another little helping as a midnight snack. Why do I say its healthy? It has 20 oz of winter squash puree mixed into it. The color mixes in beautifully with the cheese, and it keeps the dish moist and kept me fuller. The squash also adds this extra density texture, but not in a bad way. It was easy and quick to make, and I highly recommend it for a dinner party. Notes: I could only find 12 oz frozen squash boxes, so I used it all, and the dish still came out great. A little more squashy, but a little more healthy :). I also let the squash defrost fully so it mixed easier in with the milk. 4 yums.

1 lb. elbow macaroni

2 (10 oz) packages frozen pureed winter squash

2 cups lowfat milk

4 oz extra sharp cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)

2 oz monterey jack cheese, grated (about 2/3 cups)

1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp powdered mustard

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp grated parmesean

2 tbsp unseasoned bread crumbs

1 tsp olive oil

Preheat over to 375'. Coat a 9x13 dish with the cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook till tender but firm, about 5-8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl.

Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon till defrosted. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar, jack, ricotta, salt, mustard and cayenne. Pour cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine. Transfer the macaroni and cheese to the baking dish.

Combine bread crumbs, parmesean and oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni.

Bake for 20 minutes and then broil for 3 minutes till the top is crisp and brown.

What You Can Do With 8 oz of Sour Cream

2009-04-19T20:34:00.004-04:00

Actually alot! I was in the mood for some stroganoff and went to my resourceful Betty Crocker Cookbook. I only had chicken on hand so I made Chicken Stroganoff. I am trying not to put in repeats on the this site, but this stroganoff was soo much better than the one I had wrote about a while ago, and it looks better ;)

4 yums

1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin, about 1.5 in thick (I used one big chicken breast, cut up)

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cup beef broth
2 tbsp ketchup (I omitted)

1 tsp salt

1 small clove garlic, mincehd

3 cups sliced mushrooms (8 0z)

1 medium onion, chopped about 1/2 cup ( I used 1 shallot)

3 tbsp flour

1 cup sour cream

cooked noodles

Melt butter in a non stick skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken, stirring occasionly till browned. Reserve abotu 1/3 cup of the broth and pour the rest in with the salt and garlic. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until chicken is tender. Stir in the mushrooms and onions. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir flour into the reserved broth. Pour over the chicken and stir in. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minutes and reduce heat to low. Stir in the sour cream until hot and pour over noodles.

As I split the stroganoff recipe in half, I still had 4 oz. of sour cream leftover. I remembered that there were a few of my dessert recipes that call for sour cream and I always want to try them when I don't have the cream on hand. So I found one of the recipes I have been meaning to try out, Pound Cake with Chocolate Swirl. 2 yums. Have to say I was not too pleased. It was a bit dry, and not that moist dense cake I was hoping to get from a pound cake. The flavor was just OK, and did not really taste like a pound cake either. If I had to compare it to something, a boring muffin would be a good comparison.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda8 oz sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 oz semi sweet chocolate, grated (I just used whole chocolate chips because I was lazy)

1 tsp cinnamon

Heat over to 350'. Butter a 9x5 in pan. Mix the chocolate and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside. Beat sugar and butter together till light and fluffy. Add sifted flour, soda and powder and beat till blended. Add sour cream and beat. Add vanilla and eggs and beat till combined. Spread half the batter into the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 the chocolate mix over the batter. Then top with remaining batter and top that with the remaining mix (I forgot this step...). Bake for 55 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes.

Season Packets...Best Cookie!

2009-04-13T21:07:00.003-04:00

The sales just get to me! This was a 10 for $10 deal and the picture on the packet sold me....or I was just really hungry! I actually got really excited for this, hoping that it would be an cheap alternative to actually ordering my usual chinese takeout. It was really easy and quick to make, but it turned out to be surprisingly bland. To give some consolation, I had enough leftover to have the next day, and the flavors did come out a bit more, but it was still just OK. I don't think I would buy Sun Bird brand Beef and Broccoli again, but next time a seasoning packet is on sale, I will definately give it another shot. If you do choose to try it out, the recipe on the back of the packet calls for 1 large onion, I used 1/2 of one, and it was plenty! 2 yums.

My new favorite cookie is the Milk Chocolate Floretine Cookie (aka Lace cookies). My brother's girlfriend Amanda made these for Christmas, and I was hooked! I finally got the recipe 4 months later, since my mom can't get my email straight....and I made them last night! I have to say I need some practice. Amanda can make them much better. Her's come out crispy and more uniform in shape, mine were a little on the chewy side and not at all uniform, but they were still pretty good! Amanda's crispy ones are 5 yums!

2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Filling: 1 - 11 1/2 bag of chocolate morsels (2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375˚. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level measuring teaspoonfuls, about 3-inches apart onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Spread thin with rubber spatula. Bake 5-7 minutes. Cool. Peel foil away from cookies.

Filling: Melt over hot (not boiling) water, chocolate morsels; stir until smooth. (You can also microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Check every 20 seconds and stir. Spread chocolate on the flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Makes 3 ½ dozen sandwich cookies.

Trying to be Emeril

2009-03-29T21:06:00.004-04:00

I had tried some Sabra's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and it was absolutely delicious and the first thing I thought to myself was "How good would this be homemade?!" So I looked up some recipes online and the one that seemed the most straight forward was actually a recipe of Emeril Lagasse (I was very surprised by this, as his are usally very involved), Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Homemade Pita Chips. The most difficult part of this recipe was finding the Tahini in the grocery store!

I thought the hummus came out pretty well for my first try. I didn't use the full 3 cups of chickpeas, which I think the hummus definately needed to make more creamy and thicker, but it still came out thick enough to dip the chips. At first I thought there was too much lemon as well, but the longer the hummus sat, the more I thought the flavors blended together. Also, many of the reviews on the website suggested to cut the tahini to 1/4 cup. I followed but I feel that if I had added the full amount, the hummus may have been a better consistancy, or maybe less lemony (at first). I am definately trying this recipe again, but measuring all the right amounts and see if it comes out better. 3 yums, but possiblity of 4 yums.

3 cups drained chickpeas (canned)
1 roasted red bell pepper, skinned, seeded and coarsley chopped (about 1/2 cup) (I used jarred)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup tahini
2 tbsp water
4-6 tbsp lemon juice, to taste
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used about 2 tbsp)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves (I didn't add)
1/4 tsp sweet paprika

In the bowl of the food processor, place the chickpeas and red bell pepper. On a cutting board, mash the garlic cloves with 1/4 tsp salt to a smooth paste with the side of a knife, then add this to the processor along with the crushed red pepper, tahini, water, 4 tbsp of the lemon juice, 2 tbsp of the olive oil, cumin and pepper and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding salt and additional lemon juice, if necessary, to taste. Transfer to a wide shallow bowl for serving and drizzle with olive oil if wanted, and top with paprika. Serve at room temperature with the chips for dipping.

Pita Chips

Pre-heat over to 300'.

1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
spices of choice (I used garlic powder and paprika)
4 pita breads, each split in half so you have 2 rounds from 1

Combine the olive oil, garlic and spices to a bowl and whisk. Mix onto the rough side of the pita's. Stack and cut into chip sizes. Lay on a cookie sheet in 1 layer. Bake about 25 min.

Baaaaah

2009-03-28T17:59:00.005-04:00

Lamb chop loins were on sale! So I scooped them up and looked for a recipe online on the Food Network and found another keeper from Giada, Lamb with Chianti Vinaigrette. I liked how the reduced vinaigrette sauce added some tangy flavor to the lamb, it was a nice varience from my typical garlic rosemary rub, but I wish it reduced a bit thicker. I didn't have Chianti on me, so I used a Merlot and I only had 3 chops so I halved the wine to 1 cup and it was plenty. The wine sauce also complimented the roasted asparagus I served as a side and mixed well with Safeway Selects Cheesy Risotto, that was very good as well. Overall, this was a solid recipe, very quick and very easy! Great for beginner cooks who want to feel like they are eating well and classier with lamb chops. 3 yums

4 to 6 lamb rib or loin chops
2 cups Chianti (or other red wine sauce)
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning
1 tsp black pepper, plus more for seasoning

Place a grill pan over medium high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Grill until caramel-colored grill marks appear, or meat hits 125', about 5-7 minutes per side. (I don't have a grill and don't like to clean the foreman, so I just pan seared the lamb).

Meanwhile, place the wine in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Boil gently until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Whisk in the honey ntil dissolved. Add the extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the chops and serve the extra sauce on the side in a bowl.

Cleaning out the Fridge

2009-03-12T21:41:00.004-04:00

So I just became a homeowner! And in the process of the move, I needed to clean out the fridge of my apartment. What I call Creamy Italian Pig Pasta, is probably one of the best leftover meals I have or will ever make, and I plan on making this dish in the future, regardless if I need to clean out or get rid of odds and ends in the fridge and cabinets. Forgive the name, but all the meat's are from an oinker! This one is 4.5 yums! It was creamy, spicy and hearty!

Fettucine
Olive Oil- not much
Proscuitto- cut up into chunks
Pepperoni- cut up into chunks
Green Pepper and Sausage Red Sauce- jarred
Heavy cream
Parmesean Cheese

I started the water to get up to a boil. As the boil got underway, I added a little bit of olive oil over medium heat and added the proscuitto and pepperoni. I frid tehm up for about 4 minutes to get them heated and a little crispy. Then I added some of the red sauce to warm it up. Then I added the heavy cream and stirred, enough to make a pink sauce. Once all combined and hot, I turned the heat to low. After the pasta was al dente, drain and add to the sauce and toss! I topped with some parmsean cheese!

My 15 Seconds of Fame - Washington, DC Restaurant Week

2009-02-19T21:15:00.003-05:00

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/restaurants/bestbites/11381.html

My shining moment in the food entertainment industry. Watch a video of me and my friends coming out of Siroc, a very new, Italian restaurant in the McPherson Square area. As the video states, if there was a 10 yum system, Siroc, would get 8 yums. I would recommend this restaurant for a date out to eat. 915 15th St., NW, Washington, DC

Baltimore Restaurant Week

2009-02-01T16:32:00.004-05:00

For Restaurant Week in Baltimore, I went to one of my friends favorite places, Restaurant Tio Pepe, 10 E. Franklin St. Baltimore, MD 21202 . The Spanish cuisine restaurant is located in the basement of a building. You walk down the stairs and the ceiling is low, but there are nice brick arches in the structure that make you actually feel like you may be in Europe. The tables are tight together and lots of waiters are walking around in the narrow aisles of the decompartmented layout. I liked the place, it had ambiance and all the food on the tables looked good, and best yet, I spotted large handmade and painted pitchers of Sangria. Overall, I did like the restaurant, and would definately go again. My food was good, the sangria hit the spot and the setting was one of a kind. Over all, Tio Pepe gets 4 Yums. Forgive my pictures....I got carried away and wanted to taste the food so quickly that for both the appetizer and dessert, I dug in before taking a snapshot.

For my first course, I had the Seafood Bisque, which looked to be the most popular appetizer choice. Other members of the table chose the Salad and the Mushrooms on Toast, which was the size of a meal itslef. The soup was very good, but I was unhappy to find out that I had no actual chunks of seafood, where as another eater had quite a few pieces. I guess I got the wrong ladled bowl. It was thick, but not too filling.

For my main entree, I chose Paella a la Valenciana, which was saffron rice with a combination of mussles, veal, chorizo, chicken and shrimp. It was pretty good, and I can could only finish half of it, since I needed to leave room for dessert. When choosing, I was between this meal and the Beef in a Red Wine Sauce, but chose the Paella because the chorizo sounded great at the moment and I hadn't had veal in a really long time. But after tasting some of my friends Beef dish, I definately should have gone with the Beef. The flavor of the sauce was so intense and good and the beef was cooked well.

For dessert, I picked the Walnut Roll, which is supposed to be Tio Pepe's specialty dessert. The camera added a bit more brightness, but the dessert was actually pretty orangy/yellow. And it was delicious. I was skeptical at first, but I was so full and kept taking one more bite. The best part of teh dessert was the walnuts. The chef must have put them in a brown sugar bath or something when toasting them. I managed to eat all of the walnuts! I also had a bite of the chocolate roll, also seen in the picture. I almost got that because I was craving chocolate, but I am glad I didn't. It wasn't bad, but it was just ordinary, nothing like the Walnut Roll.

Inauguration Weekend Cooking

2009-01-25T16:20:00.004-05:00

I had a very long weekend due to MLK day and Inauguration day being back to back. And with the cold weather, I was not about to venture out to 10' windchill temps to go be part of all the crowds in DC when I can watch everything on t.v. and be warm. So that left me with a weekend full of cooking! To continue on with the Quest for the Best Mac and Cheese, I have a 4.5 yummer! Mac and Two Cheeses with Carmelized Shallots. Delicious! It was supposed to serve 6....I think it may have served me 4 times.....I just couldn't stop going for more! All the flavors melded into this combination of texture and taste, it was wonderful.

3 tbsp butter, plus more for baking dish
3 cups slice large shallots (about 6)
8 oz small elbow macaroni (2 cups)
1 1/4 cups half and half
2 1/2 tsps hot sauce ( i used less and thought it was spicy enough)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (8 oz)
1 1/2 tbsp flour
2/3 cups crumbled goat cheese

Bring water to a boil. Butter a 9x9 baking dish. Melt 3 tbsp butter in a skilet over medium heat. Add shallots, add some salt and pepperand stir. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirrin often. Reduce heat a bit. Continue cooking until shallots are deep brown, stirring often for another 6 minutes.

When macaroi is done, drain well and reserve the pot. In , pot,bring half and half and hot sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Toss cheddar and flour together in a bowl and then add to the half and half. Whisk until sauce is smooth and returns to simmer, about 2 minutes. Mix in the pasta. Season with and s&p if needed.

Spread pasta mixture in buttered dish. Top with shallots, then goat cheese and sprinkle with pepper. Bake until heated, about 15 minutes.

For dessert, I made some Cream Cheese Squares. It used Pillsbury Crescent Roles, so of course I wanted to try it. These were good, but the dough didn't act like it was supposed to. In the picture from Food & Family, the crust was flaky and the cream cheese wasn't so thick layered. I had given the recipe to my co-worker too, and hers didn't come out very well either, but still tasty. From my picture, you can see the dough was pretty dense and bready, not the texture I was going for. We had a consensus that we would try this one again, but get the flaky biscuit dough instead. 3 yums.

2 cans (8 oz each) refridgerated crescent dinner roles ( I recommend using the flaky biscuit cans)
2 packages of cream cheese (8 oz each) (but I recommend using less)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar, divided
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350'. Unroll 1 of the can of the dough. Press onto bottom of a greased 13x9 inch bakigng dish to form a crust, pressing the seams together. Beat the cream cheese, vanilla and egg and 1/2 cup of the sugar with electric mixer until well blended. Spread onto crust.

Unroll the other can of dough onto a large sheet of waxed paper and pat it out to form a 13x9 rectangle, again pressing the seams together. Invert over the cream cheese mixture to form a crust and get rid of the paper.

Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Combine the remaining sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle on top before cutting.

A New Favorite

2009-01-11T20:49:00.004-05:00

In concert with keeping my new year's resolution to eat healthier, I bought a yellow squash. With the intents to make a vegetable and Velveeta dish, but when I got back from the store, I realized I didn't have the Velveeta I thought was in the fridge. I Googled 'yellow squash' and came across Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins. I did all the substitutes to make it a healthier muffin except for the whole flour. The batter tasted really good, which in most cases is a good test to see if the goodies will come out well. The batter was really easy and quick to thrown together. Yellow squash is very east to shred too, I used a box grater, wide hole side. The batter got really dry but as soon as you add the zucchini it moistens right up. It was really easy to clean up too, because I didn't have to get the electric mixer out! Makes 12 muffins.

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar, half brown sugar, half granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 canola oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup walnut, cut up or whole (your liking)
1 cup squash, shredded
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350'. Mix together the flour, sugars, soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl mix egg, milk, lemon juice, oil and applesauce together. Stir flour into wet ingredients slowly. When just mixed, fold in squash, chips and walnuts. Spoon into muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Eat warm, room tempature, toasted or even freeze. To unfreeze, microwave for 20 seconds, can vary due to your microwave.

These muffins are delicious. I could see how you don't get to freezing them because you eat them so fast! They are moist and taste good and not heavy. And mixed with the pro' s listed before, these are definately 5 yums! You look at it and you see the zucchini which makes you really feel like you are eating well and balanced and then you get a bite of the chocolate chip. A wonderful combination of flavors with depth.

To add to the Best Mac and Cheese search, for the boxed category: Safeway Brand Dinosaur shapes
3.5 yums. I cut the butter down to my usual 1 tbsp, and this still came out great. The cheese came to a good consistency and taste. And the pasta stayed together, which doens't alway happen wtih shapes.

This One's For You Chalker

2009-01-08T19:26:00.005-05:00

I was told that my blog was not Kosher friendly. Well I never intended it to be, but figured on behalf of a request, I could find a tasty dish that was Kosher. This was almost a year ago. It's not that its hard to cook Kosher, but I like meat, shrimp and also enjoy cheese, many times together! So this actually became quite a hard task for me, as I do think non-Kosher meals are much tastier. But the other night, I made Califlower Risotto with Brie and Almonds, which was delicious, and turns out its Kosher! :)

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups water
3 thyme sprigs, plus 1 tsp leaves ( I used dried)
2 tbsp olive oil, divide
1/2 head califlower, cut into 1/2 inch florets (it probably could have used 3/4 head
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice, risotto
1/3 cups white wine
5 oz. brie, rind discarded and cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Bring the broth, water and thyme sprigs to a simmer in medium saucepan.

Heat butter and 1 tbsp oil in a heavy saucepan over med-high heat till froth subsides, then saute the califlower with some salt until crisp and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add thyme leaves and saute 1 min. Transfer to bowl.

Add the leftover oil to the pan, then add the rice and cook till opaque, stirring constantly. Add wine and simmer briskly, stirring, until the wine is absorbed. Add 2 ladles (1/2 c up) of broth and simmer, stirring until broth has been absorbed. Continue simmering and adding hot broth, 2 ladles at a time, stirring all the time until absorbed, then adding more. Do this till rice begins to get creamy, about 20 minutes. (There may be leftover broth).

Stir in cauliflower, Brie and s&p to taste. Thin with some broth if needed and sprikle the almonds on top!

4 yums. Makes 4 main course servings, about 45 minutes.

Then for dessert I made some Hershey Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms. You can find the recipe on the back of a bag of Hershey's Kisses. The dough didn't form right at first, but I put the dough in the fridge overnight and the next night baked them, and they came out very chewy. The kiss begins to melt from the heat of the cookie and makes for a real good treat right out of the oven! 3.5 yums.

Party Favorites

2008-10-17T16:50:00.007-04:00

These two are a sampling of party appetizer bites that I made this summer.

The Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip, 4.5 yums, I absolutely loved as did many party goers. It was all gone at the end of the night.

The Jello Pretzel Salad, 1 yum in my opinion, probably 4 yums in others, I did not enjoy at all. I thought it was overhyped and I was very disappointed. Many others liked this weird textured pie/dip combination. I have to admit though, the pretzel crust is delicious by itself.

Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip

1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 16 oz Velveeta
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 10 oz can Rotel Tomatoe and Chile
8 slices of bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Combine the ingredients in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 5 minutes on high or until the Cheese is melted and mixture is well blended stirring after 3 minutes. Serve with tortilla chiips and veggies. About 32 servings.

Jello Pretzel Salad

2 c crushed prtezels, maybe more, enough to cover the bottom
3/4 c butter , melted
3 tbsp sugar
1/8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
2 c cool whip
1 10 oz of strawberry jello
2 c boiling water
1 10oz pkg frozen strawberries

Crush the pretzels and then add butter and sugar. Mix together and spread into 13 x 9 pan and bake at 400' for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.
Mix sugar and cream cheese, then fold in cool whip. Spread over pretzel base.
Boil the water and stir in the jello. Stir until dissolved and add strawberries are defrosted. Pour on top of the cream cheese layer and refrigerate for about an hour, or the jello has solidified. Then serve.

Can't Go Wrong with

2008-10-04T19:56:00.005-04:00

Spicy Shrimp-Red Pepper Risotto
This is a horrible name for this dish. It can easily be named Spicy Shrimp Risotto. 4 yums. This dish reminded me of a spanish rice with shrimp my parents used to make except it was a bit more creamy because of the risotto. I don't always like dishes with heat, but I actually thought this dish could use a bit more; maybe a few more drops of the hot sauce.

3 to 3 1/2 c. chicken broth
2 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 Arborio rice
12 oz. shelled, devined uncooked medium shrimp
1 red bell pepper, cut up into chunks
2 cups chopped watercress or spinach (I left out)
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 pepper

1. Bring broth to a simmer in a saucepan over medium low heat.
2. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook onion a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the rice and cook a few minutes till the grains become opaque. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and stir until most the broth has been absorbed. Continue to add the broth in this fashion for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
3. Stir in the shrimp and bell pepper; cooking 4-5 minutes until shrimp turn pink and are done. Stir in the remainder of the ingredients.

A Restaurant Review!

2008-09-24T20:27:00.008-04:00

Dewey. One of my favorites places to go in the summertime. The waves are perfect size, the beach is hot, the bars have Orange Crushes and the food....is not all that great. Dewey is filled with numerous sandwich shops and the famous Grotto's Pizza that always hits the spot, especially on the walk back home from the bars. There are not that many good restaurants in Dewey and most beach goers head to Rehoboth for a good bite to eat. Recently this summer though, Hammerheads opened up right on the Dewey strip. My friends and I hit it up for dinner the first night we were down at the beach. The Broccoli Bites were calling out to me, but I was also in the mood for seafood and to try the start the weekend a little healthier than fried cheesy broccoli. So I elected to have the Clams Marinara for dinner. It doesn't look like a lot for dinner, but it was filling enough and I needed to leave room for the drinks later on that night! :) The only downfall of my dinner that night, was I was lucky enough to get the last Clam Marinara, but they only had 8 clams instead of the usual 9. I was OK with this and the managers were nice enough to take $2 off the already decently priced appetizer of $8. The dish included slices of bread to soak up the tomato broth. The bartender/waiter gave me some fresh grated parmesean to sprinkle over. The clams were fresh and the sauce had the right amount of spice to perk things up and make the bread soaking more delicious. I was happy with my clams and I give them 4 yums.

Later in the summer, we also hit up Hammerheads for another late lunch, early dinner. I opted for the Cheese Steak with 2 recommendations from my friends saying it was one of the better ones in town. It was good, but I wouldn't say the best in town, but comparable to the other 5 million sandwich shops. I don't really like when my Steaks drip oils/cheese and this one did. I did like how the Steak came with potato chips instead of fries though. I'll give the Cheesesteak 3 yums.

2 Favorites You Shouldn't Mix

2008-08-17T19:41:00.007-04:00

Listed as the celebrity dish in Cooking Pleasures magazine, Chocolate Banana Bread by Tyler Florence sounded just up my ally. I quickly realized that I should keep my chocolate cake and banana bread recipes separate. This recipe came out too dense for my liking, almost to the point where it was hard to swallow. It was also very dry which did not help a bite going down easily. The chocolate was too overwhelming of the banana, which I don't know about you, but when I make banana bread, of any kind, its for that banana flavor. I was dissapointed. I did end up throwing half of the loaf away, but I felt bad about it. So I sliced and froze the other slices individually. The next night, i took out a slice and microwaved it and topped it with some ice cream! It made a nicer pseudo brownie a la mode. So all in all I'll give the bread 2 yums.

2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Heat oven to 350'. Butter a 9x5 loaf pan. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter in a large bowl at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the chocolate, eggs, bananas and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I Tried Gnocchi

2008-08-06T19:46:00.004-04:00

I love gnocchi. I usually get it when I see it on menu at a restaurant. So when my mom gave me a new cookbook, Good Housekeepings 100 Best Pasta Recipes, and I saw Ricotta Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Fresh Herbs, I instantly decided that was the first dish I was going to try from the book. There were no potatoes involved so I thought it would be a very easy way to make gnocchi with the homemade taste. They were very easy make, but if you saw what the picture in the book looked like, and you compare to the picture above....you would laugh. The gnocchi in the book are actually GREEN! Now I didn't use fresh parsley like the recipe called for....but I don't feel like using dried would have much of an impact on the color, especially the way they are prepared.

3 tbsp butter
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 15 oz container of ricotta
6 tbsp freshly grated parmesean cheese
3/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
3/4 c. flour or as needed

Combine the ricotta, parmesean, parsley and salt. Sprinkle flour over ricotta mixture and work mixture into a soft, smooth dough with your hands. If dough is sticky add more flour. Do not overwork.

Break off piece of dough and on a floured surface, roll into a 3/4 inch thick rope. Cut rope into 3/4 inch pieces. Place a piece of dough on the inside curve of a fork tine and roll off so that one side has ridges. Repeat for the rest of the dough. (You can make the gnocchi ahead of time and refridgerate up to 4 hrs.)

In a sauce pan,melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter begins to turn golden brown, remove from heat and add the sage and a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large pot, boil water. Add the gnocchi in batchs and cook until they float to the surface, about 3 minutes. Transfer gnocchi with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl. Toss the gnocchi with the sage butter and serve.
I want to point out that this recipe claimed to serve 8 first courses. I probably got 2.5 first course servings. So don't plan on feeding a party with this recipe. The gnocchi were alright. I think the fresh parsley would have given a lighter fresher taste. The dried parsley was a bit overwhelming after a while. The butter sage sauce was delicious and I woul definately use it for other light pasta dishes, like homemade ravioli made out of wantons. I'll give this 3 yums. Wasn't spectacular, but wasn't horrible. And next time I get in the mood to try homemade gnocchi, I think I set aside a cold rainy day and try the real thing with potatoes.

I Thought I Liked Swiss Chard

2008-07-19T18:24:00.002-04:00

I went to the farmers market one day and Wholefoods was doing a demo on how to cook with swiss chard. They made Swiss Chard with Bacon and Raisens that I thought was delicious, a perfect light dinner with lots of flavor for a summer night. So I bought a bunch of red swiss chard for myself to try the salad at home. The salad wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the demo tasting. I cooked the leaves too much so they were more wilted than the demo's, which makes a world of difference in texture.

half bunch of swiss chard, any kind
2 slices bacon
handful of raisens
handful of pinenuts, roasted
salt and pepper
parmesean cheese (optional)

Cook the bacon till cooked but not really crispy. Add the raisens and pinenuts, and the chard. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Cook a few minutes till the chard starts to loose it shape. Keep tossing. When chard is cooked down some, but not wilted (somewhat like my picture, a little less wilted), serve and sprinkle with cheese. 3 yums.

With the remaining half bunch of swiss chard, I found a recipe from Rachel Ray 365:No Repeats cookbook for Gnocchi with Sausage and Swiss Chard. I didn't have gnocchi, so I used rigatoni and I also didn't have red onion so I used regular onion. This dish would have been delicious, except while I was eating this, it dawned on me that I don't really enjoy eatting chard or any leafy vegetable, espccially this wilted. I didn't like that red chard makes everything you cook with it red! But the sauce was delicious. It wasn't heavy at all, and the flavors of the wine, broth and sausage came together well. So I ate this meal happily and just put the chard on the side of my plate. 3.5 yums.

1 lb gnocchi
olive oil
1 lb sweet sausage
1 large red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 bunch red swiss chard, chopped and destemed
1/2 c. white white
2 c. chicken stock
3/4 c. grated parmesean or reggiano

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta. In the meantime, cook the sausage into little pieces over medium heat about 5 minutes till browned. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, s&p. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the chard, and toss to wilt. Add the wine, cook for a minute and then add the broth and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat. Add the cheese and stir to combine. Serve!

A Quest for the Best Macaroni & Cheese

2008-07-06T13:21:00.003-04:00

I am going to start a quest for the best homemade macaroni and cheese. I started with a 1.5 yum, Reduced-Fat Macaroni and Cheese recipe that I got from Cook's Country magazine. Obviously trying to make a comfort food dish healthy does not work. I don't care if I save myself 600 calories and 25 grams of fat if I can't even keep the leftovers because it tasted so non-cheesy, clumpy and bland. I am not going to give the recipe, but this one included cheddar, parmesean, blue and ricotta cheese with a base bechamel (white) sauce.

A Taste of New England

2008-07-02T21:33:00.003-04:00

I love the taste of Linguine with Clam Sauce. It combines two of my favorite types of food, pasta and seafood. The first thing about this dish was how great and quickly it filled the apartment with a aroma of seafood. Second, it was easy to make, even though I have been hesitant for a while to attempt; the live clam should not scare you. And to top it off, you can't beat the real deal clam sauce. Its so much better compared to the bottled stuff, and not that much more expensive! The clam sauce gets 4 yums. The only thing I would have done differently is use the smaller manila or little neck clams instead of the dozen cherrystones, just so I could get more bites of clam!

1/2 lb linguine or fettuchine
salt & pepper
1/3 c. olive oil
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 c. white wine
1/4 c. water
bag of clams, rinsed and scrubbed
3 tbsp parsley

Boil the water and cook pasta. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook till it is soft. Add the pepper flakes. Cook for a minute and then add the white wine and water. Turn heat to high. Add the clams and cover. Cook for about 6 minutes, shaking the skillet vigorously a few times. When all the clams open, the sauce is done. If any do not open, throw away. Drain the pasta and toss in with sauce. Sprinkle parsley and extra S&P if wanted. I serve with parmesean cheese.

For Those of You Who Enjoy Breadcrumbs

2008-06-24T21:25:00.003-04:00

4 Yums! This plate came out to be a great dinner! It was very diverse in flavor and texture. The Breadcrumb Sampling is a great example of how many ways you can use breadcrumbs, the Breadcrumb Ball is my new signature appetizer :) It's the ball between the crumbs and kiev. I'll just have to come up with a dipping sauce for it.
To make the Fried Breadcrumbs is the easiest part since they take care of themselves and taste delicious with that right amount of crunch. After dipping the kiev and makign the ball, take a little pour of egg dip and mix into breadcrumbs. Make little thicker blobs of breadcrumbs, (haha I can't come up with a way to describe it) and throw them on to the baking sheet with the kiev.

I didn't really care for the Chicken Kiev that I picked up from Cooks Illustrated. Its the reason this dish as a whole didn't get 4.5 yums. The butter didn't give the chicken as much flavor as I thought it would.

Herb Butter

1 stick butter
1 tbsp minched shallots
1 tbsp minced parsley
1/2 tsp fresh tarrogon minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Mix the butter, shallow, herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl till combined. Form a square shape and wrap in seran and refridgerate for an hour. In the meantime....
Chicken

1-2 c. breadcrumbs, enough to roll chicken in
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dijon mustard

Heat oven to 300'. Filet the chicken breasts in half length ways but not cutting all the way through. Then pound to make thin. Take out the butter and cut into 4 rectangles. Lay out each breast and season with salt and pepper. Then place 1 rectangle in each and roll up, tucking in the sides at the end to make a roll. Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in separate shallow dishes. Add the mustard to the egg and whisk till combined. Dredge the chicken into the flour, then the egg wash and finally the breadcrumbs. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes. I served it with 4 cheese risotto out of a box and some broccoli.

I made the Kiev from smaller pieces of chicken and couldn't fit all the butter in them! So, from the leftover Herb Butter, I made this dish that was quite tasty; and healthy except the base was butter. I can't really come up with a name for it so it'll be called Vegetable Shrimp Stir Fry. No Carbs! The only reason stringbeans are in it was because I happened to get 5 from my garden this afternoon! But it added some crispness to the dish.

Heat the butter over medium heat. I defrosted some shrimp, cut up a handful of cherry tomatoes, added some frozen peas and cut up the other half of the shallot from the kiev and threw it all into the melted butter. When the shrimp are pink, your meal is ready. This meal was 15 minutes, start to belly time and it tasted good!

Summer Foods

2008-06-01T11:41:00.002-04:00

I have finally had a spare moment to go grocery shopping and cook! Lamb chops were on sale at store and I was craving stuffed tomatoes. When I got home I found a recipe from Cooking Pleasures magazine for Lemon-Pepper Lamb Chops (another one dubbed quick and healthy wtih 235 calories and 13 g. fat per serving.) I served it with my own versions of stuffed tomatoes, 3 Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes.
Lamb:

1 tbsp minced garlic
4 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon-pepper seasoning (I thought I had this on hand, but did not, I used mint instead)
1/2 tsp dried majoram
lamb chops

Combine garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, lemon pepper seasoning, and majoram in a bowl. Add lamb into boil and marinate for an hour in the fridge, or 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and cook chops for 6-8 minutes, turning once.

Tomatoes:

1 roma tomatoe sliced in half
3 cheeses (I chose feta, provalone and parmesean)
some breadcrumbs
olive oil

There is no measuring in this recipe. Once you halve the tomato and scoop out the inside, you can eyeball how much of the above ingredients you will need to fill the halves. Mix the ingredients together and fill into the tomato halves. Broil for 5-7 minutes.

This overall meal recieves 5 yums. The marinade was really good. Even with out the lemon-pepper, the mint was a good substitute, because it was still a bit spicy with the tart reseblamce of the lemon. The lamb was a bit chewy...but maybe thats why it was on sale. The stuffed tomatoes were excellent as well. The cheeses were a nice tangent from a typical breadcrumb, dry filling.

For dessert, I made some Lemon Breezies, also from Cooking Pleasures. These were a readers substitute for the Lemon Cooler Girl Scout Cookies. Any lemon cookie is good in my book, but especially the Lemon Girl Scout Cookies, they are always my first box to be eaten, so I was very excited about this cookie. A slight let down though. I didn't think it tasted anything like the Girl Scount cookie, and it could have been a lot more lemony flavored. The cookies also got very dry by the next day, lucky for me I only made a half recipe! The below recipe is the full recipe. 3 yums.

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. finely chopped almonds
1/4 tsp. salt

Heat over to 400'. Beat butter, 1/2 c. powdered sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice together for 3 min. till soft and creamy. Combine flour, almonds, and salt in a bowl and beat into batter mixture. Make 1 tbsp. sized balls and place an inch apart. Bake 7-9 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and roll in the extra powdered sugar.

It's the Summertime!

2008-05-30T01:24:00.003-04:00

Now that its summer, I have been a lot more busy and not able to write on this thing, but; I have still been eating! These last couple weeks I actually havne't cooked much, or even get to grocery shopping. But I can alwasy pull something together from the staples in my freezer, pantry or fridge!

I had some Chili with Cheddar and Rice. I always make sure I have rice and at least one can of chili. Any brand except Giant's. It's way to salty. Prefarbly, I enjoy Hormel's brand. The meal tastes so much better if you have come cheddar to sprinkle over top too. Serve it with a vegeatable to be more healthy! With regular rice this is a 25 min dish, with instant, a 5 minute dish and always good. 5 yums for good fast food.

I also had some Tortellini with Meatballs. I keep a bag of homemade turkey meatballs in my freezer. I make a whole batch then freeze them. When you want a meal with some protein but don't feel like handling raw meat, these balls defrost pretty quick while heating up some canned sauce. I used Vodka Sauce. Serve with broccoli and you have the whole food pyramid covered! Another 5 yum quick and healthy meal. Cooks in 20 min.

Weeks in Review

2008-05-10T20:42:00.013-04:00

I havne't posted in a while...but here are some pictures of what I have been eating. I have had less and less time to cook though now that its summer. My two favorite were the Chocolate Brownies and the Farmer's Garden Panini. I aslo had Pesto Bowtie with Proscuitto, Sausage and Half Mushroom Pizza and Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms.

Quick.Healthy...Bland

2008-05-10T19:55:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the horrible picture taking, but the picture quality equals the dish's flavor. Tarragon Cream Chicken. I found it in Cooking Pleasures magazine noted as 'Quick and Healthy', with 260 calories, 15 g fat, and 4 carbs and taking probably about 15 minutes to make. This meal was a bland to my surprise. I am not keeping the recipe and I am giving it 2 yums, getting a lower score for being such a shock in how boring the recipe was.

Chicken tenders or cutlets
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. shallots, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 c. chicken broth
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
1/4 c. whipping cream

Dredge the chicken in the flour. Heat the oil in a skillet over med-high heat. Cook the chicken, turning once. Add the shallots and the garlic, cook 1 min. Stir in the broth and the tarragon and simmer for a couple minutes. Remove the chicken and stir in the cream. Increase heat to high and boil for 3-4 minutes till thickened. Serve over the chicken.

It could have had more flavor. I didn't use fresh tarragon, so I used less of the dried I had on hand. I should have used more, but I still don't believe it would have made a difference. Usally the chicken takes on the flavor you add to it. In this meal though, the chicken was able to outpower the sauce in a dissappointing way. It definatly could have used more garlic, salt and tarragon. The shallots flavor didn't come out that well either.

Beef Stroganoff

2008-04-22T20:36:00.003-04:00

I have been wanting to try Beef Stroganoff for years, but getting it from Hamburger Helper was always more convenient. But then, at the store, guess what was on sale? Beef Stroganoff! It actually said that on the label...only way I knew! So I got it and vowed to try it homemade. Then all the recipes I looked up called for dijon mustard, a condiment that I have never liked, and never bought for that matter. So I almost didn't have this dish because I didn't want to buy mustard that I was never going to use again, but the more I thought, mustard comes up in a lot of recipes I want to try but never make because I don't have that ingredient on hand. So now I own mustard and have had the experience of eating beef stroganoff that doesn't come in a box. I got this recipe off of foodnetwork.com.

1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp butter, divided
2 tbsp flour
2 c. beef consomme, I believe this is beef broth, even if its not, thats what I used
2 tsp Dijon style mustard (I only used 1 tsp, and it was still a little strong)
1/4 c.sour cream
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion
1/3 c. coarsely chopped mushrooms (I used baby portabellas)

Slice meat into 1/2 inch thin strips and season with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt 2 tbsp butter and cook with flour 1 minute to make a rue. Whisk in beef broth. Thicken for a couple minutes. Stir in mustard and sour cream, thicken for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and season sauce with salt and pepper.

Heat a second skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and the olive oil, then add the meat and onion and cook over high heat until brown on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Then add the chopped mushrooms and stir to combine. Plate cooked noodles and top with beef and sauce.

Overall I thought my first attempt at making this dish was pretty good. Definately good enough to not go back to Hamburger Helper, and probably much more healthier! I did think the mustard taste came out more than it should have, and that was after reducing it down 1 tsp already. But this may be because I do not like mustard.... This dish aslo tasted much better the next day, the sauce was thicker and it was less mustardy! I'm going to give it 4 yums!

Wacky Mac!

2008-04-20T13:01:00.004-04:00

As an avid lover or Macaroni and Cheese, I could not resist the Wacky Mac when I discovered it walking down grocery store aisle. A little pricey for boxed Mac and Cheese at $1.49, but I still was tempted at a new type of Mac and Cheese to try! I also liked how the back of the box said the product had a 'unique and interesting taste' and the proof of purchase was not a barcode, but a picture of that little boy on the front of the box. The box came with 4 shapes of noodles, making it WACKY! Wheels, spirals, shells and the normal plain tube. You make it the same way as any other boxed mac and cheese. I did not quite figure out what was so 'unique and interesting' about the flavor, it was kinda bland actually. And the worst thing a box of mac and cheese can present to the eater, is a non-cheesy taste, which Wacky Mac did sucessfully. I wouldn't rate this as the worst mac and cheese I have had, but it is definately on the bottom of my list. I will not be buying Wacky Mac again, even though I do love the name! Wacky Mac gets 1.5 yums.

Then for dinner, I wanted to get rid of the barley that has been in my pantry for a while. I found the recipe Early Summer Barley from chronicbabe.com. I choose this recipe because you could serve it cold almost like a pasta salad, and I love cold things in the warm weather! I also happened to have every single ingredient on hand except the snow peas, which I substituted green string beans. This salad was good, but there was something I didn't like about it. I can't put my finger on it, but the flavors did not balance right. I bet with more practice I could get it right, but I don't think its worth it to keep it. But it was healthy from the barley, lots of fiber! And if you do make it, serve it really cold, it tastes better. 2.75 yums.

1 c. barley
3-4 c. water
green beans, I probably had like a good handful, cut up into pieces
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 c. feta
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1/2 c. lemon juice, orig. recipes calls for 1 c. - way too much
1/4c. olive oil, orig. recipes calls for 1/2 c. - way too much
salt and pepper
1 handful fresh dill, roughly chopped

I just found an awesome site! Check it out! http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned

2008-04-15T20:24:00.006-04:00

After a horrendously unhealthy value meal lunch of 2 slices of pizza that I have been craving for months and the biggest soda (non-diet) I have ever had probably, I was in need of a healthy dinner! So I had a Tuna Steak with Asparagus. This meal was quick, simple and easy to clean up! The longest part was waiting the 10 minutes for it to marinate!

Tuna Steak

1 clove garlic

1/2 lemon juiced

rosemary

salt and pepper

I just minced the garlic up with the rosemary, salt and pepper and then rubbed it onto the steak. Then I squeezed the lemon juice on it and rubbed a little more and waited 10 minutes and threw it on the Foreman. Then.... I over cooked it :( because I was distracted by American Idol and the guy who called the wrong number asking about a driveway.... So I took a potentially 4 yum meal and made it into a 2.5 yum meal. It was going to get 3 yums because the flavor of the rosemary and lemon still stood out, but it got drier and drier with each bite. And I like my fish just cooked with minimal flavor added. I think the natural fish taste should stand out in any fish meal. So lesson learned, when cooking fish, don't leave the kitchen!

Sunday Dinner and Dessert

2008-04-13T20:05:00.005-04:00

Tonight I had my absolute favorite dinner. This is what I would want for my last meal. The Lynady Baked Ziti. This was the first dinner I remember learning when I was a kid. This meal will always earn 5 yums. It is impossible to make it bad tasting and you don't have to measure. I have never met anyone who hasn't liked this meal when I cook it. It is one of my most often requested recipes from friends.

1 lb Sausage, ground up

1 lb pasta, I recommend rigatoni or shells

Tomato sauce, jarred

Tomato sauce, in the little cans (8 oz.)

1/4 c. milk

Parmesean cheese

Velvetta cheese, 1/3 of the small box

Basil

Oregano

Heat over to 350'. Boil water and cook pasta. While doing so, cook sausage. In a 13 x 9 dish, cover bottom with jarred tomato sauce. In this dish I used jarred Vodka Sauce to make it more creamy. Then pour sausage and pasta into dish. Pour in can sauce. Fill half of the can with milk and pour into dish. Then sprinkle cheeses and herbs. Mix well. Then top with cheeses and herbs again. Cook 25-30 minutes. Serve hot and you will love it.

For dessert, I had Coconut-Lime Cupcakes. They are good but, they just don't have that much punch of a flavor I was hoping for. I think I will toss the recipe and wait for another southern flavored cupcake recipe comes along to test out.

After the cupcakes were done, I tried one and it was not very lime tasting which i was hoping for. I even added my own spin by poking holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick and then threw together a lime flavored glaze made out of some melted butter, confectioner's sugar and lim juice. Then poured over the cake and then frosted and garnished. With the extra glaze, the cupcakes were more citrusy in taste and had a little more of the zing I was looking for. These were a bit of a dissappointment and get 3 yums. Without my extra glaze they get 2 yums.

Cupcakes

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp grated lime peel
1 tsp lime juice
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Frosting

1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp grated lime peel

Garnish: Coconut

A Mature Taste

2008-03-27T20:06:00.003-04:00

As a youngster, I never liked the chicken part of this dish. My parents used to make chicken cutlets and then stick them in the broiler topping the chicken off with proscuitto and fontina cheese. They would rave that it was delicious but I would always take my chicken cutlet plain. Now, years later I finally realize that they are right! The thin slice of ham and slice of cheese, I used provolone, offer your palate so many flavors in one bite. It is delicious. The chicken gets 5 yums!

The Lemon Risotto was really good too. But for my taste it could of been a bit more lemony. Took it from foodnetwork.com . The user rating was five stars but I give it 3.5 yums.

2 shallots
1 rib celery (I didn't have any on hand)
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/3 c. risotto
Approx. 1 qt vegetable stock
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
rosemary
1 egg yolk
4 tbsp. parmesean, grated
4 tbsp. heavy cream
grated pepper and salt

Heat stock and keep warm. Mince shallots and celery. Heat half the butter and saute the vegetables about 5 minutes. Pour in rice and cook till opaque. Then start to ladle in the stock. After two ladles stir till stock is absorbed. Then ladle in more stock. Continue to do this till rice is al dente. You can add more liquid if needed, or you might not use the full amount.

Mix the lemon zest and rosemary into risotto. In a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, cheese, cream and pepper. When the risotto is ready , take it off the heat and add the bowl of egg mixture and the remaining butter and salt. serve with more cheese.

This dish was pretty yummy. It was the creamiest risotto I have had and I have had a lot of risottos. The color of it isn't great, but it is bright and the flavor is fresh with lemon so its a great 'Spring is Here' dish.

A First Time For Everything

2008-03-19T20:12:00.003-04:00

Now, I am not one to usually have casseroles, nor am I one usually to try a recipe that came out of the coupon section of the paper, nor have I ever tried or buyed cream of mushroom soup, so to try and understand why I tried this recipe is a mystery and will remain a mystery. Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole receives 1.5 yums for at least being edible and extremely simple (and I'll throw in being somewhat healthy). It doesn't even take a picture well, doens't look appetizing. :( Any new cook could not make this wrong though. I think it would be impossible. But this dish had NO FLAVOR! You would think with the amount of cheese that goes into this dish, it would, but none! The cream of mushroom soup actually took away from some of its flavor potential. ... I am still debating whether or not to even give you the recipe. I think I will pass, as there are many other edible, simple, healthy dinners that carry alot more taste. Stayed tuned, as that will be the next post!

What's to eat?

2008-03-11T21:25:00.005-04:00

I have had a lot to eat this past week. I was sick so I got cooped up in my apartment with an undersized kitchen and nothing to do to waste time except to cook alot. So here's a sample of what I've had:Al a Carte French Toast
Thin Mint Ice Cream Sandwich
Spaghetti with Mozzarella, Proscuitto and Asparagus
Chocolate Chip Cup Cakes
Seared Pork with Pierogie and Broccoli sides

My french toast picture looks like it would fit right in on a diner menu, and for that you get the recipe:

2 pieces of bread, I alwasy prefer challah, but never have it on hand :(
milk
egg
cinnamon and sugar
vanilla
toppings, butter and syrup

Mix together, 2 eggs, a splash of milk, cinnamon, sugar and if I'm in the mood, vanilla. Dip bread in mixture and cook in a buttered skillet. Flip over mid way, about 2 -3 minutes. Serve with butter and syrup. Alternatives would be strawberries, whipped cream, banana, powdered sugar.

This was one of my better french toasts in a while actually. I don't know what I did, but it was really yummy and I didn't even add any vanilla. For all my french toasts, this gets 4.5 yums.

A Good One From Mom

2008-03-07T17:13:00.009-05:00

Haha, this is funny. I kept forgetting to write about this one because I thought I really enjoyed it. But now, I can't find the recipe. And I don't fully remember it. But I am going to show it to you anyways. And make up a name for it. Tomato Shrimp Scampi. My mom got this one out of the New York Times, so I am sure you can find it in thier archives.

Well, luckily I happened to find this picture! It shows most of what went into it! Sorry don't have the right measurements...

Sundrided tomatoe (I recall these weren't in the original recipe, also capers were in the original, but I didn't add them.)

Fresh thyme

Garlic

Fresh Tomato

Shrimp

I think there was white wine and chicken stock??? Definately the white wine.

Olive oil ( I used a mixture of extra virgin and sundried tomato infused to add some flavor)

Salt and Pepper

I think that was it. Cook spaghetti. Meanwhile, I chopped up the tomatoes and garlic. Sauteed that in some olive oil then added thyme and shrimp to cook and then added wine. Let reduce for a couple mins. Toss spaghetti with sauce and sprinkle parmesean on top.

This plate reminded me of shrimp scampi but with a tomato twist rather than lemon flavoring. The tomato bites complimented the texture of the shrimp. Made me want to try to get on of each piece of the dish on one fork full!

This dish was pretty good. It was a light dish, and it was a simple, quick to get cooking dinner, so for that I am going to give it 3 yums.

No Measuring Necessary

2008-02-26T21:17:00.006-05:00

This week was all about throwing meals together. And when I say throw, I mean throw the ingredients in there. Don't measure! Measuring is for baking. So first up, PIZZA! Not to mention the best pizza I have ever made. I think I am finally getting the hang of how to use my pizza stone. I'll call this Veggie Chicken Pizza. (Sorry that I have not yet figured out how to rotate pictures...I might be good at cooking...but I am not very technically savvy.)Store bought pizza dough
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1 chicken breast, breaded and cooked slightly
1 plum tomato, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 ball of mozzerella, with some extra shredded mozzeralla (a handful)
jarred or canned tomatoe sauce, enough to cover the dough

Spread some cornstarch on the pizza stone. Heat the pizza stone in a 425' oven for 15 min. The instructions said to prepare the pizza on a cookie sheet...but I did not as I thought that would be hard to transfer a fully made pizza to a HOT stone. So I made the dough into a circular shape and then quickly prepared the pizza on the hot stone itself. Put the sauce on first and then just throw the rest of the ingredients on! Simple! Put in oven and bake for about 15 minutes. And out comes a perfectly cooked, delicious pizza.

I can't say anything bad about this pizza. It was really good. The dough was fully cooked and not to thick, it was perfectly layered with toppings. It wasn't as good as a NY pizza, but it was close enough for a pizza entreprenuer....the pizza gets 4.5 yums!

Up next, I'll call this Mediterranian Pasta with Shrimp.

If you can't tell by the picture...this is the result of the leftover toppings of the pizza. I added some feta cheese, that was also in need to be used in the fridge and since I like to have some sort of protein in every meal, I added some shrimp, since they are the quickest to defrost, for someone who has little time at night.

1/2 green pepper, diced
1 plum tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
feta cheese (I used about 1/2 cup)
shrimp, peeled and devined
fettucine, enough for 2 (about 3/4 in diameter of pasta)
olive oil, I used sundried tomatoe infused olive oil, regular is fine

Boil water, and cook pasta. Meanwhile, saute pepper, tomato, onion and garlic in olive oil over medium low heat. About 4-5 minutes. Add shrimp. Once shrimp are cooked, turn to very low until pasta is done. Add feta to veggie mixture. Drain pasta and add to veggies. Toss and serve!

This meal was very good. Simple, quick and yummalicious. I got lunch out of it too! I think it could have used a little more flavor, maybe more garlic, or actually adding sundried tomatoes instead of regular plum. But it was still very flavorful just from all the ingredients on thier own. 4 yums.

I'm Back in Action

2008-02-13T21:13:00.004-05:00

I got my new camera! I like the camera, it takes much better pictures of food even though there is no 'food scene'. But I'm still trying to figure out how to download the pictures consistantly....I've done it three ways already and can't determine which way is the most efficent....but to the food, since that is what this blog is about!

Tonight's meal came about because I have had a red pepper sitting in my fridge for a while; and since I am leaving for a nice long weekend back home to NY, I thought that it would be best to use the pepper before I left so it wasn't all shriveled when I get back on Monday. So as I realized the only thing I know what to do with a pepper is stuff it, I should venture out and try something new. I googled 'Red Pepper Recipes' and I came across a recipe from cooks.com, and lucky me...it serves two! Perfect for the focus of my blog! And I happened to have all but one ingredient on hand! So here is Crisp Coconut Chicken with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce.

1 red bell pepper, roasted and chopped (I roasted at 450' for 15 min)
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I just use the stuff in the bottle)
1/4 tsp sugar (or a pinch)
Cayenne to taste (I used a little bit of paprika as I did not have this on hand)
1 tbsp olive oil (I am laughing right now because I totally neglected this ingredient...but my sauce came out delish anyways! so I guess it could be optional, maybe if used the sauce is a bit more smooth)
1 garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp. dijon-style mustard (I don't like mustard, so I did not use it)
1 whole skinless chicken breast (about 10 oz), halved
flour seasoned with s&p
egg wash (1 egg mixed with a tsp of water)
1 c. sweetened coconut flakes
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. dry sherry

Preheat over to 375'. In a small bowl, whisk the garlic paste, ginger and mustard and spread onto both sides of the chicken.

In a blender, puree the bell pepper with the lemon juice, sugar, cayenne, oil and s&p to taste, until the sauce is smooth.

In three different bowls, have the flour mixture, the egg wash and the coconut. Dredge the chicken in the flour, dip in the egg mixture and coat with the coconut, making sure the coconut adheres to the chicken.

In a large, over proof skillet, heat butter over medium high heat till it is melted and saute the chicken for 2 minutes on each side, or until the coconut is golden. Then add the sherry. (BE CAREFUL! It splatters! cooks.com does not warn you about this....I am as the splatter is HOT!) Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Divide the sauce between two plates and arrange chicken on it.

This dish took me total about 40 minutes, so easily a good week night dish. It was pretty easy and tasted delicious. I was very impressed. The sauce had a delicate sweet taste but complimented the carmelized coconut very well. Not overbearingly sweet at all. The only thing I would recommend to change about this dish, is to heat the sauce a little bit. I didn't like how the chicken was hot and the sauce room temperature, even a little bit cold from sitting waiting for the chicken to cook. This meal gets 5 yums. It was simple, pretty quick, yummy and gets a plus for making the apartment smell good! The coconut cooking with the sherry was like a home made house freshner!

Sorry to Say....

2008-02-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

I am sorry to inform that I will be out of commission until I buy a new camera. A weekend night activity resulted in a malfuntioning purse, that fell to the floor. This purse was holding my camera, and my camera is now very broken in every which way! It won't even turn on :( Hopefully I will get a new one in the next couple days and then will have to figure out how to work that one. I was just starting to take good pictures on "food" mode too. So keep checking back as you never know when my next post will be!

Thank the Food Gods for Good Food Finally

2008-02-02T20:56:00.000-05:00

After last weeks low Yum dinner scores, I am happy to announce I have had two good meals in a row. First, my mom's recipe of Penne a la Vodka. This is my favorite thing to order in a resturant, if they actually have it on the menu. I love the creamy pink sauce that coats every pasta bite, so making it at home for the first time, I was really hoping it would come out well, and it did!

2 tbsp butter

1/2 small onion, finely chopped (you can use shallots too if you have them on hand, I think they work better for this dish)

1/3 cup vodka

1/3 cup tomato puree (my mom uses crushed tomatos, I only had diced so I actually pureed some to get the right amount)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 or 2 drops hot sauce (Franks)

Salt and Pepper

1/2 lb. penne pasta

1/3 cup finely grated Parmigian-Reggiano or Romano cheese

I made some sweet italian sausage to go along with this italian dish (optional)

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook until it really begins to soften about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the vodka and bring to a simmer. Simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cream and bring to a simmer again for another 5 minutes. Add in the hot sauce, salt and pepper. Keep warm until the pasta is ready and pour over pasta and add cheese. Enjoy!

I think I could have added a bit more tomato puree or a little less cream. I'm not sure how adding or reducing those ingredients would help. I will have to experiment again. I also never have hot sauce in my apartment so I didn't use any, but my meal was no where near as good as when my mom makes it. The saucewas definately missing something too, and I think it was the hot sauce! But even without, this meal got 4 Yums, my mom's always gets 5 Yums.

Then tonight I tried out another one of my family favorites, Pork with Apples. This too, I can not nearly as good as my parents can, but they have had years of practice versus my first try.

This picture doesn't do the meal too much justice. I accompanied the pork with some cauliflower and mashed potatoes. The pork is tenderloin (only got it becasue Snider's had an amazing price on it!) There are actual measurements for the sauce, but I didn't measure. First dredge the pork in flour, s&p, and cumin. I didn't have any cumin so I substituted coriander (half the amount). I could definately taste the difference but not in a bad way. The brown the pork on all the sides, for about 5 minutes. Throw in a peeled, decored, and quartered apple and a quarter of an onion diced up finely. Cook for a few minutes, then add about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a quarter cup of chicken broth, a squeeze of honey and a big dob of tomato sauce (can be from a jar). Bring to a simmer and cover! Cook for 20 mintues and then dinner is ready! This got 4 Yums.

Quick, Yet Disappointing Meals

2008-01-30T21:06:00.000-05:00

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Both these meals in my mind had great potential when reading the directions and looking at the pictures, but they were both huge failures in the culinary world.

First, Garlic Cilantro Shrimp. Got this recipe from Cooking Pleasures magazine. The cilantro mixture is the top dark green mixture that the shrimp are surrounding. In a blender, I combined garlic cloves, cilantro, walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil and some s&p. It came out thicker than what I believe it was suppose to be so I actually dipped my shrimp in it rather than coat them. I was not impressed. It may be that I am not as fond of cilantro as I thought I was, or it could be that it was just too strong for shrimp. Either way, I only dipped 2 shrimp before I just ate the shrimp as they were. I served the shrimp with Asparagus Risotto (boxed, Target's brand, Archer Farms?). The risotto was good, but no where near as flavorful and good as the other risotto flavors the brand offers, such as Leek and Mushroom :) This meal got 2 yums.

Then tonight, I made Bacon Roasted Salmon. Sounded promising. Quick and simple. Put the bacon on top of the salmon, pop it in the oven at 450' for 10 minutes and dinner is served. I was hoping that the bacon fat and juices would seep into the salt and peppered salmon and infuse it with wonderful flavor since that was all there was to the recipe. I was greatly let down. It tasted like salmon by itself and bacon by itself. There was no fusion of pork meet fish. Might of well have had the bacon on the side and flavor the salmon with some lemon juice. It was just a very plain, unexciting dinner. Again, only 2 yums, only because I love bacon. Hopefully next week I'll cook up some 4 and 5 yummers!

Party Time

2008-01-20T14:02:00.000-05:00

This past week in Washington, DC was restaurant week! Restaurant week provides great food at expensive restaurants for a cheaper price than you would normally pay. For dinner, you given a choice of an appetizer, entree and dessert from special restaurant week menu for $30. Lunches for $20. It was Karrie's 26th birthday on Friday and she chose Tabaq Bistro on 13th & U St. We had a 9pm reservation on the rooftop. The view was great! Turn your head oneway and there was the Monument. Turn it the other way and there was the Capitol. Since it was so late, I actually didn't choose off the restaurant week menu but half of the table did and I took some sample bites and everything was pretty good! I had Tabaq Chicken.

It was a chicken breast stuffed with cheese, spinach and red bell pepper on top of mashed potatoes with a port wine sauce. I loved the presentation with the waffle fries fanning out and the zucchini green bean holder. The meal was very good! I loved the wine sauce, I cleaned my plate completely. The chicken was a bit dry, but the stuffing helped to hide that factor. I had a bite of Sarahs mussel appetizer and profiterole cream puff dessert. Both were good, but nothing that would make these dishes stand out from others of the same. The entrees were the steal of the show. Overall Tabaq was just OK. The ambience and views were great, but the food was standard and the customer service mediocre. I was not happy with the bartender downstairs nor the waiter for dinner. Both were not attentive us. Tabaq earns 3 Yums.

To continue celebrating this weekend, Karrie, Kristine and Farahnaz had a birthday/housewarming party and of course there was food! Here's our food table that I promiesed to but in the blog.

There was cheese and crackers, Karrie's homemade chex mix, Jeff's barbeque chicken dip with chips, my pigs in a blanket and Kristines homemade cookie cake. Everything was gone by the end of the party which is always a sign that everything was delicious. 5 Yums

And You Can't Forget About Dessert

2008-01-19T16:47:00.000-05:00

Blogspot apparently doesn't let you download more than 5 images in one post. So here is dessert!

My ice cream bowls take wonderful pictures! Best childhood takeaway. This is MY ULTIMATE DESSERT. Pefectly customed for MY likings!

Store bought Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.

Toppings

Marzipan
Sprinkles
A few chocolate chip morsels
Godiva chocoiste Pearls, 1 to 2 of each: Dark Chocolate with Mint, Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate

Put in desired amount of ice cream, 1-2 BIG spoonfuls for mine lol. Then layer toppings. Of course it was good, it was tailored to me! 5 Yums.

2008-01-19T15:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't forgotten about the blog! I actually have been very good at taking pictures of my food. All that are great for one person, and some even for the person who only cooks for themselves, but is always on the run and never has time to cook! When I know I am going to busy one week, I make casserole dishes on Sunday to last me the week of lunch and dinners and even to freeze to use in a couple weeks! So I'm going to post the pictures and then pick one to tell you how easy it is to cook for one.

My breakfast, Applesauce Crepes.

It was a very light breakfast, not to heavy but great in taste. Something to jumpstart your day of errands and shopping.

That nights dinner. Parmesean Breaded Pork, Broccoli and Spaetzl. Spaetzle made a mess of my kitchen and wans't the best thing. Totally not worth it. This got only 1 Yum.

White Wine and a Chocolate Chip Cookie. Perfect Dessert

Fried Rice al la Carte. Deliscious, I was surprised how good I made it with what I had. This would be a 4 yums. I still feel like I can make even more better. I got chinese food and used the left over white rice and fried dumpling dipping sauce.

seasame oil
1/4 c. minced onion
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 to 1 cup white rice
shimp enough for 1-2 servings
1 egg, slightly scrambled
1/2 to 3/4 cup peas, can be frozen
dumpling sauce
a splash of soy sauce, optional

Start by sauteeing the onion and garlic in oil for a couple minutes. Then add the the rice and let it start to fry up slightly. Toss occasionaly. Add shrimp and peas, add more oil if needed. After a couple minutes make a whole in the middle of the pan with the rice. Put egg in the the whole and begin scramble and cook. Break up egg and stir gradually into rice. Add the dumpling sauce. Cook for a couple mintues and serve hot! Tastes like the fried rice from the restaurant. Make it fun for entertaining by serving in a little takeout box container. And serve fortune cookies as favors.

New Vision

2007-12-12T15:53:00.000-05:00

After a little break...aka forgetting about my blog, I have decided I am going to carryon with my blog with a new vision; helping those people out there who want to learn how to cook for one or two, by keeping it simple, but keeping it yummy. I'll even do meals for all parts of the day, starting with breakfast of course! The most important meal of the day!

The Sausage, Egg and Cheese

Now I don't usually like eggs, but I was vacationing with my family in Florida, and there was limited ingredients, and i was tired of an english muffin with creamcheese. We were also going snorkling later that morning and I thought i would need a little bit more energy :) So born was my attempt at making a fried egg and creating a delicious, and very easy sausage, egg and cheese.

Ingredients:

1 English muffin, cut in half and toasted

1 or 2 links/patties of precooked breakfast sausage (like Jimmy Dean)

1 egg

1 slice cheese of your liking, I prefer American

Cook the sausage and when done, cut in half so that it will cover a whole layer of a bite. Then fry the egg over medium low heat to your liking. *TIP: Drop the egg close to the pan and slowly. You want your egg to be as close to a circle as possible, this will help. If it doesn't work just fold the egg in half when you put it on the muffin (like I did the first time)* When the egg is almost done, put the slice of cheese on top of it till slightly melted. Then assemble the sandwich and enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Resturant Critique

2007-09-29T18:21:00.000-04:00

Jason and I went to the Macaroni Grill on Thursday, only because we couldn't find the Moraccan place i wanted to try and we were hungry and just wanted some food. MG front staff were not having a good night. They were all over the place and not organized well causing for bad service. But on a good note, MG covers the table with paper and crayons, which always is fun. I got penne a la vodka that had chunks of chicken and prosciutto. With pasta dishes I always find myself leaning towards plates with pink cream sauces or including proscuitto. It came out nicely topped with a sprig of fresh basil. I love to take the basil and just smell it so it energizes me. I took a bite as well and it was fresh. The pasta was average. I feel it could have been a bit more pinky and creamier. For a vodka sauce, the tomatos were too overbearing of the cream. The chicken was fine but I wish the prosciutto was more thinly sliced. It was more ham then the delicate italian proscuitto. But overall the dish was good for a chain resturant. You cant expect the best from francised brands. A la carte rating: 3 yums

Pictures of my food before I decided to start a blog

2007-09-26T16:59:00.000-04:00

So the little one is the pizza we made after I recieved a pizza stone from Ms. Mattis for my birthday earlier this summer. I have made 2 pizza's since this one and still have not mastered how to use the pizza stone. Thankfully I took this picture before we baked it, because it didn't come off the pizza stone successfully and was really more like pizza bites/goop (the crust didn't fully cook either...). But still delicious! We topped the dough with a little can of tomato sauce with some added spices, fresh mozzerella, sausage and red onions and peppers, to be healthy of course. We bought the pre-made pizza dough from the deli section at the store. One day I will become a pro at making a pizza.

The shrimp and broccoli. This is the simplest meal ever and great for when you are really really hungry and just want to eat in 10 minutes. The shrimp recipe comes from a recipe my mom was going to make years back but lost the second page so made the shrimp with the ingredients listed on the first page. So the half recipe is: mix some cajun seasoning or anything spicy you want to try into some flour. Coat the shrimp with the flour and saute in oil (olive oil to get the benefits). Usually we top the shrimp over bowtie pasta that we fry in the leftover oil from the shrimp to give them a bit of crunch. But at the time I was trying to cut back on my carbs so I sauted the broccoli up instead! I tried to show my artistic presentability of food....but I could use a bit of practice. They make it look so easy on TV. It's like the chef's just throw garnishes on the plate and it lands perfectly on top of the food.

One kind of quesadilla

2007-09-25T21:00:00.000-04:00

What i love about quesadillas is that there are so many ways to make them and you can use few ingredients but get so much more flavor with some added spices. For this one i used ground turkey, its what i had left over. Cherry tomatoe, colby cheese, red onion and garlic. With cajun seasoning and paprika; but i think it would have tasted better wtih just chili powder. It was pretty good and half of it filled me bc it's so stuffed, now i get lunch tomorrow! :) Sorry on the horrible picture taking. Eventually i will understand my camera's full useage.