Jannell's Kitchen

Produce Delivery

2012-01-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

It's 2012...and in an effort to help this year not suck, I thought I would try to do things differently.

1. Not care so much if odds and ends are picked up.

2. Take the dog for more walks

3. Play more board games with my son

4. Blog more

5. Keep my nails looking pretty

6. Cook with more veggies

Which leads me to the topic of today's post....

7. Have local farm deliver said veggies.

Klesick Family Farm is right here in Stanwood. They offer several versions of fruit and veggie boxes for delivery. Can you afford this service? I am glad you asked....

Yes you can!!

Seriously, if you are a veggie lover (as I am) then you know how much decent produce can be. Factor in your time to go to the store, gas and implies purchases and you have wracked up a bill that is certainly more than it costs to have this box of yummy delivered.

I am tickled pink...and the best part is that I see what is fresh each week and create from there. The creations have been pretty bland so don't expect to see barn burners such as "steamed green beans" on the blog. But....I am getting better at creating things from what is given to me. The produce is crazy fresh and the best part is I didn't have to leave my house. Which, is a huge plus.

Try it.

I'm just sayin...

Soup Update

2011-12-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

Um, if something isn't broken...please don't try and either fix it, or reinvent it. I tried reinventing chicken tortilla soup with a new recipe.

Eww. It was gross.

The recipe (which I will NOT post) called for beer as the main liquid and then canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

So acidic....adding sugar didn't save it.

It was all kinds of painful.

In the garbage it went.

And I hate it when that happens.

Crazy Busy

2011-12-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes life gets just waaaaay to crazy busy? Yah, me too. Just a quick note to say that I have not forgotten about you all..I just have been neglecting cooking.

But that is about to change.

I am making soup today!

And will tell you all about it.....

Home Alone

2011-09-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Husband gone. Kids gone. Let the productivity begin!! How many of you ...when given some free time cram it with all the things you are either putting off, or just don't usually have time to do? My hand is raised high! Finding myself alone last weekend was obviously my cue to fill my dance card with cleaning and organizing. Holy OCD batman.

I:
Cooked
Cleaned
Organized
Went to the dump (all by myself!)
Got a crash course in photography from my niece Juli
Had one of "those" shopping trips (ex Target or Drug Emporium...remember them?) where you go for 1 thing...and bags of things later....(I did that at Central Market - boy, that salad dressing was spendy)
Took my kindle on a couple of field trips to the beach
Watched a couple of movies (have you seen Atonement? Good flick)

This is a cooking blog, after all and even though I haven't been the most consistent blogger I hope you are still entertained.

My friend, Sascha, got me on a goat cheese kick on my most recent visit to AZ. Now all I think about is how I can incorporate goat cheese into things. Cue - wicked scrambled eggs . So the night before this egg thing happened I plank barbecued some king salmon. Delicious, by the way.. and I thought it would be yummy to incorporate it into some eggs. It was.

Wicked scrambled eggs:
2 eggs
A bit of butter
Scallion or any onion chopped
Fresh thyme (I happened to have some so in it went)
Tomatoes chopped
Salmon
Goat cheese!

I saute the onions in the butter, then add the beaten eggs. When they are almost done everything but the cheese goes in to. Cook the eggs to desired doneness. Take off heat and add cheese. Let it sit in the pan stirring occasionally to melt it slightly. Eat!

Simple Soup

2011-05-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Even though it's technically May, where I live there hasn't been alot of Spring weather. Typically, people not living in Washington would be dusting off the barbecue...refilling the propane or brickets. Us, nope. We still have the furnace on. Today just so happened to be 60 or so degrees and even though it seemed like a heatwave to me - this soup recipe just beckoned!

I first saw it on Alexis Stewart's' blog. She is always cooking something delicious! The soup is called:Chickpea Vegetable Soup With Parmesan and Rosemary and it is very very good. I had just about everything on hand! The only thing I didn't have was the Parmesan rind. Fine by me. I made soup with one once and there was something "off" about the taste. Maybe it had something to do with the quality of the cheese? Well, since there isn't a Dean and Deluca around...what's a girl to do? So no rind. Oh, and I couldn't find dried chickpeas, but I had some canned ones which worked out just as good (I imagine) and it cut the cooking time down!

It's really very simple with no meat and little seasoning. I'm just linking to the site because, well...it's easier.
Chickpea Vegetable Soup With Parmesan and Rosemary

Cooking, instead of studying.....

2011-04-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

Who says that procrastination can't be constructive? This weekend was pretty quiet so what's a girl to do? Homework in either Algebra or English? - no. Cleaning? - no. Cooking? - Yes!!! Side note - I did do the homework anyway, I just didn't want to.

It had been ages since I made chicken parmesan so, raise your glasses to the winner winner chicken dinner (get it?), Chicken Parmesan and it's side kick, pasta pomodoro! We begin with the chicken parm. I did something that I don't usually do...I winged it. Or rather, combined and winged a couple of recipes together to create what I wanted my chicken parm to taste like. I already knew that the nut crusted chicken was super juicy and moist...okaaaaaay. Change the spices around a bit and bam! You have a flavorful crispy baked chicken breast that can be easily turned into chicken parm (simply add sauce and cheese).

For the chicken, I took regular chicken breasts and dredged them in seasoned flour (you must season your flour), then egg (plain old egg), and then a combination of shallot, garlic, parsley and panko which had been slightly toasted in a fry pan. I think the trick is to toast the bread crumb mixture. It adds a nuttiness that you don't get otherwise. The panko is crunchy already, but it is essentially flavorless. Then bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 farenheight NOT celcius(refer to the salmon blog for the joke which is on me). Top with sauce and mozzerella cheese, broil and done!

Chicken Parmesan (I am making this up as I go along..)

4 Boneless chicken breasts 4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 onion minced (I put mine in a food processor with the garlic so Chris can't bite down into a piece of onion or he freaks out)
3 tbl fresh italian parsley minced(I never use the curly kind, yuck)
1/4 cup grated (not shredded) parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups panko
3 tbl olive oil red sauce
mozzerella cheese
1 tbl italian seasoning
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs beaten
Ok, let me think.... Preheat oven to 350 Take chicken breasts, trim them of extra fat and yuckiness, sprinkle with kosher salt and stick in the refrigerator. I don't know why..the recipe I adapted just said to do it and it has always tasted good so I don't ask questions. Mince the garlic and onion and saute in the olive oil for about 5 minutes or so. You don't want it to get brown, just soft. Add the panko and cook on medium low heat stirring between constantly and occasionally until lightly golden brown. Once golden brown, remove from heat and let cool on paper towel for a bit. Add chopped parsley and parmesan cheese. Prepare three shallow dishes (I use pie plates). One with the eggs beaten, one with the flour and italian seasoning, and one with the panko mixture. Take your chicken breasts and first dredge them in the flour, then egg, then panko. Put on a wire baking rack set on a sheet pan. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until an instant read thermometer says 160. Remove from oven. Top each chicken breast with whatever sauce you have, mozzerella cheese and broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and starting to become golden. YUM!

Pasta pomodoro..and also the sauce I put on the chicken.
Again, let me think.
Ingredients:
28 oz can of tomatoes
1 medium onion minced
4 cloves garlic minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of sugar 5 basil leaves
1/4 olive oil 2 tbl butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 lb buccotini(like spaghetti only like a tube) or spaghetti

Puree the tomatoes, set aside. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. add the red pepper flakes and pureed tomatoes. simmer until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes (totally guessing). Take off heat and add the basil leaves and sugar. Boil the pasta in salted water until almost soft. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. Remove the basil from the sauce, add the almost done pasta and a bit of the pasta water to loosen the sauce. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce adding pasta water as needed to thin the sauce. When it's done (5 minutes later) take off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Serve. Oh, before I added the pasta to the sauce, I ladled some sauce on the chicken...

Chris stopped by Borrichinis today for supplies including fresh bread. What does fresh bread need? Roasted garlic butter, that's what!

Take 1 head of garlic (or more, whatever) and slice the top 1/3 off it. Drizzle with olive oil, wrap loosely in foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the garlic looks opaque and is starting (key, starting) to brown. I learned the hard way that if it gets browner than just "starting" then it's burned and bitter. Yuck. Ok, take your roasted, sweet - not bitey garlic cloves and mash them with softened unsalted butter and BAM! Roasted garlic butter to spread on your bread. Just like Lombardis only you can wear yoga pants to dinner!
The garlic and butter prior to the mashing...

Yummy dinner!

Foot note - My formatting has mashed itself together seriously 3 times while writing this!!! If you see places where it looks like there should be a space or new paragraph...you are probably right! I am seriously sick and tired of taking the time to make paragraphs only to have it become one large paragraph grrr..

Fish poaching - the results!

2011-04-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

First off, there won't be any pictures for this one. Dig deep, way back to grade school and use your imagination to visualize the words that are coming out of my mouth. It's good for you.

So I poached the fish in the court boullion and it was really yummy! Truthfully, there aren't any pictures because there wasn't much to see. Poached fish on a plate. I didn't eat it for a meal I just tasted it and into the fridge it went! White fish on a white plate? I'm not so good with a camera but even I know that wouldn't have made a good picture.

The fish was tender, but not mushy. It has a subtle taste from the broth and it all is just very lovely. Now, the original reason for me cajoling this recipe out of Devin was for lobster tail. Since I was plumb outta those...fish was chosen. I will, however, be trying that next.

Thank you Devin!

Why it's awesome to have a friend who is a chef!

2011-04-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

I was in cooking heaven last night! Our friends' Devin and Cassondra were up visiting Devin's mom with their two kids and we went over for dinner. The evening was simply delightful. The best part for me was two fold... 1. getting to know Cassondra better and 2. Getting to watch Devin cook dinner while peppering (pun intended) him with cooking questions the WHOLE time. He was very gracious and answered them all PLUS gave me a couple of recipes. Win Win Win!!

Another big THANK YOU! to Devin for answering so many questions and humoring me while I frantically scribbled notes so I wouldn't forget.....

I had asked him about the best way to cook (and not ruin) lobster tail. His suggestion was to poach it in court boullion. My French is rusty, and I asked him to translate it. Basically, it's a poaching liquid with:
1 part white wine
1 part white vinegar
1 part veg stock (homemade, of course)
1 shallot
A few peppercorns
A pinch of red pepper flakes
1 whole orange. Juiced and tossed in
1 whole lemon. Juiced and tossed in

Simmer that for 20 minutes and strain all the solids out. Then poach your lobster, fish, or whatever seafood you want in it. I am currently defrosting tilapia to poach in it even though I already have eaten dinner. I just am dying to see how it will taste.

Side note: I had a very zen start to the day....went to Bellevue Square to get some makeup I ran out of..stopped by Lucy to see what there was to see and then I hit Whole Foods on the way to 405 to get the ingredients for the stock and the boullion. Oahmmmmm.

The veg stock is as follows:
1 yellow onion chopped
About 5 or so carrots chopped
3-4 stalks of celery chopped The stems (no leaves) of flat leaf parsley chopped
10 or so peppercorns
1 bay leaf
8 cups of water

Peel the onion and carrots. Remove the root ends and any leaves (bitter) Chop everything so the pieces are small and you have what amounts to equal parts of the veg. Simmer, not boil ("no bubbles" as I was instructed) for about an hour then strain the solids and use for the bouillon or soup or whatever.

It made the house smell wonderful. Notice that there wasn't any salt? That was on purpose. Season the dish you are using the stock for...not the stock.

When I finished the court boullion (aka. poaching liquid) it has a vinegar/sweet smell. I am really interested to see how the fish turns out that I won't be eating until tomorrow...but I just couldn't wait. Veg stock simmering and those black specs are peppercorns.. The rest of the ingredients for the boullion. Boullion simmering Stay tuned for the poached fish in court boullion. Unless it's crap, then you will see nothing. :)

Not Yentl, but lentils.

2011-03-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

It was the first word I could come up with that rhymed. Whatever.

I got this recipe from a gal who used to cut my hair. It's a healthy side dish or leftover snack. It's really easy and who doesn't need to eat more lentils? Besides lentil soup, I don't have a vast arsenal of lentil recipes...this is a good stand by.

Don't judge the picture too harshly. I didn't make this for dinner, I made it for lunches next week so the picture isn't so fabulous. The cheese blobbed in the middle and believe it or not, this was the best angle to take the picture. Don't go by the picture..just make it, it's yummy.

Lentil Casserole (from Bobbi - thank you!)

2 cup lentils (1 package) rinsed.
2 1/4 cup water - I use chicken stock
2 teaspoon salt - I don't add the salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon marjoram
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz. canned diced tomatoes
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1 cup thinly sliced celery - I don't add this, Chris would have a hissy fit.
1/2 cup diced green pepper (I always leave this out)
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

In 9 X 13 inch pan, combine lentils, water, salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, bay leaf, onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir in carrots, celery, and green pepper. Cover and continue baking for about 40 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle cheese over top and return to oven uncovered just until cheese is melted. Serves 8.

Realistic note - Depending on how hot your oven bakes things....you may need to either lower the heat to 350 or add more liquid. I, should have lowered the heat because the edges all dried out and stuck to the pan. This is why the picture is the way it is....I wanted to hide all the dried up parts. It's still yummy though.

Same, same, same.

2011-03-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, hi there. My name is Jannell, nice to meet you! You may not remember who I am but I am the one who writes this blog albiet sporatically at best. I just haven't cooked anything whoop-ed-dee-doo lately. Today, I thought I would get back into the groove of things with a weekly dinner staple at our house. It's a throwback to your school cafeteria days. Excited? On the edge of your seat? Waiting with bated breath?

Well, don't be. It's rather ho hum. It is nostalgic though....

Chris' mom calls it "slop" ...we call it "turkey gravy" (and it sounds a little better our way). Oh, and I just finished quarter one out of years and years worth of college quarters. If my English teacher saw this, she would make this blog absolutely bleeeeeeeed red with all the gramatical errors. But hey, it's my blog...and I can just write how I want to here. I'm not worried about comma splices and misuse of verb tense at the moment. Maybe I should be..

It's a safe space.

I should really do a series on the dishes that my family wants me to make on a weekly basis. No, really..there are like, 5 or so dinners that they expect to have each week and after a while I start losing my mind a bit. It's to the point where we will sit down to eat (insert dish here) and someone will start with "..did you do something different to the (insert same dish here)?" Oh, for the love....

So for lack of anything else to blog about, other than maybe a different OCD way I assemble my lasagna (I don't rinse the noodles anymore)...I bring you - Turkey Gravy over Rice (or you could do mashed potatoes, or noodles). Oh, the versitility. Pfft. (Extreme sarcasm....)

Ingredients:

1 package ground turkey. You could also use ground beef, but we don't.
2 cans Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of milk
Salt and pepper to taste or Chris' seasoning to taste. I use Chris' seasoning.
Prepared rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles. @Sasch, I don't know how much of this ingredient...enough for your family should be the measurement. :)

Brown your meat in a large skillet. I use a chicken fryer. It's like a fry pan but it has higher sides. I seriously make everything in that pan. Come to think of it, I need a new one. Ok, once your meat is browned, add the soup and milk and simmer until the desired consistancy is reached for your liking. This recipe is also a good one to double and use for lunches or leftovers. It reheats very well and is quite comforting when it rains.

Serve over your favorite starch. We also serve frozen peas on the side. And, in case you are wondering...it's always served with peas. If I run out of peas, it causes an incident. It's really quite rediculous.

Below is my portion for tonight. No peas, salad instead however, you can be sure that there were peas. Oh yes, there were peas.

Chicken Party

2011-02-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Whether you are in the mood for a chicken pattie or a chicken party...this baked chicken recipe is moist and juicy goodness. Who would have thunk it?

(The term "chicken party" is an inside joke. Don't take too long trying to figure out what it means.) - Thank you

What comes to mind when you think of boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Dry, way too dry, oh...and dry some more. I swear the only time they weren't dry for me was when I either - cooked them in sauce OR on my George Foreman for 8 minutes (not one minute longer).

I stumbled on this recipe from Cooks Illustrated and thought it would be worth a try. Wow. Moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. What's not to like?

Again...an adaptation.

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup roughly chopped nuts (I happened to have cashews)
4 TB unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces
1/4 of an onion, minced. About 3 TB.
1 cup panko
2 tsp finely grated zest from 1 lemon, zested lemon cut into 4 wedges.
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves (don't use dry, there is something special about fresh herbs)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 large eggs
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup flour

Oven to 350 degrees.
Using a fork, poke thickest half of each breast 5 to 6 times. Place on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and evenly sprinkle each breast with 1/2 kosher salt. Refrigerate, uncovered, while preparing coating.

Process nuts in food processor until they resemble coarse meal. Heat butter in skillet over midium heat. Cook, swirling pan constantly until butter turns golden brown and has nutty aroma 4 to 5 minutes. Don't burn the butter. Reduce heat to med low. Add panko and ground nuts. Cook stirring frequently until golden brown. Transfer panko mixture to shallow dish and stir in lemon zest, thyme and cayenne.

Lightly beat eggs, mustard and pepper together in second shallow dish. Place flour in third shallow dish. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Dredge chicken breast in flour, shaking off excess, then coat with egg misture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat all sides of chicken with panko mixture, pressing gently so that crumbs adhere. Transfer breaded chicken to clean wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and repeat with other chicken.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Let rest 5 minutes.

What a difference a year makes!

2011-02-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Who remembers the "hot mess" birthday cake of 2010? I do. Why in the world would I want to make that cake again? I am glad you asked that question....because I bought the correct cake pans! Ta daaaaa!

Always, always have the right tool for the job. I needed 9 inch cake pans, I bought 9 inch cake pans.

Although, I still refer to this recipe as the "hot mess" carrot cake....it's no longer a hot mess, really.

Just "meh" Mahi Mahi with tomatoes and olives

2011-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

So I have alllllll this Mahi Mahi. I tried a couple of things with it, and they were ok. Maybe what I needed was an actual "recipe" for mahi mahi? I have just been adapting my favorite tilapia recipes thus far. My final verdict is no. No, you don't need a special mahi mahi recipe to make a good fish dish with this stuff. Just don't cook with it. Ok, back it up...yes, it tastes fine. Yes, to all the whatever questions. I just don't think I care for the texture. Don't misunderstand..the recipe is good, and I would and will make it again but once I run out of the mahi...it's gone for good. It just can't compete with my tilapia loins from Costco. Geez, my intro must really make you want to read further and make this right? Hahaha. Just keeping it real. But seriously, it is a good recipe. I made a big batch and ate it all week for dinner.

Mahi-Mahi in tomato-olive sauce (as adapted from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
2 tbl olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup dry white wine
1 tsp anchovy paste (seriously...not even sure what this ads to the recipe)
2-14oz cans diced tomatoes
4 6oz mahi mahi fillets
1/2 cup large green olives. Pitted and quartered
3 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp (packed) finely grated orange zest

K. So you saute the onion in the oil until it starts to turn translucent. Add wine and anchovy paste. Again, not sure what the anchovy paste does. I happened to have it (go figure) so I added it. Reduce it until the liquid is about 3/4 cup. Add tomatoes, juice and all and bring to a boil.

Lightly salt and pepper the fish. Place the fish on TOP of the tomato mixture. Reduce heat to low, cover and gently simmer until fish is cooked. 7-9 minutes. How do you know when the fish is done? I just took a piece out and cut it in half. Mine wasn't ...so back in the pot it went. Oh, by the way..this fish is reeeeeealy easy to overcook as I have done so each time I have tried to cook it. Whatever, I am just dealing with it until it's all gone.

Fish on top of simmering sauce..

When the fish is done take it out and put on a plate tented with foil to keep it warm. Mine got cold, but the sauce kind of heats it back up a smudge. Add the olives, oregano and orange peel to the sauce and reduce on high until it is thickened. Season to taste with salt and or pepper. Serve over fish.

Seriously, if anyone makes this and doesn't agree with me about the texture of the fish please let me know what the error of my ways is. I am over it at this point. The picture didn't turn out so good because I just noticed that you can't even see the fish. Trust me, there is fish under there.

Sorry mahi mahi, I am just not that in to you.

Happy New Year! Pass the take-out...

2010-12-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

See, what did I say? The very next blog...take out! Tonight's blog is sponsored by Papa Murphy's' and Cristiano's Pizza.

Papa Murphy's. What can I say? If you haven't had the pleasure it is just about the most inexpensive and healthy way to get pizza. Sounds a bit like an oxy moron, but no. I love how you call in, pick up, go home and bake. The crust is chewy and good and the sauce has this spice to it that makes it enjoyable.

My son has a friend over and they are getting ready to see a movie. I, on the other hand, have been driving all over creation this afternoon doing the grocery shopping because Costco is closed tomorrow and I have a concert to go to on Sunday. Friday Costco trip it is! Forget that it's New Year's Eve and everywhere is a Z-O-O... The original plan for tonight was to get pizza for the boys and I was going to try this new Mahi Mahi recipe. Well, that didn't work out so I decided to blog about what I am actually eating for dinner :) See, I don't usually do that. I plan on cooking, something happens like life...or something and I end up eating left overs or take out and NOT blogging about it. Enough of that. I am pulling the curtain back and now you get the real scoop.

Usually, our order at Papa Murphy's is a family (the largest you can get) pepperoni and a family Canadian bacon, mushroom and black olive. Obviously..pepperoni for the kids, the other for Chris and I eat fish or something. Tonight I am dining on 1 slice of the latter pizza and leftover Cranberry Mimosa Salad from Cristiano's'. The salad consists of mixed greens, tomato wedges, a bread stick (not pictured), mimosa dressing, pistachios, crasins and Gorgonzola cheese. Mmmmm.

Our friends Paul and Vickie own Cristiano's' and Paul is the chef. What's good?, you may be asking ...well, frankly everything! He makes the pizza crust and bread stick dough fresh every day. Soup of the day is made from scratch fresh each day (Wednesday is Tomato Basil which, is my personal favorite). And the salads are yummy yummy. The portions are enormous. Literally, if you order a salad..even just a house salad it is heaping on the plate practically over flowing. I am not even doing it justice. There is always at least a 20 minute wait, but people know that and just go with it. They are in Marysville, open 6 days a week for lunch and dinner (closed from 3:00 to 4:00 each day). Closed on Sundays. I usually get take out and if you do that, make sure to call it in ahead of time. The staff is friendly and the food is a heaping plate of comfort. Try the chicken fettuchini, pesto chicken calzone or soup and salad combo (all our favorites).

2011, the year of take-out!
Happy New Year!!

Long time no blog?

2010-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

No excuses this time. I just have been in a cooking funk. Just a general funk I guess. But look at me? Here it is almost 2011 and I was cooking today :) Making lefse which I have blogged about before..but still. I think one of my new years resolutions will be to A. cook more and B. keep up on this stinking blog. It's harder than you would think. You may not remember..but a couple of blogs ago I joked that I should blog about take-out. I have come to think that is a fabulous idea! So you never know..in 2011 I may do a series of take-out blogs. Especially since there is a new Indian restaurant that opened right by where I work and I am absolutely addicted to it. I will surprise you.

Until then, I give you the redux of Potato Lefse!

5 large potatoes, approx, 6 cups of riced potatoes.
1/2 cup whipped cream
Flour, 1/2 cup per cup of mashed potatoes, approx. 3 cups
3 T butter
1 tsp. salt

Boil and rice the potatoes--add cream, butter and salt;
combine, then cool (put in fridge till very cool)
Add the flour, take out dough about the size of a golf ball and roll out super thin
Bake (cook) on large griddle to light tan.
Moderate heat...do not scorch!

Ok, what is written up there is a modified version of my mother in laws lefse recipe. I rice the potatoes with a potato ricer. I use a lefse grill which gets up to 500 degrees but you definitely don't have to. I use a rolling pin which has a waffle pattern on it but again...you don't have to. Carol doesn't so you don't have to. I am the freak who wants the authentic tools for the job kind of thing. Not necessary by any means but it makes me feel secure. She has made lefse for ever just mashing potatoes, rolling them out with a regular old rolling pin and frying them in a dry skillet. And you can too. Lefse doesn't require special tools. I just like the tools.

I typically will boil and rice the potatoes a day ahead then add the flour and actually make the lefse the next day. Just me. I think the key here is to mash the potatoes very well (or rice them) and roll the dough out very thin. The thinner it is the quicker it will cook.

It's a Christmas tradition in Chris' family and I try to make it twice a year. It's cheeeeeeap, and yummy. Did I say cheap? Plus, this recipe makes a ton of it! We like to put butter and cinnamon sugar on it..roll it up and enjoy. Maybe nuke it for a few seconds to warm it up. So yummy. Uff da!

Lasagna

2010-10-31T16:26:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't have a favorite lasagna recipe? Here is mine. Now, I should tell you up front that I have an extremely particular way I make it (hello? OCD!!!) and for me, it just doesn't taste the same otherwise. Some of my recipes are loosey goosey in parts but this is not one of those. Over the years, it has really turned into a collaborative recipe so I need to give some credit to two ladies who contributed two separate parts of the recipe. First, my mother in law Carol who gave me a simpler sauce base with which to build on and Second, Marilyn Raefield. While dating her son in high school I tasted her spaghetti one night and heard angels sing! Thanks to her for contributing this sauces signature flavor which, I add to just about all my red sauces. Muwaaah!

My lasagna begins at least 1 day ahead by making the sauce. It must sit at least overnight, but not more than about 4 days in the frig or else it just won't work (ocd...). It must sit overnight because the flavors need to marry together for it to have the richness. There is just something magical which happens in the pot during the night...beats me. Don't argue, just do it.

Sauce:

2- 28oz cans of whole tomatoes
1/2 of an onion
1 tsp garlic
1 lb meat of your choice. I use ground turkey.
pinch of sugar
Some olive oil for frying the meat
3-4 tbl of Italian seasoning ish....in my opinion you can't have too much. I use Durkee Spicy Pasta Seasoning (purchased on the Internet from the Durkee website). Key ingredient.
A 3 count pour of Burgundy wine. I buy the super cheap stuff and only use it for sauce. If you drink Burgundy wine...use that. Burgandy..not just any wine. Key ingredient.

Brown meat in a stockpot. While that is browning, put the tomatoes and onion in batches in a blender and blend until the tomatoes are broken up to your liking and the onion in sufficiently munched up. Chris HATES onion. I blend mine until the onion disappears. I ask you, how can you make sauce without onion? You can't. When the meat is browned add the garlic and tomato mixture. Add Italian seasoning and simmer partially covered for about an hour. Add wine and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes more uncovered. Add sugar, cool and put in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day......you will need:

1 package of lasagna noodles (the regular boil em up kind). I don't trust the no boil kind.
Deep baking dish. Needs to have deep sides so the lasagna won't dry out while cooking.

1-2 cup package of Shredded mozzarella cheese.

Grated (not shredded!!) Parmesan cheese. About a cup or so. You want grated because it helps to soak up some of the liquid of the sauce. Nobody wants a sauce that runs all over the plate.

Ok..so here goes (from memory):

Take the sauce out of the refrigerator and heat it up slowly on the stove. You want the sauce to be hot when you assemble the lasagna.Boil the noodles in salted water for about 7-8 minutes. Key thing here...you want to cook them just undercooked. Why? Because when you add the sauce and bake it the noodles naturally absorb some of the sauce and if you cook them all the way they will be overcooked and mushy. Yuck!When the noodles are done, dump them in a strainer and run cold water over them to stop the cooking. Then, (and this may sound nuts..but it is how I do it so there you go) lay each noodle on paper towel or dish towels or something so they can dry. I am a freak about moisture in the lasagna...in case you didn't pick up on it earlier.

To assemble the lasagna:

Put enough sauce in the bottom of the pan to just coat it (you don't want the noodles to stick to the pan). Put a layer of noodles on top, more sauce, sprinkle Parmesan cheese then sprinkle mozzarella. Then another layer of noodles and do it all over until you are left with a layer of sauce and the cheeses on top. This all depends on how deep your dish is (the amount of layers).

Bake covered for 30-35 minutes in a 350 oven then uncover and bake about 10 minutes longer or until it is bubbly and the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Now. Here is another Jannell OCD step. You must do 1 of two things now:

1. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes that isn't even long enough.

2. Let it cool and then refrigerate for the next day.

Reason?

Because of the whole runny lasagna thing. It's saucy and juicy. By letting it rest the theory is that the noodles will continue to absorb sauce and it will set. Reality - I have YET to have that happen to my satisfaction. I, personally, make it ahead and heat it up as leftovers another day. It is nice and set and you don't get a runny mess all over the place.

You may need to play around with the amount of sauce to cheese etc ratio because I have noticed that depending on how the sauce turns out..I either need to add more or less so it isn't dry the next day. You just have to play with it. I hate doing it too..but it's never the same twice for me. Feel free to add more cheese or less. To me, that really doesn't matter as much as the drying of the noodles and the sauce sitting overnight. It's just a good, no frills lasagna recipe but it is very frilly on comfort :)

Now, go make lasagna!

Cross your fingers and hope for the best (a baking post)

2010-10-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

So my son, Antonio, learned how to make chocolate chip cookies in home ec class back in 6th grade. Chris proclaimed that they were his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Thus, every time we make cookies (which, trust me, isn't that often) it has to be Antonio's recipe.

You know how in cooking....you can tweak, add, subtract and change recipies to suit your tastes? In baking I am under the impression that you can't do that as easy because of the whole science of it. I guess I was wrong. Chris wanted me to make Antonio's chocolate chip cookies only with cocoa powder and peanut butter chips. Science...math? Are you kidding? While I was audibly hemming and hawing in the kitchen he just simply gave me the ratios of dry ingredients to change. And so, Antonio's chocolate peanut butter chip cookies were born. I used my new cookie sheets and cookie scoop to ease the stress of it all and they turned out pretty good. Whew.

Recipe:

1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 package peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375
Cream together sugar, butter and vanilla in a mixer. Add eggs and mix. In another bowl mix together dry ingredients and slowly add to the wet mixing just until everything is incorporated. Drop (or scoop) onto baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. I baked them for 10. Cool and eat.

Spicy Pork Chili

2010-09-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Jessica Peterson who was kind enough to give me her recipe. I didn't change a thing.

This chili has so much flavor complexity that the taste is totally worth the whole day it takes to make. It's a stove top recipe that you can't just totally leave and let it go. There are stages to it. BUT! You will be rewarded in the end and if you are serving this to guests? They will think you are some kind of chili genius! Really the only thing you need to make sure you have is a large stock pot. This recipe makes a pretty good amount, enough for a crowd.

Spicy Pork Chili
•8 tablespoons vegetable oil
•About 3 pounds boneless pork loin, cut into large chunks(I used 1 of the Costco vacuum sealed ones)
•Kosher salt to taste
•Black pepper to taste
•1 Yellow onion, diced
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
•2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
•2 tablespoons brown sugar
•2 tablespoons chili powder (add more to taste)
•2 tablespoons ground cumin (add more to taste)
•1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
•3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
•3 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
•1 tablespoon honey
•3/4 cup prepared black coffee
•¾ to 1 can beer (doesn’t matter which kind…I used Rainier)
•2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
•1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
•1 (15-ounce) can great northern white beans, drained
•1 (15-ounce) can chili beans, drained
•1 cup sour cream for serving
•2 cups shredded cheddar, for serving (I used cheddar jack from Costco)

Directions
Pour 4 tablespoons of the oil into a large, heavy bottomed stockpot and place over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Season the pork with a dash of salt and pepper and brown it in batches, 3 to 5 minutes per batch. Set aside the browned pork. Below, is the pork prior to browning. Leave your pieces fairly large so they don't cook too fast and they are easier to pull out and shred later.

Pour the remaining oil into the pot and add the onion, garlic, bell pepper and jalapenos. Season the veggies with the brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and cilantro.

Sweat the vegetable mixture over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft.

Add the pork back to the pot along with the tomatoes, honey, coffee and beer. Simmer on medium/low for 2 hours, until the pork falls apart. Transfer chunks of pork to a plate, shred with fork and return to pot—repeat until all pork is shredded. Add beans and let simmer another 2 to 3 hours.

Serve directly from the stove top with side bowls of sour cream, chopped green onion, and shredded cheddar.

It's as easy as pie

2010-09-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Don't ask me why... but for some reason I don't consider making a pie, baking. Pies are an easy and inexpensive way to bring something to a gathering that has the appearance that you have really done something special. But really, it's as easy as pie. Get it?

My friend MJ's mom will just on the spur of the moment bust out her food processor and start baking a pie. It always amazed me because I thought pie was like all other baking. 1. A big mess 2. Time consuming 3. Like canning somehow where it took the better part of the day. Not true! She made it look so easy and doable that right then and there (whenever that was) I incorporated pies into my cooking club. Therefore, they are not baking. That is what I tell myself anyway.

I have since adapted both her berry pie and apple pie over the years and today I bring you the apple. Come Thanksgiving...I will bake the berry.

Seems to me that the key to a good apple pie is apples which aren't cut too big or too small. To big and it's just uncooked hunks of apple in crust. Too small and you have an applesauce pie. Both gross. I cut my peeled and cored granny smith apples into quarters and then each quarter in 1/2. Then each of those into 4 pieces. For me, that seems to be a good size for as long as I bake my pies. I prefer using granny smith apples because of the tartness and they hold up really well during baking without mushing out. Blah.

I also like to macerate my apples in a sugar, cinnamon and corn starch mixture for about 20-30 minutes. The apples lose some juice and it makes a yummy sauce that bakes up and thickens with the pie. Nobody wants a dry pie.

Pie crust is scary isn't it? It's a whole dough thing for me. I am just afraid of dough because I don't have "the touch" that bakers say you need to feel the humidity of dough. That is why the pre-prepared dough industry is booming. People, pie dough is soooooooo easy. If I tell you it's easy, it is. Stop buying refrigerated pie dough for pete's sakes!!!

Dust off your food processor. Find all the pieces and listen up! If you have a food processor that you don't use and were thinking of donating it - Don't!! I use mine for pie crust and hummus and now it earns it's keep. Food processors are like air conditioning in houses located in Washington state.....when you need it, you need it. Am I right? The great thing about the food processor is that it will incorporate the fat into your flour quickly and therefore, you get a flakier pie crust. It's the chunks of fat in the crust that make it yummy.

Thank you Mrs. Johnson.

Apple Pie

Filling
1 cup sugar
cinnamon to taste
2 tbl cornstarch
5-6 granny smith apples cut in chunks (peeled and cored)

Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
dash of sugar
dash of salt
2/3 cup shortening
7 tablespoons ice water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine filling mixture and set aside stiring occasionally. As the apples release juice, a sauce will form. In a food processor combine all but water and pulse until it looks like oatmeal. Add water and run until a ball forms. Divide dough in two parts. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 15 minutes. Roll out and assemble pie. Cut slits in top of pie for steam to escape. Brush top of pie with milk or egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and you hear the juice inside bubbling. Cool on a wire rack.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

2010-09-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, in the super cool produce co-op haul I got a bunch of broccoli. The only thing I know how to do with it is steam it. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Oh wait, it's 55 degrees outside - I shall make soup!

Again a hybrid soup recipe. It was surprisingly easy. I found that some people puree theirs in a blender or mash with a potato masher. I did the blender thing and just pulsed it a couple of times so there was still texture but not big hunks of broccoli in the soup. I decided to add just a bit of cheese to the flour/milk mixture (I did it just like I do my mac and cheese) just because it seemed like it needed a little something. I was right. And I was pleased with myself that I added just enough cheese for a back note of flavor but not enough to turn it into a caloric cluster. I had a picture..but I can't find it now. This gives you a good opportunity to use your imagination. Imagine a picture of Cream of Broccoli Soup :)

Cream of Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tb Butter
1/2 Onion - chopped
1 Stalk of celery - chopped
4 1/2 Cups of chopped up broccoli pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Milk mixture
1 1/2 Tbl butter
1 1/2 Tbl flour
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup shredded cheese

Melt 1Tb butter in a stock pot and saute onion and celery until tender. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until broccoli is fork tender.

Put soup in a blender (in batches if you need to) and blend to the desired consistency. Pour back into the pot.

In a separate sauce pan, melt 1 1/2 Tb butter, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Add to soup. Season and serve.
YUM!

Chicken Corn Chowder

2010-09-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Only in Seattle, can it be 80 degrees one day... and then 59 the next! This Labor Day weekend has been a bit gray so in honor of the weather (and my super cool produce co-op haul) I am making soup.

Chicken corn chowder is my interpretation of several recipes that I have adapted over a few years and so now I have this no-measurement version. I know, I know! But I will still give a recipe (even though the measurement may be "ish" instead of tbl)

This is great left over and really good with any kind of rolls. It's a stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal.Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients
2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½ in cubes
5 ears of corn – with kernels removed
1 smallish onion chopped
½ package of bacon (I like center cut..there is less fat)
2 chicken breast from your fave. Grocery store’s deli – chopped into bit size cubes
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 package (Costco) or 1 cup or so of instant mashed potatoes
4-5 cups of chicken broth
1-2 cups of milk
My seasoning “to taste” or just salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large stockpot, fry bacon on med to med high heat until desired crispiness but slowly enough to render out as much fat as possible.
Meanwhile, take the corn off the cobs and set aside.
Remove bacon but leave all the fat in the pot – I know! Chop up the bacon into small pieces and set aside.
Add onions and saute until beginning to brown.
Add corn kernels to onion and saute for about 5 minutes or so. Until desired doneness. I still like mine a tad crunchy. Add some seasoning.
Dump the corn mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Add mushrooms and seasoning to the pot and saute until they are slightly browned but have lost their water.
Dump everything back into the pot including chicken, potatoes and bacon. Warm the chicken through.
Add chicken broth and simmer until potatoes are cooked 5-10 minutes.
Add milk and bring to simmer.
Slowly add instant potatoes until desired thickness. It will really depend on how much liquid you have.

Produce Co-Op Bounty

2010-09-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Sascha, just turned me on to the coolest program ever! It's a produce co-op called "Bountiful Baskets"!! It is so cool I can't stand it. Like some of you, I have checked out the farmers markets locally in the summer and I even went so far as to check out the local CSA programs for fresh produce. Let me say that I am all done with that...the Bountiful Baskets program is economical and convenient. You don't have to commit to the whole season either! You pay week to week. The first time there is a fee of 3.00 which pays for the basket that the volunteers use to sort your haul of food but then after that it's $15.00 per week and look at all the goodies I got for my money:
2 Heads of romaine lettuce
1 Head of cauliflower
1 Bunch of broccoli
1 Head of cabbage
1 Honeydew melon
9 Bananas
14 Plums
7 Ears of corn
4 Beefsteak tomatoes
12 Nectarines
9 Oranges

WOW!!!

What to make with all of this? Well, for starters I will be making Chicken Corn Chowder and Cream of Broccoli Soup. Yes, it is already soup weather here is Seattle. A big salad with the greens and maybe just steam the cauliflower. The fruit? I am sure the kids will take care of that for me :)

Another cool thing is that the fruit isn't quite ripe yet so it's not like we have to rush to eat it. Every thing is uber fresh and you can't beat the price. Thank you Bountiful Baskets - you will see me again next week!

Girl's Night In

2010-08-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

What's better than going out with your girlfriend for dinner? Staying in and cooking dinner together!

I had a quite house this last weekend so I invited my friend (Amy...the one who bakes - which will now be her Dances with Wolves name) over to cook, chat and eat. Our job was to come up with two dishes each that we could cook and both eat. I was armed with movies to have playing while we cooked and I made us mojitos - yummy. I was careful not to start drinking the mojito too soon in the cooking process and have the meal come dangerously close to looking like the "Lemon Drop" Thanksgiving where the stock accidentally went down the drain.

Helpful tip...always, always put a bowl under your colander when straining stock or you have no gravy. You would think that this is a "duh" statement. I am living proof that it is not.

Side note: I was having issues with the lighting and picture quality so trust me when I say that the food tasted better than a few of the pictures gives it credit.

Course 1:
Watermelon and feta salad.
When Amy told me the ingredients for this salad, I was all "whaaaaat"? I am now a believer. It has simple ingredients but the taste that you get is so complex. The Tabasco (I know right?) gives a little kick and balances out the sweetness of the watermelon and the tangyness of the feta out nicely. We both agreed that we could have just kept on eating it ....but we needed to save room for the other yummies.

Course 2:
Fresh Italian Tarts
All my favorite food groups: bread, tomatoes, cheese and basil. Fine, they aren't all actual food groups..but they tasted as good as they sound.

Course 3:
Stuffed Zucchini
Pick smallish zucchinis for this one. You want them firm but not too seedy. Pre bake (to soften) and fill with a mixture of potatoes, cheese, tomatoes, garlic and basil. What's not to like?

Course 4:
Fish Tacos
I love fish tacos. I have wanted to make them for at least a year or so and now seemed as good a time as any. I combined a few recipes for this one and did something I don't usually do....I winged it. *gasp* I know. I know! But it paid off this time. I think the secret to this was the Chipotle Tabasco used for the fish. It added a smokey flavor without being overpowering somehow. All I know is Amy doesn't like very many fish dishes and she ate this one - so something worked! The pictures are kind of tone-on-tone (white plate, white sauce, white cabbage) but you get the point.

Recipes:
Watermelon and Feta Salad
Ingredients:
1 Small watermelon
1 Small sweet onion julienned
Crumbled Feta

Dressing:
Juice of 1 fresh lime
1 tsp Tabasco
Black pepper to taste

Cut up the watermelon and onion. Add feta to desired amount. Mix the dressing and toss together. Dish up, eat, repeat!

Fresh Italian Tarts
Ingredients:
1 Chunk of frozen bread dough
Fresh basil
Fresh tomato
Gorgonzola or Blue cheese (we used Gorgonzola)

Thaw dough. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Cover dough with cheese, basil and 1 slice of tomato cut in half. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until dough is golden and cheese is melty. When you take them out of the oven, brush the edges of the dough with olive oil and enjoy.

Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients: (this recipe makes 4 but I cut it down for two)
4 medium zucchini
olive oil
3 medium red potatoes or whatever you have
1 small/medium onion chopped fine
5 garlic cloves minced
3 medium tomatoes
1/3 cup julienned basil leaves
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese. I could only find white cheddar/jack so I used that.

Put one oven rack on the upper middle and one low in the oven. Put a baking sheet on each rack and heat oven to 400.
Halve each zucchini lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and most of the flesh so that the walls of the zucchini are about 1/4 inch thick. Season cut sides of zucchini with salt and pepper and brush with oil. Toss potatoes with about 1 tbl oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and spread in a single layer on the baking sheet on the upper rack and roast for about 12 minutes. Roast zucchini until slightly softened and skins are wrinkled, about 10-20 minutes depending on your zucchini. Flip zucchini over and set aside.
Heat 1 tbl oil in skillet and saute onion until soft and beginning to brown. Stir in garlic until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add tomatoes and cooked potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally until heated through (about 3 minutes). Off heat, stir in basil, 1/2 cup of cheese and salt/pepper to taste.
Divide filling evenly among zucchini halves and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to oven (upper rack) and bake about 5 more minutes until cheese is spotty brown.

Fish Tacos
Ingredients:
White flaky fish (I used fresh Tilapia from Costco)
Olive oil for sauteing
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
1-2 limes
Small tortillas
Cabbage sliced thin

Sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek)
1/2 cup mayo
Juice of 1 lime (I just bought a bag of limes from Costco)
1 jalapeno pepper minced
1 tsp capers drained and minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside for the flavors to marry. Heat olive oil in a saute pan and saute fish turning occasionally until done. Sascha, I can't give you exact times on this step....but I think it took my fish about 15 or so minutes. I tend to over cook fish rather than under :) Salt and pepper to taste while cooking and when almost done..squeeze lime juice over fish and shake about 5 or 6 shakes of Chipotle Tabasco (or until it looks Tabascoey enough). Warm tortillas, place fish..white sauce and cabbage on and enjoy.

Mojito (for 1 drink):
1 1/2 Rum
Club soda
12 mint leaves
1/2 lime
2 Tbl simple syrup (1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Heat until sugar is dissolved and then cool). Basically, equal parts. I use super fine sugar (left over from my Martha Stewart obsessing days)

Muddle mint in a glass. Add lime juice and the lime if you want. Add 2 tbl simple syrup. Add ice. Add rum and top with club soda. Stir.

A lip smackin good time was had by all......

Our everyday spice recipe

2010-08-09T14:50:00.001-07:00

This spice gets it's own blog because I can never find it to give out the recipe.

Everyday spice:

1 Part Granulated Onion
1 Part Granulated Garlic
1 Part Med ground black pepper
1 ½ Parts Table Salt

I don't feel like cooking in the Summer

2010-08-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

I know, I KNOW!!!

1. Where have you been?
2. It's been a long time since you have updated your blog.
3. Don't you cook anymore?
4. When are you going to post something new.

Here's the deal. I just don't feel like cooking in the Summer. That's all. Not very exciting is it? I could make up a grand story I suppose...but that is too much work. The truth is always easiest.

So yesterday even though the calendar says Summer, looking outside I can't be sure. Since it wasn't raining (at that moment) I thought it would be a good night to barbecue. Well, have Chris barbecue.

On the menu tonight:
Barbecued boneless chicken breasts
Barbecued artichokes
Fruit salad
Caprese salad
Boxed rice loaded with preservatives (for Chris). I know.

I am absolutely ADDICTED to the farmers market that runs from June or whenever to September at the Everett waterfront. Fresh veggies, seasonal fruits, the best clam chowder and local people selling their home made yummies. I have found two things this particular Summer that I can't live without and those are 1. This dill cucumber dip (http://www.artisandips.com/) that you mix with sour cream and I am hard pressed to find something it DOESN'T taste good on. Good with fish and chicken. It's also good as a dip with veggies. Yum! 2. These two gals with a company called Walden Lane Gourmet. They blend their own spices. I am hooked! I bought 4 to start with (Skagit Fisherman's Blend, Curry Rub, Rosemary Garlic and Mustard Rub, and my personal fav. - Walden Lane House Seasoning) http://www.waldenlanegourmet.com/ . That being said I will get back to the meal.

Boneless chicken breasts are good and bad. Bad, because you have to figure out what to do with them to make them taste like something. Good, because they are so versatile. See what I mean. I decided to marinate them with a bit of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice (1/2 a lemon) and a sprinkle of the Walden Lane House Seasoning.

We needed a vegetable. I had 2 fresh artichokes left over from my Costco trip so I steamed them, cut them in 1/2 and removed the choke. Marinated with a bit of olive oil, the other 1/2 of lemon juiced and the "Chris" seasoning that we use at our house. When they were done, we dipped them in the dill cucumber dip mmmmm

Caprese salad was for me instead of the yummy boxed rice. I wanted the rice but was good and made the caprese salad instead. For those who are like, a whaaa? It's basically, fresh mozzarella basil and sliced tomato drizzled in a light vinaigrette of sorts. I had all three on hand so that is what decided that.

Fruit salad Honestly, it just sounded good.. And rice, well Chris needed some sort of starch and I had it in the pantry. I could have made a rice pilaf from scratch but please refer to the title of this blog for the reason why I didn't.

Dinner was yummy. I still am not very motivated to cook. Maybe I should blog about take-out next time? Or, not.

Drink your dinner, the confession

2010-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Confession time.

When I wrote the blog about how the limoncello turned out, I said it was yummy. And it was.

It also was, waaaaaaay too sweet for me. So sweet, in fact, that I put it where all my ruined recipes go.

Note to self and to everyone - make the simple syrup with 1/2 the amount of sugar. Please, I beg of you.

:)

Itsy bitsy burgers

2010-06-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

How does that Jack in the Box commercial go again? Oh ya, "yippe-ki-o, mi-ni sirloin burgerrrrrs"

I need to begin by confessing that I don't have any pictures to post with this blog (yet..) you will just have to regress back to childhood and use your imagination. I don't have any pictures because as soon as I made em...they were gone, which is a good thing. But not a good thing for blogging.

Raise your hand if you have been to Costco and seen the itsy bitsy hamburger buns? They are just the cutest things ever, just begging to be purchased! Isn't everything at Costco begging to be purchased though?

I will tell you that the first time I made these (yes, I have made them twice without taking pictures) I didn't used any special tools, grilling baskets or measuring scoops. I made them in a regular old frying pan and guessed at the size. The key to these little darlins is not to over cook them. I decided to time them on each side and undercooked them by just a teence. Another key is to add some kind of fat to them to help ensure they don't dry out even if you are lucky enough not to over cook them. My chosen fat was shredded cheddar jack from Costco. Any finely shredded fatty cheese would do the trick I imagine, use what you have. I had shredded cheddar jack. The second time I made them, I purchased a medium cookie scoop, scooper thing to keep them the same size and I also got a cool slider griller basket thing from Williams Sonoma. I liked this one the best because you can put it on the grill - remove the handle and shut the grill. Not that I have used it yet, but...that is what the directions said you do.

I made two kinds, turkey and beef (beef for the kids). There won't be a recipe at the end of this either (quit yer cryin) but, what I will do is explain the main concept of what I did. Even I didn't use a recipe.

No recipe. I know, right?

Ok, for the turkey ones I started with a package of ground turkey. I added a 3 count squirt of ketchup, what may have amounted to 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and about 1tbl or so of the everyday seasoning that we use at my house. You want flavor but you don't want too much seasoning. You can always add more right? I made the patties fairly thin because they will shrink up during the cooking and you want patties not meatballs. Plus, it will reduce the cooking time and theoretically...produce a juicer burger. I am not a scientist, but it makes sense doesn't it? I, personally, fried them in a bit of vegetable oil on a medium highish heat for 2 minutes per side in batches. Drain on a paper towel and build your burgers how you would.

For the beef ones, I did the exact same thing..minus the ketchup.

As you can imagine, they turned out super cute. They made good snacks the next day for the kids too! Next time, I may even take some pictures....

Everyday spice:

1 Part Granulated Onion
1 Part Granulated Garlic
1 Part Med ground black pepper
1 ½ Parts Table Salt

Drink your dinner...the conclusion

2010-05-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

It's been more than a week but I am back to tell you the conclusion of how the Limoncello turned out! I've been busy, ok?

Can I tell you how yummy this liquor is? Yummy. Not, yum-o as Rachael Ray will say. I don't believe that you should invent a new language when we have a perfectly good one which will express the same thing!

The only problem with this recipe is you don't get instant gratification AND you need cutsie glasses to drink it in. It is for sipping and you really don't want to make a huge cocktail out of it. Well, I guess you caaaaaan...but it's too sweet for me to do that.

Does this look good or what? I know right? I even went out and purchased some cutsie glasses. I am sure it's 5:00 somewhere!

Bulgar and Lentil Salad

2010-05-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Looking for a filling and healthy salad/snack? Stop right here because I have just the thing - Bulgar and Lentil salad. You don't even have to hug trees or wear socks with your sandals to like it.

The only thing is that you should make it a day prior to when you want to eat it because it needs to sit in the dressing and absorb the flavors but I like to make it on a Sunday for the week as a quick lunch or something to "hold me over" till dinner without reaching for chips, candy, brownies, Easter candy....well, you get it.

Bulgar and lentil salad – make at least 1 day ahead.

1 ½ cups boiling water – or veg/chicken stock
1 ½ cups bulgar
1 ½ cups dry lentils rinsed
½ cup diced green onion
½ cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
Crumbled feta
Chopped tomatoes

Dressing: (I double it)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 olive oil
1 tbl dried basil
1 tbl dill seed
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp salt

In a large bowl, pour boiling water over bulgur. Let stand until the liquid is absorbed about 45 minutes or so. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add lentils. Reduce heat and cover simmering until tender about 10-15 minutes. Drain. In another large bowl combine bulgur and lentils cool completely.

Add onions and parsley. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the vinegar, oil and other spices. Shake to combine. Pour over salad, toss. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or best overnight. Before serving add feta to taste and chopped tomatoes.

Drink your dinner

2010-05-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of summers ago, when I wasn't working and could cook waaaaaaay more often a friend turned me on to Limoncello. It's a sipping liquor and you can either buy it or make it. My friend made hers, so I am making mine. The only problem with making your own is the lack of instant gratification as it takes about a week or so. So set your timers for a week and I will update you on how it turned out!

So easy (and hopefully, so tasty). You take vodka, either plain or vanilla (I chose plain because flavored alcohol makes me gag) and you measure out 4 cups which turns out is roughly a fifth of the stuff. Into a glass bowl or in my case, a Pyrex measuring thingie add the rind (no white stuff) of about 5 large lemons. Let that sit for a week at room temperature lightly covered (so nothing falls in). Then, supposedly in a week, you make a simple sugar mixture and voila! Limoncello.

How to drink it......in a little glass you pour ice cold (not sure yet if you can keep it in the freezer) Limoncello. Add a lawn chair, sunglasses and a Summer day and there you have it. You won't care what's for dinner.

Ingredients:

The peels from 2 pounds of lemons (just the yellow)

4 cups of vodka (or reg or vanilla vodka…)

leave sit for one week (I cover loosely with plastic wrap to keep things from falling in it)

Then Combine:

4 cups of sugar with 4 cups of water in a sauce pan and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. ****revision**** Use 1/2 the amount of sugar with the same amount of water. Jimminy Crickets, this drink turned out like drinking melted lemon drop candies. If that is what you are in to....grrrrreat. If you are like me, just use 1/2 the amount of sugar.

cool

strain the lemon mixture and combine with the sugar solution

store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Pizza Sticks

2010-03-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like pizza? It has to be one of the most versatile foods ever invented....you have a crispy crust topped with whatever you can think up! The only issue with me is trying to make it at home and not have a meltdown over it. If you follow this blog, you know what I mean.

So I am at Williams Sonoma (cue singing angels) and I see this nifty pan called a "pizza stick pan". Number one, I want an easy way to cook pizza at home and number two...I can always use another gadget. Bam, sold!

I hope you can tell from the picture, but the pan has 5 shallow wells in it and it is coated in this gold coating that I have been seeing more and more of. It's non stick but looks different. The pan also comes with a handy dandy cutter so the dough fits perfectly in the wells.

Top it with sauce and whatever, bake them at 450 (I think) and you are in business. I have made them two times..one time it worked (pictures attached) the second time I did something wrong because it so didn't work. Note to self: When rising the pizza dough in the oven with the oven off...don't try to get ahead of yourself and pre-heat the oven for the actual pizza sticks. It wrecks the dough. I'm just sayin.

I think these are a cool invention and everyone gets their own pizza to top.

Pizza Sauce

1 6oz can tomato paste
6 oz warm water 110 degrees…but hot tap will be fine
3 tbl grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp of honey
¾ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried marjoram
¼ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine everything (water last) and let sit for 30 minutes or longer to let flavors blend. Spread over pizza dough, top and bake – yum

Pizza Dough

3cups flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 tbl vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbl granulated sugar
1 cup warm tap water – 110 degrees at least.

Combine flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. When a ball forms spray ball in the bowl with cooking spray or rub lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes or so. (You don’t have to let the dough rise…it is perfectly good as is, but it just is a bit denser. If you can let it rise its just a bit chewier) I turn on the oven to about 280 degrees and put the oven safe bowl covered in there and turn off the oven. Rises fine.

After the rising, or after the mixing (if you aren’t rising) you can do 1 of 2 things:
1. Spread out on a large cookie sheet or pan. Top as desired. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or so.
2. If you have a pizza stone (how I do it with a pampered chef cookie sheet stone) preheat the stone in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. Spread the dough out onto parchment paper, top with toppings. Slide pizza onto either an inverted sheet pan or cookie sheet and slide from that onto the preheated stone for 15 or so minutes. To do a second pizza you only need to heat the stone for 5 minutes.
3. For pizza sticks, roll out the dough and use the cutter and continue with the pizza stick pan directions.
Yummy!

Supposed to be "poached" not overcooked salmon in sour cream dill sauce.

2010-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

So I am at Costco (moment of silence...) last weekend and I am compelled to buy the new Bon Appetit magazine which features a yummy looking fillet of salmon on the cover. Doesn't that look yummy? I thought so too.

It looked so yummy that it inspired me to cook, or overcook..rather, salmon for last nights dinner. Did I set out to overcook dinner? I don't enjoy my food tantrums that bad. No, I just wanted a good piece of fish for dinner which doesn't seem too much to ask. You would think that I would just open my new magazine for a recipe but no, I head to the Internet. I guess $4.99 just bought me "inspiration" as opposed to actual recipes I want to use. I swear, only I would buy a gourmet food magazine only to search the Internet for a recipe where the main ingredient is FEATURED on the cover of the magazine. Maybe that should have been a red flag?

I decide to adapt a Cooks Illustrated recipe called "Poached salmon with dill and sour cream sauce". Mmmmmmmm. Doesn't that sound good? I know right? I make a list and run off to the store to get the ingredients (the salmon, I actually had). Oh, I was also excited that I got to use my Christmas saute pan for this recipe. I still haven't quite figured out how to cook normal food in it without needing a chisel to get the food out afterward. Woo hoo! Let's get this party started!

There is a bit of prep to do ahead where you slice lemons and mince shallots and put them in the pan with wine and water and dill stems. Lay your salmon fillets on top of the lemons, bring to a boil....reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 11-16 minutes until the internal temperature (make a note of this step) is 125 degrees. You take the temperature of the fish with an instant read thermometer. I am always excited to use my thermometer. So the timer gets set for 11 minutes and I am mincing dill and measuring out the other ingredients...making rice pilaf yada, yada. Timer goes off, I take the temperature and its barely 100. That's strange. The fish is looking done? Remembering back to the big cookie, and how that too, "looked" done. I set the timer for 4 more minutes and go back to finishing the rest of dinner. The timer goes off again, and as I remove the lid from the pan I instantly know something is amiss. The fish has shrunk and looks dry instead of moist (I can't describe it ....you would have to be there) and almost at the same time as I am reaching for my thermometer I see that it isn't set to Fahrenheit. It's set to Celsius. Celsius! At this point, I don't even NEED to take the internal temperature of the stupid fish to know it's overcooked. I add insult to injury and take the temperature and let's just say, it was way more that 125 degrees Fahrenheit. I announce the "fish is overcooked" and get the response "I'm sure it will be fine". There is a sauce with this recipe so now my thought is to smother the fish in the sauce and it should help. That probably would have been true except this sauce is made with lemon juice, Dijon mustard and shallots. Not the kind of sauce that you want to "smother" anything in really.

So anyways...I did smother the fish with the sauce. The fish was horribly overcooked. I have two more dinners worth of overcooked fish to eat which I guess serves me right.

Here's the recipe. Make sure your thermometer is set to Fahrenheit. Far-en-height!

Ingredients
2 lemons
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill fronds , plus 8-12 dill stems
2 small shallots , minced (about 4 tablespoons)
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup water
1 skinless salmon fillet (1 3/4 to 2 pounds), about 1 1/2 inches at thickest part, white membrane removed, fillet cut crosswise into 4 equal pieces (see note)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions
1. Cut top and bottom off 1 lemon; cut into 8 to ten 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut remaining lemon into 8 wedges and set aside. Arrange lemon slices in single layer across bottom of 12-inch skillet. Scatter dill stems and 2 tablespoons minced shallots evenly over lemon slices. Add wine and water.

2. Place salmon fillets in skillet, skinned-side down, on top of lemon slices. Set pan over high heat and bring liquid to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until sides are opaque but center of thickest part is still translucent (or until instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 125 degrees), 11 to 16 minutes. Remove pan from heat and, using spatula, carefully transfer salmon and lemon slices to paper towel-lined plate and tent loosely with foil.

3. Return pan to high heat and simmer cooking liquid until slightly thickened and reduced to 2 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl; discard solids. Return strained liquid to skillet; whisk in Dijon mustard and remaining 2 tablespoons shallot. Simmer over high heat until slightly thickened and reduced to 2 tablespoons. Whisk in sour cream and juice from 1reserved lemon wedge; simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill fronds. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Season salmon lightly with salt and pepper. Using spatula, carefully lift and tilt salmon fillets to remove lemon slices. Place salmon on serving platter or individual plates and spoon sauce over top. Serve, passing reserved lemon wedges separately.

The last cheesecake recipe you will ever need.

2010-03-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

Cheesecake is just one of those things, isn't it? You either like it or don't. Usually, the cheesecake you get in restaurants is so heavy that you can barely manage one or two bites without feeling overcome with richness. I am not much of a dessert person (it's all about the salt, baby) but when I do eat dessert, I want something light that won't push me over the "bad full" edge. Readers, you know what I am talking about. You go out to eat. You are full after dinner but want dessert because they flaunt the dessert tray right under your nose. You are overtaken by the Jedi mind tricks of the server and BAM! now you are "bad full". Not just full, but unbutton you pants, wish you hadn't been born full. And really, who wants that?

Holy waaaaay off track, Batman. So as I was saying...

I have in my possession, the bestest cheesecake recipe in the universe. I got it from a co-worker about 1 million years ago in a galaxy far, far away. No, but really I used to work in this office and we would have these quarterly pot lucks in the department. One time my co worker brought this cheesecake and I had an out of body experience. She was kind enough to share the recipe which she got from this B&B she and her husband went to once. It is everything that the typical cheesecake is not: It's Light, it's silky and not, and I repeat not heavy!

I bet you could even eat two pieces and still not be "bad full".

I usually serve it with raspberry sauce which gives it a slightly sweet note to the cheesecakes tartness and it's a really good balance. This time, I just put a bunch of fresh strawberries in the food processor and added a bit of sugar. But it's very good just plain. I have been making this recipe for, *ahem* over 14 years and I swear by it.

Buckle your seat belts, you won't use another cheesecake recipe ever again.

(Excuse the crumbs all over the cheesecake in this picture....there were issues getting it onto the plate.)

Crust

2 packages graham crackers

4 tbl unsalted butter

2 1/2 tbl sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Process the above in a food processor pulsing until the crackers are uniform crumbs. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 10 inch spring form pan. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned. cool on a wire rack.

Filling

2-8oz packages cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Process all the filling ingredients in a food processor until the mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and process again to insure that the mixture is well blended. Pour into prepared crust and bake for 25 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

Topping

2 cups sour cream

2 tbl sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425. Blend together all ingredients. Cover the cream cheese mixture with the topping. Spoon it on so that it doesn't sink into the cheesecake. Return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, cool and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

This isn't the quickest recipe on the planet and you should plan to make it in the morning for that nights dinner so it has time to chill. It is great leftover.

Raspberry sauce - because Sascha will ask.... love you Sasch, muwah!

1 package frozen raspberries, sweetened if you can find them. If not, just get regular and add a teence of sugar.

Let them thaw completely in the sink (still in the package).

Put them in a strainer and press with a spoon to get the juice out leaving the seeds in the strainer. Voila! Raspberry sauce for your cheesecake.

A hot mess

2010-02-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

I asked Chris what he wanted for his birthday dinner this year and he said 1. Lasagna and 2. Carrot cake. Sounds simple enough.

Wanting to impress him I decided to make a layer carrot cake. Layered! Dummy. My neighbor, Amy (the friend who bakes) kindly loaned me her round cake pans since I don't own any (for obvious reasons) and I went to work. So I am going along and I have the parchment paper buttered and floured in the cake pans which are also buttered and floured, I go to put the batter in and I am not paying attention to how full these pans are getting (as you will see). In the oven they go. Now, it's President's Day and I am off work doing laundry...baking this cake..blah.blah..blah. After about oh, 15 minutes I start to notice a burned food smell coming from the kitchen. I am thinking that maybe something is burning on the bottom of the oven from before. I open the oven door, smoke POURS out and here is what I see:

Let me explain what you are looking at here - we have our 2 cake pans on the top rack which have (and are currently as I snap this picture) overflowing down both racks and ultimately pooling in a big burning mess on the bottom of the stove and the oven element.

Nice.

I don't have enough ingredients to make this cake again so I make the executive decision to put a sheet pan under the mess and keep em' baking. Figuring that I can clean the oven later and hopefully the cake that stays in the pan will bake up fine and can be frosted and salvaged into a birthday cake.

The cakes finished baking, I cleaned the oven (well, scraped all the burned cake out) and cooled them. I had to do a bit of creative carving to get the cakes to release from the pans because they were essentially baked around the edge of the pans but I got them out and cooled. Here is what a frosted hot mess looks like:

Not the prettiest cake in the land, but it was good. I am proud of myself that I pulled it off and didn't panic.

Mmmmmm, cake.

Hot Mess Carrot Cake (as adapted from Food and Wine as adapted from Maria)

1 cup pecans
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup buttermilk
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 lb carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
2 tbl fresh grated ginger

1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter two 9-in cake pans, line bottom with parchment. Butter the paper and flour the pans.
2. Make the cake: Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Cool and finely chop. I used a food processor.
3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, buttermilk vanilla and ginger.
4. In a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at high speed until pale, 5 minutes. Beat in the liquid ingredients. Beat in the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in the carrots and pecans. Divide the batter between the pans (uh, but do not over fill) and bake the cakes for 55 to 1 hour until springy and golden. Let the cakes cool on a rack for 30 minutes, then unmold them and let them cool completely on the racks.

Frosting
2 Sticks unsalted butter softened
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
1 tbl vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

In a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese at high speed until light, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Frost the cake.

The coolest thing ever

2010-02-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

The kids like to take juice, lemonaide or whatever and make popsicles. Fine. The popsicle thing we used to have until it got "lost" *wink* was this plastic thing that would fall over in the freezer and sticky crap would go all over the place. Then, it was "lost". The kind of lost that annoying toys your relatives give your kids that won't turn off or shut up get. That's the kind of "lost" I mean.

The kids have lost uncounted amounts of time looking for the lost popsicle mold thing. They want me to buy another one. Well, shut my mouth because I have found the coolest thing ever.

Enter, the ZOKU popsicle machine at Williams Sonoma. You put the base in the freezer and them when that is frozen, you insert the sticks...pour in juice or kool aid and the popsicles freeze right in front of you in about 10 minutes. Rad huh? I got it for them for Valentines Day and usually I don't buy gifts for them on that day..just candy. This was an exception. Ahhhhh. No more spilled coke in the freezer. And it's interactive.

Like, it's totally awesome.

Tortellini and Sausage Soup

2010-01-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

Soup sounded good for dinner. What kind of soup? I was shocked and surprised when Chris actually suggested I make a new recipe. Woot, woot. Usually this is how it goes.
Me - "What sounds good for dinner?"
Chris - "I don't know honey, I am easy"
Me - "Something has to sound good"
Chris - "Everything you make is good"
Me -"No, but are you in the mood for something in particular?"
Chris - "How about macaroni and cheese?"
Me - "sigh......"

So I went on the search for a new recipe and this Tortellini and Sausage Soup is adapted from 3 recipes I found on the Internet.

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (I used Insernos Italian chicken sausage)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth (I used Swanson's beef stock, not broth)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
About 6 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 small can of tomato sauce
1-2 small zucchini cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 lb tortellini

Directions:
1. In a stock pot, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain reserving 1 tbl of drippings.
2. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
3. Stir in zucchini and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 8 minutes.

Ok, first off here are some specifics on how I actually cooked this:
1. For the sausage, I browned it whole in the pot and let it rest and then cut it down the center and then in 1/2 circles. I used Italian chicken sausage because I don't like how fatty and gristly regular pork sausage is. I almost bought Adeles already cooked Italian chicken/turkey sausage but the sodium content made me run screaming away.
2. For the onions, Chris hates them. As someone who loves to cook, that is just crazy talk. How can you develop flavor without onions? The answer is you can't. So, I have developed a way to get the flavor without him biting into an onion. I cut the onion in quarters and put 4 of the layers into whatever. Then I can pull them out before I serve it and nobody is the wiser. So that is what I did.
3. For the tomatoes, I peeled them and seeded them but instead of chopping them (again, Chris hates chunks of tomato in soup - whatever) I put them in the food processor and gave them a few pulses until they were more than chopped but not liquefied. Some texture remained but not chunks.

It was tasty. Below is the soup after dinner and also after I put it in a Tupperware bowl as leftovers. It looks greasy but it's just the lighting, really.

New Year's Food

2010-01-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

No matter how you spent the new year, I will bet that food was involved. Us too! I will admit that my picture taking has been poor this last year so I will attempt to do a better job in 2010. Not a resolution, but just something I want to do. I am not calling these things "resolutions" because really, who ever keeps them? Nobody, that's who.

Since it's all about the food, not the resolutions let's get to it.

Menu (my portion anyway)
Lumpia with dipping sauces
Turkey Meatballs
Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Lumpia
If you aren't familiar with this one, it's a Filipino egg roll of sorts. The one thing I know for certain is you can't make it right without lumpia wrappers and you also can't just be-bop down to Safeway and get some. Ohhhhhhh no. You have to go to an actual Asian grocer. I don't live in the boonies, but each and every time I need to buy a specialty food item you would think that I do. I ended up going to "99 Ranch Market" in Edmonds which is just about the coolest Asian grocery store around my area. If you are cooking food from that region and they don't have it, you are doing something wrong. They carry all types of grocery items, live seafood and cookware/serveware. Seriously, they have it all. They also are the only place I could find that carries lumpia wrappers. They are in the frozen section and I learned a valuable lesson. Buy the ones that are separated by a sheet of parchment and then frozen. Don't get me started, just do it. I bought the ones that are NOT separated by paper and drama ensued when I tried to defrost them to make the lumpia. They are paper thin, and take absolutely for-ev-er to defrost. We ruined 1/2 of them just trying to rush the process. Oh ya, don't do that either. They need all day to defrost at room temperature and not a moment less.

Lumpia

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground pork
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup minced carrots
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup thinly sliced green cabbage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Lumpia wrappers
Oil for frying

Directions
1. Place a wok or large skillet over high heat, and pour in 1 tablespoon
vegetable oil. Cook pork, stirring frequently, until no pink is showing.
Remove pork from pan and set aside. Drain grease from pan, leaving a
thin coating. Cook garlic and onion in the same pan for 2 minutes. Stir in
the cooked pork, carrots, green onions, and cabbage. Season with
pepper, salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Remove from heat, and set
aside until cool enough to handle.

2. Place three heaping tablespoons of the filling diagonally near one corner
of each wrapper, leaving a 1 1/2 inch space at both ends. Fold the side
along the length of the filling over the filling, tuck in both ends, and roll
neatly. Keep the roll tight as you assemble. Moisten the other side of the
wrapper with water to seal the edge. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap to
retain moisture.

3. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, add oil to 1/2 inch depth, and
heat for 5 minutes. Slide 3 or 4 lumpia into the oil. Fry the rolls for 1 to 2
minutes, until all sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve
immediately.

Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chili oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 medium scallion , white and green parts, minced

Combine and serve.

Lumpia filling cooling in the pan.

Rolled up and ready to fry

All cooked and ready to eat!

Turkey Meatballs
These are really cocktail meatballs made with the same recipe as my turkey meatloaf. Just made smaller. So you use the turkey meatloaf recipe and form them into the size of your choice. Brown them in a fry pan with some oil in the bottom and them bake them at 350 for about 30 minutes on a sheet pan. Transfer them to a crock pot to keep them warm. Yum!

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

These are super easy!
Ok...buy a bag of shrimp at Costco that are raw, devained and with the tails on and defrost them. Toss them with enough olive oil to coat and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated oven set to 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until just pink and cooked through. Cool and dip in your favorite cocktail sauce. Here's mine:

Homemade cocktail sauce
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

Combine, chill and serve with shrimp.

Don't bring a knife to a gunfight

2009-12-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

So, here I am feeling all Christmassy (which doesn't happen) and I thougth - hey, those spritz cookies turned out so well (and easy) the other night I should bake some and give them as gifts!

So I am. Well, I am as of today ...we will see how long this takes me as I can't stand babysitting baked goods.

I digress.

A change from the last time is I discovered that I work close to a Sur La Table cooking gadetry store. Ooooooh, ahhhhh. And I figured I may as well have 2 very good cookie sheets used only for cookies just in case the mood strikes right? Right. I am a firm believer in the notion that if you have the proper tools/gadgets for your task it is more enjoyable and easier to accomplish. Go me! So I have these cookie sheets and I figured I would break them in with this spritz "cookie gift" idea. And since none of my friends really know about it..I can abort at any time and nobody is the wiser.

Let me tell you, if you don't have quality cookie sheets...you are missing out. I hate to bake, but I can appreciate a good piece of baking equipment when I see it and these are. http://www.surlatable.com/nav/i/category/nonstick+baking+sheets/*/price+range/%2410+%E2%80%93+%2424.99/n/217.do?keyword=chicago+metallic&sortby=ourPicks

The ones I have are the cookie sheets. The above link is a picture of both the jelly roll pan with the cookie sheet on the top. The cookie sheet was the 2nd higest rated by CooksIllustrated. They don't steer you wrong. They are $20.00 each and worth every penny.

The brown evenly and there is a large surface for the cookies. I am not even going to show a picture of the cookie sheet I used for the last batch..too scary. Let's just say that I had no business using it and have retired it to other purposes. It's a Christmas miracle that they even turned out.

I had a much longer, wittier blog but then I lost it all (boo hiss) and the moment is gone. Just get decent cookie sheets already!

Christmas Memories

2009-12-14T20:01:00.001-08:00

I was feeling extra nostalgic today thinking about how my mom would bake about 12 different kinds of Christmas cookies every year as gifts for her friends. The house would smell like a bakery for a week or so. She was a very good baker (my dad taught her). I would look forward to her baking the Christmas cookies every year.

Before my story turns down the "Lifetime movie" road (because oh yes, it will) I will get on with it.

My favorite cookie was the Spritz. It is like those butter cookies you can buy in the tin from Costco every year. Just a yummy butter cookie. My mom used a pastry bag to make them but since I don't claim to be something I am not...I bought a cookie press. I did a bit of research on cookie presses and found that the highest rated one according to http://www.cooksillustrated.com/ is the Wilton Comfort Grip Cookie Press which you can purchase at your local Michaels.

This baby is under $10.00 and super easy to use.

Making actual "cookies" in the cookie press, well..it takes some practice.

I would like to say that since I am not a baker, I don't have the proper baking pans and cookie sheets. Oh, I have some..but, they are not in the best condition in the world and after tonight it became clear that I need to have a couple of cookie sheets that I only use for the rare occasion when I actually make cookies. I ended up using my only cookie sheet which is warped and therefore doesn't bake the straightest cookies. I went to take them off and many broke apart. That was ok I guess, at least they tasted good. Nice and crispy.

Back to the press. The easy part was putting the patterned tip thing, putting the dough in and using it. What was trickier was getting the cookie to stick to the cookie sheet. I finally figured it out without throwing a tantrum (which was a Christmas miracle) but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. It WAS way easier than rolling out cookies and using the cookie cutter blah, blah, blah. That takes just waaaay too long. This method was easier than that.

I had planned on using the recipe from the "Cooky Book". Raise your hand if your mom had this book! I used to sit and stare at the pictures for the longest time. She didn't make many kinds out of it, but it was my favorite of her cookbooks. I ended up using a different recipe but it was fun just to have the book out.

I was pretty pleased with how they came out, despite my jacked up cookie sheet and recommend this recipe to all of you! Go make some cookie memories :)

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl, beat yolk, cream, and vanilla with fork until
combined; set aside.

2. In standing mixer, cream butter, sugar, and salt at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. With mixer running at medium speed, add yolk/cream mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. With mixer running at low speed, gradually beat in flour until combined. Scrape down bowl and give final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain.

3. If using cookie press to form cookies, follow manufacturer's instructions to fill press; Press cookies onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet until just warm, 10 to 15 minutes; using metal spatula, transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Turkey Stock

2009-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have had at least 1 request for a recipe for turkey stock (hi Sasch) so here it is! Super easy..the only hard part is getting the turkey carcass. I used to recruit them from peeps I worked with - "hey, after Thanksgiving bring me your turkey bones" it was awkward but I got to make extra stock!

Turkey Stock

Turkey carcass, bones skin and all
1 onion - peel on and quartered
3 carrots (unpeeled) or 2-3 hand fulls of the small bite sized ones
1 head garlic cut in half - also unpeeled
3 stalks of celery - leaves and all
2 bay leaves
Fresh thyme (1/2 package) if you have it (leftover from Thanksgiving). If not, never mind. Don't lose any sleep over it.

Directions:
Put the turkey in the largest stockpot (or Nesco oven) you have. You want to make sure that you can fill it with water at least 1-2 inches over everything and when it simmers the water doesn't splash out all over the place.

Add everything else and add plain old tap water to cover by at least 1 inch.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook like that partially covered for at least 3 hours. Then uncover and simmer (Simmer! not boil) for at least another hour.

Strain all the stuff out and yum.

What can you do with this yummy stock? You can freeze it, of course. But the best thing to do is make Turkey Noodle Soup!

Ziti, the correct way

2009-11-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

I was so bored with our weeknight dinner rotation that I dug deep tonight. I dared to make the dinner from the infamous "dinner and a tantrum" blog post.

I give you....baked ziti the correct way! (Insert Christmas Vacation drumroll) Joy to the Worrrrrrrrrld!

There is really no real point to this blog. I just wanted to share.

Click here for the original recipe and subsequent painful blog about it.

Day after Thanksgiving - Turkey Noodle Soup

2009-11-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

Sasch, this one's for you!

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, the tradition in my house is we (or rather, I) make turkey noodle soup. Chris had been doing it before he met me and I have cheerily taken over this time honored Schedler family tradition. Our friend, Sascha, is usually the one to remind me that since it's almost Thanksgiving....we will be making the soup and since she lives in Arizona now, she is always sad that she won't have some. Don't worry readers, I gave her the recipe :)

I just finished making it and am currently eating a bowl so the recipe is fresh in my mind. Compared to the actual Thanksgiving dinner, this soup is a home run over the green monster and out of the park! Sad, isn't it? When the soup made from the Thanksgiving turkey is better than the actual Thanksgiving dinner.

First things first - you make turkey stock. Chicken stock simply won't do. What I do is take the turkey carcass and put it into this Nesco oven thing I have along with an onion, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme and let it simmer for hours. This year, I did it at night and let it go until the morning. The house smelled wonderful.

The stock is really the most time consuming part. Once that is done you are ready to go. Ok, this is not a low calorie soup. And you can't skimp. This soup calls for cream and you really need to just suck it up and add it. But be careful and don't add too much or you will end up with cream soup with a hint of turkey flavor. Kind of like my gravy from Thanksgiving. No bueno.

Here is the recipe. It is one of those that really doesn't have measurements. I know, I know...but once you make it you will see why not. You truly just make as much as you want with as much stuff in it as you want. Oh, a secret of mine for thickening cream based soups is to thicken them with instant mashed potatoes. Try it!

Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Breast diced – a handful or so
Carrots diced – about 3
Onion diced – ½
Egg Noodles – a few handfuls
Turkey or Chicken Stock – add enough to give you the desired amount of soup
Mushrooms (1 package sliced)
Heavy Whipping Cream - maybe ½ cup?

Directions:
In a stockpot saute veggies in butter together until desired doneness. Add the stock. Cook noodles separately until almost done in another pot. Add turkey and noodles to soup. Add heavy cream until it looks creamy enough (you don’t want to drown out the stock flavor though…). Season to taste. Simmer for a few minutes until heated through. If you need to thicken it, add instant mashed potatoes a bit at a time until you reach the desired thickness.

Cashew Chicken

2009-11-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

After the "meh" Thanksgiving of 2009, I was feeling like I needed to create a sucessful meal. Just to prove to myself that I still could.

Enter Cashew Chicken! As adapted from Everyday Food by me :)

Holy cow, this was yummy. It has the perfect balance of tangy and savory. I even used my new rice cooker from Tupperware which worked quite nicely. Now, this meal wasn't without drama. There was the matter of the small grease fire that occured under the large burner I was using to brown the chicken. I had a small panic because of course I forgot how to put such a fire out. I did remember not to put water on it however - yea for me! Note: tossing flour on a grease fire just gives you burned flour all over the place. I did get the fire out and on today's agenda is buying a new burner for our stove at Home Depot.

Back to the meal. You marinate cut up chicken in sherry and ginger, then saute it till golden. Put that aside and in the same pan saute green onions, garlic and toasted cashews. Add the sauce mixture, put the chicken back in and voila (or is it voici?) you have it. Serve over rice and yum. I think I liked it better than Chris did but I will definately make it again.

Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry (or cooking wine, or leave out)
2 tsp. minced, peeled, fresh ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
coarse salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted cashews, toasted
2 green onions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

Directions
In a medium bowl, toss chicken with sherry, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; season with salt. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Set sauce aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a covered plate. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and cook remaining chicken (reduce heat if chicken is over-browning). Transfer to plate.
To same skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, cashews, and green onion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic begins to soften, about 30 seconds. Whisk sauce and add to skillet along with chicken. Cook until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Top with green onion greens and serve over rice.

Thanksgiving - The "Superbowl" for us, food nutjobs.

2009-11-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving. Everyone has their own idea of what that word means, don't you agree? For a food nutjob, Thanksgiving is the Superbowl of all dinners for the year. You either win or lose. How did my food Superbowl turn out? Let's just say that it didn't live up to the hype. Oh, and to make things extra fun my in laws were over so I had an audience to my dinner theatre.

Readers, I have had an epiphany! Don't mess with a Thanksgiving menu that is successful. That is going to be my New Year's Resolution.

Before I continue I would like to say that I did not have any meltdowns, tantrums or crying fits on Thanksgiving day due to the meal being all kinds of jacked up. I worked on that this year. Hopefully, I won't have a meltdown typing this blog...

Schedler Thanksgiving Menu (all but the pie and potatoes are new recipes):

Spachcocked Turkey
Cream Gravy
Roasted Asparagus
Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette and Walnuts
Mashed Potatoes
Sausage and Apple Stuffing
Mixed Berry Pie
Rolls

I will now break down the dinner...I even tried to take pictures but I have to be honest, I kept forgetting so the pictures are sketchy at best which actually..mirrored the meal.

Spachcocked Turkey (I remembered to take the picture after Chris had started carving)

This is a method originally from Martha Stewart as adapted by me, in which, you remove the backbone of the turkey..flip it over and break the breast bone. The turkey is flat and it roasts in a shorter amount of time. This was a good and bad way to cook the turkey. The best thing about it is that you still have room in the oven to cook other things and it yielded the most pan juices that I have ever gotten from a turkey. Ok...the bad. Since this list is rather long, I will get right to the point - when you roast any poultry for a short time at a high temperature it doesn't come out juicy and tender (at least mine don't) it comes out chewy...CHEWY! How many of you look forward to a chewy turkey on Thanksgiving? (insert cricket noise).

That's what I thought, me neither!!!!!!

Next year, I will still spachcock the turkey BUT I will season it like I normally have and put butter under the skin. I will also roast it at a much lower temperature (325) instead of 400 for longer as this produces a juicier bird. Even if it doesn't..I am convinced that it does and so that is what I am doing next time. Seriously, the main part of this meal is the bloody turkey and when that gets messed up, it's all downhill.

Cream gravy

This SEEMED like a good idea. Adding heavy cream to gravy, what's not to like? I just don't know what the heck happened here. I think that the cream diluted the gravy just enough to make it taste like thickened infused cream. The turkey flavor was soooooooo faint that it's like, why even bother? At least the year I accidentally dumped the turkey stock down the drain I had an excuse for the gravy being ruined. People, just make the turkey gravy with stock and roux. Don't go messin with something that works because the result will be your husband saying something to the effect of "can we make another batch of gravy for the leftovers?" Um, yah.

Roasted Sad Asparagus

When roasting asparagus, this is one of the only times that you want the thicker kind of veg. Even if you have to peel down the stems a tad, it will be much better than what I served. In my own defense, I usually flash-saute asparagus so I get the skinny kind. You see where this is going, right? I roasted the skinny kind of asparagus and the result was, as Chris said, and I quote "It had the texture of canned spinach". We were all dished up and eating and he casually says "honey, have you tried the asparagus?". That is NEVER good. I say, no. He says "you should". So I take one and start to chew and promptly get up to spit it out in the garbage. Yes, it was that bad. I then banned anyone from taking some. My father in law had already been eating some and insisted on finishing it. I said I was sorry because, really, there wasn't much else to say.

Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette

Here is the crown jewel of our dinner. These were so good that it made the rest of the meal just downright laugh-out-loud funny. This recipe could not be easier! You boil green beans and then toss them in this lemon vinaigrette and sprinkle walnuts on top. Super good.

Mashed Potatoes

Chris makes these every year and they are always good. Potatoes, butter and cream. Yum. Too bad the gravy sucked.

Sausage and Apple Stuffing

Meh. I made it up. Day old french bread is toasted and mixed with sauteed onions, sausage, celery and apple. Add stock and 1 egg and bake. It was ok. At least it didn't completely suck like the rest of the dinner.

Mixed Berry Pie

This is a tried and true recipe of mine. Homemade crust is filled with a combination of mixed frozen berries (blueberry, marionberry and raspberry - I think), lemon juice, sugar, tapioca and butter and baked. The "new" part of this was the top crust. I didn't do a normal one (as the theme of this Thanksgiving is turning out to be) but instead, I saw these super cute fall cookie cutter thingies at Williams Sonoma that you use to decorate the edges and top of pies with. I did a leaf pattern on the top which, didn't cook at the same rate as the rest of the crust. After broiling it (yes, you read that right) oh...and then forgetting it was under the broiler the top was a bunch of burnt leaves. And by burnt, I mean black. The kind of filth you scrape off your toast. Remember how I said I didn't have any meltdowns on Thanksgiving? Well, I made the pie the night before and the process of cutting the burnt parts off the leaves brought me to tears. But NOT on Thanksgiving! Ha! The pie looked like crap, but tasted good (I cut all the burned parts off). I should have taken a picture of it before I baked it because the leaves looked really cool. After I was done surgically removing all the gross of the top, it just looked like a big mess.

Rolls

How do you screw these up? You over bake them, that's how. We actually had hockey pucks for rolls. The insides were soft, but the outsides were knock, knock, knock hard! They were perfect for sopping up the tasteless gravy.

The moral of the story: If it ain't broke, don't try to "fix" it.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2009-10-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Fall.

I am not a Halloween fan, never have been. I do, however, really get into Fall. I love the colors, the smells and cooking (and eating) Thanksgiving dinner. The tradition which rings in the Fall cooking season for me is roasting pumpkin seeds.

You either like them, or you don't. I am the latter, obviously. I have a friend who says that pumpkin seeds "taste like a farm smells" but I don't agree.

I think the key to perfectly roasted pumpkin seeds is slow roasting until they are golden brown but not burnt and just a bit of seasoning. Sometimes, a recipe will have a ridiculously short roasting time and it makes the seeds chewy and nasty. To get them just to crispy without burning them, I roast them on 275 for about 2 hours (give or take). Sometimes, the seeds will start making a popping sound in the oven and when that happens I will take them out.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds from a pumpkin with as much of the guts removed as possible
2 Tablespoons olive oil - just enough to coat all of them...depending on how many
1-2 Teaspoons seasoning - I use the one we make at home (it's on the blog somewhere..search for it) or really any kind from salt and pepper to season salt

Preheat oven to 275
Dry off seeds as best as you can. Add oil and mix to coat. Spread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with seasoning.
Bake stirring every 30 minutes or so until golden brown.
Cool on wire rack covered in paper towels to get any extra oil.

Tub of Pasta

2009-10-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

I suppose there is a fine line between a "hoarder" and one who simply "stocks up" on things. I have seen hoarders on the Oprah show. I am not that, however, I do like to have extra items on hand that I use all the time. That part of my personality comes from a childhood in which I didn't know when I would get another..whatever it was, and from the fear that I will need something and have used the last one. I am sure it is a disorder either way you look at it. I just find something very comforting in opening up a cupboard and seeing it full of toilet paper from Costco.

Back to it.

One of the things I choose to stock up on is pasta. Seriously, can you ever have too much? I guess we will get to that in a minute, but it is a good pantry staple item to have on hand for last minute dinners or whatever. Before I got married I had a pretty well stocked pantry which I was quite proud of. Some would say that it looked like my very own mini-mart...but it made me feel secure (note sentence above on childhood).

Flash forward to getting married and moving in with Chris. Our first house was this rambler which he was remodeling and planning to sell. Not a permanent address by any means. The kitchen really didn't have much in the way of storage so we did a make shift pantry slash storage area in the garage. Oh, two things about the garage 1. There was veeeeery little light out there 2. There were critters at one time enjoying my supply of pantry items so I had to put everything into Rubbermaid totes (important fact to the story).

Rubbermaid totes are opaque. Who knows what is in there? Frankly, if I can't see it I must not have any, right? Welllllllllll.

Flash forward again to the kitchen being complete and Chris, being the over organizer that he is wants to organize my mess of the garage pantry into the kitchen so I can find my stuff. I just hate doing that kind of crap. I want it organized but I want someone else to do the organizing. So we are going along and the very last thing was this big Rubbermaid tote buried under piles of pots, pans and whatever. I had already gotten the lecture about having too much of certain things. In my defense, I had such a hard time finding things that I assumed I needed more.... That is the set-up.

We get to this tote and he goes "what's in here?". I casually say "I don't know" and really, by that time my tone was more like "who cares". I was over it. Over digging through crap in the garage and carrying it into the house, over being lectured about over purchasing pantry items, just over it. "How many (insert pantry item here) do we really need Jannell?". Well gee, obviously I felt we needed 5 cans of each since that's how many we have! I ran out of responses after awhile so I just stopped responding. Back to the tote. He opens the lid and no lie, there must have been 20 bags and boxes of pasta in there! It was absolutely stuffed full. I started laughing so hard I was snorting because no sooner had the last lecture ended we opened this tote and it was so full of pasta it was comical. Comical to me anyway.

I didn't have to buy pasta for a long time and to this day, I get reminded of it.

Cook-A-Thon

2009-10-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I had a cooking marathon yesterday that I wanted to share. Picture this: Husband gone on an overnight bachelor party to Levenworth...no kids..bad weather..what does a food nut job such as myself do? Hello? Cook of course!

I planned ahead and did all the shopping on Friday so I wouldn't have to leave the house Saturday unless I absolutely had to, or wanted to..I guess.

On the agenda for today:
1. Potato Lefse
2. Chicken Stock
3. Roasted Vegetable Soup
4. Crepes
5. Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
6. Olive poppers
7. Moroccan Chicken (for the weeks lunches)
8. French Chicken in a Pot
9. Wild mushroom and Gorgonzola turnovers

I am pretty pleased with myself for making everything BUT #9. I don't usually cook with wild mushrooms but, I wanted to try this Portabello app that my fellow food nut job, Laurie, told me about but I had some dried wild mushrooms and thought I could make the substitution. That would be a negative. News flash - wild mushrooms stink! They smell so gross that once I re hydrated them...the smell was so nauseating that I tossed them and omitted the entire #9 item. I still have the Gorgonzola cheese so next week, a portabello mushroom I will buy and make the recipe correctly. Incidentally it took awhile for the residual funkiness to leave the kitchen. Blech.

Let the cooking begin!

First on the agenda was to boil the potatoes and prep them for the lefse and then to reuse the same stock pot for the chicken stock. The chicken stock rendered the stock pot useless for the next 4 hours (simmering time) so I needed to make sure I didn't need it for anything else - drama! I have other stock pots but all the others are about 5 qts and this one is bigger so when you need it, you need it. Now, I have not made potato lefse before. My husband is from Norwegian decent and it is something he grew up eating. My neighbor, Amy, is also of the same and was kind enough to teach me AND bring over her mom's lefse making tools! Thank you Mary! And a big thanks to Chris' mom, Carol for the recipe.

So by the time Amy came over, I had the potatoes boiled, riced (in my new potato ricer) whipped with cream, butter and salt...and totally cool in the refrigerator. Chicken stock was simmering away on the stove and the house smelled delicious!

If you haven't had the pleasure of potato lefse..basically it is a potato dough rolled very thin with a special rolling pin with a teeny tiny waffle pattern on it and then cooked on a lefse grill at the temp of 500 degrees. It only takes a couple of minutes and you eat them warm with either butter and cinnamon sugar or I guess whatever you want. They are pretty tasty!

While the chicken stock simmered away, I roasted off the veg for the roasted vegetable soup. This is one of my favorite soups because it is easy, healthy and very comforting. Perfect for Fall, but truthfully you could make it anytime. You roast off carrots, potatoes, leeks, tomatoes and zucchini in the oven. You first toss them in a bit of olive oil (I refuse to call it EVOO) salt and pepper and that is it for seasoning. The flavor that roasting the veg brings out lends all the complexity to the soup which is pretty cool. It is the kind of soup that would be really good for a farm to table meal. Then, it is a matter of pureeing it with stock (either veg, or chicken) and that's about it. So yummy. It reheats very well and although I haven't ever frozen it, I imagine it would work ok.

Crepes. Not as easy as I thought. The batter was easy enough, and I know how to make pancakes so aren't these just a thinner version? They are not.

I made the batter in the blender and chilled it. Now, it took both Amy and I to figure out the best way to flip these things while not burning our fingers (which we both did do). My thought is that having a crepe pan would come in handy as I did not. These were ok, but looked too much like a thin omelet for my taste. And I thought they were just "meh".

The tomato and goat cheese tart was, I think, one of the highlights of the day. So simple it seemed too good to be true almost... sauteed onions, garlic, thyme and dry white wine that had been cooked down were put onto puff pastry and topped with goat cheese, tomato and basil. They tasted fresh and light. The only tricky part is making sure your puff pastry has thawed. These were one of the last things I made (around 7pm) because my puff pastry took forever to unthaw. Note to self - put it in the refrigerator the night before.

Oh yah, olive poppers. I got this recipe from "Sonjas Kitchen" which is another blog I follow. They are green olives with a dough of cheese, flour and butter wrapped around them. You bake them and they come out crispy on the outside and salty and warm on the inside. Yum, yum, yummy!

French chicken in a pot is essentially baked chicken. I made this because I had to buy 2 whole chickens (Costco of course) and figured that I could pick the meat off to try another kind of puff pastry thingie today. The Moroccan chicken I am making today to be eaten during the week.

It was a fun day of cooking, chatting and eating. What's not to like?

How NOT to bake a big cookie

2009-10-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

So here's what just, and I mean just happened:

I am baking a big cookie for the family dessert. Don't even get me started, I know! So this cookie that I have made before (really I have) is baking and I did everything I thought I was supposed to. Did I use my "big cookie directions"? - well, what do YOU think? Direct your attention back to the title of this blog for your answer. Again, the lesson I can't seem to learn would be to always - always use your directions. Especially for baking (stupid precise cooking method).

So the cookie looks done. Key word - looks. I let it cool, and cut into it. Now, I have a "big cookie pan" for said cookie. I can't actually tell if it's done or not but hey - letting it cool on the wire rack will allow it to cook a bit more right? Kind of like letting meat rest before you cut into it. Never compare cooking to baking.

I cut into the cookie while the family gathers around because after all, who doesn't get excited about a big cookie for dessert? I cut the first slice only to notice that it is raw in the middle.

Raw!

Back into the oven it goes. Oh, by the way...never put it back in the oven. Baking is a one shot deal. There is no "cook it for a bit more" with baking. Therefore no room for error. And I errored huge.

After more minutes in the oven I pull it out and again, family gathers around (like cats hearing you open the cat food). "Is it done?" a voice calls from my crowd....I check and - no. It is not done. It is, however, burnt. Well that's just great.

The crowd scatters.

Luckily, my big cookie pan doesn't hold a full recipe of cookie dough and I have the extra in the refrigerator. I spoon several actual normal sized blobs of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake them off. They are cooling right now.

The moral of the story is two fold.
1. Always use directions when baking
2. If you want cookies, just make cookies. Don't try to cheat with a big cookie or the result is a disappointed family. I should know.

Where is the big cookie now? Where ruined food belongs....the garbage disposal of course, where it can mock me no more.

Cheesy Comfort

2009-10-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Does macaroni and cheese say "I love you" or what? But you know what really says it? Homemade macaroni and cheese, that's what. It's not as hard as you may think either.

Seriously, I could make this each and every night and I wouldn't get any complaints. I would be the one complaining that they should want to try something new! Making the same dinners over and over gets old......it doesn't translate to eating the same old dinners over and over I guess.

This is about the easiest recipes known to man! I got it from my "mom" Karla :) I learned how to make this particular recipe a few years back and continue to make it once a week to this day. This night, in fact. I am to the point where I don't need a recipe to make it. It has a really good consistency and is also good for leftovers. I would advise baking this in the deepest dish you have to keep it as moist as possible. The secret ingredient is the yellow mustard - don't omit it, just trust me.

I love dinners that don't have any drama attached to them. There are enough of those already in my life.

Macaroni and Cheese

3 ½ cups elbow macaroni (or 1 small bag or box of Mission brand or whatever. It should be about 1lb)
1 squirt yellow mustard
5 cups grated cheese (I use bagged Colby Jack and Cheddar from Costco)
3 ½ cups milk
4 tbl butter
4 tbl flour

Cook macaroni in boiling water, uncovered until al dente (you don’t want it all the way cooked). Drain

In separate pot…Melt butter in a saucepan over med low heat. Whisk in flour. Cook the flour for a minute or two. Whisk in milk and yellow mustard. Cook over moderate heat stirring constantly until sauce is thick and smooth (coats the back of a wooden spoon).

Remove sauce from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted and blended. Combine sauce with cooked macaroni. Pour into a baking dish and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Meat and Potatoes

2009-10-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

I ended up doing two things this last weekend; trying a new recipe and making scalloped potatoes. I usually try to experiment with new recipes a couple of times a month and it was a perfect weekend for it!

Chris and I don't eat red meat anymore (gasp) so I try to keep chicken, turkey and pork fresh with new recipes. Not as easy as I thought it would be. I miss steak, but I don't miss feeling sick afterward. I haven't made a pork roast in forever so I was on the lookout at Costco during my weekly pilgrimage. I ran across these smaller pork roasts (can't remember the cut) but they are even leaner than a regular pork roast. Sold!

Now, what to do with it?

I have this roasted pork roast recipe with a soyish sweet glaze recipe that has been waiting in the wings for some time. It seemed pretty easy just as long as you make sure that you don't overcook the pork or you will have a large dry hockey puck on your table. Having an instant read thermometer comes in SO handy in these circumstances. I think what makes this recipe so good is the combination of rub before you roast it and then the glaze at the end. A perfect mix of sweet and savory.

I don't think I have ever ranted about my experience with scalloped potatoes - or any kind of augratin potato dish from scratch. I have a really, really bad memory. Those of you who know me are silently agreeing right now (I see you). The common thread in my experience with those kinds of potato dishes is that the recipe outright fibs regarding how long it actually takes to bake (and be done). I seriously cannot count the times dinner has been held up waiting on a crunchy potato dish! I am getting all worked up just thinking about it. Last night, while the pork was getting cold waiting on said potato dish I even texted another crazy food friend of mine, Laurie, with the phrase "when will I learn?". Seriously, when? Obviously..not yet. Maybe, not ever.

Luckily for me, it was just Chris and I. No guests this time. Not like the infamous "crock pot scalloped potato" incident of 2008. A recipe which cooked for 10 hours in a crock pot only to STILL be crunchy! It may have even been last Christmas. I couldn't say for sure as I have tried to block it from my memory. It was a serious baked ziti moment where I completely lost it - in front of the whole family. The main course is just about done when I finally decide (why did I wait?) to check on the crock pot scalloped potatoes. A new dish, mind you. I know, don't even get me started. I stick a knife in the top layer of the potatoes and they aren't just "not done" they are SO not done....that the potato slice actually won't come off the knife and I am left standing over the crock pot holding a knife with a raw potato on it. So of course, I am all "(insert loud gasp)" the potatoes are RAW! I think Chris and his dad were within earshot and Chris just steps away from the kitchen slowly while his dad is attempting to make me feel better. His attempts, while chivalrous, are well know in my household to have absolutely no affect whatsoever on me. I am sure you can just imagine the rest of the evening from there......Let's just say that a little part of me died that day. Joking! (but not really).

Back to the latest dish to hold up dinner. This recipe was the least offensive of all the scalloped potato dishes that I have made. I even bought a little hand held cheap slicer to cut the potatoes with. I have always wanted a french mandolin, but I have a hard time coughing up the money for something I wouldn't use very often. $20.00 works for me! I think that having such a gadget is really key to the success of this dish, although, there is a fine line between mashed potatoes and scalloped. That difference lies in the thickness of your potatoes. Too thin, mashed - too thick - crunchy.

As it turned out, the dish really only needed 30 or so more minutes to cook past what the recipe stated and since the pork was actually done earlier than I had planned...it was cold by the time the potatoes were done. Both were very good and definitely are keepers. Maybe next time, I will make the potatoes the day ahead. If any of you are wondering, the brown on top of the potatoes is this yummy crust made by adding Parmesan toward the end of cooking. Mmmmmmmm.

Herb Roasted Pork
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed - I used 4 just because I love garlic.
1 (5 pound) boneless pork loin
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup vinegar - I used white.
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, combine sage, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub thoroughly all over pork. Place pork in an uncovered roasting pan on the middle oven rack.
3. Bake in the preheated oven approximately 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 150 degrees F, depending upon your desired doneness.
4. Meanwhile, place sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Brush roast with glaze 3 or 4 times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Pour remaining glaze over roast, and serve.

Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pint heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced - I just used a garlic press
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese - I used Cheddar Jack from Costco
4 slices provolone cheese - I used a bit of shredded mozzarella I had
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 1 1/2 quart or larger
casserole dish with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Dot with half of the butter cut or pinched into small pieces. Arrange half of the garlic slices over the potatoes, then pour half of the heavy cream over. Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese over the layer, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering of potatoes, garlic, cream and Cheddar cheese, then top with the slices of provolone cheese. Season again with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 1/2 hour in the preheated oven, then sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. This will create a semi-hard cheese crust. Continue baking uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when tested with a fork....which, in my case was a total of 1.5 hours, so plan accordingly.

Again, she attempts to bake.

2009-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Gougeres. Um, what?

Translation: Cheese puffs. You fill em, you know? They can be savory or sweet (cream puffs from Costco anyone?).

These were for appetizers. Now, I can not state emphatically enough how much I hate to bake. However, I do love to eat, so sometimes you gotta do..what you gotta do.

Gougeres are a egg dough of sorts. I don't think that you can make these without a food processor but what do I know about baking? You start by cooking on the stove top - butter, milk, salt and flour. Once it comes to temp you transfer that into a food processor and while it's running add an egg mixture. I just realized that there is no leavening agent in these so it is strictly the cooking process and extra egg whites in the recipe that makes them puff up. Once that is done you add cheese and either pipe them onto a parchment lined baking sheet or drop them out by teaspoonful. Can you take a guess which one I did?

You bake them and when they are done and golden brown (not very golden brown as mine were) you cool them and fill with whatever you want. I made a chicken/artichoke filling of sorts and they were too big to be bite sized so they ended up more like finger sandwiches. They were good, not great.

And no, your computer is not having technical difficulties...you don't/won't see a picture of the finished product. For obvious reasons.

Would I make them again? Yes. And if they turn out, you may even see a picture.

Ingredients:
2 large eggs , plus 1 large egg white
6 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces), sifted (or just lightly scooped into your measuring cup as I don't own a sifter)
3 ounces Gruyère, Emmentaler, or Swiss cheese , shredded (about 1 cup) - I used sharp cheddar that I had on hand.
Pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Beat eggs and egg white in measuring cup or small bowl; you should have 1/2 cup (discard excess). Set aside.

2. Bring water, butter, milk, and salt to boil in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When mixture reaches full boil (butter should be fully melted), immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir in flour with heatproof spatula or wooden spoon until combined and mixture clears sides of pan. Return saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, using a smearing motion, until mixture is slightly shiny, looks like wet sand, and tiny beads of fat appear on bottom of saucepan, about 3 minutes (paste should register 175 to 180 degrees on instant-read thermometer).

3. Immediately transfer mixture to food processor and process with feed tube open for 10 seconds to cool slightly. With machine running, gradually add eggs in a steady stream. When all eggs have been added, scrape down sides of bowl and add
Gruyère and cayenne to food processor. Process for 30 seconds until a smooth, thick, sticky paste forms. (If not using immediately, transfer paste to medium bowl, press sheet of plastic wrap that has been sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray directly on surface, and store at room temperature for up to 2 hours.)

4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper; set sheet aside.

5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lined baking sheet into evenly spaced 1-2 inch mounds. Use back of teaspoon dipped in bowl of cold water to even out shape and smooth surface of mounds.

6. Bake 15 minutes (do not open oven door), then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake until golden brown and fairly firm, 12 to 14 minutes longer. Remove baking sheet from oven. With paring knife, cut 3/4-inch slit into side of each puff to release steam; return to oven, turn off oven, and prop oven door open with handle of wooden spoon. After 10 minutes, transfer puffs to wire rack. Serve warm. (Gougères can be cooled completely and stored at room temperature for up to 24 hours or frozen in zipper- lock plastic bag for up to 1 month. Before serving, crisp room-temperature gougères in 300-degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes; crisp frozen gougères for 8 to 10 minutes.)

Artichoke/Chicken Mixture

1/4 to 1/2 Finely diced cooked chicken. I used rotisserie.
1/2 tsp finely chopped green onion
3 marinated artichoke hearts finely chopped.
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tsp mayo
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix and microwave just until heated through. Mixture goes into finished cheese puffs.

"Let them eat cake!"

2009-09-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

Remember before when I stated how I hated to bake? Well, I still hate it. However, sometimes....I have to just suck it up.

I sucked it up and baked a cake.

Don't get too excited and think I turned over a new leaf, or anything silly like that. No. This is really a super easy peasy cake. It's a chocolate cake made rich from cocoa powder, chocolate chips and coffee. It tastes like a dense devils food cake sort of. Love it because I usually have everything on hand, except the cocoa powder which I only use for this cake so I try to keep some in the pantry.

I get the cake all baked and then Antonio goes, when are you going to frost it? Uhhhhhhhh, shoot. I didn't bother to look and see if I had any frosting (in the tub of course...duh! I hate to bake remember?) I try to get him to just eat it without the frosting to which he replies, "uh mom, I hate to tell you this...but I can't eat cake without frosting!". Of course he can't. Cakes are supposed to have frosting, and to Antonio, it won't be happenin without frosting. To him, there is only 1 way to do most things and cake must have frosting.

If you have ever met my son, Antonio, you aren't surprised by that.

So now I have Antonio on a scavenger hunt around the garage pantry while I scower the kitchen for frosting. I have to have some around her somewhere, right? I mean...I stock up on everything. Remind me to write about the "tub of pasta" incident.

No frosting. Well, that figures. I am going to have to - gasp! Make some.

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnn.

I knew just who to call. Amy! My neighbor/friend who has descended down from a long line of bakers. She will know just what to do, and boy did she. She gives me her moms..moms frosting recipe and let me tell you - it is my favorite kind of frosting recipe, easy and yummy. Even though I would choose a bag of chips over candy any day, I can tell a good frosting from bad. This is one of the best ones I have tasted.

When it was all said and done, the cake had the taste of a Hostess chocolate cupcake and the frosting reminded me alot of the filling. What's not to like?

Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup fresh black coffee, hot
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking
spray.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. In separate bowl, combine cocoa and chocolate; pour hot coffee
over cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth; let cool slightly. Whisk in mayonnaise, egg, and vanilla. Stir mayonnaise mixture into
flour mixture until combined.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with few crumbs
attached, 30 to 35 minutes.

4. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack, 1 to 2 hours. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, cut into squares, and serve straight from the pan; or
turn cake out onto serving platter

Amy's Frosting

1. Mix (electric mixer) 2 heaping cups powdered sugar and 2/3 cup shortening.

2. Add 1 egg and mix

3. In a saucepan, combine 4 Tbl sugar and 2 Tbl water. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Pour into powered sugar mixture. Mix immediately.

4. Add 1 tsp vanilla – mix. Done!

Back in the saddle again....

2009-09-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

A few blogs ago..in a kitchen far far away...I had a double disaster weekend in cooking. Figuring that I really should try to be smarter than the recipe - I wanted to try again. I dug through my recipes of yummies yet to be tasted when I can across "Moroccan Chicken". I just love a recipe where I actually have most, if not all of the ingredients in my house already. I wasn't very OCD this weekend and didn't plan my meals before the shopping list so making something brand new seemed like an impossibility. But no! Moroccan Chicken jumped out of the recipes and into my lap (well, not really of course - but it did stand out).

Basically this recipe is a quick braise. If you are a lover of garlic, this is the recipe for you. It's not too spicy, although I used 1/2 the amount of cayenne pepper called for just for the simple fact that I knew there would be leftovers and the longer cayenne sits in a recipe - the spicier it gets.

The sauce was a bit thinner than I wanted. A direct result of not reducing it enough because I was too impatient (translation: hungry) so it ran all over the plate - but was still yummy. I wanted to serve it with couscous but didn't have enough so I had 1/2 brown rice, 1/2 couscous and Chris had couscous only. The chicken was tender and the olives had just enough bite. Be sure and rinse them off with water just in case the brine is extra salty.

A truly easy recipe that only tastes complicated.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN

1 1/4 teaspoons sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used 1/8)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 strips lemon zest (each about 2 inches by 3/4 inch)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice , from 1 to 2 lemons
5 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 5 teaspoons)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (8 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion , halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 3 cups)
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
2 medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick coins, very large pieces cut into half-moons (about 2
cups)
1 cup Greek cracked green olives , pitted and halved
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Combine spices in small bowl and set aside. Mince 1 strip lemon zest; combine with 1 teaspoon minced garlic and mince together until reduced to fine paste; set aside.

2. Season both sides of chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Brown chicken until lightly golden, about 2 minutes; using tongs, turn chicken and brown on second side, about 2 minutes more. Transfer chicken to large plate.

3. Add onion and 2 remaining lemon zest strips to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have browned at edges but still retain shape, 5 to 7 minutes (add 1 tablespoon water if pan gets too dark). Add remaining 4 teaspoons garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spices and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened and very fragrant, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in broth and honey, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits.

4. Add carrots to pot and arrange chicken on top of carrots. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.

5. Transfer chicken to plate or bowl and tent with foil. Add olives to pot; increase heat to medium-high and simmer until liquid has thickened slightly and carrots are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Return chicken to pot and add garlic-zest mixture, cilantro, and lemon juice; stir to combine and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

A typical dinner for me

2009-09-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I rarely eat the dinners I make. Just can't do it anymore. I seriously hate to admit that, but depending on what number your age starts with....you feel me. So - 5 out of 6 nights I cook a different dinner for myself, usually fish. I really like the Tilapia loins that Costco has frozen and vacuumed sealed individually. They defrost fast and they take on the flavor of whatever you put them in or put on them. I totally heart them! I try to keep at least one extra in the freezer because occasionally Costco will be out. I try not to throw hissy fits in public, and keeping an extra has saved me more than once.

Another great find is frozen brown rice. LOVE it! For those among you who have cooked brown rice you know. Can it take any more time to do it? 45 minutes later, I am not sure I'm hungry anymore. Fret no more....this rice cooks in the microwave in 3 1/2 minutes and it has a yummy chewy texture. Great to reheat and very nutritious. It's with the frozen veggies and it's Birds Eye Steam Fresh (I think). I highly recommend it.

Another good thing to fill up on (that, and all my meals need some kind of crunch) is salad. The greener the lettuce leaf, the more nutritious it is. Again, Costco to the rescue. Now, I am not one of those nutjobs who would rather eat like this. No. I would rather have the meatloaf, pizza, lasagna...... I just know that if I want to fit into my clothes, I have to cut things out and watch the portions. Thank you father time! Don't get me wrong...I don't eat healthy every day, but I pick and choose where to blow it. Weeknight dinners usually isn't the time or place for that.

I have included the recipe I used for tonight's fish, but I have cooked it every which way but Sunday and this particular fish had never let me down.

Baked Fish

2 Tilapia Loins (defrosted)
1 TB chopped green onion (the green parts)
Sliced lemon
1 pat of butter – not fake butter…real unsalted butter
Chris seasoning (see meatloaf blog)

Preheat oven to 325
Put fish in a baking dish and sprinkle with onion and spice. Lay a few lemon slices on each piece. Dot each with butter. Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes until fish is cooked.

That’s it.

No drama, just comfort.

2009-09-14T18:52:00.001-07:00

Meatloaf just has comfort written all over it, don't you think? We haven't had it in a long time and even though it's still Summer...the air was a combination of damp and crisp tonight so I figured meatloaf would be what's for dinner.

It is one of those things you don't really need a recipe for, but I have one written down that I made up mainly because I am a freak about recipes. That is partly why I was so mad at myself with the steamed clams in beer sauce mess.....I knew better than to just "wing" a recipe.

I just love a dinner with no drama.

I, of course, didn't eat this dinner. I had fish. It looked good though.

Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf - Sponsored by Costco, it seems.

2 lbs Ground Turkey – Mine is from Costco, of course...2 packages.
2 eggs
½ cup of ketchup
½ cup or so of plain bread crumbs
1 tbl of Chris seasoning mix (recipe below) or your fav. Seasoning mix.
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheese (or to taste)– I use grated cheddar jack (Costco)

Mix all the ingredients and put into a 13X9 baking dish. The key with meatloaf or meatballs for that matter is to not overwork the meat. Form it into a rectangle. The secret is to try and get it a uniform thickness all over so it cooks evenly. Bake at 425 for about an hour and 15 minutes. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, slice and enjoy.

Chris’ Spice - I use this as our family's all purpose spice on everything

1 Part Granulated Onion
1 Part Granulated Garlic
1 Part Med ground black pepper
1 ½ Parts Table Salt

Double the failure, double the frustration.

2009-09-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

I am not usually one to start something, like a blog for instance...and not keep up on it. The lack of posts is due to the fact that my last two ventures were garbage, and into the garbage disposal they went after choking enough bites down to curb the hunger.

Complete disaster #1 - Steamed clams in beer cream sauce over pasta.
Sounds good doesn't it? Well, it was not good. Not good at all. The story started out with Chris and I at dinner at Anthony's Woodfire Grill. We had steamed clams in beer as a starter. It was soooo yummy. We both foolishly decided it would be a grand idea to recreate it at home over pasta. I asked the server for the ingredients and figured that I could just wing the cooking (mistake one). The server said that they were made with a stout beer, check. Cream, check. Butter, check. Clams, check. It sounded simple enough.

I will just cut to the chase because even retelling the tale is getting me agitated. The sauce was bitter. So bitter that it was baaaaaarely edible. Translation: It was all we had for dinner, it was late and I couldn't see myself cooking something else. Chris said he liked it, which, HAD to be a big fat lie. I honestly don't mind being told something is not good because if the audience doesn't like it - chances are I already know it's garbage. I think it all went wrong when I reduced the beer too much. Now, I am not a beer drinker and especially not stout. It was just the grossest thing. I mainly had salad and some clams, which were cooked quite well considering.... What is the lesson I learned? I learned to always have and follow a recipe with new dishes. I did something that I NEVER, and I mean NEVER do in the kitchen (perfection disorder, hello?) and that is "wing it" with something new. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Moving on to complete disaster #2 - Chicken Biryani (an Indian chicken and rice dish)
At least this one was edible. It just didn't taste good.
I love Indian food. I have this Indian market in Shoreline that I go to called "Indian Sweets and Spices" and they have all kinds of fixins for yummy authentic Indian cuisine. I really should have known better than to buy a "complete spice mix". I never do that. I always like to make the spice mix myself from a recipe. That affliction is part control freak and part addicted to cooking. The spice mix was highly recommended by my friendly store guy and the picture looked good.

I followed the directions to a T! Is there any other way to follow directions?

The resulting dish was bland but yet, spicy. Weird huh? I thought so. It just didn't taste good. I added some cumin and more yogurt to see if that would help but it just didn't . We ate some because, as previously stated there was no backup dinner plan. The rest? Garbage. Buh, bye it went. Next time, I go with my instinct and make the spice mix from scratch - as I knew I should.

Lesson learned.

Chicken Enchiladas

2009-08-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Usually on Sunday...our family either has tacos or burrito bowls. Today, I was lazy and just decided to make chicken enchiladas. Soooooooo easy, they are practically stupid easy.

They are an even better idea when you have not-so-fresh-anymore tortillas to use up like I did tonight :) I used to buy the sauce in the can, but found this easy (and when I say it's easy, it is) red enchilada sauce recipe that I have tweaked which I make every time now. I think it's cheaper than the can and you can say you made it from scratch.

Excuse the picture...it's of the leftovers instead of a pretty ready-to-serve plate. See above for the reason. Lazy.

For you recipe junkies:

Enchilada Sauce

1 tbl olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced – or a tsp of the jarred minced up kind.
1 tsp minced onion
½ tsp dried oregano
2 ½ tsp chili powder – depending on how spicy you like it. For the kids sake I use 2 tsp.
½ tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried parsley or 2 tsp fresh – or not at all as I NEVER have any of either.
¼ cup salsa
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 ½ cups water

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add onion, oregano, chili powder, basil, pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa and tomato paste.
Mix together and then stir in the water.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20mins
You may need to add more water to your thickness liking depending on how much it reduces. It is a VERY forgiving recipe.

For the enchiladas - Sasch, this one is dedicated to you. I put amounts just for you sista!

10 flour tortillas - or so.
2 Costco cans of chicken (cuz that's how I roll) You would be surprised how well that canned chicken works in this recipe.
2 cups shredded cheese (plus about 1 ½ more for the top) – I use cheddar jack from Costco. See a pattern?
1-2 packages taco seasoning. I have the big container so I just end up shaking some in...till it looks good and tacoy.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 9X13 pan with Pam or whatever you use. Put enough of the sauce in the bottom of the pan to coat it. In a bowl, combine chicken, taco seasoning and cheese. Now honestly, how full you fill the enchiladas is up to you. I think I may put about ½ cup into each one and then I fold each side over and then the ends over like a square package (see poorly taken photo). I just adjust the filling amount until it is used up and the pan is filled up. Pour remaining sauce to taste over them and then top with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for about 35-40 minutes until you can hear the sauce bubbling when you check on them.

If there are any holes in this recipe, it is due to the fact that I made it up and don’t use one. I typed it on the fly just now.

You only have to ask

2009-08-27T20:31:00.001-07:00

After several requests for the recipes from my cooking adventures (sometimes mis-adventures) I have included my versions of each in their respective post. I will do that from now on. I'm new, so I didn't think anyone would want them. Lesson learned.

Side note - if you would like to see a particular recipe on the blog, just let me know. It would be a fun challenge to try new things. Even I get into cooking ruts and need help out of them.

If you try any of the recipes, please tell me how they worked for you and/or how you changed them to suit your family!

Ok, bye.

Raise your hand if you hate to bake!

2009-08-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

My father, even though I never really knew him....was a baker by trade. My brother, Chris, and his daughters (and even a son-in-law) are bakers (by hobby). I don't know what happened with me, but I loathe baking. From what I have gathered, you are either a cook...or a baker. I am a cook. I will bake if forced or if the mood grabs me but baking is a stressful experience. You mix ingredients together and put them in the oven and just hope for the best. With cooking, you can add...taste...adjust and potentially save a dish from being wrecked along the way.

You all know how I hate it when dinner is wrecked. See previous blog on ziti.

Tonight, I felt like making cinnamon rolls. Not for me, silly. How do you think I fit into jeans? Not by eating cinnamon rolls, that's for sure. But Chris likes them and the kids will eat them all up so I don't have to stare at them for too long.

The reason I am blogging about these particular cinnamon rolls is that they are the best batch to date. Beats me how that happened - so don't even ask. It won't happen again I'm sure of that. So here you go.... and yes, they are just as good as they look. It's the recipe, not me.

Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• Frosting
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start. If you don't have a bread machine..(I have one because, again, I hate to bake) you can make dough the way you would if you know what you are doing and let it rise until it is double in size. You know who you are if you understand that :)
2. After the dough cycle is finished. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes
4. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

"...grind the pepper yourself, it's the same thing"

2009-08-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

As I have stated previously, I can't stand bad service or bad food..especially if I am paying for the meal! Ooooh, hate it! Not everyone is cut out to be a server, but if you are one..please do the job the best that you can. I guess that can be said for all professions.

I had mentioned in an earlier blog that I would mention what I affectionately refer to as "the pepper grinder incident". Well, today's your lucky day. That, and we ate at the same restaurant last night to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was yummy.

Since I live in Marysville, Wa...the fine dining choices are quite limited within a 40 mile radius. Granted, there are several good restaurants in town which are good but if you are craving the fine dining experience or a fresh piece of halibut...you are on a road trip to either Seattle or Bellevue (40+miles one way). One exception to this is Anthony's Home Port in Everett. Chris and I will go there for a special evening or if we are just craving fresh seafood. I grew up with Anthony's and Arnies in Edmonds being so close and frankly, took them for granted. Not anymore.

What I like about Anthony's is that it's close to us and both the food and service are consistent. Well, up until our visit that fateful evening a little over a year and a half ago....

To preface, I just would like to say that I completely understand that everyone has a bad day. You can't be cheerful all the time, even if you are in customer service. I can tell the difference between an off night, a new server and then what we had...

The dinner started out with just small things..the server took longer than she should have to greet us and take our drink order, no cocktail napkin for under my drink (I am a freak about condensation on my drink glass). While we were waiting for our appetizer to come (steamed clams) she was arguing with the couple behind me about a question they had regarding a mystery vegetable on their plate. Then it moved into things like, we didn't get small forks for the clams and there was no bowl to put the shells in. I got a "put out" attitude when I nicely asked for a bowl. She responded - "for what?" Uh, the clam shells - hello? (I said that last part in my head). And then the moment happened. You know, that moment when things go from tolerable to not so much. Our salads arrive and now picture this: she puts them down and just starts walking off - doesn't say a word. I am staring down at my salad and then I look up at Chris to notice him staring at my salad and then at me. He looks up and calls out to the server "excuse me?" she comes 1/2 way back to the table. 1/2 way! Not back to the table. That is part of what makes this moment so memorable (the manager seemed to be equally speechless as I retold him later...but I don't want to get ahead of myself here) Chris said, and keep in mind, we both are still being friendly with her at this point... "could my wife get some fresh ground pepper for her salad?". I am one of those who likes a little food with my pepper.... So the server, whose name was Kacy H. (as printed on our receipt) says half turning to walk away.."there is a pepper grinder on your table, you can grind it yourself...it's the same thing".

Insert looooooong dramatic pause here.

We both just look at each other. I'm sorry, did I really just hear what I think I heard? Ok, at this point..I am mad, but not pissed. Not yet.

Just then, I turn around to notice the table diagonal from me grinding the pepper for each other on their salads. What just happened? I am so confused. So now with our server out of sight, there wasn't much else to do but grind the pepper myself on the salad from the one on the table. We ate our salads in silence. We did that because of the arguing from the table next to us and up a couple of steps (if you have eaten there, you know what I am talking about) was having with each other over fresh ground pepper. It was a "good old boy" taking a couple out for dinner and you could tell that he was treating them. At one point, he said to the same server as she was, again, walking away from his table..well, more like raised his voice to say to the server along the lines of "I want some fresh ground pepper on my salad before I am done eating it!" That fresh ground pepper never did come for him either. There were other misc. discussions/arguments taking place at the other three tables with and without the server that we could hear bits and pieces of.

Our entrees come. Our server was not the one to bring them. I had ordered lobster, and on the plate sat a baked potato. "Um, excuse me...did I get a choice of starch with this entree?" was my question. I asked because I didn't remember getting a choice and I NEVER order a baked potato as a side. They are too filling for me. The way that this particular gal fell all over herself to right the wrong of the starch was a stark contrast to the "I don't care what you need" attitude of our server. And it reminded me in a flash of the kind of service I should expect at Anthony's and I was instantly over it. All of it.
I think I did ask for a different side dish, and she was very kind..but the damage was soooo done. Our server was crazy enough to come and ask us how dinner was. My response was to put my fork down and deliberately turn to look out the window. I think Chris said something quickly to her to make her go away before I flipped out. He read my mind and all he could say was " please, for me wait until we are home before you talk to the manager" because, oh yes...the manager was going to chit chat with me about this one and Chris didn't want a scene.

I couldn't get home fast enough. I dialed the number and asked for the manager. I could tell that he picked the line up from the hostess desk because of how noisy it was in the background. I began with letting him know that I had a few concerns with the service we had received that evening at dinner. When he went into his manager mode, I began with...ahem, and I quote "well, I guess it all started going down hill when our server told us to use the pepper grinder on our table and grind it ourselves, it's the same thing." I heard nothing but the murmur of the busy restaurant coming out of the phone for about 10 seconds. His next words were "would you mind if I put you on hold? I would like to go into my office so I can take notes".

We like Scott the manager.

Long story concluded: Scott did what I would expect a manager should. He took notes and there were several more gasps and pauses on his end as I had narrowed down the evening to the few moments that prompted my phone call. He was kind enough to invite us back for the same meal again...on Anthony's. Which was delicious and every bit of the special evening that the time before should have been. I had him come to the table so I could personally thank him for his attention. We still go back to Anthony's and it is because of how Scott the manager dealt with the situation.

I don't want much, just fresh ground pepper on my salad.

Soup is good food

2009-08-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Still reeling from "the great ziti debacle of 2009", I decided to just pull back and keep it simple. Julia Child calls this soup "simplicity itself" and she could not be more spot on.

Potage Parmentier (the name of the soup, duh!) translated is Leek or Onion and Potato Soup. I read Julie Powell's blog, bought both her book and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, saw the movie and decided I wanted to make this soup and see what all the fuss was about. I am a believer. I have never cooked something with so few ingredients which yielded such incredible flavor. The Cliff Notes version goes like this - take chopped leeks, russet potatoes and salt..simmer them in water (not broth, just plain old water) until they are mushy and puree them. Add a bit of cream - ha, HA! Sorry, I was having a ziti flashback..... DONE.

Wait, that's it? Seriously? While I am chopping (and watching Pride and Prejudice, love that movie) all I can think of is, "should I add more....something?" "where, exactly is the flavor going to come from?" A quick side note to this is that when I first started really getting into cooking, there were very few shows on TV. Forget an entire channel dedicated to the art. So I learned from watching shows like:

The Galloping Gourmet

Julia Child

...and my personal favorite - Great Chefs. Man, I miss that show.

The main thing that fascinated me was how master chefs could build layers upon layers of flavor in a sauce. That has stuck with me and I try to do it as much as I can. The more complex the recipe, the more I enjoy cooking it. So when I was making this soup...I so badly wanted to saute the leeks first in butter and then deglaze the pot with chicken stock etc...etc. But I restrained myself and just followed the recipe. When the soup was done, I could NOT believe the amount of flavor that it had! Julia was not kidding when she said it was simplicity itself. I stand corrected. A dish doesn't have to be difficult to taste complex. I loved it, and I will keep this one as a "go to" comfort soup dish for whenever. A light soup with nice depth of flavor which is good as a starter to a meal or just to make you feel loved. Thank you Julia.

Potage Parmentier - Courtesy of Julia Child

3-4 Cups or 1lb peeled potatoes, sliced or diced. I used Russet baking potatoes. I like their consistancy.
3 Cups or 1lb thinkly sliced leeks including the light green parts.
2 quarts of water
1 Tablespoon salt (I used kosher salt)
4 Tablespoons whipping cream
2-3 Tablespoons minced chives. Used as a garnish and to bring out more of the leek flavor

1. Simmer the vegetables and salt in the water partially covered for 40-50 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
2. Put the soup either through a food mill (don't own one) or in a blender and pulse for just long enough to slightly puree the soup. The soup should still have some texture in it.
3. Correct seasoning if needed...I didn't need to.
4. Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream by spoonfuls.
5. Top with chives and enjoy.

Taco Sunday

2009-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager, I would go to Taco Bell for "Taco Sunday" which entailed getting disgusting beef tacos practically for free or something. So anyway....a while ago I was looking for something fairly easy for Sunday dinner. Having PD (perfection disorder...duh!) like I do, I use Sunday nights to get things ready for A. Work on Monday and B. School, lunches etc.

Taco Sunday was reborn! Only, homemade and not from Taco Bell - ewwww. No offense to those of you who like Taco Bell....here's my disclaimer "the thoughts and opinions of this blog are meant to be those of the author only and may or may not reflect the actual opinions of the readers"

Lately, taco Sunday has morphed into "Burrito Bowl Sunday" as well.

I love the burrito bowls that you get from Chipotle, or Qdoba. If you have never had them, they are tasty. I even do my rendition of cilantro-lime rice to have with them.

No tantrums, no drama. Just food. Sorry to bore you.

Quick side note...I was at Costco today doing my weekly thing. I just loooooorve that store - swoon... when I spotted the sample lady sampling Yoplait Parfait Bites. I am not someone who goes to Costco for the sample smorgusboard that seems to be everywhere. I only sample the things I am interested in buying. I tried these and they are quite tasty. It took me back to buying good humor bars from Joe, the ice cream man. Not the ice cream van thingies that drive around now...can you say creepy? They come in bags of about 5 bites and are 150 calories a bag. Low sodium and sugar. It's yoplait covered in granola with strawberry jam inside. It was my dessert tonight and quite yummy for 150 calories. That's my product placement for today, Yoplait can send me my royalties later.....are you listening, Yoplait?

Ok, bye.

Burrito Bowls - No recipe...just memory

Basmati rice
Meat of choice. I use ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning.
Corn
Black beans
Chopped cilantro
Fresh Lime juice
Chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo
Chopped green onions
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Salsa
Avacado
Cilantro
Lime
Salt to taste

1. Make meat with mexican/taco seasoning.
2. Make rice and with the water add chopped cilantro to taste and the juice of 1 lime.
3. Prepare all the other ingredients.
4. When rice and meat are done, spoon rice in bottom of bowl and top with other ingredients..or, whatever you would put on a taco. The key is to taste the rice and adjust the lime juice and salt to your taste.

That's really all.
Yum

Dinner and a tantrum

2009-08-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Ah yes...entertaining. What to make for dinner that everyone will like but won't be so complicated that I can't enjoy their company because I am cooking the whole time? Baked Ziti -that's the answer! Such a good recipe and easy enough to prepare..bravo.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I am one of "those" people who gets their night absolutely ruined by a bad meal or poor service while dining out (remind me to tell you about the pepper grinding incident at Anthony's Home Port). At home, a bad meal will just push me right over the edge - guests or no guests. I have even been known to toss a meal out rather than attach my name to such a failure. Maybe someday when I am at a loss for blog ideas I will reminisce with you about such evenings and the dishes that only perpetuate my perfection disorder.

Back to last night.

Ok, picture this.... I am happily chatting with everyone about whatever, cleaning the dishes that I dirtied making the ziti. Putting away extra items in the refrigerator (mind you, the ziti is now assembled and in the oven baking) when to my horror I notice the unopened carton of whipping cream in the refrigerator. GASP! The cream! I missed a step in the preparation for the ziti!^#^$&#*!! It's one of those steps that you can't go back and do once you have missed it. I felt just like I had typed a personal email and then hit "reply all". One of those things you can't undo. ...Uh, not that I have ever done that. Ahem, anyway.... so I am gasping, frantically looking from the open refrigerator to the oven and then back again. The closest people to me are all "what's wrong?" Well, by now I am stamping my feet in frustration like a 3 year old muttering how I forgot a step etc..etc. "Oh, I am sure it will be just fine" were the responses. They were right to a degree...it would be fine. That was the problem, it would be just fine - not really yummy as it should be.

For those of you with perfection disorder, you will understand. For those of you without such a disorder...indulge me and it will be over soon. The step I forgot goes like this: you take whipping cream and corn starch and cook it until it starts to thicken. You add that to the pasta mixture and then you top it with sauce. Even though the ziti is still good without it, the cream smooths out the acidity of the marinara sauce and the corn starch helps to set the ziti so you don't have a runny mess on your plate. So instead of this refined tasting pasta dish, it was essentially baked pasta in marinara with cheese and a tomato bite. I could taste the difference.

If you are one of the lucky ones who have seen first hand my tantrums over dinner preparation issues (can you say Thanksgiving?) you would be surprised. I had my little fit, and just moved on. Well, the fit lasted until we actually sat down at the table but whatever...the point is that I moved on. On the surface that is. Everyone said the dinner was good, and it did taste good. But I guess I knew how it was supposed to taste, hence the frustration. The bigger picture is that we enjoyed good laughs with family and everyone was too full for dessert. A success for most. For me, I am haunted by that stupid carton of whipping cream just sitting there smugly in the refrigerator.

Baked Ziti (The right way)

1 lb cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated parm cheese
1 lb ziti or short tubular pasta
2 tbl olive oil
5 garlic cloves minced or pressed thru a garlic press
1 28oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
½ cup plus 2 tbl fresh chopped basil (or 2 tsp dried ..or to taste)
1 tsp sugar
¾ tsp corn starch
1 cup heavy cream – Don’t forget this
8 oz grated mozzarella cheese
Salt
Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup Parmesan together in a medium bowl; set aside. Bring water to boil for pasta ..boil pasta until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5-7 minutes. You want the pasta just getting soft and still crunchyish in the middle. Drain. Don’t wash the pasta pot.

2. Heat oil and garlic in a skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 mins. Off heat, stir in basil and sugar. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl, transfer mixture to empty pasta pot set over medium heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup of the tomato mixture and ¾ cup mozzarella. Mix together. Add pasta and combine.

4. Pour into a 13X9 baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce mixture evenly over pasta. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over top.

5. Cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook about 30 minutes longer until cheese is bubbly. Cool for 20 minutes so it can set.

Eat!

Whole Wheat Pasta

2009-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, we had spaghetti tonight. No, I didn't make the sauce from scratch. Why? Because the kids would rather have Prego (no offense to the Prego people). Seriously? The cold hard truth is ..yes. I have tried in vain to make my sauce from scratch but each and every time I get "we like the other sauce". To make myself feel better, I add fresh garlic and this spicy Italian seasoning that I buy online to doctor it up a bit. Then I simmer it for at least 30 minutes to cook out the jar taste.

Whatever.

Now, I'm pretty picky about my pasta. I have tried several whole wheat varieties but the texture is either grainy or it leaves a strange taste in your mouth. Not this pasta! It takes a couple of minutes longer to cook but the texture is just like white pasta. Plus, for those of you who are trying to incorporate as much organic food in your diet as you can...it's organic!
Thank you Costco.

Gnocci, it's what's for dinner.

2009-08-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

While chatting with a co-worker today the subject of gnocci came up. I was in the mood to cook something new and "adult friendly" but I have not really been a gnocci fan up until now. This recipe, however was not based in potatoes but in ricotta cheese -hummmm. This may just be ok.

I didn't realize how easy (but time consuming) gnocci was to make, mostly because all I have ever had was the store bought variety. All you do is let the ricotta drain in a collander with paper towels in the fridge for about an hour. Mix the drained ricotta with an egg, homemade bread crumbs and fresh herbs. Now roll the mixture into a series of little snakes (just like in elementary school when we got to work with clay). Simmer them for about 2-3 minutes in batches and put them into your sauce (I used my favorite go-to basic marinara which is an adaptation of a Ted Allen recipe) and voila! As my co-worker puts it "they are like little pillows of cheese". And they are. The consistancy is like biting into a really soft dumpling. The gnocci is unlike pasta, it gives you a nice resistance to the bite.

My husband liked it even though he could probably eat pasta every night of the week and not be sick of it. I, however, can not eat pasta every night. I mean geez, I can't even eat it once with out feeling like I have to immediately go run 2 miles just to work it off. So it was a real treat for me because this was one of the rare occasions where I actually ate the dinner I was serving him instead of fish and salad for me....yummy dinner for everyone else.

I couldn't make the pictures go where I wanted them to, so you just get the finished product.

They were tasty.

Ok, bye.

Recipe

Gnocchi
1 container whole milk ricotta (15- or 16-ounce)
2 large slices white sandwich bread , crusts removed and bread torn into quarters
1 large egg
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons flour , plus additional for work surface
1 ounce Parmesan cheese , grated (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions
1. Line fine-mesh strainer set over deep container or bowl with 3 paper coffee filters or triple layer of paper towels. Place ricotta in lined strainer, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, process bread in food processor until finely ground, about 10 seconds. Spread crumbs on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and just beginning to turn golden, about 10 minutes, stirring once during baking time. Let cool to room temperature. (You should have about 1/2 cup crumbs.)

3. Transfer drained ricotta to food processor and pulse until curds break down into fine, grainy consistency, about eight 1-second pulses. Using rubber spatula, combine ricotta, egg, basil, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl. Add flour, Parmesan, and bread crumbs; stir until well combined. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes. Check texture of dough (see photos below) and add more flour if needed.

4. Lightly dust work surface with flour. With floured hands, roll lemon-sized piece of dough into 3/4-inch-thick rope, rolling from center of dough outward. Cut rope into 3/4-inch-long pieces and transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, dusting work surface with flour as needed.

5. TO COOK GNOCCHI: Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Reduce heat so water is simmering, then gently drop half of gnocchi into water and cook until all pieces float to surface. Continue to simmer until gnocchi are cooked through, about 2 minutes longer, adjusting heat to maintain gentle simmer. Using slotted spoon, scoop gnocchi from water, allowing excess water to drain from spoon; transfer gnocchi to skillet with sauce and cover to keep warm. Repeat cooking process with remaining gnocchi. Using rubber spatula, gently toss gnocchi with sauce until uniformly coated. Divide among warmed bowls or serving platter and serve immediately.

Basic Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium garlic cloves, chopped or sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried

10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste later

1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper (you can grind it yourself, it's the same thing)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, basil and salt and cook, covered until the onion is soft and breaking down - 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes (crush them in your hands or break them up with the side of a spoon in the pot) along with the juices and the sugar. Turn the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce is thickened 15-20 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the pepper. Correct seasoning.

Variation (and what I usually do) add 1/2 cup heavy cream about halfway through cooking for a tomato cream sauce. .....another use for that smug whipping cream!

What have I gotten myself into?

2009-08-06T18:52:00.001-07:00

Seriously? A blog? Me? I guess the answer to that is yes.....everyone who knows me knows more than these few things, but they do know that:
1. I love to cook, talk about cooking, watching cooking shows, research recipes for hours on end and basically anything to do with cooking.
2. I am OCD.
3. I am not the best writer.

So there - all good reasons to start my own blog.

I have been following blogs for the last few years and honestly, I have just run out of people who will listen to my cooking ramblings so now I have turned to the masses of the Internet to be my latest sounding board. You're welcome.

Once I figure out how this blog works there will be more! I hope somebody out there gives a crap.