culinary adventures

Been too long

2011-09-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have still been cooking, of course. The hardest part for me is taking pictures and uploading them. I don't like posting without pictures because like most people, I want to see the final product. The fruits of my labor. But, alas, I shall post with no pictures because I want to share with you a couple awesome recipes I have made lately that I am really excited about.

Yesterday I made the most amazing salad. I mean, I want to make this weekly and have it be a regular park of my eating schedule. It's that good. I don't remember how I found this but it's from Vegetarian Times. Yummy. I know you will enjoy it and it's super healthy. It's called Sweet Potato and Apple Salad with Avocado. Lucy actually really liked it and I accidentally put a red onion in instead of a white onion. I must say it was really good.

Jason has been really busy with homecoming at his school and also made a trip back to Iowa for some high school visits so it gave me a chance to make some things he usually wouldn't eat. The kids enjoyed it a little I think but really I made them for me :). This one I found sounded really like fall to me so I had to give it a try. Plus, gnocchi, hello, is so good. The kids are a fan of that, especially Lucy. So give this one a try. It's a little more unique. Gnocchi with squash and kale. I must say one of my favorite things about fall is butternut squash. The sage in this one was a little strong for me so I would omit some of that, otherwise it was heaven.

Soon I am going to be making a soup I love. It's a midwinter minestrone from Rachael Ray Look and Cook. I remember making this one soon after Miles was born for me and my friend Susie. The porcini mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes in it lend an earthiness to the soup that is so beautiful. I use bacon instead of pancetta because I can never find that at my market. It works just fine and costs a lot less. I like to buy a package of bacon, portion it out in about three strips per bag and freeze them. I always have it on hand when I need it and I never need more than that amount.

I am also really loving kale. A yummy snack I like to make is to tear up pieces of kale (minus the firm stem running down the center which I remove) drizzle with evoo and a sprinkling of salt and bake at 350 for 12 minutes or so. Kale chips; so yummy and healthy. I am still trying to convince Lucy they are good. Oh well, it is green after all.

I just made another amazing soup last weekend from Rachael Rays Look and Cook. That is one of my favorite books I own. I bought it after making five things from it while checked out from the library. It's amazing. I have made at least a dozen recipes from it and all have been tasty. This is the soup I made which is really yummy. Ancho Chicken Tortilla Soup!

Loving Avocados

2011-05-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I could just sit and eat avocados all day long. Here is another recipe using avocados. It was so delicious. So so so good. I have to say though, not good the second day so be ready to eat a lot of it or share. It is so so good. My husband even liked it after commenting on how off putting the appearance of it was. I didn't think it looked bad at all. Yummmmm. Enjoy.

Holy Guacamole Cream Pasta

1 16oz pack of brown rice spaghetti or whole wheat pasta

1-2 avocados
2 garlic clove
4-6 tbsp milk or chicken stock
2 tbsp almonds
4 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tbsp jalapenos
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 plum tomato, chopped
4 green onions + more for garnish

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine avocado, garlic, milk, cashews, lime juice, cilantro, oil, and chili pwd. Pulse until smooth.
Add tomato and 2 green onions and pulse for 2-5 seconds until just combined.
Mix guacamole sauce in with pasta and serve with green onions sprinkled over top

New Recipe I am loving and hating

2011-05-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

I recently made this recipe for my friends on craft night. It was a big time hit. I had to make another batch already again. It's very inexpensive, simple ingredients, super healthy and most importantly very very yummy. I am excited to try variations on this recipe. I have thought about adding a jalapeno or using lime juice instead of lemon. I have thought about adding some tomatillo salsa or maybe even bacon. Yeah, bacon. The reason I am hating it, too damn good. The raw garlic is something I am not quite sure if I enjoy. I may try roasting some garlic next time. You definitely need it though or you can taste the chick peas. Please make this and enjoy the heck out of it.

Guacamole Hummus-Everyday Food

In a food processor, combine 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained. 3 cups fresh cilantro leaves, 1 garlic clove, chopped, and 1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped. Process until finely chopped. With machine running add 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a slow, steady stream and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, then add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is smooth. Season to taste with coarse salt and pepper.

I used two avocados. Not sure how it would be otherwise, all I know is the way I make it turns out divine.

If it makes you healthy

2011-04-25T12:41:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I caught Sheryl Crow on the Rachael Ray show. She has a new cookbook out that she wrote with her personal chef. All healthy recipes and ways to eat for maximum health. This week I am giving some more of the recipes a try. Last week it was the cashew sticky rice. This week I am trying Veggie Caponata Soup, a bulgur wheat salad, a potato salad and a quinoa pasta salad. So far I have tried the quinoa pasta salad. Very very good. I am not a huge fan of the quinoa pasta. Turned out really tough. If you want to try this salad and aren't feeling daring regular pasta would be good too and to be honest with you, no pasta would be really good too still. I love this salad so much. I will post it soon. The Veggie Caponata Soup is what we are having for dinner. I have made it a goal to serve my family at least two meatless meals per week. I myself will be eating more meatless meals for lunch as well. This soup is very tasty and unique. Here it is.

Veggie Caponata Soup
adapted from If It Makes You Healthy by Sheryl Crow and Chuck White

3 T canola oil
1 cup diced celery
1 medium red onion diced
1 T minced garlic
3 T tomato paste
4 c vegetable broth
2 c cremini mushrooms
1 1/2 c diced zucchini
1 1/2 c diced eggplant
2 c tomato juice
2 c diced tomatoes (I didn't read carefully enough so I dumped in to cans of diced tomatoes; after realizing this I only put in half the amount of tomato juice called for to make up for the extra liquid I had added. bone head!)
1/2 c chopped green olives
3 T drained capers
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 t sugar
salt and pepper
2 c packed arugula
1/2 c chopped basil

In a large pot add your oil and heat a minute or two. Then add the diced onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until softened. Add the 3 T of tomato paste for a minute adding a bit of stock so you don't burn the paste. Cook 2 minutes until stock has evaporated. Add the eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms and cook 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining broth, tomatoes, tomato juice, olives, capers, lemon juice, and sugar. Season to taste. Cook until veggies are softened, about 20-25 minutes. Serve topped with arugula and basil. Yummm. Enjoy.

I promise to get the others posted soon when I have some more free time to type them out. They are so new I can't find links to paste in here. Enjoy!

Still cooking

2011-04-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

I made something amazing today that I am so excited to dine upon again. Sheryl Crow has a new cookbook out called If It Makes You Healthy which is really a great book. I found this recipe in there and had to try it. Yummmmm.
Sticky Cashew Rice
1 1/4 c brown rice (I used short grain)
2 c water
1 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
2 T sugar
1 T salt
1 c cashews
green onions

Cook the rice accordingly. I always use my trusty rice cooker. Works much easier. I actually did 1c rice and 2 c water so I have no idea how it would turn out otherwise.
Whisk all the ingredients after the water together. When the rice in finished cooking spread out on a foil lined pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle the sauce mixture over the top. Add the cashews and green onions as well. Because I used less rice it was a little more liquidy than I desired so I actually cooked up some tofu and mushrooms in a wok for a bit then added the rice. I love this dish so much. I will dream about it.

My good buddy Laura and I decided that from now on every time we have a play date someone will make chocolate chip cookies. We are going to try all different recipes just for fun because we love chocolate chip cookies so much. This is the best one in the world so I am going to find it hard to make many others, alas I will though. Yum. You have to make these.

http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2011/03/01/levain-bakery-inspired-chocolate-chip-walnut-cookie-recipe/

I promise you that you can not find a better chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. I got 15 out of the batch and cooked them for about 11 minutes and let them cool on the pan for a few. They turned out perfect. I had to eat two in a row they are that good. I can't wait until thursday when I make them again. Yummm. Plus going to New York this summer and will dine upon the real thing then. The ones I dream of.

My sweet husband came home from the library with a Nigella cookbook. This is a really yummy Korean recipe I found and loved it. http://mikaspantry.blogspot.com/2011/03/nigellas-korean-keema.html Super simple and super super yummy. It had just the right amount of spice. It was so funny because serving it to my three year old she cried at first saying it was too spicy but then kept on going back to eating it. It's delicious.

Another recipe from the book was called Chinatown Chicken Salad. Super duper yummy. Very simple and fresh flavors.

dressing:
1 red or green chile seeded and diced
2 t chopped fresh gingeroot
4 t lime juice or rice vinegar
3 T soy sauce
splash of sesame oil
1/2 t sugar
I actually doubled this because it didn't seem like enough. I used 4 t of lime and 4 t of rice vinegar. Turned out great.
salad:
1/2 c salted peanuts chopped
1 iceberg lettuce chopped
1 1/2 c bean sprouts
4 scallions chopped
1 red bell pepper sliced thin
4 c shredded cooled chicken (used rotisserie chicken)
handful of fresh chopped cilantro
Assemble and serve with dressing. Enjoy.

Margarita Soft Fish Tacos
from none other than Rachael Ray. Still rockin the Look and Cook book of hers. Love it so much. This was a good recipe for one reason, the sauce. The fish was super dry to me. Not a fan. I would make these again with shrimp or shredded rotisserie chicken. I ended up eating the sauce for days. You could use it as a salsa with chips or serve it over some rice. I loved this sauce that much. I wasn't going to waste a drop of it and it did make a lot. Way more than you would ever need for this recipe but like I said, I was not sad about that. Super yummy.

I am really excited to get cooking more from the Sheryl Crow book. Very healthy recipes and very interesting flavors going on. It will be fun. Things I will probably have to make for me and Lucy but that's ok. I enjoy having a healthy lunch.

Look and Cook Marathon

2011-02-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

I checked out a Rachael Ray book from my library weeks ago, oops, it's overdue. Well worth it because we had some really good meals. My last two weeks of meal planning have come from this book. It is amazing. In fact, I ordered it for my cook book collection. I must have it for I would probably cry dropping it into the return slot at the library. The meals were that good. I unfortunately didn't take pictures of all of the meals but promise to include the ones I did take.

Tonight we had the Chicken Ragu. Phenominal. I am telling you delicious. It was the perfect meal for my little one who detests tomato sauce because it was a light sauce. The combination of Marsala wine and a can of plum tomatoes crushed in the pot were simple enough that she didn't really mind at all. Maybe I can convert her. I could not stop eating this meal. I am really looking forward to the leftovers. Yummy!

One of our favorites was the Shish Kabobs with Spanakopita Orzo. This was a restaurant quality meal. One of those meals where you are in disbelief that you actually made this in your own home. Tasty! I am telling you make this. I actually used beef stew meat from my grocer instead of lamb. The orzo was so awesome tasting. And the beef turned out super tender and flavorful. I was leery using dried herbs like this calls for but it was really tasty. I marinated the beef all day instead of doing it right before I cooked the meal. I wanted those flavors to really develop.

This was our Valentine's meal and I have to say was freaking amazing. How could it not be with arugula. This was another restaurant quality meal. I felt spoiled by the meals we were eating from this book. That is why I have to continue making more. This one is wild mushroom broken spaghetti "risotto" with arugula and hazelnuts.

Chinese orange-barbecue cashew chicken. This was a delicious one too. I have to say my least favorite of the bunch but really tasty. Does taste just like take out.

The rest of the meals I failed to take pictures of unfortunately. Rest assured, they too, were amazing. Midwinter Minestrone. I really loved this one. The chick peas are a nice change from the usual kidney beans you find in typical minestrone. This was very earthy with the porcini mushrooms and the bacon. I can never find pancetta in my market so I always use bacon. Same idea, less money I am sure. I actually just froze the rest of my bacon in portions in zip lock bags so I can pull it out when I need it. I would never go through a whole package of bacon otherwise.

Ancho Chicken Tortilla Soup. Freaking amazing. Once again. I loved this meal so so much. I could live on this soup alone. It was delicious and unique. The beer gives it a really great taste. Don't be intimidated by the dried peppers used in this recipe. It's super simple. Just another step is all. Really worth it. Those deep chili flavors can't be substituted. Amazing!

Sausage and Fish one pot. This was so so good and something I wouldn't typically cook. Have only cooked white fish one other time in my life. This was a really tasty and hearty dish. Looking back on it I used a whole pound of sausage. Lucy loved the fish. It was a really well rounded and healthy meal.

There was one more meal I didn't get to yet that I have the ingredients for. Teryaki Noodles. I am looking forward to them. I do have the beef in my freezer. I sometimes get a little carried away with my meal planning. Especially if I find a lot of recipes I am excited about. I can't wait to get my book in the mail and continue on with this journey. I love the things I have been creating in the kitchen and so does my family.

New idea

2011-01-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Since my life is so crazy now with two kids, I have decided to post all of my dishes for the week during the weekend. It's much easier for me since I will only have to download pictures one time. This was a good week. I have to say the first dish was phenomenal. Sausage and Zucchini Rice. This was just super delicious and simple yet full of flavor. I did a couple different things with the recipe. I cooked my 1 1/2 cups of rice in my rice cooker with three cups of the broth. Then after all the rest of my ingredients were cooked I added the rice in at the end. I never added the extra broth. I felt like it would have been really soupy. This was super moist and flavorful. I also used olive oil as a healthy substitute when sauteing the vegetables. I later decided to give it a richer flavor to add a tablespoon of Smart Balance Omega 3 butter. I must say it again, this dish was so yummy. I never wanted the leftovers to go away, alas they did, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The second dish was from a new cookbook I got for Christmas. America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. I have only looked through a few sections of the book and have already found a bunch of things I want to make. Thanks Mom! This recipe was Vegetable Lo Mein. I did really enjoy this recipe. Jason liked it a lot too. You don't miss the meat in it at all. Would be good with the addition of tofu. You can't go wrong with shiitake.
That's all I got around to this week. Jason was off for winter break and we were eating out a lot. Went to Chicago over his break and ate at two new places. One was Graham Elliot's new restaurant Grahamwich. When we first got to the city during the lunch hour we passed by and the line was winding all throughout the place and all they had was a communal table for maybe 16 at the most. Very tight in there and not stroller friendly at all. So we decided to do XOCO. Can't go wrong there. What a gong show that was though. Me and the kids went across the street to Starbucks to wait while Jason waited in line. One feeding and one poopy diaper later we finally had lunch. It was delightful. Jason had a special of beef mole torta and I had a carnitas torta. Lucy during a bad parenting moment had only chips and a churro dipped in melted chocolate. Oh yummmm! So we ended up getting lucky that night and headed to Grahamwich around 7:30. There were only a few people in there and no line. Awesome. We could dine in. Our original plan was to take it up to the room. Jason got the grilled cheese which was insane. I swear when I saw them making it that they plopped a couple tablespoons of butter on the melted cheese inside the sammy just for funsies. I had a bahn mi. It was good. That's all I have to say really. I have made bahn mi at home that taste just as good. Not to sound full of myself. There was just nothing unique about it. Me ordering the wrong thing really. The pork belly wasn't that great on it either. We also ordered the special popcorn which made me wanna puke. Just had a pungent taste to it. Had some powdered cheese on it and truffle oil. Jason and Lucy loved it. We ordered the pickled vegetables. Those were good. I would have ate them but wanted to be nice to my breastfed child. It was a fun dining experience and I would go back for sure to order something else.
The second place we went that was just over the top good, great, excellent, amazing, I have dreams about it. Yolk. I had sent my parents there on their stay in Chicago having heard it was good and they couldn't say enough great things about it. Jason tried the same thing my dad had which was called the Tour de France. Banana bread french toast with bananas, orange french toast with strawberry sauce and a poppy seed french toast with an orange sauce. It was also served with peanut butter for the banana bread. It was so so good. My favorite was the orange bread. I had some whole grain pancakes with granola in the actual batter with blueberries then topped with bananas. Everything was quality and so so fresh and tasty. The environment was fun and bright and all the waiters were very friendly. We are thinking of driving down tomorrow just to eat there again. On the kids menu they had smores pancakes and oreo pancakes. The menu is just super unique with lots of healthy choices too.

Crazy Life

2010-10-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since the birth of my little ine Miles things have been a little nuts. I assure you that I am still cooking, although the posting has been tough. Bear with me as I journey back into my real life.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/balsamic-beans-recipe/index.html

This is an awesome recipe I made for me and Lucy one day. It is so simple and so delicious. I actually used bacon instead of pancetta because I had some on hand. It's a great dish I highly recommend.

As for now I am just checking in to make sure I don't get booted off and to let you all know I am still here and still cooking, just trying to get back to my old routine of things, or rather yet, a new routine of things.

Everyday Food, everyday yum!

2010-08-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have still been cooking from my Everyday Food cookbooks. They are really hooking us up. I have been very very pleased with how every recipe has come out. Full of flavor and healthy. We love the meals so far. I plan on continuing to cook from them from now on. Why not? It hasn't let us down once.
Jason's mom was in town for the weekend and I made Shittake Fried Rice and Lucy helped me make a Nectarine Upside-Down Cake that was delightful. The recipe for the cake can be found below as it has not been posted online yet. That one actually came from my September issue of the magazine Everyday Food. The fried rice was delicious. I used brown rice instead of basmati rice. It turned out really delicious and very healthy.

Nectarine Upside-down Cake
Adapted from Everyday Food 9/10

10 T unsalted butter divided into 6 and 4 T
1/2 c dark brown sugar
4 cups fresh or frozen nectarines chopped into bite size pieces and dabbed dry of juices
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking pwd
1/2 t coarse salt
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

Preheat your oven to 325 and place four tablespoons of butter into a 9" pan. Melt the butter in the pan in the warmed oven. Remove and sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Then add your nectarines spreading evenly over the brown sugar.
In a mixing bowl combine the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 c sugar. After creamed add the two eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking pwd. Whisk to combine. In alternate additions add the greek yogurt and dry ingredients. After combined drop into large globs over the nectarines in the pan. Carefully spread over the fruit and bake for one hour and ten minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the edges and turn pan over onto a serving plate. Enoy!
This cake was so good. You could easily do it with any other stone fruit. I used fresh nectarines in mine and it turned out lovely.

The next dish that I made was Pasta with Roasted Summer Vegetables and Basil. This was an excellent dish. I have to say I did not have enough basil so that really hurt it, but looking back I could have easily added a little pesto. This was a delicious dish and the veggie to pasta ratio was great because it was about even. Nothing drives me nuts more than pasta with a little something in it. I don't want a plate of noodles for crying out loud. This was loaded with veggies. We loved it.
Last night I made a dish that really just made me scream literally. It was so, so good. Everyone loved it. I will be making it again for sure and Jason made sure to let me know I needed to as well. I try so many new things I forget about the good ones we have had. Moo Shu Pork served on tortillas with a little Hoisin sauce. Heaven, I mean pure heaven. I couldn't find the recipe online but I will add it later. Times it limited in these last few days of my cooking freedom as Miles with soon be joining us and this will all come to a sad stand still. I shall cook again, just not sure when. Enjoy!

More yumminess.

2010-08-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Again, another recipe from Everyday Food. And once again divine. I could eat this dish again and again. It was a bit time consuming but not difficult at all. I would highly recommend this dish. It's healthy and flavorful and fairly inexpensive. Barley Risotto with Corn and Basil. It was creamy and rich. I loved it. I served it with a little side salad and there you have it. A healthy, delicious meal. Give it a try for sure.

Yummy

2010-08-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made another recipe from my Everyday Food cookbook. It was delightful. Hit the spot. Just what I needed. It was healthy and flavorful. Bean, Corn and Tortilla Salad. I used Montery Jack cheese instead of Pepperjack just to make sure it wasn't too strong for Lucy. I actually ended up making my own salsa from the same book as well for the salad instead of buying it. It can end up being cheaper and it just tastes that much better. The salsa was Yellow Tomato Salsa Verde. I used red tomatoes because yellow weren't available at my market. It was so good. I ended up drizzling it onto my salad as well to give it some more moisture. This salad was a great salad. I would highly recommend making this salad. It's super easy and inexpensive. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

Totally yummy breakfast

2010-08-01T18:07:00.001-07:00

I know I post a lot of recipes by Ellie Krieger but hey, she is amazing and has never disappointed. I recently was given her So Easy cookbook by my awesome husband who knows I love her. All of her dishes are super healthy because she is a dietitian. I have never made anything very complicated for breakfast so I decided to go for something really great. Blueberry almond french toast bake. I must say it was super super easy and produced an amazing breakfast and what later became our dinner. This was an excellent dish. When I first made it I thought what am I doing, this will never get eaten, it made so much. But at the end of this glorious day there are two small helpings left that will be eating in the morning. It would be a great dish to make for company and I know we plan on making it again at the end of this month when we bring home our little baby boy. I look forward to that. Well, both things.

Beer chicken and some yummy carrots

2010-07-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made my first braised chicken. I have to say it was a lot of work, this meal. It was tasty but a lot of work. Lately I feel like getting food to the table is such a hassle. It's the pregnant me talking but does there have to be so many steps and so many damn dishes.
So I made a Beer Braised Chicken. I hate using thigh meat but I didn't want to compromise the dish. Thought about trying it with a turkey breast but wasn't sure how long to cook it and didn't want it to become a complete failure. So the chicken did turn out super moist and tender of course, but it's a fatty cut of meat so it's no fail really. There is also bacon in this which I typically don't cook with but went with it anyhow. I ended up draining out most of the bacon fat before cooking the chicken. I just couldn't bring it upon myself to leave all that fat in there knowing I was about to put olive oil in the pot with some dark meat chicken. It still turned out. I have never cooked with pearl onions and they were a nice addition. I used Fat Tire beer because my market didn't sell a dark ale. This is an amber ale and the flavor was nice. Love the smell of beer cooking in the kitchen. Yummy.
I also cooked some Roasted Carrots with Za'atar. It's a spice I had long ago at a Christmas party. It's a blend of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. It's a spice commonly found in Middle Eastern foods. So delish. When I had it, it was mixed with salt and olive oil and used as a pita bread dip. It was so heavenly and I had always wished to add it to my pantry. Now I have a huge bag of it. You can use it for many many things. Add it to cooked rice, pizza dough, bread dough, marinades. There are so many uses for it. The carrots were awesome. I didn't have a lemon as I thought I had so I went without but it was great still. Jason told me several times, I don't eat cooked carrots but there are awesome. Lucy had two helpings. They were really really good. I know I will be making them again for sure. I am happy there are leftovers.

A streak of cooking

2010-07-20T17:02:00.001-07:00

I might as well post while I can as I haven't been too creative in the kitchen and who knows what I will be eating once I have this baby.
So lately I have been cooking from Everyday Food Magazine.

lemony pasta with wilted arugula
This first one I actually made two times within a week because I had a whole bag of beautiful arugula that I didn't want to go to waste and it was so good the first time. We used chicken in it the first time and shrimp the second time. I liked the chicken a little more but both were delightful. The protein was my addition to the recipe. Would be awesome without as well. Just wanted a little something extra. It's so light and summery. Kids would love this one too.

thai beef with chiles and basil over coconut rice
This was super good and a nice change of pace. It was super simple, full of flavor and kid friendly. I only used one green jalapeno and minced it as to try and hide it from my little one. It had the perfect amount of heat and not too hot for her. I didn't make coconut rice as I do not like the flavor of coconut but I know it would compliment this dish very well. I would highly recommend this one. Jason called it a keeper.

eggplant salad with israeli couscous and basil
I really enjoyed this dinner. I am excited to eat it again tomorrow. I served it hot and it was great. I know it will be good cold too. I did add one container of baby bella mushrooms chopped and made a double batch of the couscous. I used a pretty large eggplant as well along with four or five smaller shallots. It was a really nice meatless dinner.

Wild Rice Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette
The salad here was from a girls blog that I really like Joy the Baker. She is really inventive and I love reading her blog. So she posted this salad she made and it looked good so I went for it. It was really really good. I did make the dressing too and was very good. Had to adjust it until it tasted like I liked it. Very healthy.

feeling inspired

2010-07-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have been so mad about the garbage I have been putting into my body lately that I finally decided to take action. I wanted to make a salad that I could have in the fridge and take out for any meal. I bought some tricolor pasta and cooked about half the bag for the base of it. Then for the veggies I sauteed one shallot chopped, two cloves of garlic minced, one medium sweet potato diced, one squash diced and some large white mushrooms roughly chopped in a tablespoon of olive oil and a few splashes of blasamic vinegar. I put the lid on my pan and cooked it on low for fifteen minutes to soften the veggies. I added those to the noodles with some salt, pepper, one tablespoon of olive oil and a half tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. It is delicious. I must stay I am very impressed with myself. Not that it's super complicated or anything but that it's really tasty. I think the only thing I would add now is some fresh basil or some other fresh herbs. Maybe chives or rosemary. You should really try it out. My three year old gobbled it up and she is not a veggie girl. The colored noodles probably helped. Enjoy.

In a funk

2010-07-07T17:48:00.001-07:00

This pregnancy is really taking a toll on my kitchen time. I think I may have mentioned this before and it goes on. My back aches as I stand there and prep the food. I don't think I enjoy it as much right now. Today I was so mad at the crap I have been putting into my body that I decided forget this. I am the only one controlling what goes into my body and I am not going to let a little effort get in the way of that. Good healthy food is simple to make. The hardest part is getting to the store to get the things you need. That and shelling shrimp. Man, I feel like it took me forever tonight. Ugh. It was worth it though. I made another recipe from one of my Everyday Food cookbooks. This one was a brown rice bowl with shrimp, snow peas, and avocado. It was so delicious. I mean way better than I thought it was going to be. A ton of flavor. Get nervous using lemon juice. Not something I usually cook with and it's such a strong flavor. It was great. The perfect flavor. Lucy loved it. Jason loved it. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. I am going to eat it cold like a salad. Can't imagine heating it up with avocado in it. Please try this salad. It's very inexpensive and most of the ingredients you will more than likely have on had. White rice would do if you don't want to use brown. Brown just tastes so much healthier plus it's a little more substantial. I feel like white rice sometimes gets a little soggy with sauce on it. Make this recipe and enjoy! So yummy!

Yummy yummy chicken.

2010-06-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

I purchased two new cookbooks today. Everyday Food Great Food Fast and Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast. I love my magazine for Everyday Food so it only made sense to add these two books to my collection. We already tried one of the recipes today from Great Food Fast: Buttermilk Baked Chicken. I have never made anything like this so it was a lot of fun and I must say it was really easy. It was so flavorful and the chicken was so juicy (even the breast). We served it with a Carrot and Cumin slaw. That too was very good. I used a lot more cabbage than I did carrots. That's a lot of carrot. It calls for three shredded and only 1/4 of the cabbage. I used 3/4 of the cabbage and one carrot shredded. It seems like it needs something else but it is really good and refreshing. I had so much of the breading left over that I used some chicken breasts I had in the fridge to make chicken strip but simply cutting the breast meat into strips and nuggets and breading them. Froze them and will eat them another day. I can't wait until that day comes! So so so good.

Best Sloppy Joes Ever for real this time.

2010-04-25T11:06:00.001-07:00

I was looking through all my recipes trying to get some sort of inspiration in the kitchen. It's been hard lately. Nothing is sounding all that good to me. I found a recipe I had forever, Tango Joes from Rachael Ray. She had me at chimichurri. I didn't take pictures because it wasn't going to be that interesting of a picture, but believe me when I tell you that these things were full of flavor and a very very good flavor. I would highly suggest making these. Your family will love them. My husband did.
I served them with Ina's scalloped tomatoes. I have made them before and had been wanting them lately so I did it. I must say I really simplified the recipe for myself. I cubed the bread and then toasted it on a dry cookie sheet in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. I couldn't get them crispy in the pan the way the recipe calls for. And instead of cooking the tomatoes on the stove top for five minutes, I just skipped that step and mixed it all up in my baking dish and baked it as directed. Turned out the same if not better. My bread was crispier this time. I can't believe I timed it all out right but I pulled it off and it was a great lunch.

Super healthy, super yummy.

2010-04-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

Found a new recipe on foodgawker.com from my girl Ellie Krieger. She has a new book out which I haven't been lucky enough to own yet, but one day will. It's called So Fresh Meals for Every Day of the Week. I love the way she cooks because it's usually pretty simple and creates such flavorful healthy dishes. Last night I made shrimp with cherry tomatoes, garlic, white wine, basil and orzo. Phenominal. I mean, this was some good stuff right there. And when you see basil in anything you know it's gonna be good. Here is the link to the blog where I found this recipe. They probably own the book. http://www.handletheheat.com/2010/04/garlic-basil-shrimp.html
You must try this one. It's so simple for real and the outcome is so flavorful and light. It's that time of year when we need these kind of dishes.

Our New York trip 2010

2010-04-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is our third time visiting New York City. The first time Pearl Jam brought us there. After eating so many amazing things our first trip, food is what brought us there the next two times. This was a great trip. Lots and lots of food. Our months and months of research really paid off.

We flew in late in the afternoon on a Sunday. Got to our hotel around 2 or so. Of course we needed a snack. So we walked on over to Chinatown to Vanessa's Dumplings. This place was insane. Sits less than 20 people including the stand up counter in front of the window. We ordered some pork dumplings (4), pork buns (3), and a sesame "pancake" with cilantro, carrots and cucumbers, also a water. Our total was $4.50. What? How can this be legal. I kept thinking, oh the quality won't be there, oh the portions will be small. When Jason brought us our food I could hardly wait. The buns were big and soft. The dumplings too were very big and stuffed. Then my sesame pancake, which I previously read was awesome, looked so good. It was like a big triangle piece of sesame pizza crust cut horizontally then stuffed with veggies. They had a mystery sauce on the table that was some sort of oil and spices. We used that in combination with some soy sauce and it was delicious. This place stayed on our minds the entire trip. We had planned to go again on our last day but couldn't fit it in. For $4.50 that meal filled us up for awhile and the taste and quality was great.
We walked around Chinatown a little bit and checked out a store we like called Pearl River Market. Lots of Chinese goods. In the evening we had tickets to a comedy club we had been on our previous trip called Upright Citizens Brigade. So we headed over to that neighborhood so that we could find somewhere to eat for dinner before the show. We ended up choosing a pizza place called Co. Since we were eating early their was no wait but I will tell you, once we had been in there a bit the place was full and people were waiting. I had read this. The menu was awesome.
We decided to share a salad and then a pizza. We chose a radicchio salad with shiitake mushrooms, taleggio cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This is the moment we knew this place was going to be great. The salad was amazing. I mean, yeah it seems simple, yet it was so complex in it's flavors. It was a delicious salad. We chose the Stracciatella pizza. Crushed tomatoes, black pepper, stracciatella and arugula. Again, freaking out of this world. It was thin and only four slices which left me wanting more, but it was so so good. Probably one of our favorite meals of the trip. Since we weren't stuffed we decided to order desert. It was a graham cracker cookie crust that was so crisp and thick I wanted to get as many bites of the back of the piece as I could before Jason got to it. Then it was a layer of bananas, toffee flavored whipped cream and crumbled on top with candied hazelnuts. This pie was insane. So delicious. I am glad that Jason talked me into getting it. It was the perfect meal.
The comedy club was super funny. It was an improv show where the audience shouts out a word and they make the whole set based on that topic. Pretty funny stuff. Amy Pollard and Horatio Sanz were the creators of the show so they were the hosts and participated which was fun to see. Then there was Jack McBreyer from 30 rock which was super funny to see. It was a good time.

After the show I had to have my NY pretzel. It was so worth the walk. Had to walk all the way up to Madison Square Garden to find a cart. Man it was killer. Smoky tasting, crusty on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Yum.

The next morning we hit up our breakfast joint we kept reading all about and I must say there is a reason it gets all the talk it does. This place was freaking amazing. My dream breakfast. Clinton Street Bakery. If you ever go to NY you have to have breakfast here. They are known for their blueberry pancakes. Jason ended up ordering those. I had my heart set on these biscuits I kept seeing everyone eating. Our waitress informed us that they were all out and wouldn't be ready for another 20 minutes. I ended up picking the Southern breakfast and I am so so glad I did because it was my favorite meal of the trip by far. It was fried green tomatoes, cheesy grits, a ham steak and two eggs. Talk about freaking amazing. I mean this stuff was good. The tomatoes were crispy on the outside. The grits were so rich and smooth. The combo bites were killer. Jason even loved it. I think he was kind of jealous.

His pancakes were good as well. Came with a maple butter that really took those pancakes to another level.
We ended up ordering a biscuit as they were ready before our food came out. Man, I am so glad we did because this thing was heaven and it didn't hurt that they give you this little silver pot of home made strawberry jam. I am telling you, this was a meal from heaven. I will dream about it for the rest of my life. This place knows what they are doing.
We walked around for a bit and then decided we were going to do lunch at this place called Lukes Lobster. It got mixed reviews so we were only going to check it out. When we got there it was a hole in the wall and the lobster rolls were very small for $14 a pop. I didn't want to spend that on a meal for lunch. The crazy thing was there was only one place I told Jason I would pull a repeater on, on this trip and that was Caracas Arepas Bar. It happened to be right next door so we ended up eating there. I am convinced they have the best lunch special in the entire city.

For only $7.95 you can order a salad or soup and one arepa. The arepas alone are almost $7 a piece. This salad was super super good too. So we both ordered the salad and this time we ordered a beef empanada with black beans, plantains and salty cheese. He ordered a grilled chorizo arepa with spicy white cheese, jalapenos and sauteed peppers. Mine was shredded pork with tomatoes and a spicy mango sauce. Loved it. Once again a total hit. I would recommend this place highly to anyone who wants a really unique cheap lunch that is super delicious and high in quality. Saw it first on an episode of Bobby Flay Throwdown years ago. Arepa's are like a Venezuelan burger. The outside is made of corn and it's crisp and puffy at the same time, then they cut it open and fill it. Great great value and superb taste!

After lunch we headed up to Macy's for the 35th Annual Flower Show. It was amazing. Thousands of flowers planted everywhere. It is definitely something to see. I am so glad we did. We were lucky to be there at the right time to catch it.

This was a hot air balloon made out of Martha Stewart bed sheets. In the bottom was the flower arrangement seen above. It was beautiful. I couldn't get a good picture of the entire thing because it was right in front of the main doors.

These insects were hanging on the ceiling throughout. They were made out of flowers.
After the Flower Show we headed back to Union Square where we had dinner reservations at Craftbar. We were a little early so we stopped into a shop across the street called Fishes Eddy. It was the coolest store ever. All home goods. Mainly kitchen stuff and almost everything was breakable so we couldn't really buy anything sadly, but they do have a web site, so look out. Check it out for sure. It is so cool.
We headed across to dinner. We started with an appetizer of Pecorino risotto balls in a spicy tomato broth. They were good. Jason liked them more than me I think. They did have a nice crisp outside with a tender rich inside. The texture was there, the flavor was a little lacking for me. I was more interested in the crispy foccacia breadsticks on the table. I think I must have eaten at least three of them. Yummy.

Next we ordered the grilled octopus salad. When it arrived it was char black. After tasting it we sent it back. They brought us a new one and it was much more tasty. It was served with fingerling potatoes and a lemon puree. Again, good, not great.

For our entrees Jason ordered the Peking duck confit, duck egg, savoy cabbage, chestnut, and
yellow foot chanterelles. He very much enjoyed it. I was not a fan. Too rich for me. Very musty flavors.
I ordered the Dayboat scallop, celery, pancetta, smoked orange purée. It was not as flavorful as it sounds. The scallops were cooked perfectly which is really the only thing it had going for it. It was just too bland for me.
That night we went to our favorite book store, The Strand and picked out some books for our favorite little reader. We always have to hook her up. It's a must do when in NY. Three or four floors, I can't ever remember. Discount books. Millions and millions of books. After heading out from there we went on over to Max Brenner's which we have been to before but I really wanted something sweet. So we shared a chocolate chip cookie. They heated it up for you. It was awesome. That cookie was the most loaded with chocolate than any cookie I have ever seen. It was amazing. They specialize in chocolate. A chocolate dessert bar really, but they also do serve food. Go for the chocolate. It's like Wonka in there. Very whimsical. I love it.
The next morning was crazy. It was the worst wind and rain ever. I had to go buy galoshes and we ended up with two umbrellas. We took the subway up to our favorite bagel place ever in NY and after walking in the wind and rain, we get to the place and posted on the door was a sign saying they would be closed for three days for Passover. How disappointing was that? We ended up going right next door and getting bagels. They aren't too hard to find in NY.

Went up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was huge. We had a great time there. Spent a good two hours or more seeing some amazing art.

We headed over to a new location of Shake Shake now on the upper west side. We have wanted to go to Shake Shack every trip to NY but there is always a super long line. So it finally happened and now we know what all the fuss is about. These were the best burgers ever. I was so hungry I ordered the double thinking it was going to be pretty small. No, these were thick and juicy. I mean juice literally ran out with every bite. And I am not kidding you when I tell you that these were the best fries I have ever had in my entire life. Yeah, they look ordinary, but I am telling you, they aren't. They are made from Yukon gold potatoes and the flavor was just insane. I will dream of those fries daily now. We also had to try a shake because it is after all, the Shake Shack. They are known for their custard and it delivered. It was thick and rich and full of flavor. We ordered the black and white which was vanilla custard with chocolate sauce blended in. I know we will be going there for sure on our next trip.
We had to stop at the huge FAO Schwartz. That store is insane. There were so many things that we wanted to bring home for Lucy but we settled on a collection of plastic insects. They were a huge hit. Walked down Fifth Ave in the rain and wind looking for the big Disney store only to find out it was closed. That was a huge disappointment as I had really wanted to find something for Lucy.
We went back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. This was the night we had been waiting for Mario Batali's Babbo. Very hard to get reservations and I pulled it off somehow. I always invisioned it as this dark room full of little tables. The downstairs was just that, but then they walked us up to the most beautiful room filled with tons of light. Everything was white and crisp. It was really lovely and not stuffy as I had imagined it to be. The servers were super friendly and helpful in explaining the dishes.

We started the meal out with an amuse bouche. It was a crostini with some marinated chick peas. It was tasty and a great sign of things to come.

As a started we ordered the marinated Gulf shrimp with cardoons, budding chives and jalapeno vinaigrette. It was outstanding. The shrimp was so fresh and the jalapeno provided just the right amount of kick. It was so flavorful and bright. We really enjoyed it.

I decided after much consideration to order the homeade orecchiette with sweet sausage and rapini. It was so good. I am so happy I chose it. The meat and sauce were so rich and the pasta had a bite to it. It was a really really great dish. I was just sad to not be able to eat it all. I had to order these peas. I am glad I did because it prevented me from eating all of my heavy pasta. I could not stop eating those dang peas.

Jason ordered the beef cheek ravioli with a squab liver sauce. It was far to rich for me but he really enjoyed it. It's one of their specialties and we had read about it online. They ended our meal with a plate of Italian cookies, compliments of the chef. Such a nice touch. I would highly recommend Babbo if you are visting NY and love food. It was a great experience and the food was amazing.
After dinner we walked in the pouring rain and gusting winds to the historic Angelika Film Theatre to see a movie we read about called Greenburg staring Ben Stiller. A more independent movie that turned out to be really really lame. It was fun to go sit a for a bit and let our food settle while getting out of the rain.

We started our next day at the Union Square Farmers Market. It was much bigger this year than it was last year at this same time. I was so super happy because my stand was there where I had eaten the most delicious apple cranberry bar. We also got some hot apple cider to share. I was kicking myself all day because I decided to buy a ton of baked goods and wound up carrying them around all day in my bag. Idiot. I was happy later when I was enjoying those delightful goodies.

Jason really wanted to try the breakfast sandwiches at wichcraft a Tom Collichio restaurant. He ordered a fried egg sandwich with frisee, bacon and gorgonzola. It was delicious.

I ordered the stone ground grits with smoked ham and cheddar then finished off with a drizzle of olive oil and cracked black pepper. It was delicious, although I have to admit it would have been a lot more delicious had I not had the best grits in the world previously at Clinton Street Bakery. Sorry Tom.

Today was our big Brookly day. We had never been to Brooklyn and so we wanted to dedicate a day to explore part of NY we had never seen. We started by heading over to the tkts booth to try and score some discount Broadway show tickets. We ended up getting tickets to the show we wanted to see, although we did have to spend more than I had originally wanted to, it's NY baby and we had never been to a show. In The Heights, awesome seats, $92 each. Something like that.
After that, we timed it perfectly I must say, we headed to the one place we had been so excited to go and it lived up to the hype ten fold. Di Fara in Brooklyn, rated the best pizza in NY city. Total hole in the wall joint.

It's a family operation with only three employees. The main guy who makes the pies, his daughter takes the orders and his brother helps with the prep work. We hit is just in time because there were only four tables in this joint. By the time a table opened up for us our pie was ready in minutes. It's the most amazing beautiful thing, this pie. When it's pulled from the coal fire oven the owner goes over to a big box of fresh basil leaves, grabs a handful and a pair of scissors and cuts it generously over the top of the hot pie, permeating that beautiful basil smell into the air. The love doesn't end there, he grabs a huge piece of parmesan cheese and feeds it through a cheese grater and he sprinkles it all over the top of the pie. After that, yeah, it's still not over, he grabs a silver pitcher with a long skinny spout and drizzles olive oil all over the top.

I can not even begin to tell you how amazing this pizza is. If you ever have the chance to make the trip over there, I would highly recommend it. To be honest there aren't many things I have tasted in my entire life that are better than this.

And of course we finished it off. We each had four huge slices. There is no way in hell I was going to let one of those pieces go to waste. After eating this pie I felt great, satisfied, rebirthed.

After lunch was the perfect time to finally make the trek I had dreamed would never happen: to Baked. It's a bakery I had first discovered on Martha Stewart I believe and then bought and baked many things from their cook book. It's way out in Red Hook Brooklyn. It probably took us 30-45 minutes to get there if you count the walking all the way to the train then the train ride then the long trek through the ghetto to get to it. All I kept thinking was how is this place going to be over here, this is a terrible neighborhood? The other thing I kept thinking is why the hell Red Hook? This was like one street in the hood that was decent. We really didn't walk around much once we got there so maybe there was something I missed but it sure seemed shady to me.
The bakery was everything I hoped for and more. I wanted to try everything. Jason got a chocolate, rice crispy, peanut butter bar. It was sort of like a scotcharoo how it was put together. At first, all I got was the one thing I wanted and that was the salted caramel brownie. I bought that, then decided I couldn't really not try their chocolate chip cookie, and then there was this piece of bundt cake (last slice, too) sitting right by the register calling my name. Burnt caramel bundt cake with a caramel buttercream.

It was super dense with a dense crumb. The icing really didn't taste like much to me other than sweet and the cake didn't really taste much like caramel but it was good. I liked it much better without the icing which surprised me because I usually love icing. I think this particular one was just far to sugary for me. Not sure, but it was good. I have to say, when I did finally try the cookie it was out of this world and for the brownie, it was divine too. It tasted like when you make the box mix and if you eat one right when it's out of the oven. Really fudgy. It was very dense and rich. I loved it. Glad I tried a few things. It was worth the trip, even though I wondered if I was going to make it there alive.

We opted to take the city bus back to a part of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. We have always wanted to check it out. Jason read about this cooking store called Brooklyn Kitchen. It was awesome. Right when you walk in you smell the most amazing smell. Like smoked cooking bacon or something. I don't know what it was but man, this meat looked so good. What I wouldn't give to have a selection like that around. Dangerous for the pocketbook but good for the body. They had tons of interesting cooking ingredients and gadgits. The upstairs was dedicated to the baker. They even had a kitchen up there for demos and classes. It was a really nice place and if you love cooking I would highly recommend visiting this place.
We walked around Williamsburg for awhile. It was a lot of high end boutique shops. Reminded me of Bucktown. It was nice to be out walking, but at this point of the day I felt like I couldn't go on. This was the most walking we had done our entire trip. It was crazy. Up and down the subway stairs, up and down the sidewalks from here to there. Me being 16 weeks pregnant didn't help the matter. Usually I would have been fine. So we headed back to Manhattan for dinner.
We finally hit up the last of our Momofuku restaurants. Well, other than the newest one that we didn't get a chance to make it up to. Ssam bar was recently rated number 26 on a list of the Top 50 Best Restaurants in the World. I would say that says a little something.

The first dish we had was fried baby artichokes with pistachio, sunchokes, bottarga. You can pretty much assume that nothing is going to be ordinary when it comes to David Chang. This was a delicious and light dish. Tons of crisp and tons of flavor.

Ok and this is where we really start to become gluttons. We couldn't decide between these two so we got them both which I was kicking myself for later. The first one was bread & butter with sea salt butter and whipped lardo. Can I just tell you that this was pure heaven. I would never eat anything like this in a million years but I did and it was insane. I don't know exactly what goes into make whipped lardo, and I don't want to, but it was so good. And the two of them together was pure heaven. But not only did we order that, we had to order the edward’s wigwam country ham. Can I just tell you that bread smeared with a little lardo, butter, and ham was like heaven in my mouth. It was really enjoyable to sit and eat that.

The last dish was Jason's choice. He really wanted to try it. This was tripe with crushed peanuts. It was interesting. In case you don't know what tripe is, it's beef tendon. Yeah, weird I know. One reason I would have never ordered it. But I have to say, it was really tasty. I was a little put off by the texture and it was served cold like a salad which I also found a little ofputting but overall it was a really tasty dish. The tendon was actually really tender and almost like a noodle. Intersting.

After dinner we headed off to Time Sqauare for our first Broadway show: In The Heights. It was really really good I must say and the winner of 4 Tony Awards. I would highly recommend it to anyone and our seats were killer. They were center stage and not too far back. It was a small theatre too which helped. I am really happy we went.

We started our final day off with bagels. We really wanted to try a new bagel joint and had seen this one on tv and thought it looked good. I have to say I have never had a harder time eating bread in my life. This would explain people eating theirs one half at a time and I don't mean like you see in the picture here, I mean like take the top off and eat the bottom and then the top. It was the toughest bagel ever. I felt like my jaw was going to dislocate itself trying to chew the damn thing. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Hey, but we tried it.
We headed up to Zabar's to pick up some black and white cookies for people back home, especially Lucy since that is the only thing she asked for. They have the best ones in the city.

Then we got to go to a bakery I was really pumped about. Levain Bakery, which is known for their super heavy cookies that are almost raw in the middle. They were probably one of the best cookies of my life. I bought two of them. I was so happy I did because I got to enjoy one days after coming home from our trip. These cookies are to die for. I am so sad to know that it costs a whopping $47.52 just to order 4 cookies. $22 for the cookies themselves and $25.62 for shipping. Outrageous but one day you never know, I may crave them enough that I just go for it.
At the end of our trip we wanted to see Battery Park so we headed on down there after the cookies. It was really neat. Lots and lots of tourists though. This is where you get on the boats to Ellis Island so the there was a line weaving in and out of the entire park. I don't know how they get through everyone and I don't know how long most people end up waiting but man, I can't even imagine. It was really neat to see. They had a sculpture from the World Trade Center that was all magled from the attack. That was very somber.
This was really a great trip. I always hold the memories we make on these trips close to my heart because it's something that me and Jason share a love for and will always remember. I look forward to our next visit. I am not sure when that will be with little Miles on the way, but I know it will be down the road somewhere.

NY Cookies

2010-04-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Our New York trip was awesome. We had a blast and ate some damn good food. I was super happy when I found this recipe online because Levain Bakery had the best chocolate chip cookies. Me and Jason shared one and then I had a spare for later. Froze it when we got home and it didn't stay in there long. Think I took it out less than a week later. Still delightful. So I made these cookies last night. I have to say they turned out really yummy. They looked just like the cookies from Levain. I didn't have walnuts so just did chocolate. Didn't have amazing chocolate like them, just Nestle chunks, but still good. I thought there was a mistake on the recipe because it didn't call for vanilla but then realized it was supposed to be that way. I have to admit that vanilla is my favorite thing about baked goods so it was really hard for me not to add it anyhow. I must say, they were really really tasty and you didn't miss the vanilla at all. It really lets you pick up on the other flavors of the cookie. I was nervous because I didn't have enough brown sugar to pack it and I didn't have much light brown sugar. Used 1/4 c light brown and the rest dark brown. Was worried about that too but they still turned out. The only thing I didn't like about them was that they were a little too cakey. I was worried about taking them out early to allow them to be doughy in the middle in fear of them sinking. They were still super soft in the middle just not as gooey as I would have liked them to be. I think next time I will add a little less baking soda and cook them for less time. All in all, these were really really good cookies. I will be making them again for sure and this time with nuts and killer chocolate.

Another soup, damn weather

2010-03-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

It snowed again this weekend. After two weeks of being in the 50's and 60's. On the first day of spring, it snowed. Oh well. It's already starting to melt. I wanted to take full advantage of the cold weather coming again and make some hearty soup. Yummmmmm. Pasta e fagioli from my favorite web site, foodgawker.com. The soup was delicious. I did used two cans of white beans instead of soaking dry beans. I also used a can of diced tomatoes with about 2 cups of tomato sauce. I like having the bits of tomato in there to enjoy. Served it topped with grated fresh parm and a loaf of rustic bread. What a delightful lunch and can't wait to have it again for dinner. YUMMMMMMMMMM!

Tomato love, or is it basil, heck it's both

2010-03-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

I was watching Barefoot Contessa on saturday morning on the Food Network. She was talking about the produce she gets in the summer. She made the most amazing thing I have ever seen and knew I must make it so that I could taste it in all of its delight. Scalloped Tomatoes. That's right, not potatoes, tomatoes. Totally Italian, totally fresh, and totally amazing. It was perfect because we had made the tomato soup and had a huge loaf of bread left. This recipe starts out with toasting cubes of bread in a pan with oil. Yummmy. So I did it, and I must tell you it was amazing. I mean absolutely amazing. I would sit and eat it for a meal. I could not believe how much I loved it. I will be making it again throughout the summer now that tomatoes will be in full swing and plenty of fresh basil. I ended up using some larger cherry tomatoes that I found at the store. Just halved them and it was perfect. I loved the sweetness of the smaller tomatoes. I would highly recommend doing the same. Enjoy!

Simple recipe you must make

2010-03-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am always excited when I get a new magazine in the mail, mainly because all of mine are food magazines and it means new recipes! In my new Body and Soul Magazine they had a section on eating more veggies and this was a recipe I found. I knew I had to make it right away. You have to believe me when I tell you, this was one of the most delicious things I have ever made at home. It's one of those things that is so simple you can't believe how amazing the final outcome is. It tasted like something you would eat out at a really nice restaurant and remember forever. Jason loved it and I added some noodles to Lucy's bowl because I knew she wouldn't eat it otherwise. She is convinced that she doesn't like tomatoes, but she does. She may not know it yet. Please, I beg of you, if you only make one thing from my blog, make this. It is delightful! The fresh basil is a must.

Tomato Soup with Poached Eggs-Adapted from Body and Soul Magazine
serves 4
2 T olive oil extra for bread and drizzling
3-4 cloves garlic sliced very thinly plus another clove for toast
pinch of red pepper flakes
Place the oil, garlic cloves and red pepper flakes in a tall sided skillet or pan over medium heat. Cook just until the garlic turns golden.
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes with juices, coarsely chopped (I drained mine keeping the liquids in a bowl and then chopped the tomatoes on a board adding it all)
3 c water
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
4 large eggs
4 slices of rustic bread (we put two pieces in the bottom of our bowl because they were kind of small and frankly we like bread)
shredded fresh basil for garnish

Add the tomatoes, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Crack eggs into individual small bowls. Carefully lower into the liquid each egg, then cover and simmer 3-4 minutes. Do not overcook. They say to broil the bread under the broiler. Brush it with the olive oil and when it's done rub it with a garlic clove that is cut in half. I kept burning my bread so you could put it in the toaster too if it fits. Maybe you will have better luck with yours. I went through two batches of toast I had to throw out.
To serve, put the bread in the bottom of the bowl with the basil. Scoop out the egg and place it on top of the toast, then ladle in the soup around it.
This is pure heaven. I am warning you. If you want to eat something that will freak your freak, then make this. My husband didn't stop talking about it all weekend. He told me, please don't forget about this one. This is one we need to have again and again. I agree. This is the most simple thing I have made with the most flavorful results. Please enjoy!

Bo Ssam

2010-02-21T16:57:00.002-08:00

Our Momofuku adventure has begun. For Christmas Jason got me the Momofuku cookbook. Momofuku is a restaurant that me Jason discovered on our first trip to New York. This is one of the most amazing places in the world. We couldn't stop talking about it. We had these pork belly buns that were to die for, a ramen dish that was out of this world and a rice cake shrimp salad. It was a meal that would go on living in our memories forever. So naturally on our next trip to New York, we knew that Momofuku would be part of our journey. Momofuku Ko is one of the hardest places to get reservations in the country. David Chang has never made an exception for anyone no matter how famous in getting reservations at Ko. At 10 in the morning on I think the second week of the month or something specific, you can get online and for a split second try and book a slot to Ko. There are only 12 seats. The moment you click on one, they are gone. Somehow, by the grace of God, my mom got us in. I was having her try and get one at the same time as me. Somehow she got us in for 9 o'clock at night. I didn't care if it was midnight. This place was insane. You will have to read my post on it if you are interested at all. We also checked out his place called Milk Bar which is a bakery with many interesting desserts including cereal milk ice cream and "crack pie". It was good. The chocolate cake I had was insane. I can't remember the exact details but I do know the middle layer was some kind of yellow cake crumbled into a buttercream icing. Delicious. On our next trip we are going to try the only one left that we haven't tried and that is Momofuku Ssam Bar. It is going to be great. All I have read are great things. David Chang is also in the works of opening a place called Ma Peche. It may be open in time for us. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

This cookbook is just off the hook. Things the average person would just not make in their home. However, we are determined to try at least some of them. There are people out there that are cooking their way through this book. To them, I admire you and pitty you at the same time. It is a lot of work, not only to find the ingredients but to make the dish.

Jason has been asking me to make this Bo Ssam for weeks now. Really since he gave me the book for Christmas, so I decided to indulge him. Boy am I happy I did. It was a lot of work but when we sat down to eat that meal on Sunday afternoon, it was worth every bit of it. I think I say it was difficult because it actually took a lot of planning out. Making it was pretty simple. Just make sure you are going to be home for 6 plus hours to baste the pork. He set his alarm and woke up at 5 am on Sunday in order to put that bad boy in the oven. Then woke up every hour to baste it. The night before you cover it in sea salt. Having made it once now we decided we would probably rinse it the next day before baking it as some bites were very very salty. It was flavorful though. During the last 15 minutes you crank up the oven to 500 and cover it in brown sugar and salt. It created this delicious crust on the pork. The pork was so tender we didn't think we could get it from the pot to the platter without it completely falling apart. You can see in the picture when even with the help of two of us, the end came apart. It was phenomenal, amazing, delicious, tasty. Everything we could have hoped for. We created a meal in our home that sells for $200 at his restaurant and must be pre ordered in advance. This was an amazing feast. It is served in bibb lettuce cups.

We made a ginger scallion sauce and kimchi that were also in the book. Both were phenomenal. I mean, I could not stop eating the kimchi. It was so tasty. It was super simple too. The only odd things we really had to add to it were salted jarred shrimp and Korean chili powder but we found them both at our supermarket. The kimchi was a process. That you cut up and set in the fridge overnight with a sprinkling of salt and sugar. The next day you add the rest of the ingredients and let it set another 24 hours. We didn't let it set. It was amazing right away. Kimchi is meant to be eaten after it has become fermented but to us it was amazing right away.

We also served it with white rice and some quick pickled cucumbers that were also in the book. They were perfect. I would highly recommend this dish for any gathering you want to impress the hell out of someone or even to enjoy yourself. There is nothing bad about having leftovers. Trust me, these leftovers only get better and better.

Tuscan Vegetable Soup

2010-02-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

This week I got super motivated to cook as I haven't had the energy to much lately. All it took was me getting angry about eating crap all week. Spaghetti noodles with sauce from a jar and sliced chicken sausage is not my idea of making dinner. So on thursday I drug Lucy out to Garden Fresh to stock up on the goods. For lunch I decided to make us fajitas. And they were delicious. I am craving them right now. Garden Fresh sells a mix in the meat counter so it was super cheap and simple. Had some tortillas already so lunch was done. For dinner I was going to make my tride and true sloppy joe recipe that I have made at least a dozen times according to my cookbook. I always write the date on the page with the recipe so that I know how many times and when I made the dish. I usually comment on how the dish came out as well so I know if I should not make it again. In this case, yeah, I should make it again.

Ellie Kreiger is my hero. I was looking at her cookbook and made all three of my dishes from this book. I have made a fair amount of recipes out of this book. Everything but one has been something I would make again. All of her dishes are healthy but full of flavor. I made her tabbouleh salad. It was really good the first day I must say, however the second and third day it was lacking something. If I wouldn't have been feeding it to Jason I would have put some green olives diced in there to give it some umph. Other than that it was a really light and refreshing salad in the middle of winter.

The last dish I made was really yummy. A Tuscan Vegetable Soup. It was full of healthy vegetables, beans, and tomatoey broth. It was the perfect meal to eat today and the crusty French loaf just put it over the edge. I would highly recommend a sprinkling of parmesean in the end. It really finished off the soup nicely. I didn't have fresh so I just used the old foot powder and it tasted great. I would definitely be making this soup again.

Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich Banh mi

2010-01-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

Another great meal. I have been feeling very inspired lately. I am happy that we ventured away from Mexican for a few meals, not that I am tired of it, as I never will be, but just because there are so many other types of food we love. Vietnamese being one of them.
Even though there are a few steps in this meal really it is super easy. If you know how to marinate chicken and dice up veggies you are good to go. I have to say this recipe made me realize my love for a good French loaf. This sandwich was so amazing and we were so happy to be able to get two meals out of it. Jason would not stop talking about it. I mean he was in love with the things. I was too but I mean this guy was in love. It was pretty damn good. Like I wish I could eat it right now again. I wasn't sure how he would like it with the pickled vegetables on top but I must say, and we kept talking about it during the meal, was that everything went so well together. We garnished ours with thinly sliced red onion, cilantro, jalapenos, cucumbers and the pickled veggies. Man, I can not tell you how amazing this was. If you want to make something that tastes like you are eating out in the city make this. It will be a nice treat for you.

I found the recipe through my favorite web site ever foodgawker.com. If you have never checked it out, do for sure. It is a labyrinth of recipes upon recipes. You could see this one for example for the Vietnamese sammies and click on it and boom, you could find more recipes on that person blog. It's bascially the most amazing site ever. Please try and make these and you will be amazed how delicious you can make something at home. Chinese five spice is pure love.

On a roll

2010-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am getting back into the swing of remembering to post the food I cook and take pictures of what I make. I am happy about that. The food I cook makes me feel so good and sharing if with people makes me super happy.

This morning while I was looking through my cooking magazines. Food Network, Rachael Ray, and Everyday Food for something to make for dinner. Food Network won. I was feeling ambitious and it looked really simple so I went for it. It's called Vietnamese Noodle Soup. I have had this type of soup eating out but I tell you what, I never thought I would be able to make it. I was certain I was going to make it when all 6 reviews were super positive. This soup is amazing. You must try it. I was really surprised because by the smell of it, I didn't think I was going to like it, but the taste it much different. This soup tastes just as good as any soup from a Vietnamese restaurant. I can't wait to make it again. When I make it again I am going to make a double batch because we only got really three servings and a little serving for Lucy. I love leftovers.

Killer salad

2010-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

So, I have been in a real slump lately eating. Not eating the best. Out of frustration I decided to make a chopped salad for dinner and I have to tell you it was the best salad ever. I totally free styled too. Then I had this dressing planned out and when I opened my cupboard to find my balsamic vinegar, it was gone. What did I do? Freaked out and then improvised only to create the best dressing of my life. I don't know how I do it but I am going to guess it's from all of the cook books I read and my obsession with food.

Salad
1 head of romaine
3 chicken breasts grilled (marinade follows)
1 red pepper roasted and peeled or bottled roasted peppers
2 green onions green parts only
1 large avocado
1 large tomato

Chop it all up and toss together until evenly combined. I chopped up each thing separately but you could do it all at once it you want to get crazy.

Marinade I used
juice of one lemon, two cloves of garlic minced, two sprigs of rosemary, couple sprigs of thyme, salt, lots of pepper, 1/4 or so of olive oil, and a couple splashes of white wine vinegar
Marinate the chicken for about half the day for full flavor. I grilled mine on a grill pan for 4 minutes per side. I had also pounded them flat with a meat tenderizer so the cooking time was less. You will need to cook it longer otherwise.

Dressing
6 T olive oil
2 T sherry vinegar
salt
pepper
1 large clove garlic minced
leaves of rosemary from one sprig
one small squirt of dijon
tsp of oregano (I used Mexican oregano)
a pinch of sugar
puree it all and enjoy. This is the best freaking dressing I have ever tasted. It really just took my salad to a whole nother lever. I am an idiot because I didn't take a picture of this beautiful salad. I am making one again tonight so if I remember I will take a picture and post it.

My favorite muffins

2010-01-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

Jason made these double blueberry muffins for me a long time ago when Lucy was first born. I was so impressed as he doesn't bake much. These muffins are so moist and loaded with blueberries. They aren't overly sweet like most muffins and I just can't stop eating them. I had to eat two in a row tonight. They are that good. We like to add the zest of one lemon to our batch. Please try these. You will never make instant muffins again. These are so simple and other than the blueberries you are bound to have everything on hand. They come from my favorite pastry chef Gale Gand. Enjoy.

Continuing on our Bayless quest

2010-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

The weekend is here so you know that something from Rick is going to be cooking in our kitchen. This week I actually made his seafood salad tacos from his Mexican Everyday cookbook. That book is our bible. This is the second time making these and they are so so good and so simple. It just isn't right how simple his food is for the flavor you get. This is proof that Rick Bayless is an amazing chef. He knows how to combine the simplest ingredients to create the most incredible tastes. I had to make a take on his roasted salsa and some guacamole to go with. I can't resist. I just love the stuff.

For the salsa I used:
1 serrano, 3 garlic cloves (in peels) : roast those in a dry pan until blackened. Set aside to cool
1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes drained slightly
hanful of cilantro diced
half a white onion chopped
juice of one lime
salt to taste
Cut the stem from the serrano and remove seeds unless you want it really hot. Add it and the garlic cloves (removed from their skins), and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor and puree until the consistency you desire. It is meant to be a runny salsa. Enjoy.
His recipe uses two serranos but for me that is too hot. I did use half a jalapeno as well that I had left from my guacamole.

Jason always likes to cook something for me over the weekend from his book. We are trying to make everything in it and so far we are doing very well. Tonight however, his dish was actually not from the book. Tonight he cooked Carne Asada Brava. I would highly, highly recommend this dish. We never cook steaks but it sounded so good lately.

We first seared it off for five minutes per side on our stove top grill pan and then baked it on a foil lined pan at 450 for 4 minutes per side. It was so flavorful and tender. It was an amazing steak. Jason couldn't stop talking about it. He said it was one of the best steaks he has ever had and that's coming from a guy that's been to Gibsons and Wildfire.

Believe me when I say, this was a damn good steak. If I knew I wouldn't be sick I would have ate all 7 oz of that meat. It was hard to stop with only a few ounces left. But alas, tomorrow I shall dine upon it. As a side dish he made stewed mushrooms with onions and garlic. They went really well with the steak I must say. It was a great meal. Thank you Jason. Thank you Rick.

I am still cooking, just bad at posting.

2010-01-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have let this blog go so long. My poor poor baby. I need to get rollin. I have still been cooking a ton, mind you, just not posting. I sometimes forget to take pictures of the food and feel that visuals make a big difference, so I apologize for my delay.

For Christmas Jason got Rick Bayless Everyday Mexican. I have to tell you we are doing a damn good job of cooking our way through it. Are we going to make a movie about ourselves, no. But sure would be interesting. Loved Julie & Julia but really, French food is boring. Mexican, now that's exciting.

So here are some Mushroom and Spinach Enchiladas that we made from the book. Amazing of course. I have to say. I did use flour tortillas as well as corn because I am always leery about store bought corn tortillas. The secret is properly warming them. They were amazing. The flour, eh. So if you make this go for the corn tortillas and warm them in the oven or microwave if you don't want to heat the oven up. Oven works better though if you need to do a bunch. The interesting thing about these are that they are not oven baked like your typical enchiladas. They are not loaded with cheese but sprinkled on top at the end. So you dip the tortillas in the amazing sauce, roll them with the filling, and then ladle the sauce over the top with a sprinkle of cheese to finish. This was so so yummy and I wasn't upset that it made so much sauce because you know what, I made some brown rice the other day and added some of the sauce to it, amazing. Tonight I am using the leftover tortillas and sauce to make more enchiladas with scrambled eggs and beans with the sauce and cheese on top. Yeah, it's gonna be good. So this sauce is amazing and could be used for a million things. Froze some of it, but already busted it out to use tonight. You could even use it to make tacos. Get a rotisserie chicken, shred it up in a pan and pour the sauce over it. Heat it up and serve it in some torillas with your choice of garnish.

The amazing thing about Rick Bayless is that his recipes are so simple, require very few ingredients, don't cost much at all, and never disappoint. Everything we have made has been phenominal. These Cowboy Beans in his book are out of this world. But how could you go wrong with bacon. I will try and post that recipe too. Unfortunately I don't have a picture but it wouldn't even look that good anyhow since it's just sloppy beans.

We are obsessed and it is a very very healthy obsession.

Thank you Rick Bayless (have I used that title before)

2009-11-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

I will say this again and again, simple food is the best food. You don't have to have a lot of ingredients to have something taste amazing. Well, I have decided that I could basically live off of Mexican food for the rest of my life. Why can't I? Rick Bayless does it. I want to be him. Man, I want to be him. That or just have him invite me over for a meal sometime. Yeah, that ain't happenin anytime soon, so instead, I will just cook all his food at home then I guess.

This weekend I checked out his best book Mexican Everyday. Yeah, we don't own any of his books. Waiting on Santa to come through for us I guess. Just a simple request. So Jason was reading it, like I hoped he would, and said, I found something I want to make tomorrow. Do you mind? Um, would I mind having a full body massage every day? Would I mind eating chocolate cake forever and never getting fat? It was so nice to have all the work done for me and the dishes. Yeah, he does the dishes too. I know how lucky I am, don't worry.

Here is the first thing he made. Slow Cooked Achiote Pork Lovely. It literally fell apart when he accidentally bumped the pork with a fork while moving some peppers and onions off the top. It was so so yummy. I pounded two of them with ease and could have done a third but would have been miserable probably.

He also made the Roasted Fresh Chili Salsa to go with it, which Rick recommends. I have to say, it was good on the taco but I would not eat it alone really. A little too bitter for me. Maybe with one more clove of garlic. You can never have too much garlic I feel.

I also made some pico de gallo which included about 5 diced tomatoes, a quarter of a white onion diced and rinsed, one jalapeno minced and seeded, cilantro, the juice of one lime and some salt. Super simple, super yummy. Then of course I had to make some guacamole. How could I not. I mean, I crave it daily. Plus it was nice that the avocados were on sale 2/$1. Yeah, that's right. Basically free. So I mashed up four of those with about a quarter cup white onions minced and rinsed, one tomato or two diced, cilantro, juice of half a lime, and salt. I guess I could have added a jalapeno. Hmmm. What was I thinking? Simple yet so so amazing.

I hope that someone out there will try these recipes. They are so so easy. Don't be intimidated by something new. Really, it was probably the easiest thing we have ever made and turned out so wonderful with amazing flavor and tenderness. I am so happy we will be eating it for the next two or three days. Yummm.

Damn these times

2009-10-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

I haven't been cooking much at all these days. Two reasons I suppose. One, I am feeling totally uninspired lately. I think it's the produce this time of year. The other is money. Damn these times. I have been trying to make more sensible dishes that will last us a few days and don't cost so much to make. I have also been going the simpler route. I feel so horrible when I am standing in the kitchen cooking all the time and Lucy is just playing all by herself. I don't want her to have these memories of me neglecting her all the time while I cooked. That makes me sad. I hope to soon have her start helping me cook. Just the other day she made her first mini pizza. We bought English muffins, pizza sauce, black olives and some cheese. She sat up at the table and put it together all by herself. We made more for dinner and she even made one for daddy. I want her to have the same memories I had with my family cooking. If it weren't for my family I don't think I would enjoy food and cooking so much. Thanks!

Two Rachael Ray recipes this week. I haven't had one thing yet that I don't like. I am also really good at picking out recipes too though. I am convinced though that I would like anything she makes.

On Sunday I made Uptown Downhome Chili. There are so many things I love about this chili. It makes a huge batch so it literally feeds you for days. We ate it for four days with no complaints. Yeah, it's that good. It's full of veggies. It's totally forgiving which you know I like. I love to add my own twists and change things up a little. I used one small container of baby bells instead of the big portabells caps because they were on sale and instead of the shiitake I bought regular button mushrooms and used almost all of those too. I used only a pound and a half of beef to save money. I added a can of pinto beans into the mix to thicken it up and make up for the beef I left out. I also used one small red pepper and one small yellow pepper. I like to add as many veggies as possible. I accidentally used the whole can of beef stock because I didn't read the recipe but you know what, it all worked out in the end since I added those beans and had the extra veggies. It was delicious. I love it so so much. We had it one other time at my parents house. It's really an amazing chili. I know I will always keep it in my files for another time.

Yes, the other recipe is a soup too. Chipotle Pumpkin Black Bean Soup What a simple soup and so delicious. Very warming and of course the day I decide to make it, it's the one nice day of fall. Oh well. Maybe it will be cooler tomorrow.

Me and Lucy were looking through Yum-O, yeah so what, another Rachael Ray, and saw some baked apples (My Mom's Baked Apples) in there and decided to give them a whirl. It was totally on a whim, but they turned out really yummy. I didn't have Grape Nuts on hand but did have Quaker Oatmeal Squares (the brown sugar variety) and used those instead. We also used raisins instead of currants. (Dude, who has currants on hand?) I really enjoyed it. Lucy loved it and suprisingly she liked eating the baked apple more thant the filling. It was super easy and a lot of fun.

Last night I created my own chili and I have to say it turned out amazing. So here it is. Please give it a try and let me know how what you think of it.

Liz's Chili

1 large white onion minced
4 garlic cloves minced
2 red bell peppers diced
2 14.5 oz cans diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 bottle Mexican beer
1.5 lb of ground sirloin (I actually used closer to two pounds because I love it meaty and thick)
2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce seeded and minced or 1 T chipotle pepper powder
1 can pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 t cumin
1 heaping tablespoon of Masa (corn meal flour used to thicken and flavor the chili)
salt and pepper

Man what a simple recipe. Saute the onion in a tablespoon or two of canola or vegetable oil. Add the beef and cook until almost done. Remove beef and onion from the pan. Saute the peppers and garlic together until softened. Add the beef back into the pan. Season with the cumin, salt, pepper, chipotle. Stir to combine and cook about 2 minutes. Pour in the beer and cook another two minutes. Dump in the tomatoes undrained and stir. Sprinkle on the Masa and stir until combined. Heat a few minutes and then add the beans. Cook for about 10-20 minutes until it has reached a desired consistency. Enjoy. This is a wonderful, hearty chili recipe sure to get you through winter.

Something amazing

2009-10-06T18:25:00.001-07:00

Fall is here and with fall brings some wonderful vegetables. I am sad to say goodbye to watermelon I must say. I had one in my fridge every day this summer but nothing lately. I miss it. So now we welcome the squash and pumpkin. In no way is that a bad thing. I love butternut squash. I went through a phase when we were living in Iowa City where I had a closet full of them at all times. It was ridiculous. I love to steam it and just each it with a little salt. So delightful. My latest recipe that I created is going to be my new go to this fall season. All I did was peel and cube my butternut. I made some cracked wheat which is so easy. Rinse it really well, put it in a bowl ( I used a cup or so). Pour boiling water over it until it's a little over the top of it. Cover it in saran wrap and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. Make sure you have enough water because as the wheat soaks up the water it will expand. You can always drain it so it's better to have more. In a pan I sauteed two shallots and two small cloves of garlic in a little canola oil. So that's it. Combine the squash with all of that and there you have it. An amazing side or meal. I love it. I ate it alone, but you could use it as a side, maybe add some slivered almonds to give it some crunch. I added two small green onions. It makes you really realize how simple good food can be. I am looking forward to eating more of it tomorrow.

Best sloppy joes ever

2009-09-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made the most amazing sloppy joes ever. I think I am on a mission to make as many sloppy joe recipes as possible. I have made so many and honestly, I can't think of one that I didn't like. I know I love sloppy joes but tonight made me realize how much I really do love them.

Once again from my favorite food site foodgawker.com. I try and browse this site daily. I have made so many recipes through this web site. If you haven't checked it out you must. What it is is a web site that shows tons and tons of pictures of food with a small caption and then when you click on that picture it directs you to that person's blog. It's addicting really because then you start to check out their site and see what else they have going on. I love it. So please tell me that you will try this recipe.

I changed it a bunch so this is my version of that recipe which I believe mine is much better. Please enjoy.

1 lb ground turkey
1 can pinto or kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 large poblano pepper minced
1-2 T oil depending how lean your turkey is the leaner the more you may need
3/4 c ketchup
2-3 T chili pwd depending on how hot you want it (I used 2 since I used a poblano too)
1-1 1/4 c dark ale beer (I used Blue Moon)
2 T worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
one cup diced green onions

Saute the peppers, garlic and turkey until it looks like the turkey is almost cooked. Add the ketchup, one cup of beer, chili pwd, worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook until reduced and add the beans and green onions. Add more beer to obtain the desired consistency. I don't like mine super runny so I let mine reduce. I think I did end up using 1 1/4 c in the end but I wanted to be sure not to have them too runny. It really does reduce after about 10 minutes or so.

These things are so good and so so rich. I love them. The original recipe called for a pound and a half of meat but since Turkey is usually sold by the pound I didn't want to mess with it and used the beans with it instead. I love beans in my sloppy joes. One of my other favorite sloppy joe recipes uses beans too so I knew it would work. The other recipe also called for canned chilies and I am all about fresh ingredients so I used a fresh poblano. You could also do two jalapenos too if you want, or just be a wuss and do the can. Kidding. But I used a red pepper instead of green which the other recipe called for as well. Once you have a base recipe like sloppy joes you kind of have the freedom to change it up a bit. Maybe that's one reason I love sloppy joes. Please make these and let me know what you think. YUMMMMMM!

Best pie of my life

2009-09-22T13:50:00.001-07:00

My parents were up for the weekend and we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head up to Apple Holler apple orchard. First we dined upon the wonderful buffet of foods. Some of the most memorable dishes being the apple walnut french toast and the apple cinnamon bread pudding. Don't even get me started. That stuff was sitting in my belly until two that afternoon. I was cursing myself for even trying the stuff. Sinfully delicious.

This place is a good time don't get me wrong, but it's a freaking joke when it comes to expense. It cost me $40 to fill a bag full of apples. Keep in mind, I could feed a small army apples for the month, but truly, come on. They are making a killing. We ended up getting only honeycrisp which is the best anyhow, but we didn't even get to pick them from the trees. We picked them from boxes out in the field. All of the others had been picked. I was just happy to get them, but honestly I haven't had much luck there with actually being able to pick anything. All of the pears were gone too which broke my heart.

The reason for my entry is that we purchased what later became known as the best pie I have ever had in my life. I am posting this for all of you who have the chance to get up there and find one for yourself as well and join in my delight. It was an apple cherry pie. It had a layer of crispy crunchy topping on top that was so thick you had to bust through it with a jackhammer. I am telling you this pie freaked my freak. I also have to say that it sat in my tummy like a rock with the rest of my apple food. I have never been sicker, but it was worth it.

XOCO

2009-09-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting so long it seems for this place to open and we finally got to go downtown and eat at the new Rick Bayless restaurant called XOCO (pronounced sho-ko). As we were driving by to find a parking spot we saw Rick Bayless walking up to the restaurants. All of his places are next to each other. XOCO, Topolobompo, and Frontera Grill, all in line like heavens gates.

We got there around 10:45 on saturday and to our surprise there was no line. That was just not what we expected at all. So we went inside and learned that the tortas were not served until 11 but that we could wait in line until then (at that point it was only about 11 more minutes). I can deal with that. So we were the first in line. There were others streaming in.

I had to order the last piece of vanilla coffee cake. It was good. The flavor was good, it just wasn't as moist as it looked to be. It was afterall the last piece so it had probably been sitting out all morn. It tasted sort of like a vanilla wafer. We also got a Mexican chocolate biscochos. It was awesome. I ate it later that night but mad it was awesome. It was sort of like a scone I guess but wasn't dry like a scone. It was light and airy with a slight crumb. It had bits of sugar on top and the Mexican chocolate was oooh so good. I would buy a dozen of those next time. Those and the chocolate hazelnut cookie that I got as well. Man, that thing was one of the best cookies of my life. It was the perfect texture. Soft and chewy with that amazing Mexican chocolate yet once again. That stuff is money.

My parents were in for the weekend. They enjoyed the hype of it all. Rick ended up showing up inside there too. I stood down by the woodfire oven watching him as he tasted everything to make sure it was perfect. It was amazing to see him and to see him doing this. He is so awesome. So each of us ordered a different sandwich which was nice because we got to try everyone elses food. Of course we ordered home made tortilla chips and guacamole. His is the best there is.

My mom had the Wood-roasted red chile chicken, caramelized onion, black beans, avocado, tomatillo salsa. It was delicious. A perfect balance of flavors and always nice to have some avocado in there.

My dad ordered the Homemade chorizo sausage, roasted poblano, artisan jack cheese, tomatillo salsa. This too was delicious. Not my favorite because I am not a big chorizo person but still very very good.

Jason got the Braised Tallgrass shortribs, caramelized onion, artisan Jack cheese, black beans, pickled jalapenos. I have to say other than mine, his was the best.

I ordered the Golden pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, spicy arbol chile sauce, pickled onions. It was so wonderful. And the presentation was beautiful. The broth was such an pleasant addition to the sandwhich. The nice thing about it was that they ask you how you would like the heat level of the broth. I chose medium and it was perfect.

And how could we pass up dessert. We ordered the churros and the chocoflan. The churros were amazing. They were dusted with a coarse sugar and tiny bits of Mexican chocolate. Three for $3. How are you going to just order one? Yeah, that's what I thought. The chocoflan was interesting. It was not what I expected. It looked dense like a cheesecake but was more loose than a cheesecake and had a slight taste of pumpkin to it that was a pleasant surprise. It was good but not my favorite. This dessert is interesting because when it starts out, the pumpkin flan layer is on the bottom and the chocolate on top. During the baking process they reverse themselves somehow. It's magic I guess.

All in all, I loved it. I can't wait to go back. I will have to go two more times at the very least. Once to try out the breakfast and another for the caldos (soups) which are served only after 3. Some interesting facts about XOCO are that they have a window at the front of the restaurant where you can see them making the freshly baked goods. They are making chocolate from raw cocoa beans. What that means my friends is the freshest richest hot chocolate of your life. Please go give this a try, and even if you have to wait in line, it is well worth it.

The hiatus is over

2009-09-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

It really sucks to be broke when you love to cook so much. So now I am happy again because the cooking is back in full affect. Yesterday was a great day because I made some Rick Bayless pork tacos in the slow cooker. I also baked some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This time of year rolls around and I crave those kind of flavors of fall so much. The cookies turned out so so good. I am so happy with them. I used two different recipes and kind of made my own twist on them.

This taco recipe is another example of how you don't have to be a good cook to make something amazing. It was so so simple. It was so good. I can't even believe how good it was. Well, I can believe it because it's Rick, but at the same time, for as simple as it was, man it was good. Everyone needs to make this sometime. We are going to be eating it for days now because it made so freaking much. Oh, boo hoo, I am so sad about it. I froze some of it because realistically we just won't be able to eat it all before it goes bad. There is enough in the freezer for at least three more meals of two tacos each. Yeah. One day I will remember it's in there and have a yummy surprise meal all ready to go. I made my usual side dishes too. Sadly neither turned out due to laziness and stupidity. A) I forgot to mash the avocado before I put the other stuff in, so when I mashed it with the onions in there it got a little watery. I wasn't happy with how it turned out. It still tastes good, just not quality like I usually pull off. So the salsa didn't turn out either. I did this one other time too and you wouldn't think it matters but it does. I used a white onion instead of a yellow onion. I had a white onion so I though, eh, I'll roll with it. No, there is something about it. Doesn't taste right. Someone else probably wouldn't notice but I did.

So here is the recipe for the tacos. Please please please make them and tell me how they come out for you.

The cookie recipes goes like this.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
3/4-1 c sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 c vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 t salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 t cinnamon
a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice
1 c chocolate chips or more if you want

Mix all the wet and mix all the dry separate (not including sugar of course). Slowly mix in the flour to the wet. Add chocolate chips at the end. Do not overmix. Bake at 375 for ten minutes on prepared baking sheet. Transfer to wire rack immediately to cool. Enjoy. Yummy yummy yummy.

Carol's Cookies

2009-08-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about my favorite cookie in the world. The most amazingly delicious cookie in the world really. I crave it daily. Lucky for me, I live close to someone who sells them. I would be sad knowing that the only time I could have one is when I go to Whole Foods. But luckily Libertyville Sunset Foods has hooked me up. "The Combo" : it marries peanut butter cookie dough with chocolate fudge cookie dough. I can't tell you the love I have for this cookie. It's about 4 inches thick I kid you not. It's the perfect amount of crumble to softness. I am not a crunchy cookie person and this one is just amazingly tender with a little crumb to it. If you ever have the chance to have a Carol's Cookie please do. And if you ever feel like you want to send me a wonderful gift simply head to Carols Cookies online and place your order.

Getting excited for fall

2009-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

It's interesting how once summer begins, you don't want to even think about fall or winter. All you want to do is get out of the house and enjoy the weather. Once summer is coming to an end and September is creeping up on you, you face the reality of it all and start to look forward to fall. I guess I am speaking for myself. Yeah, I still hate winter. But fall has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of the air, the turning of the leaves, the fall harvest, pumpkins, Halloween, and most of all, the food. I look forward to all of those warming dishes like soups and stews, squash, cinnamon studded desserts, hot tea. They just feel so good, so homey.

This weekend when I was back in Iowa for my little sisters wedding shower, I made my first fall dessert of the year. My other little sister is pregnant and I felt like I needed to hook her up. She loves snickerdoodles and these were an interesting treat that I couldn't resist making. The really really sad part of it all is that I didn't even get to try them and they looked amazing. After I took them out, we had to bolt to the shower and they had to set up for an hour before being cut. So unfortunately I didn't get to try them. I don't mind though, because I will be making them again. They were so easy and made a large batch. Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars. I didn't have white chocolate so that didn't make it to the top. It think it would be just fine with the generous sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar that it calls for. I did add an extra tablespoon of sugar and with that one I used dark brown sugar to give it some depth. I apologize for the horrible picture. A picture of a piece of them would have been a lot more apealing. I have been slacking on my food photos and I apologize for that.

A few weeks back I made a really delicious chicken burger. I was very leery about making burgers with ground chicken but I had some breast meat groud up that I needed to use and had no clue what else to do with it. I must say that they turned out really really good and really moist. I did serve them in whole wheat pitas with some mango chutney. They were really really tasty. I ended up sharing them with a friend of mine who loves India food, as these do have a little bit of that Indian flare. Rachael Ray of course. I never thought that I would be cooking so much of her food but I must say, ever since I made the Sloppy Joes for Veg Heads and loved them that I haven't had one bad thing from her. My favorite dip is from her too. I have been making that a lot as well.

My girl

2009-08-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

I love Ellie Krieger. She is wrote my favorite cook book. I make her things all of the time and yet again she pleased me. Her book is called The Food You Crave. I have made many many things out of it and some of them several times. This time was a pasta. Super amazing and super simple. Linguini with shrimp.

Trying

2009-08-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am trying to make things out of what we have and to be honest with you, we have some good things to work with. I have a pablano pepper in the fridge that is calling out to me. I think I am going to make a salad of it with some jicama, mango, red onion, black beans, chipotle, some adobo, cilantro, garlic maybe, red pepper maybe and some lime. Whoa. Sounds amazing. I just came up with that in my mind right now. Yummy. Maybe leave out the black beans. We shall see. I am going to a shin dig this weekend; a family picnic affair and maybe I could take it to that. Yum. It's always good to bring something you really love, that way if there is nothing else you would like, you are home free eatin on your dish.

So I just came up with something and have it in the oven as we speak. It's roasted potatoes. I had some red potatoes and one sweet potato just sitting there and half a red onion. So I cubed up the taters, sliced up the onions, tossed them with two tablespoons of evoo, 1 tsp Adobo seasoning with cumin, and one teaspoon of chipotle pepper. It is going to be really yummy I have a feeling. I can't wait to give it a try. They are roasting away and I will save them for later tonight. I have to try and do more cooking while the little one sleeps, that way I have more time for her when she is awake. I will let you know how it comes out. You know, it's so easy to come up with your own recipes if you cook a lot. Use recipes and then once you learn the flavors that go well together, it makes it easy to come up with your own recipes with what you have on hand.

I am also concocting a recipe in my mind. You don't really see too many cold salad recipes that are Asian. So I think I am going to do one with some brown rice, edamame (soy beans), green onion, mushrooms maybe, cilantro maybe, crushed peanuts maybe, some sesame oil and rice vinegar maybe some ginger. We shall see. I love Asian and I love healthy foods so this salad may be just what I am looking for. I will let you know as soon as I get it perfected.

Something new

2009-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had been feeling a major meat overload from eating pork tacos all weekend so I need to have some veggies. I decided to come up with something on my own. This is what I came up with.

1 box of whole wheat cous cous (you can make less if you wish)
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
3 small shallots minced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 bunch of asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
2 small zucchini cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 yellow pepper chopped
1/2 cup basil chopped
olive oil
two lemons
salt/pepper to taste

Prepare the cous cous according to directions. Place in a large bowl and fluff. Meanwhile heat a large skilled and add 2 tablespoons of evoo. Add the shallots and garlic and cook about a minute, before adding zucchini. After about 5 minutes, or when the zucchini is softened somewhat, remove from the pan and place in the bowl with cous cous. Add the asparagus to the hot pan adding more oil if needed. Cover and cook about 2 minutes or until slightly tender. Don't over cook. Add the cooked asparagus, halved tomatoes, yellow pepper and basil. In a small bowl place the juice of two lemons, zest of one lemon, one clove garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 T evoo. Whisk together and drizzle over the top of the salad. Toss together and enjoy. You can eat if warm, but it will be much better after it's cooled in the fridge. Enjoy.

Rick Bayless Obsession

2009-08-01T13:14:00.001-07:00

Me and Jason have the most major Rick Bayless obsession. Well, Jason's is a little deeper than mine, but I too love him. He is ranked one of the best chefs in the country and we are so lucky to have him in the great city of Chicago. We have been to his restaurant Frontera Grill two times and his more casual Frontera Fresca in Macy's more than a handful of times. We were so happy to discover that he added tacos to the menu. I have tried the shrimp, chicken, and pork. There are also vegetable and a steak.

Recently Rick was on the Morning Show cooking one pot dishes. After seeing him make this one, I had to try it. We made it the other night and not only was it super simple, but fast and amazing in flavor. This dish is a prime example of two things. One, great food doesn't have to be difficult to put on the table and two, simple ingredients are the best ingredients. This is a dish that anyone and everyone should try to make. I have to say, my beef turned out a little tough. I am going to try making it one time with rotisserie chicken and maybe once with pork. I loved this dish.

I served it up with my new favorite rice and beans recipe. Such a simple recipe, again, yet so so good. I could live off this stuff. And the Adobo seasoning is my new favorite spice mix. I have been putting it on everything. It comes in different varieties. The one I got is with cumin. I love it so much and highly recommend it. It may be found in your Mexican food section of the grocery store.

The recipe is for Spicy Chipotle Beef. It's the first recipe listed and you can also enjoy a video of him cooking it live on the show. Please try this one and enjoy.

Urban Belly

2009-07-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

My parents were in town and they offered to watch Lucy for us so we could go out. One place came to mind and that was Urban Belly. I had already read so many things about this place that I knew this is the place I wanted to dine. You know, when you only have one chance every so often to get out, it's always scary knowing that it may not end up being that great. This was not the case with Urban Belly. This place was amazing. I have not stopped thinking about it since that night.

Chef Bill Kim is the former chef of Le Lan and the legendary Charlie Trotters. He was born in Korea and graduated from Kendall College here in Chicago. I have to say, this man has got it right. I have read some say that this is his response to David Chang's Momofuku in New York City, which we have also dined at several times. I have to say, this is what made me worried about eating somewhere like this. David Chang is the man. He makes the most incredible food. I must say though, this was just as good, if not better. I hate to say it but it's the truth. Sorry David. Although, you do have it going for you with the pork buns.

We ordered the pork and cilantro dumplings which were out of this world. You know that moment when you taste the first bite of something and you know, well, I knew. I knew that what was about to happen under this roof was going to be memorable and beautiful and tasty. The food was hot, which was nice and the dumplings were packed full of tender pork and cilantro with a very nice dipping sauce that was reminiscent of hoisin sauce. A little sweet and salty with deep Asian flavors. It was perfect.

Because it was communal seating, we ended up sitting next to a younger couple and got talking with them. The guy was cousins with one of the cooks. Jackpot. We ended up talking quite a bit and as the waitress brought out an order of duck and pho spiced dumplings, they kindly offered us a taste. I did the usual, refusal, but after them insisting we try one, I couldn't resist. How could you pass that up? They too, were amazing. I knew that nothing could go wrong here.

Jason really wanted to try the pork and pineapple rice, so we decided to share that and a order of the Urbanbelly Ramen which was full of pork belly, shitake mushrooms and pho broth. I must admit, I am now obsessed with pho broth. It was so robust with the perfect amount of spice. There was a surprising amount of pork belly. I felt like just as I thought it was gone, another piece was discovered lingering at the bottom. The noodles were excellent and there was plenty of them for the both of us.

The rice: heaven. This was the most delicious rice that I can remember ever having. It was loaded with bits of pork belly and sweet tender bits of pineapple in addition to fried egg and cilantro. This rice was phenomenal. I am so happy that we ordered one of each and shared because it was the perfect amount.

I must say that there isn't anything on the menu I wouldn't try. There were some bacon and squash dumplings that I wanted to try. Later seeing other people's food, I would like to try the lamb and brandy dumplings. They were served over a bed of edamame and drizzled with some Asian sauce. Looked really yummy. A rice I would love to try was organic pea shoots with Thai basil. Yummy. I don't know if I could ever get enough of this place. It makes me sad that it's all the way in the city, but you know what, I would drive there anytime, any day to have a taste of that deliciousness.

Whoa!

2009-07-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have been missing in action on here. Sorry about that. I have had a wild summer so far and been really busy. It doesn't mean I have stopped cooking and baking. I just need to get my butt in gear and post some stuff.

This weekend I am making a lot of new things. My little sister is having a baby so we are having a party today for her. I had made a couple new things actually and am really excited about it. I think it made them a little nervous but I think they are going to love what I have done.

I chose to make a bean dip from Rachael Ray. It turned out really yummy after trying several devices at my mom's house to try and puree it without a food processor. That was interesting. Leaving the comfort of your own kitchen can sometimes be challenging. All in all though, it turned out great. Here is the link to that recipe. I am just serving it with a veggie tray and pita chips.
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=323

The other recipe just happens to be from Rachael Ray as well. What can I say, I like the girl. She has some amazing things, and of course some not so amazing things, but why would I make those. This one is a potato salad with roasted corn and jalapenos. No mayo folks. I try to avoid that stuff at all costs but when I do use mayo I always use Smart Balance Mayonnaise . Here is the link to the recipe. http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-index/salad-recipes/Grilled-Corn-and-Red-Potato-Salad

The the other two recipes are dessert. Well and the chicken salad which I stole from my favorite bakery in Oak Park. The chicken salad is as follows:

1 rotisserie chicken pulled apart and cooled
5 T of Smart Balance Mayonnaise (or whatever you like)
1 T dijon
half of one red onion minced
three apricots diced
3 stalks of celery minced
2-3 dill pickles minced
salt and pepper to taste
Fridge and enjoy. Yummy. I must say this was a tuna salad I had and I turned it into a chicken salad for the party. It's amazing. My sister wants me to make another batch for leftovers.

So for dessert I am making two fruit tarts and smores cupcakes. The smores cupcakes come from Martha Stewart and the fruit tart from another cooking site.

Baloneys

2009-06-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

My parents had stumbled upon this little sandwich shop in Barrington, Illinois on there way to visit us. It's located in the little downtown area in one of the historic Catlow Theater storefronts. They make the hugest sandwiches you could ever order. One of their specialties are the turkey salad and tuna salad. The other sandwich that is popular is the Reubenesque a corned beef
sandwich that is "gigantic". Maybe one day I will be brave enough, or hungry enough to order it.

Here's mine. I went with creating my own. Turkey, onions, tomato, lettuce and mustard. I keep it basic but man, I ate it all too. My belly was busting.

Last time we went we were cracking up at my aunt who just couldn't let it go to waste, so she finished it all. I couldn't believe it. When they first got their turkey salad there was no way they were going to finish it. They could have each eaten half and been full. I have no idea how she did it but in my eyes, she is a champion.http://www.boloneys.com/Boloneys/Home.html

Hot Doug's

2009-06-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to include all types of food postings on my blog. One thing I am trying to do is post about the places I eat. I know there haven't been many but I promise when I do go to interesting places I will post them for sure. We don't get out to eat much these days to real hot spots.

This one is Hot Doug's. It's an amazing "sausage superstore" in Chicago. It's a little hot dog joint with specialty sausages and other encased meats. On the weekends they serve duck fat fries. We have been there a handful of times, however never waited two hours like we did this time. It was redonculous. You know how it starts to become a game. Like, ok, I have waited this long, we are not getting out of line now. No way. You have no idea how much longer it's going to be and the game continues. The more and more you wait you just can't leave. Me and Lucy were napping in the car thankfully for most of the wait while Jason held the fort down in line.
So I literally held Lucy for about an hour to an hour and a half while we waited single file next to a brick wall with sprinkles of rain tumbling upon the Yo Gabba Gabba unbrella she held above my head. She was really good I have to say. Most kids would not have allowed that to happen. So the food was amazing of course. Lucy had a corn dog and tater tots.
I got the Dave Klingman which was an italian style chicken sausage with the works. Pickle, tomatoes, relish, sauteed onions, celery salt, mustard and sauer kraut. Heaven. I tell you heaven. Now he is really famous for really having unique sausages and other meats. This is the one Jason chose. I have to say, it was phenominal. Blue cheese, pork sausage with white peach puree, rum-infused dried fruit and roasted almonds. Other specials included antelope sausage, garlic pork sausage, smoked mole chicken sausage, foie gras and sauternes duck sausage, and more. Check out the web site for daily specials. They are only opened until 4 each day and not open sundays. I would highly highly recommend going first thing in the morning if you want to try and avoid the line. There will still probably be one though.

If you have any doubt in your mind about how good this place is check this out.
http://www.menshealth.com/bestfoods/food_features/13_Places_to_Eat_Before_You_Die.php
Need I say more. Thank you.

Lots to share with you

2009-06-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

I am bad about getting new recipes on here. I kind of let them store up on my camera and then post them. I have some really really yummy ones to share though. I just made this one for Jason and his last school birthday celebration. It was so so easy and really turned out so well. I can't wait to see how they go over. I found it on my favorite site of course http://foodgawker.com/.
The recipe came from this blog http://honeyandjam.blogspot.com/2009/05/individual-monkey-breads.html

I made it with individual monkey breads but am going to make it again this weekend as one big bread. Didn't think the staff members at Woodstock would want to be pulling bread off after everyone else touched it. Jason loved it, Lucy loved it. It can't be bad. Butter, cinnamon, bread. I am trying to think of a way to kick it up a notch. Maybe chocolate chips. Peanut butter chips. Hmmm.
Another great great recipe from foodgawker. This is a quinoa salad. I like to make my own spin on things so I went to the deli counter and have them cut me some all natural turkey into thick slices. I then cubed it and threw it in the salad. I wanted to make it a meal rather than a side. It was so so amazing. I have been dreaming about eating it again and can't wait to today and tomorrow. Joy to leftovers. I also did add a large red pepper and skipped the red pepper flakes. I used regular sun dried tomatoes because that is what I had, rather than oil soaked ones. So I added a tablespoon of olive oil to the salad to give it some more moisture. Mine was a little dry so you could totally add more if you want. You can't go wrong really. That's why I love salads so much. Here is where you can find the recipe. http://www.culinarydisaster.com/wordpress/04/lemon-quinoa/
This one was good the first day and then as cole slaw does, got really soggy the next couple days. It was still good, the texture was just not there. We did end up adding toasted sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. That really took it up a notch I must say. Overall really really yummy and super healthy. Great one to take to a picnic or party. http://www.recipezaar.com/pineapple-jalapeno-coleslaw-367363
So these are my favorite sloppy joes ever ever ever. I make them all the time. This time I was trying to use what I had so I used a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce instead of jalapeno. I think I used two or three. Make sure you take the seeds out for sure or it will be really hot. I also used a yellow pepper because that is what I had. It was so so so so yummy. Always is. I highly recommend it. It's nice because there are a couple things in it I never used to have but now that I have them I can make them anytime, like molasses and worshestershire sauce. Huh, how do you spell that? Anyhow. Make these and I promise you will be crying with joy.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html
This is the first thing I think I have made from bon appetit. It was so so so freaking good. I love it so so much. I am telling you, amazing. Please try it if you love sweet potatoes, love healthy, love good food, love simple. Great dish to take to a party, picnic, grill out. http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/05/roasted_sweet_potato_salad_with_red_bell_pepper

For some reason I thought I had a picture of these bars but I guess I don't. Oh, well. Super super yummy and so healthy. It's so wrong that they are healthy. I got this recipe from a book about grains called Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way. Great book with really great recipes. If you don't already have a rice cooker I would highly recommend it. Truly. We use ours all the time. This recipe doesn't use one but I am just saying. These bars are called fruit and nut oatmeal bars. So so amazing. Email if you would like the recipe. I will hook you up. Due to copyright laws. I don't believe I can post this. Lots of dried fruit, whole grains, no refined sugars, nuts, orange zest. How can you go wrong.
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Grains-Every-Day-Way/dp/0307336727 /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244488250&sr=1-1

So I know, I really posted a lot. I feel like there should be more but I guess there isn't. I am making some cupcakes this week for Lucy's second birthday so I will post those after I make them. They come from a recipe from my favorite bakery in the world Sweet Mandy B's in Chicago. Best bakery I have ever been to and I have been to a lot. I have been to them all in New York and this one still takes the cake. No pun intended. Best baked goods I have ever had. Cute shop. I would highly recommend finding it if you are ever in the city. It's sort of tucked away but I am excited to see how the cupcakes come out. Yeah Lucy. You are gonna be two!

food thoughts

2009-06-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book right now called In the Defense of Food An Eater's Manifesto by Michal Pollan. It's ok. I have to say I skipped a lot of it to a section about how to eat now. It really goes along with another book I read called Food Matters by Mark Bittman. Amazing amazing book. Only book I have ever really wanted to read again. So anyhow. The basic concept is that we should really eat food. Not all of this garbage that is being put on the shelves at the supermarket. Shop the perimeters and eat the foods only your great grandmother would have eaten. I don't want to get on my soap box but truly, what is so hard about eating like this? Since the fall I have stopped eating most processed foods. I eat fruits, nuts and vegetables for snacks. I know, it may seem boring to some who just love these boxed snacks they sell out there. I don't know how long I will eat this way. Is it just a kick I am on, or have I changed my way of eating. I feel like it's going to be a lifestyle change for me really. I have never felt healthier in my life. I have never been more fit in my life. I have lost weight, although sometimes I feel too thin. It just makes sense to eat this way to me. I love fruits and vegetables so I don't feel deprived when I want a snack and have a bowl of grapes and some almonds. Yeah, sometimes I have felt like having things, but you know what, you make them then. Make some granola bars, bake some cookies, make some brownies. Why does every snack have to come in a box? When you make these things yourself you know what is in them. You know what you are eating. Why would you eat a food with ingredients listed that you can't even pronounce? When would you eat something that has a huge long list of ingredients? Again, like I said, I am not trying to preach. I may one day fall back into this depressing way of eating, but for now, I am happy with the foods I am eating. I feel really really good. I love to cook and I love to bake, so it brings me joy to eat these foods and to eat this way. For some, it may not be so easy but I would hope and I would love to inspire you to. Even if you just change a few things at a time. Or eating one vegetarian meal a day or even a week. I feel so strongly about this way of eating. There always all of these diets out there, people looking for the healthy way to eat, the best way to lose weight. It's been here all along right in front of our faces. The simplest way to eat, yet we are blind to see it. Blah blah blah. I won't keep going on and on. Just read Food Matters and you will see what I am talking about.

More and more salads and yum yum yummy food

2009-05-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have been stock piling my pictures so far of the things I have made in the last week so brace yourself. These things are all so amazing. Last night we made the most amazing meal for Jason's family who was visiting. Some grilled shrimp served with some tropical fruit salsa and the usual guacamole recipe. Oh man. It was delicious. This was from the Annual Recipes 2009 Cooking Light. This book is phenominal. So many recipes that are right up my alley. I think I need to just buy it because it's going to take me forever to get all of the recipes out of it. I also made a fruit salad from it that I now made twice in the last four days so you know it's good. So simple.

Both of these recipes were so simple and just prove the fact over and over again that simple is always better. Just tasting the freshness of the fruit brought me to tears. The shrimp was seasoned perfectly and the salsa was the perfect match. The guacamole is always amazing. Yumm. I could eat that every day. In fact today, I popped some burgers I had in the freezer in the fridge to thaw. They were the black bean and rice ones from Rachael Ray that I have mad before. Plopped that on a bun with a shmear of that guac, a slice of ripe tomato and some salsa. Wow, a meal that good shouldn't be so simple. I felt spoiled by myself eating it. I know that this fruit salad will be something I make over and over all summer long. We all love it and it's super simple and inexpensive.

1-2 diced mangos
1 pint of strawberries cut to your liking
4 kiwi fruits peeled and chopped
1 fresh pineapple cut into bite size pieces
the zest of two limes
That's it. Holy crap, this is amazing. I apologize for that but truly, I am going to be dreaming about this for nights. So so so yummy and just gets better and better, juicier and juicier.

The shrimp recipe can be found at this link.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1714566

Ok, this is a recipe that just proves that this is still my favorite cook book of all times. The Food You Crave By Ellie Krieger. This is a recipe I usually wouldn't make. I just typically don't choose things like this but it was so simple and it tasted so so good. It tasted like it took hours of work. Jason loved it. I know that I will make it again for sure. It was an easy one to do because I could do most of the prep work while Lucy was napping and then just make the juice, wash the chicken and pop it in the oven. In no time we had an amazing amazing meal on the table.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/tuscan-roasted-chicken-and-vegetables-recipe/index.html

Here is another Rachael Ray sucess story. I haven't had one thing I didn't like from that lady. Thank you Rachael. This was so so yummy. I was really sad because it made so much. I ended up pawning some off to friends but still had to throw some out on the fourth day. It made me sad. I had a little funneral for it. Just kidding I didn't. But come to think of it, should have. You could easily half it but I like having the extra personally. It just so happened that it wasn't something Jason liked so I had to eat it alone. That can be hard to do. Please try this one. It is so so wonderful. I will make it again for sure. In fact I already have jarred peppers and mushrooms in the cupboard waiting for that day to come.
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1795

For Memorial Day weekend we had a picnic with Jason's family and these are two salads that I made. I have to say that in the tomato salad I did end up adding grilled corn. What a lovely idea that was. It was really the taste of summer. The one with the black beans is a salad I have been making for over a year now. Talk about healthy with the black beans and the brown rice. I am just so in the mood for this kind of thing. So fresh and full of flavor. So simple too.
This link is to the mango black bean salad
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1714580

The other salad is something I whipped up.
1 can white beans drained and rinsed
1 pint of cherry tomatoes rinsed and halved
1 hanful of basil chopped
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1 c roasted fresh corn or canned corn
salt and pepper
Toss to combine and enjoy. So yummy and fresh tasting.

To finish it all off I created something from Chef Tom Collichio. The ice cream was my doing but the banana bread was all on him. This is a recipe from his new book Witchcraft. It's an amazing book for someone who want to make amazing sandwiches. This recipe included caramel ice cream but I was in a pinch for time and decided to go with a recipe I alread knew and have made before to simplify things a little bit. Lucky for me I had some dulce de leche waiting to be used in the freezer and this was the perfect pairing. I created the banana bread and served the ice cream on top. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

It's been too long

2009-05-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking all this time, I have just been dumb and forgetting to take pictures of the things I make. I like to have something for you to see so you have an idea how yummy something is. I always like to see what I am going to make, although I make things without seeing too.

Summer gets me in the mood for salads. I am sure you have sensed that so far. I am making a lot of them and am going to continue to make more and more of them. I like that they make a lot so I can eat them for a few days. Although, usually by the fourth day I am ready for something new. The drawback of being only two of us. Lucy isn't usually down with the things I make.I recently entered a cookie contest through Eating Well Magazine. May friend Lauren told me about it and so I thought, what the heck. There were rules about the amount of fat used as well as sugars. They were basically supposed to be a made over holiday cookie to be more healthful. I took the classic Quaker Oats Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe from the canister and made it totally my own. Used some whole wheat flour with white, replaced some of the butter with heart healthy canola oil, reduced the sugar and added some honey and apple juice. I also used cranberries, walnuts, and granola instead of raisins. They were really delicious I must say. Healthy and delicious. If you are interested in the recipe let me know. I am not going to post it at this time.
So last friday was National Chocolate Chip Day. How could I pass that up? I wanted to try a new chocolate chip recipe as I have been making mine for 7 years now. Wow. That long. Anyhow. The experience was nice. It turned into some really yummy cookies that Jason and the others really enjoyed. I sent them to work with him. I must say in the end that I still like mine the best. Mine are really moist and gooey. These were still soft but more cakey. I kept reading about them on my foodgawker web site so I had to give them a wing.
You can find the recipe at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html This is a tride and true recipe I have been making for about a year now. I am happy to be making it again while the produce has exploded. I am so excited about that. This is from Cooking Light and I know you will love it too. You can find it at the link below.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1197250 I have been trying out a lot of Rachael Ray recipes latley because I have found them to be so amazing. Super simple and very very good. This is a recipe I have been wanting to try forever and I am so happy I did because it is freaking amazing. I love it so much. I am sad because it made so much and I don't know if I am going to be able to eat it all. Please please try this one. It is so healthy and so yummy and simple. I actually added a couple garlic cloves to the recipe. I also only made half of the dressing. I don't like my salads swimming in dressing. If you aren't sure how much you want, just make it all and put it on until it's to your liking. I did half and I feel like it is perfect. I also used a whole jar of roasted red peppers instead of roasting my own red peppers. I always feel like you can't have too many vegetables. Salads are forgiving like that. Love love love the marinated mushrooms in this. I think I put in about 18 ounces of them. So what, I freaking like my veggies. Enjoy. This is really a good one. A keeper.
http://rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1795

Another great salad I recently made, is again from Cooking light. This is one of those I forgot to take a picture of but as you read the ingredients let it paint a picture in your mind. I used black beans in mine instead of the corn because I had a little accident in the roasting process. Basically I ended up formulating the most amazing salad ever based on this one. I will post the link to the recipe and then below I will post my own. You can take your pick.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1197171

So I didn't want to use pasta in mine really, so I used the black beans instead and as I mentioned, I had a little accident with roasting the corn. Trying to roast frozen corn from a bag does not work I will tell you this. This is what I had and I thought it would work, nope. Oh well. I fed it to the squirels.
1 roasted poblano
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, seeds removed for heat
juice of two limes
2 T olive oil
one pint of cherry tomatoes halved
1 avocado diced
cilantro
1/2 red onion minced
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 t cumin
2 cloves garlic
Roast the poblano under your broiler, on your stove top burner or on the grill until blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let this sit while you chop and assemble the remaining ingredients. You can add two ears of roasted corn or some frozen corn if you like. It would be a great compliment to the dish, I however left it out. Combine all of the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine. Remove your poblano from the bowl and the skin should rub off easily. Do not rinse under water as you do this. You will lose most of the essential nutrients that this vegetable provides. If you can't get all of the skin off don't worry you can eat it. Cut it open and remove the seeds, unless you like a lot of heat, then cut it as is. Cut into small pieces and add to the rest of your salad. If you want to make it more of a salad, add a couple cups of cooked pasta noodles. You can't go wrong with this salad really. Enjoy! Great taste of summer.

yummy salad asian bowl and some blueberry rolls-holla

2009-05-04T19:05:00.001-07:00

I love salads. Salads of any kind really. So I was excited about this one. Plus I love quinoa so it excited me even more. The asian bowl I have been wanting to make forever. I am so so happy I did because it was amazing and Jason loved it. He said it was one of his favorite if not favorite things I have ever made. Wow. Either I haven't really made anything all that great or this was yummy. I loved it too. Any the blueberry rolls were a pleasure to make. I have never made anything like this in all of my baking so it was a lot of fun. They are basically like cinnamon rolls but full of blueberry jelly and topped with a lucious cream cheese icing. No cinnamon involved here. Super simple, time consuming, but super simple. Much worth the effort. Jason's co-workers will be smiling tomorrow. I kept two little ones for me and Lucy. Please try all of these out and enjoy.

Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts from Cooking Light

4 servings

1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Transfer rice to a large bowl; fluff with a fork. Cool. Add chicken, carrot, onions, 2 tablespoons peanuts, 2 teaspoons cilantro, and salt to rice; toss to combine.

Combine juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle oil mixture over rice mixture; toss to combine. Place 1 1/2 cups salad on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining peanuts and 1/4 teaspoon remaining cilantro. Yummmmm! So good.

I did change this one ever so slightly. I used fresh ginger and fresh pineapple. Instead of pistachios I used toasted slivered almonds because I already had some. I have to say I thought the fresh pineapple thing was really a good choice the first day. Second day it was kind of soggy, so maybe the dried pineapple was a better bet. Either way, I loved it. If you don't mind it being a little more moist, then go for the fresh pineapple. It's a much healthier choice.

Quinoa Salad with Toasted Pistachios and Dried Pineapple

from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup shelled, chopped pistachios (about 1 ounce)
2 cups rotisserie chicken breast, chopped
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped dried pineapple
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Boil water in a small saucepan. Add quinoa. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes. (I always use my rice cooker when cooking any grain and it comes out great like that. Use the white rice setting.)

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped pistachios, and cook 2 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring frequently. Transfer pistachios to a large bowl; add cooked quinoa and remaining ingredients to bowl. Toss gently to coat.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Rolls

Madison Mayberry From Every Day with Rachael Ray May 2009

SERVES 12
Prep Time: 25 min (plus rinsing)
Bake Time: 25 min

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg

4 cups flour

2 cups confectioners' sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

One 10-ounce jar blueberry preserves

1. Combine 1/4 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and the yeast; let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in 1 1/4 cups milk, the egg and the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour at low speed. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight to let rise.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the confectioners' sugar, cream cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons milk.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Spread the blueberry preserves on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Roll up lengthwise and seal the edges. Slice into 12 pieces and place in the pan cut sides up. Bake until golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with the cream cheese icing.

On a whim

2009-04-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

I made it a goal this week to not go to the store once. It didn't work. But this salad was born from that goal. This is all I had for fresh veggies so I threw them together and it turned out amazing. Loved it. I didn't take a picture unfortunately but you can trust in me that I would not steer you wrong. It was beautiful, fresh tasting and healthy.

1 English cucumber (seedless cucumber)
1 yellow pepper
1 lemon
fresh basil
red onion
olive oil
salt & pepper

Chop the cucumber and yellow pepper. I left the skin on my cucumber because I feel like I am cutting away all of the nutrients when I do that. Mince the red onion. Throw it all into a bowl. Squeeze half of the lemon into the bowl with one tablespoon of olive oil. Roughly chop your fresh basil and toss that in. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Refrigerate up two three days. Enjoy!

Flat bread and cookies

2009-04-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

I recently went on a spree of checking out cookbooks at the library. It's really fun until you have to write down all of the recipes. One of the books I checked out was Robin Miller Robin to the Rescue. It's a really good one. She makes really simple and practical dishes. This is the first one I have tried, simple but yummy.
Flat Bread
1 package of store bought pizza dough (I used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough)
rosemary
garlic
salt
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9X15 in pan/cookie sheet. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface as big as you can make it. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle on diced garlic. She used 4 cloves. This was a perfect amount. Sprinkle on some chopped up rosemary and then some salt. Bake 10-12 minutes. Amazing. The beautiful thin about this recipe is that you could totally do a million things with it. This was just what was suggested and I happened to have all of these things already so I went with it. Super yummy and simple. Had it with some spaghetti.
This was the cookie recipe I used. I made three variations of the cookie. The first batch was as shown in the recipe, with peanut butter cups. The second variation was with candy corn flavored Hershey Kisses I had from Halloween. The third variation was with some strawberry jelly. I wanted to make some that Lucy could eat and they turned out quite well I must say. Enjoy.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/peanut-butter-surprise-cookies?autonomy_kw=peanut%20putter%20blossom%20cookies&rsc=header_7

Fresh Tasting

2009-04-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

I made the most simple and amazing fresh tasting salad the other day. It has really been occuring to me lately that good food is so simple. It doesn't need much to make something taste amazing. I feel like it just came to me suddenly. Wow. That excites me. Especially with summer approaching us and the farmers market about to be in full affect. It's easy on the pocket book and takes no time at all. This is really a wonderful salad. Give it a try. Jason loved it and typically he isn't a pea guy. I think he prefers that crisp fresh taste that this salad had. Enjoy.

Raw Snap Pea Salad
Everyday Food May 2008
Martha Stewart

1 lb fresh raw sugar snap peas sliced 1/4 in thick on a diagonal
1 c finely chopped red onion
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
Season with coarse salt and pepper. Let sit at room temp for 10 minutes or refridgerate for later use. I added fresh basil to mine as well. I just love the taste together.

It's as simple as that. Enjoy!

Chinatown Adventure

2009-04-13T06:30:00.001-07:00

One of our favorite shows to watch is called Check Please. It's on public access and it shows three Chicagoans review their favorite restaurant. We have found so many of our favorite places to eat from this show. So after watching this weeks episode we knew we had to try Cafe Hoang in Chinatown. It's a Vietnamese restaurant with a huge menu. The have pictures of all of the food on the wall so you can order that way if you feel more comfortable. The man on the show ordered a #26 and I kept saying I would order that too. While we were waiting outside (didn't open until 2 for some reason)(weird on a friday), there was an article posted from the paper outside that said if you only come once order the Pho. So that is wat I did. The waiter came and sort of rushed us into ordering because there was a line of people waiting to eat here and a full house. So I just picked that with much regret. I think the problem was that I ordered the chicken version. Lame-o. I am so stupid.
Jason got the #26 which was a beef skewer and a shrimp skewer. Tons of noodles, greens and veggies, crushed peanuts, basil, bean sprouts and then you dump a secret sauce on top. It was what we think fish sauce with a little red chili flake. It was the freshest and most flavorful food I have had in a long long time I must say. I was so sad I didn't order it. I know I did probably eat half of it though because Jason said we could "share". Mine was lame. I have to admit the broth was very very flavorful. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think it may have been lemongrass or star anise. Not sure, but it was a delightfully unique flavor. It was served with a plate full of basil leaves, bean sprouts and lime to top it. The chicken was breast meat which I found interesting. It was super super dried out and flavorless. Tons and tons of noodles which came in handy for Lucy.
We did also order crab rangoons which we decided were the best we have had. I ordered the spring rolls which were very good because they too had fresh basil in them. You could put basil on anything and it would take it up 500 notches.
So we will definately be going back here for sure. It was amazing. I tell you this, I will be ordering the #26 this time.

Easter Feast

2009-04-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

We stayed home this Easter and wanted to make a feast for ourselves. These are the recipes we used. Everything was amazing. We love trying new things so it was nice to make our own meal this year and break out of the mold having the same old same old traditional dishes. I would have to say everything was amazing. If you aren't a fan of lemon, the asparagus may not be for you, as it did have a very strong lemon taste to it. That can easily be toned down to your liking.
Honey Orange Baked Ham
Martha Stewart

1 whole smoked ham (14 to 18 pounds), bone in and rind on
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 large onion, cut into six wedges
1 large orange, cut into six wedges
4 sprigs rosemary
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Rinse ham with cool water; dry with paper towels. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature one hour. Meanwhile, whisk together honey, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and mustard; set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with rack in lower third. Fit a roasting pan with a rack, and place ham, with the thicker rind on top, on rack. Scatter onion and orange wedges and rosemary around ham on rack. Transfer to oven, and cook one hour.
Remove pan from oven, and let ham cool slightly. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Trim fat all over the ham to a layer of about 1/4 inch (it does not need to be perfectly even; the bottom will have less fat and more skin). Turn ham, bottom side down. Score fat on top of ham in a diamond pattern, each one to two inches, cutting about 1/4 to 1/2 inch through the fat and into meat. Baste with honey mixture. Add enough water to roasting pan to fill the bottom by about 1/4 inch.
Return ham to oven, and cook one hour more, basting often with remaining marinade (do not baste with pan juices). If necessary, add water to pan to keep juices from burning. Remove from oven; transfer ham to a serving platter; discard orange, onion, and rosemary. Let stand 30 minutes before carving ham.
Meanwhile, make gravy: Strain liquid from roasting pan into a liquid measuring cup or bowl, and skim off fat from surface with a large spoon. Place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add cider vinegar, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Return defatted juices to pan along with two cups stock. Bring to a boil, and let simmer.
In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 1/2 cups stock and the flour; whisk into sauce. Continue simmering until liquid is reduced by half and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with ham.

Grilled Sweet Potato and Scallion Salad
Bobby Flay Boy Meets Grill

4 large sweet potatoes, par-cooked and cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 scallions
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat grill to high. Brush potatoes and scallions with oil and arrange on grill. Grill potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until just tender. Grill scallions until softened and marked. Remove scallions from the grill and cut into thin slices.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, the mustard, vinegars, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add potatoes, scallions, and parsley and toss until potatoes are well coated. Transfer to a platter and serve.

Mushroom Ragout
seasaltwithfood blog

Ingredients

16 oz White and Brown Button Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 Big Red Onion, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Italian Flat Parsley, chopped
I Tbsp chopped Chives
Sea Salt To taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Heat the olive oil and cook the onions over a moderate heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Turn the heat on high and toss in the mushrooms. Cook until all the mushrooms have become browned and wilted, about 4 minutes.
Add the parsley, butter and balsamic vinegar and season with sea salt and black pepper. To serve top with some chopped chives.Strawberry Cucumber Basil Salad
Cooking Light

Ingredients

4 cups hulled strawberries, quartered (1 pound)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Combine cucumbers and juice; toss to coat. Add cucumber mixture, salt, and pepper to strawberry mixture; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Pan-Fried Asparagus Tips with Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest

(Makes 2 servings. Recipe created by Kalyn, with inspiration from a recipe for sauteed asparagus in Fine Cooking.)

1/2 lb. asparagus tips (from one pound of asparagus, save the rest of the asparagus to cook another way)
1 T good quality olive oil
1 lemon, remove all zest, then cut lemon in half

Cut 4-5 inch long tips from one pound of asparagus (saving the thicker stalk ends for another recipe.) Zest the lemon, then cut lemon in half and remove any noticeable seeds.

Heat the olive oil in the largest frying pan you have. (I used a non-stick pan, but any good frying pan will work.) Add asparagus in a single layer and turn heat to medium-high. Cook asparagus 4-5 minutes, turning about once a minute. Asparagus is done when the thickest part of the stalk can be pierced fairly easily with a fork but asparagus still has some snap to it, and asparagus is starting to brown.

Turn off heat, the squeeze over juice of half the lemon (or use the whole lemon if it's not especially juicy.) Arrange asparagus on a plate with all stalks facing the same way, sprinkle with lemon zest and serve immediately.

Falafel Burgers and Bulgur-lentil salad YUMM delicioso

2009-04-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to make these forever and had the perfect chance. Made them on a day when Jason wouldn't be home. He isn't a fan of this kind of food at all. I have to say, I was in pure joy when eating them and they lasted me four days. I had my friend Jess over to help me finish it. Yummy. Rachael Ray. She makes four big ones. I swear, I made about 15 little ones. I wanted to stuff two into the pita to have a better ratio. It worked out nicely. I made them about the size of a Chips Ahoy cookie if that's an ok reference for you. This is an amazing dish. I actually ended up using hummus instead of the tahini sauce, although I would have liked to have had that instead. I just didn't want to fork out the money to buy it. It would go a lot better. The falafels are made of chickpeas which is what hummus is made of so it's kind of a bit much, but it does need something, so I would use one or the other or make some kind of yogut sauce. I wanted to do that too. Anyhow. Super super yummy. I love it so so much. The salad is from Ellie Krieger and I loved it too. It is really fresh tasting and just all around nourishing. I would add a little more lemon than she did. I just squeezed another half over the top. I found it a little plain. It was a nice change of pace for me though. Enjoy.
Herbed Bulgur-Lentil Pilaf

1/2 cup green lentils
1 cup bulgur
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small red onion, finely diced (1 cup)
1 yellow pepper, seeded and finely diced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place lentils and 2 cups broth in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, then reduce to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender and most liquid is dissolved, about 30 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid. While lentils are cooking, place bulgur and remaining 2 cups chicken broth in another small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until most liquid is dissolved and bulgur is tender, about 13 to15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Add the bulgur to the lentils.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add peppers and cook until peppers are tender, another 5 minutes. Add the onion mixture to bulgur-lentil mixture. Stir in parsley, basil, chives, lemon zest, lemon juice remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to incorporate.

Falafel Burgers

Rachael Ray

2 cans garbanzo beans (15 ounces each), drained and rinsed
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
A large handful of parsley, chopped
3-4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3 tablespoons water
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
4 sandwich-size whole wheat pita pockets
1-1 1/2 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup hot pepperoncini peppers, sliced (depending on how hot you like it)
2 vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 300ºF.

Pat the chickpeas dry with a paper towel and place them into a food processor. Add in the red onion, garlic, parsley, flour, spices and seasonings along with the beans and process until fairly smooth and very thick, so that you can form patties.

Pre-heat a large nonstick skillet with 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Form four large patties and cook for 3 minutes on each side.

While the patties are cooking, get the sauce started by placing the tahini paste into a medium size mixing bowl. Add the water, lemon juice and lemon zest and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set the sauce aside for the falafel burger assembly.

Cut the edge of each pita to form big pockets, then wrap them in foil and place them in the pre-heated oven to get warm, 3 minutes.

Remove the pitas from the oven and sauce each pita with a couple of tablespoons of the tahini sauce. Place some shredded lettuce, sliced cucumber, peppers and tomatoes in each pita, then slide in the falafel burgers and enjoy! Pass the extra tahini sauce at the table.

New York Dining Experience AKA: The Worlds Longest Blog Entry

2009-04-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

We actually found out about this place on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. It's called Caracas Arepas. Totally amazing.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/arepas/index.html
http://www.caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php

This is me dining upon my arepa. I am so happy I got to try one of these. They are definitely unique, like nothing I have ever had. They were so so yummy. It makes me sad knowing I probably would have a hard time trying to make them.

This is the one that Jason ordered. It was called the La Sureña grilled chicken and chorizo, with avocado slices and the classic and always enigmatic spicy chimi-churri sauce. It was so amazing. The smokiness of the chorizo and the chimi-churri sauce was so nice. I would eat that chimi-churri on everything.

This was the one that I ordered. We really shared though. This was called the La De Pernil roasted pork shoulder with tomato slices and a spicy mango sauce

Here is me in Chinatown with a street vendor pretzel. Something you must have when you go to NY. I had been dreaming of them since the last time I had one. Yummy. We shared it, just so you know. I didn't eat that whole thing. I could have though.
http://www.crumbs.com/
On our trip up to the Upper East Side we stumbled across this place called Crumbs. Ok, yeah, I am an idiot and didn't get one. It was bad timing. We were on our way to lunch and now that I am talking about I feel even more foolish for not getting one. There is no excuse. So they looked amazing. There were several around the city but they were really big and beautiful.
This was my big beautiful lox sandwich at the famous Zabar's. Why is it famous you might ask, just wait until you go there. This is just a little side joint with bagels and muffins and what not. Next door is the most amazing place I have ever been. It would be like if you imagined your dream place in your mind but in reality stepped into it. The most amazing market ever. Anything and everything you can imagine. Upstairs was an entire floor dedicated to anything you could imagine for the kitchen and cooking. I was losing my mind here. I think Jason wanted to kill me by the time we were done because I was looking at everything. I walked away with a lot of things. I think this is where I spent the mojority of my money. Just on snacks and a few kitchen things. I love Zabar's with all of my heart. We had been here before last time but somehow missed the market. I am glad that didn't happen again. This was an amazing sandwhich. I was so happy to have dined upon it. The salmon was so so fresh and the bread was amazing.
This one is Jason's. He goes for the classic style lox plate. He is such a huge fan of it. I used to get these at a place here in Highland Park called Once Upon A Bagel and he tried it once and fell in love. Of course when you go to New York it's on a whole nother level. But we are happy to have Once Upon A Bagel here. It's the next best thing.
Black and white cookies are sort of a New York thing. So I did my research on where to get the best one in the city. A lot of people said Zabar's so I hooked it up. I must say that I was very skeptical going into it because it was very thick. I thought it was going to be really dry and crumbly. Wow. It was amazing. It was so so good. We ate the entire thing. The frosting was so good. Of course down the middle is the best way to go and then you kind of have to choose from there. I feel like I liked them both as well. It was a really really good cookie.
http://www.zabars.com/
So, we did tons and tons of research for this trip. We don't mess around. We had note cards for every single neighborhood with the restaurants on one side and the places we wanted to see in each on the other side. We were set. So in my research I discovered this place called Cafe Bari. It's really actually some little cafe you can sit down in for lunch or whatever but on the side of the building is a window you can walk up to and order these mini cupcakes. Little did I know how mini they were. I was shocked at the price. Three for $3. I thought, wow, that's a deal. So we ordered three. We were cracking up so hard because they literally almost blew off of the plate they were so tiny. We could each take a small bite of half and they were gone. I must say, they were really very good though. I liked the "tye dye" one the most. It tasted like funfetti. The other two had fillings. One was cookie dough and the other was peanut butter cup. They are making a killing lets just leave it at that.
This is Grimaldi's and it's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We took the subway over and after lunch walked the bridge back. It's a nice way to feel a little better about eating an entire pizza. Come on, it's not that big. Three thin pieces each. But wow, it was amazing. So so good. They use a coal fire oven so it takes literally minutes. It took us longer to get there than it did for our entire dining experience. This is usually a tough place to get into but we went there at around 2 in the afternoon so it was perfect. Super yummy. A legendary place that is a must do if you go to New York.
Me dining upon the lucious pie and Jason feeling sad about his last bite. Later he went on to tell me that he almost ripped my last piece out of my hand as I ate it in front of him after finishing this last bite.
The kitchen is totally open and as you wait in line for the bathroom, you can watch them making the pizzas and placing them in the coal fire oven. This was the big tub of mozzarella that was being put on the pizzas. It was crazy to watch that much cheese being used. It was interesting because they put the cheese on first and then the toppings and then the sauce. Very interesting. I may try that method. I like it. http://www.grimaldis.com/
So here we have a little ice cream treat from Momofuku Milk. David Chang is one of the top chefs in the country right now and has four places in New York. Momofuku Noodle Bar (visited on our last trip and really was the reason we returned to New York) Momofuku Saam Bar, Momofuku Ko and then this joint. He openend it with the pastry chef from his other restaurants. I have to say, with all of the hype, it wasn't all that great. This here is a marshmallow cereal milk ice cream. They have several different flavors. They literally soak the cereal in milk and then make ice cream out of it. They also have the milks you can order too. It really wasn't all that great. It didn't have much taste to me. Jason ate that. I got this.This was a chocolate cake with a marshmallow buttercream and yellow cake crumb filling. It was really really good and super moist but I couldn't get that from the layers. It just tasted pretty normal to me. I couldn't find those flavors in there at all. I really did love it. But it rotted my stomach out and I had to chuck it. That made me really sad.
http://www.momofuku.com/bakery/default.asp We visited the Green Market one morning and it was really great. I was in heaven because a lot of the stands were baked goods and some vegan and gluten free stuff, which strangely enough I really like. Some of it can be really good. Anyhow. I got this thing. It was really the best thing I have had in a long long time. It was made with whole wheat, oats, apples, cinnamon, cranberries, apple juice and walnuts. That's it. I was totally perplexed how they made it so I called them to ask. Thought it couldn't hurt to try and find out. One of the bakers ended up calling me back and explained to me how they do it. I thought, hey no problem. I tried to make them and I messed up the crust a little. I think I can get it right next time. Anyhow. I tried to email them again to ask for a little more details or tips. The owner emailed me back saying how upset she was that one of her bakers ever called me and that all of their recipes were top secret. Whoa. I ended up getting a second one after eating my first knowing that I would be sad to never have one again. It was so moist and amazing. I can't even tell you. Man, I love it. The memory will live on forever in my mind. And this photo doesn't hurt.So this was my favorite meal of the whole trip. Can you imagine that? So simple, yet so freaking amazing. I feel so happy about it still. I am going to frame this picture and put it in every room of the house so I can look at it where ever I am. This was at the famous Katz Deli. It's an old school Jewish Deli with pastrami and rye to die for. It was used in When Harry Met Sally in the infamous scene where she fakes an oragasm. They even have a sign hanging above where she sat. Anyhow. This place was wild. Right when you walked in there was a guy that hands you a ticket, then you walk up to a long counter (there could be a line) and you walk up to whatever guy shouts out to you or becomes open. Then you order. I got the pastrami on rye. Hello? How could you not. That's just what you get. As I was waiting he dropped a fresh plate of pastrami onto the counter saying "You try, mommy." It was just a little snack bite to try. They do it to everyone ordering it. So amazing. I wanted to scream when I tasted it. Then he smeared yellow mustard all over the bread holding it up to me saying, "you want?". It cracked me up. Yeah, I want. Also, had to get the pickles. Love pickles and New York is the place to get pickles if you love them like I do. And, they were free. Well, with the price of the pastrami being $14.95, I would hope they are free. Like Jason says, "Well, they weren't free." So yummy and crunchy. Not like the pickles you have had that's for sure. So so good.Here is me dining upon my sammy. Oh, what a happy, glorious moment in my life. I will be going there every time I go to New York. Sorry Jason. He got this.Lame. Matzo ball soup. He really liked it. That's fine if you want to eat a big ball made out of a cracker. Totally kidding. He just isn't into this type of food. He was loving enough to take me here because he knows how much I love it. The whole thing. The food and the atmosphere. It's amazing.This was what was left. I must state that the only reason this lies here is because I saw everyone around me sharing one and I had almost eaten a whole one. I started to question why I was not feeling full and worried that it was going to hit me and so I stopped. I could have easily finished it. Looking back, I should have but oh well. It was so so amazing.
http://www.katzdeli.com/
Later that night we hit up a place a local recommended for Italian on the Lower East Side called Frankies. It was so cute. A little place, only holding about 22 people. I counted. It was pretty empty when we went because we were dining early on to make it to a comedy club at 8. It was really good. This was a mushroom crostini Jason got. So full of flavor. It was amazing. So I ordered one too. Here is mine. It had white beans, lemon juice, sardines, and garlic. It was amazing.This was Jason's dish. It was a hand rolled ricotta cavatelli pasta with a brown butter sage sauce and spicy sausage. It was amazing. I think I ate more of his than mine. Mine was ok. It just tasted like something I could make better at home. It was good, just not great. Gnocchi. I am a huge fan of gnocchi. I had it last time we were in New York at Mario Batalli's place Lupa. It was the most amazing I have ever and will ever have so I don't even know why I ordered it.
http://www.frankiesspuntino.com/
This is from a cupcake place in Chelsea Market. I always love looking at their work because it's so over the top. They make these ones with character heads on it literally made of a huge glob of frosting. I would love to just smash one into my face and eat it. I know that I would pay for it though. Tummy ache city. So I never got one. I love to look though.
This was another place that we saw on Throwdown. It was so fun to find it.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/chocolate-bread-pudding/index.html
This was the menu. You probably can't read it very well but it cracked me up. It was just a printed menu on white paper with some things scratched out with a sharpie. Warm molten dark chocolate lava cake, warm chocolate bread pudding, warm slow baked apples, carmelized pears, warm brioche donuts, vanilla creme brulee, cup of hot chocolate. It's these two guys that started it. One is the business guy and the other is a pastry chef who does gourmet deserts out of this truck. Totally original and fun.You can't really see this very well because it was about 10 at night but this is the warm chocolate bread pudding with bacon fat custard. I know, it sounds weird but who doesn't like a little savory with sweet? You couldn't even taste the bacon. It was just an amazing combo. Lots of gooey fudge melted down in there with the chocolate bread. So delightful. I won't mention that later that night we were walking down the street (yes I did say later, so around 10:30) we spotted Mario Batali's pizza place Otto, and couldn't resist. This was after all an eating trip. So I didn't take a picture but it was good. We couldn't really resist ourselves. We just shared a little pizza. They were really thin crust. I have to say, eh. Wasn't that great. We got one with a fried egg on top. It was probably the oiliest pizza I have ever had. Not sure if it was from the cheese or oil drizzled on top. But the fried egg was literally sliding around on top. How I didn't I gain 500 lbs on this trip I do not know. Thank you, God. I guess that's why they say everything in moderation.
http://www.desserttruck.com/So this was our last bagel day in New York. We had to hit up Ess-a-Bagel. It's one of the most mentioned bagel places in the city. I have to say, it was the best. So so good. I would go there next time and only there. Well, that and Zabars. These bagels were huge. They almost didn't have a hole in the middle because they were so fat. We had to get Lucy one to take home. That's the one thing she wanted. We got the lox. What else do you get? Man. So mine is the one with the oats on top. Trying to be half-way healthy with all of that cream cheese shmear. Oh, I was in heaven. It was amazing. Love love love love. That is what love is. Look it up in the dictionary and you will see this picure. Well, this and the pastrami.
http://www.ess-a-bagel.com/

So I will talk about our dining experience I sadly do not have pictures for. This was Momofuku Ko.
http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/02/no-reservations-food-porn-episode-featuring-momofuku-video/
Please watch this for the real idea of this place.
So, this is one of the hardes places to get a reservation in the country right now. That is for two reasons really. One, Chef David Chang is one of the top chefs in the country right now. Second, you can only get reservations online a week in advance and they only have twelve spots. It's a pre fixe menu and some of the best food you will ever eat. So I had my mom trying with me because Jason couldn't break the firewall at school. I failed on my attempt and was talking with her on the phone while trying, when suddenly an opening popped up and she screamed, should I take it. Yes. Shit yes, take it. It was for monday at 9:30. This was probably the lastest meal of my life but proabably one of the best meals I will have in my life. Shit, yes, we got in. I can't believe it. It was a glorious moment really. I don't know if I can express to you the difficulty of getting into this place. Just go online and try one day for funsies. You will see how fast they go. The moment you click they are gone. Just like that. You are charged $150 per person if you don't cancel reservations within 24 hours. That's because to get the reservation you must give a credit card number. They don't have phones in the place either.

So, all day we planned for this meal. Being very careful to make sure we were hungry. We even rode the subway back from Chinatown to rest in our room for a little bit before this meal. This was going to be a feast that we would never forget and needed to be prepared. It was an 11 course meal lasting a little shy of 2 hours.

When we arrived I was happy to see the hostess wearing some jeans and striped shirt. Totally casual and greeted us nicely. She recognized our area code on the reservation and turns out, she too was from Chicago and used to work at a familiar restaurant back there. She talked to us throughout the meal and was very friendly. She is the one who told us about Frankie's the Itallian place we ate at.

Please bear with me as I try to remember everything and I don't know the exact details because the chefs were very quiet and quick with their descriptions.

The amuse bouche was the most memorable thing for me. So so amazing.
Buttermilk Biscuit black pepper butter, mirin chicharone, togorshi
It was a stack of something that was the texture of a buiscuit but the size of a quarter and stacked high. It was layered with a peppered butter and toasted, served on a hot stone. Ok, so this description is horrible but I have to tell you, it was heaven in my mouth. Oh, they didn't allow photography which made me very sad, but is understandable.
So the second dish was a small piece of veal tongue served on a small spoon with some tiny greens and some broth. I can't remember the details but it was ok. I wasn't that thrilled with eating veal tongue but proud of myself for trying it.
The next dish was Long Island Fluke buttermilk, poppy seeds, white soy. It was kind of like having sashimi, which is just the raw fish. It was very very fresh tasting and the buttermilk, strange as it may sound, was an amazing compliment to the fish. The poppy seeds lent a nice contrast in texture to the dish.
Next was Cold Dashi Broth, Sugar Snap Peas, Santa Barbara Uni, Cucumber. This one really scared me because the Uni (raw sea urchin) was like a paste. You are literally sitting in front of the chefs watching them prepare your food. And when I say right in front of the chefs I mean, like a foot. So I could see him scraping this from the container in was in. I was really pleased with the taste and texture though. All of the flavors came together nicely. The pea shoots were the crunchiest, freshest vegetable I have ever tasted.
After that was the Smoked Hen Egg onions, potato, caviar. This was heaven in your mouth. This was a dish we were waiting to taste. It was kind of cool because they stagger the reservations so that not everyone is getting the same thing at the same time. They only have four chefs so they serve things staggered. You could always see what you were going to be eating soon. The eggs were something we had read about and were excited to try. They did not disappoint. Imagine a soft boiled egg split open on it's side with all of that love spilling out. Then topped with a little caviar and some other flavors. It was amazing and definately unique. This was one of our favorite dishes.
Hand Torn Pasta, Burgundy Escargot, Chicken Skin
I was scared to try this. Snail sausage just doesn't sound that appealing to me and really I didn't know how I was going to bring myself to try it. Then I realized that we were at one of the best restaurants in the country and it would be rediculous not to try it. It was phenominal. I am glad that I didn't pass it up. It was cut into cubes. The pasta was so tender and a nice accompaniment to the more rustic meat.
Atlantic Halibut cauliflower
This was a perfectly cooked halibut filet. It had a nice golden crust on top of it and was tender on the inside. It was really a nice dish.
Shaved Torchon of Hudson Valley Foie Gras lychee, pine nuts
This was the dish that everyone had be raving about. It was good at first to me, but became far to rich for my palate after a few bites. This was our first time having foie gras and it was prepared very different than usual. I was frozen into a log like you would see sausage and then grated on a microplane over the top of the lychee fruit which is an asian fruit most similar in taste to grapefruit. It was a burst of flavor and the foie gras melted in your mouth.
Dry Aged Striploin pickled jalapenos, black trumpet mushrooms
This dish for me fell flat. It sirloin was cooked sous-vide which is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F). Anyhow, it's a technique that's all the rage amongst these top chefs. So the beef was super tough and really, to me flavorless. I honestly could barely cut through it with my knife. I just didn't care for the dish at all and was sort of sad to end on that note.
Guava Sorbet, Cream Cheese
This desert was amazing. It was basically the sorbet dropped into a container of this liquified cheese cake then sat and solitified while the sorbet softened inside the coating. When you cut into it, the sorbet was so tender. The guava taste was so fresh and bright. It was a great desert.
Funnel Cake, Black Sesame Ice Cream, Coconut, Lemon
This was definately one that I was excited to try as I witnessed it being served to fellow diners, however the black sesame ice cream was not for me. It was more savory than sweet, which I sort of expected, however, was not a fan. The lemon curd was delicious as was the funnel cake.
So, our culinary excursion came to an end abour 11:20 as the small alarm clock above the kitchen read.
The bathroom cracked me up because above the toilet was a wall full of cook books and on the other wall was a goofy poster of a chinaman with a lazy eye and some crazy knives in his had. David Chang is a man with a sense of humor. He is super young and one of the most talented chefs in the country if not, the world. We were so lucky to have dined at Ko.
http://www.momofuku.com/ko/default.asp

I'm back

2009-04-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

So I am finally back from New York and ready to post some more recipes. I really enjoyed being cooked for, for a change while on our trip. Plus Lucy was with grandma which means that I could just sit and eat my food and not have to worry about her at the same time. That was a nice change of pace. We did so much eating and I will post all of that soon. I want to post a few things that I have made since I have been back too though. I made a really great quinoa salad. Yummy. I just wanted to make something really nourishing for my body. I felt like while I was on this trip I really put a lot of food into my body that I am not used to and it was really out of whack. So I am back in the swing of things again and I feel great. So here it is. I made this one up myself. Enjoy.

Liz's Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water or stock of your choice
Cook the quinoa according to the package. I always use my rice cooker on the white rice setting because I can never get it to turn out otherwise.
1 can of black beans rinsed and drained
1 red pepper diced
3-4 green onions diced green parts only minced
a handful of cilantro minced
1 mango diced
1 avocado diced
1 jalapeno diced seeds and membrane removed to control heat
1 lime zest and juice
2 cloves of garlic minced or passed through a garlic press
1 T olive oil
1 t cumin
salt and pepper
1 t chipotle chili powder
1 t ancho chili powder
If you don't have or want to get either of these or just have one it's totally fine. It will still taste good if you use regular chili powder. I like the smokiness these bring to food. I got mine at Super Target if you are looking for them. They are totally versatile so don't think you won't use them again. You can use them any time chili powder is called for and it makes great chili. The chipotle is a little hotter than the ancho so if you don't like heat just reduce it a little.

Mix all of the ingredients together and refridgerate. It's a good idea to mix the spices and what not separate as to combine them well.
You could totally add chicken or tofu to this and make it a meal. Or make it a meal like this. It makes about 5-6 servings or 4 main dish servings. It's really amazing.

Quinoa salad

2009-03-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

Black Bean-Quinoa Salad with Basil-Lemon Dressing

cooking light magazine

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1 (14-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen baby lima beans
4 cups chopped tomato (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

Preparation

Combine quinoa and vegetable broth in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until broth is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from heat.

Place tofu on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sauté tofu 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; cool completely.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, basil, and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Stir in quinoa.

Cook lima beans according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Cool completely. Add the lima beans, tofu, chopped tomato, green onions, chopped carrot, and black beans to quinoa mixture; stir gently to combine. Store, covered, in refrigerator until ready to serve.

So when I made this, I basically just did the dressing and the quinoa. I added my own ingredients because I was a little burnt out on beans at the time. I think this would also be good as is. Mine included lots of cherry tomatoes, about three scallions with the green parts only, diced red pepper and slivered almonds. It was so so good. I am a huge fan of this salad. I will be making it again for sure.

Roasted Potatoes Yummy!

2009-03-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

I am always looking through my recipes to try and make some new things. My goal is to get through them but that will never happen because I just keep collecting more. I am just gonna keep on trying. These were really good. The title says chipotle potatoes, but in the recipe they use chili powder. I used chipotle chili powder which is different. I was assuming that is what the chipotle in the recipe was supposed to be. They have it at Super Target if you want to get some. They did at mine at least. I would highly recommend it. It has an amazing smokey ness and the perfect amount of heat. This is a great side. Yum. I would recommend using 2 onions. I just loved them but the ratio was off. Lots of taters and little onions. Yummy.

Vinegar-Coarse Salt Chipotle Roasted Potatoes

Recipe courtesy Ingrid Hoffmann, 2008

Ingredients

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 small or 4 large russet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 small red onion, cut into medium wedges

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix vinegar, cumin and chili powder. Slice potatoes into 1-inch size chunks. Toss potatoes with vinegar mixture. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and place them in a single layer in large rimmed baking pan or roasting dish. Season with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove potatoes from oven, add onions and mix together. Return pan to oven and roast for an additional 20 minutes.

Ham Burgers and salad.

2009-03-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

These are a Rachael Ray burger I made. They were good. I think, not my cup of tea. Interesting and new flavors though. I also made this salad to go with. This was my dream salad. Truly fresh tasting and super healthy. Man, I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. Yum.

Ham Burger
Rachael Ray Magzine

1 pound lean ground pork
3/4 pound deli-sliced honey-baked ham, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon grill seasoning (a palmful)
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Four 1/2-inch-thick slices fresh pineapple
4 kaiser rolls, split and toasted
1 cup pineapple or mango chutney
8 red leaf lettuce leaves
1 red onion, thinly sliced

Preparation

In a large bowl, combine the pork, ham, maple syrup, grill seasoning, hot sauce and mustard. Form into four patties.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, one turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the pineapple slices and cook, turning once, until golden, about 5 minutes; transfer to a plate. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon EVOO, one turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until cooked through, 8-10 minutes total.

Place one patty on each roll bottom and top with some chutney, lettuce, a pineapple slice, onion and a roll top.Pinto Bean Salsa Salad

Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

Dressing

1 small clove garlic
1 1/2 limes, juiced (about 3 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears)
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small Hass avocado, halved, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, leaves and stems

Directions

Make the dressing: Smash the garlic clove, sprinkle with a pinch of the salt, and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the mixture to a coarse paste. Whisk the garlic paste, lime juice, remaining salt and chili powder together in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream.

For the salad: Toss together the beans, corn, bell pepper, and onions. Add the dressing and toss to coat evenly. Gently fold in the tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

Mexican Fiesta

2009-03-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

I crave no food more than I do Mexican so it was an easy choice of what to make while having some friends over for dinner. This is a taco recipe we had been wanting to try for some time. With it we made some green rice from Bobby Flay, Rick Bayless guacamole, black beans (ekk), and some mango salsa. I can't tell you how amazing it all was, other than the beans. Sad about that. Here they are. Enjoy.

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos
Food Network Magazine

3 whole ancho chiles
3 whole pasilla chiles
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
3 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (untrimmed), cut into chunks
Freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
Assorted taco toppings, for garnish

Directions

Put the ancho and pasilla chiles and the garlic in a bowl. Microwave on high until soft and pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Stem and seed the chiles; peel the garlic. Transfer the chiles and garlic to a blender.

Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and the oregano to the blender; puree until smooth. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat; add the chile sauce and fry, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Pour in the broth and reduce until slightly thickened.

Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and transfer to a large slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, then pour in the sauce. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. (Or cook the meat in a large Dutch oven, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes at 350 degrees; uncover and cook 30 more minutes.)

Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Shred the pork with 2 forks; season with salt and pepper. Serve the shredded pork in the tortillas, along with toppings.

Green Rice

Bobby Flay

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups chicken broth or water
2 roasted poblano peppers, stems, seeds and skin removed
1 roasted jalapeno pepper, stem, seeds and skin removed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, divided
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Spanish onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/4 cups long-grain rice

Directions

Combine the broth and chiles in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and then partially cover and simmer gently over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Pour the chile mixture into a food processor, add 1/4 cup cilantro and process to a smooth puree. Season with salt and keep warm.

Wipe the pan clean, add the oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute. Add the warm broth mixture, stir, and season with salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Fluff with a fork, transfer to a bowl, and stir in remaining cilantro.Sun-Dried Tomato Guacamole Guacamole Invernal

Makes about 3 cups

Recipe from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time

Ingredients

½ medium white onion, chopped into small pieces (about 1/3 cup)

Fresh hot green chiles to taste (usually 2 serranos or 1 jalapeño), stemmed, seeded (if you wish) and finely chopped

¼ cup soft sundried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces (patted dry on paper towels if oil-packed)

¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus a little extra for garnish

3 medium-large (about 1 ¼ pounds) ripe avocados

Salt

1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

A little Mexican queso fresco or other fresh garnishing cheese like feta or salted farmers cheese, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Scoop the onion into a small strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and transfer to a large bowl, along with the green chiles and tomatoes..

Cut around each avocado, from stem to blossom end and back again, then twist the two halves apart. Scoop out the pit and discard. Scoop the flesh from the skin and add to the bowl. Using an old fashioned potato masher or a large fork or spoon, mash the avocados into a coarse puree, mixing in all the flavorings. Taste and season with salt and lime juice—the guacamole usually takes about 1 teaspoon of salt, lime juice is a matter of personal preference.

Dulce de leche cookie sandwiches (alfajor)

Simple Delicioso Ingrid Hoffman

2 c all purpose flour

1/4 c confectioners sugar sifted

1 cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces and softened

1 c dulce de leche at room temp (bought at store pre made)(found ours near the coffee)

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground cloves

pinch of grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment or spray with cooking spray.

Place flour, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl. Using your hand mix the butter in or use a pastry blender. If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour. Shape into a disc and refridgerate for 10-20 minutes. Roll the dough out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter of your choice. They used a circle. I used a flour. Be creative. Bake cookies 15-20 minutes. Warning, if they are thin, they won't take long. The thicker you cut them the longer they take. They recommend 1/8 in thick. Mine varried as did the doneness. I also added the cinnamon to my dough instead of the filling. I liked it a lot like that. When cooled spread a tablespoon or so of the dulce de leche into the middle of the cookie and top with another cookie. Enjoy.

Mango Salsa

Makes 4 cups

1 1/2 c chopped mango

1 c diced fresh pineapple

1 avocado diced

1/2 c diced red onion

1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 c fresh squeezed lime

1 jalapeno seeded and diced

2 t minced garlic

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t ground cumin

Combine all in a bowl. Stir to mix and refrigerate at least an hour to meld the flavors.

Meatballs

2009-03-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

Turkey Meatballs with Quick And Spicy Tomato Sauce and Whole-Wheat Spaghetti

Food Network Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, liquid included
1 teaspoon finely minced canned chipotle en adobo and sauce, or more to taste
2 teaspoons chopped oregano leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Meatballs:

Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 slice fresh whole-wheat bread, crusts removed, pulsed into crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 box (16 ounces) whole-wheat spaghetti

Directions

Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil for pasta.

Make Sauce:

In a 4-quart saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, chipotles, oregano, rosemary, and salt. Bring all the ingredients to a low boil, reduce heat and cook for approximately 15 minutes, until liquid has evaporated slightly. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. While sauce is cooking, make meatballs.

Meatballs:

Preheat the broiler. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the turkey with all other ingredients in a large work bowl. Form into 2 1/2 -inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Broil for 10 minutes, or until browned and almost entirely cooked through.

Meanwhile, remove rosemary sprig from sauce and add fresh basil. Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and cook additional 10 minutes, or until sauce has slightly thickened and meatballs have absorbed some of the sauce. While the meatballs are cooking, cook the whole-wheat spaghetti according to package directions.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sauce and meatballs, toss and heat through over medium heat. Divide evenly among 4 pasta bowls and garnish with parsley and 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan.

Yield: 6 servings (1 serving equals about 1 1/3 cups pasta and sauce, plus 2 meatballs

White Bean and Tomato Salad

2009-03-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

This was so simple but tasted so so good. It was so fresh and light. I added fresh rosemary and it really took it to another level. Only used about a two inch piece of the sprig and just diced up the leaves very finely. Really really yummy.

White Bean-and-Tomato Salad

Martha Stewart Everyday Food September 2008

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 can (14 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

In a medium bowl, toss together beans, tomatoes, scallions, oil, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.
To store, refrigerate up to 1 day.

Another Yummy Burger

2009-03-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

I love meat. What can I say? I love burgers, sloppy joes, and chili. I am sure going to miss chili once spring comes, but I am really looking forward to grilling up some burgers. Yummy. I love them. This is a really good one I have had forever and never made. I don't know where it's from to be honest with you. All I have is a photo copy from a book at the library, so I apologize for that. This was so so yummy and juicy. I just feel like there is nothing like sitting down to a big juicy burger. It was healthy too. You can pretty much assume anything on here is, unless it's baked that is. So please, try it and enjoy. Oh, I didn't make the relish, although, it would have been amazing with it I am sure.

Turkey Burgers with creamy cucumber relish

1 1/4 lb ground turkey or chicken (I only used 1 lb with the same amount of ingredients)
1/2 c bread crumbs (okay maybe I used a little less of these, just sprinkled some in 1/4)
4 green onions light green and white parts only (okay so I only used two big ones)
2 T finely chopped fresh basil
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T soy sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper

Mix all in a bowl and form into four patties. Push down in the middle to allow for even cooking. Cook at least 5 minutes per side on medium heat in a pan on the stove top.

Relish
1 1/2 c coarsley grated seedless cucumber
2 T sour cream
1 T finely chopped fresh dill
1 t minced jalapeno chili
1/2 t minced garlic
1/4 t kosher salt
1/8 t fresh ground pepper

Put cucumber in a fine sieve and squeeze out the moisture. Mix together with the remaining ingredients and refridgerate until used. Top your burgers with this.

Sloppy Joes and Potato Salad

2009-03-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

Jason decided to make sloppy joes for his sunday meal. This was a recipe I had been wanting to try for some time now. It was from the new Food Network Magazine. Of course I subscribed. How could I not. I am about to tattoo their logo on my body for crying out loud. I am a freak for them. I was really happy with how they came out. You could really taste the wine in them. They were very rich and had a deep flavor. I noticed that they were really heavy and seemed really oily. I didn't think sloppy joes were typically like that so I asked him how much oil was in them. "1/4 cup," he replied. I thought I was going to faint. Oh, my God. Why? This is just an obscene amount of oil and it would have been just fine with the typical 2 tablespoons. I would highly recommend using very little oil in this recipe if you try to make it because it doesn't need it. Unless you don't care about adding an extra 112 grams of fat to the recipe which I about freaked out when I realized. I am making him eat the leftovers. To be honest with you, I really wanted to cry when I noticed this because I really was looking forward to the leftovers. I just can't bring myself to eat something like that again. I am crying right now thinking about it. I will make it again though and make it my way. They healthy way. So here it is. Enjoy. Following the recipe is a potato salad recipe I found and make from Rachael Ray. It was so so good. Since I try to cook healthy I was very happy to find this recipe. Enjoy.

Sloppy Joes with Maui Onion Straws

Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri for Food Network Magazine

For the Sloppy Joes:

1/4 cup canola oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
1 red onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
24 slider rolls or sweet Hawaiian rolls

For the Onion Straws:

2 cups canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 sweet onion (Maui or Vidalia)

Directions

Prepare the sloppy joes: In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil, bell peppers, jalapeno and onion; cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef and pork; cook thoroughly, breaking up the meat as it browns. Add the garlic. Depending on the amount of residual grease, you may need to drain some of the fat from the pan. Deglaze with the red wine, then stir in the remaining sloppy joe ingredients (except the rolls) and season with 1 tablespoon each salt and freshly ground pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick as it simmers, add up to 1 cup water to adjust the consistency. Toast the rolls and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the onion straws: In a medium sauce pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees. Whisk the egg and milk in a medium bowl. Mix the flour, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper in another medium bowl. Cut the onion in half, then slice into -inch-thick half rings; separate into short straw-like pieces. Add to the milk mixture to soak.

Once the oil is hot enough, remove the onions from the milk mixture, shake off excess and dredge in the flour mixture, 4 or 5 pieces at a time. Add to the pot and fry until golden brown; transfer to paper towels to drain.

Serve the sloppy joes on the toasted rolls and top with onion straws.

I only used potatoes in this salad with some diced green onions and some fresh basil. It was amazing. To be honest with you I didn't measure anything either. I wasn't making 2lbs worth of potatoes so I just made a small amount. Drizzled in some olive oil, squeezed in some honey and hot yellow mustard with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and the vinegar. I just tasted it and adjusted it to my liking.

Honey Dijon Potato Salad

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray, 2008

Show: 30 Minute MealsEpisode: Simmer Down Summer

Ingredients

2 to 2 1/2-pounds small red skin potatoes, quartered
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 radishes, sliced
2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
3 to 4 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, chopped
1 cup watercress tops or flat leaf parsley leaves coarsely chopped

Directions

Cover potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil and salt the water. Boil potatoes until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine the honey, Dijon, and vinegar in a bowl then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. To the bowl add radishes, capers, onions, celery, watercress or parsley and hot potatoes. Using a wooden spoon break up the potatoes into large chunks. Toss the potato salad, adjust salt and pepper then serve.

Baked Bars

2009-02-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

Jason has a birthday pot luck every month where they celebrate all of the birthdays from that month and eat food that people bring. I think I just said the same thing twice. Oh, well. You get the idea. I decided to make these bars I have been wanting to make forever from none other than the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. If you haven't checked this book out by now, I don't know what more I can do to convince you of what you are missing out on. Everything that these guys produce is amazing. Me and Jason are going to New York in a few weeks and we plan on visiting their bakery in Brooklyn. You can only imagine how I am going to be. I can't even really predict how I will act. I am a freak for this stuff. Anyhow. Here it is.

BAKED BARS
from Baked: New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
makes 24 bars

For the crust:
2 C (about 6 oz) sweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 C finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about 20 crackers)
1 C unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 1/3 C walnut halves, toasted and chopped
1 1/2 C (9 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 C white chocolate coarsely chopped
3/4 C butterscotch chips
3 1/4 C (26 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Make the Baked Bar crust:
Preheat the oven t0 300 degrees F.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan or spray it with nonstick cooking spray (I lined my pan with foil before buttering- makes it easier to remove from the pan)

On a parchment-linedbaking sheet, spread out the coconut. Put the baking sheet inthe oven and toast the coconut until itstarts to turn golden brown, 7-10 minutes. Remove from th oven, toss the coconut, and return it to the oven for 3 more minutes.

Put the graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl, add the toasted coconut, and toss with your handsuntil combined. Add the butter. Use your hands to combine the mixture, then turn it out into the prepared pan. Using your hands, press the crust into an even layer on th bottom and up the sides of the pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to create a prefectly even crust.

Refreigerate the crust for 15 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool completely.

Make the Baked Bar filling:
Increase the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

Evenly spread the nuts in the bottom of the crust.

Spread the chocolate chips over the walnuts, followed by the white chocolate, followed by the buttersotch chips.

In a steady stream, pour the sweetened condensed milk evenlyover the filling. Shake the pan very gently to make sure the sweetened condensed milk is evenly distributed.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, roating the pan evey 10 minutes, until golden borwn and bubbly. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Baked Bars will keep, wrapped tightly and at room temperature, for up to 4 days.

The best burgers I have had

2009-02-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

I decided to make these burgers tonight. I have been wanting burgers forever now and it happened. I did it. I got my new Rachael Ray magazine in the mail and found this recipe. I have to say I was a little leery about how they would turn out, but I went for it. I even thought about changing them, but wanted to see how they would be. I used brown rice and I did add two cloves of minced garlic and a drizzle of olive oil in fear of dryness. They turned out so amazing. I couldn't even believe I was sitting in my kitchen eating them. It tasted like a burger I would order out to a nice dinner. So so so amazing. I would have to say that you could use a little less beans if you want. I liked the amount that was used, but some of the beans didn't stick in the mix because there were so many. It's totally your call. The garlic was a nice addition. I would highly recommend it. The recipe says four burgers. Yeah, that's if you want to make your stomach explode. This makes about six good sized burgers. The beans and rice really make them super filling. I ate mine around 5:45 and I am just now starting to feel like myself again. It was so so good. Also, I just bought store made guacamole to make it easier for me with Lucy and all. So that was nice. I typically would have made the one listed but didn't want to risk it. She only allows me so much time in the kitchen and luckily I cranked these bad boys out. It was awesome.

Beef 'n' Bean Burrito Burgers

Serves 4

Tags: brunch dinner lunch burgers fruit rice, grains and breads beef vegetables beans sauté

Submitted by

Rachael Ray

on 02/26/09

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef sirloin
One can black beans (15 ounces), rinsed
1/2 cup leftover white or brown rice, cold
1 tablespoon grill seasoning
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (about 1/2 palmful)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander (about 1/2 palmful)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 avocado
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño chile or serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated orfinely chopped
Grated peel and juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup sour cream
4 crusty rolls, split
4 leaves red-leaf lettuce
1 tomato, sliced

Preparation

In a large bowl, combine the beef, beans, rice, grill seasoning, chili powder, cumin and coriander. Form into 4 patties. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once and lowering the heat slightly for the last few minutes, until browned, 12 minutes.

While the burgers cook, in a medium bowl, mash together the avocado, onion, jalapeño, garlic, lime peel and lime juice. Stir in the sour cream.

Layer each roll bottom with a lettuce leaf, a tomato slice, a beef patty, guacamole and a roll top.

Awesome Awesome Meal

2009-02-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Shredded Chicken and Tomatillo Tacos with Queso Fresco

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

Ingredients

6 tomatillos, husked, washed, and grilled until blackened
1 serrano, grilled until blackened
Olive oil
1/2 small red onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
8 blue corn tortillas
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Directions

Preheat the grill to medium. Add the blackened tomatillos and serrano to a small saute pan and briefly saute in a little olive oil on the grates of the grill.

Place the tomatillos, serrano, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and honey in a blender and blend until smooth. Place the tomatillo mixture in a large saute pan and place on the grates of the grill. Bring the mixture to a simmer, add the chicken, and heat through.

Place the tortillas on the grill, and grill for 20 seconds on each side. Spoon the chicken mixture into the tortillas and top with a few tablespoons of queso fresco. Fold the tortillas in half serve immediately.

This was the best fastest meal ever. We made some home made salsa and guacamole to go with it. I tell you what, it doesn't get any better than this. I was dreaming of the leftovers all night and day. I couldn't wait to eat them again. We actually accidentally added two serrano peppers. It still didn't have much heat. If you want heat, leave in the seed. We always take the seeds out of our peppers in fear of too much heat. I loved this meal so so much. I can't wait to make it again.

Here is the recipe for the guacamole. The salsa recipe is on one of my other posts. The easiest tastiest salsa ever. You mus try it for sure. This guacamole is amazing. We actually tried it at Frontera Grill in Chicago. It's award winning Chef Rick Bayless so you know it's good. I am pretty much thinking of adding fresh lime juice to everything I eat from now on. It can't be a bad thing really. Man it tastes so fresh. I could go on forever. Try it please and enjoy.

Sun-Dried Tomato Guacamole

Makes about 3 cups, serving 6 as an appetizer, 8 to 10 as a nibble

Recipe from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time

Ingredients

½ medium white onion, chopped into small pieces (about 1/3 cup)

Fresh hot green chiles to taste (usually 2 serranos or 1 jalapeño), stemmed, seeded

(if you wish) and finely chopped

¼ cup soft sundried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces (patted dry on paper towels if oil-packed)

¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus a little extra for garnish

3 medium-large (about 1 ¼ pounds) ripe avocados

Salt

1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

A little Mexican queso fresco or other fresh garnishing cheese like feta or salted farmers cheese, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Scoop the onion into a small strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and transfer to a large bowl, along with the green chiles and tomatoes..

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Scoop the guacamole into a serving dish, sprinkle with a little chopped cilantro and queso fresco (if you’re using it) and you’re ready to serve.

Awesome Healthy Easy

2009-02-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Lighter Sesame Noodles

Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Serves 4

Coarse salt
12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti 3 minutes less than al dente. Add broccoli, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Add hot pasta and vegetables; toss to coat, thinning sauce with a little pasta water, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

I am forgetful and didn't take a picture of this amazing meal. I loved it so so much. I did change a few things about it though. I used one red pepper, about 3/4 c edamame, diced fresh ginger, and sugar snap peas. I always like to try and add as many veggies as possible. To make it a more complete meal I added rotisserie chicken to it as well. I had a bunch of meat leftover from a chicken I got at Sam's Club so this was the perfect meal to use it on. I did also us about 3/4 cup of the pasta water to thin out the sauce. Sometimes with peanut butter it can get a little weird. I added a couple more dashes of soy sauce too so that the flavor wasn't lost while adding the water. I hope you try this too. It is so so yummy and really a well rounded meal.

Banana Cupcake

2009-02-20T05:01:00.000-08:00

Oh glorious cupcake. This was so so yummy. I was so happy to see Martha Stewart feature cupcakes in her February issue. These are one of the cupcakes. I chose to do a different frosting on top because I love brown butter and thought it would go well with the banana. Yum. It was amazing. Jason loved the icing so much that he was eating it by the spoonful. How can you resist really.

Banana Cupcakes

Makes 28

3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
4 very ripe large bananas, mashed (about 2 cups), plus sliced bananas for garnish
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Make cupcakes as directed in Basic Cupcake How-To, using mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla for wet ingredients.
Stir pecans into batter. Once cupcakes are cool, frost tops with caramel buttercream. Frosted cupcakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days. Top with banana slices before serving.
Basic Cupcake How To
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
2. Reduce speed to low. Mix any remaining wet ingredients in a bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
3. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.

Brown-Butter Glaze

Makes 1 cup

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 to 4 tablespoons whole milk

Directions

Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully pour butter into a bowl, leaving sediment behind.
Add sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to butter, and stir until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add more milk. Use immediately.

My first homemade bread

2009-02-20T04:57:00.000-08:00

Man, I really wish I had a breadmaker, that or a dough hook. I feel like I would be a lot more confident in my breakmaking. I just never know how long to knead the dough. It turned out a lot better than I had imagined it turning out. It was really tasty. It was a lot more dense than I was expecting it to be but it was great really. Please try it and let me know how it turns out for you. It was a great simple recipe to try out breadmaking.

Simple Honey Wheat Bread

From King Arthur Flour’s Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Makes one loaf

Ingredients

- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
- 1/4 cup lukewarm milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup*
- 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk. This will take about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it to fit your pan. The KAF recipe calls for an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan but I only have 9 x 5-inch pans and they work for me. Cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for about 30 to 60 minutes, or until it’s crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350F oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature if you manage to restrain yourself from eating it all in one sitting.

Some other cookies I have made

2009-02-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

These were made during the fall. I used a basic peanut butter blossom recipe for them and used candy corn Hershey Kisses. They were so amazing. I can't wait to make them again. They went so well with the peanut butter flavor.

These are my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. The only person getting this one is Lucy and whoever Lucy gives it too. It is a recipe I have been developing over the years. I am really proud of it because it's my own.

These are my new creation. Malt Chocolate Chip cookies. The malt powder adds just a hint of depth to them. It really turned out nice.

These are my white chocolate orange cookies. I make these more during the holidays for some reason. My friends request them I guess. I have also made a version of them with dried cranberries and walnuts that is really good.