What to make for dinner?

All day I pondered this. For lunch I knew I was having ooey gooey deep dish pizza with Daniel and Richie. It was fabulous! And so was the company ;) Still, after that I decided I wanted something light for dinner. At first I was thinking soup...it was kind of gross outside and soup seemed like a good idea. But I couldn't decide what kind. I wanted a vegetarian meal too...So as I was walking into the store to get lettuce, because I knew I wanted salad, my Mom suggested just making a big salad and getting french bread. Perfect! So I headed to the produce section to see what might catch my eye for the salad: I got red leaf lettuce and romaine to go with some things I already had at home. Then some portabellini mushrooms caught my eye! Perfect size for stuffing and there were 6 of them. Perfect for 2!

Here are the mushrooms before baking:


You can stuff these with anything. Bacon and cream cheese, crab meat and bread crumbs...anything. Tonight I used: 2 marinated pieces of artichoke heart, about 2 tbsp of finely chopped onion, 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese, 4 tbsp of parmesan cheese, and about 4 tbsp of bread crumbs. I mixed and mashed everything together in a bowl and added just a drop or two of olive oil for moisture. I scooped out the "gills" of the mushrooms and brushed the tops off with a damp paper towel then filled each one with the cheese mixture. With the oven heating to 450 I popped them in for about 15 minutes. The finished product, as you can see below, will be a little wrinkly, with nicely browning tops. They might even be bubbling.


My salad had a creamy cheddar cheese in it, roasted red pepper, marinated artichoke, cucumber, carrots...but hey, it's a salad, throw in whatever you want!

Recipes are nothing but outlines

Here's one thing to remember: following a recipe exactly is only necessary when baking. If you're making an italian dish or even just a family favorite main course, be inventive! Don't have green olives? Use some capers! Out of noodles? Try rice! No cream of mushroom? What about cream of chicken or celery?

Today I had no idea what to make. I remembered I had some polenta (the kind already molded into a roll) in the refrigerator and so I looked on my favorite website Food Network and found a great one. It was basically fried polenta rounds with a cream cheese mixture and a red sauce on top.

I had to go to the store anyway so I grabbed some basil and cream cheese while I was there. The recipe called for Mascarpone cheese which is pretty expensive, so I kind of made my own with cream cheese, sour cream, and a little drop of milk. When I got home I:

1. Sliced the polenta into rounds--maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick? And basically fried them in olive oil and butter. About 1 tbsp of each, mixed together.
2. I mixed 1/2 a block of cream cheese with 2 spoonfuls of sour cream and 1 tbsp of milk. Then I added 2 tbsp of capers and about 1 tbsp of lemon juice. This I set aside.
3. I chopped up 1/2 a jar of roasted red peppers, 4 roma tomatoes and 1 clove of garlic. Once all the polenta rounds were browned all over I removed them from the pan and threw in the garlic. As soon as it sizzled I added the tomatoes and roasted red pepper.
4. I was hesitant to add much salt as that can draw out the water from the tomatoes and make the sauce watery. I added about a tbsp more olive oil and let everything cook and soften. Then I added a sprinkle of salt and about 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce, just to add a deeper flavor.
5. Finally I tore up 4 large leaves of basil and added that to the sauce.

To assemble: Place 4 or 5 polenta rounds on a plate. Top with 1/2 cup of the cheese mix and then cover with 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the red sauce.

This recipe can be adapted to whatever you have: black olives, onion, bell pepper, just garlic and tomato sauce...you can do anything with this!

Thai Peanut Sauce and Wasabi-They'll cure what ails you!

For the past few weeks I thought I had really dodged the cold bullet that brought down the BF, my boss and several other people at work. Friday night I started to feel that scratchy feeling in the back of my throat...Saturday I was stuffy. Sunday I was miserable. I ate Tabasco on everything Sunday. On my cheese omelet and grits (Hey, I'm from Georgia, deal with it!), had Rotel and Velveeta for a snack with chips--plenty of heat there, and had fajitas for dinner with Tabasco on every bite. Still stuffy. Today I pulled this out:


Wasabi paste is easily found on the Asian food aisle in most grocery stores. I find it easier to use than wasabi powder and it keeps in the fridge for at least a month. So I decided on a two-part meal: Pasta and Stir-Fry Veggies with Thai Peanut Sauce and sauteed shrimp with Wasabi Mayo. This is a meal that can be made with so many improvisations...I'll give you the basic method with a few ideas for how to make it your own:

I chop (approximately) 1/2 of a large onion, 1 cup of carrots, sliced on a diagonal, 1 large bell pepper (yellow or red is best), and I wash 1 1/2 cups of sugar snap peas. This is what I had on hand. You could add green peas, snow peas, asparagus, broccoli, a hot pepper like a thai chili pepper or serrano, even water chestnuts or bamboo shoots which are commonly found canned on the Asian food aisle. Start by sauteeing (I'm not fast enough to really be stir frying) the food that will take the longest: the carrots. Start them in the pan with about 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil. Use vegetable oil because it doesn't get quite as hot as Olive oil and is less likely to burn things. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic if you want. Let this cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the middle veggies: peppers, onions, asparagus, broccoli. Stir fry for 3-4 more minutes or until things are getting more tender. Then add the snow or sugar snap peas or green peas. This is also when you'd add the bamboo shoots or water chestnuts. Cook for about 3 more minutes or until everything is tender, but still with a bite and still colorful.

In the meantime, heat water in a large pot for pasta. Use about half a box of penne or, if you prefer, spaghetti noodles. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta and pour it back in the pot along with the vegetables. Add THAI PEANUT SAUCE. This stuff is amazing. Peanutty, spicy, sweet...start with a few tablespoons and then add to taste.

THEN: Make the Wasabi Mayo: 1 cup mayo, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar, and 1 tbsp (or to taste) Wasabi paste. Mix everything together and refrigerate.

NEXT: Shell, devein, clean whatever, about 20 shrimp. Place them directly into the saute pan from earlier over medium heat. As soon as the bottom turns pink, flip them over. Cook for about another minute. AS SOON as they are pink take them off the heat.

Serve the veggies and pasta along side the shrimp with Wasabi Mayo for dipping. It'll clear your sinus and fill your tummy all at the same time!

British Flapjacks

I got this from this month's Bon Appetit magazine in an article by Molly Wizenberg.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup (apparently found in some supermarkets and specialty stores...I used regular syrup because it's what I had.)
2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or old fashioned) (or if you're me, you have 1 1/2 cups of oats and you substitute in like 3/4 cup of granola cereal).

Prehead oven to 350. Butter an 8x8x2 pan. Combine the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and cook stirring constantly over medium-low heat until everything is dissolved, melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add oats and a pinch of salt. Stir until coated. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out in an even layer.

Bake for 25 minutes until top is golden (edges will be darker). Remove and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Cut into 4 squares then cut each square into 2 triangles. It will still be a little soft. Let cool completely in pan before serving.

Enjoy!

Why I love risotto

I discovered risotto only about a year ago. The BF was making dinner and he made an asparagus risotto that was unbelievable. So creamy, so comforting...I couldn't believe it was rice! Don't get me wrong, I like rice pudding, but this was a savory dish, and it was better than any pasta I'd ever had. Since then I've made it myself-once. It was great then too, and tonight I decided to make a very simple risotto almost without a recipe. I knew that for 3 cups of Arborio rice I'd need 6 cups of chicken stock (I used about a cup and a half of water and 4 and a half of stock). I chopped about 3/4 cup of onion and one large clove of garlic and sauteed it with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil while the broth came to a simmer. I poured in a dash of white wine with the onions--just about 1/4 cup for flavor, if that much. I added in the rice and stirred the onions, garlic and rice for a few minutes, then started adding the broth one ladle full at a time. I set the timer for 22 minutes so I would make sure to cook it long enough.

In the meantime, between ladling in broth, stirring, letting it absorb the liquid and adding another ladle full I: defrosted about 1 cup of green peas to add at the end of the cooking time. I also got out some asparagus, cut off the bottom 1/3 of the spears, drizzled them with olive oil, added salt and stuck them in a 400 degree oven for about 23 minutes (longer if the stems are thick).

The risotto started to get a little thicker and I could tell it was growing in the pan. I was halfway through and did a taste test: good, but it needed salt and certainly wasn't tender enough yet. I added about 1/4 tsp salt. (I was using unsalted chicken broth). I also added about 1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper.

The broth was nearing its end...I added one more ladle full and stirred. As the liquid started to absorb, I added in the green peas and let the risotto cook for another minute or two before adding one last bit of liquid (like a quarter of a ladle full). I stirred again and measured out 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. As I turned off the heat I added in the cheese. As I stirred you could see the whole dish come together--the creamy consistency formed and it seemed to be calling to me!

My asparagus spears were crunchy at the tip and sweetly salty through and through. And, as you can tell from the picture, I really really enjoyed my risotto tonight. I finished this bowl too!

Really? This is a recipe?

While eating dinner tonight I noticed the recipe below on the back of the crouton box. Since my phone was closer than the digital camera I snapped a quick photo so I could share the ridiculousness that is this recipe. For real.


Now I know not everyone knows how to cook. I realize that. But who doesn't know how to throw some lettuce and carrots in a bowl and put dressing and croutons on it? Who needs a recipe for THAT?

What are your favorite salad ingredients? We like green leaf lettuce or baby spinach, carrots, sugar snap peas, frozen corn (defrosted of course) and walnuts. Sometimes I throw on avocado or marinated artichokes. Once in a while I'll add egg and maybe some ham or chicken. I make ranch dressing using a packet, light mayo and 2% milk. We LOVE salad, and never once have I used a recipe to make a BASIC green salad. Ever.

Book Blog Mondays

I read this blog by John Douglas Marshall the other day: Three Overlooked Gems and decided I needed some new reading material. For a while now I've been wading through Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Pete Dexter's Spooner. Still, I found myself losing interest. There's only so much cattle feed lot, corn fed everything I can take before I have to move on...don't get me wrong, I like what Pollan has to say, but I have to take it in small doses so as not to throw out everything in my cabinets and go digging in the dirt for food.

Spooner is a great book. It's got quirky characters, great southern charm at the beginning, and some interesting conflicts...but about 2/3 of the way through I start to wonder where it's going and why I'm going there with it. The story seems to come to a stand still and just doesn't move anymore.

SO, after reading Marshall's blog, I ordered 2 of the 3 books: A Sudden Country and Trauma Farm. I like the sound of the first one because it seems to be more of a young-adult novel and I can always use those for my work over at Gourmet Learning, Inc.. I like history and the ideas in this novel fit what I was looking for. The second one sounds like a great, down-to-earth, honest look at farm life. That sounds more entertaining than a lot of fiction I read! So I'm continuing to wade through my other two choices while i wait, not so patiently, for these new ones to arrive!

Grilled Cumin Chicken Breasts with Avocado and Corn Salsa

Ok, I took this recipe from the Gourmet Today cookbook, page 524. I have a hard time following recipes exactly so this one has been altered a little based on what I had at home. To me, cumin has kind of a musty smell to it. It's smokey and savory, but it's a little musty...still, I do enjoy cooking with it when I'm aiming for southwest or Mexican flavors. Tonight I was looking for something a little lighter and lower in calories...and I came across this recipe (this is basically it).

Chicken:
Defrost 2 chicken breasts (boneless skinless is what I use)
Whisk together 1/2 tablespoon cumin and 1/2 tbsp + a little more olive oil
Rub this mixture all over your chicken breasts and let them chill in the fridge while you work on everything else. If you have a charcoal grill, light it now!

Salad
I start with a basic big green salad: 1 head green leaf lettuce (or your favorite kind), 1/2 cup snow peas or sugar snap peas, 3 oz carrots, a boiled egg.

Take 1 bell pepper and slice it in half from top to bottom. Clean out the seeds and spray both sides of the pepper with olive oil spray. Set aside.

Light the grill if you haven't already and let it heat for about 10 minutes. Place the chicken and the bell pepper on the grill over moderately high heat. In 5 minutes turn everything. Set the timer for another 5 minutes.

The Avocado Salsa

While everything is grilling, chop half an avocado and put it in a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup of corn kernels (I use frozen corn that I've defrosted). Mix this together and add 1/8 tsp lemon juice or orange juice to keep the avocado from turning brown. Mix again. Add a little salt and pepper and mix one more time. It should be chunky and creamy.

The Salad Dressing
I make my own ranch dressing using light mayo, low fat milk and a packet of ranch dressing mix. If you have bottled ranch that is fine too, it all tastes good! Mix 4 tablespoons of ranch dressing with 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa until combined.

The chicken is done, of course, when the juices run clear and nothing is pink. The bell pepper should be soft and a little charred. Chop up the pepper and slice the chicken to put over the salad. Put dollops of the salsa all over the salad and drizzle with dressing. ENJOY!

P.S. I did grill a piece of italian bread with olive oil to go with my salad. Grilled bread is AMAZING! Try it!

Turkey and Friday Venting

I'm not sure I understand the big deal about turkey. Last night I made turkey scallopini from my new favorite cookbook:


The recipe was very simple and the sauce was great! I can imagine that this would be very good with chicken or even eggplant...but turkey? Meh. It was alright. What was really good was the bread that I dipped in the sauce and the roasted brussels sprouts i made along with it. This year for Thanksgiving instead of a yummy roasted turkey with brown crispy skin we'll probably have a ham. Or no meat at all...really why do you even need it when you've got cornbread dressing, roasted vegetables, baked sweet potatoes...who needs meat?

Why I don't eat mega burgers

It is 2:12 p.m. I have 2 hours and 48 minutes of work time left. My eyes are heavy, my fingers feel fat and sluggish and seem to be rebelling when I force them to use energy to punch keys on the keyboard. This is what they do when I don't use the backspace: See, I an sit here and type but they just seem to have a moind of their own. It's hard to yp and not correct yourself with the bacpace key too, butheway.

The reason for my food coma is this:

Oh yes, you recognize it don't you? You know the restaurant it came from. You know, like I do, that in this one burger is an entire day's worth of fat, calories, sodium...and you know you've had the craving and eaten your fair share. The food coma is exactly why I so rarely eat these burgers. I love the burger and yet I end up miserable all afternoon. In fact, I've taken to eating only at restaurants that do not cause me to experience the food coma.

It's burgers like this that contribute to childhood obesity! Ok, it's the parents who let their kids eat burgers like this every day of the week...or most days of the week. Burgers like this should be treats! For special occasions! Treat the mega burger like the giant piece of bacony, meaty goodness it is and use it sparingly.

Speaking of awesome treats, we just got these at work today:


According to the boss man they are: made of
recycled plastic, they are recyclable, and are BPA-free. Perhaps if I drink enough water I can flush the yummy but deadly burger toxins from my body!

Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki

I made this tonight in about 30 minutes. Pretty simple dish, even though it does have a lot of ingredients! Don't be intimidated and feel free to improvise!

First: Gather the ingredients for the Sesame Noodle sauce.

You'll need 3 tbsp of sugar, 6 tbsp of rice vinegar, 6 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tbsp of sesame oil, and 3 large cloves of garlic. Of course, you'll also need 16 oz of either rice noodles or angel hair pasta.

Next, gather the ingredients for the chicken and shrimp teriyaki. (Minus the chicken and shrimp which are not shown).

You will need one cup of each of the following: chopped bell pepper (any color), chopped onion, chopped snow peas, frozen green peas (thawed), 1 chicken breast (large) and 24 raw, easy peel large shrimp, thawed. You'll also need about 2 tbsp of cilantro, which you can tear by hand (just the leaves, not the stems)

The easiest way to thaw the shrimp is to put them in a plastic bowl and run cold water over them. Let them sit for a few minutes while you work on other ingredients. If they are going to sit for more than 15 minutes, you'll need to change out the water.

Prepare the Sesame noodle sauce:

Peel the garlic by placing 1 clove under the flat part of a wide knife. Hit the flat part of the knife with the heel of your hand, smashing the garlic. Peel of the skin and chop finely.


Mix the rest of the sesame noodle sauce ingredients with the garlic in a small pan and set aside.

Cook the chicken and shrimp teriyaki:

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add in the chopped chicken breast and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Let the chicken begin to brown on one side. Add in the pepper and onion and continue cooking for about 3 minutes. Add in the snow peas. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are slightly soft. Turn heat to low.

In the mean time, follow the directions on the rice noodles or pasta and cook until soft. While the noodles are cooking, heat the sesame noodle sauce over medium heat until it comes to a boil.



When the noodles are done, pour 2/3 of the sauce over the noodles and mix thoroughly to coat the noodles.


Finally, peel and chop the shrimp in half. Add them and the green peas to the chicken mixture with 1/4 tsp ginger and 1 tbsp teriyaki. Cook until the shrimp turns pink then immediately remove from heat. Add the last bit of sauce to the chicken and shrimp mixture.

I like to serve it with a mound of noodles on the plate and the chicken/shrimp mixture over the top. If you dare, eat with chopsticks!

Remember Me

So I'm lying on the couch last night watching "Rules of Engagement" when I think to myself,  who's going to remember me?  I say to the BF, "you know...this is one reason to have kids.  Who's going to remember us when we die?"  The BF's very practical response?  "We won't care, we'll be dead."

He has a point.  Once we're dead we won't care who remembers us or if anyone ever says to themselves, "I wonder what Jewels would have thought about that?"  Maybe someone will say, "Remember that time Jewels painted the dog when she was a kid?"  Ha!  But probably not.  In reality, if we did have kids, they'd probably say things like, "Remember that time Mom and Dad tried to ride their mountain bikes with us strapped to their chests?"  Because that's what we'd try to do.