What's for dinner for the rest of our lives?

Yummy Buttermilk Muffins

2011-02-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe from my new friend Becky. I actually met her years ago, but she and her husband Travis came over for dinner for the first time last night and today she shared this recipe with me so now we're really friends. I don't have a picture, but these would be good any time with any meal. Breakfast, snack, dinner, lunch. Yummy. The recipe in Becky's words:

Yummy Buttermilk Muffins:

I cup sugar

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 egg

(beat first three ingredients together, then add remaining ingredients)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp bk soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Mix all the ingredients, pour into greased muffin tins (fill muffin tins about half-full) and bake at 350 until they look golden.

Probably 20 minutes or so? But I don't actually know how long they cook. Yesterday's muffins were actually a bit overdone.

It makes 1-2 dozen muffins

Steel Cut Oats

2011-01-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

We had this for breakfast this morning. So very yummy. I recently read that steel cut oats are only barely more nutritious than rolled oats. They take longer to digest so you get a little bit more of the nutrients and you feel fuller longer. I like the nutty taste and texture of steel cut oats and I love that this recipe uses buttermilk! I usually don't add the extra buttermilk at the end, but I do top it with brown sugar or maple syrup and a little bit more milk to help cool it off.

Here's Alton Brown's recipe...

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup steel cut oats
3 cups boiling water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

In a large saucepot, melt the butter and add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.

Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk with the oatmeal. Stir gently to combine and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with remaining buttermilk, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Creamy Parmesan Polenta

2011-01-18T12:47:00.001-08:00

I've never gone wrong with a recipe from Ina Garten. I really really like this one. I also really really like polenta. I didn't have creme fraiche, so I used sour cream. To give you an idea of how much this makes, it filled a 9x9 baking dish for me.

This photo is polenta served in a bowl, but I spread mine out in the baking dish, then sliced it like a brownie. After slicing I tried broiling it to get a crispy golden top layer. It worked. It was served this way to me at a dinner party last summer and I loved it.

I think polenta goes well with a hearty meat, so we had ours with steaks :)

Ina Garten's Creamy Parmesan Polenta

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
1 TBL kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 TBL unslated butter

Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over medium-high heat until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal, whisking constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you're stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve with extra parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Mustard Chicken Salad

2011-01-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of foodnetwork.com It's really so much better looking than this photo! I should have taken a pic of mine...

I just served this at a baby shower. It was a great make ahead recipe that was surprisingly good. I would usually steer clear from a "broccoli" salad for some reason - tarragon too for that matter - but the blanched broccoli, cut into really small florets was pleasant. And the tarragon was nice too.

I couldn't find tarragon vinegar in time, but the store I was at had a tarragon dijon mustard so I just used white wine vinegar and the tarragon mustard instead of just plain dijon.

Also, since I was scared of tarragon I didn't put in the full 2 TBS fresh tarragon. It seemed to be seasoned well enough. And it turns out I guess I do like tarragon.

Oh also, with roasting the chicken and removing the skin and bone for the salad, I can't help but add the drippings from the pan to the dressing. All that delicious flavor, otherwise known as mostly fat, so you have to make your own choice about that. But it was very tasty.

Mustard Chicken Salad from Ina Garten's latest cookbook that I can't think of the name of...

Ingredients

* 2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
* Good olive oil
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 cups broccoli florets
* 1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
* 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
* 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
* 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and dice the chicken in large bite-size pieces.

Meanwhile, add the broccoli florets to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 1 minute, until crisp tender, drain, and place into a bowl of ice water until cool. This will stop the cooking and set the bright green color.

For the dressing, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustards, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add enough sauce to the warm chicken to moisten well. Add the tarragon, broccoli, and tomatoes and mix gently to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Roasted Vegetable Pies

2010-10-18T19:55:00.001-07:00

Image via marthastewart.com/recipes

I was inspired by Martha's recipe for Savory Autumn Leaf Pies when I set out to make my individual roasted vegetable pies. I used my own pie crust recipe instead and ended up making up my own filling too because I'm pregnant and I didn't feel like eating cooked swiss chard. They turned out super yummy and even the batch of pie crust that Nigel helped with (translation: got mixed way too much in the food processor) turned out flaky!

I also changed the method of stacking two dough shapes on top of each other to cutting one circle shape out of the crust and folding it to seal a half circle shape. This was a lot faster and easier for me than trying to match up and seal two separate pie dough pieces.

*Note, this recipe is for 24 miniature pies. I was making them for a party, but if you don't need as much just cut it in half.

2 recipes butter pie crust
2 medium sized golden yukon potatoes, diced very small
2 carrots, peeled and diced very small
2 celery stalk diced very small
1 small acorn squash, peeled and diced very small
1/2 onion diced very small
1 head of garlic, root chopped off to expose each clove for roasting
olive oil
salt pepper
dill

Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 TBL sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold and diced
1 cup ice water

mix first 4 ingredients in food processor until lumpy but still floury. Add about 1/4 cup of water and pulse four or five more times. Dump the dough into a wide bowl. Using a rubber spatula scrape the dough together, adding cold water as needed to just barely glue it all together. You probably won't need to use the whole cup.

Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Roasted Vegetable Pie Filling

spread potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and acorn squash on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat. Add garlic head in the corner so it doesn't get its peels mixed in with the other vegetables and make sure it gets its own coating of olive oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle everything lightly with dill.

Roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, stirring once in the middle. Squeeze garlic cloves from the peels and toss with other vegetables.

Make egg wash using 1 egg and 2 TBLs heavy cream. This helps seal the pies and makes a beautiful brown finish on the crust. It's not necessary though.

Roll out pie crust and use a 4 inch cookie cutter to cut out shape of choice. I started using a pumpkin, then switched to a leaf, and they were just too hard for me to seal and maintain the charm of the shape. I ended up using a scalloped edged circle that worked great for folding in half instead of stacking two shapes on top of each other and pressing to seal.

PLace 1 TBL vegetable filling in center of circle. Use egg wash on half of the perimeter to then fold in half and seal. The pie ends up being a half circle shape and it was cute because it had the little scalloped edges still. Place pies on baking dish and brush lightly with egg wash. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Crust should be golden brown all over. Serve warm.

Yields 24 YUMMY savory pies.

Mushroom Dinner Crepes

2010-09-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

I don't have a picture, but I want to remember how I made tonight's simple and delicious dinner.

1/2 an onion, diced
about a 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup butter
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 cup fresh green beans
1 cup chicken broth
fresh chives, chopped
crepes
cream cheese

Simmer onions and mushrooms in the butter on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add green beans for a minute or 2, then the chicken. Cook for about 5 minutes, then turn the heat up to high. Gradually add the chicken broth, scraping the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan and letting the sauce reduce. Add chives and remove from heat.

Spread cream cheese on each crepe and add mushroom chicken filling.

This was a last minute dinner inspired by things I had in my fridge. We all really liked it.

BLT Salad with Creamy Vinaigrette

2010-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

{Image courtesy of Con Paulos via Real Simple Magazine}

This was from Micah's 32nd birthday menu. I found it in the May 2010 Real Simple magazine and didn't change a thing. I love the creamy vinaigrette dressing.

Romaine Salad with Tomatoes and Bacon

4 slices bacon
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into strips (6 cups)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
4 scallions, sliced
4 to 6 tablespoons Creamy Parmesan Dressing
or bottled Caesar dressing

Directions

In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Break into pieces when cool.
In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, and bacon with the dressing.

Creamy Parmesan Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, Parmesan, sour cream, vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

These are really really good.

2010-07-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

We had these for breakfast this morning. I love them! I love buttermilk pancakes and this is the best buttermilk pancake recipe I've ever tried. Recipe and image courtesy of smitten kitchen.

I didn't sprinkle them with powdered sugar but I did add blueberries. This recipe made a lot of pancakes. I guess mine are closer to 3.5 inch pancakes. So yummy. Maple syrup. Melted butter.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook

Yield: Martha says this makes 9 6-inch pancakes; I got about 16 4-inch ones, which are closer to the size I like

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle (I’ve made these pancakes with and without the butter mixed in, and can say with confidence they work either way. They’re just richer with it, of course.)

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (optional)

1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.

2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.

3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

Ratatouille's Ratatouille

2010-07-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

I enjoy following Smitten Kitchen. I've only ever tried one of her recipes. Her pie crust recipe. It is now my pie crust recipe. It's all butter (no shortening or lard) and that's the kind of pie crust recipe I can believe in.

I was really happy today to find this recipe for Ratatouille's ratatouille because I've always wanted to make it that way. She posted it 3 years ago from today. I haven't made this recipe yet, but I'm going to tomorrow after I pick up my local organic vegetable share and also buy a mandolin because I'm sure I don't have a knife sharp enough to slice vegetables 1/16 of an inch thin.

I know that I will be using something besides goat cheese. After finding too many fermented goat's milk bottles in Nigel's crib when we though he was allergic to dairy I just can't eat the stuff any more. Tastes like fermented baby bottle. And also I want to serve it with risotto if I have the energy to stand in front of the stove for that long. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille

As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandolin, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Pineapple

2010-07-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

1 lb. thick cut bacon, cut in half
1 pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb. shrimp, tails removed

This picture shows pineapple wrapped in bacon, no shrimp. I don't think you have to use toothpicks to keep it together as it bakes. If the bacon overlaps and you place that side down the fat seals it shut.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each shrimp around a piece of pineapple then wrap the bacon around those. Lay them seem side down on an elevated cooking rack placed on a cookie sheet, or you can use a broiler pan. Lining the bottom layer with tin foil makes for easy clean up.

Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, checking each 5 minutes after that.

They don't last long :)

Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese

2010-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

This isn't a picture of what we had at Micah's birthday party, but it communicates the general idea. This is something I grew up eating at special occasions. It's sweet and spicy and has cream cheese in it.

Growing up my mom would just put the brick of cream cheese on a plate and pour the slightly warmed pepper jelly over the top. Callie and I once experimented by whipping them together. We've also put it on individual crackers as pictured above. If they don't get eaten they get soggy. The whipped together method makes it so there's only one ratio of cream cheese to the sweet spiciness, which I didn't really like. And it turns out hot pink and I just can't get in to serving hot pink things.

What I think I'll do next is spread the cream cheese out on the serving plate and evenly pour the jelly on top. That way it's not pink. It doesn't get soggy. And you can still choose how much of each goes on each cracker.

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese
Pepper Jelly (it comes in a lot of different colors and levels of spice.)
Wheat Thins or other crackers.

Assemble and eat. It does help to warm the jelly in the microwave for a bit before spreading over the top. It's less chunky.

The end.

German Potato Salad

2010-06-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

This recipe calls for canola oil. I used extra virgin olive oil instead because I can't think of a reason you should ever use canola oil instead of olive oil in a dressing like this...

Also, a funny thing happened the last time I made this. I accidentally put a lemon shallot vinaigrette on the potatoes instead of the delicious rendered bacon fat apple cider vinaigrette. I had a lot of dressings going on and it was at the last minute and I may have been frantic enough. It tasted fine, but this way is much better.

Ingredients

* 3 pounds new potatoes
* 1 yellow onion, quartered
* 1/2 pound bacon, diced
* 1 large red onion, diced
* 3/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 8 green onions, thinly sliced
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the grill to high. Place potatoes in a large pot with the onion and cover with cold water. Cook, on the grates of the grill, or on a burner, until tender. Drain, discard the onion, and cut the potatoes into cubes when cool enough to handle. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

Place a large saute pan on the grates of the grill. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the rendered bacon fat and cook until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully add the vinegar and mustard seeds and cook for 2 more minutes. Whisk in the canola oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the hot dressing to the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Fold in the green onions and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked Brie with Honey Walnut Sauce

2010-06-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is really really delicious. It's pretty easy too. I usually serve it with sliced pears and assorted crackers and a spoon for scooping up the honey, butter, garlic sauce.

No picture. Just imagine how good it looks...

Pastry-Wrapped Brie

* 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 12 oz. pkg), thawed
* 2 4-ounce wedges Brie, each about 6½ inches long by 1½ inches wide
* 1 egg beaten to blend (for glaze)

Honey Walnut Sauce

* ¼ cup butter
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 1¼ teaspoons minced garlic
* 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts
* 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut diagonally through pastry sheet to form 2 triangles. Place 1 brie wedge in center of each triangle, with tip of cheese wedge facing toward 90-degree angle of triangle. Pull up edges of pastry gently to wrap the cheese. Pinch edges together to seal. Press with fork to seal seams completely. Transfer pastry wrapped Brie to a baking sheet, seam side up. Brush pastry with egg glaze. (Brie can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead of time and placed in refrigerator) Bake Brie until pastry is golden, about 18 minutes.

While Brie is baking, combine butter, honey and garlic in small saucepan over low heat. Stir until butter melts. Divide sauce between two plates. Sprinkle sauce with walnuts and parsley, dividing equally.

Place pastry-wrapped Brie on top of sauce on plates and serve.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

2010-05-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from the 2008 Summer Grilling & Entertaining edition of Cooks Illustrated. I love this publication. I always use a lot of the recipes and they explain how and why they came up with it.

In this article I learned that using a bottle of Italian dressing as a marinade for steak is bad because the acid in the vinegar ruins the texture of the meat. This marinade is just as flavorful, if not more, and the steak was very, very tender. And I'm new to grilling.

I couldn't believe how flavorful this steak was. It really didn't need any steak sauce or other embellishment. You could make up your own rub recipe using a different fresh herb very easily.

I used the food processor to make the rub starting with the garlic, shallots, herbs, then olive oil.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

1 whole flank steak, about 2 lbs.
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Garlic-Shallot-Rosemary Wet Paste Marinade
6 TBLS olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced (2 TBLS)
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 TBLS)
2 TBLS minced fresh rosemary leaves

Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth, scraping down blender jar as needed.

Prick steak using dinner fork about 20 times on each side. Rub both sides of steak evenly with salt and then with paste. Cover with plastic wrap an refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Heat grill to high heat.
using paper towels, wipe paste off steak; season both sides with pepper. Grill steak directly over heat until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Using tongs, flip steak; grill until second side is well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Using paring knife make a small cut into thickest part of meat; if meat is slightly less done than desired, transfer steak to cutting board (Meat will continue to cook as it rests). If steak is significantly underdone, position so that thinner side is over cooler side of the grill and thicker side is over hot side; continue to cook until thickest part is slightly less done than desired, then transfer steak to cutting board.
Loosely tent steak with foil; let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Using sharp chef's knife or carving knife, slice steak about 1/4 inch thick against grain and on bias. Serve immediately.

Fish Tacos...a skeptic no more!

2010-05-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

It's true, I've always been skeptical of fish tacos. I just didn't buy it. However, I have been eating more fish over the past couple of years, and "making fish tacos" has been on my mental "to do" list for a while now. I finally went for it when my favorite cooking magazine featured a recipe for fish tacos this month. Tim and I made them on Friday night and loved them. Like LOVED them. I think I could eat them for every meal for three days and still love them. Tilapia is a very mild fish and there are so many flavors going on in these tacos, that you might be able to trick people into thinking it isn't fish.

Fish Tacos with Cabbage and Lime
(from Everyday Food Mag)

1 pound boneless, skinless tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, half finely zested and juiced, half cut into wedges
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco
12 corn tortillas
1/2 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 small white onion, finely chopped

Directions

Heat broiler, with rack in highest position. Pat fish dry with paper towels and gently coat with oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Broil until fish is browned on top and flesh is opaque throughout, 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, lime zest and juice, and a few dashes hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Toast corn tortillas over a kitchen burner using tongs or wrap in parchment-lined foil and heat in oven, 5 minutes. Divide fish evenly among tortillas and top with cabbage, cilantro, and onion. Serve with lime sour cream and lime wedges.

Cami's notes: I forgot to add the onion...oops. I grilled the tilapia then shredded it, which made it nice and crispy on the outside. I used small flour tortillas because Tim isn't a huge fan of corn tortillas and I decided to be nice. We also grilled the tortillas quickly. I had avocado and some canned pineapple in the fridge, so I combined them to make a salsa-type thingy. Very yummy.

Micah's 32nd Birthday Celebration

2010-05-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't take a picture! Not a single one. But I did make a felt party garland like the one pictured here. It was very festive.

Image courtesy of The Purl Bee

We decided to have a dinner party sans children to celebrate Micah's birthday. We kept it intimate-big. There ended up being about 30 of us for a full adults only sit down dinner. I've been excited to make a record of the menu and share the recipes here.

Here's what you can expect to read about soon:

Appetizers:
Baked Brie with Honey Glaze
"Cheeses of the World"
Pepper Jelly Cracker Spread
Fruit with Heath Bar Fruit Dip
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple and Shrimp

Dinner:
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak
Grilled Brats
German Potato Salad
Watercress Beet Salad
BLT Creamy Vinaigrette Salad
Roasted Carrots
Sour Dough Toast

Dessert: Home Made Pie and Ice Cream!
Cherry Pie - Micah's favorite
Blueberry Pie - My favortie
Key Lime Pie - A new family favorite
Cheesecake (not home made, from Costco)

Lettuce Wraps

2010-02-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is Micah and Carlie really excited as we're about to eat our lettuce wraps and cream cheese wontons.

I never really thought about making these myself. I thought you could only get them at PF Chang's. I found a few different recipes online and combined them. I'm really happy to have another go to meal. It was really simple and really tasty. This is what I came up with.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 1/2 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Ground Red Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
3 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons Soy Sauce, Divided
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
2 Chicken Breasts, Diced Small
1 cup Diced Onion
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans water chestnuts, diced
Iceburg Lettuce, washed, dried, and separated into leaves

Mix together rice vinegar, brown sugar, ground red pepper, ground ginger, sesame oil, and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, making sure to dissolve brown sugar. Set aside.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add diced chicken and brown (about 4 to 5 minutes). Remove chicken from oil. Add onions and garlic to pan and remaining soy sauce (2 tsp.) to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken and waterchestnuts. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat.

Easy dipping Sauce:
2 TBLS rice vinegar
1 TBL soy sauce
small spoonful of sugar

Spoon chicken mixture into individual lettuce leaves. Serve with easy dipping sauce, Sriracha hot sauce, and crunchy rice noodles.

Blueberry Muffins with Topping

2010-01-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

This was one of the first recipes I learned how to make as a young girl. I was so good at making them that I was dubbed the official blueberry muffin maker. Really my secret has always been doubling the amount of blueberries and using butter instead of shortening. I don't know if that's enough change from the original Better Homes and Garden cookbook that it came from to call it my own recipe, but I did create the recipe for the topping after falling in love with that boxed Betty Crocker or Duncan Heines version of blueberry muffins with topping.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1.2 tsp. salt
1/4 butter, between fridge and room temperature
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries

Mix ingredients in order - just until blended.

TOPPING
1 1/2 TBLS butter, softened
3 TBLS flour
3 TBLS sugar

Mix with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle generously on top of muffin batter in muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Makes one dozen.

Pork Chops

2010-01-24T21:00:00.001-08:00

Yes. Pork chops. The way my mom makes them. I was once made fun of for saying that I had eaten pork chops for dinner because that's what Homer Simpson eats for dinner and he's white trash. That wasn't a very good friend and that person had never had these pork chops.

They're delicious.

3 TBLS olove oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBLS fresh dill (or 1 TBLS-ish dried) (Also, don't mind my picture. It has rosemary on the pork. It's from a google image search.)
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup chicken broth/stock
4 thick cut pork loin chops (I use the ones from Costco.)

Sautee onions in the oil on low for about 20 minutes. Scoot them to the edges. Season the pork with salt, pepper, and dill and brown on both sides.

Add broth to the pan. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer 35-40 minutes.

Remove the meat leaving the juices and onions in the pan. Mix 1/2 cup sour cream with 1 TBLS flour, a dash of salt, pepper and dill in a small bowl. Add to simmering drippings and bring to a boil again until thickened.

Molten Chocolate Cake

2010-01-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

This recipe is SO easy and SO rewarding. Andi t's the kind of recipe that you will always have the ingredients for. As long as you always have chocolate and heavy whipping cream at your house, which I do.

I didn't have any baking chocolate so I used 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips because I doubled the recipe.

I used 1 custard cup as the recipe states and did the rest in ramekins. The ramekins did much better for dumping upside down and baking to the perfect texture.

I also always whip in 1/2 tsp. vanilla with the cream and sugar.

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

Here it is.

4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
½ cups Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 whole Egg Yolks
6 Tablespoons Flour
2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!!!)
2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.

Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa

2009-09-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have never had an Ina Garten recipe that I don't like. My mom cooked a lot of her recipes growing up. One of my favorite things about her is that she insists on using high quality ingredients. I've prepared her recipes the cheap way and her way, and she's right - better ingredients make better food.

This recipe is for a Mustard Horseradish Sauce intended for a beef sandwich. My family uses it as a steak sauce so we can get as much as we want on every single bite of beef. I have been eating it for years and I LOVE it! I always knew it had horseradish in it, but everything else was a mystery to me until today.

I still love it even though the main ingredient is mayonnaise, which I hate. Also, I chopped up a few leaves of Italian parsley to sprinkle on top, mostly for color because the flavor is not overpowering.

Mustard Horseradish Sauce:

3/4 cup good mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons sour cream

Kosher salt

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustards, horseradish, sour cream, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: 1 cup

This is easy and then dinner is ready.

2009-03-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about this blog until Randi emailed me today and asked about one of the recipes. It got me in the mood to share recipes and keep a record for myself, so here we go again.

This recipe comes from Andrea Peroitti who's name I can never remember how to spell. We were roommates at BYU. The four of us (plus Micah who I was dating at the time) took turns cooking dinner for each other once a week. I liked that plan and always liked what Andrea would serve us because it was never something I had grown up eating once a week. Even since then I've gotten really great recipes from her that I just wouldn't have thought of making on my own.

This one is pretty basic, but you'll love yourself for having the ingredients on hand when your dinner makes itself.

Easy Beefy Sandwiches

2-4 lb rump roast

1 envelope Italian dressing

1 envelope dried onion soup mix

2 beef bullion cubes

2 TBLS yellow mustard

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups water

Combine all ingredients in crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. Shred meat and serve on your favorite bread.

(I always season and brown the meat on all sides on the stove top just before putting it in the crock pot.)

It's about that time!

2008-06-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

In high school Cami and I were in the same AP Chemistry class taught by the coolest lady from Texahoma, formerly known as Mrs. Smith. She has since married Golden Valley's biology teacher and moved on, as let's hope we all have since high school.

We had a lab every Friday and when it was time to clean up and move on to our next class Mrs. Smith would always shout, "It's about that time!" in her totally awesome Texahoma accent. So, in the spirit of moving on, I share this recipe.

I used to want to eat nothing but caramel popcorn the way my sixteen-year-old neighbor taught me to make it, but I think I'm over the need to eat it every single night of my life. Now you can though.

Caramel Popcorn

for a large group
4 bags microwave popcorn, popped and "old maids" removed
1 cup butter
1 cup Karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar

for a small group, or extreme caramel popcorn addicts
1 bag microwave popcorn, popped and "old maids" removed
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Karo syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar

In a large sauce pan on medium high heat combine the butter, sugar and karo syrup. Stir constantly until the butter melts. Keep stirring and every 30 seconds check to see if the sugar has dissolved.

You can check using the back of a wooden spoon. Just scoop up a bunch of sauce and lift the spoon out of the pan. Look for individual granules of sugar. If you spot them, stir another 30 seconds and check again until you can't see the sugar granules on the back of the spoon any more. You can also double check by sliding your finger across the back of the COOLED spoon to feel for granules. (Then you get to lick your finger. :)

As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove the sauce from the heat and pour over the popcorn. Stir for 2-3 minutes to coat evenly and cool it off. If it seems like there is still some white popcorn without caramel on it, just keep stirring scraping the bottom of the bowl each time. There is enough to go around.

Serve with a smile and expect one in return because it is that good!

This post's post scripts:

Yes, I posted a picture of myself from when I was in high school.
Is "old maids" a family term, or a common phrase? My mom always called unpopped popcorn kernels old maids.
This popcorn is my favorite because it's the flavor of brown sugar and butter but not crunchy like cracker jacks. I like cracker jacks and I have a great recipe to make brown sugar and butter caramel popcorn that is crunchy like that, but it takes more than an hour to make. This one really only takes 10 minutes tops.
Microwave popcorn? Yes. Microwave popcorn. I like to use Orville's Smart Pop. There's just enough of that fake butter flavor on it to compliment all the sugar you pour on top of it.
WARNING: This stuff is super sticky. You'll tell yourself it's your last bite and wash your hands, but you'll definitely get them sticky again for another last bite.

Roasting...Your New BFF

2008-04-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Camille’s earlier reference to roasting sweet potatoes inspired me to dedicate an entire post to the topic of “roasting vegetables”, because honestly, it deserves some recognition. Roasting is my favorite way to prepare veggies because it is so easy and so yummy! It has come to my attention (every time my mom calls me and asks me how I roast my red potatoes) that not everyone realizes how simple and transferable this technique is, so here is a brief description:

Turn oven to 400-425°
Prepare your vegetable of choice (wash, chop, etc. Keep in mind the larger the pieces, the longer it will take to cook)
Put veggies on a cookie sheet, preferably one that is rimmed
Drizzle olive oil over the veggies
Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Stir veggies to distribute oil, salt, & pepper
Put in oven and wait for veggies to be tender (the time will differ depending on which vegetable you are roasting). You might also want to stir them occasionally while they are roasting.

My favorite vegetables to roast are asparagus, butternut squash, red bell peppers, red potatoes, and my newest favorite…green beans. So what are you waiting for? Go roast some veggies!

**And stay tuned for one of my new favorite meals that involves roasting red bell peppers, portabella mushrooms, & broccoli. It is awesome!

Chicken, Edamame, and Noodle Stir Fry

2008-04-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have experimented with different cooking magazines, and the ONLY one I have liked...actually LOVED...is Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food". I am not usually a Martha Stewart fan, but I absolutely love getting my monthly issue of this little magazine. The recipes are easy to make and don't have a list of ingredients you can't even pronounce. I'll be honest, I haven't loved every recipe I've tried, but that fact that I've tried as many as I have speaks for itself. How many times have you dog-eared or torn out a recipe and then never tried it? These recipes are actually manageable and usually pretty healthy (which is a huge factor for me). Okay, I really could go on and on about this, but to sum it up...a lot of the recipes I post on this blog will be from "Everyday Food".

Chicken, Edamame, and Noodle Stir-fry

Coarse salt & ground pepper

8 oz. udon noodles or linguine (**you can find udon noodles in the Asian section of your grocery store)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

(cut into thins strips)

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 small red onion, halved & thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

½ napa cabbage, thinly shredded (**NAPA cabbage, not regular)

2 cups frozen shelled edamame

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp soy sauce

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water; set aside.
While pasta is cooking, in a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in two batches until light brown on the outside and opaque throughout, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add remaining Tbsp oil to skillet; add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 1 to 3 minutes. Add cabbage, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 2 to 4 minutes.
Add edamame, vinegar, soy sauce, chicken, and noodles; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing until noodles and edamame are warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes

My Big Fat Greek Salad

2008-04-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

I currently work at UC Davis in a department called Campus Events & Visitor Services, commonly known on campus as CEVS. Here at CEVS, we are pretty obsessed with food. We are always coming up with reasons to either bring food into the office or to go out and find great food. We even have a Gourmet Club where a group of my coworkers explores unique restaurants in the area (my church calling keeps me from taking part in this group, but I fully support it). Anyways, a few weeks ago we all went out to lunch at a Greek restaurant here in Davis called "Symposium". The pizza was amazing, but I was also impressed with their salad. So after some searching on good old foodnetwork.com, I found a recipe. I made it last week and it was just like what I had at Symposium. So here it is:

**And it turns out, that taking good pictures of food is really difficult. I think I took about 20 pictures of this little plate of salad.

My Big Fat Greek Salad

3 vine ripe tomatos, cut into chunks

1 red onion, thinly sliced

½ European seedless cucumbers, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 small red bell pepper, seeded & chunked

1 small green bell pepper, seeded & chunked

1 cubanelle pepper, seeded & chunked ( I couldn’t find one of these)

1 cup Kalamata black olives ( I hate olives, so I left these out)

Several sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, about ½ cup

¼ lb feta cheese (I used crumbled)

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tsp dried oregano, crushed in the palm of your hand

Coarse salt & black pepper

Combine veggies, olives, and parsley in a large bowl. Combine oil, vinegar, and oregano in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake vigorously to combine oil and vinegar and pour over salad. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Season with salt & pepper, and mix well.

Cloudy and 55 degrees?!

2008-04-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

It's definitely a soup day. How about a feel good tomato soup and grilled cheese?

While there is the time old classic Campbell's Tomato Soup that you open with a can opener and rinse out the tomato mush with water to add to the condensed meal (Despite all of this I still enjoy eating it with a pile of cheddar cheese and fresh ground pepper.)....

America's Test Kitchen (who publishes Cook's Illustrated) made a 30 minute meal cook book! In my book, their recipes are always perfect, but they require the finest ingredients (which usually equates to most expensive), the most time, and sometimes even fancy kitchen equipment that I haven't acquired yet.

I was shocked when I found out they had condescended to the 30 minute crowd. (Don't get me wrong, Rachel has a lot of great recipes that my family eats all the time and I appreciate her. I just can't stand watching her show.) The shock faded when I read the introduction's disclaimer that truly good food should take longer than 30 minutes to prepare, but the test kitchen has created some forgivable short cuts.

Anyway, Thanks to America's Test Kitchen you can have REALLY good tomato soup in less than 30 minutes. Here's how.

Cream of Tomato Soup
3- 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 TBLS unsalted butter
1 onion, minced
1 TBLS light brown sugar
1 TBLS tomato paste
Salt
2 TBLS all-purpose flour
½ cup heavy cream
2 tsp dry sherry
Pinch of cayenne

1. HEAT BROTH MIXTURE: Drain tomatoes, reserving juice. Add broth to reserved tomato juice to measure 5 cups (if necessary, add water). Bring broth mixture and bay leave to boil, covered, in large saucepan and set aside.
2. SAUTE TOMATO MIXTURE: Meanwhile, melt butter in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add drained tomatoes, onion, brown sugar, tomato paste, and ½ tsp salt, and cook until tomatoes are dry and beginning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
3. ADD BROTH MIXTURE: Slowly stir in broth mixture. Bring to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
4. PUREE FINISH AND SEASON: Puree soup in batches in blender until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and stir in cream and sugar. Return to brief simmer, then remove from heat. Season with salt and cayenne to taste.

Don't forget about the grilled cheese. I can really go either way on grilled cheese. There's the whitest of white bread, with "cheese" that comes wrapped in square shaped plastic, and of course all sides of the bread buttered for grilling. Then there is the good crusty bread, with good cheese (sharp cheddar, gruyere, or gouda are my favorites), drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper for grilling. Really, either one is delicious to me.

If you had something this precious, wouldn't you want to keep it as healthy as possible?

2008-04-02T21:58:00.001-07:00

I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth in the world, but thank goodness I also have people I love who I don't want to die early namely Micah and Nigel (see Nigel above). Today I figured that "bran muffin" is probably a synonym for longevity so I made my "mother-in-law's" (why call it that when it feels more like the real thing?) delicious Cranberry Bran Muffins and proceeded to eat 4 of them... smothered in melting butter.

Olivia's Cranberry Bran Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in order listed, then add wet ingredients. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Live a long and happy life.

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cups bran (I crushed up some bran flakes in my food processor and then measured 1 and 1/2 cups of the fine powder. I'm assuming you can use any kind of bran cereal as long as it's crushed well. Let me know about successes or failures trying other types of bran cereal.)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 cup sour milk
2 TBLS oil or melted shortening
1 cup craisins

***Photo courtesy of Jonathan Canlas, taken at the premier Film is Not Dead Workshop, North Shore, Oahu - March 2008.***

Let's just see how this goes.

2008-04-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl and it's opened a whole new world to me. The delicious world of FOOD. I can't wait to learn more about this new land. Food has always been a big part of my life, but I have a new excitement for learning how to make the food on my table tastier, healthier and more memorable. Mostly, I'm excited to have an endless supply of ideas of what to even make for dinner.Hence this blog. We're going to share our ideas with you and you with us. No one will go hungry. Everyone was full at my house tonight. I made a version of Robin Miller's Roasted Balsamic Chicken. I served the chicken without the horseradish "froth", brown rice, or roasted acorn squash. I served the balsamic chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. Simple and delicious. I also roasted sliced onions on top of the chicken and then finished them on the stove top to get them completely caramelized. Here's my recipe, although next time I'm going to try marinating the chicken instead of just brushing before cooking, and then I'm going to grill instead of roast. That will be a great spring/summer version.

Roasted Balsamic Chicken
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 TBLS dijon mustard
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 onion, sliced
6-8 chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Combine vinegar and mustard and brush all over chicken. Place onions on top of chicken and roast in oven for about 25 minutes. This wasn't enough time for my onions to completely caramelize so I finished them up on the stove with butter and olive oil at a low temperature for about 1o more minutes.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
diced sweet potato
olive oil
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and dice the sweet potato. Season lightly with salt and pepper and olive oil, stir to coat. Roast in oven for at least 25 minutes.

Steamed Broccoli
broccoli florets
thyme

Fill large saucepan with 1.5 inches of water. Place broccoli florets in vegetable steaming tray and season with a pinch of thyme. Bring water to a boil and cook just until the broccoli turns bright green.