December 27, 2011 - Holiday Leftover Pizza

Holiday Leftover Pizza or A pizza hodgepodge of glaze, cheeses, turkey and mangoes

This holiday season has been a particularly lovely one!  I spent Christmas over at my very special Teta and Uncle's with them and my three cousins.  It was wonderful.  I can’t even continue to express how great it was, but it was completely great. However, aside from assisting with the mashed potatoes, and helping with the poticia, between Christmas and the leftovers from my ladies night holiday party, there hasn’t been a whole lot of cooking going on in my kitchen.  

There’s been a lot of thinking about cooking, like contemplating what to do with the leftover glaze, and how many different ways to make turkey interesting.  So I came to the conclusion that holiday leftover pizza was an absolute must.  I solidified that plan as I walked home from my physical therapy appointment and met the most adorable puppy in the world named Gus whose owner’s name I unfortunately did not catch (curses, foiled again).

I got a lot of cooking paraphernalia for Christmas, so I figured it was time to make use of those things.  I started out with a plan to make enough dough to use some for pizza dough and the rest for bread rolls for lunch. 

Holiday Leftovers Pizza – from my brain

Ingredients:

• One batch of pretzel recipe dough, plus some salt in the dough – check; note you can use whatever kind of pizza dough you prefer, even Boboli if you most desire.  I was just going with the flow...of my brain
• Cut up chunks of leftover turkey – check
• Spoonfuls of leftover glaze from the cider glazed turkey recipe – check
• Three cheeses – I know I used Gorgonzola (love), and I think the other two were Dubliner Cheddar and Gouda, but that could be wrong…since they were the Cheeses Bindy brought for last week’s party
• Mango pieces – this wasn’t technically leftover since my cousins got me mango themed body buttery things and an actual mango…that was perfectly ripe. So check anyway!

Step 1: Make the dough, set aside to rise as you prep the remainder of the ingredients; also preheat the oven to 400F.

Step 2: Put a little oil on the pizza stone your EXCELLENT Teta (a different one than who you spent Christmas day with) gave you for Christmas.  It’s also blue, which is my favorite kitchen color.

Step 3: Cut apart the dough into seven pieces to use to make rolls, and one big piece to use as pizza dough.  Roll the rolls into their baking sheet (or mini loaf pan if you are me and was good and Momma got you something nice for Christmas) and let to rise.  With the main pizza dough roll into a pizza looking roundness that will fit your pizza stone.  Then transfer to the pizza stone.

Step 4: Spoon the leftover cider glaze onto the dough, be careful that it doesn’t decide to totally roll everywhere off of your pizza, stone, and onto counters and stovetops...danger.

Step 5: Cut up the cheese and spread on the pizza…if you’re me that just meant literally cutting slivers of the Dubliner, then using your new grater (thanks Dad and Alison!) to grate the Gouda (which is not really meant to be grated it turns out) and then sprinkle on the crumbled Gorgonzola.  If you’re me next time it means switching the slivering and the grating so you grate the hard cheese (Dubliner) and sliver the soft cheese (Gouda). 

Step 6: Sprinkle on the Turkey and mangoes.

Step 7: Pop into the oven for 25min or roughly golden brownish crust and a little bit of browning is going on. Also the duration of writing thank you cards. Let cool for about five minutes (so you can finish your cards) and then cut right on the pizza stone and enjoy.

WOW.  So sometimes I think things might work in my head, and then when I put it into action...it totally DOES work.  Using the glaze as the “pizza sauce” made everything epic and slightly sweet, also I couldn’t use too much because it kept trying to fall off the stone.  But the combination of cheeses was exciting, since none of them were touching due to my mix up of grating vs. slicing, and the mangoes were amazing!  If I didn't have the turkey, I think it would have been fine but what is a leftovers holiday pizza without turkey, you know what I’m sayin?  This foodsperiment gets a +10 for flavor, +7 for ease, +5 for using up leftovers and creating tomorrow’s lunch, and +5 for using almost all of my new kitchen equipment.  I could so make a great Italian wife, if I was actually Italian.  Happy Sperimenting!

12 19 11 to 12 20 11 Merry Christmas Happy Holidays

The last two days have been so full of cooking, friendship, adoration, and music I can barely see straight.  This story really begins a long time ago but if we shorten it to the appropriate length, it goes back to about four weeks ago.  I had just completed my last day of employment at the old job and out at happy hour with the girls and others, we (the ladies) decided that we really needed to have a small holiday party.  When I was reminded that we’d agreed to this, I was particularly enthusiastic to host and to try out a few new recipes from the William Sonoma Holiday Favorites cookbook that was swiped from my mom’s house at Halloween.  So we picked the date (12/20/11) and the time was a bit fuzzy but the company was my three former work ladies, who are real friends of course - JD, Bindy, and MC! 

So I spent some time deciding upon the menu, and the grocery list.  Then I stopped over on Saturday morning to everyone’s favorite Reading Terminal Market for some grocery shopping, which is probably my new favorite thing EVER.  I was able to get all my produce at Reading Terminal but I ended up having to make stops at Superfresh and Wholefoods too before I was done, regardless the ingredients and the menu were set.

Due to a busy and family filled weekend, Monday was the first cooking day.  I got home from work and set about to work on the first menu surprise.  As Tuesday was the first day of Hanukkah and at least one of my ladies is Jewish, I decided to make some Challah.

Challah – from William Sonoma Holiday Favorites cookbook

Ingredients:

•  5 cups flour – check
• ¼ cup sugar – check
• 1 tbs active dry yeast – check
• 1 tsp salt -  check
• 1/8 tsp powdered saffron – check, but do you have any idea how difficult this is to find?
• 1 ¼ cups warm water - check
• 6 tablespoons butter at room temperature - check
•  3 eggs - check
• 1 tbs milk - check
• 1 tbs sesame seeds – check, thank you deep love of Asian food for already having this ingredient!

Step 1: In a bowl or heavy duty mixture combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt and saffron. 

Step 2: Add warm water and beat on medium high until well mixed; or use a wooden spoon until well mixed if you’re me and don’t want to assemble your Cuisinart

Step 3: Beat in the butter and 2 eggs

Step 4: Beat in about 3 cups of flour, or enough until the dough is no longer sticky

Step 5: Knead the dough; surprisingly most recipes tell you to knead your dough on a lightly floured surface; I prefer to knead my dough in the bowl in which I mixed it, it makes for less of a mess and is just as effective.

Step 6: Form the dough into a ball, lightly oil the ball, and leave in a bowl covered to rise about 1 1/2hrs, or the duration of one Philly Orchestra Concert (with my girl JD no less).

Step 7: Punch down the dough and knead until smooth

Step 8: Cut the dough into three pieces and roll out into rope lengths.  This technique is also exactly how you’d roll out pretzels before forming them into pretzels. 

Step 9: On a greased cookie sheet braid the ropes together using the hair braiding skills you learned as a young child and tuck the ends under each end. 

Step 10: Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size; about the amount of time it will take you to make cupcakes or roughly an hour.

Step 11: Combine the last egg and the milk until blended, then brush onto the braid unless you realize you don’t have a brush then use a spatula or something similar to spread it.  Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

Step 12: Bake at 350F until golden brown and hollow sounding: about 55 minutes. 

Step 13: Makes one GIANT loaf of Challah that should be cooled on a wire rack.

Challah is frankly, awesome.  If I ever make it again, I would half the recipe or invite an army to come eat it.  Sometimes I forget that 1 large loaf actually means Jabba the Loaf of Challah.  The dough was awesome, when I surprised the ladies with it, they were more than happy to edibilize the thing.  +5 for taste, +5 for easy cleanup, -2 for the giant size.

Jabba the Loaf of Challah

While the Challah was undergoing rise-a-thon part duex I started on the first of the two treats that actually made an appearance at the dinner party (as opposed to the 4 items that I had intended to make)

Devil’s Food Cupcakes – from William Sonoma Holiday Favorite Cookbook (I halved the recipe as it called for 24 cupcakes and for 4 people I figured 12 was more than enough; the ingredients that follow are the quantities I used)

Ingredients:

• 1 beet – check, that gives Devils Food it’s red coloring
• 1 cup flour - check
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - check
• ½ tsp baking soda - check
• 3/8 cup unsalted butter - check
• ¾  cups sugar - check
• 1 egg - check
• ½ tsp vanilla extract - check
• ½ cup hot water - check

Step 1: Bring the beet to boil (in water that just covers the beet) and boil until tender when pierced (30min); peel the beet; grate the beet until you have approximately 3/8 cup of grated beets, or one grated beet.  That’s too many different measurements in my opinion.  They will stain your hands; and clothes so that is normal.

Step 2: In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Step 3: In a larger bowl beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, or not sticky, or not trying to fly up at your face.  My electric mixer tends to make things fly around…or maybe it’s the shape of my bowls.

Step 4: Add the egg and beat well; beat in the beet and vanilla; beat in the flour mixture in two batches, with the hot water in the middle.  Maybe this makes the cupcakes fluffier in the end.

Step 5: Spoon the batter into the cupcake baking pan.  William Sonoma reminds you to use cupcake paper liners; I’d like to remind you to use FESTIVE paper liners.

Step 6: Bake at 350F for about 20 min, or until when you poke one with your finger it pops back into place.  The toothpick trick works too, but then you have a hole in your cupcake.  Your choice I guess.

Step 7: After the cupcakes are cool, ice them with Buttercream Frosting that you already made, or Bittersweet Chocolate Gnache, but I did Buttercream.

So I suppose before evaluating this foodsperiment I should add the recipe for

Buttercream Frosting – also from William Sonoma Holiday Favorites (also halved)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg YOLKS (I accidentally started with whites, I was wrong to do that so I fixed it) - check
• 1/6 cup sugar - check
• 1 tbs brandy – check
• 3/8 cup butter - check
•  ¼ tsp vanilla - check

Step 1: In a double boiler, or a bowl set above but not touching simmering water combine the egg yolks, sugar, and brandy.  Wisk until thick and pale, roughly 4 minutes.  If you start to feel woozy from the brandy smell, you’re probably going to be fine.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  This is best done when putting in a new batch of cupcakes to bake.

Step 2: Combine the butter and vanilla and beat until very soft and fluffy.

Step 3: Gradually beat in the cooled egg yolk mixture. 

Step 4: Let mixture stand at room temperature until spreadable; stir occasionally.

Step 5: Spread; refridge to use later; or freeze up to a month to use later.

So once I combined the cooled cupcakes and the frosting, life was pretty great.  I decided to bring three into work on Tuesday to use my new co-workers as guinea pigs.  They loved them so I was reasonably sure that on Tuesday evening the ladies would adore them as well.  I was right.  +7 for taste, +5 for scoring me points with the new co-workers, +5 for teaching me a bit about beets.

Devil's Food Cupcake with Buttercream Icing - definately tastes better than it looks

As the buttercream and cupcakes cooled, I created the second dessert, and the easiest and final concoction of Monday night.

Espresso, White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Bark – William Sonoma Holiday Favorites (also halved)

Ingredients:

• 5oz white chocolate – actually I used 6oz, go ahead and tell on me to my mother.  She’ll say I was right.
• 4 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate - check
• 5/8 unsalted macadamia nuts - check
• 1 tsp finely ground espresso - check

Step 1: Chop the nuts and set them to toasting; in other words put them in a pan and set the pan on some heat.  No need to do anything else.  Take them off the heat before they burn.

Step 2: Finely chop the chocolate into two separate and not very equal (there’s more white chocolate in this recipe) bowls; finely chop also means mostly shave into pieces.

Step 3: Bring two separate and also not equal pots of water to boil; such that you can nestle the bowls into the pots above but not touching the simmering water; also take the macadamia nuts off the heat if you haven’t done that already.

Step 4: Prepare a jelly roll pan by lining it with wax paper. 

Step 5: Put the chocolates in the bowls to melt over the simmering water, stir constantly otherwise your chocolate will burn and everyone in the world will dislike you.

Step 6: Mix the espresso with the dark chocolate.

Step 7: Mix some of the macadamia nuts into the dark chocolate, mix MORE of the macadamia nuts into the white chocolate.  You can save some nuts to sprinkle later, but I didn’t, and I wouldn’t want to do that.

Step 8: Pour the white chocolate mix into the jelly roll pan; Pour the dark chocolate on top of the jelly roll pan; sift the pan until it’s relatively smooth; use a knife, or a spoon to swirl the chocolates together in a marble pattern.

Step 9: Put in the fridge for at least an hour; or overnight if you’re tired already; and when it has cooled sufficiently, use the wax paper and not your fingers to break apart the pieces into irregular shapes.

This was probably my favorite thing item of the dinner soiree.  As in, I will 100% be making more.  It was so simple, so easy, and surprisingly amazing tasting.  Talk about melt in your mouth, and actually also in your hand.  The ladies absolutely adored these too! I give the bark a +10 for taste, +5 for simplicity, +10 for chocolate.

Espresso, White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Bark - melts in your mouth and in your hand

With my Monday night cooking done I went off to bed and work, ready to come home and cook real dinner for the ladies.

Tuesday night arrived and I was very excited to start cooking.  I got home and right to work.

Cider-Glazed Turkey Cutlets with Cider-Shallot Gravy – William Sonoma Holiday Favorites (I didn’t halve this recipe, but I should have, because now I have frozen glaze and gravy in my fridge which I’ll have to figure out what to do with those things)  I also had to deviate substantially from the original…

Ingredients:

• 3 cups apple cider – check
• ¾ cup butter - check
• 2 tsp dried thyme - check
• 1 turkey – or 4 turkey cutlets from Reading Terminal; check
• Salt & Pepper for taste (or not) - check

Step 1: In a saucepan over high heat, bring the cider to boil and boil until reduced sufficiently to your desires (should be one cup).  If your cider boils over and extinguishes your pilot light, then go ahead and remove everything from your countertop and relight your pilot light, you’re going to need that.

Step 2: When you realize you have time constraints and that you’re supposed to have things “hard” or “not liquid” go ahead and don’t reduce the cider the whole way.  Also stop to let in MC because she brought the wine.

Step 3: Set aside ½ cup of cider and mix the butter and thyme into the remaining ½ cup (or 2 cups, you know because you probably didn’t read the recipe well enough or reduce it the whole way either); then freeze that concoction (or if you do it right just refrigerate it until hardened).

Step 4: Cut everything else that you have to use for dinner and place them in bowls while JD and Bindy show up and you chime into the conversation that’s going on in the living room while you’re still cooking.

Step 5: Put the Turkey Cutlets into a pan (I used my good old 9x9 Pyrex) and cover with the still clearly liquidy butter/cider/thyme mixture and put in the oven at 325F.

Step 6: Make everything else. Continue to baste.

Step 7: Remember that JD has to catch a flight because work is not cool and last minute made her fly to VA for ONE DAY…and turn up the heat.  Continue to baste.

Step 8: Watch JD leave without any turkey and sit and consume the rest of dinner with MC and Bindy while the turkey keeps cooking.

Step 9: Finally take out the turkey, and enjoy.  Save the remainders for later.

This one was definitely a love hate, mostly a mad at myself for being such a moron to think that a FULL BLOWN TURKEY recipe would easily turn into a turkey cutlet recipe, without halving any of the fixings, or reading the recipe well enough before to notice that there were things that needed to cool in order for the cooking to be done.  +5 for taste, +5 for the contributions to the gravy, and -6 for my own stupidity.

Cider Glazed Turkey Cutlets

While the turkey was in the oven I set up the remaining dishes.

Mashed Potatoes – from my braincells

Ingredients:

• 3 Idaho potatoes - check
• Spoonful of low fat sour cream - check
• Couple tbs butter - check
• Splash of milk - check
• Salt - check
• Water - check

Step 1: Peel and quarter the potatoes; put them in a pot that they fit into.

Step 2: Fill the pot with water until just above the potatoes; Add salt.

Step 3: Bring potatoes to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender, aka when you stick them with a fork it goes through easily.

Step 4: Drain potatoes then put them back into the pot.

Step 5: Add a spoonful-ish of sour cream, butter, splash of milk, and pinch of salt.

Step 6: Use a masher or a mixer and mix your potatoes until fluffy or chunky fluffy or however you like your potatoes.  This batch was a chunky fluffy.

Mashed Potatoes are seriously my favorite food.   They always have been, and this batch was no exception.  The ladies loved them too!  Especially with the gravy!  So +8 for a recipe that comes straight from my mom and my brain,  +10 for taste, and +5 for using one pot for everything!

Mashed Potatoes - favorite and best

Roasted Fennel with Red Peppers – from Atkins Holiday Recipes cookbook (this is a recipe I halved also)

Ingredients: 

• 1 fennel bulb - check
• 1 red bell pepper - check
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil – sure? Or vegetable oil, for those of us living in a budget world
•  ½ tsp dried oregano - check
•  ½ tsp salt - check
• Pinch of pepper – check

Step 1: Do the smart thing and prep the red bell pepper in advance, and mix with some green bell pepper too if you like that kind of thing.

Step 2: Check YouTube to find out how to cut fennel because you’ve never cooked with it before.  Then cut into ¼ inch thick wedges, or in a mostly wedge-like manner.

Step 3: Combine ALL INGREDIENTS in a bowl and toss well to coat with everything. 

Step 4: Put all ingredients on a lightly oiled and rimmed baking sheet (I used a different Pyrex that I just discovered I had); roast in oven (425F or whatever temp your turkey is cooking at) until tender and lightly browned, roughly 40minutes

This one was a FOR SURE WINNER!  Bindy, MC, and even JD LOVED IT (aka JD actually got to try some before she had to jet to the airport).  +8 for taste, +5 for ease of creation and cleanup.

Roasted Fennel with Red and Green Bell Pepper

Brussels Sprouts with Orange Butter and Hazelnuts – William Sonoma Holiday Favorites (halved)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ lbs Brussels sprouts - check
• 3 tbs butter - check
• 2 tsp grated orange zest - check
• Salt and Pepper - check
• ¼ cup hazelnuts – oops I used macadamia nuts instead

Step 1: Prep the brussels sprouts ahead of time (a day or two) by trimming and halving.

Step 2: Set the nuts to toast (just throw them in a pan and put the pan on heat).

Step 3: Zest the orange.

Step 4: Take the nuts off heat and use your grinder thing to chop…well on second thought figure out a different way to chop them since a grinder…grinds it into dustier things and you want to have that crunch!

Step 5: Bring a pot of water to boil; add the brussels sprouts and boil until tender (piercable with a fork).

Step 6: In a large saucepan, set the butter to melt; add the orange zest.

Step 7: Drain the brussels sprouts and add them to the butter and zest mixture; stir until the sprouts are heated through .

Step 8: Transfer to a large bowl and sprinkle nuts over the sprouts, mix and serve.

This one was another delight!  Bindy said it was only the second time she’d had sprouts (I haven’t been a huge fan of them either before) but that she LOVED THEM.  MC who loves sprouts also enjoyed them.  JD who had a few before she ran out of my apartment didn’t say anything nasty about them.  +6 for taste, +5 for my first brussels sprout foodsperiment!

Brussels Sprouts and Orange Butter with Macadamia Nuts

Finally I was able to make the 

Cider Shallot Gravy:

Ingredients: 

• 6 tbs butter – check
• 3 oz shallots – shallots means onions so onions yes
•  2 tsp dried thyme - check
• 6 tbs flour - check
• 4 ½ cups turkey stock - check
• 3 tbs brandy – check
•  Salt and pepper – check

Step 1: Melt the butter in a sauce pan.

Step 2: Add the “shallots” or regular people onions, and thyme.  Sauté until the onions are golden brown, or reasonably opaque. 

Step 3: Add the flour and cook until browned, roughly 5 minutes (or less if you are feeling hasty and want to get to the tasty cheeses that Bindy brought).

Step 4: This part is where the recipe said “add enough stock to the pan juices to…” and I read “add stock” and besides the turkey was still cooking, although I did throw some pan juices approximately one baste-ful.  Anyway, add the stock (or pan juices plus stock) with a gradual whisk.

Step 5: Mix in reduced cider (from Turkey recipe above) and boil until thickened.  This is the step I stopped reading at; again in my haste to get everything on the table…it was delicious regardless.

Step 6 (if you actually follow directions): Mix in brandy and return to a boil, then season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Full disclosure: After dinner during clean-up I actually put the pan juices back into the remaining gravy and put in the brandy.  I plan to try it with the leftovers…since a brief taste test showed a yum.

Anyway for the gravy, +5 for taste, -3 for my stupidity and not reading or fully following the recipe.  Woops.  Anyway, MC and Bindy raved over it so I’m going to assume it was still a hit!

Overall the foodsperiment holiday party was a great success!  Other than my timing being off, and JD not getting to enjoy the full course meal, it was great!  It was really special to get to hang out with and host my ladies (even if half the time I was chattering from the kitchen) they have been significant sources of sanity for the past few years and I’m going to keep them in that role for as long as I can.  Now that we don’t work together it’s slightly different but you can’t change friendship, it changes you. The clean-up was…I wish I had a dishwasher but MC and Bindy helped and regardless I had an amazing time and the food was splendid and the company even better.  I sent MC and Bindy home with doggie bags but I’ll still be eating the leftovers for lunch and dinner all week.  Overall I give this foodsperiment…priceless. Happy Holidays!

December 12, 2011 - Oven Roasted Asian Style Pork Chop and Rice

After such an amazing weekend filled with excellent selections of Asian food (my first dim sum at Ocean Harbor in Chinatown on Thursday, and Wok Seafood Restaurant at 16th and Walnut on Friday) and friendship, of course when I came home today after a very Monday feeling Monday to a thawed pork chop, I pulled out my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (thanks Mom and The Christmas Tree Shop) and one of my flagged pork entrees (actually my ONLY currently flagged meat entree if we're being honest) was for Oven Roasted Asian Style Pork Ribs.  All I needed was a little bit of modification.

Oven Roasted Asian-Style Pork Chop (and rice)
Ingredients:

• 3 pounds pork loin back, ribs, or spareribs - erm I'd like to have One Pork Chop for bargain prices Alex
• 3 tablespoons pineapple, peach, or apricot preserves - make that one bag of mushed up mangoes since no such preserves reside in my kitchen at the moment
• 1/3 cup ketchup - halved to 1/6
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce - halved to 1 tbs
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger - make that 1/2 tsp frozen ground ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced - ain't nothing wrong with that

Step 1: Put the pork in a "dutch oven" or if you're me in a pot of water with a lid that just covers the pork; allow to boil, reduce heat, simmer covered until tender (in my lifestyle that's about 5 to 10 minutes or until the sauce is mixed and ready).

Step 2: Figure out how to use your new Cuisinart chop/grind machine of wonder and mince the garlic.

Step 3: Stir together mushed mangoes, ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic until it really looks Asian

Step 4: In a shallow pan (roasting or otherwise) place the pork; cover with sauce, make sure you lift the pork and put some sauce underneath (the real recipe says to "coat" the pork, but my way works pretty well).

Step 5: Bake uncovered at 350 for 15 minutes; meanwhile wash the pot you boiled the pork in and use that to make your rice from a bag.

Step 6: Serve pork over rice; mix rice and sauce well for most delicious outcome.

So there you have it, and if your bff Becks calls in the middle of said meal while you are watching Jeopardy so that you have to pause and don't get to answer the final Jeopardy question that the Trapps first sang the Little Drummer Boy because your mouth is full of Asian-y goodness and your ears are full of your bff's life story then you've probably got it pretty great in life too.

This foodsperiment: +9 for taste, +5 for innovation, +5 for friendship, +5 for my love of Asian cuisine!

December 11, 2011 - Spicy Gorgonzola Chicken Bites

Since my Facebook photo postings appear to no longer be the best method of sharing my magical kitchen creations, I think it's about time to re-boot this blog.
Tonight is the culmination of a fabulous weekend spent with my best friend Mairin (or Mai, or Mai Mai or M-dawg, or any other number of nicknames we've given her over the years) we spent the weekend celebrating Christmas with some old traditions (The Year Without A Santa Clause, LU Christmas Vespers) and old friends (Heids, Steve, KP, Julie, Vani, etc) and some inspirational Philadelphia Christmas Traditions (Comcast's Light Show, The Christmas Village, and the light show at the Wanamaker Building in Macy's).  So I came home from Vespers to a lonely apartment full of Christmas Cheer.  And a kitchen filled with some dirty dishes.  So I did what any self respecting foodoligist would do in her time of hunger and need...made something that required almost no clean up.

Spicy Gorgonzola Chicken Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 Chicken Breast
- Bread Crumbs
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Gorgonzola

Step 1: Cut the chicken breast into reasonably bite-sized pieces (that's sort of your discretion)
Step 2: In a ziploc combine a liberal amount of bread crumbs (enough to coat your chicken bites) and red pepper flakes.  The amount of red pepper flakes is a direct correlation to how spicy you desire your meal to be, put more for more, less for not as much, it's not an exact science.  Add the gorgonzola...it would be best to use smaller crumbles that have a chance of sticking to the chicken.
Step 3: Put the bites in the bag and shake like it's shake and bake until all bites are coated.  Add more bread crumbs, red pepper flakes, or gorgonzola if needed.
NOTE: Most of the gorgonzola isn't going to stick to the chicken bites, this is totally ok.
Step 4: Place the coated chicken bites in a shallow pan (I use a 9x9 Pyrex), and crumble the remaining gorgonzola on top of the bites (again you can use as much or as little as you like, I used a moderate amount, enough so each bite had some gorgonzola kick to it).
Step 5: Put the bites into the oven at about 300 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (those are always the directions with breaded things and that usually works out best for everyone).

Well, the spicy gorgonzola chicken bites may not have made up for missing my bestie but they were just the ice cream on top of the weekend!
For this foodsperiment: +8 for taste, +5 for easy clean-up, and +5 for leftovers usable for lunch!

August 16, 2011 – Chicken Breast w/Honey Balsamic Glaze, Tri-Color Rotini, and Red Bell Pepper

Walking to work provides me such an intense joy, except when my gimp foot just goes “no please don’t” etc.  Regardless, today was a slow day, where I basically dreamed of things to buy for my apartment and of course, what to make for dinner.  What a delightfully sleepy walk home too, this whole weaning myself off of caffeine is not going so well…so of course when I got home I took an accidental power nap. 

Anyway, post power nap it was time to get down to the cooking.  I found this recipe on food.com for Chicken Breast with Honey Balsamic Glaze.  It seemed like the easiest thing in the world, and the funny thing is, it totally was.  I set the pot of water to boil for the tri-color rotini (my personal specialty and frankly the only pasta I ever make).  Then I got down to business.  The recipe called for:

• Thyme – or its substitute thanks to the internet of Basil
• Salt – check
• Black Pepper – check
• Olive Oil – I’m not sure if I was using veg. olive, or any other kind of oil but I figured it all works relatively the same (the one is unlabeled on accident but womp womp)
• Chicken breast halves – check
• Balsamic Vinegar – check
• Honey – check

Talk about simple.  Put the spices together, done easy.  Cut the chicken into halves, totally simple thank you knives and opposable thumbs.  Sprinkle the spice mixture onto the chicken, fantastically simple.  Throw the rotini in the pot with the water (thought I forgot about that? No dice).  Then throw the chicken into the pan to fry up.  While it fried (with turning) sautéed?  Whatever you call it….I cleaned and cut the red bell pepper, so I’d have some for lunches (yum).  Anyway, then the chicken goes on top of the pasta and you measure in the ingredients to the pan (still easy).  Anyway, plated the whole thing (pasta, chicken on top, glaze on top, bell peppers around the edges on a whim)…and then it was time to consume.

Gotta say, that chicken was BANGIN’.  In full disclosure…it was a weightwatchers recipe too (4points for the chicken) which made me feel even better!

For this foodsperiment: +8 for taste, -2 for using the tri-color, with the chicken it should be rice or potatoes not pasta…, +10 for clean-up while cooking, +2 for the random choice to add the bell peppers.  Def going to try this one again, so quick and easy!

August 15, 2011 – Obas Shoyu Chicken and Rice; Formaggio Con le Pere

While I’ve been incredibly remiss in updating this blog due to such wonderful experiences as…moving, a big visit from my Seestor, the best Cousinmobile known to man woman or child, driving a jet ski, another busy quarter at work, a visit from Momma and Staramama, and accountant spring break…I have not been remiss in my cooking (yum!) or eating (double yum!) habits. 

I won’t go into the gory details, as it really has been a long time…but suffice it to say that I made some EXCELLENT DISHES including but not limited to watermelon gazpacho c/o gluten free goddess, tequila salmon also c/o gluten free goddess, Szechuan shrimp and scallops, edamame.  I ate at the Ritz, and even at the Ale House in Orlando.

Watermelon Gazpacho - Voila!

Tequila Salmon with Rice and Edamame!

Lobster and Crab Bake - Ale House, Orlando Florida - TOTALLY YUM

But I digress.   It was supposed to rain, well, thunderstorm.  I decided to make two dishes at once, while simultaneous doing laundry in my basement. 

I found a recipe for Obas Shoyu Chicken on food.com, because I’d gotten a bunch of chicken breast for sale, and it’s vaguely Asian (technically Hawaiian) and I’m not so secretly, secretly Asian.  The recipe calls for:

• Boneless Chicken Thigh or Breast – clearly I used breast because it was on sale
• Soy Sauce – check
• Water – check
• Garlic, crushed – check
• Onion, chopped – check
• Sugar – check.

This recipe was super easy.  I chopped the onion and threw it in the pot.  Then I crushed the garlic and threw that in the pot.  Everything went into the pot (except the chicken) and heated it to dissolve the sugar.  While it dissolved, on super low heat, I separated my clothes so I could go throw them in the laundry in the basement.  I threw the chicken into the pot and went to go put my laundry downstairs.  It was the perfect plan until I was thwarted by someone else putting in their laundry before I could.  No matter, the chicken simmered in the pot with its Asian-ness while I put together dish number 2 for the night…

Formaggio con le Pere, or cheese with pears (also from food.com).  This recipe is obviously, interestingly, Italian…who knew that Hawaiian and Italian cuisine worked together?  Me neither.  In any case this recipe was just as simple:

• Pear, skinned and cubed - check
• Pecorino cheese – check
• Black pepper to taste – check.

Basically you just, skin (I ate the skin) and cube (I ate some cubes) the pear, then mix with the cheese, let it sit for ten minutes, add the pepper and consume. 

Everything was ready, last night’s ACTUAL Chinese food rice was reheated, the chicken was plated, the formaggio con le pere was all set, and the kitchen was cleaned.  After putting in my laundry I was ready to feast!  

The verdict:  the Obas Shoyu Chicken with Rice was DELECTABLE.  I should have taken it off the heat about a heartbeat before I did, such that the meat would have been just a smidgen tenderer.  Perhaps it should also be cubed next time?  The sauce was just a little tangier, but the next time I’d try the sauce before I put in the chicken to make sure I was in love.  I still really enjoyed it.  Definitely a +5 for taste, and a +5 for the whole thing in the same pot, +6 for using yesterday’s rice, and +8 for having Japanese plates (I just like my Asian plates).

As for the Formaggio con le Pere, it was delish.  I wish the pears were a little sweeter, so that it was a better contrast to the cheese.  Still +5 for taste, +5 for ease of making, and +5 for there being more tomorrow night.

Post dinner it started to thunderstorm.  Nothing like a full tummy and a thunderstorm to make you enjoy your evening :-)  Now I just have to FOLD the laundry…Happy Foodsperiments!

Obas Shuyo Chicken and Rice - tangy, rich, and tender

Formaggio Con Le Pere - tangy and sweet

July 7, 2011 – Happy Birthday Fantastic Feta Chicken

My latest inspirations for new recipes to try involve finding recipes which incorporate items I already have.  As I still had feta leftover from the beach weekend, and I had one more packet of chicken thighs from when I made the gorgonzola chicken, so put them together and what do we got? Bippity Boppity boo…anyway so I found this Fantastic Feta Chicken recipe from food.com.  I thought I’d make it today in honor of Maggie and Allie’s Birthdays…two close friends of mine who incidentally happen to be born on the same day and happen to also be getting married later this year.

Anyway, so I took a short break from cleaning and putting together my apartment to come home and cook in my current house. 

The recipe called for:

• Chicken breasts – obviously used thighs
• Lemon juice – check
• Chopped fresh (nope) or dried (yup) oregano – check
• Ground pepper – check
• Crumbled feta – check

Putting together the chicken was SIMPLE. EASY. Prep took less than 5 minutes, waiting for the oven to heat took longer than anything else.  Wow. Super easy.  So I popped it in the oven and set water to boil to make rice-in-a-bag to go together.  Meanwhile, I set about making a loaf of Amish White Bread (magic).  Then I plated the whole thing, and turns out the chicken wasn’t cooked (womp) so I threw it back into the oven and ate the rice, which was ready.  Luckily my bread was still rising and so I could wait to eat but I was pretty hungry.  Things I learned today…the amount of time that a chicken breast takes to cook is different from the amount of time a thigh needs to cook.

Finally after a long lost effort, the chicken was done. It was good!  A lot of lemon…which wasn’t surprising, but overall good.  I LOVED the feta!  It occurred to me that I forgot to properly prep the chicken (take off the fat etc.)  I don’t think I’d make this one again, or if I did I’d sub lime in for the lemon, since I like lime way better.

June 28, 2011 – Four Cheese Pizza

I’ve been thinking about pizza ever since I discovered there was a pizza pan residing in my house, and as it doesn’t belong to me I’d have to make the pizza prior to moving out.  I still felt pretty exhilarated from the weekend of cooking and delight, and I thought “if I don’t do it on Tuesday it won’t happen.”  I knew I had Romano cheese, and feta, and I figured that to make a pizza for just me would be kind of useless so I asked my roommate Sarah if she’d be interested in pizza for dinner. Hurrah! She was!

I found the dough recipe on allrecipes.com (of course) and it was a non-rising dough so it would be quick.  It called for:

• Flour - check
• Yeast - check
• White sugar – check
• Water – check
• Veg oil – check

The dough took about five minutes to make.  It got a little not sticky enough, and when I added water it got a little too sticky but I managed.  I also wish that I had a rolling pin (well to be fair I do but it’s packed away ready to be moved into my new apartment this weekend).  All in all I got the dough onto the pan without it slipping too much into the cracks, and then put together the sauce.  I used sauce out of a bottle, for convenience sake (much to the chagrin of VLynn) but added to it minced garlic, and oregano.  We topped the pizza with the Romano and feta, and Sarah added in parmesan and muenster.  FOUR CHEESES!  It only took about 25min in the oven and it baked up nicely!

I quite enjoyed it, even though it looked a little less like a pizza than I'd prefer.  Next time I’d try to spread the dough a bit thinner, and probably put more sauce and more cheese but it was still fabulous.  Roommate Gretchen declared “it tastes like I’m in Chicago!”  I will take that as a compliment.

This foodsperiment gets a +8 for taste, +5 for simplicity, +8 for roommate bonding, and +4 for decent cleanup.  I’d also give it a +8 for having leftovers I can eat tonight after the Phils game! Huzzah!

June 24, 2011 to June 26, 2011 – LBI Weekend Menu

Once upon a time I had a friend named Brookery.  Brookery’s family owned a beach house on LBI.  I says one day to Brookery, “Let’s go down the shore, I’ll make a menu, let’s bring Val”.  Brookery says to me “Ok, Leslie’s coming too.”  Dear friends you might note the posting time and the posting date are different.  As there is no interwebs on LBI and I’m currently sitting in Brookery’s dining room this entire weekend’s foodsperiments will be posted after I arrive back at my own humble abode.

Friday Dinner – Sesame Teriyaki Flounder

So the menu for this weekend is pretty stellar, but tonight is a recipe I got from my friend Robin, who got it from Better Homes and Gardens.  Oh dear, Brookery has just arrived!  As such, I’ll try not to be awkward.  I was going to prep tomorrow night’s meal while we waited for Leslie to get here tonight, as Val isn’t coming tonight and she DOESN’T EAT SEAFOOD (THE HORROR) I figured we could do some tonight.

Anyway, the recipe calls for:

• Fresh black bass (uhm, subbed Flounder bc Brookery doesn’t eat bass)
• Black pepper – check
• Soy sauce  - check
• Sweet Rice Wine – no dice but I’m subbing rice wine vinegar because womp womp
• Honey - check
• Cooking oil - check
• Sesame seeds, toasted – check w/out the toasting

So there were a couple of challenges on this cooking agenda. 1. Electric stove which I’ve never worked with and my sister has told me “back away from slowly so it doesn’t attack”.  It’s always challenging when you’re working in not your own kitchen, so it took me a hot minute (or ten?) to get used to the idea.  I set the sesame seeds to toasting, which it later occurred to me should have involved butter or oil of some kind and didn’t. 

Any who, got down to the cooking itself, put together the glaze and let it “boil”(which I forgot to turn up the heat so it took a while) and put the edamame (frozen) in a pot to boil, and put another pot on to boil the rice. WOAH BIG MEAL. 

I set the flounder to frying and then I realized that I have zero clue how to tell when flounder is done…good thing Brooke was there to help me out with that.  The “flaking” is basically the fish could fall apart easily (and tries to as you remove it from the pan). 

Long story short, the glaze eventually thickened, and the water for the rice boiled, the flounder cooked, and I plated the damn things and glazed them, the table was set, Leslie brought some wine…I waited in anticipation and…VOILA! 

This foodsperiment gets a +7 for taste, a +6 for the company, a +5 for being at the beach, and a +5 for being a quick put together.  I don’t know that I would change anything the next time, and the whole meal was enjoyed by all and they lived happily into the Friday night of a girl’s weekend. 

Saturday Breakfast – Eggs and Bacon

I admit that for the foodsperiment on Saturday breakfast, I can’t take any credit.  I’d gotten us eggs, and brought along my favorite Dubliner Cheddar (mmm Irish cheese) as well as bacon.  Brooke took the lead on this one.  I did take the morning to prepare and start the marinade on the evening’s speriment, Honey Chicken Kebabs.  It’s amazing how difficult it is to cut up chicken thighs into quarters (obviously I still had a lot of chicken thighs…) anyway, all the chopping, cutting, glaze putting together…well not the glaze putting together but the rest of it (more on that later)…took the usual amount of time between me waking up and Brooke waking up such that Brooke made breakfast while I showered.  Even though it technically wasn’t my foodsperiment, I gave the whole thing +10 for amazing cheesy eggs, +5 for the company, and +5 for the beach. YUM!

Saturday Lunch – Avocado BLTs and Guacamole

After a glorious morning at the beach, we tripped the two seconds back to the house and I set about putting together lunch!  I found the “Summery Avocado BLT” recipe on finecooking.com.  The ingredients were:

• 2 avocados – check
• Lemon juice – check
• Kosher salt – woops, regular salt will have to do!
• Tomato – check
• Bacon – check
• Onion – check
• Bread – USED THE AMISH WHITE BREAD!
• Lettuce? – uhm, I forgot.

So we got back and it was a pretty quick put together.  I had Brookery my sui chef do the bacon and onions.  I mashed together the lemon, salt, and one avocado, which was pretty simple, and cut up the other avocado.  Leslie helped toast the bread, and meanwhile I “somehow” got “coerced” into making the guac at the same time.  The tomato had already been sliced and prepped during my morning prep routine. 

If we remember, the last time I made guacamole I thought there was too much (ok not really too much) but a little more than enough garlic.  This time I used garlic, onions (not too much this time!) some lime juice, some lemon juice, some diced tomato…and mushed it altogether and put it on the table!  I put together the sammies as described…and we ate with relish (no relish was served). 

This lunch-foodsperiment I gave a +10 for taste!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE avocado, but also LOVED the BLT’s!  +7 for help in the kitchen, +8 for putting the excess avocados into more guac! (which we ate during evening snack!)

Saturday Dinner – Honey Chicken Kebobs, Grilled Potatoes and Onions, Grilled Corn on the Cob

Dinner on Saturday can be described as an extravaganza.  Luckily a lot of the work had been done earlier in the day, as by the time we set about to getting the grill hot and everything prepped to throw on it, I might have had a few margs…the better to feed you my biffles.  Also by this point we’d been out on the beach a few more hours and my back was looking extra burned!  AND our darling VLynn was available for discussion!

I used three different recipes from allrecipes.com.  They called for the following ingredients:

• potatoes - check
• red onion – check
• salt – check
• black pepper – check
• butter - check
• veg oil – check
• honey – check
• soy sauce – check
• chicken breast – subbed thighs for breasts
• garlic - check
• onions - check
• red bell peppers – check
• corn – check
• white sugar – check
• cumin – check

Putting together the potatoes and onions to grill was easy. And quick so I got that done asap.  It took a while to put the pre-marinated kebobs together…but at least I’d gotten the marinating done early in the morning!  The corn dressing (uh I mean seasoning…) didn’t take long either.  Eventually everything was constructed and I could put things on the grill.  The tricky part was timing how to cook everything.  The potatoes and onions needed 30min, while the kebobs and corn were supposed to take 15min.  I cooked the onions on the outsides of the grill, and when I flipped them over, I put the corn on the grill.  Finally I put the kebobs on, those took the longest and looked like they were burning or possibly not cooked, but I realized that the dark meat of the thighs (thanks to Brooke and Val for pointing that out) made it more complicated to see.  It was a little rough to tell about everything else (if it was done) based on anything other than time…which I discovered was a womp when one of the potatoe packets wasn’t exactly cooked right. 

But all told, the meal turned out really well (even the Veggie burger of our vegetarian friend Leslie!)  I give this meal a +8 on taste, a +5 for coming together at about the same time, and +7 for the tenderness of the dark meat, - 3 for getting the potatoes wrong.  Overall…I like grilling! Too bad my new apartment doesn’t have a lot of grilling opportunities.

Sunday Breakfast – Cheesy Eggs and Bacon

Breakfast on Sunday is another meal of the weekend I can take zero credit for.  I toasted some bread (rye bread) and ate the remaining edamame.  VLynn gets all the credit for the cheesy eggs and bacon.  She even had the genius idea of using the bacon grease and pan to cook the eggs! Brilliant! I did contribute the strawberries, and sliced and stored the ones I’d need for later.

Sunday Lunch – Feta and Strawberries Salad

After a good number of hours on the beach, and getting a little more burned, I stepped back to the house a bit early to start making lunch and cleaning up my things (boo to leaving the beach but responsibility raged on…) It would have been a better idea if I hadn’t found out at breakfast that Brookery doesn’t like strawberries (unnatural though it is, I wish I’d known.)

I got the recipe from the mother of all recipe sites, of course allrecipes.com.  It called for the following:

• Slivered almonds – check
• Garlic – check
• Honey – check
• Dijon mustard – check
• Raspberry vinegar – couldn’t find this so I used raspberry vinaigrette dressing instead.
• Balsamic vinegar – check
• Brown sugar – check
• Vegetable oil – check
• Romaine lettuce  - check
• Strawberries – check
• Feta – check

This salad was so easy compared to the prosciutto and gorgonzola fruit salad I made a couple weeks ago.  I stepped into the kitchen and I had already sliced the strawberries in the morning so that was one less thing.  I put the almonds in a pan on the stove to toast them while I put together the dressing.  The dressing took almost no time, just had to mince the garlic quickly (this I’m starting to become a pro at) and then threw everything into the bowl to wisk it with a fork.  By the time the dressing was ready to go, so were the almonds.  I still needed to shower from the beach so I did that real quick when everyone got back to the house.  Then dumped the bag of romaine into the bowl, in went the feta and the strawberries, followed by the dressing.  Tossed the whole thing and VOILA! A light, summer, at the beach meal.  Val and Leslie LOVED this one!  The toasted almonds and feta and strawberries were a fantastic combination!  And so easy to put together!

This foodsperiment I gave a +10 for taste, a +5 for easy get together, and a -3 for me not knowing that Brooke wouldn’t eat it….

\

Kebobs and Leslie's Veggie Burger on the Grill

Strawberry Salad!

The weekend beach menu was overall a success!  I was a failure at remembering to take too many pictures but womp.  The greatest part was the whole sha-bang only cost $20 per person, if we’d eaten out the whole time it would have been a substantially more expensive weekend. Huzzah for happiness ya know?  Anyway I’d call the weekend a success!  Happy eating!

June 21, 2011 - Steak Fries

Today was a very simple plan.  Get home. Reheat the last Gorgonzola Chicken Thigh.  Reheat the Edamame (made from frozen packet instructions last night).  Make Steak Fries.
I've made Steak Fries before, well french fries...but not in years and years.  I thought I'd just heat the oil in a pan or a pot, throw in the pre-cut potatoes (I cut them the other night when I made the mashed potatoes), and voila! French Fries!  Then I was chatting with the lovely VLynn today who said her mom used to make them in the oven.  Of course it then occured to me that they might be healthier in the oven.  So off to google I went to see some recipes, when I realized it would also be a lot easier clean-up in the oven.
Ingredients:

• Potato, cut to look like steak fries.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt

It was pretty easy, as the potatoes were already cut.  It turns out I should have left them in a "cold water bath" for the few days, but they were still fine.  Anyway, so I cold watered them, rinsed them, threw them in a bowl with the olive oil and salt (you can use any spices you want but I just appreciate sodium).  Then onto the baking sheet and into the oven they go! Voila! Like magic in 25 minutes they're done!

And thus, at this point of course, my chicken and edamame was reheated, and using ketchup I ate the whole meal!

I give this foodsperiment a +7 for being so easy, +5 for being easy to clean, +5 for finishing my meal, and I give myself a -3 for eating them without taking a photograph.  Happy sperimenting!

June 18, 2011 - Gorgonzola Chicken Thighs

I’d been planning tonight’s speriment for about a week, ever since I still had gorgonzola.  So even though I’d already baked bread this morning, I couldn’t pass up this recipe.  Gorgonzola Chicken Thighs from food.com.  I have to say as I re-read the recipe, it seemed a little complicated. 

Ingredients:

• Gorgonzola – check
• Breadcrumbs – check
• Ground Black Pepper – check
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs – check
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – check
• Salt – check

So the whole ordeal began with cutting up some potatoes, which were fully NOT involved in this dish specifically, but I made mashed potatoes too (I’m an old hand at that one, pretty much my family you have to be).  So anyway, I cut the potatoes and then put them in a pot with water to boil slowly while I prepped the chicken.

The recipe is a little complicated…but ok, so breading things with gorgonzola and trying to make it stick is NOT EASY.  Trying to roll chicken thighs into a semblance of wonder also NOT EASY.  Long story short I put the chicken together and got them into the oven.  I’m sure you can check out the recipe on google if you’d like.  While the chicken cooked, I cleaned up and mashed the potatoes. 

The first time I took the chicken out, I realized it really needed to cook longer, so this teaches me that I need to be better at understanding what looks “done” coming out of an oven.  Finally they were finished.  I had also attempted some gravy for the potatoes but that ended in an epic fail so I won’t document that here.

My take on this recipe: +5 for taste, they were really good!  I’m glad I’ll have some extra dinner items for this week.  Even though you couldn’t really taste the gorgonzola at all, but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected any different, -3 for complicated set up and cooking, -2 for too much cleanup.  I definitely enjoyed the end result, but I think I wouldn’t make it again in a hurry due to my lack of desiring to get so messy, or maybe I’d do it if I hadn’t made bread in the morning. 

June 19, 2011 - Amish White Bread

Sometime in the last couple days I kept thinking about what ingredients I had lying around so I could keep cooking and not spend a fortune.  And knowing my planned dinner tonight, I though well maybe I can make bread. It has a lot of the same ingredients as pretzels, which I typically keep on hand in case of emergency pretzels.  So I searched the ever open intrawebs to find a recipe.  Holy smokes, who knew there were so many different kinds of breads!  With so many different ways to make them! Bread machines, not bread machines, fruit breads, honey breads, braided breads….I guess it took me a while to find something “simple”.  It made me wish I had the recipe for the bread my sister used to make for holidays.  Regardless, I found this recipe which seemed simple enough and doable.  The other best part about allrecipes.com is that it gives you the servings for the original recipe, and will calculate the changes in ingredients if you want to half, third, double, or essentially change the serving size in any manner. HUZZAH one loaf!  So with music thanks to my itunes, now I’m really ready to begin.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water - check
• 1/3 cup white sugar (this confused me until I realized its sugar…like regular sugar) - check
• 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (or perfectly 1 packet of the rapid rise yeast! Perfect for pretzels too J)
• ¾ teaspoon salt - check
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil – check
• 3 cups bread flour (google assures me that bread flour is high gluten, and helps the yeast to work yadda yadda, while all purpose flour is a little bit different etc technical mumbo jumbo but all I have is all purpose flour so I’ll be using that)

Starts out pretty similar to pretzels (almost makes me want to make pretzels) with dissolving the sugar and yeast in warm water until the yeast “proofs” which is, I think, just a fancy way of saying bubbles to a frothy consistency. 

Once it has proofed, I put the concoction together with the salt and oil, and slowly mix the flour into my FABULOUS Cuisinart (specifically purchased for pretzel dough making…totally normal).  Wow I love my Cuisinart.  If I hand kneaded the whole thing together it would have taken a while.  Now for an easy cleanup (I’m utilizing my dishwasher while I still have one) while the dough rises in a “bowl” aka a large pot…resources.

When the recipe said “punch down the dough” I was concerned, but no really you have to punch it down and it goes “smoooooosh!” another half hour and then I can bake the thing! Woot woot!  It looks splendid…I do think I oiled the pot too much…womp.

350 for 30 minutes, jeez I can’t wait to eat this bread.  It looks and smells….like bread.

OMG TALK ABOUT DELICIOUS!  Crusty on the outside, soft and yummy on the inside!  Fabulous with that garlic butter I made earlier in the week.  YUM!  Can’t wait to eat it along with dinner tonight too! 

This recipe DEFINITELY gets a +8 for delicious.  +5 for quick clean up, +5 for the Cuisinart making great dough (always does), +5 for the garlic butter.  So happy!

June 18, 2011 - Omelet with cheese, onions, and garlic

I woke up this morning and first thing I went to the gym to get in a decent morning swim.  Glorious!  I’m still getting the hang of “sharing a lane” and my exercised induced asthma doesn’t like freestyle, but regardless it was good.  On my way home I declared “self, let’s make an omelet”.  So that’s what I did.

Ingredients:

• One Egg
• Splash of milk
• Dash of cheese (romano peccano shredded, since I use it for my mini pizzas)
• Onions, finely chopped
• Garlic, finely chopped.

I started to finely chop the onion, and I was doing a pretty decent job (I guess practice makes perfect) and I realized I was probably using too much so I stopped chopping, mid chop.  I used just one clove of garlic, and again realized it would probably be overpowering so I used half of it to make garlic butter for the toast I’d put into the toaster oven.  I melted a slice of butter with half of the finely chopped (and smashed) garlic, then I put it in the freezer to harden a little bit while I continued cooking.

I used my smallest frying pan, which for one egg was perfect.  I whipped the egg, milk, and cheese together and put them into the already hot pan.  I sprinkled on the onions and garlic.  Egg concoctions, I have realized, are a very artful science.  I’m not sure I’ve perfected it yet.  But basically I let it cook on low/medium until the I felt like I could flip half of it on top of the other half.  I was pretty concerned about the flip but it worked out alright.  I let it cook on one side then flipped the whole thing over and let it cook some more.  Then I plated the whole thing with the bread, and took the garlic butter out of the freezer, it hadn’t really set yet and the bread was not as hot anymore (and a little burned…woops) so that might have been a fail but I saved the rest in the fridge so maybe I’ll try it out later.

In any case, the omelet was ok.  There was too much garlic for sure, even though I could kill a vampire with the amount of garlic I typically consume.  I added a little Texas Pete hot sauce for dipping and the result was great.  I think the next time I’d try to add some more protein (i.e. ham?) or less onions and garlic.  I mean, for a post workout meal it was still ok.

This foodsperiment I give a +3 for taste, and +5 for easy cleanup.

June 13, 2011 - Guacamole

This morning I realized two things: I have an avocado that needs to be consumed, and I have garlic and onions.  I thought to myself that maybe these had something to do with one of my very favorite things to eat ever, guacamole.  So I looked up some recipes and they all needed tomatoes (yikes!) instead I searched for no tomatoes and found a couple so I decided to make a hybrid of these to see if it works out (FOOOODSPERIMENT!)

The ingredients:

• One avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ cup red onion (chopped)
• Splash of lemon juice
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Cumin powder
• Curry powder

Let the adventure begin! So I learned how to chop onions pretty finely, or not but it’s still a work in progress.  I was right, the avocado was pretty much at the exactly right place.  I cut it in half, pitted it, and cut it into square pieces right in the skin.  Then I spooned it out.  On top of the avocado delight I put in the chopped onion (actually a little less than ¼ cup) and the chopped garlic.  Then I sprinkled on the cumin powder, curry powder, salt, and mixed the whole thing around, being careful to smoosh but not thoroughly crush the avocado and mix well.   Then I splashed in the lemon juice, because that seemed logical (aka I forgot about it before…lesson learned put all ingredients out before you start cooking). 

I grabbed some Tostitos c/o my roommate Shady and dug in.  WOW what they say about Guac is correct, simple IS better.  I’m sure it could have used tomatoes but I also don’t have a fondness for them so it’s ok.  I LOVE it, I can taste the garlic, maybe I’d use less next time except I LOVE garlic.  My roommate liked it too, she liked the texture the most.

Overall I’m going to give this made up recipe +7 for being made out of ingredients I already had, +5 for being easy to clean up, and I’m giving my roommate Shades +5 for offering tortilla chips. It’s a good thing I’m going to go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant…so I can have a marg to finish this delightful dish off right!  Arriba!