Produce Pete's Advice

Produce Pete came to our school about a month ago to give a little assembly about fruits and vegetables. For those of you who don't know, Produce Pete had a veggie stand in Bergenfield for the longest time and appears on NBC.  His grandchildren go to our school so we were lucky enough to learn some tips for picking the best veggies and fruits.  One thing he said before he wrapped up his show was that he encouraged us to try something new.  I decided we would try a new veggie that night.  I had made broccolini once before and it didn't turn out too well so I decided to try it again.  I mixed it with olive oil, garlic, onion powder, and chili flakes and roasted it for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  While I liked the flavor the stems were a little too crunchy for me. I think next time I would try a longer time at a lower temperature.

White Wine and Beef...Who Knew

I decided to splurge and actually buy one of the magazines I look at while on the checkout line at the supermarket.  I ended up with a $12 issue of The Best of Cooking Light.  I went through and marked all of the recipes that I figured we would try and to my surprise, Rob went through and added a ton more.  He also continued to cross out parts of the recipe that he didn't want me to include, like the mustard and beans, stating that he was SURE it would taste good without them.  The first one I tried was a white wine marinade for steak.  Intrigued, I started on this super easy marinade.

White Wine Marinade:
3 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Marinade the steak for 10 minutes (I did it for about 15)  They also suggested using chuck but I had a NY strip in the fridge.

Next, cook the steak in a pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Remove steak and add one sliced shallot to the pan to soften.

Add the reserved marinade and 1/4 cup of beef broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid by 1/2.  (If I was cooking for more than 2 I would definitely double or triple the marinade and beef broth so I had enough sauce)

Slice steak and serve with sauce and shallots on top.

This was SO good (and only about 230 calories).  I was so surprised that the white wine paired well with the beef.  This one definitely gets added to the frequent pile.

This One Needs Some Work

While searching for some healthy dinner options I came across Martha Stewart's Lighter Sesame Chicken.  I decided to give it a try.  The sauce seemed way too simple to be tasty but it was.  I changed it up a bit though.  Instead of 3 tablespoons of honey I used 1-honey, 1-agave nectar, and 1-plum duck sauce.  The two tablespoons of sesame seeds was a little to much for just one piece of chicken (we usually share one).  Rob's rating: "It's okay.  You went a little crazy with the sesame seeds though."  The chicken was crispier than I thought it was going to be, but I have an issue with sauteing chicken with batter on it.  No matter what I do, I always get splashed with numerous amounts of oil while trying to flip the chicken.  Yes I have one of those splatter screens but I still get burnt.  I'm going to have to work on that.  I may make this one again and definitely recommend it if you want a lighter chinese dish to try, but I think I will keep tweaking it.

You can see the mountain of sesame seeds in this one.  =)

Strawberry Shortcake Shortcut

I decided to make Rob a strawberry shortcake for his birthday but I didn't want to use angel food cake or your typical box mix.  I figured that boxed cake mix is a little too spongy for strawberry shortcake.  Instead, I decided to add whipped egg whites to the boxed cake mix and see what happened.  I whipped up 4 egg whites and folded them into a mix of French Vanilla cake mix.  While baking, the cake got really puffy and I got excited, thinking about how light and fluffy it would be when cooled.  However, as soon as I took it out of the oven it began to fall.  It turned out really good though.  The consistency was different from your typical boxed mix, not as spongy and more on the fluffy side.  I will definitely use this trick again.

I iced the cake with home made whipped cream and added a layer of sliced strawberries macerated in sugar in the middle.  Then I topped it with some strawberries just so it looked pretty.

Gluten Free Birthday Feast

 My entire family has birthdays that land in April/May which makes it a crazy month for birthday presents.  This year since my spring break fell right in between all of them I decided to make a birthday dinner for my mom and dad.  My sister has them on this new meal plan  (which is working very well even though I let me dad buy baked goods at Costco...sorry Jen) so I made homemade gluten free pasta with two different kinds of sauce.  The actually tried two different gluten free pasta recipes and we picked the best one.  I had to substitute the quinoa flour for tapioca flour because I couldn't find it.  This was my first attempt at homemade pasta and it was pretty easy.  I definitely have to use that pasta maker more.

gluten free pasta dough

Another use for my drying rack.  =)

rolling out the dough

The lamb ragu was very easy and the best tasting sauce.  The second sauce I made up taking the ingredients from my crostata from the last post.  I sauteed swiss chard, leeks, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Then threw in some ricotta and some of the pasta water.   My sister liked it which means it had to be good, but she said it would have been even better with some pancetta and I agree..  She is even pickier than Rob.

 For as long as I remember my mom has talked about Baked Alaska.  She has never tried it so I decided to make it for her instead of the gluten free strawberry shortcake I was going to try and create myself.  I found a gluten free recipe for the cake.  It was a little on the dry side but still tasty.

I filled mine with a mix of chocolate
and vanilla, vanilla and strawberry
and butter pecan.

I then whipped up some meringue and covered the cake and ice cream.

Then I popped them into a 500 degree oven for three minutes.  We watched them carefully so that they wouldn't burn.  Next time I am hoping to use one of those mini blow torches.  =)

Overall it was a very successful birthday feast that just happened to be gluten free!

Amazing!

I had seen this recipe while I was at the gym.  (Yes I watch the Food Network at the gym.)  I like Anne Burrell's food and this recipe intrigued me.  I had never had swiss chard but though I would try it.  The only problem was I needed a reason to make it. (Rob definitely wouldn't eat it.)  Last Friday I had some friends over and decided to let them be my guinea pigs. The dough came together super easy.  I do wish I had purchased a full size food processor instead of my little baby one though.  I made the dough by hand the day before and rolled it out that day.  Next time I will definitely flour my board more because it did stick, but I was able to get it back together fairly easily.  I started to get a little nervous when I put it in the oven because all the liquid in the filling started smoking up my oven.  It dried out quickly though and started puffing up into a beautiful looking pizza-like creation.  And boy was it tasty!  I will definitely be making this one again.




Note - I didn't use regular ricotta, I went to Fairway and got the fresh, dry ricotta so that the filling wouldn't be too wet.

Wanted: Crock-pot with a Timer

Tacos.  This is now my go to recipe for days when we are both working late.  But I have never been the biggest fan of the normal, ground beef, taco seasoning ones.  Don't get me wrong.  They are good, but I really have to be in the mood for them.  I started making shredded chicken tacos in the crock-pot.  It is probably the easiest recipe I have ever made.  There are only 3 ingredients.

1 jar salsa (sometimes I get creative and use different types of salsa; black bean and corn, peach, etc.  I always have to hide the beans from Rob though.)
juice of 1 lime
boneless chicken breasts or thighs  (I have used a thick chuck steak and then shredded that.  Also delicious)

The problem is that our crock-pot doesn't have a timer.  When we registered for one for our wedding I never thought I would actually use it.  My mom never did so I didn't really see the need for it, but because Rob was obsessed with our wedding registry and making sure that we had everything that the "experts" said you needed, we ended up with a simple low/high one.  Since we get home late on taco days our meat is always overcooked.  This time I tried braising the chuck steak in the dutch oven (it was a weekend and we were home).  I think I had the wrong cut of meat and/or didn't cook it long enough because it was a little chewy. It tasted good though.

I serve these with flour tortillas (corn if my sister is over - no gluten), roasted corn (frozen corn added to a hot, dry pan and toasted until it is brownish in color), cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and guacamole (my favorite).

These got a "good" on Rob's scale even though the meat could have been better.  I definitely need to head to the store to find a good crock-pot with a timer.  Any suggestions?

The Makings of a Perfect Lunch

1. breaded eggplant cutlets (panko bread crumbs seasoned with italian seasoning, salt, & pepper)
2. deli flats
3. fresh mozz
4. roasted peppers
5. balsamic dressing
6. really good friends!

Every once in a while I have a craving for an eggplant sandwich so I get all my ingredients out and start making them.  BUT Rob doesn't eat eggplant so I end up cooking more than I can eat.  I decided to bring in all of the fixings and have a lunch with some of the wonderful teachers I work with.  Since we all usually work through lunch it is a nice way to force us to eat together and chat about things other than work.  =)

(This lunch also included strawberries and delicious chocolate chip cookies.)

This Would Get You Chopped!

I don't know if any of you have ever watched the show Chopped on the Food Network, but it has become one of those food shows that just happens to be on all the time at my house.  This dinner tasted pretty good, and would have been wonderful if I hadn't not been in the mood to cook it.  I took this chicken recipe from my friend Maggie's blog.  Basically you just butterfly chicken breasts, spread pesto inside, and top with tomatoes and shredded cheese.  I probably used more cheese that she did (I stuffed some inside the chicken too), but the flavor of the dish was great.  I served it with my fool proof rice and roasted broccoli.  Broccoli is one of the veggies that I would rather not eat but I figured that since I am a "grown up" now I should make myself eat it every once in a while.  Usually I drown it with cheese but I decided to try roasting it to see if the garlic, EVOO, and caramelized ends would make it taste good.  And I think it would have, like I said, if I had been in the mood to cook.  I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.  This is Rob's plate before and after.

In my rush to get everything made and being not in the mood, I burnt the broccoli.  Oops!  I didn't think it was too bad but as you can see Rob clearly showed what he though.  I will try roasting broccoli again and next time I will take my time and watch it.

A Weekend of Dinners

Wow am I behind in posting!  It is mostly because Rob has hijacked the computer to analyze all of his NCAA stats in order to do his brackets (I hope I said that all right).  Now that he has like 50 brackets and all of his spreadsheets printed I finally get the computer back.  =)

Two Sundays ago we had Rob's parents over for dinner and they got to see our new kitchen.  I made a roast which turned out very good.  Rob agreed!  It is also another recipe I developed myself which I am trying to do more of.  I mixed together the following ingredients and spread it all over the roast.

garlic powder
brown sugar
onion powder
salt
pepper

I used my famous celery "rack" to keep the meat from sitting on the bottom of the pan and added some carrots and onions to the pan as well.  About 20 minutes into cooking I added 1/2 cup red wine, 1/4 cup marsala wine, and 1/4 cup beef broth to the bottom of the roasting dish.  While the meat was resting I put all the stuff in the bottom of the pan into a pot and added some more beef stock.  I boiled the liquid for about 15 min and let it reduce.  It made a great gravy.

I always have trouble cooking roasts.  I usually blame it on the cut of meat if it comes out bad.  I have searched times and cooking temperatures, looked at all the charts and I still just basically cook it for a while then feel it to see if it's done.  This time it only took about 45 minutes (it was about 4lbs).  However, the thicker end, which I would think would be more on the rare side, was more done than the thinner side!  I don't know how that happened but it was good.

I only have a picture of the dinner all plated.  I used the left over meat to make steak sandwiches with onions and cheese during the week.  I love when I can make a meal and use it over again.  =)

Roast Chicken

Saturday night we had some friends over for a roast chicken dinner.  I woke up ready to make my special rub, and I have to say I had a kitchen blunder that made me think I should go on that Worst Cooks in America show.  I had bought parsley (or what I thought was parsley) at the store a few days earlier and took it out to chop it with the rest of my ingredients.  I kept thinking to myself and actually said out loud at one point, "This doesn't smell like parsley."  I added it to my mixture of butter, lemon zest, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper, rubbed it ALL over the chicken (inside the cavity, under the skin, you name it, I put it there).  Then I decided it would be a good idea to look at the so called parsley.  It was cilantro!  I hate cilantro.  Needless to say I let this ruin my whole day.  Rob tried to scrape the cilantro off as best he could and then recommended I just buy another chicken if it was going to make me that upset.  I just really don't like serving something I know will be bad to my friends.  Eventually I went out and bought parsley, remade the rub, washed my chicken, and started over.  It turned out good even though I was sure I tasted some cilantro in there.


This is one recipe I actually made up myself and I think that it is pretty good.  The lemon zest really freshens it up.  I just eyeball the ingredients, mix them all together, and rub it all over the chicken making sure to get it under the skin.

Ingredients:
butter
onion powder
PARSLEY
lemon zest
garlic
salt
pepper

A Little Something Special

We were always a meat and potatoes family, and then one year my dad decided to de-bone a leg of lamb for Christmas.  That sealed the deal.  A few years ago he started making lamb loin chops which became my sister's "going back to college" meal.  Every time she would have to go back to school we would have these for dinner.  Rob isn't the biggest fan but he will indulge in this delicious meal every once in a while.  I have been cooking chicken like it's my job so I decided that we would have a little something special today.  My dad never really writes down recipes so I really just have a scrap of paper with some ingredients written on it - no measurements, so this is technically my shortened version of ingredients.  Jen has had them though and given them her seal of approval.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

4 lamb loin chops (usually my dad and I buy the big ones at Costco and split them)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic - minced
salt
pepper

Mix dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, spread on chops and let marinate (I guess you could do this over night, I never think of it in time.  I also have to do this while Rob isn't around because he HATES mustard, you don't taste mustard in the end, it just adds a nice flavor.)

Turn the broiler on in your oven and make sure the rack is all the way at the bottom.  Place chops on a rack on top of a baking sheet.  Broil chops for about 10 minutes, check them, and turn over.  Continue broiling until medium rare.  Mine were small so they only took about 15 minutes total.

I was so excited today when I found fingerling potatoes at the supermarket near my school.  I usually use baby Yukon Golds because I can never find them.  I slice the potatoes long ways and cook them in a pan with olive oil, butter, and onions.  If I am short on time I microwave the sliced potatoes for 5 minutes and then add them to the onions, butter, and olive oil, otherwise I just cook them altogether and cover them in the beginning so that they steam and get soft. (about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes.)

Then I take the top off to crisp the outsides up a little and add 1 clove minced garlic. I always make some extra because they make perfect home fries Saturday morning.

Served with green beans and mint jelly - a perfect special meal.

Fool Proof Rice

This one is for my friend Jamie.  When I went to my cooking class I learned how to make really good rice that is fool proof.  Rob always makes Minute Rice which I somehow always mess up.  I always preferred regular Uncle Ben's White Rice until I tried this.  This recipe uses basmati rice which I like a lot.  If you buy the kind in the bag you have to rinse it first under water.


Ingredients
basmati rice
1/2 cup diced onion (I like vidalia)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
chicken stock
salt
olive oil


Directions


Follow the directions for your rice with regards to amount of rice and amount of liquid.


Put olive oil in a oven proof pot with diced onions.  Add a pinch of salt.  Sweat the onions a little then add garlic.  Next add rice and cook for a minute or two.  

Toast rice for a few minutes.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and put in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Take out and fluff with a fork.

Fluffed rice ready to serve.

I served this with lemon garlic string beans and my version of chicken cordon bleu.  This dinner got an "I like it" from Rob which is high up on his scale so I will definitely be making this one again. 

Something Sweet

I decided to start with a recipe that got a "really good" which is a rating that doesn't come very often in our house.  This is saved for things that are especially good.  Other family members might give something a really good, but Rob is somewhat of a picky eater.  Not so much in what he eats, but more in finding the little things that could make the dish that much better.  He saves those "really goods" for things you would find from a 5 star chef.  That is the reason why I love them so much!  


I was never really in love with any of my chocolate chip cookie recipes, and after spending 12 days home sick I felt like I needed something to do.  I found this recipe by looking for pictures of thick, soft, and chewy cookies on google.  They looked amazing, and they tasted amazing too.  They were soft and chewy throughout and just a little crispy around the edges.  I was shocked by the 1/4 cup scoop but they didn't spread as much as I thought they would.  You really do have to watch these and follow the directions exactly.  Taking them out when they still look way too soft and letting them cool on the baking sheet is the secret to keeping them chewy.