Catching up

Ok, I'm sorry.  I told you I would have the leftover recipe posted by now.... Surprise to those who know me (sarcasm) I forgot to write it down.... I do remember it, I just have to test it one more time to make sure I get the measurements accurate.

On the up side, you may have noticed some changes I my blog. I'm trying to post calorie counts for all of my recipes. There are a few that I have not done yet, I have to retest the recipes to see exactly how many servings it will make. I hope this helps out those like me and Paul who are trying to be conscious of what we eat. In my cooking, I always try to focus on flavor, but also trying to only add as much butter, oil, sugar etc as needed. But still, some recipes are healthier than others, this will just be a way to help sort them out!

Also, I made risotto for Paul and I a couple days ago, and I retested my recipe.   I realized that I needed to make some changes to what I originally wrote.  Nothing was completely wrong, some things just needed better clarification.  Learning to write down a recipe is a learning process. I am committed to continue improving it.

Now that summer is coming to a close, I am excited to have the time to share more of my food with you, and create even more! Future posts will include, duck, fish, beer bird, fruit crisps and more. I'm finishing up my busy work schedule now, so still have quite a few no cook dinners like this one.  Mixed bag lettuce (butter lettuce and dark greens mix), Trader Joe's pear vinaigrette, and some meats and cheeses.  Very satisfying and feels more indulgent than it is. 

I have a close friend that loves layer dips and horseradish. Right now my biggest creativity project is trying to come up with a way to change a Mexican style 7 layer dip into a healthy dip with horseradish. That one is still a long way from a completed recipe, but something to look forward to if you like horseradish like I do!

More posts soon.  I am so excited by the response I have gotten by this blog.  Thank you guys for your interest.  It's so cool to hear that I have people I've never even met checking in to see the new recipes.  Friend or stranger, leave a comment and tell me what kind of food you like.

Not your average chicken soup

I have a friend from Venezuela.  She is an amazing cook.  She cooks the dishes that she grew up making all the time at home. What is simple everyday food to her is very exciting often complex tasting food for us here in the states. She made this great soup the other week with chicken and vegetables in it.  I asked her how she made it and the "recipe" she gave me was pretty similar to how she talks about any dish she makes.  It went something like, you use veggies, onions, leeks, peppers, green onions, potatoes, you cook the veggies with the chicken, then blend the veggies. Now when she does that it turns out great, I however need a little trial and error to turn her recipe into a dish.

Instead of trying to follow her vague but great recipe, I decided to make my own soup, similar to hers, but more spring like with fresh favors of the season. It did not turn out to be anything like my goal, so I will have to keep working on a recipe for the soup idea in my head but, what I did get though was a very happy accident. I got a soup filled with vegetables, that is super tasty and healthy.

The chicken and potatoes make it a hearty meal, while all the veggies make it taste fresh enough for spring and summer eating. You can really taste the peppers, but since the broth is blended, it makes eating your vegetables a easy and fun thing to do! Here is what I did.


 Summer vegetable chicken soup

2 chicken breasts, skinless bone in
5 green onions whites and greens roughly chopped
1 lbs peppers, mixed colors ( I used bagged frozen because it was cheaper that week)
1 sm- med onion cut in half
3 leeks, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1/2 -1 jalapeño seeded
3 small- med baking potatoes (whole)
2-3 ears of corn cut in half or thirds, but corn still on hull
4 cups of water
Salt and pepper
Small pinch red chili flakes
1 pinch oregano

 Place the chicken and potatoes on the bottom of a large stock pot to ensure they get cooked evenly. Add all other ingredients except for corn.  Add about 4 cups water, it should just completely cover all ingredients in pot.   Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer about 20-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked, and potatoes are tender. Remove chicken and potatoes from pot let cool slightly. Blend remaining ingredients until smooth with a stick blender, or move to blender and blend. When broth is smooth add it back to pot and add corn. Let simmer. When chicken and potatoes are cool enough to handle, shred chicken, and chop potatoes into about 1/2 inch cubes and add back to pot. Soup will be ready to serve immediately or kept warm on stove until serving time.

The great thing about this recipe is that it is so flexible.  If you don't have leeks, or don't want to buy them, leave them out.  If you have some carrots and/or celery sitting in your fridge that you need to use up, toss them in too!

This makes a lot, I know, but the leftovers are great.  Later this week I will post what I did with some of the leftovers I had, personally, I think it was even better tasting than the initial soup!


oh..... and about the corn.  So when I first had this dish, it was with a large group of people.  None of us seemed to know what do do with the large chunks of corn, most of us scooped around them.  Finally someone braved picking it out of the soup broth and eating it like corn on the cob.  A little messy, yes, but oh so good!  Now I get as many pieces of corn in my bowl as possible!

Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese

Paul has been out of town a couple times for work lately.  I miss him when he is gone, but I often make it a special time for me. Time to watch a chick flick, to get things done at my own, slower pace, and especially, to eat something special.  I eat something that either he doesn't like, or something he can't eat with his allergies. And well, he doesn't like jalapeños... Crazy, I know.  I love jalapeños!  More than just jalapeños I love jalapeño poppers! I like that crispy outside, with the creamy cheesy inside, and that really spicy kick. They just might encompass everything about a perfect food!


Here's my problem with jalapeño poppers. One, I don't really deep fry foods. Once every couple of years for a special occasion, but it's a lot of work, mess, and hot oil, not to mention not the most figure friendly. There are so many good foods that don't require frying, I just stick to eating to occasional fried food at a restaurant. Two ( that was a long one) you can't really make a meal out of just the poppers. I have found the solution!  Jalapeño popper GRILLED CHEESE!

Ok, so I cannot take credit for this recipe, I got the idea watching Jeff Mauro on Best Thing I Ever Made on Food Network. He made this sandwich, but with mascarpone cheese. I love mascarpone, but I didn't want to buy a whole tub just for a sandwich, and it is pretty rich, not an everyday food for me.   My solution, goat cheese! So here it is. You can easily make this gluten free by using gluten free bread.   Paul likes Udi's.


Jalapeño Popper grilled cheese 
Quantity per sandwich

2 slices good hearty bread, your choice 
1/2-1 roasted jalapeño seeds removed, chopped 
About 1 oz goat cheese 
Small handful grated cheddar cheese 
Butter 
Olive oil 
Salt 

Toss peppers with olive and salt and roast in 450 oven for 5-10 minutes until charred and softened.  Let cool.  When cool enough to handle, peel off some of the skin (you don't need to get all of it, some left on is fine.)  If you want to make it easier to take off the jalapeño skin, you can put it in a ziptop bag, or in a sealed bowl while it is cooling.  It does make it easier, personally, I think it created more dishes/mess than it helps out.  Take out seeds and chop.  Be careful of the heat from the oils on your hands, wear food grade plastic gloves, or just make sure not to touch your eyes for a while afterwards.  Use 1/2 to one whole pepper per sandwich depending on the heat of the pepper, and your preference.  After prepping the jalapeño, it goes together just like any other grilled cheese.

Spread the goat cheese on one side of the bread, top that with the jalapeño pieces, a handful of cheddar cheese, and you top slice of bread.  You can butter the bread before putting it in the skillet, or sometimes I just butter the skillet, then put the bread down right away.  It's my I'm feeling lazy version...  I've also found I can use less butter that way, if I put just enough down so the bread doesn't stick to the pan.

The finished product will get you wanting to make another sandwich right away.  It did for me, and a second sandwich is what I had.  The goat cheese makes a really creamy rich texture to contrast the spicy charred jalapeño.  The buttery toasted bread adds that crunch, and everything together really does taste like a jalapeño popper.  Enjoy!

Alison 


For those like me watching what and how much they eat, I'm working on calculating calories per serving for my dishes.  The calories will depend on the amount of cheese and butter used, but mine calculated out to 405 calories per sandwich.  

Bit off more that I could chew.....

A picture of my kitchen in the middle of cooking a celebration dinner.

Paul and I had a celebration dinner for an accomplishment he had at work.  I made a marinated flank steak, caramelized pearl onions with mushrooms, mashed red potatoes, and a gluten free strawberry blueberry crumble for dessert.  It was fun to make, great to eat, but hard to juggle all the dishes at once!

Making all those things at once though is kinda how I'm feeling in life right now.  I'm working a full time job, and two other part time jobs that take several hours a week.  So between working, family, and church, when I think of blogging, I think, Ahh!  where will I get the time?!  This craziness is only temporary, and I will go back to my preferred schedule when the school year starts back up in the fall.

I will try to keep posting recipes about once a week, until then.  So know that I haven't quit or given up, just slowing down my posts for a couple months.  When August comes around I'm looking forward to posting more frequently.  I'll have plenty of quick and easy meals I used to get me through the summer to share when this craziness is over.

One Pot Rice and Beans with Veggies

I grew up familiar with rice and beans, it is a food I really enjoy.  I have discovered my new favorite way to prepare it.  It’s quick, healthy with added veggies, and has great flavor.   I got the idea for this while watching an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the food network.  Instead of cooking plain rice, you cook it with the beans and veggies right in the pot!  It makes the rice very flavorful with the richness of the beans.  I also enjoy the freshness of the added veggies.  You can add whatever vegetables you want, fresh or frozen.  My favorites are yellow squash, bell peppers, and sometime zucchini, but add whatever sounds good to you!  I also added canned green chilies.  The chilies I get are New Mexican chilies, so they are not very hot, but I realize that sometimes canned green chilies are very hot, so you may want to cut down the amount depending on the heat. 

Rice and beans with vegetables

4 oz canned green chilies

about 2 lbs vegetables chopped (I like just yellow squash but use what looks good)

2 cans black beans

1 ½ cup rice  long or medium grain

2 cups water

1 tb cumin

Heat pan at medium high with 1 tb oil or butter, add rice and cook for 1-2 minutes, add veggies and cumin and stir.  Add beans and top with the 2 cups water.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes on low.  Because of the water in the veggies, cooking the rice will not be an exact science with the proportions, but it my experience, this dish is hard to ruin, so don’t worry if it seems to wet, stir and cook it a little longer, if too dry and not cooked, add a little liquid and cook 5-10 minutes more.

This is a go to dish at our house, because the prep work is easy and fast with very little hands on time.  We always have rice and beans in our pantry, so it works as a way to use up veggies, and it is a pretty cheap meal to make.  And it tastes great!

This recipe makes a lot for leftovers.  You can cut it in half, or just enjoy the leftovers, they reheat well.  Check back Tuesday, and I will have a list of things you can do with these leftovers to make new meals out of it!

Truffle Fries

A couple months ago, Paul and I went to a restaurant we hadn't tried before.  On the appetizers list was an item that sparked my interest.  Truffle fries.  Being the foodie that I am, I had heard about truffles, but never had the chance to taste them or anything flavored with them.

When they got to the table, I could smell the pungent aroma of the truffles.  A unique smell I had not experienced before.  To describe the taste of them, the only word I have is pungent.  I feel like I need the help of someone who writes labels for wine bottles to truly describe the taste.  You know, on a red wine, when it has descriptions like "earthy, tobacco, cherry, leather" and such.  They had a strong pungent taste.  At first, I wasn't sure I liked the fries.  But I eat fried food so rarely, I kept eating them enjoying the crunch.  Then about halfway through, I started to really like them.  By the end of the basket it became a flavor I crave!!  That truffle smell and taste is something unique, nothing else like it.  You just have to try it to experience it.  Now I make it at home so I can satisfy that unique craving. 

I bought truffle oil and use it to make these fries.  I bought it from TJ Maxx from all places, but they have some interesting unique foods well discounted. I found truffle oil for about the same price as a regular olive oil, and it works great. I'm sure you could find it at just about any food store.  Because  I want that great crisp texture on the fries, I use store bought.  I like the fries from Trader Joe's because they are natural, don't have any other seasoning on them, and really as cheap or cheaper than buying the potatoes and making them from scratch.

Truffle Fries

Frozen french fries, 2+ servings worth

1/2 -1 Tablespoon truffle oil

salt

Pepper and Parmesan cheese if desired 

Cook the fries as directed by package.  While still hot on cookie sheet, toss with oil and salt.  Top with cheese or pepper if desired.

There may be people out there thinking, "That's a lot of truffle oil!  It will overwhelm the fries!"   One, for me it's kinda the purpose of the fries to enjoy the truffle taste.  But two, I am assuming that truffle oils may vary, so you may want to add 1/2 Tablespoon, taste, and then add more from there if you want.

If you have never had truffles, or have and liked them, fries are a great canvas to taste them with. 

Enjoy!

Alison

Procrastination and moods...

So, I know I haven't added any recipes lately.  They are currently scribbled on the white board on my fridge, and on some various note paper.  Writing has never been a strong passion of mine, funny, now that I'm blogging, but there will be new posts soon! From french fries, to apples, to lasagna, I will have some time to sit down and write them out in the next day or so.  In the mean time this comic seemed to explain me pretty well!