Monday, January 31, 2011

Failure

Hi everyone! I've had a crazy week with 300+ pages of reading and writing assignments, a 7 hour trek home in the snow and some out of town travel for my best friend, Fashion Momma, daughter's 2 year old birthday party. I am disappointed in myself because I honestly didn't finish the reading by a long shot (like 100 pages or more) and I really wanted to. I'm going to try and catch up this week but I have a mid-term and part of a paper to turn in on top of my regular weekly assignments.

I promise I've been cooking and taking pictures but I've been using all the extra time aside from that to read. I have a chili recipe to post and a couple others and I'm making yummy paella tonight so I promise to get them up here ASAP! 

Question: would you rather me post a bunch at one time or try to do one a day so there is always something new to read?!?!?!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Bacon, Onion and Mushroom Pizza

In the newest Everyday Food magazine by Martha Stewart, there is a yummy looking recipe for Onion Focaccia. I love pizza and I love even more when I make my own pizza so I figured I would make my FAVORITE pizza which I discovered one night in college. BACON and ONION. Domino's had the 5-5-5 deal going on when I was in college so me and the roommates would come back from a night at the bar and order our own pizzas. One night, bacon and onion sounded wonderful to me and now it's my favorite! I had extra mushrooms in the fridge from some previous recipes so I decided to chop those up and put them on as well. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked for this but it doesn't take long at all to make and I didn't want to risk burning the crust and onions to take a few pictures of me spreading sauce on the pizza! I make my own sauce and I can't give you the recipe because I don't measure anything. I can tell you what I used and if you'd like, you can try to make it and change it based on your taste!

Ingredients for Pizza
 1 Pillsbury thin pizza crust
1 large red onion, sliced
1/4 lb button mushrooms, chopped
thyme
1 container pecorino romano cheese
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 slices of thick cut bacon

Ingredients for Sauce
1 14oz can of crushed tomatoes
6oz tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
S&P
Italian seasoning
red pepper flakes
(I think that's it, but like I said, I don't measure, I just throw things together)
**if you add ingredients and it's too spicy with the red pepper flakes, you can always neutralize it with a little sugar. This sauce usually comes out pretty sweet anyways though, perfect for pizza!

1. Cook bacon to desired "crispiness" and set aside

2. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread out the pizza crust to fill the pan. Heat the oven to the specs stated on the pizza crust. Spread a thin layer of sauce over uncooked crust and place in oven for about 5 min.

3. Cook onions in oil until brown. Add mushrooms and cider vinegar. 

4. Add remainder of sauce to pizza crust, top with cheese, onions and mushrooms and bake until crust is cooked, about 10 more min, and golden brown. Remove from oven and crumble bacon on top of pizza. Let the cheese settle, about 5 min. Slice and serve!

(I had to add a salad! Romaine, shredded carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, S&P and vidalia onion dressing)




Parmesan Chicken with Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts

Ewwww! Brussels Sprouts! That's what I used to say until a couple months ago. I had never had them before, mostly because every time I saw them, they were steamed and looked mushy and gross. In November when I went to Chicago to visit the boyfriend's family for Thanksgiving, his sister, who is actually a professional chef, roasted brussels sprouts and they were DELICIOUS. You can pretty much give me anything that's been roasted in a little EVOO and S&P and I'll probably eat it :) I LOVE roasted veggies!

This is also a recipe out of the newest version of Everyday Food so I can't link it yet but I didn't really change anything in the recipe so I'll just write it straight out of the book, just for you! This meal is also a pretty quick, easy, 30 min meal.

Ingredients
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2lbs chicken tenders
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4lb button mushrooms (trimmed and sliced in 1/2 or quarters....if they weren't already sliced in the package)
3/4 lb brussels sprouts, sliced in half (I just used a whole stem that I picked up in the veggie section of the grocery store)
(in case you aren't sure what they look like, this is brussels sprouts on the stem. picture courtesy of All About Gardening)

1. Preheat oven to 450 with racks in lower and upper thirds. In a small bowl, mix panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. In a large/gallon sized ziploc bag, toss chicken, 1tsp oil and thyme until covered, then lay out in a 9x13 baking dish. (My 9x13 was in use so I modified and used two 8x8 dishes)
2. Arrange chicken in single layer and sprinkle on the top with the panko/cheese mixture. Place in oven on the upper rack for 10 min. After 10 min, flip the chicken and sprinkle the rest of the panko/cheese mixture and continue to cook for an additional 5-10 min until chicken is cooked through. 

3. In the meantime, toss brussels sprouts and mushrooms in a large bag with oil. Lay in a single layer on a baking pan and season with S&P. 



4. Roast on lower rack for 20 min until golden brown and tender. Serve with chicken. 


Un Italiano Poco: Pasta e Fagioli

I made this the other day and I don't think that I changed anything to make the taste of this different. I did use pasta shells instead of ditalini, like the recipe called for. This is a really good, hearty, stew-like meal and you can change the consistency to make it more like soup if you prefer.

Ingredients
2 tbsp EVOO
3 celery stalks, diced medium
2 carrots, diced medium
1 small red onion, chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
S&P
1 sprig oregano (I just used dried)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups low sodium veg broth (I used chicken broth b/c that's what I had)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup small pasta (I used more since I used larger pasta, I think it wound up being 4c for the shells)
1 can (15.5oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
**I added chopped mushrooms as well**



1. In a heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add celery, carrots, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Season with S&P. Cook, stirring occasionally until veggies are soft, about 9 min. 


2. Add oregano, tomatoes and broth. Increase heat to high and simmer until liquid thickens slightly, about 5 min. 


3. Add pasta and cook until tender, 10 to 15 min. Add beans and cook until warmed through, about 3 more min. To serve, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.





Salmon with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Red Onions

For this dish, I merged 2 recipes together. The first was originally salmon with potatoes and red onions and the other was horseradish whipped potatoes. This meal wound up being really light and not taking much time to cook at all because I used baby red potatoes that only had to be sliced in half before boiling. Because I didn't peel them, I saved a lot of time. Honestly, the longest part of this recipe was probably just mixing the ingredients in the potatoes. I'll try and do my best to merge the recipes :)


Ingredients
 2 small red onions, quartered, leaving root ends intact
S&P
1lb small red potates
8 sprigs of thyme
salmon fillets
1/2 cup skim milk
2-4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp horseradish
2 tbsp fat-free sour cream

**If you want to make the original recipes, then follow the links above for the full list of ingredients and the instructions. I know in the picture I have chicken broth but I wound up not using it in my recipe. Below I'll list the directions for what I made...

1. Set oven to broil and bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Slice in 1/2 or 1/4 the red potatoes and add to pot. Season salmon with S&P and top with thyme, place in broiler for about 6-7 min depending on the thickness. 

(cooked potatoes in the mixing bowl)
  

2. In a small skillet, heat oil and add onions. Cook until golden brown on the sides. Add thyme to pan. 


3. In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter until the butter melts. Transfer cooked potatoes to a mixing bowl and pour milk and butter over potatoes. Season with S&P and mash/mix lightly. Add in horseradish and sour cream to desired taste and continue to mash/mix potatoes to desired consistency. 









Sesame Beef

Probably my most favorite thing about the Martha Stewart recipes are the Asian style ones. They always turn out really well, you don't have to order Chinese take out and chances are what you are making in your own home is probably a lot healthier.

Here is Martha's recipe for Sesame Beef. This meal only takes about 30 min and you'll definitely love it. I used twice as much meat in my recipe to make sure we had plenty of leftovers so my sauce wasn't as thick, despite the fact that I added extra cornstarch. Regardless, it was a good meal!

Ingredients: 
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry (vinegar)
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp + 1 tsp veg oil
3/4 lb New York Strip steak, thinly sliced (I used flank steak to save time on slicing)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 tbsp sesame seeds
cooked rice for serving 
thinly sliced scallions

**I added grilled pineapple and mushrooms**

1. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sherry, sugar, vinegar, red pepper flakes and cornstarch. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil and cook the meat over med-high heat, until one side is browned, about 2 min. Transfer to plate.
2. Add 1 tsp oil to the skillet and add peppers (and mushrooms). Cook for 2 min until peppers are crisp and tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. In a separate skillet add a little bit of oil and cook pineapple until browned on the edges. 




3. Whisk soy sauce mixture into skillet, along with steak. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens and add sesame seeds. Spoon beef mixture over white rice and top with scallions (and pineapple). 



Save Room for Dessert: Bread Pudding

Remember these yummy donuts? Well, I had a bunch of leftovers and at the bottom of that recipe it said you could use the leftovers to make bread pudding because the donuts were best if eaten fresh. Just FYI, they were fine the next morning but I did use all the extras to make this:

I used this recipe for the pudding and of course, I made some changes AND I doubled the recipe to fit into a 9x13 baking dish. 
Here are the ingredients I used

Left over donuts
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins (I used Golden because that's what was in the pantry)
6 eggs (the recipe states 4 but there were a lot of reviews saying that it was too "egg-y" so most people said to only use 3 and since I doubled it, I used 6) 
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Break bread (dounts) into crumbs until there is a layer covering the bottom of the pan. Drizzle melted butter over the crumbs and sprinkle with raisins. 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat until well mixed and pour over crumbs. Lightly push down with a fork until all the crumbs are covered and soaking up the mixture. (I wound up having a little extra liquid mixture that I didn't use)


3. Bake for 45 minutes





Saturday, January 22, 2011

A Moment to Relive

I'm going to pick a day... well, I wanted to pick an entire time period but if anyone can guess why I'm choosing this day and you follow my blog, I might just have to do a give away :)

A moment (day) I wish I could relive is: March 10, 2010
mostly the hours after 9pm :)

ready, set,.....guess :)

Short Absence

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. I got into a really good groove with homework so I had to stick with it. Then, I've had this weird head cold/cough thing for like 2 days with this massive headache and what feels like razors in my throat, no me gusta. I also had a meeting with a personal trainer and my first session started tonight. Not gonna lie, my last set of exercises, I almost got sick. Not as much from the exercise but more like the 30oz of water I consumed in the 30 min prior, trying to make my throat feel less dry. BIG mistake!

Anyways, I'm here to tell you that throughout all of this I HAVE been cooking up a storm and taking some pictures, I just haven't had a chance to get my thoughts and recipes together. I have kind of a big day tomorrow but I will be cooking buffalo chicken in the crockpot and the roomie is making her delish cole slaw. Sunday, I'm making my yummy turkey chili (which I think tastes similar to Wendy's chili and let's be honest, who doesn't love Wendy's chili??) so there will be recipes and pictures of that -- as well as: bread pudding (made from the left over donuts), sesame beef with red peppers and mushrooms, pasta e fagioli, and onion and bacon pizza. There is a great story that goes along with onion and bacon pizza as well but you'll have to wait for me to post the recipe to find out! I promise I'll have it all up by the end of the weekend! Thanks for sticking with me :)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Favorite TV Show and Favorite Quote

Day 4: My all time favorite TV show will always be FRIENDS!! Currently though, the only show I get mad about when I miss (like I did last night) is Parenthood on NBC after Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights. I laugh every time I watch it because it's so real and all the emotional, dysfunctional aspects of family are there!

Day 5: Favorite quote: "So be of good cheer my friends, for all will yet be well"
                                    The Cowardly Lion (this is from the original version of the Wizard of Oz)

I promise to have last nights dinner posted tonight, and if you're lucky, tonight's dinner too! I just have to go home and figure out what it is :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Three Cheese Baked Macaroni

This recipe was AMAZING. The mac n' cheese is really filling and really rich. It's an Emeril recipe from the October 2010 issue of everyday food. The original recipe and directions for cooking can be found here.

Here is the list of ingredients an the things I changed.

Ingredients
Sea salt
1/2 lb Elbow Macaroni (I used whole wheat)
3 slices of bacon cut crosswise into 1/2 in pieces
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 large eggs
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1/2 cup grated monterey jack
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
**I added broccoli to this meal to give it some fiber, I didn't measure it but I had a large head of fresh broccoli and cut it into small bite-sized pieces, enough to cover the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish


(sliced bacon, pre-cooking)


(eggs, evaporated milk, and spices)


(drained bacon and garlic)

macaroni, bacon, and egg mixture)

(this is like my heaven...so much cheese!!!)

(mixed mac and cheese ...don't forget to put the broccoli at the bottom)

(post baking)