Loki's Kitchen

Loki's Kitchen has Moved!

2009-05-17T21:49:00.004-04:00

I have moved! Ok, not my house, but my blog hosting site. For various, mostly vain reasons, I have moved to wordpress.

http://lokiskitchen.wordpress.com/

Update your bookmarks, blog readers, etc. To entice you over to my new blog, you'll find recipes for crockpot chicken, cheddar biscuits, monkey bread, and sausage and peppers!

Follow me!

Spicy Mac and Cheese

2009-05-17T20:19:00.002-04:00

I needed a recipe to take to a potluck with some friends, and I was craving macaroni and cheese. I found the highly-honored version on Molly's blog (myhappymeals.blogspot.com) and the spiced-up version on Shelly's (lovestonom.blogspot.com). This was really, really amazingly good.

Enjoy!

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

3 cups of milk

3tbsp flour

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 lb cooked macaroni

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese in cubes

8 oz swiss cheese in cubes

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter, then add the flour to make a paste. Add the chese, cut into cubes, and the milk. Allow to heat for a few minutes on low-med heat, stirring constnatly. Add the spices before the cheese is completely melted.

Grease a large caserole dish and put the cooked macaroni into it. Once the cheese is completely melted into a sauce, pour the cheese over the cooked macaroni. Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 30 mintues at 350 degrees.

Enjoy, and have milk nearby!

Homemade French Baguettes

2009-05-17T19:50:00.003-04:00

I love bread, especially crusty bread that is warm and soft inside. This recipe came from a book my Mother in Law gave me called The Good Cook - Breads, which was published the year I was born. I find it to be very good at explaining HOW bread works, and how to manipulate it. This translates to "wordy and with few pictures." I know this from other bread-making experience, but French Bread is made without fats, no butter or oil. This is why it dries up fast and really should be eaten that same day.

Of course, I did cheat a little and used my breadmaker for the rise cycle. My kitchen is very airy and cool, so getting things to rise is difficult. I highly doubt it changed anything.

Monsier Monfort's French Bread - The Good Cook: Breads

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)

3.5 - 4 cups flour (bread)

1/4 oz yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

2 tsp salt

1.5 cups tepid water

Directions:

In your breadmaker, following its instructions, combine the above ingredients. Generally, this means put the water in first, the flour in second, the salt around the outsides of the flour and the yeast in the middle on top of the flour. Set it on to the "rise" cycle. My breadmaker (Breadman TR875 2lb bread maker kneads the bread for 5 minutes, rests for 5, then kneads for 15, then lets it rise for 1 hour.

If you're doing this by hand, combine all the ingredients into a bowl and then turn out onto a floured surface. The dough will be tacky. Begin turning and kneading the dough using a pastry knife. Add flour if the counter surface gets tacky, but do so sparingly. Then knead by hand, occasionally throwing t

he dough onto the surface, which will allow the dough to become elastic. Wash the bowl, then grease it, placing the dought back inside. Cover tightly and set in a warm place, allow to rise for 1.5 to 2 hours or until double in size. Punch down the dough, then allow to double in size again.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface, punch it down, and keand breifly to work out the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 2 halfs, then let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Begin to work the dough slowly into the correct shape, appx. 18 inch cylinders. If the dough resists changing shape, allow it to rest for 3 to 4 minutes at a time.

Place the shaped dough onto a greased baking sheet, drape with wax paper, and allow to rise until double in size.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While the oven preheats, place a baking dish half full with water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Right before baking, spray or brush the loaves of bread with water, then use a sharp knife to make cuts in the top of the bread. Hold the knife at a 45 degree angle and make cuts along the top of the bread.

Put the bread into the oven. During the first 15 minutes of baking, spray or brush the bread with water every 3 minutes. Do this from the oven door, CAREFULLY! Bake the loaves until golden brown, about 25 to 3 minutes. A hard, hollow sound will indidate that the bread is done.

Upcoming recipes

2009-04-27T23:40:00.002-04:00

I've had a busy few weeks, but I've also made a few wonderful things I have not had a chance to blog. Here's a preview of the recipes you can expect to see this week:

Chicken Braised in Red Wine

Zesty Macaroni and Cheese - From Shelly!

Homemade French Bread

Stay tuned!

Spicy Sausage Pasta - now with more pictures!

2009-04-01T16:53:00.003-04:00

This is a favorite of ours and it takes about 30 minutes. Its really good and full of flavor. It makes enough for 4 people but is great leftover.

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:

3-4 italian sausage links

2 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp italian seasoning

2 tsp oregano

Dash of leaf basil

Dash of parsley

Red pepper flakes to taste

Tabasco to taste

1 tbsp minced onion

1 jar of basic pasta sauce

1/4 cup shredded parmersean cheese

Pasta

OVOO

Directions:

Remove the sausage meat from the casing. To do this, carefully cut the casing along the long side of the sausage and pull the meat out. You can leave it in the casing and cut it, but I find that you get a better flavor and overall look.

In a deep frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil and then add the garlic. Heat the garlic for 1-2 minutes, then add the sausage, broken up like ground beef.

Now you're going to add the spices. Add everything from the italian seasoning to the minced onion. Here's a hint: When you're using italian seasoning and oregano, the full flavor of these spices, when dried, isn't fully realized unless you "reactivate" the flavor. To do this, put the spices in your hand and rub them back and forth, which will crush the spices and reactivate them to give you more flavor.

Cook the sausage completely, stirring often.

Turn down the heat and add the pasta sauce. You may want to add more spices to the sauce, but there was plenty on the sausage. Sometimes I add more garlic here, as well as some salt and pepper to finish off the flavor. A few minutes before you're ready to serve, add the 1/4 cup pamersean cheese and mix completely to allow it to melt.

Boil and drain your pasta. Serve the sauce with a little more parmersean cheese on top.

The Wrong Pie

2009-04-01T16:35:00.002-04:00

So I set out to make the pie I used to ask for on my birthday every year. I never loved cake, and to this day I greatly prefer the icing to actual cake. In my head, the pie I asked for was French Silk Pie. I set out to make one for the very first time and I was very excited to learn that I had all the ingridients in house!

It wasn't until I was nearly finished when I realized: Mom always made me a German chocolate pie. Not a French silk pie. A fatal error.

My French silk pie is really very good. Its just not quite what I wanted. I have no pictures of the finished pie because I was mad at myself, and I'm too lazy to go get it out of the fridge to take a picture. He're's the recipe of the pie and the pastry shell I made.

The Wrong Pie: French Silk

Ingredients:

Shell -

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c shortening (I used butter)

3 tbsp cold water

Filling -

1/2 c butter

3/4 c sugar

2 oz unsweeteneed chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs (you don't bake this pie... so use egg substitute)

Directions:

You're going to make your pastry shell first because it needs to cool completely before you fill it. First, combine the flour and salt in a bowl, cutting in the shortening until the mixture is clumpy. I did this in my mixer using the basic mixer thingy. Sprinkle in the cold water 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture is moist. Add more water if necessary to make sure the mixture stays together when you squeeze it.

Put the dough on the counter and spread into a disc shape. Chill for 2 hours or freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the dough from the fridge/freezer and let stand at RT for 5 minutes. Then, spread the dough into a pie plate, cutting off any excess.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then let it cool completely

For the filling, first melt the chocolate in a double boiler and then set aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar in your mixture until it becomes lightly colored and fluffy.

Stir in the cooled chocolate and the vanilla. Mix well, then turn the mixer up to medium. Add the eggs 1 at a time (1/4 c egg substitute at a time) and mix for 5 minutes on medium speed after each egg.

Spoon the mixture into the shell. Refridgerate for 2 hours, then serve!

Chicken Enchiladas 2 - Update

2009-03-31T00:03:00.001-04:00

Remember how I said that they weren't all that spicy? Try them leftover a few days later. They have significantly more kick to them, but they're even better reheated. Weird.

Chicken Enchiladas 2

2009-03-28T18:12:00.002-04:00

Donald and I had some friends over for dinner and games this week. I was really excited for multiple reasons. 1) They're really fun to hang out with. 2) Dinner and games is our kind of evening. 3) Excuse to use fancy china.

One of our friends is allergic to garlic, which while I think it is tragic in a way, it pushed me to find some great recipes that don't use garlic at all. I decided to go with mexican and make a chicken enchilada using a tomato based sauce with gobs and gobs of chili powder, which oddly enough didn't make it all that spicy but full of flavor.

Chicken Enchiladas 2

Ingredients:

3 tbsp veggie oil
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup chili powder
10 oz tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp oregano (omitted, by accident)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
10 tortillas
2-3 large chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 1/2 cups cheese

Directions

Heat the oil just a little bit in a small saucepan, then add the flour. Stir into a paste, then add the chili powder. Mix and heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chicken stock, spices, and salt and allow to heat for 15 minutes. It ill thicken a little during this time.

Mix 1/2 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup of cheese with the shredded chicken. If you need, you can make the sauce and chicken ahead of time and store for 1-2 days in the fridge.

Take about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture and place into a tortilla, then fold up sealing on both ends. Place into a baking pan. Top all the enchiladas with additional sauce, about 1 cup worth but more if you like them saucy. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the enchiladas.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the cheese is really melted and the enchiladas are hot.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2009-03-28T17:58:00.003-04:00

Mmm. Homemade ice cream. This was our first chocolate-based attempt and it turned out very well, but due to the peanut butter it is very very soft and creamy. I like my ice cream to be a bit harder, but this is still really good, especially in a sugar cone. The recipe is based on Jerry's (of Ben and Jerry's) chocolate ice cream recipe.

I wanted to take more pictures of the in-process ice cream, but this stuff froze so fast I didn't have the time.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Ingredients (makes 1 quart)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitue)
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vainlla
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:

In your double boiler, melt the unsweetened chocolate bars. You don't want the water to be boiling, just hot.

Once the chocolate is melted, add the cocoa powder. This will make the chocolate clump up like crazy and you're going to think "oh god, I really screwed this up, didn't I!" You didn't. Turst me.

So add the cocoa powder, then slowly add the milk. As the milk heats, it will slowly dissolve and further melt the clumpy looking chocolate. This will take about 20 minutes or so. Stir the mixture regularly.

Eventually, the chocolate will all be melted and it will look like this:

Set this aside and let it cool. In your mixer, whisk the eggs rapidly until they are fluffy, then add the sugar slowly. Add the whipping cream and vanilla to this mixture. Once the chocolate is cool, mix the 2 together and put it in the fridge for 1-3 hours. Now, here's where I made a mistake. I let this mixture cool almost too much because I did all of this the night before I made the ice cream. Because you're about to add peanut butter, this is going to get super thick, and mine froze too fast, and didn't churn anywhere near enough. Oh well, live and learn.

So, take the mixture out of the fridge and remove 1 cup of the cream mixture. Add the 1/2 cup of peanut butter and mix thoroughly, then add the entire thing back to the ice cream and mix.

Freeze accourding to your ice cream makers instructions.

Classic Stir Fry

2009-03-15T21:35:00.001-04:00

Donald and I really love stir fry. They are easy, full of veggies, decently healthy, and so flavorful. Chicken ones are the easiest beceause I find chicken to be so much more forgiving than beef or pork. This is a very basic one, sometimes we're more adventerous.

The best things about stir frys is that you can substitute and add whatever veggies you want. A few tips:

- If you add carrots, on the veggie cooking step, but the carrots into the wok before the other veggies by 2-3 minutes. They take much longer to cook than peppers, onions, etc.

- I hate water chesnuts, but I think these go in very late in the process should you want to ruin... I mean, erm, change your dish with them.

- Chinese mushrooms. Yumm.

Enjoy!

Classic Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 lbs chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 c soy sauce

2 tsp fresh minced garlic

2 tsp minced onion

1 heaping spoonful brown sugar

1 medium green pepper, sliced

1/2 onion (or one full small onion) sliced thin

2 c white rice (or lettuce for lettuce wraps, according to my friend Monica, this is very good!)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, garlic, dried minced onion, and brown sugar and stir, then add the chicken. Mix well, stir, and cover, then put the bowl into the fridge for 30 minutes or so. Consider stirring the mixture once in the middle.

Slice the green peppers and onions, set aside. In your wok, heat 2 tbsp peanut oil until spitting hot. VERY CAREFULLY add the veggies into the wok. Cook for 3-4 minutes, longer if you like your veggies more well done.

Remove the veggies from the wok and set aside. In the same wok, cook the marinated chicken for about 6-8 minutes or until it is fully cooked. Add back the veggies and allow the sauce to coat everything.

Serve over rice or in lettuce wraps.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-03-09T21:37:00.002-04:00

Made these things over the weekend, basic peanut butter cookies. I topped them with a bit of chocolate powder for color and to be different. They turned out really well, but be warned.... you could feed an army (of kindergartners) with this recipe. It makes a ton!

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c butter

1 c peanut butter

1 c sugar

1 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2.5 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream together the butters and sugars plus the eggs until light and fluffy:

Then add the flour and rest of the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly, then refridgerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Form the chilled dough into 1" balls. Flatten in 2 directions with a fork to create a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 10 minutes or until they begin to brown. Remove from pan and allow to cool for a minute or two.

To add the chocolate powder, take a fork and dip it into the powder, shake off most of it. Then over the cookie, turn the fork over and tap off the excess! You can do this with cinnamon as well.

If you don't want to do the chocolate dust, sprinkle the cookies with white sugar.

Cheese and Garlic Bread/Green Bean Caserole

2009-03-09T21:21:00.003-04:00

d we dicided to make Green Bean Caserole to go along with that. Donald took the time to french cut the green beans, and I made the rest. Since I've never used fresh green beans for this, I'll throw that recipe in here too.

The cheese and garlic bread was a stroke of genius on my part. I've had things like this before, but really just made this recipe up on my own. It is so good! Enjoy.

Garlic Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c shredded mozzerella

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp minced garlic (that's right! but you can use less if you don't like it)

2 tbsp sour cream

6 pieces of italian bread

Directions:

In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the cheeses and garlic and mix thoroughly. Then add the sour cream. The mix should smooth out a bit. Spread onto bread.

Note: I buttered my bread first, but I don't think you need to.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the bread begins to brown on the bottom.

Note 2: I'd add chives to this, for some color.

Green Bean Caserole - Fresh Green Beans!

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups french fried onions

3 cups french cut fresh green beans

Pepper

Directions:

Cut the green beans in half, the long way. This takes forever. And ever. Totally worth it.

Boil the beans in a medium saucepan for 10 minutes or until they are soft. Drain completely in a strainer, then mix with 2/3 cup french onions, the soup, and the milk. top with the rest of the french onions. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

The main dish here is the raviolo, gorgonzola ravioli from Trader Joe's.

Spinach Lasagna Rollups

2009-03-07T21:24:00.002-05:00

I love lasagna, but I really hate making a whole one for the 2 of us. I eventually get tired of the leftovers, and it takes up SO MUCH ROOM in the fridge! I've been seeing these rollups on a few blogs, so I decided to try them. They were really very good and despite being labor intensive, totally and completely worth it. Enjoy!

Spinach Lasagna Rollups

Ingredients:

Sauce - This is honestly up to you, but here's my basic sauce recipe:

1/2 lbs ground beef, cooked and drained

1 tbsp italian seasoning

2 tsp garlick

Salt and pepper to taste

1 jar sauce

1 small can tomato paste

Cheese and Spinach Mix - This will make enough for 3 rollups

1 c ricotta

1/2 c shredded mozzerella

1/4 c parmersean/romano (mix, or one of the 2)

1 tbsp parsley - mostly for color

1 c rinsed baby spinach

1 tsp garlic

1 egg (honestly, if you can use 1/8 c egg substitute, its better because you don't need a whole egg)

Other -

Lasagna noodles (2 per rollup you want to make), boiled and cooled

Mozerella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Make your sauce and mix together all the ingredients in the cheese mix. I honestly recommend sticking this in the microwave for a few minutes, stirring often, so its slightly melted and easier to work with. Plus, you're not actually going to bake this thing through, everything is cooked ahead of time.

In a baking dish, lay a noodle down and put a heaping spoonful of the cheese mix onto it:

Fold the noodle back over the cheese and put another spoonful of cheese mixture. Fold the noodle back over a third time, and then trim off the remainder of the noodle. Place a spoonful of cheese on the top and then spoon sauce over top of this mixture.

Now, take a second noodle and lay it over the sauce, place a layer of cheese, and then double back. Trim off the remainder of the noodle and then cover the noodle and cheese tower in sauce.

Once you've made all your rollups, top with mozzerella cheese and serve! Bake about 20 minutes.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-03-07T21:11:00.002-05:00

I'm on a cooking baking frenzy this weekend, I have a few friends I need to provide thank you gifts to and what is better than homebaked cookies! My husband requested these, he loves white chocolate (and he gets to be my "are you sure these are good? no really, are they ok?" guy). As a note, these are very chocolate and less sweet. If you want to make them more sweet, experiment with things like agave sweetner and such, but I wouldn't add much more sugar.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

3/4 c sugar

1 egg (used egg substitute)

1 tsp vanilla

1c flour

1/3 c dark chocolate cocoa

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 c white chocolate chips

1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Put the first 4 ingredients (eggs, sugar, vanilla, butter) into mixer and whisk until fluffy, 3-4 min on medium speed. Don't be me, use the whisk.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together and then slowly add it to the fluffy moist mixture using a low mixer speed. Allow to mix thoroughly, then add the chips and allow to mix in:

Measure out heaping teaspoon fulls of the batter and put onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, remove from oven and place onto cooling rack allowing to cool.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream - Molly Approved

2009-03-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

As a wedding gift, Donald and I got an ice cream maker! We have made raspberry, mocha chip, cookies and cream, and butter pecan. This is my first blog entry about them, I didn't really think to blog them until my friend Molly came over for the season premier of America's Next Top Model, during which we decided to eat ice cream. Why not?

Molly is picky about her ice cream, and I was happy that she approved of mine.

This recipe is from Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

Butter Pecan

Ingredients:

This makes 1 quart -

1/2 cupt butter

1 cup pecan halves

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

Directions:

First, freeze your ice cream maker bowl overnight. The next day...

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over low heat, then add the salt and pecans. Saute, while stirring until the pecans begin to brown. Be careful to not cook the pecans too long or they will get soggy! Drain the butter into a small bowl and transfer the pecans into another bowl, letting it cool.

Whisk the eggs until light and fluffy, then add the sugar a little at a time and continue whisking until completely blended. Pour in the milk and cream. Blend well, then add the butter.

Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow its instructions. About 2 minutes until the ice cream is "ready" add the pecans and make sure it is mixed well. Freeze and serve!

Chicken Parmersean

2009-03-01T20:35:00.007-05:00

I love this dish and it is one of our staple dinners. I don't know how this never made it onto the blog before, but it didn't! This is a modified recipe from cooking light magazine and its really good. Feel free to tweak the sauce, that part is really up to you.

Chicken Parmersean

Ingredients

1 chicken breast
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp parmersean cheese
1 tbsp italian seasoning
Pasta sauce, made to your specifications
Spaghetti
Mozzerella cheese

Directions

Cut the chicken breast into filets, really as thin as you can get them. 1 chicken breast should make 4 full sized filets, which easily serves 2 people. Scramble the egg in a bowl, and in a second bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pamersean cheese, and italian seasoning.

Dip the filet into the egg so it is coated, then transfer immediately to the breadcrumbs. Shake in the breadcrumbs and turn over a few times until it is fully coated. In a frying pan, heat up 3 tbsp of olive oil. Once heated, transfer the breaded chicken into the frying pan. Cook for 3 minutes on each side (you may need to add more oil). Pull out of the frying pan and set it on a paper towel. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked completely.

In a 11x7 baking pan, put pasta sauce along the bottom so it is coated thinly. Layer the cooked chicken breasts on top of the sauce. Then scoop additional sauce onto each filet. Sprinkle mozzerella cheese on the top, as much as you'd like!

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is fully melted and beginning to bubble a little which is about 15-20 minutes. (I forgot to take a picture after taking out my dinner pieces! Oops)

While this bakes, boil the water and cook your pasta. Serve the chicken on top of the pasta with a little excess sauce and a veggie side.

White Chicken Chili

2009-02-28T21:51:00.003-05:00

I was talking to a coworker a few weeks ago about chili, and he told me his wife makes an excellent white chili. I love white chili, but I have never attempted it, so I decided to try this one.

It. Is. Amazing.

Seriously.

I'm not even going to talk anymore. Go make this. Now.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast, raw, cut into small pieces
Olive oil
1 small onion, chopped small
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small red pepper, diced
1 can (7oz) green chilis
1 to 2 T diced jalapeno, or more if you're brave
1 1/2 c chicken broth (canned, boulion, whichever you prefer)
1 T cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more if you like it
2 cans great northern beans, white kidney beans (cannelini beans) or another white bean, drained
1 c sour cream
1 1/2 c shredded colby/jack cheese (you can use just one or both, but I recommend the mix)

Directions:

I highly recommend gathering the ingredients together before you even turn the stove on. Cut everything up, measure the spices. The cooking itself moves fast, so it is nice to prepare everything.

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat a small amount of olive oil. Once heated, add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are softer, transparent. Add the chicken and diced red pepper to the mix and cook until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through.

Add the can of chilis, jalapenos, spices, and chicken broth to the pan. Bring to a hard boil and keep it boiling for 10 minutes. Then add the beans, heating for another 5 minutes. Most of the liquid will be boiled off by this point. You don't want it to be dry, but it should not be like soup.

Turn off the burner and add the sour cream, mix until blended. Then, add the cheese and mix until the entire thing is smooth.

I served mine with cresent rolls and a dallop of sour cream on the top. It was amazing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you to my coworker's wife!

Homemade pizza

2009-02-28T21:19:00.003-05:00

Donald's family has been making pizza for years. In fact, it wasn't until his early teens that Donald knew that you could call a store and order a pizza and have it delivered in a box. I am not kiding. To this day, every single time we see Donald's parents, pizza is one of our dinners. Its a long process, especially if you are cooking for a lot of people. We like to make it for guests that don't mind hanging out in the kitchen/dining room while we cook at chat.

This pizza specifically is veggies, but I'll post a few tips for some fun toppings you can use and how to best use them on homemade pizza.

A note on dough. The best dough comes from the Bronx, NYC. Too far away? Fortunately for you, most grocery stores have a dough sold in a ball shape in a bag that will do just fine (freezer bins section, usually). I do not recommend the ones in the cans that you peal and then pop open with a spoon and then roll out onto a baking pan. That stuff is gross. Be a real woman/man and get a dough ball and learn to spread it yourself.

Homemade pizza

Ingredients (for 1 pizza):

Ball of pizza dough
handfull of flour
spoonful of polenta/corn meal
1/2 - 3/4 c pizza sauce (I recommend Dom Pepino's sauce, you can find it in small cans at fancy pants grocery stores like Hillers, but otherwise, any will do really)
3/4 c mozzerella cheese
Toppings (see notes Re: toppings)

Other things you need:

Pizza stone
Pizza pan
Pizza cutter
Beer, coat the bottle in flour for ease of use while cooking

Directions:

Unlike my normal directions, these will be more in paragraph form.

First, about 30 minutes before you will start, put the pizza stone in the oven and turn it on to 375. You need the stone to heat through. Place the dough on the counter during this time to let it warm up a little, but do not leave it too long or it will start to rise again.

Spreading the dough: Flour your counter really well, flour your hands, and pull the dough out. You will probably need to reform the dough into a good ball shape. To do this, toss it between your two hands for a few minutes. It will become more spherical over time. Once this is done, put it on the counter and with the heal of your hand, start to press the dough out into a flat circle. Yes, using a rolling pin is cheating. Pressing out the dough will take a while, so be patient. If you're feeling confident, you can spread the dough with your fists in the air. To do this, make a fist with your hand, and with your other hand, pick up the dough and lay it over your fist. Make the second hand into a fist and slowly pass the dough around in a circle between your two hands. This will make it thin out very fast, so make sure you're pulling evenly.

Spead the dough to the desired thickness. We tend to make it very thing, somewhere between your typical hand-tossed and thin crust pizza. Be careful to make your dough only as big as your pizza stone!

Once the dough is spread, take your spoonful of corn meal and put it on your pizza pan. Shake the pan so the corn meal spreads out. This is basically acting as a lubricant for the dough, you will soon see why. Pick up the dough and place it onto the pizza pan. Then, using a spoon, scoop sauce onto the dough. You will want to use the bottom of the spoon to spread it out. Spread it all the way to the edge of the pizza. You want to be able to see dough through the sauce, but have a good even layer across the pizza.

Now, don't put the cheese on. You're going to bake the dough with only the sauce for 15 minutes on the pizza stone. Very carefully, pull out the rack in the oven the stone is on. Shake the pizza pan back and forth to make sure the dough can move and is not stuck. Then, transfer the pizza to the stone. I recomend starting at the back of the stone, letting the dough slide off, then pulling the pizza pan out from underneith the dough so it lays onto the pizza stone. I won't lie, this is hard. But you'll get the hang of it!

After 15 minutes, check the dough. The dough itself should be cooked so that it will not bend if you pick up a corner of it. To take the pizza out of the oven, slide the pizza pan underneith it.

Now you add cheese. And toppings. You will want to sprinkle the cheese cross the entire crust, evenly. Remember that the cheese will spread out as it melts, so you don't need to cover the entire thing. Cheese goes further than you think! Then put the toppings on. For this pizza, we did onions and mushrooms. The peppers shown below also went on other pizzas that night.

Put the pizza back in the oven, it will be so much easier to transfer to the stone this time! Let it cook until the cheese is melted into an orange color, see in the picture below! This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Now, BE CAREFUL! The pizza at this point is 375 degrees. The cheese is 375 degrees. When you order a pizza, it is cooler than that. If you take a bite too quick, your mouth will hate you forever. Give the pizza 5 min or so to cool down a little.

Toppings notes:

- If you want sausage or ground beef, you do not need to cook it first. In the first baking cycle, place bits of raw sausage or beef onto the sauce layer and allow to cook. Through both cooking cycles, it will cook through thoroughly.

- Pineapples are excellent on pizza, but you don't want them to cook more than 10 minutes. I usually put the cheese on, bake for 5 min, then pull it out, toss on pineapple really fast, then close the oven again.

- Minced garlic is amazing on pizza

Now I want pizza.

Chicken Sausage Pasta

2009-02-28T21:11:00.003-05:00

Another quick dinner for those nights you don't have time to make something extensive. I was craving green beans (weird, I know), and we had some of the Trader Joe's roasted garlic chicken sausage. This stuff is a lifesaver, seriously. I threw it into a quick dinner and voila, food!

Easy Chicken Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:

1 package chicken sausage, fully cooked (any flavor will do here, I used roasted garlic, but I think next time I'll try the spinach and apple chardonnay flavor!)
Angel hair pasta
Olive oil
1/2 tsp basil
Side of your choice (veggies!)

Directions:

Boil water for the pasta.
In a non-stick frying pan, heat a small amout of olive oil. Cut sausage into 1/4 in thick "coins". Heat in the olive oil until they turn slightly brown. They are pre-cooked, really all you are doing here is heating them up and giving them a good texture.
Cook the pasta and strain, then add immediately to the pot where you were cooking the sausage. Add 2 tsp olive oil and stir together. Add basil. Serve immediately!

Chicken Tacos

2009-02-26T21:01:00.002-05:00

Molly requested I blog this recipe, and I have no picture because my camera was dead and I was too lazy to bother to charge it. I'm about 3 months behind in entries, perhaps I will work on that this weekend.

So without further ado, Chicken Tacos!

Chicken Tacos (picture from Smitten Kitchen, my absolute favorite food blog)

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1/2 white onion, chopped small
2-3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder (no, I am not kiding)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomato
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Salsa
Soft taco shells or hard taco shells
Salt and black pepper to taste
Olive oil

Directions:

Boil the chicken with a little salt and olive oil. Once it is cooked through, pull out and shred. Then set it aside to cool. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE WATER YET. You need some of it.
In a fying pan, heat a little olive oil and cook the onions until they are soft, but not mushy. Add the garlic.
Add the chicken and cumin, chili powder, red pepper, salt, and pepper to the frying pan. Stir to mix together, then add 1c of the water you boiled the chicken in.
Allow to simmer for 5 minutes and then taste. Adjust the spices at this time, if you want more spice, add it now!
Serve with your favorite taco toppings. I highly recommend a spoonful or 2 of spicy salsa on top of these with a drop of sour cream. So good.

Enjoy!

Quesadillas

2009-01-10T22:11:00.002-05:00

Another one of my favorite easy dinners, and the best part is that you can do lots of different toppings on them. Enjoy!

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Tortillas
Cheddar cheese, or cheddar/pepper jack cheese blend
Chicken
Black beans, canned and rinsed
1tsp garlic
1tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Olive oil
other possible toppings: green onion, red beans, pineapple, steak, etc

Directions:

Slice chicken breast into thin strips, put into frying pan with small amount of heated olive oil
Add the spices to the chicken and cook until the chicken is done (5-6 minutes)
Remove chicken from the pan, set aside
Put tortilla in the bottom and sprinkle a small amount of cheese onto the tortilla
Place chicken and toppings on the cheese, then add an equal amount of cheese
Place other tortilla on top and watch for the bottom of the tortilla to brown slightly
Flip the tortilla and allow cheese to melt completely
Store in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve, and serve with salsa and sour cream

Side suggestions:

Dirty rice
Red beans and rice
Refried beans

Better than Bisquick

2008-12-29T21:40:00.004-05:00

I've come to hate bisquick. Everything that it makes tastes the same. So I'm on a quest to find the best recipies for biscuits, pancakes, waffles, and taco pie. Thus far, I have conqured biscuits:

Biscuits

2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
Appx 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and softened butter in a bowl. If you wash your hands and use your fingers, its easier. Add salt.
Add milk and mix together to form a dough. Flour the counter and dump the dough onto it, kneeding for 30 seconds.
Flatten with a rolling pin to 1 about 1/2in thick. Cut biscuits to desired size.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2008-12-29T21:31:00.003-05:00

I love chinese food. I've been eating it my whole life. Donald and I have perfected a few recipes, this is one of mine. Homemade sweet and sour chicken is nothing like what you get from the store, the sauce is far superior, a little saltier, but so good.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

2 tsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil
Cubed chicken breast
1/2 c soy sauce
2 tbsp thick soy (optional)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 c pineapple juice (from can of pineapple, you'll also use the pineapple)
1 c pineapple in chunks (see, told ya)
Sliced vegetables of your choice, I recommend carrots and possibly onions, but this is totally up to you.
Peanut oil (you can't use olive oil for this step, veggie or canola is also OK but peanut works best)

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, add the soy sauces, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and pineapple juice and heat thoroughly, but do not allow to reach a hard boil. Heat for 10-15 minutes.
In a bowl, mix the olive oil and flour and mix to create a paste. Put the chicken into the paste and coat thoroughly. NOTE: This is called velveting, which is a way to coat chicken so a sauce holds without deep frying and adding calories!
In a wok, heat enough olive oil to cover just the bottom of the wok. Once heated, add the veggies and cook for a few minutes. Do not cook thoroughly or you'll end up with mushy veggies... gross. Remove the veggies from the oil and set aside.
Add the chicken to the heated wok and cook completely.
Once the chicken is done, add the veggies back and then the pineapple chunks. Pour the sauce over the entire mixture and allow to heat, which will only take 1-2 minutes. If you want to thicken the sauce, toss a spoonful of flour into the mixture.
Serve over rice!

Easy homemade brownies

2008-12-29T21:22:00.004-05:00

I love brownies, and I used to make the box kind all the time. I'm now ISO the best fully homemade recipe, and this was my first try. I gotta say, it was quite good, but made way too much. Enjoy!

Easy Brownies

Ingredients:

1 c butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 c walnuts (omitted)
4 1.0 oz squares unsweetened chocolate
2 c sugar
1.5 c flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter and chocolate together on low heat, stirring constantly.
Allow to cool.
Beat eggs until light, then add sugar, chocolate mixture, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder,. salt) and mix well.
Add walnuts (optional).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Yumm!

Snow Day Chili

2008-12-19T20:03:00.005-05:00

Today was a snow day! The husband and I both stayed home and enjoyed a bonus day at home, we cleaned, played games, relaxed, and I made chili! I love stews and chilis on snow days, they warm the soul. I've also been on a spicy food kick.

Here are a few pictures of our snow day:

Snow Day Chili - in one dis

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

2 cans diced tomato

1 small can tomato paste + 1/2 that same can of water

2 cans kidney beans (or 1 can kidney, 1 can

pinto, your call, I just hate pinto beans)

1 tsp trader joe's chili sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp chili powder

Black pepper to taste

Garlic, cumin, corriander to taste

Directions:

Brown the ground beef in the same pot you will cook the chili in, and I highly recommend a dutch oven, specifically the enamel covered one from Calphalon. The heavy cast iron allows for very even heating over long periods of time. Plus, since it is enamel coated, you can clean it with soap unlike regular cast iron.
Add the rest of the ingredients, if its too think, use some of the juice from the kidney beans to thin it out.
Simmer for as long as you can, at least an hour.
Serve with toppings of your choice, like cheese, sour cream, chives, chopped onion...

Russian Tea Cakes

2008-12-17T22:02:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas cookies but I don't generally go through the efford to make 30 different ones. These are a family favorite and I've gotten Donald to love them too. They are a little dry and best served with tea or coffee. My grandmother used to make these all the time.

Russian Tea Cakes

Ingrdients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp confectioners sugar

2 cups of flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

extra confectioners sugar to decorate

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Cream butter and vanilla, add sugar and stir until creamy

3. Slowly add flour to the mixture, it will be very dry and cumbly

4. Add walnuts and mix

5. Using your hands, press dough into balls, place onto baking sheet

6. Bake 12 minutes or until the outside looks dry

7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then roll each cookie in the confectioners sugar

NOM! Enjoy!

Loss of a friend, gain of a new one

2008-12-13T18:34:00.002-05:00

My trusty Casio exslim has met a sad end... its lens won't deploy anymore. I think this is because on Thursday, I bought a new camera through woot.com which is arriving on Tuesday. The new camera is pink, a Pentax 8MP pretty nice camera I got for 90$! I'm looking forward to its arrival, but I will miss my Casio, who has seen me through my honeymoon and through many other wonderful days of my life.

*cues When Will I Hold You Again*

(I get super emotional when electronics die, and don't get me started when stuffed animals get thrown away... I can't do it)

Blondies

2008-12-13T18:27:00.003-05:00

Donald needed something for his work potluck last week, and I didn't have a whole lot of time to whip up something awesome (like a typical guy, he gave me exactly 1 evening's notice). I found this recipe on smittenkitchen.com which is one of my favorite cooking blots. They're simple and basic, but act as a good base that you can add fun things to. Enjoy!

Blodies

The ones on the left have chocolate chips, the ones on the right have chopped walnuts.

Ingredients:

8 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup white flour

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Melt the butter in a pan, add the sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
Add flour, salt to the mixture.
Put in 8x8 pan, greased
Bake 20-25 minutes or until the center is set

Suggested additions:

- chocolate chips

- chopped nuts, toast them in cinnamon/spices for extra flavor

- raisins or other dry fruits

Baked Chicken with Garlic and Shallots and Random Chili

2008-11-29T22:18:00.006-05:00

I appologize for my absence, I was kinda... GETTING MARRIED!

See:

Ok, so now that I'm married and back from an amazing 2 week honeymoon, I am dying to cook. Last night I made "Hey look, kidney beans" Chili. No pics unfortunately, the camera was still packed (and tired). But here's the basic idea:

Random Chili

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef
1 16oz can petite diced tomato
1 8oz can tomato sauce
Appx. 6oz beer
2 cans kidney beans
1 tbsp dried minced onion
Chili powder to taste - I used about 3 tbsp
Red pepper to taste - I used about 2 tsp
1 tbsp minced garlic
Black pepper to taste
Cooking spray

Directions:

Spray dutch oven with cooking spray, brown ground beef with 1/3 of each of the spices (peppers) and all of the garlic and onion.
Once browned, add the diced tomatos and tomato paste, along with the beer. Drain and add kidney beans.
Add the rest of the spices. Heat mixture until heated through, then drop heat to low and simmer for at least 1 hour.
Serve over rice with sour cream and cheese (if desired)

Ok, and now for tonights dish. We got shallots today at the grocery store, they looked so good and they inspired my chicken dish. I also wanted some Thanksgiving-y food since I missed the holiday due to my honeymoon.

Baked Chicken with Garlic and Shallots

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 shallots, remove outer skins and cut in half
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp rosemary
Coarse salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp minced garlic (or 8 pealed garlic cloves, I was just kinda lazy)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425, and while oven is preheating, put the butter into the caserole dish you'll use to bake the chicken in the oven, remove when the butter is melted.
In the caserole dish with the melted butter, add the thyme, rosemary, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper, and make sure all onions are coated in the butter.
Dredge the chicken through the buttery spice mixture then line the chicken breasts in the caserole dish.
Bake for 50-60 min or until chicken is baked completely. Serve and YUMM!

Side suggestions:

- Mashed potatos

- Stuffing

- Scalloped corn caserole

Beef Tenderloin with Portobello Duxelle and Mac and Cheese

2008-11-01T20:00:00.004-04:00

I haven't been posting a lot because the wedding is exactly 1 week from today! Oddly, I find myself having a bit more time this weekend than previous weekends, mostly because I have been working so hard I have done nearly everything I can ahead of time! Its an awesome feeling to not be super busy this weekend.

We haven't had a ton of interesting food in the house, and tonight was not real exception. I knew I wanted to make homemade mac and cheese with velveta, a childhood favorite. We also had some fresh portobellos and enough filet in the freezer to feed everyone actually coming to the wedding. So, I found this recipe and it is seriously. awesome. Easy? No. Good, oh yeah.

Beef Tenderloin with Portobello Duxelle

Filet mignon, 4 steaks about 7 oz (we used smaller steaks because that's what we had) each
Olive oil
Salt, pepper to taste
About 2-3 large portobello mushroom tops cut into small pieces
1/3 cup onion, very finely chopped (food processor if you have one)
4 cloves galric, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp butter

Directions

Rub salt and pepper into the filet, cut a slit into one top to stuff later w/ the portobello duxelle
Melt butter in heavy-bottom fry pan (I use cast iron), saute portobello, onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes or until softened and browned
Add white wine and allow to cook until ALMOST dry - about 5 minutes
Remove mixture from pan and allow to cool slightly
In the same pan, heat olive oil until smoking, sear the filet for 1-2 min on each side
Place steaks on a cookie sheet, stuff with the protobello duxelle
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, serve immediately

Homemade mac and cheese - the easy way

1 box cavatappi noodles
1 lb of velveta cheese, cut into marble sized chunks
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
Milk
Salt, pepper to taste
3 slices bread, cubed

Directions:

Cook noodles, drain except for about 1/2 cup of water
Over a low heat, melt the velveta and water into the noodles, add shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper
Put in caserole dish, place bread on top
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

I love Trader Joes!

2008-09-22T20:18:00.003-04:00

Donald and I went to Trader Joes and picked up some awesome things this week. Tonight I used some chicken sausage and pasta sauce to create dinner!

Spicey Chicken Sausage Pasta

1 pack of chicken sausage from Trader Joes, in spicy Italian, sliced into medallions

1 jar Trader Joe's Tomato Basil marinara sauce

Italian seasoning

Sweet basil

Garlic

Red pepper

(all spices to taste, but I recommend making this one spicey)

Pasta noodles of your choice

Slice chicken sausage, brown in a pan in a little olive oil until slightly browned
Add pasta sauce and spices to taste
Simmer for 1h stirring occasionally (or, if you're like me, cook it in cast iron and go running, when you come back, its delicious)
Make pasta and serve!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pecan Muffins

2008-09-21T13:24:00.004-04:00

Yeah yeah, long time no update. Cooking has become a rarity in my house. I always find that in the fall my life picks up. Its like people get concerned that soon, it will be winter, so we better get the fun stuff out of the way. Plus we have 48 days until the wedding, so things are nuts.

I made these muffins last weekend, and froze 1/2 of the batter so I could make the second half this weekend. I used my KitchenAid Stand mixer, new calphalon measuring cups and spoons, and some silicon muffin baking pans (including one I got from a kno

ttie from a Something Blue Secret Santa exchange). I love to bake.

Ok, without further ado, nomily goodness:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip and Pencan Muffins

Ingredients:

1c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c oil
1c milk
1 egg, beaten
1c chocolate chips
1/2c chopped pecans
1c white flour
1/3c EACH of wheat, gluten, and millet flours

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix together oil, milk, egg, and sugar until smooth.
Add dry mixture to wet mixture, stir until moist.
Add chocolate chips and pecans.
Fill baking cups 2/3 full with batter (I don't use muffin cups, instead I just grease the cups of the muffin pan and it works fine)
OPTIONAL: Combine 1/2c chopped pecans with 2tbsp brown sugar and sprikle on top of each batter cup for a topping
Bake 20-25 min or unti golden brown and firm

Serve warm or heated up in the microwave!

Enjoy!

Herb Baked Chicken

2008-08-21T21:49:00.006-04:00

Its been a while, and I've only cooked very little since my last real post. You know how life gets, with the end of the summer rush and wedding planning I can't keep up. My sisters bought me my spice rack for my bridal shower last weekend, and I was dying to make use out of it. I got this spice rack:

So for dinner tonight, I made:

Herb Baked Chicken

2 chicken breasts, defrosted and with the skin dried
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup olive or canola oil
Lemon Juice (2 fresh lemons or about 1/2 cup juice)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 tbsp fresh minced garlic

Sprinkle each chicken breast with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine oil through garlic and marinate chicken in mix for 30 minutes (or more).
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
Serve with a side, I used Kashi Rice Pilaf, but I recommend the potatoes from lovestonom.blogspot.com.

And for desert: Chocolate Chip Cookies and Milk!

Makeup!

2008-08-07T20:49:00.002-04:00

OK, so besides cooking, I also love makeup. This is my new favorite product! If you're a little daring with eyemakeup, I highly recommend it. You'll need a few good brushes to use it well.

http://www.toofaced.com/product_template.asp?dept_sub_id=28&dept_id=10&cat_id=60

Shells Florentine

2008-08-02T20:57:00.006-04:00

So yeah, I have been super busy. I haven't made many 'new' things over the last few weeks. I made some killer tacos, but you've seen those already.

Tonight I made one of my favorites.

Shells Florentine!
1 15 oz package of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup romano cheese
Appx. 6oz fresh spinach, remove stem and wash well
Italian Seasoning
Salt, Pepper
1 egg

1/2 box jumbo shells

1 jar pasta sauce, or homemade pasta sauce
Cooking spray

Mix the top set of ingredients together (all the cheese) and set aside.
Boil the shells according to the directions on the box, they should be cooked but very al dente to work well.
In an 11x17" baking dish coated with cooking spray, put 1c pasta sauce in the bottom of the dish.
Fill each shell with the cheese mix, line up in the baking dish.
Pour remaining pasta sauce over shells. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until warmed all the way though.
Serve with a little extra sauce on top, with a veggie and bread of your choice! ENJOY!

30 minute dinner: Grilled Chicken and Kashi Pilaf

2008-07-16T21:34:00.004-04:00

Another 30 minute dinner night. I was lazy!

Grilled Garlic Chicken and Kashi Rice Pilaf

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4c Salad dressing, oil based, garlic flavored (add cloves of garlic to make it even better)
1 packet kashi rice pilaf

Make the rice pilaf according to box directions
Heat grill, grill chicken until cooked.
Serve.
I feel like there should be a 4th direction....

Scalloped Potatos and Sloppy Joes

2008-07-14T21:27:00.005-04:00

Sloppy Joes are really good, and I discovered a good mix for them a few months ago. Its called Not So Sloppy, you'll find it in a small jar near the canned chili in the grocery store. Use the best ground beef you can to keep the fat content down, serve on a bun.

The scalloped potato recipe is from Cooking Light Magazine, I highly recommend it.

Scalloped Potatos
2 medium or 3 small potatos cut into 1/8" slices
2 tbsp butter
Salt, pepper to taste
1/2c cheese (I used cheddar, but asiago and Greuyer are great too)
1c skim milk
1 clove garlic, halved

Preheat oven to 425.
Rub the clove of garlic onto the bottom and sides of your baking dish, then coat with cooking spray.
Lay 1/2 of the potato slices on the bottom of the pan. Drizzle 1/2 of the butter, salt, pepper, and 1/4 of the cheese onto the potatos. Repeat.
Warm the 1c of milk on the stove, then pour over the potatos.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the potatos are tender.

And trust me, these are REALLY good.

Spicy Hot Sausage Pasta

2008-07-14T21:25:00.004-04:00

Tonight I made the spicy 30 minute sauce a few posts back, but this time I added 3 links of hot italian sausage and served it over whole wheat pasta with whole wheat bread toasted with garlic. No new recipes, but doesn't it look good? It was ungodly spicy. So good.

Breakfast of Kings

2008-07-12T12:01:00.004-04:00

Donald and I decided to make breakfast this morning. Usually on saturday mornings we go out to our favorite diner for breakfast. All the waitresses know us and everything, and will give us crap when we go there next (probably tomorrow...). However, we woke up to a monsoon. It was pouring, windy, and thundering. The RADAR told me that this wasn't a short lived storm, so we decided to make breakfast. And let me tell you... it was good.

Breakfast of Kings (for 2)
100% wheat toast, mexican omelette (cooked hard like I like) and hashbrowns.

Hashbrowns:
2 medium potatos, shredded using a cheese shredder or something like that, they should look like this:

1/4 onion, also shredded
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium pan, the oil and pan need to be very hot. We used our express burner on medium high.
Add the potato and onion to the pan, add salt and pepper.
Cook potatos over med high heat for 5-8 minutes or until they're cooked through (they start to shrink a lot). Stir occasionally to keep from browning too much. The moisture will begin to cook out of the potatos. You may have to add a little more olive oil.
Once the potato is cooked through, use the bottom of your spatula to flatten the potatos into the bottom of the pan. Cook that way until the bottom of the potato pancake is dark brown.
Flip the entire potato pancake (cut if you need to before flipping) and repeat on the other side. Remove from pan when its done cooking. YUMM!

Mexican Omelette:
5 eggs (for 2 omelettes)
Shredded cheese, mexican blend
Chopped tomato
Salsa
Cooking spray.

Heat pan and coat with cooking spray.
Scramble eggs in a bowl then pour into heated pan. Allow to cook for a few minutes or until you can flip it.
Put cheese, tomato (if desired) on top. Once cooked, fold the omelette over onto itself and allow cheese to melt. Serve immediately with salsa on top (there is no salsa on ours, but normally we do this!).

Serve breakfast with toast, preferably made from the bread in my last post.

Here's a picture of Donald's half eaten breakfast!

100% Whole Wheat 'Crunchy' Loaf

2008-07-11T23:28:00.003-04:00

Mmmm. Homemade bread. Seriously, the best thing in the world. I got some gluten at the store today, which apparently helps make wheat loves work a bit better. This is my first attempt at a 100% wheat loaf. Its cooling on the counter now.

100% Whole Wheat 'Crunchy' Bread
3/4c+1tbsp warm water
4tbsp EVOO
4tbsp honey
3tbsp brown sugar dissolved in 1tbsp warm water
2c wheat flour
3tbsp gluten
1tsp salt
2/3c seeds (I used flax and sunflower)
2tsp active dry yeast... proof your yeast!

Whole wheat setting, medium crust, 1.5lb loaf. Enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs

2008-07-11T20:52:00.003-04:00

This is a favorite of mine. I used to buy the packet of spices, but I can't find it anymore. I make them from scratch now, and by god they're good. Enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs
I used my ugly plates. These are why people should buy our china.

For the meatballs:
1.0-1.5 lb ground beef, 90%lean or better
1c breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tbsp butter, soft
2tbsp dried minced onion
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Sale, pepper to taste
2 tsp paprika
Lemon zest (I use lemon pepper seasoning if I have no zest, about 1tbsp)

Olive Oil to cook

For the sauce:
1c milk
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper to taste
Flour (to thicken)

Mix 1/2c breadcrumbs and all other ingredients to the meat.
Add additional breadcrumbs as necessary, the mix should be relatively dense to hold meatball shape.
Make 1" meatballs.
Heat oil in pan, add meatballs. Cook about 10 minutes, moving often. Check that the meatballs are cooked thoroughly before moving on.
Remove cooked meatballs and drain on paper towels.
In the same pan, add the ingredients for the sauce. Heat on medium until about to boil, then drop the heat to low until the sauce is thickened.
Add the meatballs back to the pan, cover in sauce.
Serve over rice, egg noodles, or whatever your little heart desires.

Enjoy!

Choosing China

2008-07-10T13:12:00.002-04:00

We've registered for 2 different sets of china for our wedding. We like both a lot, but I'm considering dropping the 'fancy' one for now and keeping the casual set. Here are both, what do you think?

CASUAL - FANCY -

Birthday Panini!

2008-07-10T12:58:00.003-04:00

For Donald's birthday, which was the 4th of July, I made him corned beef paninis to take on a picnic in the local park. It was a gorgeous day, and the corned beef was fresh and great. They're simple but good. I had to take the pic while they were still on the grill, but you get the idea!

Corned Beef Panini for a picnic

1/2 lb corned beef, shaved thin
1c sauerkraut
Thousand island dressing
8 pieces Italian bread, sliced moderately thin
Fat Free butter (I can't believe its not butter makes a good one, but don't eat it on bread, just use it for cooking)
- Makes 4 sandwiches

Butter one side of each piece of bread, place buttered side down on George Foreman grill.
Place 2-3 slices of corned beef on the bread and then 1/8 to 1/4 cup sauerkraut to taste.
Place other piece of bread on top, butter side up, and lower the lid of the grill. NOTE: If serving immediately, add the thousand island dressing before grilling.
Once heated through, wrap in foil to keep warm. They will stay warm for 20-30 minutes like this.
Add thousand island dressing just before eating, if necessary.

Enjoy!

Tacos!

2008-06-30T20:39:00.004-04:00

I got a craving for tacos on the way home. I do the seasoning myself, and it turned out great this time. The picture sucks, you can't see anything. I think I was too hungry to bother to take a great picture.

Tacos

1 medium onion, chopped
1tbsp fresh minced garlic
1lb ground beef
2-3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder, or more!
Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder if desired

Toppings:
Chopped tomato
Shredded lettuce
Mexcian cheese blend
Fat free sour cream
Salsa

Side dish: Refried black beans topped with mexican cheese blend and sour cream

Brown the onion and fresh minced garlic over medium heat until soft.
Add the ground beef and then immediately add the spices.
Brown the meat completely.
Top as desired and serve.

TADA! :)

Pecan Chocolate Swirl Loaf

2008-06-29T13:26:00.006-04:00

I have a bread baking book I bought when I got my breadmaker for Christmas this past year. I love my breadmaker, but the book isn't great. 90% of the time, the dough is too dry. I almost have to double the liquid in the recipe. Additionally, it usually takes 2x the rise time.

So I take the recipes and 'fix them'. This is their Pecan Chocolate Swirl Loaf. It can be made in a breadmaker or by hand.

Pecan Chocolate Swirl Loaf

Ingredients:
Bread
3tbsp butter
1c milk (add additional milk to bring dough together)
2eggs, beaten
4.5c white bread flour
1/4c sugar
1tsp salt
1.5tsp fast-action dried yeast

Filling
4oz plain dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2c pecan, roughly chopped
2tbst sugar
1 egg yolk, to glaze

Breadmaker directions: Follow the directions for your breadmaker, usually this means placing the wet ingrdients in the bottom of the pan, dry ingredients on top, and the yeast at the very top. Run on "dough" or "sweet dough" setting. Bread should rise to 2x the original size.

By hand:

Put flour into large bowl, add butter and mix with fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add salt, sugar, and yeast.
Add beaten eggs and gradually mix in milk until a soft dough forms.
Kneed on floured surface for 5 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Place bowl in warm place for 1 hour or until dough reaches 2x original size.

After first rise from breadmaker or by hand:

Tip dough out onto lightly floured surface. Kneed well, then roll out to 11" square.
Sprinkle with 3/4 of the chocolate and pecans, plus all of the sugar for the filling:
Roll up dough and place into bread tin. Cover losely with oiled plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for 30 min or until the bread reaches the top of the tin. (NOTE: I had to rise mine overnight in the fridge, so it got a little big)
Preheat oven to 400.
Remove the plastic wrap and brush the egg yolk plus 1 teaspoon of water (beaten) onto the top of the bread.
You have 2 options here, top now and bake with toppings, or use a chocolate icing afterwards. I chose the chocolate icing, but you can also add the last 1/4 of the chocolate and pecans to the top of the bread.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the bread is well risen, deep brown, and sounds hollow when tapped with the finger tips. (NOTE: If you do bake with the pecans/chocolate on top, after 10 minutes, cover the bread loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning).
Remove the bread from the oven, losen with a knife and remove to a wire rack to cool.
Option: If you didn't bake with the chocolate, melt the remaining chocolate/pecans in the microwave or double boiler, spread onto top of the bread. (NOTE: I didn't have enough pecans, so there's just chocolate on top of mine!)

Enjoy!

Hungarian Pork Chops, Scalloped Corn

2008-06-27T21:38:00.006-04:00

Good evening!

I had a very rough afternoon today, and I wanted to make something I really love and experiment with something new. Cooking helps me relax somewhat. Hungarian pork chops are a recipe that I honor my grandmother with, though it is one she never made me herself. After she passed away in 2006, my father and I were at his house and we decided to make one of her recipes for dinner. We paged through her cookbook, which I had spent hours and hours copying for everyone in my family. She was famous for her pasta sauce, but we did not have time for that. We found the recipe for Hungarian pork chops, so we made that for dinner that night. It was a wonderful way to honor her memory.

Hungarian Pork Chops

1lb thin cut pork chops, trim off fat and bone
Salt, Pepper to taste
1 medium onion
2tbsp minced garlic (or, ya know, more)
1 can chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1c fat free sour cream
2tbsp paprika
Cooking spray
Egg nooodles

Prepare the pork chops by trimming the fat and bone, then put salt and pepper on them. Set aside.
Chop 1 medium onion (coursely), brown in a pan (use cooking spray, not butter or oil), and add garlic.
Once the onions are browned and soft, move to the sides of the pan or remove.
Brown pork chops for a few minutes on each side, but do not cook through (see picture):
Add can of chicken broth, bay leaf, and add back garlic/onion mixture if you took it out.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour, covered. This cooks the pork slowly and makes it very tender!
With 20 minutes left of the simmering, boil water for the egg noodles.
After the hour, remove the pork chops from the broth, cover to keep warm.
Mix sour cream and paprika together, then add to the broth. Increase heat and reduce the sauce by about 1/2. Add flour to thicken if necessary. Remove the bay leaf.
Add back pork chops, serve over the egg noodles!

Scalloped Corn - Bottom left of dinner plate shown above!
(based on idea from lovestonom.blogspot.com, altered with help of allrecipes.com)

2tbsp butter
2tbsp flour
1c milk
Salt/pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
3c corn kernels, fresh, frozen, or canned
1 green pepper, chopped finely (I used an orange pepper, because that is what I had)
1tsp sugar
1/2c bread crumbs mixed with melted butter
Paprika

Preheat oven to 400.
Melt butter in a small saucepan, add flour and cook for 2 minutes, do not brown!
Stir in milk slowly, stir continuously.
Add a little bit of sauce to the egg and beat, add egg back to sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the corn and green pepper and sugar to the sauce mixture.
Put mixture in a baking dish, sprinkle bread crumb mixture on top. Top with a little paprika.
Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the bread crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes.

Donald has approved this dish for future use! It is a little bit heavy for a side dish, but still very good.

30 Minute Dinner: Steph's Quick Spicy Pasta

2008-06-26T21:50:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, I don't have time to make much of a dinner. I have a few quick dinners in my arsenal that I use on such a night. Tonight, we did not get home until 7pm because we went on a cake tasting. We also ran tonight, so dinner didn't even get started until almost 9pm! Its late, but we don't make a habit of that, nor do we go to bed until 1am or so. Still, as a note, its best to eat 3 hours before bed at least.

So this is one of my quick dinners. Enjoy!

Steph's Quick Spicy Pasta

Ingredients:
(note: These are estimates, I don't measure my spices!)

2c basic pasta sauce (the more basic the better, I like Hunts in the can or Ragu traditional)
2tbsp Italian seasoning
2tsp Oregano
3tsp Pepper
1tsp Salt
2tsp Crushed red pepper flakes (if you really like it spicy, add more of this, or even a dash of tabasco)
1tbsp Finely grated romano cheese
1tbsp Minced garlic
2 tsp Dried minced onion

Heat over medium heat until it starts to bubble, then reduce to low until ready to serve.

Serve over pasta of your choice, we use whole wheat angel hair. Top with freshly grated romano.

Shortbread dipped in Chocolate and Pecans

2008-06-22T14:19:00.005-04:00

I needed to bake today, but I wanted to make a small amount of something. This recipe (the shortbread part) is adapted from Cooking Light Magazine (may 2008) which is where I get a lot of my inspiration. This makes only 16 cookies, which is nice for a small gathering or treats for a few days around the house. Plus, I love shortbread!

Shortbread dipped in Chocolate and Pecans

1 c flour
1/4 c sugar
Dash of salt
5 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp milk (fat free)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate wafters
Chopped pecans
Cooking spray

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Using a beater, whip the butter until it is soft (or if you're me, still waiting for someone to get your beater off your registry, stir it a little and it will still work, just not be so fluffy).
Add butter to flour mixture. Add milk and vanilla extract. Form into a soft dough.
Place dough onto plastic wrap, form into 4" circle.
Wrap dough and place in fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 350
Remove dough from fridge, unwrap and place a second piece of plastic wrap on the top.
Roll dough to 8" circle.
Spray cooking sheet with a good layer of spray, move dough onto cooking sheet.
Cut dough in 16 wedges. NOTE: Do not cut all the way though, but rather score the dough into 16 wedges. Use a fork to poke holes in each of the 16 pieces.
Bake 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Once cooled, melt the chocolate wafers in a bowl in the microwave or using a double boiler.
Dip each wedge into the chocolate, the sprinkle with chopped pecans. Place cookies onto wax paper, allow to cool for 30 minutes or until the chocolate is shiny.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Onion Enchiladas

2008-06-22T00:00:00.004-04:00

This recipe came from my mom. It is really tasty, and easy to make ahead of time. I use canned sauce because it tastes better than my own, but one day I will perfect it.

Chicken and Onion Enchiladas (for 2-3 people with leftovers)

Ingredients:(This picture is of last nights leftovers, plus it is my second dish specifically for lunches this week.
There isn't much cheese because my fiance prefers none on top to reduce the fat content)

2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
Olive oil
2 cans Old El Paso Enchilada sauce (Medium is best)
1c shredded cheddar cheese, sharp, reduced fat
6 soft Tortillas, medium size or 10 small size (I recommend the lowfat tortillas from Tortilla factory, they're not dry and gross like most lowfat ones)
Salt
Pepper
Sour cream (fat free) and salsa if desired

Heat oven to 375c
Boil the chicken in water, you may need to add a touch of olive oil to keep it from boiling over.
While the chicken is boiling, heat up a small amount of olive oil in a separate pan and sautée the onions until they're not-quite-but-almost soft.
Once the chicken is done boiling, remove the chicken from the water and let it drain.
Shred the chicken using 2 forks. You can cut the chicken into fajita-like chuncks too, but trust me, its better if you shred it. This is best done right after draining the chicken, its easier.
In a bowl, mix 1.5 cans of the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Then add the chicken and onions. Mix well.
Spoon the mixture into the tortillas and wrap, placing the open end of the enchilada facing the bottom of a greased baking dish.
Once all the tortillas are in the dish, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered in the oven for 15-20 minutes until warm.
Serve with salsa and sour cream (fat free) on the side as desired.

Side suggestions:

Meijer Organic's Black Bean Refried Beans with a little cheese and fat free sour cream on top. SO GOOD!
Regular refried beans
Red beans and rice, the boxed kind by Zataran's is pretty good
Spanish Rice (recipe for this soon, but I did not make this tonight)

Welcome to Loki's Kitchen

2008-06-21T23:49:00.002-04:00

My kitchen is kind of like Hell's Kitchen, with less yelling at others and more yelling at myself. I will make 10 confessions to the cooking gods before I begin my blog. That should relieve me of my sins, right?

1) I don't understand why you add salt to boiling water.
2) While I have perfected the art of chocolate chip cookies, I can not make edible ones with splenda baking blend.
3) My favorite dessert are Rice Krispie Treats. Seriously.
4) Raw chicken totally freaks me out.
5) I have not once gotten a sauce to thicken correctly when trying to make it without pan drippings.
6) Cooked mushrooms are fine, raw mushrooms I just can't eat.
7) I love to bake bread, and only 1 out of every 3 loaves I make come out perfectly.
8) I hate brown rice.
9) Pasta sauce should be spicy.
10) I love to cook healthy, but my favorite dinner is an appetizer of mozzarella cheese sticks dipped in pizza sauce and a cheeseburger, with ice cream for desert.