Our Neighbors Are Awesome

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 20:23:10 -0600

If we ever decide to sell our house, I’m just going to tell the perspective buyers that our neighbors randomly bring us the best salmon of all time.

Their recipe : it's rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and dill. Then smoked on a stovetop smoker.

I don’t even bother making salmon in my house anymore because Adam has made it clear that he prefers the neighbors over mine (and I can not disagree!).

Oh yeah, the even brought us the veggies too!

Cheeseburger Pizza

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:14:27 -0600

This is nothing fancy or anything unique. I like pizza. I like cheeseburgers. And Im pregnant so if I want to combine the two I can.

Preheat oven to pizza dough package recommendation (450 for ours)

Ground 1 pound hamburger with 1 finely chopped onion
Throw in some steak seasoning (or whatever sort of seasoning you use to season your burgers - we use seasoned salt).
Add 3 cups finely chopped (and do I mean finely chopped) spinach - hey, might as well get a veggie if possible

Take a packaged pizza crust or make your own if you’re feeling ambitious, put it on a pizza stone or baking dish, and add the entire meat mixture to the top - making sure to spread the mixture evenly.
Pour 1 jar of your favorite pizza sauce to the top.
Now for the fun...add lots and LOTS of cheese. We used a mixture of sharp cheddar cheese and some pepper jack cheese.
Once pizza covered nicely with cheese put it in your preheated oven and wait for the yumminess.

We went one step further to make this a true cheeseburger experience and topped our pizza with yellow mustard. It might sound weird, but trust me, it rocked.

Fig and Cheese Breakfast Muffins

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:06:00 -0600

This recipe is taken verbatim from Bon Appetite magazine. It’s a wonderful recipe and well worth the repeat. I made these on a Sunday afternoon and loved having the quick and healthy breakfast options on my work days.
Sweet figs and a filling of tangy goat cheese give a surprising twist to these hearty breakfast muffins. Make a batch of these on the weekend and enjoy them for breakfast all week long. If you're not a fan of goat cheese, try them with cream cheese instead.
• 3/4 cup(s) crumbled soft goat cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese
• 2 tablespoon(s) honey
• 1 teaspoon(s) freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 1/4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract, divided
• 2 cup(s) white whole-wheat flour (see Tips & Techniques)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 cup(s) packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 cup(s) low-fat or nonfat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup(s) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup(s) chopped dried figs
• 3 tablespoon(s) turbinado (see Tips & Techniques) or granulated sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners or coat with cooking spray.
2. Thoroughly combine goat cheese (or cream cheese), honey, lemon zest, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk flour (see measuring tip), baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Lightly beat eggs and egg white in a medium bowl; add brown sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in buttermilk and oil until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in figs.
4. Spoon half the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Add 1 generous teaspoon of the reserved cheese filling to the center of each muffin, and cover with the remaining batter. (The filling should not be visible.) Sprinkle the muffins with sugar.
5. Bake the muffins until the edges start to brown and the tops spring back when gently pressed, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Tips & Techniques
Ingredient notes: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour. It is available in large supermarkets and at natural-foods stores. (Or find it online from bobsredmill.com or kingarthurflour.com.) Store it in the freezer. Turbinado sugar is steam-cleaned raw cane sugar. It's coarse-grained and light brown in color, with a slight molasses flavor. Find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets or at natural-foods stores.  Measuring tip: We use the "spoon and level" method to measure flours. Here's how it is done: Use a spoon to lightly scoop flour from its container into a measuring cup. Use a knife or other straight edge to level the flour with the top of the measuring cup.

Cobb Salad

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 20:21:37 -0600

Our trip to Disney was FILLED with amazing food. It was pretty hard to pick out the one meal that sticks out as the most memorable, but the Brown Derby is our winner. Every part of the meal was amazing even the salad course. It was so good that we asked for the recipe (and got it!!!). I highly recommend this salad to salad lovers and salad haters. I think everyone would like it.

• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 bunch watercress
• 1 small bunch curly endive (I used baby spinach)
• 1/2 head romaine
• 2 Tbsp. minced chives
• 1 turkey breast, diced
• 6 strips bacon, cooked and diced (I used turkey bacon)
• 1 avocado, peeled and diced
• 2 medium peeled tomatoes , chopped and seeded (I used Roma)
• 3 hard cooked eggs, peeled and diced
• 1/2 C. Roquefort cheese, crumbled (I used Feta)

Brown Derby Dressing:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup full-flavored olive oil
• 3/4 cup salad oil
•
A note from the Brown Derby: "The water is optional, depending upon the degree of oiliness desired in the dressing."

Blend all ingredients together, except oils. Add olive and salad oils. Mix well.

Directions
1. Chop lettuce, watercress, endive, and Romaine in very fine pieces. Mix together in large wide bowl. Arrange chives, tomatoes, chicken, bacon, avocado, eggs, and cheese in rows over lettuce.
2. At the table pour Special Cobb Salad Dressing over salad, toss and serve.

Note : You need to finely dice the greens to this salad. Once you think they are chopped small enough, chop them again. Trust me, on this one...

Sausage Shrimp Creole

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 20:00:29 -0600

With the arctic blast that’s due to hit the area in less than 24 hours, I decided to make something that would warm us up! I had every intention of making chili, but realized I didn’t have enough of the ingredients to pull off a successful batch. After some quick internet searching, I found this on Jimmy Dean’s website. I did modify it a bit, but am really REALLY happy with how it turned out.

Stay warm out there!

1 package Regular Flavor Jimmy Dean® Pork Sausage, cooked, crumbled and drained
1 onion, diced
8 oz frozen shrimp (optional) 1 can tomato soup (I used Amy’s tomato bisque)
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced  1 cup uncooked long-grain rice  1-1/2 cups water or stock  Creole or Cajun seasoning or seasoned salt (I used about 2 tsp for the entire pot and it had just the right heat for me)

In large saucepan, cook sausage and onion over medium high heat, stirring frequently until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink. Add tomatoes, green pepper, and shrimp. Add soup after about 4 minutes. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Add rice and water, return to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, stir in green onions and optional seasoning to taste; cover and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

Adam’s comments : “Apparently my love has mastered naw’leans food. Mmmm. You make amazing dirty rice.”

Lawn Mower Cake

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:58:16 -0600

Hard to believe Camden is 2. Wow. How time flies....

Super fun cake to make and the cake some how managed to make it to Camden’s party withOUT falling apart. Loved this birthday theme.

Lelia’s Gumbo

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:12:51 -0600

A friend of ours had a beautiful baby boy a few weeks ago and on our visit to meet the little fellow I brought a yummy and super easy gumbo dish for the family. I first tasted this recipe when I was came home from the hospital after surgery. Lelia, a nurse practitioner and amazing cook, brought this for us to eat during my recovery. Not only was it an easy go-to meal when we didn’t feel like making a mess in the kitchen, but it got better each day as the flavors meshed. Oh yeah! It’s also pretty healthy!

...here's the gumbo recipe.

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo--Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
olive oil, 2 tbsp
skinless, boneless chicken thighs, 4, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (I used chicken breasts b/c it's what I had on hand)
andouille or other spicy smoked sausages, 3/4 lb cut into 1 inch slices (I used turkey sausage)
okra, 1/2 lb cut crosswide into thick slices
red or green bell pepper, 1, seeded and chopped
celery, 3 stalks, chopped
yellow onion, 1, chopped
flour, 2 tbsp
chicken broth, 2 cups
diced plum/roma tomatoes, 1 can, 14 1/2 oz, with juice
salt
cayenne pepper, 1 tspn
steamed white rice for serving.

1. Cook the chicken: in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tbspn of the oil. add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 min. Transfer the chicken to the slow cooker, then add the sausages. scatter the okra, bell pepper, celery and onion on top. (Note, I also browned the sausage before putting it into the cooker).

1. Make the roux: return the frying pan to medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Sprinkloe the flour in the pain and cook, stirring constantly until golden brown, about 4 minutes. sitr in the broth and the tomatoes with their juice and raise the heat to medium-high. when the mixture comes to a boil, remove the pain from heat. season with 1/2 tsp salt and the cayenne and then pour over the veggies/chicken/sausage.

1. Cook the gumbo: cover and cook on the high heat setting for 4 hours or the low heat setting for 8 hrs. season to taste with salt and cayenne. ladle the gumbo over steamed rice and serve!

Sand Castle Cake!

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 22:11:30 -0500

So fun to make! The cake is a vanilla butter cake with vanilla butter cream. The “sand” is brown sugar. The shells are REAL shells.

Mahimahi with Chipotle Pineapple Sauce

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 21:53:33 -0500

I’m REALLY mad I didn’t write this recipe down. Sooo. This is the best recap I can do from memory.

2 Tbsp butter
1 onion sliced thinly
1 can crushed pineapples
1 Tbsp of chipotle sauce (I used sauce from a can of chipotles)
1/2 - 1 cup half and half (you could do 1/2 chicken stock too).

Heat a large saute pan, and add butter

Wait until butter is hot, then add six fillets, into the pan. Sear until well browned. Remove fish to a plate to rest.

In the same pan add place pineapple juice, Chipotle sauce, and onions. Reduce. Add cream (and or stock). Add fish back to sauce and keep warm until ready to serve.

I made this with a side of couscous.

Adam’s Comments :

Shopping in the Fridge!

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:20:54 -0500

I’ve been REALLY lazy lately with making dinners because of the amount of time I’m spending doing P90X and training runs. One thing that suffers from our P90X schedule is my menu planning.

So my new favorite game I play after my workouts is “shopping in the fridge”. I pick out a meat and then walk around my house and try to create some crazy recipe. Surprisingly, the first few have been awesome.

The best thing about my new game is I save a ton of money because we’re finally using all the things I stocked up on while on sale :)

Be prepared for some amazing recipes in the next few weeks. Here is a sample of our current week’s dinner plans.

1. Pineapple-Chipotle Mahi Mahi with couscous
2. Mexican Chicken Pot Pie
3. Goya Surprise (Adam came up with this name...)