Beef "Stroganoff"

Whenever I hear "stroganoff" I think about this song from the animated film, Anastasia (which, surprisingly was not put out by Disney). Fun fact - did you know John Cusack voiced the character "Dimitri." Now whenever I see him in real-people films, all I can think about is this guy:

Last week I attempted to make stroganoff, or something like it. The elements were there, but I didn't do a lot of research into finding an authentic recipe. And I was too tired to look into the best cut of meat to use. I settled on beef stew meat - which, FYI, needs to be cooked for a lot longer than 20 minutes. But I was so dang hungry I really didn't care.

What you need:

5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
2 pints mushrooms: I used button and baby bella, chopped
1 pound beef stew
olive oil
flour
salt and pepper
1/2 Tbs cornstarch
1 cup white wine
1 can beef stock (or consume)
1 cup sour cream (I always use light sour cream because, honestly, it tastes about the same to me)

Heat the olive oil and fry the onion and garlic until a light brown, set aside.

Next add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook those as well. They will give off a lot of juice which needs to cook out, so keep frying until they aren't moist. Set these aside with the onions.

Add the meat to the same pot and arrange in one layer. Sear well on one side before flipping and searing the other sides. Sprinkle with a little flour to help with this process. Season with salt and pepper.

Take your mushrooms and onions and add these to the beef, along with the wine and beef stock. Cook down about 10 minutes so the juice reduces by about 1/3. Scoop out 1/4 cup of liquid and mix with the cornstarch, then add this back to the pot. This is called a "slurry" and allows you to thicken the sauce without getting clumps of cornstarch speckled throughout.

Now, I let this cook together for maybe 30 minutes. It tasted fine, so I went ahead and added the sour cream, let it cook together some, and served it up. If I were to do things again I would hold off on adding the sour cream, cover the stroganoff and cook about 1 hour, making sure to keep the liquid content up by adding more wine or stock. This would allow the beef to get nice and tender.

**Serve beef stroganoff with egg noodles which are light and ridgy - perfect for soaking up the sauce

Coconut Chili Fish Stew

Want to know a secret? I don’t think I’ve ever actually tasted fish curry. But somehow I’ve been craving it. I’ve been craving seafood in general, actually. I think fish is a simple way to get variety and nutrients into your diet. Kind of like roasted vegetables: spice both up with lemon and fresh herbs and you have an easy, delicious meal.

I made this curry the other night and found it to be quite tasty. Keep in mind that when you use ingredients that are heavier bodied (béchamel, coconut milk), the dish can withstand a little more spice so you might need to add more than the amounts I’ve listed in order to make sure the broth is super flavorful.

Mahi Mahi pieces (I used these from Trader Joe’s)

1 can coconut milk

1 lemon

1 lime

6-7 basil leaves

ginger powder, garam masala powder, chili powder, red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp each)

5 cloves garlic

4 carrots, julienned

½ cup bamboo shoots
*If I’d had them, I would have added 3 curry leaves and a couple kefir lime leaves as well

Marinate the fish in lemon juice for 30 minutes

Fry the garlic then add the carrots and bamboo shoots

Mix in your spices: ginger powder, garam masala powder, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and curry and lime leaves (if using).

Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil

Nestle the fish into the sauce, making sure the pieces are totally covered

Season with pepper and salt and add the chopped basil leaves.

Cook 15 min, covered.

Serve over rice or as-is, like a stew but make sure to sprinkle with a few fresh basil leaves and a squirt of fresh lime juice.

*Sigh: Shrimp Scampi with Heirloom Tomatoes

You know that sigh? The special one reserved for the moment you re-enter your home at the end of a long, and I do mean long, Friday afternoon.  Here I sit, wine in hand, Modern Family on the television, having just devoured a giant plate of pasta and feeling, for a moment at least, like my life is on hold. And I don't have to worry about Boards, or moving to a totally different state, or the many giant events I just transcribed onto my wall calendar. It's a good feeling. Should I be concerned that food makes me this content? 

This meal took about 10 minutes to make, no kidding. The most time-consuming part is waiting for the water to boil. So do that, super-salty water, bring it to boil, drop in your pasta. I like using plain 'ole spaghetti. Not the angel hair, the regular. And Barilla only, please. I really have found it to be the freshest-tasting.

Since I was cooking for one, I defrosted about 6-7 shrimp and cut 4 mini heirloom tomatoes. I have made it a personal goal to always have lemons in my kitchen. This is a relatively new goal circa umm...this afternoon. But I can literally always find a use for them and they do add a little pizazz to a million different dishes. I also chopped up 2 cloves of garlic but those were already sizzling away in butter by the time I took this picture. 

In a saucepan, melt 1/2 Tb olive oil and 1/2 Tb butter. Start frying up your garlic and then add the shrimp. You want them to just barely get pink, so arrange them in one layer, season with salt/pepper/and a few red pepper flakes. Turn over and let them finish cooking, then deglaze with a swirl of white wine. Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Squeeze in some lemon and a grating of 

fresh Parm. 

Red Pepper Risotto

Risotto is notoriously one of the most intimidating kitchen undertakings for new cooks. Or seasoned ones, actually. I know I was terrified of making it, especially after going to Italy and eating it all the time. First, I was scared to know how much butter and cream was it it. Second, I knew there was a definite serving temperature requirement: if it got cold it'd be a gelatinous blob of ice. Thirdly, I assumed it'd take hours to make.

These thoughts were incorrect. Risotto is actually creamy because of the starches that develop when the rice cooks. The temperature requirement is kind of true, but if you serve it hot, everything is fine. And the entire process took about 30-40 minutes - including chopping/prep time. Not to shabby.

I had some roasted red peppers and chicken thighs in the fridge so I decided to plan the risotto around that. Just chop everything into about the same sized pieces, fry the chicken in olive oil until it is cooked through - then add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili flakes. Then I added the red pepper and set this aside until the rice was ready.

For the rice, make sure you purchase "arborio." In a saucepan, heat 6 cups of chicken stock - don't let it boil or even simmer...just warm it through. In a nonstick pan, melt 2 Tbs olive oil and fry 1/2 of a finely chopped onion until it's translucent. Add 1 1/2 cups rice and fry until the rice is coated - about 3 minutes.  Pour in 1/2 cup white wine and a pinch of salt. Now, start incorporating the stock, 1 cup at a time and making sure it absorbs completely before adding the next increment. This should take about 25 minutes and you might not need all 6 cups of stock. The end consistency is going to be a little looser than rice pudding - the rice shouldn't be super mushy or have a bite to it. I add 1 tsp fresh thyme right at the end for flavor. Turn off the heat, stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and 2 Tbs butter.

Serve up your risotto with a nice helping of the chicken/pepper mixture on top:

Tuna Steaks and Pasta

A quick weekend post for you; nothing fancy in terms of technique, but quite fancy when you look at the finished product.  The tuna steaks at Whole Foods were looking mighty fine the other day so I got a 6 oz steak and decided to save it for a special occasion.  I'm not quite sure why a random Thursday night was a "special occasion" but hey, part of living alone is reveling in the randomness of life.  Silly me thought seafood in the South would be cheap, but that was NOT the case with this beauty: $7 for the little piece.  It was good, though - and very fresh.

The tuna was simply seasoned (try saying that 3 times) with salt and pepper then seared on all sides so I got a nice crust on it.  Then I added about 1 Tbs soy sauce to the pan (be careful, it splatters) to give it an extra layer of flavor.

I served this alongside some al dente pasta topped with pesto.  

The next day, I made some more pasta and tried a little experiment.  I have a friend (aka: boyfriend) who likes his pasta a little more cooked than I do so I gutted it out and cooked it longer (past "al dente") to see if cooking time changes the flavor.  It did.  For the worse.  

Sauces taste much bolder and thicker and luxurious when the pasta is cooked JUST enough so they themselves impart a little nuttiness.  I hate to break it to you hun, but I was right: NEVER overcook your pasta.  

The Fast Is Over!

The post fast, that is.

I am happy to announce, dear readers that Hell Week - or shall I say WEEKS - is/are over.  I can now get back to some regular blogging...

Imagine my surprise when I got on Blogger to write this and low and behold the whole dang thing has changed!  The formatting is all wackadoo. It's cleaner - which I like.  But the picture uploading options are different and I'm not used to the new button locations.  It took me a good 30 seconds to figure out how to add a new post.  True story.

I thought it might be nice to start off with a little idea of what I've been subsisting on these last few days.  I know full well exams usually mean eating habits go out the window.  Students stay up late meaning they get hungry late.  And they're usually hungry for comfort food: chocolate, pizza, soda.  Not a good thing, people.  I knew that I wouldn't have enough time to hit the gym every day so I made sure I ate healthy.

I whipped up a huge batch of fajita toppings and fillings the weeks before everything hit so I could eat it throughout the week.  A friend from class also brought me a ton of fresh mint which I used to make turkey burgers.  More on that later.

Here's the recipe for the fajitas: very easy and very quick.  I will say that they were elevated to another level of awesome with this ingredient. I first heard about harissa over on Stephanie's blog and knew I had to try it.  On my last trip to Whole Foods, one of the Cava Mezze reps was actually there and I got to try it.  Man is it good.  The flavor is crazy good - it's spicy and got a great tomato texture.  I wanted to try some of their other dips but there were a lot of people around and I didn't want to monopolize the rep's time. One of the main ones I want to be sure to check out is the feta spread because you know I love me some good salty, creamy feta.

What You Need:

1 pound of any meat - I used flank steak
1 red onion, chopped into large pieces
1 bell pepper

1 bunch cilantro, chopped
baby tomatoes sliced in half
lettuce
pepper jack cheese

sour cream
harissa

What You Do:

Cook the meat off with your choice of spices: I used paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.

Fry the bell pepper and the red onion in a little oil then set that aside as well.

Fry your tortilla, pile on the toppings and dinner is served!

Simple, right?  Toldya :)

Easy Risotto

Risotto is surprisingly simple to make now that I've done it a few times. And there are so many different ways to doctor it up and show off your new recipe.

Here's a simple basic recipe you can use as a template:

1 cup of arborio rice

3-4 cups chicken stock

1 onion finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

salt and pepper to taste

3 Tbs of pecorino cheese, grated

butter

Set the chicken stock to warm on a separate burner.

On another burner, fry the onion and garlic in a large saucepan.

Add the rice and toast it until it's a light brown color and starts to smell nutty, about 10-15 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.

Once this has finished, add the chicken stock, one ladle-full at a time.

After each addition of stock stir to be sure it is completely absorbed by the rice before adding the next ladle. The amount of liquid you have to add will vary - just stop when the risotto is cooked through and the grains are tender. There should still be a little bite to them, though, so don't let it become too mushy. The rice will tighten up as the risotto cools so you might want to add a little more liquid than absolutely necessary.

At the very end add 2 Tbs of butter and the pecorino and season again with salt and pepper.

Try the following additions:

- At the very end, a half cup of chopped sundried tomatoes

- Cube a butternut squash, coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast it in the oven (425 degrees). Add this to the risotto before serving. Add a few pinches of nutmeg as well.

- Add 2 cups of cubed mushrooms in step two, along with the onion and garlic. With this add about 1 teaspoon of dried sage.

- Add 2 cups of spinach sauteed spinach (pictured above).

- Stir in 3 oz of goat cheese and sprinkle in 1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley , chopped

Persian Chicken - Minus the Goodies

The other day I went on a cooking spree - I made the butternut squash that's been sitting in the fridge for some time. I originally wanted to put it in some risotto, but decided to roast it instead: yum yum roasted squash. I just peeled it and cut it into little pieces. Then I tossed it in olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. 425 degrees until cooked through and slightly crisp.

Then I got a little creative and decided to try my hand at recreating my mom's Persian chicken. This is usually served with yogurt sauce and caramelized onion, carrots, and fried raisins and nuts - which I did not have. So I just seasoned it with what she uses.

I sliced a couple onions and layered them into a Pyrex dish. After defrosting about a half pound of chicken thighs I put them on top, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, and turmeric. Then I baked it for about 20 minutes until the chicken was cooked through. The onions pick up all the yummy flavors of the chicken and vice versa.

It ended up being a super simple dinner and if I had some yogurt and nuts and raisins, it would be an over-the-top meal.

Just Another Day: Roasted Chicken with Yogurt Sauce

On the menu tonight for dinner:

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

Get yourself an Amish chicken (breasts on the bone are what I used)

Cover a tray with aluminum foil and lay the chicken on it

Spread olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed rosemary

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes

*This is a new thing for me: normally I bake them for about 45-60 minutes at 350. This time I increased the temperature and really liked the results: the top roasted perfectly and the inside stayed moist and succulent. Once the juices run clear (just stick a knife through and see what color the juice is), you know it's done. Turn off the oven, cover the chicken with a foil tent, and leave it in there to stay warm until you're ready to eat.

Yogurt Sauce with Cucumber and Garlic

This is basically raita, the Indian yogurt sauce everyone loves. All you do is chop a cucumber, add 1 1/2 cups of Chobani Greek Yogurt, and 3 cloves of garlic. Mix it together and season with salt, pepper, and loads of garlic powder. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two so the flavors have a chance to cool down a bit.

You can serve this with pasta or rice or quinoa - I actually used pasta and it was surprisingly yummy with the yogurt sauce as the binder. A few healthy meal and a filling on at that.

And check out this tasty breakfast idea:

Take about 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt and drizzle it with honey. Then cut up a half a banana and arrange it nicely around the yogurt. Not only is this full of healthy start-your-day ingredients, it is soooo pretty! And... ignore the little stub of banana peel at the bottom of the photo - I made this really early in the morning :p

Scroungin' Around

Finals time around here meant no blogging for me, but I did take a few pictures of some good ideas on what to do when you know you won't have time to cook. I know, I know...where are the Chicago updates - there a-comin' - just have to get settled in first :)

Idea 1: Make soup, a lasagna, or a casserole a weekend or two before and freeze it in individual servings. Set them in the fridge a couple days before you want to eat them so they thaw and then reheat day-of.

Idea 2: Kroger sushi is filling, yummy, and definitely a treat when you don't have time to visit a restaurant but want the feeling of having treated yourself. This is the Shaggy Dog - I personally have never gotten one because of the $10 price tag, but I've tried a little and thought it was really tasty.

Idea 3: Divide the labor. Thanks for Sharon's grandma, we had some frozen pork chops so all we had to do was thaw them, fry them, make rice, and cut up some yummy seaweed. Combine with Bulldog Sauce (this is my own name for it, since it's Korean and I can't remember it at the time). Her grandma also makes dumplings which she just has to drop into a pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Thank you, Sharon's grandma!

Steak Scampi

Yes, I said it: STEAK scampi.

The recipe had been brewing in my head ever since a friend came over and I made shrimp scampi for her. I had leftover pasta, parsley, and lemons, but no shrimp, so I sauteed off my leftover London Broil and decided to add it in instead. The result was excellent and, I have to say, a nice change of pace from my usual bean-as-protein meals.

I boiled off some spaghetti and tossed it in about 4 cloves of diced garlic, 2 Tbs fresh parsley, a squirt of lemon, and 2 Tbs of olive oil. A sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste and a few a pieces of seasoned beef and you're done. It takes all of about 5 minutes once your pasta is boiled. Definitely a good week-night meal.

The Three "Ps:" Pizza, Party, Perio

I wanted to give y'all a little update on homemade pizza-making:

The other night some friends and I got together to go over some information for an upcoming Periodontics exam...and hey! the girls gotta eat so we got some Whole Foods dough, a giant 12oz chunk of fresh mozzarella, and a jar of pasta sauce (because I find marinara to be a little too bland at times and didn't have enough time to doctor it up). Nishal brought some olives and mushrooms for toppings and in about 40 minutes we had a delish dinner.

Here's what you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Dust your rolling area with flour

Cut the dough in half and roll each into a rectangle using more flour so the dough doesn't stick

Lay each half onto a baking sheet and poke holes with a fork

Blind bake (as in, throw the dough into the oven with no sauce yet) until they have almost cooked through - about 15 minutes. The crust will clearly be cooked on the outside - it'll be hard, like crust should be) and a light brown color - you'll also be able to slide it around when you shake the pan. Just don't go too crazy with this step or you're dinner will end up on the floor.

Take the crusts out and spoon over the sauce, layer on the fresh cheese, and sprinkle the toppings.

Bake until the cheese is melted - about 10 more minutes. When you take it out, throw on some chopped fresh herbs - we used oregano - but basil would also be nice. This adds a great freshness and POP.

Let rest for a while, then cut into squares and serve!

Hash Dinner - a newby and a goody

This hash recipe is going to change your life. It changed mine - and Sharon's. The inspiration came from Weston, who is coming into town tomorrow. I know how much he likes hash browns - he makes them for me when I visit Michigan - so I thought he'd appreciate some leftovers after the long drive. They turned out very, very well. I think Sharon will be requesting this next time I make dinner for us.

I used a non-stick skillet for this because it cut down on cook time, and didn't make a huge mess that I had to scrape off. But if you have a cast-iron griddle, that'd be even better.

What you need:

5 Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped into pretty small cubes (1/4 inch)

1 1/2 cups chopped ham - about as big as the potatoes

1 jar of Trader Joe's roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1 onion, chopped

What You Do:

In a skillet, fry the onion until it is translucent. Add the ham and red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, and a lot of garlic powder (maybe 1 tsp+). Continue frying until the mixture is pretty dry (adding the red pepper can also add a lot of moisture) and the ham starts to brown. Set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan and fry the potatoes. Continue to cook/fry until they are browned from the ham mixture you just fried in the same skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the potatoes are a little tender, add the ham mixture back to the skillet and continue frying for about 30 minutes, until the flavors meld and the potatoes are crispy-ish.

This recipe does take a while to make, but it's worth it for the flavor. Add fresh parsley to the finished product if you want, and experiment with other additions, too!

The Trick to Continuous Compliments in the Kitchen

One of my favorite things about being a foodie is explaining my passion to a curious friend. I love answering questions like, "What pairs well with this?" and "How can I improve this to intensify the flavor?" Scrolling through my text messages, I saw one from a friend asking me to give my thoughts on how to make a super garlicky garlic pasta (LOTS of fresh garlic, a hint of salt, and garlic infused olive oil).

I was inspired to create a delish pasta creation for my own supper and I came up with this. It's my standard recipe: al dente recipe with whatever I have on hand. But this time I cracked open something extra, extra special. My jar of sun dried tomatoes from Crete, Greece. Yes, I've been saving these suckers for almost 3 years and no, they hadn't gone bad. They'd been vacuum sealed in olive oil. Oh my gosh were they amazing. I added some pecorino, chicken, and a few torn leaves of basil and had me a sinfully decadent dinner. While preparing my dinner, my roommate commented on how incredibly delicious my dinners looked and I thought about how just one ingredient can add so much complexity and elicit such buzz amongst others in the kitchen.

And that made me really excited because it means - with a well stocked pantry, you can be the talk of the town. By understanding how to fully highlight an ingredient, you become a wealth of knowledge for friends who've been cooking for years, and ones who are just learning. And that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.

When Even Five Ingredients Are Too Many

Being in dental school means traveling around with the same group of about 90 people for 4 years. Same classes, same clinic times, same lunch hour. So the other day as we all opened our lunches, one of my classmates commented on the hummus I had made. And another friend at the table brought up how her mom made a Lebanese feast the other night. And another talked about his babaganoush made with eggplant from the local Farmers' Market. I was in heaven - I mean, how wonderful that my classmates love food like me!

We are in the process of finding a date to hit up a few Farmers' Markets, because, can you believe it, I have never been to one in RVA? I know, it's pretty shameful - but I don't have a car, so I think that's a pretty good reason since I'm not in walking distance to any of them. I need to do my research to see which ones are closest because I've heard there are a few scattered around the area.

In lieu of attending the Farmers' Market, I was able to use some fresh lime basil the other night, and hence, this post was born. One of my classmates brought me a couple snippings of sweet basil and lime basil which he grows. I mean, come on, how much more perfect can you get? Fresh herbs picked that day? He even packaged them in a little cooler in moist towels so they'd stay fresh throughout the day.

I rushed home and opened the Tupperware and spent a couple minutes just tasting the herbs. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them - I'd originally thought a quinoa salad with tomatoes and feta and cucumbers. But they were too good for that - as much as I love feta, it can crowd out other flavors.

What I decided to do was let the herbs shine on their own - I boiled some curly pasta until it was al dente. Then I drizzled in a few tablespoons of my very favorite and sacred olive oil. This is the best, guys, and I do mean it. I bought about 9 bottles in Las Vegas the last time I was there because there are only 4 places in the country that sell it. Of course, when I got home, I realized they have an online store. Fail.

I sprinkled in a little salt - because I think it helps bring out the flavor of any herb, and some fresh pepper. Then I tore in the herbs and finished it off with some lemon.

That's it. It really is so simple and as someone who grew up watching my mom cook, sometimes I feel like I'm cheating when I make something that tastes so good but takes no time at all and only uses about 3 ingredients. But if there is something I've learned since cooking on my own and refining my own style - it's that there is a time and a place for complicated. And it's not when you have fresh herbs from the garden.

Easy-Peasy Fried Rice

So, I never thought I could like fried rice, but my roommate, Sharon made some for dinner the other night and I was completely enamored.

I guess you need a little back story here... See, I have a phobia of fried rice dishes because I get horrible flashbacks to the Chinese buffet my family used to go to. It was a bad, bad restaurant and I think it eventually had to close for sanitary (or lack of) reasons. I know it was bad and so I really should give this dish another chance, but I can't for the life of me convince myself to try it in a restaurant again. Key words here: in a restaurant.

When Sharon announced she could make fried rice with the leftover sausage I had in the fridge, I was surprised that the idea of revisiting one of my most feared dishes sounded so appealing. I suggested adding the cabbage I had in the fridge and so, with the addition of a couple eggs, a yummy meal was born.

Here's the recipe - you can add any type of meat and veggies you have on hand.

Make 3 cups of short grain rice and keep it warm.

In a wok, fry about 3 eggs over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 cups of chopped meat (we used sausage) and fry until the eggs are cooked and you look like scrambled eggs. Add 1 cup of red cabbage, chopped, and continue cooking until it is slightly wilted.

Add all the rice (this makes a lot - enough to feed 4-5 people). Mix everything together and raise the heat to medium high - this will start making the rice nice and crunchy.

Crack an additional 2 eggs into the mix and stir around until they are cooked. By doing this, you get little bits of egg stuck to your rice. Add maybe 3 Tbs of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Taste for seasoning - you might need to add a tad more soy sauce and sesame oil. Keep frying until the rice is a nice brown color and kind of crunchy in some spots.

Serve hot!

Homemade fried rice was a definite hit for me - I can't wait to experiment with this recipe. You can even make it more healthy by using brown rice - or using hot chili oil.

Roasted Chicken with Corn and Bean Salad

One of my favorite "games" to play in the kitchen is raiding the cupboards and finding all the things that need to be used up before a big cleaning day or a move. Weston will be moving out of his current apartment in a few weeks and so he asked me to see what I could make with the stuff in the cabinets. Since I didn't have access to a car, this challenge was especially difficult because I couldn't go to the store for supplementary ingredients. I am proud to say this did not deter me from making an amazing dinner (and lunch for the next couple of days).

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, rinsed and drained - or 3 ears fresh corn (grilled corn for extra flavor)

1 can chopped tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups chopped red cabbage

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

3 Tbs Dijon mustard

2 Tbs rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fresh onion, chopped

(if I'd been able to go to the store, I'd add 1 cup torn basil leaves)

I know this is primarily a canned salad and the thought of that is kind of... not too exciting to some people. But it's a good way to get rid of things you might have on hand - and the flavors are surprisingly perky. Also, note that I did incorporate some very fresh ingredients like onion, vinegar, and cabbage. If you add basil, that's another POP flavor, too.

Make a vinaigrette with the oil, vinegar, spices, and mustard. Mix together the beans, corn, tomatoes, and cabbage. Then toss with the vinaigrette and finally add the torn basil leaves.

Serve chilled.

Accompany this dish with roasted chicken. We buy Amish chicken on sale and freeze it for a rainy day. Pick of the Chick is a butchered, whole chicken and I like it because you get a nice variety of dark and white meat. The white meat I cube and throw into the salad, while the dark, I serve alongside. Just defrost the chicken, trim off the fat, and spoon over some olive oil, salt and pepper, and my secret ingredient: sage. Bake at 350 until the juices run clear - about 35 minutes. By slow roasting, the chicken stays moist and the outside gets nice and crispy :)

Dr. Who and Pizza Night

I have a few friends who are into SciFi shows - I myself can take 'em or leave 'em. But time with friends is always a must for me, so when they invited me to their Dr. Who Mini Marathon events last week, I agreed and surprised myself by getting into the show too!

We were going to order pizza, but I suggested making a couple instead since I had a bunch of cool ingredients in the fridge. As usual, we bought the dough from Whole Foods (which has upped the price to about $3 from their original $2.50). I cut the dough in half and rolled each out then let them rest for about 30 minutes. I poked the top for air ventilation and blind baked them for about 13 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

We covered one with pesto and layered over fresh mozzarella. The other got a spicy marinara cover and was topped with pepperoni, and marinate olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods. We baked the pizzas a second time just until the cheese was melted and the toppings had a nice crisp on them.

Upon tasting the finished products, the pesto pizza was absolutely divine: nice and buttery from the olive oil in the pesto and the gooey-ness of the fresh mozzarella. I will be making this again soon!

You're Going to Kick Yourself

...for not thinking of this sooner, if you haven't already.

There is a super simple (and I do mean SIMPLE) dinner that I consider my go-to comfort food. It's warm and decadent and basically amazing. The other day I was making it when my roommate said, "Oh where did you get that idea. I've never seen anything like that." And I said, "I thought it up." And that's when I realized, maybe I should post it since it is soooo easy and maybe I could share and you'll fall in love with it too.

Don't blame me if it's so simple you're insulted. Sometimes the easiest things are the most tasty, so here's the recipe I've never posted but always should have. Fair warning, it is catered to my own flavor loves, which I'll explain now:

I love pasta - well cooked pasta. A nice little bite to it. It has to be freshly made (as in boiled, not actually made from scratch), too, not something that's been sitting around in the fridge. That's why I incorporated this stipulation into the recipe: you make enough pasta for the amount of people you are serving (usually one, in my case) and there are no leftovers.

Secondly, I enjoy big flavor. I LIKE giant pieces of garlic to bit into, and I don't care if the sundried tomatoes stand out on their own. So if you do like a bit quieter flavor profile, this might not be for you.

Third, I think spicing pasta should be extremely simple. You have to use salt - it makes pasta better. But just enough to taste. And in lieu of pepper, I usually use red pepper flakes for added kick.

Finally, olive oil is another must. You have to use it in this dish. It acts like a binder (along with my other fav ingredients, dijon mustard), and it creates a sense of luxury on the tongue.

So here, it is...it could change your quick supper recipes for good:

Sheila's Super Simple Pasta

Get a pot of water to a rolling boil, then add enough pasta for one serving.

In the plate you are using to eat on (why use a cutting board), chop one clove of garlic and 4-5 olives, any kind you like. Keep the olive pieces a little bigger than the garlic ones. You may also add 1-2 sliced sun-dried tomatoes (not the salt-cured ones).

Sprinkle over this some salt and red pepper flakes. Squirt over that about 1 Tbs of Dijon mustard. Grate in 1 Tbs pecorino (I like this much better than Parmesan).

Once the pasta is cooked perfectly (about 10 minutes), drain it and make sure there isn't any lingering water. Dump over the season mixture you made on the plate. Measure out a good tablespoon of olive oil and pour it over. Use a spoon and fork to toss everything together.

Serve immediately!

*note: I used to mix everything in a pot with the pasta and then transfer it all to a plate, but I lost a lot of the seasonings this way. By making everything right in the plate you are planning to eat with, you can monitor the toppings to make sure they don't sink to the bottom, etc. If making for more than one (3+), just make it all in the serving platter and note that you'll have to use probably 3 Tbs olive oil, 4 Tbs Dijon, and enough toppings to make sure every portion has some.

photo credit (garlic)

photo credit (pecorino)

OMacG! Smoky Mac and Cheese with Caramalized Onions

The following recipe was inspired from something I saw on the Rachel Ray Show the other week. Rachel termed hers French Onion Soup Mac and Cheese and used Gruyere cheese. I found that I could purchase double the amount of cheese by using a type other than Gruyere, which is a little pricey.

I knew I had to use cheese with an edge since I was cutting Gruyere which has a twang to it. I decided to go for body and creaminess instead - so I went with a hot pepper cheese and a smoked Gouda. Very good decision when paired with the sweet onion mixture.

The second thing I am quite happy about is my decision to use a very very small pasta - one I'd typically throw into an Italian soup. Not orzo or anything - you still need a little bite. The cheese sauce permeated every single nook and cranny and I noticed I didn't have to use as much sauce to get a cheesy flavor. HUGE money saver because you can literally make double!

To start, slice 1 large onion and 3 cloves of chopped garlic and start frying it on medium heat.

Let it caramelize low and slow and then add 1/2 tsp sage, sprinkle of salt, pepper, 1/4 - 1/2 cup of cooking sherry, and about 1/2 cup of beef stock. Let this cook down, then add another 1/2 cup of beef stock or enough to thin it out. Stir in about 1/2 tsp of cornstarch to thicken the mixture and set aside after it looks like the picture below.

Boil your pasta - I used a pound. Make sure to salt your water, too!

Then start on the cheese sauce by melting 2 Tbs of butter and 1/4 cups of flour. Whisk together for a few seconds, then add 2 cups of milk - maybe even 3. Stir until thickened - it will look runny and then all of a sudden come together. Stir in your cheese (turn the heat down to medium low). I used a whole package of both cheeses, so it made a lot (about 2 1/2 cups of cheese total). Whisk until creamy, then add a good couple of squeezes of Dijon mustard.

Add the onions and store half in a container (I freeze this so I have more later) and mix the rest in with your pasta. I like creamy mac and cheese, so this is where I ended the show. But you can always cover with a little butter/breadcrumb mixture and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

A little trick I use to maintain the creaminess of the pasta when I reheat it is that I add an extra squirt of mustard after I microwave the leftovers. This acts as a binder and adds an extra punch of flavor. I also sprinkle with a little more pepper before serving.