Seduced

1. couple of bbq ribs
2. pasta salad
3. banana pudding

Pasta salad. Imagine me SPITTING the words. Try again...pasta salad. I was seduced my friends. My head was turned alright. Curly rotini pasta drenched in pesto with tomatoes and tiny mozzarella balls. You know I'm a sucker for tiny mozzarella balls. And cheap. If there's one thing I like better than tiny mozzarella balls it's cheap stuff so if you combine the two...well look out Rhonda! Oh. What a disappointment. This looker was all show and no go. Big talk, slow walk. A teaser. Not a pleaser. You might have fooled me once Fresh&Easy, but I won't get fooled again!

Banana pudding. Imagine me saying it like "hello lover". Now lick your lips and go mmmmmmm. But not in a gross way. This is a family friendly blog. Now banana pudding sure doesn't look like much to write home about the second day, but could sure teach pasta salad a thing or two about satisfaction. Beauty is more than skin deep you know. Books shouldn't be judge by the cover. People shouldn't drink coffee after midnight and go on and on about their stupid lunch. Sorry. Want to know how I make it? It's awfully good and if you've only ever had pudding from a box you owe it to yourself to at least try this once. Live a little!

I like the recipe right off the Nilla Wafer box, but with a few changes. First of all - there will be no meringue. I don't care for it. Also, there will be more pudding, twice as much, so double the sugar (just one cup, the other 1/4 cup in the original recipe is for the meringue), flour, salt, vanilla and milk. 5 eggs is plenty. I just think this makes for a much nicer custard to other stuff ratio than the original recipe. Of course you'll think the same. I'm sure of it. Since I don't do a meringue it doesn't need to go in a baking dish so I just use my biggest bowl. I also don't count cookies. Counting cookies is for LOSERS, but basically you open the box and whatever doesn't get eaten while the custard cooks goes in the pudding. 5 bananas are plenty too, don't double that! I usually end up using 4. One tip though, and this is critical, make sure the bananas are plenty ripe, not banana bread ripe but after all the green is gone and they get brown speckles and start to smell like bananas. Sometimes if I'm feeling sassy I'll dump some whipped cream on top, of course I'm not a Presbyterian so I think it's okay.

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Nicoise, Very Nicoise

1. tuna
2. potatoes
3. green beans
4. eggs
5. tomatoes

This was a plenty good and serviceable dinner served warmed with the leftovers reassembled into a plenty good and serviceable lunch served cold. Or room temperature really. Have I ever mentioned that I don't refrigerate my lunch? Ever? You probably should. And you too. Especially you. Do as I say, not as I do and all that. Food safety! Salmonella! PLAGUE! Certain. Death. But if you don't die, there's just something awfully special that happens when hard cooked egg meets mustard vinaigrette with the snap of a green bean, the smoosh of a potato and the pop of a tomato and it isn't cold or hot but just right.

See those tiny potatoes? I've been buying those from Fresh & Easy and I love, love, love them. They are so tiny, and cute, and little, and small, and oh, you know, but they cook SUPAH fast and they're kind of sweet and there's even a purple one in the mix. I have a vague suspicion there might be some serious genetic engineering going on there but I'm gonna choose not to dwell on it. Because they are just so damn cute.

Oh, I should tell you about the dressing! I sometimes make vinaigrette in the blender but usually in a bowl with a whisk. Mainly because I don't want to have to wash the blender. You might think a lazy person like myself would just put everything in a jar and shake it and have even less to wash. You'd be wrong. Until now anyway. I'm officially a shaken vinaigrette convert so it's kind of my duty to proselytize - you might think it's the most obvious thing in the world but clearly SOMEONE failed to let me know about it so there could be others out there. People like me. People who have no idea. This is my mission. My destiny.

Mustardy Vinaigrette Dressing

30ml apple cider vinegar
120ml olive oil
1 T coarse ground mustard
1 clove of garlic smashed hard
1 lemon, squeezed
1 quick squeeze o' honey (a teaspoon tops)
big pinch of salt
bigger pinch of pepper

Pour everything into your vinaigrette making container with a tight fitting lid cleverly marked in mls on the side for your measuring convenience. You might know this by it's other name, "water bottle". Apply lid. Shake like mad. Pour over your food. Eat. Store leftover dressing in the fridge in the, wait for it, same container you used to make it in. I know, right???

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Is There a Season for Salmon?

1. grilled salmon
2. fennel and grapefruit salad
3. chunk of bread that wasn't nearly as big as it looks

Sometimes I think my enjoyment of a particular food item is inversely proportional to it's cost. But enough about expensive fish that's probably out of season or whatever - should probably just remind myself that I live in the middle of the freakin' desert. Anyway, check out those grill marks! That pan was worth every penny of the 20 bucks I paid for it. And the salad? That I could eat again and again. Crisp and cool and just different enough to feel a teeny bit exotic. You can make it too!

Fennel and Grapefruit Salad

Chop up a small red onion and a head of fennel in the smallest dice you have the patience for. Supreme out a grapefruit and hack that up too. Mix up your favorite vinaigrette*, dump it on top and stick in the fridge for an hour. Fancy fennel frond garnish is entirely optional.

I used a citrus vinegar from Trader Joe's in this and let me tell you it was lovely.

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Salad for Me and Salad for You - Cake for Me and None for You

A couple of weeks ago I got an offer that I just couldn't refuse. Free salad. The only catch was that I had to eat it. And blog about it. Since I'm pretty damn good at one of those things and pretty, well, let's just say I do both of them. One more than the other. Anyway, I jumped at the chance. Imagine my disappointment when I did not in fact receive free salad delivered right to my door but instead a regular ol' envelope stuffed with salad coupons. Yeah, sad face. Then of course I promptly forgot about it 'cause that's how I am.

Tonight I was driving home from work repeating my mantra for the day dontforgettostopatwalgreensdontforgettostopatwalgreensdontforgetto hey I wonder what I did with those salad coupons? And the rest was, or is? history.

Here's what I did. I got a bag of the Veggie Lover (iceberg, romaine, carrots, pea pods, red cabbage and radishes) variety of salad and a rotisserie chicken. And some strawberries but that has nothing to do with this and everything to do with cake. Normally I avoid anything labeled "veggie" so I guess I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed it off the shelf but it all worked out in the end. I made some spring rolls with the salad, chicken, rice noodles and some mint because spring rolls must contain mint. It is written. Somewhere. Or just here. Anyway, here's what it looked like.



I love making these because it's a good vehicle for getting peanut sauce to your mouth but if you use a nice bold vinaigrette on your greens it'll even taste good without it. Not AS good of course, but good enough. Want a recipe? This is what I used to dress the lettuce tonight, and it was good enough to write down for next time.

Ginger Lime Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon of ginger from a jar (gingar?)
1 teaspoon each fish sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar
3 teaspoons lime juice
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1/2 of a serrano pepper sliced super super thin

Dump it all in something with a lid and shake like mad. Done.

Here's a tip. If you want to make extra for your lunchbox tomorrow, and I know you do, wrap each roll in a damp paper towel and then seal them up in a zip bag and they'll keep very nicely in the fridge for a couple days. If you put them directly into plastic the rice paper will stick and rip and you will be mad and angry.

Also, Emma made us a cake!



If you'd like Emma to come to your house and make you a cake, I'm sorry, that won't happen.

But! if you act now! you could win your own FREE salad!

Please be aware that you will not receive an actual real salad delivered to your door. That would be silly. Just leave a comment with the word VEGGIE between now and Saturday night and I'll pick 5 extremely lucky people and mail them a coupon for a free salad.

Disclosure: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received Fresh Express salad for me and for you.

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Ghetto Lunch

I made these lentils last night, and they just didn't turn out the way I expected. So this morning I was in a hurry and kind of irritated that I had made a Food Network recipe -again- that just didn't work and just not in the mood to waste any love on this crappy lunch.

Behold! The Ghetto Lunch



Inside the exclusive new WHITE Walmart bag I packed

1. Ikea container with leftover lentils
2. small bowl of yogurt with roasted chili, cleverly covered with cling wrap
3. Fresh & Easy garlic naan straight from the bag
4. a bowl

Three minutes in the microwave and this is what I had.



Guess what? You know how sometimes things taste better the next day? Well this is one of them. Only not like just a little, it was way better. Better enough that I might even make it again.

Mum's Everyday Red Lentils

Recipe courtesy Aarti Sequeira, 2010

Ingredients
Lentils (Dal):

* 1 cup masoor dal red lentils, picked through for stones
* 2 cups water
* 1 onion, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 (1/2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and minced
* 2 medium tomatoes, diced
* 1 serrano chile, sliced in 1/2, optional

Tempering oil (bagaar):

* 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
* Generous 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika or bafaat powder
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* Handful chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Put the lentils in a strainer and rinse them under running water. Add them to a bowl, cover with water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of water, the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, chile, if using, and the lentils. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim any scum from the surface. DO NOT ADD SALT YET; it will toughen the lentils, thereby lengthening their cooking time. Lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid and gently simmer until the lentils are tender, almost translucent, and almost falling apart, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Whisk the lentils, releasing its natural starch, and mash some them so the mixture becomes thick. Add salt, to taste.

Tempering oil (bagaar): In a small bowl, combine the cumin and mustard seeds. In another bowl, combine the spice powders. Have all the ingredients ready because this will move very fast!

In a small skillet, over a medium-high flame, warm 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add seeds and immediately cover so you don't get covered in spluttering oil and seeds! Add the spices. They should sizzle and bubble a little - that's the blooming and it's exactly what you want. Don't let them burn. The mixture should bloom for about 30 seconds, no more.

Pour the oil mixture into the lentils, standing back so you don't get hurt when the mixture splutters again. Stir to combine. Transfer the lentils to a serving dish and garnish with cilantro.

I followed it pretty closely except I doubled the quantities, optimistic I know. Also I cooked the onions first until soft and brown, then added the garlic and ginger and then when the garlic was soft added the tomato and lentils. Also I used ghee instead of vegetable oil. Oh, I also added about 1/4 teaspoon of super hot cayenne powder to the spice mix at the end to up the heat a bit. And a little garam masala at the end. What the heck is bafaat powder anyway? I asked Twitter and was ignored. I wish I had more Twitter friends. Will you be my Twitter friend?

OMG. I've just realized I'm one of those people that complain about how dreadful a recipe is and then reveal that they substituted hot dogs for walnuts and agave syrup for the sugar and halved the butter and added some vinegar but just can't understand what went wrong and why the cookies just didn't turn out the way they should have AND one of those people that beg other people to be their friend AND one of those people that write really long run-on sentences. I pretty much hate me right now.

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An Exception for Every Rule

So what's the rule? If you (meaning me) don't post your lunch on the day that you eat it you don't post it at all. The exception? This post. And probably tomorrow's.

Hey, it's my rule, I can break it if I want!



1. peanut butter sandwich
2. plum jam
3. carrots
4. oreos
5. full fat milk

Looks like a pretty normal lunch, no? A veritable American classic I'd say, if not for that jam on the side business. Let me tell you about that. I -needed- PB&J because I'd already decided on the oreos and milk. Self-explanatory, right? So I started my sandwich and only then discovered that I didn't have an appropriate jelly. There was raspberry which of course can only be eaten on toast, and Seville orange marmalade. Uhm, no. What to do?

I know what to do. Grab a couple of plums off the counter and make your own damn jam, that's what to do. Or you could go to the store. But I didn't, I made jam. Felt like Ma Ingalls making-do during a long cold winter out on the prairie! (Except she probably didn't have plums sitting around. Or sugar.) And best off all it was the most delicious plum jam I've ever had the privilege to smear on bread.

Turns out plum jam is really easy to make, just chop up some fruit and cook it for 1/2 of forever with just enough water to cover and a little sugar to make it sweet until it gets sort of goopy, cool it and eat it. (Feel free to steal this recipe)

See? Look at it? Doesn't it just scream sweet/tart wonderfullness?



Of course the reason I was so dead set on my oreo and milk idea was because I made the oreos. That's right, homemade oreos. None of that nasty cake mix business either! I was inspired by @scatteredmom from Chasing Tomatoes who had been inspired by a recipe found on Smitten Kitchen. I wanted a dark, crisp, thin cookie and the third time was the charm. I was -really- happy with the way these turned out. Want a closer look?



I know right? Here's what I did:

Cookie:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick softened salted butter
1 egg

Filling:
1/2 stick softened salted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar together then with an electric mixer add in the butter and the egg and mix until it makes a ball. Gently knead it a few

times until it turns into something resembling black play dough.

My small cookie scoop was too big for these (and don't even try a press - trust me) so I scooped out 1 teaspoon sized scoops, rolled them into balls and arranged them on a paper lined cookie sheet. I covered the sheet with waxed paper and smashed the balls flat with the bottom of a beer a glass then peeled away the paper. I ended up with 3 trays of 15 cookies each not counting attrition by tasting. I baked these on sheet at a time on the center rack for 11 minutes.

To make the filling just beat the butter and shortening together with the vanilla, add the sugar and mix on low until smooth, then beat a couple of minutes until fluffy.

Match up your halves for size and fill with a generous sploodge of filling (I used a pastry bag) then smash it down with the matching half.

Eat with milk!

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Bad Cookie

I want your ugly, I want your disease ... I want your everything as long as it's free

Know what this is?



That is a BAD COOKIE. It's also the only one left. Apparently my family digs the Gaga AND bad cookies.

Had a sweet craving - saw a box of cake mix leftover from RumCakeExtravaganza09 - remembered some buzz about "cake mix cookies" and the rest? History.

Want to make your own Bad Cookie? Here's how.

1 box of yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
a couple of big hunks of dark chocolate chopped up
what's left in a bag of walnuts you come across while looking for chocolate

Mix it all up, roll into balls, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Pile them up on a plate and watch as your family devours them two by two all the while exclaiming that these are the best! cookies! you've ever made. Taste a cookie and marvel at it's odd soft yet oddly heavy and crumb free texture. Enjoy the flavor of artificial yellow. Try to suck the coating off the roof of your mouth. Drink some milk. Kick yourself once (gently, but with feeling) for wasting good chocolate. Remember how excited they were to have McDonald's for dinner the night before. Remember how underwhelmed they were about your homemade oreos. Ask yourself why you even try. Turn up the music. Dance to forget.

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Tomato Farming and Sauce Craving

How was your Labor Day> As always we celebrated the holiday (any holiday) with food. There was ...





1. pulled pork
2. coleslaw
3. trailer park baked beans
4. and homegrown tomatoes

I made the 3 Day Slaw Julie talks about here and it was okay, but probably not my favorite. If I made it again I would use 1/2 the celery seed and maybe add some mustard seed. Also it was really, really juicy. I think you should either prepare the cabbage ahead of time and get some of the liquids out, or use less dressing, or both. And don't use red onion if you can help it. It made the color kind of off.

And those tomatoes? Grew 'em myself. Yep. Sure did. Here's another shot to give you some perspective.



Oh. By the way. That's the entire harvest. Anyway, moving on.

Good news! There is one thing that I can do better than growing tomatoes and that's making barbecue sauce. I was seriously craving a certain style of sauce. Memphis style sauce I guess it is. Vinegary and peppery and sweet. And guess what? I nailed it. Really! I did! It was exactly what I was looking for. I know sauce is a personal thing, but who knows? Maybe this one is just what you're craving. And if you make it with organic ketchup there's no evil HFCS! I know, right? I shall share.

Crave Sauce

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
5 drops of liquid smoke
1 cup ketchup

Mix everything except the ketchup in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the dry stuff dissolves (the onion powder takes the longest) then add the ketchup. As soon as it starts to bubble turn the heat all the way down and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir it pretty frequently and watch out for eruptions. You can eat it as soon as it cools down but it's better the next day.

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Green Chili Chicken Ehn-chih-LAH-dahs

I'm in love with my enchiladas. You know why? It's because they have BEANS in them, black beans, and CORN and not very much cheese. If my enchiladas were human they'd totally be my new boyfriend.



Now and Later Green Chicken Chili Chicken Enchiladas

2 chicken breasts about 12 ounces each, poached and diced (or use rotisserie chicken)
1 can of black beans rinsed (I prefer Goya brand)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 small white onion finely minced
1 can diced green chilis
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups of shredded cheese (I usually use 1/2 jack and 1/2 cheddar)
2 packages corn tortillas (24) total
2 19 ounce cans of green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas is the best)

This recipe makes 3 loaf pans of 8 enchiladas each. We eat one, save one for leftovers and freeze one.

Open 1 can of the enchilada sauce and divide it evenly between the 3 pans. Pour the other can into a mixing bowl. In another bowl mix the chicken, beans, corn, onion, chilis, half of the cheese and the salt.

Dip each tortilla in the enchilada sauce to coat on both sides before filling with about 2 generous tablespoons of the chicken mixture.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the three pans and pour the remaining sauce from the bowl over the pan you wish to freeze. Cover that pan tightly and freeze for up to a month.

Cook the other two in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the edges of the tortillas start to brown and the sauce is bubbly. The frozen enchiladas will cook in about 60 minutes at 325 degrees.

Top with sour cream, diced tomatos and cilantro leaves.

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Recipe for the Remedy

Assemble your supplies.

3 cups of ice sitting in a bowl of water to soften (about 15 minutes)
one lemon
sugar
berries
libation of choice
knife
blender
reamer

It should look something like this:



Directions:

Cut the lemon in half and juice it directly into the blender. Dump in 1/4 cup each of sugar and vodka. Blend. Drain the water out of your ice and add it to the blender - you should have about 2 1/2 cups. Pulse until smooth.

Pre-softening the ice really makes a difference in the texture - if you don't you'll have little icy granules which isn't exactly the end of the world but isn't exactly what you're going for here either. Of course I'm sure this doesn't apply if you have a fancy blender. Like say a Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500 Countertop Blender with 2+ HP Motor. In which case yeah, yay for you. Whatever.

Anyway. Pour the lemonade into the glass. Leave what sticks to the bottom in there and throw in 1/4 cup of berries. Pulse a few times and pour on top of the lemonade.

Stick a straw in your glass and admire.



Sip contentedly. Avoid brain freeze.

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Manhattan Drops

Just when you think it's gonna be a long, hot summer... and then you don't care.

Courtesy of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario by way of Jumbo Empanadas.

Manhattan Drops

1 big jar of maraschino cherries with stems (buy an extra to cut down on the whining when the kids realize you aren't making them a snack)
1 cup simple syrup (mix 1 cup of sugar with one cup of water, bring to a boil and cool)
3 packs unflavored gelatin (these are the little envelopes of Knox that come in a box. Hint - get the box of 32, it's way cheaper than the box of 4)
1 1/2 cups whiskey (I used Canadian Club because it was on sale)
3/4 cup sweet vermouth (I used Gallo 'cause that's all they had)
3 shakes of Angostura Bitters (This stuff is freakin' expensive but I'm really glad I bought it. Even though you just use a smidge it's this flavor that makes a Manhattan taste like a Manhattan. It's a teeny little bottle but I'm guessing it will last forever and will become part of my estate.)

1. Drain cherries well and blot on paper towels. Use LOTS of paper towels because they will soak through and stain your counters pink. You've been warned. Meanwhile, pour the simple syrup into a small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin on top and stir to combine. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 2 minutes. You can tell when it's soft because all the white bits will be clear. Place this mixture over low heat and stir, gently splashing around the sides of the pan until all of the gelatin has dissolved. Do not boil. This shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

2. Combine whiskey, vermouth and bitters in a bowl. Stir in gelatin mixture. Stir slowly for 1 minute.

3. Arrange cherries, stems pointing up, in your molds. I used little plastic condiment cups and I'm kicking myself for not saving them. Divide alcohol mixture evenly between molds. I used a spouted measuring cup to pour. Yes, it was tedious. Transfer to refrigerator for 45 minutes or until softly set. Straighten any slanted stems. (I totally skipped this step) Chill for at least 1 hour longer.

4. To unmold, dip bottoms of the cups briefly in body-temperature water, turn upside down and squeeze/shake the jellies out.

Next up - Lemon Drop Drops. It's gonna be an awesome summer!

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Citrus Chipotle Glazed Halibut

1. fish
2. brown rice
3. citrus relish
4. an orange

Hmmmmmm, where to start.... Okay, it might not look like much, but that may well be the most delicious fish I've ever made. I'll try to talk you through it.


Citrus Chipotle Glazed Halibut

4 pieces of fish (I used halibut steaks)
1 tangelo (oranges or maybe even grapefruit would work)
Juice from two tangelos
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used Champagne Citrus Vinegar from Trader Joe's)
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 of a chipotle sliced really thin (easier to do if it's frozen)*
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste

First the relish:
Supreme** a Minneola (save the juice) and toss with the onion, parsley, and vinegar. Sprinkle with a little bit of kosher salt and set aside.

The glaze:
Put the juice from the 2 Minneolas in your smallest saucepan with the leftover juice from mangling/supreme-ing the other tangelo. Heat on medium with the honey and sliced pepper, stirring occasionally and reduce until very thick and sticky (about 8 minutes or so) and then take it off the heat.

The relish and glaze can be done ahead of time. Or if you start the rice first everything will be done at the same time.

The fish:
Using a non-stick pan on medium heat - first brown about 2 tablespoons of butter. Then put the fish in and cook for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and then flip to the other side and cook for a couple more minutes. Take the fish out and deglaze the pan with a little glug of wine. Reduce it down until it coats a spoon and then add about 2 tablespoons of the pan liquid to the glaze. Stir to mix and brush on fish.

Serve with rice and the orange relish.

*You do keep chipotles in your freezer don't you? No? Well you should. Let me explain. I love chipotles, in small doses. As in, not a whole freakin' can at one time. A super easy way to store an opened can is to dump the whole thing out into a quart sized zip bag, seal it up, smoosh it all out, then freeze it flat. After it's frozen it's easy to break off an individual pepper, remove it, and reseal the bag. If you only want part of a pepper then chop off what you need and throw the rest back in, no waste. Try it!

** If you've never supremed, Coconut & Lime has a nice tutorial here.

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Happy 2009

oh. I forgot the words. Like it matters. Anyway - cookies for YOU Julie! Sure I might have missed Snackfest '09 (think it's a bit premature to be making declarations like that? I mean there's a whole lot of year left with surely much potential for equaling if not surpassing the excellence that was the aforementioned Snackfest? And then what? SnackSlapdown? I guess that could work) but I was there in spirit. And I was carrying cookies. Shortbread cookies, with chocolate! And you would have loved them. I'm sure of it.

Shortbread Cookies - makes 48 if you use your little scooper

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (or not if you use salted butter)
2 cups flour

Cream the butter, sugar and salt together in a bowl, then mix in 2 cups of flour about 1/4 a cup at a time. It'll eventually make a big lump of stiff dough that will walk a Kitchen-aid right off the counter if you aren't careful. Anyway. I digress. Again. Roll out the dough and cut it however you want. Apparently when I was a child I called rolling pins ro-doughlers. Apparently it was cute.
I roll dough on a flexible cutting mat - no flour needed. Or you can scoop it into balls and squash them with the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Or you know, a glass. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until as brown as you like 'em. Probably somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes. It really depends on how thin you rolled or smashed the dough.
I had lots of extra chocolate around so I made dents in the centers of these with my thumb and put a little chunk of dark chocolate love on each and every one. Then I stuck the whole pan back in the oven to get melty.


Maybe someday I'll explain how I came to possess extraneous amounts of dark chocolate, but for now I'll end with the first of this year's Resolutions.

Try to incorporate dark chocolate into more recipes.

Happy New Year ya'll!

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we’ll be playing and having fun

1. macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi
2. black beans
3. fruit salsa
4. coconut rice
5. papaya and grapes with a wedge of lime

I decided to make a nice islandy dinner for the kids to make up for going to Hawaii and not taking them and then not buying them anything while I was there. I'm nice that way.

The fish was prepared using Alton Brown's method - but I didn't use NEARLY the amounts suggested for the "crust" and still ended up with plenty. And I didn't use butter, because I didn't have any. How can it be that we have no butter? Un freakin believable. Did you hear me? WE HAVE NO BUTTER! Oh, sorry. Anyway.

The beans were a loose approximation of these beans only with canned beans instead of dried.

The coconut rice is just plain old rice but I subbed half of the water with coconut milk and sprinkled some toasted coconut flakes on top.

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Parmesan Couscous

1. Freakin' Delicious Tomatoes
2. Parmesan couscous
3. scrambled eggs
4. pesto

Work is still being altogether too much work. I don't know if I've been this tired since I was a "stay at home" mom. I know it's just a season and pretty soon I'll be back to my normal loafing self, but now? Too much work, not enough loaf. Or grocery shopping. The cupboard is bare Mother, the cupboard is bare! Except for things like whipping cream. And leftover chocolate sauce. Tonight's dinner should be ... interesting.



Parmesan Couscous

Bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil and add a sliver of butter. Dump in 1/3 cup of couscous and stir until smooth. Slap on the lid and turn off the heat. Five minutes later stir in 1 tablespoon heavy cream and 2 big pinches of Parmesan cheese. Makes one fabulous serving.

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Cubans & Clafoutis

1. Cubanesque sandwich
2. chips and dip
3. pickles
4. cherry clafoutis

If you Google around you'll find folk's have some pretty strong opinions on what exactly constitutes a Cuban sandwich. As I have no stomach for controversy let's just refer to these delicious sandwiches as Cubanesque, shall we? There's a seeming dearth of Cuban bread out here in the desert by the way, but sweet Hawaiian bread subs in nicely.


Cubanesque Crock Pot Pork

Buy a pork butt that will fit in your crock pot. Salt & pepper it and shove it in the crock. Tuck in a rough chopped onion, a few garlic cloves and pour in a half cup of orange juice. Half 2 Mexican limes (or use 1/2 of a Persian lime) and add the juice. Poke 3 or 4 cloves into one of the lime halves and throw it in as well. Cook on high for about 4-6 hours until the meat is exceedingly tender. Done!


After this pork cooled enough to handle I sliced it thin and made sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls with a little mustard, sliced pickle and Swiss cheese. I very lightly buttered the outside of the bread. I used the two hot skillet method to grill and press the sandwiches until they were toasty and melty and plain overall luscious.

The clafoutis recipe was inspired by Kevin @ Closet Cooking closely following a recipe from Ceres @ Bacchus with only a few minor changes. I must say I'm a little sad that I lived the first 40 years of my life ignorant to the ways of the clafoutis. Never again will neglected fruit languish in my kitchen - clafoutis for all my friends!

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Magnificent Spiced Rice and some chicken

If you live anywhere near Phoenix and you've never been to Haji-Baba then you should go. Not as in you should make a special trip or anything but you know, when you're in the area. If you order the schwarma (highly recommended) you might be tempted to pick up one of the little bags of schwarma spice mix they stock in the market half of Haji-Baba. Don't. It won't be as good. You will be disappointed. Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of my own warning and I bought some. I've used it twice and there's enough left to do it again. Hopefully I can overcome my distaste for wasting perfectly good yet ultimately insignificant pantry items and just throw it out. Or maybe not. Anyway - leftovers for lunch!

1. magnificent spiced rice
2. chicken tender
3. donut peach

Of course this really wasn't about the chicken. It's the rice, rice baby. Oh yeah. I went there. Yes. This rice is at least as, if not more, magnificent than Vanilla Ice. And his hair. For realz ya'll.

Magnificent Spiced Rice

1 cup basmati rice
2 tablespoons of butter
pinch of saffron
pinch of salt
handful of slice almonds
handful of raisins
3 whole green cardamom pods
2 2/3 cups of hot water

Melt the butter in a pan (a deep heavy bottomed pan that has a good fitting lid) with the rice and the almonds over medium high heat until the almonds get toasted. You pretty much need to be stirring constantly during this part. Crank up the heat to high and dump in everything else. Give it a stir or two until it begins to boil, then give it one final stir and slap on the lid. Immediately turn the heat down as low as you can get it and set your timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take off the lid and pick out the cardamom pods. If you're lucky they'll be right on top. Then all you need to do is "fluff" and enjoy!

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Ratatatatooey!

1. a sort of ratatouille
2. sliced steak
3. blackberries
4. sugar plum
5. fruit gel

Ratatouille is traditionally made with eggplant. This wasn't. I should probably be calling it Tomato and Zucchini Cooked Together or something like that, but I like to say Ratatouille. Actually what I -really- like to say is Ratatatatooey! Pronounced like RATA TATA TOOEY! Exclamation required. Here's a recipe. And by recipe I mean process. And by process I mean just cook it sorta like this.

Ratatatatooey!

2 or so tablespoons of olive oil
1 chopped onion
few cloves of sliced garlic
a big can of diced tomatoes (I'm in love with Muir Glen fire-roasted)
a couple of zucchini sliced into rounds
a handful of slivered basil leaves
salt and pepper

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft but not browned, then add the zucchini and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 10-15 minutes until the zucchini are soft. Add the basil and salt and pepper to taste. If I were going to add eggplant I would dice it up and salt it and let it sit in a colander in the sink to drain out for a while. I'd add it with the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes before adding the zucchini and cooking for another 10 minutes or so. I would hope to remember that I'd already salted the eggplant and would be careful not to add too much salt at the end.



About those plums...I bought those at Trader Joe's in one of those clamshell plastic things they use to package fruit. I also bought some prunes. It wasn't until much later that I noticed the fine print on each package. The plums were labeled "Sugar Plums (fresh prunes)" and the prunes were labeled "Prunes (dried plums)". I'm not sure what significance this has really - except that I'm still thinking about it.

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Operation BakingGals Mission #1 Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Susan from She's Becoming DoughMessTic has organized a great little idea called Operation Baking Gals (Give A Little Support) to get some homebaked treats to some homesick soldiers. Check out Operation Baking Gals website for more information.

I decided to make my famous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies because, well because they're famous! Okay, not really famous, but they are really good, and I think they will travel well.

Here's the dough ready to go in the oven. This recipe SHOULD make 3 dozen 2 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls, but as you can probably see I'm one short for some reason. Hmmmmm - sampling much maybe?




This is what the cookies look like when they first come out of the oven. They don't stay puffy but will settle down and look kinda crackly when they cool. But I ain't got that kinda time today, so hot cookies it is!




My Famous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups old fashioned oats
raisins (optional)
walnuts (optional)

Cream the butter and sugar together until --- creamy. Beat in the eggs along with the vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. When that's all mixed together add the flour and mix on low speed until it's all incorporated. If you are adding raisins and/or walnuts do it now - I like about 3/4 cup of each. (I didn't add walnuts to this batch - just the raisins) Or try using chocolate chips and pecans. Stir in the oats last. Scoop out using a 2 tablespoon sized scoop and round into balls. Place dough balls onto an ungreased baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move to a wire rack. If you don't take the cookies off the baking sheet before they completely cool they will stick!

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Shillin' for Zatarains Without Apology

Let me say right up front that I have received no promotional consideration from Zatarain's, McCormicks, or the Bush administration. Please note however that I have no particular qualms about accepting "gifts" from either of the first two - Bush administration? Not so much. Enough about politics, let's get on to the eatin'!

1. black beans and rice
2. cherries
3. carrots

This black bean and rice recipe is totally semi-HO-made, but don't think Sandy, think Amber or Ashley. Amber doesn't know it, but I luff her. She makes all sorts of yummy looking things including her own sandwich buns and pita bread but makes no apologies for serving Cool-Whip with pie made from blueberries she picked herself. That's just how freakin' cool she is. And Ashley? I luff her too. This girl cooks recipes off the backs of boxes and cans and makes it look totally gor-may, and she looks really hot with a green tongue.
Anyway, a co-worker asked to sample my lunch and didn't get around to eating it so she took it home, shared it with her husband and immediately phoned me to tell me to give her the recipe. Her marriage depended on it. I thought about typing up some crazy long recipe that involved digging up and grinding sassafras root but in the end my inherent laziness won out and I spilled the beans, so to speak.

Rice & Beans

1 onion
1/2 rotisserie chicken
1/2 pound of smoked sausage
12 shrimp
Zatarain's Black Beans & Rice

If your shrimp is frozen take it out now and put it in a colander in the sink. Run some water over it and let 'em sit there. They'll be ready when you are. Peel the onion and cut it in half, then slice thinly so you end up with half rings. Cook in the onion in a biggish pot with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile, slice up your smoked sausage and toss it in with the onions.
When it all looks goldeny brown and starts smelling like dinner add 3 cups of water and one box of Zatarain's Black Beans and Rice. Crank the heat up to high and stir pretty frequently until it starts to boil, then turn the heat back down to medium and smack a lid on top. It's gonna need about 30 minutes to cook and you only have about 5 minutes worth of work left so this is a good time to go sit a spell or put together a salad.
Sit for 20 minutes, or you know, whatever, then pull the meat off your chicken and shred or cut it up in bite sized pieces, dump it in the pot and stir. Peel your shrimp and devein them if your squeamish that way. Throw them in the pot, stir, put the lid back on and then take it off the heat. Pour yourself a big glass of tea and call the kids to the table. Dish it up and feel proud to live in America where you can buy a box of Zatarain's for 2 bucks at your local supermarket.

Speaking of shilling: Did you Haiku that Blog!?

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