Stolen Moments... file it away for next year...

Are these the most beautiful sugar cookies you have ever seen, or what?
It is a simple idea, piping the icing on in snow-flake patterns.. but WOW, so pretty...

New Tag - Lighter Side - lettuce wraps

There is no denying it anymore... There is more to love of The Hub and me than there used to be...

And in honor of the Wii Fit he got me for Christmas and the regimen I am trying to keep with it, I am going to lighten things up, menu-wise, around our table....


The trick with this has always been getting my picky eater and his big appetite to go along with the plan... My solution to this problem, I have decided, is to get really creative, come up with all kinds of fun flavorful new meals, so that he doesn't get bored by the same old "diet food".

Last night I made Asian inspired lettuce wraps...

-I put some very lean beef cut into strips into the slow cooker along with some beef stock, and a generous spoonful of minced garlic.. I sprinkled in some cayenne pepper for a little kick, and left it to cook on low all day....

-I cooked half a cup of quick cooking brown rice in 3/4 cup of boiling water until the liquid absorbed, then added 2 shakes of low sodium soy sauce to the rice, piled some jullianned carrots on top of the rice, and put the lid on while finished everything else (I like carrots warmed thru, but not mushy)

-Into iceburg lettuce leaves I spread some of the rice/carrot mix, and then added a few strips of the beef to each wrap..

They were good... filling, flavorful, and approved by The Hub....

Stay tuned for more visits to the Lighter Side, and if you have favorite recipes, tips, etc for weight watching, PLEASE post them for me!!

Cheating at Shepherd's pie...

So it was exactly 3 degrees when I got home from work last night... (up from the -5 that it was when I left that morning..) It might surprise people to know that this is not AT ALL normal for Colorado... there was ice INSIDE or freaking windows, for goodness sake!!

Clearly we needed hot, hearty food - STAT!

I dug out some frozen beef stew left over from a week or two ago, thawed it out and added some extra peas and carrots to the mix and spread it in a baking dish... on top of that went a trusty package of "baby red" instant mashed potatoes, and it all got topped with a sprinkle of cheddar and some paprika and into the oven...

just 15 short minutes later it was bubbly on the bottom, crusty on the top, and just the thing to chase away these obscene temps...

Now if only I could use the stuff to insulate our windows...

Steak Flautas, Cabana style..

In my teen aged years, and then while was in culinary school, I worked at the coziest, friendliest, warmest, yummiest little family run Mexican restaurant you could ever hope to come across...

One of the things about "tex mex" style cooking, different places call random things by familiar names... The "Flauta" was a specialty of the house at that place, but it wasn't a flauta at all, really.

Last night I got a hankering for one and so I raided the "ethnic" (are they kidding with that) foods isle at the grocery and got cooking....

-I chopped up a large flank steak into 1/2 cubes, and maranaded in a can of cola mixed with chopped jalepenos, garlic, and plenty of cumin - while that swam around in the mixture, I thawed out the rest of my zesty enchilada sauce and put a can of good old Stokes green chili with pork on the stove to heat...

-Then I browned the steak cubes in a screaming hot skillet, sprayed a roasting pan with Crisco spray and rolled two big burritos full of the steak.

-I smothered the burritos in the enchilada sauce and placed them under the broiler to crisp up a bit...

-while those broiled, I added shredded cheddar and motzarella cheeses to the green chili for a quick chili con queso and mashed an avacado with some tomato, shallot, and garlic salt for a fast guac....

After the burritos were nicely broiled, I transfered them to plates before smothering them again, this time in the queso sauce, adding some store bought (gasp) refried beans and a generous amount of the guac (but NOT for The Hub, he is anti-guac)....

That double smothered, baked burrito was what we fondly refered to as a "flauta" in that little restaurant... strange but true...

It was goooood... granted, it was not the same as if I had made every single thing from scratch, but it hit the spot and H loved it... (and besides, I have trouble making green chili in anything smaller than 1 gallon batches.... hazards of learning your recipes in a restaurant kitch, I guess...)

Stolen moments - I don't bake, but...

For this I might make an exception...
Chocolate Bourbon Cake from Simply Recipes... yum....
Now that SCREAMS "let's celebrate"!!

Worse.food blogger.ever.

I took NO pictures, not one, of the food for the party... We had a couple arrive VERY early for the party and it just kind of threw off my mojo or something... Honestly I was kind of bummed...
I was so flustered that I forgot the last minute things I needed to remember - like putting my flat iron away after it cooled down, so it sat in our front bathroom looking janky until like 9:30 when I finally went to the loo and saw it... :(

I really wish I had taken pictures because my table scape was freaking awesome... I laid down some silk magnolia stems that had a touch of shimmer to them on top of a pale green and cream table cloth... for the antipasti platter, I actually did two - one which sat on my awesome old picnic basket, and another which sat below it, with grapes cascading between the two..... after I got the other platters in place, I put a sprinkling of mini christmas ball ornaments in icy blue, silver and matte white around the the table too... It was my best one yet...
:::sigh:::

Anyway, the tuscan mushrooms mentioned in the last entry were a HUGE hit - people loved them so much... all the food turned out great, although I would make my "mini flat breads" bigger (I used a biscut cutter to do them this time) just so they would sit up on the grill a bit more during cooking.... also, the white bean garlic puree was really tasty, but my sis pointed out that people liked the individually portioned things better, so I think I would spread it on crackers instead of serving it in a bowl if I was going to serve it again... but the recipe was spot on - great flavor!!

Also, between the antipasti boards and various recipes, I roasted and used 7 heads of garlic... if I ever need that much again I would probably buy it pre-roasted, just because The Hub was not thrilled that there was a pan of roasting garlic in the oven for 5 hours on Thursday night... (woops).. I personally thought it smelled amazing when it was roasting..

Anyway, I suck, party is over and I have no pics to show for it... no one is more dissapointed than me, I promise... I am SO mad at myself...

Seriously tho... try those Tuscan Mushrooms... oh, and don't show up 40 minutes early for a party even if it is "to help" unless you have cleared it with the host... Those are my tips for the holiday season... chin chin...

Party menu

I have been saying I was going to post the menu for our Holiday Party for weeks now... (lazy, lazy todds_wife) so here is a run down, with posts about prep and outcome to follow - promise...
I can't wait to get home and start prepping and cooking!!

I have had so much fun with this food... I am making a Giant antipasti board with roasted heads of garlic and peppers and meats and cheeses and figs and oil-cured olives and all kinds of yummy stuff; and these "tuscan mushrooms" and I am grilling a bunch of bite-sized rounds of pizza dough (on my trusty George FormanTYVM) and topping some with soft cheese, carmelized onion and crispy pachetta; and some with tomato and basil with olive oil, and some with melon and proccutto, and some with an olive tapanade... (Tentatively, of course... you know how it goes when you get to the store and see something else yummy to top things like that with)

I am also making tiny calzones (I use the refridgerated biscuts and fold them in half over the filling and bake) filled with fennel sausage for the carnivores, and a tuscan white bean and garlic puree to spread on some herby crackers... I am going to toast some almonds in the oven tonight with a coating of canola spray and some italian herb mix and sea salt also...
For our "signature drink" we are having Pomagranate Belinis with my favorite well priced Prosecco, Lunetta..

At The Hub's request- Chicken Fried Steak

You can take The Hub out of Texas, but you can never take Texas out of The Hub (regardless of what he might say about it)... So once every month or two, I get a request to make him a good-old fashioned chicken fried steak, and I have perfected a technique that maximizes flavor and crunch, and minimizes (as much as possible) mess...

1. I remove the cube steak from the fridge and let it come to room temp. I pat it dry on the outside.
2. I pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. I get my "mies en place" (a step which would make my old chefs from school proud) by preparing a bowl with a beaten egg, 1/2 cup of butter milk, and a large pinch of baking soda (ask my mom.. she says it is for a golden color) mixed together; and a piece of wax paper with a cup and a half or two cups of all purpose flour mixed with a handful of corn meal, a tablespoon of seasoning salt, half a pack of ranch dressing mix, and a palmful of cayanne pepper. I place these next to my dutch oven with two inches of veggie oil on the stove and heat the oil to almost smoking. on the other side of the pan I place my roasting pan with a flat wire roasting rack in it - sprayed with Pam.
4. I dredge the steaks in the flour covering all surfaces and shaking off excess, then dip into the egg mixture and remove as much excess as possible.. then back into the flour and coat until dry on the outside again, then into the hot oil.. but JUST long enough to brown that side,(maybe a minute) and then flip to brown other side and then remove to wire rack and place the steaks into the oven to finish cooking...
this last step keeps the steaks from getting burned on the outside, the oil from getting smoky and messy, and allows me time to clean up (toss waxed paper with extra flour, dump egg mix, wipe down any messes) and make gravy and mashed potatoes.. (for gravy I drain off the oil from the dutch oven, add milk and deglaze the bits from the bottom of the pan, thicken with corn starch as needed, and season to taste)
5.In 10 minutes or so, you have a perfectly cooked chicken fried steak, the air has been allowed to circulate around the whole thing, keeping all sides crunchy in the oven, and nothing is burned (and the smoke alarm isn't going off, and some of the grease has even drained OFF OF the steak)..

Extreme close up of the golden goodness:

And lucky H got leftover Thankgiving greenbeans with bacon and my favorite brown and serve rolls (what kind of crack do they put in those things? I could eat them by the bag!) to accompany his requested steak...
Everybody sing it with me "The stars at night, are BIG AND BRIGHT, :::Clap clap clap clap:: deep in the HEART OF TEXAS!!"

WTF to do with all that turkey!?

Why, steal an idea from my friend Terresa and make BBQ Chicken (er, I mean turkey) pizza, of course!!
It was cold as heck out on the pa-tay-oh, so there was no way I was firing up the grill for pizza dough.. I popped a can of pilsbury pizza dough (never fails to scare the crap out of me when it pops - doesn't matter how ready I think I am), stretched it out, cut it into squares, and cooked it on the George Forman (4 minutes, then flip and 2 more minutes)


Then I layed the crust on a baking sheet, covered it with some Jack Daniels (Store bought) BBQ sauce, spread some shredded turkey and mozzerella cheese on top and broiled the whole affair until it was good and bubbly hot!!

I pulled it out of the oven, cut it into pieces and served it right on the cutting board with a side of carmelized onion for topping (The Hub is not down with onion, but it is a MUST on this pizza in my opinion!)... It was a perfect post-Thanksgiving weekend meal - easy, hearty, and different..

Lazy Cook = French Everything!!

It was cold yesterday.. woke up to freezing drizzly yuck.... By the time I schlepped thru my day and made it home to The Hub, who returned from a business trip that afternoon, I was cold, cranky, and ready for a hot, substantial, comforting dinner... Enter the french dip and fries!

I had french bread in the freezer, so I grabbed some deli roast beef on the way home and heated it in some beef stock on the stove while the frozen french fries were cooking in the oven, and then layered the roast beef on pieces of french bread (french bread, french fries, french dip... See a pattern here, Oui?) with some white cheddar and let them get melty inside and crusty outside before serving them up with a heap of fries and the warmed beef stock for dipping...
Just what the culinary doctor ordered - and about 20 minutes after entering the casa, we were sitting down over piping hot dinner... Yay....

Stolen Moments - Fried Dill Pickles

I admit it - I am a lover of pretty much ALL bar food... the more deep-fried, the better...
fried dill pickles, as far as I'm concerned, are tiny little bites of heaven waiting to dive into a vat of ranch dressing... I never really considered making them at home, and goodness knows I love a good "bar food at home" night plenty, so...
This looks like a great recipe from Cooks Like a Champion for some fried dill-pickle-y goodness...
And goodness knows I want some now...

Sunday Dinner, Stacked pork Enchiladas

Sunday dinner is kind of tradition for us and another couple in the neighborhood... we haven't done it in a while, but in the past we would trade off going over to each other's houses for dinner on Sunday evenings - nothing formal about who made what or when, sometimes we'd skip a week or two - but if it worked out we would get together Sunday evening for a meal and kind of cap off the weekend in a nice way...
Last night they came over and I made stacked pork enchiladas and spanish rice...

I cooked pork stew meat in the slow cooker on low for 9 hours in a mixture of cumin, garlic, and chicken stock, then drained it out and shredded it:


I mixed monterey jack and sharp cheddar cheese into the shredded meat:

Starting with a layer of canola spray and then corn tortillas, I layered the filling with the Enchilada Sauce I made and froze last week (I did thin it out with some more chicken stock, and then thicken to the consistancy I wanted with corn starch slurry so it wouldn't be QUITE so spicy this time around.. ) I covered the top layer of Corn tortillas with the end of the sauce and more of the mixed cheeses and baked the casserole for 45 minutes at 350.

I served it with simple store brand spanish rice, my uber-tomato-y guacamole, sour cream, and chips and salsa... It was yummy - however my girlfriend and I agreed that with all the cheese and tortillas to balence it out, the hotter version of the sauce that The Hub and I ate on our pork chops last week probably wouldn't have seemed quite so hot... live and learn...

Sunday dinner with good friends really is a great way to squeeze out the last bit of weekend fun while relaxing and gearing up for the week ahead... I hope we do it again soon. :)

Lasagna Spaghetti...

I love a good lasagna.... So does The Hub.
Actually, his standard order at one of our local favorite eateries is the Lasagna Pizzetta - an individual pizza with lasagna fixings on top.

Building on that idea, I occasionally take all of the yummy lasagna filling ingredients and add them to some cooked spaghetti and stir it all up into a deliciously easy way to get the taste we love without all the assembly of homemade lasagna... Last night we had Spaghetti with maranara sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, and italian sausage...I mixed it all together and grated some parmesan over the top of it right in my (oven safe) dutch oven and stuck it under the broiler for a minute or two to get some bubbly brown cheese on top... I had leftover baby squash (The Hub skipped the veggies) and of course we had garlic bread...

All the yummieness of homemade Sunday lasagna, but in busy weeknight time!!

Stolen Moments - tiny tacos

Last night was good old "Burgers and Frings" night... The Hub loves a local place that uses smoked cheddar on their burgers, so I have taken to using smoked cheeses on ours at home...
Last night was smoked Gouda and it certainly was Good-uha.. (ha ha).. A mix of easy-not-healthy frozen fries and onion rings completed the pub-at-home meal.... mmmmmm...

It isn't a recipe, just an idea - but how much fun is the tiny taco sampler featured in this entry of Design Sponge (Scroll past the cutie patootie tea towels). Those are genius for a party, although I have sworn that I won't do anything that even hints at a latin flavor for the holiday party.. (I did a Latin theme for my birthday party this year..)

They will have to go in the back of the idea folder tho - because they are way too cute and fun!!

WOO - Pork Chops EN Fuego!!

...So in my high school days, I worked in the kitchen at a fabulous family-owned mexican restaurant in my little home town (before it turned into a horrifying sprawling suburb).. really great Tex Mex has always been a favorite for my whole family, and since I am married to a transplanted Texan, I find plenty of reasons to whip up something south-of-the-boarder inspired pretty regularly..

I recently decided that I wanted to start making my own sauces, and bringing some of what I remember from my restaurant days back into my kitchen... So yesterday I decided to make enchilada sauce to serve over porkchops and rice... I found a recipe that seemed similar to what I remember making at the restaurant, and figured I would tweak it as needed when I was making it...
______________________________________
The recipe:

1 1/2 Tbls olive oil
1/4 cup flour

combine over heat to form a pale roux and then add:

1 small can chilies in adobo sauce, minced plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder...

Heat to a boil, drop to a simmer and allow roux to thicken sauce....


__________________________________

Sounds devine, right? So I whipped it up and poured it over two porkchops that I cooked in the slow cooker with some chicken stock and some adobo sauce from the can of chilies - and served it with some store bought spanish rice.

HOLY 5 ALARM PORK CHOP, BATMAN!!! That sauce was hotter than hellfire!! Don't get me wrong, it actually had amazing depth of flavor - but GD it stung like crazy! The Hub was loving it, but eating rice like crazy, and glistening like we were sitting on a porch in Houston in July!!

It made a good amount of sauce, so I froze the rest and when I thaw it I think I will add a bit more stock, and some cumin to up the smokey flavor and thin out the heat just a bit... this stuff was not for the faint of heart - but it was a GREAT starting point.

Mui Caliente!!



PS - We sent the evites for our holiday open house today, so I look forward to posting about menu ideas and decisions soon.. stay tuned!

stolen moments - Carmel Apple Cupcakes

The baker-girl of my group of fabulous friends has been feeling super-crummy this past week, and I hate the thought of her sunny-self being even a wee tiny bit uncomfy.. :(
In her honor, I give you this stolen moment from an Indie Fixx guest blogger.. Carmel Apple Cupcakes...
Perfect for fall, perfect to share with your girlfriends, perfect weekend baking project for puttering around the kitch...

Feel better soon, Auntie K - we all love you!!

Self High-five - yummy Gyros

Made Gyros for dinner last night, and they turned out amazing!! The Hub kept saying "this is REALLY good" every few bites, and I will be incorporating this into the rotation of things we have once a month or so for sure!!

Midway thru dinner, The Hub said "did you take a picture of these?" (He seems to think they were blog-worthy) and looking down at our devoured dinners I was bummed that I had not...

To make them I used 3 pretty scrawny lamb shoulder chops, which I cut the bones out of and diced into cubes (about 3/4 inch square). I browned the cubes on all sides and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and oregano, then removed the skillet from the heat and covered while I sauteed a chopped green pepper (and some chopped white onion and fresh tomato in a small skillet, just for me)..
I heaped the meat and veggies on a big plate, squeezed some lemon juice over the meat, and served with a pile of warm pita bread and (since I forgot to grab the ingredients for Tzatziki ) a small bowl of ranch for The Hub to drizzle over his (I don't like sauce on my Gyros) - he seemed to really like the ranch, I would probably just use it next time too, and skip the added step of making sauce...

A few things that I think really made the difference between last night's dinner and other times I have made gyros:

-I really concentrated on not overcooking the meat - I just browned each side and then covered and let the leftover heat in the pan do the rest - so it was tender-as-could-be...
-I kept the seasoning simple... just the oregano with some S&P let the flavor of the meat come through - in the past I have used a mix of seasonings - but lamb has such a distinct flavor and we both enjoyed being able to taste it..
-Using shoulder chops and cutting the meat myself.. in the past I have used lamb stew meat, which could come from any part of the lamb - tough or tender, flavorful or bland... The shoulder meat was perfection!


With the addition of a big Greek Salad with plenty of feta and olives, this will be a Sunday dinner with friends in the not-too-distant future, I am sure... it would be easy to feed a crowd and it is sure to please everyone!!

Back in the saddle...

Ok ok ok... Pickings have been a little slim around eatdrinkandbekeri lately - but only because action in the kitchen has been limited..
But I am back in a big way this week, kiddos, I promise!!

Last night I made lasagna pizza topped with ricotta, pepperoni and motzerella for dinner (I did use pilsbury pizza dough to make things easy, but who can resist a picture of the dough-boy anyway?)... The Hub is a big fan of a "Lasagna Pizzetta" from a local joint (or local chain now, I guess) called Pasquini's, so I figured it would be a hit... it was!! And the dough boy makes a pretty darn good pizza crust for that kind of dish - it was a bit bready, but for the weight of the toppings that actually worked out really well!!

Coming up this week:

Gyros
Fish and Chips
Beef Tips
BBQ Chicken wraps


I promise to cook up a storm and get this place hoppin' again!!

Confession time - last night's din left plenty to be desired...

So yesterday I dropped a chunk of rump roast into my crock pot along with a packet of onion-chive dip mix I had laying around, some beef broth, and a generous pour of a bottle of Merlot that I had purchased for use in this dish specifically... Turned it on low, gave it a little nod, and took off out the door for work, happy in the thought of returning home to a great smelling dinner that was almost done..

It did smell great when I walked through the door -so I roasted some broccoli florets and chopped up potatoes drizzeled with olive oil in the oven, sprinkled them with cheese to minimize protests from The Hub, and we sat down to eat...

It was.... fine... To be honest the meat didn't have much flavor, considering it was cooked in dip mix and wine, for goodness sakes! WTF? The Hub said it was good, but I was expecting it to be a real "wow" dish and I was left totally culinarily dissapointed...

I am not even going to speculate how I might solve the problem next time... I don't see why there would be a "next time" for this blah bummer...

:::sigh::: After that let down, I think I will get The Hub to take me for burgers tonight, and let the sting of a ho-hum creation die down a bit...

Stolen Moments- "Snackie night" idea

The Hub and I love a good "Snackie Night" sometimes... like a low-brow version of antipasto night - with loads of finger food, bar snack type things piled on a wooden cutting board for us to share...
This twist on the twice-baked potato is sure to have a place of honor on that board the next time we indulge... Mini twice baked potatoes? BRILLIANT!! (Actually, everything miss MacAndCheesecake made that day looked perfect for a game day or snack night - but these must be made ASAP!)

Sorry, my bad...

Crazy times abound... first the funky cold attacked me - I recovered just enough to actually enjoy a quick trip to New Orleans last weekend to see two dear friends get married, and I returned this week to final preperations at work for our biggest event of the year!!!

Normal cooking and blogging will return next week - I pinky swear.... :)

We got the funk...

It would appear that I have a bit of a cold, food lovers... Tuesday night I started to feel a little "iffy" and my culinary prowess reflected my ick - making The H a braut and some corn, and me some chicken soup... by Wednesday morning the funk had fully settled in, and we were in for a week of "what can I throw in a pot for this guy to eat?" kind of meals..
We had
-the aforementioned Brauts and corn (and soup for me)
- Ground beef and cheese quesidillas (and soup for me)
-frozen pizza and salad (and a big hot toddy for me)

This morning I woke up wondering if bronchitis might be rearing it's mucusy head, and looking forward to the weekend not so I can hang in the kitchen with a glass of wine and cook up a storm, but so I can lay on the sofa with my Vicks 44 and mucenex....

Pass the chicken soup, please...

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Chicken

This last weekend I cleaned out the pantry cabinet, and found a large unopened box of brown rice, I am thinking from the begining of the summer when the inlaws were here and I thought I was going to be cooking for them..
In any case, the whole point of the clean-out was so that I could take inventory and really know what I had to work with, and then use some stuff up if I could.
So, after cooking up 2 portions of the rice per the package directions, I added some steamed broccoli florrets and stirred in a generous dollop of Mission cheddar cheese dip (the BEST cheese dip EVER packaged for mass sale)... Leaving that to melt together and get all creamy and delish, I cut two chicken breasts into chunks, seasoned with pepper and garlic salt, and browned each side in a skillet before adding a bit of my open chardonay to the pan and covering so the pieces could cook through...

Not half bad... The H ate all of his and seemed content, I could have done with a bit more cheesy flavor (but that is kind of like saying the sun will rise tomorrow.. it is always true..)
It worked, it was something different, and it used up some of what I already had.. Good enough.

Tonight, Spicy bean and cheese quesidillas - Ole!

Asian Persuasion.. Salad H will actually eat..

The H is not a big fan of salads... He calls good mixed greens "weeds," he whimpers and fishes things he doesn't like or recognize off his plate with the tip of a fork tine, he sighs heavily when I set anything other than a ceasar down in front of him...
One exception, however, is this Asian inspired steak salad... I start out with a bag of "American" salad mix, carrots, iceburg, maybe some red cabbage (he will pick that out tho).. to this I add any veggie I can get away with sneaking in - I use red and green bell peppers, because I know he will eat those, some sugar snap peas (sometimes he eats them, sometimes not), tiny pieces of broccoli florrets, extra chopped carrot, anything I have in the house that I think might get eaten.
I toss this mixture with some Newman's Own Sesame Ginger Dressing - The H LOVES the stuff, which I never would have guessed...
The final touch that helps this salad go from "meh" to "Manly" is a small portion of cleverly sliced up steak marinaded for an hour in a mix of pressed garlic, a splash of soy sauce, chilli powder, red wine vinagar, and a bit of veggie oil - then grilled or broiled to medium rare... the trick is slicing thin, so a little meat goes a long way and he isn't filling up just on a big hunk of steak...

-PS, the salad dressing itself makes a great marinade for meat if you are serving it without the salad - but I like to mix it up a bit when I am having it with the salad, and the chilli powder in the marinade gives it a nice kick (I add plenty!)

Anniversary Dinners...

Last Thursday The H and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We decided to have dinner at home that night, and then head to Nine75 for dinner and drinks on Friday, when the work week was over and we could relax... (I will post a rundown of that at the end of this post)

Thursday night when I got home, The H headed into the kitchen and popped open some bubbly for us right away, and an anniversary toast was a great way to be greeted after a day at the office.. :)

I made (of all things) our favorite Costco find, Spinach and Cheese Ravioli from the freezer section!! I know it sounds like a lackluster celebratory dinner, but the secret to this stuff is in the little packets of seasoning they give you... the magic is in the simplicty of preparation, I promise.. You boil the ravioli gently for 8 minutes or so, then drain and return it to the pot, add a generous drizzle of olive oil and then sprinkle the contents of the seasoning packet over the pasta and stir it in with the oil to coat... The little packet of herbs, cheeses, and breadcrumbs mixes with the oil and starts to heat up and melt and get all yummy smelling ... it is sooo good...

I served that with some cheesy garlic bread, and some fresh tomatoes (just for me, The H is anti-tomato - pictured above)

It is a dish we both enjoy, with easy prep and clean up so we could just enjoy hanging out together with minimal fuss. (try the pasta if you shop at Costco - you will be hooked!)

For you Denverites -

Restaurant Review - Nine75:

I love the look of the place, dark and sleek and clean... The dining room is in the front of the restaurant, the bar is through a narrow hall on the back of the space. We got a great table in the window facing Lincoln...
Some will recall that when I left work on Friday, I was in serious want of a serious cocktail, and their specialty "the boss" didn't dissapoint.. it was kind of a take on a hard lemonade, but with a German liquor made from Elderberry flowers... it was boozy and sweet and GOOD!

For entrees we were semi-predictable, The H having the skirt steak with brazillian steak sauce, with a side of their herby fries, and me choosing the boneless white fried chicken with a side of mashed potatoes...
The H said his skirt steak was good but "kinda wierd" - which upon further conversation I learned meant it didn't really have much flavor going on at all (which can happen with skirt steak if you don't give it lots of flavorful love precooking..).. the fries were delish...
The chicken was basically panko breaded big chicken fingers, which is a-ok with me.. the meat was very juicy.. however, the breading had too much of whatever pepper flakes or dried peppers or whatever it was (it was so overpowering that it just stuck in the back of my throat and kind of made me feel like I needed to cough)... sort of like they tried to give it a little kick and went WAY overboard.. The mashed potatoes needed seasoning with plenty of S&P, but I liked the kind of "smashed, not whipped" texture.

We were stuffed and declined dessert, but our very sweet and attentive waiter brought us a plate of their house cotton candy, and I proceeded to GORGE myself.. this is no run-of-the-mill cotton candy.. it has a lime flavor to it, and the amount they bring would feed at least 6 people... it was freaking good!!

Bottom line is, I don't think we would go back for dinner - however I very much want to go back for drinks in their popular and cozy bar.. they have a small plates section on their menu, and the entire staff (right down to the valets) seem to LOVE the tacos... they have a lobster taco on there that I WILL be having sometime soon... and if I ever have a really bad day, I am gathering the girls for a few rounds of "The Boss" cocktails and a huge plate of that cotton candy!!

Stolen Moment - Cheesy goodness

It is no secret that I have an obsessive love of all liquid cheese products/concoctions...
So when I stumbled across this recipe at Diva in the Midwest for a simple cheddar ale dip, I couldn't resist posting a link...
Seriously, how perfect is that for a cold fall day watching foot ball?
mmmmmm, cheeeeeese...... :::droool:::

Stolen Moments - Comfort in a pocket..

How great an idea is this chicken cresent pocket recipe from Stephanie's blog, Maccaroni and Cheesecake? (Credit for the pic belongs to her as well)...

And while the orginal recipe sounds delish - it is the idea of using the cresent dough to create all kinds of yummy pocket dinners that excites me... A perfect cold-weather comfort food, with minimal fuss, AND The H would get excited about even the most simple fillings... Ham and Cheese for example, would go from boring to BAM prepared this way.. and sneaking in some veggies would be easy as pie!!

Love the idea, love it - feel kind of silly that I never thought of it... And further, the next time I make beef wellington, I am SO using cresents...

Oh pilsbury dough boy, so cute and so dependable...bless your ticklish little heart...

Carbonara, only lighter....

We had friends over last night for dinner, something I love to do on a Sunday to kind of stretch the weekend out a little longer.. (besides, I doubt we will get much entertaining time at our place with the elevator out.. "Sure, come on over for drinks, don't mind the 6 flights of steep, dimly lit stairs...")
I finally had an excuse to make the roasted brussel sprouts I featured in a Stolen Moments post Sept 15th, but to satisfy The H (who doesn't dig them) I roasted a mix of veggies, including brussel sprouts, carrots, squash, califlower, and whole tomatoes, and just let everyone pick whatever they wanted out of the mix..

I wanted to make pasta Carbonara, because I craved some bacony goodness, but let's face it - traditionally made Carbonara is a calorie and fat bomb!! (Look at queen Paula Deen's rendition as an example... YIKES!!!

So I decided to take some of the traditional ingredients and see if I could just get the flavors associated with the dish, but in a less heavy version..

I poached a few chicken breasts in white wine to up the protein as well. Then I chopped that into large chunks and added it, along with crumbled turkey bacon, a splash of olive oil, some black pepper, and around a cup of shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano to some cooked and drained Spagetti and let everything heat through so the cheese got all nice and melty.
We had the pasta and the roasted veggies, plus some crusty bread with the ever-delish Garlic Basil Blast spread- warm and gooey from the oven..
Here is a shot of my lunch today (oh leftovers, how I love thee!)

I really liked the way everything turned out.. I could eat roasted veggies every night of the week, I think - the are just so yummy! The pasta was great - next time I make it, I think I would add a bit of garlic paste to the pot with the cheese, etc, and let that mingle in there too, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We watched the Green Bay/Dallas game, had some drinks and just relaxed... Perfect Sunday night after a hearty Sunday dinner...

:::sigh::: I miss the weekend already....

Beef Brainstorm

So starting today the elevator in our building is out of order for 6 to 8 weeks for a retrofit, leaving us living in a 6th floor walk up for the next two months (ugh). In preparation I made a trip to Costco and packed in a huge supply of steak, ground turkey, chicken breast, and anything else that freezes or lives in the pantry cabinet, and plan to only hit the grocery for fresh fruits and veggies (easy to carry up the stairs) as needed for the duration of the elevator project.

Costco had a great price on packages of strip steak, and that is a pretty versatile cut of beef, so I grabbed a couple packages and divided them out into freezer bags to pull out of the freezer as needed.

What, prey-tell, will Keri do with all of this beef? Start a new segment here, of course... The Brainstorm!

Today's subject is said steak, so what is a girl to whip up? Here's some of my yummy ideas:

-Kabobs
-Fajitas
-Salad with steak and blue cheese
-Grilled tacos
-Cheese steaks
-Steak Frites
-BFD -Steak and eggs with green chilli
-Beef and Horseradish sauce (I've made this one before)
-Beef Stew and crusty bread
-Stuffed beef (with a mixture of breadcrumbs, herbs and blue cheese)
-Beef and Broccoli
-Beef Stroganoff
-Toasted steak sammies on garlic bread
-Beef Goulash
-This tangerine beef (sounds yum!)
-Steak with merlot sauce
-Beef Wellington
-Beef Lo Mein
-BBQ Beef Sammies
-Good old Steak and baked potatoes (always a fave!)
-Beef Empanadas (the ones I made for my b-day using canned biscut dough were so easy!)
-This Thai grilled beef salad from Ellie Krieger
-Sheppard's Pie
-Ceasar Salad with grilled steak strips



What brillant and yummy ideas am I missing? The H likes variety, and buying one type of main ingredient in bulk means that I have to mix it up and keep things fresh, or he is going to get bored with that ingredient... (Obviously chicken breasts can present this issue as well, but that's another list...)

Show your gadgets some love

I had to post a link to this fabulous post over at My Husband Hates Veggies because I, too have a love affair with my crock pot, especially in the hustle and bustle of the chilly fall months..

Couldn't have said it better myself, Kitty - and your pulled pork looks full-proof and yummy too!

Garlic basil blast is the answer to everything

Another of the MANY little bits of helpful culinary genius to be found at Whole Foods is the magical concoction known as Garlic Basil Blast. Tucked in a fridge case next to all of their wonderful prepared food bars along with a myriad of other equally-inspiring prepared sauces and spreads, this seemingly simple mixture has proven itself worthy of "always have on hand" status...

Not only was it great for adding something different, fresh, and tasty to our MANY assorted antipasto nights during the kitchen reno, but spreading it on a split loaf of crusty French bread and broiling open-faced for a couple minutes produces garlic bread that turns cheap and simple pasta nights into something worthy of guests - a hearty salad, a big plate of spagetti, and a generous hunk of warm, bubbly garlic basil blast bread - now that is a meal that welcomes everyone to the table!

Last night produced another simple-yet-delicious idea for the heavenly goo: Ham and Cheddar paninis with a shmear of garlic basil blast on each piece of bread... soooo goooood.. :::drooling on keyboard at sight of picture:::

A pressed sammie is never a bad thing, all hot and crusty and cheesy and melty - but the basil in the spread gave it a kind of freshness, the garlic added a tiny bit of kick, and the consistancy of the spread and the cheese melting together all warm and delish was a perfect contrast to the crusty outer layer.
Piled next to some shoestring fries, it was a super-simple hit with The H.
Score one for the folks at Whole Foods for another yummy time-saving find in the prepared food section.. Love it.

Perfect for fall Stolen Moment...

I don't know how The H is going to feel about this one, but I must try this simple recipe from Liz's Cooking Blog... I love oven roasted veggies in the fall, and these look amazing.. (kudos for the mouth-watering pic!) It might have to be on a Solo dining night, but this dish with some prosciutto and a glass of white wine would be a perfect dinner for me to come home and cuddle up on the sofa with for a cozy evening watching new episodes of my favorite TV programs!

Thanks troop 1062!

There are things that we used to make for meals when camping with the Girl Scouts that my assistant troop leader mother then started making at home, that are things I will probably cook for the rest of my life... One of my true faves is "Campfire Stew," which we had last night in response to the cold and rainy weather.

It is super easy to up the amounts on all of the ingredients and make this for a crowd (say 25 hungry camping scouts, for example..) but for The H and me to have a good dinner and some leftovers, I would make the classic recipe like this:

-in a large dutch oven or similar pot, brown 1 lb of ground beef and drain fat as needed.
-add 1 large potato, cubed (smaller cubes = quicker cooking potatoes!) and brown potatoes to crisp as desired
- pour in 1 family-sized can of condensed veggie beef soup, and add 1/4-1/2 a can of water (depending on desired thickness).
-heat through and until potatoes are done to your liking.. serve with biscuts, rolls, or crusty bread for mopping up the yummy stew..

Now granted, I have taken a lot of licence with this recipe over the years... At home I use a small can of soup, add the full can of water and then thicken with corn starch.. I also use canned potatoes, or omit them and add leftover kernels of corn (or whatever I have around). In addition, sometimes in scouts we made meat balls instead of just having ground beef throughout the stew, browning them first and then letting the stew simmer to cook them until done.
The H likes this recipe when I use pre-cut stew meat from the meat dept of the grocery, I have made it with beef and also with lamb and had great results!!

It is a quick, hearty, one-pot meal with a minimum of ingredients - so in the cold months I tend to keep a few cans of veggie beef soup in the cabinet all the time, ready for use in this recipe on busy, chilly days..

Thanks troop 1062!

Stolen Moments, Football fiesta treat...

Football season is upon us, people... For our house this means that it is time to break out the Scarlet and Gray, dust off the Bobble-head Brutus, and root for THE Ohio State University Buckeyes (come on boys, you are killing me with these impossible-to-watch trainwreck championship games... ugh).

While I wholeheartedly root for the Bucks, what I love most about football viewing is the social aspect, and of course, making tons of yummy game-time snacks... In that vein, I give you today's Stolen Moment from Food Blogga; Chicken, Jalepeno, Cheddar Quesadillas with a yummy chipoltle BBQ sauce... oh yeah, something spicy for the chilly fall days... The H is going to love these!

Thank you, Rotisserie chicken...

...From the bottom of my overworked little bod...

I can always depend on one of these beauties, picked up fresh and hot from my local deli counter, when I just want to go home and eat RIGHT NOW!
Last night I picked one up, carved everything off the bone, packing the dark meat away for yummy chicken salad sammies to enjoy in my lunchbox this week, and cubed the breasts over a huge chopped salad with mixed greens, roasted bell peppers, baby artichoke hearts, garlic roasted potatoes, sliced carrots, and crumbled blue cheese (most left over from antipasto night while the kitchen was out of commission... )
I dressed the salad with a simple mixture of Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Fresh Basil and plenty of S&P. Tons of good veggies victoriously fed to The H, a quick, easy dinner that had us eating in no time, and yummy lunches to come - all for 6 bucks and a stop at the store on the way home from work.. Not bad at all...

Stolen Moments, a new feature...

I LOVE looking around other cooking blogs and finding yummy ideas... So, in honor of all my favorite fellow foodies, I am starting a new Tag - "Stolen Moments," which will feature great recipes I can't wait to try...

Today's is PERFECT for fall, an amazing salad with hearty, strong flavors and the crunchy-sweet snap of fall apples... yum..
Looks like Liz has done it again -check it out.

Flat-iron Steak with Chimichurri Butter

So for you Denverites (or visitors) who love comfort food from all over the country (and the world), Steuben's in Uptown is the place to go for everything from AMAZING fried chicken, to lobster rolls (with lobster flown in fresh) with HUGE Chunks of meat in a tangy-but-light sauce on split buttered buns, to chocolate cake that will take you back to your favorite country diner from your fondest childhood memories.... this place has it all...

And the cream of the crop, as far as The H is concerned, is their flank steak with Chimichurri butter..... They grill a huge cut of flank steak to perfection, stack it on a pile of crispy shoestring french fries and top it with a generous pat of butter mixed with yummy chimichurri seasonings... the butter melts down the meat and into the fries creating heaven on a plate....

So last night I decided to try my hand at a re-creation, using my new favorite cut of beef, the flat-iron steak....



I pan-fried the steak and topped it with my own chimichurri butter concoction, butter mixed with chili-powder, garlic salt, and some extra cumin...
HUGE SUCCESS - The H was impressed and cleaned his plate, using the fries to mop up every last bit of buttery goodness...
I could break my arm patting myself on the back for this experiment. A perfect remedy for the gray and chilly day we had yesterday... yum.

What's up in the Kitchen?

Ok, Ok, so I haven't been cooking much... The kitchen is a construction zone!!
BUT - The painter has been hard at work, and it really starting to look great:


Not bad, eh? (Picture it with the black granite countertops we will be getting later this fall.. oo la la)

Dinners have been primarily take out - last night we had "antipasto night," which means I raided Whole Foods fabulous ready-made section, grabbing baby artichokes and roasted peppers from the Olive bar, some Ceasar salad from the salad bar, an asortment of little cheese wedges from the "try something new for under 3 bucks" section of the cheese counter, a tub of their fabulous garlic basil blast spread, and a fresh loaf of crusty bread, which we spread out in the living room (our table is full of all the things from the kitchen) and chowed down on... It isn't fancy, but it was hearty...

Still, I can't wait to have my kitchen operational again... Fall is starting to creep into the air, and I am excited for soups and stews and slow-cooker meals to come...

Mountain Cooking..

So we went to Grand Lake with some friends last weekend, each couple taking responsibility for dinner one evening... The first evening my friend made yummy pizza using pilsbury pizza dough which we flattened out and cooked on the grill (I am telling you, I have everyone around me grilling pizza now.. soooo good!)by coating one side with olive oil and placing it face down on the hot grill, then flipping when that side got nice and crispy (it will release easily when it is ready to be flipped), then placing the toppings on the cooked side and letting the other side cook while the toppings warmed thru- she brought goat cheese, mushrooms, and spinach to top one, and another was BBQ chicken breast and carmelized onions (my fave - it was amazing!!)... She also brought peperoni and tomato sauce for the less adventurous among us.. :)
It was a really easy way to feed a crowd a delicious dinner!!

Day two was my night, and at The H's request I did chicken and beef fajitas - I didn't want to deal with a bunch of raw chicken in the cooler for the drive up, or in a kitchen I didn't know, so I used a large bag of pre-cooked,taco-spiced chicken breast strips I got from SHARE and had in the freezer. I got a large cut of flank steak, and a couple hours before I started cooking, I took a package of fajita seasoning, the juice of a lime, and a half cup of veggie oil, mixed it all together in a ziplock and put the flank steak in to maranade... That left plenty of oil on the meat to keep it from sticking to the grill when I cooked the beef (I did a medium-temp grill for 10 minutes a side, and the cut I had was fairly thick.. it was medium rare by the time I took it off the grill and let it set wrapped in foil before cutting)..
I heated the chicken on the stove while I cooked up a giant pan of onions and peppers, doctored up some ready-made guac I had in the freezer with some of my homegrown cherry tomatoes, and cut the beef into thin strips across the grain.
Fajitas are super-easy to serve buffet style, so I just lined everything up near the hot stuff on the stove and let everyone make a plate...

Day three was BBQ ribs and pork tenderloin on the grill, and while they cooked that I scrouged around with one of our friends and found extra potatoes which we pan-fried, and boxes of good old Kraft Mac and Cheese to serve along side... Boiling water to cook pasta at 8500+ feet takes FOREVER!!! I have never worked harder to make a box of Mac and Cheese!

My friend made an egg bake for breakfast one morning that was AMAZING - I will publish the recipe when I get it..

I ate like a pig the whole time we were there - so much good food, and not even complicated...

Appliances are in...

Ok - so the new appliances are in and the kitchen is technically functional again...
However, getting brand new shiny appliances has a way of making everything else look kinda shabby - so I am hesitant to post pics... The H is trying to decide if we can get the granite counters done before the elevator project leaves us effectively in a 6th floor walk up for 2 months, or if we should just wait until after...

Also, we are weighing the pros (awesome finish) against the cons (cha-ching) of having our super cool metal cabinets powder coated, instead of just painted...

Anyway, Dinners this week have consisted of some things I am not proud of (Chicken fingers and baked potatoes last night, boxed potatoes au gratin and plain grilled pork chops the night before.... sigh....)

Life and worrying about other stuff has kind of sucked the joy out of cooking for me this week anyway... (I didn't think that was possible, usually cooking relieves all my stress, this week I wish I could feed The H Post Toasties every night or something...)

I am sure the culinary funk will lift soon... meantime, if there's anybody out there, post your favorite thing to cook, or a link to a recipe for it... something you love to linger over, love the process of making, or something that you make when you want to enjoy and feel better...

In case you are wondering what is cooking..

The answer is kind of nothing... why?

This is where a stove should be:

Yeppers... we await the arrival of our new drop-in stove - but since it was kind of labor intensive to get the old one out, we had to take said labor when we could get it...

And so BEHOLD the wonder of the stove hole!!! Bask in it's (not live, don't worry)220 connection glory!!! Gaze at the beauty of ancient linolium from an era long gone by!!

(Pray for the stove delivery fates to be kind and fill this dreaded hole in a timely manner..)

Dinner is a Whiz...

As in Cheese-whiz... as in processed cheese food...

It is terrible, but I have realized that I can make The H eat ANYTHING by dabbing some Cheese-whiz on top!!

The crazy thing is, it doesn't take much, and it isn't really THAT bad... Look here at the nutrition info... Now, stay with me here, because that info is for a 2 tablespoon serving of the stuff... way more than is needed to get the job done. To justify using it at all, I force myself to be precise in the measurement of the cheesy goodness.. One teaspoon gets the job done in most cases.

So you divide all of the numbers for a 2 tablespoon seving by 6, and take a look at those numbers!!

Now that is not bad, eh?

And with this magical concoction, I can get The H to eat plain grilled chicken, a wide variety of steamed veggies, anything he has announced he is "sick of," there seems to be no end to what it can do!!

Last night on my way out the door to meet girlfriends, I hurriedly grilled him up yet another burger (he is probably on burger overload this summer) and some grilled potatoes... but he was very happy with his burger, since I plopped a teaspoon of the Whiz on the burger a minute before I took it off the grill, and smoohsed it into a warm bun... gooey goodness for The H, guiltless girl-time at happy hour for me...

When I put regular cheese on veggies, it takes a ton of the stuff to make him happy... the beauty of the Whiz is that when it is warm, a very little bit goes a very long way...

I think getting him to eat broccoli, califlower, squash and other steamed veggies in good amounts cancels out the extra calories (which aren't many) and sodium he gets from one teaspoon of the gleeming goo....

Hooray for the Whiz, I say... try a dab for picky eaters in your house, and marvel at what will dissapear off of plates!

Nestie GTG "Happy Hour"

I am so just like Monica Geller... I am ALWAYS the host... it is one of my favorite activities... So with The H out of town for one last night, I decided to host a little "happy hour" for some of the wonderful Denver area Nesties... I left work a bit early, because I was so excited to get home and play in the kitchen, laying out some appetizers for my guests, and whipping up a pitcher of loosely interpreted White "Sangria"...

I put out a cheese board, with my "cheater" Worcestershire Cheddar spread (I take store-bought plain cheddar spread add some Worcestershire sauce and a dash of tobassco whip it all together and form it into a sort of wedge shape on the board), a nice big wedge of gorganzola, and an herby, mellow goat cheese; surrounded by grapes, sliced pears, and other fruit, and some water crackers.... also:

-cold shrimp and cocktail sauce (Ketchup with a squeeze of lemon juice, a shake of Worcestershire Sauce, a pinch of garlic from the jar in the fridge, and a teaspoon of dill relish all mixed up together)

-grilled bread with laughing cow swiss spread, smoked salmon and blueberries on top

-some garlic stuffed, and some pimento stuffed olives (I love stuffed olives!)

-macaroons (NOT homemade, I picked them up at Whole Foods.. they were really good!)

We ended up sitting around the food instead of out on the patio, drinking Sangria and snacking away the evening, chatting and munching and laughing (and fending off our dog, who was being especially jumpy for some reason).. It was a blast...

Simple snacks, some wine, and great company make a truely memorable evening...

Al Fresco, Solo....

With The H traveling, dinner on Wednesday night consisted of things I would NEVER be able to make for both of us... On the menu: Tilapia, which I seasoned with herbs de provance and grilled, a tomato relish with a little olive oil and basil from my little plant, and a wasa whole grain cracker, because I wanted one.. :) There was not one thing he would have touched on that plate... and I had a glass (OK, two) of Pinot Grigio, which he doesn't drink, and ate on the patio, which he doesn't really like to do... I sat with the dog at my feet, eating my flaky, moist, herby fish with a forkful of tomato in each bite; watching the sky change colors and listening to the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood...

Ahhhhhh... just the thing to wash away the worries of the workaday....

Grill It! with Bobby Flay...

I admit it... I would LOVE to be on this new show... I want to grill with Bobby Flay, on his super-cool patio, perfectly appointed with anything you could ever need for grilling anything, soaking up tips from The Grill Master himself... He loves Mexican food, loves making the prep of food part of the party, and he is always having a drink (perfectly matched to the meal, natch).. my kind of cook, and now he is inviting others in to cook with him... who wouldn't want in on that?

After watching the episode this past weekend, I made a variation of his grilled chicken soft tacos because you can't watch him pile one of those puppies up and take a bite without wanting one too...
I liked what the addition of brown sugar did for the spice rub in this recipe.. it really make a crust on the chicken as it grilled, and it added a touch of sweetness under the heat, which was nice...
We skipped the slaw, since there is no way that The Hub would eat that if he could choose what to put in his own taco, and I went with a supply of cheese, sour cream, fresh salsa, and roasted bell peppers to go with the chicken...

The H really liked the flavor of the chicken, and he always likes it when I do soft tacos on the grill... it just makes everything taste so fresh and bright... Perfect with a Corona (for him) and my new favorite Limeade/clubsoda/Pinot Grigio beverage that I pulled out of thin air (and a less-than-stocked fridge) to take to the pool one Saturday at the begining of summer (try it.. wildly popular with the girlfriends for lazy pool days)
Create-a-drink in one hand, taco in the other, I salute Bobby Flay... I think he would approve....

Birthday Party menu recap

So my Birthday party this year (welcome to 32, Ker) was Cuban/Latin themed... The menu included:

-tiny Cubano sammies (told you I would end up planning a party around these babies!)

- plantain chips

-fresh tropical fruit

-latin cheese platter

-chorizo and potato mini empanadas

The Cubanos were a no-brainer, I had that down pat... I just changed up the bread for some tiny, crusty rolls, and cut on the diagonal after grilling on the press....

Making the plantain chips was a total experiment for me... I had looked around, but every recipe was fried, and that can be such a mess!! So I decided to try baking them on broiling pans, so the heat could circulate all around the chip and it would get crispy... SUCCESS!! I sliced the plantains thin after peeling them:

and then baked them at 350 on a lightly greased broiling pain for around 10 minutes a batch, before turning on the broiler to high for a couple of minutes to finish the top side off (too lazy to flip)...

Here is the finished product on the pan:

These got a sprinkling of salt as they came out of the oven hot, and then I piled them all around a bowl of pureed avacado and garlic (not as thick as guac..)


For the Empanada filling, I fried a mixture of pork and beef chorizo with a diced up potato, draining the grease SEVERAL times (this stuff is GREASY) as I went... it looked like this when finished:


Then I just used the cheapy pre-fab biscuts in a can, flattening them out and putting a spoonful on each before folding into a half-moon shape and sealing the edges well with wet fingers... then I just baked as the biscut can directed... they turned out great, and soooo easy!!!

Add MANY pitchers of Sangria, lots of Mojitos, a few cigars, and everyone had a great time!! (Special thanks to my baker girlfriend for her amazing lemon raspberry cake... soooo good!)

Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, the picture quality and quantity went WAY up around here, thanks to The H's birthday present, my fabulous digital camera... His other gift? A getaway weekend to San Fran, to see the sights and PIG OUT in amazing restaurants... It was freaking amazing!!

Here we are doing the "tourist thing" and eating at the Stinking Rose our first night there:

Cape Cod comes to Denver

So the weather on Monday was decidedly "un-summery"... drizzley and cold and windy - it forced us to rethink our day at the pool and BBQ. So our smarty-pants hostess for the evening decided to embrace the Eastern shore-like weather and host a clam bake instead... She used a Barefoot Contessa recipe as her inspiration - although we used only one kind of clams, and some really good shrimp as our seafood selections, and she added in some califlower florets to the mix as well...
This amazing mix of food, hot and bubbling from the grill we used to cook it, along with some steak, grilled corn, a yummy green salad, and plenty of yummy drinks warmed up the group as we all hunkered down in chunky sweaters under the awning of their highrise to eat... good friends, good food, good wine.... great holiday...

Who knew Cape Cod and Colorado were so close together?

Worth a try...

This recipe over at Erin's Eats for blackened chicken might be just what the doctor ordered to cure The H's condition of "being chickened out" lately... Sounds yum...

Delicious change of plans

Last evening's glorious example of wonderful Denver spring weather (at least early on in the night) had me quickly abandoning my planned grilled goat cheese and tomato sandwich dinner for something even more disliked by The absent-for-dinner H.... Salmon...

Coated in EVOO and lemon pepper, it smelled soooooo good on the grill (see crappy pic above... I was standing over it, snapping pics and "oooing" and "ahhing" like I was a TMZ photog who just found Brit-Brit making out with Prince William or something).

After it came off a nice high-heat grill, (5 minutes on the first side, maybe 3 on the second) I ate it with half a toasted english muffin with REAL butter and a WHOLE can of LaVelle italian tomatoes warmed through with basil and plenty of S & P...
Soooo Goooood.....

When The H is away during dinner, things get decidedly simple... and simple always ends up yielding clean, yummy flavors that I find myelf enjoying more than the most labor-intensive, complex dishes I've made...

What's Cookin' 5/4-5/10

Saturday was The H's 38th birthday... This means he gets to pick whatever he wants, whatever he can think of in his wildest (snicker at The H's culinary taste being wild) dreams and I will cook it for him...
Birthday dinner was last night, and he picked grilled steaks and baked potatoes... easy-peesy and classic (Just like The H).. I am glad he picked it tho, because I was happy to eat a nice rare steak (he prefers medium-rare... there are two things I am REALLY glad I learned in culinary school - making sauces, and how to tell how done a steak is by touch.. )

The H has meetings a couple evenings this week - which for me either means that I cook up a yummy storm using all the things he doesn't care for, or that I end up indulging a burger or nacho craving from a favorite take out joint... (I am aiming to stick with the first option this week)

So, Menu for this week:

Sun - Grilled Strips with garlic butter, baked potatoes (with all the trimmings)

Monday - Green salad with balsmic and blue cheese, Grilled chicken with herbs de Provence

Tuesday - (just me) Grilled goat cheese and tomato sammie

Wed - (just me) fruit and cheese plate... grilled veggies

Thursday - Open-faced turkey sandwhiches, sage gravy, mashed potatoes

Weekend night at home - Grilled Pizza or Cubano sandwiches


Have a yummy week!

I have a "no baking" rule.. but...

This recipe from SmittenKitchen might be enough to make me give up my embargo against baking...
O.M.G....
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/brownie-roll-out-cookies/#more-493

Thyme is on my side (yes it is)..

Organic herbs were buy one get one free at King Soopers this weekend, so I grabbed a few containers... (last night was a simple macaroni with some e.v.o.o., fresh basil, and grated parmesan.. simple and perfect... The H loved it..)
So, tonight is "Thyme night" and my plan is to grill some balsamic glazed chicken breasts (a simple and yummy favorite around our house) and then serve with the butter from this recipe - but added at the end, (think hotel butter on a great steak) to melt down over the sliced-before-serving breasts...
We will have it with roasted broccoli topped with a dollop of the cheese sauce I reserved and froze from last week's mac and cheese (Just a spoonful of cheese helps the broccoli go down, at least in The H's case)...

::Sigh::: why is it by lunch time I am always sitting at my desk and daydreaming about the deliciousness of dinners to come....


Follow up notes: I really liked this chicken... the balsamic glaze on the outside was crispy and dark from the grill, and the thyme butter melted and gave the inside of the chicken a fresh lemon/herby flavor that really made each bite something yummy and different from typical grilled chicken breasts... The H scraped his thyme off without even tasting it (thanks a lot, buddy), but he cleaned his plate... he really loved the mac and cheese sauce on his roasted broccoli; I opted for red pepper flakes and salt on mine...

I would make the chicken again - especially if I don't accidently kill my thyme seedling before it "grows up"... it would be really good over a green salad - with a dressing made of balsmic, honey, thyme and evoo.....

A more mature mac n' cheese...

So I was trying to think of something really special to make for the H tonight, since he has been great while I have been fighting this seriously funky cold... It looks like we have a winner in a Rachel Ray-by-way-of Liz idea for some refined mac and cheese... Of course I will tweek it around myself, just as Liz did to Rachel's original recipe (it doesn't take more than a quick glance at my explination of my meals to see that Keri does NOT follow recipes.. my brain just does not compute information in that order)
I will probably use some chicken sausage I have in the freezer for tonight, actually, and just make a sauce similar to Liz's (yum - florentin-y, one of my favorite adjectives! HA!) to use with pasta.. (Hey, I boarded a train to snot town with a one way ticket on Sunday morning... I have been hitchhiking back in Zicam's beatup Yugo for most of the week... I am *almost* back... Homemade meatballs will wait for another day...)

Follow up to OP - I made my own version (See crappy pic above) and it was a huge hit! The H isn't a fan of the fennel ("No seeds in mine") so using the pre-fab sausage in place of the meatballs was a no brainer.. I thinnly sliced and browned the chicken sausage to give it a satisfying "snap"..

I followed RR's sauce directions pretty much, (except you KNOW I'm not going to measure all that... I just eyeball it...) which say this:

"...in a medium sauce pot over medium heat, melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in stock and milk, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and thicken 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup grated Parmigiano and reduce heat on lowest setting. "

I also added some broccoli florets to the pasta the last couple of minutes of cooking, and tossed in a handful of ripped up fresh spinach with the sausage when it was off the heat, covering to let wilt... (I have to sneak veggies in every place I can for the H, who is 37 going on 4)

The H loved this... it will be made again and again, in many incarnations, I am sure.. delish....

One of my favorite cheat nights...

By Friday even I am usually too worn out from the week to have any desire to make some fancy-pants complicated dinner.... but we are also usually both too pooped to really go any where that involves thought...
This means we end up at one of a handful of restuarants at the end of our block over and over again, or (hopefully) that I have planned ahead for some quick and easy dinner to whip up...

One of my favorites (thanks Kraft Food and Family Magazine!!) is the cheapy frozen pizza made into a delicious treat by the simple step of cooking on the grill!!

Buy the store brand, no frills, super simple pizza with toppings of your choice (We do pepperoni for H, and then I like to add other things that I have to mine.. maybe fresh tomatoes, spinach, roasted garlic, etc.. something to dress it up)...

Heat up your grill like you would for anything else, toss the frozen pizza on there and close the lid
on your grill and let it go for like 5 minutes... give it a quarter turn and let it go another 5 minutes or so with the lid on - or until it looks done (it's a frozen pizza, not a suffle, you know what it looks like when it is done)..

The crust turns out like it came from a restaurant pizza oven... Cut it up and serve it with a side salad (sometimes H will eat salad, sometimes not... but I offer it to balance the meal out anyway..)

Trust me - this is sooooo good and so easy, you will always keep a pizza on hand "just in case"...

Stupid kiddie display Walmart camera...

An example of the pics my awful camera takes... Which is a bummer, because this is actually a beautiful meal... We always love the taste of sausage and peppers, but last night I noticed how pretty it all was on the plate...
The smoked chicken and apple sausage was charred from the grill, the peppers bright and colorful - it really did look as good as it tasted..
I *must* get a new camera...

Just to confuse Jessica Simpson..

So last night I had two things going on - 1. a piece of pork loin that was thawed and needed to be served, and 2. a hankering for buffalo sauce..

I cooked the pork loin, which had been hanging out in a balsamic/herb mixture overnight, in the slow cooker with some chicken stock, drained the liquid after 6 hours, and shreaded the pork.. Then it got a coating of my spicy buffalo sauce (a heaping teaspoon - from the table, not the measureing set - of ketchup, two or three of the same device full of I Can't Believe it's Not Butter, a dash of red wine vinagar, a few shakes of garlic powder, and as many shakes of Frank's hot sauce as it takes for me to feel the burn when taste testing - all heated through together in a sauce pan).
I put the shreaded buffalo pork on buttered, toasted buns, sprinkled a little blue cheese on top and afixed the tops...

I would have prefered something like an iceburg wedge salad along side, but alas, DH's desire for starch won out, and we had home-fried potatoes with the sammies..

It was damn good... I wish I had a camera that wasn't a piece of junk, because they even looked pretty...

The humble chicken wing is always a-ok with me, but buffalo pork loin will see an encore in our house for sure!!

Soup is good food..

Ok, the current snowy scene out my window is not exactly making me crave the big salad that I had planned for dinner tonight... So, my mental inventory of what was in my freezer tonight kicked into gear, and I actually think that this might solve a problem I was pondering last night as I pulled things from the freezer to defrost for the week...
I have some of Costco's delicious frozen ravioli left in there, but not enough for a meal by any means...

HOWEVER - it will be a perfect addition to a yummy chicken and veggie soup for tonight!!

I will just take some of my frozen chicken stock, toss in a couple of cubed chicken breasts, the end of the ravioli, and some herbs and veggies and *poof* problem solved and belly warmed...

My mouth is watering suddenly... and that Ruffio Libaio Chardonnay would be yummy with it too...

Come on clock, keep ticking .... I want to go home and cook!

Not living up to my usual standards...

..Maybe it is starting the new job here at work or something, but I have been downright shameful in the kitchen the past few days...

Modany night I made quesidillas on the George Forman and served them with white beans smashed up with some diced jalepeno; Tuesday it was Cheddarwurst and frozen diced potatoes with a palmful of herbs de provence sprinkled on top; and tonight I have an HOA meeting, and I am leaning towards leaving H's balsamic glazed steak and my salmon for tomorrow night and getting a pizza on the way home!

Culinary slacking - SHOCKING!!

(Good thing my asperagus is all safe in a Debbie Meyer green bag, it will last a few days longer while I get my mojo back on line..)

My favorite day of the month

Tomorrow is my favorite day of the month... SHARE order pick up day!!
That is the day that SHARE participants go to their designated sites and pick up the awesome food we ordered earlier in the month...
This time I got a variety package with all kinds of fabulous frozen meats, plus some a la carte turkey tenderloin... they have the best turkey tenderloins, and you get two huge cuts of turkey for 3.75!!
And SHARE is also a great way to help others... portions of your sale go towards feeding struggling families in your area... The whole program is amazing in the simplicity of the idea, and in how very well it works!

SHARE day also means that I update my inventory lists for my freezer and my pantry, and add to my list of possible dinners that I use to make my menus each week.. (So I get to really wallow in my freakish love of food organization and menu planning - it is like a party for me...)

YEA!!!
If you live in one of these states, you should check out the SHARE program there:
Colorado
South Dakota
Wyoming
Nebraska
Texas
Kansas
Oaklahoma
Missouri
Arizona
Utah

Just what I was waiting for..

One last cold weather hurrah... perfect weather for the Sheppard's pie I have been waiting to make.

I LOVE the Share program for getting great deals on quality groceries, but since the packages are decided for you, it means I occasionally get a food that H is just not going to eat...
Or at least not "as is".

Enter the frozen meatloaf... Neither one of us is a huge fan of the idea of a loaf of meat, but it came with a great package otherwise, so there it sits in my freezer.

But well-seasoned ground beef will be perfect in a sheppard's pie, imo.

Tonight is the night, it is all cold and drizzly outside... perfect for toasty comfort food...

We like thick filling, so I always start with a base of beef stock, a generous pour of whatever red wine is sitting around (nothing sweet in our house!) with chopped up veggies (fresh, frozen, canned - whatever I have just goes in the pot - longer if fresh, or at the very end if canned) a little garlic, some marjoram, generous amount of fresh pepper and a bay leaf for that earthy, hearty quality - I let it all kind of come together for a bit over lower heat, then kick up the heat and thicken with good old corn starch (it is easy and idiot-proof.. perfect for busy nights)... browned ground beef goes in and it all gets spread in a casserole below a layer of mashed potatoes..
I always sprinkle paprika over the potatoes before I bake it - I know it doesn't do anything to the flavor, but I am a sucker for tradition! I bake mine until the potatoes are stiff and like to broil for a couple of minutes to turn the top brown...

(If I get too lazy it might go from sheppard's pie to good old Girl Scout campfire stew.. same execution as sheppard's pie filling, but I get to skip making the potatoes - maybe cut one up and toss it in a the begining to cook through)


Uber- quick substitution for the filling - use a can of veggie beef soup and mix the ground beef into that before spreading into a casserole and topping with potatoes...


Buh-bye tricky-meal meatloaf...

Cubano review..

Yum...
I ended up using our usual lower calorie bread to make the sammies last night (couldn't justify using crusty rolls, as is traditional... we are really trying not to eat things like that, except in special circumstances)

I spread a thin layer of mustard on both slices of bread, and then layered swiss cheese, pickle slices, a generous pile of the slowcooked pork, and some thinly sliced ham between the bread...

Then I popped the sandwiches on everyone's favorite college kitchen throwback, the George Forman grill, and smushed them down nice and hard to cook for 8 minutes... (Seriously, the George Forman is the best panini maker... I keep it just for that!)

Served along side some mixed sweet potato and good old russet french fries, I believe that the word Cubano = perfection.
The seasoning on the pork was great... I could kick the heat up more with some ground cayenne in the slowcooker because we are fans of hot food - but it was really flavorful and soooo tender...

Next time (and there will be MANY for this sammie, I am sure) I make this, I think I might even go a bit heavier on the pickles (having put a very thin layer) and it would be fun to cook on the grill using my cast iron skillet as a weight to smash the sandwiches down..

It will be on a summer dinner party menu at our house this year, no doubt... (and for that we will totally splurge on the traditional calorie-laden crusty bread) Super-fun and yummy with Mojitos, plantain chips, and tropical fruit... I can see it now.. I will just put out big heaping trays of sammies and all the other things for people to grab as they sip... Light up some cigars, and it is the perfect Cuban theme night on the patio...

Ahhh, but I am getting ahead of myself... summer is still just a glimmer of sunny hope to come, and there are lots of fun things to cook before then...

(See how twisted I am - I can imagine an entire party just because of a sandwich... )

Copa, Copa Cu-ban-o....

The pork is in the slowcooker, in stock seasoned with garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of tumeric... smelled devine already this morning as I was leaving...

Might have to put a portion aside for H's dinner later in the week and have the sammies tonight - I don't know if I can wait!!

The weather is so mild, it is perfect for Cuban inspired food eaten on the patio.. maybe washed down with a good Spanish red wine to fight off any hint of chill sunset might bring, and keep us toasty from the inside.... we have a Finca Luzon (don't remember the exact name) that is supposed to have all of these deep flavors... yummy with the spicy pork I bet...

Yep.. it has to be tonight... I can't wait for it...

What am I most excited to make this week?

I can not wait to make Cubanos later this week!! H is having pork tenderloin on Tuesday when I have Salmon - but the rest of that pork loin is devoted to Thursday night Cubanos with sweet potato french fries!!
I am so excited to experiment with this I can hardly wait!! I am still undecided about what seasonings I will add to the pork, but it is going in the slowcooker in the morning, so when I come off the elevator on Thursday night, I will think "who is cooking something so yummy smelling? Oh wait - it is me!!)
H has agreed to let me make it with all the traditional ingredients without turning up his nose at anything...
I love these sammies at Cuba-Cuba in the Golden Triangle (Denver)... I am foaming at the mouth to make my own!!

Yummy details to follow...

Secrets to making anything yummy: #1

Grill it! I was blessed last year when we discovered the CharBroil Electric Patio Caddie, after months of research trying to find a grill we could actually have on the patio in our highrise.. Fire codes don't allow any Charcoal, and only a propane canister, not a tank...
I didn't want some outdoor version of the George Forman I already had in my kitchen...

Enter the Patio Caddie... it is an open grill with a heating element below where the Charcoal would normally be..

It is awesome! (Although the 1st version of the heating element was prone to problems, as I found out when it went kaput on me at the end of last summer). They have an updated element now, and I am cooking again!

Everything tastes better on the grill. Simple chicken that The H gets so easily bored with is given new life when grilled - he loves it!

And tonight, a whole new level: my favorite meal for when I am alone for the evening, a panini with goat cheese and tomatoes... tonight I cooked it on the grill and culinary perfection was achieved...

Soooooo gooooood..... Just a simple sandwich of plain goat cheese, tomato with some basil, and a spray of olive oil cooking spray, but Oh. My. God. Paired with my icy Pinot Gris - It was simplicity perfected....

Kiss kiss, Bang bang(ers)

In true "Keri form" I am just winging it on my first try making bangers and mash -and giving it the twist I think it deserves...

I am using an apple chicken sausage (yummers!) and grilling first to get some "pop" in the casing.. then slashing the casing on a diagonal in several spots and holding the sasusages in a mix of guiness, red wine, and beef stock..

The magical mashers will just be my old faithful very whipped buttermilk mashed potatoes, and I am simmering onion in Guiness and beef stock to thicken and use for gravy... (then the yummy onions can be enjoyed too)

As promised...

Here is the menu blog... I am freaky passionate about menu planning, organized and affordable grocery shopping, and cooking/meal preperation in general..
I shop at CostCo for the majority of my meats, buying many in large sizes and cutting them down to individual portions for freezing - I go once every 2 months. For fresh produce and other items, I just by in season and on sale... I also use the SHARE program, which allows me to get great prices on pre-selected packages of groceries that I pick up once a month...
I am sure I will get better at blogging about it - for now it is a way to share with friends and feed my obsession for menu planning.


Upcoming dinners include:

-"Bangers and Mash" (Apple chicken sausage with whipped potatoes and Guiness gravy)
-Broccoli Beef and Quinoa
-George Forman Panini sammies with ginger grilled chicken and laughing cow cheese wedge spread
-Balsamic Glazed steak for Todd/ salmon for me with a big salad
-Sheppards Pie (filling made from pre-made meatloaf that was in my SHARE package last month)
-Garlic honey pork tenderloin in the slowcooker with frozen veggie mix...