Eat, Drink, and Be Keri...

We've moved!

2010-05-17T08:48:00.004-07:00

Join in the fun over at the new and improved Eat, Drink, and Be Keri! - I am moving all the old posts over there as well, so come on over! (Missing your favorite pics? They've moved over there as well!)

Marinated Skirt Steak

2010-04-22T14:59:00.002-07:00

The Hub loves skirt steak. This is fabulous news for me, because, well frankly, it is pretty cheap. It is hard to argue with the beauty of getting all that beefy flavor for a low-down fantastic price, no?

Yes.

Skirt steak needs a little love to truly shine – it benefits greatly from a nice long set in an acidic marinade to help it break down a bit, and it is best cooked quickly over high heat. Oh yeah, and if it is overcooked, it is a tough as shoe leather. Luckily it is very easy to prepare well, and simply prepared is how we enjoy it most.

In a zip top baggie combine the juice of 2 limes and 1 tablespoon canola oil with 1 teaspoon of chili powder and 1 teaspoon of cummin and mix well. (Sometimes I zest the lime into the baggie as well, I was just feeling lazy yesterday.)

Add skirt steak (the piece I used was between 10 and 12 ounces) to the bag, close allowing extra air to escape, and massage the marinade into the meat so that the steak is coated evenly. Refrigerate at least 8 hours (I wouldn’t do this for more than 24 hours, even skirt steak will start to break down a bit too much if left in a marinade this acidic for too terribly long.)
Remove steak from refrigerator 1/2 hour before you want to cook it (it will cook more evenly if it isn’t chilled) and set oven to 35o degrees.
Heat large skillet or flat grill on the stove until it is screamin’ hot (hover your open palm just above the cooking surface – are you feeling lots of heat? Time for cooking!)

Place the steak in the skillet and rejoice at the sizzle – that noise is searing in all the juicy, flavorful goodness.

Let it get some nice dark color on that side and then give it a flip and sear the other side.
Now – here’s the thing: you can totally cook the steak from start to finish just like this. OR you can grill it on your Vogner Charking or whatever out on the back deck, if you prefer and it would be delish - no doubt. As long as you have nice high heat and take it off before it overcooks (which depends on the thickness - I’d go 4 minutes a side over direct, high heat, and then make a little cut in the center to see how it looked if you aren’t comfortable testing doneness by touch,) either is a great way to cook skirt steak.
But again, I was feeling lazy. So my steak got seared on each side about 2 minutes and then I popped it on roasting rack and put it in the oven to finish, which took about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
That way I could concentrate on making some Martinis for The Hub and me while dinner finished cooking.
After cooking, I tented the steak with foil on my cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes (while I defrosted some frozen mashed potatoes and stirred in a bit of cheddar for a side dish) before cutting. This lets the juices re-absorb into the meat a bit.
How you cut skirt steak is important. It is best not to just plate it whole, because if cut with, and not against the grain of the meat, it will still seem tough, even after all that marinating and high heat cooking. So slice thin against the grain. (Slicing the long strip of it into shorter chunks first, which is slicing with the grain, and then slicing those portions thinly against the grain – as pictured at the top of the post.)
Dinner is served.

Chicken and Spinach Stacked Enchiladas

2010-04-20T10:21:00.003-07:00

This Enchilada-inspired Casserole is a great way to sneak extra veggies to your picky eaters, and it is so easy and yummy it is sure to make any dinner into a flavor fiesta!

2 pieces boneless skinless cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 cans Spinach, drained well
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
8 whole corn tortillas
10 ounces-fluid Enchilada sauce of your choice
1 containers low fat plain yogurt
1/4 cups 2% Shredded Cheddar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In large mixing bowl, combine chicken, yogurt, spinach, and Chili Powder (add 1 tablespoon at a time and adjust to your liking) – mix well.

Spray a square casserole dish with cooking spray and coat bottom with thin coat of Enchilada Sauce.

Tear tortillas as needed to make a single-thickeness layer over the Enchilada Sauce, then cover with 1/2 of the chicken and spinach mixture.

Drizzle with some of the Enchilada sauce and repeat layering process with tortillas and filling mixture again.
Top with final layer of tortillas, pour remaining sauce evenly on top of casserole and top with shredded cheddar.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Crunchy Garlic Chicken and Roasted Broccoli

2010-04-19T08:49:00.005-07:00

Betty Crocker Crunchy Garlic Chicken
(This is the recipe as it appears on the Betty Crocker Website)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups Whole Grain Total® cereal, crushed (1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 lb)

1.
Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In shallow dish, mix 2 tablespoons of the butter, the milk, chives, salt and garlic powder.
2.
In another shallow dish, mix crushed cereal, parsley and paprika. Dip chicken into milk mixture, then coat lightly and evenly with cereal mixture. Place in pan. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons butter.(mine looked like this)
3.
Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).

What I did differently:
I used Kroger Brand Bran Flakes instead of Total
I used Smart Balance Light as my margarine product
(Here are my chicken breasts all coated and drizzled and ready to hit the oven)

This was good and easy - a nice change from normal bread crumbs on baked chicken. It was really crunchy on top and had a good garlicky flavor. Next time I make it, I think I might put the breasts on a flat roasting rack or broiler pan like I do with breaded chicken when I bake it - the bottom of the pieces can't get crispy of air can't circulate around them.

(BTW - check out the new look coming to ED&BK here)

New at ED&BK !

2010-04-18T15:47:00.002-07:00

I get a lot of folks asking how, exactly, our $160.00 a month grocery budget gets spent, and so I give you the newest feature at ED&BK - The Weekly Shopping Rundown!!
I'll post links, as these will be the first step in my Big Move over to Word Press.
Here is this week's rundown.

More fabulous food my husband won't eat...

2010-04-15T10:05:00.003-07:00

Ok, so The Hub has eaten salmon before. If pressed he might do it again. But who wants to waste precious fatty fish deliciousness on that!? Not this seafood lover, that's for sure.
So last night while the oven was preheating to 350 degrees, I took a 3.5 oz portion of salmon out of the fridge and let the chill come off of it (so it would cook evenly in the oven) while I cut a small baking potato into thin chunks. Then both fish and potato got a generous sprinkling of parsley flakes, salt and pepper.
The whole kit and kaboodle went into a pyrex dish and got baked loosely covered for 25 minutes.
I know I should have done a veggie and maybe half the amount of potato - but it was SO GOOD in the simplicity, how could I resist?

Ahhh, the magic of solo meals

2010-04-13T21:58:00.003-07:00

So this is usually something I would grab for breakfast. Whole grain toast spread with 1/2 a Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge, topped with ham (or turkey sometimes) and tomato.
Breakfast perfection and quick out the door.
Only problem was, I found myself craving it at dinner time tonight.
BUT - here is the beauty of the out of town husband - you can make anything you are hungry for at any time.
So I did, and I ate it on the patio with a whole sectioned grapefruit and a glass of Vhino Verde.
Perfection.

Spicy Beef with Sesame Ginger "Faux Mein"

2010-04-07T05:42:00.005-07:00

Couldn't be easier, and yet SO tasty!

-Prepare two portions of spaghetti of your choice (I like to mix half regular, half whole wheat - this time around I used the Ronzoni Smart Taste since I had a coupon that made it super cheap on sale a while back)
-Drain the pasta and reserve while you prepare the veggies and beef
- Cut your choice of veggies (I used carrots and green onions in mine, and omitted the onion in The Hub's) in to matchsticks - I aim for 1 cup veggies total
-Allow a skillet (or wok if you have one) to heat over high heat before adding a spritz of cooking spray (I use canola) and 1/2 lb beef for stir-fry or thinly sliced beef of your choice - cook fast over the high heat until meat is just cooked through.
-Remove beef from heat and add 1 teaspoon reduced sodium Soy Sauce and 1/2 teaspoon (more or less to taste) Red Pepper Flakes - stir well to coat all the meat
-Return noodles to heat and add veggies and 1/4 cup Sesame Ginger dressing (I like Newman's Own Lighten Up Sesame Ginger) to the noodles stirring to coat and allowing to heat through (but not so long that the veggies get limp - they are good crisp but warm.
-Pile noodles on plate, top with beef and serve

Breakfast Tacos

2010-04-05T12:15:00.005-07:00

Coloring Easter eggs is a favorite tradition around The Tree House and always loads of fun - but it leaves this wife-of-a-non-hard boiled-egg-eater left holding the (Easter) basket when it comes to what to do with all those eggs.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE hard boiled eggs in all their many forms: a delicious egg salad, a tray of deviled eggs (reach for one of those and I might bite your arm off,) or just peeled and eaten plain with a sprinkle of salt - incredible, edible egg, indeed.
That being said - 18 eggs (what we colored this year) is a lot for one gal to eat (even skipping every other yolk like I am to keep the cholesterol in check.)

So for Easter brunch this year I devised a recipe designed to get The Hub to help me out with the task of eating his masterpieces. Breakfast Tacos!

I used my now standard method of making taco shells from the Prudent Homemaker (I made 4,) and then:

-Place one small potato, diced, into a frying pan and just cover with water. Allow to cook until water evaporates, and then spray potato pieces with a bit of cooking spray and allow to crisp.

-Add to potato 1 teaspoon ground Cumin, 1/2 teaspoon (more or less to taste) ground Cayenne pepper and mix to coat potatoes.

-Dice 3 - 4 hard boiled eggs and add to potatoes over low heat, stir.

-Add to egg/potato mixture 1/2 can Hormel 94% fat free Turkey Chili (we used the one with no beans) and stir over low heat, allowing mixture to heat through.

-Fill taco shells with the mixture, and serve with toppings of your choice (shredded cheese, diced tomato and onion, salsas, etc.)

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-05T07:50:00.002-07:00

It's Menu Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power!!

Also - check back often this week for awesome recipes and rundowns, including a really easy, REALLY good breakfast taco recipe that makes great use of those left over Easter eggs!

Stolen Moment, stop the presses!!

2010-03-31T13:00:00.002-07:00

How good does this Chicken Taco Salad sound right now?

So. Dang. Good.

Might have to rethink tonight's menu and give into this craving....

Alexia House Party Recipes

2010-03-29T09:03:00.002-07:00

The folks over at House Party recently invited me to be one of the hosts for an Alexia Simply Extraordinary House Parties, and since I was curious about how these House Parties work, I accepted this one to find out.
I was sent a hostess pack that included coupons for free Alexia frozen food products, and I used them to create recipes for the party. So I invited some fabulous ladies (and their beautiful kiddos) over for an afternoon of snacking and good conversation.

Along with Bellini's and Lemonade to go along with our Alexia menu. To make the most of the Alexia products I picked up a the store I made:

Alexia Onion Rings with Chipotle Ketchup (1 cup Ketchup, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 pepper in adobo sauce, minced - I removed the seeds so it wouldn't be too spicy - all mixed together and allowed to sit overnight)

Alexia Spicy Sweet Potato Fries with Blue Cheese Dip - (3/4 cup mayo, 3/4 cup sour cream, 4 oz crumbled blue cheese, mixed together and allowed to sit overnight)

Pulled Pork Sammies on Alexia Focaccia Rolls - (Pulled Pork recipe follows) - I added some bagged broccoli slaw with just enough mayo mixed in to keep the mixture moist. That is good stuff- it really maintains its texture, I doubt I will use regular cole slaw mix again in the future!

Keri's Southern Sloshed Pulled Pork:

In a crock-pot combine:
1/2 pint Jim Beam
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
and mix well to dissolve sugar

Then add 1 lb pork stew chunks or pork roast of your choice cut into chunks.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours, adding water to keep moist as needed, until pork falls apart when touched.

Remove pork from crock pot with slotted spoon or strainer, discard cooking liquid.
Shred pork and add 1/4 cup of your choice BBQ sauce (I used regular Safeway brand) and 2 Tablespoons to pork, stirring well to make sure it is evenly coated. Serve with rolls and slaw for topping. (I made little sammies and cut them in half so it would be easy for guests to grab them and not get messy.)

All the guests left with recipe cards and coupons for Alexia products. It was a fun afternoon.
I served the end of this Pork to The Hub for dinner last night along with corn and some extra onion rings (I know, I know, so starchy) and he loved it. Actually everyone asked about how I cooked the pork.
Between this and the Salmon glaze the other day, I am starting to think that Jim Beam is one very handy man to have in your kitchen!

Give Away fun for Friday

2010-03-26T07:26:00.003-07:00

There is a review of Yoplait's fabulous new Greek Yogurt and a great give-away going on over at Deals In Denver between now and next Friday!
Check it out here.

Bourbon Glazed Salmon

2010-03-25T15:04:00.002-07:00

Last night I made this Salmon with a Bourbon Glaze and some oven roasted herbed potatoes.

Ok, to be fair I omitted the ginger from the recipe because, truth-be-told, I am not much of a fan; and I also made new sauce mixture to use in cooking because I am not much for using marinading liquid as a sauce, no matter how long it has been cooking. But that is just me.

This fish, was yummy. I mean, super yummy. Bravo Jim Beam!

However, on that note, I must confess that I attempted the Julia Child "and some for the pan, and some for me" maneuver and took a tug off the Beam bottle, which was quickly followed by me wheezing "Sm-hooooothhhhhh!" while inhaling deeply to avoid a cough and smacking the counter repeatedly with the flat of my palm.

Guess Keri has grown out of her whiskey shootin' phase. Even the dog looked embarrassed for me.

But try the fish - the fish is good.

Old faithful Crunchy Chicken Caesar Salad

2010-03-23T10:23:00.003-07:00

Perfect in its simplicity, a Chicken Caesar Salad is always well-received at our house. (Past posts will confirm that.)

Last night I used some left over flat-bread that I sprinkled with garlic powder, dried parsley, salt, and pepper, and toasted in the oven before cutting into bite sized pieces as croutons. I cut one large chicken breast into chunks and rolled them (no wet step needed) in whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs.

The chicken went on to a rack in my roasting pan and into a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (it was about 18 for me last night) until it was cooked through and crispy. (you can pop the broiler on for a minute or two if the top needs help crisping up.)

I crumbled up a slice of extra lean turkey bacon and tossed it with 1/2 bag of prewashed salad (I don't actually use bagged salad very often, too expensive, but I found a good sale this week and took advantage of it,) and 4 tablespoons of Ken's Light Caesar dressing (yep, I measure, because it is good to know what you are really eating, but also because I don't like salad that is soggy with too much dressing!)

On top of the dressed lettuce went the croutons and the warm, crunchy chicken.

Mmmmm.

So simple, but so, so welcome on a sunny spring evening.

Moroccan Inspired Beef Stew

2010-03-22T05:44:00.003-07:00

We love beef stew at The Tree House. It is always a winner at our table. Still, it is nice to change things up sometimes and keep everybody from getting board with the same old stew. (Although my "same old stew" is pretty dang good, If I do say so myself.)
By changing the spices and veggies in a basic stew recipe, a whole new dish takes shape in no time.

For this stew I cubed and cut the excess fat off of 1 lb of cross-cut beef shank. (VERY inexpensive cut, but needs a bit more time when cubing to remove the fat from within the meat and make things leaner.)

I browned the beef cubes in a large dutch oven, then removed the meat to a plate before deglazing the pot with a small can of V-8 juice, taking up all the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan. I added 1 cup of water to the pot as well, and seasoned with : 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon of curry paste, and red pepper flakes for some kick (add a pinch and first, and adjust to your family's own taste.)

Into the pot went 1 cup each cubed butternut squash and carrots chopped the same size and the broth and veggies boiled until the squash and carrots were tender (less than 10 minutes for me.)
While the mixture was at a boil I added a slurry made from one heaping tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with and equal amount of cold water - add this slowly, you may not need it all to thicken the mixture to the desired consistency.
Finally the beef was added back to the pot, along with some fresh shredded spinach (get those veggies in there where ever you can, right?) and the beef heated through.
I served the stew in a well of Quinoa prepared according to package instructions, with flatbread along side.
The stew was warm with spice and rich and complex for being so quick cooking. Well-received by The Hub, who went back for seconds too!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's Menu Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power! Stop by and see what I have planned for this week, and then check back here for recipes as the week progresses!

Ahem...

2010-03-10T21:03:00.002-07:00

I finally got the new liner for the trusty Patio Caddie, just in time for Spring, so now I can resume dealing with all problems with my usual 3 step process:

Hooray!

Lazy-way Chicken and Broccoli stuffed pasta

2010-03-08T13:58:00.007-07:00

So what do you get when you take cooked Lasagna noodles and spread them with a mixture of:
1 large grilled b/s chicken breast, shredded

1 cup broccoli stems (cooked) chopped fine

1/2 block of cream cheese

3 BIG fresh basil leaves

(blended together in the food processor)

and then roll the noodles up around the filling:

And then bake covered in a simple cheddar cheese sauce at 350 for 45 minutes, covered?

You get stuffed shell perfection, without the hassle of actually stuffing the shells! (and if you are me, you get The Hub to eat the part of the broccoli he usually won't touch!)

BTW - I was running around Sunday afternoon and evening, and The Hub actually got this out of the fridge at the appointed time, then turned on the oven and baked these all by himself - I arrived home to a piping hot dinner just coming out of the oven! Sah-weet!

Lighter Side Tostadas

2010-03-08T09:47:00.005-07:00

We eat A LOT of Mexican/Tex-Mex food at our house. The Hub grew up in Texas, and I spent years working in a Mexican restaurant in my younger days - it is a sure-fire go-to family of flavors that I know will always be a hit.

Then again, sometimes the same old tacos or fajitas over and over can get a bit dull, even to the biggest fans.

Not to mention the damage that you can do to your waistline piling on all of those toppings with reckless abandon!

These tostadas are a good solution to both problems.

I started by lightly spraying 3 corn tortillas with Canola Spray, and baking them until crispy on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven (this takes almost no time at all.)

Then I piled on my "filling" made by mixing together 1 cooked b/s chicken breast shredded, 1 palmful of chili powder, 1 cup fresh spinach chopped fine, and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese. (I tested for taste and added Salt and Pepper as needed.)

To The Hub's (pictured at the bottom of the post,) I also added a sprinkling of shredded 2% cheddar cheese. Everything went back into the oven to heat the filling and melt the cheese.

I served mine with a salad, (picture at the top of the post) and a couple teaspoons of avocado puree. Mmmmm, crunchy and spicy and yummy!

It's Menu Plan Monday!

2010-03-07T22:03:00.001-07:00

It is Menu Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power! Stop by and see what we are having for dinner this week, and be sure and come back for recipes and reviews here at ED&BK!

Oven Roasted Chicken and Veggies

2010-03-02T21:33:00.004-07:00

Sometimes simple is just best. Last night for dinner I cut broccoli florets, carrots, and a small potato in large bite-sized pieces, tossed with a light spray of Canola cooking spray, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted them uncovered in a 350 degree oven until tender. In a separate dish along side of the veggies, I cut a HUGE b/s chicken breast into chunks, gave them the same cooking spray and salt and pepper treatment, and baked covered until just cooked through. Then I added half a can of cream of chicken soup to the chicken pan, covered again, and cooked 5 more minutes. I tossed the veggies with the chicken and soup and plated it up.

Juicy chicken, tender veggies, light sauce - simple and delicious.

Teachin' Ya Tuesdays - Shopping Smart

2010-03-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

There is a reason I am always banging into things at the Supermarket. I am always looking down, because that is where most of the products I buy are displayed. Looking down (and up high too) is a great way to avoid being taken in by the design tricks employed by grocery stores to get you to spend more.
As this article from Yahoo points out, lots of planning goes into product placement in stores - all with the goal of keeping you in the store longer and getting you to part with more of your hard-earned cash.
So (besides my downward gaze towards value/store brand product shelves) what other weapons do I use to Shop smart?
The #1 most powerful tool you can arm yourself with, in my humble (and cheapo) opinion, is the Price Book.
For the items you use most, the things you buy again and again, knowing how much the item costs when it isn't on sale is the easiest way for you to tell if you should get excited when a store say that it is on sale. It is also the fastest way for you to see which store is offering you the best prices on a regular basis.
Yes - this takes a bit of time. But I always have time to save money, don't you?
Grab a notebook - I find full-sized works better than small, but that is just me. I like to make a page for each product and then write the date, store, product size, and if the product was on sale or priced normally.
For meat I have a page for each store and have the NON sale prices of typical cuts listed. That way I know if it is worth getting excited about the sale price of a pork picnic roast at Safeway, or if it is really cheaper everyday at Walmart.
If you can't update the book at the store, do it based on your receipts at least, so that weeks from now you can look back and see that Sunflower's lettuce prices are WAY better than that Albertson's produce you are about to toss in your cart. A price book helps you recognize savings when you see it - and (as GI Joe told me when I was growing up) "knowing is half the battle."

Steak with Asparagus "Pesto"

2010-03-01T15:05:00.009-07:00

This is a genius idea - I stand behind that (less-than-modest) statement. That being said, my execution left plenty to be desired. (Making Keri a sad cook.)

The plan was this - use some lean, inexpensive, thin cuts of round steak to make yummy rolls, filling them with a sort of riff on pesto using the tender portion of Asparagus stems just below the "tree" tip which The Hub actually likes to eat. (I like to use this cut to wrap around filling, as in this recipe, which was fabulous!)

So I put the cooked stems into my trusty food processor:

And I processed them until smooth - then I added 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and pulsed to mix.
I spread this mix on to the steak, which had marinated overnight in a balsamic vinegar and garlic mixture.
Then I rolled them up and baked them on a broiler pan at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
All of this was fine - but upon biting into my creation, I knew immediately what needed to be done to solve the problem I was tasting. It was bland. Well, the filling was bland, the meat was actually a little too sweet from the balsamic reduction I paired with it at the last minute.

So, what should I have done? #1 - I didn't salt the filling, because I thought the cheese would be enough. WRONG!!! Needed some salt to kick the flavor of the Asparagus up a bit. #2 - I omitted nuts in the "pesto" ripoff. Bad call. Traditional pesto has toasted pine nuts, but this would have benefited from some almonds in the mix to add a little complexity to the flavor. #3 - Balsamic was too strong a flavor for the marinade, and FOR SURE for the sauce. It was sweet when I was wanting something savory. No Bueno.

I served it all with my usual baked potato casserole, and I got to use my pretty new dishes (thanks to The Hub for buying them for me - I love them!) so it wasn't a total loss, but I was disappointed that I didn't execute my awesome idea in a better way.

This filling will rise again, I promise. In a much tastier version, natch.

And I will return to the kitchen tonight, licking my wounds a bit, but still happy to be there. :)

Everyday Poached Chicken Perfection!

2010-02-26T13:37:00.009-07:00

So I picked up the Jan/Feb edition of Everyday Food to read on the plane back from Indiana earlier this week after visiting this guy:

(nephew Vaughn, seen here eating in a fashion very similar to Aunt Keri's usual practices.)

By the time I walked through my front door, all I could think about was poaching chicken.

That's right, poaching chicken. It gets a bad rap sometimes - because poaching chicken, especially white meat, correctly is an elusive process. Often the chicken is bland, or rubbery, or dry, or (gasp) all of the above.

But Everyday Food seemed to have come up with a foolproof process, and I was itching to try it, AND to use that poached chicken to make some of the things suggested in the magazine.

The recipe? (as I said - it is from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2010)

1/2 medium yellow onion, halved

1 medium carrot, cut into thirds

1 celery stalk, cut into thirds

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 sliced lemon (optional)

1 teaspoon coarse salt

3 springs thyme or parsley

4 b/s chicken breast halves (about 8 oz each)

In a large, straight-sided skillet or pot, combine all ingredients except chicken; cover with water by 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil over high. Add chicken and return to a boil. Cook 3 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let stand until chicken is cooked through, about 15-18 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from liquid immediately.
_________________________________

Ok, so first off, I did indeed, do a few things differently, (seriously, Keri NEVER could follow a recipe exactly) so:

I used a small whole red onion, cut in half (because it is what I had)

I used 2 small carrots cut in half (because I didn't have a medium one)

I used an extra piece of celery (because why not?)

I used pre minced garlic

"coarse salt?" snort - Morton's for me!

I opted for parsley flakes and no lemon

I actually did 5 b/s breast halves instead of 4

Here are the veggies covered with water:

And after bringing them to a boil I added the chicken:

It isn't so much what is in that pot kids - it is the method I am interested in here... The whole "bring to boil and then cover and let rest off heat" thing. That intrigued me because cooking too fast is my biggest problem when I try to poach. Even uber-low heat can be too much, it seems.

Can I tell ya - this worked like dream!! I let the chicken rest in the liquid covered for 18 minutes, turning at 9 minutes (really quickly so I didn't let too much heat out) and it was perfectly cooked. I mean PER-FECT. Juicy, tender, with a flavor that was mild but not bland in the least.
What to do with it? Well, you could just eat it with a light sauce made by reducing some of the poaching liquid, or:

Yesterday I took one of their suggestions and mixed some of the chicken (torn into shreds) with a drizzle of EVOO, 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, a sprinkle of dried parsley and basil, 4 oz of blanched fresh green beans and a whole cucumber chopped up. I let it sit in the fridge until lunch and all the flavors had combined - it was cool and crunchy and really a great lunch salad.
Today was good old chicken salad with a spoon of mayo and plenty of dill relish on wasa crackers with red bell pepper sticks on the side.

I also used some of the poached chicken to make shredded chicken tacos - I shredded the cold chicken and then heated (covered) very briefly in the microwave with a palmful of chili powder mixed in - then used that mixture to fill soft tacos and set out whatever fixins we had around. Mmm mmm good.

Simple, easy, versatile... a truly foolproof technique for poaching chicken.

Valentine's Day -Steakhouse at home

2010-02-15T10:00:00.002-07:00

The Hub and I are both huge carnivores - if we could get away with it, we would probably eat red meat 3 times a day, 7 days a week and be happy as clams. (Clams that love red meat, that is.)
But that isn't good - for arteries, waistlines, OR the family budget. So a nice steak is always a way to make an occasion truly special at our house.
Our "Steak house at home" menu included grilled steaks with seasoned butter, steamed asparagus, and individual baked potato casseroles. To complete the experience, a nice dirty martini.

For this meal I actually went with a moderately priced cut of meat - the chuck eye steak (or chuck fillet as I have seen it labeled alot lately.) It is an underrated steak, in my opinion. You need to give a little extra time to selection when choosing one at the store - Look for a cut that has smaller, rather than larger, fatty deposits running through it -after all, you want to pay for meat, not just fat. But cuts from the chuck primal cut of beef can be very flavorful if prepared with a bit of thought.
I took ours home and marinaded in a mix of Worcestershire sauce and Balsamic vinegar in the fridge for about 4 hours, and then an hour before cooking, I pulled the steaks out of the fridge to let them come up to room temp so the inside wouldn't be raw while the outside was already overcooked. I cooked the steaks (which were about 3/4 inch thick) 10 minutes on a preheated George Foreman grill (so handy because both sides cook at once) to a medium-rare finish.
The baked potato casserole was made with some thawed mashed potatoes from the freezer (about a cup and a half), which got combined with 2 tablespoons of sour cream, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, a bit of black pepper, and 1/4 cup of 2% cheddar cheese (shredded). I divided this between two ramekin's, topped with a bit more cheese and 1 slice each of extra lean turkey bacon (crumbled).
Into a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes to heat through.

Before serving the steak each one got a pat of buttery-spread that I had mixed with a minced garlic clove and some salt and pepper. Mmmmmm.
The asparagus steamed for a minute and a half in the microwave.

The dirty martini is an art in our house, 2 oz Svedka (or vodka of your choice) in a shaker with 3/4 oz vermouth, 1/2-3/4 oz olive juice or dirty martini mix, and ice - shake until the shaker is as cold as you can stand holding it, then pour into chilled glasses. Add toothpick with 3 olives (has to be 3 in our house) and enjoy.

It was a really great meal.

Prudent Homemaker's Yummy Tacos

2010-02-11T19:18:00.002-07:00

I am often in awe of The Prudent Homemaker... She makes chicken fried steak out of OATMEAL, for one thing (I will be trying that one soon). Everything she suggests turns out yummy, and she has taken stockpiling sale items to a level that can only be called an art.

These tacos are no exception. I seasoned my beef with salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder instead of using prefab taco seasoning, but we were pretty true to her recipe otherwise.

I think these are the "go to" tacos in our house from now on - they are just too easy and too good to resist.

Slow-Cooker Smothered Pork Chops

2010-02-10T13:34:00.004-07:00

I confess, I deviated from the Menu Plan this week. But only sort of.
I changed yesterday to Bratwurst day, and today to Slow-cooker Pork Chop day, because I was running really late yesterday in the morning and I didn't have time to assemble everything in the crock pot before I ran out the door.
So I did it this morning - here is the recipe:

4 Boneless loin chops, medium or thin (bone in would work great in this as well)
2 Cloves of garlic minced
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom if preferred)
Olive oil (a drizzle)
1 bell pepper roasted and sliced.

To assemble:
Turn slow cooker to "low" setting and spread a thin layer of Cream of Chicken soup into bottom of Cooker. to this add 1/3 of the garlic and cayenne, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and a small drizzle of Olive oil (I used Rosemary infused today, since I had some.)
Place two of the chops into the pan, and repeat with 1/2 of the remaining soup, 1/3 of the garlic and cayenne, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a drizzle of oil.
Place the last two chops in the pot on top of the soup covering the first two, and repeat the process with the end of all of your ingredients.
Cover and allow to cook on low all day - about 8 hours.

When you are ready to serve, remove the chops to a plate and stir the sliced roasted peppers (I buy and roast lots when they are on sale, and then freeze them already cut in strips,) into the gravy (soup mixture left in the crock pot). Allow the peppers to heat through and then serve the Chops smothered in the gravy and peppers.
MMMMMMM. (you can use onion too, but The Hub doesn't like onion, so I leave it out.)

Tonight we are having our Chops with a mixture of broccoli, carrots, and potatoes, tossed in the Rosemary Olive Oil and roasted in the oven until tender at 400 degrees. I can't wait!

BBQ Chicken and Wedge Salads

2010-02-09T14:23:00.003-07:00

Confession: My hankering for blue cheese dressing has been BOUNDLESS the past few weeks. (I guess it *is* sort of like liquid cheese, if you think about it, so I shouldn't be too shocked)

Anyway, that might explain my sudden desire to serve wedge salads.

Who doesn't love a good old-fashioned 1950's throwback Wedge salad? The Hub for one. :(

He does not share my love of blue cheese dressing (although he does like blue cheese crumbled in salads,) and he finds the wedge concept to difficult to negotiate on his plate.

So the party pooper got a chopped up, choose-your-own dressing version of it, and I got the glorious monument you see on the plate above.

Simply cut a head of iceberg into wedges of whatever size you like, pour on blue cheese dressing (I cheated and used store bought since I had a killer coupon/sale combo to work with this week leaving me to pay 59 cents total for a giant bottle,) and then sprinkle liberally with bacon crumbles (these are extra lean turkey bacon cooked in a frying pan until nice and crispy.)

So good along side my chicken breast tenders baked simply at 375 degrees in store bought BBQ sauce spiced up with a few dashes of Tabasco sauce for 30 minutes, tender and juicy and full of zingy flavor. A perfect combo with my wedge. (HA, she said "my wedge" and that is close to "wedgie"!! Yep - I am, in fact, a 5 year old.)

This is one wedge anyone is welcome to inflict on me again and again.

Meal Plan Monday at Spirit of Power

2010-02-08T10:08:00.002-07:00

It's Meal Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power! Check out what's cooking over the next week, and be sure to come back here for all the recipes (and reactions) throughout the week.

Egg topped noodles -Penny Pincher redo

2010-02-05T09:46:00.003-07:00

So when I promised a Penny Pincher version of this fabulous and yummy-sounding recipe from Bon Appetit magazine this week, it was without consulting the magic 8 ball that would have no doubt told me "not likely" or "try again later" or (if it was a REALLY fancy magic 8 ball) "you will be too busy barfing and sipping flat coke this week, Keri."

I have tummy trouble. :(

Eating actually sounds like an awful idea to Keri right now - take a picture, this is maybe the 5th moment in my entire 33 years that this has happened.

But the blog must go on, right? So I did it anyway. (Who loves you? Keri does, that's who!)

What did I do different than the original recipe above? It was all about ingredient substitutions, actually, I followed the same basic steps, but I worked with what I had.

In a pot of boiling water seasoned well with salt, I placed two servings' worth of Ronzoni Smart Taste spaghetti (actually, I would have loved to use whole wheat pasta in the place of the buckwheat noodles called for in the original recipe, but I got a great deal on the Smart Taste a couple weeks ago, so it is what we had.)

While the pasta cooked, I heated up a swirl of olive oil in a skillet and added 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic to the oil over medium high heat. Within a minute I also added 4 slices of extra lean turkey bacon (salty and crispy and yummy, but less expensive than prosciutto and ALWAYS on hand in my fridge). The bacon crisped and got some nice color, and then I removed it to a plate.

To the pasta pot I added 1 cup of sliced broccoli stems (I usually save them for soup since The Hub only really likes "the tree part" of broccoli, but their bright green color and firm crunch seemed the perfect substitution for Asparagus, which I will buy if the price is right, but didn't have in the house.) I let that cook with the pasta for about 2 minutes before draining the pasta and returning to the pan, along with some grated Parmesan cheese. I covered the pot to let the cheese get melty and keep everything warm.

Meanwhile, I cracked two eggs into the pan that I had cooked the bacon and garlic in earlier and let the eggs cook over medium low heat, covered, until the whites were set.

I added the bacon to the pasta mixture and gave everything a good stir before nesting the pasta on to two plates and topping with the eggs.

I snuck a bite. It was worth feeling sick afterwards - the salty tang of the cheese and the bacon, the crisp crunch of the broccoli, and the comforting bite of pasta coated with the rich egg yolk all together? It was the perfect bite.

Simple, economical, and super quick - this one is getting made again when I can dig into a whole plate!

Teachin' Ya Tuesdays - Portion control, please!

2010-02-02T13:23:00.004-07:00

I admit it - I suffer from SERIOUS portion control issues. When I eat, I tend to like quantity right along with my quality.
I have been really trying to be aware, over the past few weeks, of how much I actually eat, when I eat.
I was very proud of myself last night for NOT being a member of the clean plate club. I was starting to feel full, so instead of cramming down the last of the Garlic Fries on my plate, I backed away and took my plate to the kitchen. (I got a Tweet of approval from every one's favorite Dietetics student, Nuts4Nutrition for it too, yes I did, uh huh.)
But that is not my usual mojo. I am the girl with the GIANT bowl full of cereal, or huge Mexican combo plate, or Cesar salad big enough for the whole table to share, and usually scarfing it down at break-neck pace, to be honest. :(
So I have been concentrating on eating slowly. Enjoying the flavor, texture, etc of the food as I take each bite and concentrate on eating just that one bite. This seems to help with portion control because I don't feel like I "ran out" of food too quickly, like I do when I am shoveling as fast as I can.
It isn't quite as easy to convince The Hub though. He likes a plentiful portion too, and for him I have tried employing some sneakier tactics. (shhhh, don't tell.)
-We eat off plates that have a small area that actually holds food. It takes less food to make the plate look nice and full. Fooling the eyes AND the tummy!
-I load in the good stuff. A big bowl of beef stew looks like a large and hearty portion, and it is. But I have loaded in lots of chunks of healthy veggies, and cut back on beef in the mix. Also, now he gets one nice big slice of crusty bread for dipping, instead of half the loaf on the table to be eaten between the two of us!
-Thin cuts of meat = lots of plate covered with a smaller actual portion. Thin cut pork chops are a frequent sight on our table, as are chicken breasts that have been butterflied and then cut the rest of the way, to create two thinner "breasts" (reduction surgery, ED&BK style!)
-Presentation - I always like a pretty plate, true - but some of it is also about making portions look plentiful. In the picture below of my inside-out shepherd's pie, notice that I pile everything high in the center of the plate - it is taking up a lot of vertical space, not really filling the whole plate. The Hub sees that and thinks "giant mound of food" but really, not so much.

I can't lie - portion control is a battle I feel I fight a little each day. But I'll keep my dukes up, and try at least, to know when to put my fork down.

Menu Plan Monday link and rundown

2010-02-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's Menu Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power, and here is what I have on deck for this week!
I am really excited for Tuesday night's Penny Pincher makeover of a recipe from Bon Appetit that looks amazing.
Also, I promise to confess the details of last weeks horrifying slowcooker taco casserole failure (cringe) sometime this week, so visit again soon!

Inside-out Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I can be a little lazy after a long day of work. But even when I am feeling a bit, um, "undermotivated" shall we say, I still love cooking a yummy dinner for the fam when I get home. Not only does cooking soothe my stressed-out soul, all of the "yummy noises" The Hub makes when consuming my creations do wonders for an ego bruised by slaying office dragons all day.

That being said - it never hurts to keep things as easy as possible, right? And so I give you the Inside-out Shepherd's Pie. All of the delicious flavor of the comfort food classic, with none of the extra assembly required!

Shepherd's pie is very forgiving, and I probably never do the exact same thing twice, but it is usually something like this:

-Make mashed potatoes (or use flakes, or use leftovers - this is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes!) I dice potatoes small and boil them on the stove until tender before draining and adding a few splashes of milk and whipping them with my trusty hand mixer. Don't forget to taste and season with S&P.

-brown 1/2 lb of stew meat, cubed beef, or ground beef

-to the pan add 1 can of veggie beef soup and 1 can of water, stirring and scraping the pan bottom to deglaze the pan

-add 1 shake off the bottle of Worcestershire Sauce

-bring mixture to a boil

-mix two teaspoons of corn starch with two tablespoons of cold water and stir well

-add the corn starch slurry (yep that stuff you just made is a "slurry") to the boiling beef mixture and stir rapidly until mixture thickens.

Assembly:

Spoon mounds of mashed potatoes on to serving plates, making a well or indentation in the top of each mound.

Ladle beef mixture into potato well and allow to spill out over the sides of the mound.

Sprinkle with paprika and cheese if desired.

*Added bonus, not having to worry that when you attempt to serve your Shepherd's pie, it is going to fall apart in a messy heap. "Messy Heap" is what you are aiming for. :)

Beefy Mac with Creamy Tomato Sauce

2010-01-27T12:48:00.002-07:00

I know it looks a little um, unimpressive, shall we say - but people, this is tasty as heck!! The secret here really is in the sauce.

While you are boiling your elbow macaroni:

Brown 1/2 lb ground beef and drain

Then add to the beef:

1/4 - 1/2 brick of cream cheese

1 palmful of Basil

12-16 oz of tomato sauce (I buy the 8 oz cans of the cheapy store brand sauce by the tomato paste and doctor it up myself.)

Stir it all together over medium heat, allowing the cream cheese to melt into the sauce. mmmmmm.

Then drain and add your pasta, sprinkle some Mozzarella cheese if desired, and serve in a delicious mound. I repeat: mmmmmm.

Ritz Cracker Crumb Chicken

2010-01-26T14:54:00.003-07:00

Folks, you've seen it before... Keri coats stuff in crumbs ands sticks it in the oven. Not much variation from my usual technique to be seen here. But what IS different = a whole different flavor, (which = no boring The Hub.)
To make the crumb coating this time I took this baggie filled with 10 Ritz crackers out on to The Tree House patio:

Then I smacked the snot out of it with the back of my frying pan until it looked like this:

Those crumbs coated the chicken breasts, which I first dipped in an egg white beaten with a splash of milk, and then the whole thing baked in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Honestly, it should have been more like 20 - they were a little over cooked this time, but I was busy sauteing some yellow squash with fresh basil for myself, as seen above. The Hub got steamed cauliflower and carrots (picky picky.)

The cracker coating on the chicken was buttery and just a little salty - really different and really good. I wonder what else I can pulverize into crumb coating with my frying pan. It does a cook a little good after a long day at the office. :)

Teachin' Ya Tuesdays - Making Menu Planning Work for You

2010-01-26T06:00:00.001-07:00

Last week my fabulous friend Kate repeated the same lament I have heard from girlfriends and ED&BK readers alike: "My freezer is full but I don't see anything to actually cook!" Every week groceries get bought and put away, and every night full pantries and fridges are met with blank, overwhelmed stares.
The answer to this? Menu planning. Regardless of how you attack your grocery shopping, menu planning can make the most of your time and money and make getting dinner on the table each night oh-so-easy.
Each week I take a peak in the freezer and pantry cabinet to see what I have, I consider any new recipes I have found that I want to try, what favorite recipes we haven't had in a while, and any time commitments that might affect dinner plans during the week. Then I make a list of meals for the week which hangs on the side of the fridge where I can easily see it.
But there is one more step, and this is a biggie - it can make or break the whole thing: I gather the frozen meat I will need for the week and I put it all in a bottom drawer in my fridge (in a glass dish just in case there is any leaking) so it will at least begin to thaw. (The picture above was from this menu plan.) I pull any canned items I want to use to the front of the pantry cabinet, and I make sure any fresh fruit or veggies are washed and easily seen and accessed in the produce drawer. If I have any other prep that I can do (making bread crumbs, grating cheese, etc, ) I get that done as well.
With all of that done, I know what I am making, and I know I have everything I need to make it. There are no surprises that way, and no excuses needed. Dinners are ready in a snap.
I encouraged Kate to give it a try, and to take it a step further and start out with an "eat from the freezer" week - a week of menus planned using ONLY what they already have in the house.
Taking less than an hour a week to do just a little bit of planning can transform dinner preparation from a dreaded chore to a quick and enjoyable activity each evening.

Nachos - the lazy cook's way.

2010-01-25T12:18:00.007-07:00

Hello, Nacho.

Oh look, Keri is eating liquid cheese. The sun probably also came up this morning too, eh?

Ok, but I have a reason this time. The Hub decided to stay around the house for last night's Saints game instead of meeting the gang at the local watering hole, so I wanted to have something of the "bar food snacky" persuasion. (Thinking in the same vein as that old country song about the lady who hires a wino to decorate their home to make her hub feel comfy.)

I was so lazy about this go around, I must confess. I browned up some ground chicken with a generous palmful of Chili Powder:

in to which I mixed a can of Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup (Which I scored stacking a sale with an awesome coupon and got for practically nothing - hooray for cheap liquid cheese,) and 1/4 cup of diced jalapenos, and 1/2 of the soup can of milk:

Mmmmmm.. cheesey. I added diced onions to mine, and a few shakes of extra spicy hot sauce all around.

Oh Campbell's, is there anything you can't do?

Menu Plan Monday!

2010-01-25T08:43:00.003-07:00

It is Menu Plan Monday over at Spirit of Power!! Check out this week's dinners, and be sure to stop by tomorrow for a Teachin' Ya Tuesday devoted to the magic of menu planning!

Breakfast For Dinner - Sweet Potato Casualty

2010-01-24T15:09:00.004-07:00

Having "Breakfast for Dinner" night is a great way to shake things up a bit AND pinch pennies. Our latest BFD night included one of my favorite breakfasts with a new twist.

I have talked before about the recipes that I have been cooking since my girl scout days, and Casualty was a staple camp breakfast for good old troop 1062. Loved it then, love it now.

The traditional recipe (amounts vary according to number of hungry BFD eaters) that we cooked as scouts involved using a big dutch oven over a camp fire to cook chopped up bacon, rendering the fat, then cooking thin-sliced or small diced potatoes in the bacon drippings, adding some diced onion, and then pouring scrambled eggs over everything and letting it all cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs set. Then topping the whole thing with plenty of shredded cheese and serving in a big heaping pile. It looks like a mess, which must be why we called it "casualty". It is SO good.

I decided to mix it up (and make it a little healthier) this time. I started out with some leftover sweet potatoes and yams which had accompanied adobo chicken last week, and some extra lean turkey bacon all into a hot pan coated with canola spray:

All of that cooked together for a bit to crisp up, and then I added 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites, all of which had been scrambled with a splash of milk and a pinch of dry mustard powder. Last week King Soopers had some grade B eggs in the manager's special section, so I snatched some up - I assure you they are just as good as grade A, and so much less expensive:

For some added kick, a few generous splashes of Louisiana hot sauce:

Then some chopped up American cheese (use what ya have, I always say):

And then the lid went on until the cheese got all melty. mmmmmm, melty.

I served it in a nice messy pile next to a thick slice of fresh-from-the-broiler sourdough toast and left the hot sauce close by in case we wanted things EXTRA spicy.

I think my troop leader would be proud.

Menu Monday at Spirit of Power!

2010-01-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

It is Menu Monday over at Spirit of Power, and I am really excited about some of the recipes this week!

See what is for dinner every night this week!

Hamburger Stew really sounds boring...

2010-01-18T08:57:00.002-07:00

Sunflower Market has killer prices on ground meat right now. So I loaded up on ground chicken and extra lean ground beef and stocked the freezer. ( I get excited about the strangest things.)

In addition, King Soopers has Campbell's Condensed Soups on sale this week, and I had a coupon for them as well - so I snapped up some cans of various types that I can use for bases and sauces.

Last night I browned 3/4 lb of the extra lean ground beef in my big stock pot, and then added in 1/4 cup of red wine to deglaze the pan (add it and scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.)
Then I used a can of Campbell's Beef Consomme made according to the directions on the can, adding that to the pot along with 1/2 of a can of mixed veggies. All of that came to a simmer together and I also shook in a couple of dashes of Worcestershire Sauce. Meanwhile I cooked two handfuls of Egg Noodles (I use No Yolks because of The Hub's Cholesterol issues) in a separate pan of boiling water and sliced some fabulous crusty sourdough bread (shhhh, don't tell - from the day old rack.)

Using two teaspoons of corn starch and two teaspoons cold water, I made a slurry and added to the boiling stew, mixing rapidly to thicken. Then I added the egg noodles and ladled it into bowls.
SO MUCH FLAVOR! The Hub gave it a bit of the stink-eye because of the simplicity, I think, but he really dug it. Hooray for simple, hearty,delicious, stretch-a-buck meals!!

Burgers and Fries

2010-01-15T13:13:00.003-07:00

This picture illistrates well two things I love about last night's Burgers and Fries.
#1. Look at those fries. These are Ellie Krieger's Garlic Fries and they come out perfect every single time. I promise. You don't have to feel even the slightest bit guilty about these baked-not-fried beauties. Plus, they are crunchy outside, flaky potatoey goodness inside, flavorful and (in my opinion) beautiful on the plate. Try the fries - serious.
#2. The George Foreman Grill is fabulous. Don't ditch yours, embrace and rediscover it. See those grill lines on my beautiful burger? Yep - George made them. While allowing fat to drain away (actually, I use pretty lean meat, but still.) In 8 minutes (plus 4 pre-heating) I went from frozen patty to juicy, tasty, perfect burger. A little garlic powder and S&P sprinkled on the top before closing the lid results in fabulous flavor seared into the patty. Not only that - but the George Foreman in your basement costs NOTHING to dig out and use instead of buying one of those crazy-expensive panini makers everyone covets these days.

This meal is quick and cost effective and much healthier than any burger someone might hand you out of a window. Just sayin....

Teachin' ya Tuesday - How to make "cheap meat" delicious.

2010-01-12T11:40:00.003-07:00

In this humble blogger's opinion, there is no such thing as a bad cut of meat. (And when I say meat here, I mean any animal protein - beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and anything else you might come across. I ain't skeered of whatever you might have to offer.)
It is all about preparation, not price - I promise.

One of the house favorites around here is steak night - we love a good hunk of red meat in this family, no doubt, and it is one of my favorite meals to prepare for birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebrations. That being said, I have given up on splurging for "good" steaks, even for those celebratory dinners. Not. Worth. It.
The best tasting steaks I have ever made at home are simple, inexpensive (and nice and lean, BTW) Top Sirloin steaks prepared using this salting method. Doubt if you will - but try it anyway. You'll see. Try it on just about any cut - whatever is on sale for rock bottom prices. My mouth waters just thinking of it.

I am a big fan of stew meat as well - for price and portion control it is tops in my book. Not just beef, but lamb and pork stew meat are frequent ingredients in our kitchen. The trick with these, and with all "tougher" cuts of meat is to either marinate for a long time using a nice acid-y marinade (think balsamic vinegar and herbs and overnight at least) if you want to do a quick-cooking preparation; or cooking low and slow for an extended period of time (crock pot, low temp, from early morning until dinner) accompanied by flavors your family enjoys. (Herbs, or sauces, or mustard... anything that will impart flavor as the meat cooks.)

As for poultry - dark meat gets a bad rap for being less nutritionally desirable than the expensive breast meat. This is not necessarily true. Thighs are slightly higher in fat than breast meat - but they also have a rich, meaty flavor that can mean more satisfaction for less actual consumption (but that is just my opinion.) The Hub is not a huge fan of dark meat but the price is right, so I use it in stews, soups, pot pies, enchiladas, casseroles, and other ways that mask the rich flavor of the darker cuts.

I am always looking for new ways to use inexpensive cuts of meat in delicious ways - what tricks/tips do you have for me?

Quick and Healthy Chicken Soft Tacos

2010-01-07T09:23:00.007-07:00

Happy 2010, Everyone!

It must be the week after vacation, because here I am nursing some sort of cold/virus/ickiness, just like I always seem to be the first work week of the new year.

In the past feeling crummy has lead to some pretty lazy cooking incidents. (For instance, the Pizzacicle post lives on for all to see. I am impressed that I took time to add a visual aid to it, a least.)
I did a bit better last night, in spite of feeling crummy.

I diced one HUGE b/s chicken breast into small cubes and sauteed it in a big skillet sprayed with cooking spray until it was just brown on the outside. Then I removed it from the heat and stirred in some of my famous special taco sauce, as discussed in this post, although I have graduated to just buying bottles of Taco Bell hot sauce to make it now. I used 1/4 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of the hot sauce to season the chicken cubes while they were still in the hot pan.

After which each of 3 large flour tortillas (I used whole wheat) got cut in half, and each half filled with a pile of pre-shredded cabbage and carrot coleslaw mixture, a portion of the chicken, and a shake of Tabasco sauce to kick the heat up a notch.

I confess I didn't really plate anything, just piled them on a platter and stuck them in between us on the table. The whole dinner took less than 20 minutes from start to "on the table" - and a good chunk of that was chopping up the chicken before cooking.

Sorry, no pictures.. :(

Off to find my DayQuil stash.

Teachin' Ya Tuesdays - Meat Cuts

2009-12-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have had several people ask me about how to choose the best roast for their holiday "Roast Beast" needs.

Well, here are two websites that can be very helpful in selection and preparation of different cuts of meat. Both are from industry groups, which can sometimes be a bad thing, but in this case it helps to get good explanations of what to look for and how to get the most out of each different cut.
Pork - Selection and Preparation
Beef - Selection and Preparation
And what am I roasting for Christmas dinner? Don't know - there are some good sales on different cuts this week - but I am actually considering cheating and grabbing something pre-made at Whole Foods for The Hub and I to enjoy on Christmas night. (I am cooking up a storm for Christmas day brunch though!) Christmas Eve will be mexican food, I think.
Happy Roasting, whatever you choose!

Tasty and Quick Chicken Tenders

2009-12-22T11:53:00.003-07:00

All of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has Keri a little pooped out, to be honest. Last night I knew I had chicken tenders thawed in the fridge, so I pulled them out and let them marinade in some Ken's Northern Italian Lite dressing while I shrugged off the uniform of the day and slid on swishy pants and a cozy sweatshirt. (Ok, and maybe made a nice big dirty martini for The Hub and myself too.)
Then I wrapped each tender in a half a piece of prosciutto (cut lengthwise) and baked on a rack at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

On to the plate it went with a mix of medium diced potato and broccoli, steamed in the microwave with a pat of Olivio and generously sprinkled with crushed red pepper flakes.

Yum.

Cookie Exchange Cheese Dip

2009-12-20T08:29:00.005-07:00

I've had a few ladies who attended ask me how I made the crock-pot cheese dip that I brought to the cookie exchange. It is almost as sadly simple as the cookies I took, and not from a dip recipe or anything. I knew I wanted to do something different than the (always delicious, btw) Ro*tel/cheese type dip with tortilla chips (mostly because I thought it would be done by others, and it was.. it was actually a very cheesy CE, much to my extreme delight!)
So I whipped up a double batch of this cheese sauce and poured it into the crock pot. Then I added:
-1 bunch scallions, white and green sections, diced
-2 diced Roma tomatoes
-1 Tablespoon of prepared refrigerated horseradish

I stirred it all up and let it stay nice and warm in the crock pot, and served with Triscuts. My inspiration was all those delicious cheese balls and spreads you find around the holidays, with port or horseradish or other wonderful things mixed in - they always call for a hearty cracker, and they ALWAYS call for Keri to have another shmear on said crackers.

Anyway, the dip turned out well, and held really well in the crock pot for the hours of the party.

Cookie Exchange ..

2009-12-14T14:19:00.003-07:00

Behold my mad cookie prowess!!
Ok, so not really. Not at all. Here is my magic recipe for these:

1. Proceed to supermarket of your choice.
2. Purchase Pilsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough log, Betty Croker Vanilla Frosting, 1 package candy canes and pre-heat oven
3. roll dough into tiny balls (heh heh.. Keri's tiny balls) and bake as directed on package.
4. While those bake, unwrap the candy canes, put them in a zip-loc, and smack the crap out of them with the flat side of your meat mallet
5. frost cookies in sloppy manner and sprinkle on smashed candy canes..

Ahhh, Baking With Keri.. so fancy and complicated. :)

Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken Breasts with Sauteed Chard

2009-12-10T15:10:00.008-07:00

The recipe for this chicken came from Real Simple Magazine. I doctored it a little bit, but I am sure it would be fabulous if the recipe was followed exactly as well.

So I laid the prosciutto out on the cutting board and sprinkled with dried Oregano, as the recipe said (ok, so I didn't really measure - you know me):

And I wrapped it around a b/s chicken breast:

I heated the oil in the pan, but went ahead had just used pre-minced garlic, being careful not to let it burn in the oil:

Everybody in to the pool:

and flipped as soon as bottom got some color:

Again, I differ from the recipe in all the usual places - I just browned each side of the chicken and then put it on a sprayed broiler pan and finished at 400 degrees (about 15 minutes). I almost always finish things off in the oven:Meanwhile, back at the pan, something familiar was happening with Olivio added to the pan drippings:and and equal amount of flour (if you don't know where I am going with this by now, I don't know what to say - I am getting very predictable lately):

EXCEPT, check this out - I am adding 1/3 cup Vermouth to that Roux and stirring like heck to blend!

And THEN I added 3/4 cup milk and made with the stirring again, over high heat, until it thickened:

and finally, off the heat I added in 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (my favorite!) and stirred it until it melted in:Then I packed all of that up along with a bag of Chard (stems removed, torn into pieces) and some roasted baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, and away I went for a field trip version of the No Boys Allowed Supper Club (NBASC) - seen here with Harper (hanging on the table), her mommy Terresa, and the lovely hostess Kristin:

The Chard got sauteed in a hot skillet with a clove of minced garlic until it wilted (like 5 minutes) and everything got warmed through and then, Tah-daa! On to the plate so we could dig in - as seen at the top of the post. Yum!

Chicken Fingers, and proof that I OWN the Roux!

2009-12-09T14:47:00.010-07:00

Oh look, Keri breaded stuff to put in the oven again - what a huge shock. NOT! Anyway, I did indeed bread up some chicken breast tenders so that The Hub could indulge in some Chicken Fingers and we could have a quick and easy dinner. I did it using the same breading method I did here except I just used plain milk for the wet dip, and I seasoned the crumbs with a generous amount of Cayenne pepper, a bit of Garlic Powder and Salt and nothing else. Then on to the roasting rack they went and into the 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes: (actually it was more like 17 minutes, just to be exact.)

Meanwhile, I had some leftover chopped Cauliflower, and to it I added some Broccoli florets (The Hub only likes the "tree looking" part. Serious.)

Into a microwave-safe covered dish these all went, along with a teaspoon of water. After I finished making the cheese sauce and about 5 minutes before I was ready to serve dinner, they got microwaved for 3 minutes, stirred, and microwaved another minute - then I just kept them closed so the steam kept at 'em until I was ready to put them on the plate.

And because The Hub isn't hugely keen on veggies in large amounts, and (let's be honest here) because I can, I whipped up a quick little sauce for the veggies. I melted two teaspoons of "won't hurt your Hub's cholesterol" Olivio Spread in a sauce pan:

And added two heaping teaspoons of flour to the melted spread, whisking it together:

except that I am so money at making a Roux now that I don't need a fancy whisk - I just used a fork, yo:

Then in went a cup of skim milk that had been warmed in the microwave for a minute and it cooked over high heat while I kept up with the fork/whisking until it reached "nape" consistency - it's French, so you pronounce that last "e" - meaning it will coat the back of a spoon and not slide off, and when you draw a line through it, that line won't close back up, like this:

Then off the heat I added in 3/4 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese:

... and stirred it :

.. until it was smooth liquid cheese perfection:

This really takes no time at all now people.. It is almost a crime how easily it comes to me, considering how I struggled with it in school... Poor 19 year old Keri with her broke-ass Roux... and underage, so she couldn't even drink away her failures. At least not in public. BUT I DIGRESS!

So the Chicken is done, crispy and yummy out of the oven after 17 minutes:

Nothing left to do now but get it all on a plate while it is good and hot, complete a cheesy drizzle of deliciousness for those perfectly steamed veggies, as seen on my plate at the beginning of the post.

mmmmm.

Teachin Ya Tuesdays -Cooking With Keri 101

2009-12-02T21:00:00.012-07:00

It's a new feature here on ED&BK, "Teachin' Ya Tuesdays" will be dedicated to helpful little lessons that you can use in the kitchen. The first one is a whopper - a rundown of my first crack at playing teacher for a cooking class! (STOP LAUGHING!)
Last night was Cooking With Keri, 101, at The TreeHouse, and here I am with my fabulous students (minus lovely Mic, who graciously played photographer):
I am the first to admit that my outline was, um, a little lofty for one class, so I am going to include the outline here and expand on a few things, as well as fill in the blanks on things we didn't really talk about.

The Outline (as best as I could format it I will keep working on it):

Cooking with Keri
Cooking 101

1. Meis en Place
A. CHOP CHOP!!
i. Onions, Shallots, and other things that make you cry (don’t forget that we kept the root end on the onion for easier chopping)
1. Garlic, and why I don’t even bother!
ii. Fancy French tomatoes!
iii. Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin – round veggies
iv. Size matters – cooking times
v. Chehper Chicken – creating pockets and butterflying
B. What else?
i. Ingredient measuring and prep
ii. Seasoning – you need more than you think (we didn’t really touch on this , but seasoning usually requires being more heavy handed then you think – also, preseasoning can be an important way to add flavor)
iii. Timing is everything – have a timeline (and plan to hold ) (refer to the sauces sheet – you can hold things warm in a low – 200 degrees or so – oven when needed, or tent with foil. Also, chop things an appropriate size to keep cooking times close so things come out at the same time)
iv. What’s your problem!? (No really – what prep questions do you have?)
2. Easy Cooking Techniques
A. Saute
i. That brown stuff is flavor! (now this one we did – remember that baking soda sprinkled in your flour can help things brown, and I would aim for a bit more color than we went for when cooking our chicken. See this chicken post for an example)
ii. That black stuff is NOT! (oven finishing – it’s your friend) (this is why I finish food in the oven, so it doesn’t burn on the outside while staying undercooked on the inside!)
B. Grilling – my dirty little secret (Grilling makes everything taste better.. we seriously grill frozen pizza around our house!)
i. (see “size matters” – it really does here!)
C. Oven frying
D. Roasting – the better one pot meal (this is what we did with the veggies that we put the chicken on top of)
i. Breading method (remember I said that when I do bread, sometimes I don't bother with a wet step, which I do use in this post for my stuffed pork chops)
E. Moist cooking methods –
i. The crock pot is a penny pincher’s dream (we didn’t get to this at all, but the crock pot is my favorite moist cooking method.. another class, perhaps..)
ii. Steaming veggies (I do it in a covered glass container with a tablespoon of water (at most) in the microwave)
3. Sauces
A. Thickening – the Roux/Slurry debate (this is the part where Keri confesses to having snuck cornstarch in to thicken things during culinary school before her rouxs would work) – bottom line, use what works for you.
i. For a Corn Starch slurry, use equal parts CS and COLD water, blend together and add to HOT (I like it to be boiling) liquid you wish to thicken, a little at a time, whisking and checking for consistency
ii. For a Roux, use equal parts melted or liquid fat and flour, and remember to “cook out” the roux for a few minutes at least (if you want a “blonde” or “light” roux) to get rid of the floury flavor. – then add warm or hot liquid (cold is MUCH harder to incorporate), one ladleful at a time at first, to the roux pan and whisk, adding until all liquid is mixed in, and then heat to finish thickening. You need about 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon fat to thicken 1 and ¼ cup liquid.
B. The pan sauce (I told you that brown stuff was flavor!)
i. Deglazing – choose your liquid wisely (I used Vermouth to deglaze our chicken pan in class, and then reduced it and added salt and pepper. Some other ideas were included in the sauce ideas handout )
1. A mention of “tomato product” some cooks like to deglaze with “tomato product” when cooking with dark meats (beef, game meats, etc) – this could be a tablespoon of tomato paste and a bit of water or broth, or even tomato juice mixed with broth. The acidity can add a nice complexity to the finished sauce, making it rich and deep in the background.
2. What else do I do?
a. Add ins – making it your own (herbs, in any form, are your friend.. play around with them or try the suggestions on the sauces handout)
b. Finishing, texture, seasoning (don’t forget to taste and correct seasoning!!) If a sauce looks dull in appearance or not complex enough in flavor, finish by swirling in a pat of butter (or veggie spread product if you prefer) or good olive oil off of the heat – it will add sheen and depth to your sauce.
C. Cream sauces
i. The magic of liquid cheese (what more is there, really?) You were there, you saw the magic. I can make liquid cheese where none existed before.
I HAVE THE PAH-OWAH!!!!
3. Make it look pretty
A. Presentation – clean edges, dirty mind; pile it up; saucy plate = pretty meal, etc. Little things can make a big difference – we eat with our eyes first, so consider presentation. It can be little things, like making a small pool of your sauce on the plate and placing your protein on top of that, or piling your starch in the center of the plate, placing veggies around, and crowning the whole thing with your protein and a drizzle of sauce. Don’t just plop it on the plate, get creative! And before you present your creation, for goodness sakes wipe any crumbs, sauce drips, etc, off from around the edges of the plate!

Thus endth the Outline.

(and begineth the Sauces Handout)

Pan Sauce Possibilities:
Chicken/Fish/Light Sauces
Vermouth Citrus – remove protein and hold warm, add ½ minced shallot to pan and saute until translucent; deglaze pan (off heat) with ½ cup Vermouth, add the zest and juice of one half lemon or Orange, reduce to desired consistency over med-high heat, taste and season. Return Protein to pan and turn to coat in sauce
Dijon Lemon – remove protein from pan and hold warm, deglaze pan with juice of 1 lemon; stir in ½ teaspoon Dijon and 1 teaspoon dried dill. Heat through and drizzle over protein
Keri’s Cheatin’ Sauce Supreme- remove protein from pan and hold warm, add 1 tablespoon flour and butter/fat as needed until fat in pan is equal to flour, cook roux 2-3 minutes,; deglaze pan with ¾ cup milk (this will incorporate easily if you have heated it prior to adding – if not at least make sure it isn’t straight out of the fridge) and stir over heat until sauce thickens – season to taste. Also tasty with some sauteed mushrooms sliced into sauce. Serve over protein.

Beef/ Lamb/Dark Sauces
Keri’s Cheatin’ Sauce Madeira – remove protein from pan and hold warm, deglaze pan with ¾ cup water or beef broth/stock over high heat. Reduce liquid by half, then add 2-4 ounces Madeira and allow to reduce to desired consistency. Stir in 1 tablespoon cold butter and adjust seasoning before returning protein to pan or spooning sauce over protein.
Mushroom Sauce – remove protein from pan and hold warm. Add to pan 1 cup of sliced mushrooms and 1 diced shallot. Cook until mushrooms release liquid (scraping bits off bottom of pan as you go) and shallot is translucent. Add to pan 1 cup beef broth or red wine THAT YOU ENJOY (the flavor will concentrate) along with ½ teaspoon dried Thyme, and reduce over med-high heat to desired consistency – thicken with a slurry of equal parts corn starch and cold water if desired. Spoon sauce and mushrooms over protein.
Keri’s Cheatin' Sauce Chasseur – A variation on the Mushroom sauce but a bit more complex. Remove beef (really best to do this one with beef) from pan and hold warm. Cook out 1 tablespoon tomato paste in pan for 1-2 minutes, then add 1 diced shallot, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, ½ clove minced garlic, 1 cup beef broth, 1/8 cup white wine, 1/8 cup brandy, ½ teaspoon dried Parsley, and ¼ teaspoon dried Tarragon and reduce to 1/2-1/3 original volume (desired consistency.) Finish sauce with 1-2 teaspoons of butter and salt and pepper to taste. This is a perfect WOW sauce to serve with a roast (brown the roast before cooking in oven or crockpot and use browning pan to make sauce – it can be held and reheated, add butter just before serving)

Béchamel Sauce and Varieties
Basic Béchamel - Heat (but don’t boil) 1 Quart milk and hold hot
In 2 quart stock pan melt 6 teaspoons butter
Add 6 teaspoons flour and whisk until combined with butter and cook 2-4 minutes until Roux starts to turn slightly tan, then add hot milk 1 cup at a time and whisk until combined – whisk over heat until sauce thickens.
Keri’s Beloved Cheese sauce - Stir 4-6 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese and dash of Louisiana hot sauce into prepared Béchamel off of heat – serve over anything, and EVERYTHING.
Mornay Sauce - Stir 1-2 cups of grated Gruyere cheese and 1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg into prepared Béchamel off of heat. (This classic French sauce is AMAZING for making a grown up Mac and cheese)
Mustard Sauce -Stir 2-3 teaspoons of prepared mustard (which ever you like) in to prepared Béchamel sauce off heat – add dill or thyme if desired.

Stolen Moment: It's a blog-aversary giveaway!

2009-11-30T12:28:00.004-07:00

Ellie over at Vintage Victuals is putting love, care, and occasionally a new spin, into her favorite cherished family recipes - as well as sharing some new ones with her readers too. She is celebrating her "blog-aversary" with a great giveaway too. So check out her blog and prepare to be inspired!

Herb rubbed pork chops and "twice baked" potatoes

2009-11-23T14:10:00.004-07:00

I love everything about twice baked potatoes. Everything EXCEPT the process of actually making them. All that scraping and refilling of the potato-y centers, it is just too much for me.
So I cheated last night and boiled 2 medium diced potatoes until they were just tender and flaky, then drained and smashed in the hot pot with a fork until they were smashed, but not totally smooth. Then I added two tablespoons of light sour cream, 1/4 cup 2% milk shredded cheddar, 1 tablespoon of Olivio spread, and 1/4 cup fat free milk. I stirred the ingredients together and divided into two medium ramekins, sprinkling 1/2 an additional tablespoon of the cheddar

over each of the ramekins and adding some diced scallions to mine (no onions for The Hub.)

I placed the potatoes under the broiler just long enough to make the cheese on top slightly brown and crusty.

This got served along side boneless loin pork chops, which I pulled out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking and rubbed each side with this rub:

1 teaspoon oil mixed with 1 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 tablespoon thyme, 1/2 tablespoon parsley flakes, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper (mixed until it forms a paste and divided between two thin chops)

I let that sit while I tended to the boiling potatoes, and then cooked the chops off for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven on a flat roasting rack.

The chops sat loosely covered with foil letting the juices redistribute while I broiled the potatoes before serving.

Seasoned petite sirloin with steamed basil veggies

2009-11-18T09:41:00.007-07:00

Ahhhh, beef. It's what's for dinner. A few weeks ago Albertsons had petite sirloin steak packages buy 1 get 2 free, so I have a fair amount in the freezer at the moment. Here I have cut one steak in half and rubbed the juice of one lime, along with a generous sprinkling of garlic powder and parsley flakes into all sides of the pieces:
I left that to marinade on the counter for about 30 minutes while I changed out of my office attire and prepped the veggies. Using a peeler, I made ribbons out of two small zucchinis:

Then I added in a couple handfuls of frozen corn (The Hub LOVES corn, but not so much Zuchini, so this is my way of getting him to eat the squash - I mix it together,) a palmful (about a Tablespoon) of freeze-dried basil, and a teaspoon of Olivo (good for your cholesterol butter substitute):

I set the veggies aside while I seared the steaks in a hot skillet on each side (in picture below,) and then transferred them to a 450 degree oven to finish cooking (The Hub's to medium rare, and mine to rare, respectively.)

While the steaks finish in the oven, I deglazed the pan I seared them in with 1/3 cup Vermouth:

I let this liquid reduce by half over medium heat and then swirled in a teaspoon of Olivo.

When the steaks were done cooking, I let them rest while I cooked the veggies in the microwave, covered for 2 minutes. The steaks got a drizzle of the pan sauce before hitting the table. Mmmm. Red Meat.

Asian flavor inspired pork salad

2009-11-10T15:28:00.006-07:00

Yesterday morning I took 3 of the scrawniest little boneless pork loin chops I had ever seen and tossed them into a zip-top bag. (Seriously, they came in a family pack with normal-sized chops, but they snuck some real runts in there!)
To the bag I added 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
I smooshed everything around in the closed baggie, mixing it together and distributing it evenly around the chops. Then I set it in a baking dish in the fridge and went off to work.

When I got home I cranked the broiler on high and let it heat up, put the chops on a cooking-spray coated flat rack in a baking pan, put the pan in the oven and switched the temp from broil hi to 450, and cooked them in that nice hot oven for about 20 minutes. they were crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and they had amazing flavor!

As they cooked I tossed together a simple salad with lettuce, carrots, and green peppers, giving the whole thing a shake with Newman's Own Lighten Up Sesame Ginger Dressing.

I cut the chops into bite-sized pieces so I could pile the pork on top of the salad. The Hub said the pork was really good, and then actually asked me "what did you do to make the pork so good?"

Good and Good For You, my friend...
Good AND Good For You.

Quick and Lighter Roasted Chicken and Veggies

2009-11-09T10:10:00.001-07:00

I feel compelled to tell you that my first final EVER in culinary school (before I added "drop out" to those words, natch) was roast chicken.
We drew our final meals out of a hat, and I got super lucky. What could be easier than Roast Chicken, right? It is still one of my favorite easy "wow" meals to make for guests.

I got a B. Some day I will tell you the story of why, but now is not that time.
Roasting a whole chicken is easy peasey and perfect for a family or a dinner party, but kind of "too much" for just me and The Hub on a Sunday evening, so I improvise a smaller version using b/s chicken breast and veggies (in this case I used just ONE of those freakishly giant chicken breasts I had in the freezer - but two normal sized b/s breasts would be great.)
To start, I mix 1/2 teaspoon Thyme, 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into 1/4 cup flour and 2 teaspoons corn starch (corn starch really REALLY helps things get good color in the pan, trust me):

Then I coat the chicken breast, which I have cut into chunks that are two or three bites each, in the mixture:

I heat a NON COATED (non-stick pans just don't brown as well, sorry) pan coated in cooking spray over medium heat on the stove until I can feel the heat when I hold my hand open about 1/2 inch over the pan's cooking surface, and I brown all sides of the chicken giving it plenty of room for each piece - do two batches if needed:

I just brown each side, I don't cook through. Then I lay the chicken on top of some small diced potatoes and carrots sprayed with cooking spray in a roasting pan, and pop them into the oven to cook at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until the veggies reach desired tenderness (the chicken holds moisture since you browned it, locking in the juices, so you are ok to do this.

While that is cooking, I drain the fat out of the pan I browned the chicken in, add 1 tablespoon of Olivo (since The Hub has that high cholesterol situation) and melt it down... then I add 1 tablespoon (same amount as the fat, or fake fat in this case, notice the proportion for a roux folks,) of flour to the melted Olivo and whisk it together to form a sort of Roux (because I can now, m'kay?)

It looks a little different than a normal Roux, shiny and almost broken like this:

It is ok, it will still work. Cook that out for 2 minutes or so over medium heat stirring it so it loses the weird flour flavor and starts to loosen the pan crud left from the chicken and then pour in 1 cup liquid (I used water mixed with just a scant 1/8 teaspoon of chicken bullion sprinkles) into the pan and really scrape with a metal utensil to lift the chicken bits and incorporate the Roux.. stir and stir over the heat until it looks like this:

Then, if you are my family, you are done... if you are married to a picky guy like The Hub, strain to take out the bits that came up from the pan, like this:

Then, when the veggies are tender, pull everything out of the oven:

Assemble on a plate by making a pile of the veggies, placing some chicken pieces on top, and ladling the pan gravy over the top of the chicken so it drips down onto the veggies, like the pic at the top of the post. Oh. Yeah.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2009-11-06T12:24:00.004-07:00

Chop 2 cooked chicken breasts into small pieces. Add 1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese shreds, 1/2 block of neufchatel cheese (softened) and 1/2 can of Enchilada sauce. Stir ingredients together and add 1/4 teaspoon-1 teaspoon adobo paste (optional, for spicy heat) to mixture and spread into two burrito-sized whole grain tortillas, roll around filling and place in baking dish. Pour remaining Enchilada sauce over burritos and sprinkle with 1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese shreds and bake in 350 degree oven until sauce and cheese bubble.

mmmm.. creamy but spicy. So good.

The Last Days of Gourmet

2009-11-02T09:54:00.003-07:00

Back when the term "Drop out" was not yet associated with my Culinary School experience, and I was just a lowly culinary student toiling away in the kitchen, I loved Gourmet Magazine with a passion. The day it arrived in the mailbox of my sketchy little studio apartment was like a mini version of Christmas each month.

Alas, Gourmet is no more.
Here, one member of the Gourmet team says good-bye to the spaces and the people that have become his home during 8 years of work at the Magazine.

A Giveaway on DiD!

2009-10-30T11:36:00.004-07:00

Cooking is great, but sometimes we need a night off, eh? Checkout the Weekender post over at Deals In Denver this week to enter for a chance to win a GC to fabulous LaLa's Pizzeria and Wine Bar, and leave the (very delicious) cooking to someone else.

Laughing Cow Pork Chops

2009-10-29T14:55:00.005-07:00

The Hub loves good old "meat and potatoes" type dishes.
Ya know what, actually, I do too. A LOT.
So this whole "high cholesterol" situation for him, coupled with my desire to maintain a reasonable weight and and diet that is at least "more-healthy-than-not" means that I have to get a little creative to keep us happy AND healthy at dinnertime.
Behold, the lighter stuffed pork chop.

I start with fairly thin (and regularly on sale for a great price) boneless pork loin chops:
Using a sharp, thin knife, I create a pocket in the center of the chop. Holding it flat with your hand and carefully slicing deeper and deeper into the chop, working slowly out to (but not breaking through) the edges of the chop:
Pretty, eh?

Then, I use one wedge of Laughing Cow Light spreadable cheese for each chop, and spread it around, covering the entire pocket:

Mies en Place Moment, I mix one egg white with two tablespoons of skim milk and a generous dash of Tabasco (ok, for us, a few generous dashes... you choose for yourself.)

Also, 1-1 and 1/2 cups of bread crumbs (I made these using the ends of whole grain loaves we have had over the past weeks - I stored the ends in the freezer until I built up a nice stash and then dried them in the oven and pulsed them in my beloved Food Processor,) with 1 teaspoon of Beau Monde seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Thyme, and 3/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper:

Then each chop gets dipped in the wet mixture, and the excess shaken off:

Then Coated in the dry mixture, patting the crumbs in to ensure a nice coating. First one side:

Then the other side:

Then both chops hunker down on a cooking-spray coated flat roasting rack, which lets the air flow all the way around each chop to create a crispy crust, and they cook for 25-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven:

Let them rest a few minutes on the rack when they come out of the oven and then plate them up! The center will be all ooooey-goooey, the outside crispy, and the meat nice and moist. Yum!

We enjoyed ours with some mashed potatoes with extra lean turkey bacon and 2% cheddar mixed in. The crunchy coating and cheesy centers mean that The Hub pays no mind to me using the thin chops (portion control, anyone?) Laughing Cow Light has only 35 calories a wedge, and is so creamy to begin with that you don't have to worry about it melting funky like some low cal cheese products. Finally, using the flat roasting rack allows the chops to get crispy, almost like a fried chop, but without all the grease - if the chops aren't getting the brown color you would like while baking, a LIGHT spray with cooking spray can help.

Now THAT is meat and potatoes done right!

Penne with Mushrooms, Arugula, and Brie

2009-10-22T09:52:00.016-07:00

This month's Real Simple arrived at The Tree-house last week, and I couldn't wait to find a guinea pig to sample the recipe for Pasta with Brie, mushrooms and arugula on pg 310 (no way I was getting away with serving it to The Hub, who refers to arugula as weeds, as in "what are these weeds in my salad?" and "I don't want the weeds in my soup." Charming.)

So Aunt Keri's Kitchen took a field trip last night to whip up dinner for my beautiful girlfriend Terresa (and snoogle my adorable honorary niece, Harper.)

The recipe is so simple and the results so tasty, it kind of blows my mind.

Make a box (or 3/4 of box as the recipe suggests) of Penne according to the directions on the package while you assemble the rest of the dish:

First you chop 1 lb button mushrooms:

Then slice one small red onion:

If you are me, you have to pause several times to make faces like this and let onion tears roll down your cheeks:
Before you get this:

The Mushrooms and Onions go into a big skillet over medium heat until the shrooms start to sweat and the onion gets soft, then you add 1/2 cup of dry white wine. They suggested trying Vermouth as a substitute if you didn't have white wine around, (me, not have wine around? snort) so I decided to go for the Vermouth, just 'cause:

Also, salt and (since they go together like shamalama-ding-dong) pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of each, at this point and let it all cook until the liquid is just about gone:

While that is cooking away, chop 8 ounces of Brie into 1inch chunks. This brand seems to come in a can, which I have not seen before and made me feel like I was opening cat food or something

Mmmmmmm, Brie...

Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water, and add the pasta to the mushroom and onion mixture. Add 4 cups of baby arugula and the Brie chunks and toss to combine everything.

The peppery arugula, the creamy Brie, the earthy mushrooms - Oh. Mah. Gah.

So Good.

We also had a salad of green leaf lettuce, tomato, pear, and blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette (same as the one I used earlier in the week.)

And, because Terresa is extra fabulous, I made these as an extra fabulous end to the meal:

Oh yeah.

Stolen Moment - Pumpkin

2009-10-21T08:23:00.004-07:00

Mmmmmm, Megan over at Nuts For Nutrition is tickling our taste buds with the flavors of Fall once again.
This time she makes a hearty, yummy-looking pumpkin nut loaf, and explains perfect pumpkin roasting along the way.

Sounds so perfect on this snowy day. Im'ma let her finish here. (Sory, I couldn't resist saying it.)

Pear and blue cheese salad with grilled steak

2009-10-20T09:05:00.006-07:00

Through circumstances I couldn't even begin to explain in any reasonable time frame, we have started receiving fruit-of-the-month club shipments. (That's the gift that keeps on givin' Clark... It sure is, Eddie. It sure is.)
This month is pears. They are very good pears, and I am certainly not complaining, but the "what else to do with this fruit" question has popped up a time or two.

Last night? A simple salad of green leaf lettuce dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons light oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Shake well to blend (I prefer a good old fashioned Mason Jar for shaking purposes.)
Feel free to use more oil, I am not a huge fan of oily salad dressings, myself.
On top of the greens, crumbled blue cheese, a couple of strips of crumbled turkey bacon, some grilled sliced rib-eye, and one perfect, juicy, fat, cubed pear.

Tangy from the dressing, salty and pungent from the cheese, hearty from the beef, and sweet from the pears - perfection in a mouthful.... mmmm...

The depth of my addiction

2009-10-19T08:58:00.001-07:00

As seen on Day to Day

And now she's baking....

2009-10-14T13:54:00.006-07:00

Blessedly at home today, instead of the office, I decided to try one more recipe from my new (used) copy of Betty Crocker's New Low Fat Low Cholesterol Cookbook (which hasn't really been "New" since 1996 - but which the fabulous Megan from Nuts For Nutrition recommended, so how can it not be totally awesome?)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup margarine or spread, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white or 2 tablespoons cholesterol free egg product

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix sugars, margarine, vanilla, and egg white in large bowl.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and remove to wire rack.

What I did differently, and a few observations:

I didn't want to make a special trip to the store for tiny chips, so I used the regular ones I had - and I had about 3/4 cup left, so they all went in. The dough was kind of weird when mixed. Sort of dry and separate from the chips (granted, maybe smaller chips would fix this.)
Observe:

I used "egg product".

I used just under 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda - I just don't fill the measuring spoon quite full to compensate for our mile high air up here.

I made them bigger than called for- mostly because it was sort of a chore to form the dry dough and chips into cookies, and so they ended up larger than a rounded teaspoon.

I cooked each batch for 8 minutes and that seemed just about perfect.

I had my doubts, but these cookies actually bake up quite pretty. Lookie here:

Oh, and my Mother-in-law sent me this pumpkin spatula for Halloween - just FYI it is the perfect cookie-moving shape and will henceforth be used year round. Don't judge me.

Betty Crocker Low Fat, Low Cholesterol Mac and Cheese

2009-10-13T17:53:00.011-07:00

Here is the recipe as printed in the book:

7oz pasta shells or elbow pasta
1 tablespoon margarine or spread
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard (dry)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (4oz)
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped red pepper

Cook and drain pasta as directed on pasta package.
Melt margarine in large pot and add flour - whisk over low heat to combine.
Add salt, mustard, and pepper and combine. remove from heat and stir in milk gradually.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in cheese, remove from heat, add pasta.

Some thoughts from Keri's Kitchen:
1st of all - using half the amount of margarine for the roux does NOT work - it results in a clumpy mess that does not combine with the milk - so just use equal parts (2 tablespoons) flour and "spread". I used Olivo for the heart healthy olive oil it is made with.
Also keep in mind - thickening with a roux is much easier and produces much better results if you are adding a HOT liquid, so heat the milk before adding it to the roux.
If all goes well you get this thick liquid that will coat the back of a spoon like this:

(I also like to throw 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg into cream sauces, that is the brown flecks in the sauce)
Then you can add the cheese and whisk it in:
I will say this is a little thicker or tougher feeling on the whisk than normal cheese sauce - perhaps because it takes a bit more to get low-fat cheese to melt into the sauce:

I omitted the veggies since we were having a yummy green salad with red peppers and roasted acorn squash:
and I reserved a couple tablespoons of the shredded cheese to sprinkle over the top after spreading the mac and cheese into a cooking spray coated square baking dish (since The Hub is a fan of baked mac and cheese)
The Hub says he thinks this is as good as The Barefoot Contessa Mac and Cheese that I have so proudly mastered, and given his Cholesterol situation, and desire to have cheesy macaroni mixtures as often as possible, I have a feeling this is the new house recipe of choice.

A new addition to the ED&BK family

2009-10-13T13:19:00.002-07:00

Joining the mix here at Eat, Drink, and Be Keri is my new "Day to Day" section, where I can shamelessly muse regarding the little and big moments that fall outside of the "Eating and Drinking" parts and more in the "Being Keri" realm.
Lucky You!

Pasta with pesto, chicken, and carrots

2009-10-13T09:19:00.006-07:00

First of all, I got the BIGGEST b/s chicken breasts I have ever seen at Sunflower this past weekend:

BTW - these are on sale for $1.67lb through tomorrow, October 14th - so stock up! (Especially since one of these goes a LONG way)

For example, I cut one up into chunks, which I tossed in flour seasoned generously with Beau Monde seasoning:

Then I just tossed the pieces into a hot skillet coated with a little canola spray, browned on all sides and added a touch of vermouth to the pan before covering to let the chicken cook through:

While that was cooking I added some thin whole wheat spaghetti to a pot of salted boiling water and let it cook according to package instructions - the last 4 minutes or so I also added a large chopped carrot to the water, so it could get a little tender (but not mushy -YUCK!).

It all got mixed with 3/4 of the pesto I whipped up in my new baby for an easy, inexpensive, (and pretty darn healthy, I might add) dinner.

New Toy!! And Spinach Walnut Pesto

2009-10-12T10:43:00.009-07:00

Hello, Lover...

The Hub bought me this little beauty over the weekend, and it is a total workhorse AND my new second favorite kitchen helper (right after Potter- pie, the wonder sous-chef).

I broke it out of the box and went to work immediately, improvising some Spinach Walnut Pesto!

In the bowl of the processor pulse together:

2 packed cups spinach, stemmed

2 tablespoons freeze-dried basil (or you could use 3/4 tablespoon dried)

1/2 cup walnut pieces

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Then stream in 1/4-1/2 cup of olive or other oil (I just used canola) with the processor on until desired consistency is reached.

Later in the week we are having this with some chicken and veggies - but I couldn't resist smearing a little on bread last night to eat with my bowl of beef stew. Yum!

Spicy Orange Chicken with Quinoa Pilaf

2009-10-06T14:28:00.005-07:00

It is no secret that we LOVE Cooking Light's Spicy Honey-brushed Chicken recipe around The Treehouse - although I always make it with b/s chicken breasts or breast tenders instead of thighs - it comes out perfect every time.

However, I would hate for The Hub to get bored of it, since I plan to be making that for years to come. So last night I replaced the cider vinegar with the juice of half an orange, and used chunks of chicken breast that I left marinading during the day yesterday in a mixture of the juice of 1/2 orange and 1 teaspoon of curry paste.

It had a nice Orangy undertone to it - The Hub really liked it, although I kind of missed the tangy aftertaste that the vinegar imparts to the recipe.

I served it with Quinoa prepared according to package directions using chicken broth as the liquid, to which I added some chopped broccoli, carrots, and asparagus during the last 6 minutes of cooking time (so they could get tender, but not mushy). I thoroughly rinsed the Quinoa before cooking, and it really does take any trace of funky flavor away from the finished product.

The Hub ate ALL of his without any sideways shifty glances or anything!

Date night at home

2009-10-05T08:55:00.003-07:00

The Hub and I had a date to watch Quantum of Solace, our copy of which arrived in the mail last week, on Saturday night. I wanted to do something "date-like" for dinner. So I grabbed a bottle of Middle Sister Rebel Red (yum) and hit the cheese and produce selections at Sunflower Market to give us a nice fruit and cheese board to enjoy with our wine.
I went MUCH heavier on the fruit than I might have in the past, and out only a limited amount of a nice whole wheat cracker - so that The Hub would be forced to eat more fruit (sneaky, aren't I?). I got a REALLY good Derby cheese spiked with Sage, a Gorgonzola, and a Fontina so that I could use leftovers for sammies or something melty to go with soup later in the week.

"Take Some Cholesterol Off Yous" Oatmeal Cookies

2009-10-04T18:07:00.009-07:00

1/2 cup canola oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons honey

1/4 cup egg substitute

1 Teaspoon vanilla

2 cups old fashioned oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup raisins

Pre heat oven to 350

Combine oil, sugar, and honey in mixing bowl and beat until blended. Add vanilla and egg Substitute and combine.

In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add to wet ingredients and mix well. Mix in raisins. Here is what the dough looks like:

Drop rounded Tablespoons on parchment paper - and flatten gently with fingers (whatever shape you make them is what they will look like when they are baked - they do not flatten out anymore during baking.)

Bake for 10 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies.

I used several different suggested recipes and made my own, based on what The Hub will actually eat, and what seemed best for taste and our dietary goals (namely lowering cholesterol and NOT being horribly calorie-tastic.)

They are actually really tasty, cinnimon-y, chewy, sweet, moist and hearty. Very satisfying. And approved by The Hub too!

Hooray for Pasta!

2009-10-01T09:57:00.008-07:00

Clearly, I didn't MAKE this bread.

However, notice the whole-grainy-ness of it? Things are changing around The Treehouse. (The Hub did indeed ask, what "that stuff" in the garlic bread was, but he still ate it, so I consider it a victory.)
I served a few slices of the bread with some Smart Balance mashed with minced garlic toasted into it, along side whole wheat spaghetti and marinara sauce. I used Amy's Low Sodium Pasta Sauce and it was a really tasty and, (even better,) really quick dinner. The trick to serving The Hub whole wheat pasta, at least for now, is getting thin varieties - last night I used "thin spaghetti," and cooking it until it is almost a bit overdone, so he isn't as aware of the difference in flavor and texture.
Baby steps.

Chicken with Apple and Bacon Sauce

2009-09-30T09:03:00.004-07:00

Last night was my own take on this Cooking Light recipe for Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce. The original looked delish, for sure, I just need a few tweaks to make it work for us.
Here is what I did:

- I cut one very large b/s chicken breast into finger-sized chunks, and browned the chunks in a skillet with a little Canola cooking spray before removing them from the pan.
- In the same pan, I crisped up two pieces of diced extra lean turkey bacon with another spritz of Canola spray.
-Then into the pan went 1/2 can low sodium chicken stock, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, and 6oz of Apple Juice, I cranked the heat to high and scraped the bottom of the pan, using the liquid to deglaze all that goodness from cooking the chicken and turkey bacon.
-When the liquid had reduced by half, I added the chicken chunks back to the pan , dropped the heat and let the whole thin simmer uncovered about 10 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally until the chicken was done and the liquid reduced to a nice sauce consistency.

While that was all shaping up on the stove, I roasted a medium potato and two carrots in the oven at 400 degrees with a drizzle of Olive Oil until tender when pierced with a fork.

When everything was ready, the veggies went down first, followed by the chicken and a couple tablespoons of the pan sauce.
Big Thumbs Up from The Hub on this one! By chopping up one smaller potato into lots of pieces, mixing it with another veggie, and dividing it between us, I kept the portions under control.
But what I noticed right away was that no additional salt was needed, even by salt-a-holic me, for the meal. The sauce was the perfect mix of sweet from the apple juice and salty and hearty from the turkey bacon. Great sauce to keep in mind, for sure. It would be really good on pork tenderloin too!

Marinated London Broil

2009-09-29T10:15:00.004-07:00

I'm siiiiiiick... As in "What up, funky cold that has me even disgusting myself" kind of sick.
Gross. Serious.
Be that as it may, after cheating on Sunday night and feeding The Hub a pizza-cicle, I wanted to cook something heart and waistline healthy last night. I had a London Broil that I had taken out of the freezer on Sunday, so I marinated it for about 3 hours in this marinade , trimmed all visable fat, and then cooked it on the George Foreman (it was about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inches thick, so I cooked it a total of 10 minutes.)
I let it rest wrapped loosely in foil while I broiled some asparagus I had sprayed lightly with canola cooking spray and sprinkled with pepper. (I cooked it about 7 minutes total, turning once.)
The steak got cut thin against the grain, the asparagus got cut (The Hub only likes the tops, I prefer the stalks, so we are perfect to share this veggie) and drizzled with lemon juice and dinner was served.
Tasty marinade, for sure!! (I am at a point with Cooking Light recipes where I know if I follow them pretty closely, I am going to have a good meal.)

Shhh, don't tell the Cholesterol police.

2009-09-25T09:21:00.002-07:00

I waited until The Hub fell asleep last night and then baked him a little "Happy 5th Anniversary" breakfast treat to wake up to this morning. They are just Jiffy-mix muffins, but what can I say? If I love something, I want to feed it. :)

Happy Anniversary, Hub!

Garlic fry goodness!

2009-09-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Reluctantly, I have been searching Ellie Krieger's recipes at Foodnetwork.com, looking for ideas to keep dinner yummy while we battle this "Cholesterol issue". I have great luck with Cooking Light Recipes (hello, Sweet and Spicy Chicken!) but wanted other options. I admit, I am not the biggest fan of Ellie's - something about her just strikes me as not genuine, or something... anyway, what do I know.

Last night I made Ellie's Garlic Fries and was very pleasantly surprised! Really good flavor, no salt or ketchup needed at the table, crunchy on the outside. Pretty darn fantastic, I'd say.

I made them along with some herbed chicken breasts:

2 teaspoons of oregano, dried

1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use the pre-minced refrigerated variety)

1 teaspoon canola oil

Mix all ingredients together in small bowl and rub into 2 b/s chicken breasts, each cut in half.

Bake loosely covered at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, turning midway through cooking.

And since veggies are THE thing all the cool kids are eating at our house now, I also steamed some broccoli for 2 minutes in the microwave and sprinkled in some crushed red pepper flakes. I did get a "where's the cheese?" from The Hub as he took his first forkful, (preach to the choir much, buddy?) but he ate it all anyway.

I get leftover chicken and garlic fries for lunch today. Is it time to eat yet?

Aunt Keri's Kitchen - Mac and Cheese with Chicken

2009-09-23T10:48:00.007-07:00

Sooner or later you KNEW I would bust out the Mac and Cheese for an Aunt Keri's Kitchen offering, and Ta-DA! Here it is.

However, man (and breast-feeding woman, for that matter) cannot live by pasta and liquid cheese alone (do as I SAY not as I DO, people.)

So I began my sauce with 8 oz of b/s chicken breast chopped into big bite-sized hunks. I seasoned them with a very light dusting of flour spiked generously with Beau Monde seasoning and pepper, with just a touch of cayenne, and then sauteed to brown on each side until the chicken was just cooked through. I added that to the finished Mac and Cheese, and included washed, spun-dry and cut-for-salad green leaf lettuce, a nice big ripe tomato, and a chopped carrot so they could have a salad too.

(That salad might have to wait for another night, that mac and cheese got devoured by the busy parents right after I delivered it. Flattery of the highest form, I assure you.)

The cookies are butterscotch-chip, made from the recipe off the back of the Safeway butterscotch-chip bag. Everyone else seems to dig them, but I didn't think the dough of the cookie was sweet enough. Still, a cookie is always a good thing.

Now THAT is a challenge.

2009-09-22T14:05:00.002-07:00

Now The Hub has high cholesterol. Probably should have seen that coming, but that means I have to put the dietary smack down on him - which is like wrangling a pissed off jelly fish... maybe harder...

So, I made acorn squash last night, with maple syurp and a pat of benecol (mmmm, chemically... but whatever helps) and it went OK.
When I got home with the specimen, I made a beeline for the kitch and began cutting and seeding, hoping to get it in the oven and smelling good before he could see what was going on. To no avail!!
"What's THAT?" I heard him exclaim from his seat on the living room sofa.
I told him what it was, and his response was "I don't know if I want any of that."
Death Ray Crusty Powers ACTIVATE!!! From the kitchen I turned and shot him a whopper through the door way (probably could have gone through solid brick with that look.) and told him "we gots to take some cholesterol off yous" (doing my version of the kid from the Cheerios commercial).
The good news is, it did smell really good once it was cooked, which he noticed right away, and as he ate it (hesitantly, but completely) I explained that I had been working hard to find different ideas that he might like, and this came highly recommended for picky eaters, which he is the first to admit he NO DOUBT is.
So, one night of veggie consumption down.... a life time to go

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

2009-09-17T12:33:00.004-07:00

The Hub was raised North of Houston, but he lived in New Orleans for a bit, and he LOVES creole cooking. So since I have mastered the Roux (and since reading Consuming Passions has left me wanting to cook all kinds of Southern specialties) I decided to try making this Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipe after it was pointed out by a fabulous interwebz friend.

I stuck to the recipe (with the one exception of using b/s chicken breast for ease and to cut cooking time) because while The Hub is a gumbo aficionado, I can't say as I have ever had the stuff, and (as the above-mentioned book discusses at length) the whole "Okra vs No Okra" heated battle between various friends and family members has kept me on the gumbo sidelines. (Personally, I only like okra when it is fried, so this recipe appealed to me since it is okra-less). the only thing I did WAS kind of a biggie tho... I only used half the onion and I full-on grated it in to the pot. I did this to conceal the actual onion from The Hub, while still salvaging the flavor (since it is part of the "Holy Trinity" that is the creole version of a Mirepoix and the basis of the flavor that he really does love, tho he would fixate if he saw a chunk in anything I cooked).

It was very tasty - good flavor, not too spicy (we both actually added some hot sauce, but then we were sniffling and crying as we ate, in a good way, of course). The Hub let it be known quickly that he would like to see this return often in our dinner menus - he was one happy displaced Southern boy last night!

Shrimp Boil!!

2009-09-16T14:54:00.004-07:00

Into a pot last night went the following:

2 cans of beer
2 beer cans of water
1 generous palmful of Old Bay seasoning
and when boiling:
2 large potatoes, cut into 10 pieces each
2 ears of corn, cut into 4ths
when corn and potatoes were tender in went
1 lb peeled de-veined shrimp

the whole thing cooked for about 4 more minutes until the shrimp were done, and then was drained and served on a big platter with plenty of butter and Tabasco available, in the center of the table for The Hub and I to share.

Tasty and fun!!

With appologies to Carbonara..

2009-09-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

I love pasta Carbonara, but I don't make it at home because I am not great at it.. But I was craving something like that last night, so I dug around in the fridge and cabinets and came up with this:

-I tossed some spaghetti in a pot of WELL salted boiling water and then,
-I cooked 4 pieces of turkey bacon in a deep skillet, and then removed the bacon and deglazed the pan with a cup of vermouth (Why vermouth? because Julie Powell used it a lot during the Julie/Julia Project and I just read that book, so when I saw the bottle, I just went for it.)
-I added a cup of chicken stock and let it reduce and concentrate a bit while I chopped up the bacon and then thickened it a bit with a quick roux (that's right, I said a QUICK roux.. how times have changed).
After it thickened a bit (It was the consistency of a thick syrup almost, not too thick, but not watery) I added an extra tablespoon of butter for flavor, removed it from the heat and added a couple handfuls of frozen peas.
-The drained pasta got mixed in with the sauce, along with the bacon, and when I plated it everything got a grating of Parmesan Cheese.

O.M.G.
It was good.. that sauce was GOOD!! Crazy good - sweet and velvety, mixed with the salt from the bacon and parm, and the fresh little POP from a pea every little while.
Oh yeah.

Now I can't stop...

2009-09-12T15:43:00.003-07:00

Confession, on my way out the door to class today, I made The Hub homemade mac-n-cheese.. totally threw it together in like 20 minutes, roux and all, from the ground up, and left it baking in the pot I had boiled the pasta in (which I also used to cook the roux, and added everything into that pan),
Somebody stop me, now I am just showing off.

Pizza night!

2009-09-12T10:18:00.001-07:00

So I used the left over grilled flat-breads I made to whip up some little pizzas for The Hub and myself last night... Turkey pepperoni for him, basil and tomato for me (yum). With a Cesar salad, it was perfect, and that Jiffy dough is no harder to use and WAY better than dough in the refrigerated cylinders (besides - I HATE having to "pop" those things open, too scary!) The Hub really, really liked the crust.. a lot.

I see myself keeping a box of Jiffy Pizza Dough in the house at all times from now on!

Stolen Moments, our favorite Nutritionist

2009-09-11T14:44:00.002-07:00

Megan over at Nuts For Nutrition gifted us with a blog update today!! She is one of my faves, so be sure to check out her ideas for awesome, flavorful, original, packed-with-goodness salads!

Flat-bread in a Jiffy!!

2009-09-10T11:36:00.003-07:00

Several weeks ago I bought a box of Jiffy Pizza Crust mix. My whole family worships at the altar of Jiffy mixes of all kinds, and this seemed like a cheap and easy way (seriously, they are like 33 cents or something crazy like that) to make some fresh pizza for grilling at home.
Except last night, with The Hub no where in sight for dinner, I got a hankering for something a bit different. So, with apologies to LaLa's (BTW, whoever does their website, are you serious? I have NEVER seen it actually load right with no funny spacing or pics over words.. bummer) and their Tramezzinos (or in homage to them, perhaps,) I broke out the Jiffy Box and followed the directions (all you do is add 1/2 cup hot water mix, cover and let rise for 5 minutes, then kneed just a bit).
After rising, before kneading:
Then I split it into 4 sections, and rolled each one nice and thin (BTW, the stuff rolls out great, so easily - not sticky or dry) and used the good old George Foreman to grill each round for 6 minutes:
Meanwhile, for my Tramezzino filling, I sauteed some cubed up round steak with garlic and then tossed in some spinach to wilt.. the whole thing got a drizzle of balsamic and a good toss to coat it all:

Mmmmmmm - the crust was chewy and grilled and warm, the filling was delish. Perfection from a box!

Roux the day!!

2009-09-02T10:58:00.007-07:00

As many folks know, one of the scourges of my culinary existence is the roux. I don't know why, but I developed total Roux block in culinary school (even resorting to sneaking in cornstarch in my pocket to thicken sauces with my trusty slurry.. I am not proud, I was desperate.)
It has long been my secret shame (or not-so-secret) that Keri can't thicken using a roux.

Screw it - I wanted to make The Hub some really good mac and cheese to have in the fridge while I am in Indy, and, bolstered by REPEATED viewing of the TiVo'ed lobster mac and cheese episode of The Barefoot Contessa (and two and a half glasses of vhino verde consumed in a hot bath,) I decided to give it one last go.
And praise Ina and the positive Roux-making vibes sent from my dear friend from New Orleans (who, of course, can work a roux like no body's business) - IT WORKED.. check it out:

Mise en place (Chef Jack Ass from school would be so proud) -flour measured, butter heating in big pot, milk warmed in small saucepan, cheese grated.

Flour and Butter cooking out that "floury" taste in the pan...

After all the hot milk was added to the pan, it actually reached "nape" consistency.. I kind of stood in awe that it was thickened.

Anyway, after the shock of the roux success (sorry if I woke you running around the house whooping about it, honey,) I proceeded with a version of Ina's Mac and Cheese recipe - she uses the same basic recipe over and over, but varies the cheese and adds other things as desired. For mine I halved the recipe, so I used 3 cups of sharp cheddar cheese and 1 cup of mild cheddar which I mixed into the Bechamel Sauce I created (yeah, that roux/milk mix is one of the "Mother Sauces" of french cooking.. so you see how the not-being-able-to-roux thing might have been a prob for me in school? M'Kay).

Here is what it looked like all incorporated:

And then I added the cooked elbow pasta:

Does that look good, or what? And let me tell you, IT WAS!! I did some "quality control" tasting before pouring it into the casserole dish and covering with Ina's bread-crumb topping (Pictured at top of post.) I labeled the whole foil-covered dish with heating instructions for The Hub. Lucky Bastard.

I created liquid cheese where none had existed... you can't know what this means to me.

I am UNSTOPPABLE.

Oh Fromage, why can't I quit you!!

2009-08-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

The Fromage Fort obsession continues to grow. Last night I whipped up some mashed potatoes (I had 10 lbs of potatoes to use before I leave for Indy to visit Sissy and the new Nephew on Thursday) and breaded some cut up b/s chicken breasts the same way I did in this recipe (Loving the flavor that using the dressing adds to the chicken!) and baked it on a rack at 425 degrees for 20 minutes (smaller pieces = fast cooking). But then, and this is where it gets GOOD, I heated 1/2 cup milk to just simmering and added in two tablespoons of the Fromage Fort mixture and stirred it in, off the heat. It turned into a shimmering, creamy, perfect sauce which I then poured down over the chicken.
Um, YUM. Serious.
Cheese just makes me feel like everything is a-ok, no matter what.

BBQ and Blue Chicken Sammies with Baked Potato Casserole

2009-08-30T15:39:00.006-07:00

Aunt Keri's Kitchen selection is doing double duty this week, as I prep to go out of town and visit my smushy little nephew Vaughn, and my Sissy and BIL, of course. So along with my family-style dishes for my beautiful new honorary niece's fam, I also made individual portions to stick in our fridge for The Hub to reheat while I am away. (Aren't I a nice wife?)

I crock potted a whole chicken (bone in) overnight in a mix of chicken broth and pre-mixed poultry seasoning that covered roughly 1/3 of the chicken, and allowed it to cool before shredding the chicken off the bone and combining it with some cheapy store brand BBQ sauce (enough to coat the shredded chicken thoroughly) and 1 teaspoon of Tabasco for a little extra spice.

While I was shredding the chicken, I was boiling some diced potatoes (about 2 lbs) until tender in a pot of well-salted water. I drained the potatoes and added 1/2 cup of milk and half a stick of butter (I just finished reading Julie and Julia, so I am pretty heavy-handed with butter lately).
Now some folks are dead-set against whipped potatoes, but I like my "mashed" potatoes smooth and fluffy - besides, baking them in the casserole stiffens them up a bit, so it all evens out here. I used my trusty hand mixer (no Cuisinart devotee here, sorry!) to whip the potatoes to a light and fluffy consistency.

I filled a disposable/reusable baking dish with about 2/3 of the potatoes (reserving the rest for use at home) and mixed in to the dish 1 and 1/2 cups broccoli florets chopped very small. Over the top I spread 3/4 cup cheddar cheese. The whole thing gets baked in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes or so when they are ready to eat it.

For The Hub's version, I substituted the broccoli for turkey bacon pieces and put it in a ramekin for easy heating.

I also packed some of the chicken into a container for him to eat, as he is not a fan of BBQ sammies, so he will eat it as is.
For the fabulous growing fam, I packed the chicken, potato casserole, and buns, along with a spread I made by mixing blue cheese with some olive oil mayo to spread on the sammies (YUM!).

They got a plate of the brownies I made yesterday, and voila, two birds with one stone for Ker.

Somebody's Bakin' Brownies!

2009-08-29T12:04:00.003-07:00

The urge (if not the talent) to bake seems to have a hold on me still, and so today it was this recipe from Cooks.com for Easy Method Brownies.

Um, meh.

Clearly a tablespoon of extra flour would have helped for high altitude in this case, and to be honest there was so little batter it barely covered the bottom of my square baking dish. Brownies don't exactly puff in the oven, so though they were indeed very chewy and chocolaty and tasty, there just wasn't enough to them to even hold a nice shape..

::sigh::

Uh oh -Grown Up liquid cheese..

2009-08-25T08:27:00.006-07:00

So while at Tony's Market last Friday night grabbing some cheese plate ingredients, I discovered a magical substance located next to the pre-made Krab spread and Artichoke dips...

Their version of Fromage Fort is freaking amazing. (Eh? What's Fort Cheese? what are you saying, lady? Click here for the 411) Granted, I have only had the one container, and if they are truly in keeping with the spirit of the substance, then it might not be the same each time (based on the cheese used) but something tells me it would always be amazing!!

Anyway, since The Hub was OOT, I grabbed a nice piece of Tilapia from Sunflower Market on the way home, seasoned it with black pepper and baked it at 350 for between 15 and 20 minutes, removing it a couple minutes before it was done to spread a little Fromage Fort on it.

HOLY MOLY IT WAS GOOD!! The cheese gets the PERFECT consistency in the oven (I have GOT to try making this stuff) and it was a bit salty, so no further seasoning was needed. I put it on a bed of fresh spinach that wilted slightly from the heat of the fish and ate it with some roasted potatoes (with onions, since The Hub wasn't home) and a chopped up tomato.

So. Good.

I can see Fromage Fort becoming a passion... the concept is so simple, the outcome so delicious. (Besides, "Fromage Fort" is such a nice way to say something as plain as melted leftover cheese)

BTW - On the menu for this evening - simple and delicious potato magic. (I can always honor Julia, even if I really am a little more "Fanny Farmer" in truth.)

Klassy..

2009-08-18T09:18:00.007-07:00

When I was making my Aunt Keri's Kitchen creation this week (Italian beef stew) I did have the fore site to double the batch of the basic stew so that I could split it and save half for us to microwave for dinner when the kitchen was out of commission this week... Clear off a tiny sliver of table (the microwave is literally just outside the frame of the pic on the left, in the living room!) and add a loaf of fresh crusty bread, and it was actually a really great meal...

To make the Italian Beef Stew for my favorite newly expanded little family, I took my basic stew recipe, added 2 teaspoons of freeze-dried basil, a can of well drained San Marino Tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic, and a roughly chopped small onion. I simmered the stew with the additional ingredients for 30 minutes before allowing it to cool and packing it into an oven-safe disposable container for easy reheating. They got a loaf of crusty roasted garlic bread to mop up the extra yummy gravy too.

Take a picture, I baked!!

2009-08-17T10:59:00.005-07:00

Ok, so I took the pictures - but I did bake, which I really never do.. (ok, it isn't exactly a tiered cake or anything, but still.)

Normally I am not much of a baker, since it requires precise measuring and I am more of a "pinch of this, dollop of that" kind of cook. But my Daddy came down to help us in the prep for the demo of our kitchen counters on Sunday, and I wanted to do something he would really enjoy. (BTW, cooking = NO in my kitch this week, it seems.. our hardwired stove has been pulled out and disconnected, as has our sink and faucet, but I did do some prep, so we shall see,)

He LOVES Cobbler, so I decided that a crumble topping BARELY qualifies as baking anyway (and I will try almost anything if it was for my father anyway.)

Besides, I needed a sweet something for my Aunt Keri's Kitchen delivery, and I just recently bought some ramekins I was dying to use for something too!

I cut up a peach and a plum that I had left over from sangria making, and added some canned pineapple and some canned pears that I had mixed together to take for lunch last week. I stirred in two teaspoons of sugar and divided the fruit between 1 square casserole dish and two oversized ramekins. Then I doubled this recipe for crumble topping:

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Flour

1 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Cup Butter (cold and diced into small cubes)

I mixed the double batch of topping using my hands, breaking the butter into tiny little balls as it mixed with the dry ingredients - you want this topping to be rough and dry, with little bits of butter encased in the dry ingredients.

Then I spread a generous amount of the topping on each of the containers, and baked them all in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, turning each half way through the cooking time,

I cooled the two ramekins thoroughly before covering them, and reheated the large container in the afternoon (in the microwave for a minute, uncovered, since my stove was disconnected) before portioning a nice slab into bowls and topping with a scoop of ice cream (which I also sent with the Aunt Keri's Kitchen offering this week - gotta have ice cream with a crumble!!)

The family style dish is pictured at the top, here is one of the single-serve ramekins:

It was good, good, good - and my Daddy seemed very happy with it, so I call it a success!

Look at me, all "Bakey Bakerson" suddenly.. ;)

Lazy Chef's Stuffed Chicken

2009-08-14T13:32:00.007-07:00

I wanted stuffed chicken breasts this week.. sort of my version of Chicken Cordon Blu. But the LAST thing I wanted to do was butterfly, pound, stuff, roll (very securely to prevent leaks) and babysit stuffed chicken after the week I have been having at work. So I concocted a plan to cheat a bit and still get what I was craving!

To start, I cut two b/s chicken breast portions in half by laying each flat and pressing firmly with my full palm on the top of the chicken, while carefully moving my knife in a horizontal sawing motion until I was all the way through the breast. Then I had two thin fillets of chicken that stacked together perfectly, like this:

I brushed both sides of each fillet with some of this delicious salad dressing for flavor and moisture:

And then I coated each fillet in some seasoned breadcrumbs before placing them on a sprayed cooking rack (letting the air circulate all around the chicken helps crisp them up in the oven.)

I baked the coated fillets in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes (thin pieces cook nice and fast and crispy in high heat) and then removed them from the oven and added to the bottom fillet of each set 1 slice of ultra lean turkey bacon:

On top of the bacon I broke up one wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese spread each:

Then I placed the other half of each fillet on top of the cheese, and put the chicken back in the oven to melt the cheese and finish browning the tops of the chicken:

The finished product (pictured at the top of post) was SO TASTY!! The filling was yummy, the chicken was juicy with plenty of crunch from the coating, and since I just put the finished product back in the oven long enough to melt the cheese, none of the filling oozed out and was lost during cooking.

I served it with mixed steamed veggies. SO GOOD. Definitely doing this again soon!!

Pasta Ponza, (Picky Hub Style)

2009-08-13T13:05:00.004-07:00

So I was fairly enamored with Giada De Laurentiis's recipe for Pasta Ponza on "Giada at Home" last weekend - but it (of course) had a couple of things I would have to omit if I was going to make it for dinner with The Hub. The glaring example of this being (alas!) the beautiful roasted grape tomatoes. I considered roasting some for myself, but ended up going with some roasted baby carrots mixed into the pasta instead.

I also added some sauteed chicken breast which I cut into strips and marinaded in creamy Cesar dressing while I was prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Notice I also used good old Spaghetti, because that was what I had in the house, and it cooks up so nice and quick!! This is a really simple, yummy recipe that can (obviously) be adapted very easily for any family or party. The simple flavors of good cheese and fresh bright parsley really keep this pasta dish light. Perfect for quick summer meals!!

Pork Chop review

2009-08-12T07:51:00.002-07:00

The Low Country Pork Chops were very tasty.. The Hub liked them a lot, actually. My only complaint was that I am sure I would like the actual recipe, using the onions, much better. (Silly Hub, onions make things taste GOOD!)
Also, while the slow cooker never fails to produce a good pork chop, I bet that the chops cooked on the stove top according to the recipe will keep their shape better, but you have to expect chops from the slow cooker to fall apart, so I was prepared.

I will ask New Mom what her and the fam thought of the chops I prepared for them follwing the recipe to the letter...

Low Country Smothered Pork Chops

2009-08-11T07:45:00.004-07:00

For Aunt Keri's Kitchen delivery this week, as well as for The Hub and myself tonight, I couldn't resist trying this recipe from Paula's Best Dishes after I watched her and her guest prepare it on the show last weekend. Smothered Pork Chops cooked low and slow until they fell off the bone? Count me in!!

Here are the chops after I had browned them, next to the pot (I used a deeper pot instead of a skillet) with the onions, peppers, and garlic JUST after I added the broth to it:

and here are the chops, all nestled down in the veggie, brothy, smothery goodness:

I let them cook according to the recipe, and packed them up into an oven-ready to-go container for the happy little family, along with some oven roasted potatoes.

For the version we are eating tonight, I browned the chops, green peppers, and garlic (no onion for The Hub) and then added all the ingredients to my slow-cooker (set on low) to see how it does as an "all day" recipe. I will wager it is going to be DELISH.

Stolen Moment - Homesick Texan

2009-08-04T08:46:00.003-07:00

Dang, this would have been a great recipe to use.. so similar, yet so different.
Sounds yum, must make it for myself sometime!

Empanada Casserole (ETA: FAIL!)

2009-08-03T12:35:00.006-07:00

:::I will never delete an entry if I find it was a failure, but I will amend to keep others from repeating the horror... this cassarole was an EPIC FAIL - it was blecky! -Do not make!:::

Putting the "Aunt" in "Aunt Keri's Kitchen" - Harper Jane made her grand and much anticipated entrance into the world last Wednesday, and her Aunt Keri, much like everyone who has laid eyes on her, was a goner for the girl instantly.. Here she is hanging out in her little seat yesterday when I dropped off the weekly dinner creation:

Speaking of said creation, between a very exciting week of shuttling between the hospital to spend time with Harper's beautiful mommy and proud papa, and dealing with the VERY full Treehouse (IL's were in town due to a death in the family,) I decided it would be the perfect time to pay a visit to the newest location of Tony's Market and take advantage of some of their fun ready-prepped ingredients.

As I suspected, I was ALMOST as enamored with Tony's as I am with Harper.. ALMOST. (BTW, they have happy hour at their little cafe with 2 dollar glasses of house wine!! Puttering around a great market and then relaxing with a glass of wine before heading home? That is my kind of Happy Hour!)

I grabbed some of their amazing pre-made guac (the power of the free sample is strong) along with some chopped squash and onions, and a few mushrooms that all looked so yummy. I also picked up some tortillas (& a bag of fancy chocolate chip cookies for their something sweet)

AND, since everyone knows Keri can't resist the cheese case, I grabbed some Haystack green chili goat cheese, pausing to make sure it was Pasteurized, since I don't really know rules for breastfeeding moms and wasn't taking any chances.

At home I put a layer of the tortillas into a to-go baking dish, and layered in crumbles of the goat cheese, along with some of the squash, onion, and mushrooms. I made a simple sauce for the casserole using a can of tomato paste, some water, minced garlic, and a SLIVER of adobo pepper (a little goes a long way, and I don't want kiddo's next few meals to end up en fuego!). I heated all of that together, and spread 1/3 of the sauce into the first layer, then stacked more tortillas and repeated the process, ending with a layer of tortillas on top, covered in sauce and sprinkled with some cheddar cheese.
It reminded me of the squash empanada recipe we used to make as a special at the old restaurant, so that is what I called it.

Similar heating directions to the dishes I have been sending their way lately, heat the oven to 325 degrees, remove plastic lid and cover with foil, place on oven on cookie sheet and heat for 30 minutes or until it is hot and bubbly and the veggies are the desired tenderness. Most of the things I have been sending have been pretty tough to over-cook, but wouldn't be bad if just heated through either.

I included the rest of the squash mixture, a tomato and a bag of salad to serve along side, and the afore-mentioned guac for spooning on top of the casserole. it smelled pretty darn good, I really hope it tastes as yummy!

I am eyeing Paula Deen's Low Country smothered pork chops for next week's delivery - they look CRAZY good!!