Are these the most beautiful sugar cookies you have ever seen, or what?
It is a simple idea, piping the icing on in snow-flake patterns.. but WOW, so pretty...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
New Tag - Lighter Side - lettuce wraps
There is no denying it anymore... There is more to love of The Hub and me than there used to be...
And in honor of the Wii Fit he got me for Christmas and the regimen I am trying to keep with it, I am going to lighten things up, menu-wise, around our table....
The trick with this has always been getting my picky eater and his big appetite to go along with the plan... My solution to this problem, I have decided, is to get really creative, come up with all kinds of fun flavorful new meals, so that he doesn't get bored by the same old "diet food".
Last night I made Asian inspired lettuce wraps...
-I put some very lean beef cut into strips into the slow cooker along with some beef stock, and a generous spoonful of minced garlic.. I sprinkled in some cayenne pepper for a little kick, and left it to cook on low all day....
-I cooked half a cup of quick cooking brown rice in 3/4 cup of boiling water until the liquid absorbed, then added 2 shakes of low sodium soy sauce to the rice, piled some jullianned carrots on top of the rice, and put the lid on while finished everything else (I like carrots warmed thru, but not mushy)
-Into iceburg lettuce leaves I spread some of the rice/carrot mix, and then added a few strips of the beef to each wrap..
And in honor of the Wii Fit he got me for Christmas and the regimen I am trying to keep with it, I am going to lighten things up, menu-wise, around our table....
The trick with this has always been getting my picky eater and his big appetite to go along with the plan... My solution to this problem, I have decided, is to get really creative, come up with all kinds of fun flavorful new meals, so that he doesn't get bored by the same old "diet food".
Last night I made Asian inspired lettuce wraps...
-I put some very lean beef cut into strips into the slow cooker along with some beef stock, and a generous spoonful of minced garlic.. I sprinkled in some cayenne pepper for a little kick, and left it to cook on low all day....
-I cooked half a cup of quick cooking brown rice in 3/4 cup of boiling water until the liquid absorbed, then added 2 shakes of low sodium soy sauce to the rice, piled some jullianned carrots on top of the rice, and put the lid on while finished everything else (I like carrots warmed thru, but not mushy)
-Into iceburg lettuce leaves I spread some of the rice/carrot mix, and then added a few strips of the beef to each wrap..
They were good... filling, flavorful, and approved by The Hub....
Stay tuned for more visits to the Lighter Side, and if you have favorite recipes, tips, etc for weight watching, PLEASE post them for me!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Cheating at Shepherd's pie...
So it was exactly 3 degrees when I got home from work last night... (up from the -5 that it was when I left that morning..) It might surprise people to know that this is not AT ALL normal for Colorado... there was ice INSIDE or freaking windows, for goodness sake!!
Clearly we needed hot, hearty food - STAT!
I dug out some frozen beef stew left over from a week or two ago, thawed it out and added some extra peas and carrots to the mix and spread it in a baking dish... on top of that went a trusty package of "baby red" instant mashed potatoes, and it all got topped with a sprinkle of cheddar and some paprika and into the oven...
just 15 short minutes later it was bubbly on the bottom, crusty on the top, and just the thing to chase away these obscene temps...
Now if only I could use the stuff to insulate our windows...
Clearly we needed hot, hearty food - STAT!
I dug out some frozen beef stew left over from a week or two ago, thawed it out and added some extra peas and carrots to the mix and spread it in a baking dish... on top of that went a trusty package of "baby red" instant mashed potatoes, and it all got topped with a sprinkle of cheddar and some paprika and into the oven...
just 15 short minutes later it was bubbly on the bottom, crusty on the top, and just the thing to chase away these obscene temps...
Now if only I could use the stuff to insulate our windows...
Friday, December 12, 2008
Steak Flautas, Cabana style..
In my teen aged years, and then while was in culinary school, I worked at the coziest, friendliest, warmest, yummiest little family run Mexican restaurant you could ever hope to come across...
One of the things about "tex mex" style cooking, different places call random things by familiar names... The "Flauta" was a specialty of the house at that place, but it wasn't a flauta at all, really.
Last night I got a hankering for one and so I raided the "ethnic" (are they kidding with that) foods isle at the grocery and got cooking....
-I chopped up a large flank steak into 1/2 cubes, and maranaded in a can of cola mixed with chopped jalepenos, garlic, and plenty of cumin - while that swam around in the mixture, I thawed out the rest of my zesty enchilada sauce and put a can of good old Stokes green chili with pork on the stove to heat...
-Then I browned the steak cubes in a screaming hot skillet, sprayed a roasting pan with Crisco spray and rolled two big burritos full of the steak.
-I smothered the burritos in the enchilada sauce and placed them under the broiler to crisp up a bit...
-while those broiled, I added shredded cheddar and motzarella cheeses to the green chili for a quick chili con queso and mashed an avacado with some tomato, shallot, and garlic salt for a fast guac....
After the burritos were nicely broiled, I transfered them to plates before smothering them again, this time in the queso sauce, adding some store bought (gasp) refried beans and a generous amount of the guac (but NOT for The Hub, he is anti-guac)....
That double smothered, baked burrito was what we fondly refered to as a "flauta" in that little restaurant... strange but true...
It was goooood... granted, it was not the same as if I had made every single thing from scratch, but it hit the spot and H loved it... (and besides, I have trouble making green chili in anything smaller than 1 gallon batches.... hazards of learning your recipes in a restaurant kitch, I guess...)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Stolen moments - I don't bake, but...
For this I might make an exception...
Chocolate Bourbon Cake from Simply Recipes... yum....
Now that SCREAMS "let's celebrate"!!
Chocolate Bourbon Cake from Simply Recipes... yum....
Now that SCREAMS "let's celebrate"!!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Worse.food blogger.ever.
I took NO pictures, not one, of the food for the party... We had a couple arrive VERY early for the party and it just kind of threw off my mojo or something... Honestly I was kind of bummed...
I was so flustered that I forgot the last minute things I needed to remember - like putting my flat iron away after it cooled down, so it sat in our front bathroom looking janky until like 9:30 when I finally went to the loo and saw it... :(
I really wish I had taken pictures because my table scape was freaking awesome... I laid down some silk magnolia stems that had a touch of shimmer to them on top of a pale green and cream table cloth... for the antipasti platter, I actually did two - one which sat on my awesome old picnic basket, and another which sat below it, with grapes cascading between the two..... after I got the other platters in place, I put a sprinkling of mini christmas ball ornaments in icy blue, silver and matte white around the the table too... It was my best one yet...
:::sigh:::
Anyway, the tuscan mushrooms mentioned in the last entry were a HUGE hit - people loved them so much... all the food turned out great, although I would make my "mini flat breads" bigger (I used a biscut cutter to do them this time) just so they would sit up on the grill a bit more during cooking.... also, the white bean garlic puree was really tasty, but my sis pointed out that people liked the individually portioned things better, so I think I would spread it on crackers instead of serving it in a bowl if I was going to serve it again... but the recipe was spot on - great flavor!!
Also, between the antipasti boards and various recipes, I roasted and used 7 heads of garlic... if I ever need that much again I would probably buy it pre-roasted, just because The Hub was not thrilled that there was a pan of roasting garlic in the oven for 5 hours on Thursday night... (woops).. I personally thought it smelled amazing when it was roasting..
Anyway, I suck, party is over and I have no pics to show for it... no one is more dissapointed than me, I promise... I am SO mad at myself...
Seriously tho... try those Tuscan Mushrooms... oh, and don't show up 40 minutes early for a party even if it is "to help" unless you have cleared it with the host... Those are my tips for the holiday season... chin chin...
I was so flustered that I forgot the last minute things I needed to remember - like putting my flat iron away after it cooled down, so it sat in our front bathroom looking janky until like 9:30 when I finally went to the loo and saw it... :(
I really wish I had taken pictures because my table scape was freaking awesome... I laid down some silk magnolia stems that had a touch of shimmer to them on top of a pale green and cream table cloth... for the antipasti platter, I actually did two - one which sat on my awesome old picnic basket, and another which sat below it, with grapes cascading between the two..... after I got the other platters in place, I put a sprinkling of mini christmas ball ornaments in icy blue, silver and matte white around the the table too... It was my best one yet...
:::sigh:::
Anyway, the tuscan mushrooms mentioned in the last entry were a HUGE hit - people loved them so much... all the food turned out great, although I would make my "mini flat breads" bigger (I used a biscut cutter to do them this time) just so they would sit up on the grill a bit more during cooking.... also, the white bean garlic puree was really tasty, but my sis pointed out that people liked the individually portioned things better, so I think I would spread it on crackers instead of serving it in a bowl if I was going to serve it again... but the recipe was spot on - great flavor!!
Also, between the antipasti boards and various recipes, I roasted and used 7 heads of garlic... if I ever need that much again I would probably buy it pre-roasted, just because The Hub was not thrilled that there was a pan of roasting garlic in the oven for 5 hours on Thursday night... (woops).. I personally thought it smelled amazing when it was roasting..
Anyway, I suck, party is over and I have no pics to show for it... no one is more dissapointed than me, I promise... I am SO mad at myself...
Seriously tho... try those Tuscan Mushrooms... oh, and don't show up 40 minutes early for a party even if it is "to help" unless you have cleared it with the host... Those are my tips for the holiday season... chin chin...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Party menu
I have been saying I was going to post the menu for our Holiday Party for weeks now... (lazy, lazy todds_wife) so here is a run down, with posts about prep and outcome to follow - promise...
I can't wait to get home and start prepping and cooking!!
I have had so much fun with this food... I am making a Giant antipasti board with roasted heads of garlic and peppers and meats and cheeses and figs and oil-cured olives and all kinds of yummy stuff; and these "tuscan mushrooms" and I am grilling a bunch of bite-sized rounds of pizza dough (on my trusty George FormanTYVM) and topping some with soft cheese, carmelized onion and crispy pachetta; and some with tomato and basil with olive oil, and some with melon and proccutto, and some with an olive tapanade... (Tentatively, of course... you know how it goes when you get to the store and see something else yummy to top things like that with)
I am also making tiny calzones (I use the refridgerated biscuts and fold them in half over the filling and bake) filled with fennel sausage for the carnivores, and a tuscan white bean and garlic puree to spread on some herby crackers... I am going to toast some almonds in the oven tonight with a coating of canola spray and some italian herb mix and sea salt also...
For our "signature drink" we are having Pomagranate Belinis with my favorite well priced Prosecco, Lunetta..
I can't wait to get home and start prepping and cooking!!
I have had so much fun with this food... I am making a Giant antipasti board with roasted heads of garlic and peppers and meats and cheeses and figs and oil-cured olives and all kinds of yummy stuff; and these "tuscan mushrooms" and I am grilling a bunch of bite-sized rounds of pizza dough (on my trusty George FormanTYVM) and topping some with soft cheese, carmelized onion and crispy pachetta; and some with tomato and basil with olive oil, and some with melon and proccutto, and some with an olive tapanade... (Tentatively, of course... you know how it goes when you get to the store and see something else yummy to top things like that with)
I am also making tiny calzones (I use the refridgerated biscuts and fold them in half over the filling and bake) filled with fennel sausage for the carnivores, and a tuscan white bean and garlic puree to spread on some herby crackers... I am going to toast some almonds in the oven tonight with a coating of canola spray and some italian herb mix and sea salt also...
For our "signature drink" we are having Pomagranate Belinis with my favorite well priced Prosecco, Lunetta..
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
At The Hub's request- Chicken Fried Steak
You can take The Hub out of Texas, but you can never take Texas out of The Hub (regardless of what he might say about it)... So once every month or two, I get a request to make him a good-old fashioned chicken fried steak, and I have perfected a technique that maximizes flavor and crunch, and minimizes (as much as possible) mess...
1. I remove the cube steak from the fridge and let it come to room temp. I pat it dry on the outside.
2. I pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. I get my "mies en place" (a step which would make my old chefs from school proud) by preparing a bowl with a beaten egg, 1/2 cup of butter milk, and a large pinch of baking soda (ask my mom.. she says it is for a golden color) mixed together; and a piece of wax paper with a cup and a half or two cups of all purpose flour mixed with a handful of corn meal, a tablespoon of seasoning salt, half a pack of ranch dressing mix, and a palmful of cayanne pepper. I place these next to my dutch oven with two inches of veggie oil on the stove and heat the oil to almost smoking. on the other side of the pan I place my roasting pan with a flat wire roasting rack in it - sprayed with Pam.
4. I dredge the steaks in the flour covering all surfaces and shaking off excess, then dip into the egg mixture and remove as much excess as possible.. then back into the flour and coat until dry on the outside again, then into the hot oil.. but JUST long enough to brown that side,(maybe a minute) and then flip to brown other side and then remove to wire rack and place the steaks into the oven to finish cooking...
this last step keeps the steaks from getting burned on the outside, the oil from getting smoky and messy, and allows me time to clean up (toss waxed paper with extra flour, dump egg mix, wipe down any messes) and make gravy and mashed potatoes.. (for gravy I drain off the oil from the dutch oven, add milk and deglaze the bits from the bottom of the pan, thicken with corn starch as needed, and season to taste)
5.In 10 minutes or so, you have a perfectly cooked chicken fried steak, the air has been allowed to circulate around the whole thing, keeping all sides crunchy in the oven, and nothing is burned (and the smoke alarm isn't going off, and some of the grease has even drained OFF OF the steak)..
And lucky H got leftover Thankgiving greenbeans with bacon and my favorite brown and serve rolls (what kind of crack do they put in those things? I could eat them by the bag!) to accompany his requested steak...
Everybody sing it with me "The stars at night, are BIG AND BRIGHT, :::Clap clap clap clap:: deep in the HEART OF TEXAS!!"
1. I remove the cube steak from the fridge and let it come to room temp. I pat it dry on the outside.
2. I pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. I get my "mies en place" (a step which would make my old chefs from school proud) by preparing a bowl with a beaten egg, 1/2 cup of butter milk, and a large pinch of baking soda (ask my mom.. she says it is for a golden color) mixed together; and a piece of wax paper with a cup and a half or two cups of all purpose flour mixed with a handful of corn meal, a tablespoon of seasoning salt, half a pack of ranch dressing mix, and a palmful of cayanne pepper. I place these next to my dutch oven with two inches of veggie oil on the stove and heat the oil to almost smoking. on the other side of the pan I place my roasting pan with a flat wire roasting rack in it - sprayed with Pam.
4. I dredge the steaks in the flour covering all surfaces and shaking off excess, then dip into the egg mixture and remove as much excess as possible.. then back into the flour and coat until dry on the outside again, then into the hot oil.. but JUST long enough to brown that side,(maybe a minute) and then flip to brown other side and then remove to wire rack and place the steaks into the oven to finish cooking...
this last step keeps the steaks from getting burned on the outside, the oil from getting smoky and messy, and allows me time to clean up (toss waxed paper with extra flour, dump egg mix, wipe down any messes) and make gravy and mashed potatoes.. (for gravy I drain off the oil from the dutch oven, add milk and deglaze the bits from the bottom of the pan, thicken with corn starch as needed, and season to taste)
5.In 10 minutes or so, you have a perfectly cooked chicken fried steak, the air has been allowed to circulate around the whole thing, keeping all sides crunchy in the oven, and nothing is burned (and the smoke alarm isn't going off, and some of the grease has even drained OFF OF the steak)..
Extreme close up of the golden goodness:
And lucky H got leftover Thankgiving greenbeans with bacon and my favorite brown and serve rolls (what kind of crack do they put in those things? I could eat them by the bag!) to accompany his requested steak...
Everybody sing it with me "The stars at night, are BIG AND BRIGHT, :::Clap clap clap clap:: deep in the HEART OF TEXAS!!"
Monday, December 1, 2008
WTF to do with all that turkey!?
Why, steal an idea from my friend Terresa and make BBQ Chicken (er, I mean turkey) pizza, of course!!
It was cold as heck out on the pa-tay-oh, so there was no way I was firing up the grill for pizza dough.. I popped a can of pilsbury pizza dough (never fails to scare the crap out of me when it pops - doesn't matter how ready I think I am), stretched it out, cut it into squares, and cooked it on the George Forman (4 minutes, then flip and 2 more minutes)
Then I layed the crust on a baking sheet, covered it with some Jack Daniels (Store bought) BBQ sauce, spread some shredded turkey and mozzerella cheese on top and broiled the whole affair until it was good and bubbly hot!!
It was cold as heck out on the pa-tay-oh, so there was no way I was firing up the grill for pizza dough.. I popped a can of pilsbury pizza dough (never fails to scare the crap out of me when it pops - doesn't matter how ready I think I am), stretched it out, cut it into squares, and cooked it on the George Forman (4 minutes, then flip and 2 more minutes)
Then I layed the crust on a baking sheet, covered it with some Jack Daniels (Store bought) BBQ sauce, spread some shredded turkey and mozzerella cheese on top and broiled the whole affair until it was good and bubbly hot!!
I pulled it out of the oven, cut it into pieces and served it right on the cutting board with a side of carmelized onion for topping (The Hub is not down with onion, but it is a MUST on this pizza in my opinion!)... It was a perfect post-Thanksgiving weekend meal - easy, hearty, and different..
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