Mike's Christmas Pecan Pie

Merry Christmas! One of my dear husband's favorite desserts is pecan pie. I think that he has had pecan pie as dessert for each of our married Christmas, either I made it, or one of my relatives made it.

Our first married Christmas was the year of the infamous ruining of dessert. That was the first year that I made pie for him. I was so nervous about making pie that I made a trial pie a week or two before Christmas and it passed his test. Then it was time for the "real" pie. It travelled well from our home in Hoboken to his parents' house in Massachusetts. After dinner, Mike said he was going to get the pie ready. The next thing I knew, my pecan pie was all melted. Mike put it in the oven to heat it up not realizing it would ruin the pie. At the time, I was furious. However, as the years passed it has become our little joke.

Over the years, I have played with the recipe for the pie. First, I use finely chopped pecans in the pie crust. Second, I don't use corn syrup in the pie. I like to use maple syrup instead. Other than that, the recipe is pretty standard and it enjoyed by it's primary recipient, Mike.

Pastry for a Single Crust Pie this can be used for the pie crust. If you want to use pecans in the crust, use 1/4 cup of finely chopped pecans and put stir them in with the flour mixture before the water is added.

Pecan Pie
3 eggs
1 cup maple syrup (or corn syrup)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup pecan halves

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs lightly until combined. Stir in syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla, combine well. Stir in pecan halves.
3. Pour the filling into a pie dish lined with the pie crust. Cover the edge of the pie with foil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
4. Remove foil; bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool pie on a wire rack. Cover and chill to store.
   

Cookies for the Neighbors

I have been meaning to make cookies for our neighbors and give them out for Christmas. Last weekend I got caught up in other projects. Our neighbors, Sue and Beth, both beat me to the bunch and left cookies for everyone at the doorstop yesterday and today before I got mine out. The cookies from both neighbors were quite delicious and motivated me to start baking for everyone. It is also a great day to bake since it is snowing out and I have no plans to go out in this weather.

I chose to make two of my favorites for sharing, Snickerdoodles and Sugar Cookie Cutouts. The Snickerdoodles are from Cooking Light's September 2007 issue. The sugar cookies are from The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

Snickerdoodles
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1.5 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt in a medium mixing bowl, stirring well. Add flour mixtures to butter mixture; beat until just combined. Shape dough into small balls.
4. Combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon in a small shallow bowl. Roll balls into sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet, coat with cooking spray if not using a Silpat. Bake at 400F for 8 minutes or until tops begin to crack. Remove from cookie sheet and place on cooling racks.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts
2.5 cups of flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture until just blended. Shape dough into disk; wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours up to overnight.
   
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Once again, if you don't use a Silpat, grease and flour two large cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough 1/8 inch thick; keep remaining dough refrigerated. Use which ever cookie cutter strikes your fancy and place the cookies about 1 inch apart. I used green and red sugar to sprinkle over the cookies.
   
3. Bake until golder, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

I always struggle with maintaining the shapes of the cookies after I cut them out. On next year's Christmas list, I will ask for a cookie press. It will make this so much easier.

Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Toasts

Since I am snowed in, it seemed like the perfect day to make a soup. I came across this recipe in Martha Stewart Annual Recipes 2004. It was pretty easy to make. What I liked best about this recipe is that it is fairly light, it did not require heavy cream. The original recipe calls for skim milk which makes it a great soup that you can have either on its own or before a meal. I opted to have this for a late lunch. I did modify the soup and added a bit of shredded cheddar cheese into the soup.

1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 coarsely chopped onion
2 coarsely chopped garlic cloves
2 bunches of broccoli (keep the chopped stems and florets separate)
7 cups of chicken broth
1 teaspoon of coarse salt
1 cup skim milk
2 shredded ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese
8 thin slices of French bread

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Add onion, garlic, and broccoli stems; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Add broth and salt; cover, raise heat to medium-high, and bring to boil. Add florets; reduce heat, and simmer uncovered, until florets are tender, about 10 minutes.
   
2. Remove soup from heat, and let cool. Working in batches fill a blender halfway with the broccoli mixture and puree until smooth. Place pureed soup in a large bowl until the whole batch has been pureed. Return to pot. Add milk and cook until heated through.
   
3. While soup is heating, divide cheese on bread slices and place in broiler until golden brown.
   

Pumpkin Soup

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006 Cookbook. I wanted to make it last week, but kept putting if off. Looking back, that is a shame. This is a great soup. I made it for lunch on Sunday and it pleased the masses. By the masses, I mean Mike. But, I will take the compliments where I can get them. Normally lunches on the weekend consist of making a quick salad. This was a good change for us.

The original recipe called for 1/3 cup bourbon. Bourbon is not something we keep in the house nor drink. Therefore, I omitted it from the recipe. Also, vegetarians can use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups of apple cider
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
14 oz chicken broth or vegetable if you prefer a vegetarian option
2 cups 2% milk
1 teaspoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
sour cream

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray if it is not non-stick. Add onion, ginger, cumin, and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in cider and next three ingredients (if you are using bourbon, stir that in as well). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
2. Place half of pumpkin mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed mixture into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining pumpkin mixture. Return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in milk, flour, salt, and pepper; cook until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.
   
3. Serve with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl.
   

I think that the sour cream adds to the soup. It adds that certain something that the soup craves.

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone

This is another one from Cooking Light. I didn't play around with this recipe. I guess the way I could play around with it would be by changing the add-ins. Maybe one day I will try my own risotto. I just became a fan of Top Chef on Bravo and may be inspired to just whip up my own creations one day.

Unlike last night's dinner, this one took a long time. But then again, risotto is worth the wait. At least I knew going into dinner prep that it takes a while to make risotto. The worst part about trying a new recipe is not really reading it the whole way through and finding out that it takes a long time to be finished. I have done that countless times.

This was the first time that I made this type of risotto. I think the ones that I have made in the past have had meat. Mike gave this one rave reviews. As soon as he put the fork into his mouth, he gave me his approval. Whenever Mike is enthusiastic about the food that I make, I feel satisfied.

1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
14 ounces beef broth
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
3/4 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to your liking

1. Combine boiling water and mushrooms; let stand 10 minutes or until soft. Drain in colander over a bowl. Reserve 1 1/4 cups soaking liquid; chop mushrooms.
2. Bring liquid and broth to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep broth mixture warm over low heat.
3. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. If not using a non-stick pan, coat with cooking spray. Add rice, shallots, and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Add wine; cook until liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes).
4. Add 1 cup broth mixture to rice mixture; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed; stirring occasionally. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time; stirring occasionally until each portion of broth mixture is absorbed before adding next. The process takes about 30 minutes. Add mushrooms, cheeses, thyme, salt, and pepper; stir until cheese melts.
   

Yield 4 servings

Maple and Balsamic Pork

This recipe is quite similar to the Maple Balsamic Pork tenderloin that I posted before. The major difference is that this one is an indoor recipe, you don't need to grill. It was perfect for yesterday. It was so cold out! I am not prepared for winter. During my walk to work yesterday, I was freezing. However, I digress. Back to the food. This was a quick dinner to prepare. It took somewhere between 20-30 minutes for preparation and cooking. Mike likes the recipes that don't take long. He gets grumpy when he has to wait to eat.

The maple syrup and balsamic vinegar mix well together in this recipe. I would caution people to be light on the syrup. I would use the amount in the recipe or a a tad less. Any more syrup and the pork would be too sweet (and this is coming from someone with a major sweet tooth). I chose to serve this with sauteed spinach on the side. I am trying to be better about eating enough fruit and vegetables each day. I guess I am getting a head start on New Year's resolutions.

1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 pound pork tenderloin
olive oil (about 2 teaspoons)
salt and pepper to your liking

1. Combine the syrup and vinegar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 3 minutes). Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in mustard.
2. Cut pork crosswise into 8 pieces. Place in between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until 1/4 thickness.
   
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Add to pan, cook three minutes on each side. Add vinegar mixture; cook 1 minute or until pork is done.
   

Slow Cooker Three Bean Turkey Chili

The slow cooker is my new favorite kitchen appliance. It's great coming home from work and having dinner already made. It was especially nice to have a low preparation dinner after last night's time intensive soup making. I do wish that I prepped for the chili the night before, as it requires cooked ground turkey and onions.

1 pound ground turkey
1 small chopped onion
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, un-drained
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1-2 tablespoons chili powder

NOTE: The original recipe calls for 1 can (4 ounces) of diced mild green chilies. Because Mike hate spicy foods, I omitted the peppers. Sometimes, I do include the peppers to his dismay. But, this is the holiday season and it was the least I could do.

1. Cook and stir turkey and onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat until turkey is no longer pink. Drain and discard the fat. Add to slow cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Cover; cook on HIGH 6 to 8 hours.

I think that I should have cooked the chili for 6 hours instead of 8. The chili was a little dry.

Roasted Garlic and Shallot Potato Soup with Paremsan Croutons

I soup and am really liking making different kinds of soup. Soup on a cold day just seems to make everything better. Making your own soup is much more satisfying than heating up a can that was sitting in your pantry. This is also coming from someone who once had a soup client in the advertising days.

This soup was not my favorite, but Mike seemed to really like it. It is quite a time intense recipe. I should not have tried to make this one on a night after work. It would have been better on a weekend when there is more time. I do love the croutons for the soup.

Soup
5 whole garlic heads, unpeeled
olive oil
salt
pepper
10 shallots, unpeeled
2 cups of chopped onion
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups of chicken broth (to make this a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth)
2 cups cubed, peeled potato
thyme (I used dried thyme)
1 cup 2% milk

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Remove white papery skins from garlic heads (do not peel or separate cloves). Place garlic in a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle olive oil (about 1 tbspn) over garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with foil. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.
3. Add shallots to pan. Drizzle oil (about 1 tbspn) over shallots; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and bake at 400F for 25 minutes or until garlic and shallots are tender and browned. Cool. Squeeze garlic to extract pulp; peel shallots. Set pulp and shallots aside. Do take the time to let the shallots and garlic cool, they are hot!
4. Heat oil (about 1.5 tbspn) in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion to pan. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic pulp, shallots and wine. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, 5 minutes.
   
5. Stir in broth, potato, and thyme (about a teaspoon); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, ad simmer 10 minutes or until potato is tender. Cool slightly. Place half of mixture into a blender (leave and opening in the lid and cover with a paper towel). Blend until smooth, pour into a large bowl and blend the rest of the mixture.
   
6. Add soup back to pan; stir in milk, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until heating through.

Croutons
1/2 inch thick slices of French bread
Cooking spray
Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 400F.
2. Place slices on baking sheet. Coat tops of bread with cooking spray.
   
3. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 3 minutes or until cheese melts.
   

Baked Ziti with Sausage

I haven't posted many recipes recently as a result of a ridiculously filled calendar. I was out of town for three weekends in November and have had something planned every weekend since the end of October. My calendar will not be empty again until mid-January. The upside to the insanely packed calendar is that it has been filled with fun plans. As of now, there are no travel plans on the horizon so cooking and blogging will resume again.

Over the weekend, I had a craving for more comfort foods. I was perusing back issues of Cooking Light and came across the recipe for Baked Ziti. This is a very basic dish, but it is a wonderful dinner to eat on a cold day. It does not require a lot of preparation nor many ingredients. The payoff for this easy dinner, is that it is a yummy comfort food.

1 pound ziti

1 pound of hot Italian turkey sausage

1 chopped onion

2 minced garlic cloves

2 (14.5) ounce cans of petite diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste (The original recipe called for 1 tbspn)

salt and pepper to your tasting

1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (You could buy the store packaged cheese or go with the fresh and shred that. I went for the fresh, to make the shredding easier for me with the soft cheese, I froze it first)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.


2. Bake the past according the package directions. Drain and set aside.


3. While water is boiling and pasta is cooking, chop the onion, remove the sausage from the casings, and mince the garlic. Heat these ingredients over medium heat until sausage browns.


4. Add the tomatoes and tomato past, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.


5. While the tomato mixture is cooking, prepare the cheeses.


6. After tomato mixture is cooked, add in the pasta and stir.


7. Coat a 4 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Add in half the pasta mixture and top with half the cheese. Add in the remaining pasta and top with remaining cheese.


8. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. It is one of those things that doesn't quite taste right at other times during the year. You can have turkey through out the year, but one can not really have this tasty pie during July without thinking of Thanksgiving. Hmmm, actually, maybe I should make pumpkin pie during the summer. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Perhaps I should make a turkey dinner at some other point during year.

Lucky for me, I get two Thanksgiving dinners each year. It doesn't even matter that I have them less than a week apart. The first Thanksgiving I have is always the Saturday prior to the real Thanksgiving. Actually, it used to be on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but was moved a few years ago. This one is named "Wardwell Thanksgiving". It is named for the street that Mike lived on after school with his roommates Kate and Susan. Mike and I try to make it to the various Wardwells, but have not always been able to attend each one due to various reasons. The house on Wardwell saw it's last Thanksgiving a few years ago. Since then, dinner has been hosted in a few houses in Connecticut, one in New York, and tomorrow's will be in New Jersey. I think that 2009 marks the 9th or 10th Wardwell.

My contribution to dinner will be pumpkin pie. I just love pie....I found a few recipes for pie and decided to make a hybrid of them. I did make pie crust from scratch again. It isn't that I find my pie crust to taste bad, I always have difficulty with the transfer from rolling out the dough to placing it gently in the pie dish. On top of that, the crust never looks pretty. Maybe I should make more pies until I perfect this?

I posted a recipe that I use for a single crust pie.

This is the one for the pumpkin pie
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie crust

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir in the pumpkin.
3. In a large bowl, beat two eggs. Stir in pumpkin/sugar/spice mixture.
4. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
5. Pour into pie shell.
6. Bake in oven at 425F for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350F, bake 40-50 minutes or until knife near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
   

Refried Beans

Finally, I found a good recipe for refried beans! In the past, I usually would buy canned refried beans, heat them up, and then serve them. This summer I began a quest for a good recipe for this dish. My first attempt left me frustrated, the kitchen smelled great but the flavors did not make their way to the beans.

I found this recipe over the weekend when I was looking for new slow cooker recipes. I think that the slow cooker was the trick for this recipe. It allowed the flavors to meld together at a longer time versus my first try. After using the slow cooker, I once again realized the benefits of this kitchen appliance.

1 onion, coarsely chopped (the original recipe called for the onion to be halved, but the smaller pieces allow for the onions flavors to spread)
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (the original recipe called for 1/2 pepper)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (the recipe said this was optional, but I love cumin and used it)
9 cups water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Baked Pasta with Fontina and Mascarpone and Garlic Breadcrumbs

Nothing can be better than pasta and cheese. This is another take off on the classic mac and cheese. I used penne instead of macaroni. Also, I really liked the mac and cheese that I made a few weeks ago with fontina cheese, so when I saw this recipe for pasta with fontina, I knew I had to make it.

I made a few adaptations to the original recipe from the November 2006 issue of Cooking Light. I didn't have enough fontina cheese due to not being the one who did the grocery shopping this weekend. Instead, I made up the difference with Parmesan cheese. Also, I added some ham to the pasta mixture.

1 pound uncooked penne
1/4 cup flour
3 cups of milk (I used skim as recommended and it worked out)
2 cups shredded fontina cheese (I only had 1 cup of fontina and used Parmesan to make up the difference)
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup of ham, chopped into small pieces (Note, the recipe can be made without the ham for a vegetarian option)
3 slices of white bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 small minced glove of garlic

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. Combine flour and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir often. Remove from heat; add cheeses and stir until smooth. Add in the salt and pepper. Add cooked pasta, stirring until coated. At this point, I added the small chopped pieces of ham.
4. Tear bread into small pieces. Place in a food processor and and pulse into fine bread crumbs.
5. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs until well combined. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over pasta.
   
6. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
   

Restaurant Review - Drink

Technically, Drink is not a restaurant, rather it is a cocktail bar. They do serve food and I did sample the canapes so I think I can share my review on the blog.

I have been looking forward to trying Barbara Lynch's new bar for quite some time. Mike and I were going to try it a few weeks ago to celebrate my birthday, but we were too tired to go out that evening. Our friend Chris suggested that we go there for drinks last night after I said no to the Atlantic Beer Garden as I thought it would be too crowded because of the Pats/Jets game and I was thrilled.

Mike and I got to Drink before Chris and Joanna got there and we managed to find a spot at the bar. Our bartender came over to us and I asked how they serve drinks since there is no cocktail menu. She asked what we were interested in and what kind of flavors we liked. I said that I like fruit drinks and was in the mood for something "fall like". She created a delicious drink with apple cider, brandy, bitters, and something else. The drink hit the nail on the head, it was exactly what I wanted.

Drink is really cool because there is no menu. They bartenders will make you a drink to suit the mood you are in at the time. A cocktail menu can be too limited. Another cool thing about Drink is that they grow and display the fresh herbs for drinks. They also used fresh squeezed juices and squeeze the fruits at the bar.

Oh, and the food....We sampled a few canapes. When I first read about Drink, I saw that deviled eggs were on the menu. That was a big selling point for me. However, they were not on the menu the night we went to Drink. We did try the prosciutto with Gruyere and honey, the scallops, and quince and manchengo cheese. They were all good, but were too small. Chris did get a little extra with his prosciutto, there was a bit of paper with the phyllo dough.

On our way out, we looked in the door for Barbara Lynch's new restaurant, Sportello. The manager happened to be there and let us stop in for a look. It looks good and at the present time is only open for lunch. They will be opening for dinner in December. The manager was extremely friendly and took my good natured ribbing about his (and other people) calling the neighborhood Fort Point instead of Southie. As Chris said later on, neighborhoods are renamed for real estate purposes (Fidelity renaming part of Southie, "The Seaport"). Does that mean that one day, Fort Point will creep back to my neighborhood? It may help when we need to sell...

Restaurant Review - Black Mountain, NC

During the first weekend in November, I flew south for a much needed weekend away. The reason for the getaway was the First Annual Reunion Vacation Weekend. I was reunited with my dear friends, Mullins, Sam, and Browning for the first time in three years. We all worked together at my first ad agency in New York which at the time was called The Media Edge, or TME for short (I believe it is now called something else, but will be stamped in my memories as TME). Through this workplace, I got to know a lot of great people. Mullins, Sam, Browning, and I became good friends. Our friendship has endured the moves out of the area for each of us, me in Boston, Mullins in Knoxville, Sam in Raleigh, and Browning in the New Jersey suburbs.

A bonus to seeing these great women, was eating great Southern food. In the New York days, I was schooled on things such as grits and hush puppies and one can not find true Southern food that easily in Boston. My appetite was building in anticipation of the jaunt to Asheville, North Carolina. On Saturday morning, we went to the Morning Glory Cafe in Black Mountain. I had the Black Mountain breakfast, consisting of eggs, with a choice of hashbrown or grits, and bacon or sausage. Of course, I had to go for the grits. They were delicious and were provided great nourishment for our visit to the Biltmore Estate.

After exploring the estate, we headed to Asheville to walk around. Our late night festivities on Friday meant that afternoon caffeine was necessary. We stopped in the The Sisters McMullen for a dose of coffee. While there, we were tempted by the sweet and savory pastries in the display case. We all loved what we got, a cream horn for Mullins, a quiche for Sam, a black and white cookies for Browning, and a snickerdoodle for me. I was tempted to get the Boston cream cupcakes but gave into the temptation for a cookie as it would be easier to eat while walking. We wanted to get a late lunch/early dinner in Asheville, however restaurants were closed from 3 until 5. We headed back to Black Mountain where our cabin was located. The previous evening we had located Phil's BBQ Pit. Browning and I took on the menu and won that battle. She had a plate of BBQ pork and chicken with hush puppies. I had the ribs with hush puppies, baked beans, potato salad, and drank sweet tea. Everything was good, although the sweet tea was a bit too sweet for my liking.

All in all, this was a great trip. I loved spending time with the girls. I laughed so hard all weekend. There were many great memories that were made for the First Annual Reunion Weekend. I can not wait for next year's trip in a location to be determined. Some ideas include Maine or Savannah.

Macaroni and Cheese

I made another one of my favorites for dinner tonight. Tonight, I changed my recipe for this great comfort food. Perhaps my vote cast this morning at 8 inspired me to make a change to my recipe. Change is good.

Normally, I make mac and cheese with American cheese. In this case, I used Swiss and Fontina cheese. I was pleased with the substitution. I do wish that I put in some small pieces of ham. One restaurant that I had a lot of rep lunches had a great mac and cheese that I may have come close to replicating this evening. That mac and cheese was much creamier than mine. Skim milk does not make for a creamy mac and cheese.

2 cups elbow macaroni
1 small chopped onion
2 tbspn butter
2 tbspn flour
dash of pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
3-4 cups of cheese

1. Cook the macaroni according to package directions. When done, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender.
4. Stir in the flour and pepper. Slowly add and stir in the milk.
5. Heat the mixture until it gets thick and bubbly.
6. Add in the cheese and stir until melted. Stir in the macaroni.
7. Pour into a shallow dish and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
   

I really enjoyed the change with Swiss and Fontina. It was a rash decision to throw these cheeses in my grocery cart on Sunday.

Apologies for the choppy post, I have been completely distracted today because of the election. It is a historic night no matter the outcome.

Chicken Chili

I have never had chicken chili before and wanted to try it. When I recently replaced my slower cooker, the first only got one use and then the stoneware insert broke, I browsed through a cookbook for slow cookers and marked this recipe. There was some anxiety about leaving the slow cooker on all day when Mike and I left for work this morning, but it was nice to come home to a kitchen filled with the scent of dinner. Also a major plus, dinner was ready when we got home. It was nice to not have to prepare anything for dinner, with the exception of pouring a glass of water.

Now that I have been won over by the slow cooker, I will be sure to look for more recipes. Once again, it is so nice to come home to dinner. I think that I saw a recipe for pulled pork made in the slow cooker on Cooking with Jen. After my upcoming weekend in North Carolina, I will probably be in the mood for some pulled pork.

3 - 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained
2 cups of cooked chicken (I shredded it instead of chopping it)
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped (the original recipe called for 2 red peppers, but Mike hates peppers so I decided to use just one pepper. I like green peppers better than red, hence the substitution)
1 - 4 oz. can diced green chilies
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
(The original recipe also called for 3 minced cloves of garlic. I forgot it when I made dinner, but it tasted fine without).

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Mix thoroughly. Cover; cook on Low 10 hours.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of my all time favorite foods of the fall. I usually have it on Thanksgiving when Aunt Ellen makes a batch for us to enjoy. I love the soup so much that I had to try it on my own. I think I made my first batch a few years ago and now make it at least once each fall and winter. My soup is no where near as good as Aunt Ellen's, but it is not bad if I do so say myself. I think that the trick is the curry powder. Curry is quickly becoming one of my favorite spices to add to savory dishes.

Because this can require a lot of simmering, I make this on the weekends. I would not have the patience to try this on a weekday after work. On Sunday, I was delighted to use my new blender that was purchased to replace one whose motor burned out. The soup tasted great and I took a gamble taking the soup to work for lunch. Here is hoping the microwave heats it up hot enough.

2 cups of chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
Salt and pepper to your liking

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until they are tender (about five minutes).
2. Add the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add broth and squash. Bring the mixture to a boil. After it comes to a boil, decrease the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Once the squash is tender, bring the mixture to a blender in small batch and puree. Once the entire batch is pureed, bring it back to the stockpot and add salt and pepper.

Green Beans with Mustard Vinaigrette

I haven't updated the blog in quite some time. Things have been so busy lately and will be busy now through the end of the year. That said, postings may be few and far between until things calm down.

Back to food, this was a great side dish that took no time to make. Preparing the green beans is what took the most time. I love the combination of onions, green beans, and Dijon mustard. The flavors worked well together. I chose to serve this with pork chops and mashed potatoes. I let the green beans take the lead on this dinner.

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons course-grained mustard
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar (I used a pear Chardonnay vinegar)
6 tablespoons olive oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil)
Kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds green beans
1/2 small read onion cut into thin slices

1. Make the vinaigrette in a small bowl. Whisk the mustards and vinegar. Whisking constantly, add the oil in a slow and steady stream.
2. Prepare an ice bath for the beans. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook the beans until they are crisp-tender (about five minutes). Transfer the beans to an ice bath to stop the cooking and drain.
3. Add the beans to the vinaigrette and toss in the onions. Serve at room temperature.

Restaurant Review - Toro

On Friday night, I went out to dinner with the girls. It is always so nice to see Tam, Michele, and Kakes. That in itself is a treat. However, it was nice to have great food paired with great company.

Since we were going out for my birthday, it was my choice. I love eating at tapas style restaurants. It is a great way to taste a lot of the food on the menu. It also makes dinner a much more engaging social experience. Toro was a restaurant that I have wanted to try for quite some time.

Michele, Tam, and I got to Toro a bit before our favorite soccer mom did, so we had a cocktail at the bar while we waited. Michele and I both had La Grenada. It was a delicious mix of vodka, pomegranate, grenadine, and rose cava. We also ordered the Pan con Tomate to eat with the drinks. So far, it was a great start to the evening.

Soon after Kathryn arrived, we got our table. Kathryn's mom had been to Toro before and raved about the corn, so we ordered it. We also ordered the empanadas (something that I fell in love with in Argentina), the garlic shrimp, the ensalada cortada, olives, fried potatoes, mini hamburgers, and a steak dish. All the food was spectacular. The corn lived up to its reputation, it was full of buttery and cheese goodness. Because dinner was great, we had to try the dessert. Churros and creme brulee were ordered and were fabulous.

All in all it was a great dining experience. Of course, 99% of it can be attributed to the great company. We always have a great time hanging out with each other, unfortunately busy schedules often get in the way. I think we are planning on seeing each other next in December! That is far too long. After that we will have Michele's birthday dinner in January. Maybe we should pick a date now before the calendars get too packed.

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

Once again, I had the itch to use more apples in a sweet treat. I do love cupcakes and am interested in going beyond the standard vanilla or chocolate with vanilla or chocolate icing. These could probably be consumed minus the icing, making them more of a muffin. However, caramel seems like the perfect topping for this fall treat.

I haven't tried these yet. I am bringing them into work for my co-workers and will update the post with their reactions. Maybe I should not be testing out a new recipe on people that I see everyday....

Chicken and Asparagus with White Wine Sauce

This is a nice and fast after work dinner. There is not a lot of preparation with this one, especially if you buy the thin sliced chicken. Another benefit of this recipe, is that it is one dish cooking. I love the meals that are put together in the skillet. Maybe that is part of the reason that my skillet has lost its non-stickness, it gets used all the time.

from Cooking Light, October 2007
4 slices of chicken (if you don't buy thin sliced, pound the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness)
salt
pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine (once again, I chose a Chardonnay)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 minced garlic gloves
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
*the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, I omitted it in my recipe

1. Prepare the chicken by sprinkling salt and pepper on it.
   
2. Melt butter in the skillet over medium high heat.
   
3. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge chicken.
4. Add chicken to the skillet, cook 3 minutes on side or until browned.
5. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Add wine, broth, and garlic to the pan; scrape up the browned bits and cook 2 minutes.
   
6. Add asparagus; cover and cook 3 minutes, or until the asparagus is crisp-tender.
   
7. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice (if you want parsley, now is the time to add it).
   
8. Serve asparagus and sauce with chicken.

I think what makes this dish so good, is that the chicken is sauteed in butter. Yum!

Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Yesterday, I was looking for recipes for entrees in which apples were utilized. I saw that this recipe from the Family Circle All Time Favorite Recipes called for apples AND brie and I was sold. I haven't had brie in a while and I was sold. This seemed like a great fall recipe.

I was also anxious to try a recipe that called for stuffed chicken. Normally, I shy away from stuffed chicken breast of any sort as I have failed in previous attempts. However, I was eager to try my skills that I attained last week in the cooking class for Meredith's bachelorette party. In the cooking class, the chicken was already pounded for us. I did not pound the chicken as much as I should have and it did not roll the way it did last week. Another modification, was that I chose not to saute the chicken in butter and olive oil before baking the chicken. That is not a typo, we used butter AND olive oil last week. It was great, but a bit too unhealthy for my kitchen. I decided to forgo the saute portion and went straight into baking the chicken.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped, leave the skin on (I used a Cortland apple, the recipe suggests Granny Smith)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup apple cider
4 ounces Brie, rind removed, cut into chunks
4 chicken breasts, pounded

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
   
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until very tender, about 8 minutes. Add apple, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 cup cider; cook until apple is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in Brie.
   
3. Spoon mixture into the chicken breast and roll up. Bake chicken on a jelly roll pan in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
4. Scrape the pan drippings into the skillet with the remaining apple cider, thyme, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. Spoon over the chicken.
   

I wasn't too sure how this would turn out. I got rave reviews from Mike who gave me a "good, very good" critique. In addition, he said it was company worthy. So anyone who comes over for dinner may get this dish.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

I saw this on Cooking with Jen (http://cookinginla.blogspot.com/) and I wanted to try it. It reminds me of the good old e-mail time wasters I do when I need a break from whatever I was doing. You know the type of thing I am writing of, "My favorite color is, My favorite vacation was", etc....This is like the same thing, except it involves food. Feel free to try this.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

I couldn't figure out how to underline, so I changed the font color to brown. Also, when I copied the post to my blog, I had to play with the font colors and couldn't get the font to my blog's standard color. Also, I had to look up what a lot of these foods were.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison

2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanough
11. Calamari
12. Pho

13. PB&J Sandwich (the ultimate comfort food)
14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (not at all healthy, but delicious)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (yum, it is so good in Argentina)

28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (New Year's Day with pork)

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar (on the Forbes yacht, ahh those media days)

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39.Gumbo (I think my neighbors need to make some Louisiana style gumbo for me :))

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects
43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini (I live dirty martinis with vodka, I am not a gin fan)

58. Beer above 8% ABV (Polish beer at Cafe Polonia)
59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S'mores

62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baiju

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (Not the tasting menu, but I have had diner at Le Bernadin. Mike be warned, this is on our list....)

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

Looks like I have a lot of foods to try.

Kielbasa and Red Cabbage

How purple is this?! It's due to the red cabbage. The red cabbage when combined with the cleaning products used after the prep for this was done, turned the cabbage blue. This was a dish that used apples. I had to get rid of the peeled apples before they went bad (see earlier posts from today to understand). Mike said that this dish reminded him of something that we ate when we went to Prague three years ago. I will freely admit, that the Czechs certainly make this dish much better than I do.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons beef broth
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (I think that the dish could use more and I likely double it when I make it next).
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 shredded red cabbage (I couldn't find the pre-shredded red cabbage and used about 30 ounces of the cabbage that Mike shredded for me)
1 pound kielbasa, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 apple, peeled cored, and sliced (the original recipe called for Granny Smith, but that was not in my bag full of apples from yesterday, so I used what I had, either a McIntosh, Empire or Cortland)

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Add onion,; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add broth and caraway seeds. Bring to boiling. Lower heat; simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.
2. Add brown sugar, vinegar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
   
3. Add half of the cabbage. Top with kielbasa, apple slices, and remaining cabbage. Cover; simmer 30 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
   
4. Uncover; cook 10 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.
   

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

I actually made this last week, but am getting around to posting it today. Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic meal and is always very comforting. It was also a great meal to have as the weather was getting cooler. Fall is my favorite time of year, there is apple picking (if you read the earlier posts, you know that I do love apples, football is back, baseball playoffs are on, there is new TV, and it is a good time to eat some warm and hearty meals. I am still trying to find a good recipe to use as a base in creating my own red sauce. This was a quick red sauce that worked well in this case.

12 ounces ground turkey
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
cooking spray (my non-stick skillet is not so much non-stick anymore)
14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with onion
6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounce uncooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat and try to use whole wheat pastas when possible)

1. Combine the turkey breast, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning in a bowl; mix well to combine and shape to make meatballs, about 18. Heat up the skillet while you are making the meatballs over medium-high heat.
   
2. Spray cooking spray in a large skillet. You could also use olive oil, but in the interest of trying to cut back on fats and oils when I can, I used cooking spray.
3. When the skillet is hot, add the meatballs and saute until they are browned on all sides. Turn them often. This takes about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, and oregano. Mix well. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, until meatballs are cooked through and the sauce reduces slightly, about 10 minutes.
   
5. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
   
6. When the sauce and the pasta are both done, add to a pasta bowl and combine.
   

Apple Crumb Pie

More apples for everyone! Usually, I make a two crust apple pie, but change can be good. I have never made a crumb topped pie before. I have made crumb topped desserts before (see the apple crisp post). That said, this is not entirely new to me. I will confess that I was a bit lazy with the pie today and used a frozen pie crust. I was cringing as I wrote that, usually I am a 100% from scratch type of girl, but I did make three desserts today, made dinner, went grocery shopping, went for a run, and did three loads of laundry. I think I deserve some slack for taking the easy way out with the crust.

Crust
You can make your own. I believe that I have a recipe on here for another pie that I made and that would be sufficient for this. Although, that may have been a double crust pie. If it was, cut the recipe in half.

Filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
7-8 cups of thinly sliced and peeled apples

Topping
6 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
   
2. Prepare whatever crust you decide to go with.
3. To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mix over the apples.
   
4. Pour the apple mixture into the crust.
5. To prepare the topping, combine the flour and brown sugar into a medium bowl. Cut in 3 tablespoons butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.
6. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F; bake an additional 40 minutes.
   

My Favorite Apple Crisp

One of my favorite things to eat in the fall is warm apple crisp. I can eat it with or without ice cream, with or with out whipped cream. It's just all around good. This was the second of three sweet apple dishes made in one day. I guess that I am making up for lost time. You can use what ever kind of apple you like. I used the apples that we picked yesterday, McIntosh, Empire, and Cortland. Because, I came home to the apples peeled for me, I have no idea of the ratio of the apples that were used.

8 medium apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 cup flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter (you can use margarine if you like, but I prefer butter)

1. Preheat the oven 375F.
2. Place the apples into a 9X13 baking dish.
3. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugars, and cinnamon.
   
4. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter.
   
5. When the mix looks crumbly, add to the top of the apples.
6. Sometimes, I like to top with oats, but I didn't have any today.
7. Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
   

I think that last week or the week before, I said that I was going to try to be a bit more healthy with my cooking. Obviously, the half cup of butter contradicts my statement.

8 medium apples

Applesauce

It was an easy way to use up some of our apples. It can be served warm or cold. You can eat it solo or use it as a side dish. Pork chops and applesauce is coming to mind and reminding me of a Brady Bunch episode. Ahh, good times....

1 tablespoon butter
5 apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into 3/4 inch chunks.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the apples, cinnamon, sugar, and water. Cook until the apples are tender. This takes about 10 minutes.
   
4. You can either serve the applesauce in a chunky form, or use a masher and mash some of it up. I chose to mash up some of the apples.
   

Apples, Apples, Apples

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. It was sunny and the air was crisp, a perfect day for apple picking. We took a drive to Honey Pot Hill Farms in Stow, MA for our Saturday date. We went to this particular orchard once before for apple picking and liked that they charged by the basket instead of by the pound. If I wanted to pay by the pound, I could go to the grocery store. The drive out was very nice, we commented on how nice the houses in the 'burbs look and agreed that we are still not ready to pull that trigger. As we got closer to the farm, we were in a long line of traffic of other apple pickers. We decided to park on a side street and walk a quarter mile to the farm. As we got there, we must have worked up quite an appetite because we were hungry for hot apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. Neither were a disappointment. After the snack, we walked up the short hill to pay for our apple picking bags. We were quite ambitious and decided to get a large bag versus a small and medium bag for $3 less.

Apple picking was very fun. We both got on the ladders to go higher into the trees. Mike wore what we decided was the perfect apple picking shirt as it had a front pocket. I did not wear the perfect apple picking shirt and had to toss my apples down to Mike. We got a bunch of apples; McIntosh, Cortland, and Empire apples.

Today I went to the grocery store and came home to find a ton of apples already peeled and cored for my baking wishes. Mike is a great sous chef and prepped a ton of apples. As a result, I made an apple crumb pie, apple crisp, applesauce, and a savory dish of kielbasa with apple slices. Be prepared for an apple overload on eatingwithkeating.

Really Great Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad. There, it's said. I think that my favorite comes from the Firehouse Deli in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is such a great place in good old Fairfield. The sandwiches are so great, that once Mike, Michele, Lea, and I drove up from Hoboken to get sandwiches on a dull Sunday afternoon. Maybe the idea of a sandwich from Firehouse will be enough to get me to go to our ten year (GASP!) college reunion in June. This is not nearly as good as Firehouse, but it hit the spot one night after work. Bonus, it's easy to prepare.

two cooked chicken breasts (I cooked them on our George Foreman grill)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat and low calorie)
4 tbsp sour cream (I used light sour cream. Fat free sometimes doesn't taste as good)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.

I like to serve this on toasted bread. However, crackers work just as well. I think the lemon juice really works with the chicken salad. I could have put in celery or add nuts for some crunch, but why mess with something that you like. A piece of lettuce on the sandwich could be put on the bread to give the sandwich the crunch that you may desire.

Look out for a lot of posts

I have been so bad at updating the blog lately. It's been a busy past few weeks. There was a bachelorette party that took a lot of energy out of me. There was the night before the bachelorette party that took a lot out of me. There was a condo meeting that took a lot out of me. But, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I have a feeling that there will be a lot that goes on the blog today. I will post a recipe for a really great chicken salad. I have to recap a cooking class. I have a classic dinner to post. Finally, I am going to put a lot of apple recipes up. Mike and I went apple picking and have a ridiculous amount of apples. I will probably make a pie, apple crisp, and some entrees with apples. Since I am planning on a lot of sweet baked dishes, I don't know how smart it was to quit the gym. I really to need to find a new one.

Pork Chops in a Lemon Caper Sauce

This has a great combination, lemon and capers. What could be wrong with that combination? This is another great one from Cooking Light. I am trying to be better about what I eat these days and pay more attention to calories and fat content. Soon enough, I am sure that I will be off that wagon and will go back to cooking with real bacon and more oil. However, for now I am going with the lower fat content.

Pork Chops in a Lemon Caper Sauce

(from Cooking Light October 2008)

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 lean pork chops

1/3 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg white

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon white wine (I used a Chardonnay)

2 tablespoons capers

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Combine flour and salt in one shallow bowl. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and pepper in a separate shallow bowl. Finally, lightly beat 1 egg white in a third shallow bowl.
3. Remove the pork from the skillet and keep warm. Add in the broth, wine, and capers. Simmer until there is about 1/4 cup of liquid left. Serve over the pork chops.

I really liked this one. I used a thicker cut of pork chops than I usually use, and was not happy with how long they took to cook. I was counting on quick meal as I ran once I got home from work and did not start to cook until 7:30. That is late eating in the Carey household. I am thinking that I may try the sauce as a marinade and let the meat soak up the juices for a day. Also, this sauce may taste great with chicken. It's something to try.

Beef Boliche

This is another one that I think tastes better the next day. This was the first time that I tried this dish, or heard of it for that matter. I love combining meats and this was a great dish for it. In this case, I left out a few of the ingredients. I am only listing the ones that I used. The recipe recommended olives, I would have included olive, but I did not have any. I'd recommend having a nice big piece of bread to sop up some of the juices.

Quick Beef Boliche
(from Cooking Light October 2008)
1 pound top sirloin (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 pieces of chicken sausage (I used Cajun flavored chicken sausage)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups of diced potatoes (I used canned potatoes)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to pan; saute 3 minutes or until browned. Remove casings from sausage and add to the pan; saute 1 minute or until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in bell pepper, onion, and garlic; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes. Pour tomatoes evenly over beef mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until beef is tender.

I chose to serve this with heated black beans seasoned with cumin. I would definitely try this one again. I think I would drain a little bit of the juice from the tomatoes so it would be less soupy.

Grilled Pizza

This was take-two of making pizza this weekend. Friday night was close to a minor disaster with the smoke alarms going off. I am happy to report that tonight's dinner did not involve a close call with the Boston Fire Department. I have wanted to try grilling pizza for a while and as I did not want to heat up the oven again, it was the perfect time to try this method. Also, I hate to use the dough that I made on Friday night.

I looked online for some tips on the best manner to grill the dough. I found that one should grill both sides of the dough. We put cooking spray on the grill plates for ease of turning over the dough. Another tip, was to thinly slice the cheese and not put on too much. In addition, one should not put a lot of toppings on the pizza or put on a thick layer of sauce. We also chose to use tomatoes as the topping. If I were to use meat, I think I would cook it before putting it on the pizza.

Pizza Dough
from Cooking Light September 2008
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast (about two packets)
6-7 tablespoons of warm water (divided)
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of cornmeal

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Place flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse two times, or until blended. With food processor on, slowly add the yeast mixture through food chute. Add enough of the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a ball; process 30 seconds Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead lightly 4 to 5 times. Place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat the top of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.
   
3. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.
   
4. Roll dough into a 10 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. I also used cornmeal on the surface.
   

Back to grilling the dough, I grilled it for 5 minutes and then turned it over. After a minute or two, I spread the sauce. For tonight's pizza, I chose to use pesto as the sauce. Due to my basil plant being dunzo for the season, I used commercial pesto. I lightly spread it on the dough. Next I placed the thin slices of fresh mozzarella on the crust. I let this melt before placing the tomatoes that I mixed with a bit of garlic powder. I wasn't keeping track of the amount of time the tomatoes were on the pizza. I kept checking the bottom of the crust to make sure it didn't get burned.

Next time I try this, I will use different toppings. I used too many tomatoes for tonight's dinner and Mike said that they were not chopped finely enough. I think it's a matter of personal preference. I like chunky tomatoes.

Dinner this week

Last week, I did not have a lot of dishes planned for the week. It was just as well, as I got sick with a cold and was tired after coming home from work. Fewer dinners meant fewer leftovers and I was forced to buy lunch a few times. This week, I have enough dinners planned to yield leftovers for the following days' lunch.

I am going to take a stab at making pizza again this week. It was a bit of a disaster on Friday night. The pizza stone got too hot in the oven and something from it was dripping onto the hot oven floor and caused the smoke alarms to go off. The plus, the smoke alarms work. The minus, the piercing noise of the alarms frightened the cats and would not stop. This time, I am going to grill the pizza to avoid the oven getting too hot.

• grilled pizza margherita
• beef boliche
• pork chops
• chicken & pineapple
• curry pasta primavera
  

Pasta with Vodka Sauce

I LOVE this dish. It reminds me of my Mediaedge days when we would go to Remi's takeout cafe and get penne with vodka sauce for lunch. Yum! I miss those days and my friends that I worked with there. This recipe does not compare with Remi, but I tried. I had a little bit of ziti left in a box and a bit of whole wheat penne and I wanted to get rid of both. Also, the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions, but I had none so I used two small shallots instead. Also, you can use whatever kind of vodka you want for the sauce. I chose Kettle One since there would be a lot leftover and would rather have a vodka I would drink versus the cheap stuff that could take nail polish off.

1/2 uncooked penne (the ziti worked too)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 shallots (or 1/2 cup of onion, finely chopped)
1 teaspoon of salt (divided)
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 vodka
1/4 chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 whipping cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
   
2. Heat the oil up in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and cook until they are tender. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add the vodka; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the rest of the salt, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes.
3. Place the tomato mixture in a blender and process until smooth.
4. Return the mixture to the sauce pan; stir in the cream. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat, stir in the pasta and basil.

Special thanks for this go to our neighbors Dennis and Amy for giving us some basil. My basil plant has no leaves left. Next year, I resolve to grow a huge basil plant.

Dinner this week

This is a light week for dinner. Light that is, in terms of the number of meals to be prepared. It was a busy weekend, we went out to dinner on Saturday and on Sunday we had a family dinner at one of Mike's aunts' houses. It was a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Yum! Anyway, I digress....this week we are going to have the following:

• Pasta with Vodka Sauce
• Ham and Egg Fried Rice
• Pizza Margherita (I am going to try to make the dough this time, yikes!)
  

Restaurant Review - Mistral

On Saturday night, Mike and I celebrated our fifth anniversary with a dinner at Mistral. Neither of us had been there and were both dying to try it. We have heard great things about it and Mistral lived up to our expectations. Mike likes to eat earlier than I do and wanted a 7:00 reservation. I thought that we would be the only ones in there so early on a Saturday night. However, the place was packed! We didn't have the best table, we were in the back near the kitchen, but the company more than made up for the bad table.

I had been checking out the menu the week prior to dinner, but still was not sure what I was going to order. I had the mussels to start and Mike has the tuna tartare. Both were wonderful. For the main course, I had the sirloin while Mike had the trout special. We settled on the Catena malbec for our wine, it was great since it was one that we did not have a chance to sample while in Argentina. The desserts were wonderful as well, I had the warm chocolate torte and Mike had the plum galette.

I loved Mistral and would go again. The portions were a great size, the atmosphere was great as it was not stuffy, and despite the crowd, we did not feel rushed.

After dinner, we had the car drop us off at Persephone for a drink. We have to support the Southie businesses, even though it isn't close to our part of Southie. The night was capped off with drinks with the neighbors at home on their patio. Thanks guys!

Ham and Egg Fried Rice

This could be a side dish or a main entree. I decided to make this a main dish by adding extra ham. Next time I make this, I am going to add water chestnuts so that there is a little extra crunch.

4 cups of cold cooked long-rain rice
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (I only had red onion at home, but it worked)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup sliced green beans
1 1/2 cups of diced ham (or less if you want to make this as a side dish)
1/4 soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sliced green onions

1. Heat a skillet or wok over high heat and add the canola oil. Add the onions and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute or until onion begins to brown. Add beans and ham; stir-fry 2 minutes or until the ham begins to brown.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the rice. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil.. Push the rice mixture to the sides of the pan or wok. Pour the eggs in the center and cook until they set, stirring to scramble. Gently stir the eggs into the rice mixture. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
   

Pasta with Gorgonzola Sauce

My apologies for posting this one a few days late. I've been lazy. I think that this one tastes great as leftovers. I put in more cheese than the recipe (from Cooking Light) calls for. I also didn't read the recipe through when I was making up my grocery list and overlooked half-and-half in the ingredients listing. Since I did not get the half-and-half, I used 1% milk, resulting in a soupy sauce. The half-and-half would have been a waste since we don't use it in our coffee.

8 ounces uncooked ziti
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
12 teaspoons half-and-half (or 1% milk for a soupy sauce)
6 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
2 cups of fresh spinach

1. Cook the past according to the package directions.
   
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and garlic to the pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in the half-and-half and cheese for 2 minutes or until thick (again if you use milk the sauce won't get thick), stir constantly. Stir in spinach and pasta cook 1 minute or until the spinach cooks down.
   

Corn on the Cob & BBQ Ribs

This was a very messy and great tasting meal that requires a lot of dental floss after dinner. The corn has a coating that uses a few of my favorites, cilantro, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. I wasn't loving the BBQ sauce for the ribs, so I will just list the recipe for the rub. I thought that it on the ribs without the sauce was good.

Mike got gas for the grill yesterday and was pumped up to use it again, too bad it was a bit too chilly out to eat on the deck, it was also a little wet from the rain that we got. Mike needs to get credit for being the grill master tonight.

Corn on the Cob
4 ears of corn (I just made three, but the rest of the ingredients are good for 4 ears)
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lime juice (I used bottled instead of fresh)
1/3 cup of Parmesan
1 minced garlic clove
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 cup of cilantro

1. Cook corn in a large pot of boiled water for about 5 minutes. Drain the corn.
2. While the corn is cooking mix 5 tablespoons of olive oil and the next 4 ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook about 2 minutes. Turn the corn frequently.
   
4. Brush the cheese mixture on the corn in the skillet. Cook until the coating begins to color, about 3 minutes.
   
5. Place the corn on a platter and brush the cilantro and any remaining cheese mixture onto the corn.*

*I really wasn't paying close attention to the recipe and just mixed all the ingredients together instead of brushing the cilantro on at the end. It turned out fine, but I thought I should include the standard recipe (from Bon Appetit).

BBQ Rub
1 rack of ribs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
t teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of allspice

Rub the mixture over ribs, cover with foil and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Fire up the grill and keep the ribs on until the are tender.

Because I was not loving the BBQ sauce, I am more than willing to take suggestions. Send them in so I can try them.

BLT Bow Tie Pasta

Despite the great weather today, tonight's dinner had to be made inside since we ran out of gas for the grill. We had no time to get gas yesterday because we went to a wedding which was so fun. Because the wedding was so fun, I was completely exhausted and did not want to run all over the place running errands (i.e. getting gas for the grill). We did take advantage of the nice evening and eat outside on the deck.

This recipe calls for a lot of bacon to be used. I have made it with regular bacon and turkey bacon. Both options work well. I chose to use regular bacon today and added a bit more than 12 slices. It is not a diet friendly recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of Bon Appetit.

1 pound farfalle pasta
12 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup of thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
dash of crushed red pepper
3 cups of arugula
1 cup of thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup of Chardonnay (the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
1 cup of grated fresh Parmesan cheese

While the pasta is cooking in a pot of boiled water, cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon and place on paper towels. Save 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings in the pan and add the tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Cook the tomatoes and peppers for two minutes, then add the onions, arugula, and 1/2 of the basil. Cook until the arugula starts to wilt, then add the wine; bring to a simmer. Add the pasta and toss to coat. Add in the cheese and toss until it melts.