Party!

Now that our house is done, almost done, acceptable, it was finally time to have our housewarming party! Because we know that having a house full of people you’re trying to impress is the perfect time to try brand new recipes, right?

Our new chalkboard wall serving as menu!

So, I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture of them, but in the very front you can see my Drunken Gummies! These babies were a huge hit. They take a bit of time (a little over a week to come together), but are definitely worth it! High Schoolers have all the best ideas!

Drunken Gummies at the booze table, and a fridge full of beer.

Chips and Dips in the Living Room

Cheddar Bacon Dip (Crack). Dayum.

This tasted exactly how it sounds. Cheesy, salty, bacon-ey (why not). It made a ton, and I through the rest into mashed potatoes the next night.

Hummus (store bought) and Veggies

Caprese Skewers

Sliders

Which tasted freakishly like White Castle's sliders!

And Veggie Sliders

There was also Mini Spanakopita which I failed to take a picture of--they were good, but IMO not worth the effort... just buy the things from Costco--and the Satan's Blood Chili from my previous post.

For dessert Dan made a Hot Chocolate Ice Cream, and a Cranberry Pomegranate "Sweet Tart" Ice Cream, which didn't survive for pictures.

I *think* everyone enjoyed everything. There was a ton of leftovers, but I chose to think everyone ate beforehand. I know the booze was a success =)

And a huge thank you to Dan, for cleaning everything up after I fell asleep the minute the last guest left.

Chili

Knowing how we love all things spicy, our good friends brought us back a special treat from their Honeymoon in Miami.




Yup, this is the stuff that rates 800,000 Scoville units. The stuff that idiots eat and post YouTube videos of their reaction.

So you know we had to use it. We made a chili (the worlds BEST chili), figuring we could freeze it to serve at our party later in the month, for everyone to try. This stuff is hot, like CRAZY hot. I tried a tiny little droplet of it on a bite of bread, and felt it for at least an hour. But, when we added the recommended 3-4 drops to the pot of chili, and it was the perfect amount of heat.


I'll admit I'm a chili novice. I usually just use canned beans and tomatoes, tossing a crumbled veggie burger in there from time to time if I'm feeling fancy. So cooking a real chili, a meat chili, was a departure. I googled "world's best chili" and came up with this recipe. 2,372 people can't be wrong.

It was the bomb. The big fat chili bomb!

Here's just a cut and paste of the recipe. We followed it to the letter, except we used regular canned beans because we have no flippin clue what "chili beans" were, and neither did our grocery.

2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese


Directions

1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.

2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Yes there is a LOT going on. Just do it. It's totally worth it.

It's not easy being green

(green) Poached Chicken with Spinach and Couscous

A tad of a mishap adding Rosemary to my poaching liquid resulted in a rather green meal. Very tasty, and easy, but no exactly something I'd serve to company.

The chicken was poached in water seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and a crap-ton of Rosemary.

The spinach was sauteed with garlic and oil, and I added the water couscous directly to it. Easy cleanup!

Crockpot Chicken

As you can see I've been getting a ton of use out of my crock pot. I like to run it during the weekend to cook up an extra meal for the week.

This one really was just a "dump and run".

I chopped an onion and green pepper and tossed them into the crockpot, and topped with chicken thighs and jarred tomato sauce.

I left it on high for about four hours, then shredded the chicken.
Served over pasta topped with cheese.

Cauliflower Leek Soup

We are officially moved into our new home, which means back to grocery shopping and back to cooking more "me" foods.

Here's one of my first creations: Cauliflower Leek Soup

(because apparently Dan likes to pick up produce that I've never cooked with before). Leeks? Really?

Well, leeks are delicious!

I sauteed one bunch of leeks with one head of cauliflower (both roughly chopped) with garlic in olive oil until they were soft. Added 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of white wine and let it simmer until it came to a boil. I used my new favorite thing ever, the immersion blender, and pureed until it was smooth and creamy.

Voila!

Very tasty, and a beautiful color! I imagine it would be even better if I Paula Deen'ed the damn thing and added a ton of cream and butter.

Weekend Eats!

A good friend's wedding made for a jam packed weekend of eating. Sorry, no pictures from the wedding itself; the food, especially the cocktail hour was amazing, but I was too busy dancing (ok, drinking) to take pictures.


The day before the wedding we arrived at the hotel, to find that it doesn't serve lunch. We set out searching for a generic pizza place, but couldn't find it. We spotted a deli, and were making our way towards it when we noticed a bar across the street. We picked the bar (duh!), which turned out to be The Stanhope House! Score, a blues club, and legendary BBQ joint.

I had the The BBQ Chicken Sandwich, and Dan the Smoked Brisket Sandwich

Oh yeah, fries, coleslaw and HUSH PUPPIES!

Sorry, I got excited. I hate that this place is so far from us, cause I could eat here every farkin week.

After our amazing lunch, we basically partied all weekend, and topped it off by finally trying the new(to us) Sonic on the way home.

Now it doesn't really seem fair to complain about fast food, because it is, well, fast food. But this was a major let down.

I don't know how service can suck at a drive-through, but it did. Service aside, the food was just meh.

I had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich (for someone who doesn't really eat red meat, this was the only option. The website lists veggie burgers, but they weren't on the menu here.)

Which was at least a true (albeit tasteless) chicken breast.




And a side of "Ched R Peppers". Ok, these were pretty good in a greasy, eat after a weekend of hard drinking way, as evidenced by my eating three before taking the picture.

Dan had a Double Cheeseburger, which looked pretty fancy, but tasted exactly like a McDonald's Burger.



I did enjoy the drinks, Dan had a super-thick vanilla milkshake, and I had an Ocean Water (Sprite + Blue Coconut flavor).

So, in sum, Stanhope house--worth the forty minute drive; Sonic--not worth the five minute drive.

"40" Clove Chicken

Confession, I didn't make this. My mother did. But if fits my newfound love for all things crockpot. It is super simple, and suprisingly tasty.

3-4 pounds chicken
1 large onion sliced
20-40 garlic cloves, peeled, but intact
Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice the onion and layer it on the bottom of the crock pot. Top with chicken pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the garlic cloves (we definately used closer to 20 than 40). Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve on egg noodles, with plenty of bread to sop of the sauce.

Pizza Party, Second Attempt

You may remember my first attempt at homemade pizza here. Which I was pretty darn proud of.

Well, I tried again, this time using my cousin's suggestion of using way more flour. Success!

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Dan and I both recently turned 30, and some friends of ours took us out to dinner to celebrate. We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Weehawken. (If you're interested in the wonky name, a woman named Ruth bought Chris Steak House in New Orleans, with the requirement that the Chris name remained...hence Ruth's Chris).


Anyways, I'm not the biggest fan of red meat, but they have a killer chicken dish so I was more than happy with the choice.

Orange Citrus Mojito

Stuffed Chicken Breast

(Oven roasted free-range double chicken breast stuffed

with garlic herb cheese and served with lemon butter)

And Dan had some big hunk of steak.

I didn't get pictures of the sides, but are served "family style", so we ordered a bunch to share: mashed potatos, asparagus, sweet potato casserole and creamed spinach. I'm sure everything here is prepared following some Paula Deen recipe, because they tasted way too good to be healthy at all, but hey, it's a splurge!

And a pretty view to end the night.

You win some, you lose some

I had a total craving for Shepherd's Pie, but alas had no meat. I figured lentils make a good stand-in in meatloafs, so why not?

I sauteed an onion and pepper until soft, added lentils and water and cooked until the lentils were soft. Tossed in a ton of seasonings, topped with some mixed veggies, and some mixed mashed potatoes and spinach.

Covered the whole thing with lots of cheese and baked until it looked delicious.

But, unfortunately....

It didn't hold together. At all.

Meat Muffins

Oh wow, that sounds disgusting. Meat muffins. Hey lady, maybe try the next size up, I can see your meat muffins.

Anyways.....Here's one of my absolutely favorite, blow your mind with its simplicity, cooking tips.

Instead of the typical meat loaf, make them tiny in muffin tins. I'm sure the regular kind will work nicely, but I use the silicone type, and the mini loafs pop out like perfect little spaceships.

These is my basic turkey meatloaf recipe. I start with Ground turkey, and beef it up (lol) with black beans and dry oatmeal. Add an egg, garlic, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes and oregano, and mix well. I like to top it with the classic ketchup/mustard mix, with a little Sriracha thrown in if I'm feeling spicy.

Add mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach and voici, you have dinner!

Spaghetti Stir Fry

I wanted something quick and healthy, and I guess I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go in...So I went everywhere at once.

Italian, Indian and Asian: here you go:

Whole wheat spaghetti, with tofu sauteed in coriander, garlic and ginger, with steamed snap peas.

Rise and Shine

I love me a savory breakfast! Here's a "hash" of potatoes, kale and bacon (turkey of course), topped with a fried egg.

Now that it's Summer, I should probably be moving on to lighter breakfasts--fruit, yogurt, air, whatever skinny people eat for breakfast--and away from things like this. Of course, there's still lunch and dinner =)

Lemon Pepper Salmon

So I was searching for a new way to cook salmon, and came across a pretty decent sounding recipe. Why'd I pick a recipe for sounding "decent", not amazing, or outstanding, or even delish? One, I had the ingredients, and two, I found it on a blog called..... Erin's Food Files.

How could I not go with it? So here you are, Lemon Pepper Salmon with sauteed kale.

Of course I don't measure anything, so for the specifics, go to that other neat, organized Erin. If you cook like the Swedish chef, feel free to follow mine.

SALMON:
2 salmon fillets, thawed
lemon juice
fresh thyme
lemon pepper seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced

KALE:
kale, rinsed, chopped, and thick stems removed
extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
chicken or vegetable broth
salt & pepper

Directions:


SALMON:

Rinse fish and pat dry. Place in a shallot baking dish, and top with remaining ingredients (juice through garlic).

Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes, or when fish is done.

KALE:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until it just begins to golden. Add kale to skillet, and saute for 2-3 minutes. Pour in broth and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Season with salt & pepper, and continue to cook another 10-15 minutes until kale is softened to desired texture.


I served with a baked potato. Want to know my super secret method to the perfect potato? Microwave a whole potato (with a few fork stabs in it) for 5 minutes, until almost done, then wrap in foil and bake at 375 for another 20 minutes. Trust me, perfect. Crispy on the outside, but not dried out at all.

Sausage and Broccoli Raab

Here's another, no explanation needed meal. It's one of my favorites for a last minute throw-together.

Whole Wheat Pasta + Broccoli Raab + Trader Joe's Chicken Sausage + Parmesan Cheese

BBQ Chicken

I'm sorry, there isn't much needed to say about this meal.

Chicken drums + BBQ Sauce + Crockpot
easy and pretty dang good.

Served with Mashed Sweet Potatoes (with Cinnamon and Cayenne) and Sugar Snap Peas.

A party, a pizza party...

I wanted to title this post something yeast-centric, but I couldn't figure out a non-gross way of doing so.

During my last trip to the grocery, I picked up yeast. I have never used yeast before, but have always wanted to. It seems like such an accomplishment, baking bread from scratch, and yeast is sort of alive, so that's cool and weird. I dying to try the New York Times No Knead Bread recipe, but that still seems a bit above my skill set, so I thought I'd try something a bit easier. Pizza!

Start by dissolving one packet of yeast in one cup of warm water.

When that is creamy, add it to a large bowl with 2 cups of flour, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar.

Start forming it into a big tight ball, I had to add a lot more flour as I went to keep it get it unsticky (yes, that is the technical term).

Cover it with a dishtowel, and let it sit for 30 minutes.


Roll it out into a nice pizza shape, or an abstract, wonky rectangle, as I did.

My pizza expert cousin tells me I didn't add enough flour, and it was still too sticky, but what the hell does he know.


Top it with your favorite sauce, cheese and toppings. I used tomatoes, onions, broccoli and what I wrongfully assumed were cubanelle peppers, but were surprisingly spicy little fuckers.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until it smells ready.

Voila!

It wasn't "oh my god this is the best thing I've ever eaten", but it didn't suck. And for my first go-round with dough, I'm quite proud.


Max approves.

Veggie Haven

We're lucky enough to live near some really great restaurants. Cuban, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Italian...we have pretty much everything. One that we really should get to more often is Veggie Haven. The food--all vegan Chinese dishes--is really amazing. The vegan shrimp taste (and feel)like real shrimp. The vegan pork chops, lets just leave it at that, vegan pork chops! It is pretty inexpensive, you'll spend much less than if you ate at an Applebee's, and trust me, you'll feel much better afterwords.

Tofu and Vegatable Curry.
Very tasty, but a bit lacking in heat.

Fried "Lamb" and Rice

Zucchini Fettuccine

Now this takes a bit more patience then I'm usually willing to afford to cooking, but I think it's totally worth it. It's simple, but time consuming.

Take a veggie peeler, and go nuts with your zucchini. You're going to end up with a big pile of what looks like fettuccine. (You do not want to know how many times I had to look up "fettuccine" to spell it correctly. Noodles. You end up with noodles).

Saute in butter and herbs, and voila! Done.

I made them as a side dish to broiled tillapia. I also cooked up brown rice, because I'm a carb-junkie and veggie noodles weren't going to cut it, but its probably not necessary.

This would be a pretty awesome light Summer meal.

Balsamic Chicken

After much gentle persuasion (definitely not screaming "just tell me what you want to eat") Dan picked out a recipe for dinner.


Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic


I looove balsamic vinegar, so I was happy to oblige. This was super easy, and really farken good! Yay!

As listed, the recipe is as follows:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter


Directions
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rinse the mushrooms and pat dry. Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken until it is nicely browned on one side (about 3 minutes).
2. Add the garlic. Turn the chicken breasts and scatter the mushrooms over them. Continue frying, shaking the skillet and stirring the mushrooms. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the vinegar, broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover tightly and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
3. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and cover with foil. Set aside. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium high heat for about 7 minutes. Swirl in the butter or margarine and discard the bay leaf. Pour this mushroom sauce mixture over the chicken and serve.


I of course left out the vile fungus, but followed the recipe otherwise. Once the chicken was cooked was removed, I added leftover cooked pasta and heated it through in the balsamic sauce.

And now for something completely different.

Patiently waiting for my guest blogger....

Crappy photos of awesome grub.

Dan and I used to have the perfect hang-out bar. It was casual, had an awesome beer selection, free popcorn, was close to Port Authority, and, this one is very important, had a single stall bathroom. So of course it closed down, leaving us to navigate the overpriced bars, the trendy bars, and, the god help me Greys Anatomy crowd bars.

So, imagine our surprise to learn that Shorty's is an AWESOME bar, basically steps from Port Authority! And, they serve Cheesesteaks!

CheeseFries

Chicken Cheesesteak with Broccoli Rabe

Please excuse my crappy cell pics. The downside to Shortys is that it is a Philly bar, and I didn't want to call any more attention to myself (beyond the Reyes jersey), by risking a flash.

Carino's Italian Restaurant

I have some not the best memories of eating at Carino's (back when it was Johnny Carino's), mainly overcooked, bland pasta. But, Dan and I gave it a second chance one evening when we were looking for a quick dinner.

Any basic Italian restaurant probably could have done better, but it didn't suck. And prices were reasonable.

Dan's dish was cheese, and bacon-ey, so of course it tasted good. I ordered the Primavera, which was surprisingly spicy, which is always a plus, but a bit too garlicky.

Finally, because it's what everyone says about Carino's, the bread was awesome! In fact, the bread was like scrapbooking.

Grilled Chicken Bowtie Festival

Chicken Primavera