Ravioli Rosa

Caitlin's feeling better and better about eating, but her tastes are still skewing towards carbs at this point in her pregnancy.  I'm just glad I get to cook/eat something decent at home instead of Panera/Chipotle/Moby Dick's/Happy Uncle Chinese food.  I mean I love all those places and aren't likely to stop going any time soon, but it feels good to be back to cooking at home.

Since we went to the gym for the first time in 2 or 3 months and didn't get home until 8:30 last night, I needed to make something quick for dinner.  On a side note, man, it really felt good to go back to the gym.  I really need to get back in shape.  I'm already on a basketball team that should start playing soon, and on an indoor soccer team (that plays really late at night. . .), but still, that's only 2 or 3 days a week tops and I need to kick it back up a notch and get back down to a nice healthy slim-a-bear weight.  Okay, back to dinner!

We had some Cheese Ravioli in the freezer, and I thought it might be good to mix up some Rosa sauce, like the Penne Rosa from Noodles & Co.  I already had some grilled chicken slices I was using to make paninis, but you can pretty quickly saute up a chicken breast to use in this recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

Ravioli Rosa:

1 Package Large Cheese Ravioli (I used Rosetto Large Round 24oz)
1 Cup Tomato Pasta sauce (I used Francesco Rinaldi To Be Healthy Tomato and Basil)
1 1/2 Cup Alfredo Sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese Alfredo)
1/2 Cup White Wine (I used some chardonnay)
1 Chicken Breast
1 Cup Baby Spinach, roughly chopped
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 Tbsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Optional, but it's good with a little kick)
Parmesan Cheese, to taste

In a stockpot, heat on high 5 or 6 quarts of water with a pinch of salt and some olive oil until it boils.  In a saucepan, add in the red sauce, white sauce, wine and pepper and mix together with a whisk, then heat on medium heat covered.  If you have pre-cooked chopped chicken, add it into the sauce as well.  If not, filet the chicken breast into 2 flat pieces and then cut into 1/2 inch strips and saute in a pan with some olive oil, and top with salt and pepper to taste and then add to the sauce.

Once the water is boiling, add in the frozen ravioli and bring the temperature back to medium or medium-high and let cook approximately 8 to 10 minutes (really until they all start to float).  While the ravioli is cooking, chop the spinach and tomato and add to the sauce, then lower the heat for the sauce to a simmer.  Once the ravioli is done, drain the water and serve the ravioli with the sauce and some parmesan cheese, to taste.  You have a quick 20 minute meal that's delicious and a little spicy!

*  Sorry, there's no photo to entice you to cook this recipe, I was way too hungry to stop and take a picture of it after the gym last night!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

A couple weeks ago, with Caitlin in the middle of her morning sickness and pretty much only able to eat simple and complex carbs, I made this delicious banana bread.  And seeing as it's a good recipe for bringing to a holiday party/family get together and pretty easy to make, I thought I should get off my big non-posting butt and share it with the rest of you.  Luckily Caitlin seems to be past the worst of the sickness and back to eating real foods, so huzzah, I shall hopefully be back to cooking/creating/posting more often in the near future.

Anyway, back to the recipe at hand, here's what you'll need: (This recipe is designed to make 2 loaves of Banana Bread, mainly because at the time, I had 6 Bananas that had been in the cupboard for a little too long and were starting to get brown.  If you want to make 1 loaf, then just halve everything)


Banana Bread:
2 cup granulated sugar
2 Sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
6 overripe bananas
2 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Streusel:
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Stick Butter, Hard/Cold

So here goes with the instructions: heat the oven to 325 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar and butter together and mix until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time while continuing to beat the mixture.  Stop the mixer and in a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and mix in the milk and cinnamon.  Then in another separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Go back to the mixer and slowly combine the bananas one third at a time and continue mixing until all the bananas are incorporated.  Then begin to add in the dry ingredients from that bowl also 1/3 at a time.  Once all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, stop mixing and remove bowl from mixer.  In a separate bowl, combine the streusel ingredients: brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter.  Using the mixer, blend the streusel ingredients until they are well mixed together and the butter is totally incorporated with the dry ingredients.

Grease bread pans with some Crisco or Baking Pam and split the bread batter evenly between the two pans. Once that is done, split the streusel mix on top of the batter in each bread pan, and then take a knife or spatula and stir/swirl the streusel around in the banana bread batter.  Be careful that you do not stir too much or too vigorously, because you don't want to mix the streusel into the batter, just simply allocate it in a swirl within the batter.

Once they are ready in the pans, place in the oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a tooth pick or knife inserted into the loaf comes out dry.  Then remove from the oven, let cool and enjoy.  Slice the loaves into 1/2"-3/4" thick slices and eat plain, toasted and buttered, or get fancy and put some caramel ice cream on top.  Any way you slice it, it's delicious!

Tales from Public Transport

Those of you who follow this site (all 7 of you!) might be wondering why I haven't updated it in awhile.  Though frankly, I think all of you know the reason why.  Basically, I've taken an extended vacation from cooking anything interesting because Caitlin is pregnant (8 weeks!) and going through the morning (haha, we wish it was just the morning) sickness phase, and well, cooking for one and eating it hastily in the corner lest the smells cause her to vomit is not the best environment for creating good recipes. Plus cooking for one is a good way to make you want to hang yourself.

Hopefully the nausea will go away soon and I can get back to cooking some great recipes (and there's probably going to be some weird ones with a pregnant wife as my customer)!  In the meantime, I probably need to throw some updates up here, regardless of actual recipe content.

Okay, so based on the number of funny stories I have from my daily commute of driving to the MARC Commuter train and then taking a bus to work 3 times a week, I've decided to start regaling my readers with these tales in a recurring series I will call Tales from Public Transport.  Most of them involve me noticing someone else doing something really weird, or some kind of confrontation with an annoying entitled jerk whilst riding the train or bus.

Our first tale comes from last summer.  I have a nice timbuk2 messenger bag that I carry with me so I can take an umbrella or jacket (if needed), and a book or my PSP for some enjoyment and distraction while on the train. When it's hot out, I also have a water bottle with a clip that I hook onto my bag so I can have some ice water on my trip.  MARC is pretty lax about food and drink, to the point that a good portion of the passengers heading home on Thursdays and Fridays are toting 6-packs and/or 40oz bottles of beer.  Hell, I've even seen a nice little clique of passengers bring beer, wine, pizza, wings, and fried chicken and have a nice little MARC train happy hour.

On the other hand, Metro Bus is significantly less flexible about food or drinks in theory, but pretty much just as lax in practice.  They have big signs everywhere (also in Spanish!) about no food or drink on the bus.  Now, I generally take that to mean "don't be a dick and eat your breakfast/lunch/dinner on the bus", but sipping from a drink is pretty low on the public-shame-meter.

That day, I get on the bus and I sit in one of the side facing seats towards the front of the bus.  There's a guy about 5 or 6 feet away in one of the front facing seats with a leather briefcase on his lap and a giant cup of Starbucks in his hand.  I'm only usually on the bus for about 15 minutes, but it's amazing how bored you get during that time, so I opened up my book and was blissfully/ignorantly reading away.

This is on my way to work, and at 8:15 in the morning it was already 90 plus degrees outside, and this particular bus had no air conditioning (at least not running anyway) and frankly, opening the window would've only made it worse. After 5 minutes on the bus, I'm getting pretty hot.  Then I remember I have a nice water bottle full of ice water, so I unclipped my bottle from my bag, folded out the straw and took a sip.  Before I can close the straw and clip it back to my bag, the guy with the coffee (coffee douche from here on out) looks at me with disgust on his face and loudly says "You're not allowed to have food or drink on the bus!" Surprised, I look over at him, notice his coffee and reply "Okay, are you the pot or the kettle, because you've got a cup of coffee in your hand, and at least my bottle wouldn't spill if I dropped it, unlike  your crappy Starbucks cup".

Now, I really wanted to follow up that statement by knocking his coffee cup out of his hands to prove my point, but I didn't want to be the dick who made a mess or start something any more than I'm already into. In response, coffee douche says "Well, I'm not DRINKING it, just holding it. . . " as if that somehow made him better than me.  The sign doesn't say "no eating or drinking on the bus", it says "no food or drink on the bus".  Subtle I know, but I guess not everyone can grasp the minutiae of the printed word.  Point being, we were BOTH breaking the rules.  Anyway, I casually clipped my water bottle back to my bag, chuckled derisively at his comment and continued ignoring him and reading my book until I got to my stop. Reading is Fun. . damental!

What a way to start the day. . .

Bring You Back from the Dead Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

So I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and I started thinking of what to make that would work on some sore teeth.  So I figured I'd make some of my chicken soup tomorrow, and then Caitlin said she wanted soup tonight, completely separately from my desire to make it tomorrow.  Weird huh?  Well, my chicken soup recipe makes enough to last a week, so making it tonight is as good as making it tomorrow, and she gets to take it for lunch, so double bonus!

Of course, it does take a little while to make, so Caitlin's been bouncing off the walls waiting to get her mitts on a fresh bowl (or two. . . ).  This is a good recipe for this week though: the weather's starting to change and get colder (which I love), we're both sore as crap from soccer (which isn't so great) and I've got the dentist, so I'll need something soft to slurp down with my numbed butter teeth.  I suppose it's only a matter of time until one of us gets sick again too, so hopefully the soup will ward off disease as long as possible.

Here's what you'll need:

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

128 oz Chicken Stock
4 or 5 Carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Medium (baseball sized) Red Onion, diced
1 Package of Celery Hearts chopped into 1/2 inch slices
2 Boneless Chicken Breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2-3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Crushed Rosemary
2 Tbsp Dried Thyme
2 Tbsp Diced Garlic
Handful Fresh Parsley finely chopped
1/2 Cup White Wine
Freshly Ground Pepper and Salt
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
12 to 16 oz Package Egg Noodles

Start off by pouring all the chicken stock and the kosher salt into a large (8qt or bigger) stock pot on the stove on medium-high heat.  Start a saucepan on high with a steamer insert and while the water is heating up peel and chop the carrots and add to the steamer and cover.  Add the wine to a large saute pan and heat on medium-high heat.  While the wine is heating up, quickly dice the red onion and add to the saute pan.  While the onions are cooking, chop the celery and add to the chicken stock, then chop the chicken.  Stir the onions and let the wine reduce by about one half and then dump the onions and wine into the stock.

Return the saute pan to heat and add the oil and the chicken and stir constantly.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper onto the chicken, enough to evenly cover all the pieces and then add in the garlic, thyme and rosemary and continue stirring for another minute or two to evenly brown the chicken and coat the pieces with spice, then add to the stock pot.  Take the carrots out of the teamer and add them to the stock pot as well and lower the heat to medium-low.  In a large saucepan (or a small stock pot) boil water and add in the noodles.  Let the noodles cook until soft, about 5 or 6 minutes and then drain and rinse and add to the stock pot.

It's a good tip when making soup with egg noodles to boil them in water separately from the soup, because when you boil the noodles, they soak up a little of the liquid, but also sometimes release a little bit of the flour, so if you boil them in your soup stock, you'll lose some stock softening the noodles, and possibly get a bunch of flour that will ruin your soup's stock with a cloudy, nasty noodle funk.

So, boil them separately, drain and rinse the noodles and add to the stock pot and let the whole thing simmer covered together for 5 or 10 minutes at least and then serve!  It tastes great with some crusty french bread or dinner rolls and they'll help you sop up the delicious broth.

Spicy Garlic Teriyaki Lo Mein

Okay peeps, so we're on day 5 of pantry clearing, and I did some inventory and found a package of Lo Mein noodles.  Now with the weather all cool and our nightly exercise complete, it was time to make some greasy chinese takeout at home and I know how Caitlin loves some shrimp lo mein!  Well, stir fry, if done right, is a delicious, healthy and quick meal that has endless possibilities for different combinations of sauce and ingredients.  I was craving something a little spicy too, so I thought I'd kick it up an extra notch.  Here's what you'll need:

1 Package Lo Mein Noodles
1 or 2 Chicken Breasts
2 Tbsp Ginger Paste
2 Tbsp Cilantro Paste
1/4 C diced Red Onion
1-2 Tbsp Crushed Red Pepper (depending on your desired spice level)
1/4 C Garlic Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 C Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp Mirin (Japanese Rice Wine)
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
3 Large/4 Medium Carrots
1 or 2 Cups Cooked Frozen Shrimp (more shrimp with less chicken or vice versa)
1/4 C Peanut Oil

Okay, now, the first time you make this, it might not be that quick of a meal.  But with some practice at real stir fry cooking, you can really get in there and get it all chopped, cooked and in the bowl in about 20 minutes.  Of course it really helps if you're making noodles or using the microwaveable uncle ben's rice pouches, otherwise you have to plan ahead, because it takes awhile to cook rice.  Also, the real key to making good (and fast) stir fry is to make sure that all the pieces are cut to to the same size, which helps them to cook at the same rate.

For this recipe, I'll try to explain my methodology for speed while stir-frying.  First, set up your steamer insert in a saucepan with water up to the bottom of the steamer insert and put on the stove on high.  Then, peel and chop the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces and add them to the steamer and cover.  In a large sauce pan, put water on the stove on high to boil for the noodles.  Put the frozen shrimp into a measuring cup and fill with hot water to thaw.  Cut the chicken in half horizontally to make 2 thin filets and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces and add to a bowl.  Drain the shrimp and cut the tails off the shrimp and then cut each shrimp into 1/2 in pieces and return to the measuring cup.  Add in the teriyaki, hoisin, mirin, and corn starch to the chicken and stir and fold to mix the sauces and make sure the chicken is covered evenly.

Clean off the cutting board (or pull out a second one) and dice the onions.  Pull out your Wok (or saute pan if you don't have one) and pour in the peanut oil and place on the burner on med-high heat.  By now the water should be boiling so add in a little oil to the water (so the noodles won't stick together) and dump in the lo mein noodles.  Let the oil in the wok heat up and when you see the surface of the oil shimmering, add in the red onion, ginger and cilantro and stir with a spatula slowly for about a minute or two to cook the onions.  Add in the chicken and stir constantly with a sweeping motion to keep the chicken turning and cooking without letting it sit for more than 10 or 15 seconds.  After the chicken starts to look browned (maybe 4 or 5 minutes), add in the shrimp, carrots and red pepper and continue stirring for another 2 or 3 minutes and then remove from heat.

While the wok is off the heat, drain the noodles and add to the wok and return to heat.  Continue stirring and folding it all together for another minute or two, or until the noodles start to absorb some of the sauce and brown up a little.  After that, remove from heat and serve!  Mmmmm, mmm, greasy delicious Chicken and Shrimp spicy Lo Mein at home in less time than it would take to drive for takeout or have it delivered!

Shish-ka-Scott

Okay, so we're on day 2 of spelunking in our overcrowded pantry. So, for some insight into how these dinners get made and decided on, here's Caitlin and my planning conversation over IM:

Scott: What do you want for dinner?

Caitlin: I don't know, something that won't make me feel gross. . .

Scott: hmmmmm

Caitlin: and not Mexican, I had that for lunch.

Caitlin: How about something grilled?!

Caitlin: shish kabob!

Caitlin: YES

Caitlin: with chicken

Caitlin: and tomatoes

Caitlin: and potatoes

Caitlin: and poblano

Caitlin: and green onions

Caitlin: and whatever else we have in the fridge

Scott: ok, I guess I'll look in the fridge

Okay, so it looks like the plan is set. I'll grab everything in our fridge veggie drawer that's not apples and some chicken and we'll grill the crap out of it! Eureka! Well, that's how you end up with Shish-ka-Scott (since I'm not named Bob, get it?!), though we didn't have any green onions or potatoes. So I thawed some chicken, and checked the veggie drawer and found some red onion, poblano peppers and roma tomatoes. Here's what you'll need:

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1/2 Red Onion, cut into 1 inch slices

1 or 2 Large Poblano or Green Peppers cut into 1 inch squares

2 Roma Tomatoes

1/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce

1/4 Cup Teriyaki Sauce

1/4 Cup Lime Juice

So, first thing you'll need to do is cut the chicken into roughly one inch cubes and then place in a bowl. Add in the hoisin, teriyaki and lime juice and stir and let marinade while you cut the veggies. Cut the ends off the roma tomatoes and then cut them in half so you have 4 tomato cylinders. Cut the pepper(s) in half and remove the seeds in the center. Wash them off so all the seeds are gone and then cut the halves in half and then into 1 in squares. Take the onion and cut it in half and then cut off the top and bottom of one half to remove both cores at each end. Take the center piece and cut into quarters and then pull the layers apart and you have a bunch of onion squares.

Take some skewers (these are really handy for this) and thread on a tomato and then layer it with a pepper square, a chicken piece and an onion square until you get to the other end, and then put on another tomato. Keep threading until you run out of pieces and then place in a shallow dish and pour the marinade on top. While the skewers are marinading, go turn on the grill to medium-high. Let it heat up for a few minutes to get the grill grates nice and hot and then go throw the skewers on. Grill on each side for about 8 or 10 minutes or until the chicken starts to get grill marks seared in. Flip them over and finish the other side, and then serve with a little rice or some salad. It's delish and it clears out the veggie drawer!

Tandoori Chicken Curry with Potatoes

So it's getting to the point where our pantry and fridge are just packed with stuff that I've bought and we've never made. We eat indian food all the time, yet apparently I buy stuff for it way more often than I make it. I guess that trip to Lotte Plaza (the Asian food market) was maybe a bad idea. Anyway, so in an effort to clean out the backup, I envisioned making some delicious indian food and using some of the stuff we had sitting around before it all goes bad.

So one of my Lotte Plaza purchases was a number of indian pastes for marinades and sauces: Tandoori, Tikka, Curry, Vindaloo and Korma. I like the prepared indian bags of veggies with the Tandoori sauce, so I thought I'd combine a couple of them and make my own simmer sauce. Here's what you'll need:

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1/4 Cup Tandoori Paste
6 oz Plain Greek Yogurt/Heavy Cream/Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp Oil
3 Carrots cut into 1/2" cubes
5 or 6 Red Skin Potatoes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Okay, first thing you need to do is boil about 2 cups of water in a medium sauce pan with a steamer. While the water comes to a boil, peel and chop the carrots and then dump them into the steamer. Make sure the water doesn't come above the bottom of the steamer insert. Let the carrots steam until they start to soften, about 8 minutes. While the carrots are steaming, cut the chicken into about 1/2 inch pieces and put in a large saute pan with the oil on medium-high heat. While the chicken cooks, quickly wash and cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch size pieces. Remove the carrots from heat if they're softened and ready to go.

Cook the chicken until the pieces start to brown slightly and none of the sides are raw. Remove the chicken to the side and add the potatoes to the pan. If the pan is dry, put in a little more oil to help them cook up. Stir the potato pieces until they start to soften, then add back in the chicken and the carrots and turn the heat down to medium low. Combine in a bowl or measuring cup the tandoori paste and the yogurt/cream/coconut milk and add to the pan and stir everything together. Let simmer covered for 5 or 10 minutes to let all the sauces and spices marry together and then serve with jasmine or basmati rice and/or some toasted naan.

Don't forget the milk...

Often when I'm rattling off what I want for dinner to Scott, he'll head out to the store. That's right ladies, not only does he cook, he shops for groceries too (in record time). I'll rent him out for an hourly rate...
Anyway, this is often how I feel when he dashes out the door to the store:

Potato Gnocchi with Shrimp and Homemade Pesto Sauce

So I had to go to the dentist and Caitlin's stomach was feeling a little weird today, so I thought I'd make something comfortable, delicious and not too spicy (since I've been making a lot of spicy Mexican and Indian food lately). Also, our Basil plant in our garden is HUGE and since it's starting to get cold at night, well, it's probably going to die soon, so it needed to get eaten.

This is a real quick meal to make (even more so if you have a food processor), so here's what you'll need:

Semi-Homemade Pesto Sauce:

1 Cup Alfredo Sauce

1 Cup White Wine

2 Cups Loosely Packed Basil Leaves

1/2 Cup (or a big handful) Sage Leaves

1 Cup (or 2 big handfuls) Baby Spinach

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 Tsp Salt

For the Pasta:

16 oz Package of Fresh Gnocchi

8-10 Frozen Cooked Shrimp (per person)

Fresh Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Sundried Tomatoes, Julienne Cut

Pine Nuts

First thing you'll need to do is thaw the shrimp in a bowl filled with some warm water for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then, fill a pot with water with a pinch of salt and a little olive oil and place on the stove on high to boil for the gnocchi. To start off the sauce, combine the alfredo sauce and white wine and whisk together in a medium saucepan on medium heat while you gather the pesto ingredients.

Next you'll need to make the homemade pesto portion. Combine the basil, spinach, sage, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse for 5 or 10 seconds until well mixed and chopped and then add into the saucepan. Heat up a frying pan on medium high with a little olive oil and throw the shrimp in with some salt and pepper. Toss the shrimp around to heat up for a few minutes. Once the water is boiling, add in the gnocchi and boil for 3 or 4 minutes or until they start to float. Strain the gnocchi and serve in a shallow bowl or plate and spoon on some sauce and then top with some shredded Parmesan, pine nuts, and sundried tomatoes and enjoy!

Kitchen Bear - Now with 50% more pictures!

Scott has put me in charge of taking the pictures for this blog. It's no easy task; I have to remember to snap some pics before shoving my face full of food....

When I forget to take a picture, I'll just draw one!

I have no drawing skills...but that won't stop me!

BEAR GRILLS
(or BEAR-B-QUE)

~Caitlin

Chicken Prosciutto Cutlets

So the other night for dinner I wanted to make something with Sage. For my birthday, Caitlin took me to Amalfi Ristorante in Rockville. It's not much to look at from the street (or even from inside I suppose) but the food is phenomenal, and definitely moderately priced. Anyway, I had their Chicken Saltimbocca that was smothered in Sage, and it really made me realize a few things. One, sage is freaking delicious! Two, I almost never use it in anything! So I thought I'd make something similar to their dish and I picked up my items at the store to make a good dinner for me and Caitlin. Here's what I came up with:

Chicken Prosciutto Cutlets

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Jar Alfredo Sauce (I use Classico Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce because it's a lot lower in fat than others)
1 C White Wine
Handful of Fresh Sage leaves
2 Tsp Diced Garlic
4 oz Proscuitto, thinly sliced
4 oz Crumbled Goat Cheese
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/2 C Sliced Mushrooms
Salt and Pepper to taste
Angel Hair pasta

Okay, to start off with, you're going to want to trim the fat off the chicken and lay them flat on a cutting board. With your hand laid flat on top, you'll want to cut horizontally through the chicken breasts in the middle to separate each into 2 filets. Lay the 4 filets next to each other on the cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. With the heel of your hand or a fist, work your way up to pounding the chicken until they're soft and flattened.

Once you've got them flattened, pre-heat your saute/frying pan to medium-high and add the oil. While that's heating up, start boiling water with a little olive oil in it in another large saucepan for the pasta and start heating the whole bottle of alfredo sauce on high in another saucepan. Once the oil is heated up, swish the pan around gently so the oil covers as much of the bottom of the pan as possible and add in the chicken cutlets and sprinkle each one with salt and pepper. Saute 3 or 4 minutes or until they begin to brown up slightly and then flip them and sprinkle more salt and pepper on them. While the second side is cooking, the pasta sauce should be warmed up by now so you can add in the wine (which should be room temperature) and stir every few minutes with a whisk.

Once the second side of the chicken is finished sauteing, remove it from the pan onto a cutting board or plate to let them rest. If the water is boiling, add in your pasta (you'll want about half to two-thirds of a box of angel hair pasta). With the chicken removed, make sure there is enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, if not, add a little more and let it warm up (or you can add some butter if you want that flavor), then add in the mushrooms and diced garlic and stir/saute until the mushrooms have softened, about 3 minutes. Once that's done, pour the alfredo/wine sauce from the saucepan into the saute pan and reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally. Let the pasta sauce simmer for a few minutes and stir gently to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan.

With the chicken on the plate or cutting board, cover each chicken with sage by laying whole sage leaves across the top of the chicken cutlets, then cover each with a slice of the proscuitto (or however much it takes to cover it if the cutlets are large). Once you have them all arranged, gently place back into the saute pan and lightly spoon a little of the sauce on top of each cutlet, then cover the pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes. When the pasta has reached al dente (usually about 9-13 minutes depending on brand), remove it from heat and strain the water out and plate the pasta on shallow bowls or plates. After the chicken is done simmering, place a cutlet next to the pasta and spoon some sauce onto the pasta and the chicken and then sprinkle on the goat cheese crumbles and serve!

Rework

So I read the book Rework and it's really got me thinking about starting my own business, even if it's just on the side as a hobby of sorts.  However, I'm not quite sure of the right way to go about it.  I thought at first that I could come up with some kind of small business web-design company with some of my friends, but I don't really think that's going to work.  For one, I don't think, when I really got down to talking about it, that that task seems really all that interesting or challenging or at the very least rewarding, and I guess that's kind of the idea behind going off on your own.

Then I thought I'd be able to make some kind of snazzy application that would save the world, or like some Android app that would set the world on fire, but you know, I don't know any of those coding languages (yet?) so that's kind of a speed bump.  So I guess until I come up with a better idea that involves things I do know how to do, I'm back to my old fall back: food.  Caitlin thinks I should buy a food truck and sit outside her work at breakfast and lunch and apparently I'd make a ton of money because their cafeteria sucks.  I've also always wanted to open my own restaurant, even something as simple as a little diner or cafe.  But of course, either of those two things require some serious up front money (or at the very least good credit to take out a loan) which I don't really have or want to use if I did.

Maybe I can somehow get work as a shopping helper, since I seem to be plenty good at that (right Gina and Angelina?).  I can listen to what people want, do research for an hour and come back with one or two things at the right price that're going to be the best product for them.  However, I suppose it's hard to get paid for that.  What do I post craigslist ads?  Go work at Best Buy again? Simply wait for word of mouth from my Mom to all her friends who don't understand technology enough to figure it out on their own?  Even I have to admit it's pretty crappy to charge them for that.  I guess I'm back to the drawing board.  I mean I love my job, but everyone wants to have a job that they really enjoy, that is challenging and/or interesting, and being your own boss would really be nice.  Hopefully inspiration will strike me and I'll come up with some great thing. . . who knows, maybe it's this blog?

Time to show off the house! Part One

Okay, so I'm starting to fall behind on these things, man, for someone who talks so much when given the chance, it's really hard to sit down and write something every day (or even every couple days). So the weekend before last, we finally had our house mostly finished with everything, cleaned up, and ready to go for some guests. Since we were having a cookout/housewarming bash last weekend, we had Caitlin's parents, her mom's parents, and her mom's BFF Aunt Ra (who was our Realtor and saw the house in it's 'Before' state) over for dinner. Now, that's a diverse group, and frankly, not one dish would feed them all, so I whipped up a couple different dishes and let everyone go to town. I made smoked chipotle-lime tilapia filets and smoked chicken leg quarters with my spice rub along with some tomato-basil-mozzarella-balsamic salad, some baked spiced red skin potato wedges and chocolate mousse for dessert.

It seemed like everyone had a good time. The In-laws were impressed with our deck and master bedroom now that we're finished, and Aunt Ra raved about the changes we implemented in the house since we bought it. Also, the Seahawks won at home against the Chargers and I actually got to watch some of it thanks to the magic of NFL Sunday Ticket online streaming and my brother having to work overtime (sorry dude!). So, all in all, a fine day with no complaints. On to the recipes:

Chipotle-Lime Smoked Fish

4 or 5 pieces of Fish (I used Tilapia, but swordfish, or just about any other white fish would do)
1/2 Cup Chipotle Mayo (Recipe Below)
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Spice Rub for crust

In a small bowl, mix together the Chipotle Mayo, Lime Juice and Oil and brush on the fish. Shake or sprinkle with spice rub to give a nice crust while cooking. Smoke fish at 200 to 220 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes and remove from smoker. Once removed from the smoker, brush on more of the sauce mixture and sprinkle with another coating of spice rub. Then cook on either the grill or the oven broiler for 5 or 6 minutes to crisp up the fish. The sauce mixture should keep the fish hydrated while forming a nice crust on the top.

Smoked Chicken Leg Quarters

The smoked chicken leg quarters are quickly becoming a favorite in my kitchen. First of all, the chicken leg quarters (ie a leg and a thigh still connected) are extremely cheap compared to other more "desirable" chicken cuts (namely boneless skinless chicken breasts) at a regular price of about $1.29/lb. Second of all, they're also perfect because they'll smoke in about 2 hours (so I can make them for dinner on a week night) and for most people it's just the right portion, and for those that it's too much, they can just cut the leg or the thigh off.

So, if you have a smoker, it's pretty easy to make these. First thing you do, is mix about 1/3 C of vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar because it's a little sweeter, but you can use whatever kind you want) and 1/3 C olive/peanut/avocado oil together and then brush liberally onto the room temperature leg quarters. Then shake on as much spice rub as you can get to stick and let that sit for about 20 minutes so the spices can soak into the chicken and skin a bit. If you are making these by themselves, or with other high-temperature items in the smoker, you'll want to smoke them at 275 degrees for about 2 hours (until their internal temperature is at least 165 degrees).

However, if you're going to make them with the fish, as I did above, well, you have to make them a little differently. In that case, you'll smoke them with the fish at 200 degrees for about an hour and then remove them from the smoker and place them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. In addition, while they're baking, put in a 13x9 pan (preferably glass/pyrex so it won't warp) on the bottom shelf half full of water. That will help keep the chicken moist and mimic the water bowl most smokers use. Just check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer and make sure they're 160 or higher and you're good to go!

Dark Chocolate Icing: Ganache vs Frosting

Okay, so you want to make a cake or cupcakes with some chocolate frosting, but you're just not happy with the regular Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines chocolate frosting they sell by the can at the grocery store and you want to jazz it up a little?  Well, I've got two ways to solve your chocolate icing dilemma!  So you want to make a cake or some cupcakes with a Chocolate-ey, not overly sweet delicious icing but you don't know how?  Try my Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing!  Or, you want to make cupcakes and you want to ensure every bit as much chocolate without the big glob of fluffy icing that's really hard to make look professional and gets all over your mouth when you take a bite?  Well, try my Dark Chocolate Ganache icing, it's like a delicious dark chocolate magic shell for your cupcakes! They'll look delicous and professionally done without much effort, and it's easier to eat than a 1/2 inch thick glob of frosting on your favorite cupcakes!

We'll start off with the Cream Cheese icing.  Take your favorite cake mix (or make it from scratch if you're daring, but frankly without a lot of effort a cake mix can be awesome, so I'll just stick with that for now) and make and bake your cake/cupcakes as directed.  This frosting goes particularly well with a dark chocolate or yellow cake mix, but hey, throw it on whatever cake you like with some delicious dark chocolate icing.  Here's what you'll need!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8 oz package Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/4 C butter, room temperature
3 to 4 C Confectioners (Powdered) Sugar
1/2 C Cocoa Powder (Ideally use a good brand here like Ghirardelli, though Hershey's will still make some good frosting, it's not quite the same)

Take the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge and let set out on the counter for 2 or 3 hours before you make the frosting so they can warm up to room temperature and soften up.  Once the cake or cupcakes are cooling, start with the frosting.  In a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and completely mixed.  Then, add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until completely smooth before adding in the next batch.  Be sure to scrape the bowl with a spatula to get at any unmixed in sugar.

Add in 3 or 4 cups of powdered sugar until the consistency and sweetness is exactly how you want it (for example, if you're going to be piping this with a icing bag, then you probably want to put in less sugar so it is not quite as stiff).  Once the sugar is completely blended in and the mixture is nice and smoothe, add in the Cocoa powder and blend again until completely mixed in and smoothe.  Then spread/pipe onto your cake and/or cupcakes and enjoy!  Be sure to save the bowl when you're done, you can't let any of this go to waste!


Now, say you want to impress your co-workers or your mother in law with a batch of professional looking cupcakes, and you want something deeply chocolate too?  Go with a Dark Chocolate Ganache icing, it's easy, delicious, and looks like you bought the cupcakes from a cupcakery!  Want to try it?  Take your favorite dark chocolate cake batter and mix up some cupcakes according to the directions on the box.  Once they're cooled, here's what you'll need for the ganache:

Dark Chocolate Ganache Icing:

1/2 C heavy cream
1 C Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

In a double boiler (if you have it) or a heat-proof bowl (like steel or pyrex) combine the cream and chocolate chips.  In a saucepan, place about 2 inches of water and put on the stove on medium-low heat.  Make sure that the bowl isn't resting on the bottom of the sauce pan, and that the perimeter of the saucepan is covered by the bowl.  This way the water will steam up and heat up the bowl without all the heat escaping.  Place the bowl on top of the water and stir constantly until the chocolate melts and the cream and chocolate are completely mixed together.  Make sure to scrape the bowl to get any unmelted chocolate melted and mixed into the cream.

Once the mixture is completely blended and melted, remove the bowl from the heat and let cool for 3-5 minutes.  While it's cooling, stir occasionally with a spatula to test its consistency.  Once the mixture has cooled and thickend almost to the point of hardening back up, quickly take the cupcakes and dip the tops into the bowl, spinning your wrist to make sure that the entire top of the cupcake is covered in icing and immediately set down on a cool cookie sheet or a piece of parchment paper (in case of drips).

If the ganache cools and hardens too much, simply put the bowl back onto the water and heat back up.  Once all the cupcakes have been ganached, turn the burner off.  Let the ganache cool on the cupcakes for at least 5 minutes before serving or packing so that it will harden appropriately.  You should now have a delicious dark chocolate magic shell-like covering on your cupcakes, enjoy!

Red Wine Goat Cheese Steak Sauce

So I had a few things in the fridge and thought I'd make a nice steak sauce to go with our NY Strips on the grill.  I thought it'd be a good idea to combine some red wine, goat cheese and rosemary to make a delicious sauce, here's how:

5oz Goat Cheese
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Crushed/Chopped Rosemary
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Freshly Cracked Pepper

Heat the Olive Oil, Red Wine and Vinegar on the stove on medium heat until a rolling boil to burn off the alcohol in the wine.  Drop the temperature to low and add in the rosemary, salt, pepper and goat cheese.  Use a whisk to break apart the goat cheese and stir it in until it's evenly mixed in.  Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it's thickened up considerably.  Then douse on some steaks and enjoy!

4th of July Menu

Happy (Belated) 4th of July!  So Caitlin and I had some people over on the 4th so we could show off the patio we built and as an excuse to make a bunch of stuff in my smoker.  The smoker I got has pretty much turned into the best thing ever.  I've only used it 3 or 4 times, and already, it's just awesome!  So for our party I made a whole chicken and 2 racks of baby back ribs in the smoker.  Let me tell you, my spice rub, combined with that smoker, made those two things unbelievably delicious!  Here's what you'll need for each:

Whole Smoked Chicken

6 or 8 hours or so before you want to eat, take the chicken out of the fridge and brush it with about 1/4 cup each of apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar) and Olive oil.  Set it on a broiler pan or a large plate and shake or rub the entire surface with spice rub and set in an unheated oven until 4 hours before dinner time.  This is to allow the spices to soak in and flavor the skin and also to allow the chicken to warm up to room temperature.  A little tip is that a chicken at room temperature is better for roasting than a cold chicken.  Get your smoker going at about 275 degrees and set the chicken on the rack and let it go for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  Check it with a meat thermometer, you want the internal temperature on the chicken to be at least 150 degrees in the smoker.  Turn on the grill to medium or your oven broiler and put the chicken under the high heat for 10 or 15 minutes to crisp

Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Take your rib(s) the day before you want to cook them up and remove the white membrane along the back with your fingers and a paper towel (it helps you hold onto the membrane).  Lay out a piece of heavy duty aluminum, enough to completely cover each rib rack.  Then brush with a half and half mixture of apple cider vinegar and olive oil and then rub on a coating of rub my patented spice rub and wrap tightly in foil and put in the fridge overnight for the spices to work their way into the ribs.

The next day, get the smoker going to about 250-275 degrees and cut the rib racks in half (so they'll fit in the smoker better) and place into the smoker.  Let it smoke for about 2 hours and then remove from the smoker and re-wrap in foil and let sit for about 20 or 30 minutes so the ribs will effectively braise.  Then, about 15 minutes before you want to eat, throw the ribs bone side down on a grill on medium heat and brush with your favorite barbeque sauce and let them crisp up.  Then right before serving, shake on another coating of rib rub and serve!

New Patio!

Ever since we've moved in to our house, Caitlin and I have always wanted to get rid of our ugly backyard and shed.  It took up 1/3 of our backyard, and the rest was full of 6" tall grass, and let me tell you, I really can't be motivated to mow a 12' x 10' piece of grass.  So we needed to get rid of it.  We found someone on craigslist to come and take the shed, and I took a shovel and cleared out all the sod with the grass.

My dad came over and helped me get rid of the planter box in the corner and we were left with just a big giant pit of dirt.  After a week or two to figure out what we wanted to do, I spent a couple weekends framing out the entire yard with landscape timbers around the outsides, and also an L shaped frame along each side of the yard and gate.  I then took 2x4's and built up an 8" wall built on the two L shaped frames and topped them with 5/4 x 6 boards in a nice mitered frame.

After that, my buddy Kirk came over and showed my how to measure and get it all level, and I spent another weekend (with my Dad's truck of course) filling up the main yard space with gravel and compacting it and then covering it with another layer of sand with my friend Nate's help.  Once that was done, Caitlin and Danielle layed the stones that Nate and I stacked up and then I spent the afternoon with a brick saw cutting the final pieces and putting them in place.  Lastly, I ran a nice LED Ropelight under the lip of the planter boxes so we get a little ambiance at night and we put together our outdoor table and chairs and voila!

Thai Lettuce Wraps

So you want to enjoy some delicious Thai food, but you don't want the carbs of all the rice or noodles.  Well, make some Thai lettuce wraps!  They make a delicious appetizer or main course and you can make a couple different kinds to mix and match for a large group.  They're one of Caitlin's favorite, and well, I decided that it was time to make some instead of giving all the credit to that attention hog P.F. Chang!

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 to 1 lb Chicken, Shrimp, Tofu or a combination
2 Shallots Diced
1/4 C Red Onion
3 Tbsp Lime Juice
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/4 C Diced Ginger
1/4 C Chopped Green Onion
1 C Shredded Carrots roughly chopped
2 Tbsp Diced Garlic
2 or 3 Diced Thai Hot Peppers
OR
2 Long Green Hot Peppers
OR
2 Tsp in some Dried Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
(if you want spicy that is)
 Handful of Fresh Basil Leaves
Head of Iceberg Lettuce or White Cabbage
1/4 C Peanut/Vegetable Oil

So, what you'll want to do is cut the meat into really small, 1/2 inch cubes and put in a bowl.  Add in the Lime Juice, Fish, Oyster, and Soy sauce so it can marinade.  Set aside the meat and dice the ginger, Red Onion, Green Onion and Shallots and put into a bowl.  Measure out a rough cup of shredded carrots and roughly chop on a cutting board and add to the veggie bowl.  Depending on how hot you want your wraps to be (I recommend at least putting in the crushed red pepper) add diced pepper to the veggie bowl.

Put a Wok onto the stove on med-high heat and add in the oil.  Let that heat up a little and then dump in the veggie bowl.  Stir fry for 2 or 3 minutes by constantly flipping and rotating with a spatula until the ginger and onions start to soften up.  Use a slotted spoon or fork to scoop the meat into the wok.  You don't want to add too much of the liquid or else the meat won't cook right.  You just want enough of the liquid to cover the bottom center of the wok.  Stir fry for another 3 or 4 minutes until the meat is cooked through and then place in a bowl and throw in a handful or two of roughly chopped basil (or Thai basil if you want the exotic flavor!).

Take the head of lettuce/cabbage and cut off the bottom inch or two to get the core removed.  Carefully remove as many large pieces of lettuce/cabbage as you can from the head and place on a serving bowl.  Bring both to the table and serve!  Spoon a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of filling into each lettuce/cabbage leave, roll up, and enjoy!  Delicious and really healthy!

Persian Chicken Pita Sandwich

Hey everyone, so I haven't posted a whole late lately, because we've been putting in a patio in our backyard, so I haven't had much energy for cooking the last few weeks.  So last night I wanted to make something relatively healthy, quick and easy.  Cue a trip to the store and some delicious Persian chicken!  Now, I didn't marinate the chicken for 24 hours, so I couldn't quite make the regular Joojeh Chicken Kebobs, so I adapted it into a delicious sandwich.  Here's what you'll need for the hummus, marinade and sandwiches:

Saffron Hummus:

1 can Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
1/2 C Lemon Juice
Olive Oil (About 1/2 C)
1/4 C Diced Red Onion
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1/2 Tsp Saffron Strands
4 Tbsp Warm Water
2 Tsp Course Ground Pepper
2 Tsp Kosher Salt

First, grind the Saffron with a mortar and pestle (or with a spoon in a bowl) and put with the warm water into a non-staining measuring cup.  Then, drain and rinse the Chickpeas in a colander and dump into your food processor.  Add in the Garlic, Lemon Juice, Salt and Pepper and run the food processor for a few seconds.  Stop the processor and spatula everything down together, then add in the saffron/water combo and the red onion.  Close it back up and run it and, then slowly pour in the Olive oil while it's running until it gets to a nice smooth consistency.  Set aside about 1/2 Cup for the sandwiches and serve the rest as an appetizer with some toasted Pita Bread wedges.  On to the Sandwich!

Chicken Marinade:

6-8 oz Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 C Diced Red Onion
1/2 C Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Saffron
4 Tbsp Warm Water
2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 lb chicken cut into tenderloins or 1" chunks
2 Roma tomatoes

Grind and soak the saffron the same as for the hummus above.  Dice the red onion (or roughly chop and then throw in the food processor) and put in a non-staining mixing bowl (glass or stainless steel) and add in the yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and mix in the soaked saffron and stir.  Add-in the chicken and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.  Turn on the oven to broil and lay out a broiler pan with foil.  Take the chicken out of the marinade (leave a little marinade on it for cooking) and if it's tenderloins, lay them out on the foil, or in the case of chunks skewer on kebobs to broil.  Broil for 6 or 7 minutes and then flip and broil for 5 to 7 more on the other side.  When you flip the chicken, cut the roma tomatoes in half and put them in the center of the broiler pan to roast.  If you're cooking tenderloins, chop into chunks.

To assemble into sandwiches you'll need:
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Baby Spinach/Lettuce
Red Onion Sliced into rings
Thick Pita Bread (I get Kronos Authentic Pita Bread, not Pita Pockets)

Toast the pita bread so it warms up and will bend easier and not break.  Spread out some hummus on it and then top with a layer of spinach and then lay a row of chicken and add the rest of the toppings: feta cheese, chopped roasted tomatoes, red onion rings.  Fold into a taco and enjoy!!  Quick (with a little practice), easy, delicous and reasonably healthy!

Spicy Beef Stir-fry

Okay, so you're hungry, and you've got some veggies, but you're tired and you want to make a dinner that doesn't take a whole lot of work or time, AND you like Chinese food?  How about some Stir-fry with stuff in your refrigerator?  I had some round steak on hand and in 20 minutes start to finish, we had a delicious healthy dinner.

Caitlin and I wanted to go for a bike ride, so before we left, I put 1 cup of brown rice into the rice cooker to cook (our rice cooker will automatically turn to warm when it's done cooking to keep the rice warm until you need it) and set the Beef in some warm water to thaw.  After about 45 minutes we came back and the rice is done and the Beef is thawed and we're hungry.  So after a quick rinse in the shower for me, it's time to get going on dinner!

Recipe:
1lb Round/Flank/London Broil Beef Steak
1/2 Orange Pepper
1/2 medium sized Red Pepper
1 Bunch Green Onions
Ginger Root roughly equal the size of both of your thumbs
1/2 C Peanut Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Sesame Seeds

Slice the steak into 1 1/2 inch long strips and then slice those pieces into 1 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch pieces (this is important, you want to get as much of your stir fry pieces to be the same size as possible, it helps with cooking) and place the pieces in a bowl and top with just enough Sauce to coat all the meat pieces.  If the sauce you have is runny, add in some cornmeal or flour little by little while stirring until the sauce thickens up and really coats the beef slices.

Next, chop the entire bunch of green onions into 1/4 inch pieces and place in a bowl.  Then slice the ginger into 1/8 inch slices and keep the center pieces (the ones that don't have skin on one side, only around the edges).  Trim off the skin around the edges of these pieces and then stack them back up and cut long ways into 1/8 inch slices.  Then turn 90 degrees and slice into 1/8 inch slices again (Carefully!).  This should end up being a pile of 1/8 inch ginger cubes.  Add these to the green onion bowl.

Put your Wok on the stove-top on medium high to heat up. Take your Onion and Pepper and cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces.  Add a little peanut oil to the wok and let that heat up for 30 seconds and then throw in the onion and pepper to stir fry.  Let them cook for 2-4 minutes until they start to get soft, stirring constantly (stirring in the stir-fry sense means using a spatula and flipping/stirring in a rotation around the wok so that each piece is in contact with the cooking surface equally and moving items from the center of the wok to the outside, it's sort of a constant flip of the wrist). Once the veggies are cooked and softened, remove them from the wok and place in a bowl. 

Now add in another 1/2 C of peanut oil and let it heat up for 30 seconds and then dump in the Green Onions and Ginger.  Stir fry them for about a minute and then add in the Beef and sauce.  Stir fry the beef for about 2-4 minutes until all the pieces appear to be browned on the outside and add back in the red onions and pepper.  Continue to stir-fry together for another minute and then remove the Wok from the stove and serve over a bed of the brown rice.  Mmmm, delicious! 

Stir-frying is great, if you can learn to do it quickly and effectively you can buy cheaper cuts of beef and have them end up tender and delicious and you can mix and match in an endless amount of combinations: 

• Don't like rice, try rice or lo-mein noodles.  
• Don't like beef, try chicken or shrimp!  
• Don't like Teriyaki, well, use whatever sauce you do like, just make sure you thicken it up so it coats the meat/veggies (otherwise it can settle in the middle of the wok and boil/splash in your face).  
• Don't like Chinese food but you like Thai food?  Well, swap out the green onion and ginger for Cilantro and/or Thai Basil and Chile pepper.  

Whatever you can think up, you can do, and more importantly, whatever you have in your fridge/freezer, you can probably find a stir-fry combo that will work and taste delicious!

Oven Baked Barbeque Spare Ribs

So we're down in Florida visiting the Brother and Sister in law, and we wanted something easy to make, delicious, and barbequed.  We had some ribs at Busch Gardens and they were well. . . underwhelming.  So we thought some ribs were in order.  Now, they don't have a grill, so I had to make do with my oven baked recipe, which is about 90% as good (and if you've never had the grill/smoked version, well, that 90% is still awesome).  Here's what you'll need:

Baby Back Pork Ribs
or
Beef or Pork Spare Ribs (with or without the bones)

Seasoning:
I'd recommend using my Spice Rub but if you don't have that, you can mix together 2 tbsp each of:

Crushed or Chopped Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Salt
Paprika
Chili Powder (if you want some heat on the ribs!)
and/or
Chipotle/Ancho Powder

Or just go to the store and buy some rub, I know McCormick's makes a couple different varieties as do many others.

So, to start out, if the ribs have bones still in them, make sure the membrane on the back side has been removed (butchers usually do this, but not always).  If you can see an opaque white membrane on the back side of the ribs, use a knife or a spatula to peel this off.  This will allow the meat to cook and absorb moisture from the back side more easily, which will result in much softer ribs.

First off, pre-heat the oven to 325°. While that's heating up, take out your baking sheet or broiler pan and cover it with foil.  This will help with the cleanup later.  Make sure the whole pan is covered by foil so that the drippings can't get below to the pan (this is where it's handy to buy the larger size foil roll at the store. . . ).  Lay the ribs out on the pan and gently rub on you seasoning mixture to both sides of all the ribs.

Once the oven reaches 325°, put the ribs in for about 90 minutes and then baste them with your favorite sauce (like Kraft or KC Masterpiece) and put them back in for another 20-30 minutes so the sauce can work its way in and thicken up.  Then, sprinkle any remaining rub/spice on top of the sauce and turn the oven to broil and let it broil for 5 or 6 minutes to help turn the spice and sauce into a nice crust.

You should end up with some delicious soft oven baked ribs with a little kick of flavor!  Serve with your favorite sides and a beer or two (and some wet naps!) and you're good to go, easy as pie.  If you really want to feed a ton of people, serve with my beer can chicken (though that may require 2 ovens. . .)

Festive Low Carb Fish and Shrimp Tacos!

Hankering for something festive, spicy and moderately healthy?  Try Fish Tacos!  They're great for having people over on the patio, and they go great with a bottle of Corona or two (. . . or three, or four. . . ).  They're easy to make and they're quickly becoming a summer favorite of mine because you get the spice of tacos with lower carbs and all the healthy aspects of the fish!  Also, they're really customizable to what you like.  Here's what I made:

What You'll Need:
2-3 Tilapia Filets
and/or
3-4 Pre-cooked Frozen Shrimp (thawed with tails removed) per Shrimp Taco you want to make (so if you want to make 4 shrimp tacos, then that'd be 12-16 shrimp)

Marinade:
I used McCormick Grill Mates Baja Citrus Marinade Mix (they're about $1 at the grocery store in the spice aisle) but you can also make up your own:
1/4 C Lime Juice
1/4 C Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Vinegar (rice vinegar is what I've used, but wine vinegar would also work)
1/4 C of my Rub Mix
OR
3 Tbsp of Taco Seasoning plus 1 Tbsp of Chili Powder or Chipotle Powder

Place the fish and/or shrimp in a ziploc bag and pour in the marinade and then shake/turn the bag back and forth to make sure all the stuff is coated in the bag.  Marinade in the fridge for 20 minutes to 2 hours.  When you're ready to cook, turn on the broiler to warm it up.  Pull out a broiler pan (and I recommend wrapping the top piece of the broiler pan in foil, it just makes cleanup easier in the end) and lay out the fish (if you're cooking shrimp too, don't put it on yet, it doesn't need to cook as long).  For the first part in the grill, don't pour extra marinade on the fish, just take them with what they've got on them from the bag.

Once the broiler is hot and ready to go, put the fish under the broiler with the rack on the 2nd position from the top for 5 or 6 minutes and then remove from the broiler and flip the filets.  If you're also cooking shrimp, now add them to the broiler pan and drizzle any remaining marinade over the shrimp and/or fish so that they're all covered on top as much as possible and return to the broiler for another 5 or 6 minutes.

While the fish/shrimp is in the oven, it's time to make up the toppings! 

Toppings:
You'll definitely need:
Bok Choy or Cabbage (roughly chopped into 1/2" pieces)
Roughly Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Diced Red Onion
Roughly Chopped Orange Peppers (they have a sweeter spice to them and they add to the color of the dish)
Chopped Plum Tomatoes

Optional Add-ins:
Chopped Avocado
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Salsa
Ranch Dressing

If you want to have a low-carb fish taco, then I used 8'' Soft Taco Carb Balance Flour Tortillas, they're great!  They only have 7g Net of carbs per tortilla, and yet they still have a soft fluffy tortilla taste and texture. If you don't care about carbs, then I really recommend using Taco size Corn Tortillas, they add an extra flavor that really puts these over the top. Stick a few of these in the microwave covered with a moist paper towel for about 20 seconds to soften them up and then layer in the Cabbage, chunks of the fish and/or shrimp, peppers, onions and Cilantro and then top with any of the optional add-ins and enjoy!

Mmmmmm Beer. . . Can Chicken

Want to be able to make your own delicous roasted chicken at home?  Well, this is the recipe for you!  Best of all, a whole chicken is much cheaper than chicken parts, and if you catch it on sale, sometimes you can get a whole chicken for $0.99/pound, that's way better than the $3.99/lb they want at the grocery store (around here anyway) for boneless skinless chicken breasts!  Ideally, you can use a beer can chicken rack, but if you don't have it, it's still possible to make, you just have to be good at balancing the chicken on the can on a cookie sheet (although you'll probably want to use a jelly roll pan or something with some sides so the drippings don't run off onto the oven.

So, first you'll need to pre-heat the oven to 350°.  Then grab a can of your favorite beer: I'd recommend something light, like a lager or a light beer even (I've been using Heineken Light, mainly because the can is taller and thinner than a normal beer can, which makes it easier to get the chicken on it), a heavier beer isn't going to infuse as well and might add too much of a bitter flavor.  So, if you've got the rack, crack open the can of beer and pour out (chug?) about a third of the beer and place the can in the can holder.  Then, take out your whole chicken and make sure you've taken the giblets out of the body cavity.  Lift the chicken and fit the can into the body cavity and arrange the legs to help support the chicken.  If you don't have the beer can rack, then this is a little more difficult and might require some supports or using a high-sided pan like a 9"x13" pan or something to balance the chicken. 

Once you get it so it will stand on its own, rub with a little olive oil or spray on a little cooking spray and then rub liberally with my Spice Rub or your own mix, (a nice mix of rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, salt and fresh cracked black pepper would also work).  Once you've got it rubbed down, put it in the oven and back for about 2 1/2 hours or until it has an internal temperature of 180°.

If you want to be real fancy, you can back some chopped potatoes on the bottom of the pan with the chicken for the last hour or so.  Chop some redskin potatoes into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces and toss in a bowl with some olive oil and some of the above spice rub (or Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, and Salt and Pepper again) and bake with the chicken for the last 40-50 minutes that the chicken is in the oven.

This is a good recipe to have people over, you'll look like the best chef in the world and there's really very little work to do.  Also, if you have a nice grill, you can also take the chicken off the rack and grill it on medium on the grill for 5 minutes or so to crisp it up a little bit. . .

14 or so Spice Rub (but who's counting. . .)

Emeril's got his rub, and I've made my own version (it even has some of Emeril's Essence in it!) that's great for pretty much any meat or fish, especially when grilling/broiling, because it'll turn into a nice spicy crust.  This should make about 4 cups worth, so make sure you've got a jar or something to hold all of it (or be good at math and cut it in half or fourths), but it's worth it, this will last a long time and is great on ribs, roasted chicken, tilapia, anything really. Here's what you'll need:

Rib Rub

1/2 Cup - Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle Mix (pretty much the whole bottle)
1/4 Cup - McCormick Grill Mates Mesquite Mix
1/4 Cup - McCormick Italian Seasoning Mix
1/4 Cup - Crushed Rosemary Leaves
1/4 Cup - Sumac
1/4 Cup - Emeril's Essence
1/4 Cup - Thyme
1/4 Cup - Paprika
1/4 Cup - Brownulated Sugar (yes, that's BROWNulated. . . it gives the brown sugar flavor but mixes in easier)
2 Tbsp - Powdered Dried Chipotle Chili
2 Tbsp - Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp - Hot Mexican Chili Powder
2 Tbsp - Dried Minced Onions
1 Tbsp - Ground Cumin
1 Tsp - Dried Ground Ginger

 Mix all together in a big mixing bowl making sure to keep any clumps from developing.  Once it's all mixed in, well, dump it in a big jar or something and you're good to go!

Panini Madness!

So my good friend Justin mentioned that if I really wanted to make my "work from home" days the best, well, I had to get a panini press.  Lo and behold, but the other day, newegg.com had a sale on this bad boy, and now, well, I have my very own panini press/griddle.  So, on Thursday, Caitlin usually goes to her mom's for dinner so it was just me, so I broke out the new hot-ness and fired up the panini press!  I threw together 2 pieces of Oatnut bread, some sliced chicken breast (I tend to cook an extra chicken breast every week or so and chop it up and leave in the fridge for sandwiches or salads or whatever), bacon, sharp cheddar, avocado, and I took a couple tablespoons of regular mayo and added some ground chipotle to it for a little spice and threw it all on the panini press on medium heat and 90 seconds later, mmmmm, deliciously pressed hot sandwich!  Add in a cup of the chicken soup from a few days ago and well, it's like going to Panera only much better and I didn't have to leave the house. . . .

Spinach Tortellini w/ White Wine Cream Sauce: 2 Ways

Okay, so another night, Caitlin's mouth is still a bit sore, so time for some nice soft pasta!  I've made this dish before, but I suppose it's new to you all: Cheese Stuffed Spinach Tortellini with a Spinach White Wine Alfredo sauce served 2 ways: Caitlin gets Shrimp (which I don't like too much) and Goat Cheese, and I get Bratwurst and Parmesan.  Here's what you'll need, it's a pretty quick meal:

Family Size Fresh Tortellini (20 oz) or two packages regular sized (9oz each) - I used Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini
Jar of Alfredo Sauce - I used Classico Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce (it's got cheese and surprisingly a pretty low fat content for an alfredo sauce)
1 C White wine (if you won't drink it by itself, don't pour it in your dinner!)
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil
1 C Roughly chopped Baby Spinach

3-5 Sausages (Bratwurst, Sweet or Spicy Italian) and
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

OR

15-20 Shrimp (I used pre-cooked frozen shrimp, just for speed) and
Crumbled Goat Cheese or Gorgonzola

OR

Half and Half if you want to serve it two ways (or combine it into a sausage/shrimp explosion!)

So, start off by boiling 10 cups of water in a large stock pot for the Tortellini.  Add a pinch or two of Salt and some olive oil to the water.  Then in a small saucepan, pour in the pasta sauce, cover the pot, and turn heat onto medium.  In a larger saucepan, boil the sausages on high with enough water to cover them completely.  Once Pasta sauce begins to bubble around the edges, stir slowly and add in wine, basil, and oregano and cover.  After a few minutes, lower the heat down to medium-low and add the chopped spinach.  If you're serving shrimp, then take this time to thaw them out in some warm water.

Once the stockpot water is boiling, then add in the tortellini and boil for 10-12 minutes or until all the pasta is soft and floating.  Boil the sausage for about 10 minutes and then remove from water and slice lengthwise twice into 4 strips and then chop into 1/2" sections.  Add shrimp to boiling sausage water to warm up for a few minutes.  Drain the pasta and plate the pasta.  Add the sausage and sprinkle some Parmesan on top and cover with sauce.  Do the same for the shrimp (or combine them all and be crazy!) and the crumbled cheese.

Delicious, quick, and easy!

Chicken Soup (Chinese Stir-fry version)

Caitlin had to go to the dentist today for a filling so I knew she'd be a bit sore, and she hasn't been feeling too great lately, so it seemed like chicken soup would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  I ran to the store and picked up what I needed and went to town.  I put a twist it this time by cooking the chicken chinese stir-fry style in peanut oil with ginger and scallions.  I think it's better than my regular All American Chicken Soup.  Here's what you'll need:

Chicken Soup (Chinese Stir-fry Version)
96oz Chicken Stock
4-5 Carrots Cut into 1/2" cubes
1 Medium Red Onion Diced
1 Bunch Celery Sliced into 1/4" slices
2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut into 1/2" cubes)
1 Bunch Minced Scallions (1/3 to 1/2 C)
3 tbsp Ginger paste or minced Ginger
2 tbsp dried chopped Rosemary (the kind from the jar, you don't have to chop your own)
Handful of Plain Parsley Chopped
12oz bag of Egg Noodles
1/4 C Mirin (Rice Wine from the Asian cooking section)
1/4 C Peanut Oil

Start off by boiling 2-3 quarts of water and 1 tbsp salt in a large stock pot.  Dump in the noodles and boil while you chop the carrots, celery, onion, ginger (if not using the paste), scallions and chicken breasts.  Put the celery and carrots together, and the ginger and scallions together and leave the onion in a separate container.  Once the noodles are done, pour into a colander and rinse the noodles and set aside. Pour the stock in the pot and put back on the burner on medium high heat and add in the celery, carrots and rosemary.

Grab a Wok and heat on medium-high heat with the peanut oil for a few minutes, then add in the ginger/scallion combo.  Stir occasionally for a minute or two and then carefully add in the chicken.  Stir-fry until browned by constantly moving and flipping the mixture in the wok.  Once the chicken has been browned, add it to the stock pot, and be sure to scrape all the oil and ginger and scallions with it into the soup!  Put the wok back on the burner and add in the onions and the mirin and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften up and brown a little, then add that to the stock pot.  Lower the temperature to medium-low heat (if at any point it begins a rolling boil, then lower the heat at that time).  Add in the set-aside noodles and the chopped parsley and cover and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes, then remove from heat and serve!

Persian Saffron Chicken (Joojeh)

We had some greek yogurt in the fridge that we had to use up before it started to go bad, so that means one thing for me: Joojeh!  If you know me at all, you know that I love Moby Dick's House of Kebab more than anything pretty much.  Seriously, I could eat there every day.  So I found a recipe online a few years ago that will let me reliably make my own Joojeh (Saffron Chicken Kebab).  Here's what you'll need: (and you might want to make sure your grill is clean, the marinade/basting mixture will fall into the grill and possibly catch fire, so I learned the hard way to clean that out or you're going to have some very well-cooked chicken. . . d'oh!)

Joojeh (Persian Saffron Chicken)

2 lbs Chicken (either chicken leg quarters or boneless chicken breasts cut into roughly 1"-2" pieces)
4-6 Plum tomatoes

Marinade:
1 C Greek-style unflavored Yogurt
1 Large or 2 small White or Yellow Onion Diced
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/4 C Lemon Juice
4 Cloves Garlic, crushed
1 tsp Black pepper (8 to 10 twists of a pepper grinder)
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Saffron threads dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

Chop the Onion and put into a food processor and pulse until Onion is chopped into a paste.  Pour into non-staining bowl (Metal is a good bet here, Saffron stains pretty much ANYTHING and it doesn't come out, so be careful. . .) and combine the rest of the ingredients and dump in the chicken.  Marinate in the fridge covered for at least 6 hours and as long as 2 days.

Baste:
1/2 C Butter (melted)
1/2 C Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Saffron threads dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

Depending on the type of chicken there are two ways to cook this dish.  If you're using chicken quarters, then you'll want to bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes and then switch to the broiler/grill on medium for another 8-10 minutes to crisp up the skin. Put the Tomatoes on a skewer and grill/broil with the chicken when the chicken is done baking.  Baste every few minutes with the Saffron Lemon Butter mixture.

If you've got the boneless chicken breast pieces, you'll want to put them onto metal skewers with a tomato at the end and broil them with the oven rack on the 2nd highest slot below the broiler or grill them on medium heat for 15-18 minutes flipping through the 4 sides every few minutes until the juice is no longer pink. Baste every few minutes with the Saffron Lemon Butter mixture.

If you can find it, shake on some Sumac as well, it really makes the dish.  You might be able to find it at an International Market, but it's tough to find. . . 

Basmati Rice:

Steam rice in a rice cooker before you start cooking the chicken and leave on the warm setting (or on the stovetop with the lid on).  Once you've flipped the chicken for the last time (or taken the chicken out of the oven for baking and started grilling/broiling it) put the rice in a large bowl and set 1/4 of the rice to the side.  Stir in 2-4 tbsp of butter to the remaining 3/4s of the rice.  Prepare some more saffron lemon butter baste and stir into the 1/4 set to the side and then top the 3/4s white rice with the 1/4 saffron lemon butter rice.  Pull the Chicken off the grill and serve with the rice and/or toasted pita/lavash bread.

Mother's Day Tuna Steaks

So for Mother's Day this year, Caitlin and I thought it'd be a good idea to have our Mom's over for dinner, especially since we've started getting the house set up, we finally got all of our place settings from the wedding, and frankly, because even though they live 5 miles apart, our parents hadn't seen each other since the wedding in September. . .
Unsure of what to serve, I decided to make a little recipe that I thought up after a dinner at Copper Canyon Grill:

Ginger Lime Tuna Steaks! I first made this as a salad, with chopped apple wood smoked bacon bits thrown in, but I thought that my dad would probably have a heart attack if he at any applewood smoked bacon bits, and well, it would probably work better with 6 people instead of 2 to have one big communal salad on the side for people to take what they want. Here's the recipe for 2 steaks, so multiply out according to how many you're going to serve:

2 Tuna Steaks (as fresh as possible!)

Marinade:

3 Tbsp Ginger Paste or Diced Ginger
3 Tbsp Cilantro Paste or Diced Cilantro
1/4 C Olive or Avocado Oil (the first time I made this I used Lemon infused Avocado Oil)
1/4 C Lime Juice
1/4 C Soy Sauce
1/4 C Diced Scallions
1/4 C Diced Red Onions
Couple pinches each of Ground Black Pepper and Salt


Okay, so chop all this up and dump in a bowl and stir it up real good. If you want to be fancy and have to clean it afterwards you can use a wand blender or a food processor to chop everything into submission. It should yield a lumpy sauce/paste. Marinade the Tuna steaks in this for at least an hour (I'd recommend overnight if you want the most flavor), I usually just put the steaks in a ziploc bag or some tupperware with the marinade.

Salad:
(This is what I added, feel free to substitute or add in whatever you want with this!)
Baby Spinach
Crumbled Goat Cheese
Chopped Applewood Smoked Bacon (I used 2 slices per salad)
Shredded Carrots
Grape Tomatoes
Diced Avocadoes

Okay, to start off, pre-heat the grill to medium-high (or turn on the broiler in your oven).  While that's heating up, assemble your salad in bowls: A nice bed of spinach topped by everything else, then put in the fridge to keep cool.  Now that the grill/broiler is heated up, take the Tuna out of your marinade pouch, and place them on the grill or broiler pan.  Grill for 3 or 4 minutes and then flip (use tongs and grab the sides so you don't break the steak apart) and grill for another 3 or 4 minutes (I like to also put a dallop of marinade on top at this point so it can coat the Tuna a 2nd time).  Keep the remaining marinade.  If you're worried about the "doneness" of the steaks, cut one in half and see how it looks in there.  Don't worry, the tuna's going to get sliced before it goes on the salad, so you won't ruin any "presentation value".  I usually like the tuna to be about 1/3 cooked on the top and bottom with a third in the middle pink, but cook to your taste, if you know you don't like Tuna that way, then by all means, cook it through!

Once you're done on the grill, slice the Tuna and fan out on top of the salad, then drizzle the tuna(s) and salad(s) with the remaining marinade as a salad dressing (Optional add-in: sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds)

Enjoy!


For Dessert:


I made this delicious Dark Chocolate Mousse recipe by Bobby Flay.I used about a half a bag of the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips and mixed it up in our Kitchenaid Mixer (hey, somebody paid $300 for that thing, I'd better get their money's worth out of it!) and topped it with some Whipped cream.