Yesterday I was Betty Crocker and June Cleaver combined. It was amazing(ly frightening). We're going away tomorrow to visit some friends at their lake house and were asked to bring an appetizer or dessert to share. Well, since I spend my summers at home pretending to be a stay-at-home wifey, I decided I could do both an appetizer and dessert because I know other people have to work every day. Well, I might have gotten carried away... We had so much zucchini, I knew I wanted to make my Nana's Chocolate Zucchini Cake and I had a great appetizer recipe from my mother-in-law. Then, I thought about breakfast, and decided to make some muffins too. So, yesterday, I made:
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
Banana Nut Muffins
Blueberry Muffins
Cinnamon Crumble Muffins
plus... a delicious comfort food dinner.
I used all our new toys from the wedding and watched 6 hours of HGTV. tee hee. I shredded zucchini in our Cuisinart (so awesome), mixed cake in our KitchenAid mixer, washed dishes in our rolling dishwasher, and baked everything in our 1972 oven. It was a good day. But the recipe I want to share right now is my Nana's Zucchini Cake. Nana is my great-grandmother and what I remember of her is a mixture of real memories and stories. My Nana loved my sister and I, probably because we were awesome, but more practically because we were the first great-grandchildren. But anyways, Nana was a great cook and loved my mama because she tried everything Nana put in front of her. My mom even ate raisins, which she HATES.
Anyways, Chocolate Zucchini Cake is a great way to get kids to eat zucchini AND it makes the moistest cake ever. This recipe makes one 9x13 cake or about 36-40 cupcakes. Yesterday, I made three batches. oy. I hope our friends are hungry this weekend... hubby even took a bunch to work today, haha.
Ok, I'm copying the entire recipe just as Nana wrote it, but I'll do some explaining and substitutes for people like me who had no clue what Oleo was.
325 degree oven for 45 minutes (about 30 minutes for the cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup oleo
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
4 tbs cocoa
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 zucchinis, 6 in. long, grated
Directions:
Cream sugar, oleo, eggs, oil, mix well, measure dry ingredients, add to creamed ingredients, add zucchini, mix well, grease 9x13 pan, add batter and pour chips on top & bake.
So... as you can tell, Nana liked to leave some stuff out. First, I'll tackle the ingredients. Oleo, come to find out, is a shortening like lard. I just used butter and it worked out just fine. 1/2 cup of butter is a full stick, let it warm up on the counter for a bit before using it to let it cream easier. Buttermilk - I don't know about you, but I don't have buttermilk in my fridge and, as luck would have it, my Food Network Magazine came in the mail and Paula Dean gave us a substitute for buttermilk! For 1 cup of buttermilk (I did this and just poured half of it in for each batch), pour in a tbsp of white vinegar (or lemon juice) then fill up to the 1 cup line with milk. It's awesome - works perfectly. Oh, and the cocoa. I didn't have any cocoa in my pantry but I did have baking squares. One baking square equals 3 tbsp of cocoa. So make do. Be sure to melt it a bit though, before adding it to the batter. And be careful when you melt it so as not to burn the chocolate...
But, this is so delicious. It's one of my faves and, thanks to my Grandma, I now have all of my Nana's recipes in one fantastic book. So look for more of Nana's recipes later, but enjoy this one for now! I'll let you know how our friends enjoy my baking efforts hahaha
Bon Appetit!!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Farmer's Market Dinner
I love farmer's markets. I think they're the greatest thing ever. I'm a big believer in eating local and buying local, and what's more local than farmer's markets! Or even your own backyard! My own garden is currently in containers because I was completely overwhelmed with my gardens when we moved in. So next year I'm definitely planting a veggie garden. Right now, my side porch holds a container with green bell peppers, a container with basil & borage, an earth box with summer squash & cucumbers, two pots with a tomato plant in each, a pot with chives, and a pot with hot chiles & thai chiles. The porch also holds our grill and sometimes we can even stand on it :)
Anyways, my basil is going crazy. I planted two plants from a 4-pack from your favorite greenhouse and mine, Lucas Greenhouse :). They are huge - I picked a giant bowl of basil today and I've been picking a handful every day for about two months. It's crazy. But I decided its time for some pesto. Pesto is typically basil, garlic, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese all blended then EVOO is added gradually to make it delicious and saucy. I have no pine nuts though, so I used a mixture of walnuts and almonds (cause I had both of those in my pantry). I use garlic like its water, so I buy a huge container of pre-minced garlic. I put in three heaping teaspoons of garlic and I sprinkled grated parmesan cheese to cover the top. Then I added probably 3/4 cup to 1 cup of mixed walnuts and almonds. On top, I filled my 14-cup food processor with basil. My guess is 6-7 cups of basil? Something like that. Anyways, I pulsed it till it was all chopped and then turned my food processor to 'on' and added oil till it looked like pesto. I split the pesto in half and put it in a container to freeze, so I have it for later. I bet I'll have to make a batch of pesto like this at least one more time before my basil is spent.
Hubby and I are eating healthy (he's working out right now) so we can try to lose some weight, so I am trying to plan more vegetarian dishes. Tonight we're having a pesto pasta. I'm making bowtie pasta (cause they're fun) and I chopped some grape tomatoes that I got at our farmers market (a pint for 1.50 - amazing). We are also so lucky to have a cheese farm (I don't know what to call it) nearby that sells goat cheese and feta. So I picked up some feta the other day and will top off our pasta with some feta. I make a full pound of pasta so we have leftovers for lunches, and will only eat a small portion tonight. I'll split it into four so we each get a portion tonight and a portion for lunch.
We'll see how my pesto turns out.. but this is truly a local dinner. I bet you can find great food at your local farmers market and I encourage you to try growing your own veggies! It's not hard (you just have to remember to water them) and you'll save so much money in the long run.
Bon Appetit!
Anyways, my basil is going crazy. I planted two plants from a 4-pack from your favorite greenhouse and mine, Lucas Greenhouse :). They are huge - I picked a giant bowl of basil today and I've been picking a handful every day for about two months. It's crazy. But I decided its time for some pesto. Pesto is typically basil, garlic, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese all blended then EVOO is added gradually to make it delicious and saucy. I have no pine nuts though, so I used a mixture of walnuts and almonds (cause I had both of those in my pantry). I use garlic like its water, so I buy a huge container of pre-minced garlic. I put in three heaping teaspoons of garlic and I sprinkled grated parmesan cheese to cover the top. Then I added probably 3/4 cup to 1 cup of mixed walnuts and almonds. On top, I filled my 14-cup food processor with basil. My guess is 6-7 cups of basil? Something like that. Anyways, I pulsed it till it was all chopped and then turned my food processor to 'on' and added oil till it looked like pesto. I split the pesto in half and put it in a container to freeze, so I have it for later. I bet I'll have to make a batch of pesto like this at least one more time before my basil is spent.
Hubby and I are eating healthy (he's working out right now) so we can try to lose some weight, so I am trying to plan more vegetarian dishes. Tonight we're having a pesto pasta. I'm making bowtie pasta (cause they're fun) and I chopped some grape tomatoes that I got at our farmers market (a pint for 1.50 - amazing). We are also so lucky to have a cheese farm (I don't know what to call it) nearby that sells goat cheese and feta. So I picked up some feta the other day and will top off our pasta with some feta. I make a full pound of pasta so we have leftovers for lunches, and will only eat a small portion tonight. I'll split it into four so we each get a portion tonight and a portion for lunch.
We'll see how my pesto turns out.. but this is truly a local dinner. I bet you can find great food at your local farmers market and I encourage you to try growing your own veggies! It's not hard (you just have to remember to water them) and you'll save so much money in the long run.
Bon Appetit!
Friday, July 30, 2010
It's been a while...
Sorry it's been a while. I've been doing other things (taping, mudding, painting, shelving, making curtains...) but I have been cooking. A few delicious meals lately that I wanted to share. Probably not cooking tonight since we're on our way up to our parents' for my sister & brother's grad party tomorrow. But this should tie you over till I cook again Sunday or Monday.
So we made grilled pizza the other day. It was so delish. One of our fave restaurants here has a flatbread pizza that we love so I wanted to recreate it, but on the grill. I made my own pizza dough - so worth it, it's flaky and delicious and just yum. It's from one of my Italian cookbooks that I think I borrowed from my grandma and never gave back.... whoops.
Pizza Dough
1 tbsp dry yeast (it's one packet)
1.5 cups lukewarm water
3.5-4 cups flour (approx) - I used a little less than 4 cups
1 tbsp. sugar
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp. shortening (Crisco) - yea, I used butter
1. Add yeast to water. Stir after 10 minutes.
2. Add shortening to yeast mixture.
3. Add dry ingredients, saving out about 1/2 cup of flour. (I put in 3.5 cups and left out .5)
4. Place dough on floured board and knead for 5 minutes, using whatever you need of the reserved 1/2 cup of flour so dough is not sticky.
5. Place dough back in greased mixing bowl. Cover tightly with saran wrap and let rise till double in bulk - about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Punch dough down and divide into four pieces. This makes four mini-pizzas - each piece rolls out into about half a cookie sheet.
Then, in my brilliant glory, I cut some goat cheese, scallions, and bacon for toppings. Hubster put some oil on the dough and dropped it on the grill while I cooked up chopped bacon on the stove inside. Hint: get the bacon that comes in those plastic containers and freeze it. It's so easy to take it frozen and chop it into tiny bits before cooking. And, it lasts longer.
Once the pizza was flipped, we spread goat cheese on top then added the cooked bacon & scallions. I was shopping quickly this week and accidentally got fig goat cheese instead of plain... I was worried, but it actually was delicious. A nice nutty flavor to counter the scallions and salty bacon. It's a great meal or a delicious appetizer. Whatever you prefer!
I'll share my asian inspired marinade another time... I am a self-proclaimed master of the asian cuisine.
Bon Appetit!
So we made grilled pizza the other day. It was so delish. One of our fave restaurants here has a flatbread pizza that we love so I wanted to recreate it, but on the grill. I made my own pizza dough - so worth it, it's flaky and delicious and just yum. It's from one of my Italian cookbooks that I think I borrowed from my grandma and never gave back.... whoops.
Pizza Dough
1 tbsp dry yeast (it's one packet)
1.5 cups lukewarm water
3.5-4 cups flour (approx) - I used a little less than 4 cups
1 tbsp. sugar
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp. shortening (Crisco) - yea, I used butter
1. Add yeast to water. Stir after 10 minutes.
2. Add shortening to yeast mixture.
3. Add dry ingredients, saving out about 1/2 cup of flour. (I put in 3.5 cups and left out .5)
4. Place dough on floured board and knead for 5 minutes, using whatever you need of the reserved 1/2 cup of flour so dough is not sticky.
5. Place dough back in greased mixing bowl. Cover tightly with saran wrap and let rise till double in bulk - about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Punch dough down and divide into four pieces. This makes four mini-pizzas - each piece rolls out into about half a cookie sheet.
Then, in my brilliant glory, I cut some goat cheese, scallions, and bacon for toppings. Hubster put some oil on the dough and dropped it on the grill while I cooked up chopped bacon on the stove inside. Hint: get the bacon that comes in those plastic containers and freeze it. It's so easy to take it frozen and chop it into tiny bits before cooking. And, it lasts longer.
Once the pizza was flipped, we spread goat cheese on top then added the cooked bacon & scallions. I was shopping quickly this week and accidentally got fig goat cheese instead of plain... I was worried, but it actually was delicious. A nice nutty flavor to counter the scallions and salty bacon. It's a great meal or a delicious appetizer. Whatever you prefer!
I'll share my asian inspired marinade another time... I am a self-proclaimed master of the asian cuisine.
Bon Appetit!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Chicken Soup for the Summer Soul
It's been a while, sorry. We finally got drywall up in the office plus did some much needed shopping for hardware, fabric, rugs, and tools. Now all we need to do is finish unpacking and maybe it'll start looking like a real home!
So I made a whole chicken yesterday for the first time and it was a bit of a nightmare. Tasted delicious, but it was quite the journey to get there. Anyways, Husband carved the bird and saved all the scraps for me to use for soup. And I decided today was a good day. Why make soup when it's freakin' humid & hot? Well, because I have piano lessons to teach this afternoon near the air conditioner, far away from the hot stove. Bazinga.
So I make soup differently than my sister makes soup which is weird because we both learned from my mother. Oh well. And I make soup differently than my mother-in-law makes soup which Husband used to be quick to remind me. However, he's come around to liking my soup too. [which is good, cause he wouldn't eat if he didn't.]
So to start, chop an onion, a couple stalks of celery (I do about 4), a couple big rabbit carrots (you know what I mean - I did about 4 too) so it's a mire-poix ratio of 1 to 1 to 1. Heat some oil on the stove in a huge soup pot and drop those babies in so they can cook for a bit. I pepper them only because I wind up over salting things I think and it's just better to let people salt their own soup - esp since I like to use parm cheese instead of salt at the end. Anyways, pepper it a bit and let them cook out for oh, 5ish minutes? Then drop your chicken bones in. I put the carcass [what a gross sounding word. carcass] in an the wings cause we never eat those. Then fill 'er up. With water. Seriously, fill the pot. Well not completely full, but you know, full enough. Then let it cook down and render out all that delicious chickenness. You'll have to let it simmer and cook for about an hour or so, longer if you want, shorter if you're in a rush. I usually let mine go for 1.5 to 2 hours. And be sure to scrape off the fat that rises to the surface. That's the gross stuff.
Once the stock has reached the color you like - it really is up to you. Take out all the bones. And try really hard to take out all the bones cause inevitably you'll forget one and find it when you're eating, but try. Those suckers are tiny. Then you can do a couple of things, you'll want to add chicken, but it's up to you how you do it. You can take raw chicken cut it to tiny pieces and poach it in the stock, you can take pre-cooked chicken from a previous meal and let it heat in the soup, or you can brown some chicken on the stove, par cook it, and let it cook the rest of the way in the soup. Whatever you want, add chicken next. Then I add my noodles to cook right in the soup. I use acine de pepe which are small noodles that are delicious and so made for chicken soup, but Husband doesn't always like them. He likes bigger noodles. So we've been experimenting lately. But today, I'm using acine de pepe. Then, secret ingredient... I whisk two eggs together and fiercely stir them into the soup. They're delicious. Serve with whatever you like - I like to put parmesan cheese on top of mine and eat with some delicious bread. Which I also made last week. Dang, I need to get more planning for next year done. I've been baking too much...
Oh well, bon appetit!
So I made a whole chicken yesterday for the first time and it was a bit of a nightmare. Tasted delicious, but it was quite the journey to get there. Anyways, Husband carved the bird and saved all the scraps for me to use for soup. And I decided today was a good day. Why make soup when it's freakin' humid & hot? Well, because I have piano lessons to teach this afternoon near the air conditioner, far away from the hot stove. Bazinga.
So I make soup differently than my sister makes soup which is weird because we both learned from my mother. Oh well. And I make soup differently than my mother-in-law makes soup which Husband used to be quick to remind me. However, he's come around to liking my soup too. [which is good, cause he wouldn't eat if he didn't.]
So to start, chop an onion, a couple stalks of celery (I do about 4), a couple big rabbit carrots (you know what I mean - I did about 4 too) so it's a mire-poix ratio of 1 to 1 to 1. Heat some oil on the stove in a huge soup pot and drop those babies in so they can cook for a bit. I pepper them only because I wind up over salting things I think and it's just better to let people salt their own soup - esp since I like to use parm cheese instead of salt at the end. Anyways, pepper it a bit and let them cook out for oh, 5ish minutes? Then drop your chicken bones in. I put the carcass [what a gross sounding word. carcass] in an the wings cause we never eat those. Then fill 'er up. With water. Seriously, fill the pot. Well not completely full, but you know, full enough. Then let it cook down and render out all that delicious chickenness. You'll have to let it simmer and cook for about an hour or so, longer if you want, shorter if you're in a rush. I usually let mine go for 1.5 to 2 hours. And be sure to scrape off the fat that rises to the surface. That's the gross stuff.
Once the stock has reached the color you like - it really is up to you. Take out all the bones. And try really hard to take out all the bones cause inevitably you'll forget one and find it when you're eating, but try. Those suckers are tiny. Then you can do a couple of things, you'll want to add chicken, but it's up to you how you do it. You can take raw chicken cut it to tiny pieces and poach it in the stock, you can take pre-cooked chicken from a previous meal and let it heat in the soup, or you can brown some chicken on the stove, par cook it, and let it cook the rest of the way in the soup. Whatever you want, add chicken next. Then I add my noodles to cook right in the soup. I use acine de pepe which are small noodles that are delicious and so made for chicken soup, but Husband doesn't always like them. He likes bigger noodles. So we've been experimenting lately. But today, I'm using acine de pepe. Then, secret ingredient... I whisk two eggs together and fiercely stir them into the soup. They're delicious. Serve with whatever you like - I like to put parmesan cheese on top of mine and eat with some delicious bread. Which I also made last week. Dang, I need to get more planning for next year done. I've been baking too much...
Oh well, bon appetit!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Asparagus Risotto Deliciousness
So I just finished making asparagus risotto. It was the most delicious thing I've made yet this week. It's a little intimidating and completely new to me, but so good. So risotto is a rice dish (vegetarian, sweet) that you have to stir constantly which is kind of a pain in the butt, but makes for some sweet eats.
So since I've never made risotto before I consulted epicurious on my phone - but you can try it at epicurious.com. It's a great reference and resource. Anyways, you have to get Arborio rice, which is expensive, but so worth it. So first, I put my asparagus 2-in pieces in hot water for 2 minutes before I drained them and then put them in cold water. While I did that I brought 5 cups of chicken broth (or if you're going completely vegetarian, some other broth...) to a simmer. Then, I chopped a small onion and put it in a skillet with sides with some EVOO till the onion was clear. Then, add a cup and a half of rice with a wine glass full of white wine. Let that soak up, stirring, for a bit. Then start adding your simmering broth a cup at a time. You have to stir constantly so it'll take about 20 minutes. Mine took 20 exactly - so weird.
So, once all your broth has been added, let the rice soak it up - it will. Oh, and your burner should be about Medium. Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Anyways, then add your asparagus and stir for about 2 minutes. Take it off the heat and add half a stick of butter (preferably cut up). Stir that in then add parmesan cheese, however much you want, but remember that it's gonna give a salty taste. Season it with pepper (the parm cheese will do the salt) and serve! It's so delicious. So great.
Anyways, risotto is wonderful, so enjoy it and good luck! You'll have a great meal and hopefully learn a new dish! Bon appetit!
So since I've never made risotto before I consulted epicurious on my phone - but you can try it at epicurious.com. It's a great reference and resource. Anyways, you have to get Arborio rice, which is expensive, but so worth it. So first, I put my asparagus 2-in pieces in hot water for 2 minutes before I drained them and then put them in cold water. While I did that I brought 5 cups of chicken broth (or if you're going completely vegetarian, some other broth...) to a simmer. Then, I chopped a small onion and put it in a skillet with sides with some EVOO till the onion was clear. Then, add a cup and a half of rice with a wine glass full of white wine. Let that soak up, stirring, for a bit. Then start adding your simmering broth a cup at a time. You have to stir constantly so it'll take about 20 minutes. Mine took 20 exactly - so weird.
So, once all your broth has been added, let the rice soak it up - it will. Oh, and your burner should be about Medium. Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Anyways, then add your asparagus and stir for about 2 minutes. Take it off the heat and add half a stick of butter (preferably cut up). Stir that in then add parmesan cheese, however much you want, but remember that it's gonna give a salty taste. Season it with pepper (the parm cheese will do the salt) and serve! It's so delicious. So great.
Anyways, risotto is wonderful, so enjoy it and good luck! You'll have a great meal and hopefully learn a new dish! Bon appetit!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
I finally, at 3:30pm, took a shower. It's one of those days. I woke up and had my coffee leisurely while reading a book (since I read a book a day during the summer). Then I decided to tackle my laundry room. What on earth possessed me to do that...
Anyways, I began ripping out the linoleum, cleaned the floor, and started laying new peel-n-stick tiles. I didn't think it would be that hard, but, of course, nothing is straight and level. So I feel like I'm putting together a puzzle to make these tiles look normal. Whatev. Good thing it's a laundry room and the only people going in and out of there are going to be hubby & me. So, not quite done, but so much better than before already. Now I just need to get the rest of the wall painted, the rest of the floor done, and all of the laundry room goodies back in their places.
But the real reason it's gonna be one of those days is because, in my infinite can-do wisdom, I decided that teaching three consecutive piano lessons for three hours beginning at 5 would be a good idea. Not so much - especially when one also decides to begin a blogging experience that requires one to cook every night. Stupid. But, at least I can still cook. Well, prep. Hubby will cook for himself and I'll do mine when lessons are over.
So I prepped everything for our simple summer meal. I took chicken out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter till it pretty much thawed through - which was about 1pm. Then I searched through my fridge for something to marinate it with - I found this Asian Sesame salad dressing that smelled good, so poured some of that on the chicken and back in the fridge it goes! I took our some hamburger rolls to thaw (still sitting on the counter) and decided on a green salad and asparagus for sides.
Hubby will grill chicken when he gets home and grill asparagus in our handy dandy veggie basket for the grill. It's sweet and a fantastic tool/gift for the griller in your life. Even if that griller is you. Not too exciting and not many risks taken, but sometimes, you need one of those days.
Bon appetit! I'll be thinking of you all eating while I'm sitting at a piano teaching Fur Elise for the twentimillionth time....
Anyways, I began ripping out the linoleum, cleaned the floor, and started laying new peel-n-stick tiles. I didn't think it would be that hard, but, of course, nothing is straight and level. So I feel like I'm putting together a puzzle to make these tiles look normal. Whatev. Good thing it's a laundry room and the only people going in and out of there are going to be hubby & me. So, not quite done, but so much better than before already. Now I just need to get the rest of the wall painted, the rest of the floor done, and all of the laundry room goodies back in their places.
But the real reason it's gonna be one of those days is because, in my infinite can-do wisdom, I decided that teaching three consecutive piano lessons for three hours beginning at 5 would be a good idea. Not so much - especially when one also decides to begin a blogging experience that requires one to cook every night. Stupid. But, at least I can still cook. Well, prep. Hubby will cook for himself and I'll do mine when lessons are over.
So I prepped everything for our simple summer meal. I took chicken out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter till it pretty much thawed through - which was about 1pm. Then I searched through my fridge for something to marinate it with - I found this Asian Sesame salad dressing that smelled good, so poured some of that on the chicken and back in the fridge it goes! I took our some hamburger rolls to thaw (still sitting on the counter) and decided on a green salad and asparagus for sides.
Hubby will grill chicken when he gets home and grill asparagus in our handy dandy veggie basket for the grill. It's sweet and a fantastic tool/gift for the griller in your life. Even if that griller is you. Not too exciting and not many risks taken, but sometimes, you need one of those days.
Bon appetit! I'll be thinking of you all eating while I'm sitting at a piano teaching Fur Elise for the twentimillionth time....
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Asian Pork Tenderloin, Part 2
Part Deux begins with checking the pork that's been marinating. Hubby is cleaning up right now so I can post on my fabulous dinner. Also, I should note, "Meals for Megan" is made possible because Megan lives on the west coast (I can't remember if I wrote that already or not).
So, I took the pork out of the fridge to let it get to room temp before cooking. While it warmed up, I took out my zucchini, grillin' beans, a cucumber and two tomatoes. I started with the cuc and the tomatoes and I made my salad that I had made last night. I love it - it's my summer staple and I absolutely love it, so I make it all the time. While I'm chopping away, hubby came home and turned on the grill. I don't grill, hubby does. He also cleans up if I prep. It's a pretty sweet deal.
So I had some goat cheese from a local farm out with crackers and we munched on those while we cooked. Pork goes on the grill (must consult hubby for times) - pork is cooked for about 30 minutes, turned four times for cross marks or turned once, 15 min on a side, at 450 ish. Part way through he put zucchini spears on too - about 10 minutes, also turned once. Zucchini was tossed with EVOO, salt & peppa, and some lemon juice.
Then, when the zucchini went on the grill, I opened a can of whoop ass.... just kidding... a can of Bush's Grilling Beans, the brown sugar and bourbon kind, on the stove. We hadn't tried those before, but they were delish. So when everything was done, we plated our to-go containers first so they could cool before putting them in the fridge. So a delicious dinner, with leftovers for a delicious lunch tomorrow.
So no great tips for this post. Except maybe our fave new glass-a-night wine: Black Box. I heart it. Our local ine store just started carrying it and we buy it so they don't discontinue it. We tend to favor the cab sauv and lately we've been putting a box in the fridge of either their sauv blanc or their chard. I like the sauv blanc Black Box style, but not the bottle style. Husband-of-the-year (for cleaning up) likes the bottle style but not black box. So we compromise on the chard which we both like black box. Anyways, they're a fantastic alternative to bottles. They last longer, they're less expensive, and they don't use glass or cork, so I guess they're better for the environment.
Well, bon appetit and I wish you luck with your pork! It's delish... you'll love it :)
So, I took the pork out of the fridge to let it get to room temp before cooking. While it warmed up, I took out my zucchini, grillin' beans, a cucumber and two tomatoes. I started with the cuc and the tomatoes and I made my salad that I had made last night. I love it - it's my summer staple and I absolutely love it, so I make it all the time. While I'm chopping away, hubby came home and turned on the grill. I don't grill, hubby does. He also cleans up if I prep. It's a pretty sweet deal.
So I had some goat cheese from a local farm out with crackers and we munched on those while we cooked. Pork goes on the grill (must consult hubby for times) - pork is cooked for about 30 minutes, turned four times for cross marks or turned once, 15 min on a side, at 450 ish. Part way through he put zucchini spears on too - about 10 minutes, also turned once. Zucchini was tossed with EVOO, salt & peppa, and some lemon juice.
Then, when the zucchini went on the grill, I opened a can of whoop ass.... just kidding... a can of Bush's Grilling Beans, the brown sugar and bourbon kind, on the stove. We hadn't tried those before, but they were delish. So when everything was done, we plated our to-go containers first so they could cool before putting them in the fridge. So a delicious dinner, with leftovers for a delicious lunch tomorrow.
So no great tips for this post. Except maybe our fave new glass-a-night wine: Black Box. I heart it. Our local ine store just started carrying it and we buy it so they don't discontinue it. We tend to favor the cab sauv and lately we've been putting a box in the fridge of either their sauv blanc or their chard. I like the sauv blanc Black Box style, but not the bottle style. Husband-of-the-year (for cleaning up) likes the bottle style but not black box. So we compromise on the chard which we both like black box. Anyways, they're a fantastic alternative to bottles. They last longer, they're less expensive, and they don't use glass or cork, so I guess they're better for the environment.
Well, bon appetit and I wish you luck with your pork! It's delish... you'll love it :)
Asian Pork Tenderloinm Part 1
First installment - this is a two-parter. So I finished painting three walls in our office this morning plus I did the last touch-up mudding in the laundry room. Now hubby needs to finish putting up drywall so I can tape, mud, and paint! But that has nothing to do with food...
After lunch today I took out the two tenderloins for dinner tonight/lunch tomorrow and removed the silver skin so I could marinate them in huge ziploc freezer bags. I mix my marinade in a liquid measuring cup cause it's easier to see how much i'm making. So I put about a third cup of sesame oil, then a quarter cup soy sauce, with a tsp of mustard, about a clove of garlic, and about a tsp and a half i think of grated ginger. Then I put some Siracha sauce cause it's spicy and delicious and mix and taste. If it tastes good, leave it, if not, add whatever you want. I usually put more mustard or siracha in if I don't like it. Mix well, pour over the tenderloin in the bag, zip and fridge it flipping it every hour and a half or so.
Trick with ginger - the pre-grated & ground stuff just isn't good enough. Go to the store and get a ginger root, clean it (get rid of the fuzzy stuff), and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This way, when you need it, you just get your handy dandy microplane grater and grate some fresh. It grates better when its frozen and it stays good for longer.
Now I have to clean my kitchen from yesterday... I was lazy last night and didn't want to clean it up. Be back later for part deux...
After lunch today I took out the two tenderloins for dinner tonight/lunch tomorrow and removed the silver skin so I could marinate them in huge ziploc freezer bags. I mix my marinade in a liquid measuring cup cause it's easier to see how much i'm making. So I put about a third cup of sesame oil, then a quarter cup soy sauce, with a tsp of mustard, about a clove of garlic, and about a tsp and a half i think of grated ginger. Then I put some Siracha sauce cause it's spicy and delicious and mix and taste. If it tastes good, leave it, if not, add whatever you want. I usually put more mustard or siracha in if I don't like it. Mix well, pour over the tenderloin in the bag, zip and fridge it flipping it every hour and a half or so.
Trick with ginger - the pre-grated & ground stuff just isn't good enough. Go to the store and get a ginger root, clean it (get rid of the fuzzy stuff), and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This way, when you need it, you just get your handy dandy microplane grater and grate some fresh. It grates better when its frozen and it stays good for longer.
Now I have to clean my kitchen from yesterday... I was lazy last night and didn't want to clean it up. Be back later for part deux...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Spaghetti & Meatballs!
Alright, dinner tonight was a success! First, I forgot to explain earlier. The Meals for Megan that I'm doing are for my bff Meg who lives in California. Hence, why I'm able to post now and she can read it as she makes dinner on the west coast.
So when making all of this, you have to do it in the right order. It is never acceptable to use jarred sauce. G'ma would flip. [so would Gram in her grave]. It is also never acceptable to use frozen meatballs. You always make your own, homemade, of both. So first, make the sauce so it has time to simmer.
Giant pot with some EVOO on the bottom - some garlic minced on the bottom to brown. [Notice I use no measurements, it's cause I as never taught using measurements. I'll try to make some up for you though...]. Uh, two tablespoons EVOO, about 2 cloves of garlic. Once that's simmering & browning, open two jars of crushed tomatoes and add to the pot. To clean out the jars for recycling, slosh about half a jar of water in each and pour into the pot. Add some salt, pepper, basil (fresh preferred, dried acceptable), and crushed red pepper if you want it spicy. Note: NEVER EVER EVER put oregano in spaghetti sauce. Oregano goes in pizza sauce, not pasta sauce.
Once the sauce is brewin', start making some meatballs! It's best to use meatloaf mix but if your local supermarket doesn't carry it, make your own! I make lots of meatballs cause my hubby likes them for lunch so sorry, but it's gonna be a lot. I eyeball everything but the general rule of thumb is 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 to 1. So, 1 pound of meat, 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 egg, some parsley, some garlic in a bowl. Mix with your hands (spoons just don't have enough love), and form into balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, put meatballs on a baking sheet and bake till they're done. Oh right, measurements... uh, about 10 minutes? Then, let them cool for half a second on the pan and put them right into the sauce until you're ready to use them.
Boil water for pasta (any pasta will do) once it's boiling, add some salt and the pasta. Cook till it's al dente - italian for "tooth" - so, till there's just enough bite. It's delish.
Then, put some sauce at the bottom of a bowl, put the drained pasta on there, sauce on top, and add some meatballs. Enjoy with some parmesan cheese on top if you want!
Bon Appetit!!
So when making all of this, you have to do it in the right order. It is never acceptable to use jarred sauce. G'ma would flip. [so would Gram in her grave]. It is also never acceptable to use frozen meatballs. You always make your own, homemade, of both. So first, make the sauce so it has time to simmer.
Giant pot with some EVOO on the bottom - some garlic minced on the bottom to brown. [Notice I use no measurements, it's cause I as never taught using measurements. I'll try to make some up for you though...]. Uh, two tablespoons EVOO, about 2 cloves of garlic. Once that's simmering & browning, open two jars of crushed tomatoes and add to the pot. To clean out the jars for recycling, slosh about half a jar of water in each and pour into the pot. Add some salt, pepper, basil (fresh preferred, dried acceptable), and crushed red pepper if you want it spicy. Note: NEVER EVER EVER put oregano in spaghetti sauce. Oregano goes in pizza sauce, not pasta sauce.
Once the sauce is brewin', start making some meatballs! It's best to use meatloaf mix but if your local supermarket doesn't carry it, make your own! I make lots of meatballs cause my hubby likes them for lunch so sorry, but it's gonna be a lot. I eyeball everything but the general rule of thumb is 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 to 1. So, 1 pound of meat, 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 egg, some parsley, some garlic in a bowl. Mix with your hands (spoons just don't have enough love), and form into balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, put meatballs on a baking sheet and bake till they're done. Oh right, measurements... uh, about 10 minutes? Then, let them cool for half a second on the pan and put them right into the sauce until you're ready to use them.
Boil water for pasta (any pasta will do) once it's boiling, add some salt and the pasta. Cook till it's al dente - italian for "tooth" - so, till there's just enough bite. It's delish.
Then, put some sauce at the bottom of a bowl, put the drained pasta on there, sauce on top, and add some meatballs. Enjoy with some parmesan cheese on top if you want!
Bon Appetit!!
Hallelu! We're back!
Ok, thank goodness for summer, even though the heat makes me angry. School is out, kitchen is unpacked [finally], and I've had a huge request to make weekly meal plans. So here you go, my first shot at creating "Meals for Megan", a weekly plan. So I went shopping this afternoon for my week of meals. Now, if you decide to make my week of meals too, please look carefully at my recipes too cause some things that I have in my fridge and pantry, you may not. So i'll try to include everything [whether or not I buy it this week] in my shopping list. My goal is to take a page from Rachael Ray and do a whole week of meals for under $100. We'll see if I can do it.
Alright Meg, here you go:
This week I'm trying to recover from our crazy past weekend where we ate our way through two graduations. My brother & hubby's cousin both graduated from high school and we had a great weekend of celebrating and, as any good Italian family does, eating. It was crazy. So we're trying to eat healthier, portion-controlled, and with a variety of proteins. Eat them in whatever order you want, but my week is going to be:
Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
[or i might make baked macaroni in meat sauce... i can't decide]
Tuesday: Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Thursday: Asparagus Risotto with... something... cucumber/tomato salad or i dont know...
Friday: Swordfish steaks with a red pepper sauce with broccoli mashed potatoes
So... I went to our local P&C [which is in the process of changing over to a Tops]. I buy for 4 portions usually because we then use leftovers for lunches. Here's my shopping list with prices as best as I can split up by meal:
Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
Texas Toast... 2.19
Ground Pork (1 lb)... 2.91
Ground Beef (1 lb)... 3.69
Eggs 1 doz... 1.19
Kraft Shredded Parm Cheese... 5.59
Cucumbers (2 @ 99cents each)... 1.98
Tomatoes... 1.41 lbs @ 2.49/lb... 3.51
Tomato Paste 1 can... 1.29
Crushed Tomatoes (4 cans for $5)... 5.00 - we'll only use 2 for this, but buy on sale cause i use them all the time
[Spaghetti was already in my pantry...]
...............................total for meal: 27.35
...............................this will make at least 6 portions and you'll have ingredients left over
Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
2 Tenderloins... 10.46
Zucchini [1.46 lbs @ 1.49/lb]... 2.18
Asian spices & Brown Rice I had in my pantry so here's what I'll use that most people have (or should have) in their pantry
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Mustard (I use Chinese Mustard)
Siracha Sauce (it's basically chinese hot sauce)
Garlic
Ginger
then a cup of Brown Rice
...............................total for meal:12.64
...............................this will make at least 8 portions - one loin for dinner, one for lunch the next day
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Chicken Breasts (I buy in bulk so I can freeze some and keep them)
^ this is a huge pack of about 10-12 breasts.... 7.76 (love them sales!)
Packaged Greens... 2.50
I have rolls, condiments, and salad dressing already plus bought tomatoes & cucs for the salad already
...............................total for meal: 10.26
...............................I'll only make two breasts for two sandwiches tonight
Asparagus Risotto
Asparagus... 1.97 lbs @ 3.49/lb .... 6.88
^ I bought more than I really need because I wanted more to use as a veg for other meals
Arborio Rice... 18.00 ish - I bought this before now but this risotto rice is expensivo...
Chicken Stock and spices etc are all in my pantry already
...............................total for meal:24.88
...............................I'll make about 4 portions of this
Swordfish Steaks with Red Pepper Sauce & Broccoli Mashed Potatoes
Ok, so I planned to do broccoli mashed, but no broccoli today so we'll see if I can get more later this week or I'll change my plan. So this isn't a complete list yet, sorry. I'll get it to you as soon as I find the rest of the ingredients!
Alright, time to relax before it's time to make dinner. Maybe even take a nap. Summers are great when you can rest for a bit :)
Happy shopping & I'll be back later to share my secret sauce & meatball recipes :)
Alright Meg, here you go:
This week I'm trying to recover from our crazy past weekend where we ate our way through two graduations. My brother & hubby's cousin both graduated from high school and we had a great weekend of celebrating and, as any good Italian family does, eating. It was crazy. So we're trying to eat healthier, portion-controlled, and with a variety of proteins. Eat them in whatever order you want, but my week is going to be:
Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
[or i might make baked macaroni in meat sauce... i can't decide]
Tuesday: Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Thursday: Asparagus Risotto with... something... cucumber/tomato salad or i dont know...
Friday: Swordfish steaks with a red pepper sauce with broccoli mashed potatoes
So... I went to our local P&C [which is in the process of changing over to a Tops]. I buy for 4 portions usually because we then use leftovers for lunches. Here's my shopping list with prices as best as I can split up by meal:
Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
Texas Toast... 2.19
Ground Pork (1 lb)... 2.91
Ground Beef (1 lb)... 3.69
Eggs 1 doz... 1.19
Kraft Shredded Parm Cheese... 5.59
Cucumbers (2 @ 99cents each)... 1.98
Tomatoes... 1.41 lbs @ 2.49/lb... 3.51
Tomato Paste 1 can... 1.29
Crushed Tomatoes (4 cans for $5)... 5.00 - we'll only use 2 for this, but buy on sale cause i use them all the time
[Spaghetti was already in my pantry...]
...............................total for meal: 27.35
...............................this will make at least 6 portions and you'll have ingredients left over
Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
2 Tenderloins... 10.46
Zucchini [1.46 lbs @ 1.49/lb]... 2.18
Asian spices & Brown Rice I had in my pantry so here's what I'll use that most people have (or should have) in their pantry
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Mustard (I use Chinese Mustard)
Siracha Sauce (it's basically chinese hot sauce)
Garlic
Ginger
then a cup of Brown Rice
...............................total for meal:12.64
...............................this will make at least 8 portions - one loin for dinner, one for lunch the next day
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Chicken Breasts (I buy in bulk so I can freeze some and keep them)
^ this is a huge pack of about 10-12 breasts.... 7.76 (love them sales!)
Packaged Greens... 2.50
I have rolls, condiments, and salad dressing already plus bought tomatoes & cucs for the salad already
...............................total for meal: 10.26
...............................I'll only make two breasts for two sandwiches tonight
Asparagus Risotto
Asparagus... 1.97 lbs @ 3.49/lb .... 6.88
^ I bought more than I really need because I wanted more to use as a veg for other meals
Arborio Rice... 18.00 ish - I bought this before now but this risotto rice is expensivo...
Chicken Stock and spices etc are all in my pantry already
...............................total for meal:24.88
...............................I'll make about 4 portions of this
Swordfish Steaks with Red Pepper Sauce & Broccoli Mashed Potatoes
Ok, so I planned to do broccoli mashed, but no broccoli today so we'll see if I can get more later this week or I'll change my plan. So this isn't a complete list yet, sorry. I'll get it to you as soon as I find the rest of the ingredients!
Alright, time to relax before it's time to make dinner. Maybe even take a nap. Summers are great when you can rest for a bit :)
Happy shopping & I'll be back later to share my secret sauce & meatball recipes :)
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