This little piggy went to the market....

My friend A had a really crappy birthday last year. Oh do I understand crappy birthdays! But this one was her 30th and I was so upset it wasn't good that I had been telling her all year we were going to "redo" her 30th this year. Of course, she didn't want a big deal made of her birthday, and the only way we were able to get her to celebrate was to have her birthday under the guise of a "holiday party."

A is a woman of two personalities. On the one hand, there is nothing she likes better than something small and intimate with the people who are important to her. She is very close to her family and her close friends are kept close. On the other hand, there is nothing she likes better than to hit the hottest clubs with people you and I would only read about the next day.

For her birthday, we chose to do the "small and intimate" kind of party. L graciously offered her beautiful new home for the occasion and volunteered to cook. Personally, I think this is mostly due to Nemo, the small wonder due to arrive some time in March and causing her to want to stay at home and be all motherly and junk.

Since I can never arrive empty handed, I had to bring something. And it had to be something "classy" since A herself was tempted to bring caviar (unfortunately we're the wrong kind of crowd for caviar). Prosciutto practically screams classy. Especially when its wrapped around goat cheese.

The evening was wonderful with lots of laughs, great conversation, and great food. All the elements of a great birthday party. Maybe we can talk A into turning 30 again next year!

Prosciutto Rolls

3 oz cream cheese, room temp
4 oz goat cheese, room temp
12 slices prosciutto
fig jam
baby arugula leaves

1) Mix together cream cheese and goat cheese
2) lay out 3 slices of proscuitto so they are barely overlapping and the long part of the rectangle is facing you.
3) Spread the fig jam on the bottom half of the prosciutto rectangle.
4) Spread the cheese mix on the top half of the prosciutton rectangle.
5) Place argula leaves over fig half.
6) Starting at the bottom, roll up the proscuitto jelly roll style.
7) Repeat with remaining ingredients until you have 4 rolls.
8) Wrap each roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour
9) Slice rolls into bite size pieces

Breakfast or lunch?

I spend a lot of time listening to the radio in the morning. I have several radio shows I flip between (I hate commercials). I get a lot of information from my stations. Local news, current events, sports, activities, humor, and every now and again meal ideas. The other week, one of my stations was talking about a local restaurant they really enjoyed. Two of the personalities claim the best thing on the menu is the Monte Cristo sandwich. This was a new one for me and I had to look it up. Google is your friend. A monte cristo sandwich is a cross between a sandwich and french toast. I knew right away it would be a big hit with Jon. The Monte Cristo is both savory - with ham, cheese, and turkey and sweet - with powdered sugar and raspberry. Basically its a grilled cheese on crack.

I was right about the reaction...kinda. When I placed the sandwich on the table, Jon looked at me as though I might be on crack. I begged his indulgence to at least try it, and my ever indulgent husband tried it. He really liked it. Although he felt the raspberry preserves were an unnecessary addition.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

4 slices of bread
dijon mustard
deli sliced turkey
deli sliced black forest ham
deli sliced swiss cheese
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp butter
powdered sugar
raspberry preserves

1) Spread 2 slices of bread with dijon mustard. Top with turkey, ham, and swiss cheese. Place other slices of bread on top.
2) Melt butter on skillet. Lightly beat egg with 2 Tbsp water. Dip both sides of sandwich in egg and place on skillet. Cook sandwich until it is golden brown on both sides.
3) Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of sandwich and top with raspberry preserves.

It's hard to be a Jew at Christmas

Chanukkah came and went so fast this year, if you blinked, you missed it. I always have mixed feelings about the holiday. Growing up I was the only Jewish kid in my school (well, except for Alex, but given that he's the younger sibling no one expected him to know much of anything.) This meant that every year in December it was my job to inform the entire school what Channukah was and how it was celebrated. There's nothing more fabulous for a self-conscious tween than having her get up in front of her peers and explain why and how she's different from all of them.

As I've gotten older, my role as "Jewish educator" hasn't changed. It seems no matter where I go am always the only Jewish person. In college my roommates delighted in learning the Channukah blessing and singing it each night (A even called me once when we were no longer living together so she could sing with me once again).

I was also the one in charge of teaching my in-laws. This is a feat in itself because they regard ritual objects as decorations. When I arrived at their house yesterday afternoon I noticed they were using the menorah as a centerpiece.....

My favorite part of Channukah is my dad's latkes. Unlike other family traditions, the latkes have evolved over time, getting better and better. The first big change came when my dad used powdered sugar instead of flour by accident. No matter how much he added, the potatoes just wouldn't stick together. However, they tasted excellent. Now his latkes use both - but of course I can't tell you the quantities - that's a family secret. The came the day when he used sweet potatoes instead of baking potatoes - I think those are my favorite!

This year dad made his famous latkes, just as good as always. However, now that I'm an old married lady, I need to make my own latkes for my family. Since dad makes the good ones, I had no need to try to recreate his recipe and disappoint myself. Instead I just used a quick, shortened version. Of course, I love dad's better - all crispy with potato poking out everywhere. Jon however prefers these which are more pancake like.

Latkes

2 1/2 cups grated potato
1/4 cup grated onion
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp AP flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1) Squeeze as much moisture out of grated potatoes as possible. In medium bowl, combine potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt.
2) Heat oil on griddle over medium high heat. Drop potato mixture onto hot griddle by spoonful and spread into 3" pancakes. Cook until browned on bottom (reduce heat if necessary).
3) With a spatula, turn pancakes and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes.

The true test

Have you ever tried to make someone else's recipe? Inevitably, it is never as good as when the original person made it. There is a solution to that problem. It's almost too easy. Make someone else's recipe you've never tasted!! (I told you it was easy) We just completed a recipe exchange on the What's Cooking Board.

Ordinarily a recipe exchange would require you to send someone a food product you made with the recipe included. However, this could be very dangerous when you're sending food to people you don't know. What's to stop me from putting a little arsenic into that apple pie? Or including rat poop in the chocolate chip cookies? Ah, but the WC girls are too wise for these tricks. Perhaps its because the board is chock full of evil geniuses like myself, they have devised a solution to this problem. It's almost too easy. Don't send food. Instead we just submitted our favorite dessert recipes to Katie who distributed them electronically.


I was very excited to receive my recipe for Christmas Chocolate Cherry Cake. Chocolate and cherry is my favorite chocolate fruit combination. I love whipped cream frosting. Then I began to shop for ingredients. It is quite clear that whoever loves this recipe does not live in Orange County, California. First of all, cans of pitted dark sweet cherries in light syrup do not exist in my local supermarkets or specialty stores. Cans of cherries in heavy syrup leered at me as I made my way down the canned fruit aisle. Jars of cherries with pits in light syrup gave me the finger. Then I went searching for kirsch. Stupid kirsch. Luckily I'm enough of an alcoholic to know it's cherry brandy. Unluckily I had thrown out my bottle when we moved in August. Even more unluckily none of the stores carried it. When I asked cashiers for help they looked at me as though cherry brandy existed only in my head. Finally I was able to find a single bottle in a store, hidden behind peach and apricot brandy. Mission accomplished.

For the most part I stuck to the recipe completely. The changes I made were very minor and I'll note them in italics. The cake itself was heavenly. Not too heavy, not too rich (I attribute this to the amazing whipped cream frosting - never sticky and heavy like buttercream). The cherry flavor in the chocolate cake was subtle, and yet toned down the chocolatiness of the cake itself. I actually ate a whole piece of cake! I won't even begin to tell you how many pieces Jon ate.........

Christmas Chocolate Cherry Cake

1 18.5 oz. package devil's food cake mix

1 16 oz. can pitted dark sweet cherries in light syrup (ummm...yeah...I ended up using a jar of morello cherries from TJs. I had to pit a bunch of them, even though they were semi-pitted. I used a little more than half a jar.......)

kirsch (cherry brandy)

4 squares semisweet chocolate (I actually just bought a big block of chocolate...who knows how many squares)

2 cups heavy or whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Maraschino cherries for garnish (Because I had leftover morello cherries, I used these instead)

Early in Day:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 10" by 3" springform pan. Prepare cake mix as label directs: pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched with finger. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; then careully remove side of pan; cool cake completely on wire rack.

2. Meanwhile, drain cherries and research 2 tablespoons syrup; cut each cherry in half. In medium bowl, stire reserved syrup, cherries and 3 tablespoons kirsch; set aside. (Basically I just combined 2 Tbsp syrup, cherries, and 3 Tbsp kirsch)

3. From chocolate squares, with vegetable peeler, shave some chocolate curls for garnish. Coarsely grate remaining chocolate to decorate side of cake. (I just kinda went crazy here. I probably had too much grated chocolate, but since most of it ended up on the counter I say no harm, no foul)

4. When cake is cool, with serrated knife, carefully cut cake horizontally into 2 layers. (If you like, remove bottom of pan.) Place one cake layer on plate. With fork, prick top of cake layers; spoon all liquid from cherry mixture in bowl over layers.

5. In small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy or whipping cream, sugar, and 1 tablespoon kirsch until soft peaks form. Spread cake layer on plate with 1 1/2 cups whipped cream. Spoon cherries onto cream; top with remaining cake layer. Frost side and top of cake with about 2 cups whipped cream. With hand, gently press grated chocolate onto side of cake. Spoon remaining whipped cream into decorating bag with medium rosette tube; pipe border around top of cake. (Confession - I forgot to read this part until I was frosting the cake, and I didn't feel like looking for my pastry tips so I skipped it completely) Garnish top of cake with Maraschino cherries and chocolate curls. (Again, I used the morello cherries) Keep cake refrigerated. Makes 24 servings.

All that's missing is the wine

The other day I was talking to C about how I consider her a wine expert, while I "just know what I like." It's actually surprising I don't know more about wine considering I love to drink, and I love all the sterotypical wine pairing foods - cheese and fruit. I blame my parents. See neither of my parents are wine drinkers. And yet, my mom was a cheese girl when she met my father. You may wonder what a cheese girl is. It is not, as one might imagine, a woman made of cheddar. Instead, it is a girl who works in a cheese store trying to get customers to come in and try their wares. Much more like a cheese prostitute. Or to be more accurate - a cheese pusher. The first taste is always free, that's what gets them hooked. Then when they come crawling back for their next fix that's when you hit them with the high end expensive stuff. I'd like to tell you this is how my mother hooked my father, but this is only half true. My father was interested in what my mother was selling, but I'm not talking about the cheese.

Baked Brie with Pears

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 ripe medium pears, peeled, cored, sliced
1 egg
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 medium wheel brie

1) In a skillet, stir butter and sugar over medium heat until butter melts.
2) Add pear slices, cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool.
3) Heat oven to 400. In bowl, beat egg with 1 Tbsp water, set aside.
4) On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 12" circle. Place brie in center. Spoon pear mixture on top. Gather up[ edges to encase cheese completely. Brush top and sides with egg mixture. Place on baking sheet. Bake 24 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting.

A little whisky never hurt no one

Mmmmmm I love double negatives! I love them almost as much as I love shrimp. I love them almost as much as DH loves his scotch. And DH loves his scotch. I almost was afraid to ask him if I could "borrow" some to make barbeque sauce. (Borrow is in quotes because it would be returned to him, but in a different form......) Luckily, DH agreed. And he was really pleased with the outcome. It was so simple, but every bite was met with a sigh or murmer of approval. It just goes to show. You really can't go wrong with simple shrimp. And if you get your eater drunk enough, anything tastes good.

Shrimp with Whiskey Barbeque Sauce

3/4 cup scotch whiskey
1 Tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp minced cilantro
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1) In a small saucepan, heat whiskey to boil. Reduce about 6 minutes.
2) Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, cilantro and keep warm.
3) In skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook one minute.
4) Add shrimp. Cook 4 minutes or until pink. Drizzle hot glaze over shrimp.

Fancy Fall Feast

We're pretty much getting to the end of fall. It's December, and here in Southern California its freezing out! Yesterday morning I had to sit in my car while I waited for the ICE on my WINDSHIELD to melt. There's no supposed to be ice in Southern California!

The end of fall means the end of my squash cooking. Pumpkin, butternut, acorn - all those warm cinnamony flavors that remind me of changing leaves and crisp air give way to wintery treats like peppermint and cocoa. This dinner is a farewell to fall and a welcoming of winter. The warm squash with the earthy lentils echo the warm earthy flavors of the chicken. In contrast, the bright colors of the crisp green beans and tomatoes serve as a contrast, like the cold winds that are currently sweeping through Southern CA.

Chicken with Pomegranate Sauce

3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sparkling wine
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
2 tsp adobo

1) In medium bowl combine 1/4 cup orange juice, sparkling wine, lemon juice, 1 Tbsp oil, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper and chicken. Pour all into ziplock and marinate in fridge for 2 hours.
2) In a small saucepan combine remaining orange juice with pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil and reduce about 10 minutes. Let cool. Stir in adobo.

3) Heat remainin oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, cook 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. Serve chicken topped with sauce. Lentil/butternut squash rice

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup cooked lentils
1/3 cup parsley, minced

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with foil. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl toss the squash with 1 Tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
2) In a small bowl whisk together remaining oil and orange juice.
3) In a large bowl toss squash, rice, lentils and parsely. Top with desired amount of dressing.

Tomatoes and beans

1 chopped plum tomato
2 Tbsp olive oil
garlic powder, salt, and pepper
1 lb green beans

1) In a small bowl toss tomatoes with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2) Steam green beans and top with tomatoes

The first and last

When I was little, my dad got my mom a waffle iron for Mother's Day. It was that year I learned my mother HATES getting appliances for gifts. I don't think she used that waffle iron ever. I certainly don't remember ever having waffles for breakfast. Lucky for me she's a pack rat and doesn't throw anything away.

There have been a lot of raves lately on What's Cooking for Pumpkin Waffles. I had some leftover pumpkin I wanted to use up and stole the infamous waffle iron to make them. It was my first time making waffles,a nd will likely be my last. Me and the waffle iron? We don't get along so well.

My first waffle came apart when I lifted the top. It was burnt and destroyed. Thinking firsst waffles are like first pancakes, I gave it another go. This time the batter came gushing out the sides and the waffle was still inedible. It was at this point Jon came to try to "help". His first waffle was no better than mine, but beginning with his second he began having success! The recipe claims the waffles will be a nice golden brown - boy were they right! Jon was afraid we'd burned them at first, until he tasted it and realized they were just "naturally burned colored." This entire batter made about 6 edible waffles and 1 very frustrated cook. I told Jon I was done with waffles, but he was disappointed because he liked these so much. So from now on, he's in charge of waffles in our house.

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles from Recipe Zaar

1 1/2	cups all-purpose flour
3	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon cinnamon
1	teaspoon nutmeg
1	teaspoon ground ginger
1	pinch salt
2	eggs
1/4	cup firmly packed brown sugar
1	cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3	cups milk
4	tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

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1. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.
2. In a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well.
3. Gently fold in the flour mixture.
4. Cook according to your waffle iron directions.
5. I do these in my belgian waffle iron and it uses about 1 cup batter and takes 4-5 minutes to bake.
6. They come out a nice deep, golden brown.
7. These are great with a little bit of syrup, but would also be great with honey butter.

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Now that Chanukkah is officially over, I can start gearing up for Christmas. Chanukkah and Christmas are so far apart this year I've really been focusing on just Channukah. Growing up. I only celebrated Channukah, but since Jon's Catholic, ever since we've been together I've celebrated Christmas with his family. As much as they hate the fact that I'm Jewish, it works out very well for them because there's never any fighting about where we'll spend Christmas.

Last year was our first married Christmas, and first Christmas living together. We marked the occassion with a tree and the entire selection of Crate and Barrel Ornaments. Unfortunately, we had to wait and get our tree until after finals, so we had slim pickings. This year we went early and got an amazing tree. Jon thinks its one of his favorites.
We also have loads more ornaments this year, like the ones from my Secret Santa, our Mammoth trip, and the one Lucy brought back for me from Salzburg.
The tree is decorated, the stockings are hung, it's time for Christmas!

The day we decorated was also the day we took a fieldtrip up to LA with our favorite tour guides, Liz and Bill. "Lill" or "Biz" as they are known by the papparazzi, had been talking about Ethiopian food for ages and how much they loved it. We were finally able to join them for a jaunt to their favorite restaurant.
The story begins like a classic horror story. It was a dark and stormy night. There were 6 of us piled into the car (Kim and Corey were also up for an adventure that night). As Bill navigated his way to a back alley parking lot behind the restaurant we followed nervously. The restaurant was small, but warm and after several attempts, the entire group was able to sit correctly on the chairs....well except for Jon. He flaunts convention. We place our order with the waitress who cautioned us about our multiple raw meat choices (Corey is apparently a vampire). The food came out in large gobs on a large pancake.
It was definitely intimidating. But our fearless leaders showed no hesitation before diving in and scooping up the piles so we were quick to follow. The food was delicious. Very fragrant and flavorful. Don't ask me what we had, I couldn't even begin to tell your. But by the end of the night we were all stuffed, warm, and happy. What a successful adventure!

You gotta have friends

There are very few qualities I have that I pride myself on. I don't rave about my beauty or intelligence, you'll never hear me brag about my financial saavy or ability to name all the members of NKOTB. However, I am an excellent friend. It's something I really do pride myself on because I'm just that good. If you're a friend of mine I will do just about anything for you. I have left work to drive 90 minutes when a friend had her wisdom teeth out. I have helped a friend move all the belongings of her apartment into a storage unit when I was running a 100 degree fever. I will drive anywhere and do anything.

I don't ask for much in return, perhaps too little. Once you're my friend, you're my friend for life. Even if we don't speak often, even if we fight. There are a few exceptions however. Once you hurt me or someone I love, we're pretty much done. There's a girl in my law school who invited a bunch of my friends to a party, but didn't invite me. My friends swore it was an oversight and wanted me to come with them. Instead I decided I'd never go out of my way for this girl. By the end of law school, this girl was on the outs with all my friends because she was only interested in talking about herself and never had time to be a true friend. Guess my instincts paid off.

It's much worse if you hurt someone important to me than if you hurt me. See, part of being a good friend is I'm intensely loyal. I don't let anyone talk badly about my friends, I don't let anyone treat my friends poorly. In high school, my friend S was friendly with a girl. S was always complaining to me about how this girl was nice to her when they were alone, but not so nice when other "popular" people were around. It really hurt S's feelings and I never forgave that girl. Did that girl ever do anything mean to me? Nope. She barely spoke 2 words to me until she found out we were going to college together. But by then, the damage was done.

So how to you join the ranks of friends? It's very simple. All it takes is meeting me. I would much rather be friends than enemies, so I give everyone the benefit of the doubt until they proove otherwise. Don't believe me? Jon and I moved into our place at the end of August. While he was moving in, Jon met our neighbor and his wife. She was large with child ;-) We never really had any deep conversations with them, mostly the typical "hey neighbor" as we passed each other. On November 21, I passed Mrs. Neighbor on my way out with Ringo. She was really big. I knew she was due in December, so I asked how things were going. She told me the baby was so big, they were going to induce labor the next week! 3 weeks early! Mr. Neighbor asked us to keep an eye on their place while they were at the hospital because they'd be there almost a full week. We did more than that. I got to work and this was waiting for them when they got home:
From left to right: Crockpot full of crockpot lasagna, french bread, fruit salad, green salad, chicken and broccoli casserole, and bagels.

I knew they were going to be busy and probably would have no groceries in the fridge when they returned from the hospital so I made some food to last them a couple days till they got settled in and could get to the store. They were so grateful, but for me that's what friends do ;-)

Appetizers

Tis the season for Holiday Parties. And with that in mind, here are a few of my favorite appetizer recipes. These are good if you're hosting, but also great if you want to bring something to a party you're invited too. One word of advice - check with the host/hostess first. No one likes a "friend" who brings something to a party forcing the host to hide what they made so the guest's dish may be served.

Brie with Nuts and Honey

We're big cheese people in my family. And every dinner party means there'll be cheese and crackers. And one constant is brie. This is way easier than baked brie and takes minutes to throw together.

1/4 cup butter
1 cup coarsly chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp honey
Round of brie

1) In a nonstick skillet, melt butter. Stir in walnuts, cinnamon, honey, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbling.
2) Pour over cheese and microwave 1 minute.

Knorr Spinach Dip

In general I prefer hot spinach dip. Specifically the kind with artichokes. However, hot dip doesn't stay hot for very long, so if I'm going somewhere I'd prefer to bring something cold. This is obviously not my recipe, but can be found on the back of the Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix. After experimenting with several types of spinach dip, Jon has decided this is his favorite.

1 pkg baby spinach, chopped
1 container sour cream
1 cup reduced fat mayo
1 pkg Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
3 green onions, chopped

1) Combine all ingredients
2) Chill 2 hours

Pizza biscuit snacks

This is a derivation of my pepperoni snacks, but healthier and vegetarian. Because you never know if people are eating meat or not.
1 pkg refrigerated biscuits
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1) Preheat oven to 375. Press each biscuit into muffin pan, pressing gently to fill cups
2) In 10-inch skillet, heat oil and cook spinach, bell pepper, and onion until tender. Stir in marinara sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes.
3) Spoon marinara mixture into muffin cups.
4) Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5 minutes.

Artichoke Garlic Bread

This is a spin-off/combination of two recipes. The first is my friend's garlic jalepeno bread. It's a great recipe, and very popular among my law school friends, but I'm not a huge jalepeno girl. I do however love my artichoke bruschetta which combines artichoke hearts with tomatoes, basil, oil, and garlic. It seems only natural to adapt the recipe to create a cheesy garlic bread with artichokes!

1 can artichoke hearts
1/2 cup italian dressing
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup grated parmesean cheese
1 loaf french bread, halved lengthwise

1) Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients except bread.
2) Spread on bread. Bake 20 minutes

Seven Layer Dip

This is another family favorite. I used to love my mom's seven layer dip, which she didn't make very often. That and her velveeta/salsa didn't make appearances frequently, but when they did they were gone pretty quickly. Jon especially likes the flavors of this one because the meat is so flavorful.

1/2 jar of your favorite salsa
1 cup of pico de gallo (my store was out so I had to use pico de gallo salsa which is not nearly as good)
1 can refried beans
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup guacamole
1/2 cup sour cream

1) Cook ground beef with your favorite salsa. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to your liking.
2) Spread layer of beans in glass dish.
3) Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese then layer beef on top.
4) Add leftover cheese followed by guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.

It's been a long, long, long, long

I haven't posted in a while. Not because I haven't had exciting things happen, or because I've been sitting around, but because I really haven't had the time at all. See, last week I started a new schedule. Traffic is getting worse and worse and worse so I am now getting up at 5 AM so I can leave the house by 5:30. This gets me to work at 6:30. What do I do for the next 2 hours? I go to the gym. It's really a great plan because
1) I don't hit any traffic so I'm in a better mood all day
2) I get a longer workout in before work so I'm in a better mood all day
3) My hair and makeup actually looks good because its fresh and hasn't been in a car for 2 hours.

The only downside is I have a 9PM bedtime. Considering I get home around 7pm, that doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging. Especially if I want to eat dinner. And look for work.

It also means we're eating a lot of leftovers - I'm trying to make meals that will last a couple days to cut back on the amount of time I'm in the kitchen on weeknights. A whole chicken is perfect for that! Especially one with apple walnut stuffing. Especially when the fall weather is definitely confusing itself with winter. Come back fall! It's too soon for you to leave us!

Roast chicken with apple walnut stuffing

1/2 cup chopped celery
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup apple juice
1 pkg stuffing mix
1 chopped, peeled apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 whole chicken

1) In a large skillet over medium heat, cook celery and onions in butter about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and heat for 2 minutes.
2) In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients (except chicken). Add celery and mix well.
3) Loosely stuff chicken and roast chicken at 350. Place remaining stuffing in greased baking dish and place in oven with chicken last 30 minutes of cooking.

I guess it's a pot.....roast.....

This is a VERY deep question. If you make a roast in the crockpot.....is it automatically a pot roast? I feel that it is since it's a roast made in a pot. Pot roast was one of the first dishes I ever made in my crock pot. Stick some meat in there, a little beef broth, and voila! This is the Italian version because it uses Italian seasonings and pepperchinis. And everyone knows pepperchinis are Italian.....

Italian Pot Roast

1 tri tip roast
1 can of beef broth
3 pepperchinis
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregeno
1 Tbsp fresh basil
1/2 tsp Italian seasonings


1) Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook that for about 3-4 hrs on low.

Another one for company

I think it must have something to do with the holidays, but I've been trying out lots of meals that would be great for company.

There are two qualifications I have for "company food"

1) It should be easy to make
2) It shouldn't look like it was

Of course, taste is important, but that's true of meals I make even when its just for us.

Beef Wellington Pockets are a great company meal because they're so easy to make and looks super fancy. It's the puff pastry. It makes everything look better. Golden pastry pockets - what's not to like? I especially like that they're individualized servings which means everyone gets the perfect amount and gets to eat at the same time - another important factor of company food.

Jon took one bite of this and didn't even finish chewing before I got a thumbs up. It really was oh so good! It definitely will be served again when I'm trying to impress....maybe for the inlaws?????

Beef Wellington Pockets

2 tbsp. Butter

8 oz. fresh mushrooms

1 minced shallot

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley

5 oz. coarsely grated Gruyere cheese

8 oz. julienned rare roast beef (I use the precooked one from trader joes)

2 tbsp. prepared horseradish

2 sheets puff pastry

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water

Sauce:

1/4 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp prepared horseradish

1 clove minced garlic

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in large skillet over medium high heat.

2) Add mushrooms, shallots, and parsley. Saute 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Drain well.

3) Lightly grease rimmed large baking sheet. Toss cheese, beef, horseradish, and mushroom mixture in large bowl to blend. Divide mixture into 6 portions.

4) Place 1 sheet of puff pastry on work surface. Cut into 3 even strips. Spoon 1 portion of filling mixture into center of each strip. Fold up sides on pastry, pinching to seal (do not compress filling).

5) Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet.

6) Brush pastry with beaten egg mixture. Bake until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

7) Meanwhile, prepare sauce: Combine sour cream, horseradish, and garlic; blend well.

Chicken Master

I used to have a big chicken phobia. I was a chicken chicken. It's not that I wouldn't eat chicken - I adore it. It's just that I stuck to the breasts. Boneless and skinless breasts. It doesn't get any easier - all you have to do is cook it and eat. Now it is true you need a knife and fork, but at least you don't have to do any precooking knife work. One of my New Years Resolutions was to be a little more adventurous with chicken - and I have!

Step 1: Cook a whole chicken. Everyone told me it was easy, but I was scared. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. I now love making whole chickens because a little seasoning and throw it in the oven - voila! You don't even need to watch it like baked or stovetop chicken. Perfect.

Step 2: Chicken thighs. Cheaper than breasts and they come in boneless skinless varieties too. Why did I never try them? Because I'm not a huge fan of dark meat. However, I have learned that if you're cutting it up and preparing it as a stirfry, in a sauce, or as tikka masala this is easy to work with and tastes just as good.

Step 3: Cutting up a whole chicken. Notice I saved this for last. This seemed like a daunting task. Especially when I asked for advice and people recommended I buy my chicken already cut up. That's never a good sign. However, I also got a recommendation to use Joy of Cooking or Fanny Farmer. Genius. I completely forgot about Fanny Farmer. When I moved out on my own, my mom tucked this book into one of my boxes and it has been a serious godsend because it covers EVERYTHING including what parts of meats come from where on anuimals adn of course, how to cut up a whole chicken. With pictures! So with a little help from Fanny I went from this:

to this:

I used this cut up chicken to make another popular What's Cooking Dish - Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. The original serves 8, but since there are just 2 of us I cut in in half (I mean you can't really make less than 1 whole chicken) This is some seriously good chicken. It might be my new favorite. Seriously. Warning - it's not a quick dish (Sorry SD and Claire), but it is sooo worth it. The chicken itself is just so flavorful from the roasting with fresh herbs (rosemary and chicken are always a surefire combo). If that's not enough, the sauce is just warm, garlicy and downright amazing. It's such a perfect fall dish because it leaves you (and the kitchen, and your apartment if its as small as mine) all roasty and toasty. Jon went back for seconds which in our household means we have a new winner.

Chicken with 20 cloves of garlic (adapted from Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic)

1 chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
20 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 Tbs. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 Tbs. minced fresh thyme
Zest of 1 lemon
1/8 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room
temperature, cut into pieces


1) Preheat an oven to 400°F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a wide Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the chicken, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

2) Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

3) Add the chicken, rosemary, thyme and lemon zest and stir to combine. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Baste the chicken with the accumulated juices. Continue roasting, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes more.

4) Transfer the chicken to a platter; leave the garlic in the pan. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil.

5) Set the pan over medium heat and mash the garlic with the back of a spoon. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes. Add the stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a sauceboat. Serve the chicken immediately and pass the sauce alongside.

You don't know Monkeybread

This post is dedicated to my favorite monkey. Not because she's sticky and lumpy, but because yesterday she described how she spent her day on the couch and this is really the perfect food for sitting on the couch. Especially if you are aiming to increase the size of your posterior. Growing up, we NEVER had monkeybread. It was a foreign food in my household. However, I had a friend's mother who made monkeybread for every sleepover. I tried to sleep over as often as I could just to get some of its gooey sweetness. And one of the things I learned, is there is no such thing as a single type of monkey bread. Friend's mom would make it with cinnamon, butterscotch, caramel, basically anything she had handy.

Last year Jon came home from work one raving about this dish his coworker brought in. "It's a bunch of little balls all stuck together" My first thought? Croque en bouche or Struffoli. But I was wrong. It was monkeybread he was raving about. He had waited 27 years for his first bite and he was hooked. When he stopped working with this coworker he missed her breakfasts, so I thought I would attempt to make monkeybread at home. Note: I work best when someone isn't hovering over my shoulder pointing out what I'm doing wrong. Note 2: I love my husband but I hate that he feels himself to be an expert in every matter, including things he has never done. Here are some examples:

Example 1: As I'm removing the bread from the pan -
J: I don't think you did it right. It's supposed to be sticky and gooey on the inside, not just the outside.
K: I don't think you need to worry. I dipped every ball in butter before rolling it in sugar. And I'm about to pour sugar overtop of it. Why don't you go watch a movie or something.

Example 2: As its cooling -
J: Umm where's the cinnamon? It's supposed to have cinnamon! I don't see any cinnamon. I don't think this is monkeybread.
K: How many monkeybreads have you had?
J: A lot.
K: And they were all made by the same person using the same recipe over and over right?
J: Yeah
K: Then you don't know monkeybread. It doesn't have to have cinnamon. This one has chocolate. Did the one you had have chocolate?
J: No
K: You like chocolate better than cinnamon right?
J: Yes
K: Then why don't you not worry about it too much, 'kay?

He went to the bedroom around this time to read, which gave me enough time to sniggle a piece of the bread. It was warm, it was sweet, and it was gooey. I'm tempted not to share....or at least not with him. Instead I will send virtual pieces to WeeMo. Snack up!

Orange Monkeybread

1 pkg frozen rolls, thawed
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one orange
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice
chocolate syrup

1) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease bundt cake pan. Roll dough into 24 even balls and set aside.
2) Mix together sugar and orange zest. Dip dough balls in melted butter and roll in sugar.
3) Place dough balls evenly in prepared pan. Let dough rise until doubled in size.
4) Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and invert out of pan and onto serving platter.
5) Mix powdered sugar and juice and drizzle over hot bread.
5) When cool, drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Ham and Jam

I'd love to play "guess that sauce" but the game is sure to fail. First because the title of this post pretty much gives it away. Second because the fun part of the game is tasting the sauce and trying to figure out what it is - something that doesn't translate well in this visual medium. Instead I'll recap the game as it went last night.

J: This pork is really good - is this a ketchup sauce?
K: There's ketchup in it, but I wouldn't call it a ketchup sauce.
J: Well what kind of sauce is it?
K: It's like a blackberry sauce.
J: Really? I'd never have guessed that.

Apparently the mix of steak sauce and ketchup disguises the taste of the blackberry preserves which then become just a way to add sweetness. The whole meal was yummy and I made 3 chops so there's even leftovers for when I finish the million slices of pizza left over from Jon's birthday.

Glazed Pork Chops (from Allrecipes)

• 3 pork loin or rib chops, 3/4-inch thick
• 1/2 cup Blackberry Preserves
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons steak sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  

1. Preheat broiler to High.
2. Broil pork chops 3 to 5 inches from heat for 5 minutes. Turn; broil 5 minutes longer.
3. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Brush pork with sauce. Continue broiling, turning and brushing with sauce, 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until pork is no longer pink in center. Bring remaining sauce to a boil; serve with pork chops.

I'll try anything once....

At least that's how I feel about Food Network chefs. With one notable exception.... I'm willing to try recipes from all the different chefs and if they're good, I'll try another. If it's not good, it goes in the Rachel Ray pile.

Tonight I adapted a recipe by Michael Chiarello. He's the host of Easy Entertaining on the Food Network. This recipe is a surefire winner for company because it is absolutely gorgeous. It's tasty too, but seriously, when I pulled it out of the oven I did a mouth drop. Lovely. I guess that means I'll start looking more seriously at Mikey's recipes and recommending them!! (PS- Mr. Chiarello does not know I call him Mikey......it'll be our little secret)

Prime Rib Eye Steak with Mustard Mozzarella Crust (from Michael Chiarello)

9 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh, roughly chopped thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons creole mustard
2 boneless rib eye steaks
salt and pepper
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese, combined with 1 Tbsp dried basil

1) In a pre-heated saute pan over medium-low heat, pan roast the garlic in olive oil, tossing only once. Allow to brown for 10 minutes. Drain the cloves through a strainer, reserve olive oil. Allow to cool before mashing roughly with fork.

2) Add thyme to garlic paste and mash that in as well. When they are pasty but still chunky, mix in the Dijon mustard.

3) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Preheat a grill to high.

4) Coat steaks with reserved olive oil and season steaks well with salt and pepper. Pound the seasonings in well. Place meat on grill to brown, about 5 minutes each side.

5) Remove steaks from grill, place on a large cookie tray. Cover top generously with garlic mustard. Top with large piles of mozzarella and basil, spreading out to edges carefully with fingers. Place steaks in oven for 8 minutes.

The devil is in the details

Since I share all my cooking triumphs, I may just as well share my cooking trials. Not everything I make turns out as it should. And when things go bad, they go very bad.

But what's a story without some background? As I've often said, I'm not a baker. I actually don't enjoy making cookies very much. If I were a super hero that evil genius that constantly eludes me would be a personified sugar cookie. I have given up on cookie cutter cookies or any sort of "round" shape. I am quite satisfied sticking to drop cookies and sliced cookies. Easy, very nearly fool proof. With this in mind I will share the recipe for "Cookies which will never be made again". Maybe you'll have better luck.

Cookies which will never be made again Cookies

1) While waiting for Thanksgiving dinner, start flipping through latest issue of Cooking Light. Find article on all types of cookies. Think "hmmm maybe the solution lies in here." See tips on making thumbprint cookies. Think "hmmm these looks like fancy drop cookies....I can make these."

2) Decide thumbprint cookies are a great use of leftover jam bits in fridge and leftover pecans from caramel pecan pie.

3) Assemble ingredients:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups AP flour
3 egg whites
2 cups finely chopped pecans
Jam of your choosing (I used strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry)



4)Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

5) Add flour on low speed until well blended.

6) In a small bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. This is where you realize that beating egg whites in a small bowl is a very very bad idea. You realize this right after the egg whites end up ALL over the counter. Place pecans in separate small bowl.


7) Scoop and roll dough into balls. This is where you notice the dough does not stick together. It crumbles, it breaks, you use a few choice curse words as you try to make something of the crumbly dough.

8) Dip ball in egg whites and roll in pecans. The pecans will not stick to the dough balls. You will increase your curse word vocabulary right about here, making up new and exotic phrases.

9)Place balls on prepared baking sheet. Use thumb to make indentation on top of each cookie. This action will cause the cookies to split into multiple pieces, crack, and crumble. You're near tears as you try to form the dough back into some semblance of cookie. You tell your husband you are never making these cookies again so he better enjoy them while he can.

10) Bake cookies 8 minutes. Removed from oven. Spoon teaspoons of jam into indentation of each cookie. Return cookies to oven. Bake 8 minutes more until lightly browned.

11) Remove from oven. Cool on wire rack. Even though you're transferring the cookies with a spatula you will still come into contact with the jam which is 173 degrees and burns the skin on all your fingertips. You begin plotting on how to kill the cookies while running your fingers under cold water. When your husband reaches for a cookie you send him death glances. When he tells you he really likes them you wonder if smothering him in his sleep could reduce your sentence to manslaughter due to provocation.....