Sunday, October 25, 2009

Cooking? Yes!

I have been cooking, and there is a photo on my camera of the Pork Chops with mustard-leek sauce.
Then the camera decided it wanted new batteries.
I did not purchase a camera that needs actual batteries - it was kind of a surprise gift when we bought a printer at an auction.
And my real camera broke so that is all I have...

So when I went to take a photo of the freaking delicious Chicken Parmesean Friday - no go.

Tonight is chicken and dumplings. I have to get new batteries ASAP because today is puppy halloween and I made costumes!

So - more pictures soon.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Nice Link!

While reading Real Simple magazine, there was a page with cool links on it. One struck my fancy and I visited it. It's called Straightupheadlines.com. You can click on gossip, fashion, politics, etc. But there is also a Foodie link!

Click HERE!

Best. Meal. EVER

I think I concocted the best meal ever last night.

New York Strip with sauteed green beans and roasted new potatoes with carmelized onions and a camambert cheese sauce.

Are you ready?

First thing - preheat oven to 400 degrees for the potatoes. I will say this meal was easy because I have 2 ovens..
Coat potatoes in oil and a little salt and pepper - roast about 45 minutes.

Once the potatoes are in, you can start prepping the cheese. This cheese comes in a wheel. Open the cheese and then place it back in the little wood container (without the plastic around it..) Cut a chunk out of the top of the wheel and discard that chunk (or eat it...)
Thinly slice 2 cloves of garlic and put them on the cheese. Pull some rosemary leaves off the stalk and drop those on there as well. Coat with a good drizzle of olive oil. Toss a little salt and pepper on there as well.
Bake on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes or so, until warm and gooey. 350 is better, but i don't think 400 would be a big deal. if so... you could just add cooking time to your potatoes at 350 and all is well.
Oh heck yeah.

Once your hubby places the steaks on the grill, get the onions going. Throw about 3 tablespoons or so (or so!!) into a skillet. Once melted, add 1 large onion, sliced thin. Let it sit and don't stir too much so that you get nice brown-ish onions. Once finished, remove to a plate and save the buttery skillet. (at this point i had the potatoes out resting so i just threw the onions on the potatoes... just a side note)

Toss some green beans (i confess i used frozen but they were great) in the hot skillet and sautee around until crispy. Salt and pepper as you wish.

About the times the steaks come off, the cheese and potatoes can come out of the oven to sit so you don't burn your dang mouth when you eat!.

Smash the potatoes a little bit.

On the plate - put a good scoop of the smashed potatoes, a generous helping of onions, and the scoop some of that evil cheese out on top.

Like so:
We ate this with a bottle of Brazin Red Zin. Lee made noises I have never heard as he ate the potatoes. Devine.

A new addition to the kitchen is my old-timey veggie basket. This was a great way to get the bowl of veggies off my butcher block.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Fall Cooking

This weekend was awesome. Friday afternoon we got a cool front that has kept it about 65 all weekend. The windows were open in the house all weekend to let the cool air in.
Last night I made chili. "Lee's Chili" to be exact. It was wonderful.
But tonight I pulled out all the stops.
Chicken Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit topping and Apple Crisp for dessert.
The recipe for the pot pie is in my American Classics cook book (i talked about it here) Page 175.I used a rotisserie chicken and added a little leeks in with the onion. I made the bacon and corn version. Get the book! You'll love it!
As for the apple crisp, I don't remember where i got the recipe but I am sure any Paula Dean or Bsrefoot Contessa version would do...I won't be cooking this week because... I will be in MEXICO!
Toodaloo!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tuesday, Sunday, and Monday

Last week is a blur. It took me a moment to figure out when I made chicken and veggies. Really?
Ok so let's assume that was Tuesday night. I basically took my big dutch oven, put veggies in the bottom and a whole chicken on top. Then put it in the oven and baked it for about an hour and 1/2.
It was tasty but since i didn't do it in the roasting pan like I normally do - it wasn't as crispy. So - lesson learned.
I am not so good at photographing food....
Next up, Sunday night - super easy meal. I was worn out from my exam on Friday and Saturday, then we went to the Texans Game on Sunday - so dinner was not about to be fancy.
We picked up some marinated chicken from HEB, pesto, and pasta.
While Lee grilled the chicken I mixed some pesto with some milk in a sauce pan. While that came to a simmer I mixed a little butter, flour, and milk in a measuring cup to make a roux to thicken the sauce.
This was really yummy and earthy.
Then last night, I had dinner going in the crock pot. A long time ago, the crock pot was my favorite appliance. Nowadays... not so much. This thing will cook the bejesus out of everything. I even came home at lunch so that the food wouldn't be going from 7am to 7pm. Still, even 7 hours of cooking was enough to make the chicken dry. :(
Otherwise, it's a great meal. Maybe try chicken thighs over breasts since they have a little more fat to hold in moisture.
Italian Chicken over Pasta:

12oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts/thighs
1 9oz package Italian green beans (I can't ever find these, I like to use frozen French green beans because they are thin and mix well with the pasta later)
1 cup fresh mushrooms (i use frozen, quartered - but you can use fresh too..)
1 small onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 14oz can Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1 6oz can Italian tomato paste
1 teaspoon (or more!) Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz fettuccine, cooked and drained
Shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Cut chicken in to 1 inch pieces, set aside.
2. place green beans, mushrooms, and onion in slow cooker. top with chicken.
3. in a bowl, mix tomatoes, paste, and seasonings. pour over chicken

Cook: High - 2.5 hours, Low 5 hours.

Cook and drain fettuccine. Serve chicken mixture on top of noodles, sprinkle with cheese.