Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice

I was looking online for a rice, sausage, and beans dish and stumbled upon a Dirty Rice recipe by the Neelys on Food Network. It looked easy, quick, and I had all the ingredients. But I’m sure you noticed that I have to add my own touch to recipes. The Neelys’ recipe didn’t have beans and I switched out a few of the ingredients. Instead of the pork sausage they used, I used buffalo hot dogs from Lakevew Buffalo Farm. I tried the hot dogs earlier in the summer and really liked them; they’re more like brats or sausages than hot dogs and a lot healthier too, probably. Here is what I had.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice
2.5 cups of stock (2 cups for the rice and .5 cups or so for the “sauce”)
1/2 large onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (large, finely diced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
2 buffalo hot dogs
1 can of black beans
greens, scallions (optional, for garnish; I used a bunch of cilantro)
Olive oil, salt, pepper, ground chipotle, ground cumin to taste

Steps:
1. Cook the rice according to directions, substituting the chicken stock for water
2. Slice the sausage on the diagonal and brown in a bit of olive oil. Regulate the amount of oil based on how much fat is in the sausage.
3. Once the sausage is browned, add the onion and brown it. Then add garlic.
4. Add the bell pepper. If there is no liquid in the pan, add a little bit of the stock. Cover with a lid and let cook for about 5 minutes or till the pepper is crisp-tender.
5. Add the beans and spices.
6. Add the rice to the sausage mixture.
7. Add greens (optional).

Sausage, beans, bell pepper

Dirty Rice is Done!

Roasted Salad

Roasted Salad

I am so thrilled that it’s finally summer, but it seems I can’t give up my oven. Though I do have a grill, it’s an electric one. My local fire department does not allow grilling on balconies. But I still love summer veggies and have a tendency to buy too much. So, today, I decided to put some of those veggies to good use and make a salad. Since roasting is so easy and brings out the flavor so much, I decided to sacrifice personal comfort in my caricature-worthy tiny kitchen for the benefit of the salad.

Ingredients:
3 bell peppers (I used red, orange, and yellow)
1 bunch of asparagus
1/2 red onion diced
1 tb basil
Salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar to taste

Steps:
1. Cut up the peppers in large chunks and clean the asparagus
2. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Roast to your desired doneness at 425 degrees; I roasted the asparagus for about 5-6 minutes and peppers for about 15-20.
4. When the veggies cool, dress with a little bit of balsamic vinegar.
5. Add the diced onion.
6. Sprinkle with a little bit of basil

Roasted Salad Detail

Voila! Ready to serve.

Grilled Chicken

This is one of my favorite and easiest recipes. It also happens to be very frequently requested. The important part is not to skimp on the seasonings or the time it takes to marinate. It’s best to let the chicken sit in the spices for about 24 hours, or even longer, but even overnight will be good. This keeps well in the fridge for a few days, and travels well in a cooler if you’re going tailgating or to a grill-out somewhere.  This even works on an electric grill.  But a real grill (the kind with actual flames), or an oven, work much better.  Though, the chicken was just as tender as if it were on a real grill or in the oven.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Chicken legs, as many as you want. Clean it as you would normally.
Spices (salt; I also use the following blends from Penzey’s: Tandoori, Southwest, Northwest; or you can use your favorite chicken rub/seasoning blend).

Steps:
1. After you clean the chicken, pull back (but don’t remove) the skin. Sprinkle the seasoning liberally. Pull the skin back to cover the seasoning.
2. Season the outside of the chicken leg.
3. Place into a container and into the fridge for about a day. The longer it sits, the better it will be.
4. Grill using your favorite method.

*IMPORTANT NOTE*
DON’T MIX THE SEAONINGS. Each leg gets its own blend. For example: one leg gets Tandoori, another leg gets Northwest. Don’t mix Northwest with Tandoori; it will taste nasty.

Season Outside

Season Inside

Grilled Chicken

Grilling

Tomato and Spinach Soup

Tomato-Spinach Soup

This was a completely unexpected and impromptu soup. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m not much into soup since I have so few soup recipes. But this just came together suddenly, since I didn’t even get into to the kitchen until about 8 in the evening. What can I say, I was bored so I started cooking. I had some things I wanted to use up before they go bad and wanted something easy, light, healthy, and packed with nutrients. And since I’m fond of throwing a bunch of stuff in one pot and seeing what develops, I got a really yummy soup that is perfect for this cold and rainy weather. I hope, one of these days we’ll have spring.

Ingredients:
1 (1lb) jar of tomato sauce
2 bell peppers (red and yellow, or whatever you want)
1 large onion
1/2 lb carrots
1/2 cup of brown rice (optional)
1 lb spinach
Water (at least as much as the tomato sauce; I used two times the tomato sauce)
basil
bay leaves (optional; I used a few small ones)
Spices (salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, corriander, paprika, Pensey’s Chile Con Carne, Pensey’s Sweet Curry)

Steps:
1. Saute the onion and bell peppers. Season a little bit.
2. Heat the tomato sauce in a pan (I used a 3.5 QT pan). Add water (as much as you used for the tomato sauce. I just used the empty jar of sauce).
3. Add the sauted vegetables and cook a few minutes.
4. Add brown rice, if using and carrots.
5. Add spinach.
6. Add the rest of the water and bay leaves.
7. Add the spices, whichever you are using, and basil.

Tomato Soup ingredients

Tomato soup and veggies

Tomato soup and spinach

Asparagus

Asparagus

I didn’t grow up eating asparagus and it always looked a little scary in restaurants. You know the kind, an unnatural green, bizarely sagging, mushy spears. Yuck. Not knowing how to cook it, I’ve resisted it for a long time, but finally gave it a try. Turns out, I like it. A lot. I’ve roasted it a few times, but I was in an experimenting mood today. What you see is what I came up with.

Ingredients:
1 lb asparagus
1-3 tb of olive oil,
1-2 tb of anchovy paste
3-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
a pinch of chipotle pepper (optional)

Steps:
1. Heat the minced garlic in the olive oil on low heat, until it’s fragrant.
2. Add the anchovy paste and try to dissolve it. It probably won’t dissolve completely at this point, and that’s OK. It will with the asparagus.
3. Add asparagus (and chipotle pepper, if using) and turn up the heat to high. Cook for a few minutes stirring all the time, until crisp-tender.

I served it with baked salmon. If you’re worried about tasting anchovies, don’t. All you taste is the smoky, velvety taste of something. Can’t quite put your finger on it, but definitely no fishy taste. And my choice of serving it with salmon was great. It worked out well.

I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow. Who wouldn’t want this even as leftovers?!

Asparagus cooking

Finished Asparagus

Salmon and Asparagus

Shrimp and Pasta

Shrimp and Pasta

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve posted a recipe. Not because I haven’t cooked, but because I’ve been so busy. But tonight, amazingly enough I had enough energy to go to the grocery store, get some groceries, and actually cook the food today. But like any busy woman, I want something quick, effortless, and most importantly, delicious. So here is what I came up with today.

Seasoned Shrimp

Vegetables in the Pan

All ingredients in the pan

 
 
 
 
Ingredients:
10 oz package of shredded carrots (I used about half)
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 red bell peppers (sliced)
rice pasta (gluten-free pasta; a handful or so)
shrimp
asparagus (a handful or so)
olive oil (as needed)
1/4 cup or so of white wine
salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, chipotle powder

Steps:
1. Heat olive oil in the bottom of a heavy pan. Once the oil is hot enough, drop in the veggies (though, you might want to drop in asparagus close to the end, so it’s not too mushy).
2. My package of this rice pasta indicated that it takes 5 minutes to cook, so I started the water water for it in a separate pot.
3. Season the shrimp before adding it to the pan. I seasoned the shrimp right in the collander where I defrosted them. For the seasoning, I used salt, freshly ground black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and chipotle pepper powder. All to taste, of course. Then, add to the pan.
4. Add the wine, close the lid, and let steam for about 5 minutes.
5. When the pasta is ready and shrimp is cooked, add the pasta to the pan and toss everything together.

Dig In!

Puff Pastry Dessert

Puff Pastry Dessert

Writing this blog entry takes longer than it takes to make this delicious dessert. I saw this on FoodNetwork, but there was no oven temperature and no duration listed, so I’ve been experimenting for a few weeks. It was a hit at work when I brought them in. Here is what I came up with (mostly inspired by Sunny Anderson’s recipe on FoodNetwork).

Ingredients for Dessert

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry (I used two)
2-4 tablespoons of fruit jam (I use apricot and strawberry; one for each sheet)
1 egg for the egg wash
Powdered sugar (optional)

Steps:
Thaw the dough according the packaging
Microwave the fruit jam for about 20 seconds

1. Open the dough and straighten it out (if you bought the same dough as I did, it will be folded into 3, like a piece of paper).
2. Spread the jam evenly, so as not to have too many clumps
3. Roll the opposite ends of the dough so they meet in the middle (start from the sides that are opposite the lines folding).  Flip the dough with the seam down.
4. Cut into 12-15 pieces.  If you cut it into 15 pieces, chances are that they pieces will fall and won’t look pretty and they will ooze.
5. Brush with the egg wash
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the cut pieces on parchment paper and place into the oven for about 15 minutes. Space them a few inches apart.  If they’re too close, like in the picture, they’ll get stuck together when they puff up.  Not really pretty but still tasty.
7. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spread Jam on Dough

Rolling Dough - Step 3

Rolled Dough with Jam - Step 3

Too Close and Too Thin

Not too pretty

Scrumptious!

Oven “Fries” / Steak Fries / Baked Potatoes

In the last few years I have developed a real appreciation for the potato.  I never liked it when I was growing up, but I think it’s because it was mainly found in soups, all mushy and in various states of disintegration; or it was pan fried.  Turns out I don’t really like the greasy texture of the fried potato, all crunchy on the outside and mealy on the inside.

But I started experimenting with a few varieties and a few recipes.  Here is an easy, quick, and healthy alternative to fries.

Ingredients:
1 lb of Yukon Gold potatoes
1 bottle of your favorite steak seasoning (I use McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning)
1 TB of olive oil
1 Gallon plastic bag

Steps:
1. Peal the potatoes.
2. Cut into wedges of roughly equal size, so they cook evenly.
3. Place potatoes into the plastic bag with the olive oil. Shake the potatoes to coat with the oil.
4. Place the oiled potatoes on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the steak seasoning to taste.
5. Place into a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they’re done.

Golden delisiousness

Seafood Salad

I love this salad. It’s easy, quick, and healthy, despite the mayo. I used the mayo that’s made with olive oil, a good fat that we need. As for the crab meat, I use the imitation kind because it’s cheaper. I’m sure the real thing would be better, but if made in the proportion below can serve as a nice addition to any appetizer table and server about 10.

Ingredients:
2 packets of Imitation crab meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 packets of tiny shrimp
6 scallions, finely cut
4-6 TBSP of mayo, just enough to coat everything, but not to drown it.
2 hard boiled eggs, grated

Steps:
1. Mix everything in a bowl
2. Serve