I put a poached egg on top of wheat toast (probably better with an English muffin), prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella and tomato. I topped the whole thing with pesto hollandaise. It was terrific.
Most of the recipe is pretty self explanatory, but here is how I made pesto hollandaise:
Combine 1/3 cup non-fat buttermilk, 1/3 cup light mayo, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons pesto. Microwave mixture for about 1 minute (until warm) then stir in 1 teaspoon of butter. (recipe adapted from Cooking Light)
Next time I make this, I'll definitely make it with an English muffin (or if I am in a pinch bread-wise again, I'll only make one slice worth). The pesto hollandaise is wonderful and I am going to have to include it in other recipes.
I took another culinary adventure today. I found this recipe a few days ago and immediately pinned it on Pinterest thinking that I would eventually find the time for it. I spent all week thinking about it so I finally got all the ingredients yesterday and made it!
I didn't really follow the recipe and just kind of guessed based on the pictures. I just added hard boiled egg (discard the yolks) to regular guacamole. It turned out really great. I still have more avocados and might try the recipe to the letter later this week & take it to work for lunch. I will probably forget to post about that so just know that I am thinking about it, haha.
My guac browned a little bit even though I made sure to add lime juice (apparently the acidity is good for flavor as well as keeping it bright green). I ate this with pita chips and eventually just a spoon because it was damn delicious.
Anyways, I tried out this recipe that Courtney showed me to make beer jell-o shots for St. Patricks Day. They turned out really well and were surprisingly very easy to make. I used Harp as the ale - but it would work with just about anything. They tasted pretty great too. You can add whiskey for an extra kick. It was nice to be able to do several and enjoy the flavor without the fear of getting too wasted from the traditional vodka kinda.
Make some beer jello shots for your next party and let me know how it goes in the comments.
My momma was in town this weekend. We went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo on Saturday and I will post about that later, but I wanted to share the breakfast I made this morning for us.
I was inspired to make this after having good success making eggs in avocados. I attempted eggs in onion rings. To make these I first lightly browned one ring of onion then flipped it over and put in the egg. The eggs didn't cook as well as I wanted them to so I ended up flipping them over to finish them off. In the end, I really liked the way it turned out.
I served the eggs with bacon (made in the oven, of course). This didn't turn out so well - the pack of bacon I had was really fatty and it didn't crisp up very well at all. And I finished the meal off with whole wheat toast.
I broke the yolk for my mom.
obviously I jumped the gun and took a bite before the photo, hah!
As I mentioned, I recently bought the fixings for pizza. I didn't really put two and two together until very recently that my pizza inspiration was probably directly influenced by Matt Stopera's coverage of the International Pizza Expo for BuzzFeed.
Anyways... here is what I did:
First, I followed the instructions on the Fresh & Easy brand whole wheat pasta dough package to roll it out and prep it for topping goodness.
Then I topped the dough with yummy things. My pizza had the following: tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, shallots (thinly sliced), tomato slices, baby spinach, prosciutto, oregano, salt & pepper.
Then I brushed the crust with olive oil and cooked it according to the package instructions. It turned out pretty great.
Obviously, the next step was to slice and eat my delicious pizza. I put grated parmesan & red pepper flakes. It was terrific.
This is the second time I have used this dough and my only complaint is that it didn't keep so well. Well, the first time I tried this dough was with other people and we ate the whole thing so I don't actually have evidence to support this being a permanent problem. I do believe that the pizza not being so good leftover was caused in part by the extra moisture caused by my ingredients (tomatoes were very juicy and the mozzarella was moist too). Despite this, I will definitely be making pizza this way again. It was really fun to do and I am excited to try other ingredients. Go try making your own pizza and let me know in the comments what fun topping combos you come up with!
I went grocery shopping today and decided to treat myself to a juicy steak for dinner. I bought a giant steak (for around $5 - no idea what cut or quality... I don't have a refined palate in this regard).
I tried out a cooking method that I never tried before and it was very successful.
Procedure:
First, marinate your steak. I used a bit of worcestershire sauce, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper (this is how my dad always preps steaks). Next, move your oven rack to the highest slot and set your oven to broil on high. Oil up your cast iron skillet and place your meat on it. Put the pan into the oven and cook each side about 4-5 mins (this gave me a medium-rare, but each oven is different - monitor that shit). Be careful not to burn yourself when flipping the steak. I used my thickest oven mitt to slide the rack out and long tongs to flip the meat. Those cast iron skillets get mad hot. Finally, remove from oven & pan, let rest and enjoy!
Sizzle
I finished off my meal with steamed asparagus (seems like I always do, huh... it was on super sale so I have a ton of it) and horseradish sauce (not pictured).
HUGE meat!
It was a very big portion so I am going to slice up the rest and put it on a salad or in a burrito in the next day or so. I was very pleased with how this came out. It is really great to have that hot off the grill sort of vibe for a meal without having to fire up the grill outside in the frigid San Diego weather (it was 75 degrees today...).
I only ate half
Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments.
I made myself a pretty good breakfast this morning so I thought I'd share.
What you need: egg(s), asparagus (steamed, roughly chopped), bacon (cooked & crumbled), tomato (chopped), grated parmesan, salt, pepper, hot sauce (optional).
Procedure: Scramble the first 4 ingredients together, top with the rest. Enjoy!
This is an easy way to use up leftover veggies from the night before. Try it; hope you like it!
I kinda failed at grocery shopping the last time I went - didn't really plan out complete meals. So I have been doing some hackery for my dinners recently. Here is my semi successful creation:
Pretty Good!
I combined chopped, steamed asparagus, wide egg noodles, swedish meatballs and a horseradish-y sauce. For the sauce, I combined light sour cream, prepared horseradish, minced garlic, lemon juice & salt. I love this sauce and make it often (especially for when I grill steak). However, it wasn't quite right for this dish... but whatever. The asparagus and swedish meatballs played well off of each other and I think with the right sauce to bring this all together the dish could be a total success instead of just semi-successful.
Any ideas on what sort of sauce I should make? I suppose next time I could try the sauce that you usually put on a traditional swedish meatballs dish, but it might be nice to mix it up with something different; maybe lemon buttery? Comment with your ideas.
I wanted to have breakfast in bed this morning... but I live alone and no one will make food for me but me - doesn't really work out. So normally when I have this feeling I take myself out to a nice brunch or something, but instead I was ambitious today and made a yummy breakfast. Here are the details -
What you'll need: Avocado, couple eggs, salt, pepper, tin foil and a baking sheet.
the fixings!
Cut the avocado in half, hull out a little bit so the egg will fit, plop in the egg. I placed each half on a little tin foil bed so that it would sit level. Put salt and pepper on top. Cook in the oven til the egg is cooked.
raw!
Maybe next time I'll melt some cheese on top.
cooked!
My final step was to serve with a piece of whole wheat toast and some strawberries.
delicious!
It turned out wonderful. It looks pretty impressive for not a lot of work. And I am such a sucker for warm avocado... YUM. Try it out and let me know how you like it.
On a whim, I purchased Rosemary Focaccia Dough at Fresh & Easy for $1.69. It ended up being mad easy to make and very tasty.
Wrapper McPackaging
The simple instructions are to take out of the package, pat it out into an even blob, put on greased baking sheet, let it rest, dimple with your finger, prick it with a fork, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt & dried herbs (if desired) and bake. Sort of sounds like a lot of work, but really it takes no time at all.
Dimples McDough
My bread came out lop-sided. Not sure why - some magical air bubble or something. Regardless, it tastes great. I am going to feel so fancy making a sandwich with this. Not to mention that it was cheap as heck for the impact it makes on a meal & how much it makes.
Tasty McBread
Overall, I give it high marks and will definitely be getting this again in the future.
Before heading out of a long hike (which I'll write a post on later), I decided to make some imitation Egg McMuffins for the gang.
I tried out a new technique for making the eggs. I cooked them in muffin tins in the oven. This was extremely easy. Basically all you have to do is grease the pan with cooking spray, plop the egg in (breaking the yolk if desired - I did since McDonald's does too) and bake. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper on the top of each one before throwing them in the oven.
easy like Sunday morning
The only downside is that a regular muffin tin ends up making the eggs a little too small for an english muffin. So I skirted this problem by breaking each egg a little so it covered the surface area of the english muffin.
y u so small?
hulk smash!
To finish off the McFakeMuffins, I put one strip of bacon (made in oven) and a cheese slice. I used whole wheat english muffins, low sodium bacon and 2% milk cheese slices. They turned out really well. Next time I will make them with turkey sausage patties.
I was up early this morning so I decided to be ambitious and make a fancy breakfast for myself. I was inspired by this post to try two things - one, baking bacon and two, making it into heart shapes.
Baking bacon is the smartest thing on the planet. Here is what to do:
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Arrange bacon on foil lined sheet. Put into cold oven.
Set temperature for 400 degrees. Go do other shit for about 15-20 mins. Look at it for the last few minutes to know when it is done.
Remove from oven and immediately drain bacon on paper towels.
SO EASY. And hot bacon fat won't pop in your eye like traditional pan frying does. Also, lining with foil makes clean up so simple - you can funnel the bacon fat into a container and save it for later if you want.
HEARTS: This was not so easy. I first tried cutting one strip of bacon in half and arranging it - not so effective. I also tried with full strips of bacon which was a major fail (didn't even picture it). I had mixed success with my final methodology which was to quarter each strip and then arrange into a heart. The meatier parts of the bacon work way better for this so you might want to just take the fattier parts and lay them flat instead of trying to make them into a heart (see how it shrivels in the top left corner of the fail picture).
This would be a nice breakfast in bed/Valentine's Day meal. Try it out. Let me know how it works out!
I have no idea if this will last, but I am going to try to post the meals I make on here. No promises that it will be extra credit with recipes like tonight.
Tonight's menu:
Dill & Garlic Butter Salmon
Green Bean Frites with Lemon Mayo Sauce
Salad with light ranch dressing
my counter looks like sand
To cook:
Salmon - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one 6oz salmon filet (skin side down) on a piece of tin foil big enough to wrap in a pouch. Top filet with 1 teaspoon of butter (I used low fat butter with canola oil) and 1 clove garlic, chopped. Top with 1 sprig of dill and a small drizzle of olive oil. Close up foil into a pouch, bake for 30 mins (or less depending on how non-functional your oven is).
Green Beans - Heat enough oil in a skillet to be about .5 inches deep (I used this Omega 3 vegetable oil Wesson oil stuff I found at Ralphs). Individually dip each green bean into tempura batter (google it:I suggest adding pepper to this). Place a few in the oil - don't overcrowd because they will stick together - bad times. Cook until golden brown. Place on paper towels to sop up the oil then serve with lemon mayo sauce.
Lemon Mayo - Mix a bunch of lemon juice with a little bit of light mayo until it makes a thin sauce (roughly half a lemon to 1/2 tablespoon of mayo - maybe less lemon depending on how juicy the fruit is). Add salt and pepper and whatever else you want to taste. This is sauce is the new crack.
Salad - If you don't know how to make this, we are no longer friends. ALSO, this dressing was not my first choice, but it appears that my roommate used up all my favorite so I used hers for tonight.
The fifth and final part of my Cocktail Hour series has arrived! I will be focusing on flavor, flair and more.
Flavor: There are lots of mixers out there and I am sure you know the usual suspects (like Cola, Fruit Juices and Tonics etc). But there is an emerging market of cocktail mixers which take out the guess work and are quite nifty. There are a variety of flavors like watermelon, passion fruit, grapefruit and apple. You can use them for martinis, margaritas and a variety of other drinks. Don't let the bottle dictate use. Experiment!
Here is an example:
Another flavor that is essential for many classy cocktails is simple syrup. It is way easy to make and you can keep it in a squirt bottle for easy use and storage. Recipe: 2 1/2 cups sugar Full 1 cup water 1/2 lemon, juiced -Combine all 3 ingredients in a nonreactive 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. All the sugar crystals should completely dissolve. Remove from the heat and pour into a clean medium-size bowl. Let cool completely before using. If you are short on time, you can cool the syrup over an ice bath. Simple syrup can be stored in the refrigerator, indefinitely, if kept in an airtight container. - (borrowed from foodnetwork.com) This can be infused with other flavors as well if you want to get crazy.
Flair Garnishes can really be the crowning touch on a really elegant cocktail. It is more than just drinking if you jazz things up with a fancy garnish.
Essentials: Lemon twists, lime wheels, orange wedges, olives, cherries, apple slices, pineapple spikes, and rimmers.
Here are a couple useful videos for getting your garnish just right:
I encourage you to YouTubez tips on creating the perfect bar garnishes. There are about a billion and a half videos that are extremely useful. Thank you internets.
More on Rimmers Margaritas, some martinis and many other cocktails call for the glass to be rimmed. This is when you wet the edge of the glass (with liquor, rind oils, fruit juice, water, whatever) and dip it into sugar, salt or whatever. It is an elegant look and is a step that should not be neglected.
You can buy your own rimmer set, like this one, which allows you to create your own flavored sugars, blend of salts, etc:
Or you can get premade blends of rimmers like this one from Stirrings:
And More There are a zillion other things you can add to your cocktail to really punch up the wow factor. For me, the easiest way is cocktail straws. You can get ones that match the theme of you party or go with classic red or black.
And who can forget umbrellas?!? Super fun and the only way to complete a tropical drink!
At BevMo! the other day, Courtney and I picked up a couple little pamphlets with drink recipes and entertaining guidelines. I didn't read it until today but they have proven incredibly useful and interesting.
They give the following timeline for planning a cocktail party: 4 weeks prior: Send invitations 3 weeks prior: Order party accessories 2 weeks prior: Order specialty ingredients 1 week prior: Order desserts and flowers 2 days prior: Buy non-perishable items and spirits Day before: Pick up flowers and perishable ingredients (remember garnishes and ice) Morning of: Decorate house. Set table and cocktail station. Prepare apperizers and refrigerate. Hour of: Set out appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages and make your signature cocktail. During: PLEASE ENTERTAIN RESPONSIBLY
I have modified this timeline for people like me: 1 week prior: Make facebook event, invite the hell out of people, be sure to mention BYOB because you can't finance everyone's drunkenness. 1 day prior (maybe) or day of: Buy cart load of alcohol at Ralphs, biggest bag of red cups, maybe a bag a chips Hour of: Worry a little that either not enough people will show up to consume all alcohol and think oh well, more for me. OR worry that too many people will show up and your party will soar too high too fast and then think oh well, I will be drunk. During: Entertain and forget all of your responsibilities
And Now For Cocktails I am going to try: Sidecar: 1oz whiskey 2oz sweet and sour mix 1/4 oz Triple Sec Shake & serve over ice.
(Vodka)Sunset: 1.5oz Vodka 3oz Orange Juice Splash Grand Marnier Splash Lemon Lime Soda Shake & serve over ice.
(Gin) Madras 1.5oz Gin 2oz Orange Juice 2oz Cranberry Juice Serve over ice.
(Rum) Pineapple Splash 1.5oz White Rum 4oz Orange Juice Splash Grenadine Serve over ice.
Washington Apple 1oz Whiskey 1/2oz Apple Vodka 2oz Cranberry Juice Serve over ice.
(Vodka) Madras 1.5oz Vodka 3oz Cranberry Juice 1oz Orange Juice Shake & strain into champagne flute.
(Vodka) Diddy 1.5oz Vodka 3oz Lemonade Shake & strain into chilled martini glass.
There are lots more pearls of wisdom in the little pamphlets which I will share later.
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