Started as an attempt to try 52 new recipes in the new year so that Aroy Thai stopped expecting my call every day, now just proof that I don't use Door Dash for every meal...
You've met that guy. Or maybe you are that guy. You know. The one who only wants really basic food, salt and pepper is okay, but don't go crazy with those spices, and forget about going out to any restaurant but a steak house or a pizza place. That guy annoys the crap out of me. But for some reason, yesterday I was that guy. I really just wanted chicken. With mushrooms. And maybe some vegetables. The foodie in me was horrified for seeking out foods that so simple - I should really be challenging my taste buds as well as my culinary knowledge...But as we all know, the heart wants what it wants, and who are we to question it?
Recipe #33: Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli
Recipe #34: Chicken with Thyme Mushroom Sauce
Choice of libation: Beringer Pinot Grigio. In general, I find Beringer to be fine, as in slightly better than 3 buck Chuck. It's crisp and dry enough to cook with, and pleasant enough to drink. Also, $4. So.
Choice of music: The Nat King Cole Trio's "Hit that Jive, Jack." I listen to it at least once a year. I have no idea why, but Nat King Cole's voice has always meant autumn to me. I guess because it's as smooth as a soy chai latte and as comforting as a plum colored pashmina.
Truthfully, I chose this side because I really didn't feel like making a salad. Also because we had garlic I was afraid would go bad, so I minced up a crap ton and tossed it in.
Lemon, garlic and Parmesan are not only great together, but we also happened to already have them in the fridge.
So it turns out I should have gotten thinner pieces or at least pounded them out a little because it messed with the cooking time a bit.
While the chicken baked in the oven, I started on the mushroom sauce. Mushrooms and thyme sweat it out till you add the booze and the other liquids.
"With enough butter, anything is good." - Julia Child. And, now, me.
The acidity of the lemon on the garlic-parm broccoli and cauliflower really did balance the richness of the thyme mushroom sauce on the chicken. I was actually really pleased.
But here is a prettier picture of what the chicken is supposed to look like, stolen from the website I got the recipe from. I figured you deserved to see what it looked like without the awful yellow tint from my kitchen lighting.
5 cups broccoli and cauliflower florets
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
lemon juice
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
generous handful of Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 425 and grease a baking sheet
In a large bowl, mix the florets, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper
Spread the bowl's contents onto the baking sheet
Sprinkle with juice of 1 lemon and a handful of cheese
Bake for 15 minutes
stolen and adapted from www.droolworthydaily.com/
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs (just make sure they're not too thick)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 400F.
Season chicken breast with garlic salt and pepper. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and thyme; saute for 4 minutes or until mushrooms are slightly browned.
Stir in wine, broth, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes or until sauce starts to bubble and thicken.
Remove from heat; add butter, stirring until butter melts.
Pour mushroom mixture over the chicken and return to the oven; bake for another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. (I actually had to bake for 15-18 minutes, but it didn't dry out...)
It's autumn, y'all. And like many a girl from Seattle (where it is perpetual autumn), I love this season. Not only because my closet consists mainly of boots, sweaters, and adorable light jackets, but because the flavours associated with fall are just drool-worthy -- pumpkin spice lattes, curried butternut squash soups, and glorious apple everything. Ooh. Especially apple with caramel. Ooh especially salted caramel with apple. Yes? YES.
Recipe #32: Salted Caramel Apple French Toast Casserole
Choice of libation: Chad, who makes excellent beer, has never made a cider before. This one does not disappoint. Crafted in time for the opening of the show "Isaac's Eye" at Writers Theatre, it was aptly named "Isaac's Cider." I hate it when hard cider just tastes like apple juice, and this one doesn't. You can tell it's a little boozy and because he added some ginger, there's a little bite to it.
Choice of music: Food, Kelis's amazing new album. Of course I would love it. It's a lot of throwback R&B soul. AND IT'S CALLED "FOOD." I have rotating favorite tracks on this album, but right now, I'm jamming on the first two, "Breakfast" and "Jerk Ribs."
Spiced rum obviously goes with all those fall flavours. Also, the recipe called for it. Well. Vanilla extract. But whatevs.
I tend to like my french toast really cinnamon-y, so I actually put a lot more in than the recipe calls for. Ditto for the nutmeg.
Make sure that each bit of the bread is soaking up some liquid before you put in the fridge overnight.
You don't want no dry french toast casserole.
There. That's better. It looks gross, but in the morning, you will be not be sorry.
The cool thing about this recipe is that you can do most of the work the night before, so that if you're, say, hosting an all day marathon of Lifetime movies at your house and you'd rather not spend the whole morning in the kitchen, aside from a few simple steps, all you have to do that day is pop it in the oven!
And here is a picture of badly diced apples.
Oh, did I mention, YOU GET TO MAKE YOUR OWN CARAMEL SAUCE?
Yeah. Good morning.
\
Then you stir those badly diced apples into that caramel sauce. And your kitchen will smell divine.
Now. You could just sit around and do nothing while you wait for the glorious casserole to bake.
OR. You could do something productive and educational, like ask your hilarious and adorable friends to read aloud excerpts from Tori Spelling's memoir, "Unchartered TerriTORI." While I don't have video of that, I do have a clip of Tori Spelling in the Lifetime movie, "Death of a Cheerleader."
Yeah, that was Becca from "Life Goes On." BACK OFF, MONICA.
But back to the reason all of us are here. I did mean to take a picture of the casserole, all pretty on a plate, but we kind of ate all of it before I could do that. Needless to say, you should probably make this for your next fall brunch. Caramel, sea salt, apples, carbs, rum...YES.
stolen then adapted from www.ambitiouskitchen.com
1 1/2 pound of cinnamon bread, cut into 1 inch slices
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 medium apples (I used golden delicious), peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 eggs
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (OR SPICED RUM, and maybe 4 tablespoons...)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (though I put in 2 teaspoons, and I wasn't sorry about it)
pinch of nutmeg
Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together almond milk, maple syrup, "vanilla", eggs, egg whites, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour egg mixture over the bread, making sure to soak each cube. If there are some dry pieces, simply press them down a bit to soak up some of the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Once ready to bake, place small saucepan over low heat and add brown sugar, butter and maple syrup; whisk occasionally until butter is melted and combined with sugar. Add salt and diced apples to caramel and stir to combine. Drizzle apple caramel mixture all over bread cubes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top of the french toast bake is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes then cut into 12 servings. Serve with warm maple syrup.
I know how terrible these past few weeks have been for you, the three people who read this blog, and for that I am truly sorry and offer only my profoundest apologies and vodka wishes with vodka cream sauce dreams. Truth be told, I well never turn down pasta. And I will seldom turn down vodka. So it's shocking that I have really only dreamed of making a vodka sauce, and now, with a high dosage of strong cough syrup, a nice glass of red, and you three blog followers cheering me on, I have made my dream a reality...
Recipe #31: Pasta with Creamy Vodka Sauce
Choice of libation: Castaño Monastrell. We mainly bought it because nothing on the label sounded familiar to us, but we typically enjoy Spanish wines. Also. $7.99 before tax. Turns out it is a cuvee made from 100% Monastrell vines. Very smooth finish, and the same subtle fruit and complexity that a lot of Spanish wines have. It'll pair well with a lot of things.
Choice of music: Bishop Allen's Lights Out, is as delightful as every other one of their albums. Melodic with a driving beat, it also pairs well with lots of things.
Okay, okay. First thing's first. DO WE HAVE ENOUGH VODKA? Yes. I think so.
I really didn't feel like making a salad to go with this, so I thought I'd add vegetables INTO the pasta. Look. I hadn't cooked in like a month. I'd gotten lazy
I got the biggest and cheapest can of crushed tomatoes I could find.
Nothing but the best for this vodka sauce.
This is it when all starts to come together. There's nothing like that beautiful pink color signifying a good amount of heavy cream in your pasta sauce. Yummm.
Oh, look guys. Basil! More greens...Everybody now, "IT'S BASICALLY A SALAD!"
And of course. Calcium. According to the recipe, I did this too soon. But I just couldn't wait.
You guys.
Simple? Yes. Delicious. YES.
Make this sauce because it's good.
AND. There will be leftover vodka.
stolen then adapted from food.com
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti, cooked aldente
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 pinch hot pepper flakes
3/4 cup vodka
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Pour the olive oil into the pan and add the onions, zucchini and garlic.
Turn on the heat to medium-low and gently cook for a few minutes.
Add the red pepper flakes cook 1 minute add crushed tomatoes.
Raise the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the vodka and a pinch of salt and pepper simmer uncovered for about 8 minutes over medium-low heat.
Add the cream and lower the heat, add drained pasta and toss in basil.
Stir to coat well and grate a generous amount of parmesan into the pasta
Serve immediately sprinkled with more parmesan, and red pepper flakes.
When I was in college I had a horrible job working as a check out clerk at a bougie market in Fremont. I had the late shift and would often come home hangry and grumpy and hateful of people. Luckily for my roommates, they were all asleep by the time I came home and I could just make giant pots of chicken curry in peace until 3:00am. It is oddly therapeutic. The curry chicken I made as a 19 year old insomniac was pretty simple and based on the cheapest ingredients I could get at the store. Amazingly enough college student check out clerks are not millionaires. The following is a slightly more interesting recipe.
Recipe #30: Thai Chicken Curry with Cauliflower Rice
Choice of libation: Remember the makers of Sex? I mean, the sparkling winery, L. Mawby, guys. Well, they have a great sparkling wine called Sandpiper that you can only get in person at their tasting room in Michigan, that's dry but really flavorful. Sparkling in general pairs really well with curry. Also it was only $10. Also it was the only booze we had in the fridge.
Choice of music: Celine Dion's Falling Into You. This was one of the first CD's I ever bought. No shame. I learned two things, re-listening to this album - 1) Make fun of her all you want, but that lady has the vocal range of a piano. 2) You are not always emotionally prepared to hear a 6 minute (on the album it's an 8 minute) version of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." I am not joking.
Don't say I didn't warn you...
Is it all coming back to you...now?
I know, I know, imperfect knife skills, bla bla bla...At least when I was chopping the onions, I could cry to the lyrics, "Every sigh in the night, every tear that you cry...seduces me."
What the crap am I looking at, Emjoy? First of all, watch your language. Secondly, this is just the onions and ginger sauteed with the massive amount of curry.
The recipe didn't specify what parts of the chicken to use, so I took that to mean "cheapest parts you can find at Mariano's," in this case, chicken tenders and drumsticks.
I couldn't find lemongrass, but I actually really liked what the lime juice did to the flavours.
OKAY FINE, CHAD. Flavors.
We also didn't have normal chili powder but we DID have chipotle chili powder. Happy accident! I liked its smokiness.
I've never added tomatoes to a curry, but I liked what it did to the color. Of course with this kitchen lighting, everything looks orange no matter what.
While the curry was simmering I started on the garlic "rice." You might remember me using this method when I made the cauliflower fried rice. I started by frying up some minced garlic.
Then ran cauliflower bits through the food processor, then added it to the garlic on the stove for 4 or 5 minutes.
It may not look like very much, but man alive, folks. It's really good. Lots of intense flavors and I will definitely be making this again.
And because I don't really have a clever outro to this blog entry, here is the video for that weird Town and Country mom van commercial Celine did ten years ago. Please enjoy.
Adapted from http://shiftctrlart.com/
Thai Curry Chicken Casserole (it was originally Thai curry cashew chicken, but I forgot to get cashews...oops)
1.2 lbs chicken - add more chicken if you love more meat.
3 medium apples, diced
1/2 onion, diced - I dice up the whole onion, then freeze the other half and use it next time I need some onions.
4 cloves of garlic, minced
(I added minced ginger, about 2 tablespoons)
1 stick of lemon grass, minced - or squeeze a lime if you are fresh out of lemon grass
2 tbsp yellow curry powder
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili - good amount if kids will be eating it, otherwise add more for more spice
salt, pepper to taste
1 carton of Pomi diced tomatoes or similar
1 can of coconut milk - read label. They are not all equally good.I like and use this one.
Mince, dice and chop ingredients.
In some oil, fry the onions (and ginger) with the curry powder.
Add chicken and salt and pepper and turn until almost all white. Don't over cook it. Some raw is ok at this point. Then the chicken won't come out dry.
Add apples, garlic, lemon grass (or lime) and the rest of the spices.
Cook for a little bit, then add tomato. And coconut milk.
Let simmer under a lid on low for 20 minutes. Taste. If it tastes "like nothing", add more salt and pepper. It will bring out the flavors of the other spices. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Serve over rice, or my favorite, keep it Paleo and serve it over fried cauliflower rice.
This blog took a longer time because I had to combine pictures from my phone, my camera, my brother's phone and his camera and shots from the great Jennifer Glasse's instagram. Jenn is a fellow "food enthusiast" who jumped at the chance to help make a birthday cake for Bobby. Because of our love of chocolate and Julia Child, the idea of baking her famous chocolate almond cake seemed both necessary and terrifying. But a brother only turns 21 once. Even though, oddly enough, his sister continues to turn 25, year after year.
Recipe #29: Julia Child's "Queen of Sheba" Chocolate Almond Cake
Choice of libation: For Jenn and myself, La Granja Tempranillo ($4! Smooth!), for Chad, Short's Brewery Huma Lupa Licious (Michigan! Delightful hops!), for Bobby, milk (...).
Choice of music: Chocolate cake wasn't gift enough. Oh no. We gave him the gift of T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli since he'd never heard them before. Try to reserve your judgement - he was born the year before CrazySexyCool came out. You may now dissolve into tears. Or Waterfalls, if you will.
The most important thing about this (and probably all Julia Child recipes) is that you don't veer too far away from the actual recipe. Don't let our smiles in this picture fool you, we were both terrified of disappointing Julia. But we were both still more adorable than Amy Adams in that one movie. You know. American Hustle.
Here is one of the only times I actually contributed to the making of this cake. I buttered and floured the cake pan. Jenn was very patient with me.
The recipe calls for rum OR coffee. We laughed and figured that was a mistake.
Jenn combining the wet and dry ingredients like a champ
This was the part where we had to alternate adding the egg white and flour mixtures until everything was incorporated. These are our pleasant concentrating faces.
Me: But Jenn, we already sifted the flour...
Jenn: The recipe asks us to do it again. This will make it smooth.
You don't want to skip this step.
Me: Oh.
Is it done? When is it done? Is it done now? HOW ABOUT NOW???
So we had to wait awhile, even after the cake came out, it had to cool for two hours. TWO HOURS??? WHAT EVER WILL WE DO TO PASS THE TIME?! Oh, here's this television movie about TLC I had recorded on my DVR. Perfect. Honestly, the similarities were sometimes eerie. And sometimes a bit of a stretch. But I've seen worse TV movies. Much much worse.
This will seem like it's taking forever, but I promise you it's worth it. Once the cake is cooled you can start on the icing...
Yes. Rum. Coffee. Chocolate. More butter.
Everyone, try not to drool into the cake.
You'd think that after all that, we'd dive right into eating. But no.
This is 2014.
We took about 20 minutes taking pictures of the cake, and taking pictures of each other taking pictures of the cake. Seriously.
Jenn: Oh, Bobby. You HAVE to stand on this chair and take the picture from this angle.
Me: Bobby, aren't you going to eat the cake?
Bobby: Wait! Take a picture of me eating the cake!
Here is a picture of Bobby eating the cake.
Here is a picture of Jenn eating the cake.
(There is no picture of me eating the cake.
Because I inhaled it in a corner without anyone seeing.
It was...Unpretty.)
The final step is to "press a design of almonds" over the icing, which we did, even though Jenn is allergic to almonds. Bobby and I generously ate the side of the cake that had almonds on it. Because we're good people.
Oh man. You guys. I mean, I will eat other chocolate cakes. And I will make other chocolate cakes. But, oh, Chocolate Almond Cake. I am Diggin on You.
Stolen from
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat
(Chocolate and Almond Cake with Chocolate Icing)
This extremely good chocolate cake is baked so that its center remains slightly underdone; overcooked, the cake loses its special creamy quality. It is covered with a chocolate-butter icing, and decorated with almonds. Because of its creamy center it needs no filling. It can be made by starting out with a beating of egg yolks and sugar, then proceeding with the rest of the ingredients. But because the chocolate and the almonds make a batter so stiff it is difficult to fold in the egg whites, we have chosen another method, that of creaming together the butter and sugar, and then incorporating the remaining items.
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate melted with 2 Tb rum or coffee
1/4 lb. or 1 stick softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
2/3 cup pulverized almonds
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cake flour (scooped and leveled) turned into a sifter
For the Icing:
2 ounces (2 squares) semisweet baking chocolate
2 Tb rum or coffee (*shh! we did 1 tb rum and 1 tb espresso)
5 to 6 Tb unsalted butter
Equipment:
A round cake pan 8 inches in diameter and 1-1/2 inches deep
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wooden spoon or an electric beater
A rubber spatula
A cake rack
A small covered pan
A larger pan of almost simmering water
A wooden spoon
A bowl with a tray of ice cubes and water to cover them
A small flexible-blade metal spatula or a table knife
Instructions:
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.
Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.
Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2-1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.
For the Icing:
Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in the small pan, cover, and set in the larger pan of almost simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife, and press a design of almonds over the icing.
