pork chops, brussels sprouts, and a tomato mozzarella salad

So I finally picked up some of the bags at Hyvee. Yay me!

I went to hyvee to pick up stuff for dinner and ended up getting nothing I had planned. I started craving brussels sprouts -- cause they're delicious!! I don't usually cook pork chops - that's hubby's thing - but I thought what the hell. And to finish the meal, I decided to make a mozzarella tomato salad... On our minimoon in St. Louis, we went to this AMAZING restaurant called Mosaic and had an amazing tomato and mozzarella concoction.. since then, I've lusted for it! (And just about everything else we had there). If in St. Louis, GO TO MOSAIC!! and Espresso Mod.... so amazing.. anyhoo!!

The brussels sprouts just require 1/2 a stick of butter, 1 pound of brussels sprouts, and salt. I did the same thing as the first time, from Jason Cooks. First you have to slice the sprouts into thin disks which will mostly fall apart into shreds.


They're so pretty! Next, you're going to just brown the butter in a big skillet. Once it's nice and golden, add the sprouts and coat them in the butter. Cook over medium heat until tender - to your liking. Salt to taste.


Deliciousness. Now, don't cook the sprouts to the point of mushiness. They should be tender, but firm. And did I mention delicious?


So... I loved the caramelized onions on my portabello salad last week, and I wanted to do something with them again. I sliced the onions into circles and about 1/4 of a red bell pepper into thin strips. While those sauteed, I placed the tomato slices (2 for each of us) on an olive-oiled baking sheet and broiled them just until they were nice and warm. Once everything was ready, I overlapped the tomatoes then sprinkled them with balsamic vinegar. Next, I sprinkled a little mozzarella on top of the tomatoes -- because I'm too poor for high quality mozzarella -- then piled on some of the onions and bell peppers.

I also prepared some pork loin chops. First I gave the chops a little pounding with the meat tenderizer, then I cut little slits into the meat. I then stuffed about 1/3 of a garlic clove in each slit. Next came a healthy peppering of Chachere's which I rubbed in, then covered with ground pepper. I only did this on one side; both sides would be too much. I quickly seared each side, then turned the heat to a medium low and cooked them for about 15 minutes .. until they were 170F. Hubby LOVED them, and rarely do I use enough Chachere's to satisfy him. Perhaps I should start rating meals based on how much Chachere's he adds. If that is the case, this meal ROCKED. It was simply but tasty.

Also at hyvee, blood oranges. I bought two; they were my first. I felt so much anticipation while peeling the orange, and the color did NOT disappoint. The flavor did a little; I expected something more pungent and exotic...

Grandma's Peach Cobbler

It hasn't been the best of days..I've nursed a headache most of the day and have generally just been grumpy for various reasons. So, after the lack of proper ingredients last night, I went to the store so I could make some peach cobbler today.


The recipe is my grandma's, but honestly I don't really ever remember her making any.. it's always my mom who makes it. I was surprised by the simplicity of the recipe the first time I made it; the hard part is knowing when it has baked to your liking. Some people like it gooey (Grandma), while others like it nicely baked through (Mom and me).

This definitely isn't a low-cal, low-fat recipe, but if you're hankerin' for something sweet, delicious, and EASY give this a try. It won't disappoint.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup white, granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick butter, melted
1 can peaches, mostly drained (if the peaches aren't drained, the cobbler will be runny)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk.


Don't worry if the batter (?) is a bit lumpy - it's 100% okay. Melt the butter and pour it into a baking dish. I used a 9x9 for a thicker cobbler, but a 9x13 is fine...Experiment! Pour the batter into dish.


Okay.. so your arteries are clogging and your waist line is bulging at this sight, but I promise, a cobbler every now and then won't kill you. Next, plop the peaches into the batter.


Be careful when adding the peaches - you don't want them all concentrated in the middle, otherwise the batter won't fully bake in the center. You want a nice distribution of peachy goodness. It's now ready to bake! The recipe calls for 45 minutes, but my oven is psychotic and my baking times are always much less than estimated times. The edges will brown and the top should be golden. The center should look firm.. like the picture below.


The edges look a bit burnt, but I promise they aren't. I'm sorry my pictures are a bit bad, but I live in a tiny apartment with crappy lighting.

This is one of my favorite foods from my childhood. I hope you enjoy it.

Shepherd's Pie

Mmmm delicious shepherd's pie. I remember eating - and loving - this when I was really little, but then my family never ate it again until the night before I left for college. A month or so ago, I decided I would try my hand at making it. I looked at a bunch of recipes online, then came up with my own.

Ingredients
3 cups mashed potatoes (make sure they are flavorful, as if you would serve them alone. I actually use a bit more milk and butter than normal to make them extra creamy)
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4ish garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary, chopped (optional)
1-2 tsp sage (I used ground because I didn't have fresh)
Salt, Pepper, and Chachere's/Seasoned Salt to taste
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tbsp flour
1 can sweet peas (use fresh if you want, I just don't have any)
1/4 - 3/4 cup grated cheese (I used 1/4 cup sharp cheddar because it was ALL that I had)
You can also add carrots if you want, but make sure they're cooked and soft before you add them..

Prepare the mashed potatoes. I used about 4 big potatoes and had a bit too much after I mashed them and all, but who am I to say no to extra potatoes?

Brown the ground beef. Add the onions and garlic, until the onions are soft. Add the rosemary and sage. Salt, pepper, and add Chachere's to taste. If you want to use carrots, you can add them at this point. As Alice Water advises, taste at every step. No portion of the dish should not be seasoned to taste good on its own. Let the seasoned meat mixture cook for a minute or two. While it simmers, mix the tbsp of flour into the 1/2 cup of broth to create a gravy of sorts. Add this to the meat mixture, and let it simmer for another minute or two. Make sure this is tasty before spooning it into a baking dish.


Make sure the meat is evenly distributed across the dish.


Drain most of the liquid out of the peas before adding them; if you don't, your meat will be too runny.


Sprinkle the cheese on top..Like I said, I only had a 1/4 cup of cheddar, but you could try many different types of cheese. I advise adding more than this - Hubby loves cheese - but then not all people love cheese like we do.


Now, spoon the mashed potatoes on top. You might not be able to easily spread them; don't worry if some cheese or peas get mixed up with the potatoes. Make peaks on the top - they'll brown and be delicious. Bake on 350F for about 25 minutes, or until warm and some peaks have become a nice golden shade.


I could have let it bake a little longer, but we were both hungry and the green beans were finished. As everything is already cooked, there's no worry of things not... well ... being cooked. It's just a matter of warming it all up together and getting a nice top layer to the potatoes.


And this is the final result; it might not be pretty, but it's pretty damn delicious.


A gratuitous photo of the green beans. I boiled them with Chachere's and 3 strips of bacon for about 25 minutes. YUM.

Latkes

I apologize now for going a little crazy on the pictures... Tonight was one of those nights that I had a planned dinner, but upon arriving home was so hungry I couldn't bring myself to start the lengthy process of making shepherd's pie.. first you have to make mashed potatoes, then you have to bake it.. So basically, Hubby and I sat around for awhile groaning how hungry we were until he said he was going to make some eggs. (Hubby loves eggs, perhaps more than he loves me) IDEA! Mom got him a Japanese omelet pan, so I eagerly suggested/demanded omelets, while saying I'd make latkes. Again, I'd been running across a bunch of recipes for latkes, so I decided to try my hand at them. Voila: our meal! I loosely followed this recipe for the latkes..If you want to know what Hubby did for the eggs, well you'll have to ask him. Forgive me the ketchup; I'm lactose-intolerant and sour cream makes me unhappy.



Bobby's beautiful omelet a-baking.


Mmm omelet slices!


So, as previously established, my grater is tiny and I need a larger one. My shredded potatoes were tiny, and I think that caused them to hold moisture in. If I cook these again, I will definitely have to have larger shreds.


I used about half the recommended onion amounts - Hubby declared the green onions should have been left out entirely. I added a couple teaspoons of minced garlic, which wasn't enough at all. The garlic was undetectable. Also, I ended up adding a third egg, trying to get the potatoes to stick together better..


All mixed up before the additional egg.


Frying away. Hubby kind of took over this part of the cooking... flipping them and such. He also decided to experiment with the gouda left over from last night.. He placed a slice atop a cooked latke, and also rolled potatoes around a square of gouda, then fried it. He says it was "good".


Here are the finished latkes.


I felt they were a little bland. When I decided to make them, I was craving my mom's potato pancakes, but again didn't want to go through the process of making mashed potatoes first... To be worthwhile, these need a lot more salt and garlic. Hell, I might even add some Tony Chachere's seasoning (the staple of every Cajun kitchen).


And finally, here is my seahorse shaped Latke. He came from the first batch. Isn't he cute? He tasted like fried potato goodness too!


One last note: I've been eating the challah with honey drizzled over it. Delicious!

Challah

Oh the marvelous places TasteSpotting brings me to... The moment I saw this recipe for honey-vanilla challah, I had to try it...and I did, less than a week later.

I decided to photo-document parts of my challah adventure.


My dough, after 2 hours of rising.


The dough required a good poking to deflate it. I giggled furiously throughout this step; hubby probably thought I lost my mind.


Be impressed by my dough-braiding skills - I am.


Right before baking, I applied a nice egg and olive oil glaze. Yum.


And here, my darlings, is the finished challah. Please note, I do not yet own a proper cooling rack, so I had to craft one from a pot holder and kabob skewers.

The bread is tasty with just a slight hint of vanilla and honey.. With my sweet tooth, I'd prefer the flavor be a bit more pronounced, but it was still delicious. Make it!

A quite delicious dinner

Okay, I promise I will stop doing full meal things soon, and have some proper stuff up.. and sadly, I can't put up a picture, but DEFINITELY try out these delicious, yummy foods.

First we have delicious turkey meatballs that I slightly adapted from this recipe. I couldn't find ground chicken, so I just used a full pound of ground turkey. Hubby and I didn't have a device gratetastic enough to grate onion, so he just chopped it up as finely as he could (he's such a good helper). I also went a bit heavy on the garlic as I love it immensely. Sadly, I ran out of olive oil, so I had to cook the meatballs in vegetable oil; it wasn't bad, but next time I'll use olive oil. I decided to serve them with a dill sauce, similar to what you get in Mediterranean restaurants. I think it was a good choice!

Next come the brussels sprouts. I'll admit I've never made them any way other than heating up a frozen packet, so I was excited to try this recipe. Delicious! I halved it since there's only the two of us, and I didn't imagine the sprouts would keep well. Definitely taste as you go along to find the right firmness for you.

Lastly, while at the store, I decided I needed a bread component to the meal. I bought a loaf of sweet french bread - tasty on its own - then sliced 4 pieces from the loaf (excluding the end). I brushed olive oil over the tops, then placed a thin tomato slice on top. To finish it off, I placed a chunk of gouda (oooooo gouda), then broiled them for a couple of minutes. It's a tasty, simple combo.

I've bought cherries for dessert, and I'm also in the process of making this honey-vanilla challah. I'll let you know how it goes: i'm stoked!!

Onion

YAY! My first post! Though I've always loved to cook and bake, constantly challenging myself in the kitchen, my love has escalated into an obsession. The many foodblogs have tantalized me, and so I have created my own. I hope you enjoy. I recommend checking out TasteSpotting and The Pioneer Woman which are two of my favorite spots right now. I'm also reading Alice Waters The Art of Simple Food.

Due to my frequent recipe viewing, I've spent the past week mentally planning dinners.. in class.. at work.. in bed at night.. Tonight, I decided to try out a couple of ideas.



The chicken was disappointing. I semi-braised the chicken breasts in a vegetable broth that had simmered with some onion, a few cloves of garlic, and a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary. The breasts were too thick, and I didn't add enough liquid, so the flavor was eh. Hubby enjoyed it more than I did.

I got the recipe for the baked onions from The Food Traveller.
They were very tasty and sweet. Hubby put his on the chicken, which might be why he enjoyed the chicken more than I did!
Just slice a couple of onions, place them on a baking sheet coated with olive oil, then sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs atop the onions. I used a grated parmesan. Baked at 375 for 30-40 minutes - I didn't pay attention.. probably why I overcooked them a bit, but they still tasted wonderful.

The salad is my pride... I came up with the idea in bed the other night after seeing an image of a dandelion salad topped with caramelized shallots. That night, hubby had used some portobello mushrooms...EUREKA!
I started by slicing a sweet yellow onion very thinly. I sauteed them over medium heat in melted butter. While those were going, I scrapped the gills from the inside of the mushrooms, then brushed on a light coating of olive oil. After sprinkling them with salt and pepper, a broiled them for a few moments to warm them. Once they were finished, I placed a handful or two of mixed greens upon them - I wanted to use spinach, but hubby won't eat it.. Brat! Anyhoo, I then topped the greens with the nicely browned onions. Next time, I might first toss the greens in a very light vinaigrette, but I worry the taste might overwhelm the tasty balance between the greens, onions, and warm mushroom.

Well, that's it for tonight. Hope you enjoyed it! Look for much more in the future - minestrone and homemade ravioli before the week is finished.