recipe

Most nights after working a long day its a challenge to think of something to make for dinner that I haven’t already made a million times!  It’s not that hard when you pre-plan meals but as a good friend says “after work its all about ATC (ass to couch) time.”  So, this week I made an effort and hit the grocery store before heading home. Aha, pre-planning…see! Anyway, I came across this recipe on the Real Simple website and since it’s semi-homemade I thought I would give it a try.

Smoky Chicken Corn Cakes.  Image via Real Simple

All it requires is a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, some fresh produce and batter for the corn cakes.  Hell, I can do that!  It’s the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce that give the chicken a nice smoky flavor.  Granted, my version didn’t look nearly as pretty at theirs but they never do!  That maybe because they don’t always use actual food.  Like that sour cream in the first photo that could in fact be Elmers glue you never know.

Anyway, it took me about 35 minutes or so to make and I highly reccomend it!  The best part is there are plenty of leftovers so nothing will get in the way of ATC to watch the Top Chef premiere and Top Chef Masters tonight. 

I’m starting to wonder if the Top Chef Masters final, final round is really tonight!  For the past two weeks I thought the same thing.  Maybe its just me but they’ve been dragging it along.  Producers, please, give out the $100,000 grand prize already! Gaw!

Earlier this week I read an article on nytimes.com about the growing trend of homemade ginger ale in bars and restaurants across the country.  Being a huge fan of ginger ale and with the long holiday weekend ahead of me I though I would try and make my own.

I followed a recipe on simplerecipes.com.  The only ingredients required are fresh ginger, sugar, lime, club soda and water.  Seemed easy enough and it was!

I found that one package of fresh ginger purchased at Trader Joes was the right amount for the job. I didn’t have any club soda as the recipe suggests but I mixed it with Pellegrino (sparkling water) and it worked just fine.  This is a very easy recipe that packs a lot of flavor.  Whether you drink it alone or use it as a mixer for your next cocktail party it’s a refreshing choice for summer!

Well, the dinner party on Saturday was a huge success. Both couples have cooked for us many times in the past and this was our way of saying thanks. The goals of the evening were to eat some good food and drink some great wine and both goals were accomplished! 

All the prepping I did last week was totally worth it! It was a lot of work but I was able to spend a lot more time enjoying our company and less time sweating it out in the kitchen.  Complete menu: Crabcakes with Chipotle Aioli; Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Port Sauce, green beans with Pancetta & roasted pearl potatoes.  For dessert, the Chocolate Bread Pudding with Rum-Pecan Caramel Sauce.

My favorite Blue and Brown dinnerware and ”tablescape” as Kelly called it.

Two things that stood out for me. One: Homemade beef stock for Port sauce.  Well worth the wait.  I made it 3 days prior to the dinner and other than being a bit time consuming it’s a piece of cake. Two: Salting the beef 36 hours before roasting is the way to go!  It really helps brown the outside and for those that like their meat medium to medium-rare there’s less of a bloody mess on the plate. 

 Our friends Kelly & Mitch, Angie & Brian and my hubby Jason all chatting after dessert

I wasn’t able to take many photos of the food while I was busy plating the food but by the time I got the camera out all the plates were empty!  That had to be a good sign.

Along with the food we also had some great wine.  We belong to a wine club that we signed up for during our honeymoon and have been recieving wine every other month for the past 2 years.  It’s called the Spotlight Club and features different wines owned by Robert Mondavi.  As you can see below the 6 of us drank plenty of wine.  The only problem was chosing a favorite!

Three cheers to good friends, good food and good wine.  I may have to cook more and craft less!

The 300 Spartans movie

I’ve never cooked tomatillos until yesterday.  I really like these little green gems and especially since they’re naturally gift-wrapped! Well, the technical term is husk but whatever I think they look cool!

The Roasted Tomatillo Salsa recipe is from the Mexican Everyday cookbook which I picked up in Dec. ‘07 after Claire and I spotted the creator and PBS celebrity chef, Rick Bayless, at his Frontera Grill in Chicago. I didn’t immediately recognize him but I just knew that the well-dressed gentleman with the perfectly groomed goatee in the Macy’s food court taste-testing salsa wasn’t the manager.

What I love about this book is that the recipes are simple yet spicy. So, if you’re on a budget but still want to try some of his creations head to FronteraKitchens.com for free recipes.  You won’t be disappointed!

This morning I woke up with a craving for chocolate!  Some may wake up with a mission to brew the prefect cup of coffee or to start the day with a good read but not me.  I wanted to know what sweets we had in the house. I figure as long as I don’t eat chocolate everyday it’s not the end of the world, right?

The only thing I could find was cocoa powder, and yes, there was a moment while staring at the bright yellow box in the pantry that I started to wonder what it would taste like straight up.  That was until I saw the Chewy Cocoa Brownies recipe on the back of the box.  One by one, I collected all the ingredients and was thrilled to learn that I actually had all the recipe requirements. Clearly, I don’t bake enough!

They turned out great!  Very chocolatey, very chewy and totally hit the spot!  So, the next time you’re in the store and something sounds good but you’re not sure what to make with it, don’t forget to check out the other side of the box.

If anyone wants the recipe just let me know and I’d be happy to pass it along.

Enter the Dragon ipod

Animal House dvd

Godsend on dvd

Last night I dusted off the food processor and made some simple pesto sauce.  It’s hard to believe that only a few ingredients can pack such a punch.  It freezes really well, too!

The original recipe came from Cooks.com but I played around with the ingredients until I got the desired flavor. The key to any good pesto is to taste it often throughout the process. Here is the recipe.  

• 3 cups of fresh basil  
• 6-8 cloves of garlic (we really like garlic!)
• 2/3 cup of pine nuts
• 1 & 1/4 cup of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2-4 Tbs of lemon juice (something I added)
• 4 Tbs of butter (add to pasta once its cooked)

The recipe suggests adding 1 cup of cream if you want a creamy sauce but we enjoyed it without the cream on some freshly buttered piping hot angel hair pasta.  It was pretty tasty! Let me know if you give it a try.