The Salad Blues

I go to Panera Bread every Wednesday to meet up with my knitting group, and if I eat dinner while there, I usually order the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad.  It's been my favorite for a long time.  Sure, I eat other things there, but keep going back to the salad.

Well.  Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago that the salad, a long-time menu item, has been discontinued!  I ate my last Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and I didn't know it.  The restaurant has switched over to "all-natural" ingredients in everything and apparently, there's something in the salad that doesn't make the cut.  (My friend Rayna is bummed about no more pepperoncini in her Greek salad, apparently they didn't make the cut either.)

I'm bummed.  I get the desire for natural ingredients but sheesh!  Let people decide for themselves.  Although, I guess they ARE letting people decide, in terms of deciding to eat at Panera or not.  Since it's still a super-convenient place to hold knit night and was tough to find a new location in the first place, we'll be staying.  And most nights, eating.

So to satisfy that craving, I vowed to make an Asian Sesame Chicken salad myself.  Sauteed chicken breast, greens, cucumber, cilantro and toasted almonds, topped with a little homemade Carrot-Ginger dressing.  (Recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen's "Light Cooking" cookbook.)  It wasn't the same.  However, it was still very good.  All of those flavors worked well together and made for a filling, healthy lunch.  And homemade dressing always beats the pants off of bottled store-bought, in terms of flavor, fat AND calories.

Hmmmm.   Maybe if it had tortilla strips next time, it'll be a closer match.  Probably not, but I'll keep trying.

Valentine Treats

This is how we celebrate Valentine's Day....no gifts.  No outings.  Just cards, a little candy for the boys, and food.  Awesome food.  Because, why go to a restaurant, wait in line for an hour WITH RESERVATIONS and come home completely ticked off that the food was so-so?  Making our own is so much more fun.  This year, Brian made a day of it.  The day was bitterly cold and no one wanted to leave the house.  The comfort foods made the house feel pleasant and we didn't mind being stuck inside.

Breakfast:  Homemade waffles with caramel coulis.  Homemade caramel, even.  AWESOME.

Lunch:  Squash soup and cheese toasts.  The soup was from Epicurious I think, and featured both butternut and acorn squash.  The toasts were just baguette with a little asiago on top, but it complimented the soup nicely.

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Dinner was a stuffed pork loin wrapped in bacon.  I don't have any photos because it was a bit frustrating for Brian to cook.  There's reason to believe that our oven is on it's last legs, as it takes FOREVER for things to bake/roast.  It was delicious, despite the issues.


Dessert:  Chocolate Almond Mousse with fresh whipped cream.  It was supposed to be hazelnut, but you need to change gameplans when the hazelnuts are rancid.  This was good, a little heavy for any other night of the year.

So that was our day of delightfulness.  Until next year....

Brewin' the Tea

In the "I never knew I wanted that!" department:  the kids got me an iced tea brewstation for Mother's Day, so I can make my own unsweetened iced tea.  It gets expensive to buy it bottled from the store!  I find it surprisingly easy to use, and convenient too.  And I also received an infusing pitcher.....basically a plastic pitcher with a lid and a column with holes down the middle.  You fill it with fruit to infuse your drinks with flavor.  So far I've only made strawberry tea but it's delicious.  (It had to sit overnight in the fridge to get there, though.)

I've got big plans for the mango and raspberries in my fridge later this week.  And maybe later, lemon and blueberry.  :)

We Do Snowstorms Right

I'm a lucky girl.  When Brian hears that there's going to be a storm and we're going to be snowed in, he starts dreaming up something good to cook.  Because, if you're going to be stuck inside, you might as well eat well.

This particular storm:  chicken and waffles, and our first homemade ice cream.

First up, chicken and waffles.  I'd never had chicken and waffles before.  I knew that it was a Southern thing, and I've said it before:  I adore southern cooking.  We don't eat a lot of southern food often because done right, it's laden with calories.

Now, I couldn't see what the big deal was about chicken and waffles because I was picturing a fried chicken breast on a plate, side by side with a waffle with maple syrup and butter.  And although that sounded intriguing, it wasn't WOW!  This is incredible!

Suffice it to say, I get it now:

This. Was. Incredible!  Fried chicken, in a batter with tabasco flavoring, served atop a perfectly crisp waffle, and then topped with a pan gravy that has a little bit of maple syrup in it.  The most beautiful pairing of sweet and savory that I have ever tasted.  That being said, it's certainly not going on our menu again anytime soon.  And I don't feel the need, because a once-in-a-long-while treat like this is the greatest.   I don't want it to lose it's special-ness.



And now for the ice cream...Brian got an ice cream maker for Christmas, because when watching Cutthroat Kitchen or Chopped he always remarks "We should make our own ice cream!"  It's definitely not cheaper than buying ice cream, but certainly fresher.  And it doubles as a fun activity for kids.  Will helped make the base, and he smashed the cookies for our inaugural ice cream batch:  Chocolate Cookies and Cream.

It was deliciously rich, and I'm glad it doesn't make a bigger batch.  The only critique that Brian and I agree on:  scrape the chocolate cream out of the oreos next time.

Next time we may make strawberry ice cream.  I'm not a fan of artificial strawberry flavored anything, but I'll bet fresh strawberry ice cream would be incredible!  Or banana, with bits of Nilla Wafers.  Good Lord, the possibilities!

Summer Salads

In our house, we eat well.  In fact, I think a lot of the time that the food that Brian makes is better than most restaurant food that we get to have.  I'm not being braggy...ok maybe a little.  But in terms of cooking, I've always said that he is exceptional whereas my cooking is good for everyday.

Speaking of restaurant food...there is one food that I've always found better at a restaurant than at home.  Salads.  

Salads just taste better at a restaurant.  The produce is fresher, the presentation, the variety of ingredients.  Until recently, salads at our house were just green salads with a little tomato and cucumber on top.  Maybe some celery or carrots, and almost always featured "bag-o-salad."  You know, the big bag of mixed lettuce that you buy at the grocery store and pray that it will still be good in two days.  (It usually isn't.)

I'm starting to change my mind about salads....a couple of weeks ago Brian and I made a Chinese chicken salad using romaine, rotisserie chicken, oriental noodles, toasted almonds, mandarin orange slices, etc.  It was delicious!  It was also huge--and would've made great leftovers if we hadn't dressed the whole thing.  It was a soggy mess the next day.  So I've learned a few things:  the secret to a great salad is in the dressing.  Homemade is best, and honestly, it's not difficult or really time-consuming.  Plus, you know what's going into it and can adjust it to your taste.

So Brian and I have resolved to a salad dinner once a week, and here was last night's:

Rib-eye steak over watercress, radish and a little blue cheese, with a wine vinegar dressing.  

It was quite good and surprisingly, filled us up.  Can't wait to see what the next salad turns up like!

Brian's Creations

Brian wrote the menu last week, and it was all based on ideas instead of recipes.  I don't usually cook like that, I prefer a recipe.  But he's good at it.  

First one was his new take on Chicken Parmesan.  He had seen something on a food network gameshow that gave him the idea, and this is the result:

Fresh Chicken Parm with Couscous

Pan-fried chicken cutlet, topped with canned tomato, a slice of mozzarella and a spinach-arugula blend.  Oh, and shredded parmesan.  Couscous was a nice departure from the normal spaghetti, too.  It tasted light and fresh, which while I love traditional chicken parm, one does not describe it as "light."

Seared sea scallops over linguine.

This recipe puts Olive Garden to shame!  I say that because we went to Olive Garden last month and it was truly disappointing.  I ordered a chicken pasta dish that was like sixteen bucks and what was it?  A pound of angel hair with a little butter and wine, couple of pieces of chicken and a whole pepper cut into huge hunks.  Not their best efforts.  This was scallops, a wine and butter sauce, pepper and onion stirfy and some more of that shredded parmesan.  Not to mention, the rest of that spinach and arugula blend, with Brian's own made-up balsamic and lemon dressing!  (Totally made up on the spot, and it was great!)

I wrote the menu this week, and it's back to recipes.  It'll still be good, though.

Valentine's Day

Hubby and I aren't big on celebrating Valentine's Day.  It's a simple affair, really.  We exchange cards between ourselves and the kids, and we always get them a little box of chocolates.  Haven't gone out to dinner in years, between the crowds and reservations and (often subpar food) we just gave it up.

Besides, when your significant other can cook like THIS, why would you want to go out?  Especially if this masterpiece is followed up by Marscapone and Fudge brownies??

 Steak with a mushroom wine sauce, baked potato, crab legs and asparagus.  

Apple Butter

Welcome to another episode of "Homemade vs. Store-Bought."  Today I'm talking...apple butter.

A few weeks ago, Brian made some chicken and butternut squash in where the recipe called for apple butter.  He bought a huge jar of apple butter, which served as a glaze to the meat and squash.  It was good, but not good enough.  I expected more flavor, but it was flat.  I didn't write about it for that very reason, it was disappointing because it's got a bunch of my favorite stuff in it, and I adore autumn flavors.  (Apples, pumpkin, squash, cinnamon....you get the gist.)

My mom came to visit this weekend since we were going to Rhinebeck for the NY Wool and Sheep Festival.  She was telling me about the apple butter that she had made, and was going to ask my Dad to bring a jar of it when he came the next day to celebrate my son and my SIL's birthdays on Sunday.  As soon as I opened the jar on Sunday, I instantly knew what the difference was.

I grabbed the jar from our fridge and presented it to Brian.  "Smell this."  He obliged and I asked him what it smelled like.  He said "It smells like nothing."  Exactly!  Next he smelled the homemade apple butter.  All the difference in the world!

I grabbed a couple of butter crackers for a taste test.  And another test.  And another test.  I finally sealed the jar and put it back in the fridge, because the homemade stuff that my mom made was so good, I was sure that I could eat all of it on crackers!

So....homemade is the way to go.  It's labor intensive, Mom said that it spent several hours in a crockpot, and was in the oven for quite a while too.  But so worth it.  I think that we should try the chicken and squash recipe again!

Homemade Lemonade: Is it Better?

67.  make lemonade from scratch (7/29/13)

As a kid, I can remember my mother bringing out a bottle of Minute Maid lemon juice at dinner time, to put on broccoli with a little butter.  I'd read the back of it, and there would always be a recipe for lemonade.  Always intrigued me, but I never did it.

Brian and I love fresh lemonade, but the closest thing we come to is Newman's Own.  And let's face it, Newman's Own extra virgin lemonade is pretty awesome stuff.  Still, I thought that someday, someday I'd like to make my own.

Well, tonight was the night.  I had purchased 12 lemons at the grocery store last week for that purpose last week, and I just wasn't going to let $6.00 worth of lemons go bad!

The Lemons.

I've always thought that cobalt blue and yellow are a cheery combination.  As is navy blue and yellow.

The Helpers

These two are always willing to lend a hand in the kitchen.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook in hand, we moved to turn these into drink!

They were a little harder to juice than I realized....but we got the job done.  While we were juicing, the simple syrup boiled on the stove.  After that cooled for a bit, we mixed it with the lemon juice.

It's important to note:  this just makes lemonade base.  If you drink this straight, you'll pucker for sure.   Equal parts base and water is key.  I made sure to tell Hubby that before he just grabbed the pitcher in the fridge and helped himself to a cold cup of base.  (bleeecchhhh)

First Tall Glass

One sip and it told me two things:  1, it needed more sugar.  and 2.  sooooo fresh!

Look at it....it's pale and not at all yellow.  That tells you how much artificial coloring is added to lemonade mixes.  I'm not afraid of some artificial color....it certainly has its place.  But lemonade mix just doesn't taste like this.  Hubby said it tasted like summer.  And it does!

So....was it worth it to make my own?  I'd say yes.  I certainly won't be doing it like this all the time.  But it makes for a happy treat.  And now, I want to make limeade.  I love fresh limes!

A Woman of my Word

I said last week that we'd make meatballs, and I keep my word.  Last night:  meatballs.  :)  I originally wanted to make these on Sunday but we as a family (read:  Crafty Mama)  tend(s) to overcram Sundays.  So last night after dinner, it was meatball city!

No recipes...just flying by the seat of our pants.  A package of ground pork, a package of ground beef.  And I got really daring and didn't measure ingredients.  Sometimes it's best that way.  Some bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, two eggs, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Brian rolled them and fried them in vegetable oil while I worked on feeding kids and doing dishes.  (We make a good team that way.)    He used his induction cooker to better control the temperature, which seems like it was a good idea.  Next time Brian wants to make them like his mom made them growing up:  added to sauce and simmering in a crockpot for several hours.  I've had Mom G's meatballs, they are pretty good!

All in all, I'd say the process only took about an hour, give or take.  I wish I had taken a photo of the meatball assembly line, but alas, I did not so you will have to imagine it.    Now there are several bags of (hopefully) good-quality meatballs in my freezer, and one bag to go with cheese tortellini and leftover marinara tonight.  Looking forward to it!

Cherry Pork

I had to work this past Saturday morning.  I honestly cannot remember the last time that happened, which is a good thing!  I attended the dedication ceremony for my new job, which went very well.  Afterwards there was a cookout at the church that sponsored the new building that I will be managing.  I didn't stay, and I'm glad for one reason:  if I'd filled up on hot dogs or hamburgers, I would've missed this beauty for lunch:

Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce

I love cherries, they're my second-favorite of summer fruit.  (Peaches first, watermelon third.)  I don't eat them often, because they're usually ridiculously expensive.  Also, it's another food that only gets eaten by me, so I end up wasting part of a bag of cherries.  This was the first time that either of us had attempted cooking with cherries, as cherries are not easy to pit.    Brian put this together from an online recipe, with ingredients like honey and tarragon.  He's not usually a fan of cherries, but proclaimed the sauce delicious!  I saved the leftover sauce to pour over a little vanilla ice cream.  That will be a great little sweet treat later on.  :)

DIY "Fishsticks"

Last night's dinner:  Breaded Cod with Basmati Rice and Asparagus.

It's pretty much the "triangle fish" that we sometimes bring home from the market for the boys.  Y'know, Gorton's Fish Sticks.  Only these tasted fresher and didn't come out of a box.  Super easy too, a little egg wash on the cod, roll in panko and then fry in a bit of oil.  Delicious.

The kids?  Not impressed.  Though Sean loved the ketchup so much, he could eat it up with a spoon!

Panko.

Tonight's Dinner:  Panko-Crusted Chicken Strips with Homemade Honey-Mustard-Tarragon Dipping Sauce.  Accompanied by Rice Pilaf and Yes, more Broccolini!

I adore panko.  I haven't had it much, and so far just on chicken and once, Brian made a side dish with broccoli and panko.  It has such a satisfying crunch and is just a bit different from regular old breadcrumbs.  Not that I have anything against breadcrumbs per se, it's just good to change it up once in a while.  I liked the broccolini so much last night I decided that we should have it again.  This time with lemon and garlic. Mmmmmm.  :) 

I did the grocery shopping today, I hadn't done it in months.  When I was first co-habitating with Hubby, I LOVED to do the shopping.  I enjoyed picking out meals, trying out recipes, getting the ingredients, etc etc.  Now I absolutely loathe the grocery store.  Especially on Saturdays.  It's always super crowded and I just want to get the hell out as fast as possible!  So I just have to say again, Brian rocks because he doesn't mind doing it most of the time.

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, Pats vs Giants.  So we are heading to my parent's house for the big game, and spending time with them, as well as my brother, sis-in-law and niece.  There is sure to be good food there, I believe we're doing a sandwich buffet and THEN a make-your-own-sundae bar!  :)  And tomorrow afternoon, I'm working on one of the food items on my "100 Things list" so stay tuned.

Italian Wedding Soup

From my Day Zero List, or 100 Things in 1,001 Days:


71.  Make four different kinds of soup from scratch that I have never tried to make before.


Soup #1:  Italian Wedding Soup


Got the recipe from allrecipes.com.  I've had this soup before and it's pretty simple.  Just spinach, mini-meatballs, mini shell pasta, chicken broth and diced carrots.   I briefly considered adding a can of cannelloni beans, but I know that Hubby doesn't like beans and I wanted him to eat some of this soup.  Plus we have a rule around here, the first time you make a recipe you do it as-is.  The next time around, if it's worth keeping, is when you tinker.  I'd say we obey it about 80% of the time.


 The most challenging part was dicing the carrots and making the meatballs.  I used to make my own meatballs to go with spaghetti and sauce all the time.  I'd make them just like I used to watch my mother make them:  mix the ground beef with bread crumbs, herbs and egg, roll out, and fry in oil.  Now she and I both buy the kind frozen in a bag, because they taste good and are really a timesaver!  As for the carrots, I don't have a ton of experience cutting up veggies other than coarsely chopped.  Hence, the reason for #42.  take a “knife skills” cooking class.

So there you have it, Italian Wedding Soup on a chilly winter day.  No wedding required!  

Birthday Fiesta!

Tomorrow is Sean's second birthday, so yesterday we had the family over for a little Tex-Mex birthday party!  The boys love flour tortillas, cheese and meat so it was a meal enjoyed by everyone.  Plus, a casual birthday party with family is perfect for when your little boy is turning two.

Brian making Alton Brown's "Man Nachos."  I loved his (Alton's, that is) making of "spacers" (i.e. big balls of crunched-up foil) to sit between the nachos.  These nachos were special!  Plus homemade guacamole, soooooo good!

Taco station in the kitchen.  Everyone plates their own meal and then finds a spot to eat.  Love it  :)

Followed by...dessert and our Happy Birthday song stylings.  Vanilla buttercream cupcakes with ice cream.  As usual...Cake Doctor recipe.  Something strange happened when we went to put the sprinkles on the cupcakes...the buttercream had set and the sprinkles would HIT the cupcake, bounce off and land on the floor.  It really was pretty funny.

 The birthday boy is very serious about his chocolate ice cream....not a drop was wasted.

Happy Birthday, Sean!

DIY: Iced Coffee

In the summers, I like an occasional iced coffee.  I really love the iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, but that is a slippery slope.  One morning of hitting the drive-thru leads to another, and that's not good for neither my wallet nor my waistline.  I do find myself on weekends wistful for a Dunkin' Run, and occasionally I give in.

When we were in Saint John last month. Brian and I stopped at this little cafe called Magnolia.  I ordered blueberry waffles and an iced coffee, and he got a pulled chicken sandwich.  The waitress asked me if I would like chocolate syrup and I said "Sure.  Why not?"  I watched her make the drink and said to myself, "Self?  That doesn't look that hard to do."

And it is not.  First thing to do is to make regular coffee.  (reg caf or decaf, your call.)  Make it double strength, I put ten cups of water into the machine but enough coffee for twenty.  Pour the coffee into a pitcher and place in the fridge for when you are ready.

 Fill a glass with ice cubes.

 I decided to go the syrup route again, because regular sugar or splenda in iced coffee doesn't tend to dissolve, and I hate chewing on the sugar.  There was a time in my life that I liked it that way, but those days are over for good. Anyway, squirt a little syrup onto the ice cubes.

 Add a little milk to the ice and syrup, to taste.

Add the coffee, and stir a little with a spoon.

The end result?  A little stronger than I'm used to, but actually pretty good!  A nice afternoon treat.

Next on the DIY list (and also from Magnolia's Cafe, St. John New Brunswick, Canada) will be homemade potato chips.  They will completely ruin you for regular chips ever again.