New Eats

Two things about food:

1. I tried a new soup recipe and I think if you have any room in your soup repertoire you should try it! It's from Taste of Home - Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup. It's hearty, flavorful, and healthy! Yes!

2. Grill pans are awesome! I recently got my own and its the best. Everything seems to taste better warmed up with grill lines branded on it. Look at that plain old late-night turkey and cheese sandwich...no way! Gourmet!

Cucurbita!

Whoohoo!  It's pumpkin season!  It's yummy and it's good and it's only here once a year so go CRAZY and buy EVERYTHING that tastes like pumpkin!  Last week Mom was here and we went to Trader Joe's and did just that.  I'm enjoying the benefits of our trip for breakfast this morning.  We bought some delicious Pumpkin Butter that I am having on toasted cinnamon raisin bread.  SO. GOOD.

I also picked up some pumpkin spice granola and a mix for pumpkin bread or muffins.  I passed on the pumpkin waffle and pancake mix.  What was I thinking???  Had a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I have a  Pinterest pin waiting for my return to make pumpkin cream cheese.

Seems like we go a little crazy around this time of year.  But I know I'm not the only one, so I don't feel bad about it.

So what else did I miss?  How about this pumpkin pie lip balm?  Then you don't have to actually eat all the pumpkin stuff to get the flavor! Save on calories?

Dinner!

Tried a new recipe tonight! Stuffed peppers. Yummy! It's a keeper.

Breakfast

Sometimes I like to make omelettes for breakfast...or for dinner.  They usually don't turn out looking all that great.  Often one piece of it gets stuck and when I try to do the fold it crumbles.  Or when I try to slid it onto the plate it folds or falls apart.  All kinds of things can go wrong.  My "omelette" is normally something between an omelette and a scramble. But this morning... this morning was different.  I made a personal record best-looking omelette.  So I thought I would share.  Filled with spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese, the ingredients were spread out perfectly and tasted delicious.  Slightly crisp on the outside, nice and smooth on the inside.  The mushrooms and spinach were cooked to just the right texture.  And that baby folded right over and slid out of the skillet and onto my plate with no hangups.  Doesn't get much better than this. Woohoo!

It's December!!!

Look who is coming into style:

Market Madness

Last weekend it just wasn't hot enough in the upper 90's, so we went down to the farmers market to heat things up a bit.  Peppers, anyone?

No thanks.... not my style.  But I did come home with some yummy sweet corn.  I love sweet corn in the summer.   I always think of buying it off the back of a pick-up truck by the roadside in WV.  I can't do that now, but the farmers market is the next best thing.  I see the workers bringing in huge new bundles of corn throughout the day - straight from the farm.

It's fun to walk around the market and check out the different things available.  They have plants, meat, fruits, veggies, and other stuff, like honey, bread, jam and yarn all from local farms.  Especially if you get there early, the options are endless.  Find a little  inspiration and plan a good fresh dinner!  Yeah!

Red, White, and Blue

Just a moment before it's over, I have to say Happy 4th of July!  Happy Independence Day!  I had a wonderful holiday weekend and was so glad to be able to spend it with family in West Virginia.  I had to come back to New York today, so we did most of our celebrating yesterday.  We had a cookout, ate festive homemade cheesecake, and watched the fireworks in Charleston.  Today I caught a glimpse of the NYC fireworks, but it was through a peephole view down the street. Since I wasn't able to get all the way over to the river most of the fireworks were blocked by tall buildings. Too crazy!  But I heard the booms and it was exciting.

For some reason, which I am not sure of, the Coney Island hot dog eating contest is on July 4th too.  I heard some guy ate over 60 hot dogs in however many minutes it is.  Sounds pretty ridiculous to me.  I wonder if that guy really likes hot dogs.  I wonder if he will take some time off, or will he fire up the grill again tomorrow.... Well, I remember last year I was at Coney Island and saw the original Nathan's hot dog shop.  I ate one because you have to, right?  It was pretty good.  I rode my bike (moment of silence) to Coney Island and had a great time that day.  If you are curious as to what day it was, you can check out the clock on the picture that counts down to the next hot dog contest and do the math.

Roles, Casa

Lately, for the first time in my life really, I've been thinking about casseroles.  I never had a problem with them, but they weren't really something that I would think of.  They were always at church dinners and occasionally we would have one at home, but not often, so they just didn't cross my mind.  But recently the casserole has snuck into my brain.  I'm sure it goes along with the whole pop culture looking back to the 50's, retro, vintage thing. Is Mad Men the chicken or the egg, I'm not sure, but it's all quite fun.  Some food blogs I read are also talking about casseroles and The Kitchn's Faith Durand just released a book called Not Your Mother's Casseroles.  Not that I have ANY problem with my mothers cooking, but I thought it sounded fun so I checked it out from the library.  There were some interesting recipes, but one problem... I didn't have a casserole dish.  I know it can be done, but who really wants to make a casserole in a boring old aluminum rectangle pan?  Isn't that brightly colored ceramic dish half the fun of baking a casserole?  Well, it would be to me.

I went on with my life without thinking too much about the casserole thing but then one day last week, there I was, killing time in the TJ Maxx and off the shelf and into my hands jumped the best looking casserole dish I'd seen in ages.  Red with white polka dots?  Hello!  Of course you are coming home with me!  I'm even using birthday money and calling this one a gift!  I am in a new decade now, and that means its okay to want cookware for my birthday, right?

Tonight is my debut night with the casserole.  I am making a dish that features rotini, chicken sausages with sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, spinach with sauteed garlic, diced tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.  I hope it is delicious! I made a great mess putting it together and got a little nervous as my dish reached its capacity and I kept adding more of the mixture. I'm sure it is WAY too much food, but I love my leftovers at the office! Only 5 more minutes in the oven and a few minutes of rest and I'll be able to dig in!

Full and ready for the oven!

Slow cooked goodness

I am loving my crock-pot.  I've had it just over a year and let me tell you - that thing is amazing!  I love that I can throw a bunch of stuff into it in the morning, then go out, run around town, come home and have a delicious hot meal ready for me!  That's true love. 

This weekend, thanks to an email from my friend Betty Crocker (I wonder if she is related to the Crock-Pot), I made a chicken and gnocchi soup that was fabulous!  It kind of reminded me of a creamy chicken pot pie, without the top.  A nice country home cooked meal for a cold weekend night.  Served with fresh sour dough bread from the farmer's market... Perfection!  I want to say this is my favorite thing from the crock-pot, but I say that pretty much every time I make anything in there, so I guess it wouldn't really count.  But it is in the top 5 and will definitely be made again.

I think next weekend will be a perfect time to try my Wheat Montana Chili Mix that was given to me for Christmas from my Montana family.  After that, who knows.  Suggestions welcome!  YUMMY!

Summer Eats

Sometimes in the summer I feel like it is harder to find things to cook at home. The main reason is because it is so hot! All I want to do is eat ice cream! My apartment, as most New York apartments, does not have central AC. I have a window unit in my bedroom and there is one in the living room, but the kitchen stays pretty hot. Plus it is a small kitchen so the last thing I want to do is have a hot oven roasting something for hours. That just won't work in the summer!

Tonight I was having one of those "ugh...what am I going to eat" moments. I scanned the kitchen to see what I had and was able to throw together a really nice dinner salad. I broiled a salmon fillet which uses heat, but only for a short time, so that worked well. I had been to Trader Joe's grocery store earlier today and bought a salad mix I really like there. Mixed with baby spinach, topped with sliced mushrooms and raisins for some sweetness and we're on the way to something nice! I also bought a can of Tuscan bean salad from Trader Joe's. It looked interesting and I thought I would try it for a side dish, but I got inspired and added it to my salad. It is a mixture of kidney beans and chickpeas with herbs in lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzled over the greens and topped with the salmon fillet. A little balsamic vinaigrette and I'm in business!

Cheesiness

I am definitely a fan of cheese. Off hand, I don't think I've talked much about cheese on my blog, but it deserves a mention. I like cheese and crackers. I like cheese dip. Cheese added to pretty much anything makes it better.

Tonight I had no idea what to have for dinner. My in and out and rarely home lifestyle makes it hard to keep the fridge well-stocked. I cook when I can and then try hard to eat it and not let it go bad, but it's tough. Most of my cooking and food at home is done with great intention or else it will spoil. My freezer is full...the fridge...not so much.

So tonight I had a dilemma of what to eat. It was getting late and I didn't really have time to make something elaborate. I was about to pour a bowl of cereal (but the milk was frozen) when I looked through the shelves one more time to see if there was anything interesting I could do. I had two blocks of cheese from my enchiladas last week and some leftover tortillas so cheese quesadillas made all the sense in the world! No more than 4 minutes later - dinner is served!

I love that a cheese quesadilla is really just a grilled cheese sandwich using tortilla instead of bread. But doesn't it sound so much more exciting to make quesadillas than grilled cheese sandwiches? I think that's funny. It's kind of like the whole panini thing. A panini is just a grilled sandwich that is smashed, right? So a grilled cheese sandwich could actually be called a cheese panini. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I'm sure there are other things that are not really that interesting until an interesting name tag is awarded. Hmmm.... Grilled cheese sandwich? Quesadilla? Cheese Panini? So many choices!

Hungry? Wait a few hours.

It is a crock pot kind of day!

Food Psychology

Eggs. I've been thinking about writing about eggs for about a year now. And as I sit here, finishing off my dinner of a spinach feta cheese omelet, I think now is as good a time as ever to address the issue. The reason I was going to write about eggs a year ago is that a year and a few months ago I started eating them. For the 27 years before that, I wouldn't touch them. I couldn't. I tried several times throughout my life, but I just did not like anything about eggs. People thought I was nuts "how can you not eat eggs???". Of course I would eat them in a cake or if they are an ingredient to something bigger, but plain old eggs...couldn't do it.

Then a couple of years ago I decided that maybe taste was psychological and we could convince ourselves to like things. My two big things that I didn't eat my whole life were eggs and tomato (excluding pasta sauce, ketchup, etc.). I don't know why, but I never liked them. So I started with the tomato as my project. I don't remember how I tried it first, but maybe it was a little bit on a sandwich. OR possibly a Caprese Salad which is just tomato, fresh mozarella, and fresh basil drizzled with basamic vinager and olive oil. Now how could I possibly not like that? I loved the idea of it. I had to stick mostly with the out of season, dry, few-seed variety. Those fresh from the garden summer tomatoes must be great, but not for me. Slowly but surely, I included the tomato into my diet and lo and behold I started liking it. Instead of picking it off a sandwich, I would ask for it. I guess I aquired a taste. Success. Next.

Back to the egg. Again, I am a little unclear about the first steps. They definitely include the fact that I had some really cool devices to cook eggs in, such as Boiley. I had to eat eggs occasionally just so I could use this stuff. I also really wanted to like eggs because they are full of protein and I felt like my breakfasts usually wore off by the time I got out the door. Somewhere along the line I realized that if you scramble eggs up quite a bit and add a lot of good stuff to them- similar to that out of season tomato - they really don't have much taste. Enter the ham and Swiss cheese scrambled eggs. Not bad at all. THEN there was the NYC bacon egg and cheese sandwich. Similar to the Caprese Salad - there is no way that I couldn't go for that. The gooey cheese and crunchy bacon masked anything too 'eggy' for me. Toss that on a roll or everything bagel and you are good to go. Delicious. SO... I started going to the diner and trying things like omelettes (fully loaded) and found I could not only handle these guys, but I actually started liking them! So here I sit, eating them by choice.

There are rules and baby steps that I am taking with these foods. I am not going to run out and eat a soft cooked out of an egg cup. And my scramble/omelet needs to be pretty well done. I can't have it getting 'boogery' on me. I think after all this time it's about the texture. I grew up around the sunnysides and I'm really not excited to try them today. What's that gooey stuff running all over the plate? Dad says that's the best stuff and you soak it up with your biscuit, but I prefer my egg to soak itself up in the pan and my biscuit to soak up some gravy.

For now I am really kind of enjoying the egg experiment. Now that I know how I like to use them, it is fun to think up different things to put in my omelet. I'm actually getting really into the breakfast menus, never turning my back on the syrupy things, but taking a look at the world beyond them.

Breakfast in Jamaica includes eggs with toast and fresh fruit.

A Brand New Year!

Happy 2010 and welcome to it! The past few weeks have been a ride, that's for sure, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I went home to West Virginia for Christmas week and then came back to New York for New Years week. Stacy came along with me and we tore apart the city, as usual, despite the roaring winds and arctic temperatures. I also feel like I have been eating nonstop for at least a month. I am best described as 'feeling like a blob'. I guess that is what the holidays are for, right???

Anyway, I guess things are heading back to 'normal' now as Stacy left this morning. I always say that things will get back to normal someday, that things will calm down and slow down pretty soon...but do they really ever?

I have lots to chat about, but for now how about the last meal of 2009:

Delicious salmon from L'Express French Cafe

And the 'meal' that welcomed in 2010:

Chocolate Pizza a la Max Brenner....but of course.

Vegging Out

Has anyone ever seen a cauliflower that looks like this???:

When I think of cauliflower, I picture the vegetable that looks like broccoli, but is white. A nice round top on it. If my cauliflower looked like this picture, I would probably freak out and throw it away! I'd never seen such a thing... until this past weekend. I found myself over at the Union Square Farmer's market on Friday afternoon and was quite intrigued by this yellow-green spiky thing. Would you eat this? How do you go about it? Does it taste like the standard white variety? This looks like something growing in the sea. Is it Sea Cauliflower?

FOLLOW UP: Writing this post really peaked my curiosity, so I did a little research and found that this is called Romanesco Cauliflower. One site said it is often referred to as Pyramid Cauliflower. There is also a bit of confusion about whether the veg is really a cauliflower or not. Some groups seem to argue that it is called Romanesco Broccoli. Either way, it looks weird to me. Well, you learn something new every day.

Food on Fridays

This job sure is keeping me on the go... or behind my desk... or in bed trying to get some rest. Working full time and commuting like I do every day is tiring! But do I ever enjoy my weekends! I just LOVE when Friday (my weekend) rolls around. I love the chance to sleep in a bit, have a nicer breakfast and coffee, catch up on chores around the house, and COOK! I went through a few of my old cookbooks and magazines and made a list of some recipes I would like to try. It was rather cold last week, so I was really craving some good warm comfort food. I bought ingredients for two new recipes, but only got around to making one. But oh, it was good. It was a recipe for White Bean Turkey Chili. I found it in an article about what to do with your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. Since I didn't have any leftover turkey but I did have chicken breasts in my fridge, I made it with those instead. It was super delicious. I am moving this soup onto my 'favorites' list. It is thick, hearty, spicy, and smooth... and healthy!!! It uses my new favorite toy - the immersion blender - to thicken/smooth it out. I ate leftover soup for the week and they were fabulous too. I highly recommend giving this one a shot.

WHITE BEAN AND TURKEY CHILI
(from Cooking Light, November, 2006)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cups diced yellow onion (about 2 medium)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 1/2 cup diced seeded plum tomato (about 1)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 10 minutes or until tender and golden. Add chili powder, garlic, and cumin; sauté for 2 minutes. Add oregano and beans; cook for 30 seconds. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

Place 2 cups of bean mixture in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Add turkey, and cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Add diced tomato, chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper, stirring well. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

It's Here!

The weather has changed.
The chill in the air.
The leaves begin to dry.
The time has come.
Today is the day.
The first soup of the season.

That is my poem accepting the fact that summer is gone and we will only see cooler days from here on out. Making my first soup of the season is a sure sign that I am embracing the new season, even if I am scared of the winter that is to come. This afternoon I mixed up a delicious pot of lentil soup. I do love soup and hope to make many dishes of it this year. With my new job I don't have a lot of time to cook during the week, so my goal is to make a few things over the weekend that I can eat throughout the week. By the way, I have Friday off - so this is technically my weekend.
I enjoy having a day off that most everyone else has to work. Although my favorite thing to do is hang out with my friends, it seems that when we are off work at the same time all we do is hang out and I don't get a lot done. This way I can take care of my business on Friday: cooking, laundry, shopping, etc. Then I will have Saturday to spend with friends and have fun. Ah, the organized life I have thrown myself into. It is amazing how having less time makes one more organized. Funny how I get much more accomplished when I have much less time.

Well, the soup is done and I think I need to test it out. And I have to say: I just love Hamilton Beach Immersion Blender. It is nearly the best thing on the planet. I use it at the end of the soup-making process to make it creamier...mmm... time to taste test. Bon appetit!

Day of Birth

My birthday was earlier this week. Those things just keep coming up, don't they? I remember when I was a kid I always looked forward to my birthday. I could not wait to get a year older! Plus the excitement of having a birthday and getting to have cake and ice cream was great! It kind of looses it's flair as I get older, but I still do everything I can to have a fun day.
Last year I posted reasons why I do enjoy my birthday. I would say they are pretty much the same this year. Last year I got to spend the birthday with Dad. I wish we could have been together this year, but instead I got to share the day with Ben. I still can't get over the fact of how many people I share my birthday with. I wonder if this is common. Do other people have friends and family members with the same birthday? Seriously, I have NEVER had a birthday where I wasn't around someone else whose birthday it was. Well, maybe once I did in Tallahassee. I think so, but 1 out of 28... that's crazy.

Well, this year Ben and I hung out and celebrated our day. We didn't have to work, so we went to a movie in the middle of the day and then met some people for dinner. We had dinner/dessert at this place called Max Brenner. I don't even know how to begin telling you about Max Brenner. It's main dish is chocolate. It's a bit of a chocolate factory. They have pipes running across the ceiling and down the walls of the restaurant that are pumping chocolate around. White chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate. They have an amazing menu of chocolate drinks, desserts, as well as real food. Some of the real food doesn't include chocolate... but some does! They have more versions of hot chocolate than you know what to do with. When you walk into Max Brenner you are hit with the deep, rich smell of the chocolate being made there. Oh my.... sometimes when I walk by I want to pop in for just a second to take in a big breath of chocolately air. The atmosphere of the place is really nice too... it's kind of dark and energetic which makes it like a chocolate factory for grown-ups. Appropriate place for a grown-up birthday, right???

Anyway - the group of us that went split a few different plates of regular food, which was delicious, we had some chocolate drinks, and then split a chocolate pizza for desert! The waiter even put a few candles in it for the b-day! Oh my - this "pizza" was just amazing. The menu describes it as warm thin pastry topped with double melted chocolate chunks, melted marshmallows, and candied hazelnut crunchy bits. We, of course, got it with a side of sliced banana to add to the flavor explosion. Mmmm.... mouth watering just thinking about it. I need to go back some other time to try the waffles topped with fruits, ice cream, and chocolate. Or the chocolate fondue at the table beside us looked fun and delicious too. Okay, I'm going to stop drooling. But you should seriously go over to their website and take a look through the menu. Some very nice pictures and descriptions over there.

Fabulous French Toast!

If I had to say what my cooking "specialty" is, I am not sure exactly what it would be. I love trying new recipes and different ingredients. I have a few things I do repeatedly, but for the most part I try new things. But the one meal that I am always willing to throw together for people is my French Toast! I've been using this recipe since I went to Indiana. I have made this dish for more people than anything else... and there is a reason! I am a huge fan of FT anyway, so I like to make it for myself... and not only in the mornings... FT can be a fabulous dinner!

There are several things that make my French Toast so scrumptious. I can't give away all of my secret ingredients, but I will tell you that the choice of bread makes quite a difference. I used to always use a buttermilk white bread, but I haven't been able to find it in a while. I wanted to make my toast in NY, but got frustrated when looking for the right bread. I tried a few different things, but nothing seemed right. But THEN I ran into Challah bread... a braided egg bread traditionally used for Jewish Sabbath. This stuff makes eggcellent French Toast and I can get it at Fairway Market in New York! Not too far from where I live! YES!

As a part of my new year cooking-at-home extravaganza I busted out my recipe last week and made some breakfast (it was more like lunch, but who's counting). Throw in a side of bacon, orange juice, coffee, and top with maple syrup and you've got happiness on a plate. Bonjour!

How many guys does it take?

I end up eating out quite a bit. Probably more than I should. Well, definitely more than I should. I like eating out, but it can get expensive (especially in New York) and after a while it can loose its "excitement". There is one place that I frequent for a good burger. That is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I always love a nice "little cheeseburger" with crunchy lettuce, tomato, and grilled mushrooms. They also have really good fries at Five Guys. You can get them regular or Cajun style. I tend to go regular because they have a lot of flavor and are so hot and yummy, but the cajun is great if you are bored and want to spice it up a bit.
I first met up with Five Guys in Washington DC. I think that is where they originated. I didn't go there that often, but always enjoyed when I did. After moving to New York it took a while to find out that there were also Five Guy locations here. I didn't know that Five Guys was a wide-spread as it actually is. Lucky for me, there is a location just a few blocks from where I work. So on days when I don't bring my lunch and I have to stay at the office later than I expected I LOVE to run over and grab a burger and fries.
I guess one of my favorite things about this place (besides the good food AND the free peanuts while you wait) is the fact that they don't have a HUGE menu with a million different options. They serve burgers, hot dogs, and fries. You can get a big burger or a little burger. You can have cheese and/or bacon. You can add a bunch of toppings, but the bottom line is always the same. Burgers. I like this. I think so many places try to have too many options and, frankly, they just stress me out. I like to keep it simple. The store is very simple, easily recognizable, and consistently good. I like it. Here is a picture of me about to dig into a burger. See, don't I look happy? Long live Five Guys!