First couple of nights at the new house

Bow-tie pasta with Chicken
Anita was kind enough to cook the first night while we moved stuff in.
She did a chicken pasta with red sauce. Pretty standard. Pretty good. It was an Eva request. We've gone through pasta before. I'm sure you've made pasta before.

The second night I did hamburgers. I was wanting something simple and, luckily enough, Anita requested them at the same time I was thinking them. I did these a little special.

Blackened Inside-out Cheeseburger with Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Chips

Cut a red pepper in half, de-seed/vein, and place halves, skin side up, in oven on broil. Let 'em go til black. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag or bowl covered in plastic for ~ 10 min. Remove skin and slice into strips.
While your pepper is in the oven:
Fine dice some onion and garlic. Add to the meat with salt, pepper, and a little more granulated garlic and onion powder. Mix well.
Form patties. Add shredded cheddar to the center of each pattie, fold over and reform so that now you have cheese on the inside.
Cover top and bottom of the patties with blackened seasoning.
Cook on stove-top to desired doneness.
After first flip, cover the pattie with roasted red pepper strips and cheese so it can melt over it while it finishes cooking.

Strips of avocado would have also gone nice with this, but they didn't have any ripe ones in the store.
Bacon would've been good too, but I was out. I did, however, have some bacon fat left over from when I cooked it that morning. Did I maybe douse the patties with a little while they were cooking? What do you think?
They were delicious.

Sweet Potato Chips
Peel and slice these bad boys as thin as you can however you can. I had an attachment to a food processor that did the trick. I had to cut them into funky shapes to make them fit through the aparatus. A little messy, but it worked.
Heat up some canola/vegetable/peanut oil on ~ medium heat. You're looking for around 325F. I don't have a thermometer that reads that high, so I always have to guess at my heat. Especially when I'm in a new house with a new stove.
Fry 'em in batches for a couple minutes til crispy. Transfer to a paper towel to drain oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. eat.

Because I wanted to cook as well.

History:
Tomorrow I become a warrior! So, to prepare I am making my final meal as a non-warrior. We have left over potatoes. We needed some bread. And I had chicken in the freezer... the rest was up to the store.

Menu:
Fresh Bread
Roasted Chicken
Green Beans with Bacon and Onions
Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Guada
Blueberry and Peach Tart

Bread:
Again, this is the core recipe I made awhile ago. Clark did a good post on it. Simple, easy, great.

Chicken:
Roasted split chicken breasts. 425 for 45 minutes? Seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, and thyme. Little slice of butter under the skin.

Green Beans:
Blanch the green beans to give them a crunch. Dice the bacon. Render the fat, cook the onions in it... add the green beans. Toss.

Potatoes:
Soft boil the potatoes for 20sh minutes until soft to a fork. Use a blender and puree to help make fluffy. Melt down 1/2 stick of butter, and saute large diced garlic in it. Add the potatoes and smash! Add another 1/2 stick of butter, some milk, and fresh grated guada cheese.

Tart:
Again, older recipe, but really good.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Pork Loin that Jenny didn't get to eat!

I did a pretty traditional stuffed pork loin with pan gravy. Nothing extraordinary, but damn fine eatin' if you ask me. Also roasted sweet potato and butternut squash, and Jake did a broccoli rabe.

Difficulty: Medium (just cause stuffing and tying the pork loin is a little messy)
Time: About 2 hrs if you make the stuffing. Alternatively, you could just use bread crumbs and skip that step, but it's not as good.

Stuffed Pork Loin with dry rub:
I kind of made this up on the fly. Didn't exactly come up with anything groundbreaking but hey, I was just making thurs night dinner.
You need:
1 pork loin
corn meal (and everything else you need to make corn bread)
mirepoix ingredients (celery, onion, carrot)
fresh sage and thyme
fennel fronds
chicken stock
red wine
for dry rub:
ground coriander
ground rosemary
granulated garlic
onion powder
celery salt
white pepper

For the stuffing:
Get some corn meal and make a small pan of corn bread according to the directions. Let the corn bread cool.
Make a small dice mirepoix and saute in a pot with some oil or butter. Add herbs; thyme, sage, fennel. Crumble corn bread into small pieces and add to the pot. Stir to mix. Add in the chicken stock. Mix well. Transfer to a greased baking pan and bake at 425F for 10-15 min. Let cool.
Butterfly your pork loin and then make a crosswise cut at a 90 degree angle so that it forms a 'T'. Do not cut all the way through. Salt both sides and let it come up to room temp while your stuffing cools.
Pack the stuffing down the middle and tie that bad boy up with some butcher's twine. I am really bad at this so I got Jake to do it. Jake doesn't, at all, use the professional method, but he gets the job done. He cuts individual, small pieces of twine and ties it up incrementally starting from the ends. Tie each end closed, then work your way in. It works.
Now on to the dry rub. Mix the spices in a bowl. Sprinkle over or rub in til the whole thing is coated. Be careful not to squeeze out the stuffing. I forget how big this loin was. It was big. Maybe 6 lbs? I roasted it in a pan at 425F for about 45 min. If you've got a thermometer it should be somewhere around 140F at the thickest part.
Take that beautiful specimen out of the oven. Now for the gravy.
Pan gravy is easy, delicious, and you can make it while your meat cools because YOU DON'T SLICE INTO IT UNTIL IT HAS RESTED FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES!! Otherwise, all the delectable juices evaporate off. Let them reabsorb while you make some gravy.
Put the pan, with drippings, on the stove on med heat. Add mirepoix and maybe a little butter if you need more fat. Sweat until mirepoix starts to brown. Add a little AP flour to make a roux. Let it cook for a few minutes. Add a little wine to deglaze the pan and get up all those crusty little tidbits of flavor. I used Pinot. Let the alcohol cook off for about a minute, then add some chicken stock. Let the sauce reduce down to a good consistency, season to taste, strain, serve.

For the vegetables...
You need:
Diced sweet potatoes and butternut squash
Some diced onion.
Salt, pepper, fennel, granulated garlic, olive oil.
Roast it in a pan under (or over, I guess) your pork. If you use a relatively small dice then it shouldn't take more, and probably less, than 30 min.

I'll have to come back to you for Jake's broccoli. I know he uses garlic and red pepper flake. I don't think there's much else to it.

Jake:

The broccoli thing is really easy. Garlic, broccoli, chicken stock, and red pepper flakes. Steam/cook the broccoli and garlic in the chicken stock.

Spinach, Zucchini, and Chick pea Stuffed Crepes

It's late and I actually still have some work I need to do for my first day of rotations. Will revisit tomorrow. Simple dish. Tasty.

Ok...2 days later. Loving the rotation. Spending a crapload of time at the hospital. Do you care? No. Want to know how to make a very simple and unique dish with great, light flavor? Here we go.
So it is sauteed onions, wilted spinach, raw zucchini and chick peas wrapped in a very thin pancake (or crepe) and drizzled with some white sauce made from butter, milk, flour, s/p. I know. It actually sounds weird as hell. But it's good. Surprisingly good.
First make the crepes.
You need:
1 1/4 cup AP flour
1 egg
1.5 cups milk
~ 5 tbsp water
1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
pinch o' salt
butter/oil for greasing

Wisk together ingredients to make a very thin batter. It needs to be way thinner than you think. You're going for very thin pancakes. THe thinner the better for this dish. It always takes me til about the 4th or 5th crepe before I've actually gotten by batter as thin as I want it. A really flat, large pan also helps greatly. All I have is my warped cookware which ends up making them not quite so pretty crepes.
Heat a pan, grease with butter, fry crepes on one side only to make ~8 large crepes.
Set aside while preparing the filling.

For the filling you need:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
fresh spinach, washed and shredded
1 to 2 zucchinis depending on size, grated
1 onion, small diced
cilantro
s/p

Put the chick peas in a bowl of water and rub to remove the skins. They will float to the top. Place chick peas in a bowl and roughly mash them.
Grate the zucchini into the bowl with the chickpeas
Fry the onion in oil til translucent. Add the spinach and cook til wilted.
Transfer the mix to the bowl. Add chopped cilantro, s/p, and mix well.
Place the pancakes, cooked side up (like this matters), and line the stuffing down the center. Wrap 'em up and place them in a baking pan.

Now the sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp ap flour
1 1/4 cup milk
Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour, and gradually add milk. Heat gently, stirring continuously, til thickened and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and pour over pancakes.

Now Bake the pancakes at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Serve.

Chicken Chow-Mein

Two for two, baby!! That's right, I'm cooking it up. And don't be surprised to see another post tomorrow. And yes, I got on a 2 day Asian kick. Although to be precise, yesterday was Thai and today was Chinese. Yes, both "Asian", but still different styles.

So, Chicken Chow Mein. Who doesn't like it? Did you know it's ridiculously easy to make? And even taking my sweet time it was done in less than an hour, prep time included. And hence, according to our new rating system it gets:

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 45 minutes (prep time included)

You need:

~ lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small strips

noodles

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 carrots, thin sliced

mung bean sprouts

snow peas

green onions, chopped

6 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice vinegar

s/p to taste (I personally don't use salt since I'm using soy sauce)

Marinate the chicken strips in 2 tbsp of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar while preparing everything else.

Boil the noodles, drain, and run cold water over them to cool.

Heat a wok, or large pot if you don't have one, to med-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken mixture and stir fry for a couple minutes.

Remove the chicken from the wok and set aside. Wipe the wok clean and add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Add the carrots and stir fry for a minute or two.

Add the snow peas and bean sprouts and stir fry for another minute or two.

Add the noodles and stir fry til heated through.

Add soy sauce and pepper to taste. I didn't this time, but I would normally throw some red pepper flake in there, too, cause I'm all about the spice.

Return the chicken with any juices to the mix and heat through.

Stir in chopped green onions.

You are ready to eat.

The World's Best Brownies

History:
This is it. The best brownies. Clark made these for his family over Thanksgiving last year.... twice. Adapted from a Tyler Florence into this amazing work.... we have tried others, but nothing comes close. I think it comes from melting the chocolate instead of using cocoa powder. And thanks for sticking with us during our down time.... apparently APPE time = cooking time.

Recipe:
2 sticks butter
112 grams of milk chocolate [again I like to stick to the Ghirardelli]
112 grams of 60% dark chocolate
1 t baking powder
pinch of salt
4 large eggs
424 grams of sugar
169 grams bread flour
2 tbs of amaretto

Preheat the oven to 350. Double boil the chocolate and butter until melted and smooth. Beat the eggs, amaretto and sugar until fully mixed. Slowly add the chocolate mixed. Fold in the dry goods. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

Red Coconut-Milk Curry w/ Chicken and Veggies: Thai-Style

Ok, I'm back! I know, I know. It has been a looooong time since I posted anything. It's been a long time since I've cooked anything. Well, anything new. Sorry. I've been busy and, for the last month apparently, really unmotivated. I broke up with my girlfriend of almost 5 yrs. Then I got back together with her. Then I got a third job. I've been distracted. But hey, you don't read this to hear about me. You want food. Well here 'tis.

I've been meaning to do this for a while so I shall go ahead and, as unofficially as possible, start rating the difficulty and giving a prep/cook time for the recipes. Maybe we (yes, we, because I'm sick of reading emails and hearing people talk about Jake's blog. It's OUR blog damnit. And I started it. Can you have an entire paragraph in parentheses?) will make it more standardized and pretty later but for now, here goes.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: ~ 1 hr 15 min

Background:

Coconut milk curry dishes are a Thai staple. They are also one of my favorite dishes ever. There is a spot in downtown Decatur that serves make-your-own bowls of the stuff and I get it every single time I go. Very rarely do I get the same dish at restaurants. I like to try different things and explore, but their red coconut milk curry dishes are amazing and I just can't break away from it. I was very happy when I came across this recipe.

The fundamentals of making the dish are very basic. As far as ingredients, you can put in whatever you want; chicken, shrimp, fish, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, whatever. Just make sure and put the things that need longer to cook in first and then add the quick-cook items later. You can also use green curry paste if you prefer.

For today's recipe you need:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 tbsp. groundnut oil (or whatever)

1 or 2 14 oz cans of coconut milk (depends on how much you're making. I actually only used 1 but I used almost 2 lbs of chicken and a lot of veggies so I wished I had used 2)

2 tbsp red curry paste (the faint of heart might want to start with half or less and work their way up)

1 pack of udon noodles (I actually prefer the flat noodles, but udon noodles work. Or you could nix the noodles and serve it over rice. Or just eat as is.)

2 tbsp thai fish sauce

1 tbsp light brown sugar

carrots, sliced

broccoli flowers

spinach, shredded

1 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

s/p

Heat a wok (or pot) til hot and add in the oil. Swirl and add the onion. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil while stirring. Stir in the curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, and s/p.

Add in the noodles and carrots. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 min.

Add the broccoli and continue simmering for ~5 min.

Add the chicken and simmer for about 15-20 min til done.

About 5 min before the chicken is done add in the shredded spinach.

Once everything is done, add the lime juice, chopped mint and basil, and serve.

Sausage Biscuits [JG]

History:
Yes we have not been cooking. Clark is actually going to make something tonight... I think. It has been finals and then our "Summer Break"... so we both have been meh. I had sausage going bad.... had to use it. Thought this would be fun.

Biscuits [I tried whole wheat.... I'll put up a recipe later.... ended up having to use a TON of AP flour to balance it out.... so I need to rewrite it for you].
Eggs
Sausage

Beat the eggs like an omelet. Add cooked sausage and then pour into a pan. Make like an omelet. Divide on top of the biscuits. Make into sandwiches. Freeze and enjoy for later.

Pumpkin Bread [JG]

History:
Yes, it is that time of year. That's right, moving... so you start to find random things in the cabinets and decide to make things. So I have attempted this a few times, and never have I gotten close to Mrs. Lee's [and that's not Sarah]. But, this version just got the Clark stamp of approval.

Recipe:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
100 grams whole wheat flour
135 grams bread flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t clove
3/4 cups of pumpkin from a can

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Mix all the dry together [and yes I did more spices then the recipe above says... except I didn't measure]. Alternate add pumpkin [wet] and dry ingredients. Pour in a bed pan and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Enjoy.

Spinach Quesadilla with Salsa [Grit]

History:
This is one of those veggie grit recipes. Everyone enjoyed...

What you need:
Garlic
Onions
Corn
Carrots
Spinach
cumin
coriander
parsley
oregano
basil
cayenne pepper
butter/oil
tortillas
cheese

Saute onions and garlic. Add in corn and shredded carrots. Go until bright colors. Add herbs/spices. Put in spinach in batches. Cook the spinach until slightly wilted. Get your tortillas ready. Heat a pan with a bit on butter/oil. Place one tortilla down. Then in order cheese, spinach, more cheese. Fold and flip once bottom cheese is melted. Melt top layer of cheese. Serve with fresh salsa.