Cheers! I'm in England!

So, I'm sorry for never posting about the lemon pie. Long story short it was good, but no one ate it so I had to throw it out eventually. My bad!

I'm in England! A semester abroad and loving it, I cooked something for dinner tonight in an experimental state of mind and then suddenly thought, "Shit, I should blog this. I haven't done that in forever." I think I'm calling it Balsamic Honey Chicken, but I still need to tweak it a bit. There was something missing, and I don't know if it was a potato or red onion instead of white.

What you'll need:
1 Chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks.
3ish tsp of honey
3-4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar? I'm not sure, I just added what I thought looked good.
2 tbsp of butter (mine was salted. Sorry, don't kill me, I stole it from a flatmate)
1 small white onion diced into tiny bits.

Start by melting the butter, then add the onion. Let it sautee and get kind of translucent, and when it starts to brown move on to the next step. Add the vinegar, just enough to surround the onion I guess, then add in the honey. Let that reduce some and thicken a bit, and taste it to make sure you have it right. It should be kinda sweet, but not overpoweringly so. Add more vinegar if you want to take the sweet out, add honey to amp it up. When that's reduced some and is starting to thicken, add your chicken! Cook the chicken all the way through, and then put it all on a plate to eat.

I was going to make some rice to go with this, but I got lazy. I think that might have helped, or at least filled me up more. I've been really hungry lately. Feel free to try this out and if you go red onion and it's better, then I get a point! If you add a potato to the mix, also cut up and you cook it with the chicken, then I get a point also. If you do rice, I get 3 points, because I felt like making rice more valuable. If you do something else entirely then let me know so I can try it again!

ENJOY, and CHEERS!

PS: No pics, sorry, I decided to blog this after I started eating and I didn't want to get my camera from my room.

Perfect Pie Crust!

Dear sweet Jesus I have been so busy and/or too lazy to cook at all lately! I feel as if I've let myself, and you, down. SO! Today I bring you the recipe for perfect homemade pie crust, because TOMORROW I will be showing you how to make a lemon lavender pie!

This pie was a several month long wait for me and my fellow Baking Queen Nicki, but last time it proved to be difficult and turned out disappointing. This time I changed a few things, and I'm flying solo - though not by choice. Nicki, if you're reading this, we need to bake IMMEDIATELY! That being said -

Things you'll need:
3 sticks of butter, diced (unsalted only! duh)
3 1/2 c of flour
1/4 c sugar
1 t salt
1 T white or cider vinegar (I used cider both times, and it was perfect)
1/3 c ice water

Put the flour, salt, sugar, and 1 stick of butter into a food processor and process that shit until it looks like it's mixed. Then add the other 2 sticks of butter, and mix some more. Just guess as to when it's all mixed because with all of the flour mixture you won't really be able to tell. Then add the vinegar, mix, and add the water while everything is still spinning around. Dump it out onto the counter, mush and mash it all into a solid piece of dough (but not too roughly, there should still be butter chunks) and wrap in plastic wrap (I used foil. It works...). Pop that sucker into the fridge for AT LEAST an hour before using. Mine's going to wait overnight because I'm not baking the pie until tomorrow!

I am SO sorry.

So I have been a terrible blogger/chef. I have not been cooking a lot lately, and when I did - I forgot to photograph it. I know, that's a dumb excuse, but I need to show pictures. Just to let you know what I've been doing, I made Pavlova twice (once good, once bad), and salmon (for the first time ever). I will definitely be doing these things again, and VERY soon. Hopefully I can start being a good person and remember to take pictures.

Coming soon: Pigs in a Blanket!

Scones... a month later...

I made these forever ago, but I haven't had a chance to be around an internet source and have my camera at the same time. It's unbelievable, I know, but I'm just bad at that kind of thing. It usually takes me a year and a half to charge my dead iPod, so you're lucky.

So, today I present SCONES! Orange blackberry to be exact! It was a rainy spring day, and nothing goes better with rain than a freshly baked scone and coffee or tea. However I didn't get around to the beverage portion, and I ended up cracking my phone screen in the process... C'est la vie.

What you'll need:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 egg
• The zest of 1 orange
• some blackberries!

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix to your heart's content. If your heart does not wish to mix, then put it in time out because you've got to get this done. Now cut in the butter and shortening using a baker's cutting in tool thing. The weird knife-like brass-knuckle thing. you know what I'm talking about! In another bowl, a fairly small one will suffice, beat your egg and cream together, then add to the dry ingredients. Throw in the zest, then give it one good last mix around the bowl. Toss that sucker onto a well floured surface (Really well floured, it's super sticky) and roll it out to about 1/2-1/4 inch thick. Cut it into either biscuit sized rounds or the more traditional triangle shape. Before putting them in the oven, add a blackberry or two to the top of each scone. Then pop those delicious babies into a 375 oven for 15 minutes.

Belated Pi(e) Day celebration!

To celebrate pi(e) day, March 14th for anyone not into math holidays, I was told to make a pie. It had to be pretty, and someone wanted pumpkin. I instead made a Tart Berry pie! I had the assistance of my good friend Kelsey, as well as her kitchen. Yay not shitty ovens! It's tart because I used more lemon and lime than was suggested in the recipe I found, but who cares? Lemons are perfect.

What you'll need:

2 pie crusts (one frozen pack from the store has 2 inside! Convenience, man)

2 plastic containers of blackberries

1 container of raspberries

1 lemon

1 lime

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1 egg for an egg wash

Zest your lemon and your lime, then juice half of each. Put that with the sugar, cornstarch, and berries in a bowl, stir, and let it sit for 20-ish minutes. Stir it every once in a while, mash the berries a bit, but mostly just let it chillax. In the mean time, put one disc of crust in your pie pan/tin and trim the edges. Cut the other disc into strips about 1.5 inches wide. Also, preheat your oven to 400 and put a baking sheet in there to heat up. When your filling is all relaxed and well rested, tell it it has to get baked, then pour it into the prepared crust. Top it with the strips formed into a lattice pattern, and then rub some beaten egg across the dough. Wrap the edges with foil to prevent burning, and pop that sucker in the oven on the baking sheet and let it cook for about 45 minutes.

*If you want to make this go over the top, as about 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. It gives it a small kick that makes this better than your average pie

Frozen is your Friend

Erika in my awesome chef coat.

So I just want to make this clear: I buy frozen and prepared foods. Half the time they're cheaper and they often give you more time with people when you'r cooking for other than yourself. Trust me. Last night I hung out with Erika at midnight and we made scones that were from a freezer. They are the best scones I've had in months. Literally.

What you'll need:
Scone dough from the store fridge

Preheat over to 350. Bake the scones for 20 minutes. If your package says otherwise, then follow the package.

Spring has Sprung, and so has Sickness

So Boyfriend started getting sick last night, and he still is today. Because I'm me, I keep asking him if I can do anything, bring him anything, if wants anything, etc. I offer to make him chicken noodle soup, and he consents. The only drawback? Today is the first absolutely perfect day of spring! And here I am inside making a hot chicken noodle soup instead of some deliciously cool salad or pasta dish. But it's for Boyfriend, so I don't mind. And it's tastes delicious, so it's not so bad.

What you'll need:
2 quarts chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
6 oz of wide/extra wide egg noodles
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced onion (I used red, because it's pretty)
1/2 cup diced celery
1 tsp rosemary
1 pinch of thyme
salt/pepper to taste

Simmer your broth and throw in the onions, celery, and carrots, rosemary and thyme, and let it cook around for a little bit, maybe 10 minutes? I don't know, i just had hot broth and threw stuff in as I finished chopping it up, then it all sat and waited for the chicken to cook. Once you think it has been doing its thing long enough, bring it to a boil and add your noodles and cook for 5 minutes. After that add your chicken, stir it around so it looks like you're working, and then it's ready to eat. You can let the chicken chill out for a few minutes in the soup if you want, it's up to you.

The thing to remember is that this is a soup. That means you can add ANYTHING YOU WANT. Yes, that's right, anything. Soup is the perfect dish to get crazy with, because it can almost never turn out bad, so throw in some parsnips, potatoes, radishes, peas, whatever food is in your fridge/freezer or that your stomach is absolutely begging for!

We Can Help!

This blog is about my experiences with cooking and food. I can gladly and proudly tell you that this passion of mine comes from growing up in the kitchen with my mom and dad. However, I know that trend is a rapidly dying one, and sadly it could be gone soon. Today I just watched a video from a TED conference with Jamie Oliver talking about food. His passion and heart about what he's doing for food and for children to fight teh obesity epidemic is inspiring, and I just want you all to watch this video and realize that our problems are not permanent, however devastating they are. I hope that the efforts of people such as the First Lady Michelle Obama, Jamie Oliver, and others like them are met with open arms and open minds.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html - this video is also 20 minutes long, but it's definitely worth watching.

Also, there are plenty of other inspiring, funny, and poignant videos at the TED website, www.ted.com. You can even search by category of speech, such as food!

Keep cooking, and watch the video!

New friends, new sauces!

I've been dying to make Chef John's beurre noir sauce for literally weeks now. During a performance 2 weeks ago, I made a new friend! I was talking about something I cooked and she was all, "Oh my goodness! Will you cook for me?!" And I was all, "Heck yes! Tell me what and when!" She requested steak, which this sauces goes great with! Ba BAM, and like that I get to fulfill my wishes. So, here is a long multi-recipe post for the steak, the sauce, and also I made green beans to go with it all. Thinking about it is making me hungry again, which is sad since I just ate all this an hour ago... dang it! Also, this is what I practiced using the grill pan for!! There's also a warning attached to this recipe, but it'll be at the bottom.*

What you'll need:
Steak - your choice on what kind, cut, etc.
   - salt and pepper to taste (I like mine really peppered)
   - same peppers as below, in fact from the same can

Sauce
   - butter, just keep it out, you'll be using a long of it.
   - garlic, 1 clove sliced, not minced or chopped
   - 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, well aged and delicious in every way (remember that bottle from earlier?)
   - 1 tsp minced red chilies (I used a can of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce that I quickly minced)
   - 1/2 tsp tomato paste (I used 1/2-1 tsp flour and a few splashes of lemon juice)
   - salt and pepper to taste
Green Beans
   - 1/2 lb of fresh green beans
   - butter
   - salt and pepper to taste
   - whatever you want to add to make it special?

Put your green beans in a steamer and get them going. You want to pull them off when they're just a bit under cooked (al dente if it were pasta) and put in cold water to stop the cooking. Put aside! Throw your steaks on the grill or grill pan surrounded by the chipotle peppers (the warning pertains to this portion). Grill to medium-medium well, like a good steak should be! Let rest, and keep warm while the sauce is made! In a medium/small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter. When it's a little foamy, add the garlic slices. Let them cook for about 2 minutes, barely starting to brown, then add the balsamic vinegar. Let it reduce by 2/3 (about 3-5 minutes on my stove) and add the chilies. When it's reduced, turn the heat down to low, and add the tomato paste (I added flour and lemon juice because it's for a bit of acidity and body, which flour and lemon juice give). Take the pan off the heat, and add 2-3 more tbsp of butter, and just stir around so it melts. The sauce will already be hot and acidic, so it goes fast. Then pour over your meat! Back to beans! Add them to a medium pan with a tbsp of melted butter, and saute real quick. Throw on the plate with the meat, and devour.

The deadly mace-like pepper!

*When grilling the chipotle peppers, be careful. I'm pretty sure that's what mace is made out of, and so grilling it makes it hard to breathe/speak/think in the kitchen. I couldn't stop coughing and had to throw them away after the first two stakes so I could breathe again.

Also, make sure your plate is warm, or the sauce will congeal - it is mostly melted butter after all!

A French Fruit Cobbler Custard Casserole Thing...

Clafoutis! I love saying - "Cluh-foo-tee!" Now you try. I'm serious. Do it, right now, loudly and with conviction. I know you didn't actually say it so I'm very disappointed, and if you did then I'm obscenely proud. You choose which path to follow! It's like a fun book from when you were young, and if you never read one of those books then this analogy goes right over your head and you missed out on a good chunk of life.

I digress, this clafoutis is a french custard cobbler casserole thing and it's delicious. Super easy too, just go to the store and buy some fresh fruit (berries, stone fruits, or apples/pears are all probably best, but experiment. You know what you like!) The rest you'll probably have at home. Mine was made with blackberries and pears, just letting you know...

What you'll need:
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
Pinch of lemon zest (optional)
Your fruit (2 pints? of blackberries and 2 ripe pears, pealed, cored, sliced)
One baking dish, buttered, about 10 inches? I think mine was bigger, and it turned out fine


In a bowl, combine the flour, 1/3 c of sugar, and milk, and cinnamon. Once that's good to go, add your eggs and beat them in with everything else. Put all of your fruit into the baking dish, and sprinkle with the other 1/3 cup sugar. Pour the custard filling stuff over the top of everything, then sprinkle the top with the lemon zest and nutmeg. Throw it in your 350 oven for about 45 minutes. Take it out and eat it warm or room temp!

This is what a nutmeg looks like when you grind it yourself!

Winter Grillin'

So I decided the other day that I need to practice with my grill pan since I'm using it later this week (technically tonight since this post is so late). Also, I love chicken! So I grilled some chicken. Crazy, I know...

What you'll need:
2 chicken breasts
Pepper and salt to taste
Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2-1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup? Chicken broth
Grill (or grill pan if you're freezing in winter like me)

Drizzle a tiny, TINY bit of olive oil onto your pan which is over medium heat. Put on your chicken breasts. Add salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne for heat! Pour/splash the W Sauce over it until it smells good, or you can't breath. I went with the latter - who knew that cooking with that much W Sauce would make it feel like it was impossible to breath? Cook it for about 10-ish minutes per side. Check to make sure it's done with a meat thermometer - should be between 155 and 165 F (sorry rest of the world). Then take the pan off the heat, take the chicken out of the pan, and let it rest. Immediately pour the broth into the pan and mix it around with the tasty chicken bits, then pour over the chicken when you've sliced it up and are eating it. Cue devouring here!

The Candy Man Can!

Story time! This weekend I went home because Maryville stifles my creativity and quite frankly I feel like my soul dies a bit more every day I'm there. So, now I'm in the KC area, and Saturday afternoon I see a tweet from my best friend Laura, saying she's downtown at a coffee shop we both love. I decide that I will surprise her and so I do, and we spend the rest of the afternoon in each other's company. In doing so, we decided that we need some Turkish Delight to relive the glory days - long story, as if this one isn't - so we hop on over to World Market to find some. Turns out, WM is no longer selling delight, so I say, "I bet I can make some. That's what I'll do, make us some." So I do.

What you need:
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2-1 tbsp flavoring (rosewater* if you want to get traditional)
1/4 cup pistachios (optional)

White/grey Wax!

Put the sugar, lemon juice, and 3/4 cup of water in a pot; simmer and stir on low heat until the sugar is dissolved, including the stuff on the sides. Bring to a boil, and let it get to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer - then remove from the heat. In another pot, put in 1/2 cup cornstarch, cream of tartar, and 1/2 cup cold water, stir together. Add 1 cup boiling water, then stir until everything congeals - it should look like white/grey wax. Combine the "wax" and sugar water over medium heat (lower is better) and stir constantly for about 1 hour, 1:15. Seriously, stir constantly means sit every 2-5 minutes. You'll know it's ready when it's a pale gold color, then remove from heat. Stir in your flavoring, like rose water and pistachios. Pour into a heavily greased baking dish (I mean rub oil or shortening or whatever ALL over that dish, you'll thank me later). Let it cool/set over night. In the morning, or 10-12 hours later, whatevs, and cut into little squares with a heavily greased knife. Then combine the last bit of cornstarch and the powdered sugar, then get those suckers rolling in the dust!

*Rosewater: You can make your own! Gather enough rose petals to tightly pack 1 cup (either go picking or buy a bunch of roses) and combine with boiling water for 30 minutes to an hour.




You can use any flavor, but beware! Some flavors include alcohol, and so when combined in excess to boiling sugar wax lava stuff, you will make a fireball of death. Trust me, I got a full 3 feet out of mine!

How do You not find Food Sexy?

So yesterday (Feb. 15) was me and my boyfriend's four year anniversary. In celebration, I cooked dinner! Who's surprised? As such, I made the wonderful Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Cherry Stuffing that I've been raving about for a week or two, and a deliciously rich Tiramisu Chocolate Mousse. While eating, I kept gawking over my chicken and how sexy I thought it looked - because it was sexy looking! - and Boyfriend just laughed at me, saying he thought I was silly, but it was delicious. I replied with, "How can you not think food is sexy?"

Long story short, I made a wonderful dinner, we danced in the living room to French cool jazz after dessert, and had a perfect night overall.

So! I'm not going to put the recipe's up here, because I won't lie, I used Chef John's recipes from FoodWishes.com. I will however give a few edits I had for each recipe, and link to the recipes I used.

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/02/prosciutto-wrapped-chicken-stuffed-with.html - Chicken
I didn't get to use the sauce at the end because my roommate thought it was just a dirty dish and threw it out...
Also, it took my chicken 40-45 minutes to cook, not 20 like Chef's, but my oven is super shitty and never holds an even temperature.



http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/02/tiramisu-chocolate-mouse-pickem-up-and.html - Mousse
I had to use way more than 2 tbsp of coffee, more like 3/4c or 1c. Also, I didn't use/have wine (the pains of being only 20) so I just used water with the egg portion - which I cooked over the double boiler, it was way faster. Finally, go ahead and use an electric hand mixer for your whipped cream; it doesn't matter how cold your cream and bowl and whisk and heart are, it will take you forever. Chef John's comment of not cleaning a mixer after dinner is moot, because you have to make it 2-3 hours minimum before serving.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day, and if you didn't then maybe next year?

Love Quiche: A Valentine's Dish for Me

My boyfriend was in rehearsal tonight (like every night) and so I have the evening to myself. In celebration of this loving day, I made myself quiche because I love quiche and quiche loves me and it's Love Day. In case you have no worldly pleasures in your palate, a quiche is a French egg pie - literally. Scrambled eggs, in a pie crust. Heaven.

What you'll need to make sweet love:
1 Pie crust - I had leftover homemade crust from a baking adventure over Xmas break. Store bought is equally delicious.
4 Eggs
1/2 - 1 c milk - guesstimate so that it looks like a yummy buttery color when mixed with eggs
Anything You Want Inside - Honest, a quiche is like an omelette pie, throw in whatever sounds good to you. I used sausage and cheddar cheese

Scramble your eggs with the milk in a bowl. Add in whatever you are adding in. (If it's meat, cook it first.) Pour all ingredients into the pie crust. Wrap foil around the edge so your crust doesn't burn, then cook at 375 for roughly 30 minutes. My stove is jank, so I can't give correct baking times.

*I should also give a special thanks to my roommate Helen, because yesterday I used her edamame, and tonight I used her eggs and milk. I'll pay her back in kind. Check out her blog here at: http://beautyinveterate.blogspot.com/*

Erika's Heavenly Beverage

With tonight's food, I also brewed a tasty iced tea. Of course I can't let anything go untouched by spices, so I went off book and made this wonderful drink to compliment the fabulous dinner with a friend.

What you need:
Black tea (Loose leaf is a fun challenge) (mine was decaf apricot if you want to be specific, but try something else if you want.)
Ground Cinnamon - a hearty dash, maybe 1/2-1 tbsp
Ground Clove - a minor dash, maybe 1/2 tsp
Ground Nutmeg - a medium dash, maybe 1 tsp

Boil a pot of water. Take off the heat and add tea and spices. Let steep for 2-3 min, then strain into a pitcher. Add water to fill your pitcher if it isn't full. Throw in the fridge and enjoy when it's cooled.

You can also drink it hot if you want... I'm sure it's delicious that way too, I just wanted to make iced tea.

Erika's Heaven

I'm a theatre major, and as such I perform in shows. Since I'm in college, that means I'm also supposed to do things like help set the stage up and take it down. However I don't like to, and managed (completely accidental, honest) (Truly, honest) to miss the set up or "load-in" if you want to be hip with the lingo. As a plea for forgiveness, I cooked dinner for my director. Erika (my director) requested terriyaki chicken and then I proposed quinoa stuffed bell peppers to go with. I used couscous, because it's cheaper.

Chicken - What you need:

4 chicken breasts

1/2 c soy sauce

1/2 c water

1 T ginger puree (mine was freshly grated)

1 T garlic puree (mine was freshly chopped)

1/4 c sugar

Put all of the non-chicken items in a small saucepan, and let simmer for 15 min. Cut some slices into the chicken, but don't cut all the way through and put all of the chicken into a smallish baking dish so they form a single layer. Once the sauce is ready, pour roughly 1/3 over chicken and bake at 375 for 25 min under foil. After the 25, remove foil, and cook for another 20 min - every 5 minutes you pour a bit more sauce over them. LET THEM REST then devour.

Peppers - What you need:

2 bell peppers - yellow!

1 box of couscous

1/4 c carrots - diced

1/4 c celery - diced

1 orange, zested and half juiced

1/4 c parsley

Edamame beans, thawed

Halve and de-seed your peppers, and boil them for 2 minutes to soften. Cook couscous as directed, then add everything else and mix together. Stuff couscous into peppers. Devour.

*You MUST make this recipe with cool jazz playing so you make classy food. This is entirely optional of course, but HIGHLY suggested.

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

I was hungry and had just finished doing the dishes. So what do I do? Immediately get them dirty again, go me. I was glad because I got to use my new 18 year aged balsamic vinegar. When it was heating up in the pan it was like I was getting high on delicious fumes from heaven. I realized after I had started to cook this that I should take pictures, so there's only a few here. I'm learning!

What you need:
Balsamic vinegar
2 chicken breasts
garlic clove
shallot... clove?
1/2 T of butter
pasta of your choice

Melt your butter in a medium saucepan, then add 4-5ish T of the balsamic. Add in chopped garlic and shallot, then chicken. Cook 10 min/side. When it's done take it out and, say it with me, let it rest. While you did all that you could have been boiling your pasta, salted of course. Slice chicken and throw with the pasta!

Technically it should only be 1 breast per serving, but I was really hungry, so I ate both. I know, shame on me.

Foodie Facts (Part 1?)

So, in order to keep myself occupied as well as to keep you all entertained, here are some fun food facts that are sometimes beneficial, and sometimes just neat to know.

• Dark roasted coffees have less caffeine than light roasts, despite the obvious kick in flavor!
• If you don't rest your meats after cooking, usually 5 minutes, then you lose all of the delicious natural juices.
• Always salt your pasta water after adding the pasta. Before helps too, but doesn't flavor the noodles.
• Pasta gets sticky when the water isn't at a full boil while cooking them.
• Oranges are juicer on the northeastern part of the tree than the southwestern.
• Hawaii is the largest consumer of SPAM in the USA.
• Popcorn pops because of the build-up of steam inside the kernels. 
• Popcorn kernels that don't pop are called "Old Maids."
• Fresh herbs and dried herbs actually have different tastes.
• Vitamin C helps develop collagen, which is in almost every part of your body.
• Vitamin C is the cure for scurvy.

So, I know I love random facts to whip out at parties. Now you can too! Be looking for a new recipe this week I hope, if not very beginning of next!

Keep eating, and cook carelessly!

Here's the thing...

I'm dirt broke. However, I feel that anyone who reads this more than once, and hopefully the person who found this in Germany (I hope you're still reading so you can share fun German recipes with me), should know that I'm still planning on cooking very soon. Here are a few things to look forward to!

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers and Teriyaki Chicken
Beurre Noir  sauce to go with Beef or Pork Tenderloin
Chocolate Mousse
Cookies or Cake or Pie (anything and everything I can bake with Nicki Kearney, the better half of Baking       Queens)

In the meantime, if you need a better fix for your foodie needs, check out my two favorite "food porn" sites:
http://www.foodgawker.com - search by ingredient, dish, or just randomize
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com - he lists all of his recipes by main ingredient on the side, and has lightly humorous videos posted on YouTube

This week, I promise. Just wait for me!

I've got Lemon/Lime disease...

Last night I made lemon/lime chicken with pasta pour moi et mon petit ami Tony, and tried to make a lemony sauce to go with it. However, the sauce portion turned into a gooey blob of shit, so I threw it out. Hey, adventure comes with failures, and failures come with backup plans!

What you'll need:
2 chicken breasts
lemon juice
lime juice
olive oil
salt/pepper
pasta (we had spaghetti)

1) Drizzle 1tbs of olive oil into a medium pan and let heat over medium-high temperature
2) Add chicken breasts. Pour lemon juice and lime juice strait onto chicken, then salt and pepper. Eventually you flip them and do the same thing to the other side. When it's done take out of pan and LET REST ON YOUR CUTTING BOARD
3) Cook pasta, again like any normal person does
4) Cut the chicken (AFTER RESTING) into bite-sized pieces, throw on top of your pasta
5) Drizzle just a bit more olive oil on top, add a few splashes of lemon and/or lime juice, and put a bit of cheese on top if you so wish

Step five would have been the sauce, but like I said, it was generally shitty, so we tossed it out.

ACORN-y Title Will SQUASH the Competition!

This dish is actually something I had years ago that my mother made. It is one that I've always wanted to recreate, and with the help of 2-3 other recipes I did! It's sweet, savory, gooey, colorful, and fun! Also, acorn squash is good with just some butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar if you're looking for a delicious side/dessert/snack...

What you'll need:
2 acorn squash, halved with the seeds/pulp removed
1 lb of Italian sausage
1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but I'm sure anything works)
Ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground ginger (optional, barely used any really, but I felt it added a little something)

1) Preheat oven to 375. Put the acorn squash cut side down in a baking dish. Fill dish with water until 1/2-1 inch full, then put in the over for 40-45 minutes. Make sure you cut a tiny bit off the bottom of them so they stand like bowls first - this is important later.

2) In a medium skillet or saucepan, cook the onions, garlic, and sausage until the sausage is brown all the way through over medium-high heat. Drain

3) Add the spinach, and continue cooking until everything is mixed up nicely. At this point add just a dash of the spices if you find it necessary to listen to my opinion.

4) Turn heat down to simmer until squash is done.

5) When squash is ready (is should be tender if not breaking off in lovely chunks when you grab it), take out of oven and flip over. Fill each one with the sausage mixture as much as you can! Really, squeeze it in.

6) Cover each squash with a hearty helping of cheese, then put back in the oven for 10-20 minutes, until the cheese is nice and melted.

7) Remove from the oven and enjoy warm. You can eat two if you want, or one and a salad or soup, or just one alone.

*Nothing in this recipe is exact (except for the squash. Halving it is pretty exact...) Feel free to alter and change to your liking, as always!

What are you, chicken?

So, this is what I made for lunch the other day, and then had again for dinner the other night. Everyone said it smelled wonderful, and the couple of friends I let have a bite said something along the lines of, "Wow! That's good! Why didn't you make me some? Eli, you are a cooking god!" (Probably not the god part, but I like to embellish). Also, my stove is totally worthless and I have just now started being able to cook chicken on it without the whole house filling with smoke. Yay college towns! I'll start putting pictures up once I find my camera battery charger; until then you'll just have to imagine the food (unless you cook it yourself in which case you get a real time experience...)

What you'll need:
2 Chicken Breasts (1 per serving [skinless, boneless {mine was frozen}])
1 cup pasta (per serving [I used whole wheat penne])
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1-2 tbsp of butter
Worcester sauce
1 tsp of olive oil (optional?)
A pinch of rosemary (completely optional, I don't think it did anything, I just love to throw stuff in)
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Melt butter into a medium skillet or sauce pan. Add onions and garlic and saute for 5-10 minutes-ish. Onions should be a golden brown if not just before

2) Add 5-10 splashes of Worcester sauce - whatever you feel is necessary. Judge amount by sound, smell, and how it looks in the pan. If everything starts turning a sexy brown with a delicious smell, you added the perfect amount. Continue sauteing for 5-10 minutes-ish.

3) Add chicken to the pan, surround and cover with onions. Think that the chicken is lonely and wants to be loved, and as it happens the onions are right there to meet it's needs. Cook for about 6-10 minutes, then flip and do the same. (However you cook whole chicken breast is best, since it is YOU who has to eat it).

4) Boil water and cook your pasta, like any average person does with pasta they wish to eat - remember to salt your water if you plan on your pasta tasting good!

5) When chicken is done, remove pan from heat and put your chicken on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. THIS IS IMPORTANT! If you've ever eaten dry meat, it's because it didn't rest after cooking. Think about it, if you just had a wonderful time getting all cozy in a sauna or hot tub, you don't immediately run off to work - you relax for a bit longer, letting your good times sink in a bit longer. After you let it rest, cut the chicken into strips or chunks, however you feel is best to eat.

6) When the pasta is done, drain and put into a bowl and toss with the chicken and half of the onions to eat. Drizzle with olive oil and enjoy your delicious new meal. (Other half of the onions and the chicken breast just hang out in the fridge until you decide to eat them for leftovers, which might or might not be later that evening...)

*Nothing in this recipe is exact, so play around with it. Add salt and pepper whenever you think you should, throw in extra spices, take stuff out. Make it your own!

In the Beginning...

So I've never blogged before. I decided to try this out because my FB friends were getting annoyed I think with me constantly posting about my lunches and dinners that I was making, and quite frankly so was I. As it turns out I cook at the mother fucking time, and a lot of times it's good too... kind of. So now I want to do this right - take photos, write down my recipe, and share my experience.

SO: In the beginning, there was man, and he was hungry. So he ate. As it turns out, eating raw meat gave him worms and they made their way to hi brain and killed him, so his friends decided, "Let's cook this shit!" Thus and verily cooking was created. And so shall I create, and so shall I share my creations - good and bad.