Yesterday Husband and I went out for Mexican. We had agreed to try to make it our last stuff-your-face meal before our trip to Acapulco at the end of May. (I fittingly had the Acapulco Shrimp Tacos). If we have any hope of transforming our bodies before we don bathing suits, it's now or never.
In this mind frame, last week I put together a Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad from CookingLight. Nothing will ever replace our love of white trash Taco Salad, but at 8 grams of fat per serving this was a healthy alternative.
Again because of work schedules, Husband and I ate this meal at different times. I enjoyed it. The lime juice really cut through in the dressing, which was not a problem for me. However, Husband is not a lover of raw citrus in dressings, so I was a little worried about his reaction. I had reason to be, unlike the gazillions of favoral reviews for this recipe, Husband didn't care too much for this salad. In Husband's defense, some of the reviews were a bit ridiculous. Does it really look like an entertaining meal? Come on people.
I made three substitutions:
1. ground turkey breast instead of shredded chicken
2. green onions instead of red onion
3. pinto beans instead of black beans
Few things mark the much anticipated arrival of spring: obviously the calendar, sprouts of daffodils and tulips out of the earth, birds chirping, the need for a sweater in the morning but not in the afternoon, and asparagus' sudden dip in price at the supermarket.
Thought I'd try an asparagus tart. I didn't have the one ingredient that would have made this tart spectacular...puff pastry. Despite that, this was a decent recipe. It looks much prettier than it tasted. Don't get me wrong it was fine, just not impressive. If you're going to try it, pack as many asparagus spears in as you can. The bites loaded with asparagus were 100% better than those without. Also, I left out the tarragon and used a dill havarti cheese instead of the recipe's parmesan. This was a good substitution in my opinion. Here's the recipe I loosely based the filling on:
Ever since I can remember I've loved beef stroganoff. I loved it so much as a child that I often chose it for my special birthday dinner. It must be the sour cream. I crave dairy.
The most recent issue of Cuisine at Home magazine had a recipe for beef stroganoff. I thought I'd give it a try. I had never watched my mom make this dish, so a recipe for guidance was needed. In this issue, the magazine takes a few "chewy" cuts of beef and walks you through tenderizing and then cooking, so the result is oh, so tender. I must say, I picked out a nice eye of round roast that needed tenderizing. I grabbed the mallet and hammered away. I enjoyed this task. Before you picture me taking out my frustrations onto a helpless roast, let me remind you that I live a fairly stress free existence...no frustrations here. (Have I mentioned I love my live?) Knock on wood. I wasn't picturing any enemies or a brother or anything like they told you to do in T-ball to make contact with the ball. I don't believe in violence. I was just a girl hammering a piece of roast hoping that the neighbors weren't suspecting any foul play. It was fun. The end result was nice tender chunks of beef.
Here's what I did:
Beef Stroganoff
adapted from Cuisine at Home Magazine April 2008
serves 3
1 lb. beef roast, trimmed, tenderized, and cut into 2" cubes, and seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
3 T. vegetable oil
1 8oz pkg. button mushrooms
1/2 T. butter
1 cup diced onion
1 T. tomato paste
3/4 cup beef broth (I had to increase the braising time to 1/12 hours due to an overworked and late husband, so I added more broth...ended up using a full 14oz. can)
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 t. dried dill
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Dredge beef cubes in flour, then sear in 2 T. oil, in a Dutch oven over high-ish heat until browned, 2 mintues per side. Remove beef from pot; add 1 T. oil and reduce heat to medium.
Add mushrooms and saute until golden, stirring often; remove from pan. Melt butter in pot, add onions, and saute until beginning to soften, 3-4 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute, then increase heat to medium-high.
Deglaze with a bit of broth; add rest of broth and beef back to the pot. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise for 45 minutes. Remove pot from oven and stir in mushrooms. Return to oven and cook until meat is tender, about 15 minutes.
Add sour cream and dill. Stir.
Serve stroganoff over noodles.
Yesterday. Tuesday. It had so much potential. It was my first real "day off" in two weeks. I planned on an unrushed, unrehearsed day of catch up. You know, run a few errands (we had been using an assortment of hotel soap samples for a few days), clean the bathroom, eat a few bon bons...a perfect day. It turned into quite an emotional roller coaster ride. It all started (insert descending harp glissandos here)...
I woke at 7:15am. I was just in time for my standing yoga appointment with the TV at 7:30am. I've been doing this yoga program for two months now. I'd finally found a exercise regime that I enjoyed and it was free. Yippee! Needless to say, I was quite surprised to find that Channel 23 is no longer Fit TV, but the Science Channel. The Science Channel? With an instant rain cloud hanging over my head, I ate my peanut butter topped english muffin and continued on with my day.
After getting the oil changed in husband's car, I headed to Sephora to buy some make-up. I handed the cashier my beautyinsider card to rack up a few points. Someday it would finally pay off and I'd get a free gift. It was that day! I got to choose a free gift. Instant happiness. I skipped over the lip gloss for the teeth whitening kit. I was so excited, as just last week I told Husband that teeth whitening had moved past ankle liposuction as my number one desired cosmetic procedure. This day was looking up.
After lunch, I stopped off at the tailors to pick up husband's suit. You see, this was the second time I've picked up this same suit because the tailoring wasn't done correctly the first time. Tailor insisted that this was a different suit and charged me again for the tailoring. I didn't have proof with me, so I relunctantly paid getting hotter with every minute. Rain cloud was back. After a stop at the grocery store I went home still angry. I absentmindedly put my shopping bags in the kitchen without putting the refridgerator items away (I realized this two hours later), picked up the tailoring receipts and headed back to confront the tailor. I was not going to be played around with. Armed with receipts and a few fighting words (I was nice, but firm), I got want I wanted after 30 minutes: a refund for the tailoring I already paid for, even though Tailor still insisted that there were two suits and she was being duped. Unfortunately not for both the Tailor and I, but at least for me the sun was out again.
Next stop, hair cut. I was a little fearful, as my last stop had ended positively, and the way things had been going I was afraid that a turn for the worst was ahead...or my head, pun intended. Besides a little preoccupation with her cell phone and her collegue in the chair next to us, Stylist did an ok job with my hair. It just wasn't the pampering I had wanted.
Wait a minute, this a food blog.
I'm getting there.
It was six thirty and I was prepping the ingredients for dinner thinking about my crazy day. It couldn't have been too bad, as I appeared to be smiling about it. I realized as I was chopping that this was the most relaxed and unrushed that I've felt all day long. What comfort food preperation is for me. It is the Child's Pose and Downward Dog that I missed earlier in the day.
Let me tell you about our dinner. I had recently purchased some black rice, also known as emperor's rice or forbidden rice, that I was very excited about. I had never had it or cooked it, so I didn't know what to expect. I loved it's nutty creaminess. This recipe, from epicurious.com was a winner: Black Rice with Scallions and Sweet Potatoes. I followed the recipe, but added mushrooms and snow peas.
Since, I picked the rice recipe first and it had asian inspired ingredients, I was happy to easily find a compliment in Malaysian Glazed Chicken Wings by Zak Pelaccio from Food and Wine's 2007 Cookbook. I did modify that recipe a bit. Here is my adaptation:
Malaysian Glazed Chicken
2 Thai chilies, crushed
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. ground fennel
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. gound ginger
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
2 T. fish sauce
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, diced
6-8 pieces, an assortment of chicken drumsticks, wings, and/or thighs
juice of half a lime
Whisk together first 10 ingredients. Pour in a resealable plastic bag and add chicken. Refrigerate and marinate for 1 1/2 hours, turning occasionaly. (Original recipe recommends 4 hours).
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the wings from marinade and pat dry with paper towels; reserve marinade. Arrange chicken on wire racks set over a foil-covered baking sheet. Roast for 40 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through.
Strain the marinade into a saucepan, add lime juice and bring to a boil., Cook over moderately high heat until thick and sticky, 20 minutes. When chicken is done, brushed marinade over chicken and serve.
Leftover chili. What to do? Inspiration = Sonic. Chili Cheese Fries.
What is it about Sonic that makes people go nuts? Everyone I know from a region without Sonic, doesn't seem to get enough of Sonic when they're in the region of Sonic. Do you follow?
Since, I didn't feel the need to buy a fry daddy (Christmas anyone?), I decided to make oven fries. I haven't had too much luck with these in the past. Even Husband was skeptical. He asked if they were going to mushy. !?!
Determined to make a crispy oven fry I turned to Cook's Illustrated. Their persitance paid off again.
Oven Fries (serves 2-3)
adapted from The New Best Recipe from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated
2 russet potatoes, peeled, each potato cut lengthwise into 10-12 even wedges
4 T vegetable or peanut oil
Salt and Ground Black Pepper
Adjust an oven rack to lowest position; heat the oven to 475 degrees. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water; soak 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coat a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with 3 T oil and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper; set aside.
Drain the potatoes. Spread the potatoes out on a triple thickness of paper towels and pat thoroughly dry with additional paper towels. Rinse and wipe out the now-empty bowl; return the potatoes to the bowl and toss with the remaining 1 T oil. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet; cover tightly with foil and bake 5 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula and tongs, scrape to loosen the potatoes from the pan, then flip each wedge, keeping the potatoes in a single layer. Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5-15 minutes longer, rotating the pan as needed if the fries are browning unevenly.
Transfer fries to a second baking sheet lined with paper towls to drain. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
I did have to increase the baking time to get them to crisp. Actually, they could have been in a little longer still, but we were hungry.
As if Monday's weren't bad enough... This past weekend, we had a much needed relief from the cold. Highs were in the 70s!!! Monday, unfortunately, brought back winter. Will it ever end? I'm forced to go with the ground hog on this one. He saw his shadow this year, so 6 weeks from Feb. 2 is what date again? I think we're getting close.
A sunny tart was in order. Nothing like beating your blues with food, right? This mini coconut tart did just the trick. Smooth and creamy, mmm.
