New Year!

Happy 2012!

Wow I honestly do not know where the year went.

But one of my resolutions is to do better with keeping up here. And that should be so much easier in my new kitchen!

Isn't it huge! I am still unpacking, but I am loving being a home owner.

Today's post is a bit thrown together and for that I'm sorry.

For Christmas Daniel's mom gave me a pressure cooker, probably so I can cook Daniel's favorite meal Swiss steak. Tonight I decided to use it.

1. Layer 1TBS olive oil, 1/2 chopped onion, steak, 1/2 chopped onion, 1 cup water, beef bullion, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper, thyme, parsley 

2. Cook under pressure for 14 min

3. Serve

I served my yummy and oh so tender steak with Buffalo mac and cheese another Christmas gift. It too. was very good.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

So I've completely and utterly failed at keeping this blog updated. I guess not having 3 days a week off really put a damper on things. I really am going to try harder to keep this updated. Especially since I am currently training to run a 5k and MUST eat healthier.  I did find a great website that I'm going to start trying to make my meals from. The recipes look great and they even include the nutritional information which I love. Today's recipe however does not come from there I got it from grouprecipes.com.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings


1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 chicken (3 lbs) cut into pieces
1 TBS vegetable oil
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced (I did not use since I hate cooked carrots)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas


Dumplings
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a bag. Add chicken pieces and toss to coat.

2. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken in oil on all sides (8-10 min). 

Set  aside.

3. Put carrots, celery, onion, and rosemary in slow cooker. Set chicken pieces over vegetables.

4. Pour half  cup stock into a skillet and cook over medium high heats, scraping up brown bits.

5. Pour pan juices into slow cooker along with remaining stock. Cover and cook on High for 4-6 hours or on Low for 8-10 hours.

6. Add peas and stir slowly to combine.

7. Dumplings: In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, rosemary and salt. 

8. In a measuring cup combine milk and egg.

9. Add to flour mixture. Stir with a fork to make a lumpy dough. Drop dumpling mixture over chicken pieces.

9. Cover and cook on high for 25-30 min.

I really enjoyed this meal. The only problem that I had was that for a slow cooker meal it took A LOT of prep work. Daniel on the other hand wasn't to thrilled with it. I don't think I"m going to be getting him to eat dumplings again anytime soon. To bad really. 

Feta Soufflé

I told you all I would be back with recipes this week. But again I am hoping to do better with keeping up. This weeks recipe is inspired by a recipe I found at epicurious. I have taken their basic recipe and put my own twist on it.

Feta Soufflé


3 TBS minced garlic
1 tsp olive oil
salt
pepper


nonstick spray
breadcrumbs
1 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, minced
1 tsp thyme


4 eggs yolks
4 oz feta
6 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine garlic and oil in small custard cup. Cover with foil and back 20 min. Cool. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash into paste. Maintain oven temp.

2. Spray Soufflé dishes with nonstick spray. Coat bottom and sides with breadcrumbs and place in baking sheet.

3. Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until mixture boils and is smooth. Stir in tomatoes, thyme, and garlic mixture. Remove from heat.

4. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in base. fold in feta.

5. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff. Fold in base and pour into dishes.

6. Bake for approx. 25 min until puffed and golden. 

I really enjoyed mine, Daniel took a bite of his said it tasted good and then passed it to me to finish. I did learn two things though. 1. I NEED an electric mixer. Beating the egg whites by hand hurt. and 2. I have an odd assortment of dishes. I have soufflé dishes, but only one pan, no casserole dishes, no mixing bowls, etc. 

Failure

 So we are already into the second week of the new year and I've already failed at my resolution. But I promise this week two recipes! One a new one for me. A feta and sun-dried tomato soufflé. And then an old favorite, potato soup! So I promise promise I will be back in the next few days with these recipes.

Tuna and Lemon Pasta

Happy New Year! So after celebrating the dawn of the new year one of my resolutions is to start updating this blog once a week again. I am going to try and do it at least once, but hopefully more like two or three times. Another resolution that I have made is to try and start eating better. That will impact the recipes that I am blogging here. This recipe is my version of one I found in Cosmo.

Tuna and Lemon Pasta


1/2 box pasta
2 Tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
2 tuna steaks
1/2 cup champagne
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the olive oil, garlic, and chili flakes and saute for two min. 

 Add tuna steaks and sear on both sides for three min. Remove from pan.

4. Add champagne, lemon juice, salt and pepper and cook for two min.

 Pour sauce over pasta and serve.

Overall this dish was a success. I really enjoyed the noodles and Daniel liked the tuna. Unfortunately neither of us liked both parts, so take from that what you will. 

Again I want to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope to be back with you all later this week with another recipe. 

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

So I know I haven't updated in awhile. It's not that I've stopped cooking, just this past week I made garlic crusted steak and shrimp scampi. I just never think of updating here. However, I am going to try and do better and get back to at least once a week. This weeks recipe I found at Epicurious. I'm taking this to my families Thanksgiving celebration,but since I work on Wednesday I figured I would make this tonight as it said it can be made up to a week in advance.

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

2 dried chipotle chilies

12oz fresh cranberries

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 TBS lemon juice

1 small garlic cloves chopped 

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1. Place chilies in medium saucepan covered with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat  and simmer 1 hour, keep enough water in pan to cover chilies. Drain

2. Combine chilies, cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice in saucepan and stir over medium until sugar dissolves and cranberries begin to pop.

3. Stir in garlic, cinnamon, and cumin. Simmer until sauce thickens. 

4. Remove chilies. Stem and seed. Mince chilies.

5. Mix minced chilies back into cranberry sauce and chill. (can be made 1 week ahead, keep chilled.)

I am really looking forward to eating this Thanksgiving. I did save a spoonful out for me to try and I thought it was amazing. There was just a slight kick at the end, but not really spicy. Next time that I make this I'll probably add two or three more peppers to it. 

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Well after a 3 day work week (which was proceeded by a 5 day staycation) it is nice to have a 3 day weekend. I am enjoying my new position at work though. It's really nice having my own office. And even nicer knowing that all my customers are having there cars repaired at my location, instead of me trying to track down what toyshop they are using.  Daniel and I have Elizabeth for the weekend. So I decided to make a cake with her. This cake is my own invention, so we will  see how it turned out. It is a result of my researching online different kinds of egg less cakes.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

     2/3 cup flour

      2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1 pkg. chocolate pudding mix

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 TBS melted butter

1/2 cup milk

1/4 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips.

1. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, pudding mix, salt, and baking powder.

2. Mix milk, vanilla, and melted butter.

3. Stir into flour mixture. Add chocolate chips. 

4. Bake at 350F for 30 to 45 min, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Nutella Pudding Frosting

3/4 cup butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk
1 cup chocolate pudding 

1/2 cup Nutella

1/4 cup goat cheese

1. Mix all ingredients together.

2. Frost cake.

So right now I'm waiting for the icing to harden, which I really hope it does. Daniel and I have both tasted the icing and at least it tastes AMAZING. Elizabeth and I had a lot of fun making the cake. She was positively in love with my apron. And she was a big help until she dunked the apron into the mixing bowl. Hopefully this will turn out and taste good. 






***UPDATE***
Well we just got done with eating dinner and went on to the good stuff. While this turned out a slight bit more puddingy than I wanted it to, it was still AMAZING. It was definitely messy. But for something that I made up out of my head using only ingredients we head in the house it is something that I am going to make again!

Jamaican Stuffed Chicken

Ok so I'm going to try and get back into doing this. It really is something that I miss. Plus with my new position I'll be getting home early so I can actually COOK dinner. So let's see...just a little update: I'm loving working as an auto damage adjuster. It was definitely a good move on my part. I'm much happier than I was on the phones. I also just got a promotion, which is fantastic. I'll be running the office out of Moore Cadillac. So no more driving to Falls Church. I now have a nice 15 min, 3 road drive to work every morning. Other than that nothing else new. So todays recipe was inspired by one I found at Epicurious and tweaked for my tastes.

Jamaican Stuffed Chicken

1/2 cup peeled cubed sweet potato
1/3 cup peeled chopped plantain
5 chicken breasts
1 TBS butter
1TBS olive oil
flour
water
salt
pepper




1. Place the sweet potato and plantain in a small saucepan. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 8 min, or until soft. 

2. Drain. Return to pan and mash. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

3. Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. Season both sides with salt and pepper.  place spoonful or sweet potato/plantain mash on one end of chicken. 

4. Roll up chicken to surround mash. Repeat with remaining. Cover stuffed breasts with flour. 

5. Melt butter and oil in large skillet. and chicken and brown all sides. 

6. Add 1/4 cup water to skillet and simmer covered for aprox. 15 min or until chicken cooked through. 

7. Plate chicken. Add a drop of lemon extract to drippings in skillet. Increase heat to high and thicken for 1 min. Drip lemon sauce over chicken and serve.

This was really tasty and incredibly easy to make. It will probably become a staple in my weeknight dinner rotation. Even Daniel said it was good, although he was a little bit hesitant to eat it at first since I wouldn't tell him what it was except for chicken. 

Three!

So three months after it began I'm done with training and finally living at home again. Daniel had moved into an apartment while I was gone, so now I've moved in with him and am currently getting the kitchen set up the way I want it. I"m loving my new job. For the most part I"m working 6:45- 3:15, which I love! I"m actually able to do things like go to the grocery store once I get off work. And of course not being stuck in an office building all day is awesome! In a few weeks I"m having a tastefully simple party, which should be pretty cool. I"m looking forward to having people over. This week I made three different recipes all brought to us by my iPhone!

Mango Shrimp

Canola Oil

Chopped Red Onion

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

Fresh Ginger, peeled and minced

Salt

Allspice

Ground Cumin

Cinnamon

1 Mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2 in pieces

Cider Vinegar

Lime Juice

Brown Sugar

1lb Shrimp, peeled

Red Pepper

Garlic Powder

1. Heat oil in a 3-qrt saucepan over medium high heat. Cook onion, garlic, ginger, 1/4 tsp salt, allspice, cumin, and cinnamon for about three min. I didn't measure anything just made it to taste.

2. Add mango, vinegar, lime juice, and sugar. Gently boil, stirring occasionally until sauce is thick. Again I added everything to taste.

3. Toss shrimp with red pepper, garlic powder and Salt. Heat remaining oil in skillet. Cook shrimp.

4. Let cool and serve with sauce.

I also put this sauce over some chicken I have baked with garlic powder on it. Served the shrimp with the chicken and mashed potatoes as a side. This was a really delicious dinner. Daniel and I ate the entire thing, with no left overs. Best of all it only took about 45 min to make.