Summertime And The Living's Easy

You know how there's the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?"  That's how I've felt about my food lately.  I managed to botch salmon in my brand new Weber charcoal grill, that horrible bread pudding in a not great round two version, and brown rice.  Plain. Brown. Rice.  It's like I started off with a bang followed by a steady stream of disappointment since--the void has been filled with take out and frozen pizza.  But I'm back on the wagon now and think I may have graduated out of my funk.

Hear ye, hear ye, I had another dinner guest tonight so the stakes were high!  Although my dinner party wasn't quite like this; god forbid we used a small piece of bread to push food onto our forks and I defied Emily Post by using my vegetables to mop up the extra sauce but all in all, it was successful.

This morning as I was trying to figure out what to have, I got a craving for a real American type dinner, maybe since I've just returned from DC where a whole lot of Americana was shoved in my face at every opportunity--the Sarah Palin Embarrass-Mints were hilarious and I totally should have bought them.  Because I didn't have time to look last night, I resorted to the Internet as my go-to recipe finder as opposed to a cookbook and boy did the possibilities open up.  I want to be a neighbor sandwiched between Paula Deen and the Neelys.

I settled for the scrumptious sounding Grilled New York Strip Steak with Beer and Molasses Steak Sauce and the Cheese-Stuffed Baked Potato with steamed vegetables on the side to give some semblance of healthy-ish eating.  How could you go wrong with these two things right??  AND I DIDN'T!

The first component I made was the beer and molasses steak sauce, which according to the reviews, could be bottled and put on pretty much everything.  I started with sauteing the onions and garlic in butter and then adding pretty much anything under the sun.  And I have a confession to make: I used ketchup.  Little known fact about Angela--I don't do ketchup.  Never have, never will was my attitude until tonight.  What goes on fries? Mustard.  What goes on burgers? Mayo.  What goes on hot dogs? Mustard.  There isn't one single food item on which I use ketchup.  But tonight, I caved and used *gasp!* 2 cups!  But you know what gave it the greatest taste of all?  The reason I didn't mind the ketchup?  Cayenne Pepper and lots of it.  Quite possibly more than the recipe called for but shhhh...

Once all that yummy goodness was boiling together, I set it on simmer for a half hour.

While that was cooking, I got my oven cranking for the baked potato (plain for now, just poked several times for...ventilation...I'm not really sure) and the steaks.  In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have put the steaks in until the potatoes were nearly done but you live and learn right?

Not sure what was up with my pan but clearly it was trying to raise the roof or something.

Since the steaks didn't take long to cook but the potatoes did, we settled down for a couple of beers on the deck and came back to these beauties just waiting to be scooped out and mashed.

I've never cooked baked potatoes like this where you basically hollow out the inside, mash up the potato with sour cream, cheese, and butter (can we all say "yum" together now?) and then re-stuff it, putting it in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.  Side bar: Check out the weird portion size of my foot which I accidentally caught in the picture and the potato.  It's like the great pumpkin or something!

Twenty minutes later I opened the oven door to find these delicious twins staring back at me...

I mean seriously!?  Would anything else look this good at 7:30 in the evening after a long day at work?  If this was the only thing I had to eat for the rest of my life, I think I'd be okay.  In fact, I'd be more than okay.  I've be over the blue moon!

The final product looked pret-ty darn good and tasted even better and the beer and molasses sauce over the steak was hot enough that I didn't need to add anything extra.  Do you hear that Paula?  You might want to take some notes from the Neelys.

I even got the compliment that it was the best baked potato ever eaten.  And to class it up, the onions in the sauce were a little crispy, which added a nice touch.  Oh you fancy, huh?

Cha-ching!  Chef Angela is baaaack!

Enjoy the evening you sublime beings.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

Okay, I PROMISE I'll get better at posting...the holiday threw me off my cooking schedule, as did staying at my parents' place.  There's no place like your own kitchen.  Something about that space you know like the back of your hand; you easily fly through the cabinets, drawers, refrigerator, with the ease of knowing that you put an item in a spot just so, and when you open the door, it will still be right there.  None of that "Where'd you hide the spoon now!?" or "What, we're keeping the mustard shoved in the back so it's NOT VISIBLE are we?"

To celebrate the first cooking night back in my place, which is currently in mild shambles since I'm having a hole in my ceiling repaired, I rounded up a new cookbook that I haven't used yet.  The Marshall Field's Cookbook was my first grab and after delighting in the fact that Marcus Samuelsson was on the back cover with some other "important" chefs as well, I got down to picking out a recipe.  I totally rooted for him on Top Chef Masters. Plus I love his accent.  I started pretty much at the beginning of the book and flipped around until I stumbled upon page 62 and their Asiago-Crusted Chicken with Mustard-Glazed Carrots.  To be honest, the reason this caught my eye was because I love Panera's Asiago cheese bagels.  Love them.  As in I could eat about 5 in one sitting.  I was over the moon when we'd get bagels for the monthly communication meeting in the MCO--I'd race up once they arrived and make sure I was in line to get me some of that.  Plain cream cheese--nothing too fancy.

Let me start by saying that the end result of dinner looked like a distant, "we don't talk about that side of the family" cousin to the picture in the book but I thought it was pretty tasty, which should be all that matters; the house was only slightly filled with a film of cooking smoke (but the windows were open!) at the end.

As the Von Trapp family would say, "Let's start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start."  I made the carrots first, heating them in a mixture of water, butter, olive oil, brown sugar, and mustard.  This is good for about a pound of baby carrots and it was super easy--just let it simmer for about 8-12 minutes.  The instructions said that the water would evaporate and the carrots would be coated in a glaze.  I can tell you this much, that didn't really happen...at all.  I had those suckers simmering for like 25 minutes and I swear all the liquid I started with was still around at the end.  

Next, I made the chicken.  To do so, I put the asiago cheese and bread crumbs into a bowl and mixed it together.  Technically it called for them to be put into a food processor and "pulsed to combine".  This, I thought, was semi-ridiculous.  You're telling me that a spoon can't do the same work?  I stirred in the parsley after that and set it aside. (Upon reflection, this might be part 1 of how the DNA got messed up from the glamor shot food picture).

In another bowl, I whisked, yes, whisked the egg and water together.  Lastly, I put a 1/2 cup of flour onto a plate and was ready to bread the chicken.

Step one: "liberally season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper."  Check.

Step two: "dredge in the flour and shake off any excess.  Dip in the egg wash..."  They used the word "dredge"!!!  In a cookbook!!!

Step three: "coat on all sides with the Asiago breadcrumbs".  Yeah, this doesn't look quite right.

At this moment, I had the chicken going, the carrots simmering, and the sauce boiling.  To make the Pommery Mustard Sauce, all I did was bring 1.5 cups of heavy cream with 1/4 cup whole grain mustard (yes, there is such a thing--at least I think I bought the right thing), salt and pepper to a boil and the let simmer for about 15 minutes.  

Apparently, I also got a seal of approval.  I dodged the thumbs up in another picture but my "quick as a cat" reflexes were no match for this one.

At this point, my dinner guest and I had a friendly (read:competitive) disagreement on how we felt Marshall Field's Cookbook should have had us bread the chicken since the first of the three pieces (the practice round) didn't turn out too well--there's no picture of that disappointment.  One of us opted for the "by the book, no alterations" way, and the other opted for "my way is better even though I don't have much cooking experience."  The second way involved first putting the chicken in the egg/water mixture, THEN putting flour on it, and ONLY THEN, do you add the cheese to the top after it's cooked for a while so it melts in.

Additionally, option number two called for the microwave since by now, it was around 7:30 and both of us were starving.  Side bar, we also had differing opinions on how the sauce should cover the chicken.

I'll let you be the judge of which meal presentation you'd rather eat:  

Here's "by the book, no alterations":

And here's "my way is better even though I don't have much cooking experience":

I'll leave you with a synopsis of this evening's dinner.  Pretty good, would have gone with thinner pieces of chicken if I were to do it all over again, but gosh darn it, that Pommery Mustard Sauce was muy bien. I saved the rest in order to put it on, well, everything.

Thanks For Playing. Better Luck Next Time, Loser.

Leftovers take a long time to get rid of.  Remember the sweet potato casserole I made somewhere around the 15th?  Yeah, still in the fridge with about 1/3 left.  The smokey tomato-bacon pasta--that sucker took 5 separate meals to eat and that was WITH someone eating their share.  I swear, with the exception of maybe 3-4 meals in the span of 10 days, I've eaten the same food for lunch and dinner.  That's what happens when you make Paula Deen portions I guess.  So I apologize, devoted readers, I had nothing to post since I ate the same thing...over and over and over and over...

Today I bring you news of my first real kitchen failure.  It all started with a suggestion that someone cook dinner for me.  "Fine," I announced, "I'll make the dessert!"  Giddy with trying my luck at my first real dessert, I settled on bread pudding since I just had my first taste of it at the Sox game I went to the weekend before and it was mighty tasty.  And Paula Deen's version of bread pudding had to be good.  It just had to be.  It was called "Coconut Cream Bread Pudding with Chocolate Velvet Sauce" for crying out loud!  Here is where the problem started.  It called for "one 15 ounce can cream of coconut".  Couldn't find it in the grocery store.  Yes, I looked in the International Aisle.  Yes, I'm sure it wasn't there.

Lesson 1: You can't substitute things in desserts like you can in non-dessert cooking, especially when the name of that something you're substituting is in the title of the dessert.  I know this now.

It started out okay.  Instead of a 16-20 inch French loaf, I found French rolls (is this the same thing?  I'm still not sure) and chopped them into cubes and lined the baking pan.

Next, I whipped up what was supposed to turn into the custard, which was comprised of egg yolks, coconut milk, cream of coconut (remember yo no tengo), salt, nutmeg, shredded sweetened coconut, and mace--no clue what mace is but I did find it in the spice aisle.  Aside from the mini battle I had with the electric can opener which decided to crap out on me with the first can of coconut milk (and would you think my parents had a manual one?? NO!) which was followed by my horror movie stabbing to poke a hole in the top of the cans, there was nothing wrong looking about this mixture...except that I was missing the cream of coconut...have I mentioned that?

I was then instructed to pour this concoction into the pan and pat the bread down so it would soak up the "custard" sans cream of coconut.

And then I waited...for a hour while it was doing its thing in the refrigerator.

When that was done, I placed the entire baking dish in another "baking dish" - really what I cook turkeys in for Thanksgiving - with hot water coming 1/3 up the original baking dish.

And then I waited some more.  1 hour and 15 minutes more at 325 degrees.

Lesson 2: Be aware when the larger "baking dish" has a leak.  Do not use said baking dish.

Not long after the baking part of this fiasco was done, Paula (we're on a first name basis now) instructed me to cool this in the fridge completely before serving.  Now, around this time, I was getting a little impatient.  I mean, here's the awesome meal (fish tacos) that I had for dinner...

...so it's not like I'm complaining too much, but I wanted to experience this dessert already.

Okay, okay, maybe I rushed it a little because I put it in the freezer, but I promise you, ample time had passed.  Since I could wait no longer, and by now it was getting late, I popped it out, cut a small piece out, and kind of made a half conscious decision to forgo the Chocolate Velvet Sauce.

 Lesson 3: Do not forgo the chocolate velvet sauce.

That was the size of the piece I cut out for two people.  Not all of that got ingested since I fed almost my entire piece to the dog.

I guess it looks okay, but man, it did not taste too good.  Kind of mushy in a soaked piece of bread kind of way, not that sweet probably because I DIDN'T PUT THE CHOCOLATE VELVET SAUCE ON IT, and an overall disappointment; the dog kind of liked it.

That was two nights ago.  Tonight, I tried it again to see if any form of solidifying in the colder temperatures would help it.

Lesson 4: Colder temperature does not help bread pudding that's missing cream of coconut and the chocolate velvet sauce.

Plus, I swear I could taste the pinch of salt.  This is a total loss.  Into the garbage it goes.

And FYI, this is what it's supposed to look like:

Ladies and Gentlemen, He Didn't Die!

There comes a moment in every (pseudo) chef's career where he or she must cook for a person that is not a relative.  Someone who doesn't feel that obligation to smile and choke down that piece of food while at the same time exclaiming, "Wow, this is....*cough*....great....really, just...um....hits the spot?"  Tonight was that night for me.  The night where someone other than my mother or father ate my attempt at cooking and, dare I say, actually enjoyed it!  Somewhere the angels are rejoicing that they didn't completely mess up with yours truly.

I again defaulted to Paula Deen because I figure she's a safe bet--no one wouldn't like something coming out of her kitchen.  Well, they might not like it after years of eating that style wherein they're rushed to the hospital because all of their arteries are blocked and their cholesterol is off the charts but you catch my drift.

I also have a confession to make.  Remember when I said that I was giving up pasta?  Yeah, I didn't really "remember" that until right now when I was typing because that's exactly what I made.  But it gets better...I made Smoky Tomato-Bacon Pasta.  Pasta AND bacon--the tomatoes were an added bonus and my attempt at making it semi healthy.

In actuality, I wasn't quite sure what to make tonight, given that this was my quasi professional debut and on top of that, the entire cooking process would be on display from start to finish.  Do I make something exotic and out there but has the potential to be awesome or stick with something that I know will be easy under peer pressure.  Not only does the food have to taste good, the preparation has to look flawless, effortless, like "oh this? I just whipped this up off the top of my head.  I do this in my sleep."  Okay that part didn't happen since I clearly had the cookbook out right in front of me the entire time.  P.S. Bacon grease spatter travels a good distance so you might want to make sure you have items pushed far, far away from the pan but there's also something a little comic about this page being practically covered in bacon grease spatter.

I started with cooking about 10 slices of bacon until it was crispy and brown and trust me, I could have ended the recipe right then and exclaimed "Dinner's ready!"

As those were drying up, I chopped up one onion and cooked it until softened in the bacon grease--good one, Paula, good one.  At this point, my dog was going crazy, partially since there was a guest and partially because the aroma of bacon filled the entire kitchen...and living room...and hallway...and laundry room.

After about 5 minutes, I added some diced tomatoes with juice (I used a can...so sue me already) and crumbled the bacon to mix this yummy goodness together, seasoning it with some salt "for taste".  I've yet to determine what that means (give me a concrete measurement!  I'm not advanced yet!) because if it were up to me, I'd have a salt lick at my desk.  I like it that much. 

While that simmered for about 10 minutes, I started up the boiling pot of water in order to add my rigatoni (used an entire box but damn I'm going to have some good leftovers).  This is the part where I felt very chef-like since I had multiple things going at once--but then again not really since both were kind of "hands off and just wait" at this point.

The last step while the pasta was cooking was to add 4 ounces of cream cheese to the sauce which didn't make sense to me at the time but I'm sure it added a whole big great deal to it, which my taste buds might not be savvy enough to pick up on.

The end result was pretty darn good if I do say so myself and given that my guest of the night seemed to enjoy it as well (or was a good liar but I promise you, second helpings were had).  I can tell you this much--I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Boo-ya.

Oh The Wind Is Lashing Lustily And The Trees Are Thrashing Thrustily

In true Midwestern weather fashion, after a week of summer like heat and humidity, the weather kicked Illinois in the pants and dropped to 40 degrees (which felt around 36) coupled with some wind and rain.  In other words, perfect weather.  After spending nearly all morning and some of the afternoon outside at the Walk and Roll for the American Cancer Society at Independence Grove and then at Duck Farm since Emerson couldn't join me in the first go around, I was definitely feeling the chill in places that shouldn't feel the chill--like your hands, jeez, where are your minds?

Ever notice how awful it is to have cold hands?  You can't move your fingers fast enough, everything kind of slows down and you're practically impaired?  There are times when I go walking in the dead of winter with two sets of gloves and my hands are still ice cold.  When I come in I hover my hands over the heating vents and it's like this painful warm up that feels like a million needles pricking fingers--and it hurts...kind of like this.

So back to the mid-May cool off...

I decided that since it was cold outside, I wanted to make something warm and toasty inside.  I'm staying at my parents' house for the next couple of weeks while they embark on their National Park/Civil War Battlefield Road Trip 2011.  Because of this, I have a much bigger kitchen to play around in and after last night's meal (over-toasted buns and oven cooked hamburgers...not recommended) I felt the need to redeem myself to the all seeing kitchen eyeball.

I'd brought over some cookbooks from my place and apparently I had the foresight to bring The Deen Family Cookbook by none other than Paula Deen herself.  What better cookbook to use when trying to find a warm and comforting Sunday night meal?  Literally everything in this book plus everything I've seen her make on T.V. I want to inhale.  I settled on the "Spicy Chili and Sweet Potato Casserole" on page 105.  My brain is programmed to be in tune to anything beginning or including the words "spicy", "hot", or "chipotle".  Blame the Southwest upbringing.

The recipe looked basic enough to make and after picking up some random items at the grocery store, I set about sizzling it up.  I started with mashing the yams mixed with some sour cream and then set it aside for a while.

Then, I cooked the meat for about 5 minutes and pushed it to the side while adding the cut up green pepper and onions.

Following that, I added some garlic (1 clove-chopped), chili powder (2.5 tablespoons), ground cumin (1 teaspoon), and some salt (1 teaspoon), which I mixed in with the green pepper, onion, and meat.  Then I removed it from the stove and added the kidney beans and diced tomatoes (plus juice).

All this looked very Arizona to me so far and not necessarily Southern style cooking but as I got to the next step, which I'd kind of forgotten about (the yams!), it all made sense.  I spread the yam concoction over the top...

...and added some bread crumbs mixed with 3 tablespoons of melted butter (Paula does love her butter, or as I first typed it out, lover her butter).

Once that was done, I stuck the entire thing in the oven at 400 degrees and baked for about 27 minutes (the oven at this house is on the fritz in my opinion).  The aroma that filled the home was perfect and the oven heat nicely warmed the kitchen.  Out of the oven da da da da da da daaaaaaaaaaa!

I scooped this onto a plate and was ready to go.  The perfect meal for a blustery day.

My only comment about the recipe was that it wasn't really spicy...like not at all...like I should have dumped 8 tablespoons of chili powder in there and MAYBE it would've had a kick to it.  I think I'll draft Paula a letter.

It's Nice To Play With Rice, And Not With Mice

How great was the weather today?  Perfect, right?  All I wanted to do was get outside and go for a long, loooong walk through the forest preserve.  Luckily, living in kind of the middle of nowhere with several forest preserves within walking or a short driving distance, I'm able to take FULL advantage of that.  Nothing beats a great walk at dawn or dusk for me.  Nothing.  No matter what is going on, a walk will always help calm me down, clear my head, and restore some sense of sanity to my week.  To quote the best American essayist EVER TO LIVE:

In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. - Nature


Since my feet were tap dancing closer and closer to the door, I wanted a quick meal of substance.  Something hearty yet healthy.  I went online for some brown rice recipes since I thought something would jump out at me.  I found one that sounded interesting and was written by a *gasp* vegan.  


For the life of me, I can't find the link now but it was pretty simple and I'll try and recall it.  Basically, bring water, a dash of salt, and 2 cups of tomato sauce (I replaced this with garlic and onion pasta sauce, which was the closest thing I could find to tomato sauce in my pantry) to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the following spices: ground cumin (1 teaspoon), chili powder (1 teaspoon), garlic seasoning (1/4 teaspoon) - for some reason, I thought adding fennel would be a substitute which is most likely completely off but I had to improvise since I didn't have it - and ground coriander (1/4 teaspoon).  I'm pretty sure that's it...like I said, can't find it anywhere anymore.

Here's where my thought process was a little off as well.  See, I didn't buy the minute rice.  I bought the 50 minute rice.  So much for my quick meal.  Additionally, the below picture represents what the kids today call an Epic Fail.

I distinctly remember buying this bag of brown rice BECAUSE it had a built in zip lock.  Looks like I apparently was out of it since I cut the top off and now have trouble closing it with a twist tie.


But it was worth it and I got some work done whilst waiting for the timer to go off.  After about 35 minutes, I turned the heat off and added around 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables and let everything simmer for another 10 minutes.

And there you go, a (relatively) quick and easy meal that's perfect to scarf down before hitting the trails.

I just had to create a new playlist to listen to as well and I'm going to share its magnificence...because I can.


1) It Don't Have to Change - John Legend
2) Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz
3) Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
4) God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash
5) Mind Trick - Jamie Cullum
6) Wild Hope - Mandy Moore (don't judge!)
7) Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
8) Mama - My Chemical Romance (okay so this one is a little out of character of the others but it makes me laugh)
9) Bluebird - Sara Bareilles
10) Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como (what better way to end the walk than feeling as though I'm in a 1940s movie?)


I'm not saying it flows perfectly or even that it's for everyone, but it was my little moment tonight--my walk of one's own...no? That didn't translate well...okay.

Rub-A-Dub Fish

It's gotten to the point where I look forward to coming home and making an actual something for dinner as opposed to microwaving "food" and/or grazing the pantry - I use that term loosely since I don't actually have a pantry...I have some cabinets, but those are for the pots and pans, the spices (I have spices now!!), the dishes, etc.  If there's one thing I learned in my adventures in being a first time homeowner, it's the following: pantry/cabinet space is prime, try to get a bathroom that's big enough for TWO people even if at the time you're buying it, you're solo (resale hello! No one's moving in with me yet!), and yard space is NOT overrated.  Additionally, do not rule out leaks even if your home is yet to turn four.  I've had four so far...in new construction...and just in case you can't do the math, that's more than one a year.

But getting back to the food, I found that I actually eat less, since I spend time preparing it and I want to savor the flavors and essence.  Plus, I'm counting the weight watchers points so I can't, like, you know, gorge myself like I normally would.  I'd like to think I'm eating healthier since the ingredients are fresh(er) and not store packed.  I'm trying the healthy grocery store shopping mantra of sticking to the outer sides since all the bad (read: good) stuff is down the middle aisles.  Plus, I'm inspired by all the cookbooks, online recipes, and people forwarding or telling me their favorite tried and true dishes.  Additionally, this is an awesome blog by my old (in the sense it was a while ago since age wise she's actually younger than me...and a much better chef by FAR) work pal Christina.  Seriously, glamour shots of food and very funny.  I mean, starting out the blog by declaring Mondays Cake Day?  Genius!

For today, I decided to make something with the frozen salmon I bought at Trader Joe's and yet again, stuck with the same cookbook I've been using for a while now.  I came across the recipe, Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Rub on page 227.  I'm into these rubs lately--first the cowboy coffee and ancho rub, then the pork chops with the garlic rub, and now this.  I never thought I'd say this but I'm starting to refer to certain recipes as "easy".  A while back, even this would have intimidated me.  I don't know why but I was afraid to mess up or something so I wouldn't even attempt it.  After the uncooked chicken, small microwave fire, and skin grating slaw, I'm getting over that.

The rub called for 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of chili powder (I replaced it with the ancho chile), 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1/8 teaspoon salt as well as pepper.  See what I mean about easy?

It technically directed the salmon to be grilled but since I don't have a grill (on my wish list but to go charcoal or gas? tough decision) I settled on baking it and had to cheat and look in my Good Housekeeping cookbook to get a basic idea of temperature (350) and time (20-30 min).

If I hadn't been turned off by the potential salmonella or food poisoning threat, I would have scarfed this up before cooking since it looks so delicious!

While this was baking, I did a little meal planning for tomorrow (or Wednesday depending on how motivated I am to hit the gym in the evening) but soon the exquisite aroma of chile and sugar filled my kitchen and I put that thought on hold to pull out this:

The brown sugar had almost candied and it was...words can't describe how the taste exploded.  And fish is not necessarily my "go to" meal.  I had the smaller piece *sigh* meaning less points.  But I filled the rest of my hunger void with some peas mixed with some of the rub I had left (don't recommend...sounds waaaay better than it actually tasted).

My seal of approval is officially stamped on this one, especially for someone who might not like fish too much.

And because my generation is known for its multitasking, here's a shot of my dinner table.

I'll leave you with some simple words of wisdom: Mumford and Sons is the perfect music to listen to while cooking and entertaining guests or heading down the solo path during twilight.