Mom's Stir Fry

My mom called me up today and said "I have an onion, peppers, and beef that's been cut up into strips, how do I make a stir fry?" I couldn't believe my ears. I even made her repeat herself.

As a general rule, my mom doesn't cook. It's not that she can't, per se, it's that she just never wanted to. I mean,  in the general sense, sure, but in the immediate "hey, let's cook dinner tonight!" way, she was always much more inclined to order chinese food. Needless to say, I was shocked to hear that not only did she want to cook, but that she'd already bought ingredients!

I tried looking up recipes, but a lot of them included things that mom just doesn't have, like a fully-stocked spice rack and three different types of vinegar. Instead, we decided to improvise. Mom got out a big saucepan, some olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, and a few soy sauce packets from the last time she ordered chinese food.

Improvisation, a cook's best friend!

First, she heated up olive oil so that it would be hot when the meat hit the pan. She had a little problem with her stove because it was making the oil evaporate, but then she turned down the heat and it was just fine. She then used 4 packets of soy sauce, garlic powder, and a little bit of paprika to make an impromptu marinade for her meat. At first I suggested less soy sauce, but with over a pound of meat, she thought more was appropriate.

Next, she chopped her onion and cut her multicolored pepper strips into smaller, bite size pieces. She asked me if she had too many peppers for her one onion, so I told her that she's the chef and it's her call. She ended up using all of them.

Once her oil began to spit (or start shooting hot oil at her), she put in her steak. She also opened more soy sauce packets and put them in a measuring cup so that she could pour it on her veggies while they cooked.

As soon as her meat browned (she flipped it once), she seasoned and added her vegetables. And then realized that the pan wasn't big enough for all of her ingredients! She freaked out a little bit, but then she grabbed a new pan, started heating some more olive oil with some cooking liquid from the other pan, and scooped out as many veggies as she could. When the new pan got hot, she put the peppers and onions in there to cook down so that they wouldn't take up as much space when cooked with the beef.

When the vegetables cooked down, she put them back in with the meat, let the flavors simmer together for a minute, stirred, and served.

Good job, Mom!

I'm very proud of her for attempting this stir fry, especially since she came up with the idea all on her own. Even though I was on the phone talking her through it, she really did this all by herself. And the best part is - she had fun :)

Well, maybe the second best part. The real best part was that it came out so good that she's already talking about cooking again!

Tart Time!

The Food Yenta posted a link a while ago for a beet and goat cheese risotto that looked like something I had to try. The post was witty and well-written, and the finished product boasted a winning food combination. There was one problem, though: the dish looked like raw meat. The author described it as "jewel-toned" and although I agreed at first, the more I looked at it, the more it looked like blood. The Food Yenta's solution was to substitute red beets for yellow ones. Mine was to take my craving for beets and channel it into a dish that I already know I love: The Food Yenta's Beet and Goat Cheese Tart.

I already wrote a little bit about the tart back in my second post, aptly named The Food Yenta as a homage to my facebook friend who helped me get started on my better food kick. When you're done with this post, head on over to her blog at thefoodyenta.blogspot.com to gawk at her amazing pictures (she's a professional photographer in addition to being a foodie) and try out some of her incredibly simple recipes. You won't be disappointed.

The last time I tried this recipe, I decided that I didn't like goat cheese and wasn't going to use it. This was a poor decision. Not only was the cheese I chose too strong for the flavors of the dish, but the truth is that I'd never had goat cheese before and was just afraid to try it. I faced my fear over my birthday weekend at a local restaurant and discovered that goat cheese was a lot milder and yummier than I had initially thought. As today is the first time I've ever used goat cheese in anything and only the second time I'm eating it, I'm going to classify this as a ***NEW FOOD ALERT***

Goat Cheese = ***NEW FOOD ALERT***

This time around I'm going to document the entire process, from trying to roast beets to fighting with puff pastry dough. Because I'm taking time away from cooking to write about it, the cooking time is going to seem very long. The recipe should take about an hour to prepare and 45 minutes to bake, which is still pretty long but not unreasonable.

And now, a running commentary of the cooking process, complete with pictures and recipe modifications. Here we go!

7:14pm: Time to get started! I don't remember how to roast my beets, but I'm sure the internet will tell me.

7:17pm: The internet comes through again. Here's the website I used to help me roast my beets last time: http://localfoods.about.com/od/preparationtips/ss/How-To-Roast-Beets.htm . They took over an hour because I used 4 really big ones, but today I'm using 2 medium ones, so I'm going to start with a half hour and check on them from there.

Fresh beets :)

7:29pm: And I hit my first snag. Apparently we don't have aluminum foil in the house! I'm going to put them in my smallest casserole dish and hope for the best.

7:45pm: Ok, I've got my beets in the oven, my puff pastry defrosting, and the recipe right in front of me, I'm good to go. Next up is making the balsamic honey onions.

7:57pm: I modified the recipe a little bit by using white balsamic vinaigrette, clover honey, and some garlic powder (I forgot to get garlic). I'm also using only one onion because last time there was enough for a whole week and I want to try to minimize leftovers.

Bubble bubble toil and trouble....

8:03pm: It was looking a little thin, so I added some more honey. The measurements are just guesstimates, feel free to alter them to your liking. The white balsamic smells a bit sharp right now, but the sweetness of the honey will mellow it as it reduces down.

8:19pm: Great tip for defrosting puff pastry fast: let it sit out next to the stove while the onions are cooking. Well, ok, it was an accident, but it got the job done. My puff pastry is from the freezer section and comes in pairs. Last time I completely forgot about putting it away, so my second pastry became a gooey mess instead of tart number 2 (as I had planned). I tried to roll it into a ball and start again, but then I found out that by rolling it up, I completely ruined the texture that makes puff pastry puff up. Whoops.

Here's what my pastry looked like defrosted and put in the pie mold. The edges are crimped with a fork so that they stay down, not necessarily because it looks cool (although it totally does).

8:22pm: Onion update: They're mostly translucent and starting to smell sweet. Now I just have to wait for the liquid to reduce.

8:26pm: Beets are roasted and resting. They look a little like shriveled coconuts.....

I've got a lovely bunch of beets, deedle dee dee

8:28pm: Onions done. See how the onions have changed color and you can clearly see the bottom of the pan? That means they've absorbed the flavors. When you use regular balsamic, they end up a little darker caramel color. You can also tell they're done because they resist the spoon more.

Sweet and tangy

8:43pm: Time to make the filling. I don't particularly like dill, so my first thought was to replace it with basil. My basil plant went limp, though, so I decided to substitute mint instead. I have no idea how the mint will go with the beets, but considering it mixed really well with the vinaigrette for my cucumber blueberry salad, I figured it couldn't hurt.

Yes, my mixing bowl has a spout. It's awesome.

8:52pm: This is me sloughing off the beet skin. You can tell the skin's off because the beet has a slightly lighter and more purplish color. (Thanks to Brian for taking the picture!)

Yes it's hot pink, and yes it will get all over everything.

Isn't that a beautiful color?

9:13pm: All done and in the oven! Whew! Here are pictures of the tart getting set up. The Food Yenta said two beets, but I think one would have been enough. Since I had so much extra, I decided to do two layers of beets instead. I finished it off with goat cheese, parsley, and some torn mint for garnish (although not too much because I put a ton in there).

  

First layer of Beets

Adding the onions

A second beet layer, extra goat cheese, a handful of fresh herbs, and it's all ready!

10:09pm: Out of the oven and looking great! We had a little photo session to make sure I got it's good side for my post. Brian's heading off to work in a few minutes, so we'll cut into this beauty then.

10:31pm: Wow, it is out of this world! The crust is light and flaky and the hidden layer of beets really ramps up the flavor. I didn't expressly taste the mint as a distinct flavor, but the tart had a refreshing after taste that I attribute to it. It's a lot smoother than last time too; the goat cheese has a very nice flavor. I realized after I finished that I easily could have made two tarts, and I think that's what I'll do next time. Although I think I'm going to do two layers again, because all those beets turned the tart hot pink, and you know I can't resist a pretty picture.

Speaking of, here it is, in all its glory:

Smells as good as it looks!

Extreme Close-up

Overall, I'd call this a huge success. Brian said he'd have the tart for breakfast tomorrow, too....but I don't know if it'll last that long!

An Unexpected Salad

My local grocery store puts out a free seasonal magazine that has all sorts of great recipes (all featuring the store's branded products, of course). The recipes all looked great (gotta love professional food photography), but I was a little skeptical of some of the flavor combinations. Cucumber and blueberry salad? Really?

Yes, really. And it was delicious. Here's the recipe: Cucumber & Blueberry Salad with Feta

The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes to put together. It can be served right away, but I'd recommend letting it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together and the salad to chill. We used less salad dressing than recommended and I noticed that at first it tasted very strong anyway, but the longer it sat, the more it mellowed. So if you make it and you think it's a bit pungent at first, don't worry, it will probably be fine in a little while.

Cucumber, Blueberry, Feta, Mint, and White Balsamic Vinaigrette. That's it!

Originally I made it as a light dinner for me and my friend, but then last night I had it as a side dish with some lemon garlic chicken breasts that Brian encouraged me to buy for a night when I wasn't up to cooking a full meal (great suggestion, honey!). I think I like it better as a side because the meat served as an anchor for it. I definitely felt more fulfilled the second time around. The reviewers on the recipe site suggested bringing it to a BBQ as an alternative to pasta salad and I wholeheartedly second this idea.

This recipe made enough for 3 full meals and 2 side dishes, which I'm going to say averages out to either dinner for 4 or side dish for 8. Then again, it's so good, that you might find it goes a lot quicker :)

Bonus Post!

I wasn't planning on writing about this, but I think I have to. I spent the evening making a Beet and Goat Cheese Tart (post coming later this week) and I'm pretty tired. Enter Brian. After he does all the dishes in the sink (what can I say, I'm a lucky woman!), he notices that the bananas are getting brown and offers to make me a snack to have while my tart is baking. How sweet is that?

He modified this recipe by using more cinnamon and cardamom and by adding the honey directly to the bananas instead of after. Well, halfway through cooking it dawns on him that have neither yogurt or ice cream to put it on. He calls me over to the freezer and we start going through what we have. Lemon tea bars? Italian ices? Frozen veggies?

And then we see it - Weight Watchers English Toffee Crunch Bars. Perfect. Brian grabs bowls and starts putting ice pops in them while I check on the bananas. Then we break them up, layer the sweet goodness on top, and dig in.

And then it got all melty and gooey....yummmm

It might not look like much, but let me tell you, it was heavenly. Two ice pops and one small banana was just enough for a sweet treat I didn't have to feel guilty about. It tasted like bananas foster, but without the flames or the alcohol. I highly recommend all of you try it. Right now. Like, go to the store and buy what you need for it. I'll wait.

And so goes your bonus post for today. It was unplanned, but this dessert was just too good not to write about. Be on the lookout for posts coming this week, I've been busy writing and cooking all day and I think you're going to like what I've come up with.

Back in the Saddle

Ok, so it happened again. I've only had this blog a few months and I've already backslid twice, this time for 3 weeks. It's so easy to slip back into old routines if you're not paying attention, and sometimes it can happen even if you're trying to counteract it. It started with me being tired and lazy for a few days and asking Brian to take over the cooking. Then it became too many meals of bread with jam and fresh mozzarella. And finally, it became a life of cereal and stopping at Subway after work, two of my least favorite ways to nourish myself. I spent a week trying to compile a healthy grocery list, but kept becoming overwhelmed with my options and putting off the actual grocery shopping due to laziness. It all came to a head this week when Brian came downstairs with his scavenged dinner of frozen corn and instant mashed potatoes and I decided that I'd had enough. Again. So I got down to business, picked some recipes I think we'll all enjoy, and took my man shopping with me.

Getting back on the horse is hard, but if you don't do it, how can you go anywhere?

Be on the lookout for more posts from me this week, I've got a summer salad I'd like to share, that quinoa recipe I've been promising for ages, cod in the fridge, and sunchokes I'm going to experiment with.

I'm sorry I disappeared, but I'm back now, and it's time to start cooking again.

Art Projects!

Today's post isn't about cooking, it's about some super easy art projects I did yesterday to celebrate my birthday! I love decorating and doing nice things for myself, so these projects were right up my alley. Not to mention that they completely give in to my love of office supplies!

The first project was flower pens. They are exactly what they sound like. I love this project because it creates a functional centerpiece or desk decoration. To make them, you buy fake flowers, cheap pens (with caps, not the clicky kind), and floral tape (it's green). Then you cut the stems on the flowers so that they are a little shorter than the pens, and wrap the tape around both until they are secure and the pen looks like part of the stem. It's up to you how much the flower hangs over the end, but with my flowers I found it easier to just go up to the top.

I found a cool idea on this website that suggested putting your flower pens in a vase or flower pot with floral beads. I already had the beads from a previous project, so I decided to go this route. I was going to paint the pot as well, but I think it looks cute with it just plain.

This project was really cheap as well. The pens were $2.50 for 50, the bouquets were $8 each from Michaels (with about 12 flowers per bunch), the floral tape was $1/roll, and the pots were about $1 each. My friend Tanya and I shared everything, which made it even cheaper.

Here's how they turned out:

Mine

Tanya's

Since we still had a TON of clear capped pens left over, we decided to jazz them up and make colored pens as well. All you have to do it open the pen up, roll paper around the ink stick, tape it down on the ends, and put it back in the pen. It took a lot longer than it should have because we originally tried to use paper that was too thick, but we finally figured it out. We discovered that colored tissue paper works great for this because it's thin, easy to roll, and comes in tons of colors. Tanya stuck to the pastels while I went for hot pinks and purples. This one was my favorite because it has an almost metallic sheen to it (even though the paper was just regular purple). We easily used up the rest of our jumbo pack of pens this way.

While we were getting supplies from Target, Tanya and I decided to add a third project to the list. We found lined straw tote bags in the dollar section (they were $2.50, but still incredibly cheap) and figured out ways to jazz them up. Tanya bought patterned ribbon (also from that section and only $1) and I chose to decorate with flowers (yes, there's a theme here). The flowers I picked were silk orchids that we found in the decor section (only $5). I bent the stalk and fastened it to the bag using hot glue. I think it came out really classy!

If you decide to do this project at home, I highly recommend cutting off the excess stem before trying to attach the flowers and then gluing the ends first (starting with the bottom one). When working with hot glue, it's important to hold the two pieces together until they dry so that they attach properly. Once the ends are secure, you can use the glue gun to trace a line of glue under the stem so that everything stays in place.

Maybe yesterday was more like my 12th birthday than my 23rd, but so what? There's no age limit to having fun making stuff :)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Happy Belated Memorial Day, Everybody!

We didn't do much celebrating this past weekend (I honestly hadn't realized what weekend it was until, like, the day before), so for us Memorial Day was less about pools opening and BBQs heralding the beginning of summer than a reason for nice people at Brian's work to bring in huge tubs of potato and pasta salad for him to go home with. (And white wine, which is how we had all of the ingredients for the chicken picatta I wrote about earlier).

As it turns out, oven stuffer roaster chickens were on sale last week (buy one get one free), so I already had the perfect accompaniment to the salads he brought home. This chicken was a true group effort - Brian defrosted and cleaned the bird, then I stuffed and seasoned it. We then worked together to figure out how to cook it. We consulted Ina Garten's Perfect Roast Chicken recipe to help us with temperature and timing. Even though our chicken was a pound bigger than the recipe called for, cooking time ended up at 1:35 (which is pretty much Ina's directions). We weren't sure if that'd be the case though, so we had a few false starts with the time. Luckily, the chicken came out perfectly moist, despite the breast being cut in half from the one time I thought it was done, started cutting it, and realized it was still way too pink.

I'm glad we cut it before we tried to eat it!

As usual, we took some liberties with the seasoning - we added cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and replaced the thyme with rosemary because it's what we had in the house already. We also skipped the veggies on the bottom of the roasting pan because we already had side dishes ready to go.

Our big, beautiful roast bird!

Once the chicken was (really) done, Brian decided he wanted gravy. So we tried our hand at making gravy, something we'd never done before. This recipe suggested starting with 2 tablespoons of chicken droppings (the stuff at the bottom of the baking pan), adding two tablespoons of flour, and then adding back more droppings and enough chicken broth to make about two cups of gravy. The flour thickened really quickly at first and created a gelatinous paste, but it evened out when I wisked in the rest of the liquids. I'd never had chicken gravy before, only turkey, so I'm going to count this as a ***NEW FOOD ALERT***

        

From droppings to gravy in 7 minutes flat!

Putting it all together :)

It may have been a day late, but we brought together a great Memorial Day meal.
Happy Unofficial Start of Summer!