It's only kinda tacos this time ...

This post is a little delayed, it was actually Wednesday night's dinner, however a family emergency has taken a bit of precedence over posting to the blog.  As I mentioned in my last post, tortillas provide a great mid-week bread option, so tonight I made some flour quesadillas to eat with the meal.

I marinated a nice piece of flank steak for the main part of the meal.  I was out of Maggi sauce, so I went with a close substitute, soy sauce and liberally sprinkled black pepper on the beef as well.  I didn't plan ahead as well this week, so the marinade was only on the beef for about an hour ... for best results shoot for overnight.

In a fun twist for a side item I decided to make a cheesy black bean "sauce" to go over the top of some oven roasted potatoes.

Roasted potatoes w/ cheesy black beans

1 14.5 oz can Goya black beans

1 can (small) chopped green chiles

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup shredded cheese (feel free to use more or less depending on your cheese tastes)

2 tbsp milk

Seasoning to taste (I mixed garlic pepper, Lawry's & some Buffalo Wild Wings Desert Heat seasoning)

3 small potatoes (cut in to quarters) per person

Roast the potatoes in a 425F oven for about 25 minutes (or until well browned) flipping once or twice with a spatula.  Put the first three ingredients (including the water in the black beans can) in a pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil ... reduce to a simmer (low heat) and stir in your seasoning.  Cook the beans for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the liquid almost completely evaporates add chicken stock a little at a time to keep beans wet.  Reduce heat to the lowest setting possible, stir in the cheese and milk so that the consistancy is thick and sauce like.

Plate the potatoes and spoon the mixture over them as shown in the picture above, enjoy!

Due to the above mentioned family emergency, Shells and I will be traveling the next few days so posts will be delayed until our return ...

Tired of me posting taco pictures on Wednesdays?

I know it seems that we eat tacos pretty much every Wednesday ... I got no argument with you ... we do!  I find that tortillas are a great bread substitute for the mid part of the week because they get stale much more slowly (and crisp up much more nicely on a cast iron) than the bread we bought on Sunday.  If I was able to (ok, fine ... chose to go out of my way to) get bread more often in the middle of the week I would potentially use tortillas less, but they taste so good (especially with cheese melted inside) that I don't go out of my way that often.

This week I decided to go play soccer with some folks from work so I didn't get home until about 7.30 ... as such I had to pull out a quick dinner.  I whipped up a batch of small corn quesadillas on the cast iron and stuffed them with a chipotle chicken sausage (another Whole Foods invention), black bean & chili pepper mixture.  I topped them off with some fresh avocado salsa (link here) and served with broccoli and salad.  This dinner was about 20 minutes from fridge to plate ... a great dinner for a busy mid week night .. try it and enjoy!

Sometimes it's just a crabby night ...

It's spring time in VA and that means one thing SOFT SHELL CRABS!  Unfortunately Shells doesn't like them (the only type of crab she doesn't like) which means I had to come up with something a little different for her.

The base for tonight's dinner was Avotatoes, sauteed kale & salad.  For Shells I got a couple of crab cakes from Whole Foods and I sauteed them.

For myself I got a couple of fresh, cleaned, soft shell crabs.  At this time of year in the states around the Chesapeake you can find these at any fish market and even a number of grocery stores with fish counters!  Be sure to check that they are cleaned when you buy them, the fishmonger should be able to tell you for sure if they are.

I prefer to sautee the crabs when I cook them, but a deep fryer will work too.  Depending on how hungry you are (and what you're serving them with) you'll want between 2 & 3 crabs per person.

Spicy Soft Shell Crabs (for 2)
4-6 Soft Shell Crabs (cleaned)
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tbsp garlic pepper
1 tbsp Lawry's seasoning
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
4 tbsp canola oil (or other high heat cooking oil)

Beat the egg in a bowl and put the flour and seasoning on a large plate (mix well with a whisk).  Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom pan until it moves freely around the pan.  One at a time ... coat each crab with flour, bathe in the egg wash & then drag through the flour mixture again, ensuring an even coating.  Depending on the size of your pan cook between 2 & 4 crabs at a time, flipping about 5 minutes in to ensure a crispy fry on both sides.  Once the first set has been flipped, perform the flour coating on the next set to ensure they don't sit in the flour mixture for too long before cooking.

Enjoy!

Easter dinner

I know that the traditional Easter dinner includes roasted lamb or ham, hot cross buns & probably some left over eggs from the morning's hunt but that is not what I wanted to have for dinner last night.

Instead we indulged in a host of favorites ... we started with oysters & clams on the half-shell ... I served them with a clamato & horseradish mignonette and we had an ice cold martini.

For the next course we broke out some Marques de Gelida Cava and enjoyed it with a cheese & meat plate and a soft pretzel twist.  For cheeses we had black pepper cheddar and Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam triple creme.  For the salame we had Olli calabrese.

For the second wine of the night we cracked open a bottle that had been in the cellar for a while ... 2007 Ladera Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a great big cab that went very well with our food choice of the evening.

For dinner we had Whole Foods dry-aged NY Strip served with beans and greens.  The strip I cooked on the grill and then sliced to serve.  I cooked the greens with a little vinegar and hot sauce.  The beans were cannellini beans that I cooked down shiitake mushrooms and a little chicken stock.

I topped off the plates with a salad and some Portuguese bread for a great easter dinner that didn't feel too over the top!

It's a Bloody Mary Sunday

Being that it is Easter and the gym was closed, today just felt like a Bloody Mary sort of day ... I like serving mine with all sorts of garnishes depending on my mood.  Today I went with a pickle spear and a lime wedge (as pictured above) but have been known to add blue cheese stuffed olives, bacon, shrimp & other goodies as well.

There are all sorts of ways to compose a bloody mary but they all start with vodka, I like Tito's as a good value to quality tradeoff.  I prefer using Clamato as my tomato base, and have been informed that because of this I am actually making Bloody Susan's (but it's just easier to call it a Bloody Mary), as the mix of tomato and clam juice makes for a nice light base to the drink.

I use a cocktail shaker to mix it all up so I start with 4 oz of vodka and 12 oz of Clamato.  I then add a couple of dashes of Worsestershire sauce and a bit of Sriracha.  Fresh horseradish is the secret to a nice spicy Bloody Mary, and depending on how spicy you like it you should not be afraid to use a bunch (I use about 1 1/2 tbsp for Shell's and 1 tbsp for my own.  I then squeeze in 1/2 a lime and a bit of black pepper then add ice and shake well (both to mix it up and chill it down).  Pour the contents into a glass (adding more ice if needed) and top with the garnish of your choice.  Enjoy!

Breakfast of champions ...

Today Shell's and I had most of our meals out ... all of them in fact.  It started with a smoothie for breakfast, snacks & cocktails at Amuse and then dinner was Chinese takeout.  Before all of that began though I started my day with my pre-workout wake up juice ... cold brew coffee!

Shells & I first had cold brew coffee in Charleston, SC last year, and we've been obsessed with it ever since.  Cold brew coffee is about 3x more caffeinated than standard coffee.  While you can possibly buy it pre-mixed in your home location, here in Richmond we have only been able to find concentrate so far ... the benefit to that is that you can mix it any way you'd like.  The picture below is the brand we can purchase at Whole Foods in Richmond.

The way I like to make it is to start with a healthy shot of the concentrate (about 3 oz) and then I add 3 oz of milk, 3 oz of water and a good splash of Hershey's chocolate syrup ... stir and top off with a bit of ice and you've got a good cup of wake up juice.  (If you're in a pinch you can mix the 3 oz of concentrate with an 8oz bottle of Nesquik for a not quite as good, but adequate substitute)

Whether you find this brand or another, I just hope you find and try some cold brew coffee ... it'll quite literally wake you up.

High heat ... it's what makes dinner better.

Tonight's post is less about the food and more about the how to cook it.  While eating out in NYC with my buddy Ross the other night I asked him what he thought of the blog and he told me that I needed to focus as much on the non-food aspects of the how as I do the ingredients.  "Make sure your readers know there are only two temperatures, low & hot."

One of the tricks that I use regularly is my 12" Cuisinart countertop convection oven.  Don't get me wrong, I love my nice big GE oven for cooking big pizzas and a major roast; however, for every night dinners for 2 I don't need anything bigger than my countertop oven.  One major benefit of the countertop oven is that I can preheat it to 425F degrees in under 5 minutes ... my nice big oven takes a lot longer (and I'll bet yours does too!!).

When I cook in the oven there are only a couple of settings that I use: 325F for slow roasting meats like pork, Broiler for cooking fish & 425F for cooking everything else.  My "little oven" cooks all of these temperatures perfectly for almost every meal I cook for Shells and I ... and it preheats and cooks it faster than my big oven would, allowing me to cook many of these meals I make on a weeknight without having to wait and eat at 9pm.

Tonight I made stuffed peppers and roasted them in the oven at ... you probably guessed it ... 425F turning every 10 minutes or so for 40 minutes (this makes sure the sausage stuffing has cooked through).

Chicken sausage, habanero bacon, black beans, rice & cheese

I pulled out the rack and added some shredded cheese to the top of the peppers and threw them back in for another 5 minutes until it was nice and crispy.

I served the peppers with salad, avocado slices, tortillas & some steamed artichokes w/ spicy SW butter.

Look Mom, I'm eating my avocados!

NOTE: While the title may have you believe that tonight's dinner was an avocado fest ... there were only 1.5 avocados harmed in the making of this dinner.

When I was growing up I would often grimace every time my mother put down a salad ... I didn't mind the lettuce, the carrots, the tomatoes or even the mushrooms (well, no one under the age of 10 likes those, but I'm talking about 10 - 18) but the avocados were a whole different story.  Don't get me wrong, guacamole on taco night was fine (just not enough that it wasn't drowned out by the meat & cheese) but the avocado that you could actually taste?  No thanks!

But a few years into college, while I was working the line in a restaurant, I realized how lucky I was to have had unrestricted access to avocados growing up.  If only I had taken more advantage of it!!!

Fast forward to today, and I can't get enough avocados in my daily diet ... we put them in basically every dinner, and occasionally other meals too.

Tonight was a pretty basic Tuesday for us ... I started by making a pot of my yellow rice & black beans and then firing up the grill (yes, even though it's raining).  Once the grill was hot I tossed on the soy & pepper marinated buffalo flank steak.  While the meat was cooking I warmed up the cast iron and started cooking tortillas.

Once the buffalo was cooked, I sliced it thinly and served it over the rice with sauteed avocado (first half avocado that was harmed in the making of this dinner), salad w/ avocado (second half avocado that was harmed in the making of this dinner) & some leftover avocado salsa (last half avocado that was harmed in the making of this dinner) from last night.

Insert witty title here (because I'm not seeing one tonight)

Tonight was a pretty standard dinner in our household ... fish, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas & salad.

I cooked the peas in a basic saute (very hot pan, oil that's nearly smoking) with a little bit of garlic pepper until browned on both sides.

The fish I broiled with a little bit of garlic pepper & some Buffalo Wild Wings SW Seasoning.  The potatoes were mini poppers that I roasted for about 25 minutes at 425 before mashing them on the plate with a little Frank's Redhot and cheese.  I topped the fish with an avocado salsa I whipped up and served with a salad and bread.

Bon Appetit!

Sunday night dinner

While fish is great for Saturday or Monday nights there's something about Sunday night dinner that makes you want comfort food ... and Shells and I are no exception.

After a rough soccer game today (85F) I was feeling a bit peckish and probably should have eaten something before going to the store ... however the nice folks who compute the bottom line for Whole Foods & Martin's will be ok with it.

We started the night with a couple of starters (to go with our Martinis): Whole Foods crab & wasabi balls and a cheese & bacon plate.  I used a couple of pieces of Whole Foods Habanero & Green Chili bacon and served it with Cowgirl Creamery's St. Pat cheese & black pepper cheddar.

For dinner I went with grilled Dry Aged NY Strip, roasted Brussels sprouts, white beans & salad.

One of the important things about cooking steaks is not trying to get cute with a whole bunch of seasonings but instead just putting on the tuxedo.  By that I mean white and black ... salt and pepper.  Don't be afraid ... go ahead and get a good bit on there, it will crisp up a bit while cooking and help give you a little crunch on the steaks.

For the white beans, I made a derivative of one of Shell's favorites ...

Great Northern Beans with bacon & shiitake mushrooms
1 14.5 oz can Great Northern Beans (Bush's brand)
1 piece habanero & green chili bacon
8 medium/large Shiitake mushrooms (rough chopped)
4 oz Chicken stock (Kitchen Basics, no salt)

I started by pouring the beans (juice included) into a saucepan and putting on medium heat.  At the same time I put the bacon in a saute pan on medium heat.  Once the bacon began to cook and let off some grease, I added the mushrooms.  At the same time, I added the Chicken Stock to the beans.

Once the mushrooms were cooked, I added to the beans and reduced the heat to medium low.  Continue cooking and stirring until the beans have cooked off all of the juice and created a thick sauce.  Enjoy.

Oysters & Tilefish

I'm finally back home and enjoying the fact that I can cook my own meal again.  Tonight was not a complex meal, nor was it something that I would serve if a CEO came to dinner; however for us normal people I think that you'll all find this a great dinner idea.

Before I get to dinner, we did decide to grill some oysters ... because, why not?

I grilled these guys with a drop of Kim Kim & some cheese.  As much as I bag on living in Virginia I have to admit that the oysters make it worth it!

Dinner was a fairly simple idea ... super fresh fish, fresh veggies and some fun potatoes.  For the fish, I went with Tilefish ... for the veggies I went with broccolini & asparagus.  The potatoes I had some fun with those.  I roasted 2 red potatoes (quartered) in foil with a little olive oil until cooked through.  I added the potatoes to some shredded cheese & Frank's Red Hot ... mixed together they made for a spicy base to the fish and veg.

I'll be back in town for a bit, so more food and recipes to come soon!

Plans change....Frozen chicken to the rescue!

So tonight I had originally had plans to go out for dinner this evening.  Around 1pm today they were cancelled.  When shopping this week I didn't plan to cook at home tonight so I had the afternoon to think about what I did have to make a decent meal.

Frozen chicken comes to the rescue yet again.  We usually always have boneless chicken breasts in the freezer...the ones that are individually wrapped.  This makes for a last minute protein emergency a breeze!

So tonight I went with sautéed chicken cut up in slices, sautéed veggies (asparagus, green & yellow squash) and black beans and rice (yes you guessed it - not I get to use for stuffed peppers this week).  As I didn't buy enough rolls to for the this meal I went into Tom's stash of flour tortillas and made cheese quesadillas to go with the meal (not necessary but I love my carbs!).

Basic Sautéed Chicken
1 boneless chicken breast (sliced, cubed or keep together)
dash of garlic pepper (or any seasoning you prefer)

Heat a non stick skillet with medium high heat.  Place chicken in skilled and cook.  I tend to move around in the pan throughout cooking rather than sticking to time on each side.  Cook time will be dependent on size and cut of your chicken.  Anticipate at least 3-5 minutes a side.  Prior to leaving heat feel free to cut into chicken and ensure there is no pink or red.

Accompany with sautéed vegetables, rice & beans and you have a quick and easy meal!

Artichoke's are back in season!!!

So in what feels like a recurring theme, i am once again heading out on the road ... but before I head out I wanted to enjoy one more nice dinner at home.  I had a soccer game today so I asked Shells to pick up the stuff for dinner tonight.

She came home with all sorts of good stuff: Chilean Sea Bass, red potatoes, avocado and ARTICHOKES!

For the pieces that I am not going to highlight tonight I did broiled fish, oven cooked potato waffle fries & sauteed avocado slices with parmesan.

Steamed Artichokes:

First of all, you'll need a steamer insert and a lid to make this work.  I like to use a transparent lid for this so I can see what's going on.  Also, I normally take the center part of the steamer out so that I can put whatever I want into it.  Fill the pot with water until just beneath the steamer insert and turn the pan on medium/high.

Rinse the artichokes off and trim off the bases of the artichokes.

Put the artichokes in the pot and cover.  You'll want to cook them for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on size but you'll want to see the leaves opening up and the base should be soft to the touch.  Remove from heat and serve.

As stated above, I served them with broiled Sea Bass and sauteed avocado & parmesan served over baked waffle fries.  Once you've pulled off all the leaves and enjoyed them (dipping them in butter as needed) you'll want to enjoy the heart.  Before you eat that, you'll need to clean out the gristle from inside of the heart.  I recommend using a knife, stick it in between the gristle and the edge, and move it in a clockwise fashion until you cut the whole thing out (as below).

Hope you enjoy some nice summer artichokes this year, I'll be off again on travel this week but Shells will be posting & maybe I'll surprise post in the meantime.

Three weeks of restaurant food ... It's a fish sort of night ...

I made it back home after another week on the road and I got home uncharacteristically early (2pm) so I decided to cook dinner.  I swung by Whole Foods on my way home and went directly to the fish counter.  Knowing that it was 80 degrees (thank goodness that Spring is finally here) I figured that I could convince Shells to join me on the patio, I picked up a dozen oysters (since it's that time of year) half Rappahannock Rivers and half Blue Points.  I also picked up a great looking piece of fresh Halibut.

Continuing on my approach to find an avocado oyster topper I tried something new again today.  I mixed up a mashed avocado with water, sriracha and a splash of Tequila.  The key to this sort of topper is to add water iteratively as you whisk the rest together to continue to smooth and thin the sauce to the consistency that you would like.

I put the sauce on top of the oysters and served them on a plate of crushed ice.  We enjoyed them with a nice 2011 Chablis.

For the dinner itself, I decided to go with a little bit of an Asian flair for our Halibut.  I started by making a rice dish to form the base.  I used some bamboo flavored rice for this, but you could use any sort of rice you wanted.

Spicy Shiitake Rice
12 medium/large shiitake mushrooms
1 serrano pepper (feel free to add more or less depending on how much spice you like)
1 cup rice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups water

Begin cooking the rice, put the rice and water in to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once the rice reaches a boil, reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure no sticking.  While this is cooking, begin preparing the mixture for the rice.  Remove the stems and then slice up the Shiitake mushrooms, dice the serrano pepper.  Put the oil into a saute pan, and put the pan on medium/high heat.  When the oil is clarified and moves around the pan freely add the mushrooms and peppers to it.  Use a wooden spoon to continue to move the ingredients around as they cook to ensure no sticking.

After the 10 minutes has passed for the rice, cover the rice and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

Once the mushrooms have released their water and then reabsorbed it they are ready to go into the rice.  If the mushrooms are sticking to the pan, a splash of white wine will help loosen them up.  Add the mixture and soy sauce to the rice after the 10 minutes of covered cooking has passed.  Remove from heat, cover and sit aside until ready to use.

I served the rice topped with braised red mustard greens, broiled Halibut topped with an avocado fromage blanc sauce & served with a broiled avocado filled with the same avocado fromage sauce and topped with some soy soaked serrano pepper slices.

Test #1 Sautéed Spaghetti Squash

So rather than not post anything tonight I will at talk about what I attempted to cook tonight.  Tonight I decided to try sautéed spaghetti squash.  I had never attempted before and honestly didn't really think about it until I read it on a menu at a restaurant.  So I did a little recipe searching prior to attempting to confirm most agreed upon method of cooking.  I decided I would still plan on sautéing vegetables and sausage in a pan but then would add the squash to the mix then add sauce.  I was curious if it would taste different than just putting a vegetable/sauce mixture over the spaghetti squash.

I was still too lazy to roast in an oven for 30-45 mins so I went with the usual half of squash in some water in microwave for 10 mins.  I did let the squash sit for 5 mins prior to putting into sauté pan however I put it with all of my other sautéing vegetables.  The meal was not bad by any means but it has a lot of additional liquid...almost watered down.   So I just have to work on how to avoid the additional liquid.

I'm intrigued buy the sautéing aspect of the spaghetti squash and curious if will take on even more flavor.   So I will promise to keep at it and continue to post until I figure out what works best!  I may have to plan ahead and try the roasting in oven!

Hopefully the testing phase will NOT take as long as my french baguette learning process.  That was weeks of at least 2-5 baguettes made each weekend (that's 2 rounds of dough to be prepared).

Shells's Stuffed Peppers

As I blogged last night I had prepped a few key pieces of my next meal to make it awesome.  Tonight I made one of my favorites to make while Tom is traveling, stuffed peppers.  They are easy and you can change up how you make them based on your tastes.  This allows me to make them multiple times over a few weeks and not get sick of them!  So let's get to it....

Shell's Stuffed Peppers
These ingredients served 1 for dinner (only eating 2 stuffed peppers and a side salad)
2 large peppers (Cubanelles are the best but need to be in season, large red or bell peppers will work)
1-1/2 fresh chicken sausages out of casing (any type of sausage will do but must be fresh and able to remove casing)
~1/2 cup of shredded cheese
~1 cup of black beans and rice (see prior recipe reference)
Optional - exclude black beans and rice and use only sausage...you may need up to 2 sausages as well as panko or bread crumbs to help hold together the mixture

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the top off of the peppers (just under stem).  Carefully remove seeds not cutting sides.  Clear out center of pepper to allow for ample space for sausage mixture.

Include all ingredients (excluding peppers) into large bowl.  Mix together (hands work best) until well blended.

Now, taking small amounts of the sausage mixture push into the peppers.  The smaller amount you start with the better as it will allow for you to get into the crevices of the pepper.  Fill peppers to top.  The mixture will expand some so try not to overfill.  Picture below are the peppers ready to go into the oven.  We use our small toaster/convection oven for cooking the peppers.

 I like to bake in a pan that has a small rack to leave the peppers off the foil.  This makes it easier to turn the peppers while cooking..no sticking in grease.

Cook peppers (depending on size) ~40-50 mins turning regularly.  Hint:  I tend to set my timer for 35 mins then watch pretty closely for the next 10-15 minutes.  You will want to turn every 10 mins or so to get  the peppers blistered and roasted nicely.  I use a tongs to assist in turning as it allows me to use other hand to make sure mixture doesn't fall out of pepper.

This evening I served my peppers with avocado salsa and a chopped salad.  Options are pretty much endless for additional variations and sides.  

Do you have an idea for a pepper stuffing but not sure if it will work?  Share it with us and maybe we can give it a try and highlight it here!  

Prior Recipe References

Avocado Salsa

Black beans and rice