heavenly dinner infinity/10

What an amazing meal! And to think we’ve spent hundreds of dollars to eat and drink this well out at a restauraunt! It was cheaper, way more fun, more comfortable and with much better music than a dinner at morton’s or ruths chris. And SOOO good!!! I can’t begin to describe the rich creamyness of the spinach. I had no idea we could sadomize a vegetable to taste so sinful! (amazing what a ton of saturated fat can do to a seemingly harmless leafy green) but it wasn’t just the veggie (obviously) because the steak was awesome too! Mine was a little too done (as always) and I think I’d just sear it after it came to room temp and not put it in the oven at all to be sure it was rare enough. But all in all a perfect meal. Truly decedant. And made with love…

Pan-seared steak

from martha's ef apr 07

ingredients
1T vegetable oil
1 boneless rib-eye or New York strip steak, 1 1/2 to 2 lbs and 2 1/2 in think, room temp

tom said i actually bought the wrong cut of the steak because it was too thin or something. i have no idea what i did wrong but it didn't effect the taste!
Coarse and cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. heat oil in a large cast iron or other ovenproof skillet (not a nonstick) over medium high until it begins to smoke. Pat steak dry with paper towels. Season each side with 1t coarse salt and 1t cracked pepper.
Cook steak in skillet over medium high heat until dark crust has formed 5-7 min, per side. holding steak with tongs, quickly brown all edges, turning as necessary; lay steak flat in skillet
Transfer skillet to over, roast until an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of steak registers desired doneness, 5-15 min. Transfer to plate; spread with tasty butter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest 5- 10 min. Slice across the grain serve with remaining steak butter. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 2 days.

Steak Butter Recipe
2T prepared white horseradish (squeezed of excess liquid)
1T Dijon mustard
4T room temp butter
Salt and Pepper

In a small bowl, mix the above ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate to stiffen butter.

there were other recipes for different kinds of steak butter in the magazine but this was the one we thought sounded the best and it was an outstanding complement

Easy Creamed spinach
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3-4 bunches of flat leaf spinach trimmed and cleaned
2T butter
½ med onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4oz bar cream cheese, cut into pieces
½ cup milk
Pinch ground nutmeg

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spinach. and cook just until wilted, about 1 min. drain in a colander rinse with cold water until cool squeeze spinaches to remove as much liquid as possible; coarsely chop and set aside
In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium, add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, 3-5 min.
Add cream cheese and milk; cook, stiffing until cream cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in spinach. simmer over medium heat until mixture thickens, 8-10 min, add nutmeg; season with salt and pepper

so this was our totally-terrible-for-us-but-we-really-deserve-it dinner.

good enough to cause a food coma!

easy night (for us!) 10!

this is a special note because last night we were cooked for! another couple who enjoys cooking invited us over for dinner. and dinner it was! i have never seen so many complicated appliances and so many different pans and bowls and utensils in one of my friends' kitchens! it was very extravagant. we started off with these delish shrimp with garlic and parsley and we had a fantastic salad with feta and chetons (a new name for the fancy toasted bread that's often, when of a lesser quality, know as croutons), toasted toasted garlic bread and homemade pasta! like, they actually MADE the pasta dough! i think it was fettuccini and it was perfectly dressed with herbs including parsley, basil and marjoram with olive oil and parmesan cheese. it was a phenomenal meal that was even tastier with friends.

and now the big topic this opened up: should we get a stand mixer? this couple uses theirs a ton. and so does another couple we know. but will we? i can't imagine we would but it looks so cool and useful! any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. and i think the recipes for this dinner came from the joy of cooking but maybe i can get last night's cooks to at least post the titles of the recipes under the comments. next it'll be our turn to cook for them. any recommendations for a spring dinner for four? i'm asking here. post me some recipes! and keep eating...

final "bag" installment 10

remember the all-in-one-bag recipes from a couple weeks ago? this is the final installment which uses the "homemade" roast beef or any, really. great for a lunch or a light dinner. the mango "salsa" keeps great for days!

from martha's everyday food jan 07

Beef and Mango Wraps

Prep: 15 minutes Total: 15 minutes

Bring out leftover or store-bought, cooked roast beef, and wrap up dinner plans. The meat is rolled with mango, pepper, and onion for a light meal that tastes of the tropics; serve herbed black beans on the side.

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 limes) or bottled like i used
1 Tablespoon olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into thin strips 1 mango (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
4 whole-wheat tortillas (10-inch)
4 Cups loose spinach (about 5 ounces), trimmed, well washed and dried
1 Pound cooked beef, very thinly sliced, room temperature
Black-Bean Relish (below; optional) we didn't make this but it sure sounded great!

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together mustard, lime juice, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Add onion, bell pepper, and mango; toss to combine. just an idea, but it may be easier to chop all the fruit/veggies instead of making strips. that's would i would do next time though. Set aside.
Lay tortillas on a work surface; dividing evenly, line each with spinach, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Arrange beef slices down center of each wrap. Top beef with mango mixture and any juices from bowl.
Fold in two opposite sides, and roll up wraps tightly; cut in half.

For Black Bean Relish: In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped, one can (15.5 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

this is a great set of recipes that plan your cooking for you for the whole week! go martha. keep eating...

yummy start 8.5/10

so here's a really tasty morning treat. i happen to despise and i mean really, truly LOATHE soggy cereal so this was kind of difficult for me to make. but tom picked it out and we threw it together this morning. it took a little longer than i expected to get it all together but i think we can blame that on the morning "dumbness" and lack of caffeine. we did get the coffee finished in time to enjoy while the muffins baked away. and the heart tin? yeah, that's the only muffin tin i have. if anyone's interested i picked it up at michael's arts and crafts. they have a whole "creative" baking section with cool tins and cookie cutters and decorating things. it's just a little extra cute (or completely corny) detail that makes everything taste a little better in the morning. that and i always cook with love. (blugh! gag me, i know) but they were really good and i'd make them again in a HEART-beat. so punny. doh! (punny, again...)

from martha (of course) jan/feb 07

Raisin Bran Muffins

Prep: 10 minutes Total: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 Cup vegetable oil, plus more for tin i used about 2T less of oil and replaced it with plain yogurt. this is a little "health" tip i picked up somewhere along the way. i've found that i can replace about 1/3 of any oil in any baked good with plain yogurt for a little bit healthier goodie without comprimising the taste or consistency. just something to try with your next batch of fudgey gooey brownies...
1 1/2 Cups raisin bran cereal
3/4 Cup milk skim
1/2 Cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon i ALWAYS use more than they say and it's still never enough for me. i put about double but if you like cinamin i'd say throw in a tablespoon. if a little is good, more is better, right?
1/4 Teaspoon salt i'd actually bump up the salt a tiny bit too. we ended up adding butter to the muffins as we ate them because they needed that extra flavor-enhancing effect that salt gives. maybe try a rounded 1/4t.
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar i always use the splenda brown sugar which is 1/2 regular and 1/2 splenda. i like it fine and it has less calories.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly oil or spray with pam or something a 6-cup standard muffin tin, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine cereal and milk; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes it gets so soggy and GROSS! this was so hard for me. my sister has trouble with wooden utensils and popsicle sticks and my problem is soggy cereal! i almost choke everytime i eat it because i try to scarf it down so fast! In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

2. Stir oil, egg, and sugar into cereal mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Divide batter among cups (see left) see left shows this thing about using an icream scoop to measure out the batter. it's the kind where you push the button on the handle to "scoop" around the icecream blob so it all popps out cute and pretty. i have no idea if that explanation made sense but i know what i'm talking about. sometimes. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes since my pan was flatter and wider it only took 17m. Cool in tin 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack; let cool completely, or serve warm great with butter too! Store up to 5 days at room temperature in a resealable plastic bag.

so that's what we did. sorry for all the silly interjections but i'm pretty particular about my baking. tom will tell you. i make him remeasure flour and double check everything he does. it's unnecessary because he knows what he's doing (most of the time) but i'm just a paranoid control freak. you know me. keep eating breakfast!

dressed-up "normal" dinner 8/10

i haven't been eating meat all that long and i have been cooking it a whole lot less but with tom around to offer his meat expertise i've been more amenable to meaty recipes. so here was one that we thought would be really good. and it was; just not very "special". which is fine. but i don't know if i'd make it again. the sides, on the other hand were great! and definitely worthy of another meal. read on to see why...

from martha's food everyday jan/feb 07

pork cutlets with arugula salad and sauteed tomatoes

serves 4, prep: 30m, total: 40m

what you'll need:

2T fresh lemon juice plus wedges for serving (fomr 2 lemons) or from a plastic bottle with no wedges for serving

6t olive oil

course salt & ground pepper

4 boneless pork loin chops (5oz ea with fat trimmed)

1/4c all purpose flour

1pint cherry grape tomatoes, halved

4 bunches of arugula (1#) again, i used baby spinach here. i don't really care for arugula, especially by itself. to me it's just too bitter. and i love baby spinach!

shaved parmesan cheese for garnish

what to do:

1. make dressing: in a large bowl, combine lemon juice and 1t oil. season with s&p and set aside.

2. place chops on a work surface, butterfly from the side without fat, and open like a book (without cutting all the way through). then pound it flat to 1/4" after placing between plastic wrap. on a plate combine flour, 1t course salt, and 1/4t pepper. coat ea cutlet with flour mix, shaking off excess. set aside.

3. in a medium skillet heat 1t oil on med-hi. add tomatoes and cook until softened (5m). remove tomatoes and set aside.

4. in same skillet, heat 1t oil on med-hi. add 1 cutlet and cook until browned 1-2m. turn and cook until opaque about 30s more. transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. repeat with remaining cutlets.

5. add arugula spinach to bowl with dressing and toss. place tomatoes and 1 cutlet on ea plate along with lemon wedges. top pork with arugula salad and parmesan.

we enjoyed this meal with a nice red wine too. it was a 2005 pino noir by domaine de regusse, vin de pays des alpes de haute pro vence which is a french red that cost less than 10 bucks. recommended as a cheap tasty table red.

so the dish was pretty. pretty normal though. i absolutly LOVED the tomatoes though! who whould've thought cutting and sauteeing them would turn them into such a lovely side dish? this will be a side that will get made in the future. the dressing for the spinach was really light and spring-y tasting too and will probably also make it onto more spinach salads in the future. but the pork wasn't great. tom thought it was good, but normal. my personal bias is that i treat meat like something special; something that i get to order to treat myself when i go out. i have rarely cooked it at home for myself brfore marrying tom and now it's starting to lose it's specialness and be more like a sald has always been to me in the past (as in a "normal" dish; nothing special) and i'm having a little trouble with the notion. i always want meat to taste wonderful and amazing and new but i guess sometimes it'll just taste good. and that's going to have to be good enough. sometimes. the rest of the time i will still have to strive for AMAZING since that's the only thing that keeps me coming back to the kitchen. that and my husband's cute ass! (sorry mom, but it is!) keep eating amazing...

lentil goodness 10/10

this is a recipe tom and i made before this blog thingie was up but it was SO GOOD!! tom really liked it too and i don't think he even missed the meat. if you like curry or lentils you'll LOVE this!

from martha's everyday food march 2007

Curried Lentils in Tomato Sauce

Prep: 15 minutes Total: 20 minutes
In this Indian-inspired vegetarian main, top-notch jarred tomato sauce and canned lentils save hours of work. When chosen well, jarred tomato sauce can rival your own. The best ones include tomatoes and seasonings but are free of preservatives, sugar, and corn syrup.

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled and finely grated
Coarse salt
2 Teaspoons curry powder
1 Teaspoon garam masala
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 jar (26 ounces) best-quality store-bought tomato sauce
2 cans (20 ounces each) cooked lentils, rinsed and drained (just buy a bag and cook them; it only takes 15min!)
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
1/2 Cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish (optional)
Cooked basmati (or other long-grain white) rice, for serving

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and ginger; season with salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
Add spices; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.
Add tomato sauce, lentils, and 1 cup water. Simmer until slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice and cilantro; season with salt.
Serve lentil mixture with rice; garnish with more cilantro, if desired.

parm chicken with company 10

so chicken parmesan is one of those dishes that i think everyone (non-vegetarian) can enjoy. i know since i first had it i've enjoyed it everywhere. and now we have a great "healthy" recipe to make it an even more (guilt-free) enjoyable meal. we made this when our friend ally came over for dinner and she enjoyed it as well. 6 thumbs up!

from martha's everyday food jan/feb 2007

light chicken parmesan

serves 4, prep: 20m, total: 35m

ingredients:

2 sliced whole wheat bread torn into pieces

1T grated parmesan

1t olive oil

course salt and ground pepper

2T all purpose flour

1 large egg white

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6-8oz ea)

3/4c part skim shredded part-skim mozerella (3oz)

28oz can whole peeled tomatoes in puree couldn't find em in puree so ours were in juice

1 minced garlic clove

what to do:

1. preheat oven 425 with rack in upper third. line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. in a food proscessor or a hand blender chopping attachment, place bread, parmesan, oil and pinch of salt and pepper. pulse until coarse crumbs form; transfer to shallow bowl. place flour in second shallow bowl & season with salt & pepper. place egg white in 3rd shallow bowl and beat until frothy.

2. dip top of a chicken breast in flour shaking off excess. dip same side in egg white, letting excess drip off, then in bread crumbs, pressing to adhere. (don't bread other side.) repeat with remaining chicken and transfer, breaded side up, to prepared baking sheet. bake until breadcrumbs are crisp and browned, 8-10m. remove from oven and sprinkle with mozerella. continue baking until chicken is opaque and cheese is lightly browned; 2-4m.

3. meanwhile, in a large skillet, place tomatoes, breaking them up with your fingers. i never understand why you buy whole tomatoes and then break them up. why not buy them diced? someone please educate me. add garlic; season with salt & pepper. bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until sauce has thickened, 6-8m. serve chicken with a generous amount of tomatoe sauce.

this was an amazing meal. tom made most all of it and entertained our guest while i drank wine and made dinner plans for later in the week with another couple from school. on interest here; we only had 3 breasts and they were HUGE! really thick and fat all around. so our portions were enormous. and on the side tom re-heated some of our spinach pesto from the other night which was a beautiful and delicous side to round out the meal and make the plate look really pretty. he also suggested using a slotted spoon for the tomatoes because we ended up with "ugly" juice on our plates. i didn't mind, but i guess he didn't like the presentation of the meal he slaved over. or maybe just don't add all the juice from the tomatoes. we cooked it down forever and the juice never really went away so it's just a mystery. or we did it wrong. in any case, it tasted fabulously and ally rbought a delish wine that i have to get the name of. keep eating...

so ally got back to me (like i knew she would) and the tasty wine is called Five Rivers Cabernet Sauvignon. highly recommended!

tasty tacos 9/10

these were really good tacos. different. not your typical mexican hotness. more of a cool light taste. and who knew it could be so damned easy to cook salmon in the microwave? it came out perfectly. PERFECT! and it didn't stink up the house or even the microwave. and the sour cream was really tastee. we had some left over for munching on with chips. and throughout the cooking we had some homemade salsa with these hearty whole grain tortilla chips. great tide-you-over snack while waiting the 20m it takes to get dinner ready! it was good and different and would probably be best for a lunch or a very light dinner. and i highly recommend shaving your carrots like this if you ever use them in salads because they look beautiful, have a mild but still-there taste, and make stabbing leaf lettuce or spinach leaves much easier! plus, they curl up in these really pretty spirals and look really fancy!



salmon tacos
martha's everyday food jan/feb 07

serves 4, prep 10m, total 20m

1 1/4# salmon fillet
coarse salt and ground pepper
2T fresh lime juice (from 1 lime) we just used lime juice; it's easier
4 scallions thinly sliced diagonally
1c packed fresh cilantro coarsly chopped
1/2c red fat sour cream
8 whole wheat tortillias (6")
4c shredded romain lettuce our lettuce was bad so we used baby spinach which is my stand-in leafy green; it was a great sun but i think the romain would have added a nice crunch with the carrots
2 med carrots, peeled into strips beautiful presentation!



1. prep salmon: place aslmon in 2q shallow microwave safe dish with a lid. season with salt; drizzle with 1T lime juice. sprinkle with scallions and 1/4c cilantro. cover and micro 7m on high until fish is cooked thru. pour off any liquid from dish and flake fish with fork.

2. make sauce: meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together sourcream T lime juice and remaining 3/4c cilantro. season with salt and pepper.

3. assemble: stack tortillas between 2 papertowels and micro for 45s until warm. arrange lettuce and carrots down center of tortillia; top with salmon. drizzle lightly with sauce and fold in 1/2. serve rest of sauce for dipping.



i'm telling you, it's a good dish. very easy and a light fresh taste. perfect for a weekend lunch. keep eating...

so here's a bit of baking we did after our big sunday dinner. tom, being wonderful as usual, decided to get some crumb cake mix and make up a lovely breakfast for our first day of the new rotation. and it was fabulous! really good!! and the best part was that it was so easy that he's not scared of baking at all!! hopefully that means more cakes to come... fyi: if you make this yummy mix know ahead of time that the best pieces are on the outside. that's where the cinnamin sugar topping gets all melty and crisp and absolutly delicious!

on another note... i tried my hand at another batch of cookies and failed miserably. i have no idea what went wrong but it was something horrible because the cookies were mostly inedible. i mean, we still ate a bunch of them anyway, but we actually threw most of them in the trash. and if you know how much i like cookies then you know how bad they muct have been. maybe the mix was bad or some other ingredient but they were unable to be rolled out because they were SO stickey no matter what i did. so poopie. my husband baked a lovely morning treat and i couldn't throw together a cookie mix made for kids!! o well, maybe this means my husband will take over the baking in our home. keep eating...

sunday dinner 10!

sunday dinner! apparently for some people this is like a big dinner night. or at least that's what martha's people seem to think. every issue since #1 (and i have them all, really) there's been the sunday dinner section with these big, fancy, complicated menues that require days of planning and tons of shopping ingredients and even a dessert! so of course i always ignore these. lucky for me i have a brazen husband who fears no food and he chose our sunday dinner from martha's recommended sunday dinner. bon apetite!

from martha's everyday food jan 2007

wine-braised chicken

serves 6, prep 55m, total 1h15m

3 fresh thyme sprigs

5 flat-leaf parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf

3 slices bacon cut into pieces we used 6

12 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (about 4lbs) we could only find bone in with skin and it was a pain in the ass but i took off the skins with kitchen shears and then it was fine. i think the bones are really important for the flavor though, so don't be lazy and get boneless and skinless; no go

corse salt and ground pepper

1 large onion, chopped

6 med carrots sliced crosswise on the diagonal into 1/2 in pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

2T tomato paste

3T all purpose flour

1 1/2 c dry red wine, such as pino noir or french burgandy (we used the yummy cab franc from the other night)

14.5 oz reduced sodium chicken broth

1. tie parsley thyme and bay leaf into bundle

2. heat dutch oven/5qt stock pot w/lid on med-low. add abcon cooking til browned (10m). transfer to papertowel covered plate.

3. heat to med-hi. season chicken with salt and pepper and brown 4m per side. transfer to plate.

4. add onion, carrots, and garlic to pot. cook until onion soft (4m). stir in tomatoe paste and flour; cook 1m.

5. add wine, broth, chicken and herbs, boil and then reduce to simmer. cook 10m then uncover and simmer until chicken cooked through (10m). remove and discard herbs; stir in bacon.

rich and delicious; highly recommended!! just so you know though, being the crappy wife that i've been know to be (at times, anyway) i only got the stuff for the star recipe and not the acoutrements, namely the fancy little potatoes with parsley and celery salad (eww, gross). but we still loved our fancy-smanchy french flavored sunday dinner. we loved it! and it didn't even take all week to prepare! just make it already! and keep eating...