2 Duds and a Keeper

I have a couple of other cooking blogs that I enjoy reading and in the last week or two all three of them came up with recipes that looked fun and required very few ingredients that I didn't already have on hand. Yesterday I tried two of them...

Homemade Chai Tea (aka. Bitter, Suck-all-the-saliva-out-of-your-mouth Chai Tea)



Maple Roasted Banana Ice Cream (aka. Slimy, Gelatinous Banana Ice Cream)



See how it made my cute roommate's face turn sour?

Sigh... I guess everything can't turn out good, but I was sad when both things that I was excited about turned out pretty gross. Good thing my roommates (who I made this stuff to share with) have a sense of humor! The Chai would have been wonderful except for what had to have been a typo on the quantity of Cardamon Seeds. They are pretty bitter and overpowered all the other yummy flavors (fresh ginger, cloves, cinnamon, fresh nutmeg, etc). Next time I make it, I will use maybe 3 seeds and not a whole teaspoon...

As far as the Ice Cream, it came from a gluten-free, dairy free blog that I like, but this recipe just didn't work for me. The roasting of the bananas and the maple syrup made it brown and the consistency felt slimy in my mouth. Brown and slimy is NOT a good combination, even if the flavor itself was actually okay.

Despite failure yesterday, when I woke up at 6am this morning with my mind running in 12 different directions, I decided to get up and try my 3rd recipe. (Cooking generally mellows me out.) Finally a keeper!! This recipe for Breakfast Pizza came from one of my favorite cooking blogs and when I first read this entry, I thought the idea was brilliant. It wasn't too difficult to modify for my needs either. I used a gluten-free pizza crust mix by a brand called Namaste and a really nice sheep milk cheese that I have started getting from Whole Foods, called Pecorino Brigante.

Breakfast Pizza

Pizza crust
- If you want to make it from scratch, click on the Breakfast Pizza link above and follow her directions. If not, I think Pillsbury crescent rolls spread out into a sheet would work fabulously. Otherwise, just do whatever you want to do for the crust portion.

Cheese of your choice (The original recipe calls for Mozzarella and Parmesan. I used mostly the Brigante and a little Parmesan.)

Toppings of your choice (bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, herbs, etc)
- I used bacon, tomato slices, shallots, basil and chives.

3-4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

- Prepare the pizza dough.
- Sprinkle cheese and any other non-herb toppings over the crust.
- Crack the eggs right on top.



- Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the eggs are set. I checked them a couple of times by poking gently with the end of a spoon until the yolks felt firm.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle fresh herbs on top.



Hope you all enjoy a lovely Sunday!

Strawberry Pie

The first day of Spring came and went last weekend, but it seems kind of surreal here in my beloved Colorado. We get some of our heaviest snow in March and April and they are forecasting up to 10 inches of it tomorrow! It definitely feels like Winter on lots of fronts. However, last night Springtime officially arrived in my heart. Do you want to know what ushered it in??



This little piece of strawberry heaven was waiting in the refrigerator last night when I went up to my parents' house for a little car maintenance and dinner. Can you tell that my mom loves me?! There are tons of strawberry stands along the roads in southern CA and I grew up on lots of strawberry pie. My mom makes a fabulous one and it is probably still my pie of choice. I have been completely appalled at the number of Coloradans who have never had a real strawberry pie (in my opinion, Village Inn pies do NOT count!).

I suppose more people would try them out if they knew that Springtime warm-fuzzies secretly hide out in homemade strawberry pies. Now that you know that secret, here is my mom's recipe. It is surprisingly simple and if you have good, sweet berries to make the glaze, it will send you straight into Springtime strawberry bliss!

Strawberry Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
2 T. milk

- Mix flour, sugar & salt in a pie pan.
- Mix the oil and milk and then add to the flour mixture. Mix with a spoon until just combined.
- Press along the bottom and sides of a pie pan and do whatever you want to do to the edges to make them pretty.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely.
- (This is my mom's standard pie crust and she uses it for all her pies. It is different than a regular butter crust and tastes a little like a delicate shortbread. If making pie crusts that you have to roll out is intimidating, give this one a try! I haven't had a pie yet that it didn't work beautifully with!)
- Also, I have not come up yet with a good gluten-free pie crust, but I am working on it. I'll post it when I am satisfied with the end product!

Pie Filling:
6 baskets strawberries
3/4 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch

- Crush one cup of fresh strawberries. The liquid and pulp together should equal one cup. It works well if you watch for any soft or slightly bruised berries while you are washing and use those.
- Boil the crushed berries with one cup of water for about 2-3 minutes. Strain out the pulp and return the liquid to the pan over low heat. This part will make your kitchen smell completely WONDERFUL!!
- Mix the sugar and cornstarch and slowly whisk it into the strawberry juice. Stir constantly for several minutes until the liquid thickens and darkens. (Think maple syrup consistency).
- Turn off the heat and transfer the glaze to a pouring dish.
- Place a layer of fresh strawberries in the bottom of the pie pan and drizzle the glaze over the top, making sure that each berry gets covered. Add another layer of berries and repeat. If you have glaze left over, just keep drizzling. You can't over-do it!
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours! This pie is messy when served and the longer you refrigerate, the better it will hold together.
- Top with lots of Cool Whip or Whipped Cream and enjoy!!

Asparagus "Fries"

For someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, you'd think I would know better.. But I have a TERRIBLE habit of trying to multi-task and leaving food unattended while it is cooking. I can't tell you how many times I have returned to boiling, smoking, burnt, ashy messes! I always regret my foolishness and vow to STOP leaving food alone with heat sources. However, today something quite nice happened for once as a result of leaving my food and forgetting about it.

Asparagus must be in season because it has been on sale almost every week and since it is one of my favorite vegetables, I have been eating it every week. Growing up, my family would always eat it the same way: Sauteed in butter or olive oil with fresh garlic, salt and red wine. I don't think I would be allowed to bring wine to work (bummer!) so when I started my asparagus binge a few weeks ago, I started just roasting it in the oven. I drizzled a little olive oil on it, sprinkled it with salt and put it in a glass baking dish at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Today I was feeling curious and exploratory and decided to put it on a metal baking sheet instead of in a glass dish to see if it changed anything. As I was laying it out on the baking sheet, I was reminded of my sweet potato fries and decided to lay out each asparagus stem so that it wasn't touching any of the others and see if the stems got crispy at all. I turned up the heat a little to 425 degrees and headed back to my desk with the intent of checking on them in 10 or 15 minutes.

Alas! Today was super busy at work and I forgot all about my asparagus crisping away down in the oven! Almost 35 minutes had passed when I remembered them and dashed downstairs. I expected a smoking, charred mess. Instead, I had a pleasant surprise! The stems were not burned and when I bit into one, it actually had almost the consistency of a Cheeto! I think the high heat must have dehydrated them some because they were airy and crunchy and really good!

I am sure cooking the heck out of them that way removed almost all nutritional value, but hey... They still must be healthier than regular french fries, which I will confess I get terrible cravings for. I know, I am a strange female but I will take french fries over chocolate any day!

And that is the end of my asparagus fries tale.

Happy snacking!

Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette

I am going to make a confession... I am dorky enough to spend my lunch breaks at work browsing through cooking websites! I have lost track of time and wound up having to stay late on more than one occasion. The Cooking Light website is a favorite, especially if I have a new item or ingredient and I want some ideas for how to cook it. A couple weeks ago we did an office order at work and I now have a freezer stuffed full of Salmon, Tilapia, Sole, Scallops, Sardines and Shrimp. So get ready! You are going to start seeing a lot of seafood recipes...

I was browsing Salmon recipes last week and found this one for Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette. The ingredients to make it cost me under $3 since i already had the Salmon, so it was dinner tonight. It was quick, super flavorful, healthy, pretty (yes, it does make me happy when my food is pretty) and it made my kitchen smell like summer-time! This one will definitely be a "keeper" for me.

Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette

1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 T fresh lime juice
1 medium shallot, minced
2 T snipped chives ( I used the green ends of scallions because they were cheaper!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T light olive oil
4 salmon fillets

- In a small saucepan, combine the juices and simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/2.
- On a side-note, recipes that tell me to simmer until something reduces by 1/2 make me nervous. I can never tell when something has reduced by 1/2. Lots of times I can't tell if it has reduced at all. So don't stress over this. I simmered for about 15 minutes until I thought it kind of looked like less liquid than I had started with and called that good enough!
- Pour the hot juices into a separate bowl or pouring vessel and add the shallot, chives and olive oil and stir.
- Now... The title of this recipe says the salmon is "pan-fried" and you can do it that way if you want to. But if, like me tonight, it happens to be 7pm and you are super hungry and you really don't want to babysit two dishes on the stove at once and if you don't have a strong need to follow directions exactly, you could cheat and just stick the fillets in a dish under the broiler. This worked beautifully for me tonight and I had dinner in under 20 minutes. Broiling times will differ based on the size of the fillet. I had pretty thin fillets so I just had them in there on low for 7 minutes.
- Also if you are not familiar with cooking Salmon, take note that the skin will stay pink, even after it has cooked. We are used to cooking things until they are no longer pink and I completely killed the first Salmon fillets I ever cooked because I kept waiting for them to turn white. Once Salmon is cooked, the pink will turn more opaque and you'll see a little bit of white substance (good healthy oils) seeping out of the sides. You will know that it is done when it flakes with a fork.
- Top the salmon fillets with sauce and enjoy!

This sauce is really tangy. I thought the strong flavors of citrus and shallot were perfect with the strong fish flavor of Salmon.

Hope you enjoy!!

Cutie-Pie, the 1st & Cutie-Pie Jr.

Are they they sweetest or what?

The cutest nose in the nursery...

It is official... The nurses all unanimously agreed that my baby cutie-pie nephew has the cutest nose in the nursery! Of course we agree but we would rather expand that and declare that he has the cutest nose in at least the state, maybe the whole world. He is completely precious and we are all terribly infatuated :)

Here are a few pics:




A profile of the famous nose...



Perfect fat little cheeks for kissing...



Makes for a very proud and happy Auntie!!

Sweet & Savory Pork Roast

I am in CA for the week, visiting my sister and her family. At this very moment, my new nephew is making his debut appearance at a hospital in Riverside! I am at my sister's house, waiting for the 3 year-old cutie-pie niece to wake up so we can launch into a morning of Curious George, puzzles, a trip to the park and all kinds of fun with the slinky she discovered last night :)

With such excitement abounding, I am sure you are wondering, "Who cares about food??"

Well, since the cutie-pie is still asleep, I thought I would take a second to share the recipe from our dinner last night. It is one of my sister's favorites and since I am probably the "least" of the cooks in my family, that alone should make you pay attention. The recipe was originally for Beef Brisket but Larae and Jonathan like it with pork, either the shoulder or the butt. I laughed last night and thought I was being teased when Jonathan called what we ate a "pork butt." However, he said that is actually what it is called and furthermore, the butt supposedly tastes better than the shoulder. So, siting my blog as proof, you may all confidently approach your butcher and ask for pork butt (and if you can pull that off with a straight face, you are a stronger person than I!)

Sweet and Savory Pork Roast

3 - 3 1/2 lb pork roast
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. grape or apricot jelly
1/2 envelope Lipton's Onion soup mix
1/2 tsp pepper

Place the roast in a crock-pot. (You may need to cut it in half)
Mix the sauce and pour over the top.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Shred meat and serve in juices.

My sister served this with mashed potatoes and those were wonderful for soaking up the yummy juices!

Despite the fact that this is a cooking/kitchen blog, I am giving you all fair warning that I might not be able to restrain myself from sneaking a picture or two of the new cutie-pie nephew on here. Since it will be his very first few days alive on the earth, I thought it might be excusable to brag about him a bit. Stay tuned!