Garlic Beef with Capsicum (Red Bell Pepper) - 3 stars

i made this for dinner last night out of my wok cookbook. (it's actually called The Essential Wok Cookbook - it's a fantastically authentic southeast asian and chinese cookbook.)

it was a really easy stirfry - i marinated the beef in some chinese rice wine, garlic, and soy sauce for ~ 15 minutes. meanwhile, i prepared the rest of the stirfry. the key to making a good stirfry is to have all your stirfry ingredients prepped before starting the stirfry. if you don't do this, your stirfry will end up an abysmal soggy failure.

i sauteed the red bell pepper first, removed it from the wok, and then sauteed the beef in batches and removed from the wok. i made the garlic sauce in the bottom using a fantastic amount of fresh chopped garlic, some chicken broth, chili pepper oil, chili garlic sauce and oyster sauce. oh, and some cornflour to thicken it. i returned the beef and pepper to the wok and tossed until heated through and mixed well.

this stirfry was saucier than some i've made lately, which was great. if there's not enough sauce in the stirfry, the rice it's served over tastes too dry. when i first tasted the sauce out of the pan, it seemed really good... but when i actually sat down to eat a few minutes later, it just wasn't all that flavorful. it had a good spice from the chili oil & chili garlic sauce, but other than that, it was bland. i had to add soy sauce to it to make it more palatable. a good stirfry should not require the addition of soy sauce in your bowl - the stirfry itself should be full of fresh, potent flavors all by itself.

next time, i'd modify the garlic sauce to improve the flavor. :)

Redefining Breakfast: Beef Taco Omelette & Chicken Quesadilla - 4 stars

yes, you read that correctly - beef taco omelette! it's on the right - i made it for tony. he said it was really, really good, but the meat was from the overly spicy batch of beef taco meat, so he wasn't able to finish it. :-( always a sad occasion. and, the pepper grinder sort of fell apart when he was using it, and a bunch of whole peppercorns dumped out onto his sour cream! sad. i've since learned how to tighten the grinder so that it has a finer grind and doesn't fall apart. :-)

i had some leftover grilled chicken in the fridge, and my tummy wasn't up for the spice of the beef taco meat, so i thought hey, why not have a quesadilla for breakfast? it was really good! just grilled chicken and mozzarella - i cooked in the oven wrapped in foil for awhile. i topped it with fresh cilantro, sour cream, and some pico de gallo. perfect.

French Onion Soup - 4 stars

i was so happy to eat this dish. soooooo happy. i haven't had french onion soup in ten years or so - i've never made it, and i've never come across any non-dairy french onion soup topped with soy cheese in a restaurant. :-) it took me a bit to find a recipe that didn't call for an incredible amount of butter in the soup base, but i did... of all chefs, it was paula deen's (the queen of fatty buttery foods) recipe! she uses olive oil in place of butter.

(i could use a recipe that called for butter and substitute margarine instead, but tony is sensitive to "fake tasting" butter, so i try to avoid recipes that call for huge quantities of butter. i'm always afraid he'll taste the margarine and not like it. then there'd be too much food left for me to eat. :) )

the only issue i had with the recipe is that it didn't state what the total weight (or even what the size) of the onions should be. the soup base was too onion-y for me - not in flavor, but the proportion of onion to broth was off. i used medium sized (~3" in diameter) onions - if you use those, use only 5 or 6, not 8. next time, i'll use less onion, which might make the recipe a five star.

this was easy to make - i sauteed the sliced onions for awhile, added a bit of flour, sauteed more, added broth, wine, thyme and bay leaf, and simmered for awhile. when it was ready, i scooped the broth into a bowl, topped it with thick toasted slices of french bread, and the cheese slices. i broiled it on high for a couple minutes to melt the cheese. YUM!

the picture above is tony's dish - it was topped with gruyere, which i believe propelled it to five stars for him. i'm not sure what's on top of the cheese in the picture - maybe cracked black pepper? he grated his cheese - i sliced mine in thin slices so it could overlap the edges of the baking dish.

i have a feeling that there are some richer, more decadent recipes for french onion soup out there... now that i've made it once, i'll research more before i make it again.

French Onion Soup

Prep Time:

30 min

Cook Time:

45 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 to 6 bowls of soup

8 onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 cups beef stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 loaf French bread
2 cups grated Gruyere

Saute onions and garlic in oil over low heat until tender and golden yellow. Sprinkle flour over onions, cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well. Add stock and wine and bring to a boil, add thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Meanwhile, slice French bread into 3/4-inch slices and butter both sides. Toast slices on griddle until golden brown. Ladle soup into an ovenproof bowl, add toasted bread and cover with cheese. Place ovenproof bowl on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees F or 5 minutes under a hot broiler.

Roasted Chicken Legs with Potatoes and Kale - 5 stars

i was so excited about this dish that i forgot to take a picture of the finished product. hahaha. oops. the picture above is from before it went in the oven.

i do wish i had a higher rating than 5 stars though. this is the BEST dish i've made recently, and there have been a lot of good ones. when i compare the effort involved to the flavor produced, it makes it even better!

the recipe also made a HUGE meal. i told tony that someday when we have game day again, i'll have to make this. it can feed a lot of people. i *could* double the recipe for game day since we do tend to eat a lot, but i don't think i'd have anything to cook it in if i did. the skillet in the left of the picture is a 14" wide 4" high skillet - originally, i thought everything would fit fine in there. it did, until i added the kale. 1 1/2 lbs (3 large bunches) of kale is a LOT.

i tossed the kale together with 1 1/2 lbs sliced yukon gold potatoes, 1 sliced yellow onion and a bit of olive oil. i didn't have whole chicken legs, just a mixture of thighs and drumsticks. i put them on top of the kale mixture, sprinkled paprika, salt and fresh ground pepper on top, covered the pans with foil and put them in the oven for 20 minutes. i removed the foil and cooked for another 35 to 40 minutes.

about the cooking temp and time... the recipe called for roasting in the top third of the oven at 450 degrees for the entire time (20 min covered, 30 min uncovered). about 10 minutes into the uncovered cooking time, the kale started burning. no one likes burnt kale! i moved the pans to the center of the oven and reduced the temp to 425. it took ~ 7 minutes longer this way, but it came out perfectly.

the kale had this crispy, but melt-in-your-mouth texture. the closest thing i can think of that it reminded me of is phyllo dough, the way it's so light and flaky and a bit crispy, but still melts in your mouth? ooooh. oh yum. the juices from the chicken dripped down over vegetables and gave them such a rich, decadent flavor. i was in heaven. i ate two servings. i couldn't stop. it was so good! i'll be enjoying a nice long run after work today to make up for it. :-)

please, try this dish sometime. even the crappiest cook is guaranteed to be successful with it. :-)

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 pounds tender, young kale, stems and inner ribs removed
2. 1 1/2 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3. 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. 8 whole chicken legs (about 10 ounces each)
7. 1 teaspoon paprika
8. Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a very large roasting pan, toss the kale, potatoes and onion with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and spread in an even layer.
2. Set the chicken on a cutting board, skin side down. Slice halfway through the joint between the drumsticks and thighs. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the paprika and set on top of the vegetables.
3. Cover the pan with foil. Roast the chicken in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for 30 minutes longer, until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Transfer the chicken to plates and spoon the vegetables alongside. Serve with lemon wedges.

Indonesian Beef Curry with Coconut Rice - 5 stars

before i start talking about this fabulous dish, i'd like to mention that i'm making progress with improving my pictures. :-) perhaps not the layout of the pictures, because, well, i'm just not talented at photography. at all. i've really struggled with the quality of the pictures though, and i believe i've discovered why. going forward, *hopefully* the pictures will be of higher quality. :)

this is a lovely bowl of indonesian beef curry over coconut rice, with a salad to the right. my salads this week contain lots of kiwi - yum!

i was a little intimidated by this recipe because the curry is made from scratch, and when i've done that in the past, it's turned into a project on occasion. i'm not a fan of big projects on weekday evenings. but... it was really easy! i also don't like that some curries are really heavy because of all the coconut milk - this is a broth based one.

despite the fact that i missed a couple steps and forgot to buy an ingredient, this dish came out to be quite fantastic. to make it, i thin sliced and browned the beef in batches (london broil top round steak) in a large heavy duty skillet. i removed the beef from the skillet, and sauteed together fresh sliced shallots, garlic, and serrano chilies with some jarred ginger. i was supposed to use fresh, but ... i forgot to buy it! oops. after cooking for a bit, i added the indonesian spice mixture, which was a combo of cumin, cloves, cardamom pods, and a couple other things. i put the beef back into the pan, added some chicken broth, and let it simmer, covered, for about a half hour, then uncovered for another 10 minutes til it thickened. i was supposed to put a cinnamon stick in while it simmered, but i forgot. i found it sitting on the counter when i was done with the meal. :) ooops! i was also supposed to stir in fresh lime juice before serving... forgot that as well! i squeezed fresh lime juice over the top instead.

i had this over basmati rice steamed in coconut milk & water. the dish had a decent spice to it - not overpowering in the slightest, and the coconut milk in the rice tamed it well. i'm not very familiar with indonesian cuisine, so i'm not sure how authentic the recipe is. i'd like to experiment with indonesian food a bit, because if other dishes are as good as this one... it could become a favorite type of cuisine for me.

Indonesian Beef Curry with Coconut Rice


Coconut milk in the rice helps tame the heat from the serrano chiles. For milder curry, seed the serranos.

Curry:
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds lean top round, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cardamom pods, crushed
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Rice:
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup uncooked basmati rice
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

To prepare curry, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Place half of the beef in skillet; cook 1 minute on each side or until browned. Remove the beef from pan. Keep warm. Repeat process with the remaining beef.

Lower heat to medium; add oil to pan. Add shallots, ginger, garlic, and chiles; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in coriander and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon); cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return beef to pan. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until beef is tender. Uncover and cook 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Discard cinnamon stick; stir in juice.

To prepare rice, bring 1 1/4 cups water and remaining ingredients to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Place 2/3 cup rice onto each of 6 plates; top each serving with 1/2 cup curry.

Yield: 6 servings

CALORIES 280 (30% from fat); FAT 9.4g (sat 3.4g,mono 3.4g,poly 1.2g); IRON 3.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 64mg; CALCIUM 26mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.6g; SODIUM 536mg; PROTEIN 27.9g; FIBER 1g

Cooking Light, MAY 2007

Korean-Style Short Rib Soup - 1 star :-(

my parents gave me a new slow cooker for christmas. i've wanted one for awhile - when i used to watch food network shows, i saw all these fabulous meals that were cooked in slow cookers! they looked so good, and i was dying to try them. also, if i find easy, good slow cooker recipes, that means tony can assemble them when he gets up in the morning, and i don't have to worry about making the dinner at night! :-)

this was the first dish i made in the slow cooker. it was awful. awful awful awful awful. to make it, i put ~ 6 lbs of short ribs in with some chicken broth, sugar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, sambal oelek (chili paste), sesame oil, fresh garlic and green onions. sounds really good, right?

perhaps i used the wrong meat. this is totally possible! the meat did become extremely tender, but there was so much fat in the ribs that i used that there ended up being more congealed fat than tender meat in my "soup."

also, the bones turned into this soft, pliable rubber-like texture. they looked so disgusting - the memory of them turns my stomach.

and, if i ignore both the congealed fat and the gushy bones, there was no flavor in the broth! i had to dump a bunch of soy sauce in to make it barely palatable.

suffice it to say, this was a total failure. tony has since made two more slow cooker dishes - beef tacos and guiness beef stew. the tacos were ok - they were a bit too spicy though, so tony and i both ended up with upset stomachs. the beef stew was awesome. it had an authentic irish taste to it, and it was definitely the best beef stew i've ever had. :-) i definitely will keep experimenting with the slow cooker. i know there are some more good dishes out there.

Bagels with Smoked Steelhead + Dill + Cream Cheese - 5 stars

this is one of my all time favorite breakfasts! SO easy to make, but it always feels really indulgent and satisfying.

for this batch, i bought some fresh smoked steelhead from the town & country grocery store on bainbridge island by my work. i have to be honest - i just researched on wikipedia to figure out exactly what steelhead is! when i bought it, i thought it might be some type of salmon. it was pink, you know, like salmon. :)

anyway, come to found out, it's the ocean-dwelling version of rainbow trout! i had no idea. i ate lots of trout when i was a kid, but i haven't really had much as an adult. steelhead is pinker than trout - like salmon - and tends to be more flavorful (according to wikipedia, at least - i can't personally attest to this, since it's been too long since i've had rainbow trout). compared to salmon, i thought it had a sweeter taste - though that could be attributed to the way it was smoked. whatever it was that made it so good, however, made this the best "smoked salmon" bagel breakfast i've made.

i used thomas' NY style everything bagels - toasted them, smothered cream cheese on each half (soy "it's better than cream cheese!" for me, regular plain cream cheese for tony), put a bunch of fresh dill on them, and topped them with the smoked steelhead. YUMMY! we had awesome bloody mary's with them as well - if you can ever get your hands on Stirrings Bloody Mary Mix, buy it. spend the money on it. it's super, super expensive, but was better than any mix i've ever had or made. YUM!

Shrimp (and Steak!) Caesar Salad - 5 stars!

note to reader: beware. this is a very long post. it also exposes my OCD compulsions that i occasionally have with cooking. :-)

i absolutely love caesar salad. i consider it to be an indulgence, because there's nothing overly nutritional about it. specially since i normally like to put a lot of bacon and croutons in my caesar salad.

it took me a long time to figure out the right way to make caesar dressing. i have never found a store bought caesar dressing that doesn't have dairy in it. this surprises me because a truly authentic caesar dressing doesn't require parmesan cheese to thicken it; it's thickened by egg yolk, primarily. many recipes will call for mayonnaise instead of egg yolk for health safety reasons, but it just doesn't taste the same if you use mayo. i have finally mastered a caesar dressing recipe that rivals high end restaurant caesar salads. sounds a bit egotistical, but it's been years, like eight years, in the making to perfect my caesar dressing. :-)

my first visit to el gaucho in belltown enlightened me on how to make a real caesar dressing. they offer table-side caesar salad there, meaning they make the dressing from scratch at your table. there's a particular set of ingredients that you add in a very particular way, grinding the ingredients into a paste as you add each one. after you make the dressing, you toss it with the romaine lettuce and parmesan in a large bowl. this meant that i was able to have our server pull my portion of the salad out of his mixing bowl after he tossed it with the dressing, but before adding the parmesan cheese for the person i was dining with.

after this visit, i knew what ingredients to look for in a recipe, and i found the recipe below. connoisseurs claim that you must use a wooden salad bowl to grind the dressing ingredients in. i love my wooden salad bowl, and i have no desire to mutilate the bottom of it by grinding a dressing into it. it's also an awkward shape to use, so i just use a medium glass bowl. metal would be a no no, because it will react with the lemon juice in the recipe.

the best caesar dressing requires serious attention to minute details. if you pay attention to these details, you will have fancy steakhouse worthy caesar salad, rather than ok homemade caesar dressing.

the trickiest part of the dressing is creating the garlic paste, which is the base of your dressing. i have found the best way to do this is to chop up the garlic cloves (use four large cloves per batch), and then grind a healthy amount of sea salt and pepper over the chopped pile of garlic on your cutting board. i let the garlic sit for a couple minutes after grinding the sea salt over it, because the salt will cause the garlic to begin to release its garlicky juices, making it easier to create a paste out of it. using the side of my large chopping knife, i mush the garlic across the cutting board, gather it up on the other side of the cutting board, and mush it back across the cutting board. kind of hard to describe, so the next time i make caesar, i'll take a video if i remember to. once you have the technique down, it's fairly easy. do this over and over and over until the garlic is more of a paste consistency, less of a chunky consistency.

scoop your garlic paste up and put it in your medium glass bowl. add the following ingredients, one at a time, making sure to grind them thoroughly into the previous ingredients.

2 anchovies (or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste - i ALWAYS just use the paste. whole anchovies make me gag; i just can't help it)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (the real stuff, not the dried stuff)
1 egg yolk, coddled
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

whisk approximately a quarter cup of high quality olive oil into the paste. i taste it at this point to see if it needs more lemon juice, or more olive oil. adjust accordingly.

this amount of dressing works well for one head of romaine. for caesar salad, i always chop my romaine leaves into 1/2" strips, rather than tearing them. the dressing clings to the evenly sized lettuce pieces much better.

toss the dressing with the lettuce in a large bowl, then add fresh grated parmesan or parmigiano-reggiano or whatever kind of cheese you think would be best. i can't help you there. :-)

the best croutons to add are marcy's slightly spiced calabrese croutons. they're hard to find, and can be a bit more expensive than regular croutons, but they're worth every penny. here's what the bag looks like:



i had steak left from the ranch bruschetta salad, so i grilled it and added to this caesar. i also had some jumbo cooked prawns. next time, i'd leave the steak out and just have the shrimp, or vice versa. using both steak and shrimp was a bit too much and overpowered the salad.

Special notes:

- my parents gave me a high end extra virgin olive oil for christmas, which i used to make this particular caesar batch. it made a HUGE difference to use a very high quality olive oil. there are a lot of dishes that a basic extra virgin olive oil works just as well in, but i would recommend splurging on a small, expensive olive oil if you are going to make this dressing.

- if you're not having the caesar as your main course but are instead having it as a starter salad, add bacon. high quality, thick sliced pepper bacon compliments this dressing the best. i also find that it is best to fry the bacon in whole strips, and to cut it into small pieces after it is cooked and cooled (rather than cutting into small pieces and then frying it). it seems to have a better crisp, crumbly texture to it this way.

Sesame Pork Stirfry - 4 stars

i had some pork tenderloin left over from the pork chops + granny smith apples meal, so i searched through my wok cookbook to see what i could use it in. lo and behold, there was a sesame pork stirfry calling for the exact amount of tenderloin that i had.

it was really easy, and extremely delectable. i made a sauce out of hoisin and teriyaki sauces, added some sesame oil and cornstarch. i stirfried the sliced pork tenderloin in batches first and removed it from the pan. i then stirfried sliced green onion, chopped garlic and fresh ginger for a minute. i added some shredded carrots and sliced snake beans to the wok, and stirfried for a few minutes. i added the sauce and the pork back to the wok, and then stirred in a couple tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds. i had it over steamed jasmine rice with baby romaine salad on the side (instead of spinach, for once! :) ). fantastic and completely satisfying!

Sesame Pork

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Total cooking time: 20 minutes

2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 tsp cornflour or cornstarch
1/4 c peanut oil
1 1/4 lb pork loin fillet, thinly sliced across the grain
2 tsp sesame oil
8 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 carrots, julienned
6 1/2 oz snake beans, sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. to make the stir-fry sauce, combine the hoisin and teriyaki sauces, cornflour and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. set aside until needed.

2. heat a wok to hot, add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and swirl. add half the pork and stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until browned. Remove. Repeat.

3. heat the remaining peanut oil and the sesame oil in the work. add the spring onion, garlic and ginger, and stir-fry for 1 minute.

4. add the carrot and beans, and stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until almost cooked. return the pork to the wok, add the stir-fry sauce and stir until the sauce thickens and everything is combined, the meat is tender and the vegetables are just cooked. toss in the sesame seeds, then serve with steamed rice.

Ranch Steak Bruschetta Salad - 5 stars

i LOVED this meal. i was really excited when i came across the recipe, because i love bruschetta, i love salad, i love steak, and i love when i get to indulge in my non-dairy ranch dressing (it's kind of fatty - 80 of the 90 calories per serving are from fat! i try not to buy it too much because if i have it in the house, i can't resist it).

the only issue i had with this recipe is that i was still starving afterward. i was surprised by that because it's a heavier salad, and it includes carbs. i think it just needed more fiber - either in the form of different vegetables or some garbanzo beans or something.

it was really easy to make, and as i ate it, the flavors of it continually surprised me.

i used some of the leftover beef tenderloin from christmas in this dish. i cut it into thick steaks, and rubbed the steaks with a mixture of ground cumin, ground coffee, ancho chili powder and ground black pepper. i grilled them in a grill pan on the stove (the bbq has been acting up, and i didn't want to take the time to see if it was working, or if i could fix it :) ).

while they were grilling, i made a mixture of sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped shallots, fresh basil, roasted bell peppers and fresh lemon juice. i also mixed the ranch dressing (in separate bowls, soy in one, regular ranch in the other :) ) with some horseradish.

after the steaks were done, i grilled slices of baguette in the grill pan. to assemble the salads, i made a bed of baby romaine, put the baguette slices on top of the lettuce, added the steak (sliced across the grain after resting for five minutes or so), and put the tomato basil mixture on top of that. i poured the ranch over it, and added some freshly ground black pepper.

YUM!

Note: the recipe did call for arugula, but the grocery store i was at didn't carry it. i hope it's available next time i make this - it would hold up in the salad better than baby romaine.

Ranch Steak Bruschetta Salad

Salad dressing:
6 tablespoons ranch dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Steaks:
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1 inch thick)
Cooking spray

Remaining ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 cups loosely packed arugula
12 (1-ounce) slices French bread, toasted

1. To prepare salad dressing, combine ranch dressing and horseradish in a small bowl; cover and chill.

2. To prepare steaks, combine black pepper, ground coffee, ground cumin, and ancho chile powder. Rub both sides of steaks with pepper mixture, and let stand 10 minutes.

3. Heat a nonstick grill pan over medium heat. Coat steaks with cooking spray. Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steaks from pan; let stand 7 minutes.

4. Combine shallots, fresh basil, bell peppers, juice, and tomatoes in a small bowl; toss well.

5. Arrange 1 cup arugula on each of 6 serving plates, and top each serving with 2 toast slices. Cut each steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Divide steak slices evenly among the toast slices; top each serving with about 2 tablespoons tomato mixture. Drizzle each serving with about 1 tablespoon of the salad dressing. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

(Courtesy of Cooking Light)

Fresh Cranberry Cosmo - 4 stars

i work in the frozen fruit industry (we handle frozen berries, primarily), and we often get samples of frozen berries. i currently have a ton of frozen cranberries & blueberries in the freezer, and i'm trying to come up with good ideas for them. the first thing that always comes to my mind when i think of how to use frozen fruit is.... drinks! :-)

so i found a recipe for making a fresh cranberry granita, and then using it to make cosmopolitan martinis. the fresh cranberry granita takes the place of ice, cranberry juice and triple sec in the cosmo recipe. the granita was much easier to make than i thought it would be.

first, i simmered cranberries with water and sugar until the cranberries began to pop.



then i dumped everything from the pot into the blender and blended it for one minute. be sure to leave the plastic piece out of the top of the blender, and just cover it with a kitchen towel or pot holder instead (it will explode otherwise - fun to watch, not fun to clean up). :-)

i poured the blended mixture through a metal sieve into a glass baking dish (i was supposed to use a metal baking dish, but i don't own any), added some lime zest, stirred it around, and put it in the freezer until frozen (it's supposed to take around 6 hours).



after it seemed frozen, i scraped it with a fork to get the granita texture of shaved ice, and then made my cosmopolitan with it.

i couldn't get it to make that shaved ice texture very well though. i don't know if that had to do with using a glass dish instead of metal... or it might have been that i was too excited to wait, and it wasn't totally frozen when i scraped it with the fork. :-) i think it was only about three or four hours at that point. since it was going into a drink rather than being served as a dessert, i decided i didn't care how pretty it looked.

what a wonderful cosmo it made! it was a bit frothy, which is a first for any cosmo that i've ever made, with a perfect combo of sweet and tart. i could really taste the fresh cranberry (rather than processed cranberry juice). i didn't take a picture of the finished beverage, but i have some of the granita left, so i'll take a picture next time i make a cosmo. :-)

Ingredients

• 1-ounce vodka
• 2 1/2 ounces Cranberry Granita, recipe follows
• 1/2-ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

Place all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake until the granita melts completely. Pour into a martini glass and serve immediately.

Cranberry Granita:

• 2 cups water
• 5 1/2 ounces cranberries, approximately 1 1/2 cups, washed and sorted
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Place the water, cranberries and sugar into a small saucepan, set over medium-high heat and simmer until the berries begin to pop, approximately 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Puree with a stick blender, blender or food processor, for 1 minute. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer directly into a metal 13 by 9-inch pan. Do not press on the skins. Simply allow the juice to drip through the strainer. Add the zest and stir to combine. Place in the freezer until set, at least 6 hours and up to overnight. Once frozen, scrape the mixture with a fork to create a shaved ice texture. Serve immediately.

(i apologize - i cannot remember where i found this recipe - cocktailtimes.com, maybe?)

Grilled Chicken Sandwich + Spinach Salad - 4 stars

grilled sandwiches are such a great weeknight meal for me to make. there are so many different ways i can make them, and they are ALWAYS good. :-)

for these, i made a dry spice rub called emeril's creole seasoning (aka emeril's essence). it's a spice mixture that's used in a lot of emeril lagasse's recipes. although it's not overly spicy, it does have a bit of a kick to it. it's also a really good way to use up spices that might be getting old.... which i seem to have a lot of. :-)

i rubbed the spice mixture on chicken breasts and cooked them in a pan over medium high heat until they were done. i sliced them into thinner cuts, and layered them on some onion buns with mayo, dijon, onion, tomato, cheese (soy for me!), and pepperoncinis. to "grill" them, i melted a bit of butter in the frying pan, put the sandwich in there, and put a heavy lid on top of it to press the sandwich together and get it good and browned on the outside. mmmmmm.....

had a spinach salad on the side with blueberries, green onion and cucumber. easy and very yum!



Emeril's Creole Seasoning (courtesy of Food Network):

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Pork Chops with Granny Smith Apples - 4 stars

this recipe was one of many that i ripped out a of magazine years ago, stuffed in a file to organize (someday! :) ), and never actually tried. pork chops are one of tony's favorite foods, and i never make them for some reason. they're so good too!

to make these, i sliced a pork tenderloin into ~ 1" thick slices. i dipped each in a bit of flour that was mixed with some cumin, salt & pepper. i let those sit for a few minutes while i pan seared granny smith apple halves in olive oil with salt and pepper. once those were done, i removed them from the pan and seared the pork chops in a bit more olive oil. i then removed those from the pan when they were done, and i deglazed the pan with a bit of chicken broth and champagne vinegar to make a sauce. it was so simple. the pork chops were tender and yummy, and the sweet crispness of the granny smith apples complimented them well. i made a spinach salad with fresh herbs, green onions, tomato and dried cranberry to go with the meal.



Pork Chops with Granny Smith Apples 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 6-ounce boneless pork loin chops, or one 1 ½-to 2-pound pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 small Granny Smith apples, halved
1/4 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons coarse grain mustard

Mix together the flour, cumin, salt, and pepper on a large plate. Lightly coat each piece of pork with the flour mixture; set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the apple halves with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the apples cut-side down about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the skillet, cover, and set aside.

Place the pork in the skillet, sprinkle with the parsley, and cook until the meat is golden brown and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes per side. While the pork is cooking, whisk together the broth and vinegar. Remove the pork from the skillet and set aside.

Pour the broth mixture into the skillet, stirring and scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened. Divide the pork among 4 plates and pour some pan sauce over each. Before serving, place an apple half and a dab of mustard on each plate.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Christmas Day - 5 stars

i'd like to start this post out by saying that i can't believe i didn't take pictures of our christmas dinner! what on earth?? i think the lemon drops that tony made must have been too strong. :-)

tony and i stayed home for christmas, and my parents came over to spend christmas day with us. we opened presents, and then proceeded to eat and drink. a lot. it was a blast. we also played a game called ticket to ride, the card game. it's fairly easy to pick up, but requires you to grasp a decent amount of strategy in order to win. my dad, who had never played before and grumbled about how poorly he was doing throughout the game, won. of course. he always wins. :)

my parents gave tony & i a new dish set for christmas. you may have noticed that the foul pastel-toned striped plates are no longer in the photographs, and we're using more rustic, ceramic square plates instead. we LOVE them. anyway, i did take pictures of the table setting, below. this was the first christmas dinner that i've hosted.





i made an antipasto platter for the appetizer. tony and i went to delaurenti's (at the pike place market) on christmas eve and basically ordered one of everything from their deli. it was FANTASTIC (and easy). tony made us lemon drop martinis to have with our antipasto platter. YUM!



for dinner, i made a large caesar salad (with bacon!) to start. for the main course, i made pancetta and gruyere stuffed potatoes (soy cheese in mine) and lobster stuffed beef tenderloin. i purchased this gigantic 8 lb tenderloin from costco for it - i have never purchased that much meat (or spent that amount of money on one cut of meat!) before. we only used 3 lbs of it - the other five went in the freezer. i did have intentions to serve roasted asparagus with it, but we decided that there would be more than enough food without it. i also was supposed to make a bearnaise sauce to go with the tenderloin, but in the interest of time (it was close to nine o'clock, i believe, before we ate christmas dinner!), i ended up skipping it.

everything was wonderful. the food, the company, the drinks... thank goodness my mom was there when i butterflied (for the first time) the tenderloin, stuffed it and tied it with twine. she did the majority of it for me, so now when i attempt it again, i'll know how to do it. i would have just sliced the tenderloin in half lengthwise (not cutting all the way through to other side though), but to butterfly it, she cut it into thirds (sort of) lengthwise. i won't bore you with too many details of this - mostly because i can't regurgitate them well yet. :-)

for dessert, my mom brought a chocolate torte with a blackberry coulis. mmmmmm, it was wonderful, rich, decadent, everything a chocolate torte is supposed to be.

what a wonderful, special christmas. :-)

(p.s. - if you would like the stuffed tenderloin recipe, please email me. it's really long, so i decided to leave it out. i'm posting the caesar dressing recipe in a later post, and i didn't have a recipe for the stuffed potatoes.)

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

my friend blu is a professional cake decorator. she creates these beautiful, fancy cakes - and it's far beyond my comprehension how she does it. granted, baking isn't something i get very excited about, so i'd rather just admire her work than try to emulate it. :)

anyway, i bake christmas cookies with my mom every year, which we did this year, but blu suggested we have another cookie decorating evening. i was excited about this because mom and i tend to make the same recipes every year - they're really good, and they're our traditional christmas cookies, so it's hard to give any of them up in order to try new ones. so, this was my opportunity to try something new! i've seen (and enjoyed!) blu's christmas cookies from past years, and they are something special. they look super fancy, and taste fantastic.

this year, blu and her friend rebel made gingerbread cookies in a variety of shapes, and brought them down to decorate. she brought royal icing (which i've never worked with) and food coloring. she also brought glitter, which was my favorite part of it all. that sounds odd, i know - but it's food glitter! you use little paint brushes to apply it to the gingerbread - it's easy to apply whatever design you like, and it's totally edible. it doesn't actually have any taste.

i was quite challenged by the application of the royal icing. to ice the cookies, blu made two separate batches of royal icing base - one thick, and one thin. she then separated the batches and created a couple different colors out of each. to apply the icing, you create a thin border around the outside edge of the cookie using the thick icing. you then fill inside the border with the thin icing. after you do that, you can create designs in the icing (which was WAY beyond my capability!).

we started the project by applying the icing, and then blu brought out the glitter. i found myself feeling rather stressed out by the icing application. a steady hand and a lot of patience is required - neither of which i had much of. i think i could enjoy it more outside of the chaos of the holiday season.

i loved the glitter application though. it was really easy to create fun designs, and, well, i love glitter. i'm not ashamed. :-)

these pictures are blurry! in the one below, blu and rebel are mixing the icing, and i'm just watching from the sidelines. with my shot o' vodka.




here blu is showing us how to apply the icing.



below, on the right, are some completed gingerbread cookies. (on the left are date pinwheels, which i made with my mom.)

the gingerbread cookies in this photograph don't have icing, just glitter. the one underneath is a purple present box with polka dots. the one on top is my gingerbread version of tony. :-) yup, that's correct, gingerbread tony is wearing a gold tank top and striped shorts with a green belt. how stylish.



all in all, i had a good time visiting with rebel & blu, and using glitter to decorate the cookies. the icing application, however, was just a bit too ... what's the right word? meticulous or nitpicky are close enough, i guess ... i'd have to be in a very particular mood to try it again. :)

Spiced Chicken Thighs + Asparagus - 4 stars!

boneless, skinless chicken thigh is my favorite part of the chicken. the meat is far juicier and much more flavorful than the breast, and so long as you buy skinless, the fat content isn't much higher than the breast either!

for this meal, i pan-seared the chicken thighs instead of grilling them (i think the grill ran out of propane?). i prepared a dry rub out of cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, red pepper and a little salt and rubbed it all over the meat. i cooked them over medium high for ~ 5 minutes on each side in a non stick pan with a bit of cooking spray. SO easy, and far tastier than you'd expect.

i steamed the asparagus, and tossed it with this fantastic balsamic vinegar that my parents gave me for christmas - it's fig and meyer lemon balsamic vinegar. ooooh, yummy.

i also assembled a spinach salad, as i do for the nearly every meal. this picture is crappy, so i can't tell what i topped the salad with. i'm guessing avocado, tomato, dried cranberry and onion of some sort.

it was such a healthy, flavorful, and light but still satisfying meal!

the recipe that i pulled the spice rub from suggested serving this with a yogurt sauce (to tame the spice) over couscous. since i can't eat dairy, i skipped the yogurt sauce - i don't think the rub is very spicy anyway, so i gave up trying to create a soy version.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs, about 1/4 cup yogurt mixture, and 1/2 cup couscous)

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
• 1 (6-ounce) carton plain fat-free yogurt
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Cook couscous according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Combine cumin and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a bowl; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chopped cilantro, garlic, and yogurt in a bowl, stirring well. Serve with chicken and couscous. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Courtesy of cookinglight.com

Beef Leaf (Thai Beef Salad - Yam Neau) - 5 stars!

tony claims that i've made this dish for him more than any other of my favorite recipes since we started dating a couple years ago. i'm sure it's because it's my favorite meal! :-)

the correct name for this recipe is Yam Neau, or thai beef salad. there are so many different ways you can make thai beef salad - i make mine using grilled top sirloin, sliced cucumber, shallots, jalapeno or thai chile, and garlic, fresh lime juice, fish sauce, fresh mint & cilantro, and a dash of palm sugar. i serve it with steamed jasmine rice and romaine or butter lettuce leaves. i put a bit of the jasmine rice in the center of the lettuce leaf, top it with the beef mixture, and i thoroughly enjoy every last bite of it!

one note about the recipe (i've included it below) - i always have a hard time putting the correct amount of sliced jalapeno or thai pepper in - and i tend to err on the side of too spicy, which is never good! the recipe calls for TEN THAI PEPPERS! i can tolerate an extremely high amount of spice - at the most, i think i used three whole jalapenos (or maybe it was serranos that time) for one batch of this, and it made me cry tears of pain. never, ever use that many peppers. i now resist the urge to put a lot of pepper in, and just start with a single jalapeno. it's normally plenty. :) if i'm feeling wimpy on a certain day, or sharing the dish with people outside of our household, i'll scrape the pith and seeds out of the inside of a pepper, since the pith contains the majority of the capsaicin (what gives peppers their heat).

Ingredients

• 1-lb decent quality steak, sirloin or other
• 10 (or more) 'prik kee noo' (fresh hot Thai chili peppers), slice crosswise very thin (or substitute jalapenos or serrano chilies, minced)
• 2 large cloves garlic, sliced crosswise very thin
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• 5 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
  
• 1 head Bibb or Boston; or 1 heart of Romaine lettuce.
• 12 sprigs fresh mint (optional), remove the leaves and discard the stems
• 1/2 hot house cucumber or 1 small cucumber (seeds removed), peeled and sliced thin
• 2 to 3 shallots, sliced crosswise very thin or 1 small red onion, sliced very thin
• 3 or 4 sprigs cilantro, stems removed

Preparation

Grill or broil the steak until medium-rare. Trim off any fat. Cool and slice thin, into pieces approx. 2 inches across and 1/8 inch thick.

Mix garlic, chiles, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar in a small bowl. Add the sliced meat and toss with the cucumbers and shallots. Taste and add more fish sauce if desired.

Make a bed of the lettuce on a serving plate. Place the beef on top. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 2 to 3 as an appetizer or as part of a meal.

(Courtesy of templeofthai.com)

Copyright © 1999 Temple of Thai

there's a silly story about the name of this dish - tony began calling it "beef leaf," because you wrap beef up in a leaf and eat it. we have a little kitty (below) named belili (pronounced beh-lee-lee). when tony said "beef leaf" loudly, belili came running over because "veef leaf" sounded similar enough to her real name, belili. poor little belili is now called beef leaf, or the lazy version - beefy - more often than not. :-)

Chipotle Pork Tacos - 4 stars

oh, pork soft tacos, how i adore thee. four stars!

i was afraid that my long break from blogging would cause problems, and... it has! it's been too long since i made these, and i don't remember them very well. i'm reviewing the recipe now to jog my memory. :-)

ok. i used pork tenderloin, my favorite cut of pork, to make these. the pork was so tender and flavorful! i sauteed sliced onion, chopped garlic and the sliced tenderloin together for a few minutes. i then simmered that in chicken broth with cider vinegar, dried oregano, cumin, a couple chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - first covered for ~ 10 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes. the flavor was fantastic, the meat tender, but the chicken broth / spice mixture never thickened - it was a bit too watery. if i make it again, i'd thicken that up - though i'm not quite sure how! i'd probably try reducing the quantity of chicken broth and increasing the uncovered portion of the simmer time. other than that, i'd leave it alone!

oh - the recipe did call for a fresh pineapple salsa, which i'd like to try as well (if only there were more hours in the day!). we just had it with cheese (soy for me!), cilantro & salsa, and flour tortillas.

Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Pork, a common taco filling throughout Latin America, takes well to spices. A slightly sweet fruit salsa helps balance the heat. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 2 tortillas, 2/3 cup pork mixture, and 1/2 cup salsa)

Ingredients

• Salsa:
• 2 cups minced pineapple
• 1 cup minced apple
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  Tacos:
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed

Preparation

To prepare salsa, combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir until well blended. Cover and chill.

To prepare tacos, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. Add pork to pan; cook 4 minutes or until pork loses its pink color, stirring occasionally. Stir in broth and next 7 ingredients (through chipotles). Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer 10 minutes or until liquid is nearly evaporated. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Serve pork mixture with tortillas and salsa.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

391 (19% from fat)

Fat:

8.3g (sat 1.8g,mono 3.6g,poly 2g)

Protein:

29.3g

Carbohydrate:

50.8g

Fiber:

6.9g

Cholesterol:

74mg

Iron:

3.6mg

Sodium:

420mg

Calcium:

161mg

Mark Scarbrough, Cooking Light, MAY 2007

Chicken Biryani - 4 stars

Four Stars!

mmmmmm.... chicken biryani. this dish was so easy to make! a friend of mine introduced me to the recipe a few years ago, and she always made it in a 9x13 glass dish in the oven. the recipe that i found suggested making it in a large saucepan on the stovetop, which is what i ended up doing.

it was a great dish, with rich flavor. i used a pre-made biryani paste to simplify - basically sauteed everything together, stirred in the rice, and let the whole thing simmer for ~ 20 minutes until the liquids were absorbed. YUMMY!

i didn't have basmati rice though! oops. only arborio (for risotto) and jasmine were in the cupboard. i used the arborio because i was afraid the flavor of the jasmine would hurt the dish... the arborio melted into a creamy texture like it does in a risotto (disappointing, but not surprising! :) ), but the flavor was still phenomenal.

outside of the rice issue, the only other disappointing thing in this dish was the fat & calorie content. i'm not sure what led me to believe that the biryani paste would be low in fat and calories, but it was not in the slightest! :-S i ate a small bowl of it, and had a big salad to round the meal out. :)

perhaps using the sturdier basmati rice, plus a homemade biryani paste (to control the fat & calorie content) would propel this to five stars.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin & Potatoes - 2 stars

this meal just didn't do a whole lot for me. my goal had been to roast the pork over the vegetables so that the meat juices would drip down onto them and give them a flavor boost. i think the problem was that the pork tenderloin really wasn't fatty enough to give off the juices that i wanted.

to make this, i rubbed a dry chinese 12-spice rub all over the outside of the tenderloin. i tossed together baby red potatoes, whole garlic cloves and hunks of white onion in a little olive oil. i spread that in the bottom of the pan and put the tenderloins over it. here's what it looked like in the oven.



see? it looks good! i was excited for it, and then so disappointed! :)

one of my challenges with cooking larger cuts of meats is figuring out when they're done. i often use a thermometer to help me with this - however, i must not have inserted it properly into the tenderloin here, so the pork registered as being done MUCH too early, and was way undercooked. the onions came out totally soggy, not crisp roasted as i expected (i roasted at 425 degrees F). the potatoes were hard as a rock, and took an additional half hour to finish roasting.

i ended up pan searing my portion of the tenderloin to finish the cooking process, while the potatoes finished cooking. i left the nasty onions in the pan and ate only the potatoes and pork. :) i rounded it out with a salad and steamed green beans - both of which were good.




the best part of the meal was the green apple lambic!!! :-)

1/12 follow up - i read a favorite cookbook of mine over the weekend, and there was a recipe that was similar to what i was attempting with this one. that recipe suggested boiling the baby red potatoes for 15 minutes, then thin slicing them and layering them on the bottom of the baking dish. you can then put your meat (the recipe actually called for salmon steaks - YUM!) over that, and both the potatoes & the meat will be done properly, and the potatoes will absorb the meat juices.

thanksgiving!

the holiday season made me quite absent from blogging! but, i'm ready to do some catch up now. i am hoping that the time lag won't dull my memories of the meals.

i find the normal thanksgiving fare to be dull. perhaps it's the repetition of it, year after year after year after year of small variations on the same menu, perhaps it's the unappetizing way the hodge podge of food looks on my plate, or perhaps it's something else entirely. to avoid this, i planned a latino-themed menu for 2008. it seemed so far from a traditional thanksgiving that i thought i would actually enjoy the meal. ultimately, i had a fantastic time preparing it, but did not enjoy the actual consumption of it very much. ah well. i'll try again another year! the menu was very good though.

appetizers:
5 star - chipotle meatballs
5 star - mango pomegranate guacamole

main course:
3 star - coconut sweet potato puree
4 star - roasted chayotes with garlic
2 star - chorizo cornbread stuffing
3 star - cranberry salsa with roasted pineapple
2 star - aromatic spiced ham with red currant glaze

dessert:
1 star - pomegranate pear pie
3 star - chocolate hazelnut tart

Chipotle Meatballs (5 star):














these were amazing! a bit greasy, and the combo of meats (ground veal, ground pork & bacon) and spices used made them out of this world. there were four of us eating a quantity that was supposed to be enough for eight, and we gobbled them up extremely fast! Yum!! i hope to find an opportunity to make them again soon.

Mango Pomegranate Guacamole (5 star):












this was also phenomenal. i served them with plain old tortilla chips (the recipe suggested making fried plantain chips - too much work for this particular occasion). when i first found the recipe, i was not sure that the mango + the pomegranate would both go well with the avocado. but they did! the crunch of the pomegranate, with the creaminess of the avocado, combined with the sweet smooth mango, the onions, garlic, etc., was superb. the next time i make guacamole, i want to make this recipe again!

Coconut Sweet Potato Puree (3 star):



(Roasted Chayotes are on the left, Sweet Potato is on the right)

the flavor of this surprised me - it was really, really good. i accidentally used yams instead of sweet potatoes, and i'm not sure what difference that made with it. i haven't differentiated yet between the tastes of sweet potatoes and yams - i've only used yams in my cooking lately. guess it's time for an experiment! :)

i really enjoyed how this tasted, but not how it looked. yams have a strong flavor, which i love, and i also love coconut. the two went together extremely well. i pureed the dish in a food processor though, so of course, it reminded me of baby poo. the texture of it is what gave this dish 3 stars. i'd like to think of a way to capture the flavors of it, without having to puree it. perhaps i will get some real sweet potatoes and make mashed, instead of pureed, potatoes.

Roasted Chayotes with Garlic (4 star):

chayotes are a small, mild green gourd with a sweet taste to them. i realized a couple weeks ago that i actually didn't purchase chayotes when i made this, i purchased some other small, yellowish gourd. oooops! it still tasted phenomenal though. to prepare it, i peeled the skin off the outside of the gourds, sliced them in half lengthwise, scooped the seeds out of the middle and cut them into wedges. there was very little flesh left after peeling and scooping, which made me nervous that they would just disintegrate and burn up in the oven. perhaps if i had used real chayotes, there would have been more flesh left. :)

i spread them out on two baking sheets, tossed them with thin sliced garlic cloves, sea salt and vegetable oil, and roasted them for just under an hour, turning them once. they were crispy and small, but very, very tasty.

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing (2 star):



i had such high hopes for this dish. it was supposed to be greasy, salty and decadent, as most chorizo dishes are. what a disappointment it was to me! to make it, you bake cornbread, break it into small chunks after it's baked, bake those small chunks some more to dry them out, toss them in a baking dish with the cooked chorizo & other vegetables, and pour chicken broth and whisked egg over it all. it was dry, and didn't have nearly the spicy chorizo flavor i wanted it to have. the cornbread was too crumbly as well. i doubled the amount of chorizo the recipe called for, and it still was not enough. also, i can't use buttermilk in my cornbread, because i don't eat dairy. the non-dairy cornbread recipe that i have really needs to be made a day or two in advance in order to stick together (which i did not do). oops!

this recipe was part of menu that included an adobo turkey with red chile gravy, and i imagine if i had made the gravy, this stuffing would have been much better. i'll make some major modifications to the recipe and try it again!

Cranberry Salsa with Roasted Pineapple (3 star):



(Cranberry on left, Ham on right)

this had good flavor, but it was mushy, hence the three stars. the roasted pineapple sweetened the cranberry enough to make it not tart, and the fresh fruit flavors went together very well. i also roasted chopped onion with the pineapple, and added fresh cilantro to the salsa. it was good, but just didn't do a lot for me.

Aromatic Spiced Ham with Red Currant Glaze (2 star):

i definitely picked the wrong cut of ham for the recipe, or the wrong recipe for the cut of ham. the recipe called for simmering the ham in water and spices and wine with fresh fennel and onion for a few hours. i had a smoked ham, which i really should have just roasted in the oven for an hour or so to heat it up and carmelize the outside. simmering it caused it to get quite dried out. it was not good. after i simmered it, i spread my red currant glaze on it and roasted it at 425f for ~ 10 minutes. this did not help to bring moisture back into the meat. i think the recipe has potential, if i purchased the right cut of ham. and i think the cut of ham had potential, if i had used a different recipe. i'll make a ham again soon - i was really craving it, and that craving did not get satisfied with this meal.

Canned Cranberry (1 star, served at Brian's request)



one of our guests on Thanksgiving requested cranberry from a can. the idea repulsed me, but we all have different tastes, so i kindly obliged. it looks just as disgusting as it tasted to me.

Pomegranate Pear Pie (1 star):

i didn't take any pictures of my pies! how sad, because they both looked beautiful, even though they weren't the best pies in the world.

this pie was such a disappointment! it was utterly flavorless. the pie crust was SO good, but the rest was not. i made my pie dough from scratch this year, and it came out really, really well. very flaky and flavorful. to make the inside of this pie, i made a pomegranate glaze using simmered down brown sugar and pomegranate juice, and tossed it with thin sliced d'anjou pears. sounds great, right? nope - no flavor! i will not make this one again.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (3 stars):

this was good. solid! it was a bit too hard though - hard as in, once the chocolate cooled, it became hard to bite through. the flavor was good though - rich dark chocolate combined with hazelnuts. i think it could have used some liqueur to take it to a 4 or 5 star tart though.

all in all, it was a tasty thanksgiving. this is what the final plate looked like:



i'm sure i would have enjoyed it much more if i didn't get a horrific cold that blocked my taste buds. i had a blast cooking for many, many hours though - i'd happily repeat that experience.