Valentine's Day - 5 stars! :-)

for valentine's day this year, tony made ME dinner. what a treat! :-) panko-crusted pork chops, loaded baked potato, and framboise lambic. it was SO good, and quite filling! thank you, my valentine!

Portobello Mushroom Burger - 4 stars

this was QUITE a yummy treat. i'd rate it five stars, except that i was still starving after eating it. i'm totally a carnivore, i'll be honest. :-) i believe i had potato chips and a small salad with it. if i made this again, i'd make a bigger salad with extra protein ingredients, like garbanzo beans and avocado and some bacon, to go with the burger. or i could make sweet potato fries... mmmmm....

anyway - it was a really easy meal, and the jumbo kaiser rolls were perfect with it. there wasn't quite enough marinade for my mushroom caps, so i'd increase it by 1/2 next time. doubling it would be too much.

enjoy!

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons brown spicy mustard
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 4 slices Gouda cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 4 hamburger rolls
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 4 leaves butter lettuce
• 1 tomato, sliced

Directions

Combine marinade ingredients. Place caps into a baking dish and pour marinade over top. Use a brush to make sure all caps are covered with the marinade. Set aside and let marinate up to 2 hours.

Remove the portobellos from marinade (do not discard marinade) and place gill side down on a preheated gas, electric or charcoal grill over medium-high heat. Grill 3 to 4 minutes per side. Top each cap with cheese 2 minutes to melt before they are finished grilling.

In a medium bowl combine 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons of the marinade.

Spread the flavored mayonnaise onto each bun and top with portobellos. Serve with sliced onion, lettuce and tomato.

Courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Chicken with Snake Beans and Thai Basil - 5 stars

this is one of my most favorite thai dishes to make. it always tastes incredibly fresh and healthy, and it's really quite simple to make.

i may have talked about this before, but i'm going to say it again anyway. :-) one of the most important things to do that will make your stir-fry a tasty success is to prep all your ingredients before you even begin cooking. if you look at the recipe below, there's only a minute or two between each addition of ingredients, which means you wouldn't have time to chop them up as you go. i normally read through the recipe as i prep all the ingredients, and combine the ones that are added at the same time into a bowl. i line up all my ingredient bowls by the stove in the order that they're going to be added to the dish. then when i'm actually stir-frying, i just dump the right bowl of stuff into the wok at the right time and toss the empty bowls into the sink.

here is a picture from a couple years ago when my friend suraj and i made an incredible thai feast. as you can see, our prep bowls are all lined up and ready to be stir-fried together. :)



i doubled this chicken recipe so that we'd have lots of leftovers. to make it, i chopped up a couple pounds of chicken breast, stir-fried it in batches until lightly browned, and removed it from the wok. i then stir-fried together crushed garlic, sliced green onion, sliced snake beans and red chili pepper for a minute. then came some fresh basil and mint, and a mixture of fish sauce, oyster sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and water, cooked for another minute or two, and voila! all done. i served it with steamed rice. here it is in the wok. mmmmmmm. so fresh and tasty!




Chicken with Thai Basil
(Gai paht bai graproa)

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

(I doubled these quantities below to make what you see in the above picture.)

1/4 c peanut oil
1 lb chicken breast fillets, cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
5 oz snake beans, trimmed and cut into 5 cm lengths
2 small fresh red chillies, thinly sliced
3/4 c tightly packed fresh thai basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
fresh thai basil, extra, to garnish

1. heat a wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp of the oil and swirl to coat. cook the chicken in batches for 3-5 minutes each batch, or until lightly browned and almost cooked - add more oil if needed. remove from the wok.

2. heat the remaining oil. add the garlic, onion, snake beans and chilli, and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until onion is tender. return the chicken to the work.

3. toss in the basil and mint, then add the combined fish sauce, oyster sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and 2 tablespoons of water and cook for 1 minute. garnish with the extra basil and serve with jasmine rice.

Deep Dish Pizza - 5 stars

this was the most exciting meal i've made in a while. i came up with the idea to make deep dish pizza on a monday, planned it for that saturday, and then waited anxiously all week long for saturday to arrive. :-) i was just as excited for this as i was for making my thanksgiving and christmas meals!

i didn't own any deep dish pizza pans, so i decided to take the plunge and buy some cast iron pans. i bought a 12" skillet and a 10 1/2" skillet. (amazon had a special going on, so i also ended up with 5 qt cast iron pot and lid, and a bamboo steamer :) ) the brand of the cast iron is lodge logic - they're really affordable, so honestly, i was worried about the quality of them. they are awesome though! i don't cook with cast iron every day, so i'm hoping they'll last for a long time too. they also come pre-seasoned, which is fantastic.

i built these pizzas from scratch. i had to make two - one for tony with his regular cheese, and one for me and my soy cheese. the first step was to make the dough. this was fairly easy, once i figured out that kneading this dough does not require me to mash it into the countertop, but rather to gently knead it until it was elastic and smooth. i think i've kneaded dough a total of three times in my entire life. this time it ended up being a success, and it was quite satisfying to create this ball of pizza dough from some flour, yeast, water and salt.

i let it rise in the oven for a couple hours - it more than doubled in size!

while the dough was rising, i made the sauce. i sauteed one diced red onion, a few minced cloves of garlic, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, fresh oregano, dried basil, salt, and black pepper together for a few minutes, then dumped a 28 oz can of diced tomato into the pan. i let this simmer uncovered for about a half hour, stirring occasionally. i also mushed up the diced tomato chunks so that the sauce would be a bit smoother.

i split the dough in half, brushed my cast iron skillets with a bit of vegetable oil, and pressed each dough half into them.



then came the toppings, in the following order:

mozzarella cheese
red onion slivers
pepperoni
crisp hunks of italian sausage
a bit of crumbly bacon
sliced button mushrooms
roasted red bell pepper
the pizza sauce
parmesan

yes... you read that correctly - the sauce goes on TOP of all of the other toppings in a deep dish pizza. mmmmm. tony also added capers to his.



i didn't feel like we had enough sauce though. i like a really saucy pizza, and the amount i made just didn't allow for that. i'd double the sauce recipe next time.

i baked these for ~ 30 minutes at 450f. WOW! they were absolutely amazing! i've only had deep dish once, when i was in chicago for work, and this tasted so similar. the crust was soft and flaky, and the whole pizza slice actually stayed together, which i didn't expect! making this was such a pleasant way to spend my saturday afternoon / evening!

Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza Dough:

• 11/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
• 1 (1/4-ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup semolina flour
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons to grease bowl
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the semolina, 1/2 cup of the oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil.

Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Divide into 2 equal portions and use as directed.

Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza Sauce & Pizza Baking Instructions:

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic

· 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil

· 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

· 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

· 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed

· 1 tablespoon dry red wine

· 1 teaspoon sugar

· Pizza toppings of your choice: mozzarella, parmesan, pepperoni, mushroom, bell pepper, red onion, sun-dried tomato, olives, etc.

Directions

While the dough is rising, make the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seeds, salt, and black and red peppers, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, wine and sugar, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Oil 2 seasoned 12-inch round deep-dish pizza pans with the extra-virgin olive oil. Press 1 piece of dough into each pan, pressing to the edge and stretching about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Layer the mozzarella cheese all over the bottom of the pies. Top each with half of the pepperoni, mushrooms, bell pepper rings, onions, black olives and sausage. Ladle the sauce evenly over each pizza and top with Parmesan.

Bake until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice and serve hot.

New Year's Resolution + Honeycomb Pancakes - 4 stars

i'm trying a different new year's resolution this year. last year, i vowed to go to the optometrist and the dentist. i did both, though we won't talk about how many of the previous years i didn't do either! :)

this year, i decided i would pick out a type of cuisine, buy a cookbook, and cook my way through it. outside of excessively cheesy recipes, i MUST cook every recipe from the book by the end of this year. i vacillated between lebanese cuisine and moroccan cuisine, and settled on moroccan. i then had to decide between two different moroccan cookbooks:

Made in Morocco
by Julie LeClerc and John Bougeno


Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco
by Paula Wolfert

the reviews for Made in Morocco said it was a good cookbook, but not as authentic as Paula Wolfert's. i decided to try out Paula's. um... not the best idea. it's TOO authentic. i am not ready for that kind of authenticity. the "meat salad" recipes call for animal brains. the tangine recipes called for at least three whole chickens, or ten pounds of lamb. all of the recipes from Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco make massive amounts of food, look quite complicated and often require ingredients that would be extremely difficult for me to obtain.

i want to actually be successful with my new year's resolution, so i took another look at Made in Morocco. it seemed more appropriate for me, so i ordered it. it's fantastic! it has a ton of history and cultural information, and the recipes are much more practical. i'm really excited about working my way through it.

so... i made my first meal on saturday morning from this cookbook. the name of the recipe is honeycomb pancakes. to make them, i dissolved a packet of yeast in warm water, added a teaspoon of sugar, and then combined it with semolina flour, regular flour, one egg, salt, a bit of vanilla extract, and some tepid water. i was supposed to let the batter sit for at least an hour, but i was hungry. i only waited a half hour. bad idea - i'll explain why later.

to cook these pancakes, i warmed a nonstick pan over medium heat, brushed some vegetable oil on the bottom, and put a scoop of the batter in the pan. i did not flip the pancakes; instead, i let them cook until the bottom was golden brown and the top was solid and fluffy and full of holes. well - i got small holes in them, but they didn't end up nearly as fluffy as they should have because i didn't wait the full hour before cooking. i hate when i'm impatient! :)

they were really good though. they had a grittier texture than regular pancakes because of the semolina flour, and they were not sweet either. i served them with honey and butter, and they were just fantastic. i also had some amazing uli's fresh andouille sausage on the side. how un-moroccan of me! :-)

please email me if you would like the recipe - it's at home in my cookbook, so i can't add it right now.





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Linguini with Spicy Red Clam Sauce - 3 stars

this was a really easy 20 minute weeknight meal. it was decent, but it could have been better if i invested more time & money. if you have more time, say 40-45 minutes, make this dish instead.

nonetheless, this dish worked well for the needs-to-be-cheap-and-easy circumstances that i was in the day i made it. i used fresh linguine, which was quite yummy, and for the sauce, i used some canned clams, canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and a few teaspoons of fresh herbs (parsley, oregano, and basil). i had my normal spinach salad on the side.

i don't think i'll make this again though. i'd make either the spaghetti vongole that i linked to above, or i'd sub in ground beef or sausage for the clams in this recipe.

however, if you'd like to try it........ the recipe is:

1 (9-ounce) package fresh linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (6.5-ounce) cans minced clams, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is lightly browned. Stir in tomato paste and tomatoes; cook 4 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in clams; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, basil, and oregano. Serve with pasta.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta and about 1 cup sauce)

CALORIES 292 (17% from fat); FAT 5.4g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.8g); IRON 3.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 17mg; CALCIUM 47mg; CARBOHYDRATE 45.1g; SODIUM 806mg; PROTEIN 15.5g; FIBER 3.6g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2007

Cobb Salad - 5 stars

before i met tony, i had no idea there was such a thing as "cobb salad dressing." every restaurant i'd ever ordered it at served it with either vinaigrette, bleu cheese, or ranch. a few months after we started dating, tony suggested i make cobb salad with "REAL cobb dressing." i did some research, and i found a fantastic recipe for cobb salad dressing. mmmmm.

this is a simple dish to assemble - for the salad, i used green leaf this time. i normally use romaine, but i had just used it for caesar, and i wanted to have a good lettuce variety in the week. :-) i topped it with sections of crisp bacon, chunks of avocado, halved cherry tomatos, slices of hardboiled eggs, red onion slivers, and grilled chicken breast. tony's is on the left - i put a pile of gorgonzola crumbles in the center of his.

the dressing is super easy! i minced one shallot and whisked it together with 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard, three tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and one tablespoon of sherry vinegar. in a separate measuring cup, i combined 1/3c walnut oil & 1/2c vegetable oil. i slowly whisked the oil mixture into the shallot/mustard/vinegar mixture, and seasoned it with some sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. it has a dark tone from all the balsamic vinegar - see below. the dressing is thick and has a fantastic tang, and it tastes really decadent to me - it's the walnut oil that gives it that extra rich flavor. yum!

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken Thighs - 4 stars

hahaha. the picture of this meal makes me laugh. :-) i was SO hungry; i ate half my plate before i remembered to take a picture. fortunately.... the half that i ate was just steamed asparagus with balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil. nothing too special or difficult to prepare.

the chicken thighs weren't difficult to prepare either, but they sure were something special!! :) the recipe was super easy - mix a bunch of dry spices in a big bowl, dump the package of chicken thighs in the bowl, toss it around to coat all the thighs evenly with the spices, and put it under the broiler in your oven - five minutes on each side. while they're broiling, you mix together a bit of honey and some apple cider vinegar. after the five minutes on each side, brush the honey mixture on one side of the thighs, broil for one minute, turn over, brush the mixture on the other side, broil for one minute. done! :)

the thighs were really, really tasty. i've gotten in the habit lately of just doing a dry spice rub and pan frying thighs in a bit of olive oil. easy, always good, but i feel lazy not trying anything new. :) happily, this new thigh dish was quite a success.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Cooking spray
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Courtesy of Cooking Light

Stuffed Baked Potato + Caesar Salad - 4 stars

happiness! :-) that's what this meal was. i made my classic caesar salad, with just bacon this time - no shrimp or steak. :) tony did have parmesan cheese on his. we also baked potatoes in the oven - approximately an hour and a half at 350f for these. that's mine in the picture, topped with soy cheddar and sour cream, green onions, more bacon, and some fresh cracked black pepper. clearly not a lot of fancy cooking involved for this meal! it was totally satisfying - i was quite full after eating it all. you may look at this picture and think that the meal is missing something - the big steak that is normally had with baked potato & caesar salad! but really... can you imagine eating a steak in addition to this huge stuffed potato and caesar salad? i think not. (though i have done it before... i'll be honest!)

yum yum yum. i left it at four stars because although it was sooo good, and sooo satisfying, and sooo easy and absolutely something i'll eat again and again and again, it wasn't mind-blowing or extraordinary to me.

Beef Stirfry with(out) Gai Larn (Chinese Broccoli) - 2 stars

and here is meal #3 from the week of hellishly time consuming meals. this was supposed to take less than a half hour, and ended up being over an hour!

the dish is supposed to be made with fresh rice noodles and gai larn (chinese broccoli). there were many problems with making this dish:

1. i had purchased the fresh rice noodles a couple days before i made this, thinking they'd be just fine... oh no. i soaked them in hot water to try to separate them - they just dissolved into mush. they weren't close to the expiration date on the package, but they were far from fresh anyway. gross! so i cooked up some dry rice noodles that i had in the cupboard.

2. i had broccoli rabe and regular broccoli crowns - no gai larn. here's a little broccoli education for you:




on the top left is regular broccoli, top right is broccoli rabe, and on the bottom is gai larn. when i was buying the ingredients for this, my friend amy accidentally grabbed regular broccoli for me. i didn't realize it til i was home - and the store that i went to later in the week only had broccoli rabe. i purchased it, thinking it'd be close enough to chinese broccoli... only while i was chopping it up to add it to the dish did i remember that i've cooked broccoli rabe before, and i do not like it. in my opinion, it's really, really bitter and tough, and the amount of work that's required to make it palatable is not worth it.

in the end, i tossed the broccoli rabe, just used the regular broccoli, and it was fine. however... the last problem...

3. the dish called for a substantial amount (1/2 cup) of kecap manis, which is a thick, dark, sweet soy sauce. i had some in the refrigerator, but apparently never bothered to look at the label. in EACH SERVING of the kecap manis, there were 200 calories and 85% of my daily sodium intake (2 tsp or 1 tbsp is the serving size - i can't remember which). that is disgusting, and so unhealthy. no one needs to eat that much salt. the calorie part... well, that's not as surprising because it's a sweet soy sauce, so the sugar content adds most of those calories to it. i look at labels on everything i buy because of the whole lactose intolerance thing, so i'm not sure how i missed this one. i tossed the kecap manis bottle (i think - if not, i'll throw it away tonight :) ). i've only found one brand (ABC is the name) that makes it, so unless i find another lower sodium, healthier version, i'll not be cooking with it again.

so... to assemble the dish, i sauteed everything together according to the recipe. i cut the salt with a lot of lime juice, which the recipe did not call for. in the end, it didn't taste too bad - but only because of the lime juice. without it, it was just a pile of sickly salty noodles with some beef and broccoli.

i strongly considered throwing the whole thing out half way through the process, but i just couldn't bring myself to waste that much. instead, i tried to keep my portion small and avoid the leftovers. i didn't want tony to have to eat anything that unhealthy either, but he seemed to like it just fine.

i'd like to try cooking with gai larn sometime, so i'll have to find a different recipe in my Wok Cookbook that uses it. and that doesn't use kecap manis. :)

Chicken Enchiladas - 5 stars

these were by far the best enchiladas i have ever made! and there is no dairy in the dish above! :) (i made a separate dish for tony with real dairy though.)

the only thing that was bad was that it took longer than i expected to assemble and bake the enchiladas. this was meal # 2 from the stressful week of time consuming meals.

i used the leftover shredded chicken from the taco soup meal to make these. i sauteed some red onion and garlic, then added a can of stewed tomatoes, a cup of frozen corn kernels (thawed), a can of chopped green chiles, a couple chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and some cumin and sea salt. once that was all simmered together, i added the chicken to the pan.

i tried something new when assembling these enchiladas. i like to use corn tortillas in my enchiladas, if possible, because flour have so many more calories and grams o' fat - and they're so much more processed than corn. in the past, however, the corn tortillas always cracked, and they tasted dry. when i made these enchiladas, i warmed the tortillas up first, dipped them in the enchilada sauce, put the shredded chicken filling in them, and rolled them up. warming the tortillas up and dipping them in the sauce completely changed the dish for the better! and only one or two of the tortillas cracked out of the 20 or so that i rolled.

to finish it off, i dumped a can of green enchilada sauce over the top, covered that with shredded cheese and popped them in the oven until they were gooey and bubbling.

instead of making guacamole or pico de gallo to serve with them, i made a combo of the two - hunks of avocado, red onion, fresh tomato and fresh cilantro tossed with some sea salt and fresh lime juice. i shredded some iceberg lettuce and had that on the side as well. soooo good!

the recipe that i based this off of is below, just in case you would like to make something similar. :)

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 16 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

(Courtesy of Tyler Florence)

Roast Pork & Butternut Squash - 4 stars

this tasted much better than it looks in the picture, i promise. :)

this was a frustrating meal, but it was almost worth it. it was also part of a week of EXTREMELY frustrating meals - by wednesday, i said that i hate cooking and food and didn't want anything else to do with it for awhile. :) every meal i made last week took at least a half hour longer than i expected, which meant i wasn't eating until well after 8 o'clock. on week nights, that's just too late for me.

the preparation of this meal wasn't difficult at all though. i had a big pork butt roast that had been on sale at uwajimaya, so i just rubbed a dry bengal masala spice rub all over the outside of it. that rub is made with garam masala (which is a mixture of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cloves, cardamom) brown sugar, kosher salt, granulated garlic, dried chives, smoked paprika, chipotle. it's by tom douglas, part of a group of rubs called Rub with Love. i would highly recommend trying any of them if you find them at the grocery store. they are worth the cost.

i seared the roast on all sides in a heavy skillet, and then popped it in the oven. i'm not sure why i thought it would only need to roast for 30 minutes (i think it was a four or five pound roast!), but it took well over an hour. during this time, i made my spinach salad, ate it, and also roasted some wedges of peeled butternut squash with a bit of olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt.

the pork roast came out really well. it was moist and rich in flavor, and the rub had carmelized on the outside of it. i LOVE butternut squash, and the simplicity of the way that i cooked it really allowed it to shine.

all in all - great, simple meal to have, but definitely takes over an hour for cooking time. i will remember this next time i'm dumb enough to think i can cook a 4-5 lb roast in 30 minutes. :)

Mexican Tortilla Soup - 3 stars

i made this soup for the first time on a sunday, about a week and a half ago. i've been craving this for awhile - i haven't ordered it from a restaurant, because i'm wary of what dairy might be lurking in the soup base, so i finally took the time to make it from scratch.

i started by making the chicken broth myself. it looked so good! i put the chicken in the stock pot, added carrot, celery, onion, turnip, garlic, fresh thyme, and bay leaves. i filled the water just to the top of the chicken and let it simmer for a couple hours. but... it was really bland and watery when it was done! every article i've ever read has raved about the flavors of homemade chicken broth, and they've claimed that once you make it, you'll never want to go back to store-bought. i didn't find this to be the case AT ALL. i'll have to research this more before i make chicken broth again.

the good thing about making the chicken broth is that there was tons of cooked, shredded chicken at my disposal. i used some in this meal, and the rest to make enchiladas (i'll write about those later).

anyway - to make the tortilla soup base, i sauteed onion, garlic, jalapeno and fresh tomato together for 15 minutes, added the chicken broth and simmered for another 20 minutes. when i sampled the chicken broth and realized it was flavorless, i decided that this soup was going to be flavorless as well if i didn't add something extra, beyond what's listed above, to the pot. at this point, i couldn't tell you what i dumped in there. cumin, chile powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder? who knows. i kept adding different spices until it was close to something palatable.

so while my soup base simmered, i fried up the corn tortilla strips to go on top of the soup. these were the best part of the whole meal, in my opinion. :-) i cut corn tortillas into strips, fried them in oil, and drained them on papertowels. while they were still hot, i sprinkled some emeril's essence that i had mixed up a couple weeks ago over them. mmmmmmm. yummmy. i snacked on them quite a bit. :-)

once everything was ready, i ladled the soup base into my bowl, added the shredded chicken to the bowl, and topped it with fresh avocado, cilantro, sour cream (soy for me!), and the fried tortilla strips.

it was a solid meal! it was filling, fairly tasty, had a nice kick to it without being too spicy... but i just wasn't a fan of the soup base part of it. i think i put too many dried herbs in it (resulting in an almost gritty texture from all the herbs), and ended up overcompensating for the initial lack of flavor. i'd try the whole thing all over again, but using a different chicken stock and soup base recipe. :)

oh, and we had spinach salad with sliced strawberries, pineapple, pomegranate and white onion on the side. the salad was fantastic.