The Amateur Foodies

Rainbow Chard

2012-02-24T18:00:00.000-06:00

This wilted rainbow chard was part of Baked Mahi Mahi with Tomato Relish that Zack made - without any help from his loving wife. For some reason, we've never made cooked greens before. We will be utilizing this a lot in the future. They're so tasty!

We used rainbow chard because it's the only leafy green that our grocery store had besides red and green leaf lettuce. You can substitute Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, etc.

Here's what you need:
1-2 bunches of rainbow chard
2 shallots
1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you're cooking vegetarian)

Here's what you do:
Coat the bottom of a pan with about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Place over medium heat.

Meanwhile, dice up the shallots.

Once your oil is hot, add the shallots to the pan.

Let those sweat until they are translucent.

While your onions are sweating it out, remove the ribs of your greens. (Don't forget to wash them too).

Once the onions are ready, add the greens to the pot.

Let that all wilt and cook down.

Add the chicken stock once they've wilted by half.

And then let it cook down some more. When you achieve this state, you're ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Baked Mahi Mahi with Tomato Relish

2012-02-22T18:00:00.000-06:00

Zack made this entire meal by himself. Michelle was allowed to take pictures, but after a while, it drove her crazy not being able to help and abandoned the picture taking and went to a different area of the house. This was, however, quite possibly the most delicious piece of fish we've ever cooked (and by we, we mean Zack).

The entire meal was Baked Mahi Mahi with Tomato "Relish" over a bed of rainbow chard with baked carrots. We're going to split the chard and carrots into separate blogs. It would be a little cumbersome to put it all into one post.

Here's what you need:

For the Fish:

2 Mahi Mahi steaks

2 Tbsp Unsalted butter

1 cup White wine

Salt & pepper

For the "relish":

4 vine tomatoes
2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp capers

1/2 lemon zest

1/2 lemon juice
salt & pepper

Here's what you do:
Start the relish by mincing up the garlic.

Quickly run a knife through the capers.

Seed and dicing the tomatoes.

In a medium sauce pan, add about a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, and then the garlic and capers.

Let the capers and garlic cook for just a minute or two, then add the tomato.

Give everything a good stir and let it cook down.

Season with salt and pepper as needed.

At the very end, season with the zest of half a lemon and lemon juice. Taste to see if it needs more seasoning.

For the fish, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the fillets in a glass baking dish and season with salt and pepper.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter.

Add the white wine to the measuring cup.

Pour that into the baking dish..

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until fish is flaky and still juicy.

Rainbow chard recipe and carrot recipe coming soon!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Cups

2012-02-20T18:00:00.000-06:00

We don't typically keep a lot of dessert-y type food in our house. If it was there constantly, we'd eat it... and weigh a tad more than we would like. So, the other night when Zack wanted something sweet after dinner, I was hard pressed to find something to make.

Being the pumpkin fanatic that I am, I always keep a can of pumpkin puree on hand. I also, miraculously had a pre-made pie crust or two laying around. The recipe is a bit like our Pumpkin Pie recipe, but altered based off the ingredients we had at our house.

Here's what you need:
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (I told you, I had to work with what I had on hand)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
crystallized ginger
Pre-made pie crust

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Start by rolling your pie crust out so that it's about 1/8" thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of the pie crust. You'll have to eventually ball the crust back up and roll it out again. You can get about 24 rounds out of one pie crust. The filling, however, makes enough for at least 48 cups.

Once you have your rounds, start mixing up your filling.

Scoop the pumpkin into the bowl, and add spices and eggs to the bowl.

Give that a good stir.

Slowly add the sweetened condensed milk. Since we were using sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk, we didn't add the sugar that we normally would for pumpkin pie.

Once you have a nice consistency, set the mixture aside, and prep your mini muffin tin.

Butter and flour the mini muffin tin. Trust me, you really want to remember this step. Otherwise, getting the pie cups out later will be a disaster.

Take your little pie crust rounds and form them into the pan.

Next, just spoon in some of the filling into each cup. Don't be like me, and try to actually keep the filling inside the cups. Your oven should be preheated by now, so pop the pan in for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, pull them out of the oven and top with the crystallized ginger.

Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until the filling has puffed up and the crusts are browned.

Removing the cups from the pan was a challenge I hadn't anticipated when I first conceived of this dessert. What I ended up doing (thanks to Zack's quick rummaging through our kitchen drawers), was use my orange peeler to push down on one side of the crust, and then scoop it onto a spatula. You could probably use a butter knife in place of the pointy orange peeler. This is why buttering and flouring the pan is so important. They popped right out of the pan.

Set them on a rack to cool for just a couple of minutes.

Sprinkle just a touch of cinnamon and sugar over the top right before you serve them.

Enjoy!

Beef Stir Fry

2012-02-18T12:20:00.000-06:00

Zack had a craving for stir-fry the other night, so we threw together a variation on our Korean Beef. We didn't do much measuring, so you're really going to have to trust your taste buds if you're going to make this one.

Here's what you need:
About 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce
About 1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
About 2 Tbsp Plum Sauce
A couple dashes of sesame oil
Juice of 1/4 of a lime
About 1 Tbsp honey
1 flank steak
Low Fat Sesame Ginger Newman's dressing
2 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
1/2 a package of snow peas
1/2 a can of bean sprouts
2-3 scallions
sesame seeds
1 cup Jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups water

Here's what you do:
Slice the flank steak into about 1/4" pieces. Put into a small bowl and coat with the sesame ginger dressing. Let that marinade while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

Peel and slice the carrots. We cut some of the bigger pieces in half so that they would cook at the same rate.

Mince the garlic and slice the snow peas. We forgot the picture of the snow peas, sorry.

In a medium bowl, combine the soy, sesame oil, plum sauce, vinegar, lime and honey. Whisk to combine everything. Taste to make sure that it's nicely balanced and then set aside.

Rinse your jasmine rice in a medium bowl. Drain the rice, then rinse it again. Drain the rice a second time, then add to a medium sauce pan over high heat and bring to a boil. We didn't take pictures of the rice making. Once the rice comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and let it cook without touching it for 20 minutes.

Place a 12" skillet over medium-high heat and coat the bottom with olive oil. Let the pan get screaming hot, then add the garlic and let it soften.

Let the garlic hang out for about a minute, then add the beef.

Brown that up for a couple of minutes, then remove to a bowl and set aside.

Drain the liquid from the pan, add a little clean vegetable oil, then add the carrots.

The carrots are going to take the longest to soften, so let them saute for a couple minutes before adding the peas.

Saute the vegetables until they're soft, then add bean sprouts.

Next, add the beef back into the saute pan.

Now, top all that goodness with the sauce you mixed up earlier.

Toss everything around and let the sauce reduce a bit.

Put a layer of rice down in the bottom of the bowl.

Top with your stir fry. We also garnished with fresh green onion and sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Sausage Casserole

2012-02-16T18:00:00.000-06:00

Hello all - it's Michelle flying solo. Zack had to work last weekend, so I threw together this casserole. As I was telling him what all I was going to put in the dish, he became more and more skeptical of the meal. After tasting it, he didn't complain about the flavor at all. All of our left overs are gone.

Here's what you need:
1 red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 scallions
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 package smoked sausage
12 oz jar of pineapple preserves
2-3 Tbsp low sodium soy
1 cup jasmine rice
1 1/2 cup water

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by doing a rough chop on your red pepper.

Smash your garlic.

Throw all of that into a food processor and pulse until the pepper is quite fine.

Once that's prepped, put a 12" skillet over medium heat and let it start heating up.

Pour the 1 cup or rice into a bowl.

Rinse thoroughly twice to remove some of the starch.

Start your sausages browning by putting just about a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and adding the sausage.

In a medium sauce pan, add the rice and 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook untouched for 20 minutes.

While the sausages are crisping up (don't forget to turn them every now and again), slice up some scallions.

Now for the sauce... Pour the pineapple preserves into a medium bowl.

Add the soy sauce.

And squeeze in the lime.

Combine that together and set aside for a bit.

Once your sausages are crisp, remove from the pan and add the red pepper/garlic mixture to the pan. Let that brown a bit.

Once the pepper has browned up a bit, add the preserve mixture to the pan.

Slice the sausages into thin, bite-size pieces.

And, add them back to the pan.

Throw in the green onions, and give it all a good stir.

For me, this process took about 20 minutes, which was exactly the amount of time that the rice needed to cook. So, fluff the rice up and then add to the pan with everything else.

Toss everything around to get it all coated in the sauce.

Transfer all of that into a casserole dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top gets crispy.

Scoop out a generous helping and serve.

Enjoy!

French Onion Dip

2012-02-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

We realize today is Valentine's Day, and French Onion Dip isn't the most romantic recipe. That being said, we aren't currently paid to blog our recipes, so you get them after the event occurred. Plus, we each have other jobs, so the turn around time isn't as quick as it should be.

Super Bowl day is all about snacking for us, not a huge meal. Again, this isn't necessarily the most healthy recipe, but we tried to lighten it up where we could. This is probably ten times healthier than what you would buy pre-made from the grocery store.

Here's what you need:
1 medium sweet onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups light sour cream
3/4 cup olive oil mayonaisse
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 bag lightly salted potato chips

Here's what you do:
Heat a 10" skillet over medium heat and add the oil to the pan.

Meanwhile, dice up the onion.

Let the onion caramelize for about 20 minutes.

Combine the sour cream, mayo, pepper, salt, and garlic powder in a medium bowl.

Add the caramelized onions.

And, that's pretty much it. Throw it in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, or overnight.

We actually transferred this to a fancy bowl for the super bowl, but with all the excitement, we forgot to take a picture. We served it with lightly salted potato chips and cold beer.

Enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2012-02-12T12:04:00.000-06:00

We made a spread of food for the Superbowl. We made a huge batch of our chili, our hummus, French Onion Dip and Spinach Artichoke Dip. We'll have the post for the French Onion Dip ready in a couple of days, but today we are sharing our tasty Spinach Artichoke Dip. Typically, this isn't a healthy appetizer, but we tried to lighten it up where we could.

Here's what you need:
2 cans medium artichoke hearts
1 box of frozen spinach
1 8 oz. package of light cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise
2/3 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Thaw the spinach completely. Chop the artichoke hearts into bite-size pieces and add to the bowl with the spinach.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the spinach and artichokes. Boil for about 5 minutes.

In the dish you'll be serving in, soften the cream cheese.

Add the sour cream and mayo to the bowl. Stir that up to combine them.

Add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Add the garlic powder.

Add the pepper.

And, add the salt.

Strain the spinach and artichoke mixture and add it to the dish. Stir it well to make sure everything gets coated.

Top with the remaining 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.

Enjoy!

Our Staples

2012-02-10T23:13:00.000-06:00

As we've mentioned a time or two, we create a lot of our meals by using ingredients we have at our house already. There are a few items that we always have on hand so we can throw a nice, healthy meal together on a whim.

Canned Goods
Our non-perishable items are pretty much always available. We keep a variety of canned goods: beans, tomatoes, vegetables, etc. We like to keep pretty much every type of canned tomato available at all times. We have tomato paste, diced, crushed, stewed, you name it.

Stock
We always keep a couple of containers of beef stock and chicken stock on hand. We use stock in MANY of our recipes. We often use stock instead of water in many recipes because it adds another layer of richness to the food.

Fresh Fruits & Veggies
We always keep a bag of lemons and limes on hand. We use the acids a lot to make pan sauces, salad dressings, or just to add to a good cocktail or glass or iced tea. We also like to have at least one other fruit for eating, like apples, bananas, pears, whatever we are feeling like at the time.

As for vegetables, we always have lettuce available, generally red leaf because we think it makes the prettiest salads. Beyond that, it really depends on the season.

Herbs
We use a lot of fresh herbs. In the warmer months, we grow our own herb garden so that we always have fresh herbs to season with. In the winter, we normally have parsley and cilantro. We like to have chive and thyme on hand as well. We add fresh herbs to eggs every morning we have them. We top almost all of our meals with some type of herbage. If you can keep herbs sealed well, they last for quite a while.

Meats
We like to keep the basics on hand: ground beef, chicken, Italian sausage, country sausage, more chicken, and whatever venison we can get our friends to donate to our culinary ventures. If we want to make something special, like a beef roast or lamb, we typically run and grab that close to the meal so we don't have to freeze the meat.

Cheese
We always have Parmesan cheese. We use it constantly. We also keep a block of cheddar and a block of mozzarella to slice or shred when needed. For salads, we like to keep feta or blue cheese in a sealed tub around to, once again, add flavor.

Other Must Haves
Rounding out our list, we must always have eggs and bread - you know, the basics. We also keep a huge amount of spices and different kinds of vinegar to create different flavors.

If you always keep the basics available, you'd be amazed at what you can create.

Enjoy!

Restaurant Recap: Farren's Pub and Eatery

2012-02-06T18:01:00.000-06:00

Farren's is one of our favorite hidden gems. The restaurant is hidden in an alley and is located in a basement. The kitchen is open to the restaurant and is the size of a large closet. Everything is cooked on the flat top. It's quite a unique place.

The burgers are ridiculously good. The one to the right is called "The Motherlode" It is an all-beef burger topped with sauteed mushrooms, blue cheese sauce, Swiss cheese, onion and lettuce. It was delicious.

We've also sampled quite a few other burgers - The Green Chili Burger, The Kobe Burger, and the The Spicoli. We don't have anything bad to say about any of them. Keep in mind, however, that the Green Chili Burger packs a punch of heat, so if you don't like spicy food, that's probably not the burger for you.

The fries, oh my, the fries. They are delicious and greasy and perfect with the burgers. We've never tried any of the other sides, just get the fries.

Farren's also has seasonal craft beers on tap. There's always a good selection, so you should be able to find something that you'll enjoy.

Now, we realize that none of the items on the menu fit into our goal of eating healthy. Sometimes you have to cheat and eat a greasy burger and fries. If you're ready for a cheat day, we recommend choosing Farren's Pub and Eatery.

Enjoy!

Noodles a la Russe

2012-02-04T16:39:00.001-06:00

This recipe comes courtesy of Michelle's mom. We were looking for something to make using ground beef that we had never made before. So, Michelle called her mom and asked for some ideas. She offered up this recipe that she loves, but Michelle's dad isn't fond of (he doesn't like sour cream). We are extremely glad she shared!

Here's what you need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 cup sour cream
2 scallions
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped pimento
6 oz. extra broad egg noodles (or whatever you have on hand)

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Also start your water boiling for the pasta. Once your water is ready, salt the pasta water and drop in the egg noodles.

Mince your garlic.

Slice up your scallions.

Brown the ground beef with the onion and the garlic.

Once the meat is browned completely, drain as much of the fat off as you can. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix together the sour cream, grated Parmesan, butter and pimento together.

Mix all of that together with the beef.

Stir in the noodles and pour everything into a 2 quart casserole dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it is lightly brown on top.

Enjoy!

Creamy Potato, Sausage & Kale Soup

2012-02-02T18:00:00.000-06:00

We have to thank The Pioneer Woman again for this recipe. We changed a couple things, but for the most part, it's the same. We've been wanting to make this soup for quite a while, but we've had so much other cooking to do around the holidays. We finally broke out the mandolin and threw this one together one Sunday.

Here's what you need:
12 red potatoes
1 red onion, chopped
1 1/2 lb mild Italian sausage
1 bunch kale
1/2 Tbsp-ish red pepper flake
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
4 cups half 'n half
Splash of heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:
Start by thinly slicing your potatoes with either a mandolin or by hand. Sorry, no picture. One of us was slicing the potatoes, while the other was cleaning up the kale.

Also, start a pot of water, filled to about halfway, boiling. Your potatoes will bring the water level up a lot.

Rinse your kale and tear into bite size pieces. Throw it into a bowl and soak with water. Let that sit while you prepare the rest of the soup.

Your water should be boiling, so salt the water a bit with kosher salt and drop in the potatoes.

Let those cook for 8-10 minutes, or until they are fork tender and break apart a bit.

Strain the potatoes and set aside.

Break up the sausage in the same pot you used to cook the potatoes.

Toss in the onion and brown the meat completely.

Once everything has browned, drain off as much of the fat as you can and then add in the red pepper flake and oregano.

Give that a stir, then add the chicken stock.

Then add the whole milk...

And, add the half and half.

Let that simmer for about 30 minutes.

Next, add the potatoes back into the mix.

Then add the kale.

Stir everything well to combine all the ingredients. Add just a splash of heavy cream to the mix at the very end.

Bring that back to a simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve immediate.

Enjoy!

Calling All Recipes!

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-06:00

We actually spend quite a bit of time researching new recipes. Some we choose because they will challenge us in the kitchen. Some are chosen because they are simple and easy to throw together on a week night. Some recipes we choose because they will taste great re-heated. Some we choose because we need to feed a horde or people. We actually enjoy reading cookbooks and scouring the internet for tasty treats.

We've featured quite a few recipes that were handed down from family and friends. These recipes have been some of the best dishes we've ever put together.

Well, call us greedy, but we want more! Do you have a recipe that you want to share? Something that makes people cry happy tears when they eat it (even if only figuratively)? We promise to give you all the credit for the recipe when we post it.

Feel free to post recipes in the comments section, send us a Facebook message, or if you know our email address, send it there.

We'll plug through the mass emails as quickly as we can, so please don't be offended if you don't see your recipe right away.

Kielbasa, Kraut & Noodles

2012-01-29T11:54:00.000-06:00

This recipe is an adaptation of one of Michelle's brother-in-law's mother's recipes. Did you follow that? We've been wanting to try it for a while. Both of us love smoked sausage and sour kraut, so obviously, this meal was a hit with us. And, to top it off, this is super easy to make.

Here's what you need:
1 pack of Polska Kielbasa
About 1 1/2 cups of sour kraut
1/2 a bag of egg noodles
Pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
Start your water boiling to cook the egg noodles. Meanwhile, heat a high-walled skillet over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Once your pan is hot, place the sausage inside. We're going to crisp the sausage up whole before we slice it.

Let that cook until it's browned and the skin is crisped.

Once that's sufficiently crispy, remove from the pan and slice on the bias.

At this point, the water for our pasta was boiling, so we salted the water with Kosher salt, and drop your noodles.

Add the sliced sausage back in the pan.

Top with the sour kraut.

Let that cook while your pasta finishes cooking. Scoop the pasta into the pot.

Season with pepper and toss everything around to coat it.

Throw a lid on it and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Now, all you have to do is give it another good stir, and plate it.

Enjoy!

Spicy Grilled Chicken Tenders with Citrus Honey Mustard

2012-01-27T18:00:00.000-06:00

This recipe is yet another that comes from our reluctance to go to the grocery store. We scrounged around in the fridge and cabinets until we found enough things that would go taste good together. You can adjust the heat of the tenders as you wish. We put a whole bunch of cayenne in because, well, the citrus honey mustard has a cooling effect. And, we love to spice things up every once in a while.

Here's what you need:
Chicken:
1 lb chicken tenders
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cayenne (this is where you may want to cut it back)

Citrus Honey Mustard:
1/2 cup mayo (NO MIRACLE WHIP HERE!)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard (or dijon would work here too)
3 Tbsp honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 Tbsp Orange Juice

Here's what you do:
2-3 hours before you want to eat, mix up your honey mustard. You want it to be able to sit in the fridge for a while.

Combine mayo, mustard, honey and lemon juice in a small bowl. Give that a good stir.

Slowly add in the orange juice until you reach the consistency that you want. If you're using as a dipping sauce, keep it a little thicker. If you're using as a salad dressing, thin it out a bit more.

Mix that all together and then pop it into the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. If you're making the day before, cover tightly.

About 20 minutes before you want to put food on the table, either fire up your grill, or in this case grill pan, and let it heat to medium. Spray down with grilling spray or cooking spray.

Mix the chili powder and cayenne either on a plate or in a long, flat dish.

Roll the thawed chicken around in the mixture to coat it.

Throw them on the grill and resist the urge to move them around a ton. Let them cook until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F.

Pull off the grill and portion out your citrus honey mustard into little bowls.

Enjoy!

Enamel Coated Cast Iron Dutch Oven

2012-01-25T18:00:00.001-06:00

This baby has changed our lives. We've wanted one for ages, but never purchased one. Well, Zack's parent's bought one for us for Christmas and we have already gotten our money's worth. Or, their money's worth. Whatever.

You'll be seeing it a lot in our posts going forward. This pot holds heat amazingly well, and heats evenly across the entire surface. It's a 6 quart pot, so you can fit just about anything inside.

It's also heavy, even when it's empty. We recommend using both hands when lifting it and sitting the lid down when you're taking it off to stir or season.

As far as cleaning goes, we left cooked our Red Wine Braised Short Ribs in this and it was quite a mess afterwards. We left it to soak for a couple of hours and after that, clean-up was a breeze.

Overall, we HIGHLY recommend purchasing one. The only thing we would change about this pot is the handle. It is only rated up to 400 degrees, so we're planning on switching it out with a stainless steel knob.

Four Thumbs Up!

French Onion Soup

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-06:00

We don't know about you, but we love French Onion Soup. Is there anything better on a cold winter day? There's just something about caramelized onions that make us happy.

We've experimented with different recipes, but in the end, we ended up creating our own recipe for this.

Here's what you need:
5 lbs. sweet onions
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups white wine
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
6 cups of beef broth
2 cups water
1 oz. whiskey/cognac
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:
Start by heating a your olive oil in a dutch oven. You just want enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Clean your onions and slice into crescent moon shapes. We know, it's a lot of onions.

Once your oil is hot, add all of the onions to the pot. For each layer of onions that you add to the pot, sprinkle a dash of salt and a pinch of pepper. Throw the lid on and walk away for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the lid and give it a quick stir. Let it cook, uncovered over medium-low heat for a couple of hours. Stir this occasionally, but be patient and let the onions cook down in their own time. Your patience will be rewarded with this:

Ok, so it might look a little gross, but it tastes a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Now that you have a pot full of caramelized onions, add the white wine, until the onions are just covered.

Let that reduce by about half, then add the thyme and bay leaves. You'll also want to salt and pepper this again.

Now add the beef stock, water and brown liquor. Traditionally, French Onion soup is made with cognac, but we used a scotch with a gold label. You can use whatever you prefer.

Bring the soup to a boil and then let simmer for at least an hour.

About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, pre-heat your oven to broil. Slice a nice crusty bread on the bias and top with cheese. We used provolone here, but gruyere is also a great compliment to the crouton. Place these under the broiler and keep an eye on them. They will cook quickly.

Now, simply spoon up a bowl, top with the crouton and serve.

Enjoy!

Tuna Steaks with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce

2012-01-21T09:00:00.001-06:00

We were at the grocery store the other day and noticed these beautiful tuna steaks were on sale. We haven't made tuna in AGES, so of course we picked some up. This recipe is pretty easy to make, and all of the other ingredients are ones we keep on hand all of the time.

Here's what you need:
2 Tuna Steaks (or however many you need to feed your group)
1 Tbsp olive oil (to coat the pan)
Kosher Salt
Black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 Tbsp capers with some juice
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup-ish white wine
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Parsley to garnish

Here's what you do:
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. We used our high-walled skillet, but any 10" pan will do.

Lightly salt and pepper the tuna on one side.

We also added the lemon zest to the oil to flavor it a bit. Tuna and lemon work great together, so we really wanted to impart some lemony flavor.

Place it in the pan, seasoned side down, then season the other side.

Let those hang out for a couple minutes. You'll see the fish change from this gorgeous pink color to white about 1/3 of the way up the side. That's when you should flip. You should have some nice browning on the fish.

Let those hang out for another couple of minutes, until you can't see pink on the side anymore.

Meanwhile, chop up some parsley. Set this aside to garnish your meal later.

Once the sides of the tuna are cooked, pull out and set in a warm oven to keep it from cooling too much.

Add the capers to the pan and let them cook for about a minute.

Next, add in the juice from 1/2 a lemon.

Next, pour in the white wine. We didn't measure it, just poured about 1/4 of a cup.

Let that simmer for a couple of minutes. You want the overt wine smell to cook off and let the sauce reduce a bit. (Not too much, you still want it thin).

At the very end, we decided it needed a little something to kick the sauce up a notch. We added 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and it made the sauce perfect.

We let the butter melt and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Next, we just composed our plate by topping the tuna with the pan sauce and then the parsley.

Tuna is best when it's pink in the middle. The fish stays juicy and flaky. It's completely safe, so don't worry about germs or bacteria.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken with Homemade Cheese Sauce

2012-01-19T17:35:00.000-06:00

The other night, we were looking for something new to make to dress up chicken. Well, this cheese sauce isn't exactly new to us, we use the same principle to make our Homemade Mac & Cheese.

Here's what you need:
Chicken:
1 package of chicken (we used chicken tenders)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Chipotle Chili Powder

Cheese Sauce:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
dash of white pepper
1 cup milk
3/4 - 1 cup cheddar cheese

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 350.

Season your chicken with salt, pepper, and chipotle chili powder. Don't go too crazy on the seasoning, just sprinkle over the top.

For chicken tenders, you need to bake for about 30 minutes. If you're using chicken breast, you'll probably need 1 hour to 1 1/4 hour to cook them through. The internal temperature of the meat should be at 170 degrees.

About 10 minutes before you're ready to put food on the table, start your sauce. Melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the flour, salt and white pepper. If you don't have white pepper, you can use black. You just won't have a completely white sauce.

Whisk that all together until you have a pretty loose roux.

Now, slowly add the milk, whisking the whole time to combine the roux and milk.

Whisk, whisk, whisk until it's combined completely and not lumpy.

Keep whisking, though with less vigor than before. You just want to keep it moving so it doesn't burn. Let the sauce come up to a low boil. Let it cook for about two minutes, until it thickens.

Now, you're ready to add your cheese.

Stir in a little bit of the cheese at a time, until it melts completely.

Is there anything better than cheese sauce? And, with this one, you get the added bonus of it being healthier than the process junk you can buy in the store. It only takes 10 minutes. We also put some on top of our steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Burritos

2012-01-15T09:16:00.001-06:00

Yet again, we weren't originally going to blog about this. It's not a recipe. We didn't take pictures, other than the one above. The reason we decided to write this blog is it's a different way to use left-over ingredients. Well, the eggs aren't left over. We made those fresh.

Anyway, while we normally enjoy cooking for ourselves at home, every so often, we venture out and let someone else cook for us and then pay them for their service. So one night, we headed out for Mexican food. Zack had the Pollo Asado and Michelle had the Carne Azteca. We each had some left over, and brought it home.

Well, the next morning, we decided to slice the meat up in strips and then heat it in a skillet. Meanwhile, we scrambled some eggs. We lightly seasoned the eggs, because the Azteca sauce had some punch.

After that, we scooped some of each in flour tortillas and breakfast was served.

Enjoy!

Hummus

2012-01-13T18:00:00.001-06:00

We LOVE hummus. We've never made it before because we could never find tahini in our grocery store. Well, we finally found it and immediately mixed up a batch of hummus.

Here's what you need:
1 12 oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus some for garnish
Sprinkle of paprika to garnish

Here's what you do:
Mince up two cloves of garlic.

In a blender or food processor, add the chickpeas, salt and garlic and process for 20-30 seconds.

Add in the lemon juice and water and process again for 20 seconds or so.

Now add in the tahini and process again for another 20 seconds.

While the blender or food processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil.

Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with paprika and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with pita bread, pita chips, fresh vegetables, etc.

Enjoy!

Layer Salad

2012-01-11T18:00:00.000-06:00

We made this simple salad for one of the many holiday parties that we attended this year. When we say simple, it really is.

Typically, this is called a 7 layer salad, but we just added ingredients until we felt like the tastes would play off each other nicely. It requires a bit of chopping, but you can really add whatever toppings you like.

Here's what we used:
Red leaf lettuce
1 can of sliced olives
about 3/4 of a head of cauliflower
1 small package of grape tomatoes
5-6 scallions
1 red bell pepper
about a cup of mild cheddar cheese
Ranch dressing

Here's what you do:
Start by chopping your lettuce into bite-sized pieces. We switched to a larger bowl after this picture. We didn't want it all the way to the top because we had to travel with it.

Next, just layer on your ingredients one at a time.

Finally, top with the dressing and garnish with some more tomatoes. You could use a healthier dressing than ranch, but we figured most people like ranch dressing, so we went with it.

Enjoy!

Free-form Pear Tart

2012-01-09T18:00:00.001-06:00

This tart is really simple. We made it as a finish to our Red Wine Braised Short Ribs. The short ribs were a rich, hearty meal, so we wanted something a little lighter for dessert. If you aren't a fan of pear, you can do the same recipe, but replace the pears with apples.

Here's what you need:
3-4 Bosc Pears
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 Tbsp butter, divided
1 pre-made pie crust
2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Vanilla ice cream to top.

Here's what you do:
Pre-heat your oven to 350

Peel and slice your pears. Be sure to remove the cores with a spoon. Toss the pear slices in a bowl and coat them with the lemon juice. This will stop the pears from oxidizing.

Roll out your pre-made pie crust. We rolled it and thinned it out a bit.

Soften one tablespoon of butter and brush it over the crust.

Sprinkle that with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and brush together.

Now, pile on your sliced pears. If you want to make this prettier, you're more than welcome, but since this was a free-form tart, we decided messy was better.

Sprinkle the top of the pears with the brown sugar the other teaspoon of cinnamon.

Now, pick a spot on the edge of the crust and start folding it over on top of the pears. Pinch the edges together a bit as you go to hold it together. Again, you can make this prettier if you want, but we liked the messy feel of it.

Cut up a tablespoon of butter into small pieces and dot the top of the tart with it.

Finally, soften another tablespoon of butter and brush the edges with your basting brush. You should still have some cinnamon on it from earlier, so you shouldn't need to add more cinnamon, but of course, you can if you want.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until your pie crust has browned.

Top with vanilla ice cream and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

2012-01-07T08:00:00.006-06:00

It's fair to say that this in our new favorite recipe. The beef short ribs were ridiculously tender and succulent. The sauce was rich and hearty. Everything about this dish made us smile.

The original recipe came from Anne Burrell and the only thing we altered was we added 3 cups of wine instead of 2.

Here's what you need:

5 1/2-6 lbs of beef short ribs

Kosher salt

Extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion

2 ribs of celery

2 carrots

2 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 cups tomato paste

1 bottle red wine

2 cups water

1 bundle of thyme

2 bay leaves

Here's what you do:
Start by doing a rough chop on 1 large onion, 2 ribs of celery and 2 peeled carrots.

Next smash two cloves of garlic, but don't worry about dicing them up.

Process all of that in a food processor until it's very fine.

Heat a dutch oven to high heat and coating the bottom with olive oil. (Isn't this pot gorgeous?!?! Zack's parent's gave it to us for Christmas.)

Next, give each short rib a generous dose of kosher salt.

Add them to the pot and let them brown on both sides. It should take a couple minutes per side to get a good sear. Oh, and don't crowd the pan. You'll need to brown these in shifts and then set them aside.

When you finish up browning the beef, preheat your oven to 375.

You'll be left with a bunch of fatty oil after you brown the meat. Get rid of that, and then coat the bottom of the pot again with clean olive oil. Toss in your pureed vegetables.

Add some kosher salt and let those brown for a few minutes. According to the recipe, "brown until they are very dark and a crud has formed on the bottom of the pan."

Next, add the tomato paste.

Let the tomato paste brown for 4 or 5 more minutes. Now, add your wine.

Give it a good stir and let it reduce until you have about half as much wine as you started with.

While the wine is reducing, bundle your thyme with kitchen twine.

Once your sauce has thickened, add the short ribs back in the pot.

Add 2 cups of water, the thyme and bay leaves to the pot. You're actually going to want to submerge them in the sauce, but we wanted to show you everything.

Throw the lid on it and put it in the oven. Pull it out after 1.5 hours and flip the short ribs over. You may need to add more water at this point also. Put it back in the oven for another 1.5 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the lid from the pot and let cook for another 20-30 minutes in the oven.

You definitely need to try this sometime. You'll thank us.

Enjoy!

Salads

2012-01-05T18:00:00.002-06:00

If you're like us, you may have over-indulged in a few meals and sweet treats over the holidays. Well, we're getting back to our usual routine now and trying to eat healthier.

Salads are a wonderful option to get great nutrients into your diet. You will never see us make a salad with iceberg lettuce. Basically, iceberg lettuce is water, so we tend to use a red leaf lettuce for the base of our salads.

Keep in mind that you can also alter the flavor of your salad with the type of greens that you use. Arugula will give your salad a peppery flavor. Dandelion greens will add a slight bitter flavor. Each green you use has a slightly different flavor.

From there, be adventurous about your salad toppings. Add carrot, tomato, peppers, radishes - whatever is fresh and available.

Don't be afraid to add fruit to your salad. The picture above is red leaf lettuce with diced apples, dried cranberries, walnuts and crumbled blue cheese. We topped it with a raspberry vinaigrette.

One of our favorite salads includes sliced banana, peanuts and wasabi vinaigrette over romaine lettuce.

Also, try new dressings! Don't drown your salad in fattening ranch dressing all the time. We'll admit we enjoy ranch dressing on a salad every now and again, but we like to experiment with new flavors. We'll have some dressing recipes coming up in the future.

Basically, we want you to be healthy and get the nutrients you need. We also want you to have fun with food and try new combinations.

Enjoy!

Venison Rotini

2012-01-03T18:00:00.001-06:00

Neither of us are hunters, but we are fortunate to have friends and family who hunt. The deer for this recipe comes from Michelle's friend from work. Thanks, George, for contributing to our culinary endeavors!

The ground deer has been mixed with a little beef fat during the processing. Venison is very lean, so you have to add some fat to the meat.

Here's what you need:
1 lb. ground venison
1 box of rotini noodles
1 jar of tomato sauce (ever thought of canning your own?)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
Dash of red pepper flake
Dash of oregano

Here's what you do:
Start your water boiling for you noodles and pre-heat your oven to 350.

Brown your meat in a high walled skillet.

Once meat is browned, add the sauce to the skillet.

Stir that around and simmer over medium, medium-low heat.

Drop your pasta and cook to al dente. Once cooked, scoop the pasta in with the sauce.

Give that a stir and then pour into a casserole dish. Top with mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.001-06:00

Hello friends! We hope you had an amazing 2011. Ours was exciting and definitely busy. It seems like the end of every year just gets crazier and crazier as time goes on.

We apologize for our spotty posting of late. The holidays caught up to us and we didn't have a chance to sit down and write anything up. We attended a few holiday parties and we have some posts coming up that we think you're really going to enjoy. So, bear with us while we get back into the swing of things.

Wishing you all the best in the coming year!

Wine Faults: What's Wrong with Your Wine?

2011-12-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

Along with a couple of our friends, we attended a course put on by the local community college's adult education division. It's a small class by design, because it's held in the back of a local wine shop and taught by their wine buyer. Our instructor walked us through the characteristics of wine faults and how to know if the wine you buy has gone bad.

Now, since the internet doesn't have a scratch and sniff feature, we'll try to describe what we smelled for you.

Corked wine - "Corked" wine does not mean that it has a cork in the bottle. Screw-top wines can be corked as well. A corked bottle has a fungus that has either infected the cork, barrel, or winery equipment. It smells like wet, musty cardboard. Think grandma's basement. The flavor of the wine will be flat and lack the fruitiness that we all love so much about wine. No harm will come to you if you drink a corked wine, however, it won't taste how it is supposed to. We learned that about 5% of the wine in the world is corked.

Cooked wine - "Cooked" wine occurs when the wine hasn't been properly stored or shipped and has been subject to high temperatures. Basically, the heat stews the flavors in the wine and they taste very muddled and not fruity. Apparently a lot of wineries will not ship wine in the summer months to make sure that this doesn't happen. This one you can sometimes tell by looking at it. Check out the cork before you buy it. If it feels raised, then move on to another bottle. Even that doesn't always work, however. If you get your wine home, pop the cork and notice that some of the wine has traveled up the side of the cork, chances are, it's cooked.

Oxidation - Oxidation occurs when a bottle has been exposed to too much oxygen. Oxidized wine will have the scent of burnt caramel or cookies. Not bad smells at all, but not how your bright, fruity wine should smell. Take this one back to the store.

Volatile Acidity - All wines are acidic - it's the nature of grapes. "Volatile" acidity smells like nail polish remover or vinegar. You'll know somethings wrong the minute you take a whiff. This happens because of the presence of acetic bacteria and oxygen during the winemaking process before the bottle is even in the picture.

Excessive Sulfur Dioxide - Sulfur is a natural preservative used in wine. Excessive sulfur, however, is a bad thing. It makes the wine smell like burnt matches or burnt rubber. Not exactly the most appetizing scents. Apparently there is one exception to this rule, however. Syrah's from the Northern Rhone region have a rubbery element that is characteristic of the grape. So, keep that in mind if you're drinking French Syrah.

Corked, cooked, oxidation, volatile acidity and excessive sulfur dioxide are all the "really bad" wine faults. If you discover any of these in your wine and you bought it from a winery or wine shop, you should be able to take it back to the store you bought it from and get a refund or exchange.

We have more to share, but we think this is probably enough information for one blog. We'll check back in another time with the less egregious wine faults.

Image courtesy of http://www.judiciousspirits.com

Pappardelle & Peas

2011-12-27T17:30:00.000-06:00

We are constantly looking for new ingredients to play with in the kitchen. Pappardelle pasta is not as easy to find as you might think where we live. If you want spaghetti, fettucini, linguini, rotini, penne - no problem. Pappardelle, however, is not so common in our grocery stores. Just about every time we enter the Chicagoland area, we stop at Trader Joe's. It's probably unnatural how much we love shopping there. We even went on our anniversary trip and were mistaken as locals because we bought so much stuff. We're alright with it.

Anyway, we found this pasta and formed a meal around it. We made a "cream" sauce to pair with it and kept the seasoning light. And, it was great. We wish we'd bought more papparedelle. You could probably substitute fettucini and be fine, however.

Here's what you need:

1 package of pappardelle pasta

1/2 bag frozen peas

5 Tbsp margarine (we didn't say it was healthy)

1/3 cup 2% milk

1 1/2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

Kosher salt for the pasta water

Here's what you do:

Start heating your pasta water. If you're cooking on a gas burner, this will probably take you much less time, so you can probably wait a bit if you want. We have electric, so take that into consideration.

While your water is heating, heat your frozen peas through in a sauce pan. You don't need to get them hot, really, just not frozen any more.

Melt the margarine in a high-walled skillet.

Simmer until the butter starts to brown, then add the milk.

Crack as much black pepper over that as you desire and let it bubble away and thicken for a few minutes.

Your water should hopefully be boiling now, so go ahead and salt the water liberally and drop the pasta in. We didn't add salt anywhere else in the dish, so be sure the pasta has good flavor!

Right about the time you drop the pasta, add your peas to the sauce.

Instead of straining the pasta, we just scooped it out of the water with a spaghetti fork and added it right to the sauce. Give that a good toss.

If you think your sauce is a little thick, add a couple splashes of pasta water until you achieve the consistency you want. Keep in mind you really want the sauce to stick to the noodle and not be runny. Once you're sure you coated the pasta thoroughly, plate it up.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Onions

2011-12-22T18:00:00.000-06:00

Zack has been wanting to make brussels sprouts for a while. Michelle, however, had never eaten a brussels sprout in her life. Well, Zack won out and we threw these together for a family dinner we had the other night. It would make a great holiday side dish.

Here's what you need:
1 lb brussels sprouts
5 strips of center cut bacon
1 red onion
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
water/ice for shocking your sprouts

Here's what you do:
Start by boiling your water for the brussels sprouts.

Next, slice your onion by cutting into little crescent moon shapes.

Cut your bacon into about 1/2" pieces.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook your bacon until crispy.

Once crisp, scoop the cooked bacon out and set aside.

Hopefully by now, your water is boiling. Drop the brussels sprouts in.

Let those boil for 8-10 minutes. While they're boiling, fill a large bowl with ice and water and sit it next to your boiling sprouts.

Now, back to the other pan... drain about half of the bacon fat off and add about a tablespoon of butter. Drop in you onions.

Stir them around to coat them with the butter and bacon grease. (We did not say these were healthy, did we?)

While your onions are cooking, your brussels sprouts should be finished blanching. Scoop them out and straight into the ice bath.

Let them cool a bit. Slice them up by cutting the bottoms off and then quartering them. Any of the outer leaves that fall off during this process should be discarded with the bottoms.

At this point, your onions should have caramelized.

Once the onions are ready, toss the sprouts in with them. Then, add the bacon.

Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

2011-12-21T17:45:00.000-06:00

The baking extravaganza continues today. We made a TON of cookies. This sugar cookie recipe has been used since I was little. We made a double batch, so the pictures are off. The recipe is for a single batch, however.

Here's what you need:
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Here's what you do:
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Sift these ingredients together.

Soften your butter slightly and cream together with the sugar.

Blend in the egg, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and milk. We add a little extra of the lemon extract and vanilla extract.

Slowly add the dry ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Spread a couple layers of plastic wrap out on the counter.

Scoop your dough onto the plastic wrap and wrap it up.

Place in the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours.

I missed taking pictures of this next part because I was whipping up another cookie batter, but you'll need to sprinkle flour over a large flat surface, flour your rolling pin, and roll out a portion of the dough at a time. Cut with cookie cutters and decorate. The rule in our house is the kids decorate, so these are decorated by my nieces and my nephew. You can either decorate with sprinkles or icing.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

2011-12-20T18:00:00.000-06:00

We're still in pre-Christmas baking mode, so it's Michelle again. There are few things I like more in the world than pumpkin. My birthday falls on or around Thanksgiving every year and I'd rather have pumpkin pie than birthday cake.

My sister was wonderful enough to buy me a pie plate for my birthday, so now I can make my own pumpkin pies. As far as pie recipes go, this one is pretty simple, and, in my opinion, tastes amazing.

Here's what you need:

1 can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 pre-made pie crust

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 425.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs.

Add pumpkin and sugar mixture to the eggs.

Slowly add the evaporated milk to the mixture.

It should look like this when you're done:

Spread your pie crust out on your pie plate and pour the pumpkin mixture in.

Place into your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. After the initial 15 minutes, remove the pie from the oven, and cover the edges with foil. You don't want your crust to burn.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 and bake the pie for an additional 40-50 minutes. You should be able to stick a knife in the center and have it come out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for 2 hours on a wire rack.

Slice and top with whipped cream and serve.

Enjoy!

Fudge

2011-12-19T17:30:00.002-06:00

Hello all! Just Michelle today. Zack's not much of a baker, so you can pretty much assume any time sweets are involved, I'm behind the apron. My mom, sister, aunt and I got together over the weekend and baked, and baked. First off, I have to share our fudge recipe. It comes from a different aunt of mine and I think she really has it perfected.

Here's what you need:
1 stick oleo/butter
4 1/2 cups sugar
8 oz. evaporated milk
Dash of salt
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 small container of marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of nuts (optional)

Here's what you do:
Heat oleo, sugar, evaporated milk, and salt in a medium sauce pan.

Stir until the oleo melts.

Bring that to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium or medium-high. You want it to remain boiling, but not a hard boil. Let that bubble for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it burning to the bottom.

After 8-10 minutes, remove from heat and add the chocolate chips, marshmallow fluff, and vanilla. If you're adding nuts, this would be the time to do it.

Get this mixed up as quickly as you can and pour into a greased cookie sheet/jelly roll pan.

Let cool, slice and eat. I mean, share.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Fluff

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

We weren't planning on making this a blog originally. That's why there are no process pictures. Turns out, it was tasty and simple and we needed to share. You see, we had cool whip left over from Thanksgiving and no more pumpkin pie. So, instead of throwing the cool whip away, we created peanut butter fluff.

Here's what you need:
About 1/2 tub of Cool Whip Lite
4-5 Tbsp Peanut butter (ours is JIF Natural, but any smooth peanut butter will do)
Graham crackers

Here's what you do:
Scoop the peanut butter into a mixing bowl and pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds to loosen it up.

Dump the cool whip over the top and fold the two together. Mix gently, so you still keep the cool whip nice and fluffy.

Now, just spoon some on to graham crackers.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Knives

2011-12-16T18:00:00.000-06:00

If you enjoy cooking, you need good knives. You need to take care of your good knives. We have a set of Chicago Cutlery knives (not exactly the ones pictured above) that Zack invested in before we started dating 4 years ago. They still do their job well and we will probably have them around for years to come. We're kind of attached to them.

You don't have to go out and buy the most expensive set of knives out there. There are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for kitchen knives.

1. Is the steel of the knife forged in one piece all the way through the handle? It should be. Don't waste your time on a knife that isn't.

2. Is the knife weighted properly and fit well in your hand? The knife should feel comfortable for you to hold, and shouldn't be overly heavy at the base.

3. If purchasing a block of knives, is there a sharpener or honing case? You want to sharpen your knives regularly. If the knife sharpener isn't included (which it should be if you're purchasing the block) pick one up.

Mushroom Risotto

2011-12-14T18:15:00.001-06:00

Zack makes a killer risotto. We switch up the ingredients depending on the season and what looks good in the grocery store. In the past, we've used lemon and asparagus or just red wine, to name a couple. For this meal, we decided on mushrooms.

Here's what you need:
1 cup Arborio rice
1.5 lb mushrooms (we used a mix of Shitake and Baby Portabella)
8 cups chicken stock
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 cup dry white wine (we used Chardonnay)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Here's what you do:
Start by cleaning your mushrooms and removing the stems. You just want to gently wipe them with a damp paper towel. Slice the mushrooms up and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, heat 8 cups of chicken stock over medium-low heat. You don't want it to boil, just heat through.

Dice the shallots. Smash your garlic. You are going to take the garlic out, so you want to keep it whole. We'll just be flavoring the oil with it.

Heat the largest skillet you own to just above medium heat. Add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. Let the butter melt and clarify before adding anything else.

Toss your mushrooms in the pan and let them saute for 10-15 minutes.

They should soften, brown and shrink in size. Once cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.

Drop in the smashed garlic and let that brown up. Once the garlic has softened and browned, remove from the pan.

Toss in the shallot and let that simmer for a few minutes. You want the shallots to be opaque and tender.

Add the Arborio rice to the pan with the shallots. Stir that around to coat the rice completely with the oil. You want to toast the rice a bit in the pan before adding the liquid. Stir it occasionally to move the rice and prevent it from getting crispy.

After the rice toasts for a couple of minutes, cover it with about a 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Our wine of choice this time was Cycles Gladiator Chardonnay.

Stir that around and let the wine absorb into the rice. It will take a couple of minutes.

Pour two ladles of the warm chicken stock into the risotto and stir almost constantly until it absorbs.

This is what it should look like when you add the stock. Let it cook down to where you can just barely see the top of the rice.

Your risotto will look like this when it's ready to have more stock added:

Once the liquid absorbs, add two more ladles - stirring constantly.

With the third round of chicken stock, add your mushrooms back in the pan with the risotto.

After the third addition of stock absorbs, taste the risotto every five minutes until the risotto is no longer crispy. It should be tender and creamy.

Continue stirring, adding stock, stirring, etc. until your reach a creamy consistency. It should spread around the plate, not sit in a big clump.

6 or 7 cups of chicken stock might work for you. Zack had to use 8 cups this time, but each time seems to be a little different. This is why tasting is so important.

Once you're finished cooking the risotto, remove from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan and 3 tablespoons of butter.

Making risotto does take some time, and needs a lot of babysitting, however, we think it's worth it. The end result is so incredibly tasty! It helps to have two cooks in the kitchen so one can be stirring the risotto and the other can be finishing up the rest of the meal, like maybe the seared scallops we paired with it.

Enjoy!

Seared Diver Scallops with Lemon Pan Sauce

2011-12-12T18:01:00.000-06:00

Every so often, we splurge and have scallops at home. Fresh scallops aren't cheap by any means, so it's a rare occurrence.

Quick tip for purchasing scallops - If you buy them from the meat counter, be sure that the scallops are "dry". If they don't specifically say dry, we'd recommend buying the flash frozen scallops in the freezer case. Basically, some grocery stores soak their fresh scallops in a solution to help them stay fresh longer, however also preventing them for being able to get a good sear. The "dry" scallops have not been soaked in this solution and are just like you'd get in a restaurant.

Here's what you need:
Seared Scallops:
Scallops
Kosher salt
Butter
Vegetable oil

That's it. Don't ruin a perfectly good scallop with a lot of flavors!

Pan Sauce:
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup parsley
1 Tbsp dry white wine

Here's what you do:
Heat a pan to medium high heat. We want to get a nice sear, while not over cooking the scallop.

While you're pan is heating up, pat your scallops dry with a paper towel and salt them lightly on one side.

Coat the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil and add a tablespoon of butter.

Place your scallops, seasoned side down, into the pan. Season the top lightly. Let the scallops cook for 3 minutes on this side.

After 3 minutes, your scallops should have a nice brown color on the bottom and they will have turned mostly white. Flip them over and let cook for just one minute on this side.

Remove them from the pan and set aside. Maybe pop them in the microwave to keep them warm while you make your pan sauce.

Add a couple more tablespoons of butter to the hot pan and let that clarify. It won't take long - your pan should still be pretty hot. You may want to lift it off the heat with the addition of each ingredient to prevent spattering.

Add the white wine and let that simmer until it doesn't smell strongly like wine.

Now, add your lemon zest and let that simmer for just about 30 seconds. The zest in somewhere in those bubbles, we swear!

Finally, add the parsley in and remove from the heat. Stir it a bit to combine all of the flavors.

Spoon the pan sauce over the scallops.

We paired this with Zack's Mushroom Risotto. That blog will be coming soon.

Enjoy!

Turkey & Noodles Soup

2011-12-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

We had turkey left over from Thanksgiving, and a person can only eat so many turkey sandwiches. So, we got creative and made this tasty soup. If you don't have any more left over turkey, you can substitute with a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

Here's what you need:
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 cups (give or take) turkey
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2/3 cup white wine
1 cup fine noodles (ours are Amish fine noodles, but you can use any small noodle)
1 Tbsp savory seasoning blend
2-3 springs of thyme
2 bay leaves
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:
Peel and chop your carrot.

Chop your celery to about the same size as your carrots.

And repeat with your shallots.

Mince the garlic. Keep the garlic separate from the carrot, celery and shallot.

Heat your stock pot over medium heat and add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once your oil is hot, toss the carrot, celery and shallot in and toss it around to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle about 1/2 of the savory seasoning over the top and salt and pepper a bit.

Let the veggies cook for 5-7 minutes, or until they just start to soften. Add in the garlic and let that cook for about 10 more minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, chop your cooked turkey into bite-size pieces.

Turn your heat up to medium-high and add the white wine to the vegetables. Let that simmer until it no longer smells like wine when you take a whiff. It should just take a couple of minutes.

Add the bay leaves, thyme, the other half of the savory seasoning, some more salt and pepper. If you want to bundle your thyme sprigs, feel free, but they weren't hard to fish out at the end.

Then, add the turkey. Let the turkey warm through before you add the liquids.

Pour in your chicken stock.

And the water.

Stir that up and give it a taste. Season as needed.

Bring the soup to a boil and add your noodles. Boil the noodles according the the package directions - ours was 9-12 minutes.

We paired ours with a dinner roll that we brushed with a little herb butter.

Enjoy!

Salmon Spread

2011-12-08T18:12:00.003-06:00

Michelle's Aunt Susan and Uncle Tony brought this to Thanksgiving for an appetizer. Michelle's sister made this for a holiday party the next week, so we tagged along to document the process. Let us just say this... Michelle is not normally a huge fan of salmon, unless it's in this salmon spread. Oh. My. Goodness. It was amazing.

Tony adapted this recipe from the late Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, who reportedly took it from his mother.

Here's what you need:
1 1/4 -1 1/2 lb salmon steaks
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (be careful with this because it can make it bitter)
1 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
2 Tbsp mayonnaise or sour cream
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (Plus 1/4 cup for the poaching liquid)
Pinch of salt and pepper (plus 8-10 whole peppercorns for poaching liquid)
Water for poaching

Here's what you do:
This is best done in two steps. First, cook the salmon and cool before combining it with the cheese mix.

Poach the salmon in the water, lemon juice and peppercorns for about 8-10 minutes. Cool and remove any bones and skin before combining with the cheese mix. (If you are grilling ahead of time, you can grill the salmon and cool it. If you do this, watch the liquid smoke).

Soften the cream cheese to room temperature for at least one hour.

Combine the cream cheese, mayo (or sour cream), lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt and pepper and mix until smooth.

Crumble the cooled salmon into pieces and combine with the cream cheese mix.

Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. (It holds well for a couple of days as long as you keep it well sealed against other refrigerator smells).

Serve by spreading on pita chips, bagel chips, or other firm crackers.

Enjoy!

The Mix 'n Chop

2011-12-06T18:27:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year, we discovered the mix n' chop. If you read our blog with any regularity, you'll realize that we brown a lot of ground meats. This amazing little tool has made our lives much easier. If you need to break up ground beef, pork, sausage, turkey, chicken - anything - you should have one of these. It makes quick work of breaking up the meat and allows you to move on to prepping other things.

We bought ours through Pampered Chef. You can find others, but we can't attest to their handiness. We realize this is the second plug for Pampered Chef, and no, we don't sell it on the side, we just like the Pampered Chef one because it has these handy pinwheel shaped blades that really chop the meat up. Plus, it's nylon, so you can use it on any pan without worrying about scratching your cookware. And, it's dishwasher safe, which is always helpful!

Four thumbs up!

Sausage Hash

2011-12-02T18:00:00.002-06:00

We had some leftover stuffing from our sausage stuffed mushrooms. Once you've had the stuffing, you'll agree, that it's too good to waste. We found a way to have it the day after the holiday, with minimal effort required on our part.

Here's what you need:
Leftover stuffing from our Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
4 eggs

Here's what you do:
Beat four eggs until light and fluffy.

In a skillet, heat the sausage stuffing mixture through (go just above medium for the heat).

Once that's warm, pour the eggs over it.

Let that sit until the bottom starts to cook.

Using a spatula, fold the hash over to cook the other side. It should still be a bit creamy.

Now, all you have to do is enjoy!

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

2011-11-30T18:00:00.001-06:00

We made these mushrooms last year at our family Thanksgivings and Christmases. We are now always expected to show up, mushrooms in hand. We normally pop them into the oven to cook when we arrive out our destination, but you can travel with them if you can keep them warm.

We can't take credit for the recipe (Thanks, Ina Garten!), but it's too good not to share. You can make the filling the day before and bake them right before you need to serve them.

Here's what you'll need:
16 extra large Baby Portabella mushrooms (regular baby bellas work fine, but if you can find stuffing mushrooms, grab them!)
5 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp Marsala wine (may substitute medium sherry)
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage (we actually use a pound, because we like having extra)
3 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
5 oz. marscarpone cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 1/2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Start off by preheating your oven to 325 F.

Clean the mushrooms by wiping gently with a damp paper towel.

Remove stems and chop finely.

Throw the mushroom caps in a bowl and coat with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the marsala wine. Let them hang out and soak up all that flavor while you make the filling.

Mince up the shallot and garlic.

Heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the sausage and brown completely, about 8-10 minutes. Once browned, add the shallot and garlic and let that cook for a couple minutes to soften them up.

Add the chopped mushroom stems, stir and cook for about 3 more minutes. The mushrooms will start to brown up and shrink in size.

Add in the panko and then marscarpone. Continue to cook until the marscapone gets all melty and delicious.

Remove from heat and stir in the parsley, Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you're making the filling the day before, this is where you stop and put it in the fridge. Just heat the stuffing through a bit before you put them in the mushrooms.

Fill each mushroom with the sausage mixture, so that it puffs out over the top of the mushroom cap. Place all your stuffed mushrooms into a baking dish - don't worry if they're touching.

We typically have extra filling (on purpose). We'll follow up with what tasty dish we make with the extra filling.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until the stuffing looks brown and crusty on top.

Enjoy!

Spinach Feta Casserole

2011-11-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

This is a family favorite in Michelle's family. It graces our table for just about every holiday meal. And the best part - it's seriously easy to make, which makes holiday cooking that much easier. We recommend you make it for your upcoming holiday celebrations.

Here's what you need:
2 packages of frozen spinach
3 eggs
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 6 oz tub of feta cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 shallot
Dash of nutmeg
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper.

Here's what you do:
Thaw your spinach completely and squeeze out as much water as you can. We like to line a strainer with paper towels and let it strain out while it's thawing.

Next, dice your shallot.

Beat the eggs and soften your butter.

Sprinkle in a dash of nutmeg.

Mix everything up in a large mixing bowl.

Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish. Pour your mixed spinach mixture in and spread evenly throughout.

Now, you can make this ahead of time and let sit in the fridge until you're ready to bake it and put it on the table. We mixed ours at home, then traveled to our holiday party and popped it in the oven right before the meal.

Enjoy!

Fried Eggs with Brown Butter Caper Sauce

2011-11-26T08:18:00.000-06:00

Weekend breakfast is an important meal in our home. We like taking a little extra time and making something special together on a Saturday or Sunday morning. We made this last weekend for Sunday brunch. It only takes about 15 minutes, because the hash browns take a little longer to crisp up.

Here's what you need:
4 eggs
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1/2 Tbsp capers
Freshly ground black pepper
Cilantro/Parsley to garnish
2 cups hash browns
about 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Kosher salt

Here's what you do:
Heat a 12" skillet just above medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and the hash browns and toss around to coat the hash browns in the oil.

Let your hash browns cook for about 5 minutes, then in a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, toss in the capers.

Hopefully by how, your hash browns look like this, which is just about half way finished.

In a third skillet, melt another tablespoon of butter in a 12" skillet.

Once the butter is melted like above, add your eggs to the skillet. We like to crack our eggs into custard cups and then gently slide them in the pan. This also prevents any chance of cracking shells into your eggs. Pepper them, but hold off on the salt. The capers should have plenty of salt flavor.

We let them all cook together in one big mass for a bit, then break them apart with a spatula.

Keep an eye on your brown butter caper sauce, when it looks like this, pull it off the heat. You can't really see it, but the capers have gotten crispy.

Flip your eggs gently and as quick as you can. Keep them low in the pan to try to keep the eggs from breaking. Sorry for the blurry picture!

Don't season this side, because you should have seasoned the flip side well enough. Let the eggs cook for just about a minute to set the white. We like runny yolks, plus it's going to be an additional "sauce" over your hash browns.

Plate by putting a bed of crispy hash browns down first. Top with your egg and then pour the brown butter caper sauce over that. Finally, sprinkle some chopped cilantro (or parsley) over that.

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:30:00.001-06:00

As you may have guessed, Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays. We love getting together with our family, and of course, all of the tasty food.

No recipes today, but we wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you all are also enjoying some great food. We'll have our Thanksgiving creations up for you soon!

Bean Salad

2011-11-22T18:00:00.000-06:00

We mentioned before that we went to a Food Day party. We made the amazing couscous and chickpea salad. Our friends Laura and Tony made this delectable bean salad. Of course, we had to get the recipe. We finally tried it out for ourselves, and it was still really tasty... even if we did forget to buy the red pepper.

Here's what you need:
1 can white beans

There was a sale on Bush's Beans!

1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans)
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup scallions
3/4 cup red onion (one small red onion)
1 red bell pepper
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:
Rinse and chop your scallions.

Dice your red onion.

This is where you would also dice your red pepper. Oops.

Dump all or your beans into a strainer and rinse them. Stir them around a bit to make sure they all get a good rinse.

Dump the beans, scallions, red onion, and red pepper into a large mixing bowl.

Add the balsamic,

And the red wine vinegar,

The honey,

And finally, the olive oil.

Stir this mixture up thoroughly. You want to make sure everything is evenly coated with the dressing. If you want to mix the dressing up before hand to make sure it emulsifies, that might be a good idea. We didn't think of that until just now. Did we mention we were tired when we made this? Well, we were. Anyway, mix that all up and enjoy. We had some right away, but I'm guessing it will taste even better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!

The Flat Whisk

2011-11-20T08:50:00.001-06:00

Today we're highlighting one of our favorite tools - the flat whisk. If you ever deglaze a pan, this kitchen tool is a must. Yes, a regular whisk will do the job, but the flat whisk really gets in the edges of the pan and gets all of the good bits of flavor off the bottom. It also does a wonderful job with making the roux for gravy or sauces like hollandaise. We're huge fans of tools that make things easier in the kitchen, and this tool definitely delivers.

We have a silicone coated flat whisk, which is great because the sound of metal on metal sets Michelle's teeth on edge. It also protects your non-stick pans from scratching.

We give the flat whisk four thumbs up.