This can be one of my favorite meals when I’m in the mood for something light and healthy… and in the mood for salmon, of course. I don’t really dress any of it up too much… The salmon marinades shortly in some olive oil, white wine and lemon juice. I’m not sure if you’re “supposed” to do it that way, but I do. It’s usually a parmesan couscous that I have on the side, accompanied by some steamed asparagus. There’s something about those three foods together that makes my mouth sing. I don’t make this all that often, but when I do, it’s a treat!
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This was quite a rich meal… Ribeye Steaks with a Blue Cheese Mushroom Onion Gravy, Acorn Squash, and Goat Cheese Stuffed Croissants. The gravy came out a bit thinner than I would have liked, but it was still tasty. The recipe came from The Pioneer Woman. I think I would have used a bit less heavy cream, and I did add mushrooms to our gravy while cutting down on the amount of onions. Still, I thought it to be an excellent sauce to go over steaks. Ingredients below:
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Large Onion (plus Sliced Mushrooms)
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
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Posted in Cooking, Food Pics, Ingredients, tagged Bacon, beans, Chili, Chipolte Peppers, Ground Beef, Ground Turkey, Ingredients, Tomatoes on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Mr. Food Groove made an exceptionally delicious chili last week. It was perfectly hearty and warm for the cooler weather that is now upon us. It also had a perfect amount of spice to it… I, myself, tend to be a non-spicy type of person. Oftentimes, dishes such as chili have just too much heat for my tastes, but this one had a wonderful combination of tangy heat and hearty beans. Here are the ingredients that he used… Believe it or not, and it may not be too hard to believe, but the bacon added a nice additional smoky flavor to it too. Shredded cheese on top, of course… We also added some scrambled eggs to the leftover chili during the week… yum!
- 1-lb. Ground Beef
- 1-lb. Ground Turkey
- 3/4-lb. Bacon
- 2 cans Diced Tomatoes with Garlic
- 3 cans Bush’s Mild Chili Beans
- Green Chilies, diced
- Yellow Onion, diced
- 6-oz. Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
Normally, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of adding chipotle peppers to anything, but in the past few years, I’ve come to appreciate the smoky flavors that they can add to a dish. Never would I have imagined…
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Well, I meant to cut into this burrito-of-sorts before I took the picture… It’s filled with a saute of mushrooms, garlic and baby spinach, mixed together with cream cheese. Quite yummy, if I may say so myself. I rolled that mixture into the tortilla type of wraps and sprinkled some shredded cheese on top. That went into the oven to bake and warm and melt the cheese. I pulled out some garden-grown yellow cherry tomato salsa that I had in the freezer, and I also mashed up two avocados for the topping here. (I did, however, add too much fresh lime juice… so be it.) Cut it all with a dollop of sour cream and call it dinner. 
I had actually assembled the burritos the night beforehand and kept them in the fridge… very nice to come home and just stick them in the oven…
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Well, seeing as we had our fill of meats and cheeses this weekend, I’m thinking of going veggies and legumes for the next few days. Tonight, it’s just a basic salad. I’m thinking of mushroom and spinach burritos for tomorrow, and a beans and tomato type of thing the next day. I meant to make some rice for that last one, hmmm. I’ll do that tomorrow night, seeing as the mushrooms and spinach are prepped and ready to go.
Basic salad ingredients at The Food Groove:
- Romaine Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Green Onions
- Cucumbers
- Artichoke Hearts
- A bit of cubed Smoked Gouda that was sitting around
Even when one is a bit meat and cheesed out, there’s still room for a lil bit of cheese.
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This recipe comes pretty much verbatim from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It is a seasonal favorite of mine, for when the tomatoes are abundant and fresh. The ingredients are all the ones I love… pasta, mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, garlic… And that’s pretty much it!
The picture above doesn’t really do the sauce justice, since you really can’t see it. But it’s basically tomatoes and basil pureed in a blender, which turns out to be a lovely shade of pink and pretty darn yummy!
- 4 cups Tomotoes, chopped
- 8 large Basil leaves
- 1 large Garlic Clove, minced
- 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1 lb. Pasta (I used Whole Wheat Rotini)
- 1/2 lb. Fresh Mozzarelle, cubed
1. Bring a large covered pot of water to a boil.
2. Set aside 1 cup of chopped tomatoes and 2 of the basil leaves. In a blender or food processor, puree the remaining tomatoes and basil with the garlic and olive oil. (This time, I sauteed the garlic with some olive oil first, instead of adding it raw.)
3. When the water comes to a boil, stir in the pasta and cook as directed. As the pasta cooks, chop the remaining basil leaves.
4. Drain pasta and toss immediately with mozzarella cubes. Add the sauce and mix well. Top with reserved tomatoes and basil. Serve immediately.
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And they are particularly good for Football Sundays! Sometimes I like my nachos with a lot of “stuff” on them, but more often, I like them simple. My basic method of preparation involves chopping fresh tomatoes and green onions, sprinkling shredded cheese (usually a cheddar blend) over top, and warming them in the oven. Yes, pretty simple and pretty darn tasty. The guacamole that I made here was excellent… 2 avocados and the juice of 1 lime. It was fantastic! Just enough lime to enhance the avocados, which were perfectly ripe. And a dollop of sour cream on the side…
Of course, there are time when nachos call for something more, like chicken or beans. I think that refried black beans are my favorite, though I’ve been known to sprinkle some straight black beans on them, too. I’m not a fan of heaps of salsa, but sometimes I’ll add a little on top, or more likely I’ll serve it on the side. When it comes right down to it, my one requirement would simply be lots of cheese.
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We recently added a basic deep fryer to our inventory of kitchen appliances. I’m not certain I would have picked one out on my own, but I have to say, the french fried potatoes that we’ve been making are absolutely delicious! They are a nice crispy (as long as I get them sliced thinly enough) and quite flavorful.
We’ve been using Sea Salt on our fried potatoes, and I think that is what is making all the difference. They are lightly salty, but not in that covered-in-table-salt kind of way. For this last batch, we added some Garlic Powder too… Yum!!
Once the potato slices come out of the deep fryer, they go onto a cookie sheet pre-sprinkled with the sea salt and garlic powder. The proven technique has been to use two forks to separate the potato slices and arrange them in a single layer. Then, they are shaken back and forth to coat the bottoms. Before going into a serving dish, the tops are lightly sprinkled with another round of salt and garlic powder. Big kudos to Mr. Foodgroove and Pup for perfecting this method!
I didn’t expect to enjoy these quite so much… Though I should have, because I am a potato chip fanatic. I do think it’s essential to use the sea salt, most definitely. We’ve got some other items we want to try frying, such as onion rings and wontons and such. For the moment though, we’re basking in the goodness of homemade fried potato slices. I might have to come up with a better name for them though… 
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This dish is a classic around these parts… a Pasta Carbonara of sorts. It’s a relatively simple dish, but hearty and warm, and with many of my favorite ingredients… Pasta, Mushrooms, Bacon, Parmesan, and sometimes Chicken. It’s easy to cook during the week; it always provides yummy leftovers; and it’s lightly hearty for those cooler evenings of autumn… And those cooler evenings have arrived with a bang…
- 16-oz. Whole Wheat Pasta of choice (I often use penne)
- 8 slices Bacon, rough cut
- 3/4-1 lb. Chicken Breasts, if desired (I usually cut mine into bite-sized pieces before cooking)
- 1 medium Red Onion, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 12-16 oz. Mushrooms, sliced
- 3/4 cups or so Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream (though I usually use half and half because it’s always here)
1. Cook pasta as directed.
2. While pasta is cooking, cook bacon. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Cook chicken in bacon grease. When done, remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Cook onion, garlic and mushrooms in bacon grease til tender. Add cooked chicken and warm through. Add bacon, cheese and cream, and cook til thickened and heated through (about 5 minutes). Serve over pasta.
The ingredients are cooking together here, minus the cheese and cream, and it should be thickening a bit. At times I’ve had a bit too much liquid still, so I just scoop some out before adding the cheese and cream. Voila!
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So, this dish made for a pretty good dinner, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for in a Chinese Chicken and Noodles. The sauce was strong and tangy on its own, but once it was mixed in the dish, it lost its oompf… Probably could have been doubled, at least. I’ll have to play around with the ingredients and work on it a bit more. The recipe originated from here, and although it was written as a cold salad, I made it warmed. Perhaps that contributed to its ‘meh’-ness. I’m sure I’ll try making homemade Chinese food again… I’ve got some fresh ginger that will need using soon. That, and some wonton wrappers too… All good.
Oh, I did have quite a bit of fun running the cabbage and carrots through the food processor (even if it was a messy endeavor). Here’s my big bag o’ shredded cabbage:
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