Curry Heals the Soul

Recently I found a recipe that involved sweet potatoes in a curry. I love sweet potatoes. The recipe was a turn off at first because it was quite time consuming and tedious. I decided to throw it aside and do it my way!

Basic ingredients you will need:
2 tsp curry
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper and ground red pepper
ginger
dried crushed bay leaf OR fresh if you have it
canned tomatoes, pound or so of fresh chicken breast, onion, garlic chicken broth, 2 small/medium sweet potatoes, frozen peas and a can of chickpeas

In a small bowl mix all of the above spices, including a healthy dash of salt and pepper and a light dash of ground red pepper. Also finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl, and if you have fresh ginger chop a bit of that as well - maybe a teaspoon or a little better - or use about a 1/2 tsp of ground ginger.

Cut the chicken breast into small chunks and place into your favorite soup pot that has heated up with some olive oil in the bottom. Start to brown the chicken. Chop half of a large onion vertically, so it is in long strips, and add to the chicken. Once the onion starts to become tender stir in the bowl of spices. Add in about 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 small can of diced tomatoes (with juice), the 2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed, and also the chickpeas (drained). Let it all simmer for a good hour - with the pot either uncovered or only slightly covered. This will help the liquid reduce some and become thicker. Stir occasionally and enjoy the lovely aromas. Just before serving add appx 1 cup of frozen peas and heat them through. If you used a fresh bay leaf - discard - and serve over your favorite rice. I favor jasmine.

Yum!

Homemade Applesauce

This fall I caught a wild bug and went and bought an entire bushel of apples. That's FOURTY-TWO POUNDS! I think I bought Cortland...use a firm, slightly tart variety in any case.

Besides apple pie, apple dumplings, apple coffee cake and apple butter, I made some really fantastic applesauce.

Pull out your bathroom scale, unless of course you have a "kitchen scale"...really though if you do, you need to "wing it" a bit more. Place a large bowl onto the scale and fill it with apples until you reach about 8-9 pounds.

After you peeled them, cored them, and left them in large chunks (maybe only quarter your apples if they are small - eighths if they are big), place the apples in a large pot with:

-The peel of one lemon (cut about 8 wide strips down the lemon - leaving some of the white on the fruit - a vegetable peeler works good)
-The juice of 2 lemons
-A healthy bit of cinnamon
-1/2 cup dark brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 cup water
-1 teaspoon of salt

Cover the pot and bring mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. You'll know it's ready if the apples are starting to break up. You'll actually want to carefully sample a bit to make sure your sugar is right. Depending on the apples you might want a bit more. Remove from heat and remove the lemon peels. Mash to desired consistency with a potato masher.

This will make about 3 quarts of applesauce. I made two batches, ate a bunch, and ended up with 4 quarts in the freezer. If you have it stored in an actual deep freeze it is supposed to keep up to a year!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Although this recipe is NOT hard, it is a bit time consuming. It's exactly the type of cooking I wait all week for...my weekend therapy. The most important thing to remember is I think it will be a pretty forgiving dish. You won't mess it up!

A run down of ingredients will include:

1 pkg of wonton wrappers (mine had about 48 and it was perfect)

1 butternut squash

8oz of your favorite fresh mushrooms

Pine nuts

bacon, pancetta, or not (I used about 3 slices of centercut bacon)

Chicken stock

cream (optional)

Bread Crumbs

Garlic

1 Egg

Parmesan Cheese

Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, Flour, Butter

First things first - get the squash sawed in half and scoop out the seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Coat a pan with a small amount of olive oil and place the squash flesh side down. Roast at about 400 degrees...until it's done. It will probably take 30-45 minutes.

In the mean time crisp the bacon or pancetta if you opt to use it. Pull it out of your frying pan and drain almost all of the grease out, but leave a bit for the sauce you will make later. By a bit I mean just what coats the bottom of it. You will also want to toast a handful - like 1/4 cup - of pine nuts in a small skillet. Shake the skillet often so they do not burn! Use a small chopper to finely chop them - not so they are ground up, but slightly chunky still.

In a bowl - scoop out one of the squash halves. Save the other for another time. Add in 1 egg, a handful of bread crumbs (1/4 cup-ish), handful of parmesan, sprinkle of nutmeg-salt-pepper, half the pine nuts you chopped, half of the bacon or pancetta, and a few mushrooms finely chopped.

Place one wonton wrapper down - top with a tablespoon of filling (hello cookie dough scoop!), wet the edges with your finger dipped in water - and then top with a second wonton wrapper. Place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray so they don't stick. I'd also suggest maybe staying in a single layer.

Once you have all of the ravioli made, prepare a large pot of water and a dash of olive oil to heat on the stove on med-high heat. You don't actually want a full boil for cooking the ravioli.

While waiting, heat back up your skillet you used to cook the bacon. Add a (generous) tablespoon or so of butter into the pan. Slice up the rest of the mushrooms and finely chop 1-2 cloves of garlic and add to the pan to saute for a few minutes. Toss in a handful of flour - probably not a 1/4 cup this time, but more like a few tablespoons. It should make a thick paste with the oils you have in the pan for sauteing. Using a whisk or a spatula slowly start to work in some chicken broth. Add it slowly until you find a consistency you are happy with. Slightly runny is good for this use. Dump back in the rest of the bacon and pine nuts, and finish with a splash of cream if you'd like.

Sometime half-way through making happy sauce, the water should start to simmer good. If it starts to boil turn it down a bit. Drop the ravioli in a few at a time - depending on the size of your pot. I could fit about 6 in mine. They will only need to cook about 3 minutes, and then use a large slotted spoon to raise back out of the pan. Place on a large serving platter. If you need to layer them you should coat them with a bit of oil to prevent sticking - I used some olive oil cooking spray. Top with a bit of sauce (a little goes a long way!) and parmesan cheese, have some nice salad and bread on the side and enjoy!

Drunken Noodles!

I had never eaten Thai food until probably about two years ago. I was driving around with my accomplice and he suggested it. I said, "I don't know about no Thai food, just Ty food, like chicken nuggets!" Needless to say it was an addictive good time. Now my "Ty food" collection has grown to include meats cooked with spicy peanut sauce. He loves it. Might have to test out these noodles on him next!

Besides playing with some peanut sauce now and then I never attempted to actually cook Thai food. It seemed like it would be complicated. Boy was I wrong!

I found a relatively easy looking recipe for Drunken Noodles yesterday, and altered it to make it make sense to me. Delish!

Cook 6-8 oz flat rice noodles according to package directions. It should involve some form of soaking. I couldn't find the wide noodles, and used the skinny kind. The box told me to boil some water - add the noodles - shut the heat off and let them soak for 3 minutes - rinse - set aside.

In a small bowl, combine 4 T. soy sauce, 2T. oyster sauce, and 2 tsp. brown sugar. Set aside for later.

Heat 1 T. canola oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. This is the part you could add your favorite meat or some tofu and cook, then set aside until the end. I made mine just with veggies and had some chicken with peanut sauce on the side.

Add 4-5 minced garlic cloves and saute for about 15 seconds. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (take it easy - you can always add more!), 1 small head of broccoli chopped into small florets, 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, and a handful of pea pods. (This is the part where you make it yours with favorite veggies. Carrots, celery, mushrooms, peppers, etc. - whatever is tasty!) Stir fry the veggies about a minute.

Next you add in that sauce from above, the noodles, a couple good handfuls of bean sprouts, a very good handful of Thai Basil coarsely chopped, and reserved meat or tofu from above if you choose to have it, and stir fry all together for another 1-2 minutes, until veggies are tender crisp.

Thai Basil was new to me, and I was certain I was not going to be able to find it. Low and behold it was there. It is definitely different from traditional basil, although the recipe said you could use traditional basil if you couldn't find the Thai. I'm not convinced of this, but I know where I can find Thai Basil now!

Ragu Begone!

There is something genuinely satisfying about chopping up a bunch of vegetables. It's kind of like chopping up a whole chicken successfully, yet different.

Some time last year I stopped buying spaghetti sauce. Some time Saturday night, between bar stops, my best batch of sauce yet was created. There is still a notch out of my left index finger to prove it.

Super Chunky Pasta Sauce

Heat a splash of olive oil in a deep skillet. Add 5-6 large cloves of garlic as finely chopped as you can manage (without adding fingers to the skillet), 1/2 onion chopped, 1/2 green pepper chopped, 1/2 red pepper chopped, a handful of fresh mushrooms thick sliced (baby bellas!), 1/4 cup fresh oregano finely chopped, 1/4 cup fresh parsely finely chopped and 1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped. If you don't have the fresh versions of the herbs use a few good teaspoons of dried. Salt and pepper it all to taste.

Once you've got your saute on and everything smells great and is tender, dump in a couple of cans (15 oz size) of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes (don't drain) and a small can of tomato paste (the teeny tiny can). You "could" run the tomatoes through a food processor to smooth them out if you wanted, but seriously...why? Let it all simmer together on low heat while you get the rest of the meal together!

Great on gnocchi, ravioli, any pasta, and for my gluten-free friends - just add to some nicely cooked chicken! Actually if I was eating it straight with chicken maybe a splash or two of red pepper flakes would be nice to wake it up a bit?

One Fish. Two Fish. Pink Fish. Bacon Fish.

I've been trying to make fish a larger part of my diet. I don't like most creatures from the water, but I am learning more about fish and have now branched out from canned tuna to whole salmon fillets. It is a big deal!

Recently I could not resist a massive salmon fillet from Westborn Market in Berkley, MI. I can't usually resist their chicken Italian sausages either, but did this time somehow. Perhaps because I had a 3 pound salmon fillet in my cart.

The preparation is extremely simple. I cut the fillet into 3 manageable pieces because I was going to grill it. Rub both sides with olive oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and fresh black pepper. In a small bowl, coarsley cut up fresh dill - LOTS of fresh dill, and slice some lemons - probably about 2 lemons.

Place the fillet skin side up for a few minutes to get a little color on it - then flip so the skin is down. The skin will grill up really crispy for those that eat it. I don't, but it did look tasty! After the flip, top with lots of dill and lay down some lemon slices. The fish won't take long to cook - depending on the heat of your grill maybe about 10 minutes. Run a spatula under the fish occasionally to make sure it isn't sticking, but you shouldn't have any trouble! Serve with extra lemon wedges. Super fresh and tasty fish!

Next up - bacon fish! This is as simple as the first. I'm not a big fan of bacon, but this was tasty. Season your favorite fillets of fish - small-ish sized - with salt and pepper. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on them. Add some red pepper flakes and cumin for some kick if you like! Wrap the fillets with one or two pieces of bacon and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

My apologies for the lack of photographic evidence of food goodness, however, sometimes its just too damn good to take the time to grab the camera.

Mini Pizzas, Margaritas, and Mud Pie Cake

A recent Friday night we had a "party". Mini me picks out a menu and we go for it. This menu was mini pizzas and mud pie cake. I added the margarita part, because...well...it was Friday night.

Mini pizzas are nothing more than the crust recipe a few entries back. We divided the dough into 6 pizzas, did our best to shape them into circles, added tomato sauce, herbs, and our favorite toppings. They're nice because everybody can make their own just how they want it!

Mud Pie Cake was a first for us, but we loved it for so many reasons. It is difficult sometimes to bake for just a few people, and this cake was just the right size. It also uses ingredients you are certain to have on hand. The final result is so light and wonderful you will find yourself wanting to eat the entire cake!

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar ,1 T unsweetened cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a dash of salt. Add in 1/4 cup milk (fat free is okay!), 1 T. canola oil, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. (I would have also liked to add some pecans at this point, but this was Ty's cake!)

At this point you are thinking to yourself that you screwed up the recipe because there is not very much batter. It's cool. You're doing fine! Spread this batter as best you can in a greased 9" pie plate.

In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, and 2/3 cup boiling water. This is the mud part. It looks like dirty water! Slowly pour this over the batter.

You're still certain you've screwed something up, or this can't possibly work. Trust me, I felt the same way! Just put it in the oven, set your timer for 20 minutes, and walk away. It will be perfect! Eat it while it is still warm - best with berries and ice cream.

Once you cut into it all that liquid you had poured on top of the batter has baked into the middle and thickened up into "mud". It's quite fantastic!

Now for the margaritas. If your margaritas involve a bucket of slush from the grocery store, you're doing it ALL wrong. They are so easy to make and so very good.

The key here is 1/2 cup. 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup lime juice (Rose's), 1/2 cup triple sec, 1/2 cup Jose, and 1/4 cup sugar diluted in 1/4 cup water (which should make 1/2 cup sugar water). Add ice to fill the blender and voila!

Bring on the Sunshine!

Summer = Fresh.
Fresh salsa is SO good. I just heard you groan with displeasure at the work before you. I've got your back on this one!

Open a 16oz jar of your favorite salsa. I used "medium".
Chop a medium green pepper, medium red bell pepper, half a red onion, 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, 3-ish medium ripe tomatoes, and 1/4 cup fresh cilantro. Also add 1 small can chopped green chiles, 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans, and about 2 cups of fresh or frozen (and thawed) sweet corn. Mix in a spoonful of sugar, spoonful of salt and spoonful of cumin. Squeeze in the juice of one lime and let it all hang out for awhile.

Yummy! If you like some spice I think you can use a "hot" salsa as the base. The medium actually washed right out with all the additions. You could also use a fresh jalapeno pepper. I liked it without too much spice though. It stayed super fresh and light and hit everybody's taste buds in all the right ways!

Grown Up Pizza

Finally a pizza crust recipe I love, that turns out every single time...

Ingredients
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/4 cups warm water (100° to 110°)
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add 2 3/4 cups flour, oil, and salt to yeast mixture; stir until blended. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Divide dough in half. Flatten onto pan (I love using stonewear, and you can roll it right on the stone) Top and bake at 450 until its done (probably about 15 minutes)

*Substituting white whole wheat flour cup for cup works good and adds an extra nutritional kick to the dough without the kiddos even realizing it!

Below, one of my proudest moments. The pizza in the front used a basil pesto for the sauce, then was topped with artichokes, kalmatta olives, thinly sliced tomatoes, spinach, and feta cheese. The crust was rolled super thin and baked until it was very crispy, and quite possibly was one of the best things I've ever made! Other pizza shown is red pepper and fresh mushrooms, also very tasty.

Dessert. It's the new dinner.

This morning we made Tropical Yogurt Ice. We've been waiting all week for the mangoes to ripen, and today they were calling us.

Cut up 2 bananas and 2 mangoes and place in blender. Add 2 cups of plain yogurt, 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, and juice from half a lemon. Blend up good and place in a shallow container that has a tight fitting lid. Place in freezer. After three hours stir it up to break up the ice crystals, and return to freezer. After another three hours stir again and return to freezer until ready to eat. You will need to let it sit out for a bit to scoop it easy and enjoy!

Before we left this morning, I asked my sous chef to pick out something to make for dinner. He picked a chocolate cake recipe. I asked him to add the sprinkles, and silly me, didn't pay much attention. We got sprinkles alright!

Little Chocolate Cake

2 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour milk (place 1 tsp white vinegar in your measuring cup and fill with milk)

Stir the chocolate (chop it into smaller pieces first) and hot water until blended. Cool mixture. Add in sugar shortening egg and vanilla - mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the chocolate - alternating with the milk. Pour into a greased 8" square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool and top with frosting:

In a saucepan, mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 2 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate (melted) 2 tablespoons shortening, 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Over medium heat, and stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil and boil for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and place the pan into a larger pan or bowl of ice water. Mix for 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons butter or margarine and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Continue mixing for up to 10 minutes.

The frosting will become very gooey - almost caramel like. I don't normally go to such lengths for frosting but this one is worth it!

Put the cake together with the Tropical Yogurt Ice and you have a match made in heaven!

(We did actually consume a real dinner, which even involved salad, so it completely justifies consuming a plateful of goods!)

The chef says, "It's fifty-thousand and nine thousand thumbs up!"

Peach Popsicles

The snow melts and we hit 50 so that warranted popsicle weather somehow. We made our own, and I can't see us ever buying them again!

Place 3 peaches in a medium size bowl and cover with boiling water. After about 30 seconds remove them and dip them into cold water. At this point the skins should slide right off. Peel and remove the pits and chop into pieces.

Place the peaches along with 1 1/4 cups orange juice and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar into the blender and blend until smooth.

Into popsicle molds or disposable cups, place a spoonful of fruit cocktail. Pour the popsicle mix over until about half full and then add another spoonful of fruit. Finish filling the cups. Add popsicle sticks and freeze overnight!

A quote from the chef himself - "They are very good and we made them on Tuesday. This is 5 stars!"

Cost was about $2.00 for 4 regular size popsicles and 3 plastic cup oversized popsicles. Not bad. When peaches are in season this will be very cheap to make! The chef seems to like them better than store bought too!

The Bread You Can't Screw Up

We made bread on Friday night. It's an overnight dough recipe, and has yet to fail me or anybody I've known that has tried it. There are two things my mom actually does consistently well, and that is make gravy and make bread. I suck at both. This recipe cured my bread problem...but don't ask me to make a white gravy!

Ideally you would start this at about 3pm. I started at more like 6, and was up until about 12:30am.

Boil 4 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add 1 cup vegetable oil and let all cool until lukewarm...like baby bathwater warm.

In a LARGE bread bowl beat 4 eggs. In a seperate small bowl, stir together 1 package yeast, 1/4 cup water and 1 Tablespoon salt. Mix into the eggs and also add the sugar water mixutre. Next measure in about 10 cups of flour to start and mix it all up. Total flour will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-14 cups, but add slowly and knead in after each addition!

Once the dough is mixed to a point that its not too sticky, and nice and pliable, leave it alone and stop adding flour! Cover with a towel and let rest for 2-3 hours until double (This would be about 6 pm if you started at 3). Punch the dough down, cover, and let rise again. At about 9pm you are ready to put the dough into pans in whatever form your heart desires.

You should make at least one pan of caramel rolls. I must give mad props to my home-ec teacher Gloria for teaching us how to make this caramel. It's so simple, and doesn't get hard and chewy! You cook together 1 stick of butter or margarine, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream, and 1 cup of brown sugar until it boils for a couple minutes and is all mixed well. 1 recipe will be good for a 9 x 13 pan or a couple of pie pans. Sprinkle with pecans if you like. Make like cinnamon rolls - roll out a softball size piece of dough into a rectangle - spread with soft butter or margarine, and sprinkle with sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and slice into 1 inch pieces and put into the caramel. Cover all the pans with a towel and go to bed!

Before bedtime, and waking up in the morning. It's magic! Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Don't underbake caramel rolls. You want them to be nice and golden or you'll find the bottoms (technically the tops) not cooked. When you take them out turn out onto a platter or baking sheet and scrape any extra caramel onto the tops. Per my great-grandmother, and grandmother, and mothers direction, you also should run a paper towel with shortening on it over the tops of the dinner rolls and bread. I don't know what the purpose is other than to make them nice and shiny!

Going back to the title, upon typing all of this out I realized I actually didn't add the vegetable oil. I know this because I looked at my vegetable oil supply before making this bread, and eye-balled it at about a cup. That "about a cup" is still in the cabinet! It was still very good bread - perhaps baked a little drier though. Oops!

K.I.S.S. Chicken

Keep it Simple Stupid!

I've developed an obsession with stuffing chicken breasts lately. I never did it before because it always seemed so complicated, but its actually not!

My latest Cooking Light had a recipe using a garlic and herb spreadable cheese by the name Boursin. I actually found Boursin at Kroger, and a small container was $7.99! I took the kind next to it (totally forgetting the name right now) which still cost at least $5 and it may have been more. I wasn't sure what this spread would be like, so I didn't go with my instinct to substitute a cream cheese spread, but will next time. I actually think a flavored cream cheese spread will add more to the dish. At any rate, it was good!

Toast 1/4 cup slivered almonds in a skillet until they start to brown. Cool slightly and chop coarsely. Mix 1/3 cup of the garlic and herb cheese spread, all but a spoonful of the almonds, and a handful of fresh parsely chopped up finely. Stuff into 4 chicken breasts which you have slit open. Heat butter (I used canola oil) in a large non-stick skillet and cook about 6 minutes on each side until nicely browned and cooked through. Let chicken rest for a few minutes and garnish with the reserved spoonful of almonds and some more parsely.

Next time, in addition to using a cream cheese spead, I would like to use a different herb. Maybe chives or rosemary.

Pork: The Other White Meat

Finally back to cooking! Friday night involved me caving in on a Subway promise that's been lingering for about two weeks. Last night was grocery shopping, and the subsequent frozen pizza when you get home. But the weekend involved this:



Paprika Pork

Saute 3 cups of chopped bell peppers of various colors in a pan coated with cooking spray for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Coat pan again with cooking spray and add in approximately 1 pound of pork loin chopped in 1 inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and brown pork on all sides - about 4 minutes. Stir in 4 teaspoons of paprika and cook 1 minute longer. Add 1 1/2 cups of a red wine pasta sauce, 1 cup of water, and the peppersinto the pan. Bring to a boil - reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle again with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over egg noodles.

Very tasty and just a little spicey with the paprika. Very easy as well. I think frozen bell peppers pre-chopped would work just as well too and save some time (and possibly money), and chicken would also be good in this dish.

Thanks to http://www.cookinglight.com/ for the recipe idea.

Down with Banana Bread!

I heart banana bread, but mini me has not quite developed a big enough taste for it to make it very often, thus I eat the loaf myself. Never a good thing. Instead we turn to banana chip cookies...

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup smooshed banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon soda
1 cup chocolate chips
chopped nuts, if your heart desires.

Mix in order given, with a wooden spoon. (I'm anti mixers, unless of course I'm making angel food cake...) Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. These cookies stay moist and as good as the first day for several days after. A mix of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips would probably be very tasty too. One batch makes about 2 1/2 dozen, depending on how big you make them.

***
Feeling a little uninspired tonight, as I've been fighting my sinuses all week. I'm just wore out and I have no good explanation, as work has been less than demanding...much less than demanding. Mini me was even able to talk me into a Hot-n-Ready tonight!

Beef - It's What's for Dinner!

I grew up on a farm and ranch, and we raised beef cattle. I'm a complete beef snob. We always had the best, and we ate it ALL the time. I dislike buying beef now. I always feel so disappointed. So much so that I cook with ground turkey more than I do with ground beef. I rarely buy what is supposed to be a good cut of steak, because I feel a little taken advantage of after I fork over $20...only to find more disappointment.

I do buy round steak or sirloin steak fairly frequently. It's much cheaper than a ribeye or strip, and I find just as much satisfaction when cooked right. Tonight was a just right night!

I started with maybe a 1/4 - 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar in a shallow dish. I added a pinch of brown sugar (maybe a tablespoon worth), another pinch of dried thyme (teaspoon or so), a half a lemon worth of juice, and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic chopped as finely as I could. Add a little salt and some fresh ground pepper and the steak and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Broil the steak - maybe 4-5 minutes per side. Don't overcook it! You want it to be medium to medium rare to preserve some tenderness and flavor. I spooned some of the marinade over the steak as I turned it.

The result was fresh goodness! Pick two of your favorite easy side dishes and feel like you're indulging at the steakhouse without breaking the bank!

Dealing With Fruit Cravings in a Snow Storm

In an attempt to re-create the new Dunkin' Donuts Waffle Breakfast Sandwich this weekend, I decided that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted fruit topping on my waffles. I was looking at some random odds and ends of frozen fruit and came across this idea...

Mix 2 cups frozen berries, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Mix it up and cook another 2 minutes, or until mixture looks like fruit topping.

Fresh fruit is hard to find sometimes...not so much hard to find, but hard to find GOOD fresh fruit, particularly in the depths of winter. Frozen fruit can be spendy, but if you buy when it's on sale, you can find a lot of uses for it - namely the fruit topping, and also smoothies.

Second use for the fruit topping was also discovered tonight. I buy big cartons of plain yogurt to keep around for random cooking purposes. It's also usually cheaper than the smaller single serve varieties, and mini-me eats through yogurt like there's no tomorrow. We like to put about half a cup of plain yogurt, a couple spoonfuls of honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon together. It makes good fruit dip, or you can mix in some of that fruit topping for a much improved version of the single serve fruit yogurts. Smiley faces made with the fruit topping score extra yummy points.

Third use for fruit topping would be to just grab a spoon and eat it. It seems like it would also be good on toast, though maybe slightly too runny?