Wednesday, July 6, 2011
My husbands ice cream
So Ashley fell in love with brownie batter ice cream from Ben and Jerry's some time ago and all of the stores near us have stopped carrying it, not sure if anyone else does or not. Regardless, I thought I would be a good wife, and yesterday morning when I woke up I got my stuff together to make homemade ice cream yesterday afternoon. I looked all over the Internet and found a site that had a recipe for brownie batter ice cream, it is another woman's blog, and her site had the recipe for brownie batter ice cream on it, I did make an adjustment to the vanilla because I am using Mexican vanilla and it tends to be very strong. I mixed up all the ingredients and placed them in the fridge to chill. Once we were done with dinner I poured the mix into my ice cream freezer (Cuisinart) and 20 minutes later we were enjoying a small dish each of brownie batter ice cream. It was very yummy, not my favorite because chocolate is not really my thing but still good. Ashley enjoyed it, and the jury is still out, so I am sure after he has a bit tonight I will get a full verdict. This is the time for ice cream, I may need to bust out the books and find a few more recipes. Happy eating.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Steak...
I love beef, and I really love it in the form of a really good steak. I have been craving beef and last night while at work one of my co-workers let me sample a piece of rib eye that he had grilled Sunday with a steak/meat rub called Grub Rub. It was so yummy, and I had been thinking of that steak repeatedly today so thought it is time for steak at home. I had to go to the store to get stuff for dinner regardless of what the dinner plan was to be, so I looked to see if they had Grub Rub, and as my co-worker said there was only one bottle on the shelf, he reports that HEB can not keep it on the shelves. The rub is a sweet savory dry rub that also has some tenderizer in the meet. I also picked up two rib eyes from HEB that looked to be marbled perfectly and a good steak is always cooked on the grill so grabbed a bag of light the bag coal, this stuff makes grilling a snap.
Once home I checked the burn warnings in Wilco, and while we are in a burn ban, the ban order states that as long as we are not in a red flag day you can grill, so I attempted to fire up the grill, I say attempted because I really used an entire box of matches trying to light the stupid little bag, it is windy out where we live. I was able to finally get the coal going even if it did come with some cursing. I slathered on the rub and rubbed it into each side of the steak and let the steaks come to room temperature while the coal were warming, there are mixed theories about letting it come to room temp first some say do some say don't when I have the time I do I feel like it allows for more accurate cooking times. Once the coal was ready on went Ashley's first because he wants it more well done, so his was medium to medium well and mine turned out a perfect medium rare. Just delish sweet savory crust that does not over power the perfect flavor of the steak. Yumm with a baked potato and a salad, all costing less then what one would spend at a not so good steak house.
Until next time...
Once home I checked the burn warnings in Wilco, and while we are in a burn ban, the ban order states that as long as we are not in a red flag day you can grill, so I attempted to fire up the grill, I say attempted because I really used an entire box of matches trying to light the stupid little bag, it is windy out where we live. I was able to finally get the coal going even if it did come with some cursing. I slathered on the rub and rubbed it into each side of the steak and let the steaks come to room temperature while the coal were warming, there are mixed theories about letting it come to room temp first some say do some say don't when I have the time I do I feel like it allows for more accurate cooking times. Once the coal was ready on went Ashley's first because he wants it more well done, so his was medium to medium well and mine turned out a perfect medium rare. Just delish sweet savory crust that does not over power the perfect flavor of the steak. Yumm with a baked potato and a salad, all costing less then what one would spend at a not so good steak house.
Until next time...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
We went to Greece, not grease today...
So I had to borrow the title from a question my dad asked my mom when he called tonight. Mom is in town and will be here for just another night, she goes home on Friday. We have had a wonderful time while she has been here, shopping and browsing, cooking and eating, and a lot of talking. I love times like this when I get to really spend time with my mom. What's even better is this trip has not been rushed like some in the past have been.
For starters I loved having mom here to help and she did. When I first started to crave this menu Ashley suggested that I wait until she came to visit for the birthday, so I did. Anyway we were going to have spaghetti if I learned she did not like lamb, but I was sure she did so once confirmed, Greek it was.
Regardless of all of that, I am sure the reader may be wondering about the title, well here is the deal. There is nothing more wonderful then a vacation to an exotic world, one where you can experience culture and cuisine. So tonight we went to Greece, not grease...
What was on the menu for this evenings dinner:
Shepherd's Salad
Lamb Kabobs with Tzatziki
Greek Potatoes with Lemon Vinaigrette
Hummus and
Pita bread
Let's first start by saying if you do not like lemon, olive oil, or Garlic you will not like this dinner. We all enjoy all of those flavors. It is a lot of work but if you have help in the kitchen you can get through it all pretty quick. Momma started the Shepherd's salad while I worked on mixing up the meat, then once we were both done with that it was on to the Tzatziki and the potatoes, mom doing the tzatziki and me the potatoes. Let me just say it is all delish!!
The hummus was my own and I have a slight variation on hummus every time I make it. I always start with Garbanzos that I drain (making sure to drain the liquid into a glass for later use), they all go into a food processor with some tahini, a touch of olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, a garlic clove, and then seasons; today's was and olive sun dried tomato bruschetta spread I had in the fridge along with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle or two of cumin; it turned out delish.
The important thing about dinner I think is that it allowed for a get away while sitting at my own table. This is the second time I have done the Greek menu, only the first time I also did Sunny Anderson's baklava cups, which you can access through the links for the lamb and the salad, as those are both hers, the are delish, had I not had birthday cake here from mom I might have made those too.
With full tummies and tired feet following a long day of shopping and a great dinner I got to fix with my momma we were ready to return back to the reality of Texas Summer and 100 degree temps. For now though we are a bit more relaxed because of our momentary get away, or maybe that's just that we are all so full none of us want to move. It was all delish!!!
Until next time...
For starters I loved having mom here to help and she did. When I first started to crave this menu Ashley suggested that I wait until she came to visit for the birthday, so I did. Anyway we were going to have spaghetti if I learned she did not like lamb, but I was sure she did so once confirmed, Greek it was.
Regardless of all of that, I am sure the reader may be wondering about the title, well here is the deal. There is nothing more wonderful then a vacation to an exotic world, one where you can experience culture and cuisine. So tonight we went to Greece, not grease...
What was on the menu for this evenings dinner:
Shepherd's Salad
Lamb Kabobs with Tzatziki
Greek Potatoes with Lemon Vinaigrette
Hummus and
Pita bread
Let's first start by saying if you do not like lemon, olive oil, or Garlic you will not like this dinner. We all enjoy all of those flavors. It is a lot of work but if you have help in the kitchen you can get through it all pretty quick. Momma started the Shepherd's salad while I worked on mixing up the meat, then once we were both done with that it was on to the Tzatziki and the potatoes, mom doing the tzatziki and me the potatoes. Let me just say it is all delish!!
The hummus was my own and I have a slight variation on hummus every time I make it. I always start with Garbanzos that I drain (making sure to drain the liquid into a glass for later use), they all go into a food processor with some tahini, a touch of olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, a garlic clove, and then seasons; today's was and olive sun dried tomato bruschetta spread I had in the fridge along with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle or two of cumin; it turned out delish.
The important thing about dinner I think is that it allowed for a get away while sitting at my own table. This is the second time I have done the Greek menu, only the first time I also did Sunny Anderson's baklava cups, which you can access through the links for the lamb and the salad, as those are both hers, the are delish, had I not had birthday cake here from mom I might have made those too.
With full tummies and tired feet following a long day of shopping and a great dinner I got to fix with my momma we were ready to return back to the reality of Texas Summer and 100 degree temps. For now though we are a bit more relaxed because of our momentary get away, or maybe that's just that we are all so full none of us want to move. It was all delish!!!
Until next time...
Friday, May 20, 2011
Carrot Raisin Nut Bread
So Ashley and I have a restaurant that we will go to on occasion, Mimi's Cafe. It's a place that kinda has a French/New Orleans style flare, the food is okay, but they have these muffins and bread that are pretty amazing. We enjoy the carrot raisin nut loaf that they bring to your table at dinner. When we first tried it we both enjoyed it so much! Well I found another recipe in the Todd Wilbur cookbook Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2. In the book he has come up with a recipe for Mimi's carrot raisin nut bread, and I made it last night. The recipe makes two loafs, so as is customary with the excess baked goods at our house the second loaf went to work, where I passed it out as I could to the crew. All loved it! I got multiple thumbs up from every one! If you want just the recipe for the carrot raisin nut bread, you can purchase that from Todd Wilbur's website. Over all a hit in our home, and at my work, will be doing this again!
One of the lessons I learned was about molasses, not an ingredient I can remember ever using before. It has a very interesting smell, and I was not sure what molasses was. Ashley looked it up for me while I was cooking then I looked it up myself, it is actually a by-product of processing sugar or sugar beets. Interestingly there was an explosion in 1919 in Boston that apparently killed 21 people, according to about.com the molasses actually exploded, though the article does not indicate how but alludes to the fact that Boston's streets were covered in molasses, and we thought traffic could be slow in Austin. The other thing that the article stated was that molasses was originally the sweetener of choice for Americans until WWI when we Americans switched to processed white granular sugar. A few other interesting tid-bits, but you will need to read the article yourself. Hope you enjoy the recipe, the bread, the book, and the lesson! Thanks for reading!
One of the lessons I learned was about molasses, not an ingredient I can remember ever using before. It has a very interesting smell, and I was not sure what molasses was. Ashley looked it up for me while I was cooking then I looked it up myself, it is actually a by-product of processing sugar or sugar beets. Interestingly there was an explosion in 1919 in Boston that apparently killed 21 people, according to about.com the molasses actually exploded, though the article does not indicate how but alludes to the fact that Boston's streets were covered in molasses, and we thought traffic could be slow in Austin. The other thing that the article stated was that molasses was originally the sweetener of choice for Americans until WWI when we Americans switched to processed white granular sugar. A few other interesting tid-bits, but you will need to read the article yourself. Hope you enjoy the recipe, the bread, the book, and the lesson! Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pork Tacos...
In an effort to save money this week we are eating from the pantry and freezer. Last night I looked and found half a very large pork loin roast that I purchased and cut in half a few weeks ago then stored in a seal a meal bag and froze.
Once the loin was completely defrosted I realized what I really wanted was something with a Mexican flair. So out came the trusty crock pot... Took an onion and cut it in half and sliced and placed in the bottom of the crock pot. Then laid the pork loin on top of the onion. Sprinkled it liberally with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and coarse ground black pepper. The poured on top of the roast a can of medium red enchilada sauce, and beef broth up to half the roast, covered and cooked on high for 5-6 hours.
Once done I shredded the pork after removing the top layer of fat. Then added juice and onion from the pot to taste, we don't like it real soupy so not all of the juice. Then salted to taste. Took some pseudo fresh tortillas that were warmed on the range, smeared some refried beans on half, added a touch of cheese, then put the pork on the half with cheese and beans, folded over and ate taco style, without lettuce and tomato, as we had a delish salad to go with! This is absolutely something that we will be having again, and a wonderful new made it myself recipe.
If you try it let me know what you think.. I see burritos, and enchiladas, and taco salads, and quesadillas in our future.
Once the loin was completely defrosted I realized what I really wanted was something with a Mexican flair. So out came the trusty crock pot... Took an onion and cut it in half and sliced and placed in the bottom of the crock pot. Then laid the pork loin on top of the onion. Sprinkled it liberally with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and coarse ground black pepper. The poured on top of the roast a can of medium red enchilada sauce, and beef broth up to half the roast, covered and cooked on high for 5-6 hours.
Once done I shredded the pork after removing the top layer of fat. Then added juice and onion from the pot to taste, we don't like it real soupy so not all of the juice. Then salted to taste. Took some pseudo fresh tortillas that were warmed on the range, smeared some refried beans on half, added a touch of cheese, then put the pork on the half with cheese and beans, folded over and ate taco style, without lettuce and tomato, as we had a delish salad to go with! This is absolutely something that we will be having again, and a wonderful new made it myself recipe.
If you try it let me know what you think.. I see burritos, and enchiladas, and taco salads, and quesadillas in our future.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Donuts
Who does not like fresh hot donuts? I know I do, and I know my husband does. So today I thought I would make him a special treat before he headed out to work. When I was a kid my mom made the best donuts, they were either covered in powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar. When she made these it was my favorite treat, for those of you wondering they are SUPER easy too. What you need:
1 or 2 canisters of refridgerator biscuits, you know the pillsbury type that come in four rolls for like 2.17
Hot oil. (either in a fryer, or deep pot/skillet)
powdered sugar
cinnamon and granulated sugar
Now heat the oil until hot, and by hot I mean hot. Poke holes in each of the biscuits with your fingers, stretchign the dough so the hole stays once in the hot oil then plunge the biscuit into the oil. Cook on one side until nice golden brown then flip the donut (key here which I failed to do was to ensure the oil was not so hot the outside cooked quickly and the inside did not cook all the way through, still working on that some times.) Once the donut is cooked take it out and put it in either the sugar or the cinnamon sugar mix, and make sure the whole thing is covered. Then eat while warm and enjoy.
No like I indicated, some of my donuts did not cook all the way through. This is always dissapointing to me when I have a cooking problem, but they do happen. So even if they don't get done all the way through they actually are still edible. Hope you enjoy!
1 or 2 canisters of refridgerator biscuits, you know the pillsbury type that come in four rolls for like 2.17
Hot oil. (either in a fryer, or deep pot/skillet)
powdered sugar
cinnamon and granulated sugar
Now heat the oil until hot, and by hot I mean hot. Poke holes in each of the biscuits with your fingers, stretchign the dough so the hole stays once in the hot oil then plunge the biscuit into the oil. Cook on one side until nice golden brown then flip the donut (key here which I failed to do was to ensure the oil was not so hot the outside cooked quickly and the inside did not cook all the way through, still working on that some times.) Once the donut is cooked take it out and put it in either the sugar or the cinnamon sugar mix, and make sure the whole thing is covered. Then eat while warm and enjoy.
No like I indicated, some of my donuts did not cook all the way through. This is always dissapointing to me when I have a cooking problem, but they do happen. So even if they don't get done all the way through they actually are still edible. Hope you enjoy!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits
How many times have you gone to Red Lobster just for those yummy biscuits. We went last week because I had a desire to have those biscuits. While there we began talking about the fact that I have so many different recipes for those biscuits, there are so many copy cat ones on the Internet as well as in books. So I dug out one of the books that I have; it is Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur and tried them. It requires Bisquick which I had in the pantry. They were easy, quick and delish. I think they are pretty close to perfect, the mix was a bit older, but still worked and I wonder if the mix was fresh would they have been as flaky. Really they are yummy, if the mix is not the issue, I think an addition of extra butter would make them perfect as in just like the ones at Red Lobster; now mind you the ones we had tonight were "perfect" even if different. I encourage anyone to make them! Along with the biscuits we had ham, Blue Box Mac and Cheese, and vegies. All very yummy.
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