Fried Chicken

Happy Labor Day weekend! Since it's a long weekend and the official end of summer, my first LA roommate and I decided to go to the beach. Now when we go to the beach we don't just bring some towels and water, we go all out. What that means is that she makes her tasty and portable mojitos and I make fried chicken. We are aware that this is a somewhat odd combination in theory, but in practice, at the beach it's perfect for us. And we've never gotten any complaints from anyone who has joined us. Below is my fried chicken recipe. I apologize if the measurements are off, but this is one I totally improvise and you should too when you make it.

Fried Chicken
serves 4

8 chicken legs (these are the easiest to eat when sitting on a towel at the beach, but of course any part of the chicken works)
2 tbsp Montreal steak spice or any other comparable spice blend
1 tbsp ground chipotle pepper or chili powder
1 1/2 cups of mustard (I prefer Gulden's spicy brown)
2 cups all purpose flour
Water
Vegetable oil

1. Place chicken legs in a bowl and sprinkle with the spices. If you don't have or want to use Montreal steak spice, you can separately use salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, etc.
2. Fill the bowl with water to cover the chicken half way. Mix it all up. This can also be done in a Ziploc bag. Let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours, I usually let it sit overnight if I making the chicken in the morning, or all day if I am making it for dinner.
3. When the chicken is done marinating, pull it from the water and set aside. Reserve 1-2 cups of the marinating liquid.
4. Fill a nonstick frying pan halfway with vegetable oil and start it heating at medium high.
5. Mix the mustard with the reserved marinating liquid.
6. When the oil is heated, dip one leg in the mustard mixture, then dredge in the flour, return to the mustard and dredge in the flour one more time. Then drop into the heated oil. If the oil is heated properly, it should sizzle and bubble slightly as the chicken is dropped in. Repeat this with the remaining pieces of chicken. Chicken legs take approximately 10 mins each (5 minutes per side) to cook through.
7. As each piece is finished remove to drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt & pepper while still hot. Enjoy!

The mustard adds a really nice tangy flavor to this that you don't often get with traditional fried chicken. Hope you enjoy!

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Last night I hosted my monthly book club. We always do a pot luck with whoever is hosting making the main dish. I love having the girls over, but hate to rush home and cook something, so I was determined to use my slow cooker to make things easier. I wanted to do something with chicken and something that was relatively simple, but flavorful. I came across this recipe from Eating Well for BBQ Pulled Chicken. I love pulled pork, but know not everyone eats pork, so doing a version with chicken is a great and healthy alternative. This dish was one of the easiest things I've ever made. I threw all the ingredients into the slow cooker before I went to work, set it on low and when I came home the house smelled of BBQ and dinner was almost ready! The only changes I made was using a combination of thigh and breast meat and I have a whole jar of molasses from my grilled peaches so I decided to use that in place of honey.

BBQ Pulled Chicken

from Eating Well
serves 8

1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey (I subbed molasses for the honey)
1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat (I used 1.75 lbs of thigh and .75 lbs of breast)
1 small onion, finely chopped1 clove garlic, minced

1. Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.
2. Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.
3. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.

The chicken was great on a Whole Wheat Honey bun with a bit of red onion. The ground chipotle added some nice mellow heat to the dish, but as I like spice in these kinds of things I think I'll add a bit more next time.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy this and it went well with the treats everyone brought. We had a bevy of tasty picnic-type sides: Mac & Cheese (Trader Joe's frozen mac is surprisingly quite tasty!), Garlic Fries, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Mixed green salad with heirloom tomatoes & red onion and it was all finished off with tasty cupcakes from Crumbs. So we had a tasty feast, talked about the book quite a bit and the entire group recommends it, which doesn't always happen. If you are looking for a quick and fun read (and haven't read it already) check out Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

These delicious cupcakes are completely courtesy of my sister. She had the craving and desire to try making them. We enjoyed them so much that I decided to post the recipe. I'm fairly certain she followed it exactly, with the only substitution being Splenda Sugar Blend for the sugar.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting
from Paula Deen.com
makes approx 24 cupcakes

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
3. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.
4. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.
6. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.
7. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish (These were garnished with just some red decorating sugar)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
2. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.

This frosting had the same light and fluffy consistency of the Champagne Frosting for the Mimosa Cupcakes. The flavor was different, but I found it interesting that Mascarpone & Whipped Cream make a frosting that is the same consistency as Butter & Cream Cheese. Because is was so light I might have put a bit more frosting on each cake, but that depends on your preference.

Fagioli all'Uccelletto con Salsiccie

I'm so glad my sister requested I make this last night. Fagioli all'Uccelletto is a classic Tuscan dish of cannellini beans, sage and tomatoes. It's often made "con salsiccie" which means with sausage. The best fagioli all'uccelletto I've ever had was in Siena at Antica Trattoria Papei, if you ever find yourself in Siena I highly recommend this restaurant the food and staff make it a truly memorable experience. And you must have a shot of grappa with your waiter at the end of your meal.

About the recipe, I originally used a recipe that was surprisingly Debi Mazar's from People Magazine. I lost the recipe and am not sure I memorized but I threw it together from what I know the flavors to be and what I like, recipe is below:

Fagioli All'Uccelletto co Salsiccie
serves 4

6 sweet Italian Turkey Sausages (we used Hots last night and you can use traditional pork sausage too, whatever your preference)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 28oz can of chopped or diced (not crushed) tomatoes in their own juice (I like Cento or Pastene tomatoes the best)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 15 oz cans of cannellini beans or white kidney beans (drained)
a handful of fresh sage leaves
salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the oven it heated put the sausages in a baking dish and baked for approx 30 mins. Turning halfway thorough the cook time. Cook until they are browned and cooked all the way through.
2. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions. Saute until the onions become translucent and you can smell the garlic & onion cooking. Don't let the garlic brown.
3. Add the canned tomatoes, bay leaf and Italian seasoning. Cook on medium heat until it begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low, add sage, cover and let cook for 10mins , stirring occasionally. You don't want the juice to reduce too much which is why it's important to keep it covered. If you find all your juices evaporating add a small amount of canned tomato sauce. Be careful you want the mixture to be thick, not too saucy
4. Add white beans to tomato mixture, continue to cook on low heat covered until the Sausages come out of the oven.
5. Cut the sausages into quarters and add to the saute pan. Raise heat to medium and let the whole mixture simmer for approximately 5 mins.
6. Serve and enjoy with crusty Italian bread.

This is a great quick & easy meal that is quite filling. If you don't serve it with bread (which is not necessary just a nice added bonus) it's also low-carb! You can also try to remove the sausage from the casing and brown in saute pan, my sister suggested this and I may try it next time. Buono appetito!

Mimosa Cupcakes

Right around when I started reading food & cooking blogs, I happened upon a blog I've mentioned alot in my recent baking posts, The Cupcake Project. She does the most inventive things with cupcakes, it's great. This recipe for Mimosa cupcakes is what drew me in, first for my love of champagne and second for my love of brunch, this is the perfect brunch cupcake. I was nervous in attempting this, as is sounds quite involved, which ti is, but the recipe is very well-written and straightforward making it easy to execute. That being said I don't think my cupcakes are perfect, mainly because I used whole-grain cake flour which i think really affected the flavor and texture of the cupcake. I will be trying this recipe again with straight cake flour and will let you know how it goes. Even with the slight modification, I liked these cupcakes and the 2 dozen the recipe made didn't last long between brunch with my girlfriends and what I brought into the office on Monday. Reviews were positive although many people didn't quite get Mimosa when they ate them. I think I needed to use more of the Champagne syrup (I had quite a bit leftover) and may try putting orange zest in the batter next time.

Mimosa Cupcakes

from The Cupcake Project

Cake Batter
makes 24 cupcakes

3 cups cake flour (I used whole grain pastry flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp frozen orange concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and cream together.
4. Once the butter and sugar are creamed add in the orange juice concentrate.
5. Mix in one egg at a time.
6. Add in flour mixture 1/3 at a time.
7. When flour is thoroughly mixed, mix in the yogurt. Batter will be slightly lumpy, but should be smooth kind of like pancake batter.
8. Divide the batter evenly into lined cupcake tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Champagne Syrup

2 cups champagne
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Bring the champagne and powdered sugar to a boil and let them reduce about half way.
2. Don't expect it to get thick. It will still be very liquidy when you are done.
3. Poke holes in the cupcakes and drizzle in the syrup. Let it absorb into the cupcake and add more. Keep adding to taste.

Champagne Frosting

1 cup chilled whipping cream
8 oz mascarpone
2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)
8 drops of champagne flavor (use an eye dropper)

1. Whip up whipping cream in mixer until soft peaks begin to form.
2. Fold in mascarpone.
3. While mixing over low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, being careful not to over whip frosting.
4. Mix in the champagne flavor.

I had a good amount or frosting leftover, which leads me to believe I could put more frosting on. Stef, the Cupcake Project's blogger, made her cupcakes look so pretty and obviously had the tools to pipe on frosting. I think that's more effective and aesthetically pleasing way to get more frosting on the cakes. Overall, I am happy with the way these turned out and can't wait for an excuse to try them again.

Crustless Quiche

Based on the frequency of breakfast & brunch postings, it's clear that I am a fan of the weekend brunch. This past weekend I had some girlfriends over and we did a pot luck brunch and watched The Notebook, becasue (gasp!) two of my friends hadn't seen it. It was my ideal Sunday morning/afternoon, good food, good friends and a movie. I found a recipe on Simply Recipes for Cheesy Crustless Quiche and while I have finally made good pie crust, I am always on the lookout for low-carb versions of my favorite dishes. I really loved this dish, and will be making it again for sure. I subbed extra sharp cheddar for the swiss, because I still had a ton of it left over from my Mac & Cheese recipe contest experiments and I forgot to pick up green onions when I was at the store, so I improvised with Italian Seasoning. Recipe below, with my edits in purple:

Cheesy Crustless Quiche Recipe
from Simply Recipes
serve 8

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups milk
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5 eggs
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces shredded Swiss cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar)

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions (I used Italian Seasoning)
3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
6 cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I used grape tomatoes)

1 Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir in flour; cook, stirring until bubbly. Gradually add the milk; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Remove from the heat; set aside to cool, about 15-20 minutes.
2 Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine cottage cheese, baking powder, salt and mustard; set aside.
3 Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the cream cheese, the cottage cheese mixture and the milk/flour sauce. Fold in the Swiss (Cheddar) and Parmesan cheeses.
4 Pour into a buttered 10" pie plate. Sprinkle the top with chopped green onions (Italian Seasoning) and crumbled bacon. Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, around the top. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned. A knife inserted into the center of the quiche should come out clean. Let rest for 15 minutes, serve.

I am looking forward to trying this recipe again with other cheeses and other fillings, although my tasters really loved the bacon and tomatos in this one. I think I may try one with some goat cheese and red peppers or maybe ham & gruyere. The possibilities are endless!

The other girls brought Mimosas, tasty cut up nectarines and plantains.

Apple Blueberry Pie

Since last weekend I perfected pie crust, I'm am on a pie kick. Add to that, the boyfriend is a big pie fan and having him in town means I needed to try to make one for him. His favorites are Apple and Blueberry, but I of course needed to do something different and decided to combine the two fruits. I wanted to use a recipe for the filling as just throwing some berries together last week and using an apple pie recipe as a guideline just didn't work out so well. After a web search, I found that Emeril Lagasse had a recipe that looked straightforward and decided to go with it.

Another Tasty Brunch

My boyfriend was in town this past weekend and one of our things it breakfast & brunch. It's both of our favorite meals and we always take turns making it for each other. He's got your traditional eggs and bacon down so well that I don't even attempt anymore. So I looked through my Rachel Ray Get Togethers Cookbook and decided to use one of her brunch menus. Since I was young I have LOVED french toast and this one is pretty fabulous. As opposed to buying sausage or bacon, I decided to try out the recipe for sausage patties and make my own. The french toast called for stale bread, but as I wasn't planning on making this and we rarely have bread in the house, I opted for fresh french bread which worked well. Although it's nice to know that the recipe offers a good use for the leftover bread from a previous night's dinner.

Pain Perdu - Lost Bread a.k.a. French Toast
Serves 2-3

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in a splash of water
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used already ground nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added this because in my opinion French Toast should always have cinnamon)
8 slices stale white bread or 6 slices thick cut stale bread (I used 6 slices fresh French Bread)
Butter, for griddle pan

1. Preheat nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat.
2. Beat eggs very well, add sugar and beat again.
3. Add cornstarch in water and beat that in, then add milk and nutmeg.
4. Coat bread thoroughly in egg-milk mixture.
5. Lightly butter hot pan with butter nested in paper towels. Add bread to the pan and cook slowly, 3 or 4 minutes on each side, 2 to 3 slices at a time.
6. Serve hot with your favorite toppings or Three Berry Compote.


Three Berry Compote

1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup water
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey

1. Combine sugar, lemon and water in a small sauce pot.
2. Over moderate heat, dissolve sugar into water.
3. Stir in fruit, coating it in sugar water and bring the fruit and water to a bubble.
4. Reduce heat and simmer 7 or 8 minutes.
5. Remove fruit with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and add maple syrup or honey to the pan.
6. Thicken syrup 5 minutes and pour over fruit.
7. Serve with French toast, pancakes or waffles.

Maple Fennel Country Sausage Patties
Serves 2-3

1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

1. Combine salt and pepper, fennel in the bottom of a bowl.
2. Add pork and mix to combine spices.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons maple syrup over the pork and work the meat again to combine the maple syrup.
4. Form meat into patties, 2 to 3 inches round.
5. Cook patties in 1 tablespoon oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat 4 or 5 minutes on each side.
6. Drain sausage patties on towel lined plate, then serve.

This was the first complete meal I've made from my Rachel Ray cookbook and it was actually extremely easy and quick. I didn't time myself, but in the past I have tried her recipes and felt that they took longer than the advertised 30 minutes. This was probably pretty close to the 30 minute mark, all said and done. This is a great brunch if you want something hearty and tasty and if you want to impress someone.

Gaucho Style Steak with Chimichurri Sauce & Watermelon Feta Salad

Last night we did a family dinner with my siblings, boyfriend and I AND one of my good friends from cooking club, her husband and sister-in-law. It was a great night of Olympics viewing with Michael Phelps continuing to break records and win golds and the US women's gymnasts also won the top two medals in the individual all-around. Anyway, onto the food...

Both recipes were new and things I had never tried before. I made a Chimichurri sauce for the first time and also tried out a Watermelon & Feta salad, which by now everyone should know that salty with sweet is one of my favorite flavor combinations. The dishes came from different sites and weren't recommended together but I am really happy with how it all worked together. As always my comments/additions are in red.

Steak Gaucho-Style with Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce
from the Food Network
serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)
Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce:
1 cup lightly packed chopped parsley (ideally, flat leaf "Italian" parsley)
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves (optional) (I used a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro)
2 tablespoons shallot or onion, minced
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil 3
tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Steak:
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons salt (I seasoned the steak with Montreal Steak Spice)
2 1/2 pounds rib-eye, New York strip, or sirloin steak (We used NY Strip)
1 1/2 inches thick 2 baguettes, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1. Preheat a grill.
2. Place all chimichurri sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. Reserve.
3. Dissolve cayenne pepper and salt in 1 cup hot water. Transfer to a squeeze container. (As I didn't have a squeeze bottle and had some guests who weren't fans of spicy I skipped this step but want to try if next time)
4. Place the steak directly over a hot grill, baste with the chimichurri grilling sauce, and grill until the outer portion of the meat reaches the desired degree of doneness. (We cooked it to medium rare)
5. Remove the steak from the grill and slice long strips from the outer edges of the steak.
6. Instruct guests to pick up a steak slice from the cutting board with their fingers, place it on a slice of baguette, and enjoy.
7. Return the remaining steak to the grill, baste, and grill until more of the steak is cooked. 8. Remove and repeat the slicing and serving procedure until steak is consumed. For extra spicy steak, baste 2 or 3 additional times with the cayenne pepper mixture during grilling process.
8. Spoon chimichurri sauce over steak. (Also brilliant on any grilled fish or chicken)

Watermelon Salad with Feta
from SimplyRecipes.com
Serves 6-8 (This is one of those recipes that I used the measurements as a guideline and just threw it together as I felt it worked)

1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup lime juice (4-6 limes, depending on how big and juicy the limes are)
A quarter of a medium sized watermelon, rind removed, black seeds removed (if there are any), chopped into 1-inch cube-ish pieces, about 8 cups (I bought the already cubed watermelon and just cut it into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (I used all my parsley for the Chimichurri so I skipped this)

1. Soak the chopped red onion in the lime juice while you are prepping the other ingredients, about 15 minutes.
2. Gently combine all ingredients into a large serving bowl.
3. Serve immediately. Salad will get soggy overnight.

The salad turned out perfectly, I don't think there are any major changes I'd make. Next time I make the steak, I want to make sure to have a sqeeze bottle to baste with the cayenne pepper sauce just to amp up the spiciness. I also want to try to mix it up with the herbs a bit and do 1/2 parsley and 1/2 cilantro based on research I did on Chimichurri sauces, cilantro is a common ingredient which is why I subbed it in for the oregano, but I want to play around with the proportions next time. Overall it was a success and a great summer meal for guests, it takes just about as long to make for 2 people as for 8. Enjoy!

Pie Crust!

Those of you who know me well first know that I am not a baker. Homemade cookies generally mean the Toll House break n bake cookies. Secondly you know that pie is up there on my lists of favorite desserts. Even though I am not a baker I bought a beautiful Emile Henry pie plate last Thanksgiving. I used it for apple pie and due to my complete lack on confidence when it comes to baking (and the fact that I had 7 people coming for Thanksgiving dinner) I used the Pillsbury Refrigerated pie crust. I have to say it's quite tasty and if you don't have the time to try to make your own this is a really great alternative. That being said being able to make my own pie crust was something I have always wanted to do, especially since my grandmother always made the best pie crust. I even spent a whole weekend last January trying to do it, four failed attempts later I came to the conclusion that this was something I may never get. But then, this past Sunday I woke up and decided that I was going to try again today. No pressure. One try only. One recipe. If it worked great! If not, I really didn't need to be eating pie anyway (especially since I've been kicking my butt the last 3 weeks at 6am Boot Camp). I found a recipe for No Fail Pie Crust that in name alone seemed like the way to go, plus it had tons of great reviews. See the recipe below:

No Fail Pie Crust

from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Mix egg, water and vinegar together.
4. Pour into flour all at once and blend with a fork until dough forms a ball.
5. Wrap with plastic and chill in refrigerator.

I chilled in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, mainly because I thought the cooler it was the better. But also because the part that always screwed me up in the past was rolling out the dough. I looked a bit online for tips for rolling pie dough and in a few place people suggested rolling between two sheets of wax paper. I, of course, didn't have any wax paper and decided to use Saran Wrap instead. This actually worked! And I have to be honest even one day later I'm still pretty ecstatic that I pulled it off. I will definitely buy wax paper for my next attempt as I have a feeling the transfer to the pie plate will go more smoothly with wax paper.

I filled my pie crust with 6 cups of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries & strawberries), 1 cup of sugar, 4 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Baked it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and lowered the heat to 350 degrees for 40 more mins. The flavor of the pie is really great, but it is far to loose for my taste. Using such juicy berries I need to experiment either with some more flour or I've read in places that for blueberry pies people often use instant tapioca pudding. More experimentation on pie fillings to come!

Tapas Night

So for this most recent gathering of my cooking club we decided to tackle Spain and most specifically tapas. Ironically enough Tyler's Ultimate (one of my favorite shows on the Food Network) aired the Ultimate Tapas episode that very morning. I almost changed up what I was going to make because his recipes looked so fabulous, but luckily I didn't as at least one other girl saw the show too and used some of the recipes! We had a pretty good mix of things, lots of serano ham (or prosciutto when we couldn't find serano) lots of manchego, LOTS of garlic and of course sangria!

Since I am going to include all the recipes we made, I'll just link the recipes that are online, so the post isn't too insanely long. I think as a group we recommend everything we made because as we were eating there wasn't a whole lot of talking going on!

SANGRIA
recipe taken from a Hipcooks Class called Una Noche en Espana

For a delicious sangria (to serve 8), you’ll need:

2 bottles red Two Buck Chuck (otherwise known at Charles Shaw or anything similar)
3 organic oranges, thinly sliced
3 organic limes, thinly sliced (if not organic then please rinse and scrub them first!)
½ a bottle of Mango Passionfruit juice (Trader Joes sells it. Combat Juice is also yummy.) I couldn't find this juice at my local Trader Joes and ended up just using a combination of Mango/Apricot & Passionfruit/Orange/Pineapple nectars
A dash of Citronge (from TJs), or Grand Marnier or Cointreau

Combine all ingredients and muddle. You can make up to 8 hours in advance. Serve in chilled glasses with ice on a hot day. Also, you can consider adding any of the following when in season: sliced apple, peach, green grapes and even Rainier cherries. Remember to add this fruit after muddling. Also, why not try the same as above but with white wine, for a very delicious Sangria – called Clerico in Argentina.

Manchego with Honey Brown Butter Sauce
From Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network
We also had some fresh figs with this, which was amazing!

Red Onion and Orange Salad
This was borrowed from a site called Spain Recipes.
I couldn't find shelled sunflower seeds so I nixed them from the recipe, but it was delicious nonetheless.


TORTILLA ESPANOLA
recipe taken from a Hipcooks Class called Una Noche en Espana

Ingredients for one tortilla (to serve 8 very comfortably):

1 bag of red bliss potatoes from TJs, sliced thinly with the skins on Or, about 4 large or 8 small Russet or other potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
One medium sized sweet onion, cut into thin crescents (Walla walla, Maui onions work)
A handful of parsley, chopped
A generous squeeze of lemon
7 eggs, beaten
Sea salt
Olive oil

After you thinly slice the potatoes (with a knife or with the slicer of your food processor or kitchen grater), par-boil them until just al dente. (That means put them in salted water, bring them up to a boil and then drain them in plenty of cold water to stop the cooking process!)

Thinly slice a sweet yellow onion into crescents. Sauté the onion in about a quarter cup of olive oil (trust me, your tortilla will be yummy this way) over a medium heat until they begin to turn translucent. Add the potatoes and stir.

For a delicious Tortilla de Bacalao, evenly distribute slivers of uncooked cod over the top, (or salt cod that you have soaked in advance). Or what about slivers of roasted red and yellow peppers? Tomatoes? Saffron threads? Yum! But as you tasted in class, even the plain tortilla is just delicious.

Crack and beat 7 eggs, add a very generous pinch of salt, a handful of parsley if you like something green, and a squeeze of lemon for lift. Add to the pan, making sure the egg is well-distributed over and in between the potatoes. If you need more egg, add some!

Transfer the pan to a 350-degree oven until fully set. Wait until it cools to room temp before attempting to flip it and cut it. Also, please serve at room temp, so if you have made it the day in advance and have stored it in the fridge, then let it sit for a while at room temp before serving! (Cold tortilla = yucky!)


GOAT CHEESE IN GARLICKY TOMATO SAUCE
This recipe came from a friend of a girl in the club and was so simple yet really tasty

4-6 cloves of garlic - minced
1 can of crushed tomatoes
Goat Cheese
Olive Oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Saute the minced garlic in Olive Oil until it starts to sing (and becomes translucent and slightly brown)
3. Add the can of tomatoes and let simmer for approximately 10 mins, so that the flavors can meld together
4. Transfer the sauce into ramekins or other oven safe serving dishes. Put a hunk of goat cheese, how depends on the size of the bowls and how much you like goat cheese
5. On a cookie sheet transfer the ramekins/bowls to the oven and let bake until the cheese softens and begins to melt.
6. Serve carefully!

Grilled Bread with Serano Ham, Manchego Cheese & Olives
From Cooking Light

Mother Hen Toast: Gallina De Madre
From Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network

Stay tuned for next month's cuisine...Indian!

Peaches & Pork

The fruits that are in season this time of year are some of my favorites: peaches, nectarines, all types of berries. Since peaches are by far my favorite and I'm really into mixing sweet and savory flavors (see my blueberry steak post) I decided to do something with pork chops and peaches. Since I wasn't sure how out there this idea was, I did some research on the web and found quite a few recipes using both ingredients, I ended up not following any one recipe but taking inspiration from them to put together my dish.

My original idea was to do a Honey Mustard BBQ boneless pork chop with grilled yellow peaches. Well the grocery store that I stop at on my way home from work had no honey mustard BBQ sauce. There were plenty of Honey flavored sauces, but I felt that combined with the peaches the sweetness a Honey sauce would potentially be too much. So I decided to go with tried and true and something I had in my refrigerator, Stubbs Hickory Bourbon BBQ sauce. I know I could have made my own BBQ sauce and that's definitely on my list of things to do, but when it's already 7:30p and my tummy is grumbling the extra time needed to make the sauce just didn't work for me. Plus Stubbs is the best, so why mess with it. Onto produce for the yellow peaches, which were tremendously on sale and yet none were ripe enough. One thing I hate is a tough peach. That led me to the white peaches, which were perfectly ripe for cutting and a quick grill. With my ingredients in tow, I went home and threw together the recipe below.

BBQ Pork Chops & Grilled Peaches
serves 4

4 thick cut boneless pork chops
1/2 cup Stubbs Hickory Bourbon BBQ sauce
2 large ripe white peaches
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Heat the grill to Medium High heat.
2. Place the pork chops in a bowl with 1/4 cup of the BBQ sauce. Let marinate on the counter top as you prep the peaches
3. Cut the peaches into wedges (approximately 6-8 per peach).
4. Once the grill is heated, place the pork chops on one side and cook for approx 10 mins per side. Basting with remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce
5. Oil the other side of the grill to grill the peaches. (I forgot to do this and almost had a mess on my hands!) Lay the peaches on the grill and cook for approx 4 mins per side or until nice grill marks appear and the peaches become tender.
6. When the peaches are done remove them from the grill to a bowl and toss with the cayenne pepper, balsamic vinegar. Finish by drizzling with the molasses.
7. When the pork chops are done remove from the grill and top each chop with 3-4 peach wedges and serve.

I have to admit I was nervous about how all the flavors of this would work, but ended up beiing really happy with the taste and got good reviews from my taste testers. The cayenne added really nice spice and balanced out the sweetness of the peaches, especially since white peaches tend to be much sweeter than yellow. Overall for a thrown together seasonally inspired meall I really enjoyed it. We had a salad with goat cheese and dreid cranberries, but I think it would also pair really well with a spinach salad with goat cheese and walnuts.

If anyone tries this I'd love to hear how it turns out as it was something I basically threw together on the fly. Enjoy!