Sunday, July 31, 2005

Premptive Poundcake

I'm not really a baker. I don't have the patience or the attention to detail required to make really good baked goods. However, my mother-in-law is coming into town on Wednesday and she is a fabulous baker. We recently got a new gas oven and, while I've already tried out all the cool features of the stove (Power Boil rocks my world!), I hadn't yet baked anything. Well, I baked the coconut curry chicken but that, in my mind, is cooking not baking. So yesterday, I got ambitious and baked a chocolate swirl poundcake. Actually, it's my mother-in-law's recipe but I've made it several times before and it usually turns out quite well. Gas is so cool - the oven glows! The poundcake came out great - I had a slice for breakfast (back to the bad eating habits - oh well). At least now, when my mother-in-law pulls out all this great stuff out of the oven, I'll know I tried it first.

Two meals of mac and cheese

It never fails. If I don't have something planned and Zeb's gone, I eat absolute crap. Yesterday for lunch I had Kraft Mac and Cheese. For dinner, I boiled up some macaroni and melted cheese on it in the microwave. It's lunchtime now and I'm thinking about doing it again.

A new kitchen

One of the hard things about moving has been that I haven't yet gotten the hang of the new kitchen. There's more storage but there doesn't seem to be as good counterspace as we had in the last house. I'm finding it difficult to carve out a functional prep area. The space in the center of the kitchen is quite large so I think we're going to look into getting an island to expand the prep area. I'm going to check out Target and Crate and Barrel. Any other suggestions?

Balsamic and Blue Cheese overload!!!

Zeb's been out of town so I had some friends over on Friday to keep me company. I made Balsamic Blue Cheese Portobello Burgers (Southern Living). The recipe called for big portobello mushrooms but the ones at the store were absolutely pitiful so I went with the baby portobellos instead. After scraping out the gills, I marinated the mushrooms for about an hour in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. The recipe called for the mushrooms to be grilled but, since we haven't set up the grill yet, I cooked them on the griddle insert on my new gas stove. After about two minutes on each side, I topped the mushrooms with blue cheese and let the leftover heat melt the cheese. I put the mushrooms on toasted buns with mayo and a tomato slice. For sides, I threw together a salad with balsamic vinegarette and toasted walnuts and balsamic and blue cheese polenta. Much better pairings than my coconut curry chicken and garlic orzo of last week. I'm slowing getting the hang of this side dish thing.

The burgers were great. I paired them with a 2003 Montevina Barbera which was quite good.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Hamburger Soup

Yesterday, we got the crockpot working for the first time since the move. I've been dying to try out all of these recipes out of Mabel Hoffman's Crockery Cooking since I got it and I think I've only tried 3. Last night we had Hamburger Soup (pg. 31). I don't know if it the cooking style or the recipes but crockpot meals always feel a bit one-note. The soup was a good one-note however. The ground beef crumbled nicely and Zeb put it enough black pepper for it to reall have a zip to it. The macaroni made it quite filling. I added a little cornstarch because it was too soupy for my tastes; I tend to like these things a bit heartier. I wish I had picked up some sourdough or french bread - this was a good sopping soup.

Finished off the Husch 2001 Chardonnay. I'm not a big Chardonnay fan - I don't like the oak notes but this one was tasty. I actually liked it better the second night than the first. Go figure!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Stunning summer salad

I should have known. The Grand Prize winner of the Southern Living Cook-Off is going to be spectacular. My go-to cookie recipe is a former winner - fudgy bon-bons. Tonight's dinner was no exception. The 2004 winner was Grilled Shrimp, Orange and Watermelon Salad w/ Peppered Peanuts in a Zesty Citrus Dressing. And as long as that title is, it still doesn't cover all of the flavors. The salad includes edamame, ginger, garlic, basil and hoisin sauce. It looks gorgeous too - so many colors. I should have saved this one for company! Zeb and I opened up a Chardonnay and enjoyed a good chat on our newly refinished kitchen table.

P.S. Don't you think the winner looks like Mary Alice from Desparate Housewives?

Best wishes!!

Dan's taking the Bar Exam this week and I want to send out my heartfelt best wishes and good luck. He's top-notch and I know he'll do well but I don't want to bother him with well wishes if he's stressed. Hopefully he'll see this but, if not, this is a shout-out across cyberspace.

GOOD LUCK, DAN!!!!

Coconut Curry Chicken...with a side of garlic!

After the hassle and disruption of the move, last night was the fist night where I got to really cook. Deseret came over for dinner and to check out the new house. I whipped up coconut curry chicken (Sunset) which turned out so easy. I melted half a stick of butter in a 9x13 pan, dipped 4 chicken breasts in the butter and then coated them with a mixture of 1 cup coconut and 2 T curry powder. Then, I baked it in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. It was so delicious!

About 20 minutes into the baking, I decided to make a side. Usually, I'm pretty good about matching sides, but, for some reason, I got it in my head to make parmesan orzo - an absolutely tasty side dish but not really a good match with curry. Plus, I put in a tad too much garlic. Overall, though, the meal turned out great and the coconut curry chicken is a definite repeat, once I figure out a better side.