Jul 01 0 comments
improv, snack

july roasted carrots

  • Small handful of early picked carrots
  • Small bunch of celery
  • Small handful of cashews
  • Splash of olive oil
  • Pinch of oregano
  • Dash of sea salt
  • Dash of black pepper

Using some of the vegetables I obtained from the farm, I decided to roast them. I had some fresh carrots that were still tiny so I just rinsed them and tossed them into a quart pan with some celery sliced into one inch strips and some oil. After everything is covered in oil toss in your oregano, salt, pepper and cashews then bake at 425 degrees for about fifteen to twenty minutes. That should be all. If you try this, let me know what you think.

The carrots end up just slightly soft and firm while the celery gives them a good structure. I used oil instead of butter because it just tastes better that way for some reason. I was going to garnish with parsley but I couldn’t find my parsley so I was a bit disappointed. I may even try it with a couple tablespoons of half-and-half spooned on top.

Tags: , , , , , ,
You can edit this ad by going editing the index.php file or opening /images/exampleAd.gif
Jun 28 0 comments
Uncategorized

Taco Bell

I ate taco bell for dinner.

Jun 27 0 comments
dinner, quick fix

nectarine steak

  • Petite Sirloin
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Cayenne
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 Nectarine
  • Honey

I’m sure most of you have cooked a steak before but for this steak I used Adam Roberts’, from the Amateur Gourmet, tip for cooking steaks like they do in restaurants. Before I cook any type of meat, I always season and allow the meat to rest for about half-an-hour before the actual cooking. This steak only takes no more than ten minutes to cook anyway. Hell, you could even cook it in about five.

Cover all edges of the steak liberally with salt and black pepper. I only dashed cayenne onto one side of my steak. This thing was about one pound. It was ginormous. I found it while browsing the local supermarket, they had some decent cuts of fresh meat on a special display designed to entice people into barbequeing. The cut was about half an inch thick and the length was approximately twelve inches. A decent slab of meat.

Prepping the nectarine was slightly more difficult than the steak. I bought a quite fresh nectarine so it did not want to part from the pit without a struggle. Just make some slices about 1/4 inch thick. If we make them too thin, we will lose the texture that we are aiming for.

Preheat your pan with three tablespoons of the butter. We are going to be cooking at a high heat so don’t be afraid to use the highest setting on your burner, unless you have cheap cook-wear. Once the pan is ready things will go very quickly from this point.

Place your seasoned steak into the pan and make sure you have your fan on or healthy ventillation because I neglected this step and my sister’s fire alarm went off for about five minutes before the air finally cleared enough for the alarm to feel comfortable with the air quality once again. We are going to sear each side for about thirty seconds so that both sides are nice and brown before allowing the rest of the steak to cook. I probably did this wrong compared to the method I was basing it on but it still turned out pretty good.

If you like your steaks slightly bloody in the middle do not be afraid to take the steak off too soon as it cooks very fast this way. After cooking each side for about two to three minutes arrange your nectarine slices on top then go ahead and use the rest of your butter as the pan is probably drying up by now. Cover your steak for no longer than three more minutes and turn the heat off if you need to if you want your steak medium rare. The nectarine slices will warm slightly but they don’t really need to cook all the way through. You should have enough slices of nectarine to cover the whole steak with no room in between.

Drizzle just a tiny bit of honey on top of the nectarines and then eat the whole thing. You can share your steak if you want or you can keep it all to yourself. I had two small children running around outside and they looked pretty hungry. Turns out they were, between the two year old and the three year old they ate half of my steak. Definitely a good meal to eat outside while it is nice.

I topped this meal off with some fresh corn on the cob with the husks still on. You can cook your corn at 450 - 475 for as long as you want. The husks do a great job of keeping the moisture in but I cooked mine for about foty-five minutes.

For dessert walk down the street and buy some shaved ice.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Jun 25 0 comments
improv, snack

june tomato surprise

  • 1 tomato
  • 3 leaves romaine lettuce
  • salt
  • pinch of garlic powder or slivered garlic
  • basil
  • oregano
  • capers
  • parsley
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar

Prep time on this is, like, five minutes. Slice your tomato, arrange on three leaves of rinsed romaine lettuce, sprinkle generously with salt and sprinkle with garlic. Sprinkle some capers, whole. Top with fine parsley and then drizzle with oil then a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar.

My guest was so antsy to eat tomatoes tonight that he kept peeking over my shoulder. He only ate maybe two hours before hand and he ate almost the whole plate and then asked for seconds.

A variation could include some lime juice in place of the balsamic with just a pinch of lime zest. Or you could sprinkle some hard boiled egg yolks on top with a pinch of cayenne. You could even dash some a hard cheese such as parmesan on there if you wanted. Let me know how the variations taste because I think they sound awesome. Rock on.

This was just an appetizer for our Tony’s pizza. We had some pictures to share, but my dinner guest didn’t know how to save the pictures to his phone. Just now we went up to pick up my Community Supported Agriculture produce from East Farms here in Utah. I’ll have to tell you all about the loot that I got. Some good stuff including rhubarb and fresh celery. I’m quite excited to tell you about it. Oh how I wish I had pictures to share.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Jun 25 1 comments
Uncategorized

rad-egg midnite snack

I’m going to be lacking in my descriptions until I get back into the habit of posting recipes. The following isn’t really a recipe, but it is a snack that most people would neglect in favor of chips or… more chips, unless presented with a snack that was already prepared in the following manner.

  • 4 radishes
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Paprika
  • Leftover ranch sauce from Wendy’s

The reason this snack was simple is because I always have a stock of boiled eggs in the fridge from with which to snack upon.

Have you ever noticed that people will actually choose snacks like this over junk food from the gas station if they are presented with a choice yet isn’t it funny how when scanning their minds for food items to snack on, we don’t naturally come to rest on simple items that are already in our fridge?

What do a good portion of individuals do? They hop in their cars when they get hungry and allow the maze of advertising laden streets to direct their stomachs and control their diets as they wander through the city-scape in a hunger induced dream state. Why does this even make sense to them?

So, despite my rant, this snack was still delicious. Peel your eggs. Slice in half. Cover a plate or shallow bowl with a sprinkling of salt. Lightly top your four egg halves with a bit more. Slice your radishes into thirds after rinsing them thoroughly because they are fresh from the dirt, we got these from the CSA farm which I will have to remind you about later, I eat according to what is given to me. Place your radishes face down on the same plate.

Sprinkle some paprika on your egg yolks and then dash some pepper over the whole ordeal. Dip your radishes in the ranch and enjoy. Don’t forget to eat your eggs, too.

I guess I could have garnished this all with some parsley since I had some left that needs to be used soon. Parsley goes good with eggs and radishes. Top it off with a glass of green tea with honey and ginseng and you’ve got yourself quite a decent snack.

I’ll get around to writing about my adventures in stocking my pantry so you can understand the process of how I make these decisions.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Jun 24 1 comments
improv, lunch

june salad

Vinaigrette:

  • 1 part olive oil
  • 3/4 part red wine vinegar
  • Pinch of salt
  • Dash of dried basil leaves
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • Drops of sesame seed oil
  • Pinch of garlic powder

With the oil in a bowl, add your dry ingredients first and allow a few minutes for the oil to infuse. Add the pure sesame seed oil and then whisk in the red wine vinegar with a fork until the color is uniform.

June Salad:

  • 1 part chard
  • 1 part romaine lettuce
  • 4 radishes
  • Sprigs of parsley
  • Capers
  • Dash of paprika

Rinse the vegetables well. Pull apart, by hand, the chard, lettuce and parsley. Layer in your bowl if you are only serving one and wish to skip the tossing stage. Slice the radishes and arrange on top of the salad. Top with capers, drizzle vinaigrette and sprinkle with paprika.

Eat.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jun 22 0 comments
dinner

Bleu-Bacon Meatloaf Burgers

If you like bacon, this has plenty.bleuburger
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 9 slices bacon
  • 6 oz bleu cheese
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 c toasted bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 milk
  • 2-3 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 T dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper
  • buns
  • toppings (ketchup, mustard, onion, lettuce, more bleu cheese and bacon, etc.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sautee onion and garlic till translucent. Place in a large bowl. Fry bacon and add half of it to the bowl with the onions and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients except buns and toppings and mix thoroughly.  Form into 6 large balls and place on a baking sheet.  Make a large dent in the balls and add bleu cheese and  remaining bacon to each, pinching ground beef around the hole to close. Flatten, taking care not to let any of the filling to get out.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well done. Serve on buns with your choice of toppings.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 14 0 comments
dinner, ghetto

ghetto pork ribs

I normally don’t consume pork, but the food co-op always includes about a pound of the stuff whenever I get food from them and my kitchen is quite bare so I made some quick ribs. Those of you who enjoy pork or slow cooked ribs, leave now because I will probably offend you.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound pork ribs, mine didn’t have bones for some reason
  • paprika
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • crushed red pepper
  • maple syrup
  • basil
  • onion powder
  • 4 oz can of diced chiles

I always salt and pepper my meat for anywhere from five minutes to half-an-hour. It’s a good habit to get into. Tell you why later. After generously covering my ribs with salt and pepper, I dashed in some onion powder and then generously covered each piece with paprika. Covering the meat so that you can’t see the meat anymore, only in spots. Dash a bit of basil and then spread crushed red pepper all over.

After about fifteen minutes, long enough for the oven to pre-heat to 325, I lay the meat in a single layer in my skillet. I don’t have a pan for the oven and I probably won’t buy one for a while. My pots and pans do a fine enough job of it. Before I built a cute little tent out of tinfoil, I soaked each piece in maple syrup. Taking care not to disturb the dry rub, I placed the syrup on each piece carefully. The syrup should be thick enough to not wash off your rub.

Before placing in the oven for an hour, I made sure that I had maybe an 1/8th of an inch to a 1/4 of an inch of water in my pan before closing the aluminum foil tent just barely enough so that steam could escape.

An hour later I tossed in a can of diced chiles, turned the heat up to 375 and then browned the meat for another 12 minutes. This stuff ended up tasting pretty good. I wasn’t disappointed.

I still had some brown rice from the food co-op and it made for a nice filler tossed with a couple drops of liquid smoke and a hint of mustard.

Minimal effort, happy tummy.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Apr 13 0 comments
Uncategorized, improv, quick fix

Roasted Red Pepper Salad with Almonds

Today I decided to combine my love of Roasted Red Pepper with almonds, so I invented a new salad. It tastes great, it’s inexpensive, takes about 15 minutes to make, and it’s packed with nutritional goodness. Even the dressing is good for you.

Recipe

  • Two peppers (red, orange, or yellow - mix for nutritional variety), roasted and diced
  • Three or four large handfuls of baby romaine lettuce
  • A small bunch of grapes (about a dozen), sliced in half
  • One small handful of sliced almonds
  • One small handful of sunflower seeds
  • A drizzle (2-4 tablespoons) of classic balsamic vinaigrette
  • Freshly grated hard kasseri, to taste (parmesan or romano will substitute)
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Roast peppers. If you have a gas stove, you can roast peppers right on the burners, directly above the flames. Turn the peppers every few minutes with tongs until the skin is thoroughly charred. Otherwise, set your oven to broil and place the peppers on the top rack, directly under the heating elements. Broil for 7-10 minutes one one side, then flip and repeat. Once the skins are charred, peel them off under cold water. The charred skin should come off effortlessly. Dice peeled peppers as you normally would into small pieces.

While the peppers are roasting, rinse and slice the grapes. Mix lettuce, grapes, almonds and seeds in a large bowl.

Add diced peppers and vinaigrette, and gently toss until ingredients are evenly distributed. Don’t toss too much or all the seeds will fall to the bottom.

Plate and top with cheese and pepper to taste. Pepper liberally for best effect.

Nutritional Info

Sweet peppers are one of my favorite foods, especially red peppers. They’re also extremely healthy. Sweet peppers are hydrating, low in calories, and high in nutrition. Red bell peppers are packed with vitamins A and C (more vitamin C than an orange) and a good source of fiber. They also contain lycopene and beta-cryptoxathin, which can lower the risk of cancer.

I’m also a big fan of nuts. IMO, one of the least appreciated foods. If you don’t keep a good stock of nuts in the kitchen, it’s time to start. Almonds are among my favorites. Not only are they sweet, they’re loaded with protein, iron, calcium, vitamin E, zinc, and B2. Almonds contain good for you fats, and can actually help lower your cholesterol. Almonds contain a healthy blend of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, so if you’re trying to reduce your fat and carbohydrate intake, almonds make a great substitute for the fatty foods you’re replacing. I prefer to buy my almonds pre-sliced from the grocery store bulk bins, because sliced almonds are great for sprinkling in salads, breakfast cereals, on yogurt, and even on the top of baked casseroles. In terms of raw nutritional value for money, it’s tough to beat almonds.

This recipe also contains sunflower seeds. Like almonds, sunflower seeds contain protein, healthy fats, calcium, and iron. They are also a good source of potassium and phosphorous. I buy them shelled and salted in bulk.

On Iodine and Salt

The salt from the sunflower seeds will most likely be iodized, which can help prevent some disease, including goiters. I usually buy non-iodized sea-salt to sprinkle on my foods, so I like to have iodized salt for most of my cooking and baking to make up for the lack of iodine in my diet. If you use sea salt and eat locally grown produce in land-locked regions, you might also think about adopting a similar habit. Too little or too much iodine can cause thyroid disorders. A teaspoon of iodized salt per day is plenty. If you eat out often, or eat produce from coastal regions, you probably have nothing to worry about. Most modern diets provide plenty of iodine, and heavy milk drinkers often get more than enough iodine from their dairy intake.

The Dressing Won’t Make You Fat

In salads, the biggest health concern is usually the dressing - but fear not! Balsamic vinaigrette contains about 50-100 calories per serving, only 5g-10g of fat, zero trans fats, and zero cholesterol. In other words, it’s good for you. Really!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 07 1 comments
lunch

tuna salad sandwich

Here’s a little something I came up with when I wasn’t sure what to make. I just threw some stuff from the cupboard together and it turned out great. The rice sounds weird, but it’s really good and helps extend the tuna when you only have one can.

  • 1 can tuna
  • 1 c cooked rice
  • 2 tsp garlic powder or 1-2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3-4 tsp dried chopped onion or 1/2 onion chopped fine
  • 1/4 c chopped raisins
  • 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbsp relish
  • 1 squirt dijon mustard
  • enough mayonnaise to make the whole thing stick together
  • juice of 1/2 lemon or 2 tsp wine vinegar
  • 3 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
  • 3 slices favorite lunchmeat
  • 6 slices favorite sandwich bread
  • 1-2 tsp butter

Mix all but the last 4 ingredients together. Arrange the cheese and meat on the bread. Top with a generous helping the tuna mixture. Spread the outside of the sandwich with butter and grill on a sandwichmaker, Geroge Forman-like grill, or just sautee in a frying pan. Delish.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,