Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Rum Raisin

Is it so strange that I want to eat this candle?

This is a Woodwick Candle, and I highly suggest you all give one of these a try.
They are appropriately names because of their wooden wick, which crackles as it burns...
Kind of like Rice Crispies, but better.

This flavor is Rum Raisin, and it reminds me of the delicious smell that fills a warm kitchen while raisin bread, or bread pudding is baking in the oven. Very fall.

Oh, it also reminds me of the fact that I can't bake for shit.

Any good recipes for raisin bread or something of the sort for the baking handicapped?

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Turkey Meatballs w/ Truffle Risotto

Hey guys, this meal was the first official dinner I cooked for the school year. Although school doesn't start until Monday I am all moved in and excited to start cooking more for myself.

So here we have Turkey Meatballs with Risotto and Truffle Oil. It was super delicious! Again, another successful recipe!! I'm on a roll...





Ingredients:
1 lb of Ground Turkey Meat (only use half if you're not cooking for 4 people)
1 Cup of Risotto
2 Cloves of garlic
Salt, Pepper, and Italian Seasoning to taste
1 Egg
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup of Romano Cheese
Handful of Spinach
Butter
Olive Oil
1 Cup of Boiling Stock (chicken or veggie)
Truffle Oil to top


First, place the ground turkey into a large bowl. 
Add 1 clove of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning to taste. 
Then add the parmesan cheese, and a pinch of the romano if you'd like.

Mix the ingredients together with your hands just so that everything is evenly dispersed.
Now you are going to add your egg to act as the glue that holds this all together.

As you are doing this, you can heat your pan adding enough olive oil so that every 
meatball is able to sit in it. And you can start warming your stock in another pot.

Once the oil is hot enough (becomes a little less viscous) you can add your meatballs, 
be careful not to let them touch or they will cook together.
I'd say about 8 to 10 minutes on each side, and then waiting until browned.

Now that your meatballs are cooking, you can start on the risotto.

Heat a pan wide enough that the risotto lays flat and does not pile up at all. 
Add your butter first and then add your olive oil in equal parts so that they completely cover the pan.

Add your second clove of minced garlic and let it simmer for a little until you add your risotto.
You want to let the risotto cook in the oil and butter until it all becomes see through except for the ends.

Once it is see through, you can add one ladle of your boiling stock, stirring until the risotto soaks up all 
of the moisture... you are going to repeat this until your stock is gone.

Ladle, stir, soak, ladle, stir, soak... once all of your stock is gone, take a little taste test to see if the risotto is soft or to your liking.
By now, the meatballs are definitely done cooking and can be turned off if they are at nice golden brown.

Now, you add your spinach and romano cheese to the risotto, stirring until it is completely melted.
Plate your risotto, drizzle with about a tablespoon of truffle oil, and top with meatballs. & Serve!
I know you will be deeply satisfied with this meal, it is surprisingly filling but not heavy enough that you feel like you just ate two big macs.

Enjoy, my fellow foodies.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Cannellini Bean Soup with Arugula Salad

Hello my dears, tonight I cooked for my Mom and Sister, a recipe out of
a new Italian cooking book I found for four dollars at TJ Maxx :)

It is a Cannellini Bean Soup (vegetarian, for my sister) with a delicious Arugula salad.
At first I was sad that I couldn't use chicken stock instead of vegetable,
but it turned out tasting delicious anyway.



Ingredients for the soup:
1 can of cannellini beans, drained
*the recipe called for dried beans that be soaked overnight... yeah right.
7 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
4oz of corallini pasta, or any soup pasta for that matter.
*I used more than called for because I didn't want too much broth left over in the end.
6 tbsp. of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
4 tbsp. of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

*I used one bay leaf and shaved romano cheese as well



Ingredients for the salad:
Arugula lettuce
tomato
shaved romano cheese
Olive oil
lemon juice
balsamic vinegar
finely chopped garlic
chopped basil
(any other spices you would want, I used salad supreme)
salt and pepper




Directions:
Add the beans and stock to a pot with a thick bottom and bring to a boil.
Once the beans are heated and softened, take about half of the beans and a little stock
and put them into a food processor/ blender and create a smooth puree.
Add the puree back to the soup and stir well.

Bring the soup back to a boil, and add the pasta, stirring so that it does not stick.
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. While cooking the pasta, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil
in a small pan with the chopped garlic, only cooking for 30 seconds or so. Do not burn!!!

Add the garlic to the soup, along with the parsley, salt, and pepper.
You can now serve your soup with shaved romano cheese on top, yummm


Unlike my recent pizza mishap, this soup and salad dinner, WAS DELICIOUS.
I would recommend this recipe to anyone and everyone. It was plenty filling because 
of the thickness and the amount of pasta. Definitely something I would have enjoyed 
when I was little too...

It didn't take long at all with the canned beans apposed to the raw ones, and I'd like to think that
it was fairly healthy for you... no huge sources of fat, except for the olive oil, but thats whatever ;)

Oh and this random photo on the bottom is my new truffle infused olive oil! I had to get this little
bottle for a number of reasons; One, I have never really tried truffle oil before, except at a restaurant
on top of popcorn chicken and popcorn with white cheddar. So it was pretty masked.
The other reason being that the larger bottle of pure truffle oil (not that much larger) was
3 times the price... yeah not for me in this point of my life :)

It says on the bottle that this oil is especially good on risotto... I smell a new recipe coming...

Hope you enjoy the food! 


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Spinach, Mozzarella, and Prosciutto Pizza


 Connor and I decided to use the box of Jiffy Pizza Crust mix, and I still don't have flour in my apartment, so I couldn't make it correctly... woops

 Fresh Garlic






*Tip: Don't add canned tomatoes... they were honestly disgusting and ruined the whole pizza.

All in all, this pizza could have been much better with higher quality ingredients, but good enough to post. I hope you enjoyed the photos anyway :)

Monday, August 1, 2011

Cajun Fish Tacos

Hello again, this weekend Connor and I had a taste for a light fish dinner. Although it is known to be
dangerous going grocery shopping on an empty stomach, we went. And without a concrete recipe in mind.

Btw, I didn't win the challenge... I ended up buying some impulse candied kiwi slices.

So, after roaming the isles of Kroger, this is what we ended up with: Cajun Fish Tacos.




Ingredients:

2 White fish filets (found in frozen section) with cajun seasoning
1/2 of an Avocado
1/2 Cup of chopped cilantro
1/2 Cup of chopped white onion
1 Cup of halved cherry tomatos
1/2 of a lime for squeezing
Mexican cheese to taste
Flour, corn, or hard corn tortillas





This dinner was so satisfying and delicious, it was sinful. Of course, half of the credit absolutely goes
to Kroger for carrying that delicious, pre-seasoned, frozen fish. But the rest was all fresh ingredients that were amazing together.

Plus, each filet was only around 150 calories, so this was almost a guiltless dinner... as for the cheese... I don't know.



About these photos... I didn't know taco shells burnt so easily in the microwave.


Thanks for reading :)
& I hope you get to enjoy the tacos, too!