Linguni with Muscles

**Warning: You are going to need a ticket to this post... to this gun post. Because there's so many muscles!** BA-DU-DUM-CHHH

I have had these white wine and garlic roasted muscles in my freezer for a week or two, and tonight they were finally used! Of course I paired them with a delicous bed of linguini. Delicious!

I seasoned the linguini with:

garlic powder

salt

pepper

 italian seasoning

Then topped it off with:

white truffle oil

parmesean cheese

I was slightly torn when I was getting ready to plate the food because I had one perfect plate, made by Connor, and then about 6 so-so plates I found at a thrift shop. The so-so plates are usually perfect for my food, but linguni calls for a slightly deeper plate, and that is what Connor's offers. So he proposed this: "Why don't we just be super cute and eat off of the same plate?" So we did.

PS. This whole dinner took us roughly 30 minutes to cook and eat. :)

Muscles from Kroger in the frozen section.

Back with Breakfast

1. I want to thank you guys for continuing to comment on here through my absence. I can't even believe that people are being so kind, and it is really encouraging to keep on going. :)

I'm kind of afraid to count how long it has been since I last posted on here... because I know it has been an unruly amount of time. So for that, I applogize. I think what I was originally set on doing with this blog is documenting the cool things that I make and eat. But I think that from now on, I will just document the things that I eat, cool or not.

Starting with this morning...

 While I cooked the pancakes, Connor did our dishes. They were piling up out of control. Oops

Pancakes made with pancake mix from the dollar store and a few frozen blueberries. These bowls are from the dollar store too! Why are we eating pancakes out of bowls, you might ask? Well, because in this apartment, we don't get around to running the dishwasher often enough. And for some reason, bowls and forks are always the first to run out.

Any cool new ways you guys like to cook pancakes? I'm always looking for a new fruit to put in them that tastes super duper yummy

Maple Bacon Grilled Cheese

It is foods like this that I really need to stay away from, because after finding
a picture of this elsewhere on the internet, I knew that it was something that I had to try.
But now, I want to eat it all the time... not good for my thighs.

So I caution you as you read forward, do not fall victim to this delicious sandwich,
you can resist eating it every day... you have self control!

This is the Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Turkey Bacon, Maple Syrup, and Apple Butter:

Ingredients:

1 Slice of Turkey Bacon

2 Slices of French Bread (substitute and bread that tickles your fancy)

2 Slices of cheese singles. I chose kraft.

1 Dollop of Apple Butter

A splash of maple syrup

All you need to do is get out a large frying pan, heat it up to medium and start frying your bacon.

This is going to give you a little bit of grease and flavor on the pan for your bread.. yum.

Use cooking spray or butter to grease the other half of your pan as well as one side of each of your slices of bread.

Once this is done, just place the buttered sides down on the pan and toast those babies. You can also add

your cheese slices now, one on each piece of bread.

Now construct your sandwich!

Smoosh those two slices of bread together in the pan, and cook until both of the sides are toasted to your liking...

Now to plate: Go ahead and slide your sandwich onto a plate, put your cooked bacon slice on top, and garnish with our two dipping sauces :)

How gourmet, right?

At first I was kinda grossed out by the idea, but I was bored, hungry, and curious enough to try it, as I am hoping you are too.

But it is DELICIOUS!!!! You just have to try it. GOOD LUCK!

Tell Me About Calamari.

As I was surfing the interwebz this afternoon, calamari came to my mind... on two separate occasions. 
First when I was on Tumblr and saw a picture of fried calamari with marinara,
and second when I saw something on my blog roll that looked a lot like calamari steak but wasn't.
I got squid on the mind!

So my question is, how difficult would it be for me to attain some good quality calamari
and to cook it in a delicious way? I live in Midwestern College Town, USA so there aren't
any local fish markets that I can swing by... so I am limited to the super market.
My personal preference is Kroger, but Jewel might be the better contender.
I would definitely have a better chance of finding some when I go home for Christmas Break.

I would like to use calamari steaks like this:

The best tasting squid steak I have ever had was at Kiku Japanese Steakhouse, just plain hibachi style.

I can only tell that they pre flour the steaks, and then cook them in oil and butter with salt and pepper.

So I'm assuming the amazing flavor comes from the type of oil they use.

I can't find any pictures of what it actually looks like after it is cooked, so I'll have to go sometime soon to take some photos :)

Do you guys know of any good recipes or other ways to cook calamari?

Fall Foods

Hey guys,  long time no see.
as of lately I have been making the transition to fall foods and really acquiring the richer winter palate that
everyone develops this time of year.
It's all about big comfy knit sweaters, my favorite socks, cheese, butternut squash, tomato, pumpkin, pork, and allspice.

There are several recipes that I have been contemplating lately such as:
Macaroni and Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup... (I have never liked it, but really want to)
Pumpkin Bread *note* I am a horrible and destructive baker.
Pork Chops
Pulled Pork
Beef Stew
etc.

Please if you have any suggestions for recipes that you particularly enjoy, leave a link or comment.
I would love to try it out and post about it!

In the meantime take a look at these recipes I found appealing:

Brandied Cranberry Short-Rib Stew

via MyRecipes.com

Pork Vindaloo

via MyRecipes.com

Spiced Lamb Chops with Rosemary

via MyRecipes.com

Tomato Soup Grilled Cheese

via PithyandCleaver.com

The New Eggs, Cheese, and Toast

ALLELUIAAAA!!! I have found a little piece of heaven.

Meet Texas Toast with Havarti, Egg, and Truffle Oil.

This meal was inspired by Ino Cafe of New York featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate

  

Ingredients: 

1 slice of texas toast

1 separated egg yolk

1 slice of havarti cheese

3 asparagus spears

olive oil

salt + pepper

First things first, pre-heat your oven to 425.

To prepare your toast, cut the crust off and slice a 1 inch square in the middle.

DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!

You are going to use this 'box' as a cup for your egg yolk later, so compress the square down with the

back of your knife or your finger... whatever :)

Once your oven is finished pre-heating, pop the toast in on a cookie sheet for about 3 to 5 minutes so

that it is starting to brown on the edges.

All the while...

You are going to want to get your asparagus, cut it into bite size pieces and heat them in a pan

with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you like your asparagus crunchy like I do, then this

should really only take about 3 minutes. Once they are done just scatter them on the plate, kinda like a garnish.

Once the toast is out, go ahead and pour the yolk into your box and put your cheese around the edges.

When you put the toast back into the oven it wont be for a specific amount of time... all you need to do is watch the cheese. 

Once the cheese is ooey and gooey and dripping over the edges, you can take the toast out. The yolk should be runny.

To finish: Plate your toast, add your salt, pepper, and drizzle the truffle oil. Voila! Eat in four steps:
1. Admire the look

2. Make a mess

3. Soak up every last bit of yolk

4. Be sad it is over

Enjoy!

Artichoke

How amazing is it that I actually followed through with one of my goals? Artichokes!
Seeing that the only forms of artichoke I have ever eaten is smothered in
cheese or in pasta, I figured to really get to know the vegetable,
I needed it in a very simplified form. Broiled.

The preparation and cooking are just as simple as the flavor...

Ingredients:

1 Artichoke

1/2 of a lemon

2 garlic cloves

1 Tablespoon of Olive oil

Salt + Pepper

(Preheat the oven to 425)

All you need to do to prepare the artichoke is cut off the stem, and the top inch or so of the leaves...

they aren't edible. Once you have that done, you can start spreading the leaves apart 

so that all of the flavors of the juices you add later can drip down into the crevices...

Before you start adding the seasonings, put the artichoke on a piece of tin foil 

with a tiny bit of olive oil to make sure it doesn't stick at all.

Squeeze your lemon over the artichoke, making sure it is evenly distributed

Next, drizzle your olive oil over the entire artichoke, adding more depending on your personal taste.

Now, shove the two garlic cloves into the leaves...

and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Wrap your artichoke up in the tinfoil making sure nothing is exposed!

And pop it in the oven.

Now comes the hard part... waiting. 1 1/2 hours. For an artichoke.

(My artichoke was fairly large, so for a medium I would only do 1 hour and 15 minutes or so...)

The finished product...

How to eat: Pull the leaves out one by one and scrape the meatiness off of the bottom with your teeth.

It may take some trial and error to figure out what is and is not edible.

Or you could always dive in face first and see how it goes.

** You may want some sauce to dip it in... what kind, is up to you. Be creative! && Enjoy :)