Browsing Tag

cooking

Food

Fruit Cravings

I was drawn to the berries.

I’ve been dreaming of strawberries, kiwis, pineapple, and grapes. I’d say there is something wrong with me, but honestly, that’s just stating the obvious. Don’t you think? Those daydreamings of a rainbow’d plates of herbivorous goodness are something I’ve decided I need to give into, and fast.

It’s caused me to head straight for the grocery store and scour through the winter produce and see what’s what. Luckily with modern farm technology strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries still line the shelves. And a sale doesn’t hurt at all. Caused me to buy a pound of strawberries and a bag of kiwis, which resulted in the following dinner:

What a wonderful dinner.

Yes, when you look at that plate, there are no carbs. Surprise! The carb-loving queen has been able to make more meals without bread and grains. And it was colorful at that. The strawberries and kiwis are self-explanatory, just washed and cut them up. For that surprise portion on the plate I’m pretty sure you can’t figure out, that’s a beef-veggie … ummm.. not quite a scramble… ummm … tortilla-less tacos?

I took a half a quarter cup of diced onion and a quarter cup of diced green peppers, sauteed them in olive oil. Add a teaspoon of each ground black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne powder. Continue to saute on medium-high until the onions are caramelized Then I added a little less than a quarter pound of diced beef in the pan. When it was cooked almost through, increase the heat to high and add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan. Cook off the alcohol and serve.

I have to say, it would taste mighty good in a tortilla with some shredded cheddar. Maybe next time.

February 6, 2013 by Roni

Food, Savory

Crockpot Mac N Cheese

CrockpotMacAndCheese

There is something inadvertently sexy about a crockpot made meal. Perhaps it’s the slow cooking, maybe it’s how it just makes meats fall apart with the poke of a fork, or even maybe… it’s how easy it makes life. Like this recipe, which I made this recipe for the company Christmas party. It was such a big hit that there weren’t any seconds for anyone. And it took little to no effort. Don’t tell them that, they might make me cook all the time.

Next time I better make double the amount, though. I put it down on the table, turned around, and it was almost gone. Crazy delicious, but I think I also want to experiment with some various other ingredients, like bacon, veggies, or even different cheeses. Let’s get crazy!

Crockpot Mac N Cheese

Gather:
2 cups of cooked shell pasta
4 tablespoons of butter
2 1/2 cups of grated Pepper Jack cheese
3 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

In a medium sauce pan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until melted.

In the slow cooker (a.k.a. crockpot), mix the cheese mixture, eggs, soup, sour cream, salt, milk, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the pasta and stir again.

Cook on low for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

January 14, 2013 by Roni

Food, Savory

Winter Cookies

Pretty Italian Cookies

Not sure if you’ve figured it out yet, but I’m Italian. So anise cookies are kind of this thing my family likes to make. I’m not a fan of licorice, so the cookies aren’t my first go-to cookie. However, I have no problem making them, especially since I get to decorate them.

Gather the goods, just no need for the remote

You will need:
2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons anise oil

Icing:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and anise oil and continue mixing until combined. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet in small batches until combined.

With a spoon, drop small one inch cookies onto baking sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack.

While those are cooling, mix the icing ingredients until smooth. I added some red to make the icing colorful, then dipped them into the icing and put back onto the rack. Decorate with sprinkles or whatever you’d like. Enjoy!

January 8, 2013 by Roni

Food, Savory

Meatballs – The Basics

Nom nom nom

Yup, I’m Italian. Yeah, it’s basically required that you know at least one way to make meatballs. That or I hear they disown you or something. (Okay, I might be making that one up. But you might as well know how to fake making a good Italian meal.)

Preheat your oven to 350. That’s right, they’re going in the oven. Surprising, since how I first learned to make meatballs just meant I put them in a frying pan.

Okay, here we go. Grab a pound of ground beef, 1 egg, 1/2 cup bread crumbs like 4C, a quarter of an onion minced, a quarter of a green pepper minced, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp parsley, and 1/4 tsp garlic powder. Mash all of that up in a bowl and make one-inch round meatballs. Place on cooking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.

Once complete, you can eat them like that (my preference), or douse them in pasta sauce, cooked pasta, and fresh grated Parmesan.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to invite me for dinner.

November 13, 2012 by Roni

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