On Vacation!

Well... sad to say, but my run with Project Food Blog is over.  At first, I was pretty disappointed, but then I got to thinking... this competition really got me to step out and try new things, be a better blogger (I hope!), and to just be honest with what I do.  As much as I wish I could have moved on, I realize that this is survival of the best, and the best seriously did move on.  There's always next year!  And you better believe I'll be cheering on the sidelines.

As most of you know, I'm in Florida at the moment, hanging out with family and checking out the sites.  So I'll leave you with my two favorite pictures I've taken so far... they both make me smile, and I hope they do you too!

Mushroom Meatloaf

Halfway through the week and I've been one busy bee.  Trying to get last minute school-work done, finishing up errands to do before we leave for our Florida trip tomorrow, and getting the dogs situated with some dog sitters (thanks Kendra and Ike!).  I just know that I'm going to forget something!  But I know it will be a great time to be with family and our new family in celebrating my brother's wedding!  Will definitely post pictures next week!

And just a reminder, just about a day and a half left to vote for Challenge #3 in Project Food Blog!  I'd be extremely thankful if you took a minute out of your day to do so!  I didn't get this far without you guys, and of course, you guys are awesome!

I don't know about you, but the more fall-like it gets outside, the more I crave some really great comfort food.  Meatloaf, being one of those grand comforts.  I found this really great mushroom version that was an instant hit, and if I didn't already know that I used mushrooms, and despite there being some beef added in, I would never have thought that the majority of the loaf consisted of mushrooms!  So it's definitely a way to "sneak" some good mushrooms into a meal!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Rocco Dispirito's Now Eat This! - Meatloaf w/ Portobello Mushrooms

8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
2 eggs
1/3 cup ketchup
1/2 lb. ground beef
small handful parsley, chopped
1/2 cup panko breakcrumbs
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

Add mushrooms to a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.  Scrape into medium bowl.  Add garlic cloves to processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add eggs and 1 tablespoon of ketchup to the garlic and puree until smooth.  Add garlic/ketchup mixture to mushrooms and mix well.

Add in beef, parsley, and panko bread crumbs to mushroom mixture, as well.  Using your hands, mix well until everything is well combined.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Form the meat/mushroom mixture into a log and place onto prepared baking sheet.  Brush remaining ketchup on top of loaf.  Bake until meatloaf is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes. 

Allow the loaf to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

We served this with some roasted sweet potatoes and simple gravy.  It was absolutely delicious and a great way to welcome comfort food back into our lives!  Enjoy guys!

(I'll edit the post with our CSA goods later on today after we've picked them up!)

Project Food Blog: Challenge #3

Hot diggity!  I never thought I would even make it past Challenge #1, and here I am, at Challenge #3!  All thanks go out to you guys!  Without your votes, I wouldn't be here, and I GREATLY GREATLY appreciate the love!

Challenge #3 is as follows:

"You'll be asked to channel new and exotic flavors for a luxurious dinner party menu. Voters will pick which feast they'd like to RSVP to." 

One thing I love about cooking, is the end result of feeding people.  So naturally, I love to have people come over and eat!  And of course, my co-workers, jumped right on the bandwagon to come on over!

I blogged earlier this week that my favorite season was now upon us - the fall!  And so it's truly the fall season that inspired this menu.  I wanted to bring out something that my guests would enjoy, and would be new to them.  Turns out, 3 of my guests had NEVER had duck before, so that just made this main course all the more perfect!

 

The first course was just a group appetizer:  Carmelized Onion Dip w/ House Made Pita Chips.  I love the simplicity of this and it allowed for the guests to "share" and converse with eachother before the other courses rolled out.

Second course was a simple salad of Arugula, Baby Greens, and Watercress.  Topped with freshly sliced strawberries, goat cheese, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  It was a nice refreshing salad that brightened up the palette and had a great depth of flavor. 

Main course was the entree of Roasted Duck Breasts with a Pomegranate-Chile sauce.  Served with a brown rice pilaf that included golden raisins, dried apricots, and walnuts.  There was also a side of sauteed swiss chard.  The "Duck Virgins" said that they really enjoyed their first experience with duck and one of them even said that duck may be their new favorite!  Score!

 

The fourth and final course was the dessert:  Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Caramel Bourbon Sauce & freshly made Whipped Cream.  This was a perfect night cap to end the dinner.  The cheesecake was thin and light, with an Oreo crust that matched perfectly with the pumpkin cheesecake layer.

At the end of the dinner, I asked everyone what their favorite course of the meal was, and it was a unanimous vote that the Duck definitely reigned supreme.  I'm glad, because personally, it was my favorite as well!

I want to thank my awesome sister, Frances, for decorating our back deck, also!  She did such a great job and really made it look elegant and classy!  My guests were awesome and at the end of the day, all you need are great friends and great food to have an amazing time!

 If you guys dug the menu and found yourself drooling the whole time, please please please, don't hesitate to vote for my entry in Challenge #3 of Project Food Blog (you can either click the link or check out the right sidebar to vote!)!  And thank you thank you SOOOO much for getting me this far!  You guys are awesome!

Jerk Fried Flounder w/ Green Pepper Sauce

It's Friday!  And it's also another Friday that I have to work until 10:30 tonight.  Bummer, I know.  But I have the whole weekend off and I've got a pretty busy one planned.  Thanks to everyone who voted for me in Challenge #2 of Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog!  I'm crossing my fingers that I get to make it to Challenge #3, which is to throw a luxury dinner party.  Win or lose, I'm having a dinner party on Saturday with a few friends.  So we can either discuss my victory or drink a bunch of wine over good food to drown my sorrows!  Either way, it'll be a good time, with good friends.  And that's all we need right?  Right.

I made this flounder a few weeks ago and it was just beaming with great flavors and color.  It was simple, yet sophisticated.  And above all, it was absolutely delicious!


Ingredients:


2 6 oz. Flounder fillets
2 tablespoons Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice from 1 lime
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 roasted green pepper, minced
small handful cilantro, chopped
Homemade Hot Sauce (optional)

Season the flounder fillets w/ the jerk seasoning, and a little bit of salt and pepper, if desired.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat.  Pan fry the fish for about 3-5 minutes today, flipping once.  Transfer fillets to 2 serving plates and tent with aluminum foil.

Add chicken stock and lime juice to same skillet used for fish.  Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half.  Whisk in the butter, hot sauce, and green bell pepper.  Heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour the mixture over the fillets and garnish with cilantro.

I served this over a Corn & Sweet Pepper Hash (which I will post in the near future, of course) and it was absolutely perfect.  Fresh vegetables, perfectly flaky fish, and quick turnaround.  This should definitely be put on your to-make list very soon!  Enjoy the weekend guys!  And hopefully I'll be posting a luxury dinner post on Sunday, thanks to you guys! 

Watermelon Lemonade

Fall is setting in and summer is almost left in the dust.  I'm sure you can still find watermelons for a little while longer.  This was a perfect quencher for the hot summer days, and it seems to be a nice drink for these hot fall days, as well.  It's kinda weird, the weather.  In the mornings when I leave for class, I find myself having to wear a hoodie or a sweater.  But as soon as it hits the afternoon, it's bloody darn hot outside!

I'm not complaining though, because this is my favorite season.  Fall is where the leaves change color (the perfect backdrop for any photo!). The temperature drops ever so slightly, but not enough to make you hibernate inside.  It's actually GREAT to be outside in the fall.  I find that my wardrobe definitely reflects the fall, and I'm glad I can take out all those clothes that have been in hiding for the past few months!

What about you guys?  What is your favorite season? 

Ingredients:

1 medium sized watermelon, seeded and cut into cubes
1 cup water
2 lemons, seeded and juiced
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
ice

In a blender, combine all the ingredients, except for the ice.  Strain, if necessary.

Fill a large pitcher with ice, about halfway.  Pour in mixture from blender.

Serve in glasses and allow your thirst to be quenched while it's still decently hot outside!

How easy is that?  Extremely!  And once you've had it, you'll be making it all the time!  I'm a fan of regular lemonade, but when you throw watermelon into the mix, I'm all in!  Enjoy!


P.S. Here's our weekly CSA! 


2 lbs. apples
2 lbs. sweet potatoes
1 acorn squash
3 hot peppers (aren't they gorgeous?!)
2 lbs. summer squash
1 french baguette

Great stuff this week and if I make it to round 3 of Project Food Blog - you'll definitely get to see a lot of it in action!  So I guess that was a segue way into letting you know there's still time to vote for my Challenge #2 Entry on the Azores! Thanks for all the support, once again!  And hopefully you'll be hearing about a Luxury Dinner soon enough!

Spaghetti & Clams

Happy Monday guys!  Just a reminder, you can vote for my Project Food Blog entry on Foodbuzz starting today through Thursday!  You helped me get past Challenge #1, so I'd be immensely grateful if you helped me get through Challenge #2!  Thanks again!

It's the beginning of the week and surprisingly I'm in a pretty good mood.  Not that I'm never in a good mood, it's just that Monday's usually drag on for me, but today, it wasn't too bad.  It actually seemed like the day flew by at work.  Then I had a test in my Spanish class which went alright, I suppose.  I think I was still in shock from getting a perfect score on the first test we had in there, that I didn't think I needed to study too much for this one.  So needless to say, I don't think a perfect score will be had on this one... maybe just an A, yeah... definitely an A. 

Or maybe it's that I have a Developmental Biology test tomorrow morning and I was more focused on studying for that!  Considering I barely got a B on our first test in there!  I tell you, I wish I could be one of those students that just settles for C's (because after all, as the mantra goes - "C's get degrees!"), but I can't.  I mean, I will if I absolutely have to, but I'm competitive in nature.  I strive to be the best regardless of what it is (those of you that know me, know that this is VERY true).  So hopefully all this studying will pay off and I can start the 1-week countdown to our vacation and road trip to Florida!  Woohoo!  So let's get to a recipe, shall we?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I'm a HUGE seafood fan.  I made this Spaghetti & Clam dish a while back, but I haven't forgotten how amazing it was.  It's simplicity at it's finest.  Any shellfish will do, but there's something about clams that just strike me as the best!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. clams
1 cup white wine
1/2 tablespoon thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice from 1 lemon
1 green bell peppers, finely diced
1 lb. linguini or thin spaghetti noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
small handful of cilantro, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package directions for al dente.

In a dutch oven or large pot, combine thyme, white wine, garlic, green peppers, and clams over medium high heat.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down to a simmer and let cook, covered, for about 3-4 minutes, or until clams open up.

Remove clams and set aside.  Simmer broth mixture for about 5 more minutes.  Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Drain pasta and add in clams.  Toss well and serve onto warm plates.  Pour desired amount of broth over noodles and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

The best thing about shellfish is that most of it is ready in practically no time flat.  And that definitely is how this dish is!  Tons of flavor coming at you and it's ready in about 20-25 minutes!  Enjoy guys!  And thanks again for all of your continued support!  You guys are awesome!

Project Food Blog: Challenge #2

First and foremost... thanks to all of you that voted for me in Challenge #1.  Obviously, you believed in me enough to give me a crack at Challenge #2:

"How well can you tackle a classic dish from another culture? We're bypassing the French and Italian standards in favor of more challenging cuisines."

Being given practically the whole world to choose from is a tough decision.  Of course, I'm quite familiar with various Asian cuisines, so I tried to stay away from the obvious.  I thought about doing an African country, possibly Ethiopia, but wasn't quite sold.  Then I went to Europe, and with already ruling out France and Italy, I wasn't left with anything that tickled my fancy.  So then comes the Caribbean and North & South America... "there's potential there," I thought.

So desperately searching for inspiration to hit me, I turned to the Travel Channel website.  More specifically, the No Reservations section.  Who knows world food and culture better than the great Anthony Bourdain?  Not many, that's for sure.  So perusing around, I saw a little blip-it for an upcoming episode on the Azores.  Okay... so raise your hand if you've heard of that part of the world. :::looking around:::  Okay, not so many.  Well, I'm in the same boat.  I don't think I've ever heard of the Azores before, and what better reason to go out of my comfort zone and choose them?!  And so a decision was made... well sort of.  I had a culture, but now what to make?

 photo from http://xinfo4u.blogspot.com/2009/12/azores-news-and-newspaper.html

Well what and where are the Azores? 

Just a little bit of background: The Azores are a former territory of Portugal, so the cuisine and culture is highly influenced by Portuguese customs.  They are made up of 9 different islands, pictured above.  The Azores are also in very close proximity to North America (only a 4 hour flight from Boston!) so it has recently gained more popularity due it's amazing natural beauty (some believe that the Azores are the last remnant of the lost continent of Atlantis).

photo from http://toptraveldestinations.co.uk/

I could look at pictures of the Azorean islands all day, but we're here to talk about the food, right?  And from what I gather, the food is just as amazing as the natural beauty of the islands.  Described as more of a peasant-type food, the Azores use their natural bounty of fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy from local cattle, and vast amounts of fish from the Sargasso Sea.  Early settlers brought a huge bounty of produce to the islands such as fava beans, kale, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, yams, citrus, pineapples, etc.

One big tradition in the Azores and many other Portuguese-influenced countries, is the Portuguese Festa, or Portuguese Holy Spirit Festival.  The festival is based on the popular belief that a visit from the Holy Spirit is what enabled Queen Isabel of Portugal to relieve her people's suffering and is the subject of several miraculous legends; according to one, the queen, smuggling food to the poor in midwinter, produced live roses from her robes when her husband, King Diniz, demanded to see what she was concealing.  

A popular dish that is served for free (in honor of Queen Isabel's charitable spirit) during the Festa is sopas e carne (or beef soup).  It's a humble dish that combines flavors of cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, onions, and red wine to produce an amazing meal.  Understanding the meaning of the sopas to the Azores and Portuguese culture is what made this the perfect choice for me and this challenge!

Ingredients:

Adapted from this recipe

1 tablespoon pickling spice

1 cinnamon stick

10 cups water

3 lb. chuck roast

3/4 cup red wine (I used a Shiraz)

1 onion, roughly chopped

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 hot pepper, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

1 loaf of French bread, sliced

fresh mint sprigs

Bring the 10 cups of water to a boil in a large stockpot.  

Place pickling spice and cinnamon stick in a cheesecloth and tie up. (I didn't have any cheesecloth available, and I was short on time to go running all over town to find some, so I improvised and used a coffee filter, and it worked out just fine!)  Drop into boiling water and add chuck roast, wine, onion, hot pepper, and tomato sauce.  

Bring mixture back to a boil and then lower heat to a steady simmer.  Cover and let simmer for about 3 hours, or until meat is nice and tender.  Season mixture with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Remove spices in cheesecloth (or coffee filter!) from mixture.  Remove chuck roast and place on cutting board, tenting the meat with aluminum foil.  Let meat rest for about 5-10 minutes.

In a large serving bowl, place the french bread slices in an even layer.  Place a couple sprigs of mint on top of bread and ladle in broth from soup over bread. 

Thickly slice the meat and serve along with soup.

This meal is meant to be enjoyed family-style, experiencing the joy of sharing a meal with the ones you love!

As an added bonus, there is also a traditional custard tart that is usually served after many Azorean dinners.  I just couldn't resist including it!  You can find the recipe here.  I pretty much followed it right on and the tarts turned out great!

I hope you enjoyed my rendition of a small culinary tour of the Azores!  And if you liked it, I would be delighted if you would vote for me to advance in Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog!  (link on the right also!) Thanks for reading and again, thanks for your support!

Green Pepper Hot Sauce

How was everyone's weekend?  Ours was pretty laid back.  We went to eat at that Colombian restaurant on Friday and definitely had some good grub!  Saturday we both worked and were pretty exhausted by the end of the day so we just stayed in and watched a movie.  Sunday, was of course, football day!  My Eagles won and I definitely won 2 out of 3 of my fantasy football leagues, so all in all... a good weekend.

Hot sauces has been one of those things that I've tried thousands of... purchased or perused... but never really thought to make one from scratch.  A couple weeks ago I made some Homemade Potato Chips and wanted something to dip them in that wasn't your normal potato chip-type dip. 

Now I know you're first thought was pretty much... "you're going to dip your potato chips into hot sauce?"  And I know, crazy, right?  But hey, it worked and it was pretty tasty!  Pretty good for my first try at hot sauce, and the recipe pretty much used up ingredients I had laying around the kitchen!  So score!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon coriander
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped (I kept the seeds, if you want to do this without them, you surely can)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 roma tomato, roughly chopped

Easy prep on this too because you pretty much just place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until you get your desired consistency.

This was uniquely spicy and if anything, could pass as a "sloppy salsa".  It's not too pretty, but it was tasty.  And in the end, that's what really matters right?  So throw this on whatever!  Sandwiches, tacos, fish, steak... the possibilities are endless.  And as for pairing well with the potato chips?  It was unique, but highly satisfying!  Enjoy!

And hey guys!  If you have the time (please say you do!) head on over to Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog page and vote for my blog to become the "Next Food Blog Star!"  (the link is to the right --->) I greatly appreciate all of your comments and continued readership!