recipe: meatless (mushroom) meatballs

taken from: allrecipes.com (Chef John)

changes: none - made exactly as written.

ingredients list:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb fresh white or baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped or zipped through a food processor
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1 oz finely shredded parmesian-reggiano cheese
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf (italian) parsley
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- finely ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch dried oregano

recipe: no knead bread

taken from: Steamy Kitchen

changes: substituted 1 cup of bread flour for wheat flour; added seasoning to crust. 

ingredients: 

- 3 cups bread flour (or part bread, part wheat)

- 1/4 tsp instant yeast

- 1 tsp table salt (or 3/4 tsp kosher)

- 1 & 1/2 cups warm water

- "Everything But The Bagel" seasoning salt from Trader Joe's (or any other seasoning, if preferred)

- covered pot (5-quart or large cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic -- something that's designed to go into a 450 F degree oven)

recipe: Irish soda bread

taken from: Serious Eats 

bad pic, but this was a yum
St. Paddy's day din

changes: none!

ingredients:

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 & 3/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1 & 1/8 tsp baking soda

- 2 & 1/4 cups buttermilk

to make: 

adjust oven rack to middle position & preheat oven to 450 degrees F. roughly cover the bottom of a deep 10" cast iron or enameled Dutch oven with a sheet of parchment paper. 

combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to combine. stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula until dough is fully moistened and all small pockets of flour are gone. for extra-fluffy results, stop folding as soon as dough comes together. for extra-chewy results, fold dough about 20 seconds more. scrape sticky dough into the prepared Dutch oven and smooth with a spatula until the dough is a consistent(ish) round shape. score deeply into quarters with a sharp knife.   

cover and bake until well risen and golden, about 45 minutes. remove lid and continue baking until chestnut brown, with an internal temp of 210 degrees F, 12-15 minutes longer. invert onto a wire rack, discard parchment, and cool until it has set, about 30 minutes. 

it can be stored in an airtight container for 24 hours. 

results: amazing. i had no expectations, but the texture and flavor of this bread was on-point. cracky crust, doughy insides, great rustic-tasting (is that flavor?) bread. 

recipe: cranberry sauce (T-Day 3 of 3)

taken from: Serious Eats 

changes: skipped the cinnamon stick in place of 1 tsp of cinnamon, added 1-2 tbsp triple sec

result: it came out really well, BUT (in my taste) it was a little tart -- i think i'd prefer cranberry sauce to have a bit of tangy & sweet all at the same time. it's a great, reliable base recipe though - next time i will add a touch more sugar, or even brown sugar to help round out the tart.


ingredients:
- 1 (12-oz) bag fresh cranberries
- 1+ cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- zest from 1 orange
- 2 tbsp juice from 1 orange
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 tbsp triple sec or Grand Marnier 
- pinch kosher salt

to make: combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer. cook, stirring occasionally, until berries start to pop. press berries against side of pan with a large flat spoon (or wooden spoon, though this may stain it) and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until berries are complete broken down and take on a jam-like consistency, about 10-15 minutes total. 

remove from heat and allow to cool about 30 minutes. add water in 1-tbsp increments to adjust to desired consistency, if needed. sauce can be serviced immediately or stored in the fridge several month.

recipes: cauliflower goat cheese gratin (T-Day 1 of 3)

original recipe from: New York Times

changes: none to the ingredients, but prepped it the night before and left it in the fridge up until 1 hour before baking

result: flavor was really good and i love the idea of the this dish, but there was a lot of extra liquid in the dish after it was baked -- maybe this was a result of prepping it the day before, maybe there was too much moisture left in the cauliflower before i prepped it, i don't know. i'd try this again but will cut back on the milk and really drain the cauli before assembling it to see if that fixes the issue

picture from New York Times

ingredients: 
- 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 6 oz goat cheese
- 1 large garlic clove
- 5 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 

recipe: parmesan-roasted cauliflower

after having some surprisingly yummy buffalo cauliflower at a restaurant, we decided to buy a head of it and give it a go. we used half for a buffaloey recipe, the other half for this parmesan-roasted cauliflower recipe from BonAppetit.com during a quick week night meal. my cauliflower didn't come out as beautifully charey as the BA pic, but it came out surprisingly good (especially considering it's... cauliflower, which i'm still on the fence on), and something i'd make again. 

i followed the recipe mostly verbatim (after cutting it in half), tossing on some breadcrumbs for a lil extra crunch. 

photo from bonappetit.com

ingredients list:
- 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1.5 tbsp tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs

to make: 
preheat oven to 425 degrees F. toss cauliflower florets on a large rimmed baking sheet with onion, thyme, garlic, and oil; season with salt and pepper. roast, tossing occassionally, until almost tender, 35-40 minutes. sprinkle with Parmesan & breadcrumbs, toss to combine, and roast until cauliflower is tender, 10-12 minutes longer. 

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recipe: caramelized onion pretzel rolls with caraway sea salt

this was part of our deliciouso Oktoberfest din. i always wanted to make pretzels or pretzel nuggets, but never did assuming they were really difficult or had this crazy trick that was some how impossible to master... turns out they are just a fun little bready science experiment that is pretty fun and damn delicious. the Cooking Channel TV recipe is what inspired me, because damn the name of them alone sounded so good. 

the onion taste wasn't very prevalent, just the slightest hint, but they came out better than i expected. would definitely make again, just using a larger pot to boil them in... i underestimated the power of baking soda reacting with boiling water :) now that the pretzel secret is out, it's all on.

ingredients list:

- 2 tbsp butter

- 2 sm yellow onions, cut into 1/4- inch dice (about 2 cups)

- 1 tsp kosher salt

- 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

- 1 package active dry yeast

- 2 & 3/4 cups bread flour, + extra for dusting (i used all-purp flour and it worked just fine)

- 1 tsp granulated sugar

- 2 tsp vegetable oil, + extra for greasing

- 1/4 cup pretzel salt, or other coase salt (i used kosher)

- 1 tbsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed

recipe: spinach & artichoke dip, or stuffed mushrooms (T-day 5 of 5)

my last recipe & appetizer from Thanksgiving... which is only timely that i'm finally able post it up on Xmas. i was looking for quick & easy but delish artichoke dip as a filling for stuffed mushrooms. the Hot Artichoke & Spinach Dip II recipe from allrecipes.com was well-reviewed and fit the bill, and actually turned out surprisingly good. spinach dip oftentimes is kinda blah when you get it as an app at restaurants, or it's served at random parties... good, but kind of... eeeeh. this one actually had a TON of flavor... it make the mushrooms pop, and the leftover dip i had as  post-t-day appetizer was fantastic. 

photo from allrecipes.com

ingredients list: 
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 & 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

recipe: green bean casserole (T-day 2 of 5)

photo from Serious Eats

although i HATE green beans, i have no problem cooking them for everyone else on Thanksgiving. this recipe from Serious Eats provided a perfect from-scratch way to make the traditional GB casserole, without having to mess with the old cream of mushroom stuff. i can't vouch for how it was personally, but the homemade soup i tasted while it was prepping tasted pretty damn good. everyone else gave it the old thumbs up, so it sounds like a keeper if i ever make traditional GB casserole again.

i scaled the recipe down a bit, but followed it verbatim otherwise (besides a lil extra garlic). 

ingredients list: (serves 4-6)
- 1 cup fried onions (French's would work, i used an off-brand from the Asian market)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 3/4 lbs white button mushrooms, rinsed 
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/8 cup flour
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 lbs green beans, ends trimmed, and cut into 2" pieces
- 1 tsp kosher salt

recipe: thanksgiving stuffing (T-day 1 of 5)

stuffing this year, adapted (and scaled down) from The Pioneer Women's recipe. it is a fairly traditional recipe - not too sweet, nothing crazy in it, and i loved it. since i've only been eating stuffing for the last few years, there still isn't many that i really like (i hate mushy gloppy stuff), but this one is holds it's own. everyone really enjoyed it... unless i get a request for a non-traditional stuffing, this is probably going to be the go-to.

*photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks (T-day = too distracted to take pics. must eat. mmmmm!)

ingredients list: (this scaled down version makes about 9 servings)
- 1/2 loaf cornbread (i used Jiffy)
- 1/2 loaf italian bread
- 1/2 loaf sourdough bread
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1/4 bunch parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3-4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp ground thyme
- 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- additional salt & pepper to taste

thanksgiving recipes (4 of 4): roasted brussel sprouts with shallots and balsamic vinegar

t-day for 2 meant i was only making 1 veggie. neither K or i were ever very fond of brussel sprouts, until having them 1) grilled and 2) served nice & charred in a restaurant... so we say NO to mushy, unflavored brussel sprouts of yesterday, but YES to having them with char and delish seasonings. amazing what a matter of proper prep can do to a dish... more and more things i always said i don't like, i find myself liking now after i have them in a new and better way. 

picture from seriouseats.com 

this recipe was taken from seriouseats.com (my go-to of late), and was so on point. i scaled it back a bit and added in bacon to my portion after (we had a vegetarian over) which threw it over the edge - the sweet/savoriness of the balsamic & shallot were the best of friends with the salty bacon. yum!









ingredients list: (1 lb made enough for 3 ppl)
- 1 lb brussel sprouts, bottoms trimmed, outer leaves removed, split in half
- 1 medium shallot, finely diced
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 slices cooked bacon

thanksgiving recipes (3 of 4): traditional stuffing

photo from mykitchencraze.com

stuffing was never my favorite t-day side (it always looked so mushy and full of i have no idea what...just multi-colored glob), but the last few years i've tried to make my own and tailor it to what i like and it's grown on me a bit. and make it so i can SEE the actual ingredients and know what i'm getting into (same way i've approached coleslaw...another past mush-mystery). Kyle wanted a "traditional" stuffing this year (no apple, no cranberry, nothing sweet), which was surprisingly hard to find a recipe for. i went with the recipe from mykitchencraze.com, which fit the bill and turned out really good adapting it a little bit for our taste/serving size (i actually ate an extra-large serving of it).

K did not love the sweetness from the cornbread, but that's part of the reason i liked this recipe... i like the layered bread approach. to each their own. 

ingredients list: 

- 1/2 the pan of a 8x8 dish cornbread (i used 1 box of jiffy which seemed to be enough)

- 1 loaf of french bread (i used 6-7 gigantic pieces of sourdough, since i needed to use it up)

- 1/2 stick butter

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 4 stalks celery, chopped

- 3 cups low sodium chicken or veggie broth (+ extra if needed)

- 1/2 tsp dried basil

- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

- 3 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

- salt to taste

thanksgiving recipes (1 of 4): jalapeno & lime cranberry sauce

t-day! it was just 2 of us, so we debated between just going out, or doing the whole thang. we ended up doing the whole thang, which was kind of nice since it was the first year that i had full control over what was made. i've never been a huge fan of any of the thanksgiving sides (sweet potatoes of any kind, yams, stuffing... mushy veggies... all of it). so i tried to just make what i like, and some stuff i don't for K. it actually turned into one of the better t-day meals i've ever had, and wasn't as hard as i thought it would be to do everything from scratch. success! 

i did, however, totally forget to take pics of everything i made (which were almost all new recipes i was trying), so i'm borrowing the "official" pics from the recipes sites i snagged them from... i was too distracted by all the last minute stuff and way too damn hungry to think about it. 

photo from seriouseats.com

recipe 1 - jalapeno & lime cranberry sauce, from seriouseats.com.  my first homemade cranberry sauce. i loved the idea of this (huge fan of spicy & sweet), b think it i might have accidentally added too much lime - it was just so, so bitter, which seemed more like a result of the zest than the lime juice itself. if i made it again, i'd probably just add a dash of lime and just let the cran & jalapenos do their thing.

ingredients list: 
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice + 1/2 tsp zest (Warning: scale this back if you don't want it too limey!)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapenos, seeds removed (i used 1 large jalapeno which was just enough)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp mezcal

recipe: broccoli & cheddar twice baked potato

these potatoes were another find of mine from my intoxicated journey through foodgawker.com this past weekend. the recipe is taken from Good Life Eats, although i left out the bacon and cream cheese to make them a little healthier (booo!), and added in a bit more seasoning to compensate for that sad, sad piggy elimination.

although i'm not a big broccoli fan (delicately put, i hate it and hope it dies), these were pretty good - enough so that i would make them again. while broccoli on it's own can be offensive IMO, here the flavor blends well with the rest of the potato/cheesy goodness, so it's more like secretly sneaking in veggies than it is being overtly "healthy". i topped these with crushed red pepper flakes and some smoked chipotle bacon sea salt, which gave me that little hit of bacon these needed.

ingredients list: 
- 4 russet potatoes
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1.5 cups (roughly) of broccoli florets, chopped (*the original recipe calls for the broccoli to be steamed, i left it raw since i prefer uncooked/crunchy broccoli)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt & pepper to taste

recipe: fried rice

we had a hunk of leftover roasted pork shoulder and a few green onions in the freeze, so i decided to throw together some pork fried rice for dinner. i've cooked a lot of Asian food before, but somehow never ever made fried rice. i skipped using a recipe, relying on my hibachi-watching experience as the inspiration. while i'm sure it's not technically correct (and no, yuck it does not have peas), it still turned out pretty damn good, so i'm perfectly fine with that. i served it with Trader Joe's chicken and cilantro wontons... for a Monday night i was not quite ambitious enough to scratch-make wontons :)

ingredients list:

- 1 cup uncooked jasmin rice (or whatever kind of rice you prefer)

- 1 cup cooked pork, diced into small pieces (about 1/4 inch cubes. i used leftover shoulder, a pork roast would also work well. or chicken, or shrimp, or all of that)

- 1/2 cup onion, finely diced

- 1/2 cup carrots, finely diced

- 1 egg

- 1/4 cup green onions, diced

- 3 tbps (roughly) chives, diced

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 1/2 tsp ground ginger

- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 4-6 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

recipe: oven roasted asparagus

earlier this week, hell froze over. i voluntarily BOUGHT a green vegetable (besides peppers which make a lovely accompaniment to many a quesadilla and asian dish). but. whenever i'm served asparagus as a restaurant, i always have a few nibbles OR eat it all, as it's usually prepared quite lovely. i was in Fresh Market last weekend and they had the most adorbs looking asparagus... so what the hay. i bopped around a few recipes before i found my cooking temps, though i would love to try grilled if it wasn't so sh!tty outside. 

result was good - i actually liked it, AND ate it all. i have a lot left and will eat it again (though i could never eat this or any veggie any night). we had made this on the side of char sui and ginger lemon rice - it didn't 100% go with the asian theme we had going, but it kinda worked all at the same time. 

ingredients list:

- asparagus (i cooked 10 pieces for 2 of us)

- garlic powder

- olive oil

- pepper

- garlic salt

- parmesan cheese

- lemon juice

to make: preheat oven to 400F degrees. arrange asparagus on a nonstick tray (or parchment/foil) and drizzle with a few dashes of live oil. sprinkle with garlic powder.

bake for about 12 minutes, flipping it once mid-way. it should be fork tender when it's done. when finished roasting, sprinkle with pepper, garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and lemon juice & serve. easiest side on earth. 

recipe: scalloped potatoes

yesterday we cooked prime rib for din dins. i wanted to make au gratin potatoes to go with it but didn't have much cheese, so i tried out the home-style scalloped potato recipe from allrecipes.com. looking at the ingredients it seemed like it would be hum-drum, but the reviews were pretty amazing and they were actually right. i followed the recipe almost to a tee, adding in some extra garlic and toppings.

ingredients list:
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3/4 tsp season salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 & 1/4 cups milk
- 3 potatoes, thinly sliced
- french fried onions
- shredded colby jack cheese
- parsley

to make: preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a small bowl, stir together flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. in a large sauce pan, saute onion in butter until tender. stir in flour until completely absorbed. gradually add milk, then bring to a boil. stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until sauce has thickened. 

place half of the potatoes in a greased baking dish. pour half of the sauce over the potatoes. repeat layers. baked uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. add a sprinkling of french fried onions, colby jack, and parsley over the potatoes during last 10 minutes. the top should be lightly browned.

st. patrick's day recipe 2 of 3: colcannon

so... next up for st. paddy's. i didn't want to do straight out cabbage with the corned beef, but the colcannon sounded like a great happy-middle between cabbage and a yummy side (it has bacon... so yep there ya go). i used another allrecipes.com recipe for this one, Diane's Colcannon. 

ingredients list:
- 1 & 1/4 lbs potatoes, cubed
- 4 slices bacon
- 1/4 small head cabbage, chopped
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 1/4 cup milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp butter


to make: place potatoes in a saucepan with enough water to cover. bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, until tender when poked with a fork.


while potatoes are cooking, place bacon in a large skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until even brown. remove bacon, crumble, and set aside. saute the cabbage & onion in the skillet in the bacon drippings, until cabbage & onion are soft and start to turn golden. 


drain the cooked potatoes, mash with milk, the butter, and season with salt and pepper. fold in the bacon, cabbage, and onions and serve.
***
i wasn't sure if i would like these or not because of the "chunky" potato texture, but if i thought of it as a side and not "mashed potatoes", they were actually really good. the cabbage kind of made it like a egg roll flavor, mixed with a random potato bacon onion party (egg rolls are really my only experience with cabbage). would def make again, but next time i want to try adding a bit of cider vinegar when the onion and cabbage saute... a little bit of german potato salad vinegary twang would work nicely with it. 6******.

recipe: sauteed green beans

made these to go with last night's din... i used a combination of 2 recipes, Sauteed Green Beans and Garlic Green Beans, both from allrecipes.com.

ingredients list: (for 2) 
- 2 cups (roughly - i didn't measure) fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1/2 cup onion
- 2 sliced bacon, diced & uncooked
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- salt & fresh cracked pepper

to make: in a large pan, sautee bacon over medium heat. once it gets to a point where it's about half way cooked, add the onion and sautee until the onion is browned and the bacon is crisp, adding garlic for the last minute of cooking.

while bacon/onion mixture is cooking, boil green beans in a small pot of water for 4 minutes. rinse under cold water and pat dry. add the butter and green beans to the saute pan with the bacon/onion/garlic mixuture, and sautee for about 5 minutes until cooked through and the beans have a slight char to them. remove to a small bowl, and stir in the parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.
***
i can't tell you what these tasted like because i don't eat green beans (or many other green vegetables for that matter), but kyle really enjoyed them so that's a good sign. if i did eat beans, i'm pretty sure cooked in bacon grease and onion/garlic is the way to do it. can't go wrong cooking anything like that : )

recipe: garlic bread

garlic bread isn't anything that really needs a recipe, but i had so many glasses of wine before/during cooking tonight i needed a cooking temperature refresher. garlic bread is so simple if it's not cooked to the perfect level of crispy it just sucks. so... as adapted from Garlic Bread 2 recipe from allrecipes.com, your basic garlic bread:

ingredients list: (scaled to 4 servings)
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp parsley
- dash paprika
- 1/2 loaf italian or french bread, halved lengthwise

to make: preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, and garlic powder. brush mixture over cut sides of bread, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese, parsley, and paprika. bake for 8 minutes, then change oven to broil and cook for an additional 2 minutes until golden brown. (if you wanted cheesey garlic bread, add the mozzarella (or whatever cheese you're using) right before broiling).
***
yum! simple, garlicy, toasty, but soft. 7*******.