Cooking: Pan-Seared Steak Au Poivre

Last night was Chris' last night at home before the ridiculousness of production starts. There are lots of 18 hour days in his future and lots of PB&J sandwiches for me!

So, as our last hurrah until September, I thought I'd make something super special. And nothing screams super special like Filet Mignon. I love me some filet and order it at every steak resturant I encounter. It's just so fantastic. And I always thought it would probably be quite difficult to recreate at home. So I thought it was worth the heftier pricetag.

Guess what? It's freakin' not! And it's easy and probably the most awesome dinner I've ever made. Ever.


Another Real Simple miracle! So super easy and simple. One of the most tender and delicious steaks I've ever had. I threw some asparagus in a pan with olive oil and pine nuts and sauteed for a bit. I should have put in some garlic. because, well, it makes everything better. There was also some rice pilaf, but it was too watery at photo shoot time. One of those Near East boxes that are so delicious and are highly recommended!

I'm sure the cooking recipes are going to come to a halt for the next few weeks. I mean, is anyone interested in PB&J and cereal photos? ... Didn't think so!

Cooking: Pancakes

I.Love.Pancakes. They're awesome. All kinds of awesome. But I don't make them that much because it's a lot of work for a Saturday morning. I usually use my grandfathers' recipe. He was an amazing cook and it's like a family heirloom. But it's got all kinds of stuff that I didn't have in the house... crisco and whatnot.

So, to the computer I went to google "pancake recipe" and this little one popped up. Easy enough. Followed one of the commenters thoughts and reduced the salt to 3/4 tsp and added a tsp of vanilla.

I used the flat side of this grill aparatus. It covers two burners and get's hot all over. Lots of room for pancake making. I made them tiny for faster cooking and more adorableness.


Topped with some raspberries and ready for eating!

They are delicious! The vanilla adds the perfect bit of scrumptiousness. I would definitely ditch the heirloom for these again.



I just have to add this little contraption. It's a pancake dropper. Honestly, it was a whim registry item. Thank You Thank You Thank You to Miss SamEd for the gift. It's the first time I've use it and it is awesome. Perfect tiny little pancakes and no mess! An excellent addition to your kitchen. Go get it.

Cooking: Fake Fried Chicken and Garlicky Baby Zucchini & Potatoes

I'm a Southern girl. And I make a damn good fried chicken. But it's bad for you. And oil splatters all over the place. And I need to be less fat.


SOOOOO.... fake fried chicken. It's actually super easy. And tastes pretty awesome.

I had baby zucchini (how cute are they!?) and potatoes, so I found a recipe that would use both. Some of my potatoes were purple. Funky. If I hadn't read recently that those kinds of potatoes exist, I may have thought that they had gone horribly bad. All in all, they taste like regular potatoes.

Chris is working super late these days, it seems rude of me to wait for him to come home and then make him cook. So I've been picking up his slack :-)

Cooking: Brussels Spouts

I will try anything once. I was always forced to do it as a kid, and it has served me well in my adult years. However, the only thing I was absolutely positive that would never be put on my plate was brussels sprouts. My step-father, who eats everything, HATED them. And if he hated them, then my mom never made them. (I hated pork chops, but had to eat them all the time.)

So I grew up thinking that brussels sprouts were the devil and bad children were allowed to eat nothing but brussels sprouts and they were disgustingly awful.

But, a few weeks ago, I had dinner with a blogging buddy, Diabolina. She RAVED about the brussels sprouts. At first my nose scrunched. And then I thought, "What the hell!" (Keep in mind, I've never actually eaten brussels sprouts at this point in my life... I've just heard their nasty stories.) These were prepared with bacon and really, everything with bacon is pretty awesome.

And they were F-A-N-TASTIC! Amazing. I have dreams about them.

So, just a few days ago, I'm strolling up the aisle at Farm Boy and spot some adorable little brussels sprouts. For reals, how cute are they!?

I found a roasted brussels sprouts and bacon recipe and went to town.


And it was easy and delicious and I will be making them much more regularly! Maybe even for my step-father... muahahahahaha!

Cooking: Glazed Cod with Asparagus and Mushrooms

My second weekend venture: Cod.

I've never cooked much fish, but I'm a big white fish fan. So light and delicate, yet meaty. Fantastic.

Flipped through an old issue of Real Simple (April 2008) to land on this page. DEFINITELY worth a try. Chris even licked his plate. Like, put plate to lips and licked all the way around. Then he licked my plate. It was kind of gross. But also kind of made me happy :-)

The even have the recipe online! I dug some Parmesan couscous out of the pantry and it paired quite nicely. Just the right heaviness.

Cooking: A New Plan

I am the absolute worst at pulling some things out of the fridge and making something tastilicious. Chris does it amazingly well. I stare at the fridge. Confused. Frustrated. Then make Chris feed me because I'm too hungry to think about it.

I even started buying all kinds of random things at the grocery store so that I'd have lots of options. It made it harder. And I threw out TONS of food that had icky mold. I also threw out the tupperware, because, well, if mold touched it, it's gross.

So, we have a new plan. Chris cooks during the week and I'll take the weekends. This way, I have time to think and plan and shop. And I will be less frustrated. It also helps in that we need to cut WAAAY back on the eating out, which occurs frequently on the weekends. And it's mostly my fault, the eating out. Chris kind of hates going out and would much rather stay in and make chicken and vegetables. (I'm sick of chicken & vegetables.) Now I'll be excited to get some cooking time in on the weekends! And maybe, just maybe, I'll learn enough that I can pull something out on a Tuesday night and whip up something fantastic. (this is the plan.)

So, my first venture. Real Simples' Chicken & Mango Skewers! SUPPPER easy and tasted amazing. And I'm not a huge skewer fan.

(There are no pictures because I was too hungry to run upstairs to grab the camera before eating every single morsel. Sorry. The Real Simple website shot will have to suffice.)

At the store, I originally couldn't find the mangoes... so I started to substitute. Papaya and Peaches. Then I threw in a mango. Was significantly less expensive and more flavorful. Grilled fruit is simple amazing. Should eat more of it.

All around a wonderful summer meal. We ate out by the pool with cocktails. A fabulous summer evening.

Stealing Sandwiches

Ani and I went to Le Pain Quotidien for brunch last week. I pass the one on Ventura all the time, but had never been before. Mostly because I'm not quite sure how to pronounce it and never suggest it whilst in a group situation. Anybody know?

Anyways, had an INCREDIBLY tastilicious Tomato & Fig Tartine. I ADORE figs. Had them for the first time at a fantastic resturant in Malibu... it's famous... I forget which one... (my mind is a hot mess these days). They were wrapped in prosciutto. AHHHHHMazing.

So, thought I'd try it. Wasn't sure what a tartine was... but knew it should probably be some sort of sandwich.

It was. And it was awesome.

Open faced with Ricotta Cheese, honey, tomato and fig. Fantastic. And simple!

So I mixed up my own version the other night for dinner. Added a little salad with chicken. Didn't really want the chicken, but Chris throws a hissy if there isn't any protein in his meal. So, we added chicken. George Forman style with a Pear Champagne Vinagrette dressing.


The Le Pain version wasn't quite as piled with the tomato and fig, but I really enjoy the piling... so I piled.

For breakfast this morning I made another version. All fruit on a French Bread.


Think I might eat these on a regular basis.

Cooking: Bowl Style

There's this place in my hometown that makes the most amazing chicken salad that there ever was on the entire planet. Lots of mayo, moist chicken and dill. I think that's it. You get it on a bagel with melted provolone and it's to.die.for.

Chris makes a yummytastic chicken salad, but I wanted him to try this one. And he did. And it was fabulous.

He also added cucumber, because we were out of celery. And it was awesome because I hate celery. But it added a nice crunchy, but not overpowering flavor. So super summery.

I would add a recipe here, but Chris doesn't do recipe. From what I can gather, it looked like boil chicken. Chill. Add mayo, cucumber, dill. Mix. Chill. Serve.

But then again, it's all just in his head.

Cooking: Cedar Plank Salmon

Getting food inspiration delivered directly to my inbox has been the most awesome thing ever! My last venture came courtesy of I Shot The Chef. I love her. A lot. Her food is delish and her photos are amazing. Her husband is a professional photographer, so she's super lucky!

This was a big venture in that I'd never used a grill before. Or Cedar planks. Or giant chunks of fish. But I wanted to learn! And the prospect of smoky cedary salmon was so intriguing.

I let the plank soak for an hour. So it doesn't catch on fire.


I'm guessing that I bought waaaaaaay too much. The lady suggest a 1 1/2 pound chunk. But it was a little more around 1.8 pounds. Heavy.


So, Chris came home when it was time for the grill portion of the evening. Which was good, because I couldn't light the damn thing.

It was also good because he wears the grill light. I'm not dorky enough for it. It also has a night vision setting. He feels really super cool when he wears it.


All was going really well. It was smoking (which it is supposed to do.) And it smelled AWESOME! Then I glanced over, and it was on FIRE!


It ended up good, a bit charred on one end. But delicious!


There was some asparagus as well. I just wrapped it in tin foil, squeeze of a lemon and a few shakes of kosher salt. It was a tad limp, but excellent nonetheless.


I Shot the Chef told me I could reuse my plank, but she was a total liar. It is super blackened and super ick.

Cooking: Potato Pizza

The Smitten Kitchen strikes again. This woman really knocks my socks off and I adore every recipe that I steal from her.

Friday night was Jim Lahey's Potato Pizza. I don't know who this Jim Lahey guy is (and by the way she writes about him, I probably should), but his pizza is fabulous! Well, it's more bread and topping than pizza as we all know and love it. Fantastic bread and topping.

I got to use my dough hook for the first time! Didn't think it would be able to do much. But it worked amazingly well.

Made the dough on Thursday because there is much rising involved. Note to self: don't forget to put it away. It sat out all night. And all day. Got slightly crusty and super difficult to work with. A splash of water took care of it. And we didn't all die from food poisoning... so that rocks.

The mandolin made a second appearance and I must say that I.Love.It. How did I slice before her?!


The perfection of each slice kills me.


It was absolutely fantastic. Made two little pizzas and that was more than enough for 3 of us. Tastylicious!



Jim Lahey's Potato Pizza
via Smitten Kitchen

Makes two 8-inch pizzas or one 14-inch pizza

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 cup cold water
Olive oil, for bowl and pans
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 potatoes, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) [I used Yukon Golds, and I believe this is what Lahey uses as well]
1/2 onion, diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh rosemary (optional)

1. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, and slowly add 1 cup cold water. Mix on low speed until ingredients begin to combine. Switch to a dough hook and continue to mix for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

2. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and allow to rest for 2 to 4 hours until it has doubled in size. Split the dough into halves, and form each into a log. Place each log on a generously floured surface, and allow it to rest until the formed dough doubles in size again, at least 1 hour.

3. While the dough rises for the second time, repare the potato topping. Slice potatoes very thin using a knife or a mandoline. Then soak them in several changes of ice water to remove excess starch and prevent discoloration. Drain slices in a colander, toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain any accumulated water. In a medium bowl, combine potatoes, onions, and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and set aside.

4. Preheat oven to 440 degrees. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with vegetable oil. Divide dough in half. Place each piece on its own baking sheet. Using the palms of your hands, flatten dough out to the edges of the pan. Evenly spread potatoes over the surface of the dough up to the very edge, or about 1 inch from the edge if you desire a crust on your pizza. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary if using.

5. Bake potato pizza until it has shrunk away from the edges of a pan and the bottom is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly; slice into pieces, and serve. Potato pizza is also delicious served at room temperature.

Cooking: BBQ & Potatoes

I cheated tonight. The other day at the store I thought this BBQ bowl of stuff looked tasty. And excellent in case I needed to throw something together real quick. I was proud of myself because I usually just make Chris do something if there's no time. Prepared!

Tonight was that night. I didn't get home until 8. Chris had to leave by 9 to do some recruiting for work. Quick quick quick.


I bought a mandolin for just this reason. Target didn't have any nice ones, so I went with the crappy one. Works quite well actually. Baked Sweet Potato Chips. Fan-freakin-tastic. I sliced them and then rolled them around in a bowl with some olive oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and onion powder. Yeah, I grabbed some stuff off the shelf and threw it in.


The chips came out quite nicely! I think next time I will slice them a bitter thiner so they get really crispy. I prefer super crispy.


Dinner was on the table less than 30 minutes after I walked in the door. Not too shabby! The BBQ was a tad bit sweet, but pretty good for something that comes in a plastic tub and just needs to be heated.

Cooking: Skirt Steak

I am on a freakin' roll! Well, almost. I forgot to make dinner.

I had planned to have dinner ready when Chris came home. But I forgot. I got worked up into something and he came home. Opps.

So I scrambled. I bought some skirt steak yesterday with no plan.


I made Chris walk me through it. No time for fancy recipes. It was late and I was hungry.

Olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder. Rub. Flip. Repeat. Broil for 4 minutes. Flip. Repeat. Done.

Holy crap it was simple.


Green Beans. Olive Oil. Garlic Salt. Almonds. 10 minutes.


And it was fantastic! I'd highly recommend.

Cooking: Crab Cakes

I didn't know what I wanted to make for dinner last night. Chris isn't coming home until around 8:30 these days, so it seems dumb for me not to make dinner. Good wife and whatnot. But I was stumped. When I got to Howe's I headed for the magazine rack, grabbed a Cooking Light and thumbed through it. Everything looked excellent, but nothing hit the spot. Until I flashed across the crab cake page. There's nothing I love more than crab cakes. I grew up on the coast of North Carolina and we went crabbing for fun. Small town, nothing to do. So, I ate a lot of crab.


Done. Crabcakes. Summer salad. Couscous. Delish.

Crabcakes are surprisingly easy to make. And this was the fancy version! My stepfather does them super simple... freshly picked crab, Old Bay, a few bread crumbs. They're excellent.

I made a few changes. I hate parsley, so I used dill instead. Thought it might be interesting. Couldn't taste it. I also didn't use the red bell pepper. I hate it. We were also out of paprika. So I used some cayenne pepper. I don't know if this is a substitute, but they're both red. And it tasted yummy.

I burned mine a tad... too close to the broiler. Didn't matter though. They were so freakin' tasty.
Crab Cakes (from Cooking Light Magazine)

1 pound lump crabmeat
1/2 cup crushed whole wheat crackers
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large egg whites
Cooking Spray
4 lemon wedges

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Mix the first twelve ingredients together in a medium bowl. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping eacch into a 1-inch-thick patty. Place patties on a bakin sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 3 inches from heat for 10 minutes or until browned. Serve with lemon wedges. Yield: 4 servings

Calories: 280
Fat 10.3 g
Protein 25.2 g
Carb 21.9 g

Mushroom Strudel

Smitten Kitchen inspires me everyday! I love getting the beautiful and hunger inducing emails on a regular basis.

Since Chris is back in the office, I wanted to cook dinner! I'd taken quite the hiatus as of late and Smitten Kitchen dinging my inbox with the most amazing bit of tastiness. I didn't even have to think about what to cook for dinner! Mushroom Strudel it would be.
My Phyllo was pretty easy to work with. It creased and cracked and I threw out at least 45% of it, but the parts that needed to work worked excellently well!

So much easier than I ever expected them to be. And SOOOOOO incredibly tasty. Like tiny bits of mushroom heaven.

The sad part... it's now 11:20 and Chris isn't home yet. Boooooo.

Sweet Tea

After the disaster area that was Arizona Sweet Tea, I knew I had to make my own. It's so incredibly simple that I'm not sure why I even attempted the Arizona version.


A pot of boiling water, a crapload of sugar, a few tea bags. The end. And by crapload, I mean, an insanely immense amount. Like, more than you ever want to consider being in a beverage. My best friends mother makes a sweet tea that will rot your teeth the second it comes into contact. And it is delicious.

This time, I just threw some sugar in. And I kind of dropped the bag while pouring, so there was a lot more sugar than I meant. Alas, I have lost my touch. Because my tea is not sweet at all!

The Reason I Don't Cook

I don't cook because Chris is so good at it. He pulls bunch of crap from the fridge and creates something fabulous. He gets this from his mom. This woman once created a quiche crust from baked potato skins devoured the night previous. Who can do this!? Martha and Ellen, that's who.

Chris inherited this and I am so thankful. I would survive off cereal and PB&J. No joke. Perhaps some grapefruit too. Hearts for grapefruit!

A few nights ago, he broke out the Kitchen Aid Meat Grinder. Grinding your own meat is a lot of work. Worth it? Eh, I don't know. Tastes good... but it's hard to beat the Buffalo Burgers from TJ's. Those are perfection!


I think it makes you feel accomplished. Like you can do anything. And that's important. So then, yes. It's worth every bit of time and effort. To feel on top of the world!


I would post his recipe here. But I don't think there is one. It involves sirloin, onions, beer, garlic, Greek Seasoning, more beer, pepper and a splash of beer. Chris likes beer.


So, he cooks. I drink wine. Take some photos. And play with the buns.


We know our roles :-) Yet, I feel the need to learn this craft. Will get more involved. Soon.

In other news, when did those laugh lines happen!?

Cooking: Brick Turkey

My former (well, current, until tomorrow) boss taught me about Brick Chicken. I thought she was crazy. She wanted me to put a chicken breast in a pan, then put a brick on top of it. It was supposed to seal in the juiciness.

But, she's a smart lady. And wouldn't steer me astray. So I went to Lowe's and bought one brick last year. Bricks are only like 30 cents and the sales person will believe you to be a crazy fool for only needing one. Then they will think you are seriously crazy for using it to cook. Might be best to keep that little tidbit to yourself.

So, you heat a pan with some oil. Throw the chicken in. Wrap a brick in tin foil. Throw it on top of the chicken. And let it cook. Then you flip it. Repeat.

Best. Chicken.Ever.

It's crisp on the outside, moist on the inside. Fabulous. And EASY.

It's become one of my favorites. Especially when it's just me at home. So incredibly fast and easy. Tonight I made it with Turkey Breast. Mostly just because it was less expensive at TJ's. A little asparagus/roasted almond ditty and a glass of red rounded out the yuminess.

I should remember that I like this a lot more than PB&J.

Cooking: Skirt Steak Romesco

When Chris is out of town, I eat a lot of grapefruits. Grapefruit and PB&J. Quick, easy, yummy. When Chris is in town, I eat whatever he decides to make for me.

Cooking has kind of been on the back burner for a while. So, when the opportunity came up to have two amazing women over to embark on some wedding craftiness I jumped! I could cook, and cut paper, clue rhinestones, stuff stuff.

Wendy, Anne and I had an awesome time. These are the two of the first women I met online and then in real life. My real life friends make fun of me for The Knot, but I've made some freakin' amazing connections that I really hope will continue beyond the last dance.

For dinner, I headed to Real Simple and snapped up a Skirt Steak recipe. I love skirt steak. So thin and yummy juicy. The potatoes and sauce were part of the recipe and I added in the asparagus. Simple sauteed in garlic, olive oil and almonds.



I always run into recipes that call for a food processor, and I always remember that I don't have one. My mom has the gigantor processor from 1970ish. It was a wedding present and it's still going strong. Then I remembered that we had a magic bullet and it works PERFECTLY. And doesn't take up that much space.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with myself

Cooking: Basil Beer Bread

So it's St. Patty's Day! My condo association had a little shin dig and I wanted to go somewhere I'd never gone before. To the land of bread. Irish bread.

May I introduce you to Irish Basil Beer Bread.


Unfortunately, I was less than impressed. Very thick and heavy. Perhaps too much yeast? or too much flour? I did substitute whole wheat for all purpose. Does that make a difference? Who knows. I chucked most of it after the party.

However, the pistachio covered goat cheese balls were BIG hits.



SOOOO simple, and I always look like a rock star. Goat cheese, rolled in crushed pistachios and served over spinach leaves. Something with the creamy coat cheese and the salty crunchiness of the pistachio. I dream about them.

I leave you with Green Beer in the making. Have a fabulous St. Patty's day. Enjoy your pint!

Cooking: Pear Pie

My office loves all things sugar. Cake. Pie. Cookies. Cupcakes. Brownies. We have one of these on regular rotation in the copy room. Problem is, we all got fat. So we cut back. But now it's Birthday Season. We have at least one a week and everyone deserves cake!

I was in charge of yesterday's birthday and decided to switch it up. Was going to attempt the Smitten Kitchen's Pear & Almond Tart, but got scared of all the steps and the immense time commitment required of the crust. So, I found a frozen crust from Ralphs (that crap was awesome and I got more compliments on the crust than anything else) and a recipe for Pear Pie. I'd never even heard of Pear Pie, but I had all the ingredients and it was so super easy.

And DELISH! You can taste just a hint of the ginger. It's not overly sweet and was just perfect. The top collapsed from a nice structured top into a mess over the pear, but I actually thought it looked kind of neat. This one's going in the arsenal of baked goodness.