the perfect steak, maybe..?

back in january, i wrote this entry: red meat and i. i am by no means an expert at cooking steak, but i think i've found a way i truly enjoy it - broiling! by following exactly what i did in the aforementioned entry, i once again was able to enjoy a succulent, flavorful chunk of cow.

this time, however, i used something different...alder smoked sea salt. smells like an ashtray, tastes like grilled diamonds. i enjoyed the cut a bit more rare this time around, and was pleasantly surprised by how powerful the smokiness of the salt was, even after broiling. not a clue where it came from, but thanks for having it in the kitchen!

juicing

(and no, i don't mean of the meat-head variety.)

juicing! the art of shoving whole (or halved) fruits and vegetables into this terrifying machine of grating power, receiving the fragrant gift of both tasteless shavings, and sweet, sweet nectar of the goddddds...

alright, so i'm a little enthralled with my new-old juicer. recently i watched a documentary about a man who was in desperate need for a major life change (Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead). Aside from losing an obscene amount of weight, his diet was extremely inspiring, and i took it upon myself to give it a whirl. first of all, beets are disgusting. blech. but as most unappetizing things go, they're very good for you. the first drink i ended up making was a carrot, ginger, broccoli, and beet juice. which was so awkward, that it took some major convincing (even audibly, "MM GOOD, TRY SOME.") for me to get around it. after adding some apple, peach, and honey, the drink began to take form. but just a heads up, a (large) grape sized amount of ginger is morrrrre than enough for an entire blender full.

speaking of blender....i re-found my love of smoothies <3

(pictured is a mix of granny smith apple, strawberries, raspberries, nectarine, honey, and milk)

this post is dedicated to the lovely Jess, for the donation of her very welcome juicer.

merlot steak with sauteed red pepper

 

just another simple meal that is mostly preparation. and a box of rice and beans. and a bottle of wine. alright, so it's not exactly the easiest thing to make, but i promise it's just a lot of chopping! i tried an experiment by broiling the steak in merlot and sliced onion. it turned out alright, but nothing incredibly memorable. i should try it again, but make a reduction out of the merlot, onions, and a little butter. mm, mouth watering just at the thought..

my favvvvvorite part of this dish was the sauteed pepper side. i diced an absurd amount of garlic (my hands stunk for a week) and roasted it a little in olive oil before adding the pepper slices. ugh! i have no idea where my sudden love for peppers came from, but i could eat a serious bowl of this alone.

ooh...a thought occurs..what about broiling the steak with peppers and garlic?

 

as usual, one of the dogs are always waiting for a snack..

how not to cut cheese

i'm going to need to bring a hacksaw to work...

pear, and roasted pine nut salad

 

 

a while ago a friend had served me this great salad. it had warmth, crunch, and bursts of refreshing flavor. the pine nuts really make this complete. when roasted, their flavor comes out in an almost meaty smokiness. next time i think i'll pick out softer pears, or put them in the oven to soften and caramelize! i think this might be my favorite salad, ever.

i used the following:

- organic endives (chopped) and arugala,

- peeled pear quarters, seared in a pan.

- caesar dressing (should have gone for balsamic!)

- pine nuts, roasted in olive oil, on a low heat until golden

birthday suit

 these have successfully aided in my acquiring of a juicer, so i can drink more food.

(thank you, jess, for the juicer. you are lovely)

home-made asiago wheat 'pizza'

(with chicken!)

   prior to a few months ago, i was cellphone free for a little over a year. i found this very liberating, and after a while i honestly could say i didn't need a phone. i didn't even bother getting one of those pre-paid deals. it just wasn't necessary for my life style. but then, i caved in and got myself a trusty ol blackberry. which i eventually grew out of. within 30 days. i was hungry for more! 
 

 

i ended up with an android phone, and promptly became addicted to the different camera apps available. the different settings took some getting used to (ie: image on the left) and at often times frustrate me...but hey, beats lugging a 15lb camera around the kitchen, eh? and now that i'm addicted to camera apps, i no longer need to go into my closet to whip out different cameras! which i never really do anyway..

i have become a lazy photographer. 

the badly exposed photo above (ohmygo- is that a real polaroid??) contains the ingredients for this particular evenings dinner: chicken, chopped spinach and mushroom, and some bits of fragrant asiago cheese. a good friend stopped by (who also happens to be heavily interested in the culinary arts) and we got a little creative..

working with whatever we had available (literally), wheat flour seemed like a great start. we looked up a quick no-yeast recipe (a little olive oil, water and a pinch of salt) and improvised with some honey. it didn't quite take the right consistency at first, but an egg and a pinch of regular flour later...pizza dough! kneading it was most fun, and reminded me quite of a bit of taking ceramics class in highschool. i kept repeating to myself, "no bubbles! it'll explode in the kiln!" 

well, it worked. my kitchen is intact. despite not having a kiln.

for the sauce, we used a generic four cheese alfredo sauce with some parmesan cheese melted in. both the mushrooms and spinach were prewrapped from the supermarket, as was the shredded cheese. i got the asiago from work <3 the chicken was boiled the day prior, in parsley, celery, carrot, parsnip, and onion. my mother had been making a broth, so the chicken was fairly lean at this point. and since everything was ready-to-eat, it only needed to be in the oven long enough for the cheeses to melt. (i had it in around 350)

 

 

we were inventive, and it paid off. somewhat. honestly, the sauce should have been a sweet tomato sauce to bring out the honey in the crust more. which was amazing. but often overshadowed by the cheeses. i love asiago, but it wasn't for this meal. in fact, a lot of this sounds like a mismatched nightmare, but it was really good - i promise!!!

jello shots?

this belongs here, right? it's sort of a food?

taco fail

i wish i could change the dates on these entries, because i have a lottttt of catching up to do. clearly i'm not ontop of this whole blog thing. i get distracted too easily!

but i digress...

<-- pretty generic taco/burrito night

(i forgot the rice)

man...doing these updates is making me hungry. i have go to get off my butt and cook that steak already!

pickled eggs?!

so there i was, in the dark of a dive bar, when i was offered to try something i pathetically hadn't heard about: a pickled egg. i wasn't exactly sure of how i felt about that (brined eggs? eww...) soooo i drowned myself in low quality brew until a friend convinced me. naturally.

being a fan of pickles, i was intrigued. however, eggs are another story. eggs have a particular scent. it's pungent, yet sneaky. it's appetizing, yet faintly reminds me of wet dog. scrambled eggs always seem to be a great idea, but then i put them in my mouth and hold back a gag. in fact, in order for me to comfortably consume one, i need to not taste that indescribable flavor that only i seem to associate with cat vomit.

but this! this strange, greenish-yellow, sort of rubbery, testicle-like ball was surprisingly delicious. i mean, really, really good. it smelled like a pickle, which was great (for me) and had that awesome texture that only eggs have. i could see this as being a really versatile food. cut up and put in a salad...turned into a salad....put in your mouth....throw at an unsuspecting victim...so many applications!

i think i may be trying to make some of these soon :)

a lovely dinner

we had a lovely dinner last night, that somehow i got suckered into cooking. well, cooking most of. for some reason an adventurous drive during a sleet storm seemed like a good idea, and we picked up a friend. who brought shrimp. delicious shrimp. delicious fresh shrimp. it had little legs. the heck do i do with shrimp??

well alright, let's make dinner! since we were out, we stopped at the local grocery, and picked up some dirty rice, kale, and a fatty chuck steak. which is supposedly a tasty cut. i'm accustomed to london broil shoulder cuts, so this was another adventure to partake on. who knew cuts of meat could be so different??

this dinner was awesome. the steak was overcooked because i'm a wanker, but we made gravy from the excess drippings and that helped. the rice was dirty, and the spiciness of it went well with the buttery garlic steamed kale. the shrimp. oh man the shrimp. i have a spot in my heart for those little guys, but man are they tasty. in fact, i wish i had some of that now. ugh.

so good. here are some snaps to hate me for!

 

fancy schmancy chicken alfredo

it all started with the anniversary dish at the red brick tavern in rosendale, a tiny, curious town in upstate new york.

yeah i basically copied that dish...

chicken alfredo is probably one of the easiest thing to throw together. with all the ready-made steps we now have available at our local grocer, dinner is nearly fast-food. sure the outcome may not be authentic but it took you about 40 minutes and the kids shut up, right? aha..

 

the other night my mother requested i cook dinner, specifically the aforementioned dish. she didn't know how to cook it, which baffles me because my mother is a great cook herself. what does it consist of? hell, you could boil some pasta, fry some chicken, throw it all in a bowl with a jar of alfredo sauce and call it a day.

well, i could have done that, sure. but i wanted fancy alfredo. and i love spinach. and mushrooms. and tomatoes. so the boyfriend and i went on a little joyride to pick up some grape tomatoes, a bag of spinach, pasta and sliced button mushrooms. and garlic bread. because it is awesome.

the first thing i did was saute the mushrooms (in a covered pan) with some olive oil at a medium heat. when they became soft and fragrant, i added the spinach i chopped earlier. once the spinach softened, i poured in the grape tomato halves. it might have been too soon, seeing as the tomatoes weren't as fresh as i would have liked at the end of the meal. the aroma wafting up form the pan was mouthwatering, literally. the house smelled warm and mushroomy. yes, you can totally smell temperature. shush.

after a short while, i took the chicken breast out of the package, danced a little, rinsed them, patted them dry with a paper towel, and proceeded to over-season. they didn't need much, seeing as they would absorb flavor from the mushrooms, but i'm really good at over-seasoning. feeling a bit moses-like, i parted the liquids and slid the chicken breast into the pan, then buried it under a sea of green, red and brown. they can be flipped, but it's not quite necessary. keep the pan covered and on a low low heat so everything cooks nice and slowly.

hopefully at this point you haven't forgotten the pasta, as i normally seem to do. being in the kitchen with me is a whole lot of "oh crap" and "uh oh" with various unmentionable phrases thrown in for good measure. i stood there for a good moment, holding drained penne rigate, trying to figure out how i want to combine this all and prepare it. this sounds simple, really, but it's not. usually around this time my boyfriend pours himself another drink while shaking his head at me. damnit, this is an art! don't patronize me!

about 3 hours later i finally poured the pasta into a pyrex casserole dish, threw the breast on top, and poured in the (hopefully not burnt) spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and alfredo sauce (of which we added more because it wasn't saucy enough for my liking).

give it a stir, and stick 'er in the oven at about 400 until it bubbles. and viola! noms!

enjoy the pictures :) he only took about 72 of them...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 voila! noms!