A Bacon Brunch

A few weeks ago I had a bacon themed brunch utilizing seasonal produce.  It would have been very healthy if it weren't for the two pounds of bacon I used.  But then again, it wouldn't have been tasty if it weren't for the two pounds of bacon I used!

Crustless Quiche
As Chris said, "To crust a quiche or to not crust a quiche."  I ended up not using a crust because who wants carbs right?  Plus, this is such an easy dish to make for breakfast or brunch.  Don't let the picture intimidate you--even the novice cook will enjoy making this every Sunday.

Quiche is really fun to make, and you can personalize the filling any way you want.  For this particular quiche, I used sauteed onions and garlic, spinach, bacon, and parmesan cheese.  You can use pretty much anything you think will compliment each other, so this is a great recipe for the creative type.

The actual custard/egg mixture is really easy to make.  You'll need the following ingredients for a 9 inch round quiche dish:

• 2 cups of half and half
• 4 eggs

What?!  Yes, you read that correctly.  All you need is half and half and eggs!

Set your oven to 350 degrees.  Next, take your quiche dish and spray it with some non-stick cooking spray (e.g., Pam).

Next cook anything that you believe won't cook in the oven.  For this particular quiche I cooked a pound of bacon and sauteed some onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil ahead of time.  I then chopped up the bacon into little bits.  Your filling total should not exceed 4 cups, or you'll have some over flow issues.  When you have your filling bits ready, you can move on to the eggs.

Whisk the half and half and eggs in a very large bowl.  I would recommend whisking the eggs first and then adding the half and half.  And I can't emphasize enough that you should use a large bowl, otherwise spillage will happen.  You then want to add your seasoning.  For this particular quiche I seasoned it with salt, fresh ground pepper, and some red pepper flakes.  Now the assembly process can commence.

First you add half of your filling.  I took two handfuls of bacon and spread it evenly on the bottom, then I added the sauteed onions and garlic, spinach, and topped it with a bit of cheese.  Repeat.  Then you pour in the egg mixture and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes--when the center of the quiche is firm.

To complete brunch I made a strawberry spinach salad, bacon, hashbrowns, and bacon wrapped asparagus.  I used a toothpick to hold the bacon in place while they were roasting in the oven.  You can do this the last 15 minutes or so with the quiche.  I also served a strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry fruit salad.  And no brunch would be complete without a mimosa, which Serge served up with a few raspberries from the fruit salad.

This post is making me hungry again!

Chili Spaghetti

I got the idea to make Chili Spaghetti from my Mom. It was always one of my favorite meals she would cook for me. The perfect mix of spice and tastiness!

For years I didn't pay attention to how she would make it, and assumed that she spent hours slaving over it. However, when I cooked it a few weeks ago I discovered just how easy it was to make.

This is what you need to make Chili Spaghetti:

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion chopped
1 package Chili spice mix
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 15.5 oz. cans kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 or 2 boxes of spaghetti (depending on how many people you are serving)

Toppings:
Grated cheddar cheese
Jalapeno peppers
Sour cream

There isn't too much prep work involved with this recipe. The only prep work includes browning your ground beef and chopping up the onion. Once that is finished you take the ground beef, the chopped onions, chili packet, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes, put them in a pot and simmer for one hour over medium heat. You can simmer even longer if you like, as the longer it simmers, the more concentrated the flavors become. The most important thing is to make sure you have a pot that is big enough. I sort of lazily looked for a big pot and determined that the pot seen below was the biggest.

As you can see, space was very limited. By this point, I hadn't even included the kidney beans which was the last step in the process. Silly me, I tried adding the kidney beans in this and began to have a bit of an overflow problem. Finally, I did one more search for a bigger pot and came up successful!

After adding the kidney beans you simmer for another half hour and then the chili is ready to eat. While the chili is simmering you cook the spaghetti as directed on the box. When that is complete you spoon out your spaghetti and place as much chili over it as your heart desires! One thing to keep in mind is the jalapenos. I put in a decent amount of jalapenos but didn't put too much as I didn't want to make it overwhelmingly hot. They are just as good to add as toppings later. For our sides I kept it pretty simple, as we had salad and Texas Toast garlic bread, neither of which involved any real thought on my part. When I become more confident in my cooking skills I would like to try making garlic bread on my own.

I thought it came out very well and everyone seemed to enjoy. I liked that when making this you could pretty much concentrate on one thing at a time, and because of this never felt overwhelmed. Now that I know how easy it is to make I figure to make it often. Even better, if you end up of having a ton of leftovers like I did, you can freeze the chili and enjoy it another time!

Tapas and Paella

So this is a really late blog, but I got a bunch of guilt from my fellow foodie friends to post this so here it goes. I studied abroad in Valencia, Spain when I was in college and fell in love with the culture and the food, so I decided to tackle a dish that most people feel is impossible to make: Paella. Looking for a Paella recipe is quite a daunting task, as there are so many different ways to make the dish according to the region that one is from in Spain. I decided to stick to the traditional Paella Valenciana recipe but picked some different techniques from multiple recipes. One essential for making paella is a paella pan. You might think they are hard to find but I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked one up for twenty dollars. The 15" pan should serve 6-8 people (I served 6 and had some left overs). One other essential to make this dish is saffron. If you haven't used saffron before it is a spice that might be a bit hard to find at your local grocery. It is the most expensive spice in the world and doesn't come packaged with much in the bottle, but it really adds a lot to the dish. Another note about paella Valenciana it usually calls for rabbit, which I didn't even waste time looking for, so I substituted more chicken in place of the rabbit in my recipe.

Ok now time to cook. A 15" paella pan is a bit tricky to use on a conventional stove so you might have to put the pan on two burners like I did and turn the pan during the cooking process. To start of with you need to brown the chicken in some olive oil, when this is done you take the chicken out of the pan and put it to the side. Next you want to cook the tomatoes that are chopped up as finely as you can get them (I also de-seeded them and took out the insides) the green beans(I used canned green beans) and paprika. After that you want to pour in the chicken stock. Some of the recipes call for you to simmer water in the pan with the veggies and seasonings, but I used chicken stock and it cut down on the time and tasted fine. Next you want to add the saffron to the stock and let it simmer for a few minutes, before you add the rice. I neglected to do this and when I poured the rice in and the saffron together the dish was not a consistent "yellow" color when it was done cooking. When adding the chicken stock measure how much you are adding to the pan, so that you can know how much rice to add. Most recipes called for half the amount of rice to water in the pan. Once you put the rice stir it once and let it sit. DO NOT STIR THE RICE ANYMORE! You want it to settle and make a little crust on the bottom of the pan(This is the sign of a good paella) Add the chicken back and let the whole thing simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed. This process might take a bit more time than what is listed in the recipes if you are making this dish on your stove. I ran into some trouble getting the pan to heat all the way and had to place it on two burners and turn the pan frequently to get all of the pan cooked. After it is done slice some lemons and put them on top of the pan and let everyone dig in!!!

I made two tapas to to go with the meal. I made a traditional Catalan tapa to go with this dish called pan con tomate. Tapas are very traditional in Spain and are great to eat to as little snacks to hold you over until your main meal. This is a very simple tapa and very tasty. Take a baguette and slice it on the horizontal. Toast the bread and when it comes out you want to rub the bread with a tomato (just enough to get the pulp on the bread) Then I drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled some salt on the break and cut it into bite size pieces about and inch wide. Next I had three toppings to add to the bread, manchego cheese(a spanish sheep milk cheese that is very delicious) sarrano ham ( hard to find and a bit expensive but also very delicious. I eventually found some at Dean and Deluca) and chorizo.

I also made a tortilla de potata or also know as tortilla espanola. This is another Spanish staple and I have to credit my cousin who has live in Spain for over 20 year to teaching me how to make this recipe. You will need the following: A non-stick skillet (as big as a tortilla you want) potatoes(not baking potatoes, Yukon golds work well) onions, eggs, salt and pepper. To know how many potatoes you will need put them unwashed and uncut in your pan to see how many will fit covering the surface of the pan. Next wash them, peel them, and then start cutting them on a diagonal turning the potato every time you slice off a piece(you want to try to make them all roughly the same size) I used one medium onion and cut it the same way. Next use a generous amount of oil in the pan and cook the potatoes and onions. Medium heat do not brown them you really just want to cook them until they are soft.

This takes some time depending on how big of a tortilla you are making. After you are done you want to remove the potatoes from the pan and then mix them up with about 5 or 6 eggs, again depending on how many potatoes you used. You are essentially making an omelet and want the same consistency. Pour the mixture in the pan with a little bit of oil and let it cook. After the edges are browned you want to put a plate on top of the tortilla and flip it out of the pan. Next you want to slide the uncooked side of the tortilla back into the pan and cook it until a tooth pick comes out clean. Slice it up and you can eat it warm or cold, or even add a little slice to the pan con tomate!

Semi-Southern Comfort Food

Apologies for no pictures, which probably makes this post the worst post ever!  You all probably will say this is the worst meal ever!  So I won't bore you with the recipes, but instead try to elicit a conversation on southern comfort foods.

So my hubby's family are in town visiting, and they are from the UK.  Why not indulge their taste buds with some regional foods?  Why not good ol' southern comfort food?  So on today's dinner party menu was corn bread (with a side of honey), green beans (unfortunately, without the ham hock since sissy-in-law is a vegetarian), mac and cheese, baked fried chicken (cause hubby has high cholesterol), and apple pie with ice cream.  Good display of southern food right?

There's a whole slew of southern foods that speak home for a lot of you all (y'all).  Paula Deen is quintessentially southern; and even though she can be quite comic on TV, her food stirs up good memories.  So what would be your perfect southern meal?

Couscous Stuffed Peppers

This recipe serves 5 people and leaves you with 4 stuffed peppers to eat later. The total cost is about $35, assuming you already have the spices, and you can probably save money on the peppers if you find somewhere cheap to buy them.

You can serve 9 people, but if you do then double the amount of spinach and bacon.

You will need:

• 9 bell peppers, different colours look good ($18)
• 4 servings ground chicken ($3)
  
• 3 cups of uncooked couscous ($3)
  
• 4 cups low sodium chicken stock ($2)
  
• 4 shallots, chopped ($2)
  
• 1 jalapeno, chopped ($0.30)
  
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp dried chopped parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sage

and

• 1 baguette ($2)
  
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp cholesterol lowering spread

and

• 2 bags cheap spinach ($3)
  
• 6 slices of streaky bacon ($1)
  

It isn't very complicated to cook, but there are a lot of instructions as I've given each step in lots of detail!

Preparation:

• Chop the shallots.
• Chop the jalapeno, and throw away the seeds (apparently they turn a bit sour when cooked).
• Cut tops of the peppers, throw away the insides, chop the tops up.
• Grease a roasting pan with cooking spray and store the peppers in this.

Make the stuffed peppers:

• Bring 3 cups of chicken stock to a boil in a really big pot (you'll be mixing everything in here later). Remove it from the heat and add the couscous. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then stir (a.k.a. fluff) the couscous so it will be easier to mix later. Leave it there in the pot.
• Put a big frying pan on a medium-low heat (level 4 of 10), lightly coat with cooking spray or olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until they go clear, stirring occasionally.
• Add the ground meat and all the spices, then stir and cook until brown. Add half a cup of chicken stock and simmer for a couple of minutes. You'll still have a bit of extra liquid now, but pour everything into the pot with the couscous in and mix it up.
• Put the chopped pepper tops into the frying pan and cook until soft.
• Add the chopped jalapeno for about a minute then pour all this in the pot and mix.
• Stuff the peppers with the contents of the pot. I had to really pack it in to use up all the mix.
• Preheat the oven to 350F then put the peppers in there for 30 minutes (which gives you enough time to prepare the sides).

Make the side dishes:

• Mix the chopped garlic and cholesterol lowering spread (the garlic provides most of the taste so this doesn't sacrifice much on taste, but is much healthier) together in a bowl.
• Cut the baguette into slices and spread the garlic spread on. Put on a baking tray so it is ready to broil once the peppers are done.
• Cook your bacon. I use microwave bacon because it is cheap, easy and quick. I like to pull off the really fatty bits beforehand, then microwave until crispy. To chop it up simply drop it into a paper towel and scrunch it up in your hands. If you've missed any big wobbly bits of fat you'll be able to pull them out more easily at this point.
• Now you need to cook the spinach. Just drop it into the same frying pan as earlier (no need to make more stuff dirty for washing up) and stir until it is reduced to a dark green squishy mess. I had shedloads of spinach so had to do this in about 5 batches. I had also bought cheap spinach so I had to pull off the big stems by hand. I just did it whilst they were in the frying pan.
• Once all the spinach is cooked mix it with the bacon pieces. It will all fit in the frying pan to do this as it will reduce to about 10% its size after cooking.
• The peppers should have been in 30 minutes by now (the tops will be a little bit crispy), so move the peppers to the bottom of the oven to keep them warm. Change the oven to broil and put the garlic bread in. Keep your eye on these like a hawk as they burn easily.

Serve each person one stuffed pepper, some spinach with bacon, and a couple of slices of garlic bread. The stuffed peppers are ridiculously filling, so people will really only need one each, especially when dessert is Rice Krispie Treats with Oreos!

This was a good experiment but I thought of a couple of ways I could have improved it.

• It did not turn out at all spicy. I like spicy food so wish I'd spiced them up. If you have to cater to a range of tastes perhaps spice the peppers according to colour, e.g. loads of chilli powder and cayenne pepper in the red ones, just a bit in the yellow, and none in the green ones.
• I was surprised how much cholesterol was in the ground chicken. Apparently turkey is healthier than the chicken, so I'd try that next time.

Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats are a staple American dessert, and are often used as a easy first cooking lesson for children. I'm a total novice at cooking so this seemed like a good place to start!

I know nothing about cooking, and I reluctantly joined Sunday dinner group (through marriage). I must confess that after a few weeks I'm actually starting to get into it.

As I was picking such an easy dish I decided to add a little excitement by throwing some Oreos into it.

One baking dish of rice krispie cake yields about 10 to 12 decent sized servings, all for about $5. You will need:

• 12 oz (340g) standard size box of Rice Krispies - $2.50
• 18 oz (510g) bag of Marshmallows - $1.50
• 15 reduced fat Oreos - $1
• 4.5 tbsp of butter (about half a stick) - $0.25

I try to eat reasonably healthy food, so I adapted the recipe accordingly. The standard recipes suggest having 6 tbsp of butter, but almost all the saturated fat and cholesterol come from the butter, so I just reduced the amount. The reduced fat Oreos have half the saturated fat of the normal ones, and they honestly taste just as good.

I put all the nutritional information into a spreadsheet and crunched the numbers. Each rice krispie treat serving (about the size of a soda can) contains:

		RDA%
Calories	400	16%
Saturated fat	3.7g	18%
Cholesterol	14mg	5%
Sodium	338mg	14%
Carbohydrates	79g	26%

If I can find a substitute for butter that doesn't ruin the flavor then this would be a really healthy dessert - you could reduce the amount saturated fat significantly, and there would be no cholesterol. I'll definitely investigate that next time I make it.

As for cooking, the only tricky bit is stopping the mixture from sticking to anything it touches. Apparently you should cover your hands and stirring implement with cooking spray (e.g. 'Pam'), but I only found this out afterwards.

The instructions are simple:

• get a baking dish ready and spray it with cooking spray
• chop the Oreos
• melt the butter in a huge pot on the hob on low heat (e.g. level 2 of 10)
• add the marshmallows, stir constantly until they are liquid
• add the rice krispies and stir furiously, this is damn hard work!
• once mixed, add the Oreos and stir until mixed
• remove from heat and force contents into a baking dish
• smooth the top for a nice finish
  

You can eat it warm, or at room temperature. I wouldn't recommend putting it in the fridge, apparently it loses some of its crunchiness. Enjoy!

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

I first had this cake in England, and I was incredibly hesitant about having it because the description had dates.  Who the hell eats dates, especially in a freaking dessert?!  Anne convinced me to have it, and it was pretty hard to say no to because it was the only dessert on the menu that included ice cream.  Let me tell you, it is probably one of the best cakes I have ever made and everyone falls in love with it!!!

First you need about 3/4 of a cup of dates.  Take the pits out and chop them up (finely if you don't like the consistency, or coarsely if you want texture).  Place the dates in a bowl and put a teaspoon of baking soda.  Boil a cup and a quarter cups of water and place it in with the dates.  Stir it a bit, then set it aside.

Then you want to sift a cup of flour and a teaspoon of baking powder.

In an electric mixing bowl, put a stick of butter in with 3/4 of a cup of sugar.  Beat until creamy.  Then add a teaspoon of vanilla and one egg until super smooth and creamy.  Gradually pour in the flour (it should resemble cookie dough).  Once all the flour is in, set the mixer to the very lowest setting.  Then slowly add the dates and liquid--if you just dump it all in, be prepared for a big splash!!!

When everything is well incorporated, pour into a buttered and floured cake pan or cupcake tin.  Place in a 350 degree for about 35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).

The piece de resistance is really the toffee sauce.  In a sauce pan, add two sticks of butter, a half a cup of heavy cream, and a cup of brown sugar on a medium low heat till it's all melty.  Then add on top of the cake.  You can also whip up some heavy cream, add whipped cream from a can, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Such a yummy yummy dessert!!!  :)

Real Banana Pudding!

So this is an old Southern favorite, except the South prefers making a layer type of pudding--vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, vanilla cookies, repeat.  This is fine and good, except I want real bananas infused into my pudding, but not from a box.  You can also use banana extract, if you like the alcoholy after taste.  Really, you want bananas!

I typically use about two bananas and put them in my food processor.  You can also mash them if you would like a rustic, chunky pudding.  Place this in a very large measuring cup.  Pour in half and half till you have 3 cups total of both banana and milk.  This is extremely important because if you don't, you'll have more of a banana yogurt (and that isn't fun at all!).  In a sauce pan (preferably one with a pour spout), combine 3/4 of a cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and combine the milk concoction and set the stove top to medium.  It is very important to continue stirring the contents at the bottom, otherwise you'll end up with burned sugar.  This recipe tries your patience because you have to continue stirring until this bad boy thickens up like pudding.  Once it becomes thick, you want to temper four egg yolks.  Tempering is where you take about 3 tablespoons of the hot stuff (the milk concoction) and whisk it into the eggs--this prevents the eggs from scrambling.  Once tempered, pour the eggs in whilst you whisk so you don't end up scrambled eggs at the bottom.  Then put in a tablespoon of butter and melt it in.  Once melted, take it off the heat and pour into four serving containers.  Refrigerate to set.

This is a gluten free dessert as is.  My sous chef helped me caramelize some bananas to make it look pretty (you just sugar the sides and fry them in a pan with a bit of butter).  Once you add normal vanilla wafers, the recipe obviously is no longer gluten free.

I usually don't like pudding, especially pudding out of a box.  This pudding is super awesome.  And you can do so much to it (e.g., layer fruits or cookies).  So yummy.  I highly recommend you make this for guests, who are totally going to be impressed when you tell them it's not from a box!

London Broil Over Aligot

So sorry for being a really crappy blogger.  But you know what?  My cohorts are no better, so I believe I have done well considering.

Anyhoo, it seems as though Snowpocalypse Redux and the Super Bowl were ages ago, but the food lives on in my mind!  And here is how you make an awesome London Broil!!!

Get yourself a good top round roast cut piece of beef (they might label it as London Broil).  Now usually I would marinate my beef overnight, but since my housemate is allergic to gluten I was unable to use soy sauce.  Otherwise, I would stick the beef in a plastic bag, dump some soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper, then let it sit overnight in the fridge.  Instead I dumped some Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and pepper in a bag with the meat, then let it marinade in the fridge for about 5 hours.  You don't want to marinade anything with Worcestershire sauce for more than 6 hours because there's vinegar in it and it will make the meat funny.

30 minutes before you want to start cooking, you want to bring your meat out to let it get back to room temperature.  In the meantime you want to start the aligot!

Aligot is really just fancy, French style potatoes.  It is incredibly rich and fattening and yummy!!!  So you peel, cut, and boil your potatoes until tender like you are making mashed potatoes.  So in a sauce pan, you want to add some whole garlic cloves (I used 2 cause I like garlic) and about a cup of sour cream and a cup of heavy cream over medium heat--don't boil them, but you want it hot.  When the potatoes are tender and you have drained them, put them back on the stove top on a medium-low heat.  You want to mash them with your trusty masher with about a half stick of butter, the cream, and some salt and pepper.  Now you must be thinking to yourself, "That's just regular mashed potatoes!!!"  Wait, there's more!!!  Once it is slightly creamy, you want to start adding in some grated cheddar cheese (I use the white kind).  You are going to add about 3 to 4 cups of cheese until it becomes incredibly smooth and almost like melted Velveeta.  You will never ever go back to regular mashed potatoes again--trust me!!!

So once the potatoes are done, heat your trusty broiler up.  Place the rack just far enough down so that your meat isn't pressing up against the broiler heat.  Put your meat in for about 7-8 minutes (depending on thickness), then flip it over and place it under the heat for another 7-8 minutes.  Once done, take it out and place it on your butcher's board and cover it with foil and have it sit for 10 minutes.  This will allow it to cook a bit further and make it jucier.  Once done, you should have about a medium rare done piece of steak that will compliment your aligot!  My mouth is totally salivating at the thought of this meal.

My aligot didn't turn out well for Super Bowl though, mainly cause I didn't have enough cheese to make it velveety.  So buy a lot of cheese!  It's worth it!  Enjoy everyone!

Shrimp Ravioli - A Ravioli Without Cheese

I know what you are thinking--a true Italian ravioli must have cheese in it!  And in most instances I would have to agree with you since I used to live in Rome and know how they eat.  I also sensed some hesitance with this item on the Super Bowl menu as everyone preferred the beef to the pasta.  But whether you are an Italian, foodie, or like me, not really into cheese (sorry everyone), you should really really try this out.

What makes this dish awesome is the amount of fresh herbs used in both the filling and the sauce.  I haven't tried using dried herbs, so I couldn't tell you if that would be an appropriate substitute if you were attempting to do so.  If you can get your hands on fresh herbs, do it cause you will not regret it!

Another tip... if you have a pasta roller, use it!!!  If you are Italian and know how to freshly roll your own ravioli, do it!!!  If you are like me, and have tried and ultimately failed to roll pasta by hand, go to the grocery store and buy wanton wrappers--they work just as well.  And if you want to fool your guests (like Serge), you can buy a cheap ravioli cutter and cut the edges to make it look as though you hand rolled it yourself!

Again, this is a nice recipe to have in your arsenal of fancy, but not very hard, meals to make.  For a meal for two, you need about a half a pound of shrimp that's de-shelled and de-veined, fresh basil, fresh chives, and fresh cilantro.  Put your cleaned shrimp in the food processor.  Take a bunch of basil, chives, and cilantro and throw them in as well.  Then add a little bit of salt and pepper and a tablespoon or two of olive oil.  Pulse the stuff, but not puree, until is well combined.  At this point you can store the filling to fill your ravioli later, or you can make it now.  You want to put egg wash on one wanton, then place about a teaspoon of filling, before you put the other wanton on top.  Then trim the edges so your guests won't get mostly pasta.  And when filling, make sure you push out as much air as possible so that it doesn't explode in the boiling water.  This will be the most tedious process.

To make a nice rustic tomato sauce (which can be used for just about any pasta), take 2 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes (I like a lot of sauce) and put them on a baking sheet.  Generously sprinkle some olive oil, salt, and pepper and put under the broiler for 5 to 10 minutes.  You just want to heat them up until they burst.  Then take your fresh herbs (basil, chives, and cilantro), and chop them up really finely.  While you are at it, chop up two or three shallots (or you can use an onion).  In a big sauce pan on medium heat, put a dash of olive oil and the chopped shallots.  When they become soft, add your tomatoes and herbs and mix them well.  Add more salt and pepper if you think it needs more.  And that's it--you have your rustic sauce!

I think this dish surprised my Super Bowl guests a lot.  A few folks who ordered the steaks were able to try the the pasta and absolutely raved about it.  With Valentines Day a few days away, this is also a good dish to impress your significant other.  It may not look like much on paper, but it definitely packs a punch!  Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I've made this soup a few times, and I haven't quite figured out how to up the ante of the spice without making it taste like hot sauce.  This one by far was the best batch, and is probably one of the most intensive soups I've made.  It is also gluten free, which pleases my housemate cause he can partake.

What makes this soup really great is the smokey flavor of a roasted red pepper.  I cheated though cause I put mine under the broiler.  But if you have an open flame or a grill or something with fire, do it cause you won't go wrong.  You want a good char on the skin, and once it's all done place it in a paper bag.  To cool it quickly, immediately put it in the freezer (it saves you loads of time).  In about 10 minutes, pull them out and they should be reasonably cool so that you can easily peel off the chard skin with your fingers.  And there my friend is a nice roasted red pepper.

For the soup, you'll need about 10 chopped roasted red peppers, a chopped onion, garlic, some butter, chicken stock, a little tomato paste, heavy cream, salt, pepper, chili pepper powder, and some corn starch for some thickening power.  You don't have to worry about how finely chopped your stuff is cause it's all going in a blender (or if you have one, you can use an immersion blender).

You take about a tablespoon or so of butter and melt it in a large stock pot on a medium or so setting.  You then saute the onions and the garlic until the onions are soft and translucent.  Then add your peppers, 2 cartons of chicken stock (about 5 or 6 cups), and a heaping amount of tomato paste.  If you add more, the soup is redder, but it reduces the spiciness; something to think about.  Bring that baby up to a boil.  Then simmer it down and add about 2, 2.5 cups of heavy cream.  Add your spices.  Take about 2 tablespoons of corn starch and put in a small bowl with a little bit of cold water.  Stir it until it is just a liquid.  While stirring the soup add the corn starch.  Let it sit for 15 minutes.  Then take it off the heat and blend it!  Be careful when blending too.  You are definitely going to have to do it in batches.  And if you completely seal the blender, your soup will most definitely explode.  Blenders nowadays come with a little plastic top that you can take off so you can add stuff to things while it's blending.  You want to tilt it so that there's a slight airway for the heat and steam to escape.  Otherwise your kitchen will be a hot red mess.

Now you can serve the soup as is.  Or you can add a little sweet component to it.  I've had the soup with some blue crab chunks, and this is by far the best thing ever!  All you do is add the crab after you blend it, and little simmer for about 20 minutes.  But if you are a little low on dough, you can add a can of sweet corn (not the creamed kind though).  And there's your soup.  For the Super Bowl, I used corn cause I was planning on serving 20 or so people, and most were already have steak.  Enjoy!

Crostinis Three Ways - Sun Dried Tomatoes and Feta (not Fee-ta)

Again, crostinis are awesome!  And these were the ones that everyone kept stuffing their face with.  Here is how to make the toasty bread.

These were by far the most popular of the three crostinis I made for Super Bowl.  I'm not sure if it's cause people are just naturally addicted to feta (not fee-ta) or if it was the tangy, sweet sun dried tomatoes.  Whatever it was, everyone could not stop talking about it.  It was the most time consuming to make, which is probably why I didn't like them so much.  But once they are done, you can serve them immediately or store them in the fridge and whip them out later.  Regardless, if you want to impress, these are a definitely go-to hor d'oeuvre.

You need a jar of sun dried tomatoes that comes in oil.  Take the tomatoes out and chop them up (I prefer a coarse chop).  You also need some chopped onions and garlic, some sugar, some red wine vinegar, chicken broth, salt, and pepper.

So you take a pot, or a saucepan (just make sure either has a lid).  You want to put a bit of the oil from the jar into the pan and set it to medium.  You are going to dump the onions and garlic.  When the onions become translucent you are going to add some vinegar and the chicken broth.  Generally the ratio is 2:1 chicken broth to vinegar.  And it's about a half a cup or so of chicken broth.  If you want a more tangy topping, add a dash or two of sugar.  If not, add a tablespoon or two of sugar.  Then add a bit of salt and pepper.  Incorporate, and bring it to the boil.  Once boiling, bring it down to a simmer and cover it.  You will remove it from the heat when there's pretty much no liquid left (every time I've made it, there's a bit of oil left).  Keep a close eye on it cause a common thing that happens is that you end up burning the bottom.  So you want to occasionally stir the fantastic stuff.  When it's done, set it aside or you can store it in the fridgey!

When your crostinis are toasted, add the tomatoes and then top it with a bit of feta.  I usually use two jars of sun dried tomatoes because these are pretty popular.  But that means you have to add more liquid and stuff.

I hope you all give crostinis a shot at your next party.  The only laborious process is toasting the bread itself.  But you can easily make the toppings the day before.  You'll get a lot of praise for them, and you can feel like a super chef!

Crostinis Three Ways - KCho's Avocados

Again, crostinis are such a great finger food to have for large parties.  You don't have to make much to have them go a long way.  If you read the first post about crostinis, you know why I chose them this year for Super Bowl (and you can find the method to making the toast).

KCho's avocados were the second favorite (though my personal fave) of the three served for Super Bowl.  I also cannot take full credit for this awesome appetizer.  I was visiting my friend, Kathy, in Brooklyn, NY.  We had brunch at a neighborhood restaurant that served a version of this incredibly simple, delectable item on their brunch menu.  The following day, Kathy and I decided to take it to the next level when we made breakfast by adding our bacon to the dish.  And everyone who knows me knows that bacon makes everything taste so much better!!!  But back to the crostini.  So I am naming this after my good friend Kathy.  Thank you Kathy and Brooklyn for serving incredible food!

There's not much to say about this flavorful food.  All you really need is an incredibly sharp knife, but be careful.  If you don't know much about avocados, Alton Brown does a good episode.

First, you take your pancetta, make a little log roll, and slice them width-wise.  You dump them in a pan that has been warmed on a medium-low setting.  If the pancetta does a soft sizzle, you set the pan on the correct setting.  When you set the heat too high, the pancetta will smoke and burn, and fat will come shooting off the pan and burn you.  No bueno!  Stir them till they become crispy and brown.  When done, place them on a plate with a paper towel to pick up the excess grease.

Then you take your avocado and take the meat out (I prefer chunks, but the BK does thin slices).  Add some lime, not only to prevent oxidation (which leads to browning), but it adds nice flavor.  At this point I put them on the toast--Kathy mixes in the cayenne pepper and mixes it gently in a bowl.  You can do this too, but I like to see the contrast of green and red.  Anyways, add some cayenne pepper (just a pinch) on each crostini.  Then take your pancetta and add just a little on top.  You will be left with a crunchy/soft piece of bread, a soft and limey avocado, a little heat, and then a salty crunch from the pancetta.  How can you go wrong with that?!

Bon appetit!

Crostinis Three Ways - Sweet Pea Pesto

Crostinis are fun, simple finger foods that are great to make for a big party, such as the Super Bowl, because you can easily make them the day before and serve them up.  I did three different crostinis, one of which can be served as a dip more than a crostini.  See how versatile this food is?

First, the bread.  If you have day old French bread (or French stick as the Brits would say), slice it up real thin.  I personally like skinny French bread for this because you can make a two bite crostini.  Anything larger can make for a mess since the toppings aren't really anchored so well.  You heat up your oven's broiler.  And while that is warming up, spread your bread on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with olive oil.  You can also sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper, but I left that out since I personally don't like too much salt on things.  You then pop it under the broiler for 2 or so minutes (depending on how good your broiler is), and then take them out when they are a nice golden brown.  Voila!  Perfect pieces of fancy toast!!!

So the first crostini recipe I'm sharing with you is the pea pesto.  It was the least favorite of the three I made, but it was probably the healthiest and most versatile of all the crostinis made.

All you need is a defrosted bag of sweet peas, some parmasan cheese, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  I added some cayenne pepper to mine to add a little kick to it.  You can also try adding a little wasabi powder too, if you can find it.  If you really aren't into spicy foods, you can just up the ante by adding a lot of salt to make a salty-sweet treat!  It's totally up to you how you want to make it work, but keep in mind that peas are really sweet.

When your peas are defrosted, put them in your food processor.  Add your spices and cheese.  I used about half a cup of cheese or so.  Close your food processor and have a quarter of a cup of olive oil or so ready to pour in while pulsing the peas.  DO NOT PUREE YOUR PEAS!!!  IT WILL BE LIQUIDY AND GROSS!!!  You want them to look like chunky guacamole.  Done!

You can serve this in a bowl with a side of pita chips.  Or you can use them as a topping for a crostini.  I added a halved grape tomato (or you can use cherry tomatoes) to add another layer of flavor and color contrast.

Bon appetit!

Thanks to Serge and Morgan for helping to plate and cut the bread.  Serge also took these photos.

Super Bowl: Snowpocalypse Redux Edition

This will be the 8th edition of my annual Super Bowl Party. I have done themes ranging from Italian to frying everything possible. This year has been the closest to fancy I can get, considering that the guest list is around 20 people. But I reckon the football gods decided to challenge me this year since they decided to add a blizzard into the mix. Definitely not a happy camper about this at all! It is just one logistical nightmare.

I had to go shopping yesterday--earlier than I mentally wanted--since the snow storm is currently happening now (Friday). I spent almost 5 hours shopping for the ingredients, hitting up both Costco and a chain grocery store. Costco actually worked out well, as I was able to get the majority of the items needed. The grocery store was also a win mostly for it's cheapness factor. But I had one problem--I had no herbs and not enough meat!!! Needless to say, I was freaking out and incredibly demoralized by the entire day.

Like any good chef, I woke up at 7am in a search for my missing ingredients. Meanwhile, my brain was shooting out different alternative meals based on what would be available at any grocery store. I was seriously prepared to pull off an Iron Chef just to make this party happen. Thankfully, I was able to find all the main ingredients necessary for the party. So now I can fully focus on going crazy since I am stuck in the house for the entire weekend!

As a funny aside... during the stress of this entire fiasco, I neglected to plan out meals to last the entire weekend. Oops!

Anyhoo, keep checking back as I post a series on the 8th edition of my Super Bowl Party! Enjoy the snow if you are out there. And if you are some place warm, like San Diego, I am jealous. I would like to live there with you!

Enjoy the weather!