Baked Apples

Oh it's the most wonderful time of the year!! I absolutely love the fall/winter, and cold weather puts me in the mood to bake. We had a crazy ice storm a couple weekends ago and we stayed in for 4 days straight just eating. It was glorious. Because of that small setback, my hubs and I had way too many carbs and fatty comfort food (mac n cheese!) and needed a reprieve from it all. Anyhow, I made these lovely baked apples earlier this week as a weeknight dessert, and it was SO FAST to put together. I started with perfectly sweet honeycrisp apples and cut one in half (1 apple =  2 servings). I cored out the 2 halves to create a little crater for the yummy filling. Now, you can use virtually anything that you want but I used walnuts, dried cranberries*, honey, and brown sugar. Stick 'em in the oven at 350 and bake for like 20 minutes (I took them out a little early so they were mostly soft but still had a bite). Next time I'd probably make them softer so it's easier to cut through with a spoon. No need to let them cool, just dig in! If you don't care about fat and calories, top it off with some fresh whipped cream or ice cream! These are so quick to make and can be made in large quantities at once for a show stopping dessert at your next dinner party. You can experiment with different apples and fillings, based on the season.

*I used dried cranberries in apple juice, which are different than your usual packaged cranberries that have been soaked in sugar syrup. The apple juice is MUCH better, believe me!

What's in it:
-honeycrisp apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, raw wildflower honey, light brown sugar

Flank Steak with Parsnip Puree

Flank steak is a great cut of meat; it's cheap, quick to make, and extremely versatile. I've been protein loading my husband and flank has proven to be a favorite. This was a fast weeknight meal that I threw together in about 30 minutes! I had some parsnips in the fridge that desperately wanted to be cooked. I pureed the parsnip with some oil, S&P, smoked paprika, and garlic. I seared the steak to mid-rare with a rub of cumin, salt, and pepper; and sliced  up some green tomatoes (which I wanted to fry but ate raw because I was hungeeee!) 3 easy steps and voila! Dinner time! You can do it too!

What's in it:
-flank steak, S&P, cumin, parsnip, garlic powder, smoked paprika, green tomato

October Feast

I know I'm literally 2 months behind on this, but fear not, I'm done for the semester and have all the time in the world to cook and update!!! This post is for October's feast, which we actually did in the beginning of November...yeah we break rules. The ingredients were: tomatoes, salmon, and something sticky. Unfortunately, I did not photograph the dessert, and it was done before I could. It was caramel popcorn, and needless to say, my husband loved it....hence no photograph. I gathered a few gorgeous heirloom tomatoes (aren't they just beautiful!!!). I really did not know how to combine such a tart flavor with the delicateness of salmon. I started with the yellow heirloom and made a basil infused puree and went from there. I used a lean salmon from Alaska, and lightly S&P'd it, then topped it with the basil/tomato puree, and baked it. Then I thinly sliced the remaining tomatoes and tossed it in an olive oil/salt/basil mixture to make a light salad. This was definitely an OUT of season meal, but it was quite refreshing! I topped off the salmon with peppery arugula. It was the most out of the box I could think considering my 3 major deadlines that were fast approaching! The puree was a knockout and can be used on a lot of different things.

What's in it:

-salmon, variety heirloom tomatoes, basil, S&P, arugula, EVOO

September Feast

September Feast y'all! Better late than never, right? The three ingredients picked were: flank steak, kale, and for dessert, something baked. With this, I went with a mid-rare skirt steak (couldn't get my hands on flank, but close enough!) seasoned with a simple salt, black pepper, and cumin rub, seared on a pan. I incorporated the kale into my version of a chimichurri sauce to enhance the flavor of otherwise blah kale. The end product was one of the best meals my husband and I have eaten (of course, aside from the amazing 3 course post 2nd wedding meal in the Maldives...ask me about it ;) ). I didn't make a side for this because a.) I made it on a very very busy night, and b.) I wanted to showcase my meat cooking skills, which I'm slowly perfecting! I just paired it with a soft pretzel roll.

What's in it: skirt steak, salt, pepper, cumin, cilantro, parsley, kale, coarse sea salt, lemon, EVOO

Dessert! This is really quite simple. Like really simple. Like no brain power involved. Even your engineer husband can make it! Steps: bake a sweet potato, cut lengthwise. take out the potato from the skin and mash together with brown sugar (and a drop of vanilla if you want it sweeter). stick it back in the oven for a few minutes. top with toasted almonds (*these almonds here aren't toasted because I didn't have time). enjoy!
What's in it: sweet potato, almonds, brown sugar, vanilla (if desired)

Seafood Stew

Yes, yes, I said I'd update more often, butttttttttt grad school is TIME CONSUMING. I *am* cooking, but the pictures have just been sitting on my camera...sowwie. Anyhow, this is a dish I made for my husband for his birthday dinner, adapted from something I saw online. It's a clear broth with shrimp and halibut and orzo pasta. The broth is flavored with basil, tomatoes, and garlic. It's a very simple dish to make, with most of the cook on the seafood coming from the heat of the broth. Serve it with a crusty bread and it's a quick weeknight supper!

What's in it:
-halibut, shrimp, orzo, basil, tomatoes, EVOO, garlic, S&P

August Feast

Chorizo and Bean Stew with Polenta

Polenta, chorizo, and something fruity. These were the cards picked for the first feast. Initially, I was like 'okay, polenta and chorizo...both are in the same ethnic family...this will be a cinch'. Little did I know that polenta is THE most hazardous thing to cook. Seriously. I'm not usually clumsy in the kitchen (unlike all other aspects of life), but for some reason I ended the evening with 2 cuts on my fingers (rather, slices), and 3 burns on my arm...from the dangerous polenta. I put about 2 cups of fresh milled polenta into a pot of boiling, salty, well-oiled water and started whisking away. Within about 30 seconds, it bubbles and POPS out in pockets of molten corn meal, flying every which direction, hitting my arm at a scalding temperature. Okay. Panic. The husband was off for a run while I prepared everything, so it was a surprise for him. All I could think was, great, he's gonna come home with polenta on the ceiling and me with 2nd degree burns. I realized as long as you whisk, it won't explode. So I whisked for 2-3 solid minutes (with my poor weak arm-sticks), then poured it all into a pan and set it to bake at 350. WOOSAH. This is when I started breathing again. I was still afraid the polenta wouldn't cook through because I took it off the stove quickly, but in the end, it all came together. So when I first thought about what to make, I thought to do something hearty and warm. I decided to make a stew-like concoction with the chorizo (which was lamb and beef). I stared with an onion-tomato base and broke down the chorizo in the mixture, added S&P, cumin, marjoram, and smoked paprika, then added cannellini beans. I let this all simmer down, and plated it with the stew on top of a mound of polenta. The sauce of the stew really soaked into the polenta, creating a creamy and savory end product.

Apricot Napoleon

For the something fruity, I decided to make a fresh apricot napoleon. This was as simple as it gets. You can literally recreate it by looking at the picture. One trick to keep the pastry from puffing up too much is to weigh it down with aluminum or another cookie sheet in the oven. Make sure to take it off for the last couple minutes to let the pastry brown a bit. I took it off a bit too early so they still ended up puffing a bit. Oh wells! Still tastes great. All in all, even though I felt like a contestant on chopped, we had a lovely dinner and all is good with the world.

What's in it:

-polenta (corn meal), sea salt, olive oil, lamb chorizo, cannellini beans, tomato, onion, cumin, paprika, marjoram, black pepper

-pastry dough, apricot, whipped cream

I'm Baaaaaaack

So, I know it's been a while. Or a year. Actually more than a year...but who's counting?? I've been *slightly* busy over the past year, what with graduating, moving to Dallas, getting married...you know the drill. Still, that's no excuse to neglect my blog!

Refreshed, renewed, and ready to tackle cooking again, I've decided to put more effort in refining my skills and updating regularly. I made dinner last night worthy of being posted, but I didn't have juice in my camera battery, nor was I going to wait to eat. For those interested, it was what I call East Meets Southwest. I made a hatch chile curried chicken. Needless to say, it was quite delectable. I served it with basmati rice and we enjoyed Sicilian Orange sherbet afterwards (while watching MasterChef of course). The husband (still getting used to that) has been on my case for trying out whenever they come to Texas. We'll see. We'll see.

This is a non-photographed post, but I'd like to introduce a little thing I'm doing (as a present to my husband) called Feast of the Month. Basically, I made a little booklet with 3 categories (starches/proteins/dessert), and 12 products within each category. He gets to choose at random which 3 things will comprise the meal, and my challenge is to make it all work together. The desserts are all noted as "something _____", e.g. something cold, something baked, etc. I have to create a dessert that fits the category, and I can never repeat things more than once. He gives me 48 hours of notice before I have to create that meal, and I can't use written recipes. Tonight is the first of the meals, so look out for a post later tonight or tomorrow.

Until then!