Just to be upfront, there is no cake or ice cream involved in this birthday celebration. I found me a new beer to obsess over:) I need a beer guy... I already have a wine guy. I need a beer guy. I'm only going to talk about myself in this one instance--guys, tell me I'm wrong, but isn't it refreshing sometimes when a girl admits that all she wants is a hunk of meat to eat?! haha. Let's just say that, it just so happens that when asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I decided we stay in and grill up a couple of Ribeye steaks, potatoes, roasted garlic and stirfry vegetables (hope you're proud of me, sis). Check it out! Luckily for you, this post is allllll about the pictures.
Oh! I forgot to mention the most important part of this meal... the beer. I had my first Boddington's. It was lovely!!! So smooth and creamy--just like the can says! I'm sold! My Guinness, lookout! You have some competition!!!
Greetings from Seattle, WA! I had been in Seattle for like 6 days until I finally got some good food. Here goes...There's always Lowell's Restaurant in Pike's Place Market--my family's favorite. Where else will you get fresh crab anyway you like it?! in a salad, in a cake in a sandwich, fried, filet and even in a taco form. I loved how T and I ordered the same thing except prepared in a different way. I ordered the Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Melt, which is pretty much an open-faced sandwich consisting of rustic bread stacked with fresh crab and shimp covered with melted cheese, served with a side Caesar salad. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Besides the fact that it reminded me of Sundance Cafe (Sacramento, CA), my local coffeehouse whom I love (separate posting about my love, Sundance). Sundance makes an Open-faced shrimp melt--forever on the menu and always a treat when devoured for lunch.
T ordered the Crab and Shrimp Louie salad with a cup of Clam Chowder. Upon closer examination, we found out that the combo of dungeness crab and Oregon Bay Shrimp was apparently irresistible that day and so we had to have it. Honestly, thank god it wasn't that puny bay shrimp that (maybe) you're getting in California. This is Washington... and apparently, they can tap in to that Oregon Bay shrimp. And the clam chowder was delicious! They don't call it award-winning for nothing! (Thanks for sharing, Tiffy!)
References: (right to the good stuff, menu links)
Lowell's Restaurant (Seattle, WA)
http://www.eatatlowells.com/?page_id=162
Sundance Cafe (Sacramento, CA)
http://www.sundancecafe455.com/home/page_id=20796
I don't know about you but every now and then, I get a good email forward at work. My favorite are the kind that have to do with food or recipes to try.
I was digging through my email inbox and came across an old recipe for a microwave chocolate cake... who needs that expensive Betty Crocker microwave bowl of cake?!
Here's a recipe for making your very own:
5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if necessary.
It only takes FIVE minutes! That's unbelievable! Honestly, I have yet to try it myself, but it's not fair of me to keep his nice little secret all to myself.
I've got another lil' chocolate treat to share. It's perfect for parties and get-togethers, and WAY easy to make. And I can't tell you how many times I was bugging MYSELF to bake these cupcakes. I could not do it without finding specifically a bag of Hershey's Hugs (not Kisses) to use.
I'm not even gonna claim this brilliant idea for myself. It's so easy because you're using brownie mix too!
http://www.momsmenu.com/holiday/valentine/brownie_kisses.shtml
I bought some cheap Marsala wine from Safeway one time. For a while it sat in my pantry... I'd like to say I was letting it age--but that would only be half lying. The truth was, I always wanted to try a Chicken Marsala recipe. I'll confess: I've ordered the Chicken Marsala at Olive Garden. And part of me thinks, "If I can make Chicken Piccatta I can make Chicken Marsala! It's like making a different kind of sauce." So I grab my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and I pull out the Chicken Marsala recipe. I finally tried it!Chicken Marsala
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 oz each), trimmed
salt and pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 oz. pancetta, chopped fine (I used the substitute of 3 slices of bacon chopped fine.)
8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups sweet Marsala
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Spread the flour in a shallow dish.
2. Pound the thicker ends of the breasts as needed. Pat dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour to coat and shake off any excess.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken and cook until light golden brown on both sides., about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and keep warm in the oven.
4. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the skillet and return to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pancetta and mushrooms. Cook until the pancetta is crisp and the mushrooms are brown, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste. Cook until the paste begins to brown, about 1 minute. Stir in the Marsala, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, about 8 minutes.
6. Stir in the lemon juice and any accumulated chicken juice. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Turn off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the chicken before serving.
(Pictured) I served the chicken marsala with some frozen spinach and mozzarella ravioli, with jarred sauce.
Here's what I love about crisps... I was visiting my sister in Seattle some years ago (pre-niece time;o) _) and she had a bunch of fruit in her fridge. We decided to make a crisp that night and we pretty much threw every fruit we could find that was about to go bad. She was working in Yakima (that's in Washington), and my sister had access to some fresh fruit. I think my first crisp had apples, peaches, berries... honestly, I can't remember the combination we came up with, but it was sooo good!! Slam a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you're good to go!
A few crisps later... I decided this was food blog worthy. It was my aunt's birthday recently, and I thought, dinner was taken care of. So I'll make her one of my (famous) fruit crisps!!
I failed to bring my recipe with me back to San Francisco, so I had to make due with what I could.
Here's the "original" recipe that I made once for a BBQ:
PLEASE NOTE: I almost never use the same fruit in my crisps. And I've sampled a few different kinds of granola. In honor of one of my favorite cooking shows--America's Best Test Kitchen--I can tell you, well, actually, I don't remember the very first granola and/or rolled oats I used in the one I made for/with my sister. But in the following two, I believe I got Cranberry Almond granola from Safeway, but I would say the best thing to do is use a granola without the dried fruit--your dessert eaters may be happier without 'em. I guess you can always pick them out, or just buy granola in bulk, it's cheaper and you can easily buy just enough for what you need. P.S. I have to admit that my favorite part of the crisp is the brown sugar with granola topping--I'd say in whatever crisp recipe you choose, double the topping recipe. (You won't be sorry!)
Blueberry Crisp
1 and 1/2 pints of blueberries
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dry instant oatmeal or granola
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
butter (for the pan) or if you want to be healthy, 6 tbsp. Smart Balance 50/50 sticks-softened
complimentary fruits: white peaches/nectarines (skinned and sliced thin), granny smith apples, blackberries, raspberries, pears or maybe apple-pears (I stay away from strawberries and oranges.)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place berrries and fruit in greased (I always use) 9" x 13" pan or 8" x 8" square or 8" x 11" rectangular glass baking dish.
2. Blend remaining ingredients until crumbly but not mushy. Add the butter last.
3. Sprinkle mixture over the fruit mixture.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
A variation I used for my aunt's birthday came from this recipe:
Peach Crisp
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peach-Crisp-108419
You use orange juice in this one!!
I remember eating catfish when I was younger. My mother used to make it chinese-style--steamed with green onions, ginger and soy sauce. Now that we're grown ups, I realized we don't have to steam our food anymore. We can have fun with it. Even though it makes for a healthy meal, this is more fun!
Did you know Safeway gives away recipe cards? I found this interesting one when C requested that I make some fish. I figure, this is breaded fish but at least it's not frozen.
Try this Cornbread-coated Catfish with Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice:
Cornbread-coated Catfish
1/2 cup Italian Salad dressing
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups cornbread stuffing mix
1 lb catfish fillets
1. In a shallow dish combine salad dressing and eggs; mix well. Place stuffing crumbs in a food processor; process until finely ground; place in a second shallow dish. Coat fillets evenly in dressing mixture, then coat evenly in crumbs. Place fillets on a wax paper lined platter; cover and chill up to 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange fillets on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
There was also a recipe for a cucumber sauce (but I went sans the cucumber sauce).
1 cup seeded, chopped cucumber
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp. horseradish
1/4 tsp. salt
For cucumber sauce, in a small bowl combine above ingredients and mix well. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes before serving. (May be made several hours ahead.)
