Oysters Rockefeller and Jambalaya!

Every so often, I get a hankering for some sort of New Orleans cuisine. The food down there is some of the best that I have ever eaten. Last night, my sorority sister from Tulane (Lizzy) and I decided to make jambalaya. I have made red beans and rice (actually, I make it pretty often in the wintertime), and I have made gumbo, but I had never tried jambalaya and we felt like doing it. I rarely use recipes unless I am making something I have never made before, and even then I usually just read through the recipe to get an idea of how I want to make whatever it is I'm making. With the jambalaya, however, since rice was invloved I decided that I ought to follow the recipe pretty closely. I did follow the recipe pretty closely except I added one extra thing...shrimp! Yum.

Lizzy and I did the grocery shopping for the jambalaya the night before we made it. Apparently she is pretty tight with the butcher at Whole Foods so now we get hooked up whenever we go. It's pretty freaking sweet. We also had to spend quite a bit of time in the spice aisle since we had to make a whole jar of cajun spice. Going to the grocery store with Lizzy was significantly less torturous than going by myself, so from now on I might have to drag her whenever I go. If you had a recipe book with you like we did, it is also much easier to have one person say the ingredients and then the other person grabs them. We were also pretty lucky that my sister was home, because we didn't bother to look at this "cajun spice recipe blend" we had to make to determine what we already had in the cabinet at the house. My sister actually brought a ton of spices with her when she moved, but I don't know what they are and I don't even think she knows what they are so we needed to know what they were. Anyway, we had gathered all of the spices the recipe called for in the cart by the time we decided to call Cathryn, who was VERY cooperative. She is very supportive of my new endeavors in the kitchen so it's pretty lucky. In fact, as Lizzy was on the phone with her and I was reading to Lizzy the spices we had in the cart, I thought Cathryn was just guessing which spices we had until I asked Lizzy to ask Cathryn if she was SURE we had chili powder to which Lizzy responded "she says she can f-ing read, Diana." Little did I know that our sous chef had lined up every spice on the counter for us.

Anyway, we went home that night and made some steak and scallops for dinner (that recipe another time) and I chopped up all the vegetables for the jambalaya. Almost every New Orleans recipe (gumbos, jambalayas, red beans, etouffees, etc) starts with a trio of vegetables referred to as "The Trinity." So, pretty much anytime you make a New Orleans anything you can rest assured it will probably start with a medley of chopped onion, celery, and green pepper. One of the reasons why I love making these dishes is because they are incredibly low maintenance to cook- usually chopping the vegetables is the most work intensive part of the whole thing and then from there everything just goes into one big pot where the flavors all absorb and melt into each other to form a little slice of Heaven.

If you have read some of my previous posts, you might notice that we rarely make just one dish for a meal...We almost always have a salad of some sort at the very least, and usually there is some type of side dish or appetizer (usually pretty basic...cheese). Well, with jambalaya you don't really need a side dish because it sort of is a big, giant side dish with enough stuff added to it to make it a main dish, and I couldn't think of any New Orleans appetizers. So I decided we just needed some french bread. Everything in New Orleans comes with french bread to scoop up whatever meal you're eating, and there is so much of it produced down there that there are even recipes to get rid of the stale french bread (see: bread pudding). Then I got really ambitious and decided that I was going to go out in search of french bread DOUGH. I almost tried making it myself but you have to let it rise, etc. which takes hours. Anyway, I figured Whole Foods would have french bread dough so I made the trek up. Unfortunately, french bread dough does not exist at Whole Foods, BUT while I was on my way up there my brilliance kicked in and I remembered that there WAS a great New Orleans appetizer- oysters on the half shell.

Fortunately, for some strange reason my dad taught me how to shuck an oyster when I was a sophomore in college. So, much like changing a flat tire on the car (he taught me that as well), it is something I had always kept in the back of my mind as knowing how to do should there ever be a dire need, but never tried since there was never a dire need. Well, now we had a dire need because once I got into my head that I was going to buy (and shuck) a dozen oysters there was no turning back. I briefly thought about going over to Blacksalt to get some really good oysters, but lost the drive once I got to Whole Foods and saw that they even sold oyster shucking knives (they call it a "clam knife" but I know what it's really for). Here is a small oyster disclaimer: apparently you're only supposed to eat oysters in months that end in R. In the summer months, when the water is warmer, they spawn or something and for whatever reason aren't as good to eat. Well, I know plenty of people that eat oysters in the summer and have lived to talk about it and I think if they were going to kill someone then stores probably wouldn't sell them. So, it took me about 10 seconds to get over that hangup. Actually, not quite because the more I thought about it, I thought to myself wow, it would really be unfortunate if someone got sick so let me go back to googling on my blackberry "New Orleans Appetizers." Lo and behold, what comes up??!!? OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER. Oh my goodness gracious it was like a sign from God. And guess what else? I already had ALL of the ingredients for it at the house. It was just meant to be. Crazy. I ordered my dozen oysters, grabbed a loaf of french bread and headed home with a little spring in my step.

Note: Oysters Rockefeller was invented at Antoine's Restauant in the French Quarter in New Orleans. It is named "Oysters Rockefeller" because it is SO rich.

Once home, I began the process of shucking the oysters. Cathryn has a Hilton Worldwide Top Chef apron at the house which came in handy because I didn't want to get oyster juice all over me. So there I was, apron on, oyster shucking knife in hand, bag of oysters on the counter. I grabbed one, wrapped it in a towel, stuck the knife in the corner, hoped and hoped it wouldn't slip and go through my hand removing my thumb or something, and ta-da! The oyster opened. It really wasn't that hard and I ate a couple raw since they looked SO good and were really cold and our fish friend had thrown in a couple extras. I will spare you the entire process of shucking an oyster, it really is something that you need to see to know how to do.

As I was washing off the oyster shells, Lizzy walked in and gave me the "ohhhhh man wtf are you doing now" look. I explained calmly that I was making Oysters Rockefeller and she was going to need to stir the ingredients in the pan since I was elbow deep in oyster goo and could she please open a corona for me. Ever the good sport, she did it and then we finished the sauce for the Oysters Rockefeller. I used some of the ingredients from the recipe I found online, but changed around the amounts and added a few things (my recipe below).

Then we started the jambalaya. I had not chopped the chicken breast into bite size pieces yet so I pulled it out of the fridge to do that. Unfortunately in the ONE night it was in the fridge it had managed to go bad, so Lizzy had to make an emergency run up to Whole Foods to get a new one (this is why we usually keep chicken breasts in the freezer). Anyway, she came back with a brand new package 15 minutes later and we threw the oysters into the oven to eat while the jambalaya was finishing (recipe below). Crisis averted.

If I were to serve this for a dinner party, I would serve the oysters first as (and on) a small plate, followed by a plate of jambalaya with salad on the side and a piece of warm french bread. That's exactly how we ate the meal, but the oysters were eaten straight out of the pan, in the kitchen, and then we made up the plates of salad, bread, and jambalaya and ate those in the sunroom. We're pretty low key in the summer! I was also pretty low key about photographing this meal so all you can see is the Oysters Rockefeller and Greg's plate that he had already started. But you get an idea.

Overall, the jambalaya took about an hour to prepare and cook, making it a pretty doable weeknight meal. It also makes enough to feed a small army, so everyone was able to take leftovers for lunch today. It is also pretty inexpensive for how much it makes and therefore perfect for our little budgets. The Oysters Rockefeller were the big hit of the night- I realized they had to be pretty good as I walked downstairs and Cathryn said they were so tasty that she was literally licking the shell. Everyone did. All around it was a wonderful night of great food and as always, great company.


Oysters Rockefeller

12 oysters (if you don't know how to shuck them, ask the fish person to do it, reserving the juice)
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup minced white onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1 tbs finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup white wine
Grated parmesan cheese
salt and white pepper, to taste
4 cups of rock salt (to cover the bottom of a pan so you can rest the oysters in it when you put them in the oven)

-Shuck the oysters, saving the juice. Put them in a bowl with the juice. Throw away the tops of the shells, scrape the muscle out of the bottoms, scrub them a little, rinse and dry.
-In a small frying pan, melt the butter. Add the minced onion and garlic, saute for 2 minutes or until the onion is clear.
-Add the chopped spinach and parsley, saute for another minute.
-Add the white wine, salt and white pepper.
-Add the bread crumbs.
-Pour rock salt about 3/4 inch high in the bottom of a baking pan. Arrange shells so they are resting in the salt bed.
-Put a little bit of oyster juice in each shell. Put one oyster in each shell.
-Spead a spoonful of the spinach/onion mixture on top of each oyster.
-Sprinkle each with parmesan cheese.
-Bake for about 12 minutes at 450 degrees.


Cajun Spice Mix

Mix together the following in a jar:
-5 tbs paprika
-1 tbs black pepper
-1 tbs white pepper
-1 tbs cayenne pepper
-1 tbs dried thyme
-2 tbs garlic powder
-1 tbs dried oregano
-1 tbs salt
-1 tbs chile powder
-1 tbs onion powder


Jambalaya

1 Stick butter
3 cups chopped celery
3 cups chopped green pepper
3 cups chopped white onion
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
1 pound andouille sausage, thinly sliced
1/2 pound shrimp (cooked or uncooked)
1 tbs cajun spice mix
1 tbs black pepper
3 tbs hot sauce
3 bay leaves
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
8 cups chicken stock
4 cups uncooked long grain white rice

-Melt the butter in a big pot. Add celery, green pepper, and onion, saute for 10 mins.
-Stir in chicken, sausage, and shrimp, cook until the chicken is done (and shrimp if you used raw).
-Add spice mix, pepper, hot sauce, bay leaves, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
-Add the rice, return to a boil.
-Cover the pot with a lid, turn off the heat. Let sit for about 20 minutes until the rice absorbs the liquid. Stir and serve with a piece of hot french bread.


Laissez les bons temps rouler and Happy Hostessing!

Seafood Redeemed: Penthouse Pasta

After Monday night's epic fail re: seafood attempt #1, I couldn't even bear to look at my kitchen any more so I went over to Nick's. By the time I arrived, he and his roommate were engrossed in a very heated game of NHL. Although most girls would probably watch and feign interest as a guy dukes it out with their roommate on a video game, I'm not one for pretending so I grabbed a magazine sitting on their coffee table. Jackpot! Turns out it was a Penthouse from 1999. Although checking out late 90s you-know-whats doesn't really do it for me, I do think some of the articles in those magazines are OCCASIONALLY entertaining and the jokes are alright. And I might have even read a Forbes at that point. Anyway, fast forward to about a third of the way through the magazine, and I find a recipe. No joke. Penthouse from 1999 was giving men recipes. As I read it, I thought, wow, not only does this look really tasty, it looks remarkably easy. And, since it was from 1999 (pre Atkins) it was a pasta recipe! I didn't want to be a weirdo and interrupt their video game to ask for something to write with, so I did my best to remember the ingredients and instructions (which wasn't hard, I suppose Penthouse can't make any recipe too complicated given their audience).

Anyway, fast forward to work the next day: After getting chapped by the dadboss for weeks for not finishing my spreadsheets/analyses, you can imagine how pumped I was to type in those last little numbers and print them all out. Coincidentally, since it was 630pm I was also getting pretty hungry and decided that I wanted to make that Penthouse recipe for dinner. I knew I had some of the ingredients at home, but I thought it would be a really delicious meal with a nice piece of fish atop the spagetti and sauce. I also knew we had (what I thought was) a ton of marjoram growing in the backyard, which I researched and found out was often used as a substitue for oregano (which the pasta recipe called for). I also noticed when googling that my marjoram didn't look anything like the marjoram in the pictures.

I went up to Whole Foods, paranoid per usual that someone I know will be there and attempt to wave or have a conversation when I am desperately trying to keep my focus. Usually I am pretty organized at the grocery store so it's a quick trip, but this was one of those back and forth to the produce, and back to the dairy, and then back to the canned goods, etc kind of trips. BECAUSE when I got there, I had my pasta and my piece of fish planned out, but then I got very ambitious in the olive aisle and decided to make a whole Mediterranean themed salad (I love themes...possibly leftover from my days in Chi Omega). I then went one step further and decided to get pita bread to serve with the pasta/salad.

In the meantime, I had gone to the fish guy and gotten a couple of pieces of Chilean Sea Bass (I know, slap on the wrist it's endangered but I wanted it). While I was there I also saw the pile of littlenecks/cherrystones that are always on the ice and decided to get a dozen of those as well, for an appetizer (I am sure you can tell what kind of grocery store trip this was shaping up to be by now). I needed some butter to melt for the clams (I love butter so we go through a lot of it...sometimes I have to lie to Cathryn about how much I put into stuff I'm cooking). While I was in the butter aisle, guess what else I saw that fit into my Mediterranean theme? HUMMUS!!! I mean, I already had the pitas so I figured why not? I briefly thought about trying to take the clams back to the fish guy because now I had a different pre-dinner snack but I don't think you can return things like that.

After I swung by the olive bar and got some pitted olives for the salad and pasta, I finally was checking out around the time I had told Lizzy to come over for dinner. Thankfully she still runs on New Orleans time so we can always count on her to be about an hour behind.

I got home and wasn't quite sure where to start, so I decided to start with preparing the salad. Our housekeeepers had just been there so I didn't want to mess anything up so it was kind of hard, but once I got over that small issue things went a little more smoothly. I prepared the lettuce and put it in a bowl (on top of a paper towel- I like to do this so nothing gets soggy and also it makes the salad easy to toss when you pull it out). I threw in some tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, and half a cucumber that my parents had grown in their garden (living in Georgetown it's difficult to have a big vegetable garden so they have a garden plot at Landon, my brother's school). I put the artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and feta cheese aside by the salad to put in when I was ready to toss it and then made a dressing. The dressing consisted of lemon juice and olive oil (half of each), a sprinkle of sugar and some salt (you just have to taste it as you go along). I like making salad dressings in jars I have saved (and washed, obviously) because they are easy to mix (shake shake) and you can save what you don't use in the fridge.

I wasn't quite sure how to go about doing the pasta, since I wanted to doctor up the recipe a little bit (sorry, Penthouse). I decided to start it how I would start a regular tomato sauce, by sauteing a diced yellow onion and about 4 cloves of chopped garlic in 3 tbs of olive oil. To that I gave a hefty sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes for some spice. Once the onion and garlic were sauteed, I added 2 chopped roma tomatoes (roma tomatoes are more meaty/less juicy than regular tomatoes and thus used in most sauces). I also added half of a container of grape tomatoes (which I had sliced in half) since I had seen them in the Penthouse picture (even though they weren't mentioned in the recipe). I added about 3 tbs of chopped oregano (good thing I didn't use the "marjoram," it turned out to be a weed). The last thing I threw in was about 1/2 cup of pitted kalamata olives which I had given a rough chop. I let that all cook at a low temp for about 20 minutes with the lid on, stirring so that it didn't burn. In the meantime I had put the water on for the spagetti so got that ready.

I pulled out the fish filets and set the oven to 400. I placed them on tin foil, drizzled olive oil, sprinkled salt and pepper, and then laid 4 sprigs of fresh oregano on top. I wrapped up the little pouch and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

While all of this was going on, Lizzy and Cathryn were enjoying their glasses of wine (I don't really like red so I wouldn't say I was "enjoying" mine, per se, but I threw an ice cube in and tried to get it down). I kept asking them what I should do with the GD bag of clams I had gotten, and both of them immediately said no when I asked should I steam them to dip in butter. I think they are over the butter use since they both DO like to exercise. After quite a bit of deliberating, we all decided the clams would be good in the sauce, sort of like a linguine with clam sauce but different. Anyway, I said what the hell, rinsed them off and dropped them into the pot of sauce. I put the lid on (they need to steam open) and let that cook, stirring every couple of minutes for about 12 minutes until all of the clams were open.

We ate salads while waiting for the clams to open and the fish to cook and the pasta to boil. If you time everything perfectly (which I did not, but probably could next time), then it can all be ready at the same time which is ideal.

If you are serving this meal for a dinner party , it is nice to have the several different courses. The salad, pasta, and fish course can all be served separately or at once (probably salad before or after). If you wanted to serve the fish separately, I would set it on a plate, put a slice of tomato and a sprig of oregano next to it to dress it up and then serve that as a small plate. Of course, you can serve the pasta with the clams as a small plate as well, but pasta is inexpensive and makes more so I think it is the more reasonable large plate choice for people in their 20s who don't have the last name Rockefeller. Either or.

When I served it to Lizzy and Cathryn, I put a little bed of pasta in the pasta bowl (a regular plate would be fine, but since I have pasta bowls I figure I should use them when I can). I topped the bed of pasta with a ladle of the sauce and about 4 clams (I had purchased a dozen which was a fine amount for 3 people). On the side of the pasta bowl I placed a little filet of the sea bass with the sprig of oregano still on it. At the last minute I grabbed a couple slices of the toasted pita bread we had used with the hummus and put those on the side so that we could scoop up our sauce with them. I handed everyone a fork and large spoon, Lizzy reminded me to get a bowl for the clam shells, and we sat down at the coffee table and ate. Both Lizzy and Cathryn said it was the best creation I have ever come up with and they can't wait to have it again. Ahhhhhh, seafood: SUCCESS!!! Recipes Below.


Mediterranean Salad:

-Romaine lettuce, chopped
-Half a cucumber, diced
-1/2 container grape tomatoes
-1 handful of very thinly sliced red onion
-1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
-1/4 cup hearts of palm (sliced for salad)
-1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
-1/4 cup roughly chopped pitted kalamata olives
-Dressing: one part each lemon juice and olive oil, salt and sugar to taste.
-Mix everything together, dress immediately before serving


Oven Roasted Fish:

-2 filets of white fish (like sea bass), totalling 1/2 lb
-Olive Oil
-Salt and pepper
-Fresh oregano
-Place fish on tin foil, drizzle with olive oil, S&P, lay oregano on top. Wrap up and bake at 400 degrees for 15 mins or until flaky and white.


Penthouse Pasta with Littlenecks

-1 box of Spagetti
-2 tbs olive oil
-1 white or yellow onion, diced
-3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
-crushed red pepper flakes (to taste...about 2 tbs)
-2 roma tomatoes, diced
-1/2 container grape tomatoes, each sliced in half
-3 tbs chopped fresh oregano
-1/2 cup roughly chopped pitted kalamata olives
-1 dozen littleneck clams (optional)
-Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil, add red pepper flakes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and olives, cook for 20 mins at low/medium with lid on. Add rinsed clams, steam with lid on until all clams are open fully (about 15 minutes). Serve over spagetti.


Love and Happy Hostessing!

Haha Dinner FAIL!!!!

After I decided this weekend that I wanted to add more deliciousness to my repetoire, I thought I should start "experimenting." I have made (and "blogged" about making) my fair share of chicken and flank steak, so I thought it was time for some fish. Usually shrimp would be my go-to seafood since I KNOW those and know them pretty well, but unfortunately BP has crushed that hope and dream, at least for the summer (dear BP: get my beloved gulf coast cleaned up ASAP before I get to NOLA this fall...side note Marcie and Rachel yall should come with- Columbus Day weekend check your calendars!).

When I realized I didn't want to mess around with Chinese shrimp (where they are coming from now) or attempt to explain crawfish (freshwater) yet, I thought I could get in the mood for some salmon. Now, I don't even really like salmon (I thought) but I have had it a couple of times in the past year and enjoyed it. So, since it had been on my mind I decided to do a test run. I got myself all sorts of pumped up about it, especially since work has been crazy for me lately and I have essentially been chained to my desk populating excel spreadsheets (the enemy) until our investors meeting this Thursday. Needless to say, I like to take little breaks throughout the day and think about what I am going to do when I leave the office, like make dinner.

Coincidentally Cathryn (my sister/roommate/bff 99% of the time) also had a hankering to try something new, so we made the trek up to Whole Foods (she tried to make us walk, but we "compromised" and drove since I hate exercising). Once at Whole Foods, I got a 1lb salmon filet (Alaskan wild), a bunch of Swiss Chard (leafy vegetable), a bunch of scallions, some ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and some rice. The marinade I wanted to do consisted of ginger, honey, lemon zest, sesame oil, scallions, soy sauce and garlic. It is actually an awesome marinade that I usually use for shrimp and thought would transfer over to salmon nicely. I got the swiss chard as a vegetable because it is a little crunchier than spinach (my fave...seriously) so I thought would be a nice accompaniment to the somewhat asian tasting salmon. After that the rice was an obvious choice.

Cathryn was making a porkchop recipe from her new Top Chef cookbook, so as soon as she had all of her ingredients we checked out and went home to start our marinades.

Obviously the first thing I did was make a batch of nachos (I know, I know, but we were starving and her bf wasn't going to be there for another hour to do the grill) so we needed a snack. Next, I put the salmon in a ziploc bag (or you can put it in a dish/bowl) and added about: (I don't usually measure unless I'm baking so these are estimates) 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of sesame oil, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 3 scallions (chopped), 3 chopped cloves of garlic, 3 tbs of honey, 2 tbs grated fresh ginger, and zest of one lemon (zest=grated rind...has more flavor than the juice). I reserved about 1 tbs each of the ginger and the lemon zest to use with the swiss chard. Then I put it in the fridge to sit until grill time when we (Greg) put that and CM's porkchops on.

Next, I rinsed and chopped the swiss chard, put it in a big pan with 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs sesame oil, and the reserved lemon zest and ginger.

Then I put the rice on the stove to cook.


While all of this was going on, Cathryn realized that the risotto she was trying to revive after being in the freezer was NOT coming back to life. We both tasted it and agreed that our mom had been right, it would NOT freeze and reheat well. As we were throwing that out, talking about how lucky it was that I had made enough rice for everyone, the smoke detector started going off. We couldn't figure out what was burning so badly until I took the lid off of the rice (which I still don't know how I screwed up...talk about having too many things going on at once). It was literally a block of blackened rice that was smoking and completely stuck to the bottom of the pan. We both just started laughing so hard we were practically crying at the fact we had both just totally mangled our side dishes, but decided to just throw some uncle Ben's rice in the microwave. At this point, both Teddy (my dog) and Greg (Cathryn's bf) had escaped to the man kitchen outside to get out of the way and put the meat and fish on the grill. The next thing I know, while Cathryn and I are inside cooking the spinach and swiss chard (sautee just like you would spinach until it is wilted), Greg shouts inside asking if we have a fire extinguisher. No, we don't, and I have been saying we needed to move the grill AWAY from the house for about two months now.

As I walk outside towards the (literally) 8 ft high flames, it is apparent that Greg didn't know Cathryn's marinade consisted of mainly olive oil (her's was different than mine), and in his sweet, kind, thoughtful wish not to waste any of it, he drizzled it over her porkchops and directly onto the open flame. It caught everything inside the grill on fire and once I stopped laughing at the situation, I tried to explain to Cathryn that it would all burn off, just had to give it a minute. Greg looked at me with that "ahhhhhh what do I do now??" look, and Cathryn was jumping up and down and fixing to grab the cooler top to "smother" it (note, that would NOT have worked as oil fires catch onto anything they touch and she would have then been running around the yard with a flaming cooler top). Right after I pulled the grill away from the house (that house is the love of my life and I was not about to have it smoke stained, or, even worse burned to the ground), the bottom of it fell out and that's when I started to get a tiny bit worried. Cathryn ran inside to get some baking soda (the next best thing to a fire extinguisher for an oil fire). Once she came back out, the fire had pretty much burned itself out so we decided to just close the grill lid and leave it be for a while.

Interestingly enough, her porckhops had gotten fully cooked in the process, but Teddy got to eat them all since they tasted like smoke. Fortunately, the salmon had not been put on the grill yet so I put it in the broiler for about 15 mins (if I were to do it again I would have put it in the oven on 350 for about 20 mins, wrapped in a tin foil pouch. Regardless the marinade and fish were very good. The swiss chard and Cathryn's spinach were fine (didn't taste her spinach but the chard was tasty) and thankfully the rice was OK. So, instead of having two completely separate meals, we ended up all having some salmon, some greens, and some rice. I would definitely make the salmon and the swiss chard again and serve it with rice. I bet Cathryn will try the porkchop recipe again if she's not too mad at it and I will definitely post that recipe because it looked awesome.

Aside from almost burning the house down, we all had a good long laugh about how badly each one of us screwed some part of this dinner up and that made it all completely worth it. At the end of the day, we could have called Pizza Movers and we would have still had a great time just being together! I do think Teddy really appreciated the porkchops as well.

Moral of this story: It's just a meal, and what do you have left if you can't laugh about the mishaps?? I am so fortunate to have a life and a kitchen full of friends and family that can find humor in all of the crazy things that make life interesting. As my friend Thalia pointed out after I emailed the picture above to our email chain: "I enjoy blackened salmon dm. Sell it as a new culinary technique!"


Love and Happy Hostessing!

BBQ Chicken

After having a dream yesterday afternoon (post work) about BBQ chicken, I decided I should go to the grocery store and pick up something to make for dinner. I really don't like going to the grocery store, so usually when I go I try to have a list of what I need planned out so that I don't have to go back and forth from section to section because I've forgotten something. I also like to get in and get out lest I run into someone at 7pm on a Wednesday night when I'm wearing a bathing suit coverup and have pillow lines on my face.

Since I had that dream about BBQ chicken, I decided to get all of the ingredients for that (drumsticks and bbq sauce, easy enough) and the ingredients to make this fusilli with corn and chives pasta salad that my mom makes all the time on the Cape. Like the rice salad, it is good with everything and makes a ton. It also requires very few ingredients so can be done in a short amount of time. Unfortunately it has about zero nutritional value aside from filling you with carbohydrates, but you're not making an entire meal out of it so I think it's fine. I wanted to have some sort of vegetable/salad on the plate so I grabbed stuff for tomatoes and mozzarella (see recipe for that under previous post about summer meal). For some reason while I was there I decided I was in the mood for some chocolate bread pudding so I got the ingredients to make a half batch of it.

By the time I got back to the house around 8pm, I was a little cranky from not having eaten anything since lunch, so I decided a corona/lime might help. It did. Amazing how a cold beer can fix anything.

This is an easy meal to shop for and prepare, since it requires very few ingredients and very little effort. I love bbq chicken and this particular pasta salad so I was happy to make it. When I went to the grocery store, I grabbed tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for the salad (I had basil in the garden which surprisingly didn't die after I brought it to within an inch of its life this June). For the pasta salad I picked up a box of fusilli pasta, chives, butter, and 2 ears of fresh corn (canned works fine too but the fresh was right there). For the chicken, I got a package of 16 drumsticks which was only $8 (I froze the rest for another time....breasts also work if you want white meat). If I was feeling particularly ambitious I would have made my own bbq sauce, alas I was not so I grabbed a thing of Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ and a thing of Chubbs Original. I had heard both were good so I though I'd try them out. If you want to go the extra step and make the chocolate bread pudding, you'll need a loaf of french bread, milk, eggs, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Also a container of vanilla ice cream to serve it with. Thankfully we had some beers in the fridge at home so this time when I left the grocery store my bags weren't making that bottles clinking sound per usual.

I made the bread pudding first since it goes into the oven for about 45 minutes, but I will put that recipe last since it is not a main component of the meal. Next I boiled the water for the pasta/corn, while that was boiling I prepared the tomatoes and mozzarella. After those were all prepared I did the chicken since it takes about 10 seconds of prep time.


For the Fusilli with Corn and Chives:

-Boil the pasta as it says on the box, add the ears of corn (shucked) into the water with the pasta so they cook as well (if you are using canned corn just drain and rinse).
-Put 1.5 sticks of butter into a large bowl, when the pasta is ready put it in the bowl hot and stir everything so that the butter melts.
-Cut the corn off the cob, add to bowl.
-Chop up about a 1/2 cup of chives, add those to the bowl.
-Add salt and pepper. Note: you will need to add quite a bit of pepper but taste it along the way so that you get the right amounts.
-Serve at room temperature.
-Note: I halved this recipe and it turned out fine.


For the Chicken:

-Brush each drumstick with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.
-Put drumsticks on the grill (I budgeted 2 pp), cook for a few mins.
-Brush BBQ sauce onto each drumstick, turn over and brush the other side.
-Repeat for the next 12 minutes or so until they are cooked. You might want to cut into one to make sure they're cooked through.
-Serve with extra bbq sauce on the side.
-Note: Don't marinate the chicken in the bbq sauce, apparently it turns bitter. I have no idea if this is true but my friend Kendall told me this and since she is from Memphis aka the bbq capital of the country, I believe her. The chicken was very flavorful with just the brushing on of the sauce anyway.


For the Chocolate Bread Pudding:
-Cut up french bread into 1 inch cubes, place in a large baking dish or brownie pan, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of choc chips.
-In a bowl, mix together 4 cups of milk, 4 eggs, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup of sugar, and a tablespoon of vanilla.
-Pour chocolate milk mixture over bread cubes and bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.
-Note: I also halved this recipe and put it in a smaller 9x9 dish. It turned out fine. Bread pudding is incredibly hard to mess up, and the leftovers can be kept in the fridge and microwaved to be served again. In fact, this is how many restaurants in New Orleans do it (someone who worked in a kitchen told me).
-Serve with vanilla ice cream. I also bought some raspberries at the store and sprinkled those on the dessert plates and it really jazzed it up. Any fruit is fine if you want a little extra color on the plate.

This meal was/is probably one of the easiest and least time consuming to prepare as everything but the chicken can be done in advance. My two guests loved both flavors of the bbq sauces and went back for seconds. Although I halved everything to make it for 3 people, it is an easy and inexpensive meal to make for a large group, and perfect for the hot weather here.


Love and Happy Hostessing!

3rd of July Cookout

After an aggressive week of celebrating our Nation's birthday, a few of my friends and I decided that it might be nice to spend Saturday night doing something low key and fun. After our friends spent all day at various pools (including the VERY nice above ground pool at my house), I wanted to serve a pretty easy and effortless dinner. Besides, what is more American than hot dogs, chips, and macaroni salad? You don't need to have a grill or even a backyard to invite people over and have a fun summer meal of hot dogs and mac salad, and everyone does enjoy a couple of dogs in the summer months. We went one step further since we were celebrating 4th of July and had an angel food cake with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream (red white and blue, get it?) but it is an easy dessert you can serve any time.

When you shop for groceries, grab a pack of hot dogs (I got ball park bun size) and a pack of hot dog buns. Make sure to buy ketchup, mustard, and relish if you don't have them at home. Get a couple bags of potato chips- I like Cape Cod potato chips and the salt and vinegar ones are especially tasty with the dogs. For the macaroni salad, buy a box of elbow macaroni noodles, carrots, celery, a red onion, 2 bottles of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing, and eggs (you will need one if you don't have any at home). If you want to serve an angel food cake then pick up one of those as well as some fresh berries and some whipped cream. Colleen was over so she helped me with everything, including whipping the cream (which we did with a whisk) but Reddi-Whip is far easier to use. DO NOT forget to get a lot of Bud Light. Cans don't go bad and running out of beer is way worse than having some left over.

Total preparation of the entire meal takes less than an hour, and it took us even less time since I had Colleen and Nick helping. And by helping I mean that Colleen actually helped chop vegetables and Nick helped drink the bud lights (just kidding, he was a trooper at the grocery store and then did all of the grilling...my least favorite part). Bottom line, everything is easier, faster, and more fun when you get your friends to help out and mine are always more than happy to do so!

The first thing you should prepare is the macaroni salad, since it takes a few minutes to cook the noodles and then you want to put it in the fridge to cool down before you serve it. After that, wash the berries/fruit, cut it up if it needs to be, and then stick it in a serving dish in the fridge with the whipped cream.


Macaroni Salad:
-While waiting for the pot of water to boil, chop finely 3 carrots, 3 celery stalks, and half of a red onion. Save the other half of the red onion to chop and serve with the dogs.
-Boil a pot of water, put an egg in to hard boil it. It takes 10 min for an egg to hard boil so time it so that the egg goes in about 3-4 minutes before the pasta and then finished hard boiling while the pasta is in there.
-Cook the entire box of noodles according to the directions (usually 7-8 min).
-After draining the noodles, take the egg out and set it aside. Transfer noodles to a big serving or salad bowl, and add one bottle of the Italian dressing. Toss. The warm noodles will absorb the flavors of the dressing and after the salad has been in the fridge for 30-60 min, you will want to add the other bottle and re-toss.
-Chop the hard boiled egg and add that along with the vegetables.

Hot Dogs:
-If you don't have a grill, you can microwave the hot dogs (which I do all the time when I am in the mood for one) and they will be pretty good. However, I like mine a little crispy from the grill so that is ideal.
-Put them on the grill, cook until they are heated through. They are VERY easy to make, obviously. Don't forget to put the buns on the grill at the last minute so those are toasty too.
-Serve with ketchup, mustard, relish, chopped red onion, and a cold Bud Light.

This is definitely a paper plates, plastic forks kind of meal so don't feel like it needs to be elaborate in ANY way. Like I have said before, it is not necessary to always have a fancy or work intensive dinner party in order for it to be fun!


Love and Happy Hostessing!

Flank Steak Olivia

One of the best parts of having this new blog is that so many of my college, high school, and long distance friends that I have lost touch with over the years have all started creeping back into my life to tell me how much they love it, what they want to read about, and to give suggestions. It has been SO much fun hearing from all of them and I can't wait to see who else comes out of the woodwork. If you have been following, you might have noticed that one of my sorority sisters at Tulane posted on the comments, about what she does for a tex-mex marinade. She is from San Antnio and lives in New Orleans now, so obviously she is NOT afraid of flavor and neither am I!

On Friday night, my mom got me and my sister 2 tickets each to go see Cats (memmmmmmmmmmmmmoriesssss) at Wolftrap, and I wanted to make a nice dinner for beforehand. Since I already had a lot of the ingredients that I had used for the fajitas, I thought I would try out Olivia's marinade. Since my sister seems to love cooking grilled chicken 5 nights of the week, I opted for a flank steak at Whole Foods so that I don't start clucking. I have always loved flank steak- it is a fairly economical way to serve steak to several people (one flank steak usually serves 4 or 5, even 6). I paid $26 for a two pound guy at Whole Foods because I have an aversion to the new safeway, and I read that God-forsaken book "Eating Animals" and am unfortunately now paranoid about eating grass fed beef blah blah blah etc. If you marinate it well it just takes on the delicious flavors so nicely and is really good. It is also not bad for you since it is such a lean piece of meat.

Around 4 pm I went up to Whole Foods and narrowly beat my sister back to the house (she gets home at 5 on the dot and I had very strict instructions to have gone to the grocery before she got home so I thought better not mess around). Fortunately my dadboss was out of town for a golf tournament so I had some flexibility on that Friday afternoon (Dad: if you are reading this, I stayed at work until 6 pm and then went in on Saturday too). My point is that we had to leave for Wolftrap at 7 exactly, so we had to eat at 6. If you wanted to go to the store and do this for a weeknight dinner after work, it is totally doable and you can be in bed by 9 watching your shows (most of my crime-solving ones start at 10 but I like to be all snuggled when they come on). If you are not in hermit mode, then you can have people over for dinner and still have time to go out afterwards. Whatever you like!

If you are just making this for one or two people, you can either have the butcher cut the flank steak into two pieces and freeze one for later (I love having stuff in the freezer as it often eliminates a trip to the grocery) OR you can slice the whole thing up and make a steak sandwich or steak salad to bring for lunch the next day. Your coworkers will be so jealous that you are not having to leave the office to go spend $14 on a mediocre salad.

Here we go to the grocery store:

Like I said, I just really don't like that Social Safeway very much. For staples that you cannot get at WF (like Fruit Loops), it is fine, but for produce and meat I think WF is smaller, laid out more effectively, and I know my way around so I can get in and get out faster which I needed to do on Friday. From fajita night, we already had nacho ingredients at the house (chips, cheese, sour cream, salsa), lettuce, cilantro, beans and corn, half an avocado from the mexican salad, garlic, and olive oil. My sister had some cumin in one of the 86 ziploc bags of spices that she brought down from Boston when she moved. Spices are really expensive to buy one at a time, but they last forever so just build up your spice arsenal as we go and you will be fine. I thought I would try one of the pre-made dressings that WF sells in the vegetable sections, so I grabbed a bottle of chipotle ranch. I also grabbed 4 limes for the marinade and 2 six packs of Corona lights to go with them. And a two pound flank steak. We were out of there for under $50, which I usually wouldn't spend on myself, but for 4 people, $12.50 per person is not bad including beers.

I got home right as CM was pulling in the driveway (phew) and shortly after that her bf arrived. Colleen, my friend that was coming with me, showed up right as the nachos were coming out of the oven so it was perfect. Greg cracked us some coronas and I got to marinating.


For Flank Steak Olivia:
-Lay steak out in a brownie pan, platter, ziploc bag or something that can hold it while it marinates.
-Chop about 1/2-1 cup of cilantro and sprinkle it on top of the steak.
-Chop coarsely 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic (don't fool around with the kind that comes already chopped in a jar, it's not as good)
-Cut 2 limes into quarters, squeeze lime juice on top of the steak
-Drizzle olive oil all over it (about 1/4 cup)
-Sprinkle rock salt or regular salt all over the entire thing
-Sprinkle cumin all over the entire thing
-Let sit for 30 minutes or if you prep it in advance it can sit for overnight in the fridge or as long as you want. During marination flip him over a couple of times to spice each side and use a spoon or fork to get each side coated in ingredients.
-Have whatever boy or person who is not scared of the grill throw it on a preheated grill for about 15-20 minutes. I don't know the exact timing on the grill, but flank steak is a very lean cut of meat so it takes longer to cook. Just keep checking it, you are going to slice it very thinly so don't worry about cutting into it to see if it's done. I like mine medium rare, CM would prefer to eat it practically black, but the nice thing about flank steak is that the outsides can we well done and the inside where it's thicker can be medium rare.
-If you don't have a grill, you can cook it in the oven at 350-400 degrees for about 30 mins, just keep checking it.
-After it is cooked, take a SHARP knife and slice it as thinly as you can, on the diagonal, so that you get tons of thin strips. Put it on a serving dish, drizzle the juice from it on top, put a little bunch of cilantro on the side or middle and voila!

While the steak is marinating:

Make a batch of nachos for everyone to nibble on. Like I said in the fajitas post, there is no one that doesn't love nachos (that I've ever heard of, and if they are they're probably a creep). Usually one of us at the house will just pull the nachos out of the oven, pour salsa and sour cream in a bowl and everyone eats them right there from where they are sitting on top of the stove. This is almost always inconvenient for me since that's where I need to be but we all figure it out! You can put them whereever you want though and serve them right off of the cookie sheet/tin foil/whatever- they go fast. AND, if anybody whines about them being "unhealthy," tell them that not only are nachos a great snack as they have a carbohydrate and a protein (fresh cheese), and at the end of the day 4 chips with cheese isn't going to kill anyone.

While everyone is enjoying some nachos and the steak is marinating:

Make the mexican salad from fajita night. If you don't want to re-read that post, it is chopped romaine lettuce, a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of chopped cilantro (some people hate cilantro, if you do you can just add less or skip altogether), 1/2 can each of rinsed black beans and rinsed corn, and half of an avocado (if you dont' want the avocado to get brown, sprinkle the cubes with lime juice before tossing in the salad bowl). When you are ready (as steak is coming off the grill) toss with the chipotle ranch dressing or whatever kind you would like. I have a problem with over-dressing by accident so just take it slow, you can always add more!

Let everyone serve themselves salad and steak. The flavors are all so tasty together. The salad has a little kick with the chipotle ranch, tastes fresh with the beans and corn and cilantro, and you can really taste all of the flavors on the steak. This was an awesome, fun, and easy meal to prepare and I will certainly do it again! Side note: the corona lights with the fresh lime wedges REALLY pull everything together so do NOT forget to have about 20 of those on hand.


Love and Happy Hostessing!!!

Fajitas

I love sour cream. I would probably eat it off of a leaf. Therefore, anything that can possibly be dipped in or accompanied by sour cream is delicious. In this recipe, it is optional, but just in case you love sour cream as much as I do, this one is a gold mine.

Last Sunday my sister went to the grocery store and brought back ingredients for several different meals to make throughout the week. I have been pretty busy taking care of a sick dog so it was nice that she did that. I also hate going to the grocery store. If I never had to go again I wouldn't be all that broken up about it. Anyway, she forgot nacho ingredients AND SOUR CREAM so I ended up going last night to get some "staples" while she was marinating. It wasn't terrible, but I also didn't run into anyone I knew which is a big positive when I'm grocery-ing. I like to get in and get out, no small talk in the dairy section...you know?

Around 7, a few of our friends ended up stopping by, and this was a perfect meal as it can be stretched very far and what you don't serve is great as leftovers for lunch, dinner, or a salad the next day. We have a great drop-by house and love when people walking around town stop in for a beer and stay for a bite to eat (as often happens and did last night). There is truly nothing that makes me happier than one of my friends bbm-ing or calling or texting saying "I'm outside, let me in!" So, if you are one of my (our) friends, this is your open invitation to come by any time. If it's a bad night we'll tell you to beat it, but that's unlikely around our house. We always have plenty of food at the house, and if not, Pizza Movers is on speed dial (333-9199). We love company!

Here is what was on the menu for last night:

Nachos
Chicken Fajitas
Spanish Rice
Mexican Salad
Sour Cream (it's not actually it's own dish but should be)
Coronas/Bud Lights


Fajitas and nachos make for a great serve-yourself, casual meal. Everything goes well together, especially when you wash it down with an ice cold Corona (with a lime). We doctored up the Spanish rice a little, so I'll tell you how to do that below.

Here's what to get at the grocery:

Tostitos/tortilla chips
2 bags shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
2 bell peppers, any colors, an assortment for more color
2 yellow or red onions
Garlic
5 Limes
Guacamole (just buy it...the homemade kind is bland and the storebought is just as good)
Salsa
Sour cream
Chicken breasts (or a flank steak if you prefer beef fajitas)
Olive oil (if you don't have it)
1 box of Spanish rice mix
1 can ro-tel tomatoes with green chilies
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 avocado (find a ripe one)
Lettuce (romaine is fine)
Cilantro
BBQ Sauce and Ranch for salad dressing
Tortillas (flour)
Beers


For the Nachos:
-Spread chips on cookie sheet
-Layer one bag of cheese on top (more than you would think is necessary)
-Put in 350 oven until cheese is melted
-Serve with guac, sc, and salsa
Everyone can eat these around the kitchen or wherever you are and they are soooo good. Who doesn't love nachos?

For the Mexican Salad:
-Chop up lettuce, put in bowl
-Add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
-Strain and wash black beans, add 1/2 the can
-Strain and wash corn, add 1/2 the can
-Chop up avocado, add (do this last as it will brown)
-Mix together 1/4 cup bbq sauce and 1/4 cup ranch dressing, toss together when ready.

For the Spanish Rice:
-Follow the directions on the box and bring the correct amount of water to a boil in a pot
-Add the rice and stir, also at this time add the can of ro-tel tomatoes and green chilies (don't strain)
-Cook, covered, according to directions
-Right before the rice is supposed to be cooked, add in the other half cans of corn and black beans, stir.

For the Fajitas:
-Marinate the chicken breasts or flank steak in lime juice (from 3 or 4 limes, get an extra for the coronas), olive oil (about 1/4 cup), salt and pepper. Let marinate overnight or for half an hour in a ziploc. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
-Slice bell peppers and onions into thin strips, put into skillet and saute with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little lime juice. Set aside.
-Grill or bake chicken breasts or flank steaks. I am scared of grilling so usually someone else does it. However, if you are not a wuss, throw them on the grill and cook until they are done. Otherwise, bake in the over for 30 mins until cooked.
-Slice chicken/steak into thin strips.
-Put Tortillas on a plate, cover with damp paper towel and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until hot.

To Serve:
-Tortillas are already on a plate
-Place Rice in a serving dish with a spoon
-Place sauteed veggies on a big serving platter, layer chicken/steak slices on top, add a serving spoon
-Put extra shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, and guac in individual bowls with spoons and put out on counter/table/buffet
-Dress and Toss Salad, add serving spoons

Let everyone serve themselves. Some people like to put the rice right on their tortilla with the chicken and veggies, some people will make a mexican salad with everything, any way is great.

If you want to go crazy, have an open, cold corona on the counter with a lime wedge in it for each of your guests to take when they sit down.


Mucho Gusto y Feliz Hostessing!

Chicken Lizzy

One thing that I have learned throughout the years is that when your good girlfriends come over for a casual dinner party, everyone is just so happy to be together that no one truly cares what they eat. I usually can put something together that is pretty good, but if not then people end up bringing things, foraging in the pantry, or taking advantage of the fact that I know the Pizza Movers number by heart (333-9199...not awesome at 3.30am post Smith Point when you are trying not to get fat). Anyway, the point is that I usually try to make an assortment of things that people will enjoy, but there are certainly times when a wonderfully successful dinner party hasn't been about the food at all, but about the company (and the wine).

Last summer, a good friend of mine from college had recently finished business school, took a job here and moved to DC. Trying to live up to the ever present Chi Omega standards of sisterhood, I offered to host a dinner party at my house so that she could meet some of my good girlfriends. It sounded like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately I was not working last summer and therefore had no actual source of income, which I neglected to take into account when sending out the email invitations. As the day of the party (scheduled party) approached, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to make. I also had no car at the time (thank God that has since been resolved) so couldn't really go to the grocery store, and even if I could there wasn't much I could get with the $14 I had in my wallet. I thought about cancelling the entire thing, but alas, my determination got the best of me. Each of the girls was bringing a bottle of wine, one an appetizer, so that was covered, but I had to figure out some sort of respectable meal to serve.

After I finished cursing/crying/slamming cabinet doors, I got creative and marched myself the three blocks to my parents' house (luckily/unluckily gone for the summer) to raid their freezer. My mom is a great cook and keeps all sorts of meat, etc in there so my fingers were crossed for a flank steak or something like that (Mom, if you are reading this, I would NEVER raid your pantry/freezer...must have been George). Upon arrival, I almost cried when all I saw in there was ONE rack of ribs, a half a pound of ground beef, shortribs (can't steal those, it would be too obvious), and 2 bone in, skin on chicken breasts (usually used to make chicken salad...that recipe another time). I remembered that I had some boneless, skinless ones in my freezer so I grabbed the chicken breasts and a bag of frozen peas. On the way out I grabbed a 12 pack of Coronas from the beer fridge (which I later replaced, Dad) and some lemons. On the way back to my house, I stopped in the corner market and talked the owner into selling me the lettuce they had (they don't actually sell lettuce, it is for their deli sandwiches).

Once home, I defrosted 3 pounds of chicken and came up with something that turned out to be quite delicious! Everyone had a blast, Lizzy is one of my best friends here in Washington, and I have yet to make this again but it is named after her. If you want to make this, you can do it with whatever kind of chicken you like. I also served the peas, and I had a sweet potato in the pantry that I sliced and baked. The lettuce was cut up for a salad and I used vinaigrette that I had made that was in the fridge. Since most normal people (and now I) have jobs and can therefore get these ingredients from a grocery store, that would be my suggestion (I am now a normal person).

When you go to the store, purchase 2 packages of chicken breasts, a couple of onions and some garlic (I usually have those on hand bc I use them so much and they last forever), a lemon, two sweet potatoes, a bag of frozen peas, a head of romaine lettuce, and olive oil and butter if you don't have them at home.


For the Chicken Lizzy:
-Oven on, 350
-Slice the two onions and spread them all over the bottom of a roasting pan.
-Peel and put a few (however many you like) garlic cloves into the pan with the onions.
-Slice half of a lemon, add that in there as well. S and P over that stuff.
-Lay chicken breasts on top on the layer of onions/lemons/garlic.
-Drizzle olive oil and then salt and pepper all over the chicken breasts.
-Cover with tin foil, bake for 30 minutes or until you cut into the chicken and it's cooked.
-Slice the chicken breasts so that they are displayed on top of the onions (which will be soft and really tasty) and your guests can serve themselves 3 or 4 pieces with the onions. This also stretches the chicken on so you don't have to use as much per person.


Peas
-Place frozen peas in microwavable bowl.
-Add 1/4 cup of water.
-Sprinkle S and P onto peas. After they're cooked add more if you need to. If they're too salty, put them in a strainer, wash them off, and then try again.
-Add a slice of butter to the top.
-Cover with saran wrap, microwave for 5 or 6 minutes and then check to see if they are finished. Don't overcook them, they get shrivelly and gross looking.
-Stir them around, strain out the water, put them in a serving dish.


Roasted Sweet Potatoes
-Over should still be at 350.
-Slice the ends off of the sweet potatoes.
-Slice the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices (you can make them thicker/thinner depending on how many you want the potato to make) and lay them flat, not overlapping, on a cookie sheet.
-Drizzle or brush with olive oil (if you done have a brush, you can use a clean paper towel).
-Sprinkle S and P on them.
-Bake in the oven for around 20 mins or until you slice one of the potatoes and they are soft in the middle. Depending on thickness, it could take more or less time. Usually, people would put these under the broiler for 10 minutes, but every time I have done that I have forgotten about them and burned them into little hockey pucks. I think 350 is just much more forgiving, and they taste the same.
-Put on a platter and serve. Guests usually take between 1 and 3, so just count how many you have and plan accordingly. This is a great way to make a vegetable (starch?) go far, and sweet potatoes are really healthy anyway.


Salad
-Wash and cut up the lettuce into bite sized pieces. No one should have to cut a piece after it is served, so make sure that the pieces are all bite sized. If you have a cucumber, pepper, tomato, or anything you want you can throw it in there but sometimes I just prefer a plain lettuce salad. It's up to you.
-Place lettuce in a serving or salad bowl, add salad dressing by the tablespoonful, tossing after each time, so that you don't overdress it.
-Toss the salad, put some serving utensils in it (2 spoons work just fine in lieu of salad tossers), and wipe down the insides of the bowl so it look crisp and clean.


After you have everything ready to go, line it all up on your counter or table and let your guests serve themselves. None of my guests have ever taken too much food, and I have never encountered (yet) an issue where there hasn't been enough food. This is a moderately low maintenance meal to make and serve, and it is just as good as one that you could spend hundreds of dollars on. However, if you are having important people over for a "fancy" dinner party, this should not be your go-to.

As for this particular dinner party, my friends all loved the meal, and I think I kept my cool despite how stressed out I had been beforehand. The chicken turned out just fine, and although peas are not usually something I would serve, no one seemed to mind! We had a wonderful time- I know that everyone really enjoyed being there because they didn't leave until 2am. At the end of the day, everyone was just so happy to be together and having fun, which is the most important part.

Love and Happy Hostessing!

Easy Steakhouse Quality Meal/If You Want to Impress Your Boyfriend

A few months ago, I really wanted to have a filet for dinner. Since I couldn't just have a plain filet by itself, I also decided to make myself some spinach with garlic and a twice baked potato as sides. Then I went crazy and made myself a cheese platter. For some reason, I just felt like making and eating a nice steak dinner. It turned out to be so good that I made the same meal for a boyfriend the next week, and he was thoroughly impressed! Not only was it SO nice to have an awesome steak with all of the fixins right in the privacy of your living room, it was hotter (temperature wise) than any steak I've ever gotten at a restaurant which I thought was nice.

For this meal, I went to Whole Foods (don't ever read the book "Eating Animals"...you will never be able to buy regular meat again) and purchased 2 pieces of beef tenderloin. After I asked the butcher what the farm was like where they came from (damn book), he was kind enough to slice off two 2-inch thick pieces of beef tenderloin for my delicious meal. I have also used a boneless NY Strip, cut into 2 pieces, and it was equally good. No need to purchase a cut of meat the size of your face, just get something that will be about 4 or 5 oz of meat per person.

Also while at Whole Foods, get a bag of fresh spinach, like the kind you would use for a salad. You will also need to grab some garlic, one baking potato, a small white or yellow onion, shredded cheddar cheese, a small container of sour cream, and some paprika. Also some olive oil if you don't have it. While you're at it, spend the extra $8 and invest in a good looking hunk of parmesan cheese....It will last for a long time in your fridge and you can grate some on top of the spinach and the potatoes. If you want to make a cheese platter, buy a wedge of soft blue cheese and some triscuits.

The thing that takes the longest to make in this whole meal is the twice baked potato. If you want, just buy 2 baking potatoes at the store and serve baked potatoes (potatoes, poke holes, 350 degree oven, one hour). But, twice baked, for the extra work, are SO good. Side note: when I made this for myself, I wrapped the other twice baked potato (uncooked) in foil and put it in the freezer for another time. This recipe is going to sound complicated, but, trust me it is worth it to learn and it is NOT actually hard.

Set a nice table, even if you are eating by yourself. If you are eating with another person, set out placemats, napkins, silverware, filled water glasses and 2 wine glasses. I rarely light candles, but if you think it would be a nice touch, go for it. Side note: the table settings look perfectly lovely on a coffee table (that's where I ate both times).

Here we go:

Set out your cheese platter if you want to have one (put cheese and crackers on a plate).

First,

Twice Baked Potatoes- 4 servings

Ingredients:

-2 baking potatoes

-1/2 cup of sour cream

-3/4-1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (I ended up grating my own because it was significantly less expensive than buying pre-grated in a bag. Either is fine.)

-1/4 cup grated white onion (slightly less than 1/2 small onion)

-1 tbs butter

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp pepper

-1 tsp paprika

Directions:

-Wash the potatoes and poke holes in the with a fork. Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour, or until they are soft. You can also microwave them to speed up the process if you are short on time.

-Slice the potatoes in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the white part of the potato halves and put it into a mixing bowl with all of the other ingredients except the paprika. Mix together so that it looks kind of like mashed potatoes.

-Spoon the mashed potato mixture back into the potato skins and sprinkle each one with paprika.

-Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown on top.

Next step- Prepare the spinach (wash it if you have to) and mince a couple cloves of garlic for it, put aside.


Next, for The Petite Filets:
-Turn on a frying pan (med-high). The more heavy duty the skillet, the better.
-Salt and Pepper each side of the filets.
-When the pan is hot, put each of the filets in the pan. Do NOT touch them for 2 minutes. After two minutes, flip them over and do two minutes on the other side without moving them. Then, put them into the oven, one on each plate, for 5 minutes.

While the filets are finishing in the oven and have 1-2 mins left, it's Spinach time.
-Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan you just used for the filets.
-Add the minced garlic.
-Immediately add ALL of the spinach in the bag (it seems like a lot, trust me it will cook down and be a perfect 2 serving size).
-Use tongs (same ones you used for the steaks are fine) to mix spinach around so it gets wilted. TRY not to overcook it but if you do it's not really a big deal.
-Grate some parm on it if you feel like.

Take the hot plates out of the oven that now have the potato and meat on them. Add some spinach to each plate, and serve. If you want, add a slice of blue cheese to the top of your filet for an added taste treat.

Side note on filet cooking: These times are usually pretty spot on for cooking a 2 inch thick piece of filet to medium rare. You can always cook it more, but if you make beef jerky then you have to call Dominos, so be careful.

Don't forget to have a bottle of red wine open (it should be about half way consumed by now) and an extra one on the table/coffee table/counter. Enjoy. Each bite will be SO delicious, the potatoes will be all cheesy and soft, the meat should be perfectly medium rare, and the spinach with the subtle taste of garlic and parmesan will be amazing. This meal is a real treat, and a perfect little dinner party for one, or two.

Since this is a meal that can definitely be made for one person, do a run-through by yourself before attempting to do it for another person (that's what I did). That way, you can get your times down and figure out at which points things need to happen. You will also be much more confident in your final product.


Love and Happy Hostessing!!

A Great Summer Meal

I recently hosted a few people to my house for a little dinner gathering outside in the garden before a party. It was 80 degrees, sunny, and I wanted to make something that was tasty as well as able to be prepared in advance. On the menu that evening was baked chicken stuffed with 2 lemons, rice salad, tomatoes and mozzarella with fresh basil, and for dessert angel food cake with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream flavored with dark rum. It was SUPER easy and all prepared and in serving dishes before any of the guests even arrived. Here's how and what you can do:

For those of you that know me, you know that serving a baked whole chicken is my go-to for any dinner party where I can't think of anything else to make. It is great because there are so many different ingredients you can stuff into the bird (perfect for changing seasons), and unless you have vegetarians, everyone eats chicken. A roasted whole chicken is far more impressive than a simple breast (which we will end up cooking later on), in addition to the fact that you end up with an assortment of white and dark meat. Yet another positive to serving a whole baked chicken in the summertime is that it can be prepared in advance, and when your guests arrive they walk into the aroma of deliciousness. It is easy to figure out how to carve it into pieces, and if you get scared you can always get a big butcher knife and just cut it in half, twice. More about arrangement below, here's how to do it:

Roasted Whole Chicken with Two Lemons

You will need:
-Whole Chicken (can be a fryer, broiler, whatever, as long as it looks like a miniature Thanksgiving turkey)
-2 lemons
-Olive Oil
-Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
-Set your oven to 350 and get out a roasting pan (one you would bake brownies in).
-Remove giblets (neck, livers, etc, usually are in a bag inside cavity) from chicken (if you are squeamish, I'd have the butcher do it) and throw out or freeze for chicken stock (more on that later)
-Drizzle olive oil on chicken. Don't drown it but you don't have to be too stingy, just make sure that guy is nice and lubed up for the trip to oventown.
-With a fork, poke holes in the lemons so the steam can escape during cooking. The lemon steam will slightly flavor the chicken from the inside out and it is very fresh and summery tasting.
-Put lemons inside chicken. Sometimes they won't stay in, it doesn really matter. If you want you can tie his legs together but I think this is unnecessary.
-Sprinkle Salt and Pepper on both sides of the chicken (you can also do this pre-lemon stuffing). Be generous but again, don't go overboard.
-Put the chicken in the oven for an hour and 20 minutes. IMPORTANT: the time it takes to cook a whole chicken varies based on it's size, stuffing, oven, etc. The chicken should be a nice golden brown, and when you slice into the breast the meat should be white and the juices clear.

To Serve:
-Cut off legs with thighs attached first. Place on platter.
-Slice breast meat off of bird, place on platter.
-Surround with slices of the lemon from inside the bird, add a parsley garnish if you have some from the garden.
-Put aside. This can be served room temp and is still delicious.


Side #1, Rice Salad

My mom used to make this when we were all up on the Cape for the summer. It is a great dish to serve at a dinner party because it is super tasty, doubles as a salad, and is really easy to eat (no knife required). In addition, it can be made in advance and makes a ton, so you will have great leftovers. Also an impressive one to have in the repertoire for pot-lucks. The original recipe is from the Silver Palate cookbook, although this is a slightly modified version. Side note: this is sort of time consuming (30-40mins) because of all of the chopping- make sure you do this early and stick it in the fridge. It can even be prepared a day in advance. I like to get things out of the way though, so it's fine for me!

You Will Need:
-White rice, enough to make 8 cups cooked. I prefer the boil in bag kind, each bag is 2 cups, it's easier. DO NOT cook 8 cups of raw rice or you will have to open a chinese food store.
-1 red bell pepper (diced into little pieces. When I say dice into little pieces, don't make it baby food but make them small enouch so that you don't get a big chunk at once in your bite.)
-1 green bell pepper (diced )
-1 red onion (diced)
-6 scallions, chopped (make sure you pull the wilted parts off first)
-1 cup craisins
-1/4 cup chopped italian parsley (I still don't know what the difference is between Italian and regular parsley but I've tried both and it tastes the same)
-1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (save a little of the leftover unchopped for garnish)
-S and P
-2 cups of the vinaigrette below

Vinaigrette (Just whisk the following together, save what you don't use in a jar.):
-4 tablespoons dijon mustard
-16 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic
-4 teaspoons sugar
-2 teaspoons salt
-2 teaspoons pepper
-2 cups olive oil

Instructions:
-Put cooked rice into a large mixing bowl, add 1 and 1/2 cups of the vinaigrette dressing to it and toss. Wait for it to cool to room temp.
-Add the rest of the vegetables and ingredients above, toss.
-Add more vinaigrette if you want (I usually do) and add more S and P if you would like as well.

To Serve:
-Put whatever amount of the salad you want to serve into a nice bowl or serving dish.
-Wipe dressing off of the sides.
-Stick a piece of dill in the top of it as a garnish.


Side #2, Tomatoes and Mozzarella Salad

This is probably the easiest and tastiest summer salad out there. If you want, you can even put chopped lettuce or arugala under the tomatoes so that people can have some lettuce with them. It also looks nicer. If you don't have fresh basil in a pot or garden, you can buy it easliy. Also, you can use some of the salad dressing above from the rice salad to drizzle on top, or you can just do olive oil and balsamic, or bottled Italian from the grocery. Anything goes!

You Will Need:
-Tomatoes (I find the vine ripened ones are the best for this)
-Fresh buffalo mozzarella (the big ball of it, and yes it's $6 a container but well worth it)
-Fresh Basil
-Salt and Pepper
-Vinaigrette or olive oil and balsamic
-Lettuce, whatever kind you like (optional)

Instructions:
-If you want to put lettuce underneath the tomatoes (it looks nice and then it appears as though you are serving a lettuce salad as well), chop it and spread it on a plate or platter.
-Slice the tomatoes (about 1/2 an inch thick, thinner or thicker depending on how many you have), display them on top of lettuce on plate.
-Slice the mozz (again, thin or thicker depending), lay a piece on each tomato.
-Chop the basil (use scissors, it's easier) and sprinkle all over the mozz covered tomatoes.
-Sprinkle S and P.
-Drizzle with dressing RIGHT before serving.


#3, Angel Food or Pound Cake with fresh berries and rum flavored whipped cream

Ahhhhhhh, Dessert! My Favorite. Although by dessert everyone is usually about 6 glasses of wine deep and therefore will not care about it, I love dessert and so usually serve it. This is a really easy one, also can be made in advance. I mean bought. Note to my friends and previous guests: Sorry that I lied and told you I made the cake. Sometimes you just have to cut a corner!

You Will Need:
-Pound Cake or Angel Food Cake (found in the bakery section of the grocery store)
-Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or whatever looks good that you like
-Whipping cream (small container is fine)
-Sugar
-Rum (optional)
-Vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions:
-Cut berries/fruit into bite size pieces (obviously that doesn't apply to small berries)
-Put whipping cream in a bowl, whisk until it forms soft peaks and is "whipped cream." Add sugar, rum, and vanilla extract to taste, you won't need much of any of them. (you can also just buy reddi whip if you want to prepare these desserts in the kitchen)

To Serve:
-You can serve up the bowls/plates in the kitchen yourself with a piece of cake, fruit, and some whipped cream on top of each.
-You can put the slices of cake or whole cake on a different plate/platter, surrounded by the berries with the whipped cream on the side, get creative.


I hope that this menu and these recipes all make sense and are something you will try and get comfortable cooking for yourself and others. The best thing to do is experiment by yourself so that you become confident making a few basic things. Once you are able to master a few of those, it's party time!!

Do NOT forget the wine. Side note: your guests will always drink more than you anticipate, and you don't want to run out!

Love and Happy Hostessing!!!

Welcome to my blog!

I have always loved to entertain. I love having people at my home, I love the constant flurry of activity surrounding the kitchen at a good dinner party. I love all of my friends and family leaving my house with fond memories of a night spent together, sharing a wonderful meal and plenty of wine. Throughout the years, I have experimented with various recipes, groups of people, and entertaining styles. Although I don't feel nearly qualified enough to be writing an entire BLOG about having a dinner party, I thought it would be a wonderful way to share with others some of the knowledge and recipes I have gained throughout the years.

What you will find in this blog is a critique of the various dinner parties I have hosted, as well as successful menus and recipes for dinner parties, should anyone choose to have their own (my hope). Nothing that I make is especially difficult or time consuming, and the most important part of the entire meal is being able to relax and enjoy it yourself. If you, the host, are happy, then everyone else will follow suit!