mild pessimism is the key ingredient

rice & beans & cheese

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:59:51 -0500

and chickies & enchilada sauce.

i am not providing a photo, because this does not really look like anything special. mine turned out to be a brown goop. but do not fret; it is yummy brown goop.

i pulled out the ol’ large nonstick pan and dumped a can of green enchilada sauce into it. next time i may try red. we had both on hand, but i was feeling like green was the way to go today. then i dumped two chicken breasts in there and began cooking them in the sauce. as they cooked, i used the spatula thingie to cut them into pieces.

once the chicken was cooked through, i added a can of drained black beans and about 2 cups of cooked brown rice. the brown rice i used came in a bag from traderjoes, so i am not sure how much it was. i could find out if you need to know.

i heated all of these up, dumped them in a bowl, and sprinked cheese on top and mixed it in my bowl until the cheese melted.

this was a painless, quick dish.

also, i keep cooking things and forgetting to post them here, so there’s that. byes!

Paul’s Signature Brussels Sprouts gather a bundle of...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:13:00 -0500

brussels in the stock

brussels in the bowl

Paul’s Signature Brussels Sprouts

gather a bundle of brussels sprouts.

peel them and chop off the ends. then wash them.

boil some vegetable stock. the whole foods brand stock is yummy. a can of Swanson’s veggie broth is good too (feel free to add some water to the canned stock).

drop the sprouts into the boiling stock.

bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes. be careful not to over-boil. sprouts should be a little tough in the middle, not mushy.

strain. sprinkle salt and pepper over the sprouts. enjoy.

(Wondering what to do with the remaining broth after cooking? And those leaves that fall off? Pour them over some chicken breasts and bake ‘em in the oven!)

chicki tacos with peach salsa trader joe’s makes a yummy...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:53:09 -0500

chicki tacos with peach salsa

trader joe’s makes a yummy peach salsa that tastes delicious on chicken taco snack meals. for this dish i used:

trader joe’s small corn tortillas

trader joe’s mexican blend shredded cheese (1/4 cup each)

trader joe’s pre-cooked, grilled chicken (about 2 oz. each)

trader joe’s peach salsa (about 2-4 tbsp each)

optional: taco sauce (this goes well with ortega sauce)

pile all the stuff on the tortillas. broil for 1-3 minutes on low, until cheese is melted. (i pre-heated the chicken in the microwave for a minute).

these are about 300 calories each.

yums.

veggie chili. yeah, i’ve stopped posting ‘cause i...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:52:00 -0500

veggie chili.

yeah, i’ve stopped posting ‘cause i mostly prepare sandwiches or spaghetti instead of cooking. however, i recently made a household favorite: veggie chili.

1 can (15-16 oz) tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

a bunch of veggies, chopped. for this one, we had approx 1 cup each of celery, onion, mini zuchini, corn, and carrots. we also had two yellow bell peppers, chopped/diced.

2 cans of beans, we used 1 black and 1 garbanzo. liquid included.

spices to taste: including chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, Adobo seasoning, and pepper.

then, we croc-potted this on high for 4 hours. yum.

spicy green beans i discovered spicy green beans at a catered...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:42:59 -0600

spicy green beans

i discovered spicy green beans at a catered lunch recently, and i am smitten. the secret: cayenne pepper seasoning. capital D capital LISH. there were so yummy, i wanted to try some versions of them at home.

start with fresh green beans, wash them, and cut off the tips.

a few ways to prep these babies:

add cooking oil or water to a skillet. add some cayenne powder, add the green beans, cover with a lid for a couple of minutes. enjoy.
paula deen has an interesting recipe for these, if you feel the need to add bacon and other elements.
teriyaki sauce, a clove of garlic (or more to taste), a few shavings of ginger (also to taste), cayenne powder. add all this stuff, including green beans, to a skillet, and enjoy.

in the photo above, i prepped them using method one above. they turned out really spicy, which i liked, but perhaps they were too spicy.

other notes from the photo above:

sweet potatos/yams: wash, peel, cut into discs, spray with oil, add seasoned salt and pepper, bake at 400* for 20-25 mins. yum.

angel hair pasta, swirled into nest-looking clumps. season or sauce however you like.

in the photo below, i prepped mostly using method three from above.

first, i marinated chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce and added them to a skillet. once the chicken was cooked, i removed them, set them aside, and added a clove of garlic and some ginger to the sauce in the skillet (i should have prolly used more of each flavor), and then added the cayenne powder. i added the green beans, moved them around, then covered them to cook.

the chicken, beans, and sweet orange bell pepper offered some yummy flavors together. i’m going to continue to experiment, because these beans were not as spicy as i would have liked.

maz's cooking chaos

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:31:00 -0600

maz's cooking chaos:

a few of my friends have resolved to cook & blog in 2012. here is maz. join her humorous and chaotic cooking ventures. yay!

i’ve had the pleasure of assisting her in her kitchen, so perhaps she and i can cook something up together again soon, and share it here.

yay, again!

just some pizza yum. pizza. this is one i made recently. we miss...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:09:23 -0600

just some pizza

yum. pizza. this is one i made recently. we miss hungry howie’s pizza, and although we prolly won’t be able to emulate their delicious flavored crusts, we work with what we can (yes, i am a we. i am one of those we people).

crust: i haven’t gotten around to prepping my own crusts for pizza; i really like pillsbury pizza crusts. plus, they come in a fancy, popping tube!

sauce: i like to use any red spaghetti type sauce that’s in the cupboard, which is usually trader joe’s roasted garlic marinara sauce.

cheese: in this case, i used a yummy mexican blend of cheeses that we had in a bag. it was prolly also from trader joe’s.

others: this is topped with half of a diced shallot, some green bell pepper, and a few spinach leaves from a salad mix of baby greens. also, there is a bunch of garlic powder dusted on the crust.

soooo….

grease or oil a cookie sheet or pizza stone (if needed). pop that crust open and follow the instructions on the tubeytube. if you want, add oil to the entire crust and even some garlic powder, then add the sauce, cheese, and toppings. then generously dust the crust with garlic powder (or other seasoning). if you didn’t oil the crust before, be sure to do it on the edges so that the powder can stick a little better than if it is not greased-up.

baaaake. eaaaat. yummmm i hope.

photos from señor dusty’s chilaquiles

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:52:01 -0600

cover pan with chips

struggle with sour cream

add veggies

add eggies

add chickies

avocados!

add avocados

manchego cheese

more cheese

enjoy, champ!

photos from señor dusty’s chilaquiles

los chilaquiles locos del señor dusty

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:46:40 -0600

señor dusty’s signature dish (although it is different every time) is chilaquiles. i served as sous chef and chief dish washer on this project, and he requested that i post this, since he is new to cooking, too.

the principle behind this dish is that it is supposed to consume leftovers and culminate in casserole fashion. it is also known as excellent hangover food. so, here is the señor himself to explain his process.

I started trying to make chilaquiles about two and a half years ago. I had tried them for the first time at Kitsch’n and fell in love with the simplicity of the dish. It’s super tasty and will last you a good few days.

As Karrie said, the main crux of the dish is that you use up leftovers, but it works fantastically for food you need to use before it expires. You can experiment and find the mixture that suits you best, but to date, this is the combination that I find works best for me.

So what’ll you need? This is for a larger sized baking pan or glass pan (9x13):

Tortilla chips: I use the remnants of past bags of chips, usually the crumbles and chips too small to dip into jars of salsa. Full size chips work just as well, and stale chips are just as good as fresh.

Sour Cream

8 Eggs

1 Red, Yellow, Orange, and Anaheim pepper

2 Limes

1/2 a shallot

1/2 an avocado

1 can of red enchilada sauce

2 chicken breasts

1 1/2 to 2 jars of salsa

Shredded cheese (1 bag or 1 lb., Manchego, blended, fiesta or mexican style)

Half and Half

Chopped cilantro (a few sprigs)

Cumin

Paprika

Cayenne Pepper

Salt

Pepper

It’s a bunch of stuff, but the whole point is to get rid of things on the verge of going bad. In this case our sour cream, peppers, and salsa were all nearing their end. So the steps:

Take your chickens, poke them with sharp things.

Fill a glass bowl with the red enchilada sauce

Take your poked chickens and let them soak in the sauce.

Add dashes of your cayenne pepper, regular pepper, salt, cumin, and cilantro to the sauce and chicken. Mix together.

While your chicken is soaking, cut up your peppers and shallot. Put the cut up bits in a separate bowl. Mix together well.

Place the chicken into a pan and cook on 425 degrees for 25 minutes, sauce and all.

While the chicken cooks, shred your Manchego cheese. This cheese can be found currently at Trader Joes and probably Whole Foods. I used about 2/3 of a half-pound block.

Take your chips and fill cover the bottom of your baking pan.

Take your sour cream and cover the chips as much as you wish. The chips will be a pain in the butt to keep still, but it doesn’t have to be pretty.

Take your chicken from the oven and let it cool.

Cover the sour cream with your chopped up veggies.

Cut your avocado into thin slices and place along the pepper and shallots layer.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl.

Mix half and half along with some pepper and salt into the eggs.

When the mix is good and mixed, pour over the veggie layer.

Cut up your chickens and place on top of the veggie layer, pouring the remainder of the enchilada sauce on top.

Cover this layer with salsa.

Place in the oven and cook on 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour. Poke a hole in the middle to see if the eggs are still runny. If so, place the oven on a lower temperature and keep it going until the eggs are good and fluffy.

Cover everything with your cheeses. I’d recommend putting the Manchego on first since it is a fairly thin cheese when shredded. Put it in the oven for another five minutes until everything is good and melty. (For the record, I did not do this. The dish was quite big and the cheese cooked quite quick. Good future note for myself though.)

Take it out, let it cool, and eat that tortilla casserole. You’ve earned it, champ.

señor’s favorite chilaquiles hail from kitsch’n.

happy asparagus elements: bunch of asparagus half of a lemon...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:28:00 -0600

happy asparagus

elements:

bunch of asparagus
half of a lemon (consider using the other half from these roasted apples)
oil (olive or vegetable, or even spray)… maybe a tablespoon or two?
salt
pepper
pan or baking dish
tin foil, if desired

(i like to use a 13x9 metal baking pan and line it with foil. it makes cleanup easy.)

what do do:

preheat oven (350*)
wash the bunch of asparagus
bend the asparagus and let it break (it has a natural snapping point)
discard the ends
if you prefer, trim the ends of the asparagus (i like to leave it raw)
drizzle or spray the pan with oil

arrange the asparagus in the pan
you can drizzle more oil over the asparagus now too
squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pan
sprinkle salt and pepper on asparagus
i like to use lawry’s seasoned salt
bake (is there a proper term for this when it is not actually a baked-good?) in oven for 12 mins.

roasted apples i’m not sure how it happened, but we had...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:08:05 -0600

roasted apples

i’m not sure how it happened, but we had almost a full bag of apples that were ready to rot, as their skins were softening. this rarely happens because my household is ravenous for apples. instead of wasting them, i roasted them.

i had about 9-10 small gala apples that i peeled and used that apple cutter thingie that makes triangulish shapes out of apples. i dumped the pieces in a bowl and squeezed half of a lemon over the wedges, added 1/4 cup of sugar and a couple of shakes of cinnamon. then, i chopped 1/4 cup of dried cherries and added them into the mix. i baked them in a 13 x 9 pan on 350f for… maybe…. 35 minutes. they were still firm, so a higher heat and longer time frame might be better. i did not want to make applesauce, so i played it safe on the timing.

i drizzled honey over one of the bowls of apples, and my partner loved that.

we ate them as a hot dish at dinner, but i bet they’d be yummy with oatmeal or in a crepe or something ambitious like that. i had them again at lunch the next day, cold, and they kept well and filled me up quickly. yay.

inspiration for some baked apples:

a beautiful mess has some gorgeous baked apples that i would like to attempt next time

eating well offered the appealing roasting option

banana crumb muffins | my baking addiction happy new year; now...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:08:00 -0600

banana crumb muffins | my baking addiction

happy new year; now eat more fruit!

i realize that the new year means diets and rebirth and restructuring and that eating muffins may not appeal to your crash diets. however, i’m funnelllllling my creativity through my kitchen this year, so if you don’t care about how you eat more fruits and veggies, perhaps this banana bread recipe could work for you. check out this and many more recipes at mybakingaddiction.

edits to the original recipe: yes, i’m new to this. and yes, i’m invoking artistic license anyway. the only changes i made to the recipe were:

1) i used 1/4 tsp cinnamon & 1/4 tsp nutmeg within the muffin mixture

2) i did not cover all of the muffins with the crumb topping

my favorite part of this recipe: i used a fork to mix it all together, no heavy equipment required

my partner was perplexed about why i made any without the topping because he enjoyed it so much. he exclaimed “boo!” and proceeded to eat a second muffin.