Sunday, April 25, 2010

Buffalo Chicken Pizza



The Mr. and I have friends who live in St. Louis, and we try to make the trek from Cincinnati at least once a year.  Our usual excuse to visit is centered around the annual Mardi Gras Parade-- The Mr.'s favorite reason.  My favorite excuse to visit (other than simply hanging out and laughing my a$$ off, because that's what we do when we're together) involves a restaurant called Syberg's.

It's a non-descript kind of joint.  It lures you in with the facade that it's just another bar and grill.  You hear rumors that they are famous for their wings.  "Sure," you think to yourself.  "Every place says that they are famous for their wings."  You sit down with your group of friends, order some beers, some appetizers, and maybe even some of the "world-famous wings."  They put the food on the table, you grab a wing and begin to grub, just as you have done hundreds of times before...

Then it hits you. 

A change comes over you, and you're suddenly feeling the sensation of losing all self-control.  You've eaten all of your wings, but are thirsting for more.  You nonchalantly scoop the sauce from your plate for one last hit.  You start eye-balling the ones your neighbor has yet to consume, seriously considering if you can sneak one away undetected.  And once you come to the realization that it's all over, you settle back into your chair-- thinking about all those other times you thought you enjoyed buffalo wings-- but now knowing that you will never be satisfied with any other wing sauce but Syberg's Wing Sauce. 

This happened to me, and if you are lucky enough to live in the St. Louis area, you get to scratch that itch anytime you want.  (And I'm jealous!) But if you live out of town, and try this sauce, be prepared to order bottles of the stuff and have it shipped to your house, because you will be hooked!

So naturally, when we could not visit this year for the annual festivities, I was heart-broken.  Yeah, I missed seeing my friends, but I REALLY missed Syberg's. :)  Luckily, I was able to con another friend into bringing home a couple of bottles of crack, (er, I mean... sauce....).  Having such a heavenly wing sauce at my disposal, I decided it was time to try buffalo chicken pizza for the first time.

Source:  This is a Clark original, but inspired by the buffalo chicken pizza I experienced at Syberg's.


Ingredients:

1 pre-made pizza crust

1-2 c. cooked chicken, shredded

1 c. buffalo sauce, divided

1/2 c. red onion, chopped

1/2 c. celery, chopped

1-2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Ranch and/or bleu cheese crumbles, to taste

Note:  For those of you who keep track-- I'm aware that I actually used measurements in this recipe.  Shocked?  You should be :)  But I figured if it turned out well, I'd want to know what I did so I could do it again.  Thus, the measured amounts.


Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2.  Spread 1/2 c. buffalo sauce onto the pizza crust.

3.  In a medium bowl, combine chicken and 1/2 c. buffalo sauce.  Mix till chicken is thoroughly coated.  Spread chicken mixture evenly upon the pizza crust.  

4.  Add a layer of either ranch dressing, crumbled bleu cheese, or both.  (In our house, we did a "half and half" style with these toppings, since I love bleu cheese but The Mr. does not! )

5.  Top with mozzarella, red onion, and celery. 



6.  Place in preheated oven, and bake for 10-15 minutes (or till desired doneness).


Verdict:  Keeper!

Next time, I may use less chicken, and place more of the red onion on top of the cheese so it can crisp a little more.  But all in all, I was proud!  After all, it's not every day that I throw ingredients together without a recipe to follow...  

Salsa Chicken



Once while I was browsing other cooking blogs, I came across this recipe from Courtney over at Ice Cream &Wine.  In case you've never visited, she's all about simple pleasures in cooking.  This Salsa Chicken is a perfect example of said simplicity. 

As soon as I read it it, I thought to myself, "Now this is my kind of CrockPot recipe!" Know why? Because it's one of those recipes where you just throw it all in the crock and let it do it's thing. If CrockPot cooking is supposed to make my life easier, I don't want to have to do a lot of prep.  And that's exactly what this recipe is-- no prep.  I didn't even thaw the chicken breasts!   

Source:  Courtney, at Ice Cream & Wine

Ingredients

4 frozen chicken breasts

1 15 oz. can of black beans

1 12 oz. bag of frozen corn-- she listed this as 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, but again, I don't like to measure.  So I just used the whole bag.

1 16 oz. jar of salsa-- I used a "sweet garden salsa" this time.

Directions:

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the CrockPot.

Rinse and drain black beans, then add them over top of the chicken.

Add corn atop the beans

Add salsa atop the corn.

Cook on LOW 7-8 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours (Today was a rush, so I did 4 hours on HIGH)

During the last hour, shred the chicken with some forks and mix well.  It'll look something like this:




Serve with tortillas and rice. 

Garnish with sour cream, scallions, or whatever else your heart desires.

Verdict:  KEEPER! 

This will be a new staple in our household.  It was so easy to make, relatively healthy, and it made plenty for leftovers.  And you can trust me... these leftovers won't go bad in the fridge :)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Grilled Pineapple Salsa




Today, I had several "firsts."  

1.  I cooked something using the fresh juice of a lime.

2.  I minced a jalapeno (but I sorta-kinda cheated, but you don't care that much)

3.  I pan-fried fruit. 

But before I expound upon these firsts, let me celebrate a very real victory I had today.  To others, it's probably not a big deal, but for me, it's worth mentioning. 

Clutter is my nemesis. It's so bad, I think it's genetic.  It's not like I'm a hoarder, or even a pack-ract for that matter; for me, it's an issue of setting up a workable system that streamlines the shutff that enters my house and my life.  Once I have a system in place, I'm good.  Developing said system is what catches me off guard. 

For example, I have a system for my mail.  The Mr. thinks it's a slightly organized representation of paper chaos, but the fact remains that my bills are now paid on time, and all our social invitations are available at my fingertips. 

It looks like this:

















Bills and invitations come in, I open them, see that my last payment posted to the account, shred the old statement, and store the new bill/statement in the correct date-slot. And on, and on, and on...



















So anyway, the point is, I have a system in place for my mail.  As a result, I have an easier time conquering the clutter-demons brought by the mailman.  However, when the mailman started bringing magazines, I had an organizational hiccup.  With the best of intentions, I saved each magazine, hoping to someday try the yummy recipes published on those pages.  But before long, I was suddenly forming piles of magazines-- on the coffee table, on the kitchen counter, in the computer room-- if you're clutter-prone like me, you know that piles are dangerous.  Noticing these tell-tale signs, I knew I needed to act fast and get the magazines under control.

After heeding the advice of my more organizationally-inclined friends, I implemented this system for magazines:

1.  New issue comes in the mail.

2.  As I browse, I dog-ear the pages with recipes I want to try someday.  This issue stays out on the coffee table for all to enjoy.

3.  Next issue comes in the mail-- I take the last issue and tear out all the recipes I marked.  These go in a "To Try" file that I now have in my kitchen.  (I have a real Recipe Box, but I like to save that for my "tried and true" recipes).  The old issue then gets recycled, and the newest issue takes its place on the coffee table.

4.  And the cycle continues! Taa-Daah!!

Once I try a recipe from the "To Try" file, I've committed myself to one of two things:  I'll either make a card for it and put it in my Recipe Box, or I will throw it away. 



So what was the big victory?



Tonight, I pulled a recipe from the "to Try" file:  I proved to myself that I didn't need to hang on to the whole magazine, and I knew exactly where to find the recipe I tore out last month.  If you're a natural-born clutter-killer, you're not impressed.  It's okay though, because there are probably a few others out there that need these basic stream-lining tips spelled out for them-- just like I needed it.

And now for the recipe...

Source:  Cooking Light (April, 2010)

Ingredients:

4 pork chops

1 T, and 2 tsp. fresh lime juice, divided

4 slices of pineapple (1/2" thick)

1  medium red onion, cut into 1/2" think slices

1 T minced jalapeno-- Since I already had a jar of sliced jalapenos, I just scooped a tablespoon of these onto my cutting board, then diced them up.  There, confession over.

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1.  Combine pork and 1 T. of lime juice; let stand for 10 minutes.

2.  Heat grill pan over medium-high heat.  (I do not own a grill pan-- just 2 skillets. Since I wanted a little bit of a sear to the food, I opted for the stainless steel skillet.)

3.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  (Don't use cooking spray on stainless-- I used a little bit of olive oil). Add pineapple and onion; cook on each side for 4 minutes, or till onion is tender.

4. Coarsely chop pineapple and onion; combine in a medium bowl with remaining 2 tsp. of lime juice, jalapeno, and 1/8 tsp. of salt. 

5.  Sprinkle pork chops with 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper (I used less than this... don't like to over-season meat).

6.  Heat grill pan over medium-high heat (Again, I only have the skillet.) Add pork, and cook on each side for 4 minutes, or till done.

Verdict: I liked it, but too adventurous for The Mr.

He loves pineapple, but wasn't crazy about the fact that it was hot.  Like pineapple on pizza, it just didn't feel right to him.  I must agree, the texture of the pineapple took a couple of bites to overcome.  If I had had a grill pan available, that may have altered the texture of the fruit for the better.  Nonetheless, the flavors were great together, but I don't know that I'll be making this again for the two of us. 

Monday, April 5, 2010

Hashbrown Casserole






Happy Easter ( x 2!!)


This year I hosted an informal brunch for our family.  The holidays are always so hectic for everyone, it's nice to offer a relaxed, come-whenever-you-can, no-pressure option.  After all, it's a holiday!  What good is a holiday if you're so busy running around every place that you can't enjoy it and relax a bit?

That being said, I wanted to make some brunchy, hearty food that I could offer my family when they stopped by.  The trick is keeping it warm; because to me, there's nothing better than a hot breakfast/brunch to remind you to slow down and savor a holiday.  I already had a breakfast casserole planned with eggs and sausage-- the obvious compliment to it would have to include potatoes. 

Say it with me: "MMmmmmm..... carbs........ "

I have had breakfast-potatoey goodness at other family functions, but never grabbed a recipe for them.  After making a mental note to be more aggressive about getting recipes from friends and family members, I went to allrecipes.com and found the one I wanted to use.  As usual, I paused to consider whether or not I really wanted to try a new recipe for company-- but then I figured it was potatoes, cheese, butter, onions, and sour cream-- how bad could it be?? 

Source:  allrecipes.com (with my modifications and commentary)

Ingredients:

1  2-pound bag of frozen hashbrown potatoes, thawed-- (For those of you who are "details people," the amount on the bag actually says 1 LB. 14 OZ, so don't let that throw you off)

1/2 c. melted butter

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

1/2 c. chopped onions-- (And for those of you who hate to measure veggies, like me, this ended up being a little less than half of an onion.  I measured this time, since it was for company, but I'm quite sure I won't measure in the future.  Because I hate measuring chopped/sliced/minced veggies.)

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 c. crushed cornflake cereal

1/4 c. melted butter

Directions:

**I ended up making this the day before, then baking it the day of the event.  These directions are slightly different than the original recipe instructions.**

Day Before

1.  Make sure your hashbrown potatoes are nice and thawed. In a large bowl, combine everything except for the last 2 ingredients.  (those will be combined and added right before it goes in the oven.)  If you're like me, and not afraid to get your hands dirty, go ahead and mix it by hand.  This was MUCH more effective than mixing with a spoon.  But be careful, it'll be cold!!

2.  Place potato mixture in a  2 1/2 - 3 quart casserole dish.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day Of

1.  Preheat the oven for 350 degrees. 

While the oven is preheating, take out the potato mixture so the dish has a chance to warm up a bit before going directly into the oven.  I know some bakeware is designed to go straight from the fridge to the oven, but I'm neurotic about breaking dishes, so I do everything I can NOT to :))

2.  To make the topping, melt 1/4 c. butter in a microwavable bowl.  Meanwhile, crush the cornflake topping in a separate bowl.  Combine the butter and cornflakes, then add to the top of the potato mixture.

3.  Bake for 40-60 minutes (uncovered), or till cooked throughout. 

The original recipe calls for 40 minutes of baking time, but I felt like it wasn't hot enough throughout, so I kept placing it back in the oven)

Verdict: 

The Mr. declared this a keeper, and I happen to agree.  I think the guests that had several helpings of this dish would agree, too.  

Breakfast Casserole




Happy Easter!

This year, I learned a few things:

1.  There is no greater joy than having family and friends in your home.

2.  If one of those family or friends catch you photographing the food on the table (because you forgot to do it earlier), be prepared to tell them all about your food blogging adventures.

3.  No matter how hard you try, there simply is no way to make egg and sausage casserole look good in a photograph!
(It's a good thing it tastes like the breakfast of heaven on a plate, because it's not very photogenic :))

My love affair with this dish began several months ago when a colleague brought a breakfast dish to an early-morning faculty meeting.  It was one of those meetings where nobody wanted to be there, but it was required in order to finish a job.  To ease our suffering, one of my fellow teachers volunteered to bring a breakfast casserole.

It was warm, and meaty, and cheesy, bready, and flavorful, and oh-so-good.  This dish opened my eyes to a whole new world of breakfast delight.

Of course, I asked my colleague how she made it, to which she replied with a semi-complete list of ingredients.  "Oh, there's eggs, sausage, ground mustard, crescent rolls..."

Ugh, what a tease.

But it's all good, because I love a good scavenger hunt.  Taking this list, I went to allrecipes.com and found this recipe after doing a search of ingredients.  It was close, but it didn't have the crust that I coveted.  So I decided to omit the bread cubes from the allrecipes.com version, and line the dish with the crescent roll dough instead. 

It worked!

Now, anytime I have an opportunity to host a breakfast/brunch event (or bring a dish to a similar event) this breakfast casserole has become my go-to contribution.

Source:  My colleague + allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 lb. pork sausage--I prefer to use the Bob Evans brand, it's well worth the money!
6 eggs
2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans of crescent rolls (refrigerated dough)

 Directions:

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage. Remove from heat, drain, and crumble. Set aside.

 
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Add milk, salt, ground mustard, and cheese and mix well. Set aside.

In a 9"x13" baking dish, unroll the crescent roll dough. Line the bottom and sides of the dish. You may need to stretch and pinch the dough to get it to cooperate fully.


Add sausage to the baking dish and distribute evenly. Then, pour the egg mixture over the sausage. Refrigerate overnight (or for at least 8 hours)


When ready to bake, set the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes (or till desired doneness) . Enjoy!

Verdict
It's a hit!  My guests gobbled it up, and I had requests to take some home.  Plus, it keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge.





Sunday, April 4, 2010

Chicken Noodle Soup



So now that I had all this homemade stock at my disposal, I figured it was time to make chicken noodle soup.  Since The Mr. was still recovering from oral surgery, what a better way to help him feel better than a warm bowl of the universal elixir. 


After searching around, this recipe from Elly over at "ellysaysopa.com" sounded the most appealling and looked exactly as I hoped it would.  And by the way, if you haven't had the pleasure of browsing her blog, you need to make a point of it.  If the photography alone isn't enough to pull you in, I don't know what is!  She has fantastic advice and information; moreover, most of her dishes having intriguing and/or healthy ingredients (of which I am still learning to identify and pronounce! :)) Honesly, reading her recipes makes me want to be Greek.  But enough of my gushing, and on to the real reason you're here:  chicken noodle soup.


Quite simply, this soup will be a staple in our household forever.  That's right.  For-ev-er.  I never knew how good soup could be; but now that I have crossed over to the other side, I will never enjoy soup from a can quite as much as I used to.


Source:   based entirely on Elly's Chicken Noodle Soup (with very minor adjustments)


Ingredients:


2T. butter
1 onion, diced
4-5 carrots, sliced
4-5 celery stalks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 c. chicken broth-- if you're feeling adventurous and want to make your own, click here to see how I did it the first time
4 c. cooked chicken
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. thyme
1 T. dried parsley
2 cubes of chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
2 c. uncooked egg noodles


Directions:


Melt the butter in a large dutch oven.  Add onions and cook for several minutes over medium-high heat.  Add celery and carrots, cook for another couple of minutes.  Add garlic.  Stir and saute for one or two more minutes.


It looks like this when I cook it:








Then, add chicken, broth, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, parsley, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer lightly for 30 minutes. 


Add noodles and simmer till cooked (about 8-11 minutes)


Verdict:  Awesome.  It's the only chicken noodle soup I'll ever make!




... and it's so photogenic! :)  

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Homemade Chicken Stock




I did it.

Ever since being bitten by the food bug, I have been wondering how difficult it would be to make my own stock.  Or broth.  Whatever you want to call it, I wanted to make it.  I wanted to make it so bad that I started saving my veggie scraps in a freezer bag.  Celery tops and ends, carrot peels, carrot ends, the green stems of green onions and leeks, green pepper ends-- just about anything was fair game to be saved in the Veggie Scrap Bag.  I even forced myself to save the carcass of a roast chicken in a freezer bag, too.  "This is what good cooks do," I told myself.  "This will help us save a ton of money when I go to make a soup again," I continued.   

But I was scared.

Looking back, hearing (er, I mean, seeing) myself say those words sounds ridiculous.  Literally, it was as easy as throwing a bunch of saved-up kitchen scraps, adding water, and boiling the b'jesus out of it for several hours.  Researching the various methods of making your own stock led me to believe that it would not only be time-consuming, but "involved."   I read articles that mentioned unfamiliar items like "cheesecloth," and shuddered.  I'm such a sissy when it comes to trying something new!  My Mom would attribute this anxiety to my life-long affliction of perfectionism-on-the-first-try syndrome.  She's probably right. 

But yesterday, I decided enough was enough.  The Mr. was having oral surgery-- and post-surgical care included a liquid diet for the rest of the day after being released.  This was the push I needed to venture into unknown cooking land.  I couldn't, in good conscience, just warm up a can of chicken broth for him to eat when I had been learning so much about homemade stock. 

So without further ado, I did it.   It was time-consuming, but it wasn't even a little-bit tricky or involved.  I have no formal recipe to share-- more like a list of ingredients; vague, coresponding amounts; and the steps I took.  But I have to tell you (like all the others told me), there's really not a whole lot to it.  If I can do it using scraps and absolutely no experience, ANYONE can do it. 

Ingredients:
  • the carcass of a roasted chicken--Using a piece of advice from my Step-Mom, I broke the bones of the chicken carcass in half. Doing this exposes the marrow, which is where all the good stuff hides.
  • a Veggie Scrap Bag-- this is a gallon-sized plastic zipper bag, and it was full
  • 6 quarts of cold water
  • Salt (maybe 1 tsp?)
  • Pepper (maybe 1/2 tsp?)
  • Dried herbs-- several shakes of each, enough to cover the top of the water.
    • Parsley
    • Sage
    • Thyme
  • 3-4 chicken bouillon cubes
Directions:

First, I thawed my Veggie Scrap Bag and chicken bones.

Next, I broke up the bones a little bit from the chicken scraps. 

Then I tossed the bones, veggie scraps, water, salt, pepper, herbs, and bouillon into a big stock pot (mine is a 10-quart stock pot, and there was plenty of room).

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer this way (uncovered) for at least 2 hours.  As you check on it, remove any fats/foamy gunk that forms on the top by skimming with a spoon.  Some recipes will tell you to simmer for up to 24 hours.  I don't have that kind of patience, and as I was impatiently waiting for my own stock, I noticed after 2 hours it started to taste more like a stock and less like herb-flavored water.

Here was the hardest part, and probably the part that has the most variety when reading other recipes--after you have simmered to satisfaction,  you have to strain it:
  • To do this, I placed my large collander into my Dutch oven.  In the beginning, I ladled out the bigger chunks into the collander, and eventually poured the stock through the collander. I drained it and threw away the scraps. 

  • Then, to get some of the smaller scraps/particles, I poured the stock through a wire-mesh strainer and back into the stock pot.
 
  • At this point, I felt victorious.  Because not only did it SMELL like stock, but it TASTED like it, too!  I loved it and I poured a bowl of it for The Mr.



 
He wasn't much for talking-- what with the surgery and all-- but all I heard from the living room was the scrape of spoon against bowl.   That was enough for me.