Kitchen mishaps...and really good ribs.

Today started off with a trip to Walmart. I had initially planned on making enchiladas since our tortillas were drying out, but when I saw the slab of ribs on sale I could not resist. These babies looked beautiful and had a great fat to meat ratio. Thankfully, Zac did not stop me.

While Zac worked on his medical school applications all day I slaved over our memorial day meal. We had ribs, corn and sugar snap pea succotash, watermelon, rolls, and key lime pie, my favorite!
A couple mishaps arose though...
Mishap #1
I wanted to make the pie look pretty, but my pastry bag exploded on me while i was piping whip cream stars so I succumbed to the good old plop and spread method.

it went from pretty (as pretty as my extremely limited star piping skills could take me)

to major mid-pie explosion

to salvaged goodness

Mishap #2

 There were initially going to be mashed potatoes but I completely massacred those. I added some butter and cream and they were a bit on the thick side, so I thought about it and saw that I had just a little bit of milk left and I just wanted room in my fridge so i dumped it all in the potatoes thinking it would absorb it and thicken...I ended up with potato soup...so I tried salvaging it by adding potatoes I heated in the microwave...didn't work. I looked frantically for some instant mash potatoes...except as I was looking through pantry a memory flashed through my head of when I told Zac I refused to have "fake" potato flakes in my kitchen. As a last resort, I opened a box of dehydrated potato au gratin (which had to have been leftover from Zac's college food pile)...needless to say it turned into a big mess. So I made some rice instead. (And since we are poor college students, I have to figure out how I am going to use the potatoes for dinner tomorrow).

Mishap #3

Super Tart lemonade. I like zing, but my meyer lemon lemonade was over the top sour...When I reviewed the recipe i had switched the water to lemon juice ratio! So...we had ginger ale instead, and I will fix the lemonade for tomorrow.

Mishap # 4...I only put one layer of foil the my pan I baked the ribs in so it was a nightmare to clean...which is why I just threw the pan away (good thing I bought them at the dollar store).
After the craziness we had dinner and it was delicious. The ribs were so good and the sauce I used to baste them in was great, except I can't remember half the things I put in it.

Before

After

I guess you could say apart from grocery shopping all I really did for the day was cook and eat. A dangerous and common combination since I am not taking classes and it happens almost everyday.

Bon Appétit

Here some pictures from the day of cooking, and eating.

It is so worth it to make this from scratch

The secret to keeping my ribs moist

Cast Iron Skillets make the best roast chicken

Lately, I have been obsessed with cast iron cooking...I've never actually made anything apart from cornbread and steak in a cast iron skillet but Michael Symon (Iron chef/Lolita executive chef) convinced me that my kitchen was incomplete without one. Tonight I made roast chicken in our 11" cast iron skillet, it was pretty darn good, but still a far second from my grandpa's crispy and moist cornish hens.

A little funny aside, I initially wanted to butterfly the chicken and remove the backbone, but that went terribly south (especially since my strongest kitchen sheers snapped after the first attempted snip). I hoped and prayed it would still cook evenly... thankfully it did!

Symon said the secret to crispy skin and moist meat is consistent basting...and so every 20 minutes or so I opened that scorching, hot, 425 degree oven to baste away. His advice was completely inspired.

And yes, I scooped the fat that dripped from the chicken and cooked the potatoes in it. Sinfully savory and luscious. 

If I were in New York I would get my roast chicken fix at Pio Pio. Have you been? If not, repent and amend. You MUST taste their chicken. It comes with this green sauce that is fantastic. Probably in my top three places to eat in the world. My family would buy two whole roast chickens when it was Pio Pio night. One for my mom and dad to share, and another for my brother and I to share. I think I may have gotten the best deal because my brother hardly eats enough food to pass as enough for the recommended portion size....so I usually got most of the chicken. It was perfect. Add some fried plantains on the side and it was heaven. 

The next cast iron kitchen item I need is a stove stop griddle.... and an iron press weight for the day I can finally butterfly a chicken and make it like Booby Flay does in his Bold America Cookbook...which, if you haven't scanned or read, you should. It is life changing. 

Bon Appétit 

Bean night...that's how we pay for olive oil

In the past eight months of marriage I've spent more money on groceries than I ever have in my entire life. Take my bottle of olive oil for example. The olives are hand picked and certified from Tuscany, and while this may mean nothing to anyone else, the olives are cold pressed! Cold pressed! My excitement rests on this very fact. Allow me to explain, olives are harvested in the winter. The best oil pressers will keep their olives cold as the oil is extracted to prevent any degradation of flavor and quality. This kind of oil which Homer rightly described as "liquid gold" is rich, with grassy and slightly spicy and citrus tones. It costs about 25 bucks for every 250 mL (8.4 oz). Yeah, I know expensive. But so worth it. If our apartment ever goes on fire we are not leaving that bottle of olive oil behind!

Anyways, back to the beans. We have a pretty strict (college student) budget, yet somehow I convinced Zac that expenses for recreation, miscellaneous, clothing, and even emergency fund should either contribute to or completely be dissolved into the groceries fund.  Marriage has brought out the food obsessed person within me. It has made me want to cook everything from scratch even though I am sure children will change that desire soon after their arrival. But, most of all it has made it so that the highlight of my day, everyday, is based on whether Zac wants seconds for dinner. Food expenditures have been a little high lately to fulfill the daily high I get from cooking dinner. It gets a little crazy when I rather buy a pound of chantarelles or a 25lb. bag of flour than go out for the night to the movies or something else most people think is so much more worth the money. So, I've compromised. I get to buy ingredients if once a week we have a rice and beans night. It's genius. These nights dinner costs about 30 cents a person. Which means we will probably have more than one bean night a week in the near future since I have a duck project coming up.

To be honest, I did NOT want to do have bean nights. But Zac convinced me that I could still make something I was pleased with. So we are giving it a try. We've done lima beans, black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, but my favorite is the lentil. Technically its not a bean...but both are seeds from specific legumes, and both are super rich in protein, fiber, and nutrients.

Lentils with carrots is so good and simple. It really is an upgrade to most rice and bean dishes I've made, which really isn't saying very much since I'm not very creative on these nights. If you're looking for a money saving, tasty, vegetarian meal this is the one!

2 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 onion
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 cup green lentils
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken/beef/vegetable stock ( I buy mine at dollar stores, best deal ever)
1-3cups (as needed) water
3 medium sized carrots - diced
parsley to garnish

Soak lentils 30 min

saute garlic and diced onions in olive oil until translucent (careful not to burn garlic)
add bay leaf, season salt and pepper

add lentils and stock, let simmer at low boil for about 12 min, then add the carrots

allow to cook on medium low for another 15 min, adding water as needed.
Taste for some quality control and add s&p as needed.
When it is done, it should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed.
Serve over rice and feed to hungry husbands!

This meal cost less than 1.50 and yielded a significant amount of left overs!
My mom would have made the lentils with ham hocks and spinach...now theres an idea.
Bon Appétit

A night of kitchen organization

Going without school for the spring term has been SO nice. Yes, I have gained another 2lbs. due to the ridiculous amount of time on my hands for eating, and cooking, and snacking, and grocery shopping. We are exercising four times a week so that is helping tons. Zac spends about twenty minutes running hardcore on the treadmill before he lifts weights while I am on the elliptical. It's definitely not as intense as running, but my 35 minutes on the elliptical allows me to burn 200 calories towards my inevitable after dinner splurges.

Anyways, back to the subject of this post. KITCHEN ORGANIZATION. These past few days, Zac has locked himself in our study to take practice MCAT exams. Sometimes he goes to the library to study, which is impressive considering we normally avoid the library during the semester. Tonight, he had a practice test, and I had 3 hours and 30 minutes to organize. My kitchen has been a disaster for the past few weeks and has been screaming for some spring cleaning.

This is what was accomplished:

Refrigerator and Freezer cleaning/organization and inventory. (There is usually an inventory list in the kitchen to avoid any food wastage, but this had not been done for weeks!)

All the cupboards cleaned and reorganized

Spice rack moved from my magnetic easel board to the side of my fridge (this was my favorite change)

Pantry dusted, cleaned and reorganized

Microwave cleaned

Dishes washed and put away

Baking canisters for flour, white sugar, brown sugar refilled

Floor swept and mopped
Snack cupboards reorganized (I finally got all of our snack stuff off the counters)

It felt so good to get all this done. But my body is sore. For one, weight lifting has made most movements painful and uncomfortable. Two, cleaning is hard work! As for as organization is concerned, everything I have is alphabetized so it's easier to find and return things. Some people call it OCD, but I think it's the best time saving, ingredient finding, kitchen habit anyone can have. That said, I do know many great kitcheneers who have no rhyme or reason to their kitchen organization, and are still in total control of their kitchen. I am not nearly as coordinated to do so without the ABCs. Someday, I dream that I will have enough cupboard and kitchen space to have designated (contained) areas for things like...olive oils, vinegars, finishing salts, grains, etc. Until then, I am very content with out kitchen.

Trip to Home Depot

My husband was not expecting that our trip to Home Depot was going to turn into a kitchen shopping adventure. And, I don't think he would use that word to describe it either. Earlier this week I watched dozens of videos on croissant making and almost all of them had a pastry marble board for kneading their doughs. Julia Child had convinced me that without one, my croissant baking dreams would be unreachable. So, I looked some up and soon realized I could only afford marble tiles, which run about 1.50 to 15.00 dollars/square foot. My budget was at the lower end of that spectrum and my slab of marble cost 2.97! I was pretty psyched. It's a little smaller than I would have wanted but for now I am sure it will do just fine.

I have also been looking for a storage unit to go under my kitchen counter with all the baking pans and cupcake molds I own. Just this week I got some sweet cake pans from DI. They were overcrowding the kitchen counter, and if their is one thing I cannot stand in the kitchen it is clutter. It was completely unexpected but as we walked through the storage aisle and found a unit that was the perfect size (and price). This was not how Zac thought our wedding gift card to Home Depot would be spent. He loves building things and I am sure he was expecting this trip to be a testosterone building experience. It was not at all, and like the wonderful husband he is, he was okay with that. This picture may say other wise, but trust me, that pout on his face just shows how excited he is to assemble my new kitchen unit.

My excitement was expressed a little differently...

A few more hours researching croissants and I will make an attempt at it. 

Ole!

Happy day after Cinco De Mayo. Yesterday I had to work all day so our festivities did not start until after six. We cooked dinner together which makes it a very special occasion since we hardly cook together. I work at the BYU bookstore. Today was extraordinary because I sat at a register that only got about 5 customers all day for 8 straight hours (with a half hour lunch break in between of course). It would have been excruciatingly terrible had it not been for the shelves of cookbooks that surrounded me. I rummaged through a few Mexican cookbooks and decided we would have chili and cumin spiced lime chicken with rice and beans. I called Zac during my break to ask him to take out the chicken for defrosting. The rest of the day was spent preparing a lesson for the 5 year olds at primary, meal planning and cookbook reading at my register. Some serious cleaning and lysol wiping of all the crevices there may have also took place, multiple times. So, time passed by quite nicely.

When I got home we made dinner, ate, and watched the Real Salt Lake game against New England. I am not much of a soccer person, but I am slowly enjoying it more and more. Yes, I tend to have minor panic attacks when everyone in Zac's family is cheering and I am not sure why, but it is a sport I am genuinely beginning to enjoy. Offsides is still foreign to me, but I just act like I am mad at the ref when Zac is mad and it disguises my confusion very well.

The Chicken turned out really well... so i will share the spice blend

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne peper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Rub it on the chicken (we used boneless skinless chicken breasts that were about 1/2 an inch thick, and if there is any rub left I just toss that in with the rice and beans). Cook on medium high heat for 3 min. Flip and squeeze half a lime on both halves. Allow to cook for another 2-3 min. Flip, squeeze remaining half on chicken. Take of heat. Let rest for about 4-5 min. Slice. Bon Appetit.

Banana bread king

Last night, I went to bed early because I wasn't feeling very well, and last I remember Zac was asking me where the old bananas were...When I woke up this morning there was a perfect loaf of banana bread sitting on our kitchen counter. This is a good surprise, the stack of mixing bowls in the sink not so much, but I didn't mind because there was a banana bread on the counter and making banana bread was on the to do list I did not finish the night before.  So the day started off on a very high note thanks to my dear and loving husband who is the king of making me happy. It was buttery, the perfect sweetness, and sinfully moist.

Zac's brother took us to the Avengers, which if you have not yet seen now is the time to scratch out all of your plans for the next 24 hours until you have seen it. It was that good. Rotten tomatoes gave it 93%, which is unheard of! Mark Ruffalo was quite impressive as the Hulk, and it was really well made, clean, pure action. Movie snacks from the concession stands are always overpriced, so we snuck in some Sourpatch and Peanut M&Ms we bought in bulk from a candy store. Let it be known that movie theaters do not check bags! I did not know this so I nearly had a panic attack trying to get my wallet, keys, planner and cell phone to cover the bags of candy so they would not be seen. Now I will be more gutsy with the kind of snacks I bring in to the movies. 

Today was a great day. It ended with a pizza pie from Little Ceasar's, a cold glass of root beer in a glass goblet, and a slice of banana bread (his was smothered with nutella). Perfect I tell you, perfect.

Here is his golden recipe:

3-4 ripe bananas (medium sized) mashed
1/3 cup melted butter or apple sauce
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 cup flour or for a healthier version 1/2 white, 1c whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375

Mix butter and bananas, add eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt. Add baking soda. Add flour, first by mixing it in and end with folding it in. If you are a chocolate chip/nut fanatic now would be the time to ad a cup of either or half a cup of both. Bake in buttered loaf pan for 55 min to an hour. Wooden tooth pick will come out easily without any resistance or residue when done. Let sit for at least 5 hours before you cut into it.

And here is the banana bread king:

New York City Pizza

Lately, my mind has been turning to the days when, after a long day of school and commuting (I had an hour and a half each way during high school), I would stop by the Broadway Bakery for a slice of pizza and a cold coke. The best part was it was just two bucks. TWO BUCKS! Divine. Some say it's the perfect combination of NYC water and double zero flour that does the trick. I think it's just in the water. I tell my husband that I can taste the difference between a Dasani and a Fiji, a Poland Spring and a Deer Park, and yes a glass of Provo from a Queens. There is a difference! My Dad says I'll just need to get my hands on some NYC water and my pizza doughs will taste right. I believe it.

Here are my top go to pizza places in New York. And when I say "go to", I literally mean I was a regular and that my entire family were regulars.

Best places to get an Ultimate New York Plain Cheese Slice (And these places are like 1.50 a piece...or at least they were when I was going to them)
Broadway Bakery - Elmhurst
New York Slice - Highland Park
Dino's or Polito's - Astoria

What makes this pizza so good? It's the perfect simplicity of it and the thin but airy and chewy crust.


Best Grandma's (Sicilian Style) Pizza
La Villa - Howard Beach
My Dad introduced us to this heavenly pie of fresh mozzarella, basil san marzano tomatoes, and garlic olive oil. I have very fond memories of my family carefully portioning the pie...It is quite pricey, if I remember correctly it was 26.00 a pie. Everyone got one corner slice and one center slice since this pizza was rectangular. My brother and I would always fight over the bigger piece, and my mom did the unthinkable. She adulterated her slice with hot sauce and red-peper flakes, but since she paid we forgave her and looked away. We always had root beer (Alfie's was my favorite, but usually IBC),  and it was almost always movie night too. Good times in Howard Beach.

"If ya wanna get fancy" pizza
Lombardi's on Spring Street
Get the meatball or the ricotta pizza. One of my favorite history teachers introduced this pizzeria to me. Amazing!

These days my pizza cravings are quenched by the following life saving pizza dough recipe:

Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of honey into 3/4c warm water. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teasp. active dry yeast. allow to foam, about 10 min. Stir in 1/2 teasp. salt, Stir in 1c all purpose flour and 3/4c whole wheat flour. Knead for five min. Let dough rest for one hour or until it doubles. Portion into six or two equal balls. This makes six small personal size pizzas or two generous size pizzas (for 2-3). Preheat oven to 475. Roll out dough. Once oven is preheated bake crust in oven 2min/side. Add toppings, return to oven for 4-5 minutes. Comes out perfect EVERY TIME.

This one is my take on Lombardi's meatball pizza. Bon Appetit.

Spring time to do list

Spring. Freedom. Sunshine. Bliss.

School is over, for now at least. Zac is well into his MCAT studies, and since I am not taking ay classes for the next two months most of my energy goes towards working at the BYU bookstore and food.  I found a new favorite cookbook. Eric Lanlord compiles his favorite recipes in Cake Boy. It's golden. Best 15 dollar baking investment ever...I made his Madelines yesterday and I they were incredible. Even my husband approved, and that is a rarity considering my baking skills are limited. Take for example the lemon torte I tried to make yesterday. It was a disaster. I am still in awe as to why I thought instant pudding and flour with lemon juice would produce something edible.

Lemon torte catastrophe aside, I have reset my focus on two things that need to be done before Summer term starts...First, I will, no matter what it takes get all the thank you cards that need to be sent, sent from our wedding. I am not too sure why I am terrible at things like this but I am determined to get it done. My one-year limit for sending them is nearing its end, so it's time to get cracking. Second, I want to put together a recipe booklet of my 100 favorite go-to meals. I've compiled enough index cards and notebooks with my own experiments to get my first "book" together. I figure 100 recipes is enough to make a book but not too much to be drowned with work in. And who knows, maybe my children, not that I have any yet, nor is this a hint that I am expecting, will find them useful in the future.

Bon Appetit.

Oh, I also recently discovered, No Reservations, a movie I enjoyed immensely is a complete carbon copy of the German film Mostly Martha. I nearly had a meltdown when I discovered that what I thought was an original was not at all. Don't let this spoil your taste for the later make. The American version does have a much more appealing cast.