Good Friday and Easter Sunday--a weekend of good eats!

So every year my dad does this awesome Good Friday fish fry and meal. Luckily, J & I were able to make it this year, and were excited my brother, sister-in-law, niece & nephew made it in from out of town as well.

This year on Papa W's menu: grilled tuna steaks, grilled zucchini slices, grilled shrimp skewers, homemade coleslaw, fresh rye bread from a local bake shop, breaded (fried) shrimp and crab cakes. PW makes the BEST crab cakes! He also made deep fried crab & Parmesan cheese ball appetizers that were AMAZING. (I definitely need to get the recipe!) 

Our family likes to laugh a lot and indeed we did. The first moment was when PW announced it was time to say grace, and I kicked off the Christmas Vacation grace scene by saying "I pledge allegiance to the flag..." and my SIL added "Grace died years ago." then began singing "And the rockets' red glaaaaare..."

The second time was when trying to juggle the "story" of what the crab balls and fried shrimp were for the kids. My nephew didn't want fish so everything was "popcorn chicken" and my niece wanted fish sticks so we could tell her they were fish. We're pretty sure my nephew knew none of it was chicken (he's 7) but the defeated look on his face trying to follow the rule of eating "just one", with his one chipmunk cheek stuffed with the (not going down) piece of fried shrimp was just priceless. (He didn't eat it in the end.)

I helped PW make a wonderful creamy lemon mustard sauce for the tuna and crab cakes. Delicious!  Here are the crab cakes, don't they look awesome?

Everything was delicious! Aside from the sauce, I didn't contribute much to the Good Friday meal. I DID, however, contribute the pepperoni bread that was prepped and ready to be put in the oven at 11:45pm, so it could be done just in time for the famed Good Friday Midnight Snack!

Easter Day, the feast was yet again at my parents' house. Mama W got the table all set and ready,

and also prepared some sides, sour cream cucumbers and chunky applesauce with whole cranberries.

PW slow roasted the Easter ham on the grill,

got the bread basket and rolls ready,

some broccoli with a side of buttered bread crumbs for anyone who wanted them, and I kept an eye on my macaroni & cheese quiche in the oven. Yes, you read that right--Macaroni & Cheese Quiche. I promise a separate post in the next few days specifically about the quiche and I will definitely include the recipe. Pretty easy and it is DELICIOUS!

Since I am not a big meat eater, here is my plate:

(The Mac & Cheese Quiche is the tall, piece of pie-looking item on my plate!) And J's, complete with ham and bratwurst:

I chose a nice bottle of wine for J & I to have with our dinner, and my brother also shared the bottle with us--Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages. Perfect--not too dry, not too sweet, and was a perfect partner to the variety of food we had prepared.

It was wonderful and we will definitely make that a regular wine in our wine rack!

We had a wonderful weekend full of family, friends and great food, and I hope you all were blessed with the same.

Stay tuned for the Mac & Cheese Quiche post and recipe!

Last Weekend's Lazy Meals

Well, last week I had a great stir-fry planned for yet another meat-free Lenten Friday.  However, after a long week at work, Friday evening came and J & I found ourselves sitting on the couch, exhausted. I kept trying to tell myself (& J) that stir-fry REALLY doesn't take that long, and I could do it. Then J said the magic words: "If you want, we can order a pizza pie--that's fine with me."  BINGO. So a Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust pizza with black olives it was! And some beer! (Lenten Fridays are calorie-free, right?)

Saturday I had much more energy on Saturday and we settled in for the evening to relax with some stir-fry and of course, some wine! Once again, I'll admit when I "cheat"--for the rice, I use the Bird's Eye Steamfresh Brown Rice (in the grocery freezer section). 4-4 1/2 minutes in the microwave, and just right for 2 servings. We'd purchased some new oils and sauces at Trader Joe's recently, so I took the opportunity to try some of that out!

I sauteed the tofu in some sesame oil then added a couple tablespoons of Trader Joe's Pepper Sauce. I added a touch of soy sauce then added the veggies--baby corn, sliced water chestnuts, broccoli and cauliflower. Just that touch of sauce was enough to add a lot of flavor (and a little spice!) to the dish. We opted for a Merlot--Table Leaf (a new brand for us)--which paired very nicely with the pepper sauce on the stir-fry. Delicious!

And just a little extra--tonight I baked cupcakes for the monthly birthday party at work tomorrow. Who doesn't love cupcakes, right?! And I had to add some sprinkles to some for just a little something special. I love to cook and bake, and especially when it helps spread joy to other people! I made full size and mini-cupcakes so those trying to stay on the healthier side of things can have a treat without a lot of guilt. I think I'll be having a mini (with sprinkles!) since I'm still not sure I have made up for that Stuffed Crust pizza on Friday!

Happy cooking (and eating)!

Hopefully up next: My dad's (awesome) Good Friday dinner!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

What a gorgeous day it was today here in Pittsburgh! Sunny, almost 80 degrees--the kind of weather J & I love!

We headed out early today to do a little shopping--specifically for a new bike for J. Last summer, we biked the South Side trail most weekends, and each time extended our trip, eventually extending through town and to the North Side. J found an awesome bike on sale at Dick's Sporting Goods. I did a little shopping as well, then we headed for home, anxious to sit on the patio and listen to the ballgame!

Our original plan was to stop at Page's Dairy Mart for some ice cream or a chocolate malt (Best. Ice Cream. EVER!), but after a long week--and one where we did not always have the healthiest of meals--I followed J's lead and decided to pass. I tried to think of what I could make for lunch that would be healthy, good and go well with the gorgeous weather.

Here's what I came up with:

I REALLY try to eat salad. I mean, it is a GREAT way to load up on a lot of veggies at one time. But I get really bored with salads easily. So I try to come up with new things to add to break the monotony. Summer is great for experimenting since the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables is so high that time of year. J picked up a couple containers of strawberries the other day, and we had some really good, crisp Gala apples as well, so I opted to make a great salad with red romaine lettuce, strawberries, apples, a little crumbled Gorgonzola, and chopped walnuts. We only needed a little but of red wine vinaigrette to top it off!

I had also scored some great plum tomatoes at the store, and had some baguette slices left in the freezer, so decided to try something new to me--making bruschetta. I didn't have a recipe to go off of, so I just went with what I was pretty sure was in it off the top of my head...tomatoes, basil and olive oil. I chopped up 2 plum tomatoes into small pieces, then tossed in a bowl with a little olive oil, fresh ground black pepper, and dried basil (I did not have any fresh on hand). For a little twist, I also added a dash of rosemary and thyme as well.

Next, I baked the baguette slices at 350F. I did some plain, and on other slices with a wee bit of Parmesan shreds or crumbled Gorgonzola. Everything turned out delicious!

I can't wait to try the bruschetta using fresh herbs--last year J & I had several herbs growing on the patio, and it was wonderful to be able to grab a handful of fresh herbs to chop and add to recipes!

We had a bottle of pink Catawba wine from a local shop in the fridge, and it was just perfect with this summer lunch!

I wish the ballgame had turned out as well as the lunch did! Chubbs didn't care though, she was just so thrilled to get her first really long nap on the patio!

Happy eating!

Saturday Night Dinner with Friends

Last night, J & I had our friends M & J over for dinner. M is a vegetarian, so I was excited to be able to try a new recipe out for Mushroom Stuffed Mushrooms. The recipe was very easy and can be prepped up to a couple days ahead if necessary.

I first prepped four portobello mushrooms by washing them, then taking out the stems and gills. Removing the gills really does create a lot of room perfect for stuffing! I then sauteed 6oz of chopped white mushrooms, adding a little onion, fresh-ground white pepper, and rosemary.

When the mushrooms were browned and tender, I added a cup of brown rice/wild rice blend. The recipe called for one cup of cooked wild rice, but I'll be honest, I cheated. "Real" wild rice is very good, but can often take up to an hour to cook. Buying a bag just for this recipe would have been a waste for us. Instead, I used a pantry staple, Minute Rice brown rice & wild rice cups. They are fully cooked and just need microwaved to warm. They're a great side for packed lunches, and less wasteful. They are one-cup servings, so I simply added one of those to the sauteed mushrooms, and stirred until heated.

The final ingredient to the stuffing is one of my favorites--goat cheese! 2 ounces, crumbled. I stirred in the warm mix just until melted and mixed through. This was the moment I thought "OMG these are going to be SO. GOOD."  After stuffing each mushroom cap, I topped with some sliced plum tomatoes. The recipe called for grape tomatoes, but the plum tomatoes at the store looked best, so I went with those.

At this point, I wrapped the tray and put it in the fridge, then started on the pastries. One of my other favorite staples to work with for hors d'oeuvres is the Pillsbury Crescent Creations dough. I rolled it out onto my cutting board and using a pizza slicer, made small squares.

For the filling this time, I opted to use the olive pimento cream cheese from our local bagel chain, Bruegger's.

Then I simply twisted the corners and made a little "purse". You can make it into a roll, a twist, a tube, whatever you like. I placed the purses on a greased cookie sheet, and put those in the fridge as well.

Later, when it was time to get the meal going, I let the mushroom pan come warm up a little to room temperature while I preheated the oven to 425 F. The last step was to add some breadcrumbs on top of the mushrooms--I also added just a touch of grated Parmesan.

Once the mushrooms were in to bake (for 30 minutes), I chopped fresh broccoli and cauliflower, and steamed it using a great stockpot we have with a steamer basket.

The last 10 minutes of baking, I put the tray of crescent purses in. They usually bake about 15 or 20 minutes at 375F, but since the oven was at a higher temperature, I cut the time down. Finally, we were set to go.

The mushrooms were DELICIOUS! This is definitely making it to the recipe box and will become a regular meal, as it was so easy. We paired the deeper taste of the portabello mushroom with Tisdale Shiraz, and J & M brought a Funky Llama Malbec, which also went well with the meal.

After some time for conversation and relaxing, we finished off with a simple and delicious dessert. Another of our several recipes that had been cut out of one of many magazines, Broiled Banana splits. Very easy, something new, and also delicious. I sliced two bananas lengthwise and laid them in a long sheet of tin foil. I melted a tablespoon of butter in a ramekin in the microwave, and brushed it on the bananas. The topping is simple--1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon mixed together. After sprinkling the mixture on the bananas, I sealed them up in the foil and broiled the bananas on high for about 5 minutes.

I sliced each half into 2 pieces and laid in the bowl, then topped with a couple small scoops of Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappucino ice cream. I added a small sprinkle of Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder. Unfortunately, I over-toasted the sliced almonds, so I had to leave those off. However, marshmallow fluff saved the day (as M shares my love of it) as well as some chocolate covered coffee beans!

We finished off our evening with a competitive game of Scrabble! We couldn't have asked for a better evening! We just wish it could have lasted longer!

Try this simple meal for your next dinner--whether just for you or for company--I can guarantee it will be a winner!

Enjoy!

Breakfast

Almost every Sunday, I make the same breakfast, unless making something special like the overnight french toast. It's a fairly simple breakfast, but a) it's delicious, and b) it reminds me of our honeymoon, since that is where I first had it.

We spent the first leg of our honeymoon in Las Vegas (at the Venetian--HIGHLY recommend it!) then headed up to California. Neither of us had been to Vegas, but we'd both been to California (LA & Hollywood) and love it there. So we decided on a mix of a new place and adventure then a place that feels like home to us.

Our original plan had been to stay over in Santa Monica close to the pier and the beach. However, J broke his heel three weeks before the wedding, and while the doctor first thought J would be out of "the boot" by our honeymoon (which we took 3 weeks AFTER the wedding), turns out 6 weeks wasn't enough to fully mend, and the week before we were leaving, the doc gave him the dreaded "3 more weeks" line. So boot=no beach, which meant a change of plan.

Our new locale was North Hollywood, at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn.
http://www.beverlygarland.com/

We decided to stay here because it looked like a great little place, was somewhere new for us, had easy access to public transportation into the heart of Hollywood and back, and they also had a great package deal with Universal Studios, as well as a shuttle to get us there!

We tried to have lunch and dinner somewhere different each day, sometimes in our area or in Hollywood while we were there during the day. One place we kept spotting from the bus and shuttle was Vivian's Cafe, just up the street from our hotel. http://www.venturablvd.com/vivians-cafe/

We decided to have breakfast here our last day. Boy, how I wish we'd gone there sooner! It was DELICIOUS. I can't remember what J had, but I opted for the Huevos Salseros--per Vivian's menu : "Two eggs any style topped with warm salsa on top a flour tortilla. Served with our homefries." I ordered my eggs over easy, and in place of the homefries (I'm a hashbrown girl), I asked for a side of avocado, since I was in California after all, the Avocado capital!  It was wonderful--the salsa was homemade and delicious, and overall I was just in love with this dish. 

Since then (September 2010), I have made this almost every weekend! 

I start by heating a flour tortilla on low heat on my crepe pan. (You can heat in microwave if necessary, but better if you heat in a pan or skillet.)

 Fold the top over, and serve, or if you like a little more oomph, add some hot sauce. J & I are particularly fond of Cholula hot sauce.  

Fry my eggs, flip the tortilla to warm/toast evenly:

Try to work quickly to keep things as warm as possible. Tortilla on the plate, eggs on one half of the tortilla, and top with salsa. Fresh salsa is best. I love the Giant Eagle fresh salsa--the fire roasted salsa. Also, if you are local (Pittsburgh) in the Strip District look for Arturo of Cinco de Mayo salsas. He is also at the Farmer's Market May-November, and some of his salsas are available at the Mexican grocery store in the Strip District, a wonderful place! Arturo's salsas are amazing!

We usually have this with a side of fruit, but if you can find some good avocados, it's a perfect compliment to this dish!

We had the loveliest time in this little nook of North Hollywood, so it's nice to constantly think back on that trip. If you ever get there, be sure to stop at Vivian's!  

Catch-up

Good Afternoon and Happy First Day of Spring!

Well, I wanted to our meals from last Sunday, as they were "divine"!

Saturday night I prepped an overnight french toast recipe. You can use any kind of french or sourdough bread, or try like we did, a delicious wheat raisin walnut bread from our local grocery store.

I cut into 6 thick slices (recipe calls for 6 slices, each 3/4 inch thick) and since it was a larger loaf, needed 2 baking dishes for the bread instead of one. I also needed to mix up a little extra batter, but this is the basic recipe:

3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk all the ingredients together and pour over bread.

Soak overnight. In the morning, cook with real butter and serve with pure maple syrup.

I used our grill pan which we LOVE. Turned out great!

We topped our french toast with sliced bananas, but any berries would also make this breakfast extra delicious (and more healthy!). A very easy recipe, start to finish!

Dinner last Sunday was a chicken dish we'd been wanting to try. I'm not much of a meat-eater, but try to be a little more open to it, as J is willing to eat anything non-meat I might make. My stipulation is that it has to be organic, so usually once a month we take a trip to Whole Foods, pick out a few different meats to freeze and have throughout the month.  On the menu was stuffed chicken breasts, turnips & mushrooms, and Tomatoes Provencal.

I started out with cutting the turnips into 1-inch pieces and quartering from there. Tossed them in a bowl with some baby button mushrooms, olive oil, some herbs, and a bit of fresh ground sea salt & black pepper.

Spread those out on a pan and let them start roasting in the oven at 425 for about 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I started on my chicken dish. I got the chicken ready, simply by slicing a pocket in each breast.  In our cast-iron skillet, I sauteed sliced mushrooms in a little cooking spray with some dried thyme.

I let the mix cool in a bowl for about 10 minutes, then added some shredded part-skim mozzarella and fresh ground black pepper, then stuffed the chicken breasts with the mix.

                                               

 

The next step was the tricky part: to dredge the stuffed chicken in flour, then into beaten egg, and coat with panko bread crumbs. A little tricky with stuffed chicken! But I got it done and cooked in a little olive oil in the cast iron skillet, for about 2 minutes on each side.

Then the chicken was baked in the oven (in the cast iron skillet) for about 15 or 20 minutes at 350.

I quickly prepped the tomatoes by cutting in half, a little brush of olive oil, and topped them with a bread crumb and grated Parmesan cheese mix.

The final dish photo below is sans tomatoes, as the breadcrumbs got a *little* burnt when I broiled the tomatoes, so not really visually stunning. But they were still delicious!

Finally, my catch-up ends with our second Lenten Friday meal. I opted for a slight easy-out by purchasing crab meat-stuffed banana pepper halves from Giant Eagle. They have a lot of great items like these that are premade, freeze nicely, and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. J &I had had rough weeks at work, so I was looking to keep things simple but still delicious. I made a quick rice & bean dish that I popped in the oven 10 minutes into the peppers baking. I drained and rinsed a can of black beans while I cooked a Steamfresh bag of brown rice in the microwave. When the rice was finished, I emptied the bag of rice into a bowl, added about 2/3 of the black beans, a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream cheese, and a couple spoonfuls of salsa, and mixed well. I added the whipped cream cheese in an effort to maintain some moisture in the rice dish since I was baking it. (It worked!) I topped with a little shredded Mexican cheese blend and baked it for the remaining 10 minutes with the peppers.

I also made some homemade corn tortilla chips by slicing 4 small corn tortillas with my pizza cutter, spraying with a little vegetable oil, and topping with some fresh ground sea salt and black pepper. I baked those for the last 10 minutes as well, though next time I will bake a little longer or at a higher temp, as they were crispy on the outer sides, but still a little soft in the middle. But not bad for a first run!

Hope you've enjoyed the latest update. It's time for me to hit the kitchen to try a macaroni & cheese soup! I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!!

Ciao!

First Lenten Friday Dinner

Hello Again!

Hard to believe that Lent and meat-free Fridays are already upon us! I'm not much of a meat eater to begin with, so for me it's not a huge sacrifice, and thankfully my husband, J, will eat anything, despite not being Catholic and also not being an almost non-meat eater like myself.

I decided to start out Lent with a relatively easy Friday meal. Open-faced tuna melts, macaroni and cheese, and a broccoli/cauliflower mix.  We bought a loaf of olive oil bread from Giant Eagle (local grocery store) and J sliced into medium thick slices.  I drained two cans of chunk light tuna in water, and mixed in some reduced fat Kraft mayo (with olive oil), fresh ground black pepper, and dried dill weed. I used our awesome grill pan to toast the bread with a little melted 50/50 butter/olive oil stick (Smart Balance or Olivio).

I added the tuna mix:

Some sliced cherry tomatoes (full size tomato slices are best, but I am famous for making due with what is in the fridge):

And of, course, cheese:

You'll notice I used sliced American cheese on half (Land O' Lakes 2% yellow American) and shredded on the other half. (Mexican cheese blend of cheddar, monterey jack, queso and asadero cheese). In several recipes, I will do the best I can to keep things low fat & low sodium. Using shredded cheese when you would usually use slices works in several dishes. You don't lose the cheesiness you love but can cut some calories and fat.

When my macaroni was boiled, I got that mix going in the pot--again, just some of the butter blend stick and some slices of the 2% American cheese. Mac n' cheese is something I always experiment with and encourage everyone else to as well. I have used shredded cheeses, sliced cheeses, and added in extras like some leftover goat cheese or crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese. It can really kick it up another notch!

The veggies were steaming in the microwave (Bird's Eye cauliflower & broccoli florets...I have to have florets, not a big fan of stems, I'll admit it!), the mac n' cheese was almost done, and the tuna sandwiches went into the broiler. We LOVE to melt and brown up that cheese!

The finished meal:

You can see it's a *little* heavy on the mac n'cheese side...trial by error. For two, probably 1/2 to 2/3 cup dry macaroni would yield plenty for a side dish. We topped it with a few shakes of ground red cayenne pepper. We love things a little spicy!

One of my biggest pieces of advice is don't be afraid to go off the beaten path! Sometimes just trying something a little different--like an open-faced sandwich or adding different cheeses to your usual mac n'cheese dish--can really make the norm something special!

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On the menu for this weekend:

Overnight French Toast