Blackberry Pecan Cream cheese Muffins

Blackberry? Pecan? Cream cheese? Muffin? Any one of those things would be delicious enough on its own, but all together? There are no words. I originally found this recipe for Raspberry cream cheese muffins on Cooking Light's website, and was  excited to have found a way to use up some of the leftover buttermilk that I had from the St. Paddy's day Irish Soda Bread. I was all set to use frozen raspberries, and then the happiest surprise of my life happened  (only a slight exaggeration) when I found FRESH blackberries on sale for $1.50 a pint at the grocery store. Glorious. So-- anyway, I swapped raspberries for blackberries, and walnuts for pecans, and then I ate like five of these beautiful little babies before they even cooled down. Ohhhh man, they were so good. So so so so good. Okay I'm done now. 

Winner Winner Pork Chop Dinner

Sunday at the store, they were having a sale on what I will call  "big daddy" pork chops, and I decided I needed them to make for dinner. However, I planned poorly -- since the chops were so thick, they really should have cooked for a long time at a low temperature to ensure that they were super juicy while still being cooked all the way. Spoiler alert, I cooked them really quickly on the stove top and they were a bit dry. Oh well, it was still a lovely meal.

Pork Chops:
- two "big daddy" chops (they were close to an inch thick)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- salt & pepper
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- oil for cooking
- chicken stock

First, combine the buttermilk and seasonings and then cover the pork chops with it. In theory, the tang of the buttermilk should help to tenderize the meat and ensure a juicy delicious chop.... like I said, in theory. Then, if you want to undo all of the tenderizing you just did, you should cook it in a hot pan on the stove top like me! I heated just a bit of canola oil in a skillet, and seared the chops on both sides, then I poured on some chicken stock and let them "braise" for a few minutes to finish cooking. Had I done this for longer on a lower temp, or had the pork chops been bone-in, this might have actually worked. As it stands, I think the flavors were perfect, but it was definitely a bit dry.

Mashed Potatoes and Carrots with Basil and Feta:
In an attempt to use up as many near expired or overripe items in my fridge and pantry as possible, I created a very colorful and eclectic side dish for this meal. It ended up being kind of fabulous, and I think I'm going to do the potato/carrot mash up again. Not only is it a pretty color, but I think it requires less salt, butter, or cheese than normal mashed potatoes because of the sweetness and depth of flavor that the carrots offer.

- 4 red potatoes (skin on)
- 3 carrots
- salt & pepper
- goats' milk feta (my new favorite thing, oh man)
- 1 TBSP butta
- a handful of fresh basil leaves, rougly chopped, or torn.

Boil potatoes and carrots in salted water until softened. Drain, and put butter in the hot pan, add taters and carrots back in and start smashing adding milk as necessary. Then fold in  feta and basil and.


***this side is vegetarian and gluten free! 


You may recognize my "Go to salad" with shallots, nuts (pecans this time), cheese (gorgonzola), and fruit (fresh blackberries! YES!) in the photo.

Roasted Carrots with Feta and Mint

I hardly did any cooking this week somehow, but on Tuesday evening for vampire night, it was my turn for salad. I went outside the box a bit with my definition of salad, and made Michael Symon's roasted carrots with mint and feta.

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, but I allowed the carrots to completely cool and served it as a room temperature salad. Also, I used some all goats' milk feta-- I think it might be one of my new favorite cheeses! The dish was pretty fantastic, and accompanied Mandy's greek chicken gyros perfectly!

The sweetness of the honey, the tang of the vinegar, and the savory cumin really made the carrots pop. They would have been great alone, but with the feta and mint , this dish was fabulous!  The only negative is that while roasting the carrots, my pan got basically destroyed-- no matter how much scrubbing I do, I cannot get the burned cumin honey off. I guess it was worth it? If I did this again, I think I would omit the honey from the initial roasting phase, and actually, I might parboil the carrots and try to finish them on the grill instead of in a hot oven.

Tim is going to be planting a lot of carrots in his deck garden this summer, so I can't wait to try this again with some home grown beauties!

St. Paddy's Day 2012

Timmy and I just realized that this was our FIFTH St. Patrick's Day together. Wow. It was definitely our most laid back holiday, in that I spent a lot of the day working, and I had half a beer total, all day, but it was still pretty great. For the third year in a row, Tim cooked for me, and he really hit his stride this year.

Timmy prepping the carrots

Chef Timmy was in charge of the corned beef that he made in the crock pot with some delicious carrots and cabbage. And, to make something extra special, we also had butter potatoes! Yummm.

The beef, carrots, and cabbage hot out of the pan (hence the dreamy fuzziness from the steam)

 I was in charge of everything else, so I made Kale chips as a snack. I was surprised at how much Tim liked them, and I can't wait to make them again for us. They are possibly the easiest snack in the world to make--- take kale leaves, rip into bite sized pieces, toss with 1 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on a sheet for 20-30 minutes at 300. (I really love them with seasoning blends from Penzey's like Turkish seasoning, or Mural of Flavor as well.)

I also made a Vegan Guinness Cake with a chocolate whiskey glaze. Because we ate so much corned beef, I only ate about three bites of the whole cake, but it was pretty darn tasty! Since the cake was vegan, it was nice to have the little extra something that the Guinness offered.

Also, just like last year, I baked Irish Soda Bread. It was extra delicious piled high with corned beef and cabbage. I also ate it the next morning toasted with butter and honey. I love how the sweetness of the raisins is counteracted by the savory caraway seeds, and this bread is the perfect texture. Plus it is so easy and requires no kneading or rising time, and it is pretty darn gorgeous.

I think my food coma lasted about three days, but it was definitely worth it. Happy St. Paddy's to all!

the whole spread

My adorable "Kiss me I'm Iowish" tee. :)

Weekly Wrap- Up 3/11-3/17

Wednesday 3/14/12: Corn Chowder

One of my favorite restaurants is a place in North Liberty called Red's. They have amazing food (including a burger that my father claims is the "best he has ever had"!), an incredible beer selection, and the most glorious patio. But, the greatest thing about Red's, at least according to Tim and me, is their amazing bacon and corn chowder. It is sweet from the corn, salty from the bacon, creamy (from what I assume to be cream), and has just enough bite in the form of fresh scallions. I have been promising Tim that I would try to recreate the chowder at home, and on Wednesday I decided to give it a shot. I also decided that I would try to make a healthy version (i.e., less bacon, and milk instead of cream). I started by crisping the bacon, and sauteeing garlic, scallion, and a chopped poblano pepper in the rendered fat. Then I added in some yukon gold taters, and covered it with chicken stock and brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer. Once the taters were soft, I threw in a bag of frozen corn (this would be SO MUCH MORE AMAZING with fresh corn), enough 2% milk to make it creamy, and then I added a few tablespoons of polenta (b/c I don't have any corn meal) to thicken and bump up the corn goodness. I served it with scallions, cheddar cheese, and greek yogurt to garnish. 

At least it looks pretty! 

This would have been pretty good (not as good as Red's, but pretty good), but I was an idiot and walked away from the kitchen for a few minutes and when I came back the chowder was boiling, the milk was scalded, and the bottom of the pot was burned. I was so mad I couldn't even enjoy it... but Tim liked it, so that's good!

*Note, this is gluten free, and if the bacon was omitted entirely, it would be vegetarian and honestly it would still taste good! 

Thursday 3/15/12: Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu with Kale and Red Peppers

Last week for "vampire club" I decided to make a recipe that I had been eyeing on Pinterest for awhile. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I doubled the "sauce", and I used this amazing marinated tofu that I get at the Coop. Also, I'm not sure what type of kale they used in the original recipe, but I used red kale which is just a bit more delicate than the other varieties, and it is super gorgeous (it should be called "purple" kale, but whatever). I only slightly wilted it, so it still had a ton of texture which is visible in the photo. I served the stir-fry with some rice noodles, but it would be amazing on its own too. 

This recipe was so amazing that I'm actually going to make it again this week, and I think I actually might succeed at getting (tricking) Tim to eat tofu! He is officially not afraid of kale anymore, and he likes red peppers, so I'm hoping if I jut call this "Stir Fry" and put it in front of him that he will be a happy camper. 

* Note,  I used chicken stock, but if I had used veggie this would be completely vegan, also it is gluten free! 

Friday 3/16/12: Fettucini with Shrimp and Bell Pepper

Friday evening, I threw together a quick dinner that turned out pretty great. I had a red bell pepper leftover from the stir fry, and some frozen shrimp leftover from last week's scampi, so I sauteed them up with some garlic and spring onion, and then tossed them with fresh fettucini noodles, some lemon infused olive oil, and fresh parm. It doesn't look that special in this photo, but it was pretty delish.

Weekly wrap-up 3/4/12- 3/10/12

Monday 3/5/12: Whole Wheat Pasta with Anchovy-Walnut Sauce

See, no anchovies in site.

I know a lot of people are utterly afraid of anchovies, and I honestly don't know why. Nothing is tastier than the oily salty yumminess that anchovies offer (though as a kid I had sardines as an afternoon snack, so perhaps I'm biased). Anyway, in this recipe, like most that include the feared fishy, you would never even know it contained something so "yucky" because it just melts down and adds lovely depth of flavor. However, it also adds an insane amount of saltiness, so beware! In fact, I might not even salt the pasta water if I made this again...



Wednesday 3/7/12: Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf

For Wednesday night dinner, I made a barbecue  turkey meatloaf that included homemade barbecue sauce (ketchup + vinegar + dijon + brown sugar + cayenne+ onion + garlic+ cumin) along with some other yummy stuff like parsley and oatmeal (to keep it nice and moist). The end result was pretty yummy but it looks gross. So, I'm not showing a photo. Oh, also I forgot to take a photo, so that is also part of the reason. Tim gobbled this down and claimed dibs on all of the leftovers too, so I guess it was a winner winner turkey meatloaf dinner!


Thursday 3/8/12: Spiced Quinoa

yum yum yummy

This recipe was recommended to me by my good friend Jamie last year when I was collecting heart healthy recipes for my friend Rachel. I was just searching through my pantry the other night and realized I happened to have all of the ingredients (except for pine nuts, darn) on hand, so I decided to try it. It was pretty good -- though if I were to make it again, I would increase the quinoa to chickpea/raisin ratio, and I would also add more spices, and maybe some fresh cilantro. The flavors were good, but I like to be really hit in the face with curry. I ate the leftovers cold as lunch a few days later and they were spectacular. So, next time I make this, I will probably serve it cold as a salad or side as well... It's a nice mix of sweet and savory and spicy, and  has amazing textures too. I bet it would be even more awesome with the pine nuts for some crunch



Saturday 3/10/12: (vegan) Cinnamon Cupcakes with (not vegan) Brown Sugar Butter Cream

cupcake art?

It was my turn for dessert on vampire night, and I decided to make cupcakes. For some reason cupcakes seemed like a big task. Even though they are somewhat plain in flavor, design, etc., the process seeemed so tedious! Plus, I have to follow recipes. What a drag. I much prefer chopping up fruit, throwing it in a crust, and just seeing what happens. Anyway, I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs (love and olive oil) to try out vegan baking. I was pleasantly surprised! The cupcakes had a great light and fluffy texture. They weren't too sweet either, which was nice. I didn't love the flavor of the butter cream, but I think it wasn't anything wrong with the recipe, it just tasted like my butter was old (it wasn't, so that was curious). I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top to disguise the flavor and it ended up fine.

Weekly wrap up: 2/26 - 3/3

The past several weeks I have been spending what seems like every waking minute working on my prospectus. And while this leaves little time for writing blog entries (despite my New Year's Resolution to increase all types of writing activity), I did take time to cook a few times and snap some quick photos. Here are all the yummies from the last week!

Sunday Brunch for 1: Rum Raisin, Cinnamon Swirled Baked Oatmeal. Sunday morning I was really craving something slightly sweet. Because making pancakes (from scratch) for one is quite difficult, I turned this yummy looking pancake recipe into a baked oatmeal recipe! So, I soaked the raisins in rum, and added them to my standard baked oatmeal (1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup 1% milk, one egg) and then swirled in a mixture of cinnamon, raw sugar, and about a 1/2 teaspoon of water (to make it into a paste). I baked it at 350 for 20 minutes and then devoured it in 20 seconds. Oh-- I poured more milk on it before I ate it too, because I was feeling extra indulgent.

Sunday dinner: (Leftover) Fontina polenta with mushroom saute. For "vampire night" this week, I was on dinner duty. I went to my go-to source for a great meal, the December 2010 issue of Cooking Light magazine. This sounds really odd, but this magazine has given me more "winners" of recipes than most cook books I own! For a $2.95 price tag, that is not half bad. This recipe was no exception. It came together really quickly and was absolutely delicious. The leftovers weren't half bad either! I just changed a few things with the recipe-- for one, I used fontina cheese instead of fontal. Also, I used chicken stock instead of veggie, and my mushrooms were a blend of shitake and white button. Finally, I skipped the whole "put the polenta in the broiler" step and just ate it straight from the pot. And you know what? I got no complaints. 

Wednesday dinner: (sideways?) Cauliflower and Kale pasta bake and my go-to spinach salad. Wednesday I tried a recipe that I have on Pinterest. Well, I didn't so much follow the recipe as I did say "oh cauliflower and kale sound good" and made it up as I went along. I don't really know what I did here, but I know it was just okay. The star of the meal was my go-to salad. Some type of green (spinach in this case) + poppyseed dressing + a tangy cheese (gorgonzola) + a bit of bite from an onion (shallot) + some nut or seed (walnut) + dried or fresh fruit (crasin) = instant salad success! Especially when the greens are tossed in the dressing and the toppings are added later. Fool proof! 

Friday dinner for two: Kale Caesar Salad and Shrimp Scampi Rice Pilaf. Last week while working on my prospectus over at Tim's, I caught a recorded episode of Symon's Suppers (yes, my boyfriend DVR's cooking shows for me-- that is why he's wonderful!), and was inspired by the one and only Michael Symon to make a Caesar salad with kale instead of romaine. I didn't follow his recipe, but it was still super delicious. To make the dressing, I combined a grated garlic clove, the zest and juice of one lemon, an anchovy, some black pepper, parmesan cheese, and then slowly whisked in olive oil. I then tossed the kale leaves in the dressing and let it sit for close to an hour (while most salads would be ruined from sitting in dressing, the kale gets better as the acid slowly "cooks" it) and topped it with some thinly sliced shallots and tomatoes. YUM. 

Cooking dinner for Tim and I during lent is always nice because it lets me stretch my seafood legs a bit. Last Friday I made shrimp scampi rice, which is based off of a dish my mom made probably twice a month when I was growing up. It couldn't be easier, and it's sooo delicious. Basically, I melted about two TBSP of butter with another TBSP of olive oil (this was for four servings, so not much in each) and then sauteed some grated garlic, red pepper flakes, and scallions. Meanwhile I cooked up a pot of brown rice (if it was minute rice I would have just made it in the same pot as the yummy butter mixture, but it was the regular old "cook it for 30 minutes" kind instead). Just before the rice was done, I threw the shrimp in to steam up and then tossed in the yummy sauce. Last but not least, I topped it with the zest of a lemon (Tim proceeded to pick out every little piece of lemon, so next time I'll skip that step) and some more fresh scallions and finely minced parsley. So easy and delish! 

Saturday night dinner: Pantry Pasta (aka black squid ink fettucine with artichoke hearts, sundried tomato, spinach, and parmesan). Sometimes I just don't feel like grocery shopping. This is rare, since any food market is basically my heaven. But, Saturday was one of those "I can't bare putting on shoes, let alone real pants" kinds of evenings, so I had to go shopping in my pantry instead! I had half a package of black fettucine left from Valentine's day, so I put on a pot of boiling water, and meanwhile made a quick sauce of chopped canned artichoke hearts, the last couple sundried tomatoes out of a package, and half a bag of spinach (along with garlic, EVOO, red pepper, parm, and that sort of stuff). Tossed it all together and YUM. Not the worst pantry pasta I've ever had. 

So, that's what I cooked last week! I'm hoping for some equally delicious meals this week! Maybe some even inspired by the spring weather we will be having??