My 100th (and last) post!

An announcement for my (two) readers:

I have decided to switch blog formats. You can now follow what I'm eating and drinking and cooking and growing over at: http://thefoodlife-bykaty.tumblr.com/

I know. It's crazy.

What I have been up to...

Beer and brats to kick off Maifest in Amana!

Barbecue chicken stuffed taters. 

The first crop of the season-- some radishes, and baby rainbow chard. (and a reusable target bag... so pretty)

roasted zucchini and summer squash-- timmy's new favorite!

chicken parmesan burgers-- these were amazing!

strawberry rhubarb crumb bars. oh. my. god.

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.