26 Jul
FoodBuzz 24,24,24: Could I Be the Next Food Network Star?
Posted by Michelle as Appetizers, Meat, Quick Breads, Seafood | 37 Comments
This is the fifth season of the Food Network’s dive into reality TV as they search for the network’s next big star. The show airs on Sunday evenings and contestants ranging from seasoned chefs to stay-at-home moms compete in different cooking and TV challenges to try to win a place on The Food Network’s lineup. For my FoodBuzz 24,24,24 event I decided to see how I could stack up against this season’s lot of contestants by preparing a number of the winning dishes featured on recent episodes and having my family act as the judges, rating each on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the best) and providing comments about each one. The dishes prepared were:
♦ Red Chili Citrus Mushrooms with Grilled Zucchini
♦ Bruschetta with Poached Egg, Truffle Oil, and Arugula
♦ Mulberry Street Burger
♦ Crispy Catfish wtih Edamame Succotash
♦ Spicy Southern Collard Greens with Sweet Maple Cornbread
♦ Chocolate Crepe with Tangerine Dried Red Chili Sauce
12 Mar
Braised Beef with Mushrooms and Cabernet Sauce
Posted by Michelle as Meat | 5 Comments
Braising is a cooking method I’ve been wanting to try ever since I treated myself to a Le Creuset dutch oven last year. What is braising, you ask? Allow me to provide a quick tutorial:
Braising is a combination cooking method using both moist and dry heat; typically the food is first seared at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with some liquid. Braising relies on heat, time, and moisture to successfully break down tough connective tissue and collagens in meat. A classic braised dish is Coq au Vin (which, incidentally, is on my big list of things to make). The basic steps to braising include: searing the meat at a high temperature, deglazing the pan with an acidic liquid such as wine and often combining it with stock, additional vegetables and/or seasonings are added to the pot and it is covered and left to a slow simmer or put in an oven at a low temperature to finish cooking.
The result? Fork-tender meat that melts in your mouth.
08 Oct
Roasted Flank Steak with Olive Oil-Herb Rub
Posted by Michelle as Meat | 6 Comments
I had cut this recipe out of a Cooking Light issue more than a year ago and stowed it away in my stash of “to make” recipes, never to be seen again. I have an entire folder of recipes ripped out of magazines that I want to try (not to mention the hundreds that are starred in my Google Reader), and until last week I had all but neglected them. Last Wednesday morning after getting out of the shower our power went out. I work from home, so no power = no work. I decided that my “recipe shelves” (i.e. all of my cookbooks, magazines, and tear outs) were in desperate need of a purge and reorganization, so with the freedom of not being tethered to any electronics, off I went and I unearthed this recipe. I honestly wish the power would go out more often – it’s such a liberating feeling to know you can’t turn on the TV, surf the Internet, or do anything else than just “be”. Maybe I should make that more of a priority even when the power IS on! I digress…
25 Jul
Beef Wellington
Posted by Michelle as Meat | 16 Comments
I know, I know, I said that this blog didn’t have “fancy” recipes, but consider this one of my exceptions. I was first introduced to Beef Wellington when I went to Fleming’s Steakhouse a few years ago. While browsing the menu, it jumped out at me:
Filet mignon? Check!
Mushrooms? Check!
Wrapped in flaky puff pastry? Check!
It didn’t take me long to figure out what I was ordering, and I was in love. I hadn’t thought about it recently but then it was featured as a challenge on The Next Food Network Star competition, and I started craving it again, this time resolving to make it at home. The classic preparation of this dish involves searing a beef tenderloin and topping it with mushroom duxelles, a slice of goose or duck liver, and wrapped in puff pastry. I made individual servings by wrapping single servings of filet mignon in the puff pastry, and it was definitely one of the most gourmet meals I have made at home, and absolutely worth it! Served with garlic smashed potatoes and green beans, it was a fabulous meal. And to top it off, I can now cross Beef Wellington off of my “Top 100” list!
27 Mar
Beef Burgundy, Crockpot Style
Posted by Michelle as Meat | 0 Comments
This was another hit from the Cooking Light Slow Cooker cookbook. I have made this dish twice now in a very short amount of time, and I really enjoy it. The meat becomes very tender and the sauce is extremely flavorful. The whole pearl onions and mushrooms both cook down and really taste wonderful. And I’m totally sold on using my crock pot – it’s so nice to spend a little time early in the day and have dinner done and waiting for you when you’re ready to sit down and eat!
12 Mar
Pot Roast in the Crock Pot
Posted by Michelle as Meat | 26 Comments
I absolutely adore my crock pot. I love being able to devote a small amount of time in the morning in order to have a hot, hearty, and delicious meal done and waiting when it’s time to sit down and eat. It’s genius, really. That being said, I don’t use it nearly enough. Last Christmas my cousin bought me the Cooking Light Slow Cooker cookbook for our gift exchange, and it’s full of amazing recipes. I have finally begun to try to get the most out of it and try some new recipes. I can’t say enough good things about this cookbook – there hasn’t been one thing that I’ve tried that I haven’t loved.
I got a late start on getting this into the crock pot and as a result, it ended up cooking for 8 hours instead of 10, but it was still fabulously tender and falling apart. All of the vegetables were cooked to perfection – soft, and incredibly tasty. At first I found it odd that the meat was to marinade in soy sauce, as I was skeptical of an Asian pot roast, but you couldn’t even taste the soy sauce in the finished product. I also didn’t use dried mushrooms, but instead threw some creminis in with the rest of the raw vegetables and simply combined the beef broth with reserved marinade and tomato paste.
Lis over at La Mia Cucina is hosting this month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge, and has chosen the theme of Crock Pots, Dutch Ovens, and Pressure Cookers. I couldn’t think of a better dish to enter into this blogging event! So go on and dig through your cookbooks and find a recipe that uses one of these great inventions, and shoot it over to Lis! Goodbye winter! Ta Ta!
04 Feb
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Posted by Michelle as Meat, Pasta, Noodles and Dumplings | 34 Comments
The ultimate in Italian comfort food.
Growing up, our extended family would gather at my Grandma’s every Sunday for the traditional Sunday dinner (which, in contrast to common nomenclature, is actually eaten by Italians at what is typically lunchtime). While there was always some type of meat on the table, some potatoes and vegetables, the star of dinner was always pasta. It may have been ravioli, gnocchi, manicotti, lasagna, spaghetti (all homemade, of course), or some other variation of pasta, but without a doubt, you could always count on a great pasta dish. It feels warm, comfortable, cozy, and just like home. And for that reason I am submitting my spaghetti and meatballs into What’s For Lunch Honey’s Monthly Mingle Comfort Foods blog event.
Meeta asked fellow bloggers to celebrate the foods that pick us up when we are down, warms us when we are feeling lost, and blurs out the bad mood. This is what spaghetti and meatballs represent in my house… the warmth of family, memories of childhood, and a connection to my heritage.
I hope you enjoy these simple and classic recipes.
20 Aug
Miniature Italian Meatloaves
Posted by Michelle as Meat, Vegetables | 8 Comments
Meatloaves!
(sorry for the dark pics tonight)
A classic American dish with more varieties than Heinz 57 (yes, a shameless plug for my hometown!). These individual-sized meatloaves cooked up significantly faster than a large traditional meatloaf and the seasoning mix made them taste like huge meatballs! An additional benefit is having leftovers ready to go and not needing to be sliced up.
I served these with garlic mashed potatoes – the recipe is also posted below.
Teeny Tiny Italian Meatloaves
(adapted from Amber’s Delectable Delights)
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1 cup spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1/4 onion, grated
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Gently mix 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce with the remaining ingredients.
3) Divide into four equal portions and form into desired shape. Place onto greased baking pan.
4) Smother each loaf with remaining spaghetti sauce and top with extra mozzarella cheese.
5) Bake for 40-50 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
4 medium sized red potatoes (about 3.5 cups cubed), scrubbed
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
1) Cube potatoes and place in pot with peeled garlic cloves. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes; drain.
2) Place in a bowl with remaining ingredients and mash or beat with electric mixer.
06 Aug
Italian Stuffed Peppers
Posted by Michelle as Meat, Vegetables | 0 Comments
Tonight was a stop in Italy. Although stuffed peppers are not an inherently Italian dish (sshhh, don’t tell my Grandma!), this version certainly tasted like it was straight from the old country! The addition of the parmesan cheese and using spaghetti sauce versus plain tomato sauce made all the difference. This is my new official stuffed pepper recipe!
Italian Stuffed Peppers (adapted from Lunch with Lynn)
4 large bell peppers
1 cup cooked rice
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 large vidalia onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce (I used homemade that I had in the freezer)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cut the tops off of peppers and clean out seeds and membranes. Place in baking dish that has a small amount of water on the bottom (it will keep the peppers from sticking and keep them moist).
3. Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic, crumbling the meat. Season with salt, pepper and a couple of dashes of Italian seasoning. Drain beef mixture.
4. Mix beef mixture, rice, parmesan cheese and almost all of spaghetti sauce in a bowl. Stuff an equal amount of filling into each pepper. Top with a spoonful of sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on each pepper.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and continue to bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
**What I Would Do Differently**
The peppers were still pretty raw when they came out of the oven, so next time I would boil them quickly to get them started before stuffing them and baking them.
22 May
Taco Rice Salad
Posted by Michelle as Meat, Salads | 0 Comments
I saved a Cooking Light recipe ages ago and finally got around to trying it tonight. I really enjoy Mexican food and I usually make fajitas, but this recipe for taco salad sounded insanely good and I couldn’t wait to make it! The only things I changed were ommitting the chili powder and cumin to make it more mild, and ommitting the chopped tomato because I hate tomatoes. This turned out fabulous – I’ll be saving this recipe 
I made tortilla bowls using fajita wraps that I had in the house. They were super easy to make – I inverted two ramekin cups on a baking pan, coated them with cooking spray and laid the tortillas on top. I brushed them with some olive oil and baked them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, until browned and crispy.
