Recant! Retract! Withdraw!

Remember this post? http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-shocking-development.html

Recant! Retract! Withdraw!

E-A-G-L-E-S.... Eagles!!

recipe 84: grilled pork loin with brown sugar cilantro chimichurri

Fine. Summer's over. Here's a picture from my sister's birthday in Atlantic City which is evidence that summer is over. I'm all about evidence and proof, by the way, which is part of my job description: "please be all about evidence and proof, thanks." So I am, and here's evidence that summer is over:

Happy Birthday, sister!

Since you've last heard from me, I've been busy practicing Gangnam Style http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangnam_Style in both totally appropriate settings (e.g. Atlantic City hotel rooms and weddings) and totally inappropriate settings (e.g. work), and busy becoming obsessed with Honey Boo Boo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Honey_Boo_Boo, about a month and a half after the rest of the universe.

Coming right up is my last summer recipe, which can also be easily autumnized or winterized, if the pork is cooked in one of these fashions, instead of grilled: http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/06/recipes-42-43-44-45-trifecta-third-pork.html

So I heard about chimichurri for the first time on a trip to Argentina in 2007 with my friend Amy. We ate it with our delicious Argentinean steak at Las Lilas: http://www.laslilas.com/restaurant.php. This page appears to be partially in Spanish, sorry, but I wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone hitting up Buenos Aires anytime soon!

Argentina. August. That tricky southern hemisphere! Look how well I'm transitioning into the colder weather in 2007!

Anyway, my chimichurri sauce is not actually from Argentina but is instead inspired by Tyler Florence, via Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pork-tenderloin-with-chimichurri-recipe/index.html. My version of this recipe is so different from this version, that it may actually qualify as my own recipe, but the inspiration comes from Las Lilas and Tyler Florence.

GRILLED PORK LOIN WITH BROWN SUGAR CILANTRO CHIMICHURRI
Ingredients:
-one pork loin, marinated in the sauce and grilled
-1 c chopped fresh cilantro
-6 T olive oil
-minced garlic, lots
-1/2 t salt
-1/4 t pepper
-5 T dark brown sugar
-3 T mustard
-1 T soy sauce
-1 T honey
-2 t balsamic vinegar
-2 squeezed limes

Instructions:
1) mix all marinade ingredients and marinate the pork in about half of the marinade for up to 24 hours (reserving the other half of the marinade for after the pork is cooked)
2) grill the pork to your liking
3) drizzle the pork with the remaining marinade

recipe 83: tomato sandwiches

The week before last, Tristan was closing a deal at work which meant that he averaged being at work until 5:45AM every day. So when the cat was away, the mice decided to play. And how did they play? They played by veggie-loading. Tristan and my mom both share a semi-disdain for raw tomatoes. I, on the other hand, would rank a good tomato close to the top of my list of favorite vegetables. So, taking advantage of the deal closing situation, I stopped at a Jersey farm-stand during the course of my daily meanderings and purchased the last perfect tomatoes of the season. Then I proceeded to make myself this recipe for dinner exactly four nights in a row. It is adapted from here: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tomato-Sandwich, minus the sugar (eek) and with waaaaay less mayo. So simple, so good! I also made a broccoli salad to accompany it, but that was a real flop. It tasted more like marshmallow ambrosia than vegetables. Tristan described it as "confusing." It won't go on the blog, don't worry! Proof positive that I only post deliciousness. And speaking of the mice, I know everybody is curious about that situation. It appears that they marched right into the apartment, saw my very hard core industrial strength multiple-kill mousetrap which I knew would be a solid investment, turned around, and marched right back out for good. Hallelujah!

TOMATO SANDWICH
Ingredients:
-a really ripe, really good, really in-season Jersey tomato, sliced
-2 slices of good toast
-butter
-mayo
-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1) butter the toast when it is still hot
2) spread on a light layer of mayo
3) add the tomato slices
4) sprinkle with salt and pepper

There isn't a picture of the four nights of tomato sandwiches because the camera battery was dead (this is a really low budget blog, okay?), but there is a picture of this:

Bruce concert last night!

recipes 79, 80, 81, and 82: burgers!

It's still summer. It is still summer. It is.

First of all, before the burgers, it's time to have another Google search Q and A session. Here we go:

1) calzone party- Haha! Whoever typed that one into the Google search field is as big a dork as I am. Here's your how-to-have-a-calzone-party guide: http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/06/recipes-38-39-40-and-41-trifecta-second.html
2) bocconotti cookies- Somebody else knows what these are and was searching for them? Hooray!  Dear Searcher: do you know how to make bocconotti? Comment here and let me know and as a bonus, you'll join Kelly, my best little friend from elementary school who moved to Georgia on the day of my First Holy Communion, as the two "elite status" commenters. Kel- you got a shout out!
3) free blank venn diagram template- It is hilarious that all of these people looking to make venn diagrams are stumbling upon this blog of mine. Hilarious and probably totally unhelpful for them. Sorry!
4) authentic dirndl- see it here! Your one-stop-blogspot for authentic dirndls and a fun story behind them: http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/04/recipes-23-and-24-chunkey-monkey.html
5) make red sugar- This one is my favorite! I have no idea how to officially "make red sugar" (can't you just buy sprinkles? Or mix in a few drops of red food coloring with regular sugar?), but I want to point out that this search led to not one, but two page views. Two people in one week (or maybe the same person twice) were interested in "making red sugar" and landed upon this literary masterpiece of a blog. I love it.

Moving along to my favorite homemade burgers. The first recipe is from the girl from my high school who used to have the food blog that sadly no longer exists- I think I adapted it but I can't check back to cross-reference because that blog no longer exists. The second recipe is from Stacey and Keith, and I think they adapted it from something in the Wall Street Journal. And the third recipe is from my aunt and godmother, Auntie Kim (who, for the first three years of my life and still sometimes now, I called/call Auntie Kippie because that is somehow easier to say). She got it from here: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Chicken-Parm-Burger-Debi-Tschinkel. I made my own garden fresh tomato sauce to go with this, recipe adapted from here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/08/easy-garden-tomato-sauce.html#more.

CHERRY GORGONZOLA BURGERS
Ingredients:
-12 oz lean ground beef
-1/2 - 3/4 c chopped dried cherries
-1/2 c breadcrumbs
-1 minced garlic clove
-1 T balsamic vinegar
-2 t dijon mustard
-1 t Worchestire sauce
-salt and pepper, to taste
-1/2 of a small vidalia onion (or really, any onion will work) and a little bit of butter
-gorgonzola crumbles

Instructions:
1) mix all ingredients except the onion and gorgonzola, until combined
2) divide into 4 equal 1/2 inch thick patties, making a slight impression in the center of each
3) grill until desired level of doneness
4) saute the onion in some butter and place atop the burgers along with the gorgonzola crumbles
5) Cherries? Gorgonzola? Beef? Don't knock it until you try it- these are delicious!

It's hard to tell if I took a bite of this before I took the picture. We'll go with no, I did not.

SPICY-ISH BEER BURGERS
Ingredients:
-1 lb beef
-1/8 c Worchestire sauce
-1 T chili powder
-1/4 c beer
-drizzle of olive oil

Instructions:
1) combine the ingredients
2) form into patties
3) grill to desire level of doneness... simple and delicious!

CHICKEN PARM BURGERS
Ingredients:

Burger 
-1 lb ground chicken
-1 T olive oil
-some fresh torn basil
-1 T finely chopped onion
-a sprinkle of salt 
-crushed red pepper flakes, to taste 

Coating
-1 c panko breadcrumbs and 1/2 c parmesan cheese, mixed together in a dish

Topping
-garden tomato sauce, see below
-slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
-some yummy rolls

Instructions:
1) mix together the meat, oil, and spices and form into patties
2) coat each patty well with the panko/parm cheese mixture
3) put the burgers on wax paper and set in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
4) fry the burgers in a pan with oil until brown on both sides, and then let them drain on paper towel

5) top the burgers with some sauce and mozzarella

6) bake the burgers at 350 degrees until the cheese melts (maybe 5 minutes or so)

Thank you for this delicious recipe, Auntie Kippie! XOXO!

GARDEN TOMATO SAUCE
Ingredients:
-1 T olive oil
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
-salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
-fresh basil, to taste
-a healthy splash of whatever wine happens to be sitting around

Instructions:
1) heat the oil and cook the garlic until golden
2) add all other ingredients, except the wine, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes
3) mash the tomatoes right in the pan with a potato masher
4) add the wine, and simmer until the wine and liquids have boiled off, thereby making a chunky sauce perfect for on top of the burgers!

A shocking development...

Fact: I'm starting to like the Giants. A lot.
Fact: This will never replace my long-standing devotion to the Eagles. This makes sense to me and only me. But again, this is my blog and I can divide my loyalties however I like.
Fact: I will never, ever, ever like the Yankees.
So memorialized.

recipe 78: Tristan's mom's potato salad with grilled steak

Have I mentioned that Tristan's mom was an excellent cook? This is one of Tristan's favorites of her recipes. I am unsure of its source. She made it for both of us the night before our first trip to Jamaica, and then graciously allowed me to keep my eyesore of an old car (which has since been upgraded) in her driveway for the next five days. This blog, up until now, has been all about tried-and-trues. This one is not a tried-and-true, and that's because I'm nervous to make it and mess it up. It's a "true" because I've eaten it and it's delicious, but it's not yet a "tried." It's going on here anyway, and if I ever stop being nervous about making it, I will take a picture and post it later. Speaking of retroactive picture taking of already-posted recipes, I've finally taken a picture of recipe #1: chicken piccata- http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/02/recipes-1-and-2-chicken-piccata-and.html

TRISTAN'S MOM'S POTATO SALAD WITH GRILLED STEAK AND WARM BACON-SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE
Ingredients:
-8 garlic cloves, mashed
-salt and pepper
-1 1/4 lbs. flank steak
-2 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed
-4 slices of bacon
-2 shallots, peeled and minced
-3 T champagne vinegar
-juice of one lemon
-1/2 t sugar
-4 T minced parsley
-1/2 c olive oil
-2 bunches radishes, thinly sliced
-thinly sliced red onion
-6 oz fresh green beans, blanched until just tender

Instructions:
1) place 2/3 of the garlic in a bowl, along with 2 t salt and some pepper
2) rub this mixture on the steak, cover and refrigerate from two hours to overnight
3) cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling water until tender but not mushy, for 12-20 minutes
4) make the vinaigrette: cook the bacon until crisp, remove the bacon to paper towels and reduce heat; cook the shallots in the bacon fat, simmering until tender and fragrant for about 8 minutes; add the remaining garlic and saute for about 1 minute; add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, 3 T of the parsley, and simmer for another minute; add the olive oil, remove from the heat, and crumble the bacon (setting the bacon aside)
5) drain the potatoes, let them cool slightly, and thinly slice them
6) place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl and add the red onion, radishes, green beans, and half of the dressing, tossing together
7) grill the steak for about 6 minutes on each side, let it rest, and then slice it diagonally
8) arrange the steak over the salad, heat the remaining vinaigrette in a small saucepan, and spoon it over the steak
9) scatter the crumbled bacon and remaining parsley on top of the salad and serve

recipes 75, 76, and 77: a few more old school totally tubular summer recipes

The first recipe is from the wife of a distant cousin. Her name is Helen and when I was little, she had the best backyard Slip-n-Slide http://www.retroland.com/slip-n-slide/#.UFUgkq5GiSo ever. It is super eighties and super retro (the recipe and the Slip-n-Slide)! Totally tubular! The second recipe is timeless, classic macaroni salad. It is a mash-up of various recipes. I would have no clue which ones. Therefore, it is my own. The third recipe is that ramen coleslaw thing that was all the rage in the late 90s. It comes from the mom of these two boys I used to babysit for in guess when? The late 90s. These three recipes are oldies but goodies!

HELEN'S LAYERED SALAD
Ingredients:
-sliced iceberg lettuce
-crumbled bacon
-frozen peas that are thawed
-thinly sliced red onions
-sliced tomatoes
-mayonnaise

Instructions:
1) layer the ingredients in the order listed above (starting with the lettuce) in a large bowl
2) continue layering until the bowl is full
3) refrigerate for an hour or so, and then stir before serving

CLASSIC, TIMELESS MACARONI SALAD (note: this makes a TON... I learned the hard way that it would have perhaps been a better idea to cut this recipe in half, so I advise that you do just that)
Ingredients:
-1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked, drained, and cooled
-3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
-2 celery stalks, diced
-1 T pickle relish
-1 c mayo (more or less; basically just enough to thoroughly coat)
-salt and pepper to taste
-1/4 c diced green pepper
-1/4 c diced red pepper
-2 T diced green onions
-1 T mustard

Instructions:
1) hard-boil the eggs as follows: in a large pot, cover the eggs with one inch of water, bring to a boil, cover the pot, remove from heat, let the eggs sit in the water for about 8 minutes, and then shock them in cold water (peel and dice when cooled)
2) mix the remainder of the ingredients until well-combined, and refrigerate until cold

MRS. M'S RAMEN COLESLAW
Ingredients:
-1 c olive oil
-1/2 c sugar
-1/3 c white vinegar
-1 package of ramen, crumbled
-1 bunch of scallions, chopped
-1 lb of packaged coleslaw mix
-1 c sunflower seeds

Instructions:
1) the night before, mix together the first four ingredients (including the ramen seasoning), and refrigerate overnight
2) the next day, mix the above with the remaining ingredients
3) chill and serve

recipe 74: grilled zucchini with yogurt and dill

This recipe is from the Stacey/Keith Grummer Collection 2011. It's a healthy one!

GRILLED ZUCCHINI WITH YOGURT AND DILL
Ingredients:
-thick zucchini slices
-fresh dill
-yogurt
-olive oil, a drizzle
-some fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Instructions:
1) mix together all of the ingredients (except the zucchini)
2) marinate the zucchini slices in the mixture for at least an hour
3) grill in some foil...

recipes 69, 70, 71, 72, and 73: blueberries!

Listen up. Summer is not over until it's my sister's birthday on September 23rd and that's just the way it is and always has been in my world. So I won't stop posting summer recipes until summer is actually over. I don't subscribe to the brand of forward-thinking that involves posting pumpkin recipes in early August. Because really, that's a lot like retail stores setting up their Halloween merchandise in July. I'm going to advocate for living in the moment. Summer is not over yet. We don't need to think about fall yet. (Okay, I will be honest, I still have a lot of summer recipes to post and I'm so OCD that I won't be able to actually relax until I post all of them. I like cutting things close to the wire and then racing the clock. Those kind of challenges result in me, and 95% of the rest of the world, being more productive. So this is less "living in the moment" and more "racing the clock," but there are definitely "living in the moment" undertones). Take from it what you will. Writing and reading are both like art. And speaking of reading. I promised earlier that I wouldn't venture to write book reviews even though I love to read, and I'll stick to that promise, BUT I do need to send a major shout out to the best book I've read in quite a long time: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brief_Wondrous_Life_of_Oscar_Wao. Words cannot express how much I loved this book and how sorry I was to have finished reading it. Recommend, recommend, recommend! My very good friend Claire recommended it to me (she obviously knows me very well because it was an extremely well-suited recommendation) and I'm paying it forward here.

Onto the blueberries. The first recipe is from the Magnolia cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Magnolia-Bakery-Cookbook/dp/1439175640 and is adapted by way of using a pre-made crust- lazy! I also want to let the studio audience know that I've been a very long-standing fan of Magnolia Bakery in NYC: http://www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php. Circa 2001, Priya and I even saw Chris Kattan (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0441592/) there checking out the cupcakes. The second recipe is maybe only altered slightly (and dumbed down) from my beloved Mr. Bourdain's cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdains-Les-Halles-Cookbook/dp/158234180X. Did I already mention that I used a portion of my 2011 March Madness winnings to buy an autographed copy of this from Les Halles http://leshalles.net/brasserie/? I think I did. I'm not sure where the third recipe comes from because I've had it for awhile, but I do think I found it somewhere on the internet and adapted it somewhat. The fourth recipe comes from, to the best of my recollection, my own brain. The fifth recipe is inspired by a google search of what to do with blueberries and cantaloupe and is a combination of various ideas that I found, so I'm going to go ahead and call it my own.

BLUEBERRY CRUMB PIE
Ingredients:
-1 lazy-girl store-bought pie crust
-vanilla ice cream 
filling:
-1/2 c sugar
-1 1/2 T corn starch
-2 pints of fresh blueberries
crumb topping:
-2 1/4 c flour
-1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
-2 sticks of softened unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Instructions:
1) mix the filling ingredients, gently toss together, and put in the pie crust
2) prepare the topping by mixing the the flour and brown sugar, and cutting in the butter by using a knife (or preferably a pastry blender thingy, which I do not personally own)
3) sprinkle the topping on top of the fruit mixture and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then at 375 degrees for an additional 25-35 minutes (until the topping is golden)
4) OBVIOUSLY serve this with some really good vanilla ice cream

MR. BOURDAIN'S BLUEBERRIES
Ingredients:
-3 T sugar
-juice of two limes (combined with the sugar until dissolved)
-1 1/2 pints of fresh blueberries
-1 sprig of mint, torn into pieces
 -1/2 c creme fraiche or sour cream

lime confit (or, for the non-culinary genius such as myself, lime simple syrup):
-2 limes
-1 c water
-a couple of tablespoons of sugar

Instructions:
1) first, make the confit by removing the limes from their peels, and removing some of the white stuff (aka: pith) from the peels (if you can; this is an imperfect science and really, you don't need to spend too much time doing this in the dumbed down version of this recipe)
2) cut the lime peels into strips
3) combine the cup of water and 2 T sugar from the confit portion of the recipe above in a saucepan and bring to a boil
4) add the lime strips to the boiling simple syrup and reduce to a simmer; cover the pot and reduce the simple syrup in half and then remove from the heat and let it cool completely
5) toss together: the cooled simple syrup (lime strips included if you so desire), the lime juice/sugar combination, the blueberries, and the mint
6) serve with the creme fraiche or sour cream on the side

BLACKBERRY/BLUEBERRY/STRAWBERRY/RHUBARB CRUMBLE
Ingredients:
cooking spray
vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or Cool Whip
topping:
-1 c flour
-1/2 c brown sugar
-1/2 t cinnamon (don't overdo the cinnamon)
-a pinch of salt
-6 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces
-1/2 c rolled oats
filling:
-any combination or any one of the above fruits, mixed together, and totaling about 4ish cups (e.g. you could make just a blueberry crumble or just a blackberry crumble or a strawberry rhubarb crumble or really, whatever you want, except maybe a plain rhubarb crumble because probably nobody would eat that)
-1/2 c brown sugar
-1/3 c apple juice
-1 T corn starch
-1 t vanilla extract (or a little more if you so desire)

Instructions:
1) preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) mix together the topping with your fingers (YUP!)
3) toss together the filling ingredients with a spoon
4) spray ceramic cooking cups (these probably have a more technical term but this is what I'm calling them) with some cooking spray, and line them on a cookie sheet
5) put the fruit mix in the cooking cups, and fill about 2/3 of the way; top with topping (there may be some leftover topping- I've even frozen it before and used it later)
6) bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling
7) let cool a little bit and serve with the sweet cream selection of your choice (vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or Cool Whip, or, for the adventurer, all three)

I know this post is about blueberries, but I only have a picture from when I made this with strawberries! Close enough!

SIMPLE FRUIT DIP WITH BERRIES
Ingredients:
-equal parts Marzetti Cream Cheese Fruit Dip http://www.marzetti.com/products/marzetti/dips/marzetti-fruit-dips/marzetti-cream-cheese-fruit-dip-135-oz.htm and Cool Whip
-various berries

Instructions:
1) mix together in equal parts: the cream cheese fruit dip and Cool Whip
2) serve in a bowl surrounded by various berries (it is very cute if they are on toothpicks, sadly I do not have photographic evidence of said cuteness)

BLUEBERRY CANTALOUPE MINT SALAD
Ingredients:
- cubed cantaloupe
-blueberries
-torn fresh mint
-honey, just enough to coat

Instructions:
1) mix the above together in whatever proportions strike your fancy
2) because, in seventh grade, when I was learning how to outline things I was taught you cannot have a Roman numeral I without a Roman numeral II, here I will simply say: 2) chill and enjoy!

refreshing!

HOT SPRINGS AND GRIZZLIES AND GUNS, OH MY! (aka: recipe 68: camp stove chili good enough for a bear)

MONTANA = best state ever.  I mean, where else can you find this? http://www.chicohotsprings.com/...
And these?

black bear in the wild, Glacier National Park

grizzly bear in the wild, Glacier National Park (and yes, we took these bear pictures)

And these?

this is intense!

this is ridiculous! (and yes, those are cowboy boots)

So on the second night of my third trip to Montana, the plan was to camp at Glacier.  All over the place, there were terrifying warnings like these:

Nevertheless, we thought that cooking up a delicious chili on the camp stove would be a good idea.  This recipe is a Tiffany invention and it was absolutely delicious!  During the s'mores portion of the evening, which followed the chili portion of the evening, we heard a loud growl.  It was undoubtedly a bear and it undoubtedly caused me to sprint away from the scene, jump in the car, sleep there, and not emerge until the next morning.  Note: Tristan insists that there was no such bear.  He acknowledges hearing the growling but insists that it was the heavyset man in the RV across the way snoring.  But this is my blog, not Tristan's.  And it was a bear and it smelled the delicious chili and it paid a visit.

BEAR-WORTHY CAMP STOVE CHILI (serves two humans for one dinner and one lunch, and one bear)
Ingredients:
-half of an onion, sliced
-red, yellow, and orange peppers, sliced
-a jalapeno, sliced
-butter
-chopped plum tomatoes
-beer, preferably this one, called Moose Drool:

-ground beef
-chili beans, preferably ones like these, which may or may not only exist in Montana:

quite the rustic scene, this was!

-cheese
-sour cream
-lime wedges

Instructions:
1) melt the butter in a pot and saute the onion and peppers until they start to look a little charred

2) remove the onion and pepper mixture and brown the beef (draining the fat) in the same pot
3) add the tomatoes and the beer (oh, about a half bottle or so) to the beef and cook until it thickens
4) add the beans and continue cooking until it starts to look really good
5) add the onion and pepper mixture back in and cook for about as long as it takes to attract a bear

6) top with some squeezed lime, sour cream, and cheese