I would be very, very surprised (and pleased) if I did not gain 650 pounds by the end of this weekend. Here's what's going on. It started to snow on Friday. I left work a little bit early, weathered the treacherous roads in Northwest-ish NJ, arrived home by 5PM, and have not left home since, nor do I plan to leave at any point before work tomorrow. Okay, maybe that's not exactly true. I do plan on putting on my winter coat and boots and stepping onto the balcony for a minute. Fresh air might be nice, but only for a minute. Normally, I would go stir crazy with a weekend like this but it's not happening this weekend because I've found ways to really occupy my time, including fielding phone calls from my parents (who are
actually under 40 inches of snow, are
actually snowed in, and are
actually going stir crazy during what we have now named their "dress rehearsal for retirement") at the rate of about 3 calls per every 5 minutes at all hours of the day and night which go like this: "What are you doing? We're not doing anything new since we last talked to you about 8 seconds ago. No, no, don't worry, your mother's not going to try to go to Shop Rite," watching multiple episodes of Catfish (love it), making about 86 million recipes, playing hours of extra rounds of Apples to Apples with my sister and Tristan's friend Mike, and procrastinating on some work that I really need to do by posting these long-winded blog posts. I was supposed to go to hot yoga yesterday but instead texted my friend Suzanne after my treacherous drive on Friday: "What are you thinking about yoga tomorrow? I sorta feel like sleeping in and cooking cozy foods!" Yoga = skipped. Life outside of this apartment = skipped. Mainstreaming myself back into society tomorrow is going to be a rough adjustment...
Here is a list of things that have whipped themselves up in the kitchen this weekend:
1) Tristan's homemade sauce (which he claims is better than mine... claiming this after stealing all of my sauce techniques and trade secrets- have I mentioned that sometimes he threatens to write a competing food blog?)
2) Tristan's lasagna
3) mini-German pancakes
4) banana bread from scratch
5) the Pioneer Woman's ribeye steak with creamy blue cheese and onion sauce
6) sauteed chestnuts with bacon and pearl onions
7) my mom's pomegranate sangria (recipe can be found here:
http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/12/recipes-102-103-104-105-106-107-108-109.html)
8) a fried egg and hash brown skillet concoction
Yes, we recognize that we are only two people and that this is a ridiculous amount of food. There are so many leftovers that there is no reason or need to cook for the rest of the week. So without further ado, I'm going to post the recipes along with a "companion recipe/alternative recipe with similar ingredients"- this continues the trend of Venning. As for the lasagna, it is Tristan's mom's recipe and we're not ready to post the recipe yet but we'll show you a picture:
The first sauce recipe is Tristan's creation, drawing on the techniques that yours truly has taught him. The second sauce recipe comes from my uncle and
godfather, Uncle Rudy. Next, we shall move along to a dyad of recipes
that magically pop up in the oven! The first one, mini-German pancakes comes slightly modified from here:
http://realmomkitchen.com/489/mini-german-pancakes/.
The second one, for popovers, comes from a recipe my mom sent me,
source unknown. The banana bread recipe comes pretty much unaltered from
here:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/.
The next recipe, for peanut butter banana muffins, is my own peanutty
peanut-buttery spin on the banana bread. Moving along to steak. The
first recipe comes from here and is not for those who don't like blue
cheese (such as Tristan, who didn't adore it because he doesn't adore
blue cheese):
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/grilled-ribeye-steak-with-onion-blue-cheese-sauce/.
The other steak recipe, for beef filet with horseradish mayo, is a
recipe that I've been making forever and I have no idea of its origin.
The sauteed chestnuts is apparently a Portuguese dish and comes modified
from here:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sauteed_chestnuts_onions_and_bacon/. The hash brown concoction comes from Tristan's friends Noah and Carrie:
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| Montana with Noah and Carrie! |
And the final recipe, The Loveless Cafe hash brown casserole, harkens adapted from this Nashville restaurant cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Country-Cooking-Loveless-Cafe/dp/B000EMSNUS
TRISTAN'S SAUCE
Ingredients:
-one medium yellow onion, diced
-one large shallot, diced
-1 T minced garlic
-enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a skillet
-1 (28 oz) can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, juices reserved
-
good red wine to taste and some white wine too
-chopped fresh basil and parsely
-1 T butter
-a third of a can of tomato paste
-salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 425 degrees and saute the onion, shallot, and garlic in olive oil until translucent
2) add the San Marzano tomatoes, reserving the juice
3) simmer for about 5 minutes, adding red and white wine to taste
4) add the chopped fresh basil and parsely
5) transfer the skillet to the oven for about 20 minutes
6) remove from the oven and blend in a blender along with the reserved juice
7) heat a saucepan with a little bit of hot oil, add the sauce to the pan, add a tablespoon of butter, add more red wine if you're so inclined (we usually are), the tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste
8) simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
A SPIN ON UNCLE RUDY'S SAUCE
Ingredients:
-some olive oil
-2 (28 oz) cans of whole peeled tomatoes, blended in a blender
-1 can of tomato paste
-3-4 sweet Italian sausages
-several full garlic cloves, to taste
-salt, pepper, and fresh basil to taste
-wine is, of course, always optional
Instructions:
1) brown the garlic cloves in some olive oil and remove from the pot
2) brown the sausage until very brown and add the salt, pepper, and basil
3) add the tomatoes to the pot and bring to a boil
4) stir in the tomato paste and the optional wine and bring to a boil
5) simmer for at least an hour
MINI-GERMAN PANCAKES
Ingredients:
-1/2 c low fat milk
-3 eggs
-1/2 c flour
-pinch of salt
-3/4 t vanilla
-1/8 c melted butter (plus a little extra unmelted butter to grease the muffin tins)
-the jam of your choice
-confectioner's sugar
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2) blend the milk through the vanilla in a blender until the mixture is smooth and then blend in the melted butter a little bit at a time
3) grease the muffin tin with butter and distribute the batter evenly between 12 cups (about half full)
4) bake for 15 minutes or until they look like this:
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| If you look closely, you can see the reflection of my Hello Kitty pajama pants in the oven door! |
5) remove from the oven and watch in amazement as they deflate at the speed of light:
6) remove from the muffin tin and top with some sifted confectioner's sugar and strawberry jam
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| delicious! |
AND IN THE SAME VEIN... POPOVERS!
Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-1 c flour
-1 c milk
-1/2 t salt
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2) butter and flour 5 custard cups
3) blend all ingredients in a blender but don't overblend
4) fill the custard cups halfway
5) bake for 20 minutes and then decrease the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes more
6) immediately remove from the custard cups and serve piping hot
BANANA BREAD
Ingredients:
-3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
-1/3 c melted butter
-1 c sugar
-1 egg
-1 t vanilla
-1 t baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 and 1/2 c flour
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) mix together all ingredients with a wooden spoon
3) pour into a buttered loaf pan and bake for an hour until golden brown
PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MUFFINS
Ingredients:
-3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
-1/3 c melted butter
-1 c sugar
-1 egg
-1 t vanilla
-1 t baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 and 1/2 c flour
-2 big scoops of peanut butter and a handful of peanuts
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) mix together all ingredients with a wooden spoon
3)
pour into buttered custard cups or a muffin tin (filling halfway) and
bake for about 35-45 minutes until a fork comes out clean
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| delicious with some vanilla ice cream |
GRILLED RIBEYE WITH CREAMY BLUE CHEESE AND ONION SAUCE
Ingredients:
-2 ribeye steaks
-2 T butter
-salt and pepper
-1 yellow onion, thinly sliced or diced
-1 c heavy cream
-1/4 c crumbled blue cheese
Instructions:
1) salt and pepper the steaks
2) grill the steaks in a grill pan in 1 T butter until desired level of doneness, remove from the pan and let rest
3) meanwhile, saute the onions in 1 T butter over high heat, and cook until dark and carmelized
4) reduce the heat and pour in the cream, stirring, until it is reduced by half
5) stir in the blue cheese until it is melted and the sauce is smooth
6) slice the steak, spoon some sauce onto the plate, and top with the sliced steak... simple and delicious!
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| served with noodles and sauteed chestnuts (recipe below) |
MARINATED BEEF WITH HORSERADISH MAYO
Ingredients:
Beef
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
-1 T crushed black peppercorns
-1/4 c chopped rosemary
-1/2 c olive oil
-2 lbs beef filet
-1/8 c sea salt
Horseradish mayo
-1/2 T dijon mustard
-1/2 T lemon juice
-dashes of salt and pepper
-1 c canola oil
-1/4 c sour cream
-4 oz fresh horseradish
Instructions:
1) combine all of the ingredients for the beef in a ziploc bag and marinate for 24 hours
2) preheat the oven to 500 degrees, rub the beef with some extra salt, place on a sheet pan and roast for about 35-40 minutes; remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes
3) while the beef is cooking, make the horseradish sauce by mixing the mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and oil in the blender; remove from the blender and stir in the sour cream and horseradish
4) plate the beef and top with the sauce
SAUTEED CHESTNUTS WITH BACON AND PEARL ONIONS
Ingredients:
-a few (to several) slices of bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
-a couple of handfuls of pearl onions
-about 6-8 oz jarred chestnuts
-1 T honey (maple syrup also works fine!)
-salt and peper
-1 T chopped fresh parsley
Instructions:
1) cook the bacon pieces over medium high heat, stirring often, until it starts to get crispy; drain on paper towels and discard about half of the bacon fat from the pan
2) bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and blanch the pearl onions (in their skins); immediately drain and run under icy cold water; snip the tips of the onions, remove the skins, and cut in half
3) raise the skillet heat to medium, add the onions to the bacon fat and cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally
4) add the chestnuts, the cooked bacon, and the honey; stir together to heat through
5) season with the salt, pepper, and parsley and stir once more before removing from the heat
FRIED EGG AND HASH BROWN SKILLET
Ingredients:
-1 pepper, chopped
-1 yellow onion, finely diced
-1 shallot, finely diced
-16 oz hash brown potatoes
-olive oil and butter, equal parts
-combination of cheeses, to taste
-2 eggs
-salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley, and hot sauce
Instructions:
1) saute the pepper, onion, and shallot until starting to brown
2) brown the hash browns in a skillet until cooked and then add the onion/pepper/shallot mix
3) mix together and then cook over very low heat until a crust starts to form on the bottom
4) flip the concoction and brown the other side (adding extra oil or butter to the pan if needed)
5) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
6) move the skillet into the oven and bake for 15 minutes; add the cheese and bake for about 5 more minutes
7) fry the eggs and place atop half of the concoction (about half will be remaining for leftovers...)
8) add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste
THE LOVELESS CAFE HASH BROWN CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
-16 oz hash browns, browned in some oil
-1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
-4 oz shredded cheddar
-half a can of cream of chicken soup
-8 oz sour cream
-1 t salt and 1 t black pepper
-scrambled eggs to mix in, if desired (personally, I think this is delicious with the scrambled eggs mixed right in)
Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2) combine all ingredients, except the eggs, stir together and pour into a 9x13 greased casserole dish
3) bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is browned
4) stir in the scrambled eggs or serve them on the side
