My Favorite Things.... of 2009

It's Christmas time, and so I'd like to give you a gift. Cuz Christmas isn't all about receiving, you know. So, here goes, my favorite things of 2009:

10. Hunt for the Worst Movie of all time. Every Monday, Gabe posts a new review of a movie that has been suggested to be the worst ever. His reviews are witty, hysterical and brutally honest. Even better? I think I've seen most of the movies he reviews...

9. My favorite San Diego bar/restaurant. It's funky and different, and I have yet to be disappointed by a dish or drink.

8. Etsy. This site is fantastic if you like one-of-a-kind pieces. I love the jewelry and bags, but they also have great men's items like cufflinks, ties, etc.

7. My very own tomato sauce recipe. I use this for Chicken Parmesan, Sausage Pasta, etc. It's the perfect blend of tomato and spices.

(Ingredients:
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. Italian herbs
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. bay leaves
Chop garlic and shallot. Saute in olive oil. Add crushed tomatoes and spices, keep on low heat until served.)

6. This song, by Wakey!Wakey! Click on and listen to the track titled "Brooklyn." It's gorgeous.

5. My favorite Chocolate Cake recipe. I get asked for this recipe every time I make it. Even my mother-in-law was impressed by it and asked me for it!

(Ingredients:
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small box Jello instant chocolate pudding mix—not the sugar or fat free kind
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice. For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 minutes to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 minutes after that. :) It usually takes around 45 minutes for two, 9-inch pie pans.
I use the frosting recipe on the powdered sugar box to top off this baby. You can't go wrong.)

4. Owl City's "Ocean Eyes" CD. Every song on this album is good. I think I've listed to it 50 times already.

3. My favorite bottle of wine. If you're a red wine fan, you should try this. Ramey Wine Cellars produces an amazing claret, and it so happens to be my favorite wine. The 2005 is all gone, but the 2006 is supposed to be excellent as well.

2. The Pioneer Woman. She is my blogging and culinary inspiration. I wish I had her dedication and photo talents, so instead I follow her blog, and you should too.

1. Mylifeisaverage.com. You will thank me for this one. It's like FML, but for people with a sense of humor. It updates frequently and always gives me a good laugh.

So that's it. Ten of my favorite things that I've discovered this year. Merry Christmas to all!

Flank Steak and Spicy Garlic Potatoes

In our home, Sunday night is steak night.

A great cut, which is less expensive than, say, New York strips, is a flank steak. Marinated properly, this cut is tender, juicy, and full of flavor. I generally switch between my favorite two marinades: Italian and Teriyaki.

And they're more simple than they sound. For both, I place the steak in a gallon-size Ziploc. For Italian, I add one to two cups (depending on the size of the steak) of Italian salad dressing into the bag. For Teriyaki, I add one to two cups of Teriyaki sauce. Marinate in the fridge for 6 to 24 hours before grilling.

While the Lumberjack does the grilling, I make the sides. Last night, I made my own recipe of Spicy Garlic Potatoes. Since there's only two of us, I started with 4 baking-sized Russet potatoes. I peeled them, cut them into quarters and added them into a pot of simmering water. Once they were soft, after about 30 minutes, I tosses them into my KitchenAid mixer, along with 1/8 cup of half and half, 1/8 cup of low-fat milk, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, and one stick of butter. For the spicy garlic part, I added in "Kay's Spicy Garlic Seasoning," a mixture she brought back from Big Creek. I suspect it's seasoning salt, cayenne pepper and some garlic power, along with some pepper. I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons of seasoning, mixed well, and served hot. Delish!

I would offer pictures, but it's tough to get a picture of a steak before the Lumberjack has made his move. When there's steak up for grabs, he doesn't wait for cameras and food arranging and blog preparation.

Spicy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
4-5 medium Russet potatoes
1/8 cup half and half
1/8 cup milk
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of spicy garlic seasoning

Banana Bread: Breakfast OR Dessert

Last night, when I got home from work, I noticed four over-ripe bananas sitting on top of my fridge. They were much too ripe to eat by themselves, but I knew they'd be just perfect for banana bread.

At my bridal shower, right before the Lumberjack and I got married, I was given a perfect banana bread recipe from a family friend. It's moist, simple, and delicious.

Ingredients

3 to 4 over-ripe bananas

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup of nuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mash bananas in bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake in two to three mini-loaf pans for 30 to 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when you test it.

Serve warm for breakfast by itself.

But, since I made the banana bread after dinner, I was hankering for a little dessert. I served the bread warm, right out of the oven, and topped it with a scoop of slow-churned Butter Pecan ice cream. Since I hadn't added nuts to the banana bread recipe, the nuts in the ice cream were a perfect complement. It was scrumptious. So much, in fact, that may need to have it for dessert again tonight!

Chicken Pot Pie

There's something about Chicken Pot Pie that I love. Between the tender chicken, the rich sauce and the flaky dough, I'm in food heaven.

The only times I used to eat pot pie before this recipe were either at Marie Calenders or if I picked up a pre-made one from Costco. But, with this recipe, I can make Chicken Pot Pie anytime I want, and not feel guilty about it either.

To make this recipe, you will need:

1 package pie crusts (2 crusts)
2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked vegetables

2 cups (packed) shredded cooked chicken

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Start by preheating the oven to 450 degrees. Unroll one pie crust into a glass pie dish. I use the kind in the refrigerated section with the cookie and pastry doughs. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until the crust is brown.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add cooked vegetables. I prefer only carrots and peas, but you can use celery, onions, Lima beans, corn or basically any vegetables you have in your freezer. Stir for one minute.Next, add the shredded chicken. You can use chicken from a rotisserie style chicken from the grocery store, or you can bake two medium-sized chicken breasts and shred them. I normally bake two chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, for 45 minutes at 350 degrees the night before. Stir chicken and vegetable mixture for one more minute.Next, add 3 tablespoons of flour and salt/pepper to taste. Stir until flour in incorporated.Then, turn up skillet heat to medium-high and add 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth.Stir constantly and allow sauce to thicken.Once sauce has thickened, pour the chicken and vegetable mixture into your already-baked pie crust.Place the second pie crust on top.

Crimp the edges and cut about four slits in the top to allow the steam to escape.
Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown. 

Yum!

The Bread Roll Blunder

OK, I can admit when I fail. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good cook. In fact, there was only one incident I could recall where something I made for the Lumberjack went horribly wrong before the Bread Roll Blunder. (I made some barbecue steak and onion quesadillas that burnt onto the pan because I didn't use enough butter. In my defense, I was using my mother-in-laws pans that are not Teflon. And, the Lumberjack ate them without hesitation.)

Last week, I decided it's finally time for me to try to make bread. It can't be that hard, right?

I overestimated the difficulty of making bread from scratch.

I started off with the ingredients and followed the directions to make Kitchen Aid Sixty-Minute Dinner Rolls.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons butter

3 packages of dry active yeast (This equals 6 3/4 teaspoons if you use yeast from a jar)

1 1/2 cups warm water (105F – 115F)

5– 6 cups all-purpose flour

And I followed the directions:

"In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also work), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan. (Erin’s Note: Alternatively you can simply shape the dough into 24 balls and set them into a greased 9 by 13 baking dish. If you make the full recipe you will only be able to fit around 12 rolls in the baking dish at a time). Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks."

But the recipe I used was copied from the original and missing two important sentences:

"1. Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature before you start;

2. After you heat the milk/sugar/butter mixture, make sure that it's not hot, not cold, but LUKEWARM when you add it to the yeast mixture - forgetting or ignoring this step will result in bread that does not rise."

And that's exactly what happened. The rolls didn't rise at all. Instead of looking like this:

*Photo courtesy of The Bumbling Baker

I ended up with 30 rolls that were rock-hard dough balls cooked through. They only served one purpose: breaking windows. And, they were so horrible, I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of them.

Maybe I'll try making bread again sometime. But I may need some time to recover and prepare for the next bread challenge.

Pioneer Woman's Quick & Easy Apple Tart

Baking has always been my stress relief. Last night, after a long day at work, I made the Pioneer Woman's Quick & Easy Apple Tart. Yum!

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 sheet puffed pastry, cut into half
3 to 4 apples, cored, halved, and sliced (but not peeled)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

"Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Add sugar and salt to apples in bowl. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and place on a serving platter. Serve plain, with caramel topping, whipped cream, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar."

After sprinkling with powdered sugar, I sliced each tart into thick slices.

When ready to serve, I drizzled carmel sauce over the top, and the Lumberjack asked, "Do you know how much I love you?" He's easy like that....then again, it's a good apple tart!

Peach Pie Perfection

I love making pies. Even better, the Lumberjack loves eating pies. Apple is my specialty--apple crumb, to be specific--though I have dabbled with blackberry a bit. However, I've never made peach pie, despite my love of peaches. Since I regularly bake semi-homemade, I cheated and used a pre-made pie crust--but hey, it tastes good and is so easy!


I then filled the crust with the following ingredients after mixing them all together in a big bowl:


5 cups fresh peaches, sliced
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar


After covering with the top crust on, I cut a few slits into the pie and baked it at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, covering the crust with foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent it from burning.


I couldn't believe how good my house smelled with peach pie baking.

Fresh from the oven, I cut a big slice and covered it with Fat Free ReddiWip for the Lumberjack. Peach perfection. :)

Crunchy Banana-Maple-Pecan Breakfast Muffins

Alright, it's been two weeks since my last post, mostly because nothing too exciting has been happening. However, I did make some amazing breakfast muffins that I should share with you. This recipe is courtesy of Noble Pig's blog.

Crunchy Banana-Maple-Pecan Breakfast Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oat bran
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium)
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips plus more for topping (I used regular chips, which were fine)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup granola plus more for topping (I used a fruit and nut granola but any kind will work)

Noble Pig says, "In a large bowl combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, banana, buttermilk, canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together just until both are blended together.

Gently fold in chocolate chips, pecans and granola. Prepare muffin cups with cooking spray or by using paper liners. Divide the batter among standard sized muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with more granola and mini chocolate chips.

Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure to keep an eye on them so your granola does not burn.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 2 minutes.Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling off. Wrap them up individually and freeze up to three months. Pop in the microwave frozen for 30-40 seconds for the perfect breakfast.

Not too sweet and not too fattening. Makes about 16 standard sized muffins."

The muffins came out perfectly. They are delicately sweet with a mix of banana and nuts. The cinnamon and nutmeg give this recipe a nice, comforting taste. The Lumberjack and I ate a few, and I froze the rest for future breakfasts. YUM!

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In the meanwhile, Dutch has discovered the glory of sleeping on our bed, instead of in his crate. He whines when he wants up, and plops down on our bed like only a corgi can. He thinks he's a prince, because he likes to find the softest spot possible. Sweet boy. On another note, how crooked is that mirror in the background of my photo? I'm going to have to check on that tonight!

Bakerella cupcakes

In celebration of Easter, I made cupcakes, courtesy of Bakerella and Kevin and Amanda's Recipe blog. I used Kevin and Amanda's chocolate cake recipe, which is my favorite chocolate cake recipe that I have EVER made. Seriously, I will not make another chocolate cake/cupcake recipe. I substituted their butter cream icing recipe with the confectioner's sugar icing. Coconut dyed green, for grass, robin's eggs, peeps and sour punch straws made the perfect mini Easter basket cupcakes. This one is missing the punch straw basket part, but it's cute nonetheless. I bought clear cellophane baggies from Michael's and spring-looking ribbon to seal the package.

(Please ignore the cameras in the background. I brought these to work and had to take a picture before they all got eaten.)

Cheap Meal Ideas

So, now that the Lumberjack has been laid off, we are trying to majorly cut our expenses.

One of those expenses is eating out (which we would do about two to three times a week before he got laid off, and not at all now), and eating in/buying groceries. Since we don't eat out often, we generally have some nice meals in. For example, every Sunday, we have a steak dinner. It's something we've done since we got married. Luckily, I still have about 4 more cuts of steak in our freezer, so we'll have steak dinners on Sundays for the next few weeks still.

In order to save money, I will be making a list and posting the recipes for some yummy cheap meals.

1. Spaghetti. A pound of spaghetti, which feeds 4, costs about $1. I dress it up with shrimp ($6), olive oil, a little garlic salt, and butter for about $7 total. Or, two chicken breasts breaded and a jar of tomato sauce for about $5. Or, I buy a pound of Italian sausage ($4) and add a jar of tomato sauce ($2). Even though it's just the two of us, I make this meal for 4 so that we have leftovers the next day. Besides, for four meals, that works out to less than $2 per meal!

2. Chili. I have a great chili recipe that I got, which I now cannot find the origins of. But, that's the great thing about chili. It's a whatever-you-have-in-your-fridge/pantry meal. The recipe I have calls for 2 cans kidney beans, 1 can white kidney beans, green pepper, onion, ground beef, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, tabasco sauce, 2 cans tomato puree, chili powder and one other spice I can't remember. Last time I made it, I had a can of red beans that I threw in for one can of kidney beans. And I added red pepper flakes. I normally serve this up in a bread bowl ($2) with a handful of shredded cheddar cheese on top ($1). All of the ingredients, especially if you already have the spices, cost less than $10. I normally get 6 to 8 full meals out of this. If I use it as a side dish, I could get more like 12 to 16 sides out of it. Yum!

3. Breakfast. Eggs, a box of busquick, some bread, and bacon (if you're being fancy) are all you need for a first-class breakfast. Since the Lumberjack is Dutch, he loves a stack of two pancakes with two fried eggs on top, followed by two more pancakes, all covered in maple syrup. Or, we make egg sandwiches. Our favorite is from the movie "Spanglish"--two slices of sourdough bread toasted, slather mayo on one side, top with tomato (with salt and pepper) and lettuce. Add two fried eggs on top, a slice of jack cheese, and two slices of bacon or salami. Finish that the second slice of bread and you've got one yummy sandwich. Or, french toast is always a favorite at our house. Two meals probably cost $5.

4. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. This is seriously the simplest meal, and super tasty. Plus, it's cheap! Less than $5 for 2 meals. (And, I highly recommend getting a cast iron skillet to make the grilled cheese. It makes ALL the difference, I promise!)

5. Potatoes. In America, we eat these as a side with a huge steak. In Europe, this IS the meal. They add everything to baked potatoes, from ham to tuna, seriously. While tuna on potato hasn't won me over, I have fallen for potatoes for dinner. Personally, I prefer potatoes baked in the microwave as the oven gives them a tough skin that I don't like to eat. I cook them, cut them open, and then spread butter, cheddar cheese, chopped ham (low sodium, applewood smoked, honey baked, etc.), sour cream and chives (for those that like them). And, it's good to go. I put 1/8 to 1/4 pound of ham on each potato. All together, even with Boar's Head ham, this meal costs about $5 for two people.

6. Mexican food. Being that Mexican food is heavy on beans and rice (cheap and cheaper!), it is a great money-saver when it comes to food. Bean and cheese burritos, carne asada tacos (Costco has cheap carne asada!), ground beef tacos with lawry's taco seasoning, quesadillas and chicken tortilla soup are all fantastic dinners that can be made for under $4 a serving.

7. Chicken bake. My mom used to make a variation of this for dinner. It was our comfort food--or at least my dad's, since I hated it as a child. Now, I've found a variation of it that I love, and I make it all the time. I make a big recipe, using 2 cans Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup, 2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups rice, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. curry powder, and 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Mix all of the ingredients together, minus the chicken breasts, in a casserole dish. When mixed, lay the chicken on top and add another sprinkle of paprika and curry. Cover, and bake, for 45 minutes or until done.

8. Macaroni and Cheese. Yes, I know. This isn't an adult dish. BUT, it's cheap and yummy. I like Velveeta shells with the cheese pre-made, so you don't need to mix a powder with milk and butter. Then, I put a few breaded chicken breasts on top and serve. Yum!

9. Hot dogs, or brats. As I kid, I also hated hot dogs. Something about the taste--yuk! But, about a year ago, I tried them again, and realized they are delicious. My favorites are Hebrew National and Boar's Head. For $5 for a package of Boar's Head franks (10 hot dogs), we get 4 meals. A package of hot dog buns costs maybe $2.

10. Potstickers and Rice. This might not count as a full meal to some people, but it is to us! Trader Joe's sell chicken postickers in the frozen section that are delicious. I make about 6 or 7 per person, and then a cup of rice per person. I doctor up the rice with a tablespoon of butter, and a good shake of salt and pepper. This meal costs about $5 for two servings.

That's all for now! Have fun cooking!

The Pioneer Woman: Favorite Burgers

As much as I am a Californian at heart, there's something I love about the country. "Country" to me, in California, is the suburbs. I don't mind driving 10 minutes to the supermarket, and I hope one day I will have to. I am not a city girl at all. And, because of that, I love following the Pioneer Woman's blog. Ree Drummond, who lives in Oklahoma with her husband and four kids on a cattle farm, has the most wonderful blog. She focuses on "Confessions," or life around the farm, "Cooking," which features the most wonderful homemade recipes, "Photography," "PW Home and Garden," and "Homeschooling."

While I love all of her posts, the foodie in me adores her cooking section. For the last month, I've been hankering for a cast iron skillet, just so I can make some of the recipes she does. On Sunday, I broke down about bought myself a 12-inch pre-seasoned cast iron skillet from Lodge Logic, which Ree recommends. I've used it twice now: once to make the most fabulous grilled cheese (melty on the inside and crunchy crisp on the outside, mmmm...), and once to make Ree's favorite burgers, which I highly recommend making at your soonest opportunity. You can get the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/my-most-favorite-burger-ever-for-now/
I highly recommend making these burgers. Tonight. Seriously.
I'm not a big blue cheese fan, but I tried it as the recipe calls for. Oh man, these burgers are heavenly and quite possibly the best burgers I've ever eaten. Ever in my life.

The spiciness of the Tabasco in the meat, combined with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the tangy saltiness of the blue cheese nearly made me cry when I was eating it. The combination is seriously an explosion of beautiful flavors. My husband, who always loves my cooking so is semi-biased but wouldn't lie, literally couldn't speak. When he did, he said, "Wow, you're awesome." And later, "This burger made me fall in love with you all over again."

So, thanks, Ree. I'll be making these again very soon!