01.31.09 Pepper and garlic-crusted steak and Spicy roasted potatoes

Tonight we feasted on pepper and garlic-crusted steak, spicy roasted potatoes (already an encore performance from earlier this week!), and Cephie's famous salad. There is lots of flavor in this meal! We modified the steak recipe to our preferences tonight - we used NY strip steak and omitted the port sauce. We crusted the steaks with the pepper and garlic rub, and Grillmaster Robert cooked them to perfection!

01.28.09 Jambalaya

Dinner on Wednesday was Turkey and andouille sausage jambalaya from Cooking Light. It was spicy and delicious, and I have several notes to share. 1) Recipe says it serves 8, but it only served 5 of my hungry family members, 2) this was my first experience cooking with turkey breast instead of ground turkey. I bought turkey cutlets at Kroger, baked them at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, then shredded it for the recipe, 3) I used long-grain brown rice because that's what we prefer - our rice was still al dente, so I would recommend increasing the cook time or pre-cooking the rice and serving the jambalaya over it. I served steamed sugar-snap peas on the side.

Tag!

Christy made an excellent suggestion today to add tags to my blog posts. If you click on a tag (under the comments), it will bring up all recipes for that category. I hope this helps if you're looking for something specific - beef, Italian, soup, etc!

01.27.09 Spiced pork tenderloin and roasted potatoes

Dinner tonight was spicy! Spiced pork tenderloin with maple-chipotle sauce served with spicy roasted potatoes (both from Cooking Light). No notes except that we didn't have asparagus, so we only used the potato part of the recipe.

Chocolate peanut butter cookies

Robert is home for an ice day, so it's fun times in the kitchen! I made these Chocolate peanut butter cookies from Cooking Light - they're delicious! My only suggestion would be to add extra chocolate chips - maybe a full cup instead of 2/3. I'm sure that negates the "light" part of the recipe, but I love chocolaty cookies!

01.27.09 Chicken tortilla soup

Lunch today was Rachael Ray's Chicken tortilla soup with chipotle peppers and fire-roasted tomatoes. I made it for a Moms-n-more luncheon, which was canceled today due to weather, so we enjoyed it for lunch at home instead. The soup itself is pretty simple - a lot of the flavor comes from the toppings, so don't dismiss them! I find smoked mozzarella in the "gourmet" cheese section of my Kroger, not with the regular shredded cheese. Don't forget the bacon and lime juice!

01.25.09 Bombay chicken

Dinner tonight was Bombay chicken, a recipe from my Pi Phi cookbook. It's a simple recipe with few ingredients, and didn't require a trip to the grocery store for us, which I love. We used chicken tenders, so we baked ours for 30 minutes instead of 45. I served it with chicken fried rice (nothing fancy, just one of those rice packets from Lipton). The recipe is below - there were some vague parts, so I've inserted my notes in parentheses. Enjoy!

Bombay Chicken - Serves 4

8 pieces chicken (I used 6 tenders for the two of us)
Flour
Salt and pepper
3-4 teaspoons oil
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
5 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 cup dry sherry

Preheat oven to 375. Dredge chicken pieces in mixture of flour, salt and pepper. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in oil (doesn't have to be cooked through because the dish also bakes in the oven). Remove chicken and place in a casserole dish. Add remaining ingredients to skillet and cook 1 minute. Pour sauce over chicken and bake for 45 minutes (adjust to the amount and size of your chicken pieces).

Oatmeal toffee cookies

This recipe for Oatmeal Toffee Cookies is from Cooking Light. Not sure if that means they're healthy, but they're thin, crispy and delicious!

01.24.09 Italian paninis

Lunch today was Italian Paninis from Cooking Light. These sandwiches have the classic combination of tomato, mozzarella and basil, with the added goodness of prosciutto. No substitutions or changes to mention - they were delicious!

01.23.09 Philly cheesesteak pizza

Dinner tonight was Rachael Ray's Philly cheesesteak pizza. This is one of Robert's favorites - but you definitely have to like onion to enjoy this one! (This post on how to caramelize onions was very helpful for me - great tips on how often to stir, when to add salt, etc). Our favorite pizza dough is the refrigerated Pillsbury one, and the rest of the ingredients are self-explanatory. The tip to sprinkle cornmeal on the pan under the dough works great for all homemade pizzas - it makes the crust extra crispy.

Oreo truffles

I made Oreo truffles this weekend for game night, and they were a huge hit. This recipe is very simple - only three ingredients! I used a little bit less than a full package of Oreos (I couldn't resist snacking on about 6 of them), and I used a potato masher to mix the crushed Oreos with the cream cheese. (A spatula just wasn't working - and to be totally honest, Robert mixed it for me. It takes a little muscle). I dipped half of mine in semi-sweet chocolate and half in milk chocolate, and while both were delicious, people preferred the semi-sweet.

01.17.09 Brisket with black bean and corn salad

Dinner on Saturday was brisket cooked in the crock pot served with Rachael Ray's black bean and corn salad and sweet potato fries (frozen). Robert is a big meat-eater, so he loves this recipe. Note that it calls for 8-10 hours in the crock pot on low - I didn't allow myself enough time to do this, so I cooked mine on high for 5 hours. I believe all things are better cooked low and slow, so even though the meat was delicious, I recommend following the recipe's directions on cooking time. The corn salad was a hit, too. I read the user reviews and followed their suggestion to add chopped cilantro. (Also, I'm not sure the frozen corn was thawed after 15 minutes - I would allow 30-45 minutes for this).

01.16.09 Mini honey-mustard meatloaves

This recipe for honey mustard meatloaf is from Everyday Food. I am usually not much of a meatloaf person, but Robert and I both love this recipe. The mini loaves are the perfect portion size, and I served ours with salad and rolls. Most of the flavor comes from the honey-mustard mixture, so lay it on thick!

01.12.09 Barbecued flank steak sandwiches

Dinner tonight was barbecued flank steak sandwiches from Cooking Light. This was a no-brainer because I had all of the ingredients and it didn't require a trip to Kroger. Served hot - it is delicious! (If you like your sandwiches saucy, you might want to make extra barbecue sauce. And we added dill pickle to ours - it's a personal choice).

01.10.09 Tacos al carbon

If we're eating at a Mexican restaurant, chances are Robert is ordering the tacos al carbon. It's one of his favorites, and this recipe from Cooking Light is an excellent version to make at home. The amount of garlic called for seems excessive (8 cloves?!), so even though I half the recipe for the two of us, I only use 2 cloves of garlic, which is plenty. I don't make any other substitutions or changes.

01.09.09 French dip sandwich

Robert and I love french dip sandwiches (our favorite is from Cheers in the Heights), but this recipe is equally delicious and very simple. We put ours on ciabatta bread and use provolone cheese instead of pepper jack. Soak up the au jus and enjoy!!

Lucy's birthday brunch

Between the holidays, Robert's business trip, and an unsuccessful recipe not worth posting about, I haven't had anything to share lately. I realized I didn't post about Lucy's birthday though, so I'm doing that now. We had her party on Christmas Eve morning so it was a brunch menu. Two of my favorite recipes were the Basil-Lime Fruit Salad, and instead of birthday cake, dessert was Monkey Bread Minis. Robert is allergic to strawberries, so I substituted red grapes in the fruit salad. Also, the web version of the monkey bread recipe doesn't have the glaze instructions, so I've added them here. The magazine called this step "optional", but who doesn't want extra sugar on top?!

Glaze:
Stir together 1 cup of confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons milk. Drizzle over the bread as it cools.