Creamy Tomato Pasta

I confess. I am OBSESSED with Pinterest. OBSESSED.

There. It's out there. Judge away.

In the mean time, I'll tell you about a recipe that is kind of inspired by a recipe I saw on pinterest. I made a creamy tomato and sausage sauce to pour over pasta and holy rusted collander, IT WAS GOOD!

Please, try it and share with a friend...its delicious and very easy.

Here's what you need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely diced onions
pinch of red chili flakes
1 mild Italian sausage link, uncased
1 can Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh pecorino romano

1/2 cup pasta, cooked

1. In a large fry pan, heat oil. Add garlic, onion, chili flakes and Italian sausage. Cook until sausage is lightly browned.
2. Add half can of diced tomatoes and simmer over low heat.
3. In a small chopper or food processor, combine remaining tomatoes and cream and puree until tomatoes are mostly smooth. Add to tomato and sausage mixture and mix thoroughly. Add cheese and mix again.

Pour over cooked pasta and toss together, then top with a little more cheese if you're feeling crazy. Ha!

This really was good! If you REALLY know me, you'll know that as a child I hated spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. I don't know why. I just know that on spaghetti night, I had buttered noodles. For me to provide you with not one, but TWO spaghetti sauce recipes is quite a milestone. They have to be good if I'm eating them and sharing them with you. Try them. Picky kids and friends should like both recipes.


Happy cooking, yall!

Amy

Oh man. SO GOOD.

So I was in the mood to find something different to cook tonight...and that means I wandered around the grocery store like a weirdo. I did know I wanted to make potatoes gratin (by the way, cheese is not cheap), but I didn't know what to put with it. Well, after some wandering, I found some very inexpensive Delmonico cut steaks that looked promising. The Delmonico steak cut is basically a rib-eye steak, but is a cut made famous by the New York steakhouse Delmonico's Restaurant. I bought it on a whim and googled...so that's all I know! Ha!

The potatoes gratin I have been thinking about since I went to Vic & Anthony's with my parents back in March. I've never been a fan, but the waiter talked me into getting them. He did NOT steer me wrong. They were amazing...obviously if I've wanted to try making them since MARCH!

Ok, y'all, here goes nothing! You're in for a real treat tonight!

Delmonico Rib-eye

2 tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper for taste
1 steak

1. Crack pepper and salt over one side of steak and pat seasonings in gently. Turn steak over and repeat. Set steak aside.
2. In small fry pan, melt butter. When the butter is sizzling hot, put the steak in the pan and let it cook on each side for about 3 minutes before turning. Try to only turn it once so it cooks nice and evenly.
3. After you flip the steak over, keep spooning the hot butter over the exposed side of the steak to keep cooking and seal in the flavor.
4. Let the steak rest about 1 minute before serving.


Potatoes Gratin

3 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces (3/4 lb)
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
ground nutmeg (a solid pinch...about 1/8 tsp)
1/3 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/3 cup Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
1/3 cup Gouda cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400.

1. Put potato pieces in large sauce pan and cover with cream. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stir regularly so the cream doesn't scorch.
2. After potatoes have boiled in the cream for about 2 minutes, pour mixture into a small glass casserole dish.
3. Toss all 3 cheeses together and top the potato mixture with the cheese. Spread evenly over the potatoes.
4. Bake 35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is nice and brown on top.

Ok, cheese, when melted at 400 degrees, turns into lava. Be very careful because you will not enjoy the potatoes as much if you have burnt your lips off. Also, the recipe above should make enough for at least 2 people...at least.

I really hope you like the potatoes. I now have a new side dish that I'll be making as often as I can afford Gruyere cheese. Because that shit is expensive.

Happy cooking, y'all!


Amy

A Cookie, for Goodness Sake.

Sometimes, you really just need a cookie. I had a very busy week and since I found myself with some downtime (bordering on boredom), I decided to break out a cookbook and make a snack. If you remember, I mentioned a book a while back called Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. Ruhlman’s book is full of basic ratios for cooking baked goods like breads, batter based foods, cookies and the like. Its subtitle is “The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking” and I think it sticks to that. There is nothing overly complicated about his approach or the recipes shared; instead, we are given simple fundamental ratios to build on.

Now, back to my snack…I wanted a cookie. Or three. I took his recipe for a basic sugar cookie and halved it and added my own topping. Remember, since I used the weights of the ingredients, the listed measurements are approximate. Here is the recipe, halved.

Simple Sugar Cookies

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

4 ounces of sugar (about ½ cup)

1 ounce of egg (1 egg’s contents weigh about 2 oz. I beat the egg in a small bowl and added to my ingredients until the scale went up one full ounce.)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt (I used Kosher salt…not sure if that’s standard, but it worked well for me!)

6 ounces all-purpose flour (about ¾ cup)

½ teaspoon baking powder

Topping:

2 tbsp powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

11. Blend butter, sugar, egg and vanilla together very well.

22.   Add remaining ingredients and slowly combine. You don’t want flour everywhere!! It will not look like there      is enough liquid for the amount of flour, but, keep mixing. It’ll be fine.

33.  Chill dough in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap, until the dough is chilled through-about 15-20 minutes.

44. Roll into ping pong sized balls and bake for about 12 minutes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

55. Combine powdered sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and dust over cookies.

If you want, the dough can be rolled out and you can cut shapes out of it, but they taste perfectly fine topped with the powdered sugar. The dough is light and they are soft on the inside and just barely crunchy on the outside-more firm than crunchy actually. Do try these, you’ll thank me!

A little embarrassed...

I really am trying to keep the blog going, I promise! It's currently a few days before my school's marching band contest and we are busy ALL THE TIME! But, I will admit, I love my job - even on the difficult days.Despite my hectic work schedule, I have 2 recipes for you :) Hope y'all enjoy!


Garlic Citrus Chicken

1 chicken thigh with skin and bones
salt and pepper
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 Valencia Orange
1/2 lemon
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs honey
dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350

1. Dry chicken thigh with a paper towel. Place in baking dish and add a little bit of salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, combine the chopped garlic, the juice from the orange half and a slight squeeze of the lemon, the olive oil honey and parsley. Whisk together well.
3. Coat the chicken in the honey-citrus mixture and pour all of the liquid in the pan with the chicken. Every 7 minutes, baste the thigh with the pan drippings/sauce. Bake for 25+ minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

I put this with the chicken and herb bouillon rice and it went really well together. I tried a variation of this a few months ago, but it didn't turn out NEARLY as good as this chicken did. Try it when you get a chance!


Yesterday night, I stopped to drop off a few papers to my boss at home and ended up staying to watch "The F Word" with Gordon Ramsay. That show is AWESOME! They served meat to vegetarians and helped them decide that maybe meat wasn't so bad after all. Very cool! Anyways, one of the things the boss and I discussed was this Caesar dressing he and his wife loved. I tried it...and bought some when I went to the grocery store later. My first thought when I tried it was, "wow, this would go really well with new potatoes!!" It did. I tried that tonight.

2 medium New or Red Potatoes, cubed
1 sauce pan of water, salted
1 small wedge of sweet onion (maybe 1/8 of an onion, max!)
A couple table spoons of Cardini's Caesar dressing....THIS MAKES THE DISH. DO NOT SUB!!

1. Clean and cube the potatoes.
2. Boil in salted water until slightly tender. The fork should go in without the potato turning to mush.
3. Drain potatoes and pour dressing over potato pieces, then toss to coat. Once they are coated, you can eat them warm or chill in the fridge for a little bit.

I chilled my potatoes in the fridge for a little bit and I felt the need to add more dressing because, I guess they absorbed some of the moisture. This should be kind of dressing-heavy since it's a form of potato salad, but you don't want to over do it, either. I really wanted to add dill to this, but didn't have any after all.

Hope you all are cooking a ton. I'll try and keep things going on here. It should be much easier when marching season is done....hopefully. Band Directing is a busy job!


Happy Cooking y'all!


Amy

You missed me, didn't you? Don't worry, friends, I missed you, too!

So much has changed, but somehow, it has all been manageable and I haven't even had a mental breakdown...but I think I've been too busy for that! I've moved and settled in, started a new job and learned MOST of the kids names (there are a ton of them and it's a great problem to have!), I have traveled, loved, lost and gained. My days are filled to the max and my nights remind me why Dr. Scholl's has not gone out of business. Life is normal. Life is.

Tonight, I spent some time unwinding and walking around the grocery store isles. I have always loved trips to the grocery store. As a kid, Sunday evenings were one of my favorites because I got to go to the grocery store with my dad. I felt important; my brother didn't get to go. It was just us! Now, I still enjoy a stroll through the produce and canned goods. Dinner tonight came from the inspiration of the isles. I thought I would try my hand at a simple ragu/spaghetti sauce, without resorting to the jars. I did use canned tomatoes...but really, it's a work night. Don't judge!

Here y'all go!
Spaghetti Sauce a la Amy
2 1/2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic
3 healthy sized mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
salt and pepper for taste
2 Italian sausage links**
2 cans Italian seasoned chopped tomatoes

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute/fry pan at about a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add onions and garlic and salt and pepper. Cook till onions begin to change color.
2. Add the mushrooms and toss with the onion/garlic.
3. Cut open the sausage links and empty the sausage into the pan. Cook till it's no longer pink, stirring to keep the onions, garlic and mushrooms from burning. Let the sausage crumble and break into smaller pieces if need be as it cooks.
4. Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir everything together. Let some of the water cook out of the tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes so the flavors can mix.

Serve over pasta of your choice.
**My grocery store only had the uncooked links. Some stores will have packages of ground Italian sausage available. Use what you have available...that's the beauty of the sauce.

Hope y'all enjoy and I promise I'll keep a blog or two coming your way, even though I'm working like crazy.

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Let me tell you...

If you need kitchen gadgets, find a Ross store or other discount store that has a good kitchen section and go there regularly! I've been wanting to get a scale and a stainless steel saute pan and I finally did. I got the scale for $15 and the pan for $20. The scales I've seen run around $25 and the pan....well, you can buy a set of some pans for the cost of this nice calphalon pan. I got a heck of a deal either way and did some actual deglazing...which you don't really do with non-stick pans...because nothing sticks...that's the whole point.


Have you guys ever seen "the best thing I ever ate" on foodnetwork? LOVE that show. I watched it the other night with some friends and someone raved about macaroni and cheese found at some restaurant. I made a variation of it and it was amazing. I say variation because I just did it my way...but used the same ingredients they did. Because that's how I roll. Either way, it was delicious. The big difference between the blue box and this deliciousness was (1) the crispy bacon pieces (2) the delicious gruyere cheese used. It's not your typical cheddar and it is wonderful.

Here's how I did it...made mac n' cheese you weirdo...

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
flour...i think i used a couple tablespoons (should be equal weight parts to the butter!)
1 cup milk
salt, pepper and nutmeg, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each
1 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
2 thick slices of bacon, chopped and fried crisp and drained on a paper towel
1 1/2 cup cooked macaroni noodles

Oven-set to broil half way through...so you don't cook while you cook.

1. Over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and mix to create a roux. Let the flour dissolve some....
2. Add milk and mix together with roux. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir together.
3. Slowly add the cheese, mixing constantly so that the cheese melts. Add the bacon pieces and keep stirring. You can turn the oven on now...
4. When the cheese is nice and thick and saucy, add the macaroni noodles. Toss together and pour into an oven safe dish. Top with extra grated cheese and place under the broiler for a few minutes. You just want it to get kind of crunchy and yummy.

Obviously you want to cool this down before you eat it....because coming out from under the broiler this will be SIZZLING!

Ok, go check out your Ross store. And keep an eye out for a grill pan for me.

Happy Cooking y'all!

Amy

French Onion Soup-Again.

Now, don't get your shorts in a bunch. I know you're thinking, "how many variations on french onion soup are there?" But, I read an article on seriouseats.com that a friend recommended and the article suggested cooking the onions in a little bit of caramelized sugar to make them a little more sweet. Makes sense, right? Ok, it does sound a little weird, but go with me on this...


Here's the dish.

1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp unsalted butter
half yellow onion, use the northern hemisphere and cut along the longitude lines....make sense?
salt and pepper
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup cubed french bread
1/3 cup-ish shredded gouda

1. In a skillet, pour sugar and cook over medium heat. Be patient. The sugar needs to heat up, turn a little bit brown and then it'll get to it's melting point. When it starts melting, stir it just a little to pick up the stray sugar granules. You'll notice the sugar starting to brown some. When it has turned honey colored, you're good!
2. Add the olive oil to the pan and let it heat up. NO, the sugar and oil will not mix. You should stir them some so they don't burn, but don't expect them to blend.
3. After the oil heats up (about 3 minutes or so) add the butter. Things will mix together a bit better now. AND THEY SHOULD SMELL AMAZING! Stir everything together and as the butter melts, add the onions.
4. Toss the onions to coat in the heavenly mixture and then add salt and pepper (just a little bit for flavor. Cook the onions until they are tender.
5. Add the broth and simmer for a few minutes.
6. Pour soup mixture into oven safe bowl, top with bread cubes and top with shredded gouda. Cook under the broiler for about 7 minutes or until the cheese melts. (Gouda melts really well so keep an eye on it so the cheese doesn't burn!!)


I can honestly tell you that this was the first time I have ever successfully caramelized sugar. Seriously. It takes patience and I think I usually give up before I get the sugar hot enough. The sugar makes a huge difference when it comes to the onions though!! If you're just going to caramelize onions for something else, add a little bit of sugar. It's worth it! Also, check out seriouseats.com they've got a lot of awesome stuff on there!!!


Happy Cooking, y'all!!

Amy

No....

I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth. I'll be going to my kitchen early this week! I still haven't bought a cooking scale or a new skillet, but I hope to soon. Don't give up on me, I'm hanging on for dear life over here.

Happy cooking, y'all!

amy

One day in the kitchen

This is basically all I've got for a few more days...hopefully days. I didn't want to buy a bunch of groceries since I would only be here for a little bit of time, so I pulled out some steaks from the freezer and bought an onion and some mushrooms. Risotto and steak for dinner. DELICIOUS!

Remember the Date Balsam Creme Vinegar and the Lemon Infused Olive Oil from a few posts back? I marinated the filet mignon (yes, filet mignon) in the vinegar and olive oil most of the day today and it made the meat extra amazing. I don't have a grill or anything so I just seared it and then baked it at 450 for about 10 minutes. I like my steak medium-rare to medium and they turned out perfect. I really recommend experimenting with new flavors of vinegar and oils. I think I need to do more sampling at the Oil and Vinegar store. You should, too.

Also, I put up my little sign that says "dare to cook". It is in a temporary location since my life is in temporary mode. I am so ready to get back into a routine and have some kind of long term plan for a while.

Happy cooking, Y'all!

Amy

Saturday.

I will be cooking SOMETHING Saturday. I'm not sure what, yet, but I will be cooking Saturday. Be prepared.

I feel like...

there should be a countdown to the day that I get back to my kitchen....but I'm not exactly sure when that will be. For that matter, I'm not sure how long I'll be there. Eeek. I could really use some time spent over a pan of risotto, babying it until it's perfect.

Food talk

I talked food with a friend last night and I've decided several things:

1. I want to cook lamb.
2. I want to find a good Indian place around me....where ever it is that I end up living.
3. I would like to buy 3 new pans: A stainless frying pan, a grilling pan and a dutch oven.
4. I really like seriouseats.com
5. I want to cook again asap.


That is all. Happy Cooking, y'all!

amy

Dare to Cook.

Give me about 2 weeks and I'll be back in the kitchen. I have 2 new products I want to try...

1. Lemon Olive Oil
2. Date Balsam Creme Vinegar

They taste delicious together and separate. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. to marinade some chicken or even some beef tenderloin in this.

The store I got them at is really cool...and I told myself I wouldn't buy anything...but I did. For about $25 I got 100ml of the vinegar and 200ml of the oil. You buy the bottles, too, but you can bring them back to be refilled after you use the product up (and wash the bottles....like they want your greasy ol' bottles...) The back wall of the store has about 20-30 different glass containers filled with oil and vinegar varieties. If you have a chance, and you're in the woodlands, find them in the mall. Totally worth the stop!


Also, my momma bought me a cute sign for the kitchen that says "Dare to Cook". I'd say that's the unofficial motto of my kitchen....my unofficial motto of life might now be "Not Afraid".


On a side note, I was asked a very interesting question in an interview the other day. I'll pose it to you guys now and post my answer later. Leave me a comment with your answer!!

If you could be any product in a grocery store, what would you be and why?



Think about it! Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

For your reading enjoyment...

This article was on the yahoo homepage this morning. Its interesting and somewhat relates to the ratios book since they first point that is discussed is the purchasing of a scale. Check it out here and let me know what you think!

I know I'm guilty of over mixing (Number 4) but I think that will be fixed as soon as I get back to my kitchen! I don't know where I got the idea that I needed to cream the butter and the sugar together....maybe I made that up? Who knows! Enjoy the article!


Hope you're all cooking delicious things! Happy cooking, y'all!


Amy

28 on the 28th

Today is my 28th birthday. Someone asked me if I feel older, and I actually kind of do. Weird, huh? I can't wait to get back to my apartment and cook something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by the Tres Gourmandes....Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Berthold. Kind of excited! I'll try to portion one or two down and share them here! Volume I and II were birthday presents. Very excited!

Hope all is well in your kitchens, friends! Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

In case you were wondering...

I miss cooking and my blog a lot.

That is all.



amy

About a book...

It seems like all I've done for the last year is read and cook. (I'm really ok with that.) I found a book about cooking this weekend and it's really a great kitchen tool. The book, Cooking By Ratios has tons of recipes and explains how to fundamentally cook based on weight ratios. So, I think this will be my next cooking direction, trying to portion out 1 servings worth of food based on ratios.

This is what I mean....the ideal ratio for basic cookie dough would be 1:2:3. 1 part sugar to 2 parts fat to 3 parts flour. So lets say 1 part of anything equals 2 ounces. The dough recipe would be 2 ounces sugar, 4 ounces of butter and 6 ounces of flour. From that point, you add whatever flavoring you would want the cookies to have. Since they ounces are WEIGHT ounces and not LIQUID, I need to acquire a kitchen scale before I get started on this little adventure. Maybe I'll get that in a few weeks when I go home to start packing up.

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Someday...

I'll post a new recipe again. Don't give up hope, I'm still here! I will be away from my kitchen for a few weeks, but I WILL be back to cooking and blogging soon! I'm working with the SHSU Summer Music Camps for the next few weeks and there are no kitchens in the dorms (for good reason!). Soon, dear friends, I'll be back with some exciting (hopefully) new (definitely) recipes. If I think of anything profound, I will be SURE to let you know!

Even better French Onion Soup

I get to be in my own kitchen for a few days since I had a little change of summer plans. If I had more time I would try something new and exciting, but knowing I will be eating fabulous cafe belvin for a couple weeks, I decided that I want to make my favorites while I can! So I decided on French onion soup...but of course I changed it up a bit. Just a bit.
Oh! And I made brownie....but they were from a Paula deen recipe that I adjusted. With the brownie recipe, I just halved the recipe and used a mini cupcake pan. I baked them for about 30 minutes and they turned out great! Tomorrow they will go with vanilla ice cream and HOPEFULLY some homemade caramel sauce. But I have tried to make caramel sauce 3 times and I just end up with a mess. I will get this right darn it!!!



Here's the recipe for French Onion Soup!

1 sweet onion, halved and sliced
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, enough to coat the pan
Salt and pepper
Marjoram - a couple shakes
Thyme - a couple shakes
1/4 cup white wine - I used cheap Chardonay again!
3 bouillion cubes
2 cups water
1 cup cubed French bread
2/3 cup shredded gouda cheese

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-high and add onions. Add salt, pepper, marjoram and thyme and cook until the onions are tender.
2. Add the wine and let it cook into the onions for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the beef stock and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Set your oven to broil at this point.
4. Split the onion mixture into two oven safe bowls and put half of the bread cubes in each bowl and top each with half of the cheese.
5. Bake under the broiler until the cheese melts. Probably about 4 minutes....watch though so you don't burn the cheese!


The herbs and wine add really great flavor and go well with the gouda. The herbs de Provence I used last time were good with the broth but didn't go quite as well with the gouda. I think this might be the way I make it from now on!! It was delicious.

Also, I hope you noticed we split it into two bowls. I had a really big onion this time so I just split everything. It's a recipe enough for two so share and share alike! I didn't share this time around, but I will be having it for lunch tomorrow. Soups are one of the few things I don't really mind eating the second day...soups and ratatouille and macaroni...

Ok, happy cooking, y'all! I'll let y'all know how the caramel sauce turns out, if it ever does!

Amy

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Sun-dried Tomato and Pancetta pasta

In my efforts to not buy groceries right before I leave my kitchen for a couple weeks, I decided to use what I had to make a pasta dish for dinner. I had french bread from HEB and their bread tastes best when drizzled with the olive oil, salt, pepper and baked. It's so stinkin' good! So I basically had a ton of carbs for dinner...but I didn't have to buy groceries, so I guess that's ok.


So in the fridge, I had most of a wedge of Parmesan cheese, about 1/4 cup cubed pancetta and sun-dried tomatoes and heavy cream. These lead to an amazing alfredo-esque sauce.

1 table spoon olive oil
1/4 cup cubed pancetta
just less than 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut into small pieces & with oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/4 cup fresh, shredded parmesan cheese

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook for about 5 minutes. Its kinda like bacon, so cook until the fat starts to cook off some.
2. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and their oil and heat mix together.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and let the pan cool some before adding the cream. Add the cream and mix everything together.
4. Add 1/4 cup white wine and mix. Let the alcohol cook off some...about 3 minutes.
5. Add the parmesan cheese a little bit at a time so that the cheese melts and makes a lovely saucey-ness.


Pour over whatever pasta you have on hand and toss it together and you have a fabulous meal! I like that the tomatoes are sweet and just a little tangy! So good!



Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Saucy Pork Chops

The other night when I posted about not forgetting to post, I ended up making pork chops with a creamy and cheesy wine sauce. They were awesome!!!


Here's what I did:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 shallot
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves removed from the stem and chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
3-4 medium white mushrooms

3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 white wine
1/8 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup (about) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon flour



1. In the frying pan, heat the oil at about a medium-high heat. Add the shallots, rosemary and garlic. After about 2 minutes, add the pork chop.
2. After about 5 minutes, flip the chop and add the mushrooms to the pan.
3. Saute the mushrooms and cook the pork chop until it is cooked through. You'll probably need to flip it a couple times to cook it evenly.

For the sauce.
1. Remove the pork chop and most of the mushrooms from the pan. Add the butter and let it melt.
2. Add the chicken stock and swirl it around the pan to pick up the goodness left from cooking the chop.
3. Add the white wine and simmer a minute or two so the alcohol can cook out.
4. Add the cream and mix thoroughly.
5. Grate the cheese into the liquid and add the flour. Stir to encourage the cheese to melt evenly and the flour to not clump up.
6. Add the mushrooms back into the pan and gently mix them in.
7. Simmer and let the liquid reduce so that the sauce thickens.
8. After about 10 minutes of stirring and thickening, you should be ready to serve this on top of your pork chop!


I hope you guys like the sauce! It was pretty good!


Happy cooking, y'all!


Amy

I didn't forget

I've been wanting to blog, I just haven't made anything worth posting...really. I tried to do something with chicken and it started one way and ended completely different. And unfortunately, I'll be heading to east Texas soon and won't be anywhere that I'll be cooking for about 3 weeks. I'll try to make up the lost time when I get back to my place.

I will share this with you: If you haven't read "My Life in France" by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme, you should. It covers the life of Julia Child and her continuing pursuit and research and curiosity of the French middle-class cuisine. She tested and tasted and explored so many ways to give us the perfect, fool proof ways to cook as the French bourgeois do. I hope to acquire some of her books this summer, because quite honestly, I was inspired by her. Outstanding book, extraordinary love, and unending curiosity. Read it.


Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

French Onion Soup- A variation

I made French onion soup for dinner tonight, but I remembered I had some Herbs de Provence in the cabinet and I figured, what the hell....its French soup, right? Why not add some French herbs? Herbs de Provence has oregano, lavender (the American version), rosemary, thyme and a bunch of other stuff in it. This definitely took my soup to the next level!

I added 1 tablespoon of Herbs de Provence to the onions as they cooked in the oil and then cooked the rest of the soup as usual. I usually use a smoky gouda with the soup, and it worked fine in this case, but I think the smoky-ness didn't really mesh well with the rest of the flavors. Maybe a plain gouda or even traditional Gruyère cheese. I'll try that next time. For now, get ya some herbs de provence...its just the right combo for the onions and olive oil. Hope y'all enjoy!

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Doesn't this look pretty?!

Baked Brie with Strawberry Compote

I had never had brie until....today. And it was really great! I've wanted to use puff pastry for a while, and this is really a great way to get started with it.

Strawberry Compote

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons water
1 cup strawberries, sliced and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Over medium heat, combine sugar, lemon juice and water in a large frying pan and let the sugar begin to dissolve.
2. Add the vanilla and strawberries and let everything cook together for about 10 minutes, stirring often so that the liquid doesn't burn.
3. Pull out about 1/8 cup of the liquid from the strawberry mixture and add the cornstarch. Mix it well so it isn't clumpy. Feel free to add more strawberry liquid to this to help dissolve the cornstarch.
4. Mix the cornstarch mixture back into the strawberry pan and keep stirring. Turn the heat up just enough for the mixture to bubble a bit and cook for about 3 minutes. Then turn the heat off, keep stirring but let it cool.

Baked Brie

1/2 frozen puff pastry sheet
flour for dusting
1 wedge of baby brie
slivered almonds

1. Thaw the puff pastry according to the box directions. Mine was folded in 3 parts and I basically cut one third of it off. Preheat oven to 400 and lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. Cut the wedge of brie in half, horizontally, as if you were slicing a bagel into halves...but with a wedge shape....make sense?
3. Layer the almonds onto the bottom piece of brie and then add the top piece back so you have like a brie and almond sandwich.
4. Place the brie on the puff pastry and fold the edges up around the cheese in a kind of pretty-ish way so that the cheese is covered.
5. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is a pretty brown color.

Top with the strawberry compote and enjoy! The Brie is kind of buttery and the pastry makes a flaky crusty awesomeness. The strawberries add just the right amount of sweetness and the cheese is melty and perfect. I'm now a fan of brie forever!


Btw...I had my ratatouille leftovers and put it with a little bit of the really easy chicken bouillon rice that I love so much. IT was totally delectable. The flavor of the ratatouille was still really good and the rice was just salty enough to add to the sweetness of the veggies. AWESOME!


Happy cooking, once again, y'all!

Amy

Poached Egg on Asparagus

I've been wanting to try cooking asparagus and I saw a picture in the masterchef cookbook with asparagus covered with a poached egg. Seemed like a good idea, so I thought I'd try my own version! And, really, we all know I love breakfast!


Poached Egg

Water
2 table spoons vinegar
1 egg

1. Fill a small frying pan with water, to about the 3/4 level. Add the vinegar and mix it just a little bit. Heat on medium-high and let the water begin to simmer but not boil...that's just gonna make a mess.
2. When the water is simmering, place the egg in a small bowl. Pour the egg from the bowl into the pan. By using the bowl, the egg will hopefully be more contained and not spread out a ton.
3. Let the egg cook until the albumen (clear stuff) turns white. If your eggs are cold, it'll be around 3 minutes. If they're room temperature, it'll be less.

**Note**I usually have to gently detach mine from the bottom of the pan...I don't know why, but I do. Just slip a spatula or slotted spoon under the edges and work it loose. Also, you may need to gently flip the egg over so that both sides cook evenly.

Asparagus

6-8 asparagus spears, washed, dried and with the ends trimmed
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Pinch of Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper

1. Heat the oil at medium-high in a large frying pan.
2. Put the asparagus in the pan and turn to coat them with oil. Add salt and pepper and shake the pan so that they 'stir' or rotate more.
3. Cook until the asparagus is slightly tender. Shaking the pan occasionally to help them cook evenly. You'll want to cook them about 5 minutes, I think.

Place the asparagus on your plate and set the egg on top. Crack some fresh pepper over top and salt them just a bit. When you break the yolk of the egg, it'll spread all over the asparagus and be an amazing yellow goodness!


Also, I toasted some french bread to have with this. I just split a chunk of french bread and drizzled olive oil over it. Then added a little bit of salt and pepper and toasted it at 400 degrees for about 6 minutes. I used regular olive oil on one slice and blood-orange infused olive oil on the other. Both were amazing!! I 'borrowed' the blood orange infused oil from my mom...I don't think she's getting it back. Its SOOOO good!


Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Momma's Alfredo Sauce

This is really delicious and really, really easy. I used to buy jar alfredo sauce, but then my mom gave me this recipe and it is so much better! And what's really cool is you can add your favorite flavors, like sun-dried tomatoes or sauteed mushrooms, and give it even better flavor.

Here's the recipe!

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/8 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and add the garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the cream and let it warm up. (If you want to add mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes, do it at this point.)
3. Add the cheese 1/4 cup at a time, letting it melt before adding the next 1/4 cup. (You may not need all of the cheese!) If the sauce starts looking really thick, stop adding cheese, and taste the sauce. If it tastes good to you, go to the next step.)
4. Fold in the parsley and serve.

I think I added two table spoons of white wine to the melted butter...I can't remember. Go ahead and try it! It would be really good, I think. Or, if you're adding sauteed mushrooms, add the wine to them then add them to the cream. It'll get a little bit of the wine flavor in there. If you don't want to add any wine whatsoever, no worries. It's still going to be awesome sauce.


Hope you like this easy alfredo sauce! Happy cooking, y'all!


Amy

Ratatouille

Recently I read a book called Lunch in Paris: A Love Story by Elizabeth Bard. It was basically about an American woman that marries a Frenchman and learns to live as the French do, with an American twist. It was a really good book and I think that my favorite part was her inclusion of French recipes she learned as she adjusted to French life. One of the recipes she included was Ratatouille. When something is described as "a walk through a friends garden" and as having the "taste of sunshine", it only makes sense to try it because it should instantly make you happier, right? Well, in this case, it was like sunshine in my kitchen...and my mouth.

Now, something to note, from what I've read about ratatouilli (ratatouillies? various ratatouille?) there are apparently 2 schools of thought: saute or layer and bake. This recipe was of the saute variety and it was really, really good! The author of the book Lunch in Paris: A Love Story recommends having enough to eat the second day because it is even better then. I made enough for a second helping for tomorrow's lunch or breakfast...I might throw it in an omlette...we'll see.

Here's some sunshine for you:

Ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
1 baby eggplant (did you know they came as babies? THEY ARE SO FREAKIN CUTE!!!), quartered and cut into 2 inch by 1/2 inch pieces
1 zucchini, quartered and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2-1 whole red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 white mushrooms (not in the original recipe...but I love mushrooms...)
1 1/2 large tomatoes, chunked
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 leveled teaspoon of sugar
pinch of saffron (see note below)

1. Heat the olive oil, at medium heat, in a large frying pan (I actually used a large soup pot/spaghetti pot).
2. Add the onions to the pot and stir to coat them with oil. Let them cook for about 20-25 minutes so they are nice and tender and sweet.
3. Add the chunks of eggplant, coat with the oil and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the bell pepper, toss together and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the zucchini and mushrooms, toss together and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and thyme and toss everything together. Let it all cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Add sugar and saffron to the sauce/liquid and dissolve them both. After they have dissolved, toss the whole lot together and coat the vegetables with the sauce. Cook for about 5-10 minutes and then set aside to cool. The flavors will soak into the vegetables more and be AWESOME.


Note: I only had saffron threads. I put them in the tiniest bit of oil and crushed them up some. Then when I added them to the sauce, they basically dissolved away into the liquid. If you have ground/powdered saffron, that might be easier to use. Seeing as how I stole this saffron from my mom and because saffron is beyond expensive, I did the best I could with what I had. It worked and my mom hasn't cooked since December (NO MOM! That totino's pizza doesn't count!!) so it wasn't really a big deal. :-P


Anyways, once this cools a bit, or even the next day when the flavors have intensified a bit, eat this up! It would go really well with some pasta or just fresh bread, if you want to serve it with something. I just had some bread with it and it was perfect!


I hope y'all enjoy! I'll have a tasty alfredo sauce recipe for you guys later...its just one of the wonderful things I've stolen from my momma at some point! Ha! My mom rocks!

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

Pasta a la Amy

So tonight I made Veal Saltimbocca and an amazing pasta dish. And, then, my friend called and said he wanted to go to the BRAND NEW FREEBIRDS that opened TODAY. I can't say no to freebirds world burrito. I decided to put veal and pasta in the fridge so that I can have it for lunch tomorrow. I'm going to share it with you, nonetheless.


The Veal Saltimbocca is just the recipe from the masterchef book I told y'all about yesterday. The only thing I did different was using spinach instead of sage. I melted the butter and cooked some shallots. When the shallots were tender, I put in about 10 fresh spinach leaves in the butter and tossed it until the spinach became tender.

Pasta a la Amy

1/3 cup dry pasta shells (or whatever you have on hand)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2-3 white mushrooms, chopped
1/8-1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
6-8 springs flat leaf parsley, chopped
5-6 sun ripened tomatoes in oil, sliced roughly (keep some of the oil in the mixture! its great)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/8 cup mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup pecorino romano or Parmesan cheese

1. Start the water boiling on medium-high with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt. When the water boils, add the pasta. Cook till it's al dente and drain
2. IN a small saute pan, heat the butter on medium. When the butter has melted, put all of the ingredients in the saute pan and toss together. Cook until the mushrooms are somewhat tender.
3. Remove from heat for a minute or two or until the pan cools some. When it has cooled, add the cream and mix together.
4.Add the mozzarella cheese and then the pecorino romano cheese. Mix together until the cheese melts.
5. Take the drained pasta and pour it into a serving bowl...or whatever bowl you're gonna eat out of...Pour the cheesy sauce mixture over the pasta and toss together. You'll have just enough sauce to cover the pasta and have some heaven in your mouth.



If you're not a fan of the veal, give this pasta a shot. If you don't have all of the ingredients, screw it! Use what you have!! Substitute some items and make it yours. Mine was awesome, though, so if you wanna be like me (and really, who doesn't?) more power to you!


Ha! Happy cooking y'all!

Amy

Gazpacho and Spinach Salad

I have really missed this blog over the last two weeks!! I have been busy with finalizing classwork and work and I'm sorry, friends! I hope you made some tasty foods while I was on hiatus!

Since it's very much spring time (and because I ate a few too many mike and ike's this weekend) I wanted to make something healthy and still really delicious. Gazpacho is what came from that decision. I saw a recipe in the Master Chef cookbook-its a bunch of recipes from the show and from the people involved in the show. Great ideas! I borrowed the basics of their recipe and adjusted it for me...like usual!

Here ya go!

Gazpaco

1/2 tomato, seeded and roughly chopped
1/4 onion, roughly chopped
1/4 English Cucumber-*you can use a regular cucumber, but you might want to peel it first.
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/4 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/4 lemon, juiced
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
kosher salt and fresh pepper
2 tablespoons of Olive oil

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor...or if you only have the cheap-o chopper like me....use that! Blend everything EXCEPT THE OLIVE OIL until the veggies are pureed.
2. Add about a table spoon of the olive oil and puree again. Add the rest of the olive oil and puree again.
3. Place a sieve over the serving bowl and pour the puree through the sieve. Press it enough so that you get all of the liquid out of the mixture.
4. If you need to prep something else, just stick the soup in the fridge and stir it before you serve/eat it.

Just a note...I added the pulpy, pureed stuff that we squeezed all of the liquid from, back to my soup as garnish. I hope that's not weird...it was good!


Spinach Salad

1 cup fresh spinach leaves, washed and stemless--shake as much excess water off...if you have a salad spinner, use it!
2 strips of bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese
8 green olives-halved
1/2 tomato, seeded and roughly chopped (I used the other half of the tomato from the gazpacho!)
olive oil
1/4 lemon wedge

1. Throw the spinach in your bowl. Top with olives, bacon pieces, feta and tomato.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the salad...You'll probably use a couple table spoons, but just eyeball it. You don't want to drown your spinach.
3. Squeeze the lemon wedge over everything and then toss all the ingredients together.

Don't let the sneaky little feta crumbles hide in the bottom of the bowl!! Mix them all together...they're my favorite part! Serve this with a piece of garlic cheese bread and you've got a tasty, easy and healthy dinner! Besides, after you eat this, you won't feel bad at all for those mike and ike's (or whatever your poison is!)

Flippin' Idiot

I need to rant-about myself. This morning, I pulled out some ground sausage and thawed it so I could cook breakfast. Popped it into the pan to cook, cooked my eggs and fresh delicious biscuits and then sat down with a big glass of orange juice to enjoy everything. Sound's quaint, right? Wrong. It wasn't sausage. It was hamburger. I thought to myself several things that SHOULD have made me realize it was not sausage...

For instance:

1. Why is this sausage so bloody?
2. Why isn't this sausage crumbling like usual?
3. Why doesn't this sausage smell like sage?
4. Why did I buy 2 packages of sausage and only divide one? You see, there is a package of sausage sitting right behind the package of what I now know is hamburger.

It was clearly too early for me to be cooking. My dog really enjoyed his breakfast though. Let's hope that's the last kitchen mishap for the day.

Happy cooking, y'all!

Not a Roast

Well, dinner time rolled around again and I was really not sure what I wanted. I need a little inspiration I guess....so I went to the fridge to see what there was. I decided to use the last bit of beef stew meat and mix it with some veggies and make an Un-Roast. You see, a roast comes from the rear hind quarters of the cow (called the round) and according to the Cattlemans Beef Association the stew meat comes from a part called "other". I don't want to really think about what "other" part that could be....Anyways, its an Un-Roast because I used all the same veggies you would with a roast. But, it's not a stew either since its not going to actually stew...

SO, here's what I did. You might want to share this with someone though because I had a bit too much food.

3/4 cup water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 lb beef stew meat
2 red potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup carrots (I used the bagged ones...easy!)
1/4 cup onion- big chunks!
4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
thyme


1. In a small glass baking dish, combine water and the bouillon cubes. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds so that you can dissolve the bouillon cubes.
**Before you add the stew meat to the dish, you might want to tenderize it....which means you get to beat the crap out of it :) Stew meat tends to be tough since they expect you to stew it for long lengths of time.
2. Add the beef stew meat and all of the veggies and parsley. Top with thyme. I gave the shaker of thyme a couple decent shakes...not sure how much I used, really.
3. Cook for about 40 minutes at 350. You want the veggies tender and the beef cooked.

The drippings or 'juice' on this is really thin, so this is probably pretty healthy. It's not covered in gravy or thick soupy-ness like a beef stew is. If you want a gravy, take the drippings in the pan and add about a teaspoon of corn starch to 1/4 cup of cold water. When they're mixed, add them to the hot drippings. Keep the drippings cooking over a burner and keep stirring the mixture. Eventually it will thicken and you can have gravy to go with the meal.


This was pretty tasty for a throw together type of meal! If you have anything you want to see made, let me know! I'm looking for new ideas! I think I'm going to make a mushroom and pancetta risotto soon. I had risotto in my fritatta this morning and I really liked it!


Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NA-CHO CHEESE!!!!


Do you ever have a hankering for something, but don't have everything you need to make it? That's how I felt tonight. I wanted nachos but didn't want to go out and I didn't have any taco seasoning packets on hand. So, I did my best, and it turned out mui delicioso! I even topped it with some fresh homemade guacamole! I love avocados!


Here are the recipes for both!


Tacos Meat

1 teaspoon butter (kinda heaping...don't like level it off or anything...)
2 tablespoons green bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 lb ground beef

1. In a large frying pan, melt butter at about a medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onions and garlic salt and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the hamburger and the chili powder and mix with the onions, cooking until the hamburger meat has browned.

You don't need to drain it or anything...I used either 85/15 meat or 90/10 hamburger and there wasn't any excessive fat/fluid/grossness in the pan. Just spoon your hamburger meat over your favorite chips and top with shredded cheese and whatever else you like on your tacos/nachos!

Also, the chili powder you're adding isn't enough to make it hot, just enough to give it really awesome flavor. I don't have super expensive spices, and honestly, when I bought the bottle of chili powder I have, I bought the super cheap one because I didn't know what to expect.


MOLE! MOLE! MOLE!

I love guacamole.

2 avocados
1 teaspoon finely chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons fresh diced tomato
garlic salt--I just gave the container a few good shakes....Add it to your taste
Juice from 1/8 lemon

1. Prepare the avocados by cutting in half and removing the seed and the peel. (If you hit the HEB, they have vacuum packed avocados for pretty cheap and they're peeled and seeded and fresh.)
2. Cut the avocados into cubes and place in a bowl with the onion and the garlic salt. Mix together, mashing the avocado pieces as you go.
3. Add the tomato pieces and mix gently. You don't want to mash the tomatoes!!!
4. Squeeze the lemon juice into the avocado to help it stay green and give it some zip and you're set!

If you can make this a little bit ahead of time, do it! The flavors will mingle a little more and it'll taste even better. If not, it's still freakin' good.



I tried to take a picture of the nachos I made but it didn't turn out well...and then I realized I was starving so I ate them.

Have you guys ever had the "Julio's" brand tortilla chips? They are made out of San Angelo, Texas and are PHENOMENAL!!! They are thick and crunchy and they flavor them with paprika, but not too much so they're ick. Keep an eye out for Julio's chips! Bright yellow bag....delicious chips!



Alright y'all, Happy Cooking!


Amy

Mac and Cheese with a Twist

Here's the mac and cheese recipe I talked about the other day. With it I had a salisbury steak-like burger patty with fresh, homemade gravy. I didn't realize brown gravy was SO easy to make...seriously, why have I been using the junk in the package for so long?

With the macaroni and cheese, I made the macaroni and cheese from a few posts back, but I added about 4 slices of Canadian bacon that I had cut into pieces. If you add them to the cheese sauce before you add the noodles, the cheese sauce will get a little bit more of the flavor. Also, I put the whole mixture in a glass baking dish and topped with some of the Italian bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese and it made it even better! You might throw in a teaspoon of melted butter or soft butter to make the bread crumbs a little crispier.

If you find the original recipe of macaroni and cheese a little 'soupy' (honestly, I was a little worried it was at first) you can add cornstarch if you're making just the original recipe. HOWEVER, if you are making it with the canadian bacon and bread crumbs, don't thicken it. Baking the macaroni will dry it out a little and we don't want it to be extra thick and gross.



Here's the hamburger and gravy gig:

1/4 lb hamburger meat
dash of garlic salt
1 tablespoon butter
2-3 mushrooms sliced

2 cups beef broth, chilled
2 bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Mix the hamburger and the garlic salt and shape into a patty. Heat in a large frying pan, staying to one side of the pan. On the other side of the pan, drop the tablespoon of butter and as it melts, add the mushrooms. Keep the foods on their respective sides of the pan.
2. Cook until the burger is done and the mushrooms are tender.
3. Remove the meat and add 1 cup of the beef broth and the bouillon cubes to the frying pan.
4. Combine the cornstarch with the remaining beef broth and blend well.
5. Slowly add the last cup of broth to the pan, after the bouillon cubes have started to dissolve. Cook together until it begins to thicken.
6. Add the burger patty back to the gravy mix and let it all simmer for a few minutes as the gravy thickens.

This will probably make more gravy than you need...in fact, I know it will. BUT, you can save some for use later in the week, or you can chunk it. Or, you can put some on top of your dogs food like I did. Yes, my dog is spoiled.


I hope you go and make your own gravy tonight! It is stupid easy!

Happy Cooking! I'll have a 'fresh' recipe for you later this week! I just didn't want y'all to think I'd finished cooking everything I wanted to.


ALSO, if you're not sure about the risotto, you need to just hush and make it. I tried risotto in a VERY fancy restaurant this weekend and mine was without a doubt better. And it isn't going to cost you nearly as much as my dinner did.

Do stuff and happy cooking!

amy

Mushroom Risotto and Thy/ime

I don't know if I've ever made something as good as the risotto I made tonight. Seriously. I followed a recipe from Giada Delaurentis from the Food Network, and adapted it for what I had and wanted to use. It was so good, I ate every morsel...Buddy Boy was kinda mad because I didn't save anything for him!

Ready to change your life? This is how to make Mushroom Risotto.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced onion
4 white mushrooms-finely chopped----this almost breaks my heart! I love sliced mushrooms!
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/8 cup white wine (I used cheap-o chardonay!)
2 cups chicken broth, warmed (I used 2 chicken and herb bouillon cubes and 2 cups water)

1. In a large saute pan, melt butter and then add the olive oil. Mix and add the onion pieces and cook until they're tender over a medium heat.
2. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until they are all tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed again in the mushrooms.
3. Add the rice and mix. Let it heat up and toast for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine and mix well. Cook until the wine is absorbed in the mixture. Add 1 cup of the broth and cook about 10 minutes or until the broth is absorbed.
5. Add the last cup of broth. It's going to look like a soupy mess, but I promise the rice will absorb almost all of the liquid. It will probably take at least 15 minutes or so.

**edit** I just realized I left out the cheese that Giada said to put in her recipe. However, I don't think this version needs it. She added Parmesan cheese and that would give it a saltier/sharper taste, but really, the way I made it was fantastic. I guess it couldn't hurt to add a little Pecorino Romano or Parmesan if you try it and think it needs a little more, but I don't think it needs it.**

This is the most creamy and delicious rice I've ever had. It is simple for the most part, but you have to stir it regularly. It's not a leave-it kind of dish, but it is so worth the effort!

With this, I made a baked pork chop. You know me, simple seasonings with it. My fall back herb for chicken and pork chops is rosemary, but I've been wanting to try thyme. It was a good change! It's not quite as woody as rosemary and there's no worrying about the stems when you use just dried thyme. If you're not a rosemary fan, I recommend trying thyme instead. It's very good!


Now, just so you don't think I'm a horrible slacker and I left you hanging for a few days, I did write a blog the other day about some bad ass macaroni and the easiness of real gravy, but it never actually posted. It was a gem, too. I'll have to work up the recipe and re-write the blog later...maybe tomorrow night when I don't have homework and taxes to do by midnight!

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy

French Onion Soup

Do you realize how easy this soup is? It's ridiculous. And, whats awesome is that you'll be able to make it and not only impress yourself with its fanciness but you'll be able to double it and impress someone tall, dark and handsome!

Here's what you need:

2 table spoons olive oil
1 Sweet yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch kosher salt
Pepper
2 cups beef broth
1 thick slice of french bread, cubed
2 slices of fontina or gouda cheese

1. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil.
2. Slice the onion in half and then cut 1/4 inch half-moon slices from each side...I wish I could draw pictures on this thing...If this is clear as mud, let me know.
3. Take all the onion pieces and place them in the oil. Add the salt and give your pepper grinder a couple good twists over the onions.
4. Let them cook together for about 10 minutes. Then, add the beef broth and cook for about 10 minutes more.
5. When the onions are nice and tender pour the mixture into an oven safe bowl. I don't have a special french onion crock, so I just used a glass Anchor mixing bowl.
6. Top with the cubed bread and the slices of cheese. Place in oven under the broiler for about 10 minutes. ****WATCH THE SOUP! I burned the first bit of cheese because I didn't watch!***** When it's kind of brown and delicious looking, take it out and enjoy! Don't forget the bowl and soup will be hot!

Also, if you have a semi-crappy apartment oven, beware that the broiler will probably heat the cheese unevenly...argh. Don't worry though, mine tasted amazing.




There seem to be a lot of steps when you look at it, but really, it was stupid easy and so good! I may have to buy some of the french onion crocks so I can look fancy next time I make it!


Hope y'all enjoy! Happy Cooking!

Amy


P.S. Rich O'Toole read my blog today :) Check out his new video for "The Cricket Song". It's sweet and makes me wanna hug him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqnJbF9Bypo

music

Have you ever tried to tell a high school kid about Texas country or red dirt music? They don't get it. The idea that there is amazing music beyond what the radio always plays just baffles them.

If you find a kid, enlighten them. Share with them something from Rich O'Toole, Casey Donahew, Eli Young, Honeybrowne or Josh Abbot. The cricket song is a personal favorite, but there are so many good tunes out there. Spread the word! Enlighten someone!

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An Amy Classic

When I was in college, my friends and I didn't exactly eat like poor college kids. We ate well. One of my friend's favorite things to eat (and mine!) was beef tips and rice, just like my momma made it. You may have noticed I haven't really full-out fried anything on here except the fried mac and cheese...and this. Here's the dish:

1/2 lb beef stew meat
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon House Seasoning from Fairy Godmother Paula Deen
1 cup veggie oil
1 packet brown gravy mix-prepared like the packet says

1. In a large frying pan, heat your veggie oil at a medium-high heat.
2. While the oil is heating, combine flour and house seasoning and flour the beef stew meat. Coat it well!
3. Place ONE tiny piece of meat in the oil and as long as the oil bubbles around the meat you're ready to go. If the meat just sits there in the oil and absorbs the oil, wait a little longer. If the oil isn't hot enough, your meat will get soggy and greasy. BLECH!
4. Brown the meat in the oil, stirring and rotating occasionally. After the meat has started to brown, pull out a larger piece and cut it open. When it's nice and brown throughout, it's cooked.
5. Place all the meat on a paper towel to drain. Set it aside for a few minutes while you do the next step.
6. Empty the oil out of your pan and wipe it down....no floaters in the gravy! Mix the gravy in the pan, just like it says to on the packet. After it starts to thicken a bit, add the meat back to the gravy and mix it all up.
Serve it over rice or even butter noodles. But, call your momma and tell her you're making this before you get started so she knows to expect to be slapped. It really is slap-your-momma good.

Happy Cooking, Y'all!


amy

The way the cookie crumbles...

Yeah, yeah. It's cliche.

Anyways, I decided to make cookies this afternoon (mostly because I didn't want to do homework...) so I pulled out the bag of chocolate chips and followed the directions.


WORST. COOKIES. EVER.

And it wasn't even a chef's error. The recipe was just bad. I mean, the dough was fine, but it was runny and I ended up having to manhandle the pan and spatula while mauling the cookies just to get them off of the pan. I don't have some crappy pan that's 10 years old, either. It's a good non-stick. So, this is my recommendation. Always buy tollhouse and use their recipe. NEVER buy the HEB brand chips to follow the recipe from. That is NOT what I like about Texas, HEB. You disappoint me.


That's my rant for the day. I needed to share this disaster with y'all.

Hope your cooking trials are going better than the crap I made today.

Happy Cooking!

Amy

Stuffed Tomato

So I think my pictures and food are starting to look prettier...don't you agree?

I have been kicking around the idea of a stuffed tomato for a few days and finally got around to making it. Not gonna lie...it was good.

Here's the deal:

1/4 lb lean hamburger meat
1 1/2 tablespoons diced onion
garlic powder
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup cheese- I used the HEB Italian blend AND a little bit of mozzarella just for fun...
1 tablespoon diced tomato
1 finely chopped fresh basil leaf***almost forgot to tell y'all about this! it was the best part
salt & pepper
Olive Oil
1 large tomato

Preheat your oven to 350

1. In a small frying pan, brown the hamburger with the onion and a dash of garlic powder.
2. While the meat is cooking, cut the top off of your tomato...like you would a pumpkin. Use a paring knife and at about 1 inch from the center, start your cut and make a complete circle around to remove the stem area and the top. Chunk the small removed part.
3. Using your paring knife, carefully cut out sections of the middle so that you can begin scooping the tomato guts out with a spoon. Let the wall of the tomato be somewhat thick and be sure not to pierce them. It should be about 1/4 inch thick all the way around.
**The tomato should end up serving as a bowl-like device....bowls with holes aren't as effective.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, diced tomato and chopped basil. When the hamburger is done cooking, add this to the mix and toss together.
5. Salt and pepper the inside of the tomato and then spoon the hamburger, bread crumbs and cheese mixture into the tomato bowl.
6. Grease the bottom of a small baking dish with olive oil. You want enough oil so that the tomato doesn't stick to the bottom, so don't be stingy!
7. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the tomato is nice and tender.

This just tastes good, guys. And if you're looking for something healthy, this is it. Lean hamburger, a tomato, a little bit of low fat cheese and you're golden.


I ate this with a bit of rice and it was so good! If you don't try to make anything else I recommend, make this. You'll love me for it!



Happy Cooking, y'all!

amy

P.S. Don't pull an Amy and accidentally throw the jar of bouillon cubes across the kitchen while you're cooking. Its extremely inconvenient, and if you have pets, they will, OF COURSE, need to suddenly be in the middle of the stinking kitchen while you're trying to clean up glass. Ugh. Be careful, cooking is dangerous work, folks!

Veggies, A Chop and Good Ol' Cornbread

Generally the only channel I know how to find on my tv is the foodnetwork. Seriously. I usually just fish around until I find what I'm looking for or stumble across the tv line up channel. Because of this, I tend to get a lot of ideas and get REALLY distracted when working on my homework. (did you know I'm working on my master's degree?) So when I was watching today...I mean doing my homework, I kept going back and forth about what I wanted to cook. I posed the question to my facebook friends, and when I decided to make chicken, I discover I'm out of chicken. Typical! So that left me with a pork chop. And what a pork chop!

I think sometimes the flavor of the meat is under-appreciated. I like to season meat simply and tonight I just sauteed onions and garlic then added the pork chop that I had salted and peppered. Very simple, but very tasty. To compliment my meal I decided to roast some carrots and potato pieces and make a piece of cornbread...and I started with stuffed mushrooms. What...they weren't going to last much longer. And, you know Buddy ate a good part of my food...not the mushrooms.


The veggies were super easy, too. I just took about 1/2 cup of chopped potato pieces, 1/3 cup carrots (those cute little precut ones!) about 2 table spoons of olive oil, a good sprinkle of marjoram, basil, salt and pepper. I tossed it all together and threw it in the oven (in my handy dandy glass dish) and baked it at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes. I didn't watch the time really, I just checked them to see if they were tender and tossed them occasionally while they were cooking.

Here's how I made the cornbread and the mushrooms.

Cornbread
3 heaping table spoons of cornmeal
1 table spoon flour
1 table spoon beaten egg
1 table spoon veggie oil
2 table spoons milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 table spoon sugar

Preheat oven to 450
1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Grease small ramican or muffin pan and pour mixture into the pan.
3. Bake until the edges start to brown-about 20 minutes.

Stuffed mushrooms

1/3 cup Italian seasoned bred crumbs
2 table spoons shredded pecorino romano cheese
2 table spoons olive oil
1 tea spoon fresh, finely chopped parsley
6 white mushrooms-washed and with stems removed

Preheat oven to 400.

1. Mix the bread crumbs, cheese and parsley all together. Add the olive oil and mix well.
2. Stuff the mushroom with the mixture...put it where the stem was...it makes a little bucket :)
3. Pour about a table spoon of olive oil into a small baking dish to coat the bottom. Place the mushrooms in the dish and drizzle lightly with a olive oil.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops brown and the mushrooms are tender.

These turned out really well, but I feel like the mixture needs to be more moist. You might add a table spoon or two of water to help them out. I know when you get stuffed mushrooms at the OG, they have clams and maybe clam juice in them. (betcha didn't realize that!) I don't have clams or clam juice on hand, so maybe olive juice? water? melted butter? ....ooohh...melted butter would be good. Don't get me wrong, they're good like they are, but I think the stuffing shouldn't be dry.


I hope y'all try some of these recipes out! Happy Cooking!


amy

pizza!!

Tonight, I was craving pizza, so when I was wandering around the grocery store, I decided to browse the baking isle and see if I could find an easy to use pizza dough mix. I didn't find a mix, but I did find fleischman's pizza dough yeast packets. Genius. It's some kind of magic yeast that you really can't screw up....and I usually bomb when it comes to making bread type stuff that isn't bisquik based. So I grabbed the packet (its actually 3 doses in one packet), and checked the ingredient list. Normal stuff...flour, oil, water, salt and sugar. So, I figured I'd take the $2 plunge and try the recipe on the packet. It worked great! Even the dough that I forgot to add oil to was great! (Don't worry, that was aj's pizza. I made mine perfectly!)
So, I don't really have a recipe for you, but I do suggest you try the recipe on the yeast package. It was good and crazy easy. Just remember not to over do the sauce or go too lightly on the cheese :) My pizza was pretty. If you've never had pineapple and Canadian bacon on a pizza, you're just hurting yourself. Live a little. Eat fruit on pizza.

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Happy cooking!


Amy

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This week...

On hiatus till Monday night or Tuesday. Sorry for the delay! This week, I'm kicking around scalloped potatoes and homemade pizza.

Last night, I had scalloped potatoes that were life changing. Seriously. I've never been a huge fan of scalloped potatoes, but these were so creamy and cheesey and awesome. The waiter at Vic & Anthony's last night convinced me to try them and I figured why the heck not? Anyways, totally delicious and we had a fabulous dinner for Mom and Dad's 29th wedding anniversary and their 10th kidney anniversary. It was a great night...and possibly our last real family dinner in Houston. Mom starts her new job training Monday. She's going to do great at her new job! I just have to figure out my plan of action...


Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

Happy Cooking!

Amy

lame

I tried a foodnetwork recipe tonight for honey lime chicken...it was terrible. I like citrus and chicken, but this was just not good.

I made alton browns brownies though, and they are freaking tasty. I halved the recipe. So good! It would be really easy go just quarter the recipe, too and have just enough brownies for dessert. I made extra so I can have some with lunch tomorrow :) intentioal leftovers are a-okay!


Going to try stuffed baked tomatoes later this week.

And fried pork chops with mashed potatoes. I had a friend tell me he only ate pork chops 'of the shake and bake variety'. What rhe heck is that about?!?!

Happy cooking!

Amy

Enchiladas!

When I was in high school, I had a friend's mother teach me how her family made enchiladas. They were so good and so easy! I don't know if that's how every enchilada loving family makes them, but I've been making them the same way since then. One thing I've changed is the ingredients. Tonight I thought I'd class it up a little and throw some fresh cilantro and some finely diced onions into the middle of my enchiladas and try it. Here's how to make them!


3 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese (might need a little more if you LOVE cheese!)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
1 table spoon finely diced onions
Preheat oven to 350

**You need to have the cheese, cilantro and onions ready before you start step one. And, have them close and ready to go...don't just leave the cheese in the bag.
1. Pour your enchilada sauce into a small frying pan and heat at a medium heat.
2. Place one corn tortilla in the enchilada sauce and let it warm for 10 seconds or so on each side.
3. Take the tortilla out and place it in your baking dish. Put a couple table spoons of cheese, a pinch of cilantro and a pinch of onions into the middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place the open sides down so it doesn't unroll.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other two tortillas. When your pan is full, stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes or until all the cheese has melted.

Like I said, this is how I learned to make them, but I'm sure every family does it a little different! Hope y'all enjoy!


Happy Cooking!

Amy
2.

Thats a spicy meatball!

No, it's actually not, but it could be!

The other day, I made spaghetti and meatballs following a recipe from the food network. It was decent, but there was SO MUCH GARLIC! and I'd used less than what they had called for!

I thought I'd modify it a bit and share with you, so here goes nothing!

1/2 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon finely diced onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh italian parsley--i used 'regular' parsley because I couldn't get Italian. It worked fine and the flavor was still good!
1/4 cup shredded romano cheese (if you don't want to get this cheese, just use Parmesan!)

Preheat oven to 350!
1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them with your clean hands. don't be a baby! get your hands in there! If the mixture doesn't seem to stick together well, add a little bit of extra bread crumbs and work it so that it all sticks together.
2. Put a little bit of olive oil on a baking sheet and spread it around with a paper towel. If you have the spray on olive oil, use that...but I don't have any so I didn't!
3. Form little golf-ball sized meatballs and place them on your baking sheet. I think you'll have about 12-15 meatballs.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the juices of the meatball run clear.

This would be good with some red pepper flakes or something to make it a little spicy...if that's your bag.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Amy

Easy Mac...without the microwave

So did you ever wonder if people ate macaroni and cheese before the invention of the blue box of wonder? I'm pretty sure they did. I don't know if it was quite as good as the macaroni that I made tonight, but if it was, they were lucky.

So it's 9:30 and I went to the pantry and realize that if I cook an actual meal, it'll be at least 10:30 before it was done. So, upon further examination, I see a box of elbow macaroni, rice, spaghetti and cereal. The fridge had cheese, milk, butter, bread and jelly. and beer. don't judge me. So Macaroni and Cheese it is!! (I don't know about y'all, but I'm the kind of person that can eat macaroni and cheese no matter what. Like, I show up at your place and your grandma is cooking and says, "hey, ya hungry, hon?" Of course, I'd politely say no...but then grandma whips out the mac and cheese. Next thing I know, I've got a bowl of the mac and a spoon.)

Anyways, here's how to make the absolute best (and easiest) macaroni and cheese you'll ever eat. I apologize in advance to your mother, just in case you slap her.

1 1/2 cup water
1 cup dry elbows
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter
fresh ground pepper

1. Boil the water and most of the salt and add the macaroni elbows. When the elbows are cooked, drain them well. Put them back in the original sauce pan while you're waiting for the cheese sauce to cook.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat the milk on a low temperature setting. You HAVE to be cautious with the milk because if it gets too hot too quickly, it'll burn or be gross.
3. Add the butter, remaining salt and a few good shakes of pepper to the milk. Let the butter melt and keep stirring the mixture.
4. Add all but 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and the mozzarella cheese to the milk. Stir almost CONSTANTLY! If not it'll be kinda clumpy and it'll take longer for the cheese to melt.
5. After the first bit of cheese has melted and is no longer visible in the milk, add the last little bit of cheddar. Let everything melt together and keep stirring.
**If it looks a little thin, add a bit of corn starch. If you don't have any, add the tiniest bit of flour-half a teaspoon tops- and stir constantly. Adding flour will make it kinda grainy...no me gusta.**

OK! Once the macaroni and the cheese sauce are both cooked, just dump the drained macaroni noodles into the cheese sauce and mix it all up. You're done! You'll have the best damn macaroni since the blue box came along!

Happy cooking!

amy

King Ranch Chicken for 2

When my friends and I were in college, one of the best things Belvin (the cafeteria) made was King Ranch Chicken. My best friend, Ashley, makes it even better. I borrowed her recipe tonight and made King Ranch Chicken. Remember the roast chicken from the last post? Well...turns out a whole chicken is way too much for two people to eat, too...my bad. The left overs were just enough for the king ranch chicken, though! Woot!!

Now, I'll confess...I have leftovers from how I made this. But, good news: I'll cut it down for you so that you can just share it with one person.

And away we go!

1 cup cooked chicken -- if you're feeling extra low maintenance (aka lazy) you might try using canned chicken. It could be decent.

1 cup shredded "Mexican" Blend cheese
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can rotel tomatoes and green chilies (I used original...turn up the heat, use the hot!)
3-4 corn tortillas

1. Tear or cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and set it aside in a bowl.
2. In your baking dish, mix 2-3 table spoons of each soup and the tomatoes. Add a layer of chicken on top of the soup.
3. Tear up the tortillas and add a layer of tortillas to the soup and chicken. Top that later with cheese.
4. Repeat the layers until you're either out of ingredients or out of room in the dish :) OOOH! Make your last layer a layer of cheese! It'll be so melty and awesome! Trust me!
5. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is hot all the way through.

Now, like I said, when I did this, I made twice as much as I needed, so I cut this down for you and a friend...or just you and the noid's. Avoid the noid. Eat food.


A side note: If you want to aggravate a cat or two, buy the pull top cans of soup an then refuse to share anything with the cats. While we both know it's soup, the cat doesn't and just meows at you. A lot.

Happy cooking!

Amy

The Chicken and The Egg

I've been a slacker this week. I cooked last night and didn't blog right away and this morning, I made breakfast and didn't share right away like I usually do. But, don't worry. I'm done procrastinating!

Let's start with dinner last night. I've been wanting to try to roast a chicken like Mrs. Ina Garten did on her show, The Barefoot Contessa, since it looked delicious AND beautiful. Knowing that I can't eat an entire chicken, I invited my neighbor, Caiti, over to partake in the bounty...and what a bounty it was! OOH boy! We had Baked chicken, carrots, roasted rosemary red potatoes, cheddar bay biscuits and an apple bake.

Mrs. Ina's recipe is but, I changed it up just a tad bit.

The only major thing I changed was that I used fresh rosemary instead of the thyme. I also just spread the butter all over the chicken without melting it. You know I like to do things different! It was such a beautiful chicken. See for yourself...

The carrots and apple bake, I've posted on here before, but I'll share the roasted red potatoes with you today.


You'll need:
6 red potatoes/new potatoes
1-2 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 table spoons olive oil
salt and pepper--just a couple turns of the grinders will do

Preheat oven to 450

1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch chunks. Then put them into a medium baking dish.
2. Pour olive oil on the potato pieces. Add salt and pepper. Toss together.
3. Chop the rosemary into small pieces and add to the potatoes. Toss potatoes again.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring or tossing them every 10 minutes or so. You don't want them to stick to the bottom of the pan...that leaves all the good parts in the pan!

You want to bake them until they're tender. The red potatoes are a little more sweet and delicate than if you roasted a russet potato. They were so good!!

Forgive the blurriness of the picture, but here's what it all looked like...phone camera...sorry...

With a good glass of wine, we were set for a great dinner! The chicken was perfectly moist and the carrots and potatoes were just right. And the apple bake was the best I've made, so far!



Now...the egg. I guess in this case, the chicken did come before the egg...ugh. horrible joke. my bad.

Alright so I watched the movie, Morning Glory, the other day and Indiana Jones (yes I know his name is Harrison Ford!) was a lead character in it. He ends up showing this young, ambitious girl that he is fond of her by cooking on television, which is not news and something he swears he will never do. Anyways, I wanted to look into the Frittata since he makes one on the movie...GOOD CHOICE AMY!!!

Wikipedia says frittata is a derivative of "to fry" which makes complete sense, seeing as you how it's cooked. See, its kinda like an omelette, but the ingredients are all mixed in, not just wrapped up in the middle. And, you are supposed to stick your whole frying pan in the oven to cook it all the way through. Here's what I did...


You need:
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 table spoon butter
1/4 cup of meat-I used to strips of bacon and chopped them up. I think next time I'll try ham, just for fun.
2-3 tablespoons diced tomato
3-4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped


Preheat oven to BROIL

1. Beat the eggs together with the salt, pepper and cheese.
2. In a frying pan or omelette pan, melt your butter. Then add your tomato and bacon. Cook them together for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the eggs to the pan and stir with a rubber spatula. Let the eggs cook in the pan for 3 minutes or until the egg starts to set up some.
4. Before eggs are completely cooked, top with parsley and place in the oven (set to broil) for about 5 minutes. You want the eggs to finish cooking and get a little bit crispy on the edges.
5. Take it out of the oven (dufus-pot holders!)and top with a little more cheese, just for fun.

(yes, my parsley may be a little crispy...my bad. DON'T JUDGE ME, MONKEY!)


Now, here's the problem I had. You're supposed to do this in a frying pan....but I didn't want to find out the hard way that my frying pan wasn't oven safe. When I looked it up later, it was only oven safe to 450....but my oven doesn't tell me what temperature I get to pick to broil at. It just does its preset temp and makes the heat come from the top, not the bottom like usual (which is what broiling is...cooking from the top heating element instead of the bottom.)

SO what I did instead, was used my handy-dandy pyrex dishes on my burner instead of the frying pan, and then just put the whole thing in the oven. Yes, my frittat came out rectangle instead of the ideal round. No, the frittata police have not contacted me about this. If you don't hear from me for a while, though, I'll be needing bail money to get out of frittata jail...


The frittata was so fluffy inside! It was amazing! It was so light, and airy in comparison to scrambled eggs or an omelette. I am now a major fan and I might be looking into getting a new pan for making frittatas!


Go out and get some of these ingredients so you can make something yummy for yourself. And, if you want to help me keep cooking, click on a link to an advertiser when you're done reading. It's like giving away someone else's money so that you can read about my crazy cooking hijinks!

Love one another and Happy Cooking!

amy

ps...my little dog, Buddy, is using the sad puppy eyes on you....click the ads so he can get a table scrap or two. Please, sir? May I have some more? haha