TaNos

Sadly, fish tacos were not had.

Baked stuffed lobster was instead, however my seafood stuffing still needs work, to be continued at a later date...

Thanksgiving Cheesecakes!

Not one, but two cheesecakes for Thanksgiving! Both recipes came from Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook. It's a more complex recipe then I usually do (water bath, sponge cake as opposed to graham cracker) but both cakes came out great, very rich but the perfect cap to some turkey and stuffing.

First up was the white chocolate and raspberry:


And secondly, rocky road:


All in all I'm happy, and this is a great cookbook if you like to make cheesecake. There are dozens or different kinds in combination I'd never considered.

Fish tacos tonight, will report back if it's tolerable.

Sushi!

Well I didn't make this (obviously) but it was too good not to share and it's been awhile since I posted. The sushi was from Yokohama of New Milford, CT (definitely the best sushi in the greater Danbury area). The front container is blackened tuna sashimi. The back container has two rolls, one I think was dynamite roll and the other was gozilla, probably, something like that. On the right is spicy/crunchy crab on the inside with eel on top and on the left is spicy/crunchy crab on top and salmon inside. We also had some crispy chicken maki, which was chicken stuffed with pepper, asparagus, mushrooms and crabs then fried. First time I had tried this one and it was great, spicy and great flavor. There was also a shrimp tempura roll in the mix but that didn't make the photo either.

Oh and the wine is Eidosela Albarino, which was also great, but I'm far from a wine connoisseur.



It's been awhile since I really cooked, but the holiday's are coming and I've been tasked with desserts, so stay tuned.

Shrimp, Bread, Beef

So a few random ones for you today. First, I decided on a light dinner last night. So some lemon garlic shrimp salad was perfect, I guess this is more along the lines of everyday boring than a cheesecake, but it was tasty. This was enough shrimp for two salads.
-1/2 pound of shrimp
-2 tablespoons of butter
-2 teaspoons of lemon juice
-1 teaspoon of crushed garlic

I don't like a lot of veggie in my salad, get over it.

Next, I've been in a bread making mood/mode lately (note to Santa, bread machine please). This week I tried some cinnamon bread, because even bread shouldn't be healthy. I used this recipe. I didn't use the raisins because I don't like how they taste in bread (and because that would make it slightly healthier). If you attempt this, please note it makes 3 loaves of bread! If you are like me, you only have one bread pan, and you've suddenly got a counter full of dough and aren't sure what you've got yourself into. For the record, after letting all three rise for one hour, I froze one, put the second in the oven and left the third out and put it in the oven when the first came out. The second cooked loaf was denser then the first but otherwise no big deal. Haven't attempted the frozen loaf yet, so I don't know how that turned out. This probably looks slightly better than it tastes, but heat it up and throw some butter on and it makes an amazing breakfast.




Lastly, I made some amaaaaaazing chili for dinner tonight. This was very easy to make and tasted great. Recipe for this one is here. At this point you're saying the same thing I was when I first read the recipe, "mmmmmmmm bacon", now you know why I made it. By the time it was done the stew meat was falling apart, so I pulled it apart and made nachos out of it, greatest idea of the day. The evolution of my nachos:







That's all for now. I promised Lily we would make applesauce donuts, so those should be up soon.

Phoenix (errr Scottsdale) Eats

Not sure anyone cares but I did have some good meals today in Scottsdale.


That there would be short rib BLT with some tasty fries. Short ribs? Bacon? Yes!


And this here would be scallops with pear, fried green tomatoes, endive wrapped in prosciutto and something tasty called cavalo nero (waiter described it as collard greens made from kale).

It was all very good, I forgot to get a photo of dessert, that was amazing.... strawberry cheesecake shot. Maybe I'll grab another one before I go... you know just so I can share.

Salmon with Pear and Cherry Chutney

One time at this amazing restaurant I had salmon with a pear and cranberry chutney. It was incredible. I have always wanted to recreate it, but haven't ever found a recipe for it and didn't feel like guessing, today I did. Well not totally, I looked into some other chutney recipes and worked from there. There was also a last minute panic at the grocery store when they had no frozen cranberries (thinking back, that's really not that awkward). So here's how I did it:
-2 1/2 bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced
-1 bag (12 oz or so) of frozen cranberries cherries
-1 cup of sugar
-1 cup of water
-1/2 cup of cider vinegar
Simmer everything in a pot for about 30-35 minutes. Drain and press. Refrigerate until needed.
Now my one fault was not doing much with the salmon. I used some olive oil, salt and pepper and threw it in the oven. This made for a flavorful chutney and a bland piece of fish. So in the future, figure out a better way to prepare the fish, keep the chutney as is. And here you have it:

The side dish are green beans made from this recipe, and they were phenomenal.

I also decided to make a banana bread for breakfast tomorrow using this recipe. I have yet to taste it but it smells great and was fun and easy to make. Looks pretty good too, don't you agree?


Sorry, no cheesecake this week. I'll be in Arizona next week (perhaps I'll share anything good I have there), so you'll have to wait on the caramel apple cheesecake for a couple more weeks.

Cake Cakes!

Today was my first cooking adventure with my 2 1/2 year old, Lily. She requested some cup cakes (or as she calls them cake cakes), and being the motivating father I am, I told her if she wanted them she could make them herself. No special recipe here, just some boxed cake mix, eggs, oil, water and frosting.... oh and sprinkles! As the photos and video shall prove, she really did make them.

Here she is assisting with measurements and mixing:


Here she is scooping the batter into the cups:


Time to strategically apply the sprinkles:


And here's the finished product:

Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

It's been way to long, I apologize. However, I do come bearing one of my finest creations, chocolate strawberry cheesecake (oooohhhh ahhhhhhh oooooooooh). Minus my prior culinary experience preparing buffalo stew, lemon chicken and walleye in the Black Hills (another story for another time) I enjoy cooking... well mainly eating... cheesecake more then anything else. I took a pretty basic, and easy, strawberry cheesecake recipe and added some chocolate to it. The main recipe can be found here. This recipe is great because it is very simple and produces a great result. To "chocolatetize" it I use chocolate graham crackers for the crust and put a layer of chocolate chips on top of the crust before pouring the cheesecake in. Aside from that it's business (or recipe) as usual. Everytime I make this I end up using more of the strawberry sauce then they tell you to add and have yet to over do it. I did face one minor challenge this time around in the lack of sweetened condensed milk. Initially I thought I could just put some sugar in whole milk and I'm good to go, this makes sense right? Apparently not. I found a very good substitute here though. Taste wise this was indistinguishable from the real deal, however with all that brown sugar it tinted the cake brown a bit, as you can see. And here you have it:

Next up.... caramel apple cheesecake.

Brownie Fail

Since it's been a week I figured I would update the blog, unfortunately I come with little to report. I tried a new brownie recipe today (which I will not link due to the results). If you're into bland cocoa bark/cement I have a pan full at my house, just call ahead.

I'll be traveling this week, so please forward me any innovative recipes that can be cooked with only a sink, microwave and fridge. I'll gladly share my results along with my dining adventures in the greater Boston area.

That's Far Too Much Macaroni For 2 1/2 Mouths

Facing the dinner options of soba or starvation again I decided to try the homemade macaroni and cheese sooner than anticipated. After noticing the recipe (from the book mentioned in my last post) called for squash (seriously, why?!) I needed to make some alterations and really only followed the book for the amount of cheese to use. Well technically I also followed it for heating times and the amount of macaroni to use, but I feel those are pretty standard so no credit is required. This doesn't photograph that well but take a look.



Recipe for 3 cheese macaroni and cheese (tough economic times, one cheese from the original recipe didn't make the cut) was as follows. Cook one box of macaroni pasta. In a medium sauce pan melt 1/4 cup of butter (that's 4 tablespoons, it's like I'm a magic cooking measurement converting machine), once melted take off heat, add 1/4 cup of flour a dash of pepper and a teaspoon of salt. Slowly add 2 cups of milk (chocolate if you're daring... kidding) and mix until smooth. Return to heat until it boils and let it simmer for a minute before removing from heat. Place the pasta in a dish, pour the flour concoction over the top along with 1 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese, 2/3 cup monterey jack and 1/2 cup of ricotta. Mix it all up to a gooey mess. If you want breadcrumbs on top it was 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon of olive oil mixed and sprinkled over the top. Throw it in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes then finish it off with 3 minutes on broil.

Now how does it compare to the famous Velveeta Shells and Cheese? Hard to say. This recipe made a much lighter dish with a more complex taste (when compared to the boxed kind, not really that complex in the grand scheme of things). The flavor was, as can be expected, much more "organic" then anything you'll get out of a box. I say they both have their place. I typically only eat the boxed kind when I am starving and I don't think this would fill that void. I think this would play a good role in a more balanced meal, even as a side dish at a large gathering/for a holiday/etc. All in all, it's pretty good, but it is just macaroni and cheese, not sure you can expect that to be something epic.

Also worthy of note, I reheated a brownie from the last post for dessert again today (you're judging me again, stop it!) and, more then 24 hours after creation, it reheated incredibly well. Thirty seconds in the microwave and it tasted fresh out of the oven.

And now for the results of the ingredients below (in the reverse order they were eaten):

Black and White Brownies

These are some of the best brownies I've ever had. Thanks to the white chocolate they have a lighter taste but more chocolaty than most brownies. I stuck pretty close to the recipe here except I baked them in a cupcake pan so they would be a perfect pairing with ice cream. Honestly, I have some pretty stellar plating skills. If you go for this one be sure to eat the brownies warm, they even reheated very well in the microwave.

And the second set of ingredients were for barbecue sauce for some homemade baby back ribs.

I got the recipe's for the sauce and ribs from "Barbecue Nation" by Fred Thompson. These turned out incredibly well, with one minor drawback... it took almost 3 hours from start to finish. Since the recipe isn't online (buy the book!) I'll give you a brief rundown. Cook the ribs for 1 hour in a 300 degree oven in a roasting bag with a quarter cup of water. Let the meat rest for 30 minutes. Brush with mustard and spices (brown sugar, cayenne pepper, paprika...). Throw the meat on the grill on medium heat for a total of 45 minutes, brushing with barbecue sauce and flipping every 10-15 minutes. At the end drizzle with some honey and leave it on the grill for a couple minutes longer. There are some pretty distinct flavors in this recipe but once you mix them all up and throw it on the grill they balance out well.

All in all a great meal, but then again, I won't be blogging about terrible meals (at least not ones I make) so get used to me saying things are good. The week ahead brings me back to "The Food You Crave" for some macaroni and four cheeses. Perhaps I'll make some Velveeta Shells & Cheese (also known as the greatest food ever) for the ultimate mac & cheese showdown.

Ingredients Galore

Later today, what two things I make from these two sets of ingredients (note: I can't stand mustard).

Cookbook Review (?)

Tonight I made macaroni and cheese for my daughter (cheater boxed kind) and soba for myself (cheater bagged kind), and that's not exciting at all. So I thought I'd take some time to talk about a cookbook and other such things. As much fun as it is to create things, and fail, I typically use a recipe to give me general guidance. One cookbook I have found especially handy lately has been "The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life" by Ellie Krieger. So far I have made two full meals (entree, sides, dessert) using this cookbook and everything came out very tasty, especially the Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary and Chocolate(!). Another huge plus to this book is that they lay out all the nutritional facts for every dish, and the dishes are healthy. Great for when you are trying to lose weight as I am now (hey soba only has 240 calories, don't judge me!). The directions are clear and easy to follow and I got the book as a gift, which I highly recommend. Like all cookbooks there are some things I will never attempt but there are dozens of dishes I look forward to trying. Therefore it gets my meaningless recommendation.

Speaking of losing weight, my true partner in crime has been the Lose It! application for the iPhone. You tell this handy FREE application your current weight, goal weight and how fast you want to lose it and it budgets your calories day by day. As you eat you enter all your food and it keeps track of your remaining calories for the day, as well as your weekly status. The application is also nice enough to credit your calories for any exercising you do and comes pre-programmed with tons of generic, name brand and restaurant food choices. To each is own, but this has truly worked for me, down about 12 pounds in 6 weeks. On the downside, there is no way to email yourself all the food you've eaten/your history and occasionally the calorie counts for brand name foods doesn't match the label of the food, but there is enough flexibility in the application to overcome the latter. Most importantly, it's free, if you want to lose weight and you have an iPhone you have nothing to lose. If you don't have an iPhone and you have $200 to lose... sorry wrong blog for cell phone advice.

More food creations this weekend, stay tuned.

Teriyaki Stir Fry

Is anyone else frustrated with the lack of quality pre-made teriyaki sauce at the grocery store? Good, glad you agree. Now I've made my own teriyaki sauce before but, to no one's surprise, lost the recipe. So I hit the internet in search of a new recipe. In my mind, the key to good teriyaki sauce is thickness. The taste is really a personal preference, but watery teriyaki sauce is just frustrating. After scouring the entire internet for hours (5 minutes from 5-6, 3 minutes from 6-7....) I settled upon this one:

Restaurant Teriyaki Sauce

You're obviously thinking what I'm thinking, it says restaurant in it, it must be the best. None the less I felt the need to tweak it slightly. Rather then water I used pineapple juice, as the lost recipe included this and because I like pineapple (used 3/4 cup of pineapple as opposed to 1 cup water). Secondly, I didn't have cornstarch so I used flour instead (double the amount as per one of the comments). All in all it doesn't get much simpler then this recipe, and the taste, while not crave worthy, was far better then my local grocery options. What I really liked about it is that it is very thick, you can then water it down, without greatly impacting taste, to your desired consistency depending on what you are using it for. In this case I was going to use it in a simple stir fry over some noodles.

I'm picky when it comes to vegetables, this probably would have been great with some peppers and onions, but alas, no. I threw some tofu, broccoli, shredded carrot and water chestnuts in a pan with about 2-3 tablespoons of sauce and mixed it well over medium-high heat for a few minutes. After that I added the noodles and added another 2-3 table spoons of sauce, mixed it all up, put it in a bowl and here you have it:


















Not sure if this looks all that amazing, but the taste was very good, and very filling.