Cooking. Outisde of the...magazine.

As mentioned before, I received a subscription to Cooking Light for Christmas from a Secret Santa. I love cooking related magazines. Ok, I love magazines in general, but I tend to flip through them once. I'll read the things I want to read and then...they sit in a stack. I used to take them to the gym to read, but apparently (according to my husband) that doesn't make for a good workout. Whatever. So if I'm going to read a magazine cover to cover, it better be cooking related or on an airplane. By the way, I'm a multi-tasker on the plane. If you ever have to sit next to me, don't be upset when I don't crash before take off. I like to listen to my ipod, read, flip thru the Sky Mall magazine, watch the movie (with or without sound). You name it - everything except sleep.

I'm also really bad about reading the cooking magazines and never using them. So with my Spring Cleaning mentioned in the last post, I ripped out pages from almost every stinking magazine in my house and...I'm finished! The leftovers are going to be recycled. Yay! I've also made it a goal to cook at least one thing from any new magazine I get.

So, the first thing I made is an Indian dish. I can honestly say I'd never eaten Indian food until about 6 years ago. Some really good friends of ours are Indian. In fact, only one member of the family, Rachel, was actually born in the US. So a few years ago we load up and go to the parents house for dinner. Jason had been before - and for what it's worth, Rachel's mom things Jason is fantastic. I tend to agree. But I was really nervous to go eat food that I knew nothing about. And I was raised not to be rude, so I knew I would at least try it. However, her mom was really nice and cooked some chicken nuggets for this native Texas girl! I did eat the Indian food (chicken curry) and I really liked it. Since then, I've been hooked. I don't venture far off of the map (no goat for this girl) and I don't go too spicy, but we're getting there.

This dish was pretty good...not quite as good as the "real thing" but still...it's Cooking Light.






Chicken Biryani from Cooking Light

• 2 t olive oil
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 t minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 t garam masala**
• 3/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (about 2 tomatoes)
• 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
• 1/3 cup golden raisins I left this out
• 1 14-oz can chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• lime wedges

Heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken and saute about 3 minutes. Add onion and jalapeno, saute for another 3 minutes. Add ginger, garam masala, cumin, salt and garlic, continue to saute for 30 seconds. Add tomato, rice, raisins, and broth, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in cilantro and sprinkle with onions. Serve with lime wedges to cut the heat and bring out flavor.

**I had a hard time finding garam masala at the grocery store. Rachel found it for me at World Market. You can also make this, but I think some of the ingredients are also hard to find.

The next dish I made were these Tex-Mex Calzones. We loved these!!! So easy and really good! In fact, I have some of the green salsa left in the fridge and I'm thinking about these for a dinner this week.

Tex-Mex Calzones from Cooking Light

• 8 oz ground turkey (I used a whole pound and we made tacos from the leftover meat)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper I subbed in 1/2 cup chopped tomato instead
• 3/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fat-free salsa verde
• 1 11-oz can refrigerated pizza dough
• 3/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Preheat oven to 425. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add turkey, and cook about 3 minutes. Add onion and next 5 ingredients to pan, cook until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in salsa. Unroll the dough and divide into 4 portions. Roll dough into a 6*4" rectangle. Spoon about 1/2 cup turkey mixture onto each piece of dough, add about 3 T cheese to each. Fold over and press the dough to seal it. Place these on a baking sheet (I used my Pampered Chef stone, if you don't be sure to spray with cooking spray). Bake at 425 for about 12 minutes, or until the dough is done. Serve with sour cream.

I also followed the advice of the magazine and added a Black Bean Salad. Combine 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 T fresh lime juice, 2 T chopped fresh cilantro, and 1 T olive oil, tossed well to coat.

Chicken Picatta

I've been on a bit of a spring cleaning kick. The first thing has been to get rid of stacks of magazines. The issue with this is that my subdivision doesn't recycle. I sort of feel bad throwing away 2 years worth of Southern Living magazines with a few extras tossed in. So...I've tearing out the pages with recipes I think I may actually make and putting the rest in a shopping bad. I'm hoping that I come across someone who does recycle and will take them off of my hands! Or I may pass them on to a friend in the event she finds something that I missed. Probably seafood, considering I don't eat that. :-)




My first magazine rip-out recipe came from a Rachel Ray I picked up...probably in an airport. It was actually really good, but a little bit of a pain to make. 30 Minute Meals my a$$. This is more of a nice meal that you make on a Saturday. I was also very surprised - Jason and I have never been fans of capers, but I took a chance and didn't omit them.




Parmigiano-Reggiano-Crusted Chicken Picatta from Rachel Ray

• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 4 chicken breasts, pounded 1/4" thick
• 1/2 pound thin spaghetti
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 sliced lemon
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup capers, drained and patted dry
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 T butter
• 1 5-oz pkg baby spinach

Place the flour on a plate. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Place 1 cup cheese on another plate. Dredge each chicken breast in flour, then eggs, then cheese. Cook pasta to al dente, drain and reserve about 1/2 cup water. In a large skillet, heat about 2 T of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, about 10 minutes on each side or until done. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and add the sliced lemon, garlic and capers. Cook about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and parsley and cook until reduced. Lower the heat and bring it to a simmer. Stir in chicken broth, cook for another minute. Add the butter and lemon juice, and remaining pasta water if needed. Add the spinach, stirring to wilt. Stir in the pasta and toss to coat, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add remaining cheese and serve with chicken.

Making it up as I go

I'm not good at making things up. I think that's why I'm a baker by nature. I like precision and recipes and following directions. But every once in a while I break pattern and throw something together. This was one of those times. And because I've been sucking at this blogging thing, I have NO idea exactly how this recipe went but it was something like this.

• 1 pkg fresh spinach, washed
• 1/2 carton ricotta cheese (part skim)
• about 1/4 cup skim milk
• onion
• garlic
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• Parmesan cheese
• pasta
• grilled chicken

I sauteed the garlic and onion, adding the spinach in to wilt. Then I added the ricotta and milk until it looked creamy. That was tossed with cooked penne pasta (my favorite kind) and added Parmesan cheese.

The whole thing started because I didn't want to waste the ricotta and spinach...and it turned out pretty well!

I need two ovens.

That statement went from a "want" to a "need" during the holidays. The in-laws came in the weekend before Christmas so that we could celebrate with them. And me, being the obsessive "I can do it all" kind of person I am decided that I'd be able to fix this elaborate meal without my MIL bringing anything. Usually I take up her offer on adding in a side and a few desserts, but this time...nope, I can do it all! Yeah, right. When they left I told Jason that next time I'm going to Sam's and buying a freaking box of paper plates and cups. Mostly, it was my dumb fault for thinking that everything needed to be served on my fancy Christmas dishes. The fancy dishes that cannot go in the dishwasher. Idiot.

So, I sat down to create this fantastic meal. The kind that did not include turkey and dressing. I nixed the Roasted Red Pepper soup that I wanted, mostly because Jason correctly stated that I would probably not like it. I ended up with rolls & butter, Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing, Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Carolina Apple Compote, Potatoes Au Gratin, Green Beans Amandine and the Peppermint Cheesecake from a few posts back. Everything would have worked out great...if I had factored cooking time and temps into this menu. See, three of the above items needed to bake in the oven. For about an our each. All at different temperatures. Nice. And since I waited until the last minute to buy Jason's Christmas gifts, I used most of my cooking time Saturday shopping. Even better.

In the end, I compromised by giving Jason the pork to cook on the grille and moving dinner time back by an hour. Not so bad, considering I was aiming for 6:30.

Pork Loin Roast with Carolina Apple Compote from Southern Living

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (3-lb.) boneless pork loin roast
• Kitchen string
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 pounds Gala apples, unpeeled (I couldn't find these at my store so I bought some other red apples)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup apple cider
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon butter

The first 4 ingredients are for the pork tenderloin - since I turned that over to Jason I have no idea what he did instead. The recipe calls for the seasoning to be rubbed on all sides of the pork and tied with kitchen string at 1" intervals. Chill the pork for 2 hours. Brown it on the stove top and transfer to a 375 oven for about 1 hour. Instead, we threw this on the grill. The key to keeping things moist and tender is to let them rest when you take them off of the heat. It's taken me a while to get that through to Jason. He wants to take the food off the grill and cut it up right away. Huge difference when you take the extra 15 minutes!

For the sauce, cut apples into bite-size pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice. Add cider and next 4 ingredients to skillet. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add apples, and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes or just until apples are tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in butter until melted, and remove skillet from heat. Stir any accumulated pan juices from roast into compote. Serve compote immediately with pork.

Green Beans Amandine from Southern Living

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 lbs fresh green beans
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 T lemon juice
• salt & pepper

Bake almonds at 350 for about 5-10 minutes, set aside. Split the beans lengthwise, cook in boiling water for about 4 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Melt butter and add remaining ingredients. Toss to coat.

Herb Potatoes au Gratin from Aaron McCargo, Jr. - Food Network

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup grated Mild Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated American cheese
• 1/4 cup grated white cheddar (I used Monterrey Jack instead)
• 1 t chicken bullion powder (I didn't have any, so I left this out)
• 2 t ground nutmeg
• 1 t pepper
• 3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin




• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
• 2 t smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350. In a large sauce pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in the flour until pasty. Add milk and stir to remove lumps. Let it cook for about 6 minutes, or until thick. Lower the heat and add the cheese, bouillon, nutmeg and black pepper. Whisk until well combined and sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. In a bowl, combine butter, Panko and smoky paprika. Stir well. Place potatoes into a 9*13 casserole dish. Pour cheese over potatoes and sprinkle au gratin on top. Wrap with foil and bake in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Pasta...baked!

I've been really bad about taking photos. Mostly because I just have too much going on. Last week we invited the guy over that Jason does his bike rides with, and his wife and two kids. Their kids are so cute! The oldest is just a mess...and my kind of girl. That skinny three year old can put away the bread. Their second baby is only 7 months old, but cute as a bug and SO chubby.

Since the boys needed to consume quite a few carbs and calories, I went with Baked Ziti. The recipe came from Katie, a friend of mine, who has recommended it before. I really like the way it turned out and it's actually pretty easy. Unless you double the batch like I did. I think I used almost every bowl, pot and dish in my house! What a mess.

Baked Ziti

• olive oil
• 1/2 pound lean ground turkey
• 1/2 pound lean Italian sausage
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes (the Italian seasoned type)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano...basically whatever you want!
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese with 2% milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 package frozen chopped spinach
• 1 box ziti pasta (I actually used Whole Wheat Penne)

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Brown the meats with those, drain if needed. Add in the canned tomatoes and any seasonings you wish. Simmer until you have a pasta sauce consistency. Boil the pasta in another pot, according to the package. I recommend cooking it to al dente, since it will cook longer in the oven. Toss the pasta with the sauce and pour half into a lightly greased 9*13 baking dish. Combine 1 cup mozzarella, the egg, Parmesan cheese and spinach in another bowl. Spread this onto the pasta in the baking dish. Top with the remaining pasta and 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 375 until the cheese begins to brown.

Since I doubled my batch, we're still eating this tonight. Maybe I'll take a picture then...

By the way - this is very NOT healthy. 11 WW points...if you use the light Italian sausage and whole wheat pasta.

You can never have enough Vodka.

Ok, you probably can. And I can say that I probably have had too much Vodka, which is why I tend to avoid drinking it. But sometimes...you don't have a choice, right? Friday my hotel sponsored a hole at a golf tournament. The theme of the tournament was Mardi Gras so we had this great idea to serve purple (Purple Passion), green (Sour Apple) and gold (Lemon Drop) martinis. Then it rained. A lot. And the temperature dropped to about 63 degrees. If you don't golf, I can tell you that it is not ideal weather for golfing. After seeing about 5 out of 25 teams, they called the tournament and left me with about 4 gallons of martinis made with Ketel One that could not be returned. Fantastic...if you drink Vodka!

So, Friday night Jason and I once again tried drinking martinis...and decided that we still don't really like them. I ended up passing them on to a friend to take to her boat for the weekend...I'll stick with my red wine and beer! I've really been craving Penne a la Vodka and had everything at home...so what the heck, since I also had 3 gallons of martinis we decided to add Vodka to our dinner.

I can say this is probably the most unhealthy meal I've cooked in a LONG time! I used regular pasta (not whole wheat) and whole cream (not half-and-half) and boy was it good!!

Penne a la Vodka

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 14-oz cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 10-oz can tomato paste
• Salt & pepper
• 1 t oregano
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried parsley
• 1/2 cup whole cream
• 1/4 cup Vodka (you can add more, but this was all we had)
• 12-oz penne pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta. Brown the turkey with the onion and garlic. Drain an excess liquid. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and seasoning. Cook through. Add in the cream and Vodka, stir. Drain the pasta and toss to serve.

It slices, it dices...

Ok, well, almost. The in-laws were here this weekend and they seem to be fans of the gadgety as seen on TV stuff. Hey, if it works I'm all for it! So that meant that while shopping Saturday, my mother-in-law bought me the Vidalia Slice Wizard! I'm always a little skeptical of the "as seen on TV" stuff, but I will say that this sucker works! We intended to make garlic mashed potatoes last night for dinner, but Jason wanted to try out the new toy...and loved it. He also managed to slice about half of a clove of garlic as well, but I'd stick with something larger than garlic.

I also made Roasted Broccoli for the first time! I read about it in another What's Cooking nestie's blog (however, I can't remember whose it was!) and thought it would be good to try. We love broccoli and usually just steam it with a little Parmesan cheese on top, but I wanted to try something different. This was perfect.

We cooked our favorite Grilled Pork Tenderloin. I really don't have a recipe for this because Jason just wings it! However, it always turns out really good! The pork is seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. He then mixes a sauce of bottled BBQ sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. The pork is rubbed with the sauce before we throw it on the grill.

Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

• 4-5 new potatoes
• 1 t salt
• 1-2 t black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 T dried rosemary
• 2 t dried thyme
• 1/2 t ground oregano
• 2-3 T olive oil, to coat

Slice the potatoes (or dice them) and toss with the seasoning and olive oil. Spread a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake at 415 for 30-40 minutes, until tender.

Roasted Broccoli

• 3 bunches fresh broccoli
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 T olive oil
• 1-2 T balsamic vinegar
• salt, ground black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Cut the broccoli so that you have the small florets only. Toss with the remaining ingredients, making sure to coat the vegetables. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 415 for 20-30 minutes.

Paula would be proud...

Jason's best friend came in last weekend from Wilmington, DE. Though he's born Canadian, he grew up in Northeast Texas. And this guy is Texas. In order to visit him, we have to buy our way across state lines with cans of Ranch Style Beans. Yes, I'm serious. His wife does not understand the concept of Ranch Style Beans. I, having grown up in Texas, realize there is really...well...just nothing else like them. Most of the time I use them in my Taco Soup, but I promise you can eat just them. Because his wife was treating him to a weekend in Texas for his 30th birthday (one man's dream come true) we figured that a good Southern buffet of food would be the best idea.



The guys (Jason, his best friend and his two brothers) planned on going gulf fishing that Saturday morning, but missed out because of weather. We planned to fry the fish they caught, but since that was not happening...Kroger came to my rescue. I found a great recipe in my Southern Living cookbook that gave us the perfect Fried Catfish. Throw in some french fries and hush puppies...and you have a really good Southern meal! Oh yeah, we did have some homemade Guacamole, stuffed jalapenos and bacon wrapped dates...but stuff like that gets eaten before you can take photos!


Fried Catfish from Southern Living

• 1 cup flour
• 1 T salt
• 2 t black pepper
• 2 t red pepper
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1 T garlic powder
• 2 T dried thyme
• 1-2 T cayenne pepper
• 10 (6-8 oz) farm raised catfish fillets
• cotton seed oil (or peanut oil)
• Lemon wedges

Combine first 4 ingredients in a shallow dish. Stir together buttermilk and egg in a bowl. Combine cornmeal, garlic powder, thyme and cayenne pepper in another shallow dish. If you have more fillets (like we did) just keep adding to each mixture as needed.

Dredge the catfish in the flour mixture, dip in buttermilk, then toss in the cornmeal. Pour oil into either a large cast-iron skillet or a deep fryer. Heat to 360. Fry the catfish in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

If you are frying the fish and hush puppies, be sure to fry those first so they don't taste like fish!

Oh, we also bought a 6 pound can of Ranch Style Beans for the birthday boy...but sadly, those did not get cooked. I think his wife was also very pleased that they were left in my kitchen. I'm not sure I can find a use for 6 pounds of beans...

I'm a "meat and potatoes" person.

I have always been more of a red meat fan. And I don't mean salmon...it's pink. Growing up, the only fish I would dare touch would have to come out of a deep-fryer and be covered in cornmeal. I've slowly expanded my horizons over the last few years. I will eat fish if it flakes - so that eliminates shrimp (yes, I know, I'm weird) and any 'steaky' fish, i.e. tuna. Fish should flake and not need to be cut with a knife!

I also have a very strange phobia about the way fish smells before it is cooked. I just can't deal with it. Now, I love going out to eat seafood. It is usually cooked properly and served with some tasty, yet not that good for you, sauce. Thus masking the taste/smell of any fishy-ness.

This week, I decided to grill salmon myself. I love salmon when we go out to eat. I really love it here at the hotel - it is served with a Butter Pecan Praline Sauce. Seriously, how could you not like something served with butter, sugar and pecans? It would be a crime. BUT since butter and sugar aren't quite in my diet, I opted for just using some lemons.

Jason and I decided that even though this tasted OK, we won't be cooking fish at home again unless it is fried! I just don't think either of us know enough about cooking fish to succeed at doing it. But just in case you are good at it, this might turn out much better at someone else's house.

Grilled Salmon

Brush the salmon with a little olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and Pampered Chef's Citrus & Basil Rub (so good!). Top with sliced lemons, wrap in foil and grill until done.

Next time I'm using the PC rub on chicken.

Healthy Eating...

This is a Weight Watchers recipe that I love! It's in an older cookbook and I made a few changes to it, but Jason and I are both fans. I did not take photos because...well, it is not a pretty dish. But the taste makes up for it. :-)

Cabbage Casserole from Weight Watchers

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 20-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis
• 1 head green cabbage, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Saute the onion, pepper and garlic in the olive oil. Add the ground turkey and cook through. Add in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and rice. Bring to a boil. Spoon half of this mixture into a lightly greased 9*13 baking dish. Top with all of the cabbage and the rest of the mixture. Cover with foil and bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until the cabbage is tender.
This measures out to 6 servings at 5 points each.

Valentine's Dinner

This year we decided to cook dinner at home. Nothing really over the top, especially since we'd gone out for dinner the night before for Jason's birthday. A very nice coworker of Jason's gave us Omaha Steaks (Filet Mignon) for Christmas, so we felt it was as good a time as any to cook them. They were seasoned lightly and grilled, and we served them with our staples - garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus. The whole meal turned out really good, even though I did not spring for an appetizer, salad or dessert. Oh, well.