Tempeh Spring Rolls

As I posted earlier this month about the wonder that is prime football watching food for the Super Bowl, I was actually making something quite different for the Super Bowl Party I attended. It was requested that I bring a healthier side dish to offset all the chili, wing dip, and cookies you could imagine (and believe me, they were all amazing). After attending a party last summer where my friend Scott deftly made these healthy little bundles of goodness, I figured it was time for me to not only work with tempeh for the first time, but to also make my first spring roll. These were not that difficult to make, and I got the hand of wrapping them pretty quickly.

Were they the prettiest spring rolls ever made? Probably not, but they were tasty! This recipe is courtesy of my buddy Nick's awesome blog, http://www.macheesmo.com.

Tempeh Spring Rolls (makes 8-10 spring rolls)

Ingredients:

• 1 8 ounce block of tempeh
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 1 cucumber, sliced thin
• Bean sprouts
• Pea shoots (I couldn't find any so I used watercress)
• Spring roll wrappers 

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• Sriracha sauce, to taste
• Sesame oil, to taste
  

Directions:

Whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and Sriracha and toss in tempeh block. Cover and shake well to coat tempeh. Let rest for 15-20 minutes to marinate.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Remove tempeh and sear on both sides for 4-5 minutes per side.

Remove tempeh and slice thin. Also grate carrots and slice cucumbers into sticks.

To make a spring roll, put some warm water in a large plate. Take one rice paper wrapper and submerge it in the water. Let it sit for 5 seconds. It should be flexible but not soggy.

Move wrapper to a clean surface. Add a few tempeh slices and veggies to the middle of the wrapper. You can fill them pretty big.

Roll wrapper up, pulling on the wrapper as you roll to keep it nice and tight.

Slice each roll in half and repeat until you use all your tempeh or veggies.

Serve with dipping sauce!

Super Bowl Party Food = Amazeballs.

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl...here we go! Sadly, not this year, but you know where my allegiances always lie. Plus this Pennsylvania girl may have been a bit jealous of the snow up north, hence breaking out the best piece of head gear I own.

So once my hopes for an extensive post-season were as deflated as New England's balls, I started to think about not only where I would watch and hope for a Patriots loss, but what I would make. A request came in to make something healthy for a party, so I will post what I decided on in a future blog post. But in the meantime, here are some great options for those of you who want to keep your bellies fat and happy with all the awesome that comes with meat and cheesy goodness.

Katie's Super Bowl Top Five Dishes

Buffalo Cheese Bread: This post has received the most page views of anything I've blogged about over the last several years. I think it is a testament to how awesome my friend Nick's blog is. (see below for another reference and link). It takes everything that is awesome about buffalo wings and substitutes the meat for bread.

Janet's (meat)BALLS: Sweet, sweet meat.  Balls. 'Nuff said.

Sticky Wings: These are my favorite wings and they are the creation of my buddy Nick at http://www.macheesmo.com. I've made them several times and they are always a crowd-pleaser. If you like an Asian-style wing and love that Rooster sauce, these wings are for you.

Stuffed Jalapenos: These little pillows of meat and cheesy goodness are stuffed with chorizo and smoked gouda. And boy is it gouda.

Tomatillo Peach Salsa: This beats any jarred fruit salsa variety. Hands down and worth the extra effort.

And to give a quick shout-out to a former work colleague of mine who had a role in this little bit of amazing...don't forget about food safety this Super Bowl Sunday!

Apple Chutney on Toast

Ever since I last posted to this blog, nearly 8 weeks ago, I've debated whether I had the time and the desire to keep it up. I've posted over 250 times since I started this blog in January 2012.The blog came about a year after I decided to cook one new recipe each week for a year in 2011. It was the first resolution I'd ever kept, and I was determined to dive in head first to food blogging. And I enjoyed it, and I still do, but I found that the perfectionist in me was bound and determined to post twice a week without fail, writing about new recipes, restaurants I've visited and the foods I've eaten during my travels. And I was failing. A transition to a new job as well as sick family members made it nearly impossible to keep up in a way that I felt was adequate.

This doesn't mean I haven't been cooking, I just haven't been writing about it as much. But in the spirit of New Year's resolutions, I'm ready to recommit myself to this blog, but in a smaller way than in years' past. I vow to post once a week without fail, and more if time and the situation calls for it. I'll post about fun food events and restaurants I check out, my travel food adventures, and most importantly, what I cook up in my little kitchen in Columbia Heights.

I also plan to maintain last year's resolution of getting out of town for at least an overnight every quarter, which I'm sure will lend itself to more fun food travel blogging, which has been what I enjoyed most about writing this blog last year.

So here's a dish I made for a holiday party back in December. The recipe comes from my friend Nick's blog, www.macheesmo.com, which continues to be a great resource for when I want to cook something new.

 

Apple Chutney on Toast

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup dried currants
• 2 scallions minced (not the green parts)
• Baguette, sliced and toasted
• 5-6 oz. blue cheese

Directions:

Combine the sugar, red wine vinegar, orange juice, cinnamon and ginger in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar melts, about 2 minutes.

Peel, core, and chop your apples and add them to the chutney.  Stir everything together and cook over low-medium heat until the apples are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add currants and chopped scallions to the chutney at the very end.

Cool the chutney for at least an hour and serve on toasts with blue cheese.

A Celebration of Good Things - Food Recap

Back in September, I had a "celebration of good things." I wanted to achieve a few things with this rooftop party.

1) To celebrate good news I had recently received. From a good prognosis for my mom, good test results for myself, and just having life look pretty good, I felt it was a good excuse to throw a party.

2) To thank all the great friends I have here in DC who have been so supportive in the past year.

3) To have an excuse to make a ton of food to celebrate and be thankful for the above.

I made a lot of dishes that I promised I would post the links for the recipes. They are all dishes that I have made previously on this blog, many of which have become staples for me when having friends over for food.

And in case you're wondering why I chose to use this photo of me attempting a selfie with a less than happy llama at Machu Picchu? My answer is simply...why not? The picture always makes me smile, and hopefully it will do the same for you.

Here's the recipe rundown. I should give a quick shout out to my friend Nick Evans at www.macheesmo.com, since three of the recipes below are courtesy of his awesome blog.

Sticky Wings - I love this sweet and spicy rub on wings. I'm tempted to use this on bone-in chicken this winter.

Chickpea Orzo Salad - This is a great side dish for a picnic, and I often make it for weekday lunches.

Three Bean Avocado Salad - This works wonderfully as a summertime side dish, especially if you have access to a grill to char the corn, but it could easily be made without smoky, grilly access.

Peach Tomatillo Salsa - Love. This. If you're into canning, this would be a great recipe to try.

Tomato Jam - You should also can this.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - I make these cookies all the damn time and they never disappoint.

So while you shouldn't try to take a selfie with a pissed off llama, you should follow my lead in trying any number of these recipes soon.

When Farmers' Markets' Give you Tomatoes...You Make Jam!

There are a few cooking principles that I try to live by.

1) Buy and eat produce when it's in season. It's far better, often cheaper, and that's how it really should be done.

2) If you took the time to make something once, and it was so good it was worth repeating, you should do that.

3) And when you make something in a large quantity, you should share the wealth. And freeze what's left.

This rainy Saturday, I decided to do just that. Tomatoes are in abundance right now and not only do I have a few dinner events this week to look forward to, but I also wanted to plan ahead and make something that I could freeze for a party I'm throwing in September.

So I decided to resurrect my tomato jam recipe that I'd been waiting for the right weekend to make. You can find my original post with the recipe here. It's time intensive, but the end result is worth it. I will be serving on melba toast with chevre cheese for today's BBQ and other upcoming festivities. So if you have the time and a ton of tomatoes, make this soon! And if you have canning equipment...I'm jealous. But use it. This would be a great jam to have on hand for the holiday season.

So that's my jam. My sloooooooow jam. :)

Cheering on Nick Evans...and his Apricot Habanero Wings!

Last week, my friend Nick of www.macheesmo.com fame competed on NBC's Food Fighters. A group of us who all knew Nick when he was in DC got together to cheer him on. Each of us made one of his recipes to share. I made the brown butter oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies that I make on the regular for my officemates. And anyone who is so lucky to snag one. We also did a beer tasting of a dozen New Belgium beers. The tasting aspect was done in fairly quick succession during commercial breaks.

And to keep things interesting, Nick wasn't the only one competing for a little dough. We set up bets on various rounds as to the outcome...and I lost horribly. But Nick was truly the big winner in our book. Despite losing the first two rounds (he was robbed!) he walked away with $70,000. He beat some of the top chefs out there and we couldn't be more proud. It was really cool to see how far he's come in doing something he truly enjoys. And not everyone can say they've had a "Little Nicky"-style devil graphic made of them.

Our amazing host, Scott, made two of the dishes that Nick competed with on the show. Interestingly enough these were the two dishes that he didn't win money on: the chorizo and sweet potato tacos and the apricot habanero wings. In tonight's post, I'm sharing that wing recipe. Just in time for football season. If you're a fan of sweet paired with a bit of spice, or orange chicken, this may be the wing for you!

Apricot Habanero Wings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 2 TB unsalted butter                  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 habanero peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 TB soy sauce                  
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper
• Blue cheese
• Scallions, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a large baking pan and place wings, skin-side up on the oiled pan. Season well with salt and pepper.

Bake wings for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn pan 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Keep wings skin-side up the entire time for baking.

While wings bake, add butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add grated onion and minced garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook until veggies are soft, about 4 minutes.

Remove stems and seeds from habaneros. Wear plastic gloves to avoid disaster...because these bad boys are hot! Mince habaneros very finely. If you don’t use gloves, wash your hands well immediately after handling the peppers.

Add habaneros to saucepan along with apricot filling, soy sauce, water, and paprika. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Keep sauce warm, but if it’s done way before your wings, take it off the heat and then reheat before you serve so the sauce doesn’t get too thick.

When wings are done, remove them from pan and add them to a large bowl. Toss with apricot sauce.

Serve wings immediately garnished with lots of fresh scallion greens and blue cheese dressing.

Pears with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto

Today is Oscar Sunday. Anyone who knows me knows two things. 1) I'm a movie fanatic. 2) I love to have people over for food to watch particular TV events. Such as the Super Bowl. The Oscars. World Cup. You name it. And Oscar Sunday this year is no different. While I will be making my posole for some friends (as you'll recall, I had a bit of pork left over after that debacle, so I froze some large chunks of meat for later), I wanted to share a simple recipe that I made for a party late last year. So if you're going somewhere to watch the Oscars and need to make a simple appetizer, this will do the trick!

Pears with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 2 pears, such as Bosc or Bartlett, each cored and sliced into 8 wedges. Toss with lemon juice
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 3 oz. blue cheese, cut into small pieces
• 6 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut in half, lengthwise
• 1 cup arugula

Directions:

Roll up an arugula leaf, a piece of pear, and a piece of cheese in the prosciutto. Yep, that's it!

Tomato Jam

Whenever I hear the phrase tomato jam, I think of two things.

1) The phrase "tomato jammy jam" which is likely a riff off of an old In Living Colour episode or House Party 2, both gems of the 1990s. Or....
2) Well, I guess since a tomato is a fruit, it would make a good jam.

But until a month ago, I had never tried it. I got to sample a homemade tomato jam for the first time at our local farmers' market and I was hooked. And they just so happened to share the recipe. So I made this jam as an appetizer for a dinner I was cooking a few weeks back. It made a decent amount so I brought it to a few other events and it was a big hit. If I had proper canning equipment, this would make a great gift for others. While tomato season is behind us, I'd suggest bookmarking this to try next year. It is totally worth the effort.

I served the jam on melba toast with chevre cheese.

Tomato Jam (makes 2 quarts)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 lbs of tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a 2-quart pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until thickened to a jam-like consistency, about 3 hours. Be sure to stir on occasion to make sure it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. Transfer to glass jars and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Pumpkin Hummus

This is the week where I feature fall cooking attempts that resulted in dishes resembling baby food. But some baby food can be good, right? And a lot of it is orange.

First up is a pumpkin hummus that I made for a Halloween party. This wasn't an overly sweet hummus, which was a nice balance from other pumpkin dips I've had before. If you're a fan of hummus and pumpkin, you'll probably like this. I found the flavor good, but sadly not everybody was a fan. Yes, I was talking to someone who made a "blech" sound after tasting it, not realizing I had made it. Which I then pointed out. And it got awkward. But I stand by this recipe. Because we all have different taste buds.

I served this with homemade pita chips.

Pumpkin Hummus (makes approximately 2-3 cups)

Ingredients:

4 (6-inch) pitas, each cut into 8 wedges

Cooking spray

2 TB tahini (sesame-seed paste)

2 TB fresh lemon juice

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 TB chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 TB pumpkinseed kernels, toasted (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place pita wedges on baking sheets; coat with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 6 minutes or until toasted.

Place tahini, lemon juice, cumin, oil, salt, red pepper, pumpkin, and garlic in a food processor, and process until smooth. Add parsley; pulse until blended. Spoon hummus into a serving bowl; sprinkle with pumpkinseed kernels, if desired. Serve with pita wedges.

Tomatillo Peach Salsa and Taco Night!

Each week, a group of my friends in the neighborhood get together for an HBO viewing party. Several months ago it was Game of Thrones, the last several weeks have been for True Blood. It's a great excuse to watch some pretty ridiculous shows (let's be honest, True Blood is nutty) and eat some ridiculously good food. My neighbors Aniello and Jay always host since they have a ginormous TV, and a kitchen to die for. Due to some travel conflicts with our hosts, I stepped up to be in charge of this week's offerings. I opted for a Sunday fiesta of sorts, with two types of tacos and some homemade salsa. We had traditional beef tacos, but I also made one of my favorite fish taco recipes, which you can get here.

I have made salsa before, but never like this. My friend Nick at www.macheesmo.com (seriously, I've been turning to his blog on the regular this summer...amazing stuff) posted a great peach salsa recipe last year that I had bookmarked, but peach season passed before I had a chance to make it. But not this time! This was simple and delicious. So go grab some peaches and do it!

Tomatillo Peach Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tomatillos
• 2 large peaches
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1/3 cup red onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 lime, juice only
• 2-3 TB cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
  
  

Directions:

Peel the tomatillos and halve them. Sprinkle with salt and roast at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.Let tomatillos cool slightly and puree in a food processor.

Seed jalapeno and chop finely. Also chop red onion and add to tomatillo puree.

For peaches, cut a small "X" on the end of each peach and dip in boiling water for about a minute. Remove peaches and use a paring knife to peel off skin. Dice peaches and add to salsa.

Add minced garlic and cilantro to salsa and season with salt and pepper.

I let it chill int he refrigerator for an hour or so before serving, which I think helped the flavors really meld together. This salsa was hands-down ten times better than the jarred variety we also had. Awesome!

Freakin' Fantastic Food Friday: Sticky Wings

In my day job, there is a phrase that we often use: Throwback Thursdays. This usually refers to us a revisiting of previously used content on a Thursday. On this, the first day of Summer, I'm kicking off my own little feature for the summer months: Freakin' Fantastic Food Friday. In the year and a half I've had this blog, I have made some amazing dishes that I would make time and time again. But always feeling pressure (of my own, of course!) to make new things and feature new content on this site, I often don't get much of an opportunity to revisit some of those dishes.

So for the summer, I'll be celebrating these awesome dishes when I remake them, sharing a simple link to the original recipe and a new pic of the food. This week I made sticky wings (a recipe from my friend Nick at www.macheesmo.com) for some friends who came over for the True Blood season premiere. This was quite apropos given the stickiness of all the blood we saw on that episode. These sweet and spicy wings always hit the mark. I typically make these during football season, but they are truly enjoyable any day.

Check out the sticky wings recipe: http://sack-smallgirlbigappetite.blogspot.com/2012/02/sticky-wings-super-bowl-sunday-part.html

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Quesadilla

As I mentioned last week, I held an Oscars fiesta in order to go through some of the Mexican staple ingredients by uncle gifted me in December. Because every good fiesta has to have a quesadilla, I opted to try one of my friend Nick's creations from his blog www.Macheesmo.com.

Quesadillas are very easy to make, even without a quesadilla maker. The hardest part of this was finding one of the ingredients: Cotija cheese. This shouldn't be such a difficult task in my neighborhood which boasts a large Latino population, but it was buried in the back of the cheese section at my local Giant. And it wasn't cheap. But dang it's good.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Quesadilla (makes 2)

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sweet corn, fresh or frozen     
• 1/2 small zucchini, chopped thin  
• 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and diced  
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes  
• Pinch of fresh thyme (or dried)  
• Pinch of salt and pepper  
• 1 TB oil or butter  
• 3-4 oz. pepper jack cheese  
• 2 oz. Cotija Cheese, grated  
• Flour tortillas  
• Optional toppings: Guacamole, salsa, sour cream, etc. 

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop zucchini and peppers. If you're using corn on the cob, (which I did not), cut the corn of the cob.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add corn, zucchini, and peppers to pan and cook for a few minutes until veggies are hot and slightly tender.

Add in thyme, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

On a baking sheet, lay out a flour tortilla. Add a small handful of pepper jack cheese to half of the tortilla.

Add half of the filling and top with more pepper jack cheese. Sprinkle on some Cotija cheese if you want as well.

Fold tortilla over and press it down well. Bake for about 8 minutes per side. It's actually pretty easy to flip these with a nice sized spatula.

Cut up and serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

Hot Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread

December is just a few days away and with it comes endless holiday and office parties. Here is a great, easy, and healthy dip to serve the next time the occasion calls for potluck (which will happen again and again in December.) I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit. People were impressed at  how creamy it was, considering there isn't all that much creamy substance involved, just a whole lot of onions!

Hot Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread (serves 8)

 

 

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 3 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded and divided
• 2 TB chopped fresh chives, divided
• 1/3 cup canola mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan lightly with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

 

Reserve 2 TB cheese. Combine remaining cheese, caramelized onion, 1 TB chives and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 1 quart glass or ceramic baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved 2 TB cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 TB chives.



Living Social Pumpkin event

To get in the Thanksgiving spirit, I went to my first Living Social event at their headquarters on F Street. The event, called "Drunken Pumpkin," was hosted by the owners of Smoke and Barrel, a great BBQ place in Adams Morgan. The event was part education on the pumpkin in the culinary world, and tasting, where we got to try out three pumpkin-based dishes: a chipotle pumpkin soup, a roast pork with pumpkin risotto, and a maple pumpkin creme brule. All of this came with a pairing of a Pumpkin Spice Manhattan cocktail and a pumpkin beer.

So if you're looking for a pumpkin-based appetizer this Thanksgiving, try out this pumpkin soup recipe. And if you're just looking for an awesome meal, visit Smoke and Barrel. You will not be disappointed.

Chipotle Pumpkin Soup Recipe (Makes 2-2 1/2 quarts)

Ingredients

• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1-2 chipotle peppers, chopped.  If canned in adobo, 1 for mild flavor, and 2 for spicy)
• 8 cups chopped, cooked pumpkin or a three 15-oz cans of canned pumpkin
• 4-6 cups chicken stock, amount used will vary depending on how thick the pumpkin puree is
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp salt, more to taste
• 2 TB lime juice

Garnishes

• Toasted, shelled pumpkin seeds
• Cilantro
• Creme fresca

Instructions

Heat oil in large pot on medium  high heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, cumin, and chipotle, cook for 1 minute more.

Add the pumpkin, chicken stock, oregano, and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered.

Remove the soup from heat. Working in beatches of 2 cups each, puree the soup in batches, holding down the lid of your blender tightly while pureeing, and starting on a slow speed. Return the pureed soup to the pot.

Add lime juice. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more salt, cumin, oregano, or chipotle to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more stock or water until you hit your desired consistency.

Serve with pumpkin seeds, crema fresca, and chopped cilantro.

Chicken Satay

For the first of my blog arch on Thai cooking, I'll be sharing the recipe I learned during my Thai cooking class. Before I get to the recipe, let me tell you about this class.

The class was held in a home which had a separate demonstration kitchen area as well as a covered patio to cook. The two instructors were fantastic and in addition to teaching us how to make several different dishes, they also educated us on the flavors of Thailand. We got to pick what we wanted to make out of several choice options, but walked away with a recipe book of all the options!

There were six people in the class and we all represented different countries. The first couple from the UK, included a man from Glasgow who was quite the personality and his sweet wife. They lived outside of London.  The next couple was from Poland, and the wife/girlfriend (I'm not quire sure what the nature of their relationship was) had won some local cooking competitions in her native Poland. Rounding out the group was me and a man from Australia.

The instructors would joke throughout the class as to who would put more chili peppers in their food. The man from Glasgow usually won out, and me and the Aussie were a close second. What can I say, I like my food hot!

So first up is the chicken satay. This sauce is boss. :)

Chicken Satay (serves 2-4 as an appetizer)

Ingredients:

• 4-6 pieces of chicken tender fillets (approximately 3/4 pound)
• Bamboo skewers

Marinade

• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp sweet condensed milk
• 1/2 cup coconut cream (important to note that this is not coconut milk, but cream. Coconut milk in the U.S. is mixed with water, so this is thicker, straight from the coconut. Hope to find this in an Asian supermarket)
• 2 TB cooking oil
• pinch of pepper
• pinch of salt

Peanut sauce

• 1 TB cooking oil
• 1/2- 1 TB red curry paste (depends on how spicy you want to make it)
• 1/2 cup ground peanuts
• 2 tsp palm sugar (regular sugar will work)
• 1/2 TB fish sauce
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 TB tamarind paste or lime juice

Directions

Mix all the marinade ingredients together with the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinade 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinading, make the peanut sauce. To do this, put the oil in a saucepan with curry paste and cook over low heat and fry until fragrant. Then add coconut cream and ground peanuts and continue stirring for few seconds. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind paste and stir well for 3 minutes until the sauce is thick.

Once the chicken is done marinading, skewer each slice of chicken onto a bamboo skewer (soak skewer in water to prevent sticking). Grill the skewered chicken and brush with remaining marinade until done and still moist. Probably 3-4 minutes a side.

Serve chicken with sauce as an awesome appetizer.

Sweet Corn Salsa

This past weekend, the best team in the NFL (the Steelers in case you didn't know) played their first game of the regular season. Sadly, it did not end well as they didn't stick their neck out there as much as Peyton Manning did (yes, bad joke completely intentional), but I did end up having a great meal with some fellow foodie football fans. I made some regular favorites, sticky asian chicken wings and buffalo bread, but I also made my first salsa! This was adapted from a recipe on my friend's blog, www.macheesmo.com. The end result was far more sweet than spicy, but it tasted great!

Sweet Corn Salsa (serves a party and some)

 Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh corn, roasted
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 chopped poblano pepper
• 2 jalapenos, diced
• 3/4 cup red onion, diced
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 cup bottled lime juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1  tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

To make salsa, shuck corn and place under a broiler on high heat for about 3 minutes per side. Turn and continue to broil until corn is nicely charred. You can also grill the corn if you are so lucky to have a grill. I sadly do not.

Dice tomatoes, peppers, and onion and add to a large pot.

Once corn is charred, let cool until you can handle it, then slice the corn off the cob and add to pot with tomatoes and peppers. Add spices to pot along with vinegar, sugar, lime juice, and salt.

Bring salsa to a simmer and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until it starts to reduce and thicken.

 

Easy Stuffed Jalapenos

A few weeks ago, I cooked dinner for my regular True Blood Family Dinner crowd. Usually, we are treated to the fine cooking of my friend from Louisiana who whips up gumbos, po boys, and other Southern specialities better than anyone I've ever met. But for this particular Sunday, I made fish tacos and stuffed jalapenos. The fish tacos I've made several times already and they are always a hit. These jalapenos were a new, quick dish. The hardest part was cutting a dozen jalapenos. These must have been the most potent peppers I've ever worked with as I could not stop the burning sensation in my eyes for a solid 30 minutes while I cut and gutted these. Once you get past that part, these are a piece of cake.

Stuffed Jalapenos (makes 24 poppers)

Ingredients:

• 12 jalapeno peppers
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese
• 2-3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and membranes. Combine cheeses and bacon, spoon into the pepper halves and sprinkle with a couple drops of hot sauce, if you want a little extra heat. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Spinach and Feta Dip

I love a good dip. Guacamole, salsa, hummus, you name it, that's my weakness. I wanted to make a quick, healthy, cold (emphasis on the word COLD) dip for the hot 4th of July holiday. I decided to make a batch of this low-fat feta spinach dip for a BBQ. While it was not as big of a hit as the homemade guacamole and pica de gallo (and let's be honest, I definitely ate a bit more of that than I should have), I did think it was pretty tasty for a light dip. I served with pita chips.

Spinach and Feta Dip (serves 10-12 people as an appetizer)

 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup low fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chives, minced, divided
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Place spinach in a small saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then cook for 1 minute; drain well.

Place spinach, cream cheese, sour cream, feta cheese, 2 tablespoons of chives, lemon juice, garlic powder and pepper in a blender; puree. Taste dip and add salt if desired. Spoon dip into a serving bowl and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of chives. 

 

Buffalo Cheesey Bread

Cheese. Fresh Bread. Hot sauce. And more cheese. Yep, that about sums up this awesome bread, the creation of my friend Nick of http://www.macheesmo.com/.  Super easy to make, it was super hard to not want to shove an entire loaf in your mouth. With March Madness right around the corner, you'd have to be mad not to serve this up while watching the games. I'm definitely filing this one away for football season.

Buffalo Cheesey Bread 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French bread
• 1/2 Cup mayonnaise
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 TB sour cream
• 8 oz low-fat mozzarella, shredded
• 4 oz blue cheese
• 1/2 Cup hot sauce (Frank's is the best)
• 1 Cup scallions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Mix mayo, sour cream, garlic, scallions, and butter in a medium bowl. Combine well. Grate mozzarella and stir it into the mix.

Slice French bread horizontally down the middle and toast it in the oven until it's crispy, about 5 minutes at 425 degrees.

Spread an even layer of hot sauce on bread. Then top the bread with the mozzarella topping. Sprinkle blue cheese on top of bread.

Broil on high for 2-3 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling and bread edges are toasted.

Let the bread cool for a minute and then chop it up for serving.

 

Super Bowl Sunday...An excuse to eat a lot of food.

Like many friends of mine, this Super Bowl Sunday I'll be eating my feelings. Feeling bad about my team not making it to the big game. Feeling bad about not starting my new running program this morning (there was cooking to do!) And after the amount of meat I plan to eat today, I'll be eyeing salads for the rest of the week.

I'm having a bunch of friends over for the game today and the menu includes some awesome chicken wings (recipe to follow later this week) and some sweet, meaty balls.  In fact, this recipe is one from ages ago, from a friend of my mom, and the instructions were vague at best. So here it goes...Janet's Meatballs.

Janet's Meatballs (makes a lot of balls)


Sweet, sweet meat.

Ingredients For meatballs:

• 2.5 – 3 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder or garlic powder

For sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup tomato juice
• 1 TB vinegar
• 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
• salt & pepper 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, combine meatball ingredients and form small balls.

Combine sauce ingredients, whisking to combine.

Pour sauce over meatballs in large baking dish. I used a disposable foil pan to minimize the mess, because the sugar in the sauce will cause it to stick.

Bake for 2 hours at 350. Cover for first 90 minutes or so and then uncover.

Seriously, it's that easy. And that good.

My attempt at an artsy ball shot. That's what she said.