cold sandwiches and warm days

Somedays, it is really too hot. Now, I don't get this feeling often. I am the one who wears a sweater in the spring, I wear hoodies into summer, and I always (always) wear jeans. So I was surprised yesterday when I found it too hot, It was only 99 degrees. I LOVE the heat. The hubby says that I must have been a lizard in my past life because I like it so hot. Of course, maybe the heat had something to do with the oven being on all day. :)

See, Sunday is the best day for experimenting in the kitchen. I have a birthday party coming up, and I am making the cake. So I devoted the entirety of my day to chocolate (talk about the best day ever). I made a chocolate sheet cake and did various experiments to ensure that it was the appropriate cake for a day in the sun. It was yummy.

By the time the cake was done, it was time to start dinner. I made the roast chicken again with some sweet yellow corn. It was fabulous. I decided this afternoon, though, that I was not going to cook. So, we had cold sandwiches. Cold Lemon chicken sandwiches. Mmmm! Far be it from me to tell you how to make the best sammich ever...

The best chicken sammy

leftover roast chicken (either homemade or from the grocer)- cold
a half loaf of crusty french bread- sliced down the middle
some good lettuce (endive, romaine, or even iceberg)
a wonderful tomato- sliced
some lemon juice
some wasabi mustard (optional)
some good cheddar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Smear the mustard on the bread, be advised that a little goes a long way. Add the chicken and the cheese and throw in the oven till the cheese melts and the bread is toasty. Add your lettuce and tomato. Sqeeze a bit of lemon juice on and squish the sammy together. Enjoy the melty, gooey, tangy goodness.

Brilliance and cherries

I was inspired today to stop and review, to thank the powers that be for everything. To say thank you for everything in my life, in my work, in my world, everything. And yet to say this seems so insignificant. It seems like such a small gesture to send to the cosmos. However, I can't help but feel that I have done my part to send the positives rays onward and upward. I can only hope that my positives have helped someone's negatives. So cheers to you!

In addition to that, I can be doubly thankful. I have cherries! Deep, red, sweet, tangy, juicy, delicious cherries. In my mind, cherries are sunshine. So no recipe today, no deep thoughts on food and enjoyment. Just enjoy a bowl of cherries, after all... isn't that life?

Sausages...

I remember when I first learned where sausage came from. It was the same time I learned about hot dogs and pepperoni. It was not a pleasant experience for me. I remember thinking, 'why do people eat this stuff, if it is so gross?'. I thought 'Why do they continue to make it? Don't they know what's in it?'... Of course, I was about ten and my world view was wide, but narrow. I clearly assumed that if everyone knew about where sausage came from, no one would eat it and so they (meaning the bad sausage man, I can only assume) would stop making it. Hmmm. I guess that means I also assumed that those eating the sausage would care how it was made. Not always a valid assumption.

I recently began to think about my scope of food. In realizing that although I love food with a passion that scares most, I am not truly in love with the food I eat. You can only eat at McD's so often before you become sick. So, I am on a mission this summer: Eat at home. I started planning out my meals each week. I pack my lunch or work everyday. I make extra of whatever I am cooking, This gives us snacks, lunches, and dinner. I experiement more in the kitchen. I eat lots of fruit and veggies. I am now thinking about my food and eating slowly in order to enjoy it. I am loving the food that I eat and all because I thought about sausages.

So in tribute I was inspired today to try sausages. Not actual sausages, mind you, but turkey sausages.
Italian turkey sausage. Yummers. This one came about by thinking about what flavors would be good together and throwing them in a pan. Enjoy....

Italian Turkey sausage Heros

1 lb Italian Turkey sausage or kielbasas
1 green bell pepper
1 small vidalia onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
1 loaf of crusty bread

Brown the sausage in a skillet till cooked through, stirring occassionally. Slice the bell pepper and onion thinly and add to the sausage. Brown a bit more, until the onions are translucent. Mince the garlic and add to the skillet. When everything is done, add the vinegar and turn off the skillet. Toss everything together once to coat. Cut the loaf in half and fill with the sausage mixture. Cut the loaf into sandwiches and enjoy.

New flavors and loves

Yoga and apple cider vinegar. My two new favorite things.

I always thought that yoga was a foofy sort of activity. Who has time to sit around and contort themself into wierd pretzel shapes when there is sooo much going on in the world? Not me, I always thought. I like to be busy. I like to have activities. How much of an activity can it be to pose in wierd shapes? So I never tried yoga. Recently, I have not been able to sleep well. I have had trouble clearing my mind to actually fall asleep. I always keep a pad of paper next to the bed, so I can jot down the important thoughts that run through my mind right before I fall asleep. I thought this was helpful to me, but it turns out that this pad of paper started creating more thoughts. Then more thoughts would join the party and I would be miles away from sleep before long. It was rough. So I talked to my doctor because I was having trouble. How do I go to sleep? Maybe there is some prescription that will help me fall asleep faster? Maybe there is something I should be eating or drinking so I can fall asleep? She thought for about two seconds then suggested yoga. Dun Dun Duuuuuuunnnn. So I have been trying it at home. I am following the funny video that I got at the local library and actually started to feel myself slow down. It was wierd.

On to my other new favorite thing.... Apple cider vinegar. I made some good chicken today. I was excited. Not much else to say except here it is. Slightly sweet, slightly tangy, and oh so good.

Honey cider fried chicken.

1/4 cup of honey
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
6 chicken thighs or drumsticks
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon of oil

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Whisk together honey, vinegar, chili powder, and curry powder. Dredge chicken and let sit about 10 minutes. While the chicken is resting, oil a deep dish pan. Take the chicken out of the honey mixture and roll in breadcrumbs until coated. Place the chicken in the pan and put the pan in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the chicken. If there is any honey mixture left, you can pour it onto the chicken now. Bake about 15 minutes more or until the chicken registers 180 degrees internally.

Serve with some home fries. And eat on up.

Lovely Chicken

I am being adventurous. In all aspects of my life, I am trying to take risks, try new things, and not be so afraid. I found this recipie a year ago in a local newspaper. While I thought is sounded good, I was scared to try it. I don't normally eat pork, so there was that concern. Also, I had never used thyme, or really any spices, so I was afraid of that as well. When I got married, I asked for a really cute spinning spice rack. I recieved it, but I never opened the spices until now. I always wondered why every kitchen has a spice rack. It always made me laugh that most of the bottles were full, and only a select few would ever be used. But I digress...

So back to my goal. I decided that I would try one new spice a week. I didn't want to do too much too soon, so I figured that one new spice a week would do it. I wanted them to be spices that were already in my spice rack. And I wanted to make sure they were things that wouldn't freak the hubby out too much.

The spice I used today was Thyme. I had never really smelled thyme. It is gorgeous. I can only describe it as full bodied and almost minty. I think that thyme will be my new favorite thing. Now, if I only had enought time to go with it....

Lemon Thyme Pork Chops

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 pork chops
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
a little bit of lemon zest

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan. Cook the pork chops a few minutes on both sides. Season with the salt and pepper. Put the chicken broth in a cup and slowly add the cornstarch, mixing all the while. Add the mixture to the skillet. Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Simmer over heat until sauce is thickened and the chops are cooked through. Enjoy with some lovely whipped red potatoes. Yum Yum Yum.

Comfort Food

I was cold the other day. Not that it was cold outside, but I was cold in my heart. See, one of my friends is mad at me, and for something that I did not feel was my information to share. Suffice to say, that I was very sad, and needed some cheering. I needed something to warm me from the inside. So I made chili.

I remember eating chili when I was young. Always the gross congealed mess from a can, served warmed in the microwave over icky hot dogs on buns. My grandpa used to eat his chili with vienna sausages. I could never bring myself to eat that or any other potted meat product. There was something about saying 'potted meat' that was a little bit too much for me to handle. When I decided to make chili today (for the first attempt ever in my life), I decided I wanted it to be fresh. I wanted it to be light and I wanted it to be GOOD.

This is the recipie that I made.

The recipie calls for beef, but I don't eat beef. I used ground turkey instead and I think I like it better that way. Beef has a tendancy to weigh us down, but this chili was filling and light at the same time. It was like a Chili revolution!

COMFORT CHILI

1 28 oz can of dices mexican tomatoes
1 15 oz can of light red kidney beans
1/4 cup chilis (I used jalepenos, but the pepper can be changed to suit your spice)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
pinch of oregano
1 small sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
2 Tablespoons Chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Start the tomatoes, beans, chilis, and tomato paste on medium in a large pot. In a saute pan, saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Once done add the onion and garlic to the tomato and toss in the pinch of oregano. In the saute pan, cook the beef until cooked through and browned. Add the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne and stir to coat. Once done, add the beef to the tomato mixture. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for a few hours or until you just can't stand it anymore and have to eat.

This is best served over some homemade crusty bread.

Rice and Pineapple Sauce

So I used to be afraid of rice. I was not a fan of Chinese food, I did not like Sushi, I was afraid with a capital A. So one night, on a date many moons ago, I had a date that decided he would dare me $50 bucks that I could not learn how to use chopsticks by the end of the night. Well being how I am, and loving challenges, I accepted and won the $50. Funny thing was, I was so preocupied with proving him wrong, I forgot to bitch about the food laid in front of me. So I ate Chinese food for the first time, and actually liked it. It was not until I started dating the hubby that I started to appreciate Chinese food. The subtle differences in flavor, the brilliant presentations and plating, and the wonderful things that could be done with plain white rice (rice sculptures, anyone?). I remember the first time I tried Sushi. I was out with some friends, and they built me up to the experience and described the flavors so vividly that I had to try them. This was the beginning of my appreciation of food. This was the beginning of descriminating tastes. We sat at the bar of a local sushi restaurant, and we ordered. It was refreshing to have someone tell me that allergies were not a problem. They told me since the sushi is made fresh to order, they could just leave something out. Imagine my surprise when the sushi chef came over and made suggestions of substitutions since I could not enjoy the original rolls. Imagine my surprise when trying Mussel shooters with quail eggs for the first time! All in all it was a beautiful experience (although, I don't think the mussel shooters will happen again soon).

This all leads into my forays of cooking with Rice. To make it really easy, and because the hubby is not great with my tempermental stove, we bought a rice cooker. It was about fifteen dollars at the local store and makes enough rice for the two of us, with just enough left over for lunch the next day. So we tried Jasmine Rice, Basmati, Plain Aborrio, Brown, and Quinoa in the rice cooker. Each gave slightly different flavors and textures. Last night I found my new favorite thing.

White Rice and Pineapple sauce. MMMMMM!

enough rice for you and some to share
1 can diced pineapple
spices that you like

Wash and rinse your rice. Add half the water called for to cook the rice. For the remaining water needed, add pineapple juice from the can of pineapple. Cook the rice

In a pan, combine the remaining liquid in the pineapple can and the spices that you like (I used a jerk spice blend, some cayenne pepper, a bit of sea salt, and some lovely garlic). Add half the pineapple chunks. Warm over low heat, and slowly cook down the pineapple, mashing as you go. Once it cooks down a bit, you can add a bit of sugar to taste. It may be thin, but it is still tasty.

When the rice is done, scoop into portions and add some pineapple chunks on top. Add a bit of the sauce and enjoy!

I really enjoyed this rice, and it just reminded me to not ever rule any food out. Even rice can be adventurous.

A yummy chicken and sweeeeeet potatoes

I remember the first time I ever had roasted chicken. It was at a fancy french restaurant and they brought the whole chicken out to us... with the head and everything. Unfortunately, I was not able to try the chicken because of my own personal issues. I have a weird issue with eating meat that looks like what it once was. So I have issues with chicken that looks like a piece of chicken, ot fish that has the head on, or even snail with the shell on. I don't mind seeing it that way before it's cooked, but after? No Way! So I have always been afraid to try roasted chicken, because of course, it comes out of the oven looking like a chicken (minus the head this time). But everytime I see a roasted chicken (even without the head), I think back to the grand culinary adventure I had during my foray into French cuisine.

That all changed this past week. I decided in my quest for new tastes and things to try, I was going to visit my local library. My library has a very good system and internal book transfer process, so I can basically request any book and if it is checked in at any branch I will have it the next day. So last week I requested all the cookbooks by Jamie Oliver, Heidi Swanson, and random authors that I had read about on other people's blogs. The next day I had a stack of about ten books (all the books were not checked in yet). So I am purusing 'The Naked Chef' and enjoying it quite immensly when the hubby enters and mentions the Roast Chicken looks amazing. Seeing as we had a whole young chicken in the freezer, I thought I would attempt it. After all, when something fails we have an amazing selection of restaurants nearby.

So this past Sunday I made my first ever roasted chicken. Yay me! The chicken was so good. It had a fairly strong lemon flavor, which the hubby was not sure of, but which I loved. We also had a fabulous Sweeeet potatoes and I was sooo proud.

The directions from dear Jamie were really simple, but not really directions at all, more like guidance open to interpretation. So here is what I did:

Wash young chicken. Take out the gizzards. Lift up the skin covering the breasts (careful not to tear) and add favorite spices underneath. Flip the chicken over, and lift up skin covering the thighs. Add favorite spices here too. Stuff the middle of the chicken with a half lemon, or stuffing. Place chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan with a glug of olive oil. Roast at 375 degrees for 40 minutes per pound, until the breast meat and thigh meat register 180 on the meat thermometer.

The spices I used? Let me share:
A palm of salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, basil and Mrs. dash. I also placed a lemon in the pockets that were created when the skin was lifted. If you want it less lemony, dont put the lemon in the skin pockets (that sounds gross, doesn't it?).

What did I serve it with? Sweeet potatoes! The hubby calls them sweeeet potatoes because they use a sweet potato and are slightly sweet in flavor. You have to imagine the hubby saying this in a surfer kind of voice, like a flashback to 90210 days.

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 large baking russet potato, peeled and cubed
4 small red potatoes, cubed (peel if desired)
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
a pinch of sugar

Boil potatoes until mostly soft (not quite mashable). Drain and let sit for 5 minutes. Saute onion until translucent then toss it in with the potatoes. Add the sugar and the garlic. Toss these in a roasting pan and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft (definitely mashable). Take some of the drippings from the chicken and add to the potatoes, tossing to coat. You can also just add the potatoes to the roasting pan with the chicken and skip this step. Then enjoy with your chicken.

Ah, lovely. The best things often come from something we were afraid to try.