Something New! Food!

... Oh?  Food's not a new topic?  Well, whatever...

So, I haven't babbled about the lovely meals that M3 and I have made recently.  However, there have been a fair number of dinner cancellations due to conflicting plans.  Here comes summer!

Anyways, here we go!

Sunday, April 19th

Guacamole, Taco Salad, Strawberry Shortcakes.  After a bit of a stressful search for taco bowls, M3 settled on adding tortilla chips to salad...  And it was delicious.  Lettuce + black beans (with chili powder) + tomato + corn / onion salsa + magical chipotle dressing.  Yum!  Later, there was strawberry shortcakes...  Which just remind me of summer...

Tuesday, April 28th

Salad, Bread with Oils, Strawberry Fettuccine Alfredo, Trifle.

I was trying to determine what I was going to cook for this week...  Luckily, I was having drinks (at The Globe - love it) with M1 and S, who had just returned from hanging out with her family for a week.  S's mother is a pretty phenomenal cook, and it's definitely worn off.  In between planning the restaurant that we're going to open (?,) S went through the meals she had cooked while home...  One including a fettuccine alfredo with, ready?, strawberries.  Neither M3 nor I had done an alfredo yet, so I figured it was time to try!

In keeping on the strawberry theme, I started with a salad - spinach, strawberries, red onion and pecans.  Simple.  As a spin on garlic bread, I roasted some garlic and mashed it in olive oil, with some oregano; there was also a spicy red chili oil, which was awesome (though this came directly from a bottle, so I can't take any credit there.)

The, the fettuccine alfredo.  I didn't really make any edits to this...  So, obviously, it was incredibly healthy.  (I can feel my arteries clogging again, just thinking about it...)  I don't know how impressed I was.  It tasted really good, but I was fairly unsuccessful in getting the cheese and cream to mix, resulting in hunks of cheese.  (I mean, there are worse things in life...)  I felt a little better about this after M3 talked to her chef sister, and Chef Sister said that it was tough, or you had to use crappy ingredients...  One thing I will note: I would not advise reheating in the microwave - there was distinct butter-cream-cheese separation.  Ew.

And, to end the theme, I made trifle.  Basically, layering chocolate cake, vanilla pudding, Cool Whip and strawberries / raspberries.  Mmm...

[Sunday, May 3rd]

I just have to note this night, and retell the stories that M3 related to me.  I ended up with a company ticket to the Bruins game this night, so I wasn't able to make it to M3's this night.  (First family dinner I ever missed!  Sad!)  However, my absence opened a whole new world to M3: Meat.  Apparently, this was a little more overwhelming than I ever considered.  Upon proposing this to Chef Sister, CS responded with "All I can think of is hunks of meat.  Like steaks and pork chops.  Meat."  Same thing went to J, who responded "Chunks of meat."  I'm not entirely sure what resulted (I think it was steak,) but I doubt there were less than three types of meat in the meal!

Tuesday, May 5th - Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Burrito / Taco / whatever-you-want-to-call-them, Banana Chimichangas.  Cinco de Mayo fell on a Tuesday, which means everyone came over and drank margaritas!  For food, I basically just made lots of "Mexican" things and let people put them together as they pleased.  So, there were chips, salsa and guacamole to begin, then black beans, tortillas, cilantro, cheese, onion, sour cream and corn were added.  (Possibly more?  I can't remember...)  To round out the night, I made Banana Chimichangas again!

Sunday, May 10th

Caesar Salad, Fire-Roasted Tomato Pasta, Garlic Bread.  M3 put together everyone's favourite Italian dishes.  I was a little hesitant on the caesar.  Don't get me wrong - I love, love, love caesar salads.  However, this means that I have extremely high expectation of caesar dressings - I have been disappointed more than my fair share in the past.  However, M3 found a delicious caesar dressing - from Brianna's.  (This brand also makes a delicious vinaigrette - I highly suggest you try them both.)  She then had a recipe for a fire-roasted tomato pasta sauce from a magazine; it was from an ad for McCormick, so I was able to find it here!  Just mush these up a little and serve with pasta - Yum!  (Add garlic bread, of course.)

(As usual, there may have been dessert, but I cannot remember!)

Tuesday, May 12th

(Guacamole,) Tofu Joy!  This dinner had been a long time coming...  It just had to come to me!  S introduced this to me years ago, back when she used to be an honourary roommate when I lived in Quincy.  The results are delicious, but it's also incredibly fun to make.  Basically, these are just fresh spring rolls, wrapping all ingredients in rice paper.  As I actually had to call S to be reminded of what we put in these (it had been awhile since I had made them,) I figured I'd go ahead and write a rudimentary recipe:

Ingredients: bell peppers, cucumbers, peas, tofu, apples [all julienned,] mint, Thai basil, lettuce, rice noodles, peanuts

1. Cook rice noodles, and rinse in cold water.  (All ingredients in this recipe, with the exception of the tofu, should be cold.  I think.)

2. Saute / heat / cook tofu strips in Hoisin sauce + duck sauce + a bit of soy sauce.

3. In a large pan, filled with hot water, dip the rice paper till it is soft (but not too soft...)

4. Wrap whatever you want in the rice paper!  Dip in sweet chili sauce, or Hoisin sauce, or duck sauce... Or some combination thereof!

Tuesday, May 19th

Bruschetta, Pizza, Panna Cotta.  I realized we had never done pizza, so that obviously needed to change.  I also think I had in my head that I wanted to make panna cotta, so I needed something kind-of Italian to go with it!

First, bruschetta.  I love bruschetta.  I used this recipe, with a few edits...  I made the tomato mixture ahead of time and refrigerated it overnight.  (I think this allows the flavours to combine a little.)  I added two cloves of minced garlic to the tomato mixture, as well as doubling the basil, and adding some salt and pepper.  I brushed my bread with olive oil and toasted it ahead of time, then rubbed it with a clove of garlic.  Yum!  One thing, I used a crusty baguette, which I wouldn't really recommend - it got a little on the hard side.  Stick with a thicker, softer Italian bread.

Pizza!  I made a crust, using this recipe.  My recipe came from a magazine, so here it is:

Pizza crust

Zucchini

(Plum) Tomatoes (~7)

salt

pepper

16 ozs. Fresh Mozzarella

olive oil

fresh basil

1. [I actually made two pizza from this, but only one with zucchini.]

2. Roll out crusts on cookie sheet.  (Sprinkle sheets with corn meal first.)  Let relax for five minutes.

3. Add zucchini, tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, pepper (and minced garlic!)

4. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.

5. Top with cheese, and bake for 5 minutes, till cheese just melts.

6. Drizzle with oil, top with basil, and pop back into oven for just 1-2 minutes.

7. Enjoy!

[Note: This involves a lot of wet ingredients, so try to drain them as much beforehand as possible.  I'd also suggest tilting the pizzas to drain when pulling them out of the oven.]

Finally, panna cotta!  M3 and I made this for Thanksgiving last year (take that, Pumpkin Pie!) but I hadn't attempted it since then.  In the end, this is way easier to make than I originally thought.  You can find the base recipe here...  And then do whatever you want with it!  At Thanksgiving, we added Oreos to it.  This time, I made a simple berry sauce to pour over it.  (Heat half berries with 1/3 c sugar and 1 t vanilla.  Blend.  Back to stovetop, plus rest of berries.)  I find this smooth and creamy and delicious...  Far and away my favourite dessert in recent history.  If only heavy cream and half and half were healthier...

And, that's caught up on family dinners!  Suggestions for  next Tuesday???