Choco Cran Nut Cookies

This cookie recipe is inspired by a cookie that I had at my friend Alysa's house. And also every other cookie I had from Mike's Pastry's in Boston had a lot of almond extract in it. So delicious. So this cookie's got chocolate, cranberries, and pecans in addition to the almond extract which also makes it a little different. I believe this was my first attempt to come up with a cookie recipe entirely on my own from start to finish, and not just tweak a current recipe, and it turned out pretty decent.

1 cup butter softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups bittersweet dark chocolate chips (Ghirardeli)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans chopped.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugars, eggs. Add extract. Beat on low or hand mix until fully creamed together. Add salt, baking soda, and baking powder and continue mixing. Add in the flour a 1/2 cup at a time. Stop mixing occasionally to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Mix until the dough is fully incorporated and moist. Add in chocolate chips, cranberries, and pecans. Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls on parchment paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until barely golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Seared Ahi Salad

Lost Night Recipe part deux. This salad plates and presents pretty nicely. Can I just say how awesome that this particular salad had no chemicals or pesticides. Well if you buy the right stuff. The tuna was wild and sushi grade, as it should be if you are serving it rare. This salad was pretty big, enough for 8 people and generously portioned. But that was served with some things that would be a little filling, like lighter noodle dish and other apps – see previous post on baked brie en croute. I actually wasn’t thrilled with the dressing as I didn’t think it through and just assembled it in front of everyone at the last second. And I ran out of garlic. But it came out ok I think. The seared ahi came out pretty amazing, if I can say so myself =)

Meat and marinade:
2 large and 1 small - sushi grade ahi tuna filets - Costco has some quality seafood very reasonably priced.
1 lemon
Soy sauce
Montreal steak seasoning (to cook with only, no need to marinade with it)

Salad:
4 large handfuls of baby spinach
1 red pepper diced and seeded
1 english cucumber thinly sliced
½ - ¾ cup edamame removed from shells
2 whole avocados diced, but not too small

Dressing:

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Sesame oil
Hot chili oil
1 lemon
Apple cider vinegar
Soy sauceground black pepper

I allowed the meat to marinade at room temperature 2 hours before cooking. I placed the tuna in a baking dish with raised sized. Cut a lemon in half and juice over the tuna. Then splash some soy sauce over the top of the fish as well. Flip the fish over then squeeze the other half of the lemon over and splash on more soy sauce. Set aside. Allow to marinade for about 1.5-2 hours prior to cooking.

In the meantime you can assemble the salad. Place the spinach down first on a very large serving platter. Then around a large oval layer the red pepper, cucumber, avocados, and edamame. Remember you are placing the meat in the middle and on top so you want the veggies to peak out underneath.

I can’t measure dressing, sorry. Just remember you want to eyeball about 2 parts oil to one part acidity – which includes the lemon, vinegar, and soy sauce. For those measuring challenged you can always make the dressing in a liquid measuring cup. For the oil, I am pretty sure I used ¾ths EVOO to ¼th sesame oil ratio and hot chili oil. Sesame and hot chili oil can be overpowering so you want to go a little easy on it. Like it was just a splash of hot chili oil. But adjust to taste. Sprinkle some cracked pepper and stir vigorously. Serve on the side. If I could do this dressing again, I would have added a smidge of Dijon mustard, 1 minced garlic clove, a ¼ inch piece of minced fresh ginger, and a little drizzle of honey. THAT would have been a dressing. But this recipe is what I made, and it was pretty simple to throw together.

Just before serving, preheat a grill pan on high heat. I would give it a solid 2 minutes. Although you can do this in a regular pan, the grill pan leaves the cool grill marks on the fish. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray (PAM). Sprinkle some montreal steak seasoning over one side of the fish. Place the seasoned fish face down on the grill pan. Repeat with other fishies. Now be very careful and only SEAR the fish. Don’t cook for more than a minute. It should be long enough to create some grill marks, and since the fish is at room temperature it should cook better and slightly faster than cold meat would. Sprinkle a little steak seasoning on. Use a pair of tongs to carefully turn the fish over. Sear a minute. Remove the fish from the heat and place on a cutting board. Allow the meat to rest for about a minute or two. Then cut slowly against the grain to ¼ inch thick slices. Place on top of the salad. Serve with dressing on the side.

Baked Brie En Croute

Lost, the Series Finale. Something special had to be done to marked the last ever Lost dinner party. (But don't you worry friends and bleaders this certainly won't be my last dinner party.) I considered this to be slightly ambition to try and make something brand new to me with less than an hour of company coming over for dinner, but hey I always wanted to learn and sometimes there's nothing like stress to make . There was a little hole in the cheese apparently, which is why there was a 'crown' of cheese surrounding the Brie, but it came out delicous. I guess you wrap cheese in buttered pastry it's bound to turn out decent. Presentation is something that will be a work in progress for this.

1 smaller wheel of brie. I love Costco.

1 roll of defrosted Phylo dough.

1 stick of butter.

a handful of pecans, chopped.

1 baking pan or dish with raised sides

Served with:

1 pink lady apple

1 gala apple

1 bosc pear

Simple Bruscheta bread:

1 par baked baguette loaf (I love trader Joes)

olive oil for brushing

Leave your Phylo dough out to room temperature for about 2 hours prior to use. keep it rolled. When it's ready, unroll it. as you use a sheet at a time, recover immediately with plastic wrap then cover with a damp towel. Otherwise it will dry out and crumble as you pull out the sheets. I also learned this the hard way as well, so trust me.

in a small fry pan on low heat, melt a stick of butter. when melted pour half to 2/3's of it out into a little bowl. You will use this for brushing the dough.

Take the remaining butter and on low mix in the nuts. cook for a couple minutes.

Take Every time you lay down a single paper thin layer of phylo dough, you must brush it with butter. So one layer at a time you put down a sheet, brush it with butter completely, then top with another sheet, and brush it with butter completely. I did about 3 sheets horizontal to the pan, then three vertical to the pan. Then I layed the cheese in the middle. Take the buttered pecans and place them on top of the Brie to lifted the sides (carefully) to wrap the cheese and nuts. The phylo did not cover the cheese at the top, so I took about 3 more sheets of phylo to wrap the top. Each buttered of course.

bake in a heated 375 oven for 30 minutes.

During the last 7-10 minutes pop in the bruscheta with it. BTW Brusceta in italian means brushed bread. a super simple bruscheta:

slice bread at an angle, place on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil.

Now pull everything out and serve with the fruit. cheese, fruit, bread. Pass the wine please.

Pantry Chili

This chili was created out of necessity. I had a pound of ground turkey in the fridge, and I had to do something with it quickly before it turned. So chili it is. Unfortunately, it did not have the flair of my regular chili, which contains a ton of peppers and greater depth of flavor, but this was pretty good for what I had around the house, not prepared to make chili. Luckily I had a can of Chili peppers in adobo, which essentially saved my butt in making this. It adds a really nice smoke flavor and just enough heat.

1 pound of ground turkey

canola oil

4-6 minced shallots

5 cloves of garlic minced

1 can black beans

1 can red kidney beans

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce (regular can, not mini)

1/2 box of chicken stock

1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo

1/2 bag of frozen corn

1 fresh hot pepper - no idea what kind it was, it was red and green and form the yard

1 teaspoon cumin

2 heaping tablespoons of chili powder

1/2 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning

Saute the ground turkey with canola oil, and add minced garlic and shallots while browning. When cooked through drain the beans, do not rinse, and add them in. Season with steak seasoning, chili powder, parsley, oregano. Then add the tomatoes and sauce. Now add in 1/2 a box of chicken stock and bring to boil. while that is going open the chipotle peppers and pull out half the can. dice them and scoop them up, sauce, seeds and all and place that in the pot. add in cumin to taste. Place the corn in a coriander, and run some water over it to quickly defrost, then add into the pot. Bring to boil. Serve over rice. This will thicken as it stands.

Asian Fusion Goes Vegan

I was thinking of making a vegetarian dinner, but it turned out vegan. There is no country of origin to this dish. It's just asian fusion. I forgot to add the shelled edamame, but this still had plenty of fresh veggies in it.

1 package of udon noodles
1 pack of firm tofu
EVOO
1 bundle of thin asparagus, trimmed
2 red peppers
1 bundle of green onions
7 cloves of garlic, minced
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
Cayenne pepper
red pepper flakes
sesame oil
hot chili oil

Boil a a few quarts of water. Cook udon noodles as directed and drain. Pour into a large bowl. Drizzle over the top sesame oil and hot chili oil. Toss to coat so the noodles don't stick. Crack over some black pepper, sea salt (easy on the sale) and a splash of tamari. toss to coat again.

I started by pan frying a pack of firm tofu. I didn't think extra firm was necessary. pour enough EVOO to coat the bottom of the pan. We're not deep frying or anything, but just enough to pan fry, maybe about a 1/4 cup or so. Brown the tofu on all sides. Once browned remove from pan and set on top of the noodles.

I used the same pot that I boiled the water in and drizzled a bunch of olive oil. Let that heat for a minute then add the garlic. Allow that to cook for about 30 seconds or so shaking the pan to infuse the garlic into the olive oil. Toss in the oyster mushrooms and allow to cook. Add the ginger and a splash of Tamari. Then add the asparagus allow to cook for a couple minutes. Add a few pinches of red pepper flakes. Next add the red pepper then the green onions. add about a 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper. add another splash of Tamari and season to taste.

To plate: create a bed of noodles, then top with veggie mixture and tofu. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with a side of peeled sliced cucumbers, baby carrots, and a dollop of hummus.

Turkey Penne

This is my quintessential, what to make when I feel like making food but don't want to make anything very complicated or chop many things dish. Pasta with meat sauce! It saves really nicely, plus it has two things runners always need: carbs and protein. I know how to make my own sauce, but sometimes we all gotta take short cuts. Start to finish, this takes less than 30 minutes.

get a pot of water to boil. Add a pound of penne (TJ's Organic is terrific) and cook as directed. Drain.

Meat sauce:

EVOO (olive oil with extra virginity)

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 onion

6 cloves of garlic minced

italian seasonings

red pepper flakes

dried marjoram

sprinkle of montreal steak seasoning

1 jar of organic marinara sauce

1 can of organic tomato sauce (the regular can, not the mini one)

1/4 cup of half and half

in a very large pan, drizzle enough EVOO to coat the bottom and begin browning the turkey. Season with some steak seasoning and italian seasonings while browning. In the meantime, mince the garlic and dice the onion and add while browning. add in the rest of the seasonings. Stir and break up the meat until cooked all the way through. Add the marinara sauce and tomato sauce. The tomato sauce basically stretches the sauce out, without having to open another jar. Now pour some half and half into the empty jar of marinara sauce and screw the lid back on. Shake it all about to collect the rest of what's in that jar and pour in the pot. Simmer until bubbly and/ or your pasta is done cooking. Pour your drained al dente pasta in and stir. Top with fresh grated parm. mmmm

Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I'm Finally back! It's been forever since I posted, and am looking forward to sharing some new things. My work had a Cinco De Mayo potluck, so the food was Mexican themed. I've made enchiladas the regular way, and I find it's much easier to feed a crowd when you make it into a casserole. This Enchilada is basically an Enchilada Lasagna. Layered deliciousness. This makes two 9 x 13 pans... the second 9 x 13 is a litte smaller but still is a lot.

1 30 pack of corn tortillas (need about 20 or so)

1 whole cooked rotisserie chicken

1 habenero pepper

1 can of diced tomatos

2 small onions - or 1 whole

6 cloves of garlic

2 green peppers

2 jalapeno peppers

1 anaheim chili

1/2 bag of frozen corn, defrosted in water and drained.

1 can of black beans, drained

1 can (regular not mini) of tomato sauce

1 massive can of green chili enchilada sauce

1 block of pepperjack cheese, shredded

remove skin and shred the chicken and place in a bowl. add in the can of tomatos and let that hang out. Just like the general rule in life, when you work with things that are small and fiery... use protection. Put on a pair of rubber gloves to cut the Habanero, remove the seeds, and dice into teeny tiny pieces. Put that in the chicken bowl and stir.

Get out a very large bowl. Dice your onions and mince your garlic. Place in the bowl, then dice the rest of the peppers. Again, use protection when you cut the hot stuff. Otherwise when you will try to put on your contact the next morning and it feels like your eyes are on fire. Not cool. Add the corn, black beans, and tomato sauce. mix well.

Cut the tortillas into one inch squares. Stack up about 4 at a time, and cut 1 inch strips. Then cut them the other way. Repeat until you have a big pile.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter up a 9 x 13 pan. or use pam. add a splash of green enchilada sauce and spread. Place a single layer or tortillas, covering the bottom of the pan. Then add the veggie layer over the tortillas. then layer some chicken - it's ok to space this out. Then add a layer of cheese. Then cover with a single layer of tortillas. Cover that layer with a generous splash of enchilada sauce. be sure to spread. Now repeat the process one more time finishing with a layer of tortillas and sauce. Then just sprinkle some cheese on top. Cover with foil. Bake for 35 minutes, uncover the foil, then place back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Arriba!