February 2012
1 post
Spicy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thanks to Lynne of Milk ‘N Cookiezzz for her Chocolate Chocolate Cookies recipe, which I found on Pinterest and made last night (follow my All About Chocolate board!).
I tweaked this recipe to make jazz it up — I added cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Ever since I got turned on to hot and spicy chocolate souffles at Coco Sala in D.C. and drank spicy cocoa at Max Brenner in NYC (really,...
January 2012
1 post
4 tags
Meatless Monday: Butternut Squash Risotto
For dinner, a simple risotto with butternut squash, fresh basil and thyme and Parmesan cheese. Would have been vegan, but there is about 3 tablespoons of butter in it!
I really like risotto — it’s simple, but requires quite a bit of manual labor.
This is a standard risotto, using leeks instead of onions. Sauteed them in butter here with the thyme.
Risotto basically works this...
December 2011
1 post
5 tags
2011 Christmas Dining Recap
This is my first married Christmas! The hubster and I stayed home for the holiday, treating ourselves to some fine vittles. Here’s a recap:
Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace on K Street
I don’t like Bobby Flay. Don’t ask me why. Every time I see him on TV or smiling from the cover of a cookbook, I kinda want to sock him in the mouth. I know that’s mean and irrational, but...
November 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Fish PoBoys and Apple Coleslaw
Made fish poboys (used tilapia) and a coleslaw made from bok choy, carrots and apple for dinner and it was GOOD!
I’m working my way through the Fall recipes in the cookbook I received as a wedding present from my friends Matt Petrowski and Adrienne Laurie (thanks guys!). The coleslaw had just lemon juice, canola oil and fresh ginger. It was crisp, sweet and spicy.
My husband and his best...
2 tags
Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Sausage gravy is so easy to make. It’s only got three ingredients — sausage, flour, milk. At least, that’s all it takes for a standard, white gravy version. I used andouille sausage because I wanted it to have a little kick!
This could not be easier. You brown the sausage (I used my cast iron skillet, of course). Take the sausage out of the skillet and put about 1 - 2...
March 2011
1 post
3 tags
Fried Chicken Dinner With Cornbread and Salad
My fiance is visiting and we’re spending the time watching movies. Inspired by the “Dinner and a Movie” episode of Alex’s Day Off, I made fried chicken, cornbread, onion jam and a spinach salad for Saturday dinner.
I don’t remember the last time I fried chicken. It smells up your apartment and the oil makes such a mess. It also takes a lot of attention and...
February 2011
1 post
4 tags
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Icing
When I’m feeling a little blue or a little blah, baking makes me feel like me again! Made dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing to scratch my chocolate itch and boost my mood. Worked like a charm.
My cousins gave me a little cupcake cookbook for Christmas. I scoffed at first, because I don’t really do cupcakes. I make cookies and cakes. Cupcakes just seem like extra...
January 2011
3 posts
Your Nutritionista: The Value of Food →
nutritionista:
Inspired by this blog post about a London restaurant that recently instated a “pay what you think it’s worth” policy, I started thinking about the value of food. Apparently, this restaurant earned 20% more on the day they started letting people pay what they wanted than if they had priced it…
4 tags
Lemon Lamb Chops and Sweet Onion CousCous
For dinner Tuesday night, I had savory lamb chops and yummy couscous pilaf in less time than it takes to heat a frozen pizza.
I got the recipe from WomansDay.com.
I made a few changes — I didn’t have diced tomato with sweet onion for the cous cous, so I used about half a can of regular, no-salt-added diced tomato and then half the jar of this sweet onion relish I got from in...
7 tags
Black Bean Brown Rice Veggie Burgers
BGR: The Burger Joint in DC makes a tasty veggie burger with brown rice. I wanted to copy it. I got pretty darn close and my veggie burger was good!
When I lived in D.C., my fiance and I would go to the Burger Joint occasionally for the veggie burgers and sweet potato fries. You could taste the molasses and the sweetness of the rice pretty strongly in their burgers. I liked that they were hearty...
December 2010
7 posts
3 tags
Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts for Christmas Dinner
I made brussels sprouts for a Christmas dinner side dish.
My aunt slow cooked a pot roast, and roasted a hunk of lamb and a pork loin. We’re quite the carnivores, my family.
I usually contribute a side dish or two and a dessert, but I was feeling lazy and contented this Christmas so I only made the one dish, but for my clan, it was an exotic one.
I’ve had brussels sprouts once, when...
Leftover Risotto? Make Fried Rice Balls
These things are easy and dang delicious.
I’ve only made these once, but loved them. And since my guests polished off my sweet pea risotto with me (thanks guys!), I don’t have any to make more of these decadent things. That’s likely a blessing in disguise — imagine, cheesy rice, dunked in egg, covered in bread crumbs, then fried in oil.
Yeah.
I got the recipe from...
Red Velvet Pancakes
Red velvet cake is one of the best things on earth.
I know it’s bad for me because it tastes so heavenly.
So, like cookies, red velvet cake is a sometimes food (Cookie Monster shares his wisdom).
A friend of mine sent me a recipe for red velvet pancakes in the summer when I was looking for something more exotic than the standard weekend breakfast fare. I had to do these and I was glad I...
4 tags
Lamb Chops with Black Cherry Sauce and Sweet Pea...
Entertaining is so much fun!
I just had two people over, but it was lovely catching up and meeting someone new. Most of all, I’m so glad they loved Rachel Ray’s Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea Risotto!
I’ve made this dish several times before and always love it. But I swear the risotto turned out the best it ever has for me.
I stopped at The Chocolate Path to...
Vegan Mac n "Cheese"
Good mac n cheese is hard to come by.
Restaurant mac n cheese is hit or miss — divine or disgusting. There is no middle ground. Whenever I get a hankering for it, it’s best to just make it myself, mimicking my mother’s or grandmother’s methods. That way, I know I’ll get just what I want — a warm, melty blast from a happy past.
But I like to push the edges of...
4 tags
A Dinner Party Featuring Lamb Chops and Rissotto
I am too excited that my good friend from college is coming to visit me in my new apartment with her new(ish) boyfriend!
I am dying to meet the guy who has my girl all smiles.
I also want to impress them with my budding culinary skills, so I had to think of a menu super fast for tomorrow’s dinner and decided on Rachel Ray’s Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea...
2 tags
Smoky Chipotle Red Beans and Rice
It’s a rainy Sunday evening and I’m chilling here with my honey.
I’ve lived in Montclair, NJ for three and a half weeks! I moved here from Washington, D.C. for a new job. My fiance still lives in D.C. and is visiting me this weekend.
We had brunch at Sweet Basil’s Cafe in West Orange where I am trying to go through everything on their griddle menu. So far, I’ve had...
