Pots And Paints

Pot Roast…like Momma use to make

This is my second attempt at pot roast and its coming to you from the California desert…Death Valley to be exact.  The high temperatures make outdoor excursions a little difficult to do, so I thought I would try combining two things I love: cooking and eating.

 One of the many dishes I miss the most since my mom passed away years ago is her pot roast.  As a kid, I’d do a little happy dance when I found out she was making pot roast.  Suffice to say, I was a bit of a chubby kid.  

 My first attempt to make pot roast was about a year and a half ago and it wasn’t exactly a memorable experience.  If anything, it was quite forgettable.  The recipe called for using a bay leaf and let the roast marinate in wine while it cooked.  These were the things that, while interesting, was nothing like my mom’s pot roast.

Borrowing the cooking methods from the bf’s mom, I decided to keep it simple.  Because, sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

Here’s the finished product:

I seasoned my pot roast with the following ingredients:

            Season salt (or, as I call it, the spice of the South)

            Black pepper

            Garlic powder

            Onion powder

 I didn’t just season it but I made sure to pat the seasons into the meat.  Pat not hit or strike.  Then I placed the uncooked meat in a pan with about ½ to 1 cup of water.  To keep it from drying out.  I wouldn’t recommend more than that because the meat expels a lot of water too.

 Covering the dish with aluminum foil, I slow cooked the meat at 325F for about 4 hours.  The cooking time can be longer depending on how frozen the meat is.  My meat sat in the freezer all night and when I got up I took it out of the freezer around 9 am.  I let it slowly thaw for about 4 or so hours when I put the meat in the oven around 2 pm.

 Unlike the bf’s mom, I didn’t add any onions or the traditional side of potatoes.  Not because I don’t like these items (because I do!) but I was lazy and living 57 miles from the nearest town or grocery store kind of inhibits the whole “pop over to the market.”

 Overall, this was damn fine pot roast.  Just taking that first bite reminded me of all the things I love about my pot roast and miss about my mom because she was a fine cook. 

 Definitely see this again in my future…once I get through eating about 3 lbs of pot roast by myself.  I may share with my roommate.  But, I’m not making any promises!

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Today’s Italian dish was motivated by watching “Eat. Pray. Love.” the other day.  As I’m sitting there watching Julia Roberts eat spaghetti in Rome and pizza in Naples, all I could think is, “Damn, I really want some Italian food.”  

Columbia has some Italian offerings but most that I have tried have been rather expensive and the food wasn’t that great.  Something about seeing the redness of the spaghetti sauce made me decide to cook Italian for dinner.  

So, there I was at 4 p.m. scouring the web for easy Italian recipes that involved beef (that I was already defrosting for dinner) and tomato-based sauce.  Because, out of all the Italian sauces I’m the biggest fan of tomato-based sauces.

Ultimately, I settled on this recipe by Giada from the Food Network.

The boyfriend was quite surprised by my decision to make an Italian dish but was happy nonetheless.  After all, like me, he’s a big fan of Italian food.

After a quick trip to the grocery store, I started around 6:15 on this journey to cook a real Italian dish.

Here’s the end result:

First, contrary to the stated time, the prep time actually took longer.  Instead of 15 minutes, in reality, it was more like 20-25 minutes.  But, no biggie.  

I wholly suggest for someone trying to stuff the manicotti to just go ahead and get down and dirty.  I tried to be all professional and use a very small spoon but that turned out to be a bigger headache then necessary.  Despite the amount of manicotti (16 total) and the large baking dish I had (13x9) I had a lot more of the stuffing left. So rather then waste it, I decided to sprinkle it throughout the dish before putting on the marinara sauce and the cheeses (Mozzarella and Parmesan).

I cooked the dish a little on the longer side then stated in the recipe. Not by much, probably between 35-40 minutes.

Overall, the dish was delicious.  I could have used more sauce just for the simple fact that I LOVE it even better when I can use my garlic bread to sop up the excess sauce.  This dish definitely tasted different and better then I expected.  I think it had to do with the fact the recipe called for ricotta cheese.  It has been a long time since I had eaten ricotta cheese so I’d forgotten how it tasted.  

I was a little worried about how well the manicotti itself would come out.  The recipe called for undercooking the pasta just a little since it would be baked too.  And, anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like pasta cooked al dente.  But the manicotti came out perfectly.

The biggest proof of a job well done was looking at the boyfriend with a clean plate (no sauce left behind), a satisfied look on his face, and a “Good job.”  I had impressed the Italian foodie.

I give this recipe an A+ for its simplicity, tastiness, and the abundant leftovers for tonight.

Brunch for Dinner

So, about a week ago, I was eating pizza with the boyfriend.  It was your average run of the mill pizza-and-movie night.  While munching on sausage pizza, I rediscovered how much I love sausage.  For some reason, there are certain foods, healthy or unhealthy, that have fallen by the wayside for me over the years.  And, sausage is definitely one of them. 

I scoured the web looking for recipes that incorporated sausage and I eventually settled on this recipe from Allrecipes.com.  It looked simple enough.  And, admittedly, I was hooked when the recipe called for French bread.  I LOVE french bread. Also, I chose this recipe because I love to bake.  Well, I love the idea of baking.  Mixing something in a bowl, putting it in a dish, and letting it hang out in the oven for a couple of hours while I go about my day.  What’s not to love?

I have to be up front and tell you the subtle changes I made to the recipe. 

Substitutions/Omissions:

1.) I omitted one egg.  Instead of 8 eggs, I used 7 eggs.  Eight eggs just seemed excessive for a recipe.  Although I love eating eggs in all of its cooked forms, I can not stand the smell of raw eggs.  Suffice to say, I cracked the eggs pretty quickly.

2.) I substituted the Jimmy Deen sausage crumbles for the standard JD log of pork sausage.  I didn’t do this because I wanted to but because every grocery store I went to they were out of the sausage crumbles package.  By adding the log it just meant that I would have to get down and dirty with the recipe and break up the meat myself.

3.) Although this doesn’t fall into the “Substitutions/Omissions” category, I added 2 1/2 Golden delicious apples instead of 2.  The reason for this was the apples at Fresh Market were not exactly fresh (no pun intended).  I settled for the least sketchy apples I could find.

The final result:

First, just the smell of this dish baking was heavenly. The smell of sausage, apples, and warm bread baking lingered in the air.  When I pulled this dish out, I immediately smelled it.  It smelled of French toast.  Yummy french toast.  As indicated by the recipe, I did have my warm syrup handy.

Overall, I thought the dish was good.  The boyfriend had the same reaction: good but not great.  We both agreed that there was that “undeniable something” to make it better. I complied a list of things that may make this recipe even better.  These can either be done all at once or pick and choose the ones you want.

• add pinch of nutmeg
• add salt or pepper to the eggs
• use hot/spicy sausage
• brown or paritally brown the sausage (makes it more crispy and drain the excess fat off)

For me, I think the sweetness of the recipe was fine but I felt that it needed something as simple as salt and pepper.

One thing I would highly recommend is using a French baguette.  A day old French baguette is even better. Many of the reviewers of the recipe stated the recipe came out more like bread pudding.  Well, if you want to avoid that get old(er) bread.  The baguette is already pretty crusty and somewhat hard.  And, it gets harder the longer it sits out.  The great thing about that is that once you add it to the mixture, it softens up a bit but it doesn’t lose its “crustiness.”  And that is what keeps it from becoming a sopping mess.

Overall, I give this recipe a B with room for improvement. 

I’m taking the reviewers suggestions and I’m going to try it the next day.  Apparently, the longer the ingredients have to marry together the better the casserole gets.  I’ll let you know in the next post!

The thing about Red Velvet Cake

***After several months, here’s a post from me with a different foodie spin***

I guess you could call me a Red Velvet Cake connoisseur.  Although anything chocolate is my favorite dessert, Red Velvet Cake (RVC) is my favorite cake hands down.  From an early age, my mom always made RVC on special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I knew as a child that there would be two glorious days in which I would get to eat the most delicious, moist cake I’ve ever tasted.  And, it didn’t hurt that my mom would let me lick the bowl and the tongs from the mixer.  (It’s the little things).  And, when my mom passed away almost 6 years ago, there was this panic in my family (my mom’s side too) because in all her years of making RVC, my mom never shared the recipe for it.  Suffice to say, the original recipe died with her.

For several years after her death, my aunts tried in vain to resurrect the tradition of RVC on Thanksgiving or Christmas but it just wasn’t the same.  But lest you think this story has a sad ending, you’ll be glad to know that it doesn’t.  Luckily my sister found a recipe for RVC that was very close to my mom’s.  I’ll never forget the first time I took a bit of real Red Velvet Cake after years of not having it.  Ever since then, no matter where I go or where I dine, if I see Red Velvet Cake on the menu, I’m definitely going to try it.  And to clarify, as much as I LOVE it, I don’t make RVC.  I don’t have the patience or the willingness to buy all of the ingredients to make my own.  

First, here are the rules, tips, and general knowledge about RVC.

1.) Color — Typically RVC is red and it can vary on the color specturm for the color red.  I learned the hard way that just because it isn’t a vibrant shade of red doesn’t means it won’t taste like Red Velvet Cake.

2.) If it tastes like chocolate…its NOT Red Velvet Cake — Believe me when I say that RVC has a very distinct flavor.  I really don’t know how to describe it. It’s indescribable.  But, when you’re eating a RVC and you close your eyes, if it tastes like chocolate it isn’t real Red Velvet Cake

3.) Can’t have RVC without the cream cheese frosting.  Enough said.

4.) Moistness — RVC is extremely moist.  It melts in you mouth.  And, regardless of how long you baked it, it always retains its moisture.  

A Red Velvet Cake Review:

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s review from my latest Red Velvet Cake tasting at The Market Place in Asheville, North Carolina.  On a weekend getaway, the boyfriend and I originally intended to grab dinner at a particular restaurant downtown.  This place, reportedly, served gourmet Southern cuisine.  But, alas, when we got there we learned there was an hour and a half wait!  We opted to walk along the other shops in the hopes of finding someplace to eat.  By pure luck, we came across The Market Place.  The decor was very eclectic and the music choices were great.  Got a little Motown, Pop, R&B etc. 

After a delicious dinner, our waiter handed us the dessert menu.  Immediately my eyes zeroed in on the words “Red Velvet Cake.”  I didn’t have to say anything.  The boyfriend just knew what I would be having.

So, here’s the rundown:

Like I said, the color was a little disconcerting but once I took that first bite, I knew it was the real deal.  First, as you can see from the picture, the cream cheese frosting was not only on top but in between the different layers.  I loved it because I love cream cheese frosting.  The boyfriend, on the other hand, though it was a bit much.  

The sauce on the plate was a raspberry sauce.  This was the one thing that, although it wasn’t bad, was a minor annoyance.  Each time, I took a bite I got that hint of raspberry.  It didn’t interfere with the overall taste but I kept thinking, “Is that the raspberry sauce from the bottom of the cake or did they put it in the cake?”  It was enough to make me think that after every single bite.  That’s a touch annoying when I’m trying to enjoy all the wonderfulness that is Red Velvet Cake.

Overall, I give this cake an A.  For deliciousness, moistness, and oodles of cream cheese.  However, it doesn’t get an A+ because of the raspberry sauce intermingling with the flavors.

Crockpot Adventures: Part Deux

To take a break from my cookbook (besides its getting kind of pricey to make those Rachael Ray recipes), I’m making chicken and rice.  I got the recipe from the boyfriend.  There’s something about chicken and rice that takes me back to my childhood.  Not to get too personal, but its one of my mom’s recipes that I really miss since she passed away a few years ago.  Although his recipe was different, eating my boyfriend’s homemade chicken and rice made me think of one thing: mommy.  However, the two biggest changes to the recipe were substituting actual chicken “pieces” (drumstick, breast, etc) for skinless chicken tenders and cooking it in a crockpot instead of a large part.

So sit back and enjoy the ride.  My homage to my mom in my “Crockpot Adventures: Part Deux.”

The finished product

Closer look at the chicken & rice

First, let’s be real, I made some substitutions to the recipe.  

Substitution #1: In order to make this a healthier meal (because I’m in to being healthy), I substituted white rice for brown rice.  

Substitution #2: I tried, emphasis on tried, to use reduced sodium soups but Publix (boo!) didn’t have any and I wasn’t in the mood to head out to Wal-Mart.  The recipe called for 3 cans of condensed chicken soup.  I only used two cans and to change things up I added one can of condensed mushroom soup.  And, might I add it was reduced sodium.  That can of soup had been sitting in my cabinet for about a month so I thought “what the hey!” Because of the high salt content, contrary to the recipe’s instructions, I didn’t add salt.

Substitution #3: In addition to adding chopped celery, I included chopped onions and garlic (actually minced and from a can).  I have to admit I added the chopped onions because I’m a big fan of onions.  I mean, come on how does chopped onion hurt a dish?!  Also, I added this ingredient because I wanted to exercise my knife skills.  I’m so into chopping ingredients that its getting kind of ridiculous.  Something about it is mindless but mindful, if that makes sense. :)

My reaction: I loved it! It was pretty flavorful. However, while cooking I did have to make some adjustments.  The recipe called for setting the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.  But given my time constraints, I went for the former.  When I was reading other recipes, they specifically stated that if the ingredients in the pot start to bubble I should reduce the heat. So, in reality, I cooked it on high for 2 hours and then on low for 1 1/2 hours.  Everything was thoroughly cooked though!  Also I added more rice about an hour into the cooking process.  Don’t ask me why I just did.

Apparently, I’m hitting all the marks when it comes to praise from the boyfriend.  He actually said that my dish was better than and more flavorful then his! Score!  But, I digress.  The chicken tenders were nice and moist. And, the rice was perfectly cooked. (I have a tendency of undercooking rice, *shrug*)

I give this recipe a strong A.  I would most definitely make this again because of the “set-it-and-forget-it” mentality of cooking in a crockpot and the fact that I ALWAYS have chicken tenders on hand (they’re much easier to cook and defrost for the busy grad student). 

This crockpot cooking adventure was definitely a success!

Vegetarian Chili

Of all the recipes, I intended to try this wasn’t one of them.  My Rachael Ray recipe is marked up with post-it notes of recipes I want to try.  Occasionally, I’ll go through the book again to see if there were any recipes that I missed.  With the cold weather and the relative simplicity of the recipe I thought I would try it out.  As a departure from my previous posts, the following post is a montage of photos.  Enjoy!

Breaking in the big pot of my new cookware. 

Step 1: Saute the chopped onions, green bell peppers, jalapeño peppers and garlic.

Step 2: Add vegetable broth.

Side Note: To help keep me on track, I finally used the timer feature on my microwave.  Came in really handy. 

Step 3: Add a can of crushed tomatoes, black beans, and red kidney beans.

Step 4: Add cumin, chili powder, and….two other ingredients I’m not known to use in chili…

Add 6 dashes of hot sauce and…

Finally, add spicy refried beans to thicken the sauce.

Here’s the finished product:

For toppings, I added a dollop of sour cream and sliced green onions.  I was going to add cheddar cheese but there was an unfortunate incident.

My reaction: This chili was AWESOME! It’s so simple and so flavorful.  I’m definitely going to start experimenting with my normal meat chili.  The boyfriend thought it was great.  The biggest compliment from him was when he got up to get seconds. Normally, he’s not a seconds or leftovers kind of guy.  After attempting this, I’ve already got plenty of ideas about making my regular chili better.

Also, cumin is definitely one of those underrated spices.  Any time I’ve ever eaten anything seasoned with it, I’m always thinking to myself “what is that awesome spice?” and sure enough its cumin!   

Since starting this cooking experiment, my knife skills have gotten much better and, in fact, its one of the things I enjoy the most when cooking.  Actually, I set aside more time for the chopping then the actual cooking.  I like experimenting with different techniques for chopping up the veggies.  Even the boyfriend was impressed at how well I chopped the green bell peppers because he isn’t the biggest fan of them.

I give this recipe and A+ for simplicity and flavor.

Puttanesca Pizza

In reference to the previous post, originally, I intended to make this in round 2 of my cooking experiment.  But, I got sidetracked. This recipe, like many to come, comes from a Rachael Ray cookbook.  I’m partial to her dishes because they don’t take long to cook AND they pack a whole lot of flavor.  

Shopping for the ingredients wasn’t too daunting but it did require me to look for times I don’t typically buy.  For example, the recipe called for sardines, Kalamata olives, capers, and red pepper flakes.  Out of all the items, the hardest to find where the olives.  I think I spent 10 minutes looking for them.  And, when I found them, Publix didn’t have the ones without the pits.  So, there I was, on aisle 3 with olives I’ve never used before complete with pits.  Let’s just say that chopping these for the pizza was….interesting.

Here’s the final result…

So here’s the rundown:

There’s only two things I would have changed about this recipe: the amount of olives and the amount of cheese.  I put a little too many olives on the pizza and not enough cheese.  I guess I underestimated how many olives I chopped. And, I guess I didn’t want all of my hard work removing the pits to go to waste.  Unfortunately, I followed the recipe instead of following my instinct on the amount of cheese.  I love cheesy pizza (insert jokes from my friends).  Don’t ask. ;)

Tastewise, overall, I liked the pizza.  Admittedly, I was hesitant to taste it because it was full of all these ingredients I wasn’t use to.  The sardines had been melted in the sauce to give it a nutty flavor just like Rachael Ray said.  The first thing out of the boyfriend’s mouth was “its very olivey” which was my thought exactly.  But, he was agreeable to it.

I give this recipe a B+.  With minor changes this can be a stellar pizza. 

Beef Stew…

Sorry fellow readers that I’ve fallen off the wagon of posting on a weekly basis.  The life of a busy graduate student! 

Originally, I didn’t intend to make a beef stew.  In fact, I had a completely different dish in mind for my second dish since starting this blog.  However, I was motivated by an impulse buy while at Wal-Mart.  I went to Wal-Mart in search of a George Foreman grill (with removable plates) to replace my old GF.  I finally had to face the fact that it was going kaput.  Wouldn’t you know it? Wal-Mart didn’t have a single grill on display for me to look at, but what they did have were crockpots.  Crockpots galore.  And I decided, right there on the spot, to buy a sleek, black crockpot.

So, in honor of my new crockpot, I decided to make beef stew.  A few weeks back, I had this really strong urge to cook and eat beef stew.  It was something that stuck with me for several days.  I even went out and bought the ingredients.  By then, the desire to cook it left me.  Go figure.  But, with my crockpot, 90% of the ingredients, and a trusty recipe (from the booklet that came with the crockpot), how could I go wrong?

Here’s the finished product:

My reaction:

After 8 hours of slow cooking, this was a dish that I could have lived without making.  It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t unforgettable, in reality this was a forgettable dish.  There was no flavor.  But then again, the bar was set pretty high after my pasta dish…damn, that was some good pasta. But, I digress.  I even added some season salt or as I like to call it the “spice of the South” but even that couldn’t help this dish.  The only food ingredients were beef, onions, garlic, celery, and potatoes.  I added the peas to get some vegetables in the mix.  

Even my foodie of a boyfriend just shrugged and said “It’s okay.”  But then he quickly followed it up with a “but I’m not a big fan of beef stew.”  It was sweet.  And, I knew he was trying to make it better.  I think the look on my face told him I wasn’t feeling it any more then he was.  

The recipe from the booklet is definitely what I consider an “add-on” recipe.  They give you the basic stuff but its up to you as the cook to figure out how to make it better.  Sadly, I couldn’t even bring myself to eat the plentiful leftovers.  Just couldn’t do it.

I give this a recipe a D.  

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

The source for this recipe was Classic Rachael Ray: 30 Minute Meals.  I bought the book from Books-A-Million for $19.99.  Shopping for the ingredients was…memorable to say the least.  While making up my shopping list, I ended up having to Google a few of the ingredients.  This ended up being my biggest issue (pre-cooking) with Rachael Ray’s book.  For example, the recipe called for the following:

dry white wine

1 medium onion

sweet sausage

But, it doesn’t explain what type of white wine (because I’m not a drinker and I don’t know wines), what type of onion (because there are three types), and what brand of sausage.  So, I was left trying to figure all of this out on my own.  

I ended up having to make 2 trips to 2 different grocery stories: Publix and Wal-Mart.  I have to admit I’m a W-M girl through and through AND I knew where to find some of the things I couldn’t find at Publix.  And, lets just face it W-M has a bigger selection.  Well, Publix was out of onions and W-M had yellow, red, and white and I wasn’t sure what was right for my dish.  There wasn’t a W-M associate within miles in the produce section.  I tried asking another customer.  He acknowledged my prescence and acted as if he didn’t mind me asking him a question.  But, when I started to ask him the question, he walked away. Yep, gotta love people some time.

So this pasta dish is ripe with substitutions and my guess of what Rachael Ray meant.   For example, for the dry white wine I got a Sauvignon Blanc.  I ended up with a yellow medium-size onion.  Since both places were out of ground sweet sausage, I ended up with sweet Italian sausage but in link form.  God help me.

The finished product: Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage with a Pillsbury croissant

How did it taste?

After taking the first bite, my first reaction was, and I quote, “I’ve never cooked anything this flavorful.”  It was that amazing. By this point, my boyfriend had already taken a couple of bites.  He seconded my statement and added that he couldn’t think of how you could make it better.  This is high praise from a man that is very critical of food.  He’s a foodie. He just doesn’t want to admit it.

There were so many flavors but not a single one was overpowering.  The recipe called for sage, onion, garlic, a bay leaf.  All of the ingredients were complementary.  There was more of a hint of pumpkin than POW in your face.  I have to admit, I was worried about how the sausage would turn out.  Like I said previously, I bough sweet Italian sausage links.  To give the ground meat effect, I cut down the link and pulled the casing off and then tore the meat in to pieces.  It turned out okay but I think the ground sausage that the recipe called for would have been much easier to deal with.  But hey, you live, you learn, you improvise.

I know everyone says you should follow the recipe to the letter, but if I’m going to be honest to the cooking journey I’ve got to admit the subtle changes I made.  First, I didn’t use the whole onion for the dish.  This was not because I couldn’t chop it all (I surprised myself with my chopping skills) but because my boyfriend isn’t the biggest fan of onions.  So, we’ll say I used a little more than 1/2 but less than 2/3 (I’m a history person not a math whiz!).  Also, even though I measured the canned pumpkin, I added a little more than the 1 cup the recipe called for.  I think I added like a cup and a half.  But these were the only changes I made.  Everything else I followed to the letter.

Final Verdict:

I would most definitely cook this again. This is definitely a recipe that takes time to master all of the steps.  Not all of the ingredients are added at the same time.  Instead it’s all done in stages.  For that reason it was a little infuriating for me to have to run and check the book every couple of minutes to make sure I didn’t miss a key ingredient.

Overall, this was a win-win recipe and I give myself an A.