Trader Joe's sells dried mango strips with chile spice on them. They are a nice firm texture and delicious. Best way to eat them: dip them in a little salt and munch away!
Go do this now.
Seriously.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast
I just finished reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, so I'm in a rare mood for cooking. Lorien does an admirable job for us of managing every night, without fail, for the past three or four years, of putting something together for us that is tasty, healthy, and minimally fattening. But since cooking is rare for me and thus less of a chore and more of a treat, I decided to focus just on tasty.
I found this recipe on the food network site by searching for "chicken breast" (because we had some in the freezer). I was surprised it was from Guy Fieri because I didn't know he cooked--I only know him from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
Anyway, here's the recipe. It was delicious. I didn't change anything. We served it with some brown rice with rosemary and parsley. I liked it just as well two days later for lunch, so I recommend cooking all four servings and enjoying the leftovers.
Monday, October 18, 2010
More cheeses
We had a party this past weekend, and at it we tried a couple more cheeses.
1. Beemster. I think it was Beemster "Classic." This is a gouda (but from a different region of Holland, thus the different name). It's a really, really strong gouda, very cheddary. Akiko thought it was too strong to eat straight, but I couldn't stop eating it. It has that nice faint crunch a gouda can get from the salt crystals.
2. Morbier. This is weird but good. It's a soft cow's milk cheese - not soft like brie, but soft like Velveeta. It has a streak of vegetable ash running down the center, which I think is responsible for the slightly bitter aftertaste. That's not a bad thing, because it lends a little complexity to the otherwise very straightforwardly creamy flavor. I'm not as wild about this one, probably because it reminds me too much, again, of Velveeta, but it tastes much better, and Akiko and our guests really liked it.
1. Beemster. I think it was Beemster "Classic." This is a gouda (but from a different region of Holland, thus the different name). It's a really, really strong gouda, very cheddary. Akiko thought it was too strong to eat straight, but I couldn't stop eating it. It has that nice faint crunch a gouda can get from the salt crystals.
2. Morbier. This is weird but good. It's a soft cow's milk cheese - not soft like brie, but soft like Velveeta. It has a streak of vegetable ash running down the center, which I think is responsible for the slightly bitter aftertaste. That's not a bad thing, because it lends a little complexity to the otherwise very straightforwardly creamy flavor. I'm not as wild about this one, probably because it reminds me too much, again, of Velveeta, but it tastes much better, and Akiko and our guests really liked it.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
sandwich = awesome
It seems that I have lately been inventing AWESOME sandwiches. Today I used random leftovers and created this:
two slices of whole wheat bread spread lightly with sun dried tomato cream cheese,
one slice of hard white cheddar cheese, leftover turkey pepperoni arranged in a single layer. close sandwich, cream cheese side in. heat up a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, and sprinkle the pan generously with pepper. grill the sandwich in the oil. my cheese didn't melt before the sandwich was properly grilled, so i microwaved it for 15ish seconds.
This was a super super super delicious sandwich. amen.
two slices of whole wheat bread spread lightly with sun dried tomato cream cheese,
one slice of hard white cheddar cheese, leftover turkey pepperoni arranged in a single layer. close sandwich, cream cheese side in. heat up a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, and sprinkle the pan generously with pepper. grill the sandwich in the oil. my cheese didn't melt before the sandwich was properly grilled, so i microwaved it for 15ish seconds.
This was a super super super delicious sandwich. amen.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Acorn squash suggestions?
Two questions.
1) Does anybody else get a funny message when they try to use the search function in the top left of the screen? O webmaster, is there a setting that can be toggled so that we could search by keyword?
2) Does anybody have any suggestions for acorn squash? I usually smear it with butter, sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon on it, and bake it, which seems to be the most basic recipe, but I was wondering if anybody had anything unusual they did with it.
1) Does anybody else get a funny message when they try to use the search function in the top left of the screen? O webmaster, is there a setting that can be toggled so that we could search by keyword?
2) Does anybody have any suggestions for acorn squash? I usually smear it with butter, sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon on it, and bake it, which seems to be the most basic recipe, but I was wondering if anybody had anything unusual they did with it.
Cauliflower Cheese
We saw this on nami-nami and had some extra cauliflower this week so we tried it and really liked it.
1 large head of cauliflower
salted water, for boiling
butter, for greasing
Topping:
200 ml whipping cream or double cream
2 Tbsp grainy mustard (I like Maille's Moutarde à l'Ancienne)
150 g grated cheese (Cheddar, Havarti, Eesti juust - it's your call)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
some fresh herbs (I like dill here)
Cut the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets into lightly salted boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked. Drain thoroughly, then place into a lightly buttered medium-sized shallow oven dish.
Mix cream, mustard and most of the cheese in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Spoon the cheese mixture over the cauliflower florets and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the topping is lovely golden.
Serve.
We did it pretty much as written with a super mild havarti and a little smoked gouda, with dill and Inglehoffer mustard. It was really easy to make and pretty darn tasty. I could hardly taste the havarti, though. I think next time I'll stick with the more flavorful cheeses, because the gouda was great in it and I bet a nice cheddar with some Italian herbs would be great.
1 large head of cauliflower
salted water, for boiling
butter, for greasing
Topping:
200 ml whipping cream or double cream
2 Tbsp grainy mustard (I like Maille's Moutarde à l'Ancienne)
150 g grated cheese (Cheddar, Havarti, Eesti juust - it's your call)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
some fresh herbs (I like dill here)
Cut the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets into lightly salted boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked. Drain thoroughly, then place into a lightly buttered medium-sized shallow oven dish.
Mix cream, mustard and most of the cheese in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Spoon the cheese mixture over the cauliflower florets and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the topping is lovely golden.
Serve.
We did it pretty much as written with a super mild havarti and a little smoked gouda, with dill and Inglehoffer mustard. It was really easy to make and pretty darn tasty. I could hardly taste the havarti, though. I think next time I'll stick with the more flavorful cheeses, because the gouda was great in it and I bet a nice cheddar with some Italian herbs would be great.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Cheese reviews
We tried a couple of new cheese today, and here's what they were and what we thought.
1. Maidservant of the Monster was in the mood for some brie, and we found some called Coulommiers that looked good. It turns out it's a "cousin of brie" and I don't know exactly what that means, whether it's just a geographical distinction or if there's something about the way it's made. And I'd want to sample this side by side with some brie in order to tell the difference. Anyway, it's good: a good basic brie, nuthin' fancy (if brie can be described that way), creamy and salty.
2. Black Mountain. This is a Welsh cheddar; it looks like they sell it in small packs, but we got a wedge, complete with the black wax rind. It's flavored with garlic and herbs and white wine, and it's really good. Quite soft for a cheddar - almost creamy - and very, very flavorful. We just had it plain with crackers; I'd love to try it in other ways. Highly recommended if you're into cheddars.
1. Maidservant of the Monster was in the mood for some brie, and we found some called Coulommiers that looked good. It turns out it's a "cousin of brie" and I don't know exactly what that means, whether it's just a geographical distinction or if there's something about the way it's made. And I'd want to sample this side by side with some brie in order to tell the difference. Anyway, it's good: a good basic brie, nuthin' fancy (if brie can be described that way), creamy and salty.
2. Black Mountain. This is a Welsh cheddar; it looks like they sell it in small packs, but we got a wedge, complete with the black wax rind. It's flavored with garlic and herbs and white wine, and it's really good. Quite soft for a cheddar - almost creamy - and very, very flavorful. We just had it plain with crackers; I'd love to try it in other ways. Highly recommended if you're into cheddars.
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