Birthday Heartburn.

Well, I'm 32 now. And if that's not enough to give you heartburn, the following will be.

This year for my birthday I really just wanted to cook. I wanted to cook things I've never cooked before. Rafi thought I was nuts, but I enjoyed cooking with the wind in my hair. Okay, no wind really, but I was moving fast. Well, I thought I was moving fast until I looked at the clock. Dinner was eventually served an entire HOUR after I had promised it. Sorry, guys.

These recipes are from various sources - my new cookbook, a television show, and a magazine. Warning: The photos are unedited, full size, and were taken as an after thought. In other words, they're pretty bad.

Asperitif: Saracco Moscato d'Asti 2009. We've been over this before. It's divine. It has half the alcohol content of a regular bottle of sparkly, so you can drink it like soda! Oh, wait, I guess that's a bad thing.

First Course: Baked Brie with Cranberry Habanero sauce; Gruyere with Honey; served with water crackers. My Brie didn't melt quite to the degree I like it, but it was fine. The cranberry habanero sauce was sweet with a mild kick. It keeps you coming back for more just to figure out what the kick is. The Gruyere with honey is always a crowd pleaser.

Second Course: Apple and Pear Salad with Toasted Pecans and Parmigiano-Reggiano on Mixed Greens in a Balsamic Vinegarette. I love a salad with fruit. This one had TWO fruits. I'm in. I must confess I made a mistake, though, in the making of this salad. It wasn't supposed to have Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It was supposed to have Gorgonzola, which I do have in my refrigerator. Truth is... I forgot. Would it have added another flavor profile to the salad? Yes. Was it still delicious anyway? Yes.

Third Course: Paprika and Parsley Steak Skewers. I won't be making this one again. First off, cutting a huge roast into cubes isn't my idea of fun. Secondly, the marinade was lacking. It contains lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, parsley, salt, and pepper. What it's missing is garlic, onion, and some heat. I think I'll leave the steak cookin' to Rafi.

Dauphinoise with Pancetta and Gruyere. Hello, evil one. Nice to meet you. Please come back again sometime. Not only was this dish fun to eat (hey, it has potatoes, milk, heavy whipping cream, and tons of Gruyere), it was fun to make. I used two disc attachments on my new Cuisinart food processor (my recent Christmas present) to near instantly shred the cheese and to effortlessly slice the potatoes into thin slices. And I had my best friend Tina as my sous chef, so I didn't have to peel a one of them! After you crisply fry and then drain the pancetta, you simmer the potatoes in the milk and whipping cream. Then you drain it, reserving the milk. Layer the potatoes with the cheese, pancetta, and season with salt and pepper. When you finish, you top it off with more cheese and pour the milk mixture all over. Baking it in the oven lends it a bubbly brown crisp top that can't be beat. Next time (after I lose the 5 pounds I gained eating the thing), I'll switch up the cheese and add onions. Everything is better with onions.

Homemade French bread. Can I claim it's homemade if I technically just dumped stuff in a bread machine and turned it on? Yes, let's say I can.

Fourth Course: Baked Grapefruit and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with a Merengue Blanket. Now this one is interesting. Very interesting. Segments of grapefruit (I used a Texan pink grapefruit), are tossed with brown sugar and vanilla and then separated into ramekins. After making some merengue with a couple egg whites and sugar (way easy), a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream is added to the ramekin, which is then covered completely by the merengue. Baking the dishes for 6 minutes makes the merengue golden brown and pretty. It's a beautiful dish to present to your guests. But let's get to the eating part. There's a faint crunch when you put your spoon through the merengue. And then you get confused. The various textures are really interesting - grapefruit pulp, cold and creamy ice cream, warm and foamy merengue. It's a dessert that keeps you coming back because you can't decide if you like it or really, really like it. And I think my verdict is that I really really like it. The grapefruit's tartness offsets the brown sugar sweetness perfectly. I would imagine this will become a staple dessert for us, as it takes much less time than baking a cake. Plus it would be fabulous with raspberries, blackberries, apples... I wonder how it would be with "exotics" like mango or pineapple? I think Rafi will enjoy the experimenting.

And now back to the topic of heartburn. You know what makes it worse? This mess:

But sharing my efforts with appreciative (and gifting!!) friends made it all worth it. Thanks to Tina and Greg for my arm weight thingy (ha!), and a HUGE thank you to my husband. Rafi helped me do the grocery shopping, clean up, and he gave me a few surprises - a key lime rum cake, a really awesome JBL iPhone docking station for the kitchen (also thank you to my mom for that!!), and a very generous gift certificate for massages. I do love him so!

So on that note I think I'll take my Pepcid and think about all the great things that my 32nd year has in store.

Slow Cooker Lasagna.

Sorry, no photo this time - too lazy to get out the camera. Yes, I really do take my own photos on here, even my title banners. Ah, but I digress... this is still a decent recipe and merits posting. It serves 8-10, so it'd be great for a party or lots of leftovers. Notice I put some notes at the end.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (12 ounce) package lasagna noodles
12 ounces cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese


1. In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until brown. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and oregano and stir until well incorporated. Cook until heated through.
2. In a large bowl mix together the cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
3. Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Break to fit noodles into slow cooker. Top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.
4. Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours.


*Notes: I recommend adding a little water even though it doesn't say to do so. I felt it helped the pasta from drying out too much. I also cooked it on HIGH for 4 hours, not LOW. Making this recipe as is with hamburger and cottage cheese was just fine, but I would imagine using an Italian sausage of some sort and ricotta cheese might make it a bit more luxurious. Luxurious? Yes, I think it's possible for lasagna to be luxurious. Also, go light on the salt. It doesn't need the full amount.

Onion Rice.

Can rice get better than this? I'm not so sure. When you taste this rice you'll swear it has butter in it, but there's no butter to be found! I'll go out on a limb and say that this rice has a comfort level just a notch below mac & cheese. It's THAT good, assuming you like onions. It melts in your mouth. I initially made it to be a side dish, but it was so satisfying it became the main course.

Onion Rice

Light drizzle of olive oil
1 onion chopped or processed
1 cup long-grain white rice
3 hearty pinches of ground black pepper
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 clove of garlic minced OR a few shakes of garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth OR 2 cups water with 2 chicken boullion cubes

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until almost tender. Stir in rice, and continue cooking until coated with oil. When onion is tender and rice begins to brown lightly, season with salt, pepper and garlic, and pour in the broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Dine Without Whine.

Everyone can relate to staring blankly into your fridge wondering what in the heck to eat. And if your family is relying on you for their meals, you quickly realize that cereal can't be the answer every night as it once was. (I do, however, admit to still doing that if Rafi's out of town.)

Anyhow, this website has really been a help to me. It's called Dine Without Whine. They offer a weekly menu plan that kids and husbands (and picky people like me) will actually eat. Don't get me wrong, I do like my subscriptions to a few cooking magazines. But despite trying it many times, I'm just not a goat cheese person. Neither is my husband.

Dine Without Whine has been providing me with some new recipes to try that use familiar ingredients, take little time to prepare, and thus far have proven tasty - with the exception of chicken chop suey, though I think it was my stir-fry sauce that was so rank. Man, was it ever rank.

The Easy Beef Stroganoff recipe was quite a hit. In fact I think I'll share it now. It was that good. We didn't even miss the breading on the meat.

Easy Beef Stroganoff - Makes 4 servings

1 pound beef sirloin or beef round steaks
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2/3 cup water
1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 package (2-ounce size) onion soup mix (1 envelope)
1 cup sour cream
4 cups hot cooked rice or noodles
Chopped fresh parsley, if desired

1. Remove fat from beef. Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2 x 1/2-inch strips. (Beef is easier to cut if partially frozen, 30 to 60 minutes.)
2. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef in butter about 10 minutes, stirring
occasionally, until brown. Stir in water, mushrooms and soup mix. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring
occasionally, until beef is tender.
3. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot. Serve over rice or noodles. Sprinkle with parsley.


Anyway, just thought I'd spread the info.
http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/

Brenda's Best Banana Pudding.

First, open the cream cheese. Yes, I said cream cheese.

Next, talk about the "rocket ship." And then get freaked out when the rocket ship is turned on. In the meantime, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

Open a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Arrange can with rest of ingredients (milk, vanilla pudding mix, and vanilla extract) for a photo op. If you're wondering why we're making banana pudding with vanilla pudding mix and not banana it's because we want a true banana flavor. As it "cures" in the fridge, the bananas will lend their flavor to the entire bowl. Now dump it all in the bowl and beat until smooth and "thickish." By this time your child likely has lost interest and went off to play... but not before stealing a couple cookies.

Gently fold half of a carton of whipped topping into the mixture. You want there to be some swirls of white in there. Then in your serving bowl make a layer of cookie wafers topped with some slices of banana. (On a side note, I recommend eating only the broken cookies. It's common knowledge that their calories don't count.) Pour half the pudding mixture on top, and then lightly shimmy the bowl around to even.

After making another layer of cookies and bananas, pour in the remaining pudding and shimmy to even. The shimmying is very important. You might want to have music on for that part. I was listening to The Clash, but you may choose what you like. Spread the rest of the whipped topping on the top. Refrigerate. You're almost done!

Lastly, use your non-photo finger to clean up the rest of the whipped topping container. Delish!

** What a bummer! I forgot to change the white balance setting on my camera, so sorry for all the yellow photos.

Brenda's Best Banana Pudding
8oz. cream cheese
140z sweetened condensed milk
3 cups cold milk
1 tsp. vanilla
5 oz. vanilla instant pudding mix
8oz. whipped topping
2-3 bananas
vanilla cookie wafers

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sweetened condense milk, cold milk, pudding mix, and vanilla until smooth and thickish. Fold in half the whipped topping. Line serving bowl with cookies and sliced bananas. Pour in half of pudding. Add another layer of cookies and banana. Add rest of pudding. Top with rest of whipped topping.

Thanks, Brenda, for the great recipe!

Tita's Pasta Primavera

Rafi's mom sent me this really great recipe. I made it last night and will definitely be making it again. First I'll post her recipe then I'll comment on how I made a few changes.

Tita's Pasta Primavera

1 cup of whole milk
6 Tbs of margarine 250 grams of spaguettini uncooked 4 cups of brocolli
2 peppers (green, red of yellow) cut in big pieces
2 cups of frozen petit pois (cooked)
2 tsp of ground basil 2 garlics (cut in small pieces)
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp of salt 1/8 tsp of black pepper

In a pan, pour 3 cups of water, the milk and the margarine.
Add the spaguettini and let them boil for 5 minutes.
Stir every once in a while.
Add the brocolli, green pepper, petit pois, garlic and basil and cook in medium heat for 8 minutes until the brocolli is done.
Sprinkle the cheese, salt and black pepper.
Serve immediately.

I didn't have broccoli or peppers, so I replaced all the vegetables with 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables and 1 cup of peas. I also wanted to add some protein to the dish, so I cooked up some chopped venison summer sausage and added that. It was delish! Next time I might add some parsley to top it off.

Ceviche.

Rafi and Andrés made ceviche this weekend. They made it with tilapia and one of our homegrown ají chumbo peppers, which proved to be so hot the guys had to pick it out later. I had some, too - quite tasty!

Pecan Pie Mini Cupcakes

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Spray a miniature muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
Fill each 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven for approx. 18 minutes.

I used this recipe but also added about 1/4 cup white sugar (probably a little less) and grated some fresh nutmeg, too. Next time I think I'll drop the white sugar (which I added because on the website someone mentioned it wasn't sweet enough), but the nutmeg is a keeper. I also think I'll add close to double the pecans, but then again I really like 'em! Coffee lovers will likely love this recipe.

My first pies.

I'm a lousy crust crimper, but here they are. The full crusted one is apple and the polka dot crust is cherry.

Lemon Garden Pasta

The original recipe came from my friend Gen (thanks, Gen!), but I've doctored it some to my taste. It's really simple and great for summer. Skip the chicken, and it makes terrific vegetarian fare. I like recipes like this that aren't an exact science.

• Pasta, cooked (something flat or tubular is best)
• Chicken, browned and cut into strips.
• Garlic, crushed or sliced, 3 or more cloves depending on your taste.
• Red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp or more or less.
• Salt and Pepper.
• Spring vegetables (I used broccoli, but it would be really good with asparagus, squash, zucchini, peas, strips of carrots, etc.)
• Couple of lemons.
• Parmesan cheese (I like to use the cheap powdery Parmesan for mixing and then grate fresh on top for serving. Keeps the cost down, too.).
• Chopped parsley (Mine is from my garden.).
• Approx 3 tbs olive oil.
• Butter.

In saute pan, saute olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic until fragrant. Add pasta. Turn off heat. Toss. Move to bowl. In same pan saute your vegetables slightly with butter and salt. Keep them slightly crunchy. Move veggies and chicken (cut into strips) to bowl. Add pars ley. Squeeze the juice of two or so lemons on top and toss. Add about a quarter cup of Parmesan toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with more Parmesan for serving.

Super Easy Shepherd's Pie

This is a recipe post for my friend Gen... and for others who want it, of course.

Super Easy Shepherd's Pie

• leftover mashed potatoes
• 1 lb. lean hamburger meat
• chopped onions
• thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaves... whatever seasonings you want
• 2 tbs flour
• "some" beef stock
• frozen veggies

Preheat your oven to 350.
Brown 1 pound of hamburger meat with some onions.
Add some thyme, salt, and pepper. I sometimes add a bay leaf or two if I feel like it.
Throw in 2 tbs of flour and "some" beef stock. Use your eye - you're just trying to thicken it some.
Add some frozen veggies of your choosing. Usually I like to use frozen corn and peas, though on occasion I use mixed veggies.
Cook until thawed.
Pour this mixture into an oven safe casserole dish.
Spread leftover mashed potatoes on top.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Garnish with curly parsley you picked from your garden. Okay, okay, I'm bragging now. Did I mention I grew the thyme, too? ;-)

Enjoy!

Fourth Cake.

Tonight I had my last cake decorating class, and I learned that I don't do roses well. I made a "wedding cake" because I was too lazy to mix colors! I'm glad the classes are over because cake doesn't go well with Weight Watchers.

Cake Class #3.

I'm currently taking the first Wilton cake decorating class. A lot of the techniques are "totally 80's", as my friend and classmate Ingrid and I have decided (e.g. star filled cakes, roses, etc.), but still I'm learning a lot. One thing I've learned is that decorating with piped frosting is much more difficult than with fondant, which is how I've finished most of my cakes (like the Wii cake).

Anyhow, this week we made a clown cake. It's not that great, but here it is. My right clown's arms are a little... shall we say horse-like? Oh well. It eats just the same. Inside is a lemon cake filled with lemon curd. Originally the white frosting was going to be yellow, but I was running out of time and patience during class, so I was short-cutting some things.

Happy Birthday, Greg!

Our friend Greg turned another year older this week. We celebrated at Fogo de Chao and then again at Greg's parents' house. I made him a "Wii-mote" cake. Rafi made the Wii logo on the bottom of the cake. In case you're wondering, the inside was a fudge marble with whipped chocolate frosting in the middle and classic buttercream on top. Check it.

Rafi's Birthday

Okay, so I'm a little late in reporting about Rafi's birthday, but better late than never I say! This year we kept it simple and invited Rafi's friends to meet us for dinner at Mighty Fine Burger. We had quite the turnout! As a surprise I baked (with Tina as my baking assistant) a hamburger cake using pound cake, brownie, gum drops, fruit slices, cookies, frosting, and pine nuts. It was pretty awesome and even drew a small crowd of onlookers. I was pretty proud of it and admit it hurt to cut into it. I made a smaller, life-sized personal burger cake for him, too. Rafi had a really good time that evening, and we thank everyone for coming. Thanks also for the gifts and cards. He appreciates it all and all of you!

On Saturday Greg and Rob came by to play some video games - a luxury Rafi doesn't indulge in much anymore. They played some FIFA (of course), but the games took a quick turn once I brought out Rafi's second surprise - Rock Band! If you aren't familiar with the game, it comes with a guitar, drum kit, and microphone. You play the instruments and sing with the music in order to earn points, pass levels, earn more songs, etc. It's pretty addictive, I admit. So anyway, happy birthday to Rafi!

Just for funsies, here are photos of Tina and I in baking mode.