Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai

Calling all cooks--if you haven't cooked with rice noodles, immediately get in your car, go to the store and buy some.  You'll thank me later.  Basically no cooking involved, these little delights are super-fun and a great way for kids to get involved in cooking!

I'm also partial to thai food, so decided to try may hand at making some homemade pad-thai with shrimp and chicken to satisfy both the hubbs and I desire for different meals tonight.  Result: pass. With flying colors.

To get this dish right, I suggest you make the sauce first, then move to the meal itself.

Pad Thai Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot water
1 1/2 tbs. tamarind
5 tbs fish sauce
1 fresh chili, minced
5 tbs brown sugar

Directions:
In small bowl of hot water, add tamarind, whisk.  Add the rest of the ingredients, whisk.  Taste--the sauce should be tangy.  If its not, you can add 1 more tbs of sugar--but remember that it'll be mixed with noodles and other ingredients, so it'll taste different.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast sliced
6 fresh shrimp, deveined, peeled and de-tailed
1/4 cup scallions, finely chopped
4 tbs vegetable oil
1 lime, sliced
1/2 package of rice noodles, cooked as directed
1/2 cup bean or vegetable sprouts
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
In wok or large skillet, bring 2 tbs of vegetable oil to simmer, stir in egg, cook for about 30 seconds.  Add in shrimp and chicken.  Cook until done.  Add additional vegetable oil and noodles.  Cook for about 7 minutes, or until noodles are al dente--firm, but tender.  Add scallions and sauce, cook for about 1 minute.  Add sprouts and simmer for another 30 seconds.

Serve with lime wedges and soy sauce.

Alaskan Cod En Papillote

One of my favorite memories from a child was girl scouts.  I LOVED girl scouts.  We did so many fun things---but one of the best was the campouts.  I remember one year, I think 4th grade, we had a camp out with our moms.  Girls + Moms = fun times!

That night we cooked over an open flame, burgers.  But we cooked them in foil packets--a meal called hobo dinners.  Fun, right?!

Fast forward 20-something years.  Did you know that cooking "hobo" is actually called En Papillote?

Well, sort of.  Actually, cooking En Papillote is french--and means cooking in parchment.  (although, you can use foil/etc.)

It's one of my favorite ways to cook because it's fool proof and time friendly.  The assembly is really all that needs to be done, add some sauce and the packet really does the rest of the cooking--steaming itself. There's really no way to over-cook in papillote either.

Tonight's dinner is a spruced up hobo meal.

Ingredients:

1 Alaskan Cod Filet (about 1/2 lb, cut in 2 breasts)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 bell pepper
1 cup bean or veggie sprouts
olive oil
2 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs soy sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 ginger clove, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
parchment paper

Directions:

Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper, fold each and half, set aside.

Chop thin slices of peppers, mix.  Set aside.  In small bowl, whisk dijon mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.   Open one piece of parchment paper, along middle line, layer peppers, 1/2 cup of sprouts and cod on top.  Drizzle with sauce.  Carefully fold parchment into packet, making sure that there are no openings along sides.  Set pouch on baking sheet.  Brush completely with olive oil.  Repeat with second packet.

Place in 350 degree oven for approx. 25 minutes.  Parchment will start to brown when done.  Remove from oven, and carefully slice each packet open to release steam.  Serve!

Picadillo Americana

Today I found this amazing vacation deal to an all-inclusive resort...in cuba.  It looks amazing-and restful. Thanks to Mr. Castro though, the US still has travel restrictions, so my guess is that my husband won't let us take that trip anytime soon.  Such a stickler for safety that man.

Since I'm not going to get any authentic cuban food, I decided to let my vacation wanderlust take me away tonight while cooking dinner.  Since I hadn't really planned my meals this week, I just picked up all sorts of yummy looking food at the grocery and decided to let my imagination run wild--I had to use what was in my cabinets.

If you haven't ever tried cuban food, you should.  It's delish.  Along the same vein of mexican--it's spicy and filling--but a bit more savory I think.  It's roots have a flair of chinese and french as well.  Given it's well-rounded history, I thought it wouldn't mind if I "americanized" the traditional dish of Picadillo.  Picadillo is actually a hash-like dish, you can serve it in tacos, alone, you name it.  Tonight, it got paired with jasmine rice and corn bread.

My husband like it so much, he's considering the cuba trip.

Picadillo Americana

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef (95/5)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
2 tbs. tomato paste
2 tbs. EVOO
1/4 cup raisins
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. chili powder
1/2 tbs. all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbs garlic salt
1 tbs. season salt

Directions:

In large skillet, bring EVOO to heat, toss in onion and cook until translucent.  Add ground beef and cook until browned.  Drain and return back to pan.  Add garlic, chili powder, all spice, cinnamon, garlic salt and season salt.  Stirring frequently, simmer for about 2 minutes.  Add diced tomatoes, paste and beef broth,  bring to simmer.  Add raisins.  Let simmer until thicker-stew like consistency.  (uncovered)

Serve with jasmine rice (prepared as directed) and corn bread!

Mexican-American Esquites

On one particularly memorable spring break, my girlfriends and I took a quick hop-skip-and-jump to a little place called Tijuana Mexico.  Why?  Why not.  We were close, it sounded fun and in those days, I was notorious for deciding to do things like jump in a car and drive to Oklahoma at midnight or finding our way to New Orleans.

More often than not, boredom got the best of us in college and we did a lot of random things.

I digress.  Tijuana was great.  Although we only spent a few short hours there, we did have time for a drink and some food.  I remember eating this snack on from a road-side stand of fresh corn.  Perhaps it was because I was starving and seriously hungover (maybe still drunk?) but that corn was freaking amazing.

Years later, I learned that this traditional treat was called Esquites.  Yum-o.  I've made it over the years in the traditional fashion, but recently had a craving for it and decided to spice it up.  The outcome-WAY more delish than the traditional version.  Traditional esquites calls for mexican queso, but since I rarely have that on hand, I use a mild feta cheese.

I eat this as lunch or a snack--but you can serve this as a side disk as well.  I promise, it'll save you a trip to Tijuana and will leave you feeling just as satisfied.

Ingredients:

2 ears frozen corn ears.
4 cups water
2 tbs sea salt
1 tbs miracle whip
1 tbs butter
1/4 cup mild feta cheese
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp paprika

Directions:

In a large pot, bring water and sea salt to boil.  Toss in corn ears and boil  until cooked--about 10 minutes.

Remove corn from water, pat dry and slice nibblets off with large knife.  Add to bowl, discard ears.

Add butter, miracle whip, feta cheese, garlic salt and paprika. Stir well.  Before serving, sprinkle paprika over top for color.

Enjoy!

Pork Avagolemono

Giving the deuces to the midwest was hands down, the best thing I ever did for myself.  Education, life experiences, adventure aside, moving opened my eyes to an entire new world of culinary goodness that, had I stayed in the small town of Hutchinson, I'd probably not have experienced.

That would have been one of the biggest tragedies!

Cruising around NYC, I found myself some great friends, from all over the world.  Jamaican, Greek, Nigerian, Indian, Jewish, you name it--our group looks much like the United Nations when we get together.  It's been amazing to learn about other cultures and eat all the fun food that is unique to their homelands.  One of my favorite activities now is playing with the basics from different cultures and making them my own.

Tonight's dinner is a reflection of the Greek portion of my possee.

Avagolemono is a traditional  egg-lemon sauce that so many of my friends would make in leftover world--because it goes with ANYTHING.  You can make it for beef, chicken, pork, fish--anything really.  Aside from being light and delish, it's a great way to spice up those leftovers and make them a totally different meal.

Rather than doing a standard Avagolemono sauce, I decided to kick it up a bit since I was using it with leftover egg noodles.  The outcome was great--a certain do-again in our house.

Ingredients:
2 center cut pork chops, bone removed.
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 cups egg noodles, prepared al dente according to directions
4 tbs olive oil
4 eggs
2 lemons-juiced
1 bay leaf (fresh)
2 cups chicken broth (or beef, vegetable)
1 Parmesan reggiono cheese rind
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup flour

Directions for the Avagolemono sauce:

Bring chicken broth to a boil, reduce heat and add bay leaf, cheese rind, garlic and simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Remove rind and bay leaf (discard).

Separate the egg yolk and whites--reserve both in bowls.  In a medium bowl, beat the whites until foamy.  Slowly add in the egg yolks, beating in one at a time.  Add the juice of lemons.  Add in ladles full of broth, whisking continuously. A great tool to do this is an handheld immersion blender--works wonders!

Add the sauce to the egg noodles that you've prepared/drained.  Continue to warm over low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Directions for pan-fried pork chops:

In three different bowls, lay out the flour, panko bread crumbs and eggs.  Pat the pork chops dry, cover in flour, then dredge through the eggs and into the bread crumbs to coat.

In a fry pan, over medium heat, bring olive oil to heat and add chops.  Cook until gold-brown on each side until pork chops are cooked.  About 7-8 minutes per side.

Remove from pan, drain excess oil off.  Slice and serve over noodles.

Easy, Breezy, Lazy Thursday

It's Thursday again and despite a sick day and snow day this week, I still feel as if I've earned my "lazy Thursday" cooking.

If I haven't already mentioned it, I heart my crock-pot.

Today's recipe was totally inspired by my, um, creative side?  Or maybe a lack anything solid planned. With that said, it was great and I now have leftovers for some yummy later-in-the-weekend creation.

I also paired my unique meat with something that has been a long-standing love in my life--Jasmine Rice.

Don't wince: Pot Roast with Tomato Coffee and Jasmine Rice

Ingredients:

1 medium pot roast (or brisket) browned on each side
1 onion, quartered
4 carrots, chopped
6 new potatoes, rinsed and whole
1 6oz can of tomato paste
3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. freshly chopped parsley
1 cup coffee, brewed

Jasmine Rice, prepared.

Directions:

Place onion, carrots and potatoes in the crock pot, set browned meat on top.  In a medium bowl, whisk tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and coffee.  Pour over meat/vegetables.  Sprinkle parsley on top.  Set crock-pot to low and simmer 6-8 hours.

Something Fishy: Cod and Red Quinoa

Before I started dating my husband, I couldn't have told you the last time I'd eaten fish of any kind.

Why?  Ok, admittedly, the reasoning is a bit wacky.  Ok, REALLY wacky.  I had fish growing up, or at least my dad did.   For whatever reason, I had this thing about not eating things you keep as pets.  It just seemed odd to me that we'd have fish in our home, but it'd be ok to eat them as well.  Seemed like a slippery slope to me as a kid, what was next, our dog Lady?

We never ate Lady (or any dog for that matter) but I never enjoyed fish and at some point, I stopped eating it entirely.

Enter my husband and his love for fish.

For the longest time, I flat-out refused to cook it, but somewhere along the road, I gave tilapia a try and it wasn't so bad, so I'm on the baby-step-track back to fish eating.  Stepping away from the only fish I've ever cooked, I decided this week to give cod a try since my fishmonger told me it'd be the next step and I'd probably like it since it had a "buttery" taste.

So, with a new fish in hand, I decided to mix it up with something else new: red quinoa.

If you've never had quinoa, you should try it.  It's, um, interesting.  When I first tried it, I was thrown off--I expected it to be more like couscous (not sure why) but what I got was something like a bean sprout/chia seed combination.  Like I said, interesting.

The hubbs has never had quinoa though, so I figured I'd see what I came up with.  The turnout: a super-quick meal that was healthy and really pretty.  I now get to add cod to the list of fish I eat.

However, we will NEVER have fish as pets in our house.

Cod and Quinoa
serves approx. 4 people

Ingredients:

1 cup red quinoa
1 lb cod, sliced into 4 equal filet's
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced and diced
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 1/2 cups water            

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, add 1 Tbs olive oil to the pan  and heat over medium-high.  Add onions and cook until tender-almost brown.  Add water and quinoa.  Bring to boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer until all water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, in a medium frying pan, bring the remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil to heat.  Season each side of the code filets with salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika.  Add to pan.  Grill on first side for approx. 4 minutes, or until the sides begin to turn.  Flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes on other side.  (Only turn fish once, otherwise they flake too much and you lose the presentation.)

Confession: I didn't cook.

Not only did I not cook tonight, I let the hubbs heat up chicken nuggets and frozen fries.  He ate that, kool-aid and chips for dinner.

I blame being sick.

Brined Balsalmic Glazed Chicken and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatos

For as long as I've known my husband, our hands down, absolute favorite restaurant has been the Capital Grille.  Generally speaking, I'm against chain digs, but this one is so freaking fabulous that it's worth breaking the rules.  Aside from their steaks that are mouth watering, they have the most amazing mashed potatoes you've ever had.  Ever.  Period.  Since having, I've been meaning to make them at home...or at least come close. 

I also had some chicken breasts lingering in the freezer I needed to use, so thought I'd whip up something new with them as well.  I had picked up some new veggies I've NEVER cooked with before--peppers at the market and decided to give them a whirl with garlic and a balsalmic glaze.  Balsalmic makes everything better.

Before I jump into the recipe, I want to share with you the key to poultry.  Brine.  This technique is something I'd not heard of until 2003, when I cooked my very first Thanksgiving dinner for my family.  I cheated and followed Williams Sonoma recipes and learned about brining then.  That year, our turkey was the most moist, delightful bird I've ever tasted.  Since then, I have brined every turkey and always get rave reviews.   Along those lines, I also started brining my chicken--both whole and breasts and get the same results--tender, moist and succulent meat that always puts smiles on faces.  Simply put, it is not a step to be overlooked, ever.

Don't be turned off by the brine because it's an extra step--because it's actually an amazingly simple step.  Typically, for a small roaster chicken, or chicken breasts, I get the brine ready in the morning, stick the meat in and let is sit until dinner when I'm ready to cook.  It's really not much of a step at all.  There are a TON of ways you can brine your chicken, but below is my favorite brine recipe for chicken breasts. 

Brine Ingredients:

8 cups of water
2 Sprigs of fresh rosemary, on stem
1/4 cup of sea salt
1/2 lemon, cut in several slices
2 garlic cloves, peeled and whole

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, bring 4 cups water to boil.  Add salt and boil until dissolved.  Remove from heat, add cold tap water and let mixture come to room temperature.  (Don't add chicken until it's cooled down)  In a brining bag, large ziploc bag or pot with cover, pour water and sit chicken breast in it.  Add lemon slices, garlic and rosemary.  Put mixture in the refrigerator and let sit up to 12 hours.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato

Ingredients:

6 Medium Potato's, halved  (your choice, I used a mix of creamer and red)
1 Whole Garlic head, roasted
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. sour cream
2 Tbs butter, unsalted
2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Directions:

Set oven to 375 degrees.  Slice off the top of the garlic head, keeping the head in tact, but exposing the heads.  Set head on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Fold foil around garlic, making and place on a baking sheet in oven.  Bake for appoxi. 45 minutes, or until garlic is tender enough to slide out of head easily.

Remove garlic from foil and gently squeeze out to plate.  Mash with fork until you create a paste, set aside.

Potato's:

Bring water to boil in large saucepan with water, sea salt and rosemary.  Place potatos in, continue to boil until soft.  (If using a potato ricer, you do not need to peel before boiling.  If not, you should peel before boil.)
Once soft, remove from water.  Using a potato ricer, ricer potatoes into a large bowl.  Add sour cream, butter GRADUALLY.  (you may need less, depending on the consistency you prefer.)  Using an electric mixer, whip potatoes.  Add garlic mash and whip again.  Salt and pepper as desired.


Balsalmic Glazed Chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, medium size, brined
1 yellow pepper, seeds removed, sliced
1 green pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 Tbs minced garlic
4 Tbs olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, peeled, diced
4 Tbs balsalmic vinegar
1 Tbs fresh basil, finely chopped.

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, bring 2 Tbs olive oil to simmer.  Add chicken breasts and cook until done, flipping only once.  About 3 1/2 minutes on each side.   Remove from pan, set on plate.  In same saucepan, add additional olive oil, bring to simmer and add peppers and onions.  Saute until tender.  Add garlic and saute 1 more minute.  Add basil, stir and add vinegar.  Toss, then add chicken back to the pan.  Reduce heat to medium low, spoon mixture over chicken and simmer until warm, glazed.  Serve.

Homemade Pizza Crust: Hand Tossed

Overachiever.  That's my motto this week apparently.

Friday's at our house are typically reserved for lazy-nights. We pop a frozen pizza in, watch Bill Mahr and relax to max.  This Friday was intended on being the same....until I got a wild hair to make my own pizza.  From scratch, no recipe. 

I've never made pizza dough before, so this was an experiment.  Luckily, one that turned out with raving reviews, my husband devouring 1/2 the entire pie and eating the rest as leftovers today for lunch.

I'm not counting this as one of my meals for the week, but nonetheless, the experiment turned out great.  Enjoy the crust with your favorite toppings.


Ingredients:


2 1/2 tsp. fast acting dry yeast
3/4 tsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 1/2 flour

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix yeast and brown sugar into water.  Stir gently until dissolved.  Let sit approx. 10 minutes.  Add olive oil and salt.  In a mixer with dough attachment (or by hand if you like) gradually work in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time.  Add flour and kneed until the dough is no longer sticky.  Oil a large bowl and place dough in it, with a clean dish cloth over it.  Let dough rise until double, approx. 1 hour.  Once dough has risen, punch down and work into a tight ball.  Let ball sit for about 5 minutes.  Press out onto pizza pan, or baking stone. Let dough sit for about 15 minutes before topping and baking.


Bake pizza at 400 Degrees until crust is golden brown.

Easy, Breezy, Lazy Thursday

As the week winds down, I find it harder to really get pumped about cooking.  I love doing it...but after almost a week of work, commuting and general life, it gets kind of difficult to put a TON of effort into a meal that's both interesting and yummy.

Welcome to broiler Thursday.

I believe this is one of the best-kept-kitchen-secrets.  Soooo many of my friends don't even know what the broiler does, let alone, have ever used it.  It really is my kitchen cheat.  With my bad-ass broiler, a little preparation goes a long way and in under 30 minutes I had a fun meal that was pretty, interesting and super-duper low calorie.  

I wondered what to put in the broiler for awhile--I typically do steaks and chicken, but those are on slate later this week.  Then I ran across a pork roast at the market this weekend--and save bacon, I have NEVER cooked pork.  Interesting, huh?  So that's where I started this week.  Pork.  With no real plan for the pork, I figured I'd plot a marinade later and as I was meandering by the check-out line I saw a beautiful ray of sunshine: fresh pineapples!

My husband is whole-heartedly obsessed with pineapple.  He savors it like a little kid does candy.  Fresh pineapple makes him get this giddy look on his face while eating and there are some days I'm sure he'd gladly trade me for some fresh fruit.

Pineapples it was.  I knew whatever I paired with it, he'd dig.

So that's where tonight's recipe came from.  My lack of pork cooking and an odd obsession with pineapple.  Surprisingly, they go quite nice together.

(Disclaimer: This recipe feeds 2 people with average appetites, with no leftovers.)

Pineapple Glazed Pork

Ingredients for the Pork Roast:

1 Pork Roast (1 lb)
4 Slices of Pineapple, cored and cut in 1/2 inch slices.
2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
1 Tbs. Worchesteshire Sauce
1 Tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbs. Pineapple juice (fresh or canned)
1 Tbs. Minced Garlic

Directions:

Turn the broiler on.  On a baking sheet lined with foil, place the pineapple slices.  Set the pork roast on a broil pan with a rack in it.  In a small bowl, mix the Soy Sauce, Worchesteshire Sauce, Mustard, Pineapple juice and garlic.  Brush over the pork.    Place the pork roast on the first rack under the broiler and the pineapple on the second rack.  Broil until a thermometer reads 155 degrees. (about 20 minutes).  Remove roast from oven and let sit.  (Pork will rise in temperature to around 160)  Move the pineapple to the top rack and broil until brown spots appear.  (approx 7-10 more minutes)  Remove pineapple and serve with pork, spicy pineapple sauce!

Spicy Pineapple Sauce Ingredients:

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
1 Tbs. Worchesteshire
1 1/2 Tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Whisk all ingredients together, set aside to serve.

Leftovers Done Right: Brisket Rague with Pappardelle Noodles

So, today was my first "official" no-recipe night and I was a wee-bit-nervous with how the hubbs would react to this new dish.  If I haven't said it before, he's a man who knows what he likes to eat-and sticks to it.  To add insult to his lack of culinary adventure, he's also, what I call, a "food purist."  This man likes plain food.  He hates condiments, sauces and the like.  He hates cheese (unless on pizza or macaroni).  He eats salads and potatoes plain.  No salt, no pepper, nada, nothing, zero additives.  He doesn't even put pickles, ketsup and mustard on his burgers. 

BOOORRRING!

Understandably, I approached tonight's leftovers (which he hates) a bit carefully--and tried to make something similar to what I know he likes, but with a different twist.  My muse: spaghetti and meatballs, which he loves.

With my brisket leftovers, I thought that they'd make the perfect, yummy sauce, but wanted something a bit lighter than a thick rague.  I also wanted to try these noodles I'd heard about, but never used.  It's the pappardelle noodle.  Tricky little sucker to find too.  You're probably not going to find it in the supermarket and certainly not at the walmart--you'll have to make a visit to the Whole Foods or a specialty shop to nab this one.  Interestingly enough, you can also order on Amazon.  (If you can't find it, don't dismiss the recipe, your average wide egg noodle will work too!)  The pappardelle noodle is a HUGE hit in Italy and has traditionally been used with thicker meats.  Sounded like a perfect fit for this meal!

For some reason this week I also went a bit crazy at the deli counter and bought a few things I rarely pick up: pancetta for one.  I figured I'd add this into the sauce....because really, who doesn't like pancetta or bacon?

The meal came together rather quickly, less than 30 minutes start to finish.  I served with some yummy homemade french bread (thanks to the fantastic bread maker I scored for Christmas!) and aside from my husband calling it beef stroganoff all night, it was a hit.  We even had seconds.  That's a rarity in our house!

The thrill of cooking something sans-recipe is certainly a mixed bag of emotions--first nerves wondering if it'll turn out right and excitement when it comes together delightfully. 

Looking forward to more exploration!



Ingredients:

2-3 oz. pancetta (sliced from deli)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked brisket, shredded (use leftovers!)
1 cup sauce from brisket
1 can diced tomatoes, with all juices
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced (or 2 tbs of dried basil)
2 Tbs. salt
3/4 bag (1lb) pappardelle noodles (or other wide egg noodle will work)
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Directions:

In a large frying pan over medium heat, cook the pancetta until browned.  Transfer to plate to drain excess fat and cool.  Once pancetta is cook, crumble pancetta.

In the same pan, add the minced garlic and saute until tender.  Add diced tomatoes, basil, sauce from brisket, and tomato sauce.  Bring to boil then reduce to simmer.  Add shredded brisket and pancetta and simmer.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water with salt to a boil, add noodles and cook per package directions.  Cook the noodles al dente.  Drain noodles.

Gradually add the sauce to the drained noodles toss. (Stirring makes the meat bind together, tossing the mixture ensures its evenly mingled with the noodles!)

Serve alone or with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  A shredded Asiago works well on this dish too!

To Sear or Not to Sear is NOT the question.

Last nigh I just couldn't get it up to cook much of a dinner for the hubs.  I'm blaming the lingering flu I've had, married with the fact that I was woken up (again) by the most annoying 13 year old girls who can shut their traps at 6:15a.m. as they wait for the bus outside my house.  (I'll save you the horror of what I yelled at them from my window.  Let's just say, they were quite today.)

I digress. 

Since I didn't really "cook" much last night, I had to get busy today on my brisket.  Tonight's menu: Slow-cooked Brisket, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Nothing fancy or really new today--but I needed the brisket for a "leftover" idea I had for later this week. (I'll get to that later.)

At any rate, the choice cooking method in my house for weekday brisket is the slow cooker--becuase really, who doesn't LOVE the crock pot?!  If I could, I'd marry it. 

For years I've been crockin' it up because of simplicity.  I throw the ingredients in, usually some form of veggies, set and forget it.  That's the beauty of it, right?  It usually comes out to be pretty darn good and all are happy at my place.  But, as cooks will tell you--you should sear your meat before you cook it....so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I will never go back, even in the crock pot, meat must be seared.

The benefits of it are really a mixed bag of reviews--some say that it helps trap the juices, others say it doesnt.  What I did find to be true though is that it did leave the meat with a yummy carmalization and better drippings to make gravy from later.  I also liked the texture difference.  A little crispiness to my meat is good.

Tonights brisket: a hit, one-hundred times over.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
One Brisket (medium, about 2lbs)
3-5 potatoes (I used creamer yellows and red)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 carrots, diced into large pieces (hint: cut at an angle, they're prettier when served!)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes w/ juices
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup beef broth
4 tablespoons olive oil

Get the crock pot ready--set it out, but DON'T turn it on untill all the food is in, lid is on.  Chop up all the veggies and layer the carrots, potatoes and garlic on the bottom of the pot. 

In a large saute pan, on medium heat, bring the olive oil temperature.  Using a large mixing bowl, flour all sides of the brisket. (A thin layer is good, be careful to not let it cake/become thick.)  Over heat, brown all size of the brisket until brown/carmalized color appears.  (approx 2-3 minutes per side) 

Transfer the roast to the crock pot.  Layer with tomatoes and beef broth.  Cover. 

Cook on low for 4 hours. Or 6. Whatever suits your fancy, it's really hard to overcook in the pot.

Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.  Resting ALL meat is a good idea before you slice and serve.  It gives the meat an opportunity to come back together, let the juices settle I've learned. 

So tonight's recipe isn't all that interesting really--but good.  HOWEVER, on slate for tomorrow night is a pasta dish using the left over brisket, egg noodles and a homemade sauce.  Mmm.

Be it resolved: 3 new recipes a week!

Do you ever feel like you're eating the same thing, on rotation, almost on a weekly basis?  That's me.  That's our house.  I feel like each week, I go to the grocery store, have the same boring list and pick up the same boring food that I serve to my family.

I need to spice it up in the kitchen!  Literally.

So, what's a girl to do about this blah-culinary situation in her kitchen?  Set a goal to create 3 new things each week.

My goal is to create three new items, set them out in the blog-o-sphere and blog about the many culinary lessons, great finds and fun times I'm having in the kitchen.  Oh ya, this ought to be fun!

So, if you're bored in the kitchen, check back weekly to find out how my endeavor to keep it fresh is going--and share in the many creations I've stumbled upon.

Did I mention this was going to be a recipe-less endeavor on my part?  Yup, it is.  I'm allowing myself no recipes to follow--only to peruse for inspiration and a wealth of technique books I have on different methods of cooking.

It's that deep.