Monday, January 28, 2013

Granny Smith’s Pork Roast



Ingredients


  • Boneless Pork Roast
  • 3 Granny Smith apples
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup blue cheese
  • salt & pepper
  • lemon pepper(optional)
  • Parmesan risotto
I’d been wanting to try this recipe for quite a while now, and since it was just going to be Brian and I eating, I thought there was room for experimentation. Boy did experimenting turn out to provide great results for this uniquely flavored meal. Start by pre-heating the oven to 350 and getting the risotto started in a medium sized saucepan. While the rice is browning peel two of the apples and cut them into thin slices. Mix in a bowl with both sugars until the apples are completely soaked with the sugary syrup. Cut a pocket in the center of the pork and stuff it generously. Place pork, slit side facing up, in a greased baking pan. Coat the roast with the remaining sugar mixture along with the salt and pepper. Place in the oven and resume cooking the risotto. At some point before it is done, cut up the remaining apple into small pieces. Once the risotto is done leave it on a very low simmer and take out the roast. Switch the oven temp. to broil hi and cover the roast with the blue cheese and the apple slices. Place back in the oven until the apples blacken(don’t worry they don’t taste burnt) and the cheese browns. Remove from the oven, let cool, and cut yourself a slice, or as we did cut in half and enjoy over a bed of risotto. This recipe does have a bold and different flavor to it, so for those of you who don’t like to confuse your taste buds, do it anyways cause it’s awesome.

3-Cheese Spaghetti Alfredo Pesto... with some other stuff

So I was going to be filmed for a short cooking clip and couldn't decide what I wanted to cook. I had a lot of ideas at once and everything sounded good so I ended up mixing everything together, including sautéed sweet potatoes with onions. Don't be scared, it's delicious; this bowl below was full and I finished it clean

Ingredients


  • 1 1/2 lb. Ground beef or turkey
  • 1 pack Spaghetti
  • Red pasta sauce of choice
  • 2  Red Peppers
  • 1 1/2 Onions
  • 1 Sweet Potato
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup 2 other cheeses, I used Mediterranean Herb Gouda and a Romano Parmesan
  • 8 oz. Whipping Cream
  • 1 tbsp Basil
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Butter, Margarine, or oil
First start by taking out everything your going to need, makes it a LOT easier. so you'll need a large frying pan for the meat, a large pot for the water, and 2 medium pots for the sauce and veggies, one of which you can turn on low to medium heat. I know a lot of pots and pans, but it's worth it trust me. Ok now get a large cutting board, wash and dry the sweet potato and chop into thinnish, whatever you can do size (I had some trouble cutting). Throw those on the medium pot with some butter. Chop up the onion and throw that in after. Continue stirring every couple minutes. Next fill the large pot with water and let boil. Get the meat in the large pan on low to medium heat and add seasonings as you please. Continue stirring that as well. Now add brown sugar to the potatoes and onions. Your not in the circus yet, wash and dry the peppers and chop up. Get that in the last pot with some butter. Chop up the garlic and add that along with the basil. Go ahead and add the pasta into the water about now. If meat is about done, pour the heavy whipping cream in and add the parmesan and flour. Pour the red sauce over the red peppers and garlic and add the rest of the cheese. Strain pasta and mix everything together. Use salt and pepper to season and Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, comment if you attempt to make.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Homemade Chicken Fingers and Fries





This Fast and Delicious meal will satisfy everyone!


Ingredients
  • Thinly sliced chicken breast
  • Bread crumbs
  • Pancake mix (Bisquick)
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Eggs
  • Cheez Its
  • Panko Bread Crumbs
  • Whipping cream
  • Potatoes
  • Seasoning (Famous Dave’s Rib Rub)
Directions
 Pre-heat the oven to 350. Prepare the cream and eggs in a bowl and the dry ingredients on a plate. There should be about 1/4 bread crumbs, 1/4 Cheez Its, 1/4 parmesan cheese and 1/4 pancake mix. Estimate the proportions based on how large a serving. Mix seasonings in until it is consistent. Grease a baking pan to have prepared once the chicken is ready. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg/cream mixture, then coat in the dry mix, repeat. Place each chicken on the pan and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. Now that you've got some time why not be useful and make the fries. I cut the potato into circles and fry them on a pan on the stove, but preference of shape is up to you, get creative!  Use whatever seasonings to flavor the fries you can find: seasoned salt, garlic powder, italian seasoning, lemon pepper, rosemary, red pepper flakes, even chili powder or cajon seasoning. Cut potatoes, sauté in large skillet with butter or oil on medium heat. Check and flip the fries frequently, they burn fast! Once everything is complete, serve with condiments of your choice and devour!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Man's Night

Home-spun Sloppy Joe’s

Ingredients

  • Ground Beef
  • Ketchup
  • Barbecue sauce
  • Bisquick
  • Milk
  • Water
  • Lemon Pepper
  • Parmeson Cheese
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Famous Dave’s Rib Rub*
  • Cheddar cheese(optional)
  • Buns
If you’re craving rich homestyle version of sloppy joe’s, than this is the meal for you. I discovered this meal when my two friends, Nate and Brian, asked me to make them dinner. If you read my profile, you’ll know that cooking is one of my favorite things to do, so cooking them food every week doesn’t really bother me. It actually allows me to express my creative food genius skills and helps me to become a better cook. Anyways, enough about me, Begin cooking the beef in a medium to large skillet(depending on serving size), with a small dose of butter to grease the pan. Wait until it begins to brown, all the while adding in the seasonings to your preference, but be careful with the red pepper flakes. Now would be a good time to put the buns in the toaster. Stir in the ketchup and barbecue sauce until fully saturated, then add in the bisquick at a slow rate while stirring, add in milk, cheeses, and water until the texture reaches a think, creamy consistency. After the buns pop up, stuff them generously, and enjoy!

Farmer's Market Dinner

Savory Warm Salad
Ingredients

  • Kale and Spinach leaves
  • Peppers of your preference (mine being orange)
  • Sweet onion
  • Goat cheese
  • Walnuts or Pecans
  • Squash
  • Mushrooms
  • Seasonings/dressing ( red wine vinaigrette and pepper)
Directions
    The Farmer’s Market is coming to the end of its season so I thought I could create a healthy salad from the ingredients that I bought. If you have never been to a farmer’s market, I recommend it; not only is your food fresh, you get to actually talk to the people who made it. It really connects us to our food, it’s a blast, and there's so many samples. This meal is definitely an easy one, but it sure was tasty. All you have to do is chop up all of the ingredients and throw them on the stove in a large-sized pan. Peppers, squash and onions should be put on the stove first, since they take the longest, followed by mushrooms, then the greens, with the rest drizzled on top afterwards. This meal was one of the first ones that I cooked solely for myself; I might have to slowly get the boys used to vegetables that aren’t fried or hidden in a chicken. I hope all you veggie eaters out there enjoy, and to those who aren’t, give it a try, I didn’t try a lot of vegetables till I got to college, and they’re quite delicious.
http://www.boulderfarmers.org/home.html 

Pesto Dal Cuore


Ingredients

  • Chicken breast fillets
  • Creamy pesto mix packet
  • Avocado
  • Mozzarella slices
  • Wild mushroom ravioli
  • Marinated artichoke hearts
For tonight's dinner I thought I could make something Italian, for it is my favorite type of food to cook, and probably eat. Start by pre-heating the oven to 350. Once that’s out of the way start the pesto sauce in a small to medium sized pot. While it is cooking, lay the chicken breasts in a medium to large sized baking pan. As soon as the pesto reaches a creamy light consistency, drizzle about a quarter to a half of it over the chicken. Place the chicken in the oven and begin to boil water on the stove in a medium pot. Meanwhile, mash up the avocado in a small bowl and put the sauce back on the stove. Cook the ravioli according to package directions, but mix in the seasonings with the pesto. Add milk to the sauce until it reaches your preferred thickness. Once the sauce and raviolis are done take the chicken out of the oven. Change the settings to broil- Hi. Spoon a generous layer of the avocado on top of each chicken breast, topped with  slices of mozzarella cheese so it surrounded completely. Finish by arranging the ravioli and artichoke hearts around the chicken and pouring the sauce over it all. Place in the oven checking frequently until the cheese begins to fry. For a more crunchy texture, leave in a bit longer. Hopefully when you take this masterpiece out of the oven, you’re as stoked as I was to devour it. Be safe, you might go into food comma if you attempt to eat all of it, and enjoy!