Waiting to Exhale

I'm just writing to apologize to my loyal readers. I know it's been a while since I've posted some Bobby Flay fun, but let me explain.

Matt and I are poor.


Okay, we're not poor. But, we've got a lot of awesome vacations coming up and we've got to save a bit of money. I've cooked through a lot of the "cheaper" dishes and I'm just not prepared for lobster and squab just yet. We are eating, I am cooking Bobby Flay, just not new stuff.
I promise to return soon and to dominate my timeline!! I've got until Jan 2011! I'm golden.

I've added a picture of our cat, Punkin, after his bath...to make you smile and forgive me.

Blood Diamond

Tonight, I just made an appetizer. I made a Black Bean and Goat Cheese Torta. I also made a Black Bean and Monterey Jack Cheese Torta for my husband. He still hates the goat cheese. To be honest, I didn't love the goat cheese this time either. Goat cheese has such a strong taste... I don't know. I liked it last time. It was still tasty, but had a very strong goat taste.

Also, I cut myself on the black bean can top. Ouch. I'm going to pull through... don't worry about me.

Groundhog Day

Tonight's recipe was supposed to be simple, and it would have been if I'd only made it once. Ha!! I made a Red Chile and Garlic Oil to go with some grilled shrimp fajitas. The oil had a whole bunch of ingredients that were to be added to the blender until liquified. The first time I made it, it just wasn't liquifying AT ALL!! Then, I realized that I was supposed to saute the garlic "until softened." Yeah, it made a big difference. So, I had to dump that batch out, re-mince the garlic, re-cut the thyme and rosemary, re-add in the chipotle, chili powder, and lime juice, and saute up the garlic and add it in. I mean, it was good, but was it worth it?? Yeah, I suppose it was. It really was quite tasty. I also made some FANTASTIC black beans and rice to go with them!! Not Bobby Flay's recipe, so no pic... but it was awesome!! Plus, I managed to get it all finished before 7pm, which keeps the husband happy!!

On a separate note, LOVING THE SPRING WEATHER!!

Invisible Woman

My friend, Dawn, came over tonight, but refused to be in a photo... despite her loveliness. So, you can see her thumbs up of tonight's appetizer. I made a Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto Quesadilla to go with our Mexican Enchilladas. It was delicious!! Bobby wanted the shrimp to be a garnish on top of the quesadilla, but I went ahead and put them inside. I think he could learn from me. Ha ha!

About Matt's cooking, he's decided that he's not going to cook all the way through the Giada book. He's just going to cook some new recipes that seem tasty... you know, to break up all the Bobby Flay, Southwestern, spiciness. Last night, he made Beef and Cheese Manicotti. It was REALLY awesome!!

Oh, and for those who voted on the poll... I'll try to get Matt to do the dishes VERY soon! But, no one's doing 'em tonight! :)

Rocky IV

After a fairly slow Bobby Flay cooking week for me, I ended with a knock out! Tonight, I punched out four recipes in one meal. I made Red Pepper Crusted Tuna Steak with a Spicy Mango Salsa and Cilantro Pesto Red Potatoes. It was all quite tasty, and surprisingly not too spicy! I had to search for something called a New Mexican Chile Pepper, which is large and dry, and grind it up in a coffee grinder with some peppercorns. Then, I dredged the tuna steaks in the spices on one side and seared that side for one minute. This turned out to be a mistake as the fish was WAY more rare than I (or even Matt) like it, though Bobby says to eat it rare. No thanks. I left them on a bit longer, and it worked out just fine.

On another note, Matt got his cookbook in the mail the other day. He begins to cook his way through Giada de Laurentii's Everyday Italian tomorrow! I'm very excited for many reasons. First, it gives me a break every now and again. Second, it breaks up the constant, spicy, salsa-covered Flay food, which is quite delicious, don't get me wrong. Anyhow, Matt's not going to blog his cooking because he types about one word a minute, but I'll keep you posted on this site and let you know how he's doing.

Do the Right Thing!

Sunday night I made Grilled Salmon with a Tomatillo-Chipotle Sauce and Black Rice. Let me tell ya how you make black rice. First, you make you're going to eat black beans. You cook 'em up, then take the black broth that remains, and that will now be your "water" for your rice. Then, you saute some onions and garlic, add the rice, add the bean "juice" and cook up the rice. WOW! That's a lot of work!! I mean, seriously.... tasty, but hard work.

On a separate note, Matt has decided he would like to cook his way through a cookbook when I'm finished. I figured, why wait? We can have a variety now and I can get a break cooking every now and again. So, he ordered an Italian cookbook online and he's gonna start that up when it comes in. I'll keep track of his progress with this blog... he's not one for writing (or reading for that matter as he isn't even one of my followers)!! More to come when the book arrives!!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Dinner with friends! Saturday night, we dressed Matt up, and had some dinner! I made Chipotle Pork Loin with Green Apple Sauce and Apple Chutney and Sweet Potato Gratin. It was delicious. A successful dinner party. My friend Laura doesn't like spicy food; rather, she can't handle it very well. I tried to make hers less spicy, but she was sweatin' pretty badly. It was pretty funny! Hey, cleared out her sinuses.

Thanks to everyone who came and to my many blog fans for reading!! Enjoy Matt in a tie, you asked for it!

Love Actually

Tonight I just cooked an appetizer, but it was delicious! I loved it! ;) I made a Corn and Zucchini Quesadilla with Smoked Tomato Salsa and Avocado Relish to go along with our usual tasty ground turkey enchilladas!! Bobby really knows his flavors combinations! The corn - good, zucchini - GOOD, cheese - GOOD!! Really, the salsa was just a tomato salsa. It was supposed to be "cold smoked," which means to light a grill, then let it die down, then throw the tomatoes on the covered grill to be "cold smoked." Really?? Who has that kind of time? Not I. Maybe over the summer I can cold smoke some stuff, but not during the school year.

Firestarter

Tonight's meal was SUPER hot! Luckily, it was also delicious. After last night's soup debacle, I was a smidge discouraged. I made Yucatan Chicken with Pineapple-Tomatillo Salsa! The chicken marinaded all night in an extremely spicy blend of junk including paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and ancho chili powder. Bobby's crazy! But, the salsa was so cool, crisp and tasty, it really brought the spiciness down a tad, which I'm sure is the point. The recipe actually called for papaya, but I haven't been able to find that. I only chose this recipe because Matt and I went to a different Wal-mart and the one on Battlefield had tomatillos! Who'd have thought it?! What the heck is a tomatillo anyway? I still don't really know. It's green. Looks kinda like a tomato, but doesn't taste like one at all. Kind of bitter by itself. I dunno. It was good in the salsa though!!

So... I'm back on baby!! Feeling good! Don't forget to vote for what Matt wears next!

The Remains of the Day

I don't know if "The Remains of the Day" is a book as well as a movie, but I've decided to add in movie titles to my little blog title game. I chose this title for two reasons. 1. I spent way too much time preparing tonight's meal. 2. Like that film, it wasn't nearly as good as it was supposed to be.
Sigh. I really don't like it when the food doesn't work out. Tonight, I made Black Bean & Jalapeno Soup and Yellow Corn Pancakes. If I could rename it to what it actually tasted like, it would be Refried Black Beans with a slight Jalapeno taste. If I could rename it to what it looked like it would be, mud. Just.... black mud.
Well, I'm marinading some chicken for tomorrow's meal. Here's hoping that one goes better.

The Old Man and the Sea

Did Santiago catch a swordfish?? It may have been a marlin or something. Anyhow, it was a big ole fish, which is what I cooked tonight. I made Grilled Swordfish Steaks with Avocado and Tomato Salsa. Sound good? It really was. Guess what else? I got swordfish steaks for less than $3 a piece at the Farm Fresh right by my work. I had seen the swordfish recipes in the book and laughed at them. When was I ever gonna find swordfish?? I went to the store beside work because we ran out of trash bags and boom! Swordfish. What a lucky day!
I've also included a pic of the chocolate chip cookies I baked for a happy Matt for an early Valentine's Day present! He requested BIG cookies! See that penny?? I put that there to show you how huge the cookies are!!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Last night, I made Grilled Salmon with Black Bean-Corn Salsa and Zucchini Tacos. Overall, pretty good. I still don't really like salmon. I think next time I'll just make myself some tilapia instead. The zucchini tacos were freakin' delicious!! I ate a whole bunch of those. I made extra for myself because I figured I wouldn't eat all of my stupid salmon. I do appreciate the healthiness of the seafood dishes.
I don't really have a whole lot more to say about that meal. Ummm, I've decided I want the Saints to win the Superbowl tonight, even though they beat the Skins in overtime this year. If I rooted against every team that dominated the Skins, I wouldn't have anyone else to cheer for! ;)

The Firm

One word: dessert. Okay, more than one word. I finally attempted a Bobby Flay dessert. I made a Raspberry Cup Custard with Graham Cracker Crust. I dodged desserts for a while for a couple of reasons. First, most of them have fruit in them and Matty doesn't like fruit in his desserts. Weirdo. Second, they all looked really complicated. Since the crazy person in charge of the roads granted us yet another snow day, I decided to go ahead a try it. It was complex, but if you're precise with the instructions, the result is superb! I was about to lick the little tart pan. Also, one must be patient. While Bobby (yup, first name basis) says the custard should set in 30 to 40 minutes in the oven, what he really means is, "after 30 minutes, keep checking it and checking it until it's hard." (That's what she said.)
Even Matt enjoyed it, which is saying a lot for my non-fruit loving hubby.

As You Like It

Tonight I made Triple Meat Tostinos frozen pizza with a little extra mozzerella cheese on top... for Matt. He did not enjoy tonight's dinner. Really, I made Tomato Tortilla Soup and Goat Cheese Oregano Tortas. I loved the tortas, iffy on the soup. Too much cilantro. That's something that I don't usually say. I love cilantro, but it was overpowering. Anyhow, Matt said the soup was alright, but he hates goat cheese! "Cheese from a goat!! Blah!!" I really liked the tortas. It's like a bunch of quesadillas all piled on top of each other. Delicious!
Again, like so many of my meals before, I've learned a valuable lesson - season to taste. Bobby may like one cup of cilantro. Chrystal does not. While I am cooking through his cookbook, there's nothing that says I can't alter it a bit. Especially since I've made this up and I can create or not create whatever rules I want.

Great Expectations

Tonight, I made Sweet Potato Polenta. It was good, but I thought it was going to be better. You see, the other two sweet potato dishes I've made were excellent. This one took a really long time to prepare, and wasn't any better than the soup or gratin. Whatever, it was still tasty, just not what I had built up in my head. Kinda like when I saw Slumdog Millionaire. Good movie, don't get me wrong. Young boy falls in love, dominates on tv by sheer luck, third world happiness. However, people built that movie up in my head until I thought it would be the next Shawshank or Braveheart... it's good, but not that good.

On a seperate note, Matt was SO happy to eat a real meat hamburger! I'm gonna have a hard time switching him back to turkey burgers.

The Silence of the Lambs

I was literally terrified to eat dinner tonight. I made Lamb and Black Bean Chili with an Avocado Relish! Yep, LAMB! First time. So, I was frightened because it called for almost a cup of different types of chiles or chili powders! What the what?! Why is Bobby Flay so crazy? Has he completely destroyed his taste buds and the only way he can enjoy food is to add ridiculous amounts of spice? Matt and I kept dipping a finger in and tasting it as it was cooking, and just freaking out!! I was thinking that I just spent too much money on a meal neither one of us could eat.

As it turns out, it was pretty tasty. Spicy, yes. But, the avocado relish really added a nice cool layer of flavor. Maybe we needed something hot and spicy for the monstrous snow storm we got today!!

Shut it up lambs. I dominated you.

For my gentlemen readers, enjoy my beater shot. Your welcome.

Persuasion

Tonight, I made Grilled Chicken Breasts with Corn & Grilled Pepper Relish. I actually had to start it last night marinading the chicken. And, as this little project of mine is a learning process, I learned what ginger was. I mean, I had heard of ginger and even used ground ginger in a previous Flay recipe, but... did you know that it looks like a stick?? Sure does. So, the chicken marinaded in soy sauce, chopped & peeled ginger, garlic, honey, and lime juice. It was quite tasty. Then, it is topped with the corn relish, which was also delicious. Although, I hate vinegar. You know how some things you like the smell of, but hate the taste of? Like coffee, or gasoline. Well, I hate the smell of vinegar. And the taste. It's just yucky. There was some vinegar in the relish, as you may have guessed by my rant, and I thought the relish tasted pretty good. But, I really had to convince myself to eat it. The fork was shaking a bit as I brought it to my lips. I think it's psychological with me.... I need to start working on it. I've been dodging any recipe with mayonnaise or sour cream. Eventually, I'm going to have to do it!!

The Hours

Tonight's dinner took FOREVER! I made Grilled NY Steak with Red Chile Mustard and Sweet Potato Gratin with Smoked Chiles. The sweet potatoes were to be cooked for one hour, or until the cream had soaked into the potatoes. The key word is - OR. I let them cook for about an hour and a half!! It didn't really help that I didn't get home until after 6pm. Luckily, everything was quite tasty, so it made it worthwhile. Actually, I ate chicken. Did you know you can buy 3 servings of chicken for every one serving of a NY strip steak? It's true. Until my blog picks up advertisements, I just can't afford steak. Also, and more importantly, I prefer chicken. Nine years as a vegetarian... I'm still just not a steak girl. Anyhow, Matt seemed to really enjoy the steak and mustard sauce. I did bring out his A-1, just in case...

Included is another wife beater shot of my husband, for those who check out my blog just for that!