Salmon and Rice

So this dish isn't that special, just salmon filet and wild rice. But I did want to share my secret for cooking really good salmon. What I do is that while I am seasoning and/or marinating the salmon, I turn on my grill to high and let it heat up to about 400 or 500 degrees. Then I will put the salmon on the grill and turn off all the burners. I just let the salmon sit in the grill for about half an hour as it slowly cools, and it makes for tender and delicious salmon every time. Try it sometime!

Pineapple-Marinara Tortellini

So I just returned from my trip around the Western United States. While I did not do any cooking while travelling for two weeks I did eat some great food. Just a sampler:

-Real Mexican food in the Arizona desert

-Chocolate Milkshake at Ghirardelli Square in San Francsisco

-A delicious fish taco from a taco truck at Off The Grid in San Francisco

-Buffalo Burger in Jackson Hole, WY

-Green Chili in Moab, UT

-A Navajo Taco on the Navajo Indian Reservation

So I ate well, but I still missed cooking, so I whipped up a fresh pasta concoction as soon as I got back. I wanted to make something with a classic marinara sauce, but I also wanted to make it a little exotic, so I threw some pineapple into the mix! I started out by sizzling some Italian sausage and pineapple chunks in a pan. I then added my marinara sauce (and some pine nuts of course!). I cooked some Tortellini on the side, and mixed it together. It tasted great with some fresh Parmesan on top. 

Kabobs

I love grilling. It is probably one of my favorite ways to cook food. Pretty much anything that has been a little charred tastes good in my book. Since everything tastes good grilled, I decided to cook as many different things as I could on the grill-chicken, steak, cherry tomatoes, onions, mushrooms-all on a kabob. I marinated each item in a different marinade. The steak and onions I cut up into cubes and marinaded in a leftover sauce that we had in our fridge. The chicken I marinaded in a mustard-white wine sauce. The mushrooms I marinaded in a raspberry vinagrette salad dressing. As I grilled the kabobs, I also kept brushing them with the leftover marinades.

For desert, I made pistachio pudding mixed with crushed pineapple, with whipped cream folded in.

Summer Cookout Casserole

Multi-tasking... I need an assistant!

So I got really creative and home-made with this recipe. Basically this is a casserole (or hot-dish for our friends from Minnesota) made with a layer of Mac and Cheese, followed by a layer of pulled pork barbecue, followed by a layer of sauteed broccoli, followed by another layer of Mac and Cheese topped with more cheese. In contrast to my days cooking in my dorm, almost everything in this recipe is home-made. For the Mac and Cheese, I cooked up Orzo pasta, made a homemade cheese sauce (by starting with a roux, adding milk and stirring in mozzarella and Mexican-mix cheese), and mixed them together. Put that off to the side to let the suace soak in. I sauteed up some broccoli in another pan and let that brown up a bit. We had some pulled pork (without sauce) in the freezer, which I thawed and threw in yet another pan (I was using all four of our burners at the same time-- a feat in itself).
      I searched around our cupboard for some Sweet Baby Ray's, but none was to be found, so I decided to make my own barbecue sauce from scratch. It was surprisingly easy, just threw a bunch of stuff in a blender. Scrapping together what we had in our kitchen, I may have discovered what may become my own secret barbecue sauce that I will use for many years to come. It turned out with a very unique and delicious flavor. Anyway, I stirred the sauce in with the pulled pork and let it cook.

I layered the Mac and cheese, pulled pork, broccoli and more Mac and Cheese in a casserole dish and topped it with more cheese. I threw that in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes and we were all ready to eat. It turned out great and was filling. Our family of four was only able to eat about half of it. Enjoy!

Balsamic Vinegar Pasta

So this recipe is made almost all from leftovers. I pulled some leftover butter noodles and the leftover carcass of one of those Sam's Club roasted chickens from the fridge and decided to make a light pasta out of it. First, I cut up some baby portobello mushrooms into slices and cooked those in a pan with some vegetable oil. Once those had been cooking for a few minutes, I threw in a bunch of handfulls of baby spinach (it shrivels up a lot). Finally, once the spinach had cooked down, I threw into what amounted to half a chicken, which I had pulled apart and shredded with my hands. I let the veggies cook with the chicken for a few minutes, and then threw the butter noodles into the pan. I then poured some balsamic vinegar (probably a half cup, but I'm only guessing) over top and stirred it up. I have never cooked pasta like this before, but it's how they cook pasta at Leo's at the make-your-own pasta station. So maybe I have learned some cooking tips from Leos after all....

Fried Green Tomoatoes

In my attempts to diversify, I decided to embrace our Southern heritage and cook up some fried green tomatoes. It was a learning experience for me, since I had never fried anything before (although I had seen it done many times on the EpicMealTime videos), but it turned out to not be that hard.

I started by cooking some bacon in a pan, and then using the bacon grease to fry the tomatoes. I cut up our tomatoes (two green and two red) into 1/2 inch slices, battered them up and fried them in the grease. We ate them in sandwich form with mayo, bacon and two slices of bread. It reminded me how much I miss southern cooking!

The red tomatoes weren't as flavorful as the green ones, but tasted delicious with a bit of sour cream and crumbled bacon on top.

Salad #2

Someone looked at a scale again. So I'm making salad...

I decided to use Tuna this time for our protein, so I cooked two cans of tuna with some garlic and pine nuts. Using spinach as the base again, I added sliced cucumber, shredded carrots, and canned green peas, and then added the tuna on top. I used some Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing that I found in the back of our cabinet (which I think expired in 2008), and it went well with the salad giving it an Asian feel. Hopefully salad dressing doesn't go bad... so far no one has dropped dead.

Roasted Red Pepper Butter Noodles and Baked Brie Cheese

So after a long Memorial Day weekend of eating 20 lbs of pulled pork at graduation parties, I am finally back to cooking!

The first thing I have going on is some butter noodles. Nothing special there. But, BAM! Add some roasted red pepper and pine nuts to the mix and it's not as boring anymore. Cool!

The second thing is baked Brie cheese. I bought a small wheel of Président Brie cheese, sliced it in half (so that I had two thinner wheels), and then spread raspberry jam and crushed walnuts on top of the bottom half and put the top half on again. Using some Pillsbury croissant dough, I arranged the triangles into a star shape on a baking pan, making sure that they are all attached. I set the wheel in the middle and then folded the tips of the croissant dough over the sides and top of the wheel. On the top, I drizzled some honey and brown sugar. I baked this in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes, until the dough was golden-brown.

I served the Brie with crackers alongside the butter noodles.

Salad #1

The only time I tend to make salads is when someone gets alarmed after looking at the scale. So today I made a salad. Started out with a base of baby spinach. We had some canned chicken breast, which I cooked in a pan with some garlic and pine nuts. Added this to the top with some sliced hardboiled eggs and some shaved Parmesan cheese. I used honey vinagrette dressing, but let me know if you find something else that works better. I thought it tasted pretty good. Also would have been delicious with Clementine orange wedges, but they must be out of season or something, because I can't find them in the store anywhere...

Steak Burritos

I hadn't had Mexican for a while, and we had some tortillas that we needed to use up, so I made some steak burritos! I started out by sauteeing some sliced bell peppers and Portobello mushrooms (I know, not a traditional Mexican ingredient, but still tasted good!) and then adding in some black beans. We had some frozen steak strips in the freezer, so I thawed those in the microwave, and then marinated in lime juice and ground pepper, and then added them in with the vegetables. Warm up your tortillas in the microwave, and serve with sour cream, lettuce, cheese, and salsa.

Pesto and Spinach Ravioli with Jarlsberg-Apple-Salami Crackers

Let me start you off with a mouth-watering appetizer:

A fancier cousin of the old cheddar-and-apple on a Ritz cracker snack, I put Genoa Salami, a slice of Jarlsberg cheese, and a couple apple wedges on top of a party cracker. The saltiness of the salami complimented the sweet apple wedges well, and Jarlsberg just tastes delicious, and this appetizer was a great into to our main dish.

In a pot, I cooked some chicken-and-cheese stuffed ravioli. In another, I cooked some spinach with garlic and vegetable oil. When that was done cooking, I added some pesto and a touch of heavy whipping cream to the spinach to create a pesto-spinach sauce, which I then added to the ravioli.
Tasted great!

Bacon-Beer Cheeseburgers

The weather finally broke in Columbus, Ohio, so I decided to celebrate by grilling out. I used my younger brother to run to the store and pick up some burger-making supplies (you don't have to use a younger brother... anyone with a drivers' licence or bike will do). In a large mixing bowl, I mixed together 1 lb of ground beef, some crumbled cheddar and swiss cheese, some cut-up strips of pre-cooked bacon, some beer (I used Blue Moon since that's what we had in our fridge), and an egg to hold it all together. I formed that hunk of meat into 5 smaller hunks of meat (also known as patties) and threw them onto an already-hot grill. (One trick that I use while grilling burgers is pouring a little beer on the burgers while they are cooking for extra flavor). I also cooked up some sliced bacon and toasted the buns in the grill when the burgers were almost done. Garnish with you favorite condiments, lettuce, tomato, cheese and bacon, and enjoy with some cold beer and you have yourself a nice backyard dinner (that is if you have a backyard. If not, just pretend).

Chicken Potstickers with Sauteed Broccoli

So the potstickers aren't that special... just pulled them out of the freezer and followed the directions on the bag.
However, on the side, I cooked up some broccoli. I first sauteed some minced garlic in a pan with some vegetable oil, and then threw in a whole bag of broccoli. Threw in some real butter for flavor and let it cook until soft and darker green. I cooked this dish for my alternative spring break trip down in Mississippi and as they can testify, it is pretty delicious. For extra flavor, you could throw some cheddar cheese on top and let it melt:)

Homemade pizzas

Although the Ohio rain foiled my design to grill the pizzas, they nevertheless turned out pretty well, even if they were only cooked in the oven. I cooked three different types of pizzas, starting off with some Boboli pre-made pizza crusts. Perhaps my next pizza adventure will involve me making my own crust...

1. Spinach, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pizza
I prepped all three crusts by spreading some olive oil on the undersides. I spread some of the tomato sauce that came with the crusts on top and put some spinach leaves on top of the tomato sauce. We had a container of Formaggio Mozzarella balls in the fridge, so I cut those in half, and then put those on top of the spinach.


2. White Prosciutto and Bacon Pizza

So for these next two pizzas, I cooked up a white sauce using butter, flour, milk, and cheese (you can find a recipe here). I spooned this sauce over the crust, topped that with shredded mozzarella cheese, and topped that with bacon bits and thinly sliced prosciutto.



3. White Portobello Mushroom Pizza

So like the last pizza, I ladled on the white sauce and topped that with shredded mozzarella cheese. I diced up some small portobello mushrooms, sauteed them with a dash of minced garlic, and used that to top the final pizza.




I threw these into the oven at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes, and they turned out great! My personal favorite was the one with the tomato sauce, but in the white pizzas' defense, I think I might have messed up the white sauce. I'll keep experimenting with that and let you know how it turns out next time!

Orange-lemon-soy-ginger Marinated and Grilled Tuna Steaks and Asparagus

So the name of this dish is a mouthful, but I decided to get fancy. I just went to Costco the day before to do shopping, and I got some tuna steaks to try cooking since I had never had tuna steak outside of a fancy restaurant before. I just got two tuna steaks, and made a marinade out of soy sauce, orange juice, lemon juice, and a dash of ginger. I rubbed some black pepper into the tuna steaks, and then let them marinate in the orange-lemon-soy sauce for a while. Meanwhile, I cleaned up some asparagus and drizzled some olive oil and salt over it. Once the steaks were pretty much done marinating, I poured the sauce over the asparagus and let them sit in that for a bit.

So now to the cooking part: Fired up the grill, got it pretty hot to about 400 degrees F. I put the steaks and the asparagus on at the same time, directly on the grill. The asparagus should not fall through the slots. After about 5 minutes, opened up the lid and flipped both the asparagus and the tuna steaks. Brushed the steaks with some of the remaining marinade to keep it moist. Once side of the steak should be brown. Then I let it cook for another 5 minutes or so. At this point, I opened the grill and kept moving around the asparagus. I like it a little charred, which makes it nice, soft, and juicy, giving it great flavor. I pulled off the asparagus, put it in a pan, and put the steaks on top of this bed of asparagus. The outside of the steaks should be brown.

The steaks were cooked perfectly, still pink in the middle, which you can do, since it's seafood. That's how they cook it in the fancy places anyway. The asparagus was also delicious and complemented the steaks perfectly. I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture. I promise I'll take one next time! Enjoy!

Orzo Casserole with Vodka Sauce

So my first meal that I cooked when I got back home was a kind of Orzo casserole (or "hot-dish" for you Minnesotans)  made with vodka sauce and ground turkey. Like everything I cook, I just looked through our cupboards to find random ingredients that might taste good together. If some of the ingredients seem kind of random, it is because they are -- I'm just trying to use what we have.

No picture of the meal today unfortunately, I hadn't thought that far ahead.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• Sliced Prosciutto
• Banana Peppers
• Vodka
• 1 can of Bertolli Vodka Sauce
• 1 lb of Orzo pasta
• Butter
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• shaved Italian cheeses

So here's the deal: 

In a pan, cook up the ground turkey, some prosciutto and banana peppers. Pour some vodka into the mix while the meat is cooking to kick it up a notch. Dash some Italian seasoning in there. Once the turkey is cooked, stir in the can of vodka sauce, turn down the heat, and let simmer.

In another pot, have your boiling water rolling, and cook your Orzo, per the instructions on the box. 

Once the Orzo is done cooking, strain it and throw in some butter and grated parm into the mix while it is still hot.

Now in a large casserole dish, pour a base layer of the pasta sauce in the bottom. On top of this, add a layer of the buttered Orzo pasta so that it covers all the sauce. Add some more Parmesan cheese to the top of the pasta layer. Then, pour the remaining sauce over the top of the Orzo. Hopefully, this is not spilling out of the dish yet. on top of this, lay down some prosciutto slices and generously sprinkle some of the shaved Italian cheese mix (Parmesan and mozzarella) on top of that. 

Stick this casserole into an oven heated to 400 degrees F, and cook until the cheese starts to brown and the prosciutto is sizzling. When done, set it on the table, and enjoy! It should be kind of layered, almost like a lasagna. We ate it with bowls, as it is kind of sloppy. It could serve about 6 people in theory. There were four of us, and we ate most of it, with a good amount left over for my lunch the next day.