thursday's dinner

so i had thursday off work and i got the itch to try and fix something new for dinner and to have it ready by the time jared got home. unfortunately my timing was off so he ended up helping me cook. i don't think he minded, in fact i think he was glad to help. we enjoy cooking together. :)

earlier that day i visited the kenton county library and checked out a book that caught my attention. i was looking for either a Giada DiLaurentis or a Ellie Krieger book but, to my dismay, they were checked out. i did however find the Good Morning America "Cut the Calories" Cookbook. Sara Moulton edited the recipes with Jean Anderson. i flipped through a few pages and started to get hungry which i took as a good sign. the book is a collection of low-fat, low-cal recipes that viewers have sent in to the show. i'm always interested in health conscious cooking so i couldn't wait to open up the book, find a recipe and prepare it for jared and i.

i decided on the "Fast and Easy Fusilli with Red Pepper Cream Sauce". only 370 cals and 9g fat per serving. you would never know that the recipe is "low fat". the red pepper sauce is rich and creamy. with fresh lemon zest that is delicate and aromatic, so good for summer. the best part is the satisfying, warming spice from the cayenne. i like a sauce to be spicy enough to require my mouth a few seconds to recover. we topped the fusilli pasta with the red pepper sauce, fresh grated Parmesan and fresh basil. i bought almost all my ingredients locally at Kremers market (the only thing they didn't have was low-fat cream cheese). it was a quick, light and delicious weeknight meal. and it warmed up great the next day for lunch.

after the pasta i made low-fat chocolate chip cookies from the same recipe book. my plan was to bring cookies into work to celebrate someone's birthday i work with. the cookies were so terrible that i had to start from scratch and make a full-fat recipe. thanks for jared's subscription to cook's illustrated online, we were able to look up a fail-proof, classic peanut butter cookie recipe and we had it whipped up in no time. they turned out pretty phenomenal. at least i think so. it consider myself "redeemed" after my low-fat chocolate chip disaster. i love making cookies. as long as they're the full-fat kind. i will never try my luck with the healthy ones again. :)

killer chili

i consider this the best chili recipe ever. it's hearty, spicy, easy to cook and great to pack for lunch for the work week. that is, if there is any left. there are rarely "leftovers".

2 lbs ground chuck

1 medium onion, chopped
A few cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of diced tomatoes (15 oz)

1 can of tomato sauce (the smaller can, i think 6 or 8 oz)

1 can of Joan of Arc Spicy Chili Beans (15 oz)

1 packet of Buena Vida Chili Powder (it's a green and white label, Kroger usually has it)

about 6 Aunt Jane Mexican Peppers, diced
*you can use Kroger brand pepper too, just make sure you get "hot mexican peppers" not pepperoncini.

in a large sauce pan, brown the meat with the onion and garlic. drain off the fat, (i use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat into the pot. then i pour the fat into a glass container to throw away later.) in a large stock pot, add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cover. cook slowly for about an hour.

if you like your chili hot (and why wouldn't you?) add a few tablespoons of the juice from the mexican peppers when you add the rest of the ingredients.

jared and i like to top our chili with chopped scallions, sour cream and shredded cheese. growing up, it was standard in my family to eat chili along with torn off pieces of flour tortilla. yum! of course you can also serve the chili over spaghetti noodles and top with shredded cheese, "cincinnati style". the truth of the matter is, you can eat this chili as is, no toppings necessary. it's that good. try it! definitely let me know if you like it as much as i do.

where does the time go?

it's been several days since our last post but the delay, i assure you, won't be the norm and it's definitely NOT due to waning interest in food on Sierra's or my part. i'm sure I speak for both of us when i tell you that everyday our love and interest for food intensifies. but, like everyone else trying to get someplace in this world, free time is hard to come by. not that I plan on using this as an excuse for the delay, but rather as a segue. it seems like a good point to talk about some of our favorite recipes when time is limited.

so when I think of a quick meal, I'm thinking of the entire process, that is, not just the time it takes to prepare the food, but the time that goes into shopping (assuming I have none of the ingredients on hand, which I try to avoid), prepping, assembly, and cleanup. it doesn't really save much time if I have to spend an hour gathering 15 different ingredients before (Rachel Ray?) or an hour after cleaning pots and pans. also, it needs to be pretty healthy; I want to feel good about what I'm eating or else why not grab a double cheeseburger? lastly, one of my pet peeves when i'm thumbing through "quick meal" recipes in cooking magazines or on the internet is when they list out 3 ingredients for a 10 minute meal and one of the ingredients is something like grilled chicken or an ingredient that, in itself, is another whole recipe. with that in mind: here are 2 of my favs:

"Greek Salad" (Sierra got this from a co-worker)
1 can black beans, drained
1 package cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber peeled and chopped
black olives, chopped, as much as you like
chopped green onions, as much as you like
crumbled feta cheese, as much as you like
1 tsp Cavendar's Greek Seasoning (not too much)
Toss together in a bowl.


Sierra got some garlic hummus, spread that inside of some pita pockets, and then filled it with the salad for lunch one day. Very tasty and very satisfying.

Cilantro Pesto (from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites, a favorite cookbook of ours)
leaves from 1 bunch of cilantro
1 tomato, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1 T toasted pine nuts
little bit of salt

toasting the pine nuts is pretty simple, you just put them in on a sheet in an oven/toaster oven set at 350 for 3-4 minutes or until they start to turn slightly deeper in color. put all the ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. then what i do is toast some french bread, put on the spread, and top with a slice of tomato. you could also spread on pasta, a potato, chicken, fish, or just about anything. surprising that something could be so good without oil or butter.

new york, new york

being in new york, the culinary hotbed that it is, presents an interesting dilemma for a wannabe foodie like myself: too many choices. now, i realize its better to have too many options than not enough of them but what do you when you just had thomas keller's version of a nutter butter (peanut butter mousse sandwiched between two fresh baked peanut butter cookies) at Bouchon Bakery, which nearly killed you it was so good, and you see Doughnut Plant up ahead? i'll tell you what you do; you get a donut. because it may be several months before you come across a jelly donut as light and delicious as this again. and that's the problem you face, or at least i face: as soon as i give into the donut, i see the bagels, the pizza, the hotdogs; i want 'em all. i will get them all. at least, thats what i tell myself before reason finally starts knocking around up there to remind me: everything in moderation (or heart failure is imminent).

sadly, there's only so much of you to go around. a line needs to be drawn on how much foodie heaven one can experience in a 5 day span. interestingly enough, thats exactly what i'm looking for to help narrow down my choices: a line. not just any line, but one forming out the door, around the corner, and down the block; preferably midday in the middle of the week when the forming of such a line would seem unreasonable. furthermore, when i get in line, and still can't see the end, i want to hear people making comments like "this is nothing compared to last week" or "this isn't bad at all."



jill (my sister) led me to two such places last week. Magnolia Bakery, famous for their cupcakes, and danny meyer's Shake Shack for burgers. both places had long lines for any other joint for 2 pm but apparently shorter than usual. worth every second of the wait. unbelievable. especially good was this double stack burger - a cheeseburger and mushroom burger stacked with "shack sauce". notice the mushroom burger in this picture. a "crisp-fried portobello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses. fried mushrooms and cheese...on a burger. oh God.

hot bubbling cheese

the first "original dish" i ever "cooked" was melted cheddar cheese in a cup. pretty gourmet, i know. when i was 7 or 8 years old it occurred to me that melting cheese on crackers made the crackers soggy, so i thought, lets leave the crackers out. innovation. my parents immediately gave me credit for the dish to boost my confidence and i, up until about my 10th birthday, claimed to have invented it.

i admit, it was not then nor will it be my finest culinary achievement. but i was onto something. there is something so addictive and comforting about melted cheese. its simple and wonderful. everyone seems to love it. jazz it up just a little bit, use some different cheeses, maybe add an ingredient or two, and one can very easily elevate the dish to even greater heights. take for example this goat cheese "queso fundido" we tried at Mesa Grill, Las Vegas. dressed up with some roasted peppers and the goat cheese it was still bubbling in its cast iron pan when it came to the table. pretty basic but so good. a slightly fancier version of my original "melted cheese in cup". i'd like to take credit, but no...

sierra's first post

so i made these rainbow fruit skewers to bring to work. i figured pretty much everyone likes chocolate-dipped strawberries. they were quick and definitely fun to make/assemble. and they turn out so pretty and colorful and yummy. thanks ellie krieger!

so, we had a pretty indulgent weekend. we were able to visit a few restaurants on our "checklist". i'm referring to a checklist found in cincinnati magazine's march 2008 issue that highlights the best restaurants in the area.

on Friday it was Pompilio's. i had the shrimp ronaldo, jared had the lasagna. i always like the big hunks of garlic i find in the ronaldo. and of course the lasagna was unbelievable. it was pretty much just rich, comforting, layers of heaven.

Saturday afternoon was Zip's! we finally made it up to mt. lookout for the acclaimed burgers. one million percent worth all the hype. not one thing about the trip was disappointing despite the buildup and high expectations. i first heard about Zip's at a Michael Rulhman book signing (an xmas gift for Jer) when an audience member asked where Ruhlman ate before the event. He replied "Zip's" and the little crowd "oooh'ed and aaah'ed". ever since i knew we had to make it up there asap but we kept putting it off for one reason or another. nonetheless, it was awesome. the fries, the burgers, the setting, the atmosphere and the service were all terrific.

on Sunday we went to Via Vite on Fountain Square. wow. i loved it. we sat at the curved bar and admired the huge hanging wine display that separates the dining area. the open view of the kitchen is such a nice touch. we watched as the chefs prepped for dinner service and fired our pizza in the big round pizza oven. we shared the antipasto platter and a margherita pizza. everything was absolutely delicious. there is a lot of attention paid to detail and pride of ownership going on there. those are two things i look for and truly respect in a restaurant. i seriously cannot wait to get back to that restaurant.