Friday, August 21, 2009

Vacation

Just a short note that I am leaving on vacation and will not be back util next tuesday evening...........but i will be cooking rachael meals while down at Eureka Springs...............that's right your ever loving green-eyed checf is heading off the Hillbilly country....................anyway I will be jotting down notes on the meals I make, so i will be back with a multi post blog tuesday night.........unless something happens to me while in the backwoods of eureka.................on the plus side, the police will easily identify my body, cause I will be the only one wearing shoes:-)

Later Taters..........

Thursday, August 20, 2009

tasty and guilt free

Only need to make a dessert tonight and I wanted something light, so I made, Melon with Berries and Sorbet. Low fat and low cal.

Ingredients
1 cantaloupe, quartered and seeded
1 pint mango or strawberry sorbet
1/2 pint raspberries
1/2 pint strawberries, sliced
2 teaspoons sugar


Cut a thin piece of the skin off of the back of each wedge of melon to give the melon sections stability. Top each melon boat with a scoop of mango or strawberry sorbet. Toss berries with a little sugar and spill them down and over the sorbet and melon


The Verdict.........ok it's not the crustfree apple pie from the other night, nor is it chocolate cake..........but it is still pretty damn good and more importantly, it is healthy, so enjoy.


Until Tomorrow............

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Holiday from being a veghead

Well I was asked to make a non vegetarian dish, so that is what I am doing........Stuffed Steak with Prosciutto and Spinach.........I remember watching rachael make this one and always thought that it diid look fantastic.

Ingredients
1 (10-ounce) package chopped frozen spinach
3 tablespoons EVOO
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, 1/4 chopped, 1/4 cut into thin strips, for garnish
2 ounces prosciutto (about 3 to 4 slices), cut into ribbons
Coarse salt
Black pepper
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano
2 pound eye round roast
Re-sealable plastic bag


Defrost spinach in microwave. Wrap in clean kitchen towel and wring chopped spinach dry.

Place a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil-to hot skillet. Add garlic to oil. Add onion and red pepper, cook 1 minute. Lower heat to medium. Add the prosciutto and the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Add bread crumbs and cheese to spinach. Turn off heat. Let stuffing cool.

To create the cavity for the stuffing, use a long sharp knife (like a boning knife), and cut a 1 to 2-inch hole through the center of the roast making a lengthwise slit. Turn the meat around and cut another slit in the same spot so that your knife completes the cavity. Insert a wooden spoon into the cavity to make sure the hole is even and goes all the way through.

Put the cooled filling in a re-sealable plastic bag and snip a hole in the corner of the bag. Pipe the filling into the cavity. You may need to push it along with your fingers to make sure that it goes all the way through.

Preheat nonstick skillet over high heat. Cut the roast into 6 even slices, being careful to keep the stuffing in each slice. Add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and sear in hot, nonstick skillet, 2 minutes on first side. Flip the steaks and sear for an additional 2 minutes then lower the heat to medium-high and cook until done (about 3 to 4 more minutes). Garnish with thinly sliced red pepper.

The Verdict.......this was great, even a vegetarian can admit that meat is good....for those readers who are not around a well stock grocer, if you cannot really find prosciutto, then bacon would work just as well. I would also say youy can use a flank or skirt steak too instead of round.

Also, the cats loved this, and I think from thier meows, that they are requesting seconds.

Until tomorrow........

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fillin' Groovy

Ate a salad at Panera Bread tonight, but was in the mood for some dessert, so I was loooking through few of rachaels recipes and found Apples, No Pie, a la Mode. Now normally my favorite part of Apple pie with vanilla ice cream is the hot pie crust mixed with the cold ice cream....all I can say is YUMMY.....so a crust less pie i figure would be a tad different.


Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated or minced
3 Golden Delicious apples, quartered, cored and sliced
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 canister whipped cream


Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the ginger and apples to warm butter, squeeze a little lemon juice over the pan and saute 4 to 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg to the apples and cook another 2 minutes. Spoon apples into dessert dishes and top with ice cream and whipped cream. Garnish whipped cream with a pinch more cinnamon or nutmeg.


The Verdict.......well if you read the list if ingredients, you could tell that there was NO WAY, that this would be bad and it was not. This was hot and delicious.

It was quick to make, I did cut the apples a bit smaller then Rachael called for, but it would not make a difference how you cut them.......this was DA BOMB.

Karen, since you will read this, you need to make this for your family THIS WEEKEND, and when they say "thanks mom this is great", you can say "don't thank me, thank the everloving green eyed chef from My dinners with Rachael"

Until Tomorrow.....................

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Stay the Course

Well, I was told at work by a friend that I had been slipping in my posting, and i have.........it is true. I explained that I have been dating and just not been able to cook at home, but today I am back on course and decided to make something that sounded rather different from Rachael...........Stuffed Roasted Strawberries.

Ingredients

12 extra-large strawberries (the bigger the better:-)

1 to 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar, optional

Spray whipping cream

Cocoa powder, for garnishing


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Slice the tops of the berries off just below the stem. Cut the tips off (about 1/4-inch), so that the berries will sit upright. Next, use a small spoon or a melon ball scoop to hollow out the strawberries, working from their tops, in order to create a cavity in each one. Stuff some chocolate into the cavity of each strawberry and place them upright in a baking dish. Lightly sprinkle the berries with sugar, if using. Roast the berries until soft and the chocolate is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes.



To serve, place 3 strawberries on a dessert plate in a triangle. If the berries have given off liquid in the baking dish, spoon it over them. Spray a small mound of cream in the center of the berries, and top each berry with a rosette of cream. Sift a little cocoa powder over the plate, and serve!!!!


The verdict.......well, I have eaten chocolate dipped strawberries and thought they were ok, nothing fantastic, just ok..........but these were really REALLY good. It took some looking to find the massive strawberries needed but it was worth it.....plus this is a low fat and low calorie dessert, so over all this was a great dish.

Until Tomorrow...........

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Hearty Fare

Just made a snack dish tonight Roasted Garlic, Feta and Walnut Dip, Toasted Flat Bread. Sounded tasty..........also i was watching a new thirty min meals with rachael, and I think she has put on a little weight.....now all my readers do not get angry, she still looks cute as a bug in a rug......I just notice stuff like that, anyway on to the dish.


Ingredients
1 medium bulb garlic, end cut off, 1 clove reserved
1 tablespoon evoo, plus some for drizzling
1 cup walnut halves, toasted
1 1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbles
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, a handful of leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 large clove garlic, reserved from above, cracked away from skin
4 flat breads or pitas, cut into wedges and toasted


Preheat oven or toaster oven to highest setting. Pour oil over cut side of garlic bulb and rub into skin. Double wrap garlic in foil and roast 20 to 25 minutes in toaster oven or hot conventional oven.

Combine walnuts, feta, milk, oregano, parsley, black pepper, red pepper and garlic clove in food processor and pulse process until spread is smooth. Scrape spread into serving dish with spatula. Drizzle dip with evoo and serve.

When you remove garlic from the oven, turn heat off. Arrange triangles of cut pita or flat brad on a small tray or cookie sheet. Place bread into the hot toaster oven or conventional oven. The bread will be warmed through and lightly toasted in 5 minutes


The Verdict..........this was very tasty as is most of rachaels recipes. I could see using plain yogurt instead of milk if you wanted to make the dip a little creamier. The feta and walnuts made a nice flavor together, so I say make this dear reader at your next party or get-together.

Until Tomorrow...........

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Living Lean

Not particularly hungry, but i saw this recipe and thought I would try it since it seemed a bit out there when I read the name...........Melon Soup........

Ingredients
2 ripe small to medium cantaloupes
2 rounded tablespoons sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 1/2 cups spring water
2 kiwis, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
1/2 pint raspberries


Cut ends off each cantaloupe and stand upright. Remove skin in strips working around melons. Halve melons and seed with spoon. Chunk melons and place pieces in food processor. You will work in 2 batches. Fill processor 3/4 full. Add 1 tablespoon sugar, the juice of 1/2 lime and about 3/4 cup spring water. Pulse grind them process soup until smooth. Adjust sugar to your taste and pour soup into 2 bowls, repeat process. Top each soup bowl with kiwi and raspberries and serve.


The Verdict..........this was just ok for me. I think it needed something else to make it taste like more then just pureed melon. I will say that the bites that contained some pureed melon, kiwi and raspberries was good, but over all this was not my favorite dish.

Until Tomorrow........