recipes

...now browsing by category

Fake Pho

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Above is a photo of real Pho I found on the internets.

I have never made real Pho. We go to Pho restaurants for this and it is DELICIOUS! However, at home, I make a reasonable facsimile with cooked beef, based on a recipe from the Racheal Ray Everyday magazine. It’s from way back in 2006, and I’m pretty sure it’s part of how Jonathan fell so deeply in love with me (and my cooking).

Here you go:
5oz of rice noodles (I have NO IDEA how much this is because we don’t own a scale, so in my house this equals two handfuls of noodles.)
2 cups of bean sprouts or 3/4lb-um, they’re sold in one pound packages at the store here so we go with the whole pound. If you hate the crunchy goodness of bean sprouts, you can probably find them in bulk somewhere and purchase fewer of them.
1 pound deli roast beef, cut into strips and then cut the strips in half crosswise (I buy the nitrite free stuff from Trader Joe’s for two reasons: nitrites can be scary and it is cheaper than the deli meat at TOP foods).
1 Tbsp veggie oil
1 jalepeno pepper, cut the white part and the seeds out of the middle and then sliced them into little half moons. DO NOT touch your eye at any point during this process.
3 scallions, thinly sliced
One 14oz can beef broth (we are not picky with our broth around here, when I made this last week I used chicken broth because that’s what we had open)
1/3 Cup cilantro leaves (um, it’s more like one full cup of cilantro around here because it’s Jonathan’s favorite)
Lime wedges

Alright, start with a pot of water and add the rice noodles. Get them boiling together and boil for three minutes until they’re cooked. Don’t be too picky about this because you’re adding hot broth to them later. Drain and rinse the noodles with cold water twice. Divide the noodles into four bowls and heap the bean sprouts and roast beef on top of the noodle piles.
Using the same pan you used for the noodles, heat some oil over medium heat.
Toss in the jalepeno and the green onion. Cook until soft, usually about two minutes.
Add the broth and two cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook for ten minutes (uncovered-this is key, it allows the broth to get nice and spicy).
Season the broth with salt if you desire.
Pour the broth over the noodle/sprout/meat nests in the bowls.
Serve with more bean sprouts, cilantro and lime wedges.
Devour.

Posted in Uncategorized, cooking, recipes | 2 Responses »

Another new recipe=delicious

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

In addition to fun anniversary celebration like things, we did some non-anniversary things Monday and took advantage of the fact that we weren’t at work. One of those things was shopping at PCC. Yep. We grocery shopped on our anniversary! It was great fun! (We also went to the bookstore where we acquired “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” if we start looking fat larger soon, take away the book and erase the very easy recipe from my memory).

Anyway, one of the items we purchased at PCC was farmer cheese. We’d never heard of it before! It’s delicious! It was for the recipe: Pasta with Winter Greens and Walnuts from Every Day with Rachael Ray February 2009 edition. We were also introduced to escarole. (It’s much easier for me to type this because I’m still pretty fuzzy on the pronunciation)

Here’s a photo of our new friend the escarole:

Don’t be fooled by the other leafy greens sitting pretty next to him. If you’re at PCC, they actually have a little catalogue of produce. It’s very handy. More handy than the produce guy, if I do say so myself. He can’t help it; the produce guy we met is still in high school and doesn’t know much about the veggies yet.

And now the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 (7.5 ounce) package farmer cheese
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Grated peel of 1/2 lemon
3/4lb of fusilli (corkscrew) pasta
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large head escarole, coarsely chopped
Salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Have Jonathan, world’s best husband, combine the cheese, 3 tablespoons olive oil and the lemon peel in a small bowl.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water; return the pasta to the pot.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the escarole and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted but still crisp; season with salt. Stir the escarole and the reserved pasta cooking water into the pasta. Transfer to a platter (or put it in a bowl like us); dollop with the cheese mixture and sprinkle with the walnuts. Toss lightly just before serving.

And because it’s fun, here are the photos of our sweet times in the kitchen for this one:

Jonathan expertly crumbles the farmer cheese.

The freshly washed and cut escarole

The finished product, delicious!

A big thank you to the cheese monger at PCC! She knew what we were looking for and gave us free cheese that had a sell by date of the day prior! YAY!

Posted in Uncategorized, recipes | 1 Response »

New recipe and a bit of an experiment

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

The February 2009 issue of Every Day with Rachael Rayincluded a recipe that you cook in a colander! Oh my! I had to try it. That, and it included baby bok choy and couscous, which we enjoy.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
One 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 bunch scallions, 1/2 of them thinly sliced, the other half cut into two inch pieces
3 star anise
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved
Salt
One 10oz box of couscous
1 1/4 lbs baby bok choy, halved lengthwise and rinsed

Directions
1. In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger; stir in the 2-inch scallion pieces and the star anise, if using. Season the chicken with salt and add to the marinade, turning to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Line a footed metal colander with 2 layers of damp cheesecloth, allowing 2 inches of overhang. Place in a pot and add enough water to just reach the colander bottom. Bring to a simmer; have a small pot of boiling water on the side.
3. Pour the couscous into the colander. Place the chicken thighs on top in a single layer, pressing up the sides of the colander, if necessary; reserve the marinade. Cover and steam, adding more hot water as needed, until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, simmer the reserved marinade until thickened, about 4 minutes; strain.
5. When the chicken is almost done, scatter the bok choy on top, season with salt and steam for 3 minutes. Transfer the bok choy and chicken to a platter, drizzle with the marinade and top with half of the sliced scallions. Stir the remaining scallions into the couscous, season with salt and serve with the chicken.

The result: First, I didn’t use all the sugar or all the soy sauce because it would have been too sweet for us. Also, I’m sometimes sensitive to too much salt/sodium in things and we didn’t have the reduced sodium soy sauce. I was concerned about the flavor, but Jonathan didn’t notice, so that’s a good sign. I used more ginger than was called for in the recipe. I made the marinade early and the chicken sat in the frige soaking up the deliciousness all day.

Second, this is a two person recipe. I don’t think I could have lifted the colander and filled the bottom pot without spilling anything if I was on my own. Metal colanders get hot and therefore require the use of hot pads or ovenmits!

Third, I was very concerned about whether or not the chicken would cook. It DID! And it was great, but the couscous didn’t have enough liquid so I had to add some and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes after everything else was finished.

Here’s what it looked like in our kitchen:

Marinating the chicken:
010 by you.

Lining the colander with cheesecloth:

009 by you.

Watching it cook:

011 by you.

Adding the bok choy:

012 by you.

Ready to eat!
016 by you.

All in all, I enjoyed this recipe, but I don’t think I’ll cook in the colander again. I’m all for using the kitchen tools for as many things as possible, but this is kind of ridiculous and takes more effort than I’m willing to put forth every week.

Posted in cooking, marriage, photo, recipes | 2 Responses »

Not always a winner

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Jonathan would have you to believe that I am a great cook. True, we do not go hungry, but sometimes I have really bad ideas. Since I had a particularly bad idea this week, I thought I’d share it with you. Let me preface by saying I work for an accounting firm that is amazing in many ways, not the least of which is the snack cabinet. On Tuesday afternoon I felt the need for a little pick me up and I thought, “Mmm, you know what sounds good? A mint mocha!” Having no compulsion to pay for such a thing when all the ingredients were at hand, I set to work. Here’s the recipe:

1/2 Tablespoon sketchy non-dairy could last forever creamer
1 packet Swiss Miss cocoa power
8 ounces brewed coffee
3 Junior mints

Mix them together! What do you get? Sludge and ruined coffee and wasted Junior Mints.

I happened to have my camera, so in case you needed a visual:

Please, save your Junior Mints and just eat them separately.

We have had success with a few new recipes lately and when we’re done eating, we’ll post the photo and info on those too!

Posted in cooking, photo, recipes | 3 Responses »

Root Vegetable Tagine

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Okay, this is the last recipe for the day, but I’m not going to lie, it was a good one! I’ve been having a hard time looking for slow cooker recipes that do not take less than nine hours to finish or require meat on the bone (one of us doesn’t like meat on the bone)…..I finally found one!

I prepped the veggies last night and put them in the crock pot before we left for work and it looked like this:

Upon our return home, we found this:

I added some funky Trader Joe’s mix of couscous and some other stuff to it and here’s the final product:

The verdict: We have ourselves a winner! It is like a delightful autumn stewy thing. It’s both sweet and spiced and it was a really nice way to end the day.

Okay, here’s the recipe:

1 pound parsnips, peeled and diced
1 pound turnips, peeled and diced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound carrots, peeled and diced
6 dried apricots, chopped
4 pitted prunes, chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth

In a slow cooker, toss together the parsnips, turnips, onions, carrots, apricots, and prunes. Season with turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, parsley, and cilantro. Pour in the vegetable broth.

Cover, and cook 9 hours on Low.

McPhersonisms on this: I have no idea how much of each vegetable I put in here. I just bought a turnip, a couple of parsnips and had some carrots so in they went. I used three onions because I happened to have three and I didn’t use the same amount of spice…we use frozen cilantro from Trader Joe’s so we put eight cubes in rather than the measured amount of dried. I also use heaps or scoops of spices so it was maybe a little more zesty. Upon reading the comments on allrecipes, I also added an additional 1/2 can of broth. I set the crock pot to cook on low for only eight hours, knowing it would have an additional two hours to be on “warm” before we returned home. It worked out very well. If you’re so inclined, one could easily add some chicken.

And now a confession. I had no idea whether I was holding a turnip or a rutabaga at the store, so I bought both. Anybody know what to do with a rutabaga around 1.5 to 2lbs in size?

Posted in cooking, home, marriage, recipes | 2 Responses »

Birthday Dinner

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

om nom nom nom by J. McPherson.

For Jonathan’s birthday, he asked me to cook up a new recipe for dinner (we had already gone out to eat the previous two evenings and we like to keep things balanced). I offered up a selection from the various cookbooks and magazines we’ve got around the house and this is what he selected. (From Real Simple, November 2008) I did not really change much on this, but I did use salmon with the skin because I wasn’t paying attention. Not such a big deal. It was delicious!

Salmon and Fennel with Roasted-Lemon Vinaigrette

2 bulbs fennel, thinly sliced
2 lemons, cut in half crosswise
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 6-ounce pieces skinless salmon fillet
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
12 ounces mixed greens (about 8 cups)

Heat oven to 400° F. In a large roasting pan, toss the fennel, lemons, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Roast until the fennel begins to soften, about 8 minutes.Yield: Makes 4 servings NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 372; FAT 17g (sat 2g); CHOLESTEROL 97mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17g; CALORIES FROM FAT 40%; SODIUM 696mg; PROTEIN 40g; FIBER 6g; SUGAR 4g

Season the salmon with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and nestle in the fennel. Roast until the salmon is opaque throughout, 12 to 15 minutes.

Squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a small bowl and mash to a paste. Squeeze the lemon pulp and juice into the bowl. Stir in the honey, rosemary, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place the salmon and fennel on the greens. Drizzle with the dressing.

Posted in birthday, cooking, family, home, marriage, recipes | 3 Responses »

The brownie recipe

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

I thought about making these brownies again and taking a photo because they really didn’t last long at our house, but I think you all just need to try them in your own home.

Here you go, from Martha Stewart:

Chocolate Ginger Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar (I used less-maybe 3/4 cup-I’d like to keep all my teeth)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s because we had it and HOLY SMOKES Dutch cocoa powder is expensive!)
2 eggs
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Line bottom with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over 2 sides. Butter parchment; set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
Pour batter into prepared dish and smooth top with a rubber spatula.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift out, and let cool completely on rack. Cut into sixteen 2-inch squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

These were moist and chewy, just like a brownie should taste and the spices gave them a nice flavor-not too chocolaty. I did use the parchment paper this go round, but I think next time I’ll just skip it. I stored the brownies in the pyrex because it has it’s own cover and why waste good parchment paper? Oh, this does not make 16 brownies. Well, it does, but some people then have to eat two!

Posted in cooking, family, fun, honeymoon, marriage, recipes | 5 Responses »

Salmon and Shredded Beet Salad with Arugula

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Delicious Salad!

Kelly made this salad for us a few days ago and it was DELICIOUS! The recipe is from Real Simple but doesn’t appear to be on their website. No matter; here’s what’s in it:

Poached salmon
Arugula
Shredded beets (we used a food processor)
A dressing made of horseradish, sour cream, and dill

That’s about it. It’s healthy and it’s a great way to get some beets in your vegetable mix; they add a slightly sweet counterpoint to the nutty arugula and are a great texture complement to the soft salmon.

Posted in photo, recipes | 4 Responses »

New Recipe!

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

One of the new recipes I found was for Black Bean Enchilada Bake (thanks Sarah!)

It was pretty good if I do say so myself, but really, you don’t need much of a recipe for this one. Play around with it!

Here is the recipe:
2 cups chopped onion, fresh or frozen
1 and 1/2 cups chopped red pepper, fresh or frozen
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained (I also rinsed them)
12 6″ corn tortillas
2 cups monterey jack and cheddar cheese blend-shredded (I used pepper jack and cheddar because that’s what we had on hand)
3 tomatoes chopped (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combined onion, pepper, garlic, salsa, cumin and black beans in a large skillet and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently for three minutes (I put the onions and garlic in first and sauteed them up a bit before adding the other ingredients).

Arrange 6 tortillas in the bottom of a 9″x13″ baking dish overlapping them as necessary. Spread half the bean mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat the layering process until all remaining ingredients are used.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and serve warm (I removed the foil then broiled it for a couple of minutes to make the top a little crispy). Garnish with tomatoes, sour cream and olives (we did not do this, but that’s up to you).

I think if we do this again I’ll serve it with a bunch of lettuce and tomato on top like a taco salad. It’s a pretty easy go-to meal for midweek. I also added an extra teaspoon of cumin and cilantro, but we really like both of those.

Posted in cooking, recipes | No Responses »

Morning Glory Muffins

Monday, May 26th, 2008

These are one of my favorite baked goodies that Kelly makes–I love the way they smell when they’re cooking and they’re my favorite breakfast if there are any in the house in the morning. (I have a very keen sense of smell in the morning and can find a Morning Glory Muffin before I’ve even had coffee.)

You can find the recipe here at AllRecipes. Kelly’s never made them that way, though; she likes to mix things up and keep things healthy. I am glad that she knows how to do this, because I’m always afraid that if I change any part of a recipe I will wind up with some kind of mutant concoction that will smell bad and/or eat me, its creator, in a horrible reversal of fate.

Here are Kelly’s Top 5 modifications:

Add a tablespoon of flax seed.
Use turbinado sugar instead of white sugar; you can also reduce the amount of sugar by 1/2 or more.
You don’t have to use multiple kinds of flour.
Replace the apple butter and oil with 1/4 cup applesauce and a drained can of pineapple tidbits.
Omit nuts and/or add vegetables as desired.

Try some–they’re delicious and good for you, too. Happy baking!

Posted in photo, recipes | No Responses »
Tags: recipes

Oatmeal for Breakfast

Or: The New Adventures of the McPhersons