day 34 (part I) = jazz up your leftover papa john's pizza

sarah:
on sunday, charley and i woke-up and both hit our computers to watch intensely as our fantasy football players racked-up "points." if you are unfamiliar with fantasy football, you probably have 3 more years left on your life. check it out here if you are interested, but it's probably best if you don't get too attached...

anyway, we were lazy, and ordered Papa John's pizza. we got "the works", but it wasn't as good as i remembered. i made sure charley ordered the side of garlic sauce (yummy) and hot peppers. so tonight i wanted to finish up the leftovers, but really wasn't looking forward to it. then it came to me, jazz it up! here's what i did:

- put the pizza slices on a plate
- drizzle remaining garlic sauce overtop
- add cauliflower from day 33
- put it in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds on 50% power
- add the remaining hot peppers
- chow down!

(you'll notice the picture has a bite out of it and that's because i really wasn't intending to blog on this, but it tasted so good i couldn't resist).

jazz up your leftover pizza with any fridge leftovers and let me know how it goes. can't hurt!

enjoy!

day 33 = dinner for sarah

sarah:
i had to make dinner for myself tonight. so i went to the store totally unsure of what to buy, and decided i'd make something out of what i could find on sale. ribs and cauliflower it is! the beef ribs were $1.99/lb and the cauliflower was $1.00/lb. done. then i felt i needed some heat so i bought serrano peppers. here's what i did:

make the ribs:
1) turn the oven to 350
2) trim the beef ribs to get rid of the excess fat
3) sprinkle any combo of spices all over the ribs. i did 3 kinds:
        i. montreal steak seasoning, alaea salt & pepper
        ii. spanish paprika, alaea salt & pepper
        iii. curry powder, red pepper flakes, alaea salt & pepper
4) put in oven and cook for 1 hr
5) pull ribs out and baste with bbq sauce (i use jack daniels original)
6) return to oven and cook for another 1/2 hr

make the cauliflower:
1) heat a good amount of extra-virgin olive oil in a 4qt dutch oven on med heat
2) add chopped garlic and let infuse -- make sure it does not burn
3) add a chopped serrano pepper, stir
4) when the garlic is starting to turn color, add 1/4 large onion
5) add turmeric, oriental mustard, ground ginger, cumin, alaea salt & pepper
6) stir real good and let cook for about 7 mins
7) add cauliflower florets and 1/2 cup water, bring to boil
8) once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and let sit until ribs are ready!

make the peppers:
1) heat a good amount of extra-virgin olive oil in a pan on med heat
2) add chopped garlic and let infuse -- make sure it does not burn
3) add whole serrano peppers
4) add garlic powder and sea salt
5) let sit (do not stir) on low heat until on side begins to char
6) flip over and repeat on other side until ribs are ready!


well, i love peppers cooked in this way, but these were really hot! so hot in fact i am leaving them aside to chop up into smaller pieces for a later meal. the cauliflower also took on some of the intense heat, but it was fantastic! i couldn't believe how much i liked it. ribs are always a favorite of mine* -- and so easy!!

*my favorite way of making ribs is using chinese-five-spice, but these were descent also. i think i liked the curry powder ones the best.

in case you are wondering, i picked up the alaea (clay) salt at a local farmers market. it is supposed to keep the juices in your food. it's red so it also adds a little unique touch. have a look:

enjoy!

day 32 = light and fluffy pancakes

sarah:
i have tried and tried, but never been able to make a good pancake. they always come out as little bricks and i could never understand why. i even let the batter sit for 10 mins (to make them light and fluffy), but without fail they became hockey pucks. so this morning, i decided to try making it two ways:

1) with the kitchenaid
2) by hand

then, i experimented with the temp of my griddle. in the end, they came out great! here's what i did:

step 1: gather all the ingredients

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

cooking spray

step 2: in a bowl, first put vinegar and then milk and let the mixture sit for 5 mins to "sour"

(if you have a recipe that calls for buttermilk, use 1 tbsp vinegar per 1 cup milk and do the same)

step 3: combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk in a separate bowl. (see first picture). pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk only until lumps are gone (see second picture). let sit for 10 minutes for the batter to settle.

there is a large difference between mixing by hand and by machine

(see third picture - bowl on left is by hand).

step 4: heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

the first few pancakes never come out right. they still taste good, but aren't very attractive.

this is also where you see the two different batters make very different pancakes (see the first picture). 

the ones on the left where hand mixed, the ones on the right were machine mixed.

if you find your pancakes are browning too fast, turn the heat down a little so they come out looking like pancakes we can all recognize (see second picture). 

 step 5: eat!

in the end, i highly recommend mixing by hand. those pancakes were light and fluffy and very good. you also really need to pay attention to the heat of your pan and keep lowering as necessary. i had some leftover bananas from day 30 so, along with some maple syrup, they made a nice addition to the meal.

charley:

all i can say is hand-mixing makes things better.  these were light and fluffy and after eating 5 of them i can say it didn't make me feel like i had a brick in my stomach.  very tasty!

enjoy!

day 31 = "killer" chicken

sarah:
so last night we decided to use up some of the leftovers. we bought chicken, had corn and asparagus leftover from costco, and had a lot of leftover "killer shrimp" sauce (i forgot to bring it to our friends house). here's what we did:

1) we marinated chunks of white meat chicken in the killer shrimp sauce for a few hours

2) i pulled out the chicken and put them on skewers

3) i put the killer shrimp sauce on the stove and boiled it for 30 mins to concentrate the flavors
      (you'll notice it's much more dense than day 29) so we could dunk the chicken, bread, and
      vegetables into it

4) i sprinkled the last of the "sixteen-spice rub" that i used on day 2, day 3, day 9, day 12...
     all over the chicken

5) i put some olive oil, balsamic vinegar (shhh... don't tell charley), oregano, basil, red pepper   
       flakes, salt and pepper on the asparagus

6) handed it all to charley to grill

7) ate dinner!

it was really good. the best part was i accidentally left a piece of chicken in the sauce while i boiled it. it came out fantastic! so very tender and extremely full of flavor. i am going to make that again for sure!


charley:
at first i thought we should have cooked this on the stove because we could pour the sauce all over the chicken while it cooked, but again sarah had it right by grilling.  i was able to enjoy half last night and the remainder today for lunch.  it will go to the top of my dinner list (still have the dessert on top overall) along with the meatballs!

enjoy!

day 30 = banana cream pie

sarah:
this was my first attempt (at least that i remember) at making a pie crust. i really liked it, but it reminded me more of the wonton chips you get at a chinese restaurant then pie crust. i liked it though. there are quite a bit of steps, so have fun watching them!

make the pie dough:

start by getting a bowl of ice water ready

whisk together: 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

cut in cubes of: 5 tbsp chilled butter and 2 tbsp chilled vegetable shortening

using 2 knives: cut butter and shortening into flour mixture just until form large, pea size crumbs 

  

drizzle 1/4 cup ice water over mixture until forms moist clumps. add a little more water if dough seems too crumbly (i used a bit more). wrap in plastic wrap and let dough refrigerate 30 mins or up to 2 hrs. can also freeze wrapped in aluminum foil for 1 month. 

 meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375. roll out the dough when ready to 12 inches in diameter. place in a pie tin, cover with aluminum foil, and use pie weights to hold it down.

bake for 12-15 mins, until slightly golden. remove foil and weights and bake another 12-15 mins.

put on wire rack to cool completely.

make the filling:

set aside another large bowl of ice water. in a heatproof bowl, mix 4 egg yolks.

 

in a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup milk and 1/3 cup cornstarch. gradually whisk milk mixture into yolks.

in a saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1/8 tsp salt. place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and return to saucepan. heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, whisking constantly. it will start getting very thick. reduce heat to low and let bubble for 30 seconds. remove from heat and whisk in 2 tbsp butter. put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, poke with holes to let the air escape, and put in prepared bowl of ice water.

very thinly slice 2 bananas, and place in cooled pie crust. spread filling on top. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

make the whipped cream:

in a chilled bowl, combine 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

beat at med-high speed until soft peaks form. use immediately or cover and refrigerate up to

2 hours before serving.

make the chocolate shavings:

use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate shavings out of a 1oz square of semisweet chocolate. refrigerate for 10 mins to firm up.

that's it!

charley:

well we may have found a first that i wasn't completely in love with.  the bananas were great and the cream was wonderful, but i didn't like the crust.  it had something about it that just didn't go with the rest of the pie.  all in all it was great, but i will not be eating the crust (i will just leave that for sarah as she liked it!)

enjoy!

day 29 (part II) - killer shrimp soup

sarah:
there is a restaurant in marina del rey, ca called Killer Shrimp that closed down and has just reopened a few years later. we went to eat there twice now and the wait was over 45 mins so hopefully it will stay around now that it's back!

it's fantastic. they only serve one item: shrimp, 3 ways: with french bread, with pasta, or with rice. the shrimp come in a huge serving bowl filled with this wonderful sauce. peels remain on the shrimp so it gets a little messy, but you must give in and use your fingers. my favorite way to eat is dipping the french bread in the sauce... this is my best attempt to recreate the dish from memory, but i can't wait to go eat there and see if it's even close. it's also in my cookbook if you want more great food finds!

the total cost today (without the spices which i bought the last time we made this dish) was: $24.36. we are going to take the leftover broth to our friend's bbq tomorrow so people can enjoy the sauce!

• 2 quarts chicken broth (64oz)
• 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 5 cloves garlic, minced (use more if you like)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup clam juice
• 1/2 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 pounds shrimp, with tails and shells
• 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread

1. pour broth into a large pot, and mix in rosemary, garlic, pepper, celery seed, fennel seed, thyme, red pepper flakes, clam juice, tomato paste, and butter. bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. stir wine into the soup, and continue to simmer and occasionally stir 2 hours. if you have time, put the soup in the refrigerator and let sit overnight. the next day, put back on the stove and heat for 1/2 hr to hr. (i liked it better this way, but charley found no difference in taste when served immediately)
3. just before serving, stir in shrimp. cook for 3 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque. serve with bread for soaking up all the yummy broth.

charley:
when sarah first said this wasn't as good as last time and didn't have a lot of flavor i wasn't sure what she was tasting.  in fact, i liked this more then last time because she added more heat then she did previously.  i like spicy food so this worked great for me.  i only wish there would have been more shrimp!

enjoy!

day 29 = you asked for it greek pasta salad!

sarah:
i made this a few months ago for a bbq and it went over so well it was requested again for tomorrow's labor day party. nancy, this one's for you -- my secret is now yours!

i doubled the recipe and the total cost today (without the dressing ingredients because i had them on-hand) was $18.71.  

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 12 oz rotini pasta, cooked
• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 (4 ounce) can whole black olives
• 3/4 cup sliced pepperoni sausage, cut into strips
• 1/2 jar pepperoncini
• 1 head broccoli

in a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar. add remaining ingredients. toss until evenly coated. cover, and chill overnight.

(if you don't like a lot of dressing and want to see what it tastes like first, reserve 1/2 to 1/4 for later use. you can pour it over the pasta salad the next day or keep it for your dinner salad!)

don't be fooled. it won't taste very well the day you make it. it really needs to marinate overnight to get the full effect.

charley:

if you are looking for something lite and refreshing i would highly recommend this.  it is perfect for a bbq or picnic.

enjoy!