Fall Roasting

Quinoa… Imma be honest… never had it, was sort of scared of it. I love eating healthy things,not because they’re “healthy” but because they are full of earthy flavor and pure wholesomeness. So in true chef spirit, I gave quinoa a try. Two to one ratio chicken broth and dry quinoa, cooks like rice, only faster.

Well, you can’t just have quinoa, according to me at least. My cooking is not methodical. I hate recipes. Cooking is my creative outlet and there is nothing the makes me feel more relaxed, inspired, creative, or brilliant than going to the grocery store, getting a few in season items and coming home to make something beautiful and tasty.

Sometimes, what I cook is shit. Don’t tell my sister, but have a fierce habit of burning things. I will admit that. Sometimes, it rocks. Tonight, I rocked the kitchen.

Did you see that magazine article about roasted grapes and Brussels sprouts? No? That’s fine, because I did. My inspiration tonight came from the perfectly in season fall squash (acorn, to be exact) and a half eaten bowl of grapes on my counter that I didn’t want to toss.

Side note, may I just say, proper knives make cooking a dream. However, my knives are at my mother’s house and I had to peel a squash with a dull, shitty knife. I’m surprised I still have all of my fingers. Anyways, I peeled the hell out of that squash, chopped it, tossed it with red onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and grapes. I may or may not have added a bit of left over bacon grease…but that was a last minute addition.

Roasted that deliciousness at 400 until they were tender, stirring occasionally.

Bringing this dish together, plate the quinoa, top with some raw, crunchy kale, and finally, the roasted fall magic. If I could put the flavors of fall into a bowl, this might be it. Oh my, the only thing that could make this better is a glass of red wine. Texture, taste, smell, sight, this dish has it all going on! Feed it to someone you love. <3

PS: The Wandering Gypsy has settled into her first big girl apartment, seems we aren’t wandering so much anymore.

 

Business Trip.

Let me preface this post by saying… I am no longer blogging for class, therefore, I can write about whatever the hell I want. It will most likely still be food related because if we took that out, there wouldn’t be much else in my life to write about. My life has been consumed with friends, family, food, and work the past three months and traveling to LA took out two things from that equation which left me with a lot more time on my hands, thus; a blog post.

Sometimes when a person graduates college, they end up sitting in their parents basement, eating Cheetos, surfing the web for “real jobs” , and working part time at the local DQ, just like old times.

Other times, a person may graduate college with a “real job” in hand. Move to that big (or just slightly bigger) city, and turn into a pencil pushing grown up. Now I’m not saying that one way is better than another… there are definitely days I want to sit in a basement eating Cheetos, but that was not the route I chose. I went straight for it, adulthood. Dun dun dun…

Technically, I’m an adult and have been for a while, but I never felt like one. I could just do more fun stuff like drink without paranoia. Talk about a buzz kill.

I realized today, while on a business trip, telling a perfect stranger I was on a business trip, that I turned into a real, honest to goodness, adult. I am officially a grownup. Kids don’t take business trips. College students do not take business trips. They take unpaid internships.  Someone is paying for me to learn stuff, a vastly different concept than the last 4 years of my “adult” life.

On this particular business trip, I am in Los Angeles, CA for three weeks. By myself. Alone. At Christmas. Ok, just kidding about the Christmas part… I think that’s a sad line from that movie The Holiday. Of course I am training with people, but that’s not really conducive to forming friendships. Plus with the way my summer has been, a little quiet might even do me good.

So I’m being proactive and instead of eating Cheetos alone in my hotel room, I’m taking myself out on the town! Staying in Beverly Hills is fantastic for that. I don’t have to deal with the traffic of downtown LA, relatively close to the beach, and on my days off, I can adventure anywhere I would like.

Thus far (week 1 of 3) I’ve been done Marina Del Ray, Playa Del Ray, Rodeo Drive, the Pacific Palisades, Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica, Malibu, and Santa Barbara. Tomorrow I’m hiking in San Pedro at something called the Sunken City….Had to make a friend to learn about that one.

Maybe next week I’ll eat Cheetos.

 

Island Bread Company

This is a very special post that is close to my heart. The summer after my freshman year at college, I had the opportunity to work at a little hotel/restaurant on Washington Island Wisconsin. This place had one of the most talented bakers I’ve ever met. I’ve worked in New York City people… she is still hands down one of the most talented people I’ve worked with, I crave her brick oven breads all the time.

While that hotel closed, she opened up her own bakery on the island and needs YOUR help to get a brick oven. I am helping spread the word and get her ever closer to her dream and her destiny. If anyone out here in the blog-o-sphere can help… Do it. This is a wonderful project to support! We love you Heidi!

Below is a link to her project, watch the video, get inspire, pledge!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1502447120/it-takes-a-village-to-raise-an-oven-we-knead-you?ref=email

 

Cheers to College Gourmet

If you know me, you know that you by no means have to coax me into making a meal for you.  In fact, I may offer, suggest, and even beg to cook for you. Last night was no exception, but my friends know, no begging necessary. Friends from out of town joined in a little old friends, new friends, end of semester evening at my apartment where I proceeded to make Mustard Crusted Salmon, Truffle Butter Pasta, and fresh salad for the ladies while  wearing a pencil skirt and trying to keep my curled hair. So Julia Child of me!

We drank margaritas like it was going out of style, ate, and enjoyed the college night life. I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends to share food with. They are the reason I cook. Cooking is my way of showing someone my heart. I may not always remember to get you a birthday card, but I’ll cook you whatever you want, because I love you.

So for my readers, I’ll share with you my recipe (more like spice combination) for the salmon:

4 pieces of Salmon, Mustard, Olive Oil, Kosher Salt, Pepper,  Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, Lemon Pepper Seasoning and that’s pretty much it!

On an oiled baking sheet, place salmon skinned side down and spread on a thin layer of mustard. You can use any sort of mustard you like, I would suggest something quality.  Add spices and a bit more oil and let the salmon marinate for maybe an hour.

Bake in the oven at 400° F for about 15 minutes, remove, enjoy, impress! Delicious and Nutritious.

 

Vodka… For Dinner?

Homemade Sausage and Mushroom Ravioli in a Spinach Vodka Cream Sauce

I can sense you salivating; get a handle on yourself people! You can make it too!

Over St. Patty’s day weekend I spent some family time in Milwaukee, where I not only got to see the Parade, drink green beer, and take too many photos of my nephew, I also got to see one of my favorite foodie friends and take an inspiring stroll through the Milwaukee Public Market!

At the end of a long shopping day we decided; “Hey, let’s make ravioli from scratch without a pasta maker because arms could really use a work out.”

Thus began the process of listening to 90’s music (cue the Spin Doctors in your head), dancing around the kitchen, and making an awesome meal of ravioli, asparagus, and garlic bread with truffle salt!

Here is what an adventure of that magnitude looks like. No recipes today because, quite frankly, we didn’t use any, that’s what the internet is for. Ha. Cheers!

 

Olive Balls?

Came home from school for a night to visit my mama, and she told me she was making “Olive Stuffed Cheddar Cheese Nuggets”.  I immediately got this horrible image in my head of McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets, because who even uses the word nuggets to describe anything anymore besides Chelsea Handler talking about her sidekick Chuy and fat babies.

Now, I love Mom’s cooking, but sometimes…. She makes the craziest shit.  I chose to follow along with this little experiment because I do love cheese and olives. Turns out, I also love “Olive Stuffed Cheddar Cheese Nuggets”, however, my mother and I had to run through a lot of jokes about balls to land on a more appetizing name.

Actually, we didn’t change the name because we liked calling them Cheesey Balls too much. Perhaps something like “Olive filled cheese hors d’oeuvres” works, I mean, anything sounds better than cheese nuggets.

For your next dinner party enjoyment, an extremely tasty recipe for Olive Filled Cheese Hors d’oeuvres that are the perfect salty, briny, olive and cheese biscuit combination.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

4 TBSP Softened butter

1 Cup Flour

1 ½ tsp Paprika

Few drops of Hot Sauce

24 Pimientos Stuffed Green Olives

1 Egg

1 TBSP Milk

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

To Assemble:

1)      Preheat oven to 350° F

2)      Beat the egg and milk together

3)      Mix together, cheese, butter, flour, paprika, hot sauce, and half of the beaten egg and milk mixture until it reaches dough consistency. (Mama mixed with her hands, but you can use a food processor if you’d like, we just think that touching the food puts more love into to.)

4)      Drain and pat olives dry

5)      Portion the dough into 24 small balls, like you’re making meatballs.  After the balls are formed (oh dear, I’m laughing every time I type the word ‘balls’) pat them into a flat circle like so… note photo. Place the olive in the circle and wrap the cheddar-y goodness around the olive completely.

6)     Arrange the olive stuffed cheese balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or if you’re my mother, just use your mini muffin tin and little baby muffin cups that are conveniently the exact perfect size for your balls.

7)      Uses the remaining egg mixture to brush the tops of the cheese balls and crack some black pepper overtop.

8)      Pop into the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. These balls can be served hot or at room temperature. I like ‘em hot.

 

Sweet and Sassy

A few weeks ago I went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the area. The dish: Sweet Bourbon Pasta. Take a mental food journey with me for a second here, imagine perfectly cooked fettuccine pastas glazed with a creamy, sweet sauce that leaves a slow burning heat in your mouth after the first few bites. Among the pasta and sauce perfection was a combination of jalapeño bacon (Whatttt?), Andouille sausage, mushrooms, and artichoke. I’m not sure even sure what you could add to make this taste ANY better. Ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Needless to say, this dish was freakin’ awesome. So awesome, in fact, that the very next night, I had to recreate the dish. Yes, I said the NEXT night. And, I’m probably going to have to make it tomorrow night.

The recreation process was interesting because I’m not one for the “Copy Cat” recipes but, having a culinary type degree definitely helped me figure out how to make this work of art.

What you’ll need:

1 lb Fettuccine (or whatever kind of noodle you prefer)

4 Slices of Bacon (if you find jalapeño bacon, call me)

1 lb Andouille Sausage

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Sauce:

¼ Cup Unsalted Butter

2 TBS Real Maple Syrup

3 TBS Bourbon Whiskey (shhh, I used Blended Canadian)

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream or Half & Half

6 oz Artichoke Hearts

12 oz Baby Portabella Mushrooms

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Chili Paste (Sriracha Sauce)

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Pulling it all together:

Start a pot on the stove with salted water to boil the pasta. While you are definitely not watching the pot (because then it won’t boil, silly), make your sauce!

Now, there are going to be variations on this because I did not cook the sausage and bacon with the sauce, I cooked them separately and added them to the sauce later, but you could absolutely substitute some of the butter for bacon and sausage grease. Yum.

Slice the baby bellas and sauté them in butter over medium-high heat. Add the maple syrup and continue cooking. When the mushrooms are tender, add the whiskey. Don’t be scared of the sizzle, sizzle is a good thing.

At this point, add your spices. I didn’t put amounts for the chili paste and red pepper flakes because it’s all to your preference. I love spicy food, but I don’t know if you do.

Add the cream and let the sauce merry and reduce. This is the point where I added the bacon, sausage, and artichoke hearts.

Somewhere within this time span, I bet that pot of water started boiling. Hopefully, you knew to add the pasta and cook it until its al dente. Turn the heat off on the sauce and when the pasta is done, add it to the sauce. Use some of that awesome starch-y pasta water to enhance the sauce.

Present this magical creation you’ve made in a beautiful pasta bowl with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese over top, and see if you don’t make a few friends. Cheers!

 

Can you Canapé?

If I’ve learned anything from Wines and Spirits class, it is that nothing goes better with Sauvignon Blanc than Goat Cheese. The creamy, tangy perfection cut by the herbal acidity of the wine is heaven in your mouth. If you don’t believe me, make this recipe, buy a bottle of Sauv Blanc and tell me about it tomorrow.

The perfect Hors d’oeuvre; Cucumber Canape. You’ve never heard of a Canape? Don’t be scared, it’s just a French term for an open faced sandwich. In this case, the bread is a cucumber and the filling is a thyme and goat cheese spread. This recipe is wonderful because you look fancy and can impress your friends (which I’m all about!) and still have plenty of time to get ready for the party.

Recipe:

2 English Cucumbers

6-8 oz Chevre Goat Cheese

8oz Cream Cheese

1 TBS Fresh Chopped Thyme

1 Clove Minced Garlic

Salt and Pepper To Taste

Assembly:

In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese into submission. Add the goat cheese and cream together until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, thyme and garlic and mix until thoroughly combined.

Fill mixture into a pastry bag, fitted with an open star or round tip.  Set aside and slice cucumber. It is not necessary to peel an English Cucumber, but you can if you would like to. Make sure that the slices of cucumber are not too thin.

Once the cucumber is arranged on a plate or serving platter, pipe the cheese spread onto the canvas of cucumber. Enjoy with a chilled class of Sauvignon Blanc and lovely friends. Cheers!

 

Sage Butter Sauteed Mushroom and Sausage Pizza

Woof, what a mouthful! Literally and figuratively. From here on in, I’ll be using this blog as my senior project.  What does that mean for you? Less inappropriate jokes (unless you like them, let me know!) and a request for more reader interactions. Feel free to comment, re-post, and pin this blog so I can view and calculate traffic data!

Today’s topic: Pizza!

Over Christmas my family has started a new tradition (although I quite enjoyed Chicken and Dumplings, it was getting old), a pizza party! I love pizza as much as the next person, but there is so much more we can do with pizza than just red sauce, pepperoni, and shredded cheese from a bag.

Growing up, we used frozen bread dough for pizza crust, great for working mothers, not cool when you want to make amazing pizza. Good pizza starts with the crust.

I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/pizza-dough-recipe/index.html

No need for the fancy-pants flour though, unless you want to. I encourage fancy-pants flour, it’s just not necessary for this recipe to work. I used 2 Cups Semolina and 5 Cups AP flour.

To demonstrate the process of assembling, mixing, kneading, and proofing the dough, I’m introducing my Sous Chef, Mr. Mason Henry, King of Flour Sifting. My nephew is the best helper! Along with him, I’m also illustrating the technique of making a well with the flour, adding the liquid, mixing and kneading the dough.

Pizza isn’t pizza without toppings.  For this post I chose sauteed mushrooms and Italian sausage with Parmesan cheese. No red sauce this time, sorry to all of you traditionalists.

• Italian Sausage
• Baby Portabella Mushrooms
• Butter
• Fresh Sage
• Parmesan Cheese
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper
• Garlic Cloves

And that’s all you need, well that, and the amazing pizza dough you’ve made! I’m not making these specific portions because it’s all relative to how many pizzas you choose to make and the sausage to mushroom ratio you’d like to achieve.  What you do need to know is that it’s in your best interest to roll out the pizza dough, place it on a greased cookie sheet and precook it for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. While that’s happening, saute the sausage, set aside, saute the mushrooms in the same pan with the delicious sausage fat, add butter, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper. If that is not the most irresistible, sensational thing you’ve smelled in a year, email me and let me know what you’re cooking!

After taking the pizza dough out of the oven, brush the dough with the sage infused butter that was used to saute the mushrooms.  Add your preferred amount of sausage and mushrooms, then grate fresh Parmesan over the top of the pizza. Broil on high until all the cheese is bubbly and melty. Technical term; Melty.

Enjoy the parade of pizza lining our counter. This is how we do Christmas.

 

Brussels and Bacon

This post will be short, but sweet. Make that short, but savory.

Brussels Sprouts.  You hated them, I hated them, why couldn’t your mother figure out how to make Brussels Sprouts taste good?  She was missing the bacon, that’s all.  Don’t blame her for the under utilization of bacon in your childhood, I’m here to fix that.

Recipe:

1 lb Brussels Sprouts

4 Slices of Bacon

1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans

2-3 Cloves of Garlic

Butter

Olive Oil

Salt&Peppa

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (only if you’re a bad ass)

To Assemble:

Cut Brussels Sprouts in half, Top to Bottom.  Cut bacon into strips.  Give pecans a rough chop.

In a large skillet melt 2 TBS butter and 1 TBS Olive oil over medium heat.  Add Brussels Sprouts to get a nice crisp on them.  After maybe 10 minutes or so, add Bacon, Garlic and seasonings.  The bacon doesn’t get crispy this way, but it will get cooked because Brussels Sprouts get about 30 minutes to saute. If you want crisp bacon in your Brussels Sprouts, be my guest, saute the bacon, then add the sprouts, or do it in a separate pan.

Finally add the pecans and continue to cook until the sprouts are at your desired done-ness.  I prefer them cooked through but with a slight crunch still.  When you taste the bacon, see if you can pick up on the distinct Brussels flavor it has picked up.  This is perhaps on of the tastiest side dishes out there!