Queen City Cooking

Pad Thai!

2011-03-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

I know I've really been letting my loyal QCC readers down. Too much going on with school, and though I have been cooking quite a bit, I just haven't been so inspired by my dishes....until today! Tonight, I made chicken and shrimp Pad Thai! It was delicious and surprisingly easy to make. First, I scrambled 2 eggs and then set the eggs aside. Then, I cut chicken breasts into small pieces, and stir fried it until half-way cooked. I added the cooked rice noodles (to cook rice noodles, be sure to take the boiling water off the heat, and have the noodles soak in the hot water. Keep an eye on them. Mine were a nice al dente in about 5 minutes) and the Pad Thai sauce (I bought bottled sauce in the Asian section at Wegman's--next time I'll try making it myself!) and mixed it all together. Once it seemed combined (about 4 minutes on medium heat), I added 2 cups of bean sprouts, the scrambled eggs and chopped green onion. I cooked for another minute or so, and voila! When I served the Pad Thai, I added chopped roasted peanuts.

cookie cake!

2011-02-17T07:16:00.001-08:00

Check out the "I love you" (in Hebrew) cookie cake I made for Adam for Valentine's day!

Barefoot Contessa Party: Onion & Fennel Soup Gratin

2011-01-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

I was most excited about making this one. Ina explains that this is her take on french onion by "turning up the volume" with fennel. It was so good. The recipe calls for 4 tbsp unsalted butter, 1/4c olive oil, 3lbs spanish onion, 2lbs fennel (core removed), 1/2 c dry sherry, 1/2 cognac or brandy, 1 1/2 c dry white wine, 8 cups beef broth, 3 bay leaves, 1tbsp kosher salt, ground black pepper, sliced sourdough, 6 oz grated Gruyère cheese. The soup takes a good amount of time to make but probably the most labor intensive part is slicing the onions and fennel--5lbs total is a lot! It was well worth it though. Definitely going to make this again. All and all I would say the Barefoot Contessa party was a delicious, fun and cheese-y success.

Barefoot Contessa Party: Baked Fontina

2011-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Ina's Baked Fontina is basically cheese fondue that you scoop up with bread. The recipe calls for 1 1/2lbs of Italian Fontina Val d'Aosta cheese, olive oil, 6 garlic cloves thinly sliced, 1tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves, 1tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and some bread. Dice the cheese into cubes and distribute evenly in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Drizzle the EVOO and sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top of the cheese. Broil for 6 minutes and serve piping hot with bread. We served it with some baguette, sourdough and a yummy green salad.
The dish was delicious but very rich. Next time I would use half the amount of EVOO she calls for (1/8 of a cup instead of 1/4).

Barefoot Contessa Party: Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

2011-01-16T10:05:00.001-08:00

Today I am having a Barefoot Contessa cooking party with my friends Lauren and Liat. Lauren and I had talked about doing this for a while because we are both huge Ina Garten fans and my mom recently got me her new cookbook, How Easy is That? We picked three recipes to make for an early dinner tonight. It was hard to pick but we ended up choosing the ones that just made our mouth water looking at the pictures in the book, and despite the lack of variety in the meal (lots of cheese!) it's going to be so delicous. This morning I made our dessert: the Barefoot Contessa's old-fashioned banana cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake calls for 3 ripe bananas, 3/4c sugar, 1/2c packed light brown sugar, 1/2c vegetable oil, 2 eggs at room temp, 1/2c sour cream, 1tsp vanilla extract, 1 grated zest of orange (which I didn't include, so I'm hoping for the best), 2c flour, 1tsp baking soda, 1/2tsp kosher salt and 1/2c chopped walnuts. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together. Mix the sugar, brown sugar and bananas in a mixer on low until combined, then add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix on low until smooth. Finally add the sifted flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in chopped walnuts, and then bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees. After baking, let cool in pan for 15 minutes and then take out and cool on a cooling rack.
The cream cheese icing calls for 2 1/2c of confectioners sugar (sifted), 6 tbsp butter (room temp), 6 oz cream cheese (room temp) mixed together with a mixer on low speed. Totally decadent and unbelievably delicious. And I have to say, the cake turned out astoundingly like the one in the beautiful photograph in the cookbook.

My Inner Ina

2011-01-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? cooking party tomorrow...stay tuned!

Knots!

2011-01-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

I made these garlic knots from store-bought pizza dough. I cut the dough into 12 pieces, folded a pinch of minced garlic and some parmesan cheese into each piece, then rolled the piece into a ball and placed it into a muffin tin (PAMed, of course). Then I brushed a little bit of melted butter on top and added more garlic. Baked them in the oven and voila! Next time I'd make 24 knots--these were a little too big.

A Barefoot Wedge Salad

2011-01-12T08:37:00.001-08:00

I made this salad dressing from my new cookbook, a fantastic gift from my awesome mother, How Easy is That?, a new Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) cookbook. This salad dressing calls for chopped scallions, fresh basil, greek yogurt, buttermilk, a bit of mayo, fresh ground pepper, all thrown into the food processor. I made a wedge salad with it one night but Adam also enjoyed it for a few days as a dip for crudités. I highly recommend this cookbook. Look for more Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? recipes coming soon!

Nachos!

2011-01-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

I made nachos for Sunday football last week: I started with a layer of chips with a thin layer of monteray jack cheese. Then I put a layer of black beans, chicken, diced white onion, and another layer of cheese. I baked the nachos in the oven for about 15 minutes. When they came out of the oven I topped them off with homemade pico de gallo and chopped scallions. We enjoyed them with guacamole and salsa on the side. Delicious!

Fish Tacos

2011-01-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

I just can't get enough of the fish tacos. I think the fresh pico de gallo is partially what makes them so delicious, but I also think we were really able to master cooking the fish. See previous fish tacos posts here to find out how.

Baked Brie

2011-01-11T14:51:00.001-08:00

I wouldn't call this cooking per se, but my friends Krystal & Tom came over a few weeks back to watch a movie and I put out a few snacks. My amazing grandmother had given me a brie baker over the summer so I did it up. Placed a round brie in the ceramic dish, topped with apricot preserves and baked it for about 20 minutes. Needless to say, it was delicious.

QCC is back with a steak salad!

2011-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

QCC has been out of commission for a few months now. Apologies to all my loyal readers. My favorite sister has been begging for some new posts...so here they are. This first one is a steak salad I made Adam a couple weeks ago. Wegman's sells "perfect portion" strip steaks. Pan seared these babies, cut them up and placed them on top of a lovely green salad. Yum!

Halloween cupcakes!

2010-10-20T17:05:00.001-07:00

My friend Krystal surprised us over the weekend with an impromptu Halloween cupcake-making party. We had so much fun decorating them. She made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing and they were so delicious. A perfect fall treat; Not too sweet and oh so cute!

Lots of Omega 3 in Sidway 415

2010-10-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Salmon...again...my favorite. This salmon was baked at 370 for 20 minutes with a slices of garlic placed on top of each fillet. I also made sesame noodles and a salad. Delish!

Eggplant Parm

2010-10-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

So I have to be honest: this eggplant parm was one of the most delicious things I have ever made. But, as my mom would say, it sure was a "patchke"--lots of work. The recipe comes from my mom's favorite cookbook that she gave me over the summer, Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews. There are a lot of steps involved: first peeling the eggplant and slicing into coins, than letting the eggplant soak in kosher salt, than rinsing and dipping into an egg/parmasean cheese mixture. Than broiling the eggplant on each side...than layering and adding tomato sauce, cheese and another egg/cheese mixture. If it sounds simple to you, trust me it wasn't. I served this at a little dinner part I had last Sunday evening and everyone really enjoyed it and much to my mother's dismay I did add mozzarella c heese on top even though that's not part of the recipe. It was actually so delicious but I now understand why its considered a "birthday dinner" in my house--it's really a special treat because of the patchkeing.
Check out the before and after pictures of the eggplant--

Shana tovah from QCC!

2010-09-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

Ari and I co-hosted a Rosh Hashanah dinner and it was, I must say, to die. As you can see, my first spread was hors d'oeuvres: I made vegetarian chopped liver, a recipe Ari gave me that his grandmother makes. Served with crackers, hummus, pita chips and carrots. Then, our first course was an amazing matzah ball soup that Ari made--it really was just like your grandmother's chicken soup, only better. For the next course, we served a beautiful chopped salad (Ari's genius idea). He made a homemade dressing from ingredients readily available in my kitchen: honey (for a sweet new year!), two different kinds of mustard (yellow and whole grain dijon), olive oil, and chopped basil. He whisked all this together into one of the best dressings I have ever had. I can't say enough about how awesome this salad was.
For the main course, I made two roast chickens with roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, green beans sauteed in soy sauce and garlic, and sesame noodles. Overall, the dinner was a great success, and the leftovers kept us happy for the next few consecutive meals.

Shanah tovah!

Thank you to my amazing Grandma who got me the beautiful cracker dish and serving plate used for my hors d'oeuvres, and to Adam's mom for the wonderful Jewish star trivet seen in the salad photo.

Chicken & Tortellini Ceasar Salad!

2010-09-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

This salad was inspired by a salad I had when out to eat with Adam over the summer: grilled chicken ceasar salad with cheese tortellinis. I bought 3-color tortellinis, made them in the morning and then refrigerated during the day, and then tossed them into the salad that evening like croutons. Check out earlier posts here to find out how I make my light ceasar dressing. A fun and pretty salad!

Soy Vay Teriyaki Chicken

2010-09-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last week I marinated chicken breasts in Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce and grilled them on a grill pan. My mom gave me her grill pan because she rarely uses it, but I have to say that since bringing it back to Buffalo I have found many occasions to use it. Along with the chicken, I served green beans in soy sauce and brown rice.

Burger Night!

2010-08-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last night was burger night and here you can see a before and after photo. This time we made the burgers on a grill pan instead of the Foreman and they turned out delicious, and it was a lot easier to clea n up. The key is to get the 95/5 ground beef so that there is very little fat. I also made homemade oven baked french fries. A delicious summer bbq.

Muffins

2010-08-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Check out the banana muffins I made this morning. These couldn't be easier to bake and there is no better feeling than baking from scratch. Come over and get one! Props to QCC's official new photographer.

Mediterranean Chicken Pitas

2010-08-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

These were so awesome that I inspired Hannah to make the same last night and she loved them too. Featuring chicken (marinated in italian dressing, seasoned with paprika and onion powder, and grilled on the stove with a grill pan) and accompanied by Israeli salad (diced cucumber and tomato in a bit of EVOO and kosher salt) and Sabra hummus. This recipe was a spin-off on a recipe on the back of a Sabra lid top. Be sure to check those out, they have some great recipes.

Back!

2010-08-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

My triumphant return to Buffalo after a long summer of recovery from foot surgery has inspired me to cook, cook, cook. Last night I made salmon in the oven with garlic, spicy sesame noodles and blanched green bans sauteed in soy sauce. The meal was delicious and I have to say that this is one of my favorite QCC photos, thanks to ADG.

Rugelach!

2010-07-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I baked my mom's world famous rugelach recipe for a class project. I can't say much about this recipe because it is famous and only hers to share but all I can say is that these were a hit with those who ate them and I can't wait to make them again! What is so cool about making them is that they are made in the food processor and I love any chance I get to use my Cuisinart. It is also a lot of fun to roll them up...hopefully next time I make them I will own a rolling pin so I don't have to use a seltzer bottle instead :)

Let Them Eat Cake!

2010-06-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Ari and I made a cake for Tom's birthday. I baked the chocolate cake from a delicious Duncan Hines mix (cheating, I know) in two 8" cake pans. We then froze the layers for easy icing. I thought it would be cute to do a tuxedo cake: black-white-black, so we decorated with chocolate frosting which looked HOT on the white icing. Two layer cakes are clearly more effort but so worth it, because it kicks a sheet cake's tuschy.
The cake was yummy, and it was also beautifully displayed on my new cake pedestal AND the crazy cool writing courtesy of Cohen.

Fiesta Courtesy of Tom & Krystal

2010-06-27T18:59:00.001-07:00

Tom and Krystal made the most delicious fiesta dinner, and I wish my loyal QCC readers were there to experience the greatness that was this dinner. They ordered these special chili peppers and made enchiladas and this spicy chicken dish, that I still can't get over. I was also very impressed with the homemade salsa, so tasty and spicy. AMAZING! Next time you are invited to Tom & Krystal's for a fiesta RUN, do not walk.

A Tale of Two Salmons

2010-06-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Two different dinners featuring salmon:

The first one was just a standard salmon fillet but I made homemade french fries that were AWESOME. I seasoned two idaho potatoes with kosher salt, pepper and chilli powder and then baked the fries in the oven--the catch though was that I used Olive Oil PAM to the baking sheet and then PAM'ed the fries as well, these fries are clearly a lot better for you because they are baked not fried and there is really no fatty oil being used, because the PAM does the trick. Delicious dinner.

For the second salmon dinner, I made pesto in the food processor (fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic cloves, salt, EVOO) and then spread the pesto on the salmon and baked in the oven for 20 minutes at 370. The salmon was so good with the pesto it just melted in your mouth. I also made a spinach salad with feta, hard boiled egg, cherry tomatoes, mushroom, red onion and a tiny bit of olive oil. YUM!!

Sliders

2010-06-27T18:38:00.001-07:00

We made sliders for dinner a week or two ago and I never got around to posting. I purchased Wegman's pre-made sliders and Ari helped me make our own as well. The meal was inspired when I saw that Wegman's makes their own whole wheat slider rolls--whole wheat is crucial. It was a delicious meal--I love all things mini!

Repeat: Zuchinni & Spinach Stuffed Shells

2010-06-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

In keeping with theme of repeat meals, I made the zucchini and spinach stuffed shells again because they were so good the first time and I was interested in perfecting them. This time, I doubled the amount of spinach used. I always forget how much spinach shrinks, so this time I used 12 oz of spinach. I sauteed that, then sauteed the thinly sliced zucchini, diced onion and garlic, mixed it in with part-skim ricotta and stuffed the shells. You can see the shells here before the sauce and mozzarella was added. I also added to the cooking time--40 minutes, with about 10 minutes without the foil. I love these because I can make them in the morning and then just stick them in the oven for dinner. It is a huge dish so there was plenty of leftovers for the next night and there are still some in the fridge, so come on over! Maybe next time I'll try part cottage cheese, part ricotta.

in honor of it being Tuesday...

2010-06-15T07:11:00.001-07:00

Fish Tacos! Featured here is last week's fish taco dinner. Ari and I have this meal down to a science at this point...as it is our favorite. We just can't get enough. As you can see in the photo: tilapia fillets that we broil with EVOO and lemon juice, homemade guac and pico de gallo, blue corn tortilla chips, mini tortillas, etc. If you ever find yourself in Buffalo on a Tuesday we just might share the love.

Chicken Curry Reprise

2010-06-13T10:12:00.001-07:00

My last chicken curry post did not give nearly enough credit to how amazingly delicious this recipe. As I said, I was given this recipe by Hannah and Barbara and now after the second time making it, I really just need to sing its praises again: so yummy! Sauteed red pepper and onion, then add chicken breast, after being cooked through, add a can of cream of mushroom soup; a tbsp mango chutney; a little bit of milk and curry powder. Served with Basmati rice and Naan bread...I could eat this every week. Clearly not Kosher, but super delicious. Also, the curry is even better cold the next day from the fridge.

Cupcake Survey

2010-06-06T17:56:00.001-07:00

Please vote on which cupcakes my friends and I should attempt to make. The input of loyal QCC readers is greatly appreciated :)

Zuchinni & Spinach Stuffed Shells

2010-06-01T08:26:00.001-07:00

This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found in a great cookbook called Cook Yourself Thin. The great thing about these shells is that you cut out so much fat by adding zuchinni which sort of acts as a filler so that you can cut down on the amount of cheese used. First I sauteed some fresh baby spinach, then drained and squeezed and set aside. Next I sauteed a zuchinni which I had sliced into thin pieces, and then added onion and garlic. Once everything was slightly browned and soft, I added the spinach and mixed in part-skim ricotta and stuffed the shells. With tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on top and baking for a half hour at 350, these babies were delicious! Leftovers for dinner tonight.

Dishin' With Dalia!

2010-06-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

My dearest friend from college, Dalia Miller has started her own cooking blog: Dishin' with Dalia.
Check out the yummy looking sushi she made. I can't wait to see all the delicious things she cooks up this summer. Check out previous QCC posts from last October during Dalia's visit to the Queen City here, here, and here!

S'more Memorial Day Baking

2010-06-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

I constantly find recipes for delicious looking baked goods online but when I found a recipe for S'more Cookie Bars, I had to make them for a certain S'more-loving roommate of mine. I have to say that although I was excited about these the entire time I was baking, the final product was a bit dissapointing: the chocolate to marshmallow ratio is off--too much chocolate and not enough marshmallow. I added fluff to the top of the bars, which I think made them better (according to the S'more expert) but they are still very rich--too much chocolate! It was fun to branch out a bit with my baking even though it wasn't a complete success. In the top photo you will find all the ingredients used (brown sugar, regular sugar, white whole wheat flour, an egg, 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 hershey's chocolate bars, 8 graham crackers, and 1.5 cups fluff). The middle photo is the graham cracker dough in the mixer and then the bottom pictures features the layering and then the final product.

Memorial Day Weekend Baking

2010-05-30T07:23:00.001-07:00

Banana muffins from scratch is probably the easiest baking I have ever done just because they don't involve using the mixer (if the batter is over-stirred it won't have the right consistency). For these muffins, first you mix 4 mashed bananas, one slightly beaten egg, 1/3 cup melted butter, and 1/2 cup sugar. Then in another bowl you mix together a tsp baking soda, a tsp baking powder, a tsp salt, and 1 and 1/2 cups flour (I used King Arthur white whole-wheat flour). Finallu mix together the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to overstir. I added some chocolate chips to a few of them. Adding walnuts to the batter would also be delicious. See the before and after photos. The great thing about these muffins is that they freeze really nicely.

Ratatouille!

2010-05-30T07:13:00.001-07:00

With our powers combined, Ari and I make some delicious meals. For Shabbat this week, Ari and I made Ratatouille. We cut up two eggplants, three zucchinis, one squash, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, peeled Roma tomatoes and basil. We mixed all the veggies together in a dish and then baked with a cover for an hour at 350. We also prepared a salmon fillet, and then served the Ratatouille over egg noodles.

Chicken, Broccoli & Brown Rice

2010-05-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I found I still had chicken breasts I had frozen in the Soy Vay Terayaki marinade so I defrosted those and ADG grilled them on the Foreman while I made brown rice and broccoli (fresh broccoli: first blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes then shocked in ice cold water for 5 and then sauteed with garlic). The chicken breast doesn't look as appetizing as it was but it was a delicious and healthy meal we both enjoyed.

A Very Jewish Hangover Cure

2010-05-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Although this hardly qualifies as cooking, please take a look at Hannah's delicious looking bagel. The MOTs enjoyed bagels, lox and cream cheese for Saturday morning brunch...we just can't get enough.

שקשוקה=טעים מאוד

2010-05-25T06:11:00.001-07:00

Dinner party on Saturday night with all the girls visiting from the ARL, along with Ari, Adam, and our friends Krystal and Tom. By special request (Alli), Ari and I cooked up shakshuka for everyone to enjoy. We hadn't made this in ages and I always forget how good it is. LKK made a delicious salad with baby heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, pepper jack cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
!טעים מאוד

spinach artichoke dip

2010-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my mother, this dip has pretty much become a Shira Zemel special: I brought it with me to New Years at Danny's, served it at two parties in my apartment and enjoyed its deliciousness with the girls this weekend. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of the dip being served but here is a photo of the final product in the Cuisinart (thanks YAJ). The dip was originally just an artichoke dip recipe given to me by my mom but then when I made it last year with Ari, it was his idea to add some spinach, which gives it nice color and added deliciousness. So we've got:canned artichoke, a bag of fresh spinach (steamed), Parmesan cheese, lowfat plain yogurt, lowfat mayo, all mashed together in the food processor and then baked through the oven for a half hour. Absolutely delicious and a huge hit with anyone who tries it. Shout-out to the dip's two biggest fans: ASC & HPGK

Bfast 4 dinna

2010-05-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

Dinner tonight was pretty self-explanatory: I made us a veggie omelette with tomato, red pepper, green pepper (Dalia, I know, I'm sorry), and onion. Then I made home fries (1 cubed russet potato, 1 minced garlic clove, and diced onion--thanks Knowles) and we toasted a bagel to split. Breakfast for dinner is always the best.

The First Sauce

2010-05-12T20:17:00.001-07:00

I have to say that tonight I made one of the most delicious things I have ever cooked. ADG's favorite thing is seafood pasta and although I don't eat the seafood, how could I keep denying him his favorite thing? This was a new experience because though our kitchen is not kosher, which is clearly very convenient (cheaper meat, 1 set of dishes) I really had not cooked any non-kosher food before besides the mixing of milk and meat. I found a recipe for Shrimp Fra Diavolo in a new cookbook my mom gave me: Cook This, Not That by the authors of Eat This, Not That--great book. This cookbook offers lighter versions of restaurant favorites (Alli, we must try their version of The Cheesecake Factory's Mac&Cheese). In this case, the recipe is a twist of a favorite shrimp pasta dish at the Olive Garden boasting half the calories, half the sodium and 1/5 the fat.

I had never made my own sauce before so this was a lot of fun. The recipe calls to first saute the shrimp and remove from heat. Then saute 1 chopped onion, 2 fresh garlic cloves minced (I made it 3), 2 tsp red pepper flakes and some oregano. Once the onions were soft, I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil and a cup of white wine. I allowed the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes while I stirred. Meanwhile I was cooking up spaghetti, homemade caesar salad, and fresh garlic bread--I minced garlic and mixed it with some butter, and then spread between each slice of the bread loaf. I wrapped the loaf in tin foil and baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Once it was all ready, I folded the shrimp into the sauce and tossed with the spaghetti. With a bit of parsley, we were ready to go. The sauce definitely had a nice heat to it, but it gave what is for me a usually boring marinara flavor some kick. The onions and garlic in the sauce was to die. Ever since I found that Goldstein Ristorante ad in the Cooking Light magazine, I have been dying to bring some Italian into 415 and we sure did it up tonight. Plus, you know its a hit when your roomie packs it in his lunch for tomorrow.

Get Your Bake On

2010-05-12T17:39:00.001-07:00

A week off from school clearly called for some baking: I made my mom's crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe. Featured here are all the ingredients needed: 3.5 cups white whole wheat flour, a cup of sugar, a cup of light brown sugar, a tbsp baking soda, a tsp salt, a tbsp milk, 2 tsp vanilla, an egg, a stick of butter, a stick of margarine, 3/4 cup canola oil and chocolate chips, oats, and corn flakes (1 cup each). This recipe makes A LOT of cookie dough and it freezes really well, so today I only made a few cookies and then froze the rest of the dough for when the girls come to visit next week. First I sifted the flour with the baking soda and salt. Then I used the mixer (I am a lucky duck to have a kitchen aid; an amazing gift from ADG's mom--I believe it first belonged to adam's grandma-- the gift that keeps on giving!) to cream the butter/marg/sugar/brown sugar/vanilla/milk/egg etc. Then I slowly added the oil and flour to mix together and voila: crispy chocolate cookie dough! Pictured here are the cookies on my new plate, an awesome bday surprise from LKK.

Fish Taco Tuesday!

2010-05-11T18:25:00.001-07:00

Ari and I decided to do a reprise of our famous fish tacos and we were not dissapointed. Pictured here is my signature pico de gallo (white onion, tomato, cilantro, jalepeno pepper and lime juice), ari's guac (avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice), broiled tilapia (ari heated the glass pans under the broiler for 5 minutes, then put EVOO in the pan along with the tilapia fillets w/s&p and broiled for 5 minutes). Along with mini tortillas, this meal was the best. We had a really, really good night. Shout-out to the marg man, adg.

QCC is BACK with chicken curry!

2010-05-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

After a terribly long semester of student teaching without nearly enough time to cook, QCC is back and better then ever. With my first year of grad school finally finished, I am using these early weeks of summer to cook, cook, cook. Apologies and lots of love to all my loyal readers--not to worry, there will be plenty of posts with new dishes this week and in the weeks to come.

Tonight, I attempted chicken curry. I first tasted this version of the dish at HPGK's house way back when, and Barbara and Hannah so graciously hooked me up with the recipe. Although this photo doesn't look too appetizing (for some reason it looked a lot better in person) it was absolutly delicious and Adam really enjoyed it as well. I served the dish with garlic and whole wheat Naan and Basmati rice.

The curry is surprisingly easy to make: saute red pepper and onion in EVOO, add chicken breast and cook through. Then to make the sauce, add mango chutney, curry powder, a can of cream of mushroom soup (clearly not a kosher friendly dish), some milk, and a tiny bit of light mayo. So good!

homemade dinner for one

2010-03-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I made dinner for myself and I did it up: Salmon (so predictable), roasted asparagus (15 minutes at 350 degrees, with a little bit of EVOO, kosher salt, pepper, and lemon juice) and homemade cauliflower and garlic mash (steamed 8 cups of cauliflower and 4 garlic cloves, and then mixed in a food processor with 1/3 cup non fat buttermilk, salt, pepper, 1 tsp margarine, and 1 tsp EVOO). Low carb substitute for mashed potatoes and oh so yummy. No witnesses to attest to the deliciousness that was this meal, but I think the picture speaks for itself.

when the moon hits your eye like a big PIZZA PIE

2010-03-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

QCC is back from another student teaching induced hiatus! Featured here is store bought whole wheat pizza crust, with our own addition of tomato basil pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. Delicious.

cupcake party!

2010-02-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

This cupcake party was a long time in the make, and it finally happened last night and we had the best time. I think the pictures speak for themselves--they are about as delicious as they are adorable. We dyed the icing VDay colors and used tons of different edibles for decorations. So fun! We are thinking about making this a monthly event...

Salmon & Steak Frites

2010-02-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Last night I prepared a delicious salad, along with a salmon fillet for myself and a rib eye steak for the boys, accompanied with frites (frozen curly fries). A great meal! Ari taught me prepare and cook the salmon in a new way, and it was delicious: first I covered the fillet in a little bit of EVOO, then I squeezed lemon juice all over, and finished it off with some kosher salt and pepper. The salmon was cooked for 20 minutes in a glass dish at 375 degrees, and it was absolutely amazing. For the rib eye, just a little bit of kosher salt, and flash fried for about 6 minutes on high heat. A yummy Saturday night in the Sidway.

Super Bowl XLIV in Miami; super Super Bowl Party I in the Queen City

2010-02-14T11:56:00.001-08:00

We had some good friends over for the Super Bowl, so in true LSZ fashion, I put out quite the spread! As you can see pictured here, the food was a hit. Featured dishes were:

1. Baked Kosher Salami (salami baked in a delicious sauce--whole grain mustard, brandy, apricot jam,tabasco sauce, etc)
2. Spinach Artichoke dip (plain low fat yogurt, light mayo, fresh spinach, canned artichokes, paramasan cheese, all whipped up in my Cuisinart food processor from YAJ)
3. Taco layer dip (a recipe I got courtesy of Ari--layered sour cream/cream cheese mixed with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomato, salsa, cheddar cheese, etc)

The above three dishes which I made, paired with other treats (pizza and wings) made for a great football game.

Dinner at Chez Cohen's

2010-02-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to describe how amazing this meal was that Ari had us over for--he made steak for everyone but salmon for me because he knows I'm not a big red meat fan (he's good to me). As you can see in the picture, sort of, he made the salmon with his amazing homemade chimichurri sauce...so good, can't get over it. Also featured is a delicious salad with balsamic, tomatoes and mozzarella, and sesame noodles (my addition to meal). Sad to say I neglected to take a picture of the enormous steak, which everyone was raving about, clearly.

a guest post from Italia!

2010-01-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

A close friend and QCC reader, Roxanne Schwartz, sent me this photo from her semester abroad in Florence. This is the first meal she has cooked for herself over there and doesn't it look delicious? I love the mozzarella, tomato and balsamic. Yum! Guest posts always welcome--

QCC is alive!

2010-01-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

QCC has been lagging, I know. Student teaching has me going nuts. Nevertheless, here is dinner from the other night. Salmon fillets, a delicious salad and potatoes au gratin (made from the box). Stay warm!

french toast in the ARL

2009-12-28T15:01:00.000-08:00

ADG and I whipped up some challah french toast for breakfast yesterday and enjoyed a lovely breakfast with my brother Adam and his friend Dana. My mom's homemade challah is probably the most delicious thing in the world, and it was awesome as french toast. Check out my previous challah french toast posting here.

Shakshuka in the ARL

2009-12-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

So last week when I got home from Buffalo for winter break I cooked up some Shakshuka for the family. My mom had never had the dish before, and since it is a QCC favorite I figured I had to make it for everyone at home. The entire family enjoyed, except I did neglect to add the jalapeno pepper, and so pepper wasn't added until the very end. Regardless, it was a delicious meal. Also, I used my new deep saute pan with lid--this pan is going to take my cooking and QCC to an entire new level. Watch out!

Also, check out a previous rendition of Shakshuka on QCC here

Returning to Buffalo on the second--more posts to come then.

end of semester baking!

2009-12-15T20:24:00.001-08:00

So Monday night I was invited to a Hanukkah party with my fellow HT student teachers at our teacher's house. I decided it would be nice to bring dessert and since one of my classmates is vegan, I thought of making the krazy chocolate cake (a recipe courtesy of my mom) since it is vegan friendly. Naturally, I had to make the amazing oreo cream cheese icing (pictured in the mixer pre-oreo), so I only iced half of the cake (also pictured) so my vegan friend could enjoy as well. The cake was a hit!

I am really learning to love baking when I get the time, and it is so great having the kitchen aid mixer (courtesy of adg's mom). The cake recipe was featured previously on QCC.

!חג חנוכה שמח

2009-12-12T11:01:00.001-08:00

Happy Hannukah from QCC! Last night, the first night of Hannukah, I had a Hannukah/Shabbat dinner here with some friends. I had a fun time setting the table with our blue plate ware from Adam's family and lots of gelt and dreidels.

For dinner, I made some oldies but goodies: kosher roast chicken, green beans, and a salad. Also featured are some delicious latkes courtesy of Chef Cohen and a store-bought challah courtesy of Wegman's.

Happy TGiving from QCC!

2009-11-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

A belated happy Thanksgiving to all of QCC's loyal readers :)

(I am responsible for none of the amazing wonder pictured in these photographs...this is all mom, my extraordinary muse)

weekend delights

2009-11-16T15:34:00.001-08:00

This weekend I made a recipe from Bon Apetit magazine, given to me by my mother, and featured before on QCC: a Chile Cheese Tart (a quiche, basically). The tart features eggs, cheddar cheese, chile peppers, hot sauce, ground pepper, all whisked together and baked in a pie crust. Yum! We enjoyed the quiche for a couple nights and there is still some left over.

I also made a chicken ceasar salad this weekend. I roasted 2 split chicken breasts (bone-in), removed the meat and put some on top of my homemade ceasar. There was extra chicken so I mixed some of the chicken in Frank's hot sauce and made us buffalo chicken wraps for Monday's lunch. Great weekend full of delicious food.

spaghetti!

2009-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Adam made delicious spaghetti and meatballs and I made my homemade low fat caesar salad. The plating isn't great, but QCC readers can't deny how delicious it looks, right??

Tuesday night's comfort food dinner

2009-11-11T10:30:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently...I'm working on it!
Rundown of last night's delicious dinner:

Chicken breasts marinated in the Soy Vay Terayaki sauce and then grilled on the Foreman
blanched green beans cooked in soy sauce--an oldy but goody!
garlic mashed potatoes (delicious but not homemade....i used the boxed stuff)
salad!

Great dinner! Stay tuned for spagetti and meatballs tonight--

salmon dinner revisited

2009-11-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

I prepared a salmon fillet and a mozzarella, tomato, basil salad for dinner tonight. I used the last of the basil from my basil plant that I have been trying to grow in the apartment, unless of course I can save the plant and it starts to grow again.

This meal was delicious. I heart salmon...and mozzarella tomato basil :)

stir fry!

2009-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

The other night I cooked up a chicken stir fry with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms and lo mein noodles. First I marinated the chicken in a white wine for an hour, and then I sauteed the chicken in a pan. After the chicken was cooked through, I added the chicken, veggies and noodles (which I had precooked) and stir fry sauce (soy sauce, cornstarch and water) into the wok. I heated it all up and mixed it all together into a delicious stir fry. It was really good! Next time I would use a different lo mein noodle because these ones were a little too thick, or I would just skip the noodles entirely. Also, next time I would try to make it a little spicier.

buffalo chicken <3

2009-10-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

buffalo chicken tenders with salad and blue cheese dressing (ranch for ADG). One of my all time favorite things to order ou-- my first time making for myself. Next time I need to shake up the salad a little--this was just romaine, boring!! But the tenders were delicious. I bread them in panko with egg whites and flour and fried them up over the stove. As my brother pointed out: not something I learned from my mom, that's for sure!

roast chicken as per ADG's request

2009-10-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a week since I updated, sorry to all my loyal QCC readers. Hopefully a double update tonight:
Last night I made my kosher roast chicken w/ roasted potatoes and GBs (green beans) for dinner last night. Adam ate all the leftover chicken today so I guess it turned out pretty good.

Dinner with Guest Chef: Dalia "Da Floozy" Miller!

2009-10-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Dalia and I combined forces to make a delicious dinner! We created a salad of our very own design: the Shalia. The Shalia consists of some dark mesculin greens, red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes and hard boiled eggs tossed with some greek dressing (gazebo room shout out!!). I made some more fresh pesto and meanwhile Dalia fried some onions and made some Mrs. T perogies. We were in heaven during tonight's dinner...

saturday dinner w/ dalia!!

2009-10-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

A beautiful pizza (we added tomato and basil to a frozen pizza), leftover pesto and a little salad

Banana Muffins!

2009-10-17T07:33:00.001-07:00

So I figured I would bake something for Dalia while she was visiting, so I made banana muffins. Adam and I love these. The recipe is so easy and they freeze really well so they are easy to save for later. Check out the recipe--I found it online!:

-3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed

-1/2 cup white sugar

-1 slightly beaten egg

-1/3 cup melted margarine or butter

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cups flour

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together, being careful not to over-stir! Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Shabbat with Dalia!

2009-10-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made salmon, green beans (of course) and homemade pesto. I also picked up a whole wheat challah at Wegman's. Awesome Shabbat dinner--

!!טעים מאוד

So fun having Da Floozy visiting!

chicken pot pie!

2009-10-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Made a chicken pot pie tonight! First I roasted two split chicken breast, and then cut the chicken into pieces. Then I mixed the chicken in with a can of Cream of Chicken soup, some chicken broth mixed with a little bit of flour, and vegetables. Then I pour the mixture into a pie crust. Then i covered the pie with thinly rolled out crescent roll dough.
The pot pie turned out really well! Adam liked it and I was proud of myself for trying something totally new.

Lunch at Yelena's!

2009-10-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Another delicious meal at Yelana's. There are so many things to talk about on this plate: the chicken breast that I marinated in the Soy Vay, a fiery asian cole slaw that I made from a recipe my mom gave me, and my favorite green beans. Ari made delicious sesame noodles, and Yelena made the fabulous spinach salad (amazinggg). They also barbequed chicken wings, steak and yellow zucchini. Best lunch ever.

good 'ole spaghetti and meatballs

2009-10-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight ADG made me spaghetti and meatballs and I whipped up a ceasar salad. Simple and delicious!

shakshuka. one word: YES

2009-10-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

Uri, my new Israeli friend, was in town visiting Ari for the weekend. He (with a little help from me) whipped up the best shakshuka ever. I can't even describe how good. Ingredients: lots of onions, garlic, peppers, TOMATOES, tomatoes and more tomatoes, and finally eggs. You eat it by scooping it up on french bread. Words can't even describe...

if you be my bodygaurd...

2009-10-04T19:05:00.001-07:00

Another delicious QCC guest post from the amazing Max Mix Chaiken:

For my second submission to QCC, we have two dishes that I combined into one: shrimp and snow pea stir-fry and yellow-rice and beans. Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry:
1. Chop up some fresh garlic and ginger and heat it up in some sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat
2. Add your shrimp (I used frozen, pre-cooked, but fresh would work great too! Traif, yes, but still delicious!)
3. Add your snow peas.
4. Sautee 3 minutes before adding a splash of soy sauce, some salt, and some red pepper flakes! Yellow-rice and beans: This is regular rice, but you add some curry powder to the water—enough to turn it yellow! When the rice is almost finished (when there are 2-4 minutes before you'll turn off the oven and the water is almost completely evaporated) add some beans! I used red in this dish, but you can use black beans, or chick peas - whatever you prefer!

Adam was really impressed with this dish and so am I! We may just have to head on over to boston to enjoy some stir frey @ chez mix!

saturday bfast

2009-10-03T13:59:00.001-07:00

Nothing too special but as you can see this morning I made scrambled eggs (with milk--it makes all the difference) and we split a leftover bagel from break fast. yum yum

bbq at yelena's

2009-10-03T13:53:00.001-07:00

Yelena had us over for a bbq last night. She made a delicious spinach salad with feta and hard boiled eggs--it was amazing. She made some really yummy mashed potatoes too. They also grilled lamb chops,chicken wings and zucchini.

My addition to the meal were chicken breasts that I had marinated all day in a sauce called "soy vay veri-veri teryaki". They were a hit (no leftovers)! The sauce is fantastic--not only does it have a clever name, but my mom says it can be used for all sorts of dishes, such as salmon-- and with chicken it was an A+

chicken parm!

2009-10-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made chicken parmesan from scratch, along with a homemade cesear salad and some pasta! I started with skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I dredged the chicken in flour/oregano, then egg whites, and then Panko (japanese bread crumbs). I like Panko as opposed to regular bread crumbs, because Panko has a really great texture. I then cooked the chicken breasts over medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side with a little bit of EVOO in the pan. Then I placed the chicken, still in the skillet, into the oven on 450 degrees for 5 minutes. I then turned the chicken breasts over, spread 1 tbsp of tomato sauce on each chicken breast along with some mozzarella cheese, and placed back in the oven for another 6 minutes. I was nervous about trying this out but the it turned out great and adg liked it too!

Friend of QCC, Max Chaiken, shares his yummy meal with us!

2009-09-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

My close friend and avid reader of QCC, Max Chaiken, provides today's delicious looking guest post:

Here is a simple, easy meal that I made last week:

1. Baked potatoes - easy and delicious

2. Baked chicken breast - lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, a bit of red chili powder and garlic

3. Israeli Salad - this is one of my signature dishes :) Chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, and green pepper with some fresh basil, fresh garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

A great meal!

I have to say, I'm very very impressed! I want to go to Max's house for dinner sometime. Max's signature Israeli salad looks fantastic--I'll definitly be trying that out soon. I also think the seasoning for the chicken breast sounds very yummy. I welcome all QCC readers to email me the meals you are making, so I can feature them!

Thanks, Mix!

up close and personal with my buff chicken wrap

2009-09-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

This picture is really magnified so if you can't tell: tonight I made Buffalo Chicken wraps. I started out with chicken breasts, and cut them in half. Then I dredged the chicken in whole wheat flour, dipped them into egg whites and then dredged the chicken into bread crumbs (Panko). Over medium high heat, I cooked the chicken in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil so they got fried and crispy= homemade chicken tenders!!

After that I dredged the cooked chicken tenders into the buffalo sauce (2 tbsp texas pete, 2 tbsp white vinegar and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper whisked together). Then I put some blue cheese dressing on a whole wheat tortilla, some chopped lettuce and tomato and added the chicken. Voila!

french toast

2009-09-20T10:36:00.001-07:00

I made a tray of french toast with the leftover challah from Rosh Hashanah. Talk about a delicious and easy breakfast!

rosh hashanah dinner

2009-09-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from my rosh hashanah dinner party I threw last night. Everything got so crazy that I totally forgot to take pictures of the food! I am so sad because I cooked so many awesome dishes (2 roast chicken, green beans, a salad, sesame noodles, roasted potatoes) and ari made an awesome brisket (an amazing recipe courtesy of my mom's friend--a buffalo native herself). I am so disappointed there are no pictures, but trust me when I say that the food was good--damn good.

happy bday adg!

2009-09-19T15:48:00.001-07:00

I surprised Adam last night with a homemade bday cake. This was the most delicious, chocolate-y, moist cake ever. the chocolate cake is a depression-era recipe that my mom gave me. The recipe doesn't call for eggs, so it was a popular recipe then because of food shortages. Then I made a homemade oreo cream cheese icing, amazing! Check out the recipe for the cake below:

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

DIRECTIONS

Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes,

!!שנה טובה ומתוקה

2009-09-18T11:26:00.001-07:00

pretty veggies

not so kosher....

2009-09-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

cheeseburgers! delicioussss

check out the blog tomorrow to see pictures from my first ever rosh hashanah dinner party!

!!שנה טובה ומתוקה

chicken caesar salad for two

2009-09-07T18:56:00.001-07:00

I used the barefoot contessa chicken for salads recipe and whipped up some low fat ceasar dressing, (light mayo, parm cheese, anchovy paste, small amt of EVOO, lemon & black pepper). Voila!

a quote for you:

"We dance round in a ring and suppose,/but the Secret sits in the middle and knows."-Robert Frost

our weekly fav

2009-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

This meal has appeared here before. What can I say? We love our salmon and homemade pesto. I emailed Hannah Klausner the directions to make the salmon the next day, hopefully she and hola jewey enjoyed it as much as we do.

mediterranean chicken wraps

2009-08-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

This past Friday night Ari had us over for shabbat dinner (he made a moroccan chicken dish which was fantastic!!) and he served Sabra Hummus. I looked at the underside of the lid to the hummus and saw a recipe for mediterranean chicken wraps. I read the recipe but I didn't take it with me but it looked easy enough so I gave it a shot tonight. I sauteed some chicken breasts, and then cut the chicken into pieces. I took two whole wheat tortillas, spread hummus on them, put the chicken on the hummus and then topped it off with lettuce and tomato. I also served tzatziki sauce for the wraps and as a side dish I served pickled vegetables (store bought). Delicious meal!!

burgers!

2009-08-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Adam and I grilled burgers on the George Foreman last night. I bought whole wheat rolls at Wegman's and made up some fixings for the burgers, and some corn on the cob and waffle fries as side dishes. They were so good I forgot to take a pic until I was half way through my burger. I'd love to do this meal again sometime soon-- I hadn't had such a good burger since Ray's Hell Burger!

cooking for lkk

2009-08-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

LKK is here visiting so I cooked her up a baller meal: salmon fillets, GBs (green beans),greek salad and waffle fries (frozen Alexa brand...fantastic). Ari joined us too--way fun. If any blog readers come to visit, I'll hook it up like this. Come to the bflo!

Elul Shabbat party!!

2009-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Shabbat dinner party/Elul Celebration with Adam, Ari and Yelena. I made my standard delicious Shabbat dinner: roast chicken, roast potatoes, green beans in soy sauce, salad, and challah.
Tonight we also used the blue glass plate ware that Adam's family gave us! We love it and had a very delicious meal with good friends and wine. Shabbat shalom to all my loyal readers--all 5 of you :)!!

italian II

2009-08-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

The other night three of Adam's friends came over and I made chicken fajitas but I totally forgot to take a pic :( It would have been pretty too because the meal looked awesome with the different colored peppers (red and yellow bell peppers--not green, DUH!).

As you can see, tonight I made eggplant parm (frozen, not from scratch) and homemade aglio olio spagetti (yummm!) and homemade caesar salad. The picture doesn't capture how delicious all the food was, but it was def a great meal!

little dinner party

2009-08-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

So this post is after a long hiatus from the blog (sorry to all my loyal readers haha). Tonight, our friends Ari and Yelena came to dinner. I made salmon, homemade pesto pasta, green beans in soy sauce, and a greek salad. It was delicious! The picture is a little blurry but really everyone enjoyed all the food. Tonight I am going to try a new recipe--stay tuned!!

stir fry!

2009-08-04T16:22:00.001-07:00

I am so bummed that I don't have a pic from dinner last night: salmon, homemade pesto pasta, green beans, and tom/mozzarella/basil salad. So good!!

Tonight, I made a chicken vegetable stir fry. Marinated cut up pieces of chicken breasts in white wine, then cooked it up in some oil. Then I added fresh spinach, mushrooms and steamed broccoli. Served over hot rice--this meal is definitely a keeper!

Later tonight we are going to the drive in movies for a double feature of Funny People and Bruno.

sunday night italian

2009-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I made baked ziti. Really easy dish, but sorta had to wing it because I didn't have an exact recipe. Turned out delcicious nevertheless. I probably could have cooked it a little longer, because it wasn't hot hot but it was still really good. Adam doesn't like ricotta too much so I did light on the ricotta for half of the dish. As you can see the dish is HUGE and we barely put a dent in it, so if you want some baked ziti get up to Buffalo this week--we have plenty. I also made homemade garlic bread by spreading a little EVOO on some bread, sprinkling it with garlic powder and toasting it in the toaster yummmmm.

first shabbat dinner!

2009-08-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

As you can see here, I cooked up a Louise Zemel inspired Shabbat dinner: roast kosher chicken, green beans, roasted potatoes, salad (gazebo room!), and a challah (store bought). It was delicious and the roomie and I definitly enjoyed it :)
5 nights of homecooking in a row, so tonight I took the night off and we went to anchor bar for authentic Buffalo wings...yummm. Wegman's tomorrow--have a good looking menu for the week ahead. Stay tuned!

chile cheese tart

2009-07-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made this recipe my mom gave me a doctored version of from Bon Apetit mag:

Chile Cheese Tart

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, diced
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 7- to 8-ounce package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 7-ounce can diced mild green chiles
1 purchased frozen 9-inch-diameter deep-dish pie crust (do not thaw)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cover and cook until just tender, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Cool briefly.
Whisk cream and next 4 ingredients in bowl to blend. Mix in cheese, chiles, and onion mixture. Pour filling into frozen crust.
Bake tart until golden brown and set in center, about 40 minutes.

You can see the delicious results pictured, along with another homemade caesar salad salad (this time with shrimp for adam, oy vey!)

crispy choc chip cookies!

2009-07-29T20:16:00.001-07:00

So my mom has this awesome recipe for crispy chocolate cookies. Everything is in these babies: choc chips, corn flakes, oats, light brown sugar, regular sugar, etc etc. Adam's mom is amazing and gave me a kitchen aid mixer and I really wanted to test it out so I figured whats better than cookies?? My first real baking experience on my own, and they taste awesome. The batter is so huge that I froze most of it, so now I have three batches of dough to make more cookies later on. Come visit me and I'll save some for you!

pizza pie

2009-07-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

So for dinner we made homemade pizza. Early in the day I made homemade pesto in the food processor (courtesy of YAJ): pine nuts, basil,parmesan cheese. Then when we were ready to make the pizza, we started out with a whole wheat pizza boboli. On half the pizza I spread the pesto and the other half was tomato sauce. Topped it with skim mozzarella cheese and then the roomie placed onion and tomatoes on top. With a greek salad and some wine, we enjoyed a delicious meal!
The entire process was really easy and fun, and I froze some pesto to use next week (yum!).

chicken caesar salad

2009-07-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

So for dinner tonight I made homemade chicken caesar salad. For the chicken, I used a barefoot contessa chicken recipe my mom showed me--its a great recipe for basic chicken to top any salad or to even make into chicken salad. I started by roasting 2 chicken breasts. Then I whipped together the ingredients for a homemade low fat dressing (low fat mayo, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, anchovy paste, s&p), washed some lettuce and stuck both into the fridge for later. After roasting the chicken, I waited for it to cool and them removed all the chicken from the bones/skin, and cut the poultry up into pieces. I placed the chicken in the fridge to cool down. After my roomie returned from the gym, he set the table while I prepared the salad and we were ready to go! The meal turned out really well--we both enjoyed.

Oh, I also made banana muffins tonight--pics to come!

second night in buffalo

2009-07-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

So after about an hour in Wegman's and a roughly 50+ item grocery shopping list, we finally got back to the apartment and I began my first cooking adventure in my new kitchen. First I blanched green beans and put them in the fridge to dry. I got started on a recipe for garlicky oven baked fries. I thought it was only going to be 15 mins of prep for the potatoes, but it ended up taking a little over a half hour. So needless to say that dinner got started a bit later than we had wanted. I put the potatoes in the oven to bake for 30 minutes and prepared 2 salmon fillets with EVOO and s&p. Stuck the salmon in the fridge, hopped in the shower while my fantastic roommate prepared a delicious salad and looked after the potatoes. Post shower I cooked up the salmon: first over the stove and finished off in the oven. Completed the meal by sauteing up the green beans with soy sauce. The roomie set the table and did the dishes = lucky me (thanks adg).