Fried Goat Cheese (or why to eat more salad)

As the title implies, fried goat cheese is a great reason to eat more salad and frankly, I need reasons. It's not that I don't love salad, I do...when other people make it for me. I hate making salad. It never tastes as good as the restaurant kinds. Granted, I realize that's because the restaurant kind is full of eight syllable, multi-hyphenated, chemical substances; but it tastes good.

However, after figuring out this recipe, I now make more way salads. Every salad I make tastes unbelievably good as long as there is a medallion or two of fried goat cheese included. This is a great addition to the Spinach Strawberry Salad. These also look super elegant when placed atop salad in their own little salad bowls.

Fried Goat Cheese

1 small log soft goat cheese (not feta)
breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup flour
3 tbsp grapeseed oil or olive oil
a sharp knife
paper towel
bowl of hot water, not boiling, just hot

Place breadcrumbs, egg and flour in three separate small bowls. Dip your knife in the hot water for a few seconds to get the metal warm. Wipe dry. Using the warm knife, slice one 1/4 to 1/2 inch medallion off the goat cheese log. Wipe off whatever cheese stuck to your knife and dip it back in the hot water for a few seconds. Wipe dry. Slice another medallion off the goat cheese log. Repeat the above until you have enough medallions or you use all the goat cheese.

Now treat the medallions like you would bread chicken cutlets....flour first, shake off excess...egg second...breadcrumbs third. Repeat with each medallion and place them all on a plate. Cover and put in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

(While they are chilling, prepare all the rest of your salad.)

Get out your saute pan, add the oil and heat the pan at medium. When oil is nice and hot (I sprinkle a little water in it and if the water spurts and steams, then it's ready) add your breaded medallions. Don't crowd them. Fry on each side for about 2-3 minutes until they are golden brown on each side. Serve immediately, while still nice and hot, atop your favorite salad.

Yum... I'm making this for dinner now.

Jalapeno Poppers

A while ago, we visited my sister-in-law and family. As you've probably noticed, everything in our family seems to revolve around food. In fact most of the things we do seem to revolve around food. Anyway, when we went to visit, we ate at this restaurant called McAllister's that served loaded baked potatoes that are the size of a loaf of bread. Seriously, they were enormous potatoes and they were amazingly delicious. I must go again.

Anyway, onto the jalapenos. My brother-in-law made these awesome jalapenos on the grill. He filled each jalapeno half with cream cheese and cheddar cheese and wrapped each one with a strip of uncooked bacon and then cooked them on the grill somehow. I'm not really certain exactly how he did it but it was quite delicious.

Being that we live in an apartment whose builders did not see the benefit of putting a window in the kitchen, I am unable to cook anything that is going to smoke badly. This unfortunately includes cooking bacon on the stove. (I can cook it in the oven in the Alton Brown method) So how to recreate these delicious morsels without having the fire department called to my house...again?

Apartment Friendly Jalapeno Poppers

warning: I strongly suggest wearing food grade vinyl gloves when making this recipe. There is nothing worse than getting jalapeno juice on your fingers and then itching your eye. Trust me.

5 jalapenos, sliced in half lengthwise and without stem
1/3 cup cream cheese, room temperature
2 handfuls grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped pancetta or bacon pieces

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pancetta or bacon in a small frying pan dusted with a little olive oil spray over medium heat until cooked and fragrant and a little crispy, about five minutes depending on the size of each piece.
(Our local Trader Joe's sells chopped pancetta. Most grocery stores will sell either slices of pancetta or a small hunk of pancetta that you can chop yourself.)

Meanwhile, scoop all of the seeds and the little vein-y things that the seeds attach to out of each jalapeno. (I use the edge of a melon baller for this, it seems to work well) Set jalapeno halves aside.

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese and the cooked pancetta together until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The heat from the pancetta will cause the cheeses to melt a little but that's okay.

With a spoon or spatula, fill each jalapeno half with about a tbsp of cheese mixture. Place all halves  on a cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until the jalapenos get a little wrinkly and golden brown on top.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

You could also sprinkle more cheddar cheese on top of each half either before or after they come out of the oven.

Enjoy!

I'm sorry I didn't take more photos of the process or the finished product. I got busy making them and forgot and then we were too busy eating them to care about photography.

Spaghetti Sqaush - Coolest Thing Ever

Okay, any fruit or vegetable (I think it's classified a fruit but whatever) that when cooked, tasted remarkable like pasta gets a gold star in my book. Since we've been trying to eat less carbs on a day to day basis (not the easiest thing for me to do), I've given up cooking pasta for dinner. And with that decision, all of my quick and easy pasta recipes went out the window.

However, Mama called and told me that she had made spaghetti squash and that even Daddy really liked it. Now, I've heard of this squash that actually tastes like pasta before and really couldn't believe it. I don't like acorn squash. I only like butternut squash if it is pureed to oblivion in soup form. I am not a fan of zucchini, or as the grocery store insists on calling it with incredible lack of imagination: green squash. Therefore, the idea of spaghetti squash was not exciting to me, though when mama called I figured, 'If Daddy could eat it, so could I.'

I humbly admit that I misjudged this fruit/vegetable thing. It - is - Delicious. It has the just the right texture and shape and it holds up to sauces just like pasta would. It is also a fairly easy thing to make. Hence, I submit to you my first try with spaghetti squash which was a huge hit:

Spaghetti Squash in White Wine Lemon Sauce

1 spaghetti squash
1 pkg Italian sausage, cooked and sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup white wine
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tbsp flour
Parmesan Cheese


First of all, you need to roast the squash.

How To Roast a Spaghetti Squash

1. Remove sticky label that grocery store adhered to said squash.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. With a fork, prick squash all over.
4. Roast in 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Remove from oven carefully and allow to cool slightly (15-20 minutes just so you can handle it without burning your hands)
6. Slice open lengthwise with sharp knife and scoop out all seeds.

7. Run a fork through the flesh of the squash and stare in wonderment as it separates into "noodles".

Okay, now you are ready to continue with the recipe.

While your squash is cooling, cook your choice of Italian sausage according to package directions. I cooked mine in a large saute pan. When they were fully cooked, I removed them to a plate. In the same saute pan, add olive oil and garlic and cook until garlic is golden brown and fragrant.

Add butter, lemon juice, white wine, thyme and flour to garlic. Cook, stirring a little to incorporate the flour for about three to five minutes until sauce has thickened a bit.

When you've separated your "noodles", add them and the sliced sausage to the lemon sauce and stir to fully incorporate sauce into "noodles".

Remove from pan to plates and sprinkle on Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

A Better Chicken Noodle Soup

As I have previously mentioned, I don't like chicken noodle soup. Mike does though and sometimes one makes things one does not like for a person one loves. I figure if I really don't like what I made, I can always eat toast with jam for dinner like his grandmother used to.  The traditional carrot-celery-onion-chicken-in-broth soup recipe is frightfully boring so I started throwing in stuff that I saw in other soup recipes. I figured that all the ingredients came from soup recipes so they should all taste good together. I do realize that this method of cooking does not always work out for the best. I have first hand experience with the times that it has failed miserably. However, in this case, it worked beautifully. I even thoroughly enjoyed it.

Better Chicken Noodle Soup


olive oil
one yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c white wine
1 small can diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth or 8 cups water with bouillon cubes (follow package directions)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (I baked the chicken in garlic-Parmesan olive oil at 350 for 30 minutes)
3 zucchini, cubed
4 carrots, sliced into rounds
fresh or dried thyme
fresh or dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups noodles of choice (I used pappardelle)
1 bag fresh baby spinach
grated Parmesan cheese

Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil; heat over medium heat. When oil is heated, toss in onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent and beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add white wine and cook for another minute or two. Add tomatoes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally.

Add broth, carrots, zucchini, chickpeas and herbs (I had fresh thyme and rosemary from another dish I made but if you only have dried I'm sure that will work too. I used three stems of thyme and one stem of rosemary. The rosemary I chopped up but I just picked the thyme leaves off the stems and threw it in without bothering to chop it. If you are using dried, I would use about 2 tsp of each.) Continue to cook until zucchini and carrots are soft, about ten minutes. Stir occasionally. Add noodles and cubed chicken.

*Note: I used pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's because they looked very pretty in the package. However, because these noodles are so wide and long, they need to be broken into smaller pieces. I suggest that you do this in your hands over the soup pot. Do not try to cut dried noodles with a knife on a cutting board. The noodles break into little noodle shards that rocket all over the kitchen.

After adding the noodles, I left the pot on the stove, cooking on very low heat, for about twenty minutes more until we were ready to eat. Just before serving, add spinach and stir well so that the heat from the soup wilts the spinach.

Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan cheese.

A Quick Mediterranean Meal

Recently, we went away for the weekend for a wedding. We had a lovely time being away with family and friends, and being able to enjoy the truly beautiful wedding. 

After three days of rich, delicious foods and a long drive back, I was not in the mood to cook anything over the top nor were either of us that hungry. So I raided the fridge for something that was healthy, quick, tasty and light. Not an easy task, but I did come up with something...

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
half of a red onion, diced
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp basil
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
store bought hummus
1 small jar kalamata olives
Naan bread, heated on the stove and cut into strips
Feta cheese, cubed and tossed with olive oil and choice of herbs (I found this all done for me at Trader Joe's)

So, it looks like a long list of ingredients but its still quick. After chopping the tomatoes, cucumber and onion and putting them in a bowl, I mixed together the parsley, basil, oil, vinegar, garlic, Dijon, salt and pepper in a little jar with a tight fitting lid and shook it really well. Then I poured the dressing all over the veggies and set it aside. I heated the Naan bread on my griddle just enough so that it was warm on both sides and then sliced it into short strips. I put the olives and feta into their own little bowls and set the table. I had bought a sample pack of four different hummus flavors so I just put the whole container right on the table.

The whole set up took about fifteen minutes and it was delicious! And again, may I say how much I love Trader Joe's since everything I used here was from that fabulous store!

Quick but Delicious Pizzas

As I've said before, due to my mother's upbringing, I am a strict believer in making everything from scratch. (Except brownies, I still think good boxed brownies and scratch brownies taste virtually the same)

However, I also know that everyone is busy, including me, and making everything from scratch just does not work for every day living. There are days when you come home from work and have an hour to make something eat and leave the house again. Those days require something quick.  For those days, I usually turn to Trader Joe's which thankfully is near me. They have great stuff. I love them. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, though I'm very sorry for you, you can get the ingredients for this meal at the grocery store or a local farmer's market.

For a quick but tasty meal, I sometimes will make pizza with Trader Joe's (or the grocery store's) pre-made dough.

First, I roll out the dough onto my oiled pizza pan. Then I brush the dough with a mixture of 2 crushed garlic cloves and about 3 tbsp of olive oil. Then I'll coat the pizza with whatever "sauce" I want.
Either homemade pizza sauce:

(to make sauce, empty a can of crushed tomatoes into a sauce pan with some crushed garlic, a little cayenne pepper, a touch of olive oil, some basil (fresh or dried), a dash of salt and pepper and about two tsp of sugar. Simmer until it's thickened, about 15 minutes.)


Then coat the pizza with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and possibly a little pepperoni or crumbled cooked sausage or cooked onions or chopped, cooked pancetta for a little bacon flavor...

OR


I'll spread about a cup of ricotta cheese all over the pizza after the garlic olive oil and then either dot the pizza with broccoli florets and cover with mozzarella or cover the pizza with slices of tomatoes and then mozzarella or my newest favorite is mozzarella and Parmesan with slices of roasted red peppers and onions.

Cook the pizza for about 20 minutes at 350. Another thing I'll do sometimes right after the pizza comes out of the oven is to sprinkle it with a little fresh arugula and some hot sauce and then slice it.

So good...and so fast...and super easy.

Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fondue

When my niece is here visiting, we have certain traditions that must be observed. Most of those traditions revolve around food, like everything in this family of mine, and one of them is fondue. Chocolate fondue to be exact. It started when I received a fondue pot at my bridal shower. I had never had fondue or even made it before. So after we were married and my niece came to stay, we had a little adventure creating the chocolate fondue. That created the fondue tradition: homemade pizza, chocolate fondue and a movie.

This year, I thought why not use the fondue pot a little more and instead of the pizza make cheese fondue. Unfortunately, I hate Swiss cheese and that is what most fondues are. So I found a cheddar cheese beer fondue recipe from Rachael Ray and modified it a little. Her recipe called for Gruyere, which is way too expensive, so I skipped that part. It was still good.

Before I made the cheese fondue, I made all the stuff for dipping. Bratwursts, fried and cut into rounds; breaded and fried chicken tenders; blanched broccoli and cauliflower pieces; and put out breadsticks. Of course, I kept the meat and veggies warm in the oven until we were ready to eat. Then I made the fondue...

Beer and Cheese Fondue

16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cup Sam Adams Boston Lager or other lager beer
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp deli mustard, the spicy kind
1/2 tsp Frank's Red Hot
1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

In a medium saucepan, heat beer to a light simmer. Meanwhile, combine cheese and flour. When the beer is heated, slowly add cheese, stirring well after each addition.

Add mustard, red hot and worchestershire sauce and stir. Remove from heat and pour immediately into fondue pot.

Serve with the dipping thingys.

(there is another tradition that goes with fondue: if anybody drops something in the fondue pot, they have to kiss everybody else's cheek)

Moving on to dessert:

Chocolate fondue. Who can say no to warm, drizzily, delicious chocolateyness?

Again, I prepare the stuff for dipping first. I usually get any berries I can find, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, snozberries...just kidding. But really, any berries will be great. I also cut up bananas and/or apples, and pound cake and add large marshmallows and pretzel rods.

When all of that is assembled, I make the fondue.

Chocolate Fondue

1/2 cup heavy cream

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, heat the cream until the steam is starting to rise. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted. Stir in the vanilla and pour into the heated (and cleaned) fondue pot. Voila. Wasn't that easy?

What to do with the leftovers?

I find that leftover chocolate fondue is delicious eaten with a spoon right out of the fridge. I've also scooped it out and rolled it into little truffles that I then rolled in chopped nuts, powdered sugar or cocoa and made myself bon bons.

We did have an awful lot of cheese fondue and broccoli and cauliflower left over and that is going to go bad if just left to itself. The next day, we made steak and baked potatoes at my mother-in-law's Extended Stay hotel complete with another tiny kitchen and outdoor grill. I steamed the leftover broccoli and cauliflower and turned the cheese fondue into cheese sauce to top the veggies. To turn fondue into sauce, pour leftover fondue into a saucepan, add a splash of milk and a little butter (the ratios all depend on how much of the fondue is leftover) and heat, stirring occasionally. Add a little more milk to reach desired consistency and pour over your veggies and baked potatoes. It was quite good, if I do say so myself.