Savory Sundays: the TV show!

Okay, maybe it's not quite Food Network-ish but we took a different spin on the Savory Sundays feature this week.

I've been having problems trying new recipes lately; actually have been stuck in a bit of a cooking rut, making the same dishes over and over again. Not that there's anything wrong with that - the Chorizo Tortas I made on Thursday were fantastic - but I can't exactly show you how to make the same thing twice now can I?

So I had an idea. I figured I'd put my budding Giadas in front of the camera and have them explain how to make Marinara Sauce. Actually, Yvie was pretty much the only one interested in showing off her hosting skills as Kenna went in and out of frame, so I named this show Cooking With Yvie.

Enjoy.

Savory Sundays: Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Greetings! Welcome to Savory Sundays. This first recipe is fantastic. It really is. When I saw it on the Food Network, I knew right away that I had to have it. I had to wait until the right day presented itself to make this, and that was finally this week.

Now, here’s a link to the recipe. The list of ingredients is too long to place here, but the vegetables are really the only important thing. It calls for zucchini, summer squash, cremini mushrooms, red bell peppers and an onion.

Just quarter the zucchini and squash and cut them into half-inch pieces or so. Cut the red bells and the onion into thin slices and the mushrooms as well, although I bought mushrooms already cut up. Place them all onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and some Italian seasoning on them and pop them into a 450-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

I may have used too many veggies though. They almost overflowed the cookie sheet. Almost. While that’s in the oven, cook the pasta for about six minutes (it has to be undercooked) and grate up a cup of fontina cheese and a cup and a half of smoked mozzarella (though I used regular mozzerella). Add some Parmesan cheese and mix them all in a large bowl. Then, toss everything (roasted veggies, cheeses) and about three cups of marinara sauce in another large bowl and put everything in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Of course, I stowed my camera during this part because everything was pretty hectic but here’s the final product.

It made so much! And it was good! I had leftovers for lunch the next day, dinner two days later and there was still some more. I am not sure if it would freeze because of the vegetables but the next time I probably will half the recipe. Either way, it’s one I’m making again for sure. And next time I won’t wait for the right day, I’ll just make it when I feel like it.

Savory Sundays: pepperoni, mac n' cheese lasagna style

A triumph! I'd never before made lasagna. It was something that I figured only the real experienced home cooks knew how to make, and I didn't think I fell into that category. But I've now conquered one of my fears in having made lasagna (yeast, you still frighten me!).

It was daunting but having gone through the process now I know I can do it again, and am rather anxious to try and make something a bit more healthy. This one was loaded with cheese and cheese and more cheese. Not saying it wasn't good but still.

Here's a link to the recipe.

Okay, while making this I was worried about the actual dish so I didn't take step-by-step pictures. Next time when I make it I'll be a bit more confident and I'll be able to take more and more pictures.

First I had to make the sauce. I melted 1/4 cup butter, added in flour and garlic to make a thick paste-kind of substance, and then slowly added in 2 1/2 cups half-and-half. After incorporating all the half-and-half, I took it off the heat and added 2 cups Parmesan cheese.

Instead of marinara sauce, this lasagna called for this cheese sauce. It tasted a bit like Alfredo sauce but not quite all the way there. I don't like Alfredo sauce but this sauce I tolerated. It wasn't my favorite flavor but it was okay. My wife loved it, however.

I boiled the lasagna, actually slightly undercooked it, and that was hard. I didn't know what it would or should look like slightly undercooked so I kinda played it by ear and it worked out well. The lasagna wasn't stiff but it sure wasn't cooked all the way through. I layered it and then spread the cheese sauce on it.

I had shredded about 1/2 pound mozzarella and 1/4 pound of Colby jack cheese (it called for cheddar but I had Colby jack). I added in 1/4 cup Parmesan, and layered the lasagna. I also used pepperonis in the layering process. I did cook the pepperonis in the oven a little bit to get some of the grease out of them. I topped it off with bread crumbs.

I was happy with the way the dish came out. It was quite cheesy and the flavors worked well together.
Still, I kept expecting to taste marinara sauce, so my mouth expected one thing but got another. The lasagna tasted well but it was also memorable for being my first foray into lasagna.

Savory Sundays; Croutons

Welcome to Savory Sundays! I've got a couple of smaller things to share and, if I get the time, one sort of major cooking triumph as well.

First, small thing number one: croutons. Here's a link to the recipe. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Croutons aren't worth the trouble. It's easy to buy them and I'd rather spend time making something worth the effort.' True, it's easy to buy them and they aren't an indispensable part off a meal or salad even. But these are worth the trouble because they are so tasty. And really, it's not that tough to make. The hardest part is probably cutting up all the bread.

I used a French loaf but I've also used smaller loaves, a sourdough one worked well once. This time, though, just a standard French loaf, and it should be day-old bread, a bit on the crusty side.


You'll need six cups' worth, which is almost all of this loaf pictured above. I only had enough to make four cups' worth but typically six cups is almost this loaf in its entirety, save for the very ends. You'd be well served to cut the crust off to, although an odd piece here or there with crust won't destroy things.

All cut up:
Then, melt 1/4 cup of butter over medium-to-low heat. Toss in some garlic and thyme (or whatever other seasoning you'd like). Melt the butter and cook it until it foams, which is pretty quick.

Now, you could use a compound butter with garlic, thyme or other flavors in it already, but I didn't have that handy. You want to add the bread into the pan and toss them with the butter. Probably want to turn the heat off at that point, and do toss them quickly because otherwise one side of the bread cubes gets all the butter and the other side gets nothing.

Put the cubes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Put cookie sheet into a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes (mine were done right at 10 minutes). You'd do well to toss them once or twice. When they are light brown, golden colored, they're done. Now, if you use garlic and it falls onto the sheet, there will be some burned garlic pieces, but that's fine. It doesn't seem to affect the croutons. That's also why I use the aluminum foil, makes cleanup a lot easier.

Store them in an airtight container and you'll be good to go. And you'll feel like it was worth the effort because they are so tasty.

Savory Sundays: Raspberry Crumb Cake

Alright, five days late and about $3.50 short but...

I wanted to get you the second installment of last Sunday's Savory Sundays post. I have some dishes coming up for this Sunday ready to go, so I figured I'd go ahead and use this one. This is one of my most favorite things that I've made, probably one of the dishes I'm most proud of that I can make. Not sure why, probably because it's complicated (to me, anyway) and the flavors. My wife loves this dish, and she's not the biggest raspberry fan either.

It's a recipe for Raspberry Crumb Cake I got from AllRecipes.com. Funny thing is that it hardly has any reviews, which leads me to believe that hardly anyone has tried this, relatively speaking.

Ingredients:
FILLING:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

CRUST:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 cup cold butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter or margarine
1/4 cup sliced almonds

It's a three-step process, so there are three lists there. Disclaimer: I actually made this a while back, in December, but took pictures of everything but the final product. I have a picture of the cake when it's done but not an up close pose, and in fact the quality is kinda crappy. Still, the best thing about this to me was the complexity of the dish (again, complex to me) and that I was able to figure it out.

First, heat the raspberries in a saucepan.

Be very careful when doing this. They will burn in a matter of seconds!

Okay, bear with me here. You need to mix the crust mixture together, the first six ingredients anyway, then the rest. You only need to use about two-thirds of it before spreading the raspberry filling in the middle.

Then, cover with the rest of the crust mixture before adding the topping.
Pop it in the oven for 50-55 minutes and you will have a delicious cake. And make sure you take a good picture if that's the case. Here's a link to my picture of this dish from the first time I made it, way back in late '07.

Savory Sundays: Nachos

Welcome to another Savory Sunday. I have two things today. Up first is something that isn't really here for the recipe per se as it is for the technique. Now, don't get me wrong, I do have a bit of a Nacho recipe but I didn't have the ingredients for it so I just did it this way. But that's what is so great about this, is that you can make it to suit your needs.

What you need:
tortilla chips
grated cheese
cooked ground beef/chicken

Roll call:

Of course, I normally re-heat the beef on a skillet with some salsa and toss in some garlic or onions or peppers or tomatoes or cilantro or whatever I've got but I didn't have salsa. I just re-heated the beef in the microwave. It should be hot or at least warm and definitely cooked all the way through before you even start, so this is great with leftover beef. In particular, the leftover Rhode Island Hot Weiners. That is fantastic, and in fact it's the beef pictured here.

I used Colby Jack cheese, just tried some for the first time and it was pretty good. Arrange some chips on an oven-safe plate and layer the beef and cheese and if you want you can layer more chips on top of that and repeat the process.

I hate nachos that are one big layer of cheese on top and nothing but plain chips underneath, so layering them works. Then, put the plate (you can also use a cookie sheet, but you pretty much have to eat them right off the sheet that way) into a preheated 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Serve with a side of paper clips... sorry, couldn't resist.

Anyway, there is something about warmed tortilla chips and warm melted cheese... yum. At this point, you can toss on some chopped green onions (the green parts) if you like. My wife doused hers with salsa (the mild kind, she keeps it around the house, I don't touch it) but I just had my serving like this.

I do reserve the right to publish another Nachos post if and when I make them the proper way, so you may see that in the future. This is one of our quick-and-easy dinners after all, so we make it somewhat often.

Savory Sundays: Orange Chicken

Okay, well I went too long in between Savory Sunday posts. Between a birthday party, chasing the girls around the house and work, I had an eventful day. But I wanted to share this recipe as it is one of my favorite recipes. I know, I say that a lot but this one really is something that I not only love to make but am quite proud of making.

I've always loved Orange Chicken so I found this recipe for Orange Chicken and was intrigued. It seemed like a huge undertaking but one day I just decided to try it. And I am glad I did.

Now, this recipe is quite an undertaking but that's what I like about it. You need time in the morning to mix the sauce and cut up and marinate the chicken.

Here's what you'll need for the sauce:

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

All together now:
I've found that one medium- to large-size orange will do the trick for the tablespoon of zest, and will provide plenty of orange juice as well.

First, pour all the liquid ingredients into a saucepan and then add the sugar, zest, green onions, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes (I actually don't use the pepper flakes so that's an optional for me).
After the sauce reaches a boil, take it off the heat and allow to cool. That will give you enough time to cut the chicken. When cutting up the chicken, I use my bag-on-a-cup trick. I slice the chicken up into small cubes and toss them directly into the bag.

When the sauce has cooled, pour about a cup into the bag and marinate it in the refrigerator for at least an hour - two or more would be great.
When it's time to cook, I snip a corner off the bag and drain the marinade that way.

Put some flour into a bowl, add salt and pepper and drop the chicken pieces in there.

Now, you'll want to use a skillet big enough to handle all the chicken. It's important that the chicken touches the pan, so if you double the recipe I strongly recommend you either a) use two skillets or b) cook the chicken in batches.
It won't take too long, maybe 4-5 minutes per side. Meanwhile, heat the sauce up in a different pan (the original recipe says to dump the chicken in here but don't do that or else you'll lose the crunch). You'll need to dissolve some corn starch into some water and slowly add that to the sauce to thicken it. It's trial and error, and the only way I can get the right thickness is by slowly adding it until the sauce is thick. I don't use any measuring spoons or anything for this part.

I like to serve mine over plain white rice (yes I know I'm adventurous).

The only thing missing for me is the chopsticks... and the fortune cookie. I seriously don't make this dish enough.

Savory Sundays: the confessions

My blog buddy Gracey posted a challenge on her blog, and I'm all about challenges.

Gracey fessed up about her own cooking secrets, the stuff that we would be embarrassed to admit to a celebrity chef.

Well, I have a few and I figured it would be good to confess right here and right now, on a day I've set aside on my blog for cooking. So here goes:

1. My knives are terrible. I use small knives to cut most everything, from chicken and meats to fruits and vegetables. Worse, the knives are dull. I have a little sharpener but it doesn't really work.

2. I don't thaw my chicken and/or beef all the time. In fact, I rarely do. Most of the time, I soak the chicken in some hot water before cooking it. I know, it's supposed to be cold water but I don't have a lot of time when I do it. It's not that I always forget, but I don't always have my dinners planned out first thing in the morning. And when I do, I forget... most of the time anyway.

3. A lot of time when I get to cooking/baking, I have to wash something. It might be measuring cups or some utensil or it may be a muffin pan or a skillet. I hate washing dishes. No wait, let me rephrase that, ahem: I really HATE washing dishes. It's a pain in the ass.

4. I always take a big whiff of spices when I use them. I measure out what I need and when I go to put the lid on it or whatever, I always sniff it. Sometimes when I smell the chili powder, I sneeze! I don't know why I do it. I just love the smells I suppose.

5. I have my laptop in the kitchen with me at all times. My laptop sadly is dying a slow and painful death, and perhaps I accelerated it, but it's become a must. I have recipes on there a lot of the time and Ilisten to music while cooking as well. I like me some Killers or Flogging Molly mostly, sometimes Metallica.

6. One of my worst fears is serving undercooked chicken. So I tend to slice into the chicken to see if it's cooked. My chicken usually has a lot of stab wounds when I serve it.

7. I have never tried to use yeast. I'm scared of it. I have a few packets that I think have expired. I'm probably just going to toss them.

8. To check for al dente when cooking pasta, I throw it against the wall to see if it sticks. Once, I threw some spaghetti somewhere and then somehow it got covered up by something, cookbooks I think, and the pasta was literally on the wall for months before I realized it was there. Shhh!

9. Okay, here's my last and most embarrassing... I don't know how to use a broiler. Okay, that was painful to type. I just don't. Have never attempted to use it. Always feel inadequate when I hear it mentioned. Oh well... maybe some day.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Confessions of a beginning home cook. That's me. Now, don't go telling Ingrid any of my dirty little secrets.

Savory Sundays: Latin Burgers

Welcome to another Savory Sunday. I have a pair of my favorite dishes coming up today, at least ones that are favorites because they always draw some strong complements.

First up are some Latin Burgers with Caramelized Onions. It's a recipe from Ingrid Hoffmann, and I have to say that makes it a bit extra special. I'll explain later; for now here's what you need:

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound chorizo
1 onion, grated
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Adobo seasoning

A partial lineup

Now, the Caramelized Onions come later, so hold on for that crucial step. First, though, you must mix all the ingredients together. Grating the onion is tough since it always causes my eyes to drip like a faucet.

Mix with your hands until well combined but don't over-mix.
Now, shape into patties. Keep in mind, the original recipe calls for one pound of beef and 1/2 pound chorizo, so two parts beef, one part chorizo. It is supposed to make six large patties. Instead of making regular-size burgers, though, we opted to make them small. Why? Ingrid said so.
I'll get back to that in a sec. For now, here is the Caramelized Onion part. You need one large onion (or two smaller ones) sliced, olive oil, half-cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup sliced jalapenos.

Heat the oil and onions in a saucepan and add the sugar and jalapenos.

About 15 minutes later or so, the onions are nice and caramelized. They are perfect.


Now, why did we make them mini burgers? I actually had the chance to meet Ingrid Hoffmann in person. I talked to her and told her I was a big fan. She didn't believe me (that's the vibe I got from her, well, it was either that or a damn-this-guy-is-hot vibe but I could be wrong) until I told her I made this recipe. She got very excited. I told her the caramelized onions were awesome! Then, she believed me. She suggested making mini-burgers out of them, so I did and they turned out well. This week was the second time we've made the small and they came out very good.


The original recipe also calls for a Red Pepper Mayo, which is basically roasted red peppers blended together wtih mayonaisse. I made that once too as well and it was great, but we can get by with the burgers and the caramelized onions on top. The first time I made these my wife said they were restaurant-quality burgers, which I took as a complement.

These is easily our favorite burger recipe and one of our top recipes in general, thanks to Ingrid!

Savory Sundays: Chorizo Tortas

Up next is one of my favorite things to cook. Aside from the awesome flavor, I think I enjoy it so much is because it's my own little creation. The concept is not mine - come on now, I'm not that creative - but I've taken something that is prevalent somewhere else and re-created it in my own kitchen. By myself!

Chorizo Tortas are one of my favorite things to eat. What the heck is a torta? Well, it's kind of a Mexican-style grinder, submarine sandwich if you will. In Mexico, tortas are very popular and you can get them with cold meats like ham or queso de puerco or with warm meat like chorizo or bistec. I've not tried anything but chorizo because those are my favorites to get whenever I go to Mexico (which is not often enough).

Anyway, what you'll need:

1 pound chorizo

Okay, that's the main ingredient. Since it's my own thing, I'm not sure how to go about listing the ingredients because a lot of time they change. But I'll show you instead.

The guest of honor:

You're going to need some peppers and the like to add once the chorizo is cooking. This is what I had on hand so this is what I used.


Typically though I would suggest onion for sure, probably about half of one, as well as whatever peppers you can get, plus cilantro. However, the chorizo has so much flavor in it already you really don't need a lot of extra stuff.

Brown the chorizo. You definitely don't need any oil or anything.

When it's been on the heat for about 5-7 minutes, toss in the peppers and onions and cilantro.

Now, the bread you need is a telera or bolillo roll. This is bolillo, although the telera is the one commonly used in Mexico for tortas. A regular sandwich roll would probably work but the telera/bolillo are the better options.

I like to use Thousand Island dressing and put the chorizo over the top. I also use a ketchup/mayonaisse mix. Not sure what is the traditional way but I'm pretty sure it's not either. Still, the Thousand Island gives it a great flavor as well. Then, I like to put Monterey Jack cheese, although this time I only had cheddar available.
Pop it in the oven for 5-7 minutes or so and you've got a tasty sandwich.
The picture wasn't in focus but the sandwiches were quite tasty.
This last picture did not do it justice, but the chorizo torta is one of the tasties dishes I make.

Savory Sundays: Steak Fajitas

Welcome to another Savory Sunday! I made some pretty tasty dishes this week and am anxious to share them with you.

First up, steak fajitas. Yum! I had bought some red bell peppers at the store recently and was wondering how to use them up. I actually made another dinner with them and then didn't want them to go to waste. I figured, why not make some steak fajitas? We hadn't had them in a long time, so I went out and got some meat and some different types of peppers to balance the red bells.

First up, I bought a pound of, uh, well, in Spanish it's carne para asar but I believe it's something like sirloin tip or something in English. So, carne para asar for me!


I slice it up nice and thin. Well, it always seems thin when I slice it but when it cooks for some reason the pieces seem thicker than I had cut them. Maybe it's the way the meat cooks. To marinate it, I use this

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
dash hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Now, I put that in a resealable plastic bag and throw the meat inside. To save time and energy, I put the bag inside a big glass like so:
That helps save some frustration as well. Then, I make sure the marinade gets on as much of the meat as possible, get as much of the air out as I can, and put in nice and cozy in a bowl inside the refrigerator for at least an hour.

That gives you plenty of time to slice up the veggies. Here are, from top to bottom, a Poblano pepper, two Red Bell peppers, one Green chili and an onion.

When it's time to cook, heat the meat up over medium-high heat. You don't really need more oil since the meat has some but a splash won't hurt.

When the meat has cooked for a bit, toss in the veggies. I like to let them sit in there until they are tender. The thicker you leave the peppers, though, the longer that takes so you may want to slice them thinner than I did.

This probably took me 15-20 minutes to cook but I left it on the heat a while to get the peppers and onions nice and tender. Serve with some warm tortillas, perhaps a side of rice, some Pico de Gallo and maybe even a nice cold one.

This made for quite a feast. And we weren't disappointed!