French Toast Sandwhich

I really love using the stuff lying around the house to make an impromptu and delicious meal. This past Sunday I started out making some French Toast, until I realized we were out of syrup from the pancakes I had recently made. No problem, made the toast, threw some nutella (similar to the pancakes E had) in between, but added some chopped bannanas and whipped cream. Delicious, gooey, sweet breakfast ensued.

A successful pancake experiment

Of course the key to any pancake recipe starts with getting the right mix. Since E, is gluten free, we can't make this stuff from scratch. Bob's Red Mill has an excellent mix that doesn't make me miss traditional pancakes at all. It may not be quite as fluffy, but the taste is excellent. The key is also what you add to the pancakes.
Yesterday I tried adding chopped banana and chopped walnuts. The result was pretty much what tasted like a banana nut muffin. The cooked banana really serves to sweeten the entire mixture, while the nuts, obviously, add a nice crunch. I topped mine with pure maple syrup. E, doesn't love the maple syrup the way I do, so I covered hers with a little Nutella. THe pancake was warm enough that it softened up the normally pretty sticky substance, and it spread easily.
Paired with this, was of course, the mimosa. A festive morning cocktail if there ever was one.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

So I will be trying this recipe again tomorrow evening, but had great success a few weeks ago, so it has been requested that I do an encore.

Ingredients
8 ounces pasta (gluten free, the quinoa stuff is excellent)
1 3/4 cups of milk (we use low fat)
3 tablespoons of flour (gluten free)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (or more if you love garlic, or just chop up some cloves)
1/2 tspn of salt
1/4 tspn ground pepper
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1 tspn dijon mustard
Bacon or prosciutto crumbles/cubes
Taragon chopped

Cook pasta (I'm not going to question anyone's culinary abilities by explaining how)
Heat 1 1/2 cups of milk in a large pot, medium high, until it simmers.
Whisk the other 1/4 cups, plus all the flour, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Add the flour mixture to the big pot, returning mixture to a simmer again, whisking constantly for a few minutes until its a little thicker.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the cheeses and mustard until everything is mixed and melted.
Drain the past and mix with the sauce and bacon.prosciutto.
Toss a little of the taragon on top the mac and cheese when serving.

Note - It is pretty easy to see where the cheese mixture is going, and if you want to add some more cheese, or salt or mustard to enhance the flavor in a particular direction.

Round 2, tomorrow night.

Bob's Burgers (not an animated series)

Everybody has their go to way to grill up some burgers. For some people that means buying pre-formed burgers and just slapping them on a grill. They are burgers, so they can be decent just about any way you prepare them. I tend to put a little more TLC (Left Eye Lopez is not involved). The first thing is getting good meat. The ground beef I used last night was sirloin that I purchased at a farmer's market. It has way more flavor than the preformed stuff, that doesn't look real. That's key because if you overcook it a little bit then all the flavor is in the grease pan. Good meat, is much more forgiving.

I've got the meat, but it is hardly ready to put on the grill.
Finely chop garlic.
Work the garlic into the hand formed patties without overworking the meat.
Season with salt and pepper.
Rub Worcestershire sauce on the outside.
Throw on the grill.

The extra steps infuse the burger with more flavor and moisture, keeping it savory and avoiding the hockey puck scenario.

Fixings are then important for the perfect burger experience.
Last night I used toasted sourdough.
Spread on horseradish cream sauce.
Topped the Burger with Swiss.
Add spinach and sauerkraut.

Delicious.

It has been a loooong time...

Just a couple quick food items.

Last night I made my stuffed jalepenos. The recipe is really easy.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Slice as many jalepenos as you want in half, cutting off the stem.
Seed the jalepenos with a spoon, to keep the oils from absorbing into your skin.
Fill the inside with creamed cheese.
Wrap Prosciutto around the jalepeno.
Cook for about 15 minutes
Add a little jam to the finished product and enjoy.

We had leftover prosciutto so the next day I just fried some eggs, and threw them on top of a bed of prosciutto and a little crumbled feta. It was a nice salty mix to go along with the runny yoke of the eggs.

Hello 2011

Happy New Year!

Denver Botanical Gardens 2010

B and I celebrated the New Year up in the mountains. New Years Eve we drove up to Georgetown to spend some much needed time away from the city and life. Bob’s dad prepared a New Years Eve feast for us. We enjoyed shrimp with extra spicy cocktail sauce, lobster tails, salad, baked Brie, and some drinks. Post meal and conversation, B and I were able to sneak out to the hot tub, where we enjoyed glasses of champagne and discussed the year to come – things we want to accomplish, things we are looking forward to, and things, such as his graduate program, that we will need to survive.

After our hot tub we sprinted back into the house, put on PJs, and enjoyed an episode of ‘House.’ Around 11pm, B said, “I’m ready for bed, I’m tired.” An initial thought of shock went through my mind – we can’t go to bed before midnight on New Years Eve. However, B was sick the last few days, we’ve been dealing with an extra amount of stress, and frankly, I think we were both tired of 2010. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to go up to bed and fall asleep near my honey (we were in 2 smaller bed up in B’s childhood room.) B wrung in the New Year around 3:30 in the morning when he awoke with a sore throat, stuffed up head, and cough.

Our first day of the year has been spent with one of the branches of our family. We enjoyed breakfast at the small town coffee shop in Georgetown. The fellas spent the day watching football, and as had become tradition, I spent the day reading. Since my first New Years Day in Georgetown, I have spent every New Years Day in front of the fire at my father-in-laws home, curled up with a good book. Last year, I read ‘Gluten-free Girl’ by Shauna James Ahern and this year, I cuddled up with the second installment, ‘Gluten-free Girl and the Chef.’ I saw Shauna and her husband, Daniel Ahern, speak a few weeks back at Tattered Cover. I love them.

I specifically chose this book as my New Years book because I wanted to start 2011 inspired.

With that, her are my New Years resolutions:

1)   Start running and attempt a half-marathon in June

2)   At the end of the day, I would like to leave work at work. I’ll try to do this by writing more, taking pictures, cooking, sewing, and my other various interests.

3)   Spend as much time as possible with my love.

Happy New Year to all. B and I are off to Vegas for a few days where we will eat, drink, and be merry.