Suites

Leftover Suite potatoes? Add some brown sugar, butter and syrup to the sumbitches, top with marshmellows and bam. Fucking goods.

punkin* pancakes

Pumpkin pancakes. Use Libby's canned pumpkin, 3/4 of it and fold it in to any of the pancake mix you use. I doubled the serving so that's why 3/4 of the 12 oz can. they came out extra orange but really good. I added cinnamon, a little nutmeg and vanilla to round out the taste. I also added some chopped walnuts for texture. I love pancakes.

Cabbage and Corn

Cabbage and Corn. Make a wonderful combo.
Braise some cabbage in olive oil with onions and few garlic cloves.
Then add corn and bake for 20 minutes. Superb side dish.

Porky Roasty

Apple Chutney was eaten with this beauty of a Pork Roast.

Roasted for about an hour and twenty minutes, rubbed with Brown Sugar, Ginger, Granulated Garlic, Black Pepper, Salt and Crushed Bay Leaves. For the gravy I surronded the roast with onions, apples, ginger and fennel seeds. Add a cup of water. Once the roast was done I strained the liquid and started a roux with flour and butter. Add the liquid to the roux, got a boil and served steaming hot. Garnished with mint and apples.......

I don't have to tell you it was good do I? It was a lil dry so thank god for the gravy and apple chutney. I think 45 minutes is a better cooking time but my wife is DEATHLY afraid of undercooked pork.

Mise en place

I made an apple chutney to go with something I'll post tomorrow but here is a pic of how I practice Mise En Place which relaly just means set all your shit up so you can get things done.

Wiki Mise En Place

6 apples, peeled (and cored eventually)
Raisins
Brown Sugar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Ginger and Ground Ginger
Whole Cloves
Butter
Mint
Dash of tangerine juice (my own touch, it's gay but it works for me)

Sautee apples in butter and brown sugar until soft.
Stir in grated ginger/teaspoon of ground and raisins.
Reduce heat to LOW and add in Apple Cider Vingear and a few cloves.
Cover, continue to cook over very low heat.
It's done when the liquid tightens a bit, maybe 20 minutes.
Splash with the citrus juice of your liking...clementines are in season.....
And finish with MINT.

Serve with biscuits, pork, chicken, turkey (add cranberries!!) or anything you lil heart desires.

Veggie Pasta

Any and all veggies with garlic/oil tossed over pasta is a great quick go to weekly meal. and makes for a good lunch the next day. Here I had some broccli, black olives, grape tomatoes and asparagus.

pasta and peas

I started out making pasta and peas, which is simply crushed tomato, peas, broth, seasonings and ditalini's but it turned into a vegetable soup. I added corn, spinach and some carrots. You can almost call this a minestrone. Almost.

Either way it was delicious and very good for you.

Sautee one med onion until soft. Add 3 cloves garlic, sautee until soft.
Add one large can of crushed tomato, season with basil fresh or dry, oregano, salt, pepper, parlsey. Let simmer.
Add peas after about 15 minutes, then a quart of chicken stock.
Come to a boil.

In a seperate pot, boil up some Ditalini's (round peg looking macaroni, tiny) or Elbows or your pasta of choice. Do not add to soup because macaroni will swell and take on too much liquid. When you are ready to serve just add to your serving.

That's pasta and peas.

Adding spinach and corn and carrots? Do so when you add the peas and add a cup of water to thin it out. You want soup not vegetable sauce.

Serve with fresh Italian bread from your favorite baker. Maybe some grated cheese to top.

Nother flank steak merinade*

Flank steak, marinated with Balsamic Vinegar, basil, salt/pepper, touch of honey.

Roasted Chicken

Raw Bird.

Cooked Bird.

4 lbs. 2 hours, 350 degrees, rubbed with olive oil, thyme, garlic powder, rosemary, salt, pepper, fennel seeds and oregano. Cavity stuffed with apples, garlic and onions. Added 1/4 cup chicken broth in pan...saved and strained later for gravy.

Cusinart and me are in love

I love the Cusinart Grill/Panini maker. Saturday for lunch I had some leftover chicken fajitas and was tired of them in that form so I simply made two burritos the next day and grilled those suckers in the Cusinart machine of love and bam, toasty mexican burrito thingy's. Unreal. It's amazing what crunch can turn a meal into.

Side note, I use this machine ALOT. Quesadillas, pressed sanwhich's, heros, grilled cheese, pancakes, etc. It's the bomb.