Side Dish Special: Couscous Salad Medley

We're big fans of one-pot dinners.  This was one of them.  Rotisserie chicken + couscous salad medley made for a quick, satisfying meal.  The couscous salad came together by putting the raw couscous in boiling water, and then adding frozen

Couscous salad
Ingredients: 
- 1 1/3 cup Israeli couscous
- frozen broccoli
- frozen kale
- half chopped onion
- half minced cubanelle pepper
- half can of chickpeas
- Salt, pepper, za'atar
- Goat cheese

Steps:
Pour couscous in boiling water.  After a couple of minutes add frozen vegetables.  When couscous is almost ready, add onions and pepper.  Drain.  Stir in chickpeas.  Add spices to taste.  Serve with goat cheese.

Makes your mouth feel mediterranean!!

- D&H

OJ French Toast

Inspired by our leftover heavy cream and french bread (from our cheesesteaks), H made a delicious breakfast of french toast with an orange juice twist.  Pulled from the depths of allrecipes.com, this is definitely a winner.  The key is marinating the bread for at least 5 minutes to absorb the orange flavor.  It's best if you sing songs while you wait.   Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 French baguette
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1 dash ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter

Steps:
1.  Cut loaf ends off and reserve for another use. Cut remaining loaf into 1 1/2 inch slices; let stand 4 hours or overnight.
2.  In a 9x13 inch baking pan, combine orange juice, cream, eggs ground cinnamon and white sugar. Place bread slices in pan and turn until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
3.  In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add bread slices and cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Dust generously with confectioners' sugar and serve warm.

- D&H

Cheesesteaks!

Last friday, we did something awesome, and wonderful, and magnificent.... we made cheesesteaks.  In the Philly tradition, we used rib-eye steak, onions (we used one half), cheese (we went with American), and a little bit of green pepper.  Sauteed and plopped on a french bread hoagie roll.  The idea and basic recipe came from Fabio Viviani:

PHILADELPHIA CHEESESTEAK

Recipe by Fabio Viviani

Yield: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 pound rib eye steak (well marbled and sliced as thin as possible)

¼ cup extra light olive oil

1 large onion, diced

¼ pound Provolone cheese, sliced thin

Two rolls of crusty French bread

Method:

Heat up olive oil on a griddle pan over very high heat.

Add onions to pan.

Add sliced steak and cook for a few minutes, just until the pink disappears.

Just before it finishes cooking, top with the cheese.

Slice the rolls open, and place upside down over the meat, building a tent.

Using the bread, scoop the meat and cheese off of the griddle. BE CAREFUL.

Top with the grilled onions.

Slice and serve.

MANGIA!

- D&H

Ad Hoc Pizza

We made PIZZA.  Dough was pillsbury pre-made.  Toppings were chosen from the refrigerator... There was frozen broccoli, frozen kale, roasted red peppers, corned beef hash, cheddar cheese, and the sauce was mushroom pasta sauce.  It actually turned out pretty good, surprisingly.  Surely to be done again with other various toppings from the fridge.

- D&H

Pumpkin Almond Cookies

Autumn pumpkins in cookies with almond stems make great party treats and mouth treats.  They are not actually miniature pumpkins, do not be fooled.  The recipe came from here.

Recipe notes:

1st of all, we found that the food coloring did not have much of an impact in our batter.

2nd of all, the texture of the cookies was much more cakey than expected, perhaps increasing the butter or baking them longer would do it.

Enjoy!

You're one cool cat, vanilla!

Recipe copied from the link above:

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Pumpkin Almond Cookies

Prep Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
Active Work Time: 25 minutes
Recipe
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
A drop of orange food coloring if desired 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Yield: Makes 4-1/2 dozen

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
   
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter with the powdered sugar. Mix for about a minute or
   so, until it's a bit lighter and very smooth.
   
3. Add in the pumpkin, vanilla, almond meal, salt, and spices. Mix until smooth.At this point, you can add a tiny bit of orange food coloring if desired. (I used about a very small bit for the
   cookies in the images you see here, just to brighten them slightly.)
   
4. Fold in the flour and mix only until it's evenly incorporated.
   
5. Shape dough into approximately 1-1/2 tablespoon-sized balls. Gently roll each one between
   the palms of your hands to create a smooth, even surface. Place them on one of the prepared baking sheets as you go, fairly close together. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the cookie batter balls are firm, at least 3 hours, and ideally overnight.
   
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
   
7. Remove the the baking sheet from the refrigerator and then use the back of a small knife to
   make several vertical lines in around each ball, all coming together at the top center. Add them to the other prepared baking sheet as you go, being sure there's about an inch between each one.
   
8. Bake in the preheated 350 degree F oven until bottoms are slightly golden and the cookies are solid, about 15 minutes.
   
9. While the cookies are still quite warm, insert a few of the sliced almonds to the top of each "pumpkin," where the lines meet, to form the "stem." Try to find slices with the almond skin for the outsides of the stems.
   
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets. 

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Have a pleasant night,

- D&H

Pomegranate Pancakes

Ahoy there hurricane survivors!  We're still weathering this storm with gastronomical gusto thanks to this recipe for pancakes and some fresh fruit.  What we found this morning is that pomegranates are fun to eat and great for pancakes, along with mini chocolate chips.  A great way to ease into a new day, even when it's storming outside with wind and rain.

Breakfast is served!

- D&H

Feature Presentation: Hurricane Chili + Mr. Nice Guy (1997)

Hurricane Sandy is on her way, and we're cooking!  

We were aching for something warm in our bellies and found this.  Instead of tomato juice, we used diced tomatoes & a cup of water, and we added some shredded carrots.  Serving this over macaroni made for some tasty dinner bowls.

To add some fun and excitement,

we watched Jackie Chan's martial

arts madness in a fairly silly movie:

- D&H