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

Banana Chocolate Snack Cake

The best thing about this cake is that it's a 'snack cake,' which means it can be enjoyed at any time of day. The addition of bananas and cottage cheese lends nutritional substance to this yummy cake without making it too dense. It turned out very moist and chocolatey without being overly sweet.

The recipe for the cake was found here. I (H) used Dutched dark chocolate cocoa powder and regular all-purpose flour, but other than that I followed the recipe exactly and it came out deliciously.

D would like to add that it's very good refrigerated too.

Happy Baking,
- D&H

Feature Presentation: Peanut Chicken Noodle Salad + The Sting (1973)

What we made tonight was based on this recipe,
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/06/cold-rice-noodles-with-peanut-lime-chicken/

...with a few modifications:  We used lemon juice instead of lime juice, a different set of vegetables {arugula, carrots, red cabbage, a tiny bit of white onion}, regular sugar instead of brown sugar, chunky peanut butter instead of creamy and no crushed peanuts at the end, we used fettuccine instead of rice noodles, chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, grilled on a foreman instead of conventional grill, used white wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar, used dried ginger instead of ginger root, used chili powder instead of cayenne pepper, used crushed red peppers instead of chili peppers, and didn't use a food processor (just stirred really fast by hand ;) ).

Voila!

And for a special treat,

we note that this food goes well

with this classic film from the

con-game genre:

Enjoy!

- D&H

Creamy Lemon Pasta

Back to smitten kitchen for another treat...
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/02/spaghetti-with-lemon-and-olive-oil-al-limone/

We ate this last night with the last of the edamame salad.  The light creamy sauce was really great with angel hair pasta, though we plan to use more lemon juice next time and maybe more salt.  Definitely add more arugula too if you like veggies.


- D&H

S'more Dessert Please

Have you ever been not-camping and wanted the tasty mushiness of a melted marshmallow in a chocolate graham cracker sandwich?  Well... here's what you do - make an indoor s'more!

Break a graham cracker in a half.
Put chocolate on the halves.
Put marshmallow on top of the chocolate.
Set toaster oven to broil.
Toast until marshmallow browns.
Take s'mores out of toaster.
Eat s'mores quickly while they are still hot.
Say yum.
Enjoy the feeling of post-s'more.
Repeat if desired.
Get a drink probably.
Blog about it.
Move on to something else.

- D&H

Edamame Salad with Cilantro

Okay, here's another tasty one...
http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2011/11/asian-edamame-salad-with-cilantro-and-toasted-almonds/

H put this together tonight for a delicious dinner date.  We didn't use almonds, but it didn't seem like they were necessary.  The sauce for this was really terrific, and could certainly be used for other types of meals (maybe beef over rice?).

We ate this with turkey sandwiches on the side made with the pesto sauce from the earlier portobello mushroom sandwich recipe.

Yummmmm

- D&H

Grilled Portobello With Pesto

We were trying to recreate a sandwich from one of our favorite coffee shops...

We came across this recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Portobello-Burgers-with-Pesto-Provolone-and-Roasted-Peppers-353378

..and the rest is history.  It was fantastico!  and easy (we grilled the mushrooms on a foreman grill for convenience).

Next time we'll try marinating them in balsamic vinegar for a twist.  And maybe even make it without the mayo for the health of it.

- D&H

Carne Asada Stuffed Burritos

Stuffed this stuffer in a tortilla to make quick (really quick!) burritos.  Added some chopped vegetables (radishes, avocado, cucumber, and tomato) and cheeeeeese.

Surprisingly tasty says H, who gives it four belly buttons! woohoo.

D says good.  Worth getting again.

-D&H

Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Pesto

Tonight we made this recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/10/spaghetti-with-broccoli-cream-pesto/.

'Twas delicioso.. A filling recipe for a cold rainy day.  And good with Israeli salad on the side.

Next time, we could try with more broccoli.  The parmesan garnish MADE it.

We would have posted a picture, but we ate it ;)

- D&H