Hot Sesame Pasta

This week has been absolutely insane. I've been juggling insanity at work, a heavy course load (with corresponding enormous piles of homework), the launch of my official food blog with Backdrop magazine...oh and trying to maintain something resembling a social life. I've been doing outrageous amounts of cooking and baking (despite the fact that the burn on my arm is still not healing properly), and even pulling all-nighters to get things done. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. And starving. So here's a dish I came up with that's quick, easy, and (most importantly) still delicious.

You will need:
2 cups penne pasta (fettuccine and bow-tie both work really well with this too)
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Make sure you season the water with some salt before you add the pasta. While that's cooking, drizzle the vegetable oil into a small pan and add the sesame seeds, pepper flakes, and onion powder. If you happen to have fresh red pepper and/or onion lying around, you can substitute these for the powder and flakes. Just make sure you take the time to sautee them fully. Stir it well, so the oil really soaks up the flavor of everything else. When the pasta is al dente, drain and rinse it, returning it to the pot. Add the butter and the oil mixture, and toss to coat. You're done!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to tackle some more of that growing pile of to-do lists...

Spicy Pork Chops...with Veggies!

So the other night, I made these amazing Rachael Ray spiced pork chops with sauteed vegetables. I used my boyfriend, roommate, and roommate's girlfriend as guinea pigs, and all four of us agreed: they are delicious. You'll need:

4 pork chops
1 tablespoon corriander
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
1 cup of grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried parsley

And rather than just telling you how to make it, here's a visual demonstration, courtesy of flickr.com.



I tried to get captions to pop up with the pictures, but I couldn't really figure it out. Oh well...here's the rest of the info!

1st picture: Trim the excess fat from the pork chops
2nd picture: Cover the chops with plastic wrap and pound them flat. This will also help make them a bit more tender.
3rd: A shot of the spices used.
4th: The spices in a bowl, before I mixed them. That bright red one is the paprika...mmm...
5th: Pat the spice mix into the tops of the chops, making sure they get evenly coated. Set them aside to let the flavor sink in, and don't forget to wash your hands before you touch anything else!
6th: While the chops are soaking up the spices, chop your pepper and onion. The recipe doesn't call for red pepper, but I had extra in my fridge so I threw it in.
7th: Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and put it on medium heat.
8th: Add the pepper and onion; season with salt and pepper.
9th: Add the grape tomatoes
10th: Add the parsley and let the veggies cook until the grape tomatoes start to burst.
11th: Transfer the veggies to a separate plate and cover with foil so they'll stay warm.
12th: Put the chops into the same pan used for the veggies; cook about 4 or 5 minutes on each side.
13th: Close-up of pork chops cooking.
14th: Flipped chops.
15th: Finished chops, plated on a bed of sauteed vegetables.
16th: Artistic close-up!
17th: And again.

Revenge (on) dinner

This week, I've been meekly returning to old, bad habits. You got it...I've eating fast food and Ramen since Sunday night. It's not that I'm afraid of my oven, or anything. It's just that there is a nasty wound on my arm it is quite painful to expose it to heat. But finally, I think I can get back into the kitchen with minimal discomfort. So I'm going to try making the infamous teriyaki salmon linguine again.

For this post, I decided to share the side dish for the salmon that has plagued me so. It's a linguine with a kind of white wine and veggie sauce...and I know for a fact that it is delicious, as this is the only part of the main dish my boyfriend and I really got to enjoy on Sunday.

You will need:
a good handful of dried linguine (enough for two)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 teaspoons onion powder (or 1/4 cup chopped onion)
2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 2 cloves fresh)
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons basil
1/2 cup dry white wine (you can get this really inexpensively at Walmart or CVS)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sliced and pitted olives (get the canned kind--it's cheaper)
1 lemon
teriyaki salmon from the previous recipe
salt and pepper

Get a nice big pot and fill halfway with water. Put a few shakes of salt into the water to flavor it and help it boil faster. Bring the water up to a boil and add the linguine (fettuccine works as well). Cook according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic powders and stir them in really well. Add the thyme and do the same, cooking for about a minute. Then, add the wine and cook another minute before adding the chicken broth and olives. Grab the lemon and roll it around with the palm of your hand to get the juices flowing. Grab a grater and grate the zest into the skillet. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze each half (cut side up, so the seeds won't fall in) into the skillet as well. Bring the whole mixture to a simmer for about five minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it into the skillet with the sauce (if you have a small skillet like I do, put the pasta into the pot and add the sauce to that). Toss it all together and cook for another minute or so. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the basil. Serve immediately...before you drop it and burn your arm ;)

A cautionary tale

Frank Sinatra playing in the background. An aromatic scent of teriyaki salmon and cheese fondue wafting through the air. A candle-lit table set for two. Sounds like the beginning of a perfect evening, right?

Not in my case. This week I decided to surprise my boyfriend with a gourmet-style dinner, complete with salad, appetizer, main course, and dessert. When he walked into my apartment, he was greeted not with the romantic scene mentioned above; rather, he heard the smoke alarm blaring, smelled burnt flesh, and saw me bawling on the couch with a cold compress on my arm. He also saw teriyaki sauce splattered all over the kitchen, a 400 degree pan steaming in the sink, and salmon all over the floor.

I had just taken the salmon out of the oven. My kitchen is minuscule, so when I sat the pan on the counter, it was just barely balanced on the edge. In my rush to get the timing just right, I hit the pan and catapulted the fish into the air. Luckily, I moved enough to keep the food from hitting my face, but my arm wasn't as fast as the rest of me. Teriyaki sauce--400 degree teriyaki sauce--splattered my arm and stuck there. No amount of shaking (or screaming) would make it come off. I dashed to the sink and was able to rinse cold water on it enough to prevent a 3rd degree burn, but I'm quite certain I am bordering on 2nd degree now. Burns hurt. A lot.

Luckily, we were able to salvage the rest of the meal and the evening wasn't quite ruined. But there is a lesson to be learned here: BE CAREFUL! Move slowly in the kitchen. And if you have a tiny kitchen, well...move even slower.

Here's the recipe for the salmon I tried to make. It's relatively inexpensive (I found frozen fillets at Kroger for five bucks!) and I'm guessing it tastes delicious. Let me know how it goes for you all.

You will need:
cooking spray
1 pound salmon fillets (about 3)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 clove of garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I'll say it again...this is HOT (haha). Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and put on the sheet. Grab a small bowl and whisk the remaining ingredients (if you're using fresh garlic, you'll want to mince it--chop it into tiny pieces--first). Granted, you can always use store-bought teriyaki sauce; it's faster and easier. But how impressive is it to say that you made your own sauce? So whichever sauce you're using, hand-made or store-bought, pour it over your salmon. Pop it in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The sauce on the pan will carmalize; don't worry about that. The fish is done when it's "fork tender," that is, when you push at it with a fork it comes apart.

I was planning on serving mine with linguine, if you're looking for a side dish. I'm hoping to give this another shot, so let me know what you think of it if you try it out.

A few of my favorite things...

I am a Food Network junkie. I watch it constantly. I buy the magazine. And of course, I visit the website.

The Food Network website is phenomenal. Typically it has a really vibrant green background (just happens to be my favorite color, so maybe I'm biased) but lately it's had a nice pink/magenta shade to celebrate Valentine's day. The main picture is a decadent-looking chocolate covered strawberry. It looks so good, I kind of want to lick it right off of the screen.

On the right-hand side is a series of dropdown bars, to help you find a recipe to suit you. So if you want to make "lunch" with "pasta" in "forty-five minutes or less," they'll find you a recipe.

The site also features tons of links. You can find specific cooks, if you're like me and play favorites (I like Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, and Rachael Ray), or categories of recipes, or shows  on the station...the list goes on!

I have two small beefs with the site. First, the recipes are generally not low-budget. This isn't really  problem I suppose, as I tend to tweak recipes anyway. But keep in mind, if you go to this site, you'll probably have to adjust most recipes to fit your wallet.

The real problem with the site is that it is so cluttered. I mean, links everywhere. It would take ages to really navigate the site in its entirety. Again, it's a bit of a necessary evil; there's so much content. At least the information is organized, I suppose.

Another good site is the online version of Every Day with Rachael Ray. This magazine (and the website) is mostly food-based, with a little of Rachael's personal life thrown in. Now, I could care less about Rachael's recent vacation to the Caribbean or wherever she went. But her food. Is. Fantastic. I love it. Her recipes are creative and unique, and can be made cheaply with minimal changes.

The site's color scheme is a dynamic orange and yellow. Like the Food Network site, this one has a ton of links. Unlike the Food Network site, however, Rachael Ray's site is organized into little blocks of information and content. It's far easier to navigate; I suspect this is due to the size comparison. Rachael Ray has a much narrower audience than Food Network does.

Whether you're new in the kitchen or a seasoned chef (ha...seasoned...get it?), you'll really love what both of these sites have to offer.

Blog review and soul food

As part of our class project, we are to review a website on a topic related to our blog. I've decided to review a blog that I have on my RSS feed: "Everyday Cookin' - The Food Blog of Darius T Williams."

Darius is a guy from Chicago who, like me, loves to cook and loves to write about it. His recipes are pretty phenomenal, I have to say. Relatively simple, and not too far out of the budgets of us poor college kids. He also posts pictures--a LOT of pictures. This is his one fault, in my opinion. The photos are of good quality, but they are almost excessive, and there are no captions for them. This makes it difficult for the reader to figure out exactly what's going on. Darius knows what he's doing in the kitchen, however, and his readership shows it--over 12,000 hits! I'd kill for that kind of publicity, let me tell you...

But, anyway...on to this week's recipe. I recently made my own cookbook by pasting recipes into a pretty little journal I got for Christmas (thanks, Mom). This recipe is a great one from this cookbook; it's my take on a family recipe for baked potato soup. I figure that with this being the dead of winter, who wouldn't want a nice warm bowl of soup to curl up with?

You will need:
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
3 1/2 cups milk
2 potatoes
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
6 strips of bacon
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper

Use a fork to poke holes in the potatoes, then stick them in the microwave for 5 minutes. Turn them over, and nuke those tots for five more minutes. If they're soft, take them out, peel them, and cut them into cubes. If they're not soft yet, cook for one minute at a time until they are. Set them aside for the moment.

Cook the bacon until the pieces are nice and crispy. Wrap them in a paper towel to get rid of excess grease, then crumble them up and set aside for now.

Melt the butter in a large pot. Gradually stir in the flour until the mixture is smooth--no lumps! Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. The soup will start to thicken. Make sure you're still on low heat, as the milk will scald if you heat it too quickly. Add the potatoes and scallions. SLOWLY bring the soup to a boil (you want it on medium-high heat, and no hotter), stirring constantly so nothing burns. Add cheese, sour cream, bacon, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the cheese is melted. Top with a little extra cheese and serve immediately.

Sounds good, right? Now all you need is a good movie and a comfy couch. Enjoy!

So I kind of jumped the gun, folks. If you want to get your kitchen started and make inexpensive meals, you really need to go out and get some starter supplies. A lot of these items are inexpensive (most are under three or four bucks), and last a long time, so they're good to have lying around.

Pantry
Alright, I realize that if you're in college, you don't have a pantry. All I have is a cupboard above my fridge and one of those wire mesh cube storage units. But regardless of what you call your storage area, there are a few essentials you must have in it.

Potatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Plain ol' vegetable oil
Cooking spray
Pasta (whatever size and shape you prefer)
Rice (I like Minute rice)
Bread crumbs
Flour
Sugar
Baking powder AND baking soda
Chocolate chips
Chicken broth or stock
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Canned tuna
Honey
Peanut butter

Fridge
You might want to note that two-month old leftovers are NOT on this list. Try to clean out your fridge every 2 or 3 weeks; old, moldy food will stink up all of your fresh food.

Milk
Butter
Eggs
Bread (it keeps longer if you store it in here)
Grated parmesan cheese (I really like Kraft's Parmesan-Romano cheese!)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Ketchup/mustard (as your tastes go)
Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Soy sauce
Steak sauce
Bacon
Lemon juice (you can buy it in little plastic containers that look like lemons...cute!)
Carrots/celery/lettuce/tomatoes (or you can buy the pre-made salad mixes)

Freezer
Throw out those frozen dinners! They're terrible for you and most of the time, they taste terrible as well.

Chicken
Hamburger
Any other meat that you eat regularly, like pork or seafood (which isn't a meat, but you get the picture)

Spices
These are the smallest details with the biggest impact in your whole kitchen. Of course, these are just starter suggestions. If you like Italian, Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, or some other foreign influence in your meals, of course you'll want a different variety of spices. I like a little bit of everything; consequently, I have almost two dozen different spices on my little shelf--and growing! But for starters, here's a list.

General
Salt
Black pepper
Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg
Garlic powder
Onion powder (this and the above are great--and inexpensive!--substitutes for the real deal)
Bay leaves
Rosemary

Heat
Crushed red pepper
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Chili powder

Italian
Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Cilantro

There you have it...everything a cook needs to get started. Recipes that I post will usually (if not always) include these ingredients; sometimes they'll call for something not on the list that might be a splurge. But if you keep all of these in your kitchen, cooking on a nightly basis will cost you next to nothing!