Risky Roast!

Cooking is an art. 

Food is so easy to ruin & I've done it my share of times. 

Ask my poor husband who has to eat it all.....

I've ruined pizza, brownies, rolls, plain ole' chicken. You name it & I've messed it up some time or other. Barbacoa is one of those things I'm going to keep ruining.

This roast was not one of those times.

Garlic herb & Parmesan perfection.

I however don't own a roasting pan & now that I've done this I will probably never buy one.

I put a plain metal rack over my iron skillet.

Works perfectly.

I filled my skillet up with baby carrots, onion, garlic, and shallots.

Oh yeah, and butter.

The thing about roasting a chicken is you don't want it to be simmering in juices and for it to get soggy on the bottom. Ick.

All the liquid needs to drip out and help cook your veggies.

The tough part is that you still want your chicken to be juicy.

I found the balance.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 whole chicken, cut up if your lazy like me.

1/4 cup parmesan

salt & pepper

4 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp minced garlic & juices. (I use the store bought minced garlic in a glass jar and poured a lot of the juices on my chicken.)

Paprika

Cayenne pepper

I squeezed a tiny bit of orange juice over the whole thing

Thyme

Parsley

Rosemary

Garlic powder

***All my seasonings are always to taste, I never measure. I usually just guess when there are measurements on here.

WHAT TO DO:

I let my chicken sit in the fridge for about three hours uncovered to help the skin dry out.

Pat dry with a paper-towel.

Brush on olive oil.

Coat chicken in seasonings.

Let sit out an additional hour.

Dice up some butter and place them on your chicken pieces enough to cover your chicken when it melts.

This is what mine looked like~

 

Yes, I'll tell you about that awesome bread soon too!

Preheat oven to 400.

Stick in your chicken and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Mine was in pieces already so it baked faster.

Broil your chicken for an additional 5-8 minutes.

WATCH CAREFULLY.

& You have a crispy delicious roasted chicken.

Yay!

***I forgot to take pictures when it was done, but trust me. So good. <3

Can you really ever have enough peanut-butter?

Silly question. 

The answer is no. 

Let me tell you why I'm here today.

My original plan was to tell you about this perfect apple pie recipe I concocted.

Alas, I decided it was best to get this information out first!

Do you remember that delicious peanut-butter cake I talked about awhile back? 

I've fixed, tweaked and perfected this week.

A friend of mine was asking me about the recipe and it reminded me of how badly I needed to bake it. 

Today, it couldn't wait any longer. 

Buuuuut last time it didn't quite meet up to my dense, perfect memories I tried to create it from. 

We used to have this cake in high-school and I LOVED it. 

That's where the idea originated from the first time. 

Anyways, my cake was a tad to airy and light, and the icing wasn't spot on. It tasted the same, it just didn't mesh well. In my mouth. 

So I fixed it. 

The batter is a little thicker. 

The cake holds better.

The icing sticks and is a little denser. 

In other words, my minor tweaks worked out great. 

So here it is. 

I used a little smaller of a pan also this time, two 5x5 pans I believe. 

Oh yeah and I sprayed them THOROUGHLY.

Still baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

In the cake I changed:

Light sour cream. 

I replaced 2 1/2 tbsp of my sugar with dark brown sugar.

I added 1/2 tbsp of nesquick in my peanut-butter stove-top mixture.

I used all-purpose flour with only about 2 tbsp of cake flour. (which was unnecessary, I just had that much left so I used it.)

I also added about 1/2 tsp vanilla to my stove-top peanut-butter mixture.

In the icing I changed:

I only used 2 1/4 tbsp of milk.

I used 1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

3 tbsp butter.

About about two spoonfuls of peanut butter less than the recipe calls for.

I recommend you make these changes in the cake if you decide to make it, it's much much better. 

Seeeeeeeeeeeeee~

CHEESE!!!

Seriously.

Forgive me. 

I was the only person totally unaware that an eight and a half month old little boy literally requires ALL of my time. 

We do a lot together. 

I paint, he smears, I cook, he eats, I clean, he makes messes. 

It's a thing.

You can go ahead and be jealous now.

But let's get down to the reason I just knew I had to come back ASAP.

Cheese. 

Cheese. 

Cheese. 

I made mozzarella cheese this past weekend and believe me, I will be doing it again!

  

There were about three times that I totally thought I had ruined everything and I had overestimated my abilities in the kitchen...drastically.

I wouldn't be so upset, because well. I ruin things all the time. I'm good like that.

Buuuuuuuuut, I have been preparing for this cheese for months. Searching high and low for these special ingredients. 

Wanna guess where I found them?

In my hometown health food store. The LAST place I looked before giving up hope.

Rennet is pesky. Just order it online and save yourself.

Let me just say. 

Do this. 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1/4 tablet rennet or junket suspended in 2 tbsp. cool water

1/2 gallon of milk (I used 2% but whole makes a better flavor.)

1/2 & 1/8 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water

Cheesecloth

 

Yes, that's really it. 

Wanna see something delicious? 

 

 

 

 

That's my pizza I made with my fresh mozzarella and some other LAAAAAAME store-bought cheese. 

(Don't worry, I'll tell you about this thin-crust sliced heaven soon enough.)

 

WHAT TO DO:

 

Warm your milk (in a large stainless steel or enameled pot, don't use aluminum. I used my paula deen pot for this!) to 88 degrees. Stir a lot and don't scorch. Careful warming.

 

Add your citric acid in water to your warmed milk.

 

Add your rennet in water to your warm milk mixture as well.

Stir for about a minute. 

 Let sit undisturbed for two hours until a clean break is achieved.

A clean break is when your stick your finger into the mixture and you break the solid on top without liquid sticking to your finger.

Let me stop here and tell you. This is one of those times I thought I totally ruined it. 

Mine didnt quite make a solid on top. I went on with the show anyways. Mine looked like this.

But it worked great, so don't freak out. 

Then, cut your curds (the solid top) into squares. Mine were already cut in the picture above. 

Warm your curds to 108 degrees stirring frequently, but gently.

Hold at 108 degrees for thirty two minutes stirring gently still. 

Then set up a bowl with a strainer over it, place your cheesecloth in the strainer.  

Pour the contents of your pot into the cheesecloth.

Let drain. This is how I drained mine.

Don't laugh. 

That gross stuff down there is whey and you can make ricotta with it, but it smelled so bad I got rid of mine... 

So once you've let it drain about fifteen minutes or so you can transfer it to a microwave safe bowl and break it all up into large curds again. 

Add 1 tsp salt and stir it in. 

Microwave it for about 45 seconds in ten second increments.

After each ten seconds, use the back of a fork to work it into a ball again. Pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Take it out and knead it with your hands for a minute or two until it's shiny. 

Microwave for fifteen-twenty seconds.

Knead into a ball again and put a little cold water in your bowl. Just enough to roll your cheese in for a few seconds. Take it out and shape it again then put it into a zip-lock baggie and keep up to two weeks. Or just eat it because it's delicious.

I mean, whatever works for you.

 It looks more like cheese after being in the fridge for a little while. 

(see first picture.)

The untraditional approach to enchilada night!

I kind of came up with these because we didn't have enough cheese.

But they are by far the best enchilada I have ever made. ( I don't often cook hispanic food. )

ANNNNND I was so hungry I forgot to take lots of pictures but you'll get it, it's easy.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Enough tortillas to feed you & your family

1/2 stick butter

2 large chicken breast

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup salsa

2 tsp ranch powder, or 3 tsp ranch dressing. ( Powder works best here.)

about 2 cups of cheese. ( I mixed chedder jack with about 1/4 cup white cheese.)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp cumin

I also used about 2 1/2 tbsp fajita seasoning I happened to have

1/8 tsp sage, or just kind of a little sprinkle.

salt & pepper to taste

Sear your chicken breast.

If you've never done this:

Don't put anything in the pan and let it heat for a few minutes.

Throw your DRY seasoned chicken in the pan, it should immediately sizzle.

Cook it like so on both sides for about 4 minutes. Don't let it blacken, you just want it nice and dark brown.

Then take it off and let it cool enough to touch. Or use a fork for this next step.

Shred your chicken as much as you can.

However if your like me and can NEVER shred anything correctly.... just tear it up.

Like so, and cook until done. It should be a pretty golden color.

Then in that pan add your sour cream, ranch, and cheese.

Like so ~

Yeah, it's good though! Pinky swear.

Fry your tortillas lightly in butter until they are warm and easy to fold.

This folding process is something new to me, I've never been able to do it right.

Well you may already know but I'm sharing my breakthrough with you guys anyways!

Lay it flat in whatever you plan to cook it in. (Lightly greased to be safe.)

Fill it with some of the mixture.

Fold the top and bottom of the tortilla in on top of the mixture then tightly fold the other two sides over them. Yay!

Lay them smooth side up in your pan and they should be touching.

Like so~

(I forgot to fry mine this night, don't judge me.)

Cover in salsa or cheese to your liking.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook for 15-20 minutes to melt the cheese inside.

Enjoy.

<3



I am so beyond excited today.

Why?

My birthday is in 7 days & I'm going to get to make something delicious

&

for my birthday I'm going to convince my husband to cook with me.. (which is one of my most favorite thing by the way.)

Stay tuned for the hilarious updates on that.

My beautiful mother-in-law bought me an ice-cream maker.

I'm going to make double chocolate cookie dough ice-cream.

Exciting isn't it?

I want seafood. Good seafood.

Phillip doesn't eat seafood... and he married me?? I know, right?

I'm thinking some asian inspired food. Some of my very favorite.

So far on the menu is that ice-cream... yum.

Coconut-shrimp with sweet chili sauce,

Hopefully some spicy tuna rolls to accompany it.

Possibly fried rice, or fried noodles as a side.

& I CANNOT forget bread so maybe those chinese steamed rolls that've been stuck in the back of my mind lately. Who knows?

and now I have to figure out something to go with for my picky husband.

Suggestions are welcome.

<3 

A man's kind of fried rice!

Why is this a man's sort of fried rice?

It's vegetable free.

(:

Let me begin with the fact that I am not against veggies in any way, love them!

I'm married... that's where I went wrong in my love of veggies. (Just kidding about that part.) If my husband could eat steak and apple-pie everyday I think he would. Which I mean, sounds good huh? BUT he's on a strictly no vegetables but corn diet... for his entire life.

And recently I decided I wanted some AWESOME fried rice, and I'm picky when it comes to fried rice. Not too greasy, not too soggy, not too dry, a little sticky. Blah, blah, blah.

So for three days we ate fried rice in many different ways. This was by far the best.

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 cups jasmine rice, cooked.

(regular is fine, jasmine is better... also if you can... steam it!!)

Roughly 4 1/2 tbsp toasted seasame oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 chicken breast

1 large sweet onion

1/4 cup soy sauce + 1 tbsp

~ All my spices are always to taste, so these are estimates. ~

2  cloves garlic

1/4 tsp garlic salt

2 tbsp sirracha chili sauce

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp chili powder. (can be totally left out for more chili sauce, worth it.)

Who makes this so tasty?

~

That's who.

Now on to what to do!

WHAT TO DO:

First cook all your rice.

Then spread it out on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and put it in the freezer for about fifteen minutes or until it's cold to the touch. (This is when it's ready to use, it should feel cold.)

Like so~

Now as I always say, cut up your chicken and onions, the smaller they both are the better so dice them really well.

~

Scramble your eggs in a small bowl, then cook in a seperate pan and set aside.

~

You want them just a tiny bit over-cooked it makes the fried rice better, promise.

Now cook your chicken and onions covered in all your spices and sirracha in a large pan, once cooked add your eggs.

Then add all the rice.

Then sesame oil.

Then soy sauce.

Fry for about five to nine minutes or until all the rice is browned and lightly caramel colored, if it's not browned add a little more soy sauce.

~

~

And now you should probably go make this.

& eat it immediately.

mmm.



Pork taco night!

Cheesey cheating pork taco!

 

I know it doesn't just look AAAHHHMAAZING, but it's good. Promise!

What you need~

I used:

4 boneless butterfly pork chops (too much for two people, we had a guest.)

Half a large sweet onion

3 strips of bacon

4 flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

A little of whatever cheese you have handy

A fresh take bacon and cheddar jack kraft mix

Now that last part, that is the cheating! My husband LOVES bacon & I can never come up with quite enough things to satisfy the need for bacon in our house. So I grabbed this from the supermarket!

Cut up the pork, onion, and bacon. Take out the bag from the fresh take and follow the directions on shaking it up.

Now all that stuff you cut up, throw it on the stove in a large pan.

Like so~

It should only take about 10 minutes to cook through.

Season it while it's cooking however you want it. I used tony's, salt, pepper & garlic.

While that's all happening fry your tortillas and cook your rice. Once all your meat is cooked drain it and lay it all out on cookie sheet and cover it in the fresh take mixture and whatever extra cheese you wanna put on top.

Once that comes out mix it up with the rice and put it on your tortilla & your golden.

The husband sitting on the couch will thank you!