HERBED PARMESAN TRUFFLE FRIES

 

I make no secrets about the fact that I am a fry addict. 

The answer to the question of "chips or fries?" is always, always, "fries." 

This is especially true when I find truffle fries on the menu. 

I think I first had truffle fries in Fargo, ND at a rather snazzy hotel known as the HoDo, or Hotel Donaldson. The fries looked normal, save for a light dusting of Parmesan cheese and some herbs, but oh. my. god. 

If you've never had truffle oil on food I can't even describe it to you other than to say it's other worldly. 

Truffles are insanely expensive and farmers actually use pigs to sniff up truffles underground. BUT truffle oil is a less expensive way to indulge in its greatness. 

I've received two bottles of truffle oil as gifts (I make no secrets of my affinity, clearly). 

So, in search of a cheaper and slightly healthier way to have truffle fries, I tried to make them at home..and I must say, I've finally found a fry method that produces perfectly crispy fries with the least amount of work. 

INGREDIENTS: 

1. Howevermany potatoes per people (I use 2-3 depending on size, for Matt and I. I've also used both Russet and Yukon Gold and they've turned out great). 
2. 1 Tbsp of truffle oil
3. 2-3 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, divided (or 2 Tbsp olive oil, and a cooking spray) 
4. 2 Tbsp of minced parsley
5. 2 Tbsp of Parmesan
6. Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 425. 
2. Slice potatoes into "fry size"- specific size isn't AS important as it is that they're uniform, that way they cook at the same pace. 
3. Toss sliced potatoes in a bowl with 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil, if two seems like too much, just use one. Use your judgement. You just want a light coating on all the fries. Toss lightly with a 1/2 tsp of salt or so as well.
4. Lay tinfoil on a baking sheet (makes for easier cleanup), spray foil generously with nonstick spray OR use remaining EVOO. 
5. Spread potatoes in a single layer, leaving as much room as possible on all sides to let them breathe/cook evenly. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes, remove, and fluff/flip potatoes. Cook another 15 minutes. Depending on how crispy you want them, keep repeating these steps until they start to crisp up to your liking. I tend to do this 3-4 times. 
7. Remove from oven, put back in bowl, toss with 1 Tbsp of truffle oil, Parmesan and parsley. 
8. Inhale. 

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

Hi, bad blogger here. Just stopping in to tell you as much.

Got soaked to the bone, despite the umbrella, walking from the car to work today. Just some casual hurricane strength rain. Barf.

Actually I'm dedicating an entire blog post to tell you that you NEED to click this link and make these burgers that Jess posted or should you die tomorrow your life will have been truly unfulfilled having not eaten these. SERIOUSLY.

mkay, have a good weekend! It's M's dirty-30 Sunday, so I've got a whole weekend of shenanigans planned. :)

CHECKING IN

Hola!

It appears to have been a little while and I could say things that bloggers say like sorry and I missed it but meh, let's get down to it. 

So what's been happening lately? 

 Well, for starters, M and I finally tackled one item from our spring to do list and painted the front of the house. 

As you'll recall it looked like this before:

 

I'll acknowledge it's not terribly offensive... but it was time to go. 

We talked in the original post about painting the entire exterior grey and then doing dark navy or dark grey accents with white trim. 

Then when I started to contemplate how much work painting the ENTIRE house would be I thought up a solution that involved only half the effort- let's start out and paint the trim white, the window boxes and triangle navy, and then add some navy shutters and see if the brown doesn't suck so hard. 

And wouldn't ya know, it did the trick: 

We got quite a few comments from neighbors during this project that led me to believe the red was not well liked. We left the door red because it's a really nice contrast when it's closed..and it sort of accidentally looks patriotic but not too chintzy (or so I hope).

If I took a photo of the side or back of the house or the garage you'd see our secret: so far we've only painted the front. It's easy to ignore the rest for now when the curb appeal looks so much better.

What else, I've been eating some insanely delicious (and easy) meals (click photos for recipes):

and lastly, but probably most excitingly, M and I have booked trips to these places:

{photo via; Michael Riffle}

{photo via}

{photo via}

{photo via- by MPearl}

so. freakin'. excited.

Needless to say things have been pretty good lately, overall.
Now, if you don't mind, I have a super needy kitty to snuggle, a hotel in Seattle to book, and some trashy TV to watch while listening to the rain.

Ridiculously awesome fresh summer salad

(via)

I haven't done a "recipe" post in a loooonnnggg time but I would feel remiss if I did not share this one with you. It was a sneaky unassuming little salad that packed a lot of flavor and was SO FRESH, and what more can you ask for when it's 80 degrees out?

This recipe makes 8 servings.. I halved it and it was enough for a full meal for Matt and I, and we had some leftovers.

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

4 ears fresh corn (we grilled ours for 15-20 minutes... SO worth it)                    

1/2 cup finely diced red onion (cut to same size as the clusters of corn kernels), soaked in ice water for 20 minutes and patted dry (anybody have any insight with respect to what the point of this is? I did it.. because I feared the new recipe.. but I'm not sure what it did. Maybe dull the strong flavor the onion usually has? the world may never know.)                    

1/2 cup cucumber, seeded, not peeled if unwaxed, then diced to same size of onions

1/2 cup red or orange sweet pepper, diced to same size as onions

1/2 cup cherry or pear tomatoes, halved or quartered

3 tablespoons parsley, finely torn (I used some Thyme and Cilantro I had from my herb garden, really anything fresh and you can't go wrong!)                   

1 tablespoon basil leaves or buds, pulled apart

1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno, seeds and veins removed, very finely diced                    

1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1 - 2 cups small arugula leaves (I just used Romaine that I had)

 

Directions

 

1. For dressing, in a glass bowl whisk together vinegar, sugar, the 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper until sugar is dissolved. Let dressing stand while preparing salad

 

2. For salad, cut corn kernels from cobs. In a large bowl toss corn and remaining ingredients except sea salt and arugula leaves.

 

3. To serve, transfer salad to large serving bowl. Season with the 1/2 tsp. sea salt. Add the dressing; gently thread in arugula leaves. Serve immediately. (Cucumbers and tomatoes will begin to break down.) Makes 8 servings.

 

Guys, the sweet and sour apple cider vinager dressing is the perfect balance to the zip of the jalapeno. and DO NOT think "oh, 1 tbsp. (or 1/2 if you're halving the recipe) doesn't seem like much!" because it packs a punch.) The best part is it requires zero cooking, minus tossing some corn on the grill-- and for that, M and I just run it under some water, husks on, (to keep it from starting on fire on the grill) and then grill them and husk them afterwards. Such an easy GREAT way to do corn.

Sweet potato tapenade

 

Hi there, It's been a while (and I always seem to blank on Thursdays) but I'm linking up with Katie and Steph for their Saw it, Pinned it, Did it linkup.

 

Okay, this is a teensy bit of a cheat. I had made these a LONG time ago but technically it IS from a Pinterest pin, and they're just too great not to share with the masses through a linkup.

 

 

Here's the original pin:

(via)



I LOVE me som Smitten Kitchen. Her photos make food that I wouldn't even eat look good.

Here's my stab at it:

 



Up today is a delightfully strange little meal that can also double as an appetizer! 

Like sweet potatoes? 

Like goat cheese and candied pecans and onions? You're going to LOVE this. 

This recipe is based off a smitten kitchen recipe I found.

If you look at smitten kitchen's photo though and feel bad that you can't get the "tapenade" (really it's more of a salad, or bruschetta, but tapenade sounds super fancy) to pile perfectly on top of each potato, don't feel bad. I clearly couldn't either.

Things you'll need (this fed M and I, so 2 servings):

• 2 sweet potatoes (depending on size and # of people eating....)
• 1 bag of celery 
• 1 red onion 
• goat cheese (one of those teensy Chevre logs will do) 
• red wine vinegar
• small handful of candied pecans, about half of a 1/4 cup, depending on your preference

 (If you can find candied ones, great, if not, NBD. I had candied some for a salad earlier in the week. In case you're wondering how the hell to "candy" pecans: rough chop them, put some butter in a pan and heat it on the stove, toss the pecans in as well as a tbsp or 2 of sugar, stir until sugar starts to melt and turn sticky and coats the pecans. Take off QUICKLY after this happens -otherwise they burn- and put them on a cutting board to dry. Don't put them on a paper towel and watch them stick, like I did the first try. woops.)

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
• Chop up the sweet potatoes into rounds (if it's skinny enough), otherwise I halved some of them so they were all around the same size.
• Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil and salt and pepper, lay on cookie sheet in single layer, and bake for 20 minutes before flipping once. (cook for 10 more minutes after you flip).
• While sweet potatoes are cooking chop 3/4 bag of celery (I had like, 4 stalks leftover) I'd estimate it was 1 1/2 cups of celery, and half a red onion into teensy pieces:

•  Mix red onion, celery, candied pecans, and 3/4 sleeve of goat cheese (I'd estimate it was 1/4 a cup)  in a bowl
• Add approx 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar (Sorry, I don't measure these things. Just drizzle it on until it's lightly coated, but not DRENCHED. ya dig?) and mix it all together

 

Spoon the salad/tapenade mixture on top of the sweet potatoes and eat! 

If you're more patient than I am, you can spoon them so there is just a little pile on top of each individual potato (which is how I did it when I made this as an appetizer once!), alas, I was not this time. Just make sure you get a bite of sweet potato with a bite of salad. So tasty. 

Bon apetit!

Home Fries

 

We keep potatoes around the house on a pretty consistent basis. 

SO when I'm craving a kind of garbage meal, I feel about 85% less guilty making these than if I were to stop at McDonald's. 

First things first, get your assistant to help you pick out potatoes:

NOTE: If you use Yukon Gold or Russet, you don't need to peel the potatoes. BUT I used baby reds, so I peeled them. The skin isn't the kind of skin you'd see on a "home fry."

meow. 

Preheat the oven to 400. 
After your tatos are peeled, slice them into "fry shaped" pieces, like so: 

Soak them in warm (NOT BOILING) salt water for a few minutes. I just tossed them in as I chopped, and then left them all in there for about 5 minutes. This helps the center stay soft but the outsides crisp up.  Or something like that.

Gather some seasonings. I used this "Cavender's" seasoning my best friend got me a few years back, and salt and pepper. You could also use some cajun, lowry's, etc.
Drain the potatoes, toss in olive oil, and season to your liking. 

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes, flipping every 10. (they could've even stayed in for another 10-15 but I was HANGRY, yo)

Tip: I used a metal spatula to forcefully chisel under the fries when flipping, otherwise if done gently, the bottom layer peeled off (thus defeating the purpose of the crispy exterior). This may just be my cheap ass cookie sheet, and lack of cooking spray though..who knows. Just an FYI. 

If you're feeling ambitious, whip up a dipping sauce whilst they cook: 
I happened to have some sour cream on hand from burritos earlier in the week, so I whipped up some seasoned sour cream.
I added Lowry's and stirred until it was a light pinky color. Just season it to taste for yourself.

Inspector cat.

aaaaannnndddd enjoy.

lemon pepper chicken and sides

The other night Leah came over and I made us dinner and we had some girl time. Leah requested something moderately healthy, like a good girl, and I decided it would be a good time to try spaghetti squash. 

Apparently, I don't know what food is in season in each respective season because there was no spaghetti squash to be found at Byerly's. (side note: shopping at a new grocery store is SO HARD. everything is all backward and it takes me twice as long to find things and gives me so much anxiety) 

SO, after stumbling around the grocery store, I decided to just go with a fresh but simple chicken recipe. Enter: lemon pepper chicken (with rosemary). 

Things you'll need (for 3 chicken breasts, you can adjust accordingly):
2 lemons (duh)
1 tsp pepper (double duh)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic (I prefer fresh)
1/2 tbsp rosemary (optional, but SO GOOD)
2-3 tbsp olive oil

I just kind of made this up on the fly, so these measurements are approximations.
The only thing you may have to watch is the olive oil to lemon ratio: I'd start with the lemon juice, and then add olive oil one by one until you have enough total liquid to coat the chicken breasts. Too much olive oil and it ends up smelling more oily-and not tasting as lemony- if you catch my drift.

whisk everything BUT the rosemary together, and drizzle over pierced chicken breasts.
sprinkle rosemary on top.
let marinate for at least 30 minutes.



Since the chicken takes a bit longer to marinade but is quick to cook (at least on the foreman), I decided to make a snack/side of Kale chips.

 

Things you'll need:

1 bunch of kale

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

 

Wash and dry kale, then tear into small "chip" sized pieces. (I prefer to take out the main 'vein' of each leaf- the piece that runs up the center).

Toss lightly in olive oil and spread on a cookie sheet in one layer.

Sprinkle salt over the kale.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (I fluffed once halfway through and rotated cookie sheets since I was making a lot)

Sorry but I'm not sorry if you're grossed out by my cat's snout in the kale. 

He is quality control around these parts. 

But really, besides bugs, few things germ/health wise "gross" me out- cat hair included.

BONUS: pour yourself a glass of sprite in a wine glass, to feel fancy. Squeeze a tsp of extra lemon in, and then slice up 2 lemons to make it pretty.

I also made sides of roasted cauliflower and steamed broccoli.
I think you guys can handle steaming broccoli without a step-by step.
As far as the cauliflower goes-- I always avoided cauliflower on vegetable trays, that is until I tried it roasted.
holy. cow. is it tasty.. sprinkle a little salt on top afterwards and it's a fantastic veggie.
I chopped it up into equal pieces and roasted it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.. or until it's started to turn brown and can be pierced with a fork.

chicken on the foreman

Ta da! so tasty. Lemon on top of the chicken was purely for looks.

SUPER simple recipes, and if you're anything like me, you already have salt, pepper, a head of garlic (maybe just me....) and frozen chicken on hand, so it's super low cost too.

Thanksgiving in September: Mini apple pie recpie

Know how every other blogger is doing Labor Day Weekend recaps today? Yeah, well this isn't one of those. Why? Because M bogarted the computer last night for a THIRD attempt at a fantasy football draft... and then my friend Molly came over and we chatted and made dinner and painted our nails and watched Eat Pray Love (my first time seeing it!) and chatted more for about 7 hours. SO my photos are cued up on the computer but I need to formulate a post. I had this one cued up for some time now.

Today I bring you Thanksgiving in September -- mini apple pies! Mostly because we don't have a pie tin, and mini things are so much cuter. Who doesn't love the idea of a personal itty bitty pie!?

Recipe (from here)

-- my color commentary (get it?!) is in pink below -- 

Crust
2 cups flour

2/3 cup butter (chilled)

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons water

Filling

5 medium apples (peeled and chopped up into small pieces) (We used 5 itty bitty apples we got at the apple farm)

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

6 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter (chilled)

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get muffin pan out. No need to grease it.

2.   In food processor blend flour, salt and butter until it looks like little peas. (I just mashed it all up  with a whisk)

3.   Add in water and blend just until it looks like it's sticking. (I got in there with my hands and just started squishing it..)

4.   Take out and combine it by hand until well blended.

5.   Roll out on lightly floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick.

6.   Cut 12, 4 inch circles with cup or bowl.(You will need to roll out twice)-->(call me nutso, but this recipe only made 7 crusts for me. They may have been little fatties, I'm not sure.....)

         Note: you can use the rest of the crust for anything you may want to do on top of the pies.

8.   Mix by hand all filling ingredients and spoon into muffin bowls.

9.    Cut up butter into 12 little pieces and place one piece on each pie. (And I'm JUST noticing this step now, therefore I clearly didn't do this and it didn't make a bit of difference!)

10.   You can decorate them anyway you like with extra crust, or just leave plain. (I put little strips on top, like "H's")

11.   Bake at 425 degrees for 16-18 minutes. (Until crust is light brown and apples are bubbling).

12.   When cool, just loosen with a spoon and they'll come right out! (true story!)

 

Last step: add ice cream, and nom.

 



Hope you all had a good weekend! I've enjoyed catching up on the long weekend posts this morning. and, ya know, postponing the whole "work" thing a wee bit longer.

 

-Kelly

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

Guys- posts 3 days in a ROW?! Woot! 

Let's just say I'm taking full advantage of the "scheduled" posting feature. That, and M is partaking in a fantasy football draft tonight and currently holed up in the office on a group-google-chat with 2 of his buddies... thus, I have had plenty of time to write multiple posts to schedule :) 

Recently M's been on my case about my "obsessive" cravings for cream cheese puffs (it's off the charts, really.. but COME ON, they're so tasty!) and in general, my propensity for eating out. I got off my cooking kick while studying for the bar, since most days I was at school for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That, combined with the fact that I think I was/am getting bored with my usual rotation of meals. Needless to say it's been slow going getting back into it.

Thankfully, I follow some blogs written by creative cookers! 

Roasted chickpeas (along with kale chips) seem to be all the rage on the interwebz. SO, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try them out. I snagged a recipe for Roasted Chickpea Tacos from The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart. 

(Side story about the chickpeas: I saw a bunch of cans in the Mexican food, half were labeled "Garbanzo" and the other half labeled "Chickpeas" but they were all mixed up on the shelf. The photos of the contents looked similar so I presumed there was only a slight difference. Nevertheless, I made sure to grab the one labeled Chickpeas. I get home, pull it out of the bag, and see Garbanzo and SCREAMED in anger. I then picked up the can and saw one side read Garbanzo and the other side read Chickpea. Turns out they're the same thing. I'm so smart. ......)

I've lifted the recipe as she had it on her blog, since I followed it exactly (except I didn't realize until too late I didn't have lime juice, so I just used lemon juice), and inserted some photos! 

Ingredients- roasted chickpeas

2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 (15 oz.) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

 

Ingredients- tacos

Olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 onion

1/2 red bell pepper

Hard taco shells

Toppings- guac, sour cream, shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, 

onion powder, cumin, salt, lime juice and water. Stir in chickpeas

2. Placed seasoned chickpeas on a baking sheet covered in tin foil. Make sure they are lad out evenly and not on top of each other

3. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until chickpeas are slightly crispy. (I turned them half way)

4. While baking, chop the onion and bell pepper finely

5. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and saute garlic, onion and pepper 3-5 minutes. Set aside

6. When chickpeas are roasted, spoon into hard taco shells and top with the sauteed veggies and any additonal toppings

(above) Roasted chickpeas

(below) I bought flour tortillas because I am also using them for buffalo chicken wraps later this week, so, to get them a bit crispy, I used the hot pan from the onion/garlic/pepper and some olive oil, folded the shells in half, and seared them on each side on high for about 2 minutes each:

I also made a tomato/onion/cilantro "salsa" for M (I don't like tomatoes):

I have no photos of a put together taco because we INHALED them. The chickpeas were so flavorful, and to be honest M said something I totally agreed with: he said he felt like he was eating seasoned chicken tacos, and he was right! They were super tasty and a great vegetarian alternative!

-Kelly