Gnocchi Pesto with Shrimp

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I love pasta. It’s so filling and comforting. And it can be quite a quick meal! Even when you make your sauce from scratch.

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Pestos are awesome. You can pretty much make them out of anything. I’ve done it with arugula, you can do it with spinach, and even use pistachios! But for tonight’s dinner we are going classic. Pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, basil, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.

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Blend it all up, to your liking. Set aside.

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Saute some shrimp in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

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Boil up some gnocchi according to the package. Then toss everything together. Add more Parmesan, salt and pepper to your liking. EASY RIGHT?

It’s so quick, so easy! Who needs a recipe? You could also buy the pest pre-made if you really don’t have time. Enjoy 😀

 

Spatchcock: Favorite way to roast a chicken!

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As you probably have noticed, I love roast chicken. I’ve done it a couple different ways here already. Now I’ve found my new go to method. Spatchcocking. Spatchcock. Basically you take a whole bird, cut down the back bone and removed it.

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Similar to butterflying the bird actually. Then you open it up and lay it flat so that all the skin is at the top. Then you can season it and roast it. Cooks a little bit faster and you get all crispy skin!

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I saved the backbone to make soup with it later. You never know when you’ll need it! Have you tried this method? Do you like it? Or is there something EVEN BETTER to try?

Dukkha Crusted Pork Chops with Bacon Sprouts

9KL6QxF80VhuCNQV.jpgAnother recipe for the often asked question of, “What am I going to eat for dinner”. This one is great, because you can pick up the groceries after work, head to the kitchen and start cracking away at it.

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Start off with pork chops. Dry them, then rub a little avocado oil on it (or oil of your choice that can cook at high temps)

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Crust with Dukkha. I bought mine from trader joes. If you are fancy, you can make it yourself! Be fancy.

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In a cast iron skillet, heat some avocado oil, then cook on both sides until done.

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As a side, I went for Bacon sprouts. Cook bacon in a pan, remove bacon from pan and reserve the fat. Toss brussels sprouts in the hot pan with leftover bacon fat. Season with black pepper. Let it brown a little bit. Toss them on a cookie sheet then into the oven to finish. When it’s almost done stir in chopped cooked bacon. Serve with pork chops.

Again, no measurements. If you have questions feel free to contact me! ENJOY!

 

Bacon Wrapped Mini Meat Loaves

NppaB7QE3A3u1tBi.jpg I don’t really eat meatloaf. But in order to feed the hungry men in my house and get them to eat vegetables there needs to be a substantial hunk of meat involved. This is my hunk of meat…wrapped in bacon.trjUe16aAvr1VyPM.jpg I took a pound and a half of lean ground beef, added a lightly beaten egg, some lawry’s, nature’s seasoning, tomato paste, A1, Italian breadcrumbs, a chopped onion and mixed it all together to a nice consistency.Vb643EVKd3MoxZ1l.jpg Then I shaped out mini loaves.Jb8OUbcSVfgSIAKA.jpg And browned all the sides in a pan.xl3OyfFk1RaNer4e.jpgThen wrapped it in bacon, stuck it in the oven until the bacon was crisp and the inside was cooked!

I made a side of spinach, sauteed in ghee and garlic slices, seasoned with a little black pepper, and mashed sweet potatoes. The end!

Aji Verde Sauce and Peruvian Roast Chicken

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Dinner came in the form of a fresh, spicy green sauce, roasted chicken and sweet potatoes. This meal takes a little planning. I recommend letting the bird marinate overnight. This recipe came out of the Nom Nom Paleo book, and it was a winner with the boys. A very manly meal as one of my friends called.

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I like to do things in an order that makes the most time sense. Since the chicken takes the longest to do, prep and marinate wise. Lets start there. Mix up the ingredients.

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Split the bird, then pat dry.

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Get under the skin and rub this sauce all up in there, and over it. Cover and marinate over night. Clean everything up. Disinfect. Make sure all the gross raw chicken-ness is gone. Then lets start on the SAUCE.

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Olive oil on low heat and garlic. Let it bubble a little. There’s infusion going on up in there. Don’t brown it. You smell it? It’s ready. Remove from heat then set aside.

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Time to bust out my beloved Vitamix. Put in the fresh green ingredients and mayo. Mix it up to coarse. Slow drizzle in the olive oil/garlic mix, then turn that baby up.

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Stick it in a jar and in the fridge until ready to serve. So lets say the chicken is done marinating. Bring it to room temperature for an hour, and preheat the oven to 400F. Stick in the oven for about an hour or more, until the skin is crisp and the chicken is cooked!

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While you are letting that baby roast. Prep your sweet potatoes. I like to boil them until fork tender before I stick them in the oven. After I boil them, I drain, then toss in olive oil and season, then spread it out on a baking sheet.

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Serve them all together and enjoy a pretty healthy, filling dinner!

Peruvian Roast Chicken and Aji Verde Chili Sauce
(Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo)

Roast Chicken Ingredients

1 (4 lb) Whole Chicken
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs melted ghee or olive oil
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 small lime, zested and juiced

Aji Verde Chili Sauce

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped
1 scallion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Paleo mayonnaise
1/3 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup fresh mint
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp white vinegar

Directions:
For the sauce, heat olive oil and garlic in small skillet over low heat for about 3 minutes, until garlic is fragrant and oil bubbles. Remove from heat and set aside. In a processor, grind the rest of the chili sauce ingredients until mixed. Add the garlic oil and bend until smooth.

For the chicken, stir together the ingredients. Cut open the chicken down the backbone with kitchen scissors and flatten it out. Rub the marinade all over and under the skin. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bring out the bird an hour before cooking. Preheat the oven to 400F. Cook for about an hour, until fully cooked!

Serve with sauce on the side and anything else you’d like, sweet potatoes for instance!

Soy Honey Chicken with Broccolini

p2l7JV2IURMn5x1S.jpgThe packaging lied. When I bought the broccolini, it was labeled as broccoli rabe. Upon googling, I found out the truth, as evidenced by wikipedia and google images. There is a difference! As you probably noticed from the lack of cooking posts on the blog, that I haven’t been cooking much lately. Because macarons are taking over my life. Since I have a nice break before I roll out a new mac flavor, I decided to do some SIMPLE cooking.

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First up, a soy honey chicken, braised broccolini and quinoa. I’ve never cooked broccolini before. I’ve had it, and it can be bitter, but braising it in chicken stock helped. Lets start there!

nTz0RAETSRt662Ot.jpgTrim the ends, and cut it into about 3 inch pieces. Added zest of a whole lemon. Set aside 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled. I like to trim off the hard end.

In a straight edge skillet, I heat up a little olive oil, then throw in the garlic. Saute until fragrant (don’t burn!) then I added the broccolini and tossed it around with the tongs until coated with the oil. I add about a cup of chicken stock, and a pinch of salt. Bring to boil, then let simmer until tender. This takes about 8 minutes. When they are ready take the broccolini out of the braising liquid, and onto a serving dish. Squeeze a slice of lemon and top with fresh ground black pepper.

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For the chicken breast, I just cut into tenders and seasoned with black pepper. In a separate small bowl I whisked together soy sauce and honey to taste. In a skillet, heat up olive oil, toss in a sliced garlic clove, then brown the chicken. Then I poured in some of the sauce and called it a day. When the chicken is done, remove from skillet and discard the sauce. It can get a bit salty if you leave it.

With the leftover braising liquid, and some water I cooked some quinoa and added to my meal. It’s so simple I don’t have a recipe. Sorry!

Stand Mixer Stories: Homemade Ice Cream

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I haven’t written about the stand mixer in awhile. I think because it’s such an integral part of my baking, that it’d be too much for me to talk about every little thing that I do with it. BUT. I have a new attachment! ICE CREAM MAKER!

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The first ice cream I tried to make, was Green Tea ice cream. First I have to whisk some milk and cornstarch. Then matcha and whipping cream.

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It thickens up. I set aside. I learn later…that I need to use LESS matcha powder.

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Slave over a hot dirty stove. Mix it up.

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Let it chill.

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Churn baby churn!

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It comes out soft serve, but then you put it in an airtight container for a few hours. Then you can scoop and eat.

Verdict? It was fun, and simple enough. I do like the flavor, BUT when I make this again, I will use LESS matcha. It left a strong tea after taste on my tongue. So now I have a quart of this ice cream…any takers?

Mama Miemo’s Macarons

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Pretty much, this is my life currently. I made an announcement that I will be selling easter “egg” macarons. You can buy assorted packs of 6 flavors:

Orange Creamsicle, Lemon, Mixed Berry, Raspberry, Pistachio and Vanilla. In pretty spring colors. wTQid7rW6UPAFuFc.jpg

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I packaged them up in egg cartons, and it was a good way for people to try some of my flavors. I’ve gotten great feedback and have been busy busy in the kitchen making these.ny0xykikrhYE7S7i.jpg

And look! I have new packaging. Hopefully these are safer to mail! My poor kitchen, and fiance. I haven’t cooked real food in there, in a while. But I love making macarons! I really need to get back to cooking though. I miss it.

But I am also having fun developing new macaron flavors!

Crawfish Pistolettes

Who doesn’t love food, stuffed into another food? In this case, I am talking about rolls, stuffed with Cajun goodness. In it we have the Cajun mirepoix, the holy trinity, celery, onions and green bell pepper. Along with crawfish, and jalapeno velveeta. OOH. I’m hungry.

4BB1JbJB8KZ5FfjQ.jpgSince I am no longer in Louisiana, and it’s not always crawfish season, I have to start off frozen. Interesting that has Louisiana written all over it…but it’s a product of China. Womp! I get these in the frozen seafood section of Wal-Mart.

2op9FqJcjIZfxl2A.jpgStart up with the “holy trinity” of Cajun cooking. I wish you can smell it. I can smell it as I write this.

l05tG7rRITizETrh.jpgAdd cream of mushroom, jalapeno velveeta, hot sauce, and seasonings.

tFWQakLMtWYY12zU.jpgThen the main attraction, and stir until warmed all the way through, and bubbling a little. Remove from heat, and set it aside to cool a little.

IinZXrw5ef40LTw1.jpgHollow out the rolls, but keep the tops matched up, because we are putting these babies back together!

LGT40AXVMcBsi1MY.jpgStuff it.

8NN9zJ88Zvg5boze.jpgPut them back together, and brush melted butter on it. Bake, and ENJOY.

I used this recipe as a basis, but of course I made it my own. Because that’s how I roll. Especially when it comes to rolls. GET IT? HAHA.

Honey Soy Braised Ribs

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I wish you could smell this. It smells amazing. And it was simple! I would put this under “Whats for dinner” except for the fact that it takes about two hours to make, and well… “ain’t nobody got time for that”.

NWSKYfCKmCcugERR.jpgIngredients for the braising liquid.

SlQfFJUBE7V9RjoX.jpgBoil the ribs in ginger and water for about 30 minutes, skimming off the fat. Rinse in cold water, pat dry.

k8038aTOiKGSQHiY.jpgIn a heavy pot, brown it in a little oil, salt & pepper it.

MnPSjcwN1Soq0Jpr.jpgNow the fun part. Let it simmer in the goodness for about 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone.

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I took the ribs out, strained out the braising liquid into another small sauce pot. Added honey and let it reduce down into a glaze, then served it over brown rice topped with green onion and sesame seeds. YUM.

Honey Soy Braised Ribs
(exactly from Spoon Fork Bacon)
Serves 5 to 7

Ingredients:
3 lbs. pork spare ribs, cut into 1 1/2-2 inch pieces
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 cups dry sherry
1/4 cup superfine sugar (granulated is fine)
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
honey-soy glaze:
2/3 cup braising liquid
1/4 cup honey
garnishes:
thinly sliced green onion
toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Rinse rib pieces under cold water and place in a large pot. Fill with water and add ginger. Place pot over high heat and boil for 30 minutes, skimming the fat from the surface as it forms.
2. Drain and rinse rib pieces in cold water for a second time, removing any excess fat, debris and ginger.
3. Place a large Dutch oven, or heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat and add oil. Add ribs and season with salt and pepper. Brown for about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to the pot and stir together.
4. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover.
5. Simmer mixture for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender.
6. Scoop 2/3 cup of the sauce into a small pot (skimming off any excess fat) and stir in honey. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until mixture has reduced by 1/3. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
7. Brush glaze over rib pieces and serve over white or brown rice. Top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Serve.

I love this site for dinner/party food ideas!